Based on the headcanon that sometimes SWK looses control over himself when he gets pissed enough. +Mk being brave as hell.
Mk’s heart was racing. Macaque had come back; stronger, more ferocious. Almost bloodthirsty.
Shadows bound him to the earth below, trying to resist their pull was doing nothing more than making his muscles scream at him.
“Say goodbye to your mentor—BUD.”Macaque taunted from just behind him, his hand resting on Mk’s head.
“Mentor”? Monkey King was here? Macaque had ambushed Mk when he wandered away from the ship on a pit stop to a fuel station surrounded by the most beautiful moors. Hope fluttered in his chest as he looked up, desperately scanning for his father mentor.
And there he was.
With a look on his face Mk had never seen before. Anger wasn’t even the right word—it was the fury of a god. His eyes an irate shade of burning charcoals under the fire of heaven itself. Mk felt as if he was near a forest fire, the thick smell of acrid and smoke filling his senses.
Macaque even seemed to falter at the sight, the threads of shadows loosening their grip on Mk.
“Aww, Not abandoning your successor this time? That’s surprising” Macaque sneered, recomposing himself quickly, The strands of shadows tightening once more.
But Mk barely paid any mind to the shadows. He was staring at Monkey King. This wasn’t the Monkey King that made him knock down walls for a breakfast nook, or that defended him against Macaque the first time, or even the same that saved him from LBD
This wasn’t Monkey King. this was the Great Sage equal to heaven, to say he was menacing was an understatement.
There was barely anyone alive anymore to tell of when the great sage got angry, but stories say the ground itself shook with his very breath. Mountains crumbled beneath him and entire forests gave their dying gasps of air to be of service to the great sage’s wrath.
It was terrifying.
“Give him back.”
The great sages voice echoed, as if no surface wanted to absorb his words in fear of offending the king, or perhaps they murmured in agreement with him.
Mk could feel Macaque stiffen from behind him. He was undeniably afraid.
The sage’s tail swished behind him, laying wake to embers in its path.
“This is what you wanted, right? The real Sun Wukong.” The great sage stepped towards the two, an aura of danger surrounding him.
“Come and get me Liu Er.”
There was a flash of shadow and the next thing Mk knew the Sage had Macaque’s fist in his hand. Macaque, realizing his mistake, summoned his staff with his other arm and tried to hit the Sage in the head.
The Sage simply used the back of his own hand to block the weapon, giving no indication that it even hurt. Mk wouldn’t be surprised if it didn’t. Macaque was just as alarmed as Mk. Panic set its claws into the two’s stomachs as the great sage looked his adversary right in the eyes.
Maybe for the first time in his life, Macaque tried to willingly retreat, fruitlessly tugging at his hand, Even summoning another staff to swing at the great sage’s forearm.
But to no avail.
There was a flash of gold and both monkeys were in the sky, the only trace of either was an impact where the Sage had pushed up from.
Mk sat on the ground, the strands of shadow still kept him trapped…until they didn’t. They just faded from existence much to Mk’s horror. Of course he didn’t like or trust Macaque, but this seemed too much. The fear he saw on Macaque’s face was too..real. The fear Mk felt was too much and very real.
Searching the sky desperately, he tried to locate his mentor and Macaque. Worry clumped in his stomach. Of course he had to leave his phone on the ship to charge. The one time he needed backup.
He hated how he felt when he saw Monkey King’s eyes.
Mk had wanted to shrink away, fear overwhelming any sort of reasoning that Monkey King had no reason to hurt him! They were successor and mentor! They were a family.
But the logical part of him was stamped out like a small spark trying to light the world ablaze when he saw Macaque get slammed into the earth just a few generous paces away from him, the ground itself seemed to make way for the Sage’s opponent, perhaps as self preservation or to cradle the doomed challenger.
The Sage landed nearby, the earth groaning beneath his feet, cracking with each slow step he took towards Macaque, all while leaving a scorched stain on the grass behind him. A reminder of the stone monkey who was forged in fire and smoke who was only tamed by agony herself.
He steeled his nerves. He could do this. or rather, he couldn’t live with himself if he didn’t.
With shaking hands, The mortal boy stepped between the Great Sage and his challenger. Spreading his arms to shield the Six Eared Macaque, he managed the words
“Please don’t.” his voice raspy from smoke, Mk squeezed his eyes shut, almost as in preparation for a blow.
But no strike ever came.
Instead, after a few moments, he felt a warm hand hesitantly cup his cheek.
Mk didn’t mean to flinch, but he did.
His arms shook with the terror of standing up to a god, still half waiting to be burned by the wildfire that stood before him.
“Kid.”
Cracking his eyes open, Mk was met with the sight of his mentor. Yes, he still had eyes of burning charcoal and the smoke still lingered around him, but his eyes were worried, looking down at his own ash covered hands with horror lining his features.
“I didn’t mean to—“
Sucking in the first shaky breath since heaven knows how long he was holding it, Mk sank to floor.
His arms spread in a half hearted attempt to protect the shadow monkey.
“Please don’t.”
He repeated, fighting the urge to curl up at the monkey king’s feet. The smoke stung his eyes and tears began to fall. He would beg if he had to Mk decided.
What Mk didn’t expect to happen was for Sun Wukong to slowly kneel before him, gently cupping his face with both of his hands.
“I am so sorry.” Wukong whispered.
Looking up at his eyes once more, Mk watched the fire in them cool to their normal shades of gold, the smoke that seemed to permeate from the sage’s mouth subsided. and just like that, Monkey King was back.
Mk didn’t mean to start sobbing. But he did. He was no better off than a little kid who just stood up to the monster under his bed. Maybe it was relief or the release of fear. Either way, he crumpled into his mentors arms unable to do anything else but grip his own jacket as the panic moved through and out of him. Strong arms closed around him, providing a comforting protection against anything beyond the much needed hug.
After several moments and with a shuddering breath, Mk looked up once more to confirm that the blaze had not returned to his mentors eyes. It hadn’t, only silent tears streaked down the king’s face. A moment of silence passed before Mk glanced behind him to the unconscious Macaque. Steadying his breath, Mk heaved himself upward and stepped towards the shadow monkey. Crouching down, he ever so tentatively, he felt for a pulse.
Of course he had one, he was functionally immortal. Even so, he was injured. And judging by Monkey King’s self care abilities, Macaque was going to need help recovering if he didn’t want to make things worse. Heaven knows that Lady Bone Demon’s lair isn’t exactly the best place to nurse your wounds.
Peering back at his mentor he gestured to the dark furred monkey.
“After everything?” Wukong asked
“Yes.” Mk answered.
It took a little over two seconds before Monkey King came over to help his successor carry Macaque back to the ship.
They were probably going to need to buy some more gauze.
“You’re better at this than I am” Wukong had told him later.
“How so?” Mk questioned, before eating more of the noodles that were put in front of him.
“You’re braver.”
Mk snorted “You stood up to the entirety of heaven.”
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