Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Monkey king blocked the spear from hitting him as pink flames surrounded it, pushing him away from the map protected in the lotus shaped pedestal. The king was wearing his more formal attire, a gold chestplate, a gold head dress with two long red feathers attached and a gold coattail with a red and turquoise trim over his gold shirt and red pants.

He finally pushed the spear away as he reached the wall above the entrance, glaring at the magical barrier that covered the map and stopped him grabbing it. Taking the chance, he shot forward and tried to break through the barrier but after a few seconds was sent crashing into the wall again.

“That barrier was made to protect it from anyone who would want to steal it, including you, Sun Wukong” Nezha glared at the monkey, holding his staff as he stood on his fire wheels.

“Come on Nezha, if you’d just hear me out and trust me-“

“Trust you ?” The lotus prince looked at him before chuckling slightly to himself “you ruined any chance of that long ago” 

Monkey king sighed as he shot towards Nezha, determined to get to the map but was grabbed with one of Nezha’s ribbons and was thrown away again, spinning so he landed on his feet.

Nezha charged at him again, swiping his spear at the monkey and kicking at him to push him away, Monkey king blocking or dodging each attack before going to kick at the other but the lotus prince’s fire wheel lit up and he shot backwards before shooting back towards the king.

“I alone should have been entrusted with keeping the map safe, you proved that when you lost a piece of the fire!” He snarled as he struck down at Monkey king, making the demon shoot out the way and press himself against the gold ring at the top of the pillars.

“I didn’t lose it! It was with Ao lie!” He retorted, Nezha snorting as he dodged a punch from the monkey that cracked the solid marble ground.

“Yet it was stolen and lost afterwards! It was our solemn duty to protect this world from the Samadhi fire!” Nezha spun in the air as he dodged another attack “Yet you want to restore it without a proper thought!” He grabbed Monkey king with a ribbon and threw him to the ground, though the monkey king quickly recovered.

Monkey king landed on the ground, glaring at the prince. “I have thought about this Nezha. I didn’t want to resort to this but I don’t have a choice” he shot forward again, having to stop as Nezha slammed his spear down at the demon, throwing his hands into the air to catch it.

“Out of respect for your past friendship with the great monk, I will allow you to leave this place safely. But the fire will remain unforged, the map unmoved and the fourth ring lost” Monkey king pushed against the spear, trying not to get pushed into the ground.

“Look Nezha, what’s come up is too powerful for even me to handle. I wouldn’t be here, fighting you, if I thought I had any other choice!” The king snarled back, finally pushing Nezha away as he pulled out a few pieces of fur and blew on them, creating multiple clones of himself around him.

They quickly launched themselves as the clones pinned the lotus prince to the ground, Monkey king standing in front of the barrier. “Don’t do this Wukong!” The prince begged, making Monkey king turn to look at him slightly guilty.

“I’m sorry Nezha. It’s the only way” 

“That barrier is made to protect the map at all costs! Forcing your way through it could destroy us both!” 

“As I said, it’s the only way” Monkey king sighed as he prepared himself to break the barrier, quickly shoving his hands through it as it sparked and pulsed around him, trying to force him out.

As he screamed he kept forcing his way through the barrier, his hands slowly getting closer to the map before he was able to finally grab it, causing the barrier to explode and destroy the building around them.

Nezha stood up slowly, his clothes torn and hair now messy in their two buns “Wukong” he muttered as Monkey king threw a piece of rubble off himself, making the prince turn around.

“As I said, I’m sorry Nezha. If I had any other choice I would have taken it. But I don’t” he sighed.

A powerful energy suddenly was felt, pushing the king back as the sky turned an ominous blue. His eyes widened as he ignored Nezha’s shouting about him being an idiot “kids…” he muttered before running to the edge of the ruined building and jumping onto his somersault cloud, shooting towards the origin of the energy.

————————————

MK sighed as he leaned on the railing of the dronecoppter, looking at the scarf around his neck, rubbing the fabric in his fingers as he thought about what his da- Macaque had told him and his brother when he’d given them one each.

“How you feeling MK?” A voice next to him made him jump slightly, turning to see Mei in her own torn and worn down clothes from the fight, her jacket wrapped around her waist as she leaned on the railing too.

He let out a sigh and looked back at the scarf “Macaque told me and Plum the scarfs were a sign of us being family. Having it now though..”

“It feels wrong to wear it? Especially after you found out he was basically using you your entire life?” Mei finished tilting her head slightly at him as he nodded.

“I guess. I don’t know if it’s been my entire life but it’s still a lot of it” he sighed as he took the scarf off and held it tightly in his hands. “I don’t want to wear it anymore but I don’t know what to do with it either”

MK could hear Mei tapping her nails on the railing as she thought before she turned back to him “why not just let it go? Let the wind blow it away” she suggested, making the monkey demon’s tail twitch as he thought.

He nodded a little as he took a deep breath and held it over the railing and let it drop, watching as the wind blew it away until they couldn’t see it anymore. MK let out a slight sigh, feeling a bit better but now could see his clearly purple clothes, which made him grumble.

“Hey kids, how you feeling?” Monkey king came over on the other side of Mei, looking at the pair with a soft smile.

Mei and MK both nodded, though MK ran a hand through his head fur “just.. processing right now” he said with a small shrug, the king nodding back.

“Come on, I’ve got to show you guys what we’re getting into before someone catches up” he said with a flick of his tail towards the entrance of the cockpit where Pigsy, Tang, Sandy and Mo had sat, seeming to have already been informed by the king.

MK and Mei sat down opposite the king as he took out the map and held it against the ground to make sure the wind didn’t blow it away as they continued forward.

Monkey king cleared his throat as he looked at the map he’d laid in front “So I know what happened back there was…”

“Terrible?” Mei said, looking at the monkey demon who laughed nervously but nodded.

“Yeah.. let’s go with that” he said, rubbing the back of his head before focusing on the map again “Anyway, this map should help us track down the samadhi fire-“

Tang excitedly gasped, eyes shining as he flew towards the king “The Samadhi fire! That’s the most powerful fire to ever exist!” The scholar said excitedly, smiling widely before Pigsy groaned slightly and pulled him back.

“Mhmm, it’s the most powerful force I’ve ever seen as well. If anything can beat the bone witch, it’s this” The king explained, his tail twitching as it rested on the map in front of him.

MK and Mei nodded, Mei looking at the map while MK tilted his head at the other monkey “So, what is it exactly? Other than just a powerful fire” he asked, the king opening his mouth to answer but Tang looked at him with shining eyes. Monkey king let out a sigh before waving his hand at the human to go ahead.

Tang smiled widely as he adjusted his glasses and his face morphed into a more serious expression “From what I’ve read, legends speak of a flame so powerful that nothing could put it out. Even the great sage himself couldn’t deal with the flames”

“That’s right, the fire burned completely out of control. The only way we could contain it was to split it into three pieces, scattering them so the flame could never be reforged” Monkey king finished, nodding as MK and Mei looked down at the map.

“But wouldn’t that be more dangerous?” Mei asked confused, MK nodding next to her.

“Throwing away three smaller fires isn't really.. safer than one big one” The dark furred monkey added, both their heads tilting at the king again.

“No- we put them into three separate rings then scattered them, so they couldn’t form any further harm” Monkey king groaned, looking at the pair who were watching him intently “Now that the lady bone demon has the staff and most of your powers, she’s way too much for all of us to handle. If we can’t stop her, she’s going to destroy everything”

MK and Mei looked at each other, their ears lowered worried “So.. we have to find the rings, combine them, but what next? You said the fire of Samadhi couldn’t be controlled” Sandy said from where he sat, Mo on his shoulder.

“Yeah and what about the ‘most of it’ you mentioned before?” Pigsy added, making everyone look at the king who looked down at the map, picking it back up and tucking it into his shirt.

“The fire would most likely need a host, I’m the most powerful and I can’t ask any of you to put yourselves in more danger than I already am” He said, looking at the others determinedly “And… I lost a piece of the fire, it sealed itself into my companion and Mei’s ancestor, Ao Lie. The ring was passed down to the first born of the one who had it, so Mei would have it now. But…” The king closed his eyes as they all watched him “It was stolen years before any of you were born. The child who possessed it was taken, I helped look for them at Ao Lie’s request. The child was returned a few days later but without the ring, leaving a large mark where the ring had been. No ones been able to find it since.” 

Mei seemed to think for a moment as she looked at him “So, how are we supposed to reforge the fire without the final piece?” She asked, the thumping of MK’s tail distracting her as he let out a small gasp.

“A location spell!” He said quickly, Monkey king nodding to him “With something so powerful, the only way we’d be able to find it is with the other rings to help search for the same magic” MK finished with a smile, Mei looking at him confused. 

“I uh.. saw it in a book Plum was reading once and asked him about it before Macaque took it away” he admitted with a small shrug.

MK’s shadow slowly started getting longer below his feet, immediately catching Mei and Monkey king’s attention. “Sandy!” Mei quickly shouted, the river demon nodding as he quickly ran to fly the dronecoppter, Pigsy and Tang quickly following as MK yelped and jumped away from the now sentient shadow, slowly forming a figure on the ground.

“How you doin’ cub?” Macaque’s voice echoed through the area as he slowly rose from the shadow he was hiding in, grinning as he looked at them.

The shadow monkey had a darker purple outfit on now, a purple short hanfu with darker sleeves and light blue fabric around his waist. His scarf had also been replaced with a red cape, looking torn at the end with a reddish pink at the end. 

MK let out a snarl as he took a step away from the other demon, Mei snarling as well, her tail lashing behind her as she stood in front of MK, Monkey king standing in front of both protectively.

“You all look terrible, our old friend the lady bone demon really did a number on all of you” he said with a grin, tail flicking amused behind him as the king glared at him.

“You know, you were never the greatest guy. But I never thought you’d go as low as helping her ” Monkey king snarled back, making the shadow monkey glare back before scoffing.

MK glared at the monkey he once saw as his dad, his tail now lashing behind him “Where is he!?” He snarled, making the shadow monkey look at him confused before he grinned at the younger monkey, not giving an answer. “What did you do to my brother, Macaque?” He snarled his name out.

The shadow monkey cackled a little with a grin, taking a few steps back “Well, I’m so glad you asked” he grinned even wider, a blue glow suddenly slamming into the deck of the dronecoppter, sending a freezing cold gust of wind and a dust cloud outwards.

MK felt his face drop as he saw a figure stand up, ice spiked around the snow leopard’s feet. He noticed Mei’s tail twitch as the figure of Plum came clear through the dust.

The snow leopard was wearing silver armour that covered his shoulders and chest, the parts on his shoulders spiked downwards and out, joined together by a dark red diamond in the middle while the chest piece was outlined by a darker blue. A dark blue cloak reached his knees, covering the grey shirt underneath. The trousers were a similar blue grey, a dark red piece of fabric wrapped around his waist similar to Macaque. He also had dark grey boots while silver cuffs covered his wrists and held a glove in place.

What made MK feel sick was the emotionless look on his brothers face, glowing pure blue eyes while blue ice covered the entire right side of his face except the glowing eye. The ice covered his clothes and armour as it spread down his neck, over his shoulder and down to his hand, giving him sharp claw like hands as it spiked outwards.

“Meet my lady’s newest champion” Macaque grinned widely, seeming to take the horror on MK’s face as enough amusement. “How about I show you why he’s her champion” the macaque grinned wider as he put his hands behind his back, his tail hitting the deck once.

The snow leopard shot forward immediately towards Monkey king, slamming his ice covered hand into him and causing ice to quickly incase him up to his neck as the king let out a sharp gasp, the ice forcing him to stay completely still.

“Monkey king!” Mei said, eyes wide before she shook her head, pulled out her sword and ran towards the snow leopard, slamming her sword into the cuff on his arm as he raised it to block her. MK heard her gasp slightly as the snow leopard’s arm only slightly shook before he pushed her away and grabbed the jacket around her waist with his ice covered hand and slammed her into the decking.

She was quickly covered in ice up to her neck the same way as Monkey king, making MK take a step back as Plum stood up and looked at him. He felt his breath get stuck in his throat as he met the cold empty eyes of his brother, freezing in place as Macaque walked forward and patted the snow leopard on the head as if he was a pet.

“He listens to everything he’s been told. A big improvement from before, if you ask me” Macaque said casually with a shrug as he looked at Mei and Monkey king struggling in the ice “ very efficient too” he grinned again as he started walking towards MK.

“Now, the lady bone demon wants me to bring you and your little troop back to her. I don’t see why. Your friends are too weak to break through ice while you- ” MK took a step back as Macaque started getting too close for comfort “you still have my powers and the monkey king’s” The brown furred monkey was against the wall, breathing heavily as he glared, trying to find something to attack with.

“So I can see why she’d want you, but I would like my powers back… so-“ Macaque grinned until he was hit in the face with a wooden spoon, making him hold his face and stumble backwards as it fell to the ground, Pigsy and Tang glaring at him from the doorway. 

MK quickly grabbed the wooden spoon with his tail and moved it to his hands, holding it in front of him “Thanks Pigsy” he muttered to the pig demon, who nodded at him before they looked back at Macaque, rubbing his face where the spoon had been thrown into him.

“What’s the plan MK?” Tang asked, MK thinking as he looked at the wooden spoon, suddenly having an idea.

“Macaque would want to protect the ‘champion’ right?” He said, the other two nodding “Tang, get Sandy to tilt the ship into the air as much as possible, if we can make Macaque feel it’s too dangerous to stay he’ll move them both. I’ll throw the wooden spoon through the door when they leave” Tang nodded, quickly running inside.

“Pigsy, you find something you think could free Mei and Monkey king from the ice” the pig demon looked at him for a moment before nodding with a sigh and heading inside.

Macaque snarled at MK as the ship started going up, MK quickly grabbing the door frame. He felt slightly guilty as he saw Mei and Monkey king’s eyes widen as they looked at him confused and slightly terrified (which he couldn’t really blame them for) he pulled himself into the door frame as they went nearly straight up.

Plum started sliding backwards, Macaque a few seconds behind him as they started sliding down the deck. The dark furred monkey looked up at him with a glare before a shadow portal opened and Macaque dropped through it, Plum turning into a bird and quickly flying through as well before it closed.

As quickly as he could, MK threw the spoon towards the entrance of the control room, Tang’s head just about visible as he noticed it and called to Sandy as the dronecoppter started to level again.

MK sighed with relief as he stood on the ground again instead of the walls, seeing Pigsy make his way over with a stock pot of noodle broth “Pigsy this isn’t the time for-“ he blinked as the pig demon took the lid off the pot, steaming a lot. It made MK gasp and smile “Pigsy you’re a genius!” He said happily, making his way over to Mei first.

The part dragon didn’t look pleased at the monkey demon “MK are you insane!? Do you know how dangerous that was!?” She shouted, making him flinch as the noodle broth weakened the ice, Mei finally being able to break free.

“I mean- I didn’t really think about it? I usually have someone to tell me the problems so I’m not used to it?” He smiled nervously as Pigsy freed Monkey king, the king immediately going over to MK.

“Kid you need to think first! You could of got all of us killed with that stunt” The king said, looking at him terrified, MK’s ears dropping as he saw the look on his face.

“I’m sorry” he said, looking at the ground as the ginger monkey sighed a little, ruffling his head gently.

“Just- think about what you do next time, okay?” MK nodded, smiling at Monkey king. Until he saw shadow tendrils shoot into one of the engines, making his eyes widen.

“Guys-“ is all he got out before they all turned to look at the engine as it stuttered before exploding, throwing everyone to the side as they started falling through the clouds, the other engines exploding.

Water became visible through the clouds as they all tried to steady themselves “Uh- should we-“ Pigsy started as Monkey king quickly nodded, helping MK and Mei inside the dronecoppter, the pig demon close behind as they closed the door into the control room where red lights and alarms were blaring loudly, making the brown and ginger furred monkey demons to cover their ears.

“Everyone hold on!” Sandy shouted as they plummeted towards the ocean.

Macaque and Plum’s designs for season 3! MK and Mei will be shown next chapter!

Chapter Text

The dronecoppter slowly sunk further into the ocean, the small cabin everyone was in slowly filling with water. MK had immediately scrambled onto the highest point he could away from the water with Monkey king close behind while the others were stuck on whatever the next thing up was.

“Can’t swim?” Mei asked him from where she stood a few steps away from him on top of a seat.

“Heh… yeah… Da- Macaque wouldn’t let us. Plum told me it was probably a way of control as he wasn’t allowed to look at sea creatures at all. I told him that he was over thinking and it wasn’t a big deal. I’m starting to think he was right” MK laughed nervously as he smiled down at his friend, who looked slightly annoyed but nodded.

Sandy was still at the front of the cabin, trying to make something that could save them work as more alerts were heard from the screen “Why didn’t I make it water adventure friendly!” Sandy whined, Mo on his shoulder.

“So what’s the plan exactly!?” Pigsy asked from across the cabin, Tang next to him as more glass broke and let more water in, Mei yelping slightly as the glass above her head cracked.

A loud groan came from outside the sinking drone, something large shot past one side as the warning red lights started flashing “What was that!?” MK asked, eyes widening as he felt Monkey king stiffen slightly next to him.

“Uh, we’re in the east sea right?” Tang asked, Monkey king nodding nervously as the scholar groaned quietly, making the others look at him confused before a giant turtle like robot glared at them with glowing purple eyes from outside the sinking drone.

“That… cannot be good” He just about heard Mei mutter as it grabbed them and started swimming away with them, the group unable to see where they were heading.

It only took a few minutes before they were suddenly thrown down, dropping through the water then air before slamming into the ground below, the ship completely breaking on impact.

Mei let out a gasp, her dragon tail wagging behind her as she smiled widely at MK “We’re in the dragon palace of the east sea!” She said excitedly, practically bouncing from foot to foot as the others looked around wide eyed at the gold, cream and green underwater palace.

The brown furred monkey demon nodded slightly as he looked at her “oh yeah! You’re a descendant of Ao Lie!” He said, his tail flicking as he remembered Mei talking about it when they were younger. 

“I wouldn’t expect them to be too happy” The scholar sighed, after closing his notebook and putting it back in a pocket “This is where Monkey king stole his staff. If the stories were accurate… I would assume he hasn’t been forgiven” MK looked at Monkey king who just chuckled nervously with a small shrug, his tail twitching behind him.

The group turned as the entrance to the palace opened, two guards in front while Ao Guang and a woman with turquoise hair and glasses followed behind. Monkey king quickly moved to the front of the group, a large nervous smile on his face as the nervousness he’d shown before quickly disappeared.

“Hey, Ao Guang! It’s been a whi-“

“Sun Wukong!” The dragon king snarled, a large white energy dragon surrounded him, towering over the group more than the turquoise king already was. “How dare you enter my domain! After tricking me and letting your friend terrorize my home”

MK looked at Mei who shrugged slightly, neither seeming to have any idea what Ao Guang was talking about. But Monkey king seemed to as he shrunk at the comment before quickly fixing his stance “Look, I’m sorry about the staff and Macaque. But-“

“And now I find out it has been lost!? By the lady bone demon and that six eared monkey of all people!” The dragon snarled, Monkey king flinching “You have given them everything they need to destroy us all! I should execute all of you where you stand!”

“ Macaque was here before!?” MK muttered quietly to himself, feeling his tail wrap around his ripped trouser leg as the fur spiked. His mind raced for a moment before quickly shaking his head and focusing on what was in front of him.

“I wouldn’t be here if I had a-“ Monkey king was interrupted when the white dragon shot towards him, knocking him off his feet and sending him rolling nearly into the group.

“I will not be deceived again, trickster! I can sense your weakness. Your power is all but drained” he snarled, guards quickly surrounding the group as Monkey king moved backwards with them.

Tang was squished into the middle of the group as they backed away from the spears  aimed at their faces, MK pushed into Tang as Monkey king joined them. Mo hissed at the guard in front of him and Sandy while Mei quickly pulled out her dragon sword.

While it was still grey, having its powers drained with Mei, she held it out just as confidently as he’d ever seen her with it. It made him wish he could summon his shadow staff or something instead of being protected in the middle of the group. (Though he had to admit that it was.. nice to feel protected by someone other than his family)

“Hold!” The dragon king said, the guards backing away slightly as Mei looked around her confused before she looked at the king. “Where did you get that sword?” He asked, Mei’s tail flicking as her ears pricked slightly.

“It’s mine? I uh… have the dragon features to prove it if you liked” she chuckled nervously, her tail moving to the side as the group moved away from each other, though Monkey king stayed close to MK while Pigsy stayed in front of Tang.

“I know that blade. It belonged to my brother, the dragon of the west.” He commented, though glared slightly at it “Although, I do not remember it being grey” he snarled slightly as MK quickly walked past monkey king.

The monkey demon let his tail release his leg and looked at the dragon king “I’m sorry to interrupt but you know about the bone demon, so you also know what she’s capable of.” He started, getting the map from his torn clothes. “We have a plan to defeat her! We just-“

He was cut off as the white dragon shot forward and took the map, nearly knocking him off his feet. The quiet snarl and single foot step behind him telling him Monkey king hadn’t been happy at the dragon king’s near attack.

Ao Guang held the map as the dragon gave it back to him, disappearing as he glared at the brown furred monkey demon “You had a hand in releasing this demon, child.” He snarled “You dare try tell me how to protect my people? After you could hardly protect anyone from your own father” It made MK’s ears drop and tail wrap around his leg, squeezing slightly in an attempt to comfort himself as he took a few steps back and dropped his head.

Monkey king moved in front of MK, now shielding him from the dragon king as he put the map away and turned around. “Take the girl. Imprison the rest” He snarled as he walked away, the woman that had followed him out dragging Mei into the palace.

“Don’t worry guys! I’ll get us and the map out of here! Somehow!” Mei shouted, looking Monkey king in the eyes as she was dragged away while the guards started herding them away towards where MK assumed the prison was, though he heard them tell Sandy to stay so he could clean up.

The door to the prison slammed behind them as the four were forced inside, more security quickly barricading the door. He assumed this was one of the highest security cell they had as they put them all in together and had so much blocking the door.

“What are we going to do!? Mei’s been taken and Sandy is somewhere in the palace and there’s no way we’re getting out of here!” Tang started rambling, MK and Monkey king looking at the scholar slightly surprised as he started pacing the cell.

The pig demon grabbed the human by his scarf, stopping him as he made a choked noise “Tang, calm down! Mei will be fine . They clearly have no intention of hurting her, and Sandy is cleaning up. They would just throw him in here once he’s done otherwise they’d have done that with us” Pigsy told the scholar, who nodded as he seemed to relax now.

“Anyway, I have a plan to get us out!” He said with a grin, pulling out a plastic spoon and starting to dig at the wall.

“How… is a plastic spoon going to help?” MK asked confused, his tail flicking behind him as the pig demon continued, waving one hand at MK without turning away from the wall.

“There’s nothing a spoon can’t do! We’ll be out in no time!” Pigsy told them determinedly, getting another spoon out as the first one he was using broke.

He heard Tang sigh as Monkey king turned to him, looking slightly concerned and confused “Anyway… why don’t we start trying to get your powers to work? We could work on my own and maybe your shadow ones would come back!” He explained with a smile, making MK tilt his head as they walked over to the bed and sat down.

“But the lady bone demon stole my shadow powers, Mei’s too, you saw her sword!” MK whined as the king ruffled his head fur, smiling gently at him.

“They’re still Mei’s powers, they’ll come back to her again like when Macaque stole them. Just like the shadow powers you had became yours as well when they were given to you. You’ll both get them back.” MK couldn’t help but smile at the ginger monkey, his tail thumping quietly against the bed “For now though, let’s start working on my powers” Monkey king said, MK nodding with a smile.

————————————

Mei looked at herself in the mirror, smiling at the dragon themed dress she had on, liking it much better than the dresses her parents had tried to get her to wear when she was younger. 

They were incredibly uncomfortable material and were usually hard to move in. The colours were usually bright greens and whites that looked horrible together. They’d given up after she tore her 10th dress, letting her choose what to wear.

This was so much better though. The material didn’t irritate her skin, the colours looked pleasing, she could move in it and her tail didn’t push the back part up so much she had to wear an entire set of other clothes underneath.

Smiling widely, she looked over at the woman who had given her the clothes. “Damn, you make look good!” She said happily, picking up her sword and holding the grey blade over her shoulder “What if I asked you to give my parents some fashion advice?” She joked, the woman scoffing as she turned away with her torn up clothes.

“Well, you’re finally starting to look like a real part of the dragon clan. Whoever chose your outfit has idea how to dress someone born of the clan” Mei rolled her eyes at the woman, taking that as an insult as she’d chosen her own clothes for years.

Mei looked over the dress, her tail lashing annoyed as she held the sword “Hey, where exactly would I keep my sword? Also maybe I could have a tour that definitely wouldn’t show me where a super secret powerful map could be? Or even where my friends probably wouldn’t be?” She asked, the woman letting out a snarl as her own tail hit the ground hard.

“It is unseemly to have a weapon while wearing a dress! Give it to me or I will be forced to take it from you!” She snarled, Mei glaring at her, daring her to even try.

The part dragon demon quickly shut the woman in the wardrobe in the room, typing a bow around the handles so she wouldn’t be able to get out.

“Let me out! Just you wait till the grand dragon hears about this!” She shouted from inside, her voice muffled as she tried to force her way out.

“Nope! I have business to attend to! Anyway, don’t insult the dragon if you can’t handle the horns” she tapped her small dragon horns with a claw, a wide grin on her face that she knew couldn’t be seen by the other.

Turning and ignoring the woman trying to get out, she ripped a hole in the dress and left her sword there for now as she spotted a jacket and an entire new set of clothes neatly folded on the side.

“Maybe MK would like this? He needs something so.. might as well” she shrugged as she picked up the red jacket, turquoise bandana and the rest of the clothes. She saw a green jacket, her gloves, new trousers and a pair of shoes as well and decided to grab them too. The dress would probably not be great to fight in and her old clothes were torn up and they looked good.

She sprinted out the room, running through the palace as she tried to figure out where the map or her friends could be. Eventually she passed a large, green and silver door that looked more well kept than others she’d seen but still had no security. Though it made sense if the dragon clan here were anything like her mother so were incredibly protective of their artifacts.

Carefully opening the door, she peeked inside, not seeing anyone as she closed the door behind her and saw the map on a small lectern ahead of her. Taking small, quiet steps forward, she kept her hand on her sword and looked at all the artifacts she went past.

As she reached the bottom of the stairs up to the lectern, a green bolt of energy shot down, making her stop in place and pull out her sword. Her thousand times great uncle appeared with his white energy dragon with him, both glaring down at her as she glared back.

“Sneaking into the lair of a dragon is never wise” he said, hands behind his back as Mei locked eyes with him.

“I know, my mother hated it. But-“

“You cannot have the map. Orders of the Monkey king should not be taken over your allegiance to the dragon clan, your family.” He snarled, the energy dragon rearing up like a snake preparing to strike.

“My allegiance is to my family! My friends are just as much my family as you or my parents! I was trained by the Monkey king to protect the people of Megalopolis so I have a duty to protect them and the world too!” She told him “This is for my parents and everyone else! We need the map to find the fire and defeat the lady bone demon!”

“The lady bone demon cannot be stopped! She is beyond any of us! Your mentor does not know what he is talking about!” He snarled back, making Mei glare and prepare to launch forward “You would have been burdened with the fire if it had not been stolen! Ao Lie and his descendants were forced to have a piece of that destructive fire, thanks to that monkey! It was a blessing that they were no longer burdened with protecting something that could kill them!”

Green sparks started coming from the sword as she held it tightly, going up her body and making her green eyes glow. “And I would have dealt with that burden and done what I could to protect the world! We have to at least try !” She shouted, the sparks going around her body until a green smoke cloud surrounded her, disappearing to reveal a dark green dragon, red and green eyes looking at the king.

Ao Guang’s eyes widened as she went over him and grabbed the map in the same way her great uncle’s energy dragon had, her body was smaller than her dragon energy projection so she could easily jump around and back over him before she turned back to her part dragon form.

He looked at her shocked, she could tell her tail at least was different but she didn’t have time to think about it as she put the map in her dress and ran out the door before sprinting through the palace to try find anyone.

As she sprinted, she stopped when she saw the blur of Sandy in a doorway, skidding slightly as she turned and looked at the van in front of the river demon. “Wow… Sandy, this is so cool!” She said excitedly, her larger tail wagging behind her as she turned and saw two guards petting Mo, having stopped and were staring at them.

Mei and Sandy went over to them, quickly knocking the pair out before getting into the van, Sandy in the driver's seat and Mei in the passenger seat. “Did you make this with the remains of the dronecoppter?” She asked, her ears perked.

“Yeah, I was trying to remake it, but that’s incredibly hard to do without the instructions” Sandy explained as he turned to her “Nice makeover by the way, Mei!” he told her, the part dragon smiling widely as he started the van and quickly started driving.

————————————

MK groaned as he put his head against the wall behind them, dragging his hands down his face “Ugh, I can’t get it to work!” He whined as Monkey king put his tail on MK’s and looked at him.

“Don’t worry about it too much bud, it takes a bit of time and practice.” The king told him, smiling encouragingly “You’ve only used your gold vision once from what you’ve said, you’re used to using a completely different type of magic too, it’ll take a bit of getting used to.”

The dark furred monkey’s tail slowly moved happily next to him, quickly hugging the king. “Thanks Monkey king” he said, the other monkey demon hugging him back.

Monkey king teaching him was.. a lot different from what he was used to, he could get used to it though. It was nice not feeling pressured to get it within the first hour, being criticized on everything he did wrong. It made him wonder how Macaque had been with his brother when training without MK around, if he was just as bad, better or (most likely) worse.

As he pulled away from Monkey king, his ears pricked and he quickly got up “Uh, I think we should move-“ MK said, Monkey king and Tang following him as the king’s ears twitched and they all moved to the back wall except Pigsy, who was still digging at the wall with his fifteenth plastic spoon.

The roaring of a vehicle became clearer and clearer before Monkey king stood in front of them and shielded MK and Tang from the remains of the wall as a van crashed through the wall Pigsy had been attempting to dig through. MK smiled as he saw Sandy and Mei in the van.

“Mei! Sandy!” Tang shouted as the three went to get in the van, trying to squish in the front as Mei grumbled and pushed them away.

“Hey! There’s room in the back!” She grumbled, Tang and MK gasping as they looked at the back with an excited gasp, the human and brown furred monkey quickly moving to the back while Monkey king smiled at Mei.

“You look great kid” the king said, a smile on his face as MK looked and gasped at the part dragon demon, smiling widely.

His tail wagged excitedly behind him as he looked over Mei “Mei! You look so cool! Your eyes are green and red, your horns are longer and have red stripes on them, even your tail is more dragon like!” He said happily, seeing her look over herself as if she hadn’t yet.

The end of her ponytail was two shades of green now, matching the green in the hair on the sides of her face that also now had a lighter green on the bottom. Her tail was a lot thicker now, a darker green to match her ears with red stripes and fur that matched her hair.

“Huh, I do look good.” She said with a smile, pulling out her now green sword “I got my powers back and unlocked my true dragon form” she grinned proudly. Mei suddenly gasped and quickly pulled out a fanny pack she’d had under the dress “Also! I got us new clothes! I don’t know if you’ll like it but it’s probably better than that torn up stuff”

MK took the red and orange jacket, turquoise bandana with the trousers and shoes, looking at them excitedly “Pigsy probably has a shirt you could borrow, we made sure there was at least something basic for you to wear if you needed it” Tang called from the back, going through a bag before pulling out a white (but slightly stained) shirt that would just about fit him.

“I got myself something too” Mei said proudly, jumping out the seat as Pigsy grumbled and took the passenger seat.

The pair quickly got changed, putting MK’s old clothes and the dress Mei had into a pile as Sandy started reversing out the prison cell. 

“Kid, you wear a binder?” Monkey king asked, MK looking confused as he nodded “How long have you been wearing it?”

“Uh… since the lady bone demon attacked” He responded, seeing the Monkey king’s eyes widen in slight horror before he sighed and waved his hand.

“I’ll talk to you about that later, but that’s not good for you at all” He just about heard the king grumble as MK tilted his head but put the rest of the clothes on, proudly standing next to Mei in their new clothes.

Mei rolled her sleeves up as MK took the bandana off his head, throwing it with the rest of the old clothes as his fur flopped in front of his eyes, nearly completely blocking his vision “What should I do about the headband? I can’t really.. see without it but don’t really want to keep it” he admitted.

The tearing of fabric behind them made them look at Monkey king with his torn scarf, tearing it in half with a little struggle. “Well, you’re both technically my students now and I have no use of this anymore so, MK you can use part of it as a headband if that works, Mei can do something similar. You know, if you both wanted” he said, seeming a bit nervous as the van bumped as they continued to drive.

MK and Mei both smiled widely and took one half of the scarf each, both tearing off a large piece each. MK immediately wrapped it around his head in the same way as his bandana, lifting the fur in his eyes out the way except the usual flick of hair that always hung over it. Mei on the other hand carefully tied it around her neck with a smile.

The van suddenly stopped, making Mei and MK stumble as they were the only ones still standing, both falling to the ground as the van spun to face the wrong direction. The ginger monkey quickly knelt down next to them, his tail tip twitching anxiously with Tang close behind.

The dragon king suddenly flung the doors open as he took a step in, Monkey king snarling at him. “I cannot allow you to leave with that map!” He shouted, the ginger monkey let out a frustrated groan.

“What are you not understanding!? The Samahdi fire is the only choice we have if we want to stop the lady bone demon!”

“The fire cannot be contained! And have you even thought about the ring that was lost!?” 

“We have! We have a mostly proper plan! It might not be defined fully but we know what we’re doing!” MK begged the dragon king, ears down and his tail flicking behind him.

“We don’t have any other choice if we want to save everyone” Mei joined him, looking at her great uncle desperately.

Suddenly, Ao Guang’s eyes turned green, Monkey king’s own turning gold as they both faced out the van. “Macaque” Monkey king snarled, the dragon king’s tail flicking as he let out a deep rumble at the name.

MK felt his fur spike at the mention of him, feeling at least a little comforted by the different clothes he had on, being orange and red instead of shades of purple. “If Macaque gets us, or even the map…” MK said quietly, Monkey king wrapping his tail around his wrist as him and Mei looked at the dragon.

Tang quickly made his way to the front of the van, looking at the scanner “We need to leave, like, now!” He said, Pigsy and Tang watching the back of the van.

Ao Guang thought for a moment before sighing and nodding, eyes scrunching in thought. “All hope truly will be lost” he sighed, turning and jumping out the van “I’ll hold him off” he told them.

MK went to look out the back to see if Plum was there as well, not wanting his brother to get hurt. A tug on his wrist stopped him though, turning to look at Monkey king who shook his head with a small smile, MK nodding as he let Monkey king pull him back.

Mei quickly went to the back of the van, smiling at her great uncle before they slammed the door and zoomed off, the van quickly changing to work underwater.

As the van kept going, MK could see the giant turtle mech that brought them there preparing to fight as Macaque’s shadow monster loomed over the palace, Macaque and his shadow clones in front.

He looked at the others before sighing, sitting down next to Mei as he thought about where they were going next.

 I’m not good at describing designs SO! MK and Mei’s new designs!

Chapter Text

The van traveled fast across the desert as the ominous blue sky behind them disappeared into the distance. The group let out a groan from inside the smoldering hot van, the two monkey demons not being suited for the heat with their thick fur.

MK had taken off his jacket, keeping it around his waist leaving the stained white shirt on after Monkey king had insisted he take off the binder (apparently he needed to take a break from wearing it, and he had to admit he didn’t feel as hot after taking it off and he hadn’t realized how much his chest hurt till now) so was using a glamour to cover his chest better, though he was still sweating buckets.

Mei seemed to be dealing with it the best, her dragon blood seeming to help her deal with it better, though she still was sweating a lot thanks to her human side so had also tied her jacket around her waist as she sat in one of the seats.

Sandy was driving the van, Tang in the passenger seat while Pigsy sat opposite Mei, leaving MK and Monkey king panting from the heat at the back of the van.

“So, uh… where we heading? So far it’s just been… sand and desert” Sandy said nervously, looking away from the back mirror, showing the dark ominous skies behind them.

Tang groaned a little as he looked at the map, from what MK could tell it wasn’t exactly clear, Mei going over to try figure out what everything on it meant. “You have any clue what the map says Monkey king?” Mei called to them, the king just shaking his head as he seemed to be overheating a lot worse than the others.

“Why don’t I take a look? My brain might be a puddle but I’ve traveled a bit” MK suggested, forcing himself up from the sweat puddle that had been building up under him, his tail dragging just above the ground of the van.

As he reached the front, he let out a slight sigh as he finally felt the cool AC on his face, looking over Tang’s shoulder at the map. He let out a disgusted groan, pulling the map closer to his face “This isn’t a map! This is just- just random doodles with what I hope is supposed to be the rings!” He nearly shouted in Tang’s ear, making the human in the seat lean away slightly and give him an annoyed look “Sorry” he quickly said with a guilty smile, the scholar sighing but focusing back on the map.

Monkey king sighed from the back of the van, also making his way closer to the AC and sighing quietly at the cool air as well “Well it’s not like we wanted the rings to be found, if we made it an accurate map to show exactly where it was-“

“-anyone who got it would have little trouble putting the fire together” Mei finished, the ginger monkey responding with a nod and hum.

MK nodded as he looked closer at where the red rings were, trying to figure out what exactly things could be. He let out a gasp as he recognised one of the parts a ring was on “That looks like the Bull family fortress!” MK suddenly said with a smile, pointing to the ring with two spikes coming out the side of it.

Mei looked at him and tilted her head slightly, her pink and green eyes focused on him “Really? I thought they lived in the city?” Mei questioned, making MK snort and twitch his tail amused.

“Of course they don’t live in the city! They made a temporary base there while Uncle got his strength back so he could.. attack the.. city” his voice trailed off as the others looked at him, making him cough and continue “Anyway, the fortress is massive in the middle of the desert surrounded by lava but is surprisingly cooler than inside this van”

“Do you know which way it is?” Sandy asked, making MK sigh and shake his head.

“We used to shadow travel there, Macaque said it was too much trouble traveling by foot so we always shadow portaled right outside if we weren’t expected, inside if we were” he explained, ears dropping slightly as he thought about his cousin, aunt and uncle.

He wondered if they’d ever want to be around him again once they find out about Macaque, his powers and the fact he was with Mei, her friends and Monkey king. MK knew they were a powerful family, he’d seen it first hand whenever someone disrespected any of them, Princess iron fan would make sure they never even spoke of them again.

Would they hate him for having Monkey king’s powers? For going against his da- Macaque (he really wished he would stop calling him that) or just being around Monkey king? Muchless being his student !? 

MK blinked as a hand was put on his shoulder, turning his head to see Mei looking at him worried, he just smiled at her before turning his attention back to the map, not really wanting to answer any questions.

“Those look like lanterns right?” MK said, pointing at the red flame like ring on the other side of the map, Tang nodding a little with Mei seeming to agree as well. “I think that might be the city of lanterns. They have a giant lantern in the city with a ring in it that they said was thrown there by Monkey king. If I had to guess, that’s probably one ring we’re looking for” He finished.

“How exactly do you know that kid?” Pigsy asked from where he sat, looking at MK confused.

“We traveled a lot for years before staying in Megapolis, we usually moved every two to five years. The city of lanterns was a place we stayed in for… three years I think.”

“How do you remember it then?”

“Simple! Each place I remember usually had something significant about it. Like the giant lantern in the middle of the city and the festival they have each year to celebrate the ring bringing life back to the place.” Mei gasped slightly, seeming to be about to ask more questions as the van suddenly slowed down to a stop.

They all looked at the now beeping screen in the middle of the van showing the temperature of the van was way too high for it to function at all. The monkey demons both let out a groan as the air conditioner went off as well.

They all whined as they got out the van, now in the blistering heat with a single tree to shade them, MK and Monkey king immediately taking shelter underneath as Sandy started looking at the van.

“Is there any training we can do while we wait? Sitting here won’t exactly help us” Mei asked as she walked over and joined them.

Monkey king looked at the ground thinking as MK gasped with an idea “Show us your true dragon form! I bet it looks so cool!” He said excitedly, tail wagging behind him as he partly leaned over the king next to him.

The part dragon seemed to think for a moment before nodding, a wide smile forming on her face as she took a few steps back and pulled out her sword. She closed her eyes and her tail went completely still on the sand, MK watching in awe as green sparks went across her body, quickly covering her in a green cloud.

When it dispersed, MK let out a gasp and quickly made his way over, smiling widely as he looked at her. She looked just a bit longer than the palm tree they were sheltering under, a lot smaller than her energy dragon. “You look so cool!” His tail whipping behind him.

The green dragon was smiling back at him, her sharp teeth showing. Her horns had grown longer and she had a dark green and black mane going down her back, part going around the sides of her face similar to her usual hair.

Doing a few small hand flap, he hopped on his feet slightly as she stretched her neck as high as she could, making her tower over him. He watched her face light up with a small gasp, her whiskers just above his head as he tail flicked and her ears lifted “Do you guys see that!?” She asked excitedly, making MK look over where she was.

He let out a gasp as a large lake of glowing blue water was visible, trees and plants around it. “Water!” They both cheered excitedly, the others (except Monkey king) smiling excitedly too as Mei picked MK up and put him on her back as she sprinted towards the oasis, Tang and Sandy with Pigsy on his back close behind as they ignored the calls of Monkey king.

As they sprinted towards the water, MK clinging onto his friend’s fluffy mane so he didn’t fall. Mei got ahead and jumped to go into the water, the monkey demon yelped as the dragon jumped in the dirty puddle of water, squishing her face into the puddle as MK tumbled off, hitting the ground with a groan.

“Ex-squeeze me, but you’ll have to pay for that” a voice said from inside a wooden stand in front, a turquoise fish demon in a bowl of water with mechanical arms and legs walked into view.

Mei pulled her head out the puddle with a small whine, changing back to her part dragon form as she rubbed her nose. “Please sir? Our van broke down and our water’s boiling!” She whined, doing her best pleading eyes at him.

MK let out a slight chirp as a tail wrapped around his waist and picked him up off the ground, standing him back on his feet. “You okay kid?” He asked quietly, MK nodding with a smile as the other unwrapped his tail from his waist.

“Oh you're thirsty?” The fish demon said after seeming to think for a bit “Well help yourselves” he gestured to the muddy puddle Mei had landed in.

The group looked at each other, Tang looking slightly disgusted at the idea. “Okay, so maybe we buy something that’ll help us? Like more water and something to help us through the desert” Pigsy suggested.

“Do we have any money to buy something with?” Tang asked, everyone looking at each other before looking at the fish demon as he cleared his throat.

“No money? No problem! How would you folks feel about something like this?” He pulled out a large engine from the back of the stand, Mei gasping as she looked over it, tail wagging. 

“It’s perfect! It’d get us through the desert way faster!” She excitedly told them, eyes shining as she looked at them.

“Wait, how would we get it if we have no money?” The human asked, looking at the fish demon confused as the fish smiled.

“Simple, you win it!” He said, pushing a button making the roof of the stand open, a mechanical pole appearing from it as a cardboard audience was put on one side, a screen on the other while a board appeared above the stand like a real game show. “Welcome to, desert deal of the day! With your host, the gold fish demon!” He cheered.

MK looked at the others, the rest looking back slightly confused. “I’ll… go prepare the van and save as much of our water as I can” Sandy said, turning and heading back towards the van with Mo on his shoulder.

“The rules are simple!” The gold fish continued “You put something of value to win something of equal value! Winner takes all!” He announced.

MK nodded as his tail flicked behind him “Okay, quick group huddle!” He said, waving the others in (who all looked confused except Mei) “So, what we got to offer?” He asked, looking at the others.

“Shouldn’t we find out what game it is first? We wouldn’t want to risk not winning” Tang said, the others nodding as they turned to the fish demon.

“So what’s the game?” MK asked, tilting his head slightly.

“This game is called One Shell Monty! The rules are simple, I’ll put Monty under one of three bowls, shuffle them around a bit and you just point to which one contains Monty!” He explained as a table appeared in front of him, three bowls and a tortoise on it, who MK assumed was Monty.

“Seems simple enough” he shrugged, turning back to the group “So, what we putting up?” 

“The only thing I can think of that would be ‘equal value’ would be my dragon sword” Mei said, MK grinning as she pulled it out.

“Perfect! Let’s put that up! And who should go up?”

“Why don’t you bud? It’d be a great time to try learn gold vision” Monkey king suggested, MK nodding a little as he thought.

“I don’t know-“ Pigsy started but was quickly interrupted by Mei.

“Yeah yeah! We get a cool engine and you learn to use your mystic monkey powers!” Mei agreed, Pigsy and Tang looking at each other before moving away from the huddle, Monkey king and Mei now standing on either side of MK.

“Okay, so all you need to do is focus on what you want to see. It’ll highlight itself when your vision turns gold” Monkey king explained, MK nodding as he thought.

“Doesn’t sound too hard, I’ll win us that engine AND keep your sword Mei!” He said as she gave him a thumbs up, though her tail twitched nervously behind her as he stood in front of the table, grinning widely as he put the sword up for his wager.

“Let’s go!” The gold fish demon said as he put a bowl over Monty then started shuffling them over the table, going so fast MK could barely see what one it was.  After a few seconds, he put the bowls into their places, letting them go still as he smiled at MK “now, where is Monty?” He cheered.

The monkey demon hummed as he looked at the bowl, trying to focus enough for the gold vision to activate. His tail thudded against the ground as he focused but nothing happened, letting out a grumble as he pointed at the middle one.

The gold fish demon lifted the bowl, revealing no Monty underneath “Aww, too bad” He said “Looks like I’ll be taking that sword”.

MK looked at Mei behind him, who smiled and gave a thumbs up, though she looked like she was holding back tears as Pigsy and Tang looked a bit annoyed “O - okay.. this is just a bit of a setback! I’m sure I can win it back!” He quickly turned back to the fish demon “I can win it back right?” He asked quietly.

“Well of course! You just have to wager something of equal value to the sword and engine!”

 MK nodded as he thought, gasping when he had an idea. 

Quickly grabbing the papers in Pigsy’s pocket, he put them onto the table with a wide grin, ignoring Pigsy’s protests as the fish demon looked at the papers. “A deed to Pigsy’s noodles..? Sounds fancy! I’ll take it!”

“Kid, you just put my entire business up. You better not lose this!” Pigsy shouted, being held back by Tang.

The fish demon set up the game again, putting Monty under a bowl and shuffling them then presenting them to MK to pick “Now, where is Monty!” 

The brown furred monkey focused hard as he looked at the bowls, seeing a flicker of gold as he saw Monty under the right bowl. He let out a laugh as he smiled, pointing to the right one “That one!” He announced.

His eyes widened when the gold fish demon picked up the bowl, revealing no Monty underneath. MK wrapped his tail around his leg as he let out a quiet whine, not wanting to turn towards the furious pig demon who he could hear shouting behind him.

He attempted to win back the sword and the deed. Then he tried again, and again, and again and kept trying till he had only the clothes on his back left.

Letting out a frustrated shout, he pulled at his fur as his tail lashed furiously. His gold vision had been flickering on and off but hadn’t seemed to be working as every time he got it wrong ! 

“Hey bud, let’s calm down for a second, okay?” Monkey king said gently, putting his tail around MK’s waist as he gently guided him away from the others and the fish demon, getting him to stop pulling at his fur.

“But the gold vision won’t work! It’s flickering so I see Monty but he’s never in the one it shows !” MK snarled, his tail lashing furiously behind him. “So it’s either not working or I’m not doing good enough! I’ve lost everyones things, I haven’t gotten us the engine, they’re all probably mad at me and- and-” he could feel tears running down his face, making him try to wipe them away.

He let the other monkey demon pull him into a comforting hug, hugging back tightly as he took deep breaths to try calm himself down, remembering the similar techniques used with his brother.

“If it’s flickering then you’re getting close bud, you just gatta try believe in yourself, even a little can make a difference. I don’t know what Macaque taught you, but you don’t have to perfect it immediately” The king told him gently, feeling the tail around his waist squeeze slightly.

“… thanks Monkey king” he said quietly, smiling a little as his tail tip flicked. 

MK looked at the fish demon over the monkey’s shoulder, his gold vision flickering again as he blinked, thinking of an idea. “Hey Monkey king? I.. think I have an idea” he said as he pulled away from the other, Monkey king looking at him curiously.

Quickly whispering it to the king, he didn’t look too convinced but MK put on his most pathetic face which made Monkey king immediately give in. “Okay bud, one more try. If this doesn’t work the others aren’t going to take this lightly” he warned, MK nodding as he went back over to the fish demon.

Now wearing a confident smile again, he flicked his tail behind him as he prepared himself. He could practically feel the fury of the group behind him as Monkey king had told them what he planned to do, but none of them verbally protested so he decided to continue “I have one more try, and I will wager… my friends!”

The fish demon didn’t look too convinced, looking at him skeptically “I may have only had friends for a week, but they’ve helped me more than anything!” MK told him, grinning still as the gold fish demon seemed to think about it before shrugging and looking back at the monkey demon.

“I suppose… I could use a few servents!” The gold fish demon grinned back, setting up the table to play.

The gold fish demon put Monty under one of the bowls then started shuffling the bowls, MK taking a deep breath as he looked at them. He put all his attention on the bowls in front of him, watching them as they flickered gold then normal before turning gold again.

After a few times, everything stayed gold, making MK smile as he watched them, following the one with Monty inside with his gold vision before seeing three parts of the table glow too.

The bowls stopped moving after a few seconds, stopping his gold vision when he saw where the bowl hiding Monty had stopped. “So.. where is Monty!” The gold fish demon grinned widely, MK cackling to himself as he looked back with the same grin.

“The middle one!” He pointed at the middle bowl, grinning as the gold fish demon confidently lifted the bowl, already preparing his too bad speech. The other let out a gasp as he lifted the bowl and saw Monty, making MK grin even wider at the demon’s confusion.

“Impossible! How-“

“You were tricking us the entire time!” He grinned confidently “You rigged the table so whatever bowl Monty was under, he’d dropped through so the contestant was always wrong!” He announced, tapping his tail under the trapdoor Monty was on as he crossed his arms proudly. “Which makes you a cheater!”

The gold fish demon stumbled backwards as Mei with her sword tightly in her grasp walked over, Pigsy and Tang close behind as they loomed dangerously over the fish demon, who was now smiling nervously up at them. “Hey now, we can make a deal! hehe… friends?” He tried to bargain, only getting an evil laugh from Mei as she turned into her dragon form, towering over him.

It didn’t take long for them to get all their stuff back to the van, bringing the engine first so Sandy could connect it while they brought the rest of the stuff back. By the time they were finished, Sandy had completed the upgrade and they could all climb back into the van, finally giving them relief from the heat.

“You did it MK! You got your first Monkey king power!” Mei said happily, side hugging the monkey excitedly as he chuckled a little, though smiled at her.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for losing all your stuff.. and putting you guys in danger” He said to the group, rubbing the back of his neck as Mei shrugged, though Pigsy grumbled and Tang sighed, focusing back on the map in the front of the van.

“It’s cool MK, we got our stuff back, and it helped you! While I would have preferred to not lose that stuff or be put up as a trade… I forgive you monkey man” She grinned at him, MK smiling back as a hand started ruffing up his head fur, making him let out a surprised chirp.

He looked up to see Monkey king smiling proudly down at him “You did good bud! You believed in yourself and found your strength when you needed it. Even figured out how to use your first power!” MK smiled up at his mentor, his own tail thumping against the floor of the van happily as Sandy started it up and started zooming through the desert. 

The king sat next to MK, wrapping his tail around him “One power down, just a few thousand more to learn!” He announced as the van continued towards the sunset.

Chapter Text

Mk sat next to the river in front of Monkey king, Mei on his other side as they listened to all the powers he had. “There’s also 72 transformations, changing size, changing the staff’s size, even duplication” The king finished with a smile, MK and Mei nodding.

“I could already do the transformations and duplications with my shadow powers so that probably wouldn’t be too hard to learn.. again” MK said, tapping his tail against the ground as the part dragon next to him nodded.

“Yeah! You’ve already got gold vision down!-”

“Barely”

“- but you can do it now! So you’ll be able to do those and your shadow powers in no time!” Mei encouraged, pulling him into a side hug again, making him laugh a little.

“Yeah I guess.. just wish I didn’t feel so.. useless” he sighed, his ears and head lowering.

He felt a hand ruffle his hair again, making him chirp in surprise and blinked surprised when he heard a chirp back, looking up at the ginger monkey. The king looked slightly surprised by what he did as well before rubbing the back on his neck, moving his hand away from MK.

“You’re not useless bud, you figured out the map mostly before any of us could put anything together. You also got us that engine.” Monkey king smiled at him as he kneeled down to his level. “You did one of those without your powers, you did the other while learning a new one. You’re anything but useless.”

“You got us away from Macaque too while protecting the map! If anything you’re the most important part of the team monkey man!” Mei joined in, smiling widely at him as he sighed but nodded with a smile.

“Thanks guys” MK said to them, Mei pulling both monkeys into a hug as her dragon tail wagged happily behind her, MK hugging her and the other as he felt him hug back too. 

Letting out a small sigh, he felt his tail start swaying slightly behind him as the other two hugged him. It made him feel safer than he ever had before, Macaque and Plum had never been good with hugs (he was pretty sure that was only the only things his brother had in common with him) so feeling two people happy to hug him like this was comforting.

A shout from Pigsy made them all move away though, barely hearing a slight grumble from Monkey king as he stood up. “I should go help pack up, I’ll get Sandy to come over and help you do a bit of meditation until we leave” the king shrugged, MK now noticing the tail wrapped around his wrist as it squeezed gently before moving away “That sound okay to you two?” He asked, MK and Mei nodding as he smiled at them. “Great, I’ll see you in a bit cubs” he said as he started making his way back to the van.

As soon as he was out of sight, Mei grabbed his shoulders and pulled him close to her face, making them nearly nose to nose. “Did he call us cubs ?” She asked, sounding confused but excitement edging her voice while he nodded. “You, I can understand he was supposed to raise you and was extremely upset when you were lost so he’d probably be feeling all that again” she rambled, finally releasing his shoulder, letting him back away.

“But me? He’s only known me for a few months!” She rambled, MK watching her until Sandy came around the corner, waving at him as he came and sat down with them.

“You doing okay Mei?” Sandy asked, looking a bit confused when she finally stopped rambling, only getting a nod in response asNow… she twitched her ears slightly.

The water demon was about to say something as his eyes widened at something behind them, none of them having time to react as shadow tendrils quickly wrapped around them, covering their mouths and tightly trapping their arms to their bodies as they were trapped on the ground.

A figure rose from Sandy’s shadow in front of them, grinning at them as his tail flicked. “Hey there cub, it’s good to see you again” he sneered, making MK glare at him as his tail lashed furiously behind them, Mei doing the same.

“Kids, Sandy, we’re leaving!” A call from Pigsy made the shadow monkey’s ears twitch annoyed before he grinned again at the dragon and monkey demon in front of him.

Three shadows rose nearby, taking the shape of Sandy, Mei and MK and replicating their appearance “Coming Pigsy!” The fake MK shouted as they quickly went around the corner, joining the others, a few seconds later hearing the van drive off.

Macaque smiled at them as the sound of the van disappeared into the distance, “now… let's have a chat shall we?” He sneered, Mei struggling to get out the restraints they all dropped through a shadow.

————————————

Pigsy drove the van, talking about how he made noodles as Tang slept beside him. Wukong sat at the back with the others, his tail tapping as Mei and MK sat in the seats, completely silent until Pigsy waited for a response. Sandy sitting with them was one of the odder things, not even seeming to have thought about Mo who was still in the top part of the truck.

As if on cue, the blue cat came down and looked at the three other demons in the back of the van, hissing as he went to the ginger monkey instead of Sandy or the others. It made Wukong glare at the three before finding a piece of scrap paper from MK’s doodling, using the blank side to draw a waterfall with a red circle in it, similar to the map.

“Hey bud” He started, making MK turn to him, head tilted slightly. “Would you mind reminding me what this place was? Just wanna make sure we’re heading the right way” he said, the monkey demon said as MK came over, looking at it thoughtfully.

“Oh! That’s the.. city with a giant waterfall at the edge of it, a river going straight down the middle of it. We heading there next for the ring?” He asked, smiling at Wukong.

The king lashed his tail as he looked at who he now knew was a fake MK, picking up Mo with his tail and headed to the front of the van, closing the curtain behind him. “We have a problem” he said quietly, immediately waking Tang up and making Pigsy look at him confused. “Those guys in the back? They’re fakes. MK didn’t realize I showed him a fake ring location and the blue guy didn’t even look for his cat, who won’t even go near him” he told them, Mo sitting on Tang’s lap as he glared at the curtain behind them.

The pig demon nodded a little as Tang looked at him worried “How are we going to deal with them? We’re not exactly… up to fight” the human asked, making the king think as his tail flicked.

“Do you even know what they are?” Pigsy asked, turning slightly to face them as he slowed down the van slightly.

“If I had to guess, shadow clone. Macaque is the only one who’d take all of them without us noticing and making near to perfect clones.” He told them, Pigsy nodding.

“Well, it seems you’ve figured it out” a voice behind the curtain said, it being pulled to the side to show the three with glowing white eyes. “Which means, there’s no need for us anymore” The MK clone grinned, exactly like Macaque as they disappeared in the shadows.

Pigsy immediately slammed on the breaks, nearly knocking Monkey king over as he steadied himself. “Great! Now they’re gone, what we ganna do now?” He asked, turning to face them in his seat. “We know they’re not ganna be back where we left em if it was Macaque, but we can’t continue without them”

Monkey king was about to respond when a thud sounded near the van, everything suddenly becoming colder. The human swallowed nervously as they slowly made their way to the back of the van, closing the curtain behind them “That… cannot be good” 

————————————

They reappeared far east of where they were heading, the dark blue skies of where the lady bone demon had spread her control now visible in the distance. The shadows covering their mouths disappeared, though the ones keeping them to the ground tightened significantly.

“Here’s the deal, I’m going to bring you back to the lady bone demon, she’ll use you guys to power her mech. In return… I won’t hurt you. How does that sound cub?” He asked, MK and Mei snarling at him.

“Do not call me cub” MK snarled back, baring his teeth at the older monkey demon.

“And as if we’d agree to that!” Mei joined in, doing the same as MK as her tail lashed furiously in the sand behind them.

Macaque looked at them annoyed, his ears flicking and his blind eye twitching slightly “fine, I guess I’m doing this the hard way” he snarled, tightening the restraints around them, making them all shout in pain.

MK gritted his teeth as he glared at the monkey demon, his vision flickering gold as he tried to pull himself free. The shadow monkey only scoffed and leaned over him slightly, grinning “Did you learn a new trick little cub ?” He mocked, grinning at MK as he kept struggling, let out a shout.

Macaque’s eyes widened as he broke free from the restraints, launching himself at the demon he once saw as family. Knocking the other onto his back, he threw a punch at him with one hand, the other catching it before doing the same with the other.

“That baby power isn’t going to get you out of this one bud ” he grinned “Too bad you’re just as useless as your brother used to be” MK’s eyes widened at that, Macaque pushing him away and skidding across the sand with a grunt.

A roar came from the part dragon demon as she broke free as well, green sparks flying across her body as a green smoke cloud covered her. She shot out and hit Macaque with her horns, sending him flying backwards as Sandy broke free and she stood in front of MK.

The dragon quickly turned back into her normal form, holding her sword tightly in front of her as she snarled. “Cool trick Mei!” MK said as he pushed himself up, Sandy close behind.

The dark furred monkey snarled at her “So, I see someone got their powers back” he grumbled, glaring at them “I guess we’re doing this the hard way” shadows started circling Macaque, quickly forming the shadow monster until the ground around them started shaking and surrounded the shadow monster similar to MK’s when fighting the lady bone demon.

The shadow mech pulled an arm back and slammed it into them, MK and Mei ducking as Sandy quickly stood in the middle of them, holding his arms up as he stopped the fist slamming into them. “Come on guys, just give him up and you’ll be free to go” Macaque shouted at them.

“I will not let you take my friend! While I cannot fight, I will protect them the best I can!” Sandy shouted as he wobbled to keep the mech’s fist away, Mei quickly dragging MK out the way.

“Oh, you can’t fight?” The dark furred monkey snarled as he lifted his fist up and grabbed Sandy, slamming him into the ground as shadows covered most of his body and slowly tightened.

“Sandy!” Mei shouted, eyes wide as she looked at the trapped river demon as another fist went towards her, the part dragon pushing MK out the way as she was grabbed and wrapped in the same shadows as Sandy.

MK took a step back as he looked at Macaque, his tail wrapping around one of his legs “Let them go Macaque! It’s me you want right? Then just take me!” He begged, the monkey in the mech chuckling at him as he grinned widely.

“Aww sorry cub, I already have them and it’s been a while since I’ve killed someone.” He sneered back “Kinda hard to do with two kids old enough to understand what blood is. But now that I don’t have to worry about that anymore…” Sandy and Mei screamed as the shadows and fists around them tightened.

“I said…” MK snarled as purple and gold sparked around him, his tail unwrapping from his legs as he bared his teeth and shot into the air. He could feel the energy going through him, the new warm yet strong magic mixing with the familiar cold and dark shadow magic running through his body.

“Let. Them. Go!” He shouted, gold and purple surrounding him as he shifted into a bird, glaring at the other.

“No!” Macaque shouted as he lifted up the fist with Mei in and swung it at MK, quickly flying out the way as he struck the mech in the eye.

The shadow monkey let out a pained scream, letting go of Mei and Sandy as he quickly dived to grab them and flew away as the mech exploded.

Mei held onto Sandy as they flew away from the destroyed mech, MK refusing to turn back and look at the one he’d thought of as a dad as his shouting faded into the distance.

Finally got to designing Mei’s full dragon form!

Chapter Text

Plum was dragged forward by the shadows wrapped around his waist, another shadow wrapping his wrists tightly behind his back while one covered his mouth, forcing him to breathe through his nose as the armour on his shoulders clattered and weighed him down.

He hated what they’d forced him to wear, the armour on his shoulders and chest made him feel slow and heavy, same with the boots on his feet. If he’d had a choice, he wouldn’t have even dreamed of wearing anything so heavy and suffocating. The colours didn’t help, sure they weren’t purple anymore but the dark blues in the situation he was in right now… really made him feel worse.

The Mayor standing behind him pushed him to the ground as they reached the furnace, Macaque standing a few steps in front as the shadows around his waist and wrists tightened to keep him against the floor.

The lady bone demon was facing spider queen, held in their air only by the bone demon’s magic, the rest of her crew close behind her trapped in the same way. “I helped you! I’m the queen! You can’t do this to me or my spiders!” The queen snarled at the bone demon, glaring at her furiously until she looked at the six eared Macaque.

“I knew something was fishy about you! Who are you really !?” The lady bone demon just looked at her with a straight face “No one who works with him is good news!” Macaque let out a quiet scoff as the bone demon pulled the queen closer.

Plum tried to push himself away from the furnace, his legs still being free, as he attempted to move his legs out from under him. He was quickly stopped as a hand grabbed both his ears and pulled his head back, forcing him to look at the Mayor looming over him. “Try that again, little leopard, and we’ll find another way for you to be useful ” he whispered quietly while grinning, pulling on his ears as the snow leopard glared at him before going back to how he was sitting before.

The blank eyed human let go of his ears, letting him put his head back up to look at what was happening in front of him. He heard the spider queen snarl as she glared at the demon “You are that bone witch! I should have never let you close to my court!” The queen shouted, the girl just smiling at her.

“Your destiny is nearly complete my queen, exactly as I promised you” the demon smiled as she moved to the side of the furnace calmly.

Suddenly, dark tendrils shot out the furnace towards the spider demons, making the snow leopard’s eyes widen and try back away as the tendrils destroyed the spider queen’s mechanical spider body, then her crown and the rest of the spider court’s mechanical enhancements.

He tried to lower his ears to block out their screams and pleads for help but he couldn’t look away as they were dragged into the furnace, quickly silencing their screams.

The shapeshifter could feel the panic setting in, staring wide eyed at the furnace as it cracked and the bone mech formed from it. Struggling against the shadow restrictions, he pulled at the ones on his arms to try get out, tears forming in his eyes as the panic completely set in.

He was only stopped as Macaque glared at him and tightened the shadows around his wrist and waist, making him whimper as he stared wide eyed at the lady bone demon as she walked in front of him.

“Your destiny is just beginning my champion” She said, smiling calmly as she put her hand out and a sigil appeared in front of him, making him try even harder to get away as the spirits shot into him, starting to cover his body in ice as he felt himself forced further into his mind.

Only seeing her glowing blue eyes as he was forced into his mind.

————————————

The chill outside slowly seeped into the van as the demon outside got closer, the clunking of armour with every slow, heavy step towards the van. Monkey king blinked as he activated his gold vision, finally starting to get his powers back and looked through the walls of the van.

He could see Plum slowly walking towards the van, the ice covering his right side looking like it’d spread slightly from when they last saw him. The snow leopard’s expression was blank, his eyes still empty. Though he noted that the body seemed to be shaking slightly and was moving slower than the armour would make him.

Monkey king blinked the gold vision and turned towards Pigsy and Tang who were going through Pigsy’s cooking equipment for possible weapons. “We have a bit of time. He seems to be fighting against that bone witch’s control to help buy us time” He told them, the pig demon nodding as he threw the king a heavy kettle.

“We don’t have much to protect ourselves. That and the frying pan are the best we got. I have my ping pong paddles” He explained before the ginger monkey could ask anything.

“He’s scarily good at ping pong” Tang added as he held the frying pan, adjusting his grip nervously.

Monkey king hummed quietly as he held the kettle, it wasn’t incredibly heavy but he thought it would at least help somewhat. So he stood up, Pigsy and Tang following as they went to open the door to the back of the van, the chill coming from outside making his fur spike.

The three looked at eachother, Tang looking the most nervous as Monkey king grabbed the door handle. “Ready?” He asked the other two, Pigsy immediately nodding while Tang hesitated for a moment before nodding as well, attempting to look confident.

Focusing back on the door, he looked out the window for a second before flinging the door open, the snow leopard immediately jumping back out the way before focusing on them with the same deadpan expression.

As the possessed snow leopard went to take a step towards them, the sound of tapping against stone behind them made him immediately stop and brace himself as a purple, green and gold blur shot straight into him.

They rolled on the ground for a few seconds, stopping with Plum pinned by what Monkey king could see was a large scorpion demon’s front legs, a large body similar to Spider queen’s (though not mechanical) with a scorpion tail curled above her head. She had light green skin and darker green hair, decorated in gold and purple while her tail was green with a gold band under the stinger.

Ice slowly started going up the scorpion demon’s leg, making her jump back and quickly hit the leg with ice on against the ground, shattering it as the snow leopard got up quickly.

The snow leopard quickly jumped at the scorpion demon as she prepared herself, waiting a few seconds before she quickly swung her scorpion tail at him, sending him flying into a tree that splintered and nearly broke over as ice shot out around where he’d hit before Plum fell to the ground.

The three looked in shock at the scorpion demon as she watched the shapeshifter partly encased in ice not move from the spot, before moving in front of them with a large smile “I have bravely saved you from that horrible ice demon!” She announced to the group.

Monkey king looked at her confused, his tail twitched as he lowered the kettle still in his hand, noticing Tang still holding onto the frying pan tightly next to him. “Why don’t you come with me to my castle where you’ll be safe?” She asked, the king crossing his arms as he looked at her.

He didn’t like the way she was so keen to invite them back to the castle. She hadn’t even introduced herself after fighting the bone demon’s puppet before inviting them to her castle.

A grumble sounded from Pigsy, Monkey king seeing his scrunched up face as he seemed to be thinking the same thing. “While that would be nice and all.. we’re kinda on an important mission” Monkey king decided to say, smiling nervously at her.

“Thank you for the help though… miss..?” Tang added, also smiling nervously.

“I am Scorpion queen” she told them, looking slightly upset but didn’t get a chance to speak as ice suddenly shot towards her, making her gasp and freeze her legs to the ground.

The king quickly turned to where the snow leopard had been thrown, now having a small barrier of ice surrounding him, a small line of ice leading to the Scorpion queen. He couldn’t see any heading towards them, even when he activated his gold vision.

Pricking his ears, he started to slowly making his way over. He heard Tang ask what he was doing but didn’t respond as he focused on listening to the snow leopard’s heavy breathing.

Tail flicking slightly, he reached the ice wall and cautiously looked through one of the gaps through the spiked ice wall. Plum was curled up slightly, staring at the ground wide eyed as he breathed heavily, Monkey king just about able to hear him muttering to himself as his claws dug into the free side of his head while tears poured from his none ice covered eye.

“Kid?” He called in, making the shapeshifter freeze as his claws dug into the side of his head more.

“N - no! Leave!” He whimpered back, looking towards where he stood.

The ginger monkey noticed white pupils were visible in both his eyes now, looking to have more control over his body than he did before. “I don’t want to hurt anyone and I don’t know how long I can keep her away” The snow leopard continued, curling up as much as possible with the ice covering his right side.

“We want to help, MK isn’t here-“

“I know he isn’t here” The snow leopard suddenly snarled back, glaring at them as his pupils disappeared for a second before he blinked a few times and lowered his head. “That was the entire plan. Macaque takes MK and anyone he was with while I… hold you guys back long enough for him to kill the others and get MK to submit to him” He grumbled to the monkey.

He looked to the others behind him, they were keeping an eye on the scorpion queen trying to break herself out of the ice that had surrounded her six legs but seemed to have heard what was being said.

“Does that mean the others are…?” Tang asked nervously, Monkey king immediately looking back at Plum.

The snow leopard let out a small, weak laugh, smiling a little at them as his eye flickered more “Knowing MK… I doubt it” he told them “Don’t go look for them… they wanted you to defeat me… then go straight into their hands” Monkey king saw him clutch at his head tighter for a moment “Nothing like being called useless when you’re not even in control of yourself…” he grumbled quietly.

Monkey king went to argue with him, tell him they couldn’t just leave the others behind and hope the two cubs and Sandy were okay, until a hand on his shoulder made him turn to look at Pigsy standing next to him.

The pig demon looked just as worried as he felt but he looked confident looking up a little at him “Mei’s stubborn, so is MK from what I’ve seen of him. Sandy used to be the fiercest warrior I know, as gentle as he seems, the warrior is still inside him. They’ll be okay” Pigsy reassured, the king flicking one of his ears before nodding.

A pained groan came from the snow leopard “You need to leave, now ” he told them, the pupils in his eyes disappearing for longer as the pair of demons backed away from the ice before quickly turning and getting in the van.

“Do you think you could help us a bit more Scorpion queen?” Tang asked from where he stood next to her, using the frying pan to help loosen the ice as much as possible.

“Would… would that make us friends?” She asked, smiling down at him nervously, the human smiling up at her and nodded.

“I’ll make sure to introduce you to our other friends when we’ve completed our mission” he told her, making her smile as he quickly jumped into the van as she broke herself free from the rest of the ice.

“I’ll hold him back as long as I can” She told them “My castle is just outside the forest, that way” she pointed with a pincered hand at the top of the cliff, Monkey king giving a thumbs up as Tang went to the front of the van.

“Thanks again Scorpion queen, try not to hurt him too much and keep yourself safe” he told her, getting a smile back as he heard the clanking of the armour Plum wore as he got up.

Quickly, he shut the door and Pigsy immediately got the van away from the cliff and drove off, Monkey king looking out the window as the two demons started fighting again, the scene eventually getting covered completely by the plants of the forest.

Dragging himself away and dropping his ears to not hear the fight so much, he saw Mo asleep on Sandy’s bunk as he sat on MK’s bunk and looked at the old, cheap cat plushie that sat on the bed. He remembered MK mentioning it was his brother’s.

Silently, he promised himself that he’ll make sure MK sees his brother again and do his best to keep them both away from Macaque once this was all over.

Chapter Text

MK sat on Sandy’s shoulders as he groaned from the heat, putting his jacket over his head as a way to block the sun. Sandy wasn’t doing much better as he trudged across the scorching hot desert sand in the equally hot sun. While Mei could deal with the heat better than them, she was struggling too with her jacket sleeves rolled up as high as she could without taking it off.

“Is there… anything we could take shelter under?” Mei groaned as she trudged next to the water demon, getting picked up and put on his other shoulder as she stumbled forward.

“Not that I can see” MK responded as he panted, trying to see even just a tree they could shelter under. All he saw was sand, cacti, sun and more sand.

Letting out a whine, he closed his eyes and let his tail droop against Sandy’s back. He hardly reacted when Sandy collapsed into the sand, making him drop the jacket and groan at the full exposure to the sun, Mei’s tail causing a small cloud of sand to ride around it.

Blinking open his eyes, he heard the sound of an engine nearby before it stopped. Footsteps in the sand went towards them as he saw a figure lean over him. He could see bull ears and hair in the shape of a flame above him.

“ Monkey brain ” he heard groaned above him, making MK smile a little to himself.

“Bull face” he muttered back with a small chuckle before closing his eyes and everything going dark.

————————————

With a pleased groan, MK smiled as he finished the glass of water at the table in front of him while Mei and Sandy stuffed their faces with food. Red son glared at them annoyed from across the table, his ears twitching every few seconds.

“Thanks Red, we’re lucky you found us when you did” MK said with a smile, keeping his tail wrapped around his leg to stop it thumping against anything at the bubbling nervousness in his chest.

Red son let out a small groan, shrugging as he looked at him. “Well I couldn’t have your father on my back for letting you die in the desert” The part bull demon told him, making MK flinch slightly. “Where is your father and brother anyway? You don’t usually come near here without one of them”

“Well-“

“And why are you with them ?” A small snarl rose in Red’s voice as he looked at Mei and Sandy, both who’d stopped eating as they listened to the pair.

“Have you not heard what happened?” Mei asked confused, her dragon head tilted. Red didn’t respond, only raising an eyebrow slightly curious but still annoyed. “Macaque helped release the Lady bone demon..” she started.

MK saw Red’s eyes widen slightly, his annoyance seeming to fade for confusion, making the monkey demon lower his ears slightly “They were going to use me and Plum to help their plans. Plum… is being used as a weapon by them” He decided to finish as he looked down at the table.

The bull demon on the opposite side of the table blinked at him for a moment before looking at the table, multiple thoughts clearly running through his head as he started tapping the table with his fingers. “The lady bone demon, is the demon we released and possessed my father I assume?” He sighed, locking eyes with MK who just nodded.

“An intriguing story” A female voice came from one end of the table, close to the doors as a tornado spun into existence before revealing Princess iron fan floating down into her seat, looking unimpressed. “But, it does not explain why they are here with you” She flicked her hand towards Sandy and Mei.

The three looked at each other before MK sighed and unwrapped his tail from his leg and moving it to his hands, gently twisting it in his hands. “I.. I realised I had Monkey king’s powers. It’s why I could lift the staff when unc- DBK was released.” He told them, refusing to make eye contact with either “Me and Plum needed their help getting away from Macaque. We tried to fight the bone witch together but she defeated us, so we had to run” 

He got no response from Red or Iron fan, making him shrink into his seat a little as the recognisable footsteps of the Demon bull king came from the lava fall opposite PIF. The lava slowly parted as he walked through it, going back as he passed through it and sat in his seat at the other end of the table, everyone staying silent.

“Did that shadow simian know?” The bull king broke through the silence, focusing his attention on MK who just nodded at him, though refused to look up at him as he sank into his chair more.

Red son cleared his throat, finally making MK look up, though he saw Red was looking at his mother instead of any of them. “I found them half dead in the desert. If I’d left them their pathetic lives would be over '' he told her, making Iron fan sigh, rubbing her head slightly.

“Very well.” She sighed, turning to look at them “What were you doing, walking in the middle of the desert? I do recall that there was… more of you and I’d hope a member of the dragon clan wasn’t that reckless”

“We’re looking for the Samadhi fire” Mei told them, PIF and DBK immediately snapping their attention towards her.

“ What!? ” They both shouted confused and furious, making the group look at the pair nervously, even Red son looking shocked at his parents reaction. “What exactly do you know about the fire?” PIF asked, her face softening as she looked at them, now concern showing.

The three looked at each other, MK rubbing the back of his neck “Not a lot… we know it’s power-“ 

“It was split into three pieces and is super dangerous, especially as it needs a host!” Mei added.

“And, there’s a fourth ring! Mei was supposed to have it but it was stolen, so we can’t put the fire together till we find it!” Sandy added, the dragon and water demon nodding as MK looked at (who he hoped at least) was his aunt.

“So he was at least honest about that” He just about heard her mutter, making his ear twitch. “But he didn’t tell you that Red son, was the first host for the fire, the one who created it.” She told them, making their eyes widen, even Red’s.

“He was a promising member of the demon bull family, too promising with the intensity of the fire.” She told them, all of them watching her before a sign came from the bull king on their other side.

“We were given no choice but to remove it. Three of us were chosen as the most likely to survive separating the fire, it went well until that simian lost part of the ring to that dragon. We swore to keep it apart and never let it be reforged. Do you understand why you incompetent mortal would not be able to control it?”

MK looked at the bull demon as his tail flicked, the other two nodding. He looked at his hands on his lap, thinking. He couldn’t let the world be taken over by the bone demon. He wouldn’t let his brother stay as her puppet.

Standing up, glaring slightly at his uncle, he slammed his hands onto the table “I’m not going to let the lady bone demon win! I’m not going to let her take over the world or leave my brother in her hands as a puppet!” He snarled, tail now lashing behind him. Smiling confidently, he pulled his friends into a side hug “If we work together, we can defeat her!” 

They two cheered in agreement, PIF and DBK sharing a look before sighing “Well, I’ve have enough of this… story time. Come along dear, that cooking show you like starting soon.” She said, wind surrounding her as she disappeared from the table.

The bull king got up as well, grumbling slightly as he did “coming dear” he said, MK looking at the reflection of the nose ring and swearing he could suddenly feel a small wave of powerful energy come from it, hardly noticeable if they hadn’t been looking.

As he left the room MK turned towards Mei, seeing the exact same expression on her face. Okay, he was definitely not imagining it from her reaction which was a good sign.

“Alright, as I’m sure you’ll beg me to let you all stay the night, I’ll escort you to MK and his brother’s room” The part bull demon sighed, tail flicking behind him.

“Wait, MK has a room here?” Mei asked curiously, getting a scoff from Red son.

“Of course he has a room here! He is my cousin after all, even if that shadow simian isn’t” he said, glancing at MK as he said the last part, making him smile happily. “He knew how to release my father yet hid it for centuries. I, for one, feel he should have told us instead of letting my mother and father suffer.” He snarled, quickly turning away.

“Come along imbeciles, I can’t have you wondering around the fortress alone”

————————————

Red son led them to their room, MK getting a bit ahead at times before joining his friends again as he didn’t really want Red to burn them alive.

Once making it, there was a bunk bed left just how MK and Plum had left it last time they were here. The bookshelf was stocked with new books with the bottom shelf empty ready for the books he brought with him. It made the monkey demon’s ears drop slightly. He missed his brother and seeing the room made him worry they’d never see each other, his real brother, again.

Mei and Sandy quickly made their way around the room, excitedly looking around “If that is all, I will be in my lab” Red told them, MK waving him off as he quickly put a smile back on his face.

“So! What’s the plan MK?” Mei asked, smiling at him as they sat in the middle of the room, MK pulling out his notebook.

He quickly made a few doodles in it before showing the other two with a large smile “Okay! So the plan is, you and Sandy will go get an escape vehicle, I would use shadows but-“

“You don’t know where we could end up?”

“Bingo! While you do that, I’ll use my shadow magic to sneak through the fortress and into uncle’s room, then take the ring from right under his nose as he sleeps!” He explained, Mei nodding as Sandy gave a thumbs up.

“You know you’ll have problems getting into my car storage right?” A voice came from the door, making them all turn to see Red son standing in the doorway looking annoyed.

“Wha- you left!” MK shouted, pointing at him accusingly as his tail lashed behind him.

The bull demon just flicked one of his ears at him “I connected a vent from your room to my lab so I could tell when to expect your brother’s nightly visit” he groaned, walking into the room and closing the door behind him, interrupting MK before he could say anything “he would come to my lab when he couldn’t sleep. He usually made sure I actually slept instead of staring at blueprints all night” he admitted, his tail curling next to him as he crossed his legs.

“So… you want to help us?” Mei asked, her head tilted with one of her ears flopped slightly with it.

“Of course! Plum is just as much my cousin as monkey brain here is.” He said, arms crossed as they all looked at him, making him clear his throat and look away “And I can’t have you tearing apart my family’s home because you couldn’t get an easy escape” he quickly added, flames bursting to life at the tip of his tail.

MK grinned widely at Red, his own tail tip flicking amused, but he’d mention this to his cousin later. They had more important things to deal with. “So, Red will go with you two, sound like a plan?” He asked, the other three nodding as they got up and left the room, going in the direction of their destination.

The monkey demon quickly faded into the shadows, traveling through them till he got to his aunt and uncle’s room. His glowing yellow and purple eyes were the only things visible as he searched for the ring.

Finding his uncle asleep in front of the tv, in a dressing gown made him snicker slightly as he slowly reached out from the shadows with similar tendrils to Macaque, wrapping them around the disguised ring.

Of course his uncle kept it here! He wouldn’t think anywhere was safe enough to keep it except for with him! MK carefully pulled the nose ring with the shadow tendrils, the ring not moving an inch.

A small snarl left his mouth as he pulled harder, it moving slightly this time as he pulled at it again.

His uncle’s eyelids twitched slightly, making a small squeak leave his throat as the bull’s yellow and black eye opened and locked onto him. Immediately, his face turned to anger as the monkey demon nervously laughed at his “Sorry uncle bull… but I really need this ring!” He shouted, finally pulling it free as the bull king let out a furious roar.

Grabbing the now normal ring as it flew through the air, he dived into the closest shadow and searched for the others. It only took him seconds to find them waiting in the garage with all their stuff.

So quickly jumping out of Red’s, ring in hand, the others jumped surprised as he quickly directed them to go, the part bull demon quickly driving it out the garage and out of the fortress with the roar of the bull king ringing through the air.

“Father is going to kill me when I get back..” MK heard Red mutter as they sped away.

————————————

“We got the first ring!” MK cheered loudly to his friends, letting Red son focus on driving. “I can’t wait to get back to the others” Mei and Sandy nodding.

“We’re stocked with food and water too! We stole some from the kitchen while we were waiting” Mei said proudly, the pair showing him the bags full of food and water, enough to last them through the desert for a good few days.

A snort came from Red as he turned to look at them “You didn’t steal it. I let you borrow some of the food I knew mother and father wouldn’t want” he told them, ears twitching irritated.

Suddenly, the vehicle jolted from a rock under the wheels, sending the monkey demon shooting into the air with a scream as he clung to the ring. Looking around the desert, he just about saw the T.E.A in the distance, moving no where near as fast as their vehicle was going.

So, as he fell he aimed for the shadow of a single tree and curled himself into a ball and prepared to dive through the shadow into the van he could now see, closing his eyes tightly and clutching the ring.

He felt the rush of the shadows surrounding him before he was shot through another portal, crashing into something soft with a grunt as he hit the metal floor of the van. “Kid! That was one hell of an entrance” A voice said from above him, making him look up to see Monkey king seeming to have caught him as he fell through.

“Monkey king! Guys! You’re okay!” He said happily, tail wagging excitedly “Oh! We got the first ring and be back in a second!” He told them as he threw Tang the ring and dropped back through a shadow, sticking his head out of Mei’s.

“Guys I found the others! They’re just a few minutes… that way!” He said, pointing towards the direction of the van, Red son groaning but nodding as he started driving the direction he instructed before going back into the shadow to wait in the van.

Pigsy had stopped the van to wait for the others, opening the back once the sound of the vehicle got closer and fell apart a few feet away from the back of the van. He waved happily as Mei and Sandy grabbed their bags and jumped into the van, immediately explaining why Red son was with them as he grumbled at his crumpled machine, taking a bit of insisting to get him into the van before they could finally continue their journey.

————————————

Iron fan and the bull king stood outside their fortress, watching the four drive away from the fortress. “Do you think they will be stupid enough to assemble the fire?” She asked, looking up at her husband who sighed.

“I fear so. That simian has a plan and I doubt he’ll back away from it now” DBK responded, about to turn around to head back inside for PIF put a hand out, making him look at her confused and see where she was looking.

A large shadow portal had opened in front of them, Macaque and the ice covered snow leopard rising from it, Macaque in front with a large grin while the snow leopard’s face was blank of emotion.

“So he wasn’t lying…” the bull heard his wife mutter, her gaze turning into a sharp glare.

“Hey jiejie! Long time no see!” The shadow monkey grinned, tail lashing behind him.

Wind covered one of the previously celestial being’s hands, her iron fan appearing in it as she gripped it tightly “Do not call me that anymore.” She snarled furiously “You are aiding a demon of immense power to destroy the world after forcing my husband to be her puppet” her gaze sharping in on him “You let me suffer for centuries trying to free him, knowing you had someone who could within arms reach. And now you’ve turned one of your children into a weapon!”

The shadow monkey rolled his eyes at her, crossing his arms as he locked eyes with her “I had a deal I needed to keep my end of. Don’t take it personally Iron fan. As for… him“ his tail flicked towards the snow leopard behind him “he’s much more helpful now. And as I sadly can’t seem to trust either of you to not go against my lady.” Macaque grinned, his tail tip twitching towards them.

It only took a second for the snow leopard to shoot forward, only giving them seconds to try fight back.

Chapter Text

They drove through the last of the desert to the city of lanterns after recovering Nezha’s ring for Chang’e on the moon. It had been decently uneventful, MK learning how to shrink things being the only thing he thought was worth thinking about other than the ring itself.

“Sooo Red..” Mei started from where she sat on her bunk, kicking her legs slightly as Red groaned quietly to himself, MK just about over hearing it from where he sat on his own bunk as Monkey king went through his fur (grooming? He thinks that's what he called it, he remembered Plum telling him about it once when they were younger)

“Is there anything we should know about the Samadhi fire that we should, ya know, be prepared for?" She asked, tilting her head slightly at the bull demon who flicked his ears annoyed before sighing.

"While I have not had the Samadhi fire for centuries… what I do have is a small fraction of it, the fire magic I have currently" he explained, lighting a small flame on the tip of a finger, Mei looking at him intently as MK tilted his head curiously. 

He remembered his aunt telling Macaque about the Samadhi fire being taken quite a few years before he was born, so he only knew Red son with the toned down fire magic. They didn’t talk about it much as it seemed to.. embarrass PIF, he asked about it once but she dodged the question in a way that his young brain had accepted without question. Had he missed everything with Red like he had Macaque?

Twitching his tail, he focused back on his cousin as he went to explain more about fire magic and how he thinks the Samadhi fire would work. “My own fire magic is fuelled by anger, mainly at least” he started, putting the flame out as he put one leg over the other.

“Is that why you burst into flames when annoyed and stuff?” She asked, the bull demon nodding “So, like.. why is it only your hair and tail?” Mei asked, her dragon tail swaying slightly as it hung over the end of the bed.

“Heat travels upwards, so it goes straight to my face or tail as an easy.. release point” he explained, Mei opening her mouth but getting interrupted “No it doesn’t hurt ” he grumbled at her as she closed her mouth and nodded.

Red son turned to face Monkey king sitting behind MK, he’d stopped going through his fur a while ago and had clearly been listening in (which made sense as he would be the host of the fire) “If what my mother said is correct, then the sheer power of the flame could cause an outburst of anger, like it caused when I had it as an infant.” He explained, looking the king dead in the eyes as he nodded.

“Here we are gang! The city of lanterns!” Sandy called from the front, making MK and the others in the back excitedly look out the front of the van towards the gold and red lantern covered city as it glowed in the night sky, revealing the stars as they drove to the only car park by the city.

———————————— 

After changing into warmer clothes, they entered the city through the train. He looked excitedly at the decorations and the festivities going on through the city. “you know, me and Plum always wanted to take part in the festival. Macaque never let us.” He said, tail wagging happily behind him as Mei and the others looked out the window.

“We could get some souvenirs if you want kids” Monkey king suggested, MK gasping as he smiled widely, Mei looking at the ginger with just as wide of a smile as he adjusted his brother’s backpack on his shoulders. 

“Really!?” He asked, the king nodding as him and Mei excitedly cheered loudly, both their tails wagging excitedly behind them as Pigsy and Tang sighed a few seats away.

MK was sure he heard Tang start talking but the train stopped and the passengers started exiting, partly forcing him and the others out the train as well. The brown furred monkey twitched his tail behind him as they got out the crowd and looked at the stools.

“So the ring is in the giant lantern right?” Tang asked, MK nodding as they all went up a balcony that looked over the city, the giant lantern homing the ring in the center of it. There was a large open theater under it, a stage taking up one side while seats filled in the rest of the circular while the giant lantern illuminated the entire place.

He heard Mei gasp next to him, the others joining with Red son on his other side and Monkey king behind him. “It’s great right?” He asked the others with a wide smile, Mei and Monkey king nodding as Red son twitched an ear.

“I guess it’s… pleasant” the part bull demon muttered, making the monkey demon smirk at his cousin “do not give me that look, monkey brain” he snarled, making MK stick his tongue out at him with a snicker as the older did it back at him and lashed his tail.

“Hey guys, take a look at this!” Sandy called from a board at the edge of the balcony where Pigsy and Tang stood, holding a piece of paper as they read it. As Mei, Red and Monkey king started to head towards them, though MK took a few steps before he stopped and started playing with his hands a little, tail twitching behind him.

He missed his brother a lot, looking around the place made him think of when they would sneak out to listen to the festivities on the stage. Plum would climb on his shoulders to get a better view of the stage as he was too short at the time to see past the crowds of heads.

Something else felt wrong though, he wasn’t sure exactly what it was though. “You okay kid?” Monkey king asked, making MK look up to see him looking at him worried as he still fiddled with his hands. 

“I’m… not sure.” He admitted, his tail flicking worried behind him “it might just be remembering when I was here last or- something- I don’t know” he muttered, the king humming quietly before smiling and seeming to think of something.

“Why don’t you sit on my shoulders?” He asked, making MK tilt his head confused. “Monkeys form bonds through touch. The monkeys on the mountain get fidgety when they start feeling ‘touch starved’ as Mei told me mortals call it” he explained, making MK think for a moment before nodding a little.

“I guess it couldn’t hurt…” he admitted, seeing Monkey king smile softly at him as he helped him onto his shoulders. MK blinked slightly as the feeling eased a little in his chest, his tail relaxing. 

“Feeling better?” The ginger asked, MK nodding as he held on to his legs and he made his way over to the others.

Tang was holding onto a piece of paper, discussing something about a show and a prize “- if we take part, maybe we could win the ring?” He suggested, making MK tilt his head confused. 

“I’m assuming neither of you heard any of that?” Pigsy groaned as he looked at the monkey demons who both shook their heads, the pig demon rubbing his eyes with a sigh in response “If we take part in the competition, we could try win the ring, the winner gets a photo with it.” He told them, MK smiling widely at the idea.

The part bull demon groaned at the idea, crossing his arm as one of his ears twitched “We could just steal it” he huffed “we could be in and out in only a few minutes”

Mei and MK scoffed at him, MK crossing his arms and resting them on top of the king’s hood covered head while Mei put her hands on her hips. “That’s not exactly fun though Red boy” she said, MK nodding in agreement.

“But we don’t have time for fun you imbeciles! Hanging around would only lead to being caught!” His hair light up furiously before dying back down again, trying not to draw attention to them as Tang quickly put the paper back on the board before it was burnt.

“I have to agree with Red son” Tang admitted, glancing at Red before looking over at the others “we don’t have the time to win a competition, we might not even win! It’d be easier to get the ring and go!” He told them, MK and Mei looking at each other worried.

Sandy cleared his throat as they all turned towards him “Well… Pigsy has an amazing singing voice-”

“Sandy!”

“I’m sorry Pigsy! But we could all use a bit of fun, it’s been weeks since we relaxed a little” he said with a worried smile “maybe we should take part just for fun! If we win it’s a bonus”

“Yeah yeah! And if you don’t want to join in then you can sit on watch or something Red boy” Mei added, grinning widely at him, MK snickering as well.

“It’s Red son!” He snarled at her, tail furiously lashing behind him as Mei laughed evil-y.

Once MK and Mei quickly went over the stalls and bought a few souvenirs, carrying them in bags (MK was careful of the old plushie on the top inside the backpack as he put a few things for Plum inside it), they started heading to the stage to prepare.

————————————

Red son crossed his arms from where he leaned against a wooden pole backstage. He didn’t want to join in. This was ridiculous ! They should be focusing on getting the rings and leaving! Not some- stupid talent show !

“Wha- you’re benching me!?” He heard the human of the group ask as his idiot of a cousin cleared his throat and rubbed the back of his neck, looking away from the human.

“I’m sorry Tang but we uh- we need a band manager! It’s just as important I promise!” MK said before turning to Monkey king. The human sighed and walked towards where Red was standing as the others prepared to go on stage excitedly.

The human stood next to him, Red’s hands in his pockets as he watched the human stop next to him. He was playing with his red scarf when he looked back to the others going to get their outfits and make up if he overheard right.

“What if we stole the ring when they go on stage?” Red son blinked as he realized the human was talking to him, turning his gaze to him with a raised eyebrow. “They couldn’t stop us then. We could leave the moment they’re done” he suggested.

The red haired demon twitched his ears as he thought, nodding a little as he thought. It’d speed them up as they insisted on taking part in the competition and they’d have the ring so…

“Fine” he huffed, the human smiling at him as they waited for the others to go on stage.

————————————

The group had started their performance as they made their way onto a rooftop. Red son had to insist he couldn’t teleport them up to the lantern unless they wanted to fall to their death or the human wanted to burn alive.

“So… how do we get over there?” He asked the human with his hands in his pockets, seeing the human think as he looked at the area between them and the lantern.

“We could use the wire!” He said confidently, reaching out and grabbing two wires from two flying decorations within reach before shoving one into Red’s hands as he pulled them out his pockets and jumped into one of the wires keeping lantern decorations in the air.

“Wha- you’re all idiots!” He shouted, fire burning at the top of his head as he looked for a safer way for him to get there. So scanning the giant lantern as Tang sped towards it at speeds he was pretty sure was supposed to at least snap one of the wires.

Spotting a flatter surface at the top, he covered himself in flames and reappeared at the top as he heard the human screaming. He turned to look and quickly ducked as Tang flew into the air, barely missing him, and fell into the interior of the lantern. Letting out a sigh, he quickly joined him.

Nearly immediately after he landed their shadows suddenly became darker and more purple “Macaque” Red son snarled quietly, the human taking a step back as the shadows encased the entire place and he appeared out of one behind them.

“So.. Red son is working with the Monkey king now, my traitorous son too, huh?”  The shadow monkey grinned as Red and Tang turned towards him, Red setting his hands alight as his tail lashed furiously behind him “Surprised your parents would allow you to as, you know, he trapped your father under a mountain.” He had the same mischievous look on his face as he did whenever he was trying to rile someone up, get them to attack first.

It seemed the human next to him had picked up on it too, neither moving to attack him, Tang instead spinning around and jumping for the ring at the center. As he jumped, Red quickly blocked Macaque from getting to him but heard a grunt from behind as the human flew over his head and back into the wall, sliding down.

Macaque took the chance to release some of the force he was pushing against Red, letting Red son fall forward a bit, before swinging his fist into his gut and dropped into a shadow as the part bull demon coughed for breath.

The red head quickly got over it as Tang got up, he turned to face the other side of the lantern and saw Macaque standing next to an ice covered snow leopard demon. His tail lashed at the sight of the emotionless demon next to him, half covered in ice, who usually followed MK like a second shadow.

“Now, my lady would like the fire. Not sure why, but who am I to argue. Now hand me the other rings and I might let you both go… alive ” he snarled, the human taking a step forward and glaring at him.

“As if we’d ever do that! That witch would only want the fire for- nefarious reasons!” He said, Red son internally groaning but not letting the monkey demon opposite him see.

“You know, why are your friends down there having fun without you Tang? Maybe they don’t need you.” He grinned, disappearing into the shadows and covering the lantern in them again, the snow leopard fading into them as well, only the glowing purple eyes and mouth of Macaque being visible through them.

“My lady could give you power, you know. Be more useful to your friends” he was talking directly to Tang, Red tried to light a fire in his hand to get rid of at least some of the shadows but a shadow tendril shot out and restrained his hands to his back, covering them entirely in shadows.

He was about to shout at the human before Tang shook his head, looking furious behind his glasses “No way! I’d never abandon my friends for anything! I might not be much use to them now, but I want to work to be someone they can rely on when they need it!” The human shouted at the shadows around them. Which was more than Red honestly expected, they seemed to have both underestimated the human.

The sound of loud singing below suddenly cut through the lantern, Tang grinning as the shadows disappeared and the shadow demon appeared, clutching his six ears tightly as he screamed. The monkey shot towards them, Red jumping for the ring as the ice covered snow leopard shot up from the other side of the pillar to intersect him while a golden barrier suddenly surrounded the human.

Red was about to grab the ring when the snow leopard reached it first and images of dark red fire took up his vision for less than a second, making him gasp with his eyes wide. He saw a flicker of the same thing from the demon opposite him before a burst of energy from the song below them threw them into the air, the ring staying where it’d been.

The snow leopard’s expression had gone back to being nothing, making Red think he’d just imagined it. “Red we need to go!” Tang shouted behind him, the bull demon noticing the electricity sparking across the wires around the lantern. Nodding, Tang shot off the wall towards him, the gold barrier breaking as Red used his flames to quickly warp himself away as he saw Tang grab the ring and fly out the lantern.

The group had just finished their performance as he appeared on the stage, shaking his head as the screaming of Tang rang through the area and he landed in Pigsy’s arms. “Tang?” MK said, confused as he looked at him and gasped “the ring!” He said excitedly, tail wagging behind him as Mei cheered.

“Good work Tang!”

“We don’t have time for praise” Red son quickly interrupted, Tang laughing nervously as he nodded.

“Ye - yeah! Macaque wants the rings! We need to leave now! ” He shouted, the group’s eyes widening as MK used a shadow portal to grab his backpack and the rest of the rings before they shot to the train and got it to leave the second they could. 

Red watched MK look out the window, scared but sad at the same time “If Macaque wants the rings, then so does the Lady bone demon.. she’ll send both of them after us the second she can” he said, having moved the backpack against his chest and clung to it tightly.

“We just need to stay aware and get that last ring fast” Monkey king said, the city fading into the distance as the train sped along.

————————————

Macaque groaned as the electricity that had shocked him calmed down, shaking his messed up fur and slamming his fist into the ground “Damn it!” He snarled as the ground cracked from the impact.

As he stood up, he heard every light in the city shut down, the people muttering to each other confused as the bright city was covered in a menacing light blue. Blue orbs appeared inside the lantern as he waited for his Lady to appear from the shadows in front, dropping to one knee and dropping his head as he heard her footsteps.

“I thought you were better than that my warrior” she said, sounding disappointed which made him snarl quietly to himself. “I tasked you with collecting your son and Monkey king. I thought it would be a simple task” she sighed, standing so close he could see the tips of her feet without moving his head.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to send you back.. a pity really. Such a perfectly good demon” she said sadly, making his tail twitch.

“Wait! They have the rings! They want the Samadhi fire!” He quickly blurted out, hearing a hum of consideration from his lady.

“Really now? How about I give you one more chance then?” She suggested, Macaque looking up at her as she smiled softly but still looked sinister, just as she always had. “Get my champion close to the ritual site. An even simpler task than before. If you can accomplish that, then you will have my mercy” she explained.

Macaque grinned and nodded at her, getting the champion out of a shadow, ready to follow behind the other. “Thank you, my lady. I won’t let you down” he bowed, grinning widely as she disappeared into blue smoke and ice centered from the lantern and spread across the city.

Chapter Text

MK, Red son and Mei looked out the window as he shifted the backpack on his lap, containing the three rings safely inside along with most of the stuff they’d bought at the festival. They all watched as the city was suddenly covered in ice, the spikes of ice shooting out from around the center of the city and quickly covered the streets.

The monkey demon flinched as a cold strong wind hit the train, making everyone on the train even Red son shiver. “That… cannot be good” Mei said, MK nodding as Red son hummed.

“So, what’s the plan now?” Tang asked, making the three turn to look at Monkey king, who was leaning against one of the pillars on the train, looking out in the direction they were heading. 

“Well first, we need to get to the summit of that mountain” he told them as he gestured out the window, MK and Mei quickly moving to the windows on the other side, seeing a giant mountain that reached higher than the others, gold rings connected together dug large and deep into the mountain near the peak.

MK and Mei gasped awe as the others went to look too, staring up at the giant mountain. Until a rumble rang through the train cart and the entire cart shook, knocking a few people to the ground.

Looking at the window on the other side of the train from where him and a few others fell, he saw something flying next to the train before speeding up and disappearing from the view “uh… who was that??” MK asked from where he was still lying, quickly pushing himself up next to Mei and the others.

Nearly immediately after he was up, the train’s brakes were slammed on and nearly hit made him fall forward but was caught by a tail quickly wrapped around his waist, letting him stop Mei from falling next to him either.

As he turned to look at the others, he saw Monkey king had activated his gold vision by glowing gold and was looking up while he unwrapped his tail from MK’s waist and the others gained their balance again. Tilting his head, he went to ask what was going on as the king’s eyes went back to normal.

“Get back!” He shouted seconds before two gold rings sliced through to parts of the train, making everyone shout in surprise as the middle of the cart started falling, separated from the rest.

Quickly, the king grabbed them all and put them and the other passengers at the end of the cart, undamaged and the safest place for them all. He positioned himself in front of the group as a celestial being in pink, lotus like outfit with a ribbon curled around his shoulders and a red spear in hand slammed into the open part of the train.

“Sun Wukong” the being snarled, standing on two gold rings as he glared at them, making MK cling to the bag in his arms tightly.

“Nezha, I told you already. We don’t have any other choice” he grumbled back, standing protectively in front of the group as the other just glared more furious.

“You want to reforge the fire we swore to never bring back. I will not let you doom this world.” 

Tang suddenly gasped excitedly, the only reason he didn’t forward being because Pigsy had positioned himself in front of the human, as if expecting him to do this. “You’re the third lotus prince Nezha! I can’t believe you’re really here! In person !” He partly squealed, MK and Red son looking at each other, seeming to be just as confused as Mei groaned.

The human was quickly silenced by the pig demon pulling on his scarf and making him cough for a moment but stop talking. “When you stole that map, I knew you would go after the rings.” Nezha glared at them all “I heard from Chang’e her ring had been taken, you have Red son with you so I would assume you have the bull king’s ring as I predicted he would keep it”

“Then there’s your ring” Nezha pointed the staff at the ginger monkey demon in front of them all who’s tail twitched nervously. “Your ring was well known throughout the city as a landmark . There is literally an entire celebration!” The celestial snarled, MK and Mei nodding as the king laughed nervously.

“I alone should have been entrusted with the map and the rings!” He jumped past the monkey demon and got close to MK’s face, towering over him as he held the bag with the rings inside tightly “Hand over the rings monkey child. I will not hesitate to-“ 

He was cut off by the monkey king appearing between them and punching Nezha through the roof of the train, the king quietly snarling as his tail lashed behind him. “Get to the mountain! I’ll hold him off as long as I can” Monkey king told them as he stood under the hole in the roof.

“What do we do then!?” Mei asked, her dragon tail lashing nervously behind her.

“You remember how to set up the location spell MK?” MK nodded. “Get to the top fast and try set it up. Do not start anything without me, we can’t have something going wrong again”

“But-“

“We don’t have time to argue! Macaque could be here any second and we cannot let him get those rings!” The king snarled at them, making MK grumble before they all nodded and he opened a shadow portal to the van, letting them all drop through and head to the mountain as fast as they could.

————————————

Monkey king jumped out the train, making sure the fake rings were visible to Nezha as he hid them in his clothes before summoning a cloud and zooming towards the mountain. 

He could hear the third lotus prince behind him as he quickly dodged to the side, avoiding the pink flame tipped spear that shot past him, making him shoot to the right of the tracks and away from the destination summit.

Shooting towards Nezha, he went to land a punch only to be blocked by the spear and immediately leaning back to dodge the swing of it before he tried to zoom off, the pair clashing a few times.

Nezha stopped following and he heard powerful flames behind him, turning to just about avoid the lotus prince’s spear zooming past his head and creating a large hole in the clouds a few miles away. 

“You’ve gotten faster” he observed as he turned back towards the prince and used his somersault cloud to launch himself back at the prince, Nezha blocking the attack with his arms before they clashed a few times “But I need you to trust me for once!” He snarled.

Grabbing Nezha by the ribbon and kicking him away, he used the momentum to pull him towards him ready to hit him just for the spear to suddenly shoot towards him from behind, forcing him to let go and duck.

Nezha grabbed the spear and threw it towards him, the king naturally grabbing hold of it with a snarl before the ribbons around the lotus prince wrapped around him and flung him into the mountains, sending him through multiple and creating a creator in one he didn’t go through as snow fell around him.

As he groaned, he searched for the rings he secured in his clothes, not feeling them where he put them, he started to quickly dig through his clothes to try find them, only for the lotus prince to slam into him with the spear digging into the mountain just above his head.

“You lost that when you lost part of the fire twice ” Nezha snarled as he showed the rings with a grin, the king’s tail lashing against his side.

The sound of laughter drew their attention towards the city covered in ice, a dark figure making its way towards them before a large shadow opened and Macaque and Plum shot out of it. The shadow monkey grinning widely as he propelled the ice covered snow leopard towards them, ice covered arm outstretched.

“Brace yourself!” Monkey king said as the snow leopard slammed the fist into the mountain, causing a large spike of ice to encase the pair to it with area for him and Macaque to stand as he shifted into a bird and turned back to a snow leopard, then landed next to the dark monkey demon who grinned widely.

————————————

The group groaned as they finally made it to the top of the stairs, Mei collapsing next to Sandy “I’m sorry I couldn’t portal us up” MK said, tail twitching behind him as pig demon and human stopped to catch their breath, Red son standing on the step next to him.

“If you had you would have gotten us all lost and or killed” the part bull demon grumbled next to him, his tail flicking behind him.

“Well I didn’t see you offering to help!” MK huffed back, narrowing his eyes at his cousin.

“I would have burnt you all alive if I tried to, monkey brain” Red son retorted, MK sticking his tongue out at Red son, the other doing the same back.

“Alright you two, stop your bickering we have important things to do” Pigsy huffed at them as they walked through the archway into the ritual sight.

Sandy carefully made his way down the steps with Mei, Tang and Pigsy close behind, looking around confused and worried “hey, do you guys.. feel like we’ve been here before?” Sandy asked as he put his hand against one of the pillars as Mei and Tang wondered around the center area.

“Yeah.. I know we haven’t.. yet..” Mei muttered, Red son looking around as MK looked around curiously, attempting to climb on anything he could reach out of curiosity.

“While I was only an infant last time I was here… it does feel familiar” he said, looking around as his tail flicked “I would assume this is where they split the samadhi fire from me” he observed, groaning as MK hung from a rope nearby, making the wood tabs clang lightly together before he dropped to the ground.

“So anyway, shouldn’t we get this location spell prepared?” MK shrugged as he shifted the bag onto his chest, keeping one strap over a shoulder, the other nodding in agreement as they started looking around.

Mk’s tail twitched as he tried to remember what it looked like, seeing Red son seeming to be having the same issues as he let out an annoyed groan and started again with the section he was working on.

“Hey guys” Tang said as he walked up to the platform partly looking over the ritual sight “do you think we’d need anything up here? Because this looks like it should have something in it” he questioned, making MK think before snapping his fingers.

“Maybe the map!” He suggested with a smile, putting the chalk he was using down.

He heard Pigsy grumble at the idea “why would it be the map? It’s literally just a map” 

“Why would it be so heavily guarded if it was just a map?” MK countered with a confident smile “it’s not exactly a useful map and it’s got to be magic, how else would it know exactly where each one was!” He heard Red son huff at him from the other side of the circle “hey! I don’t see why it’s such a bad idea!” 

He heard Tang hum from the platform, Mei going up behind him curiously. Tang started saying something before a gold light came from the platform, the pillars around and behind it starting to light up gold too, making Red, MK, Pigsy and Sandy back away from the edges of the space.

————————————

Macaque walked towards the lotus prince and Monkey king with a small grin, tail flicking pleased behind him as the snow leopard stayed where he was, completely still as if he was a statue. “Well, I seem to have caught a prince and a king” he said as he reached them, Monkey king snarling at him furiously.

The ginger monkey glared furiously at the monkey in front of him “now if you hand over the rings, I might think about letting you go” he said with his tail twitching behind him.

“As if I’d let you take them willingly!” Monkey king immediately snarling, Nezha holding the rings tighter and moving it away from the shadow demon.

The other demon let out a huff, his face dropping to annoyance “fine, have it your way” he snarled, shadow tendrils wrapping around the mouths of the two pressed against the mountain as he snatched the rings from Nezha, the pair struggling to get it.

He stopped halfway up the ice as he looked at the rings before his tail hit the ice beneath him, cracking it from the force of the hit. “Ah.. I see. Did you really think I wouldn’t recognise your hair clones Wukong?” He snarled, Nezha turning towards the king who’s eyes widened and started really struggling.

The shadow monkey quickly broke the fake rings and let the fur blow away in the wind, making him look towards the ritual site. A few seconds later, a gold beam shot into the air, followed by the snow leopard let out a pained groan and nearly collapse onto his knees, clutching his chest tightly.

He noticed the snow leopard’s eyes were wide with the white pupils visible as he looked at the below him in pain. “What are you doing!?” Macaque snarled at him as the two trapped started trying to break out again. Another hiss from Plum made him clutch his chest tighter as the dark furred monkey seemed to realize something.

“I think I understand what my lady wants now…” he just about heard him mutter, a grin clear just through his tone “Go, champion” He commanded, Plum turning towards the now glowing ritual site before launching himself off the ice, shifting into a bird and unsteadily shooting towards them.

Macaque turned and grinned as he dropped into a shadow, leaving the two in the ice.

————————————

MK backed away from the center as he quickly closed the backpack previously containing the rings and made sure it was securely on his back, ending up next to Red son as the ground glowed.

“Uh- what’s happening!?” Tang nervously asked as MK let out a worried whine.

“O - okay- let’s just wait for Monkey king! He should know what to do right?” He laughed nervously as he and Red son moved slightly closer together.

A loud shout made MK look up to see a bird quickly glow blue and start quickly falling towards the center of the ring. MK’s eyes widened as he realised it was his brother as the ice covered arm slammed into the ground, ice shooting out around the site and barely missing Tang and Mei while Sandy had to protect Pigsy from the icicles appearing behind him.

“Finish the ritual!” He shrieked from the center as he clung tightly to his chest. MK could see his tail curled up in pain as the rings glowed again and he let out another pained shout.

Mei quickly jumped off the platform, sword in hand as she went to attack. She was immediately grabbed by the ice covered arm and launched towards Red son and MK, the second she collided ice spreading and encasing them all tightly like how Sandy and Pigsy were.

“I said finish it !” He shrieked again, eyes blazing as he glared at the human, the only one free with the map in his hands a top the podium. “I want this ice gone , I want my mind back and I want her out of my head ! ” He shouted, clutching as his chest tightly as the ice around them tightened, making them all grunt in pain.

That wasn’t his brother, not yet at least. The bone demon still had some sort of control over him. But he was in pain from… something. “MK” Red son muttered next to him, making MK turn the best he could towards him. “I think we found the fourth ring” he muttered, making MK look at him confused before looking back at his brother.

Plum let out a shout as he clutched his chest again as another gong ran out through the ritual site. He tilted his head as he tried to figure out what Red son meant.

“ Finish it! ” The snow leopard shrieked even louder at the human who clutched the map tightly as he seemed to be trying to decide what to do.

He looked at MK and the others, Red son nodding at him as the human blinked at them then sighed, looking determined. “Okay! I’ll do it…”

Oh … That’s why the Lady bone demon wanted him.

Plum has the fourth ring.

Chapter Text

Monkey king stared at the ritual site through his gold vision, seeing the three kids frozen together, the pig and river demon trapped together a bit away by ice too. The human was clutching the map tightly as he stood on the edge of the golden circle as his hands shook. 

The snow leopard, clutching his chest in the center of it all, shrieked at the human to finish the ritual, making his eyes widen as he saw Tang look at the others before sighing and agreeing, looking determined to finish it.

Blinking away the gold vision, he let everything quickly fall into place in his mind before looking at Nezha. “We need to get out of here, now!” He shouted at the other trapped, the celestial being looking confused “They have all the rings. And if I’m right it could destroy everyone”

Nezha looked towards the mountain, gold light beaming into the air and making the sky glow gold in the dark clouds surrounding. “Are you absolutely sure there is no other way to beat her?” He asked, Monkey king locking eyes with him and nodding.

It seemed to work as the lotus prince sighed before his spear started glowing pink “Fine. You better be right, Wukong” he groaned as the staff started separating into lotus petals as becoming sharp before digging into the ice around them, the king looking at him confused before they all exploded, freeing them.

The second he landed, summoning his cloud, he jumped on it and shot towards the mountain.

————————————

MK watched helplessly as one ring was surrounded in dark red flames, the ice around him loosening as his brother let out a pained hiss as he watched the flames surround the first ring.

“The fire will kill you!” Red son snarled from next to MK, the bull demon glaring at the snow leopard in the center of the fires.

“I don’t care!” he snarled back, looking furiously at their cousin, angrier than MK had ever seen him as another ring was quickly surrounded in flames.

A gold beam shot into the sky from the snow leopard’s chest as he let out a pained shout, the ice surrounding MK and the others loosening even more, but not enough for them to get out just yet.

The sound of a high pitched ring rang out over the site, MK looking up to see Monkey king on his cloud zooming towards the shapeshifter in the center of the rings. “No!” The king shouted as he was only a few feet away from the snow leopard before the final ring was engulfed in flames.

Immediately, the ring became visible in Plum’s chest as he let out a choked gasp, becoming engulfed in a ball of fire as he let out a screech. Whispers and voices spread out from the center with a blue ring of power following, quickly fading as the rest of the ice surrounding MK, Red son and Mei broke.

MK’s eyes widened as he looked at the Samadhi fire surrounding his brother. “Damn it!” Monkey king snarled, slamming his fist into the ground as he got up. 

He noticed the ice around Plum had gone, a creepy smile on his face as he stared at his hands, curled into himself slightly as his tail and ears blew in the ball of fire, no other part of him moving as if he was completely frozen inside.

“You kids okay?” Monkey king asked as he quickly made his way over, Nezha floating above the others as he released Pigsy and Sandy from the ice they were still trapped in.

“Yeah, we’re good” Mei said, her tail twitching behind her “But what the heck happened!? How did he have the ring!?” Mei shouted, looking at the king terrified.

“I don’t know! I thought it was lost. I guess he had the missing part but…”

“Wait- I would have had this if it hadn’t been stolen!?” Mei shouted, her ears going down as Monkey king nodding nervously as he looked away.

“That doesn’t matter!” MK quickly said, his tail flicking behind him anxiously “How do we- you know- put him out!?” He whined, gesturing towards the snow leopard that had hardly moved since the flames had been released.

“It is impossible to extinguish the Samadhi fire” Nezha said, watching the fire intensely “he is lucky to have survived it for this long” 

MK looked at his brother worried, about to take a step forward when a large shadow portal opened to his right, making him snarl as the others looked as well and saw Macaque rising from the shadows.

“Look at that!” Macaque said proudly, making MK’s fur spike as he let out a small snarl, Red son growling quietly next to him as he also noticed Mei’s ears perk. “One of my sons-“

“ Son? ” Plum snarled from inside the fire, getting stronger as the Samadhi fire created a strong, powerful wind, the group bracing themselves against the wind as Nezha had to land next to Pigsy, Tang and Sandy as they struggled the most against it.

“So I’m finally your son?” The snow leopard snarled as he turned to the shadow monkey, moving for the first time since the fire was released and looking furious. “You throw insults at me for years , but the second I seem to have real power to you, I’m your son!? ” He shouted at him, fists clenched tightly.

Monkey king quickly jumped in front of the three kids, Nezha going to protect the others but Sandy shielded them instead before the fire blazed in every direction, the brunt of it aimed towards Macaque, knocking him back slightly.

“How weak I was. How useless I was. How pathetic I was!” He shrieked as the fire blazed even more “I was NEVER good enough for you! Always a disappointment to you!” MK couldn’t do anything but watch wide eyed with the others as the snow leopard shrieked at the one they had both once called their dad. Their family.

The shadow monkey looked unbothered by the snow leopard’s words, looking more annoyed about not being able to properly stand his ground without his shadow magic to help.

“MK was always the favourite to you! To everyone !” The brown furred monkey wrapped his tail around his leg as he looked at his brother again. “He was the hero in every one of yours a nd Iron fans’ stories! Always the little hero that did things no one else could ever have dreamed off ” he snarled mockingly, his face scrunched up in pure hatred.

“The hero that warmed the shadow’s heart, the first friend to the poor demon child Red son, one of the strongest children you’d both ever met!” He laughed with a wide grin on his face. “I was always in the background” he dragged out the ‘al’ in the always, the grin only getting wider as the fire’s furiosity only grew stronger.

“I was always the one who wasn’t good enough. Never as good as MK or Red son. Always had to get better because I was so USELESS TO YOU !” He shrieked as his face morphed back to hatred, his fists clenched so tight MK was sure it would be bleeding.

“You only ever kept me around because it was better for you to keep a nuisance than to upset your lady ” he snarled, mockingly saying lady “Admit it, you would have gotten rid of me the second you realised I was useless to you if you could” 

MK just about saw Macaque snarl at the snow leopard as the fire knocked him to his hands and knees, barely stopping it from him as Sandy let out a pained grunt, his clothes burning away from the sheer heat. 

“ ADMIT IT !” He shrieked loudly, Macaque looking up at him before dropping into the portal without a word.

He looked at where Macaque had been with wide eyes before looking at his brother, who looked just as if not more shocked than MK, looking even slightly hurt before he curled in on himself, eyes closing tightly and let out a pained shriek.

Cracks appeared on the snow leopard’s body as two large wings suddenly opened on his back. The monkey demon wouldn’t have been so worried… if they hadn’t been two different types of wings.

One was a birds wing, the feathers getting roughly ruffled in the power of the fire while the other was a bat wing, the membrane of the wing flapping as much as it could. 

“Is- is he supposed to do that!?” Mei asked MK, making him shake his head as he didn’t take his eyes off his brother as other parts of his body started changing.

One arm turned into a scorpion claw, the other arm’s hand becoming like a dragon’s. One leg turned into a bird’s while the other became closer to a spider, his tail got smaller too like a monkey’s as he shrieked in pain and the cracks spread across his body.

“The child is too unstable!” Nezha shouted from where he was “we need to leave now unless we want to die along with him!” Another pained shriek rang through the area as the fire blazed even stronger and the cracks spread even further.

“I’m not leaving my brother!” MK shouted at Nezha, looking at him determinedly. “I’ve left him too many times already in the last few weeks, I’m not doing it again!” He snarled, looking towards his brother again when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned to see Red son looking at him, nearly just as determined “if you’re going into that blaze, I will be coming too. You are both still my family and I can stop… too much damage to you” he told him, making MK smile as Mei put her hand on his other shoulder.

“I was supposed to have that fire instead and I don’t want to see you hurt. I want to help too” she told him with a smile, her hair nearly completely out the high pony tail she’d been putting it in since the dragon palace.

“It’s too dangerous” Monkey king said from in front, turning slightly to look back at them while shielding them from the fire “I’m not losing any of you“ he looked at them all before focusing on MK “not again” he barely heard him mutter.

The younger monkey demon took a few steps forward and put a hand on Monkey king’s shoulder, not able to do much else but smile at him “I’ll be okay. We all will be. I promise” he told him, the king looking at him worried for a few seconds before sighing and nodding.

“Okay…” he said “The fire is incredibly strong, support each other” he told them as they all nodded, Mei and Red son preparing themselves behind MK.

“Ready?” 

“Ready” they both replied, MK running forward into the flames with Red and Mei right behind him.

MK put his arms in front of his face as he felt the full power of the fire hit him, nearly getting knocked over if it hadn’t been for Red and Mei supporting him from behind. Smiling back at them, they smiled back before he turned and faced the figure in the fire.

“Plum! I know you’re furious and scared, but you have to stop!” He shouted as he took a step forward, a wave of fire going over him and burning his clothes slightly. “You have every right to feel those things, you’ve been through a lot in the past few weeks, but you’ll hurt everyone if you don’t stop!” He took another few steps forward.

“I’m sorry I left you so many times, I’m sorry I couldn’t help before. But I’m here now, we’re all here now! I want to help you now!” He was so close, he found feel Red and Mei’s hands shaking on his back as they struggled to fight against the power of the fire.

“I have new powers I still don’t know how to completely control, so I get it! You don’t know how to control the fire, so let me help. Let us help!” He was so close, just one more step and he’d be in arms reach “we’ve stuck together for years as the greatest team ever! I’m not leaving you now, and we will get through all of this together!”

One more step and he wrapped his arms around his brother, who let out a choked gasp as the fire quickly disappeared, along with the cracks fading and his form going back to normal as he breathed heavily.

MK felt the hands on his back move away as they breathed heavily too, though he focused on his brother standing in his arms again after weeks. “MK…?” He barely heard his brother say as he gasped for breath through the slowly lightening smoke coming from his mouth, making him pull Plum even closer.

“It’s me, I’m sorry for leaving you. But I’m here now” he said quietly, feeling his brother hug him back before breaking into choked sobs, clinging to him so tightly he could feel his claws digging in as he repeated “I’m sorry”. He didn’t care though.

“He… controlled the fire” he heard Nezha say behind them, sounding surprised as he looked at them. 

It didn’t take long for Plum to finally pull away, quickly wiping the tears away from his face. He looked.. tired. Tired and different. The area covered in ice before was much lighter than it should have been, going from the tips of his ears down his face and to the end of the arm that was covered in the ice. The most.. alarming thing for him was the glowing blue eye he had, instead of being black and white like the other.

Plum looked like he was about to say something, but his ears quickly lifted and turned to the right, making them both quickly turn to see a shadow portal opening. MK felt his brother’s fur spike against his as they both snarled, Mei, Red son and Monkey king quickly getting between the shadow monkey and them as he rose from the shadow.

He heard the other let out a small huff before shadow tendrils quickly shot out and wrapped around the other three demons, pulling them out of the way as he walked towards the brothers, both their tails flicking furiously behind them. 

MK could already feel the fire ignite on the tips of his brother’s ears and tail as dark smoke started rising from the edges of his mouth, both watching the shadow monkey approach. 

“Well look at this! My two sons, wielding two of the most powerful forces in the world!” He said with a smile, making both of them snarl at him, MK taking a step forward in front of Plum and putting his arm out in front of him.

“Do not call us that.” He snarked, baring his fangs at the other monkey demon as he heard the others struggling against the shadow restraints. “We are not your sons”

“Oh come on kids! I was only doing what was-“ he was cut off by the shout from the snow leopard behind him.

MK let out a shout of pain as dark red fire shot past him, aiming for the shadow monkey who dropped through a shadow and released the others.

As the snow leopard landed where Macaque had just been, the ground cracked from the impact as the fire dispersed from the snow leopard except on his tail, ears and the smoke from his mouth. “Damn it!” He heard him snarl furiously.

“Kid! You’re burnt!” Monkey king said as he rushed over, Red son and Mei close behind.

He tilted his head confused, he didn’t feel anything? He can’t be- oh. Blood dripped onto his burnt up jacket and he lifted his right hand, seeing his fingers and half his hand burnt as the pain started coming through on his hand and the same side of his face.

“MK?” He heard from behind the others as they fussed over him, he just about saw Plum looking at him with wide eyes as the others turned to look as well, the snow leopard seem to have shrunk into himself slightly. 

“Plum-“

“I’m sorry! I didn’t want to- I- I didn’t mean-“ the snow leopard whimpered as he dug a hand into his head. “I don’t want to hurt anyone anymore!” He whined as his tail fur spiked and MK saw he was starting to panic.

“Plum it’s-“

“It’s not!” He interrupted “I hurt you MK! I didn’t mean to- and I still did! I- I can’t stay here. I don’t want to hurt anyone else”

MK went to take a step forward to stop him when Plum surrounded himself in fire, the rings following as he shifted into a bird and shot into the sky, leaving a trail of red flames behind as he shot away as fast as possible.

“MK, I’m sorry for dragging you and everyone else into this mess” Monkey king sighed as he watched the snow leopard fly away, the fire trail slowly fading from their view. “I should have just- fought her myself. I did it before, so I could have just done it again.”

“Monkey king-“ MK started, Mei and the others watching confused.

“I’m not changing my mind bud. Go find your brother, take the others with you. I’ll go deal with her. Like I should have originally” he snarled as he walked to the edge of the mountain.

He went to argue but the king turned towards him, looking more serious than he’d ever seen him “For me MK. You’re hurt. You won’t be able to fight her and I don’t want anyone else to get hurt because of me too. Let me handle my mess” He said, jumping off the edge and summoning a cloud before MK could argue anymore. 

Letting out a frustrated shout, he turned to the others, tail lashing furiously behind him “Are any of you planning on running off without me!?” He shouted, tears in his eyes as Mei pulled him into a hug.

“None of us are leaving without discussing it.” She assured, patting his back. “We need to figure out a plan.. we can’t just run into it like Monkey king is” she sighed as she pulled away, MK nodding as he wiped away tearss.

Nezha and the others made their way over, looking worried “MK, that burn looks bad” Sandy said, looking at him worried as he pulled off the last remains of his burnt up clothes.

“We can deal with them later, we need to decide what to do first.”

Nezha let out a sigh as he crossed his arms “Monkey king going off to fight cannot be good. We do not know how much more powerful she has become, but if he thought the Samadhi fire was the only way to defeat her… then she must be more powerful than before” he explained, MK looking at Mei and Red.

“So.. we need to go after him” 

“The samadhi fire not being controlled properly could lead to the world ending though, while it’s less likely than Sun Wukong failing… there’s not much difference” MK nodded as he looked at his bleeding hand a sighed.

“Then we split up” he said, looking up at the group. “Mei, you know Monkey king best, you and Nezha are the most powerful as well so you both go after him, avoid being in her sight” He told them, Nezha sighing and Mei nodding determinedly.

“Red, you could help Plum control the fire right?” He asked, the bull demon groaning but nodding.

“I would assume it works similar to my own fire magic as it was a part of it. I don’t see why I couldn’t help” he said with a small smile, making MK smile back.

“Great! We’ll go after Plum then.” He said before turning to Tang, Pigsy and Sandy “You prepare the van, this will be our meeting point so see if you can find anything that could be of use, there’s bound to be more here than just the ritual site” He said, the three nodding.

Mei cheered as her tail wagged behind her “Great! We have a plan! Let’s go Nezha!” She said excitedly, running down the mountain towards his jet, making the lotus prince sigh.

“Good luck, you will all need it” he told them before quickly following the dragon girl.

MK smiled at them as he turned to Red son “Let’s get going! We- Ow!” He shouted as Red grabbed and pulled on his tail, making him wrap it around his front and hold it with his not burnt hand with a grumble.

“We need to get your burns dealt with first, monkey brain.” He groaned, making MK blink and groan, just wanting to go after his brother.

“Ugh fine ” he huffed, Sandy smiling at him.

“Don’t worry little monkey man, we’ll get you patched up in no time!” He said, the group starting to head towards the van quickly. 

MK went to follow but stopped and looked in the direction where his brother had flown off in, feeling his ears dropping. A hand on his shoulder made him turn to see Red, looking in the same direction then at him. “He’ll be fine, MK” he told him “He’s not as helpless as you think. Plum has fought for himself more than he would let you of all people believe”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He asked accusingly at Red, who just grinned and turned away, following the others to the stairs as he twitched his tail.

“Come on, your burns could get infected and I’d prefer not having Wukong or dragon girl on me for letting it happen” he groaned, making MK roll his eyes with a small smile.

MK stood there for a few more seconds. He would get his brother and Monkey king back and they’d beat the lady bone demon. They’d do it together. 

With a final deep breath, he ran to catch up with the others.