Chapter 10: Determination

Cody saw the pieces of the building fall onto Alex, but he couldn't do anything to save his friend. He wanted nothing more than to dig Alex out of the rubble, to make sure he was still alive but looking to the two dark elementals in front of him, he knew he had to focus on them and just hope Alex would be fine. It would be a hard enough fight without his mind being preoccupied.

"So Cody," Ryo said taking a short step forward "Do you still think we'll be the ones to die?"

He was scared, but he couldn't show it. He had to ignore his fears, ignore the fact that he had no hope of winning, ignore the fact that he was going to die and let all his friends and family die too. He had to brush logic away, because he knew the best option would be running.

"Yeah, I can just kill you both now."

Cody took a step forward, his fire building all around him. Maybe he was being foolish, but he couldn't run. He would fight. And he would win. No matter what the odds were.

Cody leapt into the air, his wings granting him domain of the sky and from there he pelted the two with a constant barrage of fire. He wouldn't allow them the chance to strike, knowing that he'd need to overpower them as quickly as possible.

He looked down at the inferno he created, surely causing more damage to their base than he would have liked, but he had to win. Though, through the flames he saw Ryo and Syndrome standing in the middle, completely unharmed. Syndrome held his hands out, obviously redirecting the fire.

Black tinted flames shot up at Cody which he easily redirected to the side though the flames still set much of the ceiling on fire. He knew things could get bad real fast if he didn't get this battle under control. He'd have to use more than just his fire if he was to win.

Ryo joined his ally sending blasts of lightning up at Cody, which he tried dodging, though the attacks were too many and too fast for him to avoid. Several bolts of lightning struck him, the electricity freezing him in place.

He tried to move, tried to fight back but felt his body paralyzed by the current running through him. He could only look down helplessly as Ryo and Syndrome took aim and fired. Digging deeper into his angel form's powers, he brought up a shield of light deflecting the light and breaking Ryo's control of the electricity around him.

He fell to the ground as the shield dissipated, but it gave him the time he needed. Further harnessing the power of light, he ran at them his speed becoming too fast for his foes to follow. He slammed his fist into Syndrome, sending him back and before Ryo could aid his friend, Cody turned and sent a blast of light infused fire at him. He then jumped through the fire and pounded his fist into Ryo's face, the light in his hand cracking the armor of darkness.

Turning due to the sound behind him, he saw a wave of darkness coming toward him so he jumped into the sky again. His eyes darted between the two dark elementals, wondering if he could actually beat them both. His angelic state gave him an incredible boost in power, enough to hold his own against these two, but he knew it couldn't last long. He had been an elemental for just two years, while these had been one for decades.

He flew down at Syndrome, using the light to once more increase his speed as he rocketed into the dark elemental and lifted him into the air.

"You don't think this will really work, do you?" he asked

Light began emanating all around Cody; he wouldn't allow hesitation to lead to his defeat again. For a second he remembered Jackie's advice not to push himself after being so injured, but now more than ever, he pushed her wisdom to the side. The light around him began engulfing Syndrome, the aura of darkness unable to withstand the blinding light. Syndrome's armor began cracking, pieces broke off and despite Syndrome's best efforts he couldn't withstand Cody's powers.

Cody smiled; justice would be delivered and these two would never hurt anyone else.

Then everything changed. His own light became blurry. And soon the pain followed. He tried to focus but he couldn't even see Syndrome in front of him. He lost his grip, the dark elemental falling to the ground below. Cody soon followed as pain erupted along every nerve ending. He thought it was most concentrated in his back but he couldn't know for sure. He tried to get up though his limbs were unresponsive and not even his eyes would open.

"Damn kid's becoming more and more of a pest," he heard Syndrome say.

"Yeah, that will make things easier when the time comes," Ryo said.

"I just hope we're ready before it become too much."

"Don't worry, Twilight said that phase 3 is almost ready."

Cody tried to hang on to consciousness, knowing that this information could be key. He also wondered why they weren't killing him when he was completely helpless. The dark elementals mercilessly killed anyone they wanted, so why would they spare their greatest threat?

Though before he could ponder these thoughts further, he finally lost consciousness.

Yeah...This was supposed to be updated a while ago. But better late than never! Also, I regret to inform you that I'm out of back-up chapters so I might not be able to update monthly like I have been. School has kept me from writing as much as I would have liked, but I don't plan on abandoning this one.