Narrator's POV

The young basilisk was tossed up and landed on the platform with a thud and yelped while all the monkeys began going ahead. Vee looks ahead of her before getting up as she stares with slight curiosity before a lion-tailed macaque monkey pushes her forward and chatters as if it was saying 'Keep moving' as Vee and the monkeys begin heading towards an ancient ruin temple's entrance.



Back at the bottom, Syntax stares at the cliff with an uncertain look "Uh..." and then Hyria says "I'll take it from here. You all stay here and I'll get her" but Funneh immediately denied as she says "No, I'm coming. I promised Vulko that I look after her and that's what I'm going to do" and the others nodded in agreement and then Syntax said "It's doable... If I don't have to go too high" and Hyria nods as she says "Good. Let's get going" and starts climbing along with everyone else while Syntax weakly answers "All right".

At the top of the cliff, Vee was still walking as she saw a bunch more monkeys everywhere at the temple's entrance before the same lion-tailed macaque monkey pushed forward again before entering and walked through a dark hallway until she spotted a built-in ruin temple ahead.

On the cliffside, the group was still climbing up as Syntax was struggling before hearing an eagle's screech, making the spider demon whine to himself as he says "A bird. That can't be a good sign" and Draco saw this and called out to the spider demon "Syntax. Look at me. Look at nothing but me. You're doing fine. Just keep your eyes up high" and Syntax says weakly "All right. I'm coming. I'm coming" and he slowly, but continues climbing up before Ally, who was on Strong Spider's back asked in concern "Do you need help?" and Syntax shakes his head while saying "No, no. I'm good... I'm good".

Back at the temple, Vee and the monkeys began walking into the temple as more monkeys were inside. 'Just how many monkeys live here?!' Vee thought to herself as she looked around and saw murals carved on the walls, making the young basilisk stop for a moment before she was pushed forward once more and Vee keeps walking until she stops in the middle where piles of items from the ancient times are everywhere along with piles of fruit and sunlight was shining down as the young basilisk looks up. Vee walks up to a pile of items as she picks up a vintage cowbell and examines it before the young basilisk tries to pull the clapper out, but couldn't and then she starts shaking it as the cowbell makes noises. Suddenly all the monkeys began backing away, making Vee look confuse as she gently puts the cowbell back and looks at the monkeys before a giant arm that came out of the shadows from behind the young basilisk as it grabs a handful of fruit and this caused Vee to turn around and stares at the dark shadow in front of her as she didn't move.

"What part of the forest you from?" the figure in the shadows asked and Vee starts looking around her at the monkeys. "You, man-cub. You come from the south, the a? What part of the forest?" the stranger asks the young basilisk as she realizes the mysterious stranger was talking to her. "The south, I guess" Vee answered unsurely. "Southern forest, the Seeonee. Beautiful, I hear. I've never been there myself. So, tell me, you ever had a taste of the pawpaw fruit down there in the Seeonee? Some people call it the-what's the word? Papaya. Stolen words. I say pawpaw. Goes to the sound it makes when it tumbles to the forest floor" the stranger says before gently tossing a couple of papayas at the young basilisk's feet while saying "Try it" and Vee picks one up as she looks back at the stranger, who says while gesturing her to eat it "Go ahead" and with that, Vee takes a bite of the fruit before saying to the mysterious stranger as she enjoyed the taste "It's good" and then the stranger asked "You know who I am?" and this made Vee shake her head while answering "No".

"I am the King of the Bandar-Log" the figure introduced himself before revealing his face as he's a gigantopithecus before adding "Call me Louie" and this made Vee stare at him with eyes slightly widened while the Bandar-Log monkeys chatter from behind her as the gigantopithecus known as Louie eats a papaya while moving back abit into the shadow.

Meanwhile at the cliff, Syntax managed to lift himself up before collapsing as he says out of breath "I did it!" and everyone else was already there while both Hyria and Adira were the last ones as the elderly woman says "Well done, spider" and then Adira looks at the temple as she says "She must be in there. Follow me" but Syntax gets up and says "No, no. We're on level ground here. I'm in charge. And I've got a plan" and then goes in front of the group while Huntsman and Strong Spider looked at each other as they thought to themselves 'What is his idea?'.

In the Temple

"And you are a man-cub, who wants to feel useful in a team and not be useless" Louie says and this shocked and surprised Vee as she asked cautiously "How do you know that?" and Louie explains "Kid, I got ears. My ears got ears" and the young basilisk tilted her head as she asked "Like... Like Mr. Macaque" and Louie says "Macaque? Oh, him! The Six-Eared Macaque, I know him. Big fan of his work, never met him though" and then adds "You wanna live here? You need a people to protect you. Only I can protect you and I will, for a price" and Vee looks at him and said "I don't have anything to give you" and it was quiet for a moment before Louie says while poking the young basilisk's chest "I think you do" and this confused Vee as she asked "What?".

"Look around, man-cub. I got everything. I have plentiful food... endless treasure... command vast legions. But there's one thing I don't have... and that's the one thing... you can give me. The Red Flower" Louie says while moving closer to the young basilisk and it was silent for a moment before Vee's eyes widened slightly as a memory came into her mind.

Flashback



Vulko was cooking some type of soup while Vee was waiting patiently before she looks at the fire and suddenly in a trance by the beauty of it.

"Whoa..."

"Is something on your mind, young one?" Vulko asked as he noticed Vee was staring at the fire, making the young basilisk snap out of her trance as she slowly says "Sorry, master! It's just... The fire... It just looks so beautiful for some reason and I can't seem to stop looking at it..." and this made Vulko chuckle at his student before saying "You are not wrong, young Vee. Fire can be beautiful for many reasons, including its dancing light, smells, sounds, and warmth" and Vee was amazed by this before she was curious about something.

"Does it have another name?"

Vulko looks at the young basilisk as Vee corrected her question "Does fire have a different name, master Vulko?" and this made Vulko think for a moment before he said "There is one other name" and getting curious, Vee went closer as she asks "What?" and then Vulko starts explaining "Well, you see, young one... Fire is something humans can create and animals cannot. No creature in any forest or jungle will call fire by its proper name. Every beast lives in deadly fear of it and invents a hundred ways of describing it... And the animals call it... The Red Flower".

Flashback Ends

After remembering, Vee suddenly says to the gigantopithecus "I don't have that!" and this made Louie ask "You're a man, aren't you?" and not knowing what to reply with, Vee just slowly nods.

"That's what makes you a man. You can summon the Red Flower... and control it" Louie says and then Vee says "I was told to never go near the Red Flower without an adult supervision" and this made Louie say "You know why they tell you that? Because once you have it, you rise to the top of the food chain. Nothing in this forest can stand up... to the Red Flower" and this made all the Bandar-Log monkeys chatter loudly as if they were cheering.

Meanwhile Somewhere with Aphmau

The young woman was tossed onto the ground as she yelps. Aphmau slowly gets on her knees before a voice speaks out, causing her to look up "Well, well, well. Who do we have here?~" and Aphmau looks up to see a tall demon sitting on a throne as two sides of the demon's face become black and has two dark horns coming out of his head along with big, bony, black and red hands under black bicep-length arm sleeves with gold rings near to the biceps. He's wearing a black, gold-trimmed suit of armor with the addition of a matching-colored mandarin style collar, two matching shoulder plates, a long black tattered cape, two faulds (waist armor) with a golden spike on each one, a tattered black, gold-trimmed loincloth and tattered baggy greyish-black pants and black and gold shoes. Aphmau also noticed the most obvious detail is that the center of the demon's chest along with his torso armor is cracked leading to a dark, gaping hole just at the center of his chest.



"Who are you?! Are you the one in charge here?! Because if you are, I'm not afraid of you and I have no intention of begging for my life...!" Aphmau says standing up while glaring at the demon before her. The demon eyed Aphmau as he was studying her appearance from her raven black hair to her beautiful bright amber eyes, making him grin before standing up and starts walking towards her. Aphmau noticed this and got into a fighting stance as she says with a glare "I don't know what you want from me, but I won't back down from a fight!" and once the demon was in front of the young woman, he stops and before "Do not be afraid, my dear. I have no intention of harming you".

He then lifted up Aphmau's chin with his finger as he says in a low tone "So the rumors are true... You are Lady Irene's reincarnation" and this caught Aphmau's attention as she stayed silent for a moment before asking "What's it to you?" and this made the demon smirk before saying while Aphmau backs away from him "A beautiful lavender such as yourself should be on the arm of the most powerful demon in the world" and then waves his finger and a crown appears, "What do you say, my dear? Why, with you as my queen...".

After he said that, Aphmau was shocked before she sheepishly smiled as she started to say "Okay, you see, I'm not ready to get married and I'm already have feelings for someone else. So, thank you. I'm gonna get going now" and then turns around to leave, but was stopped by two snake demon guards as they blocked Aphmau's path with their spears. "There's no turning back now, my dear. Guards, take my bride to her room and summon Briar Rose. Let the wedding preparations begin!" the demon announced before leaving the room while the two snake demon guards grabbed Aphmau's arms and dragged her away as she was struggling to break free.

Soon a guard opens a door before the another shoves Aphmau forward, making her tumble a bit before she managed to balance herself and looks back to see the door was closed along with the sound of the door locking. "NO!!" Aphmau yells while banging the door before looking down with her eyes shadowed and then tears begin falling down as she slowly puts her back against the door, slides down and sobs into her lap. "M-Mom... Dad.... I'm scared... What do I do?" Aphmau sobs out as she wished her mother was here with her.

Suddenly a knock was heard at the door, startling Aphmau as she quickly got up and wiped her tears away while saying with hesitation "C-Come in..." and the door was unlocked before someone entered the room as it revealed to be a young girl, who looked around Ally's age with white hair, black horns on her head and plum red color as her irises are cat-like.



"Hello. My name is Briar Rose and I will be your dressmaker" Briar Rose introduced herself with a small bow and this surprised Aphmau as the young girl went over and started measuring the young woman's size.

Meanwhile with Group Two

Mk, Gold, Lunar, Rainbow, Lucinda, Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, Monkey King, Macaque and Spider Queen were on their way to save Aphmau as Ender, Stringbean, Mo, Kirby and Bigglesworth were also tagging along as the adorable alien companion wants to save his 'mother'. "See anything yet, Bigglesworth?" Lucinda called out to her familiar as he was flying ahead and comes back while letting out a hoo in response. "What did he say?" Mk asked and Lucinda shakes her head and says "He's got no clue" and this made Mk sigh in defeat, but then Rainbow puts her hand on Mk's shoulder and gives him a comforting smile and says "Don't worry Mk, we'll find Aphmau no matter what!" and Mk nod as the group continues searching.

After a couple of minutes, Bigglesworth lets out a couple of hoos and flies off. "He's spotted something!" Lucinda exclaimed and runs after her familiar with the others following behind her and soon everyone saw something in the distance and it revealed to be an abandoned castle.



"It's a castle! Bigglesworth believes Aphmau was taken there!" Lucinda says and then Pigsy asked "That's great kid, but how are we going to get there from here?!" and then Lunar thought of something as she said "I've got an idea!" and a few minutes later, Lunar finished drawing the teleportation glyph that Ally taught her as the group gathered around. "All right guys! You might want to hang on for this. It's gonna be a bit woozy" Macaque informed as he and Spider Queen both know what's gonna happen and then Lunar slams both her hands onto the glyph, activating it as this shocked and stunned the group.

The glyph manages to teleport the group next to the castle, much to their displeasure. "All right, this is no problem! We'll just climb up!" Rainbow says as she began trying to climb up the stone wall, but fails the first try. "Okay, lemme try again!" Rainbow huffed before deciding to take a different approach as she runs back a bit, takes a deep breath and runs straight towards the wall with a yell, surprising the group.

CRASH!!!

Everyone winced as Rainbow tried to jump up, but instead crashed into the wall with a small 'ow' before she fell on the ground as a worried Sandy helped her up. "Okay, well, this isn't working. And that's fine! Everything's fine." Rainbow says, but then Monkey King says "This is pointless. I say we just go through the front door" and this made Macaque remark sarcastically "Sure, let's just find out what happens when we go inside unannounced! Great thinking, Wukong" and this made Monkey King growl at him while Spider Queen mutters to herself "This whole trip is just a series of deader and deader ends!" and then Mei exclaims "Ever since Aphmau and Vee were captured, we haven't had the slightest clue on where they are or if they're okay!" and Pigsy comes into the conversation while Rainbow goes back to the wall and tries to think of a plan "I don't even know what to do anymore! And I didn't even bring my trusty spoon to break through the wall".

This made Tang look at him with a deadpanned expression and remarks "You mean the spoon that breaks every 5 seconds?" and then Spider Queen says to the group "And I have never been inside so many jars in my life!" and then Lucinda says "And not everything can be fixed with cupcakes and rainbows" and this made Monkey King look at the oldest Krew member as he says "And if Rainbow can't realize that... Well then, she's delusional!" and this made everyone look at Rainbow after Monkey King said that while the oldest Krew member slowly turns around and looks at them with a weak smile.

"Delusional?" Rainbow repeated as she still had a weak smile on her face until. . .

"OF COURSE, I'M DELUSIONAL!!" Rainbow now has a pissed off look as her yelling shocked and surprised everyone except Gold and Lunar, who only had their eyes widened. "Do you know how hard it is to stay positive all the time when all you folks do is complain, complain, complain! JIMINY MOTHER-LOVIN' TOASTER-STRUDEL!!" Rainbow yelled as she kicked a rock near her and this made Pigsy, Sandy and Tang gasp at this. "I don't see you coming up with any better ideas! And if anyone has any ideas right now, I would gladly like to hear it, so we can save our best friends from possible DANGER!!!" Rainbow slammed her fist against the stone wall as the impact made a small crack.

Rainbow was breathing heavily while her eyes were slightly glowing pink before suddenly the group heard Kirby calling out to them "Pooteetah! Pooteetah!" and Rainbow, who was calmed down sees Ender, Mo and Kirby next to a giant hole on the wall as it was big enough for the group to sneak in the castle. "I knew there was a way in! Good job guys!" Rainbow praised them, making the group completely dumbfounded by the oldest Krew member's attitude change. "Let's get going!" Rainbow says as she and the animal companions went in followed by the others as Monkey King and Macaque were both silent before the sage whispered to the shadow monkey "Remind me to never underestimate Rainbow" and this made Macaque only nod in response.

Back with Aphmau

The young woman was sitting on the bed while Briar Rose was making the dress as there was silence between the two girls. "So... You know how to make dresses?" Aphmau asks deciding to break the silence. "Yes... Well, I'm self-taught actually" Briar Rose says and this surprised Aphmau as she says "That's really cool! I actually have a friend who loves designing and fashion like you" and now it was Briar Rose's turn to look surprise as she looks at the young woman with curiosity. "Really, who is it?" Briar Rose asked and Aphmau smiled and said "Her name is Gold" and this made Briar Rose have a small smile on face, having a small sense of joy that someone who she doesn't know has the same interest as her.

Suddenly there was a knock on the door, startling Aphmau while Briar Rose only smiled and says "Come in!" and the door opens as a cute little girl with jet black hair, vivid blue eyes comes in while holding a small box as she has a cute smile on her face. She's wearing a white t-shirt with black overall, red-colored rag dress with purple stockings and black shoes as she has a yellow bow over her head.



"I got everything you asked for Rosie!" the little girl says happily while walking towards the smiling teenager, who grabs the box and placed it down before patting the little girl's head, causing the little girl to giggle happily while Briar Rose says "Thank you, Anne-Marie" and then the little girl known as Anne-Marie noticed a stunned Aphmau before she asked Briar Rose curiously "Rosie, who is that?" and this made the teenage girl give the little girl a soft look before saying "Apparently, she's Dark King's new bride" and Anne-Marie's eyes widened before she looked at Aphmau with a small smile and waves while saying "Hello. What's your name, pretty lady?" and this made Aphmau smile softly at the little girl's innocence and replied back softly "Hi sweetie. My name's Aphmau" and Anne-Marie nods as she says "Nice to meet you Miss Aphmau" and then Aphmau frowns a little and asks "What are two little girls like you doing here? Shouldn't you be with your parents?" and this made the little girl look away sadly while holding her stuff bunny and Briar Rose sighs before saying "We don't have parents... We're both orphans" and this shocked Aphmau.

Meanwhile with Vee

"Please, I just wanna go" Vee pleaded to the gigantopithecus, who only says "Just one thing we need to reach our full potential: bring me that Red Flower and we will rule this forest, I will protect you and you will want for nothing, ever again!" and Vee says to him "I can't!" but Louie asked while getting impatient and irritated "You can't or you won't?" and the young basilisk says "I can't!".

"You WILL!" Louie yelled.

"Excuse me! Anybody?!" someone called out, making everyone look at the entrance and saw Syntax coming in and this made Vee smile knowing her friends had come. "Excuse me, am I in the right monkey temple? Oh, my gosh. Is that King Louie? This is so exciting. The legends do you no justice, sir. You are truly enormous! In the best way. Look at all of that... flesh, just squatting there on an ancient throne. How-how-how majestic" Syntax says to the gigantopithecus. "Seize him!" Louie commanded to his monkeys as some of them started climbing on the spider demon, who was trying to get them off him "Hey, hang on. Hang on. Can you just hang on? I climbed a mountain to see you, and I'm not a climber. Just to be in your presence, for me, this is a dream come true. Oh...".

"Throw him off the cliff" Louie says, making Vee look at him in shock. "Wait. Wait, wait, wait. I have no problem with that, I don't have any problem with that, I came up here without an invitation. It was extremely presumptuous of me. Let me interrupt myself, I just gotta say, you guys are so much handsomer in person than anyone knows, no one ever gets up close to you. I guess it's... why? Because of the smell. I mean, the smell is-is-is rough. But it's not just, "Oh, look at me." It's, "I got the brains." You guys got the know-how, you got the noggin" and while Syntax was talking, Vee noticed some movement at the corner of her eye and saw both Huntsman and Funneh, who gestured for her to get over there with them. Vee nods as she slowly walks towards them while Louie was distracted. "You came up with this stuff, with the thumb. Come on, show me. How do you do that? I can't do that. Look, I scratch, I rub, you know, I can grab a fish. But I was hoping, and you may not be open to this at all, but I was hoping, and once again, it's a dream, but I was hoping that I might become... a Bandar-log myself. Gosh, I wanna be like you. I am hitching my wagon to your star".

Funneh and Huntsman were both slowly walking back to the entrance with Vee between them until a monkey saw this before it let out a loud shriek, alerting Louie. "RUN!!" Funneh shouted as she, Huntsman and Vee started running. "No one leaves!" Louie yelled and then Syntax said while Strong Spider jumped out of nowhere and grabbed him as he ran to the entrance "I can show myself out. Thanks. Bye-bye!" and once they were out of the temple, Huntsman let out a whistle and the rest of the group came out and ran with them as Funneh shouted while she and Huntsman punched some monkeys away from them "Ally, Take Vee And Run!" and this made the young girl quickly grab the young basilisk's hand and started heading/running towards the exit while noticing that the monkeys were after them, making Syntax shout "This Is Why I Hate Monkeys!".

The group ran until everyone except Ally and Vee stayed behind as Hyria called out to the two girls "We'll try to hold them off!" and the group got into their stances as the monkeys were running towards them and once they got closer, the group began fighting off the monkeys so they wouldn't get to Vee and Ally. Soon Louie also came out before letting out a loud roar, causing everyone to stop and look back, including the two girls in shock before Louie stopped roaring and growled. The gigantopithecus then began doing parkour and swinging himself on the temple's wall while the group continued fighting off the monkeys. Vee and Ally felt the ceiling moving and rocks fall down knowing that Louie was above before the gigantopithecus landed in front of the exit, making the two girls' eyes widened as they stepped back. "Where are you going, man-cub?" Louie asked Vee, who was hiding behind Ally in fear while the young girl had her arm out in front of her friend before she yelled at the gigantopithecus with a glare "STAY AWAY FROM HER!!".

"You don't have anyone now. I'm your only hope. I can make it real good for you here. Where else you gonna go?" Louie asked, making Ally growl while Vee now had a glare and said with a brave face "I'll go back to my forest! I'll go back to master Vulko!" and then Louie says "Vulko? Oh. You didn't hear?" and this confused the two girls before Louie said something that made their blood run cold, especially Vee's.

"The goddess Mikina killed him"

Vee's eyes widened in shock as tears began to form at the corner of her eyes while Ally looked horrified as Louie added "Must've been on account of those people you hang out with" and then Vee blinked the tears away as she yelled furiously "NO!!! YOU'RE LYING!!!" and then the two girls ran off while Louie chased after them. "Don't run away!" Louie yelled as the two girls ran up a staircase before running through a room that was filled with pillars that was holding up the ceiling before the gigantopithecus broke through the floor and almost grabbed them while exclaiming "From who you are! You hear me?!".

The group continued fighting off the Bandar-Log monkeys as Strong Spider had a bunch on him and both Hyria and Funneh were helping him until Draco finally had enough of this and took a deep breath before he...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yr_MjzAKhe8

All the monkeys stopped for a moment as Draco thought he managed to scare them...until he was tackled down by a bunch of monkeys.

Meanwhile at Dark King's Castle

The wedding preparations were almost done as Aphmau was now in the wedding dress that Briar Rose made as she was admiring it.



"Well... What do you think?" Briar Rose asked and Aphmau was silent before she smiled and said "I love it!" and this made Briar Rose smile in relief before she asked in a soft tone "... But I know you don't want to marry Dark King, which is understandable" and Aphmau nods before she says "I have a question though, if you don't mind me asking" and Briar Rose says "Ask away" and then Aphmau asks "How come you and Anne-Marie stay here? If you don't like it here, why haven't you run away?" and this made Briar Rose go silent for a moment before sighing and answered "... To be honest, it's because I'm afraid... I'm afraid that if we try to run away, he'll take Anne-Marie away from me and I can't afford to lose her... She's the only thing I have left that I call family" and Aphmau notices the dejectful look on Briar Rose's face, making the young woman frown before she goes up to the young teenage girl and pulls her into a hug.

This shocked Briar Rose by Aphmau's actions and then the young woman said softly "It's okay to be scared at times, but you should never let fear control you. When you stand for something, you've got to stand for it all the way, not half way. Anne-Marie looks up to you and you have the responsibility to protect her, if you cherish her that much... We can never be afraid to stand up for what is right, no matter what others may say. You're strong, Briar Rose... Never forget that" and after Aphmau said that, tears formed into Briar Rose's eyes before she hugs the young woman tightly while crying softly and this makes Aphmau rub her back as she comforts the teenage girl.

Briar Rose sniffs and rubs her eyes as she says "You're right... I'll help you escape, but it's not going to be easy" and then the door opens as Anne-Marie comes in with colorful flowers in her arms while she was smiling.



"I got the flowers for the bouquet!" Anne-Marie says cheerfully as she goes over to Aphmau and holds it out for her. "Do you like it, Miss Aphmau? I picked them myself" Anne-Marie asked cutely, making Aphmau smile as she says "They're beautiful" and then suddenly the same demon that kidnapped Aphmau comes in as he says with a smirk "It's time, princess~" and this made Aphmau glare at him while Anne-Marie looked scared and hid behind Briar Rose, who says with a sneer "We're going to be escorting her, Karaku. Now if you'll excuse us" and then the three girls walked out of the room with the demon known as Karaku followed right behind them. As they were walking to the wedding altar, Aphmau whispered to Briar Rose "What's your plan?" and Briar Rose whispered back "I'll tell you after we're alone" and this made Aphmau nod in response.

Meanwhile with Group Two

The group has managed to enter the castle without being spotted as Mk said "It's quiet... Too quiet" and then Lucinda looks at her familiar and whispers "Bigglesworth, fly around and find Aphmau" and Bigglesworth lets out a hoo before taking off. The owl familiar flies around without being spotted before it notices some type of commotion going on outside and flies towards it to take a look and see what look like a wedding was happening on the castle's huge balcony before it noticed Aphmau was walking in the hallway as she's wearing a wedding dress and seeing enough of this, Bigglesworth flies back towards the group.

The group waited patiently until they heard Bigglesworth hooting and saw him as he landed on Lucinda's shoulder. "Did you find her?" the young white witch asked and Bigglesworth began hooting as Lucinda listens while everyone watches before everyone gets curious and worried when Lucinda's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as she stammered "W-W-What?!" and then Mk asks in concern "What happened? Where is Aph?!" and Lucinda slowly looks at the group before slowly saying "Apparently... A wedding ceremony is happening... And Aphmau happens to be... The bride..." and after she said that, everyone was completely shocked and dumbfounded while Mk didn't say anything as he only looked down at the ground with his eyes shadowed before clenching his fist tightly as he also clenched his teeth before Mk immediately stood and ran off. "Mk/Kid, Wait!!" Monkey King, Macaque and Pigsy all exclaimed as they watched Mk run off before the group quickly got up and ran after him with Lucinda exclaiming "Bigglesworth, follow Mk!!" and with that, the owl familiar took off to catch up with Mk.

Meanwhile in the Waiting Room

Aphmau sighs as she was waiting for Anne-Marie to return with something and soon the little girl comes into the room as she says while showing Aphmau the bouquet "Miss Aphmau... I got it!" and this made the young woman sigh in relief and said "Great job" and then Anne-Marie says with a giggle "Couldn't have you going out there without your bouquet" and Aphmau gently takes the bouquet from Anne-Marie as she says "It's perfect".

Soon the double doors to the balcony were beginning to open as Aphmau quickly gestures to Anne-Marie to go and hide somewhere. Once the doors were fully opened, Aphmau walked up to the altar where Dark King was waiting for her while Briar Rose was also there as Aphmau's 'bridesmaid' and the two girls knew what to do since they discussed their plan.

The same purple snake demon from before cleared his throat while opening a book as he starts to say "Dearly belove–" but was cut off by Briar Rose punching the side of his face, causing him to get knocked out and a big shock to the guests which were the snake demons. "Huh?!" Dark King exclaimed and then a random snake demon commented "Draaaaamaaaaa..." and this made Dark King glare at the young girl and demanded "Briar Rose!! What's the meaning of this?!" and Briar Rose asks in disbelief "You really thought she'd marry you?" and Dark King simply says "I suppose..." and then Aphmau says while tossing the bouquet to the side as she says "I'd never marry a kidnapper! And for your information, I'm in love with someone else!" and with that, Briar Rose pulls out two spears and tosses one to Aphmau, who caught it as they got into fighting stances.

Dark King narrowed his eyes at the two girls before saying "Very well... And as for you Briar Rose, you will pay for your betrayal" and this made the young girl grin as she says "I'm going to be honest. Straightforward, I never liked you anyways!" and just before a fight could break out, the double doors slammed open.

"I Object!!!!!"

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the double doors and saw...

"MK!!!" Aphmau exclaimed happily when she saw it was Mk, who opened the door and started walking forward with a glare as he said "I won't allow you to marry Aphmau!" and then Aphmau asks as she was completely worried for her crush "Mk, what are you doing?!" and then Mk says with a determined look as he kept walking until he stopped "I'm being a man for the first time in my life. Aphmau... Aph, I love you" and this made everyone gasp as Aphmau looked stunned and touched while Dark King looked completely unamused.

"That's right! I love you, Aphmau. And the last few months that I've spent with you have meant more to me than anything in the entire world! And I'm not going to stand by and let some kidnapping demon take you away from me!" Mk exclaimed as he got into a fighting stance while still glaring at Dark King, who suddenly let out a maniacal laughter before he grins at a now nervous/scared shaking Mk. "Do you honestly think you can take me down single-handedly, boy?" Dark King asks as he summons his sword, making Mk gulp nervously.

"Lucky for him, he's not alone!"

A voice called out, making everyone look and it revealed to be Lucinda and the others except Pigsy, Tang, Sandy and Spider Queen were also here as they got their weapons ready and went into battle stances too.

"Backup has arrived!" Lunar grins before the group all let out yells as they charge at the snakes demons along with Aphmau and Briar Rose. Mk was fighting off the snake demons with Macaque's staff as the shadow monkey let him borrow for a moment, Gold was sending the snake demons flying back with her piko hammer as Mei, Aphmau and Briar Rose were teaming up while both Macaque and Monkey King were surprisingly working together. Lucinda was throwing fireballs with her magic as Lunar was also using her magic to help the young white witch out. Suddenly Karaku joins in the fight as he kicks Mk in the back, causing him to fall to the ground while the demon cackles and says "Aw, poor little guy~. I've managed to catch you off-guard" and Mk turns around and glares at the demon remembering he was the one that took Aphmau after everyone knocked out. "You!!" Mk roared as he got up and charged towards Karaku, who simply laughed and dodged before uppercutting Mk straight in the stomach, making the boy choke.

"MK!!!" Aphmau screamed, catching Monkey King notice this as he gasped before growling and was about to rush to his student when suddenly a teenage girl with white hair and red eyes beats him to it as she ran towards Karaku with a yell and tackled him down to the ground, making Mk fall while Aphmau quickly rushed towards him. "Are you okay, Mk?!" Aphmau asks in worry as she gently pulls him in her lap and Mk looks at her and says with a weak smile "I-I'm okay Aph..." and this made Aphmau smile softly at him before gasping when she noticed that Briar Rose was fighting Karaku alone. The young teenage girl was struggling as Karaku managed to grab both of her wrists and then the grinning demon said "You're done entertaining me, little girl!" and then he kneed Briar Rose in the stomach, making her cry out in pain. "No!!" Aphmau cried out as Karaku says to the young girl "You're weak... You'll never make it far in life" and Briar Rose whimpered in pain before she suddenly remembered Aphmau's words.

"When you stand for something, you've got to stand for it all the way, not half way"

Briar Rose's eyes widened at this.

"We can never be afraid to stand up for what is right, no matter what others may say"

The young girl clenched her teeth as her eyes were shadowed.

"You're strong, Briar Rose... Never forget that"

With a boost of confidence, Briar Rose glared at Karaku before she did a powerful upward kick, causing the demon to fly back a few feet away from her. 'What kind of ferocious kick was that?!' Karaku thought to himself in shock before noticing that his tengu fan was gone until he saw that Briar Rose had it as she has a huge grin on her face. "Oh shi–!" Karaku didn't have time to move as Briar Rose swings his fan down, causing a gust of wind strong to happen as it blew Karaku and almost half of the snake demons away in an instant. "Very impressive Briar Rose... It seems you have been training without my acknowledgement" Dark King spoke as the group managed to defeat the rest of the snake demons before looking at the demon, who suddenly had his hand out "Now that playtime is over, I want you to give me my bride back".

This made the group glare at him before Mk managed to get up and went in front of them as he said "We'll never hand Aphmau over to you!" and then he and the group got into fighting positions while Lucinda stood in front of Aphmau protectively. "What fools you all are. Don't tell me...that you think you'll be able to defeat me?!" Dark King flickered his hand as he controlled some type of force and suddenly Aphmau's body flew into the air, catching everyone's attention as they gasped. "Aph!!!" Mk yelled and Dark King caught Aphmau bridal style before holding her close as the young woman tried to break free from the demon's grasp.

"Let Her Go!" Mk yelled before dashing forward while spinning Macaque's staff followed by the others charging too. Everyone tried attacking the demon at the same time, but Dark King either dodged or kicked them back and then when Mk tried landing an attack on him Dark King drew his arm back before smacking Mk away, causing him to crash into Monkey King and Macaque. "Guys!!" Gold yelled as she quickly rushed over them to see if they were okay. "Wait... Aphmau's gone?!!!" Briar Rose exclaimed, catching everyone's attention as they noticed the young woman wasn't by Dark King anymore. 'Where is she?!' Mk, Macaque and Monkey King thought to themselves before suddenly a flower bridal headpiece falls down in front of them, causing them and Gold to look up at the sky as their eyes widened and trembled at the sight before them.

"Aphmau/Aph!!!"

This caught everyone's attention as they also looked up and their eyes widened in horror. It showed that Aphmau was hanging upside down as her hair fell due to gravity and chains wrapped around her arms, neck and legs as bruises slowly started forming. Aphmau tried to grunt quietly as she had her eyes closed tightly out of pain from the tightening chains.



( ↑Kinda like this↑ )

This made Mk literally growl in fury along with Macaque and Monkey King, who looked pissed. "Let Her Go!" Briar Rose yelled as she charged towards the demon with the spear, but Dark King easily knocked her away from him and this made the others charge at him too with their own battle cries.

Meanwhile with Group One

Louie was crawling through the room of pillars as he was looking for Vee and Ally. "Think about it, man-cub. We can rule this Jungle. No... Listen to reason" Louie says as both Ally and Vee were hiding behind a pillar, staying quiet. Soon they heard the gigantopithecus moving somewhere else as they stayed quiet for a moment before letting out quiet sighs of relief and went to peek out when suddenly...

"Gotcha!"

Ally and Vee both screamed and quickly ran off as Louie almost caught them and started following right behind them, causing some of the ceiling rubble to fall as the two girls dodged while making sure not to get hit. Louie then started knocking the pillars down while crawling faster as Ally and Vee were both trying to find a way out with the young girl shouting "Vee, go!!" and while the young basilisk exclaims "Oh, crap!!" but then the two girls noticed a window up ahead as this made Ally quickly grabs Vee's hand tightly while the two girls ran faster with the gigantopithecus right behind their tail. "JUMP!!!" Ally yelled as she and Vee both jumped out of the window as Louie almost caught them, but missed as the two girls landed on a tree that was close to the window.

The gigantopithecus tried getting out the same way, but didn't realize that the ruin temple's entrance began falling down until it was too late as he tries shielding himself from the falling rubble and then everyone noticed this as they turned around and saw the temple's entrance collapsing down, making Funneh yell in horror and realization "GIRLS!!" and the whole thing came down as everyone backed away and stared at what was left of the temple's entrance for a moment before all the Bandar-Log monkeys rushed towards the rubble and began moving/tossing the debris away to look for their king before Funneh quickly rushed over with the group following behind her as Funneh began looking around panickingly while Syntax says "If anything happens to those kids, I'll never forgive myself" and Funneh was ready to cry when...

"Funneh!"

This made the young woman gasp and look up to see that both Vee and Ally were unharmed and safe in a tree, but Funneh noticed that Vee was in tears while Ally was holding her close. "Girls? Hang on, I'm coming!" Funneh called out and began to carefully make her way through the rubble. "Is it true?" Vee suddenly asked and this made Funneh confused as she asked "What?" and then Vee asks "Is master Vulko dead?" and this made Funneh pause as she froze while thinking to herself 'W-W-What?!! I-It can't be true!!' and then she slowly asked "Who said that?" and not being able to respond, Ally answered as she comforts a sobbing Vee "...Louie said that Mikina killed him..." and this made everything around Funneh stop.

'M-Master Vulko... H-He's dead... It can't be true! IT CAN'T BE!!'



The young woman fell onto her legs and looked down as tears began falling down rapidly and a sob came out, making Ao Bing rush over to her and hugs her as he says with a regretful tone "I'm so sorry Funneh..." and tears continued falling down from Funneh's face until she clenched both of her fists as her knuckles turned white. 'Mikina... I'M GOING TO MAKE YOU PAY!!!' Funneh thought to herself furiously while clenching her teeth before suddenly everyone heard a hoo, making them look up and saw Bigglesworth flying above them. "It's Bigglesworth!" Hyria says as the owl familiar lets out a couple of hoos and then Hyria's face turns into a serious manner expression and says "The others need our help".

Meanwhile Back with Group Two

The group were having trouble beating Dark King as he was overpowering them all. "You won't be able to defeat me! Not when I have the advantage here..." Dark King says before snapping his fingers and suddenly appearing before the group was Spider Queen, Sandy, Pigsy, Tang and...

"Anne-Marie!!" Briar Rose yelled in horror as the four people were floating in mid-air with a black and purple aura restraining/preventing them from moving. "Let Them Go!!" Mk screamed as he charged forward once more, making both Macaque and Monkey King yell "Mk/Kid, No!!" but the young man didn't listen as he charged at Dark King again and this made the demon look amused as Mk swings Macaque's staff down to land a hit, but it was stopped by Dark King's hand. "Huh?!" Mk was baffled as the demon looked at him with a grin before saying "You have no chance against me" and then grabbing the staff and hit Mk in the stomach, sending him flying as he crashed into the double doors. "MK!!!" Aphmau screamed as she started struggling seeing that her crush was hurt and the group were also stared in shock before they suddenly felt a force pushing them down on the ground, unable to move. Mk slowly gets up as he coughs and looks to see that the group was forced on the ground by some type of force and managed to say "Guys...!".

"Mk!! Get Up! Guys! Stop It!!" Aphmau yelled as she continued struggling to break free and then Dark King turned his attention to Aphmau and said while slightly bending his fingers "Quiet down a bit, my bride" and then suddenly the chains around the young woman squeezed tighter as it felt like the chains were pinching her, making Aphmau scream/cry out in pain.

"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"

"NO/LEAVE HER ALONE/STOP THAT!!!" everyone yelled as they couldn't help, but watch helpless as Aphmau whimpers before shutting her eyes from the pain and then Dark King looks at Mk, who flinched while standing up and holding his right arm as the demon says while raising his hand up "Your turn, boy" and just before Dark King could do anything...

"Water Breathing... Second Form... Water Wheel!"

Someone yells in the air, causing Dark King to up and sees someone zooming towards him from the air as they unleash a horizontal spin made of water and this makes the demon jump back with a stunned look as the person was revealed to be Funneh, who has glare on her face. "Funneh!!" Mk, Mei and Aphmau yelled happily as the young woman charged at Dark King with a battle cry and kicked him straight in chin, making him lose focus on his force and the group was now free including Pigsy, Tang, Sandy, Spider Queen and Anne-Marie as they fall down, making Briar Rose quickly take action and caught the little girl in her arms just in time while the others landed safely except Tang, who face-planted on the ground. "Somebody free Aphmau!" Funneh shouted and then someone jumped into the air as it revealed to be Lunar, who had dark purple hands with purple veins sprouting out on her arms as she grabs the chains and then the chains around Aphmau slowly turned black before it disappeared, causing the young woman to fall but was quickly caught by Strong Spider as the rest of the group showed up.

Dark King narrowed his eyes at everyone before he heard a roar, causing him to turn around but was too late to react as a tail hit him straight in the stomach, sending Dark King flying and crashing into the castle's walls. Everyone looks up and sees a familiar white-scaled dragon with pale blue hair, making Mei grin as she shouts happily "Cousin!" and then Ao Bing lands down before transforming back into his human form, making Mei run over and hugs her cousin. "Aphmau!!" Lucinda and Funneh both exclaimed as they rushed over to their friend and hugs her tightly. "We're so glad that you're okay!" Funneh said as it was followed by Lucinda exclaiming "Don't you ever scare us like that again!" and then the rest of the group came over to the young woman telling her that they were relieved that she was okay and unharmed before Ally noticed the dress and asked "Uh, Aphmau... Why are you wearing a wedding dress?" and this made Aphmau blush and look away while stammering "L-Let's not talk about t-that, please?!" and this caused everyone to laugh while unknown to them, Dark King was watching this scene with a furious look before he grabbed his sword and then charged at Mk with a yell.

Macaque noticed this and screamed "KID!!" and this caught everyone's attention as Mk turns around and froze in fear and horror when Dark King brings his sword, causing Mk to shut his eyes tightly while shielding his face with his arms ready for the pain. But when he doesn't feel anything, Mk slowly opens his eyes and sees that Dark King has suddenly stiffened in place and then Funneh suddenly walks up in front of Mk with her hand out before everyone realizes she was using bloodbending to subdue the demon as the young woman was focusing first on Dark King, who grunts in discomfort before Funneh spoke in a dark tone "Don't ever come near Aphmau or my family again..." and then with a yell, Funneh throws Dark King in the air before slamming him on the ground hard, causing him to go unconscious.

Everyone was silent as they looked at Funneh in concern and worry while Briar Rose and Anne-Marie were both stunned and stared at the young woman in slight awe before Funneh slowly turns around and says in a low tone "Let's get outta here..." and Hyria nods before summoning her staff and teleports everyone out of the castle.

Back at Hyria's Cottage

After returning back and cleaning/fixing Hyria's home, everyone was now eating breakfast and lunch that both Lucinda and Hyria were cooking with Pigsy, Funneh, Briar Rose and Rainbow helping them out. At the table, Anne-Marie was happily eating waffles as Lunar saw this and asked curiously "You like waffles?" and the little girl replied "Oh yes, very much thank you!" and adds while Hyria came over and placed two more waffles on Anne-Marie's plate as the little girl says while looking around the cottage "This is the most beautiful house I've ever seen!" and this made the elderly woman smile softly and say "Well, thank you Anne-Marie. Though I have a question, why were you and Briar Rose both in that demon's castle?"

This made the little girl look at her and said "We lived there" and then Funneh asked "But what about your parents?" and Anne-Marie looks at her and says "I don't have any parents, neither does Rosie" and this shocked everyone before Gold asked "Then where do you plan to stay?" and then Briar Rose says as she sits down next to Anne-Marie "We don't know yet, but we'll find a place" and this makes the little girl nod as she says "Yep! Big sister Rosie always finds a way, she always does" and then Lucinda shares a look with her mother as she says "Mom, a word..." and the two witches get up and leave the kitchen as they talk in the living room. "We can't let them leave with nowhere to go" Lucinda says and Hyria sighs as she says "I know, Lucinda".

After a few moments, Hyria and Lucinda came back into the kitchen as the elderly witch had something in her hands as it was covered in some type of cloth. "Aphmau... Mother has something for you" Lucinda called out to her friend, making everyone look at them as Aphmau, who is now back in her clothes gets up and walks over to them. "What is it?" Aphmau asked and then Hyria said "Before you leave, you will need this for your journey..." and then Lucinda pulled off the cloth before what everyone saw made them gasp. It revealed to be a purple staff with Irene's symbol as everyone realized what it was.



"Lady Irene's staff..." Aphmau breathes out in awe as she slowly takes the staff from Hyria and admires it for a moment. "Indeed it is. In any case, I've told you all I've needed too. Irene, know that I love you and will always be here for you" Hyria says as she placed her hand on Aphmau's shoulder while smiling softly at the young woman before Aphmau smiles back with tears forming at the corner of her eyes and hugs Hyria, surprising her as a faint memory of a smiling Lady Irene appearing in her mind before tears slowly falls down from Hyria and hugs Aphmau as unknown to everyone, the spirit of Lady Irene watches with a soft yet fond smile and says "Take care... My old friend" and then she disappears.