Son of The Monkey King

Chapter 50

It had been some time since Raymond and Lyra had met in New York. What started as a fight between two strangers blossomed into a friendship that neither had expected.

The two were on Lyra's bike zooming down the freeway. With each mile behind them they were getting closer to what was believed to be their end goal. Metallica was blaring over the speaker on Lyra's bike. Raymond in only the way he could, was standing on the back of the bike. The wind was whipping through his hair, and the flaps of his long jacket. His uninjured arm was raised up, and his hands shaped into the classic metal horns as he headbanged away to the song that was playing. Lyra couldn't help the small smile on her face at her friends antics. No matter the situation he was always in the highest of spirits; with exception of the mention of his godly parent. Even now with his arm severely burned he was trying squeeze out as much fun as he could.

"Umm Lyra!" Raymond yelled out. He had sat back down and shouted loudly. "Those don't look like normal birds!" He said. with a point. Looking up she noticed infront of her the man shaped birds flying right towards them.

"What the hell are those things!?" she shouted back to him.

"They're tengus. Guess they don't want us reaching our destination." Raymond called back. The bird men were only getting closer. "Lyra do I have your permission to fight?" He asked remembering her previous request at the truckstop. The girl really didn't want him to fight, but there was litle choice in the matter at the moment.

"Granted." she said back to him. Without wasting a single second the half monkey jumped off the bike, landing on the trailer of a truck driving near them. Reaching into his pocket the silver staff extended in his hand. Five of the tengus landed on the trailer surrounding the man. The bird men made squawking sounds that vaguely sounded Japanese. A language Raymond didn't understand.

"So my feathered friends is there any point in trying to talk you boys out of this?" He asked. The only answer he got in return was a shriek. "Yeah that was about what I expected." Raymond said a mischevious glint in golden eyes. Quicker than any of the bird demons expected Raymond spun a full three hundred sixty degrees. His silver staff extended smashing into each of the Tengu. All five were thrown off the trailer letting out screams. As soon as the five dropped however four more swooped down their swords out ready to cut down the half monkey. The first of the bird men spun like a top with a sword in each hand in an attempt to blend Raymond into a smoothie. The half monkey did a flip over the demon avoiding it completely, however the other three bird men followed suit spinning rapidly towards Raymond. Much like the first Tengu Raymond was able to avoid the next two demon's attempts of decapitating him easily enough. He was than with the third. Slamming his staff down so it stood tall; the Birdman's katana connected with Raymond's staff with a clang. The tengu's red eyes locked with Raymond's golden eyes. While he was momentarily distracted one of the previous Tengus attempted to stab at him from behind. Although this wasn't Raymond's first time being outnumbered. With his sharp wits Raymond's staff grew propelling him into the sky, avoiding what could have been a death blow.

The other two flew after him thinking they now had the adventage. The half monkey was now on their turf they owned the skies, or so they thought. Raymond was in a free fall when saw the other two bird men flying in his direction. The magic staff shrunk back to it's normal battle size. As he fell the young man held his staff like a baseball player. With a swing that'd put every professional baseball player to shame, he struck one of the demons right back down to the ground. The other tengu however had grabbed the half monkey flying him high into the sky. Grabbing the demon by the beak Raymond squeezed hard, until the bird man let go out of sheer pain.

What the half monkey didn't realize was that on the ground Lyra was having a harder time dealing with the tengus. Using her motorcycle skills she managed to avoid them for quite awhile, but unfortunately for the scarred girl she was over run by two of the flying demons. Much like they did with her friend they took her sky high. Without it's rider Lyra's bike lost control hitting the highway guardrail. The bike flipped and spun all around before crashing into a heap on the side of the road.

While Raymond was free falling he noticed Lyra's predicament. Straigtening his body like a missile Raymond fell faster towards his friend. Cocking his fist back the half monkey cracked one of the tengus releasing one of Lyra's arms. With her newly freed arm Lyra sent a mighty punch at the bird man causing it to realease her completely. The two friends were now falling towards the hard pavement, and traffic on the road below. The half monkey managed to fly back toward Lyra grabbing her and pulling her close. He adjusted them in the sky so their feet was pointed to ground. His golden eyes met her electric ones; a silent conversation happening between the two. Handing her his staff it grew back to it's fighting size. Lyra held the staff up like she did before. Transforming into a hawk he grabbed the staff between his talons.

What Raymond didn't take into account was his injured arm. As a hawk Raymond couldn't open his other wing to bring them down safely. With a pained squawk he managed force it open just enough to slow their descent to get Lyra down safely. Transforming back to his normal form he landed harshly on ground. With a few somersaults he managed to get to his feet. Though he was mostly uninjured his burnt arm was flooded with pain. Clenching his teeth Raymond fought back the pained tears that burned at his eyes. It wasn't long until Lyra was at his side staff in hand.

"Are you alright?" she asked a hand on his uninjured arm trying examine him for any other injuries.

"I'll be alright. Just my arm." The half monkey said. he knew there was no point in trying to lie to her. The scarred girl handed him his staff back. It was than that she remembered her bike. Her auburn hair whipped around as she looked around to where it went. It was then she noticed in the highway her bike a fiery wreck blocking traffic. She dropped to her knees as sadness washed over. Raymond looked down at her placing what he hoped was a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"The bike was Charlie's." She whispered. "It was the last thing I had that was his." Lyra continued. Her electric eyes were glassy as she looked on. With a soft voice and a light squeeze Raymond said.

"This just gives us another reason not to fail."