Unorganized Hero-ing (SavageKing Au)

Sacrifice

He dove forwards, his hand reaching for the beam of light. MK felt tears build in his eyes, trying not to look back on his friends and family. And then, before his fingertips could reach their goal, two screams ripped through the air.

Shadows moved with angry precision, and Wukong's arms suddenly wrapped around the boy, throwing them both down against the ground. Xiangliu yelled, falling to his knees as the room darkened, shadows buzzing along his skin as Macaque dove forward towards the serpent. Shadow portals opened, the three monkeys disappearing.

The trio fell onto barren ground, the Celestial Pillar not too far from where they landed. Macaque grabbed MK, his blank stare deadly calm despite his trembling fists clutching the boy's shirt. "What have you two done?!" MK tried to kick off Macaque, only for Wukong to hold his legs down, "No! No, you were stupid! Stupid people lose leg privileges."

"I have to do this!" MK felt his voice crack as fear settled into him. He shoved again, managing to push away Macaque briefly. "This isn't what anyone meant when we encouraged you to choose your own destiny," the warrior ground out sternly. MK flinched, pressing his lips into a thin line before squirming against Wukong.

"You don't understand! If I don't do this, everyone loses, everything gets destroyed." MK managed to shove Wukong off, and the king growled. "You are being stupid! You don't have to make the stupid choice–" MK glared at the ginger, "What do you know, Wukong? You've been slipping for weeks. You don't understand what's at stake here, and why this stupid choice has to happen!"

"Stop it." Macaque cut in, his voice stern as MK flinched. His eyes widened, and he shakily exhaled, "I-I...Wukong..."

Tendrils of orange and black suddenly lashed out, wrapping around Macaque and Wukong as the pair gasped. Wukong thrashed angrily, his apparent hurt from MK's words apparently gone as he snarled at Xiangliu.

"Hm. That is quite a trick you have, Macaque." Xiangliu leaned down, observing the ebony monkey closely. Wukong growled, lunging uselessly at the Tenth King. "That power...who gave that to you? Who'd you make a deal with?" The warrior snarled as he was moved until he was upside down, "Wukong gave me this power. It was stolen from a temple, I made no deals."

Xiangliu hummed, flipping the warrior right-side-up again, "I see. No matter. It's all gonna be over soon!" He snapped his fingers, summoning the rest of the group. Wukong whined, ignoring the straining pain from pulling against his restraints. "No, MK, don't listen to the snake! He's green."

"The Harbinger knows this was what he was made for," Xiangliu taunted, "that this is the only way to save the world! But you're really going to reject his sacrifice?" Wukong grinned, fangs gleaming, "Yes. Because you're a liar liar pants on fire." Mei agreed, "Yeah! He's telling you to-to do it, so you obviously shouldn't." She tried to ignore the tears pricking her eyes as the Nine-Headed Demon grinned sharply.

"No. I told you, I'll get out either way." He smirked as Mei let out a screech of anger. "I have had enough of control. Enough of watching people put themselves in cages." His brief feeling of anger washed away as he turned towards MK, "Watching them push away the chaos, when the chaos is what makes them who they are." Wukong hissed, "He's stealing my lines and making them bad guy monologues! I CALL STEALING!"

Xiangliu ignored the king, instead stepping up to MK, "Child, I am not deceiving you. Sacrifice yourself, don't sacrifice yourself... it is entirely up to you."

"And he isn't going to choose to kill himself," Wukong cut in with a sneer. "Cause no one listens to green liar liars! MK, tell him." The king smiled towards MK, confidently squinting his eyes. MK swallowed thickly, regret and fear swirling in the pit of his stomach. "Wukong...Wukong, the world is dying, remember?" He watched dejectedly as Wukong looked around, examining the cracks that kept growing.