A/N: Hey, I finally have 10 chapters up! I'm happy with the way the last chapter turned out, so I hope this one is just good. Thanks to all the people who reviewed Chapter 9, R&R again! (Okay, I finally have a pretty long chapter this time!)

Disclaimer: I do not own Zack and Cody, and the Hiroshima's belong to DarkElements10/BlackElements. (Okay, I'm wasn't even gonna say it, but do you even think anyone on FanFiction owns TSL!?)

Chapter 10

Regular POV

Cody's eyes widened, filled with fear that wasn't even for himself now. The pistol in the man's hand gleamed as the moon shone through the dark clouds for an instant, filling the room in an eerie silver glow. Rikku's eyes blazed and this time Ryan had to hold her back. After a tense moment, the teenagers slumped in defeat. Rikku spoke without looking up, in a voice that wasn't anything like hers, "What do you want us to do?"

Only Rumiku noticed Alan regain consciousness beside her.

The man's piercing glare turned into the slightest, triumphant smile. "Oh, that's easy. You all have elements, mastered and extremely powerful. So with a little help from this," He produced a fist-sized glassy black rock, "I can harness all of your elements for myself."

Mistrusting, disbelieving glances were exchanged before Cody spoke for the group. "Alright. We'll do as you say . . . but only if you release both of our friends first."

Their captor scoffed and gave Cody a dirty look. "I'm not by any means stupid, you little bastard."

Cody only met his gaze with a courageous defiant gaze of his own. He was surprised by his own strength, until his thoughts drifted back to Rumiku. A plan formed slowly in his mind, "We're not stupid either. None of our elements can match the speed and strength of a bullet, we have no choice but to do as you say." He hung his head with convincing shame and defeat.

This seemed to satisfy the man, and he relaxed a bit, lowering the pistol slightly. "Fine. I'll release both of your friends. After you go first" He gave Cody the finger, but the blond haired teenager was unfazed. He weighed his options silently, deciding that first, Rumiku's safety meant the absolute most to him even if he lost his element. Second, this guy had to be out of his mind, and the rock was probably just a chunk of obsidian or something. "Alright," His confident smirk earned him a swift punch in the gut from the man. He'd luckily anticipated such a reaction and managed not to get the wind knocked out of him.

"Sorry, sir," Cody muttered in a somewhat mocking tone. Zack could have slapped his forehead. Was Cody trying to piss this guy off?

"Watch it. And the name's Bronze," His name may have resembled his gold-brown hair, but it was so dirty and long that it was impossible to tell. "You there, Cody, ya little brat! Tell me what you see in this stone." Cody approached cautiously, peering into the glassy interior of the rock.

What he saw brought back pain, everything he couldn't bear to face.

Inside The Hellstone

Cody's POV

Faces swam across the surface of the rock, gripping me in the pain I thought I'd finally pushed away. I didn't understand any of this, the way I couldn't name these faces if I tried, but each one was like a living nightmare where I lost yet another loved one. Like little tiny pinpricks into Hell, but each scathing and horrifying. I tried to tear my eyes away, but I couldn't. I was frozen.

I could feel everything happening, Bronze's eyes searching my expressionless stare, Alan stirring and shooting me a glare for not doing anything to help them, Zack's fists tightening in his anxiety for me, Ru, and Alan, and finally Rikku planning to launch her self and a flamethrower at an unsuspecting Bronze. No! I had to escape this nightmare and keep her from acting too quickly. She couldn't see Bronze's tight grip on the pistol's handle.

Struggling to pull away, I was caught in a memory I thought I'd finally forgotten for good:

(Begin dream)

Flames danced around me as I stood, caught in a wildfire. Zack was yelling desperately to me, but I was blinded in terror. Being an eight year old, the first thing I tried to do was run away. Unsuccessfully, I was whipped with a few bursts of flames. The scar still remained on my left leg. I began to cry, thinking this must be Hell. Zack, who had always had a thing for fire, manged to almost reach me unharmed. He stood a few yards away, reaching out an arm to me. Just as my fingers were about to close around his hand fire shot up around him. He disappeared from my sight, the heat so unbearable I stumbled backwards. The last thing I heard was a scream of agony, and a feeling like I just been ripped in half.

Feeling agonized, I thrust my hands out in front of me. The water in the almost dry riverbed had whipped the flames around me and put them out in time for me to be rescued by Phantom, my new guardian. I had just discovered my element apparently.

That was the last thing I remembered before waking up in the hospital with Zack and Mom watching me worriedly. Mom told me I'd had a high fever and been burning up so she brought me here, but I'd been unconscious for days. I had been having a nightmare, apparently. I told Zack about my "dream" and he assured me nothing like that had happened.

(End dream)

I never could shake the feeling that he was lying, although Mom was truthfully clueless. Just reminding myself of the feeling of losing my twin was enough to make me shudder uncontrollably. It was years before I could forget the feeling and my mysterious "dream." But now it was like reliving it again.

I saw Zack vanish in the flames for the second time in my life. I couldn't take the feeling that this time, I really was losing Zack, the agonizing feeling of having your heart ripped out of your chest and torn apart. From the world around me I heard Rikku step back in preparation to attack Bronze. With out thinking, I turned back to Zack. Instead of putting out the fire around me, I channeled all the water in the creek to the fire around Zack. With smoke and steam all around me, I stumbled over to him coughing. Tears from the smoke filled his eyes as he looked up at me from the charred forest floor. He smiled and whispered, "You did it. You saved me, and now the nightmare is over . . ."

(End of Visions)

Regular POV

Cody stood in front of the strange black stone, his eyes clouded as they stared into something only he could see. Zack's heart lurched without warning and he fell to the ground, in an agonizing pain. After a moment, a wave of strength flooded through him, and he looked up to see Cody blinking back to reality.

A voice echoed through Zack's mind, as their twin telepathy thing began to work for once, "And now the nightmare is over . . ."

Cody stood firmly in front of Rikku, whispering something to her. She nodded reluctantly. "NO WHISPERING!" The man yelled. "What did you see in this little rock?" Cody met his gaze again.

"I saw blackness. Just blackness, like the surface of the rock. There was nothing else." Bronze let out an exasperated hiss.

"It was supposed to work! Damn thing!" He threw it to the ground, where it shattered. A black mist rose briefly from it, then vanished. "Now that I have nothing better to do with you, I might as well kill you now . . ." He pulled the gun out again. "Starting with you two!" He pivoted to aim at Rumiku.

"NO!" Cody and Alan both yelled, but Alan couldn't manage to get up, still dizzy from being knocked out. Cody watched Bronze cock his gun and took a deep breath.

There was an explosion as he pulled the trigger, and Zack screamed as Cody dove at Rumiku. When the thin smoke cleared, the teenagers gasped to see Rumiku and Cody safe on the ground.

Bronze screamed in fury and pure hatred. "Alright, it's your turn then!" He aimed at a helpless Alan on the ground.

He could only duck as a first bullet dug a hole in the wall where his forehead had been less than a second before. Leaning to the side, he narrowly missed another, which grazed the sleeve of his sweatshirt. Bronze kicked him in the side of the head, and he snapped back into the wall.

"Just like target practice," Bronze muttered to himself, walking back to the center of the room to aim again.

Cody's POV

I watched in horror as Bronze kicked Alan in the side of his head. A kick like that would have thrown anyone but Alan unconscious again. I saw his eyelids flutter, barely staying open as he collapsed into the wall. I made a decision I hoped I wouldn't regret, if I lived to have the chance to. Moving from Rumiku's side, I crouched down.

Bronze cocked his gun for the fourth time. He was smiling as he silently aimed. Time seemed to have deserted me, as I saw him pull back the trigger, and I threw myself in front of Alan, who squeezed his eyes shut.

I didn't remember much of what happened next, except hearing Rikku yell something and unleash her fury and pain in an ultimate flaming elemental attack on Bronze, Ryan crying out in despair, Zack screaming in agony, and listening to Rumiku whisper, "No . . . Cody . . . "

Then an unbelievable pain hit my shoulder, and every thing went black. Blacker than the starless night outside, blacker than the smoke billowing from Bronze's pistol laying on the ground, and blacker the shattered Hellstone.