MISTY MEMORIES

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Chapter Twenty-Four
Better than We Found It
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❝My body will remember that anger that will not leave me until I die.❞

YOU QUICKLY SNAPPED out of your shock and increased you speed to reach Mk, seeing the boy fall down. Using your strength, you leaped high in the air, catching Mk before he could touch the ground.

You landed inside the destroyed mountain and put Mk down. The boy was panting and sweating after using this much of energy, "Mk, are you alright?" You asked him with worry. Your friend forced a smile and nodded, "Y-Yeah, just a bit tired." He replied, trying his best to assure you. However, you can tell that he was beyond just tired. He looked also scared.

Just then, the two of you started to float slightly off the ground. When you looked up, you saw Azure screaming in pain. His body was like it was cracking and light emitted from his eyes in mouth. Everything around you got worse as the cracks in the sky also reached the ground, indicating the destruction of the mortal realm. You could've sworn you saw tears in his eyes.

"No, no... I can fix this. I can fix all of this! If it wasn't for Sun Wukong, none of this would—" Azure struggled to speak, looking at his hands. Even in this state, he was still blaming Wukong for this mess. You and Mk looked at each other as you listened to him before Mk cut him off, "Azure, none of this was Monkey King's fault." He said, there was a slight sympathy in his voice for Azure and what he was going through. Short moments later, Wukong joined you and Mk with the scroll's in his hand. When Azure spotted him, he immediately went to strike.

"Azure, just... stop, okay? You've won. You're going to destroy us, just like you wanted. Us and the entire universe."

"No. This is not what I wanted. I can still fix this, it's-it's the whole reason I'm here at all!"

"Wait, how are you here?"

The question Wukong asked didn't just puzzle Azure but also you and Mk. The lion was surprised by this question, "What? What kind of question is that? You know exactly how..." Azure asked, but Wukong cut him off.

"No, here and now! I put you in the Underworld myself. How'd you get out? How'd you get the scroll? I know for sure you didn't steal it... you couldn't have!"

"I... I don't know, I... I was..."

"Azure, who gave you that scroll? Because whoever it was, they must have known this would happen. Wanted this to happen! And they used you to do it."

Azure looked very confused and didn't understand what was happening exactly. Was this really planned? Did someone give the scroll to Azure knowing that he will use it to take the Jade Emperor's place even when he was incapable? Those questions unfortunately left unanswered for now. Azure looked up to the sky, "I just wanted to make the world a better place." He hopelessly said, his tears floating in the air.

"It's not too late! You can fix this!" You exclaimed with determination, earing Azure's attention. Mk nodded in agreement, "Y/N is right. You still can. You're the only one who can." Mk added in encouragement. Azure looked around before finally deciding to fix everything. He summoned his sword and used all his powers to piece the mortal realm back to normal and it was working just fine, the cracks were disappearing. However, this didn't go without a cost. You noticed Azure's body started to disappear little by little the more he used his energy, the core of the Jade Emperor's powers was becoming visible, "He is..." You trailed off, seeing how determined the lion was.

"Wait! Azure!" Mk exclaimed with worry, but he was stopped by Wukong. With a loud cry from Azure, everything returned back to normal. Azure groaned in pain and looked at you, Mk, and Wukong. The three of you knew that he won't make it and he knew it too, so he chuckled and gave one final smile before he completely disappeared. Monkey King bowed in sorrow, but then the power of the Jade Emperor grew and started to go out of control. Strong wind blew at the three of you, "It's going out of control!" You exclaimed loudly, shielding your face from the wind.

Just then, Ne Zha jumped right in front of you and created a lotus shaped barrier, "Yeah, don't worry about it, Wukong, it's fine! I got this. Maybe... No!" Ne Zha yelled then focused on the ball of energy that was still out of control. Outside the mountain, Tang and the others used their powers to put back the mountain, even Yellowtusk and Macaque joined them. Little by little, the core of the Jade Emperor's size decreased and Ne Zha was able to seal it away in a lotus flower.

You four stopped floating and landed down. Thankfully you were still near Mk and held him before he could hit the ground, "Don't tell me you're going to die, you still owe me a paper airplane tossing contest." You joked as you helped him sit up, Wukong joined you to check on him too. Mk looked at you then smiled, "Yeah and I'm going to win." He spoke up, making you and Wukong chuckle. When you saw his friends running toward him, you moved back, allowing them to check on Mk.

You were just glad that he was alright and that made you smile.

Later that day, Ne Zha took the scroll along with the sealed core and Yellowtusk to the Celestial Realm. You sat beside Mk by the cliff, watching the sunset, "You ever wish things will just... stay like this? Like they are right now?" Mk asked you, giving you a small smile. You were about to reply when Wukong butted in, "Pssh, where's the fun in that?" He questioned jokingly which made you look at him with a deadpanned look.

"Uh, Monkey King, we need to have a serious conversation about your idea of fun." Tang spoke up with a raised eyebrow.

"At least we fixed something for a change, instead of destroying it." Mei said as a matter of fact.

Mk smiled and let out a content sigh, "Yeah! So long as we leave the world in better shape than we found it, than it's all good, right?"

-TIME SKIP-

After the ordeal was over, Wukong had invited everyone for a beach party on Flower Fruit Mountain. Even the Bull King family and Macaque were invited.

Right now, you, Mk, Mei, and Redson were making air planes for the contest. You made a simple paper plane while the others decided to be a bit... creative. Tang was the one to decide the winner, "Hey Y/N, if I win, let's go to the arcade together!" Mk said as he stood beside you, a little blush on his face. Suddenly, he was pushed away by none other than Redson, "No, I will win and take them for dinner." The red haired demon exclaimed.

"Oh really? I'm not going to let this happen." Mk stubbornly stated.

"We will see, Noodles Boy."

Meanwhile, you and Mei stared the them as they glared at each other, "Uh, are they really competing on taking you on a date?" Mei asked you, leaning slightly to whisper to you. You just shrugged your shoulders as a reply. Without wasting more time, the competition started.

"On three! One, two, three!" Tang exclaimed, giving you the signal to toss your airplanes.

During the competition, both Redson and Mk were arguing about who was going to win. However, you eventually won all the rounds which means that none if them were going to take you out. As much as you felt bad about them, you were still glad that they were getting along and that everything was back to normal.

... For now.