"Ma'!!" Tiny arms wrapped around the demoness' midsection, momentarily stopping her from running straight into the flames. Her eyes widened as she turned towards the one who called out to her.
Ren peeked up from his position, "I-I'm sorry...!" He immediately began to tumble out apology after another as tears filtered his eyes. He finally began to break after not being able to hug his mother again after so long, "I-I.. I didn't mean... For this..."
Jinhua immediately turned and pulled the child into her arms, "I'm so glad your okay..." She held the child close to her chest, rubbing circles on his back as she nuzzled into the crook of his neck affectionately, "Your okay now..."
"Kid—!" Wukong called, looking around for MK.
MK had just blinked back into consciousness, regaining his breathe as he took in the madness, "Wha..." His eyes sharpened as he saw Mei in the middle of it, "What's happening to you!?" He frantically looked around for something to help, "Don't worry—! I'm coming for you!"
"No! MK stop!" Jinhua called out worriedly as she saw him pick up a pile of snow and almost leap at the flaming ball of consumption.
Luckily, Wukong full on football tackled him out of the air and placed him down at a safe distance.
Nezha then gradually glided in after a slight delay, his eyes zeroing in on Mei's power, "Mere water cannot extinguish the Samadhi Fire." He turned away with a frown, his hand turned to the trapped Sandy and Pigsy, "Nothing can. The fire will destroy this girl. And burn everything in its path."
Mei flinched and looked up with wide eyes, "WHAT!?"
MK bristled, "Excuse me!?"
Redson stumbled up to his feet, holding his arm as he took in the scene, "So we just let that happen!?"
Wukong gritted his teeth, a growl escaping him as he turned his sights on Ren, "You—!"
Ren flinched and hid behind Jinhua, his figure shaking at the wrathful glare from Wukong.
Jinhua noticed this immediately and held her arm out, "Wukong...!" She hissed warningly.
Wukong twisted his footing and sprinted forward with the his hand reached out, "You ruined everything—!!"
Jinhua blinked as she felt herself and Ren, slip through the ground and ascend somewhere else. Her eyes watching Wukong miss them by mere inches as she felt her hackles raise.
Macaque twirled his staff as he stood in front of his family, "Your pushing your luck, Wukong." He hissed, "He didn't do this—!?" He pointed his weapon at the mess created.
"Well he wasn't not involved—!" He was about to sprint forward again but was interrupted by a sword almost piercing his face if he didn't twist out of the way, "ENOUGH—!!"
Wukong flinched at the tone, knowing full well who it was from. His eyes slowly turned to a furious demoness.
MK watched with wide eyes, "Wait wait—!! No need to fight each other!!" He hurried over with waving hands.
Tang raised his hand hurriedly to try and diffuse the rising tension, "It was me—!" He rubbed his hands together nervously, "I mean yeah, Ren forced me to do it, BUT, only because he was influenced by the Lady Bone Demon—!! And I'm definitely starting to have second thoughts about this entire thing...!" He rambled on as Nezha watched with a raised brow, "But, I don't know how... I don't know why... I just.. Felt like I had too." He looked up with a realization, "Like it was... Destiny."
Wukong lowered his clenched fist with a low growl.
MK was getting annoyed as he raised a hand urgently at Mei, "I'm sorry to interrupt...! But can someone explain what is happening!?"
Redson slid in, "Yes! An explanation is a need at this very moment!!" He encouraged hurriedly as he paced around worriedly.
Wukong glanced at Mei and then to the group with raised hands, "Okay. This is gonna sound reaaaaally bad. But hear me out."
Jinhua already didn't like this.
Nezha listened with narrowed eyes, "Sun Wukong... What have you done?"
Wukong stared down at the floor, "I... I made a mistake... During the ritual.. A piece of the Samadhi Fire got away from me..." he avoided growing heated glares from some demons, "I don't know what happened but I guess... Part of it was sealed into the closest that could contain it..." He immediately felt a dangerous pressure grow as he knew that the demoness figured it out quickly, "Into my friend, the white horse dragon, Ao Lie."
Sandy gasped, "Mei's thousand great grand father...!"
Redson's eyes widen, "It was passed down."
"Making Mei the fourth ring...!" MK looked at Wukong with a horrified expression.
Jinhua stomped forward and grabbed the simian by the collar, "So instead of telling us the truth—! You instead began to blame a child for this mess!?" Her eyes flashed dangerously.
Macaque stayed in his spot, holding Ren close as they watched the exchange happen.
"I told you guys to wait—!" Wukong tried to speak but Jinhua was too furious to care about his ludicrous excuses.
"To wait for you to give us the plan!? To explain to us what was gonna happen!?" She pointed a hand behind her, "To watch my apprentice go through what I did!? Is that what your telling me!? TO WAIT—!?"
Mei felt anger rise in her for her mentor's justified wrath, "You knew...!" She clenched her fists, "You knew I had this thing inside of me—!!"
MK glanced around, not knowing who to defend anymore as things were looking reaaaal bad for his mentor, "W-wait...!" He trailed off as Mei wasn't finished.
Her anger only grew by the second, "And you hid it from all of us...!! Why!? What were you afraid of—!?" Tears filtered her eyes, "That you were gonna have to tear me apart to get your precious Samadhi Fire!?"
The flaming orb that surrounded her grew in size as she was having a mental breakdown.
"Mei—!" Ren teared up, his hand reaching out towards the girl, but Macaque shoved him away and stood in front of him as a massive wave of flames lurched out. Wukong stood in front of MK and Jinhua as he took the full brunt force. While Nezha was about to do the same, Sandy jumped forward and used his body as a shield.
Wukong shook his head as he went through his scrambled brain, "This wasn't supposed to happen...!"
Redson flared at his statement, "What'd you think was gonna happen—!?"
"I thought that if I somehow got the Samadhi Fire out of Mei, without hurting her of course." He added quickly while glancing back at MK and Jinhua nervously, "Then I could put it inside myself, then... I don't know..! Then use it to burn the Lady Bone Demon or something—!?" He grew more nervous as he kept talking, "I was kinda making this up as we went—!"
"That was your plan—!?" Nezha shouted from behind Sandy.
Macaque gritted his teeth, "I wouldn't even call it a plan at this point—!"
MK was baffled at the plain stupidity of this planning process, "That's not a good plan—!"
Jinhua felt her eyes widened, "It's not a plan at all—! It's just plain suicide!! You can't handle the Samadhi Fire in just one body—!" Jinhua let her fur bristle, "So instead of talking it out and having an actual plan, you just lie your way through and just wing it—!?"
Wukong glanced to the side with a frown, "Yeah... To be honest, this is the first time I've said it out loud, sooo..."
Jinhua could feel the fury bubbling in her chest as her hand unconsciously crafted a blade and pointed it at Wukong threateningly, "You disputable, lying, deceiver—!! You lie again and again...! Thinking that is what is good for us!"
MK stepped back terrified. His figure slipping into a portal and appearing next to a worried Ren and angry Macaque, "Stay right here, bud." The elder simian placed a comforting hand on MK's shoulder. The young demons wrapped they're tails around Macaque's legs unconsciously, feeling a small comfort in knowing that he's there.
"Why is it so hard for you to be truthful!? And not hide things, for what you think is for the greater good—!?" Jinhua could feel her eyes prick with tears, "I want to trust you, Wukong... But you are just making it so fucking.... Difficult...!"
Wukong's eyes widened as he took in her words. He realized he had screwed up big time.
"We trusted you...!" Mei's voice rang out as a darkened version of her astral projection dragon rose from the flaming orb, it's jaws unhinged as if it wanted to let out a silent cry, "All of us—! How could you lead us into this fight without a real plan!?" The darkened dragon coiled around her and loomed over Wukong dangerously, "Time and time again, I've watched you put MK in danger, leaving him to figure out everything on his own—!! You had forced my Master's hand in to help aid us again and again! But no—! Don't you realize your actions are hurting the people that care about you the most!?"
Jinhua lowered her blade, attention now on the raging apprentice of her's, "This.. This needs to stop..." She looked down at her hands. Gritting her teeth, she looked up with determination racing across her face, "It's time I go and help my little Yù huā." With that she stepped out of Wukong's protection.
"WAIT—!" The simian reached out and grabbed her hand. His face written in pure terror as she knew what he was remembering.
A glare was all he received from the demoness, "It's time you let go and allow me to do what I needed all those centuries ago." She yanked her arm out of his grasp, "It's time to be a hero, Wukong." She whispered the last part solely for him to hear.
Mei was clawing at her face, her arms, and chest, screaming bloody murder as she tried to find something to soothe this wrathful burn in her core. Her body squirmed in discomfort as her eyes kept blinking in a ongoing river of tears.
Jinhua held her arms up as the flames continued to scorch her skin and robes, "Mei—!!"
"Wait, Jinhua—!" Macaque yelled in concern as he tried to step forward to reach her, but the flames only grew more intense by the second.
Jinhua blinked away the dark flames and stepped forward with a small grunt, "Mei... Listen to me...!" The fire wrapped around her figure the deeper she went, like layered curtains drawing a close. Making it difficult for anyone to see the demoness in the dense flames.
Mei's head snapped up at the sound of her Master, "M-Master...? I-I..." Her voice cracked as she could barely make out a full sentence at the rising agony coursing through her.
"It's okay...! You must fight! Remember what I said...? Your inner peace, right?" Jinhua slid back a bit as she felt her knees buckle for a second.
Mei held her hands to cover her face, "But I-I It's so hard—! All I feel is this... Rage..!! What if I hurt you..!! This is all his fault....!!" She screamed out. She was in too much pain to process one coherent thought at a time.
Jinhua grimaced as she was truly looking back at her old self, "I know your upset... Believe me... I've been there... But if you don't fight back... It will soon grow more destructive!"
Mei gritted her canines, her dragon tail lashing viciously, "I must control it... Or it will devour me...." She muttered. Her eyes leaking more tears as she felt her core struggle to grasp back some control.
Jinhua stepped forward, now only a few feet away, "I know it's hard, honey... But don't feel like your alone...! You still have me, MK, Ren...! And all the others...! We don't have to include Wukong..." She added with a weak smirk at the end.
Mei laughed weakly at the last bit, her eyes blazing as she tried to reign it all in, "I'm trying but it's hard... I-I'm scared...!"
Jinhua stomped her foot forward as the intense flames began to scorch her skin and burn away the ends of her sleeves and pants, "I have always been by your side...." She reached out her hand, "From the beginning and to the end...!" Her teeth gritted as she was only a few inches away, "AND IM NOT GONNA STOP NOW—!"
Mei gasped as she was brought into the comfort of her master's arms. It was like a major shock has entrapped her body as the massive waves of pain and heat had just been sucked away from her. The darkened flames dissolved and the twisted dragon projection vanished.
Jinhua held Mei's head into her chest and rubbed circles on her back to soothe her, "Everything is gonna be alright when I'm here... Remember?"
Mei felt her eyes crinkle and then shut tightly as she wrapped her own arms around the demoness, finally letting it all out as she cried into her chest, "I-I was scared....!!" She felt Jinhua nuzzle into the top of head softly.
MK and Ren smiled happily and ran over and jumped in on the hug, "Yeaaaa!!!"
"You did it—!!"
Nezha watched with wide eyes as he looked at the Master and Apprentice duo, "That girl tamed the fire...!" He held a hand up to his temple, "But that's impossible...!"
A twist in her core shocked her momentarily, Mei gasped as she pushed herself out of Jinhua's warm hold, "I-I can't...!" She then was able to get a good look of her master. The burnt skin on her face and hands, the scorched and crisped edges of her clothes. She had did this...
MK furrowed his brows, "Mei...?"
Ren stepped forward with a frown, "Is this because of me...?" He hesitantly spoke up.
Tears dribbled onto the ground as they heard her chuckle weakly, "No... I can't stay mad at you Ren... Brother... I-I just can't afford to hurt you guys... Any of you...!" The darkened flames started to surround her protectively as she took another step back.
Jinhua reached her hand out, recognizing that flame technique as one of her own, "She's gonna teleport—!"
"I'm sorry..." She smiled weakly, before vanishing in a tornado of black flames, disappearing from their views.
"WAIT—!" MK stumbled forward. His throat tightening as he felt like he was gonna cry.
Everyone surrounded them as they saw Jinhua stand there with a distraught look, until in the corner of her eyes she noticed Wukong turn around and start walking to the edge of the summit.
Redson stepped forward after being so quiet, "We have to go after her. She's in an unstable state. And being alone will not help her...!"
MK clenched his fist, "Redson's right—! We gotta chase her down."
Ren pumped a fist, "Yeah!!"
Pigsy looked at the kids uneasily, "Look, I don't think we should disturb her—!"
MK snapped at the demon, "But the Samadhi Fire—!"
Nezha rubbed his chin, "Should've burned the girl to ash by now." He turned to face the group, "And yet it hasn't. Which is curious."
Sandy blinked, "What do you mean?" He then twiddled with his fingers innocently, "Y-Y'know... For people who weren't paying attention." He referred to the group besides Jinhua's family.
Nezha's lance floated towards him as he took it, "It means... There was method to Sun Wukong's madness after all..." He glanced over his shoulder at the dangerously quiet simian, "If she can learn to control the fire... Then perhaps we could actually use it to defeat the Lady Bone Demon."
MK's face brightened, "So all we gotta do is get Mei some fire training...?"
Ren then brought in Redson and Jinhua, "Well we got two prime examples of pro fire manipulators."
MK crossed his arms, "Easy! All the more reason to go after her—!"
Wukong was the one to speak up against that, "There's no time for that. Now that the Samadhi Fire is forged, the Lady Bone Demon will stop at nothing to obtain it."
Ren leaned closer to Jinhua, his eyes still downcast of his experience with her.
"If we show up unprepared, then we might as well just hand Mei over right now." Wukong closed his eyes in thought, "I'm gonna do what I should've done originally." He faced forward with his hands clenched, "Stop the Lady Bone Demon... Alone."
Macaque slid out of a pillar as Wukong walked past, "And are you sure that is the way to go...?" He frowned, "Your contradicting your words, Wukong."
Wukong gritted his teeth and turned to Macaque with a glare, "I know what I said!" He turned his gaze to the ground, "I-... I defeated her before.." His arm shook in tremors as he clenched it tight to make it stop, "I'll do it again...!" He was now on the edge as he glanced over his shoulder, "Mei was right... I need to stop dragging you into my fights... All of you." He glanced at MK pointedly, "Sorry Bud. I need you to sit this one out." His eyes lingered on Jinhua with a unreadable look as he free fell and shot off like a rocket on his mystic cloud.
MK gritted his teeth and felt his shoulders shake in annoyance, "IF ONE MORE OF MY FRIENDS FLIES OFF TODAY—! IM GONNA LOSE IT—!" He turned around with teary eyes. He was having a major breakdown, "The only way we win is together—!! Monkie Kid 101!!"
Macaque slid out of the ground next to MK, "And no one is saying otherwise."
Ren came running forward and hugged the young simian from behind, "You got that right!! I don't plan on going anywhere!"
Nezha slid in on his fire rings, "If Sun Wukong fights the Lady Bone Demon on his own. The chances of his survival are slim."
Redson raised a brow, "And what are the chances of Mei not destroying the world with the Samadhi Fire?"
Nezha looked off to the side with a thoughtful look before looking back with a doubtful-like look, "Less slim?"
Jinhua smiled amused, "Then it's settled, you guys will have to bring Wukong back."
"Hold up—!" MK whipped around to face Jinhua, "What do you mean US—?? Aren't you coming!?"
Jinhua shook her head in amusement, "I must go and support my apprentice in this darkening hour. Redson will come with me as he has had experience with the flame itself."
Ren smiled brightly, "So she really is getting fire training—!!"
Sandy and the others all agreed to follow after Mei and meet the two fire users later as soon as possible while using one of Jinhua's glowing petals.
Meanwhile Macaque and Ren chose to go on a hunting mission, sticking to the shadows and lurking like predators in wait.