CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Zack ran his hands over his face before turning back to his bag shoving clothes inside. Of course it was color coordinated for him, so different shades of a muted red stared back at him along with the imprint of flames that he used to wear ages ago.

He smiled to himself, remembering his obsession with trying to get the coolest clothes as well as feel socially accepted. Not only had he wanted to be part of a crew that really wanted nothing to do with him, maybe stemming from the fact that he felt he needed to be accepted? He wasn't sure. But the Drew Crew was all he cared about after having moved to the Tipton and if it weren't for Max and Tapeworm, everyone he ever came into contact would probably hate his guts.

Zack's hand movements slowed.

Max…

Truthfully, he hadn't thought about her for a long time when he had been on the SS Tipton. He had left everything he had known behind to get on a cruise ship for school only because he had grown to be so…bored with the Tipton and Boston in general. He was tired of having been able to anticipate when an attack was coming. He was tired of having to run away from those that would potentially find out who was someone he could trust and someone he had to avoid a long as he could. The moment he had been able to convince his mother to get them on the SS Tipton he jumped on it.

Being so distracted with the school, class, passengers, his job, the different countries they had managed to get to, as well as meeting as many beautiful and exotic girls from all over the world, his life in Boston had faded away as did his friends. And having seen Max again, knowing that she was then dating Tapeworm; it had been like a punch to the gut.

The two had dated a long time; they fought alongside each other against WingzCorp, and grew with each other in their relationship. Then having gone on the boat and becoming so engrossed in his classes and everything else around him, things broke apart and before he knew it, she had moved on to someone else. Then he was the one that had gone and gotten her killed. No one would be able to change his mind about that. He was being attacked, she was trying to protect him, and she had gotten killed.

Tapeworm had been destroyed by it and Zack did his best not to show how he was feeling about the whole thing. There were times where he found himself in a restless sleep, seeing her image everywhere, hearing her talk to him. Then everything would turn black and he would hear nothing but haunting laughter. If it wasn't for the stress of the life he had been living for the past couple of years, he was sure the dark bags under his eyes would've been from his lack of sleep.

"Do you have everything packed up?"

Zack glanced over his shoulder and watched as Cody moved into the room, his won bag over his shoulder. Nodding, the older twin turned back to his bag and zipped it up. "Do you think all of the training we've gotten has helped?"

Cody shrugged, titling his head to the side. "If you want to call it training," he said honestly. "I mean, yeah, Diamond and Christian have helped us out. They had the new technology that probably did wonders when it comes to testing the limits of our abilities and everything but…I can't help but think we may have been screwed over again."

"What makes you say that?" Zack sat down on his bed, dangling his hands between his legs.

He glanced around the tiny room that resembled cabins quarters on a sail boat rather than a room. It was too small, small enough that he didn't share it with anyone else. Though he had gotten used to being in a room by himself when it came to the SS Tipton, he had been suddenly, strangely aware of how quiet it was without someone else in his room. Especially when they were being trained by the government…

For what?

What were they really getting in return for working with Diamond?

He hadn't explained what any of them were really there for other than being tested. None of the scientists that worked within the facility told them anything. They ate and slept, worked out, trained, sparred, and went about their day as if there was nothing different about their day. Then Uriel had come to fight them and they found out about the existence of Father Time.

Not only that, but that he was the father to Geneva and Gattaca, who's mother was the one that had nearly destroyed them before thinking they were to blame for the way life had been altered on the Element World as well as on Earth because of the collapse of the barrier between the two worlds.

"The fact that we haven't gotten answers on anything," Cody said. He dropped his bag to the ground and crossed his arms. "Christian, I understand. The past may be too hard of a memory for him to actively get over. Not only had he lost his best friends, but he lost his wife and his daughter's mother."

Zack nodded.

"And we haven't heard anything from Core in so long…he went off on some sort of mission last time, but…" Cody trailed off as Zack nodded. As far as any of them were concerned, Core had either gone on e a suicide mission or else he had abandoned them all when times got tough. Not even Christian knew where his friend had gone. "I do have a question for you though."

"Shoot."

"How did you recognize Uriel?"

Zack regarded his brother, bringing a hand up and slowly teasing the knots out of his hair as he thought about how to answer the question. Not only would it help; maybe get rid of his constant plaguing nightmares, but it might bring something that would find a way to help them out.

"I didn't recognize him, exactly—"

"I saw the look on your face, Zack. I'm your twin brother; I think I know what you're thinking on a daily basis."

Zack made a clicking sound with his mouth. "If that's the case then I want to know what you thought when I was playing seven minutes in heaven with that one cheerleader in eighth grade." He slowly started to smirk. "Because I was wondering why your face was so red when I got out."

Cody rolled his eyes although he smirked back at his brother. "I'll let you know when the time for that conversation comes." His seriousness replaced the lighthearted atmosphere that Zack had tried to replace. "Zack…"

"Fine." Zack held up his hands defensively. "Just don't get all whiny on me. You'll start to sound like Mom." Palms suddenly flooding with sweat, he wiped them along the legs of his jeans. "I didn't recognize Uriel, exactly. It was that I'd seen him before. In my dreams."

Cody's right eyebrow twitched upwards.

"You remember when we were, like, six or seven and I kept having all of those bad dreams about a thing that Mom kept calling the 'boogeyman'?" He used air quotes around the word. Cody tilted his head to the side as he thought about it.

Come to think of it, there had been many times where Zack had woken up with a scream or suddenly trembling next to him in his bed. Cody had always teased Zack about it, wondering what it was that had made the older twin so scared when he was otherwise so brave. For a while, Zack had insisted that there was a monster after him and Carey and their grandmother, who had then become frustrated with his stories, didn't believe him and just sent him off to bed.

Cody didn't even know if he believed his brother. While he continued to scream and shake, eyes wide with terror, he had seen the same looks before when the boy had tried to scare him during Halloween or saying there was a monster in the closet and find a way to drop a spider on his head or back, which would send Cody in a twisted frenzy to get the offending insect away from him.

"You've seen Uriel before?" Cody finally managed to ask.

"Kind of," Zack said. He ran his hands over his face, confused. "I've never seen him before. Like, I didn't know what he looked like. I recognized his voice. It was the same voice I heard in my nightmares for years."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive."

Cody rubbed his chin. "Then why wouldn't I have heard it either? If he knew somehow knew that you and I are the strongest, which in some ways people do somehow know, why didn't he just attack you then and there? Or get to me too?"

"I don't know."

"Have you told anyone else about this?"

"No." Zack shook his head, lowering his gaze to his feet. "I haven't. I didn't know who the voice was coming from and for a while I managed to make it seem like I hadn't heard it. I blocked out most of the nightmares or just accepted it…I don't know."

Cody made a humming sound. He thought for a long moment and suddenly stood up straight, his eyes widening. "Hang on a minute; I think I know someone who can help us." He turned on his heel and quickly left the room.

With a heavy sigh, Zack flopped back against the bed, throwing his hands up behind him. Maybe he should've mentioned that as soon as Uriel had shown himself he didn't feel like he was being watched anymore. Like he had said to the Jacksons back when they were in Australia, the only thing that had spoiled his vacation was the feeling he as constantly being watched.

Now he knew the reason why.

Closing his eyes, Zack tried to think back to his vacation. With everything that had been going on as of late, he didn't remember much of it. Had he been relaxed? He was at beach nearly every day, was able to stay in an extravagant house with his friends, less extravagant than the Tipton, but a better house than he had ever lived in, he was able to see the sights that everyone would've loved to experience at least once, and he was able to spend a couple of months with his girlfriend and his friends.

Sure, it had been strange to see how famous they were in Australia, though the way Sydney explained it, they were more infamous because of the advances their parents made in science and the community more than anything else. But being able to see how happy they were made him relax enough. Even Julius showed his face a lot, going over to the house to see how things were going along.

It was the most Zack had been around the guy for the past four years and he was even amused to find Julius quickly switch into a 'big brother mode' and gave the speech that Zack had heard many times from fathers of the girls he had dated. Though none of those men had the ability to seriously maim him at a moment's notice if the time ever came.

No, he was never completely relaxed while he was on vacation. Not only was he worried that someone would come out and attack him at a moment's notice; it had become second nature to him, his reflexes working a lot faster than they had been years before. Then there was the worry about his brother. Sure, he may have been living the dream that he always wanted, to converse with many scientists and philosophers on whatever topics they could think of, pertaining to the theory of Elementals and what could be the driving force behind the power.

Considering the news coverage they had gotten back in Boston, he was surprised there weren't any conventions for them. Much like the Comic Book convention that he would only dream of attending. It was a far off dream now that he anticipated each and every day for the next one where he was to die.

"Please don't tell me you're sleeping," Cody's voice came from the doorway.

"I'm not," Zack replied. He opened his eyes and tilted his chin down to look at Tapeworm, who had entered the room behind his brother. "What's up?"

Tapeworm cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest. "You saw Uriel in your dreams right? Since you were a kid?" Zack nodded. Tapeworm let out a deep sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his soul. "I have a theory of what his power may be and the fact he's been plaguing you this long has basically proven it." He glanced over at Cody to be sure he was paying attention before continuing. "In my dream ages ago, I heard a voice calling to me from the door that led from the Element World to Earth. I had no idea what it was and why I was able to hear it, but I recognized it as Uriel's voice."

"So he's been around longer than we thought," Zack remarked.

Tapeworm nodded.

He ran a hand over his shaved head as he turned away, eyes focusing on nothing. He could still remember the way the words fell over him when he had somehow managed to travel to the Element World. The coldness that swarmed around him, the sinister voice echoing in his head and all around him. Then all of a sudden he found himself in the Element world, watching as little kids ran by, playing with whatever they could get their hands on, their parents doing their chores. He had been in the countryside portion of the world, seeing the castle that Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time lived in. Then he had been to the nursery where he saw Canis after she had been reborn.

Being able to see his girlfriend's guardian look at him, feeling that connection to know she recognized him, was something he knew he would never feel again. Then Max had appeared before him in the dream. And he could feel her, touch her, kiss her. He was able to hold onto her and feel her hug him back. She was there, he knew she was. And yet, when he returned to his own world, it wasn't the same. She was gone; she wasn't going to come back again.

He had seen many weird and impossible things happen since he had awakened but having someone come back from the dead was an impossibility.

But still, he remembered that hallway. The dark hallway with very little light, but just enough to see his reflection in the mirror that had been resting across from him. But behind him there had been nothing but darkness, darkness that was reflected in the mirror.

There was no light; nothing at all, only darkness.

He remembered in his dream having walked down the hallway, watching the mirrored walls. He remembered seeing parts of his past as he walked past the mirror, when he was a kid, when he as a pre-teen, his parents before he was born, the day he was born. They had all been shown to him like a slideshow the more mirrors he passed.

Finally, at the end of the hallway was a door. Having walked in through the door, he was faced with another room. This time there was only one mirror but by the mirror had been a figure dressed in a black cloak and the lack of a reflection in said mirror.

The figure had then leaned in towards Tapeworm and his mouth opened to reveal sharp, pointed teeth.

He took a breath and then whispered, "If you leave I will find you. If you die I will follow you. You're not going to get rid of me."

None of it had made sense to Tapeworm at the time, but now…now that everything was slowly being revealed to them. It was just like opening a door and allowing light to flood in. However, the conclusion he came to seemed a bit impossible.

Maybe not. Tapeworm's eyes widened as he turned back to Zack and Cody. Lightning had struck him and while the smoke started to clear, he knew his idea could work. "Did you guys see what Uriel did to that scientist before he threw him across the room?"

Zack and Cody exchanged a glance and nodded.

"Don't you see? The way he was able to kill that guy so easily, how he was able to defeat anyone that came in his way, how he was able to be sealed away and come back, how he has gone through so many of our dreams and watch everything from the sidelines. The Element Core that Father Time was holding onto when we sent Zack in to reach him. It all adds up."

"Into?" Cody waved his hand.

Tapeworm threw his hands into the air. "The same reason that the legend of Uriel managed to live on for so long and he continued to be able to watch us and, more than likely, be the one that has been plaguing Elementals all together."

"Because he's invincible?" Zack suggested.

A loud scoff came from Tapeworm's mouth. He brought his hands back down to his waist. "Everyone has a weakness. No. Uriel's not invincible. We even managed to harm Mother Nature before things ended. No. Uriel controls the power of Life."

Zack's eyes widened.

Cody made a choking sound.

Life. The very thing that connected everything in existence. The very same thing that could be taken out of a person, animal, or insect the moment there was enough trauma. Even getting to the point of being mentally broken could take the life out of someone. Of course there were those that would take their own life.

Life was a powerful tool; something everyone held and could use at their own expense or the expense of others.

"And that door I saw in my dream…that was the portal," Tapeworm continued. "That was the portal between Earth and the Element World. The true one. Maybe Mother Nature had opened a portal with her own powers. But we know there was a barrier between the two; what if that door I saw was what was created after the barrier fell?"

Zack twisted his mouth to the side. His brain was starting to hurt the same way it did when he was stuck in a math class with numbers, letters, and word problems flying at his head. It was hard to make sense of, but it had made sense. It was another piece of the puzzle that fell in perfectly and wouldn't make sense to be moved. Glancing over at his brother, Zack could see that Cody was thinking the same thing.

"And…I saw Max then," Tapeworm admitted. Zack sat up straight, his eyes widening. Did his friend see a zombie or was she actually there? "I saw Canis too. Canis was reborn to become another guardian, she recognized me. But Max…" A wistful sight escaped his lips, his eyes suddenly misting. "She was exactly the way she always was. Wearing the same things she always did, hair in braids, a hat on her head."

Zack leaned forward, resting his arms on his legs. "Tape…she's dead," he said gently.

"I know what I saw!"

"OK! OK!" Cody held his hands up, pushing Tapeworm way from Zack lest he leapt across the room to reach the boy that could control fire. "If what you're saying is true," he said to Tapeworm, who scowled and turned away from him. "Then it's a bigger break than what we could ever anticipate." His ponytail flopped as he shook his head. "He controls life….so in that case I bet he controls death too."

Zack suddenly had a worrying thought. "So if that's the case, then he can control, like, all of the elements as we've seen." His blood ran could and he spoke slowly as the next words came out of his mouth. "Enough to make a death look like an accident?"

A stunned silence followed.

And in that silence he knew Cody and Tapeworm understood what he had been implying.

"We have to go see Christian," Zack decided. "Tell him what we found out; see if there's anything else that he remembers or could help us out." He stood, starting to pace back and forth. "Then we to tell the others what we figured out today." He placed his hands on his hips as he continued to pace. Every few seconds his hands would start to glow red, but then he would regain control of himself and the flash would disappear once more. "Everything we know about Uriel, Geneva, Gattaca, Mother Nature, and Father Time. The more we know the better so we'll be able to find a way to defeat Uriel once and for all."

Tapeworm made a humming sound but otherwise didn't say anything more. They had been defeated so easily by him and he had barely lifted a finger. And enemies like Uriel didn't go anywhere without an army of those that worked for him. There were bound to be some sort of ambush coming along at some pint. Especially considering he had managed to break into a government complex without being detected.

He pushed the thought aside.

They couldn't focus on their defeat.

"But we're going back to Boston today," Cody reminded him. "What are we supposed to do? Wait for the sky to open up again?"

"If we have to. Especially considering we don't know where the next attack is coming from and where Uriel is actually hiding." Zack cracked his knuckles. "But this time, we'll be waiting for him. And ready."

He hoped his optimism wouldn't get them killed.

A/N: I hadn't done a chapter with Tapeworm in a while, so I thought it would be good here. Now I need to do Pat, No, Reihu, Julius, and Maddie over the next couple of chapters as well.

Yes, Uriel controls the power of Life, which gives him a lot of abilities, making him nearly invincible. And the door/voice from the last story has been explained. More will be explained and now that they're headed back to Boston where Moseby, London, Carey, and Kurt have shown up, things should be interesting.

Cheers,

-Riles