Chen sleeps on the passenger side of MK's tuk-tuk, as the younger boy drove them back home to Megapolis after their week-long training session with Monkey King. MK had his ear phones on as he parks outside Pigsy's Noodles, oblivious to the eerie empty streets and the bull clones stalking behind the duo.

MK nudges Chen awake, the young man awaking with a start. "Wake up, sleepy-head! We're back!" he states, as Chen blearily opens his eyes to look around. The first thing he notices is how the place looked abandoned.
"Um, MK?"

MK doesn't seem to hear him as he gets out of the tuk-tuk, finally taking off his headphones as he calls out to the rest of their friends. "Hey, yo! Guess who's back from their training with Monkey Ki-"

He's cut off as a bunch of bull clones emerge from the shadows, surrounding the two young men. One of them lands in front of MK and roars in his face, causing the younger boy to jump back in fright. Chen scrambles out of the tuk-tuk, standing by MK's side and getting ready for a fight. The rest of the clones charge toward them, reaching out to grab the boys.

Their attack is thwarted when a familiar food truck rams into the bull clones, sending them flying. Chen looks up at the food truck to see Pigsy, Sandy, Tang, Mei and Mo, all in different dystopian attire. MK gasps. "Guys! Whoa! You look so awesome!" he cries out. Chen glances between them, confused and slightly concerned. "What's going on here?"

Mei scratches her neck. "Yeah, so, uh, some stuff happened while you two were away. Got kinda intense." she explains. Chen nods, looking around the street. "I can see that. Wait- where's Rey?" he asks. Mei gestures to the back of the food truck. "In the back. All this apocalypse stuff really isn't for them. Big baby." she chuckles. There's scuffling from the back of the truck before the back doors of the truck is slammed open, Rey's head peeking out. Their hair was a mess, and it looked like they hadn't slept in a long time. "I heard that!"
"You know I'm right!" Mei shoots back, and Rey lets out a defeated sigh, shoulders slumped. "Yeah..."

"But I left you with one of my boys!" MK points out, and Tang moves aside to show an MK clone in the passenger seat of the food truck. "Oh, he's been super helpful." he says sarcastically. At this, the clone shrugs. "I don't know what to tell you, guy."
With that the clone explodes, spreading hair everywhere.

"So what happened?" MK asks. Mei starts to tell the boys what happened when Tang interrupts her, wanting to tell the story. Mei groans, but lets him continue.
"Well, after you left, the Bull clones attacked. But they were different, more powerful than before. We believe it's all tied back to the Demon Bull King himself. MK, Chen, he's conquered everything."

As Chen listens, he couldn't help but feel enraged. He was getting real sick and tired of the Bull Family. His fists clench at his sides, and he had to take a breath to calm himself down.
"Where is he? Where's DBK?" MK asks, a determined expression on his face. Sandy holds MO in his arms as he answers, glancing up at the mountain. "We're not sure. But there/s pretty scary noises coming from the mountain."

The gang quickly climb into the food truck, and Chen is about to follow them when he remembers something. Jade was out there, and if DBK is more powerful than before, what if he found and attacked Jade? He's on his own out there.
"Chen, you coming?" Mei asks, looking back at him. Chen hesitates, torn between looking for Jade and staying with the gang and fighting with them.

"MK, do you think you and the others can handle DBK without me?" he asks. This confuses MK. "Uh, what?"
"Do you think you can handle DBK?" he repeats, more urgent this time. MK glances at the others. "Uh- yeah? I think so? Why?"

Chen glances back at the city streets, taking a step out of the food truck. "I gotta go do something. You guys go on without me." he says. Pigsy frowns. "And where exactly do you think you're going?"
The young man hesitates again. "I gotta go check on someone. They might need my help." he explains vaguely. At this, Mei raises a brow. "Oooh, a love interest? Off to be their knight in shining armour?" she teases.

At this, Chen cringes. "What? No! Geez Mei, now is not the time! You better get going if you want to take down DBK." he states, before running off down the street. Pigsy yells out to him but Chen ignores him, determined to find Jade and make sure he was okay.

"Jade! Are you there?!" Chen yells out, looking around. The young man had arrived at their training dojo, and upon entering he found the place wrecked. Broken objects were strewn around the place, ranging from training equipment to parts of the dojo itself.

And so far, there's been no sign of the snake demon.

"Jade! C'mon, where are you?!" The longer there was no reply, the more stressed Chen became. Now the young man really was worried that something had happened.
Just as Chen was about to leave and look for Jade elsewhere, he heard a robotic growl from behind him. He quickly turns around to find a bunch of bull clones staring him down, their eyes glowing an eerie blue. A stark contrast to the usual purple Chen was used to seeing.

One roars at him, it sounding more like a ghostly shriek before they charge at him, Chen immediately gets into a battle position, charging to meet them. Green sparks glow around him as he starts to fight the bull clones, smashing some to pieces with his bare fists.

As he continues the battle, he realised more and more were showing up. There were now too many for Chen to handle. He backs up, quickly looking around for a weapon. That's when he spots a broken street light laying not too far away from him. Without thinking he grabs it, swinging the large pole t the bull clones. He manages to hit several, sending them flying.

But that was one something landed on his back, knocking the wind out of him as he hits the ground. Chen wheezes, trying to get to his feet. The weight becomes heavier, and the young man realised several bull clones were holding him down, dog piling on top of him.

"Get off of me! Pieces of stupid junk! I'll tear you apart!" he curses, trying to push them off. The bull clones don't listen, and start to drag him with them. In an attempt to get them off, Chen grabs onto whatever he could, an arm, a leg- anything. But whenever he pulled one off, another took its place. He was overpowered.

All of a sudden, the bull clones were blasted off by a powerful source, sending them all flying. Chen covers his head as large pieces of debris zips over his head, a loud hiss filling the air as dust blows about.
When the dust clears Chen looks up, seeing a faint a large snake-like figure disappear into nothing.

"What in heavens name are you doing here?!"

Jade steps out of an alley, rushing over to Chen and helping him to his feet. His expression was one of concern and worry, looking Chen over. "Are you really that stupid?! It's not safe!"
Chen scowls, not liking Jade's attitude. "I was looking for you!" he yells.

Jade shakes his head, grabbing Chen's hand and guiding him into an alley as he looks around warily. "You shouldn't be out here by yourself! The Demon Bull King's clones have been searching for you for the past week!" he says. "You should've stayed with your friends!"

"You are my friend!" Chen interrupts, surprising Jade. The snake turns to the young man, eyes wide. "What...?"

"I came out here looking for you because I was worried! You're out here by yourself- I didn't know you could handle the bull clones on your own." Chen explains, taking a deep breath. Jade is silent, in complete shock at his statement. "Oh..."

Chen looks away, letting out a sigh. "We better get outta here before more of those clones come back." he says, walking around Jade and further into the alley. Jade looks after him, hesitating. He looked troubled and conflicted, but he followed Chen.

MK had defeated the Demon Bull King very quickly, much to the surprise to Chen and Jade. The two had hidden out in the dojo's secret attic, which Chen had no clue had existed. That was where Jade had been hiding when Chen came to search for him.

The two exit the dojo to find several bull clones laying on the ground, the blue glow coming from them gone.
Chen walks over to one, kicking it to make sure it was powered off. "Well, that's over with..." he mutters. Jade hums, looking around.

The young man had noticed how silent Jade had been the whole hour they had been hiding, only answering when necessary. It confused him. What exactly had Chen said or done to make him this quiet?

"I guess I better go find my friends. Are you gonna be okay on your own?" Chen asks the snake. The snake demon finally turns to him. "Hm? Oh, y-yeah, I will. You better get back. I'm sure your friends are worried about you."

Chen nods, shooting Jade a smile. "Alright. See you later Jade." he says, before leaving Jade in the dojo.

Chen returns back to Pigsy's Noodles, only to find the Monkey Mech outside. As he looks up, the early morning sun glints off the shiny metal, almost blinding him. But he could vaguely make out several small figures sitting on one of the mech's shoulders.

How was he supposed to get up there?

The young man thinks for a minute, before an idea comes to his mind. MK has that super jump. What if he just tried that? He should be able to make it if he tried.

Taking a moment to hype himself up, Chen takes his chance. He crouches down, before leaping. He yells in surprise as he flies through the air, quickly approaching the shoulder his friends were on.
But as he nears he starts to slow down, hovering in the air for a moment before starting to fall. He scrambles to grab onto the metal, but it was impossible to grab onto the smooth surface.

Just as he was about to fall back to the ground a large hand grabs onto his jacket pulling him up. "Woah! Careful, Chen! That was impressive!" Sandy compliments, setting Chen down next to him and Rey, who was nervously re-adjusting the charm bracelets on their wrists. It seems like they were still shaken up from the whole fight.
Chen chuckles nervously, adrenaline rushing through his veins. "Yeah... just remind me not to do that again."
A slap lands on the back of his head, and Chen yelps in pain, rubbing his head. "Hey!"

"Why the heck did you run off like that?! What if those bull clones decided to kill ya, huh?!" Pigsy scolds, as MK and Mei giggle in the background. Chen glares at the two. "Sorry, pops."

"Sorry ain't gonna cut it! You're gonna be the one mopping the floors for a week, young man! I ain't having you running off on your own whenever there's a tyrant trying to take over the city!"
"Alright, alright, I got it, geez..." Chen grumbles.

"So how did the fight with DBK go? Did you beat up Red Son for me?" Chen asks, turning to MK and the rest. MK pauses. "Actually, they helped me take down DBK."

"Wait, what?!"

(Back at the old dojo...)

Friend.

Friend.

Chen had called him his friend. Why would he even consider Jade his friend? They were just.. Jade. A liar, a snake. A demon that could eat him whole if they so chose.

Yet he still called them his friend.

Jade sat inside the dojo, legs crossed as his thoughts and emotions swirled inside his mind. Regret, guilt, frustration... it was all so confusing.

Why was he even thinking of this? He shouldn't be thinking. He should be sticking to the plan. He has to make his Lady proud when she returns.

He owes it to her.

A/N: disclaimer I don't ship Jade and Chen.