The gang had safely returned to the Samurai X Cave. It was time to figure out just who was in this 'Obsidian Force'. P.I.X.A.L. had already begun her research. The first thing she found was that Ronin was in possession of The Crystal King Hands. "No surprise he's in this. Using stolen goods to benefit himself," Cole commented. Continuing to check details, P.I.X.A.L. found that Ronin recently joined Laughy's Karaoke Bar. Dareth had hired him to increase business because Ronin promised to bring in more people in exchange for extra pay.

"Alright, team. Looks like we're headed to Ninjago City," Lloyd confirmed. The team had no clue what Ronin planned to do with Crystal Part! However, those plans would ended tonight!

Pulling up in Ninjago City, the ninja were able to locate Laughy's. "Look, guys! We made it!" Jay exclaimed, heading for the door.

Zane immediately grabbed his friend before he walked in. "Hold on, Jay!" Zane began. "We don't yet know of the situation. We need reconnaissance work."

"Recon-assist work?" Jay questioned

Nya smiled as she clarified, "It's like camera work. We get pictures and a good understanding of what is going on BEFORE we infiltrate!"

"And, uhhh... how do we do that?" Kai asked. Lloyd explained how one of the buildings nearby had a vent system that connects to Laughy's. They can use it to see what Ronin is hiding. The ninja decided to split up! Zane, Cole, and Jay would talk to Dareth. Perhaps he would have some information for them. Lloyd, Nya, and Kai would be the ones to scout the vent system.

When inside the nearby building, Nya pulled out a map. "According to my research, this vent leads to Ronin's office. We'll need to crawl inside it. From there, we'll have enough space for our recon photos," she established. So the three of them made their way through the system into a large central AC unit. It had a ventilation opening large enough to see through into the room, almost as a window.

"Did all three of us really need to come? It feels pretty packed in here," Kai complained. He quickly stopped as he pointed out of the ventilation chamber. "Look! There's Ronin! Let me melt the bars so we can jump him," Kai insisted.

Lloyd quickly grabbed his friend's arm going, "No, Kai! We just need the photos. Besides, there's no chance of getting through this thing. It's meant to resist all temperatures."

Nya began taking all kinds of pictures and taking notes. She turned to tell the others, "It looks as though Ronin is using the hands as printing plates. Given their rare alloy and structure, they'll never wear out. Unlimited forged money!" The hands were attached to a large counterfeit money printer. Since the hands actually had fingers, it was easier to print several copies at once. It was all attached to a large power generator.

"Hmph. I don't expect any less of him, honestly," Lloyd replied. All they had to do now was figure out how to get in there from the outside. It seemed as though this was the basement of Laughy's.

Back upstairs, the other three ninja were approaching Dareth who was behind the counter. Jay immediately slammed his fists on the bar and went, "Hey Dareth, we hear Ronin started working for you. Got any intel for us?"

"Heh... what Jay is TRYING to say is... we could really use an ear on the inside. We need to stop Ronin since he's up to, errr, something," Cole added.

Dareth stood with a blank face. Zane smiled as he told his friends, "And this is why I should always be the first to address a problem." Zane pulled out a small statue of Ronin. "Hello, Dareth. We've heard tell that Ronin is part of the Obsidian Force. I have managed to outfit this figurine with a bug. If you can get into Ronin's office and swap it with the original, we will be able to listen in on all of his communications."

Dareth took grip of the figurine stating, "Not a problem, Zane. You can always rely on the brown ninja. If it helps at all, I also heard word that he's in constant communication with some guy named Finn, whoever that is... I just know he took refuge in Chen's old palace after Skylor moved back to the city to work the Noodle Shop there." The three ninja thanked their friend. This definitely gave them something to work with.

Now that the group had enough information, it was time to put a plan together. Before the Karaoke Bar closed, they had to take care of a few power boxes that were inside. According to the bug planted in Ronin's office, those two boxes provided security in the printing press room. They also had to eliminate alarm horns on the outside of the building. That way the ninja wouldn't accidentally set them off while trying to pull off the heist.

Jay and Nya were inside of Laughy's. "It looks like the power boxes are in those two corners," Nya informed Jay. "The only question is... how are we going to take them out?"

Jay's face lit up as he told her, "Look! They're both connected to that fuse box. But it's locked up. Looks like it needs two keys to open it. If we find the keys, I can zap the fuse box enough to overload the cables for the security boxes! Ultimately rendering it useless." Nya simply smiled. There was a reason the master of lightning was also an inventor!

Meanwhile, Cole and Kai were outside while Zane communicated to them the locations of the alarm horns. There were three of the horns around the club. Being the strongest, Cole was in charge of eliminating the alarm horns. However, as soon as he would attack them, its alarm would go off! This is where Kai and Zane came into play. Zane would hack the alarms in order to tone them down and possibly mute them. This all would draw attention from nearby threats. A reason Kai had the be there. The red ninja would watch Cole's back incase anyone tried to attack. All that mattered was ensuring Ronin wouldn't hear them now OR tonight during the heist.

As the others were taking care of their assignments, Lloyd was observing the area for any possible clues. He was a few blocks away when a policewoman greeted him. "Inspector Marina? I promise, this isn't what it looks like! We're just simply-"

"Please," Marina began with a smile. "I led you here!" Lloyd was able to connect the dots, realizing the 'Obsidian Force slip' was a clue for him. This made him ask why she was helping them out. "I'm not as black and white as Harumi. I know what a menace those Crystal King parts are and I don't want the likes of the Obsidian Force putting them to use."

Lloyd looked at her in question as he went, "So... what? It takes a ninja to catch a criminal? You need our help?"

"Something like that," she answered. "Just don't fall behind! We must hurry in order to get to the secret I have discovered before anyone spots us," she finished. And just like that Marina took off running, catching Lloyd off guard as he immediately began to try and catch up with her.

Inside Laughy's, Nya and Jay were frantically searching for the two keys. They were still trying to lay low at the same time due to the bar still being open and there were still several guests there, as well as Dareth standing by the bar.

Jay casually walked behind the bar. Dareth immediately greeted him with, "Jay, my man, stand tall and feel beautiful. I hear there might be some cop chick snooping around and invading the business! If you spot this lady, bam! Make her unhappy! I can even go hardcore and extreme, all over her face!" As Dareth rambled on and on, Jay just stopped paying attention. His friend seemed distracted enough for Jay to poke around.

Jay opened several drawers. Eventually he opened a cabinet and cried, "I FOUND IT!" Jay immediately tried to draw attention away from himself as he added, "Uhhh, I found-... the way to help! Just don't talk to anyone you don't trust, right? Right? Right!"

Nya's position was up on the stage. She laughed to herself as she joked, "Knowing Dareth, he'd probably just hide a key under a loose floorboard." Ironically, Nya heard a creak in the floor on the very next step she took. This made her sigh as she realized that she was unintentionally correct. Nya proceeded to kneel down and lift the board, picking up a key in the process.

The two met back up at the fuse box. Nya tossed her key to Jay and went, "It's all you now, blue boy!" From here, Jay unlocked and opened the fuse box. Grabbing a wire and a switch, Jay slowly unleashed his electricity. Small lightning bolts traveled across two cables. Nya smiled as she was the only one who noticed the two power boxes giving off bits of smoke. "That does it! No more security in the printing press room."

Marina was now leading Lloyd down the road and through a few back alleys. Marina finally came to a stop behind Laughy's. "Well done, Lloyd! We should work well together," she told him.

"Glad you approve," he responded with a confident smile.

Marina went on to tell Lloyd how she isn't legally allowed to enter Laughy's Karaoke Bar without a warrant. However, she obtained a key to the back door. Marina then smirked as she concluded, "Which a ninja such as yourself can use however he pleases!"

Lloyd chuckled to himself as he responded, "Oh, we are absolutely going to work well together!!"

Now that everyone's assignments were completed, they all met back up. The ninja just had to wait until dark, then Laughy's would be closed and empty. Thanks to Inspector Marina, they now had access to the bar despite it being locked. Zane had labeled this as Operation: Chande-linear.

That night, the ninja all headed for the back alley. As soon as Lloyd unlocked the door they stealthily made their way in, hoping they wouldn't be met by Dareth or Ronin. Once they reached the main room, Zane pointed up at the large chandelier and informed the others, "We simply have to take out all of the pillars supporting the chandelier."

"What's with taking out the chandelier?" Kai questioned. Zane specified how, if his calculations were correct, its impact will be large enough to create an entrance to the printing press room. This part was simple enough for the ninja. After all, breaking things was kind of their specialty! Sometimes, they brake stuff without even intending to...

As soon as Cole took out the final pillar, the chandelier began to swing. Before they knew it, the light source came falling down! Right as it collapsed onto the floor a huge hole was formed in the same spot. "Behold, the majesty of gravity and inertia," Zane stated.

"Now, let's quickly jump in and grab the crystal hands! Then we can all get the heck out of here," Lloyd said.

However, Ronin was awaiting them inside the printing room. It was clear that he had put his new money to use as he now was wearing a very expensive samurai suit. He spotted them and went, "Whuh? Ninja? What're you doing here? I haven't done anything wrong. Now you're practically burning my house down... You can just leave me be for once, right?"

Lloyd stepped in as he told the thief, "Listen, Ronin. You have no idea what you're playing with. It'll bring more than your house down."

Ronin rolled his eyes. He wasn't scared of this artifact. In his eyes, it was evidence that he was bigger than the overlord. "Look, I know you guys are tough individuals, like me. I'm sure that such cool fellows like us can work something out. You see the money? You like the money? You can take all you want!! I can-"

"No deal!" Kai interrupted. "You and the rest of the Obsidian Force have to be stopped. The overlord can never again see the light of day. Just hand over the crystal hands and we can-"

"What is this with crystals?" Ronin wondered. All he would do was ramble nonsense on why he was better than the overlord and unexplainable reasons on why deserved this money.

Jay chuckled a bit as he told the forger, "I have NO idea what you're saying!" Jay then took a quick glance at Ronin's outfit then added, "And your suit sucks!!"

Ronin's expression was quick to change as well as he went, "Oh, that's it!!!" Ronin immediately charged towards Jay. The blue ninja jumped and dodged the attack.

This did not go well with Nya. "You attack one of us, Ronin, then you attack ALL of us!" she cried, defending her yang.

Ronin was usually prepared, however he didn't have much on hand at the moment as he assumed that this room would always be hidden. This wasn't the first time the ninja fought Ronin, so it didn't take long for them to defeat him. Cole took the final strike as he knocked Ronin into a barrel containing ink for the printer.

"Fine! Just take the crystal hands and my counterfeiting operation. It's overwhelming!!" Ronin said, confirming his surrender.

"We're doing you a favor. What kind of thief prints money?" Cole replied.

The ninja were now free to leave with the hands! Ronin was also turned into the cops. This also left the ninja on the outs with Interpol due to all of the breaking and entering, as well as stealing, that they now have committed. This was only the beginning, since they still had several other crystal parts to track down.