Chapter Twelve: Gi Nattack Attack!

"Grandfather?" Red XIII asked worriedly.

"IT...HE KILLED IT!" he continued to shout.

"Who killed who?" Hobbes asked, starting to worry.

"The warrior killed this warrior...but WHY?"

"Why what?" Cloud demanded.

Before Bugenhagen got a chance to answer, the wall that was before them began to give an eerie glow. The figure on the wall began to move as if it were alive. Then, the wall exploded as particles of light were swarming around the air and compressing together. Soon, the light dimmed away as a monstrous figure appeared where the vortex of light was. On each side of the monster were two flames that seemed to be controlled by the monster. Then, with a wave of its hand, it summoned a humongous staff and glared at the four that had come into the room.

"What is that, grandfather?" Red XIII asked, shocked.

"Gi Nattik," Bugenhagen responded, shocked to see it himself. "This was the leader of the army that invaded our town years ago. Only, it appears to be his ghost…BUT HOW!

"Never mind that," Cloud replied, pulling out his sword. "Let's focus on killing this thing!"

"Stand back, grandfather! We'll handle this thing!"

As the three charged Gi Nattik, it swung its staff at them, striking Hobbes, sending him flying into a wall once again. Cloud and Red XIII managed to dodge the attack as they struck the monster. Gi Nattik hollered in pain, but quickly recovered and prepared to attack again. Its staff struck Cloud on the head, taking him to the ground, unconscious.

Red XIII saw that he was currently alone and began to focus a magic spell into effect.

"Bolt2!" he shouted as a monstrous thunderbolt appear out of nowhere and struck Gi Nattik.

Hobbes began to regain his balance as he tried to make his way towards the monster again. He could see that Red XIII was struggling to focus magic spells to cast because Gi Nattik was constantly swinging at him. Cloud still had not recovered from the blow to the head as Bugenhagen had taken him aside to try and revive him.

Red XIII had just cast another lightning spell on Gi Nattik, which was looking weaker after each strike, but also looked angrier than before as well. It stopped swinging its staff and began to chant something in a language that was not familiar to anyone.

Red XIII saw this as a perfect opportunity to cast another magic spell as he began to focus again. As he was about to cast the spell, he suddenly felt a green light appear over him submerge around him. He began to feel weaker, not physically, but mentally. Soon, the light emerged from around him and disappeared. Red XIII tried to cast a spell, but whenever he tried to, the surge of energy would not come to him no matter how hard he focused.

"Guys! I can't cast magic anymore! I think he drained me of my magic powers!"

"You must fight him off!" Bugenhagen shouted. "Cloud is still unconscious!"

"Great," Red XIII muttered to himself. "Where the heck is Hobbes?"

At that moment, one of the flames that were surrounding Gi Nattik flew at Red XIII and hit him head-on. Red XIII expected intense heat, but felt none. In fact, he didn't see the flame anywhere when he opened his eyes. It had disappeared.

"HA! No wonder this warrior was defeated," Red XIII chuckled out loud. "He doesn't even have fire that burns."

However, as Red XIII went to move towards Gi Nattik, he felt a surge of heat arise in his body. Had his magic powers regenerated? It seemed so, until the heat began to get warmer and warmer. Soon, it was too hot for Red XIII to bear. It seemed as if his body was on fire. In fact, within seconds, it was on fire! The flame had possessed him and was burning him from the inside out!

Gi Nattik just laughed in triumph as Red XIII burned. Hobbes watched, terrified of what was taking place. He shook as the flames went out and Red XIII was lying on the ground, motionless.

"Nanaki!" Bugenhagen trembled as he raced over to his grandson.

Alas, though, Gi Nattack saw Bugenhagen and had selected him for his next attack. He summoned forth another flame like the one that had attacked Red XIII and sent it towards Bugenhagen, whom was defenseless.

Hobbes began to sweat tremendously. Now, he was forced to do something.

"Man, it's now or never," he thought to himself. "I have to get this magic thing figured out now!"

Hobbes breathed deep as began to focus once again. He cleared his head of all thoughts and began to focus on the ice spell. He continued to chant 'ice! Ice!' as hard as he could. The flame was getting closer and closer to Bugenhagen, who was still trying to revive his grandson.

Finally, Bugenhagen looked up to see the flame approaching him. He screamed in horror as the flame came closer and closer.

Hobbes heard Bugenhagen's cry of fear. At that moment, it seemed as though something had awaken within him. He no longer felt anxiety, but anger…extreme anger. In fact, he never felt this angry before in his life. He felt his body be surrounded by a powerful, green aura. He felt a familiar surge run through his body.

"ICE!" Hobbes shouted with rage.

As he said this, a cold feeling came over his fingers. He quickly aimed his hands towards the flame. Once his aim was set, the ice spell was fired towards the flame. The spell struck the flame as it was about to attack Bugenhagen, destroying it.

"I DID IT!" Hobbes shouted with excitement.

Gi Nattack turned towards Hobbes as he shouted this and immediately charged at him.

Fortunately, Hobbes saw it coming and began to conjure another ice spell. This time, though, he did it with ease. The spell was fired at Gi Nattack, striking it where it's heart would have been. Gi Nattack actually stopped charging to shake the effects of the attack off. After it had shaken off the spell, Hobbes pounced Gi Nattack, taking it to the ground, scratching its eyes. Desperately, Gi Nattack began throwing its hands around, trying to get Hobbes off. Eventually, it struck Hobbes and sent him flying. But it was now blinded.

Meanwhile, Bugenhagen had revived Cloud and Red XIII.

"Hobbes has been doing a fascinating job fighting off the warrior," Bugenhagen exclaimed. "He even managed to summon an ice spell."

"Finally," Cloud said, readying his sword for combat.

"Let us end this once and for all," Red XIII added. With those words, Cloud and Red XIII ran to Hobbes' aid.

Hobbes, meanwhile, had hit Gi Nattack with another ice spell. Gi Nattack tried to hit Hobbes, but could not find him because he was blinded.

"Hobbes! We're going to finish it once and for all!" Cloud shouted.

"Good," Hobbes sighed. "I've been saving this limit break for an emergency."

"You're limit's at its max? Mine too," Red XIII replied.

"Same here," Cloud added. "Let's use them at the same time. That may finish him."

Hobbes and Red XIII agreed and ran to a proper position.

Gi Nattack was now blindly swinging its club, trying to strike anything, hoping it was Hobbes, Red XIII, or Cloud.

A red light surrounded Cloud, Red XIII, and Hobbes, signaling the release of their limit breaks.

"SLED FANG!" Red XIII shouted, charging at Gi Nattack with a razor aura surrounding his mouth. He leaped in the air, allowing the aura in front of his mouth to chew through Gi Nattack until he came out the back side of it. The aftermath of the attack left a hole the size of Red XIII's body in the gut area of Gi Nattack.

It screamed in pain as it put both of it's hands on the wound, trying to comfort it. However, this left him open for Hobbes' limit break.

"EYE OF A TIGER!" Hobbes shouted as his eyes began to glow furiously. Soon, a laser shot from his eyes that struck the heart of the creature and zapped through him much like Red XIII's attack had done. The laser shot from Hobbes' eyes for about ten minutes before they had gone back their original state.

Now, the monster was crying in agony as it held one hand on its stomach wound and another on its chest wound. This left him open for Cloud to finish.

"CLIMHAZZARD!" Cloud roared as his sword began to give a fiery glow. He then charged to the bottom area of Gi Nattack and drove his sword right into his lower area. He them lifted himself off the ground and drove his sword right up Gi Nattack. The holes Red XIII and Hobbes had made with their limit breaks made it easier for Cloud to drive his sword upward until he had cleared the monster from toe to head.

When Cloud reached the ground, the body of Gi Nattack fell to the ground, split in half from Cloud's attack. It then gave a furious glow as it vaporized into thin air. The threat was finally eliminated.

"WE DID IT!" Hobbes shouted with glee. "WE ELIMINATED THE WARRIOR!"

"Thanks to you, Hobbes," Cloud mentioned. "I have to admit it…you saved us all. You and that ice spell. Well done."

Hobbes blushed slightly at this statement.

"All three of you fought well," Bugenhagen added, emerging from behind the rock he as hiding behind. "Nanaki, your parents would have been extremely proud of you…I know I am."

Red XIII blushed so much that his fur changed from a different shade of red.

"Oh, that reminds me," Bugenhagen continued. "The warrior of whom I was telling the tale of, Nanaki, it is now time for you to see that warrior."

"Grandfather…where is this warrior?"

"Just beyond the hole in the wall over there," he said, motioning to where Gi Nattack had exploded the cave wall, showing a hole that led to the outside.

"It is time for you to learn the truth, Nanaki. This is it."