MISTY MEMORIES

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Chapter Twenty-One
The Plan Man
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❝My body will remember that anger that will not leave me until I die.❞

YOU FINALLY MADE it out of the broken piece of the scroll. You all gathered in Wukong's house to make a plan in order to stop Azure Lion once and for all.

Even Ne Zha was with you there, but he was injured.

"Okay! Monkey class is in session." Wukong spoke up with a big smile. You were standing beside Macaque, watching Mk and the others getting excited for the upcoming battle, "I can't believe how many wise masters I'm getting trained by this season!" Tang exclaimed with excitement which made you raise an eyebrow.

"This season? What does he mean?" You thought with confusion.

"Wise master, huh? Let me know when he gets here." Ne Zha sarcastically said, but Wukong threw a crayon at his head, "I think you burst a stitch."

"Ah, you'll be fine. Big immortal baby."

"So, you gonna tell us how you beat your old sworn brothers that hate you now, or what?" Pigsy spoke up as he crossed his arms. Wukong raised an eyebrow, obviously not liking Pigsy's attitude, "Do you want me to throw crayons at you? 'Cause I have a whole box. That's what I thought." Wukong declared and pulled out a box of crayons before throwing it to the side. He then turned to the wall and started to draw on the pinned papers.

"Now, listen up! If we're gonna beat Azure, Yellowtusk, and Peng, you've all got some learning to do. Peng is the most dangerous foe any of you have ever faced but the only thing they care about more than fighting is self-preservation. The moment the battle looks like it's turning against them, they'll flee."

"Peng's the worst." Mei spoke up, already showing hatred toward Peng.

Wukong then proceed his explanation, "Yellowtusk is tough, smart, and faster than he looks. He was a handful even before he had your weapons. But he's not a monster. Maybe we can make him see reason."

You blinked a few times in confusion, not understanding a thing, "I don't get it, did I miss something?" You questioned, your face still had an unreadable look. Macaque beside you sighed and petted your shoulder, "These are bad guys, kid. All you need to do it fight them." He explained to you. A hum left your lips and you paid attention to Wukong's explanation, "Leave Azure to MK, Y/N and me." It was too late when you started to pay attention.

"Cool! Y/N is with us!" Mk chanted happily and gave you a big smile.

"Uh... Alright." You said then shrugged your shoulders.

Macaque beside you rolled his eyes, "Azure won't admit it but he has a thirst for revenge. Truth is, he's gonna be on Wukong like a bad smell. Like Wukong doesn't stink bad enough already." He mocked Wukong with a smirk. Monkey King got really upset by what Macaque said, but decided not to get into an argument with him right now, "Hey! I got the crayon, I do the sayin'! But don't worry. I almost beat the Jade Emperor single-handed once. Between the three of us, Azure doesn't stand a chance." He stated rather confidently and that made Mk smile in determination.

Ne Zha frowned in dissatisfaction and said, "Wukong, he has the Scroll of Memory. With it, he defeated the combined Armies of Heaven! So long as Azure has the scroll in his grasp, we don't stand a chance."

"What if we get it out of his grasp?" Mk suggested.

"Yeah, sure. If we can do that impossible thing, yeah." He sarcastically said which earned him another crayon thrown at his head.

"Great! Sounds like Ne Zha's on board." Mk uttered.

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"Okay. So we all know I'm the greatest teacher in all of history." Wukong said which made you look at him with a deadpanned look. Macaque who was beside you sighed and and facepalmed, mumbling something under his breath, "But my plan making..." Monkey King trailed off.

"Is the worst!" Mei finished the sentence.

"Okay. Hurtful. I was gonna say "needs improvement." Either way, Imma hand this over to a pro. You're up, kiddo." Wukong said and threw the crayon to Mk. The boy got slightly nervous, feeling that it was a big responsibility for him. However, his friends encouraged him to put the plan for this fight. Now that he gained confidence, Mk motioned you all for team huddle, "Hmm. Okay! Ne Zha's right. While Azure's got the Jade Emperor's power and the scroll, there's no way we could beat him head-on." Mk started, pointing out Azure's power points.

"I mean, some of us could beat him. One of us, specifically." Wukong spoke up.

"No, not even you." You protested blankly, offending the monkey.

Tang hummed in thoughts, "You want to use the Scroll of Memory against him?" He questioned.

"Exactly. If we can trap Azure, Peng, and Yellowtusk inside the scroll, it'll be like none of this never happened. We'll just kick this can right on down the ol' half marathon. Step 1: Break into the Celestial Realm again using Sandy's awesome new blimp."

"Uh... it wasn't really built to be a team vehicle. It's more of a—" Sandy couldn't finish his sentence.

"Sounds like you're all over it, Sandy. Next: We gotta get that scroll away from Azure. If we get trapped in that thing, then it's all over."

"Mk, don't forget Peng and Yellowtusk. They will not allow you to go to Azure." You pointed out, folding your arms over your chest. The boy nodded in understanding and continued the plan, "Right! So, we'll keep 'em distracted. While A Team and B Team keep Yellowtusk and Peng busy, Monkey King, Y/N and I can work on getting the scroll away from Azure." As he said that, you hummed in approval.

"Once we've got the scroll, we'll free all our friends trapped inside, schlurp up the bad guys, and lock this baby up tight so they can never make us face our nightmares again." Mk said, his face having a look of clear terror and trauma.

"We're all gonna die." Tang stated as a matter of fact and Ne Zha nodded in agreement.

Suddenly, Mei stood up as if she got a better plan, "Oh! Okay. Take everything MK just said, but hear me out. Every time we've gone into a final fight, we've basically winged it without a real plan. But it's like Subodhi said, that won't be enough this time. We need to wait for the moment to strike!" She said, somehow sounding more... smart than usual.

"But Azure ain't gonna just wait around for us to attack. If he's got as much of a grudge against Monkey King as Macaque says he does, he's just gonna come and attack us first!" Pigsy joined her which made Mk excited more. You thought about it for a moment, "It's like we're fooling him by pretending that we're not ready, but we in fact have a plan. Mk's plan." You spoke up, pointing a finger at Mk.

"A Team and B Team will keep Peng and Yellowtusk busy. Monkey Team will get under Azure's skin, and annoy him enough so that when he's distracted, he won't know he's lost the scroll until it's too late."

Now that the plan was set, all was left was training and preparing for the plan, "In that case, we better start training. I will be in charge of your training. I can teach you rapid movements skills if you want." You suggested to them. Monkey King nodded with a big smile, "Yeah! This could help a lot since you're really skilled in swordsmanship." He said with pride, wrapping an arm around your shoulders.

"Alright, I can start whenever you're ready. However..." You trailed off, a scary shadow casting on your face.

"I don't like slacking in my training."

Everyone in the room gulped in utter fear, "Welp... At least it will be useful." Mk tried to cheer everyone up, but it didn't work. Not even a bit.