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Chapter Text

   Macaque groaned, his entire body felt like it had been burned, frozen, and electrocuted at the same time. Had he done it? Had he gotten into the Pillar? Macaque forced open his eyes, preparing to awaken in the Pillar and its harsh light…But the view of a plastered ceiling greeted him instead, the smallest amount of light coming from a window. It looked like it was about dawn, the pale light turning orange.

    What?! Where am I?! Macaque thought to himself as he sat upright, looking around. Everything was so…quiet. No sounds of the city, no voices, no future or past…Macaque sprung to his feet, scrambling around the apartment to find the bathroom, or any kind of mirror. Macaque tripped over his own feet as he rushed into the tiny bathroom and flicked on the light. The mirror showed a young human male with dark hair, an olive complexion, and dark brown eyes staring back at him. Not a speck of fur or anything that resembled the dark monkey form he was so used to seeing. Macaque’s breath hitched in panic, and he backed into the wall, sliding down the cool tiles. What the hell was going on?! Alright Macaque, think. How could this have happened? Macaque brought his legs to his chest, trying not to freak out about the lack of fur on his arms.

Everything should have been fixed when the Cycle reset! Why am I-

Understanding hits Macaque like a semi-truck; The Cycle did reset, everything was just… wrong. Maybe the kids or Wukong would know what to do. Macaque took a deep breath and let it back out, trying to calm himself. He slowly got up, avoiding looking in the mirror, and walked back into the bedroom, flicking on the light. He spotted an oak dresser and walked over to it, grabbing pants and socks before checking the small closet for a shirt. He grabbed a familiar sweater, a black and purple striped shirt with a red crescent moon on it. The sweater Yue had given him.

So Yue has to be here…At least I hope she is. Macaque thought to himself as he slipped on the sweater. He glanced around, spotting a messenger bag with pins on it. He slung it over his shoulder and headed outside, clomping downstairs in large tennis shoes he had found by the door. 

I hope I didn’t mess the kids up too. Or Wukong… a wave of guilt and worry washed over Macaque, the kids and Wukong had been at ground zero when Macaque had jumped into Pillar, all of them pleading him to stop and come back. Macaque couldn’t let anyone else sacrifice themselves. He had been given a second chance…but used it up. And now, he didn’t know if he could fix…whatever was happening. He rummaged around in the messenger bag and pulled out a phone, seeing a text from… Who the hell was Sun Qi?!

Macaque kept walking, not really aware of where he was going, reading the text message from this stranger;
SunnyQi: Hey Liu! You oyw to Pigsy’s? He’s letting us test the new stuff on the menu ^^!

Macaque glanced at the profile picture and gasped. It was Wukong. Granted, a younger, more human Wukong, but still Wukong. But… Why did he not recognize Macaque? 

Chapter Text

Chapter Text

“AHHHHHHHH!” Sun Qi yelled as he fell, right on top of the flame haired boy beneath him, crushing him. Sun Qi got flung off of the boy, an angry roar coming from the boy

“GET OFF OF ME PEASENT!” The boy screamed. Sun Qi groaned and looked up, finding three pairs of eyes staring back. The red boy, a dark haired lady and….

“.....the Demon Bull King-” A shiver went through Sun Qi. The red boy yelled at him and charged. Sun Qi yelped and dodged, rolling into crouch, the staff that had been in the red boy’s hand, now in his. It felt hefty and warm to the touch, it’s golden ends glinting in the pale sunlight. 

The robotic bulls charged at Sun Qi. The ginger yelped and bolted, sprinting towards the elevator he came from, a black shape dropping besides him. Sun Qi screamed and lashed out with the staff

The dark shape yelped and dodged, barely avoiding being hit upside the head.

“IT’S ME! MA- LIU’ER!” Liu’er threw his hands above his head. He stood up quickly and rushed Sun Qi into the elevator, spamming the up button.

Sun Qi just stared at him, “You followed me?!! What the heck man!” Sun Qi shoved Liu’er, “You could have told me you were coming-”

The doors opened and Liu’er grabbed Sun Qi’s arm and rushing back to the noodle cart.

“It was a split-second decision!” Liu’er slid into the drivers seat, buckled up, and started the cart, “I just…had a bad feeling. And I was right! You got yourself in trouble!” Liu’er zooms off, pressing the gas pedal to the floor and tearing out of the construction site. “The Demon Bull King of all people-”

Sun Qi buckled up and hung onto the dash of the noodle cart for dear life, “I was just trying to deliver the noodles to the construction site! I just kinda…wandered-” Sun Qi rubbed the back of his head, “You know I have a bad habit of wandering!” Sun Qi clutched the dash again as Liu’er made a sharp turn, “Geez! You drive like a manic!!!”

Liu’er cranked the gear shift, lunging the noodle cart forward, “If you haven’t noticed yet, we’re being followed-” Sun Qi whipped his head out of the cart and looked behind them, where a big bull-like tank was hot on their tail. Sun Qi’s heart squeezed as Liu drove faster. 

“OH NOODLE BOY! YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME!” A familiar voice yelled from behind. The red boy, what was his name…Red Son? Sun Qi gripped the dash as the noodle cart was rammed from behind, Liu served, trying to lose Red Son. It looked like Liu had bitten his lip. Blood dripped down his chin onto his pants

“What is his problem?!” Sun Qi yelled and looked out again. His eyes widened, “Liu! He’s getting ready to-” He was cut off as Red Son rammed into the cart again and the cart spun. Liu grabbed the wheel and tried to pull them out of it, grunting with effort. The cart spun and they were facing the bull tank. Red Son breaked and then slammed into the noodle cart, sending it spinning again. This time, it flipped onto its side and the world spun around. The scraping of metal against asphalt and the two boys screaming filled Sun Qi’s ears as they skidded across the road and into the guard rails. Sun Qi shook himself and looked at Liu’er.

Liu hung limply in his seatbelt, a large cut across his head. Sun Qi’s eyes widened and he scrambled out of his seatbelt and shook his friend.

“Liu! LIU’ER! Wake up!!! Come on bud!!!” He shook him again and swore. Sun Qi unbuckled Liu and grabbed him, dragging him from the wreck of the noodle cart. Pigsy was gonna kill him-

“OH NOODLE BOY!” Red Son called, approaching in his bull tank, leaned out the window, “YOU HAVE SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ME!”

Sun Qi panicked. He couldn’t carry Liu, the staff, and run from Red Son at the same time. He stepped backwards, Liu’s dead weight made him slow though, and Red Son was fastly approaching. Then, a familiar motorized roar filled Sun Qi’s ears: Mei’s motorcycle! The green, white, and gold motorcycle soared over the bull tank and landed in front of Sun Qi. 

“Mei! You-” Sun Qi yelped as the bull tank rushed past them. Mei grabbed Sun Qi and Liu, slinging them onto the back of the bike. 

“Tell me how much I rock later! We gotta go!” Mei revved the bike and zoomed off. Sun Qi hung on to Liu, now slumped against Mei. Sun Qi hung onto Liu and closed his eyes.

Please be okay. You’re my best friend. Sun Qi felt the staff in his hands shrink. His eyes popped open, finding the staff significantly smaller. Sun Qi just stuck it in his pocket and held onto Liu’er. You can’t leave me. 

Mei dodged and weaved around the traffic, leaving Red Son in the dust. The tank split and a red and gold motorcycle emerged. Sun Qi yelped as he sped close to Mei’s motorcycle. Mei just revved her engine and sped up, losing the demon spawn in the flow of cars.

Mei zoomed through the city on the bike until they reached Sun Qi’s flat. Together, Mei and Sun Qi lifted Liu’er off of the bike and into the flat. Sun Qi patched him up, and then Mei patched Sun Qi up.

“What happened? Why was that red haired screamy dude after you?” Mei asked as her and Sun Qi sat down in the small kitchen nook. 

Sun Qi just shrugged and sighed, thunking his head on the table. “I went on a delivery and Liu followed me…there was this staff in a mountain and then the red guy pulled it out. And Demon Bull King came out of the mountain, there was this weird bird…” Sun Qi repeats everything that happened to Mei, ending when she rescued them. “I…I think the staff was Monkey King’s. It looks just like it does in all the Monkey King’s stories. And, the last thing He did was seal DBK under a mountain-”

Mei snorted, “C’mon Sunshine, Monkey King? He disappeared a long time ago, nobody’s seen him in years.” Mei paused and looked at her friend, “But…It is pretty weird Demon Boy was chasing you and Liu.”

Sun Qi put his chin on the table and looked at Mei, irritated. “I have the staff! Look-” Sun Qi dug his hand and rooted around trying to find the staff. He tried his other pockets, panicking.

The staff had disappeared. 

Chapter Text

Qi Xiaotian watched Sun Qi panic as he searched for the staff, and sighed, holding it in his hand. He was perched in a tree across from Sun Qi’s apartment. He had high hopes for his successor but the fact he had lost the staff didn’t bode well. He sighed again and plucked a piece of his hair, summoning a clone.

“Tell the little guys I’ll be back late, I’ve got something I need to do.” He said the clone before turning into a bird, still clutching the staff, just smaller. He flew across to Sun Qi’s window, pecking at the bedroom window. It was dark inside, but Xiaotian felt someone inside the room. He used his gold vision and looked inside. The dark haired boy who had been with Sun Qi was fast asleep in the small bed, his hair was strewn all over the pillow, the highlights in his hair…Xiaotion shook his head and looked at the boy closer. Dark hair, strong bone structure. Xiaotian flew to the other window, pecking on the window. The green haired girl stopped talking to Sun Qi and pointed to the window. Sun Qi got up and walked over to the window and opened it. Xiaotian dropped the staff and flew off heading back to the tree, turning back to his regular form. He used his gold vision again, watching Sun Qi hold the staff. 

It immediately sprung to its regular size, and Sun Qi stood there stunned. The green haired girl squeed and rushed over to Sun Qi, shaking him. Xiaotian watched the two friends, a ghost of a smile passing over his face before vanishing. He summoned his nimbus and zoomed off, heading off to Flower Fruit Mountain. His thoughts wandered as he headed home, and somehow he found himself at a familiar grave. He sighed and stepped off the nimbus, sitting on his legs. The peach trees surrounding the clearing that the grave was in were in full bloom, the air filled with their sweet scent. He sighed and brushed some petals off of the grave, the name on it faded from decades of weathering. 

“Hey, I’m here…I’ve got something to tell you, but…” Xiaotian took a shaky breath, looking up. “I’ve got an apprentice now, he doesn’t know it yet but, he’s got spunk. Took on the Demon Bull family head on…Little Red is really getting big…” he kept talking to the grave, just spouting nonsense as the sun got lower in the sky and the moon started to peek up from the horizon. Xiaotian stood up, placing his hand on the grave, trying to reach across the planes to find the person buried beneath the ground. 

“I…miss you, sis.” Xiaotian’s voice broke on the last word. He still  couldn’t say his sister’s name after all this time. It hurt too much, like a knife being shoved into his vocal cords. “You would love… everything about Megalopolis…except maybe the noise…” Xiaotian hesitated as he turned to leave. He wanted to keep talking, but it was getting late. He needed to prepare for his apprentice…He cast one last look on the grave, plucking one of his hairs and turning it into a red plum blossom before summoning his nimbus and heading off towards home. 

A shadow formed underneath him as he took off. It stayed for a long time after he vanished, solidifying into a dark female monkey with short dark hair, a white highlight shaped like an upside down lily, and a purple mask marking. She glared at the plum blossom before taking it in her hand and crushing it back into hair. She summoned a dark staff with spikes on either end and smashed it into the gravestone. It cracked down the middle with a satisfying crunch, making the dark monkey smile. She looked up at the moon and closed her eyes, perking her six ears to listen for Xiaotian.

He was almost back to Flower Fruit Mountain, still upset about the grave. She snorted. The Qi Xiaotian? Upset over a silly grave? Her grave?

“Yeah, right.” The dark monkey said, blowing her hair out of her face. She kicked the peach blossom petals underneath her feet and melted into shadow again, disappearing. She also had work to do…she needed an apprentice. Luckily, Xiaotian had given her a lead on a good candidate. 

The dark haired monkey’s laugh echoed throughout the mountains, her voice carrying to Liu’er, who woke up from his uneasy sleep gasping and covered with sweat.
Had he just…dreamed Mk and Yue as monkeys? Sure, they had been in their monkey form before Macaque had reset everything…but, Yue’s mask was usually a dark red, like his…Macaque sighed and flopped back into the pillows. 

Great , Macaque thought to himself as he put his arm over his eyes, Yue’s probably working for Lady Bone Demon which means…Mk killed her…and I wasn’t there to bring her back. 

Macaque clutched the bed sheets underneath him in anger. He hadn’t been there to help Yue. She had probably seen some of the worst of life and then…Macaque couldn’t help but let out a growl of frustration. He couldn’t lay around anymore. He knew Mk and Yue were out there, and he needed to find them.  

Chapter Text

Liu’er got up from the bed, swinging his feet onto the floor. He bent over to put on his shoes, and a bolt of pain shot through his head. The car crash, the chase…He had forgotten. Had Sun Qi taken care of him? His head swam, dizziness washing over him. Liu’er finished tying his shoes and stood up slowly, leaning on the wall. He shuffled his way to the door and opened it to find Sun Qi talking to…Mei?! He locked eyes with the dragon girl and was tackled to the floor by a blur of green and gold. 

“LIU!!!! YOU’RE OKAY!!!” Mei squeezed Liu in a bear hug, “I KNEW YOU WERE GONNA BE OKAY, BUT STILL-” Mei squeezed him tighter, “I WAS SO WORRIED-”

Liu’er hissed in a breath, his head pounding, “Hey Mei…Sorry, about the scare, someone had to save Sun Qi’s ass-” Sun Qi gasped in offense, and Liu’er chuckled. Mei got off of him and helped him get to his feet. Liu’er leaned on Mei for support, still reeling from waking up and Mei’s hug attack. Sun Qi walked over to them and helped support Liu as they walked over to the small couch in the living room.

Liu shot Sun Qi a thankful glance and reclined into the couch, rubbing his temples. 

“How long was I out?” he asked, his eyes closed, “There’s something I’ve gotta do and it’s kind of time sensitive-”

Sun Qi resisted the urge to joke and tell him he had been asleep for a month, “About a few hours. It’s about dinner time.” Sun Qi put his hands behind his head, exhausted from  everything that happened to him today. “You did miss something really weird though,”

Sun Qi explained to Liu’er about the strange bird that visited him earlier, and how it had brought back the staff. Liu’er’s eyes snapped open when Sun Qi mentioned the staff. Mk. That means his dream actually happened…Yue. He had to find Yue. Liu’er stood up fast, his head throbbing. 

“I’ve gotta go. I have to be somewhere.” Liu’er sprinted to the door, grabbing his messenger bag on the way out of Sun Qi’s apartment. He heard Sun Qi and Mei call his name as he rushed down the stairs and out into the evening air. He bolted down the side walk to his own apartment, his footsteps slapping against the pavement. The streets were eerily empty, but he kept sprinting towards his apartment. He had to see if his apartment had any books, but more specifically, Journey to the West. He knew the story, he had lived it, but he had to check if anything else had changed. 

Hopefully, everything else is the same… Macaque thought to himself as he kept up the sprint to his apartment, his legs burning and his chest heaving. He was starting to miss his shadow portals. He ducked into an alleyway to catch his breath on instinct. He forgot he didn’t need to hide himself anymore, but he was too breathless to keep going. Liu’er put his hand against the wall of the building, panting. 

Macaque’s mind raced as he thought about all the possible changes. The Brotherhood succeeding in taking Heaven, Wukong, no, MK never going on the pilgrimage, never being trapped under the mountain, Yue waking up by herself after the diyu…covered in dirt…shivering because of the cold…Suddenly, Macaque was in his old body again, clawing through the dirt, feeling the bugs worm their way out of his skin. Macaque fell to his hands and knees, his breathing coming in short painful gasps, his chest tight. He clutched his chest, trying to steady his breathing. He closed his eyes and trembled, the memories of the Diyu and Lady Bone Demon bubbling up in his mind.

She isn’t here, she can’t hurt you… Macaque repeated the short sentence over and over, his heartbeat getting louder in his ears. His brain didn’t even realize someone touching his shoulder and shaking him for a solid minute until he heard a voice;

“Hey, you alright kiddo?”

Macaque’s eyes snapped open and he whipped his head up to look into two yellow eyes framed by a dark purple mask marking, he looked up and saw black hair, the white lily shaped highlight . Yue. 

Sun Qi watched as Liu raced down the sidewalk from the balcony and cursed. That idiot was going to hurt himself. He looked at Mei, moving towards the door.

“We gotta go after him. He’s probably got a concussion,” Sun Qi said as he pulled on his shoes, tying them as fast as he could, “He’s such a dumbass-”

Mei was right beside him, getting her jacket on. “Yeah, but he’s our dumbass. So we have to go and make sure he’s okay, and then kick his butt.” She put a supportive hand on Sun Qi’s shoulder, “C’mon, let’s go. He’s probably halfway home now, so we gotta hurry.” 

Sun Qi nodded and finished tying his shoes and the two friends ran down the stairs. As they got to the bottom, Mei’s phone buzzed. She checked it and let out a groan.

“My parents need me home, like, yesterday. You think you can go after Liu alone?” Mei stuck her phone back into her pocket, and took out her keys. “I could tell my parents I can’t get home right now-”

Sun Qi shook his head and looked in the direction Liu had run off. “If they need you home, you need to go. I can go after Liu by myself.” Hopefully he’s alright. 

Mei nodded and hugged Sun Qi, “Kick his but for me, alright Sunshine?” She asked, releasing her friend and cocking her head. “He needs to learn how to take care of himself.”

Sun Qi laughed and nodded. “Will do!” he started off in the direction Liu had ran, waving to Mei. He turned to face forward and started sprinting, calling Liu’er’s name as he made his way down the sidewalk. He immediately felt his legs start to burn but shoved the sensation aside. He had to find his friend. He skidded to a stop as he saw motion from an alleyway. Sun Qi sprinted into the alleyway, calling Liu’er’s name.

Sun Qi let out a startled yelped as a cat came sprinting from the alleyway, racing past him and into another alleyway. His breath came in short pants, and he sat down against the building. He was out of shape, and running as hard as he could hadn’t helped. He closed his eyes and tried to steady his breathing. He tried to tell himself Liu’er would be okay, that his friend had made it home safely, but a deep feeling of unease had settled in Sun Qi’s stomach. 

He’s going to be okay. It’s Liu’er. He’s tough. Tougher than whatever Megalopolis can throw at him. Sun Qi stood up and took a breath, looking ahead. I’ll just go to his apartment and he’ll be there, reading a book or writing one of his stories. He started sprinting again, desperate to get to Liu’er’s apartment. I’ll make sure he’s alright and then chew him out. He pushed himself, his feet slapping against the pavement as he ran. He has to be okay.