LOVE STORY

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Chapter Nine
Late Arrival
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❝Forever's a long time, bud. Trust me.❞

OUTSIDE THE LOTUS palace, there were loud bangs that could be heard from afar. You tried to talk to Ne Zha to let you take the map, but he greatly refused and told you to leave instantly. Knowing how stubborn you were, you had set your mind to take this map no matter what.

There was a loud explosion before you were thrown across the hall where the map was. You were trying to dodge Ne Zha's spear attacks, but you managed to hold it and deflect it eventually. Your eyes than landed on the map floating on a lotus shaped podium, "Finally, an opening." You said before running forward to grab it. However, there was a protective seal that prevented you from taking the scroll. You tried to push your hards to go past it, but it was too powerful that it pushed you back toward a wall.

"Ugh, the ol' magical barrier trick. I should've seen that one coming."

"That seal is strong enough to protect the map from any who would steal it. Even you, Y/N. Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

The Lotus Prince joined you in the hall, standing in front of the map with the spear in his hand. You rolled your eyes at him and huffed, "Uh yeah, I'm the Monkey Queen. Trust me!" You said with pride, placing a hand on your chin. Ne Zha chuckled at your statement, "Trust you? No. You ruined any chance of that long ago." He taunted and then frowned. You placed your hands on your hips, still having that confident smile, "Honestly, Ne Zha, when did you stop being fun?" With that being asked, you dashed forward, setting your eyes on the map. However, Ne Zha used his red sash to stop and throw you away.

You managed to free yourself, but the Lotus Prince continued to attack you. You were either blocking or sending striks of your own, "I alone should've been entrusted with keeping that map safe." Ne Zha declared as he used the spear to hit you. You moved away and held into the wall, "Somebody's sounding jealous!" You mocked him then pushed yourself off the wall. You went to punch him, but your fist hit the ground when the prince dodged it. The two of you continued the battle.

"It was our solemn duty. Our oath was to protect this world from the Samadhi Fire!"

"Yeah well, something worse came along. Why do you think I need to use it? Come on!"

Ne Zha gasped when he realized that he had left the map unprotected. He quickly moved and brought his spear on you. Thankfully, you were able to hold it back yet Ne Zha wasn't going to give up, "Out of respect for your past friendship with the great monk, I will allow you to leave this place safely. But the fire will remain unforged. Hidden. The map stays here." He advised you, knowing very well the risks of such a weapon. Still, you refused to just abandon what you came for.

"I know you take your security job pretty seriously, but I do need the map. So you see the problem right?" You pushed yourself away and plucked some of your hair, blowing on it to summon your clones. They all launched at the prince, pinning him down to give you a golden opportunity to get the map, "You want me to leave it, I want me to take it! Eh, it's a toughie." You told him before turning around to grab the scroll. Ne Zha struggled to free himself from the clones which was impossible, "What? Don't do this!" He yelled with a bit of panic. You still refused to listen, "I'm sorry, it's the only way." You apologized, your voice shifting to be slightly serious.

"Y/N, that barrier is designed to protect that map at all costs. If you force your way through it, it could destroy us both!"

"Yeah, I know. But you gotta crack a few eggs to make an omelet"

"What? That doesn't mean you should!"

You ignored Ne Zha's warning and used all your might to go through the barrier. It was tough and took a lot of energy, but you managed to push your hands past the seal. You growled and let out a battle cry just as your hands were able to grab the map. However, an explosion happened and the whole castle was destroyed. Ne Zha was finally free and stood up, but he didn't see you or the map anywhere, "Y/N..." He called out your name, believing that the seal had killed you. Just then, he heard your laughter and turned around, seeing you all injured and hurt, but most importantly the map was with you.

"Look Ne Zha, keep up the training. Who knows? Maybe one day, you'll be tough enough to beat me!"

You laughed again, but stopped when the atmosphere suddenly changed. Everything turned dark as a powerful wave of energy hit you, you knew what was happening, "Kid!" You mumbled then leaped in the air, summoning your cloud. You didn't even listen to Ne Zha because all you cared about was saving Mk before it was too late.

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Unfortunately, you arrived late. The Bone Mech was finally built and Lady Bone Demon had Mk right where she wanted, the boy was slowly getting consumed by the ice crawling up his body.

You quickly jumped off your cloud and used the last remaining energy to free Mk. Your successor looked up and saw standing in front of him protectively, "Monkey Queen? You really here?" He helplessly asked, still not believing his eyes. Lady Bone glared at you, "Destiny cannot be undone, Y/N." You could hear her talk to you, but you were mostly focused on the staff. She finally managed to get it...

You quickly turned to Mk and noticed that he was hurt and there, tears in his eyes. You looked back at LBD and smiled, "Let's test this theory." Just as you said that, you grabbed Mk and jumped off the Mech. The boy screamed when he saw that you two were approaching the ground, "No! Wait! What are you doing?" He exclaimed loudly in fear. Your cloud came quickly and you flew as far away as possible from Lady Bone. Throughout the journey, you struggled to keep your cloud as what little of your energy drained slowly.

You saw the dronecopter and immediately flew toward it. You two landed down harshly the moment your cloud gave away. You watched sadly as the last remaining of the cloud disappeared, "Mk!" You heard Mei gasp. You knew you had so much explanation to do, so you forced a smile and sat up, "Hey bud, miss me?" You asked and waved your hand. Mk stared at you for a moment before he frowned, "Where were you? You could've stopped this! We could have... We have to go back! We have to take her down!" He exclaimed and you could tell he was doing his best to hold his tears back.

"We can't."

"No! I'm going back. l'm gonna get my staff and finish this."'

"The staff is gone, bud, and I'm in no shape to face her. Neither of us are. I didn't get back in time." You said and then averted your gaze away in shame. There was a moment of silence before Pigsy spoke up, "Back from what? Your vacation?" He asked you, seemingly really upset.

"Pigsy!" Tang tried to stop him, but the pig didn't care and glared at you, continuing his scolding.

"No! What could have been so important that you'd leave MK alone to face... that thing? You're supposed to be his mentor!" The words Pigsy said were right that you looked away, feeling so guilty about it. After all he was right.

"ENOUGH!" Suddenly, Sandy screamed and that made you all look at him. Sandy quickly returned to his normal and friendly self when he saw everyone staring at him with utter shock, "I think we should give Mrs. Monkey Queen a chance to explain." After he said that, all of the gazes turned to you. You sighed and waved your hand in a dismissive way, "All right, all right! I was never on vacation!" You finally admitted, "During the battle with Spider Queen, I found out Lady Bone Demon was back. She's bad news. I needed something to fight her. Something so powerful even she wouldn't be able to win. A weapon." You explained to them seriously, clenching your fists.

Mk let out a deep breath before he spoke up, "Okay. A weapon. Hey, if you think it can beat her... let's go find it!" The boy stated as he smiled confidently. Your eyes widened upon seeing the change of his demeanor, "What? No. You're not going, I'm going." You protested, not agreeing to involve them on this mission.

""Wait, what? You chose me. I can help. We all can."

You forced yourself to stand up and then proceeded to explain the situation, "Yeah, so, here's the problem, you guys have this thing called "mortality", so.." You trailed of as you didn't want to tell them what might happen. Mei coughed as I way to stop you, "You're not looking so "immortal" yourself, Mrs. Queen." She pointed out.

"We can do this. We're stronger together." Mk started and the others nodded in agreement.

You let out another sigh and agreed, "Fine. But it's not gonna be easy, In fact, it's going to be really, really dangerous."

"Okay! So, where are we heading?" Asked Pigsy.

You smirked and looked at the sky, "Well, I guess...we're going on a journey...to the west!"