Chapter Text
MK couldn’t help but feel like there was something....off, about all of this.
Sure, Wukong being injured in general wasn’t something MK saw everyday, but something about the way he was acting was just....
Weird. It was weird.
The Monkey King had insisted on patching himself up. He adamantly had refused help from any of them- even going to the point of locking himself in his room as he did it, so that they couldn’t see him.
MK supposed he couldn’t think of that as too strange, Wukong probably patched up his own injuries all of the time. He probably just wasn’t used to any offers for help.
It was how he acted after, that was really weird.
Sure, MK and Wukong had never been exactly close, but MK, personally, thought Wukong was being even more distant than usual. Less so like he was just doing his normal routine- and more so like he was actively trying to avoid him. He even went as far as to outright leave the room when MK entered.
MK could just chalk it up to the whole “vacation” thing having put a bit of a strain on how they interacted with each other.
But for some reason, that didn’t feel quite right.
And so he told his worries to Mei.
“Yeah, even I’ve gotta admit, Monkey King’s acting pretty weird.” Mei said, leaning on MK’s shoulder. “I mean, I even offered him so peaches earlier, and he turned me down.”
“Monkey King has never turned down a peach.” MK mumbled.
“Well he did just 2 hours ago.” Mei said, “You should talk to him. Find out what’s up.”
“....I plan on it.”
And that was how MK managed to find himself, standing on the deck of the ship, standing beside Wukong, who was leaning on the side of the ship and watching the sunset.
“....Are you okay?” MK eventually asked, after a few moments of silence.
“I’m fine, bud. Why do you ask?” Wukong said, not once looking away from the sky.
“I don’t know, you’ve just been acting... strange?? More distant than normal??” MK said, “...Maybe I’m just making things up, tricking myself into thinking that something’s wrong-”
“No.” Wukong said, quietly but firmly. “You’re right.”
“Huh?”
“You’re right.“ Wukong repeated, with a bit more force. He still wasn’t looking at him, instead keeping his eyes firmly on the horizon, and the disappearing sun. “Listen. I knew I couldn’t keep this up forever. But you have to promise me- you won’t tell the others, okay?”
“I mean.....” MK started, he had promised to stop keeping secrets from the others after all, but the tenseness in the Monkey King’s shoulders made him hesitate. “....Okay. I won’t tell.”
“....Promise you won’t attack me either?”
“Why would I- fine. I promise.”
Wukong sighed, and as the sun finally slipped under the horizon, his appearance shifted.
And MK found himself staring at someone else.
“Macaque.” MK hissed, backing away. Of the many things he’d suspected, somehow, he hadn’t expected that. “What are you-”
“Doing here? Hah, figured you’d ask.” Macaque said, finally looking at MK for the first time. “....He rescued me you know.”
“..Who?”
“Monkey King. Wukong. He...surprised me. Out of all the reactions I expected he would have to finding me- freeing me was the last thing I thought he would do.” Macaque said, “Glamors can only hide so much, you know. The injuries you saw on me were very real. .....I can only imagine that Wukong’s are now worse.”
“...Where is he?” MK asked, “If you’re here, then. Where is Monkey King.”
“He’s where I’d be if he hadn’t rescued me. In the Bone Demon’s dungeons.” Macaque said, hissing the last word with disgust. “He’s a fool, honestly, taking my place, tossing the map at me with the only instructions being ‘help MK’- literally what am I meant to do with that? He needs to learn how to plan ahead better.”
“You were captured?”
“....Yeah.” Macaque sighed, letting go of the railing and sliding down to sit on the floor of the ship. MK followed his movements, sitting down cross-legged, but still a safe distance away. “After the shadow play- her lackey ambushed me. I wasn’t ready.”
“After the shadow play?” MK ran some quick calculations in his mind. “That’s- you were in her dungeons for 2 weeks?!”
“It’s not something that you need to concern yourself with, kid.” Macaque shrugged, “She didn’t hurt me...much.”
“...That’s a lie.” MK said, thinking about the injuries Wukong- Macaque was showing when he rescued MK. Macaque said nothing, neither confirming nor denying it. “But....does that mean Monkey King is still-”
“In her dungeons? Probably.” Macaque said, “He wasn’t exactly..doing so hot either at the time. The burst of power he gave to me to help me rescue you has already ran out. Barely held out long enough to get you onto the ship. ...Sorry about the rough landing by the way, that was unintentional, promise.”
“If Monkey King is trapped, we have to rescue him-” MK started, moving to stand up, but Macaque reached out a hand and stopped him, grabbing hold of his wrist.
“Woah, bud. Don’t start going all hero on me here- trust me, I’ve witnessed enough ‘Overconfident Hero’ bullshit to last me a lifetime.” Macaque said, “Trying to go fight her now is a lost cause. She’d just capture us too, and then we’d all need rescuing.”
“But Monkey King-”
“Will be fine, immortal peach-stealer that he is.” Macaque said, rolling his eyes. “In the mean time though, we need to get something that can let us fight the Lady Bone Demon, and win. We need a weapon.”
“Didn’t you say that I am the weapon?” MK asked, and Macaque narrowed his eyes, the shadows around him growing slightly stronger as his grip on MK’s wrist grew tighter.
“A dull blade is of no use to us.” He hissed, “We need something sharp. Powerful. Which is why we need to follow the map, and gather the things Wukong sent us to get. And we can’t afford to do anything stupid, like charge back into a battle we just lost.”
“You’re just scared of losing more of your power than you already have.” MK said, meeting Macaque’s challenge head on. “As for me- I’ve lost all my powers. I’ve got nothing left to loose.”
The two of them glared at each other- in a stalemate-
The door swished open, and Macaque hurriedly dropped his grip on MK’s wrist, throwing back on the Monkey King glamour. Pigsy poked his head out onto the deck.
“You two idiots done communicating yet? Supper’s getting cold!” He called, before disappearing back inside, the door closing behind him. MK sighed, looking back down at Macaque, who purposefully avoided his gaze.
“...Why don’t you want them to know?” MK asked.
“Your friends are....nice, I suppose, but they’re still smart.” Macaque said, “They’re not exactly going to trust somebody they’ve never met before.”
“Not like I have much reason to trust you either.” MK said, “Besides, they’ve barely interacted with Monkey King anyways, it doesn’t make much of a difference.”
“Still. Better a well-known hero figure than the shadowed warrior.” Macaque said, and MK couldn’t think of a way to argue that.