Chapter Text
You died.
You know you did.
That unexpected earthquake caused a massive mudslide that crushed you in your cottage, burying everything in it. You were too slow to comprehend anything, too slow to react. And with that, you drew your last breath, suffocated to death.
You didn’t have many expectations on the other side since you’ve dropped the idea of heaven and hell, purgatory, and all of that religious stuff. Really, you have nothing because, well, it’s death. It’s the end, everything doesn’t matter there.
So why…
Why did you wake up as a fucking Lego character?!
Much less a character in Lego Monkie Kid?!
Your anatomy is literally accurate to that ingrained art style of the show, it's not like Ninjago or the Lego movies. The place where fingers should be is the infamous hand shapes of the toys. And they’re significantly hairier, you're pretty much covered in a thick layer of it under your given clothes.
You’re not human.
No.
You're a primate.
An animated primate that's very much in the middle of a fucking snowstorm!
Why is there a snowstorm in the first place?!
(And let's not talk about the fact you can't feel the cold! That is still throwing you for a loop.)
Everything’s loud. The wind howling was never this loud. You’ve never picked up the noises of snow plummeting into solid objects so clearly. It's overwhelming and just—
What the fuck is going on? Did you gain super hearing? Super senses? Actually, scratch that, your sense of touch feels off…Moving on~
Everything is white beyond your limited field of vision meaning you can't even see where you're at (and you’re trying your best not to slip on the ice). You can tell you're in some modern city, like a big one, what with the road and some of the pavements and parts of buildings, but you can't tell if you're even in Megapolis! For all you know, you could be in some other random city in this world!
Why are you even here?!
How are you even here?!
There are many possible answers to that and you honestly don't want to get into it. You’re not in the mood to have an existential crisis right now because you're still in the middle of a FUCKING SNOWSTORM!!
Please, where the fuck are you?!
Let there be logic!
And then it stopped snowing…
Why did it stop snow— wait.
Weather Station.
It’s literally canon that the Lego people here can control the weather. And if we’re still being cautiously optimistic here with the idea that you’re one lucky bastard and are definitely in Megapolis then it might be the very first episode of the series if you don’t count the pilot. You’ll have a very good idea of the timeline and prepare yourself for the future. Then again, you don’t remember there ever being snow in the show and it might just be an unaired Christmas special.
Or something.
It can always be something.
Looking up, some more color breaks through, and the white from the snowstorm is dissipating. With a much clearer vision, you find a recognizable neon pink sign of a cartoon pig with noodles blinking on and off. The cold weather continues to go away and you find yourself in front of Pigsy’s Noodle Shop.
Wow, you really are one lucky bastard.
Now with you somewhat getting your bearings, it's time for a plan.
First step, finding shelter. In a big city such as Megapolis, an abandoned place will do as a temporary shelter.
Then it’ll be getting a job. Easier said than done because, well, you don't have the papers to prove you exist. You pretty much just popped into existence. It's kind of funny actually. Anyways, you’ll be able to get employed, it's just your options will be very limited.
But you'll eventually get money, enough to get a phone, and then you can work your way up from there. Hmm, you’ll have to learn about the economy here, too. You could maybe ask someone about that but…
You take a look around you, seeing the Lego (fucking Lego— HA!) people coming out and walking around as if there wasn't a snowstorm a minute ago. And past you, too, unbothered by a literal primate person standing outside of a noodle shop as if it's a normal thing. It probably is with the main cast and their chaotic nature.
The amount of people coming outside, and crowds forming on the pavement and road is a little much. You can feel your ears fucking twitching from all their steps and breaths blurring together within your vicinity, making you fully aware of every single strand of fur on your skin. And that's not mentioning the phones in their hands, the automobiles, and the fucking awful smells. It makes you hate socializing with other beings more than you already have in your last life.
Yeah, no, ‘a little much’ is an understatement.
The instinct to run somewhere safe is strong. But you're still in unknown territory. There is no safe place. You’re basically homeless. You have no money, you’re technically exposed, you have no food or water, and time is wasting as you continue to stand here, being stupidly overstimulated, and doing nothing sufficient!
This is why you don't live in the fucking, big city!
“Uh, hello?”
Blinking your eyes to focus and soothing your grimace to a neutral look, you turn around and there you're met with a familiar Lego character. Said Lego character giving you a relief smile, “Hey, you finally responded after the twentieth ‘hello!’”
Mk looks about the same as he does in the show except his black dotted eyes are tinted a soft brown, his spikey hair is a little more pronounced, and he has ears . Glancing behind him is the rest of the entire crew watching you curiously and you see the pattern still follows. Everyone appears how they appear on the show, keeping the Lego toy anatomy bar Sandy but with extra volume to their hair, tinted eye colors instead of just black dots, and ears.
They’re all staring at you.
Oh, right, you should say something.
“Hello,” you greet, waving a little, “I don’t like crowds.”
Great to see your social skills barely changed.
“If that’s the case,” Mk grabs you by the wrists and yanks you into the shop, and the others follow you guys from behind. He sets you onto one of the seats on the counter where it faces the kitchen, “Welcome to Pigsy’s Noodles! World’s greatest noodles!” He happily exclaims and oh boy, that’s loud, “Would you like to order?”
Before you can answer, Pigsy interrupts, and not without exasperation like he’s used to Mk’s shenanigans which yeah, he most definitely does. “Kid, lower your voice a little.”
Mk sheepishly chuckles, rubbing the back of his head. “Sorry,” he murmurs. As he was apologizing, Sandy had set a hot cup of tea in front of you. It smelled of peach tea…is it because you’re a primate?
Pigsy just sighs, turns around, and prepares some ingredients.
“Mk, you should go get them a towel to dry,” Tang spoke up, pulling up a book and taking his usual spot at the counter just like in the show. At that order, Mk was off, heading upstairs.
Taking a look at yourself, you see that there’s melted snow evident on you. Patches of your clothes and fur are noticeably wet. And you’re not shivering…
Right, so high-temperature resistance?
Glancing around, it is significantly much calmer than how it was outside before. Sure, some audible sounds can be heard outside the entrance— it’s not precisely soundproof— as well as the small additions of noodle-making (and it starts to smell amazing, dear god—), pages flipping, and purrs which cause your ears to twitch from time to time but it’s more manageable.
Wait, where’s—
“Sooooo~” you jumped, turning to Mei with wide eyes because where the fuck did she come from?! “I believe introductions haven’t been done yet,” she says, eagerness glinting in her eyes.
Suddenly, a gold abstract background and slapstick name titles are plotted onto everyone that Mei dashes to as she introduces them…what the fuck— are you fucking seeing the actual effects of this show?!
“Pigsy! The best noodle maker in the world and part-time dad to everyone!” There was a loud pig squeal and explosions.
“Mr.Tang! Our local scholar that insists to do most of the exposition ever!” Tang does the anime glasses glint trope as explosions go off.
“Sandy! Our favorite big blue guy that has a big heart and high chakra and Mo!” Sandy waves with a happy smile. And explosions.
“Yours truly, Mei! An awesome racer and awesome fighter that can kick your ass!” There was a dragon’s roar and wouldn’t you know it— explosions.
“And last but not least, our star hero, Mk the Monkie Kid! Monkey King’s successor—!”
“Hey, hey, wait!” Mk frantically waves his arms where he’s on the staircase, “I’m not ready—! AHHH!”
The explosions caused him to briefly be airborne and the towel he had flown slapped onto your face and then slid down onto your lap. You see that Mk has landed at your feet, face-planted onto the floorboards. There was a muffled ‘ow’.
Ok, so you can see the effects…you have no idea how to feel about this.
“Anyways, yeah!” Mei grabbed Mk and pulls him up with ease, seating him next to your right with a wide grin, “What’s yours?”
You blinked. “...Uh,” What is your name? Would it still be your old one? But this is a new life so should it be something else? You don’t know how this works— somebody give you a manual, please? “...I don’t know,” you timidly answer, internally cringing. Fuck.
“What do you mean?” Mk dares to ask. Sympathetic eyes lay upon you when you didn’t respond and oh, how you hate it. You avoid their gazes as a slight somber atmosphere settles in. Then, “It’s ok,” Mk shoots you a smile, “So you have a little bit of amnesia right now. That’s alright, it’ll come to you.”
“Yeah, don’t sweat it!” Mei joins your other side, “You’ll get your memories back soon.”
That’s not the problem but you’ll let them believe what they believe.
“Do you remember anything before you came to Pigsy’s?” Tang questions.
“…I died,” you answered.
“WHAT?!”
You continue despite their outbursts. “Then I woke up outside during that snowstorm.”
…
“Ok,” Mk claps his Lego hands and takes a deep, calming breath, though looking horrified, “Either you're telling the truth or you're high.”
“Which you don’t look like it,” Mei says before leaning towards you and sniffing you, adding, “Or smell like it.”
“So you're telling the truth.”
Well, that was easy.
“Reincarnation,” Tang added, tone in awe. Then he was right in front of you, vibrating in his spot with big, starry eyes, notebook and pen in hand. You jumped, leaning back on the counter. “Did you see the realm of the dead, Diyu , by any chance?! What was it like?! Why were you turned into a gibbon?! Do you—?!”
You threw the wet towel that was lent to you at the eager scholar, causing him to sputter and back away from you as he pulled it off of him. “First off, please don’t get into my space like that again,” you say clearly, “And to answer your questions; no, I don't know, and I don't know. As I said, after everything went black, I woke up and found myself in that snowstorm.”
After Tang sets the towel down on the table and takes a seat, he begins to jot down your answers in his book, muttering under his breath.
“By the way, where did that snowstorm come from? Last time I checked it was late Spring.”
Everyone appeared to be hesitant to answer the changed subject. But Tang then relents.
“You didn’t see Red Son’s broadcast?” at your response with another head shake, he continues, “So he took over the weather station for the sake of world domination and messed things up because he’s a villain doing villain stuff.”
Mei then showed you the recorded message Red Son did which confirms your theory that this is indeed the aftermath of the first episode. Your plans seem more plausible to do now.
“I still don't understand why you're a gibbon,” Tang says curiously, tapping his pen on his notebook.
“Does it matter?” Mk asks.
“Of course it does,” the scholar firmly declares, “We have actual evidence of reincarnation right in front of us! Don't you wanna know a little bit of the subject matter?”
Mei winced, frowning at Tang. “Maybe word that a little bit better, Mr. Tang.”
He turns to you with an apologetic smile, “Sorry, that wasn't meant to sound rude.”
You shrug. “Ey, don't worry about it. Admittedly, I'm curious about my reincarnation as well as why I'm a gibbon instead of a human.”
“Maybe you're just meant to be a monkey,” Mk suggests.
“Mk,” Mei frowns.
“Gibbons are apes, Mk,” Tang informs.
Mei groans, muttering under her breath, “Does anyone here think before they say anything?”
You glance over at her, slightly amused.
Then there was a bowl of steaming hot noodles in front of you. The noodles were beautiful strands and the broth a deep orange-red, acting as a canvas for the chopped meat and greens with a half-chopped egg at the center. And it smells divine . “On the house,” Pigsy proclaims.
You snapped your head to him, stunned. Just how pathetic do you look to make Pigsy let you have a meal for free ?
The pig demon makes eye contact with you and grunts, “Don’t look at me like that. You were out in the cold for who knows how long. This should warm you up.”
“Uh, Chef,” Tang calls with a hand raised in the air, looking at Pigsy expectedly, “I would like a free bowl of noodles, too.”
That got him whipping his head to the scholar with a harsh glare and as expected, he starts going on a loud tangent about how much of a freeloader he is. Sandy cuts in, trying to calm the pig demon down to prevent his blood pressure from going up so high. The others just laugh as they watch the scene.
You know you’re starting to sound like a broken record but it really is just like in the show. What’s happening in front of you just reminds you how enjoyable these characters are. How close they are as a found family. How…you feel like you’re intruding on something…
Whatever. You’re just going to finish your free meal (only an insane person pass up free food) and then leave and get on with your plan.
You relish in the smell of the mouth-watering blend of spice and sauces as you grab a pair of chopsticks and dig in.
And then immediately gagged on the first bite, the contents fell back into the bowl as you went into a coughing fit.
That was atrocious !
“WHAT??”
“THE—!”
“FUCK?!”
“Did I do something wrong with the recipe?!” You hear Pigsy panic, “No— maybe?! It can’t be!”
You wipe your mouth after you finish coughing and look at the accidental chaos you’ve done. Sandy was doing his best to comfort Pigsy as the latter had pulled out some sort of journal looking through its pages with mad vigor. Tang was eyeing his own bowl with a raised brow as Mk and Mei were both simultaneously cringing and panicking while soothing your back.
Well, fuck.
Nothing tasted bad, mind you. In fact, it didn’t taste like anything at all!
The bite was like wet thick strings of flavorless jello with chewy paper or thicker water drenched in crunchy small cylinders. Overall, with the taste being nonexistent, you get a direct attack on your texture sensors. Not fun.
You look down at your bowl with furrowed brows. It doesn't look as beautiful as before. With your chopsticks, you pick around the chewed bits and grab another bite, slowly easing it into your mouth while ignoring Mk and Mei’s questions. You cover your mouth as you try not to gag again.
Yep, seems your sense of taste is broken, too, like your sense of touch. Just nonexistent.
You grabbed the tea that is still steaming hot somehow and drank it. You didn't taste anything once again as well as feeling no burns.
With a slow exhale, you stood up and bowed your head low. Peeking a bit, you see the Mk crew had their eyes fully on you and you're suddenly very self-conscious about yourself. Still, you push on.
“I’m deeply sorry for my disrespectful act after you helped me,” you turn wholly on the chef, “Especially you Pigsy. I'm confident you're an amazing chef. But it seems my sense of taste is broken as I couldn't taste your noodles at all. I will make it up to you. Goodbye.”
And then you straighten up, turn on your heel, and leave.
Well, you were about to leave when there was a chorus of protests and shouts behind you. As you look over, you see the Mk crew appearing variously panicked at you.
“Wait, you're leaving?!” Mk shouts.
You nod. “Yes.”
“But why?”
You blink as you turn around, a bit surprised at how upset Mk is, at how upset the rest of the main cast is. “Don't worry, you didn't offend me or anything, I just,” you paused, thinking of the right words, “...care for my independence.”
“Then…where are you gonna go?” Mk tilted his head.
“To the poorer districts.”
“What?! Why?”
“To get a job there.”
“You don't have legal documents,” Pigsy interjects, his Lego hand in the position of pinching between his eyebrows before it falls and he looks up at you with concerned eyes.
“I'm well aware,” you reply.
“Then do yourself a favor and make it easy for yourself and work here. You’ll also have a place to sleep.”
You furrowed your brows, feeling quite irked because the anthropomorphic pig made good points that you're aware of. But you don't want to be here, working so closely with the main cast. You'll be intruding. You need to leave.
“Yeah!” Mk then shouted excitedly as he bounced towards you, “We can be roommates, or neighbors, or or room neighbors!”
Nobody should look that happy at you. The last time somebody did was…
Your features are scrunching up as you continue to contemplate your choices here.
You’ll complete a good chunk of your plan if you stay and work here. You can pay back for what you did with the free meal. And you’ll be better prepared for what's to come on the show with its many antagonists and villains, particularly the Lady Bone Demon. Mentioning the cons would just make you sound so childish now.
You turn your attention back to the main cast, all of them wearing expected gazes. It's nerve-wracking. And a little too familiar.
“Alright, I accept the offer,” you declare, cheers from the bestie duo and Sandy are heard. “But I wanna make myself clear; this is only temporary. Until I get enough money to get a phone and my own place, I will work to the best of my abilities here.”
Pigsy looks pleased with your words before it’s gone and was replaced with his default grumpy expression. “You start tomorrow,” he gruffs, arms folded.
Then arms wrapped around your shoulders and neck and it took all of your self-control to not deck that person in the face. “Alright!” Mei and Mk shouted spontaneously.
“This calls for a sleepover tonight!” Mk declares.
“Snacks, games, even more snacks, gossip!” Mei lists with a big grin.
“Yeah! Welcome aboard, Gibby!”
You snort. “Gibby?”
“Yeah,” Mk shoots you a nervous smile, rubbing behind his head, “Because you know, you don’t remember your name and you're a gibbon so I thought Gibby would be a nice name.”
“I see. I accept the name.”
“We’re gonna have a great time, Gibby!” Mei exclaims.
“Leggo!”
You have a feeling it’s gonna be a long night.