Meeting the Truth

Everything's Fine.

Mk sat with his friends, everything was fine, they were happy, safe, and laughing right next to him.

So why did he have such a bad feeling? Like something was coming. Like something bad was gonna happen.

Why did he feel so scared? So...

Angry? Uncontrollable?

Why did he have the urge the cause chaos?

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When he arrived at Flower Fruit Mountain for training, he expected to find Monkey King waiting for him or lounging on a cloud eating peach chips.

The last thing he expected was to find him reading. (In all honesty, he thought he couldn't read at all.) 

"Monkey King, what are you doing?" Wukong turned a confused face towards Mk.

"Reading, why? Wait- do you think I can't read??" The confused face turned to offence. Mk looked away nervously.

"whaaaaaa? No! Of course not..!" His voice raised a pitch, making it clear he was lying.

Wukong huffed playfully and tackled him, laughter echoed through the mountain as the two brothers rolled in the grass before they decided to start their training.

"Okay bud, so today, were gonna work on your-" Mk waited impatiently for Wukong to finally introduce their training goal for today, maybe they're gonna work on his staff positions? Maybe another power he hasn't unlocked, or maybe-

"Meditation~!"

Mk's face immediately fell.

"What? You've gotta work on your focus, kiddo!" Mk pouted and groaned.

"Why meditation of all things? Can't we do something more fun, like, practicing shapeshifting? Or sparring? Anything but meditation!" Monkey King rolled his eyes and playfully ruffled his hair.

"Sorry bud, but not everything can be fun. Now come on, sit." Wukong pulled him to the ground and gestured for him to sit lotus style, Mk obliged.

"You know the drill, close your eyes and focus on me, let it all fade away." Mk huffed in frustration but did as his mentor said, as much as he didn't want to.

He breathed out and tried to relax, focusing and everything faded away. 

Including Monkey King?

He shot his eyes open when he couldn't feel a presence in front of him anymore. 

It was pitch black, everything was silent, only the eerie feeling of WRONG being screamed into his entire being.

Until he heard a step right behind him. He spun around.

Only to be met by a golden gaze staring deep into his soul by someone who looked so much like him, yet different. The only difference being...

They were a monkey. 

Monkey-him sat in front of him, their tail laying limp behind them, mirroring the lotus style he was in. Mk couldn't help but ask the big question.

"W-who... are you...?" His voice was a tremble, he didn't know why, he shouldn't be scared of someone who looked like him! This might just be a trick or something.

Then why did it feel so familiar?

"I'm you of course!" Other-him chirped all too happily. Mk shifted nervously from the lotus position he was in.

"What do you mean..?" He dared to ask, other-him chuckled, so empty and menacing.

"I'm the true you, the you you're too scared to face, the you you're unaware of, the you you've known all this time but refuse to acknowledge, the you you're afraid of." Mk attempted to process this information, he didn't understand, other-him was making no sense?

"And call me... Us. 'Other me' is a lame name don't you think?" Mk jumped, how did he know?

"I'm you, I know what you're thinking. Now don't try to play dumb with me, we both know you just act stupid." Mk gulped, he tried to sort through his memories to see if there's anything he could remember. Imagine his surprise when the void around him shifted and morphed. He jumped up with a yelp as Us watched him.

"Wh-what happened?!" He stuttered out, looking around at the new area he found himself in. He was on Flower Fruit Mountain staring at ANOTHER him talking to Monkey King nearby.

Us stood up and settled beside a very confused Mk. 

"What is this??" Us leaned on his shoulder, his tail swaying behind him.

"You're looking at one of your memories! You're currently in a meditation state, which allows you to view it like you're actually there!!" Us explained with way too much enthusiasm. Mk was far too confused, and he would never admit it, but scared too. He looked at Us, a question on his tongue.

"Why are you-... we, a Monkey?" Us smirked, mean and sinister.

"why don't I show you?" The world glitched, different from when he did it, now they were standing in front of a rock that looked like the depictions of the stone Monkey King was born from. The vibe he got from the memory was impending doom with a mix of suspense.

"I don't understand-" In a flash of golden light, a large woman appeared, her snake-like body that replaced her legs curled around the mountain. Mk stared slack jawed, why is this in his memories? He can't recall a single moment he has ever met this goddess-like woman, but he feels like he's seen a drawing of a person, and they're.... familiar, who was this-

"You're looking at Nuwa right now, by the way." Mk slowly turned his head towards Us. He was shocked at such a blunt statement. This was Nuwa? Why was she more... snakey than he remembered in the depictions?

He watched as Nuwa made some sort of small monkey sculpture, it looked cute, he would admit that.

He watched as she pushed it into the stone-egg with one finger. He was more confused as ever now, he'll admit that.

He watched as Nuwa looked at the egg sympathetically, he was worried, he'll admit that.

"I'm sorry, for the sacrifice that is to come, my child. Rest, and you will be awakened when it is time..."

He watched as she disappeared and the memory froze. He was connecting the dots, he won't admit that though. 

He hoped it wasn't true.

"You understand, right?" He hoped, he prayed- No.

"You understand why we're a monkey, right?" He did and he was hoping he was wrong.

"You understand that we were created by Nuwa, right?" No please no.

"You understand what we are. Don't you?" He did, he understood it all now. 

He remembered it all.

He knew.

He knew.

HE KNEW.

He's always known, hasn't he?

"See you soon, Harbinger of Chaos, Sixth Pillar of Creation."

And just like that, he opened his eyes to see Monkey King right in front of him.

"You alright, bud? You were looking a little stressed there?" Wukong asked, ignoring the fact his successor was currently trembling. He didn't feel like he should bring it up yet. Mk took a deep breath.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

Both of them knew that was a lie.