Work Text:
Tang could hear screaming. He remembers the explosion that let them in. It flung him to the wall, hitting his head. He could feel the warmth of blood dripping down the back of his neck. Mk was yelling something at the Azure Lion, Mei was by his side, Macaque disappeared, and Pigsy and Sandy were keeping the others at bay outside. It didn’t take long for all of them to also hit the wall. Mk was shifting and glowing. Mei was holding her arm. Pigsy was bleeding. Sandy wasn’t moving. The Azure Lion was approaching.
Tang could hear his friends calling his name from his position in front of them. When had he stood up? The ringing in his ears toned down their voices, including the Azure Lion’s speech about how all of this was a ‘necessary evil”.
The Azure Lion’s sword raised to strike.
But it never hit its target.
Instead, Tang raised his hand and a brilliant golden light erupted from his palm, creating a force field. His eyes glowed gold, and strands of his hair changed to match. The Azure lion was shocked, but quickly kept the blows coming. The strain on the force field created cracks. It wasn’t long before Tang began to brace himself to keep the force field up.
“Tang!”
Tang whipped his head around, meeting the eyes of a terrified Pigsy.
Another sickening blow. Cracks spread up Tangs arms.
Pigsy was holding the kids close, with a passed-out Sandy leaning over his back. They wouldn’t make it out of this cave.
His arms hurt, and he felt the cracks spread across his body. The blows kept coming.
They wouldn’t make it out of this cave unless he did something. He looked into Pigsy’s eyes.
Tang’s arms were trembling. Another slam into the force field.
He tore one of his arms away from the force field and held it out in the direction of his family.
Another crack. They didn’t have much time left.
Tang took a deep breath as a tear slipped down his cheek. Pigsy tried to take a step forward, but Tang knew he wouldn’t get close to him.
“I love you,” Tang called out to him.
Pigsy’s eyes widened. He understood what Tang was doing now. Fear spread across his features, and a desperate yell escaped his lips.
The final blow came, and the force field shattered. Tang took what power he had left and sent it to his family. In a blink they were gone.
As Tang fell to the ground, his arms shattered and falling apart, he prayed to any of the Gods still left that they would be safe.
The last thing Tang heard before the darkness overtook him was, “foolish monk.”