CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

MASTER OF DARKNESS

WITHOUT EVEN STEPPING FOOT ON the island, Lloyd could tell that it was far unlike the Dark Island, the only other island he'd ever been on. Mountains loomed over the temple, and a vast amount of trees and bushes could be seen behind the gates. The temple itself was smaller, but it would easily house the ninja and the rest of the competition. Two golden snakes—drawings, thankfully—greeted them at the gate, which was closed, with a group of cloaked people at the front of it. The boat pulled up to the dock and Clouse's men put down another wooden board, allowing Clouse to walk off first.

"Welcome to Chen's Island," Clouse said, turning to face the group that remained on the boat. "The Tournament of Elements welcomes its brave fighters." Garmadon stepped off first, walking over to Clouse. "Master Chen will be pleased you've returned, Sensei Garmadon," Clouse said, saying Garmadon's title sarcastically. Lloyd clenched his jaw.

"The pleasure is all mine, Clouse," Garmadon said sourly.

"I'm sure it is," Clouse deadpanned, rolling his eyes as he turned away, beginning to walk toward the gate.

Lloyd followed the team off the boat, glancing around wearily. The island was silent save for the new arrivals, devoid of even the sound of birds. It was unnerving, to say the least.

"Master Chen used to be a friend," Garmadon said in response to something Cole had brought up, catching Lloyd's attention. He wasn't aware his father had any friends. "Now he's a traitor. During the Serpentine Wars, Chen turned against his own kind and sided with the treacherous snakes," the older man explained quietly, glancing at the other competitors with suspicion. It didn't seem like any of them cared what was being said—in fact, most of them were moving toward the gate with Clouse.

Though most of them kept a wide berth from the man, Lloyd noted that the cloak-wearing mystery person kept in pace with him. They weren't talking and Clouse seemed annoyed with them, which made Lloyd curious. Was there a fight between them, or had he misread the situation from the beginning? Maybe Garmadon was right—maybe Clouse was scared of them and was tolerating their presence.

Lloyd turned his attention back onto his father. "The battle you and Uncle Wu fought together in? He was an enemy?" he asked, wanting to learn as much about Chen as he could. Know your enemy, and such.

Garmadon began to lead the group up to the gates, following behind the other fighters. "He used deception to divide the Elemental Masters. We barely defeated the Serpentine, and in a deal for his surrender, Chen was to never leave this island." Garmadon scowled, looking up at the temple. "Little did we know, he'd begin to build his criminal empire from here."

Lloyd wondered how one would be able to divide the previous Elemental Masters. What lies did Chen tell them? "He may have divided our ancestors, but he's not gonna divide us," Lloyd promised, just as he was shoved aside by Kai, running into Jay with a grunt. He looked up as Kai allowed the girl from before to pass by.

"Ladies first," he stammered. She rolled her eyes as she passed by, giving Kai the cold shoulder. "Fire will melt her icy heart. Just wait," he said. Garmadon sighed, rolling his eyes, which described Lloyd's feelings more than words could.

He knew he was bad with Hiro, but he wasn't this bad, was he?

Okay, maybe he was worse. That doesn't mean he would acknowledge it.

The group continued walking to the doors, near where people with white and purple facepaint were dancing. They came to a stop behind the rest of the fighters, speaking to each other quietly. "This is a big island. Zane could be anywhere. Keep an eye out," Cole murmured. Lloyd nodded in agreement, startled when the doors were suddenly flung wide open. Further beyond the walls, he could hear men chanting and drums beating fast.

They all walked forward, looking around in awe. The monastery was massive, looming over them dangerously and nearly blocking out the sun, red and gold glinting in the light.

"So this is the house that noodles built," Jay mused. "Ha! Always wanted to go to a red carpet event," he joked, strutting for a moment before stopping when Lloyd shot him an unimpressed look. He smiled sheepishly and Lloyd sighed, knowing Jay was just trying to lighten the mood. It wasn't working when all Lloyd could think about was what could go wrong now that they were here.

They didn't even know for sure that Zane was alive. Hiro was still missing. The team was tense around each other, especially Cole and Jay. And Garmadon had followed them—what if he was put in danger and Lloyd couldn't save him? He wasn't ready to lose his dad, no matter how annoyed he was with him sometimes. Their relationship had improved drastically from when he was a child and Garmadon was evil, but there would always be that bitterness lingering between them over how they separately treated Hiro.

"Chen lives like a king. Here, he's totally self-sufficient," Garmadon explained, looking around the courtyard. "The only way on or off this island is with his permission, which you have to earn." He added the last part in a quieter voice as if remembering a time from long ago. Lloyd figured that had to be pretty accurate—he was old, after all. Not to be mean to his dad, but Garmadon had to have been alive for a long time—longer than most people in Ninjago were.

"You never told me about this place. How do you know so much about this island?" Lloyd asked as he stepped into line with his dad, looking up at the older man with something akin to curiosity. Really, Lloyd didn't know if Garmadon would be able to help them as they searched for Zane, but if he knew anything about the island, perhaps he would be of help. They had no idea what they were in for.

"Because before Chen was my enemy, he was my Sensei," Garmadon said gravely. He pulled down the shoulder of the left side of his shirt, revealing a neon purpled tattoo of an Anacondrai snake. Lloyd raised his eyebrows, impressed to find out that his dad had a tattoo at all. It may have been from another life Garmadon wanted to leave behind, but it was still kind of cool to think about.

Everyone filed into the palace and sat in a circle, the rug below their bodies forming the same pattern that Garmadon had a tattoo of. Lloyd crossed his legs underneath him, looking around curiously. There were many people sitting here that he hadn't seen on the boat—a girl with bright, striking green hair; a man with a guitar strapped to his back; a black-haired man whose skin was almost grey in color, like a corpse; the cloaked person from the boat he recognized, their hands clenched into fists in their lap; and a girl with bright purple hair, the same color as Garmadon's tattoo. There were many others, but those are the ones who stuck out the most to Lloyd.

"You never told me you had a Sensei," Lloyd suddenly said as he looked at his father, brows furrowed. He had always assumed that the First Spinjitzu Master had been a sensei to Wu and Garmadon, but not an official sensei in any other sense of the work.

"When I was your age, I sought a darker means of guidance," Garmadon explained. "He taught me to win at all cost, no matter who I hurt. It wasn't until you saved me that I saw the light." Lloyd smiled softly at that.

"Uh, apparently he also never taught you to have a sense of humor," Jay cut in. "Lighten up, we're in an underground fight club. This is supposed to be fun!" he said. Lloyd sighed, shaking his head. Sometimes Jay didn't know when to not make a joke, but he supposed that's what made Jay so endearing to most people who didn't find him annoying on the first day.

One of the minions banged against a gong, catching everyone's attention. A gramophone turned on, blasting unsettling music through the room. Clouse stepped forward, arms raised up at the ceiling. "All rise for Master Chen," Clouse spoke, looking up at the ceiling as he spoke.

A chair descended from the rafters, held up by strong ropes. A wooden throne with a golden Anacondrai snake seated an older man with red circles around his eyes, wearing the skull of an Anacondrai snake on top of his head. The only reason Lloyd recognized it was because he had seen a similar one in the tomb he'd freed Pythor from. Three teeth hung from his neck, looking human; he wore royal purple and red robes, and beside him on his chair sat a series of buttons.

Lloyd didn't remember getting to his feet, but he realized that he had joined everyone in standing when Clouse had ordered them to.

"Welcome to the Tournament of Elements!" Chen said, his voice high-pitched, not matching how Lloyd thought he would sound. "Now everyone can all di—" The door behind them slammed shut, making everyone in the room jump and gasp as they turned to face it. "—rect your attention to me!" Chen finished, laughing as everyone turned to look at him again. Lloyd rolled his eyes subtly, not wanting to be caught disrespecting the master of the house.

"I forgot to mention he has a penchant for theatrics," Garmadon whispered to Lloyd as everyone sat down again. Lloyd shot his father a look that read, Oh, really?

Chen laughed, drawing Lloyd's attention back to him. "Never before have so many Elemental Fighters been under one roof," he said, stepping off of his chair and joining the Elemental Masters on the floor. "I see Master of Fire, Earth, Shadow, Speed, even a prophesied Green Savior," Chen said, just a bit too sarcastically for Lloyd's liking. "And a former pupil has returned," he said as he looked at Garmadon, who scowled at him. He turned toward the cloaked person, who raised their head but revealed no part of their face. "And of course, Tashashi Suoh, the Master of Darkness," he said, nodding to the person.

Garmadon frowned, looking at the cloaked person with contempt. Lloyd gave him a questioning look, and Garmadon lowered his voice as he whispered, "There was never a Master of Darkness. I don't know who that is, but they're lying."

Lloyd looked at the person again. They had lowered their head and were staring at their lap again, hands clenched into fists once more. Lloyd only turned his attention away from them at the sound of the gong being hit again. Chen motioned to the golden gong. "This symbol before you is for the Anacondrai, fiercest Serpentine warrior to ever roam this land. Its creed: Only one can remain," Chen said darkly, sending a shiver down Lloyd's spine.

Pythor had certainly stuck to that motto, huh?

The gong was rung again, and this time it seemed to split into two, the golden frame moving aside, revealing a golden square with different brackets and pictures alongside it. The pictures were of the Elemental Masters who had come to the island, and the brackets showed who would be fighting who. Lloyd was relieved to see that he was nowhere near his friends on the board, and also that he wasn't fighting Tashashi. Something about the way Chen seemed scared of them didn't sit well with Lloyd.

"Good, looks like we're each in our own bracket. We won't have to face each other for a while," Kai noted out loud.

"Better find Zane before that happens," Lloyd whispered back.

"Behold," Chen called out, cutting in between their conversation. Clouse opened a case at the front of the room and held up a green blade with a golden handle, intricately carved. "A Jadeblade." The sharp metal shined under the lights of the room. "Here, it represents life. Obtain it and move on. Allow your opponent to take it, loser." Chen approached Lloyd and Garmadon as he spoke, quickly moving in a half-circle inside of the group. "The rules are simple. Every match will be different. No two fights will be the same. Your powers will keep you in the Tournament. Use it or lose it!"

Chen paused in front of Karlof, who spoke up. "Hm, what does Karlof win?" he asked, Russian accent thick.

"Win and stay on the island. Win it all, and you'll receive fortunes beyond your wildest dreams," Chen said, spinning in a circle, "and a lifetime supply of Master Chen noodles." He strolled back over to the Ninja, stopping in front of Kai and Jay. "But no one is here because of noodles. You want the glory of being the greatest fighter in all of Ninjago!" The group of fighters cheered, everyone except for the Ninja—and Tashashi, who was giving off the energy of a bored teenager. Lloyd was pretty sure that he and the Ninja were the only teenagers on the island, though.

"And what happens if they lose?" Garmadon asked calmly.

"Lose?" Chen immediately countered, spinning around to face him. "Who here likes to lose?" Laughs sounded around the room from everyone but the Ninja once more. It felt like he was in a cult if Lloyd was being honest. "Now please, enjoy my island. It's a super fun happy place!" Chen laughed, turning to walk back to his chair. "Fun time on me!"

"You'll now each be shown to your rooms," Clouse announced, clapping his hands. The door that he stood beside opened, allowing a group of women to walk out, faces pained white. Their make-up varied from purple to blue, while their clothes were either red or purple. The ones wearing purple had their hair pulled up into complicated buns, while the ones in red wore their hair down in a style similar to Nya's, just a bit longer, closer to their shoulders. The women circled the group, each one stopping in front of an Elemental Master.

"Ah, just what this place needs. Creepy clowns," Jay grumbled.

"Not clowns," Garmadon said sternly. "Kabuki, Chen's jesters."

The Kabuki each took an arm of one Elemental Master. Cole scowled. "Yeah, well, whatever they are, I don't like them," he said, loud enough for the other Kabuki to hear. Thankfully, the ladies didn't seem to mind his rude tone, continuing to lead the Ninja to their rooms in the palace. "So much for staying together."

Lloyd allowed himself to be led to the third floor. His Kabuki let him into his room, telling him that there was a change of clothes in the closet across from the bed before closing the door behind her. The room was a muted forest green color with brown trim; a fireplace decorated one side of the room, with the closet across from the bed and the bed against the same wall as the door. It was a queen-sized bed, bigger than Lloyd's one at home, and looked rather comfortable.

Lloyd changed into his new gi, finding that it had short sleeves to help him deal with the heat of the sun on the island and felt light and easily breathable. He smiled, chuckling to himself. "Yeah, this is sweet," he said, picking at the cloth that made up the front of the gi. He caught sight of something blue in the mirror and turned around, seeing that there was a framed photo on the fireplace that he hadn't noticed before.

It was of the team before Hiro had joined but after Lloyd had aged rapidly. Lloyd zeroed in on Zane's face, sighing softly. "Don't worry. We're gonna find you, pal," he said to himself, though he hoped that some way Zane could hear him.

Music suddenly blasted throughout the room, making Lloyd jump. Over an intercom, Chen spoke, "Fellow fighters, hidden around my island are enough Jadeblades for every participant except for one. The one who returns to the palace arena empty-handed loses. The tournament begins . . . now!" Chen announced excitedly. Lloyd groaned, slamming his hand to his forehead before running out of his room.

"May the best fighter win," Chen finished, laughing. Music continued to blare over the speakers, messing with Lloyd's head, but he tried to block it out and focus. He turned his gaze onto a corner in the room and saw a Jadeblade. Unfortunately, so did several other Elemental Masters, and it was a mad dash to the Jadeblade.

Lloyd made it halfway there before he suddenly tripped. He spun around, seeing someone about to jump on him, and quickly rolled out of the way, jumping to his feet with ease. He attempted to punch the man, but he turned to smoke right before Lloyd's eyes. Lloyd made a sound of confusion before the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He turned just in time to get punched by the man, sending him falling to the ground.

Lloyd's ears rang with the force of the punch. He could taste blood in his mouth and hoped that the man hadn't knocked out a tooth, but he didn't have time to focus on the pain before he was pulled to his feet and pushed away from the group fight taking place in front of the Jadeblade. He grunted, looking up to see Tashashi dart off, away from the Jadeblade. Lloyd paused, confused, and then shook his head and joined the fight.

He got caught up in the fight for a few minutes, punching and kicking at the people around him before he spotted another Jadeblade across the room. He punched the men around him off and made a dash for the other Jadeblade but quickly found himself trapped by the carpet—the snake from the pattern suddenly came to life, wrapping around his foot when he was a few feet away from the Jadeblade. He grunted in protest, trying to tug his leg out.

The snake suddenly became a carpet pattern again. Lloyd didn't try to figure out what had gone wrong, grabbing the Jadeblade and returning it to the main area of the palace before it could be taken from him.

There were a few others with Jadeblades in the room already. Clouse took the Jadeblade from Lloyd and placed it on a holder, letting Lloyd join the group on the floor. Only Jay had joined the group, making Lloyd concerned for Cole and Kai.

"Three Jadeblades remaining," Clouse announced.

"Wait! I got one!" Cole shouted, running into the room with the Blade held high above his head. He suddenly paused as looked around the group, ignoring Jay cheering for him, which was probably the most unexpected part of this whole experience. "Where's Kai?" he questioned, handing the Jadeblade to Clouse. Lloyd shrugged, hoping that Kai would appear with a Jadeblade of his own

"Only two Jadeblades remaining!" Chen announced.

A few minutes later, Karlof walked in with the Jadeblade held above his head. He chuckled deeply. "Karlof wins!" he called out. The group cheered for him, except for the Ninja. Lloyd felt his heart sink but then spotted Kai coming up behind Karlof.

A second later, his metal hand fell to the ground and Kai snatched up the Jadeblade, using his fire to fly over and put it in the holder. Lloyd let himself cheer for his friend, even if he could feel the waves of disappointment coming from his father.

"Only one Jadeblade remains!" Chen called out. Lloyd glanced around the room and saw that the Tashashi was the only one not in the room. "I'm bored. Look up!" he called out. Everyone turned their attention to the ceiling. In the rafters, a Jadeblade glinted.

Karlof grinned, looking around for something to climb when Tashashi seemed to appear from the shadows, knocking Karlof back and jumping onto a post in the room to climb. Karlof grunted, grabbing Tashashi and throwing him to the ground. Tashashi jumped to his feet, ducking under a punch thrown his way. Lloyd could only watch the almost-dance with interest as Tashashi dodged Karlof's hits and threw some of his own, an expert fighter in his own right.

Tashashi made the mistake of trying to climb the post again. Karlof reached out to grab him and snagged only his cloak instead, pulling on it harder.

The cloak came off, Karlof pulling the fabric back the moment he had his hands on it. In a flash, Tashashi had disappeared. Karlof yelled out, still clutching onto the dark cloak in his hands, as they watched Tashashi disappear from the ground and reappear in the rafters of the roof. He plucked the Jadeblade from the wood and then disappeared again, reappearing on the ground in the shadows in the corner of the room.

The crowd was silent, and Tashashi still had his back turned to them. Lloyd leaned forward, endlessly curious as to what Tashashi Suoh looked like. After a beat, Chen stood up, spreading his hands.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Master of Darkness!" the man announced, and slowly the people in the stands began to clap, almost distracting Lloyd from Karlof disappearing down a trap door below his feet. "Tashashi Suoh!"

He turned around, facing the crowd with a hard expression.

Lloyd gasped.

Hiro.

The Master of Darkness was Hiro.