The Fire Prince and The Dragon Princess

Chapter 11: Storytime

Their conversations continued, since they weren't exactly sure what ELSE to do. But then, out of nowhere, the purple and black void they were in began to shake, along with the gang.

Red Son and Tang hit the wall of the void, while Mei and Pigsy hit the other side. Then, out of nowhere? They were enveloped in a bright flash of light and let out of the strange realm...and back in the real world.

"GUYS!!!" An all too familar voice exclaimed. The Monkie Kid. He ran over, hugging Pigsy, Tang, and Mei tightly.

Red Son groaned, feeling like he should be used to crashing into things by now. But he was quiet, since he figured he'd only be attacked again if he showed himself. Fate had other plans though...at least for later.

MK eventually caught sight of someone, most likely Macaque, and chased after him. Mei then rushed over to Red Son and helped him to his feet.

"You okay, Red?" Mei asked, smiling a bit.

Red Son gave a gentle smile. "I-I believe so. Where did the Noodle Boy go?"

Pigsy hummed. "Let's go find out." He said before they all ran outside to see MK staring into the alleyway, likely having finished a conversation with the trickster himself.

MK turned around when he heard them walk over, but his eyes widened. "RED SON?!?!"

Red Son would normally attack him or blast him with fire, but he wasn't going to. He looked from side to side...before giving an awkward wave.

MK blinked. "Okay, you're not trying to kill me yet, what's wrong?"

Mei smiled. "Wellll, Red's a hero now! I'm training him! I've actually BEEN training him for a long time! We even took out the Yellow Wind Demon!"

"You two took out a demon?!" Pigsy exclaimed.

Red Son chuckled. "That we did. It was a team effort."

MK's eyes widened at that last part. Normally, Red Son would congratulate himself. Not include someone else. He then smiled wide and hugged Red Son. "YOU ARE A GOOD GUY NOW!!!"

Red Son growled and his hair burst into flames. "WHAT IS WITH YOU HEROES AND HUGGING?!?"

"WE'RE BEST FRIENDS NOW!!!"

"NO, WE AREN'T!!! I LITERALLY JUST BECAME GOOD!!!"

Red Son was now officially part of the group, and while he still got lessons from Mei, he was much more 'heroic'. And he actually felt...happy. He wasn't getting beaten up and it was much more stress relieving to relax than take over the city.

Not to mention, the others had rather welcoming personalities. Especially Sandy, who Red Son almost had a hard time believing he had never gotten mad. Sandy was just too nice. Not that it was a bad thing, it was just bewildering.

But however...he HAD been thinking about something. Specifically...someone. The one who had helped him from the very beginning of this journey to become a hero.

"And that's MK's real name!" Mei said with a smile. "Real mouthful, huh?"

Red Son blinked. "Wow...I'm not even sure I can remember that. I'm going to keep calling him Noodle Boy."

"Ah, c'mon! You use MY real name instead of Dragon Girl!" Mei laughed. "Are you too high and mighty to address the peasants by their name?"

"Wouldn't that make YOU a peasant too...Dragon Girl?" Red Son asked with a cheeky grin.

Mei just gave the same cheeky grin back. "Ah, ah, ah! I'm royalty too, your highness!"

Red Son gave a playful bow. "Oh, I sincerely apologize, princess."

Mei cleared her throat, doing a fake accent to sound royal and fancy. "You are excused, my dearest citizen."

Red Son snorted. "That was awful."

Mei giggled before sitting on her bike. Her eyes then softened a bit. "...hey, can I...ask ya something?"

Red Son nodded, standing up.

"...how'd you escape Guanyin?"

Red Son's eyes widened a bit and he was left silent for a moment. He clutched his fist a bit.

Mei's eyes widened. "S-Sorry! I was just curious!"

"N-No, no. It's alright, Mei." Red Son sighed. "It's just...a story I don't share all the time. I'm not uncomfortable with it too much." He then began his story. "Guanyin may have immobilized me and made me her slave for a little while...but I got tired of it. I escaped with The True Fire of Samahidi."

Mei's eyes widened a bit, but she nodded.

Red Son took a deep breath. "But...my fire was far too powerful than even I knew. And it only GREW with my anger. I obliterated Guanyin's home into ash and went out on a rampage. Nothing could stop me, and the fire...it was CORRUPTING me."

Mei walked closer.

"My parents tried to get me under control, but I was too far gone. Heaven had to send Nezha to stop me, but he couldn't do anything. It took the efforts of The Tang Priest, Sun Wukong, my father, and Nezha to seperate the fire into four halves." Red Son said, his voice shaking a bit. "I...I still remember the HATRED the fire was fueled by...it took ahold of my brain, turning me into something that scared my own father...with that power, I could destroy the rings Guanyin had on me...and I DID."

Mei held Red Son's hand. "...is that why you don't have the True Fire anymore? The real reason?"

Red Son nodded. "...and truth be told, I don't want it again."

Mei then held both of Red Son's hands. "Then, you won't get it again. You don't deserve something so corrupting like that fire. And I'll make sure you won't get harmed by something like that again!"

Red Son stared into Mei's eyes, heat rising to his face. But it wasn't his fire. He was blushing.

Mei stared back into the fire demon's eyes before her cheeks went pink, but she didn't make a sound.

"T...Thank you." Red Son said, suddenly disrupting the silence.

Mei gave a gentle smile. "I'll do anything for the people I care about."

But then, out of nowhere...she leaned in and kissed his cheek. Red Son's eyes widened and his face went red as flames began to dance around his red hair.

Mei realized what she had done and her face became the color of a tomato. "O-OH, LOOK AT THE TIME! HAHAHA, BYE!" She exclaimed, hopping onto her bike and driving off, clearly embarassed.

Red Son was left in silence, and he slowly placed a hand on his cheek...a smile forming across his face.