Darkness Falls Chapter 42

By Gemini83

Smoke fumed everywhere, leaving Avalanche and the Turks coughing. Soon, however, the wind carried it away.

Vincent pointed as the others regained their sense of sight.

Barret muttered a curse under his breath.

Kaede was standing, bloodied and ragged, his clothes vaporized and torn in places.

Unfortunately, the Emperor was standing as well, looking as evil as before. What’s more, his eye had grown back, and now he glared at Kaede with two blazing eyes.

The Planeswalker grunted once, then fell to the floor, his body shaking slightly. Soon, he was drenched in a pool of his own blood. Kaede breathed harshly in pain, but forced his eyes open.

The Emperor looked down at Kaede with a grimace, “you should not have fought me Kaede. Perhaps, if you had been fresh, you might have stood a chance. But you are not my equal, and you never were.”

“You still don’t get it,” said Kaede, “hate isn’t power, nor is terror. You are a slave to your own evil, your urges control you. That is a kind of weakness I shall never hope to-”

“SAVE YOUR PITY FOR THE WEAK!” shouted the Emperor.

“You are a sad mockery of life,” replied Kaede.

“Think what you want Kaede,” sneered the Emperor, “I will destroy you all.”

“I don’t think so,” answered Cid.

The Drahk emperor turned around, to see the planet’s greatest warriors staring right back. A grim, determined band of men and women stood ready to fight him, ready to drag him down no matter what the cost. They would not allow him to destroy this world. Cid calmly flicked away his cigarette.

They had finally defeated all the Horsemen. The generals of the Drahk army were dead. They had struggled, they had fought, and they had sacrificed. They were past tired, their were past pain. They had given everything they had, and stayed alive. Their world should be safe. Instead, they found this idiot terrorizing them yet. And that was the last straw, Avalanche and Turk alike attacked with raw fury, determined to take down the monster who would dare target THEIR planet for destruction.

The Drahk Emperor roared in anger as the battle raged around him, threatening to swallow him whole in its fury.


Vincent turned into the dark angel, grappling with the Emperor. Barret, Reeve, and Elena kept up a constant barrage of fire and spells, while Red, Cid, and Yuffie slashed away at the demon. Rude and Reno backed them up, using there own special attacks as openings came.


Aeris came to Kaede’s side, resting his head in her lap. She did not like what she saw. His body was twitching, he had lost more blood than she would have thought possible, and his breathing came in hoarse gasps.

“How is he?” asked Cloud.

Aeris shook her head, “not good.”

Tifa looked at the raging battle between their friends and the demon, and heaved a sigh, “we’ve got to do something soon.”

Kaede opened his eyes, and struggled to get the words out, “help...me...up...”

Cloud shook his head, “can’t do that Kaede, you’re a wreck.”

The Planesawalker looked into Aeris’ eyes, trying to make her understand.

The healer nodded, and tried to use her powers to heal Kaede. She didn’t have much power left, for the Planet’s resources were quickly drying up as it fought the Drahk invasion.

Kaede felt a light breeze go through him, taking the edge off his pain. He breathed a little easier. Kaede nodded, and allowed the others to help him to his feet.

“What now?” asked Aeris.

“We’ve been going about this all wrong,” answered Kaede, “we have to get to the spires.”

“What are we going to do there?” asked Cloud.

“Methos told me what to do,” said Kaede, “we have to activate the Fortress.”

“How?” asked Tifa.

“No time,” returned Kaede, “take me to the spires. I’ll need you three when we get there.”

“Fine,” answered Cloud, “let’s go.”

Tifa looked back at their friends, “I hope they can hold out.”

“So do I Tifa,” answered Aeris, “so do I.”


Cloud carried Tifa in his arms.

“You don’t have to do this you know,” she said.

“Yes I do,” replied Cloud, “your wounds haven’t completely healed yet.”

“I’ll be fine,” demurred Tifa, “I’m more worried about Kaede.”

Cloud turned to look at the Planesawlker, and saw that he was still leaning heavily against Aeris as they trekked through the hallway.

Kaede must have heard them, “I’ll be fine, I’ve been through worse.”

Aeris caught a hint of something in his voice, “no you haven’t.”

The Planeswalker looked back at her, “maybe not, how could you know?”

“Something in your voice and thoughts,” replied the healer.

Kaede remained silent. These people knew him too well.

Then they reached the top. Four spires projected from the floor, situated in a circle around the central dais.

“What now?” asked Cloud.

Kaede took out two orbs from his belt, “Aeris, you take the White Materia. Tifa, you take the Black.”

He handed the two women the spheres, and backed away from them, “in order to activate the device, we must bring together the four elements which can harness the power of the Planet.”

“Why not use Holy?” asked Cloud.

“The Lifestream is...disturbed,” answered Aeris, “we need something more this time.”

Kaede nodded, “two of the “keys to the light” are the Black and White Materias.”

“And the other two?” asked Tifa.

“Simple,” answered Kaede, “my sword...and Cloud’s.”

“What?” demanded the leader of Avalanche.

“This technology reacts to relics of Planeswalker heritage,” answered Kaede, “which was why my sword reacted to this place. I didn’t tell you about it before, because I honestly didn’t know.”

“And my sword?” asked Cloud.

“Your sword was originally wielded by one of the WEAPONS, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Don’t ask me how the Ancients did it,” explained Kaede, “but somehow...the sword is derived from the raw energy of this Planet. It is needed to complete the harnessing of the energies we will need to save the Planet.”

“What happens then?” asked Tifa.

Kaede grinned, “we’ll find out.”


The Drahk Emperor shouted in rage as he fought the Guardians of the Planet. These insects sought to overthrow him, leader of all the Drahk. He would teach them the error of their ways. His plans may have been set back, he may have to do this himself, but he would see this Planet and all its people suffer eternally in a Hell of his own creation.

Avalanche was not about to let him do that, nor were the Turks. Finally seeing a tangible end to the fighting in sight, the warriors through themselves at the enemy, disregarding their own wound. Despite his superior power, even against so many, the warriors forced the Emperor back by sheer force of will.

Vincent grappled with the Emperor, both of their eyes blazing as the surged back and forth. Preparing a powerful spell, Vincent let forth a mighty blast, blinding the demon.

Rude thrust his energized fist into the Emperor’s stomach, feeling the scaly hide give way under the force of the attack. The Drahk lord swatted him away, only to see Reno jump into the air. The Turk brought his nightstick down across the Emperor’s face, adding a touch of an ice spell for good measure.

The Emperor punched at Reno, who sidestepped the attack. Cid followed, burying his spear point deep into the Drahk demon’s side. Bracing himself, Cid jumped high into the high, tearing a huge rent in the monster’s side as he went. The Drahk Emperor howled, as much in rage as in pain, and blasted Cid from the sky. The captain flew downwards, only to be caught by Shera.

Yuffie continued the attack, letting fly her shirukens. The two stars flew about the demon, cutting holes in his body as fast as he could repair them. She finished with a blinding flash of light, which engulfed the Drahk Emperor, flinging him back against the wall. The marble crumbled under his weight, and the Drahk Emperor rose to his feet.

“Vile insects!” he hissed, punching the floor with his great fist.

Shockwaves of energy surged through the floors, throwing the warriors of balance. Several of them cried out in pain, feeling as if they were being fried alive by the attack. The Drahk Emperor sneered and ran to follow the attack.

Ragged, tired, and beyond caring, Nanaki of the Cian rushed at the demon, raking his teeth along its scaly hide. The Drahk Emperor grunted, grabbing Red by the throat and flinging him away. Red smiled, expecting the counterattack, and spun in midair, so he was facing the demon. Summoning forth all his energies, Nanaki shot forth a mammoth blast of energy at the Drahk lord. The demon crossed his arms before him, absorbing the brunt of the attack. He fell to his knees, grunting ever so slightly as he breathed.

Elena ran forward, releasing a flurry of punches and slashes from her knife. She danced back and forth, cutting her own bloody path through the monster’s defense. The demon roared as he retaliated with his claws. Elena ducked under the attack. Reeve followed up, striking the Emperor in the chest with an armored fist. The demon staggered back, gasping for breath. Reeve made another attack, shooting a ball of energy into the monster’s face, blinding his yet again. Elena kicked upward, catching the Drahk lord with a roundhouse. The Emperor opened his eyes in rage, catching Elena’s foot, and throwing her into Reeve, sending them both flailing back.

Vincent covered them, punching the demon, slashing up and down with his claws. Then he leapt out of the way as he heard a warning cry from behind. Barret leapt into the air, high above the Emperor’s head. Aiming his gun arm downward, the man emptied his most powerful blast against the demon. The recoil slowed his descent, almost causing him to hover in midair. The energy swallowed the Drahk lord, tearing apart and vaporizing marble as it did its work. The others shielded their eyes from the intense light...

A haze of smoke engulfed the floor where the attack had landed, and the Guardians of the Planet drew together once more.

“Do you think we got him?” asked Yuffie.

“I hope so,” voiced Red.

“We better have,” replied Elena, “those were our toughest attacks.”


“Wretched mortals,” came a voice.

The Drahk Emperor slowly materialized as the smoke cleared away. His eyes no longer blazed with fire...but there were more disturbing. The two orbs were completely blood red. There were several wounds on his body that had not yet healed. He was clearly more weary than he had been, and his breathing was a little more pronounced now. But he still looked mad enough and strong enough to tear them limb from limb. The Drahk Emperor glared at them through his demonic eyes, and sneered.

“Impressive, but not enough. Come at me insects,” he invited, “come and meet your death.”


Barret and the others remained silent, regarding the demon coldly.

“I am really beginning to hate this guy,” voiced Reno.

Then the Fortress of the Ancients began to shake, while the skies above continued to churn in fury.

“What’s happening?” demanded Elena.

“I don’t know,” answered Red.

Even the Emperor was searching back and forth, as if he too was unaware of what was happening.

“This is either a good thing,” suggested Cid, “or we are all in deep shit.”


Author’s Note: AAAHHHH!!!! (Let’s out an exasperated groan) Do you know how many pages I’ve written so far? Within spitting distance of 300! I have no clue where all this came from. I had a beginning, I had a middle, and I had an end planned out (although I changed it). Somewhere in the writing process this...this...work of mayhem arose. I hope you guys are enjoying this, I sure am, I just never expected to write this much. Anyway, THANK GOD IT’S NEARLY OVER!!! I love the story, but I have other projects to work on as well. I’ll tell you later. Anyway, I anticipate a max of three chapters left. Maybe four if Fate decides some really weird direction for my fic to finish in. Keep reading and sending reviews, I never tire of them. Thanks.

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Chapter 43

Final Fantasy 7 Fanfic