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chaozsilhouette · 2 years

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New Journey, Old Wounds

Staring out onto the horizon, MK couldn’t keep up a smile anymore.

MK wasn’t sure where everything went wrong.

Maybe it started on New Years? Maybe it was a series of events he couldn’t see? Maybe he knew of the danger but remained blinded to its true extent?

All he knew was nothing was ever going to be the same. They may defeat Lady Bone Demon and reclaim Megapolis, but the damage had been done.

Lady Bone Demon had won.

With that strange mech she managed to steal so much of his power, the power he struggled to understand and control, and it was gone just like that. Looking back, it was obvious. How he felt weaker each time he destroyed her machine. Watching that spell circle slowly complete itself with each revival. The nagging sensation of celestial power starting to fill the target’s limbs.

In the end, all he could do was helplessly watch as that bitch rambled about destiny.

Why didn’t Monkey king just tell him? Why all the secrets?

Sure, he may have been a bit annoyed at being left behind, but anything beats what actually happened. Being left alone, thinking he hadn’t been good enough. Struggling with his feelings of inadequacy. Being mentally scarred by a heartless demon traipsing around in the body of a little girl.

Things seemed so hopeless even with Monkey King’s map and the possibility of a super-powerful mystic weapon that could solve all their problems.

Ya’know the more he thought about it, the more certain events just didn’t add up.

That virus that put the entire town to sleep. He could vaguely recall that tech spider was holding a strange cube when he left. And the way he talked screamed he did everything to act as a mere distraction. But for what? What was the Cloud hiding?

Fighting Huntsman in Monkey King’s treasure room, never thought he’d say that. The Generals were not happy seeing him trespass on their home. Although in the back of his mind he was sort of glad he chose to run. MK was certain what the Stalwart Generals planned would give him nightmares to last his next ten cycles.

Then there was Sandy’s quest for the crimson jimson weed, but everything turned out okay. Although if he really thought back to the big guy’s return, he did seem a bit off. He never really talked about his trip, just said it was eventful and left it at that. He was so happy to be freed from those cursed hiccups, it never came up again.

Meeting the Lady Bone Demon when she tricked him into adding the staff’s power to the Trigram Furnace, which was apparently stolen. Why was she in Spider Queen’s lair? Why did she help Spider Queen take over the city? Was it all so she could claim the furnace? But how did she know they would grab it?

This made MK debate just how many signs he had been ignoring.

In the end, he could only be grateful he still had his family by his side, safe and sound. If even a single one was lost to the blast that engulfed his home, he wouldn’t know what to do with himself.

Mr. Tang was probably going to start writing as soon as he was done patching up Monkey King, so he better get started on his part. Digging into his bag, he pulled out his journal. It would be a while before they made it to the nearest city, so he had plenty of time to record today’s catastrophe. If this truly was to be his story then he couldn’t skip anything, even if they were moments he’d rather forget. A glint of light caught his eye.

It was the medallion Macaque gave him.

He didn’t remember packing it, but he was glad he had it. No doubt his mentor escaped long before Lady Bone Demon played her hand. Who knows maybe they’d see each other on the journey? He could properly introduce him to his family.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the undeniably handsome Monkey King was feeling conflicted.

On one hand, he could not deny the thrill that accompanied adventuring into the unknown recesses of the world. The joy that came with traveling with others as they conquered challenge after challenge. If he closed his eyes and focused on the aruras of his new companions, he could almost trick himself he was among his old family. Yet at his core, he knew he had nothing to celebrate. Failure dominated his soul.

It wasn’t supposed to be this way.

He was supposed to uncover the truth, find the weapon, and deal with that stubborn bone bitch before she had a chance to cause any real damage. He was the hero. He was supposed to save the day and protect his family. He did it so many times.

So why did he fail this time?

He screwed up. Everything had gone wrong, and he was reminded of that fact every time he tried to move. He knew there would be consequences for his actions, but never dreamed they would be this painful. Thankfully he had developed a strong pain tolerance over the centuries. A little explosion of raw power capable of shattering the galaxy was nothing compared to being forced to eat molten copper and iron pellets for five hundred years.

He barely made it in time when he first sensed the swell of unnatural power. He almost didn’t make it. He was just seconds away from watching his student be drained of all power and robbed of his life. Or worse.

This was his mistake, but they were so insistent that they join in.

He shouldn’t have caved. If he was at full strength, he would go right back there and just keep pounding that bitch’s skull until it was powder. Unfortunately, he was weakened. Most of his powers felt numb and he sensed it would take precious time before his true strength was restored. Honestly, he hadn’t felt this weak since his first centuries of life.

The Monkey King was still a proud immortal, it would take far more than one defeat to put him down. His body would heal and he’d have his revenge, but he’d been lying to say his spirit came out of this affair unscathed. It had been so long since he experienced this fear, the fear of losing something precious.

He refused to feel this way again.

But first, he had to begin the recovery process. Which in this case meant having the scholar, who apparently was a trained medic, look over his wounds.

At first, he was uncomfortable being alone with the scholar after his little outburst on Lunar New Year. But apparently, he took his position as the team’s medical officer very seriously. Honestly, he acted like an entirely different person, it was almost disturbing.

The light in his eyes dimmed as he took on a calm persona. Explaining what he intended to do, what the Monkie could expect to feel, and if there was anything he could do to make things more comfortable, all in a professional tone.

“Didn’t expect you to be a healer,” The King joked as his eyes never left the door.

“When I first met MK and started my role as a father figure, I took on a year’s worth of medical courses. I gained further experience through the demon attacks I regularly found myself involved with.” The man explained laying out an assortment of creams, pain killers, and bandage wraps. Tang felt the Monkey King would be more inclined to trust him if could establish a connection, he could admit he didn’t make the best first impression. “Now I’m hardly a licensed professional, but I’m fairly confident in my capabilities when it comes to treating basic wounds and illnesses.”

Although part of what he said was a lie, it was a well-rehearsed lie. Tang knew Pigsy was MK’s true father figure but the more people who thought the role was divided the less pressure was placed on his old friend. Besides fewer people were likely to be judgmental when they saw multiple individuals raising a child.

Now he used it as a distraction, as Spider Queen had proven, more demons became fixated on hurting the father of the Monkey King’s successor than some random demon or human. If either one of them had to die for the other to live, Tang would happily throw himself into the fire, but he was smart enough to never say as much in Pigsy’s presence.

With the Monkey King in on the lie, hopefully, it would further work as a shield for his loved ones.

Monkey King, however, was fixated on another detail. “What happened for MK to need a father figure?” Sure, he never saw anyone who could pass for the kid’s biological relatives, and he never mentioned anyone outside his friend circle, but just because he was the kid’s mentor didn’t mean MK would automatically tell him every detail of his life.

The only options he could think of was 1) MK was an orphan, 2) was disowned by his family, 3) disowned his biological family, or 4) wasn’t close with his birth family.

“Ah...that’s not my story to tell. I’m sorry, your highness.” There it was. The embarrassed admiration combined with the terror of their situation. But Sun Wukong couldn’t help but smile at such obvious loyalty and love.

“No worries. It’s sweet you want to protect the kid.”

“I can say that he has been through a lot, and I wanted to do my part to make his life something worth living.” The man solemnly stated, followed by a smug smirk. “Besides, you would not believe the number of times I had to relocate a shoulder or patch up the same pair of adrenaline junkies whenever they tried a new trick on their wheels.”

“I regret nothing!” MK shouted from behind the door, apparently still retaining his enhanced hearing.

The two shared a smile at their child’s reaction. With nothing else to say, the scholar turned healer got to work.

The first act was to remove the Monkey King’s shredded clothing and armor. The famous King was embarrassed to say he had winced far more than he would have liked to admit as they tenderly pried blood-stained silk off barely healed scabs. Tang grimaced as he put aside the ruined fabric, judging from the unmarred spots the quality was truly worthy of the divine. It pained him, but he doubted he could salvage any of it. The sheer number of tears and bloodstains left barely enough for him to stitch together a handkerchief. A fresh change of clothes was definitely going to be one of their top priorities.

Tang washed out the peach-colored fur with special medicated water (provided by Sandy), helping the King shed weeks of dirt and old blood. He was careful to be as gentle as possible in cleaning the monkie’s wounds, applying various creams, and wrapping them as to not agitate his tender flesh any more than it already had. When he was done, he gave Wukong a kind smile that stung more than any injury.

“You realize none of this is going to get you out of having to talk to MK.”

The demon huffed, scratching the back of his head as he savored the creams and pills that turned the burning pain into a gentle numbness. “Figured.”

“You may be used to handling things on your own, but it isn’t like that now. You have a successor who cares about you and a group of miscreants who can’t keep out of deadly situations if the universe depended on it.” Tang happily said with a laugh.

Wukong couldn’t help but return the earnest laughter with his own smile. “I really am stuck with you lot, huh?”

“Till the end.” Smirking Tang booped the monkie on the nose. “Silly monkey,” He happily stated brushing the last few knots out of the exposed fur, with all the blood gone he could detect the faintest whiff of peaches. He wondered if it was due to his diet or a side effect of the Heavenly Peaches of Immortality.

Unannounced to him, Wukong had turned stiff at the comment.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

“Silly monkey.” A golden voice cradled him as soft hands gently combed his fur, mindful of any scars.

The crackle of fire filled the silence as the two savored each other’s company. It was one of the few lulls in their journey when they didn’t have to fear the possibility of a night ambush, instead, they could truly relax and allow their spirits to heal. The immortal king happily buried his face deeper into his master’s robes trying to wring out as much musical laughter as possible.

It was these precious moments that made all the bullshit they endured on this insane journey worth it. These were the times he wished could last for an eternity. For the king who was trapped for five hundred years, to be loved and cared for until the end of days was truly paradise.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

Breathing deep to steady his trembling heart, Wukong blankly starred ahead. “Don’t call me that.” His words were steady, but his tone gave the impression he was one wrong move from lashing out.

Like that Tang’s good mood was crushed by harsh reality.

His skin become both too red and too pale as his actions caught up to him. He was playing around, joking with a being known for destroying mountain ranges to alleviate his boredom, who could break him one thousand ways without putting his life in danger. This was a demon who was forced to endure a month of hardships and frustration only to be met with constant failure. Yet here he was messing around with an immortal being with a perspective more alien than the sun and moon.

“I-I’m sorry, your highness. I shouldn’t have been so casual. I’ll leave you to rest up.” Tang quickly provided Wukong with a pillow and clean blankets before racing out the door leaving the Monkey King with his thoughts.

Perhaps he was a bit harsh with the scholar, but he really wasn’t ready to deal with everything. Wukong didn’t want to get close to anyone after his master and brothers died, MK was proving to be an exception. Honestly the first time he truly noticed the kid, he was surprised at how closely MK’s family resembled his own.

The scholar, Tang if he wasn’t mistaken, was the one he was the most uncomfortable around. He couldn’t help it. Even though the obvious fanboying had been replaced with a strong admiration tempered by cultivated sass, he just couldn’t help but feel uneasy.

It was his face. The man just resembled his master far too closely. Seriously, if he ever shaved his head it would be like staring at his master reborn. He could have tried to trick himself into believing he was one of Tripitaka’s descendants, but that would mean forgetting Tang was celibate till the day he died. And the chances that another human would just happen to have the same everything were too small to consider.

There was one explanation that could have answered all his questions and soothed his concerns. There was one sure-fire way to check its accuracy and it was laughably simple. All he had to do was take a look.

Yep. One gaze with his Golden Eyes of Truth and he’d know.

He’d know.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

Crossing to the other side of the dronecopter, Tang clung to the wall as he came to grips with what he did and what led to his current circumstances. They were facing a true end of the world level threat. And their best hope was to rely on one of the world’s greatest heroes who couldn’t be open with them unless he had any other option.

“Woah, Tang. Is everything alright?” The scholar looked up to see his dear friend looking more than a little concerned. Which was natural given everything they just endured.

Scrambling to look more put together than he actually was, Tang slapped on a mediocre smile. “Wha? Oh! Yes, yes everything’s fine.”

Raising an eyebrow at the obvious lie, Pigsy had a strong suspicion on the identity of the guilty party. “Uh-huh… How’s the royal pain?”

“He’ll-he’s-” Coughing to gather himself, Tang turned to properly address the question. “Overall, he should make a full recovery. I patched up what I could. Thankfully his injuries were primarily skin deep, and from my inspection no organs were damaged. The main issue is the obvious signs of extreme exhaustion, I doubt he slept more than an hour over the past four weeks. I’m truly amazed he didn’t collapse after he made his grand declaration. Of course, I could have missed something important, but without proper equipment, I can’t say.”

Which was a problem. How did one test an ancient immortal monkie? Second question, how did one convince an overly stubborn immortal monkie to admit to any pain?!

Pigsy cut him off before he was forced to watch his friend descend into a spiral of self-degradation. “Say you did everything that needed to be done. How long will he need to recover?”

“If he still retains his healing factor I’d say less than a day, but given how beat up he was and how a large portion of his powers was siphoned off...let’s go with two to three days until he’s back to full health. Five to be certain.” That was the problem, wasn’t it. Even if they had a week, would Monkey King trust them enough to be honest with them?

“Did you tell him?” Pigsy questioned with a raised eyebrow.

The scholar turned away, unwilling to face his oldest friend.

Pigsy spun Tang around and forced him to look him in the eye. “Tang, he does know?”

“Do you think it would matter if I did tell him?” The scholar slapped away the kind touch with poorly concealed panic. “He’s the Monkey King, he’s defied beings far wiser and more powerful than me. Why would he care about the opinion of a mortal he barely knows?”

“Yeah, yeah. He defies the Jade Emperor and flips off Buddha for kicks, but this is about his health. Even he must see the value of taking it slow to not remain a liability when his successor’s life is on the line.” Poor sweet Pigsy, still thinking common sense played a factor in their lives.

“Have you ever known MK to take his health into consideration when there are important matters to attend to?” Tang shot back.

“Point,” Pigsy growled at self-sacrificing idiots.

“Exactly. Whenever he has a cold, we have to literally chain him to his bed. I have to drug his meals to have a prayer of him sleeping. You have to bolt his door to prove you don’t expect him to work. Mei is practically stuck on guard duty on the off chance he tries to make a run for it. How could we possibly command any authority over a five times immortal king?”

Dragging a hand down his face, Pigsy groaned. He hated to admit it, but Tang was right. It took a cursed torture device to get the Monkey King to comply last time and it wasn’t like they had one of those lying around. “I don’t know, but we have to do something or he’s only going to make things worse.”

A gentle knock drew the pair’s attention to the river demon standing by the door frame. “Uh, guys?”

“Do you need any help, Sandy?” Tang asked, eager to escape this conversation.

“We may have to make a small detour,” Sandy said, while he did feel bad about this request, he couldn’t just blow it off. “After the whole new year’s fiasco, I sort of asked for Mei’s help in setting up an emergency defense protocol for my houseboat. It’s currently thirty miles offshore with all my therapy cats and I need to make sure they’re okay.”

“Yes. Yes! This is perfect.” Tang was so excited he launched himself at the former soldier with a dazzling grin, fears cast aside. “Sandy you glorious creature! We may not be able to restrain the Monkey King, but we can delay the voyage long enough for him to get proper rest.”

Automatically catching Tang’s trial, Pigsy smiled. “This will force the kid to take care of himself too. Great thinking Sandy. We owe yah.”

“For what? What did I miss?” The gentle giant was clearly missing something.

Detaching himself from the tea enthusiast, Tang joined Pigsy in heading for the control room. “Don’t worry about it. Set course for your boat. We’ll explain on the way.”

Unbeknownst to any of them, their conversation was not as private as they thought.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

Good news!

The emergency escape system worked like a dream and the cats were safe and sound. They were quick to show their appreciation by nearly smothering their beloved owner in a unified leap of fur. The others were content to receive a pleased purr or a full body rub against their leg. But they were wise to change course when they did.

They still weren’t completely sure what Lady Bone Demon unleashed upon the world, but its effects were spreading. Given enough time and not a single inch of land, sea, or sky would be untouched.

So Sandy and Mei got to work, combining the dronecopter and the houseboat into one massive all-terrain vehicle. They were still working out the name, but this granted them greater food and medical storage along with heightened defenses. In addition, to nearly taking up the rest of the day, forcing their resident monkie to either sleep or essentially do nothing.

Of course, there was the incredible benefit of having an army of highly trained therapy cats at the ready to provide moral support and an adorable source of comfort. Which the second generation of pilgrims silently agreed MK needed right now and would regularly need throughout the rest of their trip.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

A recording of a gong echoed between the mountain peaks, interrupting the Monkey King’s tale of his fierce battle against the Third Lotus Prince Nezha.

With an awkward chuckle, Tang apologized and answered his phone, which amazingly still had service in the middle of nowhere. “Hello?” At the caller’s voice, his expression relaxed. “Yes. That’s wonderful. She’ll be so relieved. Yes, right beside me. Not a scratch. Okay, I’ll let her know. Yes. Yes. Perfectly. Take care. I’ll be sure to pass it on. Thank you. Bye.” Ending the call, Tang faced Mei with a pleased look.

“Okay good news. Mei, thankfully your parents were at the edge of town when the attack started and were able to escape. They managed to find shelter with some extended family, and they want you to know all of us are welcome to seek shelter at the Western Palace any time.” So if all else fails they had a fallback shelter.

Mei, however, was confused. “I didn’t even know they’d returned to the city. I thought they were still in Northern China for trade negotiations.” As far as she knew they were nowhere near the city or the raging witch that nearly killed her best friend.

Fortunately, they saw fit to inform Tang of how they were made aware of this latest predicament to threaten the world. “Apparently, they had arrived two days ago but wouldn’t be staying long. So, they chose to keep their return on the down-low so you wouldn’t feel stressed. They are aware of how scared you are of disappointing them even after claiming the sword.” If there was one benefit of being a renowned researcher of ancient history, it allowed him to keep an eye on Mei in her home life and get to better understand her parents and the love they had for their daughter, even if they didn’t make it obvious at times.

“Either way, that’s two people we know are safe.” Pigsy said, happy to get some good news.

“Ahem. While looking after family is important, can we please get back to the meeting?” Wukong asked, now dressed in fresh causal attire, although no one was sure where he got them from. There was some suspicion he just transformed some of his own hair, but he wasn’t saying a thing. Pigsy made a note to buy a few extra outfits for him when they landed.

“Of course,” Sandy said, handing out fresh tea. Normally he would have been flying, but since there was nothing to worry about at this altitude, he felt safe with the autopilot on and three of his soldiers keeping watch.

“Hold up. You keep talking about a weapon, but you never explained what this weapon was. What precisely are we looking for?” MK asked, wanting to know the name of the tool they were aiming to use. Perhaps he heard of it in Tang’s stories.

Locking eyes with his disciple, the Monkey King sported a confident grin. “The True Fire of Samadhi.”

“As in one of the few things that can harm or even potentially kill you?” Tang asked, both excited and terrified.

“Yes.” Although he wasn’t happy thinking about one of the few times he nearly experienced a fate worse than death.

“Do we really need something of that power? Has she truly become that powerful?” Tang pressed. To seek out a power of such overwhelming might was no small task. No doubt celestial forces were already mobilizing to ensure those flames never burned again.

The Monkey King groaned at questions. There were no words to describe his furry for letting her grow into this much of a nuisance. “Unfortunately. If we truly aim to remove her threat from this and all worlds, we can’t let a single thread of her essence survive.”

“Uh, I think I skipped that chapter. What makes this fire so special?” Mei asked, still not getting what was so impressive about this fire. Last she saw that demon had no trouble flinging fire around.

MK nodded beside her.

The Monkie opened his mouth, but a slight noise brought his attention to the professional teacher who looked to be about one second from tackling him. “You wanna take this?”

Tang squeed at the opportunity, launching into “Teacher Mode.”

“The True Fire of Samadhi is unique in how it is birthed through a true unity of the five elements. It cannot be extinguished by water, wind, or earth. Only by completely incinerating its target will it disappear. According to ancient texts, only by an act of true divine intervention can the flames be prematurely halted. As you can imagine, such flames are incredibly difficult to master much less generate. Supposedly, thousands of the most skilled prokinetics have attempted to add this power to their arsenal, even if failure would only lead to their death. Thankfully less than a handful have ever been recorded as successful. Did I miss anything?”

Wukong blinked at the scholar’s extensive knowledge of such an abstract topic. “Nope, you’re right.” Smirking at the human, he silently approved his student’s connections. “These flames are the pinnacle of fire mastery. A single ember tops anything Red Son could throw at you.”

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

In a highly fortified palace, far beyond the reach of mortals, the Demon Bull Family was enjoying themselves.

Red Son, who had been absentmindedly working on his latest invention, humming his favorite jazz composition, suddenly stopped. Dropping his tools, he clenched his hands and snarled, licks of flame escaping his eyes. He didn’t know why, but he was suddenly filled with a deep rage.

“What’s wrong?” Bull King asked, noting his son’s distant if murderous look.

The fiery-haired youth (by demon standards) glared at some unseen irritant. “I have the sudden urge to burn someone alive. Slowly.”

The King smiled at his boy. “That’s normal.” It was only natural his heir would have a large pool of enemies cursing his name.

Shrugging, the demon prince returned to welding. It didn’t really matter who was the source, in time they’d all burn.

§~~~~§~~~~§~~~~§

“But what’s truly impressive is that against the true mastery of the flames not even the spirit can escape.” The Great Sage elaborated, a twinkle in his eye.

“Meaning she can’t simply leave her host body. She’ll be slaughtered no matter what she does.” Electricity sparked around her, as Mei bared a vicious fanged smile. Anyone who messed with her family was going to suffer a thousand deaths.

However, all this talk of aiming an unstoppable fire at Lady Bone demon made MK sick to his stomach. “Wait! We can’t do that.”

“Ah, yeah, we can.” Monkey King said, quick to reassure his student. “I mean sure, none of us are trained fire users, but there is a way around that little hangup. That’s what the journeys for bud.”

Glaring at the monkie’s attitude, MK “I mean we can’t just unleash the fire upon the Lady Bone Demon, we would be killing the little girl she’s using as a vessel.”

Suddenly the hopeful mood was replaced with horror.

“She’s what?!” Pigsy screamed in outrage as the others were trapped in matching expressions.

A certain was less than moved. “Your point?” He asked more interested in balancing a teacup on his nose.

“Seriously?! You knew, didn’t you?” MK shouted his question, feeling his heart gain another crack.

Cursing as the bandages and injuries were interfering with achieving true balance, monkey King set the cup down with a huff. “Duh. It’s her basic M.O. Besides, it’s not like you can help the poor girl anyway.”

Letting out a fake cough, Tang adjusted his glasses. “Your highness, we did talk about open communication.”

Rolling his eyes, Wukong massaged his aching head. “Ugh…Look, I know the thought of attacking a little girl makes you want to wretch, I get it, but you need to put it out of your mind. The fact is she’s most likely been dead for weeks. Whenever that skeleton bitch possesses someone, they are killed almost immediately. Right now, she’s piloting a corpse to prey upon your kind heart. If you really want to help that girl, free her body and soul from that monster.”

“Why would she kill a little girl just for a temporary body?” Sandy asked as Mo nuzzled his face with a comforting purr.

“No interference from the host, to ensure we still lose even if we find a way to force her out, for the lulz. Take your pick.” The Monkey King said with disinterest. In his experience, there was no shortage of beings out there perfectly capable and willing to engage in every despicable act imaginable.

“You’ve thought this over,” Pigsy noted.

“This is hardly the first time I’ve had to deal with her manipulations, but if things work out it will be the last.” Sun Wukong, Great Sage Equal to Heaven swore to every god of every pantheon this would be the truth. No matter the risk.

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