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 questions

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

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

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

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

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

"I got it!" Cole exclaims

"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 shouts

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

"You never told us your dad was an accomplished athlete. What sport?" Zane asks

"Oh, h-he's a, uh...a blacksmith" Cole says

Kai shrugs "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.

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

"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 explains

"Who is currently in possession of the trophy?" Zane asks

"I.." Cole pauses before sighing "I think my cousin."

"Your cousin?" Kai questions

"Yeah," Cole rubs the back of his head "my cousin and I.. we use to compete together."

"Well, where is your cousin?" Jay asks "We need that fang blade."

"She lives with my dad," Cole replies "her parents died when she was younger. She's been with us ever since."

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

"NO" Cole shouts

"Why not?" Kai questions

"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, my dad decided to make my cousin a solo act, and well I.. I ran away. My cousin Aria was his prodigy, she can sing and dance. But when he sees I can't dance, he'll know I've been lying in all the letters I've been sending them."

"I see," Zane says "that is why you're hesitant to tell us."

"I wouldn't say I hate my cousin," Cole tells them as he closes the photo album "I was jealous of her, and we grew apart."

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

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

Kai shakes 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 says

"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 asks 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 says 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 out before he opens the door.

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

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

Cole rings the doorbell and it sings "welcome"

Lou happily opens the door again "Haha. Come on in, son. It's been forever. What did you bring? A quartet? Come in, come in. I've got a kettle tea on the stove right now"

After being seated, 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" Lou says

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

"Silly stories?" Lou questions

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

"Uh, the Martha Oppenheimer. Yeah" Jay says

"Martha Oppenheimer?" Lou questions suspiciously

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

"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 if we could see the Blade Cup?" Cole asks

"The Blade Cup?" Lou questions

"Yeah, so does Aria still have it?" Cole asks

"I'm afraid Aria hasn't competed in that silly competition in years," Lou tells him "speaking of Aria, she should be coming back from the academy soon."

"What academy?" Cole questions nervously "She didn't get into my school did she?"

"Of course not," Lou waves him off "your cousin is an Idol trainee."

"She's what?!" Cole looks shocked "She really got in?"

"Yes she did," Lou smiles "I couldn't be prouder of her. And you, look at you, 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 says annoyed

"Yeah, we're bringing home the gold and-and we want you to train us" Kai intervenes "in this uh.. competition?"

Lou sniffles "I've never been prouder. If you'll excuse me, I need to write a song about my feelings"

Lou went into the other room.

"Kai," Cole turns to him annoyed

"Look, we enter this competition so we can get close enough to the Blade Cup." Kai explains "Once we get the Fangblade, we leave town."

"Yeah, that sounds great,"

The ninja jump up from the couch and turn to the new voice in the room.

"Aria?" Cole questions looking surprised "Look at you, you've really grown up."

"Yeah, I'm not a baby anymore Cole," Aria says "Now what's this about stealing the blade cup?"

"I- I'm not really," Cole stutters "Did you get new glasses?"

"Cole," Aria crosses her arms

"Hey!" Kai stood up to intervene "So is this your cousin, Cole? The one you were telling us about."

"Yes," Cole says turning to him "Guys this is my cousin Aria, Aria these are my friends."

"Nice to meet you," Kai slides in front of Cole with a flirty look

"She's 15," Cole grabs his collar

"I mean- Hi, very nice to meet Cole's little cousin," Kai says quickly "You're really pretty, not in a weird way."

Jay and Zane look at each other with a look before shaking their heads at Kai who was laughing nervously.

"I'm glad to see that my sociably awkward cousin has finally made friends," Aria tells them

"Cole says you are very talented," Zane says "I imagine it took a lot of work to become an idol trainee at your young age."

"Thank you," Aria smiles brightly

The ninja look away embarrassed, their was something catching about her smile.

"That's a professional idol for you," Jay laughs.

"Well," Aria smirks "good luck, cousin."

Aria walks out of the room to find her uncle Lou. Cole lets out a breath as the ninja turn to him.

"She seemed sweet," Kai says

"Kai what was that?" Jay looks at him "Do you have to flirt with every girl?"

"She was cute," Kai defends.

"That's my cousin Kai," Cole looks at him annoyed "No matter what, stay away from her."

"Someone's overprotective," Kai mutters before shaking his head "Besides she's as young as my sister, I wouldn't go for her."

"And you would before you knew her age?" Zane questions.

"I thought she was 17," Kai puts his hands up "that'd make us the same age."

"I'm not being protective," Cole sighs "It's hard to explain, but she's not who she seems."

Cole walks away as the ninja turn to each other looking confused. Later the ninja Ninja are "training."

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

The ninja sings 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 ninja

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Aria sat in the kitchen making tea as the ninja continued practicing outside.

"You think they'll win?" Aria asks Lou as he enters.

"Not at all," Lou says with a smile "but they are trying. I couldn't be prouder."

"Well," Aria looks down into her cup "he is your son."

-

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 says annoyed

"Follow you? You're two beats off" Kai argues

Zane interrupts 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 says

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

"You really should just be trying to win it fairly" Aria comments

"Ugh," Cole turns to her "What are you even doing here?!"

"Uncle Lou wanted me to come along," Aria smiles.

The ninja looks away.

"I can't," Jay says "that smile just has a death grip on me."

"Can you not do your idol smile Aria," Cole grumbles.

"Sorry," Aria rubs her head "force of habit."

"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 says.

"What?" The heard Lou question.

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

"You...you were going to steal it?" Lou asks, unbelieving his ears.

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" Lou says angrily

Cole shakes his head "Dad, I-" Lou walks away and Cole groans.

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

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

"No, it's-it's okay" Cole says before turning to Aria who didn't seem surprised in the slightest "You already knew, didn't you?"

"Know what dear cousin?" Aria asks sweetly.

"That I was a ninja, you don't seem the least bit shocked." Cole states.

"Every person in this world has their own set of strengths and weaknesses," Aria says as she leans back in her chair "your strength has never been dancing. Your weakness has always been disappointing your father."

"What kind of answer is that?" Kai questions.

"A Sensei Wu answer," Jay says.

Cole turns around to see a group of disguised Serpentine walk out of a dressing room "Treble Makers?"

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

The ninja looked out to see Pythor at the judge's table.

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

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

"Hm," Aria hums.

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

"Our way? " The ninjas question.

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 says.

"Ninja, go!" the four shouts.

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 shouts excitedly

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 know?" Jay asks worriedly.

"Is that cup that important to you?" Aria questions as she walks up.

"Yes," Cole turns to her "it's a matter of urgency."

"Then I suppose," Aria takes a microphone and winks at him "it's a good thing you have a talented cousin."

Cole looks surprised as Aria walks to the stage.

"Last but not least," The announcer looks excited "Our very own 6-time winner, Aria Lord!"

Aria walks on stage and closes her eyes, the music starts, and Aria opens her eyes. The ninja's eyes widen in shock seeing one of her eyes were now purple. As Aria began performing, the crowd became entranced and soon started screaming and cheering.

Cole tightened one of his fists as Aria sang and danced. The crowd and judges entranced, including Pythor. Once she finished everyone continued cheering as the judges gave her 10s including Pythor. Aria's eye faded back to green and Pythor snapped out of his entrancement.

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

"It's a perfect score! Aria Lord wins the Blade Cup once again reclaiming her tittle!" the announcer shouts.

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

They handed her the Blade cup and Aria blew a kiss to the audience before heading backstage.

"One blade cup," Aria says as she handed Cole the trophy "as requested."

"You're amazing," Cole sighs "as always."

"Do come to my first concert Cole," Aria smiles "your support would be most enjoyable."

"I think you'll have plenty of supporters," Cole replies with a smile before rubbing the top of her head "thanks."

"Cole!" Lou came in "I saw it all, son. I saw it all" he hugs Cole.

"You saw me dance?" Cole asks.

"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 says.

"You're not mad?" Cole questions.

"How can I be? My son's a hero!" Lou replies happily "besides, dancing is Aria's talent."

"She's gonna be an Idol dad," Cole smiles "you can be proud of both of us."

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

"You couldn't fool us, Pythor" Cole says.

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

Pythor laughs as he escapes with the Blade Cup while the other Ninja coughs from the dust. They quickly gather around the pile.

"Cole" they say sadly.

Aria turns to look at the scythe of quakes as it shines.

"Didn't I say earlier," Aria turns to the ninja "Cole's weakness was his father. That's what has been holding him back."

Kai looks at her "How did you know-"

"I know a lot more then you think," Aria cuts him off.

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

"Ugh, great. So now I really am the only one who haven't figured out my special power" Kai says annoyed.

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

"We're all okay, son" Lou replies.

Back at Lou's house, the Ninja are drinking tea.

Jay sighs "I guess the scorecard now reads Pythor-two Fangblades, Ninja-zero."

"Yeah, but all we need is one, and there are still two left to find" Cole encourages them.

"Who knows? Maybe when I unlock my True Potential, I'll turn into the destined Green Ninja" Kai says.

Aria glances at him before taking a sip of her tea as Lou walks in.

"It may not be the trophy, but it sure will look good on my wall" Lou hangs up a picture of the Ninja and Aria together after the competition.

Later that day Kai was standing outside staring up at the sky when Aria walked out with her backpack.

"Idol training?" Kai questions

"Yes," Aria replies "If I rest for one day I give up what I'm fighting for."

"I guess you could say the same for us then," Kai looks back up in the sky.

"We all have something we're fighting for Kai," Aria tells him "You need to decide what's more important to you. Do you truly only wish to be the strongest? Or do you want to play your part in history? Whichever you choose will set your path. Decide what you want, or you'll forever stay on one road."

"What do you-" Kai turns to look at her, but she was already gone, Kai sighs and leans back against the wall "Decide what's more important to me?"