"Okay, Alexander," Ranma said. "What do ya have?"
'Main attack mode can be switched between following three modes: Physical attacks - Black Magic - Defensive Mode.'
"Care to explain them?" Ranma said while dodging a furious tail swipe of his opponent.
'Normal mode is physical mode. Concentrates all power into attacks with fist and other body parts. Allows use of 'Limit Break', but all other functions are deactivated.'
"Okay, until now, this mode is doing pretty good," Ranma exclaimed. He parried one swipe of Vegnagun and punched it back several hundred meters. "What about the other two?"
'Both Black Magic and Defensive Mode lower this unit's physical attack power, but also allow the use of magical abilities. Black magic allows the use of attack spells of all six standard elements: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Water, Earth and Wind, but also Light. Defensive mode unlocks spells used for healing and defending, also known as 'White Magic.' In both modes, 'Limit Break' will be available, although in Black Magic mode, its power will be raised a little.'
"Okay, then let's try this: Switch to Black Magic mode!"
'Affirmative!'
Ranma felt Alexanders powers being channeled into his head through the helmet. He grinned and flexed his hands. He stretched out his/Alexander's right arm and yelled: "THUNDAGA!"
The metal fist of the Esper transformed until it looked like a giant gun. It charged up electrical energy and fired it into Vegnagun's chest. "All right!"
----
Shuyin let out a growl when he saw his opponent transform. "Come, Vegnagun," he shouted. "Let us show this fool the meaning of pain!" He switched to another organ tune and channelled the powers into Vegnagun's legs. The nodes on the legs lit up one after another, until finally only the red one was gleaming.
----
Ranma's friends managed to escape into the outskirts of town, where nowhere was paying attention to them. They were amazed when Alexander's hand transformed, but also gasped when they saw Vegnagun counterattack with a powerful fire spell.
"Ranma's new Esper surely looks strong, but that other thing gives me the creeps," Rikku whined while fidgetting around.
"Vegnagun is more powerful," Aura said. "I only heard legends about it, but never thought they were true..."
Kasumi had been sitting silently in a corner of their little hideout, like she wasn't paying attention to their conversation, but now, her eyes opened with determination.
"Listen up!" she said. "I know someone that knows more about Vegnagun than we do. Maybe she can help us further."
"Huh? Really?" Wakka wondered. "Who?"
Akane smirked. "Lenne, right?"
Kasumi smiled. "That's right! Lenne..." And after those words, sparkles of light spread out from her songstress costume...
And formed the image of a beautiful woman, dressed in that same costume.
"My name is Lenne," she introduced herself. "I'm a songstress and summoner from ancient Zanarkand... and Shuyin's love. The reason he is obsessed with Vegnagun and revenge is... me!"
They all gasped at that, but Lenne continued: "When I was told I should serve Zanarkand in the war against Bevelle's machina, Shuyin got furious. He heard about their ultimate weapon, Zanarkand, and wanted to use it to end this war. I heard about his plans and ran after him. I caught up to him in Sub-Bevelle, right before he was standing before Vegnagun. I wanted to convince him to abandon his plan, but before he could say anything, Bevelle soldiers entered the room. They shot us both... and we fell down. I was fatally wounded... The last thing I saw before dying was Shuyins face... it was filled with anguish, sorrow and anger. I believe... his hatred towards the humans allowed his fury to take on the form of that spirit. He now plans to use Vegnagun to destroy all of Spira."
"Great," Ukyo sighed. "As if Sin wasn't bad enough..."
"What about his power?" Yuna asked. "He isn't unbeatable, right?"
Rikku intervened. "Can't be. He's a machina, right? That means someone built him. And THAT means... he can be taken apart."
"You're right," Lenne nodded. "But it won't be easy... In my times... Alexander was an Aeon used by our summoners. And by accident, he was merged with one of the enemy's machina. But still, he's not as powerful as Vegnagun."
"Oh my..." Kasumi whispered. "I hope Ranma-kun is going to be all right..."
"He will," Yuna said with determination. "I will help him."
She raised her rod. "Bahamut, Legendary King of Dragons, come! We are in dire need of your help!"
----
Ranma had to switch to defensive mode to protect himself from Vegnagun's increasingly violent attacks. Using the spell Shell, he constructed a giant knight's shield in his right hand that looked like it was a hologram.
"Damn," he cursed as another Firaga spell hit the shield. "If this continues, I won't be able to fight back properly. Alexander, how are things?"
'Status report: This unit's shields are down to 65 %! Probability of falling below 50 % after next attack: About 85 %!'
Vegnagun seemed to grin at Ranma with his skull face. The eye lasers once again lit up...
...only to be hit with four spheres of dark energy. Ranma looked to his right: A giant, black dragon was flying in the air, bigger than even Evrae, and with colorful wings.
"Leave this place," Bahamut commanded with a booming voice. "You do not belong here!"
Vegnagun responded by shooting his lasers at Bahamut.
They hit their target, but by now, their chances of victory were increased. Ranma used this moment of relief to heal Alexander's damage with a Vigra spell. Bahamut flew in front of his opponent and hit Vegnagun's face with a powerful uppercut. Then he returned to Ranma's side.
"How are things, Ranma, Alexander?" he asked.
'Alexander unit's shields have risen to 83 %!' Alexander responded. 'Now switching to physical attack mode.'
"All right! Let's turn this guy into scrap metal," Ranma shouted. He powered up his Ki and channelled it through Alexander's hands.
"Holy Moko Takabisha: Ball of Light!" The light attack wasn't a spell, but it certainly did enough damage to shake Vegnagun around. Ranma was almost sure he could hear an angry yell from the ancient machina's head.
Now Vegnagun came rushing towards them with flailing tail, arms and legs. Ranma/Alexander and Bahamut welcomed him with flying fists.
"Watch out, Ranma," the dragon shouted. "He's powering up for a devastating attack!"
"Got it!" They both let go off their enemy and flew away from him.
By that moment, Vegnagun let loose with a powerful blast of red energy that surrounded his whole body.
Now the two battle comrades decided to attack from both sides. On Alexander's shoulders, two enormous metal blocks extended. They were blotched with what looked like missile launchers.
Bahamut landed on the roof of a big building, on all fours. The strange wheel levitating behind his back spun rapidly around and focussed his energy. It flowed towards his muzzle, where it was being concentrated in one single ball of destructive matter.
"Holy Judgement!" Ranma and Alexander shouted in a shared voice.
"Mega Flare!" Bahamut shouted one moment later.
From Alexander's launchers, dozens of light rays were being fired, up in the sky, then they changed their direction and homed in onto Vegnagun's location.
The ball of energy in front of Bahamut's muzzle exploded outwards, when he shot out an immensely powerful beam of non-elemental energy. Target: Vegnagun!
The attacks hit their target at the same time, which resulted in a most powerful explosion of light and energy.
When the dust cloud, which resulted in the combined attack, dissolved, any trace of their opponent was gone. Only a big hole into the ground was left.
"That coward Shuyin," Ranma growled. "He escaped!"
"Not exactly!" Bahamut flew closer and pointed to a small, transparent body floating between them. "Looks like our attack threw him off his weapon."
Shuyin whispered in a barely understandable voice: "Lenne... Vegnagun... must have... revenge..."
"Oh boy!" Ranma sighed and put his hands on his hips. It looked kinda comical, as Alexander copied this movement as well. "What a mess! What are we gonna do with him?"
Bahamut took a grasp of the swordsman's spirit. As an Aeon, he could do so effortlessly.
"I believe there is someone that has more the right to decide that then ourselves."
He took one last glance towards the giant hole that was situated directly next to the big capital of Spira.
"Although, I wonder what caused Vegnagun to escape all by itself..."
----
From the palace of Bevelle, Seymour and Mika had watched the battle of the behemoths. "This is a disaster," Mika shouted. "We have to held a speech before the people. They have to understand that not us, but those infidels are to blame for this."
Seymour just stared to where Vegnagun had vanished. "This power, coming from a machina... I wonder... will it be a match even for Sin himself?"
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(Posted Tue, 01 Aug 2006 22:15)
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