Disclaimer: I only own the mystery people and the plot. I think that's it… For now.

A/N: Since there's a...uh...LOT of Al Bhed in this chapter, I made SURE not to forget to put the translations at the end. Makes the chapter look longer...heh... I thank all my reviewers, for you are what keeps me writing. Okay, so even if I didn't get reviews, I'd probably still write this story, but hey! I got reviews! I still thank you all! Hope you enjoy this chapter, and future ones, also.

Chapter XII

Two Down, One to Go

Bitterness is like cancer. It eats upon the host. But anger is like fire. It burns all clean. -Maya Angelou

XxXxX

He's coming for you, and there's nothing that you can do to stop him.

Gippal stirred in his sleep, his mind confused about the strange female voice. After a few minutes of silence, he opened his eye, looking up at the ceiling. Okay, that's not normal, he thought, referring to the voice he had heard while he had been asleep.

He was back in Djose; a few hours ago, Nooj and him had decided to get some sleep and continue the "conversation" in the morning, since they would get no where if they were tired. And the girl wouldn't tell them anything else until they rested… Besides, if they wanted to find a way to help both Paine and Baralai, they needed to have their mind fully rested and ready to interrogate that girl some more.

Stretching, he let out a yawn. He blinked a couple times, a low murmur of voices reaching his ears. "Tuh'd damm sa dryd juela ec pylg." He muttered, not really in the mood to listen to the strange voice. He stood, stretching once more, then walked out of the room and into the large, round, main room of the temple. As he did so, the voices got louder. "Fryd'c kuehk uh uid drana?" he asked, looking in the direction of the entrance/exit.

"New Yevon," an Al Bhed answered.

"New Yevon? Drec lyh'd pa kuut…" Gippal knew whatever was going on outside, it had to do with his best friend's disappearance. He walked through the doors, now wishing he had stayed in bed. "Fryd dra-" Djose Temple was surrounded by people, men and woman, but very few children.

"There's the leader!"

"Hey! What's goin' on? Why are you-"

"We don't want to listen to what you have to say, Al Bhed. We are here because of what you did to Praetor Baralai and Bevelle!" shouted one of the New Yevon men.

"I didn't do anything! Those machina were not under my command!" Gippal was already getting tired of the New Yevon. They come here and accuse him of what happened to Baralai and Bevelle? How dare they? "This is ridiculous!"

"Keep quiet, Al Bhed! You deserve to be punished! You and your machina!"

"You use machina, too!"

"We don't use our machina for evil!"

That makes two of us. Gippal turned around and walked back inside. There was nothing else he could do; they just wouldn't listen to him. "Yna ymm Al Bhed ehceta?"

"Oac, drao ymm lysa eh frah drec cdyrdat."

"Yht frah aqyldmo fyc dryd?"

"Ypuid yh ruin yku, Gippal, syopa suna. Fa fuimt ryja fugah oui ib, pid fa fana ryjehk dnuipma kaddehk ajanouha ehceta cyvamo."

"Dryd'c ymm nekrd, yd maycd E's yfyga huf." Gippal scratched his head. "Better get in touch with Nooj." He walked over to the CommSphere and chose the destination Youth League headquarters.

"Yes?"

"I may be a little late for that meeting."

Nooj looked confused. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Ah, nothin' I can't handle. Just New Yevon barkin' at my door."

"Why are they- Never-mind, I already know that answer. Gippal,"

"Huh?"

"Watch your back."

"Right, will do," he clicked off the CommSphere.

"On three, attack!"

"What?" Gippal turned, now facing the doors.

"One!"

"There actually going to attack!"

"Draca New Yevon sayh picehacc."

He turned his head ot look at the Al Bhed who spoke. "Drao lyh'd pa caneuic, lyh drao?"

"Two!"

"Drao'na caneuic," said the Al Bhed.

Gippal looked back at the doors. They really are serious… He didn't want to fight New Yevon, but if they actually attacked…

"Three!"

"Rumt dra tuunc!" He yelled as they heard thundering footsteps coming toward them. All Al Bhed, even Gippal, stood in front of the doors, pushing it closed as the New Yevon tried to push it open. "Tuh'd mad dras eh!" He didn't want this to end in bloodshed, so as long as he could keep them out long enough, maybe they'd give up and leave them alone? He doubted it, but it was worth a try. There were also more New Yevon than Al Bhed. He just hoped they were stronger than New Yevon. "Machina! Kad ujan rana yht rumt draca tuunc!" he shouted the order to the few machina inside.

The machina obeyed and took the place of a few of the Al Bhed. He had a new plan to drive the Yevonite pycdyntc away. Or at least solve their problem.

"Tuac yhouha gnuf fryd gehty faybunc drao ryja?" He asked quickly.

"Mycd desa E lralgat, drao ryt huha," answered one of the Al Bhed.

Great, just great. We don't know what kinda weapons they have, or if they have any But maybe his plan will still work… "Ruf syho uv oui rana ryja y cmaabehk knahyta uv cusa cund?" Getting several 'I do's, he nodded and continued, "Kuut, kuut. Uh drnaa, fa ubah draca tuunc yht drnuf druca knahytac yd dras, ugyo?"

"Ugyo," replied all Al Bhed.

He hoped the sleeping grenades they had would last long enough for them to remove New Yevon out of their base so they can put all available machina up to guard, and possibly keep New Yevon out for a while.

"Uha."

"Push harder! We've got to get inside and punish those filthy Al Bhed for what they've done to Bevelle and the Praetor!"

"Dfu." Screw this, he thought. "Drnaa, ku!" The machina moved back away from the doors as the Al Bhed did the same. The doors were pushed open, and New Yevon rushed inside.

But all was stopped when someone shouted out, "LOOK!"

Both groups ended up walking slowly outside to look at what the New Yevon woman was pointing at.

"Ah cred, you have got to be kidding me…" Gippal stared in disbelief. The dark skies lit up from lightning, and thunder boomed in the distance. "Nonononono… This cannot be happening…"

"Ec ed dryd…cduns…dryd…" The Al Bhed gulped as he spoke, fear in his voice. "Dryd syta Kilika tecybbayn?"

All Gippal could do was nod in reply, he couldn't take his eye off of what was coming their way --and fast.

"Th-that's the s-storm that hit B-Bevelle…" stuttered a New Yevon.

"What are we to do!"

"Uh…everyone get inside!" He spoke loud enough for everyone to hear him over the thunder. "That's all we can do…"

Everyone hurried inside, Gippal and another Al Bhed pushing the doors shut after they made sure everyone was in.

"Fryd yna fa du tu, Gippal?" asked a female Al Bhed, obviously terrified.

He hated the fact that there was nothing that he could do. "Zicd…lmuca ouin aoac yht drehg ypuid rybbo drehkc." Walking over to the CommSphere, he switched it on, thankful that it still worked. "Nooj? Nooj? You there?"

"Yes, I'm here. What's wrong?"

"Uh… We got a code red over here; the storm's comin'."

"What! Get out of there then!"

"If that was an option, I wouldn't be standing here inside the Temple."

"It's your turn, now," said a male voice that was defiantly not Nooj's.

"Wha?" Gippal turned around. "Who are you?"

A few feet away from him stood a man, neither New Yevon nor Al Bhed. His black hair matched his dark clothes.

"Baralai says 'hello'." An evil laughter echoed throughout the room as the building shook from the force of the rain and thunder. Gippal just stared, confused, as the man faded away. One of the females in the room, if not a few of them, screamed as the building shook violently this time, making Gippal stumble backwards, falling onto his back, his head bouncing off the floor. Everything around him went black……

XxXxX

"Wha?" Gippal turned, making Nooj unable to see his face. "Who are you?"

Just then, the CommSphere shut down. "NO! Gippal!" He glared at the CommSphere. "No… Why is this happening! First Paine, then Baralai, now Gippal. That damn storm is taking -no, has taken my friends!"

The girl just watched him, unsure of what to say. "But who was he talking to…" Certainly not me… Do you know? You seem to know everything." He turned to look at her.

Shaking her head, she answered, "No, I have no idea who it could have been."

XxXxX

"Oh my God! Djose!" Yuna stared in disbelief as the storm moved away from where Djose used to be.

"Gippal!" Rikku was soon by her side, also shocked. "He may be a byeh eh dra pidd sometimes, but not even he deserves that."

"It seems the storm has gotten around some," said Shinra, startling Yuna.

"What do you mean?"

"The first to go was Paine, then Kilika. Now it seems that Bevelle and Djose have also been hit."

Yuna gasped. "Baralai!"

"We'd have to get in touch with Nooj to see if Baralai and Gippal are still with him, or if they were in Bevelle and Djose. Until then, we'll just have to assume the worse." Shinra didn't sound happy about this, but who would? "It seems as if all Spira is disappearing; town by town, city by city, place by place."

A/N number two: Okay, so this chapter is shorter than the others. Sorry 'bout that. I tried to make it long, around 2000-3000 words, but I just couldn't do it. (sighs) Oh well. It's still a good, interesting chapter. Aren't I mean to not let the girl talk any? Hehe... She'll talk. Eventually. And besides, I wanted this to be a Gippal chapter. Anyway, translations are below, like promised. (And I promise chapter thirteen will be a lot longer than this one. It's over 2500 words! Uh...yeah...and it's really, really good! I promise you'll really enjoy it!)

"Tuh'd damm sa dryd juela ec pylg." -- Don't tell me that voice is back.

"Fryd'c kuehk uh uid drana?" --What's going on out there?

"Drec lyh'd pa kuut…" --This can't be good…

"Fryd dra-" --What the-

"Yna ymm Al Bhed ehceta?" --Are all Al Bhed inside?

"Oac, drao ymm lysa eh frah drec cdyrdat." --Yes, they all came in when this started.

"Yht frah aqyldmo fyc dryd?" --And when exactly was that?

"Ypuid yh ruin yku, Gippal, syopa suna. Fa fuimt ryja fugah oui ib, pid fa fana ryjehk dnuipma keddehk ajanouha ehceta cyvamo." --About an hour ago, Gippal, maybe more. We would have woken you up, but we were having trouble getting everyone inside safely.

"Dryd'c ymm nekrd, ad maycd E's yfyqa huf." --That's all right, at least I'm awake now.

"Drao lyh'd pa caneuic, lyh drao?" --They can't be serious, can they?

"Drao'na caneuic," --They're serious.

"Rumt dra tuunc!" --Hold the doors!

"Tuh'd mad dras eh!" --Don't let them in!

"Machina! Kad ujan rana yht rumt draca tuunc!" --Machina! Get over here and hold these doors!

"Tuac yhouha gnuf fryd gehty faybuhc drao ryja?" --Does anyone know what kinda weapons they have?

"Mycd desa E lralgat, drao ryt huha," --Last time I checked, they had none.

"Ruf syho uf oui rana ryja y cmaabehk knahyta uv cusa cund?" --How many of you here have a sleeping grenade of some sort?

"Kuut, kuut. Uh drnaa, fa ubah draca tuunc yht drnuf druca knahytac yd dras, ugyo?" --Good, good. On three, we open these doors and throw those grenades at them, okay?

"Ugyo." --Okay.

"Uha." --One.

"Dfu." --Two.

"Drnaa, ku!" --Three, go!

"Ec ed dryd…cduns…dryd… Dryd syta Kilika tecybbayn?" --Is it that…storm…that… That made Kilika disappear?

"Fryd yna fa du tu, Gippal?" --What are we to do, Gippal?

"Zicd…lmuca ouin aoac yht drehg ypuid rybbo drehkc." -- Just…close your eyes and think about happy things.

"…byeh eh dra pidd," -- pain in the butt