#If I think about Wukong going after a way to become strong enough to defeat LBD in s2

[imminent-danger-came]

Macaque: "No that's you! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power or more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while we were ahead!"

In a moment of "I'm getting really sad about Macaque and MK parallels", I just keep thinking about how all MK's wanted to do was quit while they were ahead, but he hasn't been able too. He's been pushed and pushed and pushed at every turn. His journey "is just beginning", and "forever's a long time"—there's been no choice for things to stay the same. I wonder if truly Wukong had a choice either. "You ever wish things will just stay like this, like they are right now?" "Psshhhkkk where's the fun in that?"

[tigerseye46]

D..... if were working with 'Pigsy was Baije' then does Wukong know? Were Wukong and Baije a thing too or is that exclusively an 'in the now' thing?

I mean either way that will be FUN to find out

TW: Death, Blood and Injury

Also Season 2 spoilers

Okay so I’ve thought about this a lot-

Thank you for giving me a chance to ramble, anon. This is going to be long

So, I would like to believe Wukong finds out eventually, either through Sandy (who I’d like to think is Sha Wujing), his golden eyes or a build up of hints. Since they’re stuck together on a ship, I think he has more time to figure it out because maybe he’s never really paid attention to MK’s friends until they had to be forced together. Or he did know before that and is just hiding it extremely well.

So for the ‘were Bajie and Wukong a thing’ I believe that even if they weren’t a thing, they at least had feelings each other that they never acted on because I am also a massive Zhuhou shipper.

Either way, it’s Wukong mourning for his lost love. We get a tragedy from two sides if Bajie died (from “To Catch a Leaf, it’s very implied something happened to him), although there are as just as much angles if we got with an alternate universe where Pigsy is just Bajie in disguise which I will elaborate on further.

If Bajie and Wukong were a thing, either married or still in the dating phase, and Bajie died, Wukong knows he has just lost the person he loved the most. Bajie’s death takes place possibly years after Wukong has already sealed DBK and has given up fighting. At this point, demons are still causing havoc and Bajie, who’s maybe matured a little bit, has decided to step up and be the hero for both of them.

Bajie, as shown in the first chapter he appears in, can fight Wukong on equal grounds but usually he does get lost in his cowardice and desire (since desire is what he’s supposed to represent) although when they do need him, he’s there.

Wukong isn’t worried about him fighting because he is strong. One day, there is word about an extremely powerful demon that people are having trouble with so they need Wujing, Bajie and some other warriors to help. Wukong feels something in his gut telling him to not let his husband go but he ignores it, the pig can handle himself. He gives his husband as much kisses as he possibly can with “Do your best, idiot. I love you.” Then he pats Wujing on the shoulder and watches them leave.

He chills on his mountain, suppressing the dread that lies in his stomach and eventually, he sees the top of Wujing’s hair and thinks “Oh, they’re back. I wonder how it went. I can’t wait to shower Bajie with kisses.” He sees Wujing’s face which is a mix of sadness, guilt, grief and anger all wrapped into one. The fish demon gets closer, holding Bajie’s body in his arms, bruises and blood present, the pig isn’t moving, isn’t breathing and Wukong feels sick to his stomach.

He rushes towards them, demanding to know what happened and Wujing explains that during the attack, Bajie blocked a blow meant for Wujing, the fish demon was on the ground when the demon was about to strike him, he was on his knees, breathing heavily and his reactions too slow to fight back. The pig gets knocked to the ground where the enemy demon hits him again and is about to give another blow when some soldiers attack him. It left Wujing enough time to go over to Bajie and try to help with his injuries but the bleeding was too much for him to stop, the pig leaves some parting words and passes away.

When he finishes, Wukong says the demon better be dead or he’ll go kill him himself, Wujing says he killed the demon and Wukong growls out a “good” and goes quiet.

He takes Bajie’s body in his arms, either remaining quiet with silent sobbing mixed in or screaming his lungs out and weeping more than he has ever before. He decides to bury his husband, aware that Bajie will be reincarnated one day, he has no idea when that will be. He leaves a small “Goodbye, my love…” as the pig is buried. And it hits him that he couldn’t protect one of the people that mattered the most to him and he decides to hole himself up on his mountain with the rest of his family occasionally checking up on him, he’s too lost in his grief to care rather they’re there or not while Wujing is in lost in his anger.

Eventually they stop visiting and Wukong believes they passed on just as Bajie did so he sets up a shrine for them.

Wukong holds on to whatever he has of them left, like the courtship bracelets. He makes sure to clean those regularly, holding back sobs as he does so, he gets defensive when anyone asks what they are, no one needs to know what those are except him.

Centuries pass and he finds Xiaotian, the perfect candidate to be successor, he watches the kid carefully, mostly focusing on him, barely taking note of the people around the kid.

So he trains him, hardly leaving his mountain, he doesn’t need to after all. Being around the kid brings him more joy than he’s felt in years but he still misses his family like crazy so he has the kid destroy the mural. It’s a painful reminder of what he has lost.

New Years comes around and we know how that whole thing goes, at the end, when Wukong is near MK’s friends, getting a closer look than he ever has before, maybe he realizes those are his family. He questions, did Tripitaka and Wujing reincarnate as well? An overwhelming feeling pops up in his chest at seeing them after so many years. When he gets a glimpse of Pigsy, he thinks “Oh my gods. That’s him. That’s my husband. He’s here, he’s alive… but he isn’t my husband, not anymore” and Wukong has got to get out of there before it becomes too much so he leaves.

And he suppresses all of it because he has bigger things to worry about.

Then at the last moment, when he finally has what he needs to defeat WBS, he flies just in time to see the kid lose to WBS and he pulls him out of there. Then he gets scolded by the man he once loved, still loves and he knows his husband the pig demon is right.

He tries to convince the others that they shouldn’t go, they’re mortal after all but they refuse and he has to bring them along. Now he and his family’s reincarnations are stuck in close quarters and he wants to get close to them again, he does but he doesn’t deserve it. He let the person he loved die and Pigsy doesn’t think that highly of him anyway so it’s better he just stay away as much as he can. Yet he’s still so hopelessly in love and he tries everyday to not wrap Pigsy in a hug and apologize, the same goes for the rest of his family.

Wujing, I mean Sandy, notices the king’s mood and asks what’s wrong where the king pushes him away, explaining how it’s none of his business. When Sandy tries to push further, Wukong shouts at him how the demon has probably never lost family and Sandy stays silent then explains how he lost a brother. And it hits Wukong, this is Wujing, actually Wujing, not some reincarnation and they hug and sob, maybe the others catch them and they don’t explain.

They’re all each other has and they cling to each other with the others questioning their new found closeness and Pigsy feels a twinge of jealousy but he has no idea why. Wukong tries to connect with Bajie while maintaining his distance because it still hurts way too much.

Now to explain, what happens if they weren’t an item. So, basically the same thing happens with Bajie’s death except they think something happened to Wukong since they couldn’t find him after he sealed DBK. Again demons are still popping up like crazy, taking advantage of the fact that the king is no longer around.

So Bajie steps up, gaining a more responsible attitude and despite, rumors spreading that the king dies, he ignores them as he believes Wukong will return one day. He gets extremely irritated when people say Wukong died or abandoned them. The same thing happens where he bleeds and dies, leaving Wujing, Bái Longma/Ao Lie and possibly Tripitaka, if he hasn’t reincarnated, to mourn (using this angle for a fic I’m working on).

Obviously Wukong thinks they’re dead and again, possibly at New Years, the king finds his family’s reincarnations and questions what happened, feeling a good amount of guilt for leaving them.

Then while they’re all stuck on the ship together or some other thing, Wujing reveals that he is still the same person and admits what happened to Bajie which just grows Wukong’s guilt and he has to stay away from everyone for a few days.

I would imagine he tries to respectfully maintain his distance from Pigsy while also trying to get closer, possibly sticking to him like a puppy. Again, does he really have the right to be near him? Because he left them and it could have been preventable if he just stayed.

The pig has no idea why the king sticks to him sometimes, he finds he doesn’t really mind it for some reason?? Also it’s easy for him to keep an eye on the king and makes sure he takes care of himself. And the king is kinda cute, he’ll admit. Wukong calls Pigsy little nicknames in his head a lot.

Wukong falls deeper in love with Pigsy, noting that no matter what life he takes on, he still loves him. Very much so and he doesn’t know how to tell him about who he once was.

In either sides, should he tell Pigsy this? Does he have a right to see Pigsy? Does he have the right to see any of them? It hurts to watch his family go on without him, but they’re happy, right? He shouldn’t interfere with their lives more than he already has. They don’t deserve that. On both, there is tragedy, longing and mourning and Wukong feeling guilty for so many reasons.

And we have the third take, the universe where Pigsy is Bajie in disguise.

Pigsy mourns Wukong like the king mourns him. Wukong is one of the few people that Pigsy has ever truly loved and vice versa. They miss each other like crazy, believing the other is dead and wishing they could talk to each other once again.

They wish they could have said something to each other, confess their feelings and maybe it would have changed something. Maybe the other would have stayed alive and well. While Pigsy’s working, sometimes it hits him that it’s better that he never said anything, after all, he isn’t Wukong, he’s not a hero, he doesn’t consider himself one. He was a slacker, a coward who did everything to cause problems and does Wukong really need someone like that in his life? Maybe that’s why he left. Pigsy ignores his good qualities from when he went by Zhu Bajie because he doesn’t think he has any good qualities.

The monkey would have rejected him, no doubt about that so it’s better he never admitted his feelings.

Time passes and he takes in Xiaotian, the kid can be good at his job, but annoyingly distracted. The kid is a big fan of the Journey to the west and a part of him feels joy as hearing someone so close to him enjoy the adventures but it’s also another reminder about all his stupid actions. Especially when Tang likes to point out his past mistakes to tease him for always getting them in trouble.

And one day, he sends MK on another delivery because he should really be working instead of listening to those stories. And what’s this, a bad review? Okay, Xiaotian needs to explain this! Where is he?

He’s about to scold him when Xiaotian reveals the staff and no, no, no, no, that can’t be Wukong’s. It just can’t be. Laugh, Pigsy, the kid must have just found a cheap imitation.

Then the kid accidentally breaks the table with it and oh my gods, it’s Wukong’s.

And Pigsy takes them to Sandy. MK believes that Wukong will be there and could the king be there? Yes, it is his home but they haven’t heard a word from him, the pig still believes Wukong is dead. There’s a small ray of hope that the king is alive.

Somehow, Tang and Sandy manage to convince Pigsy to go with the two. He grumbles about it and inside it hurts to go to the home of the man you once loved, still love, knowing that he won’t be there.

Then the fight with Princess Iron Fan happens and Pigsy believes he lost his kid as well.

And it turns out that Xiaotian is fine, thankfully. When Mei asks if MK managed to find Wukong and MK says yes, that cements it, he’s alive. And he never visited them. He tries to not clench his fists in anger and watches as the kid fights DBK.

His kid, the one he thought was dead, is now Wukong’s successor. The king let him believe that Xiaotian was dead, stupid monkey.

That night, he goes on and on to Sandy and Tang about how he hates Wukong, that’s a lie, and how the king should have told him he was okay. He manages to convince them that they shouldn’t see Wukong. If he wanted to visit them, he would have done so.

Life goes on with the pig hearing little things about what the king is doing from Xiaotian, his chest aches. He wants to punch the king in his handsome face and he is so tempted to charge up onto that mountain and do so but he holds off.

And he kinda wonders why the king left. And a thought crosses his mind, maybe it was because of him. Maybe the king didn’t want to be around him any longer and decided to leave. He knows how bad he was in the past so the king probably had enough and decided to go.

Maybe Xiaotian decides to finally introduce Wukong to his favorite people, he’s heard some thing and the kid convinces him to do so. And he meets them and they remind him of his family because they are his family including the person he loved, loves most in the world. Either Wukong knows they’re the originals or believes they’re reincarnations and how they’re so close yet so far.

Wukong yearns for that closeness once again especially with Bajie, the pig who has captured his heart even with their differences and he tries to impress Pigsy a little. Pigsy tries to keep the monkey at arms length, he is not having his heart broken again, that monkey is not getting close to his family.

And yes, I made this insanely long. Thanks to whoever reads this.

[skellebonez]

Monkie Kid Headcanons Part 2: Red Son and Demon Bull Family Backstory

Follow up to this post, with a lot more heavy thinking needed this time. Since these characters technically had backstories in Journey to the West, I wanted to really think over how to work those into what we have in the show (even though it kinda doesn’t 100% work and is really messy if you overthink it since the show throws some stuff to the wayside). This took me multiple days to work out so I hope it at least makes sense.

Warning: This one actually gets very VERY dark with emotional and psychological abuse detailed in the later half, so I am putting all of these under a read more. Seriously. I want you to be aware of this before you click that button. Do not ignore this warning please.

I PROMISE that part 3 will be a lot less heavy. I just wanted to get this out so I could finally move on from it.

First, gonna preface this with the fact we all know Monkie Kid is not 100% accurate to Journey to the West. Characters that are supposed to be dead are alive after all, and Red Son’s existence in the show itself in particular kinda makes no sense when I overthink about him. Red Boy is evil in his first appearance, but comes back redeemed way later in the novel (and with his name changed to that of an actual deity who had already existed outside of JTTW with a completely different backstory).

In reality, JTTW is fiction based on historical events and Monkie Kid is made to be a kid’s show and was never going to be accurate to the novel. Not even adaptations of JTTW are. So basically, I headcanon this: in the show, JTTW the novel exists as a highly accurate and very important piece of historical novelization (a non-fiction novel). But like most examples of real non-fiction novels (like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood), it is not entirely accurate and there are bits and pieces that do not line up. It is, however, incredibly close to 98% accuracy and anyone in it who reads it is impressed.

That being said, Red Son did study with Guanyin for quite a few years (though he was not entirely redeemed like his book counterpart, he was getting there). He actually did learn a lot and was pretty darn happy to be under her teaching at the time. Mostly because he didn’t know what was going on outside...

Unfortunately, later portions of JTTW confirm that Red Son being taken... completely ruined Monkey King and Demon Bull King’s friendly relationship. So that, combined with other events in the Fiery Mountains, it is incredibly likely that is why DBK was so bent on ruling and taking out Wukong for good. He wanted revenge for a lot of stuff Monkey King did.

Before we get into the depressing stuff, I personally headcanon that DBK was actually just. Dead. Completely dead. That is why he went from being covered in floof to being big buff body builder man. Hair does not grow back when you are dead. Removing the staff completely revived him. I needed a silly weird headcanon in here ok?

Since Princess Iron Fan calls him her husband, not her ex-husband as he had divorced her to be with Princess Jade Face in JTTW, I think they either reconciled at some point or PJF... didn’t exist? Since LMK is a kid’s show the later is more likely... but this is my headcanon. Given her personality in the show and book I think it is possible that they mutually divorced due to losing Red Son, DBK remarried, then realized he still loved PIF and wanted to go back to her and she took him back.

We don’t actually know much about PJF so... uh... I like to think she was shockingly chill about it and is just living comfortably somewhere else now. And never wants to see Monkey King again. I hope she is living her best fox spirit life.

Also unfortunately, DBK did not stand a chance and when he was sealed it took a major toll on PIF. She was left alone, her renewed husband either trapped or dead under a mountain and her son kinda sorta still arrested by a deity. This made her more distant to everyone and a lot more cold.

When news of what happened to his father reached Red Son, he pleaded with Guanyin to be allowed to leave her teaching to stay with his mother. He knew what isolation felt like and did not wish for her to feel the same any longer. Guanyin trusted her disciple and allowed him to return to his mother permanently, if he desired. Alone.

This was a mistake. Oh boy was this a mistake. Heaven should have either sent someone else completely or had someone accompany Red Son to PIF to help her because this one decision is why everything in show happens.

At first things go pretty well. PIF is definitely in need of support, but she is ecstatic to see her son again. And that lasts. For a while. Until she starts to project onto Red. She starts to blame him for being captured, for not being strong enough to take out Wukong when he had the True Samadhi Fire, for not being there to keep DBK from leaving her, for not being there to help his father fight Wukong a second time. Everything is Red Son’s fault now.

This simmers for a while before it starts to come forth to the surface. She starts being colder and more distant and giving Red little jabs in their conversations. She says them so sweetly it always takes Red a second to register what she says. 

“Oh Red Son, if only your father were here to see this. Too bad you weren’t there to save him.” “I love you my son, even if you can be useless at times.” “Princess Jade Face would have loved you I bet, but you were far too busy with the celestials to visit. I understand.”

This starts to wear Red down after a while, until he starts to believe his mother. He WASN’T there when he father was defeated, he COULD have taken care of Wukong, he WAS the reason his father left his mother. She was as warm and loving to him as she was when he was a small child when he came back but now? Now she’s as cold to him as anyone else.

She is never outright physically abusive, that is below her in her mind. But other things? Like not having his meals prepared along side hers? Insulting him as casually as saying the sky is blue? Pointing out every mistake he makes when writing or working on a project? Taking his things and “losing” them, only to “find” them days later in a place she told him to look and telling him he needs to be more careful? “Mistakenly” locking Red Son in his room and ignoring his yells and pleas to be let out? Those are on the table.

And this is when he becomes obsessed with getting back in her good graces and starts to push aside his teachings from Guanyin. He just wants his mother back.

His mother does not come back... but his old self does.

Guanyin does not learn of this until long after it is impossible to convince Red Son to leave his mother. She has the kneejerk reaction to just take him back by force but... for some reason she does not. She lets him stay. Perhaps she does not want to make the wrong decision again. Perhaps she feels she taught him everything she could. No one really knows. She does not discuss this.

After a while PIF does lessen her emotional and psychological abuse, once she is certain Red Son will never leave her. She even starts to treat him nicely, like her son who she always loved, like a mother again, even praises and defends him from others again (and Red Son eats it up because this is exactly what he wanted and just fuels his determination to prove himself and stay in her good graces). And at the time the show begins she has come to terms with the fact Red Son was not, in fact, at fault for anything and even regrets this portion of her life.

Make no mistake, however, her treating him less bad, even well at times, now does NOT in any way absolve her of how she treated him in the past. She is still abusive and she has done nothing that could truly set anything right. She still calls him things like “her sweet useless boy” and pulls shit like the racing episode. It’s not really any better. It’s just not actively as bad as it used to be at the moment.

DBK in show did not notice how PIF had changed because in the pilot he was too distracted with being revived and as the show went on he was too distracted with the power of the White Bone Spirit calling to him.

Upon a rewatch he actually seems to be under WBS’s thrall multiple times before episode 10, such as the racing episode where we can clearly see his eyes glowing with possession blue, and I think this affected his personality a bit. Not much, I think he was still neglectful and cold to Red Son from the get go, but WBS probably exacerbated the worst parts of his personality long before taking over completely.

But I think he sure does notice NOW that the thrall no longer has him. Whether or not he does anything about this is up in the air, however. It is entirely possible he falls fully into neglect and does nothing to stop anything.

Red Son knows, very deep down, that his father is neglectful and his mother is abusive. He knows. He just won’t admit that not even demons are like this to their children. Won’t admit that he doesn’t deserve it, that he never deserved it. Because he loved his mother deeply before he left. He loved her when she convinced him he did. And he still loves her, and his father. He’s stubborn. He doesn’t want to give up on that.

It is going to take a LOT for someone to show him that he deserves better. But having his father back has not been everything he had hoped it would be and now... now it may be possible for someone to reach him. At least convince him that SOMETHING needs to change.

[jadethest0ne]

In need of Refueling, Chapter 6 - Back-up

Summary:  “You?! Why would I trust you? You have brought me nothing but failure. Time and time again; nothing but disappointment!”

His father’s words might have been a result of his possession by the White Bone Spirit, but whether or not they were his true thoughts, Red Son vows to prove them wrong. To do so he seeks to attain a power strong enough to destroy his father’s immortal enemy. After all, he’d much rather throw fire at his problems.

Word Count: 1548

Ratings/Warnings:  Teen and up; injury, burns, angst and hurt/comfort, toxic thoughts caused by toxic parents, Panic Attacks (this one was just added)

Notes: I'm not sure if it was clear or obvious, but I'm writing this story as if this is all the characters' first in-person encounter with The True Fire of Samadhi - including Wukong. I know many people include The Fire in his backstory, but I'm creating a kind of canon-divergent timeline for this story - both for LMK and JTTW. At the very least, I'm keeping Wukong's backstory ambiguous since we don't know much about how LMK will interpret it. 

Credits: Big thanks to @painted-arachnid and @simplyfornardo  for helping me bounce ideas off of them. And also thanks to @lemonsqueazie for providing me with “Journey to the West” lore. I don’t know much about the original novel or other iterations, but I still tried to keep some things compliant with the lore. You should check all of them out, since they’re really great content creators with neat ideas!

Read on AO3

———-

MK sees the fire begin to consume the Monkey King. He tries to say something to his mentor. Plead. Shout. Anything. But no words come out. His breath is knocked out of him as Monkey King does some weird motion with his arms, and suddenly MK is thrown through the air at a rapid speed. There’s a ringing in his ears and he feels wetness on his cheeks. The ringing becomes louder, until he realizes that it is his own voice yelling. Another voice breaks through the noise.

“Kid!”

Monkey King? MK thinks; hopeful.

“Kid!” the voice repeats. “MK!”

MK blinks the tears out of his eyes and sees a pink chubby snout cross his vision.

“...Pigsy?”

The noodle shop owner breathes a sigh of relief, but his face is still shadowed with deep concern. “MK! Are you okay?! What happened?!”

Mr. Tang’s bespectacled head pops into view. “We found you in a crater in front of the noodle shop. It’s a wonder you are still alive,” he says pushing his glasses up his nose, reflected light blinking off of them.

“Yeah! It was a pretty epic crash!” MK’s heart lightens a bit further, seeing his best friend, Mei join the other two.

But anxiety once again takes hold of his heart. ‘What happened?’ MK leaps out of what he now recognizes as his bed, nearly butting heads with Pigsy, who was hovering closest to him. He wobbles on his feet, head swimming slightly, having gotten up too fast. Pigsy helps steady him, and MK grasps at the pig’s shirt. “Monkey King! He-he’s in trouble! I gotta- I gotta help! He-- Red Son came! DBK has him-- I -- I think- he’s hurt! He tried to protectmeandI I- gotta- I need to go--.” The words spill out too fast. He’s not sure he’s making sense. Everything seems to spin together and it feels like his whole body is buzzing with energy. His breath hitches and he feels like he’s choking--

“Hey there, MK! Slow down. Breathe!” Mei puts both of her hands on either side of his face and gently pulls his head so only she is in view. She places her hands over his ears, filling them with a soft static sound.  Her eyebrows are tilted in concern, but her smile and voice are carefree and calm. He focuses on the muffled white noise and on her.

MK takes a couple of fast, hiccupy breaths, before he begins to breathe deeper, and slowly calms down. Mei waits a few beats before taking away her hands and asking, “Can you tell us what happened, but slower this time? We’re here for you, dude!”

MK blinks a couple of times and pulls in a longer, deeper breath before nodding slightly. He wipes away the wetness under his eyes and begins.

“I- I saw Red Son. He- he was going to Flower Fruit Mountain. And he wanted to get to the Monkey King. He-- he had this weird new power. He said he wanted to defeat Monkey King and bring him to DBK.”

“Beat the Monkey King?!” Pigsy gave an incredulous look. “He couldn’t have been serious!”

MK shivers a bit at the memory. “Yeah, but he was different this time! The fire he had was blue, and was really strong. He-- I-- I got in the way, and Monkey King-- I think he got the Monkey King-- Why would he send me away like that if it weren’t serious!” MK’s breaths come quicker, but before he can start hyperventilating, Mr. Tang puts a grounding hand on his shoulder and squeezes slightly to get MK to focus on him.

MK looks to the scholar who has an unreadable expression. He asks cautiously, “Can you describe the power he had? That blue fire?”

“Um…” MK tries to focus on what it was like and not on his last view of it as it swirled around his mentor. “It-- it was blue,” he repeats. “It lit the beach - the water on fire! The Monkey King could ward it off, but not put it out.”

“What was it called? Did it have a name?” the scholar prods.

MK nods as he recalls Red Son shouting a name out loud. “The True Fire of… somebody…?”

“The True Fire of Samadhi?” Mr. Tang prompts.

MK nods more vigorously. “Yeah! That was it!”

“Hmm…” Mr. Tang puts a hand over his mouth, eyebrows knit together. “That actually may be a real problem.”

“How?” Pigsy asks. “The Monkey King’s immortal, ain’t he? And MK said he could repel it. How could fire hurt someone like dat?”

Mr. Tang sighs, lips pursed as he chooses his words carefully. “The True Fire of Samadhi is not a natural fire. Like MK said, it can’t be extinguished by normal methods. And…” He hesitates with his next words, eyes flicking over to MK and back to Pigsy. “And… it’s one of the few things that could potentially cause harm to an immortal like the Monkey King.”

The silence that follows is almost too much. Or maybe there wasn’t silence and MK had just stopped hearing. So he was right. The Monkey King was in trouble and--

“It’s my fault,” MK whispers. He can feel the other three staring at him. He forces his gaze downward. Tears build up and drip at his feet. “It’s my fault!” he says more loudly. “I let Red Son trick me into leading him there! I distracted Monkey King! I got in the way, and he- he took a hit for me! If it weren’t for me then-”

“Then Red Son would’ve found another way to get to him,” a gruff voice finishes sternly.

MK looks up to Pigsy, tears still dripping. “But- but I got in the way. If I hadn’t been there, if it hadn’t been for me-”

“Then we wouldn’t have this information to help the Monkey King now.” Pigsy again, does not let him finish that train of thought. He gives MK a determined but gentle gaze. “It is NOT your fault MK. And we ARE gonna do somethin’ about this! Together!”

“Right!” Mei chimes in, wrapping an arm lightly around MK’s upper back, not quite grasping, but letting him know it’s there. “If the Monkey King is in trouble, we’re going to help him get out of trouble!”

“Tang, you got any more info on dat fire?” Pigsy turns to the scholar.

“I’ll have to dig out some old books and scrolls, but I’m sure I do,” Mr.Tang affirms.

“Good! We can also get some back-up from Sandy.” Pigsy turns to Mei. “Mei, you stay here with MK, while we get the big guy!”

Mei nods in response.

MK’s nerves settle a bit at the support from his friends, but a pit of fear still bubbles in his stomach. “I can’t let you guys do that! What if the fire gets you, too! I have to--”

“YOU will stay here,” Pigsy points a stern finger at MK, “and wait until we get back. We’ll go together to DBK’s lair.”

MK shrinks a bit under the intense glare of his boss. But Pigsy’s face and voice soften. “We’re not gonna let you do this alone. And I am not gonna let you get hurt by that fire either. Okay?”

MK’s shoulders sag in defeat, but he nods.

“Good! Now sit here until we get back,” Pigsy says, guiding him to sit back on the bed, before leaving with Mr. Tang.

It’s difficult for MK to just stay there and sit down. His body still feels like it is buzzing. He needs to move, to do something. As he watches his two pseudo-caretakers leave, he only becomes more anxious; not only with the worry from before, but with the dread of waiting. The energy bubbles up and he squeezes the edge of his bed with enough strength to cause the wood to crack. But he pays no mind to that. The Monkey King could be in DBK’s clutches already. He needs to go. Now! Seconds before he feels as if he’s going to literally shoot out of his seat, the mattress shifts as the weight of his friend sitting next to him is lifted.

“What are you doing?” MK asks the girl.

Mei simply strolls over to the window, opens it, and puts one foot on the ledge leading out to the fire escape.

“You are obviously going to go after him on your own. So I’m coming with. Duh!” She looks at him like it’s the clearest thing in the world. Which, to be honest, it is.

“I can’t let you do that,” MK attempts, but he knows it is a losing battle.

Mei knows this, too and gives him a smirk. “Come on. Either I make sure you stay here like Pigsy says, or I’m coming with you. And since you’re going to go either way, I’m definitely not leaving your side. Ever.” Mei hardens her gaze, all the while keeping a playful smile around her lips.

MK can’t help but smile back. “All right, let’s do this.” He gets up off of the bed and joins her by the window.

“Together!” Mei holds up a hand.

MK grasps it in his own. “Together!”

They both leap out of the window.

start || <– previous // next –>

[imminent-danger-came]

Can we take a moment to appreciate how many hats SWK manages to keep crammed on his head in lmk?

That man was doomed by the narrative, is mourned by the narrative, is and was haunted by the narrative AND is haunting the narrative, all at the same time! And lmk isn’t his story, and he doesn’t think of it as his story, and he doesn’t want it to be his story, but it’s also exactly his story, just a little to the left, and he is trying to remove himself from this new story, but also can't escape it because this isn't his story but also it is, and he's taking steps to ensure this don’t end up like his story, and is accidentally contributing to problems that are making it like his story all over again as a result. What a character!

To quote Anne Carson,

"To live past the end of your myth is a perilous thing".

I think, strangely enough, most characters in Lego Monkie Kid are living past the end of their myth (jttw). You have Wukong who is the only original pilgrim still alive and around, you have Tang, Mei, Pigsy, and Sandy who are all reincarnations of the pilgrims (supposedly), and then you have all the antagonists who try and continue their stories in their own way. DBK was freed from under the mountain, almost killing his wife and son in his continued pursuit of world domination. LBD escaped her prison early, continuing her plan for a perfect world which ended in her defeat, her end. Spider Queen refused to accept the end of her empire, and ultimately was killed by LBD for it. Azure Lion had been sealed in the scroll, and after being released immediately tried to continue his rebellion, his hubris, martyrdom, and refusal to change becoming his downfall.

I think in Wukong's own way, he does something similar—falling into old habits and becoming his own undoing. His search for the samadhi fire was exactly what Macaque was upset about in the 4x11 argument:

"You're the one always running off! Searching for more power, or more sources of immortality: you're the one who wouldn't quit while we were ahead!"

MK earlier in the special makes the point "Why didn't he just stop, right here? He was already so much stronger than anyone ever needed to be." to which Macaque replies, "Wukong didn't think so, he always thought he had to be stronger—more immortal." And that's what he does in s2 isn't it? He still isn't strong enough. He can't defeat LBD, so he has to go find the power that will make him strong enough to do just that—and Wukong finds the samadhi fire. Which in turn leaves MK behind, and has him relive his life's story again.

Like, this dude is CRAZZZYYYY

[jadethest0ne]

In need of Refueling, Chapter 7 - Disappointment

Summary:  “You?! Why would I trust you? You have brought me nothing but failure. Time and time again; nothing but disappointment!”

His father’s words might have been a result of his possession by the White Bone Spirit, but whether or not they were his true thoughts, Red Son vows to prove them wrong. To do so he seeks to attain a power strong enough to destroy his father’s immortal enemy. After all, he’d much rather throw fire at his problems.

Word Count: 2578

Ratings/Warnings:  Teen and up; injury, burns, angst and hurt/comfort, toxic thoughts caused by toxic parents, Panic Attacks, Abuse (this one also just added)

Notes: This is the chapter in which Red Son realizes that he messed up. Also, fun fact! I looked it up and the exact name for the power of DBK's armor is called "ergokinetic absorption!"

Credits: Big thanks to @painted-arachnid and @simplyfornardo  for helping me bounce ideas off of them. And also thanks to @lemonsqueazie for providing me with “Journey to the West” lore. I don’t know much about the original novel or other iterations, but I still tried to keep some things compliant with the lore. You should check all of them out, since they’re really great content creators with neat ideas!

Read on AO3

———-

Red Son brings the defeated Monkey King to his family’s lair. He carelessly deposits the unconscious body just outside the Flaming Foundry, but finds himself hesitating before entering. Right, this is a big moment. He had subdued his father’s greatest enemy. Maybe he should think of some grander, more dramatic way of presenting the Monkey King to his father. Maybe he should do some grand fire display, part the fire like curtains, and take some sort of bow? Perhaps that was a bit too flashy? Or not flashy enough? You certainly don’t casually go up to the great Demon Bull King and plop his greatest enemy down in front of him? Do you? What would his father like the most? Red Son finds himself pacing back and forth in front of the entrance mulling these things over. A few sparks of fire spout unbidden from his hair and fists. He tries to quell the flames, but they seem to rebel at his thoughts. Between his mutterings and attempts to reign in the fire, he doesn’t notice the figure that approaches him until his thoughts are interrupted by a booming voice.

“Red Son, what are you muttering about this time?!” growls the Demon Bull King.

“F--father!” Red Son squeaks out. He hadn’t even noticed that he had been talking out loud. He wonders how much his father had heard. Well, might as well lean into it. He straightens up pulling a confident smile on his face, and twirls around letting out a little bit of fire to spiral in his display. The flames sputter a bit, as if mocking his half-hearted attempt at bravado, but he grins through it. “Hello Father! I am here to present to you, your greatest foe!” He skirts out of the way and makes some tiny fireworks around his prize. “The Monkey Ki---”

“Sun Wukong?!” DBK says in surprise.

“Uh, er, ye-es!!” Red Son falters a bit at being interrupted. “You see, father, I brought him here for you!”

DBK comes closer and starts inspecting the Monkey King. He blinks and shifts his attention to his son. “You?!” he says incredulously. “You can’t be serious?! Is he… dead? How? He is immortal!”

Red Son quickly corrects, “Not dead, no! I spared him for you father! I defeated him and brought him here to deal with as you wish! And I beat him... with this!”

Red Son quickly summons some blue fire to his palm. “The True Fire of Samadhi! It can’t be extinguished unless I put it out! I’ve got him immobilized with it!” Red Son says, proudly puffing out his chest.

DBK looks Red Son up and down, narrows his eyes, and huffs out a snort. “You really did this for me?”

Red Son’s confident pose wilts ever so slightly at his father’s tone, filled with suspicion. “Of-- of course, father!”

A large shadow crosses over Red Son’s slowly shrinking form as DBK towers over him menacingly. “Or did you do this for yourself?”

Red Son’s voice involuntarily goes up an octave. “I, um... am not sure what you mean.”

DBK lets out a humorless chuckle. “Are you sure you didn’t just do this to try to prove your dwindling worth? Because how can you think that this is something I’d want? Wukong is someone that I want to defeat. Myself. Defeating him like this, in such a sorry state? Do you not think I could face him at full power myself?!”

“That- that’s not what I meant at all, father! I-I…” Red Son is now cowering underneath the angry stare of his father. “True, I did want to show my... my usefulness! But, I only wanted to help--”

“Oh please, my boy!” Princess Iron Fan appears from behind DBK with both of her arms behind her back. He hadn’t noticed her presence. She looks over all three of them with an air of pompous derision. “It is poor form to defeat someone else’s mortal enemy!”

DBK gives a nod and a grunt and stares harshly down at his son. “You continue to be such a disappointment to me, Red Son.”

Red Son’s breath momentarily catches in his throat. He stares down at the ground, his mind gone blank. He doesn’t know what to do; what to say. The words alone stung, but the pure derision in his father’s voice hurt more than expected. How had he messed up so bad?

“I--I--” Red Son has to swallow to clear his ever tightening throat. “How-- can I make this up to you, father?”

“Hmmm,” DBK lets out a thoughtful grumble.

“Well, we can’t very well just let the Monkey King go!” Princess Iron Fan says thoughtfully. “We can’t let this opportunity go to waste. It might not be the way you wanted, dearest, but we can still rid ourselves from our biggest threat!”

DBK nods sagely. “I suppose so. But I would rather have a fairer fight with him. Red Son, can you put out the flames, so he can at least wake up and defend himself? There is no pride in this.” He gestures at the unmoving form of his enemy.

“Of-- of course, father!” Red Son frantically tries to concentrate to extinguish the flames that are still burning on the Monkey King’s side. He tries to take a deep breath, but he’s still reeling from his father’s words. Was he really doing this to prove himself? No, he really wanted to be useful to his father. But was that selfish? His father seems to think it is. The fire doesn’t go out, and instead flickers and burns brighter eliciting a shout of pain from Wukong. “Wait, wait, I- I just need to--” Controlling the flames was suddenly harder. Why did he think he could impress his father this way? With fire that he could barely control! Maybe it would have been better if it had been his father who-- Suddenly a thought crosses his mind, and as it did, the flames died down slightly. The idea was kind of scary, but maybe it would be a way to make this whole mess up to his father.

He looks to his father with a sudden seriousness, readying himself for what he’d say next. “I think I know how to make this up to you father…”

DBK gives him a puzzled look, but says nothing allowing him to go on.

“What if I gave you the Samadhi Fire? You can absorb it with the armor I gave you. That way you can be the one who wields the fire.”

A grin spreads across DBK’s face. “Yes… YES!” he says triumphantly! “That is a great idea!” Red Son feels a flutter in his chest that maybe he finally was able to provide something that his father approves of. Something to finally aid him, give him the tools he needs for destruction! Who better to wield the fire than his own father, after all?

As if to echo his thoughts, DBK says, “After all, I’d be able to wield the fire with much more skill than you, surely. My more powerful body would be able to handle it more.”

Red Son’s smile wobbles a bit. True, he had that exact same thought, but hearing his father say so makes something in this chest tighten. He brushes that feeling away, and situates himself proudly in front of DBK, ready and willing to give him the power that his father deserved!

“Anything for you, father!” Red Son says proudly, confidently. Despite the fire inside him resisting, as if recoiling at his command, he summons the fire to his palms and pushes outward as DBK activates his armor’s absorption abilities.

At first, the flames go in smoothly and calmly. Then Red Son feels a tug, he feels almost like he needs to take a step forward, as the fire is pulled with more force into DBK’s chest-plate. But that’s okay, any discomfort that he feels is fine. He wanted this and it will help his father. So he buckles down and pushes out more flames for his father to absorb. The technology that Red Son made for DBK is strong though, and the pull gets more and more powerful. It’s starting to feel uncomfortable, almost...draining. Red Son has to tell himself to not slouch. But he feels a small sense of relief as the flames finally change from blue to red, and he knows that his father has absorbed everything of the True Fire of Samadhi.

However, the pull on his flames does not stop.

“Wait… father…?” Red Son starts to protest. “You’re finished, you can stop, now…?”

But DBK doesn’t seem to have any intention of stopping. Blue flames swirl in his eyes, obscuring his vision. He growls angrily, almost as if he is in pain. “Such… power! So much!”

Something must be wrong. Red Son tries to put out his flames, tries to disconnect the path as his fire leads to the center of the armor. But he can’t. His fire keeps getting yanked in that direction and the feeling of weakness, of being drained, becomes stronger. He bends over, tired, his eyelids are threatening to slip shut. “Father… stop… please!” he begs, the sudden bout of weakness preventing him from thinking straight, all pretense of being a strong and proud son lost. His fire keeps getting drained away and he can’t stop it.

Princess Iron Fan steps in and lays a hand on DBK’s arm. “Dearest, you are behaving strangely. Stop that now.” DBK spins around, waving her off harshly. She has to step back and take up a defensive position. However, this movement seems to be enough to finally break the chain of fire that is being absorbed into DBK’s center, finally releasing Red Son from the pull.

With no more forces in play, Red Son leans forward and his knees wobble dangerously, nearly bringing him to the ground. His eyes droop tiredly and his entire body feels like jelly. A chill goes up and down his spine as he realizes that he’s suddenly very cold. He hugs his middle as if to try to keep any heat from escaping. His brain doesn’t really want to work and everything just feels wrong. He becomes aware of a prickling sensation on the back of his neck, and he sluggishly turns his head to look. The sensation moves and he realizes that it is his hair, which usually sticks upright, that is tickling the back of his neck. Before he can ponder that, his focus is drawn to yelling.

It is his father. DBK is shouting angrily, eyes literally ablaze with blue fire, and flames spouting from his mouth. He seems almost feral, rabid. It’s similar to how he was with the White Bone Spirit possessing him. He breathes flames around with no direction in mind; wild and unfocused. Princess Iron Fan has to jump out of the way of some of the blasts.

“It’s too much! Too much power! I can’t--- It burns! Everything burns! Everything else must burn!” DBK shouts. His eyes focus on Red Son. “YOU!” he snarls.

DBK stalks close to Red Son, who can’t do anything but stand there on unsteady feet and just wait for what is to come. Princess Iron Fan tries to jump in close to stop him, but DBK’s flames block her movements, and her wind attacks do nothing but stir up more fire. DBK reaches out a hand and snatches up Red Son around his arms and torso. He begins to squeeze. Hard.

“You did this to me!” DBK growls “You just want to show that you’re better! That you can control this better! That you can defeat my own enemy!”

“N-no, father--” Red Son tries to protest, but his voice is halting and weak. It cracks under the pressure on his body, and under the very weight of his own words that he can barely get out. “I just wanted--” He can’t finish. He doesn’t know what he wanted. Not this. He didn’t want this.

DBK squeezes harder, Red Son’s breath gets pushed out, and the pressure on his arms and chest are unbearable. He hears something crack. Somethings crack. But before he can even register that, pain flows in a rush of wind as a gust of blue flames envelop him. If Red Son could spare a thought, he’d think it was ironic to be burned by his own fire. He supposes he deserves it at this point. But all thought leaves him and is only left with HURT. Everything hurts! He’d scream except that he has no more air to scream with, and he can only press his forehead against the large gauntlet that is holding him as his only way to brace himself against the pain. Unconsciousness is almost about to overtake him when he hears a yell.

“STOP!”

The flames, thankfully, do stop, and the grip holding him loosens just enough to allow air to fill Red Son’s lungs. He pants tiredly, and shallowly, each breath bringing a sting of pain to his sides. His head still rested on the large hand, he rolls his head over to look toward where the voice was. To his surprise, he can see Wukong, still on the ground, still with his side on fire, looking up at DBK with a fire in his eyes blazing brighter than the flames burning his side.

“Your beef is with me, DBK, not him!” Wukong says, propping himself up on his elbows.

Red Son is not sure whether or not he feels more confused, surprised, or ashamed at being defended by an enemy. An enemy that he himself put in that situation. How weak must he appear that he’s being pitied by someone in that terrible state? He hates it. He hates that his plan didn’t work. He hates that his father finds him such a disappointment. He hates that he gave his father an unruly power that put him in this condition. And he hates that everything is now literally burning up in his face. He hates himself.

“Sun Wukong~” DBK breathes gutturally. Everything else seems forgotten to him as he turns towards the Monkey King.

He then yowls and charges at the Monkey King. In this motion, fire spins around him, throwing Princess Iron Fan back, and flinging Red Son away. Red Son flies across the now flaming area, meeting the ground a few times before smacking into a nearby building with such force as to leave a crater in the wall. He drops to the ground in a limp heap, landing on his chest, and once again, the wind is knocked out of him. His eyes are half-lidded as he sees his father’s charge be suddenly stopped as a form lands on the ground in between them. An angry wind whips around them causing DBK to come to a halt. Red Son’s eyes become blurry, but he forces them to focus just to see this newcomer.

Of course, he should’ve known that that little pain in the butt would appear eventually. It’s the Noodle Boy. Red Son is in pain, and tired, and his eyes are threatening to close, but he’d recognize that annoying face anywhere. Though this time MK’s eyes are filled with more anger and hatred than he’s ever seen in them. It’s that anger, that hurt, that Red Son sees last before his eyes finally slip shut and darkness finally overtakes him.

start || <– previous // next –>

[angstandhappiness]

Interesting

Macaque: "No that's you! You're the one always running off! Looking for more power or more sources of immortality—you're the one who wouldn't quit while we were ahead!"

In a moment of "I'm getting really sad about Macaque and MK parallels", I just keep thinking about how all MK's wanted to do was quit while they were ahead, but he hasn't been able too. He's been pushed and pushed and pushed at every turn. His journey "is just beginning", and "forever's a long time"—there's been no choice for things to stay the same. I wonder if truly Wukong had a choice either. "You ever wish things will just stay like this, like they are right now?" "Psshhhkkk where's the fun in that?"