Chapter Text
Everything was going great for Cole.
He was (finally) dating Kai and was very open about his sexuality around the monastery. He's never been closer to any of his teammates before since he no longer hid away such a vital part of who he was.
The missions he's been sent on recently have been pretty easy. There was no big threats nor any big crimes. Ninjago was safe and sound under the ninja's protection. Garmadon had vanished and didn't show any signs of harm. Harumi was pronounced dead, much to Lloyd's dismay.
Lloyd had grown and moved on from Harumi and Garmadon. He had survived and got along in life well without them. Neither had been a good influence on him anyway, so it was probably for the best that they were out of his life. It would have been preferable if they left in a different way, but nothing wouldn't not hurt.
Cole sat on the couch, his drink guzzler on his head, the straw hanging forgotten just inches away from his face. Empty soda bottles and chip bags laid at his feet. He had his tongue sticking out as he concreted on the video game before him, a habit he picked up from Jay a few weeks ago.
He was halfway through the final level when the alarms went off. Cole groaned and paused the game, praying to the First Spinjitzu Master that his progress wouldn't be lost. It took him all day to get to this point and he didn't want to have to repeat it until he decided to replay the game.
Cole got off the couch, putting his guzzler where he had been sitting, spun around, and ran out of the room, now in his black ninja gi. He ran to the courtyard where everyone else was (minus Wu and Misako, who were on a trip to some old library), as the alarm originated from there, but no one that posed a threat in sight.
"Where—" Lloyd's question was cut off when Nya fell to the ground with a painful sounding thump.
She jumped onto her feet seconds later, dusting herself off and looking around. She couldn't see the one who made her trip. She knew it wasn't any of her teammates as none of them had moved in her direction. Her eyebrows knitted together and her bottom lip made its way between her teeth as she thought.
"Zane, Pixal, are you picking up any thermal readings?" Nya asked after a few minutes of silence.
"Negative."
"I have not."
Nya swore under her breath. "Lloyd, what do you suggest we do?"
"We split up into teams. Kai and Cole; Nya and Jay; Zane, Pixal, and I. We fan out and try to find whoever this person is."
"That sounds like a good plan."
The ninja spilt up. Kai and Cole were sent to check on the bedroom part of the monastery.
"Who do you think this is?"
Cole glanced at Kai, shrugging. "My guess, some ghost who ducked into the ground before Zane or Pixal could scan the area with their thermal technology."
"That would explain why we can't see them..." Kai trailed off. "But I thought ghostly things were behind us. With Morro defeated and..." Kai looked Cole up and down, reading the micro-changes in Cole's expression. "Why now? It's been years since anything involving them has shown up."
"I don't know. I have a bad feeling about this."
Cole crouched down and slowly entered the hallway. He held his hand up, telling Kai not to follow yet. He wanted to make sure there were no threats before he brought his boyfriend in. He looked right and left, seeing nothing, but the bad feeling in his stomach not leaving.
He nodded and Kai followed him out. They crept down the familiar hallways of their home, pausing to check every bedroom.
"Cole," Kai whispered. "I've gotta pee. Could you stand guard outside of the bathroom?"
Cole playfully rolled his eyes with a groan, but nodded nonetheless. "Fineeee. Anything for you."
"Thank you."
"Of course." Cole gently kissed the top of Kai's head, gaining a cute giggle from him.
They made their way to the bathroom. Once deemed empty of any threats, Kai entered the bathroom and shut the door, locking it. Cole stood upright, his arms crossed. His amber eyes were narrowed and darting back and forth.
The sinking feeling in his stomach never left. In fact, it only grew as Kai wasn't in his sights.
Kai had only been in the bathroom for a minute when Cole was attacked. A glowing green ghost rose from the floorboards, a vengestone sword in her right hand.
Cole stepped away from the bathroom door, hoping to lure her away from the fire ninja. He took off running down the hall. The ghost followed her, raising the sword over her head.
He slid on the floor, nearly falling. He slammed into his door causing the door to crack under his weight. Splinters dug into his bare arm, causing him to wince. The ghost's laughter rang through his ears.
He walked into his room, planning on grabbing his scythe or hammer.
However, Cole was unable to do so. He felt the ghost kick the back of his head. He felt flying, crashing into his bookcase. The solid oak shelves and the thick books on them came crashing down on top of him.
Cole groaned and struggled to get up. The back of his head was bleeding heavily, but he got into fighting position anyway. He ran toward her, lifting his arm to strike her face.
His fist went through her chin and he came crashing to the floor. He forgot how difficult it was to fight ghosts when they could easily phase through the attacks. There wasn't any water around, so he couldn't splash her and get on with his day.
She pressed her foot into his back, holding the tip of her sword against his neck and drawing blood that only mixed in with the red of the blood from his head.
"You have lost, earth ninja. Admit defeat and bow to the wrath of Lady Dominique!"
"Who?" Cole's voice was slurred
"Lady Dominique! I am your greatest threat!"
She bent down, grabbing his matted hair. She lifted his head up, chuckling, before slamming his face into the floorboards. His nose broke, thick, dark red oozing into his mouth. Cole spat out some of it, groaning.
Lady Dominique stood up right, holding her sword up. She was tackled before she could bring it down. She shrieked loudly, her blade sliding under Cole's bed.
"Leave him alone!"
Cole rolled over, his vision blurry. He slowly sat up, looking around. "Kai?"
"Get out of here," Kai instructed as he held Lady Dominique back.
"Nooo, staying with you." Cole got up, his arms trembling.
Lady Dominique broke free and charged towards Cole. She slammed his body into the hallway wall. He struggled in her grip, but his concussion made it nearly impossible to fight.
"Cole!"
"Stay out of this, fire! I have no beef with you."
She turned her attention back to Cole, her sword rematerializing in her hand. She let go out Cole, watching him crumble to the floor. In one swift movement, the vengestone blade was dug deep into Cole's stomach.
Cole's scream alerted the rest of the ninja to the fight. In seconds, they arrived. Lady Dominique was pulled off Cole by Lloyd. Nya summoned a ball of water and shot it at her. She exploded into green goop.
"We need to get Cole to the garage. Zane and I will take care of him from there."
Kai and Jay helped Zane carry Cole. Normally Kai could easily carry Cole by himself, but Cole was bloody and barely conscious with a sword through his body. There wasn't any way he could carry him alone without make his injuries worse.
They laid Cole down, careful not to bump the sword. Zane pushed Kai and Jay out of the room so he and Pixal could work without interruption, much to the two's protests.