Chapter 52 – The End Game Begins
Ascended the tower holstering the beast, the scale of Vegnagun came into perspective to Yuna. The colossal scope of its presence dwarfed the stature of anything else in the Farplane. Its shadow covered all of them, seemingly stretching to the edges of the void itself. The entire Farplane shuttered when the massive weapon twitched its limbs.
The first to notice a figure moving further up the winding path, Yuna couldn't discern who or what it could be. Then as she approached, a familiar face came into view. Nooj stood staring up at Vegnagun, his posture straight and resolute. As she neared, Yuna looked far up to the top of Vegnagun. She spied another figure seated at its head. At an organ sat Baralai, though she knew not of his own free will. A transparent apparition melded with him—the spirit of Shuyin. Vegnagun jolted again, vibrating the platform her feet resided on.
Running through the jolts and quakes, the girls caught up with Nooj. He hadn't moved an inch since Yuna spotted him. His rigid face bore a grim and determined expression, even when the ground shook.
"It's moving again!" Rikku exclaimed.
Paine grimaced. "It's only a matter of time before it does more than just move."
"That means we have to stop it right now," stated Rikku, slamming her fist into her other palm.
"Any ideas?" asked Paine, looking around at her friends.
Nobody spoke. Her chest throbbing, Yuna closed her eyes, agonized by the deafening silence. She hadn't felt so powerless since she performed a sending for the dead in Kilika after Sin terrorized the village. Too many innocent villagers died that day. She could still hear the cries of the mourners left alive in her mind. Vegnagun held the power to harm just as many families as Sin did.
"I thought as much," Nooj spoke, breaking the silence. "Shuyin acts through a host. Shoot the host, and he'll have to flee. I'll shoot Baralai, hopefully not killing him. Then Shuyin will come for me."
Rikku shuttered. "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."
Paine's face turned pale. "But you're our captain. Spira needs you."
"Spira needs to live more than I do," he replied with a cold calmness.
Nooj returned to facing Vegnagun. Paine and Rikku both turned their backs on him in solemn resignation. Nobody wanted to answer because nobody approved. Every joint in Yuna's body burned as she shuttered. Her heart ached as all the pain from what she lost defeating Sin two years ago came pouring back into her.
Yuna would not stand silent again. "I don't like your plan. It sucks."
Her uncharacteristic bluntness jolted everyone, who all turned around in unison. Her cross eyes stared right at Nooj, whose mouth still hung open in shock.
She continued, "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 sacrificed my aeons, thinking I had no choice. I comforted myself, believing that it was out of necessity. Then the smiles of the people, lauding me as a savior . . . in the end, the people who should have been with me smiling weren't there."
Fixated on their friend, Rikku and Paine remained silent. Nooj shook his head.
A tear fell from her green eye. "I can't go on believing I have no choice. There is so much I regret. Nooj, I know you mean to do as you say. Please, give me your resolve. Believe in me."
Leaning on his silvery cane, Nooj asked, "Well then, you have a plan?"
Rikku threw her arm up into the air. "Yeah Yunie, you got a scheme brewin'?"
Yuna rubbed her chin for a moment. "Well, Vegnagun is just a machina, right? Can't it be dismantled like any other one, Rikku?"
"Uh, sure. I think, maybe?"
A familiar voice interrupted. "Look at you thinking things out first. When did that change happen?"
From behind, Gippal shot Rikku a smug smile. Flanking him stood Leblanc, Ormi, and Logos. Nooj's eyes opened wide at the sight of Leblanc.
"Well, well, my dear Noojie-Woojie, you don't think I was going to wait around while you go chasing after monsters now did you?"
"You certainly didn't wait for us in Besaid," commented Rikku, glaring at Leblanc.
Leblanc cringed. "Sorry about that, love. I got impatient."
Gippal smirked. "Say we defeat this machina. Then what about Shuyin?"
Paine shot a glance at Yuna. "Is that Plan B?"
Standing defiantly, Yuna threw out a thumbs-up. "That's right! Love."
Nooj chuckled under his breath. "Ah, the ultimate illusion."
Yuna shook her head. "At his core, Shuyin just wants to love Lenne again. After all this time, I'll bring Lenne's feelings to him."
"Oh yes! The power of love conquerors all," proclaimed Leblanc, pointing her finger straight at Yuna. "Count me in!"
Suddenly behind them, a thunderous boom rang off. The weapon looming over them started to activate. Gippal could be heard shouting at Vegnagun in Al Bhed. On top of the machina, Yuna watched Shuyin playing the organ embedded into Vegnagun. The cold, dormant monster shuttered alive. Vegnagun smashed its giant hand into the ground, knocking everyone off their feet.
Ormi scrambled to stand up, bellowing, "I think it's pissed!"
"Watch out boss!" called Logos, darting over to Leblanc.
"It's time to attack!" ordered Nooj. "Let's divide and conquer 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. Vegnagun's mighty tail lashed around, surging up a blinding cloud of dust with each swipe. Coughing their way through, the Gullwings formed an elongated triangle in front of the tail. Standing at the apex of their formation, Paine took a leaping cut at the tail. Her sword penetrated only an inch into its metallic armor.
"For an antique, it still is durable," she sneered.
Rikku launched herself into action next, slashing like mad with her twin blades. Sparks flew off the scaly tail with each impact from Rikku's blades. Only small dents and scratches showed where Rikku engaged the tail. Yuna fired three rounds from her pistols, but they bounced off the tail like rubber pellets. From a sphere of energy charging at the tip of the tail, a purple and orange beam shot at the ground. Standing in its line of fire, Paine deflected the blast with her sword as best as she could. The laser beam charred the metal of her blade, leaving behind a streak of smoldering black. She cringed at the damage it caused to her weapon.
Rikku tried to counter with a grenade, but the explosion did little but kick up dirt around the platform. Paine summoned a smattering of dark orbs. Launching them at the tail, it recoiled. In a huff, Paine fell to one knee after unleashing her attack. Vegnagun's tail lashed out, slamming itself hard on the ground. Pummeling where Rikku stood, she bounced unnaturally into the air. Plopping onto the ground chin first, a trickle of blood ran from the corner of her mouth.
Paine limped over, covering her while she got up. "Rikku, are you okay?"
She spat out some blood. "Eh, weah. I hink I bit my hongue."
Yuan growled, scouring up and down the tail, searching for a weak spot. Thinking she might have come upon a vulnerable point, she yelled for Paine to stand near the tip of its tail. Paine didn't understand why, but 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 into the charge of energy.
With an explosion of cherry red fire, the lowest segment of the tail blew apart. Purple sparks filled the air and the tail collapsed to the ground with a voracious thud. Paine blew out the gasp of air she held in thinking she would get sliced in half. Yuna pumped her fist in celebration.
"That's how it's done," she cheered.
Rikku wiped her chin. "Nice work, Yunie!"
"It's a little early to celebrate," said Paine, motioning up the path towards where Vegnagun's legs squirmed.
"Oh no! They're in trouble!" yelled Rikku, pointing out Leblanc's henchmen.
Dashing down the path leading towards Veganun's legs, they met Ormi and Logos halfway. Hobbled by injury, both men plopped to the ground when the Gullwings caught up to them.
Yuna knelt next 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. "Don't worry guys. We'll handle it from here. Just go help your boss."
"You got it," they said in conjunction and scampered up the spire.
"Okay then, this might be a little tougher than the last fight," deduced Rikku, to her displeasure.
Implanted beside the machina's leg, three spheres of color glowed red, green, and yellow. Just as imposing, Vegnagun's large leg towered over the girls. Yuna didn't even want to know what those colored globes were capable of, but she had a feeling they were about to find out. Vegnagun launched its assault first, striking the ground repeatedly with its enormous foot. The girls rumbled with the vibrations, unable to move for fear of falling.
Then Yuna noticed the red orb charging 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 Yuna. She could feel the heat radiating from the blast burn her skin. As best the Gullwings could, they spread far apart from one another, 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, white-hot sparks bursting out from the incision she created. The green orb charged more magic, covering the leg with bluish-white sparkles. The tear Paine caused disappeared within seconds. Rolling her eyes, Paine motioned to Rikku to charge the weapon's leg together with her. She and Rikku both attacked the same area one after another. Their violent dance inflicted a series of deep rips in the metal leg, and bursts of yellow flame shot out from the wound. Both the red and green orbs fired volleys of water and lightning magic at the girls.
With a smirk across her face, Yuna readied magic of her own. Casting a glowing round cage of orange magic around each of them, the orange barriers absorbed the arcane barrages from the nodes. Getting the nod from Yuna, the girls finished their job. Hacking the leg up, it became severed from the rest of Vegnagun and eventually fell into the abyss below them. The glowing orbs jittered and sparked for a moment before becoming dormant, their colored glow dissipating to grey.
"Way to go, guys!" Yuna exclaimed, waving her pistol into the air.
Rikku high-fived Paine. "That's how it's done!"
"Right!" Paine nodded. "Now on to the next part."
Running up the spire again, this time climbing higher until they reached Vegnagun's torso. On a grand area, built almost like an arena, they saw Gippal firing wildly at the machine. Leblanc had Nooj back to the edge, tending to him while he lay on the ground. The girls ran over to check on him.
"What happened? Nooj, are you hurt?" asked Paine, her face full of concern.
He flinched from the pain while Leblanc lifted his right arm. "Yeah, I'll survive. It just hit me in the arm. 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!"
At that moment, Vegnagun slammed Gippal to the ground. In the middle of her pose, Rikku shrieked and dashed over to him. Bruised and cut, he smiled up at Rikku, giving her a wink. Carrying him out of harm's way, she laid him down next to Nooj.
"Man buddy, we make terrible soldiers. Must be gettin' old."
"Speak for yourself. Maybe you should've taken your training more seriously before," said Nooj, flashing a slight grin.
Paine growled, "Don't take this so lightly. What if you—"
Nooj put his hand up. "We have all confidence in you. Go and fight!"
Both Paine and Rikku's faces showed a renewed determination. Paine nodded with tenacity and spun herself around sharply. Rikku redrew her curved blades. Yuna kneeled down and put her hand on Leblanc's shoulder.
"Please, take them away from here. We don't want any of you to get further injured."
Bumbling in from the far edge, Ormi and Logos were more than happy to comply and lifted Gippal. Leblanc carried Nooj herself, even though he insisted on walking on his own. Ensuring they made it away safely, Yuna refocused her team and directed their sole attention to the beast in front of him. The notes Baralai played under Shuyin's control whispered in the distance—Yuna knew the end drew near.
Two massive arms guarded the gigantic breastplate of Vegnagun. The girls stood at a distance from it; they were unsure of its capabilities. Lost in her scan of this section of Vegnagun, she couldn't react in time to its sudden strike. One of the arms took a swipe at Yuna, clipping her in the side of her ribs. She fell to the ground with a pained yelp, nearly sliding off the edge. With the help of her cousin, Yuna pulled herself up and tilted her head back.
Sucking in a gasp of air, she shouted, "Shuyin! Please stop this!"
She heard no reply. The weapon went into full action and began firing magical attacks at Paine and Rikku. As before, these magical blasts were absorbed, but the orange shells around them quickly faded to nothing. Continuing her scan of Vegnagun's body, Yuna's hands perspired enough to loosen her grip on her pistols. Where was this ancient weapon weak at, screamed in her mind again and again.
Staring at the large purple orb glowing in the center of its torso, Yuna formulated a plan of attack. She ordered everyone to unleash their strongest attack directly at the purple orb embedded in Vegnagun.
With a devilish grin, Paine fired a stream of dark orbs at it, as well as the arms to keep them from functioning. Explosions ensued, and the arms hung dormant to Vegnagun's side. Using her sword as a crutch, Paine toppled over. The chest cracked and sparked. Yuna fired barrages from both her pistols into the cracks that had just formed, the bullets penetrating the thick shell. The crackling from Vegnagun's core intensified.
"I think we're almost there!" yelled Rikku.
After a few seconds, however, the sound of an organ echoed across the Farplane. The arms again began to reanimate. Paine tried to summon more dark orbs from her sword, but couldn't muster enough strength to stand, let alone strike.
Rikku flipped herself around in the air, ducking and dodging like a miscreant. Noticing the diversion she created, Yuna continued to fire on the chest. She broke off a hunk of its armored shell large enough for Rikku to act. Sprinting over to the gaping hole, Rikku jammed in a grenade. After a few seconds of hissing trickling from the grenade, a tremendous explosion flared inside Vegnagun. Multiple blasts continued in the chain reaction, ripping apart the torso from the inside. Crippled immensely, the beast came crashing down onto the arena—Vegnagun's head plopping to the ground before the girls.
Only silence followed. The girls, once the swarm of dirt and debris settled, gazed around. Yuna wondered if the foray was over but quickly saw Vegnagun remained functional. A piercing scream belted from atop the weapon. In view sat Baralai behind the organ, still enrobed with the ghost of Shuyin. He sneered at the girls before he jumped from his organ.
"Oh man, I think he's got a Plan B, too!" cried Rikku.
"Stay focused," Yuna ordered, staring directly into Shuyin's eyes. "This is it! Please Shuyin . . . let me free your soul."