Tina couldn't bear living with her 15th set of foster parents, so she ran from that terrible home and ended up living in a homeless shelter. It had been only a few months after the Ninja's battle over the Overlord and the death of Zane. Tina wasn't your typical normal sixteen-year-old, she had powers which was also why she kept changing foster homes every six weeks. Tina never knew her parents because she was dropped off at an orphanage as a baby. All she had of them was a small spell book and a necklace that had a dragon on it.

By the time she was five, she had learned some basic spells in secret. But the caretaker found out, she took Tina's book and called her a devil for practicing dark magic. A week later, Tina was moved to a foster family in Jamanakai Village. Until they found out about her powers, and they just gave her to another foster family. When Tina turned sixteen, she stayed in a homeless shelter in New Ninjago City after escaping her last foster family. Tina wasn't defenseless, she taught herself how to fight with and without her powers.

During a walk to Mr. Chen's Noodle Shop for a date, Tina got ambushed by three guys with snake tattoos. She punched one of the guys right in the face which made him let her go. The men ran away like scared little bunnies. "Typical. Men never learn." Tina muttered.

She walked into the restaurant, but her date had stood her up just like the last guy that asked her out. She left with a few tears in her eyes, she made a vow that she would never fall for another guy again. Later that night, Tina was getting ready for bed when she felt something in her jacket pocket. She pulled out a fortune cookie, she opened it and inside was an invitation. Master Chen has personally invited her to compete in his Tournament of Elements on his island. The invite said to meet at the pier at midnight and leave any weapons behind.

The invite disappeared in a puff of smoke. Tina figured that it could be a trick, but she was also curious if there were people like her. So, she packed a bag of clothes and her spell book just in case and headed for the pier. It was almost midnight, Tina had arrived, and she spotted more elemental masters including the Ninja. Tina stayed silent and watched from the distance making sure not to draw too much attention. But one of the elemental masters refused to leave her alone, the Master of Smoke. "What's a cute girl like you doing in a place like this?" He asked.

"I'm here to compete. Don't talk to me or touch me. There will be consequences." Tina threatened.

The guy wouldn't take no for an answer, so Tina used a spell to make him think that he sees the thing he is scared of then left her alone. Suddenly a steamboat appeared and soon two men laid out a gang plank for all of them to walk on and onto the ship. Tina went on after the Master of Nature, but she got a strange vibe from the man that blocked the Ninja. Tina watched as the man pulled out nun chucks from the Master of Lightning's duffle bag then tossed them into the water. He then let the ninja board the ship, but Tina went to the back of the ship to practice her powers.

It was only a few minutes when they left Ninjago until trouble started on the ship. Tina decided to take a walk around the ship to get familiar with the other elemental masters and see what their elements are. She stopped when she saw Karloff, the master of metal trying to pick a fight with Kai. She saw the other ninja plus Sensei Garmadon not interfering with the fight. Tina ran towards them and managed to pull Karloff's metal glove off Kai. "Hey, pick on someone your own size, tin can!" she shouted.

Karloff looked like he was about to explode. He charged right at Tina, but she used her powers to teleport away from Karloff, making him crash right into a wooden pillar. Karloff backed off but not before giving both Kai and Tina death glares. Tina just walked off leaving the ninja speechless. She tried to go back to her spot on the ship, but she felt like someone was watching her. She readied her powers but only to see that it was just the Green Ninja, Lloyd. Her heart began to race all of a sudden.

Tina slowly let her powers die down but still kept her guard up in case. The other ninja joined up with Lloyd which caused Tina to almost let her powers go. "Easy kid. We just want to talk. We're not here to fight." Cole said.

"My name isn't kid. It's Tina. I just did what had to be done." Tina stated.

"Then why are you here?" Kai asked.

"Chen invited me to his Tournament of Elements. I'm not here to compete, I only came here to find out what this Master Chen has planned." Tina claimed.

"Trust issues, much?" Cole said.

"I've spent the last sixteen years of my life living in foster homes. You try trusting people while they think you're a devil for practicing magic." Tina spoke.

Clouse called all the elemental masters to the front deck to take a look at Chen's Island since they have arrived. Everyone gathered up to see the island except for Tina, she got a little suspicious about Clouse. She used her powers to give herself bat ears and overheard Clouse talking to Master Chen about Garmadon and how everything will work out. Tina stopped the spell before Clouse could catch onto her. She started to wonder if Garamdon was hiding something about Master Chen that he doesn't want anyone to know about. She did feel some tension between Clouse and Garmadon whenever they were close.