I wanted to get this chapter out waayyy sooner than this but i've been really busy with school and exams and did not have the motivation to write, so i'm sorry it took so long but here it is !!

Lloyd sat, tangled between the limbs of his roommates. They were twisted together to the point where he wasn't really sure which set of legs belonged to him anymore.

He looked over at the clock on the coffee table, thank god they bought a digital one, he's pretty sure none of them can read analogue. Darkleys wasn't too fond of maths, or any normal-school subject, but even so Lloyds just grateful he got out of there when he did. Besides, Darkleys taught him a few things that help him get by so he's not gonna complain.

It's eleven twenty-six, he better get packed. He would've already done it but that takes a certain level of organization that Lloyd just doesn't have. Plus, he kind of wanted to spend his last night with his roommates watching stupid movies that they could laugh at all night.

He slipped out from between the guys -those stealth classes came in handy after all- and made his way to their shared bedroom. They would've gotten separate rooms but they couldn't afford a three bedroom apartment, two maybe, but not three. So they've decided until then they'll get a one bedroom one bathroom and just share. Lloyd wasn't mad about it, yeah he'd like to have his own room but there was some sort of comfort he felt having the guys this close. They've practically known each other their whole lives and looked after one another -mostly all the time- so it was just nice to know they were safe.

Although it did make it hard to hide stuff from them -like candy, and dropped clients- they just always knew where to look, probably a side-affect from growing up a criminal. There wasn't many good hiding spots in the apartment already so it didn't help they'd to share everything. He probably should tell them about the client before he leaves, if they ever wake up. Might need to resort to a note instead.

Lloyd shoved a hoodie, toothbrush and half the pocket money he'd been saving. He really didn't have much to spare, this was only to be used if an emergency happened while he was out. He almost reached for his gun and a knife he'd been keeping near -just incase- but quickly stopped himself remembering the requests of the invitation. The "no weapons" rule really sucked. He was starting to get more suspicious of this tournament every second, why would they not be allowed weapons? Doesn't sound like much of a tournament to him, but he wasn't about to piss off Chen. He's heard the stories and seen the damage, he didn't want any part of it. Although he seemed to be the only criminal who didn't.

He scribbled a quick note on the end of their sad excuse for a shopping list and grabbed his phone off of the coffee table, then double taking for the cigarettes left on the counter. He took one last look at his roommates still fast asleep on the couch drooling all over the place in their wonderfully hilarious way. He had to get a picture of this. Blackmail at its finest.

He wished he could've given them a proper goodbye. He hates leaving them with that giant bombshell, that client was their biggest income. Now that he's leaving -for however long- they'll already be struggling with paying rent, but this tournament could mean a prize if he wins and Lloyd has a feeling whatever it is will be worth the struggle. Either way, he's gonna make it up to them. He just hopes the money's not the only thing they'll miss.

*

Now that Jay's here and actually seeing all these people he's kind of starting to regret coming, just a little bit. There's about seventeen people who could literally crush him just with their pinky-toe. Although the doesn't really think right now is the time to be having second thoughts. He doesn't even know what they're supposed to be doing here.

He wonders if all these people got the same letter he did, were they all elemental masters too? Well probably considering it's a Tournament of Elements, but you never know! Maybe it's just a trap and Chen is trying to lure them all into some sick idea of a sweat shop, except it'd be a factory to make his noodles! Oh FSM! What if that's actually what this is and now he's going to have to live the rest of his life as a noodle slave! He's got to get out of here.

Jay turns around abruptly and starts to run back the way he came but he's met with the chest of a very tall, very scary, very muscular man who looks exactly like the rest of the people here. Yep, he's about to die. Farewell cruel world it was nice knowing ya.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, that's my bad I didn't see you." The very tall, a little less scary but still very muscular man said. Jay's so caught off guard by his politeness that it takes him a second to register it's his turn to talk now.

"It's fine! Don't worry about it! No harm done!" Jay says quickly, flashing a smile.

"Are you sure? You looked pretty winded there for a seco-" Jay didn't even let him finish before jumping in with a reply.

"Nonono! It's fine, really! It's a-ok, super duper good, superb even!" He really has to learn when to stop talking. He mentally faceplants.

"Oh okay, cool." The guy replies in a cool tone.

There was a few moments of staring where they both wondered what to say next. Now it was getting awkward. Why does this always happen to Jay, is there something he's doing wrong? Is he just an awkward person? Because it sure feels that way sometimes. Desperately thinking of something, anything to break the silence.

"I'm Cole by the way" The guy, Cole, finally says. Jay's thankful to him for filling the silence.

"Oh yeah of course. I'm Jay" This conversation was starting to become less scary by the second.

"So...you get a letter too?" Ahhh, okay so he was in the right place and he wasn't the only one to get a letter. Oh, but, wait what if all the letters were different just to get them to come? I mean Jay did like superhero's, maybe they played into that a little.

"Yeah, yeah I did. What's yours say?" Jay asked, now he'll know for sure if this was a trap or not. Smart thinking me.

"Oh just about some Tournament and about me being the 'Elemental Master of Earth' which I am still wondering if it's a joke or not." Cole laughs lightly but you can tell there's still a hint of nervousness hidden in there. Maybe Jay isn't the only one feeling anxious about this whole thing after all.

"Yeah! Me too! I was actually thinking that maybe this was all some big scheme to get us making noodles for Chen. Although now that I know you have a letter with the whole 'Elemental Master' thing too I'm a bit less worried it'll turn into noodle slaves and more worried it'll be actual fighting and possibly death, because let's face it these people could crush me." At first Jay thinks he's spoke too much and Cole had found him weird, but the look on Coles face isn't of disgust or discomfort, he's laughing.

"Pfft- I mean you're not wrong about that last part but I highly doubt we're gonna be kidnapped and forced to make noodles, although I wouldn't mind being surrounded by noodles for the rest of my life, especially Chens."

They kept talking for a little while longer, it was surprisingly easier than and other conversation Jays had with other people around his age. They did get off to a rough start with the whole him slamming into Cole and all but now it's like their actually friends. That was, of course, until they were interrupted by the huge ship pulling into the port and two men, who definitely looked like cult members, dropping a plank for them to walk across. Reminding them where they were and what they were about to do. A man dressed in red and purple robes walked out and escorted everyone in a single file onto the ship. I tried to stay right behind Cole, just to stay safe.

It was easier to see everyone now that they were all in a line together. Jay didn't want to seem like he was looking but he did want to check out who he was climbing on a ship into the middle of the ocean with. Especially since he had no idea where they were going or when they'd be back. Also maybe a little because he wanted to see the 'competition' he was going to have to face.

There was a guy dressed in what looked like very heavy metal gear near the front that Jay definitely did not want to mess with, then a girl right in-front of Cole with green hair, it looked kinda cool if Jay was honest. Then he got to the front, boarding the ship, and there was no going back.

He followed Cole towards the back of the ship, near the side. "Soo.." he dragged out. "Havin' fun?" He smiled at Jay. It looked genuine, as if he was actually getting pleasure out of this shady situation.

"Oh yeah, soo much fun, except that i'm actually not, at all." But he just laughed at me. Ugh.

*

He had arrived at the docks roughly 45 minutes ago and now he had boarded the ship. He assumed this was going to take them to the place the Tournament was being held. Zane didn't usually have a lot of opportunities to socialize, especially not with people his own age. Usually just the few customers in the restaurant or the cashier when he gets groceries. He supposed it sounded pretty sad but he didn't really mind, a quiet life is all he really needed. He wasn't the type for much else.

Although he should probably go introduce himself to some people at least, he didn't get to at the docks and now seemed like a good time to get acquainted and maybe make some allies, this was a Tournament after all.

He walked up to a man in a white, sort of tracksuit. "Greetings, my name is Zane, and you are?" Zane said with a smile, holding his hand out

The man stopped leaning on the railing and shook Zane's hand. "Griffen Turner, Master of Speed." He said folding his arms and smirking. "Nice to meet you."

"Master of Speed?" Zane questioned. That wasn't an element, odd.

"Yep, Watch me go." Then Turner winked at him and ran all over the ship at a speed that seemed inhumane.

"Hey. You can't lay a hand on me. I'm faster than fast. Swifter than swift." He finished by landing atop a pedestal hanging from the top of the boat and right above Zane.

It was very impressive, but he guessed he was on a ship with a whole bunch of people with powers like this. He was also starting to worry he was the only one who didn't know they had powers to begin with. He should move onto someone else, as he was pretty sure Turner wasn't going to come back down. A group of four people had gathered around him and started to question his abilities and while Zane would love to learn more, he didn't feel welcomed over there. Besides, he looked preoccupied.

There was two males stood near the stern of the ship. They looked friendly, they were chatting. Plus they looked around Zane's age, maybe a little younger, whatever his age actually was.

"Greetings, my name is Zane, and yours?" He said, once again, on autopilot.

"Hey! I'm Cole, Master of Earth, and this is Jay." He said pointing over to the boy he was with. "Master of blabber." He finished with a smirk.

"Lightning!" Jay fumbled. "It's Master of Lightning." Then he huffed and looked down. He looked almost as if he was hurt by the comment and Zane began to feel bad. He didn't always get jokes but he was pretty sure by Coles facial features that he was trying to be humorous. This was probably the part where Zane laughed, right?

"Haha." He responded, although they didn't laugh with him, only gave him an odd look for a second. He began to think he read the situation wrong before Cole piped in again.

"He knows I'm only joking with him." Cole said resting his elbow onto Jays shoulder. They looked fairly close, perhaps they'd known each other prior to this Tournament.

"Have you known each other long?" Zane decides to ask, just to be sure.

"Oh not long, we met on the docks before we boarded this godforsaken ship." Jay chimed in, looking a little less upset than before.

"Oh." Zane didn't know why he did but he found it surprising that they'd become friends so quickly. Especially after his last attempt at trying to make one which quite literally ended up in him running away. Maybe it wasn't as hard for other people? Maybe that was just something he didn't have the ability to do.

"Yeah, did you see that running guy?!" Jay said, he was now full of life. "He ran, like, the whole way around the ship in two seconds. That's impossible. It's insane. If i have to go up against him i'm hooped." He looked from Zane to Cole then over and over again frantically as he spoke.

"Woah, Hey, You're gonna be fine, Don't worry-" Cole tried to soothe before he got sharply cut off.

"Fine?! Fine?! How am i meant to be fine, i'm on a ship filled with people who want to kill me!! That is not fine!"

Cole didn't even look bothered by his outburst. He was just standing there, raising his eyebrow with his arms crossed.

"Are you done?" Cole finally said

To which Jay replied with a sigh and the dropping of his head. Now, Zane didn't understand what that meant at all. He didn't understand a lot of things about people. He tried but sometimes they were just unpredictable and he didn't know how to deal with that. They didn't say anything for a few moments after that so Zane decided to chime in yet again. He was really just trying to break the silence. He never knew how long to wait before it got awkward.

"I actually spoke to that man. His name is Griffen Turner and he's the Master of Speed." Zane informed them, tilting his head slightly to the left as he spoke. He was only looking at Jay but he was really talking to both of them.

His face scrunches up and for a moment Zane thinks he's done something completely wrong and misread the situation yet again. "Speed? That's not even an element."

"Says the Master of Lightning." Zane responded. It was supposed to be a joke so he hoped it got interpreted that way.

"Oohh snap! He got you there." Cole said, amused, snapping his fingers while speaking.

Before they could continue on the conversation they were interrupted by two people, who Zane guessed were related somehow, arguing. They weren't particularly loud but loud enough to get the attention of a few passengers. The only things Zane could make out was a few sentences like, "What are you doing here?" and "The shop can wait a few days."

"Ouch, glad I don't have siblings." Cole said, hissing at the argument. "Pretty sure we'd just fight all the time."

"I think it'd be kinda fun. You know, always having someone to talk to and do stuff with, plus they're stuck with you for life so they can't just leave." Jay added.

"Huh, i guess that'd be nice." Cole said, then he looked back to the pair of siblings again.

"Who's that?" Jay then asked. He was looking off to the opposite side of the ship. Standing there was a boy, though he was very short. Shorter than anyone else here at least and he looked younger too, perhaps he was. He was alone, with his arms crossed over the roped railing, looking out at the sea.

"He looks young?" Cole said. So Zane was right.

He didn't look too young, just young enough that they should definitely be questioning whether or not he should even be here.

"Should we introduced ourselves?" Zane thought it was a good idea, he was alone after all, but, some people like it that way.

"Couldn't hurt to try." Then Cole started walking over to him, Jay right behind. Zane wasn't sure he should follow them, they hadn't gotten to the friends stage he didn't think but they had just been talking for a bit and it was his idea to go over in the first place. Zane desperately wished he understood people.

Then Cole stopped and turned around "You comin'?" and all his questions were answered.

"Yes, Of course!" Zane then followed and Cole started walking again.

The boy hadn't moved from his position by the railing, he looked deep in a trance. The three of them were now standing pretty close but he wasn't turning to face them. They looked at each other and Jay just shrugged, Cole made a face and it seemed they were having a conversation without any verbal communication, eventually Zane thinks they'd come to the conclusion of Cole taking the leader role and volunteering to speak up.

"Hey, I'm Cole and this is Jay and Zane." Cole said pointing to both of them and then giving the boy a warm smile. "I'm Master of Earth, apparently."

Jay jumped into the conversation after that, "And i'm Master of Lightning." He said gesturing wildly to which only got him a curious look from the boy. Zane supposed it was his turn to introduce himself now so he got on with it.

"Hello, I am the Master of Ice" He held out his hand for the boy to shake it, which he did -after a second of hesitation- he had a good handshake, very firm, seemed experienced, clearly taught well by his father.

He didn't say anything back to them though. Cole deflated a bit and his smile went away, although it came back after a few seconds and he asked "and you?" hoping that would prompt an answer from the kid as to who he was or why he was here. Maybe he was actually on the wrong ship and they'd all just completely scared him mercilessly.

"Lloyd." The kid finally said, thankfully.

"Lloyd, cool." Cole began to talk again. Then there was silence again, Zane was getting sick and tired of all the silence and breaks in conversations. He was 86% sure this wasn't mean to happen this often in conversations between friends, but then again they had known each other for about 7 minutes.

"Soo.." Jay piped up, he sounded oddly suspicious and Zane had the feeling what he was about to say wasn't going to come off well. "Where are your parents?" Yep, Zane clearly didn't know much about people, if anything, but he knew that wasn't something you ask a person you've just met. It was none of their business, and even if he was wondering it himself he wasn't about to ask this kid that question. He assumed Cole had the exact same train of thought because he gave Jay a kick in the shin for it.

"Ow! Hey!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lloyd then interrupted their glaring. His arms were folded and his brows were furrowed, he did not look happy with the question at all. Rightfully so.

Jay looked a bit scared, which was quite humorous considering how small Lloyd was, but i guess Jay was too. Plus Lloyd had this weird dangerous energy coming off of him and i didn't doubt for a second that he would try to punch Jay just for asking.

They got interrupted, yet again, by one of the arguing siblings being flung past them and to the stern of the ship, right where they were standing before. "Damn, He must've really pissed that girl off." Jay said. It did look like it hurt, he didn't realize she had been so strong. It turned out to be a different person he was fighting with this time though, damn he pisses people off quickly. A man, made of.. metal? Zane didn't even want to get into the biology of how that wasn't physically possible.

"Woah! Now, that guy's hooped." Jay said seeming very excited by it, he was practically bouncing off the walls.

The 'sibling guy' continued to get flung all over the place, Zane had to give it to him he had spirit, until eventually the other girl he had been arguing with stepped in and stopped it, much to Jays disappointment. Zane still wasn't sure why he was so happy about it, maybe because it meant less competition and less him being 'hooped' aswell.

*

They'd been on this ship foreverr. Jay was pretty sure it'd been at least a few hours by now. He was starting to get hungry and tired, so tired. He wanted his bed and his blanket and his Mister cuddlywomp.

The sky was filled with stars and people had started lighting lanterns, when they got far enough away from the main land that they couldn't get light from it anymore, so they were placed all around the ship. It was kind of peaceful, and really beautiful if Jay was being honest.

He caught a glimpse of someone in the light from a lantern, she was reading a book. Jay couldn't see what kid of book it was because it was resting on the floor of the ship but she looked very fascinated in it. Her legs were crossed and her face rested on her hands, one of them coming up to brush her hair behind her ear. She was beautiful, probably the most beautiful thing Jay had ever seen and his heart did this weird skipping thing that he thought only happened in movies or books or to anyone but him, but it happened and he couldn't believe it.

He had a really hard time taking his eyes off of her but he needed to stop gawking soon otherwise he'd look like a creep and that really wasn't the first impression he wanted to give her, or anyone really, but especially her. He forced himself to look away, instead examining other people and objects and anything other than her.

Cole was beside him as he had been since they first sat there. Him and Zane were still up, quietly chatting about some play or musical that Jay couldn't remember the name of, he'd tuned them out a while ago. Lloyd was sat up against the crates beside them, he was still wide awake aswell. Jay thought he'd be fast asleep by now but he guesses he was wrong.

He wasn't too far away but he definitely looked like he was keeping a bit of a distance between them. He didn't talk much, since they introduced themselves they've gotten about two words out of him and they all included a sarcastic comment. His attitude and the way he carried himself was giving Jay a sort of dark hidden past vibe but then again he looked so small and tiny and fluffy, kind of like a puppy, or a cat maybe?? Some kind of small animal anyway. Also, when he smiled it was literally perfect, his teeth were so straight and white and Jay was in awe. Jay had tried to make conversation with him, aswell as the others, but he had a way of getting out of them pretty quickly. They didn't know anything about him, he could be a serial killer! Well, probably not, how dangerous could he really be, he was just a kid.

He looked around the place, once again. They'd been in these positions for at least an hour by now, some people switching which side they'd lay on or what foot was crossed over the other, he'd already seen everything there was to see but it couldn't hurt to look again, not like there was anything else to do.

There wasn't really anywhere to sit other than the crates and the floor, they weren't allowed under deck so everyone was huddled into groups by the piles of crates. Everyone had calmed down a bit since they first got on the ship, and the fight between the metal man and that sibling guy had finished ages ago. Now they were all sort of sitting around in silence, some people had fallen asleep on top of others. Jay was beginning to join them.

He felt the heaviness on his eyelids and they slowly closed before he opened them again, he wasn't about to fall asleep and miss out on something major. His eyelids were betraying him though, as they began to shut once again. His head fell to the side and crashed into something that didn't feel like a crate, and it wasn't.

"Sorry." He mumbled, rubbing at his eyes, as if that'd help get rid of the sleepiness that'd taken over him.

"-iz okay. you can sleep, it's like 3am, i'll wake you up if anything happens don't worry." Cole comforted him, he'd only known him for a few hours but it was almost as if they could already read each others minds. There was some sort of comfort that he'd never felt with anyone else before. He thought he could call it a friendship. Jays never had a friendship like this before. He hadn't really had any friendship before, so the fact that this could be his first real one was mind blowing to him.

His eyes shut again and this time he let sleep take him.

*

"Jay-"

"Mmm, five more minutes mom, the carrot is going to win the go-kart race if I don't keep pedaling."

"What? Pft- Jay we're here. Wake up!" Cole shouted right into his ear.

"Ow! Hey! Could you stop that!" Jay shouted back. He was now fully awake and ready to throw Cole off the side of the ship when a mumble came from beside him. He looked to his right only to find Lloyd rubbing his eyes and groaning from where he was curled into a ball.

"Can you guys shut up." He rolled over to the other side now facing away from them all.

"Uh, watch your language mister." Cole replied, hands on his hips looking very sassy mom-like. It made Jay giggle a little, quietly though, wasn't about to let Cole hear or else he might wake him up with a speaker next time.

Lloyd just gave another groan so Cole rolled his eyes and gave him a little nudge with his foot. "Cmon. We're here, gotta leave the boat now."

Anndd, another groan. Gosh i feel bad for this kids mum, "Alright, alright. I'm coming. Don't get your panties in a twist."

"Excuse me?!" Cole objected. Although he did finally get up, stretching and rubbing at his eyes again.

"We better get a move on." Zane interrupted. Most of the people were already off of the ship by now, some of them even up to the huge gates ahead. Why did they need such big gates anyway?

The sun was coming through the mountains, giving the sky a nice orange glow. If Jay was on a holiday with his parents he'd be taking tons of pictures right now. He saw the same girl he was looking at last night, walking with her 'assumed brother', she had her hair up in a mini bun, not all of it, you couldn't really do that with a bob. It looked cute though, the tiny ponytail bobbing along as she walked up the steps. He'd definitely be taking a picture of her right now... not in a creepy way.

But he wasn't on holidays, he was on a mysterious island with mysterious people and only one and a half people that he thought he might possibly be able to trust. He couldn't even call his parents or send them a text letting him know he hadn't drowned at sea or been kidnapped or sold on the black market. All of those things were still possible, he wasn't forgetting that.

Zane ushered them all off one-by-one and then ended up running ahead to that speedy guy again.

They made their way up to the gates and the nerves kicked in and suddenly Jay felt as if he was about to throw up, he'd been homesick before, he gets it pretty easily actually. He really, really didn't want to puke in front of all these people though. He just had to calm down.

His brain wasn't letting him though, his heart jumped and he felt a weird feeling in his throat, like there was something stuck in there that he couldn't swallow away. His vision began to blur and then he felt a hand on his back. He looked up but all he could see was blurs of color.

"You're okay, you're safe, it's just a panic attack." He did not recognize that voice at all and that freaked him out even more. It wasn't Cole for sure, too small. "-Breathe with me." They started taking deep breathes and so Jay listened to them and followed along. He hoped to the FSM nobody was seeing this. "In and out, In and out. Good, I'm right here with you." They kept it up for a little longer and before Jay knew it his vision was clearing up.

When it fully came back to him he realized he was sat on the steps, nobody around other than the person who'd helped him. He looked to the side to see who it was and- Lloyd. Huh? He was really expecting Zane or maybe it was Cole and the panic attack was so bad he had just been hallucinating how small the person was. Oh, he just had a panic attack in front of a total stranger, good going Jay. Really brilliant work, truly inspirational if I do say so myself.

His head was still spinning and it gave him a little head rush when he stood up. They needed to get inside.

"Are you okay." Lloyd asked. He looked genuinely concerned and had a look in his eyes telling him he understood. Jay wondered if he wasn't just a moody kid. Lloyds hands were holding onto his wrists, keeping him upright.

"I'll be fine, we need to get inside." He pulled away his hands rather harshly, rejecting his help, and swayed a bit. He'll be fine he just needed a second to regain his breath again, then he'd stop almost falling over.

He still didn't like people seeing him like this. It's embarrassing