Disclaimer: I don't own Ninjago or the lines I've used form Verses, The Art of the Silent Fist, Peak a Boo, or the Temple on Haunted Hill.

"I'm a...ghost," the words barely escaped Cole's lips. The one thing he was terrified of was what he was now. How could this happen? This had to be the lowest of the low. Cole fell to his knees as his friends came up to him. Probably to tell him that they can't be his friend. There was no way they could love him now. "Don't cry, Cole. You can't cry now," Cole nearly whispered aloud. Instead of shaming him, though, Kai tried to wrap him up in a hug, but he went right through.

"It's no use, Kai," Cole's voice broke as he said it. "You can't touch me."

"I-it's okay, Cole. We can make it through," Kai told him as he tried to help him up, but again, he went right through him. "Are you-are you able to let me touch you?"

Cole shook his head sadly.

"I don't know how," he replied.

"Is there a way to reverse it?" Jay asked.

"It is permanent," Zane answered sadly.

The three ninja watched as Cole walked away from the temple and towards the direction of the bounty.

"Hey, Cole!" Kai called to his friend.

Cole didn't answer. He just kept on walking.

"Cole, we can just call Nya to get us. You don't have to walk," Jay told him as he began to walk slowly beside him.

"What's the point?" Cole asked as he looked at his empty, transparent hand. "It's not like I'll get tired."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Jay asked him.

"Jay!" Kai whispered to him.

"What?" Jay asked.

"You can call Nya if you want. It doesn't matter to me," Cole told his friends. If they even wanted to be friends with a ghost.

Kai wanted to say more, but he knew it would be worse if Cole just showed up at the bounty like this without any warning. He called Nya using their comms, and said, "Nya, we need you to pick us up at Yang's Haunted Temple."

"All right, brother, I'm on my way," Nya replied.

"Oh, and Nya," Kai said when he was sure Cole was out of earshot. "Cole's a little...different now. It might be best if you don't say anything."

"Different how?" Nya asked.

"You'll know it when you see it," Kai answered.

Cole looked at the ground below him as he walked. He was almost too scared to look up for fear that someone would be there staring. He didn't want to be different. He wanted to be with his brothers, but they wouldn't accept him as a ghost. How could they accept him this way? He walked until he felt a strange feeling he had never felt before. It felt like something was stinging him in the head, his sides, his feet, basically, every single body part he had. He looked up at the sky to see that it was raining, but he felt it. He couldn't feel the ground he was walking on, the scroll in his hand, how cold he didn't even know he was, but he felt the rain. Suddenly, he remembered that water was the only thing that could defeat a ghost. The rain could kill him any second! Cole looked around him, horrified, until he saw a cluster of rocks. He ran over to it and started looking for a way to fit in, but there was none. He tried to move the rocks, but when he did so, he fell right through them. He was safe, but he began to cry. He couldn't even touch water now! Luckily, his tears couldn't hurt him as they were from him. If he was being completely honest, he was scared. He didn't know how being a ghost would work. He wouldn't be able to go outside in the mornings, he wouldn't be able to take a relaxing shower or bath, he wouldn't even be able to touch his friends again, or face them, for that matter. They probably thought he was dead by now anyway. If he wasn't already, Cole really couldn't tell.

Suddenly, Cole could hear the sound of fearful voices calling his name.

"Cole!"

"Cole!"

"Cole, where are you?"

"Please don't be dead. Please don't be dead," Jay begged.

Cole wanted to stay quiet, but he didn't want his friends to worry too much, so he yelled, "I'm in the rocks! I'm safe!"

"Cole!" the three yelled as they came up to the rocks, but Nya was there too.

"How did you get in there?" Nya asked.

"Did-did the rain stop?" Cole asked.

"Yes," Nya answered. "It was actually me who caused it, but why are you hiding?"

Cole got up, took a deep breath, and phased through the rocks, gaining a few gasps from Misako, Nya, and Wu, while Ronin ran back to the ship in fear.

"H-hey, Sensei," Cole said nervously.

"Cole, what's happened?" Wu asked his transparent student.

"We went to Yang's Haunted Temple," Kai answered. "Cole sacrificed himself so we could get the scroll."

Cole suddenly remembered that he had the scroll in his hand and handed it to Wu.

"Oh, Cole," Nya said as she walked over to Cole. She tried to hug him, but Cole backed away saying, "You won't be able to. Kai already tried."

Nya didn't listen to him, though. She tried to hug him anyway. She phased right through him a couple times, but Cole wanted so badly for her to be able to touch him that he managed to focus on nothing but her touch. How he remembered it feeling and how he wanted it to feel. She tried to hug him again, and this time, she succeeded, but Cole still couldn't feel it. He felt like crying again, but he refused. He wouldn't show that he was weak.

The seven made their way back to the Bounty, Cole tried to focus on letting Kai's arm stay on his shoulder. He desperately wanted to feel something, anything, though.

Once they were back on the Bounty, they heard the sound of Ronin screaming as he ran at them with a bucket full of water.

"Get away you ghoul!" Ronin yelled. He was about to throw the bucket of water right onto Cole when Wu got in between Cole and Ronin, and said, "Enough, Ronin, it's just Cole."

"Ah, you didn't make it out of the temple in time. Your lucky to still be alive," Ronin told him. "Sorry about the water," he said as he set the bucket back down.

Cole just sighed.

"I think I'm just gonna go to bed now," Cole said as he started to make his way to the ninja's quarters.

He went into his room, lay on his bed, and looked up at the ceiling. Everything felt so lonely now. He could hear Kai complaining down the hall about how cold it was, and he wished he could feel that very same coldness. He touched his quilt and began to rub it in his fingers and tried to concentrate. He wanted to feel it, but he was beginning to think that he would just have to accept that he wouldn't be able to feel anymore.

Cole was about to let his long hidden tears fall some more until he heard someone else come into the room. Cole turned to face the door to see Kai.

"You're still awake?" Kai asked him.

Cole just shrugged.

"I don't know how Jay is still awake. We've been up all night, and he just refuses to sleep," Kai told him as he sat down in his own bed.

"Is it because of me?" Cole asked him.

"Why would it be you?" Kai asked.

"I'm not one of you anymore," Cole simply said.

"What are you talking about? I mean, yes, you're different and maybe creeping us out a bit, but you're still a ninja. You're still one of us," Kai told him.

Cole just sighed as he looked away. He wished he believed Kai, he really did, but he couldn't. He thought that Kai was just saying that to make him feel better.

Cole lay back down and tried his hardest to get some shuteye while Kai did the same, but Cole failed to do so. He tried and tried, but he couldn't sleep. He kept thinking about his father. He was the only one he knew who didn't know about his new body. He looked over at Kai's bed to see that Kai was probably not going to be awake anytime soon. He got out of his bed quietly, but he realized that he didn't even have to try to be quiet. He tried stomping his feet to make some noise, but they didn't make any sound. It made sense as he was a ghost now, but it made him feel even worse.

Cole tried to exit the Bounty by leaving the plank, but he didn't want the rest to know that he left. Instead, he went back into their room and phased through the walls of the Bounty. Luckily, they hadn't taken flight yet so he didn't have far to fall. Not that it would hurt anyway.

Since they were actually pretty close to Jumanikai Village, Cole didn't have far to walk, if five hours isn't very far, but any none depressed person could've made it there in three.

Cole sneaked behind the different houses in the village until he made it to his father's. He put on his ninja hood, walked up to the front of the house, and rang the doorbell. For once, Cole liked the song that came from the bell. The door opened a few seconds later to reveal a very excited Lou.

"Son, you're here!" Lou exclaimed. "Come in, come in, it's been so long."

"Uh, Dad?" Cole asked, the echo of his voice seemed way too apparent.

"Is everything alright, son?" Lou asked as he sat down on the couch next to Cole.

Cole shook his head.

"What's wrong?" Lou tried to put a hand on Cole's shoulder, but it went right through him. Cole looked at his father sadly before he took his hood off, revealing who he was now.

"Cole..." Lou said.

"I know what you're going to say. I'm a freak," Cole said as he looked away.

Lou took a deep breath before he looked at his son, and asked, "Are you...?"

"I don't know," Cole replied.

"Is there anything you or your friends could do?" Lou asked.

"Who would even want to be friends with someone like me?" Cole asked.

"Listen to me, son. You are the kindest, most loyal, and gentlest person I know, after your mother, of course," Lou told him.

Cole smiled a little bit at the praise.

"I try," Cole admitted.

"Now, you need to go back home to your friends. They're probably worried about you," Lou told him.

"I doubt it. Ronin tried to kill me when he saw me like this," Cole replied.

"Who's Ronin?" Lou asked.

"Some new guy Kai stupidly gave all of our money to," Cole answered.

Once the two said their goodbyes, Cole turned back to make his way to the Bounty. It took him four and a half hours to get back home this time, but at least Cole knew he was able to get tired now.

Once he finally made it back home, he walked up the plank and yawned. No one was on board so Cole just went back to the ninja's room. Kai was still asleep, Jay was snoring like a pig, and Zane was shutdown on his own bed while Lloyd's bed remained empty. It was scary how he wasn't there really. He wondered how his younger brother would think of him when he saw him like this. Cole lay down on his bed again and closed his eyes. This time, he almost immediately fell asleep.

Cole woke up to a start. He looked around the room in fear as the creepiest feeling welled up inside him. Someone was watching him he just knew it.

"Hello?" Cole asked quietly. "Is anyone there?"

There was no reply. Cole stood up and walked towards the door.

"Show yourself!" Cole said as he got ready to fight.

He exited the room and kept walking towards where he felt whoever was watching him was until he made it to where the feeling was the strongest. The control room.

"Show yourself! Do you hear me? Show yourself!" Cole tried not to shout too loud as it was the middle of the night.

Suddenly, Cole saw it. A green glowing ball in the middle of the room.

"I won't hurt you," a familiar voice said.

Cole began to relax, but he could hardly believe his ears.

"Mom?" Cole asked as the ball began to take the form of a human.

"What happened to you?" Lilly asked as she cupped Cole's face in her hands. She didn't have any trouble touching her, and he could actually feel her gentle touch.

"M-mom!" Cole began to sob as he hugged her.

"Why haven't I seen you in the Departed Realm?" Lilly asked him.

"I-I don't think I'm actually departed yet," Cole told her.

"You don't know?" Lilly asked him.

Cole shook his head.

"I-I didn't make it out of a haunted temple before sunrise, and now...now I'm this," Cole told her.

Cole tried to say more, but Lilly wouldn't let him finish. She just wrapped her son up in another hug, and said, "You'll get through it. You always have. It's been years since I've been departed, and you're still okay. You let your friend win in the Tournament of Elements to stop your own selfish desires. You've fought enemy after enemy, and you've always stood your ground. You can make it through this too."

"What if I can't?" Cole asked.

"Cole?" Wu asked as he walked into the room, causing Lilly to disappear. "What are you doing up so early?"

"No! Don't leave me! I still need you!" Cole said as he looked around the room for any signs of his mother.

"What are you doing, Cole?" Wu asked tiredly.

"My mom. She was just here. Mom!" Cole called.

"Cole, your mother is in the Departed Realm. There is no way that she could've possibly been here," Wu replied.

"But, I know I saw her," Cole told him.

"It must have been a dream, Cole. Now go back to bed."

Cole started grumbling a bit as he walked back to the ninja's room.

"'Go back to bed.' I've been sleeping for half a day now," Cole complained.

He got into his bed and stared at the ceiling. Wu usually had a word for everything, but he had never been a ghost before. He wouldn't be able to help him.

"Why doesn't anybody ever listen to me?" Cole sighed.

The next day, Ronin woke the ninja up with the most terrifying foghorn he "borrowed" from his next door neighbor in Stixx.

"What the heck!" Cole screamed as the horn sounded right in his ear.

"Rise and shine! Time to learn airjitzu!" Ronin told them.

All of the ninja groaned as Kai, Zane, and Jay got out of bed.

"Can I at least try fixing Zane's voice first?" Jay pleaded.

"Yes! I'm tired of feeling like I can't speak!" it sounded like Zane was screaming at them.

Ronin groaned at the sound of Zane's voice.

"Fine," he said. "But make it snappy."

Kai got up and followed Ronin out the door to train.

"Why are you still here, Cole?" Jay asked as he took his screwdriver and started working on Zane.

"I don't really feel like training," Cole answered.

"Are you still bummed out about being a ghost?" Jay asked as he started hitting Zane's insides with the screwdriver now.

"What do you think?" Cole asked.

"Look, Cole, I know this must be hard for you. I mean, I can't even imagine going through what you are," Jay said.

"Besides, ninja never quit. You are our brother, Cole. We need you," Zane replied in a level volume.

"Hey, I did it. Now let's add a finishing touch. Ooh! I didn't know you had that kind of switch!" Jay exclaimed before he flipped a switch inside Zane and led him out of the room.

"Are you sure you're not gonna join us?" Jay asked him. He seemed a little excited by whatever he just did to Zane.

"Eh. I might come," Cole replied depressingly.

Jay looked like he wanted to say more, but he really didn't know what to say, so he just left with Zane. Honestly, Cole would've preferred Jay's awkward company to the horrible loneliness that followed his and Zane's departure. He sighed as he looked at an empty cup on his nightstand. He sat up and tried to touch it, but his hand went right through. He tried to concentrate, but he wasn't fully into it.

It was probably hours later when he finally heard someone come up to the door.

"Don't feel like training?" Nya asked as she walked in.

"In case you haven't heard, I'm a ghost, and don't tell me we can fix this, 'cause we can't. This is just...who I am now," Cole answered as his hand went through the cup once again. He then lay back down on his back, and said, "I don't feel anything anymore."

"Sensei told us our paths in life are never a straight line," Nya told him. "Take me for instance. I thought I was always destined to be Samurai X, but now I'm training to become the water ninja, no matter how horribly awful I am at that. All I know is, ninja never quit," Nya said as she jumped onto the bed.

"But I'm not a ninja anymore. I'm a ghost."

"Then what do you do? I think that's something you have to answer on your own."

"Misako's about to debrief us about the next clue," Kai said as he walked up to the door.

"We'll be there in a moment," Nya told him.

"And, sis, that color suits you well," Kai said as he noticed the maroon ninja suit his sister was wearing.

"Thanks. It's my favorite color," Nya replied.

"No, Nya, thank you," Cole said as he stood up and hugged her.

Nya tried to hug him back, but her hands went right through him. Cole managed to touch her, though and it began to give him hope. He could actually touch someone. Maybe there was still hope for him. Maybe he could still be a ninja and be at peace with his brothers. I mean, they fought nindroids alongside their brother Zane before. Why not fight some ghosts with Cole?