| Better Than We Found It << Strings That Bind >> Collar the King |
(Monkey King pulls up the staff with a flag attached to it. MK looks viscerally insomniac.)
Monkey King: Okay, Monkey Class is back in session.
MK: Hmm, what?
Monkey King: You plant this Monkey Flag on your Monkey Mountain and you win. I plant it on my "Way Better Monkey Mountain" and I win! Ready?
MK: Ohohoho, I've never been ready-er. No holding back, LE'GO!
Monkey King: You sure? Cause, you're looking a little...
MK: Less talky, more trainy, Monkey King. I already set the bait!
(Monkey King chuckles and throws the flag staff at him.)
MK: What?! Hey! I thought it was "Keep-Aways", not "Throws-at-mes"! Well if you wanna play hard-ball, get ready to play har—
(Monkey King tries to snatch the staff away before MK kicks him back and flies away. Monkey King catches up to him as MK laughs manically.)
Monkey King: Woah, bud. You're getting so much faster.
MK: Yeah, I—
Monkey King: But not fast enough!
(Monkey King and MK continue fighting to snatch the flag, before MK pushes him away and flies to his mountain.)
MK: You were saying? (MK laughs.) Here... comes... Monkie—
Monkey King: ...King!
(He throws the flag and MK all the way to his mountain. Monkey King comes back to pick up the staff.)
MK: Hey, no fair! We said "no holding back", but you were holding back the whole time when I was right about to win.
Monkey King: Wow, bud. I was only holding back a teensy bit. We gotta keep something for you to look up to. Besides, I'm not the only one holding back. Maybe if you tapped into your full power, you'd have won!
(MK starts having flashbacks to when he fought the Protective curse and Azure Lion.)
Monkey King: Kid?
MK: I'm fine, i-it's fine. I—
(MK and Monkey King notice a broken magic stone.)
Monkey King: Oh, huh. A stone. I mean... our stone. You know it's not something we can outrun, right? Your monkey form, what it means?
MK: Uh, can we-can we just not?
Monkey King: Do you uh— You sleeping okay, bud?
MK: Huh? Yeah, yeah! Yeah, I just got-I just got-I just gotta keep moving, is all.
Monkey King: Kid, it's okay to take a minute.
MK: Nope! I'm a monkey now. If I stop, I die. (MK's ghost soul goofily pops out of his mouth.) I'm compartmentalizing!
Monkey King: Pretty sure that's sharks, bud.
MK: Nope! Definitely monkeys. Oh! Oh, oh, oh! I just remembered! Uh, we uh-we uh, we got a surprise for you.
Monkey King: A surprise? Wait, no, we should—
MK: Yeah, yeah yeah yeah, you're gonna love it! Just, just wait here!
Monkey King: Kid, we need to...
(Macaque appears through the stones from his shadows.)
Macaque: Well... that went well, bud.
Monkey King: Ugh. Are you actually lurking here?
Macaque: Hey, this mountain's been my home just as long as yours.
Monkey King: You find anything?
Macaque: No, but... with the Jade Emperor gone, the Celestial Realm's... things aren't looking good. Wukong... the kid.
Monkey King: I know.
Macaque: You need to talk to him.
Monkey King: I know! But... he's not ready.
Macaque: You mean you're not ready. You really are the worst mentor. He need— we need to know everything we can.
Monkey King: He's just a kid. Can't he just—
Macaque: He's not just a kid! Why him, Wukong? Did you know about— when you chose him?
Monkey King: No, I didn't know. It just felt... right.
Macaque: And that doesn't bother you!? This kid that just happens to have all your powers, that's at the center of all of these battles... and you never questioned why? None of us even knew he existed. How?! We have no idea who freed Azure from the scroll. All your old companions are just... here again? And you just—
Monkey King: What about YOU? You just... come back! You just—
Macaque: Augh! Look, there's someone pulling all of our strings, ESPECIALLY the kid's. And they're not finished.
Monkey King: Are you, Bud?
Macaque: Do you want my help or not? You're such a di—
Monkey King: You were a villain five minutes ago and now you're showing me how to—
MK: It's ready! Monkey King?
Macaque: Look, that kid idolizes you. You're his literal hero and you just...
Monkey King: I just what?
Macaque: He needs to know it's not all on him. You need to do better.
(Macaque exits the scene.)
MK: Ohhh, Monkey King? Where are you, dude?
Monkey King: I'm coming. Be right there!
(A universe crack appears next to the stone.)
(As Monkey King flies on his somersault cloud, Pigsy and Mei are seen building the house.)
Monkey King: Okay, okay, I'm here, everybody.
Mei: W-W-We're not done, we're not done yet! Grab him!
(MK jumps onto Monkey King and tries to blind him from the house.)
MK: Sorry, just a second!
Monkey King: Wha? You called me!
Mei: It'll be just a second!
Monkey King: This is— Kid, if this is important...
MK: Nah, we're doing this now.
Monkey King: Look kid, you can't just...
(Monkey King tries pulling MK away from him.)
Pigsy: Done!
MK: Oh, thank goodness!
Mei: Phew.
(Monkey King looks up towards the newly refurbished house.)
Monkey King: What?
MK: Ta-daaaa!
Monkey King: What is this?
Mei: Heh? It's... it's your house. Right? Augh. Well, after your old house kinda went kablooey, and your hair clones thing was kind of a bust...
Pigsy: Hehe, well you know, we uh...
MK: We all pitched in and rebuild-ed your house! Ta-da!
(Tang is seen exhausted and Sandy is making fan gestures.)
Pigsy: Hmph... some more than others.
Monkey King: Wuh? What happened to Jangles?
Pigsy: Yeah apparently, it's uh, heat stroke. I see you, Tang!
(MK kicks open the door and shows Monkey King around.)
MK: Welcome, to your new old house!
(Monkey King looks around, and the entire house is filled with memories from the gang's past adventures and mini paper figures of the Pilgrims.)
Monkey King: You... you did all this?
Mei: (She puts a portrait of her and Monkey King having fun on top of the TV.) Heh... gotta leave Monkey King house better than we found 'em, right?
MK: It's... It's what friends do.
(Monkey King continues looking around the portraits, smiles, and embraces MK with a hug.)
Monkey King: Kid...
MK: You're... welcome!
(Pigsy's alarm goes off.)
Pigsy: Oh! Ooh, dinner rush is about to start! I better—
MK: On it, boss!
(MK starts grabbing all of his friends in a rush before grabbing Pigsy.)
Pigsy: You wanna stay? You can stay.
MK: Nope! Noodles need delivering, soup needs simmering! We can't let the people down!
(MK grabs Tang's Khakkhara to teleport them all out of there. Monkey King sighs and goes inside his house.)
(At Pigsy's Noodles, MK and Pigsy are about to wrap up work, with MK rushing to finish cleaning the dishes.)
Pigsy: Oh, good work today, kid. But uh... you can go ahead and finish up.
MK: I'm good! Let's keep going, maybe try to beat that world's longest noodle record? Huh? Huh? Huh?!
Pigsy: Uh, kid... when'd you sleep last?
MK: Ah, sleep's for the weak. See? They stopped moving, and now Mei's sleeping with the noodles!
(Mei flips over, but a dumpling launches in the air and lands on her mouth and she chews it. Pigsy looks suspiciously at MK.)
MK: I can't sleep. Every time I—
Past Protective curse: Harbinger of Chaos... all you ever do is cause pain and suffering!
Pigsy: Okay. Sounds like sleep's off the menu. But... if we're staying up, you're learning a thing or two.
(Pigsy opens a cook book. A montage of MK making noodles plays while Pigsy is speaking.)
Pigsy: Now see the thing about good food is... when you make it just right — the smells, the flavor, and the feeling... then... All this just comes rushing back. And when you make it just right, you made more than just food. Do you see what I'm saying?
MK: Got it, follow the recipe. Mhm.
Pigsy: Well, I uh... (Pigsy takes a sip of the broth.) Huh... perhaps it's missing something. But what?
MK: Oh I-I followed the... did I do— (Pigsy puts the soup from the spoon into MK's mouth. He tastes it a bit.) Oh!
Pigsy: Ah. You see, kid? It ain't always about following the recipe like it's written. Sometimes, you gotta feel it. And when you do, well, it's more than food. It's home.
(MK slurps the noodles he just made.)
MK: Oh... ohh it's so good!
(Pigsy looks back at his photo book of him and MK with a bowl of noodles.)
Pigsy: When I found... when you... (He sighs.) When you were a kid... this was your favorite. I-I don't know when you stopped liking it so much, but... it always helped you sleep. So, I figured—
(MK starts falling asleep and snoring.)
Pigsy: Still works.
(Pigsy grunts as he tries heavy-carrying MK to his bed.)
Pigsy: Oh. Oh, this used to be a lot easier.
(Pigsy puts MK on his bed and looks at him sleeping.)
Pigsy: I don't know how we ended up with you. But... I'm so glad I did. I love you... son.
(Pigsy turns off the lights and leaves his room. Outside the window, another heavenly crack appears.)
(Back at Monkey King's house, he folds his Pilgrim paper figures around, looks at them and sleeps on the couch.)
(Macaque is seen near the same tree him and Monkey King ate peaches, sleeping on it with a bunch of monkeys also sleeping everywhere.)
(MK starts having flashbacks and nightmares.)
Past MK: Come on!
Underworld King: It's time to wake up.
(The Underworld Kings are all in their court and summon MK, Macaque and Monkey King while they're all sleeping. MK wakes up just as the screen fades to white.)