(Before this story, I want to mention that C! Embry means clone Embry. Just wanted to point that out. Okay, back to the story)

Nobody pov

Smashing sounds could be heard outside of the van. 

A trembling Tang held onto Pigsy's arm, Huntsman and Strong were holding onto each other, while Macaque and C! Embry had been trying to wake Wukong, who was back in his meditation state. 

They tried yelling, banging pots and pans together, they even poured ice water on him, but nothing worked.

C! Embry facepalmed in annoyance and frustration.

Now you probably wanna know where the others are.

Earlier that day

After eating breakfast, C! Embry helped Strong and Pigsy pack the equipment and chairs. The other clone was with the others, helping them pack up as well.

"Hey, Embry. Where's Mk? He was supposed to help us with the packing." Pigsy asked, starting to get agitated.

"He's practicing on his powers. I know Mei, Syntax, Huntsman, Spider Queen and Sandy are with him to give him support. Macaque even went with him since we all know that Monkey King wasn't gonna help Mk." C! Embry said, sighing at Monkey King.

He heard Mei calling him, making C! Embry excuse himself from the group. 

He went towards where Mk and the others were, he saw Macaque teaching Mk how to transform into an animal while Mei, Syntax, Huntsman, Spider Queen, 2nd C! Embry and Sandy were watching in the sidelines, cheering him on.

Well Mei, Sandy and 2nd C! Embry were cheering him on, Syntax, Huntsman and Spider Queen just watched.

"Okay, kid. Now try transforming into a bird, and remember to visualize it." Macaque said, as Mk nodded. 

Mk took a deep breath and started to concentrate. 

After a few minutes, Mk was later surrounded by golden smoke, and something flew up.

They looked up and saw Mk as a bird.

"Aha! I did it! Check it out you, guys!" Mk flew towards them.

"That's awesome Mk!" Mei said.

"You did it little man!" Sandy said.

"Proud of you, kiddo." Macaque said, with a smile and started to walk back to the van.

C! Embry followed behind him.

 "Huntsman, can you let Pigsy, Strong and Tang know we'll be coming back in a minute?" 2nd! C! Embry asked.

Huntsman nodded and left to the van to tell the others.

2nd C! Embry walked towards Mk, who was still flying around.

"Mk! C'mon, we need to go back on the road!" He yelled, Mk flew back down and changed back to normal.

"Alright! Now I have 2 powers back! I just need to work on a few thousand more!" Mk said and they started walking back to the van.

Once they got into the van, Pigsy started driving, but why was he going into a different direction?

"Uh...Pigsy? Why are we heading towards the different direction?" Syntax asked but received no answer.

"Pigsy? Tang? Macaque? Huntsman? Strong?" 2nd C! Embry called out their names, but no one replied. 

They opened the curtain to the front, nobody was driving the van!

"What the heck is going on?" Spider Queen asked.

"Where did everyone go?!" Mei shouted as Sandy, Mk, Syntax, Spider Queen and 2nd C! Embry huddled towards each other, then they heard laughter that sounded all too familiar.

With the others

When everyone got inside the van, Pigsy started driving and Tang was looking at the map as usual. 

For the spiders, they were just chilling, but something didn't feel right. 

Macaque looked around and noticed Mk, Mei, Sandy, 2nd C! Embry, Syntax and Spider Queen were nowhere to be seen.

"Hey, spiders. Where are the others?" He asked.

"What do you mean? They're here, aren't they?" Huntsman asked.

Then, Macaque started to panic.

"Hey, Pigsy! We need to go back! The kid, dragon girl, the big blue guy, the spiders and 2nd peaches are not here!" He said, as Pigsy hit the brakes.

"What?!" 

Pigsy turned the van around and started heading back to the forest.

In the forest

"Kid!"

"Mei!"

"Sandy!" 

"Syntax!" 

"My queen!"

"Other Embry!"

They called out their names, but  received no response.

While we were looking for them, C! Embry heard something coming.

"We need to get back inside the van. Now!" He said, Tang wasted no time rushing into the van. 

Pigsy was about to ask why, but C! Embry pulled him, Huntsman and Strong inside of the van and locked the doors. 

Then, they heard a growl and smashing sounds from the outside.

Back to the Future

C! Embry went to Wukong who was still in his meditation state, it's time for him to wake up now!

"Hey, Macaque! Help me wake up Wukong!" He said as Macaque began to try to wake Wukong.

C! Embry slapped his face a couple of times, then Macaque also slapped Wukong. 

When slapping didn't work, they tried yelling in ears, pulled out pots and pans and started banging them together.

'Geez! Why is this fool so hard to wake up?!' C! Embry thought.

 He was about to punch Wukong in the face, until he saw Pigsy pulling something out from his pocket, what looked like a very spicy pepper 

"Wait, is that a Chaos Ghost Pepper?! Where on earth did you get that and why was it in your pocket?!" C! Embry asked.

"Even I can't say, Embry." Pigsy said.

After the pepper was shoved into Wukong's mouth, his eyes glowed golden and he stood in front of the backdoor.

"Stand back master! Sun Wukong will handle this beast!" Wukong said.

'Oh no...' Macaque thought, as he turned pale.

Wukong kicked the door off the hinges and jumped outside, looking around for the beast.

"Looks like I scared it off. Master, it's safe to come out now. You too piglet. And you as well, Mom." Wukong said.

"Master" Tang said, stars in eyes

"Piglet?!" Pigsy said, full of anger

"Mom?" C! Embry said.

"Ugh, fine. Zhu Bajie. Better?"

Macaque carefully stepped out of the van hoping not to gain any attention, especially from Wukong.

"Hey, monkey, why are you being silent for?" Huntsman asked , causing Macaque to go stiff, resulting everyone especially Wukong to know he's there.

"Mac!" 

Wukong rushed towards him and gave him a hug.

"Mac! I'm so happy to see you!" Wukong said, releasing Macaque from his hug. 

"What are you doing here? You're usually by yourself! Did Mom finally get you to join in on this adventure?" Wukong asked, before looking at C! Embry.

"Momma!" He said, hugging him.

"Uhm, hey honey." C! Embry said, trying to play along.

"I hardly see you anymore! You're always in your garden or hanging with Nezha! Not that I mind! But still, he needs to learn to back off." Wukong whined, making everyone raise an eyebrow.

"Monkey, uh, Sun Wukong? Who exactly do you think we are?" Tang asked.

"What kind of question is that, Master?" Wukong asked.

 Wukong gasped as he let go C! Embry

"Unless, Master, you've lost your memory! You have to remember who you are!" Wukong said. 

He pointed to Pigsy.

"That's Zhu Bajie, the Celestial Swine!" He said.

He pointed to Mo. 

"This is Sha Wujing of the Flowing Sands River!"

Then he pointed to C! Embry.

"This is Fuji! The goddess of wisteria, me and Mac's mom and Nezha's girlfriend!"

"I'm sorry what?" Pigsy asked, as Huntsman and Strong raised eyebrows.

 "And you are the Great Monk Tang Sanzang! We're on a journey to deliver sacred texts to the West! I'm your loyal companion, bound to keep you safe from monster who know if they eat you, they'll become immortal! You! Have! To! Remember!" Wukong said, shaking Tang.

"Okay, okay, I remember." Tang said, as he starting to get dizzy.

"Uh...Wukong, why don't you look for your staff?" Macaque said.

"Good idea, Mac!" Wukong said, as he looked around.

 "See Pigsy? I told you, this is exactly why you don't wake someone from a transcendental meditation. We broke the Monkey King!" Tang said, as he pulled out his book.

"He thinks he is his past self and we're his old companions! If we don't find a way to bring our Monkey King back, we're gonna be stuck with this one." Tang said, as he pointed to Wukong.

Wukong found a long, stiff stick and smiled.

"Ah! My trusty staff!"

He spat on his hand and began to lift the stick.

"So, this is like amnesia rules? We just bonk him on his dumb head and boom, back to normal." Pigsy said.

"What did you say, piglet?" Wukong asked, glaring at him.

"Piglet?! Oho, that's it!" Pigsy snapped, as he and Wukong glare daggers at each other.

"Master, just save the world, this little piggy will be a steamed ham." Wukong growled.

C! Embry's ears twitched as he looked up.

"TANG, WATCH OUT!!" He yelled, as he pushed Tang out the way, just as a tail grabbed him and dragged him away, his screams echoing.

"A monster! It took our goddess!!" Wukong said.

"We gotta do something!" Pigsy said.

Wukong put the stick behind his back, picked up Mo, and grabbed Macaque's arm. 

He grabbed Pigsy and Tang with his tail and took off.

"We'll stay back with the truck! Be careful!" Strong said.

"Thank you!" Tang yelled.

With C! Embry

C! Embry was sleeping soundly, until he felt something touching him, causing him to purr.

He opened his eyes.

"There, there, sweet kitten."

He saw a woman, who looked very pretty.

"Uh...are you...a monster?" He asked, sitting up.

The woman looked a bit taken back.

"What? No! I'm not, I'm...clearly a beautiful queen." She said.

C! Embry gave her a look before nodding.

"Oh, you're still afraid? Don't be. I saved you from the hideous Scorpion beast and brought you to my castle." She said.

"Right, to a Scorpion themed castle." He said, making the woman laugh nervously.

"Is everything okay? You can tell me." He said, making the woman shocked.

"Uh...no! Nothing is wrong! Are you hungry? I got some good food." She said, as he saw tons of food on a table, along with pretty ladies.

C! Embry nearly drooled, before wiping his mouth.

"I guess, I could eat a bit." He said, as he began to eat.

"Wow! This is amazing!" He said, eyes closed.

The woman blushed, before laughing evilly.

With the others

Wukong was looking around, scouring the land.

 "What does this have to do with getting Em..Fuji back?" Pigsy asked, getting agitated, but Wukong didn't answer.

Yeah, they couldn't say Embry, because Wukong wouldn't know who that is. So they had to call Embry 'Fuji' or for Macaque 'Mom'.

"Is this the same type of garbage you tell Mk? Instead of talking to him straight?" Pigsy asked.

"Mk? Huh?" 

Wukong looked at Pigsy with a confused look.

"Of course, you don't remember the kid. One day, you're gonna grow up to be a terrible mentor!" Pigsy shouted, as Wukong laughed.

"Ha! Zhu Bajie, can you imagine me teaching someone? Ha!" Wukong laughed again.

Macaque and Tang sweatdropped.

"What about Fuji? Didn't you train her?" Pigsy asked.

"Mom? Oh, no. She trained us. Why do you think we're so attached to her? She raised us an trained us." Wukong said.

Macaque felt tears well up in his eyes, but wiped them away, but it didn't go unnoticed by Wukong, who went to him.

He wiped away Macaque's tears.

"You always were the crier around Mom. Don't worry, Mac. We'll find her. But...how? I know! Tudi!!" Wukong called out.

'Oh dear god, not him.' Macaque thought.

"Who?" Tang and Pigsy asked.

"Tudi! Tudi, Tudi, Tudi! Tudi, Tudi, Tudi! Tu-di! Tudi!"

Macaque sighed and noticed the ground started to lift up where Pigsy was standing. 

The dirt pile started to move on its own, resulting both Pigsy and Mo to fall off. 

Wukong pulled out his stick and pointed at the dirt, and popped out from the pile was the mountain spirit Tu-di.

"Ah, there you are!"

"He lives in a hole?" Tang asked.

"Of course, he does. Mountain Spirits can live anywhere in nature like the trees, the waters, even in the ground." Macaque said.

"Oh, great Tu-Dee. A beast has captured our goddess and we fear for her safety. So, you heard of anything like that?" Wukong asked, Tu-Di begins to tell him, but Macaque knew the spirit would also tell his stories as well.

"Might as well get comfy, this is gonna take a while." Macaque said to Pigsy and Tang, as he sat down on the floor, Pigsy and Tang did the same.

The next day

Monkey King was still listening to Tu-Di's very long explanation about the beast's whereabouts. 

Macaque, Tang, Pigsy and Mo were sleeping, but were awakened with Monkey King thanking Tu-Di for his knowledge.

"What did he say?" Tang asked, as they started to wake up.

"The beast we seek...is in that castle!" 

Monkey King pointed at the castle that was literally next to them, Pigsy was pissed.

"Finding all that out took all night?!" Pigsy yelled.

"No, of course not. This guy is just awesome! So many great stories." Monkey King said, as he started to pull Pigsy, Tang and Macaque while Mo jumped on their shoulers, and started heading towards the castle.

"Hey, Mac! Remember we used to play music on our quest? Wanna do it?" Wukong asked, making Macaque freeze a bit.

"I...I forgot my flute." He said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, no worries! Here you go!" Wukong said, pulling out a flute, as he pulled out his ocarina.

https://youtu.be/wz_8_q9_tRs

As they played, Tang, Pigsy and Mo had to admit...they sounded amazing.

With C! Embry

C! Embry was eating again, as the ladies swooned him and commenting on how cute he was.

"So, kitten, what brings you to this part of the world?" Scorpion Queen asked.

"We're on a quest! Another evil monster is trying to end all life as we know it, so we're looking for a weapon to defeat her." He said, as one of the lady's brushed his hair.

"Oh my, that sounds dangerous. And what is this weapon you speak of?" She asked, dinking from a glass.

"The Samadhi Fire. We're looking for 4 rings that hold it. When we get the rings together, we'll use them to get rid of her, once and for all." He said, as a lady wiped his mouth.

"My, my. Sounds like you have a lot on your plate." She said.

"Yeah, not so good...by the way, what's your name?" He asked.

Scorpion Queen froze and looked down.

"I...don't have one." She said.

"Hmm...how about...Taiyo?" He said.

"Tai...yo? Hmm...I like it." She said, smiling.

C! Embry smiled at her and giggled, making her blush.

They locked eyes, with each other, blushing.

Then, something crashed through the walls, shocking them.

They looked over and saw Wukong, Macaque, Tang, Mo and Pigsy.

"Unhand my mother evil beast! I am Sun Wukong, and the goddess is under my protection!" Monkey King said, as he pointed his stick at Taiyo.

"Protection from what? A beautiful queen?" She laughed a little.

"Look! We are not gonna let you eat my ne...friend!" Pigsy said, as Taiyo looked offended.

"I would never!"

"Oh yeah? Then, why all the illusions?" Monkey King said, as he snapped his fingers. 

Everything surrounding them changed into broken pieces of the wall, the other women turned into scorpions, the food turned into scorpions and Taiyo changed into her true form.

The top half of her body is human except for her arms were scorpion claws while the second half was of a scorpion.

"Okay, fine, fine! I'm a monster! Okay! You happy?! I just wanted to be a beautiful queen, but fine I'm a monster!" She said, as Pigsy tried to remove the scorpions off of him.

Macaque decided to help Pigsy remove the insects, Monkey King was eating a piece of meat with scorpions on him.

"I'm surprised you can eat with all of the scorpions on you." Tang said, dusting the scorpions off.

"Well, it's kinda obvious that I'm gonna win the upcoming fight, so might as well eat something." Monkey King said, as he continued to eat.

"Guys, guys, guys, guys, guys! Taiyo's not gonna hurt anyone! She's not gonna eat me or anyone here! So let's get down and-!" 

Taiyo lifted C! Embry with her tail to keep him out of the way.

"Listen, we don't want to cause any trouble. Just give us back our goddess and we'll leav-!" 

Macaque was cut off with a hit in the stomach, making him crash into the wall.

"Damn, that's gonna leave a mark." C! Embry winced.

"No! He can't leave! He must stay! Forever!" Taiyo said.

"Don't worry, mother! Here comes Monkey King!" 

Monkey King used the stick to attack the her, but it was sliced into pieces. 

Monkey King looked sad for a minute and looked at Taiyo with anger in his eyes, thus the battle between them began.

Pigsy and Tang went to C! Embry to check to see if he was okay, they realized he was fine, with no scratches on him. 

The battle was getting intense, Macaque got up from the ground after the crash and walked towards them.

He was about to say something, but C! Embry beat him to it.

"WAIT!!" He yelled, making Taiyo and Wukong stop.

He looked at Taiyo with sympathetic eyes.

"I get that you're alone, but lying about who you are, forcing people to be your companions, it's not the answer." He said.

"I've been here by myself for so long. I heard Monkey King talk about you being his companions, well that's all I ever wanted...Friendship." Taiyo said, as tears welled up in her eyes.

"You can't steal friendship. It's something that's earned." Tang said, coming next to C! Embry.

"He's right. The five of us are friends because we chose to be." Monkey King said, making both Tang and Pigsy surprised.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We're friends?" Pigsy asked.

"Of course, we are! Everyone needs friends. Can you imagine what I'd be like without friends? I'll probably turn into a really manipulative jerk or something." Monkey King said and laughed, Pigsy, Tang, and Macaque gave him a look.

"Yeah, yeah. But where am I gonna find someone like that?" Taiyo asked.

"Well...why don't you come with us?" C! Embry said.

"What?" Taiyo asked.

"What?" Everyone asked.

"Hey, we need all the help we can get. If anything, having an extra set of hnds wouldn't hurt would it?" He asked.

Wukong chuckled.

"That's our Mom. Always knows what to say and what to do." Wukong said.

"One more thing..." C! Embry said, before his hand glowed purple.

He raised to Taiyo as she turned back to her human form.

He smiled and lifted her chin to meet his gaze.

"You don't need to hide who you are. I think you look nice either way. Don't hide, okay?" He asked, making Taiyo blush.

"Now...shall we get going?" He asked, taking Taiyo's hand and looking at the others.

When they got back

Once they got back to the van, Monkey King was going through the bushes to find his staff, Macaque sat down on the ground, feeling exhausted.

He began to tell Huntsman and Strong what went down on their quest.

"We can't leave him like this. I think he's getting worse." Tang said to Pigsy, as they saw Monkey King pull out another stick from the bushes. 

Tang looked up and saw a big boulder, he told Pigsy that he's gonna find something to bonk Monkey King's head with and left. 

Pigsy sighed and noticed the book on the ground. 

Once he opened the book, he looked through a few chapters about Monkey King's journey with his companions from a thousand years ago.

Monkey King popped from behind and took the book out of Pigsy's hands.

"You know, they really got your face just right. Super on model!" Monkey King said, as he looked through the pages.

"Yeah, so, hey listen, I guess I just wanted to say before you turn back to...maybe you ain't so bad for the kid after all. Just do me a favor, keep him safe, all right? I mean when we get the four rings of Samadhi..."

"You mean five rings, Zhu Bajie." Monkey King said, making Pigsy, Macaque, Taiyo, Huntsman and Strong surprised with the new information.

"Five rings?! Wukong, what do you mean five rings?!" Macaque asked.

"Well...she didn't want me to tell you, but-" Monkey King was about to say, but a big boulder fell on top of him.

"Did it work?!" Tang yelled from the top of the hill.

"Tang! What are you doing?!" Pigsy shouted, Tang rushed back down from the mountain.

"What? You're the one who said to hit him in the head" Tang said, as he caught his breath.

"I don't think he meant kill him!" Taiyo yelled.

"Relax, it'll take a lot more than that to kill him." Macaque said, as he dusted off some dirt off of himself.

The boulder started to crack, once the boulder was fully destroyed, Monkey King who went into his battle stance, breathed out the fire from the Chaos Ghost Pepper.

"Hey, why is my mouth so hot?" Monkey King asked. 

Tang ran towards him and hugged him.

"Hey, why are you hugging me?"

Tang started to explain about everything that happened, once Tang finished, they all went inside the van, Pigsy started driving again. 

But Macaque and Pigsy couldn't stop thinking about what Monkey King said.

'Five rings? What are you hiding Wukong? And what does it have to do with Mom?' Macaque thought, as he glanced at Monkey King and glared at him.

Next to him, a ghostly figure of Fuji sat next to him.

She sighed sadly.

"I'm sorry, my son. But, you have to know sooner or later. I just hope you won't take it the wrong way." She said, as she vanished.

Macaque's ear twitched as he looked next to him...but saw nothing.

"M-Mom...?"

To be continued...

Up next: The First Ring/Embry's back