||To Change a Destiny||

{~Chapter 22: The Scorpion and The Pilgrims~}

Tang blames the pepper.

Pigsy too, but mostly the pepper.

To be fair, they were trapped in the van with very limited options, with waking up Monkey King being basically the only good option they could come up with. Then Pigsy took out this ghost pepper that was ON FIRE and somehow didn't turn him into cooked pork.

"Don't worry Master! Sun Wukong will handle this demon!!"

And then they ended up here.

The golden-eyed simian kicked open the van's back door, jumping out and looking around. "Hm, guess I must've scared it off." Without looking back, he gestured to the three others in the van. "Master, it's a safe to come out now! You too, piglet."

"Master???" Tang had to admit, he felt really cool being addressed by such a high title.

Pigsy was less enthusiastic. "PIGLET?!"

Wukong groaned. "UGH, fine. Zhu Bajie. That better?"

Confused, the pig looked down at his hands, as if struck with a sense of deja vu. But then it was gone in an instant.

"Uh— what is happening right now?"

Tang rubbed the back of his head, trying to assess the situation again. "Um, Monkey Ki— Sun Wukong? Who exactly do you think we are?"

Wukong, holding up Mo, turned to the scholar with a grin. "What kinda question is that master? Unless—"

He gasped, dropping the poor blue cat. In a flash, he was right in Tang's face, shaking him by the shoulders. "Master! You've lost your memories! You have to remember who you are!"

He jabbed a finger at Pigsy. "That's Zhu Bajie, the celestial swine!"

He gestured to a dizzy Mo. "This is Sha Wujing, of the Flowing Sand River!"

He then returned to grasp the man by the shoulders. "And you are the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang! We're on a journey to retrieve sacred texts from the west! I'm your loyal companion, bound to protect you from demons who know that if they eat you, they'll become immortal!

YOU! HAVE! TO! REMEMBER!"

Getting a headache, the poor scholar could only mutter that he remembered now just to get this energetic simian to stop shaking him. Grinning widely, the amnesiac monkey went off to find his staff. Once he was gone, Tang turned to Pigsy, agitated.

"See, Pigsy?! I told you! This is exactly why you don't wake someone from a transcendental meditation! We broke the Monkey King!" He pulled out his massive notebook from thin air and opened it up to a picture of the ancient pilgrims. "He thinks he's his past self and were his old companions!"

He huffed. "If we don't find a way to get our old Monkeg King back, we're gonna be stuck with this one!"

Tang pointed to Wukong, who spotted a nearby branch.

"Ah, my trusty staff!"

Pigsy was less concerned as he crossed his arms. "So, this is just amnesia rules, right? We just bonk him on his dumb head, and boom! Back to normal."

Hearing this, Wukong turned to glare at the chef. "What'd you say, Piglet?"

Oh boy, he was getting real annoyed of that nickname now. "Piglet?! Oh, that's it!"

"Master, just say the word, and this little piggy will become a steamed ham!" Monkey King said, not tearing his gaze away.

Tang, poor guy, tried to get the two demons to settle down. "Alright, let's calm down now! No need to get carried AWAY—!" He screamed as he was suddenly yanked off his feet and dragged into the darkness.