Chapter 5 Preparations

Movie Ninjago

Preparing for a wedding is hard.

There was catering to plan, food to order, reservations to be made, and so, so much more.

Fortunately, Lord Garmadon had a volcano full of minions to command to do most of the hard stuff. Especially given that their orders outside the volcano kept running into complications.

Unfortunately, not many of them knew much about wedding planning, especially not Garmadon's wedding planning, so they needed to be almost constantly supervised by Koko or Garmadon anyway.

Considering how much he loved bossing people around, Garmadon wouldn't have it any other way.

All this made it very entertaining to watch.

Morro leaned over the railing on one of the upper levels of the volcano to watch as his uncle made ludicrous demands to the florist, then once he had moved on, Koko came by and translated his words into a more realistic order that still fit with Garmadon's ideas.

"Aunt Koko is good for him, yes," said a voice next to Morro, making him look up to see Karlof coming by with his arms full of boxes containing who knows what.

Karlof had volunteered to come with Morro to the volcano to help with any heavy lifting needed for decorations and the like. So far, he'd been put straight to work and was even offered a job there if he wanted it for being so helpful. Karlof had waved them off and said he was doing it for Koko. The woman had always been kind to him and the rest of their friends throughout the years, which was why all of them had called her 'Aunt Koko' since they were kids.

"He's definitely less obnoxious when she's around, and she seems to like his eccentricity. Thinks he's funny," Morro agreed with his friend.

Unlike Karlof, Morro had been actively avoiding work and was just enjoying watching the progress. It helped most of the workers avoided him like the plague. It seemed they were weary of his pink hair and bandana. Apparently, a local legend in the volcano was that the color would summon the 'pink jinx' to come and mess things up. Seeing the formerly evil nerds and minions pale when they caught sight of him was fairly amusing. They seemed less wary of Karlof, but they just might not have noticed the pink boots under his cargo pants (given to him by Griffin one birthday as a joke).

Whatever, Morro was enjoying watching way more than working. Or at least, he would be until Wu inevitably noticed him being lazy and gave him something to do. It hadn't happened yet, but Morro was expecting his adoptive father to show up anytime now.

"Odd couples can be some of the best. Wedding is big day for both of them," said Karlof cheerfully.

"Tell me about it," said Morro. "Uncle Garmadon's going all out, and Koko's right there with him. This means a lot to both of them."

Karlof grinned, but it faded quickly when he saw his friend didn't share his enthusiasm. "What is wrong?"

"Just thinking," said Morro. "There's been stirring in the SoG. They're definitely not happy about all this. You've heard about all the complications they were having before Uncle Garmadon decided they were doing everything themselves, right?"

Despite himself, Karlof gave a snort at hearing that. "Ya, I heard about problems. SoG still think you are member? Pretty clear after all this time you are not."

Morro shrugged and waved at his biker clothes. "Well, I fit the esthetic. Shade and Tox get pestered by them too for their wardrobe."

Karlof snorted. "Dummies."

"Yeah, but useful dummies," said Morro. "It gives us a heads up if they're planning something."

"And are they?" asked Karlof with a frown.

"Without a doubt," said Morro.

Karlof rolled his eyes. "Like I said. Dummies. Will you be telling Garmadon?"

Morro shook his head. "And ruin the surprise? Nah. Uncle Garmadon would never forgive me."

"Ya, sounds like him," agreed Karlof.

Morro smirked. "Besides," he said. "If they really think they can stop this wedding from happening, then boy are they in for a surprise."

Karlof matched his grin with his own. "Count on that," he agreed.

At that moment, something long and hollow smacked Morro on the back of the head. With a yelp, he wheeled around to see Wu looking at him with an unamused expression. "We are not here to be lazy," he scolded. "Get to work. Koko has requested your help deciding seating arrangements." With that, he went back to do his own helping out while playing 'Whistle While You Work' on his flute.

Morro rubbed his head ruefully, but having expected something like that sooner or later, left without complaint.

Karlof could only laugh after him.

Her name was Harumi, she was sixteen years old, and preparing to ruin a wedding is hard.

While Harumi's main plan was to infiltrate the wedding itself with the invitation she'd been sent, she wasn't about to put all her eggs in one basket.

One of their initial plans had been to ruin the catering. Harass the companies and people providing everything to them so that they'd quit or withdraw their services.

Another plan was to blackmail the florist and slip some nasty plants in with the bouquets. Lady IronDragon couldn't get married if she breaks out in hives before saying her vows.

And the location! As soon as they have a confirmation about the wedding's location it would be a simple matter to trash it. Make the place utterly disgusting and unsuitable for a wedding venue.

All of this was sure to stop or at the very least delay the wedding, at least until Lord Garmadon and Lady IronDragon grow so frustrated they give up entirely. To see it as a sign from the universe that they were not meant to be. That, or the stress of having to plan and replan this wedding from heck would strain their relationship until it crumbled. Harumi didn't care which.

Unfortunately, none of these plans were going as, well, planned.

"What do you mean you can't go after the caterers?" Harumi demanded over the phone.

She and the rest of the Sons of Garmadon were in the middle of a Zip call to inform her of their progress, and it was not off to a good start.

"Sorry, Quiet1," said one of the members, Killow. "There's not much more we can do. We threatened every company they went to, so Garmadon's doing it himself."

"GarmaTech's said they're launching an all-new service!" squealed a more fanatical fangirl, her face taking over the computer screen. "Party planning! Garmadon says his wedding's going to be the premiere to show off what they can do!"

Times like this Harumi wished she could have her camera on during these calls so she could glare her subordinates into submission. But, no, for her it was talk only, and run through a voice changer to boot. Her secret identity as the head of the SoG was her greatest weapon. No one could know who she was.

"That's not a good thing!" she snapped at the fangirl, who wilted. "What about the florist?"

"Apparently has more backbone than we thought," growled a white-haired man named Luke Cunningham. "We threatened to break all her bones and paint her little flower shop with weedkiller, and she went running to IronDragon for help. That wuss is now hiding out at the volcano and ordering the flowers from someplace stupid far away."

"How far is stupid far, and can we intercept them?" asked Harumi.

"So far they're being brought over on that dragon the little clone child has," said a member named Snake Jaguar, who like Harumi preferred to come to these meetings with the video off. Harumi could understand, many other members did the same. Not everyone was in a position to declare their loyalty to Garmadon publicly. "And I do not like the odds of fighting a dragon for some flora."

Several other SoG members voiced their agreement to that, and even Harumi had to admit her followers likely couldn't fight that dragon and win without Vengestone and lots of careful planning they didn't have time for.

"Fine," Harumi bit out with a frustrated huff. "And the location? Can we trash it?"

"It's top secret!" said Ultra Violet, one of her more unstable members, shrilly. "Seems ol' IronDragon's turned Garmadon into a sap! He posted on Chirp he was keeping the place under wraps until the day of to surprise her."

"Aw, that'd be so romantic!" cooed another member before screaming, "IF HE WAS MARRYING ME!"

Immediately, several more of the more romantic-minded SoG members all spoke up at once declaring that they were the right one for Garmadon, and no one else, leading to a massive argument.

"QUIET!" shouted Harumi, cutting all of them off in an instant.

Harumi took a deep calming breath and massaged her forehead. "Keep trying whatever you can to sabotage their preparations. Anything we can to make it clear this wedding will happen over our dead bodies!"

All the members of the Sons of Garmadon cheered in support of that, and Harumi ended the call after barking out a few more orders.

Harumi sighed and slumped in her computer chair, and spun it around to look at the brand new, very expensive, sea-green, mermaid-style dress hanging wrapped in plastic in her closet.

It was starting to look like her main plan might become her only plan. Her infiltrating the wedding was the only thing that had gone right since the engagement was announced.

"If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself," Harumi muttered to the dress with a determined scowl. Her face then melted into a smirk. "If they think this wedding is going to happen, then boy are they in for a surprise."

If going to the wedding herself was her only shot, then she was going to make it count.

One way or another, this wedding was going to crash and burn.

A/N Harumi and her SoG are trying really hard to stop this wedding, but as you can see, the good guys are a few steps ahead, and their attempts are more closely monitored than they realize. As it is, it's looking like her only shot will be at the wedding proper, and that's sure to be fun.

As always, thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading and contributing ideas. It's really helpful.

Next Time: If you are going to a wedding, you have to look the part. If you're expecting a fight, you'll want something you can move in. It's combining the two that's the issue.