FINAL FANTASY VII: Destiny's Call

Chapter 10 written by Noble....

A Spirit Reborn

The outskirts of Rocket Town. Just moments ago a heated battle had taken place, resulting in the destruction of Nibelheim mountains and nearby landscape. For the forces of light, the battle was a losing one and had taken many casualites and no deaths, except for the life of one, namely Vincent Valentine. A man who boldly and unselfishly sacrificed himself to save the life of another, his friend and partner Elena of the Turks.

By Pushing the girl aside and by standing in her place, Vincent spared Elena from unspeakable death, but in doing so, caused his own demise. But to a slight advantage now titled back into the favour of our heroes. In death something within his body triggered, causing a transformation to take place, wreaking further havoc on his already broken and battered body. Now a new player has entered the fray, bringing with it a feeling of dread and fear as everything now has come to a standstill.

Behold Ranter of the Fallen, the main reason for the destruction of the Nibelheim, it's mountains and apparent murderer of Vincent Valentine. Sent to roam the planet and claim fresh souls in the name of his master, now known to AVALANCHE as Zarathos, the dark hellfire eternal that was described to them just over an hour ago. His servant as shown to them as Ranter was unstoppable in battle and all hope seemed lost until this new power entered the scene. Now Ranter quivers in fear, for this new being was the last person in all eternity he expected to see.

Behold AVALANCHE, now consisting only of five members. Their leader Cloud Strife, his lover and childhood friend Tifa Lockheart, the foul mouthed pilot with a heart of gold, Cid Highwind, the former leader of AVALANCHE Barret Wallace and lastly Elena, member of the elustrious Turks, now former assassin and newest member of Cloud's group, albeit reluctantly joined. They came to these very outskirts of Rocket Town to stop and destroy the Planet's greatest threat to date and to allow the remaining members of AVALANCHE to evacuate Rocket Town before the creature could destroy and kill all who lived there. Unfortunetly even with the collective strength of their efforts, they proved only to become a nusiance to Ranter of the Fallen and each member was brutally beaten as they were thrown around, as if they were nothing more to Ranter than insects. This one being had beaten all five of them effortlessly in speed, stamina and strength, excelling in each trate far greater than any of them, far greater than the once mighty Sephiroth and not even once did it show that the monster's power was weakening. Their sixth member Vincent, the last line of defense against the creature, alone with Elena tried using everything that was in his power to stop Ranter from advancing any further. Using what powers that remained in his grasp, Vincent summoned forth the King of monsters, the dark dragon Bahamut, in hopes that Bahamut's Mega Flare attack would decimate Ranter into nothing more than ashes. True the desperation in Vincent's call was genuine, as was the devastating effect of the Dragon King's mighty attack on abomination that was below him. In the aftermath of destruction, Bahamut left satisfied that his work was done and returned to the place where he was summoned from, leaving behind a crater of smoke and ashen remains, a crater that rivaled in equal size to the once great city of Midgar, if not bigger. But to the dismay of Vincent, Ranter was still alive and even more angrier than before. The monster fired a blast of pure hellfire and aimed at Elena who was at Vincent's side, but the creature missed only because Vincent pushed the girl out of the way, exchanging places with her and by sacrificing himself so that she could live. An act as such was honourable and noble, but still foolish as Vincent was sent flying, his body covered with Hellfire and pain far greater that even he himself has ever experienced. His screams and his body were piledrived into the remains the Nibelheim mountains, where it once again was devastated by the resulting explosion of hellfire, ending Vincent's life. But the tables turned yet again as the dust settled and something emerged from the wreakage of destruction, believed to be Vincent who was impossibly unharmed. Or was it Vincent?

Behold the object of everyone's attention and worry. There standing in the ashes of melted rock and dust, was a being of seemingly great power. His body was big, infact muscular much different than the frail yet strong form of Vincent. His outfit consisted of a black leather jacket and jeans, an outfit very similar to that of a bikers, except on this outfit the mysterious warrior was covered from the next down in medium sized spikes and studded armbands, with a chain that hung loosly from the left shoulder down across his muscular chest to his waist and round his back connecting in a link of chains back at the shoulder joint. But it was not the bikers outfit that disturbed our heroes, but rather the strangers face. For it was nothing more than a flaming skull, with eyes that flashed a dark crimson, staring right back in the direction of AVALANCHE and their enemy. The skull of the stranger bore a look of pure malice and hatred of all things evil and it's crimson blood red eyes glowed immensly and more furiously in anger at it's target. Whoever it was, it couldn't have been Vincent...

"YOU! You cannot be here, your dead! I saw lord Zarathos kill you!" hissed Ranter in denial of the vision before him.

If one could see from Ranter's frustration, a grim smile would be apparent on the lips of the flaming skull, as if to taunt him mockingly, just to show how wrong he was.

"I know you, sinner! I have smelled your disease! I've sensed it for sometime now....a sickly hum...a twinge...and it has become too strong for me to ignore! I know that you have desecrated this planet with that which does not belong and not only have you violated the innocents of this world, but all of humanity! For that....penance will be paid!"

"I do not fear you demon! You are nothing against the power of my master, and his power is now mine to wield in his name and you will feel his wrath as I knaw on your bones!" hissed Ranter threateningly.

"Do not try to scare me! Better than you have tried and failed. And it is you Ranter, that will feel the searing pain of my Penance Stare! You must be made to feel the suffering and agony that you have inflicted on others! I will have no more innocent blood on my hands. Those you have killed are silenced for an eternity, their spirits scream for vengeance and I am their sword of Justice!"

This was completely unexpected. Each member of AVALANCHE didn't know what to make of this uneasy situation. Everyone knew that Vincent's transformations consisted only of 3 monsters, of which he controlled willingly...and the latter was the demon Chaos which was seperate entity of which he had no control of when willingly calling him forth. So that makes four transformations that the group knew of, so where did this fifth one come from?? Was this the ally Vincent spoke of sometime ago? Each member was dumbfounded, but for Cid this took the cake, since when did a flaming bag of bones walk and talk? This was too much for the warm hearted pilot as he stared at the ally wide eyed, he didn't even notice the cigarette in mouth dropping to the floor....

"Ey Ey, Hold it! What the hell are you? Are you Vincent?"

"I...am not he. I am the Ghost Rider, the Spirit of Vengeance and I am here to see that vengeance is served..."

With no more need for words, the being now known as the Ghost Rider charges towards the killer in the name of justice and vengeance, for the innocent. For a Spirit of Vengeance there is no such thing as fear, only the mission, to destroy all abominations of evil, to punish the wicked and the damned and to protect innocent blood and to bring penance to the world, no matter which planet he maybe on. Closing in on the abomination of evil, the rider charges right into Ranter's chest knocking him back fiercly, and then..it happens. Explosions begin to erupt around the two, as mystical energies are unleased within the deadlock. Each person strikes the other with fists of hellfire, the battle becoming more intense and heated as each tries to burn the other. Ranter has the advantage in this brawl, for he knows how to directly use the hellfire, to cut and sear till nothing remains, but because of the extra mystical energies given to him by his master it makes him an even more dangerous foe to be reckoned with.

As for the Ghost Rider, he does not care how dangerous his enemy is, he's faced him once before and beaten him. His pain means nothing to him, he pays no heed to the searing blasts that inflict his body. Determined in an ever constant the Ghost Rider will see that this abomination of humanity punished or destroyed.

The rider strikes a devastating blow to Ranter's jaw, recieving a very satisfying cracking sound as his fist connects hard, preparing to follow up his previous blow to Ranter's stomach the Spirit of Vengeance charges once more only to be hurled backwards as his enemy shoots a huge blast of hellfire at his chest point blank.

Stumbling back from the burning agony, the dark avenger examines his chest briefly to see it torn apart from the resulting blast. If he was human such a projectile of heated amounts would have gone further than his chest, he would have lost his body from the chest down if he was mere flesh and blood...A very sickening and bloody death is enough to make even the toughest person's stomach churn with disgust. But the Ghost Rider is far from human and the agonizing pain only serves to build his rage to uncharted territory.

Removing his mystical chain, he begins to whip and slash the creature with it, every blow accurate, fluent and deadly, each impacting sound rewarding the Spirit of vengeance with even deeper crunching sounds as ribs are crushed to pulp and broken further with every impending attack. The razor sharp chain finds its mark further as it cuts the monster's unnatural skin blow after blow. Screams of begging become more apparent now as Ranter's pathetic excuse for a defense crumbles quicker than the last time he and the Ghost Rider met. The Ghost Rider did not stop his relentless attack despite the monster's pitful pleas and continued to give back all the pain he inflicted upon the innocent tenfold.

Stepping back from Ranter, the avenger of the innocent decides to deliver more pain on this soulless creature of the damned and as such flames of hellfire begin to flow from his body to his chain, igniting it with great mystical power and with one clear swipe in the air, the chain begins to fly and seperate into smaller links, which had been together before now fly seperately at their impending target. The Links then grow even larger and more razor sharp as they ignite further with more hellfire and pick up speed as they impact Ranter's body like speeding bullets quickly and painfully, much to Ranter's dissapproval. The inhuman beast shrieks an awful cry of defeat as the links of hellfire continue to fly into his body, savagly tearing into every inch and part of his ghastly form and then staying there embodied within his body. The slightest movement from the unnatural form of Ranter grants him further pain as the sharp links dig even further into his chest and stomach. Sweat now apparent on his scarred face, the monster grits his teeth as he glares evilly in disgust at the Ghost Rider.

"Y-you cannot s-stop Zarathos, Ghost Rider! You are weak and alone...Your even more foolish enough to come here to this new world without aid. My master and my brethren will see that you die very slowly!"

"You are mistaken monster, I hardly knew of my memories or of my true power, but now that I have both I am more capable of destroying you and this ancient evil once and for all!"

Lifting his right hand and balling it into a tight fist, the links embodied within Ranters chest and stomach begin to burst forth returning to their owner and forming back once again to a chain. Black blood stains the landscape as Ranter falls to the floor feeling his life's blood seeping away, but not before the Rider prepares to administer his just puishment. With both eyes glowing immense crimson, the Ghost Rider grabs Ranters head in a vice like grip and allows the flames from his eyes and hands to burn Ranters face, "Feel the power of my Penance Stare and feel the flame of your sins and be burnt clean".

And Ranter of the Fallen finds that it does burn, but not in a physical sense. That would be a pleasure compared to this. First this searing white flame...this bitter cold thing...This power goes deep within your very being, rooting around every nook and hidden place until it finds the soul. Then the flame licks, squeezes, caressing the soul, coaxing out all of it's evil, it's bitterness, anger and hatred. Then it exposes the memories, the facts of deeds commited. All the people tortured until death, all the victims Ranter burnt to cinders as he laughed as their flesh bubbled, their pain was now his. And then the true burning begins, the hot searing flame of their anguish burns deep within his eyes, his mind. And Ranter feels their pain fresh and new...their fear, their anguish, their dissapointment, their horror, searing, relentless scorching first hand knowledge of his effects on others and from the ashes of these memories comes an inhuman shriek, a shriek not just of pain but of pure agony, as his victims pain becomes his and washes over him over and over again.

Unable to withstand this feeling of guilt, Ranter plunges his own flame clawed hand deep within his own body and rips out his dark heart, seeking to get away from this unbearable pain and guilt, but in death Ranter would still be plagued by the screams of the innocent, their pain will forever be with his evil soul for all eternity.

"It is done. You will do no more evil" spoke the Rider in a deep cold voice.

"You killed him?" gawked the pilot.

"No. He did it to himself, trying to avoid punishment for his evil deeds. If my Penance Stare did indeed fail, I would have destroyed this abomination anyway for his crimes, his kind deserve no other sort of punisment".

"So what now man? What about this Zarathos? We still gotta kick this %£*@& ass!"

"You will do nothing. I alone must go to Zarathos' stronghold and put an end to this madness once and for all, before any more innocent blood is spilled".

"Vincent...."

"You....I-I know you don't I? Are you frightened by my image? You should not be. Deep down...beyond the artifice of flesh, we are the same, you and I. Remember this in days to come Elena Walters....The same".

The rider then turned solemly not even glancing back once and began to stride away from the battle ground.

"Wait, were coming with you. You'll need our help!" shouted Elena pleadingly trying to reach him, if any part of The Ghost Rider was Vincent.

"I go where I want and...I ride alone..."

"Ride? The hell?! questioned Cid confused.

With a mere gesture of his hands, flames of hellfire began to leave the bulky form of the Ghost Rider and in a flash of white light, his motorcycle is summoned forth. Sitting on his motorcycle and preparing his leave he turns to the five members of AVALANCHE.

"Vengeance has been served this day, but not in the way I had intended. What has been unleashed on this world is an ancient evil unlike any you have faced, the very worst humanity has to offer. This battle today proves you nine are no match for the abomination that I will soon face and that you are far from ready, I alone can stop this evil from destroying your world....Do not try to follow me, lest the eye of vengeance fall upon you!"

With that said the Ghost Rider's motorcycle roars to life as he speeds away from the injured party of five as his cycle gains greater leverage and rides upwards towards the skies, were the Ghost Rider rides again once more....alone.

"HEY guys, whats going on? And what was that?!"

"We'll fill you and the others in once we get back on the Highwind, Yuffie".

"Ugh, aw GAWD! Just thinking about that makes me wanna hurl! Hang on Where's Vincent?"

"Vincent....." whispered Elena.

Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay of this chapter but i've been busy. Doing 2 jobs 13 hours a day isn't easy. Anyway I want to thank a woman called Alexandra who emailed me previously. Because of this one person she made me realize that we write stories such as these not just so people praise your work, but because we do it because we enjoy it. I forgot that somewhere along the line and realize that I must focus on things more importantly than just waiting for reviews. Either way a reiview or two wouldn't hurt would it? XD

Alexandra has told me she's been reading my story with great interest since last semester, that being last year or last term I don't know, but ever since then she's been reading it and was hoping that I hadn't given up on it. Don't worry for anyone who reads this...I sure as hell won't give up till this story is completed. As such, I dedicate this chapter and the remaining chapters to come to Alexandra who showed so much kindness and trust into my writing's its great to hear for once in a while that I'm not nothing more than just a whisper in the winds.

Anyhow chapter 11..coming soon...as quickly as I can type it, it'll be put up. Until then email me with your questions/suggestions and reviews to this humble writer at:

Noblekaleomnislash1@hotmail.com

Until then take care till next time....

Signed Noble....