Hey guys! Sorry for the late update! I spent the night at a friend's house and we stayed up until 4am so I was sleeping all day XD ANYWAY, ON WITH THE STORY!
~Lloyd
I wake up, groggily, but feeling even better than I have in the past few days. The pounding in my head is now just a dull throb, and I can get onto my feet without feeling dizzy or seeing black spots. I stand on the plush carpet and stretch my tight muscles, and walk over to the dresser. I take off my green pajama pants, and just take a moment to look at myself in the mirror in my underwear. This fighting on the island has actually done me SOME good. I've regained the muscle I lost while I was mourning Kai, and then some. My stomach has a defined six pack that I feel a small swell of pride at. The half smile I've gained melts off my face, and I shake my head. Look at me, being superficial at a time like this. I pull on my elemental robes, and wrap my fists tightly. I look back into my mirror, and see my usual pale blonde hair, and set jaw… but my eyes…
I lean closer to the mirror, unable to believe what I'm seeing. My eyes are turning gold. Like, a solid gold. The usual green has turned neon, but is receding towards the darknessof my pupil from the gold pushing it back. I jump away from the mirror, a weird feeling taking over me. It feels… good. I feel warmth… and then…
"Agh!" I yelp, the warmth turning to ice, and I clutch my hand over my heart and fall to the floor. I don't know what's happening. Everything in my body feels like it's being frost bitten, the feeling of burning cold coursing through every cell. Suddenly, my vision goes black.
"Lloyd? Lloyd? Where are you?" A vision of Kai appears in front of me. His eyes are frantic, and his face is bloody, partially hidden by a shadow. His voice sounds far away, and the vision is already getting blurry.
"I'm here! Kai, don't leave… I've missed you! Where are you?" But I get the feeling he can't hear me, because his face has faded, and all I can see is a faint outline of my beautiful fire boy. All I catch is the last thing he says.
"I'm coming, Lloyd. I'm coming for all of you." I try to reach for him, but it's no use; He's already gone, and the darkness is brightening. The intense pain is fading quickly. I hear a voice… but not the voice I was hoping to hear.
"Lloyd?" A disembodied voice says. The pain is gone, and I open my eyes to the ceiling of my tournament room. The face of a familiar black ninja invades my view soon after I open my eyes. I can see the obvious relief on his face. That relief turns to rage. He pulls me to my feet, which I don't even try to resist. "Stop getting hurt!" He says, angrily, punching me in the arm. I rub the spot and laugh, even though I'm as upset as ever.
"I won't be able to do that if you keep punching me." I say, trying to keep the mood light. There's no way I can share what just happened… not until later.
"Heh… yeah…" Cole says, scratching the back of his neck. "Okay, well, Chen is giving us a new challenge… today's your fight." Cole says. I sigh. I knew I wouldn't get too much time to recover.
"Okay. Let's go." I say, turning to walk out the door. Cole grabs my arm, suddenly. I turn around in annoyance. "What?" I ask, before I see his wide eyed expression.
"Dude… what's up with your eyes?" He asks in wonder. I run to the mirror once again, and see that the gold is nearly gone, just the usual random flecks that I've had since I unlocked my full potential, but the emerald green is brighter than ever.
"I… don't…" I look down."I'll tell you and Zane later, okay?" I tell him. I turn again and walk out the door.
"If there even is a later for you…" He says quietly. I start to stress. I don't think I was supposed to hear that.
"Attenetion… ATTENTION!" Chen yells into his megaphone, deafening the remaining contestants. Everyone quiets down, and prepares to hear the fight of the day. "Today…" He starts "will be a … different type of battle." He exclaims, his eyes shining in evil glee as he claps his hands, and his Kabuki come out of a door, each holding a pair of rollerblades. The servants each kneel in front of every competitor, including me, and fasten them onto our feet. I look around the room to see various faces of distaste, except for Zane, who seems relatively happy about the arrangement. I look to Cole, who has a dorky smile on his face, yet tears in his eyes, I skate over to him.
"What's up?" I whisper to him. He smiles and shakes his head, looking down.
"Jay told me once that he and his mom won the mother-son skate-off when he was a kid." He laughs. I force a small smile.
"Kai once told me, when I was still a child, that he couldn't skate for his life." I tell him. Clouse's voice brings me out of my remembrance.
"Today, the fighters will be Camille, master of Form, versus Lloyd, master of Energy." He states. "If you will all follow me to the arena?" He asks us, before turning on his heel and walking out the door, silently inviting us to join him. We follow him through the maze of halls and doors, before finally entering a… skating arena? Everyone is looking around, amazed at the weirdness of it all. Before we know it, Chen has already made yet another grand entrance, this time on a pair of roller-skates, scooting along with fireworks erupting behind him. I roll my eyes.
"Welcome to thunderblade! My favorite event!" He claps giddily. "I even hold the record! 100 laps! Isn't that right, Clouse?" Chen asks Clouse, who looks, as usual, bored.
"Yes, you were born with skates on, Master." He replies. Chen just does is psychotic giggle and continues on.
"The rules are, there are no rules! The fighter with the most laps completed by the time the buzzer sounds, wins!" He throws both Camille and I Jade Blades. "To get credit for completing a lap, you must be holding your Jade Blade."
"Wait, if they're the only ones fighting, why are all of us wearing skates?" Skylor asks. I shiver. Ugh. Skylor.
"Ahhh, you will be able to choose your teams. You can help whoever you want. Grab your helmets, and let's go!" I grab a green helmet, along with Zane and Cole. The rest of the fighters take orange and purple helmets.
"Well this should be fun." I mutter, putting the helmet over my messy hair. I stand at the starting line, my neon eyes fixed on the track. Zane skates up next to me. "What's up?' I ask, turning to him.
"Maybe you should just let Camille win. She'll probably beat you anyway." Zane says. My mouth hangs open.
"B-But…" I stutter, looking at his slightly pleased face. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and see none other than Cole and… Zane?
"Good luck brother." The other Zane says with a grim smile. I turn to the first Zane, only to see Camille standing in his place. She smirks.
"Watch your back." She says sassily. Cole walks up to me and whispers in my ear.
"Don't worry, we'll do that for you. You just focus on putting that little identity whore in her place." He says, before joining the other skaters in line behind Camille and I.
"Good luck, fighters! But mostly Camille because we all want the Green Ninja out." Chen says. I don't even care.
3.
2.
1.
GO!
And the race starts.
The race goes by in a blur of punching and powers, and the feeling of something powerful inside me just itching to get out. Suddenly, Camille and I are tied, with ten seconds left, racing towards the finish line. I try to push past her, but she just regains her balance.
7 seconds left.
I look to my side again, and suddenly, it's not Camille standing there, but Kai. My eyes widen, and I nearly lose my balance. I turn forward and screw my eyes shut, clearing my head.
"It's just a trick" I think to myself. Kai- I mean Camille gets closer, close enough to whisper in my ear.
"Just give up. You'll just end up with him, in the fiery pits of hell. That's where you both came from isn't it?" She whispers. And then, I feel nothing. All I see is golden light. Something inside me just... snaps. Just as soon as the light comes, it's gone and I find myself already over the finish line. Camille is lying about a yard from the finish line, seemingly unconscious. The rest of the fighters have stopped, and are just staring at me in awe. Finally, Cole skates up to me.
"What happened? I ask him, my voice just above a whisper."
"Your golden power… I thought it was gone…" He says. I just stop. How could I possibly still have my golden power? I gave it away…
"WE HAVE A LOSER!" Chen declares, gesturing to… me?
"Wait, what?" A guy, I think his name is Neuro, exclaims.
"Lloyd misused his power. THAT IS A RULE VIOLATION!" Chen yells. Now I KNOW he's out to get me.
"That's not fair!" Griffin says.
"Life's not fair, deal with it." Chen shrugs. That is the understatement of the century.
"If Lloyd's out, the I'm out, too." The Paleman says. I'm surprised. I didn't think anyone would… stand up for me… except Zane and Cole, of course.
"Me too!" Creepy Skylor says. I can see her gravitating towards me. I slink a it closer to Cole and Zane. The rest of the competitors chime in, agreeing.
"What kind of tournament would this be if you lost all of your fighters?" Cole asks, smugly, folding his arms over his chest.
Clouse whispers something into Chen's ear. He sighs unhappily.
"F-F-F-Fine!" He struggles out. I breathe a sigh of relief. I can still save Kai. "Master of Energy moves on." The unconscious form of Camille drops down a trapdoor, noiselessly. I cringe.
"I wish I had known I had my Golden Power still…" I say as we walk to my room.
"Yeah…" Zane says. Cole walks in first, and sits on my bed.
"Don't think that I've forgotten what happened earlier. Now spill. What happened to you?" Cole asks. I sit down in one of the plush chairs; the one Jay sat in when I was unconscious. I feel something sharp against my leg. I bend down, and pull it out of the chair. It's a small silver knife.
"Hey, guys, look what I found!" I exclaim.
"Stop avoiding the subject, Llo-" He stops when he looks up and sees the small object, glistening gin the LEDs of my room. "That's Jay's…" He whispers. I smile and toss it to him. He catches it, and twists it in his fingers, examining it with a smile on his face, yet tears in his eyes.
"Then you better keep it safe for him." I tell him, gently. Zane nods in consent. Cole puts it in his pocket, and clears his throat.
"So about this morning…" He says. And everything starts pouring out.
Who likes? I wasn't going to post this weekend, but I couldn't stand to let you guys down. Once I started writing, everything just started coming together! I didn't know how I could possibly write out the thunderblade, so I kind of just bounced around it. And how was that for a weird twist, Lloyd still has his Golden Power*Gasp* lol. PEACE AND PIZZA MY LITTLE ALLIGATORS!