Chapter Text
This week has been… hard for MK.
He wished could tell his past self that rummaging through the Monkey King's junk pile was not a good idea, maybe he would have saved himself from going through all this trouble about the Scroll of Memory, finding out he was a stone monkey, the Jade Emperor's death and the new addition to the list of "Betrayals to MK".
Now that MK thought about it, how long had it been since the fight with Jin and Yin? Maybe about three days, maybe just a few hours. When was the last time he slept? There were many things happening one after another and he had no time to rest. No, false, he had time to draw a little inside the parchment, then Tang started talking about the theory that Monkey King could be Mk's father and those weird things.
Although if they came out of the same stone that made them brothers, right? MK did not have time to think about it, not when every ten minutes something new happened. And after all he was finally here, the monkey form of him had vanished and he felt the exhaustion catch up with him.
Curiously, something similar seemed to happen to his "uncle" at Monkey King's words. Someone had brought Azure Lion out of hell, someone had given him the scroll, someone had used him as a pawn in his plan. Even after everything, Mk couldn't help but feel empathy and pity seeing the compression and sadness reached Azure Lion.
“I just…wanted to make the world a better place."
"You still can," Mk said softy catching Azure's attention, clearly surprised at the words. "you're the only who can."
Tears stopped flowing from the lion demon's eyes, being exchanged for an expression of determination. He stared at the rifts in reality before pulling out his sword and focusing all of his power.
A smile formed on MK's face as he watched those rifts become thinner, with the golden lines receding. And suddenly then they opened again, bigger. Mk looked at Azure, noting how the breaking in him body also increased in size to the point that the Jade Emperor's power was exposed.
"Wait, Azure!"
Without thinking, MK lunged at the demon, but Monkey King grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving forward. For a second, MK thought that he should stay put this time, not go any further, only let his mentor's sworn ex-brother sacrifice himself.
Then Azure screamed in pain. MK released himself from Monkey King's grasp, ignoring how he called him in an attempt to slow him down. MK managed to hold on to Azure's large hand, suddenly feeling all the power that he put into his attempt to repair the universe.
A wave of power came from the Jade Emperor's power, pushing everything around him, even the Monkey King himself. MK turned around, worried about his mentor, in the distance he saw his friends and one of Azure Lion's brothers on the ground, clearly also affected by the recently released power, but at least they looked intact. At least, they were safe, he believed. He needed to believe that.
"I can't!" Azure yelled, his voice pained.
It seemed that with every rift that was about to close, a new one was opening. Concern returned to MK and he held on tighter. The right part of Azure's face was almost completely gone, with the golden breaking expanding.
"There must be another way!" MK said quickly, unable to hide the desperation in his voice.
The Jade Emperor was omnipresent, the idea that Azure couldn't be the same was meaningless, unless… The compression hit Mk like lightning. The emperor spent millions of years to get the power from him, and this very power was claimed by Azure in a second, he wasn't ready for it, he couldn't stand it.
MK looked up, seeing reality breaking more and more. Another wave of power shot from within Azure, and MK had to tighten his grip on him to keep from flying away. He quickly thought of a plan, anything they could do to fix this. There had to be a way!
"MK!"
He heard the voice of his friends in the distance, for a second he wanted to turn around, look at their faces, thinking that it would be the last time he would do.
No, he would fix this. Everything would be fine, no matter the cost. MK tried to transform back into a monkey demon, the glow from him flickered all over his body, swapping between human and demon forms of him. He reverted to his form human, panting with exhaustion.
“There is no way to fix this now."
Azure's words made MK react, the demon was still holding his sword preventing the rifts around him from advancing further, while the ones on his body continued to consume him.
"No, there must be something we can do!" MK objected, tightening his hold on him.
"There's no way to fix this now," Azure repeated, now looking at MK. "But maybe you can prevent this from happening."
That took him by surprise, he couldn't understand what Azure was referring to, but if there was a way to stop this then MK would.
"What I have to do?" He asked, wasting no time.
Azure Lion didn't answer, but worry and guilt were mixed on his face. Another wave of power shot out, making him groan in pain and gasp for air. He didn't have much time left.
"Just… trust me," Azure requested, sounding overwhelmed. "I know I don't deserve it, but please."
MK knew there was no time to hesitate, but that didn't stop him from doing just that at Azure Lion's words. After everything that happened, after how he took him away from his mentor, after trying to manipulate him into taking his side. Could MK really trust him?
He turned to see his family, they were so far away that if this were the end he wouldn't make it in time to protect them. Could he even protect them from what was coming?
"I trust you."
Azure Lion nodded, his sword lowered a bit, and the rifts in the universe suddenly opened much wider. Azure's body was torn apart, for a second he seemed to have accepted him fate. Mk forced himself to stand firm, still clinging to Azure's hand. For the corner of his eye he noticed a golden light, Mk turned and saw a giant circle full of runes behind him. The memories of Lady Bone Demon possessing Monkey King came to him.
For a second he hesitated, but he took a breath and stayed still.
"And MK," Azure's voice made him look at him, noticing how the breaking in his body almost consumed him completely. "I'm sorry."
Suddenly MK felt a strong burning sensation begin in his back and quickly run through his entire body, a heartbreaking cry escaped from his mouth, as if it was torn from within. He raised his head, looking directly at the sky. The fabric of reality was so torn that he could barely see a small part of the clouds, in the distance the moon had already been completely consumed.
MK hoped Chang'e was fine, and his rabbit robots too, Monkey King was right about how adorable they were. Damn, he hoped that the Bull Demon family would at least be saved by being inside the scroll. What events would Red Son be reliving now? MK hoped that, of all times, it wasn't when he had Fire Samadhi, and if it was, then he wished it wasn't painful.
Ah, the screams of his family rang in his ears, but were covered by a loud beeping sound that made his head hurt like hell. Well, now he was deaf, or something like that.
When was the last time he cooked with Pigsy? MK had barely gotten him to admit to being his father and now he was going to die. Damn, Tang said so proudly that he was MK's father figure (he even bragged about it at every opportunity), but it took Pigsy like a decade, including the possible end of the universe, to call him his son. Those two seriously were the spitting image of opposites attracting. If it wasn't for the fact that MK was in the worst pain of his entire life, he would laugh.
MK wished he could hold Mei's hand again, maybe the warmth she gave him earlier would make some of this more bearable, more3 comforting. At least he was with her all this time, through thick and thin as since they were children, except when he fled in the form of an eagle. Ugh, he had apologized for that, right? His memories were a bit blurry now...
Suddenly he felt the pain leave his body, and that would be great if it wasn't because it took all the other sensations with it. He didn't feel his hands, feet, eyes or his body in general. It was like nothing, so the thought of going back to that pain wasn't so bad.
He just wanted to feel something, better if it was Sandy's cats purring, especially Mo. Those cats really knew how to calm people down and they were amazing and so cute, he was glad Sandy had gotten them with that relaxing tea. He couldn't believe that years ago Sandy was a terrible warrior, he was literally the most caring and kind person MK knew.
The complete opposite of Macaque, the sir: "I'll make you play my anime-style video game to teach you a lesson while the damn universe is at risk." Seriously, MKwas still mad about it, but at the same time kind of happy that the monkey was on the good side at last. Maybe they could have resumed training, real training.
Although surely that would have made Monkey King jealous. Or maybe not, after all, years had passed since that occasion. He and his mentor had changed over the years, increasing their trust and improving their relationship. What did not change during all that time was the playful smile of the great sage, it would sometimes disappear but it would always come back again. MK would like to see him again one last time.
Wait, he never called Monkey King by his real name? Oh my gosh, it would have been so poetic and cool to have called him Sun Wukong before died!
Well done, MK, you missed it.
But that wouldn't be the only thing he didn't do, right? He and Mei was never able to drag Red Son to the Anti-Gravity Arcade as they planned, he had promised to Bai He go for a ice cream on Sunday, he wasn't show Nezha the movie the humans made about him, though judging by the Third Lotus Prince's personality was probably for the best.
Something lit up in the darkness and MK realized that it was the golden rifts. So he was dead or not? Because right now he felt very dead, or it he thought.
The light from the breaking allowed him to briefly see what looked like a ceiling made up of sharp rocks and a building in the distance, but suddenly MK felt as if he were being swept away at high speed, losing the golden light and returning to darkness. It seemed like he couldn't have nice things for a minute.
The cold coursed through him, even if he didn't feel like he had a body or not seem to have one, and as soon as it came it was also gone. Good, he hated that feeling ever since Lady Bone Demon. That was the main reason why he now slept with extra blankets.
MK felt how he kept being pulled towards nothing, moving what surely was his consciousness. At least he wouldn't be nauseated.
The next thing he felt was as if he could move his hand, he felt relief and moved a finger with difficulty, but suddenly it was taken from him as if it were a child tearing the head off his doll. Luckily it was only a second of pain before the lack of sensation washed over him again. The relief didn't last long, as the experience was repeated with his other hand, then with his feet, with his legs, torso, and eventually the rest of his body.
He returned to being just consciousness and then suddenly it was as if his body returned to him, MK didn't move, waiting to be torn again, but that never happened.
The darkness was replaced by a great white light that blinded him, painlessly to his relief. A warmth enveloped him, it was like a much softer version of Samadhi Fire, a pleasant one even if he ignored the slight pain it was beginning to cause him.
MK felt small and his thoughts were blurry, then he felt big and everything became clear in his mind. He remembered when he met "The Journey to the West" for the first time. Every night he struggled to sleep, very anxious to finish the next day's classes so that when he returned home Tang could continue reading the story to him.
It was like living it all over again, but so fast he couldn't enjoy it, it was just a flash of thought.
The light faded leaving him in darkness, making him feel as if he were being held down and pushed down, falling deeper and deeper until he touched what appeared to be some kind of surface. It was strangely comforting, and Mk wondered if it was all over yet.
He breathed, after so much he finally breathed. His hands trembled and moved to his chest, feeling the rapid, fluttering beat of his heart.
Everything around him pressed on him, but it didn't hurt. It was soft and warm, dark but not like before. MK took a deep breath, feeling something crash against his lips. He swallowed and closed his mouth, the air rushing out of his nose and hitting his face, slightly ruffling a strand of his hair. Him hair was longer or was it his imagination?
He stretched out his toes, feeling a little more pressure down there, but not to the point of worrying too much. Was everything in his place? Him body felt whole but different, he felt more... weak and fragile, plus he felt a new weight that he didn't recognize at first. Something was wrong.
The first sound that reached his ears was approaching footsteps, a shiver ran through MK and he rushed to try to remove whatever he had on top of him. The air hit him from his head to his torso as he achieved his goal and the darkness left him.
MK's eyes swept around the place in a split second. There was no way this place was his room, many things were missing that Mk remembered perfectly. But still there was something there that made him feel... safe?
His eyes fell on the television in front, seeing what appeared to be a blurry version of his reflection. MK leaned forward to get a better look, when suddenly the door to the room opened and a light came on.
"Happy birthday!"
The Tang's voice took him by surprise. Tang held a present with an orange ribbon in his hands while Pigsy carefully carried a colorful cake.
MK looked at them, both adults no longer wearing their armor but wearing looser and more comfortable clothing. As if the universe hadn't been about to be destroyed a few minutes ago.
Was he back in the calabach? Had Azure tricked him again?
Both options were horrible, one part of him brain telling MK to run away, but the other part wanted to hug his adoptive parents and be thankful that they were apparently safe.
"I can't believe you're finally 18 years old!" Tang ruffled MK's hair, and he did not find the strength to refuse. "I still remember when you were half my height."
Pigsy came over with the cake, as he reached into his pocket, perhaps to pull out a match. Now that MK had a better look at it, the cake had a Monkey King design.
"Sorry, kid, I tried to tell Tang that we should wait until morning," Pigsy said, looking calmer than other days, but also tired, "but Mr. 'I'm a proud dad' couldn't wait any longer."
Tang gasped, looking offended. MK looked down at the floor, where his stuffed monkey, Noodles, was lying. The color was much brighter than before...newer.
"Excuse me, but you're the one who insisted on finishing the cake before midnight," Tang stated, crossing his arms.
The pair seemed to start arguing, and MK fixed his gaze on the cake, more specifically the number on top made with chantilly cream.
His 18th birthday. MK still remembered that day.
After the cake, Tang gave him his present, his phosphorescent light blue headphones. Tang commented on how MK would need them to distract himself from the sound of the city.
At the confusion on his face, Pigsy showed him his gift. The Tuk-Tuk was kept inside the garage, freshly serviced and looking almost new. Then they explained to him that they would take him so he could take his test to finally have his driver's license.
MK had prepared for this moment all year long, studying traffic laws and all about vehicles all night until he fell asleep from exhaustion, practicing with Pigsy's help, and recently Mei's as well, on Saturdays and Sundays.
"Kid, are you okay?"
Pigsy's voice snapped MK out of his thoughts. Both confused adults were looking at him. MK didn't answer, he just looked at each of the facial features of both of them, younger, obviously not that much, but he could easily tell.
He wasn't trapped in the calabash, neither dead or hallucinating.
He was in something different.
"If you want to get some more sleep, we understand," Tang said, looking uncomfortable at the lack of response. "I think I got too much excited..."
"I-"
MK put his hands on his throat, surprised at his own voice. He got awkwardly, but very quickly, out of his bed. Pigsy backed away, pushing the cake away to keep it safe.
"Kid-!"
Ignoring Pigsy's voice, MK ran into the bathroom and locked the door. His heart was beating too fast and his hands were shaking. He turned on the tap and splashed his face.
This isn't real, this isn't real, this isn't real.
He looked at himself in the mirror. His hair longer, a wound patch on his jaw, his face looking softer. Soon his hands touched his cheeks, and trailed down his body as if he were making sure this was happening.
His muscles from training, the scars from battles, the healed burn on his torso and the calluses on his hands. All of that was gone.
And his young version had returned.
It was the moment when MK understood what had happened, and it was the moment when he felt his stomach turn. All the confusion, the pain, the heat, the cold, the memories, the forgetfulness, and the realization hit him. With no time to lift the toilet seat, he leaned into the sink and vomit shot out of his mouth.
5 years.
His legs wobbled, and MK had to hold on to the wall with a hand.
Azure had sent him 5 years back.
MK felt his stomach drop, while tears welled up in his eyes. He heard the door was knocked.
"MK! Is everything okey?" Tang asked, concerned.
MK turned on the water again, in a desperate attempt to flush the vomit down the drain.
He swallowed, wincing at the foul taste. Looked at himself in the mirror again, and his appearance was a disaster.
"Kid, you are worrying us!" Pigsy spoke, and the door handle moved back and forth.
5 years ago, 5 years lost. His friends, his family. All those battles, all those experiences.
Sandy didn't even know he existed. Neither Red Son or Monkey King, nor Macaque and nor Nezha.
"MK, open the door!"
The princess Iron Fan and Red Son were out there, planning how to get Demon Bull King out from under the mountain. Would Red Son already have the idea of the gauntlet to raise the staff?
His staff. His powers.
MK's legs trembled and he had to sit down for a moment, he closed his eyes and opened them again, expecting to see his surroundings glowing gold. It was not so. He tried to turn himself into a hawk, to make himself small, he pulled out several strands of his hair, he even tried the astral projection. Who was he trying to communicate with? that didn't matter.
All ended in nothing. Just failed attempt after failed attempt. If he didn't have an empty stomach already, then maybe he would have thrown up again.
The door was flung open, startling him into turning. Pigsy entered with key in hand, followed by Tang. MK opened his mouth, about to apologize for the mess he made, but was silenced as both adults hugged him.
"What the hell is wrong with you? Don't ever do that again!" Pigsy yelled at him, a combination of worry and anger in his voice.
He soon began to get scolded, Pigsy and Tang telling him about the dangers of locking himself in, explaining everything that could have gone wrong.
But Mk couldn't pay attention to them.
'But maybe you can prevent this from happening.'
Azure's words echoed through his mind.
Someone had planned the Jade Emperor's death and thus the destruction of the universe.
MK had to stop they, but he had to find a way to activate his powers first. They were his, not the Monkey King's, so they had to be hidden in him, very deep from never having been used.
He just had to find a way to get them out. How had he done it the first time? Entered the Demon Bull King's armor and died disappear before being reborn from that stone egg.
Yeah, nothing complicated.
[...]
Nezha didn't like the underworld, having seen enough of it when he was mortal and sacrificing himself to save his family. So forgive him if he was not in the mood to listen to the annoying barking of Erlang Shen's dog.
"Did you really have to bring it?" Nezha turned to the other celestial.
Erlang gave him an annoyed look and then whistled. The celestial dog, Xiàotiān quǎn, raised his ears and ran to his owner's side. They continued walking in silence, listening in the background to the cries of tortured souls.
The streets grew darker, the haze increasing with each step. They climbed the high stairs and finally reached the large door. As if knowing that both celestials were already there, the door swung open revealing a servant who bowed in greeting and began silently leading them inside.
Erlang looked around sideways, there was not much difference between the inside of the temple and the outside.
Before long the servant stopped in front of some doors that opened revealing a dark room with lanterns overhead. In the middle of it all was a giant, worn book, Nezha recognized it instantly and he didn't like where this was going.
"Erlang Shen, the nephew of the Jade Emperor; Nezha, the third prince of the lotus. It is a pleasure to have you two here, thank you for answering the call so fast."
Both celestials looked up. The ten kings of the underworld were at their places, with the blue fires illuminating their surroundings.
"What is the problem?" Nezha asked, directly.
"Show them" Said one of the kings.
The servant nodded and approached the book in the middle of the room, raised his hand and the book opened. The pages moved from right to left at great speed, many more than one might believe. The servant lowered his hand and the pages stopped instantly. Erlang raised an eyebrow.
"Everything looks normal," he said, looking at each name.
"We think it too"
Nezha recognized the voice of Yanluo Wang, and narrowed his eyes at the God of Death.
The god emerged from his place, platforms reaching out of the darkness to position themselves under his feet. Under the watchful gaze of both celestials, Yanluo stopped in front of the book and raised his hand, a light blue circle formed on the pages, runes appeared inside, and one of the names on the book began to glow. Nezha stepped forward, acknowledging what the god was about to do.
He was going to kill that mortal.
"Wait-!"
The circle shone brighter just like the name on paper, the letters began to change from black to gray, but suddenly a golden glow enveloped the book. The celestial dog barked and moving in front of Nezha, stopping him.
Yanluo stepped back just before the spell from him was ejected and smashed to pieces. An intense golden glow enveloped the room, making everyone present look away so as not to be blinded.
When the darkness and blue flames returned, Nezha and Erlang watched in amazement as the golden circle hovered over the book for a few seconds before disappearing, leaving sparks of light that died upon hitting the ground.
"Who is they?" Nezha asked, looking at Yanluo.
The god snapped his fingers and a mirror came out of the shadows, stopping behind the book. Erlang was the first to approach, looking tense and suspicious. Nezha took a look at the name in the book, then moved closer too.
The reflection in the mirror changed, moving like a liquid until it formed an image. Backwards, a person with dark brown haired was sitting on a bed as they sewed up the broken arm of a stuffed monkey.
"A...mortal?" Erlang looked at Yanluo, expected it to be a bad joke.
Someone seemed to call them, because they turned around showing his cinnamon eyes and a smile. Nezha's shoulders tensed, and he tried not to show his surprise.
A child.
"A boy human," The god speak "protected by the Emperor's Power"