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MK could hear his heart pounding in his ears and the rain soaking his fur and clothes while leaves and branches slapped against his face as he ran through the forest with tears streaming down his face that stung and irritated the scratches and scrapes on his face, he could hear Monkey King shouting after him, calling out for him but he kept running. He couldn’t turn back, not when he was so close to freedom. His legs burned and his feet ached while his lungs screamed at him, as if telling him to stop and catch his breath but he had to keep running, he didn’t want to go back. Not after escaping, he could faintly hear someone catching up which caused the pounding of his heart to get louder in his ears as fear and adrenaline pumped through him like blood. He looked over his shoulder to see Macaque trying to catch up to him which made MK’s heart skip a beat as his eyes widened in shock and fear, but he kept running, desperately trying to get away from the dark-furred monkey demon.
MK grunted when his foot got caught on a branch, causing him to trip and stumble as he fell to the ground with a hard thud and landed on his arm causing him to cry out in pain, he shakily tried to get up but a sob passed through his lips when he collapsed due to pain and exhaustion, he could hear Macaque walking over which caused him to shake in fear of what was to come. Knowing Macaque was going to come to take him back to Monkey King to seal his fate, they were going to take away his powers, not knowing what the outcome would be, but they didn’t seem to care. MK wanted to plead and beg for Macaque to let him go so he wouldn’t possibly die; he didn’t want to die. Not after everything they had all gone through together.
As MK waited for Macaque to drag him back to Monkey King, he suddenly felt a cold and somewhat sticky substance wrap around him and roughly drag him away from Macaque which caused his eyes to snap open, his eyes widened in shock when he saw the ink version of himself standing in front of him and shielding him from Macaque who looked equally as shocked to see him.
“Well, well… Seems as though you have gotten yourself into more trouble, haven’t you Six-Eared-Macaque?” Ink MK sneered as he glared at Macaque whose gaze darkened at his words.
“This is none of your concern,” Macaque growled as he made a staff out of his shadows.
“Oh, but it is.” Ink MK says with a chuckle while shaking his head as MK feels a wave of confusion wash over him from Ink MK’s words.
“You shouldn’t even be interfering with this. You don’t know what could happen if we don’t go through with this. He is losing control of his powers; he is becoming a wild beast.” Macaque counters back angrily and somewhat shakily.
“That’s not a very nice thing to say. After all, you and Sun Wukong had promised to never hurt MK again did you not?” Ink MK asked mockingly while tilting his head causing Macaque to tense up at his words while MK frowned at Ink MK’s words.
Macaque wanted to argue with Ink MK, to say he was wrong, and that this wouldn’t hurt him, but he knew he was right, all they would be doing would be hurting MK if they went through with the idea, they would be breaking his trust with no way of fixing it.
Macaque soon hears rustling and looks to see Ink MK lifting MK with no effort, he steps forward to try and stop him but stops when Ink MK glares at him coldly as MK clings to Ink MK slightly in retaliation as a look of fear flashes across his face.
“We’ll be taking our leave now.” Ink MK says coldly before leaving with MK as Macaque stands there in disbelief before he finds himself beginning to tear up before he begins crying already knowing why MK chose to go with the ink demon counterpart.
Present time
“Zimo, let him go!” MK says to Zimo sternly who had grabbed a shady man by his neck when he tried to mug MK, they had been traveling for some time and MK had gotten tired of calling the ink demon version of himself Ink MK so he gave him the name Zimo; refined ink or as he would occasionally call him Mòsè; Inky for short which would annoy the ink demon but didn’t seem to hate it.
“He was going to mug you or worse!” Zimo counters back angrily as he tightens his hold on the man’s neck slightly, feeling irritated with MK’s argument when he is trying to protect his companion.
“I know that Zimo, but we can’t just kill anybody that poses a threat to us! It’s not right!” MK says sternly as he glares at his ink demon counterpart while crossing his arms over his chest. Zimo growls at MK’s words but releases the man who quickly scampers off in fear before the ink demon counterpart turns to MK angrily.
“MK, you are an idiot.” He hisses out which causes MK to growl softly as his eyes flash gold for a second but shakes his head to not lose control, he has learned that his powers mostly activate through his emotions, and he has gained better control, but he still has his moments.
“Just because I don’t want to kill every person that tries to harm me in some way?” MK counters back angrily as his tail flicks in irritation while his fur bristles slightly.
“You know what I mean! You’re being too soft, MK! Have you forgotten what Monkey King and the others were planning on doing?!” Zimo exclaims in frustration as he glares at his counterpart.
“Of course, I haven’t but that does not mean you can kill anyone you want!” MK says angrily as he turns away from the ink demon.
“You’re too soft, MK. You would be better off as a human.” Zimo mutters angrily causing MK to tense up slightly which makes him angry before he turns to Zimo and swiftly punches him in the face as his eyes flash gold causing Zimo to fall to the ground from the sudden punch.
“And you would be better off stuck in that scroll!” MK shouts angrily as he glares at Zimo who snarls before he tackles MK to the ground as they begin to tussle.
Their arguments sometimes ended this way, they would argue and either apologize to the other or would end up having a physical altercation until one of them said something first. They continued to fight with each other for some time while shouting hateful words at each other as they continued to struggle in the fight to overpower the other. They soon come to a draw and sit down facing away from each other as they lean against each other’s backs while trying to catch their breath. They both sit there in silence save for the sound of their heavy breathing and gasps for air. They both soon calm down and Zimo begins to think about the events that just happened, and it begins to anger him again, but it isn’t towards his companion. No, it’s towards his ignorance, he wants him to understand why he acts the way he does; he doesn’t do it to anger him or upset him, he does it to protect him, so he doesn’t get hurt again. He had nobody before they got to where they are now, MK had been scared and unsure of whom to trust when his so-called family planned to take his powers in hopes of stopping him from becoming a wild beast as they so-coldheartedly phrased it without even thinking. He hated them for it, he wanted them to suffer for hurting his companion and nearly breaking his spirit, he wanted them gone, he wanted them to feel MK’s pain. To understand what it was like to be betrayed and thrown away like they were nothing.
His thoughts were interrupted by a sniffle followed by a hiccup to which he turned to look at MK who was crying and hugging his knees to his chest as tears rolled down his cheeks while his eyes glowed a faint shade of gold, but they quickly changed back to brown.
“Why do we do this, Mòsè? Why do we fight like this? What do we even accomplish from it? All we do is hurt the other by doing it and it just… Drives us apart each time. We can’t even have a normal encounter without us being at each other’s throats. What are we doing at this point anymore, if all we do is just… Hurt the other?” MK chokes out before he begins sobbing again as he buries his face into his arms. Zimo frowns at this, a wave of sadness washing over him, knowing he was right.
“I don’t know, MK. But I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have ignored your orders when you said to let that guy go. I was just, angry that he could have hurt you worse than just possibly mugging you.” Zimo says with a shaky sigh before tears pricked at the corner of his eyes as his tail curled around MK’s.
MK turned to Zimo and pulled him into a hug who quickly hugged back tightly, not wanting to let him go.
“I just want to protect you MK. I don’t want you to feel alone or abandoned again. After what they did to you, it took me a while to understand that I started to care about you and swore to myself that I would do what I could to protect you, so you don’t get hurt again.” Zimo confesses as he holds MK tightly while a couple of stray tears roll down his face. MK listens to his explanation before he begins crying again as he holds Zimo tightly while sobbing into his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry Zimo… I just, don’t want you to one day find an opponent that you can’t fight against and that I’ll end up losing you.” MK sobs out to which Zimo hugs MK tighter. “You won’t, I promise,” Zimo mutters as he holds MK close to him and allows MK to lay his head on his shoulder allowing himself to continue crying as well, they are two completely different beings, but they know that their fate together is written in ink despite the challenges they know they will face down the line, but they can get through it together.