A/N: Apologies for the later update today, I decided last minute to combine the chapter with an older draft of the fight, and I like it a lot better now. 

. . . 

It was raining.

A fight was about to go down between the elements of fire and ice, and now it was raining.

If Seliel didn't know any better, she would have thought Chen planned it out himself. But Skylor said that her dad had no elemental powers to speak of (besides those that he stole of course) and even Master Chen couldn't command the weather to do his bidding without the proper elements.

The arena for this round was set in a quarry, starting at the base of a mound of boulders, each at least twice as tall as Seliel's own height. The Jadeblade rested far above at the peak. Seliel stood next to Skylor in the pouring rain at the bottom of the incline while she stretched and readied herself for the match. Behind them, the rest of the fighters were seated under sheltered stands, with Master Chen's throne at the center. Nya and Garmadon were already in the stands, but Seliel wasn't ready to let Skylor go so easily.

"Forget the rain," Seliel was saying as thunder rumbled overhead. Beside her, Skylor was throwing air punches and visualizing the match in preparation. "You're still the best fighter here by a long shot. Waaaaay better than that Ice Ninja." She didn't really know this for sure, but she hoped that if she hyped her friend enough, Skylor might have a better chance at winning. Skylor was good at talking herself into a defeated mindset sometimes.

Skylor paused and raised her eyebrow. "You really believe that?"

Seliel sighed, exasperated. "What really matters is if you believe it! Look, no matter the circumstances, you gotta pull through."

To her surprise, Skylor actually smiled. "I think you're more worked up about this fight than I am."

"But aren't you usually the one who gets discouraged when things look bad?"

Skylor shrugged. "Plans change, that's just part of the battle. I don't know, I guess maybe I feel more confident since I'm on my own turf. Fire or ice or rain, I'll be the one winning this round." She laid a hand on Seliel's shoulder. "I've been training for this tournament my entire life," Skylor reminded her. "I'm as ready as I'll ever be."

Seliel grinned, bolstered by her friend's confidence. "Yeah you are! Now go out there and kick that boy's butt!" 

They hugged and Seliel went to join the audience. She found Nya and Sensei Garmadon and took her seat beside them. She was glad to be out of the rain, but shivered in the cold air. 

"You think she'll be okay?" Nya asked worriedly.

"She seems to think so. She'll have to be. It's bad enough that we lost Pixal, I don't want to lose her, too."

Garmadon nodded. "If there's anyone who could win a round with the odds stacked against her, it will be Skylor."

Lightning struck in the clouds overhead, and Seliel turned her attention back to the fighters as they took their places and Chen's voice rang out over the arena:

"Skylor, Master of Amber versus Zane, Master of Ice! Fight, fight!"

Immediately, Zane and Skylor took off scrambling over the stones toward the Jadeblade. Zane was already picking his way over the large rocks lying at the base, finding the smoothest path possible. Skylor was following close behind, until he whipped around, shurikens in hand, and threw a sheen of ice over the wet boulders.

Skylor swiftly raised her hands and created wave of fire around herself. It didn't last long in the rain, but it was enough to melt the ice before it could reach her. Still, much of the path before her was frozen.

However, Zane was also struggling up ahead. The rain had made the boulders slick enough that they might as well have been covered in ice, and he struggled to gain ground as he climbed. Seliel saw Skylor creating more bursts of fire to melt the ice while Zane hauled himself upward, inching closer to the blade. But when Skylor saw how much he was also struggling, she paused and looked about. 

"What's she doing?" Seliel wondered.

"Looking for another way," Garmadon said. "She knows that neither of them are going to get very far as it is. Skylor knows that she'll have to find another way if she's to get to the top."

"What other way is there?" Nya asked. But just as she said this, Skylor crouched, then leapt into the air, propelled by jets of fire shooting from her hands and feet. It was just enough to jump to the top of the boulder in front of her, then the next.

Seliel whooped cheered alongside the other Elemental Masters for her ingenuity. Zane was heaving himself onto a jagged stone when she surpassed him, and Seliel suppressed a laugh at his bewildered expression. They were halfway up the incline, but Skylor was closing the distance fast, much faster than Zane. He got to his feet and took aim with his shuriken. But instead of aiming at Skylor, he flung it at the Jadeblade, freezing it in its place.

Skylor reached it seconds later, but when she tugged on the blade she couldn't pull it free.

"That's not fair!" Nya cried.

"She reached the blade fair and square," Seliel said. "He can't keep her from taking it, she's already won!"

Sensei Garmadon looked across the stands. "That would be up to Chen to decide."

But one look at Chen made it clear that he wasn't eager to stop the fight any time soon. In fact, he appeared to be relishing the closeness of the fight.

Now Skylor was desperately trying to melt the ice around the blade, but she couldn't create enough fire to withstand the rain without being too hot and damaging the blade as well. 

Not far below, Zane was catching up. Abandoning the blade, Skylor got behind one of the large stones and pushed. It teetered in place, threatening to roll downhill. Zane, who was now nearly to the top, realized too late what her plan was. With another push, Skylor sent the boulder tumbling toward Zane. Thinking quickly, he threw his shuriken and an arc of ice froze the boulder in its path.

Skylor turned back to the blade, but when the shuriken returned to Zane's hand he threw it again, this time coating the top half of the mound in a layer of ice. Seliel saw Skylor gasp as she lost her footing and fell hard on her bottom. Zane rushed forward, climbing up the last boulder to the top. 

Then Skylor reached out and laid a hand on the frozen ground. Steam began to rise, hissing beneath the patter of rain. The mist crept across the arena floor until a thick layer engulfed Skylor, then the Jadeblade, and finally Zane just as he pulled himself to the top. The mist spilled over the stones, engulfing everything and shrouding the arena from sight.

By now the entire audience was out of their seats, leaning forward to try and see what was happening.

"Where is she?" Nya whispered.

Come on, Skylor, Seliel thought. You have to win! We can't do this alone.

The audience's murmuring fell silent when they heard a commotion from deep within the mist. It was still too hazy to see, but a sharp cry sounded over the rumbling thunder, then there was a flash of light from Skylor's flame. Seliel squinted through the fog as it began to clear. She could make out some shapes, but what was happening?

The tip of the Jadeblade appeared above the mist and Seliel's heart stopped for a moment. The steam was clearing more quickly now, and soon an orange sleeve appeared.

"Winner!" Master Chen announced.

"Go Skylor!" Nya and Seliel cheered, the loudest amongst the crowd.

Garmadon let out a sigh of relief. "Well done, Skylor."

Skylor was grinning. Zane, they could now see, had his feet encased in ice and was still struggling to break free.

"Loser! Master of Amber moves on."

"That's not fair!" a voice shouted above the others.

Seliel searched out the speaker and saw Kai facing Chen from the audience.

"We didn't even see what happened! You can't let her win like that!" The cheering died down as everyone turned to Chen, wondering how he would react.

Master Chen didn't appear to like having his authority challenged. "Clearly she won. What does it matter how? Your friend loses. But if you want, I can send you away, too." His fingers hovered threateningly over his plethora of buttons.

"Chen," Kai growled, but Cole put a hand on his shoulder to hold him back. Jay kept looking back and forth between them and Zane and Master Chen, like he didn't know whose side to take.

Seliel looked to the two fighters. Zane had stopped struggling. "I'm sorry, brothers. I failed you."

Skylor was kind enough to use the Jadeblade to break the ice around his feet. But then Chen jabbed one of his innumerable buttons, and with a yelp, Zane fell out of sight.

Seliel glanced back at the fire ninja who was still glowering at Chen as his friends tried to usher him away from the arena. Neuro had told them that Chen and Wu's ninja were working together. But they didn't look like it now. Was this all just staged? That didn't seem possible. After all, they couldn't have known that Skylor would win.

Unless Zane had thrown the fight. Kai was right, no one knew what had happened, he could have simply let Skylor take the Jadeblade. But Seliel didn't think that he would have anything to gain from letting her win. She just couldn't understand why Chen would be insistent on him losing if they were allies. Perhaps he was just being merciful to his daughter – or maybe it was just Chen being Chen.

She didn't have any more time to think about it because Nya was already rushing down to meet Skylor as she descended the mound of stones.

"You did it, Sky! Now they'll regret messing with one of us!"

Skylor didn't look so enthusiastic anymore. She had been looking back at the stands, towards the other ninja. Kai hadn't been very happy that she had won. In fact, he had practically been arguing for her to be dropped beneath the island like all the rest of the losers.

Seliel nudged her. "You did good, Sky."

Skylor broke into a smile and twirled the Jadeblade in her hand. "Yep. And this isn't all I got." She held it out in front of her and a lacy white pattern began to creep up the blade. "I got good enough at using fire, I figured I'd try my hand at ice now."

"Good thinking," said Garmadon. "You'll want to be well-versed in all the elements, so you can use them at a whim."

Seliel and Nya gave her a big hug, but their celebration was cut short when Master Chen spoke again.

"I hope the Tournament of Elements has entertained you as much as it has me," he addressed the audience from atop his throne. "To thank you, I wanted to give everyone fancy jewels and untold shiny things." Seliel could make horde of riches he held in his hands. The other fighters cheered excitedly, but Chen cut them off.

"Then, in yesterday's battle, Masters Nya and Pixal tried to undermine me by teaming up and refusing to fight each other. And that made me very upset." He threw away the treasures in his anger, scattering priceless jewels like garbage. "For their insubordination, all you fancy quarters will be taken away, and tonight everyone must sleep together in the chow house! That is all. Thank you, you can go."

In an instant, all the Elemental Masters had turned to glare at the girls, as if it was their fault Chen threw a fit every time he didn't get his way. 

"That can't be good," Nya observed.

"Misako and Lloyd!" Skylor whispered. "Where are they going to hide?"

"They'll have to leave right away," Seliel said.

"No," Garmadon said. "Tonight, when Chen's guard is down and everyone is asleep. No one can know that they're here, and the less eyes to see them, the better."

"You've got that right," Nya said, throwing another glance at the bitter fighters. "None of us are too popular right now."

Seliel crossed her arms. "Who cares about them? We didn't come here to make friends."

"That may be," said Garmadon, "but your exclusion of others has only made enemies. Beware how you treat those around you, for they will treat you the same."

. . .

This time, the boys didn't wait for an invitation from Master Chen. It was all Cole could do to keep up with Kai as he burst through the doors into Chen's palace arena.

"What happened out there?" Kai practically shouted when he entered.

Master Chen didn't look nearly as concerned from where he lounged in his throne. Clouse stood to his left, as grim and as vigilante as ever. And, of course, Master Wu's shadow was hovering at Chen's other side. This would not look good for Cole if he couldn't get Kai under control.

"Funny, I was going to ask you the same thing," Chen said.

Before Kai could speak again, Cole caught him by the arm and hissed, "That's enough, Kai! Let me handle this."

"But –"

"I said enough!"

Kai begrudgingly backed off. Cole turned to Chen. "This wasn't supposed to happen," he said. "We have a mission, remember?"

"Yes, and so far you have failed your mission. I am the only one who is doing anything!" Chen dramatically flopped over in his chair. "All this scheming is exhausting. Wu, you're ninja are making me do all the work!" he whined.

Cole was getting real tired of these games. "Where's Zane?" he asked bluntly.

"With the other losers, of course."

"Aren't you going to bring him back?" Cole glanced at his teacher for backup. "Or did you want him to lose?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Master Wu said, his silhouette shifting towards Chen. "I'm concerned about your . . . conflict of interest. The girl –"

"Skylor won fair and square!" Master Chen snapped. "It's not my fault if your ninja can't hold their own against a well-trained fighter."

"Hmm. Even so, I can't seem to see anything beneath your island, even to find my pupil."

Chen waved his hand. "Of course not. I run a noodle company, trade secrets! No peeking! You'll have your useless pupil back when I have what I want."

Cole winced, knowing that Kai would not respond well to that.

"Listen here –"

Cole sharply elbowed him in the side to make him shut up. He couldn't let Kai make him look like an poor leader in front of Master Wu. What's more, he was putting Clouse on edge, and Cole did not want to have to fight a sorcerer of all things. "Master, you can't let him keep Zane prisoner," he pleaded.

"I can't?" Master Wu echoed.

Poor choice of words, dummy! Cole scolded himself. If he wanted to make a case for Zane, he would have to speak more carefully. "What I mean is . . . we're a team, and Zane's our brother. We can't function without him."

Master Wu's voice was cold as he answered, "Why not? Zane has failed me, now he deserves to suffer the consequences."

"Yes, you see? Your friend is in good hands. You will see him again once our deal is finished."

"And the shurikens?" Master Wu asked.

"Of course, of course! You worry too much, Wu. I have no use for your puny weapons, you'll get that back, too."

"For your sake, I dearly hope so," Wu said. He turned back to the ninja. "As for the rest of you, I expect better. Do not let me down."