Chapter Text
Wukong knew little about the scroll of memory: he knew how it looked like and he knew that if the ink caught someone, they’d sink in it and be trapped there to be tortured.
He did not know how that thing spawned in his cave.
What he did know was that he couldn’t let the kid being trapped by his past’s ghosts. And so he sunk in the ink instead.
His first memory there was him being born from his stone.
He stayed hidden, trying to not interact with it.
A trip to the past was the last thing he needed.
Soon he got bored of waiting and he smashed his way out of there.
He looked at himself in his first, pathetic, try to interact with humans.
He smiled once he visited his old master. But he couldn’t stay there, he had to find a way out of there, so he smashed again the thin line between memories.
It took a moment to remember where and when he landed: a forest where the sun’s light was barely able to touch some parts of the soil.
Oh. Oh.
That was their first encounter. Wukong grimaced, annoyed, ready to crack open that memory before he could see anything, but his own voice stopped him.
“YOO! Anyone home? I heard there’s a strong monkey here! I wanna be friends!”
Was he always this dumb?
“Why would I want to be friends with you? I hear much more than you do, and honestly you are a bigger troublemaker that I am, which says a lot, but I prefer having a low profile.”
The first time, Wukong didn’t know where that voice was coming from; but now, the Monkey King knew that the other simian was hiding in the shadows, observing his past-self in total security.
-He was always so paranoid, I only wanted to make friends! - he thought, crossing his arms.
“Well, where’s the fun in being cheeky if no one knows it’s you?” the young ginger asked.
“You say that just cause you don’t know how funny it is when someone is trying to figure out who did something and you are just there, watching them go crazy cause they’ll never find you or find out that you even exist.”
“If you become my friend, we could try both methods and decide which one is funnier!” the handsome monkey king cheered, looking around in attempt to find the other.
“You’ll have to do better than that to convince me, your majesty.”
“You’re right! I’m a king! The handsome MONKEY king! As a monkey you are obligated to follow my command!” the wanna-be-hero jumped on a tree, maybe from there he could find him.
“Well, I could say that I wasn’t there when the other monkeys crowned you, but I’ll just say that his majesty hasn’t commanded me to do anything yet.”
Both Wukong jolted as the wind blow the memory’s one off the branch.
The present one was annoyed, if he were in that position, he’d lash out and wreck everything.
But the past simian laughed it off, jumping on his feet and wagging his tail.
“Then I command you to show yourself!”
And the king fell again after a tail made him trip. When he looked up, a white furred simian rose from the shadow a foot away from his head. The light behind him made the monkey look holy.
Macaque’s lips curved into a smirk.
“Your majesty looks gorgeous on the ground.”
What the albino meant as a mocking comment actually made the laying ginger blush so much, he matched the other’s mask.
“Flustered much, I see.” He laughed.
And the king blushed even more, cause damn, that laugh was so soft and cute-.
Wukong never thought about kidnapping someone before, but that monkey made him understand why all the other demons did such thing.
“Others would’ve been executed for that, you know that?” a laughing Wukong asked, trying to sound normal.
“Oh, how lucky I am that my king is merciful.” Macaque walked away from him, slapping him with his tail in the process.
“Hey! That was rude!” Again, Wukong jumped on his feet, his eyes on the albino’s back.
“You were rude first, oh handsome monkey king.” The shadow demon rolled his eyes.
“You got a name?” the hero asked, his hands on his hips.
Macaque just sighed, not even looking at him.
“I thought you heard about me.”
“I heard about a sly monkey that caused chaos around here but was so fast nobody could even see him for more than a second.”
“Oh, right, I be like that sometimes.” Mihou looked at his claws, wanting to look unbothered as his ego was feed.
“So, I couldn’t know your name, but if you don’t want to tell me I can always call you mine.”
The present Wukong wanted to die. Did he really said that?
“That’s a little bold, don’t you think monkey king? How could I be yours if you can’t even touch me?”
Finally, Liu Er turned to face him, hands behind his back, smirking even more than before.
“Is that a challenge?” Wukong’s tail wagged even faster, a grin reaching his lips.
“Tell you what, the day you can catch me, I’ll tag along and be your friend.”
“Didn’t think you liked to be haunted.” The hero laughed again, licking his lips. He loved a good challenge.
“You’ll get bored like the other demons that tried before you.” The shadow demon shrugged.
“So, are there any rules about this game?” Wukong was trembling in excitement.
“I thought you didn’t follow any rules, gorgeous.”
“Oh, you knew me so well already, is like we are meant to be.”
“You sound so pathetic, can’t wait to make fun of you to everyone I know when you run to your little island defeated.”
“And I can’t wait to bring you there as my new friend after I catch you in a flash.”
“I just hear words, handsome.”
Liu Er Mihou laughed again, leaning his back on a tree, and Sun Wukong was mesmerized looking at him, before he shook himself to the reality and in a flash, he was jumping on the other, only to bash his face to the tree, after the other became a shadow.
“You are just so cute, thinking I’m bluffing, you couldn’t get even if I was asleep.”
“Hey! That’s cheating!”
“How could I cheat if there are no rule, cutie?” Mihou’s laughed filled the forest as the shadow blended with the others.
“I am not cute! I’m the handsome Monkey King!” little Wukong shook his arms as fast as he could to express his disappointment.
“So sorry about that, your majesty, I’m gonna call you gorgeous from now on, so that I’m forgiven.”
“Get back here and face me!”
“You are the one who has to catch me, gorgeous, giving up so soon?”
The old Wukong covered his ears, annoyed by the fact that he too was blushing. Macaque was always an asshole. Why did he actually tried to catch him? Yeah, of course, just for a challenge.
No other reason.
He followed his flustered younger self in the journey to catch Macaque, his desire to just drop dead increasing whenever that fucking idiot was embarrassing (which was like- a lot).
Annoyed by that display and knowing full well that Mihou was now far away from that forest, the real Wukong smashed his way to another memory. Funny enough, that was the next time his younger self met the albino.
Macaque was talking to another demon, a bird demon (Wukong didn’t know which bird it was, it was blue, he knew that much) clearly flirting as he robbed said bird with his tail, without the other noticing.
“What’s your name?” suddenly the idiot asked.
And Wukong waited, wanting to hear the answer.
“Wouldn’t you like to know, darling. But I believe that a little mystery is funny to keep, don’t you?” Mihou leaned near his face, too close to that bitch’s face.
The present Monkey King felt the same emotion he felt the time he actually lived that situation, but his younger self was faster: the bird was flying away from Macaque in a second, as the ginger took his place.
“Well, hello there, gorgeous, you really suck at haunting. Want something to drink?” Mihou didn’t even back off, which made Wukong confused.
“Sure, what you got there to drink?” he laughed a bit, observing him.
“Mostly wine.” Macaque took the bottle on the table before them, pouring said wine into his own cup. “It comes from a very far land, you know?”
“So, this is you giving up?” asked the king, taking the cup that he offered.
“Oh, like hell, gorgeous, you barely found me, you have to catch me to win.”
And just like that, Mihou was falling for his chair and when the other tried to catch him, he was already sunk into his shadows.
“Bonus point for actually finding me, your majesty, but your haunting skills suck anyway.” He laughed, before vanishing again.
Both Wukong groaned in frustration.
The present one really forgot how much effort he had to put to that task.
How did he catch Macaque in the end? He couldn’t remember.
So he smashed again his way to the next memory.
Next time he saw the shadow demon, it was in a celestial’s library.
“Are you here for me or it’s just a coincidence?” the albino asked, his tail wagging as he watched the artifacts on the walls.
“Well- yeah okay I wanted to came here to steal something, but today I’ll definitely catch you!” Wukong proclaimed, pointing his finger at him.
“It’s rude to point, your majesty, I’m here to steal something too, why don’t we try your theory about being cheeky while being caught?” the grin on Macaque face wasn’t to be trusted, but Wukong finally found someone as crazy as him!
Could anyone really blame him if he were trembling with euphoria?
“Okay, truce, but only if you tell me your name!”
“All right, all right, but lower your damn voice.”
“Sorry.” He whispered.
“Well, I’m Macaque, the Six Eared Macaque, actually.”
“That’s sounds more like a title than a name.”
“Your first name literally meant stone monkey, who are you to talk?”
“Damn sorry, I didn’t think you’d be so sensitive about it.”
“I go by Liu Er Mihou too, but no one uses that so it’s really useless to introduce myself with that.”
“It’s a beautiful name, but I don’t see any six ears, Mihou.”
“I keep them covered.” Liu Er rolled his eyes, approaching the spear on the wall.
“Why is that?”
“Cause it keeps me from hearing too much.”
“Can I see them?”
“Nop.”
“Why not?”
“You are definitely too loud to be near my un-glamoured ears.”
“I’m not being loud now!”
And Mihou glanced at him, raising an eyebrow.
“Sorry-”
The albino sighed.
“What do you want to steal here?”
“I don’t know, the celestials always have so many things, usually I take whatever I like.”
And that made Mihou giggle.
Young Wukong sighed, mesmerized by that vision.
Macaque took the spear on the wall, sinking in the shadows as traps were activated. Wukong dodged the magic seals and weapon that flew towards him.
“Have fun taking the blame from me, gorgeous.” Mihou laughed, as the rest of the weapons on the wall were absorbed by shadows.
“You’re an asshole! I could snitch on you!”
“Well, of course, but would they actually believe to the same monkey that robs everyone on the celestial plane? There are very few people that know about my existence, you’d end up looking like you made me up and look pathetic.”
Another laugh and Macaque was gone.
The present Wukong sighed, as the past’s one began to wreck his way out of there, fussing about being tricked.
When did he actually caught Macaque?
Time to smash some air and find out.
Oh. Oh.
Of course someone else had to be in the picture for that dumb idiot of a king to catch someone sneaky as Macaque.
Macaque was fighting with an army of demons.
“Well, hey there bud, how’s going?” Wukong asked, looking down at him on his cloud.
“Gorgeous, this isn’t exactly the right time.” Macaque sighed, dodging a jaguar demon before striking them down with his spiked staff.
“Wow, you got a staff too, is it a coincidence or you wanted to match with me?” the young king teased, his tail wagging happily as he watched the other monkey fight.
Macaque’s style was far different from Wukong’s, the shadow demon thought about every move, used the enemies’ strength against them.
Wukong always preferred giving his everything (well, his good 80 % at least, if he actually used his everything, he’d always destroy so many things) while fighting.
Macaque didn’t like to consume energy if he could avoid it.
“I made it way before knowing about your majesty.” Mihou rolled his eyes, jumping on the back of a cow demon, before grabbing them by the horns and throwing them on other enemies.
“How come that you’re not using your shadows?” Wukong frowned, tilting his head to the left as he observed the white monkey.
“You know, I train too, gorgeous, just staying in shape.”
And while, yes, that sounded fair, Wukong didn’t buy it.
-First time that I see him not being dumb around Macaque- the older Monkey king scoffed, observing the scene from afar.
One little detail made the hero understand what was going on. Well, six little details.
“Oh, don’t tell me, the sneaky Macaque let some enemy absorb his precious magic.” Smirked Wukong.
“Don’t have to tell you anything you idiot, how did you came to that conclusion? Can’t a monkey have some fun training?”
Although Mihou’s body language was calm, his tone was not. No magic against some nobodies? Sure, he could manage that.
Against Wukong? He wasn’t so sure.
“Well, you’re ears are showing, no glamours on you, can’t see how that would let you have fun in a battlefield.” The king wagged his tail slowly, his smirk still there.
“They help me hear everything around me- and what do you care anyway?” Macaque groaned as his staff broke on some enemy’s head and dissolved.
“Would you two quit it?! This isn’t a game! This criminal shall be executed before our king-” some demon tried to speak up, seconds before being crushed down by the Monkey King’s staff.
“Sorry pal, the ones who are disturbing are you guys.” Wukong laughed a little, landing next to his staff.
“Is that the monkey king-?” someone asked, as fear and stupor surrounded the ginger.
“The one and only!” he cheered, lifting his staff, before glancing at his prey. “See? If the people know you, you could settle things in a flash.”
“I don’t see you settling any-” Mihou blinked a few times, looking around as every last one demon run off. “-thing.”
“You were saying?” the smug on Wukong’s face made the other simian growl. “Well, you can’t escape now, do you give up?”
“You wish. I’m not an easy prey, magic or not.”
And the young king trembled in excitement.
“I was hoping you’d say that. And since I’m so nice, I’m not using my staff cause I don’t want to hurt you.” He said, letting his weapon fall to the ground, creating a not-so-small crater.
“Since you’re so nice I might feel guilty after you lose again, what time is this? I’ve lost count after the tenth.”
Even though he was mocking the opponent, Mihou got in position to be ready for the imminent attack.
“I’m not good with math, you can just remember this as the time I got you.” The other laughed a bit.
And in a flash, the ginger was towering over the albino, who dodged him before he could even touch a single hair of the white fur.
“A little slow there, monkey king.”
Wukong was both annoyed and excited by the fact that Macaque managed to dodge him so easily, but after a while he noticed how the white furred monkey was out of breath.
“How the hell you keep up?” Wukong asked.
“I have my secrets, gorgeous.” Mihou took his arm and throwed him on the ground, before jumping away from him and catch some breath.
“It’s so ridiculous that no one knows about you come on, you are keeping up with me and with no magic.” The king jumped on his feet, observing his soon-to-be friend.
“It’s not if I like it that way, you are pissing off every deity you meet, I like to keep a low profile, soon or later you’re gonna face your consequences, while I can sleep safe and sound knowing that there’s few that know of me and even less people that know about what I did.” Mihou shrugged. “And as soon as I get my powers back, I’m going back to destroy those idiots, so it stays like that.”
“Or, we could destroy them together and let the world know that we are friends and are unstoppable.” Wukong gestured with his arms, already tasting the sweet taste of the glory. But his dreams were shattered by two simple words:
“Hard pass.”
“Well I’m gonna catch you and we are gonna do it my way since you got away last time!”
“You couldn’t even grab me during the fight, how could you catch me?”
“Well, I didn’t use all my potential on you, Mihou.”
Hearing his name, Liu Er blushed, trying to say something else, and that gave the king enough time to make some clones.
“Fucking hell.” Groaned Macaque, as he started to run, dodging every clone in his way, even managing to hit some of them so strong that they were vaporized.
The real Wukong actually laughed at the scene, finally Macaque wasn’t acting like he was cool or unstoppable.
Busy with dodging the clones, Mihou didn’t noticed the strange ladybug that flew on his back. He blinked a couple times, noticing the clones stopping – every one of them was smirking too -.
He couldn’t ask what the hell was going on, since the king was back to himself, hugging tight the albino from behind.
“Got you.” He smirked too.
And Macaque could only groan in frustration.
“You lost.” Wukong stated, his tail wagging as he rested his chin on the other’s right shoulder.
“Yeah, kay, I lost, I can see that. Gonna let me go anytime soon?”
“Gonna keep your promise?”
“It wasn’t a promise, but yeah, I lost, we’re friends now. You’re so embarrassing.”
And Wukong just let out a happy chirp, hugging him tighter and spinning around, as if Macaque was a new plushie.
“Let go of me you oaf!” the albino growled, putting a hand on his face, and trying to escape his deadly grip.
“That’s no way to talk to your friend, Mihou.”
“If you have a bad taste in friends that’s a you-problem! Not mine!”
And the real Wukong laughed again, not just for Mihou’s struggle, but for the fact that he knew that Liu Er longed for a real friend as much as he did, cause after that Macaque was always there for him no matter what, until-.
Wukong stopped laughing. Of course, he remembered now.
Smashing his way to the next memory, he growled.
He didn’t have time for this- he needed to escape from there and find the kid.
But another sweet memory of them got in the way.
Maybe he could stay another five minutes.