Chapter 52 – The End Game Begins

Leaping across a long, treacherous void, Leblanc and her duo of goons tried to focus on getting to Vegnagun. One misstep, and it was an endless fall. Neither Ormi nor Logos was particularly joyed to be doing this. Even a glance up at the towering beast scared them. Their boss, however, was unaffected – almost. While her confidence was strong to the point of fault, even the notion of fighting Vegnagun sent chills down her spine. The few tidbits of information describing the super weapon to her from Nooj didn't prepare her for the sight of it in person.

Still, the first thing they needed to accomplish was to actually get to it. Shuyin spared no expense in setting up a masterful array of security to protect his object of revenge. It was needless for anyone to say that he was a diabolical madman. But even his traps couldn't deter those willing to protect the life of Spira.

Taking one final hop, Leblanc landed on the large, circular platform at the base of Vegnagun. Its massive, spiked tail rested dormant above them. From behind them, they heard a voice yelling to them.

"Look boss," pointed out Ormi, waving his finger, "it's Yuna!"

Sure enough, when Leblanc turned around to look, she saw the Gullwings jumping the platforms as fast as they could to catch up. After about half a minute, they made it. Leblanc greeted the girls, wondering what took them so long.

"You girls sure take your time."

Rikku huffed, "Excuse us! We waited for you at Besaid for hours."

Leblanc glared angrily at Ormi as he explained, "Heh, oh well...that was my fault. I thought I knew where the island was, but I lost the map. I kinda got mixed up...but we eventually found Kilika. We went in there."

"That explains everything," smiled Paine, "so what do you guys have in mind we do about this hunk of metal."

Leblanc sighed as she crossed her arms, "Well loves...that's a good question. Right now I believe, my Noojie is trying to help his friend who was possessed by that sinister man."

"Baralai you mean?"

"Yes, that's him. But... I haven't been able to find him."

Rikku scratched her head, "I thought you said he'd sent you a message from here?"

"I did...but that must have been from somewhere else. Argh! All these places look the same!"

Logos stepped up to speak, "Boss, perhaps we should climb higher to see if he is up there."

Leblanc agreed, "Good idea! You girls care to join?"

Yuna smiled concisely, "Yes!"

As they scaled the tower holstering the beast, it became all the more clear the magnitude of destruction this weapon was capable of. Each part of its body was titanic, dwarfing most structures in Spira. Yuna was especially afflicted, as Vegnagun far out stood even her beloved aeons in size and stature. Its shadow covered all of them, and seemingly stretched to the edges of the void itself.

Leblanc was the first to notice that up the winding path, there was shouting. At first, nobody could discern who or what it was. Then as they approached, a familiar blond man came into view. Gippal was fuming, screaming at something high above him. Nooj, too, was standing there next to him. His face held a grim and agitated expression. As they neared, Yuna looked up to the top of Vegnagun. She saw another figure at its head. Seated in what looked to be an organ, was Baralai. At least, it was Baralai's body. A transparent apparition melded with him – the spirit of Shuyin.

"Noojie!" yelled Leblanc with joy.

Catching his attention, he looked with shock as he saw not only her, but the Gullwings as well. He hobbled over to them on his crutch. Gippal hadn't noticed anything; he was still deadlocked in his shouting match with Shuyin.

Nooj sighed, "The situation doesn't look good."

"Rikku asked, "Why not?"

"Heh...it's only a matter of time before the fight breaks out."

"That only means we have to stop him right now." stated Paine, slamming her fist into her other palm.

"Perhaps. Do you guys have any ideas?"

Nobody spoke. As Nooj expected, they had no idea how to take down such a large war machine. Bowing his head, he smirked.

"I thought as much. Don't worry..." as he spoke, he pulled out an old pistol, "Shuyin acts through a host. Shoot the host, and he'll leave. I'll shoot Baralai, hopefully not killing him. Then Shuyin will come for me."

Rikku shuttered, "T-then what?"

"I'm rigged, so I'll take him down with me. It's not much of a plan, but I'll make sure he doesn't ever come back."

Everyone stared at Nooj, horrified that he would even suggest a plan as he did. Nobody wanted to answer, as nobody approved. Leblanc went into a fit, shrieking at the idea of Nooj dying. Paine's face turned pale. Finally, Yuna stepped up to him.

"I think your plan sucks."

The uncharacteristic bluntness of Yuna jolted everyone. Her cross eyes starred right into Nooj's. He then laughed, in a way lauding Yuna's gall. She continued to speak.

"Far too many of my friends have died in the past...and I don't want that anymore. There are ways other than self-sacrifice to win. I thought that wasn't possible two years ago when I fought Sin. I threw away my aeons – right before my eyes. I comforted myself, believing that it was a just necessity. Then the smiles of the people, telling us 'You're wonderful. You saved us.' But, in the end, the people who should have been with me smiling, weren't there."

Nooj nodded. He understood completely her heartfelt words. In his lifetime, he had been under assault from casualties we wanted to avoid. For him, it was too many to count – too many to stomach.

"I know you mean to do as you say. Please, give me that resolve. Believe in me...believe that we can win, together."

Rikku cheered. Both Paine and Leblanc were behind Yuna. A pearly grin spread across Nooj's face. He happily agreed. Together they would seek victory, not death. Even in his jumbled, scattered life, he could still stir the desire to fight on.

Paine asked the obvious, "So then...what's the battle plan?"

"Yeah Yunie, you got a scheme brewin'?"

"Well...Vegnagun is just a machina right? Can't it be dismantled like any other one, right Rikku?"

"Sure, I think..."

Leblanc interrupted, sticking her fan out at Yuna, "That may or may work love. What do we do then?"

Rikku shook her head, "Yeah! A plan B?"

Yuna smiled and nodded, "Love."

Nooj chuckled under his breath, "Ah, the ultimate illusion..."

"At his core, Shuyin just wants to love Lenne again."

"Oh yes!" proclaimed Leblanc, "The power of love conquerors all! Count me in!"

Suddenly behind them, a shot rang off. The beast in front of them started to become active. Gippal could be heard shouting in Al Bhed. Up top, Shuyin could be seen playing the organ embedded in Vegnagun. The cold, dormant monster became alive. Yelling behind him, Gippal said to move. Vegnagun smashed its giant hand into the ground, knocking everyone to their backs.

"I think it's pissed!" bellowed Ormi as he scrambled to his boss.

"Watch out boss!" called Logos, also darting to Leblanc.

"It's time to attack!" ordered Nooj, "let's divide and conqueror this terror. I'll help Gippal up here."

"We got the legs!" Leblanc replied, hastily going on the offensive.

Rikku shrugged, "Guess we got the tail."

The girls ran down to the base of the spire. The mighty tail lashed around, surging up a blinding think cloud of dust. Coughing there way through, the Gullwings formed up and launched their attack. Paine took a leaping cut at the tail. Her sword penetrated only an inch or two into its metallic armor.

"For a piece of history, it still is durable."

Rikku launched herself next, slashing like mad with her twin blades. They had even less effect on its thick hide. Yuna fired three rounds, but they bounced off like rubber. The girls were alarmed by their sudden lack of options. Firing back, a small laser in the tip of the tail charred up the ground. Paine, standing in its line of fire, deflected the blast with her sword. It put a nasty black spot on the blade. She cringed as to what it might do against flesh.

Rikku tried to counter with a grenade, but the explosion did little but to kick up dirt. Paine tired summoning up her dark orbs. They did manage to damage the tail, but it took more out of Paine than it did the machina. Vegnagun's tail lashed out, slamming itself hard on the ground. Landing right next to Rikku, she bounced unnaturally into the air. Plopping chin first, a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth. Paine rushed over, covering her while she got up.

"Rikku, are you ok?"

She spit out some blood, "Eh...weah. I hink I hit my hongue."

Yuan growled, scouring up and down the tail, searching for a weak spot. Thinking she might have found one, she hoped her idea would work. She yelled to Paine to stand near the tip of its tail. While Paine didn't understand why, Yuna demanded that she needed to. Just as she hoped, the tail focused its laser on Paine. Dashing behind her, she lined up her pistol, and fired a bullet directly up it.

With an explosion of fire, half the tail split into two. Sparking to the ground, it lay dead. Paine blew out the gasp of air she was holding, thinking she was going to get cut into pieces. They celebrated for a moment, but knew there work was far from done. Running back up to where they came, they met an injured Ormi and Logos half way. Yuan knelt down to Logos.

"What happened?"

"The boss went on to help Nooj," he whimpered, "and told us to stay here and fight this thing. Well...it about killed us!"

"Yeah, this thing's too much for us!" chimed in Ormi.

Paine put her hands on her hips, "Heh, don't worry guys...we'll handle it from here. Just go help Leblanc."

"You got it" they said in conjunction, and scampered up the spire.

"Ok then...this might be a little tougher than the last." deduced Rikku, to her own displeasure.

Three balls of color were implanted beside the monster's leg. Just as imposing, Vegnagun's large leg shadowed the girls. They didn't even want to know what those red, blue, and yellow globes were capable of. But, they were about to find out. Vegnagun attack first, striking the ground repeatedly with its enormous foot. The girls rumbled with the vibrations, unable to move from fear of falling.

Then, the red orb charged up. A glow and sparkles swirled around it, reflecting off its shiny exterior. A fiery blast flew out from it. The magic blew a hole in the ground in front of the girls. They could feel heat blasting from the explosion. As best they could, they spread out, not wanting to make themselves vulnerable to the same attack.

Paine took a swing with her sword, and found that the old leg wasn't as tough as the tail had been. She put a sharp wound in the leg, sparks bursting out from the cut. However, the blue orb charged some magic, and covered the leg with it. Instantly, the tear had healed. Paine scoffed, and tired something different. She and Rikku both attacked the same area one after another. This had made a series of deep rips in the metal leg, and it caught on fire. Both the red and green orbs fired volleys of various magic at the girls.

Yuan was ready with magic of her own. Casting a glowing orb of orange around each of them, the magic was absorbed harmlessly. Getting the nod from Yuna, the girls finished their job. Hacking the leg up, it became severed, and eventually fell into the abyss below them. Two parts down, but still much more to go.

Running up the spire again, this time climbing higher and higher until they reached its torso. On a large area, almost like an arena, they saw Gippal firing wildly at the machine. Leblanc had Nooj back to the edge, tending to him. The girls ran over to check on him.

"What happened? Nooj, are you hurt?"

He flinched from the pain as Leblanc lifted up his right arm, "Argh...yeah, I'll survive. Damn thing hit my arm...I guess I was a little careless."

"Oh my poor Noojie..." soothed Leblanc, completely ignoring the scared pleas of her goons.

"Don't worry 'bout a thing Nooj," asserted Rikku, throwing her arm up into the air, "we'll take this thing."

At that moment, Vegnagun slammed Gippal to the ground. In the middle of her pose, Rikku shrieked and ran over to him. He was bruised, but not too injured. He smiled up her, giving her a wink. Carrying him out of harm's way, she laid him down next to Nooj.

"Man buddy...we made horrible warriors. Must be gettin' old..."

"You said it. It's time for the home."

Paine, "Don't take this so lightly. What if you..."

Nooj put his hand up to her face, "We have all the confidence in you. Go...fight!"

Her face showed her renewed determination. She nodded with tenacity, and spun herself around sharply. Yuna knelt down and put her hand on Leblanc's shoulder.

"Please, take them away from here. We don't want any casualties."

Ormi and Logos were more than happy to comply. Leblanc carried Nooj himself, even though he insisted to walk on his own. Making sure they made it away safely, they refocused their attention on the beast in front of him. Partly disabled, but still operational, they couldn't leave until Vegnagun was destroyed, and Baralai was freed.

Two massive arms guarded the gigantic breastplate of it. The girls stood to a distance from it; they were unsure of what it was capable of. From past experience, they knew it was more than likely going to be dangerous. And they were right, as even from their separation, one of the arms took a swipe at Yuna, clipping her. She fell to the ground, and almost fell off the edge. She pulled herself up, and tilted her head back.

Sucking in a gasp of air, she shouted, "Shuyin! Don't do this!"

But there was no reply. The monster went into full action, and began firing magic attacks. As before, they were being absorbed, but the shells around the girls were quickly fading – they had to act fast. A glimmer of hope came from Paine. She directly everyone to hit the center of this beast with everything they had.

Paine fired a stream of dark orbs at it, as well as the arms to keep them from attacking. Explosions ensued, and the arms went dormant. The chest as well began to crack and sparkle. Yuna fired barrage after barrage at it, the bullets penetrating the thick shell. They began to tired, and stop their onslaught. After a few seconds, however, the sound of an organ echoed across the Farplane. The arms again began to move. Paine tried to summon more orbs, but was nearly out of strength.

Rikku flipped herself around in the air, ducking and dodging like a fiend. She distracted them for Yunie. Her cousin continued to fire upon the chest. Finally, she broke a hunk of its armored shell large enough for Rikku to act. Sprinting over to it, she stuck in a grenade. Tick, tick, tick – the countdown sounded. At its end, a tremendous explosion flared inside Vegnagun. Multiple blasts continued in the chain. Crippled immensely, the beast came crashing down onto the arena – its head plopping to the ground before the girls.

Only silence followed. The girls, once the swarm of dirt and debris settled, gazed around. They wondered if it was over. But they weren't finished, as a piercing scream belted from atop Vegnagun. In view was Baralai, still enrobed with Shuyin. He sneered at the girls as he jumped from his organ.

"Oh man, I think he's got a plan B too!" cried Rikku.

"Stay focused," Yuna ordered, she staring directly into Shuyin's eyes, "this is it. Please Shuyin...let me free your soul."


Next chapter: The final chapter in Yuna's long story. Will it be the end for Yuna, or the beginning for Shuyin and Lenne? The ending will be unconventional in the way I'm do it. Anyway, you'll find out before New Year's...