A/N: Or alternate title: "Gold Vision Never Lies"
Chen pauses for a breath, letting himself rest for a moment.
"Come on, Chen! We're almost there!" MK encourages, his golden staff slung lazily over his shoulder as he continues to ascend the mountain. Chen holds up a hand, leaning on his knees as he wheezes. "Just gimme a minute."
Straightening up once more, he exhales, looking back to see how far they'd come.
MK and Chen were on Flower Fruit Mountain, on their way to where the Monkey King himself resides. They'd left the next morning, and although Pigsy wasn't too pleased with them leaving him to do all the work, he agreed to let them go as long as they were back by lunch.
"Chen! Come on!" MK calls out again, running ahead excitedly. Chen looks back up at him, raising a brow. "Tell me again why we couldn't just use your staff to get up the mountain?" he asks. They'd gotten to the island using the staff, Chen clinging to MK for dear life.
MK shrugs, smiling as Chen finally catches up to him. "I just like the scenery, I guess." he admits. Chen rolls his eyes at this answer. To be honest, he didn't know why he was here. He wouldn't admit it to anybody but he was a little nervous.
The Monkey King was a legend, who'd just appeared out of the blue and made MK his successor. And now he wanted to meet Chen of all people? What made him so special?
"We're here!" MK declares. Chen looks up, snapping out of his thoughts. Before them was a large waterfall, and the young man looks around, confused. "So? Where is he?" Chen asks.
Mk places his hand on the waterfall. A golden symbol appears, and Chen stares in amazement as the waterfall parts, revealing a cave opening.
MK guides Chen inside, and the young man follows, looking up at the cave walls in wonder. They were covered in portraits of the Monkey King, and his companions from the Journey to the West adventures. The monk, Tripitaka, Zhu Bajie, Sha Wujing, and the White Dragon Horse. There was also another, but he couldn't make out who it was. Probably one of the princesses that wanted to marry the monk. What he found odd, though, was how all the faces were blurred out.
They reach the end of the cave, which opens into a small cove. A shack was in the distance, and a peach tree stood proudly nearby. Monkeys scramble out of the way, hissing at Chen as they run to the tree. MK watches them in concern. "Huh, that's weird. Usually they're much friendlier." shrugging it off, he looks around. "Monkey King! We're here! I brought Chen, just like you asked!"
MK wanders off further into the cove, leaving Chen to stand awkwardly by the entrance of the cave. Rubbing his neck, he glances around. It felt like he was being watched, undetected eyes staring him down, judging him. The hairs on the back of his neck rise, goosebumps covering his arms at just the thought.
His gaze caught some monkeys on a nearby rock, staring at him intently.
It's fine. They're just monkeys. They weren't-
"Hey, buddy!"
The voice came from right behind him. Whipping around, Chen throws a punch as a reflex. His fist collides with thin air, as the Monkey King grins at him, head tilted to the side to avoid the hit. He chuckles, pushing the young man's hand further from his face. "Whoa, nice reflexes. Almost got me."
Chen stares at him, at a loss for words. Here he was, the legendary Monkey King himself, in the flesh. And he just tried to punch him.
"Monkey King!" MK greets, rushing over to join the two. Chen lowers his hand, looking at his friend. "Sorry about that..." he says quietly. Monkey King laughs, giving him a hard pat on the back, which causes Chen to stumble slightly. "Eh, it's no biggie! Could've been worse! You could've ACTUALLY hit me!"
When MK reaches them, he grabs Chen's shoulders, pulling him into a side hug. "Monkey King! This is Chen!" he explains excitedly. Monkey King shoots him a smile. "Thanks, bud! Now we can get to business!" he explains, as a cloud appears from underneath him. He floats over to the peach tree, laying back on its branches.
Chen and MK share a look, as they move to the base of the tree. Chen folds his arms. "So...why did you want to see me...?" he questions. Monkey King pulls out a packet of peach chips, humming. "Yeah, I needed to talk to you!" he explains vaguely.
Chen waits a moment for the Monkey King to say something. But instead he goes quiet, oblivious to the awkward silence. The young man clears his throat. "About...?"
Monkey King sits up to face Chen still on the ground. "Sorry, dozed off for a minute." he chuckles, and Chen's eye twitches, growing more agitated by the minute.
The monkey clears his throat. "Right, so! I'll just get straight to the point; I want to train you." he states.
MK and Chen share a confused glance. "Uh, what? Why?" the young man asks. Monkey King shoves a chip into his mouth. "Well, for one, I've seen you try to fight Red Son. Trying to beat a demon who knows martial arts? Hate to break it to you but street fighting isn't exactly gonna cut it." he laughs. MK glances between the Monkey King and the now agitated Chen. The young mans face was red, steam practically leaving his ears as he glares at the Monkey King. "Ay! I've lasted this long, haven't I?!" he shouts.
Monkey King quickly hushes him using his tail. "Hup bup bup bup bup! I wasn't finished. I want to teach you some basic martial arts so you have a better chance at defending yourself and get away, not get captured in the process."
Chen crosses his arms, letting the Monkey King continue. "And two, I can see a lot- and I mean a LOT- of dormant power within you. And if you don't figure out how to harness it one day it'll hurt someone." he eats another chip, as if he didn't just drop life-changing news. MK and Chen stare up at him in shock.
"WAIT WHAT?! HE HAS POWERS?!"
"I HAVE POWERS?!"
Monkey King cringes at the two boys yelling, and the monkeys that had surrounded him scatter. Chen turns to MK, laughing. "He's joking, right?"
"Nope! Not a joke." Monkey King pipes up from the tree above them, eating yet another chip. Chen blinks. "MK, I think he's broken." he states blankly.
Monkey King squints down at him, raising a brow as Chen continues. "Me? Have power? I'm a regular human! You must be delusional to think that-"
He's cut off as Monkey King jumps back to the ground, landing with a heavy thud in front of Chen. Straightening up, he crosses his arms as he looks down at Chen, expression unreadable. MK steps forward, chuckling nervously. "I-I'm sure he didn't mean that-"
"No, no, it's fine." Monkey King says, not breaking eye contact with Chen. "You know what? He's probably right. I must've been mistaken." he grins. "Buuut if you still want those lessons, I can still teach you. Maybe you'll have a better chance at beating Red Son if you learn from the best." he states.
Chen squints at him suspiciously, as he thinks about Monkey King's offer. "Well...it would be cool to put that edgelord prince in her place... "
"Great! Your first lesson is now. Think fast!" Monkey King says. He leaps into the air, charging toward Chen. The young man yelps, backing up as the sage tries to punch him. He was much faster than Red Son, as he kept up the attacks.
Chen was left on the defence, stumbling as he dodged all the Monkey King's attacks. He backs further away, when he feels something swipe under his legs, causing him to trip. His back hits the ground hard, but he doesn't have time to recover when Monkey King goes to punch him once more.
Moving his head to the side, he stares with wide eyes as the fist punches the ground next to his head. The Monkey King pauses in his attacks, grinning down at him. "Giving up already?"
Chen scowls, kicking the Monkey King in the gut. This catches the sage off guard, as he backs up. The young man gets to his feet quickly, charging at the sage. Drawing his fist back, he goes in for a swing.
Monkey King catches his fist in one hand, standing stock still as a large gust of wind races by him, making a crater in its wake as Chen's fist collides with him.
MK, who'd been watching the whole thing nervously, gasps at the damage behind the Monkey King. Chen stares at the crater, speechless. "What...did I just do that?" he asks quietly.
The Great Sage grins. "I don't think just anyone can throw a punch like that."
"But, how?"
Monkey King lets go of Chens hand, as the two straighten up. "Right now, your powers activate when you're experiencing high levels of anger and stress." he explains as he dusts himself off. "I noticed it when you started healing faster than an average human.
"Which is why it's important you get proper training from a professional as soon as possible." he finishes. Sitting on a cloud, he leans back. "So, have you made up your mind yet?"
Chen stares down at his hand, deep in thought. Clenching it into a fist, he turns to the Monkey King. "Alright. I'll do the training sessions."
Monkey King grins. "Great! Welcome to the class, Chen."
– – –
Later that day...
Chen and MK had left in a hurry, after Pigsy had called them stating (screaming) that they were late for their shifts. Leaving Monkey King alone once more.
The sage leans back on his cloud, thinking over the events of the day. Chen had spirit. Quite the temper too. That power wasn't going to help him any if he didn't get the help he needed. It would end up hurting MK and his friends if he didn't get it and his anger under control.
He also needed to stop offending beings more powerful than him.
Chuckling and shaking his head, he pulls out his neglected chip packet, reaching into the bag and pulling out a chip before promptly shoving it into his mouth.
As he reaches in for more, his hand accidentally knocks off the green and gold brooch that was pinned precariously onto his red cloak. It falls, and the Monkey King panics as he fumbles to catch it.
His tail wraps around it, holding it tightly before it could hit the ground.
Letting out a relieved sigh, he pins it back onto his cloak. "Gotta make sure that doesn't happen again during a fight." he chuckles to himself, tracing his fingers over the jewellery before resuming stuffing his face full of chips.
– – –
A/N: Sorry for the short chapter
Monkey King DEFINITELY wasn't a little cranky that Chen called him delusional lol. And if you don't quite understand what Monkey King was doing: he was trying to get Chen angry/stressed to activate his powers.