Red Son huffed, "This is ridiculous!" Princess Iron Fan sent him a look, "If your father wants you to keep an eye on the thief, you will do as he says." She leaned back, a small look of wonder in her eyes, "It seems he and the simian have come to an understanding."

So here he was, standing before the noodle shop.

Red Son huffed as entered, "I will be paying, if that is a concern." Pigsy blinked in surprise, but rolled his eyes, "What'cha want?" The fire demon looked over the menu, clicking his tongue, "Anything spicy will suffice. And make it as hot as you can." The chef nodded, turning back into the kitchen.

The scholar greeted him, oddly enough with a smile on his face, "Hello, Red Son. How are your parents?" The redhead scowled, "We are not friends, peasant. I am here simply because my father seems to have reconciled with the Monkey King and has ordered for me to keep an eye on the Noodle Boy."

"Red Son?!"

He sputtered as a green blur latched herself against him, picking him up, "Hey, dude! Eating out today?" Red Son squirmed, hissing against the dragon girl, "Put me down-- Dragon--Horse Girl-!" She released him, chuckling as he dusted off his clothes.

MK clasped his hands together, "So, you have to hang out with us?" Red Son huffed, "Unfortunately." Mei and MK shared a look, and it was his only warning before Red Son was suddenly yanked out the door.

"WAIT, YOU PEASANTS! I ORDERED FOOD-!"

---

MK was still wary of him, Macaque didn't blame him.

But as always, he relayed messages to the boy. And his worry only grew with each clone sent. They were growing steadily weaker, which meant Wukong was, too. They weren't exactly friends, not yet, Macaque wasn't ready.

But he was still his warrior.

Macaque watched as the Demon Bull King's son nearly blew up the other two, and he held back a laugh. MK and Mei were safe, for now. But that wouldn't be the case soon enough.

The spiders were up to something, and it was clear they were being directed by a very prominent figure. But that didn't matter at the moment, he needed to wait for MK to be alone so he could deliver a message.

---

Wukong was like a ghost, floating from temple to temple in search for clues on the Lady Bone Demon's powers now that she was free.

Soon, he would regain his body. Originally, Wukong planned on using his current form to snag the map, but he was growing weak. He wouldn't last very long like this, so his body was going to be a necessary asset.

But it seems Heaven had moved his body ever since the furnace was taken, and he was left aimlessly wandering the halls. But he was close, he knew it. He just needed to go on a little while longer.

He gasped as his body flickered, and he realized his latest message clone must've burst, giving back a little bit of power back to the original. Wukong swallowed dryly before hauling himself forward, continuing his search.

---

MK glanced at the shadow in his room, frowning, "New message?"

Macaque crawled out, nodding softly, "Yeah. That, and a talk I should've offered a while ago." The hero sat down on his bed, staring at the shadow user suspiciously. The warrior cleared his throat, "Uh. They moved his body, so he might be out for longer than what he originally thought."

MK slumped, "Oh..."

Macaque moved forward awkwardly, "MK, he'll find it. He's got tons of tricks up his sleeves." He stood before the hero now, hands nervously brushing against his scarf, "Look, bud... I'm sorry. I'm sorry I used you and-- For that whole misunderstanding. I'm sorry I hurt you, MK."

He glanced down, his frown deepening into a pout.

MK smiled, tapping him on the chest, "We'll work on it. But I...I don't know what to think right now." Macaque snorted, "Fair enough." They sat comfortably together, enjoying the silence.

"...Uh, think you can train me? I mean-! Monkey King isn't really able to, so I was just--"

Macaque huffed, "Sure, if you need help with stuff I can see how I can assist you." There were benefits to growing up with Monkey King, after all. Macaque was familiar with Wukong's abilities, and there were times when the king would describe it to him.

"Well, I kinda wanna learn how to transform." Macaque hummed, "The way I shapeshift is more illusion magic, yours and Wukong's however is literally morphing yourselves into new bodies." The warrior closed his eyes, thinking back to what it was like for Wukong.

"It's warm, and exciting. Like, I think 'I want to be a turtle!' and then, I imagine I am one. I imagine feeling the shell on my body, the movement of small legs... And boom! I'm a turtle!"

"C'mon, I think I have an idea." He stood up, gesturing for MK to follow him.

---

Red Son thought these heroes were strange.

They dragged him around for adventures, and today they dragged him to help organize some of Monkey King's artifacts. Why was he with these morons?

"Wow. This place is STUFFED!" Mei gawked, staring at the piles of items. She may not be his biggest fan, but Monkey King absolutely had super cool souvenirs. MK beamed, "Right?! I tried to help him pick it up a bit, but he'd only be able to help for an hour or two."

Red Son frowned, "Only an hour or two? Why? Surely he has time on his hands, being immortal and all." MK frowned for a second before smiling again. Red Son barely caught it, startled slightly.

"He babysits, cleans up around the mountain, grooms the monkeys, gardens the peach grove... He's really busy. Monkey King says his subjects are his children, so he must be responsible for their happiness!" It was technically true, Monkey King filled his days doing countless tasks for his beloved monkeys. What MK excluded was how down-right exhausted the king would be whenever he strained himself.

Mei huffed, "So why'd he leave?" She was genuinely asking, and MK knew that. But he also knew she didn't like him very much, and his frown returned, "I made him. The guy really needed a break, he's always so busy and stressed!"

Red Son stepped in, "Calm down, Noodle Boy. No need to be on the defense, the dragon girl was simply asking." MK blinked, shamefully sighing, "I know, I know... I'm sorry. It's just, he was really worried and tried to convince me otherwise. And I didn't even listen to everything he was saying, so..."

He looked away, "I don't want him to be blamed for stuff he didn't even do."

Mei's expression softened, "Hey, I get it, dude. Don't worry, I'm not upset. I get it." She playfully punched his arm, grinning softly. MK smiled back before puffing his chest out, "Okay, let's begin!"

---

Wukong huffed, staring at his body.

It was standing still, peach blossoms in its hands and hair. Of course his body had been set up in the stupid peach orchid. The irony made him feel bitter, and the monkey ran his translucent hands against the body.

There were no glamours, just like his bare soul.

It would've bothered him, long ago. But right now, after years of being seen and not feared, he didn't mind. Not like he'd have enough magic for glamours once he returned to his body.

Wukong sighed, looking around. He needed a spell or artifact in order to rejoin with his body. Wukong smirked, spotting a familiar trail to an old lab he'd raided long ago.

---

Macaque bowed, MK clapping from his bed, popcorn in hand.

"This is the story you've been begging to know since forever... The Hero and The Warrior." The shadows moved, morphing into two figures. Figures MK immediately recognised. The brunette sighed happily, "Finally! Some flippin' backstory!"

"The Hero and The Warrior were like the sun and moon, they fought and laughed and moved in circles around one another. Their powers were like no other, as golden as the sun's rays... and as dark as the night the moon resided within."

The figures danced around each other, big smiles on their faces. MK smiled with them, forgetting about his snack.

"The Hero, afraid of death, sought after a way to become immortal. Again and again, he went out, leaving the Warrior behind each time." The Warrior puppet sulked, and the Hero joyously traveled around from shadow to shadow.

"The Warrior grew saddened, and then concerned when the Hero claimed to take over Heaven." MK's eyes widened, knowing the story well. Macaque continued, "They failed, of course. And the king was taken away, trapped within a furnace and then beneath a mountain."

The shadows sharpened into pillars and chains, stringing up a disgruntled figure.

"The warrior, unable to help, attempted to soothe the hero's distress." The Warrior offered a fruit to the Hero, but the trapped figure seemed angry. "The Hero was deeply upset, and without thinking, fought with the Warrior."

MK watched the figures shout before the Warrior disappeared. He hummed, "Wait, so...Is this why you hated Monkey King so much?" Macaque sighed, "...No. Just-- Follow along, would ya?"

"The Hero was later on freed by the Monk, and forced to stay with him." A shadow gleamed, swirling around the Hero's head. The Circlet, MK realized.

"The Warrior, bent on taking him back home, confronted the Hero by hurting his new companions. The Hero was angry, and they fought a fierce battle." Shadows shook and splintered as the Hero and Warrior fought, clashing against each other.

"And then the Warrior died."

MK's eyes widened as a cold feeling of dread formed in his gut, "...What? He...Monkey King..?" Macaque grimaced, "It gets complicated, bud."

"See, although the Hero struck the Warrior's chest...he did not kill the other. For long ago, on his journeys for immortality, the Hero had granted his Warrior immortality." A book was crossed out, and a peach fell into the fallen Warrior's grasp.

"The Warrior had assumed he'd died. He'd assumed the Hero had taken his life-- And his eye." MK turned, seeing the shadow monkey's scar for the first time. He gasped softly, brown, amber-tinted eyes scanning the clean-cut wound.

"But the Hero wasn't the one who had done it all. It took his ghostly touch to convince the Warrior otherwise." The shadows moved together once again, although the Hero's was less solid, and more translucent.

MK frowned, "You...really don't know who did this to you?"

Macaque huffed, "I think I do. An...'old friend' of ours, I suppose." The ebony warrior knew who'd made the scar, and who else had made him believe he'd been dead.

Two separate beings, both from the past.

---

MK dragged the other into the Noodle Shop, immediately shouting out, "He isn't a bad guy! Just confused!" Macaque blinked owlishly as the group warily eyed him.

Sandy smiled, "Hi!" The monkey shyly waved back, leaning towards MK, "Uh, you think this is a good idea, bud?" MK nodded, as if he didn't see Red Son and Mei glaring at the shadow user, "Yeah! C'mon, Pigsy's food is the BEST!"

Macaque sat down beside the scholar, trying to avoid looking at him for too long. Tang cleared his throat nervously, "Uh, so... I have some questions." The monkey glanced at the other, and took in a few key differences between the man and the monk.

Tang was...tanner, than the monk. Sanzang had had pristine, pale skin that made him look feminine and addressed his status as a holy man. Tang, however, looked as if he roughhoused in the sun most days and looked more masculine than his past life.

Another difference was their eyes.

Sanzang's eyes were tinted with blues, eyes that showed him as the reincarnate of the Golden Cicada. Tang's were a dark brown, however, and seemed to overflow with energy Macaque had never seen the monk display before.

And lastly, Tang had long, dark hair and round glasses perched upon his nose. Sanzang hadn't had the need for them, and his head was always shaved. It made the man before the warrior seem...much more 'normal' in a sense. Like anyone you'd see while on a stroll, plain, but very friendly.

"...Sure. What do you wanna know?"

Tang grinned, "Alright, so, as a Celestial Primate, where did you come from? Some dispute that as the Great Sage of The Informing Wind, you came from lotus petals blown by a strong breeze--" Macaque leaned back, clearing his throat awkwardly.

"I, uh, I'm not exactly sure. I think it was a new moon, so all you could see were the stars. There was wind and lotus petals, sure, but I was born from the bark of an old tree." He blinked slowly, his mind moving to Wukong's own strange birth.

It was different, beneath the sun at noon, on a mountain peak and from a rock. Wukong had blasted lasers, whereas Macaque had simply glowed the way a full moon would have. They were so different, yet alike. It made his heart hurt, knowing the amount of hate he'd carried.

Tang wrote down everything, humming to himself, "Oh! So, what kind of foods do you like? Just fruits? Just meat? Or both?" Macaque snorted, "Well, I eat anything, bud. As long as it's safe, I was raised the way any other monkey was. Meaning no calories should go to waste if it can be helped."

They continued to chat, and as the conversation flowed, the others seemed to ease up and even join in with their own questions.

---

Macaque stared at the frazzled clone, "I don't think Mk knows about her." The clone huffed, "I tried to tell him! He said he got what I was saying!"

The warrior sighed, running a hand through his hair, "I'll let the kid know." His eyes moved to stare at the fake Wukong, "...How is he?" The clone gained a somber look, "He's still around, up and kickin'."

"Any news on..?"

The clone nodded, smiling, "He found his body, and is working on rejoining it. That's gonna be a pretty big mess." Macaque snorted, a new sense of joy in his mind, "That's true. Alright, thank you for your message."

The clone dissipated, and the shadow user slipped into the darkness.

---

MK watched the shadow puppets and groaned, "Man, this is bad." Macaque frowned, "You should inform the others, bud. This is serious." MK whined, "How am I supposed to tell them something this big?!"

"Crayons..?"

The brunette rolled his eyes, "I mean, fair enough." He grabbed some paper, staring at it blankly before looking back up at Macaque, "Can you redo the play? Please?"

---

The Lady Bone Demon sounded dangerous.

They'd been collecting all kinds of artifacts for her mech, and she claimed it was for their queen. Huntsman doubted it, Syntax even more. It was the one thing they could both agree with. The girl was bad news.

It didn't help that their bodies seemed colder than usual.

Sure, as spiders they couldn't exactly thermoregulate or anything, but this was excessive. As if ice water was being pushed through their veins over time. Not even the genius spider's heating systems could warm them up.

And Huntsman had vivid dreams. Visions, maybe even.

They were always filled with black, white, and blue. There were always screams and pleas, with begging that sounded like their queen. He didn't like it one bit.

And maybe he liked the stupid blue giant even less.

---

Sandy watched Huntsman escape with a petal of the powerful bloom. He wanted the spider to be safe, though he wasn't naive enough to believe he'd be fine.

From what MK's said, the Lady Bone Demon meant business. And if the spiders were involved, it was definitely not completely by choice. He was worried for them, nobody deserved to live constantly in fear.

The giant sighed, turning away as the monkeys led him back to the city. Maybe he'll see the arachnid around.

---

Wukong crashed through the temple wall, staggering back to his feet. His joints cracked, and his sore muscles strained as he stood, "Man-- Did they never let me stretch?!" He pulled at his arms, hopping in place as a way to warm up.

"Sun Wukong..?" Nezha stared with wide eyes at the monkey before him, "How-?"

In truth, the small god had thought the monkey's punishment to be cruel and unfair. After all, Wukong had proven himself to be a better person ever since he'd finished his journey. They'd taken back the circlet, sure, but the celestials had simply traded one punishment for another.

Wukong smiled shyly, "Uhh, yeah..?" He cleared his throat suddenly, "Man, I'm thirsty. Did they seriously just have me stay in place?" Nezha eyed the stray plants on the king's clothes, "Yes. Wukong, I am glad you have regained your body. But you cannot be here."

The ginger eyed the scroll and its barrier, "Yeah, so...about that...I can't really leave empty-handed." The lotus prince frowned, "Wukong..." There was a warning tone in his voice, the kind one would use for a younger sibling.

Nezha's heart clenched at the thought. Because that's what Wukong was, wasn't he?

The prince remembered Wukong's birth clearly. It was before he'd begun using glamours to make himself look older than his mortal age. He had seen the cub run freely with the other monkeys, leaf skirt and all. He'd barely reached the prince's knees, even at a child's height.

He remembered battling Wukong for the first time, he remembered feeling exhilarating. Nezha, although grumply, had hung out with the monkey while he worked in Heaven. He had treated Wukong how he'd wished his own older brothers had treated him growing up as a temperamental child.

But Nezha was older now, and he had a duty. Younger brother or not, Wukong could not get his way.

---

Macaque froze, his heart hammering fiercely in his ears, "Kid--"

MK looked up from his bowl, staring at Macaque with wide eyes, "Macaque?" The monkey gasped, standing up as blue shone from his eyes unnaturally, "MK, bud, she's here." He looked up at the rest of the group, Red Son included, "The Lady Bone Demon is going to attack!"

Red Son left quickly with his fire, wanting to be with his parents. Nobody was opposed to his leave, understanding his need to make sure his family was safe.

Everyone else was thrown onto the airship, and they looked out upon the shards of ice appearing from the ground. MK frowned, leaping off of the vehicle. Mei screamed, hands reaching out, and Macaque held her back.

"Let me go! What is he doing?!" Macaque stared at the robot, trembling as he continued to hold the girl back, "He's buying us time."

---

MK yelled, struggling to get his staff back, "Stop-!" Spiders surrounded him, grabbing onto his body. The hero yelled as their icy touch pressed against his skin, and he realized their eyes were blank, and blue.

"What did you do to them?!" His voice cracked, splintering into the cold wind. The demoness laughed, "Just a small...upgrade, if you will." MK shivered, losing his strength to keep fighting.

A golden light suddenly appeared, and warmth enveloped him.

"Sun Wukong! You--" MK blocked her out, staring up at his mentor. They were in the air, now, flying on the king's famous somersault cloud. The brunette reached up, touching the monkey's face, "Monkey King-!"

Wukong yelped, wrapping his body around the boy as they crash landed. MK grunted, pushing himself out of the ginger's firm hold, "Monkey King! Y-You're here! Why do you look so hurt? Did they do this to you? What--"

Monkey King groaned, flailing as he sat up, "Man I'm sore..." Macaque rushed forward, hands pressing against a wound on the king's stomach. MK winced, "You're hurt..." He suddenly beamed, "You have your body, so you're hurt! OH MY GOSH--"

Mei cleared her throat, "Hello? Anyone wanna EXPLAIN?!" The group looked confused, scared, and upset. Pigsy even looked one hair away from screaming at them.

Macaque winced, looking over at Wukong. The king blinked slowly, breathing weirdly, "Uhm. I was like a ghost, then MK found my body, I got it back plus a plan to defeat LBD, came back, grabbed MK, came here...No, wait, I blew up then came to grab MK." He snapped his fingers, laughing mockingly, "A-ha ha!"

Pigsy moved forward, expression firm and eyes trained on the injured king, "Mei, Sandy, get the medical supplies. Tang, retrieve some clothes. I'm guessin' Monkey King here doesn't have much control of his body, so I need Macaque and MK to hold 'im still." He stared at a cut on the brunette's cheek, "And then you're gettin a band-aid, kid."

Wukong wheezed softly, memories of Pigsy and Sandy serving during tough times worming their way into his mind. He let the darkness engulf him as two pairs of hands pressed against his too-warm skin, and he briefly realized having a body meant he could feel exhaustion once more.

What bliss.