You wake up to an empty bed.

'Early risers'. You thought as you shuffle out of the room to find Macaque with a plate of pancakes.

"Morning, sunshine." He kisses your temple sweetly.

It's barely ten, and already you can hear the simian teasing you. You hum in delight of your pancakes. "Morning." You mused.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yep!" You chirped with your mouth full. Everyday is the same with Macaque. Always genuine in his actions. Considerate of your feelings. For being Wukong's shadow, he certainly is caring. "How about yourself?"

"I slept fine. Usually Wukong's snoring would keep me up but your warmth allowed me to overcome the noise."

You smile, contently at the news. The fact that you can do anything for him is good enough. Your eyes scan the room for the second simian. "Where is Sun?"

"He's in the storage room." Macaque said as he adjusts his scarf, then makes a portal.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm going on an errand run. Don't worry. I'll be back soon." His shadow clone pats your head good bye leaving you pouting before disappearing.

"I wonder what that's all about?"

    After breakfast, you set out to the storage room where Wukong stood still with his glowing eyes. He blinks, and turns to you. "Oh, hey! About time you got up."

"Oh, like you don't over sleep for more than eight hours?" You retorted. The sage sheepishly rubs the back of his head in response. "What are you doing down here?"

"I'm listing the missing items. Judging by the giant gap we're in, the twins stole whatever was in front of them." You notice the large berth of which you somehow overlooked. "Pfft, amateurs." He criticized.

"Maybe, but they managed to slip past you from under your nose."

"Hey! I thought they were here to visit us on behalf of your dad." He defended.

"Ok, that's fair." The twins worked for your father temporarily after the trial, so you did not in fact know about their dismissal. "So what's the plan?" You pick up a random relic to observe.

"I've been trying to give the kid a heads up but he's asleep. I'll probably have to go in person." He groaned.

"I can let him know. I was just about to pay Pigsy a visit for a cooking lesson." You set the golden item down, and dust your hands off.

"Are you sure?" You nod in affirmation. "Thanks. You're a peach." He tips your chin and kisses your cheek. I'll just kick back and wait here err-I mean count the rest of my junk or something."

You roll your eyes playfully, and dismiss his crapy excuse. "Okay, whatever."

As Wukong explained last night, he is retired with M.K. as the successor of peace keeping. You understand the lack of motivation, yet remains a question of what entails for the sage now?
______________________________________

Upon arrival of the city, you witness two, golden Kaiju snakes creating panic. "Pigsy! Mei!" You run up to them out of breath. "What the heck is going on?"

"Dunno." Pigsy answered. "We just heard people screaming for their lives after the Earth shook, now there's giant vipers at the park."

"Not to worry. M.K. is on it kicking butt." Mei cheered. "And I'm about to join him. He's not gonna play hero alone." Mei presses a button on her phone signaling a jet for transportation. Your eyes nearly bulge out. You would think by now to be used to the unexpected. Mei being the rich kid seems to always throw you off, forgetting she's not just the descendant of the Dragon of the West. "See you guys soon!" She takes off with no remorse of the neighborhood.

"Oy, these kids." Pigsy grumbled.

You chuckled finding it amusing even through danger there is familiarity. On the sidelines, you watch M.K. and Mei fight off the snakes whom by the way are controlled by none other than Yin and Jin. They make it clear of returning to their old ways after being "pushed aside" as they so claimed. In a fit of rage, the snakes shapeshift overhead into shears. You piece it together. The shears are one of Sun's relics, and the brothers are indeed the culprits.

Thankfully, M.K. thwarts their plans ending up in the alley way nearby. You turn the corner where there is a third person in between M.K. and the brothers.

"I believe they have learned their lesson." She shifts to the twins. "Right, lads?

"Yes, we swears!" Yin shouted.

"We'll never do anything bad again. Honest." Jin added as they hold each other tightly.

Mei reluctantly caves in with a groan. "Alright, but this is the last time. We mean it. Keep them noses clean."

On agreement, the demons vanish using a smoke bomb.

"You really know how to stand your ground." You said.

"Hey! What's up?" M.K. greeted.

"Nothing much. I came by to warn you about Yin and Jin. They stole Monkey King's treasures. He wanted me to ask you to bring them back for him if you ever do bump into them." You look around to find all of the items scattered across the gravel while Mei goes live on her channel snapping photos here and there. "I guess you've dealt with them quickly." You nervously chortled. "Nice work by the way. Although nearly slicing the twins to their death was frightful."

"I wasn't actually going to slice'em, and dice them. I just thought we looked cool, and edgy." He clarified sheepishly. He pauses as his thought process grows dark. "But what if this is the point in our story where things get a little bit darker?" You tilt your head perturbed. The brunette is rather bothered by something. You quickly read his aura drowned in a slight blue tinge. Perplexion etched all around him.

You try to reach out to him when Mei cuts in and says, "That sounds great MK. Better toss this in the potentially lady demon level threat file."

You can't believe she completely ignored his small plea. The her best friend.

"Mei." You scolded. Said girl looks up from her phone.

"Yep! Wanna lock those puppies up cause I have definitely had my fill of world ending activities this year." Mk starts acting suspicious as he picks up every relic into a sack, yet it's clear to you and now Mei it's not ok. At the same time, emotions spike within the lad. "I better get this fat sack to Flower Fruit Mountain. Monkey King will know what to do with this junk in my trunk." "You good to go on your own, MK?" Mei asked. "Yeah of course! All good all the time, all good. Later, guys!" He drives off to the mountain leaving the you worried. "Ugh, he's not even pretending to deliver noodles anymore." Pigsy commented.

"What do you mean?" You queried.

"He's been acting all weird since Bone demon. Not sure why his deal is but I figured he'd tell us on his own time. I mean we have been through a lot."

You agree that you probably would step back to give the guy space. You never imagine the aftermath would have shaken him with how incredibly resilient he's been.

"I suppose he hasn't come forth about what he's going through?" Pigsy shaskes his head. You sighed in disappointment. "We should postpone the lesson. I should talk to him."

Pigsy pulls you back by the arm. "No. I know you want to help the kid, but don't you think it's better if we give him a chance to do it himself?"

You read his concern, and pat his hand. "I know you're afraid it might get worse, but some heroes need someone to rely on. They can be pretty stubborn. Don't you think?" Pigsy downcast his eyes. "I'm the best option to read his emotions and you know that."

"You're right." Pigsy releases your arm. "It's worth a shot."

You thank him for the opportunity then return home.
______________________________________

As you set foot onto Flower Fruit Mountain, you sense an intense energy radiating from above. Powerful grievences intent with malice. You then feel yourself slip away. Images of darkness consuming you as you fall to your knees. Tears stream down your face understanding a terrible fate has come to pass.

You collapse.

Only for a moment.

You force yourself up, pushing through exhaustion in order to reach the top. Gradually you compose yourself until you're running through the jungle against time. Anxiety fills within your gut. You beg the gods it's not what you fear. You've experienced such attachments before when Sun Wukong was captured by the Spider Queen then again multiple times with Macaque.

You halt in front of the waterfall. Horrifying ink figures begging for freedom. You hear their cries. It tugs at your heart strings. Sitting scared shitless in a pond is M.K.

You swallow the lump in your throat afraid to ask, yet do so regardless. "M.K. What happened?" He slowly faces you apologetically. You already know. You just need confirmation.

"Where is Sun?"

(A/N): Hey guys! Sorry fo the late post. I needed a break but also coincidentally a lot of personal stuff is happening. I'm pretty stressed out about it, and depressed too, but don't worry I'll get through. I realized summer is close and reminded me the next part of LMK is coming so I figured I should get on it. Thanks for your patience~