Disclaimer: As much as I would love to, Final Fantasy VIII and Squaresoft does not belong to me.
The Devil's Cry: A Final Fantasy VIII Fanfiction
Chapter 2
"To Centra Ruins we go!" yelled Rinoa Heartilly enthusiastically. Her dog, Angelo, bounded around the cockpit of the Ragnarok excitedly, licking all the old friends that it used to hang out with.
Zell Dincht laughed as the dog bowled him over and licked his face. "He's getting fatter, Rinoa. What have you been feeding him?" He asked laughingly.
"When you're the wife of the President, the only thing interesting left to do is to feed the dog." Rinoa laughed, glancing at her husband, Squall Leonhart who was fake-glaring at her.
Quistis pretended to shiver. "Look at them, Zell. Squall used to be the silent one, didn't he? He still owes us for helping him to break out of his shell."
The only silent one of the group now was Irvine Kinneas. That was because his fiancée, Selphie Tilmitt, was abducted by something extremely mysterious.
The team is now heading to Odin's Tower in the Centra Continent as that was where Selphie was last seen.
Several hours later, the pilot, Roger, announced that they would be landing anytime soon.
"I remember this place clearly. The number of Tonberries we killed just to lure the king out… It sure was tedious." Said Quistis, looking around the barren plains they were standing on, her whip, Save The King, by her side.
"Where to now, Irvine?" Rinoa asked, her Blaster Edge, the Shooting Star MegaMax, already attached to her hand.
"There." He declared, pointing to Odin's Tower. The group, Squall in the lead, trudged towards the tower, talking about the past.
"Say, Irvine… What were you and Selphie doing here anyway?" Rinoa asked with a sly smile.
Squall turned around and thought he saw Irvine's eyes glow red. Squall frowned and looked again. Irvine's eyes were back to its light brown color.
"We were um… taking a walk." Muttered Irvine uneasily.
Squall pushed open the gate to Odin's gigantic citadel and received an enormous shock. A petrified cry was uttered from his mouth involuntarily.
Irvine and Selphie's bodies were both hanging from the ceiling, limp and lifeless.
Squall whirled around instantly and pointed his Gunblade at the Irvine behind him. "Who are you?"
Both Rinoa and Quistis were gaping in horror. Zell put his hand over his mouth, as though he was going to feel sick.
The Irvine hanging from the ceiling suddenly thrashed about.
"Fire!" bellowed Zell. A jet of fire burst from his hand and burned the ropes. Irvine and Selphie fell towards the ground. "Slow!" Rinoa yelled.
Irvine and Selphie slowed down and gently landed on the floor. Quistis rushed over to administer first aid.
Zell and Rinoa had turned around to confront the fake Irvine along with Squall.
"What have you done to them?" demanded Squall.
The fake Irvine gave a spine-chilling laugh. His eyes glowed red and he seemed to be growing larger and larger. His pale skin turned to dark brown. His clothes tore, revealing bulging muscles.
Instantly, Squall knew what it was. It was Baal, the God of Destruction.
"They are merely pawns in my effort to own this world. I lured you with the illusion of your friend because I knew that you'd come. That is the weakness of fighting for good." Baal laughed again.
"Enough talk! Let's just pound him!" Zell yelled.
"No! Zell!" Squall shouted, knowing that avoiding a fight would be better at this point. However, Zell was not the kind of person to stop.
Zell's fist was drawn back as he ran towards Baal. Baal smirked and turned into smoke. He reappeared inside Odin's Tower, right next to Selphie's unconscious body.
A tentacle protruded out of his back and grabbed Selphie. Irvine, who was awake, grabbed his shotgun and fired a few shots at Baal. It did not seem to have any effect at all.
"If you ever want to see her again, travel to the planet of Barbados. We shall have a duel. If you win, you get her back. If, on the other hand, I win," Baal sneered. "the Earth is mine."
With that, Baal vanished in a puff of smoke again.
"SELPHIE!" Irvine yelled in an anguished voice. "This is all my fault!" Irvine shouted, banging his fists on the wall.
"Irvine! It's not your fault… Don't blame yourself. Don't worry about Selphie. We'll save her." Quistis said, in an effort to calm Irvine.
"What happened, Irvine?" Squall asked silently.
"I don't know exactly… Selphie and I came here to discuss our plans for the future after we get married and stuff," Irvine buried his face in his hands, "then all of a sudden, I heard her scream. I turned around and the next thing I knew, I was knocked out."
"This is bad, Squall… What do we do now?" Rinoa asked, a look of intense worry on her face.
"Exactly! This Baal guy seems to be even more terrible than a Sorceress!" Zell exclaimed loudly.
Quistis nodded her agreement.
"I don't care whether you guys are coming or not. This is my fiancé we're talking about! Whether you are coming to help or not does not matter to me," Irvine declared, "I shall save her myself if I have to!"
There was a moment of silence.
"How come you never say such things about me, Squall?" Rinoa joked. "You could do with taking a leaf out of Irvine's book."
Squall ignored her and said to Irvine, "Don't worry, pal. We'll go with you…"
Together, the group walked off into the setting sun, towards the Ragnarok, towards their next great adventure!
End of Chapter 2
Author's note: Thanks for the reviews so far. Wish I had more but I can't complain. The end of another chapter, folks. Hope you enjoyed it! I enjoyed writing it!