Work Text:
It has been days since Higgsbury left with the kids for a fishing trip- a lame excuse to keep them away from their planned spider extermination. Webber "doesn't need to get sad" as old Wickerbottom said, and Wendy is better off not helping while Spider Queens spring from the nests at random. Whenever Abby gets too weak to hold her form, her sister goes through all stages of grief as if it was truly the end. It's better Wortox, Wolfgang and Wigfrid take care of the matter.
In the meantime, Wilson can gather some protein out in the sea, with kids hopefully helping.
But the forest has been clean for 3 days now, and Higgsbury has not returned. Maxwell of course did not care in the slightest, more worried about his niece.
The ocean held many dangers after all, with all the 'moon' related problems being at the front. Any silly worm could have mutated into a sea monster and swallowed the boat whole, fellow survivors stuck in it's belly.
Or a shark got them. It would surely take a bit longer to float over as blobs of ectoplasm than with wind in your sails.
Never the less, the ex-king found himself doing chores closer to the shore as of late, hoping to see the red vested survivor dead look in his niece's eyes.
And it seems he will be of luck today, as a fully operational sail appears in his vision, the boat approaching slowly in the calm sea. Three figures can be spotted on deck- at least nobody's dead. But there is a good mess on the boat, items strewn about. Those had certainly not been there before.
He comes to the edge of the small cliff, and considers waving- then discards the idea. If he can see them they can see him.
Soon enough, the blonde hair of his niece can be distinguished, and many eyes on Webber's face light up with joy as he runs over to grab a strangely red paddle to get the boat moving faster. The third figure however, an ugly shade of orange fur all over their body, big ears and a dumb expression on their coconut shaped muzzle remains unrecognizable- Maxwell squints, but there's nothing familiar in the bipedal animal. And it has a tail.
At last, with Webber's help the boat bumps against the land and disgruntled Wendy nods her hello, while Webber jumps at his legs and climbs to give the already annoyed magician a hug. After a little pat on the back, the kid unsticks himself and runs off to catch up with Wendy.
And then the... Monkey, definitely, comes over with fish gathered in it's (hairy) hands and Maxwell notices a crucial detail- Wilson's piggyback, with the holes through which his dried up tentacle usually poked it's spikes, empty. As he brings back his stare on the animal's face, he is met with an apologetic grin full of yellow crooked teeth. A short 'ook' is uttered and the monkey side steps him, tail swinging.
Maxwell looks as it's leaving, the suspicion in him blossoming slowly into sureness, and a headache forming behind his eyes.
-------------------
Later on, near the sweltering warmth of the scaled furnace, Wendy and Webber are telling what happened out in the sea. The monkey which Maxwell is convinced is Higgsbury now wearing clothes it dived into the wardrobe for a few hours prior: A blue tweed waistcoat with matching pinstripe pants ("Blue is the most scientific color!"), which might have looked bearable on Wilson look utterly deplorable on the ape. It also sports many necklaces hung on it's neck, and bracelets of the same sort on legs and arms, even one tied on the tail. All of them are ugly in every sense of the word, and to call them accessories or jewelry would be an insult to anyone who has ever seen a single earring.
"And then we heard the yell! It was loud and we lost a fish! There were five, no, six of them!!! And they attacked us with those wooden swords, and the red paddle, and it really hurt!"
"Abigail saved us, as always. We found a treasure map, but Mr. Wilson wanted to check the docks we got pushed towards during the attack first. So after a checkup we went there."
"And there were more of the monkeys! And a really big one, like, huge! On a banana shaped throne, and the other monkeys were stealing our stuff and it was really annoying so we bit one and they attacked us again..."
"Abigail fought them off. Unfortunately, they kept dropping their... Bracelets? Whatever it is, it's cursed. Wouldn't leave us alone, and Mr. Wilson got at least 12 sticking to him. That's how this happened" she motioned vaguely in the monkey's direction.
"Now Mr. Wilson is a monkey!"
Willow let out an amused snort, "more like a Wonkey."
The face of the creature did not show any reaction- in fact, Wonkey (Wilson?) looked like it did not understand a thing that is being said. It keeps playing with it's tail instead, testing out it's movement.
Just wonderful.
Wickerbottom seemed to share his exasperation, and asked kids some more questions- apparently, curse is removed by gifting bananas to the queen of the Quay, but there has been just enough growing on the island to help the kids get rid of their curse and snatch some blueprints as well, when they gave a bit too much after their trinkets were already gone ("We're sorry! We were scared we needed twice as much for both of us!" "It's alright Webber.") which they didn't get to read because Wonkey stole them instead.
Looks like the scientist is still hungry for knowledge. For someone craving to know so badly, he doesn't seem to learn.
Now there is a giant monkey that knows how to create some possibly crucial items and has no way to share the how-to in their camp, a pirate stash somewhere on the other side of the continent (as the map indicates) and a couple new plants that need a spot in their garden.
"But we got bandanas and a funny hat!"
Maxwell's head is pulsing with an intense migraine already.
----------
The lack of communication with Wonkey has been a minor issue. While Wonkey itself was somewhat useful with it's gathering of twigs and grass, helping out with chopping wood and doing a few trips to the ruins where it didn't have to worry about infuriating primates, it was the evident lack of the scientist that was the problem: turns out, with an Opera singer prone to violence and masks for dealing with merms tending to just fall apart after few days, leads to excessive usage of meat effigies, and Higgsbury's beard is not as useless as they claimed.
There's also the medical attention, Wilson's experience with the constant and unbearable yapping.
And it's not like the awful orange menace is not Wilson- the camp members all agree that the excessive grooming of it's hair (which now covers it's entire body) is very much Wilson-like, and it spends equally as much time by the science machine.
And other things, that may have escaped others' attention, but Maxwell noticed immediately; how it bites it's tongue when focused on something, the look of suspicion mixed with pity it gives him whenever they're close without anyone else around, and the ragtime tune it hums when it thinks no one's around.
Maxwell hates it. It is horrible, even if not followed by that awful stench anymore, but it does not speak outside of 'ook's and 'oooOOOo's, the way it breaks into a run on all fours if it deems the distance too long, how it grasps with it's tail (gross), and it's evident lack of ebony black hair, glistening as nightmare fuel itself, which he always wanted to touch but stopped before the thought reached a conscious level love for bananas. It didn't even look at bacon and eggs anymore.
It angers him to no end, but no more than the fact he cares in the first place. Maxwell can't understand it himself; so he tries to excuse it with how used he was to watching the short man back on the throne, or the deep rooted guilt and sense of debt. Whichever is further from emotional attachment.
The thoughts plague him while he searches for the cursed (literally) character, Wanda and Wortox ready to search for the buried treasure. They want Wonkey there with them for some reason, and Maxwell being the only one relaxing at camp after a day of hard work (overlooking clones is tiring, you cannot prove otherwise) has been sent to relay the message.
That leaves him searching around the scientist's tent, looking out for any sign of orange in the greenery. There's no telling where the monkey could decide to go, so he abandons reason and simply walks right into the woods.
That turns out to be the correct decision, because just few meters in there's a figure sitting on the forest floor, a pretty parasol held in it's tail shielding it from the sun to see the blueprint it's studying better, a cup of soothing tea in it's free hand, and a feathered pencil between it's toes as it jots down notes with it's foot.
For the first time in weeks, Maxwell admits to amusement- because it is in fact something Wilson surely would do even as a human, had he the ability. Since the start of this whole thing, there is finally something that Higgsbury gained from this; that still fit his personality perfectly well. It... Brought strange comfort to his dark, rotten heart, and he felt like he had untensed for the first time in ages.
He shakes off the clouds his head has been stuck in when the Wonkey looks at him, it's dumb expression switching to recognition and then some form of tiredness. Maxwell nods with a shrug- then shows him the map. The eyes of the primate light up, and it picks up all it's stuff and looks him expectantly in the eyes. The magician just gives the map to it and motions in the direction of the camp, and receives a crooked grin in return as the ex-scientist throws his cane back to catch it with his tail, and runs off on all fours.
Hopefully they can save up enough bananas to turn him back soon.
-----------
He's chatting with Wickerbottom about potentially expanding her library, Woodie suggesting building a shelf, when the very time slows and speeds up again, a rift breaking in a crackle of shadow magic in front of the scaled furnace. Three forms jump from the glowing chasm onto the marble floor below, and one runs off on it's hands and feet with shrill 'Oookii oook-ook!' and the others look after it before sighing or bursting in laughter.
"My my, what a guy!"
Wickerbottom clears her throat, and in that exact moment the rift closes. The silence it leaves behind is almost deathly, until Wanda turns around with a clock in one hand and a purple gem in other, the story already a mess on her tongue.
"So like, we found it and all but the way there was a bit of a mess, since pigs do not like either Wonkey or Wortox, who knew, and the junk that fell out of that hole was more than we could all carry even with a krampus sack. Anyway there were some blueprints and stuff but of course Wilson got to them first, that's why he's ran off just now and all. Wortox knows the way so maybe he can go back there and grab some of the less important things, like, it's mostly those useless swords but they do for a decent firewood so I suppose that's fine..."
As Wanda rambles on while attaching a new gem to her watch, Woodie quietly exits the scene. Wortox sits with them by the empty firepit and pulls out a soul, swirls it between his fingers for a while, then sucks it in like a spaghetti noodle. Maxwell can't help but imagine his own soul in the monster's claws and shudders a bit.
"Alas, poor piggy... I did not know it at all. But I do know a crazy monkey when i see one, hyu hyu... He's off the deep end. And just when I thought someone could relate to tail owner's woes!"
"Do you suggest Mr. Higgsbury is lost to the curse?" Wickerbottom's voice is neutral, to the point of complete apathy.
"I would never! I only assure you he's enjoying it a lot. Too much if you ask me! His utter obsession with making the most of his Wonkey features, hyuyu, and how quickly he got used to being hated by the pigfolk! Who decides what is a monster anyway?"
Maxwell coughs into his fist, then pulls out codex umbra without even noticing, his hands working off muscle memory he created long before the constant. The humming book in his hand calms him somehow, yet brings the familiar stab of guilt with it. I'm so sorry Charlie.
"So Wilson might not be as willing to part with the trinkets as we expected. That's... Not good, though he's done worse."
Maxwell snorts. "I'm not surprised at all. I'm willing to bet he thinks of this as an experiment."
"That he surely does." Wanda says, then shoves the now socketed watch into her pocket, before immediately grabbing another one and pressing a button. The fluctuations in time return momentarily, then are gone with the timekeeper.
Wortox yawns loudly, his creepy sharp teeth on display, then throws some rhymes about going to sleep and disappears through a portal under his feet.
Sheesh. You'd think the former shadow king would know how to do such things, but somehow it escaped his capabilities now that he's off the throne. That a simple imp or watch maker- his thoughts get interrupted by a squawk, and there's suddenly a cockatoo with a tiny bandana on it's forehead flying over to the elder pair, only to pivot at the last second and snatch some seeds that have been dropped there by some raven a few minutes before.
Instead of gobbling them up however, it raises back up in the air and flutters it's wings till they carry it right back to Wonkey, who is standing proud and smiling with a giant decorative pirate hat on it's head. The parrot drops the seeds in the monkey's outstretched hand, then sits on it's shoulder.
"That's what the blueprints were for?"
Wonkey nods, a satisfied smile not faltering.
Goodness gracious.
----------
"YOU!"
"EEEEEK!"
The Wonkey has been caught red handed, stealing bananas from their newly planted bushes. They have been trying to grow some to take with them to the Moon Quay, but every time they checked the bananas were mysteriously missing.
Maxwell saw Wonkey eat bananas a few times before, but he did not know that the poor 4 plants they brought back were all getting swiped of their fruit- he had hoped that at least someone has been collecting them and wrapping for curing the curse.
But no. Higgsbury has just been scarfing them all instead.
Now the Wonkey is looking at him, fear gone from it's eyes. In fact, there's a challenge in it's posture, which seen by a survivor more prone to violence would lead to some urgent medical intervention.
Luckily for Higgsbury, Maxwell is not going to fight him. He's too tired of all this nonsense. Winter is approaching, meaning no more fruit at all, and Wonkey clearly doesn't want to be changed back.
That thought wakes him up a bit, and raising his head after he's been rubbing the bridge of his nose, he addresses Wonkey before it runs away as it always does.
"Why won't you come back?" He starts lowly, but his voice is shaking so he raises it. "Do you hate being a human? Or is this some sort of sick joke to you?! Let me guess! It's 'knowledge' again, as if that ever brought you any good! You couldn't just grab a monkey to dissect, you had to turn into one!"
"Ook! OooOoo OOK!"
"I don't UNDERSTAND, YOU IDIOT!"
Of course. Higgsbury did not understand either. He showcased so before. So he's just wasting his breath.
"Honestly! To think you'd be happy like this! Running around like an animal, grabbing stuff with your feet, blissfully ignorant of any worries!"
He should just stop. There's no point in talking, the Wonkey itself looking more worried than angry.
"To think I actually waited for you to come back, worried even!"
Shut up. Shut. Up.
"And now you're here, but you're not even you! Who- WHAT are you?!"
For the-
"Where's Wilson?! The one I know?! The one I-'
-love-
"-tolerate! Give him back, you fur-covered mooncalf!"
-of god.
He's out of breath, and Wonkey is clearly scared again. There's some sort of feral glint in it's eyes as it watches his every move, fight or flight switching rapidly in it's mind as it shakes.
It looks nothing like Wilson, who stood confident even when he showed himself twisted by the throne, when he actually wanted to scare him.
Maxwell turns on his heels, then leaves, book thrumming under his arm. He adjusts his breathing with it, and slowly his heart calms as well.
Wonkey, left back in the garden, bares it's teeth and runs off to the nearest treeline.
----------
"When is Mr. Wilson turning back?"
"I don't know Webber, we might have to wait until spring."
"But that's so long!"
"I know, but we don't have a choice. Mr. Higgsbury keeps stealing the bananas meant for curing him, and without them we can't get him back."
All of Webber's eyes teared up, and Wickerbottom laid her hand on his head. Maxwell harrumphed behind his book, everyone getting mad alongside him when he told them about Wonkey snatching the fruit. It seems not only he wants Wonkey gone already.
Willow plays with her lighter, the clicks of starting flame annoying the magician even further.
"I just don't get why. Wilson hates monkeys. Why would he willingly stay as one? Why the 360?"
"360 would mean he hasn't changed his mind, mademoiselle Willow. You're thinking of 180" Warly corrects from his spot by the crock pots.
"What are you, the new Wilson? Who cares about math."
"Mr. Wilson used to..."
Surprised, Maxwell looks up from the Codex- Wendy spoke for the first time since they've started gathering to wait for dinner. And she sounded just like when she spoke about Jack, or her mother for that matter.
Abigail spun around, her ghostly whispers distorted by the distance from the mortal plane. Wendy decided against relaying the message.
"I'm sorry kids, if it were possible we would get him back sooner. But we can't just keep guard at the garden for days straight just for some bananas. Maybe he'll get tired by the time Winter goes."
There's silence again, broken up by Webber's poorly held in sobs. Warly knocks a wooden spoon against the side of the pot as he stirs it.
"What about the ruins? Monkeys there got bananas."
Everyone looks at Wendy when she suggests the abandoned ancient civilization as a source of fruit. It's not that they've never gotten it that way- it was never their main objective however.
"Abigail will help with the splumonkeys, and we can get Wonkey on the boat in the meantime. I don't know how to make him give up the bananas though."
Everyone is looking at her as she fiddles with her skirt. The idea is preposterous- however, not impossible to do. They have two days until Winter starts, give or take, and if they all act quick they can have the scientist back before first snow.
"I suppose... Wigfrid would be willing to join you in the underground. And we can find a way to restrain Wonkey if Maxwell lends his clones."
The magician stands up, Codex falling from his hands and ominously levitating above the ground.
"No way Wendy is going to the-"
"Uncle. If anyone knows that I can handle myself, it's you."
He doesn't want to admit it, but he does know. Back on the throne, he saw Wendy going down there by herself, even returning after getting killed by The Ancient Guardian. He laughed back then, disconnected from the human experience as long as he did not think about his rotting bones, and unaware of their relation.
He sits back down, upset at himself, the constant, Wickerbottom, maybe even Wendy, but mostly at himself. No, scratch that. It's all Higgsbury's fault.
The rest of the planning commences, and he listens with just one ear.
--------------
Maxwell strolls into the garden, hands in pockets and Codex under his elbow. He pretends to be very interested in the berry bushes, then startles when a giant bird jumps out of one and runs off to hide in a different plant.
As he inspects the plants, he focuses his mental eye to look through his puppet's eyes, which blends with the shadows somewhere near. The world swims a bit from it's perspective, but he's able to focus until the world flashes orange as he scans the garden; there it is, their prey.
Wonkey is sneaking near the ground, going for the banana bushes that haven't even grown back yet. It waits patiently with craze in it's eyes, while glancing over at Maxwell who makes sure to look busy by the bushes.
The clone raises it's hand out of the shadows when Wonkey hasn't moved for solid ten seconds, and Woodie notices the signal. Maxwell counts to three, then the clone throws itself at Wonkey, which jumps in the air with a screech and darts in opposite direction, sides of it's path already framed by two new clones Maxwell quickly summoned from the bush field- that's where Woodie, transformed into a Moose catches it in it's arms and holds tight while it thrashes and scratches. Winona and Warly are there in an instant, rope quickly folded into professional knots around Higgsbury's paws, then legs, until he cannot move at all, even the swiping tail immobilized between the shoulder blades.
It does not however, help with the ungodly screeching and screaming, not even sounding like a monkey anymore. Who knew such sounds could be produced by a living being.
A sick sense of satisfaction fills Maxwell as he comes over, a torn pirate bandana in his hands, which he promptly shoves in Wonkey's maw. He has it at his mercy, just like back on the throne. There's almost a longing back to those times, but he shakes it off- now to wait on the boat for Wendy's return.
They go over to the bare ship Wilson has constructed for their fishing trip what feels like years ago, and dump him in the middle without care. Wonkey tires to roll, apparently preferring drowning from imprisonment. Maxwell just grabs one of the ends of the rope and tugs it back to the mast to tie it.
He stays on the boat while Woodie turns human again, and is immediately chased back to their camp so he can eat. Winona hits him on the back as some sort of endearment as she leaves as well, but it just knocks the wind out of him.
He's left alone with the animal again, and pulls out his book.
The pages sing to him in writing, and he flips through them idly.
.
.
.
"I hope you know what comes next. Then, you'll explain yourself."
.
.
.
"You're a goddamn idiot. I hate you so much."
...
"You understand nothing, am I right? Blink three times if you do."
The angry stare from an exhausted monkey doesn't break until it absolutely has to, blinking hard.
Maxwell considers this for a moment. There's probably a good hour before Webber and Wortox come over to sail towards the Moon Quay. He could probably use this time to his advantage.
"I am not joking, just so you know. I hate you more than anything, Wonkey."
He starts slow, to make sure he doesn't let his emotion take over again.
"For many reasons. You stink, no matter how much Wilson may try. You can't do anything he could do. You take up space, just like the mime. You don't talk either, waste resources, and-"
He cuts off, to take a deep breath. He hates what he's about to say, but he needs it off his chest. He wants that outside his mind, as far as possible.
"-and you made me realize I miss him. That he's important enough for me to notice when he's gone. That I care" he spits that word like a rock that found it's way in his food. Like something that has been stuck in his teeth for days, relief finally to come. Like disgusting truth, that contradicts everything he believes.
The monkey doesn't react.
He pulls his book up to cover his face, and stays silent until Webber runs over with a backpack full of bananas.
--------------
The way to the island is straight and uneventful. The imp sung a song about Kraken, which was impossibly annoying, but nothing special otherwise.
They reach the docks- Webber hasn't been lying. No wonder Higgsbury got interested in those, they could indeed prove useful.
They got off their boat to see the monkeys running around- using their front paws as feet, swords held in their tails. Somehow even worse than Wonkey. They let the annoying primates steal grass they have gathered on the mainland, and ignored them otherwise.
A gigantic swirling portal hung in the air close by, spitting twigs and grass every so often, and small glowing crabs ran around filtering sand through their antennas.
Maxwell summoned two clones, which hoisted Wonkey up after untying it from the mast. They carried it right under the giant stinking ape that woke up when they approached, then, per Webber's suggestion, laid it down and put 6 bunches of bananas on top of it.
The Monkey Queen grinned with a satisfied noise, then picked up the bananas. Maxwell didn't know what he expected, but the Queen just reaching towards the Wonkey and all the trinkets snapping off it's body then dropping in her palm was probably halfway down on his list.
The body, still tied up and gagged, convulsed aggressively to the point of jumping a bit in the air; the transformation was so quick Wilson was the one who hit the floor with an 'oomph'.
Unbelievable relief washed over the magician as he saw the dark, shapely hair.
All is right again in the world.
---------------
Wilson stayed in his tent for days, claiming to be curing a headache, and rethinking his life.
"New perspectives should have an impact, otherwise your mind is closed. And that's unscientific!" He claimed, but when Maxwell walked near one night he heard him crying. Some new perspectives they are.
In the end, Wilson ended back at camp and apologized for his behavior, claiming falling back on monkey instinct has been an experiment that got out of hand. He had wanted to check if 'evolutionary behaviors of the monkey species would display in yadda yadda blah blah blah'. It honestly didn't matter to Maxwell. Except for the fact he was right again. He knows Higgsbury too well.
Wilson then had shared the blueprints he learned on the monkey island- a cannon with suitable ammunition, and the docks themselves. He also insisted they will need to go back there one day. Without any transformations this time.
It was what he said next, that made Maxwell's heart stop completely.
"I've been remembering slowly all that stuff you've been saying that I couldn't understand before, I'll need you to elaborate on some..."
The magician did not hear anything else, and vacated the area immediately.
--------------
"I forgive you. For the mooncalf thing. Just this one time though, so don't test your luck."
"Technically, I told it to the Wonkey. I'll take it as permission to use it once against you in the future."
"You...!"