The Moon's Successor

King's And Mac's Shared Past

Unfortunately, I missed out on one scene in the previous chapter (when the Jade Emperor's power is taken), so I had to fix that by mentioning it here. In short, oopsie fixed.

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─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽Flower Fruit Mountain☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

In the middle of her story, Nezha, Macaque, MK, and Linwan had stopped and held onto themselves as a surge of energy shifted. The girl had to stop her story and take shaky breaths as her dad and the monkey with him soothed her. She really didn't like how it felt when the Emperor fell... And by the end of Linwan's story, Macaque had finished patching her up and the monkey that was with him was being stress groomed by the girl, though she remained nimble and gentle the whole time. She had even dropped the illusion magic that had hid her scar from the people within the temple. "Soooo yeah, I might be a monkey that was born just like you, even having six ears, and well... Idon'tknowwhyIdidn'tthinkofthatbeforeImean-" She got a gentle pat on her head that made her pause. "Relax, bright eyes. You know it's hard to understand you rambling that quickly." "R-right. Sorry." "It does explain some things though." He crossed his arms and leaned against one of the wooden training posts. "Yeah... I guess it does..." She looked down at the monkey in her lap with a frown, but seeing how well groomed he now was brought a smile to her face. "Oh, look at you. So handsome." The monkey chirped at her then bonked their noses and foreheads together gently. "The Harbinger of Destruction though, huh?..." "... Yeah." She glanced at Macaque, ignoring the monkey's gentle nuzzling. "That's a big title, Little Shade. You alright?" "I don't know, honestly. It's pretty scary you know? To be told you're meant to destroy everything. Even those you love and all that." He nodded softly then ruffled her hair to make her feel better, but before he could console her with more words they heard more cracking. It took a moment before they all looked up at the sky. It seemed broken and fractured, having the stars shine through it despite it being day, before fixing itself slowly with golden threads that forcefully stitched it together. "Uh... at least it's pretty?" Mei said as if to convince herself and be positive, but Pigsy just huffed. "Oh, sure. If you ignore the strong "end of the world" vibes." "The pig man is right." Ne Zha began, getting a "hm?" from both of them. "Azure underestimated the control it takes to wield the power of the Jade Emperor. If we don't stop him, that power is gonna tear this world apart. Monk, the scroll. Have you repaired it?" He looked towards Tang. "One repaired piece of magical bamboo scroll comin' up!" The scholar held up the bamboo pieces that were barely held together. That made Ne Zha yell a bit like he was Redson. "You can't be serious. There's no way that'll hold!" Sandy gave a thumbs up with a light laugh. "There ain't nothin' a bit of tape can't fix." MK held an arm out and spoke confidently. "Alrighty! Now to jump in there and find Monkey King!" Linwan gently put the monkey down and walked over, because no duh she was going. "Wait!" Mei turned MK around and spoke softly. "How do you know that Monkey King is still...?" "What? It's fine! It's Monkey King! That guy is indestructible." The young hero smiled as he spoke, like he knew it was alright. "Be that as it may, we have no idea what you'll find once you're inside. Or if this magical tape will even hold!" Ne Zha pointed at the scroll, but Sandy pitched in a bit. "Oh, it's not magical tape." Tang desperately tried to reach Sandy's mouth and shush the demon at the same time, especially once the prince glared at them. "We have to try. He'd do the same, for any of us." MK reasoned, which made Ne Zha sigh. "You're right. It's worth the attempt." MK looked at Linwan as she put a hand on her hip. "What? You're not going alone in there." He smiled a bit then let out a determined huff. "Ugh, can't believe I'm sticking my neck out for Wukong. Again." Macaque spoke as he came out of a portal with his arms crossed, sounding extra done when he spat the last word out. "Wha?! You're coming too?!" The young hero gave a surprised expression that the monkey shrugged at. "Yeah, if he's lost in broken memories from his past, then who better to tag along than someone who was there for some of it? And besides, your knowledge of the Journey to the West seems pretty selective." "He is right MK. I would know, I read some of it. Definitely not something you'd take the time to enjoy." The young hero gawked at both the shadow users before trying to make a counterargument, but sputtering a few noises out instead. To save face, he put his arms around both their shoulders and pulled them in. "You know what? Your criticism is harsh but fair. Alright, LET'S GO!" He let them go to throw both arms in the air as Tang used his powers to send the three of them into the scroll.