#When it comes down to it why was he willing to kill Macaque in any scenario

[imminent-danger-came]

In the Samadhi Fire ritual flashbacks and the brief vision of Macaque and Monkey King's final fight, SWK lacks the circlet. Do you think this is an intentional plot element, memory being fallible, or a straight-up animation error?

The 3x04 flashback of SWK and Macaque's fight lacking a circlet could easily be fallible memory or bias, but either way it's definitely intentional. The 3x10 Samadhi Fire flashback on the other hand is an unbiased account of what sealing the fire had looked like, so without a doubt we can trust everything we see there!

Honestly, at this point I wouldn't be surprised if there were in fact 2 SWK V Macaque fights: one during jttw where Tang Sanzang encouraged Wukong to spare Macaque (Like the great monk had done with LBD—that or Wukong is just straight up unwilling to finish Macaque off), and another fight post-jttw where it's Wukong alone without the influence of the pilgrims. But that's just me throwing stuff out there.

[pamgkrthwrites]

Hi umm question can I make a request of a macaque azure lion wukong x fem single mother tiger

Like she has like three cubs (kids) and she had to raise them and there still young because because there recently born because her ex mate (husband) cheated on her with another woman and when he found out she was pregnant with his cubs (kids) he left her while she was pregnant

Finally, getting to this as ehehehhehehehe

Support me here

Sun Wukong

Is very disappointed that your ex mate left you all alone with your triplet cubs.

Is very angry that he cheated.

When he visits you, he more often then not offers to babysit for a day or two so you can have some rest.

At some point he gets you to bring them to his island and he does so much.

He won't let you talk down about your body, will kiss your stomach.

He understands if your not ready to enter a new relationship, willing to take it slow.

Most importantly though, he understands that to date you, he does have to be a good influence in your kids life.

He is willing to fake a certain idea of himself, but he also isn't really willing to change who he is as a personmonkey.

Macaque

Probably found out about you having kids after a date and he coughs on the glass of water you gave him when one kid comes running out to say hi to mama.

Coughs even more when he sees the other two.

He doesn't treat you any differently(besides from letting you choose times when to meet up more freely) because of your cubs.

He does ask questions about the father though. And is fucking pissed.

This man will hunt down your ex and kill him for leaving you and your cubs. Will make sure you suddenly have this man entire wealth in your bank too.

He doesn't let you figure it out, playing innocent and all.

He does like spending time with your kids, though he likes spending time with you more.

Though he does hate it when one or more of the children join you two in bed because of a nightmare. He doesn't like grubby hands touching him as he sleeps.

Azure Loin

This man does not question it.

He just thinks your husband died while you were pregnant and is willing to look after your cubs.

Why else would a father not be in a child's life.

He goes feral when you tell him the truth.

Will hunt this shit down and cut off his gentiles.

"If he is too much of a coward to look after a child then he doesn't have the right to make anymore children."

Will convince your cubs he is their father and he will treat you as if he is your husband, even if you two never get married.

He won't let children be raised thinking they have no family.

[bilbo12]

Wukong cares about people. Macaque isn't a saint.

Alright, I've wanted to write this for a while, so here I go. English isn't my first language, so sorry for any typos.

I've been watching so many fananimations of LEGO Monkie Kid. They're all gorgeous, top of the top, excellent, chef kiss and I'm glad the fandom seems to be growing every day.

But I HATE how so many people have portrayed Wukong as an asshole who doesn't care about anyone. Love the animations, they're great but I don't think Wukong is the villain people make him out to be.

Now don't get me wrong, Wukong has made many, many, many, mistakes throughout his life. The thing is, people don't seem to realize that while he messed up, his intentions were good! "Yeah, right, then how is he such a bad mentor?" I'm gonna shut you up right there.

When MK first got the staff, he didn't know how to use it, I agree with you. But Wukong is a milennia old stone monkey who has gone through a lot on his life, getting stronger and stronger with each fight.

"Pfft, what about DBK? You can handle it! Consider it a trial"

That's what he tells MK when said boy asks him what to do with DBK, because for Wukong that fight is easy. He then reassures him that with enough confidence in himself he could take him on. He trusted MK since the first moment and even told him to consider it as a trial. He was evaluating MK during his fight to make sure he had picked the right successor.

And just in case and most probably noticing how nervous he was on his first fight, he kept an eye out on him to make sure to intervene in case MK needed help. Wukong already knew that MK was invincible before locking away some of his powers in the second episode, therefore he was confident that he would succeed. And even if he already knew he was going to defeat DBK, he still watched over him to make sure he wouldn't get hurt.

Following this battle, in the first episode "Bad Weather", MK doesn't call for Wukong's help. He's confronting Red Son when suddenly the staff acts on its own and takes him down to the ground and who appears afterwards? The Monkey King himself! Almost as if he had sensed that MK needed some help with defeating Red Son. Almost as if he had been the one to call for the staff so he could talk with his student. Again, he showed up on his own because he cares.

"Then what about that time he abandoned him?"

He didn't abandon him. To abandon someone is to stop supporting them, to give up completely in someone. Monkey King knew that LBD was coming back but he didn't want either MK or his friends to get hurt.

He's used to doing things on his own! I mean, on JTTW Wukong was always sent ahead to see if there were any demons that would kidnap Tripitaka. And even though he warned his companions numerous times that there were demons under the disguise of innocent people, they wouldn't believe him. So why should he tell MK and his friends that there's an enemy approaching? Every time he had warned other people of other threats, they had never believed him, so why should MK be any different?

I think that's one of the reasons why he didn't even try to defend himself when Pigsy snapped at him. Because he's used to taking the blame. What's the point in trying to do something right if you're going to be blamed for everything going wrong, regardless of how much you try to make it okay? He even tries to keep helping MK through his training with the astral projection throughout the whole season!

So, he searched for the map that would lead him to the rings of the Samadhi Fire, knowing full well that he could end up dying.

"This wasn't supposed to happen! I thought if I could somehow get the Samadhi Fire out of you, without hurting you of course, then I could put it inside myself. Then, I don't know, use it to burn up the Lady Bone Demon or something?"

Let's remember that while it's difficult to hurt Wukong, the Samadhi Fire is one of the powers that could actually kill him. He was willing to risk his life so he'd be able to save not only the whole world, but his friends as well. Do you realize how crazy that sounds? To be willing to give up his own life to save the Earth?

He even says that he wanted try to get the ring out of Mei without hurting her.

Would someone who didn't care about anyone try to make something as painless as possible for the victim? I don't think so.

Alright, let's focus on Macaque now for a bit.

My biggest beef with this guy is that some people seem to paint him as the misunderstood character who never did anything wrong because "Oh, my best friend abandoned me and woe is me!". Yuck.

While Macaque has many good reasons to be angry at Monkey King, that still doesn't give him the right to kidnap and trick MK. It doesn't give him the right to taunt him and make him feel like shit, nor the right to manipulate him and make him think that he's not a good successor.

"Well, you know what that means! There really isn't anything special about you. You're just some kid with a heavy stick!"

Macaque knew that if he hurt MK, eventually Wukong would come out to save him, because he knows that he'll protect him. This is a little theory of mine, but Macaque manipulates shadows, right? Who knows how many times he's watched MK from them? Because I don't think his plan to steal MK's powers was something he thought of in just one minute. No, I'm pretty sure that plan took a while to be thought of.

"Ah, MK. You really are dense, aren't you? You saw a story about a hero who got handed everything? Who didn't have to work for anything? And you thought you were the other guy? The second the hero got real power, he couldn't care less about his friends. That's you, bud."

He tricked him into sharing his insecurities, knowing full well that MK was vulnerable and stressed out about the whole LBD situation, then blamed him for not caring about his friends. He made him doubt whether he truly cares about his friends or not or whether he was even a good person.

And we all know how hard MK's worked to try to get control of his powers, especially after he lost them when LBD took away his staff. MK can be a lot of things: optimistic, a bit smug at times, a bit forgetful... But if there's one thing I'm sure of is that he worked hard to control his powers. He even asked Wukong to limit them so he could control them better, knowing that it'd be harder but he still did it.

And let's take into account that Wukong apologized to MK for how he acted towards him. Macaque, still to this day, hasn't apologized at all. And yet, he keeps mocking Wukong and saying he's the same old Wukong, while he himself is still stuck in the past.

I get that Macaque is angry at Wukong, I really do. But if he were really so angry against him, maybe he should've brought it to Wukong himself instead of using MK. He isn't a saint. He's made mistakes as well. These two are very complicated characters who have gone through a lot, but neither of them are blameless. Macaque isn't a saint, but he does care about some people. And although Wukong has made many mistakes, that doesn't mean that he doesn't care about other people.

Anyways, to finish it off, as MK once said:

"Uh, you know you two are the same, right?"

[itsartlee]

LMK+LMK OC'S Shadow kid AU: Incorrect Quotes

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Lǐ: My mentor taught me to always think before I act. So if I smack the shit out of you, rest assured I have thought it through and am confident in my actions.

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Qīngwā: I love it when I pick up my cat and he looks at me all terrified and confused like “how he lift me when I am Lorge?”

Lǐ: Given that your cat is a mortal demon who weighs more than you do, I’d be pretty surprised too.

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shuǐ: Truth or dare?

Lǐ: This isn't a slumber party.

shuǐ: Kinda feels like one.

Lǐ: We are literally in jail.

Qīngwā: Dare!

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Macaque: *Sees a kid trip and land face first * Ugh, who’s idea was it to invite their kid here?

Macaque: *squints his eyes * Wait. . .that’s my son!

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Macaque: I’m begging you; can we please just take the stairs like normal people.

Sun Wukong: ...PARKOUR!

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Macaque: Thought I was meowing back at my cats for the past hour. Turns out it was just me and Lǐ, Qīngwā, and shuǐ meowing at each other from different rooms in the house.

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Lǐ: I DID IT!

LBD: *not paying attention * Did what.

Lǐ: I FINALLY LEARNED THAT YOU ARE A COMPLETE SACK OF SHIT!

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Qīngwā: This is a crazy idea. Insane. Stupid. It doesn’t make any sense.

shuǐ: …so you’ll do it?

Qīngwā: For you? Of course.

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LBD: im here to kill you!

Lǐ: Be my guest.

Lǐ: I survived Hunters and sun Wukong, nothing can kill me.

LBD: Damn it!

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Lǐ, Qīngwā, and shuǐ: *screaming *

Macaque: * runs into the room* What’s wrong, Lǐ?!

Qīngwā: Wait, why are you asking Lǐ that when shuǐ and I are also here?

Macaque: Because he wouldn’t scream unless it’s an emergency. You two scream whenever you have the chance.

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Lǐ: Unfortunately, due to several experiences in my youth, I cannot just ‘walk up and join a circle of people talking’, but it does sound lovely, thank you.

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Pigsy: We call that a traumatic event

Pigsy, turning to MK: Not a "bruh moment"

Pigsy, turning to Mei: Not a "major L"

Pigsy, turning to Lǐ: And definitely not an "OOF lmao"

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Macaque: You guys are not making my life easy right now.

Lǐ, shuǐ, and Qīngwā,: Do we ever?

Macaque: Good point.

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Sun Wukong: In the years I've known you I've only ever seen you awake, Lǐ. Do you ever shut down or stop running?

Lǐ: Oh, I’m always running.

Lǐ: The question is from what.

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Sun Wukong: Macaque hun can you buy this for me please?

Macaque: Of course, Little sun.

Lǐ: He- you can't just pay for him!

Macaque: Of course I can! I'm his partner! I can get him anything he likes!

shuǐ: But we're playing monopoly!

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shuǐ: You’ll have to forgive Lǐ. He has a heart condition.

Qīngwā: … He doesn’t have one.

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shuǐ, looking at map: It really is a featureless, barren wasteland out there, isn’t it?

Lǐ: Other side, shuǐ .

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MK: Do you have any skeletons in your closet?

Lǐ: You mean literally or figuratively?

MK: ...Honestly, the fact that I have to specify...

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LBD: Most of you may die, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make.

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Sun Wukong: What are you doing?

Macaque: What does it look like I’m doing?

Sun wukong: It looks like you’re stealing my shirts.

Macaque: It’s not stealing if we’re dating.

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Macaque: You nervous?

Lǐ: I don’t get nervous... I have nerves of steel.

Macaque: No you don’t. You have anxiety.

Lǐ: *attacked but laughing*

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Macaque: This is the worst, this is the worst

Sun Wukong: *singing Mamma Mia unintelligibly *

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Lǐ: I spend hours thinking of creative ways to get back at people. My pettiness knows no bounds.

Lǐ: Of course, then I either get bored or distracted, so none of my cruel and unusual plans ever come to fruition.

Lǐ: It's a shame. But it's probably kept me out of jail all these years.

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Macaque: SUN WUKONG! *turns megaphone on * One of the kids is on fire, and I don’t think he is gonna make it this time!

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Lǐ: Do you want me to be like you or totally honest?

Qīngwā: Are you saying I'm a liar?

Lǐ: I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing, basically.

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Sun Wukong: I have to take something off my chest.

Macaque: Is it your shirt? Please say yes.

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shuǐ: Jail is no fun. I’ll tell ya that much.

Qīngwā: Oh, you’ve been?

shuǐ: Once. In Monopoly.

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Lǐ: If anyone pushes me in the pool this summer, I'll purposely drown myself.

Lee, at Sun Wukong: Enjoy your murder charge, asshole!

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Lǐ: So… this thing between the Sun and the moon… it’s supposed to be a secret or…?

MK: Pft, hardly!

Mei: The only idiots who don’t know about Sun Wukong and Macaque's feelings, are Sun Wukong and Macaque's themselves.

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Lǐ: You know what they say, a little childhood trauma builds character.

MK: ...I'm not a child-

Lǐ: You know what they say, a little childhood trauma builds character!

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Macaque: I'm going to kill you!

Sun Wukong: Yeah, sure. Just wait until I get my life insurance, tho.

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Interviewer: So, what kinda girls do you like?

Sun Wukong: *gay silence *

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Lǐ: The only social skill I have is scaring people.

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Macaque: Do you know how to use a sword?

Lǐ: Of course I do. What's hard to understand about swish-swish-stab?

Sun Wukong: Actually, there are techniques-

Lǐ: It's a fucking sword, dude. Not a fighter jet.

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Lǐ: Ugh, this is the worst day of my life.

LBD: Worst day of your life SO FAR.

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Macaque: I know how to kill a man with my thumb!

Sun Wukong: Who doesn't?

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Red Son: I need to say something. And I don't want any criticism or judgement whatsoever.

Lǐ: And you came to me?

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MK, to shuǐ and Lǐ: I never thought I would have to say this, but there is only space in this group for one unstable person, and I have held that title for a very long time, so you are going to have to get it together.

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LBD: Why won’t you just die with dignity?!

Lǐ: I don’t do anything with dignity!

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Qīngwā: Are you familiar with the laws of physics?

Lǐ: I’ve broken them all, so yeah.

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Lǐ, to MK: Aren’t you tired of being nice?

Macaque: Don’t you just wanna go ape shit?

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Lǐ, at LBD: WHEN WILL YOU LEARN!?! WHEN WILL YOU LEARN THAT YOUR ACTIONS HAVE CONSEQUENCES!

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Lǐ and Macaque in sync: When someone points at your black clothes and asks whose funeral it is, having a look around and saying "Haven’t decided yet." is typically a good response.

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Lǐ: Fight me!

Macaque, standing behind him and holding his stick: *mouths * Do not.

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[strange-lace]

Did you think I was joking when I said my Monkie Kid, Nagi, becomes a pseudo therapist for the team? FOOLISH, SHAPESHIFTING MEANS FREE THERAPY! But I have no idea what this is, I just started writing for some hurt/comfort (I think) post episode 9 and wanted to post it without editing because why not? Plus I just wanted to do some more with Nagi since it’s been a hot minute since I talked about her.

Enjoy and hopefully you get some chuckle worthy mental images like it did for me!

It was an odd sensation to Nagi, shapeshifting that is.

The closest way she could describe it is like that of her body becoming clay, free to be morphed into anything that she desired as long as she had a clear image in her head and enough practice. Hair length, color, height, weight, vocal cords, all were free for her to change and allow herself to fit into any setting like a chameleon. Or more accurately, like a snake camouflaged into its surroundings, waiting for the perfect moment to strike at its prey.

The sensation of always feeling like she was hiding among others was one Nagi had felt since birth.

It had only gotten worse with the sacrifices forced on her that made her shapeshifting even stronger.

Some days, she felt like her ability to become anyone was more trouble than it was worth.

But this was certainly not one of those days.

“Are you sure about this kiddo? Remember, the moment it becomes too much for you, all you gotta do is say something and I’ll shift into something else. This is meant to help you above all else, got it?” Nagi lectured for what felt like the third time, wanting to hammer in the point to MK before they began. When the little guy had entered her cave at the crack of dawn asking for a favor, this was certainly not what she was expecting.

Then again, Nagi was still a sluggish mess when MK had shaken her from her slumber in a frantic desperation.

“Uhhh, what’s goin’ on kid? What time is it?” She slurred, noting the faint rays of blue, pink, and orange barely providing a break from the darkness in her cave. The last traces of sleep snapped away from her eyes once she took notice of MK who, to put it bluntly, was an absolute mess.

Dark rings circled his eyes, hair a tousled mess without his signature headband, and clothes rumpled as if he had slept in them. Though Nagi genuinely questioned if he had even slept throughout the night. Wait, were those bruises?

“Nagi can you… can you shift into someone you’ve never met before?” MK asked, completely ignoring her questions. He seemed almost tense as he stood at the edge of Nagi’s nest, a giant cluster of pillows that she had collected over the years.

“That depends bud. If you give me a detailed enough picture, then sure. No guarantee I’ll have the voice right, but it can be done. Why do you ask? You need my help with something?” She pulled herself out of her nest, letting out a groan as her stiff bones cracked yet kept her eyes on MK. He seemed almost relieved at this answer, heavy shoulders relaxing the slightest bit before pulling out one of his many sketchbooks from his jacket. Pages were flipped through with frantic speed before he found what he was looking for, practically shoving the book in Nagi’s face.

At first she had thought it was a drawing of Sun Wukong until she took notice of the dark fur and, more importantly, the almost sadistic smirk on his face. He was surrounded by shadows that seemed to sprout from the ground at his feet, all with matching grins and empty purple eyes. Overall, it was certainly an ominous picture of an individual that Nagi hoped to never have the misfortune of meeting.

But evidently, MK did.

“Would that work?” Okay, now MK was starting to make her worried.

“Uhhh… sure, yeah. And not that this isn’t a wonderful art, but you mind telling me who this guy is? A friend of Sun Wukong’s perhaps?” Nagi asked and internally winced when he seemed to flinch at the question. MK was silent for a moment, as if debating with himself whether to tell her, before simply giving a sigh.

“That’s Macaque. I… I’ll tell you more later, I promise. I just need you to do this important favor for me.” She was starting to not like where this was going. But the demon could never say no to the kid, the heavens help her.

“Alright, you already know I’m willing to kill for you so out with it bud.”

“I need you to shift into Macaque and just… I don’t know, whatever with me. I just want to not be afraid of his face anymore,” MK mumbled, his knuckles white at how tight he was holding on to his sketchbook. All sorts of alarm bells were going off in Nagi’s head at this and a part of her wanted to push for more information now, so she can find this Macaque and skin him alive. But that wasn’t going to help MK right now, so she pushed that heat in her chest down.

“Alright, that I think I can do bud. Let me go get my rollerblades and KO!”

And that led to where they were now, at the outskirts of the city with Nagi wanting nothing more to ensure that MK was comfortable.

“I know, I know Nagi! Just… do it before I chicken out, please?”

“Alright, alright, as long as you’re sure.” With that, Nagi closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She focused on the image MK had given her and felt her very being soften like clay to be molded. Her hair morphed into thick, black fur which spread over her body, clothes shifted to match the armored garments in the drawing, and she gained a familiar tail and large ears. It felt none too different to when she shifts into the Monkey King himself if she were to be honest.

Yet the look of uneasiness and fear Nagi was met with when she opened her eyes made her want nothing more to shift into anybody else.

“You still with me MK?” She asked tentatively, remaining perfectly still despite her wanting to scoop him up in a hug. MK gave another flinch, this time at hearing Nagi’s squeaky, hissy voice coming out of what looked like Macaque yet at the same time he couldn’t help but chuckle at the bizarre contrast. It quickly became a full on laugh as Nagi gave him an expression of exaggerated offense, the demon quickly catching on to the best idea on how to make this face less terrifying.

“I’m- I’m sorry, but hearing your voice come out of Macaque’s mouth is too funny!” He stuttered and the ache in her heart started to lighten up, just relieved to see the young man not as tense.

“I’ll have you know I have the voice of a goddess, young man!” Nagi said with an over-the-top huff, hands on her hips and a pout on her face. That only caused another bout of uncontrollable giggles from MK and she couldn’t help the smile on her face before taking the opportunity to put on her rollerblades. She was completely aware of how ridiculous she looked since said rollerblades were bright pink and decorated with numerous stickers courtesy of Mei.

Oh, Nagi was going to have so much fun ruining this Macaque’s reputation, whoever he was.

“Now, do me a favor and push me. I’m gonna skate down this entire hill backwards!”

“Isn’t that, I don’t know, kind of dangerous?”

“Oh it is, which is why I’m doing it and not you.”

Despite the look of skepticism on his face, that was enough for MK as he gave her a hearty shove. Nagi didn’t bother to hold back the scream of both terror and joy as gravity pulled her down the hill, frantic giggles punctuating the air. MK merely watched the spectacle with amusement as Nagi continued on into the city streets. She practically flew past confused pedestrians at the speed she was going, a number of those did double takes to be sure of what they saw.

The sound of a crash caused him to wince and quickly use the staff to pole vault over to where the demon had come to an unfortunate stop.

“You okay?!” Despite being covered in trash and hit a dumpster hard enough to make a dent in the metal, Nagi looked giddy as a child.

“I’m all good bud, thankfully I didn’t break my spine so it was totally worth it!” She said, prying herself out of her dumpster crater and happily brushed herself off. Seeing such a toothy but genuine smile combined with Macaque’s face was strange to MK, but he managed to not flinch as Nagi rose to her full height so it was a start. “Want to hit the arcade next? Or are you too afraid of your big sister beating you at all your favorite games?”

That certainly perked him up.

“Oh you’re so on!”

“That’s the spirit! Race you!” And like that, Nagi was off again though at a much more controlled speed and MK wasn’t too far behind.

“Hey that’s not fair, you’re on rollerblades!”

Up above the streets on his nimbus, Sun Wukong watched the two with an unidentifiable expression.

“No way, you absolutely cheated!” MK repeated for the third time, being carried on piggyback by Nagi as the demon skated down to Pigsy’s Noodles. It was now dusk and the both of them were still riding the high of spending a whole day goofing off for therapeutic purposes. 

“I don’t know, that sounds like sore loser talk to me. But… did you have a good time bud? How are you feeling?” Nagi asked, tone turning completely serious. MK was quiet a moment, tightening his grip around her shoulders the slightest bit before speaking.

“Yeah, yeah I had a great time. I feel… weird. Because a part of me knows that I spent the day with you, not… him. But at the same time, I’m gonna remember you crashing into a dumpster if I ever see his face again and possibly die from laughing.”

“Then it sounds like my work here is done, ruining reputations is my forte after all!” She came to stop in front of the noodle shop, ears downturned in disappointment. Yet the demon still put MK down, knowing that Pigsy would have her head if she kept the kid out after dark when he had work the next day. “But I’m glad I could help you out kiddo. You get some good rest, alright? I’ll be around to bother you and Pigsy tomorrow.”

And Nagi thought that would be that, until she found herself pulled into a tight hug by MK.

“Thank you.”

She returned the hug without hesitation.

“Don’t mention it.”

Nagi stayed put until she was sure MK made it inside his apartment safely before turning around to return to her cave. After such a busy day, she was ready to curl up in her nest and finish that book Tang had loaned her weeks ago. Maybe brew some tea while she was at it.

Or that was the plan, until she caught the scent of peaches and mischief on her serpentine tongue as she stopped at the entrance of her cave.

“Oh no, not him,” Nagi groaned, secretly hoping that was just the remnants of MK’s scent. Unfortunately that was not the case as she walked inside to find the Monkey King lounging about her home like he owned the place and eating her apples. Resisting the urge to lose it for that alone, the demon took a deep breath and forced a smile that was all teeth.

“Sun Wukong, to what do I owe the pleasure?” She said as if it were anything but a pleasure to be around him. Despite the venom in her tone, the Monkey King continued to lazily chomp on an apple as he finally faced her. Her displeasure quickly evaporated once she noticed how tense he seemed despite the forced nonchalance.

“Hey Nag, took you forever to get here! Saw you hanging out with the kid today.” And despite his attempt to sound serious, Nagi could only blame hanging out with Mei and MK for what she said next.

“R-Rebecca it’s not what you think!” 

“I won’t hesitate bitch!” Seems the Monkey King has been around the kids too long too.

They were both silent for a moment in an attempt to process what happened before the tension broke as they both giggled.

“I don’t know what to tell you man. He just woke me up this morning, asked me if I could shift into this guy called Macaque, and we just did dumb, fun stuff all day. Went out of my way to make the kid laugh until I was sure he’d lose a lung. But he never did tell me why he was so afraid of this face…” Tea. She really needed tea right now. So tea she began to make, not even realizing she had grabbed two cups and was making peach tea until it was too late.

“Oh he didn’t, huh?” Nagi gave him a silent nod, tail twitching in agitation as silence took over again.

“What did this guy do to the kid Wukong? What happened?”

“It’s a long story but let me say you don’t need to hunt him down because we beat him up plenty, it was mainly the kid though.” His pride in MK was infectious as she found herself smiling at that, handing Sun Wukong a mug of warm peach tea as she sat down next to him.

“Good, saves me the effort of doing it myself. I won’t push if either of you don’t want to tell me. But… listen, I’m not just here to help the kid and the others. You annoy the hell out of me but I’m here for you too Wukong. That’s what family does, right?”

The Monkey King was silent at that yet leaned in when Nagi wrapped her tail around his shoulders to gently pull him closer.

“Thanks Nag.”

“You’re welcome.”

[nitewrighter]

This should probably be down the line for the pregnancy promts but when Mercy goes into labor it should be when Hanzo and Mcree are looking after her while Genji is away on an errand. Panicking uncles :)

This prompt has been sitting in my inbox for over a month. It is time.

Also whoops this ended up super long. *cough* like 6k words *cough*

Fighting an omnic ninja assassin sent to kill your brother counts as an errand right?

—-

Symmetra snickered a little as she watched Genji at Athena’s keyboard, continually switching between different security feeds of the watchpoint. Genji glanced up. “What?” he said.

“You’re antsy,” she said with a smirk.

“I am not ‘antsy,’” muttered Genji, continuing to flick between different feed channels.

“Is this your way of nesting?” said Symmetra, tilting her head.

“Angela and I will be in Switzerland for three months,” said Genji, standing up and glancing away from the screen, “I don’t want anything to happen to this place while we’re gone.” He paused and then quickly turned his attention back to the screen and flicked through all the security feeds again.

“We will manage just fine,” said Symmetra, “You should relax. Go… meditate or spend time with Angela or whatever it is you do. It won’t be long until you don’t have any time to yourself.”

“Hm,” Genji seemed unconvinced.

Symmetra sighed, constructed a seat of hard-light, and sat down. “To be honest, while I believe you and Angela should do as you see fit and I understand your reasoning, Switzerland is awfully far away.”

“Well, Doctor Haberlin is one of the world’s leading obstetricians and a good friend of Angela’s, and Angela’s uncle’s old house is lovely and out of the way but not too far from Thun and—”

“I know, I know,” said Symmetra, “And I know you two will probably be terribly busy with the little one, but do try and stay in contact. Fareeha will want pictures immediately and—” Symmetra’s prosthetic made a low-pitched buzzing sound and Symmetra raised an eyebrow and brought up a projection of one of her sentry turrets. The projection suddenly turned red and blipped out of sight and Symmetra’s brow furrowed.

“Turret destroyed,” she said it mostly as a knee-jerk reaction at this point.

“Where was that?’ said Genji.

“Move,” said Symmetra, stepping past him and typing out several things on Athena’s keyboard, bringing up a security feed of what looked like a sea cave with several cement and steel structures built into it.

“You had sentry turrets in the watchpoint’s old amphibious entrance?” said Genji.

“I put them up during Tracer’s wedding and never bothered to take them down,” said Symmetra, frowning as they both watched the completely empty sea cave on the feed, “But unless they were destroyed, they should have been active indefinitely,” she made Athena change through several different security cameras around the cave and the maintenance tunnels and garage attached to it.

“Maybe a macaque got… zapped by it and threw a rock at it?” said Genji.

Symmetra shook her head, “My sentry turrets are programmed for human and omnic hostiles only.” She continued rotating the camera feed to look around the sea cave but found nothing. “Perhaps a malfunction?” she murmured.

“I could go investigate,” said Genji.

“You should be getting back to Angela,” said Symmetra, sternly.

“I will,” said Genji, “But this won’t take too long.”

—-

“Here, Doc, lemme carry that for you,” said McCree as Mercy moved to pick up her suitcase.

“Honestly, Jesse,” said Mercy with a roll of her eyes as McCree took the suitcase, “It isn’t that heavy.”

“We’re in the final stretch,” said McCree, carrying the suitcase to the front of her apartment, “You gotta take it easy. Having Roadhog’s gut doesn’t make you Roadhog, y’know.”

“Oh I’m Roadhog now?” said Mercy,

McCree paused then snickered, “I mean, it would make a funny picture. Get some of those tattoo pens or somethin’…”

“I’m not drawing a flaming pig over my stomach,” said Mercy.

“But you and Roadie both got the ‘eject now’ button and everything!” said McCree.

“Jesse!” Mercy put her hands on her hips.

“Fine, fine,” said McCree setting the suitcase down by her front door, “You’re no fun.” McCree paused and glanced down at the suitcase, “We are gonna miss you two though.”

“You have the Orca,” said Mercy, smiling, “We’d love for you to come visit.”

“I might just take you up on that offer, Doc,” said McCree, “Love to see what a baby looks like with those Shimada eyebrows.”

Mercy snickered. A knock came at the door and she opened it to find Hanzo, standing a bit awkwardly on the front step with a bag in one hand. “Oh–” he cleared his throat, “Hello.”

“Hey darlin’,” said McCree, leaning against the doorframe.

Hanzo gave a nod and a slight smile to McCree, then looked to Mercy. “You and Genji are… all packed?”

Mercy nodded.

Hanzo held out the bag he was holding to Mercy. “I realize it’s a bit early for dinner, but I thought you and Genji might not want to bother with cooking, seeing as you’re leaving tomorrow.” He glanced over Mercy’s shoulder, “Is Genji with you?”

“Oh just going over some security things for the Watchpoint,” said Mercy, gesturing for him to come in, “I’m sure he’ll be back soon.”

—

The sea cave entrance to the watchpoint was mainly meant for launching boats out to retrieve satellites and ships that had fallen into the ocean, and for launching vehicles in the event of a local attack on Gibraltar itself, and since the Orca served as the primary means of swift transport on and off the watchpoint, and the satellite launch tower didn’t operate as much as it used to, the sea cave hardly saw any use. The amphibious entrance featured several cement docks, and large garage that lead into a network of maintenance tunnels for the Watchpoint. The ocean’s roar bounced off of the cave walls as Genji came down a set of stairs to the empty docks.

“See anything?” Symmetra spoke over the comm.

“Nothing so far,” said Genji, walking around the docks and noting the numerous sentry turrets placed around.

“Hm, another one of my turrets activated, but stopped. They didn’t fire at you, did they?”

“No, none of them fired at me,” said Genji, “Where was it?”

“Deeper into the maintenance tunnels,” said Symmetra.

“I suppose that’s where I’m going then,” said Genji, turning and heading past the docks.

A hiss of static filled the comm channel when Symmetra spoke next. “Well–It–probabl–if—”

“Symmetra?” Genji tapped the side of his helmet with his fingers to get the comm to work better, “You’re cutting out. I can’t—” Genji recognized there wasn’t much use talking into static. He’d just check out the entrance to the sub-levels and and check back in once he got back into comm range. He walked past the remains of one of Overwatch’s old amphibious vehicles that Torbjorn had cannibalized months ago, into an area full of emptied shipping crates.

Genji thought he saw something move in the shadows. With a flick of his wrist he had three shuriken at the ready. There was still static in his ear and Symmetra’s voice was completely gone, so he shut off the comm channel to hear better. He waited. He listened through the roar of the ocean echoing off of the cave walls. Mindlessly, his other hand went to his wakizashi. He was listening for breathing, for footsteps, but heard nothing. Then he heard something, a whistling of blades through the air. In a second his wakizashi was drawn and deflecting each of the blades before they could strike him as he leapt to dodge, sending them flying off and embedding themselves in the cement of the cave walls. Genji’s visor and heat sinks glowed in the darkness as he looked around.

“All right,” he said, letting his shuriken slide back into the plates on his wrist but not sheathing his wakizashi, “I know you’re there now. I would like to avoid a fight if possible.”

Three small circular lights illuminated themselves in the upper right periphery of his vision. Genji turned on his heel to see a figure drop down from an upper corner of the cave ceiling where they were wedging themselves. The figure slowly rose to their feet and drew a tantō as Genji looked upon their face.

“An omnic?” said Genji, not lowering his blade. An assassin, Genji could recognize it instantly. The choice in weapons was telling as well. The Shimada clan had to have sent him. Instantly anxiety had his stomach in knots. What did the Shimada clan know? Could they have sent the assassin here for him? For Angela? “We both know all too well what they are willing to resort to for the sake of power,” he remembered Hanzo’s voice, “If they catch word of another heir to the main branch of the Shimada line–” No. He couldn’t think about that. His grip tightened on his wakizashi.

“And what are you supposed to be?” said the omnic. The question lifted a great deal of weight off of Genji’s shoulders. The omnic didn’t recognize him. Of course he didn’t. Who would? For all the Shimada clan knew, Genji Shimada was dead.

Genji glanced down at himself and shrugged. “Does it really matter to you?” he asked the Omnic. The omnic scoffed. “Why are you here?” said Genji.

“I have come here for Hanzo Shimada. I have no quarrel with you,” said the Omnic.

“Hanzo Shimada?” Genji repeated. Genji almost felt relief until the immediate realization that this was yet another assassin sent after Hanzo hit him. He didn’t want to deal with this. In 12 hours, he and Angela were going to be on the Orca to Switzerland. In two weeks they would be holding their child in a sunlit hospital room in Thun and everything would be fine. He turned his comm channel back on so that Symmetra or anyone listening might hear. Still only static. Fine. No backup. He could do this. He could do this without a fight. Ninja were trained in more than one art of deception after all.

“Ah, I am sorry to disappoint then,” said Genji, lowering his wakizashi with a slight bow, “I believe you’ve arrived too late. I have already taken care of Hanzo Shimada.”

“You?” The omnic tilted his head.

“The Shimada clan does not like to take chances,” said Genji with a dismissive wave of his hand, “I thought they were sending me prematurely but…Ah I suppose these things cannot be helped. You will be reimbursed for your efforts, I’m sure.”

The Omnic paused. “Hanzo Shimada has been evading and killing his assassins for years. How did you manage to do it?”

“Neurotoxin-dipped shuriken,” Genji said, putting his hands on his hips, “I would show you, but I would like to avoid the other inhabitants of this base before they become aware of my presence and believe me, my poison does not leave a pretty corpse.”

“Hm,” this gave the Omnic pause, “Doubtful.”

“Doubtful?” said Genji.

“You are an ally of Hanzo Shimada, or a protector of this base, or both, and have come to stop me,” said the omnic.

“And what makes you so sure of that?” said Genji, folding his arms.

The omnic pointed with his tantō. “That sentry turret hasn’t fired on you at all.”

Genji glanced off in the direction of where the blade was pointing to see a small sentry turret about two feet from his ankle. “…kuso,” he said softly as the omnic leapt to attack him.

—-

“Still not getting him?” said McCree as Mercy attempted to ring up Genji’s comm channel again.

“I don’t understand,” muttered Mercy, taking a bite right out of the takeout box, “He usually answers,” she said, with her mouth half-full, “I don’t want to have to eat without him.”

“Uh, Doc,” McCree pointed down and Mercy realized she had already taken down more than half of her food.

“Verdammt,” muttered Mercy.

“Hey, it’s cool, eatin’ for two and all that,” said McCree with a shrug, leaning against the kitchen counter. “You and Genji still hush-hush on the name?”

“Yes,” said Mercy.

“Inori,” guessed Hanzo.

“No,” said Mercy with smile.

“Damn, I was pretty sure that time,” muttered Hanzo.

“Jessie,” said McCree, “With an ‘I E.’”

“No,” Mercy and Hanzo said at the same time.

“What about Wren?” said McCree.

“Wren?” repeated Hanzo.

“I like ‘Wren,’” said McCree, “Plus, like… y’know, ‘Sparrow’ and ‘Wren,’ that sort of thing.”

Hanzo chuckled a little, “That’s more thought than you usually put into names.”

“And it’s actually closer than most of your other guesses,” said Mercy.

“Wh–Seriously? How close?” said McCree.

Mercy just smirked.

“Aw come on, Doc, don’t be like that,” said McCree as Mercy turned her attention back to her comm and attempted to ring up Genji again.

“Still no word back,” muttered Mercy. She paused and blinked a few times, her hand going over her stomach.

“Kicking again?” said McCree.

Mercy shook her head and waved her hand. “Just another Braxton Hicks,” she said.

“Braxton who now?” said McCree.

“Braxton Hicks contractions,” said Hanzo, “They occur throughout a normal pregnancy, getting more intense toward the end.”

McCree elbowed Hanzo, “Someone’s been doing some reading,” he said with a snicker.

Hanzo cleared his throat, “It’s common knowledge,” he said. McCree folded his arms and smirked, prompting Hanzo to add, a bit more hesitantly, “And… seeing as it is my niece I figured some research couldn’t hurt.”

“Yes well…I’m sure frequent bathroom trips occurred in your research as well,” said Mercy, “I’ll be right back.”

“Sure thing,” said McCree as Mercy headed off toward the bathroom, leaving McCree and Hanzo in the kitchen. McCree chuckled a little and glanced over at Hanzo. “You can say it, you know.”

“Say what?” said Hanzo.

“Say you don’t want them to go to Switzerland,” said McCree, folding his arms, “You can keep up that ‘aloof and detached’ air all you want, but I know you, darlin’.”

“Switzerland is objectively the best decision they can make. The watchpoint is still a potential target. Angela’s still-living relatives are trustworthy. Doctor Haberlin is—”

“Let me guess… you did research on Haberlin too?” said McCree.

“Why wouldn’t I?” said Hanzo, “It isn’t that I don’t trust Genji or Angela’s decision making—”

“But you’re gonna do hours of research to make sure it’s the right decision anyway,” said McCree with a smirk.

Hanzo flushed a bit. “Yes, well…it doesn’t hurt,” he said. He furrowed his brow and rubbed his forehead. “Genji’s life has been—I’ve made Genji’s life—”

“Don’t start with that,” said McCree, putting a hand on Hanzo’s shoulder.

Hanzo sighed and put his hand over McCree’s, holding it there. “It is the best decision they can make. What I want is irrelevant. Something should go right for him–for both of them, for once.”

It was then that a shriek came from the bathroom.

“Doc?” McCree was rushing down the hall in a heartbeat, “Doc what’s—?”

“Scheisse–scheisse scheisse scheisse—!” Mercy was cursing on the other side of the door.

“Doc!” McCree knocked on the bathroom door urgently.

“My water broke!” Mercy shrieked on the other side of the door.

“What–? Are–Are you sure?” McCree said.

“No, I’m just standing in a puddle of amniotic fluid for fun–Yes, I’m fucking sure!” Mercy’s voice was cracking. She seemed to be attempting to catch her breath. “Get my comm,” she managed, “Now.”

“Okay, you got it–Hanzo!” McCree called, but only heard the click of the front door, “Hanzo?” McCree ran back to the living room to find Hanzo gone, “Shit–Not a good time, to pull the mysterious ninja escape, darlin’” muttered McCree, rushing to the kitchen to grab Mercy’s comm and quickly heading to the bathroom. He knocked on the door and it opened a crack and Mercy snatched the comm from his hand and was silent on the other side of the door for several seconds.

“I still can’t reach him,” she seemed calm but at the same time there was something terrified in her voice, “Why can’t I reach him?”

“Look, spotty comms happen all the time. I’m sure he’s fine,” said McCree.

—

Genji was slammed hard into the cement wall, both hands gripping his wakizashi to keep it blocking the omnic’s tantō. He shoved forward hard with his leg, knocking the omnic back and allowing himself time to breathe. He really had to stop forgetting how physically strong omnics could be. The omnic’s next attacks were rapid, unpredictable, the omnic easily switching between a normal and reversed grip on his tantō as needed. One strike came far too close for comfort, sparking along the edge of his blade with Genji only narrowly able to block it long enough to duck down and rush past with another sparking block against the omnic’s tantō. Genji had to get back into comm range. He had to alert the Watchpoint. The omnic seemed to immediately pick up on this as well, and rushed after him, then swore as Symmetra’s sentry turrets shot at him in his pursuit, and was forced to destroy the turrets shooting at him, allowing Genji more time to put distance between them. He raced back to the entrance of the cave and brought his hand to the side of his helmet as the hiss of static gave way to half-cut out voices.

“Genji?” Mercy’s voice filled his comm.

“Angela?” Genji said, ducking down as several shuriken flew overhead.

“Genji! I’ve been trying to get in contact with you for a while now—”

“Angela–” Genji dipped out of the way of several more shuriken, “I would love to talk but—”

“Genji, it’s starting.”

“What’s star–” Genji’s visor suddenly brightened, “Really? This early? Are you all right?” He leapt over several crates and dipped down as more shuriken flew past him.

“I’m fine but… I need you here,” said Mercy, “Where are you?”

“I’ll be there as soon as I–” Genji saw several more shuriken flying towards his head and brought up his wakizashi to deflect them. The ringing sounds of metal on metal filled the air as he sprang back up and kept running out of the maintenance tunnels.

“What was that?” said Mercy.

Genji couldn’t respond, he was running, ducking more shuriken, then skidding to a halt as he reached the entrance to the sea cave and nearly ran right off the cement dock and into the water. He turned and was forced to block a hard flying kick from the omnic with a grunt.

“Genji, are you fighting?” said Mercy.

Suddenly the omnic was rushing him again and Genji was blocking strikes from the tantō left and right. “I really,” Genji blocked a strike, “Really wish I could say ‘no.’” He moved to attack now, forcing the omnic back with a flurry of his own strikes. “Send backup to the amphibious entrance—”

“I’ll send Hanzo to—” Mercy started.

“Do not send Hanzo,” said Genji, leaping atop the omnic’s swinging tantō then forcing the omnic back with a hard kick to the face, which the omnic easily recovered from.

“So you are an ally of Hanzo,” said the omnic, as he was knocked back, his metal feet sparking across the cement, from the force of Genji’s strike, he immediately threw several shuriken, forcing Genji to dodge off to the side, “He is unworthy of your skill.”

“Was that a compliment?” said Genji.

“Loyalty means nothing to Hanzo Shimada,” said the Omnic, now moving forward and forcing Genji back with several strikes from his tantō, “He murdered his own brother for the sake of the clan, only to abandon them.”

“How terrible,” said Genji, blocking and dodging the strikes.

“This is why the Shimada clan sent me,” said the Omnic, “Because Hanzo has no honor, and family means nothing to him.”

—-

Hanzo burst back through the door of the apartment carrying a large duffel bag. “Nobody panic! I’m here!” he announced, rushing down the hallway.

“Where’ve you been?” said McCree.

“Getting this,” said Hanzo, opening up the duffel and pulling out a loose dress and some other clothing, “Angela–I have a change of clothes for you. The car is running outside. Have you been able to get in contact with—”

“Genji’s in trouble,” said Mercy, sticking an arm out of the bathroom door and grabbing the clothes Hanzo was holding out for her.

“What?” said Hanzo.

“We’ve already put word in with Symm. She’s sending some backup to him right now,” said McCree.

“I still don’t know if sending in Zenyatta alone is enough,” said Mercy on the other side of the door.

“Have a little faith, Doc,” said McCree.

“I need to get to Athena,” said Mercy, walking out of the bathroom wearing the clothes Hanzo had handed her, “I need to make sure Genji’s—” She grunted and buckled over, gripping her stomach, her breath catching in her throat.

“Okay, yeah doc, we’re getting you to the infirmary,” said McCree, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“This shouldn’t be happening!” snapped Mercy, managing to get herself back up to an upright position, “This wasn’t supposed to happen for another two weeks!”

“Well…it’s…uh, happening,” said McCree, “Come on. Let’s get you to that car.”

Mercy had one hand on the wall as she made her way to the front of the apartment.

McCree glanced over his shoulder at Hanzo, who pulled a cheap towel from the duffel and threw it on the floor of Genji and Mercy’s bathroom before turning and looking at McCree. “What?”

“Just what have you got in that bag?” said McCree.

Hanzo shrugged and walked past him after Mercy. “Necessities.”

“Necessities?” said McCree.

“Changes of clothes, blankets, camera, baby clothes…” Hanzo said, his voice dropped a bit, “Spare shuriken, biotic canisters, blaster ammunition, counterfeit travel visas and identification…”

McCree whistled as they caught up with Mercy. “Only you would prep for a baby and the end of the world. How’d you get all that together in under 10 minutes?”

Hanzo cleared his throat, “I’ve… had it ready for the past three weeks,” said Hanzo.

Mercy stopped walking. “You’ve what?” she said, turning on her heel.

“I thought it best to be prepared. Shimada are… notoriously precocious,” said Hanzo, opening the car door for her.

Mercy looked at him, eyes wide.

“What?” said Hanzo.

“Nothing just…” Mercy managed a short chuckle, before getting into the car, “Genji said the same thing.” She paused, “I hope he’s all right…a quick visit to the Athena’s surveillance room couldn’t hur—”

“Doc,” said McCree, getting into the front seat and slamming the front door, “He’s got backup. You got enough to worry about as is with your kid jumping the gun. Just… I dunno, breathe or whatever.”

—

Genji knocked the Omnic’s tantō from his hand and sent it clattering across the floor. Genji pointed his wakizashi at his opponent. “Leave this place.”

“I have a contract,” said the Omnic. A plate in the omnic’s forearm slid back and a blade extending about a hand’s length past the tips of the omnic’s own fingers clicked out.

“Ah,” Genji now found himself dipping back and blocking strikes from the new blade. The new blade he realized was designed for close quarters, even more so than the tantō. “You realize Hanzo is an archer, right?” said Genji, blocking another strike from the omnic and advanced forward. The omnic grunted and slashed at Genji, and Genji dipped back maddeningly out of his reach. “How would you expect get close enough to use your weapons effectively?”

“Shut up,” said the Omnic, his voice was half drowned out by the roar of the ocean echoing against the cave walls.

“You know,” said Genji leaping back several times, “It would not be the first time the Shimada clan got rid of one potential threat by pitting it against another.”

“Shut up,” the omnic slashed forward and overextended himself, allowing Genji to dip to the side and deliver a hard strike with the butt of his wakizashi at the Omnic’s forearm. In one fluid movement Genji drew his sword and slashed down through the Omnic’s forearm blade, slicing it cleanly off. Genji took advantage of the Omnic’s shock at this to dip down and swipe the Omnic’s legs out from underneath him before springing up and delivering a hard kick to the chest. This sent the omnic flying back, he attempted to recover in mid air, only to find himself splashing into the water. Suddenly all the omnic’s calm seemed completely gone as he flailed in the water but quickly sank. Genji took a calming breath. Knowing Omnics, the assassin would probably scramble out by clinging to the cement walls of the dock or climbing along the underwater walls of the cave, but he had time to catch his breath. He sheathed his sword and brought a hand to the side of his helmet.

“Symmetra,” he spoke on the comm channel, “What’s the status on my backu–” There was a small splashing sound and Genji felt something painful wrap around his ankle and and glanced down to see a weighted wire had wrapped itself around it. He brought up his wakizashi to cut it but suddenly his foot was yanked out from underneath him and he was pulled into the water.

—

Hanzo watched Mercy bite the inside of her lip and furrow her brow as McCree drove them across the Watchpoint towards the infirmary. She brought up her comm again and attempted to ring up Genji, but was only met with silence on the other end. She closed her eyes, sighed and slumped against her seat, interlacing her fingers in front of her and pressing her knuckles to her lips. Hanzo wondered if she was praying or if that was simply a mindless mannerism from the stress.

“He’s fine, Doc, I’m sure of it,” said McCree.

“I hope you’re right,” said Mercy. She sighed and leaned her head against the window. “Why did this have to happen today?” she said quietly, “Why did this have to happen today?” she gestured down at her stomach.

Hanzo was quiet for a few moments before saying, “Did… Genji ever tell you he was born early?”

Mercy blinked a few times, “No,” she said.

Hanzo scoffed. “Of course he didn’t,” he muttered. He then glanced over at Mercy to see her furrowed brow at him and then cleared his throat a bit awkwardly, “I mean…Of course it’s not like he would remember it.” Mercy grunted and her hand went over her stomach again. “He was even earlier than yours is,” Hanzo went on, clearly trying to distract her from the pain, “They had to keep him under observation. Father was terrified. The first time i saw him he was in an incubator. I thought he was hideous–a wrinkled pink little monster. But then… I suppose I was jealous of how much attention he was getting,” he chuckled a bit, “I don’t think that ever stopped.”

Mercy managed to smile. “I was the opposite,” she said, tucking her hair back, “I think… I remember my mother told me I was pretty late. Very late, actually. Made her miserable, in fact. She said she planted daffodil bulbs to, as she put it, ‘Get me moving,’” Mercy paused, “At least… that’s what it said in one of her old diaries. I don’t know if she ever said it to me, or if I just… imagined the memory. I hear her voice sometimes but…” she shook her head, “I don’t know what kind of mother I’m going to be if I can barely remember my own.”

“You’re gonna do fine, you know,” said McCree.

“It’s already gone completely off the rails, though,” said Mercy with a pained chuckle and a slight shake in her voice.

“Well yeah, but considering our line of work, that’s not that unusual,” said McCree, “And it ain’t nothing we can’t handle.”

Mercy smiled,  “Thank you for being so calm about this,” she said, looking down.

“Aw come on, Doc, you know me,” said McCree, “Beneath my charming, roguish, and ruggedly handsome exterior—”

Hanzo scoffed.

“I’m gotdamn terrified,” said McCree, “I don’t just wear the hat because it’s lucky or because I look damn good in it. It hides the sweat.” They pulled up to the infirmary. “Look sharp doc,” said McCree, getting out of the car. He noted the concern on Mercy’s face. “Merce–He’s going to be fine. He’s getting backup right now. You worry about yourself, you hear?”

–

Genji was a strong enough swimmer, but the omnic’s pull was even stronger in yanking him down beneath the surface. He felt the heat sinks in his shoulders click air-tight, but the faceplate of his helmet filled with water and his eyes stung with salt. The wire unwrapped itself from his foot and Genji desperately looked around in the dark water as he swam to the surface, only to see those three lights in the Omnic’s head shoot toward him. The omnic rammed into him, pinning him against the cement of the dock while the surface of the water was only an arm’s length away, his fingers barely able to break the surface. He felt the weight of the wire on his neck. It could cut through normal human flesh, he realized, but for him it would have to serve as a garrote. Genji coughed on the water filling his faceplate as his hands struggled at the wire and he wondered for a brief mad second if he would die here, in a cave, in dark water. His mind went to Angela, to Hanzo, Zenyatta, McCree, to his family and without a second thought he thrust his wakizashi into the omnic’s stomach. The lights on the omnic’s head flickered and Genji immediately realized stabbing a robot while underwater was a bad idea.

His armor had some shock resistance, and his organic parts were also heavily insulated with cybernetic grafts capable of directing shock away from his organic body, however, that didn’t mean that it didn’t hurt like hell. The omnic fell away from him and was sinking and Genji shoved off of him with his foot. His arm broke the surface and he grabbed the edge of the cement dock and yanked himself up and out of the water. Scrambling on hands and knees, he turned around to look into the water, to see the three lights on the omnic’s head fading into the dark and distance as he sank. Genji nearly breathed a sigh of relief, then realized his faceplate was still full of water, and he quickly and desperately pressed at the pressure catches in the back of his helmet to pull his faceplate off. He coughed up seawater then collapsed on his side, aching and exhausted. He had to get up. He had to see Angela, but his limbs didn’t seem to be listening to him. There was a soft chiming sound and suddenly the pain seemed to ebb away. Genji glanced up to see an orb of harmony hovering above him.

“My apologies for my lateness, my student,” Zenyatta’s voice came to him and Genji struggled to sit up.

“Master…” Genji said, “Thank you.”

“It appears you handled yourself very well without me,” said Zenyatta.

Genji managed a pained chuckle, “You have a generous idea of ‘Very well,’ Master,” Genji’s eyes widened, “Angela–Is Angela—?”

“You still have time,” said Zenyatta, holding a hand out to Genji to help him to his feet, “Your brother and McCree have seen her safely to the infirmary. I suggest we—” There was the sound of splashing behind them and Genji and Zenyatta turned around to see the omnic assassin pulling himself out of the water with a grunt.

“You did not…” the omnic’s voice was distorted by water damage, “Strike to kill.” He brought up several shuriken. “I will not make the same mista—”

Zenyatta sent an orb of discord shooting over and it hovered over the omnic. The omnic glanced up at it confusedly. “What is tha—”

Zenyatta sent three orbs of destruction in quick succession, each smacking the omnic assassin squarely in the head. He swayed, then fell backward into the water with a dense splash.

“A lesson in humility,” said Zenyatta, before turning to Genji, “Does the Shimada clan know?”

Genji shook his head. “He was here for Hanzo.”

“I see,” said Zenyatta, “I will stay here and make sure our unwelcome guest does not return until more backup arri—” Zenyatta suddenly found himself in a tight hug from Genji, “Oh.”

“Thank you, Master,” said Genji.

Zenyatta patted his shoulder. “Of course, my student. Now, I believe you have somewhere to be.”

Genji broke out of the hug and gave Zenyatta a short bow. “Be sure to get to the infirmary as soon as you can,” he said, turning on his heel.

“You have my word,” said Zenyatta as Genji rushed off.

—

In the waiting area outside the main operating floor of the Watchpoint infirmary, Hanzo was pacing. He kept trying to sit down, but found himself getting to his feet and walking around without even thinking about it.

“This is your fault, you know,” said McCree.

“My fault?” said Hanzo, stopping his pacing.

“You jinxed it,” said McCree, folding his arms.

“Excuse me?” said Hanzo.

“All that ‘Something should go right for once,’ stuff. Come on, you definitely jinxed it.”

“That is completely ridiculo—Do you honestly think I could—?” Hanzo scanned McCree’s smirk and his eyes narrowed, “You’re just trying to get under my skin,” he said, frowning.

“You’re pretty tightly wound. You could stand to loosen up,” said McCree.

“I am perfectly calm,” said Hanzo, visibly bristling. Suddenly a door opened behind him, and Hanzo turned on his heel to see Genji, dripping wet, scuffed and scratched, faceplate off, visor up, eyes wide, supporting himself against the doorframe.

“Genji—” Hanzo stepped over to him and looked him over.

“Gotdamn…” said McCree, tilting his hat back.

Genji slumped over, catching his breath, “Angela,” he said, looking up, “How is she–?” Genji started.

“She’s fine. Her and her plus one,” said McCree, “You haven’t missed anything.”

Genji exhaled.

“Can I ask why you’re all wet?” said McCree.

“Assassin,” Genji waved a hand vaguely and moved to walk past them, “Ocean. Taken care of. Unimportant.”

“Well the nurse is probably not gonna be pleased if you roll into the delivery room like that. Better get cleaned up. You got time.”

“Right,” said Genji, “Right.”

“And Genji?” said Hanzo.

“Hm?” Genji glanced over his shoulder.

“Try to remember to breathe,” said Hanzo

“Yes,” said Genji, “Breathing. I’m breathing,” he said as he walked off.

“Good luck!” McCree shouted after him.

—

“Intranatal ultrasound reveals that your baby is in excellent health,” said the nurse, “Weight will be slightly below average, but either Haberlin’s due date was off, or there may be some unforeseen side-effects to the constant stream of biotics from your spinal implants.”

“Gott sei Dank,” said Mercy, holding out her arm as the nurse checked her IV’s.

“The time between your contractions is still—” the nurse started but Genji burst through the door. 

“Genji—” Mercy instinctively moved to get up but grunted and sank against the pillows of her bed as Genji rushed over and hugged her tight. She kissed him multiple times, on his scars, where his cybernetic jawline met his skin, and on his lips before holding him tightly again. She suddenly grunted and Genji pulled away as the nurse clicked a timer.

“And that marks the contractions as three minutes apart,” said the nurse, “Looks like you got here just in time.”

“What took you so long?” said Mercy, a bit breathlessly as Genji took her hand.

“Just some family business,” said Genji. 

Mercy chuckled a bit painfully before grunting in pain again.

—

Zenyatta arrived nearly an hour later to see McCree and Hanzo in the waiting area outside the infirmary.

“Hey,” McCree gave him a short wave, “Party crasher taken care of?”

“Yes,” said Zenyatta, “Is everything all right?”

“Well it’s uh… still going,” said McCree with a shrug. 

Hanzo’s arms were folded and he was drumming his fingers on his arm tensely. Zenyatta placed a hand on his shoulder. “Do not worry, my friend. I am sure they are doing very well.”

It was then that a borderline animalistic cry was heard through the door, followed by guttural cursing in German. Genji’s voice could be heard saying something reassuring like “Breathe, breathe, you’re doing fine—” which was cut off with “Genji! I’m a doctor! I know what I’m doing!” Which quickly fell into another long yell. Hanzo looked horrified.

“I’m sure they’re fine,” Zenyatta said again.

—

Rei came into the world a screaming pink raisin monster with a head of dark hair. Genji said something in quiet awe, but it was drowned out by the screaming.

“What?” Mercy half-yelled.

“I said she’s beautiful!” Genji half-yelled back.

Rei kept screaming as they cut the chord and toweled her off, then calmed down when she was swaddled and handed to Mercy to nurse as the afterbirth passed out of her. Mercy and Genji sat in silence for nearly an hour, watching her.

“Genji, you should hold her,” said Mercy, when Rei finally broke away from her.

“Oh I—” Genji itched at his scars, “Are–are you sure that’s wise?”

“I should think it would be obvious,” said Mercy with a weak chuckle.

“I just—” Genji glanced off, “Skin-to-skin contact is supposed to be important in the first few hours and I don’t–” he glanced down at his body, “I don’t…” he trailed off.

“You’re warm enough for her,” said Mercy, holding Rei out to him.

“My face–what if I scare her?” said Genji.

“Your face is fine,” said Mercy, insistently holding Rei out to him.

Genji hesitantly took the burrito-wrapped infant from Mercy and supported her head. The baby was, indeed, asleep, but the heat sinks in Genji’s shoulders clicked out and steamed and she stirred and moaned a little and opened small dark gray-blue eyes at him. Genji’s breath caught in his throat.

“Hello,” he said quietly. Rei seemed to consider him. He rubbed at the scars on his face nervously. “Sorry if my face scares you. We can’t all be as pretty as your mother,” he said with a slight chuckle.

“Genji,” Mercy said softly.

“Sorry–” he said then glanced down at Rei, sitting down on the edge of Mercy’s hospital bed. Rei continued staring up at him, then grunted again and closed her eyes. “She’s sleeping?” Genji said quietly.

“Well, newborns are known to do that,” said Mercy, smiling.

A smile tugged at the corner of Genji’s mouth. “I’m sorry this couldn’t go like we planned,” he said quietly.

“When has anything ever gone like we planned?” said Mercy.

Genji shrugged. “Fair point,” he said, before glancing back down at Rei. “I think we did well.”

Mercy leaned forward and kissed him on the temple. She glanced down and readjusted the blanket around Rei slightly. “I think we did well, too,” she said.