CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

"So, you all decided to help us?" Diamond asked skeptically as he looked at Zack and Cody, who were standing in front of him. His eyes narrowed as he studied the two, studying them carefully. He motioned for Cody to close the door to the room that the three were in. "What made you finally make up your minds?"

"Let's just say that getting your leg half blown off can really put an impression on someone," Zack said dryly. He crossed his arms over his chest. "Before we answer your question, answer one of ours. Why did you try to take us by force before? Why didn't you all try to talk to Core or Christian to get them to take us in?"

Diamon was quietly for a long time. Finally, he lifted the shotgun that he was holding over his shoulder, using the strap attached to it to sling it across his shoulders. He turned to the window and looked out it. He turned back to Zack and Cody and lightly rested his hands on the shotgun.

"That's classified information," he said.

Cody snorted. "Having our lives threatened, though by now we're used to it, that's classified information?" He raised an eyebrow and looked over at Zack, who looked back at him, rolling his eyes. Cody turned back to Diamond, his eyes narrowing. "The way I see it, we're the ones that are in the position of power now." His hands started to glow blue. "If you catch my drift."

Diamond's upper lip curled and he moved his hands on the gun, to a position that he was about to fire it. Zack used his speed to move across the room and grab onto the gun, pulling it out of Diamond's grasp. He then moved back to Cody's side and held tightly onto the gun, his hands glowing red. Diamond moved towards them.

"Take a step and this gun will be melted in seconds," Zack warned.

Diamond gave him a look of contempt and took a step back, crossing his arms over his chest, towering over the twin boys. Zack smirked, his eyebrow twitching. He felt at home, being in the leader role once more. He was down on himself, questioning everything that they were doing and their success rate when Cody stepped up and took over. It had been a strange feeling to him, having someone else lead. But he wouldn't want anyone other than Cody to do it, knowing that while they had different ways of leading, they would both be effective.

"Now, the answer to our question is?" Cody placed his hands on his hips.

"We couldn't take that risk," Diamond said. "We couldn't know whether or not we had the right people and whether or not you would help. We've been following those that we found were Elementals for years, but we've found that you two were the strongest ones in Boston and that your friends were strong as well. But you two…"

"Yeah, yeah, we're the strongest elementals of our time," Zack interrupted. "We've heard it before."

"I don't think you're aware of the power that you have," Diamond continued. "That's why we've been watching you all for years. We run a tight operation and we couldn't risk the public finding out about everything. Ever since we were hacked-"

"Hacked?" Cody interrupted. His eyebrows lowered in confusion. "What d'you mean? The government has known about elementals this long?"

Diamond's eyebrows raised. "No one told you?" He asked. His lips slowly curled into a smile. "You must not know the whole story." He snorted. "Some friends you have."

"Explain!" Zack turned the shotgun towards Diamond.

"The way I see it, we don't have time for it." Diamond said, holding his hands up. He looked the twin boys, his eyes cold. "Things are going to go to hell sooner than you think. So if you're serious about helping us…helping the whole world, than we need to get started now and not a moment too late."

Cody frowned. He and Zack had slipped away from their friends, after they had gone to sleep, so they could see Diamond, so they could talk to him themselves. If anything, it was better that it was only the two of them that was there. If it was anyone else, then he would probably be too pressured to talk. It was hard enough to get to Diamond in the first place; there were SWAT members, soldiers, and people that were high up in the government that denied them access to Diamond. Apparently he was a respected soldier that worked for them as well as a spy, so he was heavily guarded. They had the upper hand at first, but now there was a definite power shift over to Diamond and that made him uneasy.

Zack must have sensed Cody's discomfort, because he raised the gun and leveled it at Diamond's heart. "Ok," he said finally. "We'll work together. No funny stuff. We need each other's help."

"All right." Diamond held out his hands to Zack. "Give me the gun and I'll help you." Zack studied Diamond for a long time and then slowly held it out to him. Diamond took the gun and slung it over his shoulder. "Go get your friends; I have something to show you."

Cody nodded and he and Zack raced out of Diamond's room and to their friends to wake them up. By the time they were done, Diamond was waiting out in the hallway, looking back and forth, his hands clutching his shotgun to his chest, his hand on the trigger fingers. His eyes were darting around, as if he was waiting for someone to jump out at him.

"There are a few people on patrol outside," Diamond said when he was sure that everyone was waiting patiently for him. "And there are others around here that are patrolling around some very important equipment."

"Like the weapons you all made me create?" Sydney asked.

"I'm sure there's something just as important as that in here," Reihu said slowly, his arms crossed over his chest. His green eyes looked over Diamond calculatedly. He flicked his brown hair out of his face, his nose twitching. "There wouldn't be a big deal about taking us to this place if there wasn't."

"The lion's right," Diamond said. He studied Reihu, who looked surprised. "Yes, I know everything about you. I know what your life was like before you were taken by Core to be tested on, before you became a part of Wingz Corp."

Reihu sucked in a sharp breath through his nose. His eyes narrowed and a growl came from deep in this chest. Rhuben reached out a hand and placed it on his shoulder. He looked at her and she shook her head, her eyes still on Diamond.

"Follow me." Diamond turned on his heel and started to walk down the hallway. The group of teenagers followed behind him. They were all silent as Diamond led them deep into the State House. Worried tension filled the air the longer that they walked. Diamond shifted his gun to his shoulder as he walked, continuing to take long, strong strides as he went.

"Do you really think that we can trust this guy?" Maddie asked. "We don't know anything about him."

"All we know is that he shot Zack's knee off at one point," Bailey agreed. She ran a hand through her hair. "And that he's been watching us in Boston for a while, even setting up traps for us. But now, we don't really have a choice on who we can and can't trust." She turned to Zack. "What do you think we should do?" She bit her lower lip. "I'm scared," she said honestly.

"What do you want me to do?" Zack asked, frowning. "You want me to go where everyone is and risk getting killed for being different since our pictures are being shown all over TV?" He adopted a mocking tone to his voice. "Or do you want to watch me stand around telling people they have nothing to fear but fear itself?"

Sydney laughed. "You remember." He stated. "You actually remembered something from school."

"Yeah. I remember. Roosevelt. The Great Depression. Sometimes, if I really strain my brain, I can even do multiplication."

"Defensive humor." Cody noted.

Diamond stopped at a door and swung it open.

The smell hit them hard.

"Oh man. What died in here?" Tapeworm said like it was a joke. The joke fell flat. Just inside the door, on the hardwood floor, lay a baby's pacifier.

They stared at it.

"I was kidding," Tapeworm said weakly.

"You should know by now that the things that we joke about are what usually happen," Crystal said. She crossed her arms over her chest as the group followed Diamond down the long corridor.

They finally reached a door and he pulled it open, stepping aside to let them in first. He shifted his grip on the gun in his hands before following them inside. The room was circular in shape and there were large glass cases in the middle of the walls lined the room. In the center of the room was what looked like a pedestal for jewelry.

Riley moved over to one of the glass cases and looked at the gem that was sitting inside it. It shone with every color of the rainbow though it was mostly purple. There cases around the room held the same kind of gems."What is that?" She asked.

"Those are the element stones," Sydney said, eyes wide with wonder. "They had it here the whole time."

A/N: I'm sorry this chapter is short too. Though I do have an idea for a possible sequel for this story, just like what's happened when I started Mystic Melody, over time, I get back into the Suite Life fandom just as easily as I lose interest in it. And I know it's a direct relation to the fact that the show is over and Dylan and Cole are studying rather than acting (not that I'm knocking a college education). So, I'm getting chapters done as soon as I can and though I'm not always happy with them, I'm not giving up on this story and I'm going to see it to the end.

So the way I see it, this story is going to be a bit over 40 chapters long, as I still have some things that I touched on, but haven't really gotten to/showed/explained yet so things will be drawn out a bit, but battles are starting soon.

That being said, even though it was a bit longer than the last one, I hope you guys liked this chapter.

Cheers,

-Riles