Ninjago : The Purple Ninja - Book 1

The Tournament of Elements : Chapter 1 - The Invitation

Katarina walked into the bedroom of her apartment, dressed in her pajamas. As she was about to climb into her bed, she felt something was off. As if someone was here in her apartment.

She slightly turned her head, and said, "If you wanted to visit me so badly, you could've at least knocked." The figure appeared out of the spot he was hiding in, revealing himself to her.

"I wanted my visit to be a surprise, Master of Form." Clouse spoke to her. He stood a safe distance away from her. He took a quick glance at her hands. "I don't think it would be wise to attack me, Katarina. I have my magic at my disposal, remember?"

"Oh, I remember perfectly well, Clouse." She said and fully turned herself around to face him. "If you're here to get rid of loose ends-"

"I am not here to fight you, Katarina," He cut her off. "I am only here to deliver an invitation."

She raised an eyebrow. "An invitation to what?"

"Master Chen has invited you to his Tournament of Elements. It is unwise to tell your friends, especially your father Garmadon, as secrecy is of the utmost importance. If you do," His voice took on a dark, threatening tone. "There will be consequences, which I am more than happy to execute on the likes of you."

Katarina narrowed her eyes. "What if I don't accept this 'invitation' to Chen's tournament?" She asked. A sickening smile crossed his lips, and it made her blood curdle.

"You don't have much of a choice, Katarina." Clouse said. "And since you are going to the tournament, you might as well leave your weapons behind. I know how much you love those twin daggers of yours."

"Don't worry, you won't be seeing much of them anytime soon. I hate to see one of them lodged in your throat, Clouse." She said darkly. He frowned at the response.

"Be there by the pier at midnight tonight. You will see your fellow Elemental Masters there. Chen will be happy to see you again."

She scoffed at the last part. "I'll be there, you can count on it." With that, he smiled and let himself out the door.

With her duffle bag, Katarina managed to arrive at the pier minutes before midnight. She was wearing her old purple kimono that she once wore when she was with Garmadon and Wu, and she fashioned her long hair into a ponytail.

She looked around and saw the current generation of Elemental Masters. She set her black and purple bag down, and walked over to a pair of Elemental Masters who were talking to each other.

"Hi, I'm Katarina," she introduced herself to them. "What are your Elemental powers?"

An Elemental Master with brown hair combed back and wearing red shades over his eyes, smiled at her and sped around the pier and back. He proudly crossed his arms. "Griffon Turner, Master of Speed."

The Elemental Master on his right was wearing heavy metal gauntlets, and pounded his fists together, turning himself into metal. "Karlof, Master of Metal."

"What's your Element, Katarina?" Turner asked her. She shapeshifted in Turner's response.

"Master of Form." She said, and shapeshifted back into herself.

"You're here for the Tournament of Elements, I see. Who knew a guy in charge of Ninjago's noodle empire could host something as big as this?" He said a little excitedly, spreading his arms out for emphasis. Karlof moved aside a bit as Turner did so.

"Karlof never seen so many people with powers." Karlof said. She figured the Master of Metal liked referring to himself in the third person.

"Neither have I! This is so-" Turner continued to say excitedly, before he was cut off by someone else.

"Awesome. I know, Turner." Another Elemental Master finished for him. The trio turned around to see a guy with black and white hair, and there was a goatee on his face. Turner smiled at him.

"Neuro, I didn't expect you to show up." He said, high-fiving Neuro.

"You two must be friends. How long have you guys known each other for?" Katarina asked them.

"A few years." Neuro said to her. "You're Katarina Garmadon, Master of Form. I'm Neuro, Master of the Mind."

Turner looked at her in a bit of shock. "Wait, your last name is Garmadon? As in Lord Garmadon, Lord of Darkness, King of Shadows?" Turner said, surprised.

"I'm his adopted daughter. I've been hearing word going around the city about a man named Lord Garmadon. There's stories about the trouble he caused. I believe my father has been corrupted, but I don't know how." She explained to the trio.

"Karlof doesn't mind you're a Garmadon." Karlof assured her, patting her back a little too hard, making her wince, and chuckle.

The four Elemental Masters perked up when they saw the last four Elemental Masters arrive at the pier. "Karlof never thought Ninja have powers."

"Perhaps they just discovered their powers," Neuro said. "Or maybe they had them for a long while and never thought to use them until now."

Before Katarina could say anything about that, the sound of the ferry coming to the pier caught everyone's attention. When the ferry docked, two men placed down a plank of wood so Clouse could walk to the pier.

As she was about to board the ferry with her new friends, she heard someone tap her on the shoulder. "Excuse me, is this your bag?"

She turned around and saw it was the Green Ninja, holding onto her duffle bag, with his own in his other hand. "Oh, yes, it is. Thank you." She said to him gratefully.

"Katarina. I'm surprised you managed to join us." Clouse said to her. She narrowed her eyes.

"I meant it when I said I would come. It's not like you gave me much of a choice anyway, Clouse." She purposefully bumped into his shoulder as she boarded onto the ferry.

She smiled when she saw Turner motioning for her to join him and Neuro, and summoned her bag away as she walked up to them. "How pysched are you to be going to this tournament, Kat?"

She thought for a moment. She couldn't tell Turner or Neuro what she was really thinking, or they'd might think otherwise of her. "I'm happy to be a part of the tournament. Haven't really fought in years, so this might give me a chance to brush up on my skills."

"So you've the skills, huh? Just you wait and see me speed through the competition. Those Elemental Masters better watch out, 'cause they won't see me coming."

She chuckled, and rolled her eyes at his boastful behavior, not noticing Neuro looking at her with thoughtful but knowing eyes. A look that said that he knew what her exact thoughts were.

"Katarina?" Neuro asked her. She turned her head, a light smile on her face. "Do you want to be here?"

The smile on her face faded, but returned a moment later, along with an expression that was unsure. "Yes, I want to be here." She said confidently, but her tone told him otherwise. But he decided to not press on unless he wanted to risk getting her upset.

Turner, Katarina and Neuro heard some noise coming from the otherside of the ferry, and rushed over to the source of the noise. From where they could see from above, there was a fight going on down below between Karlof and the Fire Ninja. She observed the Fire Ninja's fighting skill, how he was using his fire power to try and ward off the Master of Metal.

The fight continued on before Karlof pins the Fire Ninja down to the ground, about to finish him off, until Clouse told them to stop.

"The Master of Fire provoked Karlof because of a girl," Neuro said to the two of them.

A girl, huh? She thought.

"Welcome to Chen's Island!" Clouse announced to the participants. She walked over to the railing at the top of the ferry, her eyes trained on the island that she would be staying on for a while.

Let's see what you're up to, Chen.