The Ninjago Tournament of Elements!

Chapter 2

Author's Note: Whoever voted for chapter 1 and the prologue, thank you so much! I appreciate every vote I can get! If you have any suggestions for the story, feel free to PM me! :) I still can't get over the idea that someone other than me actually read this... xD Thanks again!

Contestants remaining: Kai - Fire, Jay - Lightning, Cole - Earth, Lloyd Garmadon - Energy, Skylor - Amber, Karloff - Metal, Tox - Poison, Neuro - Mind, Ash - Smoke, Bolobo - Nature, Gravis - Gravity, Jacob - Sound, Camille - Form, Shade - Shadow, Riptide- water, Twilight- wind

Losers: Griffin Turner-speed, Paleman-light

Jay's Account

Jay rolled over in his bed and groaned. He couldn't sleep. A scene from yesterday's competition seemed to be stuck on replay in his mind. Jay couldn't forget the look on Griffin and Paleman's faces as they fell into that trapdoor. What lay beneath the arena? Was Zane down there somewhere? What had happened to the competitors who had lost? Jay bit his lip, dreading the thought he knew was to come: What would he face if he lost? If only one could remain, what would he, Kai, Cole, or Lloyd have to face after losing? It was a mistake to be here, his treacherous mind thought. Even if Zane IS here, it would be like trading three brothers for one. Jay sighed and forced himself to stop thinking about things he couldn't change. Outside his window, he could see the first lights of dawn beginning to streak the sky. Walking out onto his balcony, he realized that he probably wasn't going to be able to sleep very long, anyway. He might as well do something productive. Jay smiled. He knew just what to do. Something that would calm him down...

After three rounds of Fist To Face 2 (remember Kai's old game?), Jay felt re-energized and ready to face the competition. Just then, an announcement rolled over the loudspeakers in Chen's squeaky, high-pitched voice. "Attention!" He called. "I will send kabuki to your rooms with your breakfast. You have ten minutes to eat and prepare, then come to the Great Hall! We have a wonderfully interesting day of battles and glory ahead of us, so don't be late!" Chen let out another one of his strange laughs, then the speaker crackled and fell silent. Jay waited for his kabuki to arrive. Eventually, his breakfast arrived: tea with miniature tea cakes. Jay grinned, thinking of how Cole must be wolfing his food down. After he had eaten, he took a quick shower. Glancing at the clock, he noticed he was a minute late. He threw on his clothes, then raced towards the Hall. Luckily for him, Kai was late too. He sat down just in time to see Kai dash in and take a seat beside their group. "Sorry I'm late," he whispered to them. "I lost track of the time." "Oh, its fine." Jay replied, trying not to laugh. "But try to be earlier next time." "Hypocrite," Sensei Garmadon muttered. Jay flashed him an innocent smile. "Today's game is called Thunderblade!" Chen announced. "The opponents are..." He paused briefly and drew two names out of a blue ceramic bowl. "Twilight, Master of Wind, versus Karloff, Master of Metal!" The two chosen competitors walked up to the dais. Chen led the way to a rollerblading racetrack. "You have to work with a team, so choose your teammates! Remember to keep the teams even!" "Riptide." Twilight began, then paused. "Lloyd, Tox, Neuro, Ash, Shade, Camille, Kai, and... Jay." Jay blinked, surprised that she had chosen him, then walked over to where Twilight was standing. Twilight was rather strange-looking, with a purple suit and long, black hair with purple highlights. Both Riptide and Twilight had a symbol imprinted on their near-matching ninja suits: three linked, golden rings. Jay wondered what it meant. Maybe they were from the same ninja team, just like Cole, Zane, Kai, Lloyd and himself! "Me Karloff take whoever's left." Karloff grunted with his usual terrible grammar. After the teams were settled, Chen began to explain how the game worked. "Each competitor has a jadeblade. It's basically who can complete ten laps first, but each competitor has to be holding their jadeblade." Jay raised his hand. "What do the teammates do?" Chen smiled a smile that reminded Jay of a crocodile. "Anything." Before Jay could ask what 'anything' meant, Chen rang a large, brass gong. "Let the game begin!" Twilight and Karloff took off on their skates. Although Karloff wasn't the world's best skater himself, Twilight seemed even worse. She staggered and almost fell down at least twice in the first five minutes, and Karloff finished his first lap before she was even halfway. For Jay, skating came easily. All his other teammates were furiously trying to halt Karloff's mile-eating pace, except for Kai, who was staggering along almost as badly as Twilight. Suddenly, Jay had an idea. "Use your wind powers to propel yourself forward! Then all you have to do is keep your balance!" He called to her as he zipped past. Nodding, Twilight closed her eyes for a second or two. Immediately, she was speeding past everyone, even Karloff. Using the wind to push back any competitors who might try to stop her, Twilight finished her ninth lap while Karloff was still in his seventh. And then, the worst possible thing that could happen came true: Twilight gasped, and doubled over in pain, sending her lurching to a halt a few minutes from the finish line. Confusion reigned among her teammates, except for Riptide, who was furiously muttering, "Not now. Not now. Oh, Starclan, why now?" Jay had no idea what 'star clan' was, but Riptide knew about this strange problem. She could help. "Keep Karloff away from the finish line!" Jay called to the team, then skated over to Riptide. "What happened to Twilight?" He asked urgently. "How do we fix it?" Riptide sighed and smiled thinly. "We don't. Twilight has this heart defect thing, and she kind of just has to ride it out." Jay grimaced. That certainly wouldn't help her in the tournament later. "Does it affect her powers?" Jay asked, noting that she wasn't using the wind anymore. Riptide flinched. "Our powers, unlike yours, actually take quite a bit of energy and concentration to use. In her current state, Twilight couldn't pull off a single breeze." "Oh." Jay replied, unsure about what to do, when another great idea struck him. "Then let's push her along." Without waiting for an answer, he dashed over to Twilight and began pushing her along. Soon Riptide was helping Twilight, too. Using this method, they dragged her over the finish line a few milliseconds before Karloff. "Winner!" Chen declared, pointing to Twilight, who was gradually starting to recover. "Loser." Chen announced, pressing a button. Karloff fell down into a pit, screaming. Theatrics, Jay told himself, there's nothing terrible down there. Karloff is probably fine. Chen is just using the traps for theatrical impressions so we all fear him. Somehow, Jay just simply couldn't convince himself. Chen looked at the sky. "Hmmm, four PM already! Go take a ten minute rest, competitors, because next up, we have a fun game of Jadechess planned!"