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A satisfying thunk. Like the sound of a pipe hitting a stone.
For a second, Red Son stared up in awe as if he were gazing into magic.
The air in his lungs seemed to fill once more before retreating out, escaping his body like people from a departing train.
Straight out the door, swarming past the ones who need to get on.
His thoughts seemed to leave him too. His mind was blank. What… what was going on?
His head lost its strength as it tipped and fell forward, forcing him to cower into his own body. His glasses slid off of his face, hitting the ground with a clak before settling.
Meters away from him, Sun Wukong stood, his fist still frozen where it had meet with Red Son’s gut.
Red Son dumbly blinked, his eyes wide as if in disbelief. The air felt so light, so hard to breathe in.
A terrifying pain washed over his entire body, jolting him out of his dream like state before throwing him against the wall. His muscles gave up on him as his body finally collided with the stone, spreading wing like cracks out from the impact point. Dust blew up into his vision, blinding him immediately to spare him from the rest of the battle.
Gusts of wind blew past him in slow motion as everything seemed to lag within him.
Then, it all came rushing back.
Sun Wukong had just punched him, under the influence of the Lady Bone Demon.
Sun Wukong. The monkey king. Eternal enemy of the Bull King family. Strongest Celestial, strong enough to face the Jade Emperor himself and make it out alive. Strong enough to cleanly slice a mountain in two like a sharp knife through a lemon, strong enough to use that mountain to effortlessly seal his father, the Great Bull King, away for eons.
Sun Wukong, no doubt the most feared hero there was, had punched him full force. No holding back.
The pain could barely register itself. It broke the scale in his mind.
As the dust settled, Red Son stared down at his lap, enraptured by the experience. He tried to move his limbs and stand up, but red sirens were flaring in his mind, shutting down any attempt to move. Still, his fingers faithfully twitched as a sorry sign that he hadn’t gone numb.
The loud ringing in his head took much too long to subside. Nothing was working.
Something snapped him out of the fog.
“—ON? RED SON!! RED?!”
MK shook his shoulders, and before he knew it, he cried out in pain and shrunk away from the touch only to hiss as his body protested. MK picked up his hands defensively, freezing before relaxing again and turning to move the large rocks from Red Son’s body. The temple had collapsed around him, nearly burying most of his legs in heavy rock and limestone.
The excruciating burn through his entire body screamed, making its presence known. Red Son stopped himself from keeling over and clutching his abdomen, instead opting to scowl and hit the back of his head against the wall (or, whatever remained of it).
MK quickly apologized as he put the rock aside, letting out a sigh of relief as he caught sight of Red Son’s legs, uncracked.
“Red Son, are you—… no, obviously you’re not, I’m sorry, hang on a little—“ MK stumbled over his words, picking up another slab carefully before throwing it aside. Successfully clearing away the rubble from Red Son’s body, MK offered him a hand to stand up.
“Can you stand?” MK asked, bending down and moving closer to inspect Red Son’s arms.
Red Son wanted to spit in his face in frustration. This noodle brain—?! Does he not realize how much of an impact Sun Wukong’s punch would—?!
Red Son shook his head, wincing as he tried to move his arm. Once again, his body protested strongly. Through a few gasping breaths (had he not been breathing?), Red Son groaned in both annoyance and pain, regaining slight mobility in his arms to carefully cradle his ache.
“Oh, that’s— Okay, that’s no good, uh—“ MK retracted his hand and looked around, releasing a dense panic into the air. “Listen, Lady Bone Demon just teleported away with Monkey King, and she has Mei, which means—“
“SHE HAS WHO?!” Red Son yelped, immediately regretting it as shockwaves of agony danced up his spine. He grumbled before forcefully picking up his hands in an attempt to push himself to standing. Through his failing attempts, he loudly yelled, “eugh—! We’ve— We’ve got to—! Go after…!”
MK rushed to his side, first trying to help him up, but after realizing the amount of pain he was in, forced him back down. Red Son let out an offended “Hey!” as his progress was erased.
“Red Son, you clearly can’t stand, what’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” MK asked, squatting down to look closer. Red Son gave up on rescuing what limited strength he had and turned to face MK, who stared eyeing his limbs and face.
“Where do you think, Noodle Brain?” Red Son grimaced, nodding his head to his abdomen, where Sun Wukong had punched him. Strained, Red Son continued. “Urgh— No matter, just… leave me here. I’ll get up on my own time. You need to go retrieve Dragon Girl, there’s no time to waste on me.”
MK looked out into the distance before snapping his head back to Red Son. “No, I’m not leaving you here. Just give me a second, let me see what I can do to at least help you make it back.”
Red Son sneered at the thought of MK being of any useful help to his current state. “Hah, I don’t think I’ll be accepting help from a less than 3 star medic in training. Just go. I’ll figure this out in due time.”
MK let out an offended “I’ll let you know I’m a wonderful doctor!” before sighing and turning back to Red Son. “This won’t take long, and if it’s really bad, I promise I’ll go without you. Just let me see?” MK reasoned, a nervous smile on his face.
Red Son smirked at his pleas. It was like MK was asking for a toy at a store. Deciding to entertain his idea, Red Son looked expectantly at MK. “Well, do your worst. Try not to leave me in a worse off state than the one I am in now.” At the very least, the faster MK was satisfied, the faster he would go after Mei.
MK’s smile brightened at the approval before climbing closer through the rubble. Red Son watched as MK gingerly picked up the edge of his shirt, lifting it upwards.
Red Son felt his hair flare up, in embarrassment or bashfulness, he wasn’t sure. Ah, wonderful, I have the energy to do that and still not enough to even stand?
MK seemed to marvel at seeing Red Son up close, the incompetent fool. Then, MK slapped a hand over his mouth and dropped the shirt.
Confused, Red Son tilted his head at MK, unimpressed with his very minimal medical efforts. MK stared back at him before lowering his hand and quietly muttering, as if ashamed, “there’s a crack.”
As a demon, Red Son barely had any cracks. Most scars he had were flesh wounds from his childhood, and since he was sheltered most of his years, not many had formed since. Demons had much tougher build to them, especially one of such prestige as Red Son. Their demon heritage gifted them with strong skin and durable bodies, able to take a surprising amount of hits before even cutting skin. Really, the only times Red Son had scarred himself were in the separating of the Samadhi Fire and early childhood mischief. Any other injury rarely ever resulted in a bruise, much less in cutting of the skin and even lesser in scarring.
So imagine his surprise when he’d learnt he’d earned a crack.
Red Son would have spit out his water if he had any.
He’d never received a crack before.
In fact, the closest he’s ever gotten to a crack is the scar on his cheek, which would have formed into a larger crack had his parents and Ne Zha not treated him with such care.
MK picked up the shirt again and touched Red Son’s stomach, earning a yelp of pain and surprise from Red Son. MK retracted his arm, apologizing quietly before staring in awe.
“A… a crack…?” Red Son asked hesitantly.
MK’s grip on his shirt started to shake as shallow tears began to build up in his eyes. Panicking, Red Son eased himself forward with great effort and pushed his shirt down, smoothing it out before reaching out to touch MK. “Hey, wait—! Noodle Boy, I assure you, it’s most likely a scratch.” Red Son hesitated as MK looked up at him with some sort of dismay in his eyes. Red Son’s heart shattered. Not now. “Even if it is a crack, it must be shallow. Don’t underestimate the Demon Bull King heritage, I was gifted with an especially strong vessel as to not destroy myself with the Samadhi Fire. Worry not, Noodle Boy. This crack will heal up in no time, especially under the care of Ne Zha.”
MK seemed pleased at the response, but his tears still fell from his eyes. Guilt riddled the space behind his irises. “…You‘ll be okay, right…? It’s not permanent? Are you sure?”
Red Son, despite having not yet seen the fatality himself, pressed back his pessimism. “Yes. I will be fine. Are you doubting my capability?”
MK jumped and shook his head violently. “No! No of course not, I was just—“
Red Son interrupted him with a snicker, immediately regretting it as another wave of pain made him jolt and freeze. “It was a joke, Noodle Brain. I’ll be okay, I always am. I’m immortal, remember?” Red Son erased his smile and poked MK in the head lightheartedly. MK laughed and the tears disappeared from his eyes, calming Red Son internally.
“Alright, if you say so. Now come on, I don’t think you’re in any condition to move yourself. I have a plan, all you have to do is hold on,” MK beamed, his melancholy seeming to melt away in a second.
Red Son raised an eyebrow, but before he could say anything, MK bent down and hoisted him up, carrying him effortlessly bridal style. Red Son cursed in pain and MK quickly apologized. Before he could interject, MK ran for the edge of the temple, transforming himself into a large bird and carrying Red Son on his back.
Red Son cried out in fear as they soared higher into the sky, prompting him to hold onto MK for dear life. The effects of being punched directly in his stomach weren’t helping either; bile climbed up his throat quickly. Out of respect for MK (though he would never admit it was respect, he’d justify it with not staining his ride), he managed to force it back down with great effort. THE DISRESPECT NOODLE BOY HAS FOR CARRYING ROYALTY IN SUCH A DISTASTEFUL MANNER—!
Deep inside his gut, a flash of hot white pain made itself known. Looking down, Red Son felt sweat begin to form on his forehead as he clutched at his stomach. He felt sickly, and his worry deepened as red began to soak into the absorbent fabric of his shirt.
A dark red bloom erupted on his chest, painting a flower like shape across his torso and abdomen. For a moment, it was almost beautiful, cracking open like a pomegranate, rippling across his body like waves, followed by a sharp familiar ache.
Ah, that’s right. He’d heard this from his parents.
Cracks are a core damage to the physical body. A direct hit through the outer shell of a regular body and into the internal softer body, which means…
Cracks bleed.