Lloyd was woken up by a loud knock on his bedroom window. He fell out of bed and landed on the wooden floor in a tangled heap with his blanket. The sound was made again, but this time it sounded more like something was being thrown at the window. He groaned as he walked over to the window and looked out over the balcony. A twig was tossed to knock on the window again, but this time it smacked him in the face. The boy stumbled backwards letting out a loud- “OW!” while rubbed his face where the impact happened.

“Woops, sorry Lloyd!” A voice called from below. The green ninja peered down to see Jay standing there with another stick in his hand. Something was definitely wrong about him though. He seemed to be acting way too cheerful and excited, to the point that he wasn’t even standing still. He almost swayed like he was wagging a tail or something. The ex ninja looked up at his friend with a big smile. “Hey there buddy! Are you ready for a day of fun?”

Lloyd stared down at him still half asleep and rubbing his eyes. “Um... I guess?”

“Great! Now meet me in courtyard!” Again, he said it so cheerfully that it was suspicious. Way too out of character for Jay, even before the apocalypse this behavior would be a red flag. But whatever. Lloyd was too tired to question it. He let out a sigh as he went to go get changed. “It’s too early for this…”

After getting changed, he did as Jay asked and met up with him in the courtyard. Lloyd was slightly confused however when he got there. Jay wasn’t there, but Zane and Cole were standing there looking equally as tired as him. “Oh, hey man. Jay call you here too?” ask Cole. Lloyd nodded.

“So- Any reason why you were told to meet him here? Or did he just throw stuff at your window too?”
The two ninja shrugged. “He did not inform me of the reason for the gathering.” Answered Zane. “And it appears that he didn’t clue either of you in either. Odd.”

Just then, Jay jumped down from the top of a tori and landed in front of them with a dramatic pose. “Greetings my friends- to a day full of excitement and fun!” Again, he looked a little too happy. “Today we’ll be having some good old-fashioned fun in the best, most trustworthy way possible!.... The Tournament of Elements!” He created a lightning bolt to strike behind him right as he said it for a dramatic effect. The other three all simultaneously tilted their heads in confusion. “Huh?”

Jay raced over and wrapped his arm around Zane’s neck to pull him in closer. “Come on! It’ll be fun! This time there’s no cult activity, slavery, or power stealing going on… it’ll just be us, good, trusting pals playing a few games and having fun.”
Zane looked at the others in a questioning manner. He hadn’t participated in the tournament; he had absolutely no idea what he was being dragged into. Last time the competition was going on, he was locked in a cold, damp dungeon, chained to a wall. He had no knowledge of what was going on above him; so frankly, a chance to get a feel for what it was like intrigued him. For Lloyd and Cole though, not as much. But hey- if they were gonna be stuck on this island for the rest of their lives, might as well make the most of it. Even if that meant doing something that would 100% give them flashbacks to times they rather forget. Jay and Zane seemed excited about it though, so they went along with it. First off, they headed to the rollerblading ring. Lloyd and Cole struggled to stand in their skates as the other elemental masters tried not to laugh from the sidelines. Jay, despite not having done it in forever, seemed to have no problem with them. And Zane- well… It was so much like ice-skating that he immediately did more than get the hang of it; he became a showoff. Even Jay’s mother and son skate-off champion skills looked amateur compared to the titanium ninja. Zane was having the freaking time of his life zooming around the ring though, so the others decided not to get mad and let him have fun. In fact, it looked like so much fun that Skylor and the others joined in. They inevitably had a competition between the two teams, and even used the Jade Blades in it. Honestly, there wasn’t any use for them anyway, so why not use them? They were too fragile and dull to be used as actual weapons anymore, so to be fair, this was the only use they were ever gonna get. After a while of that, Jay excitedly dragged them all over to the arena. Skylor thought it would be funny to steal one of her fathers old robes and sit on his throne. Griffin watched her mimic and make fun of her father while sitting on the throne. “Hmmm… it’s ALMOST perfect, but…” He sped away for a second and then returned with a tree branch and a sharpie. He drew a mustache on himself and handed the large branch to Skylor. “Here is your staff my lord.” He said in his best Clouse impression.

The ninja, who were watching from the arena below, died laughing. She took the tree branch and held it up towards the sky like a royal scepter.“Let the tournament begin! Round one shall be Lloyd versus Cole! ONLY ONE SHALL REMAIN!.. GO!!”

Cole smashed his fists together, activating his powers. His fists began to crackle with elemental powers as they shown bright orange. Lloyd took a deep breath and got into a ‘come get me, I dare you’ pose; his eyes glowing green. The two ninja ran at each other like a bull charging at a red flag. They fought back and forth, but neither of them could land a hit because they were too fast. Neuro watched the two fight, but not get anywhere. “Hm. It appears they’re pretty evenly matched.” Skylor, still in mockery Chen roll-play mode, looked down at the arm of the chair, then at the fight, and smiled. “Oh, look at that! My short attention span is wearing away. I think I’ll make things a little more fun!” She mocked as she flipped up a door on the chair arm revealing the several buttons and switches underneath. “BUTTONS!”
Lloyd and Cole heard her shout that, and suddenly felt the ground beneath them rumble. The two jumped back and avoided the giant spike that shot up from the ground. While Lloyd was still stunned, Cole landed a Spinjitzu attack and sent him flying backwards. But then green ninja used being airborne to flip and kick off the wall. He sent himself hurling towards Cole and kicked him in the face. The master of earth landed on the ground holding his nose. “Ow! Hey, too far dude!”

Lloyd chuckled as he put a foot on Cole’s chest. “Only one could remain. Sorry bud.”

Skylor raised her stick and declared Lloyd the winner. Next, they headed to another arena on the island and picked out the next two to be fighting. Jay and Zane. The master of ice took a deep breath and centered himself before nodding at Jay that he was ready. The blue ninja got into a fighting position as he pulled his mask over his face. Tension filled the air while they awaited Skylor to give the signal. “And… GO!” She shouted.
The titanium ninja shot a blast of ice at Jay as he dodged; retaliating with a electric pulse. The ninja used Spinjitzu to bang into each other like Beyblades in an arena. While Zane was still in his tornado, Jay broke out of his; striking the ground with his elemental powers. Electricity surged through the ground and shocked the nindroid. He stumbled backwards and dropped to the ground. Jay walked over and helped him up. “Good game.”

“Yes. To you as well my friend. You have gotten stronger since last we fought. It is only fitting that you have come out victorious.”

Skylor declared Jay the winner, and they headed off to the final stage. An arena Neuro and the others found while they first took to the island for shelter. It resided not too far away from the giant blossom tree that Gravis and Griffin fought in the Tournament of Elements. Both winners from the last rounds have to face off now. Jay versus Lloyd.
The lightning ninja’s hands and arms become engulfed in electricity as he stood his ground. His sapphire eyes peered into that of the green ninja‘s. Lloyd’s eyes shown bright green; his hands lighting with green flames. Skylor called for the fight to start, and they immediately started going at it. But they were pretty evenly matched, so nothing was landing. They were too fast for each other. Then, something went wrong. Just as they were about to go in for another Spinjitzu collision, the battle field began to rumble, causing them to both lose balance and fall. A bunch of trapdoors and other obstacles began to go off all around them. Lloyd looked to yell at Skylor, but she looked just as shocked, and there was no button panel anywhere near her. She wasn’t doing it! Jay jumped back to avoid a flame thrower from the wall. “Woah! Skylor, what’s going on?!”

Griffin looked concerned. “We have no idea! None of us are doing this!”

The ground beneath Lloyd gave out, and he almost fell through, but grabbed onto the ledge. Jay noticed his friend hanging on for dear life on the other side of the arena and rushed to help. Every trap imaginable seemed to activate in front of him, almost like they were trying to stop him. But he dodged and weaved through every obstacle like it wasn’t a challenge. He reached Lloyd and pulled him out of the hole. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah. I guess. But what in the world is going on?!”

Jay looked around and the others. There was Zane, Cole, Neuro, Griffin, Skylor, and… wait. There was no sign of Miles or-…  SHADE. The blue ninja turned to Lloyd. “Lloyd! It’s Shade! He’s not with the others. He’s the one doing all of this!”

The green ninja turned to look at everyone, and Jay was right. Shade wasn’t there. The two watched as a load of spikes jutted out of the wall. They used the spears; jumping on them one by one, and using them to escape the hole. Once out, the traps returned to being dormant. Jay ran back towards the temple to see if he could find Shade. He found him coming out of the shadows cast by the jungle canopy.

“YOU! What is your PROBLEM?! Why would you sabotage our tournament like that?”

“EXCUSE ME?! I didn’t do anything! I don’t even know what you’re talking about.”

Jay glared at him. “If you’re not up to anything, then why have you been acting so suspicious ever since we got here? How come you’re never around? And why were you just lurking in the jungle!?”

“First of all, I don’t fully trust you. We just met after years of apocalypse. You never know how that effects someone… You could have come back with murderous intent or something.
Two- I wasn’t LURKING, I was gathering some fruit that grows on the trees in there. And three, in terms of me not hanging around- If you haven’t noticed, your friend Miles hasn’t come out of his room much. He’s been feeling really bad, and refusing to come down to eat, so I’ve been getting things to cheer him up. That includes the fresh fruit THAT I’M CURRENTLY HOLDING IN MY HAND!”

Jay froze. He couldn’t believe it. He hadn’t even noticed how absent Miles was. Wow, what a friend he was. 

“Shade… I’m- I’m sorry I accused you of the arena malfunction. I guess I wasn’t really thinking.”

The master of shadow sighed. “It’s fine. Just don’t do it again.” With that, he took off.

Lloyd and the others caught up and asked what was wrong. He told them that Shade had nothing to do with it, and that they should probably call it a day. Zane inquired who the winner of the round was, because they had to flee the ring.

“I think the win goes to Lloyd. He deserves it.” Smiled Jay.

“What? Really?! That’s really nice. Thanks.”

“No problem! See? I knew the tournament was a good idea! You know you can trust me now!”

Cole looked puzzled. “That’s what this was about? You made us play team-building games with you so that we’d trust you?! Why? We already trust you.”

“But… When we first reunited… I was all mysterious, quiet, secluded, and somewhat detached. You couldn’t trust me. You still don’t have the right to.” The blue ninja hung his head.

“We never thought that about you. I don’t know what made you think we did… but hey! The tournament WAS a great idea. I had a whole lot of fun.”

Lloyd assured him that they trusted him and that there was nothing to worry about. With that, they headed off to their respective rooms and got a well needed rest. Though, there was still the question on everyone’s minds…

What was up with that arena?....

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Author's note:
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! It's nice to take a break from the drama and have some fun, huh?
I'd love to hear from you! Leave a comment, and tell me what you thought. 😊