It's here, folks! It's the origin of the 'Mark' nickname! I'm excited to see what y'all think, so Imma just shut up and let you guys read!

Enjoy!

~~~~~~

He was going to be a leader.

That was the thought currently going through Cole's brain. It had been a week since he had first mastered the obstacle course with the help of his new ghostly acquaintance. The week had been full of him learning to master the way of the ninja under Sensei Wu's guidance (and with some extra help from the ghost—Cole really needed to figure out his name—who would sometimes give him advice. Usually hidden within a barrage of snarky comments and taunts, though...). Cole had to admit, despite the hard work and what was at stake, he was having fun.

Then, yesterday, Sensei had said he was off on a trip and would return with a new student. The student would be part of the team the old man was putting together. And Cole was going to be the one to lead the group.

I'm going to be a leader...I'm going to be a leader...Sensei Wu is getting my first teammate right now, holy crap, I'm gonna lead a whole team, oh gosh...

He had never led a group of people like this. The few times he tried to lead a group project at Marty Oppenheimer...well, the less said about those, the better.

Needless to say, Cole wasn't feeling too confident about Sensei's decision to put him in charge.

"You're gonna be fine," he muttered to himself as he stretched out his arms, trying to work out his nerves. "Just...be yourself. Be nice, and hope your new teammate is also nice. Just be confident, you've got this." He folded in half and grabbed his toes. "Hello," he said, deepening his voice. "I am Cole Brookstone, and I am your leader—wait, no, that's dumb. I am your new teammate. I hope that we can be friends—urgh, no I sound like a creep. Hello there, it's nice to meet—"

"You always talk to yourself like this?"

"—yOu—gah!" Cole, startled by the unexpected voice, lost his balance and toppled over onto his face. "Ow!"

Laughter sounded from above him. "Oh my god," the ghost of the monastery wheezed, clutching at his stomach. "What the fuck happened to your voice?! I haven't heard a voice crack that bad in...ever!"

Cole blushed. "Sh-shut up!" he cried, wincing as his voice cracked even more.

The ghost practically howled with laughter. "Aw, man! That's the funniest shit ever!" He faked wiping away a tear. "Thanks for making my morning, Brookstone."

"Gee, you're welcome," Cole replied sarcastically, rolling his eyes and sitting up. "What are you doing here? Sensei's going to be back soon, and I know you hate being around him." For reasons you have yet to explain, he couldn't help but think.

The ghost shrugged. "Meh, what can I say? I'm bored, and you're conveniently around." He flipped so he was floating upside-down. "So I thought I'd see what you're up to."

"At the moment? Trying not to freak out," Cole muttered, rubbing a hand over his face.

"Hm, yeah, heard your mini-dialogue. What's the big deal, anyways? You should feel honored, Wu wouldn't have made you a leader if you didn't have what it takes."

"But what if he's wrong?" Cole couldn't help but say. "What if I'm not leader material? What if the other guy hates me? What if I'm no good?"

The ghost groaned. "I swear, you're making me want to hunt your dad and murder him—"

"Please don't."

"—but in lieu of that, I guess I can give you a good kick in the ass." The ghost reached over and poked Cole in the forehead. "Stop overthinking everything, idiot. It's like you've been saying: just be yourself. If the guy doesn't like you, so what? Just kick his ass in a spar and show him that you're the leader. It's not that hard."

"Language," Cole said automatically. "But...thanks, I guess."

"Don't mention it, Brookstone."

"Are you ever going to tell me your name? It's not fair that you know mine and I don't know yours. I don't know what to call you..."

The ghost opened his mouth to reply, when someone suddenly shouted, "INCOMING!!!"

Cole's head snapped up, just in time to see a brown-and-blue blur come flying in from over the monastery's walls before suddenly crashing to the ground in the training area in a pile of wood and fabric. A silver, badly broken engine spluttered and spat out exhaust before dying with a loud wheeze.

"...what the fuck?!" the ghost exclaimed, accurately reading Cole's thoughts.

The pile of stuff shifted a little, then a head popped out from underneath it, short reddish-brown sticking out in all different directions and soot decorating a pale face, though a few freckles managed to peek out.

The person—a boy, around Cole's age, or perhaps slightly younger—coughed and shook his head, splinters flying for a second. "Urgh," he groaned, rubbing his head. "Note to self: adding an engine does NOT help with gliding control. AT ALL."

Cole blinked, then finally got over his shock to stand up and make his way over to the crash site. "Are you okay?" he asked, reaching down and gently pulling the other teen out from under the wreckage.

The boy flapped a hand. "Oh totally," he replied breezily. "That wasn't even my worst crash, all my bones are still intact, see?" He wiggled his limbs for emphasis before frowning critically. "I'd probably place it in my top fifteen, though. And that was the only engine I brought with me. Hopefully I can salvage it..." He suddenly gasped and shot up to his feet. "I am SO sorry, I'm being so rude! Ma would've had my head..." He thrust out a hand, smiling widely. "Jason Edward Walker, at your service! But my friends call me Jay! And before you ask, no, I don't illegally cross streets, it was the other guy, I swear." He leaned over to whisper conspiratorially, "He gives me such a bad rep."

Cole's mind raced trying to follow the other teen's stream of babble, but he chuckled at the joke at the end. "Nice to meet you, Jason," he said, shaking the other's hand. "I'm Cole. Cole Brookstone."

"Nice t' meetcha, Cole!" Jason chirped. "But like I said, my friends call me Jay!" His cheerful expression faltered a little. "I-I mean, we are friends, right? Or we're gonna be? I know there's going to be more of us, and that we're going to be this awesome world-saving team—I mean how cool is that?! I always thought being a ninja would be, like, the coolest thing ever, but I never thought I'd ever be one, y'know? And saving the world is kinda a lot of pressure, but at least I have people to rely on, and you're one of those people, even though we just met and—" he cut himself off, blushing and tapping his fingers together. "Sorry, I tend to ramble when I'm nervous..."

The ball of nerves in Cole's stomach started to untwist, and he found himself smiling. "Don't be sorry," he replied, gently wrapping his arm around the other boy's shoulders. "I get nervous meeting new people, too. But I think you and I are gonna get along great, Jay."

The boy—Jay—gasped, then grinned, his bright blue eyes seeming to shine. "Awesome!" he exclaimed, actually going in to hug Cole. "This is gonna be soooo cool! We're gonna be the coolest, awesomest, bestest friends!"

There was an echoey groan. "Oh god," the ghost, whom Cole had honestly forgotten about until that point, complained, pinching the bridge of his nose. "He's you, but worse. How the fuck is this possible?!"

Cole's eyebrow twitched, but he managed to school his expression when Jay looked his way again. "Yeah," he agreed, smiling. "We're going to be great friends..."

~~~~

And they were.

It constantly shocked Cole how quickly he and Jay became friends. Perhaps it shouldn't—for all of his awkwardness and his habit of babbling, Jay was really easy to get along with. He was nice, friendly, and always ready with a quip or a pun that seven times out of time made Cole laugh (the other times had him groaning at how bad or cheesy they were, but they still made him smile). Sparring with him was fun too—Jay had him beat in the speed department, but Cole was not only taller, but was also stronger. It helped them both work on their weaknesses, and they grew stronger because of it. Cole even helped Jay with the obstacle course, whispering to him one day that it would help them perform Spinjitzu.

"Wow," Jay had whispered back, eyes shining with excitement. "That's so cool!"

"Yeah, but don't tell Sensei that you know, or that I told you," Cole had warned. "I, uh, I think he's waiting for the right time to tell us, and I don't want to spoil it by telling him that I know."

Jay had nodded and promised to keep his lips sealed. That just further solidified in Cole's mind that the auburn teen could be trusted. He was happy to have Jay as a friend.

The ghost of the monastery, however, did not like Jay.

Part of the reason seemed to stem from the fact that Jay couldn't see or hear the ghost, which automatically made him less interesting in the ghost's eyes. But by and large, the ghost found Jay annoying and borderline obnoxious, especially when the newest trainee was in the midst of one of his babbling spells.

"I mean, it's like the guy's never heard of this thing called 'being quiet'," he complained to Cole one day, about two weeks after Jay had first arrived. "Seriously. He talked for ten minutes straight about how blue is the best color in the world. Fucking BLUE! For ten minutes!"

"Language," Cole found himself saying automatically. "And what's wrong with blue? It's not a bad color."

The ghost scoffed. "Says Mr. 'My favorite color is fucking orange' himself."

"What's wrong with orange?!"

"It's so aggressively cheerful, it's almost as bad as yellow. Blegh," the ghost stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Give me black or green any day!"

Cole glanced at the ghost. "...your cloak is gray. Also, dark blue exists."

"First of all, FUCK you, my cloak is SILVER, which is superior to gray in all ways. Second of all, blue looks like water and I HATE water."

"...Oh right," Cole winced, remembering an incident last week involving a sudden rainstorm and an angry, shrieking ghost. "I forgot water is basically like acid for you. Yeah, understandable why blue isn't your favorite color then."

"Who're you talking to?"

"Gah!" Cole jumped at the voice, spinning around to face the owner. "Díos mio, Jay! Don't sneak up on a guy like that!"

"Sorry!" the red-head apologized. "Although I guess that means I'm getting better at being an ninja, right? Sneaky ninja, whoo~" He posed for a second before adopting a more serious look. "But honestly, I'm surprised you didn't notice me, I was there for a while. Though you looked pretty busy talking to whoever it was you were talking to. Who was it? Where are they?" He gasped. "Are they invisible? Is that why I can't see them?"

"Uhh..." Cole uttered intelligently, mentally panicking. "...yeah, he's invisible. I—"

"Omigosh, that's sooo cool!" Jay gushed, looking around the hallway. "How is he invisible? Why is he invisible? Is he shy? Did I spook him?"

"Hey!" the ghost barked indignantly. "I'm not fucking shy and I would never get spooked by a loudmouth like you!"

Jay suddenly gasped, and Cole wondered for a split second if he had heard the ghost. But the other ninja-in-training turned to face him instead. "'Spook'...that's it! Was the person you were talking to a ghost?! Is that why I can't see them?"

"Ummm....maybe?" Cole cringed, waiting to be ridiculed for the response.

Instead, Jay's eyes lit up like he had just been told his birthday had come early. "There's a ghost here?! AHHH, that's so cool! Where is he? How long has he been haunting this place? Is he a mean ghost or is he a friendly one like Casper? Ooo, is his name Casper?! I wanna know!"

"Eww, why would my name ever be something as lame as 'Casper'?" the ghost stuck out his tongue and gagged, looking horrified at the mere suggestion. "And if you value your life, Brookstone, you better not say that I'm friendly."

"Uh, he's...a bit of a loner. I usually have to wait for him to approach me—"

"Hmph. You survive...for now..."

"—And he doesn't really like to talk too much," Cole said apologetically, rubbing the back of his head. "Honestly, I think the only reason he talks to me at all is because I'm the only one he can talk to..."

"Ooo, why's that? Is he cursed to only be able to talk to one person? Or, oh!" Jay gasped and leaned dramatically. "Are you the one who's cursed? Is that why you have that green mark on your forehead?"

Cole's eyes crossed as he looked up at his forehead. "Technically, it's a scar. But...actually, yeah, you're pretty spot on."

"Soooo cool," Jay gushed, looking like he was genuinely interested and not making fun of Cole, which had the black-haired boy relieved. "So, what's the ghost's name?"

The relief Cole felt was instantly replaced with panic. "Oh, uh..." He glanced up, hoping that said ghost would feel a little bit of mercy and help him out.

The ghost smirked down at him and flipped him the bird, looking far too amused.

Jerk, Cole thought fiercely, rubbing at his scar as he tried to come up with an answer—

—wait. What had Jay called his scar earlier?

"...Mark. That's his name. The, uh, ghost's name that is..."

"Mark?" Jay cocked his head to the side. "Huh. Woulda thought it'd be something...less common, I guess."

Cole shrugged awkwardly. "I guess not everyone can be named 'Garmadon' or something..."

"Ugh, thank goodness. Although I learned the funniest thing earlier today," Jay snickered. "If you rearrange the letters in his name, you... you get..." He started giggling. "O' gran'ma!"

"Pfft," Cole bit his lip. "You're joking."

"No, seriously! It's hilarious! Like, how can you take him seriously with his name like that?!"

The two shared a laugh for a minute before Jay sighed. "Ahh, that's hilarious. Anyways, I was actually gonna ask you if it's okay if I made dinner tonight? I've been craving my ma's turkey chili lately, and Sensei said it was okay if I used the kitchen to cook. I can even make cornbread if you'd like!"

"Mmm, sounds incredible! Need a hand?"

"Nah, I've got it. Thanks for the offer though!" Jay skipped around Cole in the direction of the kitchen. "See you at dinner!"

Cole waved as his friend vanished around the corner before dropping his hand and sighing in relief. "That was way too stressful," he muttered, rubbing at his temples.

"Oh relax." The black-haired teen suddenly found himself face-to-upside-down-face with the ghost. "It wasn't that bad, even if Bluebell was being really fucking annoying."

"Language," Cole scolded. "And Jay isn't that bad. Even if he could learn a little more tact..."

"Least he didn't call you Scarface or something like that." The ghost flipped himself right-side-up and crossed his arms. "Going in that same vein, though. Did you really have to name me after your fucking scar?! I mean, seriously. Mark, of all names?! Like, props for it having the same first letter of my real name, but honestly. You had to pick one of the most boring names in the whole fucking world?!"

"I panicked, okay?! And you weren't helping at all! But, wait..." Cole blinked. "Your name begins with an 'M'?"

The ghost blinked as he seemed to realize the hint he had dropped, then immediately scowled. "Okay, fine, yes," He growled. "My name begins with an 'M', but that's the only clue you're gonna fucking get. I do NOT want Wu hearing you say it and getting the wrong fucking idea."

Cole held up his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it. You have problems with Wu, you don't want him to know you exist, you won't give me your name, I won't pry. But...well, Jay knows that you kinda exist. Can...I feel like I need to call you something and I already told him that your name's Mark so..."

The ghost glared at him, his irritation palpable. Cole fidgeted a little but held firm, matching the ghost's gaze.

Finally, the ghost sighed and rolled his eyes. "Fiiiiine," he groaned, sounding as if he was making a big sacrifice. "I guess calling me Mark isn't the worst thing ever...."

"You could just tell me your real name if it bothers you that much..."

"Nope. No chance in hell. Absolute last thing I fucking want is for you to say it and for Wu to hear it."

"...would that really be a bad thing?"

The ghost's expression grew dark and he whirled to point a finger in Cole's face. "That man," he snarled. "Is the reason that I'm like this in the first goddamn place. This would have NEVER happened if not for Wu! So yes, giving you my real name is NOT an option!"

Cole held up his hands in surrender again. "Okay, okay, I get it! No real name, I get it." He paused, then squirmed a little anxiously. "...is Sensei really that bad? Do I...should Jay and I be worried?"

The ghost blinked at him, almost as if in shock. A few moments later, a determined light entered his eyes and he set his jaw. "...no, you and Bluebell should be fine. Wu's can just be an idiot sometimes." He flicked his hair arrogantly. "I'll make sure that he doesn't steer you guys in the wrong direction."

"...why? N-Not that I'm ungrateful or anything! It's just...why?"

There was a pause. Cole tried to interpret the look on the ghost's face, but came up blank.

Finally, the ghost put on a smirk (that didn't look all the way genuine) and arrogantly flicked his hair again. "What can I say?" he said breezily. "You're the first—and so far only—person to see and hear me in decades. I'd be bored as fuck if I let Wu get you hurt."

Cole made a face and was about to retort when he paused and took a moment to think. The ghost's words said one thing, but his tone and his body stance said something else. He hadn't had too many discussions about the ghost's life, but other than Sensei, he had never mentioned anyone else by name. Did he ever...did he have any parents before meeting Sensei Wu? Or friends?

Given the ghost's prickly nature, Cole had his doubts. It also made the ghost's feigned nonchalance more understandable, especially if Cole was one of, if not the person around the ghost's (supposed) age that he was willing to trust...

"What's with that look?!" the ghost demanded, shaking Cole from his thoughts.

"Huh?" Cole then noticed that he had started to smile. "Oh. Heh, it's nothing, just...thanks for looking out for us." His smile grew a little mischievous. "I'm glad I got to know you...Mark."

The ghost—Mark—rolled his eyes. "Ugh, don't make this sappy, Brookstone. I'm doing this only because I'm sick of being bored out of my fucking mind. And to one-up that old bastard."

Cole laughed. "Alright, whatever you say. So, back to our discussion before Jay came up...I still say orange is the best color."

"You're outta your fucking mind, then."

"Not everyone likes dark, depressing colors!"

"Green is NOT dark nor depressing!"

As they continued to walk down the hall and bicker, Cole couldn't help but smile how things have changed.

After all, it was the first time he had ever made friends with a ghost.

~~~~~

It's happening....they're becoming friends~! :D

I love writing for Jay, he's so much fun to write. 

I loved coming up with the in-universe origin for the 'Mark' nickname, it was a lot of fun. Plus, it's kind of a pun!

(For those interested in how I first came up with the Mark nickname...I honestly just wanted a name that was kinda similar to 'Morro' and Mark was the first one I thought up of. Muuuuuuch less interesting than this, I know ^-^')

There's probably two(?) more chapters after this one, but I'm really excited for the next one! Spoiler: pre-season 1 Kai is involved...