#Maybe if Yin and Jin's Mama came back to raise some hell

[vegalocity]

Horrible idea...Tang being Tripitaka is revealed bc he got stuck in the calabash and when MK freed him he was kicking and screaming for Wukong and... glowing?

Haha! Calabash schenanigans would make it fun certainly.

Assuming Yin and Jin are behind this because who else would it be, one would assume they grabbed Tang and forced him in there for ransom. like ‘weve got ur human nyeh heh heh’

Tang of course is sus from moment one. Look, reaching enlightenment and becoming immortal means it gets tough to trick you. maybe he’d have been an easy mark back during the Journey, but it’s been an eon since then, and he’s changed with the world around him. So he catches on to the ‘something is seriously wrong’ train very quickly.

However, ‘fake world’ is not the first thought, the first thought is ‘some sort of city wide curse affecting everyone, and idk why I wasn’t affected as well, enlightenment perks? Maybe???’ But surely if he goes sniffing things will unravel fast, Whatever strange enchantment the city has been put under seems really concerned with keeping the peace, everyone has suddenly become far more placid and kind, even those whom show their affection through gruff behavior and playful bullying like Baije does. Maybe he was unaffected due to his pacifism? Whatever the enchantment was saw him as no threat and thus unneeded to change?

But no.. Wujing was affected too. Not his behavior, but his memory. He seemed... distant. Moreso than usual. he tried to bring up some anecdote or another about their travels and he’d laughed good naturedly and agreed blithely, but made no further commentary. 

Xiaotian and Xiaojiao were... okay he was going to be honest, they went full Shining Twins on him when he slipped a bit and got a little too obvious with his investigating and it was terrifying. That of course was what sent him careening back to his apartment, ready to spend hours putting together what he’d learned before heading over to FFM to breif Wukong on the situation.

Only to find his monkey already in his apartment. His usual attire gone and replaced with a long shirt and comfortable looking pants. As though he’d been there the whole time. And that SEEMS like such a thing for him to do. To just drop in and put on some old clothes he doesn’t even remember owning and acting like he was always there. But... 

it was off. 

Like someone had gone into his apartment when no one was home and moved everything two inches to the left, but to a PERSON. Wukong... but two inches to the left of where he should be. Where Tang KNOWS he should be.

So instead of taking this at face value he pulls on those acting skills he’d learned in his time faking the mortal life and... And he cranks it up. So he pulls from every person who’d ever given him ‘eyes’ before in his time immortal and goes from his comfort zone of playful flirting, to full-stop hitting on him. Aggressively. 

Their false courtship had been innocent in nature, Wukong’s general disinterest in all things sexual combined with Tang’s still upkept celibate status meant that their relationship had never been a physical one, even long ago. (well... not physical in THAT sense at least, he remembered quite a few playful comments from Baije about how if ANYONE would have romantic interaction without sexual interaction it would be the two of them)

Wukong’s response to this would be laughter, or flusterment, or maybe asking if he was okay. But he would not respond as if he were interested. He would NOT return the comments with ones of his own. But that’s what he did. And that’s when it clicks. The city isn’t under an enchantment, it’s not the city.

This isn’t how Wukong would respond to something like that, because this isn’t Wukong. 

He wracks his brain trying to remember how Wukong got out of here way back when, crap, he’d just made a lot of noise until one of those demon brothers opened the lid to check up on him and shapeshifted to escape, didn’t he? He couldn’t shapeshift, but maybe if he dropped the mortal disguise he could convince them to let him out? Demons usually weren’t big on making enemies out of immortals, and he wasn’t exactly the same easily consumable monk he was back then.

So he’s JUST in the middle of telling the false Wukong off, hoping the demon brothers would hear him, as he went on on them for trying to play with his mind like this. How it might have worked if they’d bothered to do a little research into their target. How he’s surprised they don’t remember him. 

The Calabash breaks right when he’s in the middle of the height of passion, literally seconds away from dropping the mortal guise and golden light pouring from his form.

“-Do you think I spent centuries with Sun Wukong by my side to not be able to recognize a false version at a glance?!”

But it’s not the fake Wukong in front of him anymore. It’s two very afraid demons, and Xiaotian. staring at him in shock, confusion, and a little bit of fear for the former two.