Lyra woke up to the sound of footsteps. She sighed, remembering she wasn't in her own, comfy bed. Instead, she was in a room with every Elemental Master in the tournament, sleeping in tiny, lumpy beds that smelled vaguely like old socks. All because Jay and Cole wouldn't fight each other. 

Not that she blamed them, plus the entire reason they were fighting each other in the first place was her fault, but...she would've preferred to be in her own room. It was less dark, less filled with people she didn't know. 

Plus, it was past midnight, and she'd only been asleep for, like, five minutes. And Lyra found it pretty easy to sleep most nights, so that was saying something. Of course, the fact that she'd just found out her only parent was evil could've affected that as well.

She still wasn't sure how she felt about that. One on hand, it made her sick to the stomach to think about, so she just wanted to ignore it. On the other hand, she was fairly certain bottling up her feelings forever would only lead to disaster.

She sat up, stretching and watching as the ninja gathered beside Lloyd's bed. She got out of her own bed and crept up behind them.

"Couldn't sleep either?" Lloyd asked her, his voice as soft as the breeze on a summer day.

Lyra shook her head, playing with the aglets of her deep purple hoodie. "I think I ruined my sleep schedule by inhaling Tox's fumes." Her voice was small, an echo of her usual quiet tone. Normally, no one would be able to hear that, but the silent room amplified any sound that was made.

"We were just about to--" 

Clang, clang! 

Lyra jumped as a servant played the gong twice then turned the lights on. She rushed back into her bed, then slowly sat up and yawned, pretending to have just woken up.

"Good morning, fighters," Clouse greeted. He pretended to think about what he'd just said. "Oh, that's right, it's the middle of the night."

Suddenly, each servant attached something to the fighters' feet.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lloyd protested.

"Thank you, Alaia," Lyra murmured, only loud enough for the servant who put her roller skates on to hear. They weren't her usual, top-of-the-line ones, as wearing those would look too suspicious when everyone else had regular skates, but they'd work.

"Roller skates?" Kai asked, getting out of bed and then immediately falling face-first in front of Skylor. "Heh, guess you could say I...fell for you."

Lyra choked on the air around her at Skylor's flushed expression.

"Let me guess, another one of Chen's impromptu battles?" Lloyd asked, skating beside Lyra.

"Oh, roller skates. I love roller skates!" Jay cheered, doing an axle.

Lyra had to agree. Her father made her and Skylor learn how to skate when Lyra was two, and they both enjoyed the activity immensely. This particular challenge had actually been their idea.

"Did I ever mention I won first place in the Mother-Son Skate-Off?" Jay bragged, sliding on a table. "I should've never admitted that."

"Bet I could beat both you and your mother." Lyra grinned. 

Mr. Pale, Master of Light, looked at them strangely. "Weirdos."

"Says the one who's currently transparent," Lyra pointed out. "You took 'clear skin' a bit too literally, bud."

Lloyd poorly hid his snickers behind his hand. The corners of eyes crinkled, and Lyra found herself staring again. He seemed too majestic--too similar to the fantasy-romance novels she'd read--to be real.

"Master Chen wants everyone in the Royal Arena," Clouse announced in his usual flat voice. "I wouldn't be late if I were you."

"If most of us have already fought, why are we all in skates?" Skylor asked, as if she hadn't come up with the idea to do that in the first place.

"Only two of you will be fighting, but the rest of you will have a chance to...affect the outcome."

"That doesn't really answer the question," Lyra muttered to Lloyd, who nodded.

"Who's fighting?" Griffen asked in his I've-had-three-cups-of-coffee-today manner. "Tell us now."

Clouse called the servants to go behind him. "The Green Ninja versus the Master of Form."

Lyra stiffened. Camille was a part of a Roller Derby team called the Strikers. This entire thing was totally rigged for Lloyd to lose.

He walked away as the heavy door was shut by Noelle and Alaia.

"Master of Form? Who's that?" Lloyd asked.

"Camille," Lyra said unhelpfully. "She's got purple hair. Also, she's on a famous Roller Derby team, so please be careful."

"You haven't heard?" Kai asked. "I heard she can look like anyone. She'd be right under your nose, and by the time you've figured it out, she's already discovered your weaknesses."

I don't know Kai that well, but he's acting weirder than usual, Lyra decided.

"But you're the Green Ninja. What weaknesses do you have?" Kai asked.

"Besides a sore back--" Lloyd started.

"Camille, go away." Lyra interrupted him before he could say anything important. "You may be good at looking like people, but you have no skill whatsoever in acting like them."

"Kai" laughed, skating away. "Watch your back, Green Ninja." A purple glow surrounded him, then he turned into Camille.

"How'd you figure that out before I did?" Lloyd asked.

Lyra shrugged. "It didn't seem like him. I've done enough theatre to understand the basic character of someone, and he was acting weird. Plus, Kai can't skate."

She pointed to the actual Kai, who was whining about how, of all activities, Chen had chosen roller skating.

"Fair enough."

~*~

Upbeat music--chosen by Lyra--played as everyone warmed up on the purple-and-red track, doing a full lap (other than Kai, who'd immediately fallen and was failing to get up).

"Welcome to my favourite event," Chen said, a spotlight focused on him. "Thunderblade!"

"Hey, I know this game!" Griffen realized. "It's just like--"

"No!" Chen yelled. "It's not like that! This is my game! I made it up! Fully original!" 

How have I never realized how much of a child my own father is? Lyra wondered. I'm more mature than him, and he's at least three times my age.

Finding out someone was evil really made you see everything about them you hadn't noticed before.

"A Jade Blade for you, Lloyd, Master of Energy." He tossed the dagger and a green helmet to Lloyd, looking disappointed when he caught it with ease. "And another for Camille, Master of Form." He gently handed one to her, then passed an orange helmet. "Rules are simple. Each time you cross the finish line with your Blade in possession, a point. Most points before time expires, you win."

"Whoa, whoa, what about us?" Griffen asked, putting a brown hand on his hip. "Do we just stand here?"

"You get to help anyone you wish, or hurt, for that matter," Chen smirked, looking at the ninja. "You're free to choose sides. I'm not a dictator."

You sure about that?

Everyone but Lyra and the ninja grabbed an orange helmet. Skylor, to her credit, looked like she felt bad, but that wasn't enough for her to switch sides.

"What was  that you said about us having targets on our backs?" Lloyd asked Jay.

"Don't worry, we're still a team--" Kai crashed into Lloyd and Lyra.

Lyra, with her incredible balance--dance training tended to help with that--managed to stay upright. Lloyd, on the other hand, fell down. He playfully glared at Lyra as she laughed at him. 

"You sure you don't wanna join their team?" she suggested. "I'm pretty sure you crashing into them would benefit us more."

"Are you sure you don't wanna join Camille's team?" Lloyd asked seriously, facing Lyra. Her brain short-circuited as their eyes met. "There are gonna be, like, at least three people trying to slow you down at all times. You could get hurt."

Aww, he cares. Wait, no Lyra, shut up. He's evil.
Wait, no he isn't, Lyra reminded herself. Her head started to ache again. This is confusing.

"Lloyd, it's a fighting tournament. No one's gonna escape without a few bruises," Lyra reminded him. "Plus, I'm good at skating. I've been doing it my whole life. I should be able to avoid most of them, and then I can just cause chaos where possible."

Lyra glanced at her father, who was frowning at her. She mouthed, Still just pretending, when none of the ninja were looking, though Chen didn't seem convinced. 

His suspicious once-over made Lyra freeze in place, her breath stopping.

Look away look away, she chanted. I'm evil just like you. Just look away.

Chen, thankfully, turned to talk to Clouse. Lyra let out a breath of relief and turned her focus to the ninja, who were still debating whether or not she should be allowed to help them.

"We need her, Lloyd," Jay pointed out. "Even with her, though, this doesn't look good."

They lined up. The glowing clock vaguely similar to a basketball one was set to 14 minutes, and the scoreboard was at 0-0.

"Lloyd, Master of Energy, versus Camille, Master of Form." Chen was sitting on his throne on the sidelines. "Most laps with their Jade Blade when the time runs out wins, loser is out.

Lyra was very familiar with the rules. She played this every Saturday, and absolutely crushed Skylor every time--mostly. Sometimes, her sister would find a new way to cheat and win, but Lyra was simply better than her at it, mainly because her good balance kept her from falling when Skylor tried to trip her.

 "Thunderbladers on your mark, get set, gooood luck to everyone! But mostly Camille because we all want the Green Ninja out. Now go!"

Lloyd, distracted by Chen's last sentence, started late. He quickly caught up, though. The two skated, everyone else waiting for their signal to go.

"Ooh, how about some spectator ambiance?" Chen yelled. He hit one of his buttons, and fake cheering played from the speakers.

A loud, foghorn-like sound played, and the rest of the Elemental Masters started to skate.

Lyra, Jay, and Skylor started to close the gap between them and Lloyd and Camille. Skylor fell back to talk to Kai, though. Lyra wondered if she was really going to flirt with him in the middle--well, start, actually--of the match.

They caught up as the two crossed the finish line. A point was added to each side, so the scoreboard now read 1-1.

"Race you." Jay nudged Lyra, going a bit faster. 

Lyra responded by passing him and skating in front of Camille, who was forced to stop to avoid crashing into her, giving Lloyd a temporary lead.

Camille tried to skate around Lyra, but she grabbed a fistful of her purple hair, forcing her to pause her movements and push Lyra away before trying to catch up to Lloyd.

"Actually, you keep doing that, and I'll stay with Kai!" Jay called, slowing.

Lyra nodded, then caught one of Camille's wheels with one of her own, causing the Master of Form to faceplant. She merely rolled then got back up again, though she was now a solid three feet behind Lloyd.

They lapped the others, Lyra managing to force Camille around 10 feet away from the Green Ninja before Kai crashed into him and undid all her hard work.

"Use your power!" Kai instructed.

"On roller skates?" Lloyd raised an eyebrow. "You crazy? I'd go flying off the track!"

Camille laughed, now two feet in front of Lloyd and Lyra.

Lyra pushed herself, knowing she could go even faster, and forced herself to run into Camille at full speed, causing them both to crash into the wall. Camille stopped laughing and screamed at the impact, though the walls were padded and couldn't have hurt her at all.

"Lyra!" Lloyd yelled, but Lyra was fine. 

She hadn't even fallen all the way down, unlike the purple-haired girl lying on the floor beneath her. Lyra caught up to him, a smirk on her face. "I think I'm enjoying this too much."

"Hey, as long as it works," Lloyd joked.

At that point, the other fighters had caught up to them, and absolute chaos ensued.

Everyone was pushing everyone else. People were on the ground. Different elements were flying in every and any direction. Lyra just focused on making sure no one reached Lloyd. It was surprisingly easy because he was just barely ahead of the group, and, by the time anyone got close, they were so disoriented it only took one light shove for them to lose their balance, trip over someone else, and crash into the ground.

Pretty soon, the score was 9-7 for Camille. Despite Lyra's best efforts to take down Camille, the other team recognized her as the biggest threat and took to targeting her. Of course, she used it to her advantage, distracting them and ensuring they didn't get close to Lloyd, but it also meant she couldn't mess with the Master of Form.

That all ended when Shade, the Master of Shadow, struck Lloyd on the back, causing him to cry out in pain and crumple to the ground. 

Lyra was immediately there, using both her and Shade's momentum--and a bit of her anger/adrenaline--to throw him into the wall. She helped Lloyd up and pushed him forward--not on the spot where his back hurt--but it wasn't enough for him to catch up to Camille. 

"Someone has a death wish," she said in a sing-song voice as Camille laughed at Lloyd's fall.

Lyra caught up to Camille in an instant, sharply kicking the back of her leg and making her crumple to the ground just like Lloyd had a moment earlier. "Not so funny when it's happening to you, is it?"

A moment later, Lyra dove out of the way as a Condrai Crusher that had appeared out of nowhere raced past her. Camille was on top of it, laughing again.

That's totally unfair. Lyra really wanted to throw something at the stupid purple-haired girl's head. Maybe a chair. Or a Jade Blade. She's almost making me hate the colour purple.

Mr. Pale and Shade each grabbed one of Lloyd's arms, while Griffen took Jay and skated around as fast as he could with him, crashing into many walls in the process.

Neuro and Skylor tried to grab Lyra, but she easily avoided the former and elbowed the latter in the gut, a move she rarely pulled when she raced against Skylor, so the redhead didn't expect it. She swung her sister into the Master of Mind, and the two crashed into each other. Lyra smirked as Neuro accidentally pulled Skylor down when he fell.

The smirk was quickly wiped from her face when she caught her father's eye, though. His bloodshot eyes were wide, his fists were clenched, and a vein in his forehead was showing. He looked livid.

Kai used his power to catch up to Camille, knocking her off the Crusher. Jay took the opportunity to steal her Jade Blade and quickly turned around, skating in the opposite direction of everyone else. Camille's team members' hands snatched out to grab him, but he simply pushed them aside and kept going, smiling at Lyra when he passed.

Lyra slowed, watching Chen carefully to make sure he wasn't going to kill her. 

Skylor was arguing with Kai. After a moment, she threw her arms into the air and skated away. Kai waited for Jay to skate up to him, and the two began to talk.

Lyra skated up to Lloyd, still watching Chen.

"Hey, are you okay?" he asked. "You seem pretty shaken."

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. I just hate Camille so much."

"Don't we all?" Lloyd grinned as they passed the line again, holding the Jade Blade high.

Lloyd and Lyra lapped Jay, who didn't have the Jade Blade anymore. Camille must've gotten it back. He was telling Griffen why Chen was evil.

"And why are you just telling me this now?" he asked.

"Because it's never too late to do the right thing," Lloyd said.

Lyra stared at him. He's right. I don't have to keep lying about Father, about my past. I don't have to listen to Father. He's...he's evil. And that sucks, it really does, but there's nothing I can do about it and I need to choose the right side, do the right thing before it's too late. I can't keep pretending I'm on both sides.

Chen would hate her for her decision. He might even try to wound her, maybe imprison her. But Lyra found she really didn't care. She wanted to help Lloyd, to help the ninja--her new friends. She realized she'd do whatever it took to assist them.

It was strange, how loyal Lyra felt to their team when she'd only met them a few days prior. She already knew she would never again betray them, and would go to great lengths to help their cause, even if it meant taking down her own father. Especially if it meant taking down her own father.

It was almost scary how quickly she trusted the group of boys. She'd put her life in their hands if she had to. It just felt...right, as if a part of her had been missing until she met them. The really scary part was how she could tell they felt a similar way about her. Lloyd had already told her almost all of his secrets, including the fact that he was very much against her father and wanted to take him down--yet Lyra would never dream of telling Chen anything he'd said.

She felt like...well, like it was destined that she'd meet the ninja, like it was fate for them to become friends. The thought of it was so stupid, it was almost laughable. But it just felt right.

 "He's telling the truth. I know." Neuro put his hands to his head, implying that he'd read Lloyd and Jay's minds.

"And you've just now decided to help?" Jay asked.

Neuro shrugged. "I'd rather be on the winning team."

"Then let's win this," Lyra smiled. 

She turned and started to skate the opposite way, letting herself run headfirst into Camille. Lyra laughed as the girl fell again.

Camille hissed at her, not sounding remotely humanoid.

"What are you, a cat?" Lyra asked, grabbing onto the back of her shirt and forcing her to slow down. 

Lloyd passed them in a car--where the actual hell did he find that--then slowed the second time he went by. "We don't have to keep fighting each other," he offered. "We can all win."

"All of us?" Camille asked, her voice pitched higher than usual.

Lyra frowned. Something was up.

"United." Lloyd offered his hand to Camille, and she took it.

"Lloyd, don't--" Lyra warned, but it was too late. 

Camille pulled him out of the car and got in herself, driving away before anyone could do anything about it.

"--trust her," Lyra finished her sentence, sighing.

"Only one can remain," Camille reminded him as she cackled.

"Give me a boost, and the Jade Blade," Lyra instructed, an idea forming in her head.

Lloyd nodded immediately, handing her the dagger without question and pushing her as far as he could, using a bit of his power to get her farther than what should've been possible. Within a few seconds, she'd caught up to the car. She slashed one of the tires, and the entire thing disintegrated.

"Nice!" Jay called, making Lyra smirk.

Camille fell from the air and propelled herself forward. Lyra turned and gently tossed Lloyd the Blade, then tripped her opponent.

Lloyd caught up, and the two began duelling with their Jade Blades. Lyra fell back, knowing she wouldn't be able to do anything without getting herself slashed. She stayed as close as possible, though, as backup in case anything happened.

With five seconds left on the clock, Camille tripped Lloyd. He fell, dropping his Jade Blade in the process.

No, you don't, Lyra thought indignantly, speeding up to catch the annoying woman.

Camille leaped over Lloyd, but before she could cross the finish line, Lyra grabbed her ankle, once again using their momentum to throw her into the wall. She dropped the Jade Blade, and Lyra picked it up, making sure she stayed far away from the line.

At that point, Lloyd had gotten up and crossed the finish line.

The bell dinged, signifying the end of the match. The score was 15-14 for Lloyd.

Everyone except Camille cheered. Lyra skated to Lloyd and high-fived him. She was carefully avoiding looking at Chen.

"I only won because of you," he admitted. "She would've had, like, five more points than me if you weren't constantly attacking her, and she definitely would've crossed the finish line before me at the end if not for you."

Lyra blushed.

"Yeah, remind me to never get on your bad side," Kai added.

Jay nodded. "That was so cool!"

Chen, outraged by the outcome of the race, instructed his servants to change the score. Skylor, realizing what her father was trying to do, used the Element of Gravity to change the score back, then added a 0 to the end, so it now read 150-14.

"No, no, no!" Chen screamed. "He cheated! Lloyd loses!"

"No way!" Griffen protested. "Lloyd won fair and square. You were the one who cheated."

"My tournament, my rules." Chen crossed his arms and looked away.

He's an absolute toddler.

"And just what rules are those?" asked Mr. Pale. "If Lloyd's out, then so am I."

"Me too," Kai agreed.

"And me three," Lloyd said.

Lyra stuck her chin up, glaring at her father. "Wouldn't be much of a tournament if you kick us all out."

He also wouldn't be able to steal all of our powers if we're a group this size, and he knows it, Lyra thought, watching Chen's conflicted expression.

Chen turned to Clouse, looking for a loophole. Clouse merely shook his head.

"I--well--" Chen stuttered. "Fine! Have it your way. Form loses!" He pressed a button, and Camille fell down a trap door, screaming.

Deserved.

Everyone cheered. 

Skylor turned Kai around. "If what you say is true, you're playing a dangerous game," she murmured. Only Kai and Lyra could hear her. "Chen will find other ways to get you out of the tournament."

"Which is why we'll need all the friends we can get," Kai pointed out. "There's always hope."

"I bet you're glad Camille's gone," Lloyd smirked at Lyra.

"Actually, I kinda miss her. It was really fun making her slowly go insane."

"Once again, remind me to never mess with you," Kai muttered, making Lloyd and Lyra laugh.

Lyra felt her father's glare on her back, and she avoided eye contact with him as she took her skates off.

That's an issue I'll have to deal with once this mess is over, she decided.

A bit of a shorter chapter because I wrote this the same day as chapter 4 and it is almost 3AM and I'm tired.

Word count: 3.8k

QOTD (it's technically the second question of the day for me, though I think I'm gonna post this on a different day): Would you rather not have to breathe at all (even for stuff like playing instruments) or not have to eat at all?

A: Not breathe at all because a) I could just kinda live underwater and be a mermaid and b) I play the flute and it requires a lot of air so not having to breathe would be nice. Same goes for singing. 

Please do comment and vote because it really does help with motivation and motivation=frequent updates

Please remember to drink water, eat food, and get an appropriate amount of sleep for your age<3

~Aspen