"And then Monkey King was all like "Well I'm the King!" A-and then-" MK ranted excitedly, retelling the tale to Mei and Tang. The two share an amused look, before Tang clears his throat. "Yeah, we know MK. We were there, remember?"
MK chuckles. "Right right, sorry. But you gotta admit, Monkey King was so cool! Even if he did get captured and we had to save him and the city..."
Mei nods. "Yep! Oh! And Did you see Chen's new look? It's awesome! The bull horns, and the tail! I bet he loves them!"

A loud crash comes from the kitchen, followed by pots and pans falling to the floor and Chen's angered yells. "OW! Stupid horns!" There's a beat of silence before something else is knocked over, causing Chen to groan in frustration again as Pigsy starts yelling. "Chen! Watch where you're swingin' that thing! You almost ruined this batch of noodles!"

Tang, MK and Mei all walk into kitchen to see the mess that had unfolded. Chen stood by the kitchen sink, a bunch of unused pots around him while a trash bin was sprawled on the floor, the garbage everywhere. Pigsy was clutching a pot of freshly cooked noodles to his chest as if his life depended on it, glaring at the young demon. Tang, Mei and MK share a confused look as Pigsy lets out a sigh. "Chen, why don't you go do some deliveries? I'm sure MK's running behind on them." he points out, shooting MK a look.
Chen grumbles under his breath, turning to leave as his tail swings behind him. "Sure, pops..." he mutters. As he leaves his tail accidentally knocks into the back of Mei's legs, almost causing her to topple. The young bull quickly apologises before hastening out the door, grabbing the undelivered bags of noodles on the counter.

Pigsy lets out another sigh. "He's been knocking things over with his fancy new horns and tail all day. I'm already running behind because he knocked over three batches of noodles this morning!" he complains, looking around the wrecked kitchen. MK and Mei back out of the room, leaving Pigsy with the mess.
"Go easy on him, Pigsy. It's not every day you magically transform into some kind of half demon. He needs time to adjust." Tang says as the pig man puts down the pot of noodles, reaching down to pick up the pots. "I know, I know. Ugh, maybe I should apologise..." he mutters.

"Stupid horns- stupid demon DNA!" Chen hisses as he speeds through the streets of Megapolis, too angry and frustrated to realise how fast he was going. Before he knew it, he'd already missed the turn off to his first location. So he had to turn his tuk-tuk around.

Parking outside he grabs the first delivery, getting out of his tuk-tuk. Except his horn snags on the roof of the vehicle, snapping his head back. "Ow! Dammit!" He yells, turning around. His tail whips around with the rest of him, accidentally knocking over a nearby pedestrian. Chen quickly turns to them. "Crap! Sorry- I didn't see you there-" he rushes, helping the person to their feet.
The pedestrian huffs, shooting him a glare before walking away. The young demon sighs, his fluffy ears flopping down in defeat. Realising what his ears just did, his face turns red in embarrassment.

"I hate this..."

He walks up the steps to the first house, knocking on the wooden door. A few moments pass before a young man opens the door with a smile. "Oh good! You're here! I was wondering where you-" he stops, staring at Chen with wide eyes. Well, more specifically his horns and the ruffled fur sticking out of his uniform.
Chen pauses, not sure what to say to make the man stop staring. He coughs awkwardly. "Your noodles, sir?" he says, holding up his delivery. This seems to bring the man back to reality, as he laughs nervously. "S-sorry! I hadn't realised old Pigsy hired someone new." He says, taking the bag.
Chen was about to speak up, but after practically throwing the money at the young demon the man had slammed the door shut, leaving Chen speechless. "Keep the change!"

After a moment he takes a step back. Well, at least the noodles were delivered, and he got payed. That was all that mattered.
He walks back down the steps, carefully climbing back into his tuk-tuk. Making sure he wasn't sitting on his annoying tail and his horns weren't going to ruin the roof of the tuk-tuk, he starts up the engine and was about to drive off when he hears an old familiar voice.

"Oh my sage- is that you, Blazing Beast?"

Chen tenses up, growling under his breath. "Wonderful..." the young man doesn't turn around, instead turning his tuk-tuk to drive off when the familiar figure steps in front of him. He scowls, rolling his eyes. "Get out of my way, Kai." he hisses through his teeth.
The leader of the Golden Kitsune's raises a brow, smirking at Chen as he looks him up and down. "Well if it isn't my little star! How has my fighter been?" he asks sweetly, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"What do you want?" Chen growls, his ears flattening in annoyance. Seeing this reaction, Kai grins. "Aw don't be like that, Chen! Is it really so bad I wanted to say hi to an old friend?"
"Yes." Chen says blanky, turning his wheel to go around Kai but the man simply moved back in his way. "Out of my way, I have work to do."

Kai chuckles. "Right, you deliver noodles for the pigman again. That's such a shame- such a downgrade from working for me." he sighs dramatically. Chen scowls as Kai continues. "But you know, you could always come back. I saw the footage of you fighting those Spider demons." Kai says as he leans on the bonnet of the tuk-tuk, much to Chen's annoyance. "It was very impressive, but I could put it to better use! I'll pay you better, and you won't have to be stuck delivering dumb noodles for that little shop anymore-"

Chen slams on the reverse brakes, backing his tuk-tuk and causing Kai, who was still leaning on it, to fall onto the pavement. Chen snorts as his former friend angrily gets to his feet. "What the hell was that for?!" he yells, dusting off his gold jacket.
"You know why. Now get out of my way before I run you over."

Now Kai was furious. "What, you think you're too good now, huh?! I made you what you are! You'd be nothing without me! You'd still be losing all your fights if I hadn't taken you under my wing!" he spat, leaning closer to Chen. "But then again I guess it was a good thing you left, because look at you now. You're nothing but a demon brute trying to fit into society."

Chen stiffens, his eyes narrowing in anger. "What did you just call me?"

Pleased that he'd finally got a desired reaction out of the young demon, Kai smirks. "Oh come on, bull boy. You can't tell me you don't see it? With your fancy new features, practically everyone who sees you only thinks of one person! Tell me, which bull demon tried taking over the city again?" He asks smugly. Chen growls, his fist tightening on the steering wheel as he tries to control his anger. He knew what Kai was getting at.
"With all these demons attacking us again out of the blue, some are obviously gonna have a bad face from now on. And because you're a bull demon, people aren't gonna see you the same anymore, buddy! All they're gonna see is the monster scum you've become-"

An object is thrown at Kai and the older man lets out a yelp as he dodges it, looking back just in time to see a bag of noodles splatter into a wall, the force behind the throw causing it to become a pile of mush on impact. When he turns back to the young man, Chen hadn't moved from his tuk-tuk, but Kai could tell from his body language and his deadly glare that he had ticked the demon off BIG time.
Chen's tail whipped around angrily, thumping against the seat of the tuk-tuk as the young demon finally stood up slowly, staring Kai down while his eyes glowed eerily green.

"Unless you want to be the next pile of goo stuck to that wall, I suggest you get. Out. Of. My. Way." he growls, his voice calm and quiet despite his obvious threat. Not wanting to push the young man anymore, Kai steps out of the way of the tuk-tuk. "Whatever, demon." he spat, glaring at Chen as he hurried away.

The young demon takes a moment to compose himself, his fist shaking from the anger and rage he felt. After a few minutes he slowly sits back down in his tuk-tuk, his blood still boiling from that encounter as he starts the vehicle, driving away.

—

Chen sighs as he finishes delivering the noodles, and dropped by the noodle shop to get another order of the delivery he had thrown, not specifying to Pigsy why there was a delivery missing.

As he drives back home, Chen's thoughts wander to Jade. He hadn't seen his second mentor all week, and they hadn't left a note or anything for the young demon in the dojo. He wondered if the snake demon was alright after the Spider Queen attack. "I'm sure he's fine..."

All of a sudden his phone starts to buzz. He pulls it out for a moment, answering the call when he recognises the ID as Rey's. He places his phone back on the seat while he drives, his headphones sitting awkwardly on his head. "Hello?"

"Oh hey! Chen! Uh, you're not busy, are you?" They ask, their voice sounding more high pitched and nervous than usual. Chen glances at the phone briefly before returning his eyes to the road. "Well I am driving, but I'm finished my deliveries. Is something wrong Rey?" He asks, a little concerned.

"No! No! Well, not really, but I was wondering if you could come to the library? I need help with something, plus I wanted to tell you something weird that happened when the Spider Queen attacked." They say quickly. Chen hums. "You chose to tell me over Mei? I'm flattered Rey." He jokes. He made out the other persons laughter over the phone. "Well, Mei, um, isn't exactly great with books."

"Alright then, I'll be right over." Chen says, turning his tuk-tuk around.
"I'll open the door for you!"

Rey hangs up, leaving Chen curious on what they wanted to talk about.

—

Chen pulls up in front of the library, getting out and walking up to the door. He lifts his hand to knock but the door opens before he could. Rey's face peeked through the doorway before they open the door for the young demon. "Oh good! You're here! Come in!" They say, letting Chen inside.

Chen enters and looks around, noticing one of the library tables was covered with books, some laying opened while the rest were stacked high on top of one another. At first he assumed it was a visitor but when Rey makes a beeline for the same table he realised that it was his usually "neat and tidy" friends mess.

"Rey? Are you okay?" Chen asks as he joins his friend, looking down at the books. He picks up one titled "Demons and Ranks", noticing "Journey to the West" on one of the piles. Rey was flipping through one of the books. "Huh? Oh, yeah I'm fine now. But, uh, I needed some help looking for something." They explain. "And I wanted to tell you what happened when, you know, Spider Queen attacked." They cough, slamming the book shut and placing it on the table. Chen raises a brow. "So?"

"So... when the Spider Queen attacked I was alone. But what I didn't want to tell the others was that I was... rescued." Rey explains slowly. Chen hums, looking at his friend in surprise. "Well that was lucky. Who was your saviour?" He asks, placing the book he'd been looking at on the table. Rey scratches their neck awkwardly. "Well, that's the thing. I don't know who they were. But they weren't a human, that's for sure."

"Oh, really? What were they then?" Chen asks absentmindedly, flipping through another book. He wasn't great with books either, but he assumed Rey wanted his help because he had a better attention span then Mei or MK. "And why did you need my help?"

"They were some kind of snake demon."

Chen stops, quickly snapping his head around to look at Rey, who was busy flipping through another book as they continue. "I don't know if they were some kind of ancient demon or something, but they were carrying around a Guandao. I-I vaguely remember reading something where a snake demon was mentioned in a book ages ago, but I need your help looking for it again because for some reason I can't find it-" Rey was cut off when Chen turns them around to face him, a serious look on his face. "Did they have grey hair with a white streak? And a cut under their left eye?" He asks, brows furrowed.

Rey looks shocked, eyes wide. "Yeah, they did. How... how did you know?" They ask, their voice full of confusion as Chen lets them go, now very concerned. "It's a long story- but have you told anyone else about this?" He asks. Rey shakes their head, much to the young demons relief.

"Good... do you know what happened to him, by any chance?" Chen asks a bit more quietly, now very concerned for his snake friend. Rey shakes their head. "N-no, I uh didn't stick around. Why?"

Chen sighs, taking a seat. "Like I said it's a long story, so you might want to sit down for this one..."

—

A little while later...

"... And now I don't know where he is." Chen finishes explaining. Rey hums in thought at Chen's story, in deep thought. "That's... interesting." They say, tapping their fingers on the table.
Chen nods, crossing his arms across his chest as he leans back in his chair. "Yep. Man, it feels good to finally be able to tell someone about Jade. See why I asked you if you told anyone?" Chen says. Rey nods, their brows furrowed deep in thought. "This doesn't make sense..."

"You alright Rey?" Chen asks, snapping his friend out of their thoughts. They look up at him, laughing awkwardly. "Oh! Yeah, I'm fine! Just thinking, is all. So you've been taking magic lessons from this guy for a few months?"

"Yep. He's actually been really helpful. Honestly, if it weren't for him..." Chen trails off, thinking back to the Macaque incident. He shakes his head. "It doesn't matter. You promise not to tell anyone about Jade?"

"Oh- sure! I guess it's the least I could do after he saved me from those spider bots." They chuckle, standing back up as they start to put the books away. "If he shows up again, could you introduce us? I'd love to get to know him."
Chen thinks for a moment, smiling softly. "Sure, if he's up to it."

Chen's phone rings, and he pulls it out to see messages and missed calls from MK and Mei. He tilts his head. "Huh. It looks like Mei and MK wanna hang out with us. Did you wanna head over to MK's place? I could give you a lift." Chen offers. Rey shrugs. "Well, I gotta put these books back. You can go and I'll meet you there, I-I don't want to hold you back-" they start only to stop as Chen picks up a pile of books. "Nope, we can't have that. Where do these go?" The young demon asks, waving one around in his hand. Rey pauses for a moment before pointing to another section of the library. "Over there. But are you sure? You don't have to help clean up my mess."

Chen heads over to the section Rey had pointed to. "Nuh uh. I'm not leavin' your introverted butt here by yourself while Mei, MK and I are having fun." He states, helping Rey put the books away. Rey smiles fondly, turning back to put their pile away.

The two work together in mostly silence, other than the occasional question from Chen asking where the books are kept. After a few minutes they were finished, and the two leave the library for the night.
Chen drives the two of them to MK's house, Rey having to make sure they don't accidentally sit on Chen's tail or get bumped by his horns.

—

At MK's house...

"And that is why I think that Ao Bing and Nezha's whole story is interesting and sad- they were both just kids and didn't have a choice or say in what happened to them-" Rey ranted, the other three barely listening as Mei sneakily put bows in Chen's hair and tail, the young demon oblivious to her as he tries to beat MK in Monkey Mech, the younger boy easily beating him. "Oh, c'mon! You had to have cheated!" Chen yells, throwing his controller down. MK snickers. "Or I'm just better at video games then you~"

"My turn!" Mei yells, picking up Chen's controller. "Let's see if you can best me! The ultimate champion of Monkey Mech!" She smirks, and the two begin to play.

Rey sighs, realising their friends weren't listening. They pull out their phone, noticing a new news article that was posted that morning. "Oh hey- did you guys see this? It looks like there's a new hero in the city." They say, holding up their phone. Chen turns to look, taking note of the title and the blurry image of this so called "new hero", although the only thing he could see was a blurry half face and what looked like a gold mask on the other half of their face. "Huh, weird. What sort of costume is that? Bet they aren't as good as MK, though. Wait what the-" Chen says before noticing the bow on his tail. "Mei! Did you put this here?!"

Rey raises a brow at their friends comment, before shaking their head and looking back at their phone. Chen continues to yell at Mei, the latter giggling maniacally as she continues battling MK in Monkey Mech. Only for a pillow to be thrown at her head and causing her to shriek.

The young dragon glances at the window absentmindedly. They stare at the city, taking in the lights and the passing cars and late night pedestrians.
As their gaze wonders a shadow moves into an alleyway. Rey blinks and readjusts their glasses, their eyes squinting to try and see better. But whatever it was was now gone.

"Mei what the hell?!"

Rey jolts and turns back to their friends, seeing that Chen was now pulling all his bows out of his hair, face bright red in embarrassment. They snicker, trying to cover up the sound.

But they couldn't help but feel a bit sad and alone, even in a room full of friends...

—

A/N: I've only seen the 2019 nezha movie oof-