Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hello to everyone who found this, I finally have the courage to start posting stuff I write here. This ship is so underrated and pretty unknown and it has very limited content to it so I decided to add my own. I didn't ship this that much until the Crystalized episode descriptions dropped for 19 and 20 and it all just made my heart melt. Suddenly, they're the only thing I can think about. I really hope Vinny won't just be there for those two episodes, I wanna see more of him. Gotta love how he appears two times in part one and Garmadon is subtly mentioned as Vinny's roomate. I might be taking requests, I'm not entirely sure though. I have school and also the finales coming up, so please don't expect a solid upload schedule. Also, no NSFW stuff. Feel free to drop your opinion on this ship in the comments, I'm extremely glad to read them!

Chapter Text

Garmadon, for once, had no idea where to go, what to do, or what his purpose was anymore. Yes, he had finally realized he was more than the Destroyer he was resurrected to be, but he did not know what to do about this realization. He couldn’t tell whether he liked the idea of going back to Ninjago City or not. On one hand, he still could learn so much about basic human stuff that just was not in his memory for some reason, but also, the Omega’s words popped up in his head whenever he thought about trying to understand humans better…to…be one of them. Garmadon knew they all wanted the old Garmadon back- the one that he didn’t even have the memory of being. He would never be the person everyone wanted, but he could try. Was he actually having a whole debate in his head over this?! It was stupid enough, but Garmadon knew that just ignoring all these…feelings (?) would not make the situation any better. But he did not have the courage to go back to Lloyd. Not yet. His son deserved…at least an apology, and given that he could not offer that at the moment, he saw no good coming out from going back to the ninja. 

So Garmadon ended up heading back to Ninjago City. Probably just to hang around, to make sure everything is still alright. Of course, he has heard of some foes that the ninja have faced while he’d been gone on his journey that did not even conclude anything clear. He was not worried about the ninja, if Lloyd and his friends defeated him AND the Oni, he was pretty sure they could take on at least most of the threats Ninjago could be exposed to. 

As he neared the city, it suddenly hit him that that before the Oni came he had been put into a cell. He had told his son, as he remembered, that he’d be glad to go back there. He, in fact, was not. Sure, he was a wanted criminal who happened to take over the city and destroy half of it in his rage, but he would not make any progress there. With anything. The immense solitude that place gave him was not welcoming to Garmadon at the moment. He had somewhat enjoyed his freedom so far. He would rather go back to Two Moon Village instead of going there. At least there some people were nice. Nice? Nice. Yeah, especially Min. Since when does he appreciate that kind of stuff?

He would have to see about his stay in Ninjago City. He didn’t actually know how Ninjago City worked at all- He barely remembered a thing or two about Ninjago City- but just about stuff like buildings. He had no idea how the humans lived their everyday life, but it could not be that hard or complicated, could it? 

A big problem if he wanted to hang around Ninjago was disguise. He couldn't just walk into Ninjago City and expect everyone to be cool with it. He would probably have no chance at all to slip into Ninjago City without being seen. He was already thinking about turning back and going on a journey all by himself again. The thought was not exactly unpleasant- him against nature, just like once when he was young and all he had was his brother and his father. But something about the thought made him a bit disappointed. 

That was when he noticed the small car at the edge of the forest that was near Ninjago City. There’s must be citizen there, right? Somewhere around. Garmadon found himself curious as to what the civilian was doing so close to a place such as the forest that can be cruel at most times with its bypassers. Was this another behavior of the humans that he did not understand? That thought did nothing but fuel his curiosity. He could just- take a peak at what the human was doing this far away from the city. He carefully made his way to the car that was empty. No sign of anyone. But what he noticed were footsteps. Footsteps that led into the forest. So Garmadon followed them. He did so while making no sound, assuring that he would not be detected. Up ahead, he saw a figure, but he couldn’t make out much. He approached, again making no sound whatsoever. He stopped at a distance he could see the person from. It was indeed a human, and what a surprise Garmadon had when he saw the familiar face of Vinny of NGTV News. He was holding something in his hands and he was focused on it. It was concerning how easy of a prey he could be. It took a few seconds for Garmadon to notice the considerably small lizard in front of Vinny that he seemed to mostly focus on. It looked something close to a predator watching its prey, except for the fact that Vinny seemed more curious than anything, for a simple lizard. Very peculiar. What exactly was he hoping to accomplish by studying the lizard so closely, Garmadon could not tell. What was the use in it?

Garmadon did not move, his focus on the intriguing man that he met back in the cabin on Destiny’s Bounty. He had been the only one to give him an answer he could conclude something from. He had not been scared of him, like other humans might be if, say, he walked into the city right now. So what if Vinny met him again? Would he be just as open to a conversation as he was last time? Maybe last time he felt safe on the Bounty, with the ninja around. Now he was alone, an easy target. He could take it the wrong way. And how would he let his presence known anyway? He has somewhat ‘stalked’ the ninja back on the Bounty, but that was mostly because he was bored. Now, he was standing a few feet away from a seemingly ordinary Ninjago City citizen, yet, he could not find any words. He observed Vinny closely. A small smile was plastered on his face. Garmadon found himself not wanting to disturb Vinny’s peace, and he was already starting to back away. That was, before he noticed something staring directly at him with a nod towards the cameraman. Red eyes. Black silhouette. No…it just couldn’t be him all over again! He thought he was done with him! Mogra was gone, he had his helmet back, he had helped the Two Moon Tea village’s people, he had fought an army of these monsters. He never wanted to see any of these things ever again. HE HAS HAD ENOUGH OF THEM. They were hallucinations though, right? They could not harm Vinny, the clueless human who stood there, astonished at the lizard bathing in sun rays, with an unknowing smile on his face. For a second, Garmadon felt a bit of panic. He was not willing to take the chance of the shadow attacking the man. Before the shadow could move any further, Garmadon jumped on it, only to land on the ground with a big ‘oof’.

"What-" Vinny spun around, gasping when he saw Garmadon. 

Garmadon had never wanted to disappear so badly. Of course, it was all Garmadon’s imagination. There are no monsters, nothing at all. He felt very foolish, for blowing his own cover trying to protect a human from a thing only he could see. He was not ready for this. He just reacted quickly…he knew quick reaction was all, but perhaps he should have considered his move before jumping into action. This has happened to Garmadon before, with Lloyd…when they were on their quest to destroy the realm crystal. He had saved Lloyd from a certain death, knowing his death would only benefit him, as Harumi had said. . He just felt the panicky need to jump into action, to protect the mere human against the threat. Garmadon shook all the previous intrusive thoughts away and focused back on the situation.

"Ga-Garmadon? Where have you been all this time, man?" Vinny broke the growing silence. 

That was not the question Garmadon expected to be asked. Out of everything, Vinny of NGTV News was concerned about where he had been.