Onyx and the Tournament of Elements

The First Trial

Onyx looked up from the book she'd been reading when a fanfare played over an intercom system. "Fellow fighters, hidden around my island are enough Jadeblades for every participant except one. The one who returns to the palace arena empty-handed loses. The tournament begins...now!" Chen's voice called. It took Onyx a moment to process what had just been said. When she did, she leapt up, flinging her book onto a side table and dashing to her door. She heard it unlock the moment she reached it, and she threw it open, flying out into the hall, where the other masters were doing the same.

Onyx's eyes landed on Lloyd, and she hurried towards him. "Lloyd!" She called, sliding underneath a white-haired man's legs and leaping up beside him. "What do you say we work together to get ahold of two blades?" Lloyd asked, kicking a green-haired woman away from them. Onyx nodded. "Way ahead of you!" She exclaimed, ducking underneath a metal vase that came flying at her head.

Onyx's eyes flicked around, searching for jadeblades as she dodged attacks. She located five strewn around the main room. One in a pot-that was too open, one in a statue to their left-that was a good bet, one in the light hanging in the middle of the space above the ground-she could handle that just fine, one in the middle of the floor where Chen had made his appearance-too risky, and she noticed the corner of one poking out from behind a tapestry across the room-too far. "You take left, I'll take the chandelier," Onyx said. Lloyd nodded, locating the blades she was talking about.

They split, Lloyd dashing towards the statue and Onyx getting a running start, launching herself over the railing, and catching herself on the crystals hanging from the chandelier. She climbed up them, swinging herself up. As Onyx finally managed to reach the stained-glass platform part of the chandelier that had the blade, a man with fluffy grey hair floated up and landed across from her. Onyx didn't know this man, but judging by the white whips floating around them, he had something to do with clouds.

The two stared at each other for a moment, each waiting for the other to make a move. Finally Onyx decided to take the offensive. She flung a blast of darkness at the man and lunged for the blade. Her hand wrapped around it, and she finished her lunge by rolling into a crouch, but she slipped on the glass and landed on her knees. In the split second she was off-guard, clouds surrounded her, pressing her down into the glass. Onyx gasped for breath as the pressure increased. Zane had told her that clouds were actually quite heavy, but she'd never really cared about the fact until now.

Onyx curled herself around the blade, mind desperately racing to find a way out. As the clouds forced her down, she heard a soft crackling sound and an idea popped into her head. She summoned darkness around her hands, braced herself, and thrust it into the glass beneath her.

The glass shattered into thousands of pieces, glimmering and catching the light as Onyx fell with them. "I did not plan AHEAAAD!" She cried as she plummeted towards the ground. And then someone caught her arm. Onyx's inertia smacked her against the railing. "Onyx, are you okay?" Lloyd shouted. Onyx looked up at him. "Yeah. Did you get the blade?" She asked urgently. He held up his other hand, confirming the fact. "Yeah, but I did get attacked by the rug," Lloyd said, pulling her up over the railing.

"You...? Actually, never mind. What do we do with these?" Onyx asked, looking at the blades. Surely they didn't have to kill each other with them. "We've got to get them to that statue," Lloyd answered, pointing down at a statue that was, of course, shaped like a snake. "What do you say about throwing me back over the railing?" Onyx asked as several elemental masters approached them, eyes on their jadeblades. "Yep. Let's go!" Lloyd said, grabbing her hand and leaping over the railing.

The two landed directly in front of the statue, quickly passing their blades to Clouse, who took them and slid them into slots in the statue. Onyx gave a shaky sigh when they slipped into their spots, securing their safety for the moment. "Mm, working together, are we?" Clouse said, beady eyes glimmering at the two. Lloyd gently pulled Onyx away, eyes narrowing at the calculating look in the man's eye.

"He bothers me. He looks like a rat," Onyx murmured as they stepped away and joined the other successful elementals. Lloyd nodded tensely, looking around. Jay and Cole had succeeded, but Kai was nowhere to be found. "Where's Kai?" Cole murmured. Onyx shook her head. "I don't know, but he'd better hurry," she said as Chen appeared. "Only one Jadeblade remaining. Get on with it!" He shouted impatiently into the intercom. "It's only been fifteen minutes," Lloyd muttered.

Finally, after another five minutes spent in silence punctuated by Chen's irritable sighs, the door finally swung open. Onyx's stomach dropped as the victor stepped in. "Hahaha! Karlof wins!" The Metalonian laughed. But then, as he was thrusting his hand into the air in triumph, flames enveloped his gauntlet, and it fell into two pieces, clattering to the floor. The moment the blade was on the ground, Kai lunged from behind Karlof, snatching up the blade and dashing across the room, thrusting it into the final slot on the statue.

"Ah, looks like you got a screw loose!" Kai said, smirking and throwing a wink at the
red-headed woman. "We have a loser!" Chen giggled. The ninja gave a collective sigh of relief, though Garmadon frowned disapprovingly. "That's not fair. He cheated," Karlof snapped, picking up the pieces of his gauntlet. "I did what I had to do," Kai said, stepping down to rejoin the ninja. "That is not how you win," Garmadon murmured, fixing Kai with a strict look.

Karlof crossed his arms. "Fine, I lose. Karlof never wanted to be on stinking island," he snapped. Chen leaned back in his chair. "Oh, I'm sorry to hear you did not enjoy your stay. I guess this worked out for the best. This is goodbye!" He said, pressing a button on the arm of his chair. Onyx's eyes widened when the ground below Karlof's feet opened up and he fell with a cry. The masters all turned to Chen, eyes wide. "As you can see, lose and you are out. Break any rule, you are out. Never bite the hand that feeds you Master Chen delicious noodle! Now rest up. Tomorrow the tournament will recommence," he said.

And it was with that line the Kabuki reappeared from now where and led the masters back to their rooms.

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And I am back! I really needed that break, and now that I'm recharged I'm ready to get back into writing! I hope you didn't miss me too much! (Or maybe I do? You miss things you like, right?) Anyway, Chen's terrible grammar strikes again! And we're going to meet my featured elemental character next chapter!!

Musical of the Day: Shucked (it's... weirdly entertaining)