“We should head back,” Donnie sighed. “In case the portal opens again.”
“We need to find food,” Raph argued.
Donnie frowned at him. “We can survive 24 hours without food.”
“Speak for yourself,” Mikey whined.
“We wouldn’t be looking for food if you hadn’t jumped in a random yokai portal!” Raph snapped. “We would be heading back home! Do you know how freaked out Oyaji and Leo are gonna be?! Leo’s not gonna be able to sleep! We just fucking abandoned him again! I never should have left! This whole thing is your fault, Mikey!”
Mikey shrank back from him, eyes wide and starting to well with tears. Raph tried to catch his breath, shaking. Donnie quickly grabbed Mikey and pulled him against his plastron.
“Don’t yell at him like that!” Donnie squeezed Mikey as their little brother hugged him, hiding his face.
“I-I’m sorry—“ Raph started, expression turning mortified as he realized what he’d done. “Mikey, I didn’t—“
“You did mean it,” Mikey whispered. “You always mean it, Raph.”
Raph shut his mouth. This was why Leo was always in charge. He always knew what to do, what to say, and Raph didn’t. He said the wrong things, did the wrong things. He should have made Donnie stay behind and get Splinter, but that would’ve meant thinking clearly before jumping in after Mikey. He hadn’t thought at all.
Synopsis
Raphl,
Donnie and
Mikey find a mysterious well in the woods that turns into a
yokai portal during the day. Mikey dives in out of curiosity, causing the other three to follow after him. The portal leads to a random forested area of the yokai realm, miles away from
Nanohana District and full of dangerous
Yokai. The portal closes behind them shortly after, as Donnie realizes it only functions of the sunlight is directly above the well at noon, causing a reflection.
This means they are forced to survive in the woods for 24 hours until it opens again. It is a stressful experience, as the mystic forest creates new dangers that the boys are unused to. Raph loses his cool with Mikey as he tries to take on the leadership role and finds it's not as easy as Leo makes it out to be.
In the middle of the night, the boys are attacked by an Ushi-oni, a massive beast with a spider body and bull head. It poisons Mikey and the three have to flee. After a rough night they try to reach the lake again before noon, but the Ushi-oni returned and attacks them again. That's when Noodle George, the yokai Mikey had rescued, came in to drive the oni away, allowing the boys safe passage out of the yokai realm.
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