Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The bustling city of Megapolis. Filled with neon lights and futuristic technology overflowed with colors and constant noise. To say the least, a new atmosphere for someone who used to reside in the less overwhelming suburbs. 

    Hauling over another one of your moving boxes, the scenery outside your apartment building still left you in awe.  It wasn’t as if you didn’t occasionally travel downtown, but the idea of having permanent residence here was still settling into your nerves. It wasn’t really your decision after all.  Thoughts of the past few weeks clouded your mind, not yet making any sense to you. 

It started with a sudden surplus of letters sent to your home, explaining an enormous fortune and legacy that was set into your name from a so-called distant relative, urging you to start a life in the city in order to fulfill some sort of“destiny”. You discarded this as a prank set by the children around the neighborhood and threw them out without a second thought. But more things came in. Official papers for an already prepared residency for you to stay at. Multiple trinkets covered in colorful jewels and gold said to be family heirlooms. And finally, an actual person arriving at your house, claiming to be a personal messenger for your supposed relative.

    “I don’t even know my own parents. How should I know if they are truly my family?” You say to the person adorned in robes, exasperated. They smile apologetically. 

    “All your questions will be answered in due time. But you wish to be a kind person do you not? You always wish for the well-being of everyone around you, yes?” Their words make your eyebrow raise, confused about how they know such things. But, you nod. They speak again.

“Then believe me when I say that this journey is important for you to begin. If you accept, what you seek in your life will eventually come.”

    And now here you are, in the middle of a large city knowing no one there, and no proper goal in sight. It was an extremely rash decision for you, but the thought of sending the messenger away with a rejection made you feel a little guilty. And with the acceptance of this position, the constant overflow of your mail finally began to cease.

“What should I do now…” You mumble as you scrolled around on your phone. With everything being paid for by the mysterious “relative”, getting a job was not required. You spent the past few days in full-on bliss, doing nothing and lounging around the spacious apartment without a care in the world. But now, the thought of doing nothing for such a long time made you anxious. Maybe it was best to start exploring around the city until you got some sort of mail that would give you more explanation of your quest, which was promised by the messenger.

A growl in your stomach made you quickly search for local restaurants, eager to try more of the cuisine from the bustling town. Eyes stumble upon a small noodle shop, with seemingly good enough reviews (although there was some complaining about bad delivery service, you noted if you liked the place it would be better not to order to go). With a quick outfit change, you are set on the track to getting a quick bite to eat. The beginning of the journey, unbeknownst to you, has now begun.

Chapter Text

Pigsy’s Noodles, the shop you decided to go to, was not very far from your apartment. After a short bus ride, you finally arrived at the storefront which was enveloped in a wonderful aroma of steamed broth. You walk in, noticing a hefty pig getting to work on some noodles behind the counter. A man with round glasses was sitting, slurping the remnants of his meals from a bowl with a satisfied sigh leaving his mouth once finished.

“Ah- Welcome to Pigsy’s Noodles. What can I get ya?” The pig finally turned his attention to you as he wrapped up what seemed to be an order. You smile politely before sitting down at the same counter as the other guy.

“Hello! I’ve actually never been here before. What do you recommend?”

He puffed up his chest proudly, ladle in hand.

“Every noodle from Pigsy's Noodle Shop is handcrafted from scratch with love, and care. It's what our customers have come to expect.” You stare blankly at him for a moment. He coughed slightly, before turning back to the kitchen. “I’ll make you one of our best sellers, just sit tight.” You hum in approval, opting to look around the quaint restaurant. The glasses man was still sitting next to you idly reading a book. It was a very peaceful atmosphere. But then someone came crashing through the door.

“PIGSY!!!!!!!!” The new figure bellowed loudly, startling you. The other two in the room lacked any similar reaction. The perpetrator scrambled to the pig, waving his hands frantically. “I AM SO SORRY!! I GOT DISTRACTED AND FORGOT TO COME BACK FOR THE REST OF THE ORDERS!!!”

Ah. So he’s why the reviews are there.

Pigsy turns to give the boy an irritated glare. He grumbles a little under his breath before setting a set of hot noodles before you.

“Kid, ya can’t keep getting distracted and forgetting to do your job. I’m running a business here!” It felt rude to listen to the conversation in front of you, so you snapped apart a pair of chopsticks and decided to focus on your meal. The first pair of noodles enveloped your mouth with a burst of flavor. A smile appeared on your face while you continued to dig in.

“So, what do you think?” Pigsy asked. You flash an even bigger smile while giving him a thumbs up. “Sososo good!!! I haven’t even tried any of the other noodle shops yet, but I don’t think I’ll have to. Count me as one of your regulars now.” The compliments earn you a beaming Pigsy who waved his hand bashfully at your statement.

“Awww you’re much too kind, but I’m glad to hear that.” The delivery boy turned to look at you, curiosity on his face.

“Oh, are you not from around here?” He asked, suddenly appearing way too close to you. An irked Pigsy pulls him away to give you personal space. You chuckled slightly, slurping some more of your noodles.

“Yeah, I just moved here on a whim. I’ve been a bit too nervous to go out myself, since I don’t know anyone around here, and the city’s still unfamiliar to me.” You pick out some money for the food and place it on the countertop. “This is the first time I’ve been out in a couple of days. It was a good decision though, otherwise, I wouldn’t have tasted something so yummy!” The boy nodded enthusiastically at every word, while Pigsy smiles once again at your praise.

“OHOHOH!!!” Suddenly, your hands are wrapped over by the boys’, his eyes almost sparkling. “If you need someone to show you around, I’m totally the guy! Since I deliver everywhere, it’ll be easy to take you all over the place!!” You laugh at his excitement, pulling him back just to get some more room once again.

“That would be very nice actually... It’s very kind of you to offer.” He grins widely, pulling out his phone (and nearly dropping it) before offering it to you to input his number. “The names MK by the way! Well, it's what people call me anyways.”

After exchanging contacts, you decide that it was time for you to call it a night. MK suggested that you could come over by the noodle place tomorrow and drive around the city with him, which you agree to. You gave your thanks to both Pigsy and MK and exited the shop. The cool breeze of the night blew through your hair, and you breathed in a sigh of relief. Maybe, you thought, living in the city wouldn’t be so bad after all.

…

“Did they just leave a 100-dollar tip??” Pigsy stood dumbfounded at the amount of cash next to the empty noodle bowl. He turns over to the other patron, who sheepishly looked back at him. “You could learn a thing or two from them, Tang.”

Chapter Text

With the start of the new day, you felt much better waking up knowing that you finally had something to do. After getting ready, you texted MK that you were on your way. The city in the morning was surprisingly pleasant, as you watched the flow of cars and people pass by through the bus windows. Originally the thought of such busy traffic overwhelmed you, but it didn’t seem as bad when you took public transport. It was a good idea to leave your car in the care of one of your neighbors.

Once you arrived at the shop, MK immediately coddled you with attention, ecstatic to be your personal tour guide. You wave politely to Pigsy, who was preparing the orders MK would be delivering on your trip. The same man was sitting at the counter, who was quickly introduced as Tang by your new companion. After exchanging pleasant hellos, you offer to assist in carrying the orders to the small vehicle that was used for deliveries. 

    “I just can’t wait to show you around! There are so many places around here that I’m sure you’ll love, like the arcade, the movie theater, and the cool clothing stores and cheese tea stalls..” MK rambles on to you while starting the engine and driving, with you securely on the seat next to him. “And I should totally introduce you to my other friend Mei!! I’m sure you two would really get along. I mean- I’ve only known you for a day but you seem so nice, so I think you guys would have fun together!”  You smile at him, grateful that you made a good first impression.

“You seem very nice as well MK. I don’t know many people who would be so kind to just show a random stranger around. But I hope we can start being friends from now on, along with that Mei girl as well.” You raise your fist and he happily bumps it, which makes the cart swerve ever so slightly. Thank god for seatbelts, you think.

The day flew by in a flash, as you drove all around Megapolis. You admired the different areas of the city and took note of the places that MK commented on previously. He decided that you should go visit them with him and Mei on his days off. The deliveries also went by smoothly, with the both of you going back to the shop whenever you finished a batch of orders.

“That was so much fun!” MK hugged you, and you returned the affection as the both of you went back to Pigsy’s after finishing the final deliveries. You nod in agreement, before slumping down into one of the seats in exhaustion.

“I’m not sure what you did, but you somehow made MK do his job ten times more efficiently than usual.” Pigsy snorted while MK chuckled in embarrassment. He slid a bowl of noodles to you. “It’s on the house. As a thank you.” 

“Hey, what happened to no free noodles??” Tang huffed as you dug in. Pigsy angrily smacked him with a spoon. 

“Unlike you, they actually contributed to my shop's well-being!” 

You laugh at the banter, which seemed only friendly between the two. Pigsy then looks back at you, seemingly lost in thought.

    “You know,  if you truly have nothing to do in the city, maybe you can keep going around with MK and help him stay focused from time to time. I’ll pay you of course.” 

“I wouldn’t mind doing that!” You placed the empty bowl away from your face, licking the remaining soup off your mouth. “There's truly no need to pay me though, I’m just a friend tagging along after all.” MK flew from his place to smother you in a hug once again, making the both of you laugh. “It’s a plan then!”

And so for the next few weeks, you started becoming accustomed to Pigsy’s Noodles as your new hangout, with MK, Pigsy, and Tang as your new companions. You would help MK stay on track with his deliveries when you were in the mood for a joyride and occasionally served the noodles to the customers to get more used to city locations. You conversed about more adult topics with Pigsy, talking about growing up and your past lives with one another. After confessing about your enjoyment of cooking, he invited you to see how he prepared his food while you both happily exchanged recipes and treats with each other. Tang would always talk about his expert knowledge of Chinese legends to MK and you, such as the Monkey King who he was very passionate about.  He nearly shook you to death when you said you didn’t know much about the deity, as he tried to cram every piece of story he had into your head. MK was a major fan as well and showed you his book crammed with writings and drawings he had which you made sure to praise him on for how well made it all was.

Later you eventually met Mei, who you quickly bonded with after complimenting her - which she did back to you tenfold and snapped a bunch of pics together. When MK was out working she would drag you to the arcade and play for hours, and you would eat out together when you weren’t hungry for noodles (you would always fight over whos paying, with both of you wanting to treat the other). Having so many new friends made you feel content, but something was still in the back of your mind.

As the days passed by, you constantly looked through your mail, your phone, and any other form of communication to see if you would finally get news about how to progress on your supposed task. Being set in a new place with absolutely no direction of what your so-called destiny was going to be set you off a little as your patience started to thin. It wasn’t until you fully settled into your new life that a knock on the door came with a sealed envelope slipping through the crack under. Hurriedly you rushed to tear the paper open, only to reveal a small card enveloped in a lavender smell with gold writing reading:

You’re on the right track.

“HUH??” You burst out, slapping the papers onto the floor with a huff. “ONE WHOLE MONTH. And that's what you give me??” You grumbled curses as you slipped on your shoes to get away from the apartment. Although you did not want to get so mad as your living situation was being fully reimbursed by your relative, they surely weren’t assisting you in anything else. The sour mood you were in was unfortunately noticed by MK once you slipped into the store, so he placed the orders prepared back on the table to check on you.

“You alright there? Did something happen to you?” He questioned, gingerly placing a hand on your shoulder. You furrow your brows, not wanting to worry him but not wanting to lie to him either.

“I just got some bad news that's all. Nothing too serious though, I was just really annoyed by it.” You picked up the orders that he was previously carrying, turning to go out of the door. “I think driving around will clear my mind. Let's get going MK!” Satisfied with the response, he followed to start with the deliveries for the day.

    “MK, are you sure that someone ordered noodles down there..?” The delivery truck stopped in front of an abandoned construction site as your friend whistled happily with noodles in hand.

    “Don’t worry, I’ve delivered to much weirder places!” He pulled you to the elevator and turned on the lever, slowly descending down. You still felt a little off, sticking close to MK as he casually danced through the debris and old equipment. 

    “It feels like I’ve waited an eternity for this moment.” A deep feminine voice echoed through the area, causing you and MK to stop in your tracks. You look to see a woman standing with her back towards you, along with a young man with bright red hair. Surrounding them were a large number of figures that sported robotic bullheads on top of their torsos. The two unique bodies exchanged words about preparations as you hurriedly dragged MK out from eyesight. You tried to tug him back to the elevator, but he grabbed your hand and signaled a shushing noise, pointing to what everyone else seemed to be looking at.  On the mound of earth illuminated by the sunlight that cracked through the openings from the ceiling, a large pole encrusted in red and gold stood upon the top, giving off a heavenly glow. Your eyes widen.

    “Is that…”

“Monkey King’s staff!!!!”  MK whispers in awe, his pupils shine in excitement. He grabs your hand to haul you up onto the poles in the ceiling despite your silent struggles to get away from whatever was going on. With the two of you draped over uncomfortably up top, you managed to get a better view of the ordeal in front of you. One of the bull men walked up to the staff and struggled to pull it out, snapping its electric arms out in the process. He was then sneered at by the red dude, who haughtily monologues about the preparations he took to get the job done.

“Only those who are deemed worthy can wield it. But I, Red Son, have designed this gauntlet to bend it to my will!” He summoned a large metal contraption to his hands with a burst of flames and walked over to the staff himself. You stared in shock as he grunted angrily, and exploded into a fit of fire as he struggled to lift the staff.  The ground below it finally cracked, and the staff was tightly grasped between the iron hand. 

    “YES! I DID IT!” Red Son, assuming that was his title finally yelled in victory. There was a pause. “WHAT? Why isn’t anything happening??!” He turned to the woman and squabbled something about it being the wrong mountain and bickered before the entire room started to shake. You grasped tightly to the pole in terror when suddenly the ground below where the staff once was exploded into a sickly green glow. Arising from beneath the surface appeared an anthropomorphic bull, larger than the bull-bots that flew around from the explosions. He growled menacingly, his size towering over everyone else.

    “Flesh. Bone. I have returned to the realm of the living!” The bull spoke, flexing his hands. 

It was a terrifying display, and the sound of MK struggling to keep his hold on the poles made your head spin. There was no way you wanted to be caught by the crowd at the bottom.

“Demon Bull King! How I’ve missed you.” The lady smirked. Oh, you remembered that name. It was one of the demons that Tang stated Monkey King once defeated. That didn’t sound good.

“Princess Iron Fan. The years have been kind.” Another demon that you learned from the stories. You couldn’t believe it. The legends were true?

A bird perched on the pole chirped your attention away, as it started pecking at MK’s hands while he tried to shoo it from him. It squawked, aggressively pecking more until MK’s grip slipped. In a fit of panic, you reached to grab him only to realize that doing so made your balance falter as well. Gravity pulled you down.

    “AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!!!” With a crash, you toppled over MK and Red Son who was right under both of your hiding spots. You groan in pain as you placed your hands to steady yourself. You felt the eyes of everyone latching onto you, freezing your movement. 

    “Heh heh-... Someone ordered some noodles?” 

    “GET OFF YOU IDIOT!!!!!!!!” MK was launched off of Red Son back to you, forcing you to catch him before he would be slammed to the floor.  

    “Did you know what you just did? THE BOTH OF YOU RUINED MY MOMENT!!” He erupted into flames. You cover MK protectively as the DBK towered over the both of you, smugly grunting at the display.

    “Some little eavesdroppers have fallen into our midst. It seems a waste to crush something so insignificant as my first act as ruler of this new world, but so be it.” He lifts his foot ready to squash. 

    “Wait, father!” Red Son cleared his throat. “Waste not your energy on these... Peasants. Please allow me to show you how powerful I have become in your absence!” 

    “I think we should go..” You inch away from the demons but are stopped again as they turn back to talk to you. Red Son continued to boast about his family while MK stumbled over the staff that was abandoned back on the ground.

    “ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING TO ME? I, Red Son, will NOT be disrespected! You’re HISTORY!” He lunged to attack. MK’s body jerked into a frenzy as he reach for anything to protect you and him. A sickeningly hollow sound erupted into your ear while a wave of smoke smothered your eyesight. You coughed and rubbed your eyes hurriedly to behold the sight next to you. MK was holding Monkey King's staff, to the shock of everyone.

    “QUICK! Let's get out of here!” MK used the confusion to grab your arm and start running. The staff jerked to life in his palm, growing long and bouncing off the floors and walls while you clung onto MK for dear life. It smashed through the elevator and to the top, and you wasted no time rushing to the cart to start driving. It didn’t take long for an even bigger vehicle to rise and destroy the already deteriorated construction site, its engines revving and bursting to drive into your cart.

“How did you do that MK??” You ask while he weaved through the traffic in the street with Red Son close behind. 

    “I don’t know, but we need to get away from them NOW.” He grabs one of the orders in the back and threw it at Red Son’s car window.

    “MK! MK THE WHEEL!” You reached over to steady the driving while it screeched into a turn. The staff seemed to have a mind of its own as it enlarged itself again to launch the vehicle out of the street. Both of you screamed, not quite sure how you were still alive. You smashed onto the rooftop, the poor noodle cart hobbling down with Red Son furiously pursuing on the side. With a final crash, you swerved into an apartment building and burst out on the side of the road.

“Are- are we safe??” MK laughs triumphantly at your question.

    “I think we lost him!” He gently tries to lodge off your iron grip on his torso, which you were unconsciously doing throughout the chase. The cart sputtered and coughed from the turmoil it was put in. It squeaked to a stop and collapsed down. MK stared at you in shock.

    “Come on come on you got this!” He kicked and smacked at the machine, but it did not respond. “Oooohhhh Pigsys gonna kill me…”

    “Not if that red guy kills us first! Come on MK!!” You both duck into an alleyway, searching for a new way to get back to the noodle shop. MK spots a hoverboard being used by some teens and quickly snatches it to ride. In due time as well, with Red Son zooming back to chase you.

    “WE’RE SORRY!” You yelled out to the disgruntled teenagers, practically choking MK with your hold.

    “Y-ourre-. Suffocating-mme!!!” MK struggled to keep the hoverboard steady. 

    “I'm sorry I'm sorry but if I let go I’ll die!!!!!” After some backflips and almost falling off, you manage to lose Red Son for another moment. MK swerves around to another path, only for the demon to arrive in a smaller vehicle. If it weren’t such a dire situation you would have rolled your eyes at his persistence. He pulls the racecar upwards into the air and recklessly tries to squash you both. He’s able to destroy the hoverboard, forcing you to fly over the top of the car, with it speeding towards a dead-end road. You and MK yell for your lives.

Bodies in the air. You’re vision spinning and the air whipping your face. MK’s teary face screaming next to you. Was this truly how you would die? No. It can’t be. You don’t want it to end like this! Why is everything glowing? Your hand reaches out for something, for anything. You see something forming at your fingertips. It stops for a second, only for a gloved hand to grab you instead. Greenlight crackled through the air. You already knew who it was.

    “Mei!!” You quickly stretched your arm to MK, zipping past Red Son and back onto solid ground. The motorcycle she rode zipped through the city instantly and back to Pigsy’s Noodles. MK lost your arm and tumbled over the floor, but Mei still kept her hold on you before steadying you back to stand.

    “Nailed it!!” She fishes out her phone to snap a few pics. A relieved MK walks over to her, and he poorly tries to explain the situation at hand. You stood in the back still shaky from the entire ordeal. 

“MK!!!” Out came Pigsy, his nose flaring as he yelled at him for the missing orders. You jump when he glares at you but stops after seeing your poor state.

“Huh? Did something happen? Why are you all frazzled?” You pause. The realization of the past events you went through floats through your head. You were scared and you had no idea what you and MK just got into. Your eyes water slightly, but you try to keep your composure to prevent worrying Pigsy.

“Hey hey it's alright, I didn’t mean to scare ya. You were always good at keeping MK in check, so truth be told I was worried when I saw that the deliveries weren’t happening. I thought you got hurt or something.  Let's get you inside ok?” He allows you to lean on him as you wobbled in with Mei in tow. MK already rushed inside, overloading the whole adventure onto Tang. 

“Kid, relax.” Tang pushes MK back with his chopsticks. “Besides, you’re being delusional. It’s just a story.”

“It's not though! I know it sounds crazy, but we saw it! And MK has the staff too!” The group turns to you, brows raised. “Cmon MK show them, you have it right?” 

On cue, he pulls out the staff, which grows longer, and smashes a table clean in half. That was more than enough to convince them. Tang drops his mature act and freaks out over the staff. You sigh in defeat.

“Ok, I’ll bite. If the staffs here, where’s that demon guy then?” Pigsy crossed his arms in annoyance.

“The shoe store!” Mei sticks her phone into your face, scrolling past the multiple posts of people complaining about the Bull King’s lack of common courtesy in line. 

“What should we do about it then? MK’s got the staff and we got no Monkey King.” Mei shrugs. MK looks distraught.

“Well, we can GET the Monkey King! Or try at least.” Tang straightened himself, a shine in his glasses as he pulled up MKs book of drawings.

    “We need to get to flower fruit mountain.”

Chapter Text

“Halt evil monster, I must thwart the. For I am the Monkey- GWAAA!” MK tripped over, allowing the staff to stick itself into the side of the ship narrowly missing Mei. You shake your head at his childish antics, looking away and out to the clean blue ocean ahead of you.

After a bit of brainstorming (and a lot of backtracking by Tang) Pigsy claimed to know someone who could take them to the island easily. The man turned out to be a blue guy named Sandy, who graciously accepted the request while also smothering your group with tea and kittens. Of course, you weren’t complaining, but it was a much different impression than what you had when you saw the muscled dude towering over you when you first met.

“Look! Flower fruit mountain!” MK exclaimed. A large gush of lava sprouted out of the sea, rocking the boat heavily. You looked at the flaming mountains that disrupted your view of your destination. 

“That's right kid, but this is as far as the boat can go. This here’s the only path towards the mountain. Stay safe out there.” Sandy stopped the boat so you, MK, Mei and Pigsy could walk down to the volcanic ashes. Pigsy complained about having to walk in such a dangerous area, and narrowly avoided an exploding burst of lava. MK played with the staff, casually walking ahead.

“You know, when Monkey King had to get through the flaming mountains, he actually used Princess Iron Fans -”

“Well well well..” An ominous voice interrupts MK’s explanation. “Aren’t you a little Monkey King fanboy..”  Princess Iron Fan hovered through the air and past the smoke. With a flick of her fan, she absorbed the fire shooting out of a hole behind her, throwing it in your direction. The group clashed with each other trying to escape the attack, falling back as the fireball exploded behind their bodies. Your own self was tossed across from them. Pain hits your back, and you struggle to pick yourself up. Mei yells to you worried but is blocked by the demon. 

“I’ll be taking that staff now.” 

MK stands up fearlessly, staff still gripped tightly. “This belongs to the Monkey King. There's no way I’m letting you take it.” He rushed over, jumping to attack.

“MK NO!” You rasp out, but it’s too late. Princess Iron Fan steadily grabs the staff from MK with the gauntlet, smirking as a gust of air blows through the sky. 

The last thing you see is your friend being thrown off the mountain.

Mei yells, trying to go after him only to be stopped by Pigsy picking her up to get her to safety.

“Y/N! GET OVER HERE NOW!” You weakly push yourself up. You fail to see the ground beneath you shake.

“Y/N!!!!!!!!!!!!!” The steam building up below you explodes.

…

…

…

“Ngnn..ughggggg…” A blistering hot light shines on your sleeping figure. Groaning, you place your hands over your eyes in an attempt to keep them from burning. The ground felt soft, and the sound of the sea wafted into your ears.

“What.. what happened..? The fire - did I..?” You finally sit up from your position to notice a small monkey staring at you. You blink. They blink back. A pause. Ok. You definitely weren’t dead. You managed to survive, somehow. But what about MK? Remembering how he was thrown away by the demoness you jumped up, startling the monkey.

“MK! Wheres MK? Is he here too? Did he live? Fuck, the others must think I got hurt. Where do I go??” Your head spun, breath quickening as you tried to keep yourself steady. There is a tug on your clothes. The monkey that was in front of you stared up, stopping you in your tracks. They pointed a finger toward the forest within, as if giving you directions.

“Do you understand me…? No. That can’t be it. Still, though, I think it's best to just follow you.” You kneel down with outstretched arms, and to your surprise, the monkey climbed into your hold. You chuckled at how adorable it was. They still turned to point, so you started to walk into the thick shrubbery. As you passed through the steep hills and tall trees, more monkeys started to follow your steps, some even climbing onto you for a free ride. You prayed that none of them would suddenly start biting your face off, so you did your best to handle them gently. The singular monkey that guided you finally jumped away, hopping on some stones to a large waterfall. It splashed through the falling water easily.

“... Am I supposed to follow or…” The remaining monkeys grunt softly. You shudder. The last thing you want is to get your outfit wet. As carefully as you could, you hopped onto the stones to reach the waterfall. Before you could touch it, however, a golden glow consumed the water as it spread open to reveal a large cave entrance. A figure was walking towards it, with your new monkey friend hugging their right shoulder.

“Jeeeez calm down! What was so important that you needed me to get out here so-” They stop. Now in clear view, you could see the person in front of you. At first, you thought they were human, but the long swishing tail and furry head told you otherwise. 

“Monkey. King?” You struggle to get the proper words out, still in shock. He looks at you, tilting his head in confusion. You realize that you’re still covered in an onslaught of the furry animals.

“Yup! That’s me. The ever so handsome Monkey King!” The anthropomorphic monkey flashes a smile, showcasing his sharp fangs. You weren’t quite sure how to process this. The walking legend, or so you were told, was standing right in front of you like it was no big deal. If Tang or MK were here, they would be freaking out. Oh right! MK. You were searching for him.

“MK.” The Monkey King cocks his head to the side at your statement. “Excuse me?”

“MK!!” You jump from your place, the monkeys holding on to you waggling about. “MK, my MK! Is he here? Is he safe? Did you see him?” The larger monkey widens his eyes in surprise before holding you in place to stop you from falling into the water.

“Woah Woah Woah - settle down there. Your MK? Am I not good enough to be your Monkey King?” You shook your head furiously at his teasing. “Nonono- I didn’t mean it like that! My friend, his name’s MK, we got separated and I don’t know where he is-” Monkey King's face relaxes and lets go of you to pat your head.

“Ohh you mean the kid! The one with the red headband or something right?” You nod. “Yeah.. he kinda left already.”

“WHAT? But I thought the whole purpose of coming here was to get you to help!!”

“Yeah well, you see uh– what’s your name?” 

“It’s Y/N.” Monkey King scratches his head, thinking for a moment.

 “Well, Y/N, The kid’s kinda got my powers. So, naturally, I decided to make him my successor. He's off to fight DBK right now as a sort of trial.”

“But that's dangerous! He's not immortal, and he doesn’t have any training like you at all! How do you know that he’ll win?”

“Listen. He fought a bunch of super strong, immortal demons and didn’t die. He lifted the staff too, and no one except for me can do that. I see a lot of potential in MK. He’ll be fine, trust me.” He lifts up the monkey on his shoulder and hands them over to you. “Besiiides, after that fiasco is over, I’ll be training him! There's no one better to teach him than me.” You scoff at his confidence, but fail to see any malicious intent behind his words. Although you thought that his idea of sending an MK with newly born powers off to fight DBK was extremely reckless, it wasn’t really out of character for him. The legends were surprisingly accurate to his desire to just do everything on a whim.

“Ok, Monkey King. If you think that was best for MK, then so be it. But I want you to promise me that once DBK is dealt with, you’ll take care of him alright? I don’t wish to see him get hurt.”

“Well, since you asked so politely, I guess I’ll keep that in mind.” The monkey in your grasp squeaks towards Monkey King. He laughs at something they must have said. “Wow, no need to be so aggressive! Fine. I’ll promise to keep MK safe for Y/N .” You stare quizzingly at the monkeys, but decide not to question them.

“Uh.. wait. I actually have no idea how I’m supposed to get back to the city. I don’t really have any powers..”

“Right, right. I can just drop you off there to MK, I was gonna fly over to check on him anyways.”  You recall that the entity in front of you was technically a god, who could fly around like it's nothing, and yet you were here talking with him so casually. In an attempt to showcase some sort of respect, you bow down.

“Thank you, Monkey King. I’m sorry for talking to you so rashly as well. And.. Intruding on your home? I think?” 

“Sun Wukong.”

“Hm?”

The Monkey King laughed at your mishappen state, waving whatever you were doing as if it was not necessary. “Just call me Sun Wukong. Monkey Kings a nice title and all, but I’m not a fan of how you make it sound.  I think if you referred to me with my proper name it would sound better.” You scrunch your face at his bluntness, but he does nothing but look back at you, waiting for a response.

“Sun.. Wukong..” Wouldn’t this be something you would ask for when you already had some sort of relationship with someone? You just met him! You weren’t even acquaintances! Wukong didn’t seem to care as he smiled widely back.

“Seeeee? It just rolls off your tongue so nicely. I love it. Now let's get you back to the mainland.” A cloud appears beneath Wukongs feet, and he lends you his hand to get up with him. Your arms are guided around his torso as a means to keep you secure.

“You ready?”

“Um, I’m not s-” Cut off by the wind whipping your mouth, the cloud speeds up into the sky and across the mountains. You strengthened your grip on Wukong, eyes closed to prevent them from getting dry. The movement slows down, and you hear Wukong laugh.

“Look over there! You got nothing to worry about - the kids got it.” You lift your head to see a huge crater that the DBK and his son were embedded into by a large robotic… transformer? The family of demons disappear in a gust of wind, and Sun Wukong circled to the back of the robot to lift you down.

“Are you not staying?” You ask. He shrugs. 

“Ehhh.. I’d rather not crash into their victory celebration and steal MK’s thunder. I’ve got some things to do anyway.” He whips back up into the air, stopping to turn back to you.

“I suppose I’ll see you around then.?”

“Oh- Yes! Of course!” You blurt back out a bit too quickly. “See you around!!” He grins, disappearing into the distance before you could even blink. The cheers behind you remind you that your friends have yet to figure out where you were. 

“GUYS!!” You yelled, running towards the group huddled around. Their heads turn, expressions full of shock.

“Y/NNNNNNN!!!” A crushing weight is placed on you. You fall as MK and Mei comedically started sobbing at your sudden appearance. They clutched your body as if you would magically evaporate if they did not.

“We thought- you were dead- the lava- you flew up… BUT YOURE ALIVE!!” Mei spoke in between hiccups. 

“How did you get back here??” The two finally let you breathe, allowing you to see the rest of your friends looking relieved but confused. The entire incident was a blur in your head, but from what Mei said there was no way you should have survived such a fall let alone a stream of lava exploding onto you.  It felt, wrong. Like it wasn’t supposed to happen. You shake your head at the thought. That was something to think about for another day, and you worried everyone enough. Right now, you were alive.

“I actually managed to get to Flower Fruit Mountain.” You start. “Monkey King brought me back here after I explained the situation and-.”

“YOU MET MONKEY KING TOO?” Tang grips your shoulders. “I should have followed you guys ohhhh- the one chance to see Monkey King and I-”

Pigsy tears Tang away from you to yell obscenities at the man with Sandy trying to calm him down. You smile at the refreshing view of everyone together.

“I’m glad we all got through this. Maybe things can get back to normal now..” You squeeze MK and Mei closer. “Well, as normal as it can be now that we have a new Monkey King around.” MK smiles proudly.

“Actually, I was thinking of calling myself Monkey Kid!”

“Alright, Monkey Kid it is then.”

Chapter Text

You decided to take a break.

After celebrating the defeat of DBK with the group, your body practically crashed into your bedroom and you laid dormant for almost two whole days. The hundreds of calls provided by MK and Mei in their worry were missed by you, who could barely move due to the soreness in your muscles. What doesn’t kill you makes you unable to function properly, as they say. The two troublemakers manage to find out where you lived and broke in anyways (“See, microchipping you guys was a good idea!”  “It’s still creepy Mei.”) and wake you up. By jumping on your bed of course.

“OKOK!! I’m awake! Pleaase stop jumping!!” You groan as the duo cease their activities. “And could you not break in to see me next time? I’ll get you spare keys or something when I can.”

“Yes please!” They hop off the bed to give you room.

“When are you gonna be up and running again though Y/N?” MK pokes at your cheeks while you rummaged for a new pair of clothes. “The others have been asking about you. The whole DBK situation must have taken a toll on your well-being.  Should we get you to the hospital?” 

“I’m fine. There's no need to worry about me. I just think that I might stay indoors for a couple of days. To recharge and stuff, yknow?” 

“OOOH!! SLEEPOVER AT YOUR PLACE!!!” You shook your head at Mei.

“Maybe another time. For now, I just really need to have my space to myself. It’s how I process things better.” The two pout. You playfully roll your eyes at them. “Make sure to text me about all the shenanigans you get into alright?” 

After a bit more coaxing, Mei and MK decide to leave you alone. You enjoyed their company a lot, but you didn’t think you could reciprocate any of their energy for a short while. You said your goodbyes and promptly closed the door. Slumping onto the living room couch, you rolled your shoulders in an attempt to get some sort of relief from the muscle aches. It could be worse, you think. You were lucky your bones weren’t shattered.

You stayed at home for about a week and a half. You didn’t really do much except eat and sleep, your body slowly recovering after each passing day. MK texts you about his new monkey powers, sending pictures of a defeated Red Son and multiple duplicates of himself surrounding him (there was a bald spot on his hair, but you didn’t comment on it). He also passed on messages from the others too, all of them expressing their wishes for you to feel better soon. When you felt more able to walk out of bed for longer, you decided to organize and compile all the letters sent by the mysterious relative. Since the last piece of communication you got took about a month to come in after you arrived at Megapolis, you decided new information probably won’t come in for a while. 

A knock comes on your door the next day.

“That was quick..” A similar envelope slides under the crack. You open it up. 

Seek the Monkey King.

You flip the card around. Nothing else was on it. How annoying. What did Sun Wukong have to do with any of this? Nonetheless, it wasn’t like going to see him would kill you. You think…

Feeling like you recovered well enough, you decided it was time to go back out and see everyone else. You needed to talk to MK about this anyways. After a quick shower and change of clothes, you went on your way to Pigsy’s Noodles.

“You’re finally back! We missed ya.” Pigsy waves at you as he continued to work in the kitchen. “Glad to see you feeling better.” You express the same joy in coming back and requested some noodles as you seated yourself next to Tang.

“Is MK around? Or is he delivering?” You ask between bites. Pigsy informs you that he gave him a day off, courtesy of the duplication incident (“Don’t ask.” Tang warns you).

“You’ll find him in the apartment upstairs. Just walk around back.” You pay for the noodles and head to the back of the building, climbing the stairs and knocking on the window. A crashing noise makes you jump back, and MK pops into your view.

“Y/N???” He pulls the window up and beckons you in. “You’re back!! Did you want to hang out? I can get ready in a few minutes, we can go to the theater or-” 

“I appreciate the excitement MK, but I actually came here because there's something important I needed to talk to you about…” 

“Yeah of course! What’s up?” You pause. Should you really wrap MK into this? The possibilities of who your aforementioned relative was nearly infinite, and the last thing you wanted to do was put your friends in any danger. MK was still adjusting to his new abilities, you doubt he would be able to hold up in a fight if the letters reveal something dangerous. 

Still, you trusted him. And he trusted you. If you kept this a secret any longer, surely he’ll feel betrayed. With a sigh, you start explaining the reason why you came to the city in the first place. The weird sense of responsibility yet lack of control on what you could do about the situation. Your fear that listening to these letters was a mistake, but the consequences of staying back home scared you even more.  MK stays uncharacteristically silent as you speak.

“The last thing sent to me was to, well- seek out the Monkey King. It makes me wonder if this person giving me all this is even human. I understand it’s a lot to take in, and I didn’t want to tell you guys at all because I’d rather you not worry, but I’m kind of desperate for answers now.” 

MK, still quiet, moves closer to pull you into a hug. He holds you gently, and you realize that your hands are shaking.

“That must have been hard to deal with by yourself…” He stays silent for a moment. “ But it’s all good now, cuz you got me on your side!” The energetic boy you knew springs up again. He starts dressing up, dragging you out the window with the staff in hold.

“Wait- where are we going?”

“To see Monkey King of course! You wanted to talk to him right?”

“Yeah- I actually brought some of the papers with me. I wasn’t really sure if you would agree though.” 

“Why wouldn’t I? We’re friends, and I want to help you in any way that I can.” 

His words make you feel warm. Friends. That's right, you two were friends. You can’t really recall much of your life before the city anymore, but you vaguely remember feeling alone. It made sense why you were so hesitant on asking for help now, you just weren’t used to it. Now, you didn’t have to worry about that. MK and everyone else was here for you. And you wanted to be there for them too.

“Hey, there kiddos! I’m happy to see you again Y/N. Care for a cup of tea?” Your cheesy inner monologue is interrupted by Sandy.  MK dragged you all the way to the harbor. 

“No time for that! We need to get to Monkey King!” Sandy nods and waves you a farewell, while MK runs past and pushes you into a small lavatory. It’s surprisingly high-tech on the inside. He taps a button and you start moving down.

“While you were gone, we made- or well, Mei made a super secret base for us!” You step out of the contraption, eyes widening at the large space before you. You knew nothing about technology, but everything you set your eyes on looked professionally built. Multiple vehicles surrounded the outer area, and you spot a small nook with what seems to be the spot where Mei would play her retro games on a small TV.

“It’ll be much easier to fly to Flower Fruit Mountain, so I was thinking of riding this!” MK saddles on a small jet, which looked like it had enough room to fit the two of you comfortably. 

“Do you know how to drive it though?” MK shook his head. “I’ll trust you with my life anyways…just be careful.”  

You settle into the seat behind him while he turns the engine on. An opening appears on the side of the boat, ready for when you would drive out. The jet bursts away, flipping around and soaring up. MK tries to keep a steady hold on the wheel to prevent you from falling. 

The ride is surprisingly smooth, and you got to experience the cool breeze and an ocean that stretches for miles all around. The jet is lifted up higher as you notice the scorching lava mountains come into view. You grimace at the reminder of the previous incidents taken there. Looking past it, you could see the lush green mountains surrounded by fluffy clouds and clear streaming waters. It was beautiful. 

After a slightly rough landing, the monkeys that resided in the trees hop curiously toward you. They cling onto your body the same as last time, earning you a mocking laugh from MK. The monkeys attack him.

With the final monkey pried off his face, the walk to the waterfall becomes a lot less hectic. Now that you could travel with less urgency, you opted to start sightseeing through the jungle. The fresh air and overflowing trees were a great change of pace from the city. Colorful fruits hang from the branches, looking ripe for the taking. You pluck an apple that leaned down from its branch, handing it to the monkey around your neck for snacking.

“Y/N! Look what I can do!” MK is ahead of you, already at the waterfall. He hovers his hand over the stream, its familiar golden glow appearing before the liquid parts ways to an opening. You applaud him.

 “Goodjob MK!” 

MK guides you across a stretch of pathways through the cave. Remnants of golden pillars litter the floor, giving you a sense of what this place once was. You get to a part of the cavern covered in more foliage than the rest. A small house can be seen perched on a set of layered rocks, a tree overhanging its shade on the building. Monkey Kings home, you assumed. Your guess proved to be correct when you see the familiar monkey lazily floating around on his cloud.

“Hm? Oh hey, bud! Good to see ya. You brought company as well huh?”  He hops from his tail and on to his feet to get closer to you two. 

“Yes! Y/N wanted to visit because they reaaaaaaaally wanted to ask you something!” 

Wukong focuses his attention on you.

“Really? Well go ahead then, I’m all ears.” He stares a bit too intensely for your liking. Embarrassed, you avert your gaze so you wouldn’t have to look at him.

“I… It’s a long and complicated question so to speak. I wouldn’t want to intrude on your guys’ training time. How about we talk about this after you guys do your… monkey business?”

“Mmm… Suit yourself then. We can discuss whatever you need in a few hours. Come on MK, you ready to start learning some Monkey King magic?” 

“Am I???? I’m ALWAYS READY!!” Wukong tugs MK with him to exit the cave. He looks back at you.

“Feel free to roam around if you’d like. Just don’t touch anything that looks important.”

And with that, they were gone.

A few lone hours to yourself now. What should you do? Well, you were given permission to explore, there was no reason not to. You backtrack through the halls of the cave, reaching the pillar room. You wanted to get a closer look when you first passed through, but MK’s hold on you was too strong. Old paintings etched on the surrounding slabs of stone peak your interest. Their colors faded and cracked, parts of the mural gone due to their lack of preservation. What a poor waste of history.

When Tang introduced the legend of the Journey to the West to you, you couldn’t say that you weren’t intrigued. You borrowed some books and read through most of the tale, only stopping because you became busy with other things. Most of the story you knew though, and although you weren’t as big of a fan as MK, you’ve come to be quite a bit knowledgable on the subject. Seeing real-life documentation of the journey being eroded by age made you feel a little upset.

Staring closely at the paintings, you can see the vague characters posed valiantly, with Sun Wukong smack in the middle.  Excluding him, the group looked way too similar to your friends in the city.  Was it possible reincarnation? You weren’t sure. That would mean that everyone besides the Monkey King has long passed on. Maybe that was why he never tried to take care of the painting. It would just remind him of the fact that he was the only one left. Taking in the scenery around, you notice how empty it felt. Your skin crawls - an all too familiar feeling. It was probably time to leave this room. You could check out the house next. When you walked into the cave, however, Wukong and MK were back.

“Has it been that long already?”

“Nope. It’s been like 20 minutes.”

You gaze at MK's slumped body. 

“Yeah… He told me not to go easy on him and this happened. I still went easy on him, but I don’t think he's learned enough to get past even a kick from me.” MK whines from his corner. 

“But he’ll be fine- I’m giving him a break before we continue. Did you want to ask me your question now?” Well, you decided it was now or never.

Trying to keep your explanation brief (and void of any emotional baggage like with MK) you tell Wukong about the letters and your “relative”. Plucking the letters from your bag, you hand them over for him to inspect. He flips the pages, barely scanning them through. His eyes glow for a moment, and he stops to sniff them. He scrunches his nose. You tilt your head, confused.

Without warning, he grabs your face and pulls it towards his.

“AH!? What are you doing?!!!”

He doesn’t respond and instead starts to sniff around your head and body. You’re in too much shock to move away.  Why were animals always so touchy?

“Interesting…”

“Interesting WHAT? Why’d you go all up and in my space?” He released his hands from you and picks up the letters.

“Well for starters, the scent on these is unusual. They don’t remind me of anything, but it’s pungent of magic. You, on the other hand, smell like a human. This makes this mysterious person's motives a bit too confusing to decipher. However, it may be possible to figure out who it is.” He flicks his fingers for a quick snap, and an abundance of scrolls appears. You reach out to grab them.

“I’m not the biggest fan of reading, so I’ll just give these to you personally. These contain information on past clans and family relations, as well as the history of like, all the deities that existed. Maybe you can find something out with these.”

“And what if I don’t?”

“If you don’t, we can figure something out after that, mkay?”

You nod your head. After inserting the new items into your backpack, Wukong suggests you head back home now that your needs were met. So much for hospitality. With MK passed out from exhaustion though, you tell him weren’t really sure if you could navigate back safely with the jet. 

“Ok. I’ll just take you back like last time.” Before you could even protest, Wukong grabs your waist and pulls you in what you could almost describe as a side-hug, with your arms circled around his bottom torso. The cloud appears again, the nausea-inducing speed picking up while you zip through the mountains. You couldn’t do anything but bite the inside of your cheek to stop yourself from yelling. 

“Hey! You could at least give me a warning before you do that!” You finally muster out once the velocity slowed and the air stopped whipping your face.

“My bad~”

After getting your jitters down you direct him to your home. He places you down, and you check to make sure none of your belongings flew away during the trip. 

“Alright. Looks like you’re all set. I'm gonna go check on MK. See ya!” He disappears before you can properly say goodbye. You roll your eyes. What a confusing character. But still, he did give you a possible lead. It was better than nothing.

Now snugly back at home though, you didn’t really have the motivation to go through the scrolls that you laid out on your worktable. That was something to do for the next day. Maybe it was time to call it an early night. 

Visiting the mountains was fun, but the dirt and sweat that covered your body was something you could live without. You take a long shower, scrubbing the grime off your body with a plethora of soapy foam and body lotion. Doing the rest of your nightly routine, you bounce back onto the comfortable sheets of your bed. Who knew traveling could make you this tired. It didn’t take long for you to be lulled into a comfortable sleep.

A loud, repeating thumping wakes you up. 

You rub your eyes, sluggishly turning over to check the time. 8 AM. Who was knocking on the door so early? Ughhh. You really wanted to sleep in. 

You take a few minutes to freshen yourself up, the noise not willing to cease. When you went out of your room, however, the sounds didn’t seem to be coming from the entrance. You crane your neck over to the balcony. 

“Wukong?”

With him finally being noticed, the tail that was prodding on the glass stopped. A smug expression was evident on his face. You reciprocate with a raised eyebrow.  

“What are you doing here?” You pulled the glass door to the side, but Wukong doesn’t try to come in.

“Yeah so. When I went back, I kind of realized that maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to leave you with important scrolls and no protection at all. So I’m gonna create a barrier around your house! For safety measures against evil-doers or what not. Does that sound cool?”

“Do whatever you need to do.” 

Wukong gives you another grin and disappears to circle around your apartment. A flash of colors emits through the windows, dissipating in a puff of golden smoke.  You didn’t want to admit it to his face and grow his ever-so-large ego, but you were grateful for someone like him to go out of his way to help calm your paranoia. Perhaps it was to ease MKs mind, you wouldn’t doubt that he expressed his worry to his new mentor about the situation, but it was still a nice gesture. 

“Anddd that should do it.” Wukong drifts back to where you were standing. “You have fun with your research now. Bye!” 

“Wait! Don’t go yet!”

“Hu-”

You rush to grab his arm before he could move away. “I want to make you something as a thank you. How does peach cobbler sound?”  His ear twitches.

“Oh noo- I’m fine. I’m pretty sure I over welcomed my stay-”

“Your tails wagging. Like crazy wagging.”

Wukong turns to his behind in horror, the physical response debunking the words that just came out of his mouth. You snicker at him, earning you a pout. He begrudgingly enters your apartment, and you bring him to the kitchen counter to sit. You go to tie an apron around your waist, ready to start baking. 

You start with the ripe peaches, peeling, de-pitting, and slicing them. A pot is brought up to the stove, and you combine the sweet fruit with sugar and salt to extort the most flavor out of them.  As it heats up, you go to mix all the dry ingredients together, adding the final touch of milk to create a thin batter. You go back to attend the peach sauce, stirring it thoroughly to get a nice even cook. Taking it off the heat, you take out a buttered pan and assemble the dessert, and popped it in the oven to bake.  Wukong, to your surprise, didn’t leave his seat from boredom like you thought he would. Instead, he was leaning on his hand, his golden eyes fully concentrated on your form. 

“You must really like baking. You didn’t even pay any notice to me at all…”

“I’m sorry! I just get so in the zone when I’m doing something I’m passionate about. Baking become a hobby for me over the years since it was a relatively easy interest to maintain. It gives me even more joy when I can share it with others too.” You don’t mention the part where you lacked people to share it with in the past. 

“Oh totally. It’s good to have hobbies. Otherwise, you start losing motivation to do anything at all and just laze around all day.”

“Like you?”

“...I walked into that one.” It was your turn to smirk. The oven behind you rung, and you go back to take the pan out of it and to the table. Wukong drools at the smell, reaching his hands in preparation to just grab some of the pastry. You swat him with a spatula. 

“Bad Wukong! You’ll get burned if you do that! Here, let me just..”  You fish out a spoon from your silverware, carefully scooping a bit of the gooey dessert. You blow on it gently and bring it up to his mouth. “Say ahhh…” His cheeks tint a slight pink at your gesture. You continue to push it to his lips. He gives in, allowing you to feed him.  His face lights up instantly.

“Woah ohhh! Give me more of that!!” He swallows the cobbler without chewing, opening his mouth wide for another bite. You laugh at his eagerness, but happily insert another piece into his mouth. The dessert disappears in mere minutes. Wukong smiles contently from his full stomach.

“Thank you for the food peaches.”

“Peaches?”

“Get it? Cuz you’re sweet, like the fruit. And you smell like one too.”

“It’s from the baking Wukong.” 

“Right… Right. Totally forgot.”

A comfortable silence surrounds you two. It was surprisingly calming with him in your home, albeit you still didn’t know him very well. The food you gave him was out of politeness, but a part of you wishes to see his face adorably curl into an expression of joy from eating something you made once again. 

“You know… you can always stop by here again if you want.” You start. “I’d assume you aren’t busy all the time, besides your training with MK. I might need help with my investigation too.. I’m not the smartest when it comes to history.”

He ponders at your invitation.

“Well, I don’t see any reason to decline. I’ll see when I can come by… To help with your research. And things.” 

“Is it a plan then?”

Wukong nods, tail still wagging.

“It’s a plan!”

Chapter Text

Wukong became a new addition to your pool of friends. Well, kind of. 

He didn’t show up for a while after evil-proofing your house, but with the lack of MK around you’d only assume that they both were busy.  You decided to get started on the scrolls while you waited for him to possibly come over. 

The research provided nothing but a dead end. Countless readings, comparisons to the artifacts that you carried to the legends scrawled in dark ink and ancient drawings did not give you a single clue. You weren’t surprised that you would end up empty-handed, but it stung that you were still clueless about the situation. 

With nothing to distract you from your previous interactions, you started to have doubts about your invitation to Wukong. Embarrassingly enough you now realized that once more have you acted so casually towards the deity. Seeking him for help when he was clearly living on an unreachable island for a reason?  Feeding him as if he wasn’t thousands of years older than you? Your cheeks bloom red as you cover your face in shame. So improper! He probably gave your question a maybe because he didn’t want you to make you feel bad.  What were you thinking? Stupid stupid -

“Uh. Is this a bad time?”

A squeak emits from your mouth, your body scrambling to reposition itself to something less slack.  The porch door is opened by Wukong, indicating he could have easily broken into your house the first time he came over. 

“No! I just... I didn’t really find anything useful from these.” The scrolls strewn across the room proved that point. “It’s not like I’m ungrateful for your help or anything! Maybe this just wasn’t the solution to my problem.”

Wukong hums in response. You go to roll up the paper directly in front of you, but a golden glow carries it into the air, cleanly cushioning itself into its original state. The others float around doing the same, circling to the simian who waves them away in a puff of smoke. 

“Don’t worry yourself too much! There's plenty of other stuff we can do to figure out who your little mail buddy is. S’not like I got much better to do.” 

“You sure? I don’t wanna take up your time either way.”

“MK clearly cares a lot about you, so what mentor would I be if I didn’t try to help my disciple's friends?”

“Well… if you insist…”

So Wukong begins his frequent visits to your home, under the guise of him “helping” you. 

He truly did try at first. Finding old scriptures to lend you; taking a personal look at the heirlooms, and yet neither of you wanted to admit that most of your efforts lacked any results. The visit would begin with him prepared to crack open the relative case, but it would always end with him laying next to you on the couch, devouring whatever dessert you made for the day. He really had no attention span at all, but you weren’t really complaining.  The goal you were trying to achieve eventually was pushed to the side and was only used as a hollow excuse to let him come over just for the sake of it.

Over the course of his drop-ins, you start to learn a little more about the Monkey King on a personal level. For starters, he was a major glutton. He would try to casually bring up sweets into your conversation, but you already knew that he was just asking you to bake something for him. You complied with his requests anyways; seeing him get excited over the pastries you made never got old.

Wukong also lacked a concept of personal space. Body leaned on yours, hands on your shoulders, legs on your lap (he was a couch hog), he did anything to have his grubby little paws near you. His tail would even curl onto your waist and thighs, which would earn him a harsh pull on the ears to stop. Maybe it was an animal thing, given that the monkeys at the mountain did the same, so you never really bothered with getting him to actually cease his actions. It was when the personal space he breached was your bedroom that you had to sit him down and explain your boundaries (“You can’t just nap on other people's beds without asking!!”). Wukong coming into your house without any warning was also an issue you needed to fix.

“Maybe you should get a phone Wukong, so you can at least tell me beforehand if you’re gonna be at my house.”

“A phone? Already got one. Just never used it.”

Wukong knew how to read, but only so much. You learned very quickly to keep your messages simple. 

Wukong also knew how to write.

Wukong

goinf t colm over

Wukong is typing…

His spelling was poor, but it got the job done. The only problem was that you had to wait two minutes for him to finish typing each sentence. You suggest that calling should be the first option for communication. He doesn’t disagree with that.

This new addition to your daily life didn’t cut into your time with your other companions, but they still noticed a little shift in your schedule. You eventually tell them about your situation to relieve their curiosity, watering most of the questionably dangerous parts down to not scare them. Tang looks like he was about to have a heart attack at the mention of Wukong personally assisting you with your dilemma.

“So he decided to actually be helpful for once hm?” Pigsy huffs. “I guess I’ll give him some credit for that.” The two of you paused your work for days now, but you didn’t think omitting that detail would hurt the grouchy chef. No one pries you any further.

A letter enters your home earlier than it usually does, a knock not present to showcase its arrival. 

You only notice it when you were getting ready to go out for groceries. The message inked onto the thick notecard wasn’t the regular one-liner you’d get half the time, but instead some sort of address that you couldn’t recognize. You search it up: it wasn’t far from your apartment, but it was located right on the outskirts of the city. Was this… An invitation of some sort? Were you finally going to meet your secret relative? 

Instincts rile up inside you, screaming that this message had danger written all over it. But this was something that could possibly answer everything! Nothing has yet caused any harm to you by them, so why would they do anything now? Well, they still could, but you didn’t want to make yourself overthink and abandon this opportunity. You decide to call Wukong at the very least to see how he felt about the situation, and if you should bring him with you. It goes straight to voicemail. He and MK were most likely training. You had no idea if you could wait for a reply though. You send a quick text saying you found something important and for him to get back to you soon.  It looked like you were going on your own. 

Following the GPS on your phone, the address imputed leads you to what seems to be an abandoned factory. The pale yellow sky pairs with the rusty metal and desaturated premise to create anything but a welcoming look to you. You prayed this wouldn’t be your deathbed - it was too ugly of a place to die in. The smokestacks connected to a smaller structure, which you assumed was the main building. You move to the entrance and rap your knuckles onto the surface to knock, only for the door to be pushed from the movement. You carefully walk in, all your senses heightened as the area was only visible by the light from outside.

The door snaps shut.

You cry out at your loss of vision, body twisting around trying to find the exit. This was it, you were going to die. Someone was going to stab you in the back and no one will know where you went. Why did you forget to send Wukong the location? WHY did you blindly follow it in the first place?

The building lights suddenly turn on. You catch yourself tripping over your feet. Whoops. With your vision back now, you calm yourself to reassess the surroundings.

The inside of the factory is still bleak in color like it was on the outside, but it didn’t contain the usual assembly line or spare cog parts. The interior design instead replicated that of a dojo. A weapon hold is stacked with spears of many shapes and sizes. Wing-chun dummies were placed on the outskirts of the purple and black matting along with other training equipment that filled the empty space and gave the area a lot more vibrance. Posters and paintings (most containing some imagery of the lotus flower) were plastered on the walls, combined with the earthy green moss that grew on the rustic ends of the infrastructure.

You gaze at the sight, confused but also enamored by how well kept everything looked. Who was using this place? There was no dust on anything you could find, meaning that everything here was used frequently. A weapon, you notice, seemed to be missing from one of the holds on the other side you were inspecting. There was definitely someone here. 

A soothingly deep chuckle from behind you confirms that suspicion. 

“Hmmm… I thought this part of this city was empty, and yet there seems to be a trespasser in my midst. How amusing.” The voice echoes through the room, but you can’t seem to find where its original source is coming from. Whoever was speaking towards you sounded more fascinated by your appearance rather than annoyed by your accidental break-in.

“I’m sorry!” You shout out, still not sure where to direct your words to. “I didn’t know someone lived here. I’ll just leave you alone.” A looming dark shadow forms under your feet, arching over to the door before you could reach it. “Oh no..” The shadow seems to be the one speaking- “We can’t have that. I’m quite curious about how you found this place. How about you stick around for a bit?”  It shifts, the shape of the silhouette forming into a familiar outline…

“Wukong???” 

The voice hums at your words, and a physical body slowly seeps out of the inky shadow. The new figure was definitely similar in stature to the simian you have gotten to know, but it wasn’t the Monkey King. His fur was darker, skin tan, and markings a more vibrant red. He walks over, a sinister expression apparent on his face.

“Haha...Wukong? Chummy with him are you?”

“Um…” You fluster at the close proximity, but stand your ground. Trying to backtrack from using his proper name would do you no good. “What’s it to you?”

“Ouch! You wound me. Would you not assume that someone who looks like the so-called Monkey King may have been a friend of his? Yknow, an island full of monkeys and whatever?”

“He hasn’t talked about you before though?”

“Well, has he ever said anything about his past buddies?”

He has a point. And you also haven’t seen any other humanoid monkey around besides the two of them. The demon takes your moment of thought as an opportunity to snag his tail onto your waist to pull you closer. You squirm in his hold, but the grip is much too strong for you to get out of. He takes a whiff at you, eyes flickering to a look of annoyance. 

“Man.. you reek of him. What’s someone like you doing around that guy so much?” 

“Excuse me?? That’s none of your business!”

“Oh but it is. Why did you come here anyway?” His face was inches away from yours, so you turn as a means to reject his interrogation. Your lack of response forces him to inspect you, and he spots the letter sticking out of your bag. “What’s this…?” He plucks the card out and turns to read it. Your eyes widen. He can’t read that! What should you do?

Without a second thought, you lurch forward and bite a part of the note with your mouth.

…

…

The both of you look at each other, clearly shocked by your completely random action. Confusing him did make the tail around you lose, and you take the chance to tug away from its grasp. You spit out the scented paper, reaching forward and snagging the other piece from his hands and back to your bag.

“Ok.” He quickly retracts from his surprise. “Now I definitely want answers. What did that letter say? Did someone send you to me?”

“No. Well, yes but not to you specifically. Just this address. I don’t even know who you are besides your claim to be Wukong’s friend.”

“You could say that. We were old friends.” His use of past tense raises your suspicion, but you weren’t sure what the implications there could possibly mean. The monkey seems to relax a little at your confession. “Names Macaque, or Six-eared Macaque anyways. You seem to be quite naive to just blindly follow directions like these.”

“It’s a very complicated situation!” 

Macaque laughs at you, your ears burning from embarrassment. “I’d assume so. Whoever told you to come here isn’t someone to mess with. Whatever you got yourself into- I suggest you be more careful.”

Another good point, but you don’t have much to base any assumptions on the letters even if you wanted to.

“Do you possibly know who this person is?” 

“Not really. But I’ve seen similar patterns in the past. People struggling for power. Manipulation. Betrayal. All that stuff. Not quite sure how you got into that though.” You furrow your brows at his accusation. “That's the thing, I didn’t do anything! These things just come to me without me even asking for it!”

“Is that so?’ Macaque thinks for a moment. “Well, there is another possibility of what's going on with you, but I wouldn’t want to scare you to death.”

“Can’t you just tell me?”

“Hey now, first you trespass into my dojo and now you’re demanding more answers from me even though you’re the bad guy here?” You groan at his cocky attitude, his smirking face looking very punchable at the moment. You didn’t want to see the consequences of that though.

“Fine, fine I know I’m in the wrong. Sorry for breaking into your home or whatever, I’ll leave.” 

“Going without even telling me your name? Kind of rude…”

You scrunch your face at him. “It’s Y/N. I don’t see the reason for telling you that though.

“Trust me, this won’t be the last time we’ll be seeing each other.”

You don’t say anything back, opting to give him an irritated look as a farewell while you slammed the door shut and stormed off back to your house. This was bullshit! Your relative was bullshit and that monkey was full of crap! You didn’t even get to buy your groceries and you didn’t want to now because you were drained. 

Walking back into your home, you see not only Wukong but also MK sitting around the living room. You pick out your phone, noticing the missed calls and texts from both of them.

“YOU’RE BACK!” MK wastes no time to glomp you. Wukong walks over to you a bit more calmly, although the waving tail showcased his excitement for your arrival. “Where did you go? What was the important thing that you needed to tell Monkey King about?” You pull back from your friend's embrace, ready to complain about the entire ordeal that you just went through. You look at Wukong, and you notice truly how similar he and Macaque looked. 

“We were old friends.” That's what the darker-haired monkey said, right? What happened between the two? You wonder if bringing him up was a good idea. Maybe it was better to keep this conversation for another time. Macaque was right. You were being too rash and made decisions without thinking them through. Who knows how Wukong would react if you told him what happened today.

“That was a false alarm, sorry! I was going to text that but my phone died. I came back here to charge it before I go back to shop.” MK looks a little confused, but shrugs it off, volunteering to come with you and carry your bags. Wukong doesn’t seem as convinced, but with his successor here he decided it was best not to press further and make the atmosphere uncomfortable. 

“We’re gonna get ingredients for pie tonight, so just sit tight Wukong!” You wave him goodbye with MK’s arm linked around yours. He charmingly smiles back, mouth pressing into a thin line once you were out of view. Just what were you hiding from him?

A shadow lurks by your building, its purple eyes gazing at you and MK happily chatting together. 

Things were about to become more complicated than you wished for.

Chapter Text

Days pass by, uneventful and slow. The growing ache in your heart doesn’t want to go away. 

As much as you didn’t want it to affect you, Macaque's words have rendered you useless in your pursuit of answers. What ticked you off was the fact that he knew much more about your situation than you did, and yet you weren’t able to get anything out of him. You just wanted to give up, to continue living on with your life without caring about your troubles. 

Trying to get your mind off things, you stuffed all the letters and golden accessories into a closet to keep them out of sight. You stayed home as little as possible now, your presence in the noodle shop almost as constant as Tangs. Mei notices your more frequent visits, using it as an opportunity to drag you around as she did when you first arrived in the city. 

You were currently sitting across from her, using one of the many board games in her home’s arcade room. She had won every round, you were not exactly focused on trying to play properly. Mei wasn’t dumb; your distraught was obvious, but she didn’t want to point it out directly and make you upset. She tried to lighten the mood instead, showing you around the Dragon Temple that you mentioned you wanted to visit when she relayed the story of gaining the Dragon Blade. You tried to stay invested through the tour, but your thoughts kept wandering off.  You end up in the tea room, with Mei pouring you a cup as you both ate the snacks she brought from the pantry.  You idly swish the liquid in the ceramic cup, your friend watching your mindless actions.

“Yknow, I really miss hanging out with you. With MK training and you always playing detective, it’s been tough to, well, have fun with you two as much.”  

You snap out of your daze, guilt immediately overpowering your foggy mind. Even though you tried to keep the relationships around you stable, it seemed that your borderline obsession with this case still created unwanted distance between you and your friends. 

You wanted to stop thinking about it, but every day you would stare at the door, waiting for something new to come. It was driving you mad.  Maybe if you hadn’t met the other demon, maybe if you didn’t listen to him and let your overthinking consume you - well, you weren’t really sure if things would be any better. Perhaps that just sped up the process of how your mental state was now. 

“I’m sorry.” You place a hand over hers. “I know I’ve been all over the place. It’s just, there’s a lot of things that I’ve been trying to process lately and I don’t want to get you guys involved.” She looks dejected at the dismissal of your problems, but you would rather her not get even more concerned for you.

“I’ll make it up to you Mei, I promise! Let’s have a sleepover soon, like you wanted, ok? Just give me some time.”

Her face still seemed conflicted, but whatever protests she had she brushed over. “Hell yeah!!” She pushes you over with a hug, along with the tea you were drinking too. “Oops… I’ll get a towel.”

Wukong is waiting for you when you arrive back home from your time with Mei. 

Just like with her, your sulking did not go unnoticed by the freeloader you indulged. Your moping made it really hard for him to get free food, or so he said, so he decided to take matters into his own hands.

“Where are you trying to take me to again? Your sacred temple?” You stand by the kitchen counter, packing the desserts that he requested when he said he wished to take you somewhere.  

“Yep! The cities overwhelming you, and you’re thinking too much about your mail buddy even though they don’t seem to want to give you the time of day.” Your face falls at his harsh words, even though they were true. He lifts your chin up, his own expression was apologetic. 

“Cmon, it’ll be a good change of pace for you! Who would turn down an opportunity given to them by the Monkey King?” 

“A lot of people would…” You mumble. He ruffles the top of your head at your teasing. “I’m joking! I'm not one of them!!” Satisfied with your response, he summons his cloud and puts his hand out towards yours. You shake your head.

“I never really feel too secure whenever I ride your cloud. My grip always feels like it's going to give out…”

“Are you suggesting I carry you while we fly?” You feel your head grow light-headed at his offer, waving your arms in front of you as a means to reject him. “No! It’s fine I just-” Wukong, as he does, does NOT listen to you. He hooks his arm under your legs and around your own arms and shoulders. The box full of food is securely picked up by his tail. You squeal at the sudden close contact, but as usual, the furry fiend already pushed himself out of the window and into the open air before you could protest.

 Wukong carrying you did improve your traveling experience, finally being able to open your eyes and look around without fear of slipping. You flew over a winding mountain, reaching what seemed to be a building confined to the corner of the tall summit. A long set of steps wind down from it to the other side of the land. He finally lets you go at the entrance, along with the basket.

“Just gonna set the food here… Let's wait till we eat. I ordered us some noodles, they should be here soon.” You hum in response, walking around to observe the colorful infrastructure that was the temple. 

Monkeys begin to pop up from the cliffs and walls, jumping down to see who the new company is. They chirp happily at the sight of their king, climbing into his arms and starting a conversation with him. You almost forgot that Wukong could understand and exchange their tiny squeaks back. They also hop onto you, their chatter loud in your ears. 

“Woah, Woah! Calm down guys, they can’t understand you as I do.” 

“What are they telling me?” 

“...The little ones think you’re pretty.” 

The monkeys you held gave you an impish look as if Wukong just told you something top secret. You were flattered, to say the least. 

“Awww- aren’t you guys the sweetest!” You coo at them, nuzzling the one in your hands. They chirp excitingly, moving closer and waving their arms as if requesting the same affection. You couldn’t help but giggle at how cute they were being. 

“And does their king think the same?" The question renders Wukong stiff in his place. 

“I do! Well, I mean not like that, in terms of how other humans look you are very attractive - from a technical standpoint, not just my opinion! Not like I don’t think you are, but…. Yeah…” He remains flustered in his attempts to explain, and you wave your hand to stop him from stuttering out anymore. 

“I was just teasing~” He pouts, but you pay no mind and look at the city below the overhanging cliff. It was a little jarring seeing almost the entirety of Megapolis just from where you were standing, but it was still a breathtaking sight. The warm colors of the sunset illuminating the town added a melancholic feel to it too.

 Wukong follows to sightsee with you. You were less distracted now, the reminders of your reality no longer controling your mood. Ah yes, another success in the book for the great sage! He will surely get his daily supply of peach snacks again soon, along with your smiling face that he missed so much. Wait. He didn’t mean to think about that last part. I mean, you wouldn’t want to be a guest to someone who was too upset to enjoy hanging out with you, right?

 He looks out to the horizon, but can’t help stealing peeks towards you. You are too enamored by the sights to notice.

“Do you come to this place often?” 

“Sometimes. The mountain feels kind of empty when I stay there for too long. Coming here’s the closest I can be to feeling as if I’m a part of society I guess. I didn’t really have much of a reason to go into the city until I met you.” A moment of vulnerability from the Monkey King? 

“It gets lonely, doesn’t it? Having no one around besides the monkeys. Do you… miss your old friends?” 

Wukong sighs, silence falling between you two. Humans are bound to their curiosity he guesses; this was sure to be brought up eventually. He doesn’t blame you, but the subject at hand was one he’d rather keep buried under the rest of his issues. You go to apologize for such an intrusive question, but he speaks again.

“Yeah, I do. But it’s not always good to dwell on the past. That being said though, don’t you miss anyone from your old home too? The move from there to here seemed to be… kind of abrupt.”

“Well, I don’t really remember if I had anyone to call a friend from my old life. Whenever I try to think about it, it’s all just a fuzzy white blur. All I know is that even if I did, I felt lonely back there.” You try to rack your brain for any past memories, but a sharp pain hurts your head, making it impossible to think any further.

Wukong pats your shoulder and rings you closer to him with his arm. He gives you a smile, softer and more sincere than the ones that you’re used to. “Hey, lets not think about it too much. I guess us lonely people have to stick together then, hm?” You smile back, bobbing your head in agreement.

A large knock from the temple gates stops you from continuing your conversation. “That’s probably the noodles!” Wukong reverts back to his normal self, going to open the large red doors. He isn’t able to do so, as MK suddenly burst through, splitting the wood and stone into nothing but dust.

“PIGSYS NOODLES!” 

“You finally made it!” MK skids to a stop shocked that he was delivering noodles to his mentor. 

“Wait… This was all a lesson to see if I could focus!” He doesn’t notice you on the side.

“Uhhh…. Yes! I wanted to teach you a valuable lesson! I definitely didn’t order three helpings of noodles to my shame temple…”

You snort. “ Shame temple???” Wukong coughs realizing his slip up in front of you but doesn’t retort back. You’ll pester him about it later. MK starts ranting about his exhausting day of trying to concentrate on a singular task as part of Monkey King’s teachings, although you highly doubted he actually did this to help MK learn. He takes the orders from the rambling boy, sifting through the plastic bags to check the food.

“Proud of you bud. But, this isn’t my order.” You smack the back of his head, earning you a yelp of surprise. “Give him a break! Just take it and stop complaining.” MK now sees you, but he looks too deflated to give you his usual greeting. 

“Hey, how about you join us for the picnic? I’m sure you’ve been training hard, so why not some time off?”  He gleams, excited at your offer, so you move him towards the barren space next to the temple. You click open the basket to pull out a large blanket, setting it on the dusty surface. Wukong plucks some hairs and throws them on top, the tiny strands glowing into satin pillows. You sit on the one on the right. Wukong goes to sit next to you but is beat by a hyperactive MK, who takes the one in the middle. Huffing in annoyance, he plops himself on the side, opening one of the noodle bowls to eat. Everyone relishes in the calming silence, even the thoughts in your head stilling now that you felt much more relaxed. 

Clouds start to cover the warm-colored sky with a dim gray. You decide that was your cue to leave. You did not want to get soaked in rainwater. 

You thought it would be better if MK dropped you off home since you both lived in the city and you didn’t want to bother Wukong. When you were cleaning up the remains of cake and soup to put into the basket, he did not attempt to lend a hand. You went to berate him for his laziness, but his eyes were glued to the city, lost in thought. He was much quieter than usual. When you give him your farewells he waves back but keeps his front towards the cliff. Your heart-to-heart with each other definitely did something to him.

“Sorry for interrupting your date by the way!”

WHAT did he just say?

 You snap your head to MK, whose face is nothing short of innocent as he weaved the cart through the rocky domain. If you yelled in denial, he would probably start teasing you. Ok, take a deep breath in before you start talking.

“You weren’t interrupting a date MK, he just thought it would be a good idea to get out of the city so I could feel better about, you know! My family problems!” 

MK didn’t believe a word you said. His mentor was nice and all, but he wouldn’t go out of his way to take you to his literal temple just to “make you feel better”. Monkey King was starting to warm up to you, and fast. Even his relationship with Wukong was still being kept at a professional distance, from his perspective at least. 

“Sure…Whatever you say.” His tone is too smug for your liking, so you also smack his head.  He nearly drives into a river.

Now at your house, you say goodbye to MK who speeds off back to the noodle shop. The day left you feeling refreshed. Your doubts and fears would have to come and bother you another time, all you wanted to do now is wind down and go to bed. The keys are already in your hands, but you stop sticking them into the keyhole.

Someone was watching you. And somehow, you knew who it was.

“You can come out, Macaque.” You cross your arms. “No need to be so sly.” 

A low chuckle comes from behind you. Blotchy shadows reflecting the building seep into the ground, twirling around you. The same monkey that you met from the factory reforms from the purple apparitions. His body’s pressed onto the small of your back, the demon's mouth only mere inches away from your ear.

“Boo.”

The breath tickled your earlobes. You shiver. Why did he have such a husky voice? No, no! You can’t think about that! Not right now! Your face feels warm, and you side eye to see him wiggling his eyebrows. 

You couldn’t handle this.

“What are you doing here?” You feign a gasp of surprise.“Have… Have you been stalking me?”

“Definitely not. I just happened to be around the area and seeing you, I thought you might wanna chat.” Liar. 

“About what?” 

“ ‘Bout you.” He circles you, basking in your disheveled state. “There is totally something up with you. Why would Sun Wukong waste his time on one small, little human? You have something that he wants or something that he needs to keep under control.” 

You scowl at his claims against his fellow simian. “What, are you jealous or something?” 

“Haha! As if. Cmon now, I know you’re hiding something.” You detect a hint of desperation in his voice. “What other reason would Wukong want to do with you otherwise?”

Oh, to bite back at his snarky remarks! It was tempting, but he was doing it for the purpose of riling you up. 

“I don’t have what you want. I think you should leav-”

A loud crack of thunder vibrates through the alley. Macaque yells in pain, the palms of his hand slapping onto both of his ears. Another roll of thunder booms across the area. He hisses at the sound. You stop your defensive stance, alarmed at his sudden cries.

Now, if you were a dick, you would probably leave him to suffer, head inside and get on with your night. But you weren’t. 

Wukong had a similar reaction when it thundered, with his face contorted in discomfort and ears twitching at the unwanted noise. Both of them had larger ears, so it would be safe to assume they had sensitive hearing. Wukong was much more controlled though. Macaque was experiencing a feeling even worse. 

It hurt. He couldn’t feel anything else but the pounding within his eardrums. The sensory overload was going to make him collapse. He clenched his eyes shut as if it would make it stop.

You call out to him, but he doesn’t answer.

Droplets of water trickle down the monkey's neck, and the light shower becomes a full-on storm in seconds, soaking his fur. Ugh, now if you wanted to help him you had to get drenched too! This is what you get for trying to play nice.

You click the door open and shoved it wide before turning to go get Macaque, who was still trying to reduce the sound of thousands of raindrops pouring into his ear. You grip his torso, pulling him into the confines of the apartment. The sounds are much duller inside, giving a moment for Macaque to control his senses. 

“Stay here. You’re wet.”  You have to stifle a laugh when he just looks back at you wide-eyed. His slick fur weighed down by the water made him look like a lost puppy. You go to the bathroom and brandish one of your towels, going back to your new guest. He was still overwhelmed, his ears twinged red and moved uncontrollably. “Take off your shoes and sit on the couch. Nice and easy, alright?” He furrowed his eyebrows but follows your directions anyways. He still had enough control to give you an attitude, you saw. 

With the towel in hand, you gently start patting the roof of his fur, doing your best to avoid the sensitive ears. Macaque flinches away at your contact, a low growl emitting from his clenched jaw. It was taking all of his willpower not to swipe at your hands with his sharp claws. You pause your movements, leaning down to see him eye-to-eye.

“You don’t like being touched? I probably should have asked - you can do it yourself if you’d like.” He snarls at your observation. 

“I am not. ” He grumbles, refusing to admit defeat. “Keep going, I don’t care.” You shrug, continuing to rub his face and hair. 

He struggles to keep a placid expression, but he wasn’t used to being handled so softly. A purr unconsciously rumbles from his mouth. Your eyes widen.

“Don’t.”

You snort. “Awwww-”

“UGH!!” He pushes you away. “Ok, no more drying up. I can just leave.” He goes to get up but another crack of thunder startles him. 

“Look, you can’t go out there when the noises are clearly causing you a lot of discomfort.” You toss the towel onto him. “Whatever qualms you have against me, I don't care for them right now. You can stay here until the storm stops.”

“..And why are you doing this?”

“Cuz you are in pain and I’m not an asshole.” 

His brain short circuits. Despite his deliberate scheme to piss you off, you didn’t give in. And now you were just letting him stay here because of his own problems? He could see the mysterious facade he was holding up to spook you slowly crumbling down. This was incredibly humiliating. Still, you knew nothing about him, so why did you trust him to be in your house?

Then again, he saw the burnt markings around your apartment. If he wanted to actually harm you, he wouldn’t have been able to follow you in here. 

Macaque stays silent, so you assume that he didn’t want to engage in conversation.  You go on to the daily chores around the house, not paying mind to the monkey currently huddled in one of the blankets you usually draped over the cushion seats. Your predicament wasn’t awkward, but more unusual, neither of you really wanted to push the boundaries as strangers. This was just a one-time thing after all. A part of you doubts the idea though.

The pattering of rain finally succumbs and the cracks of thunder can no longer be heard. You shift the curtains to the side to see the moon visible in the sky, no longer obstructed by the clouds. 

“Do your ears feel better now?” 

“Yeah, I’m fine.” He taps the tips of them to prove it to you. “Kinda surprised  you’d bother to help me.”

“I’m always glad to be of service to those in need.” You give him a mischievous grin. 

“Heh- Sure.” He rises, smoothing down his clothes and to your surprise, folding the fabric he used and placing it back neatly on the couch. He looks like he wants to say something, but stops. The shadow under him glows, and he casually leans on his tail.

“..Guess I’ll See you around.” 

“Hey!” You walk over to stop him, but he already descended into the darkness. “A thank you would still be nice!”

Wow. All the monkeys you’ve met don't have manners at ALL. 

Macaque warps up to the roof of your apartment. The cool mist from the storm still lingers in the air. 

Yeah, he could see why Wukong liked you. The mystic shit you were wrapped into was just an easy excuse for him to stick around. Or maybe it wasn’t; you could never be too sure with the great sage.

You had no idea what was going on, from the way you acted towards him. There was no need to bother you anymore. In the back of his mind though, he wishes to see you again, with no ill intentions this time. You decided to be a little kind to him, why would he try to directly wrong you now? 

However, he wasn’t going to let you and your relationships with the king and kid get in the way of his plans. 

He was still going to take his revenge. 

Chapter Text

“PIGSY!” You burst through the door of the noodle shop, rushing to the countertop where Tang was eating at.  “Emergency! NOW!”

“WHAT? What is it?” The chef stops organizing his cutlery to go to where you were standing. “Did MK break the cart again?”

“Nono.” You dish out some plastic-wrapped dishes onto the table in front of the pig. “I need you to try these and tell me how they taste.” You unwrap the various plates and spread them out, swatting a drooling Tang from touching them. “Pigsy tastes them first!” 

Picking up a spoon from the silverware, Pigsy proceeds to scoop small sections of the desserts into his mouth, savoring the flavors of each one. “They’re all delicious, what’s the matter with ‘em?” You groan, head slumped onto the surface, not wanting to admit the reason for your need for critique.

Just a day ago, you and Wukong were up to the usual - watching movies and eating way too many peach chips. The tarts you prepared for his visit were just about finished, as you popped the ceramic tins out of the oven. 

Not learning his lesson from the many, MANY previous attempts, Wukong tries to swipe at the steaming pastry. You manage to pull it back though, much to his disappointment. If you didn’t want him to be so impatient, then you shouldn’t be making these things so addicting!

You sliced a piece, finally, and he wastes no time shoving it into his mouth. 

…Oh.

“Wukong..?” You tilt your head to get a better look at his face. He hasn’t yet swallowed what he had eaten, cheeks puffed out and nose scrunched. 

“Is something wrong with the tart?”

He chews. Then swallows. “Noooooooooooooooooooo…..”

“Don’t lie to my face, idiot. It’s rude.”

“Well, it just tastes... Kind of… Bitter.” 

“ WHAT?” You go to take a bite out of the tart too. As he said, the sugary glaze that usually envelops your tongue was replaced by a sour taste.  You dramatically drape your arm over your forehead.

“I have failed as a baker… The monkey who eats everything in his path, calling my tart too bitter to taste… The shame is too much to bear!”

“Hey come on, it’s just one time, It’s not a big deal or anything…”

He was right, and you were only being half serious, but you had to admit that your pride was still a little hurt. So, you decided to go to your fellow culinary expert for help. Although you don’t think he’d be too happy knowing you were doing this because of Wukong - he had made it apparent that he wasn’t very fond of the monkey.

 “...I just feel like they’re lacking something. Do you have any ideas? Since you’re much more experienced and all.”

“Don’t cut yourself so short.  It’s definitely not your skills that are holding you back.” He takes another piece of strawberry shortcake, taking longer to relish the flavor.  “Maybe… it’s the ingredients? Where do you get yours?” 

“Uh, the supermarket a few blocks from my home.”

“That's your problem: you just aren’t getting the right stuff!” He snaps his fingers. “Oh- I gotta idea. How’s ‘bout you come to the street market with me? Their produce is miles fresher than whatever they sell at those… stores. I need more ingredients for the shop anyways. You busy right now?”

You smile widely. “Like I’d miss an opportunity to hang out with you!” 

You and Pigsy take the van near the winding path of stalls that surround the streets ahead of you, with Tang tagging along. Even though you accumulated a few months of residing in this city, clearly there was still much to discover.

“Now be careful when talking to the vendors. Last time, we got captured by the Spider Queen and almost got made into stew.”  You grimace, nodding at Tang's warnings. 

Not only was the market cool, but it was also HUGE. You had no clue why you’ve never been here yet.  The street signs and multicolored tarps shading the stalls seemed to stretch far beyond what your regular eyesight could see.  

You stick with Pigsy while he does his usual business, haggling with the vendors and managing to get away with knocking down the prices to something nearly dirt cheap. He tries to give you a few pointers on how to do it too, but you feel as if you aren’t ready to barter on your own yet. He offers to do it on your behalf. 

The pastes, the flour, and the syrups all felt more authentic than the ones you got at the store. It didn’t take long for your hands to be gripping on a multitude of bags filled with new ingredients for you to use. You even got a separate cart full of peach-related items for your favorite simian.

“Woah Woah Woah there, how much does this monkey eat?” Pigsy stares dumbfounded at the fruit you acquired, pushing it into the back of the van with the other bags.

“A lot.” You confess. 

“He better be doing everything in his power helping you find that nasty pen pal of yours then, otherwise he doesn’t deserve any of this. I hate them, freeloaders.” You laugh nervously while he eyes Tang, who remains unbothered as he gorges himself on his meal.

Pigsy grunts, pushing up another crate of groceries with you supporting him in front. “Well, never mind about him now. Check out these chilis I managed to get. Aren’t they beautiful?!” You take a look at the bushel he took out, shedding a tear at the sight of such vibrantly colored vegetables.

“They’re gorgeous…”

“Weirdos.” Tang muffles through a mouthful of noodles. 

Pigsy goes to double-check that the food in the back is secure. He slaps his hand over his forehead. 

“Oh shoot! I totally forgot to get scallions!”

“I can go get them! It’s on me.” You burst off before he could say anything else.

Weaving through the stalls wasn’t too difficult now that you had an idea of where to look. The ones selling vegetables were easy to spot, and you sift through the selections to find the best-looking scallions you could find.

“Jackpot!” You pull out a hefty bushel, showing it to the vendor to pay. 

“Having fun shopping there?” 

You stare questionably at the store owner, but realize that he wasn’t the one speaking. The voice was coming from somewhere else. You look around, barely paying attention to the cash you were placing on the table as it fell to the floor. The vendor yells in protest, but your feet have already moved you elsewhere. Specifically, to the familiar shadow creeping down from your own.

There was a stall ahead of you, empty in wares and shrouded in darkness. You can already see him, with his face partially covered by the hood over his head. You scowl but walk into the secluded area to look at him better. 

“Are you really following me again?” 

Macaque raises his hands. “Guilty as charged. I’m not here to annoy you though.” 

You cross your arms. “That seems to be the only thing you want to do when you see me.”

“Well, it’s different this time.” He looks around, for eavesdroppers you assume. You lean forward, curious as to what he wants. “Have you been getting any letters lately?”

Now. Why was that any of his business? You want to retort back, but Macaque’s expression was still. Without realizing it, you were encased between his arms and one of the wooden tables vacating the stall.  

He whispers. “You gotta tell me the truth. Alright?” …You guess there was no reason for you not to. Macaque had already expressed more than enough knowledge about what you were going through. And you really wanted to get out of this compromising position. 

“...I haven’t…Why are you asking?” 

He doesn’t respond. The demon looks almost angry at your answer. You poke his shoulder. “Heyy… Answer my question too!” His malicious expression is replaced by a burst of deep laughter, and he finally moves back to let you go.

“That's for me to know, and for you to not find out. At least, not now.”

“You’re getting on my nerves.”

“Have I not already?”

You roll your eyes.

A couple passes between you both, skewers of meat held in their hands. The aroma makes Macaque lose his focus on the conversation, his tongue grazing over his lips as he eyed the food ahead of him. 

“Oh. Are you hungry?”

“...”

You take the silence as a stubborn yes. You stick your hands into your bag to see if you had anything for him to eat.

“Here.” You peel the lid off the container. “I have leftover mooncakes that my friend didn’t try. You can have them. ” 

He blinks his eyes in confusion. You were difficult to understand for him, obviously peeved by his antics and yet you still weren’t pushing him away. Your kind offers to assist him were obviously a ploy to get him to owe you later, or at least that's what he rationalizes them to be.

“I don’t need your handouts.” 

“Come on, just take it, please. Denying a chef's creation is the worst offense you could ever do to them! Look at me-” You place a hand over the left of your chest. “My heart is breaking in two…” 

He sighs at your display. It was so tempting, to just believe you cared about his wellbeing for a while longer, but he knew it wouldn’t last. This will be the last time.

Macaque goes to grab the cakes from you. You watch him eye the treat, and you  wonder if he and his monkey counterpart ate the same way.

Well.

If Wukong bites into his food, Macaque fucking chomps.

Within a mere second,  a gaping cut appears on the mooncake, most of its filling contents located within the monkey's mouth. All he had in his hands was the outer crust. You struggle to hide your wide-eyed expression at the display. He shoves the rest of the cake into his mouth and then proceeds to grab and scarf down all the mooncakes you had in the container.

“Hm. Not bad.”

“Not BAD? You just ate every single fucking cake I made..” Your thumb instinctively brushes over a few crumbs that lay on the side of his mouth. “You’re kind of a messy eater too.” Macaque recoils at your touch, embarrassed.  

“Whatever. I got what I wanted, plus a free meal, so I’m done here.” 

“Wait! Don’t leave yet!” You try to grab his arm, but it dissipates into the darkness. 

“Bye-bye, sweetheart.” He sends you off with a devilish smirk, moving freely into the shadows. 

The AUDACITY to give you a pet name! How dare he.

“Come BACK you son of a -” 

“There you are!” Pigsy appears behind you, his iron grip on your shoulders spinning you to face him. “Ya scared me! That vendor you were speaking to, did he hurt you or anything? I was just about to give him a piece of my mind too, but it looks like he ran away.” 

Shoot. You didn’t realize how much time has passed.

“It’s fine Pigsy. Look, I got your onions all by myself!” He can only chuckle at your enthusiasm. 

“You and MK are gonna kill me someday…”

The groceries are now finally bought and secured, so Pigsy gets you to your apartment so you can put all the cold foods into their respective storage areas. 

“Make sure to come back to the shop in an hour, alright? MK’s supposed to get that reward.” 

Right! You remember MK mentioning it to you, a hundred different times. Apparently, his good deeds for the city (or so he says), have awarded him a personal visit by the mayor. What else could he give to someone who already had divine power? You weren’t sure, but the young adult was excited nonetheless. 

When you get to the noodle shop at the designated time, however, you see neither MK nor the mayor in sight.

“You just missed em.” Pigsy snorts at your disappointed look. “Relax, nothing really happened. The mayor looked like a nutcase anyways. If you want to catch up with them, I think they went to the arcade.”

And so you did. Just as he said, MK and Mei were busy competing with each other in one of the many fighting games. The winner was obvious, as MK wails in defeat complaining about this being his tenth loss in a row.

“Guys!” You go to hug them from behind. “How was the meeting with the mayor?”

“Yeah, I have a hunch that he wasn’t, really the mayor. MK still got a really cool gift though!” Mei points to your companion's hands, which were gripping an odd-looking key. MK shoves it to your face so you can see it closer.

“It’s supposed to be able to open anything! We were just starting to test that out, didju want to come with us?

You stare at the object. The overall shape and color were thin and boney, the head carved into a skull. The ridges stuck out, golden, and bent into peculiar ends. You stare at it more, a gut-feeling twisting the inner parts of your body. Something about the key, it just didn’t feel right, as if the ominous decoration of it wasn’t a tale-tell sign. 

“I don’t know… If he wasn’t the mayor, then why’d he give you something this powerful? Wouldn’t it be too dangerous to wave that thing around everywhere?” 

“Oh come on-”  MK wraps his arm around your shoulder. “I got Monkey King powers and Mei’s got her super awesome dragon blade! We can protect you and the key, so don’t you worry about it.” You scratch the side of your face, still conflicted. 

“Pleeeaaaaaaaaaaaaseee?” They both kneel down to you, their puppy eyes boring into your very being. You groan in defeat. There was no way they’d take no as an answer.

MK brings you over to the city streets, sticking out the unique item while a stream of intricate doors circled around your group. The air whips around your face, and you get pulled into one, the opening tearing into a brand new location.

The duo dragged you all over, from the bowling alley to the club and weather station. The key did provide unexpected perks, as it, well, unlocked certain areas you would never get to be in unless you paid a hefty price. 

Word of the mayor's gift to the Monkie Kid seemed to spread around the townsfolk too. Although you and Mei expressed doubt about his genuine role as one, everyone else seemed to know him as an actual political figure. The press didn’t take long to start following, taking pictures of you all with the treasures you acquired.

You didn’t know how, but the two also wrapped you up in a prank against Pigsy, by locking the front door of his shop so he couldn’t get in. Seeing the chef struggle against the unmoving doors made you feel a little guilty, but you had to admit it was amusing.

 The fun gets cut short when the apartment behind you decides to fucking explode. 

All of you fall over and onto the floor below, your own body squashing between the both of them. You whine in pain, turning to look at the culprit. 

“What are you doing in MKs house??!” Mei yells at none other than Red Son, who mischievously saunters across the burnt building. He argues with the two, almost way too casually than you’d think a villain and hero would. You’re starting to think that some development happened between them while you weren’t around. 

“I’mmm going to need that magic key.” A hot tuft of fire secretes from the palms of his hand. The key is roped in by the same flame, flowing into Red Son's grasp. He laughs childishly. “Yoink!” 

“So long,  Noodle BOY!” His body glows into warm bursts of red, swirling into a nearby car with his laughter echoing in the distance while he drives away. You remember the vehicle being the one that chased you when you first ran into the fire demon. Terrible memories. 

Mei wastes no time getting straight to action. She lets out a high-pitched whistle, her motorcycle soaring to her command. The casual outfit she wears morphs into her bikers uniform. She speeds off, leaving you and MK in the dust. 

“WAIT! …We totally didn’t want a ride too…” MK summons his staff, his hand going to hold onto yours. You try to pull back. “Wait, wouldn’t it be better if you went on your ow-OOOOAAAHHH!!!” 

MK, forgetting that you were a normal human with NO powers, bounces off the tall buildings with your body flying in tow. He desperately tries to catch up with the two multicolored flames that sped through the racetrack with their vehicles. MK’s control on the staff falters, and he launched you both off into a park, smashing in between a poor couple.

Your hands slip from him. You yell, clambering onto the back part of his jacket so you wouldn’t splat onto the pavement. He is also yelling, the direction of your velocity flipping the staff over to the sky. The streams of fire could still be seen, and you point at the flaming red one as a means to get MK back on track. 

“I GOT IT!!!” You grip on MK’s back, the staff enlarging and smashing into the demon's vehicle. You teeter over to solid ground while MK set you to the side, picking up the key that lay next to Red Son’s body. 

“Looks like you reached the end of the line Red Son. What were even gonna do with the key anyways?” 

“Why spoil the surprise?”

He isn’t able to respond, the one speaking instead being Princess Iron Fan. She beckons your group with a casual flick of her finger.

“Now hand the key over, and quit wasting my time.” You shake your head at your friends, begging them not to fight. But, they don’t listen.

Even with the two working together, they prove to be too unskilled to battle against the older demon. Her weapon clashes with theirs effortlessly, and in moments they both smash into the ground next to you. You rush over to their bodies, the mother and son disappearing in a stream of wind. 

“Are you guys alright?” You pull Mei out of the rubble. “Did they get the key from you?”

“Yeah. But I can’t figure out is, why?” 

“A key that can open anything is incredibly dangerous. We have to keep our guard up.” The terrible gut feeling arises in you again. You feel light, unconsciously leaning onto the side of a surprised Mei. “You okay there?” 

“I’m sorry, I just think it's time for me to call it a night.”  She stares at MK worriedly, but he looks at her back, just as clueless on how to respond.  

“Yeaaaaahhh… It’s probably for the better. That was much more action than you usually get into with us!” His hands pat your back. “Go get some rest! We’ll see you tomorrow.”

Being home alone felt weird. 

Wukong would usually let himself in with permission when you were out, but your phone was void of any messages from him. You wanted to call, but you didn’t want to bother him.  Plus he was the Monkey King! He’s bound to be busy, you had to keep reminding yourself that. But still, you were sad, and you wanted a distraction from such an overwhelming day. You guess watching one of your favorite shows with a pint of ice cream would have to do. 

A harsh pain strikes your chest, preventing you from getting up. 

You heave, confused at the sudden discomfort as the surroundings around you blur. You clutch the soft cushion of your couch to gain support, lifting your eyes up to see. There was something glowing, its bright hues painting the room with a harsh light. You reach a handout, you don’t know why. It was as if it was calling to you.

Suddenly, it all stops.

Standing up, you could feel the aching of your spinning head as you tried to reassess what just happened. Something felt… Off. But you couldn’t figure out what. For your sake, and for everyone elses,

You hoped it was nothing.

Chapter Text

Shock.

That was all you could feel when you saw the cracked mural that MK was clobbering on with a hammer.  When Wukong invited you over to watch him train his disciple, the last thing you expected was to see the destruction of priceless history to be a part of it. 

“What. Are you making him DO?” You glare at the lazing king, his feet perched on his somersault cloud. He opens one eye to look at you, not bothering to give you his full attention.

“Y’know, I just felt like this place needs some renovation, it’s so cramped up in the cave. That area would make a nice little breakfast nook, don’t you think?”

You pull at his ears, earning you a yelp of pain. “There are probably - no, definitely other ways to do that than destroying something this important, asshole. Shouldn’t MK be training to, well, fight instead? Why is he just doing your chores?”

“Yeah!” MK perks up at your words. “I need to do the fighting stuff for the hero stuff! This, well this is just boring stuff…” 

Wukong lets out an airy laugh at the both of you, spinning the staff with the pads of his fingers. 

“Ohhhhh, you wanna know the ‘fighting’ stuff, huh?”  The staff cracks into the floor. He zips near it, his eyes glowing a soft yellow. 

“Like, this?” 

He extends his body while pulling the pole with a heavy force, swinging it towards MK. He ducks to avoid the impending attack, the weapon shattering a gaping hole into the painting. You squeak, both at the display of power and the shambles of the mural toppling over. 

“YES!” MK slides to kneel before his mentor, eyes brimming with excitement. “Exactly like that! I am ready for some awesome.”

Wukong guffaws at his confidence. “Bud, you can’t rush this stuff. Uh, you’ll get there, you just need practice.”

“But this - isn’t practice!”

He groans.  “I’m never gonna teach you something you don’t need to know ‘kay? Okay. Now, remember, step into the strike.” 

MK’s phone rings. He picks it up to a screaming Mei, who was showcasing a large entity towering over her and the shop. 

“A monster attacking the city?” You could taste the smugness leaving his lips. “Guess I gotta do some boring hero stuff… OK BYE!” 

He jets off before you can tell him to stay safe. Wukong sighs, pushing himself back on his cloud to lounge some more. With nothing else to do, you check out the poor remnants of the painting. What MK couldn’t do in half an hour he did in a sliver of that time. Your gaze lies on his resting body. You knew he was powerful, but you never saw him use his strength or abilities much ever besides his cloud. 

Wukong was one of the, if not the most powerful beings in this world, yet he chose to snack and sleep all day. There was no indication that he had ‘let go’ of himself; the monkey proved to be more than capable of fighting as you saw when you previously watched the two train. 

His body didn’t show any decline even with his poor eating habits, although that was most likely from his immortality. Monkey King’s physique wasn’t usually described in old stories as bulky or big, but instead slender, almost even petite given that he was a primate. 

Wukong’s build looked just like that, his shirt fitted tightly with the fabric red belt tied around his thin waist. The chest plate and other accessories covering him did make you wonder if there were any toned muscles beneath his outfit…

“Hey, what are you staring at me for?”

Shit, you let your eyes linger for too long!

You turn your head away so he couldn’t see the heat rising on your face. 

“Nothing… I was just thinking about how you could easily take over MK’s duties. You don’t seem like you need retirement.” He snootily huffs at your statement.

“Just because I can doesn’t mean I want to. Even if my glory days aren’t necessarily over, I think my time in the spotlight has.”

“That was… surprisingly humble of you.”

“I have my moments. Plus, do you know how tiring it is being the only one who actively fought all those demons? I am ooooooold. It’s time for a new set of heroes to do that job.”  

You let out a light laugh. “That’s fine, I get that. But, I just want you to take better responsibility for MK. You are caring for him, in your own way I guess, but still. There’s so much more effort you could put into being his mentor.”

“... Yeah. I know. I’ll see what I can do… After he finishes with the mural.”

“Wukong!” 

“Whaaat? I know it kinda is a chore for the kid, but it’s a way for him to build his resolve. Brute strength only can’t be the only solution to every fight, overexerting his powers will kill him.” 

“Wow, You are really on a roll with all that smart talk. Am I sure I’m talking to the Monkey King?”

“Why you-” 

He reaches over to ruffle your hair, making you yelp while trying to get away from his touch. “Stop! Stop!!!!!!  I was joking!!”

With Wukong now… ‘supervising’ MK for the remainder of his mural destroying, you didn’t expect him to visit until they were done. You did your usual things: baking, hanging out with the group, without a hitch in your routine.

It was when one day, however, that you realized that something was off. 

“Ok.” Pigsy starts, ladling some broth into the ceramic bowls lined up in his kitchen. “You and the monkey are buddies and all right?” 

You tilt your head in confusion at the chef. “You could say that, why?”

“Well, could you tell the punk to stop overworking MY employee? MK’s been too tired to deliver the noodles properly!” He puffs out steam from his nose. “Just, if you can. Alright?” 

That was unusual. You doubted that MK would get so drained from chipping away at pebbles during the morning. You still told Pigsy you would look into it for him.

At home, you try to call Wukong to no avail. The wifi at Flower Fruit mountain was too unpredictable for the monkey to get decent service! You had to tell him to fix that later. 

A sharp rapping at your door interrupts your thoughts. You fidget with your fingers. Was it a new letter?

There was no envelope to be found underneath the crack. Another set of knocks follows. You creak the door open.

“MK?” Your friend doesn’t respond, stumbling into your apartment. The sweat sheen on his face was more than enough to send you into worry. “Were you training with Wukong? Why do you look so battered?” 

“Yeah, I was training.” He collapses onto the sofa while you work on getting him something to drink. MK gladly grabs the water from your hands, gulping down as if he hasn’t had a beverage in ages. 

“Thanks. I just needed to cool down before going to the shop.” He tilts the cup, face contorted at the lack of liquid in it. You lean away as he shoves it in your face, his gesture seems to be a request for another glass. Ignoring how rude he was, you comply. While you poured more water for him, you notice something.

There was a purple glow that emitted from the character sewn on the back of his jacket. One that you remembered all too well. 

“Macaque..?” Your voice is hesitant, setting the cup on the table to look at him better. His lowered facelifts with an expression of surprise,  a faint hue of purple covering his irises. 

“You know him too?” 

“Uh… Well- do you remember when I told you the important letter was a false alarm a long time ago? I lied. The message was an address to his little hideout, and I happened to meet him there…” 

He doesn’t look betrayed by your confession like you expected him to. Rather, he was excited by the new information. 

“Wow, this is great! I haven’t been able to tell anyone about this since Monkey King is kind of sensitive about being my only mentor and all… not like his lessons are bad but look! Macaque’s been moving my training so much faster! My fighting improved by actually fighting , not from those boring old patience exercises.”

“MK- ” You sheepishly rub the side of your arm. “Are you sure that training with him was a good idea? I know Wukong’s methods are… Annoying, but there is substance to what he’s teaching.”

MK furrows his eyebrows at your advice.

“I don’t have time to learn all the extra stuff. What’s going to happen when a new threat comes up and I’m not prepared? I need to be strong. I need to be able to destroy anything that comes in my way - just like Monkey King does!”

“If you want to learn like him, shouldn’t you be listening to him about not rushing things?”

“Come on.” He rolls his eyes, shuffling from his seat to talk at the same eye level. “I thought we were on the same page here. Why are you suddenly taking his side?”

“Because I trust him more than some random demon you found on the street. Maybe Wukong should know about you two-timing on your training.”

“Why haven’t you told him about Macaque yet then? Unless…” He points an accusatory finger at you.  “You’ve been mingling with him as well, and now you feel too guilty to admit anything to Monkey King!”

“No! It isn’t like that!” 

“Then what? What is it then?”

You grumble, massaging the bridge of your nose. “Macaque has… history with Wukong. And from what I can tell, it isn’t pretty. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t want to start anything between them again. MK, he  may not be a villain, but he's still dangerous.” 

“I’ve been training with him perfectly fine though!”

“No, you haven’t! Look at you!” You wave your arms, exasperated. “You’re exhausted, both mentally and physically. He’s draining you MK, you can’t keep pushing yourself. It's gonna hurt you more than help.” 

Your friend glares, his aura growing a deeper purple throughout the argument. He was denying all your warnings, your pleas, and throwing them back at you with much more ferocity. Neither of you wanted to budge with your stances. 

“Whatever. It’s not like you would understand what it’s like to try to actually get what you want. Have you ever gotten a single clue to who your relative is, or are you too busy baking cookies and whining?” 

Your eyes widen. The violet hues surrounding him dissipate at his shock from his own statement, his expression also troubled. That blow was too far, even for him. 

He knew better than to say that. The countless days you spent cooped up in your room, trying to decipher all the messages you got, all the times you would abandon your friends in favor of the tiniest possibility that you could crack the case, you tried, but it just wasn’t in your control. Even now, there was nothing for you to do about it, the empty mailbox consuming your paranoia with each passing week. 

MK says nothing else, and you don’t try to break the silence. He trudges to the door, swinging it and slamming it shut with you still stuck in your place.

You were upset. Angry. Betrayed. MK, his sweet demeanor and selfless attitude were now gone, replaced by a bitter, exhausted husk of what you were used to. The venomous words spat out to you weren’t his true feelings, you knew that, but it still stung. 

Worst of it all, you were too scared to tell Wukong about this, even if it would possibly tug MK out of his power-hungry state. Maybe there was another way to fix the situation, besides asking him to fix your mistakes.

You don’t remember walking to the factory, but you were there now, standing in front of the entry.  The palm of your hand pushes through the door and into the dojo,  eyes scanning the room for any signs of your friend. The only thing you could see was the clattered equipment lying on the floor. 

“Oh look, it's my favorite trespasser!” Macaque walks over, his own spiked staff draped on the side of his shoulder. 

“Where. Is. MK?” You seethe. You didn’t want to be here more than you wanted to. 

“Why should I know?” The feigned cluelessness only made you madder. 

“You probably have an idea, since you’ve gotten him to train with you!” 

He raises an eyebrow. “Huh, did you just figure that out?”

Your fingers curl into clenched fists. You can’t let him get to you. “I know what you’re doing. And I want you to stop.”

“Stop what? Teaching the kid what he needs to know?

“That isn’t what's going on, stop pretending! You have beef with Wukong, and you’re trying to get to him through MK.”

Macaque is starting to look annoyed. “So? It doesn’t involve or affect you.” 

“Those two are my friends, so it does have something to do with me as well. I don’t want them to get hurt!” 

He scoffs. “Sure, act like you care. If you did I’m sure you could have stopped this from happening sooner.”

“What?” You were getting more riled up by the second. “It’s not like I can just fight you, I have no powers. It’s not my fault you’re so bitter that you need vengeance so badly!” 

The air was tense, the monkey not responding. His twitching nose proves you stuck a nerve. 

“You’re so stricken on revenge, but for what? Why do you hate him? What happened between the two of you that made you harbor this much malice to try to get MK involved? W-”

The cudgel in his hand swings. 

You yelp, the pointed tip of the weapon only inches away from the bridge of your nose. The grip on it is tight, the demon's fingers squeezing it so hard you thought he would snap it in half. 

“Shut. Up. ” Macaque hisses through clenched teeth. “You don’t get to talk about this like you know shit about me OR Wukong.” The words die at your throat, his harsh movements indicating you to keep quiet. He realizes his outburst of anger, drawing back his weapon to let you breathe.

“I don’t have to know everything about you to know that you’re an asshole.” You force yourself to move, brushing past the demon. 

“Don't come near me ever again Macaque. Goodbye.” 

“Suit yourself.” He grumbles back.

And with that, you were gone.

You couldn’t cry, you didn’t want to! It was stupid to think you could solve this on your own. Maybe you should stick to the background and leave all this mystical stuff behind, and go back to your old life. It wasn’t like you wanted to be involved in this at all! 

It’s not fair.

It isn’t fair.

It wasn’t fair.

Your phone buzzes.

A link to an address pops up. It was sent by Wukong, with a crudely typed message telling you to get there, quick. With the bad news streak you were going on, you could only guess that this wasn’t something good. 

But did you really want to go?

Then again, maybe all of this was your doing. The least you could do was try to help make things right.

You ran, as fast as your legs could. You ignored the muscle aches jabbing at your thighs and the soreness enveloping your feet, too scared to lose pace and arrive any second later. 

The location that Wukong sent to you was the entrance to a mountain. You could see flashes of gold and purple covering the flat top of the tall structure. You continue running. 

The thick forest covers the path, overgrown roots and spikey vines consuming the stone steps you’ve begun to climb. You pass by a partially destroyed paifang, its left pillar missing and no longer supporting its top. 

A large, shadowy monster evolved from the preexisting purple energy, rising and falling down to punch something at the surface of the mountain. You try to run faster. The rotting skeletons covering the stairs don’t phase you, as the loud crackles of noise soon reach your ears. 

An explosion of yellow blasts through, rubble flying into the air. 

You duck down, covering your head for any debris.

 The wind stills. You finally get to the top.

A major chunk of the circular shape had concaved, almost as if a slice was taken out. You could see the small outlines of Wukong and MK sitting on the edge of it.

“MK! WUKONG!” 

They turn to you, the younger one of the two looking like he was ready to cry.

“IM SO SORRY!” He rushes to squeeze you, making you gasp for air. “Everything I said, that was all dumb, and stupid, and I shouldn't have said that to you. I didn’t mean any of it!” You gently get away from his hold, giving him a nod.

“I know, it's ok. But, what exactly happened here?” You gesture to the destroyed landscape.

“We can talk once we get back to the mountain.” Wukong raises an amused brow. “I’m sure you have some things you want to say as well.”

Oh boy.

MK cleaned the cave (as punishment, but Wukong thinly veils it to the successor as a training exercise) as you explained everything to Wukong. The letters, the surprise encounters. He follows your every word, confliction shrouding his usually cheery face. Neither of you were sure why your ‘relative’ had to make you encounter the demon, but it was surely not a good omen.

“You probably know I was gonna ask you this, but why didn’t you tell me about this before?”

“I was worried that telling you would make you confront him!” You realize how stupid that sounded. “Or maybe, what happened today was because I didn’t say anything sooner. MK… almost died because of me.” The warm sting in your eyes makes you rub your eyelids, in an attempt to stop the well of tears from forming. “I’m sorry.”

“Hey come on.” Wukong awkwardly pats the bridge of your shoulders, contemplating his next string of words. He was never really good at comforting people. “Macaque was probably going to try to destroy me anyways, I don’t think much would have changed if you said anything earlier. That guy is slippery, and totally hates my guts.”

You snort. “Definitely… what did you do to him to make him so bitter?”

He scrunches his nose, hand rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s a long story… I’ll tell you about it some other time.” 

You want to protest, but you could feel the fatigue of the day finally catching up to you. Your eyes flutter as you try to keep them open. You could barely process the strong set of hands picking you up, your head landing on something soft. 

Wukong had taken off his chest plate so you could lie your face onto him without the brunt of the armor stabbing at your cheek.

“Jeez, did you not get enough sleep? You look like you were the one that had to fight today, not me. Mortals really have no stamina, huh.”

“Shut up…” You try to sound mad, but end up smiling back up to his beaming face.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of. That just means I gotta take care of you! You wanted me to take responsibility, right?” 

You wanted to retort that what you said was for MK, not you, but you felt a little giddy at the thought of Wukong gladly expressing his proposal of keeping you safe. “Sure, that's what I asked you to do…” 

“Alright then, let me be responsible and get you home. I’ll fly a little slower for you, so catch a few zzzs until we get there.”

He didn’t have to tell you twice. You snuggle in closer to his torso.

The surface of his chest felt warm. You unconsciously place the palm of your hand on it to secure your position.

You were right. There were definitely muscles under there.

Chapter Text

It’s dark. You’re sure your eyes are open, an endless sea of black being the only thing your vision could comprehend. 

What…

What were you doing here?

It was just a dream, or at least you hope it is. 

You take a step forward, waves trickling from the motion and echoing across the empty space. There was something on the horizon, far ahead. Picking up the pace, you run for the light, the waves turning into splashes of dark liquid that cover your legs and feet. You manage to reach it, only for the terrain beneath you to run out. 

You fall. 

The air in your lungs leaves you, arms flailing for any semblance of structure to grab. Your body spins, the external force making the blood rush to your head. 

Color floods your vision.

…

You see a street.

A street, if your memory was correct, that you would usually traverse when getting to Pigsy’s noodle shop. It was vacant, a harsh blue hue covering the street lights and sky. You couldn’t speak. You felt like you weren’t in your own body. 

A vehicle appears from the distance, its headlights blinding your face. It was coming straight towards you. You realize you’re also unable to move, muscles slack and useless. The truck speeds up, it's front driving right into your torso. You can feel your body flying.

The scene flashes, toppling you over back into the inky abyss. You gasp for air. What just happened? You push yourself up, and you notice your usual attire is not on you. Instead, a long white robe covers you, golden ribbons tying it around your waist. 

Taking a step back in confusion, you fall again into nothingness. 

The previous swarm of colors bursts into your vision once again. You weren’t on the streets this time. It was an underground lair, decorated with pipes of steaming magma and an assortment of metal contraptions and banners. You assumed that the lava would have radiated a warmer color onto its surroundings, but the iron metal was overshadowed with blue and purple undertones. Your eyes spot a figure under the line of your eyesight.

Was that… Red Son?

 You were towering over him, along with Princess Iron Fan. A muscled arm appears on the left of your head, its clawed hand smashing into the pavement just under the two demons. Their lips are moving as they dodge the impending attacks. You couldn’t hear them clearly, voices muddled in a fuzzy layer of white noise. It was as if you were underwater. 

Based on your freakishly large height, you could only assume that you were looking through the lenses of DBK.

The family continues to clash, your eyes physically unable to tear away from the scene. You were confused at the bull’s sudden rage, as your past excursions with the clan showed them to be a (somewhat) functional household.

A crash emits from under the bull king’s step, his head angling down for you to see... MK? His face was planted firmly in the rubble. The fight ensues, with the demoness, to your surprise, protecting MK with the wind surrounding them. Their efforts do not phase DBK, and he promptly slams the protege into the neighboring wall.

MK’s body was gripped tightly between his fingers. You could do nothing but look, your panicked screams only heard inside your head. 

Everything blurs, and you’re back in the void.

Shivers rack your body. Why couldn’t you wake up? You wanted to get out of here. You pinch your forearm. Shit. Does that only work in movies? 

The surroundings start to shift again, without you moving. No! You wanted to leave!

You were in an alleyway now, the height of your vision elevated with the ground. A girl can be seen straight ahead, trying to get a cat down from its perched position on the wall.

You slide, closer… And closer…

“Hey..”

“Hey!”

“WAKE UP!”

Your lids fly open, a loud voice blaring in your ears. You're greeted by MK's friends surrounding your bed as you push your body up from your laying stance. Mei’s face was right next to yours, her face lighting up at her successful rousing. “Finally, you big sleepyhead!” 

“Wha- what? Huh? Why are you guys here?” You stutter out, clutching the front of your throbbing head. 

Everyone rushes in to give you their own rendition of what you missed. DBK, new bull clones, the sudden takeover of the city, and their immediate victory against the demon. 

Your odd dream. Those visions. It made just a little bit more sense what you just saw.  There was no doubt that you were somehow connected to all of this. You glance at your shaking hands, wondering if you should tell all of them about this yet. Only MK understood the severity of it all. 

“We tried to get in contact with you, but you didn’t pick up!” Sandy exclaimed worriedly.  “The bull clones kept coming, and we weren’t able to check on your place.” 

“Looks like there was nothing to worry about though,” Pigsy grumbles. “That weird glowing circle around yer apartment made every one of those suckers trying to get in straight into ash.”

“Oh.” You forgot about Wukong’s previous endeavors. “ That would be Monkey King’s protection spell he put around this place. It must have kept the bull clones out.” 

“That figures! You alright though? Maybe waking you up like that was a bad idea..” Mei pokes at your cheek. 

“Everything’s fine. I’m just a heavy sleeper.” The words spill before you could even think. 

“Uggghhhhh. You are so lucky!” Tang whines. “We had to deal with DBK for the past twenty-four hours. I could really use some good shut-eye right now.”

“Yeah!” MK pipes in. “But we totally destroyyyyed him! Too bad you weren’t with us.” 

“Well, I was there in spirit!” You really were, but you didn’t say it out loud.

Now assured that you were safe, everyone bids you a farewell as they all go back to their homes, surely to rest after all that fighting. MKs the last one at your door.  You look at him, beckoning him to stay. He stops his tracks, going back to you in question.

“...I couldn’t say it because the others were here, but… You said that the way DBK acted was different, right?” 

MK nods, sliding into a seat at the kitchen table across from you. “Why do you ask?”

Trying not to sound crazy, you attempt to explain the dream (could you really call it that?) that you had, including its eerie similarities to the events MK had just experienced. 

“So, you think you’re somehow connected to that weird spirit we just fought?” He scratches his head. “But how would a bunch of blue mist be able to send you letters? Nothing adds up.” 

“I’m not sure… Maybe Wukong will know?”  You whip out your phone to send him a call.

“Wait, you have his number?”

“...You don’t?”

MK chuckles awkwardly. You shrug, clicking on Wukongs name and setting the voice on speaker for the boy to hear too. The phone rings for a moment before the audio picks up to the sound of yawning. 

“Hellooo-” You hear Wukong mumble half-heartedly.

“Sorry- were you sleeping??”

The rustling of tree leaves can be heard from his end. “I was just having a little nap…”

“You’re so lazy… Whatever, I need you over here now. I have to ask you something.”

“Ok!”

The call ends. MK tilts his head in confusion. You point behind him.

A few seconds later Wukong appears at your window, sliding off his nimbus cloud.

“ ‘Sup?” He slides through the porch entrance, letting out a whistle while jabbing a thumb at the windows. “Quite a mess out there, huh?” 

“Yeah! I defeated DBK!” MK boasts, making the simian pat his hair with his tail.

“Nice first victory bud! Really proud of you. ” The protege beams at his praise. “Anyways, what's up with you?” The tail swishes around to tap you on the nose, its ticklish fur forcing you to hold in a laugh itching from your throat.

You explain your dream to him too. He hums, his facial expression was unreadable. 

“I have a few hunches on what happened.” Wukong hops from his tail to the kitchen, opening the pantry door to grab your supply of peach chips saved for his visits. He pops one in his mouth, chewing too slowly for your liking. 

“Buuuut- until I’m sure they’re actual leads, I’d rather not discuss them and freak you out.”

“That’s not fair!” The both of you whine, you and MK trying to grab the snacks from the laughing monkey.

“Could you at least give us a hint??” MK slumps on the floor defeated.

He crunches on another piece. “Well, you’re either possessed or not possessed.” You glare at him, opening your mouth to speak but are force-fed a chip. “Relax. If there's something I think you should know, I’ll tell you. I promise, ok?”

You groan, but don’t bother arguing. “Fine.” 

Surely this wouldn’t backfire in the long run… Right?

Chapter Text

New years was drawing by soon, and you couldn’t say you weren’t excited. The city streets have already begun getting set up and prepping for the celebration. You were doing the same, with Pigsy insisting on you joining him in the more culinary aspects of the festivities. The plan for the upcoming event seemed straightforward. You’d prepare the desserts, help Pigsy with his stand, and enjoy the many activities surrounding the parade while staying up all night till your brain was fried from exhaustion. An exaggerated but mostly accurate idea of what was to come. 

More than willing to accept, you decided it would be better to start gathering ingredients early - the street food competition would most likely strip the markets dry, and you wished to get a certain brand of bean paste for your mooncakes. Your schedule was going to be packed for the next few days once you start baking, that's for sure. 

You may have forgotten to tell your friendly neighborhood Monkey King that.

“So, about the new year.” He was sitting at the counter, gripping at the bowl of fruit you had set out for him. “I was thinking, well…” His inflection was that of false confidence. You were doing a supply check in your pantry, not fully focused on the unusual body language he was harboring. 

“Did you maybe want to watch the fireworks together?” 

A puff of flour blows into the room, your hands accidentally squeezing the bag from surprise. The fit of coughs reels you over as you stupidly wave away the particles from your face. 

Missing the opportunity to mention that you had plans landed you in an awkward position. You didn’t think about the possibility that Wukong may have wanted to spend time with you at all, your mind only focusing on the surplus of tasks you had. Now you had to break it to him. The last thing you needed was him complaining and begging you to abandon everything to join him instead. 

“I- I can’t. I already promised my other friends-” Your words stumble out, not quite sure how to phrase it to soften the blow. You stare at him and were surprised to see him lack any expression of disappointment. His face rather, was still, almost knowing , as if he expected this answer. 

“Ahh, it’s fine!” He occupies himself with one of the ripe apples to avoid a cumbersome silence. “I’m glad you have… other friends now.” 

Right. Unlike Wukong you were able to actually make other friends. Meddling with other mortals wouldn’t go very well given his popularity and, well, the permanent disappearance he decided to stage all those years ago. Who knows what will happen if he decided to randomly pop up in the streets on a Tuesday afternoon? 

He had only you and MK for company, and his trainee was going to be at the festival alongside you. Guilt racks your brain. Wukong had already brushed aside the conversation, but it didn’t sit right with you to let him spend new years alone. 

You try to backtrack on your statement. “But you know, festivals can be long and exhausting. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind if I snuck away after the parade…” 

The way his face immediately lifted up was almost adorable. 

“Alright! I’m holding you to your word then. No takebacks.” 

Phew, crisis averted! 

“Yes! Right now though, I need to get shopping.” You string your bag around your shoulder, closing the cabinets that you were looking in. “Don’t make a mess of things while I’m gone!” 

“Sure thing. See ya!” He waves you goodbye as you shut the door. 

“And… you’re all set!” The street vendor chirps happily, wrapping the last of your items into a plastic bag. You thank them, plucking your newly acquired ingredients and lugging them onto your arm. 

The sweet, sweet taste of victory, all because you decided to wake up early to go to the market. You could feel the irked stares of other customers eyeing you and the last of the pastes you managed to get before anyone else. 

Walking around the other stalls to exit the area, you pass by the one where Pigsy usually got his chilis from. It wasn’t on your list, but it wouldn’t hurt to get more for him, would it? 

The baskets were overflowing with vegetables, so you would have to sift through them to find the ones of better quality. Thankfully the chef had taught you how to tell the good chilis from the bad ones. You looked closely, scanning around before you saw a thick bushel of beauties ripe for the taking. You reach out to grab it, only for another hand to fasten itself onto the chilis too.

Your head turns to see…

“Red Son??!!”

“Peasant??!!”

Too shocked at the encounter to comment on the rude nickname, you reel back from the demon, along with the string of chilis you both wanted. His hair steams up angrily.

“ Hey ! I wanted that!”

“What do you even need them for?” You snap back, hugging the item so he couldn’t steal it from you. He turns his head up to look more profound, scoffing at your question.

“I, Red Son, have taken interest in building my way into the culinary business. Soon, father and I will climb up in the hierarchy and rule the food industry as the greatest chefs in the world!”

You stare blankly. “So you downsized from trying to control the world to trying to control a kitchen?”

“Wha-? No! Shut up, you IDIOT!” He spits out, his ponytail flaring ablaze. “We’re just trying something new. Our previous… mishap has left my family too exhausted to do our usual schemes.” 

You knew what he meant, from first-hand experience. It must have been terrifying to see his dad so crazed and angry, trying to kill him and his mother. You felt bad, even if he was a demon. 

Carefully, you stick out the produce to him. His eyes flicker in question, arms cautiously moving forward and grabbing it.

“You’ll be with the food trucks then, I’m guessing?” 

“ Obviously . What better way to promote my business than to showcase it at the city’s most popular celebration?” He waves down the vendor to finally make his purchase. “How much for these?”

His jaw drops at the cost. 

“WHAT?” Now his entire head was on fire. “ THAT is just criminal! I’ll have you know, that -” You pull him back from the terrified merchant, avoiding the flames from burning your own face off.

He musters up some more complaints while you set him aside. “Sorry, he’s not used to how this place works. Now let's talk price.”

You bargain and pay for Redson’s chilis, his fiery tantrum now subsided. For the safety of the others that would have to deal with him, you decided to stay and help with his shopping. 

He didn’t enjoy you following him at first, but your presence did make the vendors less terrified of him sauntering up to their stalls demanding their freshest ingredients. You, on the other hand, found it amusing how childish he was compared to the other demons you had met. It was almost like you were babysitting him.

The conversation was kept polite - on your side at least. You didn’t really know what to talk about since most of your encounters revolved around him trying to destroy your friends. Redson took the opportunity of your manners to ramble on his ‘superior’ intellect and the inventions he’s created because of it.

After he bought his final batch of spices (that was basically half of the ingredients he got,) you finally part ways. 

“...I suppose for someone affiliated with noodle boy, you aren’t sooo bad.” He admits. You aren’t sure if that's a compliment or not.

“Thanks, I guess?”

Dramatically bursting into flames, he and his truckload of items disappear in a puff of smoke. 

This was surely a story to tell your friends later. 

“I’m back!” You shuffle into your apartment, sliding off your shoes and placing the bags onto the counter. Looking around, you don’t see Wukong in sight. “Helloooo, I could use some help with the groceries!!”

Still no reply. Did he leave already? You might have spent too much time at the market… 

A tail wraps around your waist interrupting your thoughts. It lifts you up and over the table to Wukong’s hiding spot.

“HAHA! Gotcha!” You squeak, his face right onto yours. “Did I scare you?”

“YES! What are you doing, playing hide and seek?”

“I was bored.” He admits, placing you down on your wobbly feet. “But I didn’t want to leave until I made sure you came back safe.”

“Aw, you’re such a softie!” You coo teasingly, patting the top of his furry head. He stifles a purr, clearing his throat.

“Nah it’s just, y’know, my responsibility to make sure you’re not dead and stuff.”

“Sure...”

He helps you with the bags, albeit badly since the monkey had no clue where things went except for his own snacks. It was the thought that counts, you guessed. He waves you goodbye with the task of going back to train MK, and a small part of you wished he would stay so you had company while baking. You don’t want to nag him though.

No more distractions! You roll up your sleeves, setting out the ingredients necessary for your endeavors.

It was time to get to work.

When it came to decorations, Megapolis did not disappoint.

The festival was finally upon the city, its eye-melting banners and holographic signs were bombarding every single nook and cranny the streets had to offer.

 You were setting up the confections for display within the truck, with Pigsy handling his usual noodle dishes. The rush of customers soon followed, the line winding down the path.

“Woahh!! Your mooncakes are selling like hotcakes!” Mei bumps your arm supportively, her own hands occupied with folding the dumplings. The fillings ooze out from her rushed technique, much to her dismay.

“Here Mei, you do it like this..” 

Tang observed the two of you struggling to fix the mistakes, both laughing as the meat kept spilling and covered both of your hands. He finishes slurping his noodles before pointing his chopsticks to a sweating Pigsy. 

“Is it just me, or do you look more stressed than usual… Isn’t MK supposed to be working today?”

Pigsy glares at Tang for bringing up the tense topic. “He IS! Where is that punk, cus he SURE AIN’T HERE!”

“He’s training with the Monkey King! He said: ‘New year new MK, I’m gonna take my training to a whole new level!’ ” For visual reference, Mei stands over valiantly posing with a mop. Pigsy snatches the appliance for him to chop it cleanly in half with his hands.

“He got lucky this time…” He grumbles, dishing out another order. If it weren’t for Y/N’s help around here, I’d probably think of firing him right here and now!” 

The chef stops his cooking to squeal at the over-arching shadow that covered the truck's light, and a swarm of toys and candy topples over the counter and into the kitchen. You swim over the pile of treats to see Sandy smiling warmly at everyone.

“Happy new year! Look at all these little goodies! I have enough to share.”

“Thanks, Sandy!  But maybe next time don’t put it in front of our work area..?” You pull Pigsy out of the stack, his snout nearly puffing out steam from his own rage. 

“Oops. Sorry about that!”

Feeling bad, Sandy also starts helping around the truck, along with you and Mei. Tang still keeps eating his noodles. Time passes by quickly, as the evening rush begins to dwindle down.

“Hey, I think the parades starting!” Mei hops over the truck's counter excitingly. You wipe down the remnants of food, walking out the backdoor while Pigsy clicks the vehicle shut. 

“Go ahead, I just wanna pick something to eat while watching. Do you want anything?” 

“I think we’re good!” Sandy hauls Tang and Mei onto his shoulders. “We’ll be at the alleyway to the left of the truck when you finish.” 

“Ok!”

The group heads out, while you venture deeper into the sea of food trucks. 

Perhaps you were going on a wild goose chase to find the demon’s stall, but you were very curious to see if he was actually there. Plus… you also wanted to see if his food lived up to his self-praise. 

Thankfully, you manage to find the truck. The purple and red signs' obnoxiously glaring fire patterns were a dead giveaway. You could hear Redson’s signature voice trying to coax someone, you assumed his dad, that working with street food was a fun activity for the both of them. Surprisingly sweet words, for a dude who tried to kill you once.

You click the ringer to direct the attention of the chef, whose tuft of hair was tucked cleanly under a short toque.

“Hello, dear customer. How may I-”

“Hey! I found you!” 

“HUH? It’s you again?!”

“Indeed it is. I wanted to try out your food!”

Redson mumbles something incoherent but puts back up the facade of a regular employee. “But of course! What spice level would you like for your soup?” He tugs down a banner, with varying drawings of chili. “We have very hot, to inferno.”

“I don’t like spicy food.”

He huffs angrily. “ FINE ! I will cater to your weak, mortal taste buds.” He goes to the back, pots and pans flying while he gets to work. He dishes you a bowl, free from the thick peppery sauce everything else had. “Here's the recipe without the spice. Enjoy.”

You snap a pair of chopsticks and start eating. “Hmm…! This is actually pretty tasty! It doesn’t beat Pigsy’s though.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

“Your son is a great cook by the way!” You voice to a peeved DBK. He snarls at you.

“Do not make a fool of me, mortal!”

“Father, please stop scaring my customers!” 

Before they could yell anymore, the top of the truck gets ripped off.

A giant mech, in the shape of an intricate purple spider, was staring you down with its eight eyes. 

“AH!” You yelp, soup and bowl shattering to the floor. Webs shoot out of the robot, snapping itself onto the bull king’s arms and body. He struggles to get out of its hold, the sticky substance pulling him into the dark abyss of the spider's mouth. 

“FATHER!” Redson pushes forward, only to be toppled over by a smaller spider bot. You gasp in fear, looking for anything to help with the attack. Grabbing a broken pole on the floor, you run to swing at the grotesque creature.

“Heads up Red Son!!”

He leans back at your words, allowing you to swing upwards to free him from the bot's grimy legs. He punches it, making it explode into fiery dust. A vile of green ooze falls into his hands. 

“What are you waiting for?” He pulls you from the debris, shifting away a tarp to reveal a hidden jet. “Let's get out of here!” You get pushed into the vehicle and squashed to the side while he started the engine.

“I’ll come back for you soon, father.”

The two of you fly over, the view of the spider-bot easier to see up in the sky. The destruction of the town made you queasy.

“My friends! They were there!” You shake the back of Redson while he swerved between buildings. “I need to get back to them!”

“Going back there means imminent doom, you fool. With how pesky your little group is when it comes to full-scaled villainous attacks, I’m sure they found a way to escape.”

Hopefully, his words were true. 

A glowing sign blares on the monitor, the words ‘incoming’ written in red. You look under, too see a plethora of missiles coming straight your way. 

You wanted to cry.

Redson dodges them easily, while you tugged on his torso trying not to get sick. 

“Stop holding onto me so hard! It makes maneuvering this thing much too difficult!

“Unlike you, I’ll die if I fall from this height!”

“Tsk. Fine!”

In the midst of your arguing, a stray missile explodes into the side of Red Son’s engine. Both of you yell, with him desperately trying to take back control. 

“BRACE YOURSELF!” He hisses, the jet finally giving out and speeding down the clouds. You notice a strange floating ship, the metal floors would soon impact the front of the plane. Closing your eyes, you brace for it. 

You instead fall over something soft. And hard?

The sea of blue covering your vision was no one other then Sandy, his muscled arms covering you protectively. His other hand was firmly squashed on the red demons face.

“You’re safe!” Everyone runs up to you, and you share the same sentiment, glad no one was hurt from the current situation. 

“Wait, why were you with Red Son?”

“Did he KIDNAP YOU?” 

“GET HIM!” Mei kicks him in the face, with the others following to hold him down.

“No, wait!” You try to pry them off to no avail. “He saved me when the spiders started attacking!”

The team, surprised at this, look down at the body they were standing over. His temper getting the best of him, Red Son throws them all away with his flames.

Both groups start arguing over the ship, and you could be less arsed to join in. MK peels himself out of the dispute to tell you about Monkey King getting captured. 

“Don’t worry, we’re gonna find a way to get him back!” He reassures you.

The demon finally reveals the green tube he got from the attack, explaining how he could make an antidote from the substance. 

More quarreling ensues, with MK making the final choice of helping Red Son.

“He did save them,” He points to you. “So why wouldn’t he help save everyone else? We both have similar interests right now.”

With a decision finally made, Red Son was given permission to start marking the ship for a trip to the celestial realm. Tang was more than ecstatic to get to visit there, his ramblings filling your ears with what he wished to see when they would arrive. 

The insignias started to glow, the engines covered in red electricity. 

“And we’re sure that mortals can travel there?” Pigsy questions. “Safely?”

“Sure! Probably.” 

It was too late to protest anyways, the magic already beginning to work on the ship. The speed picks up, and you’re forced to clutch onto Sandy so you wouldn’t fly off. 

“Woahh!”

You look out from the ledge of the ship, awestruck by the heavenly realm. It was difficult to even process that you were physically there, with everything colored in pale gold and white.

“So, Red Son, where exactly are the ingredients that you need?” You look at him, and he struggles to muster anything up.

“Omg. He doesn’t know!” Mei pipes up, making him furiously try to defend himself. Tang, the trusty personification of knowledge, brings up his own assumptions of where the items needed would be found. 

Everyone splits into groups to get everything. You and MK, Red Son and Mei, Pigsy and Tang. Sandy was going to watch the ship.

“Race ya!” You tag MK on his back, running to the center building of the realm.

“Hey, thats cheating!!” 

He catches up to you easily, given his training. You look at the beautiful palace ahead of you, decked out in gold and adorned with a colorful set of guardian lions on both sides of the stairs. 

“This is sooo cool…” You half-whisper, his own wonder-filled face nodding alongside you. You walk up the steps, opening the large gates to a room just as gorgeous and bright as its exterior design. 

“I knew this place was gonna be big, but wowww….” 

“This area does feel a little familiar now, from what Tang’s told me.” You stare at the markings on the wall. “But if I’m correct, the furnace should be above the throne.” 

“You’re right, there!” MK points to the descending appliance, which was held by silver chains. “That was easy!”

And, he jinxed it. 

The snarling you heard was all you needed to know that both of you were fucked. 

The guardian statues were animated and moving now, their heavy weight crushing the ground beneath them. You look to MK for a plan. He runs, 

And jumps into the furnace. 

“MK NO!” The lions hop past you, growling at the contents of the furnace, which happened to be your friend. The lid snaps shut.

“I WASN’T THINKING!” He cried out, the banging against the curved walls ringing through the room. “ITS LOCKED NOW!”

“The lions aren’t attacking me. Should I try to come over?”

“No, I don’t want you to risk it. Try to get someone over here and help!”

You had no other choice. “OK! STAY HERE!”

“I already am!”

You rush out the door, nearly tripping down the flight of stairs. You could just vaguely remember the path towards the peach gardens, Where Mei and Red Son were at. They could blast those scary lions away and get you to the furnace!

“Halt!” 

You skid against your tracks. In your panic, you forgot to be stealthy with your movements. Bumping against a cold chest plate, you step back to see a celestial being glaring at you.

“What is a mortal doing here on the celestial plane?” He questions, and you can’t help but get distracted by the fire rings under the soles of his feet, allowing him to float.

“ Hey! ” He speaks authoritatively. “Answer my question!”

“Uhm… I took a wrong turn getting home…?” 

“Nonsense. Speak to me your name.”

He peers at you closer, tugging your wrist towards him. “Wait… Are you..?

You could hear the sound of screaming and crashing.

“What was that?!”

Taking his confusion as an opportunity, you topple over into a hedge to hide, running away once you were out of his eyesight. 

Following the noise, you could see all the groups running and jumping onto the ship, with each one being chased by a separate enemy. You were too far behind, and your legs started to weaken from the excessive workout. You really wished you had cool powers during these times.

“Y/N!” MK tries to hop off the ship to get to you, but the space was too far for him to make it. “We need to get back to them!”

If he did that, then the cause would be lost, and the items get stolen by the spider henchmen. You couldn’t let that happen.

“GO!” You yell. “Make the antidote first! I’ll find a way back myself!” 

Sandy looks hesitant, but you give him a nod of approval. The world was at stake, and you wanted it to be saved first before you. MK and Mei try to protest, but they have already begun to blip out back to the city. 

You watch as the guardians begin to attack the remaining people standing at the edge of the realm, and you were scared you were next.

The lions, done with their attack, brush past you, not paying mind to your shivering body. You go to look back at them, still confused at their lack of hostility. 

That was the least of your worries now! You needed to find a way back.

Wait. How would you even do that? What were you thinking, letting all of them leave like that? 

“Don’t think you’re gonna get away that easily…” A nasally voice shoots up from behind you. Fearful of your position, your head teeters to look over.

The spider minions, battered from their beating, were towering over you.

“Oh no.”

Chapter Text

Being kidnapped wasn’t a part of your bucket list, and yet with how your life was going, it would have made sense to have it written there. 

The spider demons may have taken a harsh beating, but that didn’t stop them from immediately getting back to work for their master. You had fallen over at the sight of them crawling towards you with their freakishly long black limbs, fearing that this may be the last few breaths you would ever take. 

The smaller one surely thought the same thing, his clawed leg soaring up ready to skewer your body. You close your eyes, waiting. The seconds feel like an eternity.

A raspy laugh. “No, I don’t think I want you to die so quickly now.” A cold, sticky substance is plastered on the hinds of your wrist, gross and slimy. You grimace at the sensation. “We need to bring our queen something from our mission after all..”

That sounded much worse than death. 

You are strung up from the end of the webbed cuffs and hauled over the giant spider demon. Trying to wriggle out seemed impossible given your smaller stature to him. You half-heartily kick your feet, your legs only able to raise themselves so high. 

What do you do when a bunch of purple spider guys decide to take you as their prisoner? You never had that scenario come up in your mind in things you should prepare for in the future, so you were pretty lost. Valuing your life though, it was better not to provoke them.

Traveling inside the spider mech was nothing short of unpleasant. The spider lackey’s grip on you was uncomfortable, and you lost most feeling in your hands. 

You’re forced into a dome-like room, most likely the machine's abdomen. Chucked onto the floor as if you were a sack of flour, you struggle to place yourself upright to see what was going on around you. 

There was an intricate web scoured all over the ceiling of the room, a plethora of demons also stuck under its tight clutches. Blue electricity shoots through the mesh, cries of pain coming from all who were trapped. You shrink away from the horrible sound. 

A peal of mocking laughter comes from above, and you direct your attention to the strings of web lowering down an even larger spider demon. The queen, her size overbearing the henchman, set herself on the metal floor to see you wriggling around in an attempt to alleviate the pressure on your arms.

“My queen…” The spiders kneel before her. “They managed to get away, but we were able to take one of their friends. Do you wish for us to look for them again?” 

“What can they do?” She laughs some more, giving you a scorning look. “The cities already mine.” 

Her confidence was terrifying, but it would mean your friends had more time to prepare the antidote without worrying about her pursuit. You avert your gaze from her, eyes landing on a familiar face among the sea of cobwebs.

“Wukong!” You yell without thought, the spider queen raising her eyebrow at your outburst.

“Oh hey, peaches!” He looks exhausted, and frankly a little silly angled in his web sideways. His voice is strained as if he was still trying to combat the webs covering him. “Funny seeing you here.”

“Are you ok? You seem a little…”

“Stuck? Yeah, I know. It’s a little embarrassing having you see me like this.” 

“You’re right in the middle of a villain's trap and you somehow still manage to be humorous…”

“Well, I gotta live up to my-”

“ QUIET !” A sharp leg stomps near the side of your face. You freeze. 

“So-” The large arachnid chuckles. “You’re the Monkey King’s little plaything?” 

Wukong growls at her mocking, his body struggling to tear out his confinement. “Don’t -” He rasps out, pushing against his binds. “Touch them .”

“Awwww, seems like I’ve struck a nerve.” She goes to tower over you, an amused smirk on her lips.

"Now I’m not sure what’s the better option. Should I kill you?” One of her legs glides across your skin. “Or let you watch your precious little monkey become a hollow husk after I drain him from his power? 

“My queen.”

A girl adorned in blue clothing walks in, her hands placed over one another in front of her torso. She seems peeved at the demoness’s lack of seriousness, the lackeys crowded behind her. The interruption lets you assess the situation, the sharp edge nearly touching your throat. 

“There are much more dire things to attend to rather than toying with a mere human. The protege and the demon should be-”

“No more of that!” Annoyed, she moves away from your immobilized body. You breathe normally again, tears welling up in your eyes as the shock of it all registers in your mind. 

“I don’t need you coming here and being a party pooper! Do you know what we should do? Celebrate the year of the spider instead!” You grimace as her body walks around you, but she doesn’t go in to attack. “I’ll handle this one later.” 

The woman eyes you. You squirm.

“As you wish.”

The door shuts, leaving you alone. 

There was no way you were gonna idly stand by waiting for your doom. You scour around the room, searching for anything sharp that could possibly cut the webbing. You see a white, boney structure protruding from the side of the wall. A little out of place, given the green and purple atmosphere, but you couldn’t be bothered to question it. 

Rolling over your body, you reach the edged object. You turn your arms to bend your elbows onto the cold surface, squeezing your body to get on your knees. Partially standing up, you lift your tied wrist and bring them down on the point, forcing them to push against the restraints. It tears it apart, but the extreme force you put upon it allows it to scrape a side of your arm. You yelp, hissing at the shocking pain. You can feel the warm trickle of blood trailing down from the injury.

“WOAH!” Wukong angles his head to see you better. “Are you ok?” 

“Yeah…” You groan out, checking to see how bad the damage was. There was a lot of blood, but there was no sign of it being anything more profound than a cut to the skin. With your hands now free, you grab the spiked object to tear it away. It breaks off relatively easily, and you saw the rest of your webs. They come off easily. 

“I’m free!” You direct your triumphs up to the tied-up monkey, pumping your arms up in victory. The cut burns and you fall off your high to place pressure on the wound with your other hands. “Now I gotta get you out of there too.”

“Pfft.” He snorts. “If you touch these webs you’ll be electrocuted instantly. I already got a plan!”

“Do you really?”

“I do!”

An angered DBK bumps into your conversation. “If you did-” His muscles bulge against his binds, small tears forming on them. “Then why are we still trapped in here, simian ?”

Ohhh. You caught on. Wukong sends you a wink as you give him a knowing smirk.

“Just get out of here now before it gets messy. I’ll meet you out, mkay?”

“Alright.”

You walk up the entrance, pushing it open with the side of your body. You manage to find yourself outside, a black stone path lined in gold to an altar big enough to hold the spider queen's body. None of the demons were in sight, so you made a run for the edge of the mech. 

The city ground was far below where you were standing. How were you supposed to get down without having your body go splat on the pavement? 

Ignoring that, you could see Sandy’s spaceship parked securely above the sky. Pushing your body closer to the railing, you could see confused citizens, previously controlled by the mind-controlling poison, coming to their senses as spritzes of glowing water shower the streets. 

The spider-mech shakes beneath you, and you fall over.  Green light glows below your head, and you push yourself back up to your ledge. 

You watched in horror as you caught a glimpse of your friends being slammed into a building, them too getting captured as you did. 

You needed to go down and help them! But how were you going to get there?

A loud explosion from the central room raptures your ears, the wind blowing harshly on your face. You move back as you watch DBK stomping away from the ashes of his destruction. He sees you. You stand there sheepishly. 

“Are you just going to sit here and watch?” He picks you up gently. You wrap your arm onto his fingers, his knees bending in preparation for his jump. The ground beneath cracks, the green-lit sky beginning to muddle with a yellow shine while he soared into the air with you in tow. You close your eyes as he smashed into the floor below, the rocks barely scraping against your face.

DBK sets you down next to everyone else, and you struggle to keep your balance after the head-spinning experience. His actions stripped all your friends from their confines.

Wukong follows after, pulling out the staff from the building and helping MK back on his feet.

The next sequence of actions was all a blur. Spider queen, frustrated at her defeat, attempts to blow up the machine to destroy the city in her bitterness. The monkey duo rises to bring it down, along with the larger demon climbing up to protect them from the impending collapse of the structure.

You couldn’t see much besides the glowing sparks of MK’s power, as the rest of the scenery had burst into yellow dust. Red Son used himself as a shield to prevent any damage from coming to the group.

As everything subsided, the cold atmosphere was now replaced with a multicolor array of sparkling lights traveling across the sky. 

With another evil finally defeated, you let yourself revel in the relief you craved for the entire day. Mei had other ideas, jumping onto you once everyone realized they were safe. You squeal at the pressure as you try to pry her off. 

“You are never going to self-sacrifice again, you got it?” She aggressively smothers you more in her affections. Positive her message got across to you, she lets go to go bother the bull king family.

Wukong and MK were sitting along the ledge, conversing amongst themselves. You go over to check on both of them, with MK giving you the same treatment as Mei had.

“You allowed yourself to get captured… on purpose?” Wukong wasn’t delighted at this new information. “That could have killed you.”

“Well, it didn't, right? It’s not like I’m gonna do that again, maybe.”

“No maybes.” He taps your nose, voice stern. “You won’t be doing that, ever. I assure you.” You cock your head at his sudden seriousness. He realizes the change in demeanor too, quickly backtracking to his more relaxed persona. 

“What you will be doing though, is celebrating the rest of the new year with me. It’s my turn with you now!” He scoops you up before you could process it, flicking a hair onto the floor which glowed into a shiny box of mooncakes. He nods towards MK. “See ya, bud!” 

“Did your hair just turn into food?” You contort your face into that of disgust. “Ew….”

“Hey now, it tastes just fine! You can barely tell it’s in there.”

“That doesn’t help your case.”

Wukong shrugs at your distaste, planting you back onto solid ground. You were back at the temple again, the cliff already decorated with pillows and blankets. You could only assume he and MK were celebrating together before the spider queen decided to ruin the fireworks.

“Here.” He takes your arm. “Let me see where you got hurt.”

The cut was partially dry, and the remnants of fallen blood caked your skin. He lifts it closer to inspect it. Frowning, his lips inch to the wound, tongue protruding out to swipe at the fresher part of the injury. You gasp at the cold sensation, making him jolt away at your reaction.

“SORRY!  Sorry - Um… just monkey instincts you know... Ahah..” 

As if to back up his excuse, one of the smaller monkeys had walked up to him with a handful of bugs. He shakes his head at their offering. “No… we can’t put bugs into their cut…” 

Rushing to fix his mistake, he pulls out another hair that brandishes itself into a clean bandage. He tells the little monkey to fetch some water, guiding you to the furnished cliff to sit down. 

“How are you feeling?” He carefully rubs off the dry blood with a damp cloth. 

You sigh, staring out at the destruction out in the city. “Disappointed. And tired. Why did she have to choose the parade of all places to strike?”

Wukong hums, wrapping the bandage into a neat bow. “Demons are self-centered and love attention, positive or negative. I should know, 'cause I am one.” He gestures to you to bend your arm to check if it was too tight. You move it around, feeling no discomfort. 

“I thought she was one of the weaker ones though. How did she manage to take over the city and capture you?”

“…Well…”

“Wukong?”

You stare at him, his guilt-ridden face making you more curious at what he was avoiding saying. 

“Peaches.” He fiddles with his cape. “I’m not sure if telling you that would be a good idea.”

You scoot closer to him. “Why not?” He tries to lean away from your burning gaze, but you retaliate by leaning on him.

“Because… It has something to do with your relative…”

Eyes widening. You grab the fabric of his shirt to pull your face towards his. “WHAT DID YOU SAY?”

“Hey! Hey…” He plants you back on a pillow with his tail. “I’ll explain, but- promise you won’t freak out?”

You cross your arms. “I’m listening.”

“When I was captured by the spider queen, something felt off. I only realized till after I was free that she was actually working with another demon.” He shuffles uncomfortably. “The magic the demon uses was in the letters you’ve been receiving. I didn’t think of it as a possibility, since she’s been sealed away for a long time, so I brushed it off. But seeing her actually out of the cage, I can’t deny it any longer.”

The bubbling range of emotions within you made your head spin. You didn’t know how to react to the new information, only deflating at the proposition of a demon being related to you.  

“I’m human though, aren’t I?” Your voice is shaking, scared of Wukong’s answer. “What does she want with me?”

“That’s the thing, I have no clue how you tie into any of this. It’s already dangerous that you know about her at all.”

“Can’t you just tell me the demon's name at least?”

“Telling you that only puts more pressure on you. I already worried you enough, haven’t I?”

“Wukong!” Your eyes water in frustration, thumping your fist onto his chestplate. “What good is there in keeping secrets?”

He scratches his face with uncertainty. “It’s not keeping secrets, it's just… putting the responsibility of fixing this mess on myself!”

God forbid you don’t try to pummel him in the face right now. “That isn’t how it works.”

“Aw, come on.” He pats your head. You frown at him.  “I’m sorry, I just- I’m more used to figuring these dilemmas by myself.” 

You try not to take this to heart. He wasn’t wrong in this case, based on, well, his entire past. You can’t teach an old dog new tricks, at least without easing them into it.

“I understand, but I want you to trust me enough to tell me about these things.” You take his hand, holding it between yours. “You don’t have to do everything on your own anymore.” 

Your response makes him pause, confused at this new reaction. Where was the anger? The insults? He was surprised at how gentle your hands were against his rough palms, how kind your voice sounded when you let it soften for sentimental moments like these.  It felt nice. 

He didn’t want to lose the company you had given him for so long. The insistence in trying to help was a kind gesture, but he knew, in the end, he’d have to do this on his own. For your own safety.

“I know. I’ll try not to overdo it. Just for you.” 

Happy enough with his response, you reach over to wrap Wukong in a hug. He freezes at the gesture but moves himself to hold you back.

“That being said though - if we want to guarantee everyone's safety, I’m going to have to find a weapon strong enough to defeat the demon.”

“And where are you going to find that?”

“The heavenly realm, of course.”

You furrow your brows. “That means you’ll have to leave.”

“Yeah.”

“For a long time.”

“Yep.”

“Nooooo!” You whine, squeezing him tighter. “Don’t go!”

“I’m not leaving right now ya big dork. I need to prepare some things before I go.” He pulls you away, allowing your faces to position themselves in front of each other. “You know I have to do this, right?”

Defeated, you give him a nod. 

“Good. Now I should get you home, it’s pretty late for you.” 

The ride back felt somber. It was difficult to keep yourself composed, the events of the night wearing away your sense of calm.  You could only guess Wukong felt the same, but he was too good at hiding his emotions for you to confirm that. You also felt partially responsible for all the terrible things happening to you and your friends, now knowing that the person affiliated with you was inhuman. Would they still want to be around you when they learned the truth?

“Look-” Wukong had sensed your obvious distress, setting you down by your home. “Don’t beat yourself up over any of this. It’s not your fault. I’m here to help you get through this, okay?” 

“Thank you…” You offer him a smile. “It means a lot that you’re here for me.”

“Of course! It’s what I do.”

His smile was warm, the same genuine beam he gave you when you shared that moment at the cliff. 

Not giving it much thought, you move to his cheek, quickly placing your lips to give it a peck. Leaning away just as quickly, you watch the warm hues of a blush rush to his face.

The two of you stare at each other. 

“Uhh……GOODNIGHT!” You half scream, tripping over the steps to get to your apartment door. 

You slam the entrance shut, the dumbstruck Monkey King standing frozen on his somersault cloud.

“Good…Night..”

Chapter Text

Sun Wukong wasn’t good with people.

Whenever he interacted with anyone besides the monkeys residing in the mountain, it would always result in him receiving some cruel or unusual punishment. Yeah, in some instances he kind of deserved it. But does smashing him under a slab of hard rock for hundreds of years constitute itself as a righteous consequence of his actions? If you asked him, he wouldn’t think so. Plus, the only way out of his prison sentence was to interact with even more people. What kind of bullshit was that? 

It wasn’t his fault everyone else was so stuck up, that no one would recognize him for his overwhelming amount of power. He had a boisterous attitude and wasn’t afraid to have fun! Why was he forced to be a measly guard monkey for some monk to deliver a bunch of old texts across the country? Even when he did do what was best for the group, all he got in return was a skull-splitting headache from the wretched headband that stuck itself between the fibers of his hair.  

But still, Wukong got through the journey, earning him the fame and enlightenment that he enjoyed for decades to come. The years within his travels to the West had shaved off the more eccentric parts of his psyche, he himself growing older and more mature. Still the same Monkey King, yet not quite the one many would remember. 

Which is why he left the mortal world behind him.

He had learned much and held many memories during the pilgrimage, yet the exhaustion of being a ‘hero’ was something he could do without. Being immortal was also not as daunting when there weren’t others around him that would grow old and die while he remained eternally youthful. The natural passing of time was one of his greatest enemies. He was fine with being alone. It was what he was used to.

And that's what he did, sealing the demon bull king away leaving the staff protruding out of its peak for civilization to build upon it. Sun Wukong would vanish into flower fruit mountain until it was time to select someone new to take on his duties.

With careful planning to ensure he’d do nothing but spectate, Wukong would eventually bestow the news upon a carefree MK that he was the world’s new Monkey King in the confines of his home. What he didn’t expect was for someone else to stumble into the mountains right after.

You were standing at the edge of the waterfall like a lost puppy, a swarm of  smaller monkeys swinging on your arms and shoulders. The smell of ash and magma was apparent on your clothes and yet you lacked any visible injuries.

Weird, but not an unusual occurrence for him. But then you spoke about his new successor. MKs roster of friends wasn’t human, to put it bluntly. Not normal humans at least, with each one being an incarnation of the original group of pilgrims. It was practically fate that set him on a silver platter for Wukong to choose.  How you fit into this equation, what was he couldn’t quite understand. There must be something going on with you that he didn’t know.

When you tagged along for MK’s training asking him for help, he couldn’t help but mentally pat himself on the back for guessing right. He wasn’t a fan of having to do too much work to help a complete stranger, so he just threw a bunch of research your way and left it at that. It would have stayed that way if it weren’t for the noodle boy’s words.

“Were those scrolls the only thing that could help them?” He asks, letting out a quick yell as he attempts to dodge Wukong’s flying kick. 

“I’m sure they’ll be fine. Nothing happened to them yet, has it?” 

“Yeah, but- I’m just a little bit worried about their whole situation. I’m not skilled enough to protect them myself…” The staff slips from his grasp and crashes into the walls of the cavern. He looks towards his mentor as his actions further proved his words’ truth.

Wukong groans. Unlike him, MK proved to have more compassion towards his fellow companions to the point where he would go out of his way to keep them safe. If he was him, he’d most likely intervene only when the situation became dire. But training with a clouded mind would do him no good. Taking care of the situation now might save him from more work later. 

“Alright kid, I’ll set up some precautions if it’ll make you feel better. As long as you keep training, okay?”

So he goes to your residence after wrapping up things with MK, the poor boy utterly destroyed from his prolonged training session. You would greet him at the porch door, tell him to do whatever he needed, and then insist you do something in return for his efforts. A pleasant surprise, to say the least.

It had been an extremely long time since he was last thanked for anything, given he hasn’t interacted with anyone in forever, but usually, those were only warranted after he would save someone's life. He didn’t even want to do much with you, being as lazy as he currently was.  Not like he would never admit that out loud.

Needless to say, the experience was enthralling. You baked for him, spoon-fed him, and you implied you wouldn’t mind him coming over for the same ordeal all over again? Now you were talking! There was no problem indulging in this for a while, right?

You become friends relatively quickly. The location for your hangouts was usually just at home, with his image it would be a bother trying to walk around the city without being recognized. It wasn’t a problem, as he learned that you enjoyed staying in the secludes of your apartment most of the time. He thought it was very refreshing being able to laze all day with someone around who did the same, rather than doing it alone. 

As time passed on, the issue that you originally contacted him about began to actually become a problem. The letters that led you to Macaque seemed to be a jab against him, your inability to express the meeting until much later mocking him for not paying closer attention to the task at hand. Then you had a nightmare too real to just be in your head, the sequence of events following what MK went through just before. Mentions of blue mist made his fur stick up. 

The hints were all leading to someone that he wished was dead. He wanted to pretend that it wasn’t her, that you weren’t affiliated with a person so terrible. He couldn’t though, not with him being kidnapped and essentially tortured by the combined efforts of her and that wretched spider queen. 

He had to confess to you what he knew, or at least some of it with how critical the situation was now. He was sure you would start hating him, and yet you treated him with obvious disappointment, but also a kind understanding of his perspective.

And then you kissed him.

It was quick. So quick, he couldn’t even process it until you slammed the door shut in his face. The feeling of your lips softly pressing onto his furry cheek lingered in his mind as the day’s worth of trouble washes away into a foggy haze.

The string of texts of you for apologizing for pushing boundaries, practically an essay’s worth of words that he would definitely not look at because he can’t even read that well, would appear on his cell only hours after the incident. He would text you a casual ‘It was just in the spur of the moment, happens all the time (it does not)’ and it was all fine.

And it was fine. More than fine. He would be fine with you doing it again. 

Was your relationship really going to steer in that direction? If he were his younger self, this wouldn’t be that much of a dilemma. He knows better now, and he’d rather not risk what you guys already had. The warm feelings in his chest weren't even thoroughly recognizable, the taste of proper friendship still foreign in his mouth. Making things more complicated and confusing was not good for either of you right now. He was going to leave for months on your end, and making any sudden changes to your feelings would cause strain. 

Thinking about you got him curious about what you were up to currently.

He decided to visit.

The state of your kitchen was a mess. Puffs of flour covered the counter, crushed egg shells spilling out of bowls, and a poor Mei standing over the surrounding mess. She had accidentally grabbed a stick of softened butter in her hands, the contents squeezed out from the force of her hold and covering her fingers in an oily shine.  You were only gone for five minutes.

“I would understand MK getting in a mess like this- but you?” 

“Haha… I guess I was so excited that I followed the directions - all at once.”

The sleepover you had anticipated for weeks was finally happening. Your schedule clashed poorly with the dragon girl, given that the misadventures of MK also scrambled up any free time either of you had to spend a proper night together without worrying about some random impending doom. You were already suited in some comfortable PJs, prepared to bake some treats to munch on for your movie marathon. 

Promptly swiping the contents of Mei’s destruction into the trash and scrubbing off the buttery clumps off her palms, you set out some spare ingredients to get started. 

A batch of cookies would be simple enough for your friend to assist in making, so you guide her into properly measuring the dry ingredients while you busied yourself in creating the butter-sugar mixture. 

“So…” Mei trails off while she poured the contents of her bowl into yours. A mischievous grin is plastered on her face. “Anything new going on with you?”

You pop a few chocolate chips in your mouth, chewing thoughtfully at her somewhat bland question. “You aren’t one for small talk Mei… We just hung out like, three days ago.” 

“I mean, yeah. But… I was just a teensy bit curious about what happened after New Years.”

You stop stirring the dough, skeptical at her vague wording. “How so?”

“Come ooooooon, don’t act oblivious!” She whines, pushing her front torso over to get closer to you.

“What's going on with you and the Monkey King?”

Your body jerks up, a faint blush blooming on your face.

“Nothing- nothing’s going on!” You cough out, struggling to keep your composure. Clearing your throat, you quickly shake your head. “I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Ohhh-  somebody’s hiding something…” She snickers at your reaction, you, in turn, pouting at her. “Hey! I’m allowed to get curious when my friend gets bridal carried away while the rest of us have to deal with spider queen’s mess.”

“Well, I kind of promised I would celebrate with him after the parade…but that doesn’t matter! We’re just friends Mei.” She looks at you unamused.  “...Ok, not exactly just friends. It’s - complicated.”

“Ohh! Drama!” She shakes you.“I need details! Please please please!!!!”

“Nuh-uh.” You thrust the mixer into her hand. “No more gossiping until we finish these cookies.”

She huffs, complying with your request. 

The topic is discarded, to your relief. Cookies were in the oven, and popcorn was piled onto bowls along with the other snacks as you set up some movies to start watching. You both focused on the various media shining through the television screen, with an occasional comment here and there. 

A sharp noise of someone tugging at your porch doors reaches your ears, and you freeze in place. Mei curiously turns her head at the sound and quickly slams the remote button to pause the movie.

Wukong strolls into your living room and waves at you.

“Hey - Ohhhhh….” He stops walking when he sees Mei strewn across the couch. “Was this a bad time?”

“No! No, you’re fine! I just forgot to tell you I was going to have company over…” 

A thick silence falls between you, Mei grinning and elbowing your arm. You stick your tongue out at her for her teasing.

“Well, can I talk to you? Privately - that’s cool with you right?” He glances at your friend.

“Of course!!!” She responds with a voice too sickeningly sweet for your liking. Pushing you forward towards the corridor of your bedroom, you glare at her as you follow Wukong.

“So…” He waits for you to close the door shut, a smile beginning to form on his face. “Hi.”

“Hi.”

You grin, unsure of what else to do as you stand stiffly across from one another. 

“I’m leaving tomorrow.”

“So soon?” You couldn’t say you weren’t expecting it, yet the prospect of him going away, and for so long, hadn’t fully set in your nerves quite yet. You click your tongue in annoyance. “That’s a shame.” 

“Yeaaah I know. It’s just important that I get on my - vacation, now or else I’ll run out of time to do so, right?”

Wukong was adamant about keeping what he was doing under wraps to not cause any panic. You wished to change his mind, but his stubborn resolve would not move at all. You hum at his words, playing with the hem of your shirt. 

“I’m going to miss y- spending time with you.” You say, averting from his golden eyes that were locked onto your figure. 

“We could do something now though?” You shake your head.

“I already have a guest, I can’t. It would be-”

A loud crash can be heard from outside, startling you both. You hurriedly push the door open seeing Mei gathering her stuff and rushing to put her shoes on.

“Where are you going?!” You put your hands up to your head in shock.

“Uhm… Something… with my family came up…” She elongates the end of every word like she was making it on the spot. “It's super duper important that I have to go right now! Let’s do the sleepover another time, ‘kay?”

She winks, to your disbelief, and scrambles out before you could yell at her to come back. 

“... Looks like you’re free now.”

“I guess so….”

You pinch the bridge of your nose. You would have to get back at her later. “Want to finish this movie with me?”

He shrugs. “Sure, but I should probably wash up first. I came here right after training with MK.”

“Huh. I’m surprised you even bathe.”

“Oh really?” He lifts his arms up, ready to smother you in his sweat-stained outfit. You shriek and run around the counter, him following you with his limbs outstretched. Obviously, you couldn’t beat him, and he manages to grab you and smoosh your face into his upper body. 

“Ewwwwww.” You cringe. “Now I have to shower too.”

He laughs at your discomfort. “A jump in the hot springs will clean you up just fine, don’t worry  about it.”

“Hot springs?” You smile. “I wanna go to one!”

“There’s plenty of those back at the mountain. We can head up there if you’d like?”

“Like you’d have to ask.” 

With a quick packing session for all your essential needs, you take off with Wukong back to the island. 

Setting aside your items back in the cavern that contained his home, he takes your hand, guiding you across a woven path surrounded by patches of grass and trees.

“Why aren’t we flying?” You ask.

“Thought it’d be better to take the scenic route. Pretty easy to trip around here though, so just stick by me. ” A white lie on his part. He just wanted to hold hands.

Venturing deeper into the thick shrubbery, the temperature starts to change. You shiver at the sudden drop. Wukong tugs you along, his furry arms brushing past your goosebumped skin. 

Out of the forest and into an area, you look to see layers of rubbled rock filled with blue water stretch beyond your eyes.

A larger pool was perched over the surrounding bodies of warm liquid, much more profound and closely resembling that of a hot tub. There were already monkeys relaxing in the different pools of steaming water.

  “Finally!” Wukong pushes off his chest plate and rips off his cape. The shirt comes off next, your eyes physically unable to turn away as the fabric lifts to show his toned stomach. You gasp and close your eyes when he starts toying with the ties of his coattail.

“Wukong!!!!!” You hiss. He pauses his actions, sighing at the hands slapped on the plane of your face.

“Right. Humans and your need for common decency, I swear.” Taking out some strands of hair, a towel bounces into existence and flops on your face. “I’ll turn around so you can get in.”

You bashfully mumble a thank you, stripping down and folding your clothes back onto a nearby slab of stone. Tying the towel securely around your body,  you climb over the rocky slope and plunge into the heated liquid. It was the perfect temperature, and you practically melt into the feeling of the steam wafting in your face. 

“I’m in! You can c-” A splash of hot water in the pool next to you pushes you back, the bigger simian already reveling in the hot springs right over. 

“I. Hate you!” You groan while wiping the water out of your eyes. He only snickers, leading you to bring your arms up and smash a stream of water back at him. He reels over at the sensation of it going up his nose, promptly coughing to get it out.

Monkeys in the pools swim over to the commotion, clambering over the ledge and joining you two on either side. You settle entirely in with the smaller ones clinging onto your shoulders.

The heat of the springs eventually made your brain feel fuzzy, and you had to call it a day. Wukong summons a dry towel for you to switch out into, and averts his attention elsewhere to let you get changed. He only puts on his pants, stating the rest of his attire would get wet from his damp fur. Curiosity getting the best of you, you weave your fingers through it, a tight tug preventing you from gliding it across.

“Ow.” He says sarcastically. 

“Are you going just to keep it all tangled like that?” 

“It’ll smooth out itself.”

“Let me brush it for you!”

He responds without pause. “I guess you can.”

You go into his house, the living space small and quaint, with vines and potted plants messily decorating the wooden interior. He fishes out a brush from a drawer and hands it to you. Sitting down on the bench, Wukong hops down to the floor to give you better access to his furry coat. 

You start brushing, carefully, to prevent any knots from being pulled and causing him discomfort. You comb and move your hands through to make sure you got every spot to feel soft and free of tangles. Taking the towel you draped over the side of your shoulder, you rub around the tufts of hair on the top of his head for a finishing touch. He continues to make purring noises as you do all this. 

Sighing, the cloth is discarded and Wukong gets up to join you on the bench. 

“I really don’t want you to go.”

“Hm. Cause you like me so much?”

“...!!”

“C'mon, Peaches. After what you did-”

“Pleaaase don’t mention it.”

“... Well, it was kinda hinting towards that.”

You bite the inside of your cheek. “I was sure you would hold a grudge for what I did the other night… That you’d stop liking me..”

“Dude. We just took a bath together, and now you’re grooming my hair. Why would I do that with someone I didn’t like?” 

“Uhh…” You struggle to find words to retaliate. He hums, his own fingers weaving around the scalp of your head. “I have no clue what I want for us though. These feelings are just so confusing..”

“If you aren’t sure how you feel, we can… figure out what we want to be when I get back. I don’t want to start anything and leave you alone for so long.”

“Yeah.” You intertwine your fingers with his. “That sounds like a good idea.”

The sun above has begun to set, its vibrant warm colors filling up the originally cool sky. Monkey King’s show was blaring through the TV, the only source of light within the darkened living room. Wukong yawns, stretching over to see how you were doing. He was only greeted by the soft sounds of your snores.

“Look’s like it’s time to call it a night..” 

As to not awaken you, he carefully scoops you into his arms to take you back home. He goes much slower than usual, so the wind wouldn’t dry your throat or burn your eyes. 

Arriving at your home, he moves to your bed adorned with a duvet and multiple stacks of pillows. Wukong shuffles your body in between the sheets. He smiles at your sleeping body.

“Sleep well.” 

He gently places a kiss on your forehead, heading out of the window as you rest into a comfortable slumber.