Pretentious Faces (Masquerade Au)

Plummeting Before Resurfacing

Wukong stared at the map, tilting it carefully. They had been traveling for a long time now, and the king only had some ideas as to where the rings were. The map changed itself whenever a ring was moved, except for Mei, of course. And that meant he had a good grasp as to who the first ring was located with.

"It looks like we'll be seeing the Demon Bull King first. Then we can figure out the other two later." He closed the map, placing it within his clothes. MK lit up, "But we have a pretty good relationship with them! So it'll be fine if we ask, right?" Everyone else, except for Sandy, grimaced at the brunette's words.

"It's...complicated, bud. They might. They might not. So--"

"We'll have to resort to stealing!" Mei loudly proclaimed, eyes shining. Wukong made the motion of wanting to facepalm, but didn't in fear of completely shattering his mask. But before even Pigsy could scold her, shots of bright light landed around them. Everyone ducked down and moved, glaring up at the sky.

"Oh, Wukong~! Hey, BUD. Miss me?" A small vehicle was shown amongst the dark clouds, a familiar shadow wielder maneuvering on it. Wukong huffed, standing in a defensive position. MK shouted, shaking his fist, "Beat it, Macaque! We're busy here!"

Macaque laughed before snarling, throwing himself onto the deck.

Everyone yelled, rolling away from the small wreckage. The warrior dove out, grabbing the king and slamming him down. Wukong didn't even gasp, hands reaching up without warning and grabbing his attacker's face. Macaque flinched, his own hands positioned around the sage's neck.

"Don't hide yourself. Please." The king's raspy whisper broke out softly, meant solely for Macaque to hear. The others' yells for Wukong were blocked out by the warrior's surprise and rage, "Oh? And why shouldn't I? You do the same--"

"Please." The hands were shaking against Macaque's skin, and he felt his eyes widen. "Don't hide how lovely you look. You are perfect. I'm sorry, this is to protect you." Before Macaque could even begin to question what he meant, a green laser suddenly shot out.

Macaque snarled, diving away from the king as more beams of emerald light smacked against the dock around him. He suddenly felt the ship lurch, and now everyone was being herded by Sandy into the quarters. Macaque glanced around, catching sight of a failed engine Mei must have accidentally shot before diving into the shadows.

Wukong watched him go, his hands reaching out for the warrior as the others pulled him to safety.

---

The ocean surrounded them, and water rushed in through cracked glass. MK frantically dug around the salt water, pulling out his mentor who had sunk, "Monkey King! What do we do?!" Red lights blared, and the king took a moment to breathe, adjusting his mask.

"I don't...I'm not sure."

Mei suddenly gasped, "Hey, look at that!" Everyone glanced up, freezing as two giant eyes stared down at them. Wukong waved slowly, tilting his head in confusion, "I know that guy. He's Ao Guang!" Pigsy shot the monkey a look, "Is he a friend, or..?"

Wukong slowly shrugged, "Frenemy..?" Tang grimaced at that, "Okay, so you probably stole from him." The king bashfully glanced away as the dragon took them, and soon they were on dry land.

Everyone stumbled out, and stared in awe at the large palace. Wukong moved to the front, his hands holding up his crumbling mask, "Ao Guang, hello! Uh, thank you for intervening. We--" The old dragon stopped him with a raised hand, "Sun Wukong, I know of your plans for defeating the Lady Bone Demon."

The monkey winced, "I know it's risky, but we need to try!" Ao Guang firmly shook his head, "We will need to detain you. You cannot enact your plan." The dragon's face then softened as he moved forward, presenting a mask towards the sage, "No one will be harmed, I promise."