Last One Standing (Cole Brookstone x Reader)

Spy for a Spy

(author's note~ another fun fact, i love shopping and spending money)

{First Person POV}

We all sat at a large table in a banquet hall. We were served both odd food, and traditional Chen's Noodle House food. There were nine of us left, so we had a special dinner to congratulate all of us for making it this far. I was exhausted. I hadn't been sleeping well for the whole duration of this tournament, despite us having our rooms back, and it was starting to drag off longer than I anticipated it would. How much longer would we be stuck here? What happened if I was the last one standing? How much would it take to survive a day longer here? I had so many questions. And my mind raced. Once again, I found myself missing Cole, despite only us having very short interactions in the period I knew him. I liked our little tea party we had, and I liked that he trusted me enough with the information he had. 

I sat beside Jay, eating beside him while my mind was off in other places.

"Relax Lloyd, even if there was a fight, now that we told the others about Chen's dirty plot to steal our powers, we're safe in our secret alliance," Kai said.

"I tried to enlist Shadow, but that dude's throwing some serious shade," Griffin added.

"Well if you plan to stop Chen, you'll need everyone on board. Each fighter that loses gives him strength. Soon he'll be too powerful for even all of you combined to overcome," the older sensei said.

A chill ran down my spine at his words. 

"It has come to my attention," Chen broke up the whispering between our table, "that there are rumors floating about that I am stealing everyone's power. I am!" 

"Did he really just admit that?" My eyes grew wide at the thought. I looked around to see the others with similar expressions on their faces.

"But it's all for this staff!" He revealed a staff crafted to look like a snake. It had a stone in it that was constantly changing colors, representing the powers within it. "The staff of elements! It holds the power of your fallen foes, and soon it'll hold all but one." My stomach churned as he spoke. "For the last standing in my tournament will win this prize and be the greatest fighter ever in the history of Ninjago!" 

Okay, now this was getting super shady. 

"You lie! What about the spell?" Lloyd interjected.

"Spell? What spell?" Clouse asked, confused.

"Don't believe him, it's just another trick. Neuro read Clouse's mind and saw it!" Lloyd said to the other fighters. "Tell them what you saw Neuro!"

Clouse lowered his eyes and glared at Neuro as he spoke. "I- I don't remember. Truthfully, I'm a bit more interested in knowing more about that staff," he said, diverting the attention from himself. He was sweating, and clearly nervous. 

"And why should we be so quick to believe everything you say? How do we know you're not lying to get the staff for yourself?" Griffin accused.

I grabbed Jay's arm and spun him around to meet my eye.

"Cole never said anything a spell," I whispered accusatorily. 

"That's because you guys talked before we fought. We found out right before it started after you had left to go sit in the stands," he answered,

"Something about this seems really sketchy Jay."

"I know, but you gotta believe me. You would believe Cole if he was telling you this, which he would be if he was sitting here instead of me."