Letting out a soft sigh, Jiang leaned forward, setting her elbows on her thighs. "I'm so excited! I haven't been to the movies in ages!" MK cried out, making Jiang and Pigsy look at him. "Uh, kid? This ain't a cinema" Pigsy told him.

"It's a shadow play, with puppets" Tang added. Jiang giggled at the look on MK's face. "Wah? Puppets? No! I thought we were seeing Kong Fu Monkey Cop the movie!" He cried.

"Uh, check the back" Mei said. MK groaned as he saw the shadow play ad. Jiang smiled, then, she spotted someone that made her stiffen and drop the smile.

"What's wrong?" MK asked. Jiang nodded her head in the person's direction. "Check it out. It's the guy who gave us the weird key" she said.

"You mean the magic key that could unlock anything? Yeah, I'm pretty sure that is him. And I'm also pretty sure that he's still not actually the mayor" Mei said. The person turned their head like it was turning on rusty gears, and then slowly moved their arm in a wave that kept stopping. "Hellooo~" their said in a weird voice.

"That's not creepy at all" Tang said, Jiang nodding in  agreement. "Point is, whatever we're watching, you two earned a break kids" Pigsy said. "You guys have been training super hard. I can't even remember the last time we all just, hung out together. I miss this" Mei said.

"So, was Sandy just busy? Orr-" Tang said before he was cut off. "What are you talking about? We hang out all the time" MK said to Mei. "Nuh uh girlfriends. It's always Monkey King those or some scary skeleton thing that with you two lately" she said.

"You guys wrote off checkers night yesterday because you both had to study. Study what, I might ask?" Tang said. "Okay! Okay! We get it! It's just, Monkey King said..." MK said trailing off. "It's just, me and MK need to be ready" Jiang said for him.

"Ready for what?" Pigsy asked. Jiang was glad when the entire place dimmed down, signalling the show was about to start. She turned her attention to the stage, but was quickly distracted by shadows that seemed to scurry around them, all heading for the stage.

There, a creepy doll hung from wires, and then, it turned it's face towards the people that were there. Then, the curtains drew back to reveal a cloaked figure who had their hood drawn up. "Welcome viewers, to a shadow play, the likes of which have never been seen" he said, holding up a glowing lantern that seemed to float between his hands.

"It follows the tragic tale of a legendary warrior, and how those who bring light into this world, inevitably bring darkness to those they hold dear" he said. The shadows that were casted on the wall behind him showed a figure being overcome by darkness. "Mei, I just realized something" MK whispered.

"What?" Mei whispered back. "I. I don't have snacks!" MK said, making Jiang facepalm. "Kid, relax. We literally just ate" Pigsy said.

"Must get snacks!" MK said before he darted off. Jiang sighed. "I swear, he's got undiagnosed ADHD or something like" she muttered before turning her full attention back to the play.

The story hadn't even really started, and yet, she was already captivated. The way the puppeteer chose his words, not to mention the moving shadows that were casted upon the wall, it was all enough to draw her in. "Like light, heroes bring warmth, hope, and friendship" he said.

The lantern glowed even brighter. "But also give life to the darkness" the puppeteer said as the glow dimmed down. Jiang was too captivated to notice that her friends were missing.

Then, she let out a sigh as MK came in, holding a bunch of things. "Sorry, sorry, sorry" he said as he came back over to her. "Bro, we really gotta work on a bunch of things when this is over" she muttered.

"Hey, where are the others?" MK quietly asked. "Oh, they probably took a bathroom break" Jiang said, now noticing her friends disappearance. MK seemed satisfied, and the puppeteer came back.

"The hero and the warrior were like the sun and the moon, their light, a protective glow shining upon the world. Together, there was nothing that could stop the two of them, either the Celestial realms, or on Earth. As time went on, the hero attained power beyond comprehension. As the hero's light grew, so to, did his shadow. And soon, the warrior was cast in that shadow" the puppeteer said, the shadows forming multiple shapes and figures to go along with his story. Then, the lantern glowed even brighter again, and wind seemed to form in the place. Jiang began to have her suspicions, that this was no ordinary lantern.

"And in the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the hero..." And with that, the show was over. The lights returned, and MK stepped out, saying he was gonna call their friends.

Jiang stayed behind to clean up his mess that he made with the snacks. Then, she got a strange feeling that something was behind her, but, upon turning around, there was no one there. However, the door was swinging shut.

Guessing that whatever it was had left, Jiang sat back down on the bench seats. She wasn't really sure why, but something about a large empty place, like this area, was almost comforting. It was just her, and her thoughts.

After a while, MK came in, and so, the two left together. However, the puppeteer's words kept replaying themselves in her mind. The hero and the warrior were like the sun and the moon, their light, a protective glow shining upon the world.

She looked through her drawings, all of little moments between her, MK, and Wukong. As the hero's light grew, so to, did his shadow. "Anything?" MK asked as Jiang put her phone away after getting an update call from the police.

All he got was a shake of the head. "They said that they'll keep searching" Jiang told him. And soon, the warrior was cast in that shadow.

Getting to Pigsy's Noodles, she looked down at the locked latch on the door before sighing and continuing on her way.  And in the darkness, the warrior was forgotten by the hero. MK went to Flower Fruit Mountain, while Jiang went back to the theater were the shadow play had taken place.

Leaving her jacket up on the wall to dry out, since it had been raining outside, she took a seat and hugged a knee to her chest. She never really showed how she was really feeling, opting instead to be the strong one that someone else could look to for support or comfort. But in moments like these, when she was alone, she let the facade down.

Setting her arms down in her knees, she rested her head on them, letting out a sigh. "Ah, you again? You must be my biggest fan" a voice said from beside her, startling her. Looking over, she spotted the puppeteer, who seemed to be staring straight at her.

Though she couldn't really tell since the hood was drawn up,  covering and casting a shadow over his face. "Do you normally sneak up on people like that?" She asked, eyeing him a bit. The puppeteer shrugged.

"Sometimes yes, sometimes no. You are aware that the play's over, right?" he replied. "Yeah, I'm aware of that" Jiang said, before sighing a little. "So, the warrior, in the story. What happened to him?" She asked.

The puppeteer chuckled as he stood up straight. "What would you like to hear? That the hero suddenly remembered his beloved friend the warrior? That they lived happily ever after and-" he said before Jiang cut him off. "No, nothing like that. I've come to expect the bad endings as well as the good. I want to know the real aftermath of story. What really happened to him" she said, debating on whether or not she should tell a complete stranger the things that were weighing down her mind.

"Hmm. Your a bit of an interesting one, seeing both the good and the bad" the puppeteer said. "Hey, life teaches you a lot of things when your growing up" Jiang said as she set one down against the ground. A moment of silence fell upon the two.

Ah, fuck it, she thought. "This really goes against my better judgement, and I get the feeling that I might regret it later, but to hell with it. Me and a, friend of mine, well, I guess we kinda feel like the warrior" Jiang said, thinking about her past. And the people that were involved in it.

"I don't know, I just, I felt like I could relate more to the warrior than I could the hero in the story. That sounds dumb, doesn't it?" She said. "Well, I take it as a compliment young woman. A telltale sign of a good story. That you resonate with it so personally, but I think maybe you might've missed the point of it" the puppeteer told her. Jiang opened her mouth to respond, but was interrupted but the doors bursting open.

"I mean, I want to be strong, and I'm trying to be, but it's like Monkey King isn't even giving me a chance!" MK said, speaking loud enough that Jiang and the puppeteer could hear him. "I hear that little brother" Jiang said, startling MK as he realized he wasn't the only one in the theatre. But he didn't seem to notice the puppeteer.

"I mean, what if Monkey King knows he made a mistake? Chose wrong, chose the wrong successors?" He said. Jiang looked down. She wouldn't admit it, but she also shared his fears. Maybe they really didn't have what it takes to be Wukong's successors.

But, they held out for this long. That should mean something. Right?

"And? What if he did?" Someone said. Looking over, Jiang was startled by Wukong's sudden appearance. But he didn't really seem to look like himself.

The once bright sparkle that was in his eyes was gone, and his clothes were clean. Whereas last time she had seen him, which had been through the astro-projection, his clothing had a few chips and tears in them. MK didn't seem fully deterred by the appearance of their mentor.

"This again?" He asked while Jiang gave Wukong a judging look. "Look, I know you aren't really here. Me and Jiang have been doing what you've been telling us to do. Believing in ourselves, blah blah blah" he said as he came over. Jiang stood up and let him sit down, listening as he called out both of their insecurities on the whole matter.

However, what both surprised and ticked her off, was that Wukong laughed. They had just, well, MK had just told him how he and Jiang were really feeling, and Wukong just laughed it off. "You know what? If your not gonna help us, then just leave me and my brother alone!" She snapped, bringing her fist forward with the intent of hitting the guy in the face.

However, Wukong caught and held her fist in a vice-like grip. "Whoa Jiang. You've been working out? You pack a bigger punch than I remember" Wukong said in a voice that was not his own. Jiang immediately put the puzzle together.

"Wha-oh no. Macaque!" She cried, making MK gasp behind her. Macaque laughed as he shifted into his real form. "The one and only!" He said.

"So why so glum? I've noticed you both have been looking a little frail!" Macaque said as he walked forwards a bit, forcing Jiang to back up before he slammed her hand into the wooden bench beside them, smirking when he heard Jiang let out a soft cry of pain. He still kept a hold of her fist. "What are you even doing here?!" She snapped at him, glancing back at MK as he began to speak.

"Oh no. I just-!" MK said before Macaque cut him off. "Unloaded all of yours and Jiang's secret insecurities on me?!" He said, chuckling. "I know! But hey, no shame in that, you too. Sometimes you gotta talk it out, y'know? I don't usually do it. Maybe I should. But then we'd be here all day, soo-" Macaque said.

"Would you just get to the fucking point?!" Jiang yelled at him, throwing her second hand at him, but Macaque simply caught her wrist, preventing her from landing the hit. "Slow down kiddo. This is the thanks I get for checking in on my favorite student?" He asked in a tone that held a hint of playfulness to it. It only served to make Jiang more ticked off.

"MK and I are not your students! Not anymore!" She hissed at him. Macaque pushed her back, forcing MK to come up and steady Jiang before she could fall. "Well with old Monkey King not around, I thought someone should teach the two of you a lesson" he said.

He then pulled out the glowing purple lantern from before. "Ah Jiang, MK, the both of you really are dense" he said as the light from the lantern made the kids shadows appear on the wall, which drew their attentions to it. "The two of you heard a story about a hero who got handed everything, who didn't have to work for anything, and you two thought you were the other guy?! The second the hero got real power, he couldn't care less about his friends. That's the both of you!" Macaque told them as he made the light fade away.

"Us?" MK asked. "We aren't like that!" Jiang said, facing her ex-mentor. "Hmm, I'd beg to differ kiddos" he said, making the lantern light up again. Jiang looked down, and spotted the sillouttes of her three missing friends stretched out in the floor.

"Guys!" MK cried as 3-D shadows version of their friends appeared. He sounded surprised, which made Jiang look at him. "Did you just now realize they were missing?" She asked him.

The look on MK's face was all the answer she needed to know. "Classic hero maneuver. Maybe it's just me, but these guys don't look to happy about being left in the shadow of the great Monkey Kids" Macaque said as the lantern's light faded away, leaving the two in the darkness of the dimmed down lights in the theatre. Hearing something moving around, Jiang closed her eyes and focused, and when something came running at her, she sensed it, and sidestepped out of the way.

Opening her eyes, she came face to face with the shadow version of Tang. Sensing something coming up behind her, Jiang jumped at the shadow clone and jumped off his chest, doing a backflip into the air and allowing the shadow version of Mei to slam into Tang. Landing on her feet, Jiang was lightly surprised when shadow Pigsy grabbed her from behind, but she kept her cool.

Planting her foot behind on if his, she spun around, which throw the shadows off balance, and allowed her to throw him to the ground. "Whoa! Jiang, how'd you-?!" MK called as Jiang stood up straight. "What do you think I was doing in my free time moments before and after I met Pigsy?!" She said, looking over at him.

That moment of distraction was all it took for Pigsy to slam a fist into her eye when she was turning back around, the force of the hit tossing back and over to where MK was. "Jiang!" He cried. "I'm fine. I'm not bleeding or anything, so I'm fine!" His sister told him as she took her hand away from her eye.

"Also, side note, how did you guys not know it was me? Shadows? Kinda my gizmic, isn't it?" Macaque said from where he was crouching on the stage, watching the entire thing play out in front of him. He seemed to be rather amused by everything, and Jiang wondered if this was his own sick sense of entertainment. "I bet your all oh so amused by all of this, aren't you?" She asked after she was tossed against the side of the stage.

"As a matter of fact, yes, yes I am. And you might want to focus more before you get hit in the head again" Macaque told her with an amused smile. Jiang ducked to avoid Pigsy's fist, which landed against the stage. But she suffered a hard kick to the side that was dealt by Mei, which sent her rolling to the ground.

"Alright, street smarts it is" she muttered to herself. When Tang made to grab her, aiming for her throat, she grabbed his wrist and jumped up, wrapping a leg around his arm, and bracing her other foot against his shoulder. She let her momentum carry her up, and she twisted herself slightly, hearing the elbow cracking a bit as the arm was twisted.

Jiang then let gravity take over, and she and the Tang clone fell down, the clone now holding it's injured elbow. Coming back up to her feet, Jiang delt a hard kick to Pigsy's face, which flung him back. Then, looking around, she spotted a panicked look come into MK's face as Mei grabbed him from behind.

"Hey, don't look at me! Focus!" Macaque called out. "Oh, this bit might hurt!" He said before MK was thrown into the ground. Jiang winced slightly at the sight before she rushed over.

She grabbed the wrist of the shadow clone when it tried to throw a hit at her, then she wrapped her arm in a way so that when she jerked it up, there was an audible crack, and the clone backed away, holding it's elbow. "Jeez, Jiang going in for the kill" Macaque commented, looking mildly impressed. But, then moment was shortlived when Pigsy managed to sneak up behind Jiang and gave her a hard shove that sent her tumbling down the wooden benches.

It didn't feel any better than falling down actual stairs. The Tang clone landed in top of her, and Jiang held his fists in her hand. Hearing MK going through his own struggles with the other two clones, Jiang used her gold vision, and looked around, starting to get desperate for anything that could help them out.

Then, she saw three floating orbs that were inside the lantern. One was green, one was pink, and one was red. Her friends were inside the lantern!

If Jiang could get to it, and break the lantern, then her friends would be free! Pushing back against Tang, Jiang managed to get to her feet. "I think that's enough" she hissed, her eyes still shining gold as she slammed her head against Tang's.

Summoning the staff, Jiang darted into the air, stopped above Macaque, and came down, swinging the staff as she did. Something flashed in Macaque's eyes, but it faded away just as quick as it came. He reached up, and stopped the staff before it could truly hit him.

Jiang was slightly surprised as she balanced herself, but she did her best not to let it show. "Your right. That is enough" Macaque said before moving the staff a bit so that Jiang could see his face. "You know, you really are just that bit too much like him. But it's good to see there is some potential" Macaque said.

Then he did something that shocked Jiang. He broke the lantern himself. The three colored orbs flew out from it, and flew into Pigsy, Mei, and Tang, bringing the color back to them and turning them into the real versions of themselves.

"Guys! Your okay!" MK cried as he tackled them into a hug. "Wait, what happened?!" Mei cried. "Macaque trapped you guys in a magic lantern" Jiang explained, leaning on the staff.

"Speaking of which" she said, looking around in time to see a door swing shut as a black furry tail disappeared from view. "Stay here" Jiang said before attaching the staff to her back and running towards the door, ignoring her friends and brother as they yelled for her. Bursting out of the door, it took her a couple seconds of looking around before her eyes landed on the edgy monkey.

"What the hell was that?! Why'd you break it yourself?!" She asked. Macaque looked back at her over his shoulder, hanging his head back a bit. "Hmm? Oh! Why'd I break the lamp?" He said, realizing her question before turning to face her.

"Well, I was gonna do the whole 'watch the hero be tormented by their own mistakes' thing but, seems like you and your brother are already kinda doing that to yourselves, which honestly has been an been an absolute pleasure to watch" Macaque said before moving into his shadow form and disappearing from sight. Jiang looked around as his voice echoed around the alleyway they were in. "You know, I meant what I said. You, and your brother, really are good kids. Good kids with a really terrible teacher" Macaque said.

"You seemed so quick to call yourself mine and MK's teacher. And I'm not a kid, so quit calling me that" Jiang said, an edge of hardness in her voice as she looked around. "Ohoho! Ouch!" Macaque said, seeming amused by the sudden verbal blow. Jiang then realized something.

"It was you, and Wukong, wasn't it? In the story? You were the warrior, and he was the hero" she said, spinning around a bit. "Maybe your not as dense as I thought you were" Macaque's voice came behind her, making her whirl around, but he had disappeared by the time she looked at where he had been. This time, his voice came from above, making Jiang turn around once again and look up.

"Something's coming. Something you and your brother aren't even close to ready for. But don't worry" Macaque said before standing up with a chuckle. "You can never have too many teachers, right?" He said before disappearing from sight again. Jiang let out a soft sigh as she stood around for a couple seconds, then she went back to the door.

She grabbed the handle, then she paused. "I'll have you know that after five minutes of leaving the theatre, I went through the whole city just to look for my friends. So don't compare me to him when it comes to remembering those that you surround yourself with" she called out before her friends and brother all burst out. "Alright, both of you, explain, now" Pigsy demanded.

"I gave you a scaled down version of what happened!" Jiang told them, exasperated. "Well, we want a more detailed version" Mei told her. "Alright, alright" Jiang said with a light smile before she launched into a story of what happened.

While she was talking, she could only hope Macaque heard the last words she had said to him.