Chapter 7: Arrival
Movie Ninjago
At the crack of dawn, sleepy but diligent generals loaded all the decorations for the wedding onto ships and took off across the waves to the wedding spot to begin setting up.
Koko watched them go from the volcano penthouse. "Are you going to tell me where they're going yet?" She asked her soon-to-be husband.
Lord Garmadon, who was trying very hard not to look at her to uphold superstition, replied while facing a wall, "You'll see when we get there. You'll like it."
Seeing that, Koko smiled. "I think you don't have to avoid looking at me until I put on my wedding dress."
Garmadon sighed in relief hearing that and started to turn and face his fiance. "Oh, that's a relief. It'd be a real pain to walk sideways to get out of the volcano."
Koko laughed.
All of a sudden their door burst open and Master Wu marched in. "She's wrong. It's absolutely bad luck to see her at all before the wedding, dress or not. Come, Brother."
Then before Garmadon could protest, Wu managed to somehow toss him over his shoulder and carry his brother kicking and screaming out the door without Garmadon ever getting a glimpse of Koko.
Said bride could only blink. "Wait! I still don't know where the venue is!" she called after them.
Lloyd, already in his tux with decorative gold and green armor, stepped in chuckling at the sight his uncle and father had made with their exit. "Don't worry, Mom, I know the place," he told her with a grin.
Koko lit up at the sight of him. "Oh, Lloyd, look at you," she said, walking over to give him a hug. "You look so handsome, Sweetie."
Lloyd blushed, but his grin only widened. "Thanks, Mom. Ready?"
Koko beamed at him. "More than ready."
"Then let's go," said Lloyd, and he led her out of the volcano to his waiting mech.
"You ready for this, Bro?" asked Kai as he and Zane stood waiting on the ground floor of Borg Tower. The two had agreed it was the gentlemanly thing to do to give their dates to the wedding a ride.
(They'd offered to give their father a ride too, but Borg informed them he firmly hadn't been invited. Lord Garmadon still saw him as a rival in their companies' businesses.)
"Affirmative," said Zane with a bright smile. "I am dressed for the wedding, our ride is waiting out front, and I have my corsage prepared."
Kai blinked, hearing that last part. "Corsage?" he asked.
Zane beamed and held up a small box with orchids and lavender ribbons peeking over the top. "Corsage," he repeated.
"Why did you bring a corsage?" asked Kai in bewilderment.
"Is that not what you are supposed to bring when taking dates to formal events?" asked Zane, looking puzzled.
"Pretty sure that's just for prom," said Kai thoughtfully.
Seeing Zane starting to look disappointed, Kai quickly added, "I'm sure Pixal will still be thrilled to get it. Way to make me look bad, Zane." He elbowed Zane playfully to emphasize he was joking.
It worked and Zane perked up. "I will make a note of that, and do further research on appropriate corsage occasions in the future," he said solemnly.
"You do that, bud-" Kai started to say before trailing off, his eyes set on something above Zane's shoulder.
Zane turned to follow his gaze and was similarly transfixed.
Coming down through the glass elevator of the building, they could clearly see the approach of Skylor and Pixal, with a ding, the doors opened and both girls stepped out.
"Woah," whispered both boys in unison.
Both girls looked stunning. Pixal made her way to Zane in a formal violet cocktail dress that went well with her shining silver hair and purple hoop earrings.
"My lady," said Zane, holding the corsage out to her as he strode forward to meet her.
"Oh, Zane, it's beautiful," she said, holding out her wrist and allowing him to put it on her. It matched her dress perfectly.
Skylor, however…
"What are you wearing?" Kai blurted out when he saw her. Then, realizing how that could be taken, he immediately backtracked and added, "Uh, not that you don't look good, you look amazing, fantastic, but, um, it's not really your usual style."
The way Skylor was dressed looked like what could best be described as a goth lolita from the Systar System. Black lace and lavender glitter on a dress that somehow looked both classic and futuristic at the same time.
Beaming impishly out from under a black bob wig, Skylor said in an innocent tone, "I have no idea what you mean. This is what everyone from my planet wears to matrimonial ceremonies."
Hearing that, Kai snorted a laugh into his hands. That explained the Systar System fashion. Skylor loved messing with people with her rumored 'alien princess' status. Far be it for her to pass up a chance to fuel them further.
"My apologies, your highness," he said with a short bow and offered her his arm. "Shall we proceed to said ceremony then?"
"We shall," said Skylor, taking his arm as they walked out of the building.
Today was going to be fun.
Since the guests themselves didn't know where the wedding would be held, the invitations they were given instructed them to arrive at the Ninjago City docks for transportation to the venue.
Already the place was teeming with guests eagerly awaiting the event to start.
Such was the scene Harumi arrived to see when her limo pulled up.
She scanned the crowd as she waited for the overly long car to stop, trying to take inventory of who's who and if they were an asset or a threat to her plans.
'Trying' because some incessant chatter kept distracting her.
"Wow, Lord Garmadon sure invited a lot of people,'' said Brad from his seat next to her, his face pressed up against the glass.
"Well, he always did love a show," said Gene thoughtfully. "If he gets married he's going to want everyone to know it."
"If," Harumi agreed, still trying to focus out the window and see who was there. "And that's a pretty big if, if I have anything to say about it."
"Wow, is that Gayle Gossip!" said Brad beside her. "We're gonna be on the news!"
"I recognize the man with her as a member of the police force as well," Gene added. "Rumor has it that Lord Garmadon hopes to butter them up to get more freedoms from his house arrest. Just getting permission to get married was difficult enough."
Harumi blinked as they began cataloging the various guests for her without being asked. Huh, useful. Though she was now cursing the lack of foresight to try and ruin the wedding through the legal system. She made a note that if Lord Garmadon tried again after today's failure she would attempt to do so.
"Hey, is that Cyrus Borg's alien daughters?" asked Brad, pointing them out. "There, with the Fire and Ice Ninjas."
The running commentary on the guests continued until the limo finally pulled to a stop. Once it did, Gene rushed to get out of the limo first so he could hold the door open for Harumi and offer her a hand out (and pointedly ignoring the whip-cracking sound Brad made as he did so).
Harumi indulged him since her dress was hard to move in, and the three made to join the crowd.
Only to stumble as two short figures raced past them, and it was only the boys' quick reflexes that kept Harumi from landing on her face.
"Watch it!" snapped Brad as Gene helped Harumi back to her feet.
"Oh, I'm ssso sssor-" a young voice started to say before it cut off with a bewildered hiss.
Harumi looked down to see two Serpentine children there. One was a Hypnobrai in fine-looking robes and a silver circlet, the other a Fangpyre in less fine but still nice robes and a flower crown on her head. Both of them were looking at the three teenagers with identical faces of shock.
No, not the three of them. Not at her. Instead, the children's eyes kept darting between Brad and Gene, looking and utterly confused.
Understandable, Harumi found the two baffling at times as well.
"SSSorry we tripped you," the Hypnobrai said again when he finally found his voice. "We weren't looking."
Pasting on her best princess smile, Harumi said, "It's alright," she said sweetly. "Just try to be a little more careful next time, okay?"
"We will," said the Fangpyre, still glancing between Brad and Gene. "Are you all friendsss?"
"Yep, best friends," said Harumi, knowing that was what she was expected to say (though the delighted gasps from both of the boys kind of ruined the effect).
"Aw, we love you too, Rumi," said Brad dramatically, draping an arm around her shoulders.
Harumi barely retained her sweet smile as her annoyance flared.
Still, like they always did, Brad and Gene knew immediately what she was thinking, and Brad was already removing his even arm as Gene lept to scold him.
The two Serpentine exchanged a glance and shrugged before darting back into the crowd.
"That was odd," said Gene as they watched them go. "Though I suppose the rumors of Lady IronDragon being allied with the Serpentine holds more weight now."
"So it seems," Harumi agreed, before shooting her other friend a subtle glare. "Also, Brad, touch me again and I break your arm," she added only loud enough for the boys to hear.
Brad held his hands up in surrender, knowing Harumi meant that sincerely. "Yes, ma'am."
On the other side of the crowd, Gayle Gossip was checking her pantsuit for wrinkles when she spotted Jimmy the cop in a tweed suit, and had to huff in amusement at the sight of him.
"I see tying ties isn't a skill taught at the police academy," she joked as she walked up and fixed the disaster knot around his neck.
Jimmy actually looked relieved to see her. "Oh, Gayle, there you are. Thanks."
"One would think you're the one getting married with how nervous you are," Gayle teased.
"How can I be given-" he cut himself off, and looked around at the other guests mingling around them, and lowered his voice. "-Given what Nana told us she thought would happen," he finished in a whisper.
He then paused when he saw Gayle's excited grin. "And, of course, you're looking forward to it," he said in a resigned tone. "Aren't you."
"You bet," chirped Gayle. "This is going to be the story of the year."
Jimmy could only sigh and wonder why he had to be the only sane one in his friend group. Gayle was clearly too far gone, and Nana willingly worked a job with an awful boss and where she dressed like a shark, sanity was not exactly her strong point either.
At that moment a loud foghorn blasted over the waves, and those on the docks all turned to see a ferry approaching with a large banner declaring 'WEDDING TRANSPORT' billowing on its side.
As the ferry circled around to dock, a woman in a suit jumped off to help set up the gangplank, and several other snappily dressed workers bustled around to make sure the boat was set up.
"Huh, never thought I'd see the day that Lord Garmadon hired anyone not in fish costumes or a lab coat," said Gayle in surprise as they all watched.
"Must have been at Lady IronDragon's insistence for the wedding," said Jimmy, as that was the only thing that made sense.
But then the suited woman at the gangplank turned to address the crowd. "Everyone, please have your invitations on hand as you prepare to board," she called out into the crowd in a very familiar voice. "No invitation no entry!"
Gayle and Jimmy both felt their jaws drop. "NANA!" they squawked incredulously, surprising most of the other guests with the noise and allowing them to be the first in line.
The woman, almost unrecognizable outside of a shark costume, turned to meet them, showing it really was General #7.
"Wow, you clean up nicely," said Gayle as she handed her her invitation and tugging a still gaping Jimmy behind her.
Nana gave them a familiar smirk that seemed wrong somehow not coming out of a shark head. "Yeah, well, it's a special occasion," she said, adjusting her tie.
In doing so, Jimmy noticed her tie had little cartoon sharks all over it and relaxed. "All is right in the world," he said in a dazed tone.
Gayle and Nana both looked at him like he was crazy. So much for him being the only sane one of the group.
Slowly, the rest of the occupants of the dock began filing onto the ferry.
It was almost time for the wedding to begin.
A/N Funny story about this chapter. It was almost entirely written backwards. I did write the scene with Koko and Garmadon first, then started writing the part with Jimmy, Gayle, and Nana. But then I realized that scene would serve best at the end, so I wrote the part with Harumi, Brad, and Gene, only to then realize I hadn't written the scene with Kai and Zane and their dates even though I'd planned that, so I went back even further to write that bit. This is how my brain works.
Anywho, the wedding is almost about to start. I couldn't resist adding in Pixal and Skylor as a cameo here, because of course the boys would bring them as dates. To explain SJ and Poisintia's weird reaction to seeing Movie Brad and Gene, it's the first time they've met counterparts of their friends outside the Echos and Lloyds, so it's weird to them to see their friends' faces on total strangers.
Major thanks to Kay Hau for beta reading and contributing ideas for this fic. A lot from the scene with Kai and Skylor came from her. It was her idea to make Skylor dress goth to troll the reporters, and I had to use it.
Next Time: We finally see the venue, and the guests find their seats.