Incarnate

Meet Again

MK swayed on his feet, dancing and spinning. The bag of food stayed balanced in his hand, and before long he nearly walked in on two people conversing.

The brunette frowned, inching away and up a set of beams. As he climbed, a strange bird followed along, making him smile. "They look sketchy, right? And I have never met them before but they...I think I know them?" MK whispered to the bird, bag clenched in his teeth.

Suddenly, using a gauntlet, a red-haired demon pulled out a familiar staff, releasing someone MK had only ever heard in stories. The Demon Bull King bellowed out, celebrating his freedom as his wife and son declared how they'd set him free. The bird suddenly began tapping at the boy's fingers, making MK frantically shake his head.

But then he was falling.

"Bad birdy!" The delivery boy shook his fist at the beams above his head before glancing down, "...Uhm..." The body beneath him thrashed angrily, literally blowing him off with flames, "GET OFF ME YOU PEASANT." MK rolled away with a small grunt, sitting up slowly.

He stared up at the Demon Bull King, the red boy's monologuing lost to him. MK suddenly blurted out a small, "Do I...Do I know you?" Everyone fell silent, and MK flushed. Of course MK knew who they were! Tang told him all kinds of stories. But it didn't feel as if that was it.

Princess Iron Fan suddenly leaned down, tilting his face around, "...Hm. It seems we have quite the guest." MK leaned away, nervously smiling at her. He suddenly flinched, gazing down at the staff.

"It seems the boy is none other than-- HE'S GETTING THE STAFF!"

The blow that should have killed him never came, blocked by a staff. MK stared with wide eyes, his body moving without his brain needing to catch up. He was suddenly out of the construction site, soaring above the buildings. The staff expanded and contracted, and MK found himself able to control it. He laughed in disbelief, shaking like a leaf.

His relief dissipated, however, as a loud voice echoed out, "GET BACK HERE, NOODLE BOY!" MK yelped, scrambling along the rooftops as a flaming demon tried to capture him. But MK knew the city like the back of his hands, and he knew a couple shadows that would be more than happy to move him from place to place.

Eventually, after clambering through numerous buildings and alleyways, he managed to lose the deadly prince. MK sighed audibly, shaking his head. This was nuts, absolutely insane.

Tang.

MK ran forward in search of a familiar noodle shop.

---

Obviously, no one believed him at first. How could they? Lifting the staff was impossible unless you were insanely strong, the Monkey King...or the Monkie Kid.

There was only one way to truly know, and that was to hear it from Monkey King himself.

He was mostly concentrating on getting to Flower Fruit Mountain. Meeting Sandy was cool, and ignoring his friend's questioning gazes was simple enough. But in all honesty, he was unsure of how to feel. Because if he wasn't the Monkie Kid...who was he? What was he?

"Hey, MK? Can we talk?" Mei leaned in, her face formed with worry. MK blinked in surprise, coming back from dissociating, "Oh, yeah, sure. What's up?" She crossed her arms, pressing them against the ship's railing, "You remember when we would sit under slides and you'd tell me about your dreams and stuff?"

"...Yeah?" MK didn't meet her eyes, instead staring at the ocean below. "I think...I think you're... I think you know who you really are." She nudged him gently, "Is it...scary?" The silence stretched out not uncomfortably, and eventually MK cleared his throat.