Hi! A small little thing for you guys about one of the first things I was exposed to during my life as a Ninjago fangirl. (I'm a girl, yes.) Serpintine Cole had always fascinated me for some bizarre reason. Prpledragon on Deviantart came up with the idea and drew it flawlessly and soon there was some sort of story floating around with this theory called 'Darkness Overturned.' I'm not sure if it's still up there, but I know most of Prpledragon's art was taken down from her account cause people wouldn't reblog it properly. So if you don't know the whole story, it goes something along the lines of the Great Devourer bit Cole and he slowly transforms into a snake, but with Devourer-like qualities. Enough of me and on to the thingy!

The ninja had won against the Devourer with minimal damages, due to Garmadon sacrificing his life and all four of the Golden Weapons to destroy it. The city had been saved and all the townspeople were pleased. In celebration, they held a party for the ninja and Garmadon, who had mysteriously vanished with the weapons.

If only that were true.

Jay and Kai had suffered the least, save for several bruises and cuts that could take up to several days to fully heal. They were deemed the luckiest out of the four ninja,

Zane had lost half of his face and had many major gash wounds on various areas of his body. He had to be taken to a repair shop to have his body rebuilt and Jay and Kai had both pitched in to cover the cost.

Cole had suffered the most. Many scrapes and bruises, along with some close encounters with the Devourer had been the overall total. However, what no one had known was that Cole had been bitten when all four of the ninja tried to fend the monster off in the junkyard. There was also a deep gash wound across his chest, which needed medical stitches and was taken care of immediately. This is where the story starts.

8:00 AM, 16 hours after battle with the Devourer

Cole lay on the cold metal stretcher and stared up at the ceiling. At a moment like this, where blood was flowing out of his body at such a rate, he should be panicking like Jay on coffee. But he wasn't, and that's what felt so weird to him. The thought of going into surgery had never crossed his mind until now, in the hospital, on the stretcher. He heard footsteps down the hall and closed his eyes. The doctor or nurse or somebody would be in here to tell him to go to sleep. Cole gritted his teeth and opened his eyes again to see a nurse standing over him, a worried expression on her face.

"Doll, I'm gonna need ya to kinda move forward a little so we can take ya to the back room, kay?" She had a long southern drawl and her blue eyes shone in the dim lighting of the room.

"My name is Belle, doll. I'm gonna be your nurse for now till ya get better,kay?" She pushed the stretcher out of the room and rushed past many doctors and nurses, all of them looking at him in horror. Whispers and murmurs filled the room as them two walked to the end of the hall.

"So it is..."

"Can't you see..."

"Only a few days..."

"That Sensei is mad for letting him live, we should kill him."

Unease began to wash over Cole as he heard more and more. (Especially the last one, that had alarmed him greatly.) Finally, both the nurse and Cole came to a small, confined room at the end of the building.

"Here ya are, doll. I'll help ya outa bed and you can walk in with me!" The nurse grabbed Cole's arm and with all of his strength, Cole pushed himself off the stretcher and onto the marble floors. Both of them stumbled into a small metal room with a small bed in the right corner and a barred window in the back. The bars were thick, and Cole could sense that something wrong was going to happen.

"Um excuse me? Belle?"

"Yes, doll? Why don't ya make yerself nice 'n cozy here and I'll answer all your questions."

"Um, why am I here? Wasn't it supposed to be a simple stitch operation?"

Belle tensed up for a moment and looked at Cole, who now had his eyes trained on the floor.

"Ah...Well...there were, ah, complications with the machines 'n stuff so ya have to stay here for now."

"But-"

"Please don't argue with me, doll. Your friends an' Sensei said they wanted to see you, so be expecting them soon, kay?" She turned towards the door.

"Oh, and Cole? Can I ask that ya do all ya can not to leave this room, no matter what the voices say, dear?"

"What voices?"

"Oh look at the time!" Belle feigned shock. "Well, I gotta go, toodles!" The metal door slammed shut and Cole layers down on the bed gingerly.

"What the heck is going on in here?"

7:30 PM 21 hours and 30 minutes since battle with Devourer

Cole stands up from the bed and shakes his head. There was someone calling for him in the lobby. He walked down the halls to see Lloyd, Zane, Kai, Jay, Nya, and Sensei all standing before him wearing large smiles.

"Hey gu-!" Cole was cut off by a major group hug led by Jay. After all of them calmed down, the room warmed up and laughing and jokes filled the air. Jay and Zane reenacted the icy slide ride (no ice needed) to other patients and Kai and Nya shared with Cole stories of their days alone in the Four Weapons. Lloyd had brought alone many of Cole's old sketch books and lots of comic books, requesting a picture of Fritz Donovan the next time he visited. Sensei had remained eerily quiet and at some point, pulled Cole aside to talk to him.

"Cole, there is something I have to tell you."

"Yeah? I just want to ask one thing, though. Wherever I go, people keep looking at me as though I did something terrible, like murder. I'm also wondering why I can't have the surgery done yet. Belle told me it's because of the machines, but-"

"It's not for that. Zane, please come here and explain what is going on to Cole."

Zane looked sadly at Cole and pulled out a sheet of paper covered in a variety of graphs and charts. (AN- this part is entirely made up by me, as an explanation as to how the doctors found out and why Cole is put in a secluded area of the hospital.)

""As per regulation before surgery, doctors must take a blood test for the patient to make sure that the materials being used will not cause complications for the patient. The doctors had taken a blood sample and when they had it analyzed, and they had found interesting results."

"What kind of results?"

"Snake DNA. But none like any of the tribes in Ninjago. The doctors then tested some of the late Devourer's DNA and..." Zane trailed off, leaving the words hanging in the air.

"It matched." Cole finished, biting his lip.

"It seems to be slowly mutating your DNA to that of a snake's. Many scientists are working towards a cure, but there has been no success yet."

"This can't be happening." Cole took a small step back. "You're telling me that I'm slowly transforming into the Devourer? What'll happen when I'm a full snake then?"

Zane inhaled quickly and shrugged.

"I am unsure."

The words hung in the air, tensing up the atmosphere even more. There had never been a situation so far that Zane couldn't give at least one good solution for. The more Cole heard, the worse he felt.

"Doctors are wary of keeping you with other patients for the fear that you would bite them." Sensei spoke up. "We will visit from time to time as well. However, as time continues, our visits will become less and less frequent."

"So, the more I become a snake, the quicker you'll abandon me."

It came out more bitter than he intended it to be, and both Zane and Sensei grimaced.

"I-I mean-"

"No. That's exactly it. There's no need to lie." Zane clenched his fists tightly together. "I am sorry Cole, I really am."

"No need to apologize, Zane." Cole laughed hollowly. "It's my own fault for getting just too close! I guess that's that, then. Until we find a cure-if we find a cure, I mean, then we'll be fine, right?" Zane looked at Cole sadly and Sensei pulled his hat down over his eyes.

"I believe so. Goodbye, Cole." Zane and Sensei returned to the other ninja and began to shuffle out the door.

"Goodbye, guys."

10:00 PM, 23 hours since the battle with the Devourer

Cole lay awake in his tiny cell, looking up at the dull ceiling. The moonlight bounced off the floor and reflected into the ceiling and into Cole's eyes. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't shut his eyes and go to sleep.

'It's instinct.' A voice squeaked from out of nowhere.

"Huh?" Cole blinked. "Is someone there?"

'I'm just a voice in your head. And the reason you can't sleep is instinct. At this time of day, Serpintine usually hunt and kill. Don't you want to feel the breeze in your hair and the grass between your feet while you run in the forest? Them cooping you up in here will only make you restless and thirsty for blood. We wouldn't want that, now would we?' The voice mocked Cole. 'There would only be disastrous results from that little fiasco.'

"How can I even get out?" Cole asked. "The doors are locked and there's no way I could sneak out the windows..."

'Make a hole.' The voice stated, as if it was simple enough. 'Then, each night, sneak out and hunt! It should only take a few days and viola! The solution to all your problems!'

"I guess... Wait! No way, Belle told me not to listen to you, and I won't!" Cole covered his ears and sat on the bed. The voice sighed.

'You're gonna listen to HER over ME? That's just pathetic. I'm you, stupid. I'm obviously gonna know what's right for the two of us, if you want to live, that is. Fun fact: the Devourer can't live without some source of food. It will rot and die if not given a sufficient amount each day. Just so you know.'

"Fine." Cole huffed. "But just this once." He turned to the farthest and darkest corner of the room. "Let's get started."

'Good thinking!'

9:00 PM, 2 weeks after battle with Devourer

The air rushed through Cole's hair as he ran through the moonlit forest. His senses were at a peak and he could see most anything in the forest.

He would come here once or twice in a week and just hunt for small prey, such as a rabbit or squirrel. Cooked correctly, they tasted amazing, but since Cole could cook as well as Jay could be quiet, he preferred it raw. No one was going to bother checking up on the slight decrease in animal population in the dark forest, would they? Besides, they were nuisances, no one needed them. He was helping, and being able to gain from it. To him, a win-win situation.

A sudden rustle in the bushes to his right made Cole pause and whip to the side.

"Who'sss there?"

Dang. He forgot that his s's held out as a snake. Keeping quiet would be better for next time.

Several moments of silence passed and Cole spoke once more.

"Isss someone there?"

Prey, perhaps? Cole licked his lips. He was still a little hungry.

"A-Ah-Ah! P-p-please don't eat me!"

Cole flinched. Someone was there. They would see him. This was going to be difficult, more difficult than he wanted or needed right now.

"Someone? Anyone? I know I just heard someone..." The voice spoke again. Cole backed up. It was a boy, that he could tell. However, the face was to dark to see, even under the moonlight.

"Um, I know someone is there..." The voice continued. "I-I-I promise I won't hurt you..." Noises came from the bush and th young man stood up, brushing himself off.

"I guess I must've heard some...thing." The boy now was looking directly at Cole. "Oh my Ninjago..."

"Hi." Cole meekly waved as the boy began to take steps backwards.

"Y-y-y-you!" He screeched, pointing at Cole in fear. "Y-y-y-you're that ninja, aren't you? The one who was bitten by the-"

"Yeah, that'sss me." Cole cut off, clearly agitated. "What are you doing here in the forest late at night?" Especially tonight. Cole's stomach growled and the boy flinched.

"I was doing research on the population of the rabbits and squirrels for...school." The boy finished quietly. "I didn't mean to-"

"Rabbitssss?" COLE bit his lip, his fangs pierced the skin and caused blood to slowly pour out. He took a deep breath.

'He probably found out by now, genius...'

The voice in his head spoke.

'There's only one solution to this kind of thing... To eat.'

"What?" Cole muttered to himself. "I-I-I don't get-"

'Okay...WHAT does the Devourer do best...hm?'

"To eat..." Cole trailed off until the thought dawned on him. "No way! I'm not going to eat-"

'Who said anything about YOU?' The voice intervened. 'I'm hungry, and sick of those silly squirrels. I want a real delicacy. Flesh.'

Something in the back of Cole's mind sprang forward and the last thing he remembered was falling onto the ground and the sound of someone screaming.

? ? ?

Cole groaned and rubbed his head. What happened when he blacked out? He had no clue. Opening his eyes more he woke up to a terrifying scene. Blood was splattered everywhere and mangled body parts scattered the ground. Several feet away from Cole, was the decapitated head of the boy from the night before. Cole slowly moved forward and picked up the head. The eyes were widened in fear and some of the blood had splattered on his skin. It was the only thing left of the scene and Cole shuddered.

'How's it feel, knowing you killed somebody?' Thevoice in Cole's head began to mock him. 'Pretty neat, huh?'

"I-I-I didn't do thissss." Cole stuttered. "You did!"

'Oh, cause somebody's gonna believe the little voice in your head did it.' It laughed. 'Grow up and accept it. YOU killed him. Go on, say it.'

Cole's voice was caught in his throat. "I killed him. I killed him. I killed him."

'That's the spirit! Now why don't we leave the leftovers and go back to the prision?'

"Yeah, prision." Cole rubbed his eyes like he was in a daze. "Let's go." He slowly stumbled through the forest, leaving the mangled body behind, along with any feelings of hope for the mystical cure.

Hi, I know I haven't updated in like, forever, and I'm really sorry. I've just had so many projects and PARCC testing, so I've been super busy. This is kind of a way I hoped to make up for this cause I've had this in my head forever, but never had a chance to finish it until today. Longest thing I've ever done. Fun fact for you guys about the story- Originally, I was going to have Jay and Cole meet in the forest and Cole eventually pulls what he did now. I figured that was just weird to do, killing off a character, a main one at that, for no reason, so I scrapped it. Yeah. I'm a psycho to you all, I bet. As always, R&R.