"That's not fair you cheated!" the young princess shouts as she stood up.

"I did not your highness," her young servant, Lloyd, replies.

"You did too!" the princess argues with a growl.

"If you said I did, then I did." Lloyd smiles. "Is that to your satisfaction, your highness?"

"Ugh!" the princess storms out of the room "I hate you!"

"Wait for me princess!" Lloyd stands up and follows after her.

The Tournament of elements was well underway. Unknown to the competitors that they had an unexpected audience hidden behind a curtain. The Empress watched each and every battle carefully, analyzing every single elemental master in attendance.

The Ninja approaches the Elemental Masters, who were gathered around the bracket after the earlier fights.

"What's all the commotion?" Jay questions and they gasp when they see Cole and Jay on the same bracket.

"No, he can't do this" Cole says angrily.

"But why does it say I have to fight Cole?" Jay asks "It didn't say that before. I'm not ready to fight. It was supposed to be my day off."

"Is there a problem, Ninja?" Clouse questions as he approached them.

"You cheated!" Cole shouts "You changed the brackets."

"I did no such thing," Clouse replies as he glances as the brackets. "Though... it is what it is, ninja."

Clouse walks away, leaving the ninja to argue. Clouse closes the door behind him as he walks into a room where Chen and the Empress were having a meal together while the Kabuki performed for them. Reika stood behind her Empress's chair, looking not so pleased about still being on the island.

"What did you think of the first battles Empress?" Chen asks, holding up his glass to the light. "Entertaining is it not?"

"I suppose," the Empress replies.

"You were always a difficult princess to entertain," Chen chuckles "well, today's battle should be more interesting for you."

"Will it?" The Empress questions, looking over at him.

"I have set up a little game," Chen puts his cup down. "The master of lightning vs the master of earth."

"To be frank Master, these competitors do not interest me in the slightest." The Empress tells him. "They may be the green ninja's allies, but their power will never suffice to beat me at my own game. They are merely pawns on the board," she looks away "perhaps maybe even knights, to protect their king."

"You have named their pieces before the game has even begun," Chen states. "I wonder though, who will be the first to make a move?"

"I think that is obvious," the Empress replies.

"You never were someone who would start a game you could not finish," Chen sighs. "Perhaps that's why, I could never beat you at chess."

"I thought you often let me win at such games," the Empress replies amused.

"I admit," Chen chuckles. "I love my games as much as you, when it came to chess, I was simply outmatched."

Reika looks confused at the two's conversation; she turned her head to Clouse who gestured for her to follow him. Reika looks at Aria who nods to her, Reika turns and follows Clouse out of the room, leaving the two to continue their talk. Once the door closed, Clouse turned to her.

"You seemed confused by your Empress's actions," Clouse states.

"Am I that obvious?" Reika questions, rubbing her head. "I know I'm new to this kinda stuff, but I've served the Empress for three years now." She sighs "I still feel like an outsider."

"Yet out of all her knights, you are the one here," Clouse states as he began to walk away. "For someone only under her for three years, she must trust you a lot."

"Well," Reika ran after him. "She saved me three years ago... I owe my life to her."

"The Empress you serve is not one to make decisions so rashly," Clouse tells her. "So, if you truly cherish the new life she gave you, you must never betray her trust." He stops and turns to her "Never."

"That's a given!" Reika smiles.

The Tournament was followed by Cole letting Jay win, now it was time for the Thunder Blade. Which the Empress took great interest in, only because it involved her champion, exactly like Master Chen had predicted. While the competitors lined up, Chen sat on his throne in the middle of the arena on top of a tower.

Garmadon and Clouse stood on top of the tower with Chen. Underneath them, the Empress and Reika stood inside the tower. With dark magic, they were able to see the entirety of the arena through the walls.

"Welcome to my favorite event, Thunderblade!" Chen announces.

Griffin looks up "Hey, I know this game. It's just like—"

"No, it's not like that! This is my game. I made it up!" Chen shouts "Fully original." He turns to the competitors "A Jadeblade for you, Lloyd, Master of Power. "He tosses him a Jadeblade and a green helmet. "And another for Chamille, Master of Form. Where—Where are you?" Chamille reveals herself. "Oh, there you are." He tosses her a blade and orange helmet. "Haha. Rules are simple. Each lap you complete with your blade in possession, a point. Most points before time expires, you win."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What about us? Are we supposed to just stand here?" Griffin questions.

"You get to help anyone you wish or hurt for that matter," Chen tells them. "You're free to choose sides, I'm not a dictator."

Everyone but Jay and Kai chose to side with Chamille.

"What was that you said about us having targets on our backs?" Lloyd questions looking at the two ninja.

"Don't worry, we're still a team—" Kai falls again "Ah!"

"I gotta be honest," Jay says nervously "this doesn't look good."

The competitors take their places as the Empress watches with her arms crossed.

"This doesn't look to be in the green ninja's favor," Reika says.

"Not in the slightest," the Empress agrees.

"Empress," Reika turns to her. "Do you think-"

"Shh," the Empress puts her fingers to her lips.

Reika looks confused before turning back to the arena.

"Lloyd, master of Power, versus Chamille, master of Form. Most laps with their Jadeblade when time runs out wins. Loser is out. Thunderbladers on your mark, get set, good luck to everyone, but mostly Chamille because we all want the Green Ninja out. Now go!" Chen shouts and the two get a head start. "Oh, how about some spectator ambiance?" He presses a button to make the speakers cheer before the others take off.

"It's us against the world, Kai. If Lloyd has any chance of moving forward in the tournament, it's up to you and me." Jay says.

"Thunderblade never fails to deliver." Chen laughs "Did you know I hold the record with a hundred points? Clouse can attest. Tell him, Clouse."

"You were born with skates on, Master," Clouse replies.

"True story," Chen chuckles.

"True story, hmph." Garmadon crosses his arms "Just like all of his far-fetched endeavors."

"There was once a time when you were quite comfortable with lying." Clouse retorts "It worked on Misako, didn't it?"

Garmadon glares at him as Chen started hitting buttons.

"Button, button, I love buttons. Aha, let's even the playing field, shall we?" Clouse activates a ramp, which Kai falls on.

"That was a cheap shot!" Reika shouts before covering her mouth.

"Are you perhaps rooting for the ninja Reika?" the Empress asks, looking slightly amused.

"Uh, well," Reika turns to her looking nervous. "You have a bet on this don't you?"

"If you wish to root for your brother, do not let me stop you." The Empress tells her before turning back to the race.

"...right.." Reika turns her attention back to the event as well. "My brother.."

 Jay sees everyone pushing Lloyd "We have to give him room!"

Shade hits Lloyd's back and Paleman grabs his Jadeblade. Jay pushes Paleman and grabs the Blade back.

"You didn't learn that in your mother-son Skate-Off, did you?" Lloyd asks.

"It's a fierce competition, Lloyd, and this isn't the time to judge. It's the time to skate faster" Jay jumps over Kai and Griffin, who fell "Haha! Watch out for the Poison cloud!"

Lloyd and Jay skates around it but Kai goes into it.

"Release the buggy!" Chen shouts with a cackle.

Jay pushes Lloyd out of the path of the Jungle Raider before he gets hit. They see Chamille holding on to the buggy.

"She has the lead, and she gets a lift? I know Chen wants me out, but this is getting ridiculous" Lloyd says annoyed.

Jay pushes Tox, Griffin and Neuro grabs Jay. Griffin uses his Speed and pushes Jay into Lloyd.

"Argh! That's it! I may not be able to skate, but that doesn't mean I can't help" Kai uses his Fire to propel himself into Chamille and Jay grabs her Jadeblade.

"Lloyd's closing the gap, but the clock's against us" Jay says.

"So is everyone else, Garmadon's right." Kai agrees "The more we exclude everyone, the more they gang up on us."

"Gimme!" Chamille pushes Jay and steals her Blade back "I've got a job to finish!"

In the tower, the Empress's eyes were set on the arena, watching every move. Reika seemed nervous as she glances up at the score board.

"Reika," the Empress speaks.

"Yes?" Reika turns to her.

"Clouse," the Empress turns her eyes to her.

Reika saw the look in her eyes and nods before running out of the room. Aria looks back at the arena, her eyes narrow as a crack appears in the stone walls.

Kai rides next to Lloyd on the buggy "Need a lift?"

"You took the buggy" Lloyd says happily getting on.

"Buttons, buttons, buttons!" Chen shouts hitting a bunch of buttons trying to stop Lloyd but can't. He turns to Clouse "Lloyd might win, do something!"

Garmadon turns to Clouse as he starts using dark magic, he went to stop him but stopped when someone else tackles Clouse, stopping him. 

Garmadon's eyes widen, seeing the uniform the girl had on. "You're from-"

The two fighters cross the finish line, but only Lloyd has the Jadeblade.

"She doesn't have her Blade!" Jay shouts.

Chamille looks back to see she dropped her Jadeblade.

"Alright!" the ninja cheer.

"No, no, no! He cheated! Lloyd loses!" Chen shouts, infuriated.

"No way, Lloyd won fair and square. You were the one who cheated!" Griffin argues.

"I-" Chen stops when he sees Reika behind him with a smile on her face.

"Master Chen," Reika says as she approaches him. "My Empress would like a word with you."

The competitors seemed to go quiet as they watched this girl they've never seen before, stand confidently before Chen. Clouse stood beside Garmadon, watching silently as well.

"That's..." Kai mutters in disbelief.

Before their eyes, they watched Chen's demeanor faulter. He began to laugh.

"It was just a jest," Chen laughs, a hint of nervousness displayed. "Of course, the green ninja wins!"

Chen opens a trapdoor under Chamille, and she falls through. The elemental masters cheer, while Kai's focus didn't shift from the girl standing on top of the tower with Chen. Lloyd approached him, also not having taken his eyes from the scene.

"Who is that?" Lloyd questions.

"That's... my sister," Kai replies.

"Huh?!" Lloyd looks surprised. "You have another sister!"

"Yeah," Kai replies with a sad look in his eyes.

On top of the tower, Clouse approached Reika.

"It was all in good fun," Clouse tells her. "We will be sure to explain thoroughly to her majesty."

"For your sake, I hope so," Reika replies with a cheery demeanor.

Garmadon still seemed in shock as the girl left the tower, away from the competitor's eyes. Later that night, they were preparing a feast for the competitors. While Master Chen, Clouse, The Empress, and Reika stood together in a back room.

"I sincerely didn't mean anything Empress," Chen tells her. "It was all in good fun."

"I know," the Empress replies with a small smile. "What is a wager without a little chaos? My champion still rose above your challenge after all. I wanted to test him, and you are doing just that master. I trust you know what you are doing."

"I knew you would understand," Chen smiles. "It's all in good fun."

"I hope you enjoy your evening master," the Empress turns around and exits the room. "I shall retire for the night."

"Have a good rest," Chen laughs nervously. "Your Majesty."

As the doors shut behind them, Clouse and Chen let out a sigh of relief. Outside the doors, Reika looked slightly annoyed as she followed the Empress to their room.

"Why did you let him go?" Reika asks. "He quite obviously tried to sabotage the match! Clouse was about to use dark magic!"

"Oh Reika," the Empress says as her eyes flashed purple. "I'm not letting him get away, I'm simply letting him corner himself." She glances behind her "This isn't about whether he wins or loses."

"I won!" the princess laughs triumphantly. "Take that Lloyd! A servant could never truly beat me!"

"Well done your highness," Lloyd smiles.

The princess laughs as one of the guards bends down to Lloyd.

"Hey," he whispers "You let her win, didn't you?"

"Honestly... I did not," Lloyd picks up one of the chess pieces with a happy look on his face. "She simply learned, how to play the game."