"My heart has joined the Thousand, for my friend stopped running today."
― Richard Adams, Watership Down
"Again!" Monkey chirped, hands steady on his weapon. "Stronger, you know you can do it!"
Lightning ravaged the air, birthed from broken space. Arthur's body tingled, a numbness that crept up from within. He ignored it, sword raised in cut to the side. Monkey's staff tipped away, driven by Excalibers edge.
"You're running out of time, Arthur."
The knight smiled at the familiar voice, one he'd not heard in years. His grip tightened, happiness wrapped around his heart.
"Time turns on us all, even the immortals," Arthur laughed. "It's what we do as it journeys beside us that matters."
"Why did you have to give up…"
Pain lanced into his chest, old wounds that he couldn't forget. It connected him to his dulled body, a hold he gripped tight.
"I couldn't believe…" Arthur drove a thrust toward Monkey's chest, dodged yet again. "The things we saw and did together put an end to my faith."
"Who are you talking to?" Monkey kicked, a strike that met Arthur's ribs. "You should focus, or you'll die before you find your limit!"
Arthur ignored the blow, his body hollowed and empty. The wings at his back launched a wave of feathers, arrows of grey-white light. His sprang left, Excalibur swung in a shot chop, an eruption of thunder as he met Monkey's staff.
"My limit is one step past your own, now stop interrupting my conversation!"
The knight slashed a cage of light, a constriction of destabilised space. Wings pressed, he darted after his own attacks, surfed the waves as he held his sword low and to the side. A cascade of power flowed from the blade, into the empty spaces of his ruined body.
"Let's write out a story, one last time… my brave, faithful knight."
Excalibur chimed, a pure note that wrinkled Monkey's brow. Arthur's hair grew long, a mane of white against the floor. He pointed to the heavens, saluted to the world. Monkey raised his staff, a shield against the light.
"I am the Once and Future King," Arthur smiled at Monkey's defence. "And this time, I'll give you everything!"
Excalibur fell without a whisper, a smooth cut that made ordinary, bland. A thousand shards of glass broke at once, invisible pains that held the laws of space in check. The world divided, slid up and down as the universe battled to keep itself in order.
"You're all, huh," Monkey laughed. "You should have…"
His face twisted, a cough at the back of his throat. A crack appeared from his head to his tail, vanished, then formed again. He pressed a hand to his chest, shock on his face.
"You're… an interesting mortal," Monkey ground out, voice choppy. "I wish we could have met before…"
His words vanished, along with his body, replaced by a broken strand of hair. It drifted down, a faint glow still contained within.
"Be careful… my ally isn't the same as me, he just wants everything to die…"
Arthur slumped to the ground, sword held in unfelt hands. His wings and armour vanished, but his long hair remained. It draped his emaciated form like a cloak, shifted by the wind. Monkey's words meant nothing to him. This battle had been his last, a final dip into a depleted well.
"What's your name, Monkey?" Arthur breathed, quieter than any whisper.
"I'm just a monkey who woke himself up to the empty… but my friends call me Sun Wukong!"
"What is someone like you doing, serving the Gods of Faith…" Athur's eyes dimmed. "You smell of a man who respects justice, what justice is there in your master's plans?"
"That depends on where you're standing," Sun Wukong's voice grew softer than silk, just audible through the wind. "This world, all of you, represent the greatest danger we've ever faced. This isn't a new battle for us, it's the end of a long and horrible campaign."
Arthur cracked a brittle smile. His rigid neck twisted in a slow shake, eyes unfocused.
"A land where the strongest cultivators are stuck, locked at the level of Earth Deities, can't be a threat to you…"
"Wrong, you're the tipping point, the unbalanced cog in a perfect system, we…"
"That's enough, Sun," A deep voice scattered the monkey's words. "It's been more than ten minutes, It's time to wrap this up."
"Rude, you're rude Hercules," Sun Wukong's voice ruffled his ally's hair. "When my true body gets back, I'll rub dirt in your face!"
"You can try…" Hercules turned to Arthurs bent form, fist raised. "Any final words, mortal?"
"Not for you…"
Time slowed. Arthur closed his blind eyes, the weight of the lids too much to bear. A vision of a woman entered his mind, tall and sharp. She held herself aloof, head turned away from his sight.
"I'm sorry, Arthur…"
"For what?"
"I've destroyed you…"
"I did that myself, a long time ago," Desiccated skin cracked as Arthur's lips turned in a smile. "All you've ever done is keep me alive past my time."
"You could have had forever, if you'd listened to me and put aside your pride."
"Forever is overrated…" Arthur's world shrank, just him and the woman, lit by a spotlight in the dark. "I lived my way and it was worth it, I just hope YOU can forgive…"
"The past is forgotten," A soft palm touched his cheek. "Think forward, to the next adventure…"
"A man and his sword… on the road, sun at their backs."
"We got the day before us, let's leave the night behind," A tear slipped down the woman's face. "A journey to remember…"
"It will be fantastic…"
Time resumed and Hercules' fist continued, a vision of flesh that descended toward Arthur's broken form. Excalibur shifted, freed of her friend's cold grip. A burst of rage sharpened her edge, a last defiance.
An explosion of white forced Hercules back, face shielded. Excalibur rose, a beacon in the sky as she channelled her power. Without an owner she couldn't act for long, but she could teach this barbarian to respect the dead.
The stars fell, pulled into human form. A woman, armoured for war, painted from the sky. Sword gripped high, she turned a disdainful glance to Hercules.
"You wear the mantle of a hero, but it hides nothing," Excalibur's voice came with the chimes of bells. "Your evil stains the world, and justice shall wipe it clean."
She slashed, a river of stars in her wake as her blade cut the heavens. Hercules roared, fists raised to meet her. She could feel Arthur's hand on her grip, his purpose and conviction.
"Walk out into the world…"
The words drifted into her ears and pulled her lips into a smile. She fell toward her target, voice raised in defiance.
"And leave it better with every step!"