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666herescared · 4 months

Text

Imaginary Shadow Dad)Ch.10: Acceptance

—☆—

Notes: Just rounding out the PBS era. Mk is finally happy and mentally stable.. But not for long! Mwahahaha!

—☆—

“Con-Graduations, Mk!” Mei joked with a wink as she pulled her little brother into a hug.

He grinned like an idiot and chuckled happily as he hugged her back and spun her around, startling the dragon. Of course, she was used to this, so she calmed down and pulled back to return to her feet and spun him round and round in turn. He yelped but got right into giggling happily moments later. He pulled her closer, off her feet, and sprung himself forward to flip over her head playfully. “Thanks Mei!” he exclaimed teasingly, bending down a little to look down at her while she was on the ground.

She didn’t move. What? Had he hurt her? The Little Monkey crept closer- and got yanked off his feet and pulled to the ground with a scream and laugh. “You Little Monkey! We aren’t supposed to wrestle on the road!” the dragon girl cackled, pulling him closer to her in a sort of pseudo hug to give him noogies. He cackled happily in her arms as she mussed up his hair, kicking his feet with glee.

His dads approached the duo shortly after, Mr.Tang giggling to himself and Pigsy sighing with no real disappointment and tons of amusement. “Yeah. You aren’t supposed to wrestle on the road, so get over here! It’s time for your appointment.” the pig demon claimed, trying to be serious but honestly so happy that the Monkey Kid was finally happy pretty consistently.

“Aww, really? Already?” Mei pouted.

“Yea, Jie Jie. We’re still up for sparring later though, right?” Mk asked, slipping away from the dragon with a goofy smirk.

“You know it, dude! See ya later!” she exclaimed, giving him a good strong hug before calling her bike and zipping off. He waved at her as she drove off, then hopped around playfully as he ran back over to his dads’ truck. His parents snickered as they followed behind, relief and almost aww in their expressions. Their sweet little boy was finally bouncing around like he used to.

With a stupid grin, his Ba Ba called towards him, “Xiao Houzi! Slow down! Pigsy’s falling behind.”

“Wait, what?!” Dadsy asked incredulously, causing his husband to sprint ahead. “Come back here, ya freeloader!” he called as he chased Mr.Tang.

“On second thought, RACE YOU THERE! AGH!” the scholar yelped as he was caught by his husband.

Mk snickered at their interaction, though quickly Pigsy’s competitive side caused him to join the race, though that competitive side was shared by his young boy. The shadow trails at his feet flicked playfully, yet went unnoticed in the boy’s excitement, as he began to parkour down the street, back to the truck. He was far faster than his parents even could be - at least now in their “old” age. He landed in the open doorway of the truck and gave a teasing wink before slipping inside and hunkering down into the gap behind Mr.Tang’s seat.

—

Today's session with his Shu Shu was one of the unique ones. Sandy was taking him fishing on his house boat. Mk used two teabags of plum tea, as he'd been doing for years now, and Sandy just used a single green tea teabag.

They calmly sipped their tea and talked about Mk’s plans for the future, starting with the spirit asking, “So, are you still planning on being a cartoonist?”

The Little Monkey paused for a moment, then shook his head. “No. I think I’ll just help Pigsy out around the shop and draw whatever I feel like. It’s easier that way.” he claimed with a shrug, looking at the water flowing past the ship.

“Hm. Just wondering, what happened to wanting your name to be known?” Sandy questioned patiently, though he already knew the answer.

The young man thought for a moment, wondering when he brought that up, then remembered. “Honestly? I only wanted my name to be known so that Shadow Dad could know what I’ve been up to, but something tells me he doesn’t need my help for that.” He placed a single hand behind his ears- ear to show what he meant.

Sandy figured it out quickly and chuckled merrily at the statement. “Oh! Hehe! You’re probably right.” He sipped his tea, satisfied with the answer.

“Not to mention, Pigsy’s always wanted me to take over once he's gone.” Mk mentioned. He was glad he didn't have to do that too soon though. He might not be a kid anymore, but he wants a while before he has to take on that sort of responsibility.

—

After his session, Mk decided to walk to the park instead of riding in his dads’ truck. After all, it was a nice, bright, sunny day. The shadows were cast in such a way that it looked almost unfairly beautiful. He spotted a few different people on his walk as he scanned the crowd for one specific person. He saw a couple walking with their arms around each other as they ate ice cream with their others, a woman in a business suit walking down the road on the phone and ranting, a few young fox demons playing together and then finally - a small pink light flickered towards him, making sure he noticed it before moving to glide along the ground.

He giggled gleefully at the small request. His Ge Ge had started playing little games like this with him recently. This one was a personal favorite for Mk. He chased after the light, following it’s path even when it went up onto the walls, mostly so he could show off his acrobatics.

The light soon arrived at it’s final location, right in front of Big Brother. He didn’t flee right away for once, which was a startling change for Mk, so he just… froze. Like a deer in headlights.

His Ge Ge seemed to reconsider for a moment, then shook it off and walked forward, giving the Little Monkey a few pats on the head. “Congratulations, Di Di.” It had been so long since he heard his Big Brother’s voice - it only made him freeze up more. The older boy seemed to get a little nervous after that, like he thought Mk didn’t know what he meant. He actually did think that, as exemplified by him then saying, “O-On graduating. Uh- Congratulations on graduating.”

The younger simply nodded, still in shock over his Big Brother stopping the chase and actually touching him and talking to him again.

Ge Ge gave a short nod in response, patting him on the shoulder before walking around him. Right when Mk snapped out of it and turned around, he saw a twisting stream of wind and pink light floating up towards the sky, lotus petals falling down from the quickly fading light. A box falling on his head snapped him out of his thoughts.

He breathed out an airy chuckle. “You really are impossible to understand, Big Brother..” Inside the box was a bunch of items, most being art supplies and sketchbooks, though there was also a small tin inside with yet another lotus design on it and a lotus pastry inside. Honestly? Mk might as well be a collector of the things at this point.

—

Mk arrived at the park a short bit later, unsheathing his purple bo staff the moment he noticed Mei wasn’t rushing to greet him. Looks like today’s a sneak attack day. He focused on the sounds in his surroundings, shadows flickering to life as he heard the odd warbling tone that surrounded his friend when she was in her half dragon form. He shifted his stance and waited…

Clang! The weapons hit against each other as Mk turned to block his sister's attack, then quickly shifted to block her second attack. The duo did tricks to impress each other and both held back just a bit to make sure the fight lasted more than a minute. Their weapons clashed again and again in a flurry of tricks, games, and childlike joy, until eventually they both put down their weapons to do “hand to hand”(Which in this case, means play wrestling like lion cubs!)

After a while more of that, the duo of now very messy young adults sat down at a picnic table to take a break and eat. “So~, now that we’re old enough, what’s your type?” Mei asked jokingly.

Mk snickered softly. “Why do you care? You’re Aroace.”

“Well, I care, because I wanna hook you up! I think it’d be hilarious, and not to mention, it would make you happier!” the girl answered in a cheerful tone.

“Oh- C’mon, Mei! I don’t need a lover to be happy! It would just be a nice little addition to my life, y’know?” The Little Monkey kept avoiding the question.

So Mei decided to pull out the big guns. “We can do this if that helps!” the dragon offered, switching to the shadow language.

Mk had to consider for a moment, but eventually, he caved, fiddling with his necklace as he started thinking, blushing softly as he thought about it. “Well.. I would want a guy who’s like, really confident, and pretty… I’d like him to be real smart too! Maybe good in a spar, and, y’know… able to stand up for himself. Like, super strong and stuff too, you know?” the Monkey Kid listed, cautiously excited as the shadows behind him flicked in the vague form of his tail and he cupped both his cheeks, thinking of some imaginary “perfect guy” just for him.

Mei snickered. “Dude, like, four of those are just, “I want to get stepped on by a hot demon guy-” she teased, but was cut off by her embarrassed brother lightly pushing her back.

“Well, clearly I have a type!” Mk claimed.

“Heck yeah! Don’t let anything change that, Apricot-Boy!” the dragon giggled with a soft smirk.

Things are getting better! And for now, the future's looking bright!

—Purple Bo Staff Era, End!—

Time skip! - Hero is Born - 6:00 A.M.

When the Little Sky awoke, he saw something he didn’t expect - “Good morning, Xiaotian-’”

Mk immediately sat straight up in his bed, disrupting the shadowy hallucination. Oh.. Must’ve just been some sort of lingering bit of his dream or… I dunno - something. “MK! GET DOWN HERE!” Dadsy yelled up to his son, who flinched and covered his ears in response to the volume.

“YUP! COMING!” the younger man yelled down in reply, getting changed as quickly as he could and still adjusting his headband by the time he reached the bottom. “Hey, dads!” he said, walking over to the older couple.

Pigsy was getting things ready for the day, but Mk’s attention was quickly drawn to his Ba Ba instead. Mr. Tang was rereading the legends of the Monkey King again, and was on the final chapter. The story of When the Monkey King Retired! (Aside from the “live” appearances he still does on TV shows, and every single time he shows up at a convention. After all, he might not be a hero anymore, but he’s still a celebrity!)

“OH! I love that one! Can you read it out loud for me?” the Monkey Kid exclaimed, leaning over his Ba Ba’s shoulder excitedly.

Before Tang could respond, his husband responded for him. “No, kid. You got work to do. No slacking!’ Pigsy stated firmly.

“Oh, don’t worry, Pigsy! I’ll be done by the time you’ve finished the orders!” the scholar claimed. “After all, our Little Monkey has been stressed as of late. It’s only fair to let him enjoy his morning!” He jabbed his elbow into Mk’s side lightly, as though to say, “Play along.”

The youngest in the room quickly got his excuses in order. “Oh!- Uh, Yea- Yeah, Dadsy! It’s just one story! Please?~” Xiao Houzi pouted at his demonic parental figure.

Pigsy didn’t even look. “Doin’ puppy dog eyes again?”

Mk’s face immediately fell to a more genuine frown. “Well… yeah..”

“.. I’m gonna regret this, but ONE story. After that, ya’ gotta help me get ready,” the demon relented to the brief whooping of his husband and son.

“I’ll be done before you know it!” Tang claimed. (He was not done before they knew it)

—

After listening to his Ba Ba’s story, (and a brief lecture from Pigsy) Mk was off! Sure, he heard the shadows muttering more than usual, but he managed to shut those up with a quick meditation break.

“Isn’t it fantastic, uncle? My father will finally be freed!” Red claimed, though Macaque was a little busy trying to decide how to approach his kid after this many years.

The Little Monkey had to double check his GPS. That did not look like a house. In fact it looked like a construction sight. After confirming that it was in fact, the right address, he got in the elevator and started going down.

“Uncle?” The shadow sighed and went over to his nephew. His son could wait a couple more hours. This was once in a lifetime. Strange, though. It’s really close.

He soon realized what was going on when his son strolled through the door. A familiar bird perched in the rafters looked oddly pleased. That son of a bit-

Mk quickly realized - upon seeing a gorgeous flaming-haired guy trying to pull a fancy staff out of the ground - what he’d walked in on, and scrambled up into the rafters. There was a strange bird that almost gave him away when an ominous aura filled the space.

Of course. Of course Wukong still recognized what Macaque's homicidal aura felt like. The shadow was furious! He couldn't believe Wukong had actually decided that the kid was the perfect choice of successor.

Mk was unaware of the hidden figure plotting the Monkey King's murder. He was to preoccupied with what was going on below him. MK had never expected to actually see the Ruyi Jingu Bang with his own two eyes.

—Ruyi Jingu Bang Era, Start!—

—☆—

..So…

I’m guessing you guys hate me now.. Don’t worry! You’ll be seeing more of Macaque now!

Have fun and happy scrolling!

(PS: Please don’t murder me!)

Prev- Chapter 9 and Next- Chapter 11

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666herescared · 7 months

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Imaginary Shadow Dad)Ch.8: Bargaining

—☆—

Notes: Where to begin… Well, this is going to be the chapter that solidifies Mk’s pre-Monkey King support system with the introduction of Mei. Also, a small lore drop about Wukong at the start, via the means of story time with Mr.Tang!

—☆—

Nightmares Together

Mr.Tang was telling Mk another story again, but the Little Monkey was getting a little too into it. “UGH! I can’t believe Tripitaka did something like that! How can anyone be okay with being that mean to Monkey King?! He’s so cute and cheeky!” Xiao Houzi yelled, flailing around on his bed as he expressed his anger.

Tang was used to his reaction to these parts of the story by now, so he just rolled his eyes before beginning to explain. “Well, I don’t think you understand the entirety of his character. Monkey K-”

Mk bapped his Ba Ba on the nose to shut him up before starting to talk again. “Monkey King is amazing! He protects his people, beats up the bad guys, and he’s a loving and devoted husband!” He ranted in response, though the scholar was still annoyed at the bap.

It would be fine. He’d turn this into a teaching moment. “Well, I suppose that’s my fault. I didn’t tell you the darker parts during our first read through. Here I’ll-” Anddd, cut off again.

“Whatever it is, it’s not changing my mind! Tripitaka was overusing the damned circlet. You can’t deny that!” Mk exclaimed, pointing accusatorialy at his parent.

“I’m not denying that. The book itself agrees with you so-” Mk bapped him again, opening his mouth to speak when Tang gripped his hand, forcefully pinned it to the bed, and gave Mk a pointed glare. “You sit. I teach. You have lost book discussion privileges,” the adult stated firmly as he held his son in place with a finger and a look.

With a dumbfounded look, Mk nodded, a little scared by this outburst. He had never pissed his Ba Ba off that much before.

And it didn’t last because Tang sat back up with a smile a moment later, turning back to his book. “Good. Now…”

Mr.Tang explained a lot of things. He told Mk everything he skipped over when he was younger. He said he didn’t want to harm his developing mind by telling him that stuff. What was that stuff? Well.. Monkey King wasn’t… the best. At least, before the journey.

He had a rather black and white view of right and wrong. Hurt good people, you’re bad and hurt bad people, you’re good. He made his people train when they were far too young. He was… cruel and dangerous… until he met Liu’er - or, well, - until he started trusting Liu’er. When they got together, he was still pretty bad, but Liu’er’s advice made him a much better ruler.

The worst part though, is that he hurt Liu’er a lot. Not always physically, and never on purpose, but the frequency with which he would disappear for years (sometimes hundreds of years) without a word often left Liu'er wondering if his mate was even alive, and the amount of times they mentioned Monkey King making Liu’er wince was staggering. Then… that scene..

“Go home, Liu’er.” the Great Sage commanded, blood drying around the circlet.

"Y-you cannot be serious, my king. You're bleeding, you were screaming a few minutes ago!" the Six-Eared shadow wielder said in disbelief as he held Wujing in place.

"I don't want to hurt you." Wukong said through gritted teeth, a hand raising to pull his staff from his ear.

"No.." Liu’er muttered as he let go of the spirit, turning to glare at the wounded monk. "You! What have you done?! You have broken Wukong's mi-" A loud thud sounded as the Ruyi Jingu Bang stabbed in front of the dark monkey.

"Go. Home." the King demanded, glaring at his lover.

“Not without you,” Liu’er growled, glaring back as he created his own weapon from the shadows around them. Their fight began. As a loud crash echoed through the valley, the walls of the nearby buildings shook from the force of the collision. They bounced away from one another, and the King launched his staff forth, stretching through incredible distances. Liu’er had to think quick, dodging into the shadows to avoid the staff an instant before it crashed into the mountain behind him, leaving a sizable crater in its wake.

Bajie used their fight as an opportunity to go check on their master, who was stubbornly trying to stand, despite his wounded state. “What.. What is he doing?” Sanzang managed to push out, though he stumbled again and had to catch his breath.

“You don’t gotta worry about them master. Wukong’s got it,” Bajie reassured as he shifted the monk’s robes to examine the damage.

“But I-.. I need to- Ugh!” the human tried, but his voice failed him as his disciple started prodding around the damage on his chest.

The pig winced as he felt the breaks in the monk’s ribs, the tissue already bruising over top. “This is gonna hurt.” he lamented, before beginning to bandage the monk’s wounds.

Liu’er appeared behind the King with over a dozen clones draped in darkness. One by one, they struck against him, but in a few swift blows of Wukong’s staff, they were dispatched of, leaving a clear view of the absolutely livid Sage in their wake.

Liu’er struck from above, but his heart wasn't in it and the move was easily countered.

“What are you doing? I'm trying to save you!” the King's lover cried out, as he was kicked back by his partner.

“What am I doing?!? You showed up and began to attack my master!” Wukong yelled, launching his staff toward the shadowed warrior “GO. HOME. I don't want you hurting my brothers, and I do not want it to be my hand that leaves you dead!”

“I'm not going to let your… ‘Master’ harm you! You're bleeding! I haven't seen you bleed since we were cubs!!!” cried the shadow wielder, as he dashed to attack his lover. His attack was dodged, and just as quickly, the Monkey King struck out of blind anger, crushing the ring on Liu’er’s tail hard enough to pin it in place.

The Six-Eared Macaque cried out in pain, and the King winced, though in his mind he was chanting, “He’s immortal too. He’ll be fine.” He went to strike again, but his partner dodged away.

Not realizing that the staff had been extended, he was not prepared for the sudden impact of it hitting his chest and slamming him into the wall. “I…" Macaque gasped, the air having been knocked out of him. Taking as deep a breath as his bruised ribs would allow, he shouted, "I can't let him hurt you anymore!!! He has poisoned your mind with promises of grandeur and now you have forgotten your own dream!” the warrior of darkness yelled, clutching his stomach.

"That dream was lost long ago!'' Wukong snarled in blind fury, dashing down to launch a vicious attack, piercing Liu'er through the eye.

As blood splattered over the Ruyi Jingu Bang, splashing his hands, Wukong returned to his senses - a moment too late - and his lover was knocked out of his sight. He darted toward the point where he had last seen Macaque, but the apologies on his tongue went unused as he failed to find the other man’s body.

“W-.. Wukong. What have you done?” Tripitaka forced out as he stood with worried eyes, having to lean on his gold-banded cudgel to stay up.

The King turned his head, dread in his eye, as he uttered in disbelief, “I think I just killed my husband..” He barely got the words out, before covering his mouth and falling to his knees in horror.

Bajie and Wujing were allowed to hug and attempt to comfort the Sage. However, when their Master stepped forward to do the same, Wukong growled, head snapping around to pin Tang Sanzang with a tearful glare. “So?! Aren’t you gonna punish me?! I killed him! What should it matter if I already regret it?!” he gritted out, though he was shaking. The ruler had never looked so fragile. It shocked the monk.

Behind him, Ao Lie shifted into human form and sprinted forward, stopping to convince Sanzang to sit down. “Maybe you should rest, master? I don’t think Wukong-GeGe wants to see you right now,.” the dragon said, lightly pressing on the human’s shoulder. Once Sanzang had sat down, the White-Horse-Dragon ran forward to comfort his big brother as well, not realizing how confused and distraught the monk had become.

“.. Some say that Monkey King still has nightmares about his lover, and the shadows he disappeared into.” Tang finished the story, looking back at his son.

“That.. That can’t be true. The-.. The Monkey King..” the boy stammered, though he couldn’t finish his statement.

“Hmm.. Maybe you should’ve paid more attention to the story.” the scholar concluded, before walking off, stopping at the door to mutter, “Goodnight, Xiao Houzi.”

And as he drifted off, he slipped into a nightmare… one not entirely his own…

—

Wukong ran across the beach, escaping the mutilated shadow as blood dripped from the open wound on his head. He ran and ran, unable to calm his mind as he ran- then he bumped into Ao Lie.

The dragon turned to look at his brother, the foggy look in his eyes hiding the older from view. "Gege? Gege, is that you?" the bleary-eyed white horse dragon kept looking blindly. He tripped and was caught by the ruler. "Wukong? Wukong! You're here! I knew you'd come!"

The scales on Ao Lie’s arm began foaming. No.. His eyes were a misty white instead of their normal green. Not again. The foam began to slip from his body. I can’t watch him die again! "Don’t go.. No. Don't leave me, little brother." Wukong whimpered, closing his eyes and holding Ao Lie close.

"Didn't act like that when I died." the gruff voice of Zhu Bajie stated, causing Lie to back off. He swung his rake and hit it against the Monkey King's chest.

"I-I didn't even know you were hurt!" he claimed, hand passing through the rake as he tried to hit it away.

"You knew I was." Wujing's voice said as he swung his crescent moon spade back to pull the ocean up into a wave. "You knew I was dying and you didn't even come to see it happen."

"I couldn't handle it! I-I visit your grave! I promise, I care!" Wukong shouted, before feeling a cold chill run down his back.

"Oh, really?" His lover's voice was barely there as his corpse approached, right eye left an empty pit of blood after their battle. "Then what do you have to say about me?" His voice shook the terrain as he grew irritated.

Bajie lifted his rake and hit it against the sage’s side, knocking him toward the stoney-looking Sha Wujing, who lowered his spade to bring the wave crashing down onto his brother, pulling the stone monkey into the deep water. Lie ran forward to help, though fully turned to sea foam as he touched the water.

Sha Wujing split the ocean to make room for Liu’er to approach the weeping Monkey King. "You killed me. That proves how awful you are." the six eared monkey claimed with a snarl on his face, getting close to the king and digging his claws into the wound on his head.

"Quiet." His master's voice pierced through the brothers' heads, and stung the shadow’s ears. He limped more than he ever really had, his opened chest revealing his broken bones and beating heart. He approached his disciple, walking right past the apparitions of the older's guilt. "Wukong. You know this isn't real." the monk said calmly.

"Then.. Why can't I wake up?" Wukong asked, desperate for his master's wisdom, despite it not really being him.

"There's someone else here." the human claimed, pointing a finger at the horizon where a ripple went through the sky as someone hit against the memory membrane.

"How do I get to them?" the king asked with worried eyes.

"You have claws, Wukong. Tear an opening.” the monk reminded and struck his staff against the ground, causing a path to open up for Wukong to follow. The monkey nodded, immediately falling in line with his master’s command.

He ran to the wall of strange goo that made up the false sky of the nightmare and struck, tearing into it and creating an opening that let him see the neighboring nightmare. A familiar shadow was tormenting this one too, but his eyes were first drawn to the victim of the horrors. A young boy - like- at most fourteen, dressed in a kung fu uniform and with his eyes glowing a pale purple. Were his eyes deceiving him or was that Macaque’s headband? No time to think, because the cub was crying and the shadow monster was sending a blow his way.

Without another thought, the king leapt into action, running to defend the boy and- “Shadow Dad, stop!”

Monkey King blocked the hit just in time, but was dumbfounded by the cub’s- he-.. He said cub, didn’t he? -the kid’s words. He looked the boy in the eye and asked frantically, “What did you call him!?” The youngling stared at the king, starstruck. “WHAT DID YOU CALL HIM!?” he repeated himself, more urgently.

“Uh- Sh-Shadow Dad.” Mk repeated, still starstruck. Wow. It didn’t matter that he found out the king wasn’t some unflappable paragon, he was still his idol and he was still awesome. Monkey King looked baffled for a moment, then his eyes glowed for some reason and he gained a look of realization.

He plucked a hair and blew on it, turning it into a knife. “Here! Take this and cut your way into a different memory! This one’s too corrupted to see in.” he instructed, and the youngling listened without question. Meanwhile, the king knocked the fist away and began holding the shadow at bay.

The Little Monkey cut through the sticky black mass on the floor and pulled at the sides until it opened wide enough for someone to slip through. “Monkey King! I found- Eugh!” he started before getting knocked into the opening.

“Very good! I’m so proud- Yada Yada- We gotta go!” Wukong ran through the talking points quickly, before looking around at the memory they’d entered. They were on a rooftop from the looks of it, and the cub was looking over the edge. It seemed like this wasn’t a good memory. “Kid? You okay?” the ruler asked, approaching carefully.

“This-.. This is just a dream. Isn’t it?” Mk asked, crouching down in a way all too familiar to the king. And yet, he copied all the same.

“Well, that’s what I’ve guessed.. Why? You sound disappointed.” the Monkey King replied as sympathetically as he could. It was a little difficult. It was quite a shock that Mihou had a kid.

“No- No- I-It’s not that. It’s just..” The Little Monkey took a deep breath to ready himself to finish his reply. “I’ve always wanted to meet you in person, but I can’t believe my dreams would taunt me like this.”

“Huh.. Who said I’m not the real deal, huh?” The king was far from one to let a fan down, so he pulled the kid closer and gave him a firm noogie. “Ya sure I’m not real?” he said with a playful tone as the cub giggled and repeated, “stop!” in a very non-serious tone. The ruler let him go after a moment and gave him a fond look. “Y’know.. It’s nice to have someone else here. These nightmares.. Gods, they suck.”

The Little monkey chuckled softly. “I hear ya’ there.” he commented, placing a hand behind his ears the same way his Shadow Dad always did. “Sometimes I wonder why they’re like this. If it’s a nightmare… Why does It feel so real?”

“I’m not sure these are normal dreams, kid-” the ruler began, before something loudly crashed behind the duo. Turning around revealed the one image both knew. The shadow form of The Six-Eared Macaque. It started laughing and the king knew he had to think quick. “Kid. I need you to wake up for me.” Wukong began, taking a tight grip of Mk’s shoulders.

“What?-” Mk tried to ask, but the king shook him frantically.

“I’m serious, kid. If you wake up right now, I’ll find whatever is causing these extra real nightmares and destroy it.” the ruler bargained, still shaking the youngling. Mk placed his hands on the grown monkey’s shoulders to stop him so he could talk, but the shadow form behind the king was getting bigger and clearly about to attack, so all the Little Monkey could do was gasp. The king seemed to know what this meant and yanked the kid’s hands away from his shoulders, sending the youngling off balance and plummeting off the roof with a yell. “Wake UP!”

—

“That was cruel, Macaque. Though I guess I could expect that by now.”

“Hehe.. Fine. But I think the real question is…

What did you think of my cub?”

—

Mk bolted up in his bed, shaken to his core. He swung his legs to the floor, and moved to sit down at his desk, flipping open his sketchbook and beginning to draw an image of the nightmare to get it out of his head. The best question he could think of, was the question,

Was that really the Monkey KIng?

——000000——

The Stick - Handmade

Tang was glad that his son had already gotten over finding out that Monkey King wasn’t perfect. In fact, he’d told him his nightmares had gotten better afterwards! I mean- they were still there, but they were better! And the Little Monkey’s admiration for the king had seemingly increased after discovering his hero had struggles too. It seemed to light a new spark in the kid’s mind.

His idol wasn’t perfect. In fact, he was once just like him(Aside from being a magic monkey and not a normal-ish human kid)! The scholar was so happy to see his son finding a way to cope.

Tang was deep in thought as he cut some fruits to bring up to the kid. Lucky him, for once, he didn’t cut his fingers. He carried the slices upstairs and opened Mk’s door, without knocking. “Xiao Houzi- What are you doing?”

The Little Monkey froze and looked at his Ba Ba, somewhat embarrassed. “It’s nothing. Just working on an art project.” he mumbled his explanation, a large stick laid across his lap, freed of its bark and half sanded..

The adult glanced at the large stick- like seriously, it was six feet long, -and how his son was carving it.. Oh my gosh. “Um- Just curious.. What is this art project?” he asked, starting to walk over to sit on the bed beside his kid.

Mk was embarrassed, but worked up the courage to mumble, “I’m making a replica of Monkey King’s staff.”

His Ba Ba gave him a grin in response and put down the plate of cut fruit. “I’ll help.”

——000000——

New Girl

Mei finally convinced her parents to let her go to normal school, and it was going great! She already had a group of friends, had met so many colorful characters, and not gotten in trouble for wearing pants! Honestly, this was going so much better than the prep-school she’d been going to before. Not to mention, this school had a system where if you got straight A’s for a month, you got a little card-thing that you could use to get a day off, and you were even allowed to give them out to your friends!

Her prep school left her knowing stuff meant for two grades above her, so it was super easy for her to get tons of days off. She was walking around with her friends when she noticed some super edgy kid who wore a headband that seemed to have a spell on it to keep his hair up. He also had some black wispy stuff coming off his ears and butt that made it look like he had extra ears and a tail. He seemed super cool, and right away, Mei wanted to be friends with him.

“Hm? Oh. I see you have your eye on Mk,” one of her friends commented, as she watched the kid- apparently called Mk -scare off a senior with a glare, when he was a freshman.

“Yeah! Why was that other kid so scared? He just glared at them,” she asked, excited to hear some tales of badassery.

“Oh? Well, that boy over there has gained a bit of a reputation. He can fight better than any other kid in the school, and he only does it to defend the demon kids!” the same friend from before explained.

“He’s stopped actually hurting people as much though. Rumor has it, he got therapy and it knocked the fight out of him,” the other friend she was walking with remarked as Mk checked on the kid the senior was bullying. “A shame, really. It’s so hot when he does fight.”

Wait- “Oh- D-Did you think I thought he was hot?” Mei questioned in confusion.

“Heh, it’s a little obvious, Mei.”

“No! I just wanna be friends with him because he’s super cool!” the dragon girl exclaimed.

“Oh, please. That kid’s never had any friends. It would take a lot to make him like you.”

“I’m willing to work for it! I’ll come up with the perfect plan to get him to be my friend. I’ll use my free-day slips to get us out of class, take him for a ride on my dragon-cycle and give him the best day of his life! Then I’m sure he’ll be my friend.” She was ready to do anything to make that kid laugh. He seemed so nice, and yet he still looked so, so, sad.

——000000——

Happy Birthday, Di Di

Mk was walking through the park on his birthday. His dads were setting up a little celebration and had him go out to do pretty much whatever he wanted until they were ready. He then spotted the strange boy who kept dropping flowers whenever he left, and immediately ran forward.

The lotus decorated boy smiled at him and started dashing away, seeming to slide effortlessly across the ground while Mk climbed through the trees. The Little Monkey chased his “Big Brother” through the park, across the street and into an alleyway where the older kid ducked behind a corner and disappeared as usual.

Monkey Kid looked around for the boy for a moment, before a tin fell on his head. Luck was on his side, because it landed right in his hands a moment later. He looked at the box and saw a sticky note with a small message on it. “Happy birthday, Di Di. -Love, Big Brother”

Mk chuckled at the sight and took off the note, now able to see the beautiful design on the tin. It seemed to be Nezha themed. Fitting for the flower boy.

The Little Monkey opened the tin and saw a beautiful Lotus pastry inside, and speaking of the inside, it had what looked to be velvet lining it. Wow.. That had to be a super expensive gift.

The younger teen looked around for his Ge Ge to try and thank him, but still couldn’t spot the older boy. He chuckled at the fact. Of course. “I’ll never understand you, Ge Ge.”

“Maybe.” Nezha said to himself. “I know I’ll talk to you in person someday, though. I can’t wait for that Little Brother.”

——000000——

Dragon’s Day

Mk finished his handmade replica of Monkey King’s staff and decided to bring it to school. He wanted to show it off, even though he didn’t have anyone to show it to. He just liked it, and thought it would make him feel stronger.. It was also nice to have a staff again, even if he’d stopped getting into fights as often. The feeling of the wooden bo staff in his hands was one he hadn’t realized he missed.

He noticed No’e getting bullied by Brutus again. Well, he might as well.

“HEY!” he exclaimed, shadows flickering to life around his form as he dashed forward and hit Brutus’ hands away from No’e. “Leave her alone, you bastard,” He shifted his grip on his staff anxiously, not wanting to hurt Brutus too much this time. He didn’t want a repeat of that day he got trapped on the roof.

Brutus… was he always that big?- Wait- obviously not. Why is he so big now? He gave a sickening smirk, scratching the disfigured bump Mk left with that strike. A reminder of his issues. Something he can’t fix by getting better. The Little Monkey shook, but remained in a readied stance. “Hehe.. The little coward finally shows his face again..” the extremely muscular teen taunted. “It’s about time you pay your dues for what you did to me,” he murmured, before looking down at the staff in Mk’s hands. “Tch. You decided to play pretend on today of all days?”

Mk shifts to a more protective stance rather than the offensive one he instinctively took up. "Why don't you," Brutus stepped forward. Mk stepped back. "stop playing," Brutus raised his hand. Mk lifted his staff to block. "the hero?" The bully struck his hand against the stick, then lifted the other to hit against it as well, snapping the intricately crafted, handmade, wooden staff in two.

Mk's mind stops working properly, simply repeating 'Danger! Danger! Danger!' as he moves on instinct, shoving No'e away and punching Brutus in his face, before running away through the halls. He managed to run through the crowd, barely being noticed by the other students, until he wound up cornering himself against the wall, lockers to either side and Brutus rapidly approaching.

He sat down and raised his arms to block, then saw a flash of pink, quickly overpowered by a stream of green. A girl who seemed to be a year older than him had run in and blocked Brutus' strike, growling- hissing- chittering? -some combination of the three, defensively. She had the ears, horns, tail, and scales of a dragon. Actually, looking closer, she was a dragon! “Leave him ALONE!” Wow. Using the royal voice to defend him. He must be special.

Brutus ran away from the dragon girl immediately. At least he could recognize when something’s just too powerful to punch it in the face and hope it goes away. “What a jerk,” the dragon said, putting her glamors back up and looking down at Mk with a small smirk. “Heya! I’m Mei, but my full name is Long Xiaojiao,” she told him, causing him to move from looking starry eyed (I mean, it’s a dragon) to looking confused.

“How the heck do you get Mei from Xiaojiao?” the Little Monkey questioned.

“How do you get Mk from Xiaotia-” She tried to rebut, but stopped when she saw Mk suddenly look threatened. “Uh.. It’s pretty simple. One of my friends when I was younger looked at me and said, “You don’t look like a Xiaojiao.. Mei.” and it kinda just stuck,” Mei decided it was better to not pry into Mk’s reasoning for disliking his real name. I mean, since when was that her right?

The Monkey Kid was startled by the respect and lowered his hackles as he realized she wasn’t trying to hurt him. “Ah.. Mk is short for Monkey Kid. My dads thought it was a good nickname since I acted like a little monkey.. Still do, honestly,” Mk explained, trying to give Mei the same courtesy she showed him.

The dragon reached down to help Mk up, as well as shaking his hand. “Well, it’s nice to meet ya’ Mk. Say, you wanna blow this pop-stand and get some cheese tea?” she asked rather casually.

“Did you hit your head? The first class hasn’t even started,” Mk was confused, until she pulled like, eight free-day slips from her pocket.

“Don’t worry. I got us covered,” She gave him a cat-like smile, clearly mischievous, yet he didn’t know why. Were they counterfeit or something?

“Well, I don’t have money, so I couldn’t pay even if we did go-” he tried again, but she cut him off.

“I’m a dragon, dude! My parents have a full on hoard! I can spare the extra moola,” Honestly, Mk hadn’t expected a dragon to be so approachable.

“I mean.. What’s in it for you?” the Little Monkey asked wearily.

“Ah, smart. Well, my deal is this. I will treat you to the best day of your life, and if I succeed… you have to be my friend,” Mei offered, sounding rather joking. “You can ask for whatever you want if I fail,”

“100,” Mk tested her.

“I’ll probably spend more than that today anyway. Deal!” The dragon snapped up the easy condition before the boy could reconsider. “As of this moment, I vow to you, Mk the Monkey Kid, that I in fact will give you the best day of your life,”

“Heh. We’ll see,”

—

Step 1- Drive dragon-cycle to cheese tea stand

Step 2- Treat Mk to cheese tea

Mei crosses off the first step on her list. Yeah.. She made a vague plan of how she’d handle this special day in hopes it’d increase her chances of making the edgy boy like her. She was waiting in line with Mk and noticed the boy scanning over the menu about fifty times. “Psst. Hey! Have you never been here before?” she whispered loudly to the anxious boy.

He quickly turned his head towards her, anxiety becoming more and more prevalent. “Yes! I-Is there anything I should know? What flavors are actually good once you take the cheese foam into account? Will people look at me weird if I don’t know what to-”

Mei placed one finger over his mouth and her other hand on his shoulder. “Shush. This isn’t some big fancy thing. Just pick whatever looks good and I’ll pay. I will teach you the ways of the cheese tea!” Her jokingly elegant tone made the Little Monkey’s anxiety dissolve in moments, leaving him all giggly!

“Hahaha- Shut up!” Mk said jokingly, lightly nudging Mei as he laughed, to which she did the same.

Before they could get too into the play-fight, the employee called them forward, as they were holding up the line. Mk ordered a mango cheese tea and Mei ordered a cranberry-dragon fruit combination with extra boba and extra cheese foam.

Step 2- Complete!

Step 3- Walk to AGA (Anti-Gravity Arcade)

Mei crossed off another step as Mk marveled in the flavor of the cheese tea. The duo walked normally for a small while, until the younger brought up his training. “I learned everything I know about fighting from my Shadow Dad,” Mk claimed, expecting the usual questions and denial of his original caretaker’s existence, and yet Mei responded with a simple,

“That sounds awesome! Having a Sifu who you actually connect with enough to straight up call him dad without a single worry? That’s life goals, dude,” The dragon didn’t seem to know what he meant, but she didn’t deny his past, and that was heartwarming for the younger teen. “The only one I’ve been trained by is too stiff to really do anything with. He doesn’t even seem to enjoy teaching. He’s just gunnin’ for that paycheck,” the older said spitefully. She clearly didn’t enjoy her lessons.

“Sounds rough… but, now that I know you’ve been trained before..” Mk trailed off, taking Mei’s cheese tea and placing it down alongside his own on a bench. The dragon girl was confused, until Mk pounced at her and knocked her off balance.

The duo play-wrestled in a way that was familiar for the younger teen. In fact, if he wasn’t too busy playing around, he may have started crying from the nostalgia of it all. Eventually, they had to stop their little play fight and get back on their way.

“So… Where are we going?” Mk decided to finally ask, and Mei seemed startled by the question.

“I~ forgot to tell you, didn’t I?” The Little Monkey nodded. “Ah. Well, we’re going to the AGA!” Mei said with a flourish. Mk had no clue what she meant. “Wait- You’ve never been there either?!” she exclaimed incredulously, getting in her friend’s face.

“No? Was I supposed to?” Mk’s more anxious and friendly personality was slowly coming out from behind the clouds again. The anger had passed, and he was returning to a better mental state. He was thankful for that.

Mei didn’t realize that though, ‘cause she was just ranting about how the AGA was the best arcade in the city, and all the games it had. She seemed to be slotting herself right into the hole his big brothers left when they had to go, and quite comfortably at that. “Dude, you okay?”

Huh?- Oh. Oh, he was crying. Oh gosh.. “Uh- Yeah! I’m fine.. You just… really remind me of someone I knew a long time ago. Sheesh- How long ago was that?” Mk tried to do the math on how long it’d been since he last saw the Shadow Twins.

Meanwhile, Mei was just wondering who she reminded him of. Clouds were moving in as they reached the doorstep of the AGA. ‘Guess Great Great Great thousand times Great uncle is getting angry,’ she thought to herself as she took another sip of her cheese tea.

Step 3- Complete!

Step 4- Forget that time exists while playing at the AGA

Mei crossed off the second to last point of her plan, before dragging Mk inside of the massive arcade that he was briefly starstruck by. While he looked out at the arcade, lights blaring, speakers booming, and people floating around, Mei purchased ten hours of gametime for herself and set up Mk with an account, which she then purchased ten hours for as well.

“C’mon Mk! Let’s go!” the dragon girl exclaimed, dragging the unprepared monkey into the Anti-Gravity section of the arcade. The two played for hours- well, Mei bought hours of playtime, so that’s not a surprise- but the two played for hours with only a short break for lunch. They got so lost in their games that Mk forgot to tell his dads where he was until Pigsy called in a panic while they were playing Monkey Mech.

Mei took the chance to dunk on Mk while he was on the phone until she overheard him saying, “Yeah. No I- I-I’ll start heading home now! Trust me, you’re gonna wanna meet her. She’s a dragon! Oop- Sorry. Gotta go!”

The dragon girl pouted at that. She still had a full hour of gametime left. “Aww~ Can’t we keep playing a little longer?” she pleaded to which he chuckled.

“No, Jie Jie. I’ve worried my dads enough,” Mk barely noticed what he’d called her..

But she definitely noticed it. “AWW! You called me Jie Jie! That’s so~ sweet! Just met you, and you’re already considering me family!”

“That happens a lot more than you’d think,” Mk muttered.

“Oh, fine. Just let me spend some of my tickets first,” Mei gave in shockingly easily, and landed back on the ground in front of the prize counter. She noticed Mk eyeing one of the toys they were handing out and decided to get it for him. “The massive Monkey King plush please!” she requested as she slammed her massive stack of tickets on the counter. “Oh! And the Dragon-Horse plush next to it!”

The technician was stunned by the fact that she actually had enough tickets for that. After they handed over the plushies, she cast a spell to keep them dry in the rain long enough to get to Mk’s place, meanwhile Mk was staring out at the rain and having flashbacks to the day he was dropped on his dads’ door. It was raining then too. He was breathing in and out anxiously until Mei shoved the massive Monkey King plush into his hands. “No way,” he mumbled as the dragon girl stepped out the door.

“What’re you waiting for Mk? I cast a spell to keep them dry till we get to your place!” she told him excitedly, before looking closer at the younger teen’s small frame. The plushie was the same size as him! Before she could think too much about how cute that was, she noticed the anxiety in his stance and the wisps of unstable magic that moved along his shivering form. “Do you… not like the rain?” He nodded. “Why?”

“Uh- B-Bad memories..” Mk mumbled.

Well, Mei couldn’t have that! She was a dragon for heck’s sake! Rain was kinda a big thing for them. “Okay then..” She walked over to him and crouched down with an exaggerated bow, dropping her glamors as she moved. “Then hop aboard, my dear little brother. They don’t call me the Dragon-Horse-Girl for nothin’!” she claimed and Mk processed the statement for a moment.

“Wait- Are you a descendant of Ao Lie?!”

..”Did I forget to say that?-”

“YES!!” The Little Monkey exclaimed, almost giddy. “Okay, okay! Uh- How do I… know I won’t fall off?” He sounded a bit more cautious now.

“Hmm.. Ooh! I know!” She barely took half a second before whistling for her dragon-cycle. It arrived with a sidecar attached, which she then placed Mk’s new plush into and buckled it in, even putting a helmet on it! She just put her own plush into the bike’s “saddle bag”. “There! Now just hold on tight. I’ll make sure you don’t fall,” she said, walking back over and crouching down for him to get on a moment later.

He was cautious, of course, but Mei hadn’t given him any reasons not to trust her - Not to mention, he really wanted to get home soon - so he hopped aboard. Once she was sure he was safe, she felt through the air with one foot for her first step. One foot on the first raindrop, she stepped forward with the other, slowly moving upwards as she got into a rhythm. Then, high above the city, she started moving faster, the dragon-cycle following on the ground- Mostly.

She occasionally slid on the rain to get lower and stepped up to get higher, Mk panicking slightly but continuously getting overpowered by laughter and the excitability brought on by the adrenaline rush and disbelief that he’s riding on the back of a human-formed dragon who is running on rain.

After a while, she spotted his place and slid down the raindrops to reach the ground, right in front of Pigsy’s Noodles. “WOO! That was EPIC! Now c’mon! Let’s hangout!- uh- assuming I was successful in making you wanna be my friend?”

“Heh! Yeah. You were successful, alright! That was amazing!” he exclaimed, hopping into the air and kicking his legs out with excitement.

“YES!” Mei shared in his excitement, punching the air happily. They grabbed their plushies from the dragon-cycle and entered Pigsy’s shop, chatting gleefully about Monkey Mech.

Tang looked at them in disbelief and commented, “I honestly thought you were gay, Mk.”

The Little Monkey looked over, somewhat confused and said, “Oh, yeah I am, actually. Me and Mei are just friends.” Mk explained.

He has a friend!

“And I’m Aroace.” Mei continued.

“Oh, really? I didn’t know that.” the younger teen mumbled. Pigsy was absolutely dumbfounded that his son had befriended a goddamn dragon, while Mr.Tang was vibrating at the fact that he now had access to a member of the dragon family to ask about their history. “C’mon, Jie Jie!” Mk said excitedly as he ran over to the stairs.

AND they were already sworn siblings?!

Shadow Dad chuckled mirthfully as Mei followed, just as excited.

"Uncle? We need you." his nephew's familiar voice requested through the earpiece.

The grown demon rolled his eyes and took one last cheerful look at his son before beginning to head down with a resigned, "Alright! I'm coming. I'm coming.."

—☆—

Nightmare Tripitaka:

And there ya go! Sorry it took me a while again, but again there was a lot to get through. Also, I got a little obsessed with TMNT and started doin’ some stuff with that. You might see what I’m doing in a while (I mean, like multiple months, maybe a year. You’ll see why when I show you that.) Anyways, without further ado,

Have fun, and happy scrolling!

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