Hi guys. I take it my last chapter was enjoyable (the reviews seem to indicate that) and so now it's time for my good friend Soala to get a little wake up call. And to answer the many questions, Tidus did not go to the Farplane because he's a dream. He'll be back, but not this chapter.

Yuna was thinking. She did that a lot nowadays. The whole deal with Sin had made her basically reprogram her brain. But now she thought about how you penetrate an impenetrable defense. Stealth sounded good. Soala had set himself up a small city, as her spies had told her. Perhaps that could be invaded, though some fiends more powerful than any others might pose a small threat.

In the end it was decided that Rikku would attempt to defend the Machine Faction, Paine would go to Youth League HQ and Yuna would go to Bevelle. They understood that as a team they would be the most powerful but there simply wasn't time.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala meanwhile was considering his options. Yeah, yeah, yeah destroy Spira, but then what? He had planned on recreating the human race but that thought worried him. He might mess up. And then here was another option, very risky in the short term but later on...

The Machine Faction

"Hiya!" Rikku shouted triumphantly. She had just fought away a wave of fiends, and could now enter the former Djose Temple. The problem was not kicking the ass of some super fiend, but it was more dealing with what she found inside.

"Who- no can't be- Rikku? Rikku!" Gippal hadn't eaten in three days. Being naturally disposed to being obsessive, he considered this good work. Obsessive is good in war.

"You owe me, Gippal. If you have one gil to your name when you pay me back for all this, you'll have found it on the floor."

"Nice to see you too, Cid's girl. How's Brother? And Buddy?"

"Brother handed in his resignation when we finally had an autopilot better than him. Buddy went to look for him. Last sighting was in the Calm Lands headed toward Bevelle in a drunken stupor."

"Why am I not surprised? Anyway, to business. What about these fiends?"

"There's a mage, Soala. He is as close to God as we are ever going to get. He'll summon fiends and cast magic to tear Spira apart."

"Wow. Should be fun." Typical Gippal.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala's plan was foolproof, even though Soala was no fool. He would start with a small group of compliant humans. They would not be allowed to speak badly about or to him. Eventually, several generations later, thoughts themselves would be restricted. All violators would simply fade into pyreflies the instant they defied him. And the best part is that, being immortal, this would be a permanently brainwashed planet.

Bevelle

Rikku had (temporarily) liberated the Machine Faction, but Yuna was having less luck with New Yevon. Soala had the bulk of his armies here. She could take off large chunks at a time, but never quite make the jump to a victory. She knew that every second meant more fiends pouring in. However, Soala was currently getting ready for victory celebration, thinking about the personal powers he had, and speculating on the immense knowledge he was gaining. So she continued her fight. As she looked around her, she saw a Mega Tonberry approaching.

Quickly switching through all spheres on her grid, she became a Black Mage. The Megiddo grid endowed her with fantastic powers, and she was about to prove it. The first thing the Tonberry heard before noticing Yuna was, "Flare!"

Unperturbed, the Tonberry continued. Yuna cast Ultima once, ridding the area of any smaller fiends that could help the larger one. She quickly swapped into Lady Luck.

"Hey, turtle! Try the one-armed bandit!" She then hit him with a Mad Rush from Attack Reels. No New Yevon soldiers had challenged the Tonberry, so it wasn't used to fights. It was knocked back into a half-wall (It had been knocked down by something big.) Spherechange to Alchemist.

"This goes here, and then..." Yuna remembered the directions...yes! A White Hole! The Tonberry crumpled down and faded. Yuna sighed. There were 10,000 'shock troops'- really powerful fiends- in or around Bevelle. If they took occupation of the city, things would get hairy. The Youth League, though at peace with New Yevon, would seize an opportunity. The balance of power, already upset with the appearance of Soala, would collapse. Even without Soala, a civil war would engulf Spira. And she had this much trouble killing one.

Soala's HQ (near the ruins of Zanarkand)

Soala detested Zanarkand. It was a reminder of his failure to the people of Spira. It was a reminder to his rejection from power and status. It was a reminder of a year obtaining the Cigam, an ancient book of godlike spells. It was a reminder of a year of planning, before the destruction of Luca. But worst and most infuriating of all, it was a reminder of another great empire that had fallen. It was a reminder that somewhere within him, he was merely human. He hated this. When he talked with Yuna that one time, on the building, he had put on arrogance and total control. But his real emotion was fear. Fear beyond that of death. No, he was fearful of what price he would pay for this. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Spira would soon be finished receiving force. When was the reaction due?

So why, then had Soala built his HQ there? The reason he told himself was that he wanted to find an isolated place in good position relative to the rest of Spira. The real reason was that deep within him, there was him, merely human. Deep within that, there was a remnant of emotion. Deep within that remnant of emotion, was pity. And that pity worked to keep him where he would remember.

Youth League HQ

Paine had had enough. She had fought wave after wave of fiend. She now sat in the Den of Woe, a place fiends would no longer go. But she could go. She thought. She swigged a potion. What did she think about? Her father, first of all. How he had been probably killed in the Luca fire. How she wasn't sure if she was sorry. She was worried. Because just as inside Soala was pity, within Paine was emotion as well. But unlike Soala's, that was fighting to grow, Paine's was dying. She worried that she would soon become more machina than human. If that happened, what would there be? An empty body? Can a body exist without a soul? As she thought she heard a voice from behind. And that was scarier than any loss of emotion.

END OF CHAPTER 5

Sorry for the cliffhanger. I'm writing in the details as I go along, but the plotline is finalized. See ya soon!

PS First time I wrote battles. How'd I do?