Skylor heard another crashing sound deep in the forest. She thought she was getting close to the source, but she couldn't be sure due to the echoes. She understood Cole was upset, but no one had ever seen him that furious before. The ninja agreed to give Cole some space and check on him the next day.

The first thing he did once he, Lou, Giovanni, and Helaine were back at Lou's house was lock himself in his room and refuse to come out. Lou was no help because he had pulled out vodka he kept in the back of the cupboard for special occasions. Normally he mixed it with something else, but he decided to pour himself a few shots and drink it straight instead. He wasn't totally drunk, but he did decide to punch the wall and managed to hit a stud and break his hand. One trip to the ER later and everyone decided to just go to bed. The next morning revealed Cole was not in the house. The ninja spread out all over Ninjago to look for him.

Skylor entered a clearing and saw Cole standing at the edge of the clearing, punching a tree that looked like it could fall at any time.

"Cole?" Skylor asked, keeping her distance.

Cole whipped around, his arms glowing orange for a split second.

"Cole, we were worried about you. Your grandmother said you took off sometime in the middle of the night and called us."

"I'll go back eventually," Cole mumbled as he punched the tree.

"Cole, I know you're upset-"

"Upset? Upset doesn't even begin to describe what I'm feeling. Morgen got exactly what she wanted. Not guilty by reason of insanity." Cole punched the tree again, and it fell with a loud thud.

"Yes, but she has to go to a psychiatric hospital now," Skylor argued.

"What good will that do? She's an actress! This was all just one big act! That hospital is nowhere near as secure as Kryptarium. A few months in there and she'll have them convinced she's sane and can be released back into society, and that's only if she doesn't escape first. Either way, she'll be free to come after me again!"

Skylor didn't know what to say. Cole was right. She watched him sit down on the tree he just knocked over. He put his head in his hands. She slowly sat down next to him.

"Cole…"

"And the others don't understand. How can they? Misako came back into Lloyd's life, and they have a great relationship now. Ray and Maya came back into Kai and Nya's lives, and they're making up for lost time. Libby comes back into Jay's life and they're getting to know each other again. Morgan comes back into my life and she puts me in a coma." Cole stood up and started pacing in frustration.

Skylor didn't know if she had ever seen Cole jealous before.

"Cole, I know what it's like to have a horrible mother. You've met my dad, you know someone has to be a certain kind of crazy to get mixed up with the likes of him. I'm not going to sit here and try to pretend that what my mom did was anywhere near as bad as what your mom did. She loved me, but I felt like there was always a catch."

Cole was silent. Skylor wasn't entirely sure he was listening to her, but she didn't want to risk pushing him away.

"… She got to the jury," Cole muttered after a while.

"What?"

"She got to the jury. That's the only explanation. Maybe if I can prove it, they'll declare a mistrial."

"How did she get to the jury?"

"I don't know, but while she was in jail before the trial, she managed to get Dareth to pressure the pharmacist into giving me morphine. She has to have an outside source."

"Okay, who?"

"I don't know."

Skylor felt bad as she texted the others to let them know she found Cole. She didn't know what to say to him. He eventually sat down on the ground and leaned against the knocked over tree.

"You know what the worst part is? Growing up, everyone kept saying that I didn't want to meet my real mom, that she was this horrible monster. I knew the divorce was messy, I knew she walked out on us when I was a baby, but I… I wanted to believe that she had a good reason. As much as I loved Anna, she wasn't my real mom. Every other kid I knew had two parents who loved them, and I wanted to believe that deep down she loved me and she wouldn't just abandon me. I wanted to believe that she would come back one day and everything would be great. It was a lie, I knew it was a lie, but I wanted to believe it. And now… I wish I never met her." Cole wiped away a tear and hugged his knees.