Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit the Complete Season 2

Episode 20: The Honey Island Project, part 2

Our episode opens up with a recap of the events of part 1 before we pick up with the Maria clone waking up followed by the cable attached to the back of her neck uploading Maria's memories (at least, false ones created by Domino) directly into her brain followed by the tube's amniotic fluids draining out. clone-Maria then falls out of her test tube only for her to get caught by Domino. clone-Maria then utters her first words: "Don, is that you?" followed by Domino assuring her that it's him and everything's going to be alright, slipping the bracelet made from his and Maria's hair onto the clone's wrist. Domino then hugs clone-Maria, telling her "I'm so happy to have you back, my love" before we cut back to our heroes confrontation with the Honey Island swamp monster who shouts "enough! as the guardian of this swamp, I order you humans to leave this place now, I won't let you disrupt the beauty of nature!" followed by the alligators snapping at poor Rodney who hides behind Daniel's back. Daniel responds to the monster's comments by telling the beast that he and his friends are the good guys who are trying to protect nature from those who wish to harm it. the monster growls, telling our heroes "lies! all you humans do is pollute and destroy pristine environments such as this one, it is in your nature in spite of your attempts to deny it. I'm giving you two choices: leave my swamp alone, or die". Marcus unsheaths his katana and tanto while Tony whips out his pair of shock gauntlets, all the while Daniel holds Natalie close to him and closes his eyes. the gators eyes then turn from amber to icy blue, followed by Daniel open his eyes which are also glowing icy blue. the gators then turn around and turn on the Honey Island swamp monster who is shocked to see that Daniel also carries the ESPer gene. Daniel then tells the monster "we are the Animal X natural mystery unit, and my name is Daniel Searle. my mission is to fight for a world where man an nature can co-exist in peace, a world where cryptids no longer need to hide". Natalie sheds a tear, moved by Daniel's speech to the monster. the honey island swamp monster then sniffs the air, recognizing Daniel's scent. he then tells Daniel "I knew your scent smelled familiar, you're Robert Searle's son". Daniel's eyes revert back to normal followed by the gators retreating back into the water, asking the monster how he knew that name. the Honey island swamp monster then tells our heroes "come with me and I'll tell you". the monster then takes our heroes to the ruins of the abandoned laboratory where the Honey Island project took place and tells Daniel "your father was one of the scientists behind the Honey island project which resulted in my birth. during my time gestating in the test tube, I overheard the conversations between him and the other scientists. he and Doctor Uno were close friends and colleagues, the two were working together on a top-secret project that the other scientists didn't know about to recreate the ESPer gene. that is, until he and his wife discovered Uno's true intentions and escaped with the other scientists when Uno sabotaged the project. Uno used the knowledge he discovered from working with your father to put the ESPer gene into me. and in addition to using Bigfoot and Alligator DNA, he also used Human DNA to create me. to be more specific, DNA from Robert". Tony's mind is blown and tells Daniel "woah... Daniel, I think that makes you and the Honey island swamp monster half-brothers!" however Daniel is speechless as thoughts race through his head, getting down on his knees and crying upon thinking of the implications of the information he just learned, saying "my father... injected me with the ESPer gene. my parents abandoned me, left me in the care of the Johnsons... to keep me safe from the Black dot. it all makes sense now". Natalie comforts Daniel during his emotional outburst, giving him a motivational kiss on the cheek telling him "I love you too" which calms him down. we then cut to Domino's airship hovering over Honey island swamp where we see Uno and the twins returning to the airship only to be shocked by the sight of the Maria clone standing by Domino. Dagger asks who the heck this woman is, pointing one of her knives at the woman. Cloak tells Domino that she's wondering the same thing. Uno then reveals to the twins that Maria is their "mother", explaining that the reason why they both came out of the test tube female is because they're made from a mixture of both Domino and Maria's DNA. the twins are shocked to hear this, followed by Domino telling Cloak and Dagger that they can just call her "mom" followed by Domino introducing her to their twin "daughters". after that bombshell of a plot twist, we cut to Tony asking the monster if he really killed his sister Nina. the monster then tells him yes, but not on purpose. we then cut to a flashback with the Honey island swamp monster narrating as he explains to Tony that when he first burst out of his test tube, he came into this world as a violent, mindless beast without a consciousness who knew only to destroy. after his rampage ended with the destruction of the lab that resulted in Nina's death, the beast retreated into the swamp where he discovered his ESPer powers after spending time living amongst the local wildlife such as the waterbirds, muskrats, wild boar, and especially the alligators. he could hear their thoughts, feelings, emotions of every living creature near him racing through his head which was a moment of enlightenment for the monster, having developed a consciousness and thoughts and emotions of his own from communicating with the animals. he also learned how cruel the world can be, and no creature was more cruel in his eyes than the ones responsible for his creation: humans. the Honey island swamp monster took it upon himself to become the swamp's protector from humans who cause harm such a wild and pristine environment. we then get a scene of the monster playing with baby alligators letting them climb all over him and hide in his long shaggy fur only for the monster to hear a gunshot wound from across the cypress forest. the beast then arrives at the river's edge to find the mother alligator lying dead in the mud. the swamp monster begins to cry over the gator's lifeless carcass. the monster then turns his head to see two hillbillies in a boat (one of them holding a shotgun indicating that he was the one who shot the gator) laughing at the aquatic reptile they just killed which angers the honey island swamp monster who opens his jaws to show off his rows of sharp teeth before killing the two duck dynasty rejects off-screen (again, kids show). we then cut back to the present where the monster finishes his story by saying that his vow to protect nature from human cruelty is his atonement for killing Blake's daughter in his blind rampage. Tony is moved by the monster's story, feeling sorry for the beast. the monster tells Tony that he may have been an abomination created by man that wasn't meant to exist, but he doesn't let that stop him from being a guardian of nature, scratching Rodney's little chin with his massive reptilian finger. he goes on to say "it doesn't matter how you were born, it's what you do with the life you were given that counts" while Rodney nuzzles up agains the monster with Tony laughing, telling the beast that Rodney clearly likes him. however this heartfelt moment is interrupted when Blake erupts out of the ground to attack the Honey Island swamp monster with his drill arms, however Daniel, Natalie, Marcus charge at Blake who whips out his arm cannon to blast a tree causing it to fall on top of the Honey island swamp monster forcing our heroes to duck for cover. Blake then points his cannon arm at the downed monster's face, telling him "this is for Nina" as the monster closes his eyes ready to accept his fate while Blake charges his cannon ready to blow the monster's head off. however help is on the way when Tony calls forth the X-jeep with his remote before hopping in the driver's seat to activate battle mode, Tony piloting the mech-suit to lift up the fallen tree freeing the monster who thanks Tony for saving his life, telling him "I'm sure your sister would be proud" before confronting Blake, blocking the blast with the mech's energy shield followed by Tony telling his father "sorry Dad, but I can't let you harm the Honey island swamp monster" before slamming Blake into the ground and pinning him under the mech's large mechanical fist. Blake then slices himself free with his arm-mounted chainsaws, telling his son "I'm sorry son, but this abomination of science must be purged in order to achieve justice for your sister". Tony then gets emotional and activates the mech's arm-mounted mace which he slams onto Blake knocking him onto the ground with a thud. the Honey Island swamp Monster then growls at Blake, letting out a large roar as its eyes glow a bright amber the beast using its ESPer powers to summon a bunch of Alligators who crawl out of the swamp to bite onto Blake with their powerful jaws restraining him followed by the monster telling Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus "NOW!" as their signal to attack. the restrained Blake looks up to see Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus leap off the mech's shoulders weapons in hand ready to strike him down. Blake then releases a burst of energy from his cyborg body that blows all the gators off him before whipping out a pair of energy whips to grab both Natalie and Daniel by their legs and fling both of them around like ragdolls. Marcus then lands in front of Blake and charges his katana and tanto for an energy slash attack, however Blake uses his energy whips to place the restrained Daniel and Natalie in front of Marcus's attack injuring both of them. Marcus apologizes to Daniel and his sister, followed by the Honey island swamp monster charging at Blake ready to bite his head off, however Blake lets Daniel and Natalie go in order to restrain the monster with his left arm's energy whip while the one on his right arm stiffens to become an arm-mounted energy blade which he holds up to the monster's neck, asking the beast "any last words before I put you out of your misery?" followed by the monster closing its eyes and telling Blake "I didn't mean to kill your daughter, it was an accident, I wasn't a thinking animal at the time" causing Blake's cybernetic eyes to widen upon hearing this revelation. our heroes then hear a familiar voice saying "what are you waiting for? finish him right now!" followed by Domino, Doctor Uno, and the twins arriving on the scene, Daniel getting back up to clench his fist saying "Domino... I knew you were behind this". Blake then gets impatient and tells the monster "liar! if it was an accident, then you wouldn't be admitting your actions" followed by Tony telling his father that the monster's telling the truth which makes Blake feel conflicted. Domino laughs, asking Blake "are you seriously going to listen to the words of a mere child? kill it already!" Blake then retracts his energy whip and lets the monster go much to the shock of our heroes, however Blake notices Domino's disapproving look and stabs the monster in the side with his energy blade causing the beast to collapse in pain. Blake then pins the monster under his metal foot before getting ready to behead the monster, however Tony rushes in tackling his father with the mech-suit saving the injured monster's skin. Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus rush to the monster's aid with Daniel asking the monster if he's okay, noticing that the beast is covering the wound with its own hand to stop the bleeding. the monster tells our heroes "don't worry about me, save yourselves". Daniel tells him "I don't think so, we at Animal X didn't come all the way out here just to let an innocent cryptid die, especially not my own half-brother. now hold still" followed by Daniel placing his hand on the monster's wound using his healing powers to completely heal the swamp monster of his injuries. Cloak then calls our heroes pathetic before using her telekinesis to tear the X-jeep mech apart reducing it to itty bitty pieces of scrapmetal leaving poor Tony defenseless followed by freezing him in place. Tony cries for help followed by Doctor Uno telling the child "I don't think so" before whipping out his new invention: the now-completed gene splicing ray before plugging up to eight vials of cryptid DNA into the back of the contraption (that being Yeti, Jersey Devil, Chupacabra, Nessie, Mothman, J'ba Fofi, Lusca, and Lizard man), explaining to our heroes that this invention can turn humans into Cryptid hybrids, however it hasn't been properly tested yet and it seems that Helena White's youngest son is the perfect guinea pig to test it out on. Blake objects to this, saying "this wasn't part of the deal Uno, now let him go. I refuse to let you use my son as a science experiment!" followed by Uno giving off an evil smile, telling Blake "I never said it was" pointing the gene-splicing ray at Tony. the Honey Island swamp monster then gets back up on its feet before grabbing Uno by the labcoat and growling at the poor scientist causing him to panic and drop the gene-splicing ray sparing Tony from being turned into a hideous abomination before the monster tosses Uno into the water while Marcus delivers an energy slash attack that knocks both Cloak and Dagger into a nearby tree freeing Tony from Cloak's psychic grip. Blake then rushes up to hug his son, happy to see that he's okay. Blake then turns his head to the Honey Island swamp monster to ask him "you saved my son... but why?" followed by Tony telling his father that it's because everything he said was true. the monster then tells Blake "the boy's right, I saved your son because I wanted to atone for what happened all those years ago, the guilt of taking your daughter's life weighs heavy on my soul to this day". this causes Blake to re-think his actions. however before our heroes can do anything they are suddenly surrounded by Black Dot grunts who point their guns at Daniel, Natalie, Marcus, Rodney, Tony and Blake with Rodney hiding behind Daniel for protection. a pair of Black Dot grunts shackle and muzzle the Honey Island swamp monster followed by Daniel demanding Domino to let the monster go. Domino then unsheaths his sword from his cane, saying "I don't think so" saying that if Blake won't slay the beast, he'll just do it himself before pointing his sword at Blake telling the cyborg that he'll pay for his betrayal. Natalie then whips out her electric batons, telling Domino "go ahead, do your worst. you've already killed my parents, took my brother from his family, and tried to hurt my friends over and over again. I'm not afraid of you anymore" while Marcus whips out his Katana and Tanto. however none other than the clone of Natalie's mother wearing a stylized black dot uniform steps out from behind Domino causing Natalie to drop her weapons and shed a tear, sadness and confusion rushing through her head at once. Natalie whispers "mom?" before walking towards the Maria clone. Marcus stops Natalie, telling her "stay back, Natalie! that thing is not our mother, she's dead. this is clearly a trap set by Domino to get us to let our guard down" followed by the Maria clone asking Domino who these people are, followed by Domino telling her that they are the Animal X natural mystery unit, enemies of the Black Dot. Marcus points his katana at Domino, asking what he's done. Domino then explains to our heroes that this is a clone of Maria Schmitt that Doctor Uno made from her DNA with no memories of the original. Blake then shouts "Enough!" before swinging his massive mechanical arm at Domino only for Doctor Uno to show up in a mech suit to block Blake's fist before kicking him into the water. Domino then walks up to the restrained swamp monster and holds his sword up to the beast's neck, telling him "your head will make a nice addition to my trophy collection" while Cloak and Dagger arrive on the scene much to the chagrin of Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus who are still being held at gunpoint. Domino then raises his sword ready to behead the monster, only for him to hear a familiar voice shout "DOMINO!!!!!!" followed by the X-copter arriving on the scene and out step none other than Bill and Helena. Tony shouts "MOM!" excited to see his mother again. Blake then gets out of the water and is happy to see Helena again, hugging his ex-wife to tell her "I'm sorry... for everything. I am done letting vengeance consume me". meanwhile Daniel tells Bill "boy are we glad to see you!", followed by Bill saying "glad to see you too Daniel, worry not my darlings for I have brought the cavalry" followed by the other Animal X International agents Anton, Tanya, Delgado, Kira, and the Wallaby twins hopping out of the X-jeep to stand by Bill before whipping out their weapons to take out the black dot grunts one-by-one, Mindy flirting with Tanya by telling her "nice sharpshooting skills" with Tanya telling her "thanks, you're not so bad yourself" in an equally flirtatious manner. Marcus thanks Kira for her and the others coming to rescue him and his friends, followed by Marcus and Kira sharing a kiss. Blake then turns his attention to Bill, telling him "hello, baby brother. this isn't exactly how I'd want us to meet again". Bill then tells Blake to spare him the apologies, saying that he doesn't need to say anything which makes Blake feel speechless. Rodney then zips around and nuzzles both Bill and Helena happy to see them again before Domino interrupts this happy moment saying "ah Bill Kerr, so we meet again. you and your animal X agents are too late, for I am about to slay this monster and you can't stop me!" only for Rodney to zip around Domino's head before freeing the monster from its restraints followed by the monster going absolutely animalistic on the Black Dot grunts while Bill crosses his arms telling his former childhood friend "you were saying?" Doctor Uno then presses a button on his mech suit that summons an army of new cryptid-killing robots he developed, introducing our heroes to the silencers. Blake tells the Animal X agents that he'll deal with Uno while the others protect the swamp monster by taking out those robots. Daniel, Natalie, Tony, Marcus, Tanya, Anton, Delgado, Kira, and the Wallaby twins all nod in agreement before Daniel shouts "CHARGE!" And leads the charge with the Animal X agents taking out the silencers one by one with their weapons. Blake has a one-on-one fight with Uno, only for the Honey Island Swamp Monster to join the fight shouting "GET OUT OF MY SWAMP!" as he leaps on top of the doctor's mech suit and proceeds to bite off the mech's arms before leaping off. Uno's mech suit then opens up its chest revealing a cannon inside which it fires at Blake who blocks it with an energy shield before walking towards Uno as he is being severely weakened. Tony sheds a tear and tells his dad to get out of there, and Blake tells his son it'll be alright, saying that he'll be seeing Nina again soon. Bill tells Blake that the explosion will kill him, and Blake tells Bill "I know. take care of my family for me, brother". Uno asks Blake what he's doing, and Blake says "taking you down with me" followed by a massive explosion that knocks everybody off their feet, the Honey Island swamp monster shielding Bill, Helena, and Tony from the explosion with his body. in the aftermath, Helena comforts her son as he is grieving the loss of his father. Tony then picks up Blake's atlantean crystal and clutches it close to his chest, the only thing left remaining from the explosion. Meanwhile the Maria clone helps Domino back up on his feet, asking if he's okay. Domino tells his cloned lover that he's fine. Daniel then grabs the gene-splicing ray and waves it at Domino, telling him to come get it before running into the ruined laboratory. Domino then unsheaths his cane-sword and goes after Daniel, Natalie and Marcus asking Daniel what he thinks he's doing. Daniel tells them that he's gonna get rid of Domino once and for all. Domino then enters the ruins of the laboratory and corners Daniel, however Daniel uses his grappling hook to grab the sword and pull it out of his hand. Daniel's eyes then glow an icy blue, shouting "Now, half-brother!" followed by the Honey Island Swamp Monster eyes glowing the same icy blue leaping in to grab Domino from behind. Domino asks Daniel what's going on, and Daniel tells Domino "making sure you never hurt anyone ever again" followed by Daniel hitting Domino with the gene splicing ray transforming him into a hideous chimaeric abomination made up from different cryptid parts: the body, head, and left arm of a yeti, The horns, wings, and cloven hoof feet of the Jersey devil, the neck and head of Nessie for a right arm, Lusca tentacles for fingers on the left arm, fangs of the Chupacabra, glowing red eyes of the Mothman, spider legs of the J'ba Fofi growing out of the sides of his body, and the dorsal spines and lizard tail of the lizard man). Domino's eyepatch then falls off, revealing that his mutation has restored his other eye. the monster then drops Domino who is lying on the ground looking at himself, asking Daniel "what have you done to me?" Daniel then tells him "as punishment for all the innocent creatures you and your organization has harmed, I turned you into the very thing you hate: a Cryptid". Domino's glowing red eyes shed a tear before wrapping Daniel in his tentacle fingers, telling him that he'll pay for this before opening his mouth revealing sharp venom-filled Chupacabra fangs inside ready to kill Daniel, however the Honey Island Swamp monster tackles Domino into the wall and starts wailing on him causing the ceiling to collapse. the building then collapses, and once the dust clears Natalie shouts "DANIEL!" before getting down on her knees and starts crying while Marcus comforts his grieving sister. Bill, Helena, Tony, and the seven Animal X international agents arrive on the scene and bow their heads in respect for Daniel. Bill assures Natalie that thanks to Daniel's sacrifice, Domino is no more. meanwhile Cloak and Dagger arrive on the scene to join the Maria clone who tells the twins that Animal X will pay for Domino's death before the three retreat. however the Honey Island Swamp monster emerges from the rubble carrying the unconscious Daniel in his arms. the monster then places Daniel in front of Natalie who cradles his body in pieta pose until she hears a voice saying "Natalie..." only for her to look down and see Daniel open his eyes. Daniel then tells her "we did it... he's gone". Natalie's tears of joy swell up in her eyes, telling Daniel "you're such an idiot" followed by the two kissing while in a moment of levity Helena covers her son's eyes while Mindy and Tanya exchange knowing glances, with Mindy kissing Tanya on the cheek causing her to blush. Daniel then turns his head to the Honey Island Swamp Monster, telling him "thank you for saving me, half-brother". the monster then kneels down to tell Daniel "no, thank you for showing me the truth, that not all humans are bad and there are those of your kind who are willing to protect mother nature as I am. now if you excuse me, I best get back to protecting Honey Island swamp" before the Honey Island swamp monster walks off into the forest with several alligators following him into the water. Daniel smiles before passing out. after that, we cut to an Animal X prison facility where we see Cloak and Dagger break out the four international leaders of the Black Dot: Ivan, El Toro, Adewale, and Mayu. Cloak tells the four that Domino is dead and the new leader of the Black Dot has requested an audience with them. we then cut to Domino's airship where we see Cloak, Dagger, Ivan, El Toro, Adewale, and Mayu return to the airship to kneel before the Maria clone who sits atop Domino's old throne, now calling herself Domina in honor of her fallen lover saying that the Black Dot will not stop until Domino's death is avenged and the Animal X Natural Mystery Unit is no more. after that, we cut to Animal X HQ where we see the injured Daniel being carried on a stretcher by Animal X personnel while Bill, Natalie, Helena and Tony (now wearing his father's atlantean crystal as a pendant) watch with Bill assuring Natalie that Daniel is going to be alright followed by Tony patting Natalie on the back telling her that he's been through worse. meanwhile Marcus walks into the vehicle hangar to see Kira boarding the X-copter along with Anton, Delgado, Tanya, and the wallaby twins. Kira asks Marcus if he's coming, saying that there's room for one more. Marcus then looks over to see Bill who tells Marcus to go, telling him that Daniel and Natalie will have things covered over here. Marcus nods before boarding the X-copter and he and Kira kiss before the helicopter takes off with Bill smiling. after that, we cut to Natalie riding the elevator up to the Cryptozoology museum where she sees the Johnson family enter the building with James asking Natalie what's happened to Daniel, asking if he's hurt saying that Cindy has been worried sick about him as she hasn't heard from him in a long time. Cindy tells Natalie "please tell me uncle Daniel didn't die". Natalie tells them to come with her. Natalie takes the Johnson family down the elevator and takes them through HQ where they bump into Tony who asks Cindy what she's doing here. Natalie tells Tony that they're here to see Daniel. Tony understands followed by Natalie taking the Johnson family to the emergency room where they see a comatose Daniel lying in bed. Natalie tells them that Daniel is very much alive, but he's just in a coma and they don't know how long it will be until he wakes up followed by Cindy holding the comatose Daniel's hand. After that, we cut to our final scene with Bill sitting in his office where suddenly a bearded man with long brown hair wearing an Animal X uniform enters the room: It's Robert Searle, Daniel's father. Bill asks Robert what he's doing here, saying that the everyone in Animal X thought he was dead. our episode ends with Robert asking Bill a question: "Where is my son?"

And that's the end of Animal X season 2! So what did you all think of the Animal X saga's sophomore season, did you like it or did you hate it? let me know! and Stay tuned my darlings, for Season 3 is on the horizon with more new cryptids, each one more weird and wonderful than the last. there are stranger things in heaven and earth, and you've only seen one of them on Animal X!