I know how long it's been, but there were several ways I had this specific part playing out and I couldn't decide which one I wanted. I finally went with this one. Hope you guys like it.
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Chapter 7
Lion's Den

"Oh, this sucks for you two," Rich said, standing on the dock behind Cody.

"Shut up," Cody snapped.

All three of them were now standing in an underwater craft. It was a very high tech-sub, in all actuality. It wasn't that Cody didn't like water, so loved it. It wasn't even that they'd be trapped underwater for who knew how long. No, it was because of Cody's abilities. Fire and water just didn't mix. She wouldn't be able to train with her abilities while that were down there, in fear of setting off the sprinkler system or something along those lines.

Well, Cody thought. At least Erik will have the same problems as me.

"Welcome," a very deep voice said greeted them.

Cody turned, her bag hanging from her shoulder. Beside Manta was a taller, larger man in a very similar, if not same suit. He had an air of importance about him, giving Cody the impression that he was the person in charge. She decided to bow, showing "respect" even if he wasn't the person in charge. Erik and Rich saw her do it and followed suit.

"I can see who takes their work seriously," the older name said to Manta, thinking they couldn't hear. Otherwise he just didn't care if they heard. He then turned to the three ninja and examined them. "I am Black Manta," he introduced. "I was informed you are the best Master has to offer."

He moved closer to them, checking them over. He spent about the same about of time on each of them, unlike Manta, who had spent much more time looking at Cody. Manta was right behind him as he moved down the line, but he was more focused on Cody, once more.

"And to make sure you truly are strong, we will observe you in the training room," Black Manta continued. He turned to the younger Manta and said, "Show them to their quarters and then the training room."

"Yes, father," Manta said.

So they're father and son, Cody thought, following Manta out of the room. But who did I know that had an evil father that was male?

xXx

For some unknown reason to Cody, Erik and Rich had both been pitted against her for their training match in front of Black Manta and his son. Perhaps they wanted to make sure she really was strong. Going up against two very strong males and winning would definitely put her in a good position with the higher ups.

She had to win this.

Since Black Manta wanted to see what exactly they could do, they were instructed to use their abilities. Cody was worried that her and Erik's abilities to control fire would somehow mess up the ship. The last thing she wanted was to die in an tomb underwater. At least Rich's ability was to control water.

Cody was standing on one side of the room while Rich and Erik were on the other. Black Manta and Manta were standing against the wall to Cody's right, ready to observe. They mirrored each other's stances, standing there with their arms crossed, watching them through their helmets.

Ember bowed to her opponents, who both decided it was a waste of time and just full on attacked the girl. Erik shot a fire blast at her, then propelled himself over her to land on the opposite side of her then he had been as she blocked his original attack. Now she had an enemy on either side of her.

That may or may not have been a good idea on their part. Cody had to admit, Erik and Rich were very strong together, but they didn't always plan out their attacks as well as they should have. What one person did often left the other wide open and vulnerable. She just hoped that would be the case for her.

But Cody needed to make a plan. She had to think every one of her moments through. They were in too small of an area and she was outnumbered. Everything she did had to have a purpose in order for her to win.

Because of the room they were in, Rich didn't have a supply of water to draw from just like that, which was ironic because they were underwater. He always carried around a small vial of water in case of situations like that. She had to focus her energies on Rich first. She had to evaporate his supply, leaving him only with his physical attacks. He was big, but not the best fighter of the three. Once his water was gone, he'd be much easier to take out.

Erik would be a different story.

Just as predicted though, Rich took out his water and quickly whipped it at her. She responded with a blast of fire, reducing his amount slightly. She would have sent another blast, but she had to shift to the left in order to dodge a kick blast from Erik. Luckily, it went straight to Rich. He was already in a corner and couldn't dodge, so he was forced to create a wall of water to protect himself.

Cody would have smirked at the large amount of water Erik's partner has just lost, but she still had a lot of work to do. Rich was closer to Cody, so she decided to go after him first. She punched a fireball at him first before she brought her leg up and sent a blast at him. As he blocked the two shots, she quickly swept down to the ground and in a sweeping the legs out attack with using fire, knocked him down to the ground. Before he had a chance to use what remaining water he had left, Cody pinched a nerves all throughout his body, temperately rendering him paralyzed.

That had been easier than she thought it would be. Now all she had to do was take out Erik, which she quickly had to dodge a bolt of lightning he shot at her. The lightning's impact to the wall behind her caused her to fall forward. She rolled and got back to her feet.

She really hated their ability with lightning. She didn't completely understand where it came from. They main powers were fire, not electricity. But they had the power and had trained to use it.

It was very unpredictable though. It was extremely hard and strenuous to summon and even harder to direct. The most difficult part was trying to redirect it. Cody had learned to control the ability just enough to where if she needed to use it, she could, but she had focused more of her attention on trying to redirect it. Erik had been the opposite, of course.

In order to redirect the lightning, she had to capture the bolt in two fingers on one hand and push the current through her body, making sure not to have it hit her heart, and out two fingers on the opposite hand. It was tiring, difficult and dangerous, but it proved to be her best weapon against Erik when he used it.

And just like they had done many other times in training, Cody caught the second bolt he threw at her, growled as she forced it painfully through her body and out her other hand, directing it towards Erik. He had just enough time to try and redirect it himself, but he always had a hard time controlling it when it came out the other side. His arm flung to the side as the bolt shot out.

Shit, Cody screamed in her head as she saw where the bolt was heading. She jumped as quickly as she could in front of Black Manta and Manta and took the bolt directly in the right shoulder. She was knocked to the ground holder her arm as tears rolled out of her eyes. She hated it when she actually got hit with it. The electricity rattled her, messing up her system and burned the skin where it made contact, but if it had been anybody else, it most likely would have killed. It was all because she could control it was why she wasn't dead.

So Cody was glad she had gotten in the way of the blast of her new bosses. They had to have taken note of how she just jumped in front of them to "save" then from an attack that would have done serious damage.

With an angry growl, Cody pushed herself to feet. Ignoring the burning feeling in her shoulder, Cody raised both of her arms. She shot three blasts at the ground right around Erik. They burned for several moments after impact, leaving just enough time fore Cody to force them into a bigger fire. She moved her arms, controlling and directing the fire into a vortex, drawing out all of the oxygen inside the vortex where Erik was. He tried to stop the flames and the fire tornado, but because he was having a hard time breathing, he wasn't able to take control. Moments later, he passed out from oxygen depravation. He would he find though. He was just unconscious, sadly.

Cody bowed to both the unconscious ninja and then turned to her two bosses. She bowed respectfully before standing up straight and holding her wounded shoulder. She had things back in her quarters in her bad to take care of it. She just needed the word that she could leave.

"Well done," Black Manta told her. He and Manta hadn't moved at all, even when the attack was heading towards them. "I see that you are Master's prized jewel. We are lucky to have you fighting alongside us, aren't we?" He turned to his son at the last part.

"We are indeed," he answered.

"You may return to your quarters," Black Manta told her. "These two will be brought to the infirmary for the night. Feel free to tour the ship, just remember to stay in authorized areas."

"Yes Sir," Cody said with one last bow before heading out to her quarters. At least I know I'm on their good side.

xXx

Conley sat against the window of glass looking out into the water. She would see fish swim by every couple of minutes, but she wasn't really focusing on them. Instead, she was more drawn to her old steel, magic feather in her hands. She was turning it over in her fingers ever so slowly; running them over the sharp edges every couple of turns.

She knew she shouldn't have it out. She knew she shouldn't be looking at it, or even have it with her. She shouldn't have brought it with her or the uniform for that matter, but ever since she had gotten it back from Lucas, she couldn't seem to leave it. It was a part of her. It was part of her that she so desperately wanted back, but knew she couldn't have.

Reminiscing the times she used to spend with her friends and the missions she went on was a bad idea. It only made her sick to her stomach and depressed. They were distractions. They endangered her current mission. It made her weak and she couldn't be weak. She couldn't let Black Manta or Manta think she was weak.

Ember was a hired mercenary. An assassin. She was a heartless follower to whoever paid. And that was who Cody had to be. She didn't like it. She didn't have to. She just had to do it.

"Where did you get that?" a demanding voice suddenly asked.

Before Cody had the chance to look up or reply, she was grabbed by her throat. They pulled her from her position on the ground and off the floor, choking her. Her injured shoulder was being pressed painfully against the window behind her. The other hand grabbed the feather and held it out, keeping it away from Cody, but close enough where they wanted her to see it.

"Where did you get this?!" Manta demanded.

"S-s-storage r-room," she managed to croak out.

Manta studied her, listening to her try and get air. A couple moments later, he slowly let her down to her feet, but didn't let her go. His hand was still on her throat, keeping her in place. However, he was no longer restricting her air supply.

"I found it in the storage room back at HQ," Ember admitted.

Without looking at her, he said, "I know who used to own it." He sighed and let her go, stepping to the side slightly. He was looking down at the feather and then out the window, lost in memories, just like Cody had been only moments before.

"You did?" Cody asked, curious. She knew she had known this guy before! She just couldn't remember where or how! Now was her chance to find out.

"Yes," he nodded. "She was a good friend of mine."

By the tone of his voice, he had cared a great deal about Cody, but who cared that much about Cody and was a villain? The only person that had ever been a villain that cared about had been her brother, and this person was most definitely not Carson. So if it wasn't a villain, they had to have been a hero at some point.

But which one of her friends had lost sight of who they were and gone to the dark side? She couldn't think of anyone. They were all such good people. It was unbelievably that anyone of them could do anything bad.

"I don't mean to step out of bounds here, Sir, but you sound as if you cared a good deal for them," Ember said.

Manta nodded his head absentmindedly. "I did," he said. "She was taken from me."

He sounded so hurt that Cody almost wanted to tell him right then that it was her, that it was okay, she was alive. But this person wasn't good. And they weren't her friend anymore. They couldn't be. They were bad and she was a double agent. She couldn't risk her mission over an old friend that was now evil.

No matter how much she wanted to.

"What was her name?" Ember asked, regretting that she asked it the moment it came out.

"Phoenix," he said. "That was what she went by."

"Was that her real name?" she pressed, desperate now to hear him say her name. She knew if he said her name, she could place which one of her friends this had been.

"None of your business!" he snapped.

"Sir!" Ember quickly said, bowing to make him feel above her. She wanted to show him that she knew she had stepped out of her place and that she wouldn't do it again.

"Get out of my sight," he ordered, looking down to the feather. "And you will not be getting this back."

"Yes sir," Ember said, turning slowing to leave. She looked back when she got to the door and sighed. Manta was looking down at the feather again.

Who are you? Cody asked herself. I'm sorry you've become this person. Cody sighed once more before stepping out of the room, heading back to her quarters. I'm sorry I've hurt you. I really am.

Thanks go out to the following for reviewing the last chapter:
storygirl99210 - I supposed we'll just have to see, won't we!
StillDoll13 - Well, I hope you get that brain of yours fixed. I like your brain too much to have it expolded.
SinistrousDelicious - Yes, yes it is! ;)
Guest - Idk, I guess we'll just have to wait and see. I'm sorry for how long it's been. Hope it was semi worth it.
Molly Grace 16 - Hey, don't worry about it! Look how long it's been for an update. I don't deserve fast reviews or them at all! :(
immortal chord - I guess we'll just have to wait and see, won' we? And yeah, she's not supposed to remember them.
lilnightmare17 - Love the penname, just saying. And I'm sorry for the delayed update! Hope you like it.
PretyKitty Luvs U - Does PrettyKitty Luvs U still love me despite how long it's been since there was an update?...Sorry, read the name and just had to say it! Hope you like it.
ShadowlightStarlight - It is and there is so much more to come!
RiddleQuinn - Awww, thank you! I'm so glad you like my story. I'm so sorry for how long it's been. Hope you liked this chapter as much as the rest.
tiffy - Aww, thanks! You sound so excited! That makes me excited and want to write! Thank you for reviewing and I hope you like the chapter.
Sakura - Oh yeah, I do a lot of equals. If they had done a season 3, there would have been another part too, but they just HAD to go and cancel the show, didn't they! Anywho, deep breaths. Hope you liked the chapter.
Gabriel is busted - I'm glad you liked the last update. Hope you like this one too.
Pygmy Pandazilla - Honestly, you were the reason I updated this story. It wasn't that I forgot or didn't want to, but you forced me out of my writer's block. Thank you for that. Hope you like the chapter.