A/N: Hey guys, before we start, I got BIG news! Northern Goshawk on Fanfiction .net wrote a oneshot based off of THIS story! It's called "I Promised" and it's so good. It centers around Kai and Nya's strained relationship and is a sort of 'what-if' scenario taking place during the tournament. I know a lot of people are dying to see things resolved between the siblings, and while I haven't gotten to that point yet in this story, Northern Goshawk's oneshot gives you a deliciously angsty taste of that. So please check it out, and give her story as much love as you've given mine! (if you don't have an FFN account, you can always leave a guest review, it would be really cool to see you all there)

Okay, now on to the fight!! 

. . .

Nya and Pixal's match was to be held in a more traditional style of stadium. The wide stone arena was surrounded on all sides by the audience overlooking them. A single pole stood at the center with a Jadeblade perched on top. There was a full audience in the stands, with Master Chen and his throne at the head. It almost looked as if he had invited his entire waitstaff to watch the fight.

The competitors had been placed in alcoves on one side of the arena until it was time to begin. Pixal sat like a prisoner behind the barred door, doing a meditation of sorts. She was running through all the potential ways this could go and trying to find the best possible outcome. Skylor stood outside her door, waiting impatiently for Neuro to return and give them some good news. Seliel was over with Nya.

As for Lloyd, they had left him in Skylor's room with plenty of food and plenty of threats. Pixal at least felt better knowing that Master Chen had brought the majority of his followers out for this fight. For tonight, all attention was on the girls.

The match was scheduled to begin any moment now, and Pixal had already resigned herself to fighting. The fact was, someone was going to have to lose tonight, and although it was clear to Pixal who that would have to be, she also knew that Master Chen would not be satisfied with surrender.

Skylor, too, seemed to have realized how hopeless it was, but she still perked up when Neuro came running towards them.

"Way to leave it until the last minute," she said, voice laced with frustration. "What did you find?"

"I'm sorry, I wasn't able to get to Chen. I couldn't get past the other ninja."

Skylor's eyes widened. "What?"

"They caught me before I could get to Chen and wouldn't leave me alone until I left. I tried probing their minds, but I didn't have time to see much. What I did find out is that they aren't here by accident. They're in league with Chen somehow, and I think they may even know about the staff."

Pixal's eyes widened. She looked to Skylor, and she could see that they had come to the same conclusion.

"Of course!" Skylor said, half to herself. "I should have known they'd be working together. No wonder my father wants to get rid of us."

"That must be why they came to the tournament," Pixal said. "If Master Chen takes away our elements –"

"Then we can't stand in their way," Skylor finished.

"I'm sorry it's not enough to stop the fight," Neuro said. "I wish I could have done more."

Skylor put a hand on his shoulder. "It's okay. You've done what you could." Skylor met Seliel's gaze across the arena and shook her head. There was no getting out of this. Despite what they knew now, they still couldn't keep Pixal and Nya from fighting

Pixal got to her feet. "Don't worry, Skylor. This was inevitable. You know better than anyone how much power your father has here."

"But what are we going to do? It won't stop after tonight. If he really is helping Wu, then he'll do whatever it takes until we're all out. One of you will have to lose, and then what will happen? What if he makes us fight each other again?"

"Then you must keep fighting until only one of you is left," Pixal answered. "Then whoever is left standing will have to do everything she can to stop Master Chen. At least, being captured may provide us with a better chance to learn more from the inside and find the staff."

Skylor gazed at her intently through the bars, and Pixal realized t hat she must have picked up on her word choice. "Are you sure about this?"

Pixal nodded.

Skylor sighed. "Just . . . be careful. Whatever you think, you're important to the team, and you're important to Nya and Seliel and I. We don't want to lose Nya either, but it's between you two who goes."

Pixal lowered her eyes for a moment. When she met Skylor's gaze again, she said, "Thank you. You are all very important to me, too."

"I won't let this happen again," Skylor promised. "I'll find a way to stop my father, and we'll all be together again soon."

Skylor looked like she wanted to say more, but at that moment, the bars which stood between them began lowering into the ground and Chen's anthem played through the arena. The fight was about to begin.

Skylor and Seliel and Neuro were forced to leave the arena and join the audience to watch. For a fleeting moment, Pixal couldn't help but entertain fanciful thoughts, wishing that Garmadon had been able to reach them in time. But maybe not even he could have found a way to stop this.

"Let the tournament continue!" Master Chen declared to the excited clamoring of the audience. "Pixal, Master of Magnetism versus Nya, Master of Water."

Pixal slowly made her way out of the alcove, ready to defend herself. Nya was doing the same on the other side.

"Fight!"

Even when Chen gave the signal, they hesitated. But Pixal knew Nya well enough to know she wasn't going to attack first, so Pixal had to make the first move.

She lunged at Nya with a flying punch, which Nya narrowly avoided. She clearly hadn't expected such a fierce attack, and Pixal kept her on her toes. Nya tried to retaliate, but she was missing easy openings, holding back.

"Fight, Nya!" Pixal encouraged her. "Chen will not be satisfied unless we fight!"

Nya swerved away from each strike. "I can't fight you, you're my friend!"

Pixal paused for a moment, fists raised. "It's just like a sparring match. You can defeat me if you try."

A hint of a smile was visible beneath Nya's mask. "Easier said than done. You sound like you want me to win."

"I want you to try!" Another kick sent Nya sprawling on her back. Pixal had already decided how important it was for Nya to win instead of her, but it needed to be real. If either of them simply surrendered, Chen would be liable to throw a fit and kick them both out.

Nya got to her hands and knees and took a deep breath. She whirled around and summoned a jet of water that pushed Pixal back, making her stumble. From above, the audience cheered again, now that the fight was in full swing.

Good girl, Pixal thought. She barely had time to block as Nya followed up with a barrage of punches and kicks. Pixal dodged them and then flipped backwards to escape. She used her element to fling a knife from her belt, this time wide enough that Nya could easily roll a way. She faced Pixal and they both stood still, squaring each other up, Nya catching her breath.

But then Nya dropped her fists. "I can't do this," she said. "I can't fight you. It's one thing when we're training, but the stakes here are high. Whoever loses now loses her element. I don't want to be responsible for that."

"We have no choice, we cannot both win."

Nya stood up straight and crossed her arms. "Then you win. But I'm sick of fighting against people I care about. Wu's already turned my brother against me, I won't let Chen turn us against each other, too."

Pixal threw a wary gaze up at Master Chen. "I know how you must feel," she said carefully. "But I have to lose. It's better this way."

"No it's not! We're a team, and that means no one is more important than the others."

Pixal shook her head. "Think about it: If I'm captured, I'll presumably be closer to the inner workings of the tournament," she reasoned. "I have tools that could help me break out and find the staff. I'm built with abilities that Master Chen can't take away. But you, Nya, you'll be able to help the most from here in the tournament. Now that we know he's after us, you and Skylor and Seliel have to look out for each other."

There was turmoil written in Nya's expression. She knew that Pixal was right, even if she didn't want to admit it.

But then Master Chen's voice rang out over the arena, "Release the Condrai Crushers!" Just as Pixal feared, Chen had grown bored at the lack of entertainment, and was trying to make things more 'interesting.'

The audience's shouts swelled as a large set of red double doors opened on one side of the arena and two vehicles shot out. They were snake shaped, as all things had to be on this island, with glowing eyes and sharp teeth on the front, trailing long, spiked tails at the back. Pixal noted the blades spinning on either side of the "heads," sharp enough to slice through any ninja, human or android. Two more vehicles appeared and soon Pixal and Nya were back-to-back, surrounded by the Condrai Crushers slowly inching closer as they drove around them.

"We're going to do this together," Nya said. "And show that snake-loving bully that he can't tear us apart!"

Pixal didn't think it would do any good, but at the moment they had no choice. One of the cars veered towards them. Nya and Pixal used Spinjitzu to dodge out of the way. The driver missed and crashed into the into the edge of the arena and was launched out of his seat, slamming into the wall as well. Foolish guard. Clearly he hadn't been wearing a seatbelt.

Pixal faced another car that was coming around and raised her arms. With her element she lifted it into the air, then sent it flying into a third car. They rammed into each other and exploded into a puff of smoke and flames.

"Lookout!"

Pixal hadn't noticed the fourth car charging toward her, until Nya leapt between them and sprayed it with a deluge of water that built up under the tires and made it skid off-track. As the driver hastily tried to swerve back to his target, the vehicle tilted and rolled across the ground, finally coming to a halt on its side.

"Yes!" Nya turned to Pixal, grinning beneath her mask. "We did it!"

But Pixal better than to get excited. They were fighting together instead of against one another, and Master Chen –

"Enough!" Pixal turned to see Chen, standing furious above the ring. "I know what you are trying to do. If neither of you will win, then both of you will lose!"

Nya and Pixal exchanged the same, fearful glance. Now this was definitely what Pixal had been trying to avoid. Why couldn't her teammates ever listen to reason?

Chen began mashing the buttons on his throne and pieces of the floor fell away into a black abyss under the arena. The audience yelled with excitement as the two girls had to leap away to safety. Sections where they had been standing moments before fell away into nothingness. Pixal hopped from one area to the next, looking for anywhere that was still safe and narrowly avoiding the fall as the ground slowly crumbled beneath her feet. She couldn't even see what lay beneath, only darkness in the depths of the island.

As she nimbly landed on a piece of the still-stable part of the floor, a glint of light caught her eye. She looked to the Jadeblade which remained atop the pole, waiting for a victor to claim it.

"We cannot both lose!" Pixal called out to Nya. "Master Chen is right, there can only be one."

"But we can't let him win!" Nya protested. "There has to be another way!"

Pixal was growing tired of Nya's obstinate behavior. Her mind was already made up. As soon as she had seen her image next to her friend's on the roster, she had known what had to happen.

"There is no other way," she said. Instead of running from Master Chen's traps, she sat on the ground and crossed her legs. She met Nya's dismayed gaze across the gap forming between them. "Take the Jadeblade, Nya. I know it feels like Master Chen has beaten us, but sometimes we must lose the battle in order to win the war. We are not turning against each other, we are working together to win the only fight that really matters."

Nya's pained expression touched Pixal, and she was glad to know how much her friends really did care for her.

"I'm sorry," Nya said. Pixal wanted to reassure her, but Nya leapt over yawning spaces in the floor toward the Jadeblade. At any moment, the ground would drop under Pixal, for one reason or another. In little time, Nya scaled the pole but Pixal saw her hesitate at the top.

Be strong, Nya, Pixal urged her from afar.

Nya snatched the blade from its perch, and the crowd cheered. She stared at the blade for a moment, then looked to Pixal. She'd done what she had to. Pixal nodded to her, satisfied.

"Winner!" Chen declared.

Pixal got to her feet as the ground became steady again.

"Loser! Master of Water moves on," Chen said, obviously glad just to have a victor.

Pixal turned to Nya as she dropped back to the ground. "You couldn't have stopped this Nya. Don't blame yourself." Pixal smiled. "And rest assured, we're always on the same team."

Then ground beneath Pixal dropped. She didn't scream, she could only prepare herself for whatever came next, for whatever destiny had hidden for her in the darkness beneath the island.

. . . 

A/N: OOF, well I guess we know now who loses first... Are you surprised? Not many people guessed Pixal, but it was cool to hear your guys' thoughts. Although more people were right about which of the boys is going to lose first...

Anyway, don't forget to go check out "I Promised" by Northern Goshawk on FFN. I've read it already and it's seriously good, if you like this story at all you're going to love that! It gave me so many feels, and it was kinda cool for me to read something about the story that I'm usually writing XD