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There had been no concept of a normal day in Megapolis since the return of the Demon Bull King and Mk's acquisition of mystical powers. Each day contained new surprises, if not for the entire city, then at least for the young hero's family and friends. On this particular afternoon, Macaque showed up at the restaurant for some lunch, surprised to see everyone else but the cook missing.
“Did you tell Tang to pay off his debt or something that he's gone?” the demon monkey asked, sitting down at the counter right next to the scholar's usual seat.
“No, it never worked. Tang is practicing new spells with the kids, and I forbade him from trying any magic in my restaurant, so they're sitting upstairs in Mk's room.” Pigsy replied as he continued cooking.
“They left you here alone? How could they!” Macaque puffed up dramatically.
“You don't get a free meal.” the cook replied immediately.
“Well it was worth a try.” shrugged the demon, taking money out of his pocket and placing it on the counter.
"The usual?" Pigsy asked as he took his payment.
“I am a person of unchanging tastes.” replied the monkey.
“Yes, I noticed. Would you like to go get the cluster, one floor above? It's high time they ate something and Mk got back to work.” the restaurateur asked and Macaque nodded, immediately teleporting away.
"Hey, Pigsy sent me for you..." the demon greeted, emerging from Tang's shadow and immediately being blasted with the golden energy of an unknown spell that threw him against a nearby wall and tied itself around his neck.
“Macaque! I'm sorry!" the terrified scholar immediately screamed.
"Everything's all right?" Mk asked, walking over to his former mentor and helping him up.
“I won't lie, it hurt and…” Suddenly, a warm current coursed through the demon's body, and a strange scratching sensation began to build in his throat, forcing him to respond to Mk in a different way. (*1)“And now you'll lead the way, show the light of day, nice work you did, you're gonna go far, kid.”
The room fell silent as Macaque covered his mouth in surprise, biting his shoulder and glancing questioningly at the gathered four, who stared back. When the demon stopped feeling the urge to continue singing, he released his arm from the grip of his fangs.
“Okay, what was that?” he asked the small crowd in front of him.
“Tang was practicing truthfulness charms or something because we thought it would be fun to use it in combat or when interrogating some enemy.” Mei replied, recovering from her shock.
“And it hit me... (*2)All teenagers scare the livin' shit out of me, they could care less as long as someone'll bleed, so darken your clothes, or strike a violent pose, maybe they'll leave you alone , but not me. The boys and girls in the clique, the awful names that they stick.” before Macaque had a chance to finish his sentence, another improvised musical number escaped from his throat.
“Hmm, I think I mixed up the spell.” confessed a pale Tang, leafing through the book.
“You say? (*3)Why do you assume you're the smartest in the room? Soon that attitude may be your doom! Why do you write like you’re running out of time?” this time the shadow master was prepared for the chant that escaped his throat as he scratched the spell.
“How did you get it all mixed up?” asked Mk.
“Instead of being forced to answer questions truthfully, Macaque, after speaking directly to the person, is forced to sing out what he feels and thinks about that person or simply at that moment. But I'm just guessing.” he informed Tang about his theory, and Macaque frowned, but after thinking about the scholar's words, it made some sense.
“So Macaque will sing about emotions?” Mei asked innocently, and a red warning light went off in the monkey's head.
"Probably. I'll try to find an anti-spell, but it might take a while." Tang announced and the demon groaned.
“Just keep quiet.” Red Son prompted him and Macaque really wanted to believe that it would be enough.
“Mac.” Mei hummed as she approached the monkey, who teleported to Pigsy in terror.
“Where's the rest?” the man asked, only after a while noticing the guest's condition, who immediately shook his head, covering his mouth just in case. “Macaque?”
“Hey Pigsy, have you seen Mac?” Mei asked as she entered the restaurant with a devilish smile, and the demon was about to teleport away when his powers gave out, much to his panic.
“Mei! Don't torment him!” Mk shouted, coming in right behind her, along with Tang, who was flipping through a book, and a bored Red Son.
“Can someone explain to me what's going on?” asked the cook, seeing the commotion.
“I was practicing spells and I may have hit Macaque with one.” replied the scholar, and the demon groaned.
“And now he is very truthful.” laughed the descendant of the great dragon.
“Can I leave you alone for more than five minutes so you don't do something?” Pigsy asked, sighing and handing them their food and telling them to put off trying to figure it out until after the meal.
Tang was sucking on some noodles, leafing through the book with furrowed brows, trying to find the reason for all the commotion as Macaque glared at him, waiting and trying to ignore the teasing kids. He was doing quite well with this until he felt his glamor start to fade.
“Macaque, what's going on?” Mk immediately appeared at his side, being much too loud for his six brightly colored ears with no muffling or silencing charms.
“Mk, quiet down.” Macaque heard from across the room, despite curling into a ball, trying to protect his ears and covering his scar from his fight with Monkie King.
After a moment, a heavy blanket was thrown over his shoulders and the surprised demon looked up, seeing Pigsy handing him his son's headphones, which must have been enough in this situation. With a hiss of pain, the monkey somehow managed to push his ears back into them, which helped with the noise a little.
"Better?" the cook asked quietly, and Macaque nodded.
"What's going on?" Mk asked worriedly, and Macaque, in pain, opened his mouth, forgetting about the spell.
(*4)“I'm not ok and I need you to see it. I have so much to say and no one to hear it. The reason i keep quiet with so much at stake I always feel like a burden, let it silence me. You’ll never understand why it’s so hard to say I’m not okay.” Despite his struggle, Macaque couldn't stop the flow of words from his mouth, even covering them with his hands.
“That… explains a bit?” Mk said hesitantly as Macaque groaned.
“I have one good news, but also two bad news.” Tang said.
“Speak.” Pigsy waved him off.
“Well, I found this spell, but…” the scholar began anxiously.
"But?" Red Son asked.
“It's a curse that will only get worse. That's why Macaque's glamor is gone, because the curse blocks his magic from breaking it.” explained the beginner in the magical arts.
“Then take it off.” Mei suggested, as if the man had forgotten about this possibility.
“This is the second piece of information. It cannot be removed by the person who threw it, nor by anyone with less power.” Tang confessed, letting the message sink in.
“So what, Macaque will sing about his feelings to death or will he remain silent for the rest of his life?” Red Son asked, and the black-haired demon seemed to lean towards the latter option.
“Silence won't help anything. Just the fact that Macaque is able to stop is admirable. Not only will the curse soon prevent him from interrupting, but he will also be unable to remain silent, forced to speak by the spell.” Tang explained embarrassedly.
“So we need to find someone who has more power than you?” Mei assured and Tang nodded. “At least we don't have to look far.”
Macaque immediately shook his head frantically, signaling that this was a bad idea. He already preferred to visit the afterlife again rather than owe a life debt to this one individual.
“Unfortunately, this is the only option. We need Monkie King's help.” Mk declared, and Macaque borrowed Tang's notebook while planning his funeral while the teenager went to pick up his mentor.
“Don't be dramatic, it won't be that bad.” Pigsy muttered, to which Macaque raised an eyebrow and quickly wrote something down, then showed it to the cook.
'Do you want to bet on it?'