Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit the Complete Season 2

Episode 15: Marcus and the Kappa

Featured Cryptid: Kappa

Our episode opens up with Tony visiting Blake in prison, with Blake asking Tony if he brought back Nina. Tony tells Blake no, which causes Blake to break down into tears. Tony tells his father that if there's anything that he learned from his little trip to the Congo, it's that Nina may be gone, but he already has a sister: Natalie, and the Animal X natural mystery unit is his family now. however Blake doesn't respond and is still crying over losing Nina forever, which makes Tony roll his eyes and tell Blake that he's pathetic before leaving the room. Blake is even more heartbroken to hear that his own son called him pathetic. after that, we cut to Marcus in his personal quarters practicing his katana skills, only for Rodney to Zip around Marcus's head causing him to lose focus while Daniel and Natalie watch. Daniel tells Marcus that he's got some mad sword skills, asking where he learned those moves from. Marcus then tells Daniel that the katana he wields used to belong to Domino but he was trained in the art of samurai combat by a woman named Mayu who was head of the Black Dot's Japanese division. Daniel cringes, telling Marcus that sword has some serious bad juju all over it. Natalie agrees, telling her brother that sword once belonged to Domino who used it to kill their parents. this causes Marcus to have flashbacks to his childhood where we see him and a young girl named Kira sparring with practice swords at a dojo in Japan while Mayu watches them intensely. Kira manages to best young Marcus knocking him on his butt however Kira helps him back up Marcus thanking her followed by the two friends hugging it out and laughing. Mayu then grabs Marcus's practice sword and gently hits the both of them on the head, telling the two children that there will be no laughter in this sacred place followed by the two bowing to their sensei. Domino then enters the room and asks Mayu how his son's training is coming along. Mayu tells Domino that his training is becoming rather difficult, saying that he's too soft, same with her own pupil Kira. Domino unsheathes his katana and tells her that she needs to discipline him harder until he breaks. Domino then grabs little Marcus by the arm and drags him into the other room while Mayu tells Kira to stay here. Mayu enters the other room to see Domino brutally beat little Marcus with his cane until the poor child is battered and bruised. Domino then tells Mayu that her students need to be made an example of including hers. Mayu bows before Domino and says she will. Kira hears Marcus's crying from the other room and peeks through a crack in the door to see Marcus lying on the floor. Domino then grabs Marcus by the arm and tells him to get back up and promise to Mayu that he won't make the same mistake again. little Marcus says "I will" before we cut back to present day where Marcus tells both Daniel and Natalie that he acknowledges that this is a cursed weapon, stained with the blood of innocents human and cryptid alike, but it's the only weapon he's got which makes Natalie sympathize with her brother. after that, we cut to Japan where we see Mayu sitting in her dojo enjoying a sip of tea until she gets a knock on her door which turns out to be none other than Cloak and Dagger. Mayu tells the twins "Domino told me I should be expecting guests" before asking the two what brings them here. Cloak tells Mayu that they've heard that she's been having trouble with a former pupil of hers and that they're here to put an end to her problem... permanently. Dagger whips out her knives with a sinister grin on her face before we cut to Kira Watanabe (now grown up and a member of Animal X's Japanese division) tending to the garden outside her outpost and feeding the Kappa some cucumber slices before she is attacked by the twins who proceed to lay the smackdown on her forcing Kira to contact Bill and ask for help. We then cut back to Animal X HQ where Bill calls our heroes into his office. Daniel, Natalie, Rodney, and Marcus all enter Bill's office where Bill informs our heroes that there has been Black Dot activity in the countryside of Hokkaido, Japan and that Animal X's Japanese division could use some help. Marcus tells Bill that they're on it followed by Daniel, Natalie, Marcus, and Rodney hopping in the X-jeep and blasting off. We then cut back to Kira's fight with the twins, Kira asking who sent them. Cloak introduces herself and her sister dagger to Kira saying that they were sent here by Mayu to deal with her and the Kappa. The X-Jeep then lands in front of the Hokkaido outpost followed by our heroes arriving on the scene to witness Kira's fight with the twins. Kira then gets up and closes her eyes before charging her katana up with chi energy causing the blade to glow a bright blue aura. Kira then performs an energy slash attack that knocks the twins into a nearby wall forcing them to retreat but not before promising that they'll be back. Daniel is in awe of this, shouting "woah, that's amazing!" followed by Natalie crossing her arms telling Daniel that her sword techniques remind her of her brother's. Marcus then walks up to Kira and asks her "Kira... Is that you?" followed by Kira hugging Marcus happy to see her again. Kira asks Marcus what brings him here, and Marcus tells her that he came here because he heard that Japan was having a Black Dot problem and that he came as soon as he could. Marcus then introduces her to Daniel and his sister Natalie along with Rodney who nuzzles up against Kira. Daniel then asks Kira how she did that magic glowy thing with her sword, and Kira tells him that it's a technique where she charges her sword up with her chi into a concentrated energy strike. Marcus asks Kira where she learned that, as he never learned it when they were in the black dot together. Kira tells Marcus and his friends to come inside and they'll discuss it over tea. we then cut to our heroes sitting around a table drinking tea where Kira explains her story, saying that after she left the Black Dot she was taken under the wing of a wise sensei named Toru, head of Animal X's Japanese division where he taught her how to control her chi and use it as a weapon. Marcus asks her where this "Toru" guy is, saying that he could teach him how to do cool stuff like that. Kira tells Marcus that unfortunately Toru is dead, killed by her former sensei and adoptive mother Mayu, head of the Japanese branch of the black dot. Marcus is shocked to hear that Mayu is still at large, saying that he hasn't seen her since they were kids. Natalie asks how Kira and Marcus know each other, and Marcus tells his sister that they were both raised together by the Black Dot and Mayu was their teacher who taught both of them the way of the sword, hence why their fighting styles are so similar. Kira asks who those two that attacked her are, and Natalie tells her that those were the twins, Domino's "daughters" who were cloned from his own DNA. Natalie tells Kira that if they're involved, it can only be bad news and asks what Mayu is after. Kira tells her that they must be after the secret garden that this outpost is meant to guard. Kira takes our heroes to her secret garden and explains to them that this pond is home to the Kappa, a Japanese cryptid that the Black Dot have hunted to near-extinction for their flesh to be sold on the black market for "turtle soup", even though their flesh is poisonous to humans. Kira then whips out a cucumber from her pocket and dangles it over the nearby pond. Daniel asks what the heck she's doing, and Kira tells him that the Kappa love the taste of cucumber. one-by-one four kappa stick their heads out of the water to eat the cucumbers, much to the amazement of our heroes. Rodney then zips over the pond only for one of them to snap at Rodney but luckily the little skyfish zips out of the way. Daniel then opens up the Cryptozoologicon and reads and excerpt saying that the Kappa (scientific name Kappatrionyx Japonicus) are actually a species of large long-legged omnivorous softshell turtle native to the rivers and streams of Japan. Daniel closes the book and makes the remark "huh... I wonder if these turtles are also mutant ninjas" followed by the others staring at him awkwardly. Daniel then tells the two "guess you guys can't appreciate a good joke" before closing his eyes and placing his hand on one of the Kappa's foreheads. Kira asks Natalie what he's doing, and Natalie explains to her that Daniel has the ability to communicate with animals telepathically thanks to something called the ESPer gene. Kira is intrigued, telling her that master Toru had abilities like that, which was why the kappa trusted him and why he was always one with nature and that legend has it his spirit still wanders these very grounds watching over the very creaturs he swore to protect when he was alive, the mention of ghosts freaking Daniel out. after that, we cut to Mayu sitting in her dojo dining on turtle soup only for the twins to arrive on the scene. Mayu gets up and asks the twins why they returned empty-handed, and Cloak tells her that they greatly underestimated Kira, followed by Dagger saying "her sword started glowing and BAM! we were knocked out cold". Mayu gets angry and throws one of her kunai at the wall, frustrated that Toru passed on his teachings to his student. she thought his teachings died when she killed him. the ghost of Toru appears before Mayu to taunt her, telling her that it is too late saying that his student and her friends will defeat her. Mayu tells Toru's ghost to shut up before throwing one of her kunai which phases through Toru's ghost and almost hits the twins followed by Toru's ghost disappearing. Mayu then tells the twins that she's just going to have to end his legacy herself. the twins then look at each other before we cut to Kira in her dojo honing her sword skills while Marcus watches. Marcus then tells Kira that as her childhood friend he begs her to become his teacher. Kira asks Marcus why he wants to learn so badly, and Marcus tells Kira that he wants to use this power to help better fight the black dot and protect cryptids, to atone for all the bad things he did back when he was known as Domino's son. Kira hesitates to pass on Toru's teachings, but the ghost of master Toru appears before Kira to give her some words of wisdom telling her that Mayu is plotting revenge as they speak and that if they are to stand a chance against her she must pass his teachings onto Marcus. Kira understands and agrees to teach the technique to Marcus, telling him to close his eyes and become one with the sword. Marcus then closes his eyes and sees the memories of those who have wielded the sword, reliving his childhood memory of being forced to behead the yeti along with seeing Domino use the sword to kill his and Natalie's parents. Marcus's eyes then starts glowing red before swinging his katana at Kira who blocks it with her own sword. Natalie and Daniel both enter the room, Natalie asking just what the heck has gotten into her brother followed by Daniel making the witty remark "told you he couldn't be trusted". Marcus then turns his attention to Natalie and charges at her sword in hand before Natalie blocks his blade with her electric batons. Kira tells Daniel and Natalie that it's probably the sword, saying that it must be corrupted by negative energy due to it being used to do bad things, like killing cryptids for example. corrupted Marcus then pins Natalie to the ground and holds his sword up to her neck. Natalie begs for her brother to fight this, however Natalie is saved by Rodney who zips around corrupted Marcus's head before Daniel fires his grappling hook at Marcus's arm to restrain him, Daniel telling the others that they've got to get that sword out of his hand. Marcus then uses his katana to set himself free, only for things to go bad to worse when Mayu and the twins arrive on the scene with an army of black dot ninjas. Mayu notices our heroes are busy fighting corrupted Marcus and smiles, telling the twins that they came just in time as their enemies are distracted. the black dot ninjas then storm the secret garden, capturing the kappa and putting them in tanks. Kira shouts "NOOOOO!" and rushes towards Mayu katana in hand, deflecting the kunai that Mayu throws at her. Mayu tells Kira that she was a fool for choosing to desert the black dot, and Kira tells Mayu that the black dot stole her from her family and that when she learned the truth about how evil their organization which led her to being taken in by master Toru. corrupted Marcus then locks swords with Kira while Cloak freezes Daniel, Natalie, and Rodney with her telekinesis allowing the black dot to ninja vanish and escape with the kappa, corrupted Marcus choosing to escape with the black dot. Daniel, Natalie, and Rodney arrive on the scene followed by Kira informing our heroes of the bad news: that the black dot have escaped with the kappa and they took Marcus with them. Daniel then tells Natalie "see? I knew there was still some black dot in him!" followed by Natalie electrocuting Daniel with one of her electric batons. Natalie tells Kira that they've got to save Marcus, and Kira agrees. we then cut to our heroes boarding the X-jeep before driving through the Japanese countryside on their way to Mayu's dojo. however their vehicle is attacked by Black Dot ninjas who hop on top of the X-jeep scaring poor Rodney, however Kira gets on top of the X-jeep and charges up her chi for an energy slash attack knocking the ninjas off the vehicle. our heroes then arrive at the Black Dot outpost where they find the imprisoned kappa, however they are stopped in their tracks by corrupted Marcus along with the twins. Daniel and Natalie fight off the twins while Kira fights corrupted Marcus sword-to-sword. Kira then closes her eyes before charging her sword and performing an energy slash attack that destroys Marcus's katana freeing him from the influence of the negative energy. Marcus asks Kira what happened before looking down to see his sword in pieces. Kira tells Marcus that she saved him before kissing him on the lips much to the shock of Daniel, all the while Natalie crosses her arms and says that she totally saw this coming. the twins then attack our heroes before Kira throws some Shurikens that pins both of them to the wall before Mayu and a platoon of black dot ninjas show up to surround our heroes, telling them that they are too late. however the ghost of Toru appears before our heroes which freaks out both Daniel and Rodney who are terrified at the sight of a ghost, however Kira assures the two that he's on their side before introducing them to her master Toru. Mayu taunts Toru telling him that he can't stop her since he is dead, however Toru tells her "I may not, but they can" followed by Kira handing Marcus her sword, telling him that it's his turn now. Marcus then closes his eyes before channeling all of his chi into the sword charging it up into an energy slash attack that knocks Mayu and all the black dot ninjas through the walls of the dojo before Animal X personnel arrive on the scene to arrest her while our heroes load the kappa into the back of the X-jeep to drive them to safety. after that, we cut to the Kappa being released back into their pond followed by Kira thanking our heroes for helping her and to keep doing what they're doing, protecting cryptids from those who wish to harm them. Kira offers Marcus to stay at the dojo to continue his training, telling him that he still has a lot to learn. Marcus feels conflicted about this, as he doesn't want to leave his newfound family behind. Natalie assures her brother that she'll be fine, followed by Rodney nuzzling up against Marcus to say goodbye. Marcus chooses to stay behind in Japan to train with Kira followed by Daniel and Natalie giving Marcus a goodbye group hug. our episode ends with Daniel, Natalie, and Rodney hopping back in the X-jeep and flying off while the ghost of Toru watches over them.