Legend of the Otherworld

Six new characters

Mantis, Crane, and Monkey looked around areas outside the city, such as the forest and the mountains. As expected, they didn't find anything special. Common folk didn't frequent these kinds of places. It would have been nice to find the humans there, but it would have been too convenient for them and the masters knew that.

"This isn't bringing us anywhere..." Mantis muttered, tired after searching for the last hour. "There's nothing here."

Crane agreed. "We don't even know if that earthquake was actually a sign."

Monkey knew how they felt: frustrated in not making any progress. He wanted to cheer them up somehow, and he trusted his abilities as a comedian to lighten the mood. There were plenty of new jokes and puns he'd thought of, telling joke after joke as the trio searched.

Mantis rolled his eyes after yet another joke from Monkey. Crane cringed as well, trying to fake his laugh, but, convincing no one.

"Tough crowd, huh?" Monkey commented. "What about this one instead? It's about—"

"Uh... I think I should check the mountains again, you know? I have to be sure. If one of them is here, it may be a problem," Crane said, eager to flee.

"Oh, okay," Monkey nodded. "Let's go together, I don't want you to go alone." his plan were going to be ruined if the group splitted.

"No, no!" Crane quickly opposed, raising some suspicion. The simian frowned, confused. Mantis frowned at the bird for being obvious. "I'll be fast! Stay with Mantis. Don't worry about me."

Monkey couldn't reply fast enough, as Crane flew off towards the mountains. Mantis glared after him, knowing the real reason why he left. "Can I ask you something?" Monkey's tone suddenly turned serious.

Mantis froze, scared that he may have caught wind of their real intentions. "What is it?" He did his best to maintain his composure.

"It's about my puns..." Monkey mused. The simian averted his gaze and scratched his knuckle idly. He was definitely bothered by their behavior.

Mantis sighed, trying to come up with a plan quickly. If only Crane hadn't left him to his own devices, because he was floundering to come up with an excuse. It felt unfair that he had to deal with this.

"You guys don't laugh anymore, unless it's a very good one," Monkey mumbled as he toyed with his fingers lazily.

Mantis sighed, lowering his pincers. He had to calm his comrade down. "Listen, Monkey... You shouldn't—"

"Is it because you're used to my hilarious comedy?" Monkey interjected, smiling. "I mean... That's the only possible explanation!"

Mantis blinked, surprised. The bug's eyes darted around without moving his head. Then, it struck him. This was the perfect excuse he had been waiting for. He decided to play along. "...So you noticed in the end."

"I knew it!" Monkey grinned, doing a fist pump. He had nailed it. "It's time to do even better!" Without another warning, he turned around and ran off, leaping through the thick trees.

"Huh?! Where are you going?!" the bug shouted, chasing after him.

"I'm heading back to the palace!" Monkey called back, swinging through the trees. "We have already checked this place twice now, and Crane is doing it again! So, we're finished, right?"

Mantis managed to catch up and landed on his shoulder. "Then we should look for the others first! Maybe they found something! It's not a good idea to go back just to say we didn't find anything!"

"Ok, hear me out. I wanted to prepare something special for you and the others, so I need to go back. I've been working on some jokes SO funny that you won't be able to breathe anymore," He proudly said of his project.