The Ninjago Tournament of Elements!

Chapter 4

Contestants remaining (14): Kai - Fire, Jay - Lightning, Lloyd Garmadon - Energy, Skylor - Amber, Tox - Poison, Neuro - Mind, Ash - Smoke, Bolobo - Nature, Gravis - Gravity, Jacob - Sound, Camille - Form, Shade - Shadow, Riptide- water, Twilight- wind

Losers (4): Griffin Turner-speed, Paleman-light, Karloff-metal, Cole- Earth

Lloyd's Account

Some people liked crowds and the throbbing, pulsing sensation of being completely surrounded by other. Lloyd, however, did not. The feeling of people pressing closer, moving in a thick, spaceless pack... Lloyd shuddered. He'd never admit it, but he'd always had a slight sense of claustrophobia. Right now, in the midst of the mass of contestants heading back to their suites, Lloyd wished he could break free of the mob and run away more than ever. Stuck in the middle of the group, everyone pushed and shoved him out of the way, vying for place near the front where they could find their room more easily. Lloyd sighed in relief as the crowd began to dissipate, competitors finding their rooms. Alone at long last, Lloyd looked for his door number. He grimaced when he realized that, swept along by the stampede, he had passed his door. It was going to be a long walk back, he thought. He began to turn back when the last bit of a sentence caught his attention. "...can't stay hidden forever." Abruptly, Lloyd stopped walking and pressed his ear to the door where the voice had come from, squinting through the door crack to see inside. Another voice, one he identified as Twilight, spoken in a frustrated tone. "You know what Sensei said! We need to keep them a secret for as long as we possibly can. If someone were to discover us..." Another Sensei? Could these girls possibly be from another ninja team? It wasn't altogether impossible, but how come he'd never heard of them? Did they prefer to remain incognito? Or were they a team of thieves who just called themselves ninja? What secret did they have, that they were so afraid of discovery? Lloyd, in true ninja style, glanced around. There was nobody else in the hallway. Slowly, cautiously, he peeked under their door, seeing into the Master of Wind's room. To his surprise, she and Riptide were running around a complicated obstacle course while they talked. Suddenly, Twilight sighed. "I wish Cole hadn't been eliminated yesterday. I mean, not that I'd want you to lose, but if some other competitor had gone in his stead, I would've appreciated it. Specifically, another competitor named Skylor. She's got something not quite right about her, and her thoughts aren't exactly great for us, either." Riptide snorted. "So I gathered. You risked discovery to try to keep that ninja from losing! I was wondering if you'd lost your mind!" Riptide grinned slyly. "You only did that because you like Kai." Twilight winced. "Ok, ok, maybe a little... But not much. And it won't stop me from winning." She grunted. "And in all honesty, Twi, I think Tox should've been kicked out." Riptide continued. Twilight grinned. "She and Illusion just share the same poison element. You might as well hate Bolobo." Riptide huffed. "Illusion is a jerk, and I'm willing to bet all her siblings are, too." Twilight shrugged. "Well, I wouldn't know. I've never met the Poison Master." Hiding behind the door, Lloyd was confused. Illusion? Who was that? Again, the 'discovery' topic irked him. Discovery of WHAT? Save Cole from losing? What did she mean by that? A thought occurred to him: could she be behind the ice that had stopped Cole from falling? He shuddered. She was the Master of Wind, not ice! Could she have TWO elements? Lloyd pressed his ear against the door, hoping to hear more, but just then, Chen's voice rang out. "Attention, remaining competitors!" He cackled. "Get on your armor, cause it's time to play Dodge Bomb! You have five minutes, and remember, we'll be eliminating not one, but THREE competitors!" Lloyd grimaced. He knew he wouldn't be able to hear anything new from Riptide and Twilight's room, so he raced back to his room to change into his ninja suit. By the time he got there, there were only two and a half minutes left. Lloyd threw on his suit and ran towards the tournament hall. Luckily, he was the first one there, of his team, at least. He smiled and sat down, calmly sharpening the knives he had brought. Chen watched him like a hawk, his eyes carrying the all-too-familiar gleam of a predator watching prey. Lloyd shifted uneasily. He didn't like Chen's look, and he most certainly didn't like the fact that Chen seemed to be targeting his team. Once most of the elemental masters had arrived, Chen began explaining the challenge. "It's exactly like dodgeball, except instead of balls, we have paint bombs! If they touch something not covered in metal, they'll explode! I have handguards for everyone, so you can catch and pick up the balls! If you get hit... You're covered in paint, and you're out! The last three masters standing get invincibility for the next challenge, which they will not have to participate in! The other people will have to continue on to a new challenge, in which the winners will win invincibility, too! The losers will continue to yet another challenge, but the losers of that..." Chen left the thought unfinished with a malicious chuckle. Lloyd swallowed. He sure knew that he wanted to win now so he could relax for the rest of the mini-tournament. Chen led the way to a room completely lined with metal, from the slippery-looking floors, to the arcing walls, to the domed ceiling. Chen passed out metal handguards, and carefully sent the paint balls on the middle line of the room. "Everyone, touch a wall!" Chen shrieked, eager for the game to begin. "Team 1 is Gravis, Kai, Camille, Shade, Riptide, and Twilight! Team 2 is Jacob, Jay, Lloyd, Skylor, Tox, Neuro, Ash, and Bolobo! Team 1 to the right wall, Team 2 to the left wall!" He backed out of the room, then scrambled up onto a balcony where he'd be safe from the paint bombs. "Begin!" He bellowed. Lloyd hesitated, not running to grab a paint bomb. He knew he'd be safer away from the front, where people couldn't easily hit him. The game erupted into chaos, with competitors throwing paint bombs everywhere. One exploded by Lloyd's head, barely missing him. He heard Chen yell, "Out!" as Ash was hit. The ground disappeared from under his feet, and Ash reappeared in the balcony next to Chen's. Lloyd noticed a paint bomb by his feet. He grabbed it, and hurled it at Camille, who turned into a snail at the last second so he couldn't hit her. Unfortunately, this was a huge mistake. A different bomb rolling on the floor squashed her and blew up. Snail-Camille disappeared into a trap door and, like Ash, reappeared by Chen. Lloyd watched as Gravis, Shade, Jacob, Jay, Skylor, Tox, Neuro, and Bolobo were hit, dropped into a trapdoor, and popped into Chen's guest balcony, which was beginning to get slightly tight and cramped. The four remaining contestants, Twilight, Lloyd, Jay, and Riptide prowled their sides of the arena uneasily. One of them would have to lose, and then the rest would gain invincibility. Lloyd grimaced. Everyone was on one team...except for him. "Three on one? No fair!" He called, flipping around to dodge the bombs. Twilight had a personal hurricane of wind to deflect the projectiles, so she wasn't exactly an easy target. Riptide, although her water powers didn't exactly help, seemed to be exceptionally good at catching and dodging the metal balls. Jay... Well, Lloyd decided he didn't want to knock out his own teammate. Dodging and cat-calling, Lloyd scanned the enemies for weaknesses. Suddenly, he noticed that there were a few seconds where Twilight had to rest her hurricane. Hoping that the pattern he had seen wasn't a coincidence, Lloyd aimed, and shot when the tornado was supposed to be down. Fortunately for him, the pattern proved true and, much to Twilight's disgust, she was splattered with paint. "WINNERS!" Chen called happily. "How entertaining! We ought to do this competition again! Lloyd, Jay, and Riptide win invincibility! Prepare yourselves, elemental masters, for the next competition will take all the power you've got!"

Author's Note:
Fascinating. Lloyd overheard a private conversation. Who is Illusion? What kind of ninja are the two mysterious girls? And is Twilight behind the ice? Or were they talking about something completely different... Ah, I guess we'll never know... Until the next few chapters! These will be action packed and filled with adventure, as usual! In the next competition, Chen has decided to do a team competition! Lloyd, Riptide, and Jay have invincibility, so they won't be competing, sadly. I won't put forward TOO many spoilers, but I will include four small facts:
1. This competition will (sadly) not have any fighting, except for maybe one mini-battle...>:3
2. The teams will each consist of two people
3. Two teams will win invincibility
4. Something really weird will happen!

On that suspenseful note, I shall now end this chapter! See you next time, readers! ;)