Chapter Text
It was finally over. The shell of Sun WuKong was defeated, still crumbling away into ash as the Elder Monkey approached the staggering Destined One, likely lost in the memories of his predecessor. He fell to his knees as images flashed before his eyes. Memories foreign to his body flooded his mind. It was nearly too much for him after every grueling battle leading up to this final encounter. He could hardly keep himself from falling face first into the water before him as his eyes lit up a molten gold. The physical force of the mental strain was pushing his already shredded limits. It hadn't felt this overwhelming when Erlang Shen shared his past, but then again it had only been one part of a whole.
The Elder Monkey stepped closer picking up the circlet still covered in wet ash as Zhu Bajie desperately called to the young sage to no avail. His voice stomped out by the monkey's over flooded mind. It was unlikely the Destined One was even aware of his body at all in the moment, propped up by muscle memory alone.
Before the Elder Monkey could place the circlet in its rightful place a shadowed figure stepped between them, knocking the cursed trinket to the ground. His form was unstable and flickering between various sizes and creatures. They waved a flickering pointed finger in the Elder's face in a 'tisk-tisk' motion that one would a misbehaving child.
"My my, what a bold decision you're making. And after all that hard work, just to betray him in the end." His silky voice chuckled darkly. "You're a disgrace to Sun WuKong's memory. It's a shame I missed him this time." Sizzling eyes burned with contempt. The yellow softened to orange as he turned to face his target. A twisting, crackling spear wove itself into existence and hovered just above them. "Apologies in advance, assisted accelerated reincarnation is a little uncomfortable from what I've been told."
It all happened in a moment. The Destined One's body jerked as it was pierced by the floating spear and encased in sizzling shadow. His eyes closed as he fell forward into the arms of his murderer.
-----
In another timeline, a baby monkey barely the size of a palm squeaked in distress. The remnants of magic leaving its tiny body in whisps. It was covered in the same cream fur as the monkeys on Flowerfruit mountain with only a deep red, mask-like marking around its eyes and nose making it distinguishable from the others.
The cloaked figure stifled a manic laugh at the baby monkey in his palm. So tiny and fragile, it could be killed in an instant, but that would ruin future plans. Placing an open hand above its chest he pulled away harshly and ripped out 4 of the golden orbs it had painstakingly collected in its journey. The baby monkey screamed and choked in response. The pitiful creature would hopefully not remember this as he got older
"You'll get these back in due time when your body is ready again. I'm sorry my friend, but I won't ask any more from you after this. For now little seed, grow stronger, you're going to need it."
The cloaked figure gently placed the choking baby monkey on the ground. He made a complicated set of hand gestures for a seal and lightly tapped it on the baby's forehead, temporarily sealing any memories of the other world.
With the beginnings of a plan set in motion, the cloaked figure teleported away, leaving only the slightest sizzle in their wake.
Deep below ground in a hidden location, the original body of the Destined One lay dormant, completely encased in clear diamond. The staff was clenched firmly in his frozen hand for eternity or until he would claim it once again. His tomb filled with his achievements and his tools shattered across the world. The cloaked figure would sew the vague tales of his destiny through whispers. The orbs of power protected until the Destined One could claim them for himself. Where it went from there would be up to him. In a final act of careful planning the cloaked figure Placed the circlet on the ground beside the diamond casket and disappeared.
-----
It was a very long night for a nameless baby monkey. The cold air made it difficult for it's frail body to breathe. The marks of the final battle with Sun WuKong's husk had transferred over to his new body. Bruises, scrapes, broken bones and split skin from being slammed into the ground immobilized the now infant monkey. It's pitiful cries got weaker as the night went on. The first trial of many to come.
Across the mountain, the resident monkeys of Flowerfruit mountain were alerted by the crying followed by a sudden quiet. Monkey King would be back from a night with the brotherhood soon, but the monkeys were too curious. If there was a hidden threat in their home, they wouldn't just let it attack without any resistance. Slinking through the trees they spread themselves out to cover more ground and regroup by first light to share what they saw.
Several calls and chirps from echoed throughout the forest to let each other know what areas were clear of danger. Chitters and clicks responded in interest and acknowledgement as they spread even further to cover more ground.
The search went on for hours before the baby monkey was found. Wet, coughing breaths shook its cold body. It couldn't even curl into itself for warmth and just laid there limp. Immediately the monkey that found him started shrieking in monkey speak. 'A baby! A baby is hurt! Count the others! How did he get so far from the nest?'
Monkeys scattered everywhere. Some looking for whatever possible threat could have maimed an infant, others following in a close huddle to the monkey carrying the poor thing close to their chest as they moved as quickly as they could to the water curtain cave. The safest place on the island. All the young were rounded up and swiftly moved inside. It had been a while since they'd had to go to war, but they were slinking around and peaking at every corner for any surprise attacks. The knowledge and experience from many battles fresh in their minds. They were not prepared for a fight and were attempting to avoid any unnecessary bloodshed if possible.
After some quick chatter they realized no one had a claim on the injured infant. After a few seconds they took the time to actually look at the little creature they brought into their home. It looked like them, sure, but only to an average degree. Some monkeys suggested it could be another rock baby like Monkey King and it might have been born too early. Not that it mattered much of its origin, the monkeys were a strong community and they weren't going to abandon the little thing without giving it a chance.
Human tools would have to wait until Monkey King came back as he was the only one dexterous enough to use them efficiently. Keeping to what they knew, the monkeys washed him in the clean water from the waterfall and tried to keep him warm and dry afterwards as they waited for help to come.
It was only a couple days later that Sun WuKong came back on his flying cloud. He was startled by the calls.of monkeys in the trees and it immediately put him on edge. 'King! King! Hurry, there is an injured! Help please!'
Summoning a fist full of clones, he sent them scouring the island for danger while heading in to check what was worrying his troop. He didn't know what to expect, and felt rage at whatever entity had attacked in his absence. The raspy, fevered breaths of a broken infant wasn't what he had thought he would find. Even he, one of the most terrifying demons in the world wouldn't attack a defenseless child. Perhaps if it were a demon in disguise, maybe, but this was unusually cruel.
White fur stained pink with blood. Skin swollen, cracked and a mirage of colors from bruising and internal bleeding. It coughed and choked as its breaths were hindered by broken ribs. It was a miracle it had survived this long at all.
The king spent hours resetting bones, applying salve to surface injuries, gently cleaning and stitching skin back together. It was torturous work. He couldn't decide if it was worse or better that the infant had run out of voice to cry out in pain. Any time not spent inside waterfall curtain cave was spent turning every stone upside down in search of any danger that could pose harm to anymore of his monkeys.
In a matter of days the baby monkey was up crawling around and clinging to any monkey that would let them. Their movement was jerky and stiff, but the grip was firm. More often than not the Monkey King found himself with a shoulder ornament as the little thing shakily crawled around his shoulders. The infant was getting more mischievous by the day, tugging on patches of fur and boldly trying to steal snacks out of the young king's hands.
Of course the Monkey King let him try as it didn't hurt and it was a testament to the monkey's increasing health. So what if he had to share a piece of fruit or two? He shared with the troop regularly anyways.
Although, he should have predicted that the brotherhood would notice his absence eventually. It had been nearly a month and he had completely forgotten to send any word of his surprise vacation, impeccable memory notwithstanding. They were bound to get curious eventually. It didn't take long for his shadow to catch back up with him.
"So, this is where you've been." said the faux relaxed voice of the Six Eared Macaque. "Was getting worried you got bored of the us for a while there, didn't realize you had time to get a kid. Hard to imagine you could've been that small once."
"Not mine, besides, I was born a stone monkey, not a baby." The king sighed, joking manner washing away almost instantly. "There was an attack while I was away. This little guy was the only one hurt. I've been keeping a close eye on him to make sure he heals well, and he's been stuck to me like this ever since." WuKong lifted one arm to demonstrate the upsidedown baby monkey wrapped around his arm and chewing on his fingers.
"You sure he's not yours? The markings around the eyes are almost the exact same shape." Macaque motioned to the infant while sitting down next to the king to get a better look.
"With how red it is? Nah, I should be asking if you suddenly spawned a demon monkey. With how fast he's growing I've got a hunch he's probably not a regular one."
"You gonna name him or are you going by traditional monkey rules of 'named when something happens'?" Macaque asked.
"Well, I want to go with a regular monkey name, so until he does something memorable his name is Little Monkey because he is the littlest." Sun WuKong Lifted the baby monkey in his friend's direction, letting him shakily crawl onto Macaque's arm.
"Wow that is... not great." He cringed slightly as baby hands gripped tightly into his fur. "I hope he grows another tail so he gets called Two tailed monkey or something like that, not that I have any room to speak on the subject." he said, expertly dodging baby monkey hands reaching for his ears.
Little Monkey, bored of a conversation he couldn't understand, resorted to climbing onto the head of the macaque and snuggled into his hair for a nap while the adults continued their conversation.
-----
Over the years it appeared as if Little Monkey might have been just that, a monkey. He grew just slightly smaller than the rest of the monkeys and unfortunately lived up to the first part of his name. The good thing about his size was that he could more easily travel with the Monkey King unnoticed to steal special food from the Brotherhood's table only to get caught and scolded several times for it. It was a shame the food was worth more than a little scolding. Every now and again, the Demon Bull King started setting a small portion of his food aside on his plate and the little intruder would be caught almost immediately.
But that strange happiness between battles had to come to an end at some point. It started with a failed attempt of attacking the Jade Palace and ending with Sun WuKong trapped under Five Phases Mountain. Then, the raids on Flowerfruit mountain began. It didn't even take a full year before monkeys began getting kidnapped as servants or being hunted for sport. It was torture for those who's names were crossed out of the book of the dead.
The last straw was when Erlang Shen came to the mountains with his dogs. A strangely familiar anger boiled under the Little Monkey's skin. Latent powers unknown to him burst through in a chaotic rage and he valiantly fought the god off with his new demonic monkey form. It was nearly identical to the Monkey King with key differences being silver colored fur and lacking a few inches in height. Perhaps if he were to move his face outside of a mostly neutral expression they would have looked almost exactly the same.
As the remaining protector of Flowerfruit mountain he hunted down every demon that kidnapped or harmed any resident monkey without mercy. Using powers that felt as natural as breathing, he made sure to be discreet and left almost zero trace of his presence. Any demons that survived the attacks could only describe a red cackling demon that echoed through the halls while leaving a trail of blood in its wake.
Five hundred years passed in the blink of an eye and he was given a new name in honor of their king, Little Sage; although he did not often speak, he wanted to make sure the next generations monkeys would remember the Monkey King, Sun WuKong the Great Sage Equal to Heaven.
He told stories of WuKong in his rough, scratchy voice and made large gestures with his arms and body for extra effects. Anytime a younger monkey would question the reality of the story some of the elders would agree and embellish on the tall tales or even tell embarrassing stories of Little Sage with the Monkey King as a baby.
Some days, his throat couldn't handle speaking even a word and instead he would draw grand pictures of epic fights the Monkey King took part in. Sometimes they were a little odd with people he could have sworn were there but couldn't put a name to their face or events that he could have sworn were real without there even being a possibility of it happening with Sun WuKong trapped under a mountain. A few of the older monkeys speculated it could have been premonitions or even just the Young Sage's age beginning to catch up with him.
On a bright sunny day, a monkey with peach fur and a circlet on his head came alone to the mountain. He listened to some monkey children excitedly talk about the Monkey King from the stories they grew up on as he walked them back home. With a smile he asked what they thought the Monkey King looked like and they excitedly described a giant handsome monkey with fur like theirs.
When the older monkey complained lightly about how he wished he looked as handsome as the Monkey King the children laughed at him mischievously. The Monkey King was just a story anyway and he could look like any monkey, even the Sage that protected the island.
The stranger seemed interested in hearing about this supposed 'sage' that he'd never heard of and it sent the children into another spiel of describing the demon monkey who knew magic, fighting and storytelling. One of them straightened with an angry-serious face and stepped their left foot forward and left hand outward in a mimicry of the sage. The two children enacted a little fight with the second pretending to be frozen while the other declared victory.
The children were still playing and roughhousing by the time they arrived at the Waterfall Curtain Cave. The noise was enough to alert a scruffy haired demon monkey with a familiar red marking on his face. When Little Sage saw Sun WuKong at the entrance he immediately lit up and launched himself at him, forgetting that his new form might not be recognizable to his King. Lucky for him, Sun WuKong had no trouble guessing the identity of the shorter monkey and giving him a tight hug.
After some brief catching up the Monkey King had to leave again for his journey. His visits after were brief and sometimes accompanied by one of the pilgrims he was traveling with. The pilgrims never came first or alone and The Young Sage stayed a consistent distance from them, often ushering monkeys in the opposite direction of them. He wasn't sure why, but he felt uncomfortable being around them. Something in the back of his mind told him something was wrong and it set him in edge. Strangers like them shouldn't be so familiar.
In one of Sun WuKong's brief visits after being kicked out of the journey to the West, Little Sage noticed his behavior was slightly odd. He spoke quickly and doubled back on his sentences but sounded sure of everything he said. He had even forgotten his name at one point, calling him Little Monkey. He brushed it off as stress or fatigue from the journey West. It wasn't until he woke up three days later after a shared drink that it was revealed to be a trick by the Six Eared Macaque in disguise as the king. By the time he had woken up everything was over. Sun WuKong refused to talk to him l about what happened. It was becoming almost a regular occurrence for Sun WuKong to shut down questions about what happened on his journey and Little Sage learned to stop asking after a while.
This self-imposed rule was broken shortly after the end of the king's journey when the Demon Bull King was sealed under Rúyì Jīngū Bàng. The Little Sage, renamed 'Young Sage' after taking up duties caring for the mountain and being recognized as a separate entity from Sun WuKong, attacked him in a fit of anger.
"You don't understand. This is the only way to keep him safe!" Sun WuKong shouted as he dodged another swipe from the enraged Monkey. Sage's normally golden eyes were glossy and red.
"Then make me understand, Sun Woo-Kong!" The Young Sage growled out in a rasped voice, his words tinged with an accent as he was still learning the human language. His rage sent him slamming into the Monkey King as he tried to grapple him.
"You saw what happened last time we tried going against the heavenly emperor! I'm not letting anyone or myself make the same mistake!" Sun WuKong tried to explain as he sidestepped and slammed his tail into Sage flinging him away into the nearest rock wall.
They continued a dance of the Young Sage lunging at the Great Sage who dodged, blocked and redirected every blow. With every movement they edged further away from the Demon Bull King's seal. After enough distance had been put between them, Sun WuKong lunged forward and pinned the Young Sage to the ground. He made a series of hand signs and placed a seal on the monkey under him, rendering him unable to free the Bull King.
When they separated, Sage looked at his king, no his father, with a face of betrayal and anger. Having no words for the older monkey, he turned away and ran off.
The next 500 years were long and tense. The two still lived on the mountain, but they might as well have been strangers for the first half-century. They barely spoke outside of taking care of the mountain and its residents.
The Young Sage often left the island for several days at a time without a word and Sun WuKong gave him the distance he thought the other needed.
It was the monkeys who had enough that started forcing them to eat in the same vicinity. They refused to eat or sleep unless both were present. Guilt tripping the demon monkeys was easy work for them and they had a lot of experience in that skill. It eventually became a routine for all of the monkeys to drag the demon monkeys to the Waterfall Curtain Cave for almost any reason. The monkey's plan of forced cohabitation actually worked very well. It started with small things. A cracked joke here and there, an extra plate of food left out every now and again, and even the occasional small prank began mending their relationship.
This is where our story begins, 450 years later. The Young Sage going to one of his favorite restaurants in the city to pick up some noodles he ordered online to-go. He threw on his blue-grey hoodie with white sleeves. It was one of his favorites because it was reversible with a tiger print on the inside and jokingly gifted to him by his cousin in arms after being berated for his lack of taste in fashion. Sure, he may have collected about five rooms worth of clothes over the years, but that didn't mean they all looked good or even relevant to the time period.
A demon monkey walking around the city wasn't a too unusual sight. Demons and humans intermingled fairly well in this city and while monkey demons were uncommon, it wasn't unusual for them to be around in general. The Young Sage was a regular in town, typically just going by Sage as a causal name and expected by shop owners for his weekly groceries. He would order them ahead of time and pick them up on his way out of town.
It was extra noisy walking into Pigsy's Noodles. The delivery kid was excitedly chattering with another regular he recognized. Deciding to mind his own business because he was hungry, he approached the register.
"Hey kid, for here or to-go today?" asked Pigsy, the owner of the restaurant. Sage has known him for a few years after a strong recommendation from a friend in town who owned his own small business. At first, he'd tried it out just to try to support the community, but quickly decided he enjoyed both the noodles and the distinguished swine who made them. With the near endless amount of pocket money he had, he didn't mind spending a little extra for a to-go bowl for later.
Sage produced a small pen and paper from his pocket and wrote [One spicy vegetarian noodle bowl. Dine-in. I'll take my to-go order after. Have to feed my roommate every now and then.]
"Have it done in a seco- MK! THESE ORDERS AREN'T GOING TO DELIVER THEMSELVES! GET MOVIN'!- Anyway, is this the same guy who refuses to cook himself or the crazy aunt? Been a while since we've had you in town. You eatin' alright? "
[It's not that he refuses to cook, he's just terrible at it. He'd live off of fruit and chips if I didn't restock the fridge. Noodles are a treat. Auntie's been busy lately, helping my cousin with a science project, his biggest one yet.] The conversation was easy and he felt himself relax.
"You keep an eye on that cousin o' yours. He sounds like a little mad scientist in the makin'. He was the same kid ta' accidentally send the city into a blackout a few years back ain't he?" Pigsy asked as he poured broth over the noodles.
The monkey nodded solemnly with the pig's judgement. If he was being honest, Red Son was already a genius in his opinion. Evil genius probably, but he was a good kid. He had a new recipe ready for his next visit. Having monthly dinner with the Demon Bull family was always an event. With Red Son constantly wanting to try new techniques to impress his mother. Sometimes they found a good recipe to keep for later, if it didn't end up in flames first.
Sage happily dug into his noodles as he listened to the peaceful ambiance of the noodle shop. The sounds of banter from Pigsy and his old college buddy, Tang if he remembered correctly, was expected. They'd been jokingly at each other's throats for years and Sage was expecting court-napping rituals any day now. His money was on the human making the first move, but he'd sworn off gambling years ago.
The rest of his meal went peacefully and just as he turned to grab his to-go order and leave, Sage was nearly barreled over by the frantic delivery boy, Jr? Mj? He couldn't remember the kids name. It was truly a close call too, he almost dropped his rice dumplings and that would have ruined his day. It's a very low bar, but it's the little things that matter sometimes.
"Mr.Tang! Mr.Tang! You remember that story you told me earlier about -!" And Sage tuned the kid out. He loved the enthusiasm, truly, but he could only listen to the same stories about the Monkey King so many times. Attempting to leave again before getting caught up in another session of "can I use you as reference for my Monkey King sketches? You're the only monkey demon I know." Sage picked himself up to leave. That kid had some serious puppy eyes that made it extremely difficult to say 'no'. It felt like denying the baby monkeys on Flowerfruit mountain extra fruit after dinner.
"- It's Monkey King's staff, I can prove it to you!" MK stressed followed by a peal of laughter. "You guys aren't listening to me! The Demon Bull King is alive and the only one who can defeat him is the Monkey King!"
Ok, maybe taking a quick look and being a little nosy couldn't hurt. Maybe the kid made a replica, got some new exclusive merch or found a really cool stick. Sage's own cool stick collection was pretty impressive. Although, the bit about DBK is what definitely caught his attention.
A brief shout was all the warning Sage got before a solid iron staff clocked him in the face, knocking him off his feet. Yep. Definitely the Monkey King's staff. Hard not to recognize a blow from a weapon like that. He received a 'sorry!' from the delivery boy while hearing the human regular exclaim wildly about the Monkey monkey King's staff.
On that revelation, Sage decided that if the kid could lift the staff then it was absolutely none of his business and he would go home. It wasn't as if he could grab the staff for himself anyway with the seal still in place. Leaving and staying out of whatever mystic monkey magic was going on would be for the best. He had enough on his own plate already.
Plus, Sage's fighting days were over. With the monkeys to take care of and the definitely not shady business dealings he had uptown, his schedule was pretty packed. He definitely wasn't just avoiding seeing the Demon Bull King face to face for the first time in over half a millennium because of the crushing guilt of not being able to free him from his imprisonment.
With a constant chant of 'not my monkeys, not my circus' running through his head, Sage picked up his remaining groceries from the market, walked to the edge of town and summoned his nimbus to fly home to Flowerfruit Mountain. Sage was proud that his was much quieter than his father's, but then again they both learned from different sources.
-----
Monkey King wasn't home when Sage made it to the Water Curtain Cave cave, so he immediately went to washing and dicing berries for the monkeys as a treat after popping the fast food containers in the fridge.
The monkeys hovered just outside the kitchen while he worked. They were all very snuggly unfortunately and would sometimes trip him while walking around with sharp objects. After a particularly nasty accident involving 2 monkeys and him nearly losing his head they weren't allowed in the cooking areas anymore. Sage nearly bit the Sun WuKong for breaking that rule a few times. Even if it was his house first.
Sage wasn't always a fan of cooking. After the Demon Bull King was sealed away he desperately tried to keep in connection with Princess Iron Fan and the then infant Red Son. He wasn't welcomed at first. They accused him of intentionally prolonging DBK's entrapment. That he simply hadn't tried to free him. That by him avoiding the mountain he was admitting defeat. It took weeks of pleading before he was able to convince PIF to accompany him to the staff when he tried to remove the seal. To both of their utter disappointment, it turned out he couldn't even get to the summit of the mountain. An invisible force prevented him from going near. No matter how much he pushed, how hard PIF's wind blew and no matter how hard he slammed himself into the barrier he couldn't get through.
She didn't speak to him about it for years, but he kept visiting and attempting to help raise Red Son. The little hellspawn was a very picky eater as a child. It took a few days to realize spicy food was the key, much to Sage's disappointment at the time, but sacrifices had to be made and PIF would never lower herself to making food herself when she had the servants to do so for her. It took many years, but eventually grew a liking to spicy food and dinner at the Demon Bull household.
After that, cooking just became a comfortable routine for him. Red son liked learning new things and having a wide skill-set, the feeling of being useful was something that kept him going for so long.
Lost in thought, Sage was startled out of his chopping by the sensation of an unfamiliar magic by the waterfall entrance. Quickly summoning a clone to put the dishes away and share the chopped fruit with the monkeys, Sage turned into mist to investigate. It felt weird at first, like walking through thick fog and melting at the same time.
The disturbance was easy to find. The kid was very loud and couldn't cover his presence to save his life. Hiding nearby, Sage followed him as he walked around gawking at everything.
The kid cautiously called out "Hello? Hellooo?" as he walked across the old bridge Sage had been considering replacing it for the last fifty years. He almost approached him, but as soon as the kid's eyes started glowing gold he immediately ducked behind him and tried to keep the kid's back to himself as much as possible. It felt a little silly, but he didn't feel like getting hit with the staff again if he could help it. Gold vision was annoyingly efficient at finding hidden demons. Something he was very bitter about not being able to properly learn that ability himself.
Following the kid as he chased something in his gold vision led him back home. The clone had thankfully already dispersed itself and monkeys were chilling in different spots around the clearing with their little wooden bowls of chopper fruit.
"S'up." Sage almost came out of his mist form when he saw a butterfly land near the kid. Really. A butterfly? What, was Sun WuKong the Butterfly King now? With how winded he looked he'd probably been following the kid for a while. Which meant he might have seen Sage get knocked down by an untrained mortal. Oof, that was a mild blow to the ego.
"Yes! It is I, the Monkey Ki- oof-guh!" Sage couldn't help the puff of laughter at the Monkey King getting squashed.
"Ew, ew, ew! is it dead!?" If Sage had been in a corporeal form he would have folded over laughing. Truly a performance to behold as the squashed Monkey King made several transformations before introducing himself to the kid. "M-Monkey King..?"
"Yep! The one and only. So, where's my staff?" He looked around playfully not stopping when he briefly made eye contact with Sage.
The poor kid immediately burst into tears shocking both of them.
"I'm so sorry!" He started blubbering about Princess Iron Fan and something about a glove before Monkey King interrupted.
"I know, I know." He laughed lightly. "Look kid, I'm gonna come clean. Um, I've been kinda watching you." Oh yeah, he absolutely saw Sage get knocked in the head. How embarrassing.
"wait wut?" His face changed between several expressions. "WAIT, What that was you!?"
This sent Sun WuKong into another peal of laughter. "The look on your face! You're perfect!"
"Perfect for what?"
"To be," he paused for dramatic affect. "My successor!"
"Are you sure you're the real Monkey King? Or did being cooped up here, for who knows how long, mush up your brain?" the kid said suspiciously.
"Look kid, you fought demons and didn't die, plus you made it here." He waved around at the cave, "On top of that, not just anyone can lift my staff, but you did."
"But what about DBK?"
"Pfft- What about him? You can handle it, consider it a trial before the real training starts."
The kid, Sage really needed to remember this kid's name, started to argue but Monkey King cut him off again.
"Look, if you can lift the staff you can use it. Just believe in yourself. Even a little can make a difference." he struck a heroic pose. "The staff was taken from you. Take it back."
The tiny motivational speech immediately revved up the kid's engines and he was pumped up. He let out a confident "Alright!" and dashed out of the cave. When he was gone, the Monkey King turned to Sage.
"I know you're there bud. Eyes of truth remember? You'll have to tell me what you think of him later. I'm not going to let him go out there completely unsupervised. I was serious about this being a trial, see how he fights and work out the kinks. Wing-it ya know? I wouldn't mind a second opinion every now and then, ya know. You don't have to, but I'd like you to be a part of this. Just think on it." he jumped up and turned into a bird flying in a circle to the top exit. "Gotta catch up to him to make sure he doesn't get into too much trouble. Ok byee!"
After watching him fly off Sage dropped his mist form. An extremely serious expression crossed his face. He really hoped the kid introduced himself next time. He was too far in now, maybe someone else will say it so he doesn't have to ask. With how often he'd heard Pigsy shout at the kid, it was a little embarrassing he couldn't remember his name.
Welp, he had monkeys to play with, so he could shelve that problem for a different day.