The hooded workers pushed around the fighting equipment which was to be used during the tournament. The participants would be the five individual ninjas of the Super Ninja Force. They would be competing against each other to claim the title of the Green Ninja.

The spectators excitedly sat in their seats, waiting for the fight to commence. Down the flight of steps in front of the Hall of Heroes came the First Spinjitzu Master, wearing his finest silk kimono. The guards lined on either side of the stairs bowed as the master passed.

Wu was waiting for him at the bottom. "It is an historic day, isn't it, Master?" He asked as soon as his father reached him. The First Spinjitzu Master never liked it when his son would call him "master" instead of "father". Sure, he wanted to maintain his respective reputation in front of his students but Wu never called him "father" even when the both of them would be alone.

"Yes," he replied nevertheless. "And one I feared I would not live to see." He looked towards the yard where the Ninja would compete. "Are your students ready?"

"Yes, Master," Wu replied confidently. He was sure that his students would perform to their fullest and would earn the Spinjitzu Scroll fair and square. This is what he had trained them all for since they were little kids.

The First Spinjitzu Master turned back to Wu. "Now know this, my son: whomever I choose will not only bring peace to Ninjago but also to you." He smiled in a reassuring way, placing a hand on his son's shoulder before walking forth. Wu looked down as he contemplated what the meaning was behind these words.

Not wanting to lag behind, he ignored it and quickly joined his father in greeting the cheering crowd. "Let the tournament begin!" A worker banged a golden gong, it's shattering noise ringing loudly throughout the stadium although it was drowned out by the cheering and yelling of the people.

Just as the doors to the arena were about to shut, Lloyd hoisted himself on the last step. He laid down on his back upon the concrete, out of breath but laughing victoriously. He punched the air in his happiness but freaked out as he noticed the doors closing slowly.

He cried out and stumbled over to the entrance, hoping to get in before it was too late. "Oh no! No, no, no! Wait! I'm coming!"

Contradictory to his expectations, the doors closed all the way and Lloyd face-planted into the iron framed wooden surface. He recovered and frantically started pounding the gates with his clenched fists. "Hey, open the door!" Unfortunately, the ceremonial drums that were beating inside the arena matched Lloyd's racket perfectly and it could not be distinctly heard. "Let me in!" He screamed hopelessly.

He panicked and looked around for a solution. His eyes stopped roaming as he noticed a small circular window in the wall running around the arena. He ran over to it, jumped up and managed to make himself comfortable while hanging from the window. He peeked inside, the shutter propped open with a stick.

He gave an excited squeal as Master Wu raised his hands to quiet down the loud cheering of the audience. "Citizens of Jamanakai village! It is with great honour that I present to you . . . Kai, Nya, Cole, Jay, Zane! The Super Ninja Force!"

The noise from the crowd was loud enough to wake the dead as the respective ninjas jumped from the roofs of the nearby sheds and stands. They pulled down their hoods to conceal their faces as they skillfully landed on the ground one by one.

Fire emitted out of Kai's palms and circled around him in ribbons of flames as he made a smooth landing. Nya dropped down next, crystal clear water encircling her as it gushed out of her hands. A sort of buzzing and zapping filled the air as Jay landed next to the siblings, his hands sparking with electricity. Zane came falling down and landed smoothly on his hand before flipping onto his feet, flurries of snow raining down on him. Lastly Cole arrived, pillars of rock shooting from the ground to greet him before resting back in the earth.

As the elements diminished and the Super Ninja Force stood in fighting stances, Cole stomped his foot on the ground causing the earth to rumble and tremble. "Yeah, the Super Ninja Force!" Lloyd yelled excitedly. He was cut off as the tremors shook the wall and the window shutter snapped close on the blonde's face.

"Oof!" Lloyd cried as his head hit the ground. Today just wasn't his day. He stood up, massaging the back of his head.

"Master Cole, prepare!" Wu's voice rang out. Lloyd's face fell. He was going to miss everything. However his eyes lit up as he noticed a crack in the gates of the arena. "Peeky-hole!" He exclaimed excitedly as he tried to see through the crack.

"Ready for battle!" Wu announced as Cole stood in the middle of a circle of thin canons loaded with burning arrows. Lloyd caught a glimpse of the canons being ready to set off. "Yeah! Whoo! The Thousand Tongues of Fire!"

One of the spectators inside came and stood in front of Lloyd's only source of view. "Whoa, look at that," the man exclaimed, pointing to the sky. Lloyd silently cursed the person. "Hey man, get out of the way!"

The man didn't budge though. Sounds of swishing caused Lloyd to step back and look up to see Cole rise in the sky in a dusty spinning globe of Airjitzu, pursued by the crackling arrows. Lloyd kept moving back, gazing up at the warrior in awe. In his excitement, he didn't notice he was running out of ground. Just as the the Master of Earth was about to deal with the arrows, Lloyd lost his footing and fell down the steps behind him.

Ignoring the pain, the blonde quickly stumbled back up. He shot his eyes to the sky hopefully but the spark drained out of them as he realized he had missed Cole's demonstration. Great, he thought bitterly. Looks like fate wanted to play a game with him. Well, he wasn't going to give up that easily.

. . .

"Master Jay!"

Lloyd posed himself in front of the gates and took in a deep breath. He exhaled and punched the door, hoping it would break down. The only thing that broke were Lloyd's knuckles. He whimpered in pain and slumped to the ground.

"Ow . . ."

. . .

"Master Zane!"

Lloyd stood ready with a pole in his hands, attempting a vault jump. He jumped up and expected the pole to flip him over the wall. Instead, he fell on his back. The flexible pole whipped around and smacked Lloyd into the arena wall, cracks spreading outwards from the Lloyd-shaped depression in the cement.

"Mommy . . ."

. . .

"Master Nya!"

Lloyd pulled down a heavy branch of a nearby tree and fastened it to the ground, rigging it to work like a catapult. He climbed up onto the branch and got ready for the flight. He procured a sharp edged rock and used that to cut the rope. The work was done but the branch remained drooped under his weight.

Grumbling, Lloyd got off the contraption. As soon as he did, the branch shot up, hitting him on his nose. Lloyd grabbed the injured area and howled in pain. He tried to stagger away from the tree but got clobbered by the branch that came down due to momentum. The air got knocked out of him as he fell hopelessly on the ground, shielding his head.

"I'm gonna be sick . . ."

. . .

The crowd cheered happily but Lloyd sat alone and depressed on the steps, his back to the celebrations. He tried everything possible but only got hurt. He was out of ideas.

"And finally . . . Master Kai!"

Lloyd's mind snapped to attention. Master Kai was the one he had to see. He couldn't leave without doing so. This time he attempted to try a less complex method. He pulled on the rope tied to a tree, tugging on it farther to build up potential energy.

"Believe me, citizens, you have not seen anything yet!" Wu informed, exaggerating the reputation of the Master of Fire.

"I know!" Lloyd yelled back, out of breath. This went, obviously, unheard by any of the people.

"Watch as Kai faces Iron Ox and his Blades of Death," Master Wu explained. Kai got ready to deliver the move as Lloyd launched himself in the air. He only managed to get a glimpse of the ninja before hitting the shingled roof of the entrance and falling out of view into a fireworks tent.

At this point, the spirit of Destiny reached the First Spinjitzu Master. He closed his eyes and raised his withered hand to quieten the crowd. Everyone turned around to look at the wizened master. "I sense that the Green Ninja is among us," he muttered as Wu nodded at his students.

After recieving the okay from their master, the Super Ninja Force dashed to the centre of the ring and stood still, side by side. "Citizens of Jamanakai village!" Wu called out. "The First Spinjitzu Master will now choose the Green Ninja."

"Huh?" Lloyd shot up straight at these words. He was so not going to miss the selection of the legendary fabled warrior. "Oh no! Wait!"
His eyes fell on the fireworks beneath him and the lightbulb in his mind clicked on. "Yeah."

. . .

Lloyd struggled over a chair decorated with an assortment of fireworks. He laughed at the brilliance of it all before hopping on and lighting the fuse. He gave a sort of maniacal chuckle as the fuse caught fire.

At this "blessed" time, his aunt decided to show up with Lloyd's discarded apron in her hands. She looked around and gasped as she took in the weird contraption her nephew was sitting on. "Lloyd, what are you doing?!"

"What does it look like I'm doing?" Lloyd said as if the answer was obvious. Mistaké rushed over and began blowing out the fuse while Lloyd tried to push her away. "Stop! Stop! I'm going to see the Green Ninja!"

Mistaké was struck dumb at these words. She opened her mouth to say something but the shock resulted in her inability to speak. Finally she managed to breathe out, "But I don't understand. You finally had the tea dream!" Her voice was filled with hurt. Hurt that Lloyd could feel but he had had enough.

"I lied!" He confessed. "I don't dream about tea, Aunt Mistaké!" The sparking of the fuse brought him to attention. He chose to quickly speak his mind in one sentence before he took off to pursue his dream. "I love the way of the Ninjaaaaaaaaaaa . . . .!"

He felt like he was floating. He was finally doing it. He was going to get over the stupid wall and see who the Green Ninja was. He opened his eyes and expected himself to be among the clouds but he frowned as he saw that he was still on the ground while his aunt stared at him.

He looked down at the fuse which was nothing more than a burnt out stub. Lloyd gave a cry of surprise as the chair tipped over due to unbalance and his face planted on the earth. Not bothering to get up, the blonde stayed in that position and turned away his face, too embarrassed to say anything.

Mistaké sighed and pulled out the boy's discarded apron. "Come on, dearie. Let's get back to work," she suggested, displaying the apron to her nephew. "Okay," Lloyd mumbled half-heartedly. He reached for the apron and tried to get up.

Boom!

The firework rockets ignited with colourful sparks jumping in every direction. Mistaké screamed and fell back as a yelling Lloyd got propelled into the arena wall.

"LLOYD?!" Shrieked the old woman in panic as the chair got blasted into the sky amid a shower of sparks with her beloved nephew on it, holding on for dear life.

Wind roared in Lloyd's ears and the fireworks exploded all around him but his screams were higher than the commotion. He didn't dare to look down. He gripped the chair tighter, his knuckles becoming white with strain.

The spectators, guards, masters and ninja down below gazed up at the sky as fireworks showered colours everywhere. "Ooohhh," exclaimed the crowd. "Aaahhh."

The pressure of the rockets raised the blonde higher and higher – till they lost power and the chair disintegrated into ash. With nothing to hold him up, gravity took its toll on him. "Uh oh," he muttered before his voice dissolved in yells as he shot towards the earth.

The ground came closer. He could hear people panicking down below. Closer. Closer . . .

. . . . darkness . . . .

☯️️🐉☯️🐉☯️

Lloyd couldn't feel anything. He was swallowed by intense darkness as well as silence. Everything was light and peaceful. It felt like sleeping and waking simultaneously.

Am I dead? Huh. It's not so bad.

Slowly, voices reached his ears. Whispers, mutterings, shouts. He gasped as a terrible pain cut through the entire length of his body.

Okay. Very bad.

The sudden arrival of aches and pains caused his eyelids to fly open. He groaned as his body screamed in agony from the slightest of movements. His vision was blurry but he could still make out colourful blobs looking down at him.

He rolled over and realized a "blobby", blurry finger was pointed at him. He looked at it with confusion, trying to gather his bearings.

"What's going on?" He mumbled. "Where . . . uh? What are you pointing–"

As he opened his eyes all the way and got them into focus, an awful realization dawned on him. He jumped and started shifting away from the First Spinjitzu Master who was smiling down at him.

"Oh!" He exclaimed, getting up and dusting himself off. "Sorry. I just wanted to see who the Green Ninja was." At these words, the wizened master beamed even more. He looked the boy up and down, impressed by something only he could see. "How interesting," he stated.

His finger was still pointed at Lloyd and was shaking with feeble tremors. Seeing this, the red ninja stepped forward, ignoring the blonde, and took off his hood. "Master, are you pointing . . . at me?" He asked hopefully, placing a hand on his chest.

"Him," came the simple reply. The rest of the ninjas turned to look at Lloyd in surprise while Kai scowled at the boy, hate flaring in his hazel eyes.

"Huh?" Lloyd mumbled as the First Spinjitzu Master gestured at him. He looked around at everyone for help as his hand was being held up by the old master.

The First Spinjitzu Master turned to the crowd. "The universe has brought us the Green Ninja!" He announced, raising Lloyd's hand higher.

"What?" Lloyd muttered, his eyes wide.

"What?!" The Super Ninja Force exclaimed in unison.

"WHAT?!" came a shout from Master Wu who was still standing on the upper floor.

"WHAT?!?!" the loudest exclamation of all sounded from Mistaké as she struggled to get inside the arena.

Without waiting for a further reaction, the worker from before sounded the gong as the crowd cheered and roared wildly. Confetti rained down on everyone and the maestro filled the air with celebration music.

"GREEN NINJA! GREEN NINJA! GREEN NINJA!"

The monastery guards came running down the steps with a palanquin on their shoulders. "Wait!" Wu screamed at them. "Who told you to–" he broke off and ran down the remaining steps to catch up to his father, elbowing urgently through the cheering crowd.

By this time the palanquin had reached the supposed Green Ninja. A worker shifted its curtains and pulled out a green pile of clothes from the inside. He unrolled it in front of the Ninja and Lloyd who all gasped in awe at the green gi with golden dragons embroidered on it.

The First Spinjitzu Master accepted the garment from the worker who bowed quickly and walked away. Lloyd glanced at him in confusion, wondering what was about to happen. The master smiled at him reassuringly before twisting around and spinning into his gold and silver tornado of Spinjitzu.

The Super Ninja Force shrank back due to the force of the tornado and the intensity of the light being emitted from it. Lloyd, however, was pulled inside it. The tornado spun for a minute or two before stopping to reveal the master.

Beside him was a dizzy Lloyd who staggered this way and that, mumbling warnings that he was going to throw up. The spectators erupted in cheers once more as they noticed that the boy was wearing the green gi.

Lloyd looked down at himself. "What the . . . how did you . . ." he trailed off, running his fingers over the smooth, emerald fabric and the intricate golden embroidery. He was surprised at the fact that the gi fitted him perfectly – as if it was made for no one else but him.

The First Spinjitzu Master presented to him the green hood that he would don to conceal his face. Lloyd accepted it, looking into those wise, blue eyes.

He wasn't sure if this was all a dream or reality. He had always wanted to belong to the world of ninjas and being the legendary hero was a dream come true. But somehow, it didn't feel like how he had imagined it. It felt wrong but right at the same time. It felt like he was reborn but a terrible fate was hanging over his head. He couldn't handle this. He wanted to go home.

"I'm scared," he whispered to the First Spinjitzu Master, the cheering and the noise meaningless to him. The older man smiled like a father does when his child tells him to check under the bed for monsters.

"Don't be," he whispered back. "This is who you are and you shouldn't be afraid of yourself. Your whole life has been building up to this moment."

He place a wrinkled hand under Lloyd's chin and raised his head to look into his vibrant green eyes. "You look just like him," he mumbled, his voice laced with regret and sorrow.

"Like who?" Lloyd asked immediately. He didn't receive an answer for Master Wu had come running up to them and had dragged his father away while glaring at Lloyd as if he was an irritating bug.

"Master!" Wu exclaimed at the elder man. He pulled him away from the palanquin and the Super Ninja Force and made sure they were out of earshot.

"Master, that common boy can't possibly be the answer to . . . our problem," he complained, glancing back at his students who were watching the Green Ninja trying to tie his hood. "You were about to point at Kai and that hooligan fell in front of him. It was an accident!"

"There are no accidents," replied his father serenely. However, he stopped smiling as he heard a muffled yell. They both turned around to see Lloyd standing with the green hood tied the wrong way, covering his face.

Wu glanced at his father with a raised eyebrow trying to prove his point by gesturing at the incompetent boy. The First Spinjitzu Master simply chuckled and proceeded to help Lloyd with the hood.

Master Wu scowled at the floor, deep in thought. He looked up as he heard footsteps approaching, his trained ears able to hear them over the cheering. His students came walking up to him, failure and disappointment etched on their faces.

They all took off their hoods and bowed in respect. "Forgive us, Master Wu," Kai began as they all bent down on one knee. "We have failed you."

Wu held out a hand to silence him. "No," he stated. "If the boy has not quit by morning then I will have failed you."

The Ninja looked at him with blank expressions but Wu had already turned around to see the palanquin being carried up to the Hall of Heroes, the Green Ninja sitting inside.

☯️🐉☯️🐉☯️

Ooohhh, long chapter! Sorry for the delay. Had a lot of stuff to work on. I'm sure everyone can relate.

Have some candy! 🍭