Chapter Text
The thing you need to understand about the old legends, is that the story is never truly finished. There may be no more pages left to turn, but there is always more to the journey.
A white crane flew across the sky has the sun rose above two mountain peaks. Soon a village came into view.
Rising from the Netherworld, the Demon Bull King attacked.
The ground rumbled and split open has a giant bull demon appeared. He let out a mighty roar then starts decimating everything in his path. Soldiers and various fighters tried to stop him but always failed.
No one could stop him, no one could resist, no one except….
Everything seem to be lost, the demon king had won has the village laid in ruins and dark clouds swirled around them but then, a bright golden light pierced through the darkness. DBK turned around and looked up to see a figure standing in the horizon, the sun shining behind them.
The Legendary Monkey King.
Sun Wukong, the Monkey King and Great Sage Equal to Heaven, stood on top of his cloud, clad in golden armor and with a smirk, he summoned his legendary and infamous weapon, The Ruyi Jingu Bang.
Soon a battle between them commence.
Both kings fought, neither backing down, but Sun Wukong managed to overpower him has he strike him down, reverting DBK back to his original height, weakened and battled bruised.
The Monkey King used his magical staff to pick up a nearby mountain and trapped the Demon Bull King underneath it. The Monkey King sealed the mountain with the staff that no other being could wield, trapping the Demon Bull King forever.
Wukong landed on top of a mountain and used his staff to slice a huge portion it and lifted it up. DBK’s eyes widen in fear has a mountain stood on top of him.
“Wukong!”
Wukong’s face contorted into anguish. “I’m sorry.” His expression hardened and let out a roar has he pushed the mountain down and effectively sealing him for good.
And with the battle won, the Monkey King vanished, never to be seen again. Legend says that the staff still lies on top of that mountain, keeping our world from certain destruction.
Wukong gripped his staff tightly and slowly slid down to his knees has tears fell down his face.
“I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please forgive me, Dage.”
He cried for a while then took a shaky breath and stood up, with a solemn expression he let go of his staff and took a step back then began to walk away, never looking back and disappeared with a burst of golden light.
And with the Demon Bull King gone, civilization was able to advance into the amazing city we now live in.
Time moves forwards has the small village soon turned into a magnificent city. People of all ages, both demon and human alike, are seen entering malls, restaurants, in their homes, at the park or walking down the streets of the city now named ‘Megapolis’.
A world of elegant cultures, gentle loving people, a city brimming –
“with five-star cuisine and all because of the Monkey King.”
Inside a small noodle shop, a man with combed black hair with golden rimmed glasses sat on the stool. He wore a red and white long sleeve cheongsam, red scarf and black boots. Across from him, a boy with spiky brown hair and red bandana tied around his head, he wore a white opened button up shirt and a plain white shirt underneath, red pants and black and white shoes. His brown caramel eyes sparkling in awe.
“Oh, that was so good! Monkey King is so cool! He’s so strong and handsome –“
The young brunette exclaimed has he posed various poses but was interrupted by the man has he chuckles wholeheartedly. “Oh MK, and you thought you knew all of Monkey King’s stories.” Mk interjected.
“Oh but I do, I got his whole life documented extensively in this unauthorized autobiography of Monkey King.” He shows him a red book with a doodle of the Monkey King and himself in the front cover along with a small sticker. “Written and illustrated by yours truly.” Mk boasted has he opens the book and shows it to them. “Like I knew he was born from a stone, and live behind a waterfall with his sweet little baby monkey friends, and… and… and – oh!”
He was once again interrupted when the glass-eyed man picked up the scattered pages that fell from the book. “It’s nice to know someone is taking in all these stories. Pearls of wisdom dripping from my lips.” He smiled then cleared his throat, getting the boy’s attention. “Well, you know the deal. One story, one free bowl of Jajangmyeon, hm?”
Mk, too distracted with his book, snaps his attention towards the man then gasped in realization. “Huh? Oh right, free noodles! On it.” He got up from his seat and took a bowl of noodles from the counter and brought it over to him. “How heavy do you think a mountain is? Compare to like-“
Mk was cut off when a wooden spoon flung towards him and hit him.
“Free Noodles?!”
The bowl was thrown into the air then it was quickly snatched by an angry pig demon. The pig demon was wearing a chef’s uniform and he was glaring at the boy and the man. “No one gets a free meal at Pigsy’s! I’m not running a charity here, Tang!” The chef, Pigsy, yelled angrily at him.
Tang sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly at the chef then gave him a cheeky smile has he booped him on the nose. “Ah, but Pigsy. I was paying, with ‘wisdom’.” He said which such an air of confidence that it made the chef angrier.
“Yeah? Well, wisdom doesn’t pay the rent, you freeloader!” He yelled then turned his attention towards MK. “And you, you’ve been slacking off all morning! I’ve got dozens of orders that need delivering, so quit slacking and get packing!”
Mk smiled nervously at his boss. “Yea…” He mumbled, avoiding Pigsy’s gaze. “See, I was about to take my break, so…” He nervously explained, knowing that his excuse was a bad one since Pigsy looked like he was about to blow a gasket.
“Break?”
Pigsy asked calmly has an angry aura surrounded him has he loudly declared.
“THERE IS NO BREAKS IN WAR!”
He threw his wooden spoon, the one he threw at Mk earlier, up in the air then catch it and posed as if he was a general addressing his soldiers. “I need workers, soldiers in the army of Pigsy’s Noodles! Home of the world’s longest noodles!” He stated in a proud manner then he scowled at Mk. “How else am I gonna expand my business in enemy territory?!”
He pointed towards the other side of the street and Mk looked out of the window and tilted his head in confusion. “Uh, you mean across the street?” He asked and the other noodle shop owner and Pigsy’s eyes met and sent competitive glares at each other.
“I stand by my statement.”
He huffed and turned around to see Mk trying to leave discreetly but was caught when his boss dumped all the delivery packages onto him. “Now, hurry up!” He ordered, kicking the poor boy out of the shop.
Then he turned around, to see the scholar eating the bowl of noodles that Mk was going to give to him. An angry tic mark appeared on his head has he yelled and soon chased after the scholar around his shop.
“Get back here, you coward!”
“No, Pigsy!”
“I want my money!”
Meanwhile with Mk, he prepared his Tuk TuK and got on. “Alright.” He smiled and start up his delivery bike and turns on his phone and sees the address for the first order. He put on his headphones and sped off to the streets of the city.
Mk drove the Tuk Tuk around the city, passing by buildings, bystanders and other vehicles. He drove further to his first destination, not paying attention to the change of his surroundings the closer he got. I mean, he passed a sign that says: ‘DO NOT ENTER!’ in bold black lettering.
The oblivious delivery boy soon arrived to his first stop to what appears to be a construction site. He got off the bike has he danced, vibing with the music, carrying the noodles and went inside the elevator shaft, going down.
He closed his eyes and bobs his head up and down, still vibing to the music and still oblivious to his surroundings. The elevator shaft door opens and he dances to the rhythm of the music while walking down the path further into the cave with his eyes still closed.
He eventually opens his eyes and stops when he sees multiple shadowy figures and he hears a feminine voice talking. He moved closer to the opening and saw an army of robotic bull animatrons, a woman with long black hair tied intricately to look like two bull horns wearing a long beautiful red and gold modernized hanfu that shows off her stomach and next to her, was a boy with fiery red hair tied into a long ponytail with red bull ears and a red tail. He wore a red trench coat with a black shirt underneath, purple pants and black boots. He also wore a pair of small black glasses and had a scar on the left side of his face.
“It feels like I’ve waited an eternity for this moment. Is everything in order?”
“Just making the final adjustments, Mother.”
The teen froze up has he stares at them then quickly hides behind a pile of rocks and eavesdrops in their conversation. “Finally, after all this time,” The woman spoke with a gleeful smile. “We have the means to lift Monkey King’s legendary staff!”
“Monkey King?”
He quietly gasped then quickly shook his head. “No that can’t be, it’s all just stories.”
‘Is it?’
He decided to take a better look to be sure. He looks up ahead and his jaw dropped. There, on top of a small hill was the legendary red and gold cudgel that belong to the one and only Monkey King. Mk had sparkles in his eyes has he stares in awe of the famous weapon of his idol.
“Wow! Monkey King’s staff!”
He looks around and starts climbing the pipes to get a better view, from the new angle, he can clearly see just how many robotic bull demons really were. He gulped in fear.
“Soon my love will finally return once we remove the staff.”
She stated with arms crossed with a confident and excited smile, matching that of her son’s then changed to confusion when they saw one of their robots had scaled the hill. “Huh?” The robot tried to pull out the staff, the key word is ‘try’, only for its arms to pop off as it fell down the small hill.
The robot sat up and realized that both of its arms are gone then a shadow fell over it and it stiffened when it heard one of its masters berate the armless robot. “You fool! You think we didn’t try that already?” The redhead scoffed. “It’s going to take more than a few robots to lift Monkey King’s staff. Only those deemed worthy can wield it.” He chuckles and flames engulfed is hand before being replaced by a metal gauntlet.
“But I, Red Son, have designed this gauntlet to bend it to my will.”
Up above, Mk watched on, carrying the package of noodles with his teeth. At the corner of his eye, he notices a white bird, an eagle, with fierce pink eyes, gold at the ends of its feathers and a teal green feather sits atop its head.
If Mk knew any better, he would say the bird was glaring at them. He made a confused sound and the bird glanced at him and stared, as if judging him then turned back to continue watching, basically ignoring him.
‘What a rude bird.’
He turns back just in time to watch Red Son struggle to pull out the staff, his hair, eyes and the tip of his tail ignited with fire then he finally manages to pull the staff free from the mountain. He stares at the staff in his hand with a dumbfounded look.
“I did it?”
Then he ginned victoriously.
“I did it!”
He cackles in joy has the bull clones applaud their young master’s accomplishment. Red Son snorted feeling victorious for finally freeing his father and soon his family will rule over the mortal realm with an iron fist but the moment was ruined when nothing happened.
“WHAT?! Why isn’t anything happening?!” He hopped down and turned to his mother with a frustrated scowl. “Mother, are you sure this is the right mountain?”
His mother rolled her eyes and placed a hand on her hip and other pinches the bridge of her nose. “No, maybe it was the other mountain with a magical staff that’s sealing away my husband!” She replied sarcastically.
The ground began to shake beneath them and they gasped has the mountain started to crack. The force coming from the crack sent the robotic clones flying. The mountain broke in two and a bright light shot upwards then a huge figure roared has it started to emerge. Red Son cackled joyfully has his mother smirked happily.
“Yes, yes father! Rise! Rise!”
A huge, muscular and purple furless bull demon emerged from the mountain with a golden nose ring and blue markings, his eyes glowed green before disappearing to reveal yellow eyes. Mk gasped and his eyes widen in fear and shock while the bird next to him seemed unaffected but Mk could care less about that, all he could think of is:
The Demon Bull King is free.
Maybe he should’ve just left when Pigsy was still ranting, then maybe he wouldn’t even be in this situation!
The Demon Bull King exhaled and looked at his arms and hands. “Flesh. Bone.” He flexed his arms with a pleased smile. “I have returned to the realm of the living!”
“Oh Demon Bull King, how I’ve missed you.”
She spoke in an admiring tone with an appreciative smirk towards her husband but deep inside she was crying tears of joy of finally being reunited with her beloved king, after centuries of being apart.
She never understood why Wukong would seal him away, why he would betray someone that he sees as family, someone that her husband fondly called ‘little brother’.
She tried to find answers, of course, went searching for him when he disappeared has she also tried to find ways to free her king at the same time but never found managed to find him so she focused all her energy into raising their son and trying to find ways to free him.
The Demon Bull King looked down and saw his wife, smiling at him. “Princess Iron Fan, the years have been kind to you.” He said in a husky voice and wolfish expression which made her blush and heat course through her body.
“How did you free me?”
She turned to Red Son, still holding the staff with the gauntlet and shifted nervously, she smiled and encouragingly nudged him towards him. Red Son gulped, his tail swaying nervously has he shyly smiled at his father.
“Hello, father. I’ve missed you.”
DBK’s eyes widen at seeing his son, all grown up, in surprise and sadness.
“My son.”
He leaned down and gently caressed his son’s cheek with a large finger. “The last time I saw you, you were still but a babe, small enough to fit on the palm of my hand.” He said with melancholy has he smiled at his son. Red Son’s ears flapped and his tail wagged happily has he leans into his father’s touch, happy to see his father again.
DBK noticed the gauntlet with the staff. “I believe that you’re the one who freed me?” He asked, still staring at the staff, the staff that kept him locked away for centuries, the staff that belonged to his little brother.
DBK felt ambivalent at the thought of Wukong.
Anger, hurt and betrayal were the foremost feelings he felt towards him but he also felt concerned, confused and longing deep in his heart. He was angry at the monkey for sealing him away, for taking him away from his family but at the same time he wanted to know why. He wanted to know why his little brother, his sweet little brother, did what he did and was worried of what happened to him afterwards.
He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and exhaled through his nose. He’ll deal with that later, right now he turns to focus on his son. Red Son perked up, his tail wagging has he smiled confidently. “Well, I did move the staff,” He admitted with a boastful tone.
“I learned how to harness it power to make it my – our power, of course.”
He quickly corrected himself which made DBK and PIF snort. DBK stood up straight has his eyes began to glow a vibrant green. “Excellent.” He smirked wickedly has Red Son blushed at the praise then grinned in glee. “And together, we, the Demon Bull Family will plunge the world into internal darkness!” He declared holding the staff in the air.
Meanwhile, Mk was watching and listening to everything happening and he can a dose of fear course through his veins, he glanced towards the bird, who still seemed unaffected has it keeps staring with a pointed expression, intending to still ignore him. His arms shaking in fear and exhaustion that he slipped.
He panicked and tried to hold onto the pipe, the bird ignoring his distress in favor of watching the family below. Mk sighed in relief when he managed to grab onto the pipe again but that was short lived when he heard the bird squawk. He looked up and noticed that he was holding a feather and the bird was staring at the feather in his hand.
Looks like he accidently plucked one of the bird’s tail feathers out when he grabbed onto the pipe and that bird was now approaching him has it glared murderously at him.
Mk chuckled nervously has he feels sweat rolled down the side of his face. “Uhh nice birdy… g-good birdy?” The bird cawed at him and started pecking him. “Ow! No, shoo birdy! That hurts, please stop! Go away!” He tried to swat the bird away but it just pecked his hand. The eagle continued its attack which caused him to fall and land on top of Red Son.
He groans has he sits up rubbing his head. A shadow looms over him and he looks up then pales at the sight of the robot bulls, PIF and DBK glaring at him with glowing eyes.
“Uhhhh anyone ordered some noodles?” He grinned nervously, scared for his life.
“Get off of me, YOU IDIOT!!”
The bull prince roared has he erupted in flames launching Mk off his back. Mk yelped has he lands on his behind and he whined, rubbing his sore butt. “Argh! Do you know what you did?!” He growled has he turns to him, tail, hair and eyes igniting in flames.
“You ruined my moment!”
“Ummm…”
Now that Mk got a closer look at the half – bull demon, his heart skipped a beat.
He was objectively gorgeous and the human can feel his face heat up has he stared at the handsome man in front of him. His best friend, Mei, always joked that his type would be bad boys and he always rolls his eyes and laughs but now here he was, crushing on the son of the Demon Bull King.
Mei would have field day when she finds out.
He was snapped out of his thoughts when he felt rumbling footsteps and a deep, gruff growl. “A little eavesdropper has fallen into our midst.” Mk looks up to see the DBK looming over him and scooted back in fright.
“It seems a waste to crush something so insignificant as my first act as ruler of this new world but so be it!” The king raised his foot above him but was stopped by his son. “Wait father!” Mk felt himself blush and stared at the prince in awe has he steps in front of his father.
Maybe he was a kind person and will save him from being crushed by his father. On the other hand, DBK looked at his with a questioning look.
“Do not waste your energy on this peasant,”
Ouch.
But at least he was still saved.
“Allow me to show you how powerful I’ve grown in your absence.”
Or maybe not.
Red Son had a wide proud and confident grin across his face and DBK felt a surge of pride course through him has he stared at his son with a proud smirk. “As you wish.” Mk felt a shiver run down his spine at the low growl while Red Son smiled coolly but his tail gave away how happy he was as it wagged vigorously.
‘Maybe I can get away?’
He subtly tried to get away but a chuckle made him freeze. “You’re very lucky, Noodle Boy.” He chuckled sinisterly and Mk looked up at him with wide frighten eyes. “Not many mortals are lucky enough to be in the presence of I, Red Son of the Demon Bull Clan.” He crawled back and bumped into something and turned around. His eyes widen has he stared at the Monkey King’s staff.
“Prepare to meet your demis- Oi! Are even listening to me, peasant!”
Red Son yelled and lunged towards him. Mk screams and in a panic, grabbed something and used it to block the attack. He closed his eyes, waiting for the hit to come but it never did but instead the sound of a gong echoed and a burst of energy came from the staff, throwing Red Son away a few feet.
The bull prince looked up and stared at the human in shock and disbelief. “No way… how could you possibly lift Monkey King’s staff?”
Mk opened his eyes and gasped in disbelief when he noticed he was holding the Monkey King’s staff. He stood up has he keeps staring at the staff in his hands in awe.
“That’s impossible…”
PIF muttered with a bewildered expression has she stares at the human boy while DBK on the other hand, stared at the boy in fear, not of him but for someone else.
‘If he’s able to lift the staff… then something happened to Wukong.’
Fear and anxiety clenched his heart at the thought of something had happened to his little brother. Even though he was angry at him, he still cared about him and he would forgive him if he only got an explanation but guess that’s not possible now.
Meanwhile, Red Son growled angrily has he glared daggers at the boy.
“I don’t know what’s going on here but I’m about to end it. Hand over the staff!!!” Red Son yelled. His eyes glowed and his gauntlet was engulfed in flames. Several of the demon bull clones joined him. Mk shrieked in terror and swung the staff towards Red Son and the bull clones.
“I’m supposed to be on my BREAK!!!!” Mk yelled and the staff activated. The force of it sent Red Son and the bull clones flying.
“This can’t be…”
Demon Bull King was flabbergasted has he stared at the human but then rage filled his entire body. He glared and growled viciously at the mortal holding the staff, dirtying his little brother’s staff. He wasn’t gonna let some weak, feeble mortal child, a tiny thief, take his little brother’s beloved weapon.
If something did happen to Wukong, then he’s going to honor his memory.
“Uhhhh… that was way more explosive than I thought…” He confessed, confused a bit then he froze. Mk trembled at the glare the large bull demon was giving him. Sensing her husband’s anger, PIF summoned her bamboo fan and slammed it onto the ground with a loud clang.
Mk frightened, pointed the staff towards her. “Stay back! I don’t know what I’m doing!” Mk threatened her but it lost its effect when he stupidly confessed.
“That staff does not belong to you little boy. Hand it over.”
She said in a commanding voice, her patience wearing thin. She knows how much that staff means to Sun Wukong and how much Sun Wukong means to her husband. If something had happened to the celestial monkey then she knows her beloved would want the staff, to remember him and even though she was hurt by the monkey, she’ll be damned if she lets that child take away the only thing left of her brother – in – law.
“Ummmmm… No?”
Mk said unsure then suddenly the staff extended and planted itself on the ground. “Okay, I didn’t even move it that time!” The staff wobbled before it shot upwards, carrying Mk with it. PIF growled.
“He can’t escape with the staff!”
She yelled, already losing her patience. Red Son turned to his father with determined expression. “Father, allow me to get the staff. I promise I won’t fail you the second time.”
DBK looked at him with a furrowed expression. “Do what you must. My patience is wearing thin.”
“Yes father.” Red Son nodded and with an inferno, he summoned a black truck and left to track down the mortal and the staff.
PIF turned to her husband when she heard a sigh. DBK was sitting down and glared at the ground. “Centuries trapped in oblivion, plotting my revenge and all of it ruined by a mortal child.”
“My love-“
“Did you think something happened to him?”
DBK looked at her with a haunted expression and PIF felt her heart break at the sight of her strong bull looking so disheartened. He sighed and dropped his head onto his hands. “I know I’m supposed to hate him for what he did to me, to our family but…”
He let out a shaky breath.
“All I could see when I saw that staff was his smiling face when he showed it to me and told me how he got it.”
He laughed, defeated has he slumps. “I’m never getting him back am I? My little brother is gone, he died on that battle and only the Monkey King came out.”
There was venom in his voice when he spoke of the title as if it was a disgrace.
“Dearest.”
“I miss him.”
PIF gently lifted his face to look at her. She can see the grief in his eyes and it saddens her even more. She gave him a light kiss and pressed their foreheads together.
“It will be alright, beloved. Everything will be alright.”