Chapter Text
The ship ride back to Megapolis was silent. Everyone sat among the ships silently stewing in their thoughts. MK sits against the main hull, cradling the lamp in his hands.
The lamp still belongs to Macaque.
Red Son’s voice continues to ring in his head. They had a way now sure but it was still impossible unless they could get to Macaque.
If they could get to Macaque.
He hugs the lamp against his chest trying to calm himself. The sharp corners dig into his chest but he doesn’t lessen his grip.
One
Two
One
Two
He takes deep breaths, letting the dull pain keep him focused. Trying to contact Macaque through telepathic projection but it didn’t seem to work. The last time he saw him Macaque told him to run. He couldn’t rely on him anymore.
He looked out across the horizon, Flower Fruit Island slowly shrinking out of view as the sun set behind it. It’s going to be a long ride.
They arrived at Megapolis just as the stars began to appear and they quickly headed to Pigsy’s shop to settle first. Pigsy opened the door to the shop and the scent of blood was thick in the air. He quickly held his arm out, keeping everyone from entering, “stay back, something’s wrong here.” Inside the shop a small mound squirms in a booth. MK peeks over Pigsy’s shoulder to try and see, his eyes widening in recognition. MK quickly pushes past Pigsy and hunches down in front of the figure.
“Macaque what are you doing here? I thought you were-” MK frets, hovering his hands over him. He wanted to try and help but he couldn’t tell where Macaque was injured in the dark. The rest of the group looked at each other in confusion hearing MK call the mound of cloth “Macaque”.
“Come on legs get inside first,” Sandy says, quickly pushing everyone else in and closing the door to the shop behind him. He reaches for the light switch and with a flick floods the room in a soft yellow glow. The pile of cloth flinches and slowly the fabrics start to loosen.
“Hey bud, my favorite pupil,” Macque rasps, reaching out to ruffle MK’s head. “Listen, there’s something you need to know, Wukong he-” Macaque’s eyes glaze over and he falls over onto MK.
“Let’s get him to bed first kid,” Pigsy suggests. MK nods and brings the monkey to his room while the rest of the group settles in the shop.
“So are we going to talk about why the Six-Eared Macaque is just hanging out here?” Red Son starts, “Last time I checked, wasn’t he still under the Lady Bone Demon?”
MK lays Macaque onto his bed and just looks at him. Even if the smell didn’t give it away, MK could see the splotches of blood bleeding out throughout the layers of fabric. He quietly starts to clean up the wounds, not waking the monkey. Every time MK tried dabbing at the wounds Macaque would flinch resulting in him wincing in apology.
Eventually, after a few minutes, MK finishes as much as he could without disturbing the monkey too much. Cleaning up most of the excess blood and sitting against the bed waiting for Macaque to wake up.
“Right well, that was the case, I don’t know how he got away, but it probably has to do with the Monkey King doesn’t it?” Mei suggests, “Although the last time we saw him he was definitely not on our side.” Mei takes another mouthful of noodles, glancing towards the stairs where MK and Macaque disappeared to. Red Son follows her gaze and chooses to ignore it.
“It’s good now though isn’t it? Now we actually have someone to use the lamp,” Red Son comments trying to change the weirdly somber mood of this crowd. Although none of the others seem to hear him. Red Son looks as each of them silently busy themselves trying to ignore the missing noodle delivery boy and monkey. He sighs and pushes himself out of a booth and heads up the stairs ignoring the other's protests.
MK leans against the foot of the bed and listens to the slow rustle of fabric as Macaque sleeps. He looks up at the dark ceiling, mind in a constant whirlwind of thoughts about what to do next. He hears soft thumps against the wood and before he could react, the door to his room swings open revealing Red Son.
“Hey noodle boy,” he whispers, but in the silent room, it's more than enough for MK to hear. “Got a minute?” Red Son asks, walking towards the windowsill and climbing out onto the fire escape. MK stands up and looks behind him at the sleeping Macaque before nodding. They climb up the fire escape in silence until they get to the roof of the shop. Neither said a word as they settled down on the concrete roof and enjoyed the night view of the city.
“What did you want to talk about?” MK asks, turning towards Red Son. The demon just kept looking at the skyline before starting.
“Do you think we could actually do this?” Red Son says not looking at MK. “Can we really go up against someone like the Lady Bone Demon and win?” He turns to MK, “Even if the Six-Eared Macaque is here now, we would still have to go up against the Monkey King himself not to mention whatever the Lady Bone Demon has prepared.”
MK opens his mouth to answer but finds that he can’t. He can’t say he hasn’t thought of what Red Son said. If what little Macaque said was to go by, the Monkey King isn’t in his right mind but that also meant the Lady Bone Demon was only that much stronger. He looks down on the concrete roof in silence. Red son just sighs before turning back to look at the city.
Red Son, traces his hand across the concrete peeking at MK, “I know we aren’t really on friendly terms but if this is the last time-”
“Don’t.” MK immediately stops. Red Son doesn’t say anything, simply reaching his hand toward MK for comfort.
“I don’t mean to interrupt your little pity party but don’t you have a guest here today?” a familiar voice rings from behind them. They both quickly separate, turning towards the voice to find Macaque rising out of the shadows. Still covered in layers of fabric and loose bandages by MK, but he still held the same air of distinction as he had before. MK immediately gets up and tries to tackle Macaque into a hug before getting stopped by Red Son.
“Injuries, Noodle Boy,” Red Son comments before letting him go. MK looks back sheepishly before quickly giving Macaque a gentle hug and he feels Macaque patting his head again.
“Good to see you too kid,” he chuckles. He looks up at Red Son who awkwardly tries to look away, “Demon Bull Prince” he nods, smirking.
Red Son looks back, “Six-Eared Macaque.”
“Looks like you all have been doing a lot while I was gone?” Macaque looks back down at MK, “Hey listen, while I enjoy this reunion I have something urgent to tell you, let’s go back down to the others.” MK nods as Macaque reopens the shadow and jumps in with MK as Red Son follows behind the pair.