Chapter Text
"See ya around, kiddo!" Sun Wukong called to his successor as the kid dashed off towards his delivery car. He returned MK's cheery wave with a lackluster one of his own. He watched with a small smile as his apprentice drove off.
He was never exactly sure how MK drove to Flower Fruit Mountain but, eh, why questions things?
They finally had a quell of peace.
The Lady Bone Demon was defeated. Her lackey, the not-Mayor, was in hiding somewhere, but he'd not shown hide nor hair since his master's defeat.
Hero business had returned to normal. Smaller-name demons had risen to the surface again in LBD's wake, causing chaos around town. Nothing MK and the crew couldn't handle.
Sun Wukong had done damage control while they dealt with the small fries. After all, Lady Bone Demon may be gone, but her damage was not so easily undone.
(Sun Wukong would know, awaking at night with a dark feeling squirming underneath his skin and whispers of calm hatred sinking into his ears.)
It had been a vacation of sorts, really. No battles (well, no big battles). Just… cleaning. (And a few apologies, though it was a strike to the Monkey King's pride to do so. He… hurt a lot of people.)
Now he was home. And he could finally relax.
He let out a heavy, wistful sigh, stretching out his limbs and groaning when his back cracked. His copper-colored tail swayed back and forth.
Yes. Home. Where everything was peaceful and safe.
He frowned. There was a prickle at his neck. He knew when eyes were watching him. They had been watching him since he arrived. Just watching. Wukong couldn't quite tell what their intent was.
His gaze slowly scanned the forest. The cream-colored monkeys of Flower Fruit Mountain were nowhere around, presumably lounging higher up the mountain, basking in the sunlight. Gold tinged his vision as he searched, quickly pinpointing where the eyes were coming from.
For a split second, he saw what looked like a ball of fluffy shadows, wispy and dark, with four wide, oval eyes peering sharply out.
And then giant ice spikes shot forth from the ground, rising with fierce speed in a rush towards Wukong.
His heart leaped out of his throat for a moment, caught off guard. He dipped out of the way of the icy spikes with ease, but his heart thudded in his chest still, screaming, 'Lady Bone Demon! She's back!'
Blind, thoughtless panic had him acting on instinct. He rushed forward, feet off the ground and the air zipping past his ears. He slammed his fist into an icy spike as another one rose from the forest undergrowth. It cracked and splintered with ease (too much ease. LBD's ice was never this easy to crack), and his fist slammed into the ground where the shadow had been.
Had been.
He knew it had been there moments before, but now only the indent of his fist in the earth stared back at him, cold blue shards littering the forest floor.
His tail kinked back and forth with confused adrenaline, his brow crinkling.
'What the-?'
He activated his gold vision once more, wondering if the shadow had just become invisible, or if it had truly vanished. (Or, perhaps, never been tangible in the first place.)
But before he could glance around, something sharp and pointy suddenly bit down on his swaying tail with surprising vigor.
"Yowch!" he called out, leaping to his feet and whipping around. He stared down, appalled, at what he saw.
A low growl greeted him, tugging against his tail. Feircesome amber eyes glared up at him from an itty bitty striped face with cute wittle whiskers and little pawsy wawsies that dug into the ground- it was just the most cutest thing ever - and cute white little fangs that pulled on his tail, rather strongly, and dug into his flesh and- ow, ow, ow-
'Okay, that's enough,' Wukong thought. 'Time to show this cub whose boss.'
He summoned forth his power, body shifting into a night-striped tiger with glowing golden fur and narrow eyes. He thudded his paws against the ground and let out a thundering roar.
The little tiger cub dropped his tail, stumbling backwards and staring wide-eyed back up at him with a stupefied expression. Wukong smirked at the young one's awed expression, his now freed tail curling high.
And then the tiger cub did something unexpected. The color of its fur, a dull muddy-gold with reddish-black stripes, shifted into a less sleek, fluffy, obsidian black. Its body followed suit, muzzle shrinking into a cherry-red face that stared up at him with owlish bronze-colored eyes. Big, lumbering white paws shifted into less furry dark brown hands that curled in front of it as it sat on its rump, tufted tail flicking behind it.
Wukong stared at the little monkey in utter befuddlement.
"Okay, so are you a tiger that can change into a monkey, or a monkey that can change into a tiger?" Wukong questioned the young one, shifting back into his normal form. "Because the answer is actually very imperative."
The money just blinked at him, tilting its head.
Wukong stepped closer, feeling more relaxed at the sight of a baby monkey, albeit still confused about its odd transformation and also the ice and shadow and everything. Those bits were confusing. But a baby monkey? That he could work with. There were a lot of baby monkeys on Flower Fruit Mountain.
Though, none of them had black fur.
'Not anymore.'
But his gold vision showed him the answer to his earlier question. This was truly just a baby monkey. Somehow, it had transformed into a tiger. Which was… weird. Because Sun Wukong was the only monkey- or, stone monkey demon, to be specific- that he knew of that could transform.
Well, until Macaque stole some of his powers, the copycat.
'It kind of looks like Macaque,' he thought distantly as he offered his palm out to the small one.
"What are you doing out here?" he asked the cub. They regarded his hand warily, nose scrunched and a tiny frown etched into their face. "All alo-"
He didn't get farther than that before a familiar chill ran down his spine. His heart thudded once more, but his instincts were more tamed this time around. He lunged forward to protect the baby monkey as he felt the ice spikes race towards them. But to his surprise, the baby monkey yelped and screamed in his grasp, sinking their fangs into the meat of his arm.
Sun Wukong yelled himself in surprise, too, dropping the baby and dodging out of the way of the spikes as he also grabbed his arm. He stared at it, startled as he felt quickly-fading pain pulse from it.
" OW!" he screeched, then half-glared at the baby, still thoroughly perplexed. "How can you bite that hard?! You're like not even three! No adult monkey can even hurt me, so how are you strong enough to - "
He was cut off again as an ice spike got too close to him. "And you! " he snapped, the world around him gold as he located the culprit amidst the blue ice. It had darted over to its other's side, glaring up at him with fittingly icy-blue eyes. "Could you knock it off? I'm the Monkey King! You should know I don't hurt monkeys !"
The black-furred monkey growled and grunted, teeth bared threateningly as they stood protectively next to the formerly-tiger monkey cub. The ex-tiger one blinked up at Monkey King, not as seemingly vengeful as their companion, but still just as untrusting.
Wukong took a deep breath, waiting as the last of the pain settled. He tried to puzzle this out in his mind. Two black and red furred baby monkeys showed up out of nowhere. One can turn into a lion, and the other has ice powers. Certainly not your everyday monkeys. But were they demons, cursed, or something else?
'I was born out of a rock,' he mused. 'Anything's possible. But there are rules to the universe's madness.'
He raised his hands placatingly and kneeled down onto one knee. "Hey," he said softly. "Sorry I yelled. Didn't mean to scare ya. But could you please stop trying to kill me?"
The blue-eyed one growled again, ending their threat with an almost annoyed huff. The orange-eyed one beside them chattered quietly, more willing to believe the Great Sage. They let out a small chitter. Wukong's ears twitched at the familiar monkey call, and he gave them a small croon back.
But both baby monkeys frowned at his response, looking tense and confused and lost. The blue-eyed one even chuffed angrily.
"It's okay," Wukong said, watching as the orange-eyed one nudged themselves a small bit closer, sniffing the air curiously. The blue-eyed one stayed still, eyes narrowed and teeth bared in nervous threat. "Where is your mother?"
It bothered him, a bit, to think that a monkey on Flower Fruit Mountain would have hidden these baby monkeys away from him. Normally they were always very eager to show him the newest cubs, and, upon occasion, would even force him to babysit the cute little simians.
Had their mother thought he'd hate the babies for their odd fur color or strange powers or something? He would never. And his monkeys knew that.
So had some monkey out there come to Flower Fruit Mountain just to abandon them? The thought made his chest hurt in anger and pity. The world was cruel to monkeys out there, but FFM would always be a safe haven to them and other small animals.
No, he had to hope their mother was still around to take care of these little ones. She could have been foraging or taking a break and they decided to wander off.
But the baby monkeys gave him no answer to his question. The orange-eyed one tilted their head and stared blankly back up at him.
Wukong gave a small chirp in imitation of a mother's usual call to their young. "Your mother?" he repeated in question. Now the blue-eyed one had their head tilted too, staring puzzledly up at him. He frowned. They looked old enough- 2 or maybe 3 in mortal human years- to understand the question, or at the very least to call back his chirp. "Uh, you know? Your parent? Guardian, caretaker? One that takes care of you? Person that gave birth to you or raised you?"
Still no recognition in their eyes, which worried him a touch. Even if they hadn't been exposed to spoken language before now, they should still be able to understand him, as the Monkey King. They only wouldn't if they simply didn't know what a mother, in concept, was.
"They feed you and keep you safe?" Wukong tried next. And now there was a perk in interest. The orange-eyed one's tail waved in eagerness since the word 'feed,' while the blue-eyed one blinked with perked ears at the word 'safe.'
'Ah, so I've found the words they do know.'
Strange that it would be such simple words. They should have a bigger vocabulary, one that at least included the word mom.
As the orange-eyed one let out an excited, likely hungry chitter, Wukong smiled and asked, "So do you have someone who feeds you? You haven't been living by yourself all this time, surely? Where is your mom, or whoever's feeding you?" The two baby monkeys exchanged almost thoughtful looks. "Can you take me to your mom?" He tried one last time, more hopeful that they had someone out there protecting them.
In answer, the blue-eyed one let out a small growl, fangs bared again, and said, very sharply, " No ."
Wukong startled, blinking. 'Okay. Wasn't expecting that. So they're monkey demons , then, definitely, if they can speak Chinese.' He frowned, wondering why they still struggled to know what he was saying then. And, more importantly… 'That's… I didn't think there were any left aside from…' He forced those thoughts to fade away as they threatened to bring up painful memories.
"Well, why not?" he asked the little demon. "Why can't I see your mom?" 'Please don't tell me she's dead, please don't tell me she's dead.'
"No," the blue-eyed one growled again. Then tilted their head as they thought about their next words, slowly saying, "Mom is… sick. No see! Stranger danger!" They spat the last bit, teeth bared aggressively again. Their orange-eyed sibling nodded in agreement, giving their own low, but very cute, growl.
"Hey," he said, raising his palms placatingly and bowing his head a touch to seem less big and threatening. "I won't hurt your mom, I promise. I'm the Monkey King; it's my duty to protect you."
The blue-eyed one growled again, tail lashing, but the orange-eyed one scrunched their muzzle ( 'Gah, so adorable' ) as they glared up at him. They tilted their head and placed a paw on their sibling's shoulder.
"Stranger…" they began, "is tiger! Maybe… stranger is, uh, person… mom," they tested the word on their tongue with furrowed brows, "says will help!"
Wukong's ears twitched at that. Their mother came here for help? Something must be very wrong then. The little one said their mom was sick. How sick? What kind of sickness?
"I'm Sun Wukong, the Monkey King," he affirmed to the baby monkeys in a soft voice. "I protect all the monkeys and keep them safe and fed while they're on this mountain."
The blue-eyed one seemed to relax, just a smidge, tense posture loosening and bristled fur smoothing, at the familiar words. They growled and huffed angrily under their breath, not taking their eyes off of Wukong untrustingly. But the orange-eyed one wobbled a few steps forward.
"Tiger?" they asked with hopeful eyes.
And how could Wukong deny a face as cutesy wutesy as that?
"Yes, tiger," he replied, ducking down and letting his body roll into the shift. He landed on his back as a tiger, rolling over and stretching out with his big paws. He opened his maw in a lazy roar that came out as a light rumble.
"Tiger!" said the orange-eyed one excitedly, eyes bright and shining like the sun. Tiger Wukong let out a low croon, finishing his roll and coming to stand on his four legs.
Blue-eyed one blinked, watching. "Tiger," they repeated. "Like her." They glanced at their sibling. "Like… like, uhm, mom s-said." Their face scrunched up, this time in determination, as they nodded firmly. "Okay. Can… can see mom! But don't hurt!" They pointed a finger accusingly at him.
He shifted back into his monkey form, raising his hands once more with a small grin on his face. "Of course not. I won't touch a hair on her. Lead the way, little ones."
The orange-eyed one eagerly scrambled off, hopping and switching between walking on twos and fours while her sibling walked more assuredly ahead of her on two legs. Wukong expected them to lead him deeper into the forest, but, instead, they headed closer to the center of the island, where his house resided.
He frowned. He hadn't been home for, oh, nearly a week, just a little under. But he could tell, with rising suspicion and worry, as they approached not his main entrance, but the backway (one of many), that something was very off. There were a few stray icicles that were certainly from the blue-eyed baby, but if he squinted he could catch a few claw marks and… tiny burn marks, on the outside walls of his lovely abode.
Also, the air definitely felt heavier, darker, and colder, which was never a good sign.
He flicked his gold eyes on right as the orange-eyed monkey scrambled onto one of his porches and ran through the open door (which should not be open and had clearly been left open for some time if the dirt tracked in front of it was any sign). At first his gold vision revealed nothing. Nothing moving just behind the wall. But then, there it was- his eyes glazed over it at first- but there was a mass of shadows on one of the couches.
Like from earlier, when he had spotted the baby monkeys at first. But it was different. Different because this time it was familiar. And yet… not.
His pace immediately sped up, heart thumping in his chest a tic as his instincts screamed, 'Danger! Watch out. He'll attack you.' And, yet, another part of him said, 'Something's very wrong. His magic isn't normally like that. It feels… sick. Is he okay?'
"Look! Look!" the orange-eyed cub yelled loudly, and Wukong saw her grab the oily-looking black fur of the being on his couch and roughly shake. "Found help, found help! We got you safe!"
"Don't touch," the blue-eyed one scolded their sister, shoving her away. "Needs sleep."
"But we did it!" the orange-eyed monkey pouted, pointing at Wukong. "Baba- uhm, mom said find person that's- that's, uh, that's like me- my powers! Found him!" She waved her arms excitedly.
A small groan made Wukong tense as he stared in shock at the scene before him. His eyes snapped to the lump of black on his couch as it shifted. Ears twitched at the side of its head, and, slowly, small, amber slits appeared on its red and dusky-colored face as their eyes cracked open.
"Too loud!" the blue-eyed one growled in a hissed whisper at their other. "Be quiet."
"Sorry!" the orange-eyed one whined in an attempted whisper that still came out like a quiet shout. She turned her attention eagerly back towards her parent, leaping upwards and scrambling onto the small sliver of couch left in front of them. "We found help, baba!"
The black-furred monkey blinked at his child, processing her words with a blank face. Then he seemed to jerk into awareness, body stiffening all at once as he shoved himself into an upright position. Amber eyes locked onto amber eyes.
Wukong's heart froze alongside his body.
"Wukong."
"Macaque."