Chapter Text
Everyone knows the Legend of the Monkey King.
Once an oddity formed from a stone who stole a magical staff from the Dragon King of the East Sea, and later a ‘villain’ who opposed the heavens and fought with the Jade Emperor, he became a celestial hero, equal to the heavens, and a companion in the pilgrimage of the Great Monk, Tang Sanzang. He fought to protect the Jade Emperor from then on, vowing to renounce his evil ways and slay demons on behalf of the greater good.
Centuries after Sun Wukong’s companions had passed away, the successor of the staff was born from the stone. MK. The child who’d never had real parents. The child who never knew where he came from. Although…being the monkie kid wasn’t all it seemed to be. It wasn’t just heroics and fame and living peacefully. Infact, it was mostly fighting Monkey King’s old enemies (and his old friends too - the guy really had an impressive talent for annoying people), intense amounts of trauma, and questions left without answers.
After his most recent battle, Monkey King gave MK a long break, deciding he needed some time off to relax (partially because he knew MK really wasn’t coping well with his whole new ‘monkey form’ thing, along with everything else that happened). Mei and the others handled most of the crime, and honestly? They were pretty good. It wasn’t like they had any difficult opponents at the moment. Yet…MK still had that constant feeling something bad would happen. That constant feeling he had to do SOMETHING, even if nobody would let him do anything remotely related to saving the city.
And…there was something more too. Something more than his paranoia. Something more than what he thought his duty was as the monkie kid.
He felt useless.
With his friends taking care of everything, making sure he barely even had to raise a finger, he wondered what his purpose was.
If he wasn’t the monkie kid, if he wasn’t the hero of the city…what was he?
Nothing more than a traumatised noodle delivery boy.
Not even that.
He couldn’t even go back to that. Things wouldn’t be like that again. Things could never be that peaceful now his fate was set. He was the harbinger of chaos. He attracted trouble the way magnets attract iron.
That was why he was here. Monkey King’s trash room. Where everything Monkey King hoarded came to die (or just lay in a pile for Jade Emperor knows how long. MK didn’t even want to think about the amount of spiders that could be around). Because maybe, just maybe, for once he’d find something useful. Maybe for once he could be strong enough to face whatever ‘chaos’ Xiangliu warned him would ensue, and protect his friends.
That way he wouldn’t have to feel so guilty when he failed.
Again.
He wandered past the piles and piles of ancient goods long forgotten, sunlight from the windows illuminating the entire room, and casting everything, including MK’s tanned skin and disheveled, dark brown hair in a soft ochre glow. As he walked, he revelled in the silence and solitude he had for once.
Since he jumped into the pillar of light and almost..well- …he had someone trailing him constantly. Mei had been super over protective, barely letting anything near him. She’d been around almost constantly, inviting him out, having sleepovers with him - heck, she’d even invited him to her house and she NEVER invited people over if she could help it. She wasn’t the only one either. Monkey King had been on higher alert, had been forcing him to rest more in training and gave him far bigger breaks when he could. He seemed to be on guard every time anything happened, and insisted MK didn’t have to worry about anything. Pigsy had been giving him time off too, buying a delivery bot 9000 to fill in for any time he refused to allow MK to do his job. He’d not even raised his voice or lectured him much! Even Redson. THE Redson. THE demon bull prince, had been being somewhat kind to him. Acting stiff around him and biting back his fiery outbursts as though MK would break even by just existing near him.
They all treated him as though he were fragile. He appreciated that they cared, really, but…when it got to a point he couldn’t help but get annoyed.
That’s why, to get here, he had snuck away when he’d thought the others were dealing with a crime, fleeing to do something worthwhile when nobody could lecture him for doing so. Or if they could, they would at least do it later. Last he’d saw, Mei had been beating Jin into a pulp without even picking up her sword, Pigsy and Tang had been chasing down Yin and Sandy had been watching over the noodle shop (the place got battered enough in fights that they practically had to have someone on guard there by then). They’d be busy enough not to notice, MK had thought. Nobody would notice if he slipped out for a while.
Turns out he was very much wrong. Not even moments after he’d spotted a cool weapon and started rummaging through Monkey King’s stuff, he heard a resounding bang echo from nearby. He looked over to see a decently tall, raven-haired girl with green streaks dyed in to match light green scales that littered her skin. Green horns protruded from the front of her hair, not unlike the scaly green dragon’s tail that swooped behind her, catching some things before they could hit the ground. In her arms, she held as much as she could possibly fit, her posture awkward as she winced from the combined embarrassment of knocking everything over, and being caught. Beside her, stood a taller, just as awkward-looking guy (although most of the awkwardness was hidden by his royal airs and almost imposing demeanour). He wore a long, crimson trench coat, with singed edges, over a black turtleneck, and layers of belts. His hair was tied up into a meticulously neat ponytail, although bull horns and ears hung from his head also. His complexion was dark, and combined with his septum piercing, sharp eyes, small black spectacles and scar on his cheek, he was quite handsome.
MK instantly knew who had followed him.
That’s right. Redson and Mei.
They’d followed him.
All the way here.
When he’d thought he’d snuck away.
Great.
Mei let out a nervous laugh, bearing her sharp teeth as she forced a grin and scratched at her scales with long green claws.
“Hey..MK! Sorry we were just uhh- We were uhm- Y’know- Redson will tell you about it!”
Redson’s hair erupted into flames as he shot a glare at Mei, shouting indignantly like a child having a temper tantrum.
“Don’t pass this onto me, Dragon Girl! It was your idea to follow him-“
Mei gave him an annoyed look back, before turning back to MK with a somewhat exasperated sigh. With little hesitation, she placed down what she was holding, walked over to him and wrapped an arm around his shoulder, her grip unsurprisingly very strong despite a lack of effort (MK thought it must be the dragon genes - Mei had always been pretty strong, and it showed). When she spoke, her voice came out sweet and almost…understanding. MK wasn’t used to that. Typically, when they followed him around, they didn’t offer up much room for argument.
“Look, MK. I know you don’t exactly LOVE us being around all the time. But…we almost lost you. I can’t-“
Her voice broke mid sentence, and her eyes flickered to something a little more…sad. It was only there for a moment, and as quick as she’d shown it, she returned back to her energetic, positive self.
“I can’t let you wander off on your own. Anything could happen. I just want you to be safe, okay?”
MK didn’t know how to react. Part of him wanted to scream that it wasn’t okay, that he could handle himself and that he didn’t need chaperones or 24/7 supervision. That it felt like they didn’t think he was capable of protecting himself or being alone. That it felt like they thought the same thing he did - that he was weak and useless. But, as always, the people pleaser within him won over what he actually thought, and he just offered a weak nod. He tore himself out of her strong arms, not noticing the look of concern on her face as he mumbled a quiet ‘okay’ and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Instinctively, Mei ached to cheer him up. And when it came to that, being silly and entertaining was one of the only ways she knew how. She took the dragon sword sword out of it’s sheath, put on a some form of fancy, I’m-a-stuck-up-royal impression and pretended to throw out a nonexistent coat behind her, making Redson roll his eyes as she directed the blade at MK.
“Peasant! I challenge thee to a duel!”
Redson had to chip in, folding his arms with one of his usual sassy comments as he put down what he was holding and trailed the other two.
“If that was meant to be an impression of me, that was an awful likeness, Dragon Girl.”
MK let out a soft chuckle at their antics. It was the first time he’d laughed in a while. It was small, but it was a start. Mei’s entire face lit up and she grinned wider, sporting all her pointed teeth as MK picked out a random sword from Monkey King’s pile of trinkets and the two pretended to fight. Originally, it was just a bit of fun. Mei would spout some cocky nonsense about beating him with her eyes closed, while MK would retaliate just as playfully. The two clashed while Redson critiqued bits of their fight as though it were a show. But when Mei accidentally launched a particularly skillful blow, MK’s perspective changed.
Suddenly, Mei’s sword was much too familiar to a certain Lion’s. Her face was obscured, instead replaced with one that had deceived him many times…yet one he still couldn’t see in his heart as evil. Mei’s eyes were now those of the ‘villain’ he’d watched die. His surroundings were no longer Monkey King’s palace on Flower Fruit Mountain, with sun beaming in, it was the heavens as he’d fought Azure Lion, the cloud casting their heavenly glow over the fight that could’ve been MK’s last. Instead, it was Azure’s last.
All he could see was that face.
The tearful smile as he’d crumpled, shattering into pieces before drifting into the air and dissolving like a leaf carried into the breeze.
Azure Lion.
Not Mei.
And he struck back. His survival instincts were far too strong after all he’d been through, and when alarm bells went off in his head the way they seemed to be now, a cacophony blaring in his ears, he could only think of protecting himself. He barely saw as he sent Mei flying. He barely heard the crash as she landed. He barely heard Redson’s panicked frenzy as he shook Mei’s shoulders, asking her again and again if she was okay. He was only snapped out of his trance when a blinding flash of white overtook his vision, and he and Redson were knocked to their feet.
When MK’s vision cleared and he was finally able to force himself into a half-sitting position despite the soreness that enveloped his body, all he saw were three silhouettes, haloed by light so bright MK still had to squint to look at them.
As the light finally dissipated, MK could finally see who, or what, had just appeared.
The tallest was a guy, a pretty muscular one, clad entirely in a red ninja suit with gold accents. He had piercing brown eyes that felt like they could cut through everything they stared at like daggers, and overly gelled brown hair not unlike MK’s held back by a similar red bandana. Light freckles lined his tan, structured face and he seemed guarded, positioning himself somewhat in front of the other two as though to shield them.
The boy next to him was a little bit shorter, with a round, pretty face, and fair skin, although that’s not to say he wasn’t handsome too. He had platinum blonde, slightly swept to the side hair, and gentle green eyes. The kind that seemed forgiving, but also sad. As though they’d seen far more than he should’ve. He was just as muscular as the first, but he wore green rather than red, and had the manner of being the leader of the group for some indescribable reason. Perhaps it was that look in his eyes. MK knew it all too well.
Beside him was a girl, clearly just as strong, well-built, and muscular as the other two. Mid-length, raven hair was tied into a neat ponytail, and she had similar tanned skin to the brunette boy. Her uniform was blue and grey combination, with silver accents. Her face was elegant, not round but not quite sharp either, and she had azure eyes that were very much resemblant of the sea, deep blues mixing sliding across light blue like spilt ink with every blink.
Yet…the only thing MK could really think was voiced by Redson, sat besides an unconscious Mei with a befuddled expression. He seemed somewhat protective, trying to hold tightly onto Mei while still desperately looking over to MK.
“Who the hell are you?!”