#a bone to pick (lmk fanfiction)

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

It's me, I'm back with the last preview! Actual chapter to be posted next week

Mei turned to Macaque with a small smirk. Macaque instantly noticed and felt uneasy. “What? What is it?”

Mei’s smirk turned into a small smile as she whipped out her phone and typed on it for a bit. With a small flick of her finger, there was a faint Woosh! sound from her phone. Then she just leaned back in her chair and waited, staring at Macaque like the cat that got the cream. 

Bai He perked up when she heard the combined buzz and Ding! from Macaque’s pocket. “Hoo tess-ted you?”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full, Bai He.” Tang politely scolded her. Bai He rolled her eyes before angrily slurping her mouthful of noodles.  

Macaque tic-a-tacced on his phone, he raised a brow. “I got sent a video?”

MK brightened, happily smacking the table. “Ooh! Play it, play it!”

“Yeah, Mr. Maquack, play it!” PB encouraged. 

The shadow monkey did, and upon opening the video, he was greeted to the site of Bai He skating around in what looked like a small home. She looked only slightly less bedraggled in the video then she did now, so Macaque had to assume this video was recently taken. The lack of light apart from the candles all but confirmed Macaque’s suspicions. “I’m doing it!” Bai He’s recorded voice came through the phone speaker. “I’m doing it, Mei!”

“Oh! I remember this,” exclaims Bai He. “Mei just helped me make skates for the first time. She teachered me really good!”

Macaque looks up at Mei in surprise. “You’re welcome,” is all she says, with a smug look about her. 

Not knowing what to say, Macaque turns back to the video and replays it again. And again. And again. Each time with a smile. Bai He wasn’t scared anymore. She looked so happy in the video. He turned to look at her, watching with stars in her eyes as he hit replay once again. She looked happy here too. 

“Thank you, Mei.” Macaque turns back to the dragon-girl. “I mean it.”

Tang smiled as Macaque replayed the video one more time for good measure. Then he turned to see Mei’s reaction, stopping short when he saw the look on Monkey King’s face. 

He looked… startled? Impressed? In awe? Breathless? Of Macaque smiling? And… and he looked like he just got bad news. Why did he look like he got bad news? Tang stared at Macaque out of the corner of his eye. His smile was soft and wide as he once again replayed the video. 

“How many times are you gonna watch it?” Bai He asked him. 

“As many as I want,” Macaque answered. 

“Why? I mean, it’s cool to see my first time using my new powers and all, but I could just show you in real time. It’s not that special.”

“… Yeah it is,” Macaque mumbled quietly, rewinding it a bit to hear Bai He’s recorded gleeful laughter once more. 

Tang turned toward Monkey King again, but found The Great Sage dejectedly tapping at his phone screen, face otherwise unreadable. Tang awkwardly turned back toward his bowl of noodles, and caught Pigsy staring at him. Pigsy tilted his head to the side. You good, Tangy? He asked without words. 

Tang nodded with a small smile. Yeah, I’m fine, Pigsy. 

Satisfied, Pigsy turned with a chipper grin back to his own bowl of noodles. Tang glanced at Monkey King over his shoulder, making a mental note of his silent dejectedness for a later date. 

Macaque tapped on his phone once more, going to pocket it. “Really, Mei, thank you. It means a lot that you would send this to—wait, how did you get my number? I never gave it to you.”

“Oh, that.” Mei shrugged nonchalantly, shoving some green vegetables into her mouth. “MK gave it to me.”

“That I did!” MK confirmed brightly.  “How did you get my number?!”

[fanfictionlive]

Free Podficcing

Disclaimer: I work full time and go to school part time, so even one podfic might take an exorbitantly long amount of time, but-

AHEM. I got a new mic setup, so I'm offering to podfic some fanfic pro bono. I've done both narrative work and acting work, and I've podficced my own fics for private use, but I figured I'd reach out to the community to see if anybody's interested in having me work with them. If anybody wants a sample of my voice, I can link my (free) narrative work, but idk if that fits under the sub rules so I'll hold off for now.

Fandoms: I prefer fandoms I know (if you stick around most anime/rpg fandoms, that's where I land), but I'm willing to branch out if something else catches my eye; that might take a bit longer, since I do characterization research beforehand just to match up what I can vocal-wise. Just for personal comfort, I won't do RPF or smut. Whump depends.

I am bad at character voices/impressions but good at accents, so take that as you may. This is stupid, I know. I'm sorry.

Music? Sound effects? God, I don't know. I wouldn't promise anything, but if inspiration strikes, it strikes (just lmk if you'd prefer it bare bones though, makes it easier for me).

Oneshots preferred, I really would prefer anything under 5k. I can do the first chapter of a longfic, but also under 5k (just the chapter should be under 5k lmao, not the whole fic).

Please only offer your own writing (or mine lmao) so I know I have the author's explicit permission.

I might cherry pick if I get too many requests because I'm a simple bean with a busy work schedule and depression, but I do want to try making this work as something I can do for the community.

submitted by /u/56leon [link] [comments] from FanFiction: Where Magical Ponies battle Imperial Titans https://ift.tt/3fnHufV

[smilesthroughfandoms]

The Mayor wakes up with no sign of visible injury... Someone comes to explain why that is...

[smilesthroughfandoms]

The sequel to my story, A Bone to Pick! I hope you enjoy

In the two weeks since the demise of the former (possibly fake, it's really unclear) Mayor of Megapolis, the Monkie Kids have settled into a comfortable routine. Hoping to shake it up in a pleasant way, Bai He invites her new friends to meet her best friends at her school’s spring concert, where they are set to perform. And she made sure to invite all of her new friends! ... So, yeah, Wukong didn't get an invite.

But silly things like formal invitations have never stopped The Monkey King. Besides, Bai He's spring concert is the perfect time for The Great Sage to bury the hatchet with the little girl. Show off his true good side and all. So what if she seems reluctant... and avoidant... and is actively avoiding him and turning her nose up at him--the point is, Wukong is going to get Bai He to like him, come hell or high water!

But when a foul plan from an unseen foe traps MK and his friends, Wukong, Macaque, Tang, and Pigsy must rely on Bai He and her friends to navigate the halls of the school safely. All the while this foe grows interested in Bai He's newfound lady bone demon abilities... and some other interesting power she seems to have developed...

[smilesthroughfandoms]

The Monkie Kids step out into the sunrise of a new day, their foe finally defeated. But there are still some loose threads left to tie up...

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

(Shadowpeach shippers I am serving crumbs on a silver platter, come and eat!)

“Macaque, what exactly are you—?” Before Wukong could finish the question, Macaque had dashed over to The Not-Mayor and, with the evilest grin possible, punched the still-downed man in the gut. The lapdog spat out some blood and what little breath he had in his lungs upon impact, before rocketing down the tunnel and out of the cave. 

“Holy whoa!” Bai He smiled. 

“Guess we’re doing this now, huh?” Mei asked with a lazy grin. 

Macaque sighed happily. “That felt nice… that felt real nice.” He then turned to the others with a casual grin. “Keep up guys,” and then he sank into the shadows. No doubt chasing after the man he just punched. 

“Y’know,” Pigsy crossed his arms, “I forgot fer a second he’s about as old as Monkey King and almost as strong.”

“Well, Team B is moving out!” Mei started jogging ahead, with Sandy and Pigsy right behind her. “You guys better go catch up with Mac-Attack. Don’t want him to accidentally flatten Zhongyu, you know?”

Tang spared one last glance to Team A. “Try not to get electrocuted.” Then, with one last odd glance at Monkey King, he was running to catch up with the others. 

MK exchanged a look with PB and Bai He. “You two ready?”

“You bet I am!” PB grinned eagerly. 

From her spot piggybacking on PB, Bai He gave a familiar-looking evil grin to MK. “I’ve been wanting to do this all day.”

“Great! Monkey King are you—Monkey King?” The trio turned to see the Great Sage standing with wide-eyed amazement, staring at the spot where Macaque had just disappeared. His tail was wagging slightly, his cheeks were a little pink, and his fur looked fluffier for some reason. 

MK reached over and shook the king’s shoulder. “Monkey King?”

“Nothing!” Monkey King shouted, looking panicked. 

“Huh? I didn’t say anything but your name.” MK raised a brow. 

“Oooh, fluffy.” PB reached over and patted Monkey King’s head like he was a kitten, marveling at his new fluffy fur texture. “How’d your fur get so fluffy, Mr. King?”

Face even redder, Monkey King swatted her hand away. “Let’s talk about something else, anything else really.”

“How come you look so nervous and sweaty right now?” Bai He asked. 

“… Anything else besides that.”

“Well we can either talk about kicking Zhongyu’s butt, or we could actually go kick it.” MK gestured towards the exit. “Which do you prefer?”

Monkey King sighed a bit, before smiling. “Actually kicking his but…”

“Great! Then le-go!” MK charged out of the cave, drawing his staff out. PB took off behind him, Bai He giggling in excitement. Monkey King hesitated a bit, waiting to make sure they were far enough away before he frantically started patting and combing his orange fur back into place. 

He decided, pointedly, to not examine what just happened to him until after The Not-Mayor was no longer a problem… but that didn’t mean the butterflies in his stomach were going away anytime soon.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

Sun Wukong wakes bound in chains in The Silken Web Cave, with no idea where MK, Mei, Poppy Blue, or Bai He are or how to get to them. With The Not-Mayor threatening him and his companions, will The Monkey King be able to outwit this dangerous psychopath, or will he end up like Macaque?

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

Featuring one cheeky little monkey

“But perhaps it’s a good thing you woke up when you did.” The Not-Mayor peeled his ice arm off the wall with a smile so fake it would make any customer service worker blush. “Your little companions here have been uncomfortably tight-lipped about where the troublesome little ankle biters could be. I’ve already checked the ridiculous noodle shop of the pigs, but they. Weren’t. Thereeeeee…”

Sun Wukong glanced over to the others and found them smirking at The Not-Mayor’s desperation, proud of the fact that they hadn’t given up anything. So, The Monkey King smirked to himself and turned towards The Not-Mayor. “Oh, I might have an idea of where they might be.”

“Do you now?”

“Yeah, they’re up your ass and to the left.”

“… I beg your finest pardon?”

“I said—!” Wukong spoke a little louder, encouraged by Tang and Pigsy’s little snickers. 

“No, don’t you dare repeat—!” The Not-Mayor spluttered. 

“They’re up—your—ass—!”

“Shut your mouth right now you insolent little—!”

“—and —toooooo—theeeee—-leeeeft!”

The Not-Mayor made a noise somewhere between a rubber duck being stepped on and the growl a kitten makes when it hasn’t been fed yet. He slammed his icy fist next to Wukong’s head. The Monkey King didn’t even flinch, still basking in the glory of his little joke. 

“Do you think this is funny?!” The Not-Mayor bellowed. 

“Kinda, yeah.” Sun Wukong laughed. “Guy, you’ve got to be out of what’s left of your mind if you think I’m gonna tell you where those kids are; if you think any of us are gonna tell you where they are.”

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

“Ok! Pot of water, ready to boil on low heat.” Pigsy sighed as he set a big pot on the stovetop. He turned the heat to low and then turned toward Poppy Blue. “Now what?”

Poppy Blue, still eyeing the flashlight the way a dog eyes a cat, approached the stove. “First thing first, we need half a cup of Mr. Maquack’s favorite food. This will act as a flavor base and allow us to copy some of his essence in smell and taste.” She turned towards the others. “Does anyone know what his favorite food is?”

“Plums--” Wukong shrugged.

“Sweet potatoes!” Bai He cheered. Wukong blinked back his surprise, staring at the little girl. “He always has some sweet potatoes in the fridge back at his place and whenever he takes me to a restaurant that isn’t here, he always gets some sweet potato fries for himself. He lets me have half of them, though. Just cause I’m sweet.” Bai He smiled smugly, obviously figuring that last bit of information was worthy of bragging rights.

Wukong stared at Bai He. Back when he and Macaque were, well, him and Macaque, Wukong almost never saw the shadow-monkey without a plum in his hand at meal times. But, even then, he hardly ever offered to share them with Wukong. Sure, Wukong was never a fan of plums in the first place--peaches were kind of his thing, after all--but still! Macaque never even asked if Wukong wanted some plums. Wukong always asked if Macaque wanted peaches, sometimes dumping a huge pile of them by the shadow monkey’s feet because he thought it would be a cool gift--and even then, Macaque hardly ever touched the peaches!

But now, he had a whole new favorite food, one he clearly liked if he kept a regular stock of them in his home. And not only that, he shared them with this random little girl, willingly, all the time. Did Bai He ever ask or did Macaque just give them away? Did she start out asking and then it transitioned into an unspoken agreement to split the fries? Why Sweet Potatoes and not Plums?

And why did Wukong care all of a sudden?

The Great Sage felt a weird weight settle next to his heart. First Macaque was willingly staying behind, taking the brunt of the battle so Bai He could get away, and now he willingly shared his food with her, the food he loved most nonetheless. Macaque never did that with him… at least not that Wukong could remember.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

With the Monkie Kids finally reunited, it's time to put a stop to The Not-Mayor's wickedness once and for all. But one of PB's most deadly creations falls into his clutches, leading Sun Wukong to make an uneasy alliance with the precocious newcomer in hopes of saving the day.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

Well, since my one post about LMK's new animation has been doing better than I thought it would, it's time for some shameless self-promotion! (please read my fic please read my fic please read my fic please please please)

“What are you two idiots doing?!” Macaque appeared in front of them. Wukong and PB glanced behind him to see The Not-Mayor had fallen into the stream just beyond the fence to the Power Plant. Macaque’s shadows clung to him like a second coat. “Get inside now, I’ll try and get him as far away from us as possible.”

PB analyzed Macaque before a lightbulb went off behind her eyes. “Mr. Maquack, the shadows! The shadows! Can you grab things from within the shadows and move them?”

“What? Yeah, I can. Why does that matter?”

“And when you’re in the shadows, can anything hurt you? Like rot or electricity?”

“… No, to either? Pops, where are you going with this?”

“I have a plan to beat Zhongyu once and for all, but I need you to do one very important thing for me.”

“And that is?”

PB turned and pointed to the downed powerless. “Once those babies are running at full power, I need you to throw them to me so I can catch them.”

“… I’m not doing that.”

“What?” PB looked a little offended. “Why not?”

“Because I don’t want to electrocute you!” Macaque stated. “A novel concept, I’m sure.”

“Don't worry, I’m counting on the shock being enough to electrocute me, because I took some transmutation pills. That's how I’m gonna beat Zhongyu!” PB beamed as if this explained everything. 

Macaque looked at her, rightfully concerned and flabbergasted, before turning to Wukong, hoping to have the Great Sage back him up. Wukong merely shrugged helplessly. “I mean, sounds like a pretty good plan to me…”

“Me throwing live wires at a squishy mortal body with the expressed intent of electrocuting her sounds like a good idea to you?”

“… Ok when you say it like that, it kinda sounds bad.” “Kinda?!”

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

How could I not share this super sweet moment I just wrote?

Mei pondered this. Her control over the Samadhi fire had been brought out by her own understanding of her abilities and what she was capable of. She figured if Bai He could reach that point as well, there might be a chance she could grasp her own abilities. But that was going to be difficult if the mere thought of her powers brought on such existential terror to the little girl, it nearly paralyzed her.

Then, an idea occurred to her.

What if Bai He already had better moments associated with the abilities, maybe not with the being or origination, but with the type of magic she possessed.

“Do you have any good memories of winter?” Mei asked. Hoping she wasn’t throwing Bai He for to much of a loop.

“Ice Skating with my Nainai,” Bai He answered almost immediately with a small smile. “She used to watch me when I was practicing my figure skating… I haven’t done it as much since she passed away.”

Mei smiled. “Ok, focus on your breathing. Breath in… and out. In… and out. Picture ice skating with your Nainai in your head. Feel the cold air on your cheek, the warmth of her hand in yours, hear the scrape of the skates on the ice. Can you see it?”

A moment of quiet. Of meaningful, profound quiet. The kind you hear after a beautiful fireworks show, before everyone decides to get up and leave. Then, a nod. “I do… I see her smiling at me, I see the snow on the banks of the pond, I can see the frozen pond in the park near my house.”

“Ok, focus more on the ice. Feel it under your feet as you skate… Now, look at the skates. Can you see them?”

“Uh-huh. I see them.”

“Keep that picture in your head and, carefully, focus on remaking that memory. Feel the cold under your feet, hear the sound of ice skates and--” Mei was cut off by a loud, unexpected Woosh!, startled back, Mei looked down at Bai He’s feet. She smiled.

Confused by how Mei cut her sentence off, Bai He opened her eyes and, seeing Mei’s gaze, looked to her feet with a gasp. “Are… are those--?”

“They sure are, Little Lily.” Mei stood to her feet before gently tugging Bai He into a standing position.

On Bai He’s feet, were thin, icy versions of the skates she used to wear as a littler girl, when her Nainai took her ice skating every winter. Neat and sharp and oh-so cold on the bottom of her tennis shoes. But, Bai He didn’t really mind the cold. Instead of a choking, overbearing winter, these skates almost felt cozy. Like the first snowfall of the year, like making a snow angel with friends, like spending time with your grandma on a cold day.

With a little nudge from Mei, Bai He pushed off. Almost like it was second nature to her, Bai He started to do a few minor turns and spins. She had been in child figure skating competitions since she could walk, but had stopped skating after her NaiNai passed away. It had been long, too long for Bai He to really remember, since she had just gone skating on the ice. No competition required, just a simple return to form.

It was nice, finding out that she hadn’t lost her touch after all this time. “I’m doing it! I’m doing it, Mei!”

Bai He looked up and saw Mei, holding two kittens in one arm, holding out her phone with the other, beaming at the little girl with wet eyes. “You’re doing it, Little Lily. You’re doing it!” She sounded like a big sister watching her baby sister perform the role of “Tree Number 3” in the school play.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

What's this? Unconfirmed guest appearances? I have no idea what you're talking about... *wink wink*

Bai He ignored most of the cluttered, organized mess of Macaque’s room for the dark, messy area under his bed. Bai He had watched him shove most of his stuff under there and pretended not to see his desperate attempt at cleaning the last time she was here. The little girl figured that if there were any clothes Macaque wouldn’t notice were damaged and or missing after today, under the bed would be a good place to start looking. 

Shining her light underneath, Bai He shimmied her little body to about past her shoulders under the bed. “Bingo!” The little girl smiled as she saw a veritable mountain of clothes. “Now which shirt to grab…”

Bai He attempted to dig at the clothing pile but was having a bit of trouble. Her phone didn’t have a pop socket on the back so propping it up without having it shine in her eyes was tricky, so she kept ahold of it with one hand and dug at the pile with the other. Which was slow going at best. Bai He sighed. “This might take a minute… ugh, but I don’t have a minute! The longer The Mayor is out there the longer Macaque is in danger… I wish I wasn’t so useless, then maybe I could help for realsie…”

That’s when Bai He heard a light chirping sound by her left side. She paused. It was to late for any birds to be out, let alone be hiding in Macaque’s room. But it didn’t sound like a bird, no, it kind of sounded like a monkey…

When Bai He heard the sound again, this time by her right, she turned, shining the flashlight as she did. Out of the corner of her flashlight’s glare, she saw it. A small, black figure hiding just inside the shadows. Bai He gasped in quite surprise, remembered the sound had originally come from her left side, and then turned quickly to see a similar figure on her left side.

But she didn’t shine the flashlight this time. Bai He instead settled for squinting through the darkness at the shape in the shadows.

The shape in the shadows squinted back. It’s beady little red eyes narrowing at her in the dark like a candle in a tunnel. The little girl supposed the natural reaction was probably fear… but she wasn’t afraid. She was curious. Flipping her flashlight off, Bai He laid there, patient. Until finally, after a long silence, the shadowy figures with red eyes appear in front of Bai He. 

She tilts her head to the side, curious. Apart from the general shape of a head and body and the little red eyes, Bai He can’t really make out any other discerning features. Were these the things that made the chirping sound?

Then, the little shapes titled their head, mimicking Bai He.

Bai He blinked. Then, the figures did too. She tilted her head to the other side. They did as well. Feeling intrigued, Bai He stuck out her tongue with a little “Bleh!”

The creatures blinked, and then followed suit. Earning a giggle from Bai He. The two, mysterious shadow creatures seemed delighted, red eyes sparkling at the little girl’s laughter. “You guys are silly,” Bai He smiled.

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

Did you miss me? Admit it, you missed me! The chapter is well over halfway done, and I got some other stuff cooking, so probably at the end of September, everything will be out.

With Macaque doing most of the work, the two trudged out of the wire work, past the main hub, and past the chain link fence that surrounded the building. Once they were past the fence, Macaque set PB down, propping her into a sitting position against the fence before giving her another look over. 

“Eyes focused, good. Breathing, a little labored but steady, you know your name so we can rule out concussion. Mmm, you look a little pale. You sure you feel ok?”

“I’m fine, really.” PB assured him. “This just takes a lot out of me to do, lot of energy…”

“You sound like you’ve done this before.”

“Once or twice… Or maybe more, I don’t really know how often I did it.”

Macaque stared at her with wide eyes… before he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed so hard he fell back onto his rear, before looking at PB. “You’re nuts, Pops. Has anyone ever told you that before?”

“A few times yeah,” PB smiled tiredly at him. “But when you say it, it sounds nice. Like your giving me a compliment.”

“Yeah, well… don’t go spreading that around, ok? I can’t let people know I care, I got a reputation to maintain here.”

“Your secret is safe with me.” Macaque smiled, and then his ears twitched again. PB saw it, and the pensive look on his face. “What is it?”

“Lemme see your wrist real quick, ok?” PB complied, tiredly handing him one of her arms. Macaque pressed a couple fingers there and then waited, patiently listening. “Your pulse is insanely fast.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s all the extra electrical energy running through my body. It won’t kill me, but I’m gonna have a hard time falling asleep later.”

Macaque nodded along. Finding that, while rapid, her pulse was steady. She did say she’s done this before, Macaque thought. Probably better to just take her word for it. Worse case scenario, he knew there was at least one other hospital in this city she wasn’t banned from. 

The shadow monkey was about to let go when he noticed the scars on PB’s arms. Criss-crossing this way and that, covering just about every inch of skin that was visible. Macaque frowned, “This wasn’t from today, was it? I thought I saw these earlier in the cave.”

PB frowned, turning her head away. “You got me… Could you maybe not tell anyone else, though, please? I mean, MK, Mei, and Bai He know, but… but please don’t say anything. I… I don’t like thinking or talking about them if I don’t have too.”

“Ok, I won’t.” Macaque paused, not releasing her wrist. “… you want me to cover them up for you?”

“How… how could you do that?”

“With a glamor. I have a few different ones going right now. Heck, I usually don’t leave the house without at least three on. I’ve gotten pretty good at them over the years, so covering your arms and legs shouldn’t be difficult.”

“You would… you would do that for me?”

“Yeah, if you want me too.”

“… Why would you want to do that for me?”

Macaque stared at her incredulously. “Pops… you just turned yourself into solid gold to strangle and electrocute the man who has been tormenting us for the last twenty four hours, because he threatened the safety and well being of people you have known for maybe two days. Not to mention I really care about and don’t want at least two of those people to not get hurt. Putting a glamor on you so you can feel a little more comfortable in your own skin is the least I can do.”

PB stated at the mystic monkey as if she didn’t want to believe him. She shook her head, “I-I couldn’t possibly—”

“Let’s look at it this way,” Macaque held up a hand to shush her. “We’ll call it a favor returned.”

“Favor returned?”

“Yeah! You did me a favor by… getting rid of the fake mayor guy and protecting Bai He when I wasn’t around. So, me doing this is just me returning the favor. No debts to settle, no deals to make, nothing to worry about.”

Macaque watched as PB turned the words over in her head. Slowly, she began to smile, liking the idea. “How… how long does it last?”

“Either until you tell me to stop or something happens to me and I gotta recall my magic.” Macaque shrugged. 

“So, like when you fall asleep?”

“No, not even then. I keep all my glamours in my sleep. Easier that way.”

“O-ok then, let’s do it!”

[smilesthroughfandoms]

A Bone to Pick (Chapter Preview)

Siblings siblings siblings siblings

“What do you mean you don’t know how to make a flying cloud?” Bai He asked incredulously. “That’s like, the most basic Monkey King power there is!”

“I know, I know!” MK said sheepishly, hopping from one roof to the next. “It’s trickier than it looks, you know.”

“What’s so tricky about stand on cloud and fly?” Bai He narrowed her eyes at the hero. “Have you even been trying to learn how to master it?”

“Of course I have!” MK told her.

One Week Ago

“Ok bud,” Monkey King told MK, “it’s just like riding a skateboard. The most important thing you can do is to stay on the board, er, cloud.” The simian monarch reached over and adjusted the red helmet on MK’s head. “Keep both feet on the cloud at all times, and just focus on riding down the track. Got it?”

“Got it!” MK responded eagerly. He was wearing a bright red helmet and matching knee and shoulder pads. The Monkey King had been particularly excited to teach his successor this trick, as it was one of his favorites. They were starting simple. Just ride down the track and slow down at the bottom. Easy peasy!

Monkey King had even made a special track just for the occasion. He had gone out the night before and flattened the side of a mountain, smoothing it out to a nice, polished shine. The mountain itself, while definitely not the tallest mountain in all of Monkey King’s domain, was definitely tall enough to pass the height the average bird flew at.

MK smiled like a little kid in a candy store, glancing down excitedly at the large, foreboding track before him. He was bouncing in place like a video game character standing in place or a honky-tonk cartoon character at the start of a walk-cycle. Monkey King smiled fondly at his successor, his enthusiasm very infectious.

“Alright, you ready, bud?”

“You know I am!”

“Okaaay,” Monkey King pulled his arms back and then thrust them out. Pushing MK off the side of the mountain and onto the track like a dad giving their child their first push-off on their big kid bike. “Le-go!”

“Woo-hoo!” MK cheered. As the Monkie Kid hovered in the air for that one second before gravity kicked in, he had a sudden realization.

For all of his and Monkey King’s excitement about teaching him how to ride a cloud, MK realized his mentor never once showed him how to summon the cloud. MK felt his heart drop into his stomach. Then, he felt gravity starting to kick in.

“Uh-oh.” MK dropped like a stone into the water, letting out a terrified scream as he did. Monkey King’s eyes widened in horror, the realization of his mistake hitting him a second after it had hit MK.

“Hold on, bud! I’m coming!” Monkey King cried out before zipping down the track after MK.

Present Day

“It just… hasn’t been going all that well, y’know…” MK avoided Bai He’s judgemental glare.

“Pfft, doubt.” The little girl scoffed, thoroughly unimpressed.

“Oh, ok, little missy! Let’s see you try and summon a mystical cloud and ride it around like a skateboard, see how easy it is for you.”

[smilesthroughfandoms]

CONTENT WARNING: Contains themes of self-harm, suicide ideation, and reference attempted suicide. Proceed with caution.

MK's plan begins to crumble. Tensions run high as The Not-Mayor strikes at the Monkie Kid's weakness, finally revealing the deep, dark truth Poppy Blue has tried to hide from her new friends.