Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit season 3 part 3

Episode 19: The Owl Society

Featured Cryptid: Owlman

Our episode opens up in Cornwall, England with a child being abducted by a pair of men in black cloaks and owl masks, bringing them into an abandoned church carrying the abducted child into the belfry, the cult leader known as Ernst exclaiming "do not worry child, for you are about to be sacrificed to the owlman" a pair of glowing red eyes appear from the darkness as gray feathers drop from the ceiling, the scared child looking up to see a giant gray owl with glowing red eyes swoop down before we cut away. We then cut to Marcus entering the Cryptozoology museum back to wearing his old Animal X uniform, walking past two familiar-looking teenagers looking at the museum's Annunaki exhibition (who are Lena and Alex from the Sector 51 spinoff series) Lena gets excited by seeing Marcus, Alex asking her "you know this guy, Lena?" Followed by Lena saying "Delta told me all about you guys, you're the ones who keep track of all those mystery animals, right?" Marcus shakes Lena's hand, saying "they're called Cryptids. Name's Marcus Schmitt, agent of the Animal X: Natural Mystery Unit. You two must be from Sector 51, My sister Natalie worked with your organization once on a case relating to the Flatwoods monster". Alex cocks his head, saying "I'm still confused" followed by Marcus waving our heroes goodbye before taking the secret elevator down. Marcus then enters Animal X HQ where Tony is shocked to see Marcus wearing his old uniform again, asking him what he's doing here. Marcus says "I'm here to rejoin the old crew" Bill shows up to shake Marcus's hand, telling him "good to have you back, son" Marcus tells Bill that he decided to disband the Wildlife warriors, saying that all the members split up and went back to their Animal X divisions in their respective countries, all the while Helena tries to contact Nina only for her to get nothing but static. Marcus asks Bill where Daniel and Natalie are, and Bill tells him that they're currently on a little vacation in England to visit Natalie's family, they needed a break from the action after how intense their last adventure was. we then cut to Cornwall, England where we see the Johnsons drop off Daniel, Natalie, Rodney, and Cindy with Sharon telling Cindy to have fun with Uncle Daniel before kissing her daughter on the cheek. James then says "call us when you need us!" before the X-van blasts off while Daniel, Natalie, and Cindy wave goodbye while . Natalie knocks on the door of the Schmitt household where we see an old lady, Hazel Schmitt (Natalie's aunt), answer the door along with Dana running up to hug Natalie happy to see her cousin again having not seen each other since the Exmoor beast case back in the episode "big cats in britain", Hazel telling our heroes "Dana told me you'd be coming, come right in" as our heroes enter the mansion they are watched from the shadows by the men in cloaks and owl masks from the earlier scene. meanwhile our heroes walk around Schmitt manor with little Rodney excited zipping around from room to room with Cindy chasing the little skyfish up and down while Daniel and Natalie look at the mansion's collection of Cryptozoological artifacts. Dana explains to them that her mom Hazel was a Cryptozoologist back in the day, saying that she and Bill were old friends back in the day. Hazel blushes, the old hag saying "Bill and I were more than friends, actually" only for Dana to yell "I didn't need to know that, mom!" Hazel asks Natalie what she and Daniel have been up to, and Natalie reveals to her aunt and cousin that she is pregnant and her and Daniel are starting a family, an ecstatic Dana exclaiming "oh my gosh congratulations you two! you'll be great parents" Natalie then says "I don't know about Daniel, something tells me he'll end up being one of those dorky fathers" Daniel exclaiming "HEY!" before we cut to Cindy chasing Rodney around the mansion until she ends up climbing through the window to chase the little skyfish outside, however she ends up falling off the roof and landing in the bushes below where she is found by the men in the owl masks who take her away scaring poor Rodney who flies back inside. we then cut back with Daniel who's taken interest in one particular artifact in Schmitt manor's collection, a stone idol resembling a long-legged owl with big red eyes. Daniel says that there's something familiar about this owl statue, saying that it reminds him a lot of the American cryptid known as the Mothman. Hazel explains saying "that is the Owlman, a local cryptid from these parts. this idol belonged to a local cult known as the Owl society who worship the Owlman as some kind of dark deity. they go around abducting young children to be fed to the Owlman as sacrifices" Natalie then says "that's horrible" while Daniel flips through the Cryptozoologicon and finds the page on the Owlman, he reads an excerpt saying that the Owlman of Cornwall is not related to the American Mothman but is in fact a giant 5-foot-tall strigiform owl related to the extinct Ornimegalonyx. Daniel and Natalie then see Rodney zip into the room trying to warn our heroes, Daniel asking "what is it Rodney?" only for our heroes to hear Cindy scream. Daniel, Natalie, and Dana run out the door to see Cindy being dragged away by the Owl society. Daniel then says "let her go!" however Ernst, the leader of the Owl society, tells him "that won't do, the Owlman demands a sacrifice" prompting Daniel to whip out his grappling hook while Natalie whips out her electric batons to fight off the Owl society cultists who fight with knives. however Dana is too scared to fight as she has a traumatic flashback to her childhood, showing her being abducted by the Owl society. Natalie asks her cousin if she's okay, and Dana is too scared to answer. Ernst approaches Dana and strokes her hair, telling her "yes, I remember you... you were the girl who got away" Natalie rushes to protect her cousin, exclaiming "you leave her alone!" electrocuting Ernst with her electric batons. the Owl society then escape with Cindy, much to the frustration of Daniel who screams "NOOOOO!!!!" while Natalie comforts him, assuring that they'll find a way to get Cindy back before we cut to Cindy waking up in a giant cage hanging from the ceiling of the abandoned church with all the other kids, one kid saying "she's awake!" the kid introduces himself as Christopher, telling Cindy that he and the other kids were stolen from their families by the Owl society and that they're all gonna be fed to the Owlman soon. Cindy then asks why they don't try to escape, and Christopher tells her "there is no hope of escape, that's why we've accepted our fates" Cindy then says "I won't accept it, I have faith in my Uncle Daniel that he's gonna save me" only for Cindy's ESPer powers to go off sensing the presence of a cryptid. she then sees a bunch of gray feathers falling from the ceiling while the Owl society cultists start chanting the Owlman's name, all the kids including Cindy looking up to see the Owlman perched atop the cage, staring down at the kids with its glowing red eyes. the Owlman then pukes up an owl pellet that falls through the bars and lands on the bottom of the cage that the kids are in, Cindy horrified to see a human child's skull in the pellet. one Owl society cultist pulls a lever dropping all the kids out of the cage and onto the floor to allow the Owlman to eat them, the Owlman landing in front of Cindy getting up in her face. Cindy then uses her ESPer powers to communicate with the Owlman, demanding the beast to not eat her. the Owlman submits, much to the shock of the Owl society cultists. one cultist whispers into Ernst's ear telling him "this girl can speak to the Owlman just like you, she's not like the others" Ernst reveals himself to be an ESPer and commands the Owlman to bring the girl to him, the Owlman picking up Cindy in his beak and carrying her over to be dropped in front of Ernst as little Rodney observes the whole ordeal before zipping off. we then cut back to Schmitt manor where  Natalie asks Dana why she was so scared of that owl cultist guy, and Dana said "remember when my mom said that those guys sacrifice children to the Owlman? I was almost one of those children. I was lucky to have escaped" Hazel tells Daniel and Natalie that what Dana said was true, saying that back then she was worried sick until one day she returned and recounted her entire encounter with the Owlman. Daniel then says "if we don't act soon Cindy will soon befall the very fate that Dana avoided" Dana then says "you're right, it's time for me to face my fears" Natalie grabs her electric batons and says "right there with you cousin" Hazel the tells our heroes "before you go, there's something you need to know: Ernst is an ESPer, which is how he has control over the Owlman" Daniel then says "just like me and Cindy, oh man..." before we cut back to the abandoned church where Ernst places his hand on a terrified Cindy who is too scared to move, placing his hand on the little girl's forehead causing their minds to link up. Cindy telepathically says "you're an ESPer, just like me and my uncle Daniel!" Ernst says "the boy with the brown hair is an ESPer too? I should have known" Cindy tells him "if you hurt me then my Uncle Daniel is gonna kick your butt" Ernst then says "I have no intention of harming you, I want you to join us" handing her a kid-sized robe and owl mask Cindy tells him "In your dreams. now let the other kids go!" Ernst then says "too late for that, they'll be fresh meat soon" as Cindy turns her head to see the Christopher and the other children cowering in the corner from the hungry Owlman only to be rescued by Rodney who super speed-rams the Owlman causing the beast to stumble. Rodney zips over to Cindy who tells him "Rodney, you came for me! boy am I glad to see you little guy" as Rodney nuzzles up against her followed by Cindy grabbing Christopher's hand telling him and the other kids to come with her. we then see Daniel, Natalie, and Dana arrive on the scene with weapons in hand, Daniel flinging cultists around with his grappling hook while Natalie combines her electric batons into an electric bo staff to whack even more cultists around, Cindy exclaiming "see guys? I told you my Uncle Daniel would come save us" followed by Daniel hugging Cindy telling her he's happy to see her okay. meanwhile Dana fights Ernst with her energy claw weapons saying "I'm not afraid of you anymore" Ernst catches Dana off-guard by telling her "why are we even fighting? I never intended to feed you to the owlman when I took you all those years ago, I just wanted you back so that we can be a family again" Dana is taken aback by this, exclaiming "WHAT?" Ernst then takes off his owl mask revealing himself to be Dana's father. Ernst explains to her that when his wife Hazel found out he was secretly using his ESPer powers to run a cult of Owlman worshippers she divorced him and took Dana with her, but Ernst was livid about this and desperately wanted to see his baby girl again which is why he tried to abduct her when she was a child all those years ago. Daniel, Natalie, Cindy, and Christopher's jaws all drop upon hearing this parentage reveal. Dana holds her energy claws up to Ernst's neck, telling him "you're lying! there's no way you can be my father!" Ernst chuckles, telling her "it's true and you know it!" before summoning the Owlman to swoop in and grab Dana with its talons to lift her into the air, Natalie exclaiming "Dana!" Ernst then says "with you trapped here there's no way you'll ever leave me again, daughter" we then hear a familiar voice say "that's enough Ernst, let our daughter go" Ernst turns around to see Hazel standing in front of him, Ernst saying "well if it isn't my old hag of an ex-wife, long time no see" Dana's eyes widen, exclaiming "mom?" followed by the Owlman dropping her between both of her parents. the Owlman turns its head 180 degrees and starts eyeballing Hazel, prompting the old woman to tell her daughter "Dana, escape with your friends and the children while you still can. don't worry about me just run" Dana then says "but mom..." Hazel then says "I said run!" Dana understands the seriousness of the situation and runs with Daniel, Natalie, Rodney, and the kids as the Owlman spreads his wings and swoops down on Hazel, letting out a loud screech as we cut to Dana collapsing and crying as gray feathers fall around her, Dana exclaiming "mom no!" Natalie tells Dana "she sacrificed herself to buy us time to escape, don't let her death be in vain" Dana understands and our heroes all rush towards the exit of the abandoned church, only for them to be stopped in their tracks by Ernst who tells our heroes "you won't be going anywhere, it's the same the old hag isn't around to watch you suffer" as the Owlman lands behind our heroes to prevent them from going the other way, little Rodney hiding behind Daniel while Christopher and the other rescued children huddle behind Natalie and Dana. the Owlman screeches at our heroes, however Cindy slowly approaches the Owlman, Ernst saying "so you have chosen death, child" Cindy's eyes glow blue as she tells him "no, YOU have!" and takes control of the Owlman commanding the creature to turn on Ernst grabbing the cult leader in his talons and taking him up to the belfry, his screams for help deafened as gray feathers fall around our heroes while Christopher says "good riddance" and Rodney sticks his little tongue out. Daniel then says "dang Cindy, you didn't need to go THAT far" Cindy shrugs and says "hey, the big owl was hungry" our heroes then exit the abandoned church for Dana to watch the Owlman fly out of the belfry and into the night sky, Dana saying "I lost my mother and my father, and to the same creature no less. I don't have any family anymore" Natalie hugs Dana and tells her "you still have me, your cousin" before placing her hand on her stomach and saying "and a nephew or niece that's on the way" Daniel then joins in on the hugging and says "and me, your cousin-in-law" followed by Rodney joining in with the little skyfish nuzzling Dana. we then cut back to Schmitt manor where Dana informs Daniel, Natalie, and Cindy that the abducted children have all been returned to their families and the Animal X British division had all their memories erased of their abduction and the Owlman. our heroes tell Dana goodbye before they are picked up by the Johnsons, James asking Cindy how her vacation with Daniel and Natalie was. Cindy says "It was fun, I got to have a close encounter with the legendary Owlman of Cornwall!" Sharon then says "I bet that was fun" while Daniel, Natalie, and Rodney each exchange glances before the X-Van transforms into flight mode and blasts off. we then cut to Daniel and Natalie returning to Animal X HQ where they bump into Marcus who asks Natalie "Hey sis, so how was your stay at our cousin Dana's?" Natalie exclaims "Marcus? what are you doing here?" Bill then enters the room to tell our heroes "Marcus has re-joined Animal X, and just in time. there are stranger things in heaven and earth but what's about to happen might be the strangest of all, with the awakening of Animal X upon us there is a coming war, a war of the cryptids where the fates of both man and nature hang in the balance. we must be united if we are to stop this war" Helena then informs Bill that she managed to establish contact with Nina, followed by Nina contacting our heroes through hologram informing Bill, Helena, Daniel, Natalie, and Marcus that she has managed to track down the traitor Dominic ending our episode on a cliffhanger that sets the stage for the season finale.