CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Cody rubbed his arms as he walked through the seemingly endless hallway. He was looking for the kitchen, but it seemed that no matter where he went, it just turned out to be another room that he wasn't looking for. Part of him had to give Core some respect, the fact that he designed the building to be hard for someone to navigate if they stumbled upon it, as well as make it constantly moving, that was sheer genius. If only it didn't backfire on him so easily.

He was starting to give up hope on getting some breakfast when he turned another corner and spotted Crystal walking towards him, a book in one hand and an apple in the other. She looked up over the top of the book in time to side-step him, before she walked into him.

"If you're looking for the kitchen, it's that way," She pointed with her apple over her shoulder. "Better hurry, after Patrick gets through there, there's not going to be much food left."

"Thanks," Cody replied. He cracked his knuckles before hitting his palms together. "Look, can we talk about what happened?" He asked. "Between us? Just so we can clear the air?"

Crystal shrugged. "There's nothing to talk about," She turned her attention back to her book and continued down the hall, disappearing around the corner. Cody sighed, his shoulders slumping before he started off towards the kitchen again.

First I get into a fight with Bailey, and then Tape leaves, and now Crys hates my guts more than ever. I'm having such a good day. Cody shook his head. He brought his hands up and ran them over his face, letting out a heavy sigh. He walked into the kitchen, somewhat surprised to find stainless steel all over the place. Zack was standing at the stove, cooking something in a frying pan.

"Do you want eggs?" Zack asked, without turning around. "I don't know how well I can cook them, but anything has to be better than the way that mom made t hem." He added as Cody sat down at the table. Noah, who was sitting in a chair, eating a bowl of cereal pointed over at Zack and quickly shook his head, warning Cody not to eat it.

"No," Cody replied, he flashed Noah a smile. "I'm good. I'll probably just eat cereal or something." He reached out for the box of Cocoa Puffs that was sitting on the table and plunged his hand inside the box. "I used to hate this stuff," he muttered under his breath as he looked at the brown circles in his palm.

"It's better than you think," Noah said. He put his bowl up to his mouth and tilted his head back, draining the bowl of the chocolaty milk. "Especially if you like chocolate." He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and burped loudly. "Excuse me," he apologized before pushing back his chair. "What are you guys up to today?"

"I haven't really figured that out yet," Cody said. He yawned before popping the handful of cereal into his mouth. "Why?"

"Just saying," Noah shrugged as he put his bowl in the sink. He kept his back to the two boys. "If you find anything out, just let us know, yeah?" He walked out of the room and Cody leaned back in his seat, taking another handful of cereal.

"What was that about?" Zack asked as he turned off the burner under the frying pan. He carefully grabbed onto the handle of the pan and used a spatula to scoop the eggs onto his plate.

Cody shrugged. "Who knows? He's always been kind of quiet." He pointed out.

"Not him," Zack turned from the stove with his plate in hand. He went over to a cupboard and looked around before finding a plastic fork and placing it on his plate. "You." He insisted and walked over to the table, sitting across from him. He dropped down into the chair started in on his breakfast. "You're, like, not so annoying as you usually are in the morning."

"Bite me," Cody replied.

"I could," Zack pointed his fork at his brother. "But if I did, I'd be afraid that I'd be infected with your nerdiness." He laughed as Cody rolled his eyes and loudly pushed his hand into the cereal box. Zack watched him for a moment before motioning with his fork. "C'mon dude, I've known your face since we were born, I can always tell when something's bothering you."

Cody hesitated. He knew that he couldn't hide anything from his brother, he had tried and it never worked out. The only thing that was a blessing and a curse between them was that they could read each other so easily. They had that special twin bond that made them able to feel what each other was feeling or basically know what each other was thinking at the same time. It was moments like this that he really hated it.

"Alright," Cody set the cereal aside and rested his arms on his knees. "I ran into Crys this morning and I wanted to at least try and be friends again or something." He rubbed the back of his neck. "I don't know what I really wanted, but I tried to talk to her, and she wouldn't give me the time of day."

"Dude," Zack rested his forearms on the table. He gave his younger twin brother a hard look. "You treated her like a science experiment."

Cody felt his face grow hot. "I did not treat her like a science experiment."

"Ok," Zack licked his lips. "You basically used her for her Dad, because he was able to give us better ideas with Elementals and everything. And then you became really preoccupied with it, casting her aside. If I were a girl, I'd hate your guts too."

"Gee thanks," Cody rolled his eyes.

"You're welcome." Zack replied. "If I were you, I'd just wait and give her time to-"

"But there's something else that I didn't tell you," Cody said, lowering his voice. "Or Bailey for that matter." That got Zack's attention. He froze in mid-chew, waiting to hear what Cody had to say. "Before the whole fight ended…before we found out that everything wasn't really over, Crys kissed me."

Zack's eyes widened for a minute. "Are you sure that she didn't do it because of the heat of the moment?" He asked.

"No, that only happens to you," Cody swiftly returned with a smirk.

Zack merely rolled his eyes. "Well, if I were you, I wouldn't tell Bailey, because that would just make things really awkward for you." He finished his breakfast and pushed his plate away from him. "But I would try to make Crys talk to you, so you can at least get everything out in the open. That way, you can try and figure things out, before it's too late."

"Yeah, I guess," Cody agreed.

"Anyway," Zack pushed himself up from his chair and went over to the sink to put his plate away. "I was thinking of working out or something," he turned around and leaned against the sink, crossing his arms over his chest. "Since we don't know what's going to happen in the near future. But since you're up, do you want to spar?"

"Yeah, why not?" Cody agreed. He then turned and grinned at his brother. "I haven't kicked your ass in a while, anyway."

"Ha," Zack rolled his eyes and led the way out of the kitchen.

Cody got up from his seat and followed him. Part of him felt really guilty, Zack hadn't noticed that he was just making conversation, to try and keep him from knowing that he was hiding something else. That Tapeworm left. Cody wasn't sure how long he could keep that a secret; everyone was going to find out that he was gone. They would probably start asking a lot of questions and he didn't have any answers. The guilt would probably kill him before that point, but still.

How blind could Zack be if he could tell that something else was wrong with him, but not see the big picture?

"Hey," Zack greeted Rhuben as he and Cody entered the weight room. She was sitting on the floor with a dumbbell in her hands. "You working out too?"

"I have to do something around here so I don't' go stir-crazy," Rhuben replied as she set the dumbbell down. "What are you guys up to?"

"Sparring practice," Cody replied. He and Zack took off of their shoes and rolled up the legs of their jeans. "Since we haven't done it in a while. Plus," he placed his hands on his hips. "It's probably better if we keep in shape in case something happens while we're waiting…for something to happen."

"I get ya," Rhuben agreed with a nod. She bent forward and started to twist from side to side, holding onto the dumbbell in her hands, doing an ab exercise. "Do you want me to referee?"

"If you don't mind," Zack said, moving to one side of the mat that was set up in the room. He fell into a fighting stance, Cody doing the same on the other side of the mat. "Ready?"

Cody nodded.

Zack moved quicker than Cody anticipated, but at the last moment, he managed to dodge to the side as Zack swung at him. When Zack used the momentum to swing another punch his way, Cody managed to dunk in time making an audible 'whoosh' sound as Zack's first sliced through the air. Cody leapt to the left, where the punch had originated; Zack wouldn't have enough time to balance again and bring another punch from that side. That gave Cody time to get out of the way of the second punch, which would come from the right at any sec-

Cody stumbled back as a punch landed square between his ribs, knocking the air out of his lungs. He took the next few seconds to heave and hack loudly, sucking wind. He tried to catch his breath, stunned in annoyance and shocked with admiration. He hadn't ever seen Zack be that good of a fighter before. Usually he acted like a wildfire, pun intended, swinging all over the place, not caring whether or not he hit something. But now he was fighting systematically, the same way that Cody usually did.

Zack bounced back and forth on the tips of his toes, arms up and waiting for Cody's next move.

"C'mon, don't give up now!" Rhuben instructed. She had moved from her position on the floor and was now standing off to the side, her arms crossed over her chest.

Cody charged forward, bringing up his right fist to catch Zack in the gut, like he had caught him seconds before. But Cody wasn't as fortunate, as Zack slowly smirked. Cody knew, at that point, that Zack had expected him to do that specific move. A quick jab to Cody's chin made his head snap back, and a shove to his shoulder brought him face to face with the mat.

Cody groaned, annoyed at himself.

How did he know what to do?! Cody shook his head, his chest heaving. How could he possibly know what I was planning? Hell, I didn't know what I was doing! Herolled out of the way just as a fist swung at the spot previously occupied by his head. Cody heard Zack growl in frustration.

"Cody, you're not concentrating," Rhuben pointed out.

"I know that!" Cody snapped back at her. He brought his hands up to his hair and gripped onto the ends of it tightly, before lowering his fists to his sides once more. Zack stood off to the side, his arms crossed over his chest, studying his brother carefully.

"So why don't just do it and fight him?" Rhuben returned, not bothering to comment on his snapping at her. "How about this? What do you usually do when you try to concentrate?"

"Tai-Chi, usually," Cody said. "But I don't even think that that's going to help."

"Hey Codester," Zack started.

"You haven't called me that in years," Cody noted, slightly shocked.

"Something's bothering you," Zack continued. "And I know that that's not a long stretch, because all of us are bothered n some way," he motioned to himself and Rhuben as he crossed the mat. "But that doesn't mean that you should let it cloud your judgment. You told me that, shortly after we first awakened. You have to push everything that's bothering you aside, so we can focus on the one thing at the one moment in time."

"He's right," Rhuben agreed.

"But," Cody sighed, shaking his head. "You wouldn't understand." He muttered. "Everything with this, the Element Stone, being at WingzCorp, knowing that Gattaca wasn't the real thing that we had to beat, it's just…getting to me."

"It's getting to everyone, dude." Rhuben reassured him. "But you can't do anything about it, realistically. You can't just sit and wait for it to go away." She reached out and put an arm around his waist. "I used to think the same thing, that if you imagined that something isn't happening, it'll go away on its own, but it won't." She hugged him gently. "You have to be the one that goes after it, to get it to go away."

"But what if we can't?" Cody asked.

"We will." Zack said firmly.

"But what if we can't?" Cody repeated. "We don't know what we're going up against. We don't know how powerful this thing is, especially since we haven't actually fulfilled the prophecy."

He couldn't help but think back to the battle with Gattaca, where they thought that things were finally over.

"Aren't you scared?" Cody asked without looking at his brother, watching Phantom intently.

"Of course I'm scared," Zack replied with a nod as he took a step back and briefly glanced at his twin before looking back at his guarding. "But the need of wanting to free all of us from this…is making me fearless."

Zack's body emitted a red aura along with Blazen's. A peaceful look came across his face as he floated into the air, next to Blazen. Suddenly they were wrapped in flames. From the ground, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, Noah, Sydney, Crystal, Reihu, Tapeworm, and Cody watched in awe. Although the roar of the flames surrounded them, they could still hear Blazen and Zack talking.

"We will become one…" Blazen muttered. "In the heart of the flames…"

"To protect my friends," Zack muttered. "I need courage."

"We will become one," Blazen and Zack muttered in unison as they glowed brighter. Zack let out a scream as the flames got higher and started to wrap around them until it formed a fire ball around them.

"FUSION FORM!" They called out in unison.

"Fusion Form," Sydney repeated with a grin.

There was a loud explosion as the flames shot everywhere. Crystal and Cody used their ice and water attacks to stop the flames from burning them, waiting for the heat to subside. When it did, what they saw amazed them beyond belief.

Zack landed back on the ground but his appearance changed. He now had red wings on his back and he held his sword in his hand. He had red markings on his cheeks along with a cocky smile on his face.

"Humans are imperfect, and completely powerless. With the power of the Elementals, it is possible to change the world as we please." Gattaca said as he slowly walked towards them, his eyes set on them with deep hatred. "No war, no famine, no suffering. All we have to do is make a few sacrifices. But that's no problem. Human history has shown that sacrifices are needed in order to accomplish anything." Core explained calmly, still with a smirk on his face. "And together with the sealed prince of the Elemental Kingdoms, and the blessing of God, I will change the world."

Cody instinctively took a step back. "Zack can't do this alone!" He said to himself.

"He doesn't have to." Phantom said softly. Cody turned to his guardian and nodded. He gasped as he was lifted into the air and glowed blue. Phantom rose with him as water surrounded them and formed what looked like a bubble.

"We will become one…" Phantom muttered. "From the depths of the ocean…"

"To protect my friends, I'll count on our friendship," Cody muttered.

"We will become one…" Phantom and Cody muttered in unison as they glowed brighter. Cody let out a scream as the water rushed by him. "FUSION FORM!"

Cody landed back on the ground but his appearance changed. He now had blue wings on his back and he held his staff in his hand. He had blue markings underneath each eyelid.

The one with the eyes red as fire, the one with the eyes shocking as sea, the ones whose inheritance the white pure blade. To voyage eighteen years from since they'd come, or the world in their hands would cease to become

"Blazing Nova!" Zack called as he swung his sword. A loud explosion occurred as the tip of the sword fired off a surge of fire at an abnormal pace, hitting Gattaca in the chest. For once, Gattaca let out an intense scream of pain. When the fire subsided, his held onto his chest, his body quaking.

"No…" Gattaca gasped. "It can't be."

"Drowning Aqua!" Cody swung his staff. There was another loud explosion as the gem in his staff fired out a wave of hard water. It slammed into Gattaca, causing him to scream in pain once more, sending him to his knees.

"No, no, no, no, NO!" Gattaca shouted.

A beam of light show down from the sky and hit Zack's and Cody's sword and staff. Electric, wind, and spirit energy moved down with the energy of light as it lifted the sword and staff into the air. As they watched, the two weapons blended together to form a heavy blade that held the attributes of Zack's sword and Cody's staff. Cody walked over to Zack and the two held out their hands as the sword floated down into their grasp.

"The blade…" Cody whispered.

"The ones who inheritance the white pure blade," Zack whispered back.

He lifted his head and looked at Cody. Their eyes met and the two of them slowly grinned at each other. They tightened their grip on the sword and focused their attention back on Gattaca, who was struggling to get to his feet.

"This is for our friends," Zack murmured.

"This is for the elementals." Cody added.

The two brought the blade up above their heads and swung it down in a sharp arc. An arc of light purple energy, mixing the red energy from Zack and the blue energy from Cody, struck Gattaca head on. There was an implosion that knocked everyone off of their feet. The orange light went away as the sky returned to its normal blue color, the black and purple clouds disappeared. The lightning stopped and the sun started to shine once more, immediately giving everyone a sense of relief.

The blade disappeared as Blazen and Phantom left Zack's and Cody's bodies, falling to the ground in their small forms.

Everything was so easy then. But now….there was just so much that they didn't know. But it wasn't that it was the first time anyone had thought this. It was a normal thought that ran through their heads over the years. Were they really doing the right thing? Were they cut out for this? Cody usually tried to push those thoughts away, but now that Tapeworm was gone, to go after Core to see if he could find the Element Stone, it was coming back full force.

"Cody," Rhuben said suddenly. "Maybe you-"

She cut herself off, her head whipping to the side. Her eyes narrowed for a minute and then they widened before she hurried over to Zack and grabbed onto his arm. She then hurried back across the room and tackled Cody to the ground before throwing Zack down as well. Cody's eyes shut instinctively when there was a bright flash of light. His hands flew over his ears as there was a loud explosion. When he opened his eyes, the room was dark, there was smoke everywhere.

His ears were ringing.

Cody scrambled up and felt around for Zack and Rhuben. They were there beside him, getting up as well. He could tell from their sounds of discomfort that their ears were ringing as well.

"A bomb?" He whispered to himself.

Cody suddenly let out a gasp as he was hauled to his feet, his arms forced tightly behind his back. He let out a cry of pain and was forced down to his knees before being shoved onto his stomach. He felt Rhuben scramble to her feet and move away from him as Zack was grabbed as well.

"What the hell?" Zack cried, as his arms were forced behind his back. He twisted his head around and glared at Diamond, who grinned back at him, night-vision goggles over his eyes. Zack struggled to get away as Diamond started to wrap a shiny sort of material around his hands. "Let go!"

"It's Mylar," Diamond said as he continued to wrap Zack's hands. He looked up at his partner, who was holding tightly onto Cody. "It's a reflective surface. So I wouldn't try to turn on your mojo: you'd fry your own hands."

Cody struggled to get out of his captor's grasp, but he was stuck tight. He turned his head to the side and noticed Rhuben crouching in the corner of the room, her hands starting to glow a light purple. He didn't allow the shock of her having her powers stop him from thinking clearly. She had to get out of there, to avoid being captured, they didn't need saving.

"Rhu, run!" He shouted as loud as he could. He sucked in a lungful of smoke and started to cough, tears coming to his eyes. He saw Rhuben hesitate, lightly lowering her arms. "RUN! GO NOW!"

Rhuben nodded before she disappeared from the room.

Cody's arms were bound behind his back and he was pulled back up to his knees, hands tightly gripping his shoulders. Across from him, he watched as Diamond finished tying up Zack and got him to his knees as well. He produced a gun from one of his cargo pants pockets.

"Well, you seem to be pretty healthy here," Diamond said, lightly poking Zack in the cheek with the barrel of the gun. "Last I checked your knee was completely blown off."

Despite the circumstances, Zack managed a half smile.

"Let's see what you'll do if we hurt your brother," Diamond nodded to Cody's captivator. Cody twisted from side to side, but the man behind him tightened his grip even further. Cody let out a cry of pain, feeling his bones creak. Diamond now spoke to Cody. "Don't try anything stupid, we've already got the rest of your friends held up, one move from you guys, and one of them will get it too."

"You're bluffing!" Zack spat.

"Am I?" Diamond replied. He chuckled. "We really don't want to have to hurt any of you guys, but we will, if we have to, just to get you back to headquarters."

"Where is that?" Cody finally asked.

"Like we're actually going to tell you." Diamond snorted.

"Then you have nothing." Cody continued, hoping to use reverse psychology to get him to talk.

Diamond's eyes merely flickered over Cody's face. He nodded at the man behind Cody and before Cody could move, he let out a scream of pain, feeling a burning sensation on the back of his neck. He had never felt anything like it before. Even when he was an elemental and had been burned in a fight, he was able to use his own water powers to heal himself. He hadn't been so badly hurt in a long time; he had actually forgotten what it was like. Cody's eyes snapped shut, and he sucked in air through his teeth.

He could hardly hear Zack's cry of fury.

He heard it, but then the man's screams overtook it.

All of a sudden, Cody felt himself falling forward as he was let go. He rolled onto his side and gasped when he saw the man that was holding onto him.

He was on his knees, holding onto his head; his face was red and his eyes were bulging out. As each second passed, his screams got higher and more frantic. Blood started to leak from the man's eyes and from his mouth. A blister appeared at the base of the man's neck and grew bigger before their eyes. Cody couldn't help but watch. He wanted to look away, but he couldn't. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Zack and Diamond watching as well, their faces showing different levels of disgust.

The man continued to scream, his face a blood red now. His eyes had sunken into his head. All of a sudden, a gurgling sound came out of the man's mouth. Cody turned his head away before there was a popping sound and he felt himself getting splashed with something. The smell of cooked meat hit his nose. He slowly opened his eyes and turned his head back, what he saw, confirming his suspicions.

He, Zack, and Diamond were covered in blood.

The man's head had exploded.

His body lay prone on the ground, chunks of flesh, bone, and brain matter were splattered around, and blood was dripping everywhere.

"Dear god," Diamond whispered. He pulled a walkie-talkie out of his pocket. "Transport them with extreme caution. I repeat, transport with extreme caution. You don't know what kind of powers they have."

It suddenly dawned on Cody what had happened. He slowly turned his head and looked at back, finding his brother staring back at him. His blue eyes were wide and his lips were slightly parted. Blood was dripping down the side of his cheek.

They both knew what happened.

Cody closed his eyes as the weight of the truth fell on him. He didn't know how long he laid there, five, ten, twenty minutes, but before he knew it, he had a bag put over his head and was forced to his feet and out of WingzCorp. He was then put into the back of a vehicle and held still as he was driven somewhere.

They're probably clearing out WingzCorp, taking us somewhere to be tested on. Cody thought to himself, trying to keep himself from screaming.

Cody felt himself being taken out of the vehicle and walked into some sort of building. He walked for a long time, able to hear a few voices as they turned down corridors. He could smell the scent of medicine, kind of like a hospital, but he doubted that's where he was. Finally, he heard the sound of a door being open and was shoved inside, onto the floor. Cody fell heavily onto his side, he blinked rapidly when the hood was pulled off of his head and his arms were unbound. He started to swing at whoever had him, but his arms were put in front of him and handcuffed together.

The door then closed and he could hear footsteps walking away.

Cody took the chance to take in his surrounding; he was in a cell of some sort. But it had a few better accommodations than a jail cell would. Cody heard movement and walked to the front of his cell. He pressed his face against the bars and looked at the cell across from him, letting out a sigh of relief when he saw Zack.

"You ok, Buddy?" Zack asked quietly. Always making sure that his little brother was safe.

"I' m fine." Cody nodded. "You?"

"I'm good." Zack agreed. "I hope the others are ok."

"I'm sure they're fine." Cody reassured him. The two were silent for a moment, and then Cody had to ask. "How'd you do that?" Cody asked in a whisper. "You, like, cooked his head or something."

"I don't know," Zack whispered back. He shook his head fretfully. "I've never been able to do that before." He turned and looked at Cody with eyes so haunted that it made Cody gasp lightly. "If this is what I can do…with my powers coming back…I don't think I want them anymore."

A/N: Since the last chapter focused on Tapeworm, I wanted a chapter that focused on Zack and Cody (though the others are there at some points as well). I'm thinking of rotating the focus on the four of them (three if I put Zack's and Cody's parts together) for most of the story (with side parts of the other characters since I need to show the start of the plot with Patrick, Noah, and Sydney) as the story goes on.

I hope that you guys liked it; also, I hope the violence didn't gross you out at some points. Maybe I should put up a warning for it.

I'll update again soon.

Cheers,

-Riles