CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Telling the others what they knew about Uriel had gone exactly how Cody had expected. Everyone had gone very quiet as they took in the words, then they had gone up in arms. Questions flying back and forth, no answers were given, and it seemed to just confuse everyone even more than they had already been. Not that that was a surprise, Cody had become used to absence of answers and knowing exactly what was going to happen. So much so that he had become a bit cynical whenever he had a question answered simply or quickly.

Now sitting on the jet that was taking them back to Boston, he looked out the window at the skyline that grew in size the closer they got to the city. Things in the government compound had been strange. They had gotten a lot of work done, had their stats tested—which had needed to be done for a while—as well as having gotten some answers done. However, there was still that figurative and literal dark cloud following them everywhere. Not knowing which day would be their last and how it could come.

I wouldn't be surprised if Uriel depressurized the plane and killed everyone on board, Cody thought. Then again, it seems like Mother Nature and Father Time is his main targets and that we just got in the way.

/Not like that's any surprise/ Phantom replied. /You all seemed to get in the way of basically everyone else that had come through the barrier to Human World/.

Cody gave a wry smile before replying, We wouldn't have been given these powers otherwise.

/You weren't given them. They were always inside you and had been for all Elementals on Earth since the portals between both worlds opened./

Crystal and Zack, who had been assigned the seats flanking Cody on both sides, looked over at him weirdly as he nearly jumped from his seat. The realization had hit him so hard he couldn't help but move. If what Phantom had said was true, then Uriel was the reason that each and every one of them was Elementals.

How ironic, yet so fitting.

The one who was trying his hardest to get revenge on everyone, by taking away their life force, was the one who had given them their powers in the first place. That was his first mistake. Sensing Zack staring hard at him, Cody spoke out of the side of his mouth, "I'll tell you later," he murmured. "Just some ideas I'm trying to work through."

"Otherwise he really is as crazy as we thought," Crystal commented, causing herself and Zack to start snickering.

"Ha ha." Cody rolled his eyes but didn't say anything otherwise.

Once the plane landed and everyone had gone to retrieve their bags, he and Zack said goodbye to their friends before going out to catch a cab that would take them back to the Tipton, which wasn't hard. Many people that came to Boston; politicians, Musicians, Authors, anyone that would bring some sort of fame to the city as well as to the Tipton Hotel, Mr. Moseby—or now Esteban as it was now—would make sure they would get the before any other hotel could get the reservations.

Zack turned and leaned against the outside wall of the airport, watching as quick moving patrons claimed the cabs that pulled out in front of them. Not that the twins minded. They weren't in any rush to get back. Not when there was so much to try and go through, hoping to make sense of everything.

"So you never told me that you and Crys started dating again," Zack commented, lowering the scarf that was tightly wrapped around his neck.

Cody glanced at him before shrugging. "There's not much to tell," he said. "You can only spend so much time with someone before you start to feel differently about them." He bobbed his head back and forth. "I didn't tell anyone, really. The only reason the Jacksons know is 'cause Syd told them. And…I think Christian might've mentioned it because he called back to the house a lot."

"To be sure they weren't getting in any trouble?"

"No, to be sure you weren't getting in any trouble."

Zack's eyes widened. He pushed himself into an upright position, shaking his hair from his face. "What sort of trouble could I get into? I slept more than I did anything else. That Australian sun is no joke considering what my power is." He looked over at Cody, who stood next to brother in a t-shirt and jeans, not seeming to notice the cold around him, though he had to wear at least a light jacket even though his body temperature was higher than that of a normal person'. "I'm surprised I wasn't in a perpetual coma while I was out there."

"I had the opposite problem," Cody remarked. "Being in the cold so much kept me completely energized. It was all Crys could do to get forced to wear long pants…considering all the weird looks she would've gotten from people that don't know she's an elemental."

Zack nodded and faced forward again. He watched as a couple high-tailed it to the cab that had pulled up in front of them. They still made no move to get into a car. While it would be better for them to at least try and blend into their surroundings so that no one else would recognize them—some of the people at baggage claim had walked up and thanked them for what they had done, as if they were war heroes—it might've been easier to get home if they just ran to the Tipton.

Or maybe flew.

Cody could feel Phantom becoming restless as it was. The guardian liked to have a lot of space to fly about when he wanted, having been cramped in the airplane for even a short amount of time didn't do well for his nerves.

"Is there anything else you haven't told me?" Zack continued to press.

Cody wasn't sure how to respond to the question. The only thing he hadn't told Zack about was what he was sure Zack was dealing with all the same. Just as they others were. The post traumatic stress from the fight was what was on the back of everyone's minds. Now that they were going to be going into a battle with Uriel, who by all means was more than likely to be even stronger that Mother Nature, Father Time, Geneva, and Gattaca combined, it wasn't sitting well with him.

"I think all of us need to talk about our fight with Mother Nature," Cody finally said. "And I don't mean just me and Bailey. All of us. There's so many things that we haven't faced and are acting like it didn't' happen. We had to make some very tough decisions while we were on the battle field and keeping it deep down inside isn't going to help us in the long run."

"You're telling me," Zack muttered. "I'm surprised Blazen's still around." He shook his head. "That was a really hard decision to make; he could've been really hurt. But…I didn't have a choice. Not when there were so many lives in danger as it was."

Cody looked out towards the Boston skyline. It wasn't the same as it used to be. Not since some of the higher buildings had taken on so much damage. Though admittedly, the State House was worse for the wear. It would take a long time for the city to return to its normal state, if not the whole world.

"Zack? Cody?"

The twin boys turned around to see that Maddie had up behind them, her hands jammed into the pockets of her long coat, nose buried into her scarf. Though the temperature had been pretty mild back in Washington, D.C. it was already starting to get pretty cold in the New England city.

"Hey." She smiled, lowering the scarf from her face. "Do you guys mind if I go to the Tipton with you?"

Cody's eyebrows rose. "I thought you'd be going back to your apartment," he said. "Get some sleep or something."

"I was thinking about it," Maddie said, brushing her blonde hair behind her ears. "But I haven't seen the Tipton in a long time. And there are some things that I wanted to talk to you guys about."

Now Cody looked confused as he exchanged a glance with Zack. That was strange. Why would she want to talk to us? Wouldn't she want to talk to her boyfriend? Rather than asking, feeling it was none of his business; he merely nodded and smiled at her. "Sure, the more the merrier. It'll be like an old reunion or something."

"Great!" Maddie tried to smile again, but this time it didn't quite reach her eyes. Cody looked hard at her. She didn't appear to be as affected as the others did. There weren't any bags under her eyes, no visible scars, and as far as he was concerned, she slept soundly each and every night. He was jealous, actually. Only having the power of healing, she didn't find herself in battles much, only needed when the time came. He wasn't even sure if she was really an elemental as she didn't have a guardian either.

Maybe she was more like Bailey and Aaron. Not really one of them, but still having powers they couldn't explain.

Not that anything's being explained anyway.

All of a sudden he heard Maddie's loud gasp and felt a sharp pain against his back, propelling him forward. Zack immediately fell into a fighting stance before launching himself forward where Cody had just been standing. Cody whirled around in time to see Zack shove a flaming fist through the chest of a small, black creature with big yellow eyes. It exploded in a puff of black smoke.

Feeling a warm dribble down his back, Cody bent an arm behind him and pressed his finger against his back. His fingers slipped over the skin and the water bearer knew it was blood even before he had pulled his hand away from his shirt. But the sight of the bright crimson liquid against his fingertips immediately drove him into his fight response. Zack and Cody watched as dark shadows moved along the ground before heads started to poke out of the ground.

Screams of terror erupted around the three blondes accompanying the squealing of tires as cars and cabs tried to get out of the way of the hoard of creatures that were all popping out of the ground. Their yellow eyes trained on the Elementals.

"What the heck are those?" Maddie gasped.

"They must be the shadow soldiers Uriel was talking about," Zack remarked. He eyed them warily. "They look harmless though. How can these things be what Uriel sends out to attack us?"

Cody still felt the blood dripping down his back. "I beg to differ on that one," he said. "We can't take any of them for granted." He let out a cry of surprise as a shadow hunter was suddenly in his face. It had moved faster and jumped higher than he had anticipated, actually startling him. Tapping into his powers, he shoved out his right hand and shot a stream of water into the shadow hunter, causing it to implode immediately. "They aren't that strong." He pivoted on his left foot and did an arcing sweep with his right, hitting another one as it leapt towards him.

"Yeah, but there's a lot of them," Zack reminded him. "There must be something we don't know about them." With that, he launched himself forward and shot a brilliant stream of fire, with a light tinged edge, to a group of shadow hunters that converged upon him.

Cody leapt high into the air and moved to the center of the shadow hunters. They all leapt towards him at once. Holding out his arms, his hands started to glow blue. "Whirlpool!" He spun in a tight circle, blasting water out of his hands, the quick tight movement creating a pillar of water that protected him from each strike that came his way. Each Shadow Hunter that jumped towards him was immediately beaten down by the hard water he shot out. However, one was stronger than he anticipated, and managed to break through the water and slash him across the face with a quick rake of its hand.

"Ow!"

Stumbling backwards, Cody reached up a hand and pressed it to the side of his face. Even more blood dripped down. Yeah, he really shouldn't have underestimated them. He shot towards the shadow hunter with blinding speed, tapping into his extra ability to move quicker than a cheetah, and aimed a punch back towards the shadow hunter. But melted into the ground and moved behind Cody, striking him in the back again.

Blinding pain caused him to squeeze his eyes shut.

Whirling around, he swung a fist towards it, but once more, it melted into the ground and moved behind him. Around and around the two went in their manic dance. Zack appeared to be having the same problem, his grunts of frustration perforating the air. Cody continued to swing around, hoping to anticipate where the shadow hunter was going to come next.

/Behind you!/

Cody turned and did an uppercut swing with his fist. It struck the shadow hunter directly in the chest and blasted it into smoke. "Thanks, Phantom," he said breathlessly to his guardian. There was no need to tap into the animal powers he had taken from his guardian nor did he need his guardian to come in and attack for him. They weren't that difficult to fight, just hard to get a hold of.

True to the element that Zack was destined with, he swung around wildly as he continued to try and blast the last of the shadow hunters that continued to do the same evading tactic it had when fighting Cody. Finally, he backed up a couple of steps and sent a stream of fire down towards the ground in a large circle, as he stood in the center. The wave of fire that erupted outwards caught the shadow hunter as it started to pull itself out from the ground, finally defeating it.

"Now, I understand why he uses Shadow Hunters," Cody remarked once Zack lowered his arms, chest heaving with effort.

"Now I understand why he has the element of fire," Maddie remarked, from where she had been watching. She moved over to Cody's side and looked at his back and his cheek. "That shouldn't be too hard to heal, just don't move." With her hand encased in a light pink glow she reached out and gently touched Cody's cheek. It itched where the skin moved back together and the blood immediately dried. But at least the burning sensation was gone.

Maddie then moved on to heal his back, causing him to shift uncomfortably as it was done, before moving over to Zack and gently cupping his face in her hands.

"You have no idea how long I waited for you to look at me like this, Sweet Thang," Zack said, causing Maddie to laugh.

"Good to know that despite everything that's happened, you're still Zack inside," Maddie said to him. She removed her hands from his cheek and gently rubbed her thumb over the tight skin before taking a step back. "There, good as new." She huddled her arms against her chest as there was a sudden gust of wind. "Those things were creepy. And you say that they're the thing that Uriel is sending out to attack us?"

"It'd make sense," Cody remarked. "It looks like a mini-person. It combats his idea of having the power of life." He scratched the back of his neck. "We should get back to the Tipton. Who knows what else will happen while we're out here."

"Right. Let's go." Zack hailed a cab and one zoomed up, stopping a few feet away from running over their toes. The three put their bags into the trunk of the cab before climbing into the backseat. Maddie directed them to the Tipton hotel and they all sat in silence on the ride back. The cab driver, after having recognized Zack and Cody in the rearview mirror, he started talking a mile a minute about how they had saved his family during their last fight.

They had been trapped in a car that was being attacked relentlessly by the arboris. Their vine arms crashed through the windows and lashed at those that were inside, before puncturing the shell of the car. It was then that they had smelled gas, and the arboris continued to attack faster, having caused enough damage to the car so the occupants inside were in immediate danger. Zack had gone flying by, wings extended out of his back, knocking arboris off of the car. Then Cody had come through and blasted the others off with water, causing the gas to freeze compared to the drop in temperature that Mother Nature had inflicted upon the city. The twins had then ripped off the doors and pulled the family inside to safety.

"You saved my life and my family's lives, man," the driver said as he pulled up at the Tipton, having finished his story. "I can't thank you two, enough. If you ever need a way to get around, just call me." He pulled out a sheet of paper with a phone number written on it, handing it over to Cody. "And don't even think about paying for the cab fare, it's the least I can do."

"Thanks sir," Zack said.

The man reached back and gave both Zack and Cody a firm handshake and another 'thank you' before allowing them out of the cab and into the front of the Tipton hotel. Maddie snickered as she walked with them. "You must really be enjoying your celebrity status."

"Don't joke," Cody murmured, his eyes moving around the lobby for anything that was out of place. "It's actually really starting to get annoying. I'm not some sort of war hero that's constantly putting my life on the line." He paused. Actually. That's exactly what he was doing. Even when he was in school he would jump out of class to fight off Wingz Corp on the less often chance of them interrupting their school day to do so. He quickly backtracked his thought, "either way it makes me want to be out of the spotlight even more so than I already did."

"Why not wear a mask and cape?" Maddie suggested.

Zack gave her a funny look. "Haven't you learned anything from our comic book obsession when we were kids? You don't wear a cape, it's too easy for things to get snagged or for the bad guy to pin you to something. And masks are ridiculous? How does someone have their entire identity covered by one tiny piece of plastic?"

"Zack, I think you're taking this a little too seriously," Maddie said to him. She then regarded him carefully. "And you used to be so excited about this, back when it all started. You couldn't wait to go out and fight people using your new powers."

Shrugging, Zack turned away from the girl he used to put former his objectifying attitude onto. "That was before I was directly responsible for two people's deaths and feel this is more of a curse than a blessing." His voice lowered, a serious expression coming onto his face. "But who's counting?"

Cody tired his hardest not to meet Maddie's eyes, knowing if he did he would have to try to explain. But for one of the few times in Cody's life, he had no idea what his twin brother was thinking or feeling. It was the first time he had heard Zack refer to what happened to Max and Koto as well as that he didn't want to have his powers anymore. He had been the one that kept Cody up with non-stop talk about what he had managed to do with hi powers that day, if he was still fourteen years old and as strong as eighteen year old Zack had become, he probably would've pissed himself out of happiness and excitement. Now he could hear nothing but subdued emotion in his brother's voice.

"Ah! Maddie!" Maddie, Zack, and Cody turned around to see Mr. Moseby walking their way, a bright smile on his face. That smile faded slightly when he got a good look at Zack and Cody. Nevertheless he was all smiles for the ex-Tipton employee. "Nice to see you back from your vacation."

"Vacation?" Maddie repeated.

"Yes, yes." Mr. Moseby bobbed his head back and forth. "I got all of your letters from the camp. At least they're behaving better than the dreadful campers you had your first year, right?" He nudged Maddie on the arm, not seeing to notice the confused expression on the tall blonde. His eyes then moved over to Zack and Cody and he nearly growled. "I hope to hear that you two will be staying out of my way while the new guests arrive? Some of them want peace and quiet and I don't want to hear about you running through the air ducts."

"We can't fit in there anymore, Mr. Moseby," Cody pointed out.

"Which totally sucks," Zack added.

"I suppose something had to stop you monsters," Mr. Moseby said. He let out a weary sigh. "Too bad I couldn't say the same for the SS Tipton. All you ever did was cause trouble. Even when you had gotten jobs, I had never had to have so many plastic cups replaced." He glared at Zack, who shrugged. "Have a good day." Stepping around the three of them, Mr. Moseby walked over to the front desk of the hotel and busied himself in the computer.

"OK." Maddie popped her lips. "That was weird."

"That's what we were saying," Cody said as they headed over to the elevators. Passing the candy counter they saw that the new worker was nowhere to be seen. "When we first saw them, it was like we were still on the SS Tipton. Like nothing had changed."

"And that's saying something for London," Zack agreed. He reached out and jabbed his thumb into the floor button to get up to their suite. "She was talking all about how she and Bailey were rooming together on the boat…and Bailey hasn't been there in years."

"Hmmm," Maddie murmured.

Once the elevator doors opened Cody led the way to the suite. Taking out the key—which he was surprised to notice that he always had on him—he opened the door and stepped inside…and let out a bit of a shriek of surprise when his mother came flying out of one of the rooms and enveloped him and Zack in a hug.

"Mom?! Dad?!" Zack cried.

Crushed against his mother's side, Cody shuffled his feet, turning the three around to see that Kurt was standing behind Carey, waiting for his chance at a hug. "What are you doing here?" Cody asked.

"As soon as we heard that Boston was safe we had to come back and see you guys," Kurt explained. He watched as Carey continued to rock her sons back and forth, doing her best to keep from bursting into hysterics. Though from the way she was trembling, Cody could tell she was only seconds away from bursting. "You've done a lot to protect this city and your mother and I are proud of you."

"You know what happened?" Maddie asked.

Kurt nodded. "We were watching it all happen on TV."

Cody's eyebrows furrowed together. So Mom and Dad remember everything about Elementals and Blazen and Phantom. But Moseby and London act like no time has passed since our first year on the ship. What the hell is going on? To prove his point, Cody spoke to Phantom, Hey, come out here.

/Are you sure?/

Positive.

In a flash of light, Phantom appeared in the room, hovering through the air before flying over and landing on the arm of the couch. Blazen noticed his brother was now outside of his charge and came out of Zack as well, perching on the back of the couch and looking at Carey and Kurt curiously. Carey finally let go of her sons, allowing them to massage their necks and shoulders and walked over to the two eagles, who continued to look back at her.

"Thank you for protecting my sons," she said to them. "I don't know what would happen without you around to help them."

Blazen, who had a similar personality to Zack, immediately warmed up to Carey, and hopped forward, offering his head so that he could be rubbed. "It's no problem. It's my job! Zack's my friend and I'll do whatever I can to protect him when the time comes. Just like he'd do for me."

Phantom nodded. "I'm sorry, but I must ask how you are aware of our presence?"

"We met you last year," Kurt reminded him. His eyes shifted. "When we were leaving."

There was a brief silence throughout the room. There really was something going on. Two people who remembered Blazen and Phantom and then two people who acted like time hadn't passed by for them at all. Zack made a waving motion with his arm and the three headed off towards their room under the excuse to unpack. Carey and Kurt willingly let them go, saying they were going to go out and get some food for dinner, to celebrate that they were back together.

Cody glanced over at Zack as he closed the door to their room behind himself, his twin, and Maddie. If this had been years ago, Zack would've been bursting out of his shoes to have Maddie in their room. Even then, Maddie took a quick look around.

"Wow, Zack, I'm impressed. You managed to keep your room clean for once," she said.

Zack sat down on his bed and put his arms behind his head, cupping his head together as he leaned back. He ignored her comment, though Cody could still see his eyes light up at the comment. "So what's going on here?"

"I think Father Time has something to do with this," Cody said. "I don't know for sure, but I think Diamond alluded to the fact that they had brought Father Time over to our world, which made it easier for Sydney contact him. And his moving over had upset the balance of time." He held up a finger when Zack went to speak. "But…I think it has more to do with London and Moseby have never encountered Elementals, but Mom and Dad have." He groaned, running his hands over his face. "This is so confusing."

"It's just something else we'll have to ask Christian or Sydney and Aaron later," Zack reassured him. "Right now, we should just rest." His eyes widened and he turned to Maddie. "Sorry, didn't you want to ask us something?"

"Oh." Maddie's eyes lowered to her feet. "Yeah, kinda."

Sensing her hesitation, Cody looked over at his brother, slightly narrowing his eyes to convey his thoughts telepathically. "If she doesn't want to—"

"No, Cody, it's ok." Maddie cleared her throat. "I was wondering….am I helpful at all? I don't have any powers other than to heal you guys. But Cody and Sydney can do that too. I can't fight. I don't even have a guardian." She clasped her hands together. "So I wanted to tell you guys, if it ever came to it…leave me behind and keep going."

"What?" The word came flying out of Zack's mouth before he could stop it.

"Maddie, don't," Cody said. His hands tightened into fists. "You help us more than you think. You're not useless."

"I slow everyone down," Maddie insisted.

"No. You don't!" The emotion that flowed from Zack started both Maddie and Cody. He was practically glaring at their former babysitter with unbridled disgust. "No one slows us down and no one is getting left behind. We're been doing great with what we've got and if Uriel is as strong as we think he is, we still need you." He shook his head, now speaking quieter. "I don't ever want to hear you say that again."

"OK," Maddie whispered.

Cody continued to stare at his brother.

Zack had asked him before if there was anything he was keeping from him.

Maybe Cody should've asked Zack that question.