I realized that I missed out in the last chapter's closing note on making Jambi the Genie joke with 'Wish? Did somebody say wish?' and in this chapter is where one of the Turtles show up, and I realized in these stories it seems like the Turtles are mostly reacting to the drama the characters of First Earth were already embroiled in before they crossed paths but then I realized that is actually pretty in-character for the 2003 Turtles as one fellow fan pointed out they are mostly pretty reactive, they just react to things they encounter other than the business with the Shredder and I think that actually makes sense being that they're painfully aware freaks of nature who primarily seek to survive these stories are about the Turtles learning to be more proactive particularly with Leo's Martial Arts School
After an examination by Kong, the Gorilla-Man concluded that other than being regressed in age to eight year olds both Ichabod and Marzipan were fit as fiddles!
"Otherwise…" Kong said "...How are you feeling...About your situation?"
"I feel OK." Ichabod said "If what you mean is how I'm feeling emotionally…"
Marzipan let out a feline rumble as her way of saying how she felt about this situation.
Just then Donatello came in "Hey Kong…" The Mutant Turtle said "...I just came here to pick up some more of that tonic for Belladonna…" Then upon realizing he walked by what seemed like smaller versions of Ichabod and Marzipan, Don turned around, seeing they were indeed smaller and younger!
"Holy Shell!" Don gasped "What...What happened to you?!"
"Don't look at me!" Marzipan yowled as the pink and purple kitten turned around and covered her face with her long head-fur.
Jonathan and Ichabod both explained what had happened that Duchess Bimbolurlina had disguised herself at the Farmer's Market and had tricked Marzipan into taking red pepper flakes coated with a magic potion and Ichabod had done the same so Marzipan wouldn't be alone in her struggles.
Don listened to all this and felt a reptilian hiss in his throat as his blood began to boil over what a low blow this was
"Sorry…" Don said after the reptilian hiss escaped his mouth, even after he had discovered how to make several noises including a Mutant Turtle 'roar' which was kind of like a cross between an alligator hiss and giant tortoise's bellow Don still felt incredibly embarrassed about making animal noises in public! "Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Well…" Said Kong handing Don the test tube with the remaining potion covered pepper flakes with a cork tightly wedged "...We know magic isn't really your area of expertise…"
"No." Don said as he took the test tube "...But I can do the leg work to get to someone who is an expert!"
"You sure this isn't imposing on you too much?" Jonathan asked
"Hey." Don said as he tucked the test tube into his Duffel both Ichabod and Marzipan have done so much for me, after all that's what friends are for…"
And Jonathan quietly reflected on the fact that his time as Scarecrow had given him a very pessimistic view of Humanity, perhaps because he grew up surrounded by people who weren't the best, but creatures like the Ninja Turtles really did make him think about how his view of 'the average person' was way off base that when asked to help a friend in need...Most people do it with pleasure…
When the three of them got to Jonathan's cottage, initially Marzipan began rummaging through the kitchen to do what she normally did, cook but Jonathan picked her up by the armpits.
"I still know how to cook!" Marzipan said
"I don't doubt the knowledge is still in your brain…" Jonathan said "...But Marzipan you are both very clearly stressed right now and smaller than usual I don't want to risk you hurting yourself, I'll prepare supper tonight."
Marzipan let out another feline rumble.
"In a way you are cooking tonight's supper…" Jonathan tried to soothe her as he took her to the living room sofa to place next to Ichabod "...I'm getting out of the freezer the beef stew you gave me the recipe for!"
He placed her on the sofa net to Ichabod who turned on the HV with the remote.
"You just need to take your mind off this…" Ichabod tried to soothe his beloved "...You want to watch the cartoons you always like to watch?"
"No." Marzipan said with her arms folded looking more and more like a sulky child
"Is there...Anything else you'd like to watch?" Ichabod asked
And Marzipan's rumble and the fire in her eyes showed she looked about ready to blow a gasket told Ichabod everything he needed to know…
"Maybe we don't need to watch HV…" Ichabod said as he turned the HV off and instead he began scritching behind Marzipan's ears, that seemed to calm her down and she lay her head in Ichabod's lap and he began stroking her head-fur and finally she began to purr!
As Ichabod listened to this as he began thawing the frozen beef stew he thought about how Ichabod always had such a gentle way with animals, the way that birds and squirrels and stray cats and dogs and even the farmer neighbors livestock would flock to him...And Edward Nygma jokingly referred to Ichabod as 'The New Saint Francis' in these moments and Jonathan and Pamela both tried to discourage these habits each for their own reasons and Jonathan now regretted not nurturing Ichabod's natural talent with animals both normal and Anthropomorphic…
So this was mostly just a fluff chapter with getting Donatello's involvement in the story rolling