Chapter Thirty-Four: Darkness Absolute

"Roy! You okay?" Sora asked, running up to me.

"Does it look like I'm okay?" I snapped back, still staring at the incarnation of Darkness that stood before us.

"That's… the darkness, isn't it?" Riku asked, now looking at the Darkness of Eternity.

"Yeah…" I managed, then felt like I was about to faint. I managed to hang on, using my sword to steady myself.

"Roy! You need to rest!" Sora shouted. "We'll finish this once and for all!"

"No!" I yelled back. "This is my story! It's time to choose if I want to die and be free of pain or live and face my sorrow!"

"Roy…" Sora began.

"He's right, Sora! Now is the time for him to shape his story! His fate is in his hands!" Riku said.

"Fine…" Sora submitted. Then I heard something in my mind… a voice, melodic and beautiful, but wicked and cruel…

I am the Darkness. The Light shall fade… all life eradicated. Kneel before me!

A great gust of darkness blew forth at us, causing the boulders I had left in my wake to fly away, leaving a very craggy and crater-filled arena. I nearly fainted again, but held steady through sheer force of will. Sora soon transformed into his Final Form, while I stood steady with Gaia's Edge and Riku summoned his Way to the Dawn.

"You guys…" I muttered. "This is it! Our last fight together!"

"Right!" Sora and Riku said in unison. We charged at the Darkness of Eternity, only to be stopped dead in our tracks by coils of darkness that rose out of the ground and bound our feet. Sora managed to break free after a few seconds, striking the Darkness with two stabs. He seemed to be having a lot of difficulty getting his Keyblades out, though, before he was blasted back by a great ball of darkness.

"It's… too strong…" Sora said, breathing heavily. "Even at full strength, my attacks did almost nothing!"

"So hit harder!" Riku yelled, snapping free from the darkness. He then joined Sora in attacking the Darkness of Eternity. I feel so helpless, I thought. Here I am, standing around, while my friends are fighting to correct my mistakes!

I won't let my story end this way! I thought, closing my eyes and concentrating. I refuse to let my story end this way! I refuse to let anybody else die or fall to the darkness!

Then I felt it… that immense, otherworldly power of the form I had used against the Akuma. I felt myself blast through my True and Aether Forms, then opened my eyes to see the Limits of Power shatter around me. This power… it's so much stronger than before, I thought. I feel it!

The coils of darkness dissolved around my feet, leaving me free to dash at the Darkness, which of course, I did. In less than a second, I had cut the Darkness in two. I further blasted it with an energy wave that all but disintegrated the Darkness.

"Whoa… Roy! You're…" Sora began, clearly in awe.

"There'll be time for chitchat later. Now, I have to end this chapter of my story," I said. "I still have a job to do."

"R-right…" Sora said, looking forward. By now, the Darkness had reformed itself. We all stood in our ready stances.

"Let's take it!" I shouted, charging forward with Sora and Riku at my side. We clashed it at the same time, but Sora and Riku's Keyblades were pushed back. Only my sword made it through. We were all pushed back an instant later, though I held my ground better than either Sora or Riku.

This Darkness… it's at the Limits of Power, I thought. There's only one way to beat it…

The Darkness proceeded to attack me, its only threat. Like before, I could see all of its moves before it made them, making all the dodges simplistic and easy. This thing wasn't going to tire like the Akuma, so I blasted it with an energy wave, then went back to Sora and Riku for a moment's reprieve.

"Guys… get out of here," I said.

"Why?" Riku asked, clearly impatient.

"There's only one move I know that can finish this… and you guys might get killed if you're here when I finish it," I replied. "So get out of here! It's for your own safety."

"All right," Sora said, teleporting with Riku over to the door we had entered through. "Just don't die on us!" He then dragged Riku through the door, closing it along the way. I turned around to see that the Darkness had reformed itself again.

"I'm getting tired of you!" I shouted at it, flaring out a little bit of power. "Now I'll end this!"

If you think you possess strength enough, then try…

I blazed at it, knocking it up in the air. I then performed my Judgment Crest technique, but instead of saying words of love, I shouted "JUDGMENT CREST!" at the top of my lungs, and didn't hesitate to throw my sword through the Darkness. I snapped my fingers seconds after landing, completely disintegrating the Darkness of Eternity and extinguishing it… at least for now.

Not seconds after that, I lost my Ultimate Form. I was totally exhausted… and absolutely fainted from fatigue…