Chapter 10: Speak Now

Movie Ninjago

Freckles Jay shifted nervously in his seat. It had only been a few minutes since Morro and his friend (Shade, right? Jay'd only met him a few times as a kid) had gone to investigate… something.

And given what they were expecting to happen at this wedding, that something could only be trouble.

Or it could be nothing, and the expectation was making Morro jump at shadows.

Whatever the case, the anxiety was getting to Jay, and he found himself twisting his bowtie around his neck and wishing for his scarf.

Cyan Nya carefully reached over and took Jay's hand in hers, giving it a squeeze. "It'll be alright," she whispered. "We've got this."

"Maybe, but the suspense is killing me," Jay whispered back.

Their counterparts and Morro's friends all seemed equally nervous in their seats, and the tension seemed to be spreading off them. All around them, people were shifting in their chairs and glancing around in anticipation for… something. It had even spread to the front and the alter, where both Lloyds kept darting looks out at the crowd with concerned expressions, and Jay recognized the additional contemplative look on Luh-Loyd's face as he eyed the various decorations as him assessing what would make the best makeshift weapon.

The only people who were oblivious to the mounting suspense were Koko and Lord Garmadon, who seemed too lost in staring at each other to register how even General #7 stuttered a few of her lines when she seemed to notice Gayle Gossip and her cop friend were no longer focusing the news camera solely on the happy couple but were also panning it over the increasingly nervous crowd.

Finally, it reached the point in the ceremony that had everyone holding their breath.

"Should anyone present know of any reason that this couple should not be joined in matrimony, speak now or forever hold your peace," said General #7 with a wince as if anticipating a blow.

There was a long pause. Longer than was probably planned, given the way Garmadon and Koko seemed to finally register the atmosphere and look around in confusion.

Audience members all eyed each other as if daring anyone to speak up.

(Ducking her head so it wouldn't be seen, Harumi grinned in anticipation.)

It was like waiting for a built-up jumpscare in a horror movie. You knew it was coming, but not when.

But… nothing happened.

Having enough of a delay, Lord Garmadon gave a pointed cough, and said, "General, I think they're holding their peace, get on with it already."

General #7 jumped and said, "Oh, uh, right then, in that case-"

At that exact moment, smoke bombs rained from the sky and blanketed the entire wedding with black smog.

"NOT SO FAST!" shouted a deep voice at the end of the aisle.

The smoke slowly cleared, and everyone turned to see dozens of people in biker clothing standing there, smirking (though several looked out of breath as if they had sprinted to get there in time).

Standing at the front of the group was a massively tall tattooed man with muscles bigger than his own head and a mohawk, and next to him was an equally tattooed pale woman with a crew cut.

"We got something to say about this wedding!" said the woman with a manic grin on her face. She then held up a boombox and called, "Tell 'em, Boss!"

From her seat, Harumi hid a smirk as UltraViolet began playing her pre-recorded message over the speakers.

"Yes," said the disguised voice of the SoG leader. "We of the Sons of Garmadon object to this union."

At the altar, Lord Garmadon huffed a sigh. "Should have known it'd be these fanatics," he said to Koko almost apologetically.

Almost. He was already reaching for his hidden sword in anticipation.

Koko, far from being disappointed, gave him a smirk and he could see her reaching for a weapon of her own.

Man, he loved that woman.

The SoG leader's voice continued on, not seeming to notice the interruption. "We will not sit back and abide as our emperor of evil is further forced into matrimony and pull him further from his dark destiny," they said, the grandiose of their claims leaking through even with their distorted voice. "Lady IronDragon, Secret Ninja Force, prepare to meet your doom so that his evil might can once again reign uncontested."

With that, the woman holding the boombox let out an insane laugh and chucked the heavy speakers at the bride's head.

Several of the audience members screamed at the sight, the Lloyds both jolted forward to try and stop it, but Koko merely stepped forward, narrowed her eyes behind her veil, and waited.

Then, to everyone's surprise, the boombox seemed to shatter to pieces in midair, and a sword gleamed in the bride's hands that hadn't been there a second ago.

She had cut the projectile to bits before it could even reach her.

Lord Garmadon laughed maniacally at the sight as he pulled his own giant sword seemingly out of nowhere. "I love this woman!" he shouted gleefully. He then turned to glare at those who dared interrupt his wedding. "And I'm going to freaking marry her today, whether you bunch like it or not!"

Koko beamed at him, and with a flourish, showed that her gown's long skirt was removable, revealing pants beneath it and that the gleaming metal of her dress was actually her armor redesigned for the occasion. "And I fully intend to marry the man I love today as well," she said, pulling back her veil and leveling her sword at them at his side.

"Oh that is so cool," Lord Garmadon whispered to himself at the sight of her, before turning back to the SoG with a daring smirk. "But if you bunch of crazies think you can stop us, then by all means. Make. My. Day."

The Lloyds exchanged a grin at that declaration, before moving to flank the couple. "But just so you know-" Luh-Loyd said, grabbing a tiki-torch to use as a weapon, and expertly spinning his flaming staff in his hands.

"-We're not letting you stop them either," Lil'Loyd finished for him, his hands lighting up with a green glow.

Taking that as their cue, both teams of Ninja, the Borg Sisters, Garmadon's generals, and anyone else with any form of fighting experience stood up and showed they were ready to rumble. And to top it all off, a ninja dressed all in pink burst out of a flower arrangement with a shout of "SURPRISE!" and looked prepared to fight as well.

For a second the Sons of Garmadon actually looked slightly nervous.

Then, the massive man at the front yelled, "ATTACK!"

The civilians all scrambled to get away as the SoG rushed forwards, and the heroes came up to meet them.

Harumi couldn't help but snicker as the old ladies who had been pestering her fled from their seats. Served them right. Now she could view her triumph in peace.

But when she attempted to stand and move to watch the show from a safe distance, she found a flaw in her brilliant plan.

Mermaid dresses, while beautiful to look at, were incredibly difficult to move in. So when Harumi tried to run she promptly tripped and fell to the ground.

This was a problem, as a second later the battle commenced right over her head and she had no way to defend herself.

The best Harumi could do was duck and cover, and hope that none of the fighters or flying debris would land on her.

However, as a heavy flower arrangement landed just by her head, it finally sank in just how much trouble she was in.

While she could probably expect some aid from the 'heroes' if they found her, none of her allies in the SoG knew she was Quiet1 and that… that put her in a pretty dangerous position.

Just as that occurred to her, a massive hand grabbed her by the back of her dress and yanked her up to dangle in the air.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," said Killow, grinning nastily at her. "The mayor's little princess."

Harumi froze, her life flashing back to the last time someone held her dangling in the air like this.

The murderer who killed her parents. The one she'd gone to kill, only to need to be saved by…

At that exact moment, Lord Garmadon got punched by UltraViolet hard enough to be knocked back into Killow, causing him to drop her.

Lord Garmadon, not happy about that, immediately turned around and judo flipped Killow over his shoulder with a shout of, "Watch it! I'm fighting here!"

Killow yelped as he was thrown like a ragdoll, and UltraViolet laughed at his misfortune before getting a surprise kick from the Fuchsia Ninja.

Harumi could only lay sprawled on the ground and stare up at Lord Garmadon in awe.

He'd saved her!

Again!

She didn't notice that Lord Garmadon didn't appear to even see her, and instead grumbled under his breath about people not knowing proper battlefield etiquette before diving back into the fray.

Harumi probably would have laid there until the battle was over, but Luke Cunningham got tossed through the air and landed next to her on the ground, shaking the stars from her eyes.

Oh, right, she needed to get out of here before she got trampled.

She tried to get back to her feet once again, only to again trip on her skirt, and stumble to the ground, allowing Luke Cunningham to grab her ankle.

But before he could do anything, a loafer-covered foot shot out and stomped on Luke's hand, forcing him to let go.

"Get your mitts off my bestie!" shouted Brad, grinding his foot into the hand.

Harumi could only stare at him and then found herself being scooped up into the arms of Gene. "Time to go," the bespectacled boy said as he and Brad turned tail and fled the wedding scene turned battleground.

"What are you doing here?" Harumi as they took to the relative safety of a rocky outcrop on the beach where the other guests had gone to hide.

"Like we'd leave you behind, Rumi!" said Gene as he carried her away.

"Yeah, I get wanting to watch the action up close," agreed Brad as he ran beside them. "But not that close."

Harumi gaped at them, then allowed herself a small smile. "I just wanted to see the outcome," she said primly, knowing there were other guests nearby who couldn't know her involvement. Especially not the brown Ice Ninja look-alike who was helping a pair of elderly men to the rocks, and was looking to stand guard over the guests.

"Good thing I brought binoculars," said Gene as he set her down on the rocks, and he pulled said binoculars out.

Taking them from his hand, Harumi put them up to her eyes. Time to see her plans come to fruition.

The real show was about to begin.

A/N Well, we knew this wedding was going to be a fight, and now that fight has started. Harumi, however, is finding her choice in wardrobe lacking when it comes to getting to safety. Good thing she has friends, and she got to be saved by Garmadon again, so I'm sure the fangirl in her is pleased. Garmadon still has no clue she exists. He's just happy he gets to fight alongside Koko again, and see her look badass in a wedding dress.

Massive thanks as always to Kay Hau for beta reading and offering ideas to this chapter. I don't remember any specifics, but I know she was a big help.

Next Time: Finding more people opposing them than anticipated, the SoG bring out the big guns.