Chapter 3: He Needs Our Help

"How is this not enough proof?!" Lloyd yelled, shoving the half-melted game console towards his three skeptical companions. His eyes were bloodshot from tears, his cheeks flushed from anger. At least Zane was with him. This, coupled with his own experience, convinced the nindroid of what the others were adamant about denying: Cole was here and trying to contact them. "He was in the game. He talked to me. He needs our help!"

They were gathered in the black ninja's bedroom, coming to Jay since Jay would not come to them. Kai had outright refused to attend the meeting Lloyd had called, but Nya dragged him there. Jay was leaning against the headboard of Cole's bed, staring at his shaking hands in his lap.

"Grow. Up. Lloyd." Kai ground out, gritting his teeth. "You are driving yourself insane. You think just because Zane malfunctioned and claimed that Cole knocked something over that he's back. Now you're trying to convince yourself- and us- that he was in a video game?"

"He was!" Lloyd insisted, clutching the console to his chest. "I saw him! He-"

"Then why didn't he just appear to you in real life, huh? If he's here, why doesn't he show up right now, with all of us in here, and prove it?" Kai's words were like burning acid.

Lloyd looked down, tears collecting on his eyelids and he thought back to the last thing Cole had said to him, only now understanding what he meant. "He can't."

"And yet he somehow could, just for you."

There it was. The same jealousy that tainted Kai's voice whenever they talked about being the Green Ninja.

"It's not about who he appears to, Kai," Lloyd snapped, narrowing his eyes at his brother's pettiness at a time like this. "Something's wrong with him. He can only stay for a short amount of time before disappearing. He asked for help, so we need to-"

"What's wrong with him is that Jay killed him, maybe even wiped his soul from existence!" Kai interrupted, now standing. Jay flinched, tears silently running down his face. "Until you can prove that he's here, don't you dare bother me again."

With that, he stomped out of the room.

"Nya," Zane addressed quietly, turning to the water ninja still seated on Cole's bed. "Do you believe us?"

She bit her lip. "I believe that you think you saw him."

Lloyd, desperate now, said, "Nya-"

"I know you want Cole to be back more than anything, guys- I do too- but I think you're letting yourselves see what you want to see." In the distance, a door slammed, and Nya sighed. "I should probably go check on him."

Once she was gone, Lloyd and Zane turned to the last remaining ninja. "Jay?"

Jay shook his head without looking up, and Lloyd struggled to recall the last time he'd seen the blue ninja- well, do anything. "Please don't bring it up again, guys," he said quietly, wrapping himself up in the big black blanket that had once belonged to Cole. "Please… don't get my hopes up again."

Lloyd and Zane shared a look then quietly left the room. Jay laid on his back and watched the ceiling.

"Kai," Nya began as she pushed open the door to her brother's bedroom. The red ninja was rifling through his drawers with an almost feverish thoroughness. "You can't keep doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Acting like a jerk." At this point, Nya was the only one who could say that to him without being socked in the mouth. "Especially to Jay."

He rounded on her. "He deserves-"

"It was an accident."

They glared at each other. Kai looked away first.

"We all grieve in our own way," Nya began again, more gently this time. "And, that's why everyone has been extremely forgiving about your behavior. But, at some point, this has to end."

"You're right," he conceded, turning back to his dresser. "That's why I think we should leave."

Nya recoiled, shocked. "What?"

"You know, leave, get out of here," Kai clarified, throwing some random articles of clothing onto the bed that he would presumably pack later. "I can't stand living in the same place as Jay anymore. And I can't look at everything here that reminds me of-" he stopped and cleared his throat. "I need some space."

Nya shook her head. "Kai-"

The door slammed.

Both ninja jumped, whipping around to see who entered.

No one was there.

"Not funny, Lloyd!" Kai shouted at the supposed perpetrator. "See, and this whole thing with those two thinking Cole is back, just-"

The lamp flew off the nightstand and shattered on the ground, making both ninja in the room shriek.

"Kai," Nya whispered, voice trembling. "What if-"

"No." The red ninja shook his head, though his eyes were wide as he stared at the pile of broken glass that used to be his lamp. "Don't you start too. It's Zane and Lloyd; they're making us think… We need to get out-"

The room exploded in chaos. Anything not screwed down began falling to the floor in succession; books were ripped off shelves, anything breakable was smashed on the ground and destroyed, clothing was torn out of the drawers and thrown about the room.

Kai and Nya huddled together, shielding their heads and flinching away from everything that broke.

"Kai," Nya shouted over the dull roar of noise sweeping throughout the room. "It-It's Cole!"

"If it is, why would he do this?" Kai replied just as loudly. They both shrieked when the lightbulb above their heads blew out, and Kai sprang to shield his sister from the broken glass raining down upon them.

Nya gasped with realization. "He's scared, Kai! He's scared we're going to leave!"

Kai felt a solid shove to his chest then, knocking him to the floor. Nothing had hit him, but something had...

He pulled himself up and held up his arms in surrender.

"Cole! I'm not going anywhere!" Kai announced to the room at large, propping himself up on his elbows. "I'm going to stay right here with you!"

Immediately, the room was still.

Kai couldn't believe it worked. Because if it did, that meant…

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his head. Once again, no one was there- there wasn't a hand on his head- but someone was brushing the broken glass out of his hair, almost like an apology.

"That's it, bro," Kai said soothingly even as tears of joy leaked out of his eyes. "Nothing to be afraid of, see? You know I could never leave you."

And, if he squinted, he thought he could just make out Cole's outline kneeling in front of him. But then he blinked and it was gone.

Nya and Kai could only stare at each other in astonishment once they were sure he was gone. Then, she dove into Kai's arms and wrapped her arms around him.

"He's here," she sobbed, and Kai rested his cheek on the top of her head. "Cole, he's… he's…,"

"Yeah, sis," Kai confirmed quietly, squeezing her as tight as he could. "He's really here."

"Jay, please, we've all seen him now," Nya begged, sitting on Cole's bed beside the blue ninja, who was laying on his back and watching her without a hint of concern or interest. "Kai and I saw him at the same time, so we know we're not just losing our minds. He's here, and he's calling out to us. He just needs our help."

Jay shook his head. "I heard him hit the water, Nya. He's dead, and I killed him."

"What is wrong with you?" Kai demanded, stalking forward from where he'd been lurking near the doorway. Lloyd and Zane, who had been ecstatic that they now had the siblings on their side, were currently buried in research, trying to find what might have happened to Cole and why he could not solidify himself. So far, they had found nothing (ghosts of people who had not actually died were apparently a rare population), which is why they could really use an extra set of hands.

Kai, despite now pouring his energy into saving Cole rather than denying his existence, did not appear to hate Jay any less for it.

"We finally have a chance to get him back, and you would rather wallow here in self-pity?" Kai continued, his fists trembling by his sides. Nya gave him a warning glance but didn't try to stop him. "Even when it's all your fault?"

Jay's eyes dropped to the fists before he rolled over to face the wall. "Beat me all you want, Kai. I can't risk believing there's a way to fix this. It'll hurt too much when we're wrong."

Kai stared incredulously at the back of the blue ninja. "You're disgustingly selfish." He turned on his heel. "I knew this was a waste of time. Come on, Nya."

Nya hesitated a moment longer before standing. "If you change your mind, Jay…" She walked across the room but stopped in the doorway.

"He wouldn't want to see you like this."

She closed the door gently behind her.

Jay pressed his face into the pillow and cried.

At some point he must have fallen asleep. He woke up slowly, purposely keeping his eyes closed when he sensed someone touching his face. Probably Nya. While he would have been ecstatic before, now he only wanted to be left alone.

Sighing, he opened his eyes. He was lying on his back, looking up at-

At-

At-

Cole.

Cole.

Cole.

His form was even more translucent than usual, barely illuminated by the moonlight shining through the window, but it was definitely Cole. His brother- his brother- was stroking his hair, and it sounded like he was humming- some faint, wordless tune that may or may not have just been the wind.

When the phantom noticed Jay watching him, he started, retracting his hand in shock.

"You can see me?"

Jay jumped into a sitting position and wrapped his brother in his arms- yes, yes, he was here, he was here- and wept, careful to keep any tears from falling onto his ghostly form.

"Cole, I'm- I'm- I'm sorry!" He sobbed, not sure if his words were even understandable. "You know- You know that I love you, right? You know I didn't mean it, and- and you know I would do anything- anything- to take it back, right?"

The way Jay saw it, there were two ways Cole could respond: "Of course I know you didn't mean it. I love you too, bro." or "You think I could forgive you that easily for killing me?" He hoped for the former but expected the latter, so he held his breath and waited.

But nothing could have prepared him for the response he got.

"Who's Cole?"

Jay pulled away in shock- but there was no one there. He was holding empty space.

Kai's eyes flew open when he felt the hand on his shoulder- and narrowed when he saw who it was.

"What do you want?"

Here it was, the middle of the night, and Jay had the nerve to-

"He needs our help."