Journey to Somewhere New (Sun Wukong x reader)

Chap. 17 - The Monkey King and his Master (1)

"Monkey are you okay?!" she called out again, ignoring the bear. "Monkey?"
"Not just any monkey."
The smoke dissipated and she flinched when she saw his face suddenly up close to hers, their nose almost touching. He looked...different. He was now the same height as her, even a few centimeters smaller. His clothes were baggier, except for his crown of course. His sharp features were now more rounded, she would call him cute if it wasn't for the mischievous smirk on his face. He looked...younger.
"I am *the* Monkey King!" he smiled, showing his smaller fangs and tapped her forehead with his index. "Don't forget it okay?"
"Wha... Huh?" she said under her breath.
"Speechless? I can't really blame you." he casually shrugged. "I mean look at me."
"You- How- What did you do?!" she looked at the bear demon but he was already running away, soon disappearing in the nearby forest. "Hey! Come back here! Turn him back!"
Monkey tilted his head then looked around.
"Say, care to explain what I'm doing here?"
"U-Um..." she looked at him. "What is the last thing you remember exactly?"
"Well I remember coming back to Flower Fruit Mountain after my long training and after getting some awesome powers." he puffed his chest. "I was welcomed like the king I am, even the demon lords came to the party!"

"...How old are you?"
"Twenty."
Her eyes widen.
"Oh my lord~," she rubbed her face then gestured towards him. "you're even younger than me!"
"I am?!"
"By one year but still!"
"Oh! You're my elder then!" he bowed.
'Respectful. That's a nice change I guess.'
"It's nice to have met you, but I should probably go back to the party, it's rude to leave a guest hanging. Bye~!"
He waved and turned away. He then jumped but landed on the ground.
"Huh?" he looked down at his feet and jumped again. "That's weird. Why can't I fly?"
"Please Monk- I mean, Wukong, please don't leave!" she quickly stood in front of him again, joining her hands as she plead. "It's a really long story but please listen."
"Sure, got all the time in the world now that me and my monkeys are immortal." he smiled.
'Everything about him is so different, it's so weird!'

Without giving away too much, she explained what happened to him: his emprisonnent in a giant crystal, the seal on his back and which powers he's regained so far, along with who she was and how they met.
"I see..." he thought, his arms folded as he was thinking. "I suppose that makes sense."
"Huh. I thought you wouldn't believe me." she said, a little relieved.
"I don't see why you'd lie to me about this. Besides, if you are lying, 'cause I will find out, I can just kill you." he smiled.
"Huh?" she let out, her smile frozen in shock.
'How can he say that so casually?!"
"So, that bear demon is the one that turned me into my younger self." he pointed towards the forest.
"Right, and we need to find him quickly!"
"No problem, I'm on it!"
With enthusiasm, he dashed away in a flash. Either he was faster in his younger age, or Monkey was slowing himself down all this time. (Y/n) had no idea but that didn't matter at the moment, she tried her best to follow him and though he was out of sight, she followed his voice as he called out for the demon, taunting him. At some point she heard the bear scream as well and eventually, in the distance, she saw Monkey and gasped when he killed the bear demon with a sharp blow to the head, who then turned back to his original form: an regular bear.

"Monkey!" she yelled out, angry.
"Please don't call me monkey." he gave her an annoyed side-eye as she ran up to him. "I'm the Monkey *King*!"
"Whatever! Wukong! Why did you kill him?!"
"What do you mean why did I kill him? Now the problem's gone." he gestured towards the corpse.
"How are we supposed to find an antidote if he's dead!"
"It's obviously on him, duh."
Monkey calmly crouched down and searched in the bear's ripped off pants. He took out another crystal ball from his left pocket and inspected it for a moment. He hummed to himself before tossing it in his mouth. (Y/n) cringed a little bit when she heard the noise of shattered glass inside his mouth. Monkey swallowed and right after doing that, his cheeks puffed up as the sound of a muffled explosion resonated from inside his stomach. He looked surprised, but nothing more as he placed a hand on his stomach.
"That wasn't it."
"Oh was it not? Was it not?!" she covered her face in frustration, looking up at the sky. "What are we supposed to do now~?" she glared at him. "Good job Wukong!"
"Would you relax?" he frowned, folding his arms. "It's not like he was gonna talk anyway."
"You could've at least try! Why was killing him the first option?!"
"I'm sorry who are you to talk to me like that human?" his eyes narrowed. "Telling me to give up on one of my favorite things to do."
"I'll tell you, I'm your master!" she pointed at him.