Wukong landed, standing between his successor and Red Son, "I slept in for ONE day without needing a sleepover and THIS NONSENSE HAPPENS?!" The king was seething, angered by having his day of forced rest interrupted.
MK bristled, "Monkey King! This is supposed to be your rest day, remember!" Wukong huffed, "I'm aware. But I can't let him get away with that key, MK. It's dangerous." The fire demon shifted hesitantly before sparking, "I will retrieve that key!"
He lunged forward, trying to duck around the monkey. The king grabbed the fire demon, throwing him to the side. Wukong glanced around as a suspicious breeze picked up.
"I'll be taking that."
Princess Iron Fan presented herself before glancing at Wukong, a bewildered expression on her face, "What..?" It was strange, Wukong was aware of that. After all, he'd been known to be some lazy recluse. So why would he be here fighting her son?
Wukong frowned, "Back off, princess. I am not in the mood."
The wind swirled seconds later, combining with flames that surrounded the heroes. Mei lurched forward, unaffected by the flames thanks to her dragon ancestry, "CHARGE!" She rammed into Red Son, knocking him off-balance.
Wukong presented his hand, "MK, give it to me, quickly!" The boy fumbled, pressing the artifact into his mentor's palm. The king grabbed his student's arm, forcing them to duck down as a fierce wind nearly took them away.
The king stood up, using his cloud to fly forward. His fist was outstretched, ready to take down the ex-heavenly maiden. They were going to be fine! The mother and son were being defeated, which means he can prevent-!
Time slowed down.
Wukong's eyes widened as the seconds backtracked until the very moment before he was about to jump into the fight, "STOP." Wukong helplessly clawed at the building he was perched on, "I won't interfere, just please stop!"
"Remember, Sun Wukong. Some things must occur in order to keep balance. You have already changed quite a lot, but this, I'm afraid, cannot be avoided. We are sorry."
The buzzing voices faded out as time ran by again, restarting the moment MK confronted Red Son.
He watched helplessly as PIF showed up and forcefully stole the key.
Wukong numbly jumped down, staggering towards his students. Mei yelped, "Hey, you're supposed to be on 'Rest Day'!" The king shook his head, "No no no, I can't--" Panic seized him. How could it not? She would return just like last time.
Ice. It was so cold-- They hated me. I'll have to recollect the Samadhi Rings. They'll hate me. This little set up...the fact they treat me like family... It'll be over. They'll hate me-!
"Woah, hey! You'll be okay!" MK took his arm, slowly guiding Wukong inside with Mei. The monkey was trembling like a leaf. She'll use him, too. She'll use Macaque as her puppet all over again!
He tripped, dropping to his knees in front of the bar. Wukong scooted back frantically, squeezing between two stools and hiding away. The kids gawked, saying something but the buzzing in his ears blocked them out. He clamped his hands over his ears. This is shameful. I shouldn't be panicking, stop freaking out! STOP ACTING LIKE THIS. STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT-!
Soft hands pulled his own away from his head, "Shh, don't do that. You're hurting yourself."
The king shivered, peeking above his folded knees, "...M'sorry." Tang huffed a laugh, "Don't be. We all have bad days. What set you off?" Wukong hesitated, "Uhm... something bad's gonna happen." MK crouched down beside the scholar, worry etched in his face, "The key. It's the key, isn't it?"
YOU ARE READING
Try Again (InfiniteHourglass Au)
FanfictionHe's made mistakes. Some small, some absurdly daunting. But he can work through it, he can just...forget the past. Except he can't, it simply continues to haunt him. And his time in the scroll only made it worse. And then an artifact comes into play...
