The Ninjago Tournament of Elements!

Chapter 8

Let the 'Opposites' trial begin! And congrats to all the elemental masters who made it to the top ten! :)

Contestants remaining (10): Kai - Fire, Jay - Lightning, Lloyd Garmadon - Energy, Skylor - Amber, Tox - Poison, Neuro - Mind, Camille - Form, Shade - Shadow, Riptide- water, Twilight- wind

Losers (8): Griffin Turner-speed, Paleman-light, Karloff-metal, Cole- Earth, Bolobo-Nature, Gravis-Gravity, Jacob-Sound, Ash-Smoke

Camille's Account

Pushing back fronds of palm trees, Camille wiped the sweat from her forehead. The yawning mouth of a cave stood before her, it's entrance beckoning her to enter. Camille knew better, though- she had been trained by the best, the Queen of Aquarius herself, to undertake this mission. There would be traps guarding such an important item. Crouching down, she brushed back sand from the cave's floor, revealing pressure plates linked to a system that would fire poison darts the moment anyone stepped there. Shuddering, Camille leaped lightly over the pressure pads, entering the cave. Dodging more motion-triggered traps, Camille stepped into the main chamber itself. Images depicting lightning, torrents of water, and Chihuahuas, the sacred dog of the storm, lined the carved walls. Cautiously, she walked toward the center of the room, where a giant golden pedestal with vines growing over it held a vibrant blue stone. Carefully measuring the stone's estimated weight in sand and pouring it into a bag, she quickly switched the valuable stone for the worthless sand. Suddenly, a man clad in dark fabric with glistening white stars on it entered the room. "I'll take that." He said, his beady, black eyes glittering with malice. Camille swallowed hard. She had been trained how to find the stone, not how to fight! If it came to that, she would be utterly useless. Nevertheless, she stared the fear-inducing man in the eye. "You can't have it. And you'll have to get past me first if you intend to steal it." Suddenly, she felt dizzy and light-headed all of a sudden, the man's hard, little eyes boring into her own. She looked away, but it was too late. She found herself crumpling to the ground. "So I will." The man laughed, as she drifted off into blackness, her memories becoming nothing, nothing...

Camille scowled as she woke up. She hated these strange, almost-real dreams, and they had become more and more frequent since she had arrived at the tournament. Once she was dressed, she decided to walk down to the Hall so she wouldn't be late. Chen had already arrived, and was calling the other Masters down, so he didn't notice her. After what felt like forever, other Elemental Masters began to arrive. Chen adjusted his microphone and prepared to announce the day's competition. "Today's competition is all about Opposites!" The microphone let out a loud shriek as he started talking, and some of the Masters had the nerve to snicker. Chen scowled at them, then continued. "Each of you will have to spend ten minutes with the opposite of your element, in a chamber of Vengestone. If you can't take it any more, there's a button on the wall you can press to get out. The person with the shortest time loses." Camille raised her hand. "What is the opposite of Form?" She asked nervously. Chen grinned a grin that showed all of his wickedly sharp teeth. "Shapelessness." He cackled evilly. "You'll have to become a shapeless blob." Camille swallowed. She wouldn't be surprised if she lost today. "Begin!" Chen bellowed, and his kabuki led the Elemental Masters to their private vengestone rooms. As Camille watched, her body began to change into a blob of nothingness. Her fingers, legs, and arms all converged into a single blob, which twisted and turned randomly so that it kept no shape. Camille was horrified. This was worse than anything she'd ever experienced before! She tried to twist herself to hit the button, but she couldn't, as her formless body writhed around. She glanced at the clock. Four minutes and twenty seconds. She tried to just breathe and wait for the opportunity to press the button and get out, but it was just so hard. Finally, when the clock read 5:01, her chance came. She whacked the blinking, red button with every ounce of her shapeless strength. For a moment, nothing happened. Then she began to feel herself changing back to normal, her regular, controllable form. She sighed with relief, then swallowed in fear. Would she lose? Five minutes wasn't a good time, was it? Practically shaking in terror, she waited for Chen to announce the loser. "I just want to give my congratulations to someone who survived a whole ten minutes with their opposite." Chen announced. "Let's have a round of applause for Twilight, who survived ten minutes trapped under an immovable mountain of earth!" Camille glanced at Twilight, who was smiling that special smile only she could pull off: Prideful, confident, courageous, loyal, and serious all at the same time. "Of course you did. It's not even your element. You borrowed it from Sunset!" She overheared Riptide whispering. Camille frowned. Borrowed it? Could you borrow an element? Who was Sunset? Her questions were stalled as Chen began to speak. "And now for our loser!" Camille felt like fainting right then and there. But then Chen declared the last thing she thought he'd say: "Shade! Shade survived only four minutes and fifty-five seconds in the same room as a bright beam of light, so therefore, he is our loser!" Shade screamed as the trapdoor slid out from beneath him. Camille felt weak with relief. She'd stay another day, at least. As she headed back to her room, she heared Chen's last announcement: "Don't forget, tomorrow we have Capture the Flag!"

Author's Note:
Ooh, things are really heating up! Everyone left is important! Kai, Jay, and Lloyd are on the ninja team, Twilight and Riptide are ninja in their own right, Skylor needs revenge, Tox will be important later, and Neuro and Camille have had flashbacks. Isn't this exciting? We don't know who will lose! Guess you'll just have to wait for the next phase of the Tournament of Elements: Capture the Flag!