As Poppy, Jasmine, and Mintayla walked around Ninjago, six members of the Sons of Garmadon were infiltrating Borg Tower and as they tried to steal the Oni Mask of Vengeance, they accidentally activated the alarms and the color green went past them.

"Nice masks. You could almost pass as ninja." Lloyd appears in front of them and makes a hand gesture for them to fight him.

The leader pushes one of the members towards him before running off to the zip line. Lloyd easily takes down the members left behind and chases the two escaping members down the zip line, but the leader cut the rope, leaving the other member behind. Luke would've hit the ground, but Lloyd caught him and turned him in to the police before he went back to chasing after the member.

"PIXAL, I need my car." Lloyd stated, swinging from the hope.

"Your coordinates, Master Lloyd?" PIXAL asked.

"Somewhere over... you know how to find me," Lloyd says as he let go of the rope and stared at the ground. The sound of vehicle driving his way was heard and PIXAL catches him in his car, "Ha ha! I could kiss you, PIX."

"I don't think Zane would approve."

With Lloyd right behind him, the member on the motorcycle just kept driving, hoping to lose him.

"Who am I chasing?" Lloyd asked.

"He or she is not in our database." PIXAL says.

"Whoever they are, they're good. I need backup," Lloyd says.

"All of the others are on active missions throughout Ninjago. You are on your own," PIXAL told him.

The leader, still in possession of the mask, escapes with a parachute with the Sons of Garmadon logo on it. Lloyd puts his vehicle to a stop and climbs out, running to the edge just in time to see the logo, causing his eyes to go big.

"Master Lloyd, are you all right? Are you there?" PIXAL asked.

Lloyd brought his hand up to his earpiece, "Yeah, I'm here. It's time to get the team back."

Somewhere else in Ninjago, villagers are forced to collect water from a pond with three samurais watching them with whips in their hands. In front of them, a villager carrying water stopped walking.

"You there, peasant. Bring me water." The samurai said, only to get no answer in return. "You hear me? Bring me some water!"

The villager then looked up with a smirk, revealing herself to be the Master of Water, Nya. "Thirty?" She asked.

One of the samurais gasped, "It's—"

"The Master of Water, Nya!" Another samurai finished his sentence.

"I don't care. Get her!"

The samurais attacked her, but they were no match for the Master of Water herself. The villagers cheer once all the samurai were stuck in the pond, Nya quickly say bye and left, hearing a beep in her ear.

Jay and Cole enter an ancient temple.

"Cole, you're my friend, but right now you're my worst enemy. You have no idea how time travel works." Jay said.

"If someone goes back in time and alters the past, our reality as we know it would change. We could look totally different and not even know it." Cole says, taking off his mask to reveal his face and hair.

"But we don't!" Jay said, taking off his mask as well. "Thus, Master Wu must have slipped into a team stream into the future."

"Whenever he is, it's been a year. It's time we find him," Cole says, walking up to a monk. "Uh, hi. Sorry to bother you. Cole, Master of Earth. Uh, this is Jay, Master of Blabber."

"Lightning." Jay scolded.

Cole continued, "We heard that an old man who lost his memory wandered in from the cold. About so high, long beard, drinks a lot of tea."

The monk doesn't respond.

"I told you not to introduce yourself as the Master of Earth. No one knows what that means." Jay said.

"No, you bolthead. Everyone here took a vow of silence," Cole says.

This time, it was Jay who walked up to the monk. "Can you point us to him!?" Jay yelled, the monk points in a different directions. "Thank you! I—I like your place!"

They walked down the hall and found a man sitting down.

"Wait!" Jay says, grabbing Cole. "If it's him, and he lost his memory, don't remind him of that stupid TV show I once hosted, okay?"

"Uh. Master Wu?" Cole asked.

The man stood up while Cole and Jay hoped that it was him. But when the man turned around, their faces grew with disappointment when they saw that it wasn't him.

"Oh, come on! We came all the way, and it's not him? Aw, th—that's it! I quit." Jay says, turning around and walking away; Cole following.

"I'm tired of losing people in my life. Wu would never quit on us, and we're not quitting on him." Cole says.

"If he's really still out there, couldn't he at least send a letter from the future? Or leave a message to stand the test of time? He's wise. He'd find a way." Jay says.

"We just have to keep looking."

"Yeah, you do that. And while you're at it, I'll be doing something more useful, like being a ninja." Jay says.

"Ha! Some ninja you are! You talk more than you fight." Cole says.

"At least I'm entertaining. All you do is judge and act like you know everything!" Jay shot back.

"Would you stop fighting!?" The monk quickly covered his mouth with a gasp.

"Way to break your vow." Another monk said before he gasped. "Oh, no, I spoke too!"

"Haha! I knew you didn't have it in you!"

"I've been holding this in, but I just want to say I hate doing your dishes!"

"Well, if everyone is doing it, I'm doing it too!"

The monks continued arguing and Jay's communication device beeps, "That's our cue. Got to run!"

Zane and Kai are fighting the mechanic.

"Zane, Master Lloyd requires Kai and your attention in Ninjago City." PIXAL told the nindroid.

"Is it serious?" Zane asked.

"It appears so. Did I catch you at a bad time?"

"Zane, a little help?" Kai asked, dodging the Mechanic's attack.

"Hot off the press. The Mechanic is back, Ninjago!" He said, shooting fire at Kai just at the same time Kai did too.

"Ugh. Whoever said fight fire with fire didn't know what they're talking about." Kai says.

"We will be there shortly." Zane says.

"Watch out for the crossfire!" The mechanic shouted.

"Hey! You're stealing my lines!"

Unknown to the Mechanic was that from behind him, Zane used his ice power to freeze him, but the nindroid didn't realize that he froze Kai too.

"Who likes ice cream? I do! How was that for a last line, Kai? Can we leave now?" Zane asked.

"Needs a little work," Kai said, currently stuck in ice. "Gonna have to give me a minute to thaw, though."

The ninja eventually grouped up and Lloyd joins them.

"Hey, there he is." Kai said, sharing a high-five with Lloyd. "You're late."

"Kai was late too, if it is any consolation." Zane says.

"Thanks for meeting me here. It's been a while since we've all been under one roof." Lloyd says, now noticing that Nya giggled while Cole nudged Jay. "What?"

"Are we gonna talk about it?" Jay asked.

"Talk about what?"

"Your voice, it's—"

"Lower." Zane said in a deep voice.

Kai threw a arm around Lloyd's shoulder, "Sounds like our little ninja's growing up."

"Leave him alone." Nya told her older brother. "Any word from your mother?"

"Not since she went searching for Master Wu. I don't know where she is." Lloyd informed.

"She'll come back, Lloyd. And so will Wu." Cole assures.

"Not everyone comes back, Cole. But that isn't why I called you here. I called you because of this," Lloyd says as he showed them the logo he saw on the parachute.

"Your father? Lord Garmadon?" Cole asked.

"After poking around, I've learned it's the symbol to—" Lloyd began.

"The Sons of Garmadon. A mysterious criminal syndicate growing prominent in Ninjago City." Zane says.

"Seventy two hours ago, they stole a powerful relic from Cyrus Borg. Some mask—"

Hutchins then walked in. "Not some mask. The Oni Mask. There are only three in existence."

"Whoa, I'm confused. How can there be three mask when you just said it's the only mask?" Jay asked.

"Not only, Jay. Oni." Nya told him.

"The Oni are said to be all-powerful beings. Demons that predate Ninjago," Zane says.

"Each mask embodies one of the three Oni warlords. If all three masks are united, whomever owns them will wield tremendous power." Hutchins says.

"Ninja, this is Mr. Hutchins. Master at Arms and Counsel to the Royal Family. I've asked him here," Lloyd explains.

"The Royal Family?" Kai asked.

"Apologizes if you aren't familiar. They honor their privacy, as they do the safety of Ninjago." Hutchins says.

"Let me guess, they have an Oni mask too." Cole says.

"Two? Now there's two?" Jay said, only for Nya to cover her boyfriend's mouth.

"The Emperor will be delivering a public speech tomorrow, and I'm worried the Sons of Garmadon may try to steal the mask. We could use your assistance, that is, if you can keep a low profile." Hutchins says.

"We are ninja. No one will know we are there," Zane says.

"Just let us know where and when." Lloyd said.

Then, the ninja hid while the Emperor delivered his speech.

"As many of you know, my family has kept a private life. We aren't interested in meddling with current affairs. But as crime has risen, so has our concern. So it is time to step out of the shadows and into the light," the emperor says.

"I don't like this one bit. If the Royal Family likes their privacy, why give such a public speech?" Nya asked.

"I think it's nice. They're reaching out to the people." Jay says.

"Why all the hate, sis? You just don't like getting gussied up." Kai says.

"All that gold and glitter is for show. The Royal Family are figure heads. They don't have any real power, what purpose do they have?" Nya says.

"Their purpose is to be protected, as do all our traditions. I believe Master Lloyd has spotted something of interest." Zane says.

They see Lloyd staring at the princess.

"Looks like he's got an eye for the princess." Kai teases.

"I guess green is her favorite color." Jay teases.

"You do know I can hear you, right?" Lloyd says. "The Emperor is almost finished. Let's just do our job,"

"...and always stay united." The Emperor says, as the crowd cheers when his speech was done.

The ninja looked around and Lloyd spotted a balloon with the Sons of Garmadon logo on it. "I see a—" they hear popping sounds and the crowd panics. Lloyd tackles the princess and empress to the ground while Hutchins did the same for the Emperor. "Is the threat clear?"

Nya sees firecrackers going off, "Firecrackers. False alarm." She says.

The royal family stood up while the rest of the ninja went to where Lloyd stood. "You've protected the Royal Family. You have their gratitude. You are invited to be their guests in the palace," Hutchins told them.

"No one ever gets invited to into the palace. Are you sure they meant us?" Jay asked.

"It's just a palace. Once you've seen one, you've seen them all." Nya says.

"We'd be honored," Lloyd says.

Later that night, the ninja enters in the palace.

"Welcome to the Royal Palace, also known as the Palace of Secrets." Hutchins says.

"Ooh, why do they call it the Palace of Secrets?" Kai asked, his curiosity pimped.

"If I were to tell you that, then it wouldn't be a secret now, would it?" The ninja, expect for Nya, gasps in awe.

"Look at that."

"I already feel royal."

"It's beautiful."

"Yeah, I could really get used to living in a place like this."

"Well, don't. We're only here as guests, then back to protecting Ninjago." Lloyd says.

"Hmph. Too much gold in my opinion," Nya says.

"I present to you the exalted Emperor and Empress of Ninjago, and their daughter, the Jade Princess, Princess Harumi." Hutchins says.

"We are honored by your presence." Emperor says.

"The honor is all ours." Lloyd says.

"I have read much about you. Your heroics will surely become legend. Kai, the hothead who acts without question. Cole, the rock and foundation of the team. Jay, the joker whose mouth is as fast as lightning. Zane, the cold and calculating android." Harumi says.

"Nindroid, your highness." Zane corrected.

"And Nya, the girl," Harumi says, only for Nya to get annoyed with that. "The girl I've wanted to be ever since I first heard about her. With her mastery of Water and her skill that could rival any master,"

"I like her." Nya says.

"And Master Lloyd, the Green Ninja. The youngest but most powerful protector. The chosen one. I too have lost my parents," Harumi says, Jay looked at her parents in confusion. "But we're both not without family, hm?"

"We adopted Harumi and raised her as our own." The empress explained.

"When her parents passed away." The emperor says.

"Thank you for inviting us into your home." Lloyd says.

"It wasn't us. It was our daughter." Emperor says.

"And she would like you to stay with us, until the threat to our throne is over." Empress says.

"These are troubling times, and as long as we have an Oni mask, we fear our lives are in jeopardy." Emperor says.

"The masks must never be reunited. Please say yes." Harumi begs.

"Then you have our help." Lloyd says.

"Great. Then Mr. Hutchins can show you the palace."

*

The ninja guard the palace.

"All clear." Nya says.

"Here too. Wait, look!" Kai said, pointing down. They see Hutchins, but when he sees them, he walks back inside the palace.

"Who's watching who?" Nya asks.

Jay, Cole, and Zane are at the buffet table.

"Mm. Mm. Are you sure you don't want any? This cake is delicious." Jay says.

"Ah. My body is a temple," Cole says.

"Well, the buffet is clear of any threats. And they're out of baloney." Jay says.

"Can we discuss now what is a party pooper?" Zane asks.

Cole groans, "Jay's upset and I'm the responsible one. With Master Wu gone, someone has to keep us in check."

"In that case, you are correct. You are responsible. It is nice to have a pooper at the party." Zane says.

Jay laughs while Cole groans.

Lloyd looks into the mask's display case.

"So, you're the Mask of Deception." Lloyd says, just as he hears glass break and slowly walks toward Harumi's room. "Princess? Princess Harumi? Are you there?"

He opens the door but her room is empty.