The Titanium Ninja

He's Alive?

"It says...he's alive."

The four men exchanged glances with each other, stunned deafening silence echoed around them as they stared at the paper with the picture of the fallen Ninja of Ice drawn on it. After a moment, Jay finally shook his head and broke the silence.

"Wait, what do you mean it says 'He's alive'?" He asked, disbelief growing in his chest. He did not want to feel the sting of grief once again.

"Hey, I'm just telling you what it says," Lloyd said.

"But why would those thugs lead us here?" Kai asked, looking around at the walls surrounding them.

"Alright, this has to be some sort of cruel joke, and I'm not laughing," Cole growled.

"Look!" Lloyd looked up from the note and pointed to the bowl, filled with four neatly placed fortune cookies. "I think these are for us too."

"Fortune cookies?" Jay asked. "How peculiar."

"Well, this is a noodle house," Kai said.

Each ninja grabbed a fortune cookie, Cole, without hesitation, popped the cookie into his mouth and started to chew. He wondered why his friends were staring at him in shock and confusion.

"You do know that there is a fortune inside them, right?" Kai asked, trying not to laugh as he cracked open the cookie, revealing the paper inside.

Cole's eyes widened slightly as he tasted the paper too late, swallowing everything whole, "Oh, so that's why they're called that!"

Lloyd rolled his eyes and cracked open his fortune cookie, "Hey guys! Listen to this! Master Chen has personally invited you to participate in his Tournament of Elements..."

"Hold on! Master Chen? Like," Cole turned and pointed back to the restaurant, "This Mister Chen? Do you think they're the same person?"

"How many people named Chen do you know?" Jay asked.

Kai rolled his eyes and read his note, "Secrecy is the utmost importance, tell no one or else suffer the consequences.."

"If you ever want to see your friend again, meet on the pier at midnight and leave your weapons behind..." Jay said, furrowing his eyebrows at the omnious threat.

Suddenly Jay's fortune disappeared in a bang of smoke, followed by Kai's a moment later, then Lloyd's. The three ninja turned to Cole in apprehension. They heard a sudden muffled bang, Cole jumped into the air with a high-pitched yelp. The other three ninja started cackling as he gasped for air, tears streaming down their cheeks as they grasped their aching stomachs. Cole softly groaned as the other ninja struggle to compose themselves, after a few minutes they finally caught their breaths and wiped away at their tear-stained cheeks.

"At least I know I was invited," Cole joked, still holding onto his stomach.

They chuckled again until Lloyd said, "Do you think we should go?"

"It could be a trap, a lie to lure us in," Kai said, fearful of the hope that his dead brother somehow was miraculously alive.

"But what if it's not?" Jay cried. "What if Zane's alive?"

Lloyd looked back at the paper in his hands, "The Tournament of Elements...I'm starting to think this "Master Chen" serves more than noodles."

"You can forget about bringing in a new ninja, Lloyd," Kai said, a determined gleam in his eye. "Let's go see about an old one."

***

The four ninja decided to meet up at the docks five minutes before midnight, each dressed in their preferred ninja Gi's. They waved goodbye to each other, promising to meet each other as they returned to their homes. Lloyd got onto his motorcycle and drove back to his father's monastery, a huge grin on his face as butterflies fluttered excitedly in his stomach. He got the team back! He got his friends back! It wasn't in the way he was expecting, to be honest, and he was secretly relieved at the thought of not having to find a new team member. He pulled into the monastery's grounds and dismounted off of his bike, it disappeared in a flash of light as he entered the main building.

On the main floor he saw Nya and Wu surrounded by blueprints, drafting triangles, t-squares, compasses and other tools. Nya glanced up and grinned, waving at him. He smiled and waved back, then gave a thumbs-up. Lloyd walked through the hallways, ready to retire to his room. Just as he arrived at his room, he caught a glimpse of his father as he was heading over to his brother. Lloyd suddenly felt a pang of guilt as he realized that he couldn't tell his father that he was leaving, that he would be disappearing without any kind of note. I'm sorry Dad, Lloyd thought, closing the screen door behind him. He grabbed his gym bag and started throwing in clothes and other necessities, such as toiletries and his phone charger. As he zipped up the bag, he glanced at the katanas leaning against his bedroom wall. Lloyd walked up to it and reached for the handle, before remembering the warning from the fortune cookies. Leave your weapons behind, he thought, lowering his hand.

A knock on the doorframe shook him from his thoughts, he turned and saw his father standing in the doorway, a soft smile on his aged face. "I was just on my way to help Nya and Wu repair the Bounty," Garmadon said. "Would you like to join? Guess you can say it's all hands on deck."

Lloyd forced a normal smile, his thoughts running to come up with an excuse when he saw Garmadon notice the bag on his bed. "Uh sorry! The guys and I are going fishing! Team building exercise, y'know?"

His father nodded, "Good to hear the team is back together!" He turned to leave, but a sudden question escaped Lloyd's mouth before he could stop it.

"Hey Dad? Are there other people with powers like us?"

Garmadon's face suddenly grew serious, his voice deepened slightly as he asked, "Why would you ask?"

Lloyd swallowed nervously, "N-No reason! I was just curious." He turned to avoid his father's gaze, he walked over and grabbed his bag, "Well, gotta meet the guys! Early bird catches the worm!" He quickly left, but he never realized that he left behind his fishing pole. Garmadon watched as his son walked away before turning back to Lloyd's room, he glared at an empty box of noodles on the floor. He recognized the symbol of the snake on the box, bile burning in the back of his throat as he spat one word.

"Chen!" 

Thank you for reading this story, it made me so happy to read the comments and to see how positively this was received. I am ending it here, sad to say, but I cannot say enough thank you for reading and supporting this story. 

Also, I will try to update RotO and CLC before I leave for summer break, for after the first week of May I will not have internet until about the end of August. Once again, thank you for reading this.