Chapter Text
“Good morning to all the competitors! We’ll begin our first matches throughout the day! Come get your breakfast, can’t have anyone fighting on an empty stomach!” the announcements chimed in between the rooms.
Nya sat up, stretching a little. She pushed her frozen hands through her hair, moving it out of the way. Today was already starting out rough, she wasn’t sure what else to expect. She rolled off her bed, snapping on the special bands Kai had made for her before approaching the set out uniforms.
Her fingers traced along the fabric gently. It was soft, but it felt thin… She huffed, taking it off the rack. This’ll have to do, she supposed. She moved towards the changing rooms, slipping off her sleepwear before throwing on the uniform, fitting it carefully between her bands.
She flicked her wrist, water swirling around her palms. Good, it still works even with the fuzzy cuffs. It was this soft blue and cobalt snap top with a blue poncho, belt, and a dull blue wrap top paired with dark blue pants and shoes. The gloves had soft fluffy blue cuffs with fingerless gloves. It wasn’t too bad, honestly.
She tied her hair back up to its usual ponytail, slipping outside. Her footsteps felt uneven on the tiled ground, the pebbles crunching underneath her feet. This day felt like a disaster just waiting to happen, she just knew it. Nya moved through the slowly building crowds, pushing past the people to the banquet halls.
“Excuse me?” a voice piped up. She spun her head around, the voice too familiar for her to ignore. The boy, around her age, had dark ginger brown hair with bright pink streaks dyed in, tied back in a loose ponytail. He was wearing what appeared to be a gi, the accents this bright purple shade whilst the rest were dulled and dark variations of that color.
“You’re… The Never Lands, right?” he said.
“Uh… Y-Yeah.” Nya didn’t trust her own head right now. Was this Jay? It had to be, there was no way. There was no way this was him now, he looked too different…
“I’m from Ninjago. I hope that our eventual fight is fair.” he offered his hand out to her. Nya hesitated, staring him in the eyes, hoping for any sense of recognition.
“Eventual…?” she echoed softly.
“Yeah, are you… Nya? I remember seeing your profile.”
“Uh… Yeah? What about it?”
“Water vs Lightning…” he chuckled a little. That once familiar laugh felt haunting to her ears. Was this really…?
“I’m looking forward to our match.” he smiled. She tensed up, just staring at him like she had seen a ghost. The boy turned away, heading down the streets of the city.
“Jay…” the name felt hoarse. She… She remembered the mercenary… The one that visited her while she was imprisoned… She knew his eyes, his freckles sticking out from underneath that mask, his familiar curly hair.
This… This couldn’t be happening… This couldn’t.
The morning banquet was hectic. So many people, so many faces, Kai wasn’t sure where to even start! He spun around, trying to find Wyldfyre amidst the growing number of people, only to slam directly into a serpent.
“Hey! Watch it!” he snapped.
“Oh, it’s you.” Aspheera hissed, glaring down at him. Kai bristled, his fire erupting at his palms. Roby quickly ran between the two, trying to push them apart.
“Rulers, stay civil. We don’t want any declarations of war around here!” he eased. The snake scoffed, yanking her arm away from the boy. This wasn’t useful to her in the slightest.
“It’s not like I have anything better to do than hate on those buffoons.” she gestured to the Ice Emperor and King Kalmaar off to the side. Kai frowned, his gaze shifting between Zane and her.
“Well, the Ice Emperor and I are upholding a deal and-”
“Traitor! Traitor to the fire that runs through our blood!” she shrieked.
“Wh-Huh?!”
“You’re no better than the others.” she scowled, slithering away towards the other side of the room. Kai frowned, that was… Weird.
“Okay, guys! Guys, listen!” Roby held his phone up, playing a jingling sound to get the banquet’s attention. “Today we’re going to be doing four matches each over the entire day, so rest up and get the food ya need! Cause it’s gonna be full of non-stop action! First up for today, we have…” He let a drumroll and trumpets play.
Roby presented a hologram of the four matches for today. Cole stopped dead in his tracks, staring at his name on the board. Lloyd’s ears flattened, his wings folding back as he spotted his own name as well.
“Fear vs Earth, Balance vs Magnetism, Sound vs Life, and Quake vs Form! Hang onto your heads cause today we’re gonna stang-zoot our way to the finish line of all out combat extravaganza!”
“You hear that, asset? You’ll be useful to us.” Beatrix hissed, yanking on Lloyd’s arm. He nodded a little, turning his attention back to Roby.
“Hey, don’t you dare talk to my little brother like that.” Kai snapped.
“You hold no power over me, faction.” she spat back.
“I am just as qualified as you here, missy-”
“Ah ba ba ba!” Roby butted in, Blekt pinching the bridge of his nose as he trailed behind. “That’s not how the ranking works!”
“It’s not?” he questioned, turning to him. How was there some sort of hierarchy in the land of CRAZY TYRANTS?!
“Yes, there is.” Blekt cut in, pushing Roby aside. “You have first grade kingdoms, second grade kingdoms, and third grade kingdoms also known as factions. And below that, you have the unclaimed territories… Such as the Crossroads.” he grumbled, gesturing to the crossroads table. Sora narrowed her eyes towards him as he continued. “You, King Kai, are a third grade kingdom. You do not hold proper relations and are just starting out, as such you are in the lowest possible rank that still qualifies you with a rulership. Meanwhile, Empress Beatrix hails from a first grade kingdom, meaning she holds a huge stake in the connections, the resources, the budget, and the ties to other kingdoms. You have no business arguing with someone at such a higher grade than you.”
“Okay, then… Give me the difference between these grades. What’s the difference between a second and first grade kingdom, since I already know the clear distance between the first and third.” Kai said, crossing his arms.
“Very well, as it is part of common kingdom relations; Second grade kingdoms do hold a reasonable amount of power however their land masses are not as large as a first grade. They hold ties to much smaller kingdoms and factions and do dabble into the trade network, but not enough to make a remarkable difference. You’ll find kingdoms such as the Land of Madness, Merlopia, and the Serpentine Lands to fall into this category. The Never Lands, despite holding less land than other first grade kingdoms, makes up for it due to its nigh infinite supply of ice soldiers and power to freeze over the world if the emperor so chooses.”
Kai narrowed his eyes, staring down at Blekt. He wasn’t sure why, but all of this kingdom nonsense was beginning to get on his nerves. He exhaled, having one last thing on his mind before he resumed chasing down Wyldfyre.
“Last question… Does your kingdom status change if you make a deal with a higher ranking kingdom?”
Blekt tapped his cane on the ground. “No, it does not. Unless they provide you enough of the resources to expand your territory and bring more people to live, which I highly doubt considering your situation, then you would not move up.”
“... Got it.” so he had a small fraction of leeway. Good to know, at least…
“KAI!” Wyldfyre yelled from across the room. Teelk hissed, covering his ears. She winced. “Sorry!”
She ran past the crowd, coming up to him. “Kai, I just saw the coolest thing ever ya gotta see it! C’mon!” She dragged him outside the banquet, past everyone else. This was certainly going to be interesting…
Vania and Akita looked around the city, trying to see if there was anything… Strange amiss.
“I do not see anything.” Akita commented.
“Neither do I… But it's something relating to the source dragons, right?” Vania asked.
“Mhm. But I do not see how any of this is beneficial."
“Come on!” Vania rested her arm on Akita’s shoulder. “This should be pretty easy.”
“We should ask Arin for tips.” Akita commented. She stopped, nearly tripping Vania in the process. Vania immediately caught herself, adjusting her position.
“... I heard something.” Akita mumbled, directing Vania to follow her. The two ducked around the corner as they avoided a group of people.
“This whole tournament is tight, Uncle. You're a control freak.” Roby took a selfie of himself. Blekt stared at him, deadpan.
“Your idea of control is chaos, Roby. I don't like it.” he said. Wyldfyre’s attention snapped to them. She quickly ran over, nearly falling over before catching herself.
“Oh! Uh, hi Roby! I was just wandering here randomly, doing my own thing and not looking for you at all-” she started frantically, only to stumble again. Roby quickly caught her, helping her up.
“Thank you, uh, but since I'm seeing you now, I just wanted to say I can't wait to help make your tournament a success.” she managed to say.
“Oh, uh, thanks. Uh, Wyldfyre, isn't it?” Roby asked.
Wyldfyre gasped. “That's my name! It's a dragon name. I was raised by dragons, but I'm not a dragon, as you can see. Why am I still talking? Stop talking!”
“My uncle and I were, uh, just about to check out the Games Plaza before the first event. Wanna come with?” Roby smiled, gently nudging her.
“Yes! Definitely!” she beamed. Wyldfyre quickly shook her head, fixing her tone. “I mean, I have a lot of things I could do, but they can wait, let's go!”
She followed behind the three. Vania and Akita poked their heads out of hiding, staring at the scene.
“Am I reading into things a bit too much here?” Vania asked.
“No. You are most likely correct.” Akita said.
“Yeah uh… Her having a huge crush on Roby.”
“Should we tell our group about this?” the Formling turned to her.
“Nah.” Vania shrugged. “I think they'll be fine.”
“I didn’t even know Harumi had an elemental power! What kind of power is fear, anyway?” Cole asked. Geo sighed, adjusting his bandana around his forehead.
“Something I know you’ll be able to conquer. You’re strong, you can do it.” he assured him.
“But what if I can’t…? What if I lose on our first game?”
“There’s more than one of us. As long as we stick together, there’s nothing we can’t do!” Arin cheered.
“I wish I had your optimism, Arin. But it’s okay, I can do this.” Cole stretched his muscles, his lava arms lighting up slightly. “Arin, go get Percy, Pix, Vania, and Akita. You guys should probably scout out for any clues as to who the threat to the source dragons is…”
“It’s most likely Ras… I don’t trust that tiger for a second.” Percival cut in.
“Yeah, but we shouldn’t rule anything out. What if it’s Beatrix, or any other competitor here? Obviously not us or the other ninja but- Literally ANYONE else!” Arin reasoned.
“That’s… Still too broad.”
“Oh come on! There’s so many people here it’s hard to see who’d be a candidate!”
“Well… We should eliminate Chamille, Tox, Neuro, and Mr. Pale. I remember them from the resistance force back when Garmadon first took over Ninjago City.” Cole commented.
“Okay… So that eliminates most of Ninjago… Say for Obscuria and Harumi.”
“No clue who Obscuria is but okay.”
“She’s the new master of shadow!”
Cole blinked. “Ooh… That makes a lot more sense now.”
“Right, point is… You totally got this Master Cole!” Percy cheered.
“I’m not- Okay.” he exhaled, getting up. “Roby’s about to announce the first game, let's see how this goes.”
The team headed over to the main field as Roby flew around on his platform overhead. He held up his selfie stick, keeping the feed live as he moved near the crowd.
“Welcome, all you peeps, to the starting event of the first Roby-certified Tournament of the Sources. And this first game, we're kicking it old-school.”
The crowd erupted into cheers as Roby continued. “One-on-one, arena combat, no holds barred!”
Blekt cleared his throat, attempting to cut into the whole theatrics. “In the grand tradition of the Tournament of the Sources, honor and sportsmanship are our-”
Roby groaned, interrupting him. “Ugh, you're making this sound like boring old-school, Uncle Bleckt, listen.”
Roby flew up to the main projection screen, continuing on with his announcement for the first matches. “Our first competitor is the ninja who flirts with dirt, Cole, Elemental Master of Earth! Hailing from the Crossroads Faction!”
Cole stared at him flatly. That was… Not a good introduction message. He sighed, stepping onto the platform.
“And his competitor, the mistress of mystery with looks that kill, Harumi, Elemental Master of Fear! Hailing from the Kingdom of Ninjago!”
Cole froze as Harumi stepped onto the platform, white hair gently resting on her shoulders, wearing her uniform as if nothing was wrong. She had that glint in her eyes that spoke enough of a warning for him to be on guard.
Oh. He was so fucking dead.
Roby turned back to the crowd. “Honored guests and Masters! Who's ready for the epicness to begin? Yeah!”
The crowd cheered once more as Blekt hit the bell.
Cole quickly activated his lava arms, only to feel himself fall into a sort of void. He gasped, struggling in the open space.
“Aw, this is cute isn't it?” Harumi’s voice seemed to echo in the void. Cole spun around to her direction.
“Let me out of this place! You can't keep me here- AH!” he was suddenly yanked harshly to the ground, feeling unable to move. He grunted, struggling to pull himself up.
“This one is not worthy.” a new voice echoed. It was… One of the source dragons?
“Yeah… And a failure, to us, to me. To everyone.” Cole hoped he was dreaming because that sounded just like Geo.
The hybrid looked down on him from over him. “You can't even take care of your team home. You can't protect your students. You can't protect anyone. You let tragedies happen and do nothing to stop them.”
“I… I don't-” Cole tried to say, but his voice came out much quieter than normal.
“Sensei Wu would be disappointed in you. You're no leader. You're just a fake pretending to be one worthy of the title.”
In reality, Harumi had forced Cole under her element the moment he moved, knocking him into a trance.
“OOH! Look at that, folks! Harumi has gotten Cole right under her thumb!” Roby exclaimed, gesturing at the ongoing scene.
“Cole… Cole, snap out of it!” Geo pleaded from outside of the field.
“That won't work.” Harumi said smoothly, gently guiding Cole to the edge of the ring.
“He's already lost.” She pushed him out of bounds, letting him hit the ground as her power dissipated. Cole gasped, hissing as he pushed himself up.
“And we have our winner!” Roby cheered, the crowd erupting alongside him.
“Time for the first Elemental transition! Behold, the Element Cup!” he presented the cup, holding it out to the crowd. Cole walked back onto the platform, standing a few feet away from Harumi. “Now, Cole, if you would.”
Cole sighed, letting his powers slip out of him and into the cup, then getting transferred directly to Harumi.
“Like every game that has gone before, the winner gets the Elemental Power of the defeated to carry into their next competition.” He explained. Harumi smiled, activating her own lava arms, the crowd erupting to cheers yet again. Cole moved back towards the rest of his team in silence.
“Cole? Are you okay?” Geo asked, concerned.
“... I don't want to talk about it.” he mumbled, walking away from them.
“Hey, Cole… Come on!” Geo ran after him.
“It's time for our next match! The liquid warrior who will never bore ya'. From the Azure Reef found within the Kingdom of the Wyldness, it's Kizzy, Elemental Master of Balance!”
The small rock warrior trotted up to the ring, bouncing in place. Roby let the cheers die down before he continued. “Versus the Video Game Avatar of a forgotten land, hailing from Prime Empire, it's Circuit! The Elemental Master of Magnetism!”
“Magnetism? What the hell is that?” Sora muttered under her breath.
A cyan skinned human with bright purple hair stepped onto the platform, pressing their hands together firmly.
“Who's ready for the next grand match?!” Roby cheered. “Begin!”
Circuit shifted their position before placing their hands on the ground. Kizzy leapt up into the air, spinning herself mid air. Circuit caught her mid air using the opposing magnetic lengths before grabbing the rock using both of their hands, triggering their magnetism to push her away from them. Kizzy fell back before narrowly catching herself on the edge, swinging back into the arena. Circuit promptly kicked her right out of bounds before she could react, the water-tide hitting the ground with a thud.
“We have a winner! You know what that means!”
Kizzy trotted back up to the arena. She bowed, letting her powers get taken and given to Circuit. They stared at their limbs for a moment before managing perfect balance in place. The crowd erupted into cheers once more.
“Alright! Three out of four! It's time for our next match! First, the fish from below who’s louder than he looks, it's Teelk! The Elemental Master of Sound, hailing from Merlopia!”
Teelk stepped onto the platform, looking as calm as ever. Roby continued as usual. “And his competitor! He's lean, he's green, but never mean! It's Lloyd, the Elemental master of Life, hailing from Imperium!”
Sora instinctively tensed up at the title. Imperium… They needed to stop targeting her friend…
“Don't you dare mess this up for us.” Ras growled, yanking on the dragoni’s arm. He silently nodded, rushing onto the platform, skidding to a stop in place.
“And begin!” Roby declared.
Lloyd charged up his energy, using his wings to propel himself upwards. Teelk screamed out his voice in waves, sending the dragoni higher into the air. He quickly flapped his wings, regaining his bearings before slamming down on Teelk, pinning him down. Teelk tried to shove him off, but the claws were keeping him down.
“Teelk, get up!” Kalmaar demanded from the stands.
“OOH! And the master of Sound is DOWN!” Roby exclaimed, the rest of the crowd erupting into cheers. “Lloyd wins this round!”
Lloyd's ears fell as he stepped back, helping Teelk up from the ground. Roby simply drew the powers out before transferring them to Lloyd. He took them silently, wings pulled over his shoulders as he silently returned to the rest of his team.
“And finally, our last round before we take an intermission for some other activities! It's the snake who shakes and breaks! He's Frak, Elemental Master of Quake! Hailing from the Serpentine Lands!”
Frak ran up onto the course, bouncing around excitedly. He looked around for whoever could be his opponent. “His opponent is the girl who's as purple as a chameleon, it's Chamille! The Elemental Master of Form, hailing from the Kingdom of Ninjago!”
Chamille stepped onto the arena, preparing herself. The two met eyes for a moment as the snake finally calmed himself down.
“Begin!”
Frak slammed his fist to the ground, causing the ground to shake harshly. He ran as fast as he could as Chamille struggled to keep her balance before getting knocked back, falling near the edge. She quickly caught herself, dodging the second hit before she shifted into a bird, flying into the air.
“Woah… Since when could the element of form do that?” Percival asked in awe.
“No clue.” Arin mumbled. He quickly turned his attention to Frak. “FRAK! WATCH OUT!”
Frak spun around, only to get slammed into by Chamille, hitting the ground hard. He got back to his feet, forcing more quakes as she transformed back into a bird. He ran after her, dodging another blow from her. He tackled her bird to the ground before chucking her out of bounds, letting her hit the ground hard.
“And we have our winner!” Roby cheered. Chamille transformed back to normal, stepping back onto the arena. She let her powers get taken, getting them transferred to Frak. Frak leapt into the air, transforming into a bird, swooping up into the air.
“And that's it for the first round, folks! Check back in by the time on screen for the next set of rounds! I'll see you all soon, Zang-Soot!” Roby flew off from the arena, letting the crowds disperse.
Arin exhaled, getting up. “Come on, Percy. We gotta find out who's threatening the Source Dragons.”
“Cole! Come on, talk to me! Please?” Geo pleaded, coming up beside him. “What's wrong? What did Harumi do to you?”
Cole sighed, turning back to him. “It's… Geo, do you…”
Great FSM, why was it suddenly so hard to talk now? He swallowed the lump in his throat, staring at Geo. “Geo… Am I doing a bad job?”
Geo froze, his ears falling. “Cole! No, of course not! You're doing great! Did she-”
“Her power brought something up… I didn't think it was bugging me until now. I just thought that I could push through it, ignore that… That nagging voice in the back of my head. That I'm just… Failing everyone. Failing those kids, failing you, failing the world. That I'm not as good of a Sensei as Wu was, and he's… He's gone. I'll never know how he felt.” Cole fell silent, his arms lowering to his sides. “Geo… What am I supposed to do? I just lost my powers, I let down our entire team, and-”
“Cole, stop.” Geo cut in before he could spiral further. “Listen, I love you but you can be so hard on yourself. You're not gonna be like Wu. You're gonna be like Cole. Master Cole, Sensei Cole, whichever way it goes. You are stronger than you look, and I did not stick around for seven years for you to bury yourself in these thoughts. You're going to be okay, we're going to find out who's threatening the balance of the world before it gets worse, and you're going to keep teaching these kids. You are not Wu, and you don't have to be Wu, okay?”
Cole sighed, taking Geo’s hand. “... Thanks, Geo. I'll try my best.”
“That's what I love about you.”
“You're lucky you won. Because if you lost… You would've disrespected Imperium's name.” Beatrix scowled.
“Right… I'll try not to do that.” Lloyd mumbled, quietly hugging himself.
“You better.” She walked away with Ras, Jordana, and Cinder, leaving him and Zeatrix behind.
“... Let's go meet up with your dad.” she whispered to him. He nodded, the two quickly walking off somewhere else. They took a shortcut between the buildings before Harumi knocked into them.
“Harumi?!” Zeatrix yelped. Lloyd took a step back from her.
“Relax, okay? I need you two to follow me.” She directed. The two nodded, trailing behind her. She ushered the two inside their sleeping quarters, shutting the door behind them.
“My Emperor, they're here.” she bowed.
“Good.” Garmadon turned to them. “At the moment, the plan is bare bones but I'd like to know your thoughts.”
The two exchanged a look before Lloyd quietly nodded, ushering for him to go on.
“If possible, I could wager that using currency would get you out of that situation.”
“What?!” Zeatrix exclaimed. “That is beyond insanity! No way my sister would do that! She may hate me and go to great lengths to recapture me but she's not stupid!”
“No, she's an idiot.” Harumi cut in. “Falling for an outsider’s outlandish claims-”
“That have been proven to be true.” Lloyd said simply. Harumi shot him a look.
“Although they were, that still doesn't diminish the fact that Beatrix will not care about the consequences of her actions and will follow others' leads no matter how dumb said ideas are.”
“So… We just weaponize her incompetence?” Lloyd asked.
“Yep. That is, if you can't get out of your situation yourself.” Harumi reasoned.
“I… I could try something.”
“That's all we ask.”
Sora had a mission in mind. She immediately located Beatrix, cracking her knuckles as she stormed up to her.
“Hey.”
“Ana. What do you want?” Beatrix glared at her.
“We need to talk. About Lloyd.”
“Ugh, the asset? The one you stole from us.”
“What about his freedom? He got out of the kingdom, he should NOT be a part of your group.”
“Oh, woe is us then!” Cinder chimed in. “You're quite a little brat, aren't you?”
She scowled. “Who are you?”
“Cinder. Charmed to meet you, Ana.”
“It's Sora.” she corrected, turning her attention back to Beatrix. “My point still stands.”
“Hm. Then what if we offered a deal?” Ras said. Sora stared at him for a long moment.
“... Go on.”
“If Lloyd makes it past the third round, we will let him go.”
Beatrix snapped her head towards him. “You cannot be serious, Ras!-”
“But I am. If you have any faith in your asset, he will make it past the quarter-finals and win.”
“And if he doesn't?” she raised an eye.
“You know what’ll happen if he loses. If he wins and brings good word of our kingdom's prosperity, then he is allowed to return to his friends. If not, then he understands the consequences.”
“What… Deal?” Lloyd spoke up, finally catching up to the group.
“Oh, good. You've returned.” Beatrix pulled Lloyd right back to their side. Sora scowled, her fists tight with barely concealed anger.
“How do you feel about a deal? If you make it past the third round, you are allowed to leave Imperium permanently. But if you fail, you understand the consequences.” Ras spoke up, pointing at the collar around the dragoni’s neck. He reached up at it, only to stop himself.
His chance at freedom… He just had to win. That was it… He already made it past the first round, if he played his cards right he would survive up until round three and get out of the kingdom of Imperium.
“... Okay.” He agreed, his voice quiet.
“Good. Do not disappoint us.” With that, the rest of the team walked away. Beatrix immediately yanked Ras aside, ducking between the buildings.
“Are you insane?! We are going to lose our most valuable asset if it passes by the third round-” she hissed. Ras pushed her off of him.
“But he won't.”
She stopped. “What?”
“Look at the board. You may not notice it, but you've witnessed that advisor to the Oni Emperor in action, haven't you?” Ras began.
“... What does she have to do with this?” Beatrix questioned.
“The distance between her and Lloyd is one round apart. I find it more than likely that those two would reach the quarter-finals. You know how she handled Cole. Knowing the asset, her power would completely incapacitate him.”
A gleam of recognition flashed in her eyes. She couldn't help but smile. “That's a good thing, isn't it?”
“If you wish to keep the asset, you will have to sacrifice your pride and hope one of our other competitors makes it to the finale and wins.”
“Then we'll prioritize Cinder, Zeatrix, and Jordana. If Lloyd is no longer viable, we'll force them to the front.”
“Indeed.”
“Oh my great EMPRESS, what's taking you two so long?!” Jordana groaned from the outside of the alleyway.
“Jordana. Calm yourself. We were discussing important matters.” Ras said, brushing Beatrix off the shoulders before leaving the area, returning to them. Beatrix followed him.
“We shall let this play out. Exactly as intended.”
By the time the teams returned to the arena, Roby was already primed and ready with his camera and selfie stick.
“Welcome back folks to another round! It's time for the Tower Battle!” Roby cheered, flying around the arena as the tower rose from the ground. “The first to reach the top of the tower and get that glorious blinged-out dagger will be hey-o, winner!”
He flew up to the main projection screen, continuing his announcement. “Please welcome to the arena, she's slick, she's cool, and she's well-hydrated! Nya, Elemental Master of Water! Hailing from the Never Lands!”
Nya slowly stepped down the steps to the platform. She glanced back at the Emperor, who was staring her down.
“I-it's okay, Nya… You can do this… It's just one fight against your… Amnesiac yin. No problem.” She mumbled to herself.
“And on the other end, the most shocking competitor in the tournament, Jay Walker, Elemental Master of Lightning! Hailing from the Kingdom of Ninjago!”
Jay stepped down from stairs, stepping onto the platform as well.
“Good luck to you.” he said simply. Nya stared at him, surprised.
“Um… You too.”
“Begin!” Roby said, Blekt ringing the bell.
Nya immediately ran for the platform, pulling herself up the first platform. She ducked from a sandbag, only to get struck by lightning. She yelped, falling off the platform as Jay scaled up it. She hissed, bouncing back to her feet as she started to scale the tower again. She ducked from another lightning bolt, blasting water at him. Jay struck the water with another bolt, letting it explode everywhere. He huffed, climbing up the wall further. Nya leapt between the platforms before kicking him from overhead. Jay caught her leg, throwing her down and off the tower.
Nya hit the ground with a hard thud, groaning. She struggled to push herself up before Jay reached the top, grabbing the dagger.
“We have our winner!” Roby declared. Jay leapt off the tower, using the platforms to climb down before landing safely.
“Hey, uh… You okay?” Roby leaned down to Nya. She strained up a thumbs up. Roby pulled her to her feet, letting her walk over to the transfer ceremony. He held the cup up, removing Nya's element before giving it to Jay. He stared at his hands before firing water at the sky, then his lightning, letting it explode in the air.
“Next up!-” Roby continued. Nya trudged off the arena as the course reset, standing right back with the Ice Emperor.
“You have failed me.” he scowled.
“... I'm sorry.” she mumbled.
“Do not let this happen again.”
“I understand…”
“The King of Fire and a Monster within, it's Kai, the Elemental Master of Fire! Hailing from the Land of Monsters!” Roby announced. Kai stepped onto the arena, staring up at the tower.
“And his opponent is the skeleton from below who can be everywhere at once, it's Algu, the Elemental Master of Figment! Hailing from the Kingdom of the Underworld!”
Algu stepped onto the platform, his stance firm and unyielding.
“And… Begin!”
Kai charged up his fire, blasting up as fast as he could. Algu tried to use his figments to climb up the tower, only for the King to grab the dagger.
“Winner! Now that was fast, wasn't it folks?” Roby said. Kai sighed, leaping off the tower.
“Sorry, gotta do it for my sis.” he apologized, feeling the powers transferred to him. Kai let himself form a duplicate of himself before reverting back to normal, stepping off the course.
“Three out of four, so soon! First up, the cloudy man with the smoky hands! Cinder, Elemental Master of, poof, Smoke. Hailing from Imperium!”
Cinder cracked his knuckles, stepping onto the platform.
“Versus the man you cannot see, it's Mr. Pale, the Elemental Master of Light! Hailing from the Kingdom of Ninjago!”
Mr. Pale stepped down and onto the platform. The bell rang, Cinder immediately turning into smoke as Mr. Pale went invisible. Cinder reached the top first, grabbing the dagger.
“And we have our winner!” Roby declared. Cinder flew back down from the course as Mr. Pale revealed himself. Roby transferred the powers, letting Mr. Pale’s appearance shoe itself now that he was no longer invisible. Cinder turned himself invisible instead for a moment before reappearing right behind Roby. He yelped, shoving him off.
“Okay, uh… Moving on! For our final match before our lunch break! It's the girl who's bubbly and bright, it's Mord! The Elemental Master of Surface Tension, hailing from the Kingdom of Shintaro!”
Mord waved happily as she stepped onto the arena.
“Versus the girl with a will that can shatter, and a power to match, it's Zeatrix! The Elemental Master of Shockwave, hailing from Imperium!”
Zeatrix ran up onto the platform, catching her breath. She straightened herself up, brushing herself off. The bell dinged, Mord forming bubbles as she used them to climb upwards. Zeatrix moved onto the platforms, blasting her down. She hit the ground hard before getting to her feet, starting to climb again using her bubbles. Zeatrix picked up the pace, blasting Mord down again. She climbed up further on the tower before reaching the top, grabbing the dagger.
“And we have our winner!” Roby declared, the crowd erupting into cheers once more.
She climbed down, standing back on the arena alongside Mord. Roby transferred her powers, letting Zeatrix form bubbles before she left the platform.
Mord sighed, walking back to Gorge. He patted her on the back. “You're fine, Mord. You did great out there.”
“Yeah… Thanks, Gorge.” she quietly thanked.
“And that's it for this round! Time for a lunch break, we'll meet you all back in another two hours!” Roby cheered before placing the stream on hold. “Same to all of you competitors and onlookers! The Banquet Hall is full of delicious food! Go eat some!”
The crowd began to disperse, leaving the arena. Wyldfyre quickly caught up to Roby as he landed on the platform. “Hi again, Roby, hi!” She greeted, nearly in a panic.
“Hey, Wyldfyre! Did you need something?” He asked.
“Well, uh, I was wondering if you could… Tell me about the food! There's so many options and I don't know all the flavors!”
“Oh! Well, I'd be happy to help you with that!” Roby said. “What type of foods do you like?”
“Uh… I don't know. What foods do you like? No, wait, that sounds wrong, I uh, maybe something spicy or no, what if it's something saucy, no I-”
“Hey, it's okay! The food is Roby-Certified! I'm sure you'd enjoy anything I gave you!”
“Then could you give me something that you think I'd like?” Wyldfyre asked.
“Sure! Come on!” Roby gestured for her to follow. She quickly caught up to him, trying not to show too much excitement.
Arin kept checking his notes, reading them over and over and over again. There were zero leads besides the obvious candidates being Ras and Beatrix. Imperium just loves their dragons, don't they? Of course they'd want to harvest more source dragon energy to reshape reality to what they want.
“Come on, we should go eat or something.” Percival said gently, lowering the notes. Arin huffed.
“I know, but besides figuring out this we haven't come any closer to finding my parents!” Arin pointed out.
“I'm sure we'll find them somewhere.”
“But what if they died? What if they're stuck in the merge like other people? What if-” a cup clinking on the table made him stop. It was a brown haired girl with a homemade purple gi, looking up at them curiously.
“Uh… Were you eavesdropping or something?” Arin asked.
“No… Not on purpose, actually. But what's your name?” she asked, nibbling on a macaroni macaroon.
“Uh… Arin?”
“Last name.”
“Arin Nived.”
She paused. “And your parents' names?”
“Barry and Jenny.”
The girl set down her macaroon on the table, standing up. “Arin, I know where your parents are.”
Percival stared at her, bewildered. Arin practically gaped at the sentence. How did this stranger know where his parents were?!
“H-how-”
“I'm from the Land of Lee. They're safe, they're alive. The Land of Lee is a safe space for survivors of the Merge. Your parents thought you died, but… If you come with me, I can bring you to them.”
Arin paused. He looked at her, then at Percival. He quickly pulled him aside.
“This feels too good to be true…” he whispered.
“Yeah, but…” Percival's ear twitched. “If you want, I can come with you. Just in case.”
“Really? You wanna risk it?” Arin asked. Percy nodded, the two turning back to the girl.
“Okay, um…”
“Stella.” she said.
“Stella. Thank you, I'd… Like to go find my parents, please.” Arin said.
“And I'd be happy to help you!”
“The next rounds are starting in thirty minutes! Can I get the Elemental Masters of Fusion, Size, Mind, Cosmos, Technology, Brute Force, Crystals, and Decay at the arena early?” Roby announced through the speakers.
“Oh! I gotta run, that's me! I'm Cosmos, haha! Cya!” Stella waved goodbye before running off.
Arin bounced into the air, cheering. “Hell yeah! I'm gonna go find my PARENTS! This is crazy! Oh, I'm so happy!”
“Yeah! I'm glad!” Percy couldn't help but smile.
“Come on! Let's grab a quick snack before we gotta go there, okay?”
“Okay!” The two quickly ran off towards the Banquet Hall, moving through the crowds. Things were going remarkably well for them, hopefully they could keep that good energy going.