LOVE STORY

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Chapter Ten
On the Run
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❝Forever's a long time, bud. Trust me.❞

YOU HISS SLIGHTLY as Mei bandaged your head. You had explained to them about your late arrival and absence in details so they won't really blame for anything. You were helping after all... hopefully.

You listened to Tang and Pigsy argue about Tang writing gloomy things in his journal, but you decided to interfere, "Hey, as long as he wrote down that whole bit with me fighting Ne Zha and getting this bad boy, then we're good." You said while waving the map around, but this earned you a smack on the head from Mei. Mk joined with a big smile on his face, "I mean, the bit with the omelet thing, pretty cool." He uttered with amusement which made you laugh.

"Yeah, right? It was totally cool. Ha! Okay, gather around, everyone. It's Monkey Queen story time!" You waved your hand as a way to tell them to huddle. You opened the map and hissed at the pain in your body before quickly covering it, "So, I know what happened back there kinda sucked."

"Mega sucked." Mei corrected you.

"Mega sucked. But the ol' Great Sage had a trick or two up her sleeve."

Just as you said that, Pigsy let out a sound of annoyance which made you glare at him. Suddenly, a strong wave of wind, jerking the dronecopter around. The map flew away, but Mk caught it before it could fly away. Your successor put it down while you placed a metal piece on it to keep it down, "Yeah, so you said you were looking for a weapon?" Mk asked you first.

"Yup!"

"And? Did you find it?" Pigsy asked next.

"Nope. But this map is gonna help us track it down. It's called the Samadhi Fi-..." You were about to explain what this map was for, but you were cut off by Tang, "The Samadhi Fire!" He exclaimed with sparkling eyes. You deadpanned at him, "Yeah, that. The most powerful force I've ever seen." You confronted, returning back to your serious self... or trying to be your serious self.

"Powerful enough to destroy the Lady Bone Demon?" Asked Mk.

You nodded with a hum.

"But what is it?"

You were about to tell Mk about the fire, but seeing how eager Tang was, you couldn't prevent him from telling the story since he will be just cutting you off most of the time, "Go on then." You sighed and gestured him to tell the story. Tang squealed happily before proceeding to tell the ancient story of Samadhi Fire, "Hoo-hoo, okay! Ahem. Legends speak of a flame so powerful that nothing could put it out. Not even the Great Sage herself." He started to explain.

"That's right. The Samadhi Fire burned out of control. The only way to contain it was by splitting it into pieces, and scattering them so their flames could never be reforged." You added.

Mk looked at you with a questioning look on his face, "So, you just tossed around a bunch of fires instead of one?" He asked, finding the method you and companions used a bit off and the rest of the group seemed to agree with him. You groaned loudly in annoyance, "And we put the pieces into three rings so they cause no further harm. Come on, do I have to spell everything out?" You facepalmed and let out another sigh upon seeing Mk go quiet because he realized his mistake.

"Now, that the Lady Bone Demon has the staff and your powers, she's too much for us to handle. We can't stop her, she's going to destroy... well, everything."

"So, find the rings, combine them, and then what? You said the Fire of Somewhatsi couldn't be controlled."

You all jumped when Sandy spoke out of nowhere, you all thought he was flying the dronecopter. You tried to correct his pronunciation about the word Samadhi, but everyone opposed you, "Hey, if Monkey Queen thinks this can work, then it'll work! We can do this." Mk butted in, making everyone motivated to get the Samadhi Fire. You grabbed Mk and ruffled his hair, "Yes! That's more like it!" Just as you said that, blasts where sent to the dronecopter. Pigsy sat up and looked at you. "The Lady Bone Demon?! How did she catch up to us already?!" He exclaimed with concern. You frowned, knowing that you were in trouble and who was chasing you.

"Oh, Y/N!" Macaque laughed before sending more blasts toward you. Thankfully, you all managed to dodge them all.

"Macaque?!" Mk exclaimed.

"Oh, that's a relief. I thought it was someone important." You sarcastically stated. Macaque chuckled and tilted his head to the side, "Heh, always the comedian. Hey kiddo, ya miss me?" He directly his question to Mk who frowned. The boy screamed no and told Mei and Tang to get them out of here. Macaque laughed again and increased his speed, firing at you more, "Monkey Queen, you've gotta do something!" Mk pleaded in hopes that you could help him.

You scratched your cheek nervously, "So… yeah, I'd love to, but I kinda sort of used the last bit of my powers getting this." You stated while pointing at the map in your hand. The two of you dodged more blasts from Macaque before he disappeared into the dark clouds. You and Mk kept your guards up in case the shadow monkey would attack.

"Hoo hoo, looking a little banged up there, Monkey Queen. The kid too. Looks like our old friend, the Lady Bone Demon, really did a number on you guys."

"So what? You're her puppet now? I mean, makes sense. You did always have a side-kick kinda vibe."

Just as you said that, Macaque appeared with his vehicle before jumping off, pinning you down on the ground, "You know me, as a new player in town, I'm just feeling out which one is the winning side." He mocked you, leaning toward your face more than needed. You could see a strange glimmer in his eyes and his smirk felt different. Mk moved quickly and brought the metal piece down on Macaque, but he pulled back and punched you in the stomach. You hit the ground and groaned in pain, seeing the dark furried monkey holding Mk by the neck, "Kid!" You exclaimed and went to help him. Macaque turned to you and snapped his fingers, summoning clones of himself to pin you down.

"The two of you are such a mess. I can't imagine why the Bone Demon wants me to bring you back." He then look at Mk that was struggling to free himself, "Look at you, you're all used up." Just as he said that, he was about to throw Mk. However, a green blast was shot at him and he dodged it quickly. The blast hit his clones that were pinning you down, free you from their grasp.

It was Mei who came to the rescue.

She continued to shoot more blasts, making you and Macaque avoid them. You quickly went behind her to rest a bit, "You want to get to my monkeys, you gotta go through me first!" She angrily stated while holding her sword firmly. Macaque had jumped on railing and started to walk, "Ah, you must be the Dragon Girl I've heard so little about. Little girl, you can shoot me all you want. It won't do you any good." His tone turned dark as he approached you three.

"Maybe not. But hey, you want to make an omelet, sometimes you gotta break a few engines." Mk spoke up as he moved forward.

"Uh, what?"

"I-I don't know. I thought it was cool. Just— whatever!"

The boy threw the metal piece at Macaque who dodged it with ease, but it actually hit the engine. It exploded violently, throwing Macaque off the drone. The dronecopter leaned to the side and you started to slide down. You held yourself and saw Mk holding into Mei who had her sword planted in the dronecopter, "Kid, why did you-..." You were about to scold him, but he cut you off.

"Uh, well yeah, I-I was trying to do you in the omelet story. Do the weird, impulsive Monkey Queen thing and escape the bad guy?"

You sighed deeply. It seemed that the boy misunderstood your story and you couldn't blame him for that, "Well, I mean, Ne Zha ain't really a bad guy, but... did you forget about the part where I got really hurt?"

More explosions could be heard on the rest of the burners and before you all could do anything, the dronecopter drifted toward the ocean, sinking deeply into the water.