Chapter Text
”It feels like I’ve waited an eternity for this moment. Is everything in order?”
He smiled. “Just making the final adjustments, Mother.” She was going to be so proud of him after this!!
“Finally, after all this time, we have the means to lift Monkey King’s legendary staff.” She huffed. “Although we could have freed my love sooner if someone would just learn to control his powers.”
”I’ve told you, Mother, trying to destroy the staff would result in the Samadhi fire leveling this mountain and Father spending his first few weeks of freedom recovering from the burns.” He sighed, freezing as he spotted one of his bull clones he’d made try to move the staff. Poor Bob was flung back, now armless from his attempt.
Right, cold and cruel, just like mama taught him. “You fool. You think we didn’t try that already? It’s going to take more than a few robots to lift the Monkey King’s staff. Only those deemed worthy can wield it. But I, Red Son, have designed this gauntlet to bend it to my will!”
He approached the staff, pulling it up with the gauntlet - barely managing to only release some of his regular fire and not the Samadhi Fire with the effort it took. Sure, just releasing the Samadhi fire like that and not trying to destroy an ancient and magical staff wouldn’t pose too much of a threat, but he thinks it really shows how much control he has that it didn’t come out. Once the staff was pulled free from the stone he lifted it high in the air. “YES!! I DID IT!!”
… But nothing happened.
He huffed, hopping down from the mound. He knows he shouldn’t question mother, but… “Mother, are you sure this is the right mountain?”
She scoffed. “No, maybe it was that other mountain with an ancient staff sealing away my husband!”
… oh! Sarcasm, right.
The mountain started to rumble, and they both jumped, turning to look at where the staff had been.
And explosion erupted, and the great Demon Bull King began to rise from within the mountain. “Yes, Father! Rise! RISE!!” He cried, ecstatic at the idea of getting to see his father for the first time since he was the equivalent of a six-year-old.
Father growled, standing epically in front of them. He flexed each hand in turn. “Flesh, bone, I have returned to the realm of the living!”
Mother stepped forward. ”Oh, Demon Bull King! I’ve missed you.”
“Princess Iron Fan! The years have been kind. How did you free me?”
This was his chance to shine! He swept into the frame. “Actually, it was I, Father. I moved the staff. I learned how to harness it, to make its power ours!”
Father stepped forward, looming over him before grinning. “Excellent.”
He couldn’t help but grin back at the praise, before whirling around to pose as dramatically as possible. “Now, together, we, the Demon Bull Family, will plunge the world into eternal darkness!”
A loud scream distracted him, and he barely looked up in time to see some boy falling from the pipes above them. He fell to the ground as the boy landed atop him.
A nervous chuckle. “Someone ordered some noodles?”
Red Son glared into the dirt, pounding his fists for a moment. “Get off me you idiot!!” With the last word, he shoved himself to his feet, accidentally allowing the slightest smidge of the Samadhi Fire to take over his hair for as he flung the boy off of him. “Do you know what you just did?!?! You ruined my moment!” This was his chance to show off how much he’s grown from the useless little boy his father had known!
Father stepped next to him, pulling him back to the present moment before the Samadhi Fire could melt the rock beneath him further. “A little eavesdropper has fallen into our midst. It seems a waste to crush something so insignificant as my first act as ruler of this new world, but so be it.” As he spoke, he lifted his foot to crush the noodle delivery boy.
Wait, this was his chance to show how useful of a boy he was! That he was a son his father could be satisfied with - maybe even proud of!!! “Wait, father!”
”What is this?” Father asked, holding his foot suspended above the two of them.
He cleared his throat, gently pushing away his father’s foot. “Waste not your energy on this peasant. Please, allow me to show you how powerful I have become in your absence!”
Father hesitated, then, “As you wish.”
He turned to the human, who had begun to try and crawl away, but stopped and turned around when addressed. “In some ways, you’re very fortunate, Noodle Boy! Not many insects are lucky enough to be stamped out by the Demon Bull Family!” He blinked. Wait, why was this boy not even looking at him anymore?! He stamped his foot. “Are you even listening to me?! I, Red Son, will not be disrespected! You’re history!” He summoned his normal fire - no need to break out the big guns for a mere mortal - and attempted to punch the guy-
Only to be blocked.
By a staff.
The Monkey King’s staff, held in the boy’s bare hands.
”No way! How could you possibly lift Monkey King’s staff?!” He was honestly flabbergasted. Unless this was the Monkey King in disguise, there was no way this boy should be able to lift it! And if this were the Monkey King, there’s no way he would have continued to stay in this disguise and watch all this go down!
“This is impossible.” He heard mother say. It was hard to tell whether she was shocked or not though…
Red Son huffed. “I don’t know what’s going on here, but I’m about to end it. That staff is ours!!” He activated just a smidge of the Samadhi Fire, enough to coat his armored fist in pinkish-purple flames as he prepared to launch at the boy.
The boy whimpered, shouting “I’m supposed to be on my break!!!!!”
With the last word, a blast came from the staff that sent him flying backwards and into the ground.
He was admittedly out of it for a moment, though it couldn’t have been long since when he awoke Mother was saying something about “-escape with that staff!”
Probably talking about Noodle Boy, then.
“Centuries trapped in oblivion, plotting my revenge, and all of it thwarted by a little thief?! I WILL TEAR THE FLESH FROM HIS BONES!!!!”
He swiftly hopped to his feet. Father shouldn’t have to deal with such a menial task! “Father! Allow me. I won’t fail you a second time!”
Father narrowed his eyes. “See that you don’t. My patience is past its end!”
Ah, he was just telling him to take this seriously! “Of course, Father.” He whirled around, easily using his pyroportation he’d learned from Mother to get to a vehicle he’d stashed not too far from where they’d been. He hopped in his Inferno Truck, speeding after that Noodle Boy.
It wasn’t hard to get to a position where he was trailing behind the Noodle Boy. “Alright, Noodle Boy, hand it over!” He really wanted to save the destruction of this city for his father, not do it himself chasing down this thief.
Noodle boy threw a bowl of noodles at him, which his windshield wipers easily took care of.
“Fine, have it your way!” He’d keep using regular fire for now, at least until this boy proved himself to be a significant threat rather than just an inconvenience. He pressed a button that caused his windshield wipers to hit the smaller vehicle.
Apparently that was the wrong move, as the boy activated the staff and vaulted his vehicle onto the nearby rooftops.
”Would you get down here so I can kill you?!”
”Never!” The boy retorted, only to immediately break through the roof and fall into one of the buildings.
Hmm, now where would he come out? According to the various maps of the city, and schematics of the buildings he’d stolen, the boy would most likely end up… there.
He made a few turns, and sure enough there was the Noodle Boy, now kneeling next to the clearly broken down vehicle. He cackled as he continued following the boy, who stole some kid’s cloud board to continue his flight.
“I’m coming to get you, Noodle Boy!” He cackled as evilly as he could.
Noodle Boy, in a rare moment of genuine cleverness rather than just dumb luck, turns down a narrow street, causing the Inferno Truck to get stuck.
Noodle Boy quickly began speeding away.
Red Son growled. “You’re not getting away from me that easy!” He lifted the cover, pressing the button to release the race car within his truck.
It wasn’t long before he was behind the boy again, speeding up as they approached the end of the road.
”Come on, where did you get that!?”
He smirked. “What? You think I’d drive anything that doesn’t have at least one complex transformation?” He smashed a button, causing the car to extremely speed up and launch into the air, attempting to literally crush the delivery boy. Sadly, the boy managed to scramble atop at the last moment.
Now blinded by the delivery boy, he completely drove off the edge of the road. Ugh, this boy screamed so much.
Some green blur came flying up, revealed to be someone on a green and white bike - someone who grabbed Noodle Boy’s arm to rescue him.
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” How much luck did this boy have on his side?!
Not that Red Son had long to think about it, as he crashed into the side of a building.
He growled, pulling himself from the wreckage. “NOODLE BOY! When I find you, I’m gonna bust you into little bits!!!”
Oh, people were looking at him. Well, time to go home and show Father the thing he’d been working on for him!
******
“It’s… heavy.” Father stated as he stood, now with the furnace on him.
”That’s because it isn’t powered up yet! The suit absorbs energy to create energy. The more rare or powerful the item, the more powerful Father becomes!” Red son beamed as he demonstrated how the armor worked. The impressed, shocked expressions of his parents as he threw the random priceless artifact into the furnace. He probably should have at least told Mother exactly what the furnace did and how it worked prior to this, but it would have ruined the surprise!
Father flexed as power surged through him for a moment from the artifact, about to say something when Mother floated over to sit on his shoulder, muttering something to him. His eyes widened, humming in approval.
She hopped down, and Father rose. “Great work, my son.”
… This was the greatest day of his life.
He knows it’s immature, but he couldn’t stop his feet tapping excitedly against the ground at the praise.
A large hand scooped him up, interrupting his stupid little dance.
Ah, he hadn’t noticed Father approaching. Was he going to get to ride on Father’s shoulder as they went looking for rare and powerful artifacts while they waited for that noodle boy to show up again with the staff?
Father chuckled, a cold smirk on his face as he stared down at him.
Wait, why was-
The fingers around him released, sending him flying into the depths of the furnace.