Evening had fallen by the time Seliel and her friends returned to the guest hall. They were surprised to find that most of the remaining fighters were clustered around the golden roster.

"What's all the fuss about?" Seliel wondered aloud. She came up behind the crowd and, to her surprise, they parted to let her through. Some of them were grinning in a haughty sort of way, and when Seliel reached the golden board, she could see why.

Someone had been messing with the brackets. The images had been moved around and now it showed that Nya and Pixal were scheduled to fight next.

"What?" Nya exclaimed, outraged. "What happened? Pixal and I were never supposed to fight!"

"This has to be a joke," Seliel said. "He can't switch it up like that when the tournament's already started!" The other fighters were drifting away now, and Seliel wished they would wipe those smug grins off their faces. They thought they were safe, but they had no idea what was really at stake.

"He can and he did," Skylor said solemnly. "It's his tournament, his rules."

"Is there a problem, ninja?" Seliel whipped around at the sound of Clouse's voice.

"This isn't fair!" Seliel shouted. "You can't just change the brackets like that, it's cheating!"

Clouse chuckled darkly, as if it were some kind of practical joke. "Oopsie."

He turned away and Seliel had the urge to grab him from behind and throttle him. She really, really didn't like that guy.

Skylor crossed her arms, head down. "This is just like my dad, to change things at the last minute. I'm so sorry you guys."

"Apology is unnecessary," Pixal assured her. "You had nothing to do with this. We came here to stop Chen, it was only inevitable that he would target us eventually."

"But we haven't even done anything!" Seliel argued. She shook her head. "We have to stop this. I won't let you guys fight each other. We're a team!"

"There's nothing we can do," Skylor argued. "It's his tournament. Whatever he says goes."

Seliel wasn't going to accept that. It was obvious Master Chen had it out for them. Whoever lost this fight would lose her powers, not to mention be separated from the team. Seliel had to wonder if that had been Chen's goal all along, to remove Skylor from her friends one by one.

"Okay, hold on," Nya held her hands out, placating. "The fight isn't for another few hours, right? So we still have time to find Chen's staff and put an end to all of this."

"That is a very narrow time limit," Pixal said. "We haven't even seen the staff once. Probability of success –"

Nya pointed at Pixal. "Never tell me the odds! We still have time, we can do this!"

Seliel agreed with Nya, but Pixal also made a fair point. They would need a way to find out where the staff was hidden, but only Chen would know where it was.

What they needed was a way to get inside his head . . .

Seliel snapped her fingers. "I've got it!"

"A plan?" Nya asked hopefully.

"Oh, yeah! Skylor, it's time for you to work your magic."

. . .

Seliel crouched in the shadows of the palace square. Crickets were chirping loudly and, despite the lack of sun, it was still rather warm. The moon was waning and the night was dark, so staying hidden wasn't going to be too hard. It was catching the element of surprise that was the trickiest part.

They had found Neuro sitting atop a boulder on one side of the square, deep in concentration. Seliel was positioned to the right of him, keeping enough distance that she hoped he wouldn't detect her. Skylor and Nya were elsewhere, but Pixal was just now approaching him. They had decided as a group that Pixal would be the best choice to speak with him, because she would have an easier time focusing her thoughts.

She didn't bother announcing herself, because there was no need. "Might I speak with you, Master Neuro?"

Indeed, he was already probing her mind for answers of his own. His back was turned as he said, "You think I can read the dark ninja's minds and help you gain an advantage in the tournament."

"Precisely. You see –"

"You're at war with them over the protection of Ninjago and you think I'm obligated to help you for the greater good."

"You seem to understand my dilemma perfectly. So what is your answer?"

Neuro turned to look down at her, but his expression was cold. At the same time, Seliel could see Skylor creeping out of the shadows behind him. Seliel silently stepped forward, knowing that Nya was doing the same on his other side. They were slowly closing in.

"Why would I help you?" he asked, which was more or less what Seliel had predicted he would say. "Being your ally would only put a target on my back. I would rather keep my distance while your two teams take each other out. Where are your friends, anyway? Do they know you're asking for outside help?"

"I came alone," Pixal lied.

Neuro was silent for a moment. Skylor was close now, reaching out with one hand to touch him.

"I'm impressed," Neuro said. "You seem to really believe that." Neuro reached back and caught Skylor's hand. She let out a cry of shock as he yanked her arm at an awkward angle. Seliel tensed, preparing herself. "Your teammates, however, aren't as committed to the same story."

Skylor struggled under the grip of his gloved hand. "Fine, you caught me."

Neuro let her go and hopped off his seat on the boulder, and in the same breath, Seliel snapped from her hiding place. But when she materialized, he had already moved. She reached out to grab him and he swiftly stepped to the side, and then Nya crashed into her and they both hit the hard stone ground.

"Nice try," Neuro said. "But one distraction isn't enough. A true Master of the Mind can hear many thoughts at once."

Seliel pushed herself to her feet. "It was worth a try," she grumbled.

"Why ask for my help if you planned on stealing my element anyway?"

"Because this isn't really about a personal rivalry," Skylor began to explain, much to Seliel's dismay. "It's about much more. We didn't think you would want to help us, but we're desperate." She sighed. "And maybe what we need right now is trust instead of more deception."

Neuro put one hand to his temple and closed his eyes to search her thoughts.

This was not part of the plan. Seliel didn't trust anyone else to know about the staff or the spell. What if he decided he wanted the power for himself? But she glanced at Nya and Pixal, remembering how desperate they were, and decided that Skylor may have been right. It might be the only option they had left.

"There's more to this tournament than winning," Skylor said aloud. "My father is stealing powers to perform a spell that will make him invincible." She was really leaving it all out in the open. There was probably no point trying to hide anything from Neuro. "There are lives at stake, all of Ninjago in fact, including yourself. My father won't let anybody win, and it's only a matter of time before you lose your powers, too."

Neuro hummed thoughtfully and lowered his hand.

"We just need information," Seliel explained quickly. "If you're subtle, Chen will never have to know that you helped us."

Skylor nodded. "If you can just find out where my father is hiding his staff, we can put an end to this."

"And prevent your friends from having to fight each other," Neuro clarified.

"And prevent my father from taking anyone else's powers," Skylor said in return.

Seliel tensed, waiting for Neuro to think it over. Finally, he nodded. "I'm in."

. . .

Cole had wondered what Master Chen planned for Garmadon's ninja, but in the end, switching the brackets didn't weigh much on his conscience. This way, they could achieve their goal much faster. At least now one of the girls was guaranteed to lose. Then Chen could take her powers, and they would have one less opponent. It wouldn't be long until the match started.

Cole and his team had arrived at the arena early and were loitering around in the stands while more of the audience trickled in and waited for the match to start. But then Cole spotted Clouse approaching and nudged his brothers to get their attention. They straightened up as Clouse reached them, and Cole wondered what it was that Chen wanted from them now.

"Ninja, it seems that the Elemental Master of Mind is snooping around the arena where he shouldn't. Take care of him, won't you? I have . . . other matters to attend to." His smirk indicated otherwise, but they couldn't exactly argue with him. Cole got the feeling that Clouse simply found joy in bossing people around the way his master did to him all day.

Cole nodded. "Sure, we'll get right on that." But he waited until Clouse had left. Then he nodded to the others. "Come on. Looks like we gotta take care of Chen's messes for him."

"Ugh, that is so not fair," Jay said. "I thought we were trying to make sure that no one suspected us of working together. "

Cole shrugged. "Chen can't afford letting people suspect him of deception, either. C'mon, we'll be subtle." Cole led them into the prohibited section of the arena and found Neuro slinking through the hallways. He was just about to enter Chen's dressing room when Cole called out to him, "Hey, Neuro!"

Neuro tensed and slowly turned to them.

Cole did his best to appear friendly as they approached. He stopped in front of Neuro, but the other three drifted to his side and behind him, so he was practically surrounded. "Hey, you know this place is off limits, right?"

Neuro's gaze darted around. "I could say the same to you."

"That's Kai's sister in the ring," Cole said, nodding to the fire ninja. "We were allowed back here before the fight, but we were just leaving now."

Neuro gave him an odd look, and Cole was wary of his mind reading powers. How exactly did one hide something from a mind-reader? Cole just tried to stay focused on what he was saying and nothing else. At least it really was Kai's sister fighting.

"Master Chen does not like unexpected guests." Zane stated as he moved between Neuro and the door to the dressing room, so that all paths were blocked except the exit. "Perhaps it is time for all of us to leave."

"Give him some space, Zane," Cole said. "If he wants to talk to Master Chen, he can. I'm sure he has a good reason to be trespassing."

"Actually, I was just leaving," Neuro said quickly.

"I'm sure you are, Nerdo," Jay said. Neuro frowned, but was clearly in no position to correct him.

He just nodded and stepped away. "I guess I'll see you around, then." He hesitated for a moment more, then finally turned to leave.

"Phew," Jay sighed when he was out of earshot. "That was close. You think he's suspicious?"

Kai narrowed his eyes at Neuro's retreating form. "He's the Master of Mind. He may know more than he lets on."

"I don't think we need to worry," Cole reassured them. Neuro was no fool, and Cole didn't have to be a mind-reader to see that he had a healthy sense of self-preservation. "I have a feeling it won't be too hard to keep him from talking."