"Im so excited! I havent been to the movies in AGES!" MK says excitedly
"Uhh kid, this ain't a cinema." Pigsy says
"Its a shadow play, with puppets." Tang finishes.
"Really, a shadow play..?" Zhara asks, skeptical looking at the flyer.
"Huh? No its supposed to be the new monkie cop movie!" MK says confused, grabbing the flyer.
"Nevermind, all of a sudden this is better." Zhara crosses her arms.
MK grumbles before noticing the Mayor.
"Oh Mei, Isn't that the guy who gave us the weird key?"
"You mean the magic key that can unlock anything? Yeah.. im pretty sure that is him." Mei brings her fist up,
"Im also pretty sure he isn't actually mayor." The guy turns, smiling weirdly while waving.
"Eugh.. thats not creepy at all.." Tang comments, MK waves back at the guy
"Point is whatever we're watching, you've earned a break kid." Pigsy smiles.
"You have been training super hard. I can't even remember the last time we all just hung out together!" Mei sighs, "I missed this."
"So.. was Sandy just busy or..-" Tang speaks up before being cut off by MK,
"What are you talking about? We hang out all the time!"
"I think him and Sleepy are doing something." Zhara whispers to tang. Tang nods.
"Nuh-uh. girlfriend! It's always Monkey King this, or some scary skeleton thing that with you lately!" Mei crosses her arms.
"Well yeah but-"
"Just yesterday you blew off checkers night cause' you had to study. Study what, I might ask?!" Throwing checkers pieces off at him.
MK stands up, "Alright, alright! I get it! It's just, Monkey King said.." He blanks out, thinking of his encounter with the Lady Bone demon. "I- I just need to be ready." He sits back down.
"Ready for what?" Pigsy asks, as the lights dim Tang shushes pigsy. The puppeteer starts off the show, and not even a minute into it. MK squirms in his seat,
"Mei.. I just realized something,"
"What?" She whispers.
"I, I don't have snacks!"
"Kid, relax, you literally just ate!" Pigsy speaks up.
"Must get snacks!"
"Ugh, fine. Go grab some snacks." Pigsy groans. Zhara watches as he goes, debating if she wants to get up. Quickly she follows after.
She finds her brother buying... way too many snacks...
"MK, should you really be spending money like that?"
"Eh, I don't mind! Mei's gonna pay me back later anyways." He smiles as he struggles to hold all the snacks. Zhara smiles tiredly, picking up the snacks that are doomed to fall if it stays in her brothers grasp. As they walk back, they both quickly notice the others were gone. Zhara quickly moves to the seats putting down the snacks, as the lights dimz
"Where did they go?" MK asks before she could.
"I don't know, I don't think they passed us on our way back right?" Zhara questions back. MK shrugs, and she sighs. "Stay here just in case they come back, I'm gonna go look around the stadium incase they're just wandering around." MK sighs,
"Oh my dear naive sister, have you forgotten we have phones!" He smiles, Zhara laughs softly,
"Okay, you call them then." She exits to look for the others, while MK sits to watch the play instead of calling the others as he originally planned to.
—-
some random ass day
—-
"You again? You do know the plays pver right? You've been coming every day now too. A fan or something?" The puppeteer smirks. MK sighs,
"So, um, what happened to him? The Warrior?" The puppeteer laughs, "What would you like to hear? The Hero suddenly remembered his beloved friend, the Warrior? That they lived happily ever after?"
MK shakes his head, "No! No, no, no, no, no. Well, yeah, maybe. Um. Okay. I don't know why I'm telling a complete stranger this but I guess I kinda feel like the Warrior, in the story. A little. Is that dumb?" He rambles.
The puppeteer slightly smiles, "I take that as a complement, young man. The tell-tale sign of a good story. That you resonate with it so personally. But I think maybe you missed the point-" MK cuts him off, "It's like I wanna be strong and I'm tryna be, but it's like Monkey King isn't giving me a chance!" He sighs, "What if... what if he knows he made a mistake? Chose wrong. Chose the wrong successor."
"And? What if he did?" Monkey King appears next to MK where the puppeteer was standing. "Ugh. This again? Look, I know you're not really here! I've been doing what you told me to do. Believing in myself, blah blah blah. But I'm not ready for this. I can't face the Lady Bone Demon alone. I just feel so..."
The monkey king laughs, irritating MK. "If you're not gonna help just leave me alone!" He moves to punch the Monkey King just for it be caught.
"Whoa, bud. You been workin' out? You pack a bigger punch than I remember." He taunts. MK gasps as he realizes who it is,
"No. No, no, no. It's. It's you... Macaque!" Macaque laughs, revealing his form.
"The one and only! So why so glum? I've noticed that lately you've been lookin' a little down!" He says as he walks towards MK, pressuring down on the fist. MK panics,
"What are you doing here?! Oh no! I just-"
"Unloaded all your secret insecurities on me! I know! But hey, no shame in that, man. Sometimes you just gotta talk it out, y'know? I don't really do it. Maybe I should. But we'd be here all day so..."
—
why they talks sm gahdamn bru got me snoring n snoozin n allat
—
"Would you just get to the point?!" MK shouts as he tries to punch macaque with his free hand, which also ends up being caught.
"Slow down, kiddo. This is the thanks I get for checking in on my favorite student?" He smirks.
MK grunts, "I am not your student!"
"Well, with ol' Monkey King not around, I thought someone should teach you a lesson." Macaque chuckles, pushing MK to the ground.
"Ah, MK, you really are dense aren't you? You saw a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn't have to work for anything and you thought you were the other guy? The second the Hero got real power, he couldn't care less about his friends. That's you, bud." MK shakes his head,
"Me? I-I'm not like that."
"Hmm, I beg to differ, kiddo." He says as he summons the shadow version of his friends.
"Guys?"
"Oh, did you just realize they were missing? Classic hero maneuver. Maybe it's just me but these guys don't look too happy about being left in the shadow of the great Monkie Kid."
"MK?" A familiar voice calling for him, he perks up getting distracted. Shadows taking advantage of this to knock him down. Zhara enters the theater, quickly taking in whats happening and runs towards his side. "Seriously? This is where you've been when I've been looking for our-" she pauses as she notices the shadows are a replica of the same friends they've, or Zhara have been looking for.
"It's so kind of you to join us Zhara!" The monkey speaks up, as he holds the bright lantern.
She gasps, "You..!" In a way that isn't tinged with anger, but in shock. Her guard instantly drops, MK confused by this isn't given time to process everything before being toppled over by the shadows to the ground. Zhara turns her focus to the lantern, lunging at the monkey trying to grab the lantern. Who takes a step to the side, which has her missing the figure completely. She then turns, just to be kicked back into the seats, breaking a few. Suddenly, the trapped boy bursts out charging at macaque with his staff. Yelling angrily enough, macaque catches it with ease,
"You're right, that is enough." He moves the staff to the side, "You know, you really are that bit too much like him. But good to see there's some potential." ( another L)
Destroying his lantern, freeing their friends.
"Guys!" MK shouts happily.
"Wait was that-" Mei stops as MK then runs to the shadow.
"What is your deal?! Why'd you do that!" He shouts behind.
"Hm, why'd I break the lamp? Well I was gonna do that whole 'watch the hero be tormented by his own mistakes' thing but it seems like your kinda already doing that to yourself, which honestly has been an absolute pleasure to watch." He smiles.
"Y'know, I meant what I said. You really are a good kid. A good kid with a really, terrible teacher."
"I thought you were my teacher?" MK says.
"Ouh, ouch!" He says fakingly hurt by the words.
MK frowns, "It was you wasn't it? Monkey King was the Hero and the Warrior was you? Right?"
"Maybe you're not as dense as you look." As he leaves he turns back, "Something's coming. Something you're not even close to ready for. But, Don't worry. You can never have too many teachers, right?" He disappears as the group goes through the door,
Zhara first to burst out angrily,
"Where's that- Six eared bastard. Kicking me like that!" She huffs.
"Kid, explain now." Pigsy says to MK.
"Uh, okay. But we're definitely gonna need snacks." MK says
Poopoo
