| Pitiful Creatures << The Brotherhood >> Roast of the Monkie Kids |
(The Monkie Kids have found themselves in a new place.)
MK: Azure? Where's Monkey King? (Azure just grips the Scroll of Memory.)
Mei: Explain yourself, Azure!
MK: What are you—
Tang: Azure's been lying to us, MK.
Sandy: Um, maybe we should give Mr. Lion a chance to explain.
Tang: I saw it! Here. Wherever this place is. Him! Plotting to take down the Monkey King. That was his plan all along, to trap Monkey King inside that scroll and do something sinister, something bad, probably.
Azure Lion: (He looks at Tang in surprise, before looking away.) Hmm.
Mei: See?! He's basically admitting it! And to think I modeled my brand new sword after yours! Gross!
Azure Lion: It wasn't my intention to deceive you, but I knew you wouldn't understand. Sometimes it's easier to ask for forgiveness, not permission.
Mei: Ooh, okay. Then I hope you won't be upset when I don't ask permission for this! (She lunges forward with her blade out in front of her. Azure Lion steps away and around, unleashing a volley of ink from the scroll. Mei leaps up and brings down her sword through an opening but a hand reaches out from the scroll and brilliant flash of light explodes. She finds her blow blocked by a pair of golden wings.)
Peng: Greetings, little girl. (They open them, throwing off her balance as she slams into a pillar.)
MK: Mei!
Azure Lion: Hold on.
Tang: Mei!
(The rest of the Monkie Kids leap at them but Sandy pushes Tang out of the way at the sight of another weapon coming at them. Pigsy crashes to the ground while Sandy tries to hold it off but he is defeated by a giant elephant. Mei looks up to see a ji pointed at her by Peng, who also has a claw on Tang.)
MK: No! Please, Azure. (His monkey form flickers.)
Peng: If it isn't the Great Monk Tang Sanzang. You cannot imagine how I've longed for this moment.
Azure Lion: Peng, stop! This man isn't who you think.
Peng: (They laugh and put away their wings.) Took you long enough, brother. I feel as though I've been trapped in that cursed thing for 1,000 years.
Yellowtusk: How long has it been?
Azure Lion: Oh, I don't know, truth be told. Yellowtusk, bring it in, old friend. (They hug.)
Yellowtusk: Azure.
Azure Lion: MK, I'm sorry things got so out of hand. Let me introduce you to my brothers, The Golden Peng and Yellowtusk the Wise.
Tang: So, this was all just some elaborate plot to break your friends out of prison or whatever that scroll is?
MK: But why not just tell us?!
Mei: He's a villain, MK. We never should have trusted him.
Azure Lion: Okay, okay. An explanation. I owe you that at least. If you will allow me. (He unrolls the scroll and opens a memory for MK and him.)
MK: Is that...
Azure Lion: Me? Yes. Oh, I was a strapping lad back then. I was once a Celestial Warrior, fighting to protect the weak. Or so I thought. Over time, it became clear to me that the Jade Emperor's only concern was keeping his subjects under his boot. He cared not for the plight of those he ruled. And then I learned of the Monkey King, whose only allegiance was to his people. He'd made his land a paradise. I knew here was a warrior with my ideals. A brother. A king.
MK: You all seem so happy.
Azure Lion: We were. We were going to change everything. It was glorious.
MK: What happened? What changed? (Azure Lion pulls up another memory.)
Azure Lion: We followed our King into glorious rebellion. Though the might of the Celestial Host stood against us, victory was in sight. But in the final moment, the Monkey King failed. He wasn't strong enough to defeat the Jade Emperor. The battle was lost. Our cause destroyed and our King struck down. However, fate had one last cruel twist for us. Sun Wukong now yielded to an agent of the Celestial Host, another warrior for the oppressors. Even so, our cause still burned strong in our hearts. While Sun Wukong cut down our kinsmen, we set ourselves on a greater path. If the Monkey King had it in his power to create a paradise on earth, so, too, could we. Here at Camel Ridge. But the Celestial Realm did not abide the competition. My former brother was sent to destroy us and all we had built. It was with their combined power that we were cut down, imprisoned within this scroll, left at the mercy of the Celestial Court. (He takes them out of the scroll.)
MK: That can't be true. Monkey King's a hero. He wouldn't just—
Azure Lion: You saw it with your own eyes.
Peng: Save your breath, Azure.
Azure Lion: His betrayal, his brutality. He took the only friends I had from me. I would have done anything in my power to bring them back. But it wasn't in my power, it was in yours. You saved my friends. You returned them to me. And for that, I am eternally grateful.
Pigsy: Great! You're grateful, you got your friends. We're done here, right? I'm sure Monkey King's learned his lesson, so just give him back, and uh... we'll see ya around.
Azure Lion: I'm afraid not. It was Piggy, right? We haven't properly been introduced. No. Monkey King didn't understand then. I'm certain his position on the matter remains unchanged.
Pigsy: And uh... what matter was that again?
Peng: We're finally going to finish what we started.
Yellowtusk: No longer will we stand by as the Celestial Realm acts with callous impunity. The Jade Emperor must be dethroned.
Azure Lion: We cannot allow anyone to stand in our way. Until this is over, Wukong must remain within the scroll.
MK: Let Monkey King go.
Azure Lion: MK, please— (MK starts to summon his power.)
Yellowtusk: What is this child?
Azure Lion: Careful, boy. My patience is not endless.
MK: I won't let you take Monkey King away from me again! (He takes on his monkey form and rushes forward, placing a hand on Monkey King's plank.)
Peng: Okay, I've seen enough! (They come around and punch MK away. The motion causes the plank to fall to the ground.)
Azure Lion: No.
Mei: MK. No!
Tang: MK!
(Yellowtusk and Peng position themselves but MK zips past them. He circles Azure Lion quickly, before sweeping his foot. The plank goes flying and when Azure Lion looks up, he sees a Monkey King coming after him and brings out his saber and slices the plank in two.)
Mei: Hey. Get away from our monkey man!
Azure Lion: (He picks up the pieces.) No. No! This isn't what I wanted. All you had to do was wait. After this was over, I was going to release Sun Wukong, help him see reason. This is now impossible! Not after what you've done!
Pigsy: But we can get him back, right?
Sandy: We can fix it. Maybe we can find some magic tape!
Azure Lion: I... I don't know. (Yellowtusk takes Tang, Pigsy, and Sandy's weapons.)
Tang: Hey! My golden jangly stick! What are you doing?!
Yellowtusk: Your ancestors were the agents of the Celestial Realm. Their weapons forged by the heavens, wielded against the weak. It's time that was reversed.
Azure Lion: I'd hoped to mend the fracture between myself and Sun Wukong. But his legacy will live on in our victory. Brothers, it's time to go.
Peng: We're just going to leave that kid out here with that power?
Azure Lion: This is not his fight, brother. Just more victims of Wukong's blindness. Give him this charity. Leave him be. (To the Monkie Kids.) But beware. My charity is at its limit. Stay out of our way.
Mei: Oh, yeah? And what if we don't? (Azure Lion turns around and shows his warning by gripping on the pieces of the scroll containing Monkey King. The brothers disappear.)
Pigsy: MK, are you?
MK: No matter what I do, it's going to lead to pain. It's like the Lady Bone Demon said. Doesn't matter if I wanna help people or not! Everything I do just... it just makes things worse!
Mei: You're all stuck up in your own head! None of this is your fault!
MK: It's always my fault! Ever since I picked up Monkey King's staff, I—
Pigsy: Look, MK, I know this has been scary and confusing, and, you know, the whole Monkey thing, but... I guess what I'm trying to say is I know what you're going through.
MK: No, you don't. You have scary demon ancestors? That just means you have family. You come from somewhere. I don't have a family. I don't have anything. And the most messed up thing is, I-I never even realized, never even questioned who I am, or where I come from, or why, or... Until I know what I am, what my destiny is, I can't risk hurting the people I care about, the ones I have left.
Mei: MK, just wait! We can—
MK: I just... I need to clear my head. (Mei runs up but is too late as he transforms into his eagle form and takes off.)
Pigsy: Doesn't that moron know that we're his family?
Sandy: He didn't mean it, Pigsy. He's just at that age where his body is changing into a... hairy, little magic monkey man. He'll be okay.
Tang: We should probably go after him, right?
Mei: Oh, hundred percent. (They are suddenly transported into another place.) Who the brick is this guy? This is the last thing we needed today—
Tang: Mei! Mei, Shifu Subodhi!
Master Subodhi: The hour is late. It's well and truly time the new Great Companions received some training.