02x02 - The Ditch Sitch

[bunniefuu]

-Guys, our first legit
RingRing Creature Ping!

Our hard work as
the Creature Brigade

is finally paying off!

Or should I say pinging off?

-You shouldn't.

But can I get a
#creaturebrigade?

-How is that cool,
but my thing isn't?

-I'd explain, but
we don't have time

because we just
got our first ping!

Hashtag...

Come on, Yi, do
it for the synergy.

Fine.

The creature briga...

I can't. I can't. No.

-Creature...

Everest!

Someone found a creature
at a construction site.

-Not much in the "share
your deets" field,

but they did use the handy
Jin-portance feature I coded in.

-"Emer-Jin-cy"?

Oh, that means emergency!

We better hurry
and get over there.

- Mei.
- Ma!

Didn't we just have a
talk about jump scares?

-What jump scare? Your
feet never left the ground.

-That was part of our talk.

I don't literally
have to jump for...

-Where is your phone,

and why aren't
you picking it up?

This ringing is
driving me crazy!

-It's in my pocket but ringing?

Let me check it. Maybe
the volume is set too low.

Who called your phone last?

This is
Shu Spa and Wellness Center

for very stressed women.

-Why have you been calling?

I'm
sorry? You just called me.

-No, you called. Again.

Hello? Anyone there?

Hello!

-Orders are coming in, Ma!

-Please apologize to
your friend for me.

- What?
- I'm not saying it again!

Hello?

This should be the place.

Remember to stay hidden, Everest.

- I don't see anyone...
- Psst!

Hey, hey, over here.

- Oh, well, this is not sketchy at all.
- Shhh!

-Doesn't he know he's
just emphasizing his bags.

-You three here
for the creature?

-Depends on who's asking.

But also who is asking?

- I am...
- I just... I'm just a guy.

Uh, it... it's over this
way. Sorry for the sneaking.

My boss doesn't know
I called you here,

so I'd rather she not find out.

-O... Okay, but why?
What's going on?

-First, it was just
sounds. Like, uh...

-Uh, pubescent whale creature?

That's
what I thought!

But then, anything we
built over this one area

would always be completely
destroyed the next day,

totally burnt to a crisp!

-Fire creature?

-We dug around and
uncovered a ditch

with what we thought was
some dead, dried-up fossil

until it kept zapping us and
blowing out our generators.

An electrical creature!

-When we tried to
move it out of here,

one of my crew
got shocked so bad

he had to be hospitalized!

Oh, he's okay now, but
our boss has had enough.

Says the creature's
too dangerous

and plans to load it up with
our construction waste to be...

permanently disposed of.

What?

-I respect the boss.

She's tough but fair.

Making her way as a
woman in a man's world.

But her plan just doesn't
sit right with me.

-Uh, yeah! 'Cause it's evil!

It's complicated.

Just grab the creature

and get out of here
before she comes.

This is the ditch.

-Oooh, shiny.

-Hey, remember,
electrical creature.

Wow, the dirt here is loaded

with more quartz
than my boho phase!

-But where's the creature?

Strange. It
was just here.

- Look! In the back!
- That's my boss' truck.

-We have to stop her!

Where's she going?

-Everest!

-What would phone do?

Where would phone hide?

What does phone want?

You think you can
taunt me? h*-h*!

Taunting only makes me stronger.

Ah! Mah-jongg!

Nai Nai's
Dumpling Shop. What is your order?

Argh, so many spam calls lately!

Wasting my time with
impossible nonsense.

Man, that thing can move!

Good eye, Everest!

The back is empty!

-And the driver is gone.

-Because she's over there!

-We have to help it!

She went down here.

Are you kidding me?

No!

Yes!

Get away from that!

Who are you, and what
are you doing here?

Mind your own business.

-Creatures are our business.

-This thing was
found on my property

and is mine to deal with.

It's too dangerous
for a bunch of kids.

-Excuse you! We're teenagers.

If you average things out.

-And we've handled
worse stuff than this.

You may have heard of the
New Year's Nian incident.

-Wait, that was you three?
The Creature g*ng people.

-The Creature Brigade.

-You can trust us.

-To do what exactly?
That incident ruined me.

I put everything I had
into a beautiful building

that Nian completely destroyed.

Then this thing
halts construction

and hospitalizes my worker.

Ugh! I'm done with
letting creatures

destroy the things I care about.

-I understand your anger,
but it's not their fault.

- They're just afraid...
- I'm afraid!

And you should be too.

Creatures are dangerous, and
we need to get rid of them.

Yi!

-Ah, the one with the good
hair is the smart one.

Very unexpected.

-The creature's charged
up with electricity!

And it's charged up the
metal of the compactor too!

- You're too late.
- We're right on time.

-Oh, actually, a few minutes
earlier would have been...

-Uh... I'm doing a thing.

Peng, I need eyes up top.

-I got you.

-Oh, no, you don't!

-Joke's on you. I
love dirty treasure.

Yi, there's a big log
ahead of the creature

that's slowing down
the grindy part.

-Perfect! Everest!

-Another creature?

Wh... What's happening?

-Yes! The machine is jammed!

No!

I'm not about to get
hurt by another creature.

It's your problem now.

I better not see you or it

anywhere near my building
or property again.

Next time, I won't
be so lenient.

-Let's get our new friend
out of there. Everest?

-It looks like a huge
dried squid snack! Yum.

But don't worry, I
don't eat anything

that's been on the ground
for more than five seconds.

-This creature is packin'
like a power plant.

I wanna check it
over for injuries,

but a zap would wreck my hair!

And probably my life span.

-Everest can tell it
that we're here to help.

Oh, no. It's
really stressed.

Oh, sorry.

She's really stressed.

-This will help.

Don't worry. You're okay now.

Yi, you did it.

She's no longer
emitting electricity.

-I'll run a more thorough scan
at HQ, but she seems healthy.

It would be helpful to know what
kind of creature she is, though.

-We'll figure it out. Then we
can find her a good new home.

Is it just me,

or is the cloud a little thin?

Oh, and check this out.

-S... Stop that! Wait,
actually, it's damp!

She must've absorbed liquid
from the cloud, which means...

Oh, Jin, Jin, Jin,
you beautiful boy...

No. Man. You have
done it again!

-Uh, Jin? The
creature is looking

a little snack-like again.

Hey, come on
over and take a look.

The tentacle and Peng's
talk about dried squid

clicked together in my head.

I realized that the
creature must be aquatic.

And it turns out, that ditch

at the construction
site used to be a river!

Way back, city development

blocked it off from
its water source.

-So the river dried up

and the creature dried
up along with it.

That means she's been
around a long time,

and she needs water to thrive.

-Poor thing.

I miss one
morning-moisturizing routine,

and my face gets super thirsty.

-Then let's get her
rehydrated stat.

Oh, I have an idea.

-Wait, Yi. I also have an idea.

The creature's tentacles are
like my other favorite snack.

Jelly!

Jelleen!

-I know just where
to take Jelleen.

-Ma, I'm staging
an intervention.

You're hearing things, and I
think we should go to a doctor.

-Bah! You need to go to a doctor

because you're not
hearing things.

-Has there been anything
besides the ringing? Any voices?

-Yes. I am hearing one very
annoying voice right now.

Enough nonsense.

Follow me if you
care to feel foolish.

I'll prove my ears
are never wrong.

Hah! See? Ringing solved.

- You punched a hole in our wall?
- Focus, Mei.

The important thing is
that the ringing was real.

-Where did this
phone even come from?

It isn't connected to anything.

Are you saying you used
it to speak to someone?

-Don't give me that look!

The one you give tourists
when they ignore the menu

and try to order
General Tso's Chicken.

I'm not crazy!

-Ma, phones don't work
when they're disconnected.

It's impossible.

-My granddaughter speaks

to magical creatures
with a violin,

and you're talking to
me about impossible?

Nothing is impossible.

Not even the strange words
of a strange spam caller.

All right, here we go.

Oh, hey, Sewer Koi.

Look, Jelleen, another
creature friend. Exciting!

She wants to go home?

I'm sorry, Jelleen.

You can't go back.
It's not safe for you.

But we found you
a nice new home.

Things will be way
better for you here.

It's not your old home,

but Sewer Koi protects
the city's water.

So you'll always have
lots of pristine water

far from river-wrecking humans.

I get it. You've lived
there for... ages,

like, longer than
I've been alive.

And it... it stinks
that you have to leave

when you don't want to.

But we're not too far
away. We'll come visit.

-Yeah, and that contractor
woman never will.

Aw, I
think you made her feel better.

-That's it, Jelleen.

Get comfy.

Guys! It's working!

Whoa!

-Wow, is it just me,
or is the waterway

looking a little
tight for Jelleen?

-I think you're right, and
it's stressing her out.

-Uh, Yi, can you
calm her down again?

-It's no use!
She's too stressed.

-Jelleen must be overloading the
sewer's power line with her electricity!

It doesn't help that
the water is conductive.

Uh-oh.

-I'm here and ready to
hear what you have to say.

-You... are... the
Great Watchers?

I... I'm sorry I called
you a spam caller.

Yes. Okay.

Run interference so interferers
do not interfere with Yi

while also making sure
not to interfere myself?

Don't worry. You've
seen me in my shop.

No one is better
at taking orders.

Thank you, Great Watchers,
for this great honor.

-There must be somewhere
Jelleen can live comfortably.

-It's going to be tough
finding an open body of water

that's power- or
people-problem free.

-Too bad your old
river dried up,

and that scary contractor
is forcing you away.

-Yeah.

All that quartz back at
the ditch is an insulator.

It would have helped block off
Jelleen's electricity from the city.

-It sounds like it really was
the perfect home for Jelleen.

-That's okay, Yi. We'll
find someplace else.

-No. Jelleen was already
where she belongs.

I shouldn't have
tried to move her away

to accommodate humans.

Now that people know
creatures exist,

they need to respect
creatures' needs too.

-You're right, Yi.

Jelleen needs to be chill-een

at her own dwell-een.

Those were some sick rhymes.

-Sewer Koi, I need your help.

And a scale if you
have one to spare.

-"To my super awesome team:

"take a break and
grab a midnight snack

at Nai Nai's Dumpling
Shop on me. Boss."

She even put a smiley!

Let's go!

-It is done.

Run interference so interferers
do not interfere with Yi

while also making sure
not to interfere myself.

Let's get that
river filled with water.

We can't get caught.

I will look awful
in prison stripes.

-It's pretty late.
I think we're okay.

-I don't think so.

Nothing will stop me from
finishing this building.

In fact, I'm making some
great progress tonight.

Filling a pesky
ditch with cement.

- Oh, no!
- Jelleen's river!

We have to hurry.

All right. Sewer
Koi and I will...

Well, if it isn't
the creature kids.

Didn't I warn you
all to stay away?

Creatures and children have
no place around my building.

-This was Jelleen's home way
before we humans moved in,

and it's where she belongs.

-Creatures are a
danger to humans.

-No! That's not true!

And I can prove it if you
just give me a chance.

-I told you, I'm on a deadline.

And I don't miss deadlines.

-No! Please stop!

-Just stay put until
this is settled and dry.

-Aah! I think
Jelleen shocked me.

-Jelleen, please,
you have to stay calm

or your electrical
powers will activate.

I'll get us out of here.
I just... I need a second.

No...

Peng, your sneaks! We can
burn away the netting.

-I'm ready to rip!

-Okay, everyone, stay still

until the hole in the
net is big enough.

Then we all drop together,

and Everest will use
a cloud to catch us.

-Wait, no... Jelleen,
don't... Jelleen! No!

Jelleen!

What's going on?

-Stop the cement, please!

-I told you I wouldn't be
so lenient a second time.

You should've listened
when I said to stay out.

Turn it off! Please!

- Come on, come on!
- No! Jelleen!

-There has to be something...

Or someone.

-Nai Nai? What are
you doing here?

-I thought you might need a
Nai Nai-ght in shining armor.

Aah!

-Hey, uh... What are you doing?

Now!

Sewer Koi, you ready?

It's time to save Jelleen.

Whoa!

-Oh, it's beautiful.

Mmm.

-I know this isn't what you
wanted, but it's what's right.

Whether people
have known or not,

we've been living
among creatures

and causing them a lot of pain.

We have to learn to live
in harmony with them,

not just... bulldoze
them out of our way.

If we all just understood that,

all of the destruction
could've been avoided.

I hope you come to realize
that Jelleen belongs here.

She really got
it done in a week!

And it feels nice not
to have to sneak around.

-I can't wait to see Jelleen.

She better be doing great.

And finally, a balance
of modern and nature.

I can feel
the good qi flowing.

-Thank you, all, so
much for coming today.

This concludes our ceremony.

And this river is the
building's crown jewel.

-Everest, the coast is clear.

-Oh! Uh...

Uh, it's, uh, nice
to see you again.

Yi, I want you to know that
I took your words to heart.

Jelleen and I are both just
trying to live our lives

and protect what we care about.

We can and should
respect one another.

-That's so... great to hear.

-Now, where is my
business partner?

Oh!

-Jelleen, you look
better than ever!

-Very healthy bell shape!

-Things have been
going really well.

Before, my life was
all about business,

but spending time with Jelleen
has really opened me up

to other experiences.

I'm enjoying figuring
out her favorite foods

and keeping her water clean.

And she's full of surprises!

Uh... The point is,

the river brings a lot of
foot traffic and ambiance,

but Jelleen also saves
me a ton on power bills.

Her electricity lights
up the whole building!

-Jelleen, how is it being home?

- Wow!
- Whoa!

-Well, Yi, how are you feeling
about our first successful case

of helping creatures
and humans coexist?

-Hashtag...