Chapter Text
“Tang.”
‘Mn…’ Tang shuffled himself. His eyes were tired, his body wrapped around in a warm, comforting softness. It felt nice. He didn’t want to move.
“TANG.”
He shuffled again, making sure to keep his eyes shut. His mind was fuzzy, but he knew better than to answer the cries of the outside. He was comfortable here. Cozy…
“T A N G.”
Tang jumped out of his nap, smacking his head down on the table he rested on before.
“OUCH!!” He cried, holding the side of his head. He whipped his head towards Pigsy at the counter. “What was that for?!”
Pigsy huffed, putting hands on his hips. “I got noodles that need to be delivered, and you’ve been sittin’ here doin’ a whole lotta nothin’! What was all that talk about ‘needin’ to pay rent’ that you told me about?!”
“I’ve been working good here and you know it!” The scholar retorted. “Besides, I’m on my lunch break!”
“Your ‘lunch break’ started TWO HOURS AGO.” Pigsy shouted, leaning over the counter. “The rest of the time you’ve been sleepin’, and now we’re behind on orders!”
Tang blinked the tiredness away from his body. Two hours ago? No way! He only took a nap around…
He looked towards the clock. Ah. Okay. Yeah. It was two hours ago. Darn…
Pigsy sighed, setting a bag of noodles down on the counter beside Tang. “You need to deliver this bag to Sandy.” He explained, turning back to the pot. “You’re lucky that he’s a patient customer, unlike some people.” He whipped his head to give a death glare to Tang before turning back to the pot once more. “Understandably…” He added, under his breath.
Tang grabbed the bag and looked over the counter, watching as Pigsy stirred. Well, the man was nice enough to give him this job, and he needed the money for rent. What right did he have to abuse that?
“Alright…” Tang sighed, adjusting his glasses. “I’ll get it to him as quickly as I can!”
Pigsy grunted. “That’ll be the day…”
Stepping out the door, Tang went over to the cart, about to place the noodles in the seat…
That’s when he noticed the cart was lifted up by a jack, with Mei doing work underneath.
“HUH???” Tang shouted, running his hands through his hair, panicked. “The carts busted??? B-but how??”
Mei rolled out from under the cart, wiping some of the oil off of her forehead with a shrug. “Dunno! Pigsy just called me to fix it not that long ago.” She rolled back underneath it.
“H-how long is it gonna take you to fix it, Mei??” Tang asked, pleadingly.
Mei hummed in thought. “Uhhh, probably a day.”
“A DAY??? But I need to deliver these noodles NOW!!” The delivery boy panicked, flapping his arms in frustration.
Pigsy shot his head out of the door. “Okay then! Walk!”
Tang looked over at him in shock. “W-walk??? But Sandy’s is a good few miles away!”
Pigsy grunted, rolling his eyes. “Well, ya better start runnin’!”
Tang groaned. “Fine…” Taking a deep breath, he began a light jog towards the docks.
. . .
Luckily for Tang, the day was relatively nice, all things considered. But, even with those considerations, it had been a very long time since he had gone running. He was already out of breath by the first turn, so he slipped himself in an alleyway, leaning against the wall.
“G-god…” He wheezed, grasping his chest. “I– I really need to get in shape…” He closed his eyes for a moment, setting the noodles down beside him on the ground. It’ll only be for a second… at least Sandy was a patient, patient man…
“Oi!” A voice shouted, making Tang turn his head. A pair of two demons stood at the end of the alley, posed together, rather dramatically.
“‘S that one of Pigsy’s Noodle’s ‘ittle ‘enchmen?” The blue one asked, making his way over to Tang, rather quickly.
‘Henchmen…?’ Tang thought to himself.
The orange one wrapped an arm around Tang, smirking at him. “‘E’s a ‘ittle tiny, this one, inn ‘e?” He gave a loud cackle as the blue one leaned into Tang’s face.
Tang tensed as the blue one chuckled. “Means we can dea’ with ‘em rather quickly, yea?”
“I-I’m sorry–” Tang interrupted, making them both glare at him. He laughed, nervously. “Uhhh… but, uh… who are you two…?”
The two demons chuckled, menacingly. They looked at each other with a big grin and posed together dramatically. “We ah the gol’ an’ silvah demons!” They announced.
“Jin!” The orange one announced.
Tang’s eyes darted to the side, noticing the alley seeming to get… darker…?
“And Yin!” The blue one declared
The shadows behind the two demons seemed to get longer, making Tang’s eyes grow. “U-uh… guys–?”
“No no no!” Jin shouted, shaking Yin, angrily. “You’re doin’ it all wrong, mate!” Pushing him away, Jin did an extravagant pose. “You’re supposed ta do i’ like THIS!”
The shadows of the demons seemed to form itself into a completely separate figure. Tang gulped, grabbing the bag of noodles, going to leave.
Ah, it seems they now were blocking the entrance, and the back is… a wall. Perfect.
As the demons bickered, the shadowy figure slithered its way across the ground beside Tang. Out from the shadow in the ground slinked out a mysterious figure. They were a dark haired individual with sideburns and a closely-shaven beard on his chin. He wore a black, orange, and yellow outfit with baggy red pants, fitted with black boots and a large, red scarf.
Tang nearly screamed before the figure put a hand over his mouth.
“Just go along with me, alright, Specs?” The figure whispered into Tang’s ear.
Reluctantly, Tang obliged.
The figure cleared his throat, making the two demons turn around.
“Oi!” Yin spat, placing his hands on his hips. “Wha’s goin on ‘ere? We’re in tha middle ‘a somethin’!”
“Yeah, well…” The figure said, checking his fingernails. “This guy’s my cousin! I’m here to pick him up. Been looking for him everywhere, actually. Got pretty lucky to find him in this alleyway.”
“What makes ya think we care whether or not THIS idiot’s yer cousin??” Jin raised his eyebrow.
The figure smiled, politely, placing a hand on Tang’s shoulder. “If you don’t let him go, I’ll beat you senseless!”
Eh?
The demons laughed. “Yeah, yeah! Right! ” Jin cackled. “Mistah sweatah man’s gonna beat us senseless!” He leaned forward, mockingly. “I’d love ta see ya try, mate!”
The figure kept his polite smile as he used his hands to snap his fingers. A black and purple glowing spiked staff made its way into his hands, making the demons audibly gulp.
“A-alright!” Yin announced, clapping his hands together. “I-I think it’s time for us ta go, eh, Jin??”
“Y-yep!” Jin replied, shakily bringing up a finger. “S-sorry ta be a bother ta ya, mates!”
“OKAYTHANKSBYYEEEEE!!” The two screamed, dashing off into the streets.
Tang looked over at the figure, eyes sparkling. “W-wow!! Thank you so much!!” He blinked. “B-but I don’t know who you are–?”
The figure looked down at him, saying nothing, then looked out towards the street. “Okay, we’re not gonna have much time.” He said, stepping away from the light.
“H-huh?” Tang asked, tilting his head to the side.
The figure looked down at him. “They’re bound to tell their boss any time now.”
“Boss?? Who’s their boss??” Tang asked, frantically.
“Let’s just say,” The figure said, grabbing Tang’s hand. “They’re not gonna quite like you hanging out with me. Now come on!” Pulling his hand, the figure darted them towards the wall at the end of the alley.
“W-wait a sec!!” Tang shouted, trying to pull away. “I-I don’t even know who you are, THAT’S a wall, and–” He looked behind them, suddenly spotting a plethora of light-bluish, glowing figures pursuing them closely. He whipped his head back around to face the figure, chuckling. “–WHAT IN THE HECK ARE THEY???”
“Bad news.” The figure stated, blankly. He grabbed Tang and pulled him closer. “Now hold on tight to me, and don’t let go. Got it?”
“H-huh?”
Before Tang could react, he found the two of them phasing through the wall. The world became black, distorted, and cold. He tried to cry out to the figure, but every word sounded garbled, as if they were underwater. He held on tight, tears starting to leave his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, refusing to look at the world around them any longer.
“Hey, Specs,” The figure said, his voice sounding much clearer now. “You can look now, ‘kay? And don’t get tears on the outfit, yeah?”
Tang pulled away, only slightly, still keeping his death grip on the stranger he had just met. Looking up at him, his face seemed… different. The facial hair was gone, his hair was longer and noticeably white now, he had golden eyes and a red mask-like thing on his face. He felt a long, fuzzy thing wrapped around his body. He looked down, seeing that it was a long, fluffy tail. He screamed, almost pulling away, when the figure pulled him back.
“Woah, woah, woah… careful, now.” The figure said, softly. “Don’t wanna fall, do you? This is just what I usually look like.” He looked away. “Though, guess the disguise didn’t really work how I wanted it to…”
“F-fall?” Tang asked. He looked down, seeing the world far, far away underneath him. He screamed again, digging his nails into the monkey(?)’s clothes.
The figure hissed in pain, but still tried to keep an air of calmness about him. “Hey, you’re fine, okay? Just… pretend you’re walking, alright…? Like me.”
Walking?? Was this guy– monkey?? Thing… Was this thing serious?? THEY WERE IN MIDAIR!!!
Though, he did just save him from a pair of demons… and those weird ghost-y things. So… maybe he should trust him, right…?
Taking a deep breath, Tang let himself let his feet down, loosening his death grip on the figure. The monkey smiled at the movement, shifting his position to hold Tang’s hands to help him keep balance. He stayed behind him, making sure he had someone to catch him if he fell.
“You’re doing great, Specs.” He said, smiling softly.
Tang smiled back, then looked at the world around him. It was… rather nice up here, actually… The people looked small, the sky was just at his reach. He almost could touch the fluffy clouds above them. He smiled as he felt the wind touch his face, gently. He felt at ease up here. No stress of work, no stress of life… just… here. Being here. That’s all there was. That’s all there needed to be.
“Easy, aaaand–” The figure led Tang into a small leap, jumping over a powerline. He chuckled. “You’re a natural!”
Tang let out a soft chuckle, continuing to look at the world below him. He could see the ocean nearby, brimming with life as the waves moved ever so slightly. He blinked, snapping himself out of the small trance he had found himself in.
“Oh, can you drop me off by the docks?” Tang asked. “I-I actually have a job I need to do…”
The figure chuckled. “Alright. Down we go, then.” Still leading the almost-dance they were doing, he sent them slowly down towards the ground.
Softly putting his foot forward, Tang led the initial landing with ease. The figure let go of his hands and put them in his pockets, swaying back and forth on his heels.
“Look at you, Specs!” He said, proudly. “You just stuck the landing! And on your first try?”
Tang scratched his head, nervously. “Haha, yeah… well–” He shook his head, realizing he had a job to get to. “Er, I really need to get going now. It was nice meeting you!” He scratched the back of his neck. “A-and thank you… for saving me.”
The figure held up a hand. “Anytime.” He flipped one of his strands of hair back off of his face, taking his turn to leave.
“W-wait!”
The figure looked back, raising an eyebrow.
“I-I just…” Tang cleared his throat. “What’s your name…?”
The figure smiled. “Macaque. The Six Eared Macaque if you wanna be technical, but…” He shrugged, turning away. “Just call me Macaque.”
With that, Macaque did a faux salute before phasing into his shadow on the ground.
Tang just stood there, dumbfounded with all that had taken place. Blinking slowly, his eyes trailed down, watching the shadow slither away until it phased into the other shadows, now discernible from the rest.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the creak of a door.
“Hey! It’s Tangy!” Sandy called, placing a hand on his hip. “Didya bring the noodles I asked for?”
Tang just looked back at him, silently. His eyes were wide, making Sandy’s dart to the side, awkwardly.
“Uhh… want some tea…?” Sandy asked.
. . .
“A-and then we walked across the sky… a-and then just… set me down here… a-and left!” Tang explained, baffled, holding his tea.
Sandy stroked his beard, leaning on his elbow. “Jeez… yeah, that is really weird, isn’t it?” He replied, looking over at Tang. Eyeballing his book, he sat up. “Hey, do you think your lil book there has anything about him in it?? Maybe he’s a friend of the Monkey King!”
Tang looked down at the book. “Yeah, but…” He looked at Sandy. “Monkey King’s been missing for quite a while… I don’t really know if a friend of his is gonna start looking for him only now– ”
“Yeah, well,” Sandy said, patting his legs so Mo would come up into his lap. “Maybe he thought you’d have some answers! You look smart!”
Tang thought for a moment. “Well… I do look pretty smart, if I say so myself…” He smiled, pulling the heavy book on his legs and flipping through it.
“Ah! He actually was friends with the Monkey King!” He said, pointing to one of the pages. “He was one of his closest cohorts, even being included in discussions with Monkey King’s sworn brothers!” He flipped through a bit further.
“See?” Sandy said, confidently, patting Tang’s back. “I told you he knew Monkey King!”
The color on Tang’s face drained. “U-uh… S-Sandy…?”
Sandy blinked, confused. “What’s wrong?” Getting up, letting Mo crawl on his shoulder, he stepped over towards Tang. He leaned over, trying to get a closer look at the book.
Tang looked up at Sandy. “Monkey King killed Macaque.”
Sandy’s eyes went wide. He frantically started flipping through the book as Tang leaned back on the couch, his “soul” leaving his body. “Nonono! I-I’m sure that had to be a misunderstanding, right??” He said, looking worriedly at Tang. “I-I’m sure it’ll be alright!!”
“I’m dead…” Tang muttered, laying back on the couch. “I’m so going to get killed!” He erupted into a loud, nervous laughing fit.
“Nonono! You’re okay! Don’t worry!” Sandy put a hand on his shoulder. I’m sure, after all of this, no one’s gonna find out! You’ll be left alone, and it’ll be a one time occurrence!” He said, calmly. “Besides! He helped you, after all!”
Tang took a deep breath, sitting himself back up on the couch. “Y-you’re right… you’re right…” He stood up. “I-I’ll be okay…” He breathed in again. “I’ll be good! I-I work a good job, with witnesses there, and I live in an apartment! With witnesses there! ” He started a zombified walk towards the door, still laughing, nervously. “I-I’ll be okay–”
Sandy watched him, scratching his chin. “Uhh, okay, bud…! Uh… be careful on the way home!” He shouted as Tang slammed the door shut.
Tang leaned himself against the door, taking deep breaths. He looked at his hands. They were shaking, violently. He took a big, big breath, closing his eyes. “Okay… okay…” He muttered to himself. “I’ll… I’ll be okay…” He looked up, trying to smile. “I’ll be okay…”
With that, he began his long walk to Pigsy’s Noodles, trying to brace himself for the yelling of a century he’d get as soon as he got back.
. . .
Tang huffed his way up the stairs, wiping a generous amount of sweat from his forehead. His glasses were fogged up, and he can say that his mind was completely wiped of whatever was bothering him earlier. A whole day of running at full speed back and forth to delivery after delivery was taxing, especially considering how long it had been since Tang had actually ran. Has it really been since grade school? He wasn’t sure. His brain was broken from the exercise.
After finally making it to the last step, he refused to let himself collapse just yet. He trudged down the hall, making it to the door to his apartment. He heaved a sigh, taking a good moment to fish in his pockets for his keys. Why did apartments need keys, anyways…? Oh right, the criminal thing. Well, it was annoying for Tang. But, eventually, he was able to grab them (nearly having them slip right out with how sweaty his hands were).
It took a moment, but he was able to fit the key in the lock (Wow! Good job, genius boy!). He shoved the door open, tiredly shuffling in before slamming it shut behind him.
His apartment was dark and empty… just as he’d left it! He turned on the light, yawning loudly as he made his way towards the couch. He collapsed on it face first, groaning.
…
Something moved.
Tang shot himself up.
He blinked the grogginess from his body, whipping his head around to look through his apartment. Everything… seemed normal. Lamp… chair… dining table… TV… weird little girl beside the window… curtains…
…
Wait.
Tang threw himself off of the couch. “Wh-wha…?? Who–? HOW DID YOU GET IN MY HOUSE??”
The little girl giggled, stepping out of the dark. She was dressed in a very formal white dress with blue accents. She had a single streak of white in her black hair. Her eyes glowed ominously with a light blue hue.
“That doesn’t matter now,” She explained, calmly, placing her hands behind her back. “What matters now is if you know the whereabouts of the one known as Sun Wukong…?”
Tang thought for a moment. “Y-you mean the Monkey King…?” He asked.
She nodded. “You see, I learned from… anonymous sources… that you have associated with one of his closest cohorts…” She explained, staring daggers into Tang.
“H-how should I know?!” Tang spat, trying to stand tall and firm. “I-I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”
She raised an eyebrow. “So, you’re not familiar with The Six Eared Macaque, then?”
“I don’t know who told you that,” He explained, crossing his arms tightly. “B-but you’ve got the wrong delivery guy! I just sell noodles! I don’t know anything about any monkeys besides the research I’ve done!”
“LIAR!!” The girl screamed. She shouted in frustration, then zoomed towards Tang.
He braced himself, trying to shrink himself down, covering his face with his arms. His eyes widened as he felt something phase through his body and the wind get knocked out of him. He collapsed on the ground, coughing violently as the little girl landed behind him, regaining her calm disposition.
“Know this,” She stated, looking down at him. “I have very little patience.” He turned to him, bending down over him. “I only showed you a fraction of my power tonight. I know that you’re hiding from me, but seeing as you’re a powerless fool , I will show mercy on you.” She stood up, chuckling as she turned away. “Just know to stay out of my way…” With one deep breath, the girl vanished, accompanied by sounds of whispers and breaths.
Tang laid on the ground, curled up in a ball. Tears spilled from his eyes as he shook. What just happened?? Who was that? And why in god’s name did he have the worst luck in the world today??
He took a deep breath, deciding it was finally time to move. He took his time to slowly raise himself, his body aching and cracking. “Mn… already sore…” He groaned, moving his glasses out of the way to rub his eyes clean.
…
Why do his hands feel like that?
He wasn’t that sweaty to where they pruned, right…?
He looked down at his hands. They were… weird looking, to say the least. They looked leathery, and they were shaking even more than usual.
Wait.
Waitwaitwaitwaitwait.
He quickly threw himself off of the ground (well, as quick as he could, anyways–) and rushed over to the bathroom. God, why was it so hard to move?? He swore he could hear his bones creaking with every step.
He slammed open the bathroom door, shoved the lights on, and slammed his hands against the counter.
…
…
HUH???
WHY DID HE LOOK FORTY YEARS OLDER–
No. Nononono. That’s impossible right?? That isn’t… that wasn’t…
Well, the girl DID say she put a spell on him.
There’s no way in hell this is it, right?
…
“I’m dreaming.” He stated, blankly.
He laughed, weakly. “I-I’m dreaming!”
“Th-there’s no… there’s no logical… explanation for this, right…?” He reasoned, his voice hoarse as he almost drunkenly shuffled to his bedroom. “O-other than it being… being a dream…”
He let out another laugh, this one almost sounding manic, before throwing himself into the bed. He laid on top of the sheets, staring at the ceiling. He watched as the fan spun around the room.
“I-I just need to sleep…” He muttered. “Y-yes… I… I should sleep…” He closed his eyes. “Today’s… today’s been a long day…”
“...it’s just a dream.”
Taking one more deep breath, he forced himself into a restless sleep.