The performance was just about to start. The Gullwings had taken their positions and were ready to make their move. Everything had gone smoothly on their end, and now the imposter had no idea they were coming to crash the party.
What they didn't know was they were the ones being watched. The performance was all an elaborate ruse to lure them into the open. Tiny sensors had been installed all over Luca Stadium to detect their presence and closely spy on them.
Paine was hiding under the circular bleachers, watching the stage through a slit in the stairs. The imposter took to the stage and began to sing.
What can I do for you? What can I do for you? I can hear you…
Paine slipped out from the bleachers as the audience grew loud. As she moved, she stepped past a camouflaged sensor that instantly scanned her from head to toe.
[SUBJECT X303P – CALIBRATED]
Rikku was high in auditorium balcony, inspecting the arena with a pair of binoculars. She crouched down on the railing and took out her daggers when she was ready. Somewhere below, hundreds of tiny mechanical eyes were looking up at her and carefully analyzing every contour of her body.
[SUBJECT X502R – CALIBRATED]
Paine and Rikku hit the stage. The Yuna wannabe stopped in the middle of her dance routine and faced them with a sarcastic half-smirk. The audience was caught up in confusion when they realized Yuna's energetic notes were still playing through the stadium sound system. The imposter had been lip synching.
Every now and then I don't know what to do. Still I know that I can never go back…
The two Gullwings were joined by a mysterious third member dressed up as a giant moogle. She took center stage between Paine and Rikku.
"I guess you brats are looking for more than just an autograph," the Yuna imposter joked.
Leblanc disrobed from Yuna's Songstress Dressphere and revealed her true appearance. She tossed the Garment Grid back to the moogle. The device had served its purpose.
All the things I've seen in those hazy dreams can't compare to what I see tonight…
With the Grid back in her possession, Yuna instantly changed into her Gunner outfit.
[SUBJECT X701Y – CALIBRATED; READY TO BEGIN CYBER-ORGANIC SEQUENCING]
"We don't know what you're trying to pull here, Leblanc," said Yuna. "But we're ending this right now!"
Leblanc merely laughed at the threat and pointed her metal fan toward the trio.
"Go get 'em, boys!"
In front of Leblanc and to her sides, the stage opened out and three robotic guardians rose out from the hydraulic depths. Crescent-shaped, painted white, and hopping about on mechanical legs, they looked like armored mollusks that were each about the size of an average human. The audience began to cheer again, believing everything they were watching was all part of an elaborate stage show.
Everything's so different, that it brings me to my knees…
Leblanc stood back and let her underlings do all the fighting. The three robots launched themselves toward the row of Gullwings.
Yuna flipped out of the way of one robot and fired several rounds into its hull. The bullets bounced off the machine and caused it to stagger. Paine repeatedly swung her sword at another one of the robots, but it managed to dodge most of her attacks by awkward shifting its weight on its spindly metal feet. Rikku attacked the third robot with her daggers, but her weapons were too weak to put a dent in its armor. When a snake-like arm reached out from the shell and tried to swipe her out of the air, she sliced it apart with her dagger. A small stream of lubricant sprayed out from the damaged mechanical limb and splashed on to her wrist. It had a silver sheen like mercury, and it caused patches of her sleeve to dissolve into transparent Dressphere ribbons as it oozed across her arm.
"Yugh," Rikku cringed, waving her arm to dry it off. "Grosstastic."
The robot abruptly opened its entire shell. An even larger power cable shot out from its hollow body and wrapped around Rikku's waist. She could see straight into the machine's interior, and the sight made her eyes grow wide. She loved working on everything from small gadgets to massive combat machines for the Gullwings, but the prospect of this robot working on her horrified her.
A second arm emerged from the robot and reached toward the back of Rikku's head. A massive needle extended from its hand and stabbed into the base of her neck, leaving her paralyzed as it invaded her central nervous system. She was pulled into the robot's maw just before the shell completely snapped shut around her. The sound was loud enough to alert Yuna and Paine.
And oh, I know, the world of real emotion has surrounded me. I won't give into it…
Both Gullwings yelled Rikku's name when they realized one of the machines had swallowed her whole. The two other robots positioned themselves defensively in front of the third.
"Let her go!" Paine screamed to Leblanc.
"Ah-ah. Finders keepers." Leblanc shook her finger at the rival Sphere Hunters. "I'm not giving up my treasure that easily."
She approached the robot housing Rikku and patted it on its upper shell.
"These pets of mine work just like real clams. Once any kind impurity gets inside of them, they use an advanced Spherechange technique to turn it into a beautiful pearl."
With her opposite hand, she opened her fan and held it in front of her mouth. Her eyes stared at Yuna and Paine with a spiteful glare.
"And you girls are about as impure as they come."
The robot began to utter a metallic wheezing sound, almost like a cat with a hairball. A small exhaust port opened on its shell and spit a single strip of yellow cloth into Leblanc's hand. It was Rikku's thong.
"Leftovers," Leblanc muttered. She shrugged and casually tossed it into the screaming crowd as a souvenir.
A few seconds later, the entire arena was bathed in an ocean blue light. Holographic images of Rikku's naked, neon-colored silhouette filled the stadium as the robot began extensively modifying her body on the center stage. As she slowly rotated a pool of transparent metallic foam, her appearance changed from a human being, to a silver mannequin, to a 3D wireframe, and back to a human. It was like a Spherechange sequence, only in slow motion and with no regard to basic modesty. The audience was amazed by the unexpected eye candy.
Yuna and Paine resumed their attack. The two robots blocked every attempt they made to reach Rikku's shell and free her from the trap. Leblanc watched the fighting with intent eyes, while the audience gasped in awe at a close-up of Rikku's left butt cheek.
I don't plan on looking back on my own life. I don't ever plan to feel I own you…
The sultry spectacle was over before the Yuna or Paine even got close to rescuing Rikku. The giant white clam opened up again, and this time steam poured out of its mouth as if it were a portable sauna. Rikku climbed out from a bed of sparkling electronic seaweed, rubbed her eyes, and plucked the interfacing cable from the back of her head. Her Thief Dressphere had been exchanged with what looked like a bizarre aquatic take on Songstress attire. She was wearing matching shorts and a swimsuit top with the texture of a polished silver pearl. A long dress draped over her like translucent orange algae. Sea shells and starfish decorated her outfit, and silk mermaid fins dangled from her hips and from the trail of her dress. She wore gloves that reached up to her elbows and had the same aluminum shimmer as her space age undergarments. She now had a headset with a built-in microphone, orange snail shell headphones, and metallic armor that wrapped down her cheeks and under her chin, giving her a more industrial look. Her shoulder now sported a barcode tattoo that read 'X502R.'
On the outside, Rikku looked just like her ordinary self, minus the questionable Dressphere makeover. On the inside, she had more in common with Leblanc's automated bodyguards than the living Gullwings, and her Garment Grid had become a direct extension of her body. As she gazed toward Yuna and Paine, tiny turbines swirled in her Al Bhed eyes.
"Rikku...?" Yuna stammered.
"Be careful," Paine said as she slowly and cautiously raised her sword.
A single bullet shot the weapon straight out of Paine's fingers. Rikku stood with a smoking gun in her hand and a giant grin on her face. She twirled the pistol before it turned into a Black Mage staff, and she used its magic to separate Yuna and Paine with a wall of fire. Then the wand instantly transformed into one of her Thief daggers, and she sprinted toward Yuna. The audience erupted into cheers at the intriguing turn of events.
All I know is that I must believe, 'cause the truth I'm seeking always was inside of me…
Yuna blocked her attack, but Rikku still pushed forward and caused Yuna to gradually lose her balance.
"Don't worry, Yuna," she said with a devious smile. "This new tan feels great."
Paine managed to break through the fire and lunged at Rikku. The sword passed straight through her Pseudomorph body, causing it to shatter into sparkling holographic fragments. The real Rikku appeared just behind Paine and clocked her straight in the jaw, sending the sword fighter to the stage floor.
"Why are you so stressed out, Paine?" Rikku leaned over her with the same ominous look she had given Yuna. "We just need to get in your head. And in your skin. And your bloodstream. And all of your squishy insides. Basically anything that makes you human is going to get a remix."
Paine responded by introducing her heel to Rikku's forehead. Rikku swiftly tilted her neck to dodge the kick.
"All I'm saying is you guys are due for some Lady Leblanc's cosmetic work. Now you're treating me like I'm the bad guy." She stubbornly puffed the sides of her face like a blowfish. The flashing stadium lights gave her an almost bioluminescent quality. "You're no fun."
The many things that you taught me then will always be enough to get me through the pain…
"Come on, Rikku!" Yuna pleaded. "You have to get a hold of yourself! You're not like this!"
Something seemed to trigger in Rikku's mind. Her dagger disappeared, and she paused to look down at her empty gloved hands.
"Maybe you're right…"
Her entire body began to quiver in fear.
"Yuna, Paine, what's going on? What did that crazy bitch do to me?"
Yuna held her by the shoulder to calm her. Leblanc watched with her arms crossed and her eyebrow suspiciously quirked.
As soon as Rikku had gained Yuna and Paine's trust, she stopped pretending. Her frightened expression changed back into a sadistic grin. Her hair braids lashed out like living tentacles, wrapping around Yuna and Paine's necks and stunning them with small currents of electricity. The two clams huddled directly behind each Gullwing and opened their mechanical jaws.
"Suckers!"
Rikku jumped in the air and sent Yuna and Paine straight into their awaiting pods with a split kick.
We are connected for all of time. I'll never be alone…
They received the same alluring hologram treatment as Rikku. While the audience witnessed an extensive panoramic view of Yuna's and Paine's most intimate details, Leblanc waited impatiently with her hands on her hips and Rikku playfully bobbed her head along with the rhythm of the music.
Finally, the two clams opened at the same time to reveal their finished products. Yuna and Paine wore the same type of ocean-themed Songstress Dresspheres as Rikku, only with Yuna covered in blue fiber optic sea moss and Paine in black. They also had similar barcodes as Rikku, with 'X701Y' branded on Yuna's bare shoulder and 'X303P' on Paine's. Yuna wore blue and silver bridal gauntlets, while Paine wore black fingerless gloves with sleeves made out of the belts from her original Warrior Dressphere. Their headsets also extended over their heads rather than under their jaws. Yuna's headphones were styled as blue flippers on the sides of her head, while Paine's were designed as black ear muffs and featured a unique lens that extended over her left eye. The lens allowed her to see extensive information about her environment and anyone she focused on in the audience.
For the rest of the song, Yuna, Rikku, and Paine continued the dance routine started by Leblanc and sang the lyrics through their headsets. At first the audience cheered, then they grew oddly silent, then they became perfectly still, watching the stage like emotionless thralls as an inaudible electrical signal in the singers' voices completely took hold of their minds. By the last verse, they were chanting Leblanc's name in a collective jubilant voice.
As the performance came to an end, Leblanc and her new subordinates gathered in a circle. Together they burst into uproarious maniacal laughter.
What can I do for you?
Things settled down at Chateau Leblanc once the three Gull Losers had been assimilated into Sphere Marionettes and the rest of their group was gone. A few months ago, Leblanc only had a handful of people under her command. Now it seemed like she had gathered a small country of followers.
Leblanc was seated on a lavish couch holding a Sphere between her hands. It had come from two foreign Sphere Hunters looking to barter with the High Priestess herself.
"And you say you found this in which ruins?" Leblanc asked her visitors curiously, never lifting her eyes from the Sphere. The location the Hunters gave added substantial value to the artifact, but there was always the chance they were selling her lies.
"Paine, dearest." Leblanc snapped her fingers. Paine came to the side of the couch and lifted the Sphere in one hand. The lens over her eye lit up with mathematical estimates as she turned the globe and inspected it from every side.
"So? Does it check out or not?" Leblanc asked in boredom. She leaned into her armrest and tucked her chin in her hand as she waited for the sentinel's verdict.
"Yes, Mistress," Paine answered in a polite but slightly robotic way. "The materials and data content are accurate to the time period specified."
"Good. I don't like getting scammed." Leblanc took the Sphere into her lap and motioned for Paine to leave. She glanced toward the Hunters with renewed interest. "The last morons who tried to pull one over on me found out what happens when I tell Yuna it's open season."
Her eyes wandered back toward to the Sphere.
"What was the price you were asking for?"
"6 million gil," one of the Sphere Hunters replied. Leblanc scoffed at them almost instantly.
"You're going to have to do better than that. I own nicer Spheres that only cost me a third of that," she lied.
"4 million, then. Nothing in your collection could have involved fighting the amount of monsters we had to go through," one of the traders may have lied back.
The haggling slowly continued downward, and Leblanc was steadily losing her patience. Finally, the two parties came to an agreeable price and made the exchange. After one of her human servants took the Sphere back in it the Chateau vault, Leblanc leaned into her seat and rubbed at a lingering headache.
"I'm surprised you guys managed to drive such a hard bargain. Usually when someone starts to be a hassle for me, they don't keep it up for very long."
She directed the Hunters' attention toward her three most valuable jewels. They were reclining on the other furniture in the shady lounge like mermaids on a beach, closely watching the Sphere Hunters with faint sparks of lightning in their eyes.
"Just look at the Pearls for example. They used to be part of another Sphere Hunter group. They thought they could outsmart me, but we got that all worked out." Leblanc acknowledged them with a suggestive smirk. "Didn't we, ladies?"
The Songstresses answered with quiet and eerie giggling
"You really should go to one of their concerts," Leblanc said to Sphere Hunters. "Their singing is quite… enchanting."
Her lips curled into a muffled diabolical laugh.
The Sphere Hunters turned to each other in silence, then one of them murmured "Maybe some other time." All they had come for was their money. They walked extra quickly as they left the Chateau.
Author note: Pseudomorphing is an actual thing certain species of squids and octopi can do as a defense mechanism. Look it up.