Disclaimer: I do not own Ninjago or the lines used from Day of the Departed.

Once again it was Day of the Departed. It was his first holiday as a ghost, and Cole was just hoping that it wouldn't be a huge disaster. For some reason, over the coarse of the last month, Cole had started to just randomly start to fade away. Sometimes it happened while he was eating, while he was sleeping, or sometimes it was even while he was driving. Like right now.

"He's drifting off again!" Jay's panicked voice could be heard over the radio as Cole kept trying and trying to grab onto the wheel of his vehicle.

"No. No!" Cole was beginning to panic now too. "Come back. Come..."

Cole watched as the car drove up a small cliff and nearly hit Jay's jet!

"S-sorry, Jay," Cole began to calm down as he gained control again.

"I know you're a ghost, but I'm still in the living world, and I'd kind of like to keep it that way," Jay replied.

The ninja continued through the sand until they made it to the city. There, they bought their Day of the Departed lanterns. It felt weird, though. Cole was about to go out and honor the ones he had lost in life when he still wasn't entirely sure if he was one of them. He listened as his friends talked about how much they loved this holiday, Nya especially. She's seemed to have this new appreciation of life lately.

"Yes, enjoy the fun and festivities, but never lose sight of the true meaning of the Day of the Departed," Wu instructed his students. "Today is about remembrance. We light lanterns to remember out ancestors, and to settle our debts."

That was the only thing Cole ever liked about the day. When he was younger his mom would always tell him stories about her father and the great things he did in life, they would set the lanterns off into the night at his parent's concert, and he always liked how it actually got him to think about his own life. It would make him realize how precious his life was, and that was something Cole never wanted to forget, and this year got him thinking a lot. Being a ghost was one thing, but he kept getting the most peculiar dreams about an evil genie who forced him to sleep forever.

Suddenly, Cole was knocked out of his thoughts by the museum curator Dr. Sander Saunders. Weird name, yes, but he always gave the best tours, and this time, he wanted to show the ninja a new exhibit.

"Might I be presenting...the Hall of Villainy!" Saunders announced as they walked into the new exhibit.

The room was pretty dark, other than the light from the lanterns, and it was filled with a bunch of mannequins of a lot of different villains.

"Cryptor," Saunders said.

"A plastic mannequin," Zane observed.

"Kozu."

"Uncanny," Lloyd said.

"Chen."

"Memories," Nya said.

"Samukai."

"Is he looking at me?" Jay asked.

"Maybe fro the past," Wu answered as he looked at the statue of Morro. The ghost they fought only a couple months ago. Because of him, they had to get the Scroll of Airjitzu. Because of him, Yang turned Cole into a ghost.

"Checking this out," Saunders said. "We don't just open on Day of Departed, it's Day of Departed lunar eclipse! A special eclipse."

"The rarest yin-yang eclipse," Wu mentioned.

"Oh, poetic, is it not?" Saunders asked. "Scary holiday, scary exhibits, scary moon, there is magic in the air. Boogily-boogily!"

Kai looked around the room again, and said "It's every villain we've ever faced."

"Not every villain," Cole said as he walked up to another area of the exhibit. This one was just a very small room. At the back of the wall you could see a portrait of Yang. Under the painting was a blade that was most likely his during life.

Cole walked up to it angrily. It was his fault that he couldn't enjoy the holiday like he used to. It was his fault that he was starting o fade. He wanted to just go up to that guy and punch him right in the face.

As Saunders kept talking, Cole read the plaque in front of the weapon to himself.

"'Although known to some as the master without a student, Kodakuna Yang will be remembered by most as the creator of airjitzu, the most powerful martial art in history'," Cole read. "Actually I remember Yang as the guy who turned me into a ghost. Hey, uh, Dr. Saunders? What's the story on this thing?" Cole asked as he walked closer to the weapon. His hand went right through the glass. "Hello?" Cole asked as no one was answering him. "Dr. Saunders? Anyone?"

"Look at that!" Nya said excitedly as she ran up to the weapon. "Cool!"

"Ah, you have a good eye, Nya," Saunders praised.

"Her? I'm the one who spotted-Hey! Watch it! You guys are walking right through me!" Cole exclaimed.

He watched as his friends just completely ignored him and Saunders kept on talking to them like he never even said anything.

"They don't hear me," Cole said aloud, partly trying to get them to hear him, "or see me. It's like I don't exist anymore, and it's all your fault!" Cole yelled at the painting.

Suddenly, Yang started speaking creepily to him through the painting, but none of his friends heard it.

"Close the circle," he told him in his creepy, seductive voice.

"Close the circle," Cole started saying. He didn't really understand any of it, and suddenly, his friends were all gone.

Cole walked over to the window to see Wu and Dr. Saunders shaking hands.

"Thank you so much for such an informative tour, Dr. Saunders," Wu said. "Ninja, at the eclipse's peak we will return here for the concert. But first, we must go forth and honor those we have lost. Those who have departed"

The five ninja just left Cole behind. Like he had never come with the ninja in the first place. Cole became very scared. He didn't want to be alone, he didn't want to be forgotten, but here he was. He couldn't believe what was happening to him.

"They don't realize I'm gone. Maybe I'm departed," Cole realized. He never actually believed that he was before, but now, no one remembered him. Part of him thought that he would be in the Departed Realm by daybreak. That made Cole really think. He had to speak with Yang and make him turn him back. Make him give his friends their memories back. He couldn't bare being forgotten. Cole ran back to the yin blade and broke the clearstone with his powers. He then ran out of the museum and into his vehicle.

Unfortunately, Cole was too angry and scared to realize that it was a trap. Yang tricked Cole into setting the evil spirits of their former enemies free, and they attacked his friends! The worst of it was, Cole was forced to watch it all happen. He watched as Kai and Nya met Chen and nearly blew them up! He was forced to watch as Zane's ice sculpture of his father was destroyed by Cryptor, he watched as Jay and his parents were attacked by Samukai, and as Lloyd and Pythor met again. Even as Wu was confronted by Morro. All these villains took so long to defeat the first time, he didn't know how his friends could defeat them a second by themselves.

"My friends. What have you done?" Cole asked Yang.

"No, Cole, what have you done?" Yang asked. And Cole knew that he was right. It was all his fault that they were back. Why did he have to get so angry? Every time he thought of himself something bad or stupid happened. Cole wanted to stop being angry at Yang and and stop being angry at himself, but he was so ticked off. Yang had tricked him, and he had fallen for it. Cole wanted nothing more than to grab a bucket of water and get rid of Yang once and for all. Maybe the ghost would disappear after that, maybe his students would be free, maybe his friends would even remember him. Or maybe it would just feed Cole's selfish desire to get rid of Yang. He hated feeling this way. He hated feeling like he couldn't do anything or help anyone. He just wanted his friends. He wanted them to help him, but even if they did remember him, they would be furious if they found out that he was the one who let the villains go.

"All by myself," Cole said as he looked at the clock.

A couple hours later, Cole managed to fight off Yang's students, and one of them broke his handcuffs. He chased Yang through the temple until he made it to the attic. There, Yang's students were beaten by Cole repeatedly, but they wouldn't quit, even thought Cole wished that they would. He fought and fought for a long time before he used way too much energy to use spinjitzu and make them leave him alone. He then went through a hole in the wall and made it to the roof to see Yang trying to go through the portal in the eclipse.

"Stop it, Yang!" Cole told him weakly.

"Freedom. Return. It's all mine!" Yang said as he used airjitzu to get to the portal in the sky.

"No!" Cole yelled. "You...are not...going...anywhere!" Cole yelled as he tried to get his airjitzu working. He felt so tired and weak. He felt himself departing.

Cole used his airjitzu to make his way up to Yang, and the two started fighting in the sky as they fell back down. Finally, they landed back on the roof of the temple.

"Just give up already," Yang told Cole as he got back up.

"No. I'm keeping you here until the eclipse ends and the rift closes. Your evil will never return to Ninjago!" Cole answered as he walked up to him with his sword.

The two started fighting on the rooftop, Cole, hoping to perform his last duty, protecting his friends and the rest of Ninjago.

"What are you even fighting for?" Yang asked him. "Your friends have abandoned you," he said as he pushed Cole to the ground with his weapon. "Your master has abandoned you. You are all alone."

Cole knew it was true. He didn't even know if they remembered anything or if they just thought he was gone.

"No!" Cole screamed. He did not want to be alone, but he was.

He tried to jump back up at Yang to fight, but Cole kicked him back down and destroyed Cole's sword using his yin blade.

"Can't...go on...alone," Cole panted for breath as he struggled not to cry again.

"Yes. Yield. Soon I will be gone, but you will remain forever departed. Destined to haunt this temple forever as the new master of the house," Yang told him.

So, not only was he going to die, but he wouldn't even be aloud to go to the Departed Realm. He would never see his mother, his father, his friends, or Wu ever again. Cole took off his hood and looked sadly at the ground. He really was alone, and he would be forever. There would be no end.

"I'm...fading away," Cole realized as he began to become one with the cursed temple.

"Just one more lonely ghost, not a friend in the world," Yang taunted.

Cole sighed as he began to give up hope. He would be here forever, and Yang would bring chaos and destruction to Ninjago. He couldn't believe he had just lost.

"Cole!" Cole heard a familiar voice from above. He looked up to see his friends on the Destiny's Bounty. They were still alive!

"What? Who's that?" Yang asked as he looked up, as well.

"My friends," Cole said happily as he put his hood back on. They hadn't forgotten him after all.

Cole stood up and began fighting Yang again. Cole didn't even need to use a weapon against Yang, he was good with just his punch. Weird thing was, it felt different this time.

"Like, like I can punch through anything!" Cole said as his arms began glowing orange with his element. Cole punched Yang's weapon and broke it, breaking his spell.

Yang's students used airjitzu to go through the rift, freeing them from the haunted temple. They weren't even ghosts anymore!

"My-my students, leaving me," Yang said as he looked up at the rift. "I-I failed."

"Yeah, you did," Cole said.

"I always fail," Yang said.

"Yeah, you-Wait, what?" Cole asked.

"I dedicated my life to studying the martial arts...alone. I got arrogant. I wanted to live forever."

"Why? No one lives forever."

"Because I knew the day I was gone, no one would remember me."

"All of this was so you wouldn't be forgotten?" Cole asked. I mean, he sort of understood. That was why he went to Yang's temple and accidentally released a bunch of evil spirits. He was afraid to be forgotten by his friends.

"Cole! The rift! You gotta go through the rift!" Kai yelled from the Bounty.

"You must think I'm a fool for having such a petty desire," Yang said.

Cole would've if he hadn't been through what he had that day.

"No, I get it. Believe me, I get it," Cole told him. "I know what it's like to feel forgotten. Alone. It-it hurts. But, Master Yang, you are already gonna be remembered forever."

"Me? How?" Yang asked.

"You created airjitzu!"

"Cole! It's now or never!" Cole could hear Jay screaming from the ship.

"Now, come on, there's still time to go through. Both of us," Cole said as he picked Yang up onto his back and did airjitzu.

"No, I'm afraid that's impossible," Yang told him. "The curse of the temple requires that at least one ghost remain behind as master of the house."

"One of us has to stay here?" Cole asked.

"It must be this way," Yang told him.

He started pushing Cole towards the portal as he tried to let go.

Suddenly, Cole's airjitzu stopped as he went into the portal, leaving Yang behind. He wasn't entirely sure where he was going. The portal blew up just as he went in, and his head began to sting a lot. It felt like someone just pored a giant bucket of water on just his head. Suddenly, he started falling. He couldn't see anything as he fell, but he could feel the earth coming closer to him incredibly fast. Cole tried to scream but no sound came out of his mouth. Finally, he landed on the ground. Somehow, on his feet. He looked at himself to see that he wasn't a ghost anymore. He was just Cole. His head still really hurt, though.

"Oh no!" he could hear Jay say from behind the rocks he was standing behind.

"Did he make it?" Nya asked.

"He was too late. He's gone forever! I'd give anything to have him back," Jay said as his voice began to break.

Cole wasn't sure if what he was hearing was true, so he decided to ask.

"Anything?" he asked.

"Anything!" Jay replied, clearly not figuring out who it was that spoke to him.

"Even the sonic raider jet?" Cole asked as he came out from behind the rocks.

"Cole!" everyone exclaimed as they ran up to him and gave him a huge group hug.

"You're not a ghost anymore!" Lloyd said.

"You look good as new," Nya told him.

"Ah. Pretty much," Cole said as he felt the scar across the left side of his head.

It was incredible how much his friends actually cared about him. Even how a man who was just enemies with him, sacrificed his entire existence for him. He was glad that he wasn't a ghost anymore, and what was even better, was that he knew that his friends would always be there for him.