▪ "𝐈𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠." ▪

You were currently sitting on the roof of the truck, looking up as the sun started to rise. Slightly smiling at the sight, you sighed as you laid your back against the roof. The ride has been pretty uneventful. You got to get a good nap in the truck and talk with the others more prior to going up to watch the sunrise. Focusing more on the rising sun, you sat on the edge of the roof. You kicked your dangling legs forward and backward. It had been a while since you've seen a sunrise. Normally when it was nighttime for earth, you would go visit Nezha in the Celestial Realm. You would spend so much time talking and being with him, that you regularly came back to the mortal realm the sun had already fully risen. It was nice watching the sun rise again. Your thoughts then went back to the awkward interaction with Wukong. You felt uncomfortable about sitting near him. Every time you look at him, it only reminds you of your fear of being thrown away. You knew he had no power over you anymore, but you didn't want him to hate you. Just that alone would make you feel hurt. Having someone you've known so long and that you used to get along with hate you for leaving from their mistake still feels terrible. You could at least be friends, but you would need to get closer and more comfortable with him for that to happen.

A hand then covered your mouth, making you jolt with surprise. Looking behind you from the corner of your eye, you could see a pitch-black shadow. Macaque. He was here. Before the thought of struggling even reached your mind, his hand other hand covered your mouth, and you could feel him come out of the shadow and press his chest against the back of your head. "Well, well, well, look at what we've got here~" You could hear him growl in amusement. He rose halfway from the shadow, and pressed his weight on you, making you struggle to free yourself from his hold. "Looks like I caught you~" He purred in your ear. You huffed, knowing the more you struggled, the less it was going to help since he was putting more and more weight on your back the more you did. Looking into his hungered stare you glared at the shadow monkey. Continuing to glare at him, you looked directly into his glowing purple eyes. He only chuckled, before disappearing back into the shadow, making you leap into a fighting stance the minute his hands were off you. "What do you want Macaque." You harshly said, hovering your hand over your belt where your chains were. A sharp turn from the truck made you almost lose balance. A shadow ran against the roof of the truck, watching as you slightly stumbled from the turn. An eerie chuckle echoed from it, as you regained your balance. The shadow suddenly appeared at the other side of the roof, before Macaque emerged from it. His arms were crossed, his tail swished from side to side, and an annoying smirk plastered his face. He took a few cautious steps forward, making your stance visibly tense. You still stood your ground, not moving when he kept coming closer. He eventually stopped feet away from you and put his hands on his hips while slightly tilting his head. "What do I want?" He teasingly repeated, before opening one of his hands as he summoned his own black staff with purple outlines.

He then lunged at you, about to swing his staff at you. You grabbed your chains and wrapped it around his staff and avoided his blow. You then grabbed the chains and pulled them up, before swinging them down, making Macaque slam into the roof face first. His teasing face soon disappeared and was replaced by an angered one. Macaque let his staff disappear in his hands, before speeding towards. Both of you engaged in a fist fight. You blocked his punches and managed to get some of yours on him. He then leaped high into the air as you tried to send a kick his way and transformed into a wolf. He circled you, growling as you prepared for him to pounce on you again. Just as he jumped at you, you wrapped him in your chains and spun him. You threw him off the truck, but that didn't seem to stop him as he turned into a bird and flew over the roof and turned back to normal and fell into his own shadow. You grunted at this and used more of your chains to drift around you. A shadow clone sneakily tackled you from behind, forcing your head down on the metal of the roof. Despite the sun just rising, the metal roof was extremely hot. You used your chains to swipe at the shadow clone, wrapping it around it and squeezing it until it disintegrated into purple smoke. You looked around, expecting to see Macaque trying and attack you, but it was silent. The only sound you could hear was the tires of the truck rolling against the sand.

Panting, you didn't let your guard down. If you knew anything about Macaque, it's that he doesn't give up that easily. Quickly turning around, you used your hand to catch the kick that was being sent towards you. There Macaque was, surprised that you had stopped his attack, before smirking. "You grown stronger." He let out a small laugh. "Back then, you wouldn't have seen that coming." "I know all your tricks, Macaque. I've been watching everything." "So, you've been stalking me?" You growled at his teasing comment, tightening your grip on his foot so he couldn't move it. "Why are you here." Macaque's smirk grew wider at your demand. "Come on." He laughed, secretly hiding one hand behind his back to summon his staff again. He then swung it at you, sending you back and inches from falling off the edge of the roof. You tried using your arms to balance yourself, but you were tipping backwards. Macaque then grabbed the collar of your shirt, leaving you hanging over the edge. You panted, exhausted. You hadn't fought that hard in a while. You had taken some training with Nezha, but this was much more. Macaque slowly leaned forward, his face inches from yours. "Can't I visit my favorite person again after years of them gone without a trace?" You glared at him, as his and your nose touched from the closeness. He then pulled you away from the edge, practically pulling you in a hug. His face was buried on your shoulder, which then moved to your neck. You shivered when you felt something wet pressed against it. You then felt something sharp dig into your neck. You could feel the blood pour down your neck and onto your clothes. You were too shocked to move. 'He did not!?-' Before you could kick or push Macaque away, he was gone. Just like that. You stared off into space, wide eyes. You shakily put a hand up to the side of your neck, your breathing uneasy. Bringing your hand in front of you, the sight of the blood and saliva sickened you.

You immediately burst through the trunk of the truck, almost kicking the door down while holding the side of your neck that was dripping with blood. Everyone who was doing their own thing turned to you, startled from you bursting in for no reason. Pigsy was the first to notice your neck. "Kid! You alright!?" He asked, running over to you. You didn't say anything, and fell on one knee, hissing in pain. Tang was freaking out and ran to get a med kit with Pigsy while Sandy watched you from the overhead mirror with a worried expression. MK panicked, waving his hands wildly while crouching in front of you, yelling out incoherent words. Mei was by your side, patting your back and trying to comfort you. Wukong was on your other side and inspected your bloodied hand. When Tang and Pigsy came back with bandages and a disinfectant, Wukong snatched them and asked you to take your hand off of your neck. You reluctantly did, exposing the deep bite mark to him. MK gasped loudly, while the other looked at it with wide eyes. "Y/N." You glanced over at Wukong, who was clenching the bandages and alcohol tightly. "Who did this." You looked at the ground, muttering Macaque's name. "He's here!?" MK yelled, making you shake your head. "Not anymore." Wukong gently pressed the alcohol disinfectant against the mark, as you clenched your teeth in pain. He then wrapped the bandages around your neck, making sure it wasn't too tight. The feeling of the bandages around your neck wasn't the most pleasant or comfortable, but you were able to manage. The rest of the ride was silent, as Mei and MK laid their heads on each of your shoulders, and Wukong was watching you from the corner of his eye the rest of the ride. You managed to get some sleep, but not much before the vehicle had stopped to spend the rest of the night in a patch of grass and trees outside the desert.

∘ - ✩彡 - ∘

"Oh, Monkey King! He's glowing! That's got to be a good sign, right?" From under the tree, you opened one eye and glanced at the truck to see Monkey King meditating again, floating a few feet in the air with his back turned to you all. You watched as Pigsy struggled to fold the chair in his hands as he yelled back at the man. "That's all he does. Glows and sits around all day 'cause he's got to get his strength back and apparently can't spare five minutes to help pack up camp!" Pigsy continued to struggle with the chair, before he fell, and ended up with the chair on top of him. You sighed, standing and brushing your clothes off and walking up to the pig. You grabbed the chair from him and folded it, setting Pigsy free. Pigsy looked up at you as you smiled down at him, making him give you a small appreciative smile as well. "Pigsy. You know never to wake up someone from a transcendental meditation." Tang pouted, which seemed to bring Pigsy's anger back. "Tang, go get the others. Let's get going." Pigsy yelled, making Tang accidentally throw all the books in his hands into the air. One open book landed on Pigsy's face. You sighed, giving the folded chair to Tang. "No need. I'll get 'em." Tang blinked in surprise, as Pigsy looked back at you with a worried expression. "You sure kid? You should rest more after..." He glanced at your bandaged neck, which made you shrug. "I've rested enough." You countered, waving your hand. "Besides, you two still have a bit of packing to do. I can get this off your shoulders." You turned around, before leaping into the air as you summoned your star beneath you and zoomed off without another word.

"I can't do it!" You paused, stopping when you saw MK laying on his back on the cliff, with his feet over the edge. You lowered your star and crossed your arms while cocking an eyebrow. "Can't do what?" Mei and Sandy looked in your direction, while MK snapped out of his sadness for a second and sat up, watching you look at him with a slightly tilted head. "MK's trying to unlock another one of his old powers, but it's not going so well." Mei deadpanned, scratching the back of her neck. MK groaned and flopped back onto the ground. "It's all right, MK. You did it before, you'll do it again!" Mei encouraged, bending down slightly. "Yeah. Maybe it's like Monkey King said. The power will come when you need it most." "But what use am I if I can't be sure my powers are gonna work!? And Gold Vision? That's like the baby power! And I can't even do that! I'm not even as good as a baby! So, what about 72 transformations, or duplication, or shrinking. Or- how am I meant to fight the Lady Bone Demon!?" You stared at him sympathetically as he sighed angrily after ranting. He was carrying a lot on his shoulders, and Wukong wasn't doing anything to help. You hoped off your star and sat next to him. He glanced at you curiously as you put an arm around his shoulder. "It'll be okay. I'll help you the best I can. I know most of this lies in your hands, but I'll have your back." You pulled closer, making him lay his head on your chest, as he blushed furiously.

Mei's smile tensed at seeing MK so close to you, so she decided to intervene. She put an arm around his other shoulder, pulling him away from you. MK felt a little upset that he was pulled from your warmth but put on his best poker face to hide it. "That's why we're going to find those fancy-pantsy rings, yo. Light her up with Samadhi Fire, bing, bang, boom!" Mei pointed off into the distance, her voice loud and energetic, though her face wasn't. While her mouth was stretched into a smile she was secretly glaring at MK, which made him catch on and glare at her back. Mei's smile turned into a smirk as they stared directly into each other's eyes. If looks could kill, they'd both be six feet under in a millisecond. You noticed the strange tension and glanced at Sandy, who had an awkward expression as well and was about to say something to lighten the mood.

You heard Tang and Pigsy yell out that they were leaving, causing MK and Mei to break their murderous glares and look off where they heard the noise. Mk stood, about to head the way they heard Tang and Pigsy. "Oh. We better go." You nodded, following him when Mei called out. "Wrong way, guys. They already pulled up. Get a move on." You and MK turned around to see the truck already there. You narrowed your eyes in confusion. How come you hadn't heard the truck pull up? And the weird aura that came from the truck didn't feel too friendly either. MK ran over to the truck, about to step into the open trunk before hearing the grass being stepped on behind him. Looking over, he saw you take a step back from the truck with a conflicted and suspicious expression. He tilted his head slightly. "Y/N, are you okay?" You didn't answer, only taking another step away from the truck. The vibe it gave off felt almost threatening. MK frowned, walking back over to you. He snatched your wrist and pulled you over to the truck with a smile. You tensed, and tore your wrist away, taking another step back. MK glanced back, shocked. You never resisted his touch. He turned back to you once again, taking your hand in his. "It's okay." He muttered, before dragging you to the truck. You didn't try to fight it, figuring that he would only try and drag you back every time you pulled away. MK felt happier when you didn't fight him. It was probably a misunderstanding. You would never reject him like that.

When you got into the truck, you laid on one of the beds. You decided some more rest wouldn't hurt and tried to drift off to sleep. You only snapped back awake from your sleepy state when you heard yells from the other three. "Something weird is going on. Where are the others?" Mei had asked her two friends, as you sat up and rubbed your eyes. "What happening?" You asked, yawning while stretching your arms and hopping off the bed. Mei then jumped onto you, hugging your torso. "Y/N, we've got a problem! We can't find Pigsy or Tang or Mo!" Your eyes widened as the lights shut off and on, as a purple light illuminated the room. "The lights. They're all on off. On. Off." MK commentated, hoping around and appearing somewhere different everytime the lights turned on again. You heard a familiar chuckle and had easily noticed Macaque's shadow appear as the lights turned on. "Nothing creepy about this at all. Did you guys hear that?" Mei whimpered, hugging your chest tighter. A sudden meow came from the shadows. Sandy snapped his head over where he heard the noise. "Mo. Don't worry. Daddy's coming!" "Sandy stop! IT'S A TRAP!" "Sandy, wait!" You and MK yelled, as Sandy ran into the darkness behind you.

The lights were going crazy, turning off and on repeatedly. It irritated your eyes, making you rub them. Your vision started to go dizzy, as your legs felt weaker. You heard MK and Mei yelling out to each other, and when you blinked again you noticed that you were still stuck in the back with Mei while MK was nowhere to be found. You pressed your back against the wall, before sliding down. You felt sick. It was the overbearing presence of Macaque that was making you so nervous and scared. It was all too much for you. Mei had ran over to you, gripping your shoulder as she asked if you were okay. The ringing in your ears was too loud to even comprehend what she was saying. You gripped your head, your breathing quickened. Your vision was blurry, and your throat felt dry. You began to sob loudly. This was too much for you to take. That last encounter with Macaque really messed you up. You weren't able to face him after what happened only a night ago. Mei then squeezed you into a tight hug and rubbed circles on your back, telling you that it was okay. You felt weak for crying and looking so vulnerable in front of a mortal. Her voice was also shaky, but her efforts helped you feel less overwhelmed in a matter of minutes. Your breathing had slowed and only a few tears were running down your cheeks.

Mei wiped your cheeks with her hand before standing and extending it out to you. "Come on! We've got a friend to save!" Her voice sounded confident and happy, though it strained when she said the word friend. You did pick up on it, but internally shrugged it off and grabbed her hand. She hoisted you up and pulled you into a hug before giving a quick peck to your cheek. You widened your eyes, and she giggled at your expression. She quickly got in front of you and pulled out her dragon blade, giving you a quick wink before blasting through the truck with its green beaming light. It exploded the truck into pieces, bringing them back out into the desert. Mei's arm was around your waist, as she and you landed onto the sand. Mei pushed you behind her, gripping her sword tightly. You sweat dropped and let decided to let her go at Macaque. She looked scarily upset. Mei's eyes glowed green eerily, glaring at Macaque. MK jumped and hugged her. "Mei! That was amazing!" MK yelled, letting go of her as she spun her sword in her hand. A smug smirk stretched across her lips. "Yeah, I might have picked up a little something-" She placed the sword over her shoulder, winking. "-from my great uncie, Dragon of the East." Mei then pointed the sword at Macaque, who had a bead of sweat roll down his forehead. "Okay." Macaque stood up and brushed himself off while continuing. "Girl's more powerful than I thought. Interesting."

"And you!" Mei shouted at Macaque. "You kidnapped us in a copy of our own van! That's super gross!" "The Lady asked me to bring MK. But she didn't say anything about you two." Macaque leaped into the air and summoned his smoke monster. It loomed over you all. A strong gust of wind blew the pieces of the truck towards the shadow monster, transforming it into a mech. The mech moved quickly and it tried to punch you and the gang. You and Sandy stepped up and caught the punch, kicking sand up into the air. You and Sandy together held back the punch together as best as you two could. "I don't want to fight. But I can't let you hurt my friends." Sandy grunted out, as you and him pushed the large fist back. "Oh, you can't, can you?" The mech then grabbed you and Sandy in its hand. The mech held you both tight, crushing your back. The mech slammed its fist onto the sand floor. "Kids, run!" Sandy groaned, as you struggled to get free. You could see a bright glow of green from the corner of your eye. You saw Mei summon her green dragon and use its breath to blast a hole through the chest of the mech, destroying it.

You were free from the mech and fell to the floor. MK caught you just before you fell. He placed you down and glared at Macaque. Sandy unfortunately landed face first onto the ground, getting a