Chapter Text
No one in Ninjago City knew where Garmadon was after the battle with the oni, but now, here he is. Knocking on Vinny's apartment door to try to become good. Maybe for the sake of his son, Lloyd…Maybe just to be better in general he doesn’t know yet but he wishes to understand.
Before this, he was thinking and walking.
While walking down the street, he noticed a few people staring at him. They knew him as the Evil dark ruler. So, of course, this started panic and fear when cars sped up to get away, and people ran away from him.
While thinking to himself, he remembers the day when something changed in him. On the Destiny Bounty. The memory is quite hazy for him, but there’s 2 things he remembers. Vinny of NGTV news. And the words he said stuck to him like glue.
“Lots of things are more important than survival! Friendship, love, trust, harmony, truth, courage, and all the stuff that makes life worth living!”
He thought about that for a while. As he was walking, he had a thought. “I want to find him…I want to understand what those words meant.”
And so he asked around. Many people ran away thinking he was gonna hurt them, a few people didn’t know where he was, but he had put some thought into it and decided to go to NGTV news himself.
The news station quickly gave away where Vinny lived and his apartment number. They didn't wanna have to deal with more destruction like before…
He walked over to the apartment building only a few blocks away. He opened the door and walked up the stairs before knocking on Vinny’s door.
The door opened to a smiling Vinny, who was soon replaced by a shocked expression and the door being slammed.
Meanwhile, with Vinny on the other side of the door.
“Ah! Why is he here?! What do I do, what do I do!”
He started to look through the peephole of the door.
“Vinny of NGTV News? It is I, Garmadon?”
Vinny, panicking, ran over to the phone.
“Gotta call the police!”
He quickly typed out the number, but was stopped after Garmadon spoke up.
“I require your counsel.”
Vinny calmed down a bit but was still careful.
“Counsel?”
Garmadon spoke up again.
“You told me once that life was about more than survival and…A whole bunch of other words I didn’t understand. But I would like to.”
Vinny set down the phone and opened the door again.
“Okay, but if I let you in, you have to promise. No violence, no destruction, and especially no fighting. I had to pay a two-month damage deposit for this apartment.”
Garmadon let out one of his arms.
“I swear it.”
Vinny was a bit confused which hand to grab because Garmadon's four arms switched between the 4 before Garmadon reached out and grabbed Vinny’s hand.
After that, Vinny walked back inside, and Garmadon quickly followed him, closing the door behind him.
Vinny sat on the couch and patted the spot next to him.
“So uh…What did you need help with?”
“I wish to understand goodness. Recently, I helped some people and found the experience confusing.”
Well,l uh…That means you tried to do something good right? Meaning that you did something good and tried meaning that there’s a bit of good inside of you right?”
Garmadon looked invested and was learning more.
“You’re very wise Vinny of NGTV news.”
“Aw geez it’s nothing…Also you can just call me Vinny.”
“Okay Vinny of NGTV news.”
“I…Nevermind…”
“Well how do I start!”
Garmadon got closer.
“Start what?”
Garmadon got closer again; he was basically pinning Vinny down.
“Being good.”
Vinny had a faint blush on his face before hiding behind his hat.
“I… I don’t know…Maybe try small stuff like holding a door for someone, smiling a bunch, saying good morning and stuff like that.”
“For who? And what door?”
Garmadon was genuinely confused.
“…Any door…For anyone..? It’s just something nice people do.”
“For how long?”
“Until they go inside..?”
“And if another person comes along? And another? You could be stuck forever.”
Vinny sighed a bit.
“Oh boy…You’ve got a lot to learn. I’ll teach you.”
Vinny went on to explain basic things to Garmadon and soon had to head out for work.
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Side Story 1: An Uneventful Day At Work.
Vinny headed out the door and drove over to the news station in the van he had been provided. But first, he knew the schedule, get a coffee for Gale, or else everyone would hear some not-so-pleasant things from her.
As he grabbed the coffee and headed back to the van, a thought appeared in his head. How on EARTH did Garmadon get his address? He remembers the first time they met, but he didn’t mention where he lived…
He decided not to put that much thought into it. And get this day of work out of the way. He made it to the building and walked over to Gale.
He handed over the coffee, and Gale drank it. She’s still wearing that white suit she has. Surprisingly, with the amount of coffee she drinks, there are no stains.
“Vinny, hurry up! We go live in 5!”
Vinny grabs the much more professional camera he has been provided with. And points it towards Gale. And starts recording.
“Hello, Ninjago City! This is Gale Gossip Clocking in after the events that have occurred recently! Firstly, let’s address the Oni issue we had. The Oni, thanks to the Ninja, have been taken care of!
However, Lord Garmadon has been spotted walking outside in the city.”
Vinny started paying attention to her after he heard Garmadon’s name.
“We’ll put some video evidence on screen now.”
Vinny looked over at one of his co-workers and saw Garmadon walking in deep focus. The people
around him were running away from him, but he paid no mind.
“People have no idea what he was doing, but the people believe that he was planning something. Let’s go to one of the witnesses now.”
Gale walked over to one of the witnesses. Vinny’s camera is following her.
“Can you tell me what you were doing before you noticed him?”
The young girl spoke up.
“I was playing with my brother, and then we both noticed him and started running. We both noticed that he was in deep thought, so we thought he was planning something…”
“Thanks for that report, sweetie. Other than that, nothing else has been spotted. This is Gale Gossip signing off and switching over to Dave, our weatherman.”
Gale set down her things, and Vinny said back to edit the footage.
“Vinny, let’s head out after this im starving…”
“Me and you both, Gale…”
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Garmadon, still in the house, looked around noticing a photo of Vinny and his co-worker. He wanted to fit in more so he lost the four arms for now. And used his powers to fit in with others.
He tried smiling outside and waving to others but people still went running. He decided to go back to the apartment for the day and give it a rest for now. He sat back on the couch and slept there until late at night.