Under the Wraps (A Solarstories S Next Gen Fanfic)

Jim x Cedar Wood

Ever since he was a little boy, Jim knew Macaque. He knew how much Macaque was misunderstood which got them to be closer as friends, and eventually became his successor. It also came with a lot of problems since they weren't easy to control. He got some mentoring from the shadow master and some help from Sun Wukong, much to Macaque's jealousy, which got him some scorn from him.

As time went on when Macaque fell to the darkness, Jim still had faith in him but was scared of his powers getting out of control and all he hoped right now was for his old friend to be the Macaque he used to know in his childhood back when his mother died. 

Jim wasn't close to Marnie at the beginning and their relationship was more out of his respect for her than friendship, but they cared for each other. They mainly had mutual pals that linked them together like Himawari and Amelia but the relationship grew after Marnie heard several stories of Macaque from him and they came to understand each other more as friends. Both wanted to be the ones to help the shadow master with his problems and remind him that he's not alone.

Of course, it was no surprise that Jim would stand by Marnie and support her during the time when the Solars' intentions to protect her went too far and turned into mockery and ridicule. Jim, seeing this, knew that he had to stand up to them and warn them that it was wrong to make fun of their friend. Like Mugman, Ms. Chalice, MK, Cuphead, and Himawari, his warning was ignored and he saw how the Solars didn't take the time to reflect on what drove Marnie to Macaque. Sure Macaque was his friend, but he's not okay with how the "medications" he gave to the girl for her "recovery" impacted how she is. 

Nothing changed in Jim's life; He was still the middle ground between Macaque and Marnie and his relationship with Cedar is still going smooth (Cedar thankfully understood his warnings and didn't break up with him like his Solar peers). But he felt that something was missing in his life: Marnie. Marnie is the emotional core and the heart of the Solars who helped others with their problems and can extend that kindness to people outside of the group, including Macaque, something that he appreciared her for doing. Now that she's gone, an enhanced rift was formed in the Solars and no matter how much he tried, it couldn't break. He must find a way to still be friends with Macaque but also bring Marnie back so the Solars wouldn't go killing themselves.

Since he and Macaque are still friends, a part of him decided to talk to Macaque to see if he can check on Marnie since even though the two were friends, he didn't like Marnie's new attitude after being with him for a while so he had to set things straight. Cedar heard about her boyfriend's intentions and decided to go along with him to the neighborhood that Marnie, Ms. Chalice, and Macaque lived in for moral support. The teenage boy rang the doorbell at the house across Marnie and Ms. Chalice's house. 

"Hey Jimbo. Nice to see you around bud," came a familiar voice none other than his childhood friend, Macaque.

"Papa. We need to talk about something. Something serious," Jim told his uncle's former mentor. "It's about your neighbor, Marnie."

"Oh that kid. Well I do recall that she's been sick from what she's been going through lately and I decided to give her something to help cope with it. She's doing better now."

"Well. She's dealing with it in an unhealthy way, destroying stuff, and seeking vengeance on the Solars. She's sort of scaring me now."

"I don't see that as my problem. All I cared about was filling my promise to a neighbor. I did something and I kept it for her. She's pretty happy about her new way of living now."

"JUST LOOK AT WHAT YOU DID, PAPA!" shouted Macaque's successor. "DO YOU THINK MARNIE IS DEALING WITH HER SITUATION IN A HEALTHY WAY!"

"Marnie may be calm and endlessly patient but she won't hesitate to wrong those who harm her," Jim continued. "I think that she might have something called a volcano effect where all the pent-up stress from the Solars' teasing of her caused her to erupt into a huge explosion of rage." 

"Well no wonder the girl reached her breaking point sometime before I saw her. She was a bit angrier than what I normally see of her," Macaque said as he remembered the time Marnie felt down and just wanted to let her stress out. Macaque was normally the last guy you would spill out your problems to but Marnie's desire to help him led to her to tell him about what's going on lately and Macaque offered some solutions to his neighbor. 

"Look. I'm sorry that the Solars were mean to her lately but can you at least tell me where she is now?" Jim asked his childhood friend.

"I'm sorry but I can't spill that information," Macaque told Jim. 

What a bummer! Jim thought as he and Cedar left the house. He believed that if he was the one who asked Macaque, he'll be likely to show Marnie's current location, but now it seemed like he's hiding something like the time he kidnapped a baby named Luna and renamed her Sarah. But it doesn't make any sense, considering that Macaque never looked out for Marnie, but why now? Probably he felt attachment to the girl like he did for Jim from all the times they were together or he probably saw her as great use to his own plans. Whatever it is, Jim must maintain peace in the Solars before going off to wonder about it.

Cedar was disappointed by the waste of time, but she was glad to stand by her boyfriend, Jim, the whole time. She still had a long way to go in knowing the wonders of the world but right now, the most important thing was cheering up Jim. 

"Look Jim. I know we didn't get what we wanted here, but I do appreciate your efforts in finding Marnie," Cedar reassured Jim with a touch on his shoulder.

"Well. Thanks. At least I tried and here I thought he would listen to me."

"You two were always close but I think he might have set standards in your friendship since he's not going to give everything away just because you two knew each other for a long time."

"So what do we do now?" Jim asked.

"Maybe go see Ms. Chalice, Mugman, and MK," Cedar suggested to her boyfriend. "Out of all the Solars, they could use some comfort during their grievances."

So the two went to go see Ms. Chalice, Mugman, and MK. Things may be chaotic right now, but there must be a way for Jim to be able to maintain his friendship with the shadow master as well as bring back the peace and stability that the Solars used to have.