"You call this a training session? I've barely broken a sweat!" MK boasts, as he and Monkey King train. Chen sat to the side, arms crossed as he watches in amusement. "Don't get too cocky, monkey brain. You know Monkey King can beat your butt if he wanted." he teases.
"Chen's right. A battle is no place to be arrogant, you gotta stay humble." The sage agrees. At this, MK scoffs. "Says you two!"

MK manages to push Monkey King to the edge of a cliff, cornering him. "Ha! Who's gotta be humble now?" he asks, charging forward as he spins his staff.
Monkey King grins, suddenly leaping forward. He stops MK's attack with his foot, surprising the boy.

"Still you."

Swiftly kicking the staff from MK's grasp it flings into the mountain, causing rocks to fall which land on MK. Monkey King flats over on his cloud, jumping down and pulling MK from the wreckage. "Okay! Class commencing. How'd I win?" he asks, placing the boy down on his feet.

MK raises a brow, scratching his chin. "Uh...you buried me under a rock slide?" he questions. Chen cackles in the background, finding this amusing.
"Yes, BUT why were you standing in the way of the rock slide?"

"BECAUSE YOU PUT ME THERE!" MK yells, but is quickly silenced as Monkey King ruffles his hair with a laugh. "No, no, no, no, no, no. I got you where I wanted you by putting myself where you wanted me. It's called misdirection."

MK hums in thought, running a hand through his hair to fix it up. "Seems like a shady lesson." He points out. At this, Chen cackles again, causing Monkey King to glower at the two boys. "Too soon, buddy."

MK flops onto the ground, laying on his back. "I'm never gonna be as good as you!" He whines. At this, Chen gets to his feet, walking over to his brother. Monkey King stood over the boy, a wide smile on his face. "Not with that attitude! Class dismissed!"

"Yes!" MK cheers, leaping to his feet. Chen smiles, taking note of his phone vibrating in his pocket. He already knew it was Pigsy asking where the two were. Tonight was the New Year's festival, and the pig man needed all the help he could get.
"Alright, we better get going. We're expected to be back for the festiv- EY!" Chen yelps as a cushion is thrown at his face. He heard MK's muffled yells as well, and assumed the boy got the same treatment. He quickly pulls it off to glare at the culprit Monkey King. "Hey! What was- woah..." his eyes widen in surprise.

Monkey King was busy making more cushions, foods, and even a small table. "Whoa. How long have you been preparing this?" MK asks. The sage smiles, sitting down on the cliff edge. "Come on, it's New Years, bud. Let's watch some fireworks."

Chen and MK glance at each other. "Oh, we'd love to, Monkey King." MK pipes up. "But we really should get back to our... friends..." he trails off as Monkey King looks back to the sky, and both the boys realised the same thing. Monkey King had no one to celebrate New Years with.
Chen sighs, moving over to sit next to Monkey King with a smile. "I think Pigsy can survive another hour or two without us."

"Yeah!" MK adds, sitting on the other side of the sage. The monkey looks at them in surprise, but Chen could see that he was grateful. He chuckles, ruffling the boys hair. "Thanks, kiddos."

In Megapolis, people were celebrating the New Years. Cheerful laughter and chatter filled the busy city streets, everyone excited for the festival.

Pigsy's food truck was crowded with hungry customers, the pig man overwhelmed with orders. Mei and Rey are busy helping him, trying to fold the dumplings. She hums in annoyance as it keeps falling apart. "I feel like this would be easier if I had fingers."
Rey hums in agreement, struggling to fold the dumplings. They look around to ask Pigsy for assistance, but see that he's busy handing a bowl to a customer. "Thank you! Great happiness and prosperity this Lunar New Year!" he says cheerily, but they could see through the pig mans fake, stressed smile.

Tang notices this and leans over to whisper to the two cousins. "Hey, is it just me, or is Pigsy more...stressed than normal?" he questions. Rey shakes their head. "Yeah, it's because MK and Chen aren't here." they say a bit too loudly.

Pigsy snaps his head in their direction, overhearing their conversation. "THAT'S EXACTLY RIGHT! WHERE ARE THOSE PUNKS CAUSE THEY SURE AREN'T HERE!" he yells, and Rey flinches as their hearing aids screech in their ears from the loud volume, quickly fixing them up to avoid hurting their sensitive ears.

"They're training with the Monkey King!" Mei informs, taking a broom to imitate MK's staff. "MK said "New year! New MK! I'm gonna take my training to a whole new level!" Chen just decided to join him today." she adds on, waving her hand dismissively.

Pigsy scowls, snatching the broom from her. "Gimme that!" he snaps, breaking the broom in two. "'New Year, new MK. Keep going like this, he and Chen are gonna be newly unemployed! That kid is getting just as bad as his brother! If neither of them get here soon-"

Pigsy was cut off as a bunch of sweets and treats fall on top of him, muffling his screams. Rey looks up to see none other than the gentle blue giant, beaming down at the group with a bright smile. "Good cheer and happy New Year! Look at all these delicious goodies! I got enough to share!" he informs cheerfully.

"Ooh! Thanks, Sandy!" Mei says, taking a treat from the pile. Sandy looks around, noticing two people missing. "So uh, where's MK and Chen?" he questions, scratching his head. Pigsy finally frees himself from the pile of treats, steam practically coming out of his ears.
"Would you guys screw around somewhere else?! I got a a business to run so if you ain't gonna help, go bother some other noodle shop owner!"

Getting a bit overwhelmed with the pig mans yelling, Rey takes a finished delivery bag from the counter. "I'm just uh, gonna go deliver this for you Pigsy." they inform. Pigsy huffs, crossing his arms after fully climbing out of the pile. "Good! At least someone's helping me around here!"

Chuckling awkwardly Rey leaves the food truck with the delivery, looking at the address on the receipt as they walk through the busy crowds.

Unbeknownst to them, a pair of red eyes watches them curiously from the shadows, green tail swaying behind them.

Jade watches the young person walk through the crowded streets, following them closely and observing. He'd been waiting for Chen to arrive back from his training with Monkey King when he caught sight of the newbie.

He recalled Chen mentioning this friend, but he never thought much of them. However, seeing them face to face, he was immediately intrigued. Especially when he caught sight of the charm bracelets that they were wearing. He recognised the symbols on them.

Those were charms that young demons who couldn't control their powers wore. And Rey had three of them. How did this individual get their hands on them? And why? This was a dragon, not a demon...

This group truly was an odd bunch.

Suddenly, horrified screams fill the air. Jade quickly looks around to see a bunch of tiny spider bots crawling around, attacking people. All the humans start running for their lives, causing a stampede.

Seeing this the young dragon panics, running into an alley way to hide. Unfortunately for them, the spider bots spot them running away, and follow after them.
Jade stays on top of the building, about to run away too when he stops. He looks back to the alley the dragon disappeared, before groaning to himself.

"No- no! You're not gonna help this kid! It'll only end badly for you in the long run!" he scolds himself, pacing back and forth. He tries to tell himself the whole city was under attack, and Rey was unfortunately just one of its victims. He had no part of this.

But something deep inside him was telling him he HAD to help them. He just had to.
Growling in frustration they turn around, rushing to the place Rey had been seen last.

When they reach the alley, Jade soon spotted the young dragon surrounded by a bunch of spider bots. They were shaking, the delivery they had been carrying long forgotten as the contents lay on the ground. The bots had them cornered, blocking off all exits.

From his point of view, the snake demon could see that Rey was panicking, their chest rising and falling rapidly as they start to hyperventilate.
The spider bots creep closer, and Rey quickly looks around to find an object to fight them off. "S-stay back!" they yell, their voice high-pitched and shaky.
Of course, the spider bots don't listen, and they lunge toward the defenseless dragon.

As one of them leaps towards Rey's face, ready to latch onto them, Jade jumps down from the roof of the building and lands in front of Rey, slicing it in two with his Guandao. He turns to face the stunned dragon, red eyes glowing fiercely in the darkness. "RUN!" he yells. Rey didn't need to be told twice, making their escape.

Jade turns back to the spider bots, taking note that there were more now. They chitter and whir, all their focus solely on him. The snake demon takes a breath, knowing he had to give Rey time to get away.

And so the battle began. Jade fended off the spider bots, using his Guandao to pierce through the metallic beasts. A giant phantom snake forms behind him, either chomping on the robot critters or smashing them into a wall. The snake demon held up his own, easily demolishing the spider bots.

After estimating and assuming Rey was long gone, Jade gets ready to leap to safety, when all of a sudden strong webbing wraps around his limbs, entrapping him. His eyes widen in shock, trying to use his weapon to free himself when it was yanked out of his grasp by one of the spider bots.

The snake demon was pulled into the air, the webbing dragging him to the massive spider mech hovering over Megapolis.
As he fights and struggles to free himself something hits him in the back of the head, knocking him out cold.

—

"Happy New Year!"

Monkey King and MK cheer together as the fireworks go off, lighting up the night sky. Chen chuckles at their antics, nibbling on one of the pastries that was set on the table. He couldn't place why, but they tasted strange to him. Now that he thought about it, where did Monkey King get these pastries?

"Over a millennia, and fireworks are still the best thing humans have invented!" Monkey King declares, pulling out a few strands of hair and blowing on them. They change into pastries, and Chen stops chewing his food, staring at the sage.

"Uh- are we eating hair right now?" MK asks, looking at his own food. The sage shrugs, waving off their concerns dismissively. "It's better not to think about it."

Chen spits out the food, now grossed out by this new revelation. "Bleh! Ugh, why?!"

"Speaking of hair!" Monkey King says, ignoring Chen's offensive behaviour. "Chen, bud, you need to either cut your hair or tie it up. It's getting a little too long for you to leave it out like you do." He says with a smile, ruffling the young man's hair.

Chen huffs, still annoyed about the pastries, but he couldn't deny that Monkey King was right. It was now down pass his shoulders whenever he left it out. "I'll have to decide what I'm gonna do with it soon."

"Has it always grown this fast?" The sage questions curiously. Chen nods, chuckling. "Yeah, it does."

"Hey, what happened to the fireworks?" MK asks, looking up at the empty sky. Chen and Monkey King follow his gaze, seeing that the boy was right. The darkening sky was now quiet.

MK uses his gold vision, gasping dramatically when he sees something in the distance. "The city!"
"THE FIREWORKS!"

MK turns to Monkey King with a disappointed expression, and while Chen looks between them and the city in confusion.

"Oh- also, people getting hurt! I guess..." Monkey King adds, not really meaning it. Chen rolls his eyes. "Can someone PLEASE tell me what's going on? I can't see with special vision like you two do." He points out.

"Oh right- the city is under attack! C'mon, Chen! Let's go take care of business!" MK pipes up, grabbing Chen's wrist. He's about to jump off the cliff they stood on when Monkey King grabs them both, sitting them on his cloud.

"Wait- what?"
"What're you-"
"No one messes with MY New Years. Let's go!" Monkey King interrupts the two, and he guides his cloud into the sky, heading toward the city of Megapolis.

As they drew nearer, Chen could finally make out the chaos and destruction that MK and Monkey King had seen. People were running and screaming, while small spider bots chased them down, trapping them and latching themselves on. Some people were wandering aimlessly with spider bots on their backs, acting like mindless zombies.

Marching slowly throughout the city was a giant spider mech, towering over the buildings. Monkey King hums in thought as he spots it. "Huh. Looks like Spider Queen crawled out of her cesspit." He declares.

MK, seeing the spider bots, starts freaking out, clambering on top of Monkey King and Chen to get away. "EW! SPIDERS! GET IT AWAY FROM ME GET IT AWAY!"

"OW! STOP MK! YOU'RE PULLING MY HAIR!" Chen yells, trying to get MK down. Monkey King starts losing control of the cloud, and to make MK stop he dumps the two boys on a nearby building. "Get off, MK!"

Chen and MK get to their feet, seeing that Monkey King hadn't stopped. "Wait, what are you-"
"Where are you going?!"

Monkey King sighs, turning to the two boys. "If MK can't handle a little spider, how are you supposed to help me with that?" He asks, gesturing to the giant mech. "I'll handle this one, bud. You guys just hang tight."

"Wait, what about me? I'm not scared of some little spider!" Chen points out, annoyed. Monkey King looks back at him. "Look Chen, I know you want to help. But we only just started training with your powers. You're not gonna be a match for the Spider Queen. You guys just stay here. I'll be back."

"Wait! We can still-" MK tries to object, but Monkey King was already gone, leaving the two boys on the roof of the building.

"Help..."

Chen growls in frustration. "Come on! You're not even giving me a chance here!" He yells at the sky. Of course, he never got a response.
"Come on, MK. Take us to that mech."

—

Jade groans as he comes to, opening his eyes. Everything was blurry, and for a few seconds he couldn't see properly. His head pounded, the start of a migraine forming.

As he tries to look around, a sharp, electrifying jolt shoots through him, and he screams in pain, trying to break free of his confinement.
After a few seconds the electricity stops, and the snake demon gasps, his muscles burning and aching.

"Well, would ya lookie here! Our little snake friend finally decided to wake up." A taunting voice giggles, and Jade looks around to see the Spider Queen looking up at him.

It was only now that Jade realised he was hanging upside down from the ceiling, stuck in the Spider Queens webs. He kicks and struggles against them, but when he does, another jolt of electricity courses through his body, causing to scream in pain once more.

Spider Queen chuckles, watching him with sadistic glee. "Oh I wouldn't try that, sweet thing." she coos, reaching up to grab the snake demons chin and forcing him to face her. "These special webs were designed to hold much more powerful demons than you." She states, a smirk gracing her lips. "Too bad you're not at the top of that list, huh Jade Warrior?"

"My Queen."

Spider Queen lets go of Jade's chin, turning around to face the small voice. "What is it?" She asks, clearly annoyed at the interruption.
Jade turns his attention to the small girl standing behind the spider demon. Her hair was cut to the shoulders, and she wore a blue and white dress that fell to her ankles, with a clip in her hair that resembled small horns.

The girl looks up at the snake demon, and Jade felt that all too familiar chill crawl up their spine.
He knew exactly who he was looking at.

"The Monkey King and his protégé's are on their way." The small girl informs, not even looking at the snake demon. At this news, Spider Queens smile brightens once more. "Well, why didn't you say so? Let's go greet them, shall we?" The spider says gleefully, walking from the room.

The girl turns to follow her but stops, turning to Jade. The snake demon stiffens as the small voice finally speaks to him, cold and full of anger.

"You have a lot of explaining to do."

With that she turns and leaves, leaving Jade alone with a sense of growing dread.

Jade discreetly tries wriggle free of the webbing, but so far it has proven impossible for the snake demon. Every time he'd move too much, he'd get a strong electrical shock. Other times it'd go off at random, leaving him exhausted.

These webs did more than just shock them. It was also draining him of their life force, leaving them weak.

That's when Jade heard a loud thump from outside. They tense up, looking towards the wall where it had come from.

The snake blinks, their vision changing to heat vision. Now able to vaguely see figures through the wall, Jade soon spotted who the culprit was. He freezes at the sight of them, eyes widening in fear.

Sun Wukong was right on the other side of the wall, and he was confronting Spider Queen.

He couldn't make out what they were saying, but it didn't take long for the two of them to start to battle.
For a while, it seemed like Monkey King was going to win.

Jade almost didn't sense the two faint figures land on the outside of the mech, but he quickly swivels his head to look. It took a minute to realise who they were, since they were so faint through the metal walls.
Chen's familiar aura shined through, followed by MK's. It seemed like they too were watching the fight between Spider Queen and Sun Wukong.

Jade observes as Sun Wukong throws Spider Queen at a wall, and she takes this as her chance to disappear into the shadows. The snake demon could see her clearly, but obviously the sage could not.

The Monkey King suddenly lunges towards another, much smaller figure, expecting it to be Spider Queen.

But the small figure, who's body heat was glowing a bright blue, dodges his attack with ease.

Jade jolts as there's a loud crack in the wall from Wukong's punch, his heart racing. He was worried for a moment that the sage was going to demolish the metal structure keeping them separated, but luckily for them it stood strong.

Jade lets out a sigh of relief, only to scream out in pain as the electricity strikes once more. But this time, through his own screams, the snake demon could just make out the cries of agony of Sun Wukong coming from the other room.

—

MK and Chen were sitting on top of the Spider Mech, the younger boy using gold vision and narrating to Chen what was happening.
"Monkey King just attacked this weird skeleton thingy- wait, he missed- how did he miss- what is that?! Monkey King! Look out!"

Chen stiffens as MK continues talking, growling in frustration at the fact he couldn't see a thing through the damn mech walls like MK.

MK falls silent, leaving Chen in suspense. He was about to ask what was happening when a scream of agony echoes through the mech, making his blood run cold.
A large, powerful blast knocks the two boys off of the mech, sending them falling to the ground below.

They hit the ground, the wind being knocked out of them. Chen groans as he gets to his knees, helping MK. "MK, are you ok? What the heck happened?" He asks as the two boys get to their feet.

MK clutches his staff tightly, starting to freak out. "M-Monkey King! H-he just- the Spider Queen just- and the bone thingy-" he stammers, at a loss.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Calm down- take a deep breath." Chen says, grabbing MK's shoulders and turning him to face him, concerned for his younger brother. "Tell me what you saw."

MK takes a deep breath, trying to steady his shaky breathing. "Spider Queen captured Monkey King. H-he was winning, and then-" he stops, too shocked to speak.

Chen's eyes widen in shock. Before he could ask further questions, the two heard something approaching. When they turn, they see a bunch of spider bots heading their way. MK lets out a shriek, hugging his staff tightly.

"We need to get out of here!"

Chen grabs MK's arm, dragging him behind him as he begins to run. He looks around, looking for a place to go. He kicks a few bots away when they get too close, determined to protect himself and his brother.

As they ran, something lands on Chen's head. He yells, dropping MK's hand as he frantically tries to pull whatever it was that landed on him. But it clung on, determined to stay. He grabs it's legs, feeling the cold metal under his palm as he tries to yank it off. "Get off!"

"Hang on!" MK yells, swinging his staff. It's strikes the critter, sending it flying and smashing into a wall. Chen looks up to see the critter was another spider bot.

MK was shaking as he clutches his staff, freaked out even more. Chen takes a deep breath, freaked out himself, and quickly pulls MK into a tight embrace. "Thanks."
Pulling away he once again he grabs his wrist, and the two boys start racing through the city again, trying to find help.

—

(Earlier...)

"Your food might have permanently damaged my taste buds! Why would you ever sell anything this hot?!" A customer shrieks, repeatedly banging the service bell of a spicy food stand.

A hand grabs onto the customers wrist, stopping their annoying ringing. The server glares down at them in unspoken fury, on the brink of snapping. But instead he puts on a bright smile, giving the customer a cheery attitude. "Oh, dear customer! The spice level was no mistake. I, Red Son, have devised the perfect culinary experience!" The fire demon declares, pulling out a chart.

"If you would direct your attention down to this chart here, it clearly ranks the spice level from "Very Hot" to "INFERNO!" You ordered "Very Hot", so-" Red Son is interrupted by the infuriated customer, neither noticing the shrieking people in the background. "But it's the lowest one!"

This infuriates Red Son. "Oh, so I guess I'm meant to make barbecue for peasants with little, unworthy, disappointing taste buds that shame their fathers. Is that it?! Huh?!" the fire demon snaps. The customer leans over the counter, grabbing him by his shirt. "Look, I want to speak to the manager."

Red Son's hand clenches into a fist, taking a deep breath. "Fine- fine! It's your funeral." He declares, pointing behind him. The Demon Bull King, who'd been busy preparing some food, turns to the customer with a deadly glare that could kill.

Seeing this, the customer back-pedals, stammering over their words. "Uh- I-I actually didn't need taste buds anyway so thank you for your service and have a prosperous and fulfilling New Year!" with that they run away screaming, almost getting stepped on by a giant mech leg.

Red Son face palms, shaking his head in disappointment. "Father, you can't just scare away every single customer that complains." He states, turning to his father. "This is our chance at something great!"

"GREAT?!" DBK roars in outrage. "I am the Demon Bull King! What would you have me be? The king of street food?!" He asks, gesturing to the meat and dishes around them. Red Son stammers, trying to keep his calm.

"Well, yes? I mean, after our most recent humiliating defeat I thought a fresh start was exactly what we needed!" He exclaims, wrapping an arm around DBK's face. "Just you and me working together, father and son! No evil plans, no... talking bones..." Remembering the incident, Demon Bull King growls. Red Son chuckles awkwardly, letting go of his fathers face. "Sorry, fresh wound..."

"Enough!" DBK snaps, slamming his fists on the counter to silence his son. "I may have failed as a conqueror, but I will NOT be made a FOOL!"

All of a sudden the roof of their stall is ripped off, the Spider Queen's mech standing right over them. Red Son gasps, stumbling back. "Um- father?" He gestures to the giant mech.

DBK turns to look, only to be snatched by webs. The demon bull tries to pull them off, but more surround him. With one pull he's hauled into their air, being carried towards the spider mech.

"Father!" Red Son yells. He's suddenly tackled to the ground by a creeping spider bot. It tries to bite him, aiming to inject her with its poison but the fire prince holds it back.
With a fierce yell he burns it up, the bot shattering to pieces with a fiery punch until there was nothing but a small case holding its venom. He grabs it, before running back to the stand where he hid her jet.

"I'm sorry, father. I will come back!"

—

Wukong struggles against the webs, only to be brutally shocked once more. He's been trying to free himself for some time now, but the webs were too strong.

The door creaks open, and the sage looks up just in time to see Spider Queen dragging in the Demon Bull King's unconscious form. The spider giggles to herself as she places the bull in the centre of the room, making sure he was restrained.

"How long do you think this is gonna hold us, princess? You're webs aren't THAT strong-" Wukong starts, only to be shocked by the webs again. Spider Queen chuckles, turning to the monkey.
"Talk all you want, Monkey King. I'll be the last one laughing when I finish taking over this city."

"In your dreams, princess."

"It's Queen to you! You won't be the King after today. Oh and by the way, I found a little friend of yours." She says with a grin. "It's been a while since he's seen a little sunlight, but I'm sure you'll recognise this pale face."

She points to the ceiling. Following her gaze, Wukong soon spots another bundle of webbing stuck to the roof, conveniently out of the way of his sight.

He had to squint to see in the darkness, but when he did, his eyes widen in shock and disbelief.

There, hanging upside down on the ceiling looking back at him, was the familiar face of Shé Wángzǐ*. His red eyes peer down at him, observing the monkey from the darkness.

"What?! How did you-" He blurted, before quickly shutting his mouth upon seeing the Spider Queen's smug reaction. She wanted to rile him up.

The sage smirks, putting on a cheeky demeanour once more. "Well, I didn't realise you'd go this far to get a reaction out of me. Do you have a crush on me or something, princess?"

The smirk is immediately wiped off her face, quickly changing to a scowl. "Laugh and joke all you want, Monkey King. Just you wait. By the end of the day, I'LL be the new ruler of this city."

"Sure, sure."

DBK stirring catches their attention, and the two turn to see the bull opening his eyes, snapping to attention. "What!? What is this?! Who dares-"

Spider Queen chuckles, lowering herself from the ceiling in front of the bull. "Why me, of course."

As they talk, Wukong glances back to Shé wángzǐ, seeing that the snake demon was now looking intently at DBK and Spider Queen. He scowls at the snake, angry that he was showing no reaction what so ever to the monkey other than a blank stare.

The traitor wouldn't even look at him.

"I did manage to capture an old friend of yours." Spider Queens voice interrupts his thoughts, and Wukong glances over just in time to see that she'd turned DBK's head in his direction.

He grins at the bull, already seeing the anger building up in him. "Sup, Bull King? You too, huh?"

"MONKEY KING!" DBK roars in a blind rage, struggling against his restraints. This only causes it to shock everyone tied up in the webs, causing them to yell in pain.

Spider Queen cackles sadistically, watching the show.

Her laughter is cut short when the door bursts open and two of her henchmen, Huntsman and Syntax, followed by the little girl, enter the room.
"My Queen. I have news regarding-" Syntax starts, only to be interrupted by Huntsman. "My Queen! I have news regarding Red Son!"

"Useless offspring..." DBK mutters under his breath, but everyone overheard. Spider Queen hums, a smile on her face. "Mhm. Go on."

"He actually, uh, got away..." Huntsman explains, avoiding the queens gaze. Hearing this DBK perks up, his mood doing a 180. "I didn't doubt him for a second! You will NEVER catch him!" He cackles.

Spider Queen wasn't pleased by this turn out, turning to her henchmen with a glare. "Find him! NOW!" She snaps, and the two henchmen quickly retreat to follow her orders. "Yes, my Queen."

The little girl, who'd been standing to the side quietly, finally speaks up. "My Queen. What about the Monkey King's protégé's? Perhaps they should join their master." She says, turning to the sage. Wukong glares back, hiding the growing dread and worry for his students.

"Yeah, and those kids too! Can't have any problematic children causing me problems!" Spider Queen states, walking away. Leaving Wukong, DBK and Shé Wángzǐ together with the other demons she'd captured.

—

At the docks, Pigsy, Sandy, Tang, Mei and Rey, who'd made it back to the group in time, made it to Sandy's boat, the gentle giant trying to get it started. Tang looks back at the city, seeing how the mech seemed to be getting closer. "Ah! Let's go! Let's go! Let's go!" the man urges. As Pigsy starts to drag the anchor up, Mei looks at Tang in disbelief. "What about MK and Chen?" she asks, clearly worried for her two best friends. Rey nods in agreement, looking back at the city to see if there was any sign of their friends.

"They're with the Monkey King!" Pigsy interrupts as Sandy starts the boat. "They're safer than anyone!"
Tang looks back at the city, letting out a laugh. "Ha! Try turning us into spiders when we're in the middle of the o-" he starts to taunt, only to stop short upon seeing the thousands of spider bots hiding in the shadows, their beady eyes staring at the group. "-cean..."
Tang! You jinxed us!" Rey whispered, horrified.

A tense and horrifying silence fills the air, just as Sandy's boat starts to malfunction. Mei laughs nervously. "Um- Sandy? We gotta get going soon!" she says.
Rey could hear Sandy talking to himself, before peeking his head out with a worried, apologetic look on his face. "I don't usually have this problem! Honest!"
"We're all gonna die." Tang whispers, making Rey gulp in fear upon the realisation.

"Now, now, my pets. Be patient!" a gravelly voice speaks from the shadows, and Rey looks in that direction. From the darkness, one of Spider Queen's henchmen steps out, grinning evilly at the group. "Daddy's gonna have his fun."

Rey and Mei cling onto each other, terrified. As Mei and Pigsy yell at Sandy to get them out of there, Rey was too panicked to think straight. Their chest tightens, finding it difficult to breathe as a second, larger spider demon steps into view behind the first one. They vaguely remember Mei drawing her sword, still holding her cousin close.

Suddenly, an ear-piercing scream fills the air, causing everyone to look up at the sky. Rapidly approaching was MK and Chen, the two of them screaming. They both hit the ground, forcing the spider demons to step back. As they get to their feet, Chen takes a defensive stance upon seeing the spider demons, while MK quickly turns around to the boat with a look of relief. "Guys! You're okay! I thought you turned into gross spider thingies! They're everywhere!" he dry heaves, trembling as he clutches his staff. "I can still feel them crawling all over me!"

"MK! Focus, dang it!" Chen snaps, turning his brothers head in the direction of the spider demons. MK shakes him off with a disgusted groan. "Yep! Working on it!"

Chen and MK face the spider demons, and to the young man's shock instead of seeing an expression of shock or surprise, the demons had a look of amusement on their faces. Huntsman started talking into an earpiece. "We found the Monkey Kings students. Exactly where you said they'd be." He says with a grin.

"Oh no..." MK's face pales, while Chen freezes in place. They were looking for them.

MK reacts first by grabbing Chen, dragging him toward the boat. The spider demons chase after them, closing in quickly. Pigsy grabs MK's hand, and the young man gives him a boost up before grabbing onto Rey's out-stretched hand, clambering to safety as Pigsy yells at Sandy to do something. Tang kneels down next to MK, trying to calm the panicked boy. Chen tries to hide his fear, taking a defensive stance next to Mei as he faces the spider demons.
Sandy finally comes out, holding a small remote in hand. "Found it!" he cries out before pressing the button. A moment of silence follows, and Mei interrupts it. "Uh, Sandy?"

"Give it a minute!"

"We don't HAVE a minute!" Chen snaps, turning his attention back to the approaching spider demons. They had almost reached the boat by now.

All of a sudden a loud boom is heard, startling everyone on board. They all turn their attention to the distance to see a large drone rapidly approaching. Sandy grabs everyone on board the boat with ease, throwing them onto the drone and to safety. Chen could hear the spider demons shouting something, but he couldn't make out what over the sound of the loud engines.

As soon as they were safe, Sandy turns to the group, who were still laying on the deck of the drone. "So, what do you guys think? Been saving her for a rainy day!" he exclaims, and Chen sits up to look around. Rey had fallen next to him, the person laying face down and refusing to move.

Mei gets up, taking out her phone. "Real cool, Sandy! It's awesome for taking in..." she trails off as she goes to record the city, only to see the destruction from the spider demons. "...the horrifying vistas."

Rey hurriedly gets to their knees, looking around before their gaze lands on Chen. Ignoring their own well-being, they look the young man over. "Chen! MK! Are you guys okay? What happened? We thought you guys were with the Monkey King!" They say worriedly, before looking around in search of the sage. "Where is he?"

Chen looks at his friend, brows furrowed as he thinks of what to say. But MK beat him to it. "Spider Queen captured Monkey King." He explains quietly. At this, everyone was shocked. "What?!"
"That's not possible!"

"Yeah, her and this weird skeleton thing. She got him, and then I- I didn't even try to help. He lost, and then-" MK trails off, still in shock. Rey turns to Chen, equally shocked. "This isn't true, right?" They ask nervously.
Chen looks away, a dark angry scowl on his face as he gets to his feet. "Yeah, it is. She took down Monkey King." He mutters simply, fists clenched as he begins to pace. "There's no hope for us."

Mei looks at the two boys in surprise, walking over to them. "What? That's crazy talk! C'mon guys! We got this! We can beat her-"

"She beat the Monkey King, Mei! We don't got this!" MK snapped out in frustration, surprising the girl into silence. Realising what he did, he quickly backed up, looking away guiltily. "I'm sorry, it's just..." he sighs, sitting down. "I don't know what to do." He says quietly. Mei looks over to him, then turns her attention to Chen. The young man was too busy pacing back and forth, small green sparks of energy surrounding him.

"We could've helped him... I could've done something..." Chen mutters to himself over and over, beating himself up for not doing anything in the moment Monkey King needed help.

Pigsy kneels down next to MK, placing a hand in the younger boys shoulder. "Kid, no one ever knows what to do. Not really." He says gently. Mei nods, smiling at her best friends. "But we're going to figure this out."
"Together." Tang pipes up. MK looks up at them, considering their words. But to Chen, it all just fell on deaf ears.

"That's right, kiddos. Just as soon as we deal with that!" Sandy shouts in a panic, pointing to the sky. Everyone follows his finger to see a large jet falling towards them, the pilot screaming his lungs out.
Everyone ducks for cover except for Sandy, who protectively jumps in front. He punches the jet, busting it into pieces. And accidentally catching a familiar, red-headed fire demon.

"Red Son?!" MK shouts in disbelief, causing Sandy to quickly drop the demon bull prince. Red Son didn't even have time to react before Chen pounced on him, pinning him down. "What the hell are you doing here?!" He shouts, gripping the front of Red Son's jacket and shaking him. "You here to take us back to the Spider Queen, huh?!"

"Get off me you demented rat!" Red Son shrieks, his fist bursting into flames as he goes to punch Chen. The younger man easily catches it, unfazed by the flames as he lashes out at Red Sons gut.
And thus the two began to wrestle, rolling around in the deck of the drone as they try to land a hit on one another, hurling insults at each other as they block each others attacks.

Watching them in stunned silence for a moment, the others quickly take action, Sandy and Rey prying Chen off of Red Son while Mei, Pigsy and Tang all hold the demon prince down. The gentle blue giant holds the furious Chen in the air, preventing him from getting away. Red Son wasn't pleased by this turn of events, either. "Get off me, you filthy peasants!"

"Let go of me, Sandy! I can take that matchstick any day!"

The group ignore the two boys complaints, as MK faces Red Son. "What are you doing here, Red Son?" He interrogates. Mei nods, piping up. "Yeah, spill! You one of Spider Queen's henchmen now, huh?"

At this accusation, Red Son was offended. "Henchmen?!" He seethes, throwing everyone off. "Not that any of you would care-"
"You're right! We don't!" Chen spat, and Red Son shoots him a deadly glare as he continues. "But my father was captured by that eight-legged freak! So, if you'll excuse me, I'll just steal this ship and be on my way."

"Wait, what? That's not-"
"YOU'RE NOT-"

Red Son groans in frustration, rubbing his face. "Ugh, fine! Will you let me steal your ship so I can go save my father and also the world from this spider menace, please?" He asks more politely. This doesn't help, however, as the gang all start yelling at him that he couldn't steal the ship. All except Sandy and Rey, the latter standing quietly to the side while Sandy considered the demon's reasoning.

The red-headed demon gestures to his own broken jet. "Well, I can't use mine! It's busted!" He points out angrily. Chen scoffs, crossing his arms as Sandy holds him above the ground. "Good! You deserve it."

Red Son scowls at his unwanted input, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a green vial. "But what I do have is this." He states, holding it up for the group to see. Rey peers their head over Sandy's shoulder curiously. "What is it?"

"It's Spider Queen's venom, you nitwit. It's turned everyone into her slaves, but I can make an antidote! However, I'll need supplies. And the only place to get them is..." He points to the sky, and everyone follows his gaze in confusion. MK gasps, eyes sparkling with wonder. "Space?"

"NO, YOU NOODLE BRAIN!" Red Son yells, rolling his eyes. "The Celestial Realm!" He informs. Tang gasps, getting into the red-headed demons face. "The Celestial Realm?! The realm of heavenly deities and immortal beings?!" He asks excitedly as Pigsy tugs him back by his scarf. Red Son rolls his eyes. "Sure."

"So if we help you get to spa- uh, the Celestial Realm- you can fix all of this?" MK asks, his question sounding genuine. Everyone turns to the boy, not liking where this was going. "Kid, you're not seriously considering this, are you?" Pigsy asks. MK looks away, scratching his neck. "Well..."

"WHAT?!"
"MK, are you serious?! It's Red... Boy!"
"He's literally a demon!"
"Oh, pretty rich coming from Pig man and the blue thing!" Red Son shot back at Pigsy. Chen scowls, turning to face MK. "MK, you're joking, right?! If you think for a second I'm going to work with this half demon princess-"

"You keep your trap shut, you rat! You can't talk like that if we're related!" Red Son shot back. Sandy and Rey share a confused look. "You're what now?"

"Oh ho ho ho, trust me! If I had a say in who I was related to I'd GLADLY choose not to be family to you!" He yells, struggling against Sandy's hold.

As the rest of the group argue, MK was silent, thinking it over before finally making up his mind. "Let's help him."

"Huh?!"

"What other choice do we have? Look, Spider Queen won't see this coming. It's the best plan we got! So I say, let's help a demon rob the Celestial Realm."

—

Chen watches Red Son carefully as the red-haired demon finishes drawing up a spell on the open deck of the drone, not trusting him one bit.
Sandy had eventually put the young man down on the promise that he'd leave Red Son be to help them, not taking no for an answer. As Red Son straightens and looks down upon his handiwork, Chen follows his gaze to look down at the strange markings and symbols left on the ground. "So what exactly is that?" he asks suspiciously. Red Son turns to give him a disapproving scowl. "If you were paying attention, you'd know that once this is activated, it'll create an inter-dimensional portal to the Celestial Realm." he informs, a hint of disgust at Chen's lack of knowledge. The lack of respect makes Chen's blood boil.

"And how exactly does this work?" Tang asks curiously, wanting to know how exactly it will get them to their destination. Red Son rolls his eyes. "If I tried to explain howmystical inter-dimensional travel works to a bunch of peasants, it'd melt your brains!" he states matter-of-factly, tapping his skull to further prove his point.

"Don't speak to my dad like that flame-head!" Chen spat, Rey quickly grabbing his arm to stop him from marching over to the bull prince. Red Son scoffs. "Oh shut your trap you rabid animal-"

"Would you two quit it?!" MK intervenes, causing the two of them to turn to the boy. "Look, we we don't have any other option. We have to trust him." he starts, only for Red Son to chuckle at his attempt to persuade his friends. "Great speech, Noodle Boy. Super motivational." he says sarcastically. Chen scowls as the demon turns back to the symbols, dramatically preparing to open the portal only to be interrupted by Tang.
"Uh, are we sure mortals can travel to the Celestial Realm?" he asks. Red Son rolls his eyes. "Of course they can!"
"Safely?" Pigsy pipes up suspiciously, to which Red Son shrugs. "Sure. Probably."

"Probably!?"

Before anyone could stop him Red Son flies the drone through the portal, causing everyone to scream. They safely emerge on the other side, the only casualty being Sandy's hair on fire. Red Son turns to the group. "I did say it'd melt your brains."

Chen was about to speak up when Sandy's excited gasp cut him off, and he turns his attention to what the gentle giant was looking at. Everyone's eyes widen in amazement at the sight in front of them. A giant golden palace surrounded by clouds and mist lay before them, the sunlight making it appear more heavenly and divine.

"The Celestial Realm!" Rey whispers beside Chen. "I never thought I'd ever be able to see it-"

Pigsy's voice cuts them off. "So some special pills, a fancy peach, and a furnace. Where are we gonna find these things?!" he questions the red-haired demon. Everyone turns to him, and Red Son hesitates.
Mei gasps. "Red Boy doesn't know!" she points out. At this, Red Son turns to her with a scowl. "I know they're here somewhere! I'm a demon! It's not like I've been here before!" he states. At this, Chen laughs through gritted teeth. "So- we followed you here for nothing?! Just great! What's the plan now, huh? We'll just run around like headless chickens and hope we stumble across the things we need?!" he asks sarcastically, practically head-butting the red-headed demon. Red Son's hair flares, showing his growing anger. "If you'd stop whining and just listen-"

"Actually, I think I know where we can find them!" Tang interrupts, and the two turn to him. Tang pushes his glasses up his nose, clearing his throat. "In the legend, Monkey King stole-"
"Stole? That doesn't sound like the Monkey King I know." Sandy pipes up. Tang clears his throat, correcting himself.
"Borrowed the Peaches of Immortality from the Heavenly Orchard. So unless they did the sensible thing and moved them, they'll still be there!"

Chen rolls his eyes. Of course Tang knew where everything would be. His gaze lands back on Red Son, a dark scowl on his face as he eyes the red-haired demon warily. He unconsciously rubs his arm, remembering the time he was trapped in the calabash only a few weeks ago.
He didn't care if Red Son was helping them now. He knew it would only be a matter of time before he and DBK would go back to their old ways and try to take over the city. Again.

"...but my guess is it's in the Jade Emperor's throne room." Tang's voice interrupts his thoughts, and Chen snaps back to reality, realising he had stopped paying attention. Whoops.

Red Son stretches, getting onto the railing of the drone. "Alright, then. I'll be off to grab that peach. Toodles!" he states, leaping off only for Mei to snag onto his coat, hoisting him back onto the drone. "What? Hey! Like we'd just let you wander off on your own!" she declares, holding him tight. Chen snickers at the sight of the dragon girl holding the demon prince like a cat.
The red-haired demon manages to pry himself free, glaring at Mei as he brushes himself off. "You just wait here like an obedient little- OW!" he yelps as Mei bites his hand. "I'm keeping you were I can see you!"

Chen notices Rey cringe at the sight of their cousin biting the demon, but Chen found it hilarious.

"I'll go for the pills." Pigsy says. "They're just regular looking pills, right? Round-kind-of-shaped-like pills? You know, like normal pills?" He turns to Tang, who sighs. "I better come too..."
MK states that he's going to go get the furnace, but when Pigsy asks if it's such a good idea to go alone, the young man leaps off without any consideration.

Chen watches him leave, concerned. "I'll... just go with Mei and carrot head. Someone's gotta keep an eye on him." He states, glaring in Red Son's direction. Red Son returns the look with a glare of his own.
"I'll, um, just stay on the boat with Sandy. J-just in case he needs help with something, ya know?" Rey says awkwardly, standing next to Sandy and Mo.

"Then it's a plan. You guys get the items and get back here as fast as you can. Rey and I will stay back here and knock some sense into the engines." Sandy beams. Chen nods, and he, Red Son and Mei all leap off the drone, heading toward the Heavenly Orchard.

As they leave, Rey turns to help Sandy with the engines. As they work, they notice Mo attacking something. They approach him, crouching down to get a closer look. "What do you have, little guy?" Rey questions curiously. Adjusting their glasses, they realise it's a small mechanical spider of some kind. They feel their skin crawl. "Um, Sandy?"

"What is it?" Sandy asks, walking over to Mo and Rey. "What you got there, Mo? Some kind of ominously beeping spider-themed tracker?" he asks. The small device suddenly exploded, surprising both of them.
"Should we be worried about that?" Rey asks nervously, glancing up at Sandy. Sandy was visibly nervous as well, but he smiles at the young dragon. "Um, I'm sure it's fine..." He reassures.

Chen, Red Son and Mei hide behind a tree as a few maidens carrying baskets of fruit pass by, giggling and gossiping amongst each other. Once they were gone, they sneak into the garden, the young man looking around warily for anyone nearby. The trio were quiet were a while, until Mei finally broke the silence.

"So, I heard you helped MK beat your dad." she says. Red Son stammers, turning to her with a glare. "That was one time!" he shouts. Mei giggles as Chen growls out a "Be quiet!" But Red Son ignores him.
"My father, the Great Demon Bull King, was...not himself..." He trails off, but upon seeing Mei's surprised expression he huffs in anger, hair blazing. "But in no other instance would I ever assist that sorry excuse of a hero!" he states.

Chen scoffs. "You're assisting us right now, idiot." he points out. Mei gasps, realising he was right. "Yeah! You are a hero!" she declares.
"Huh?"
"Wait what?"
"Red Son! Hero of the city! Saving dads! Saving the world! Saving spicy barbecue one bite at a time!" Mei says dramatically, shoving her phone in Red Son's face to show off his poster for his food stand. "Buy two, get one free-"

"WOULD YOU GIVE ME THAT?!" Red Son snaps, taking her phone and breaking it, only for her to pull out another one. "Let's just get this peach-"
"And get this over with! Finally! A good idea that came out of your mouth!" Chen gasps dramatically, speaking in an annoyingly high-pitched voice to get on the red-headed demons nerves. Red Son scowls. "Alright, what is your problem?! You're not still angry about the whole brainwashing thing, are you?" he scoffs in disgust. At this Chen scowls, furious that the demon was just brushing the whole incident off like it was nothing.

"What the hell do you mean "still angry"?! Of COURSE I'm still angry about you hiring some demons to brain wash me! In fact, I'm MORE than angry!" Chen spat, getting right in Red Son's face. The red-haired demon had to take a step back. "Instead of, oh I don't know, trying to talk to me like a NORMAL person that I'm some missing family member, you tried to get two morons to brainwash me into thinking I was a part of the family! I mean come on?! Who the hell does that?!"

"As if you'd have listened to any of us!" Red Son shot back. "We're enemies, remember?! I bet you wouldn't have even given us a chance to explain!" he states. Chen pauses, knowing he was right. "Well- yeah, probably not- but that's not the point! You still tried to brainwash me! How long did you think that trick was gonna work, anyway?!" he argued, jabbing a finger at Red Son's chest. Red Son retaliates by pushing Chen back, causing him to stumble. "I don't know! It wasn't even my idea! I barely remember you! It was all mother!"

"Do you think I care whether it was your idea or not?! You were still in on it!" Chen growls, anger and hatred lacing his tone. Before he could step closer to the demon prince, Mei steps between them. "Alright girls, we get it! You both hate each other! Chen, you need to chill out. Right now, we need to focus on saving Monkey King and the city, alright?" Mei states. Chen growls, but knows she has a point. He steps back, crossing his arms in frustration. Red Son mimics, both boys avoiding looking at each other. Mei smiles. "Great! Let's go! Heroes on a quest!" she declares, running ahead of the duo.

Chen watches her leave, before turning to Red Son and leaning in close. "I want to make one thing clear, Flame head. No matter what happens today, I'm not going to forgive you after everything you and your family have done. I don't care if we're related by blood, I am not your brother. I never will be. Got it?" He hisses, keeping his voice quiet so Mei wouldn't hear.

Red Son scowls, pressing a finger to Chen's forehead and pushing him back. "You've made yourself crystal clear, rat. Today we're allies, but once all this is over I never want to see your stupid face again."
"Glad we're on the same page, cow brain." With that, Chen follows after Mei, Red Son keeping a few paces behind.

Unbeknownst to the duo, a large figure watches them from the tree, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

Back inside the Spider Mech, Jade twists and turns in the webbing he's trapped in, trying to find a weak point. Luckily Spider Queen had left the room for a while, but he could feel Wukong's gaze on him, analysing and judging his every move. Jade tries to ignore it, focusing on trying to escape the webs and get away before Wukong could. Only Buddha knows what'll happen if the monkey got out first.

"Hey, snake breath! Are you gonna stop ignoring me? Or are you too cowardly to face me?" Wukong states, trying to get on the snake demons nerves. Unfortunately for him, it doesn't work. Jade continues to ignore him.

DBK scoffs. "There's no point, simian, the snake's mind is no longer his own. Nothing you say will make them react to you." he remarks. Wukong rolls his eyes "Pssh, c'mon! I'm the Monkey King, remember? I can get on anyone's nerves! I mean look at you!"

Jade lets them bicker, continuing to work at the webs.

Chen stands back as and watches as Red Son stands on Mei's shoulders, the two working together to get a peach from one of the many trees. Red Son grumbles and mutters to himself as he reaches up, trying to get a hold of one of the branches.
Mei keeps a firm hold on Red Son's legs. "You know we'd be able to get a peach sooner if you'd help us out, right Chen?" She points out. Chen rolls his eyes, shaking his head. "Mei, I get it, you're strong. But I don't think your strong enough to hold two full grown demons." he points out. The dragon girl hums, thinking about it. "You never know, I could!"

"Whatever you say, Mei." Chen chuckles, crossing his arms as he watches them. Unknown to him, a large figure slowly and sneakily approaches him from behind. He doesn't notice the presence until a massive shadow falls over him, blocking out the sunlight. Raising a confused brow the young man turns around, only to be grabbed by his face, his yell of surprise muffled by a giant hand. He's lifted off the ground, left frantically kicking and unable to see what was happening around him. It only took a few seconds to realise he couldn't breathe either.

Chen could barely hear what was going on around him, vaguely hearing the voices of Mei and Red Son chatting behind him. To get away, the young man pries and pulls at the fingers, aiming to hurt whoever had a hold on him. It works, because the demon yelps in pain and grabs onto Chen's jacket, hoisting him in the air and letting go of his face, giving him back the ability to breathe. "Damn you, you little beast!"

"What do you think you're doing with my best friend?!"

Chen looks up to see who dared grab him, only to find one of the Spider Queen's henchmen. The spider demon Goliath grins, holding up Chen by the scruff of his jacket. "You three are coming with me." he states, turning his attention to Mei and Red Son, the latter still sitting on the dragon girls shoulders. Chen growls, kicking at the spider demon. "Like hell we are!"

Before the spider demon could respond, a wall of flames hits him in his face, causing him to scream in pain and drop Chen. The young demon falls to the ground on his back, grunting in pain from the rough landing. "You got me in my favourite eye!" Goliath yells as he goes to blindly punch the one responsible. Mei dodges out of the way, still holding Red Son on her shoulders. "C'mon lets go!" Mei yells to Chen, ignoring Red Son's yells to put him down.

Chen quickly scrambles to his feet, following Mei back to the drone with the spider demon right on his heels.

Rey and Sandy step back as the former pushes down the cover with effort. "Alright, that should do it, right?" they ask, looking up at the gentle blue giant. Sandy nods with a smile. "Yep! We'll be good to go-"

"SANDY!"

The two quickly turn to see Pigsy and Tang running toward the drone, the pig man carrying a bottle with golden pills. "Pigsy! Tangy! You got the pills!" Sandy says excitedly. Rey looks up to see what they were running away from, eyes widening at the sight of a familiar purple figure running towards them. "Yeah, and they also brought company!"
"They followed us here!" Tang yells. Sandy and Rey share a concerned look. "I guess we did have to worry about that tracker..."
"Where are the others?" Pigsy asks, looking around. That's when a fain tscream rapidly approaching catches their attention, and the group look up to see Mei, Red Son and Chen racing toward the drone with another spider demon right on their heels. They make it to the drone just in time, Mei still carrying the red-headed demon.
"Start the engines! It's time to go!" Tang says, but Pigsy cuts him off. "What about MK?"

"Sandy! Start the drone!" Another voice screams. The group turn to see MK not being chased by a spider demon, but by two large Lion Guardians. They could see he also had the furnace.

Sandy starts up the engines and takes off, MK riding his new mechanical beast being able to make the leap and land safely on the drone. The drone speeds away, returning to the mortal realm.

The team travel back to the familiar skies of the mortal realm, taking a moment to regroup before heading towards Flower Fruit Mountain.
As the drone speeds through the sky, one of the first things Chen had noticed was MK's enthusiasm and hope had seemed to return, relieving Chen. The second thing he'd noticed was that Red Son was now avoiding him, sitting on the drones raised platform out of the way. But if Chen were being honest, he was also avoiding the bull prince after what happened in the Heavenly Orchard. The young man just couldn't wrap his head around why Red Son had helped him out with the Spider demon. He could've just escaped back to the drone with the peach, but he didn't. Was this some kind of manipulation tactic? To get hm to trust him? What did it mean?

As the young man paced the deck on the opposite side of the drone, he felt a an arm wrap around his shoulder, pulling him into a side hug. Chen tenses up and quickly turns to see Mei smiling at him.
"C'mon, Chen! Why the long face? We have a better chance at beating the Spider Queen! Aren't you excited to beat some spider demon butt?" She asks enthusiastically, poking his cheek. Chen raises a brow, unbothered by her excited behaviour. He was more concerned on other things.
"Yeah, sure, excited." he mutters indifferently, looking around at the group before his eyes landed back on Red Son. The demon prince was staring out at the ocean, the wind blowing through his red hair.

Mei follows Chen's gaze, also noticing the demon prince. She hums, gaining Chen's attention once more. "You know... it wouldn't hurt to thank him for rescuing you with that Spider demon back there."
Chen whips his head around so fast he almost got whiplash. "What?! I'm not thanking him for that! I could've gotten out myself!" he yells, only for Mei to quickly cover his mouth with her hand. She rolls her eyes. "Sure you could, Chen. But the point is he helped you. Could you put your pride aside for a minute to at least show some gratitude?"

Chen scowls, crossing his arms. He didn't want to, but he knew Mei won't stop pestering him otherwise. "Fine... but you know this doesn't mean anything, right? We're just gonna go back to being enemies after today, anyway." he states matter of factly, truly believing that Red Son and DBK would just go back to their old ways. Mei shrugs. "Maybe, maybe not. We don't know that."

"We're here!"

Chen and Mei turn to see Flower Fruit Mountain ahead of them, where the group would move onto the next part of their plan and make an antidote.

They land safely on the beach, where Red Son immediately gets to work, drawing more symbols in the sand with a stick before setting up the furnace. He chuckles maniacally, opening the cap of the vial containing the Spider Queens venom and pouring its contents into the furnace. "I, Red Son, will bind the powers of the Celestial artefacts with the Spider Queen's own venom, save my father, and reforge the world as I see fit!" he declares, before cackling again. Chen, watching the display while leaning against a boulder, merely rolls his eyes.

"Red Son, that was amazing!" Mei pipes up with a grin. MK nods in agreement. "Such a good hero speech!"
The demon prince was offended at their words, spinning to face them. "Villain speech!" he corrects. "And perhaps my best of all time!"

Chen scoffs, glancing over to Pigsy as he asks Red Son what they were to do. At this, Red Son huffs. "We do nothing. I add the ingredients in a very precise order you wouldn't understand." He states, not noticing MK disappear for a moment. Mei raises a brow. "Uh, there's only two more ingredients, Red Boy."
"And I already chucked them in." MK adds from behind Red Son, surprising everyone. He chucks the other artefacts into the furnace, much to Red Sons dismay. "What?!"
"You're welcome!"

A puff of golden dust and smoke flies everywhere, knocking everyone over. They lay on the ground, coughing. Rey, having landed on their face, spits out sand and readjusts their glasses. When the group look up, they see the furnace glowing a warm golden hue. Getting to his feet, Chen gets up and walks towards the furnace, looking inside. Inside a golden liquid swirled and bubbled. Tang soon joins Chen, followed by MK. "Ooh! I think it worked!" he says.

"Alright! Time to take the fight back to the Spider Queen and end this nightmare once and for all!" MK declares. Chen steps away from the furnace, turning to MK. "And how exactly are we supposed to do that?" he asks. Pigsy nods. "Yeah, those spider people aren't just ognna line up for a sip."
"And even if they did, are we forgetting about Spider Queen? She defeated the Monkey King!" Tang pipes up. "How are you..."

"We'll find a way! We always do!" MK says determinedly. Sandy hums in thought. "Well, I might have an idea." he says, before pressing a button on his drone's remote. The engine whirrs as water shooters pop out of the drone, at the ready. Mei giggles. "Oh, yeah!"
"With this, we might have a chance!" MK says.

Everyone starts piling onto the drone again. Chen was about to follow the rest of the group when Mei grabs his shoulder, pulling him back slightly. The young demon turns to the dragon girl, who in turn clears her throat and gestures to Red Son. Knowing what she wanted him to do Chen rolls his eyes with a groan, begrudgingly walking over to the demon prince.

Red Son had his back to Chen, making sure the antidote was securely in place. The young man stands behind him awkwardly, glancing back at Mei who briefly gave him a shooing motion and a nod, urging him to continue.

"Hey, Flamehead."

Red Son tenses up at the name, letting out a grunt of disapproval before getting to his feet and turning to face him. "What do you want, rat?"
Chen scowls but takes a deep breath. "I wanted to thank you. For, you know, helping me out with that spider demon." he mutters.
Red Son stares at him for a moment, before quickly turning away from Chen quickly. "Ugh, don't think too much of it, rat. It was a one time thing and doesn't mean anything."

Chen glares at Red Son, but bites his tongue. A simple "you're welcome" would've been nice to hear, but it appeared that that wasn't going to happen. "Alright then." he grumbles, walking away.

"Wait, Chen."

Chen pauses, turning back to Red Son. The red-headed demon sighs, before facing him again. "I would like to apologise on behalf of the Demon Bull Family, for any pain or discomfort we may have caused with the whole calabash incident." he says, his tone rather quiet compared to his usual angry and brash one. Chen blinks, confused. He certainly wasn't expecting this. "What?"

"Didn't you hear a single thing I just said?!" And the tone was back again. "Do you realise how long I had been rehearsing that?!"
"It sounded like you rehearsed it."
Red Son groans in annoyance, rubbing his face. "Look, to tell you the truth I don't want to keep fighting about this. Despite my attempts to ignore the fact that you're my biological brother, I just... can't. Before I knew that information fighting you was fun. Annoying, but fun. But now it feels wrong." The demon prince leans on the railing, glaring down at the water. "So after today, let's just drop this fighting and go our seperate ways."

Chen hesitates, glancing over to Mei. The dragon girl was still watching the duo from a distance, giving Chen a thumbs up.
The young demon gives it a moment of thought, before leaning next to the railing beside Red Son. "You realise how confusing and... terrifying that was, right? Being stuck in a place that you didn't know with people who are your enemies, with no escape in sight. I had no idea what was going on or if it was ever going to end." he mutters, looking down at the water as well. Red Son hums. "I can only imagine."
"That had to be the worst way to find out you're related to be your nemesis." Chen adds. Red Son huffs. "My mother should've never trusted those imbeciles in the first place."

The two fall into an awkward silence, neither knowing what to say next. Chen finally speaks up. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you or the rest of the Demon Bull Family for what you've done to my family... but maybe we could make a truce?"
Red Son looks at him, confused. "A truce?"
"A truce to stop fighting each other. No more trying to kill each other. Got it?" Chen asks, turning to the demon prince. Red Son thinks for a moment, before nodding. "I'll try. But it won't be easy with three peasants getting in the way of my plans." he says light-heartedly, but Chen couldn't tell if he was joking or not.

"So we're good?" the young demon holds out a hand. Red Son looks down at it for a moment, staring at it in thought before shaking Chen's hand. "Yes, we are." he states dismissively. Chen lets go, noticing how Red Son wipes his hand on his jacket. "Right, now that that's settled, we should get going and head back to the city."
"Right, right. I'll just go, uh help Mei and MK with... stuff." Chen says, giving Red Son an awkward wave before wandering back to Mei.

The Dragon girl hurries over. "Sooo? How'd it go?" She asks. Chen glances back to Red Son, who was "busy" securing the antidote once more. "It actually... went better than I expected."

Spider Queen giggles gleefully as she sits upon her makeshift throne, celebrating the Year of the Spider. She watches the parade filled with spider zombie people walk by as she eats off a food platter displayed to her. The other henchmen stand by her side, as well as the little girl that had helped the queen accomplish her mission in the first place.
"Oh, here comes the spider float! And the spider dancers!" Spider Queen says excitedly, pointing to the parade. She gestures to her surroundings, proud of herself for her achievements. "This is how you rule the world!"

She stops mid laugh when she notices something in the distance, squinting to try and get a better look. "What is that?" she asks, pointing to a cardboard cutout of Monkey King slowly approaching. Syntax, noticing the strange object, flips through his clipboard. "I don't know. It's not on the approved parade schedule." he says, equally as confused as the queen.

As the cardboard cutout came closer it falls over, revealing the team on their drone. Chen stood upon the drones deck with the rest of the group, confused. "I can't believe that worked-"
"Of course it worked! MK's plans always work! Well, most of the time." Mei chuckles. MK upon hearing this turns to them with a dramatic gasp, offended. "Hey!"

"Kids, now's not the time to be goofing around!" Pigsy interrupts. MK clears his throat. "Right, right. He turns to the Spider Queen, pointing to her with a determined grin. "If it isn't Spider Queen, throwing herself a party. Prepare to meet your doom!" He cackles. Red Son looks up at him proudly. "Now that's a hero speech!"

"Wow MK, you're handling your spider phobia so well!" Mei congratulates. Chen looks at MK, noticing how he's actually sweating quite a lot. "Barely."
"I'm internalising a lot of stuff right now. Release the antidote!" MK yells. Immediately Sandy, Mei and Rey all press the buttons on their controllers, releasing the golden antidote. It floods the streets, covering all the spider zombie people and curing them. Spider Queen looks around in growing anger, seeing her spider bots falling to the ground and her zombie subjects be free from her control. "What?! No!"

Mei grins. "It's working! Let's finish this!" She says. Everyone jumps off the deck of the drone, landing in front of the Spider Queen and her henchmen. All except for Rey, who Sandy had to grab and jump down with. "Your reign of horror is-" MK stops mid sentence and starts to tremble as Spider Queen gets up from her throne, towering over them. "over..."

Spider Queen laughs, and Chen stands protectively beside MK. "Oh, Monkey Boy! You're nothing without your master. There's nothing that can stop me! Nothing!" She declares. The spider demon starts to power up her mech. Seeing this MK leaps forward to stop her but is too late. He swings his staff but his attack is blocked by the Spider Queen. With ease she shoves him back, sending him crashing into the wall. Everyone shouts to the boy in concern, turning to see if he was ok.

Seeing MK being thrown back, Chen growls as he charges forward, determined to take down Spider Queen.

"Chen!"
"Wait!"

He leaps towards her, summoning all his power and focusing his energy into the punch, aiming for her. But just like MK, she stops him with ease. Green and purple energy flies as his punch collides with the Spider Queen's open palm, the power too much for the young man to handle. He's surrounded by a a green light, the force of the energy enough to cause everyone to fall or stumble back.
The green ball of energy Chen has become falls to the ground, sparking and shifting before it slowly dissipates, and the group could barely make out the shape of the young man laying on the ground, knocked out cold from his own power surge.

Inside the Spider Mech DBK, Wukong and Jade all felt the strange power surge. Jade quickly uses his heat vision to try and see through the mechs walls, noticing a familiar figure laying at the Spider Queens feet. But the young man looked... very different, and the snake demons brows furrow in concern. "Uh oh..."

Wukong heard the snake demon speak under his breath, and uses his own gold vision to see what finally caused the other demon to speak. Only to have a clearer view of Chen laying on the ground with his new appearance. "Oh boy. He's gonna have a rough time with that when he wakes up. Wait-" he quickly turns to the snake, squinting suspiciously at them. "Why are you so concerned?"

The snake demon falls back into silence as the fight continues outside, and Wukong lets out a frustrated groan. "Really!? Again?! How are you like this?!" He huffs, as another shock from the webs causes them all to scream in pain. As they recover, DBK turns to Wukong in annoyance. "I already told you, simian. He's not the demon you thought you knew from your pilgrimage." He growls through gritted teeth, trying to restrain Spider Queen's attempts to use his powers.
Wukong rolls his eyes, but knew the bull demon had a point. If he wanted to get under the snake demons skin he couldn't rely on the lies he'd been given in the past. Well, if he couldn't get under the snake demons skin, he'll just have to go back to DBK.

"It's a shame, really. You being trapped here. No one to protect poor Princess Iron Fan." he drawls, watching DBK. It has it's desired effect, since he growls in growing fury, pulling on his restraints as purple sparks of energy fly. "My wife doesn't need protecting! She will decimate all in her way!" he yells.
Wukong looks up to see the webs starting to break, smirking as he sees his plan finally paying off. "Oh yeah? How about your half-baked son? Spider Queen's gonna eat him alive!" he eggs on. DBK's eyes glow a bright purple, becoming even more enraged.
This time the monkey decides to poke the demon one last time for good measure. "And what about your other son? Too bad you never met him since by the looks of it, he's gonna be the Spider Queens easiest meal so far!"

The webs snap as DBK lets out an enraged roar as he breaks free, just about freeing every other demon captured. The monkey looks down at his webs, seeing them tearing. "Ha! It worked! Excellent- whoa!" he yelps as the Demon Bull King grabs him, slamming him into the groundout of pure anger. "Buddy! I was just getting you angry so you can-"
"I know what you were doing, simian!" The bull demon snarls, ripping the webs off of Monkey King.

Wukong sits up as DBK walks away, surprised his former sworn brother hadn't torn him apart. "Wait, where are you going?" he asks, getting to his feet. DBK doesn't turn to face him as he responds. "To find my half-baked s...sons." he growls, barging through the walls of the Spider Mech. Wukong chuckles, scratching his neck. "I've honestly missed that guy!" he says. Suddenly remembering the snake demon still hanging upside down on the ceiling he quickly turns to face them, only to see the broken webs that had once held him captive swaying in the cold breeze. He scowls, realising that the snake had gotten away. "Coward..."

From behind him, the monkey senses a familiar presence making herself known. He turns to face her. "So, you thought you had all the pieces right where you wanted them." he says. The little girl merely smiles at the sage. "There are so many moves I have yet to play." she replies simply, confident in her claim. At this, the Monkey King growls.

"You and that snake should've stayed buried."

Wukong charges at the bone demon, only for her to disappear into a cloud of blue smoke, surrounding the sage. "I will rip the very memory of you from this world." a voice hisses in his ear. The Monkey King freezes in place as visions of the inevitable future fills his head, all revolving around the Lady Bone Demon ruling the world, and using his student as her tool to do so.
He goes to punch the air where the girl had been standing, only for there to be nothing. She was gone, but Wukong knew it would only be a matter of time before she put the rest of her plan into action.

Chen opens his eyes, his head pounding and aching. "What just hap..." he trails off as he looks around, his head feeling rather heavy. He soon noticed that everyone was encased in Spider Queen's webs. And upon looking down- or, well, up in his case- he realised he too was trapped in webs, hanging upside down next to Red Son and Mei. He tries to break himself free, hissing in pain. "Ow-"

Mei quickly turns to Chen. "Chen? Oh thank sage your awake- hey, stop moving so much-" she hisses, trying not to get Spider Queen's attention. Red Son looks over too, his face contorted in concern and... was that shock and confusion? "Why are you looking at me like that, Flamehead?"
Now that he thought about it, Mei was looking at him in the same way. A mixture of concern, shock and confusion.
"Why are you looking at me like that? What's wrong? Did I get a black eye or something?" Chen asks. Mei pulls a face. "No, well- it's just you got a little- um..." she trails off, not knowing how to explain. Red Son groans and roll his eyes. "Were you thinking at all when you decided to use ALL of your power to attack the Spider Queen?" he asks. "Because by the looks of it, you've never used that much power before and-"

"You've just gone through a little transformation, sweet thing." Spider Queen's voice rings out, and Chen quickly turns to see the spider demon approaching them. He scowls as she walks closer, refusing to show fear. The Spider Queen merely grins at his defiance, using one leg to ruffle his upside-down head. "Too bad you decided to give your loyalty to that damned monkey, otherwise you would've been a good soldier in my army." she tsked, roughly shoving his head back and causing his neck to hurt. "Sadly, we can't have you and your little friends running around anymore."

She walks away, and Chen has no time to think about what the Spider Queen said as she approaches MK, who was also stuck in webs. "After all I've won and lost and won again, you think I was really gonna let some boy take it from me?" she hisses, raising one of her legs and preparing to take him out. "Bye bye, problem child!"
Before she could bring her mechanical leg down on the poor boy, the sound of the spider mech powering down fills the air. Spider Queen's grin is wiped off her face as she turns to her mech. "No! My powers!"

There's an explosion from the mech and a figure bursts out, falling through the air right for Spider Queen. "I AM NO ONE'S SLAVE!" DBK roars. Spider Queen barely had enough time to get out of the way before he lands, sending everyone flying back. Sandy, Pigsy, Rey and Tang were freed from their webs and get to their feet. Chen watches in growing shock as DBK approaches him, Red Son and Mei. He reaches out, pulling Red Son free from the webs before turning to Chen, stopping mid reach to stare at him in shock and confusion for e moment before pulling him down from his hanging position, also freeing him from his webs as he sets him down. Chen took a moment to catch his breath, staring up at the Demon Bull King in shock. "Uh...hey?" he greets awkwardly. This was the first time he's come face to face with the bull king.

DBK doesn't say anything, turning away to face the Spider Queen instead. Mei, who was still trapped, looks up at Chen. "I honestly thought he was gonna say something about that." she says before trying to break free of the webs. Chen groans as Red Son frees Mei easily with his fire powers. "Say something about what, Mei?!"
Once Mei was free, she turns Chen around to face the building window. Chen stops to stare, completely forgetting about the Spider Queen as he stares at his reflection in shock.

Staring back at him was a familiar face. Large bull horns sat on either side of his head, fluffy ears barely poking out of his thick hair and short grey fur covered his arms, neck and legs. a long tail lay limp behind him, and he was surprised he didn't notice it earlier. "...oh."
"Yeah..." Mei trails off, scratching her neck awkwardly. Chen now understood why she didn't say anything. Even he was left speechless.

Spider Queen's laughter brought them back to the present, and they quickly turn to look at the spider getting to her feet. "All of you together can't beat me! I am the Queen!" she yells, grinning widely.

"Oh yeah?"

Everyone looks up to see Monkey King walking down the wall of a building, picking up the staff sticking out before leaping to the ground with a confident smirk. "Well, I'm the King." he states, freeing MK. He helps him to his feet, and the group turn to face the spider demon once more.
Spider Queen, realising she was out numbered, glares at them. "If I can't rule this world..." she uses her web to lift her back onto the mech. "No one can! I'll level this whole city!" she yells, bringing up one of the spider mechs legs. Monkey King and MK nod to each other, before both of them leap up to confront her.

"What are they doing-" Chen watches as Monkey King throws MK at the mech, they boy using the staff to destroy it with one powerful hit. Everything happened too quickly, after that. MK was falling, even when the Monkey King caught him in his bird form. DBK had leapt up and grabbed them both as the base exploded.
Seeing the wall of flames from the explosion quickly approaching, Chen grabs Rey to try and shelter them. He's surprised, however, as the flames go around them. He and Mei look up to see Red Son protecting them from the flames.

As the flames finally die down, Chen lets Rey go and looks around. Several buildings were destroyed, the explosion leaving almost nothing standing in the near vicinity. "Wow... we really need to stop destroying the city."

"Whoa! Look!"

Everyone turns their attention to the sky, the aurora lights greeting them. They gasp at the beautiful lights, realising that the fight was finally over.

MK, Monkey King and DBK had returned back to the group, the group now enjoying the rest of New Years together gathered on a rooftop. MK and Monkey King sat by themselves, Rey stood with Mei and Tang, while Chen was... awkwardly standing next to DBK and Red Son. He crosses his arms and taps his foot, not sure what to say.

"So. You're, uh, the old man. Nice to meet you?" he says, holding out his hand to DBK. DBK hums, looking Chen over before awkwardly shaking his hand, his grip crushing as the young man winces in pain. "Like wise, Niúzǎi."
Chen chuckles to hide the pain, rubbing his sore hand. "I, uh, would prefer if you didn't call me that..." he murmurs, but it was loud enough for the demon king to hear. Red Son pipes up. "He'd prefer it if you called him Chen, father." he explains awkwardly. DBK huffs. "Very well, then, Chen."

"Hey! Daddy Bull King!" Mei calls out, causing the three of them to turn to her. "You're baby Red Boy did real good hero work today!" she says teasingly. At this, Red Son hurriedly gets to his feet, his face bright red. "No! No! For the last time, I am not a hero!" he yells, causing Mei to laugh. Chen smiles at his friends teasing. "I don't know, Flamehead. What you did today seemed pretty heroic. Saving the city, saving your dad, saving us-" he was cut off as Red Son shoves his new tail into his mouth. He quickly spits it out but it was too late. He was left coughing and hacking to try and get the fur out of his mouth as Red Son turns to DBK.

"Father, let's never tell Mother anything that happened today?" he suggests sheepishly. DBK hums, ignoring Chen's frantic attempts to get fur out of his mouth. "Agreed. Come along... Son."
Chen wipes his mouth one last time and turns to glare at Red Son, who was giddily cherishing the moment. He quickly composes himself, about to teleport off when he stops, turning to Chen. He hesitates. "You know, you could come with us, Chen." he says. The young mans glare disappears as he looks at Red Son in surprise. "What?"

"Of course it's completely up to you this time, but if you want you could come live with us. We could teach you more about your powers, and, well, we could try to be a family again." he trails off, looking away. "But if you don't, then that's understandable."
Chen hums. "That sounds... rather nice, actually. But I already have my family." he explains, gesturing to the rest of the group. Seeing Red Son's expression shift to slight hurt and regret, he quickly adds. "But then again, it wouldn't hurt to get to know you guys, too. Who knows? Maybe in the future, we can be a family too. But right now, I want to stay here in Megapolis." he explains. "Just drop by whenever you're visiting Megapolis, Flamehead." he adds teasingly, nudging Red Son. The demon prince pushes his elbow away in annoyance, but Chen could see the relief in his eyes. "I'll keep that in mind, Rat."

With that, Red Son and DBK teleported away, leaving the rest of the heroes to celebrate New Years. Chen turns back to the rest of the group, only to see Monkey King was gone. "Wait, where's Monkey King?" he asks. The rest of the group look around, noticing the missing monkey. Tang notices a box of treats and greedily picks it up, seeing the note left by Monkey King. "Well, don't mind if I do!"
Mei gasps. "Ooh! Yummy!" she says, about to grab one of the treats. Both MK and Chen go to stop her, recognising the treats immediately. "Wait! Don't eat that!"
"Tastes like hair." Tang says as he chews, causing Chen to chuckle. "Well you're not gonna believe me when I tell you this-"

Jade runs through the empty streets of Megapolis, almost to the outskirts of the city. He'd been running since he finally broke free of the Spider Queen's webs, not wanting to give Sun Wukong or the Demon Bull King a chance to catch up to him.

But once he reached the opposite side of the city he finally comes to a stop, trying to catch his breath and calm himself down. His was shaking, being so close to the two demons who'd trapped him inside that damned coffin all those years ago. What if they did it again? What if they DIDN'T do it again and went straight for the kill? He'd never be able to fight them off-

The snake demon tries to take deep breaths, feeling the panic starting to set in. "It's fine- it's fine! I got away! Now I just need to- uh- find somewhere to hide- yes! Hide! Where no one can find me-"
His ranting is interrupted as a familiar chill runs up his spine and he freezes, turning around.

"It's good to see you still in one piece, my Jade Warrior."

The girl from the Spider mech stood there facing him, her expression one of disappointment and disgust. Jade tenses up, before quickly getting to his knee. "M-my Lady..."
The Lady Bone's Demon's expression doesn't change as she steps closer, walking around the snake demon. "Tell me, why didn't you come find me?" she queries. Jade hesitates, glancing over his shoulder to look up at her. "I-I was trapped, my Lady-"

"I mean after you escaped, snake." she snaps, silencing the snake demon. "Your partner informed me you have been roaming around with the Demon Bull Kings offspring. Why is that?"

Jade hesitates, choosing his words carefully. "Th-the younger prince is powerful, my Lady. I thought that he'd be a good ally-"
The Bone Demon turns her head to look at him, her gaze cold and unforgiving. "And what have you been told about that, Jade Warrior? You leave the planning to me, remember?"
The snake demon lowers his gaze. "Y-yes, m-my apologies, my Lady..."

The Lady Bone Demon glares at him for a few moments more before sighing, stepping closer to the snake. She lifts his chin, looking in their eyes. "Although, bringing the youngest demon bull prince to our side could benefit us in the future." she hums in thought. "But I've seen his loyalties to his friends. If you can convince him to join us, then perhaps I won't have to dispose of him."
Her grip tightens on Jade's chin, causing the snake demon to wince slightly. "Is that understood, Jade Warrior?"

"U-understood, my Lady."

"Good." With that, she finally lets go. "And remember this, Jade Warrior. You're my creation. Your soul purpose is to serve me and my vision to make the perfect world. Understood?"

"Yes, My Lady." Jade says quietly but clearly, keeping his gaze lowered. He knew his purpose, and why he was created. But deep down, he felt conflicted. What if he couldn't convince Chen to join them? Would he have to kill him?

But he's just a kid, he shouldn't be having these thoughts... whatever his Lady needed him to do, he would do it. No matter what it is.

"Good." the Lady Bone Demons voice was barely a whisper, and when Jade looked up he saw the girl was gone, no trace of her left other than the blue mist that was quickly dissipating. Getting to his feet, Jade turns and hides in the city.

"This is an outrage!"

A man yells in his boss's face, slamming his fist down on the desk. The boss sighs, readjusting her glasses. "I understand your frustration, Mr. Li-"

"This is the second time in the span of TWO WEEKS the city was almost destroyed by those damned demons! TWO! We can't keep relying on this "Monkie Kid" everytime the city is in danger! He's unqualified to be a hero!" Mr. Li shouts, pacing around the room. "What if next time he can't save the city?!"

The boss hums in thought, knowing that her employee has a point. She looks down at the familiar documents Mr. Li had slammed down upon her desk, looking over the familiar face of their subject. "Are you sure he's ready to take on his role, Mr. Li?"

"He's ready, Mrs. Bai. Why, he's been training for this his whole life! Do you really want to let him go to waste and be replaced by this immature child?"

Mrs. Bai mulls it over before nodding. "Very well, then. It's time to send in Subject SWK06." Mrs. Bai says dismissively, waving Mr. Li out of the room. Mr. Li smirks triumphantly as he leaves. As he walks down the halls heading back to the holding cells, he starts yelling at the other employees, wanting to get everything ready as soon as possible.

"We'll see if he's better than this "Monkie Kid"."

A/N: if you couldn't tell ive been plotting and scheming on this one for a WHILE. Also who's y'all's fav character of mine so far? I'm curious bebejwbdbs

*Shé wángzǐ is supposed to mean "Snake Prince" but idk how accurate that is

Monkey king went from "this other kid is a danger to my apprentice" to "your honor they are both my sons" and that was completely unintentional. Maybe he saw some similarities between himself and Chen idfk know lol

i dont know how many of you guys actually know this but i have a tiktok (which I've had for a couple of years now lol) my tiktok name is just alilweirddragon, and right now im posting LMK au stuff like spoilers, crossovers, and future characters that'll show up in the book if you're interested