There are no more shops
entering the competition.
So you have made it
to the top eight.
This puts you
in an elite group,
as one of your shops
will earn $200,000,
a feature in "Inked" magazine,
and the title of Ink Master.
Plus, for the first time ever,
the title of Master Shop.
- Yeah.
- However, this battle is about
to get even more intense.
Today, there is
no flash challenge.
We are moving directly into
the next elimination tattoo.
- [bleep]
- This week, you're being
tested on adaptability.
- Oh.
- What haven't we adapted to?
We adapted to the time frame.
Adapted to team tattooing.
Adapted to all the pressure.
 We've been adapting
 this whole time.
- Today, you must tattoo
the Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse.
- Sweet.
- As described in the Bible,
the Horsemen
are symbolic descriptions
of different events depicting
the end of time.
Conquest, War,
Famine, and Death.
In the ultimate test
of adaptability,
four artists
from four different shops
will tattoo
the four different Horsemen...
- What?
- On the same canvas
at the same time.
- Holy, [bleep].
- [groans]
- Four tattooers
doing four different tattoos
on the same canvas.
 You realize the odds that
 this person's gonna tap out?
That's insane, dude.
And what happens
if they tap out?
That's four teams going down.
- Oh my God.
- That means only one artist
from each shop will tattoo.
It's up to your shop
to determine
who will carry the weight
and represent your team
in this elimination tattoo.
The four shops working together
on the same canvas
will be judged as a team,
so you must work together.
- Ah, crap.
It's so hard
to match two people's styles
 on your own team,
 let alone three other people
 that are not on your team.
- Your teams and canvases
will be randomly assigned.
- Basically, these canvases
are gonna pick
four skulls, four shops.
Whichever four shops they get,
those four shops work together.
One artist from each shop
is gonna tattoo
one Horseman, two Horsemen,
three Horsemen, four Horsemen.
And they need to be
a cohesive piece.
- Once your team is picked,
you are now trying
to out-do the other team.
- Hell, yeah.
- One team will win.
One team will lose.
The losing team is [bleep].
- [exhales]
- Let's meet your canvases.
 ♪ ♪
Okay, canvases.
Please each choose four skulls.
The names on the bottom
of your skulls
will determine your artists.
- Best case scenario,
I hope we get us,
 Allegory, Artistic Skin,
 and Old Town.
If it doesn't fall that way,
this is going to be crazy.
 ♪ ♪
- Empire State Tattoo.
Unkindness Art.
Allegory Arts.
 ♪ ♪
Black Cobra Tattoo.
 - Black Cobra,
 I guess we're gonna have
to make a treaty
and sleep with the enemy.
- It just got hot in here.
- Old Town Ink.
Artistic Skin Design.
Basilica Tattoo.
Golden Skull Tattoo.
- I can guarantee that
being on a team
with Basilica Tattoo
and Golden Skull Tattoo,
 that we are not going
 to have our voices heard.
It's frustrating already,
and we haven't even started yet.
- Those are the teams,
and this week,
we will have no jury of peers.
You will have six hours
to tattoo Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse.
Good luck.
- I'm April.
- Nice to meet you. Bobby.
- This is a crazy twist.
You take people who have been
fighting against each other,
 and then for this challenge,
 they have to work together.
- You don't want to tattoo?
- I'm definitely letting him
tattoo this one.
- So is it Aaron or is it Cleen?
- I'm tattooing.
- I'll do Conquest.
- Don't laugh, asshole.
 - Everything
 about this challenge
 is about adaptability,
and how these artists
work together,
how they design together,
how they tattoo as a team.
- I feel like it is a more
masculine subject matter.
Do you feel
comfortable with that?
- Yeah.
- Eva, are you tattooing?
- Ulyss is gonna do it.
- Are you doing
the tattooing, Tommy?
- Yeah, I'm gonna do the tattoo.
- I love tattooing this--
like getting to illustrate
this [bleep].
It is a smart play
to let Erin tattoo.
She's more experienced
and can do things faster.
-We have to make sure
our stuff looks cohesive.
We can't fail on that,
because then we just
fail the challenge.
Some people should take the
reins on drawing certain things.
- So there's
a little bit of everybody,
and it's consistent.
- I can draw all the horses.
- And then I can draw
all the clothes and reapers.
 ♪ ♪
- Black and grey or color?
- What if we did,
like, a mixture?
Black and grey
with colored backgrounds?
Color with black--you know.
- Green mist and flames.
- I think just straight color
or straight black and gray,
and I would rather do color
than black and gray.
- What if we did
the foreground color,
background black and grey?
- I just think color
would be nicer.
- Nicer, or are you
as capable of doing it?
 - Basilica, Golden Skull,
 and Old Town
have huge egos.
- I think we can all,
like, just separate
and start looking
for our own references
and start sketching things out.
- Seems just to be complete,
absolute anarchy.
- Who's tattoo--
are you tattooing or no?
- I don't know, man.
I think we ought to also think
that if it goes south,
I don't know if we put all
our strong players out first,
'cause they--
- That's true.
- Some of the teams
have some weak players,
 and they're gonna have them
 sit on the sidelines,
but I've been
in this competition before,
and when there's
no flash challenge,
there's always
a curveball instead.
- Whoever doesn't tattoo today
is going to tattoo
head-to-head.
That's why Noelin's tattooing
and Christian's not.
If we as a team lose,
there's no way
you'd lose the second one.
- But we don't even know
if there is a second--
like, that's made up.
- There is.
That's why he said
the teams are [bleep].
- You tattooing?
- Mm-hmm.
- Yeah?
- It's you and me, man,
we're going Famine for Famine.
- No, yeah,
I'm just thinking
of what's after this.
- What do you mean?
- You want the stronger first,
or the stronger second?
- There's only one person
tattooing.
- 'Till [bleep] happens
and the last people
have to battle it out.
 ♪ ♪
- [bleep] it.
- Okay, artists,
you have six hours
to tattoo the Four Horsemen
of the Apocalypse.
Remember, you'll be judged
as a team.
Your time starts now.
- All right, let's do it.
 - These artists need
 to show adaptability
by four of them
tattooing one canvas
at the same time.
- I think we're good.
- It's a little bit far apart.
- They have to be
in constant communication.
- Do that [bleep] in black.
- You want to do it black?
I want everyone's opinion
on that.
 - You're trying
 to pull a line,
 and your partner's
 pulling a line,
and you guys are pulling
opposite,
anything could go wrong.
- All right.
Let's see how he likes it
two at a time.
- You almost ready, kid?
- Yeah.
- Can we start getting him up?
Ulyss has his stencil ready.
I'm super happy to be
on the team with these guys,
 because they are
 awesome artists.
So what are you saying,
like this?
- Perfect.
 - Because all the pieces
 are supposed
to look like
the same artist did them,
I imagine their egos
on that other team
is gonna get in the way.
 ♪ ♪
- Fade this down, heavy black.
- Well, they just told me
not to put any black in it.
- No, you're gonna have
a black cloak.
- I definitely don't feel like
I'm part of a team today.
- It's a Grim Reaper, man.
- Yeah, but it's not, though,
'cause if it was,
I would just be [bleep]
coloring it in black.
-Yeah, I mean,
it pretty much is, ain't it?
- I have six people coming over
 to me every couple minutes
 and making sure
 that I'm tattooing
the way they want me to.
It's just chaos.
- So you're just gonna shade
the horse underneath the cloak,
like it's--like it's a ghost?
- You guys are all saying
different things.
I'm getting really confused.
- We're saying the same thing.
- Three hours, guys.
 ♪ ♪
- What color is the cloak?
- Like a shadow from the cloak.
- Okay, so you're gonna do what,
baby blues or grays?
- Well, I got a black horse,
but my whole outfit and the dude
is like a greenish-grayish.
- DJ's color palette
is just so bland,
 Noelin's horse just seems like
 it's got broken legs,
and then April is
so cute and little,
 she's trying to do
 a cute little pony tattoo.
 I'm definitely gonna go
 at my own quality standard
and let these guys
screw themselves.
 ♪ ♪
- So how's he looking?
- You know what?
Erin does
this cool thing I like.
Just color that all in,
like, the midtone,
just right off that rain
right there.
- Mm-hmm, gotcha.
- Yeah, yeah, that's good.
- Are you giving away
all my tricks?
- [laughs]
Right now, the only issue
that this team is having
is Erin can tattoo
 better than everyone else
 in this room combined.
- Glad to see you guys
are carrying Erin through this.
- One day I'll learn
what I'm doing.
- Yeah, just try
and keep up, girl.
Just try and keep up.
Part of adaptability is that
the strongest player
is gonna have to reel it in
 a little bit so that
 their pieces can match.
 Erin has taken
 so much of a lead on this
that the other competitors
on that team
aren't gonna be able
to keep up.
- Final hour, kids.
One more hour.
 ♪ ♪
- I like these two together.
- Yeah, I do too.
They play well off each other.
 I feel pretty confident
 in our team.
Each one looks
a little bit different,
but I think that's character.
 The Four Horsemen of the
 Apocalypse aren't quadruplets.
 They should
 all look different.
These things are
metal as [bleep].
 ♪ ♪
- Five, four, three,
two, one.
That's it, machines down.
Time is up.
No more ink.
- Oh my God, you made it.
- That's great, that's great.
- Dude, that was awesome.
- Nice work.
- It literally looks like
the same tattooer
did all of these tattoos.
- I really never thought
I'd have tattoos like this.
Seriously.
- Cool.
 - I don't know
 if the other team thinks
that outshining other people
on their team is the way to win,
but it's definitely not.
 They may have made
 good tattoos,
but they didn't
meet the challenge.
- I'm in awe, guys.
Like, I--
I don't even know what to say.
- So high five for the team.
- Hell, yeah.
- Yeah.
- Thank you.
- We won, hands down.
both: Awesome.
