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“OK! That’s the plan! Any comments, questions, or concerns?” As Mei slammed the crayon back into the offered box, she realized one crucial thing that no one had accounted for so far. One thing that on a good day could be irritating, but now on the cusp of battle could prove to be a disaster in the making.
“Update, because I just realized that… who’ll be on which team?”
Each member of the gang looked around, half-confused by her question, until they saw the problem, who had, up until that point, been standing quietly in the corner, and the room came alive with various noises of dissent.
“I don’t want him on my team!” Pigsy jabbed a finger at the issue, and Mei noted that said issue retracted for just a moment before steadying itself against the wall. No one had offered him a seat.
“Maybe he should go on the monkey team?” Sandy suggested, and Tang shook his head frantically.
“No way! Have you seen how he and Monkey King fight?”
With every refusal, Macaque retreated, face ducking into his scarf, shadows rising to swallow him whole, and indeed, a portal was warping up behind him.
“Wait just a minute, mister!” Had Mei had the foresight to retain her crayon, she would’ve chucked it at him full force, but, as it was, she settled for waving the box at him.
“MK said you were on this whole ‘path to redemption’ thing.”
His eyes narrowed, and Mei could feel her brain kick into overdrive. This wasn’t a villain like Red Boy who could be won over with a training montage. This was something older, wiser, and a whole lot meaner.
“We know you’re strong enough to hold your own against Monkey King.”
That earned her a glare from Macaque, but she pressed him on the topic.
“Are you, or are you not on the path of redemption and strong enough to take on Monkey King and at least not die?”
“You overestimate me, little girl.” He spat his words from between gritted teeth, almost folding into himself in an effort to escape being the center of attention. Mei carefully fought the urge to beat his face in, and instead turned to Monkey King.
“Monkey King, do you think we stand a chance against Azure, Yellowtusk, and Peng if we go at it without our full number?”
“I mean, when I-” He saw the murder in her eyes, and cleared his throat awkwardly, adjusting the straps of his chestplate in an effort to remain casual.
“No. We need everyone on deck.” He looked over and sighed. “Macaque, you have to help out, or we lose."
Macaque glared at the king and scoffed, arms pressing into his armor, looking down at the floor as though wishing it would swallow him whole.
"You know how I was back in the day, Wukong."
Monkey King walked forth, and Macaque flinched back, but Mei intervened, pushing herself between the two before fisticuffs could break out.
"Nuh-uh, you two need to make up, because now is not the time for revenge, or anything like that!”
Monkey King looked vaguely appalled, but took a step back, face flushing at the embarrassment of being caught mid-fight-warmup.
"I wasn’t gonna hurt him!”
"Sure, right." She turned back to Macaque and grabbed him by the shoulders, digging in her nails so he couldn’t get away.
"You gotta lock in for this, ok? I know it's scary."
"I'm not scared." Macaque snapped at her, and she saw a flash of sharp, stained teeth, before she grabbed his mouth and held it closed.
"No, look at me." He avoided her eyes, but he looked up, which Mei would call a win in any sense of the word. "You can do this." Macaque’s eyes darted to MK, and Mei had a brief moment to wonder if he had said something similar in the past, before he pushed her away with both hands.
"I was the weakest of the brotherhood." He smoothed his armor and tried to adjust it. "How am I gonna-"
"Do you ever stop complaining?" MK groaned. "You're always just going 'Oh I can't help’, ‘I can't help’, ‘oh look at me I'm a bad guy’-"
Macaque’s mouth opened to protest, but MK was faster, grabbing the old warrior by the face and clamping down.
"I get that you used to be a bad guy, but do you really want to prove people like Peng right about you?" MK’s challenge was almost playful, and for just a moment, there was dead silence, before the shadows came alive, swirling up over furniture and limbs alike.
"What?" Macaque growled. He thought for a moment, then his brow pinched into a scowl- no, a snarl, as his lips curled back over time-blackened gums in the clearest threat display he’d shown to date. "What did they say about me?!”
Tang piped up, adjusting his glasses nervously.
"They bullied you when you were in the brotherhood, right?"
Macaque hesitated, one hand going up to his ears, then stopping halfway, but Monkey King took up the slack, filling in the details with something like bite in his voice.
"You really don't want to slam their smug beak into the mountain? You wanna run? What would be the term for that? Oh, right, a cow-!"
Macaque lunged, but through the combined efforts of Mei and MK, they held him back.
"I'm not a coward, Wukong!" He snapped. "I just don't want to rush into battle without a surefire plan!"
Monkey King nodded and gestured to the plan board.
"We've got one that could work. And you could get revenge on Peng for all the times they went after you for being cautious, for your powers, for your ears, for the way you laughed-"
"Ok! Enough, enough!" Macaque shouldered his way up to Monkey King, teeth bared. "I'll help with this dumb plan. But I'm the one to take down Peng. I get to handle them, and I take them down.”
Mei shot MK a grin and turned back to Macaque, clapping him on the shoulder, and trying to ignore the wince she got in return.
"All we ask is that you help out."