Series: Saiyuki
Author: Zelgadis55
Rating: PG13 or T for mild language and violence
Disclaimer: Nobody belongs to me, but I can wish!
Summary: Monkey and Saiyuki are based on the same legend. What happens when the Sanzo-ikkou meet a group somehow so familiar and yet so different? Not shounen ai. Please Read & Review :-)
Distorted Mirror
Ch 3
Sanzo twitched as Monkey launched himself at the monk. He quickly stepped aside, looking at Goku with open disinterest, "The monkey is all yours saru. This isn't worth my time."
Goku grinned in excitement as he summoned nyoi-bo, "Don't call me saru!" he stated more out of habit than anything else. Goku could sense just how strong Monkey was and the prospect of a fight with someone strong always excited the teen.
"Monkey?" Tripitaka called, "No violence!"
Hakkai sighed "Yare, yare! There's no need to fight." He said to Pigsy, who was already rushing the human turned youkai.
"That's what you think." Pigsy retorted. He swung his muck rake in at an angle to hit Hakkai in the head.
Hakkai threw Hakuryu from his shoulder and into the air, smiling an apology to the little dragon as he jumped back, out of Pigsy's reach.
"Monkey may not always be right but in this case, I think he is. Either you lot are bandits or you are trying to trick us and we're not that stupid." Pigsy aimed the swing of his weapon at his opponents back.
Hakkai sighed again, once more easily dodging the attack. "Please, I really think this is a mistake." The only answer was more seemingly wild attacks by the pig spirit so Hakkai reluctantly summoned a ball of chi, shooting it at Pigsy. He only used enough power to knock Pigsy out, not wanting to kill him. Something about this group of people intrigued the green-eyed youkai immensely.
With his opponent down, Hakkai decided to check on his friends. He smiled in amusement as he saw Sanzo standing off to the side, looking bored out of his mind. The monk was gazing into the distance, picking his ear as the fight between Goku and Monkey raged on.
"Yuu-Loong!" Monkey called in between attacks, "Get Tripitaka out of here!"
"Alright, Monkey." Came the reply. Yuu-Loong transformed into his horse form and trotted towards Tripitaka. Hakuryu flew in to hover between the horse and the priest 'kyuuing' menacingly. Yuu-Loong ignored the little dragon who, in retaliation, launched a fireball at the horse's head. Yuu-Loong sure paid attention then. The horse could have easily trampled Hakuryu but even when he used to be a dragon himself, he wasn't overly violent. Whatever force he did use had been for catching food only. Since replacing Tripitaka's original horse, after he had regretfully eaten it, he had lost even that small need for violence. As a result, he could not bring himself to fight back against Hakuryu, though he decided to watch for any opening in which to get by the little dragon.
Hakkai shook his head, voicing a small chuckle of amusement, then he checked on his best friend. Gojyo was quite clearly beating Sandy. Hakkai could see the skill in Sandy's fighting style and also the reluctance for the actual fight. Sandy's spirit wasn't entirely into this and that gave Gojyo a huge advantage.
Gojyo gave a cocky grin as he wound the chain of his shakujou around Sandy's ankles. He pulled hard, yanking the fish spirit's feet out from underneath him.
Sandy yelled out as he hit the ground and was dragged along on his back towards Gojyo. His mind raced as he desperately searched for a way to defeat his crimson haired opponent. He felt himself being pulled to his feet again and saw a fist flying towards his face. Reacting on pure instinct, Sandy reached down inside himself and blew a jet stream of water out his mouth, directly at Gojyo.
The high-pressure stream of water hit the kappa directly in his chest, knocking the breath from him. Gojyo struggled desperately to breathe as he was pushed away by Sandy's water jet. Before he had a chance to realise exactly what was happening, Gojyo fell backwards with a splash into a rock pool. The kappa felt his head bang into the rocks behind him. As he gasped in pain, somehow managing to hold onto consciousness, Gojyo finally found he could breathe again. Unfortunately, Sandy did not let up on his attack and Gojyo couldn't pick himself up as he was still being pressed against the rocks.
The water in the rock pool kept rising higher and as Gojyo realised this, he began to flounder in panic. "Kuso!" he swore to himself, "If I manage to get out of this, I'm gonna take Hakkai up on his offer to teach me to swim."
From where he was standing, Hakkai began to worry for his friend and he prepared a chi blast to throw at Sandy. At that moment however, Sandy paused to draw breath and Gojyo took full advantage. He managed to pull himself out of the water. Gojyo summoned his shakujou once more as he ran towards Sandy, moving as though he were running through an obstacle course in an effort to avoid the jets of water that the fish spirit was blowing at him.
Gojyo flung out the crescent end of his shakujou and with precision control, he quickly had Sandy on the defensive again. Finally he snagged Sandy's own weapon and tried to pull it away from him. Sandy struggled to keep hold of his own crescent weapon, which looked vaguely similar to the shakujou. As a result of his struggle, the solid metal of his staff hit Sandy and he fell, hard. Sandy cried out in pain and then tried to pull himself back to his feet but froze. A still dripping wet Gojyo was already standing over the fish spirit, the crescent of shakujou pressed to his throat, preventing escape.
Gojyo grinned disarmingly down at him, "If I were you, I think you should give it up. Coming from me, I find this hard to believe but I really think there has been some kind of misunderstanding. For now, why don't we call this even, 'cause I would hate to have to kill you. Alright?"
Sandy returned Gojyo's gaze unflinchingly and nodded. "Alright, though if any of you make a move of any kind to harm Tripitaka, I wont be standing by and watching."
Gojyo's grin grew wider as he reached down a hand to help Sandy up. "Fair enough." he drawled.
The only ones still fighting were Monkey and Goku. To all appearances, strength-wise, they seemed to be fairly even, though Monkey had a bit of an edge. Skill-wise, once again, it seemed as if Monkey was also a little better. What Goku lacked in experience however, he more than made up for in determination.
Hakkai wandered over to where Gojyo and Sandy stood to watch the remaining fight. Gojyo grinned when he noticed his friend arrive and loosely slung his arm over Hakkai's shoulder, "Looks like the ape is enjoying himself!" he observed.
Hakkai chuckled, "Now, now Gojyo. You know Goku hates being called that."
Sandy gave the two youkai a sharp look at that comment.
"But yes, he does seem to be having fun."
It was true, Goku hadn't had such a challenge for a while and was finding that he had to keep pushing himself to get better, or he would be defeated.
Monkey on the other hand, amidst the clanging and clashing of his magic wishing staff and Goku's nyoi-bo, had a grim expression of concentration on his face. Inside, he could feel the spark of battle excitement but was determined not to let it distract him from his duty to Tripitaka.
"Monkey!" Tripitaka called sharply, frustration filling the priest's voice, "Stop this violence at once!"
Typically, Monkey ignored Tripitaka and flicked his eyes to where the obviously bored Sanzo stood, still picking his ear. 'If that is really one of the holy Buddhist scriptures, then master Tripitaka should be the one in possession of it, if instead it is a trick, then we need to find out quickly and move on.' He thought to himself.
Monkey quickly released one hand from his staff, reached beneath his shirt and yanked out five hairs from his chest, wincing slightly as he did so. He brought them up to his mouth and blew, performing a quick, simple spell. As each hair flew away, it transformed, taking on a humanoid form. When each of them had fully formed, they landed. They all appeared to be younger, smaller versions of Monkey. The five magical clones split off, one attacking Hakkai, one going after Gojyo and the remaining three making a beeline for Sanzo.
Sanzo suddenly realised that he better pay full attention after all. He drew his gun, with lightning reflexes and fired off two shots in rapid succession, killing two of the clones immediately. The third however, slipped around behind Sanzo and tried to snatch the Maten Kyoumon from the monk's shoulders. Sanzo began to fight the Monkey clone off, elbowing him viciously in the stomach. The blow didn't deter the creature much at all. While the clones weren't as powerful as the Monkey King that spawned them, they were easily capable of giving even Sandy and Pigsy a hard time.
Hakkai, Gojyo and Goku could all see what was happening from their respective places on the battlefield but they were all too busy with their own opponents to be of much help, not that Sanzo would have wanted any help anyway.
"Sanzooooooo!" Goku yelled as he saw the clone hit the monk from behind. He watched, as Sanzo stumbled, not quite falling to the ground. Goku tried to run to his sun in order to help him. Unfortunately, he was quickly reminded of his own fight at the moment that Monkey's staff slipped past his own nyoi-bo. It hit him on solidly on his left arm, numbing it so much that his arm was unusable. Goku's eyes flashed with pain, which quickly turned to anger, as he returned his attention to Monkey. "If Sanzo gets killed, you're going to wish that the same would happen to you!" the boy promised seriously.
Monkey gave an almost feral smile "You aren't good enough to beat me. Maybe in a few decades you might stand a chance though." To prove his point, Monkey increased both the speed and fury of his attacks.
Goku gasped, barely able to defend himself, let alone attack considering the condition his arm was in. He was however, determined that he would not give up. He would never give up!
"MONKEY! THAT IS ENOUGH!" Tripitaka yelled angrily. "Fighting and violence are not the way of the Buddha." When there was no response from Monkey, Tripitaka continued, "If you don't stop this fight right now, I will use it!"
That got Monkey's attention, "You wouldn't, master!" He kept on fighting, slamming Goku to the ground with the sheer force of his wishing staff. Goku winced in pain refusing to cry out even as he felt a couple of his ribs crack.
Another gunshot rang out as Sanzo finally managed to get into a position where he was able to dispatch the third clone that had attacked him.
Hakkai tried to fend off the Monkey clone that was attacking him however it was too fast and it was all he could handle just trying to avoid the blows that the magical being kept trying to rain down on him. Finally, Hakkai managed to gain just enough distance from his opponent to concentrate and form a ball of chi. He threw it at the clone and it disintegrated just centimetres from landing a powerful punch on the youkai.
Sandy's jaw dropped at the sight of the disintegrating clone. Then his eyes bulged at the sight of Gojyo defeating his adversary. Gojyo had manipulated the crescent end of shakujou's chain in a dazzling, skilful display. The sharp blade had sliced the magical clone several times before finally flying straight through its victim. The clone then also disintegrated in a sparkling shower, which was blown away by the wind.
Tripitaka bowed his head slightly and closed his eyes. He brought up one hand in front of his face, index and middle fingers pointing straight up, as if toward heaven itself. The other two fingers and thumb, were closed as if they were part of a fist. Tripitaka chanted. The effect on Monkey was immediate.
Monkey's hand flew up to his head, though he still managed to keep hold of his magic wishing staff. "ITAI! Tai! Tai! Tai! Tai! Tai!" he chittered in rapid succession. However he continued to try and fight. "Tai! Tai! Please! Tai! Tai! Tai! Please, stop the headache sutra. Tai! Tai! Tai!"
Tripitaka opened his eyes, pausing for a moment, "Stop this fighting!" he demanded.
"I can't, Master. Sometimes, you just don't understand. It's Monkey's job to protect you." The Monkey King went on fighting the fallen Goku while he explained.
"It is one thing to protect me and another to start fights." Tripitaka admonished. He went back to his chanting and Monkey's hand flew back up to the tightening golden circlet on his head. He still tried to fight but it was useless. Monkey fell to the ground, holding his head and writhing in agony caused by the headache sutra.
Goku took the chance to get back onto his feet, though he hissed air between his teeth from the pain of both his ribs and arm.
Tripitaka called out, "Monkey? Will you stop fighting now?"
Monkey opened his eyes, the pain from the sutra fading rapidly as Tripitaka temporarily ceased chanting. "Yes, I'll stop Master but…" he paused for a moment, "What about the scripture?"
"We talk about it." Tripitaka said firmly as he lowered his hand and raised his head once more.
Tripitaka spoke to Goku gently "I'm very sorry about that fight Goku, are you alright?"
Goku looked up at Tripitaka with his clear, bright, gold eyes and answered excitedly "Why be sorry? I'm fine and it was fun!" He then turned to face Monkey "Wow!" He laughed, "You are really strong! I wanna fight you again, but… a fair fight next time, one where you don't bring out those extra people."
Monkey was surprised over the way Goku was gushing, after a moment he grinned in return, "Sounds like fun. You're quite strong too. Not many people can hold their own against me for so long."
Tripitaka glared "I forbid it, Monkey!" he exclaimed.
Monkey looked at Tripitaka with disappointment, "Think of it as training, Master."
"No arguing, I forbid you to fight!" he said and stalked over to where Sanzo, Hakkai, Gojyo and Sandy were talking.
Monkey faced Goku again with a cheeky grin, "Don't worry, we'll see what we can do."
Goku cheered up, beamed and then ran over to the others, gently holding his bad arm to his body. Monkey followed, his magic wishing staff held horizontally against his back with his arms hanging back, draping over and holding the staff in place.
Other than Pigsy, who was still unconscious from his fight with Hakkai, Monkey was the last to arrive. Hakuryu along with Yuu-Loong, who was still in horse form, had even beaten him to the group.
"Well then," Hakkai suggested, "I think we should head back to the last town and sort things out there. It's not very far, only about a half hour drive, if we were to cut straight across," Hakkai pointed in the direction of the town, which could be seen in the distance, "It shouldn't be much more than a forty five minute walk or so."
Sanzo glared at Hakkai, "They can walk but we drive."
Tripitaka smiled beautifully, "That sounds good to me" he approved. The young priest then asked "Monkey, Sandy, could the two of you please go wake Pigsy?"
"Sure." Sandy sauntered over to where the pig spirit lay.
Monkey followed, grumbling all the way. "Sure, I'll wake him, with a good kick or two to the head. Useless, lazy swine."
Hakkai closed his eyes, and smiled at Goku, "Let me take a look at your injuries, Goku."
The small monkey boy nodded and let Hakkai take care of his injuries. He could move his arm again now but it was bruised a deep, dark purple, as was the area around his cracked ribs. Hakkai let his healing chi wash over Goku's injuries and healed them as much as possible. He then smiled apologetically as he wrapped Goku's ribs, not having been able to complete the job entirely. There were, unfortunately, some things he just had to leave to nature.
"Sankyuu, Hakkai!" Goku exclaimed happily once Hakkai had finished.
The two groups left for town, arranging to meet in the tavern of the inn that the Sanzo-ikkou had spent the previous night in, one group on foot and the other by road.
- . - . -
To be continued
A/N: Not much this time, just for the possible few who don't already know
Itai: ow, ouch (painful, aching)
Kuso: insert your fave swear word here.
The ending of this chapter is a little anti-climatic I realise, but it really felt like the best place to insert a chapter break.
-. - . -
Thank you to everyone who reviewed
Lirin: Thanks and don't worry, I am definitely in this for the long haul. Sorry I took a little longer to update this time but I was quite busy over the last couple of weeks.
Quedorm: I'm glad you're enjoying this so far. I hope you also enjoyed the dvd I lent you. I am so waiting for the UK version of vol 2 and 3 to arrive so I can see more Japanese Monkey.
Panatlantic: Thank you. O.O You only had 2 chapters of the manga left to read and you stopped reading that at THAT point to read this? But heh! Told you Saiyuki is really good. And its such a good manga and anime to be obsessed over :P
Me-Nuriko: That's ok, here is another update. I can hardly wait for your next update.
Tora Macaw: Thanks. Monkey and Saiyuki are both really great. Heck if it wasn't for Monkey, I probably would never have seen Saiyuki… There is more on the way.