Chapter Text
Assuming that MK had learned not to touch anything that held immense amounts of power that could do any number of horrendous things to him, but evidently not. When the Qīngchūn Xiàngliàn had begun glowing a radiant baby blue, Macaque was worried that it was something of Lady Bone Demon’s creation. But the toddler standing before him in clothes that were now too big for him was way too precious to be something of LBD’s creation.
It was obvious the kid under the mop of brown hair was MK, his expressions and face more youthful but overall the same thing. Those inquisitive eyes searched around and landed on Macaque and for a second they each did nothing, an air around the duo that had Macaque feeling things he couldn’t remember the name of and hadn’t felt since he last lived on Flower Fruit Mountain.
Then MK’s little face started scrunching up and getting red, eyes wetting more than a happy toddler’s should.
Before MK could let out a loud cry, Macaque began shushing the child, all six ears peaked for the ghost spiders they had been running from earlier. The child still looked ready to burst, but his whimpering was at least muffled. “No, no, no, MK, it’s ok, bud! You’re fine!” Macaque whispered desperately to the small human before him, mind running with possibilities on how to undo the power of Lao Tzu himself.
MK grabbed Macaque’s hand and forced it off his face with a strength that was *definitely* not natural for a kid so small. “Who are you? Why am I here?” the child asked, Macaque’s heart dropping even further than it already had. But at least he seemed a bit older than the toddler Macaque assumed he was. Maybe MK was just small for his age?
“I’m -- you don’t know me?” Macaque knew his tone was wrong when MK looked even more shaken than he had just a second before. “It’s ok! It’s ok, I’m Macaque! We were -- we’re playing hide and seek!” Macaque’s ears caught an unnatural wind and stiff steps approaching the tent they had found themselves having a crisis on top of a crisis in. “We’re on a team, ok?”
MK looked freaked out still, but at least he was calmer than he had been. He nodded in understanding, wiping the tears out of his eyes. “Ok. Are we playing with Mei?”
“Um.” Macaque had to remember that Mei was the name that sword-girl had. “She’s waiting for us at home-base, we just have to make it past the seekers and then we can go play with Mei. Can -- can I pick you up so I can take us to home base?” MK didn’t seem trusting, hesitating and backing up slightly as Macaque heard the wind and steps approach ever-closer. If he grabbed the kid and ran, he’d scream, alerting their stalkers to their location. If he just waited here forever for MK to trust him, they’d find the both of them eventually and the kid was in no level of maturity to be able to fight as well as he’d been previously taught. Of course. “Want to meet the Monkey King?”
“Monkey King?” The kid’s eyes brightened at the thousand-year-old name. “He’s real?”
“Yeah!” Macaque whispered, ears twitching with every approaching step. “He’s -- I’m his friend.” It took an enormous amount of self-control to say that without gagging, but he did it. “Monkey King is with Mei right now, so we can see them when we finish the game, but only if we win.”
He was about to speak again, but MK’s eyes looked past him and towards the wall of the tent, eyes bulging in fear. Macaque looked to where the kid was looking and his own ears sagged in fear. On the other side of the tent wall, Goliath’s massive possessed form’s eerie blue glow flitted through the material. His dead eyes seemed to be scanning the area outside of the tent if the movement of its form was anything to go by. Macaque felt MK’s weight enter his grasp just as Goliath’s head seemed to twist sharply towards MK’s little frightened footsteps.
Macaque didn’t waste a second as he tightened his grasp around MK and turned, bolting out of the tent as Goliath crashed into it, ducking under Huntsman's glowing blue flying kick and shoulder-checking Syntax’s chilled body out of the way. MK, for his part, held onto Macaque tightly, not jostling in the exchange once, yelping at every sudden change in momentum and direction. Macaque weaving through the other tents in the encampment, dodging clashes between Lady Bone Demon’s other possessed possessions and the heavenly host that had been ordered down from the celestial realm to prevent LBD’s power from usurping the Jade Emperor. Chaos reigned around them as celestial soldiers were woken by nightmares of the walking dead.
Macaque unconsciously covered little MK’s eyes, whispering platitudes to the head that buried itself into his shoulder. Macaque made it his life’s goal to reach the treeline where he could gather as many shadow clones as needed to throw off his pursuers. He could almost smell the bark and wilting blossoms when he felt a massive mass ram into his back. He curled around MK, the child screaming in terror. Macaque looked up to see Goliath towering over him, fists raised to crush them both, eyes revealing no emotion.
Macaque knew he’d be too slow to dodge the strike, but he moved to run anyway, the world around him slowing but not allowing him to move any faster. MK screamed in his arms, tiny hands coming up to protect his head. Pink flames burst through the air and around the blue figure, pushing Goliath back. Nezha met his gaze, hair askew from sleeping with it down and being sent into battle straight from the dead of sleep. Nezha took in the scene quickly, expression dropping. “Where’s MK?” He demanded, spear turning quickly towards Macaque.
Before the eternal 12-year-old could skewer him, MK’s face lifted up and turned towards Nezha, tears streaking out freely now. “Don’t hurt me.” Macaque held him a bit tighter at those words, ears tracking everything on the field beside them.
“Xiǎo tǔ dì?” Nezha asked, face reflecting the slow realization that MK and the child were one and the same. He reached out carefully, running his hand through MK’s hair, pulling a few newly-fallen pieces of ash out of the mop. Nezha’s gaze flicked up to Goliath, who was making his way to his feet. “We’re going to bring you somewhere safe, ok? You won’t have to worry yourself with us around.”
MK nodded and buried his head back into Macaque’s neck, permission enough for both the monkie and the soldier to race into the woodwork, Goliath hunting them as the sounds of war waged on behind them.