03x08 - Benched

[bunniefuu]

So, what ya doing, MK?

-Just doodling.
-Lookin' good, bud.

Did you do any drawings of me, MK?

Yeah, they're over there.

I didn't like how any of them
turned out though.

It was hard to make you look... cool.

-You know, you get it.
-What?

Why, I... But I'm like
the coolest guy you know.

Hey, guys! Land h*!

Huh, hasn't changed a bit.

Okay, maybe it's changed a little.

So, if this map is correct,

the last Ring of Samadhi
should be around... here somewhere.

I mean, that looks as good a place
as any to look for...

Hey!

All right. I remember throwing the ring
around here somewhere.

I thought you hid it.

Yeah, by throwing it into the crust
of the Earth where no one could find it.

Keep up, dragon pony girl.

-Is there some kind of festival on?
-Looks like it.

Hi. So, what's up?

Is this... Is there some kind
of festival going on?

Of course.
It's the Ring of Light Festival.

Yeah, that doesn't really explain--

Legends say that Lantern City
was once a desolate village

until Monkey King thrust
the Ring of Light into the Earth,

transforming the city into
the prosperous metropolis it is today.

Every year we hold a festival

celebrating Monkey King's gift
of the Great Ring of Light.

So much for the rings being a secret.

So, you gonna buy something?

So, what, we're just gonna wander round
till we stumble upon the ring or...?

Of course not, Pigsy.

I think I know exactly where the ring is.

It's in the giant lantern
in the middle of the city.

Hey, that's what I was going to say!

How do you figure?

Somehow the villagers find
my super-well-hidden magic ring.

There's a giant magic lantern
in the middle of the city.

I'm gonna say they put it in that.

It's two plus two, bud.

And two plus two is three. The third ring!

Big brain boy coming through!

There you go, blue guy. You haven't said
anything in a while. Read this.

-Can't read?
-I get stage fright.

Or something.

"Join the talented citizens
of Lantern City

as they try to win
the coveted Ring of Light

and bring the city to life."

A talent show?

So if we win, we get the ring?

But none of us have any talents!

There's no way we can win.

-Actually, Pigsy is--
-Sandy, would you just...

Pigsy, do you have
some kind of secret talent

that you're not telling us about
that might help us win the thing maybe?

Pigsy is an amazing singer.
I'm sorry, Pigsy, I had to tell him.

His voice is like a choir of angels.

Awesome. That's good enough for me.

Pigsy will sing. I'll play the bang-bangs.

-Sandy, you're on bass, obviously.
-I mean, obviously.

Mei, you get this thing
with way too many strings.

-Cool.
-And, Monkey King...

Kid, can I talk to you a moment?

Remember I said the whole
stage fright thing as kind of a joke?

-It wasn't a joke?
-Not even a little bit.

Sun Wukong, self-proclaimed
"Great Sage Equal to Heaven,"

is scared to perform in front of a crowd?

I know, I know. It doesn't make any sense.

-Okay.
-Thanks for understanding, bud.

-I can work with this.
-Wait, what?

And Monkey King can play the gong!

-Wonderful.
-And what about me?

Oh, Mr. Tang.

For you, I've saved
the most important role of all.

There isn't a band on Earth

that could have any hope
to win the Ring of Light

without the band manager!

Wait, what? You're benching me?

Pretty much. All right, team.

Let's go win ourselves
that last Ring of Samadhi.

-Yeah!
-Let's do it!

The Samadhi Fire, huh?

So that's how you're gonna beat
the Lady Bone Demon.

One misstep, one failure in any way,

I will erase the very memory of you.

We'll see about that.

Welcome to the stage,

Monkie Kid and the Monkie Kids!

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I thought
we were gonna discuss band names.

A one, two, three, four!

Okay, now remember,

if we're gonna make
this new life of ours work

as the world's greatest
theater technicians,

we're gonna have to take it serious.

Preaching to the choir.

So, what, we just pull this lever
and that big lantern lights up?

Exactly.

Don't pull it until the end of the show.

No one benches me. I'm Mr. Tang.

I don't know why we're wasting time
with a talent show

when we could just be taking the ring.

I'll show them who's benched.

I'm not useless.

Actually, being benched sounds real good
right about now!

I'm alive!

There it is, the ring!

You have more guts than I thought.

It's Tang, right?

You know, it's funny.
I thought he's smart.

I mean, look at the guy, he's got glasses.

If anyone knows
where the legendary Samadhi Fire is,

it's the guy sitting in the wings

while his friends are busy
having fun without him.

Stop! The Samadhi Fire
is humanity's last chance

to defeat the Lady Bone Demon!

Well, humanity's just gonna
have to find something else.

The Samadhi Fire is my best chance

of getting as far away from her
as possible.

Surely even you can see
that unless we stand together--

Together?

Remind me again exactly what it is
you contribute to the team?

They seem to get on just fine without you.

Don't take it personally, Tang.

Your buddy Wukong values people
by how useful they are to him.

Take it from me
as an expert on what happens

when you get too close to the King.

Look out for number one,
because if you don't, no one will.

You're wrong.
I know I'm not as strong as they are.

I may still be searching for my purpose.

But what I do know is that doing it alone
is not the path I'm destined to take.

Deep in my heart,

I know that my place
is alongside my friends.

One day, I will become someone
they can depend on,

the way that I can always depend on them.

As long as we stand together...

there will always be hope.

I know we're not meant to pull
the lever till the end, but...

It's just too darn beautiful!

No regrets.

Okay, so there is no way
we didn't just win this thing.

The ring!

-Go, Tangy!
-Nice work!

Way to go, bench warmer.

Guys, Macaque is here.
He's after the rings.

The next monorail is leaving... now?

If Macaque knows about the rings...

He'll stop at nothing
to get his hands on them.

I set you a task.

You were to retrieve
the Monkey King and his protégé.

Yet you refused the path of destiny,

and so there will be pain.

No! They have a weapon!

They have the Samadhi Fire!

Really?

It appears there is still time
to correct your failure.

Bring the fire to me.

I will grant you my aid,
my power in this final trial.

But make haste, or I will leave
nothing left of you.