Well, here it is. The last chapter of Star Fox: Vengeance. I would to thank you all for taking the time to read this story and I hope that I didn't disappoint. Feel free to leave a review once you finished and let me know what you thought of the story overall.

Ch. 8: The Demon War

Explosions could be heard from every angle as bursts of brightly colored plasma flew back and forth through the air. Jason pushed up even further and cleared out a trench of small hybrids before Fox and Krystal joined up with him along with three Cornerian commandos. Yesterday had begun their small invasion of Venom. They had arrived with a small army via an experimental cloaked space warp that the Cornerian Army had been developing should Venom rise again as a threat. The resistance they were experiencing was minimal compared to what it could have been. Even in small numbers though, Blackheart's hybrid army was a force to be reckoned with.

"In the past three days we've made ten miles progress towards the enemy base," Fox commented unenthusiastically. "We still have to push five more miles before we get to the front gates with only half of the forces that we started with."

"Well, at least we know these things aren't invincible."

An enemy mortar landed a foot in front of the trench and blasted a ton of dirt into the air. They all ducked as the dust from the explosion settled. The three of them knew that their chances of succeeding were minuscule at best. Little did they know that their chances would soon improve.

The first indicator was the roaring of a motor, making itself known over the sounds of battle in the air. When the noise reached the trio's ears they couldn't help but get the feeling that it sounded familiar. Just as the sound started to become overbearing, they all looked up in time to see a fire and chrome motorcycle fly over the heads. They peeked over the top of the trench to see a sight that was a shock for the two McClouds, and a relief for Jason.

The Ghost Rider had returned.

With unwavering determination, the Rider charged towards the enemy lines, acting as a torch of hope rather than fear for the Lylatian soldiers. Before the enemy could change their formation, the Rider crashed into them and turned the first group of soldiers into ash. The hybrid forces froze in place as Rider skidded to a stop in the midst of their forces. He dismounted his bike and looked around as the various hybrids stared at him.

"Who's first."

A dog hybrid that stood directly behind him stepped forward, but as soon as he got within range Rider spun around and grabbed it's face. The canine-demon hybrid screamed in pain as fire erupted from Rider's hand and started to burn his face.

This actions caused the others to spring into action and attack. Rider threw out one hand and shot a fireball into the chest of one of the hybrids before the others swarmed him. For a brief second the hybrids thought they had the upper hand, and normally they would.

If this hadn't been a trap that is.

Fire erupted from the center of the pile as Rider threw several disintegrating bodies off of himself. He took his chain and swung it in a widening circle as it turned every hybrid it touched to ash. Any hybrids that managed to escape the metal whip of death backed away with newfound fear in their eyes.

The Lylatian forces could see the hesitation of the enemy and quickly took advantage. They opened fire with everything they had put a sizable dent in the opposing forces. The hybrids were at a loss as to which opponent they should focus on. As a result, the hybrid forces were defeated within the hour.

When the dust settled, the Lylatian forces moved forward to clear the rest of the outpost. Fox, Krystal, and Jason to this time to approach Ghost Rider. Even though they now knew he was their ally, they couldn't help but be intimidated by his presence as the ground he stood on was covered by a layer of ash that had once been his enemies.

They didn't get the chance to speak before the Rider turned to them.

"Tell your soldiers to pick up the enemies weaponry."

Krystal was the one to question, "How will that help us?"

"The weapons have been infused with hellfire, making them more efficient for killing the hybrids than standard weaponry."

With that, the Rider called for his bike and mounted it. He revved up the engine and turned it in the direction of the enemy's main base. Before any of them could stop him, he rode off while leaving a trail of fire behind him.

An hour and a half later, the Lylatian forces were following the trail of fire left by Ghost Rider towards the enemy base. They could already see the signs that the Rider had begun his assault. Several dark pillars of smoke rose into the air before the mountain base. The red color of the rock and the black smoke of destruction creating a haunting feeling in the air. A ball of fire appeared in the distance before turning into a mushroom cloud.

Five hundred yards away, the Rider had already managed to singlehandedly eliminate almost all of the enemy forces. The hybrids weren't putting up as much of a fight as they could have been. With every hybrid death, the enemies terror of the Rider increased and their fear was causing them to hesitate. Hesitation that the Rider was making the best of.

Rider had just finished incinerating a lynx hybrid, when he heard the sound of tanks approaching him. He turned expecting to see the Lylatian forces. Instead he found three landmaster class tanks manned by soldiers wearing Venom uniforms. All three turrets lowered to point directly at him. The tank squadron's leader ordered them to open fire. Large neon green bursts of plasma shot out of the tanks' main gun and into the Rider.

Dust kicked up into the air as the tanks continued their barrage. After ten minutes of continuous firing, the leader of the tank squadron ordered them to stop. The squadron leader exited his tank and walked through the cloud of dust. The orangutan coughed a few times as the air cleared to reveal what remained of the Rider. Lying in a crater was the dark grey skeleton with its fire extinguished.

The orangutan kicked the body's side with his foot but got no response. Feel more confident, the lieutenant then proceed to stomp on the Rider's body. His men had gotten out of their tanks and were sitting on the treads as they watched their leader. When their leader finished beating up the leather clad skeleton he turned back to face his comrades.

"That wasn't so tough." The orangutan said to himself with a smile on his face, right before he noticed a terrified look pass over his men's faces. He suddenly felt himself be forcefully turned around and lifted into the air, only to find his eyes locked with the fiery orbs of the Ghost Rider.

"Look into my eyes."

Fox, Krystal, and Jason led the convoy into the wreckage that laid before the enemy's front gates. Jason looked up as the mountain base loomed over them. The iron doors of the base stood partly opened without any sign of enemy guards. They leapt off the truck and cautiously slipped through the gap in the door.

Right before it slammed shut behind them.

Everything was dark inside, preventing them from seeing their surrounding and forcing them to stand still. The disorientating mixture of silence and darkness ran on for several seconds before the sounds of battle could be heard on the other side of the doors that now entrapped them.

"It's been a long time, Fox McCloud," echoed a voice that Fox found all too familiar. While no could see it, Fox's eyes widened as he recognized the voice. A voice that he had thought he would never hear again.

The lights suddenly turned on, temporarily blinding the trio. When their vision returned to them they could see that the entrance into the base was similar to a large hangar in appearance. Vehicles were lined up against the walls to either side of the room, while in the center was a large lift meant for transferring vehicles from below the base's ground floor. Standing directly in front of the lift was an old, hunched over ape with silver gray hair,dressed in strange exoskeleton armor and wore a device that looked like a kind of headband.

"Andross, I should have known that you were behind this. You just can't seem to stay dead can you."

"What can I say, I'm persistant. Although I must admit, I'm surprised that you didn't recognize my handiwork. But that won't matter..." He trailed off as lights on his headband came to life. Seconds later, a giant version of Andross' head and hands rose from the open lift tunnel. The head and hands followed the mad apes every movement.

The trio only had seconds to dodge before a large fist crashed into the ground they had once been standing on. Jason got split off from Fox and Krystal as they moved to different sides of the hangar. Krystal charged up her blaster before firing a bright red plasma shot at the large version of Andross' head. The blast didn't even leave a scratch on the weapon. Fox instead aimed for the real Andross but the ape used one of the robotic hands to defend himself.

The bad situation was already turning for the worst as Andross got ready to smash Fox and Krystal into dust. Then things made a turn for the better with a loud knock at the door. A knock that was big enough to leave a large dent in the five foot thick iron. Followed by another as the doors started to cave in on themselves. With one more blast the doors burst apart and smoke flew into the hangar.

Into the hangar drove a landmaster tank with a black and chrome body and molten magma for treads. Sitting in the driver's seat was Ghost Rider. The tank's turret glowed bright orange before firing and punching a hole straight through the mecha-Andross' right hand. The lights on the hand flickered before it crashed into the ground next to Andross.

With a slight adjustment, the tanked fired again and blasted a hole in the mecha's head where it's right eye was. A laser shot out of the mecha's left eyes and impacted the tank. With it's armor dented, the tank fired one more shot into the mecha's head, causing it to lose it's remaining eye. The mecha lost power and crashed into lift chute. The mech's left hand crashed into the ground before sliding into the chute behind the head. Having no more need for the tank, Ghost Rider jumped out and started to walk towards Andross.

He had made it halfway across the hangar when Blackheart shot out from the shadows and grabbed hold of him before teleporting further into the base.

Ghost Rider was thrown out of the shadows of a wall and across to the other side of a room. Upon further inspection, said room was clearly designed for weapons testing. This was evidenced by the charred humanoid shaped dummies and the glass observation window thirty feet above the ground on one of the walls. Hanging from the ceiling above was a strange cylindrical device with rounded ends. It was dark green in color with yellow and black warning tape wrapped around both ends. A small green interface was lit up on one side of the cylinder.

Blackheart laughed as he walked out of the shadows and into the center of the room.

"You may be wondering what I brought you here for. That device above our heads, is a SmartBomb infused with hellfire. Don't think we weren't watching when your Star Fox friends fired one at you. Now we've given it the extra punch it needs to defeat you, permanently."

His smile vanished however when a bright blue pulse burst from the ceiling and spread across the walls and floor. He tried teleporting out of the room but it was no use. He then attempted to use the door but it wouldn't budge. His eyes darted to the bomb in time to see the interface change from green to red.

"Andross..." he hissed through his teeth, right before the bomb exploded.

Fox and Krystal both fired upon Andross from their position behind an armored truck. Unfortunately, their shots were just bouncing off of Andross' armor. Jason tried throwing his shield to knock Andross off-balance, but he simply batted it away where it got lodged in the treads of a tank.

Then an explosion from deep within the base shook the room they were standing in.

Andross began to laugh as looks of confusion morphed onto the faces of his opponents. Fox got a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. He knew from previous encounters that the only time Andross laughed, was when something had gone according to his plan.

"You can forget about that dreadful Ghost Rider coming to save you. That fool Blackheart fell right into my trap."

Jason charged at Andross in anger, but the armored ape backhanded him away before firing his sidearm at a fuel tank next to one of the trucks. The ensuing explosion caused a chain reaction that Fox and Krystal barely jumped away from.

Fox looked up to see Andross grinning evilly down the sights of his pistol. Fox moved his body to cover Krystal the best he could. Andross was momentarily distracted by Jason getting up, but a painful shot to just above the right knee greatly reduced his chances of being a threat. As Andross savored his moment of victory though, he completely missed the sound of the lift rising behind him.

Andross was about to pull the trigger when he saw Fox's mouth curve up into a grin. It was only then that he noticed that hot air was radiating from behind him. He quickly spun around only to have his gun knocked out of his hand and his throat in the clutches of the Ghost Rider.

The ape's eyes went wide as he stared at the flaming skull before him. Fiery orange orbs inside of pitch black eye sockets glared at him with burning anger. For a moment, Andross had lost all ability to speak but eventually he fearfully stuttered out.

"H-how did you...survive?"

"God created the Ghost Riders, and only God can destroy them."

Fighting back his fear, his mouth curved upward slightly as he recalled some vital information that Blackheart had shared with him.

"Your stare won't work on me Rider, and if you kill me then I will just keep coming back. So either way, I win."

"No. You lose."

With that Ghost Rider pointed one boney finger at a spot on the ground twenty feet away and a black portal rimmed with fire appeared on the ground. The ape's pupils shrunk to the size of needle points as he stared at the portal. He felt the chain wrap around his body before Rider threw him into the air. Andross screamed in terror as the Rider swung him down like a pendulum and straight into the portal.

The portal closed while the chain wrapped itself around Jennifer as she returned back to normal. Taking a few heavy breaths to herself, she got up and looked around at the destruction around her. She saw smiles of relief on Fox and Krystal's faces right before they kissed. She looked over to Jason and could see him giving her one of his iconic smiles, causing her to blush a little. She then noticed his injured leg and quickly dashed over to help him.

"Are you okay," she asked as she knelt by him to inspect the wound.

"I am now that you're here."

Jennifer just smiled as she playful pushed his shoulder before tending to his injury. She ripped off one of the sleeves of his shirt and wrapped it tightly around the wound. She pulled him up and held his arm across her shoulders to help lighten the weight put on his injured leg. The two retrieved his shield before joining up with Fox and Krystal at the entrance. They were about to leave through the hole in the door when they heard coughing from behind them.

They turned around and staggering through the smoke was Blackheart, though he was limping on his left leg.

"Andross! You backstabbing chimpanzee! Where are you?" He roared. His eyes fell upon the four and he became extremely hesitant. He had barely survived the explosion and wasn't in much of a condition to fight. At the same time though, neither were the four standing across from him. Finally reasoning that as he could use their fatigue and injuries to his advantage, he allowed a smirk to appear on his face.

Before he could say anything though, Jennifer raised her free hand and summoned six portals that surrounded Blackheart. Out of each portal rode one of the six other Ghost Riders. All of them stared at Blackheart as his expression suddenly shifted to that of a cornered mouse.

"Blakcheart." Blaze's Ghost Rider form spoke.

Blackheart's gaze shifted to each of the Riders before turning back to glare at Jennifer.

"You haven't seen the last of me." He said before disappearing into wisps of black smoke.

All six Riders looked to Jennifer and nodded their heads before returning through their respective portals. Jennifer, Jason, Fox, and Krystal then turned back to exit the base. Once they got out they heard cheers of victory from the other soldiers as they observed the charred battleground before them.

They walked forward to find Jason a medic in order to get his injury treated properly. As they did so, Jennifer and Krystal got their first proper introduction. Jennifer apologized about the incident in the interrogation room, and Krystal happily forgave her and addressed the occurrence as "interesting, to say the least." After they got Jason to a medic did Fox finally ask the question that he had been wondering since the battle ended.

"So, the portal that you sent Andross through. Where did it go?"

To which Jennifer simply replied, "To a dimension of sight, sound, and mind."

It's been several months since the Demon War ended, and relations between Earth and Lylat were going smoothly. Jennifer got along great with everyone now that the whole Ghost Rider incident had been put behind them. Ghost Rider had yet to go vigilante and allowed Jennifer to have a normal life during those months. That is, until one morning.

Jennifer stared down at the man she loved as he slept. She wished that she didn't have to leave, but she had no choice. She glanced at the gold and diamond ring that now adorned her finger and smiled at the memory of him getting down on one knee and opening the box as he asked her to marry him. She placed a light kiss on his cheek before turning to leave the apartment.

She got on her bike and was about to turn the key when she sensed him behind her. She turned to see him standing there in pajama pants and a white undershirt. She could see the sadness in his eyes as he asked the question she knew was coming.

"Do you really have to go?"

"I wish I didn't have to, but I do. Blackheart has resurfaced again and if I don't stop him, there's no telling what he might do." She reasoned with both him and herself.

Jason nodded in understanding but there was a frown on his face as he did so.

"Don't worry, Rider promised to have me back in time for our wedding. We can trust him."

"It's not that I don't trust him, I just wish I could go with you."

"I know, but these are enemies that only I can fight, places that only I can go. Besides, you still have business to attend to here on Lylat."

As he walked over to stand next to her bike he replied, "That doesn't mean I have to like it."

"That makes two of us. I'll be back as soon as I can," she said before reaching up and pulling him in for a light kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too."

With that, Jason stepped back as Jennifer revved her bike. She stared down the road for a second as a portal appeared fifth feet away. She let go of the brake and the motorcycle sped down the road. Jason watched as she transformed into the fiery skeleton right before entering the portal, which closed shortly behind her.

The powers that I have are no longer a curse, but a gift. These powers come with a mission though, to hunt down and eliminate evil. The evil I fight, I fight to protect not just our world, but other worlds beyond our own. Some may call me a monster, but I know what I am.

I am the Ghost Rider.

- Jennifer Rogers