Chapter 21 – Fire, Water, and Salvation

Zack briefly glanced over at the rest of the kids as he smiled and picked Cody's limp form up by the throat and held it against the wall. "You lose buddy," he said evilly, his eyes blazing red with satisfaction.

At the sound of Zack's voice, one of Cody's eyes opened slightly. "Please….fight…it….Zack." His voice was barely audible.

"Cody!" Sydney yelled as he, Patrick, Noah, and Mike dropped into a fighting stance and prepared to leap forward.

"STOP!" Rikku said. Still worn out, she weakly put her arm out to block them.

"WHAT?" Mike said, giving her a look of horror. "What do you mean 'stop'? We haveta help him!"

"Look," Rikku, said angrily. "If you jump in there he's gonna kill him for sure. Just for once, shut your arrogant mouth and listen to me!" She glared at him for a second before she turned to Zack. "Zack put him down! You and I both know you can't kill your own twin!"

"Let him go Zack!" Crystal said warningly.

"Oh really?" Zack replied, turning to Rikku, ignoring Crystal completely. "Watch me."

Unable to control himself anymore, Mike leapt forward. "OK that's it!" He said, turning to Rikku. "If you're not gonna help him, I am!"

"NO!" Rumiku and Crystal chorused.

Zack's smile grew as a wave of flames erupted from his body, flinging Mike back, who a second later, landed on hard on his back. The flames then settled, creating a barrier of intense flames and heat between him and Cody and the rest of them.

"I think I like option number one better." Zack said dully, turning to Crystal. "So I guess if he dies, you can blame that kid." He nodded at Mike as he tightened his grip on Cody's throat, choking him. Cody's hands clamped weakly onto Zack's as Cody used what little strength he had left to make a futile effort to pull them off.

"Zack this isn't you!" Max said. "Stop it! NOW!"

"Zack! They're controlling you!" Rumiku yelled.

Zack's eyes hopped over to them. "You sound just like him." He nodded at Cody, who's resistance was growing weaker and weaker.

"STOP!" Tapeworm yelled as he tried to lunge forward. He only got a few steps before the intense heat from the flames forced him to step back. The others continued to watch helplessly.

A few seconds later Cody's hands slipped off Zack's as his arms fell to his sides. He tried to bring them back up, but halfway, they fell down again, and stayed there; limp. Then Cody stopped moving completely, and appeared to be totally lifeless. Zack's smile increased even further as he let out a soft laugh of triumph.

"Cody!" Sydney yelled again. He, Patrick, and Noah hugged Rumiku for support. "No…" They each muttered softly as tears formed. Each also tried to leap forward, ignoring the flames. Rumiku had to grab each at the last second to stop them from hurting themselves.

"Why wouldn't he listen?" Crystal said to herself, tears streaming down her face. "CODY! She yelled a second later.

"That's it, my young warrior." Core said as he watched the monitor in his office. "Finish him!" He looked at Damien again. "How much longer?"

"One minute." Damien replied. "I'll take this as my cue to leave and put an end to my little problem. Should I also pick up where your associates left off?"

Core smiled. "No. I'll finish them myself." His voice became extremely quiet. "If necessary, I'll just enact a little darkness in the older ones…the dormant power that sleeps in each…after all, it's who they are. It's in their souls…they can't escape."

-Cody's POV-

My body was completely numb, as if I had no feeling at all. Black was all I could see, nothingness was all I could feel. Suddenly there was a bright light as a new picture swam into my vision.

I was standing outside the Tipton, but everything was different. People were panicking, everyone was screaming and running. All around me was total chaos. Debris littered the streets and the buildings around me were crumbling. I looked up at the Tipton, my home, it was completely engulfed in flames.

Suddenly something else caught my eye. On the twenty-third story window was my mom, screaming for help. A second later, another flame erupted out of her window, engulfing her as well.

"MOM!" I yelled. I tried to bring my arms back to send a wave of water at the blaze, but nothing happened. "Why won't my arms move?" I thought to myself angrily. "I haveta save her!" I tried again, my arms stayed still as if they were stuck in a patch of concrete. Tears began to stream down my face as a second flame erupted from that window. She was gone. "NO!!" I screamed.

"C-cody…" Another familiar voice said. I whirled around. Crystal was on the ground in a tangled heap. She was covered in blood and burns.

"C-cody," she softly said again. "Help me…please…help me Cody."

"CRYSTAL!"

I watched her scream as a fireball hit her. I tried to run forward but I still couldn't move. Suddenly I saw Zack appear behind her, laughing. The sound was coming out of his mouth, but it wasn't his voice. It was Core's.

"It's all mine!" Zack said as he laughed hysterically. Again, the voice that left his mouth wasn't Zack's, but Core's. "All the elements! All the power! It's all mine!" His eyes met Cody's.

"I'll stop you!" I yelled.

"Too late, I've already won." He smiled and pointed his hand at Crystal's body. "Say good bye." With that, he shot a large stream of flames at her.

"NO!!!!" I yelled.

"CODY!" She screamed as the flames engulfed her.

"NO!!!!" I yelled again. As the words left my mouth, something within me snapped, and a new surge of power filled my body.

-Normal POV-

"CODY!" Crystal yelled again, warm tears flowed freely down her face, stinging her cheeks.

Suddenly Cody's eyes snapped open, glowing bright blue. His hands were also glowing. Faster than lightning, he brought them back, and forward again. A huge blast of water slammed into Zack, splashing everywhere, and knocking him across the room. The excess water also put out the wall of flames around them.

Before the water had even settled, Cody leapt into the air, and landed a powerful kick, right to Zack's stomach. This was instantly followed by barrage of attacks, all of which came faster than anything Zack could have ever predicted. Before Zack could react, Cody made a large uppercut motion, sending another wave of water at him. The wave hit Zack full force, knocking him further into his crater. The water also smashed the necklace around Zack's neck, completely destroying it in the process. Zack collapsed on the spot as Cody landed gracefully on his feet.

"ZACK!" Max and Rikku chorused as all the kids rushed over to him. Cody propped him up in his lap as Zack stirred softly.

A moment later, Zack's eyes slowly opened. "Huh? W-what happened? W-where am I?"

"Zack!" Cody yelled happily as he hugged his brother to him. "I'm so glad you're back!"

Maddie reached over to Zack and gently touched him on the forehead, healing him instantly. Cody backed up as Zack stood up.

"Let's go get Core," Julius said.

"You guys go ahead," Mike said. "I'll catch up." He was glancing back over his shoulder.

"You sure?" Sydney said looking up at him.

"Go"

A moment later, Damien walked through the other door. Mike's face stretched into a slight smirk as his 'flashlight' appeared in his hand. "It ends now." He said softly.

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