At the Destiny's Bounty, the Ninja are trying to figure out how to stop Pythor from unleashing the Devourer while examining a Fangblade hologram.

"They got the first one, but there are three more, and we just need one to stop Pythor. They have a map, and we don't, so they question remains: how are we gonna find them first?" Nya questioned

"I still can't get over the fact that you were the mysterious Samurai. Is anyone else blown away like I am?" Jay asked excitedly

"We're over that. Can we move on?" Kai said annoyed

"Someone's a little hot under the collar" Jay mumbled

"It appears his impatience is because he has not found inner peace and unlocked his full potential like you and I have, Jay" Zane said

Kai crossed his arms "Great observation, Mr. Roboto, but Cole hasn't found it either"

"I got it!" Cole shouted

"What you got your true potential, oh why am I the only one" Kai whines

"No I mean I got where I've seen the fang blade before" Cole clarifies

Cole left and came back into the room with a picture, he shows them the Blade Cup from his photo album.

"That's it!" Jay shouted

"Back when I grew up, there's this pretty big competition where every year the winner gets the Blade Cup. My dad and cousin won it multiple times" Cole said

"You never told us your family are accomplished athletes. What sport?" Zane asked

"Oh, my dad h-he's a, uh...a blacksmith" Cole said

Kai shrugged "Nothing wrong with that. My father was a blacksmith, too. But I've never heard of a competition—"

"no no no he's not a "blacksmith" blacksmith. He's a Royal Blacksmith" Cole turns the page of his album to show a picture of his dad, him, and a little girl. He and the little girl were holding the blade cup together.

"Is the little girl your cousin?" Zane asked

"Yeah" Cole smiled at the memory "she was a dancer before she was sent off to boarding school by her guardians, my dad wasn't her legal guardian after her parents died. Anyway we used to win it all the time"

"But how did the Fangblade become a trophy?" Kai questioned

"Well, supposedly, the Blade Cup was made by this guy who collected priceless artifacts. His name was something like, uh, Dutch...no, Clutch. Clutch Powers! Anyway, it gets passed on to each year's winner" Cole said "I haven't talked to my father in years so I don't know who has it" 

"Well then, we'll call him up" Kai said

"NO" Cole shouted

"Why not?" Kai questioned

"He thinks I'm in Ninjago City training at the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts" Cole groans "He wanted me to follow in his footsteps. But when I couldn't sing or dance, well I...I ran away. When he sees I can't dance, he'll know I've been lying in all the letters I've been sending him"

"He doesn't know you're a Ninja?" Zane asked

Cole sighed "What? You gonna crack some joke that my old man wears a tutu?"

Kai shook his head "No, but if we're going to have any chance at getting that Fangblade before they do, we better get our own act in tune"

-

The Ninja finally located Lou's home and jumps off the Bounty. The Ninja use their Golden Weapons to land safely. Cole opens an instrument case.

"Alright, hand them over" Cole said

"Ah-uh. But no mortal shall possess all four" Jay chuckles before giving him the Nunchucks of Lightning.

"You wanna remind me again why we can't keep our weapons?" Kai asked as he and Zane give Cole their weapons as well.

"I told you, my dad can't find out I'm a Ninja. And I don't feel like making up excuses why I'm carrying a giant scythe around with me" Cole said as he closed the case "Just remember the plan: we find out who has the Fangblade trophy, we snatch it, and then we get the heck out of town" 

Cole knocks on the door.

"Just a moment" Lou calls before he opens the door.

Cole smiled "Hey, dad. How long has it been?"

"What? You too good for the doorbell?" Lou slams the door on them

Cole sighs and rings the doorbell and it sings "welcome"

Lou happily opens the door opens again "Haha. Come on in, son. It's been forever. And what did you bring? A quartet? Come in, come in. I've got a kettle of lemon honey tea on the stove right now" Lou said heading inside

After being seated, they hear a faint sound of music. Cole groans.

"Did my son tell you I broke my foot? It was the cha-cha but I swear the percussionist had it in for me" Lu said

Cole sighed "No, dad. I didn't tell them about your silly stories"

"Silly stories?" Lou questioned

Kai shook his head "Oh, what he meant was, we've been busy training at the...uh..."

"Uh, the Martha Oppenheimer. Yeah" Jay said

"Martha Oppenheimer?" Lou questioned suspiciously

"What he's trying to say is the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts" Zane clarified

"Right! Well, um, see, we have this final research paper we're doing on the history of Ninjago talent, and what we really wanted to know was how can we get our hands on the Blade Cup?" Cole asked

"You're talking about getting your hands on the Blade Cup? The most prized and heavily guarded award in all of Ninjago, the symbol of excellence in harmony and grace? You can't just get it, you have to earn it. You have to exhibit style. Perfect pitch. Push the boundaries of artistic license and win this year's Ninjago Talent Show!" Lou said

"...yeah" Cole says

"Is this why you came? You knew I was injured and when my quartet insisted we shan't go on, you four have come to take our place! Haha, ingenious! My son, bringing forth the next evolution of the Royal Blacksmiths! Let me hear the sweet, sweet sound of harmony"

The ninjas try to sing Harmony, terribly, Cole groans and Lou cringes.

"Look, dad. We just need the trophy" Cole said annoyed

"Yeah, we're bringing home the gold and-and we want you to train us" Kai said

Lou sniffles "I've never been more proud"

The music in the other room stops playing and the ninja turn their attention to the door opening.

A girl resembling Cole's cousin from the picture came out "Uncle Lou"

"Oh right, your cousin Aria is here"  Lou smiled

"Hey little cousin, how long has it been?" Cole questioned happily standing up

"oh cousin Cole" She said casually as she fixed her glasses

"glasses?" Cole said confused as he walked over to her "what happened to your contacts?"

"I lost them" Aria replied "but my glasses keep falling off when I dance"

"I'll take you to get new contacts then" Cole smiled "while we're out we'll get lunch, it'll be good for us to catch up"

"I guess so" Aria shrugged

-

Cole and Aria sat in a noodle shop eating lunch.

"so how old are you now?" Cole asks

"10" Aria answered

"You're growing up so fast" Cole smiled "so what happened to boarding school?"

"I..." Aria looked down "I ran away"

"why?" Cole asked surprised

"I've learned everything I had to" Aria replied finishing her lunch "let's go"

"oh alright" Cole agreed confused

-

Later the Ninja are "training."

"Okay, from the op. Five, six, seven, eight" Lou plays some keys on a piano.

The ninja sing terribly again

"Stop, stop. Ugh. If my ears weren't attached to my head, they'd be running away! Kai, love the energy, hate the hair" Lou hits Kai on the head with his cane "Jay, you're giving a lot, but I need more. Zane, you're like a machine. Don't change anything. And Cole, try to act like you wanna be here."

"He's worse than Sensei Wu" Jay whispers to the other

"Okay, moving forward. Let's take a look at the big show-stopping climax. Cole, we can't have history repeating itself." Lou said

Cole sighed "Dad, it was the Triple Tiger Sashay. I was seven"

"What's the Triple Tiger Sashay?" Kai asked

"Only the most difficult dance move ever created" Cole replied

"It's true. Many professionals have dare tried, but it's never been successfully completed" Lou said

"Hence, my father though a seven year-old could. But I ended up falling on my face, humiliating myself, and letting my quartet down" Cole said

" If you're going to win, you have to go big! Alright, time for a break. Take five" Lou said leaving the room

Cole sighed "all we have to do is keep this charade long enough until we can get our hands on the trophy"

Jay shrugged "I don't know. I'm starting to think we can win this thing" Cole grunts at him "Okay, okay. We'll stick to the plan"

-

At the Concert Hall, contestants are practicing singing, beatboxing, and juggling. The Ninja are practicing their routine. Jay and Kai bumps into each other.

"Ow! Dude you gotta follow me" Jay said annoyed

"Follow you? You're two beats off" Kai said annoyed

Zane interrupted them "Actually, 2.72 off of the beat"

"Guys, guys! Let's not make this any harder than it needs to be. We just stick to the plan and keep up the charade until the trophy's revealed. Once we steal the Blade Cup, we can argue all we want once we get back home" Cole said

"But this is your hometown, Cole. Don't you want to try and win it?" Jay asked

"Ugh, they only dance step I wanna perform is called "get-me-out-of-this-nuthouse-and-let's-burn-these-memories-from-my-head." Cole said

"What?" The heard Lu question

Cole turned around to see Lu "Dad, I..."

"You...you were going to steal it?" Lu questioned

Cole sighs "Dad, I didn't mean for you to hear that, but-but I'm glad you did. There's something I've been wanting to tell you. All these years, I haven't been training to be a singer or a dancer. I found something new that I'm really good at. Dad..." He uses Spinjitzu to change into his gi "I'm a Ninja" Lou gasps "And the truth is, if we don't steal that Fangblade—I mean, Blade Cup—there's other people that will. Bad people. Serpentine. And we need it to save the world. I know how ridiculous this sounds, but I'm proud of who I am, and I want you to be proud of me, too"

"I can't be proud of any son who thinks stealing is right. And I'm not gonna wait around to watch you make a mockery of our family's legacy" Lu says angrily

Cole shook his head "Dad, I—" Lou walks away and Cole groans.

"I'm sure he didn't mean that" Kai said placing a hand on Cole's shoulder

Jay walked up "Maybe if he saw you in action-"

"No, it's-it's okay" Cole said as a group of disguised Serpentine walk out of a dressing room "Treble Makers?"

"Wait a minute. What are they doing here?" Jay questioned

The ninja looked out to see Pythor at the judges table

"It looks like we're not the only ones planning to steal the Blade Cup" Kai said

"Then I say we make our move. We can't risk losing out again. I say we steal it" Jay said

"We're not gonna steal it. We're gonna win this competition, but we're gonna do it our way" Cole declare

"Our way? " The ninjas questioned

The Serpentine and Skulkin cheers when the disguised serpentine finished singing, but everyone else boos. Pythor scores it a 10, but the judges scores 6. The former intimidates them to flip their score cards to a 9.

"Next up, The Royal Blacksmi—Uh, hold on. Uh, this just in, there's been a switch. Taking the stage next is Spin Harmony!" the announcer shouts

"If we're gonna do this, I want everyone to see who we are" Cole said

"Ninja, go!" the four shouted

The Weekend Whip plays as the crowd cheers. Pythor orders the Serpentine to attack them. Cole does the Triple Tiger Sashay on three Serpentine. Everyone but the Serpentine and Skulkin cheer.

"Oh, he did it! The Triple Tiger Sashay! He's danced the impossible!" The announcer shouted

The judges gave them a 10 but Pythor gave a 0, but the audience boos him. The ninja head to the back sulking.

"What are we gonna do now?" Jay questioned worried

Cole looked over to see Aria enter the room, he ran over to her "Aria are you competing?"

"what do you think?" Aria gestured to her dance costume "stupid ninja"

"Cous I need you-"

"Last but not least, we all remember her as the cute little girl that's won our hearts and the trophie 3 times, Aria Lord!" The announcer shouted

"Take notes you pathetic ninja" Aria glared at them "I'm going to show you what a professional looks like"

"Wait a minute, do you hate us?" Kai asks

"yeah you seem really hostile to us" Jay points out

"oh yeah..." Cole looked off into the distance "that boarding school Aria went to, was Darkley's"

"what!" the ninja all shout

"Born and bred Ninja hater" Aria crossed her arms

Jay gasps "so you are her, you remember me right? You grew up at the monastery with me before you were sent to Darkley's by sensei"

"you're not as stupid as you look" Aria says

"Wait a minute, you're also the kid that was with Lloyd doing all that evil stuff, you have to be cause you called me Aladdin back at the fortress in the woods, that was the nickname you used to call me" Jay adds

Aria sighed "Calling you by your old nickname was my mistake, it was a dead giveaway. And yes, I'm Lloyd Garmadon's best friend and his only friend"

Cole inturrupted "Aria-"

"Now I have a ccompetition to win" Aria took off her jacket

The boys watched as Aria took the stage

The judges gave her 10s and Pythor gave a 0. Judge 3 manages to get his arm out and writes a 1 on his score card, turning it into a 10. The crowd cheers.

"What? Wait. I didn't write that" Pythor says agrily

"It's a perfect score! Aria Lord wins the Blade Cup once again reclaiming her tittle and her 4th victory!" the announcer shouted

"Oh, this is a travesty of epic proportions! I demand for there to be a recount!" Pythor shouts

Aria gets the blade cup and heads backstage

"Of course like always my cousin gets all the luck" Cole sighs "Aria listen we really need that blade cup"

"Let's see..." Aria stuck her tongue out at them "nope"

Cole sighed "Aria-"

"Cole!" Lou came in "I saw it all, son. I saw it all" Lou hugged him

"You saw me dance?" Cole asked

"More importantly, I saw you fight. Those Serpentine were up to no good, trying to steal the show, and I saw you stand up for what is right. I was wrong. I shouldn't have pushed you so hard to follow in my footsteps. Everyone is born with a special talent inside that's just been waiting to get out. And you were born to be a Ninja" Lou said

"You're not mad?" Cole questioned

"How can I be? My son's a hero!" Lou said happily

Someone came in

"Eh, sorry to interrupt your little family reunion, but did you know" Pythor rips off his fake beard "it's me, Pythor"

Aria gasped sarcastically "oh my god Pythor when did you get here, nobody had any idea you were here you're so good at disguises"

"...you really are an annoying little girl" Pythor says annoyed

Jay laughed and Pythor rolled his eyes.

"You couldn't fool us, Pythor" Cole said

"I didn't want to miss our big show stopper" Pythor said as two Constrictai pushes a crate and knocks over stage lights over Lou, Cole quickly jumps to cover him.

"Uncle!" Aria shouted worried

Ninja cough from the dust. They hear Aria scream and Pythor laugh.

"I think he took the Fangblade!" Jay shouts

"I think he took Aria too" Kai adds as the dust settles and she's nowhere to be seen

As the ninja gather around the pile, they notice Cole's scythe is glowing.

"He found his True Potential" Zane noted

Cole grunts while lifting up the debris with his newfound powers.

"Cole's found his True Potential. His relationship with his father must have been holding him back" Zane said

"Ugh, great. I am the only one who hasn't figured out my special power" Kai said annoyed

Cole returns to normal "Is everyone alright? What just happened?"

"We're all okay, son" Lou replied

"Not all of us, Pythor got the fang blade and kidnapped Aria" Kai informed him

"What!?" Cole shouted before calming down a bit "what would he want with Aria? She's just a little girl"

-

Aria was thrown into the cage with Lloyd.

Pythor laughed "we got you a little friend Lloyd"

"Aria" Lloyd helped her stand "are you ok?"

"Yeah" Aria answered

"Good, now..." Lloyd looked annoyed "I said to not jump off the building! You scared me!"

"Like you actually cared" Aria grumbled

"We're just kids" Lloyd sighed "our parents left us and I hate to admit it but you're all I got. You're my best friend, even if you are a girl"

"Again ruining a moment by being sexist" Aria crossed her arms

"Fine" Lloyd looked away embarrassed "you're my best friend, and I-I care about you"

"...and?" Aria asks, expecting some sexist remark

"That's it, you're my best friend" Lloyd says

Aria smiles "you're my best friend too Lloydie, whatever happens, we'll face it head on together"

"always" Lloyd smiled

Pythor groaned "Ew, this sweet talk is making me sick"