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Chapter Text

As cheesy as it sounds, he did remember that day as if it was yesterday. He arrived at Flower-Fruit Mountain alongside some other powerful demon he barely knew to ambush Monkey King and steal some of his fruits purely out of spite. They didn't know Monkey King has left the island to visit his temple near Megapolis City, but it didn't matter to them as long as they left the mountain destroyed and fruitless. However, as their troops were attacking defenseless and, apparently, leaderless monkeys, a blinding pillar of light has struck the top of FFM, causing an explosion seen only once before on this land. Both demonic kings have looked at each other, fear slowly taking over their hearts, as they knew what, or who, was responsible for the explosion many, many years ago. Luck has probably turned its back on them, if this event reoccurred as they were attacking the island, but either way they had decided to investigate. Perhaps they could reach the newly born celestial monkey before any of Monkey King's loyal companions does and convince it to join their cause. To this day, Six-Eared Macaque thought of this decision as one of the best he ever made.

Macaque and the other demon king, who was so insignificant to the shadow monkey he didn't bother remembering his name, arrived at the top of Flower-Fruit Mountain just as the newly born creature started to crawl around. It was a small monkey infant of dark brown fur, with yellowish face, hands and feet. Its mask was irregular, as if someone tried to paint a heart with shaky hands, and on top of that accidentally spattered a few drops of paint on a cheek and above an eye. Upon seeing a strange, black monkey, the cub started crawling towards him, reaching his tiny paws to be picked up. The demon king drew his sword.

“We should kill it before it becomes a problem, like Monkey King.”

“But... It's just a child,” Macaque reasoned, looking at the clumsy infant that could barely walk. Its steps were shaky, and it kept falling on its face as it tried to move forward. Wukong wasn't half as helpless when he emerged, at least from what Liu’er knew. “How is it supposed to be a threat?”

“That's what the Jade Emperor said as well when Monkey King was born, and now he's one of the most dangerous creatures to walk on Earth! I say we kill it, this world doesn't need another celestial monkey.”

The demon king raised his sword and was ready to cut the infant's head off, when the blade was stopped by a purple staff made of shadows. Six-Eared Macaque stood between the demon and the new-born, his eyes sharp, his teeth bared, preparing for a fight in which at least one of them would lose a life.

“I know you barely know anything about kids, but trust me, they are the easiest creatures to manipulate. I can take it home and raise it so it would never know it's related to Sun Wukong.” Liu’er wasn't even struggling to keep the bigger demon at bay. It was safe to assume the demon king didn't expect something half his size to be this strong, judging by the terrified look on his face. “Let's make a deal, shall we? You keep all the fruits from Flower-Fruit Mountain, and I keep the kid. We go our separate ways and we never see each other again. How does that sound, huh?”

The demon king didn't say anything. Instead he turned around and quite literally jumped off the top of the mountain to escape Macaque's wrath. Probably the smartest choice he could make. Shadow monkey faced the infant that, by some unknown miracle, has almost managed to reach the adult's feet. Macaque smiled warmly and picked the little one in his arms, cooing to it.

“You know, kiddo, you remind me of my boys back home, Savage and Rumble. I'm pretty sure they're about your age, if not a little younger.” Black monkey chuckled. “Oh, they'll love having another sibling. I can't just leave you here, can I? Someone has to take care of you, and as far as I know Wukong,” some distant memories run through monkey's mind, making him flinch, “he'd just leave you at somebody's doorstep, so they would take you in instead of him. And maybe he'd come back years later to ruin your life, who knows...” Brown-furred infant was too focused on grabbing the bigger monkey's hair to pay any attention to his words. Not that it would understand anything anyway. “Let's take you home, alright? How does that sound, buddy?”

The infant chuckled as Liu’er purred into its belly. That day, Six-Eared Macaque brought home a new addition to the family, a son he loved dearly and raised with utmost care, while making sure the traitor and murderer Sun Wukong had no access into their lives. It was a day that brought warmth and hope into black monkey's reincarnated heart, that he thought had stopped beating a long time ago.

The sun has already set and now only the moon illuminated dark walls of Castle of Shadows. Honestly, it wasn't much of a castle, despite what the name suggested. It definitely wasn't big and majestic, as one would expect a castle to be, it more resembled an oversized tree-house set in the middle of the darkest forest anyone has ever entered. Shadows here were thick, sunlight has never visited the forest's floor, yet somehow plants had no difficulty growing and blooming, in accordance to passing seasons. The mentioned earlier Castle of Shadows was built between the thickest branches and if someone didn't know there was a building here, they would never notice it. Castle's rooms were separated from each other, each one built on a different tree and smartly camouflaged so that it blended perfectly with its surroundings. While there were more obvious bridges between the rooms, most of them were hidden in plain sight as seemingly unconnected branches. Perhaps a human would have troubles navigating through this dark and dangerous maze, but it was no challenge for shadow monkeys that lived there their entire lives.

Shadow monkeys looked like black-furred versions of regular ones, except the slightly glowing eyes that allowed them to see perfectly in the darkness. However, among them were three specimen that definitely stood out. Not only two of them had red markings across their bodies and red masks on their faces that looked like skulls, while the third one was visibly taller and dressed in clothing... or dressed in general, but also all three of them were vigorously jumping from branches to branches, chasing each other and screaming loudly. Quiet and laid back regular shadow monkeys paid them no mind, focused on searching for food and grooming each other, as they were used to the shenanigans of the Trouble Trio. On most days, they were actually no trouble other than the amount of noise they created. This time, however, they had angered their father and were currently being hunt down by him, which made all shadow monkeys tense and ready to run if needed. No one wanted to see King Macaque angry.

The oldest of Trouble Trio, Xiaotian, or MK for short, ordered his younger brothers to run ahead and avoid any thick branches and tree trunks where the king could emerge from his shadow portals. He himself slowed down ever so slightly to let his father catch up to him. Unfortunately, King Macaque saw this plan through and instead picked up the pace to follow the twins.

That was exactly what MK was hoping for to happen.

The brown monkey leaped from a tree trunk, using so much force it shattered a portion of the tree. He aimed for his own king to push him onto the ground. Liu’er Mihou noticed the ambush, but it was already too late.

Perhaps if he used all of his six ears, he would stand a chance. Right now, however, he was laying face down on the ground, pinned by his very own son he raised. He could use a shadow portal to escape the painful grasp, but instead he felt anger leave his body, being replaced by pride and admiration. Pride, because he knew he trained his son well. Admiration, because his successor just showed signs of a great leader, not only coming up with a smart plan, but also focusing on his subjects' well-being rather than his own. Something a certain other king could never do.

“Well done, Xiaotian. You have bested me,” admitted Macaque, patiently waiting for his son to let go of him.

“You still angry?” asked cautiously the younger demon. He knew better than to trust someone who just chased him around the forest. Another good trait of his. Liu’er couldn't have chosen a better successor.

“Nope. You're all good.” King felt weight from his back removed. “But you're still grounded.” He swiftly jumped onto his feet. “No apples for a week and all of you get extra training. Maybe if your bodies are hurting, you won't sneak out of the house this late.”

“But you always tell us to stick to the shadows anyway, and what better time to find shadows than night?”

“Xiaotian…”

Brown monkey's mouth shut instantly upon hearing his full name.

A quiet rustle, followed by a muffled chattering sounded from nearby bushes. The twins appeared from the shadows and jumped onto MK's shoulders. They were bigger than regular monkeys, but Xiaotian never seemed to mind their weight. Savage and Rumble started complaining to their father, defending their older brother, but got shut down just as quickly with one move of Macaque's hand. The king didn't want to hear any excuses for the disobedience.

“We're going home. There, we shall continue our talk.”

Murmuring something under their breath, the Trouble Trio followed their father to the castle. They definitely didn’t want extra training — who would? — and were heartbroken about not eating apples for a week, but in all honestly, not one of them could say they didn’t do it to themselves. Xiaotian was thinking of a way to possibly make the king’s punishment lighter, if there was one, but nothing was coming to his brain hidden under messy brown hair. Too bad, they’ll have to sit this one out.

As they entered the shared bedroom, a group of monkeys in the distance sounded an alarm. Macaque removed glamour from his ears, revealing all six of them, and listened, while MK and his brothers went dead silent. Their father had an amazing sense of hearing, but only if no one was chattering next to him.

Liu’er hissed.

“Trouble’s on the way.”

Little monkeys’ faces went pale as they heard the statement. What could possibly make its way into their forest and threaten its peace? King probably already knew, but refused to tell them anything. Instead he faced them, his eyes filled with worry, and gave them instructions.

“Listen, kids, this is… something I might not be able to protect you from.” Their faces went even paler. “I’ll send you somewhere safe, you’ll meet a nice lady there, she’ll take you in when you say you’re my children.” Something similar to thunder shook the forest, the little monkeys yelped, hugging each other. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Macaque calmed them. “I know it’s all scary, but I need you to stay strong, alright?” He hugged his three children, holding them close to his heart. “You’ll be safe with Princess Iron Fan, and when all of this is over, I’ll come for you, ‘kay?” Savage, Rumble and Xiaotian nodded shyly, while something rumbled again. “Xiaotian, take care of your brothers for me. I’ll be back.”

With that sentence, King Macaque pushed his children into a shadow portal, while he himself stayed behind. Last thing MK saw was a flash of yellow light hitting his dad, and then everything went dark, cold and silent.

Chapter Text

Red Son, the crown prince of the Demon Bull family and their only son, was stubbornly sitting in their workshop, still tinkering with a giant metal gauntlet laying in front of them. It wasn’t necessary, the gauntlet was long ready, but the young heir didn’t want to leave their safe space yet. Not until breakfast was served, and that wouldn’t happen in a while.

He should have gone to sleep by now, except the tight knot in his chest refused to give him that luxury. He was way too stressed about what he and his mother intended to do in a few days. After all, he couldn’t remember the last time he saw his father.

The prince got pulled out of his thoughts by his mother’s yell. He quickly got up to check on her.

The place the three monkeys ended up at was much brighter than the forest they grew up in, and warmer. As they looked around, they noticed a few pools of red, glowing liquid that gave off heat, and several humanoid creatures made of metal, with horns growing out of their heads. They looked at them back, suddenly letting go of whatever tasks they were doing and going into offensive stances. MK was ready to protect his little brothers, when he was interrupted by a female scream.

“What is going on here?” A strange woman flew close to the monkeys and pointed her weapon, which looked like a giant, metal fan, at them. She looked similar to Xiaotian and Macaque in terms of posture, but lacked any fur, and her ears weren’t even half as big as theirs. She had long, black hair flowing in the wind she created, her eyes were sharp, and her lips were covered in something red, that reminded the monkeys of blood. She wore clothes in a form of a long, red dress with golden decorations and an unknown symbol on the belt and chest parts. The boys believed that she wore a headset that looked like giant, black horns with a golden tiara in front, however they couldn’t be sure of that at the moment. “Who are you? How did you get in here? Explain yourselves!”

Savage and Rumble hid behind their older brother, who straightened himself before the woman. He figured this must’ve been the person their father told them about, as there was no other woman in sight. Besides, she seemed strong, confident and straightforward; in other words, she seemed like someone Liu’er would be friends with. On top of that, she had a giant fan made of metal, that was a pretty big clue.

“We are the sons of King Six-eared Macaque,” MK explained. “Our father has sent us here to seek refuge from an unknown danger. He told us that we should look for a woman called Princess Iron Fan, and that we would be safe in her care.”

At first the woman looked surprised, but then her face softened. She landed, wind brushing monkeys’ faces as she did so, and put away her fan (to where, MK couldn’t tell, so he assumed the weapon was made of wind, like his dad’s staff was made of shadows). She signed to the metal creatures to continue their job, and looked back at the kids with something similar to sympathy. To their relief, she didn’t try to come closer.

“I am Princess Iron Fan, and your father, Six-eared Macaque, is indeed my friend. It’s… surprising to know he has kids, though. He never seemed like a fatherly type.”

“Huh, weird, ‘cause he’s a really good dad,” uttered Rumble, quickly covering his mouth after that. Princess Iron Fan only smiled.

“I don’t doubt that, I’ve seen what he’s like with his shadow monkeys.” Her smile made Rumble feel a bit more confident. The smaller monkey moved to Xiaotian’s side, instead of hiding behind him. “I don’t suppose you have any idea what the danger might be?” The monkeys all shook their heads. A look of worry creeped onto the princess’s face, but was quickly covered by another smile. “Well, whatever it is, I’m sure your father can take care of it. He’s a really powerful monkey. Ah, where are my manners? Please, come inside! I’ll introduce you to my son.” Princess Iron Fan gestured them to follow her into the stone walls of her fortress. “He’s a bit hot-headed, but there is no need to fear him. He doesn’t hurt guests.”

As they were walking through giant halls made of stone, Trouble Trio couldn’t stop admiring the new environment. They’ve never left the forest before, true, but they never imagined something so grand could even exist. Even the traps they accidentally set off were more interesting than scary. Only Savage was careful as they were walking, though, as the other two kept jumping around and looking at literally anything. Every door was thoroughly investigated, every statue they passed had its personal space invaded. The monkeys learned that the metal creatures were called Bull-clones and weren’t actually alive, and that the red, hot liquid was called lava, and one could die if they fell in it. They were also allowed to call Princess Iron Fan an aunt, as she and Six-eared Macaque were really close friends, and it only seemed natural.

The trio was led to a big room with a table in the middle, and it was the biggest table the monkeys have ever seen (just as everything else in this castle was the biggest they’ve ever seen). On the table already rested plates filled with food and jugs of water and other drinks, as well as bowls containing fruits and unknown to the trio treats that smelled deliciously sweet. It was the greatest feast they ever attended, yet, according to aunt PIF, it was just a regular meal for her.

The monkeys were so invested in the amount of food that was served, that they didn’t notice a man quite similar to Princess Iron Fan sitting by the table. He, too, lacked any fur, and his ears were smaller than Xiaotian’s or Macaque’s, but were at least long and pointy. His hair was red like fire, and probably quite long had he not wore them in a ponytail. A part of them that would be considered bangs was standing straight up, making them resemble fire even more. It even had an orange strand in the middle. A red, long coat covered a black, turtleneck shirt. Man’s golden eyes partially hidden behind small, circular sunglasses followed the three monkeys, while the ends of his hair started smoking.

Suddenly, his entire head caught on fire as he jumped from his seat and started yelling.

“Mother, what is the meaning of this?! Who are those three peasants?”

His unpredicted outburst scared the siblings, who hid behind Princess Iron Fan in hopes of escaping the fire man’s wrath. She calmed them down with a movement of her hand.

“They are no peasants, my son. They’re princes, just like you,” she explained calmly, apparently not bothered in the slightest, which was a surprise for Trouble Trio, since they were shaking like crazy.

Red man scoffed.

“Pff, as if. You mean to tell me they’re royalty? And who are they sons of, Monkey Ki-”

“Red Son!”

Sudden scolding shut the red man… Red Son up. His head stopped burning, a dumbfounded look appeared on his face. Meanwhile Xiaotian started wondering, as he was quite curious, who was that Monkey Ki-something and why was aunt PIF’s son — their cousin? — not allowed to speak his name out loud? For some reason MK felt that whoever this unfamiliar monkey was, he had some connection to him, and possibly his dad too. Or maybe it was just the empty stomach requesting something to eat, as the siblings missed their own dinner at home.

Home that might not be standing anymore.

MK felt chills running down his spine.

“They’re sons of my old, dear friend, King Macaque, whom you might recognize under the name Six-eared Macaque.”

“Six-eared Macaque? Dad’s old friend?”

The siblings looked at each other. Knowing that their dad was friends with a whole other royal family felt a bit weird to them, considering they saw King Macaque as more of a solitary type. At the same time, however, they were glad they had somewhere to stay during a crisis. Not to mention MK found Red Son somewhat cute below all this anger. He couldn’t let anyone know, though, since Savage and Rumble would definitely make fun of him for that.

After some more explanations, the boys were finally allowed to sit down and enjoy the meal. Xiaotian spoke about what exactly happened back home, trying his best not to fall victim to his own emotions, while the twins feasted on fruits and other things that PIF promised were vegan. MK could tell they were stress eating, but decided not to comment on that.

The room they were assigned to was several times bigger than their bedroom at home, but at least it was comfy and had three separate big beds. The twins immediately jumped onto them, testing their bounciness and softness. MK, on the other hand, just smiled and laid down in the last free bed. His head was full of thoughts, he kept recalling the yellow flash he saw before his dad’s portal closed. What’s worse, the more he tried to remember what he saw, the more he was sure there was a person in the light attacking his dad. Perhaps a monkey, even. Whatever it was, their dad, the powerful King Six-eared Macaque, was afraid of it, and that created a feeling of uneasiness in MK’s stomach. “This is something I might not be able to protect you from,” dad said. What in the world could it be?

Eventually, Xiaotian fell asleep, feeling two smaller monkeys curl around him right before he did so.

Red Son visited his mother’s bedroom, both of them finally dressed in their night attires. Iron Fan’s gown was more traditional and elegant, while Red Son just wore red sweatpants and a white t-shirt. He topped it off with a cardigan that was similar in color to his usual coat. His mother wasn’t too big of a fan of this outfit, but Red Son always argued it was comfortable.

“What is it?” Princess Iron Fan sat in her bed, as she was already laying in it when her offspring invaded her privacy.

“It’s about the monkeys. Can’t we just tell them who attacked their father? I mean, it’s not like Macaque had any other rivals that could glow yellow, at least to my knowledge.”

The woman pinched her nose, clearly annoyed her peace was disturbed.

“No. They don’t need to know about Monkey King.” She sighed. “I’d love to have more people fight against him by our side, but Liu’er would skin me alive if I put his sons in danger. We’re gonna keep this a secret, until Liu’er tells them himself.”

Red Son nodded in silence and left the room, closing the doors behind him. But he didn’t head to his room. Instead, he walked aimlessly, until he ended up in his working room, where his newest invention, the previously mentioned gauntlet, waited for the big day. It was designed explicitly to pick up Monkey King’s staff and release Demon Bull King, who has been imprisoned for five hundred years. The picked date was in two days, to give Red Son time to polish his creation. The gauntlet itself was ready since the day before yesterday, the Demon Bull family simply didn’t want to risk their plan failing.

Demon Bull Prince took the gauntlet in his hands, examining it closely. He doubted he’d find any remaining flaws, but since he had nothing better to do, he decided another checkup wouldn’t hurt. His head was too full of concerns regarding Apple Boy’s, as he nicknamed him after he ate an entire bowl of apples, story. It was even worse than his previous stress.

Monkey King was back after five hundred years of absence, and it was around the time the Demon Bull family got ready to bring back their beloved and father. This couldn’t have been a coincidence. Somehow Monkey King knew what their plan was, and was trying to stop them in his own way. Perhaps he wanted to use Liu’er Mihou’s children for his plan, or Six-eared himself, because he didn’t feel like dealing with the problem himself. Red Son scoffed. That would be very much in Monkey King’s style, getting someone else to do stuff for him. Well, Macaque’s sons were safe from Monkey King, so that part already failed. And Macaque would never help the peach-stealing idiot without an external force. Let’s face it, no one would. No immortal liked Sun Wukong, and he did it to himself.

There was no stopping Princess Iron Fan’s plan to bring back her husband and take over the world, no matter how hard Monkey King would try. The staff would belong to the Demon Bull family soon enough, and they will do whatever they want with it.

A single screw appeared loose. Red Son quickly changed the faulty piece of metal and replaced it with a fitting one. Perhaps the tinkering earlier has done more harm than good.