The next few days passed without much of interest happening. Rose and Lloyd returned to their schedules, and the others enjoyed the pictures secretly taken by Nya. In fact, nothing out of the ordinary happened at all, until one day when Rose went to retrieve the mail one morning.
Getting the mail really wasn't quite so difficult as one would think, living in the most advanced building in the world. It was all sorted automatically, and then sent through pneumatic tubes to the proper floors. All one had to do then was go to the retrieval area on the floor to collect it. It was really quite simple.
And yet Rose hated it every time it was her turn to go get it. Despite that, she resisted the urge to complain about it. For one, that would just get her more exercises. For another, she knew it really wasn't that big a deal. Just take two steps down the hall and get it. She would look like a child if she whined about that.
She still hated it, though.
Today however, when she pulled the envelopes from the metal box, she noticed something right on top. Two small envelopes, with simple but intricate decorations lining them, were on the very top of the pile. On one was her name in elegant lettering, while the other one had Lloyd's on it. The return address on both showed it was from Chen's Noodle House.
"Oh boy!" She shouted as she burst into the dining room. She slammed down the rest of the mail onto the table, startling the others and spilling Garmadon's tea. "We've got coupons!"
It was one of her favorite perks, the free and cheap stuff that came with being a Ninja. Even if she hadn't actually done anything to save Ninjago yet, by association she got some cool shit too.
She ripped opened the envelope addressed to her as Garmadon cleaned up his spilled tea and Misako went to get him a new cup.
"We're going to be eating... like... Hmmm." She trailed off as she read the letter, face looking thoughtful. Then, without warning, she snatched the letter for Lloyd back up and started out of the kitchen.
"Is something wrong?" Garmadon asked as he took his new cup of tea from his wife.
"Nope! Hey, is Lloyd still in his room?" Rose asked. Garmadon opened his mouth to answer, but she ignored that and kept talking as she left the room. "Cool, thanks! Bye!"
Rose bounded down the hall until she came to Lloyd's room. Not pausing to knock or even call out, she slammed the door open and shouted. "Lloyd! Guess what!"
"I wasn't sleeping!" The blond shouted in return as he jolted by his desk. His hair was messed up, and the imprint of a pen could be seen on his cheek.
After a brief moment of staring at each other, Rose held the letter out to Lloyd. "Look what we got in the mail today~" She sang as he grabbed and opened it.
He read through it once, twice, and then a third time. The he threw put the letter on his desk and went back to what he'd been doing. "So what? We don't have time for that." He mumbled, searching for the report he'd been writing.
"What do you mean, 'so what'?! It's the perfect change to get out, stretch our powers, and have some fun!"
"I don't know, Rose. It doesn't really seem like a good idea." He pulled the report out and laid it on top of the other papers on his desk. "Besides, there's still a lot to do around here, and you haven't finished your training yet."
"Come on, it'll be fun! We've been cooped up in here all week, anyways. We need to get out for a while." She gave him a pleading look even though he wasn't looking at her. He sighed.
"But, what if the guys are going to be there?" He asked quietly. "I don't really want to see them right now."
"Lloyd." Rose began as she grabbed his shoulders. "I absolutely, positively, guarantee you that there will be other people, aside from them to talk to. And who's to say that they'll even be there anyway? They want nothing to do with any of this, right?"
"How can you be sure?" He asked, wary.
"Dude, just trust me. I have never been wrong about this sort of thing." Rose said as she turned to leave the room. "Now get packed. We have a tournament to enter!
"You said they wouldn't be here!" Lloyd loudly hissed as he watched the three colorful figures at the other side of the dock. So far they hadn't seemed to have noticed him yet, but he kept his hood up just in case. He was relieved that he'd chosen to wear a black hoodie rather than his usual green one, as it made him a lot harder to recognize.
"Shut up Lloyd." Rose replied, pulling her own hood up and looking out over the water. 'I thought for so that they would've left by now. When did the other two even get here?!'
"'Trust me, I'm never wrong.' Oh, but you were. You were totally wrong!" Lloyd mocked, now glaring at her. To say he was unhappy would've been a huge understatement, as he hadn't been this pissed off for a long time.
"Shut up Lloyd!" Rose almost shouted. She turned to give him a piece of her mind but stopped when something caught her eye. "Yikes." She muttered as she felt the blood drain from her face.
"What? What is it?" Lloyd asked, turning to see what she saw. He immediately turned back around and adjusted his hood. "Uh oh."
"'Uh oh' is right, Lloyd." Garmadon stood almost directly behind him, and he could feel his father's glare on his back. There was no getting out of this.
"Heh heh, Dad! What, what are you doing here?" Lloyd asked, trying his best to feign surprise.
'We're doomed.' Thought Rose.
"That's a question I should be asking you. Why did you accept Chen's invitation?" Garmadon was scary when he was mad, even without the blackened skin, four arms, and glaring red eyes. Still, Lloyd was going to try and lie.
"Who's Chen?" He asked innocently. Behind him, Rose face-palmed.
"Lloyd." Yeah, they were both screwed from here to Ignacia village. That was the Mom Voice. The one that said 'do what I say or get your ass beat'.
"It seemed like fun!" Rose cut in. "Besides, what's the harm in getting to know the other Masters? Hailey always told me to make more friends." She grinned nervously while Garmadon gave her an unimpressed look.
"You can talk to them without joining this tournament". He sighed, rubbing his face with one hand. "Look, I know it seems exciting, but this is dangerous. You two need to come with me back to the tower. Now."
"Are you sure?" Rose asked. "Look, it was my idea we come here. Lloyd was upset about the others, and I thought this would help keep his mind off of things. Although that kind of backfired." She glanced towards the ex-Ninja, who somehow still hadn't noticed them.
Garmadon opened his mouth to argue, but was interrupted by the somehow sleazy yet well dressed man standing by the boat.
"Everyone who's entering the tournament, please board now." He told them. Everyone lined up to board, while Lloyd and Rose tried to sneak away from Garmadon. That plan failed when he lined up right behind them anyways.
The line moved smoothly, until it reached Lloyd and Rose. When they tried to board, the sleazy man stepped in front of them, blocking the way.
"I'm sorry," The man told them while not sounding sorry in the slightest, "but he wasn't invited."
Rose glanced back at Garmadon, trying to decide if they should ditch him, when Lloyd spoke up. "He's with us. Either we all go on that boat, or none of us do."
There was a brief glaring contest between the two of them. Finally though, the man bowed his head slightly in defeat and stepped aside, waving them through the gate.
"Well that was odd." Rose said when they were on the boat. She leaned against the railing and stared up at the sky.
"Not entirely." Garmadon told her as Lloyd mimicked her position. "Clouse and I have a... history together."
"What sort of history?" Lloyd asked. He really didn't know much about his father, so he took any chance to get information. He was blocked by this, however, by Rose suddenly running past them.
"Hailey!" Rose yelled as she threw herself at her friend. The dark haired girl caught her with an 'oof', "Why are you here? I didn't think you'd be interested in something like this."
"Well, summer's been pretty boring..." She replied as the other two came up. "Also you know how my grandfather is. I needed a break from him and his... politics."
"Hailey? You're an Elemental Master too!?" Lloyd asked, sounding almost offended. "How come you never told us? And what's your power?"
"I don't know you, and that's a secret." Hailey dead-panned as she extracted herself from Rose's hug. "It's not something you needed to know, so I didn't tell you."
"Oh."Lloyd said, disappointment clear on his face. He turned to Rose. "What's her power?"
However before Rose could answer, or Hailey could tell her to be quiet, Kai went flying between them with a yell. They all stopped and turned to stare at him as he lay sprawled on the deck.
" Oopsy." They all turned to where Kai had come from, only to see a giant standing there. "Guess Karlof not smart."
As they watched, Kai leapt back up and charged Karlof, launching a fireball as he did so. The larger man simply blocked each one with the huge gauntlets he wore.
"Should, uh, should we do something?" Rose asked Kai dodged the punches Karlof threw at him. On the other side of the fight she could see Cole and Jay yelling something, though she couldn't hear what it was.
"No, let him deal with it." Lloyd said as he walked away. He wasn't their leader any more, so he wasn't going to deal with it.
"Lloyd is right. Kai needs to put a stop to this on his own." Garmadon said as Lloyd moped by the side of the ship.
"You think he's gonna kill him?" Hailey whisper-asked Rose, as the large, and now completely metal, man finally managed to pinned Kai down.
"I hope not. I hate him as much as anyone else, but he doesn't deserved death." Rose whisper-replied. 'I wonder if I'm going to have to put them on ice. Oh god, CAN I even put them on ice?! Will my powers even work in front of everyone. Oh shit.'
"Enough!" Luckily for Rose, though, Clouse had noticed the fight, and stormed over angrily. "Stop acting like violent buffoons and save it for the tournament." He told them, some how managing to stare down at the two despite being shorter than both of them.
Karlof simply shrugged and got off of Kai, turning and walking away without a word. As Rose watched, a woman in orange approached the Red Ninja and helped him up. She rolled her eyes and turned away, walking back over to Lloyd as Clouse announced their arrival. Immediately she became excited again.
"Oh boy, this going to be so much fun!" Rose said as they pulled into the dock. She was bouncing slightly on her toes, and Hailey had to reach out and grab her to keep her still.
"Yes, but I want you all to keep an eye out, I have a very bad feeling about this." Garmadon said, narrowing his eyes at the island. He'd sworn to never return, but now he had to in order to keep his son safe. He only hoped that he was wrong, and it really was just a tournament.
"Pfft, nothing's going to happen! Trust me, I'm never wrong about these things." Rose said, brushing him off. She had complete faith in herself. The others did not.
"Trust you, huh?" Hailey and Lloyd asked in unison.
"What about the illegal fighting game tournament you organized in high-school?" Hailey asked as she walked past her and down the ramp.
"Or what you said about the Ninja not showing up?" Lloyd said as he too walked past.
"Shut up!" She yelled, chasing after them. Garmadon chuckled, following them at a more sedate pace.
