Now we're back on track with the timeline of the original episode.
Chapter 7: Tanuki
After getting away from the neko ninja, the Turtles, Usagi, Kintaro, and Gennosuke had gone back to walking, the stroll being relatively peaceful aside from the occasional complaints by Kintaro.
However, after a while, the forest they had been trekking through which had been beautiful and lush with life, now seemed to start to decay as the sun went down in the sky.
Usagi and Gennosuke then suddenly stopped before bowing respectfully in front of a small statue.
As they moved on, Kintaro stopped to bow in front of the statue as well.
And while the others passed by it without a second thought (although Donnie did glance at it curiously), Leo stopped for a moment. He didn't know what this statue was supposed to be or what it represented, but he did know that if Usagi, Gen, and even Kintaro bowed respectfully to it, then it had to be something of importance. Now he wasn't one to usually believe in superstition, but given what they had seen of this world so far (and everything else they had seen back home), he didn't think it'd hurt to at least be mindful.
So, deciding to be on the safe(er) side, Leo placed his palms together and bowed politely to the statue before going to rejoin the others.
Despite the rather creepy conditions of the forest, the group carried on without a hitch, sometimes having to leap over small gaps in the ground.
The trees above them seemed to loom over them, almost blocking out the sun entirely, giving the forest an eerie feel to it.
"I don't like this." Kintaro mumbled. "Yojimbo!" He addressed Usagi. "I demand you take me around the forest! And carry me!"
"Oh, I'll carry you," Raph remarked, "off another cliff."
"And maybe into another river while you're at it." Gen added.
The two glanced at each other and chuckled before moving on.
The pug child grumbled furiously at the insolence of his companions. However, his ears perked up when he heard the quiet sound of whispers coming from around him. He tensed and reached for his battle axe as the whispers soon became louder and louder.
Then they suddenly stopped, sending a chill up Kintaro's spine that made him yelp.
He soon found himself screaming as he ran back to rejoin the group.
The sun had completely set now, with darkness shrouding all around them. And it didn't help that as they journeyed further and further into this forest that the more creepy it seemed to get, with the trees being shorter and twisting in strange angles.
"This place isn't creepy." Mikey laughed nervously as he and Kintaro were at the back of the group. "Nope, not at all. Not in the slightest."
Just then, the two heard a slight rustling in the bushes close to them, causing them both to scream as the pug child jumped into the orange clad turtle's arms.
What emerged from the bush was not some threatening monster however, but instead a small green lizard that scurried into the underbrush.
"A tokage lizard?" Kintaro questioned irritably, giving Mikey a harsh slap across the face.
Leo looked back and noticed that everyone else seemed tired as their footsteps were more sluggish, and some of them were even breathing heavier.
"Hey, Usagi, we've been walking forever at this point." He spoke up, getting the ronin's attention. "I think it's time we made camp and got some rest."
However, the rabbit shook his head. "No, we are in the heart of yokai territory. We must continue if we know what's good for us."
Leo frowned, but didn't argue. After all, there was something in his gut that told him that something about this place was off. He even felt a strange spiritual atmosphere covering this forest like a heavy blanket, a feeling he had not quite felt as strongly ever since their spirit trials at the farmhouse, with only glimpses at it through his brief talks with Master Splinter's spirit.
But as they kept going, the group failed to notice that they were being watched by a pair of sinister eyes.
Just then, the quiet and eerie air of the forest was suddenly ignited when dozens of crows suddenly cawed, causing all in the group to look up.
The crows began flying off, still cawing loudly at the group and making most of them feel unsettled, with Kintaro even beginning to hyperventilate. But the worst part of that was that the crows staring at them had white soulless eyes almost like Jei.
And as the group started to regain themselves and the crows caws started dying down, Donnie looked to his side and noticed something that made his eyes widen in alarm.
"Hey! Hold up, guys!" He spoke up, finally breaking the short silence. "Mikey's gone."
Looking around, the others quickly realized that the orange clad turtle had indeed disappeared from sight, causing Leo and Raph to suddenly panic.
"Mikey!" Raph called out for their baby brother.
"Michelangelo!" Leo also called out, cupping his hands in front of his mouth.
"Stinky lizard!" Kintaro yelled.
"Michelangelo!" Gen also yelled.
Raph began breathing heavily, almost on the verge of having a panic attack when he sensed something staring behind him. He whipped around with a yelp, holding his arms out defensively in front of him to ward off whatever it was…
… only to reveal that it was Mikey, who was standing stiff as a board, a rather creepy toothy grin on his face.
Raph lowered his arms and raised a brow. "What are you smiling about?" He questioned irritably. "We've got no time for games!"
Mikey's grin didn't even waver. "No games, bro." He replied. "I was just looking for…" He trailed off for a moment before his eyes lit up, "... pizza!" He then began walking ahead, marching like a toy soldier. "Yeah, c'mon, let's keep going."
The others stared at him oddly, while Usagi, Gen, and Kintaro wouldn't notice it, Leo, Donnie, and Raph definitely could see that something was off with their little brother. Yeah, he could be overwhelmingly positive, whacky, and a bit obnoxious, but not to this degree.
"Hurry, we must not stop." Usagi spoke up before continuing as well, the others following suit, but the other turtles kept a suspicious eye on Mikey.
The group continued on, eventually ducking under a tree that had fallen on their path, with Mkey taking an exaggerated step under the tree as though he were a cartoon character.
However, as he bent down under the log, Donnie noticed something missing from his little brother's belt.
"Uh, Mikey? Where are your nunchucks?" The smart turtle asked, knowing his little brother never went anywhere without his precious 'chucks."
Mikey turned back to him, still smiling in that creepy way. "Why do I need nunchucks when I can use a sword?" He replied, holding a katana in hand that came seemingly from nowhere. And not just any katana, one of Leo's katanas.
Leo looked down at his belt and nearly gasped when he saw that indeed one of his katanas was gone.
The orange turtle then giggled as he began waving the sword around like it was a toy.
"Okay, very funny, Mikey." Leo sighed, shaking his head, though trying not to smile too much at his baby brother's antics. "Now, can I have it back please?"
Mikey didn't seem to hear him as he continued to play with the sword, giggling like a little child.
Leo blinked, smile now fading before clearing his throat to get his brother's attention. "Alright, Mikey, you've had your fun. Please give me my sword back."
Mikey then balanced the sword on his nose while also balancing on one foot. "You'll just have to get it from me." He replied mockingly before blowing a raspberry at him
Once again, the blue turtle blinked in confusion before rolling his eyes. He walked over to take his katana back when Mikey suddenly back-flipped over him, still giggling with the sword's hilt in his mouth as he shook his butt at him in a mocking way.
Now Leo was starting to get annoyed. "Mikey, get back here!" He then decided to be a bit more forceful about it since it was clear that he wasn't going to give the sword back nicely. He ran over and tried to tackle him, but the party turtle suddenly flipped over him at an inhuman speed, landing on his shell and knocking the blue turtle to the ground.
Still giggling like an idiot, Mikey skipped away with sword still in his hands, suddenly kicking both Donnie and Gen in the backs, causing them both to yelp as they were knocked down.
"Mikey, what is wrong with you?" Raph exclaimed, trying to grab his little brother, only for him to flip over the red turtle and land on his shell, using it as a jumping point.
He then did something that shocked everyone by going up a tree with his feet, somehow defying the laws of gravity as he reached the top of the tree giggling all the way.
"Mikey?" Raph questioned as everyone present looked gobsmacked.
'Mikey' then turned his butt towards the others and began smacking, howling like a monkey while still giggling.
Just then, Usagi jumped up from behind 'Mikey' and with a yell, clonked him on the head with the hilt of his katana.
Leo's katana landed on the ground while Usagi easily landed on his feet.
'Mikey', however, collapsed to the ground, looking like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. And before anyone could question what the hell was going on, his body suddenly dispersed into a pile of autumn leaves.
Leo, Donnie, and Raph gasped in shock while Usagi and Gen had grim expressions on their faces.
What emerged from the pile of leaves was a small plump raccoon-like creature with a silly smile on it's face not too dissimilar to the one 'Mikey' had on earlier.
Gennosuke scowled at the little creature. "Of course! I should have known!"
"What the heck is that thing?" Donnie questioned.
"And what happened to Mikey?!" Raph added in equal astonishment.
The creature then stood up before disappearing into a pile of leaves, only to suddenly reappear from the sky and knock Donnie down. It then used it's tail to bounce like a kangaroo, smacking into Gen before running away.
"We must catch it!" Usagi exclaimed as the others quickly gave chase. "Hurry!"
"Get back here, you!" Leo shouted, who finally got his sword back.
"Some kind of explanation, Usagi?!" Donnie yelled as they sprinted after the creature, who was proving to be rather fast for a creature of it's size.
"It is Tanuki, bake-danuki," Usagi clarified as they chased the creature, "magical tricksters that can either help or do great harm!"
"You better not be leading us into more death-traps, Usagi!" Raph warned the ronin.
The group continued to chase the tanuki for some time, with Kintaro lagging behind the group since he was the slowest. Donnie decided to stay at the back to make sure no other tanuki would suddenly appear to snatch the Holy Child when suddenly another figure ran in front of him that caused his eyes to widen.
"Wait a sec," He spoke up, coming to a sudden stop and causing Kintaro to smack into his back-side. "Why do we have two Gennosukes?!"
Everyone immediately stopped, their pursuit of the tanuki forgotten about, as they noticed the smart turtle was right. There were literally two Gennosukes, both looking exactly identical to the other.
"What the-?" One of Gens said.
"Another Gennosuke?" The other one responded, sounding just as confused.
The group continued to stare at the two in a baffled way as Kintaro finally got up. "One of them is a disgusting yokai!" He cried, pointing to them.
The first Gen scowled. "You dirty imposter! I'll kill you!" He then tackled the second Gen as the two began wrestling on the ground, with one trying to overpower the other before eventually one of them got the other in a chokehold.
Everyone else watched, too stunned to figure out who was the real Gennosuke and which one was the shapeshifting imposter. Usagi lowered his kasa hat over his eyes until they were covered, trusting his instincts and praying the gods guided his hand true.
"It's that one! The one on the left!" Kintaro pointed to Gen that was in the chokehold.
Usagi, however, bonked the one on the right on the head. Causing the one rhino's head to poof into the head of a tanuki. Said tanuki then teleported away in a pile of leaves and ran off into the forest.
Gen sighed in relief. "I owe you, my friend. If there's one thing I cannot stand, it's impo-"
He was cut off when Usagi whacked Gen, causing his whole body except his head into a tanuki, with everyone else staring in bewilderment once more.
They were both tanuki?!
Well, none of them had seen that coming.
Raph and Donnie tried to catch tanuki, but ended up crashing into each other as the yokai flipped away from them, disappearing into the forest.
"You've gotta be pulling my bo-staff!" Donnie exclaimed in disbelief as he and Raph got up.
Raph snarled, clenching his fists. "When I get my hands on those little buggers…!"
The remainders (ie; Usagi, Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Kintaro) of the group quickly followed the tanuki, jumping over a large branch and tailing the creature through the woods before they eventually came to a stop at the top of a large hill.
Looking down, the group the tanuki camping out in the remains of a humongous hollowed out tree. But what caught their eyes was what was happening at the camp.
Down below, all of the tanuki were dancing around Mikey and Gen, the real Mikey and Gen, who were tied up and gagged as they were served over a bonfire.
"No." Leo gasped in horror.
"Mikey… Gen…" Donnie whispered.
"We've gotta help them." Leo said, ready to unsheathe his swords and go down there. But Usagi held his hand out in front of them.
"Not yet." The ronin whispered. "You will put us all in danger."
"Listen to what he says, lizard fools!" Kintaro hissed.
Raph scowled back. "Are you crazy?! They're gonna be roasted medium-rare!" He then drew his sais. "I'm saving them."
"Raph, wait!" Leo shouted, but it was already too late as the hot headed turtle charged in with a loud and intimidating yell.
Donnie soon followed him, drawing his bo-staff and joining the charge.
Usagi sighed while Leo facepalmed. "Your brother's recklessness will be the end of us, do you know that?" The ronin said.
The blue turtle sighed heavily. "Yeah, I hear that a lot." He then drew his swords as well. "Let's go get 'em."
Usagi nodded before he and Leo charged in too, Kintaro simply staying behind. "I'll… stay here as back-up." He smiled sheepishly.
The other turtles expected a hard battle with the yokai, but to their surprise, the tanuki scattered as soon as they reached their camp.
Paying no mind to them, Leo, Donnie, and Raph quickly rushed over to the bonfire, getting both Mikey and Gennosuke away from it before cutting their ropes.
"You okay, Mikey?" Leo asked, concerned as he knelt down to his level.
"Yeah, I'm fine, bro!" Mikey replied, rubbing his back-side. "My butt was getting extra crispy, though!"
Gennosuke ripped the gag off his mouth with a furious scowl. "Now it is time for payback!" He then drew his sword and attempted to swipe at the closest tanuki he could find, only for that tanuki to easily flip over his swing.
The tanuki then let a loud trilling cry to the sky above, and pretty soon hundreds of tanuki came down from the top of the tree, bouncing down on their tails and sliding down the bark giggling the whole way.
Mikey, with his chucks at the ready this time, quickly batted away several tanuki that came his way like they were tennis balls. However, as more and more came his way, he soon began finding himself overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.
Leo and Usagi both stood on guard back-to-back as the tanuki circled them, however, neither one could predict another tanuki ambushing them from above, pulling Leo's mask until it was sideways while also dipping Usagi's kasa hat over his eyes.
The two were forced to lower their guards and readjust their mask/hat, giving the opportunity for a couple of tanuki to ram into them, knocking them down and disarming them.
"Fuzzy little freaks!" Leo grumbled as he and Usagi got up.
Donnie batted away two other tanuki with his staff before quickly following one bouncing away from him into the tree. He raised his staff and brought it down only for the tanuki to disappear into one of the holes in the hollowed bark and then reappear out of a different hole. "Hey!" He exclaimed before he tried to whack the tanuki again, only for it to disappear and reappear out of another hole again.
They kept repeating this for some time, with Donnie looking like he was playing a game of whack-a-mole, or whack-a-tanuki in this case.
Several misses later, the tanuki suddenly stopped coming out of the holes. Donnie kept his staff raised, his eyes shifting to each of the holes the tanuki could come out of as his brain raddled with calculations.
But all of that was tossed out the window when the tanuki suddenly appeared above his head and yanked hard on his mask tails, causing the smart turtle to lose his balance and tumble down the tree.
Meanwhile, Raph climbed up the tree, sai in his hand as he growled. He then lunged at one of the tanuki, only for him to miss as the tanuki ran up the tree like it was nothing and then let itself fall on Raph's face, knocking him off the branch he was standing on and causing him to tumble down into a pile of leaves.
Gennosuke wasn't fairing much better as he swung his katana at one tanuki, only for it to leap over his swing and wrap it's body around his face. He stumbled around as the yokai pulled on ears before another tanuki used it's tail to trip him, causing the rhino to fall face-first into a puddle of mud.
"That's it!" Gen growled, picking himself up. "I have had it with these accursed yokai!" He then grabbed the katana he had dropped before unsheathing his second one. "They're…" He whipped around, ready to charge back into the fight, only to find that the tricksters were nowhere in sight. "... gone?"
Seeing that it was safe now, Kintaro came down to his defeated guardians, who were still recovering from their humiliating beatdown.
"You see, Usagi? We had to attack." Raph told the ronin as he put away his sais.
Usagi glared at him as he brushed off his kimono. "No, it would have been easier if you made a simple offering."
Leo also glared at his hot headed brother. "What you did was stupid and reckless, Raph. We can't just charge into something we have no idea what we're up against without a plan. Or haven't we gone over this before?"
Raph rolled his eyes and looked away, refusing to meet their eyes.
"It does not matter anymore," Usagi continued, "they will be back unless we leave something for them in our stead, which we need to do now." He then reached into his robe and pulled out a carrot. "I am leaving this." He stated, taking a quick bite out of it.
Despite his grumpiness, Raph couldn't help but chuckle. "What's up, doc?" He quoted, only to receive an elbow to the shoulder and a stern look from Donnie.
Usagi then placed the half-eaten carrot on a small rock. "Does anyone have food for a suitable offering? If we do not, the tanuki will plague us again."
Leo reached into his belt. "I have this." He said, pulling out a Chris Bradford Survival Crunch Granola Bar.
Usagi nodded. "It will have to do."
The blue clad turtle placed the granola bar with the carrot on the rock.
Donnie was next, picking out a piece of gum and placing it down. It wasn't much, but it's all he had.
Raph took out and placed down a piece of pepperoni which he had saved for Chompy before suddenly being teleported here.
Gennosuke pulled a ball of rice from his robe and set it down.
Kintaro searched his clothes before finding the bone Usagi had given him earlier. (Even though he had tossed aside at first, he had secretly kept it since he was still a dog. Don't judge him.)
Finally, Mikey was last as he shifted uncomfortably.
"Michelangelo-san?" Usagi said. "Do you have any food to offer?"
The orange turtle shifted his feet, averting his gaze from the ronin. "Uh… nah, sure don't."
Kintaro, however, was not fooled. "I bet he does have some, being as dumb as he is."
Mikey scowled as he glared at the pug kid. "Who're you calling dumb, Puggy?"
"He's right, Mikey." Donnie agreed. "Cough it up."
The party turtle groaned. "But I'm down to two slices." He whined. However, his pleas did not affect anyone as they all narrowed their eyes at him.
Knowing he was defeated, Mikey reluctantly pulled a slice of pizza from his belt. "Fine, make a turtle starve, why don't you?" He laid the slice with other food offerings before kneeling down and sighing sadly. "Hope you like pizza you lucky magic raccoons!"
"C'mon, people," Leo said, "we gotta move. It's almost midnight and I for one don't want to spend any more time in this forest than we have to." He then slipped on his kasa hat as the group continued on into the forest, with the others slipping on their kasa hats as well.
