*At the desert.*
"Dumb Macaque. Dumb desert. Not blaming you or anything, MK, Miwa." said Mei all exhausted from the heat.
"You know what? I can't even at you right now, Mei." said MK, almost having trouble speaking.
"It's fine. This is so Mac's fault if he hadn't showed up and made a clone of our van in the first place." said Miwa, wearing the hood of her scarf that protected her from the heat of the sun, unlike the others that were slowly dying to it.
Sandy was carrying both MK and Mei, while Miwa was walking in the air and texting on her phone. "Don't worry, gang. We just have to keep moving forever and ever until we're—"
Sandy collapses, and not soon after the sound of a race car could be hear.
Miwa looked up from her phone a little surprised at first before then smiling seeing that it was Redson of all people.
MK laying exhausted from the heat slowly opened his eyes. "Wha...? Who's..."
"Noodle Boy." said Redson when glancing down at him and the rest.
"Pepper!" Miwa pulled Redson into a hug after landed back on the ground. "I'm surprised you go here so fast, didn't think you would actually come."
Redson slightly flustered shoved Miwa away from him. "Well, you wouldn't stop complaining over the phone about being lost in the desert and your friends in this heat."
Miwa giggled awkwardly. "I still didn't think that you would come, since you don't really get along with MK and the others."
Redson rolled his eyes at her. "And I don't, now help me get those three on my car so we can get out of this heat. Unless you want them dying from dehydration."
"Got it." Miwa quickly helped with getting her friends on the car and making sure they wouldn't fall off. "Lead the way, Pepper."
Redson gave a frustrated sigh. "It's Redson, so I would appreciate it if you would stop calling me by that silly nickname, Ruby."
"You keep calling me, Ruby and I'll keep calling you, Pepper." said Miwa with a smug grin as she started racing Redson towards his home.
"Urgh, you are just as annoying as your parents." Redson complained, rolling his eyes.
*Inside the Demon Bull King's fortress.*
"That's the good stuff." said MK as he finally got a glass of fresh cold water.
"You're welcome, by the way." said Redson while observing the gang eating the food they had been given along with glasses of water.
"Thanks, Red Boy. You're the man." said Mei after finished eating her food.
"It's Redson! I should have just left you to the vultures." Redson exclaimed while crossing his arms.
"You could, but you didn't." Miwa teased with a smirk.
Redson rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"Yo. Your new crib is toight!" MK's voice echoes through the fortress. "Very nice acoustics, too."
As he kept walking he ended up stepping on bobbytrap that caused some of the walls to open up with sharp spears striking out. Luckily he was quickly saved by Redson in the last second.
"Would you stop being so annoying? You three aren't even supposed to be here, so I'd appreciate if you finished up and went about whatever obnoxious business you were in the middle of before I saved your pathetic, meaningless lives." Redson explained after throwing MK back in his own chair and then returning to his own. Picking up a glass of water before breaking it.
"Wait what about Mimi?" Mei pointed over at Miwa. "How come you didn't mention her not being here?"
"Since we are kind of family, I guess it would make sense that I'm still welcome here." said Miwa giving a shrug.
Mei let out a gasp. "You married into his family?!"
MK quickly spit out the water he was drinking after hearing this. "When did you become his wife?! And why didn't you tell me about this?!"
"Oh, well congratulation Miwa." said Sandy with a smile.
Mei and MK quickly grabbed Miwa and started shaking her. "When did this happen?!"
Cosmic energy started surrounding Miwa as she pushed the two away and shouted out in frustration. "We are not married! You big idiots!"
"But you said you were family!" MK exclaimed with teary eyes.
"We are cousins for Buddha's sake! My parents were close with Demon Bull King in the old times. Making them close to being brothers." Miwa explained with a heavy sigh as she slowly tried to calm down.
"Oh..." MK now understanding the situation gave an awkward smile.
"That explains a lot." said Mei scratching the back of her head.
Redson let out a sigh when rubbing his temple in slight frustration. "What were you noodle brains doing out there anyway?"
"Looking for the Samadhi Fire." Mei answered.
Redson quickly spits out his water. "The Samadhi wha-?"
Demon Bull King suddenly enters from behind a lavafall. "The little thieves returns."
"Yo. Daddy. I mean, demon daddy. I mean, Mr. Bull King, sir. We — we still cool, right?" said MK, growing all nervous.
"Hey uncle, how's it going?" said Miwa giving a small wave. "I see you're starting to get some fur back, though I can't say if you looked better with or without it."
"Niece." said Demon Bull King glancing over at Miwa. "I could say the same about your monkey form."
".....Okaay, not a subject to talk about. Got it." Miwa whispered to her friends.
"Father. You're back earlier than I expected." said Redson giving a nervous laugh.
"I was expecting a banquet. I wasn't expecting company." said Princess Iron Fan when arriving in the room and landing down in her seat.
MK laughs nervously at this situation they were in.
"This is so awkward." Sandy whispered to Mei and Miwa.
"Uh-huh." Mei nodded in agreement.
"I trust you realize our little truce is, at best, a fragile thing. So, tell me, what precisely have you intruded on our dinner plans?" said Princess Iron Fan as she was sipping on a glass of water.
"They're looking for the Samadhi Fire." Redson told his parents.
Surprised by hearing this DBK and PIF both spit out their water.
"What?!" Demon Bull King shouted out loud.
"I see you've heard of it?" MK asked.
"By his reaction, I take it as a yes." said Miwa.
"I can only assume the Great Sage has sent you on this moronic quest." said Demon Bull King slamming his hands on the table.
"That flame is one of the most dangerous weapons in existence. What reason would Sun Wukong have to –" Princess Iron Fan explained while confused about why they were looking for it.
"The Lady Bone Demon. We need it to defeat her. She's an ancient—" MK tried explaining before getting cut off.
"I know what she is!" said Demon Bull King furious as he slammed both of his fists on the table.
"Then you know we need the fire to stop her." said MK in a serious tone.
DBK and PIF looked at each other before DBK turned to look away. Letting his wife speak instead.
"What exactly do you know of the Samadhi Fire?" Princess Iron Fan asked.
"Well, we know that it's...ah... well, it's super powerful." MK tried explaining what they knew, which was very little as he couldn't say much.
"And that it was split into three and hid in super special rings." Mei added.
"It should be strong enough to destroy Lady Bone Demon." said Miwa.
"And that reforging it could destroy all life as we know it." said Sandy.
All three nodded, while Miwa just shrugged.
"But you know nothing of its origin?" Princess Iron Fan asked.
All four of them shake their heads.
"Pah. Typical Sun Wukong, revealing only the information he chooses." said Demon Bull King frustrated but not surprised.
"... What?" Miwa narrowed her eyes but tried not to think it over too much. Worried she might get another pain of shock. Mostly when they were sitting with the Demon Bull Family.
"Well, if you guys know so much, then you tell us. What don't we know?" MK suggested while pulling Miwa into a side hug, trying to help her relax and not start fading away only to scream in pain.
"That the Samadhi Fire was created... by our own son." said Princess Iron Fan glancing over at Redson.
Redson, Mei, Miwa, and MK all are surprised.
"Ok, following." said Sandy.
"Um, Mother?" Redson slowly got back in his chair after having fallen out because of how surprised he was at this reveal.
Princess let out a small sigh. "When Redson was born, he appeared to be the same as any other demonic child, a promising addition to the Demon Bull Family. Too promising. As he grew, his power became... unstable. Even with our combined might, we could not control him. Reluctantly—"
"We were given no option but to... remove this power." Demon Bull King went on and added.
*Flashback. Red Son hovers in the air, laughing.*
"Our bodies were deemed the most likely to survive separating the fire from the child. It took our combined forces to split the flame into three pieces, sealing their power." Demon Bull King began explaining to everyone.
The Rings were then created. DBK holds the now de-powered Redson in the palm of his hand.
"Together, we swore to keep the rings hidden for all eternity." Demon Bull King explained.
Ne Zha, Sun Wukong, and Mei's ancestor Ao Ji, each hid the rings for no one to find.
*End of flashback.*
"So you can see that it would be impossible for fools such as yourselves to control that power if even the spawn of the Demon Bull King himself could not." Demon Bull King finished up explaining.
Miwa glanced over at Redson, feeling a little sorry for him. But didn't say it out loud as the last thing he would probably want is someone pitying him.
"I mean, I'm the Monkie Kid, and Miwa is the daughter of Monkey King, remember? We've pulled off all sorts of crazy stuff before. There ain't nothing we can't do if we do it as a team." said MK with a confident smile and pulled his friends and Redson into a group hug.
"Yeah." said Sandy.
"That's right." said Mei.
"Uuhhh..." Miwa answered slightly hesitant.
"Urgh, let me go, noodle brain." said Redson annoyed as he forced himself out of the hug.
"Well, I, for one, think that's quite enough story time for one day. Come along, my love. I do believe that little baking show you like is about to start." said Princess Iron Fan disappearing into the wind.
"Coming, dear." said Demon Bull King getting up from his chair and started leaving.
His nose ring glimmers. MK notices and points.
"So, I guess you four will be heading off about now, then." Redson touches Mei's shoulder, and they see a vision of the land aflame. "What the—"
"Well, actually, this whole area is surrounded by lava pits, and it's pretty dark out, right, Sandy? Lulu?" said MK, looking over at the two.
"Yeah, we could fall right on in and—" Sandy screams and pantomimes falling into a lava pit. "You get me?"
"Please Redson? It has been a long day." said Miwa with a small smile.
Redson sighs but gives in. "Fine."
*In a guest bedroom of the Demon Bull Family.*
"Will that be all, then?" Redson asked as the gang was settling into their beds.
"It's a bit cold. An extra blanket would be good." MK suggested.
"What? You're not serious? I suppose you'll be wanting some warm milk while you're at it?!" Redson question in annoyance.
"Gee, that'll be swell. Thanks, friend." said MK with a smile.
Redson groans and leaves. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
"Thank you." MK waved as he left.
Miwa let out a sigh as she got out of her bed. "I'll keep him distracted while you guys figure out a plan." Fixing her hair, she left the room and quickly began catching up to Redson.
*Down the hallway.*
"Pepper, wait up!" Miwa caught up to him when he stopped in his tracks.
"What now?! Do you need something too? And I told you to stop calling me that!" shouted Redson already frustrated.
"Oh, I don't need anything, just thought you might need some help." said Miwa with a small smile.
Redson raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "I can get it without any help. But since you are here, you might as well take along."
Miwa smiled happily as they started walking again, with Redson leading the way since he knew the place better than her.
"I do have to admit, seeing you with your hair down was a surprise." said Miwa while taking a glance at stuff she might want to steal.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Redson asked looking over at her a little offended.
"Not in a bad way." said Miwa quickly defending herself. Scratching the back of her head as a small blush grew on her face. "It makes you look more umm.... uhhh handsome."
Redson stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "What? Are you telling me this is what it took for you to notice my charm?" He blinked his eyes a few times in disbelief.
"I don't know about charm per say...." Miwa growing a little shy. "But it's not a bad look on you."
Redson let out a defeated groan and ran a hand down his face. "I can't believe only now you are falling for me."
"What?" Miwa gave him a confused look. "I'm not falling for you, far from it."
Redson however wasn't believing it as he got closer to her. "Didn't sound like it earlier when you called me handsome."
Miwa took a small step backwards her face a little red. "Just because I called you handsome doesn't mean I've fallen for you. Besides, I already promised MK that I would go on a date with him after we defeated the Lady Bone Demon."
"And how are you gonna do that when you guys can't even control the Samadhi Fire? My parents already said it was impossible." Redson questioned. "I'm not surprised the Monkey King himself didn't share this info with any of you. But most of all you since you are his daughter I am a little surprised."
Miwa narrowed her eyes at little, having tried to avoid these thoughts returning of Wukong hiding stuff from her. "Can you please not mention it..."
"Mention what? That your parent didn't trust you with this info?" Redson asked, not really seeing much the problem.
Miwa shoved him away as she wrapped her arms around herself. "Redson shut up. I'm not interested in you and don't wanna talk about this. Now, can we please just go and get the blankets and milk for MK?"
Redson stopped pushing when seeing her getting more upset. "Alright, I'll stop. You'll probably have slapped me if not punched me anyway."
The two kept walking without saying a word to each other.
Miwa however had her thoughts all over the place.
"I said I would trust Dad... yet he... he kept this from me! From everyone! How can I trust someone who hides important information?! Let alone it being my own parent!" Miwa stopped in her tracks as she started shaking in frustration.
"Ruby?" Redson stopped walking when he noticed Miwa not following.
"Papa betrayed me, and Dad lied to me and kept importanted information to himself! How can I trust any of them?!" Cosmic energy started surrounding Miwa as her anger grew. "Why, why, just fucking WHY?!" Her body began fading out causing shocks of pain to course through her body.
Miwa fell to the floor screaming in pain as the shocks kept going while her body kept trying to fade out.
"Ruby?!" Redson rushed to her side worried when seeing her in this situation. When he tried placing a hand on her shoulder, his hand would sometimes fall through her body and other times lay solid on it. "What is going on here?! Ruby talk to me!"
The pain only kept going along with Miwa's screaming until she finally went quiet.
"Ruby?" Redson hesitated a little when she stopped screaming but it seemed like whatever was happening to her had stopped.
Miwa took a deep breath, her eyes now red as she looked up at Redson. "I'm fine, nothing serious."
"Didn't seem like it." said Redson as he helped her back up. But were a little puzzled when seeing the change in her eyes. "What even was that?"
"Just a small side effect from Macaque trying to stab me." Miwa explained, crossing her arms. "I don't wanna talk about it, so can we please move on?"
"...Sure?" Redson slowly answered but couldn't shake the feeling of something being off about her.
The two continued walking while Redson ever so often glance over at her still having those red eyes until they weren't there anymore. "Strange."
They soon got a glass of milk for MK along with an extra blanket and started heading back until they noticed Mei standing outside Redson's hangar with Sandy stuck in the vent leading into it.
"What are you doing?!" Redson yelled as fire erupted from him.
"We were just–Miwa sing a song for him!" shouted Mei in a panic.
"Uh what? Mei you know I don't have that power anymore!" shouted Miwa back at her.
"I see now, you were trying to distract me!" shouted Redson annoyaned and went for the first strike.
Miwa quickly began dodging his attacks as she jumped into the shadows, not up for another fight as she did use up a lot of energy when she used that crazy move on Macaque.
Mei in a panic tried to help by going for a punch but Redson easily caught it and threw her into a wall.
"Mei!" Miwa shouted from the shadows. So far she was the only one still able to fight but she wasn't sure how long she would be able to do it. Not to mention they were clearly on some time limit since Mei and Sandy were trying to get Redson's race car.
"You might be my cousin. But that doesn't mean I'm gonna allow you to steal from me!" shouted Redson as he was looking around for Miwa who was hiding in the shadows.
Miwa suddenly got an idea that might work. She used the shadows to get inside the hangar and were now sitting in the race car with her legs resting on the front of it. "Heey Pepper, mind if I take this thing on a ride? I promise I'm not gonna crash it, I'm an amazing driver."
"Wha—Get out of my car!" Redson exploded with fire in frustration and rushed to a panel. Placing down his hand, scanning it and the moment the door opened a shadow clone jumped out from his own shadow and punched him right in the face. Knocking him out cold.
"Success! Nice idea Miwa!" Mei cheered, rushing over and getting in the car.
Sandy had been able to break out of the vent and joined the two. "Yeah!"
"Now, how about we try out this thing?" A bright smirk appeared on Miwa's face as she took control of the car and went at full speed.
Sandy and Mei cheered as Miwa were driving, they even found time to change the look of the race car to look like a dragon with stars all over it.
The sound of screaming caught their attention when they looked up and saw MK was falling from the top of the fortress.
Miwa picked up the speed and he landed right in the car.
"Guys. Yo, yo. What's the plan here, bro?!" MK asked looking to Mei and Miwa.
"There isn't any plan! We are just gonna have to wing it! Which should be a good thing. I'm the best racer around!" shouted Miwa while driving.
Demon Bull King jumps from the fortress. The gang screams and drives away.
"They escaped with the ring, then?" said Princess Iron Fan coming down to that being the only conclusion.
"Indeed. The Monkey King has doomed us all." said Demon Bull King as they watched the gang driving away from the fortress.
"Perhaps. How did they even sneak a race car in here?" Princess Iron Fan asked in confusion.
*Redson wakes in the hangar.*
"Those little- huh?" Redson sees Mei's plushie and remembers the vision. He glares.
*Sandy, MK, Miwa and Mei drives through the desert.*
"Our very first ring. Just wait until the other guys see this." said MK, holding up the ring.
The car spins out of control. MK is sent flying.
"MK!" shouted Mei and Miwa.
MK lands on the T.E.A.
"MK?!" shouted Pigsy surprised.
"You found the first ring!" said Tang grabbing and raising MK's hand that was holding the ring.
"Guys!" shouted Mei gaining the others attention.
Miwa slowly stopped the car as they got over to the others.
"Mo! Pigsy! Tangy!" shouted Saandy happy to see them.
The car suddenly breaks down.
Everyone got back inside the T.E.A. But Miwa struggled giving any eye contact with Wukong as she passed him and got up on her bunk bed.
"Hey Freckles, what's with the long face? Thought we were all over that?" Wukong asked, trying to get her attention.
"...I'm tired Dad. Been a long day." Miwa answered.
"Oh... Yeah I guess it has been. Okay then, talk with you later then." said Wukong scratching his head.
"All right, LE-GO!" shouted Sandy as he got back in the front seat of the van and started driving off.
Tang writes about the ring in his book. Mei looks at the ring from afar, deep in thought.
Miwa was having trouble figuring out how she should act around Wukong. She hated that he was hiding stuff from her and the others, but at the same time she wanted to give him a chance for her to trust him. The thoughts kept running through her head while trying not to dive too deep into those concerned feelings again.