In the forest, the Wild Kratts were ready to get out exploring the wild.
"The forest... where I was born... and where I met you guys," Bite-Size pointed out.
"Yeah, I still remember the day we found you," Martin said.
"Yeah... you almost ate him," Chris said with a chuckle and a nudge to his brother's shoulder.
Martin pouted. "Still..."
"Look! There's Gavin and Ronan! And Aidan too!" Mina pointed out, once she left the Tortuga with her brand-new pink swimming suit. "Hi, boys!"
The kids, who were playing close to the river, heard Mina's voice. "Hi, guys! What are you doing?"
"I was just getting ready to explore the water world," Mina answered.
"Wait a moment. There's someone Mina need to meet," Aidan said, running away from the others. He came back, holding a little kid by the hand. He was smaller than Aidan and weared an gray t-shirt and shorts. "This is my little brother Nolan. I've been dying for you to meet him."
"Hey there, Nolan," Chris said, patting the little kid's head as he laughed. "Long time no see, huh?"
"Chris Kratt! My hero!" The little tyke's eyes glowed.
"Aww... you have a fan," Martin chuckled. Chris lifted Nolan up.
"I only hope I'm being a good big brother to him, like you are to Chris, Martin," Aidan said. Martin knelt down next to him.
"Hey, take it from another big brother. You're doing a great job," he said, putting a hand on the boy's small shoulder.
Up the river, a dark magic cloud started moving the water quickly, causing giant waves.
Mina swam around with Martin's help.
"That's it, Mina! You're doing well!" he cheered.
Aidan and Nolan were playing close to the river. Suddenly, Ronan saw something that shocked him.
"Uh... Martin, is it possible to create waves in rivers?"
"Not that Iremember."
"Th-then..." Ronan pointed to the large wave heading their way.
"Yikes! Everyone watch out!" Martin shouted, grabbing Mina. Chris ran and grabbed Nolan and took Aiden's hand and ran behind a rock. Martin did a quick head count.
"...two, three... wait... Gavin!?" Martin turned back at the river. "Gavin! Hurry!" he shouted, but the boy was swept away.
"HELP! SOMEONE HELP ME!" Gavin shouted desperately.
"Gavin!" Martin wasted no time in diving into the water after the boy who was trying to breath, but all he managed to do was swallow more water. Martin knew there was a waterfall ahead. He had to act fast.
He held his medallion, remembering a certain power during his Guardian training. After a little bit of concentration, he lift up a wave of his own and grabbed Gavin, who was almost drowning. After leaving the boy out of the river, he stopped the wave that was coming in place and sent all the water back. The dark magic cloud vanished immediately and the river started its normal rhythm again.
Martin knelt close to the river, breathing hard. "Phew... that was close. Gavin... are you okay?!" He quickly shook the boy's shoulder. "Gavin?! Can you hear me!?"
A sudden outburst of coughing told Martin that Gavin was (or would be) alright, as he tried to cough up water stuck in his throat and lungs.
Martin was relieved to see Gavin okay.
"What was that?" Chris asked. "It's unusual for rivers to have waves."
"And it's even more unusual to head straight to where we were," Mina thought. Suddenly, she felt a dark presence in the air. "I think we should investigate what caused this."
"I agree," Martin said, before looking back at Gavin who was shivering now. He picked up the boy and held him close, trying to keep him warm. "But I also think we better get Gavin back to the HQ first... he's freezing and soaked," he said, with a hint of pity in his voice.
"I'll stay too. He is my big brother," Ronan said, worrying about Gavin.
"Okay, we'll investigate about the river thing. If anything happens, we'll call you," Chris said, leaving with Aidan, Nolan and Mina.
Once they left, Martin called the Tortuga. "Guys, we have a emergency."
"Okay, so... where did the wave start?" Chris asked.
Mina shrugged. "Ronan said he turned around and saw it coming. He didn't really see it being made..."
Luna came flying. "Chris, Mina! I'm glad I found you! I just saw a dark magic cloud around, like that one you saw when you faced that wasp or that one that gave you guys nightmares."
"Really?" Mina asked. "That explain the dark presence i felt. You think you can show us where you saw it?"
Luna nodded. "Yeah! Follow me!" she said, flying off.
"Okay... so if that dark cloud was able to generate enough energy to move a wave of water then..." Aviva was cut off and Martin rushed in.
"Guys!"
The tech team gasped at seeing Gavin asleep and shivering in the man's arms.
"I've got Gavin... he's hurt! He got a little banged up in the wave, not to mention completely soaked and shocked," he said, seeing the look of sympathy and concern on his friend's faces.
Bite-Size flied close to him. "Geez, he seems terrible."
"Wow, he's boiling!" Koki felt Gavin's forehead. "Take off his jacket and put him in the hammock now!"
Martin quickly rushed over and put the boy in bed, and felt his head.
"Oh geez..."
"I'll get the thermometer," Koki said, running off.
Gavin barely opened his eyes to see the blue clad man looking at him in worry.
"Gavin... are you okay?" Ronan asked, holding his big brother's jacket.
"*cough* I don't think so... *cough*" Gavin said.
"Try not to move, boy. We'll take care of you," Martin said, earning a little smile from Gavin.
"Here, Martin..." Koki said, giving Martin a cold rag.
"Thanks Koki," he said, placing it on the child's head. He could almost hear a sizzle.
"I... *cough* I'm sorry I couldn't... get out of the way..." Gavin barely made out.
"There, there... it wasn't your fault." Martin rubbed Gavin's head. "It was unexpected, even for us."
Gavin gave a small smile before falling asleep.
"It must be like this," Ronan observed.
"What?" Martin asked.
"Having a father," he explained. Martin's eyes widened, then he thought for a moment. What have happened to their father?
Chris and Mina followed Luna to a beaver den. There, always with their babies, were Sticker and Timber.
"So... you saw the black energy coming from here?" Chris asked Luna.
"Yeah, I was flying around here, when I saw that dark cloud close to the beaver den.
*flashback*
"Suddenly, that cloud started moving twigs and branches. I had to do something or the den would be destroyed. I flew in that thing's direction, then it flew away, and dived into the water. Then, it disappeared."
*end of flashback*
"Hmmm... I say we investigate inside the river," Chris said. "If only the swimming bro was with us..."
"Yeah... where's Martin, by the way?" Luna asked.
"He's taking care of Gavin... he kinda got swept away in the wave..." Chris said sadly.
While Gavin rested, Martin asked Ronan about that "having a father" thing.
"Daddy left mom when I was little. I don't remember much about him," Ronan admitted.
*flashback*
"But I do remember that Gavin told me one time that they were arguing... he thought it was his fault. He was pretty sad... and I don't like seeing my big brother that way."
*end of flashback*
Martin looked down, but put a hand on the boy's shoulder. "Don't worry. If you want... I can help you find your father."
Ronan looked up as excited as ever. "Really?!"
"I can't make any promises, but I'll try," he said.
"Yes! This is great!" Ronan jumped in the air in happiness. "Wait till I tell Gavin!" he said, walking back to his brother's hammock.
At that moment, Martin gripped his head as some painful memory came back. It was so fuzzy. He thought he saw... a woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes. She was a little faxed in his mind, but her voice wasn't. She was screaming at him unintelligible words. Who was she?
Soon, he saw the woman perfectly. She was panicking, like something terrible was happening.
"Please! Someone save my sons!" she yelled, with tears in her eyes.
Once Martin came back to his senses, he thought for a moment. He never saw a woman like that on his life. Who was she?
"Martin? are you okay?" Bite-Size asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, sure... sorry," Martin answered.
Chris came out from the underwater.
"Find anything CK?" Aviva asked.
"Nothing yet," Chris said.
"That's weird... there is no perfect crime. There must be some evidence..." Aviva stated.
Mina looked up. "Uh... does that count as an evidence?" She pointed up. There was the cloud!
"Yup," Aviva said. The dark magic cloud flied away from them.
"Follow that cloud!" Luna shouted.
They followed the dark cloud.
"You're not getting away from us!"
"Aviva, no!" Chris grabbed the back of her jacket before she fell off the edge of a ravine.
"Phew. Gracias," Aviva thanked.
"It's heading to down the lake!" Mina saw the cloud flying away.
"But Gavin, Ronan and Martin are there!" Aidan remembered.
"We gotta get there, quick!" Chris said.
Gavin slowly opened his eyes, and saw Martin and Ronan smiling to him. He yawned, feeling a lot better.
"How ya feeling sport?" Martin asked, feeling the boy's forehead, seeing that it was a little cooler than before.
"Ah... little better," Gavin replied.
"I'm glad you're okay." Ronan climbed on the hammock to hug Gavin. "I was worried."
Martin tried to hide his tears. He wasn't only happy that Gacvin's okay... he couldn't stop thinking about their thing with their father. What kind of father leaves the mother like that, and leaves such a trauma to the youngest one?
This made him remember about how he felt sad when his father left with Christine and Susan, when they were young. But the problem was he couldn't remember why he left. It was like something was blocking the door to that memory.
That's when he remembered something else.
He remembered a... a baby's voice. He was crying.
Then... the memory continued. The... robots... he was running then... he couldn't remember. There was a gap. The next thing he knew he was in the HQ.
Wait... Chris filled him in. He said he found Martin passed out under a tree. But Martin's memory was fuzzy about anything before that... until now.
The robots... had GAVIN and the baby! He saved him... then told him to run to safety while he distracted the Zachbots! Then... HE saved the baby...
His thoughts were interrupted when the dark magic cloud invaded the HQ and grabbed Ronan.
"Help! Martin! Mom! Someone!" Ronan tried to get free, but it was useless.
Martin just kept remembering what had happened. It made his head hurt. Something wasn't right. How had he forgotten about those things?
Then, another memory came. A punch in his face. From a strange man. "Don't get close to my girl!"
"Stop! What's your problem?! He saved Gavin!" That woman again... this excluded any of his suspitions. The strange man slapped the woman's face. And after this, all Martin remembered was being in the HQ.
Martin snapped back at seeing the blackness starting to go for Gavin.
"Ahh!" Gavin screamed, before Martin blocked the black energy from reaching him.
"Get away... from my son!" he shouted.
Gavin was confused. Martin wasn't his father. What was he...
"Okay, I may not be his real father..." Martin said. "...but I'll act like one to him! Not like his real one, who left their mother alone!"
The dark cloud revealed a face. That strange man... there? With Ronan trapped?
"You stole my girl in the past, Martin Kratt... and now you wanna steal my sons?!" he said in a low and distorted voice.
"D-dad?" Gavin gasped.
"I never stole her from you. All I wanted was to help your family!" Martin tried to explain. "You chose using Zach's robots as your "bodyguards", but Zach hates kids!"
"Everything I did was to protect my sons!" the voice said.
"Really?! If so... you would've been looking out for them! Instead... you left them!" Martin shouted. "Now... let Ronan go..." he said with a furrowed brow of intense seriousness. Gavin had never seen him like that before.
Martin didn't know why, but he felt like something wanting to lash out at the cruel man. But he didn't pay much mind to it.
"NEVER!" The man's eyes glowed red, and he left the Tortuga with Ronan.
Martin ran after them. Gavin just observed what happened, along with Koki, Bite-Size and Jimmy.
"My own father... left mom?!" His eyes were teary after finding the truth: his father never loved him, neither Ronan and his mother.
Meanwhile, a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes put a nest back in its tree, being helped by her friend, a brown-haired girl with glasses.
"Thanks Tania," said.
"No problem, Laura. Now, can you please let my shoulders rest?" Tania asked, sweating.
Laura giggled before jumping down.
"Thanks again for helping me," she said.
The dark cloud got close to her, making Tania step back.
"Hello, Laura." Laura gasped. That voice... she turned around.
"*gasp* Howard?"
"Mom! HELP!" Ronan yelled from the cloud.
"Ronan!" she gasped desperately. The cloud grabbed her. She yelled in terror. Martin heard that yell, and Chris quickly reached him, along with the rest of the gang.
"Martin, I'm glad we found you! The cloud's..." Chris looked up and saw it was too late to warn.
"Put her down... Howard!" Martin shouted.
"And let Ronan go too!" Chris chimed.
"You do realize... if you want the best for your sons... you'd stop scaring them... like you are now. And be there for them, instead of leaving them," Martin lectured.
"I wished for a family that respected their leader! And that's what I'll have!" Howard growled.
"But this isn't a family!" Laura said. "This is SLAVERY! And that's how you treated me, before Ronan was born..."
*flashback*
"You started complaining about us having another baby, and called Gavin a twerp!
"After we took him to meet his heroes... the Brothers Kratt... you started feeling jealous for absolutely no reason. Then, after Ronan was born, you asked for some special "bodyguards" for our family... but all they did was steal my little ones!
"I was glad Martin and Chris saved Gavin and Ronan, but you only allowed your jealousy to take control of your mind."
*end of flashback*
"After days of discussion, you left me alone and i had to raise them by myself." Laura finished the story. Martin finally remembered everything that happened. The whole thing.
"Help! Please!" a young woman no older than Martin called desperately. Her face was soaked with tears. "Please! Someone save my sons!"
"Ma'am, what happened?" Martin asked in high concern.
"Th-the robots took my little boys! Both of them!"
"Robots?!" The woman began to sob on him when she held him in desperation.
"Please save them!"
Martin smiled to her. "Don't worry, miss. I'll call the team, and we'll go after these robots."
It didn't take long for Chris and Martin to find Gavin. He was sobbing hard while trapped and was being guarded by a Zachbot.
"A Zachbot! Should've known!" Chris growled.
'Why would someone hire Zachbots as bodyguards?' Martin thought.
"STOP!" Martin bumped into the Zachbot, and freed the tyke, while the robot escaped. Gavin cried in relief in Martin's arms.
"Thank you thank you thank you!" the child cried.
"It's okay Gavin! But listen to me!" The kid looked up at his hero. "Run and find your mom! I'll distract the Zachbots!" Gavin gave him one more hug.
"You'll alway be my hero, Martin Kratt!" A small teary smile came on the adult's face as the child ran to safety. With a determined face, he stood up.
"Hey Zachbots! Looking for me?" That got their attention. Martin began to run. He was able to outrun them, until someone punched him in the face close to a tree. The man was blurry, but he held something in his arms. A baby. And it was crying.
"Don't get close to my girl!"
"Stop! What's your problem?! He saved Gavin!" The strange man slapped the woman's face. And after this, Martin felt the world turning black.
"I LEFT YOU TO TURN THEM INTO REAL MEN, BUT THEY TURNED INTO SIMPLE MEDDLING KIDS!" Howard shouted. "I'm taking Ronan with me, to turn him into the son he was supposed to be!"
"I will not let you take him!" Martin shouted, grabbing his medallion.
Howard punched him again, but this time, a punch wouldn't be enough to knock Martin down. He was determinated to save Laura and Ronan.
"But this doesn't make sense! Why would Howard cause that wave?" Aviva asked.
"He didn't," Luna stated. "I passed through the cloud that time, and there wasn't anyone there!"
"So the cloud must have been attracted by Howard's "inner darkness"," Mina said. "I sense an aura full of anger and jealousy... and it's getting even more powerful because of the cloud!"
"How do we defeat a cloud?!" Chris asked.
"Well, that cloud is not made of water. It's made of dark energy!" Mina thought for a moment.
"That's it! If it's made of darkness, Hope's light will overthrow it!" Luna exclaimed.
Martin heard Luna and closed his eyes, thinking about the feeling he represented: Bravery. He thought about everything he was fighting for. Everything that gave him strenght to fight: animal safety... his friends... his family...
"Whats happening?!" Howard shouted at seeing a light beginning to form.
Blinded by that light, Howard let go of Ronan, Laura and Martin. Mina helped Ronan and Laura, floating them to safety.
Martin came down, surrounded by his medallion's blue light. His aura was visible to everyone.
"Guardians. Think about the feelings you represent... about everything you fight for... let's send this darkness away!" Hermia's voice was heard by the Guardians. They knew what to do.
They all held each other's hands, in a line. Soon, their good feelings and thoughts made their auras appear and glow intensely.
That powerful glow sent the dark cloud away, leaving a shirtless man behind. As soon as the glow disappeared, they all aproached Howard.
"Your envy was in your way. The rest was all because of that dark magic." Martin looked at the cloud, flying away from them.
"I wonder where they all come from..." Chris thought.
In the Mystical Garden, the statue with yellow eyes received its dark cloud.
"Defeated again... but that envy sure was good to absorb," she commented. "Too bad I couldn't keep it all for me... just a little more negativity... and I'll see these Wild Kratts myself!" She chuckled evilly.
Howard stood up, dizzy. Then, once he saw Martin offering his hand to make amends with him, he just grabbed his shirt.
"You may have sent my powers away... but I'll have the family I want!"
"Let him go, Howard!" Gavin threw his fishing line around his biological father, and wrapped him up, making him let go of Martin.
"Gavin! You little twerp you..." Howard shouted, before snatching Gavin.
"Let... let go of me!" Gavin said, trying to get free.
"Forget it boy! It's time someone taught you a lesson!"
Laura knocked him down with her frying pan.
"I knew this would be useful," she commented, while her ex-husband fell on the floor. Martin chuckled, while Gavin came to see how he was.
"Boy, am I feeling better! Are you okay, Martin?" Gavin asked.
"I'm perfectly fine. I'm just... glad you're alright," Martin said, hugging the boy tight.
"Thank you. Thank you very much!" Laura hugged Martin tightly. "I remember you... you saved my sons from those horrible robots... and saved me from a terrible future." She looked at the fainted Howard.
"I called the police," Jimmy warned.
"Good. Even though part of this was that dark cloud's fault, no man, not even a father, should act that way with his wife and kids," Martin said.
"After he left me, all I've been thinking was about you and your team. I simply forgot to thank you," Laura said, kissing Martin's cheek.
The Kratt in blue blushed. "It was nothing, really."
Koki looked at Aviva. "Ooh... someone has a crush..." she whispered, making Aviva, Mina and Chris giggle.
Tania and her sons also were reunited. Chris just observed how happy they seemed.
Later, in the river, everybody was having fun: the kids swimmed and fished peacefully. Mina swam behind Martin.
"Very good, Sis! Keep up this way and you'll be a pro in no time!" he complimented.
"Chris, something wrong?" Aviva asked him.
"Hmmm... I'm just thinking about that cloud... where did it came from? And why's always trying to hurt us in any possible way?"
"Good point... who knows when it'll attack again..." Luna approached them.
"Well, at least we know its weakness now. And we'll be ready to face it next time," Chris said. Mina swam in their direction.
"Guys... look." Mina pointed to the other side of the river, where Martin was.
Martin and the boys were fishing together, and Laura was observing them.
"You know... something tells me that Martin found something else to fight for." Chris smiled.
"You couldn't be more right," Mina agreed.