"Look at that," Cole marvels at the island.
"Awesome."
"Let me see," Karlof says, pushing past Kai.
"Do you mind?" Kai asks.
"Welcome to Chen's island," Clouse says. "The Tournament of Elements welcomes its brave fighters. Master Chen will be pleased you've returned, Sensei Garmadon."
"The pleasure is all mine, Clouse," Garmadon says.
"I'm sure it is."
"Definitely feeling some tension between you two," Jay says.
"Yeah, and how is it we're on an island I've never seen on any map?" Kai asks.
"And care to explain how the face to Ninjago's most popular noodle house is secretly assembling an underground fighting tournament?"
"Master Chen used to be a friend. Now he's a traitor. During the Serpentine Wars, Chen turned against his own kind and sided with the treacherous snakes," Garmadon explains.
"The battle you and Uncle Wu fought together in?" Lloyd asks. "He was an enemy?"
"He used deception to divide the Elemental Masters. We barely defeated the Serpentine, and in a deal for his surrender, Chen was to never leave this island. Little did we know, he'd begin to build his criminal empire from here."
"He may have divided our ancestors, but he's not gonna divide us," Lloyd says, determined.
"Uh...ladies first," Kai says, letting Skylor walk past.
"Thanks, big bro," Y/n says sarcastically as she was also pushed aside.
"Fire will melt her icy heart. Just you wait," Kai says as Garmadon sighs and Y/n facepalms.
"This is a big island," Cole noted. "Zane could be anywhere. Keep an eye out."
"So this is the house that noodles built. Ha! Always wanted to go to a red carpet event," Jay says.
"Chen lives like a king. Here, he's totally self-sufficient. The only way on or off this island is with his permission, which you have to earn."
"You never told me about this place. How do you know so much about this island?" Lloyd asks.
"Because before Chen was my enemy, he was my Sensei," Garmadon says, showing them an Anacondrai tattoo on his back.
"You never told me you had a Sensei," Lloyd said as they sat down.
"When I was your age, I sought a darker means of guidance. He taught me to win at all cost, no matter who I hurt. It wasn't until you saved me that I saw the light."
"Uh, apparently he also never taught you to have a sense of humor. Lighten up, we're in an underground fight club. This is supposed to be fun," Jay says.
Zugu bangs a gong as music from a gramophone plays.
"All rise for Master Chen."
"Welcome to the Tournament of Elements. Now everyone can all di—" He says as the doors suddenly close and everyone gasps. "—rect your attention to me!" He laughs.
"And he has a thing for jokes, it seems," Y/n says.
Chen laughs. "Never before have so many Elemental Fighters been under one roof. I see Master of Fire, Earth, Shadow, Speed, even two prophesied Green and Purple Saviors," He sang. "And a former pupil has returned," He says before pointing to a gong. "This symbol before you is for the Anacondrai, fiercest Serpentine warrior to ever roam this land. Its creed: 'Only One Can Remain.'"
The gong moves and they see brackets with different Elemental Masters pictures.
"Good, looks like we're each in our own bracket. We won't have to face each other for a while," Kai says.
"Better find Zane before that happens," Lloyd says.
"Yeah, I wouldn't have the heart to fight you guys," Y/n says.
"Behold, a Jadeblade," Chen says. "Here, it represents life. Obtain it, move on. Allow your opponent to take it, loser. The rules are simple. Every match will be different. No two fights will be the same. Your powers will keep you in the Tournament. Use it or lose it."
"What does Karlof win?"
"Win and stay on the island," Chen replies. "Win it all and you'll receive fortunes beyond your wildest dreams. And, lifetime supply of Master Chen noodles. But no one is here because of noodle, you want the glory of being the greatest fighter in all of Ninjago," He says as the Elemental Masters cheer but the Ninja stay silent.
"And what happens if they lose?" Garmadon asks.
"Lose? Who here likes to lose?" Chen asks as everyone but the ninja laugh. "Now please, enjoy my island. It's a super fun happy place. Hahaha. Fun time on me."
"You'll now each be shown to your rooms," Clouse says as women walked up to them.
"Ah, just what this place needs. Creepy clowns," Jay says.
"Kabuki, Jay," Y/n corrects.
"Chen's jesters," Garmadon adds.
The Kabuki grab their arms.
"Yeah, well, whatever they are, I don't like them," Cole says.
"So much for staying together," Kai says before getting escorted to his suite.
"Always be ready. Never lose focus," Garmadon says.
"What?" Kai asks. "Uh, what did he say?"
"I don't know," Jay says. "Something about, uh, mucus?"
"No, Jay," Y/n giggles. "He said to always be ready and to never lose focus."
Jay nervously chuckles. "Yeah, that was my second guess."
"Your Fire suite, Master Kai."
"Are you kidding me?" He asks as he enters the room. "Ha! Fire!" He sings as he sees a picture of himself. "Whoa, so handsome," He says before going to the balcony. "I could get used to this. Huh? Ah. Looks like we're neighbours. I'm Kai, Master of Fire," He says as he lights his hand on fire to show off.
"Skylor, Master of...wouldn't you like to know?" Skylor asks.
"Huh? Ow, ow, ow, ow!" He says as he loses control over his powers and Skylor giggles at his failed attempt.
"Every device within your room has been configured to interact with your own electrical signal," A Kabuki tells Jay.
Jay uses his powers and a television with a game console activates itself. "Whoo!" He laughs.
Cole lies on his bed. "A stone bed? Come on," He whines as he opens a secret compartment. "Huh?" He asks before running to the area and seeing shelves of food. "Chen's Noodle House? Three ingredient sizzling rice, snow pea cuttlefish, mu shu wu shu? Haha!" He says, eating before seeing cake. "Cake? Hah! Score!"
"Yeah, this is sweet, hehe," Lloyd chuckles as he wears his new gi. "Don't worry. We're gonna find you, pal," Lloyd tells Picture Zane.
"You can never have too much purple," Y/n cheers as she jumps on her bed and sees a button. "Wonder what this does," She says to herself as she pushes it and a bouncing castle comes out. "Awesome!" She says before jumping on it. "This is amazing!"
"Since you weren't invited by Master Chen, I'm sorry to say there's no room for you," Clouse says, pushing Garmadon out of the palace.
"Fine, I'll just stand guard. I wouldn't want anything to happen to them. I know how you like to use Dark Magic," Garmadon says.
"Now, why would I want to cheat the Ninja?" Clouse asks.
"Fellow fighters, hidden around my island, are enough Jadeblades for every participant except for one. The one who returns to the palace arena empty-handed loses. The tournament begins...now!" Chen says.
"Alright! It's playtime!" Y/n cheers as she runs out the room.
She was on one of the higher floors and she sees a Jade Blade in a vase. Toxic held it in her hands and glared at Y/n in warning.
"As if this girl is going to make me fear her," Y/n mutters before running into battle.
Toxic roundhouse kicks her as she dodges and grabs her leg.
"Ninja, go!" She says before swinging Toxic to a wall, the said elemental master still holding onto her blade. "Man, she just won't give up."
Toxic gets up and rubs her head. After being able to see properly again, she blows toxic gas in Y/n's direction. Y/n, not having it, summons her purple wings and blows the gas to Toxic, using her powers against her. In her moment of panic, she lets go of the blade and throws it into the air. Y/n, taking the opportunity, catches it before flying off.
"You made it!" Lloyd said.
"I see my brother hasn't," Y/n comments.
"Two Jadeblades remaining," Clouse says.
"Wait!" Cole says. "I got one!"
"Cole! Whoo-hoo! You made it," Jay cheers.
"Where's Kai?"
"Only one Jadeblade remaining," Chen reminds. He uses his survellance system and see Karlof and Kai about to face off for the remaining Jadeblade. "Get on it!" He yells over the intercom.
Y/n bite her lip and went to chewing her nails. She was nervous. Would her brother get the Jadeblade or get eliminated in Round One of the fight? Just then, Karlof walked in with the Jadeblade in his hand. Karlof laughed.
"Karlof wins!" He cheers.
"Oh, no," Y/n says.
Just when all hope seemed lost, Kai put his plan into action. He sneaked up behind Karlof and unscrewed the elemental master's metal hand.
"What?" Karlof asks, confused.
"Ah, looks like you got a screw loose," Kai says.
He steals Karlof's Jadeblade and places it into the holder, obtaining victory.
"We have a loser!" Chen announces.
Karlof screws back his metal hand. "That's not fair," The man whines. "He cheated!"
"I did what I had to do," Kai replied.
"That is not how you win," Garmadon chides.
"Fine, I lose," Karlof says. "Karlof never wanted to be on stinking island!"
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear you did not enjoy your stay," Chen says, pretending to be hurt. "I guess this worked out for the best. This is goodbye!" He says, pushing a button as Karlof falls down a trapdoor and screams. "As you can see," Chen says, addressing the winners. "Lose and you are out. Break any rule, you are out," He says. "Never bite the hand that feeds you, Master Chen Delicious Noodle! Now, rest up," He tells them. "Tomorrow, the tournament will recommence."
Timeskip
The next day, the ninja took a seat in a booth at the cafeteria.
"At least the chow's good," Cole comments.
Jay groans. "It's killing me," He whines. "What's under the trapdoor? What happens when you lose?"
"Don't think about that," Garmadon advises.
"It's all I can think about," Jay responds. "I moved on. I feel guilt. These are not good feelings."
"You think you feel bad?" Kai asks. "Imagine how I feel. Our mission is simple. Tonight we find Zane and get off this crazy island."
"And just how are we supposed to do that?" Cole asks. "You heard Chen. Break a rule and we're out. He's not gonna let us roam around."
"And besides, the guards are everywhere. We can't just walk around," Y/n adds.
"Then it's a good thing we're ninja," Kai says. "Meet me in my room at midnight."
"You mind if I join you?" Mr. Pale asks.
"Disappear, pal!" Jay demands. "This is private!"
The Light elemental master than made himself invisible. Jay sighed loudly.
"I know you're still here," Jay says. "I can see your lunch tray!"
Mr. Pale than walked off.
"Wow, Jay," Cole says. "You were really mean!"
"How am I supposed to kow if we can trust him?" Jay asks. "See what this island is doing to me? It's corrupting me! It has to stop! I'll see you tonight."
Timeskip
At midnight, the ninja entered Kai's room. Just when Jay landed on Kai's balcony, Skyler came out and Kai pushed Jay off the balcony. Jay hung onto the ledge and stayed out of sight though he let out a scream.
"What was that you said?" Skyler asked.
"Uh," Kai said, thinking of an excuse. "I said w-w-what a beautiful night," He responded, chuckling nervously.
"Oh, come on," Jay whispered.
"What do you think happened to Karlof?" Skyler asks.
"I feel horrible," Kai responded. "If I had known what would happen-"
"You did what you had to do to stay in the tournament," Skyler told the man. "I'm sorry if I was cold to you earlier."
"Psst," Jay whispered, trying to get Kai's attention.
"Maybe it's good to have friends," Skyler said.
"Kai!" Jay whispered.
"Jay, would you stop making that noise?" Kai quietly asked the blue ninja.
"You had asked about my power—" Skyler said before Kai cut her off.
"Uh, yeah. oh. It's so cold out," He said, pretending to shiver. "Better call it a night, hehe," He said before going back inside his dorm.
"Oh, okay," Skyler said. "Sorry to have bothered—"
Kai poked his head out of his room balcony door. "Oh, okay. Good night," He says.
Kai goes back into his room and waits. The moment Skyler enters her room, he rushes back out and helps Jay up.
"You just had to leave me hanging, huh, Romeo?" Jay complains before they enter Kai's room. "Whoa-ho-ho-ho. Nice digs."
"I know," Cole repsonds. "His room is so much nicer than mine. Look, chocolate-covered shell peas. I love these," He says, taking the bowl of goodies and jumping on Kai's bed. "Oh, and look how soft your pillows are. Man, mine are made of rock. What a crock!" Cole whines as Y/n snickers.
"Okay, it was almost impossible to get here," Jay says. "Like Y/n said, this place is swarmming with guards. Any ideas on how we search the island?"
"We travel by shadow," Kai says. "Cover every square inch of this place until we find them."
"Whoa—" Cole says behind them.
"The island's big," Jay says. "We'll need to split up."
"No," Lloyd objects. "We stick together."
"Uh, guys," Cole says. "This bed is, uh..."
"Cole, I get it!" Kai says. "You like my bed. Would you stop playing around?"
"I think I know how we can search the island."
The ninja than lie down on the bed.
"Okay, I feel ridiculous," Lloyd says.
"Is no one going to talk about how wrong this feels?" Y/n asks.
"Ah, you're right," Jay says. "The pillows are soft."
"Is this a joke?" Lloyd asks Cole.
"I must've done something to trigger it," Cole explains. "I was laying here, then I stretched—" Cole said before the bed flipped.
Everyone yelled and gasped before they let go and landed on the new ground.
"Whoa!" Jay cheers. "Secret passageway! Cool."
Kai used his power to light up the passageway. "Nice work, Cole. Maybe Zane's not on the island but in it," He said before they were cut off by grunting.
"Quiet," Lloyd says. "Do you hear that?"
"Who do you think is fighting this late?" Y/n asks.
Jay sees light coming from two small holes. "Oh, secret peep holes," He cheers. "Haha!" He said, climbing up the wall. "Super cool! Sounds like someone's fighting on the other side of this wall."
"What do you see?" Cole asks. "Who's fighting?"
"It's not a fight," Jay answers. "It's Skyler's room. And it looks like she's training."
Kai extinguishes his fire and Y/n lights up hers.
"Let me see, let me see!" Kai said before anxiously taking up the space on the wall beside Jay.
"Ah, looks like Kai's got the hots for her," Cole says.
"No," Kai responds. "She's competition. I just wanna know what powers we're up against!"
"Ugh, wait your turn!" Jay says.
"We can at least share," Kai responds.
"Guys, this is an invasion of privacy," Lloyd tells them.
"Ugh, her room doesn't reveal anything about her power," Kai groans before he and Jay gasp, looking at each other.
"What was it?" Cole asks. "What did you see?"
"She's... Fire..." Kai responds.
"Wait a minute," Lloyd says. "If we're all decendants of Elemental Masters..."
Cole laughs and begins to say in a sing-songy voice. "Kai's heart is on fire! Kai's heart is on fire!"
"Sweet home alabama," Y/n said, rubbing her temples.
"Can we please just keep moving?" Kai asks. "It's like a maze down here. Good thing you're leaving a trail back to our room."
"I'm what?" Cole asks before noticing the trail of chocolate shell peas. "Oh, yeah, heh. I meant to do that."
The ninja continued walking down the trail until Lloyd notices a tripwire.
"Everyone stop!" Lloyd commands. "Booby trap!"
"Haha!" Jay laughed as Y/n quietly snickered. "Booby traps. Even cooler. Haha!" He said before Lloyd looked at him. "Or, I mean, kinda cool. I mean, they're totally not cool, you know, cause they're dangerous."
"From here on out, we have to watch our step," Lloyd tells them.
"Do you hear that?" Kai ask. "Everyone be quiet," He says as they hide behind a rock.
They continued hiding, eventually managing to get some Anacondrai Uniform. They finished their disguise and walked into the ceromony.
"Stop licking your tattoos," Kai scolds.
"It's chocolate," Cole whines. "I can't resist."
Y/n shushes them harshly.
"Just try to fit in," Lloyd adds.
Unsure of what to do, they start chanting with the warriors.
"Bring out the loser!" Chen demands.
"Unh! Get hands off Karlof! Karlof wish he never sign up for this. What's chanting for?" Karlof asks.
"Uh, they're saying 'only one can remain,'" Chen replies. "Like I said, use it or lose it," He says before using his staff to steal Karlof's elemental power.
"He's stolen Karlof's power," Kai says.
"And he used Ice. That means he must have already stolen Zane's power too," Cole says as Y/n clenches his fist.
"When I get my hands on that man..." She growls.
"What happened to my metal?" Karlof asks.
"Your Metal?" Chen asks. "Oh, it's mine now," He laughs. "But now, I will let you go."
"Really?" Karlof asks.
"To the factory!"
"No, no! Let Karlof go! No, no!"
"Jay, your face..." Lloyd whispers.
Jay gasps. "My face? All of our faces! The chocolate's melting!" He says before all the warriors turn to them.
"Who are they?"
"It's so time to go..." Y/n mutters.
"Intruders! Stop them! They must not escape!" Chen orders.
They run away and Cole trips on a tripwire, closing the doors on the Warriors.
"Nice job, Cole!" Y/n cheers.
"I meant to do that!" He lies.
"A-ha! Yes!" Kai cheers as they stop before a trap activates. "Oh, no!" He says before they run away again.
"That was close..." Cole says before they hear growling.
"That sound..." Jay says.
They look down, seeing a snake right below them.
"That has got to be the second biggest snake I have ever seen!" Kai yells.
They climb up and enter Kai's room again.
"Are we..."
"Yeah, barely..." Lloyd says.
"I'm going to be seeing giantic snakes in my dream for months," Y/n grumbles.
"Did we just — ow!"
"No more sneaking around," Jay says. "From now on, let's just follow the rules."
"Unh! We may not have found Zane, but we found something just as important," Kai says. "This tournament isn't about glory. It's about Chen stealing all of our Elemental powers."
"But why?" Lloyd asks. "What is he planning?"
"We don't know. But finding Zane is our top priority. Our best chance will be to play Chen's game even if we hate it," Y/n replies.
"Agreed?" Kai asks.
"Agreed."
"Good thing we weren't spotted," Cole adds, "That was close."
"Yeah, too close," Jay says, showing a torn part of his disguse.
"Hm. Good work, my pet," Clouse says, taking the fabric from the snake. "Yes, yes, we do know who the impostors are, don't we? Don't worry. They will pay for their actions."