He sat in the dust left from the match that had just ended. He won. He should be happy, right? Then why wasn't he? Wukong sat in the middle of the lane, staring at the slowly regenerating turrets. He had hoped to find a challenge. This is not what he had expected.

When he arrived at the Institute of War, he was welcomed with open arms. His teacher and inside voucher, Master Yi, had a reputation of taking only the best, so the summoners and his fellow champions decided to give him a chance. He did well in his early games, but then people started to play harder.

At about his tenth match, Wukong realized that the enemy Garen was dominating his teammates in the upper lane of summoners rift. He decided to go around the river and gank. But, although his team had destroyed every ward ten minutes earlier, it seemed that Garen was expecting him. As Wukong dove from the bush, Garen flashed out of reach, turned on his heel, and flipped towards him, killing him instantly.

Then, during this last match, he was ganked the young Annie. Wukong figured that he could take the little pipsqueak of a champion, Ezreal, who was laning against him. He dove forward and started spinning. He thought that he was going to get his kill, when a burning sensation overtook him. He turned, and standing directly in front of him was a giant, flaming bear. It must have been twice the size of Wukong. The bear swung its massive paw in his direction, and Wukong was knocked on his butt. Annie, such an adorable little girl, walked up to Wukong and looked down on him, her face empty of all emotion. His last words to her before being burned to death were "You aren't very cute when you're mad, you know that?"

He kicked up the dust in front of him with his staff. Why was he so bad? Did he forget a technique? Was he doing something wrong? He was startled out of his contemplation by a tap on the shoulder. He turned around, and there stood the demon girl herself, carrying her terrifying stuffed bear. "Hey mister," she said, "you're really good when you play."

"Thank you, young one. You are much more powerful on the battlefield than I assumed you were as well."

"Why are you sitting all alone?"

"You wouldn't understand."

"That doesn't mean you can't tell me! Please?"

"Alright. Well, you see, I thought I was one of the best in the league. I was happy. But then I started to look awful compared to other champions. For example, our little fiasco in bottom lane today. I didn't stand a chance."

"Come with me and tibbers, mister," Annie said, her voice suddenly stern, wise. Older than it should sound. Wukong followed, curious to know what could make such a little girl act so old.

They walked back to the institute, and they walked all the way through, to the chamber that held the demon fiddlesticks. They stepped in front of the window, and stared at the glowing green slits that stared back through the darkness. When Wukong looked away, Annie had disappeared. He looked back at fiddlesticks, but the slits were no longer slits. The sentient scarecrow had walked into the light, and Wukong could see his true form out of battle. He heard a hiss, but there was no one in within 500 yards of the Monkey King, other than the scarecrow on the other side of the glass. He heard a voice talking, raspy, as if it hadn't been used in a long time.

"I can see your fear. I can help."