CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

Uriel frowned as he removed his hands from his forehead.

He could sense it. The time had finally come for things to get interesting. No matter, he thought as he brought his bony fingers through his hair. It's nothing I haven't faced before. I have come across many that were much stronger than these kids and this time around, I have more power on my side. Should be fun, nonetheless. A cruel smirk curled at his lips seconds before a manic expression came to his eyes. Turning on his heel he lifted a hand and watched as the floor in front of him started to wriggle and writhe beneath him as he lifted himself up off the floor.

His Shadow Hunters continued to pile on top of each other by the hundreds as he instructed them to. They opened their jaws, yellow eyes glowing as bright as the sun, teeth as sharp as razor blades. As they continued to pile they hissed and scratched at each other, enticing their bloodlust even more than Uriel could imagine. That would bode well for him.

Lowering his hands he glided up through the ceiling until he was hovering over the city. As far as he could see there was chaos and destruction, smoke billowing out from smoldering buildings as far as the horizon, he could see those under his control doing their patrols for other Elementals and their accomplices as they had managed to come out of his grasp. As it was, he already had enough of them that had their lives taken away to give him a sense of security in some point, but he knew not to underestimate them.

This was Mother Nature and Father Time he was talking about; the ones that had managed to banish him from his world a lot easier than he had ever anticipated. Anger stirred through his belly like a boiling pot of water. If they were going to kick him out of his home, just for trying to make it a better place for all of them to live, then he could show them the mistake they made. He was just as strong as they were and if he had to create the place for them all to live in harmony then he could do that elsewhere.

If only they hadn't gotten those meddling Elementals in the way. Like a prophecy is going to stop me, Uriel thought, his eyebrow twitching upwards. It hasn't before and it certainly won't now. He tilted his head back and pointed his hands towards the sky, allowing dark clouds to come in. He had to set the mood for his guests.

They were going to be arriving soon.

Bailey stretched her arms across her chest then stretched them above her head. Turning around, she picked up the book of Esme and ran her hand along the front. The tension surrounding them had changed overnight. Now it was as serious as life or death…with herself and the rest of her friends unsure of what the outcome was going to be. There was a great chance one or all of them would die, no telling who it was, but the chance was still great. The thought of never seeing her parents, her grandparents, her sisters, or her farm every again was worse now than it was when she was on the SS Tipton.

On the SS Tipton she was still filled with wide-eyed wonder that couldn't be rivaled even by her greatest thirst of knowledge. Once the school year ended she knew she would be going back to Kettlecorn and start her life on the farm all over again before going back to the SS Tipton. This time…this time she knew she may not make it back to Kettlecorn or her family and it didn't bother her so much. Not when she knew she was potentially giving up her life for the greater good of the world.

Besides, by now all of Kettlecorn may have been destroyed, she thought. Continuing to run her hand over the leather bound book she took in a deep breath and closed her eyes. If there's any way you can help me through this fight, Aeon, I'd greatly appreciate it. She took a deep breath, wondering how she had managed to make her life get so twisted and turned. She thought she was just going to go on the SS Tipton to get an even better education that Kettlecorn could ever give her…

…and then she ended up putting her life in danger, fell in love with someone, broke up with said person she fell in love with, found out she was a reincarnate of sorts from the Element World, and was now willing to give up her life to keep the rest of the world from losing their lives as well.

If she had told herself she would do all of that when she first stepped on the SS Tipton…she probably would've been a bit excited, honestly. To know she was destined for more than the school, to help people in ways she could never imagine was her life's goal. Now if only she could keep confidence within herself to save everyone.

"Bailey?" She turned around and hugged the book of Esme to her chest as Zack and Cody came into the room behind her. The twins had identical serious expressions on their face and Bailey knew it was time to go. Time to see if they were able to defeat Uriel once and for all. "Are you ready to go?"

"No," she said honestly. "I don't think I'll ever be ready for this. But I know I have to do this." She took a deep breath and looked back and forth between the two boys. "I bet you two are ready to go. You've been doing this for a long time."

"Yeah, and I'm ready for it to end," Zack remarked, crossing his arms over his chest, a light snort escaping his lips. "No more waiting to see if I'm going to have my head knocked off my shoulders just by stepping out the front door."

"Please, that happens to me on a daily basis because of the stench from your socks," Cody muttered. "And I'm still alive. I think you're going to be fine." He patted Zack on the shoulder before turning back to Bailey. He reached out and gently tapped the back of the book that was clutched to her chest. "Make sure you have a tight grip on that, we can't have it fall into Uriel's hands."

"I have it, don't worry," Bailey said. She nodded firmly. "Do you have the Oracle Element?"

"Diamond and the others will hold onto it before we need it, just so that doesn't fall into the wrong hands either." Cody licked his lips for a moment before turning his gaze to his feet. "Look, Bailey, in case something happens…I wanted to apologize for everything that happened. I know you didn't really understand what we were doing and the decisions I had been making, but I shouldn't have taken it out on you when you tried to talk to me about it."

Bailey sighed and gently shook her head.

"I should have apologized a while ago and maybe things would've worked out better between us but—"

"—I think things are fine just the way they are," Bailey interrupted him. "I wouldn't have figured out what I am…how I can help…how I'm more than just a little farm girl that wants to see the world." She gave him a small smile, one that used to drive him crazy. "So what things didn't work out between you and me? I'd rather you as my friend and someone I know I can put my life in his hands than anything else." Cody returned her smile and walked over to her, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. Bailey hugged him back, doing her best to keep her tears at bay. Once the hug ended she moved onto Zack and hugged him just as tightly as she hugged Cody.

Zack could be selfish, obsessive, money hungry and annoying, but throughout the past few years she had seen how seriously he took his responsibility as an Elemental, as part of the prophecy, and as the 'leader' of their team. If there was anyone else she would trust with her life other than Cody, it would be Zack without a doubt.

"I don't know if we'll ever figure out how to get this stuff to work, but we have no choice but to try," Zack said once he let go of Bailey. "Uriel is stronger than anything we've ever faced or may ever face but we can't stop until something is done to defeat him."

It was then the butterflies erupted into Bailey's stomach, causing her to tighten her grip on the book once more. This was it. They were about to take their first steps into what could be the rest of their lives, which admittedly could be quite painful. She wasn't so scared about death in general as it was the way of life, but how painful it would be before she was given peace was the part she was scared about. At least now she was getting the chance to say goodbye.

I see it is what's troubling you the most, Geneva said through Bailey's thoughts. I can't imagine how you humans feel about the sort of things.

Those of us that live in the Element World are not afraid of such things, Gattaca said. We know we all serve a purpose and once that purpose has been served it is time for us to leave. Guardians, Elementals, and Humans alike. However there are those that have rebelled against the Element Kingdom for that fear alone and are now considered traitors amongst our Kingdom.

Are we traitors too? Bailey asked.

She could hear chuckling move through all portions of her head; from Geneva, Gattaca, and Aeon. No, child, Aeon said to her. Earth works differently than the Element World does. Your morals and values are slightly different than ours. Do not worry yourself about it.

What else was there for her to worry about?

The question along nearly made her laugh out loud.

Instead, she focused Zack and Cody with the most confident smile she could muster. "If we're the only ones who can do it, then so be it. We have a prophecy to fulfill and we're the only ones that can do it. If I back out now then that means everything we've ever done, our friends have gone through, would have been for nothing. And I can't be responsible for that."

A grin then slid across Zack's face and for the first time in a long time, he felt as he did when he first gained his powers. Powerful, invincible, and ready for a fight. Cody's smile matched his own and the confidence the twins managed to exude washed over Bailey as well.

She was ready to see what she was made of.

Cody sucked in a breath as he, Zack, and Bailey met up with their friends on the roof of the compound Christian and Diamond had commandeered to finish their project. The tests had been finished, they were at their highest levels of energy and power, and truthfully, the only thing that would stop them from defeating Uriel was themselves. All of them appeared just as prepared as he was, but he could see there were some instances of worry and fear that would flash over them every now and then.

Especially over Max's face. She had only just been resurrected after having been dead for so long…the danger that she was running into once more was real and he could see it worrying her. Even Canis, who stood at her side, rocked back and forth on her heels, chewing at her foot. From where they were within the bunker explosions could be heard, each low rumbling causing the guardian to grab onto Max's arm, as if she were seconds away from losing her once more.

Koto, on the other hand, had an expression of indifference on his face, the same expression he always held when Cody and the others had encountered him before. This time, however, he could see the wolf's hand shaking as he lit a cigarette and stuck the unlit end into his mouth. His death had to have had a bigger effect on him than he had originally thought. Cody's eyes shifted over towards Core as he stood behind Koto and Reihu and blinked in surprise. As the man noticed Koto's movement, a flash of something…flickered over Core's face.

Cody wasn't entirely sure, but it looked like guilt, or maybe regret. Reihu had mentioned something before about how he had, in a sense, seen Core as his father throughout the work they had been doing with WingzCorp. Maybe Koto felt the same way, with the two of them having a sense of loyalty to the man despite his actions towards the Elementals. But even they found everything wasn't as it was seemed when Core's actions had been discovered.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Cody asked them, knowing there never truly was a way for anyone to be ready for things like this. Once he received confident nods in response he let out another deep breath. "Good, so we all know the plan. Thanks to the scanning system that Christian and Reed created it will let us know through our watches if a portal to the Element World opens up once more. As well as being able to let us know how many of his cronies are closing in on us."

"Then we'll split up into two groups," Zack added. "Bailey, Cody, Maddie, Julius, Sydney, Aaron and I will go straight for Uriel. Max, Crystal, Tapeworm, Riley, Rhuben, Patrick, and Noah will fend off those that are trying to keep us from getting to him. Koto and Reihu will work with Christian, Reed, Renee, Kristin, and Core to keep Project ATOM safe until it is needed as well as monitoring our progress as things go along. Diamond, will help wherever he feels it's needed."

There was the sound of the action of a gun being pumped and all eyes turned towards Diamond who sat in the corner of the room, holding onto a shotgun. His eyes flashed as an amused smile came onto his face. "I think I'll find a place to be useful."

"And what are the rest of us supposed to do?" Mr. Moseby demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Uh…sit back and don't get in the way?" Aaron said as if it were obvious. Cody was glad that the young boy couldn't see or else he would've taken a large step back from the glare and growl the hotel manager sent his way.

"You can't expect us to sit and watch all of this happen," London declared, eyebrows furrowing together. "We've done that before, we even got captured, there's something we can do." She thought for a moment before her eyes lit up. "I know! I'll call Daddy and get him to bring out my private fighter jet."

"You own a fighter jet?" Kurt asked her.

Carey lifted a hand. "You know how to fly a fighter jet?"

The hotel heiress blinked innocently. "Doesn't everyone own one? You never know when you'll have to defend your assets." She then rolled her eyes. "And I don't fly it; I have my Daddy's personally military men to do it for me." A bright grin flashed across her face as she crossed her arms over her chest, waiting for confirmation that she was going to be a big help in their fight.

"Is it pink?" Maddie asked slowly.

"Actually, it's more of a salmon color…"

Esteban slowly leaned over towards Carey, Kurt, and Mr. Moseby, keeping his voice low. "Let's hope her Daddy doesn't suddenly want to run for President or else we'll all be in trouble." The three adults nodded before he turned back to the group of teens and gave a salute. "Wherever you want me, I'll be glad to be of service to my little blonde peoples."

"Please just be safe," Kristin said, clasping her hands together. "That's all we want from you right now. To be safe."

Akito nodded and hummed in agreement, his voice rolling in his chest. Beside him, his fox nodded before sitting down with his hind legs, silvery eyes gazing along the elementals, as if trying to give them every secret to defeat Uriel it could think of. The Japanese man reached out and ran his fingers over the fox's head before snapping his fingers and the fox disappeared in a flash of silver light that wafted over the heads of those in the room before disappearing completely.

Cody sucked in a deep breath through his nose. We can do this, he thought. There're so many more of us than there is to him. We've come a long way all these years and we know what to do and what not to do to get the upper hand. We've come back from so many fights we didn't think we could ever win. We can do this with everyone on our side.

"Syd, can you teleport us out of here?" The water Elemental asked him. When Sydney gave him a funny look he insisted. "You know, like you did out of the plane?"

"Oh, that wasn't me, that was Aaron," Sydney commented, gently moving his cousin forward. "We combined our powers, but he's the one that can actually teleport." He gripped Aaron's shoulder hard. "Do you think you can do this?"

"I've always been ready."

Sydney nodded back before turning to his mother and father and wrapped his arms around their waists, giving them a tight hug. Cody knew what the hug was for, just in case they didn't come back. But he didn't think he'd be able to do it with his own parents, he knew he would break down and not allow himself to go. He had already lost them once before because of them finding out about his powers, he couldn't imagine what would happen if he or Zack were killed or if his parents were taken away in turn. He'd go crazy, lost control of his powers; try to obliterate anything standing in his way.

/Channel that anger into your fighting, Cody, and you will become stronger than ever/ Phantom said to him. /Nothing can stop you if you put your mind to it./

If only that were true for everything, Cody replied with a light roll of his eyes. But he knew Phantom was speaking the true, having been there on his side for the past four years. To know it would all end within a few minutes could be the deciding factor on everything. Though he also wasn't sure what he would do with his powers once it was all done, it was fun to use before when he was first learning how to control it, but now it was a bit of a monotonous thing. How ironic. Instead of thinking about what we're about to do I'm thinking about how mundane my life will be one it's all over.

/People have different coping mechanisms, Master Cody, don't blame yourself for the way you cope/. Cody could practically see his guardian giving him a knowing smile of comfort.

"Let's go."

At Zack's two word sentence, tension filled the room. A serious tension that alerted the others it was time for them to say goodbye, maybe for the last time. Cody felt his resolve break and immediately turned to his mother wrapped his arms around her. Carey let out a low sound that suspiciously sounded like a masked sob and ran gently stroked the back of his head with the palm of her hand. All of a sudden Cody felt as if he were five years old again, having just been scared by a big dog that had chased him around—or Zack in some sort of a costume that really was not funny—and Carey taking care of him, brushing away his tears and murmuring words of comfort until he was smiling again.

He wasn't going to be smiling for a long time.

Turning his head the other way, Cody was surprised to find Zack holding onto Kurt with as much suppressed emotion Cody was holding onto Carey. Despite the two men being close in height, Zack rested his cheek on Kurt's shoulder and looked back at Cody. The twins' eyes met and the same thought flashed through their heads. If they died at least it was to protect them.

Finally, the teens finished their goodbyes and Sydney called out his staff. He lifted it high into the air and his eyes glowed in a bright white light before the entire group was covered in the same light, exuding out into a dome that encompassed the group just as it had done on the plan. Cody immediately flashed back to when he had traveled through the darkness with Rhuben and the pressure and feeling of depression that pressed upon him on all sides. This time it was different; it was filled entirely with warmth.

Cody barely got a chance to bask in it before he found himself standing in the middle of an empty street, dilapidated buildings set up around him. Uriel's reach had gone further than he or the others had originally realized. The thought alone was horrifying.

"Guys, we've got incoming!" Patrick declared. He had already slid his wings out of his back and was up in the air, sharp eyes gazing in the distance. "There're a lot of his Shadow Hunters…and some other Elementals as well." As soon as the last words came out of his mouth, he dive-bombed towards the ground as a large boulder went flying overhead and crashed into the building behind them, sending glass raining down around them.

Bringing his arms up over his head, Cody shielded himself from the tiny shards of glass and glanced up, a sudden shock of fear rolling through him when he saw the wave of darkness coming towards him. They were the Shadow Hunters; he could see them clearly due to his enhanced eyesight. With them he saw numerous Elementals coming their way, guardians at their sides, dark scowls on their faces as the charged them.

Tapeworm frowned and his hands immediately glowed green. He placed his hands palms on the asphalt and lifted them up, a boulder that was twice the size that shot towards Patrick, lifting up. With a cry of effort, he shot the boulder back towards the army coming their way. The group watched as the boulder crashed directly into some Shadow Hunters and immediately knocked out five of them, causing them to implode in wisps of smoke. But for those ones they managed to defeat, two more popped up in its place.

Then the Shadow Hunters and Elementals were upon them. Cody quickly summoned his battle outfit and his water staff and shot a stream of water over towards the Shadow Hunters that surrounded him. Then he realized how some of them were different than the ones they had come across before; some of them were small and appeared cute, but others were bigger and appeared more vicious, with red eyes rather than yellow, and long teeth that protruded from their mouths, as sharp as knives. Ducking his head out of the way as a large claw came shooting towards him; Cody turned his back on another Shadow Hunter and felt its claws rake down his back.

"Gah!" The cry escaped Cody's lips before he could stop it and he whirled back around to strike the one that had shot him and got himself attacked once more. The Shadow Hunters were stronger than he thought and being backed by the Elementals made it even more difficult to fight. Phantom suddenly appeared beside him in his beast form and started to glide through the air, slashing through the Shadow Hunters in front of him. The other guardians followed his lead and they started to attack the guardians of the evil Elementals that were attacking them.

"Riptide Rush!" A jet of water shot from the gem atop Cody's staff and shot through the stomach of three Shadow Hunters before he whirled around on the balls of his left foot and struck another one in the face, propelling it away from him.

He felt a sudden rush of heat behind him and turned around to see Zack making quick work of the Shadow Hunters that came his way. Blazen shot down over the Shadow Hunters and crashed through the ones that surrounded his ward. Cody took the small moment of reprieve to look around the clearing, all of his friends were fighting as hard as they could, but he could see it wouldn't help.

There were too many Shadow Hunters and Elementals that were surrounding them to come even close to Uriel. They had to break apart sooner than originally planned or nothing was going to change. Zack seemed to have been able to read Cody's mind for after striking the blade of his sword through the head of a Shadow Hunter he turned towards the direction they came.

"Can you hold em' off, Blazen?" Zack asked as the space around him become clearer. He turned and glared in the direction of Uriel. "I have someone I need to have a word with."

A/N: I'm 90% sure I've spelled Crystal's mother's name three different ways throughout this story. Food for thought…

Anyway, I'm excited for you guys to see what happens next.

Cheers,

-Riles