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Chao-Xing looked at her Bama with the best puppy eyes she could give. He and Baba were currently in the kitchen cutting up fruits for her new younger siblings for breakfast. "Pleeeeaaaaseee! We won't stray far. We'll just be going to the mall, which I've never been to before, then Pigsy's, then right back here to show MK Mummy."
WuKong frowned softly, and Chao-Xing could just see the conflict in his eyes. It's been over 2 months since the Lady Bone Demon incident, and with her powers - even though still recharging - she felt confident enough in them to teleport away if something happened.
The princess looked at Macaque as he stopped cutting the mango he had and turned to look at the two. "Peaches, it'll only be a few hours."
"I-I know I'm just..." The word scared was left unsaid between the three of them.
Chao-Xing walked forward and hugged her Bama, who tucked her head under his chin. "You can test my power if you want, but if need be, I won't fight. MK said he'll handle it while I warp back here. Promise."
"Alright, alright," WuKong said softly as he rubbed his cheek on the top of her head, marking her more with his scent as she giggled. Chao-Xing still felt how tense her Bama was.
"Bug." She looked at her Baba when he called "to put him more at ease. Do you mind if I listen in from time to time? I'll hear if anything happens."
Chao-Xing thought for a second before nodding, "If that'll help Bama, then that's fair. I'll just tell MK when he comes here to pick me up."
Bama finally drew away from the hug with a sigh. "ok, ok, I won't check your powers, but at least let me check your back before you go?" She nodded before sitting on one of the stools at the counter. Savage was to her left as the former clone waited for their food. Rumble was on the other side of Savage seeming more impatient to eat than their twin, an impatient chatter came from said little monkey.
"Ok, ok, it's done," Macaque said with a laugh as he placed the cut-up mangos and peaches in front of the twins and then another plate of just cut-up mangos in front of Chao-Xing "I swear you're like Peaches when it comes to food."
"Hey, I wasn't that bad with it." WuKong huffed out as he checked his daughter's back. The bruising had all but faded now, and whatever was left, her fur hid it well.
"Yea, sure whatever you say bottomless pit," Macaque said with a smile. A soft grossed-out noise came from Savage as they let the cut-up mango they barely took a bite of fall from their tongue. The dark-furred monkey then grabbed their peach slices and just ate those.
"Yes! Finally!" WuKong said happily after seeing Savage's displeasure towards mangos. He let Chao-Xing's shirt drop as Chao-Xing reached over to pluck Savage's mangos from their plate.
Macaque just huffed with no heat behind it. "ok Savage doesn't like mangos, got it." The shadow then turned to Rumble as they just stuffed their face with both "and you probably will eat anything, you gotta slow down though" Rumble gave a huff of his own, but did what Baba said.
"Am I free to go?" She asked with a playful tone.
The monkey king just sighed. "Fine, fine, just finish your breakfast before MK gets here." All of the monkeys were wearing casual clothing, some form of tank top or t-shirt and pants. The only thing that Chao-Xing wore that was from her normal armor wear was her red sash around her waist. The twins were borrowing old clothes from when she was little.
The princess perked up. "Oh, do you want me to get some clothes for these two while I'm out? Just hold off until you guys go out yourselves or make something for them."
"It's your day. You don't have to." Bama said as he bit into his own peach as he leaned against the counter.
Chao-Xing shrugged, tossing the last mango slice into her mouth before ruffling the twin's fur on their heads. "I don't mind." She stated as the two squealed and let out soft purrs at the touch.
"Alright, I'll get some money for you," WuKong said as he turned and walked to his room. It wasn't long after that Chao-Xing's ear flicked to hear the crunch of footsteps in rocks. She poked her head through a window to see MK approaching.
"MK's here!" Chao-Xing called back to her family, with a quick kiss on her sibling's foreheads and a hug from Macaque. She made her way out, followed by WuKong. "Hey, MK!" She called with a smile and a wave.
"Hey, Chao-Xing! Are you ready to go?" MK replied with a wave of his own and a smile to match.
The russet-furred monkey nodded as WuKong spoke "MK when you guys get back, you're welcome to stay for dinner."
MK nodded his smile and excitement, not faltering. "Sure! I'd love too"
"Great." WuKong said before pulling the two into a hug."See you guys later and watch out for one another."
"We will!"
"We will, Bama."
Chao-Xing and MK said at the same time. She felt a gentle kiss pressed to her forehead, and WuKong ruffled MK's hair. They separated and left on their way off flower fruit mountain.
"So you've never been to a mall before?" MK asked with a gentle tap to the beach with his staff, and a hover bike formed. The russet-furred monkey tensed half, expecting it to roar to life except from the sound of it, it made barely any noise.
Chao-Xing shook her head as she sat in the seat behind MK, "yea never been, without Baba's help. It was very hard to learn how to regulate the sounds in my ears. It was fine when I was young and lived here, but when I was traveling and they started developing cities, I avoided them." She held on as MK rode acrossed the ocean and she continued "I've only been to a city a few times in my over 500 years I've been alive and I've always left with my senses overstimulated. Baba has been training my ears, and I just wanted to see how well it's been so far."
"Ok, if it's too much, let me know, I have something that might help." MK said over his shoulder. They fell into relative silence after that. The wind is making it hard for MK to hear. When they finally reached the city, Chao-Xing paused. The sounds of the city were starting to jumble together and get louder, and she let her eyes fall close before focusing on MK's heartbeat. Everything else slowly began to fall away the longer she focused, and almost like a small bubble in the near vicinity was heard.
Chao-Xing didn't fight her smile as she nodded at MK. "ok! I'm ready!" As she tried to contain her excitement.
"Great, let's go!" MK returned it and motioned for her to follow.
"Should I put up a glamor?" The russet-furred monkey asked as they walked.
MK looked at her a little confused. "Glamor?"
"Bama hasn't told you about glamors yet?" Chao-Xing asked, and with a shake of MK's head, she continued. "Glamors are basically an easier form of shape-shifting, while shape-shifting changes your entire form. Glamors is like a projection that covers up stuff."
The monkie kid nodded, bringing his hand to his chin. "So if I covered up a scar, it'll still be there, but no one will see it?"
"Exactly! Watch." She pulled up her sleeves to show more of the white and black streaks that decorated her fur. MK halted to stare intently at her arm, and with a soft wave of purple and gold magic, all the white on her fur disappeared. Leaving only her normal russet-fur and black streaks, her fur unmarked by LBDs touch.
Stars almost seemed to brighten in his eyes. "yoooo! That's so cool!"
Chao-Xing chuckled softly as she let the glamor drop to show the white streaks again, "Thanks. It's a really simple spell, so I'm confused about why Bama hadn't explained it yet."
"Maybe he's worried I'll ask if he glamored something?" MK asked a loud. "Cause I noticed Macaque has stuff I knew he didn't have the last time I saw him."
"Oh right, his scars and ears, right?" Chao-Xing asked, and MK nodded. "Yea, that's his glamors. Also, Baba said that if there, down means he's comfortable with you seeing them."
"Really?" MK said with a soft smile.
The princess nodded. "Yeah, though only on flower fruit mountain." Her eyes started to look around at all the buildings. Chao-Xing, despite having visited the city a few times, never got a good look at one. Usually, she'd be in too much pain to even focus on what's around her, so she's taking the chance to look at it now.
She didn't miss the whispers and eyes following them, though, and she quickly tucked her tail away and through on a quick glamor to hide her mask and two sets of ears. Now, as they continued to walk, the focus was more on MK than it was her. It was then she felt herself untense. Chao-Xing knew she didn't have her Bama's crippling stage fright, but she still didn't like eyes on her.
Despite the noise, the city was actually pretty cool. Many types of demons and humans walked around freely, stores and stalls were lively, and she even thought she saw the arcade MK had mentioned a while ago. Though it'll be awhile before she felt confident enough to step in there, she could hear the games and music almost dorwning out the sound of MK's heartbeat.
"Oh, MK, do you mind if we stop in a kids' store? I need to get the twins some clothes of their own, so their not just borrowing my old ones or just wearing Baba's shadows." Chao-Xing asked as they finally got closer to the mall.
"Yea, sure, I don't mind." MK replied with a nod as he held the door open for her. With a soft thank you, she stopped and looked around. Surprisingly, it wasn't as loud as she expected it to be. MK's voice drew her to look at him again. "Oh, I also choose a time of day where not a lot of people will be around, so we should be good for a few hours."
"Thanks again, MK." Chao-Xing said, finally relaxing more before she turned and pointed forward. "Now onward! I was promised a bookstore!"
MK laughed before motioning her to follow. "It's this way. The kids' clothing store should be on the way so we can stop in there first."
~~~
MK held out a shirt. "What about this?" It was a dark grey shirt with what looked to be a few black roses clustered together.
"Ooo, Rumble will defiently like that one." Chao-Xing said as she looked at the shirt before returning to a simple purple tank top she held in her hands. After looking it over, she threw it with the growing pile.
Chao-Xing halted as a plushie drew her eye. She reached forward and gently cradled the Stitch plushie and moved to place it with the clothes. "Who's that?"
MK's voice made her turn towards him with wide eyes. "You don't know who this is? This cute blue alien?" She asked, pointing to the plushie still in her hand in disbelief.
Mk looked sheepish as he rubbed the back of his head. "No, not really."
Chao-Xing just gaped at him before. "You better not be doing anything tonight." She said, pointing at him. When he shook his head, no, she immediately flipped on her golden eyes of truth, looking for her Bama. MK's own eyes responded to her call, and WuKong appeared in view. "Bama! Emergency movie night tonight! MK's never seen Lilo and Stitch!!"
WuKong nearly dropped what he was holding at the shout before turning to his daughter then, his successor, his own eyes wide. "Ok, I know you really like monkie me stuff, but do you watch anything outside of that?" Shock plain as day in his voice.
"Yea, I do, I just never came across it?" MK said with confusion as he shrugged.
"Ok, no training tomorrow, just movie marathon." WuKong mumbled in his hand before turning to look at probably at the other monkeys in the house."Plums, MK is coming for dinner, and all of tomorrow, we're watching movies! Savage can you go get your Lilo and Stitch and a few other of your movies, Rumble grab Lion King and some of yours as well."
A confused look crossed over his face at the mention of Lion King, Chao-Xing made a sound of disbelief. "You've never heard of Lion King either?!"
"No..."
"I have failed as a mentor." WuKong said softly as he facepalmed, not even a second later, his head jerked a little like someone gently smacked the back of his head. He looked off to pout at someone before he turned back to the other two. "ok, enjoy the rest of your trip. We'll get everything ready here."
WuKong disappeared as Chao-Xing and MK turned off their gold vision. "I'm not getting out of this, am I?" MK asked.
"Nope!" The princess replied as she popped the p for emphasis as she turned. "I think this might be enough for now so we can..." she trailed off, and a smile grew at a Simba plushie not too far from where she found the Stitch one. "Yes!"
"I'm guessing they're for Rumble and Savage?" MK asked.
Chao-Xing nodded as she and MK moved to the cashier, and they stared started scanning. "mhmm, it's only been a week. They're still getting used to not being shadows. I hope these might help a bit."
MK nodded. "How is Macaque and Monk-I mean, WuKong is doing?" Chao-Xing let the mess up slide, the older simian had insisted MK call him by his first name, especially after knowing the other for so long.
"Good, better. Thankfully, no fist fights have happened, they're have been a few talking fights, but that was mainly in the beginning." Chao-Xing explained as they exited the store, Chao-Xing walked up to a shadowed area and stuck the bags into it. The bags with clothes were warped to his Bama's room, while the bag that held Rumble and Savage's gifts was currently back in her room. "They do seem a lot calmer around one another, Baba still goes back to his house at night to sleep, but he's definitely spending more time over at Bama's for breakfast and such." They started walking around again.
"That's good to hear." MK said with a sigh of relief before pointing to a game store."Can we stop in there?"
"MK, you don't have to ask, I'm following you." The disguised simian replied with a laugh, MK bounced on the balls of his feet happily before speed walking towards the store.
MK guided Chao-Xing over to a section, and he pointed at the name above the games. "These games here should be able to be played on the console WuKong has." MK explained. "I'll just be right over here to look at the games for my console." Chao-Xing gave him a thumbs up and a smile, which he returned before going a few feet over to where he said he'd be.
Chao-Xing hummed softly as she looked at all the titles. Surprisingly, there were more games outside of just monkey ones. She chirped excitedly when a name caught her eye. The cover was colorful with the name Just Dance splayed across it. After another quick check to see the other games, she moved over to MK, who let out a soft huff.
She chuckled as she walked up to him, "Having trouble?" The only response she got was a groan making her laugh harder.
"Yesss! I looked online to see if this store had the latest Monkie Mech, it said it did, but I don't see it." MK pouted softly, making Chao-Xing pat his head.
"There there, maybe we can ask the cashier while I buy mine?" The princess suggested making MK nod.
The two got in line as MK looked at her selection. "Just Dance?"
"Yea, I didn't even know they had dancing games!" She replied excitedly.
MK's smile grew bigger. "You like to dance?"
"Oh, absolutely, one of my teachers taught me how. It was so fun! Though, I've never danced in front of a crowd before." Chao-Xing said with a nod of her head.
"Hmm." MK thought for a second, "once you feel confident in blocking out your hearing a bit more, I need to take you to the arcade. That has this really cool dancing game there you can try, as well as an anti-gravity dance area."
Chao-Xing hung off MK, shaking him slightly. "Pleeeeaaassse take me thereeee!!" MK laughed at her antics as he agreed.
The two walked, and on stopping here and there to get trinkets, they finally reached their final stop of the book store. Chao-Xing let out a happy chatter before looking at all the selections, MK drifted off from time to time when something caught his eye.
She found herself in a bit of a secluded corner, reading over the book's synopsis. Chao-Xing tracked MK near the comic book area of the store, but her ear immediately flicked when someone cleared their throat behind her. She shuffled over from where she was standing, not looking up from what she was reading, thinking the person wanted to look at a book she might have been blocking.
She finally turned around when a much louder and forced clear of the throat came from the person. A man looked at her. His dark hair was dusted with grey, and wrinkles decorated his face. A charming smile was pointed in her direction, one that made Chao-Xing cringe at how fake it looked. If Chao-Xing didn't know what to look for, she would have probably missed his eyes and had a cold look hidden within. Thankfully, she did know what to look for, and she did not like it.
The disguised simian just stared at him with a confused look on her face. "I just had to come over and say you're quite beautiful." Chao-Xing just continued to stare at him after the comment. The lack of response from her seemed to make him faulter slightly. "May I ask for your name?"
Chao-Xing made no sound. She did, though, snap the book she was holding rather loudly. The man seemed to flinch slightly at the sound. She made a move to leave when he spoke again "Oh don't be like that, I just wanted to ask you out."
Chao-Xing looked at him before she burst out laughing, it wasn't like her carefree one she had around her family and friends. It sounded more deranged and evil, Red Son was defiently rubbing off on her. She heard more than saw the confused noise that slipped past the man's lips. She then turned to the man and finally spoke to him for the first time, "Ew."
More cracks seemed to slip past his facade as the charming smile turned strained, "wanna say that again?"
"What's going on here?" MK's voice drew them both to look at him.
The man just turned his smile towards MK, "Nothing wrong here, just was gonna leave with this lady here."
"Oh really?" MK said as he crossed his arms and walked closer to them. "I didn't see her walk in with you."
The man growled softly, but before he could speak, Chao-Xing cut him off, "I did walk in with my brother, who was, in fact, not you."
"And who is this brother?" The man asked. The princess didn't miss the shocked look in MK's eyes at Chao-Xing's statement.
"You're looking at him, you idiot." Chao-Xing said with a face palm. "Now move before I make you."
"How will you make m-" the last word trailed off as he looked back fully at Chao-Xing. Her entier eyes seemed to coat itself in inky darkness, and it a few drops seemed to fall down her cheeks. Her fangs were un-galmored, and on full display as she sneered, the room seemed to darken around the three, and the shadows reached toward the intruder.
Her voice was layered and haunting as the man backed away in fear, "I will boil you blood and eat your organs for breakfast." The princess watched as the man turned and ran from the store. MK just crossed his arms with a shake of his head and a smile growing. She just smiled and shrugged. "What can I say, I'm dramatic."
He approached as he spoke, his voice hesitant. "y-you really see me as a brother?"
"Of course! How can I not see you as one?" Chao-Xing said, resting her hand on his shoulder, "Bama is clueless, but Baba and I both see he treats you like one of his own."
MK chuckled as he rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks." The princess gives him a side hug before he's speaking again,"found a book?"
"Yep! Found a few, actually. Do you mind if we head to Pigsy's once i buy the books I have? I'm starting to get hungry." The princess asked.
MK nodded as he waved for her to follow "yea sure, let's go!"
"Also, we never mention this to Bama, or he will never let me leave the mountian."
"Agreed."
~~~
After Chao-Xing portaled away her newly bought stuff, MK led her to Pigsy's. The noise of the city seemed to have raised an octave, making the disguised simian rub her glamored ears. She flinched when MK called out, "Red Son! Mei!"
Chao-Xing turned to look in the direction MK was and saw her disgruntled cousin being dragged around by an over-excited dragon. She bit back a laugh as Mei answered MK's call and moved towards the two, her hand still holding Red Son's wrist.
"Noodle Boy. Monkie Girl." Red Son said in greeting
Mei waved as they approached, letting go of Red son when they got closer. "MK! And is that you Chao-Xing?"
"The one and only." She said with a wave and a smile, "You having fun, Hothead?" All she got was a grumble in reply before she was enveloped in a hug.
"Nice to finally meet you fully!" Mei said, being the one who hugged her, her voice was right next to Chao-Xing's ear as she tried to suppress a flinch. A flinch that didn't go unnoticed by her three companions.
Mei backed up from the hug. "Are you alright?" Red Son asked softly this time, stepping closer to the other.
Chao-Xing waved them off. "Yeah, just the noises are becoming a bit much? I've never been in a city for so long before."
"Sorry." Mei said her own voice sorting as well.
The princess waved her off with a smile before she turned to MK as he pulled out some headphones "here try these. They're noise canceling. I'm not sure if you'll hear it, but I'm hoping it'll help."
Chao-Xing took the headphones and placed them over her ears, the sounds of the city immediately snuffed out. Her eyes widened as she looked at the group. A very muffled MK voice spoke through the headphones. "Are you still able to hear me?"
She turned her eyes towards the other three and nodded. "I can hear you, but that is it." Mei and MK seemed to hold back their own as Red Son smirked, and Chao-Xing gave them a playful frown."I'm speaking louder, aren't I." MK nodded as silent snickers came from Mei. "Do you guys wanna come to Pigsy's with us if you're ok with that MK?"
"Yea, I'm ok with it." MK agreed as he looked at the two. Mei nodded as Red Son just shrugged in reply. The group walked the streets, and the walk toward Pigsy's wasn't very long.
The familiar voice of Pigsy cut through the headphones. "Hey kids, how was your trip?" The pig looked exactly as she remembered him when she met him after the fight with LBD. Same with the big blue man who wasn't too far away.
"It was good. We got some good stuff." MK said happily before turning to Chao-Xing and the other two. "I'm just gonna run this upstairs, Pigsy. You know what I like!" The last part was yelled down as the boy disappeared up the stairs.
Red Son and Mei ordered their food as Chao-Xing was confused about what exactly she was supposed to do. She never went to a restaurant before, always living off the land in between her travels. Before the time of cities, no one in inns were very accommodating to demons, and when demons were accepted and able to walk amongst humans, the towns became too loud for her. "Um..."
Pigsy seemed to see her struggle as he motioned her forward, "Do you see this?" His voice asked gently as she nodded. "This is a menu. This is what shows what I can make for you. When you see something you like to eat, you let me know, and then I make it for you."
"Ok, thanks, Pigsy." The princess said with slight relief.
Pigsy smiled kindly as he ruffled her hair "its ok, oh, and you can drop your disguse if you want to. No one will look at you funny, especially not while I'm watching." Chao-Xing smiled with a nod, finally dropping her human disguise. She looked down at the menu, reading each thing carefully, and her eyes widened at one of the selections.
"Can I try the mango dumplings, please?" Chao-Xing asked.
"Coming right up." Pigsy said with a nod before turning to Mei and Red Son. "Now you two can take a seat if you want, I wanna ask Chao-Xing something real quick."
Red Son stared at Pigsy, his eyebrow raised before looking at his cousin. "We'll be right over there." He said while jesturing to a booth.
Chao-Xing nodded and turned back to Pigsy when they were out of ear shot. "How you doing, kid? Like really doing?" The chef asked, the same gentle fatherly tone her Bama and Baba had when they knew she might lie about something.
The princess made a so-so gesture, not looking at the other. "There are times when I'm not ok, but I'm better. Being around everyone helps immensely."
Pigsy nodded as he started to make their food, "well, if you ever need to get off that island for a bit. You're always welcome here."
The russet-furred monkey stared in shock before nodding as a smile grew on her face. "Will do, thanks, Pigsy." Pigsy returned the smile.
The big blue man or Sandy as she distictly remembers chimed in as well. "and if you need someone to talk to, that you want an unbiased opinion about. You can come to me, I live on the docks."
Chao-Xing nodded. "Will do, thanks, Sandy." Before she could turn around though, a pink little nose and blue ears caught her attention as the cat poked his head over his owners shoulder.
Her eyes grew wide as she stared at the blue fluffy ball "Oh this is Mo." Sand said, noticing her staring.
"Can I?" Chao-Xing asked softly, still looking at Mo as she made gentle grabby hands towards the cat. Sandy nodded, and the female simian reached her hand out, allowing said cat to sniff. Mo gently butted his head against her hand as she cooed gently at the cat.
Mo, with practice ease, climbed over Sandy's shoulder and jumped to Chao-Xing's, and moving to settle in her arms. The princess just froze, and she stared down at Mo. If it was possible, she'd have stars in her eyes. "C-Can I steal, I mean hold him for however long I'm here?" She finally asked, tearing her gaze away from Mo to look at Sandy.
Sandy nodded with a smile, and Pigsy waved her off to the table Mei and Red Son claimed. Though she didn't get far, because just as she turned around, the man that made the giant sigil in the LBD fight materialized in front of her.
A screech of surprise came from her lips, making the man jump himself, as they both took a step back from each other in shock. Mo answered with a hiss only to realize who it was before he settled back down. Pigsy's angry voice immediately cut through the tension. "Tang! What did I say about leaving her alone! She came here to eat, not tell you stories!"
"What? Can't I at least introduce myself?" The man -Tang- said back in defense.
Chao-Xing let out a puff of air, letting herself relax, turning off the shadow portal that was on the brinking of opening. She hugged Mo closer to her chest, and he responded with soft purrs as Pigsy spoke again. "You can, but you didn't have to stand right behind her!"
"It's fine, Pigsy, thank you though," Chao-Xing said, looking at the irate demon before turning to Tang. "Hi, it'sTang? Right?"
His eyes seemed to shine as he's voice giddy and loud even through the noise canceling headphones "its nice to meet you, Chao-Xing!" The princess could just see as he tried to hold back all the questions that wanted to make themselves known.
"It's nice to meet you too," Chao-Xing replied back before she side stepped around him. "Well, I'm gonna go sit with my cousin and Mei now."
"Wait, you're related to Red Son!?" Tang's eyes widened before pulling out his books. "Well, it does say Bull King was a sworn brother of WuKong so maybe that-" Chao-Xing made her escape as the man continued to mutter and she could almost see the fumes coming from the pig demon.
"Free from the vultures?" Red Son asked when she got closer, a smirk on his face.
One Chao-Xing returned as she sat in the open booth next to Red Son. "I actually might have given you one Hothead. Tang might know we're cousins."
Red Son face palmer as Mei perked up from her phone. " You're actually cousins?"
"Eh," the princess made a so-so gesture. "Bama or sorry Monkie King" Chao-Xing quickly corrected, seeing Mei's confused face for a moment. "He's sworn brothers with Uncle Bull, and Aunt Iron Fan is my Baba or Macaque's sworn sister. So, not technically cousins, but close enough." Chao-Xing said with a shrug as she petted Mo, who purred softly.
"Did you know each other before the LBD incident?" Mei asked.
"No, I knew about Macaque and WuKong, but WuKong was not on good terms with my mother to tell us about her." Red Son explained as he crossed his arms.
Chao-Xing spoke up when he finished. "Yea, what he said. I never actually stepped foot off the mountain or met any other demons outside of it til I was on my journey."
MK returned by then, and with a quick scratch to Mo's head, moved and sat next to Mei. The dragon spoke again after MK sat down. "Oh, so I noticed your game before you magiced away your stuff. You like to dance?"
"Mhmm!" Chao-Xing replied with a nod. "Whenever I need a breather from stuff, I turn on this old radio/CD player that my Bama got for me, and I just dance."
"You should come next time mother and father throw a dance, you might actually make it less boring." Red Son complained as he leaned his head back on the seats. "All they do is slow dance at most."
"You parents plan parties?" MK asked, tapping his chin in thought."They don't seem the type."
"My father doesn't seem the type to watch cooking shows, but here we are." Red Son waved his hand in the air, making the other laugh. "You should see the messages him and Pigsy send back and forth about Change's show."
"Cooking is life kid, you should know that." The group turned to approaching pig demon as he set down the plates.
"I could have helped Pigsy."
"You text to the Demon Bull King on a daily basis!?!"
Both MK's calm voice and Mei's shocked shout overlap. Pigsy just pushed Mei gently back into her seat before dismissing MK's statement, "It's fine, kid, you're with you friends." Before turning his gaze to Mei,"and yes I do, he has style unlike any of you."
An offended gasp came from Mei, a few fires sprouted in Red Son's hair, and MK just gapped at the demon in front of them. Their outburst of denials towards Pigsy's statement made Chao-Xing giggle softly as she buried her face in Mo's fur as she tried to hide her laughs.
"And what are you laughing at Monkie Girl?!" Red Son demand, making her laugh harder.
With threats of Pigsy with holding their food - not Chao-Xing's, of course - did the table finally settle down and began to eat. The princess clogged her nose at the smell of spice coming off Red Son's. "How can you eat that?!" She asked in disbelief.
"Pretty well, unlike you." Red Son just replied back, popping another dumpling in his mouth.
Chao-Xing just huffed with an eye roll as she took a bite of her first dumpling. She purred in contentment at the flavor and couldn't stop her tail from thumping on the booth happily. No one commented on it as small talk flowed through them. MK and Chao-Xing ordered more food from Pigsy to bring back to flower fruit mountain for dinner later in the day.
It wasn't long before the group had to leave, and Chao-Xing unfortunately had to give Mo back. "Oh, Monkie Girl, before you leave." Red Son said before he allowed Mei to drag him off again.
Chao-Xing and MK turned to look at the other arms filled with food. "What's up, Hothead?"
"These are for you, Macaque and WuKong, made them myself." The fire demon held out three phones. Two black colored one and one gold. "The gold one is for WuKong it has an extra feature where either can read texts and such out to him until he learns how to read."
"Thanks, Red Son." She gently took the phones from the other. "Is it ok to ask why?"
"It's so we have an easier way of reaching out to you cause I'm pretty sure you never had a phone before?" Red Son asked make Chao-Xing chase her head "I thought so, there should be a tutorial on how to use it programed into them, Noodle Boy here can show you and the other two anything else I missed."
"Yea, that is easier." Chao-Xing agreed.
Red Son spoke quickly as Mei tugged on his wrist. "All of our numbers are already in the phones, so just send us a text so we can receive yours." With that, Mei finally pulled him away and down the street.
With some quick goodbyes, MK and Chao-Xing made their way back to Flower Fruit Mountain.
"Hey Chao-Xing?" MK looked to the other as she turned her head as she finally removed the noise canceling headphones, "I have a question."
"Sure, what's up?"
"WuKong's staff. You had every right to wield it since technically, you're his daughter. Why didn't you?" MK asked as he hit his staff to the ground, calling the hover bike again.
Chao-Xing helped MK strap the food into it as she turned back to him leaning on the bike, "it didn't feel right, and it was also still trapping Uncle Bull. So it just felt like it was too soon? I'm not sure how else to explain it."
"Hmm" the monkie kid thought for a second before holding the staff out to Chao-Xing, "I'm curious."
The princess took the staff and almost immediately faltered. The weight of the staff weighed her down, but it was still a struggle to keep up off the ground. "Yep, nope, I was right." Chao-Xing said in a slightly strained voice, and MK immediately took the staff back as he chuckled. "Besides, I have my own weapon, so I don't really need the staff."
"You do?" MK asked wide eyed "where?"
Chao-Xing gently tapped the sash around her waist, "it's not its true form, but this is it hiding in plain sight."
"Whoa! Can we spar next training day?! I'd love to see what it looks like!" MK asked as he jumped a little in excitement.
"We'd have to ask Bama, but, sure, I don't mind." The female simian nodded her own smile matching MK's.
MK wooped excitedly before they both got on the bike. The trip back was fairly quick, and when they touched the beach, Chao-Xing called out, "Hey Baba, we're back! We brought food from Pigsy's for dinner. Do you mind opening a portal to grab it so we don't have to walk all the way back?"
It wasn't long before her shadow shifted, and Macaque poked his head through. "Did you have fun?"
"Oh yea! We got some good stuff!" MK said as he and Chao-Xing unpacked the food before handing it to the shadow.
"We'll be up in about an hour or so." Chao-Xing said with a wave before Macaque backed into the shadow now with their food. "Alright, Mummy isn't too far away, so we can visit it."
"So what is Mummy exactly?" MK asked as they walked.
Chao-Xing shifted her body, so she walked backward as she led the way. "Baba calls it a sentinel, it's an extra layer of protection that he left behind to protect the mountian."
"Oh, ok." MK said before speaking again. "Was Mummy the same one WuKong and I fought? The big purple one-eyed monkey in wraps?"
"Yep, that was Mummy." Chao-Xing nodded before tripping slightly. She righted herself and then turned back around to face forward as she walked.
It was silent for a bit before MK asked softly, "Do you think it'll not like me? Since I've fought with Macaque before?"
Chao-Xing reached out and rested her hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry, Mummy won't hold any hard feelings. It's fought Bama multiple times whenever Macaque summons it, if it did hate you or disliked you. You wouldn't have even gotten close to this mountian."
MK nodded with a sigh. The princess patted his shoulder before pointing, "That's its cave, Mummy sleeps 90% of the time and never leaves the cave. When it sleeps, it actually can sense what's going on in the entire mountian. The 10% it actually does is if Baba summons it or there's a threat on the mountian."
The cave entrance was small and barely noticeable, "so you may have to shrink yourself or become a mouse to get in, Baba made it so it'll be really hard for others to actually get inside." Chao-Xing explained before slipping into shadows
Chao-Xing followed MK as the other transformed into a mouse and walked through the small tunnel. "This is nightmare fuel." MK's small squeaky voice spoke up, earning a laugh from the monkey in the shadow.
"That's Baba for you. He loves being dramatic." Chao-Xing replied before they both exited into a massive area. The only light that shown was two small brazers near where they entered, soft purple flames danced on them.
The princess stepped towards one of the brazers and plunged her hand into the flames. A sharp intake of air came from MK, and when Chao-Xing turned to look at him, she noticed him reaching out like he was trying to stop her "o-oh it didn't hurt you."
The simian pulled it from the flame as she cupped a smaller one in her hand. "I'm sorry, me and Bama are so used to doing that, I completely forgot to warn you." Chao-Xing quickly spoke.
After MK untensed, Chao-Xing moved to a raised pedestal, and as she reached the middle, she lifted her hand up into the air and slammed it into the ground. The pedestal pulsed before four streams of flames shoot towards more brazers, the purple glow of the giant brazers brightened up the area.
Chao-Xing smiled as a gentle purr shook the cave gently as Mummy slowly emerged from the remaining shadow. A huge yawn came from the giant sentinel, its single eye slowly opening. A chirp came for it as it leaned forward and nuzzled Chao-Xing in greeting. The russet-furred female laughed as she hugged its head.
"Hey Mummy, I have someone for you to meet." Chao-Xing said with a smile. Mummy turned its head to look at Mk, who approached the pedestal. It chirped in greeting as MK reached out his hand.
Mummy leaned forward and sniffed MK, making him laugh. After a moment, Mummy nuzzled him. It held out it's hand and Chao-Xing patted the thumb of the presented hand. "Unfortunately, we can't stay long, big guy." It huffed sadly, making Chao-Xing chuckle."we can still tell you a story, though!"
"Oh, I got one!" Mk said excitedly with a nod from Mummy and Chao-Xing he stared to tell it. MK soon found himself leaning against the sentinels arm as he talked. The story was simple and not too long. When it winded down, Chao-Xing stood, signaling it was time to go.
Mummy cooed at the two, making her chuckle. "Don't worry, we'll come and stay longer, I promise." Chao-Xing said as MK agreed. They each hugged Mummy as best they could before they turned and left. The sentinel watched as the purple flames of the bigger brazers went out , and it curled up to sleep again.
~~~
The monkey princess spoke as she walked back into the room as Macaque and WuKong split up the food that MK and Chao-Xing brought. "Hey Rumble, Savage. I have something for you. "
The twins perked up and turned to their sister, both curious as they tilted their head in question. Both of them screeched excitedly at the presented toy plushes, and they each raced to Chao-Xing to grab them. They each sat on her shoulders as they purred in contentment as they both hugged them close to their chests. They then wrapped their arms around the bigger Simian cooing in thanks.
"You're welcome, you two." Chao-Xing said with a laugh as they jumped off her and presented them to WuKong and Macaque.
"Very pretty, why not set them aside for now so they don't get spoiled." WuKong suggested. Rumble nodded as he gently set their Simba plush down, Savage held their Stitch close, and a small whine slipped past their lips.
"You can have him back after you eat promise." WuKong said gently, and with reluctance, Savage set Stitch down before running towards Macaque for food.
"Oh, Bama, Baba me and MK met up with Red Son, and he gave me these." Chao-Xing said, holding out the phones her cousin gave her.
"Phones?" Macaque asked as he took one of the black ones, and WuKong grabbed the gold one.
"Yea, it so we can contact the others easier." Chao-Xing said, "he left a tutorial and how to use it on the phones, and yours Bama has text to speech so until you learn how to read and write, it'll help you text."
"Ok, we'll go over this tomorrow, but first for now, dinner and then movies." WuKong said as he put the phones in a safe spot.
The small family troupe sat in the living area, the TV off as they ate. Macaque and WuKong sat comfortably on the couch, their knees faintly brushing. Chao-Xing perched herself one of the arms of said couch, with MK, Rumble, and Savage all sitting on the floor. They all had their own bowls of noodles in their hands as they talked amongst themselves.
"Oh, Macaque." MK called as the shadow perked up at his name being called. "The theater, what happened to it?"
"I honestly don't know." Macaque said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I haven't been back since our fight, and LBD took me away from it." A surprised sound came from the monkey next to Macaque, making him look at WuKong.
"Wait, fight? When did that happen?" WuKong asked after not choking on his food. Chao-Xing stopped mid noodle slurp to look at them.
"Oh yea, forgot to tell you." MK said as he pushed his noodles around in his bowl. "To make a long story short, while you were away on "vacation", I went to see a shadow play. We fought, and Macaque was vaguely warning me about LBD."
WuKong continued to stare dumb founded before speaking. "Did you win?"
"That's what you get from that story?" Macaque asked with a roll of his eyes, small amusement dancing in his eyes as the Monkey King shrugged a smirk of his own on his lips.
"We technically tied." MK replied before turning back to Macaque."So what are you gonna do with the theater?"
"I'm not sure, honestly. I can't really pay to fix the damages. I dont have the money to do so. My only plan with it was to lure you guys in, so I never really thought about it much." Macaque said as he tapped his chin in thought.
"Baba, you should get it fixed up! Bama told me all about your shadow plays, I'd love to see you do one!" Chao-Xing chimed in excitement, making her almost vibrate where she crouched.
Macaque turned to her his mouth open to say something when WuKong spoke up. "And if you need money to fix it up, I have litarally so much just laying around."
"I can't ask that of you, Peaches."
"You're not asking, I'm offering it." WuKong said with a soft smile, "Besides, I remember seeing how happy you were performing those shadow plays for the monkeys on the island. It's something just for you."
Macaque sighed as he felt his cheeks warm at the statement, "Fine, fine. I'll think about it." Macaque returned the smile as Savage and Rumble screeched happily, their tail wagging and arms thrown in the air. Thankfully, they had the foresite to set their bowls on the table so they didn't spill any remaining noodles or broth.
When their food dwindled down to nothing, Chao-Xing got up from her spot. "You done with that?" She gently asked the twins, and when they nodded, she grabbed their bowls.
She plucked the empty bowls from WuKong and MK's hands next, gaining protests about being able to clean them themselves. "I don't mind, Bama. You should teach MK how to make a nest"
"What's a nest?" The sounds of shock and another mumble of how WuKong failed as a mentor drifted into the kitchen as Macaque followed his daughter.
"I got it covered." Chao-Xing said, trying to take Macaque's empty bowl, only making him dodge her hands and gently shoving her away from the sink. She huffed when he just smirked at her.
"Soooo." Macaque spoke, drawing Chao-Xing to look at him again. "What did the guys face look like when you threatened him?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." All that statement got in return was a raised eye brow, before the russet-furred monkey deflated. "Very scared, I think he might have wet himself a little. Sent him running out of the store."
"That's my girl." Macaque said as pride warmed his chest.
"You won't tell Bama?"
"Nope, you handled yourself pretty well. Besides, I agree he probably would not let you leave this mountian again if he heard what happened." Macaque said as he finished cleaning the bowls and utensils. Both of the simians multiple ears perked at the sound of screeching laughter, and with a quick check could see MK buried under a pile of blankets and pillows. "Let's go rescue MK."
~~~
A giant nest was built in front of the TV, as the familiar scenes of Lilo and Stitch played on the screen. Savage and Rumble were both front and center holding their respective plushies. They each were in between Mk and Chao-Xing. The princess was propped up against WuKong's side as the king himself had his head on Macaque's shoulder.
The shadow absent-mindedly began to groom WuKong's head, but he felt him tense ever so slowly as he drew near the other forehead. Macaque turned his eye away from the screen to look at WuKong as his fingers grazed against magic, especially a glamor. A frown formed on his lips as the king seemed to hold his breath .
"Do you want me to stop?" Macaque whispered softly right into WuKong's ear. The other slowly untensed before shaking his head. "Ok." With gentle fingers, Macaque began to probe.
His own magic gently touched the glamor, as Macaque worked, he realized it was hundreds of years old. A glamor WuKong didn't even have to think about keeping up anymore. Slowly, the dark-haird monkey began the work of unraveling it. Not enough to despell it entirely, but enough to actually feel through it. Finally, Macaque was able to run his fingers into the real hair on WuKong's forehead.
He froze when he felt the severely matted fur then, warm metal, with gentle fingers he touched the two familiar swoops of the cursed golden fillet. Macauqe couldn't move as horror settled in him. They never removed it. Macaque broke out of his daze as WuKong shifted under his hand, slowly moving his hand so it wasn't in the fillet anymore.
The shadow moved his hand slowly to cup his cheek and have WuKong to look at him. The king eyes didn't meet his eyes at first before finally looking at Macaque. His eyes seemed tired as he stared at the other, without thinking Macaque rested his forehead against WuKong's "how long?" His voice low.
"Since the end of the journey." WuKong replied in the same whispering tone he quickly looked at the kids, and all of them still remained intranced by Stitch pretending to be someone named Elvis(?). Macaque bit back a growl at the statement, almost sensing his rising anger. The king rested his hand on the one still cupping his cheek. "Don't go wrecking havoc. No one alive should know the spell. So right now, it's just a reminder."
"A reminder you should not bear alone." The shadow said softly as he moved his face away from WuKongs before reaching forward and moving the king's head to rest of his chest. Even though he knew it would do nothing, Macaque began to try and groom the severely knotted hair around the fillet.
A purr came from WuKong as he settled into Macaque, as the shadow promised then and there he'd free his king from the fillet.