Symbiotic Relationship

Symbiotic Relationship, alternatively known as The Return of Dr. Unknown, is the sixth and seventh episodes of the second season of The ACS, and the twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth episodes overall. In this episode, when John and SSK scrutinize an analogous "unknown" crime, the two bond and get to know each other better. Unlike other episodes, this one is an hour long.
==Plot==
===Part one===
The episode begins at the Pinwheel Federal Penitentiary, where the inmates are celebrating New Years Eve under the guard's supervision. Mimic the Impressionist, Professor Carrotstein, and Dr. Boom are playing Go Fish shadily, while RACK is attempting to escape via slamming his head against the concrete wall. All is present except The Troll King, which warden Michael Kiefer notices right off the bat. As two guards accompany Kiefer to The Troll King's cell, they find him fast asleep. Knowing that it is not customary for The Troll King to even nap, Kiefer uncovers the sheets of his bed and finds Net in his place, who quickly grabs the warden and takes out a canister that he claims is filled with toxic gases capable of death within seconds. Subsequently, the alarm goes off and the inmates celebrating New Years Eve start a riot, now allowing the actual Troll King to escape, who had been hiding in the ceiling vents the whole time. At the ACS HQ, John orders the team to suppress the situation at the prison. John himself stays behind as he feels there's more to the predicament than just a prison riot.
The Troll King, now free, goes on a crime binge before making his way to the Nicktropolis Graveyard, where he begins desecrating graves for reasons unknown. Having caught his attention, John makes his way to the graveyard and finds The Troll King rummaging Dr. Unknown's grave. When John sees that the grave is empty, he questions what The Troll King had done to Unknown's body, in which the Troll replies, "He was never there!"
At Pinwheel, all of the inmates, apart from Net, have already been accounted for and apprehended by the ACS. Net, who is holding the warden hostage in the warden's office, is demanding to have Web's Rainbow Blade. After much arguing and divergence, Web finally decides to give Net his sword – his way. Bursting through the window inside the warden's office, Web flings his blade at Net which pierces and detaches Net's hand. Though his robotic hand is now severed, the hand still manages to grasp the poisonous canister. Web then attempts to pounce on Net but is countered by Net's roundhouse kick. Subsequently, the other ACS members attempt to rush Net all at once but they all stop when Net seizes the toxic canister again. As Net taunts and belittles the team, the canister suddenly slips from his hands and falls onto the floor...
At the graveyard, John and The Troll King are already fighting. Quick and swift, The Troll King performs a butterfly kick on John, who spews blood but still races toward the Troll. The Troll King counters each and every one of John's jabs, consequently leaving John weary and vulnerable. He knees John in his ribs and throws him at a tombstone. The Troll King then equips his signature golden M249 SAW and begins to go berserk, shooting everything and anything. John takes cover behind a tombstone while, at this moment, SSK appears flying and begins shooting The Troll King with his heat vision. The Troll King responds by hurling a concussion grenade directly at SSK, which results in him plummeting to the ground. The Troll King drops his light machine gun and equips and cocks his pistol, preparing to execute SSK but is stopped by John, who tackles the King. Back at the prison, Net's canister of toxic gas had fell on the floor and broke, but everyone soon realizes that this gas was really just perfume. Simultaneously, Net and The Troll King are detained and interrogated but when they both attempt to talk, they are somehow put under a pain inducing paralysis.
===Part two===
The team rendezvous back at the HQ, where Nozus begins conducting analyses on Net and The Troll King's condition while John questions SSK. Within the infirmary inside the HQ, using neuroimaging, Nozus manages to find a small needle in The Troll King's cerebrum of his brain. In Net's case, Nozus finds a small apparatus thoroughly attached to Net's processor, thus implementing a behavioral change. With these discoveries divulged, Nozus comes to the conclusion to that both villains were under a form of brainwashing, and if they spoke anything incriminating related to the person who brainwashed them then their entire body would become paralyzed, as they are now. Nozus passes on this information to the rest of the team.
SSK explains that he received a threatening, anonymous call enjoining him to visit the Nicktropolis Graveyard, and that is where he met up with John. Before they can continue talking, SSK receives an anonymous text message in the form of a cipher that, when decoded, translates into various landmarks around Nicktropolis, and attached to the text is an image of a dead Waddle Dee soldier (which isn't shown on-screen). Suddenly, a news report is shown detailing several prison breaks across the city. Bagel suspects Mr. Ryheme is behind the attacks, but John dismisses this claiming he isn't capable of that much harm. As Nozus watches over Net and The Troll King, John orders the rest of the team to detain the escapees while he and SSK find the man responsible for the pandemonium.
The first cipher leads the two to the doorstep of Wario's apartment. Busting inside, they scrutinize the area and find a noose on Wario's bed. Knowing Wario isn't suicidal, John briefly theorizes Phantom is the man responsible but dismisses the thought as Phantom would have no use of Unknown's corpse. Across from the noose SSK finds a letter containing another tricky cipher, but the duo manages to decrypt it leading them to their next location, the abandoned Venture facilities. There, the dilapidated facility has become a hazardous area due to the unstable, deteriorating structure of the building. The second cipher makes clear reference to the huge chandelier located inside the building, so SSK flies up to it and finds the third cipher and a robe - the same one worn by Dr. Unknown. Suddenly, the entire facility begins to collapse and a piece of falling debris ends up knocking out SSK cold, but John manages to rescue him and barely escape by running to safety via the scaffolding at the back of facility. The third and final cipher leads the two to where they originally started, the Nicktropolis Graveyard.
At the Nicktropolis Graveyard, Dr. Unknown's grave had been reburied. After exploring much of the cemetery and finding nothing, the two decide to enter the mausoleum where they find a secret passage leading them to the catacombs, which SSK hadn't even known existed. The duo continues their search and find a hollowed out section of the catacombs with a large projection screen that begins displaying all the accomplishments of John and SSK. The video ends with the security camera footage of Unknown's death and John's failed attempt to save him. Enraged, John destroys the video projector as SSK stares in bewilderment. Ominous laughter transpires throughout the room before Dr. Unknown reveals himself on a balcony within the catacombs. A crack in the catacombs allows some light to seep through and illuminate Unknown and, accompanied with the incidental music (see "Soundtrack"), gives off a godlike vibe. John is mesmerized by Unknown's return, but to SSK the entire situation, as well as his role in it, is still confusing. Unknown personally thanks John and SSK for participating in his "game" and claims they're both useful assets for "their" retribution plan, but Unknown adds on that they've both completed the game prematurely. As he tries to leave casually, John stops him and destroys the balcony, provoking Unknown into a fight.
The combined efforts of John and SSK quickly stop Unknown, but he has an ace up his sleeve. Unknown throws down a smoke grenade that temporarily blinds John and SSK and leaves a ringing sound in their ears. The gas emitted from the smoke grenade, which is inhaled by both of the duo, is red in color. When the two recover from the grenades effects, they see Dr. Unknown standing next to both of them and, subsequently, they attack. However, in reality, Unknown has vanished but the smoke grenade is causing John and SSK to see each other as said villain. Both believing the other to be a threat, they fight but John eventually sees SSK in their reflection and realizes who he is. Now John only defends himself and doesn't fight back. With John refusing to fight, SSK incapacitates him. Fortunately, John manages to convince SSK it's really him by recalling the first time they met, which is briefly presented in the form of a flashback. With these revelations revealed, the effects of the smoke grenade is lifted.
At the end of the day, SSK informs the team of everything that happened, including Dr. Unknown's return. Meanwhile, John is ignoring everyone else and is instead ruminating about Dr. Unknown. He is positive he witnessed Unknown's death before. 
==Ciphers==
===One===
EBG13; guvf vf puvyq’f cynl. Gur tbyqra bar unf n tbyqra frperg. Ur jnyxf nzbat lbh, bapr va n abbfr. N abbfr. Svaq uvf nobqr.
===Two===
01000001 01100010 01100001 01101110 01100100 01101111 01101110 01100101 01100100 00100000 01100001 01110001 01110101 01100101 01100100 01110101 01100011 01110100 00101110 00100000 01001111 01101110 01100011 01100101 00100000 01110011 01110100 01101111 01101111 01100100 00100000 01110000 01110010 01101111 01101101 01101001 01101110 01100101 01101110 01110100 00101110 00100000 01001110 01101111 01101110 00101101 01101000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01110011 00100000 01101100 01100101 01100100 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01100100 01101111 01110111 01101110 01100110 01100001 01101100 01101100 00101110 00100000 01000100 01101001 01110011 01100111 01110101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01101110 01101111 01101110 00101101 01101000 01110101 01101101 01100001 01101110 01110011 00101110
===Three===
- .... . / . ...- . .-. .-.. .- ... - .. -. --. / - .. .-. . -.. / .-. . ... - / .... . .-. . .-.-.- / - .... . .. .-. / -... .-.. .- -. -.- . - / .. ... / - .... .. -.-. -.- / ... --- .. .-.. / .- -. -.. / - .... . .. .-. / .--. .. .-.. .-.. --- .-- / --- .- -.- / .-- --- --- -.. .-.-.- / ... --- --- -. / -.-- --- ..- .----. .-.. .-.. / ... .-.. . . .--. / .... . .-. . / .- ... / .-- . .-.. .-.. .-.-.-
==Soundtrack==
Dr. Unknown's ThemePlayed when SSK and John enter the catacombs and continued during the revelation that Dr. Unknown survived.
----
The EnemyPlayed during John and SSK's fight against Dr. Unknown.
==Quotes==
===Part one===
===Part two===
==Trivia==
*The definition of a symbiotic relationship: a special type of interaction between species. Sometimes beneficial, sometimes harmful, these relationships are essential to many organisms and ecosystems, and they provide a balance that can only be achieved by working together.
*After this episode, the year the show takes place is changed to 2024.
*When the villains are playing Go Fish, Dr. Boom hands Mimic three sixes.
==Reviews==
Category:Episodes
Category:The ACS episode