Chapter Text
No one knew what was happening anymore. Not MK, not Pigsy, not Tang, not even Sun Wukong or Macaque themselves could tell you what was even happening at this point.
It all started almost two months ago with the Spider Queen.
Macaque had recently reached Megapolis after hearing some … very interesting rumors and a message from his favorite demon sister Princess Iron Fan. DBK was out of his prison thanks to her son’s invention and Monkey King – who had disappeared off the face of the earth for 500 years – had apparently chosen a successor; a human, mortal kid no less, and biggest shock of all, the kid had actually managed to beat DBK and Sparks like he’d been doing it all his life.
Well, write Macaque down for being shocked and impressed. He would not have placed his money on the kid. In fact he would have bet that Wukong might have had to come and rescue the kid, but, no, it seems the kid had a bit of a creative streak and some talent.
Needless to say Macaque was very intrigued, and with wanting to visit Princess Iron Fan and the family to congratulate the Bull King for being released, it was a good opportunity to leave his home and travel for a few days. Spend some time with Princess Iron Fan and his fiery nephew, and then leave.
Without seeking, seeing or meeting Sun Wukong.
By the gods did Macaque not want to see that Monkey. It had been long, too long, and he wasn’t sure how he’d react if he saw him again after all this time. Unconsciously, Macaque ran a hand over his eye, the one Wukong had blinded years ago on that fateful day.
Macaque clenched his fist and closed his eyes for a moment to clear his mind from those memories. That was one of his most painful ones, to see Wukong that angry, that willing to truly harm him with no hesitation, it was agony. He should hate Sun Wukong after his betrayal, for hurting him and blinding him as he did. It was agonizing.
He had only loved Wukong with all his heart, his Sun, his world, and Macaque used to believe that Wukong had thought the same of him. But that day, that day had shown the Demon Monkey that Wukong didn’t truly care for him, not like he did, not as much as Macaque did. If Wukong was willing to fight him, harm him like that and leave him in darkness and shadows as he did, then how could Macaque believe that Wukong had cared for him a day in his life?
He should hate Sun Wukong with every fiber of his immortal being…
But he didn’t.
He should want nothing but to cause hurt and suffering and pain to his Monkey King.
But he didn’t.
Macaque knew, he knew that deep down, despite the hurt and the betrayal, despite the pain and hatred, that he still loved his Sunlight. His Monkey King, his Wukong. His heart will never stop beating for him.
Macaque had read enough tales, knew enough scorned lovers and had seen many plays. He knew that whichever road that he chose where Wukong was concerned, would either lead to despair as he lost himself completely in vengeance and complete darkness, for even the shadows needed the light.
Or simply it would end in an all consuming heartbreak all over again.
So yes, Macaque was gonna check things out, spend some time with the Demon Bull Family and then go back home and never bother seeing Sun Wukong for the rest of their immortal lives, which seemed like a perfectly good plan!
See, the thing is, Macaque was sometimes too curious for his own good. He had thought that the only notable demons in this city were the Demon Bull Family, and yet traveling through the shadows, he sensed something deep within the underground, a power that was somewhat familiar, and decided to check out what it actually was.
He was a little surprised to see the Spider Queen herself having her webs all over the place with four cocoons of silk with people in them. He thought Wukong or some demon would have killed her at some point after she lost her ‘kingdom.’
Curiosity satiated, Macaque was about to leave when he actually noticed two of the people in said cocoons, and had to actually blink a few times seeing a pig demon and someone who looked… suspiciously like the Monk he had seen a long time ago… ‘A demon trapping a monk in order to eat them, now where have I heard that one before?’ Macaque thought sarcastically and rolled his eyes. He wouldn’t admit it under the threat of torture but he had actually read some of Wukong’s journey, which had that Monk being captured by the demon of the day to be eaten way too many times for him to care to count.
‘So what’s next?’ Macaque thought. ‘Is Wukong gonna burst in here to save the Monk and the pig?” That was when he heard a crash, three voices talking, – a man, a boy and a girl– along with a cat? He went to check it out, unseen as he moved through the shadows on the wall.
He saw what seemed to be a water demon…
‘Oh you have got to be kidding me!’
A young girl with pigtails and a green jacket which seemed to have a hidden power inside of her, and both of them were looking at … ‘a boat hanging off from webs, well you don’t see that everyday.’ and inside the boat trying to struggle to get out was a brown haired kid in a yellow jacket and a red bandana over his head.
Macaque softly gasped, and let out a shaky breath, the kid was Wukong’s successor, the black furred monkey had no doubt about that. The boy shined with power, warm and inviting and familiar; Wukong’s powers. The boy was bright, a golden aura, not like Wukong, not like the sun’s light, more of a small growing star, shining brightly and softly in the night sky.
Macaque should leave.
Macaque should absolutely leave and not hang around any more. He had seen all that he needed to. History was repeating itself, the kid was found, and that was all Macaque should want or need, he should just leave .
…But he didn’t.
Something was rooting him in place, a curiosity that took him over and gave him the need to keep watching the events unfold. He was going to regret that, he knew. If it was anyone else, Macaque would have messed with them with no second thought, but it wasn’t. And he should know better than to let his impulses take control like that, he really should… but when it came to Wukong, there was only ever an impulse that he couldn't fight.
In the blink of an eye, Queenie had captured the other two and the kid had run away. Macaque raised his eyebrow and followed, wanting to see how the kid would handle this.
The kid had run away. Macaque quickly followed.
When he reached the kid he saw him standing deep inside, hand on one of the walls as he panted. It was clear that he was not sure what to do, as he looked around him, with terrified eyes.
“Hoo man, that could have gone better,” Macaque said, mocking slightly. This was the same kid who beat Demon Bull King?
“Huh?!” The child yelled in surprise, as Macaque actually came out of the shadows of the wall.
“Monkey King!” The kid yelled loudly and happily, enough to make Macaque wince slightly in pain, and the next thing he knew, the kid was hugging him tightly, attaching himself to Macaque like a baby monkey.
“Woah, easy bud,” MK’s eyes widened as the voice registered to him, and it wasn’t the voice of the Monkey King. slowly and cautiously he removed himself from the stranger and blinked a few times. “You okay there?” Macaque question with a lopsided grin and a raised eyebrow.
“Oh… yeah, sorry… I… I thought…You look so much like Monkey King, especially in the shadows.”
“Heh,” Macaque let out a soft chuckle. “I get that a lot, don’t worry about it.”
“Who are you?” MK asked. “How did you get here?”
“Name’s Macaque,” the monkey replied. “I came here to visit some old friends and got curious about the power coming from down here.”
“Oh, I see,” the boy said. “I’m MK, it’s nice to meet you Macaque.”
“Likewise kiddo.” MK seemed to be breathing a lot easier now closer to him, Macaque had no idea if it was endearing or stupid of the kid.“So what’s up bud?” Maquack questioned. “You seem really scared. First time facing a demon?”
“Oh no,” MK said. “I just really really hate spiders!” MK yelled with a full body shudder, which made Macaque chuckle.
“I see, and all these little spiders are not helping I’m guessing.” He pointed at all the little arachnids around.
“Umm…” MK’s eyes widened in fear and seemed to unconsciously move even closer to Macaque. Hmm, honestly? Gaining the trust of Wukong’s successor might not be that bad of an idea… he had no idea if he would use that trust one day, but it honestly wouldn’t hurt him.
“Say, kid,” Macaque said. “Want me to help you out?”
“Wait, really?!” MK’s aura practically glowed with happiness and gratitude.
Macaque chuckled again. The kid was actually very adorable. “Sure,” he replied. “But… I wanna keep my affairs private, and I really don’t want queenie over here knowing I’m in town, or anyone for that matter.”
“Okay, I can understand that,” MK said, rubbing the back of his head. “So what should we do?”
“I can place a glamor on myself,” Macaque replied. “Shapeshift and play the Monkey King. It’ll take her attention from you for sure."
“You can do that?!” MK questioned, stars of curiosity and wonderment in his eyes.
“Sure can,” Macaque boasted. “I’ll distract her, you can go find your friends and get out of here.”
“Wait… you sure?” MK asked worriedly, he didn’t want to leave the other monkey in danger like that. “I … I should stay and help you.”
“Don’t worry about it, kid,” Macaque said, turning to MK, seeing the kid’s eyes widen and as he placed a familiar glamor on himself, turning into a Sun Wukong in front of his eyes. “She’s nothing I can’t handle,” he replied cockily with a wink, sounding perfectly like Wukong, down to his cheery voice and cocky attitude.
“Wooow~” MK said in wonder, admiring the way Macaque’s disguise looked from every possible angle. “That’s so amazing! It’s like Monkey KIng is really here!”
Macaque placed his hands on his hips proudly but before he could say anything they both heard the Spider Queen’s voice.
“Come out, come out wherever you are~” Both of them turned to the direction of the voice. Macque nodded at MK with a confident smirk and nodded for the kid to take his chance.
“Hey there Queenie,” Macaque called, jumping into the webs around the walls as he began to swing closer to her. “Long time no see.”
“Sun Wukong!” The Spider Queen yelled in surprise.
“The one and only,” Macaque replied, easily grabbing her attention before jumping down aiming a kick at her. The Spider Queen tried to block but Macaque’s foot connected easily, kicking the Spider Queen back. She glared at Macaque with murderous intent, and all the black monkey could do was smirk in response before the fight truly began.
MK ran as the Spider Queen got distracted heading to save his friends, taking one more glance at the two demons, he hurried back only to see Pigsy and Tang out of the cocoons, and they started working on freeing Sandy and Mei.
(~~~~~~0~~~~~~)
Macaque laughed as he dodged another attack from the Spider Queen, grinning. Acting like Wukong, fighting like him was far too easy, almost natural. The two of them had trained together, shared almost all of their techniques, they knew each other’s fighting styles like the back of their paws, they had mimicked each other enough times. He could perfectly play Sun Wukong in his sleep. ‘Damn it, damn him, that stupid monke! I could have turned into anyone, anything and just fought this so called queen easily, so why? Why do I so naturally and easily accept him?’
With a few quick punches and kicks he threw the Spider Queen mercilessly into the wall. He just wanted this over with now . It obviously didn’t take much to defeat the Spider Queen, but Macaque was quite frustrated with himself, he almost didn’t notice the kid had come back with his friends in tow.
“Monkey King?” A girl’s voice questioned in surprise.
Macaque looked back to see all five standing there as if they were ready for a fight, and finally he noticed the sword in the girl’s hand. ‘Oh. So the gang’s all here.’ he thought in amusement.
“Are you okay?” MK called.
“Course bud,” he replied with a smirk before crossing his arms. “Who do you take me for?”
“Wobowbowod THE MONKEY KING!” The human yelled, cutting the two of them off and making Macaque wince slightly, having no idea what in the heavens was wrong with him.
“Mr. Tang, you can fanboy when we’re out of here please!” MK begged, wanting to leave the underground.
‘Fanboy… huh, that explains it.’
“Oh! Oh yes,” the fanboy, Mr. Tang, said, clearing his throat. “Let us finally leave this place and go back to Pigsy’s noodle shop. I’m sure the Monkey King would like something to eat and um… answer some questions, please.”
Macaque gave a sigh. “Actually…” The Queen seemed to stir as she groaned. Macaque would have killed her, then and there, but he had no idea how that would have gone with the kid, so he opted to just knock queenie around for a bit. “Let’s just leave.”
They lowered the boat and somehow found a way to get it out of the underground and into the ocean… don’t even ask Macaque how.
“Man you’re really amazing at impersonating the Monkey King!” MK said as they rode the boat out of the underground.
“Wait what?!” Tang yelled, turning to MK. “What do you mean ‘impersonate’ ?!”
“Oh yeah, this is not Monkey King,” MK explained. “I kinda met him while I was running and he offered to help.”
“WHAT?!” The others yelled in surprise and probably horror.
“He ‘offered’ to help?” Pigsy asked, crossing his arms and narrowing his eyes at the impersonator. “Just like that?”
“Yep” MK replied, not noticing, or possibly ignoring Pigsy’s suspicion before turning to Macaque again. “Really, thank you, thank you, thank you for the help.”
“Eh, don’t mention it bud,” Macaque replied ruffling MK’s hair. “Like I said, it was no problem, besides, Monkey King is the easiest role to play.”
“Role?” Tang questioned. He wasn’t sure how he felt about someone who could play the Monkey King so easily and seemed to be an actual powerful demon. It truly didn’t bode well.
“So, if you’re not Monkey King,” Sandy said. “Then who are you?!”
Macaque laughed before letting the glamor drop, showing his black fur, his red markings on his eyes and his normal clothes. “I guess you can call me Mac,” he said. “It was nice meeting you guys.”
“Woo~” Mei said with stars in her eyes just like MK had. “Man, that was so cool!”
“Thanks, kid,” Macaque said. The boat ride was filled with some chatter between its occupants especially with Pigsy and Tang whispering among themselves while MK and Mei kept asking him some questions about his powers and abilities. Just as they reached the docks, Macaque jumped off the boat and was about to leave.
“Wait!” MK said, stopping the dark monkey in his tracks. Macaque turned to the kid, raising his eyebrow. “How about having one dish of Pigsy’s noodles, please, as a thank you.”
“Wait, hold on--" Pigsy tried to protest.
“Yes, great idea!” Mei readily agreed. “We can learn even more about our new friend here.”
Macaque sighed, looking away and contemplating, The Demon Bull family had no idea that he was coming, so he was in no hurry. And spending some time with these kids might prove a bit entertaining. “Sure,” he finally replied “I guess it wouldn’t hurt.”
“Yes!” MK and Mei jumped for joy.
Pigsy sighed, having given up on trying to dissuade the two kids. The group headed to Pigsy’s place as the pig demon began to make some noodles for everyone, as a celebration of them actually surviving.
“Hey, little Jade,” Macaque called, making everyone’s attention at the black furred monkey. “Can I see you with that sword of yours? It kinda looks familiar.”
“Oh sure!” Mei replied and with a swift move removed the sword from its sheath and displayed it proudly as she pointed it at Macaque, shining in the light.
“Impressive, the Sword of the Dragon of the West, huh?”
“Yep!” Mei replied. “Legend says that my grandfather imbued it with unimaginable power so that our clan would always have the strength of the dragon to protect them. Its true power will only show itself to those deemed worthy, a true member of our clan who's proven themselves strong enough to protect our family from the forces of evil.” she said with practiced ease. MK was looking at the sword with shining eyes.
“That is soo cool!” he yelled, wanting to inspect the sword as Macaque gently took it from Mei’s hand and began to inspect it.
“Hmm, can I see you use it?” Macaque asked.
“Course!” Mei replied before she grabbed the sword back in the blink of an eye, then began to make some random cutting and stabbing moves, the sword a dancing green blur.
Macaque watched her move around with an amused smirk before shaking his head slightly. “That’s really not a good way to hold that sword there, Jade.” Macaque said, not unkindly.
“Oh?” Mei asked, turning to Macaque with a curious gaze. Macaque chuckled and moved closer to Mei adjusting her grip on the sword and her stance. “Wahao!”
“There, now your strikes will be more precise,” Macaque said as Mei began to swing her sword with the new instructions.
“Ahhh this feels so much easier!” Mei yelled excitedly. “Thanks Makkie!”
“You’re welcome, kid,” Macaque replied with a small chuckle.
Pigsy began to place the noodles in a couple of bowls before spreading them around. “So how long are you planning on staying here for?” he asked Macaque, eyeing him distrustfully.
“I’m here visiting a few friends,” the dark monkey replied. “I don’t think I’ll be staying around that long.”
“Ow, that’s too bad,” Mei said.
“Yeah!” MK agreed. “We would love it if you stuck around and showed us all your other cool moves.”
Macaque grinned, raising an eyebrow. “Aren’t you Wukong’s student?” He asked teasingly.
“I’m not,” Mei said.
MK rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish look. “I mean yeah, but that doesn’t mean that I don’t think that you’re not cool.”
“Yes! You gotta show us more!” Mei yelled in excitement.
“Kids,” Pigsy started to warn them before he was interrupted by the two of them giving Macaque the most adorable puppy dog eyes, shining and big and irresistible.
Macaque chuckled and looked away. “I’ll think about it,” he finally replied. The two kids jumped up in the air and high-fived each other.
Pigsy sighed and shook his head, it didn’t seem like the two of them were gonna listen to him about this stranger. He just hoped that this demon didn’t mean any harm to the kids. He exchanged a look with Tang who was eyeing the Demon Monkey wearily.
“These are some really good noodles though,” Macaque said, grabbing Pigsy’s attention. “might be one of the best I’ve tasted in my life.”
Pidsy humphed, crossing his arms and puffing his chest proudly. “Well of course, Pigsy’s Noodles are the best thing you’ll ever taste.”
“Well, it was real fun meeting you all,” Macaque said as he got off of the chair. “It’s getting late.”
“Hope to see you around!” MK said.
“Same, don’t you two get in too much trouble now,” Macaque said, playfully ruffling Mei’s and MK’s hair.
“No promises~” Mei replied waving to the dark furred Monkey.
Macaque chuckled softly, looking up at the darkening sky. He walked a bit further from the store before turning around with a smile.
“See you around little ones,” Macaque whispered into the empty night streets as he walked in the cold night air. He let out a soft breath before disappearing into the shadows.