Morro sat in the front of the submarine with the rest of the ninja, gripping the armrests and staring straight ahead. He kept his mind carefully blank, using all the meditation techniques Wu taught him to keep his focus on anything but the water surrounding them.

"Okay," said Jay. "Why did we think it was a good idea to bring a ghost underwater?"

Morro flinched. Nya patted him on the shoulder before turning to Jay. "This affects him most of all," she said. "He has the right to be here."

Jay frowned. "Sure, but I'm more worried about how safe it is. Ghosts and water don't mix!"

"Stop," Morro said through a clenched jaw. For clarification, he added, "Talking."

The radio turned on. "This is the trench," Benthomaar said. "I can swim no farther."

Lloyd leaned over to respond. "Roger that," he said. "Come on back in."

Zane went to meet Benthomaar in the airlock, and they return to the control room with the Merlopian still dripping wet. Morro leaned away from him.

"So this is it?" he said out loud. "This is where the Preeminent fell?"

Benthomaar shook his head. "The currents have spread her poison far from her resting place," he said, "but we can trace it back to her."

"Great," Morro said. "Okay. Great."

"You doing alright?" Nya asked.

"I'm doing great," he snapped, and went back to staring straight ahead.

Not that the view outside was much better. The submarine's headlights gave the dark water a distinctly green tone as they got closer to the Preeminent–the poison, presumably. Dead fish rotted on every surface. Morro thought he saw the body of a Merlopian at one point. He glanced at Benthomaar, who, like Morro, was staring straight ahead with his face set in a grim expression.

He looked back out at the water.

A ghastly face stared back.

Morro screamed and jerked back in the chair, getting everyone's attention. Nya was at his side in an instant. "Whoa, whoa, what happened?"

"There's a ghost out there!" Morro shouted.

The face was gone. Nya, Jay, and Lloyd looked out the window and back at Morro.

"There's no one there," Lloyd said.

"There was!" Morro got out of his seat and backed up towards the door. "We have to go back up. There's–we can't–"

"Uh oh," said Pixal.

Morro froze. "Great," he heard Jay saying. "You're the last person I want to hear that from. What is it?"

"I'm getting some unwelcome readings," Pixal said. "There's something alive down there… and I don't like the possibilities for what it is."

If he had lungs, he'd be hyperventilating. Morro wrapped his arms around himself and fell to his knees, forcing his body to stay real, solid, tangible–because if he fell through the sub, he'd hit the water and die for good.

"So," Jay said. "Do we turn back?"

Benthomaar shifted uncomfortably. "I will not force you either way," he said, "but this poison is killing my people. We can't stop it if we don't know what it is."

"We'll keep going," Lloyd said. "If it is the Preeminent…"

He didn't finish the sentence. Morro hunched over and tried not to whimper too loud.

They continued towards the source of the poison. The water grew thick and green. Every time Morro looked up, he saw faces, figures, hands clawing at the glass. No one else saw anything.

Finally, they reached–

"Oh," Nya said in horror. "Oh, no."

Despite his instincts telling him not to, Morro looked up.

Illuminated by the headlights, the Preeminent bubbled and writhed. In the churning pit of ectoplasm, faces formed briefly before dissolving in the water, hands reaching for the surface before they melted away. Morro gaped at the sight, faint noises escaping his throat.

"I would advise against going closer," Pixal said. "We will take our samples from here. Is that acceptable, Benthomaar?"

Benthomaar put a hand to his mouth, staring wide-eyed through the window. "Acceptable," he said, his voice strained. "We should not stay long."

"I'm taking Morro to the bunks," Nya said. "That okay?"

Morro couldn't move. The faces of those trapped in the drowned Cursed Realm danced in his vision, their hands reaching out to drag him down with them.

If he was a less experienced ghost, the shock would have caused him to phase through the sub to meet his watery fate that much sooner. He squeezed his eyes shut. Nya had her hand on his shoulder again. Focus on that. Focus on reality. Stand up and stagger to the bunks, clinging to Nya like a lifeline.

They took the samples quickly and retreated. Morro stayed with Nya in the bunks until they were at the surface again. He had never been so happy to see a clear sky.