https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3ke4k8DjL8

Narrator's POV Many Centuries Ago

At Flower Fruit Mountain, DBK's laughter was heard through the air as he banged his fist on the table while sitting with two familiar monkeys and three unfamiliar demons; a lion demon, an eagle demon and an elephant demon as they were having a feast. "Ahahaha! Such foolishness! Now, tell them what you said next" DBK said excitingly and then Monkey King steps on the table and takes a deep breath before saying "You dare insult me, you old cad?! I shall henceforth be known as the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! I will muck out your pony stalls... No longer! Monkey King out!" and then he dropped a banana dramatically like a microphone, instantly making everyone go from snickering to burst out laughing.

"Wukong, we're to believe you gave the Jade Emperor such lip?" the white elephant demon with goldentusk asked. "Well, I'm paraphrasing, but you get the idea. They're calling it the 'Havoc in Heaven!'" Monkey King says dramatically before a female chuckle was heard as they said "More like embellishing, brother" and now standing next to Monkey King was Adira as she looked completely different with her hair in a low bun while her left side of her face had two orange stripes on her cheek while her right side had three white lines under her eye.



"You always like to make everything dramatic, don't ya?" Adira asked with an amused look while crossing her arms and suddenly the eagle demon chuckles at Monkey King before saying "What an insolent, little chimp you are" and then Macaque also chuckles before asking amusingly "You're really going through with this?".

"Correction" Monkey King was casually laying on the table while drinking from a gourd and belches, making Adira scrunch her nose in disgust as she was eating an apple before the golden monkey pops between Macaque and Adira while wrapping his arms around their shoulders and says "We're really going through with this. Like always! Monkey bros getting into some cheeky mischief" and then Monkey King leaves as he giggles. "Look, Wukong, I get you're excited, I do. But crossing the Jade Emperor is gonna have consequences and... You're not listening" Macaque sighs when he saw Monkey King with a banana beard as he was imitating the Jade Emperor while DBK was laughing at this.

Adira patted the shadow monkey's shoulder as she gave him a reassuring look, causing Macaque to give his sworn sister a small smile before the eagle demon spoke, catching both Macaque and Adira's attention "You always were the most cowardly of the bunch, Macaque. Slinking around in the shadows like a rodent. Well, I, for one, am done with squabbling for scraps" and this earned them a dirty look from Adira for calling her shadow brother cowardly.

"Indeed. The Jade Emperor and his followers have lorded long enough with no regard for those they rule" the elephant demon says while nodding in agreement and then Adira comes into the conversation as she says "As much as I hate to say this, but I agree with you on this one" and DBK clutched his fist as he says "The realm is well overdue for new leadership, and I think we all know the best man for the job" and the others shared smirks and knowing looks while Monkey King beamed excitedly, thinking they were talking about him. "Aw, when did you become such a big sweetheart?" Monkey King asked as he playfully punched DBK on the shoulder. "Not you!" the Bull Demon yelled, sending Monkey King flying as this caused Adira to snicker. "A true leader should be big, strong, and handsome, like Azure lion" DBK says while gesturing the lion demon, who was sitting at the other end of the table and this surprised the lion known as Azure lion.

"Yes. Huh, Azure would look perfect on the throne!" the eagle demon says and then the elephant demon adds as the two agreed with DBK "An ideal figurehead indeed" and this made Azure lion laugh as he stood up and said "I'm flattered, truly, but were it not for Sun Wukong bringing us together, right? Without you, none of this would be possible. Your courage to stand up to the Celestial Host has inspired us to finally take a stand. To make a true difference in the world. And I could think of none other more suitable to lead us on our conquest than you, brother" and after Azure finished, Monkey King had an excited look in his face.

"Yes!" the eagle demon exclaimed as they all laughed.

"Alright, if you insist" Monkey king says with a calm face even though he was over the moon before he sat back down on his chair and noticed Macaque had a scowl on his face. "Relax, bud! When this is over, we'll be back here, basking in the sun, getting fat on fruit for the rest of... well, forever! Like we always wanted" Monkey King reassured his monkey brother, causing a small smile to break on his face before Macaque chuckles and says "Whatever you say, Wukong".

Suddenly Monkey King remembered as he sprung back up while saying "Oh yeah! I just remembered something!" and this caught everyone's attention. "What is it?" Azure asked curiously. "Okay so, have any of you heard about five goddesses traveling together?" Monkey King asked. "The ones who call themselves 'the Mighty Five'? Of course, we have. Who hasn't heard about them" the eagle demon says and Adira nods in agreement as she wanted to know why her monkey brother brought it up. "What about the goddesses?" the elephant demon asked. "Well... I saw them" Monkey King said and it was silent for a moment before everyone shouted "WHAT?!!".

"Did you actually see them?!" DBK and Adira both asked in shock. "Yep! And boy were the rumors true. They are the definition of beauty. Even one of them has caught my eye~" Monkey King said and this made Adira raise an eyebrow as she crossed her arms and said "Now that's a surprise" and then Macaque asked curiously "Well, what do they look like?".

"I'll do you one better. I'll show you what they look like" Monkey King said as he pulled out a beautifully drawn portrait of the five goddesses.



Once they saw the portrait, Macaque's eyes immediately softened at the sight of a familiar witch goddess in there. "That's them?" Adira asked and Monkey King nodded as he said excitingly with stars in his eyes "Yep! They are even fighters too!" and Azure wondered "I wonder if they will join our cause" and that's when the elephant demon says "They look like the type to help make a change and help those in need" and then the eagle demon smirks and says as they eyed the pink-haired goddess in the portrait "They also look like the type to get flustered if someone flirts with them" and this made Adira look at the eagle demon with a deadpanned expression and said "I think I just threw up in my mouth".

This caused the others to laugh and continued to enjoy the night.

Back in the Present

In the Krew's apartment, Funneh is sleeping in her bed as Ender was laying down next to her before the blue-haired young woman began to stir a bit before waking up.



Funneh sits up as she begins stretching with a yawn followed by Ender waking up as well. "Hey Ender..." Funneh muttered with a smile before her door opens and Ally enters with a plate of sandwiches.



"Hi Funneh! Sorry did I wake you up?" Ally asked with an apologetic look and Funneh only smiled before saying "No, you didn't. I was already awake" and this made Ally sigh in relief before saying as she closed the door and gave Funneh the plate "Thank god for that" and with that, the blue-haired young woman took the plate and began eating the sandwiches. "So... Have you been getting enough sleep, Funneh?" Ally asked in concern and Funneh looks at her with a soft expression before saying "Don't worry Ally, I've been doing fine" and Ally nods before saying with hesitation "I know... It's just... Everyone's been worried about you since... You know..." and this made Funneh pause as memories of LBD's battle went through her head from unlocking her full power to her...death.

SLASH!!!

"FUNNEH!!!"

The young blue-haired woman stays silent for a moment before taking a deep breath and looks at a concern Ally and smiles softly as she says "I'm fine Ally. Really I am" and Ally simply nods before saying "Okay. If you say so, Onee-san" and this made Funneh's heart melt in happiness before the two girls were suddenly startled by Funneh's door slamming open and saw a panting Rainbow at the doorway as Lunar and Draco were behind her, looking confused. "G-Guys. We got to get to Flower Fruit Mountain now! Gold called and I think something's wrong" and this made the Krew and Ally look at each other.

At Flower Fruit Mountain

The Monkie Kids, the Krew, Aphmau, Bai He, Ally, Genya and Hunter were now standing in a dusty and cracked banquet room. "So, you two are saying you unlocked a cursed scroll and were attacked by DBK, Iron Fan, Spider Queen, Nezha, and some other demons you've never seen before?" Tang asked Mk and Gold, who replied "Yes and no" and this confused Draco as he asked "What is that supposed to mean?".

"No, we're saying we were attacked by ink versions of DBK, Iron Fan, Spider Queen, and all those other ones you just said" Mk corrected him as Gold says "They weren't actually here" and then Mei says "And that Monkey King was sucked into an ancient scroll that you found in his room full of junk" and upon bringing up Monkey King was in the scroll, Gold looked away with her arms crossed as this caught Funneh's attention and immediately went towards her sister to comfort her along with Ender as he rubs his head against Gold's side of her waist.

"And now you're thinking Mr. Tang's gonna use his newfound powers to free our Mystic Monkey! Right?" Sandy asked as he gestures to the proud scholar. "And uh if that amazing plan doesn't work?" Pigsy questioned as this offended Tang.

"Hey!"

Mk laughs and waves them off as he says "Don't worry about it guys! I figure this is just another cheeky, little adventure! If fighting Lady Bone Demon was a marathon, this is like a-a-a half marathon. Ideally less, you know? Short sprint" and he sweats nervously as this caught Aphmau's attention and getting worried, she walked over to him and asked in concern "Mk, are you REALLY okay? You've been acting really strangely than usual and not in a good way" and then Kirby popped out from her head and looks at Mk in concern.

"Pooteetah, Pooteetah?"

"Yep!" Mk quickly replied before he dashed off at a light of speed all the way to Monkey King's junk room and took a peek in the room to see if the coast was clear, which it was thankfully. "Okay! No ink demons. Phew! When we get Monkey King out, we're gonna look back and laugh. Oh, how we'll laugh!" Mk says as he rested his elbow on Pigsy's shoulder before forcing himself to laugh nervously, which clearly creeped out Pigsy, Lunar, Bai He and Hunter. Mei looks at the room in awe as she says "Whoa! Monkey King... is a hoarder" and whispered the last part to Funneh and Genya, who nodded in agreement. "And here I thought Draco and Funneh's room were the messiest" Rainbow comments.

"Hey/That was uncalled for!" Draco and Funneh both yelled at their older sister for calling them out as Rainbow only grinned. "You should've seen it when we were looking for the vase" Lunar says as Bai He was standing next to her while Stringbean was in the little girl's arms. "Hey, I think I found the scroll" Sandy announced as he held up the object, making Mk and Gold's eyes widened in horror as they both exclaimed "Sandy, wait!/Uncle Sandy, don't!".

Unfortunately it was too late once again, the scroll unrolled itself again and lightning strikes with the room going dark as Sandy drops it and backs away with the scroll releasing a puddle of ink and then the ink demons emerge once again. This shocked both Genya and Hunter as Lunar immediately pulled Bai He behind her and took a battle stance along with the Krew and Aphmau as Funneh stood in front of Ally protectively while Ender began growling. "Aight, Tangy, you're up!" Mei said as she tossed him forward, causing Hunter and Genya to both deadpanned at Mei's action.

"Mei! Don't throw our uncle!!" the Krew shouted and Mei quickly apologized "Sorry!" and the Krew got a little surprised and impressed as they watched their uncle push up his glasses in a cool way before pointing at the ink demons and yells as he gets into a stance "Give our mystic monkey back, or you're going to learn why they call me Mr. Tang!" and he tries to use his powers, which nothing happens. "Anytime now!" Pigsy and Genya both yelled before Tang turns backs at them with a nervous grin and says "Give it a minute!".

Suddenly a giant ink version of the Great Monk appeared before them, causing Tang to jump back in fear as both Pigsy and Mk caught him. Everyone then noticed that they were surrounded by giant ink versions of Monkey King's companions, including Lady Irene and the Mighty Five.

"Your journey is not complete"

"This fool has no strength"

"Your fear makes you weak"

"You are but a footnote"

"Those who can't protect themselves are the weakest of them all"

"They don't deserve our help"

Funneh suddenly froze as her body was in a state of shock and fear when she saw the ink version of her parents in front of her. "Uh, I'm not sure my sweet magic moves did the trick" Tang chuckled nervously. "You think?" Pigsy said and the ink demons unleashed their attacks as realization hit Lunar and immediately took action as she grabbed Bai He and tossed her away. Genya and Hunter both leaped away, grabbing Ally in the process while Aphmau and Draco both quickly pushed Mk and Mei away just in time. An explosion took place as this sent Mk, Mei, Genya, Hunter, Ally and Bai He all to the ground with harsh landings. Mk looks up to see Tang's glasses and saw the others sink below the ink including Ender and Kirby as their owners held them close. "Bai He, run! Now!!" Lunar shouted before she completely sank into the ink.

"No!"

"MOM!!" Bai He screamed with tears and tried to run forward, but was pulled back by a tearful Ally as she witnessed her friends, big sister figure and father figure getting taken away by the ink.

Once they were gone, the ink versions of the Pilgrims, the Mighty Five, the Krew's parents and Lady Irene appeared once again as they were about to attack the five teenagers, the little girl and Lunar's palisman. Ally was about to use her Samadhi Fire power when all the sudden, slashes come from behind and make contact with the ink demons, reducing them to splatters and this made the group cover their faces before they became confused on what just happened.

"What the hay?/The hell?"

Suddenly a big muscle-looking figure walks in and swings down his sword as it stabbed the ground. It is revealed to be Azure lion as he has golden shoulder armor, with one right breast-plate. He has gold armored tassets with a gold belt that had a purple and pink center. He's also wearing a torn purple cape. Mei stares at his sword in complete awe while drooling a little before saying "I want that!" and Ally looked at her confused and asked "Don't you already have a sword?".

Azure lion glares at the ink versions of the elephant and eagle demon from before as they began mocking him.

"Brother, we are fallen. You swore to save this world"

With their words going through his head, Azure sighs before saying "Forgive me, brothers" and with that, he uses his sword to strike down the ink demons before they could attack him. After Azure lion defeats the ink demons, he levitates the scroll and a seal appeared over it as it starts sucking up all the ink into the scroll before Azure closes it and the scroll falls into his hand. He looks at it briefly before he is suddenly attacked by Mk, Mei and Ally from behind, but Azure managed to land on his feet while catching his sword and got into a battle stance.

"Hand over the scroll, children" Azure demanded and Mk starts to say "No, you hand over the scroll, or-" but was cut off by Mei whispering to him while gesturing at Ally, who has the scroll in her hands "We've got the scroll".

"We've got the scroll! Now free our friends, and we don't have to get physical" Mk says before he and others got into a fighting stance with Ally pulling out her dagger while Stringbean transforms into the staff and lands on Bai He's hands. "You expect me to believe you were not responsible for stealing the scroll despite it being in your possession?" Azure lion asked, sounding and looking pissed off.

"Yup!" Mk and Mei both said in unison, making Ally, Genya and Hunter sweatdrop while Bai He looks at them in confusion. "We don't even know what this friend napper is, so there's that" Mei says as she and Mk both stand back to back with their arms crossed casually. Genya bends down a little and whispers to Ally "Are they always like this?" and he receives a nod in confirmation from her before they hear laughter as it shows Azure lion began laughing as this confused the group. "He's laughing. Hey! Why are you laughing?!" Mei shouted. "Okay, okay. Let's start again" Azure says as he puts away his saber, "You must be MK the Monkie Kid, Mei the White Horse Dragon Girl and Ally the new wielder of the Samadhi Fire" and this made the group look surprised while Ally's eyes widened in shock and surprised before she glared at Azure lion.

"Tell us who you are, guy, before we mess! You! Up!" Mei shouted as she demonstrates a flurry of punches and kicks. Azure chuckles before he says "I've gone by many names. Perhaps the one you are familiar with is... the Azure Lion!" and he exclaimed the last part while doing a pose. Azure looks back to see the group giving him blank faces before saying "Or... not, okay. The only best reactions I've gotten was from two girls; one named Aphmau and the other was from girl who I believed her name was Funneh" and this surprised the group as Mk asked "Wait, you know Aphmau?! How?!" and Azure began explaining "I met her not too long ago as I was badly injured and she patched me up and gave me some food-" but then he was cut off by Ally getting in front of his face and demanded with a glare of suspicion "Okay and HOW do you know Funneh?!" and Azure blinks before he gently pushed the young girl back and also began explaining his encounter "I actually met Funneh a long time ago when she was a child. She was in danger and I saved her" and this surprised the group a lot.

"Speaking of them, where are they? I heard Aphmau went to help you, but I don't see her or Funneh" Azure suddenly asked and Mk looked away as he remembered witnessing his girlfriend getting sucked into the ink and says "She... She was... sucked into the ink along with my other friends" and then Bai He adds with tears forming again "A-Along with my Mommy".

Azure lion looked surprised for a moment before he sighs and apologized "I see... I'm sorry" but then Hunter exclaimed with a glare "Hey! We're getting off track! Why are you here?! I'm sure you didn't just come to talk to us!!" and Azure nods before saying "You're right, young man. I am here to help. The item that imprisoned your friends is a fragment of the Scroll of Memory, an ancient artifact stolen from The Underworld. If not by you, then presumably by your Master, Sun Wukong".

"You know Monkey King?!" Mk asked. "Everyone knows the Monkey King. But yes, he was once my sworn brother" Azure said. "Hmm, I see. Interesting. You know who else was a sworn brother of Monkey King? You might have heard of a little guy called Demon Bull King?!" Mk exclaimed and this made Ally facepalm and said "Mk, you know DBK is not little, you know that right?" but then a question wondered in her head.

'If Azure lion is Monkey King sworn brother, wouldn't that make my Mom his sworn sister too?'

"Ah, well. The Sun Wukong isn't exactly the easiest person to get along with. He has quite a habit of keeping people at arm's length" Azure says as this made Ally frown before sharing concerned looks with the group as he continued "We were young, mistakes were made... and some mistakes can't be undone" and that last part made both Genya and Hunter narrowed their eyes at him as they wondered what he meant by that part.

Mei suddenly gasped and appeared in front of the lion demon before pulling down Azure's twin tufts to her level as she says "Yo! So does that make you Mk and Ally's sworn uncle? Aw, you two didn't tell me you had an uncy lion" and she patted them on their backs, causing Ally to almost lose her grip on the scroll. "Hey, Mei, you know Monkey King's not actually my dad, right?" Mk said and then Ally said "I'm not sure. I mean Adira is my mom after all, but-" but then she was cut off.

"You are sister Adira's offspring?"

Ally blinks before looking at Azure lion, who had a surprised look on his face. "Uh, yeah. Apparently I got my looks from my late dad..." Ally says and unknown to her, Genya was listening with a shocked look as a hint of hurt was seen in his eyes and then Azure had a thoughtful look as he says "The only reason I can imagine Monkey King would have "borrowed" the scroll is that he has become sentimental in his old age. After all, that scroll contains the memories of his Journey to the West".

Mk and Ally both gasped in shock as their eyes sparkled in awe and Mk suddenly picked up Ally and lifted her up in the air as he exclaimed "You're telling me that Ally's holding the Journey to the West legend in her hands right now?!" and the others were behind them as they stared at the scroll in awe as well. "That, and the great many other tales, I'm sure" Azure says as he began explaining and then Ally's eyes began glowing as she started getting visions like from before.

"Everything that has ever happened, every deed, every word has been recorded in the Scroll of Memory. It's a prison, designed to contain wicked souls, forcing them to relive their past misdeeds over and over again for all eternity. In order to contain its prisoners, a powerful protective curse was cast upon the scroll to prevent those imprisoned from escaping and ensare any who would seek to free those locked inside... trapping them forever... Left unchecked, that curse would have spread, consuming everything until nothing remained"

The vision ended as Ally felt a shiver go down her spine as she looked at Azure, who spoke "I thought I arrived in time to contain the curse, but based on your expressions, I would hazard a guess that Sun Wukong has already been consumed along with your friends and family".

"But it's fine, right? We'll just pop this bad boy open and get them back!" Mk said. "It's too late to save them. We can't risk unleashing the curse into the world" Azure says and then Ally says "You don't know that! There are times we risk it for sure! I won't abandon them when they need us. If your friendship with Monkey King meant anything to you-" but then she was cut off by Azure saying "It meant everything to me" and everything was silent for a second before Azure sighs and says "If your friendship is as strong as you say it is, then... perhaps there is a way. But we need to move now" and he used his leg/paw to draw a small circle around him before sitting down in a criss-cross position as the group looked surprised.

"Wait for real?"

"What? You're actually gonna... help?"

"Are you serious?"

"Wait what?"

Azure looks at them with a straight face and says "We're brothers. Nothing could ever change that" and then Mei and Mk both started jumping around cheered, causing Azure, Genya, Hunter and Bai He to sweatdrop while Ally silently giggled at them. "Are they always like this?" Azure asked Ally, who nods. "Yes, yes, yes! Yes! Yes! We'll just go in after them, find our boys and girls in a bunch of cheeky little adventures, beat the curse and bing-bam-boom! We're done!" Mk said and then Azure starts to say "I'll open the scroll long enough for you to get inside. But finding your friends, that'll be up to you".

"We got this!"

"Let's go!"

"Us too!" Bai He suddenly announced as she motions herself, Ally, Genya and Hunter, causing Azure to have a disbelief look. "What? It's too dangerous for children and-" Bai He cut him off as she growled with tears forming while her tiny fists tightened "We're going! Lunar took me in and gave me a home when I never had one in the first place" and then memories came into her mind from meeting Lunar for the first time to Lunar adopting her.

The little girl wiped her tears away as a determined look appeared on her face as she says "She was the one there for me! And if she was willing to go all over the world just to save me, then I'll do the same for her! I'm going to get my mommy back!" and this made Ally, Hunter and Genya nodded in agreement. "She's right! Funneh is basically my big sister and I'll do anything to get her back, including my friends and family!" Ally says and for a moment Azure seemed surprised by the two girls' determination before he says "Alright. In order to escape the scroll, you'll need to defeat its protective curse, but it's going to take all your stength combined. Now, hand me the scroll" and then he held out his hand.

Immediately after he said that, Ally for some reason couldn't help but tighten her grip on the scroll as Azure lion noticed this and looked at her.

"If we're going to do this, we need to trust each other"

Ally stares at him before looking down at the scroll when she felt two hands go on her shoulders and looks up to see it was Mk and Mei, who gives a tiny nod at her. Ally stared at them as she also noticed Genya, Bai He and Hunter smiling at her as well and then the young girl gave a small smile of her own before she makes her way towards Azure lion and gives him the scroll, causing the lion demon to smile. "Look out for one another. You can do this" Azure says as Ally went back to the group and held Bai He's left hand while her right hand was still holding Stringbean close to her. "Thank you so much, Uncy Lion!" Mk and Ally both said enthusiastically, making Azure chuckle before getting serious as he asked "Alright. Ready?".

The group nodded before Azure says "Good luck" and with that said, the scroll rolled down open in his hand as the circle around Azure began to glow blue before the ink version of the White Horse Dragon emerges and consumes them. The group grunts at the strong impact of the ink pouring on them before gasping to find themselves in the middle of a pitch black world. Mk takes a step back, which made an unknown old village in the olden days of China to appear and realization hit Ally.



They were now in the past of the Dynasty Era.