Curate, connect, and discover
(I suggest you check out parts 1-59 if you haven’t already, also my ao3 and wattpad for the chapters more organised
(DAMN! CHAPTER 60 ALREADY!!)
Vinny stirred awake the next morning, he laid in bed for 20 minutes after his eyes opened before eventually sitting up and sat there for 5 more minutes doing absolutely nothing.
He eventually picked up his phone and checked the time, “10:27…fuck that was a good sleep…” he thought to himself a little surprised at how much he slept. And he honestly felt refreshed compared to the previous days.
The cameraman got up from his bed and went to the bathroom, brushing his teeth. He wasn’t really hungry after all he did have a sandwich before. He looked at himself in the mirror and sighed before grabbing a razor from the drawer and some shaving cream.
Better now than later…he doubted Enji would come just yet, so he wanted to make the most of his time and properly care for himself. He carefully glided the razor against his skin, careful not to cut himself. He didn’t have much of a beard, but the stubble was getting a bit out of control and made him look unkept and exhausted.
“I should probably get a haircut soon…” he muttered to himself as his brushed his hand through his hair which was longer than usual. “That can be a problem for another day…I should just brush it though” he added once more as he continued to shave.
Eventually he finished and let out a sigh as he looked at himself in the mirror. He looked better than usual, the dark circles under his eyes were still there, but had lightened slightly and after shaving he looked less sleep deprived.
He splashed like warm water across his face before leaving the bathroom and putting on his jacket, “Maybe Nya has a spare hairbrush…” he thought as he shoved the dagger into his pocket and gently wrapped the mirror shard in a cloth and put it in his pocket as well.
Vinny looked around his room one more time before leaving and closing the door. He didn’t have much plans today, he’d probably watch the ninja train or play video games.
He came out and saw Lloyd and Jay talking about something, a comic. “Morning Vinny” Lloyd spoke first as he waved and Jay did the same, the cameraman waved back as well as he walked up to the two. Both of the ninja seemed to notice Vinnys’ refreshment, the clean shave and lighter eye bags.
“Morning…do you know where Nya is? I need to see if I can borrow a hairbrush” Vinny spoke.
“Yep, she should be in our room” The lightning ninja replied as he pointed down the hallway.
“You hungry? There should be some omelettes in the kitchen” Lloyd asked, Vinny shook his head.
“I woke up and ate a sandwich early morning” The cameraman replied, receiving a nod from the two ninja.
“We’ll if you’re hungry you know where it is” Lloyd replied.
“Thanks you two” Vinny spoke before walking down the hallway to Nyas’ room. He gently knocked on the door.
The water ninja opened the door curious as to who it is, she looked a little surprised when she realised it was Vinny, “Morning, is something up?” She asked, clearly curious as to the cameramans’ visit.
“This is a little random, but do you have a spare hairbrush? My hairs a bit of a mess” The cameraman asked as he pointed to his hair.
Nya smiled, “Yep…let me just find it…” she spoke as she looked at her room, she looked like she was in the middle of reorganising it, Jay and her stuff were a little bit clattered.
Vinny nodded in response and watched as the water ninja dug through drawers before holding up a hairbrush, “Here it is! I think I never used this one either” she spoke as she handed the cameraman the hairbrush, it was a dark blue one and as Nya said it looked like it was never used, no hair on it at all.
“Thanks…you’re a lifesaver” Vinny spoke gratefully as he took the hairbrush.
“Is everything good with you?” She questioned, Vinny looked at her and sighed realising she just wanted a little bit more knowledge about him and Garmadon.
“I guess…we haven’t spoke much, but we speak…he asks me ifI’m taking care of myself” Vinny replied.
“That’s good, I think you’re taking care of yourself though…you look like you got a heavenly sleep last night” Nya replied as she gently nudged Vinnys’ shoulder.
“I did…I slept so well” The cameraman responded as he remembered how he slept like an infant.
“Well then that’s good…me and the others have some training later then they’re gonna play games” She spoke, Vinny was thankful he wasn’t being bombarded with questions.
“I’ll probably come and watch” Vinny replied before turning around, “See you, thanks for the help” he added.
“Bye” Nya replied as she watched Vinny walk away.
The cameraman went back to his bedroom and looked in the mirror as he gently brushed his hair, groaning every time he found a knot. He finished that pretty quickly and left the brush there before leaving the room once more.
He heard some clanking and grunting from outside, realising that it’s probably where Kai, Cole and Zane probably are. He was right as he opened the door and saw the three ninjas sparring. He put on his shoes and waved back to Cole who pretty easily noticed him.
Kai and Zane waved not long later, “Someone’s looking fresh!” Kai called out as he blocked an attack from Cole.
“I got a good sleep last night” Vinny chuckled in reply, was it really that recognisable how much better he looked? He sat on the floor and watched them spar. And slowly one by one the rest of the ninja came, Nya was last to come though.
They sparred for hours Vinny often conversing with one or two of them when they took a break. To the cameramans’ surprise Wu and Garmadon joined as well, watching them train. The oni didn’t say anything to Vinny, and Wu just gave him a nod. He was thankful he didn’t have to answer questions.
(MY MOTIVATION IS HEAVENLY!!!)
(I suggest you check out parts 1-54 if you haven’t already, also my ao3 and wattpad for the chapters more organised: Criolla_Star)
The ninja looked around the cavern for a little longer, Cole sat out, his arm was cut from the mysterious man. “Hey guys! I found something!” Jay called out as he held up a key with intricate patterns that looked like spikes on the top.
The lightning ninja went back to the group and handed the key to Zane who began scanning it. “Dragon bone and Ivory” The ice ninja spoke.
“Dragon bone and ivory…weird” Nya spoke, “Let’s go back to the monastery, we need to stitch Coles’ arm” She added as she pointed to the earth ninja who had his ninja hood tightly wrapped around his arm like a tourniquet.
The group nodded in agreement as they began going through the catacombs again, it took a while but they managed to get back out. “I have never missed the sky so much” Jay whined as he looked up.
They all got into their vehicles and drove to the monastery. “Who the hell was that guy though?” Kai spoke over the comms.
“No idea, but I hate him already” Lloyd replied, they spoke about the man till they made it back.
“Welcome back, did you find it?” Pixal greeted them as he turned towards them.
“There were two things, a chest and key, we have the key…but some weird man took the chest” Lloyd spoke.
“And he cut Coles’ arm!” Kai added, Pixal turned her attention to the earth ninja.
“Best we stitch it up” The female nindroid spoke as she pointed to a chair which Cole sat on. The elevator beeped as Garmadon and Wu came down.
“Vinny’s not back?” Nya asked, clearly surprised, the spinjitzu brothers shook their heads as they walked over.
“Should I call him?” Lloyd asked, but was cut off by the ping of his phone. He looked at it, “Nevermind…he said he’s like a minute away and asked if we’re back”
Garmadon looked slightly relieved that Vinny was coming back, he wanted to keep watch on him as much as possible. Cole winced slightly as Pixal disinfected his wound and began stitching.
“Did you retrieve anything?” Wu asked.
“Yes, a key, we also found a chest but a unknown man took it” Zane spoke.
“Unknown man? Strange…and I take it he done that?” Wu asked as he looked at Cole, they nodded in response.
There was an awkward silence before Nya spoke up, “Did you use that this morning? There’s a roll of bandages missing” the water ninja spoke as she looked in the first aid bag.
The two nindroids locked eyes with each other, they both had a promise to keep.
“Yes…the postman injured himself this morning” the female nindroid spoke.
“Really h-“ Jay asked but was cut off by the beeping of the elevator, Vinny was here.
“Welcome back” Nya spoke her voice slightly teasing, the cameraman smiled, he still had his bag on his shoulder.
“How was it? And what happened to him?” Vinny asked as he joined the group and pointed to Cole, he also hesitantly looked at Garmadon and gave him a small smile. It was the least he could do to show some recognition.
“We found a key…and some guy took a chest and cut Cole! Kai spoke, he was sitting next to Cole watching Pixal carefully stitch him.
“A guy? Really? What’d he looked like?” Vinny asked as he looked at the curiously.
“I can upload it from my memory onto the monitor” The ice ninja spoke as he grabbed a long cord and attached it to the back of his head and began typing things on the keyboard.
The group watched in anticipation, and Pixal finished the stitches. The screen loaded and a very familiar voice played, a voice that sent shivers down Vinnys’ spine as he stared at the man.
“Enji…” Vinny thought to himself as his hair stood up on ends, his hands trembled as Enjis’ voice played in the background from the video, this was bad…the one person he didn’t want anyone know about was getting involved.
The cameraman didn’t seem to notice the bright red eyes staring at him worriedly, to Garmadon he saw fear pure dread, he didn’t want to bring it up, but this man…Vinny clearly knew him.
“How does he make clones?” Jay asked as they continued to watch the videos, “It’s all fake” he added.
“It’s like illusions…” Vinny spoke, he wasn’t technically telling them anything revealing, he was helping his friends.
“That does make sense” Wu spoke.
“Where’s the key you found?” The cameraman asked, Zane handed the key to Vinny you looked at it.
“Best we don’t overthink it now…rest and talk about it tomorrow” Garmadon spoke, the group nodded, it was pretty late.
One by one they slowly left, Garmadon was a little stubborn, but Wu everntually managed to convince him to leave, now it was just Zane, Pixal and Vinny. “Are you alright Vinny?” Pixal asked, the cameraman nodded.
“You’re anxiety levels spiked when you saw the video” the ice ninja spoke, Vinny put the key down.
“Just a little worried about who this guy is” the cameraman spoke before he left, leaving the two nindroids very confused.
(I just had the biggest spark of motivation for this, I don’t know where from but it’s welcome, I hope you enjoy)
(I suggest you check out parts 1-52 if you haven't already an easier way is my wattpad or A03 account name is Criolla_Star)
(With the Ninja before Vinny slept)
"Has anyone noticed Vinny's been acting strange over the last few days...?" Kai asked as he played Prime Empire with Jay and Cole while Zane, Nya and Lloyd were watching.
"Yea...he looks like he hasn't slept properly for a while and I feel like something happened between him and my dad cause the two were barely talking to each other" Lloyd spoke as he looked at Nya who nodded in response.
"Maybe they got into a fight or some shit" Cole suggested as he continued playing. Nya and Lloyd looked at each other knowing they did have a fight.
"About what though? And why would Vinny get in a fight with him?" Jay asked as he paused the game after they finished the level. The three put down the controllers and began paying more attention to the conversation.
"Zane, have you picked on any emotional signals from the two?" Nya questioned the ice ninja who blinked awkwardly, he wasn't meant to tell anyone, and definitely not about the stab wound on Vinnys' hand.
"I have picked on on signals of sleep deprivation, sadness and slight anger from the two" Zane spoke as he tried to lie to the group. They sighed hearing that obviously not liking the condition of the two.
"Why'd he leave so-" Just as Lloyd was saying that Pixal came in. "Oh, hey Pixal" The green ninja spoke instead, Zane looked happy seeing her.
"Hello, are you talking about Vinny?" She asked, Jay nodded. "I must interrupt this conversation, but I have discovered a powerful energy source and Master Wu would like you all to check it out" Pixal spoke softly.
"A mission? Finally! We haven't had a good mission in ages" Kai spoke happily as he immediately stood up and stretched.
"A powerful energy source? Do you know what it is?" Lloyd asked as he looked at Pixal curiously.
"Despite my efforts to discover what it is, they have remained futile for the time being" Pixal replied.
"Strange...then we shall leave immediately" Zane spoke as the others nodded and stood up.
"I'll prepare the vehicles as you all get ready" Pixal spoke before she left the room.
"This is gonna be so fun!" Kai exclaimed happily as he grabbed Cole's hand and ran out, Cole didn't have time to react he was just dragged out leaving the rest of the ninja laughing.
"I bet it's an artifact we're gonna find" Jay spoke as he stood up as well and stood closer to Nya.
"Probably...hopefully it isn't as dangerous as the scrolls of spinjitzu" The water ninja replied to her lover as Zane left the room as well.
"Hopefully...those scrolls were a pain..." Lloyd replied as he began walking out, followed by the other two ninja.
"We should go get ready now" Nya spoke, the others nodded in response and they all parted ways off to get ready for their mission.
After a while all the ninja were gathered in the secret part of the monastery, Garmadon and Wu were there too. "So then, where is the place we're going?" Cole asked as he looked at Pixal who was clicking on a keyboard.
"A place called the catacombs, it's far from here and is like a maze, twists and turns everywhere" Pixal responded as she brought up pictures of the catacombs. The ninjas looked a little surprised seeing the place they were going.
"If we get lost I'm blaming it on Jay..." Kai spoke as he pointed to the lightning ninja, Lloyd and Cole snickered while Nya sighed and Jay looked offended.
"W-What why?!" Jay whined as he pouted, Kai stuck his tongue out, Master Wu sighed.
"Everything aside...you all have a mission, find the energy source and bring it here if safe while not getting lost" Wu spoke, the group instantly paid attention to him and nodded.
"Pixal, are the vehicles ready?" Zane asked, Pixal nodded as she pointed to the different vehicles.
"You all shall get going now before it gets late" Wu added, the group nodded and began getting into the vehicles.
"I'm gonna call Vinny real quick, just so he knows where we are" Lloyd spoke to Wu, Garmadon, who was standing next to Wu seemed to have reacted in some way to Vinny being mentioned. He missed him, and was worried, poor Vinny. Wu nodded to Lloyd who then took out his phone.
A quick phone call later, the group were ready to leave, with one last check of the mission and vehicles they drove off.
(I tried a new writing format let me know what one you like better, also I've been wondering if the story should go into the merge as well, not now but later into the story)
This was a special request from @justwaffling this will also include headcanons for my ocs
Vinny: Filipino, Chinese and Columbian
Garmadon: Fully Japanese
Wu: fully Japanese
Lloyd: Japanese Vietnamese
Misako: Japanese and Vietnamese
Kai: Moroccan, Chinese and Persian
Nya: Moroccan, Chinese and Persian
Zane: Polish, French and Russian
Cole: Filipino and Mexican (This took forever to decide)
Jay: Irish and Canadian (This took longer than it took for Cole)
Enji: German. Russian and Filipino
Rida: Chinese and Portuguese
Deity: Chinese and Portuguese
Shancai: Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese
Willow: Chinese, Portuguese, Russian and Japanese
(I suggest you check out parts 1-41 if you haven't already)
Vinny stared at them and took the blade out of his pocket before beginning to swing it around with the sheath on, he doesn't trust himself that much to not cut himself. Vinny found it interesting the way they sparred with each other, they were really good at this. He took the sheath off the blade and stared at it again before noticing the sides were laced with what seemed to be bone? The bone covered the edges and seemed quite sharp, but Vinny obviously being sleep deprived forgot about how sharp blades were and pressed his finger against it, it was really sharp and cut his finger and bled slightly. "Shit..." he hissed in pain.
"Weird...Rida just said it was made with red obsidian...red obsidian isn't white and it isn't this as sharp..." Vinny mumbled to himself as he looked at the blade closer slowly drifting off into thought and becoming unaware of his surroundings. "Where would someone get something like this...?" He thought before deciding to look at the sheath. It was made of leather, which seemed way way tougher than normal leather. It covered the blade but not the handle, and it had orange and red jewels along sliver lining as well as having a star on both sides it was quite pretty.
"Shit! Vinny watch out!" Kai shouted as he accidently sent some of the fire balls that way. Vinny looked up unaware of what was happening and saw a bunch of fire balls headed his way, he didn't have much time to react, and just tried to cover his face while still holding the blade. To everyones' surprise the flame didn't hit Vinny, instead it was absorbed into the blade. "Shit shit shit! I'm so sorry!" Kai repeated as the others ran over to Vinny to check if he was alright. "Are you alright?!" Nya instantly questioned worriedly "Where'd the fire go?!" Jay asked curiously.
"Y-yea I'm fine..."Vinny responded, he was just as shocked as everyone else and continued to hold the blade. "He is correct there is no injury evident and as for the fire, it was...absorbed?" Zane said, he sounded a little confused like the others as to where the flame went. "Absorbed? Into where?" Cole asked, Zane looked at Vinny and began scanning for large amounts of power, his attention was caught by the blade. "My observation has concluded it went into that blade" The ice ninja said as he pointed towards the blade Vinny was holding.
"The blade? How?" Jay asked as he looked at the blade Vinny was holding. "Vinny...can I see the blade please?" Nya asked as she looked at the blade intently. The cameraman nodded and handed the blade to Nya, "It's...sharp and lightweight...Zane can you see if you can find the things int's made of?" Nya asked, which the ice ninja nodded and was handed the blade. As Zane began observing the blade the others asked Vinny questions, "Where'd you get it? And are you sure you're not burned?" Nya asked as she observed Vinny, "I-I don't really remember where I got it, and I promise I'm fine" Vinny responded.
Kai looked back at the blade and observed it, "Do you just keep that in your pocket with no cover?" The fire ninja asked, "N-no, I have it right here" Vinny responded as he showed the group the sheath. Vinny gave it to Kai who deeply observed it, "This isn't made of normal leather" The fire ninja said as he touched it. He learnt a lot from being a blacksmith for some time and when his father came back he learnt from him. "Is it fake?" Cole asked, Kai shook his head, "It definitely isn't fake, but....it's way rougher and tougher" Kai responded.
"Interesting..." Zane said out as he finished observing the blade, "What's it made of?" Nya asked, "It appears to be made out of red obsidian, though that isn't as intriguing, the edges seem to be covered in dragon bones, but they're not normal ones, it reminds me of the dragonbone blade that faith used, and the structure is very much a like it as well, while the handle is wrapped in dragon leather" Zane said, "Wait wait wait, so you're saying this blade is practically the same blade as Faith and is wrapped in dragon leather?" Jay asked, the ice ninja nods in response, "Then the sheath must be made out of the leather too, that explains a lot" Kai said as he handed Vinny back the sheath.
"Really? I didn't know that" Vinny said, "Well...if you didn't have it you would've been burnt?" Jay said out awkwardly making Vinny chuckle as he was handed the blade back, "Well...I think I've spent enough time out here" Vinny said as he stood up and put the blade in the sheath. "Yea...maybe you should go inside before you get burnt by a specific someone" Nya said obviously referencing Kai. "Hah it's fine really....I've had worse..." Vinny mumbled the last part as he went back inside.
(I suggest you check out parts 1-40 if you haven't already)
Vinny sat there for 5 minutes more till finally getting up, the blade Rida gave him had a cover so he kept that on and slid it into his pocket. "I should avoid Garmadon..." The cameraman thought to himself as he exited the room and began walking around. Vinny wasn't really paying attention to his surroundings that he walked pass Lloyd. "Hey Vinny" The green ninja said out catching his attention.
The cameraman turned his attention to Lloyd and smiled friendly, he was tired but didn't want to show it much and the two cups of coffee helped. "You feeling okay? You looked really tired when I saw you before" Lloyd asked curiously, "Hah...yea just didn't get much sleep last night" Vinny responded before stretching. "Do you know...what's up with my dad? I saw him before and he looked...well sad? And I'm off to go train with him now" The green ninja said.
Vinny instantly tensed, hearing Garmadon mentioned hurt him, he felt terrible for what we yelled at him, but he had to keep him safe. "Umm...n-no...we talked before and he left" Vinny lied as he slid his hands into his pockets and began fidgeting with the blade sheath taking it off and putting it back on. "Not that I know of...you seem in a better mood than before it was probably your two cups of coffee" Lloyd chuckled out.
"Yea probably is was thinking about having another cup" Vinny replied, "Really? I drink coffee and so does the others but no one ever drinks that much, last time we drank two cups and we all stayed up for hours! Jay was so jittery and almost electrocuted us!" Lloyd laughed out in surprise. "Only two!? Geez I could drink four and still be dead as hell" Vinny responded surprisingly.
"You're probably used to it then" Lloyd responded after he finished laughing. "Yea...so tomorrow I have to go back to work...the guy taking my place was hurt so I have to go if I wanna keep my job" Vinny said awkwardly obviously lying but he was taking Ridas' advice about having some alone time. "Really? That's just sad...you'll come back right?" Lloyd responded his voice sounding a bit sadder. "Yea of course" Vinny said.
"Does my dad know?" Lloyd asked, "Umm...no? Can you tell him please?" Vinny asked desperately, the green ninja looked at him curiously, "I guess I can...but why can't you?" Lloyd asked, "No reason...thanks bye!" Vinny responded before quickly hurrying off leaving Lloyd really, really confused.
Vinny continued walking before deciding to go outside, when he went out he saw most of the ninja except Lloyd training there. "Hey Vinny!" Nya called out before dodging an attack from Jay and very 'gently' throwing him to the ground. "Hey" Vinny responded before grimacing at the way Nya threw Jay to the ground. Nya helped Jay up and kissed his forehead, "Sorry about that" She said to the lightning ninja.
"Haha...feeling better? You looked really...sleep deprived" Jay said out with an awkward chuckle, this question made Nya sigh out. "O-Oh yea I'm fine, just needed a cup of coffee" Vinny responded with a smile, Jay looked at him knowing very well how coffee affected himself on top of that Vinny still had black circles under his eyes, it wasn't even subtle you'd be able to spot it from a mile away.
Vinny slid his hands back in his pocket and fidgeted with the blade again, it was relaxing and distracted him. "Do you wanna watch us train!?" Kai called out from further away, Nya and Jay looked at Vinny wanting to know an answer, "Umm...sure, why not? I don't have anything better to do" The cameraman responded receiving a thumbs up from Kai. "Okay, since you're watching you should sit over there because some us send things in random directions" Nya said before clearly looking at Jay who looked away embarrassingly, "Sorry" The lightning ninja chuckled out. Vinny nodded and sat over to where Nya told him, the cameraman could tell that when they started sparring again they were being much more careful.