Hi again, welcome to ZCIM 13, Separation. Sorry I haven't been updating, school has been taking up all of my time. So, now that I've said what I want to say, I'll say what I need to say. I do not own The Suite Life of Zack and Cody. I also now have a blog-type thing where I post records of how far I am in updating the next chapter, how complete the story is, etc. Please comment on the appropriate link (provided within the message). If you at least check it out, then thanks. I would appreciate comments, though. It's also got character bios for this story. The link to it is in my profile.

-ARK

Chap. 13: Separation

As Zack, Cody, and Alex approach the demon's lair, they felt immense heat. Almost as if they'd been thrown into a simmering volcano's mouth, and the lava pit was rushing up to meet them, it grew even warmer as they drew nearer. Finally, they were at the entrance, and as they stepped into the cave, the immense and sudden heat wave stopped. Mystified, they proceed farther into the cave, not encountering a single obstacle or distraction.

"Hey, do you think this is a trap?" Cody asked the two

"No, this guy just wants to have a tea party!" Zack exclaimed sarcastically.

"Oh. Well, that's odd. Why would he-" Cody was interrupted by Zack.

"OF COURSE IT'S A TRAP! Can you BE any more dense?"

"Umm...guys?"

"Not now, we're having a creative discussion!" Cody said.

"No we're not, we're having a fight!" Zack replied.

"Creative discussion!"

"Fight!"

"Creative discussion!"

"Fight!"

"Creative dis- OWW!" Cody and Zack were whacked over the head by Alex's little staff.

"What?" Zack asked.

"Yeah, what do you want?" Cody asked.

"Look." Alex motioned with his staff to the chamber before them. Inside was a person who looked strangely familiar. He had silver hair, looked about 15 years old, and wore a matching black shirt and pants with white lines curving around in a symmetrical pattern from his shoulders down to the end of the black pants. Orange sword in hand, this kid looked rather serious.

"Dude, is that...what's his name again?"

"Rahshignura? Good guess, but not quite." The teen spoke. "Try again. I'll give you a hint. We've met before."

"You're Kimitsu, aren't you?" Cody asked

"This is my body, yes." Kimitsu said. (A/N: I'll bet you could guess this before you read the chapter.)

"You're dead!" Alex yelled.

"Actually, you're...well, not dead. But close enough." Kimitsu responded

"What are you talking about?"

"This." Kimitsu snapped his fingers, and the ground around Alex started to crack silently. Alex, however, didn't notice.

"And what exactly is that suppos- OH CRAAAAAAAAAAAP!" Alex screamed as he fell.

"ALEX!" Cody screamed and ran over to the edge of the deep opening; however, it was too late. Alex had fallen to the bottom and was unconscious, maybe even dead.

"Well, he's taken care of. Now to deal with you two." Kimitsu nodded towards the twins.

"What are you going to do with us?" Zack asked him, pulling out his dart gun.

"Make you face your dark side." Kimitsu said

"And how exactly are you going to do that?" Cody asked, pulling out his sword.

"Like this. HA!" He yelled as he stepped forward with the orange sword, and swung at Cody. The sword turned completely black as it slashed him.

"CODY!" Zack yelled as he stepped toward his brother to see that he was...completely fine. The attack seemed to do nothing to him.

"What did you do to me?" Cody asked Kimitsu.

Kimitsu pointed the sword at the ground beside him, and said something in an ancient language.

"Neyta abu te aberte, ju se septer hadare!"

The ground turned into a black liquid, and a human form rose from it, molding into an exact version of Cody, but the difference was that everything was black, as if he'd been completely covered with black paint. The only thing that wasn't black was the red eyes.

"What are you?" Cody asked him.

"I...am you. I'm your dark form."

Kimitsu proceeded to do the same thing with Zack, and stepped back once both replicas had completely finished forming.

"Jou f'garde, itara!"

The clones nodded in acknowledgment.

"Sorry, but we kinda need to kill you guys now." Dark Zack told them.

"See if you can!" Cody said, pulling out his sword.

"Alright. Prepare to die." Dark Cody said.

Cody and Dark Cody rushed toward each other, swords in hand, and slashed.

Alex woke up to see Kimitsu standing over near a wall, reading an inscription. Alex stood up and walked over to him, staff in hand. Kimitsu stood up, turned toward Alex, and spoke.

"You're awake."

"Yeah...what do you want, Kimitsu?"

"To test your ability."

"My...ability?"

"Yes. How good you've become with your element wielding, and how your fighting in general has improved."

"Alright, if that's all." Alex said, and held up his staff.

"Yes, that will do nicely." Kimitsu said, taking out his orange sword.

They rushed toward each other. Kimitsu slashed, Alex countered. This went on for a while, until Kimitsu steped back.

"Does this mean we're done?"

"Not quite." Kimitsu's sword turned purple, and he moved so fast Alex couldn't see him. He was a blur. Alex felt the sword penetrate his skin, but he seemed to be perfectly fine.

"What'd you do to me?" Alex asked, taking up his staff again.

"Merely accessed your dark side, creating a...let us say a dark form of yourself, held together with the darkness in you."

He pointed his sword at the ground, and said the same words he'd used with the twins. The dark mist started to form again, and a replica of Alex rose up.

""Jou f'garde, itara!"

Dark Alex nodded, took out the black staff, and rushed toward Alex.

"So that's how it's going to be, is it? Fine then."

Alex took his staff and rammed it into Dark Alex's stomach. Dark Alex seemed to not notice the blow as he slams his staff into Alex's head. Alex groaned in pain, and Dark Alex leaped up, passing through the hole Alex had fallen trough and pressing his hands and legs to the side, stabling himself and preventing him from falling back down. he then began to slowly climb out of the hole.

"SO that's how it's going to be, is it. Alright, then." Alex did the same, leaping up and climbing out of the cavern.

Cody and Zack had killed their dark forms, which had vanished and the mists seemed to seep into their bodies. Then Dark Alex leaped out of the hole Alex had fell through.

"Not him too!" Cody groaned as he weakly pulled out his sword, barely strong enough to fight. Zack did the same. Neither twin was in any condition to fight. Dark Alex rushed toward Cody and swung his staff; Cody weakly countered this and slashed at him. The attack did nothing to harm Dark Alex, and he effectively parried a stun dart from Zack's gun. Dark Alex swung at Cody again, but this time it was blocked by another staff.

"Alex!" Cody exclaimed in surprise.

Alex grabs Cody's sword and stabs Dark Alex in the stomach. He gasps, bends over, and turns back into mist which then seeps into his body.

"Ok...weird. Let's move on, this place is creeping me out." Cody said

"Alright."

They head outside, and back to the village.

IN THE PALACE

"Have you defeated Rashignura?" Paul asked him

"Umm...yeah, I guess." Alex responded

"Very well, then. You may go free of all charges. Hand me your weapons."

Alex handed over his staff, Cody his sword, and Zack his gun.

"Thank you. The upgrades will be complete in three days. You have until then to relax and enjoy yourselves in the village as guests. Here, take this as well."

Paul handed Alex a bag with some gold-looking pieces inside it.

"Gold. The main currency of our planet."

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Alex said. They politely bowed, and left to explore.

IN THE VILLAGE

"So, what do you two want to do first?" Alex asked

"I suppose we could check out some of the shops, see what all they have to buy here. You never know what you could find on a different planet." Cody said in response

"Sounds good to me." Zack said.

"Not like we have anything else to do, let's go!" Alex said.

The three took off, exploring many different places and shops. Nothing they saw interested them until Cody spotted a little shop tucked away around a corner.

"Hey, look, a fortune teller! Let's see what kind of stuff they can make up about us!" Cody said.

"Heh, sure." Alex said.

"I'm up for it." Zack responded.

They headed to the fortune teller's shop, and entered. A low, faint ringing sounded in their ears, so faint they almost felt like they were imagining it.

"May I help you? I assume you want to know what your future looks like..."

"Umm...yeah." Alex responded

"Very well, sit down."

Alex sat in a chair, and watched as the woman flipped through a book that was sitting on the table. It looked like it was over 4 thousand pages long. Alex wondered exactly how many pages were in the book.

"Five thousand six hundred and ninety three."

"What?"

"You wanted to know the number of pages in the book, I told you."

Alex sat there in shock. Not from the lady reading his mind, but from the page she had stopped at.

"Hey, can I see that book for a second?"

"What, this?"

"Yeah."

"Sure." She handed him the book.

"Is that...no..it couldn't be."

Alex dropped the book and ran out of the room, Zack and Cody following closely behind.

END OF CHAP. 13

Yeah! New chapter! Finally! Sorry I haven't been updating as much, I've got school to take care of. Expect a LOT more updates when summer comes around, I'll be bored and have nothing else to do. Please check the blog in my profile and comment. I've made a section for the IM character bios, too. PM me with comments, or post them in the appropriate section.

-ARK