"Ah, Garmadon," Chen walked up beside the Sensei in the middle of the main lobby, "So glad to have you here. How have you been enjoying your all-expenses paid, no room stay on my island?"

Garmadon didn't respond to Chen at first. He was staring at the new change in bracket. All of the remaining Elemental Masters in the tournament were there as well, looking over the change with a similar amount of confusion. The ninja, Morro included, were the ones most shocked by the change.

"Chen," Garmadon turned, "What is the meaning of this?"

"What is the meaning of this?" Chen pouted, "Whatever do you mean, my former pupil? I never said that the bracket was set in stone."

"Morro was not meant to fight tonight!" Garmadon growled, "You have done this deliberately."

"Did I?" Chen paused, "I'm sure everything will become clear enough as time passes."

"You cannot do this, Chen," Garmadon took a step towards the man, "I will not let you alter destiny like this."

"Do you truly care for Morro so much that you would disrupt any entire tournament just to stop him having an early bout?" Chen cocked his head, "Or is it perhaps the other combatant that you worry about?"

"I don't care," Monty called out from the crowd, "What are you all gawking at? It's just a change in bracket."

The group turned to the ghost. Monty had fought in two battles, and both of them had left a rather… awful taste in their mouths after seeing them. His first battle against Tox had been a wash, one that was brutal to watch but left her with most of her limbs working. When it had come time for him to fight Chamile, however, she'd been visibly terrified the entire match. What had started out as a simple game had rapidly turned into her having bullet wounds in each limb of her body. It hadn't been over after that, though, and the image of what Monty had taken his sweet time in doing with wind had left the majority of the spectators sick to their stomachs.

"You can't fight Morro!" Kai protested, having stayed in after tricking Karlof, "We all saw what you did to those two. How do we know that you won't go too far?"

"Chen said you had to win your matches by either completing the goal or making your opponent unable to fight," Monty gave Kai a dark look, "I'm pretty sure death is included in that."

"Why you!" Jay tried to lunge at Monty, but Monty raised a hand and unleashed a gust of wind that barreled Jay over.

"Now, now!" Chen raised his voice, letting all know that he was indeed there, "Let us save that anger for the actual match, yes? Monty's opponents are perfectly alive and kicking! Morro, you have no issues with this change in bracket, do you?"

Morro turned, wearing the green tribal robes that Chen had crafted for all of his team. He looked to Chen, then to Garmadon, his team, and finally to Monty. His iron gaze didn't falter as he slowly nodded his head to Chen. Chen's grin widened.

"Then it is decided!" Chen giggled, "Tonight after dinner, you will all come to witness the battle of Monty versus Morro! Oohhh I can't wait! I'm sure it'll be quite a 'breeze' for one of you, hehe!"

The room filled with hushed whispers about the upcoming match. The ninja stood behind Morro, giving Monty long glances. Monty simply yawned and pulled himself up from where he'd been leaning against the wall, stalking towards Morro. As the two of them made eye contact, Monty averted his gaze, shrugged, and walked by the entire group. Just to spite them, he made sure to physically pass through several spectators, passing a collective chill through them.

Soon, the group dispersed throughout the building back to their rooms to rest or train for their upcoming matches. Soon, it was Garmadon and Chen left in the lobby. Garmadon moved over to stand by the bracket, looking at the two faces that were now pitted against one another. The clicking of Chen's staff as he walked over to Garmadon echoed through the room as he moved and put an arm around Garmadon's shoulder. It took all Garmadon had not to throw Chen away.

"I can understand your concern here, Garmadon," Chen sighed, "After all, it is rather hard to watch your pupil go to fight, especially if you never got to see them leave the nest!"

"I have no idea what you are talking about, Chen," Garmadon stated firmly, "Morro is as much my pupil as any of the others. I have no worries about his performance come tonight."

"Stubborn as ever I see," Chen let go of Garmadon, then began to walk away. He stopped just before he reached the doors to leave the building, speaking over his shoulder, "You know, there is a saying. In times of war, fathers bury their sons. In times of peace, sons bury their fathers. So… been in any good wars lately?"

Garmadon turned around as Chen threw the doors open, cackling to himself as he did. Garmadon's words caught in his throat, leaving him only able to watch as Chen walked away, leaving him with only the lingering feeling of a secret exposed, and of the upcoming battle to come.

While it was possible for ghosts to eat, Monty didn't find much pleasure in it. He could taste the food, but he got nothing out of eating. It was the same when it came to drinking with Ronin; he could taste the hardest possible drink but never get drunk. Thus, while everyone was going to get dinner, Monty had decided to head down to the new arena that Chen constructed just for their fight. It was on his way down the long ornate hallways of the palace that Chen called his own that he encountered a figure standing in his way.

"Move," Monty waved his hand at Morro, "I'm told people feel death coming when I walk through them. Let's not hasten that feeling for you tonight."

"I'm not going to hold back on you during our fight," Morro stated firmly, his eyes narrowed, "You made clear that you intend to kill me tonight. If that's the case, I think you should know that I'm not going to let that happen."

"Oh, really now?" Monty stopped walking, cocking his head, "And here I thought you'd just sit back and let me shoot you fifty or so times."

"You hate me for a reason that I cannot understand," Morro continued, "You hated me from the minute we first met. I don't know why you do, or why you are with Ronin, or how a ghost like you even sticks around in Ninjago, but I won't let any of those thoughts cloud my judgement. You should know that tonight, I won't let you win."

"Why not just tell me when you're going to come at me in battle too?" Monty crossed his arms, "If you're so nervous that you have to tell me all this, you shouldn't step in that arena tonight."

"You know what Chen here is doing," Morro stepped forward, "You know that he's taking all of our elements, you know he's trying to do something with them. We don't have to fight. We could refuse to and force Chen to call it a draw. His entire tournament could break down right now if we just-" Morro stopped at the raised pistol Monty now had aimed at his head.

"I don't care about what Chen's doing," Monty cocked the pistol, "What makes you think that I would care if his entire tournament falls apart or not?"

"Because I know that you're a good person, or you once were," Morro starred the barrel down without fear, "You came with us to the Dark Island. You tried to convince Garmadon to back down his armies. You were there when I fought the Overlord. You were willing to do good in Ninjago. You're only pretending to be the bad guy."

"So what?" Monty growled, "It doesn't matter if I'm pretending or not. Ronin and I have done things you guys would throw us in jail for. All that stuff I did to Chamile? She left us in the Frozen Wastes that entire time you dealt with that stupid Golden Master crap. That was just me paying her back for stranding Ronin and I up there. What other proof do you need that I'm a bad guy here?"

"The fact that you didn't kill either Tox or Chamile, even when you say you hate them as much as you do," Morro countered, "You could have killed us too, if you really wanted. You haven't pulled that trigger, even if you hate me. You could just avoid this entire battle, right now, but you won't do it."

"Maybe I just want to make it as public as I can," Monty offered, "This isn't something you can weasel out of. I plan to kill you, Morro. I hate you more than anyone else in this entire stupid world. The only thing holding me back is the fact I want everyone to see me do it."

"So you claim," Morro sighed, "I was hoping that we could come to some sort of agreement here. This match will be one of the last ones before the semifinals. We have to do something about Chen before this gets out of control. You're the only one here that we know, Monty. We need your help, more than you realize!"

"Too bad, I don't work for free, and even if you had the money, I'd never work with you," Monty withdrew his gun and holstered it back under his armor, "I'll see you tonight, Morro."

Morro's fists gripped as what Monty guessed was his chance to end the tournament fell through. Monty didn't say anything, instead just walking through Morro. Morro indeed felt the chill go right to his bones, making him shiver as Monty left. Before Monty was out of earshot, Morro turned around and called out.

"I have no lack in my convictions, Monty!" Morro called out, "I will win this duel, for both my team, and for Ninjago! I won't let your personal feelings sway me tonight!"

"Good," Monty growled to himself as he walked away, "Neither will I."

Monty stood in a small room with a platform in the middle. He'd been denied being able to see what the arena looked like, instead having been told by Chen through Clouse that a match wasn't as fun if one side had an advantage. Instead, Monty had gone back to his room, checked the guns he was bringing, and been escorted to a small room underneath where the arena was. The platform in the middle would raise him up through the floor into the arena, if he understood right.

He did another count over what he had on him. Ten pistols hidden across his plate armor, each with one reload with them. He'd brought a shotgun and rifle, both strapped around his shoulders, meaning he'd have to focus to keep his body material to keep them there. He had the reloads for them around his belt. The only other weapon he had was a deepstone sword, which all combatants against Monty were given, since the only element that could actually kill him, water, wasn't at the tournament. He was checking over the blade Chen had given him for any imperfections when he perked up.

"I can hear you," Monty called out to the man walking down the stairs to his room, "You shouldn't be hiding like that."

"I am no more hiding than you are, Monty," Garmadon stated firmly as he entered the room, "We need to talk."

"I'm not going to spare Morro," Monty sighed, "I don't care that he's the Green Ninja and all that. He's my opponent, and he pisses me off. He'll suffer for that."

"I know after seeing you fight that trying to convince you is a futile gesture," Garmadon shook his head, "But you must consider what this fight means. Chen knows about you, Monty."

"Yeah, I picked up on that pretty quickly," Monty grumbled, "I'm your dirty little secret and we all know Chen just loves going hunting for those."

"You could end this tournament, and stop his plans," Garmadon walked up to Monty, "You could easily sneak into anywhere on this island. You could stop everything before it begins. You could do so much for us, Monty. Please, will you not at least consider the idea of doing this task for us?"

"I already told Morro, I don't care," Monty turned away from the Sensei, "He doesn't mean anything to me. Just like I don't mean anything to you."

"You mean everything to me, Monty," Garmadon put a hand on his chest, "It pains me to know what happened to you. There is so much that I regret, knowing the truth now. I wish we could mend our relationship. I wish I'd never left you to fall down this path. I wish I could have stopped whatever happened and raised you, even if I was still corrupted by evil. I wish… I wish to know my son better."

Monty winced hearing that word. He turned to Garmadon, a flame of anger in his eyes. For a few moments, his hand moved towards one of his hidden pistols, wanting to pull it out and fire. When he finally got a hold of himself, he looked up with his normal apathetic gaze and scoffed.

"I'm not your son," Monty turned away, "Your 'son' died, a long time ago. He died in the middle of a desert, looking for some stupid tomb. He doesn't mean anything to you. I'm a ghost that escaped the Cursed Realm and shacked up with Ronin to make a living. That's it. Don't associate me with that stupid kid that died. I'm not him, and I never will be."

"You are my son!" Garmadon stepped forward, "You mean everything to me! When I found out the truth after the Final Battle, when I finally realized what had happened, I regretted everything! I cannot stand to see either of you disappear tonight!"

"If you really were my father," Monty gave him a dark glare, "You wouldn't have let me die in the first place. You did this to me, Garmadon. You said it yourself on the Dark Island," Monty turned back around, deepening his voice to repeat those same words he'd heard in the Stone Army Camp, "'A dead ghost like you shouldn't be allowed to pretend to be anything like my son.'"

Garmaodn's eyes flashed with pain of their own. Monty felt a twinge of guilt inside of him, but he held firm. Garmadon finally tore his gaze off the ghost, sighing and nodding his head. Just that motion alone felt as though Monty had stuck his solidified hand in boiling water, scalding all across his emotions. He forced himself, however, not to show any of the pain in his eyes, instead just staring Garmadon down.

"Yes," Garmadon turned around, "My son is dead. I wasn't there for him, and now, I never will be. Good luck in your match, Monty. I urge you to find the peace inside yourself to complete this match without resorting to the destruction of what you were meant to become."

Garmadon left the room. Monty didn't let himself turn around, call out to him, or say anything. It was better this way. He needed to leave Garmadon with no regrets, no uncertainty that he wasn't that stupid kid anymore. He needed to be sure that he didn't have a father that would miss him. He needed to make sure that he was, and would always be, Monty.

There was the sound of a buzzer in the room. Monty stepped forward and onto the platform, causing the symbol of the Anacondrai to flare up on its surface. After a few seconds, the platform began to rise. It was a long rise up, reminding Monty of Chen's love for trapdoors. A slot above him slid into the wall, causing light to flood the chamber. Monty didn't flinch.

With another flash, Monty emerged and got his first look at the arena. The arena was divided into 8 sections, and was circular in nature. The spectator stands were far above the arena, seated in a similarly circular fashion. The 8 sections were all clearly labeled by long grooves in the floor that divided them. The walls of the arena extended up, putting Monty essentially inside a large cage. When he looked up, he noticed that there was a filtering of light through a surface, meaning that they were encased in a transparent dome.

Morro was on the other side of the arena. He held no weapon other than the deepstone sword that Chen provided him. Monty stared him down. Chen's chair was above where Morro had emerged, with Clouse to one side and all of his cultists in seats around him. Monty attempted to figure anything else about the arena, only for the sound of Chen's chair blaring horns to make him stop.

"Welcome, spectators, to the match I know you've all been waiting for!" Chen called out, "Hehe!" He sat up, "Allow me to explain this arena to our fans!"

"This is the arena that I like to call… Time Trap!" Chen grinned, "And the way it works is… well, you'll all soon find out!"

"And why do they call it that, Chen?" Morro asked, directing a rather harsh glare to the man.

"You'll see in two minutes!" Chen giggled, "Are there any final words the combatants would like to say before we begin?"

Monty raised the sword towards Morro, pointing the tip directly towards him, "I'll hold nothing back against you, Morro. Green Ninja or not, only one of us is leaving the arena today."

"Only one of us indeed," Morro leveled his own blade, charging it with green power that crackled up and down its length, "This will be over soon, Monty."

"Well, seeing that our contestants are both rearing and ready to battle!" Chen raised his hand up in the air, "Let's get this match started proper then! Ahem!" Both contestants narrowed their eyes.

Chen shouted out, "Morro, Master of Energy! VERSUS! Monty, Master of Wind! Let this match…."

"Any last words, Green Ninja?" Monty growled out.

"I have no need for my last words," Morro shook his head, "Let's get this over with."

"BEGIN!"

Monty drew his deepstone sword, blasting wind from his feet and rocketing over towards Morro. Just as he reached him, he spun his body in a twist, causing his sword to stroke Morro's own and put pressure on his arm. Morro grunted with the pain of having the blade twisted. With a blast of green power from his blade, he sent Monty's blade backwards.

The ghost went right up into the air, then thrust his other hand out. He gripped his fist, causing a vortex to form around his hand. The wind around him pulled Morro towards him, unsteadying the ninja. Morro responded by forming an elemental shield around him, catching Monty's blade just above his head with it. Monty held the vortex on him and leapt from the ground, using it like a rope to swing behind Morro.

Morro turned around, and the two clashed blades briefly. Monty leapt into the air, spinning his body around with wind to violently slice down against Morro's guard. Morro braced his arms painfully and took each strike onto his sword, rattling his body. Monty sliced once, twice, thrice, and then shot straight up into the air on one foot. He spun around, pointing his body down and rocketing down to slice into Morro's guard. The sheer force sent Morro's arm reeling back, breaking his guard. Monty leapt horizontally in the air, and Morro saw the pistol in Monty's free hand a second before it fired.

With two bangs, Morro was sent down to the ground. He stood up, bleeding from two gashes in his right arm. Monty slid across the ground on his back and focused, sending a burst of wind from his back to rocket him to his feet. He fired the gun three more times at the stunned Morro. Morro formed another elemental shield, but Monty raced forward and sliced his sword into it. With four more wind-enhanced strikes, he broke through the shield and put the pistol right to Morro's face.

Just before Monty could fire, Morro's eyes widened. With his free hand, he shot up and grabbed Monty's wrist, blasting green power from it. The explosion threw them both backwards, pieces of the gun flying about the arena. Monty recovered first, sliding on his feet and looking to his right hand. His hand twitched as he felt actual pain from the skin being almost fried by power, though his hand showed no sign of damage. Morro groaned and forced himself up onto his feet, looking dazed but otherwise fine.

"You should know Wu owes me for every gun that you break," Monty snarled, "I'll make sure I keep a tab on the bullets it takes to kill you, too."

Morro said nothing. Instead, he reached down to pick up his deepstone sword, holding it in both hands and taking a deep breath. As he did, green power began to seep out of his body like an aura. It formed overtop of him, covering him until a light wrapped around his body. He raised his sword and brought it down in front of him, causing a green spark to burst from the blade.

"Cute," Monty raised his sword, then rocketed forward on one foot once more.

Monty shot straight for Morro once more, moving almost silently sans for the whistling of wind. Just as he was about to reach Morro, Morro raised his blade for a downward strike. Monty raced straight in front of the attack, then drew another pistol in hand and fired down towards the ground. His body shot away from the force of the bullet, rocketing him in a diagonal motion above Morro. Morro looked up to Monty, seeing him turn the gun and fire away from Morro. The combination of the two shots made Monty appear to teleport straight from in front of the blade to straight behind Morro. With a scoff, Monty plunged his sword straight into Morro's back.

As soon as the blade tip struck the power, green power shot straight into Monty's blade. The force stopped the strike from reaching Morro's skin. Morro turned, bringing his elbow straight up and down on the sword. He struck the flat of the blade, knocking it from Monty's hands. He turned to cleave his sword through Monty, who put the pistol to Morro's back. He fired straight into the energy shield, stumbling Morro and sending Monty flying backwards away from him.

"Now that isn't fun at all," Monty growled, seeing the bullet had been half-burned by the energy surrounding Morro. Morro turned to face him, panting as he did.

"Did you think I would make this an easy fight?" Morro shook his head, "I developed this technique knowing that we may come to blows. Your bullets can't hurt me now, Monty. My green power is covering my body like a bulletproof vest. As long as I draw power, you can't hurt me."

"You better have made that thing completely bulletproof," Monty reached onto his back, drawing the shotgun off and cocking it, "Cause I'll be going looking."

Suddenly, a horn went off. The two fighters looked up in confusion, with Morro realizing too late he'd taken his eyes off Monty and him pulling the trigger. The force of the shotgun shells going right into his chest threw Morro across the area, smacking his head against a wall. As he groaned and forced himself upright, Monty cocked the shotgun again and looked around, trying to see what happened. A moment later, his senses went off and he blasted wind desperately from his hands to rocket away from the sliver of the area that he stood.

Monty stared at the new development with momentary horror. Water had fallen straight from the ceiling, lining up in a perfect triangular form to cover one of the eight sections of the arena. Small metal dividers rose up from the slots in the floor to form a massive pool in the section, preventing anyone from staying dry by remaining inside of the waterfalls. In effect, Chen had just turned 1/8th of his arena into a death zone for the ghost.

"And that's why they call it Time Trap!" Chen shouted, "Because Time just slips on by!"

Monty's hands shook. If that was right, there were 7 sections left. Two minutes per section, meant he had 14 minutes before this entire arena was covered in water. For Morro, that would be an inconvenience. For him, it would mean complete annihilation. He looked down to the deepstone blade that lay scattered across the arena. Chen was going to put pressure on him to kill Morro, or risk dying this fight… again.

"And don't any of you worry," Chen hit a button, suddenly causing all of the seats the onlookers held to start rotating around the circular view above the arena, "I wouldn't want you all to miss this fun action!"

Sensei Garmadon's hand gripped his chair. He gripped it hard enough that the wood began to splinter, and then the entire armrest's end snapped off. The sound brought the attention of the other ninja to him.

"Sensei?" Cole asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Garmadon inhaled, "...I worry for Morro's safety."

"Huh?" Jay leaned in, "Uhhh hello, that arena is totally filling with water! You know, a ghost's one and only weakness? And plus, Morro has a sword that can take him out! If anything, you should be worried about Monty."

Garmadon's other hand started to twist the wood on his chair, "No. Morro is an honorable fighter. Monty is not. He has no sense of boundaries. If Chen pushes him like this… he will likely retaliate in kind. Morro does not fight the way he does, and that puts him at a disadvantage."

"Don't worry, G," Kai smirked, "That's Morro we're talking about! He's got this."

"Yes… I'm sure that he does," Garmadon stated, then whispered, "I pray that he does."

Morro had finally gotten up from the shotgun blast, clutching his chest. Just because his energy stopped the force of the bullets from getting inside him, the impact still put the force of the attack into him. He wobbled his way up to his feet, forcing himself to calm down. It was all for the better he did, since a moment later he dove out of the way as Monty rocketed forward and nearly drove the butt of his shotgun straight into Morro's head.

Monty growled, pulling the shotgun's now ruined stock back from the rock wall and throwing his weight back. He spun in a cartwheel in the air, aiming the shotgun upside down and firing. While Morro slid out of the attack's way, Monty went flying away from Morro with the force of the blast. As he did, he spun around so his feet were pointed at Morro, holding the shotgun with them and firing the last round in the chamber with another pump. Morro ducked to the ground as bits of rock above his head scattered over him.

When the ghost landed, wind collected in his hands. His body began to glide over the ground, yet he was propelled forward like he was on top of ice. The wind in his feet let him 'skate' over the ground, and in turn reload the shotgun as he got closer to Morro. Before he could fire his attack, Morro retaliated by putting his hands together and firing a massive energy beam at Monty. Monty stuck his left foot out and slid around the arena's edge to dodge it. He went horizontal on the wall, still gliding over the surface while he completed his reload. He kicked off the wall, soaring straight in front of Morro and firing his shotgun as fast as he could.

Morro didn't take his chances with taking them head on. Instead, he dodged out of the way and raised his sword up, racing towards Morro's flying forward to deliver a strike to him. Monty, however, surprised him by grabbing the shotgun's barrel and swinging it directly towards Morro's side, striking his sword before he could swing it. Morro stumbled off to the side, just in time to see Monty skate his way in front of him and raise the shotgun up to club him directly on the head. Morro threw his hand up to the sky, green energy grabbing it and blasting it full of energy. The shotgun sparked, then broke in half directly in the barrel, making Monty's eyes light up in even more anger than before.

"We don't have to fight each other!" Morro shouted as he stepped back, his fists raised, "We can work together! Monty, you must have lost something in your previous life, let me know-"

"I'll never work with you!" Monty shouted back, "You're the one person in Ninjago I refuse to work with!"

Monty opened his palm, releasing a blast of wind to send Morro sliding backwards. Morro stopped himself by concentrating green power in his feet, then compressing it by stepping down on it. The force when it burst sent him towards Monty, his sword ready to cleave straight through the ghost. The sword was met with Monty holding up his rifle he'd unstrapped from his back vertically, trapping the sword's swing on it. Monty slid the rifle further up until the sword skipped down onto the space between the barrel's exit and bayonet. Monty pulled the trigger, making Morro's ears ring as the bullet struck his sword and knocked him back.

Morro wasn't given a chance to attack after that. Monty dropped the rifle and instead drew two more pistols, these pistols firing rapidly as he began to slide around the arena again. Morro dropped to one knee and held his sword in front of him, turning his body to take each of the blows of the bullets until Monty had exhausted two more streams of guns.

The horn sounded again. Monty froze in mid-attack, looking around to see where the next section was blocked off. The next section that went was two over from the one already. The section that was between them was trapped between the two, rendering now over a third of the arena now unusable for Monty. He looked up to Chen with barely restrained rage, but he was chatting up with Clouse for the moment.

"Monty!" Morro stood up, "You realize that this arena was not made to kill me. I only need to outlast you if I want to win. We need to work together if we want to both make it out of this."

"And doesn't Chen want something from me?" Monty snarled out, "He wouldn't get rid of me before he got what he needed!"

"He's just trying to make you scared!" Morro protested, "Why won't you listen to me, Monty?!"

"Shut it!" Monty shouted, using his wind to suck the rifle up from the arena to his hands and fire it off several times, "I don't need to hear anymore of your stupid pleases! I'm not like you! SHUT UP!"

Morro took the shots head-on. In the process, his green power shield broke apart. The force of taking so many bullets had finally exhausted his power. He didn't falter, however. He stood up calmly, panting and holding his sword out in front of him again. Monty, seeing his calm face, felt something inside of him boiling over even more than it already was.

"Tell me, Monty!" Morro shouted, "I know you have a place in this world! I want to know what it is!"

"What gives you the right to know?!" Monty shouted, firing the rifle again, "What makes you think I want anything to DO WITH YOU!?"

Suddenly, Morro formed an aura around his body. The ninja formed a glistening chestnut colored form around him, and when it burst forth, a massive hawk flew into the air. The proud and massive bird flew several times over the arena, its burning eyes resting on Monty. Morro fired a burst of elemental power to knock the bullets off course, giving the hawk time to shoot down straight for him.

The bird struck and fused right into Morro. In an instant, his body began to glow harder. He shut his eyes, opening them to reveal the angular shape in them. He thrust his hands out, revealing that they now had talons on them. He grew a small bird tail, and feathers glistened over his body. He stared down towards Monty as his eyes zoomed in onto him.

"Finally got you to use that card, huh?" Monty scoffed, firing another blast of his rifle.

Morro raised his hands up. Feathers from his arms shot from his body, soaring and then arcing down in front of him. His eyes zoomed out as he sent the feathers straight towards him. The feathers were somehow sharper than even bullets, for they burst in the air as the feathers cut through them and shot right through Monty's body to embed themselves in the wall behind him.

"You knew him!" Morro declared, his voice distorted as feathers flew from his arms and began to cover his sword, increasing its sharpness, "You knew Garmadon! You went to him alone on the Dark Island while I was finding my True Potential. You know more than you're willing to admit! Tell me why you won't let us know anything about you!"

"You don't get to ask that," Monty snarled, "You, of everyone in Ninjago, of everyone to ever exist, doesn't get to ask that!"

"Then I'll make you answer me, regardless!" Morro ran forward slicing his sword right through the air. While his chi didn't affect his physical stats, just the sound of the sword now whistling through the arena was like a ring. Monty raised his rifle up to try to block the attack, but the sword sliced clear through it. It continued on into the ground, carving a perfect gash in the stone underneath them. Morro shot his bird-like eyes towards Monty, zeroing in on him and spinning the blade around for a surprise strike.

Monty shot upwards with wind, sliding his way along the outward wall of the top of the arena until he was just above the attack. Before he could draw another gun to attack, Morro had flapped his arms, sending him straight up in the air towards Monty. Monty threw his head back, narrowly avoiding the blade cutting through him. Monty's eyes widened in fear as he blasted away with wind from Morro.

Morro refused to let up his attacks. The chi-infused ninja flapped his arms, shooting straight towards Monty with each and every strike. Morro pressed too fast for Monty to draw more guns and put him at a disadvantage, while Monty simply blasted him with wind or flew away to try to get an advantage. The two almost seemed to dart across the arena like blurs, stray feathers flying off an striking deep into the rock as Morro pressed assault.

"You are not just the Master of Wind!" Morro declared, "Tell me what you are! You can tell me, of everyone in Ninjago! True me!"

Monty's eyes darkened. He reached down into his belt, grabbing two small marbles. When Morro swung again, he thrust the two marbles right onto Morro's chest. They activated a moment later, causing Morro's entire body to begin frying. Morro let out a momentary cry of pain before several of his feathers shot out and arced down to knock the devices off of his body.

Monty didn't let up yet. He reached out, grabbing hold of Morro's sword hand. He stared Morro in the eyes for a brief moment, then he yanked his arms down. He twisted Morro's body, throwing him off his flight and sending him towards the ground. Right before they landed, he shot his other hand out, blasting wind into the rocks. The action jerked them up in the air, giving him time to take advantage of Morro's stunned face to slam him into the rocks.

"Trust you?" Monty's voice was deep and low, slamming his foot into Morro's back. Chen sat forward in his seat, his smile growing to almost silly proportions.

Morro struggled against his pin for several seconds, gasping out, "Yes! "Monty, you fought alongside me before. You have some stake in the safety of Ninjago. You are a good person, somewhere in there. Trust me to-"

"Trust you?" Monty repeated, his tone growing filled with utter and undistilled venom, "You want me to trust the one person that took everything away from me?"

"You… what are you talking about?" Morro began to focus his attention on more feathers, "Monty, I haven't done anything to you! How can you judge me for something I haven't done?!"

"You…" Monty raised his eyes up, staring at Morro with trembling hands, "I hate you. I hate you more than anyone else in Ninjago. It wasn't enough to kill me. It wasn't enough to strip away everything I cared about. It wasn't enough to make me unable to feel anything. It just had to go… to YOU!"

Monty drew two pistols from his armor, cocking them and swinging them into place to fire at Morro's head. Morro shot his feathers up behind him, slicing them straight into the pistols and sticking out of them like pieces of metal. Instead of trying to fire, Monty swung the pistols straight at Morro, pummeling him with the two metal objects in his hands. Morro's vision was rattled as Monty slammed him into the ground and began to ram his fists, guns in hand, down onto the ninja. He threw Morro onto his back to get on top of him and pummel him directly.

"YOU TOOK EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Monty shouted in rage, "EVERYTHING! EVERYTHING I COULD HAVE BEEN, WENT RIGHT TO YOU! You got everything that I wanted! Everything I should have been! It isn't fair! Nothing about this world is fair! HOW IS IT FAIR YOU STOLE THAT FROM ME TOO?! HOW IS IT FAIR?! TELL ME, MORRO, TELL ME HOW IT'S FAIR!"

Morro's talons shot up, grabbing hold of Monty's hands and yanking them apart. When Monty tried to force his hands together to fire point blank at Morro's face, Morro threw his head back, flapping his arms to send them soaring across the arena floor. Monty let go of his guns and rolled off to the side, drawing another gun to point sideways at Morro. The two guns that Morro had burst apart into scrap as his green power blew them apart.

The horn sounded again. Monty looked up just in time to roll out of the way as the section he was in filled with water. The section was directly adjacent to the last segment that filled up, meaning now that exactly half the arena was now inaccessible for him. A perfect half section was all that was left for him. The seats above rotated over the sections that were filled with water, with Chen positioning himself right in the center.

"This is so juicy!" Chen laughed, "That ghost might even do my work for me! Isn't this fun, Clouse?"

"It's the height of the Tournament thus far, Master," Clouse stated nasally.

"Hear that, Garmadon?" Chen called out to the man, grinning directly at him, "This is shaping up to be the best match so far!"

The ninja once more turned to look at Garmadon. The man wasn't focused on anyone else. His gaze was purely focused on the battle that was taking place under him. Monty stood up, looking at the wall of water that divided the arena for him. There was one section inside of those three that wasn't filled with water, but he wouldn't risk getting to it. In the time it took him to see the wall of water rising, Morro had gotten back up to his feet.

"I never took anything from you, Monty," Morro stated firmly, standing up and pointing his talons at the ghost, " How can I take anything from you without even knowing you?!"

Monty didn't speak, instead he sharply inhaled and shouted, opening a compartment on his belt and dragging out a piece of metal. He swung it straight towards Morro, who heard the whistling of the razor thin wire it was attached to and leapt into the air just in time. The piece of metal stuck into the wall behind him, however, and Monty gave it two tugs quickly and caused the thing to start retracting. As he shot towards the wall, dragged along with his lack of mass, he drew another pistol and pointed it forward as he rammed right into Morro. The gun went off four times as both he and Morro went skidding over the ground.

The ninja quickly sat up, seeing the attack at nearly point blank range. Morro, however, had his eyes widened as he held his hands up, feathers flattening into a sort of shield for him. By now, he was barely able to hear with the ringing of having so many gunshots going off right beside him. He wasn't given any time to recover though, as a cable suddenly wrapped around his left arm. Monty had shot out a line from one of his gauntlets. Before Morro could fight back, the wire electrified, causing him to scream silently as his body was electrocuted…. again.

Monty raised the already fired pistol. The horn went off for the fourth time… twice. Monty shot his head to look for where it was going to happen. Right next to the sliver that had first gotten swallowed up, two more sections were filled, one after the other. Now, they were down to an exact quarter of the arena. Monty backed up towards the wall, taking his hand off the electrocution button long enough for Morro to get free.

"Oopsies!" Chen informed them, "My hand slipped. Oh, well two for the price of one! I did let you go on a bitttt long there with that little air show after all, so it works out!"

Morro planted his sword into the ground. Slowly, he got back up again. He had already been beaten up and down this arena, but he wasn't ready to give up just yet. Right now, he needed to win against Monty. Monty wasn't even looking at him. Instead, the ghost was staring at the water in genuine fear in his eyes. Morro had never seen the ghost like this before, but he didn't let up.

"Like I said, Monty," Morro gasped out, still trying his best to hear himself over the ringing, "I just have to outlast you. Chen…. Chen doesn't care about you. Or me. We're just pawns to him. We're playing along!"

Monty shot his gaze back at Morro. That fear inside of him had already combined with the anger, it seemed, for the ghost simply rammed his way right back into battle. He rapidly fired his gun off, slamming them into Morro before he blasted wind from his hands to avoid going right into one of the walls of water. There wasn't space to work with. Chen had limited his ability to fly. He… he couldn't win like this, not with his powers.

"Give up, Monty," Morro huffed out, "Concede, and Chen will just take you like he has everyone else."

"You can't stay fused like that for long!" Monty stated, his voice shaking, "I just… I just need to break you out of that stupid form and then you won't be able to fight me at all!"

"Do you value your pride that much?" Morro growled, "Do you really care so much about being somehow bigger than me to try this?"

Monty looked up towards the ceiling. As he did, he just nodded his head, "I care about my pride more than I care about what you stole from me."

Morro lowered his head. He was nearing the limits of his patience, or so Monty felt. Morro was soon going to snap. Monty awaited for Morro to ready another round of his strange feathers at him and distract his shots. Instead, the aura formed once more around Morro, and Morro stumbled back into the wall as his hawk soared up and vanished. Morro rubbed his head, sweating all over from effort. After a moment, he formed green energy in his hands, shaking his head as he did. Monty rocked his pistol in preparation for him.

"Chen says use it or lose it… I don't need that to defeat you," Morro inhaled, "Monty. You refuse to even listen to a word I say. Is it truly your wish to die, again?"

"I'm already dead," Monty spat, "I don't have anything left to lose."

There was the sound of a spring going off. Suddenly, the sword that Monty had lost came flying back into the arena. Monty blasted it with wind as it neared him, seeing it dripping with water. He dried it off with a blast of wind, hefting its weight in his hand.

"I thought you might like that," Chen giggled, "Now FIGHT!"

Monty looked down to the sword. He nodded his head. He held the pistol in one hand, and the sword in the other. He took his fighting stance. Morro slowly did the same. The two of them stared each other down, both of them filled with anger. Both of them fighters, and neither of them willing to budge.

The two raced forward. The sound of swords clashing against each other filled the arena. Gunshots went off, making the audience lean in to see where the attack landed. New grazes formed all over Morro's body. Their swords clashed against each other over and over again, moving fast enough to almost look like blurs. Monty wildly flipped and slashed around Morro, who stood firm and took his attacks while countering with his own. Their moves became too fast for the onlookers to even fully see.

Monty ran out of ammo for his pistol. Instead, he shot his hand forward, grabbing the bullet hole in Morro's shoulder and squeezing hard. Morro shrieked out in pain, and in turn he slashed his sword out just an inch away from Monty's face. Monty gripped even harder, dragging Morro down towards the floor. Morro, in sheer pain and desperation, attempted to yank him off.

The ghost refused to let go. His foot shot out, knocking the sword out of Morro's hand and onto the ground. Morro threw a punch towards Monty, but the blast went straight through him. Monty twisted the arm's wound, causing Morro to screech out in pain even louder.

"Let…. go of me!" Morro shrieked in pure need.

"I'm winning this match," Monty spat, "Even if you have to die to do it." His other hand began to reach for a pistol.

"I said… let… GO OF ME!" Morro shouted one more time, his body bursting full of green power. The power shot straight out and into Monty like some sort of electric bolt, sending him flying directly backwards. He remained on his feet, stopping just in time to see he was now standing in a different one of the two sections that remained.

The horn sounded. Monty looked up just in time to see the massive wave of water coming down on him. The ghost had no time to react before the water completely consumed him, cutting him off from Morro's vision. Morro suddenly felt cold all over as he stood up, clutching his wounded arm.

"MONTY!" Morro shouted, extending his hand forward.

"Oohhh… a little anticlimactic, but I'll take it!" Chen declared, "We have a WIN-"

Suddenly, Morro was slammed down onto the ground by a burst of wind. Chen stopped mid call, looking down to see what had just transpired. Monty's hand extended from the water, with a strange filtering of light moving through it. Monty stood inside the wall of water, his eyes wide and panting heavily. Around his body was a thin later of wind, rapidly spinning around him and knocking the water aside like a waterproof film. He was heaving, his entire body quaking in the most display of fear Morro had ever seen from the ghost.

As Morro looked on, Monty slowly lowered his arm. He looked up towards the top of the arena where the water was falling, his eyes focusing on the sunlight from above the arena filtering in. Slowly, his terrified expression melted back, but his open lips remained. He looked back down, raising his hands up.

"So that's what it was like…" Monty whispered, "I'd forgotten what it felt like to feel like you were about to die."

"Monty…" Morro stood up, "See? See now? You have more power than you know. I don't know anyone that could react that fast! If you stood with us against Chen, then you could-"

Monty gave a tiny chuckle. His lips curled into a little smile. He reached into his armor, drawing the first of his last two pistols. With his other hand, he reached down to pick up his sword again. He turned that smile towards Morro, along with his loaded pistol. The look in Monty's eyes was enough for Morro to know the fight wasn't over.

"...I know how this is going to end, Morro," Monty inhaled, "Only one can remain."

Monty shot straight out of the water, keeping that insane smile on his lips. He slashed his swords out along the walls of water as he ran, slicing it to send water right into Morro's eyes. The ninja doubled over, unable to see his attack through the pain. Monty slammed his attack into Morro, pinning him up against the arena wall. With his sword hand, he pinned Morro up against the wall. Morro gasped out, desperately kicking to try to get out of the grip.

"You'll know what it's like to feel like you lost everything," Monty stated firmly, "I'm going to make sure of that."

Monty thrust his pistol up at Morro's face. Morro kicked the wall, throwing his head out of the way just in time for a fresh hole to form in the wall where his head was. With a burst of green power, Morro freed himself, landing on the now small sliver of territory they had to fight. He reached forward, grabbing Monty's gun hand and putting his palm over the barrel. Just before Monty could fire, he twisted his hand towards, aiming the gun at the ground and letting him unload his clip there. Morro brought his leg up and kicked Monty's arm, knocking the pistol out of it and leaving just the sword for him to deal with.

Morro and Monty clashed once more. The arena was small, and Morro tried to force Monty up against the arena wall rather than the water. Monty didn't let up his attacks. He slashed his sword wildly, the smile starting to fade from his lips as he did. The more the two of them clashed, the more that Monty's smile made itself known it wasn't going away.

Morro finally flung Monty back. Before Morro could counterattack, Monty reached into his belt and threw something on the ground. The smoke filled up the arena. Morro held his sword up defensively within the cloud. He looked around desperately, attempting to see where Monty was. It wasn't until he heard the whistling of Monty's sword he knew. Morro sliced and caught it just in time, locking their blades one last time.

"This is it, Monty!" Morro shouted, "You're about to die! Please! Work with me to help stop Chen!"

"Only one of us is going to move on today, Morro," Monty spoke calmly, "Only one can remain."

Morro knew the timer was coming, his eyes suddenly filling with green power. With his last push, Morro threw Monty down onto the ground one final time. Monty's sword went flying off into the water around them. The ghost paused for a moment, looking down at the section of ground he was on and shifting his weight on it. Monty drew his final pistol, pointing it right towards Morro's head. Morro raised his sword, ready for the final strike.

The horn sounded.

Water poured in from the ceiling, dispersing the smoke and filling Morro's vision. He was thrown off his feet as the water sloshed him around, trapping him and sending his vision into turmoil. He lost his grip on his sword as he was thrown about in the water. He was thrust against the wall, letting out one last gasp as he did and fell to his knees.

Morro heard the sound of something opening. He opened his eyes, seeing a massive trapdoor in the floor open up. The water began to drain out of the arena, sucked down it like a drain. Morro fell to the ground, completely soaked and gasping for air. As the last of the water drained from the arena, he slowly pulled himself up and looked around.

The arena was empty.

"Monty?" Morro asked quietly.

Nothing was there. The arena floor, now completely soaked, was filled with broken pieces of guns and the two swords, scattered across the arena. Morro used the wall for support as he straightened himself up, looking over the arena in pure confusion.

"WINNER!" Chen shouted, pointing to Morro, "Master of Energy, moves on! It looks like we've already taken care of our loser!"

Morro stared at the empty arena, slowly getting up as he did in a daze. As he looked around, the others in the crowd began to cheer for him. The ninja and Garmadon, however, were silent. Chen turned his gaze towards Garmadon, giving him a cheerful smile. Garmadon remained completely silent, unable to tear his eyes off the sight.

"It… is done," Garmadon whispered, "The deed… is done."

"It looks like he hadn't fought in any wars after all," Chen grinned as he saw Garmadon wordlessly get up, "Well… let's make sure this is a start to a good one then, shall we, Clouse?"

Zugu walked down the hallway, hoisting up the keys he wore on his belt .Behind him, Master Chen walked, his staff of elements glowing with a newly gained power. Tonight's ceremony had been a rather fulfilling one, and he was eager to talk to the one they had thrown back now that they had used him.

"I'm telling you, Monty," Chen declared as the two approach a massive black stone cell, "Trapdoors really are the way of the future! I'm sure you really enjoyed them, didn't you?"

The ghost lay within his cell, not saying anything. The cell was a complete cube of nothing but vengestone. A hole in the ceiling led a trapdoor all the way up to the arena that he'd fought in. Monty remained silent on the matter.

"You really did a good thing here today… for him!" Chen declared with a flourish of his cape, "I'm surprised you actually threw the match! I would have thought mister 'nothing to lose' would have taken him out right away! But then again… you really aren't that type of person, are you, Monty? Did the fear of death really get to you that much?"

Monty looked up at Chen, an apathetic gaze on his face. Chen leaned his back up against the door, turning his head behind his massive headdress to look at Monty as he waved his hands and continued talking.

"I'm surprised you ever felt that trapdoor, you landed in just the right spot for it! And you even let yourself fall into it. I mean, sure, the falling water was one thing, but that nifty little wind shield you used I didn't expect! I'd love to have someone that's as versatile as you in my factory! But sadly, I can't afford to have them all getting any ghosts of an idea1 Hehe!"

"So what?" Monty chuckled, "You leave me here in this cell for all time? You do realize that I can't starve to death like anyone else you enslave, right?"

"I keep collections, Monty," Chen leaned forward, "And after seeing that display, I have to have you for it! Seeing who you really are is so simple once you listen. I have a shadow of the true Green Ninja, now permanently mine! Forever! I'll have to make another one of those glass deepstone cage's just to display you like a trophy for all time."

"Good luck with that," Monty turned around, away from Chen, "I'll be around long after you kick the bucket."

"We'll just see about that," Chen giggled, "Without your wind, you don't have any chance to escape. So you just stay here and have fun for eternity! I'll be back… sometime!"

With that, Chen giggled his way out of the cavern. Monty waited long after Chen had left with his guards, before deciding to look out the small window that Chen had provided him to see the catacombs where Chen's operations took place. After a few moments of looking, he scoffed and turned back around, laying his head down to pass the time by doing something he almost never did: sleep.