Journey West 5000

Chapter 16 - Too Hot to Handle

Readying the quarterstaff, Wukong prepared to deal a killing blow, but a smaller hand reached over his shoulder, gripping his arm.

"WAIT."

It was as though her arm wasn't even there. Not showing any sign that he had heard or felt her, Wukong struck.

"Suffer not an enemy in thy camp!", growled Wukong.

The end of a quarterstaff broke a bloody hole in Brother Broad Wisdom's head. He died with his face frozen in a glare, eyes still on Trip.

At the same time, Brother Mender arrived with a group of monks. Some of them were paralyzed with shock. The rest moaned or screamed at the sight of the broken bodies of their fellow monks littering the area.

Alerted by the movement and sound, Wukong withdrew his quarterstaff from Brother Mender's forehead. A powerful twist of his wrist caused blood, bone and brain matter from the quarterstaff to spatter on the ground. Growling, he brandished it at Brother Mender and the new group of monks.

Brother Mender raised his empty hands in the air, giving the universal gesture of surrender. The monks around him copied the movement.

"Sister Trip, Wukong, I come in peace. I swear, I mean you no harm. As you can see, I and my brothers here are unarmed. Please, let us help you and our brothers."

"Wukong, they're no threat. Let me down." Trip patted Wukong's shoulder.

Suddenly obedient, Wukong did as she asked. Trip stared at the unpredictable monkey, deep in thought. Soon, she shook her head. She would have to figure him out another time. There was something much more urgent she had to take care of.

Examining Brother Mender, she felt that he was being sincere. Based on the earlier interaction between him and the Abbot, she deduced that there was no love lost between them. Under Trip's gaze, Brother Mender remained calm, almost exuding goodwill and earnestness.

"Take me to your Abbot. It's time for me to collect my gun."

"Certainly. Are my brothers here allowed to move freely?" asked Brother Mender. The monks around him still had their hands in the air, staring at Wukong and his dreadfully gory quarterstaff in horrified silence.

Trip nodded. "Make it fast. And make sure everyone here knows, this is the result of trying to harm us."

Turning to look at the broken bodies of his misguided brothers, Brother Mender heaved a heavy sigh. A part of him had feared that this would happen, the moment he began to consider how Brother Broad Plans would retaliate in response to Wukong's insulting treatment.

After repeated reassurances from Brother Mender, the other monks were finally convinced that putting down their hands wouldn't launch Wukong into a homicidal rage. Timidly, with constant glances at Wukong, they went about the tasks of checking on the fallen monks and carrying them off. Others went to deal with the smouldering remnants of the surrounding buildings.

With obvious impatience, Trip interrupted Brother Mender as he was in the middle of giving instructions.

"Let's go. Now."

***

The aftermath of the Abbot's fight with Black Wind lay before them.

Brother Mender checked on the Abbot, sadly shaking his head. Wukong scurried all over the room, trying his hardest to find Trip's revolver. But Trip was already certain that it was gone.

The broken door. The signs of struggle. The single bullet hole in the table. The lack of blood. The Abbot's obviously broken neck. The lack of any other wounds on the Abbot's body.

Obviously, the perpetrator was someone, or more likely something, monstrously fast and strong. Fast enough to have avoided the Abbot's first shot, then reaching the Abbot before he could get off another shot. Strong enough to snap the sturdy Abbot's neck as their first and last move.

Worst of all, that something taken her revolver. Her FATHER'S revolver!

For a moment, just the tiniest slice of a moment, Trip felt like snatching Wukong's quarterstaff and ramming it down his throat. Or up his nose.

But no, that would be... unproductive. Furthermore, she could have forcefully gotten her revolver back instead of leaving it with the Abbot for the night, but she didn't. If she started blaming others, then she should blame herself too, and that would just start an endless downward spiral. There was always more than enough to go around, once the blame game started.

After she had calmed herself down, she asked Brother Mender about any hybrids... no, demons, around the area who might have done this.

While sighing heavily, Brother Mender told her about Black Wind, the black bear demon who lived in Black Wind Cave nearby. Black Wind, a Lieutenant in the Crimson Army, who, through a combination of threats and bribery, managed to persuade the Abbot into devoting the entire Monastery into becoming a manufacturer of weapons for the Crimson Army.

"Even though I disagreed with him, many times, to his face, I would never have wished this fate for him. He was our Abbot, and he really believed he made the right decision in order to ensure our survival." Brother Mender sighed again, his gaze still on the Abbot's body, now covered with a rug.

"What will you do now?"

"Since I'm now the most senior remaining member of this monastery, I say it's time we stop being the Crimson Army's slaves. Although my brothers and I are craftsmen, not fighters, I've always believed that we have more than enough ingenuity to turn our monastery into an impenetrable fortress. We may not be able to defeat them, but we can turtle up to keep the demons away indefinitely! Ahem... ah, seems I got carried away there. How about you, Sister Trip?"

"I'm going to get my gun back."

"But... Black Wind is a demon! A powerful one, at that. We're just humans, there's no way we could defeat him in his stronghold!"

"We? No need. You all stay here. I'm going alone."

"That's suicide!"

"I've trained for this."

"What if it's not enough?!"

"Then I'll fail. If I survive, I'll try again. Maybe train some more."

With a worried look on his face, Wukong waved his hands between Trip and Brother Mender.

"Mistress, you're going... alone... ?"

-- Chapter 16, End --

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Author's Note:

Feedback, constructive criticism and comments are always welcome!

28 Apr 2019:

Thanks to feedback from C, edited and rewrote portions of Chapters 14 to 17.

Previously, there had been a gaping plot hole. I think I was too focused on moving the plot along, at the expense of character consistency. Hopefully, this rewrite fixes it.