Whether or not everyone was shouting his name or their own or just screaming wordlessly, Tang did not know. All he knew was there was too much noise and he couldn't understand it over the pounding of his own heartbeat and the roar of his own blood in his ears. Couldn't understand anything over the fire that had erupted under his skin.

It felt like he was boiling from the inside out. That had to be what that feeling was. There was no other way to describe the bubbling under and through his skin he felt as the seconds ticked by. Seconds... Minutes? How long did this go on?

He had no idea.

But as suddenly as it had begun, the burning subsided. Possibly.

All Tang knew was that one second he was in agony and the next he was face down on the floor outside of his apartment door relishing in the coolness of the ground against his...

Uh...

"Is that fur?" Mei gasped, both amazement and horror in her voice. "That's fur!"

If he wasn't exhausted from whatever just happened to him, Tang would have responded in just as much amazement and horror himself. But unfortunately, he could just barely groan out a "damn it" as he slowly sat himself up.

Everything hurt. Every inch of his skin ached like someone had yanked on a fist full of his hair at full force for a few seconds. There was a strange pulling sensation under his clothing that felt like when his hat rustled on top of his ears.

Exactly like the feeling of his hat rubbing against the fur on his rabbit ears, in fact.

"Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh... Looks like the cat's out of the bag..."

Tang didn't need to look up to realize that in the midst of this newest transformation that Sandy had arrived. The scholar took a moment to reach down and feel in his pockets for his keys... No such luck. They must have fallen out at some point...

"More like 'bunny's out of the bag', Big Blue," MK said with a similar tone of horror to Mei, but mixed with more curiosity than amazement.

"Did you know about this!?" Pigsy yelled, making Tang wince in pain. Everything around him was so loud it made his head throb. It sounded like he was standing right next to the road and his neighbor's apartment with how much he could hear the cars and the TV program. Everything was big and loud and painful.

"I just found out myself," Sandy explained as he stepped forward, reaching out to lay a hand on Tang's back. His touch lightened when the smaller man winched. "But he was, uh... a lot less this."

"You could have told us on the phone, Sandy!" Pigsy continued yelling, his frustration bubbling up. "This kind of stuff is important information! I—"

"Stop!" Tang yelped as he raised his hands to cover his ears. The pressure hurt but the relief at having the sounds of the outside world dulled was worth it. "Please stop... Stop yelling please... Stop... I want to go home..."

The group immediately fell silent, only the rustling of their clothing to be heard as they looked at each other. Tang's hearing was so sensitive now that he could tell without looking at them. He thought everything would be fine, that he would be able to figure out what was happening and how to undo it but this... this was too much. He felt his breathing quicken as he tried to stay calm, trying to keep from thinking the thoughts that had made this happen.

That had to be it. He was a smart man.

He was the smartest idiot he knew at that moment.

"Tang," Pigsy's voice sounded again, soft and more gentle than Tang had heard him since he had taken MK up to the apartment above the noodle shop years ago. He heard him rustling around somewhere beside him, felt the chef moving his clothing out of the way of something.

"Do you know what's going on? Do you... know what we should do?"

"We need to go inside," Tang said, his heart racing. Why was his heart beating so fast? Everything was suddenly closing in, but not closing in fast enough. "Please."

"You guys stay with Tang," MK said softly. Tang never would have been able to hear him talking at that volume before but now? With their increased length, the scholar could feel his ears instinctively rotating to hear better. "I'm going to get Monkey King. He'll know what's going on more than any of us."

"Good idea," Pigsy said with a nod as he finally found Tang's keys. "Come on, we can talk when we're inside."

Of course the keys were under his clothes.

"Come on, little buddy," Sandy said softly as he helped Tang to his feet. "Sooner we get you inside the sooner you can sit down and... I'll make you some tea. You never got to finish the cup back on my boat."

"...okay..."

There was a heavy silence in the apartment. Heavier than it had ever been in Tang's memory.

Or maybe it wasn't so much heavy as it was all encompassing.

Odd, given how many people were in it at the moment.

Pigsy had been in his apartment before, MK as well but he was not here at the moment. Mei and Sandy, on the other hand, had never actually been inside of it before. The more he thought about it the more he wondered why he never invited them over before.

Better late than never... even under poor circumstances he supposed.

"Here," Sandy said as he provided Tang with a fresh warm cup. "It's kind of plain, I was hoping that would be better after... you know."

"Thanks, Sandy," Tang said with a smile. He took the tea in his... hands? Paws? They looked like hands still but they were covered in fur. Did they still count as hands anymore? He had no idea. But the warmth from the cup seeped into his fur in a kind of gentle way that it didn't usually against his skin and that felt nice, in a way. "I appreciate the thought."

The larger man smiled, nodding as he made his way out of the living room to wait by the door.

Mei hung around, looking at the books that he had pulled out to peruse the night before when he was looking for what could have possibly caused the first few changes (not that they turned out to be a whole lot of help in the end). The normally excitable and energetic young woman was as calm as Tang had ever seen her, looking over the books he hadn't quite finished or made it to herself.

The sight made him smile through his sip of tea. She was so smart, one of the most intelligent people Tang knew. In and out of his teaching profession. When Long Mei put her mind to something you could be certain that it would be done (provided it was even possible).

The last person in his apartment had joined him on the couch once he had made a call to their newest friend. They'd left the girl in charge of watching the restaurant, not expecting this trip to take so long, and Pigsy's soft tone of assuring her that everything was going to be alright and that it was just going to take longer than expected eased Tang's nerves just a bit. Outside of asking if he needed anything he had hardly spoken since hanging up, but his presence alone was a comfort nonetheless.

When Tang imagined finally having a house party, this was NOT what he had envisioned.

"Hey, Pigsy," Tang chanced after a moment, setting his cup down as he gently squeezed and rubbed the fur one hand with the other. "I... I was... well, you see—"

The sound of banging on the front door startled everyone into looking toward the entryway.

"Heeeey, who ordered one Monkey King express delivery?" The voice of a certain Great Sage barely permeated through the door. "And one MK side order."

"I'm a side order? Really!?"

Tang grinned as he heard Sandy open the door and greet the newest people that would be joining them in his apartment. He hadn't seen Sun Wukong in... well, he lost track of days far too easily. But the sage had definitely never seen the inside of his apartment.

There was the barest jolt of anxiety when Tang remembered that half of his apartment was dedicated to his study of the history of a certain journey and a certain person on that journey. But then he felt the fur on his hands rub backwards the wrong way and decided he could handle a little embarrassment in exchange for figuring out what in the absolute hell was happening.

"Soooo, I wasn't really told much of anything?" Sun Wukong said with a shrug based on the rustling of cloth Tang could pick up. "MK just said to rush here as fast as we could."

"What were you told?" He heard Sandy ask.

"Something about Tang needing help and also I was offered free food?"

Tang squeaked as two things slapped to the sides of his head. It took a moment for him to realize they were pillows: Pigsy had just slammed his throw pillows over his ears. But why would he—

"MK, DON'T HAND OUT FOOD WITHOUT ASKING!"

...oh.

That... That was something that Tang should have honestly anticipated.

This was Pigsy. Pigsy was one of the most thoughtful people he knew, if not the most thoughtful person he knew. True, he had a gruff exterior and could be tough as nails when he wanted to be. But if you earned his care? MK was the prime example of how far that care would go. Pigsy was tough on the young man, yes, but he cared for him so much. He took him under his wing when MK was still a young teen, not even old enough to have his driver's license yet. Not only did the chef provide him with a job and a place to stay, but also the money and help in studying to get his license once he came of age.

It took a special kind of person to see a random kid come into their shop and do all that. Pigsy had done everything he possibly could for MK, more than Tang had seen some parents do for some of his students.

Was it any wonder, after seeing all that and after how they met that he—nO!

The change was instantaneous this time, not entirely unlike the tail. It felt like someone suddenly stabbed a fork into each of his fingers. Tang didn't even have to watch as his nails became sharp and harder claws to know what had happened.

Unfortunately, much like his tail, the yelp of shock and pain that came from it escaped him before he even realized he had let it out.

And that yelp drew the attention of everyone within hearing distance.

Which included one Sun Wukong, who rushed in and froze immediately upon seeing the now rabbitified human scholar.

"Oh..." The Great Sage mouthed slowly. And for a moment there was nothing but an awkward calm in the apartment.

Then a sound not unlike a deflating balloon escaped from the Monkey King's mouth.

The only warning Tang had before the volume increased into a squeal of delight. Sun Wukong ran over to Tang and started waving his hands wildly around him.

"YOU'RE A BUNNY!" Sun Wukong finally enunciated, practically bouncing in place as he looked the scholar over. "You're a bunny, you have fur and ears and-and—"

"And he ain't supposed to be a bunny, dumbass," Pigsy said as he removed one pillow from Tang's ears and thwapped the immortal in the face with it. Tang would never admit to almost laughing at the chirp of surprised offense that came from that motion. "Humans don't normally turn into demons all of a sudden."

"I know that!" Sun Wukong said as he pushed the pillow out of his face with a huff. "Geez, a guy can't get excited for a half second anymore. Hmn..." He trailed off, looking at Tang for a long few seconds now that he was broken from his bunny shocked glee. "Can I...?" He gestured to Tang, flexing his fingers in an obvious request to touch him.

"Uh... sure?" Tang said with a shrug as Pigsy removed the other pillow while keeping a harsh (and if Tang didn't know any better he would say protective) gaze on the other. "Just... I'm still sore? The fur just came in and it... it hurt..."

The wince on Sun Wukong's face, a mixture of empathetic acknowledgement and concern, did not fill Tang with much confidence in that moment.

"Okay," Sun Wukong said softly as he situated himself in front of him and gently grabbed his hand. He rubbed his fur back and forth for a moment, watching Tang's face for his reaction at the motion. "And this fur came in all at once?"

"Y-Yeah..." Tang answered.

"It was kind of terrifying," Mei offered from her place looking over the books on the table. "One second he was fine, and the next he was just... growing fur and screaming."

"It might have been the most terrifying four seconds of my life," MK offered from the other side of the couch as he sat down on the arm behind Pigsy. "And you know what I'VE been through!"

"Well," Tang breathed out in amazement and horror. "That didn't feel like four seconds, but that's good to know."

"That's way too fast," Sun Wukong muttered under his breath as he stood up straight and rubbed his chin in thought. "Did all of these changes happen all at once or gradually?"

"Gradually..."

"Walk me through them, just to be safe."

"It started with my hair," Tang said as he reached up and brushed a strand out of his face. "T-The color changed and I didn't realize it because my hair was wet from a shower. And then it changed into fur, and then I got some freckles that—"

"Turned into spots!" Mei shouted suddenly. "That's why you have spots in your fur. You have spotted fur by the way."

"I really have to look at my reflection," Tang laughed out shakily as he took a deep breath. "Okay, those, a-and then I woke up to my ears. They grew a bit later on and then my tail happened—" He chose to ignore the chirp of interest from the monkey in front of him. "And then the fur."

"There are only a few things I can think of that could have caused these kinds of reactions, and one of them is Spider Queen's venom from the Lunar New Year attack... but you're not a spider..." Sun Wukong hummed after a moment. "You didn't happen to get bit by a weird rabbit, did you?"

"No, I—" Tang stopped the annoyed response he almost voiced when he recalled something. Something that he really should have much sooner. He knew what whatever was happening was reacting to, but he should have connected the dots so much sooner. "Those demons! The blue and orange ones!"

"The metal brothers?" Sun Wukong asked with a raise of his brow.

"THE ENERGY DRAINING CURSE!" MK shouted, covering his mouth when Tang winced at the volume. "Sorry! They attacked us the other day, they were trying to hit me with something and it hit Tang instead."

If anyone else noticed the wince from Pigsy no one mentioned it.

But everyone seemed to notice the immediate change in the Monkey King's demeanor.

"I need everyone to stand away from Tang," he said evenly. His tone was firm and serious, so much so Tang could only tell he was concerned based on the furrowing of his brow. "I think I know what this is, but I need space around him to check and be sure."

MK immediately jumped off the couch, but Pigsy took a moment to glare at the immortal before sighing and squeezing Tang's hand. He gave him a soft smile before standing back immediately behind the king and watching Tang with a concerned glance.

Sun Wukong got to work before Tang could ask him what was happening. He had seen him do similar things before, MK too when he was dispelling his more unruly clones. A burst of energy flowed from the sage's hands and into Tang. All the scholar could see for a moment was golden light. For a brief moment...

Nothing hurt.

The ache faded almost completely for a moment, coming back severely dulled when the glow faded.

If he didn't see the Monkey King's horrified face for a split second, Tang would have rejoiced immediately. His expression was immediately swapped for something more intentionally calm and concerned, a shake of his head to seemingly ground him before he clapped his hands together the last thing before he announced his diagnosis.

"Good news... and bad news," he said as he moved to stand behind the couch and Tang to face everyone. "Good news, I know exactly what this is. It's a transformation curse that reacts to specific input from the cursed individual to slowly change them from one form to another: in this case, a rabbit demon. It is reversible."

"That's great!" Sandy exclaimed, Mei and MK jumping up and cheering beside him.

"So you can undo it!" Pigsy said confidently. "Just, you know, mystic monkey magic it away, right?"

"Thaaaaaaat's the bad news," Sun Wukong said carefully, and Tang turned to stare at him in his own horror.

"What do you mean?" He asked slowly.

"See..." Sun Wukong waved his hands for a moment, signing deeply. "There are some... variations of this curse, some more dangerous than others, and all I can tell from your energy is that Jin and Yin really messed with it when they put this one together. Without knowing the exact make of this curse... If I tried to do that... I could accidentally speed it up."

"Well, Tangy's just becoming a rabbit demon!" Mei said with a laugh. "We can reverse it after that, right?"

"No?" Sun Wukong said in the most unconfident voice Tang had ever heard him speak in. And he could tell everyone else was just as concerned by that as he was. "Maybe. See... if he becomes a full rabbit demon this might be... permanent?"

For five seconds, the entire room was silent. It might have been nice for Tang's sensitive ears if his mind wasn't screaming. Then the room erupted into chaos.