Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Destiny... Destiny.

Oh, well, to the hell with that destiny thing. Mac couldn’t hear one more word about it anymore without going insane. That fucking demon bone lady brought him to life just to have one more loyal slave.

Slave of destiny. What an ironic title to him.

While walking, Mac couldn’t do other thing than complaining and crying to himself about the whole shit situation. A fallen warrior... This is what he is: nothing more than a failure.

“Oh, fuck that shit” he kicks some of the little rocks on the ground in an act of anger, but, between the bushes something cried in hurt “huh…? An animal?”

Cautiously, he starts to walk in the direction on the noise. Moving a little the bushes he find nothing more than a little turtle whipping like holding his arm.

“Turtle...?” Mac whispers, bringing himself close to the little baby “how? It’s impossible to survive in a forest like this being just a... Baby. Yeah, you’re a baby!... I think so”.

The tot starts moving, startling the monkey that jumps to take some space from the child. The kid sits, slowly opening his eyes to look around. Macaque approaches him again, slowly, as he watches how the little one face starts to tremble before screaming on crying.

“H-hey, calm down, kid!” Macaque quickly bend down before the little turtle, confusing on what to do, his hands lifted up in the air while the tot continue to tremble, looking at him with curiosity. “Okay, stop crying or we will be screw, understand?”.

Mac looks around anxiously. The forest is too quiet; it shouldn’t be this quiet. Is a forest with monsters, the worst ones, monsters who want to drink blood and eat some monkey and turtle meat for sure. The monkey jumps a little when he feels a gentle touch in his hand, looking down to face the tot.

The little turtle raises his arms to him.

“What? Do you want an uppie?” Even though his sentence was totally sarcastic, the kid continued with the arms raised to him “ugh, fine, you win this time, kiddo”.
Macaque catches the little turtle in the arms, surprised with how light him was, even with his shell.

“He is so thin… What the fuck? How old is he?” Macaque thinks to himself, his face with a hint of worry.

The turtle smiles to him when his eyes cross. Macaque felt like the whole world changed and he will never be able to explain this feeling, just… Feel. The turtle makes a strange noise while starts to snuggle in his shoulder, feeling satisfied only when Macaque had to hold him closely to him to not fall.

“You’re a strange kid, did you know that? I’m Macaque, the shadow warrior, not a babysitter. Where is your family?”

The tot didn’t answer him, just kept looking at him quietly.

“Yeah, I thought it wouldn’t be this easy” Macaque sighs dramatically, starting to walk with the kid in his arms.

Part of him was screaming at him with a worried voice, “It’s a kid! You CAN’T take care of a kid, you are literally a slave of a crazy bitch that want to destroy everything and kill everyone that she doesn’t consider worthy. How the hell will you take care of him?” while the other part was like “protect the child, protect the child!”

He feels the kid become heavy in his arms and turns to look at him, worried, just to find him sleeping, drooling on his shoulder. A little laugh escapes his lips before he could stop it, feeling a strange feeling in his heart.

“You don’t have a heart anymore, fallen warrior”.

Macaque shakes his head to move away the voice in his head. The path takes an hour to finally comes to an end revealing a little simple wood house disposed near of a waterfall.

“There is no place like home, huh?” He enters the house, walking to put the kid in his improved bed – it had only some heavy blankets that he caught on the ground of some nearby cities. “Okay… What turtle babies eat?”

The wind didn’t answer him.

Macaque walks to the kitchen and start to take a look at the cabinets. Yeah, just some fruits… Strawberries, grapes, one watermelon and… Some peaches. Peaches that was never touched. Just looking at them makes Macaque feels sick, the memories being like poison, pushing him to the bottom of his mind’s lake.

A little ‘chirp’ coughed his attention.

He looks down. The kid was looking at him with sad eyes and some tears while he grabs strongly his pants between his little fingers. Now, Macaque notices that he has two stripes on his face, crossing the eyes. “A red-eared slider?”

“What’s up, kid?” Macaque can’t lie, he felt grateful that the kid took him off his own mind. It wouldn’t be nice if he continued.

“Chirp! Chirp!”

“Oh, yeah, I understood everything” Sarcastically, the monkey takes the turtle in one arm and some strawberries with the free hand. “I will just believe that you’re hungry, sounds fair”.

The takes the green part of the fruit away with the teeth and takes the rest to the child, waiting for his reaction. The little turtle sniffs the fruit cautiously, suspicious in his eyes, but, after some seconds, he tries a bite.

“Sooooo…?”

“Chirp!” And he takes another bite, making Macaque sigh of relief.

“Thanks God…”

Macaque walks to the bed again to sit with the kid on his lap, watching him hold the fruit to eat it desperately, making sounds that the monkey learned that is a way of expression (he just hopes that he learned right).

“You were hungry, huh, little guy?” Macaque mutters to himself before making a ‘pet pet’ on the turtle head “so, do you have a name or something? I can’t call you ‘kid’ forever”

The little baby stops eating to stare at him, his eyes without a single feeling, and that scared Macaque. A kid that already has this type of look? Come on, something is odd about everything: the way he founded the turtle, the way he felt when he took him the first time on his arms, the feeling of protecting… Something has to be wrong, right?
It can’t be just some ridiculous animal father instincts, right?

… Right?

“Crap. Wukong would laugh at me right now…” the monkey looks down to his lap where the little baby was back to his strawberry, finishing it “feels better?”

“Chirp! Chirp!” The kid smiles brightly.

Macaque can’t help if not smiling a little “good…”

But now what? What does he do with a kid? Play? Macaque doesn’t know how to play with a child. Should they sleep a little? Mac is tired, but also paranoiac about the whole situation, how can he even think on sleeping?

On the other side, the little turtle seems to disaccord, almost sleeping on his arms. The monkey can’t avoid a little sweet smile that crossed his lips, a warm feeling hugging his heart. Not father instincts, NEVER father instincts. Just empathy…

“Okay, let’s get you to the bed, little silly” Mac holds the turtle closer before going to the room, slowly putting him in the bed.

He just wasn’t expecting the little turtle to hold him closely when he laid him on bed. The little fingers holding tight his clothes seemed so… Fuck, so little. How could a little silly thing survive before finding him? Seem him close now, Macaque notices that his little baby arms have some bruises, yellow marks and his face has two red slices – thing that made him notice what type of turtle the kid is.

By the way, he should give the turtle one name, right? But how the fuck could he do it? His name is ‘Macaque’, dammit! Well, he will think about it tomorrow. Mac lies down and, in the same minute, the little guy came close to his chest, sleeping quietly.

“How… What do I do with you? I can’t take care of you… What’s… If one day I don’t come back, what would you do? Would you search for me? Would you just abandon me? Like… He did…” Macaque closes his eyes, a bitter taste in his mouth. Remembering the past now is stupid. He is stupid.

He has to take care of himself and… Well, for now, of the little kid too. Just for now, until he thinks of something to do.

Feeling the warm hug, Macaque falls asleep, for the first time since he lost his sun, well.

Chapter Text

Macaque was drowning.

His body felt heavy and his mind clouded, he couldn’t feel anything. It was almost like… Death. Again. Was it this peaceful when he died? He doesn’t remember being in peace. All that he remembers is pain and the feeling of betrayal, betrayal of the one he cared most, the one he… Loved.

Love.

What a dumb word. Love doesn’t exist for people like him, for people that are destined to die in a war field. Even so, part of his innocent dumb self believed that it was possible, that even the worst creature on Earth could love and be loved. Heh. He was so pathetic… Maybe it was the reason why Demon Bone Lady brought him from Death. Macaque is so, so pathetic that it is easy to manipulate! Yeah, it must be it.

The feeling of being drowned starts to change, to become something warm… Not in a good way, it was almost like he was burning. His skin, his bones, his organs, everything melting to the ground while his voice distorts in a horrible sound.

Everything is burning…

He is burning…

I AM BURNING- I- AM-

“Squeck!”

Macaque opens his eyes in shock, jumping off the bed just to fall on the ground on the side of it. His breath is heavy, like his lungs were still full of smoke, like… It was real.

He takes a look at his hands, his skin barely new, no burns, just some cuts and battle marks.

A worried sound caught his eye, making him look up to the little turtle in the corner of the bed. The kid had tears in his eyes, his whole body shaking like he was having a nightmare too.

Nightmare? What if it was a memory?

Macaque pushes the voice to the deep of his mind.

“H… Hey, kiddo. Sorry, just dreamed with spiders, you know? The big and ugly ones.” The monkey gets up, a trembling smile on his lips while his eyes were looking anywhere but the kid.

“Peep…” Macaque feels one of his fingers being wrapped between little fingers.

“I don’t understand a fucking thing that you’re talking, kid…” his voice sounded tearful, like he was about to break “but you are really a strange kid, did you know that?”
“Peep!”

Macaque lays down on a knee, facing the little kid while holding his hand carefully.

“Kid, you can do better, you know? I’m not a good person…” saying this was just like tearing apart his heart with a knife “I can’t be good for you. I will just help you until you are old enough to make a decision and take care of yourself. After that, we will part ways…”

The kid was looking at him with a confused look, not understanding a word, but Macaque felt that he wasn’t saying that to the kiddo, but to himself. To his stupid instincts.

“Welp, first of all, we have to buy food and other things to help you learn how to talk. I can’t be a seer everytime you want something, right?” Macaque stands up again, but taking the kid in his arms this time “we will have to change into some clothes. No kid of mine will walk around naked, okay? I don’t know how this works for you, turtles, but I prefer to avoid catching attention.”

“Peep!!”

—

Okay, maybe going shopping was not his best idea.

Don’t think wrong, the kid didn’t disobey even one word, he made everything just like Macaque said. The thing that the monkey didn’t think about was that the little turtle was too cute and a “face man” from birth. Everyone was looking at them, some old ladies even stopped their walk just to ask about him.

“How old is he? He is so cute!”

“How can he behave like this? You educated him well!”

“Awww, has your son taken after his mom? Are you married?”

And a lot more horrible questions about a life that they just started to think about. Of course, part of him – the part that he is ignoring – felt pride when the turtle was praised, but the other part was thinking about the answers.

He doesn’t know anything about the turtle. All that he knows is that the kid likes strawberries and other foods, even more if they are blue; he also likes hugs and being pampered; he likes soft clothes and, above everything, he loves to run freely.

But that is all that he knows.

Macaque doesn't know the kiddo’s age or his name, what if he even doesn't have a name?

Why was he alone in a dangerous forest? Where were his parents?

“Peep?”

“Oh?” Macaque blinks and looks at the kid with a small smile “sorry, did I spaced out for a long time?”

The kid keeps looking at him with a worried look. It doesn’t make sense… How can the kid not understand all he talks, but understand his emotions? He always look like analyzing Macaque expressions or the places, like he was looking for something, but, at the same time, he’s just… Grabbing it to his memory.

“You really are a difficult child” the warrior sighs.

The little turtle just smiles, not understanding a word.

They kept walking around some shops, they bought some fruits and vegetables – meat too after Macaque finding out that he is a carnivore when the little kid almost took a bite of a piece of meat in the shop – and, finally, they went for some clothes.

“Okay, kid. Now is time for truth” he puts his free hand on his waist “no kid of mine will walk around having zero sense of style”.

When they entered the caban of clothes, an old lady walked in their direction, opening a little smile to them. The little turtle seemed to become shy, hiding his face on Macaque’s shoulder. In all this time, it was the first time that the child seemed awkward.

“Something here is wrong…” the warrior thinks, his arms holding the kid stronger, in a protective way.

“Good afternoon, young man” the lady smiles, her voice sounding hoarse and drawn like sand, her eyes analyzing everything, every movement, every breath.

Fuck.

They were in trouble. Macaque looks around with the corner of his eye; the shop has little windows and the light doesn't work well, the ground has some trash in the corners and it has dust in the air. Why did he enter this shop of all of them? Fuck his bad luck. Putting the thoughts aside, the little turtle trembles in his arms crying quietly.

He has to escape without drawing attention to themselves.

“Nope, wrong shop. Sorry!” Macaque turns to the door, but the old lady's laugh catches his ears.

“Oh, little warrior, it will not be that easy… Not with the turtle in your arms”

What?

Macaque turns to the old lady with a frown.

“Explain, now.”

It was not because of the “little warrior” nickname, but because of the baby. Why would the kid be a problem? Well, thinking clearly, turtles are really rare in this century because of a tyrannical empire that declared that all turtles in the world should be or locked away from society or sacrifice to satisfy the gods. The reason changes in each country, but an immortal like Macaque knows better: they were killed because of his powers. Old books counte that this reptile has strange and powerful powers, being stronger than a god if battling together like one.

But he has a little turtle on his arms.

Son of a bitch! How could he forget something basic like that? He has literally a big problem on his arms. But why were the people out there so gentle then?

They were not.

Now, with his instincts up, he notices: they were trapped. He shouldn't have let his guard down, he should never.

At least, now, he doesn’t have to worry about catching attention.

He could feel an arrow nearly slicing through his arm, but he had time to dodge to the side, spinning on one foot. A sword came to his shoulder after this, but he had the timing to lift his foot and kick the hand that was holding it. They were not looking to kill him, but they were attacking the arm that was holding the little turtle.

“Fucking cowards…” he growls between teeth, the anger growing on his chest.

While fighting with the commoners, Macaque could notice that the old lady was quiet, still, just smiling. Something started to alarm him, something felt wrong and made him feel anxious, distracting him enough to feel a little cut on his back.

“Fuck…!”

“Peep, peep!”

Hearing the crying of the child on his arms made him slap out of his thoughts, remembering that, for the first time since a long time ago, he has something to protect again. His instincts changed from anger of being trapped to the necessity of protecting his kid and, before the enemies could notice, Macaque jumped using his tail to have more impulse and catch one of the wood columns of the shop with the free arm, feeling the blood running of the cut on his back get worse, making him grunt.

“Hold still, kiddo. I have to get us outta here!” Macaque, in the end of his sentence, balanced his body in the direction of the back of the store and let go of the columns, holding the baby stronger to protect him from the fall. Rolling in the ground, the warrior has to move faster: he catches the moldy carpet and uses the dirt on it to make the enemies stop and cough, blinded.

“And that’s why I like cleaning”

Turning in the direction where the old lady disappeared, he runs, finding a little hole in one of the corners. The monkey let himself drop on the floor to pass through it, putting the kid on the ground first.

“Go, Kiddo, now!”

The little turtle looks at him with scary eyes. Macaque gets aware of his appearance: he is hurt and probably has the worst expression that he ever showed the kid, maybe knowing the tot is scared of him, maybe it’s finally the time to let it go, maybe…

After that, everything went slowly.

Getting lost in his own mind again, Macaque wouldn’t notice the one person that followed him, overcoming the others and not getting trapped on his little dirty plan, however, the turtle was faster. A lot faster. A blue light was the only thing seen, striking directly at the enemy that was about to cut Macaque’s throat and sending him flying to the other side of the shop, attracting the attention of the others.

“There! The kid has the power! Catch them or we will be killed!”

Macaque was in shock. What the fuck just happened? He felt he was about to die, again, so how is he alive? And worse than that, why was he about to get killed again?

Why is he so weak?

“Peep… Pe… Ma… Ma… Ca…”

Kid?

Macaque’s look turns to the kid, dropped on the ground with a wound on his head and about to cry, but, still, looking at him with flames on his eyes. Bravery, pure bravery. The kid was not looking at him with fear, he was looking at him with the proud feeling of saving someone important.

“How fucking dumb of me…” Macaque thinks before smiling a little to the kiddo “wanna see something cool?”

The eyes of the kid started to sparkle in the same minute, forgetting the pain, he nodded in agreement more than one time. The warrior’s smile got bigger and the shadow on his feets started to move, getting more and more huge, almost swallowing his creator. Moving a hand, Macaque controlled the shadow to grab one of the enemies that was too startled to move, looking at the shadow like seeing a demon, he couldn’t even scream before being suffocated.

“I will not kill any of you because I don’t want my child to see such a horrible scene, so, I will let you all go, okay? Run and never look back. Never talk about my son or me ever again, but, if you do, I will know and I will be there to make you suffer.” Macaque opens his hand again, letting the one that was being suffocated run with the rest of the group, screaming like cowards.

Macaque continues to look at them with an annoyed look, but, after feeling a little tug on his coat, he looks down, seeing the kid looking at him with brilliant eyes. His gaze softened, his lips opening a little smile before catching the turtle on his arms.

“Hey, kid. Sorry you had to see that, you know? I’m… Not me, yet. Normally I’m not that weak and dumb” the monkey laughs a little, looking down to his own blood dropping in the ground “If… You want to go, let me know, I will let you. Do just what you want to do, be free no matter what happens.”

The warrior can feel a little hand patting his cheek, trying to console him. He smiles, grateful, but continues to avoid the kid’s eyes.

“We have to go. I will get just some tissue that I saw in the shop. I don’t think it is cursed or something really dusty, so it’s useful.”

“Peep?”

"What's up?”

“Peep!”

The kid may have noticed that Macaque was avoiding looking at him totally, so, to get his attention, the kid poked his wound with a strong little finger. Macaque holds his breath, holding together a scream of pain.

“Kid! What the…” Macaque looks directly into the tot’s face, seeing an angry look at him “what?”

“Peep!” The red stripes look around and jump from Macaque’s arms, running to some supplies there.

“What are you going to-” Before finishing the sentence, he is pulled to the ground, moaning because of the pain “Hey, kiddo, slowly!”

To his surprise, really surprise because it didn't even make sense, the kid starts to clean his back carefully.

“Ki-”

Again, the kid poked his wound.

“Ouch! Okay, okay, I will stay still! Hell…” Macaque mutters, feeling the turtle returning to clean his back.

That made Macaque return to his thoughts again. For how long was the kid alone? Did he learn this from someone or by himself? Did he ever meet someone other than him? He is well-behaved, gentle and smart, someone may have taught him, but who? And if there was someone, why was the kid left alone?

“Peep?”

“Oh, did you finish?” Macaque is slapped out of his thoughts again, turning to face the kid that was smiling proudly again “you smart little man… Well, let’s go home?”

“Peeeep!”

“I will take that as a yes. Want an uppie or can you go walking?”

The kid just holds Macaque’s hand and starts to walk, taking little happy jumps in the way. The warrior could just laugh, holding the little hand on his carefully, afraid that, using too much strength, it might break.

The return was peaceful, none of the people from before attacked them again, they didn’t even show up on their way. Macaque couldn’t feel more satisfied, but, in the end, he couldn’t avoid feeling guilty. He should have noted what was happening, he should have his guard up all the time. He is the Shadow Warrior, for God’s sake! How could he fall into such a stupidity trap?

“Maybe I’m getting old…” Macaque mutters to himself, laughing a little after “ironic shit”.

“Mac!”

The shadow warrior stops his walk, looking at the little turtle with his jaw wild open. The little kid just smiled at him, showing his teeths.

“HOW THE-” he ducks still in shock “repeat, kid!”

“Mac… Peep! Mac!” The kid himself looks like is trying a lot to imitate Macaque's voice until getting his own, finally saying something more than just some squeaks.

“Holy shit you’re a genius!”

“Shit!”

“Oh no-” Macaque slaps his own face “I should’ve expected this… I can’t believe that after living and dying so many times, at my age, I will have to learn to be family friendly until you get old enough to swear…”

They stare at each other for a minute before bursting into laughter.

“Yeah, no shit” he holds the little kid in his arms before getting up “now that you know how to talk, maybe I should give you some books and a name too, huh…”

The turtle just smiles, lending his head against Macaque’s shoulder. He yawns, his eyes almost closing.

“Tired, kiddo?” a warm smile takes over the warrior’s face “I give you this one. Sleep, we will be home in no time”.

The little turtle just expresses a murmur of drowsiness and agreement before being taken by the world of dreams.

“How the fuck I will take care of you if today happens again…?”

Macaque sighs, holding the baby even more close to his chest, feeling his little fingers holding in his fur stronger. The feeling of fear of failure was not this big when it was just him, but now… Having someone depending on him? That was new… Well, not new, but the last time was so many ages ago that he lost count.

“It seems that our little shadow warrior found something to get attached huh?”

Macaque turns quickly, but nobody is to be seen. The voice was coming from all the directions, just like wind, even so it was not difficult to identify who it belonged to.

“Lady Bones…” the warrior growls between teeths, holding the little turtle even stronger now, but trying to not wake him up.

The voice giggles.

“You are so naive, Macaque… But don’t worry, I just have one desire that you must accomplish for me for now”

“Why should I do it?” he starts to feel even more tense, giving a step back.

“Did you forget who brought you from death? For whom your life belongs now?” The wind becomes stronger and colder, making the little kid on the warrior’s arms start to tremble.

“No… No, I don’t” Macaque feels his body almost giving out, but he holds himself together just because of the little warm kid against his chest.

“Good” the wind starts to calm when the voice sounds satisfied. “I’m just asking for something really easy for you. This kid, the one in your arms, has to be created as a warrior and, when he becomes 16 years old, you have to let him go and never see him again”

“What…?” Macaque stares at the sky with a helpless look “w-why?!”

“You don’t need to know by now, little monkey… Let's just say that Destiny really abominates him, okay?” With a laugh, the voice disappears just like it came: from nothing.

Macaque almost falls to his knees when the talk ends, but the thought of just going home makes him still on his feet.

“I… I will take you home” he promises to the sleep kid, an empty promise that he knows that is impossible to keep.

[...]

On a mountain far away from there, the immortal gold monkey watches the stars with the feeling that everything would be gone if he just closed his eyes.

Chapter Text

First of all, if one day you asked Macaque if he would be affectionate with a turtle kid, he would just laugh his breath away and answer that it is a crazy thought.

But how is Destiny so ironic?

Here he is, yelling for his kid to put some clothes on before going out.

— But daaaad — Leo cries.

Taking a look at Leo, it is very obvious that he has already reached the teenage age, which comes with a lot of migraines for Macaque. He grew up fast indeed, but something always worried Macaque to death: his right leg doesn't work correctly and he always sees Leo trying to mask it by putting his effort only in the left one, therefore, it is very clear that he holds his leg during sleep because it hurts.

— No “but”’s, Leonardo — Macaque sighs, walking to the turtle with a blue yukata in his hands — you know that you hate to wear a lot of clothes, but remember that your body hates the cold more than you hate to wear some more layers.

— Ugh, fine — Leo lets Macaque dress him with the yukata that, cutely, has some rabbits on it — Dad, do you want something from the marketplace? I can get it.

Macaque sighs. To be honest, they need a lot of things. In the past years, Macaque used all the money that he had while he was… In his first life. He hid the money in different places that only he knew before everything happened.

Maybe a part of him was always ready for a disaster.

But it was meant for… Him. The stupid monkey with gold eyes.

— Dad… You look sad again — Leo’s voice takes him out of his thoughts, making him blink two times before smiling at the kid.

— I’m fine. Take some food you like, I will cook some yakisoba today for dinner, ‘kay? — Macaque takes a last look at him — Did you take your mask, kiddo?

— Always in hand! — Leo grabs the fox mask from his purse.

It was made for Leo after the first attack that he suffered. Hiding his turtle silhouette with big clothes and his face with a fox mask — the mask has details in blue and gold, making some sakura petals beside the fox itself — showed up as a good alternative most times.

— That’s my boy — Macaque pitches Leo’s cheek — come back before the night comes.

— I know the rules — Leonardo laughs, running from Macaque grip — I will be back before you miss me, dad!

Macaque only laughs, waving before Leo disappears from his vision, only for his smile to fade.

He doesn’t know how the last years were so… Quiet. The Bone Lady never showed up during these years and Leo could grow up normally — not so normal because he had to hide himself from others, but yet… Normal — and wealthy, but something always made Macaque wake up sweating at night.

Is like a vision, not just a nightmare, and he always sees Leonardo glowing… And besides, he has three other turtles that he doesn't know the type of. They are connected. Macaque guessed that it may be Leo’s real family.

The thought makes him feel like throwing up.

At the end of the vision, there is no more Leo… There are just the other turtles with despair and grief in their shadow expressions.

And then, Macaque wakes up.

In all these years, even with the kid begging at him, he never taught him how to fight, even though he can see that Leo has a natural talent for it just by the way he moves and wins so easily in chess. Leo’s a prodigy.

But Macaque doesn't want to make Leonardo a warrior just like him.

— A fallen warrior, you mean.

A ghostly, yet so cruel, voice reaches the Six-Eared-Macaque, making him grab his knife to turn around ready to cut someone’s neck, but he is contained before the knife can cut. A man in a black suit is smiling, crazy smiling, at him. His eyes are white with blue flames in the deep, making it very clear why he is in Macaque’s house so easily.

— You are one of Lady Bone’s soldiers…

— Bingo, Macaque! You are smarter than expected — The man laughs, pushing the knife away with his finger — I have to say, you delayed in noticing me… That makes me a little sad, you know?

— Cut the crap — Macaque growls — what the hell she wants now?

— We should clean your mouth one day… — the man’s smile fades a moment before he laughs again — well, not my concern, after all, I find it funny… But, yeah, I came here for a purpose.

The man lets Macaque go and starts to walk around the place, taking a good look at the house. His smile turns bigger every time he sees something that shows that Macaque doesn't live alone.

Macaque, again, feels like throwing up.

— She wants you back. No more running away, Wukong is back.

Wukong is back.

Wukong is back.

Wukong is back…

Wukong is back…?

— What…? — Macaque whispered to himself, looking at the man with shook — what… What are you saying?

The man laughs happily. He walks to Macaque, stopping in front of him just to bow to Macaque’s height.

— Wukong is back and he has a successor.

The world seems to start spinning. The words said by the maniac man resonate in Macaque’s mind just like an old broken record.

He can’t believe it.

Wukong is back and not just it, but he has found a successor. What kind of sick joke is it?

— Is no joke.

— If you read my mind one more time, I will beat the crap out of you — Macaque finally grabs the man's clothes, sustaining him in the air — I swear it.

The man laughs again.

— I would loveee see you try… After all, your kid would love to see it, right?

No…

Macaque lets the man go to turn around, feeling himself sweat cold. Part of him is begging to be a dirty lie and the other part is begging it to be a lie.

Too bad that the world hates him and destiny loves to see him in despair.

— Leo… I…

The turtle took off the mask, looking at Macaque and the man with no emotion in his eyes, like analyzing the situation.

— It’s… I…

How does he explain to his kid that he is a bad guy? How does he explain that he sold himself for power? How does…

— Dad, you okay? Stay behind me!

What?

Before Macaque can associate Leonardo’s words, he is covered by the kid using a little knife pointed at the crazy man.

— You seem stylish, but I can say that red would suit you more than blue, weird guy. Wanna try it out? — Leo’s voice is filled with irony and playfulness, but its threat is serious. Even the way he is standing…. He is ready to fight.

The man and Macaque look in shock at the turtle, but the man is the first to recover and laugh, a high laugh.

— I… Haha, can’t believe… Haha! — The man is bending over laughing — A turtle kid?! Macaque, you surprised me! Wukong chooses a human kid and you a turtle kid… How ironic…

— A human kid? — Macaque finally snaps out of the shock, putting his arm in front of Leo to bring him to his back — Stay behind me, kiddo.

— But… Dad… — Leo tries to argue, but Macaque gives him a strict look — okay, but I am here and don’t forget it!

“ — Papa… No matter… What, I am, Here… — the little turtle, shaking, is hugging a shaking Macaque — Leo and Papa forever, papa! I will not… Abandon papa…”

A promise made five years ago returns to Macaque's mind.

— I know, kiddo… Sorry for showing my pathetic side — Macaque finally relaxes his shoulders, turning his face to his son with a malicious smile — Want to see some real action?

Leo’s eyes start to sparkle.

“Yeah, enough with the lamentation. I am the six-eared-macaque, the fallen warrior, but… The most important thing is, I am Leonardo's dad and I have to act like it”

— It’s so… — Before the man could end his phase, he flew away with Macaque’s punch, colliding with a rock.

— What? I can't hear you. Can ya repeat? — Macaque smiles before teleporting to the man, punching him again to make him enter the rock even more — still can’t hear you!

— Get him, dad! — Leo cheers.

— You piece of shi… — before the man could end his phrase, Macaque punches him again, but in the mouth.

— Come on, don’t teach these things to my kid. Do you have no education?

Before Macaque can throw one more punch, his body is frozen and… He knows exactly who it is.

— You Lady Bone bitch… — he growls between his teeths.

— Enough, you two — the woman’s voice is soft, but cold as ice, without any emotion in it — Macaque, did you forget who you belong to?

— Fuck you-

— Behold bad again and your kid will suffer the consequences, Macaque. Your threat.

Macaque widens his eyes, forcing his body to the pain just to turn around and check on the turtle. Lady Bone has her hand on his shoulder, probably freezing him too, but the kid only had his eyes laid in Macaque, not asking for help, but asking if his dad is okay.

Macaque doesn't know if he wants to laugh or cry.

Leonardo, seeing that the situation is not good for him and his dad, starts to look around to grab something while the lady doesn't see him as a threat, and, a little far away, he sees his dad’s knife on the ground. A smile is brought to his lips before he breaks free from the grip and runs to the knife, sliding on the floor to get it and throw it against the lady’s neck.

Gotten by surprise, no one moves before the knife enters the lady’s neck, making it bleed. In shock, Lady Bones touches her neck, seeing blood, real blood, running from the wound like she can’t believe it is real.

For years, the only one that made her bleed was the Monkey King.

And, now, a turtle kid?

She is furious.

The wind starts to get wild and she starts to glow in blue even more while her voice sounds tripled and so fucking mad.

— How… Dare you… HURT ME?! — Before she could do something, Macaque forced his body to run to his kid, grabbing his arm before jumping into the shadows to teleport away.

Before the portal closes, he can hear one more phase from the demoniac lady:

— DON’T FORGET, MACAQUE, I CAN FIND YOU NO MATTER WHERE YOU ARE, NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU RUN. I WILL FIND YOU AND YOU AND YOUR KID WILL BE MINE.

Macaque doesn't know if he is laughing or crying.

[...]

— That was…Soooo fun! — Leonardo, even after teleporting away, is still smiling and jumping in animation — how did you do that, dad?! It was sick! You have to teach me this, please, please, please…!

— Leonardo…

Macaque’s striking voice makes the kid stop right away.

— What did I say to you about fights?

— Run from the danger… — Leo whispered, his shoulders tensing — but you were in danger, dad! I couldn’t just run and leave you behind!

— That was exactly what you should have done.

Leonardo can’t believe his father's words. He can’t see Macaque’s face because he is looking at the ground while speaking, but Leo doesn’t want to imagine his dad angry with him. In all these years, Macaque didn’t even yell at him, he never had a reason for it.

But now? Maybe Leo is going to be abandoned just as he was when he was a kid.

He will be alone again.

The simple thought makes Leonardo start to cry and shake. He doesn’t want to be alone, not again, he doesn’t even remember life before his dad. How will he…

His thoughts are interrupted when Macaque hugs him tightly.

— Oh, kiddo… What would I have done if you were hurt? Crazy kid… — Macaque holds him stronger — I was worried…

Leonardo lets himself finally cry and holds his dad tight. He was afraid. He just came back home and saw his dad with a strange blue crazy man and Macaque’s face had so much despair… Leonardo was fucking afraid because it was the first time he saw Macaque not fighting back, just like he was… Bound with heavy chains.

Leo couldn’t stay still and his body was just like he knew what to do.

— Papa… — his voice sounds shaking — what do we do now…?

— I… — Macaque lets go from the hug just to clean his kid's tears — I don’t know everything. All I know is that we have to train you and never stop by. Kid, we have to keep moving.

— And after that…? — Leo sniffles.

— When it comes, we think about it — Macaque smiles a little — don’t worry, kiddo. Nothing will happen to you, I swear.

— And you? — Leo looks serious at his dad — You can’t leave me behind!

Macaque felt his heart hurt. He knows why Leonardo is saying that… Sometimes, Macaque almost drowned in his mind and the kid had to wake him up, crying, begging his dad to stay with him.

Macaque isn’t proud of himself.

— I will not, kid.

Not until your real family shows up.

His thoughts are never expressed.

— Let’s go, we have a lot to do.

[...]

Wukong feels that something is wrong the moment he steps onto the Fruit Mountain. A cold wind, a cold energy, seems to be spreading from all ways, complicating the way for his core.

— Monkey King?

Wukong takes a deep breath before turning to his new, and unique, apprentice. The kid is always looking up to him with big and sparkling eyes and, if the king could be honest with himself, he sometimes feels bad about it.

Because, as some say, he is very good at taking down people who believe in him.

— Heya, kiddo! What’s up?

— Oh, I just felt something off and came to see if everything was okay — Mk shyly smiles — but it seems that everything is just fine.

— Now that you mention it, kid… — Wukong looks at the sky — something is off.

— I knew it! — The teen pushes the air before starting to look around — any of your enemies?

“No… It can’t be, can it?”

— Mk, can you promise me one thing?

— Always!

— If you ever see a lady covered in ice and that ice looks like a bone, you run.

— What?! But what if-

With the indignation in Mk’s tone, Wukong turns to him and grabs his shoulders, putting a little straight in it.

— Promise me.

The king doesn't even notice that his eyes turned gold, he just needs to make sure that his kid will never, NEVER, meet Bone Lady. She was smart, a fucking smart manipulative bitch, and Wukong wouldn’t forgive himself if Mk turns to be one of her victims. In the past, she took too much of all the humanity with so little planning, imagine what she can do now, after millennials of thinking.

Oh, no, no. She will only meet Mk over Monkey King’s dead body and it is impossible, because, duh, seven times immortal.

— I… I promise, I promise, okay? Please, you can relax now… — Mk is looking at him, concerned, golden eyes analyzing his mentor from feet to head.

— Good… Sorry to scare you, kiddo — Wukong lets go of the teen's shoulders just to pat him on the head.

— I wasn’t scared! I am the Monkei Kid, I am NEVER scared! — Mk smiles again and it is all that matters for Monkey King right now.

— Let's go back to your training, kiddo.

— Oohhh yeah! — Mk jumps and starts running to the open camp, already catching his stick to do some warming before the training.

A little laugh escapes Wukong's lips and the monkey looks at the teen affectionately.

“You will lose everything, AGAIN”

The whisper makes he immediately turn around a punch, but nothing is there. The coldness, although, is getting worse, like a warning, making itself present.

A warning that made Wukong's stomach turn.