Pretentious Faces (Masquerade Au)

Lanterns, Ice, and Flames

Wukong grumbled to himself, nervously pulling at his hoodie sleeves as random strangers pressed against him in the train. MK patted him sympathetically, "City's changed since the last time you were here, huh?" The king nodded slowly, whining semi-pathetically, "It used to be a random village..."

It used to be small and quaint. There weren't many people there, with a handful of gardens and animals. Wukong had assumed it would have been a reasonable place to hide his ring, after all, who would care for such a quiet place?

The train doors opened, allowing the flow of people to squeeze out. The group reunited, with Wukong wheezing feebly, "That was awful." Tang huffed in amusement, "That's to be expected, Monkey King. You're used to being in Flower Fruit Mountain." The monkey threw his arms out, "The monkeys were more well-behaved and tame!"

Tang snickered, shaking his head, "Well, for now we'll just need to worry about finding the third ring." Mei looked around, nudging MK, "Where do you think it is, Smartie Boy?" The brunette mumbled to himself, counting on his fingers, "Well, we have two rings. So if we add them, two plus two is..." His eyes landed on a giant lantern and beamed, "THREE! The third ring!"

Wukong made a strangled noise, moving to stare at his successor as the brunette scrambled on top of it, "It's gotta be there! It's so obvious!" Tang gave MK a look but didn't bother saying anything. Sandy then hummed in interest, picking up a flier, "...Huh. They're holding a talent show, and the winner receives the ring."

The scholar huffed, "Why don't we just take it?" MK leapt off of Wukong, shaking his head, "Nuh-uh! Winning it is way better!" Mei laughed, "But what's our talent, dude?" Pigsy shot Sandy a look, "Uh-uh." The water demon winced, "...Pigsy's got the voice of an angel."

"SANDY!" Pigsy fumed, flustered and bashful at the praise. Wukong patted him hesitantly before clearing his throat, "Okay, so you guys hold a show. Tang and I can take the ring--" MK frowned, "What?! But you could play something, I know you have instruments and stuff, so--"

Wukong batted him, shaking his head frantically, "Oh, no! No no no no! Absolutely not, kid, I...I don't want all those eyes on me." His arms began to tremble at the thought, and MK quickly scrambled to reassure the monkey, "Hey, it's fine! Uh, yeah, you and Tang can go get the ring and we'll put on a show."

At the brunette's reassurance, the king calmed down, trying to puff out his chest, "Yeah. Sounds good." He bashfully pulled away from MK, rubbing the back of his neck. Pigsy huffed audibly, "Alright, so what do we perform?"

---

"You really thought you could get away from me." The demoness moved around the warrior strung up before her, smiling with a face that was not her own.

Macaque snarled at her, struggling against the chains, "I've been working for you! I don't--" She was suddenly in his face, green eyes surrounding his vision, "I brought you back. I revived you." She moved, letting a chill settle in his bones, "You are indebted to me. And I know of your traitorous acts."

He neither denied being a traitor or a loyal soldier. Macaque lunged forward, baring his teeth, "You lied to us. I never died-!" A cruel laugh cut through the air. The warrior fought back a flinch as cold hands grabbed his face, "Even so, he took away the sight from your eye. He left you for a bunch of questionable companions."

He yanked his face free, heaving in the cold air, "Sun Wukong didn't have a damn choice. He was trying to protect me." Lady Bone Demon hummed, her voice sounding through despite the body she occupied, "Even so, he failed you. But, well, seeing as you fail to find a reason to anger, I will need to fix the oversight."