Ep 38 – A Fox and her Mouse

SCENE STARTS: (Everyone is confused with what’s going on. Something large and rattling is clearly coming. Music plays.)

JUNI: What’s going on?! Why is the earth shaking?

MIRAI: The Kitsune! What did you do??

KITSUNE: I didn’t do anything! This was because of you!

MIRAI: What do you mean??

DAICHI: Uh guys, I think we need to go, now!

JUNI: Where to? We can’t go back to the shrine, that sounds like that’s where the rumbling is coming from!

KITSUNE: We have to continue going up the mountain! Quickly, before it catches us.

MIRAI: We have to go up a mountain?!

DAICHI: Screw it, we’re not going to make it. Just please, close your eyes for a second!

MIRAI: Huh, oh not again…

JUNI: What? What’s happening?

DAICHI: Hey, don’t look!

SFX: (Daichi turns around and starts inflating his balls like a balloon.)

JUNI: (Realizes what’s happening) Oh, oh! (Turns around but then peeks again) Wow, I’ve always wanted to see this!

DAICHI: You’ve always wanted to see this?

MIRAI: Jun-nii!

JUNI: I meant like, for science!

KITSUNE: Hurry it up, Tanuki. Stop being such a prude!

SFX: (Daichi’s groin area is big enough that he’s floating off the ground now.)

DAICHI: Okay, okay. I’m already starting to float. Everyone, hold on to me. Kitsune, please kick us off!

MIRAI: W-where do I grab on to?

DAICHI: My arm, what else?!

SFX: (Rumbling starts to get louder, maybe even some groaning sounds.)

JUNI: Is someone… calling out?

KITSUNE: No time! 

SFX: (The Kitsune grabs on to everyone, causing them to jerk.)

DAICHI: Whoa, careful!

KITSUNE: Do you really have time to complain? Now, get us out of here!

DAICHI: All right, let’s go!

SFX: (The kitsune kicks hard against the ground and pushes them off.)

FADE OUT.

NEXT SCENE: (They’ve managed to escape just slightly and are in the skies.)

JUNI: We’re flying!

MIRAI: L-look over there!

SFX: (She points to where the rumbling sound is coming from.)

MIRAI: What is that crawling on the ground? It’s so hard to see.

JUNI: Are those glowing spheres… Eyes? 

DAICHI: Ah, It’s exactly as I feared.

KITSUNE: Indeed… Who would have thought a Gashadokuro would show up in this park?

JUNI: A Gashadokuro? Why does that sound familiar?

MIRAI: Is that… a giant skeleton?? It keeps disappearing. 

DAICHI: They can turn invisible if they want to, though we can clearly tell something big is coming our way. They’re more than just a giant skeleton, though they should be pretty much extinct at this point. They’re creatures that are created through human suffering, usually from the deaths of hungry or murdered people. So they’re more common when a famine or war occurs.

KITSUNE: That’s probably what you heard calling out to you before. Those creeps will whine and moan until they get others to suffer along with them.

DAICHI: Well, it’s not their fault they died so miserably…

SFX: (The moaning gets louder. The tears and pain of dead hungry ghosts call out.)

MIRAI: Ugh, as much as I feel for them, I think it’s still following us.

KITSUNE: It is getting closer. We’re still not high enough or far enough to get away. If it stands up completely, we’re screwed.

DAICHI: Well, do something then! Can’t you fight it with your fox magic?!

KITSUNE: Do I look like Tamamo-no-Mae herself?? If I could have fought it, I wouldn’t be in this situation with all of you!

MIRAI: What do we do then? Is there any way we can move faster?

JUNI: Wait, what kind of magic can Kitsunes do again?

DAICHI: Just the typical trickster nonsense mixed in with some seduction to make them special.

KITSUNE: Don’t make me set your ass on fire, Tanuki.

JUNI: Fire! That’s it! I knew there was something else. We can easily use fire to get away.

MIRAI: Like a… hot air balloon?

DAICHI: Um, please don’t set me, or anywhere in my groin area on fire.

JUNI: No, like a rocket. We expel the fire out, so it pushes us forward!

KITSUNE: Oooh, we have some brains in the group. Always nice to have one of those.

MIRAI: Hey… I’m smart too!

JUNI: Not according to your high school grades…

MIRAI: Not all intelligence can be measured by tests!

SFX: (The kitsune gets ready with her fire.)

KITSUNE: Now, now, little mice, this might be fast. So I suggest you pipe down and hang on!

SFX: (She gives it her full 110% and shoots them far, far away. Everyone screams but holds on as strong as they can. “Proserpina Bops” plays.)

FADE OUT. 

NEXT SCENE: (They land somewhere quiet, on the other side of the mountain range.)

DAICHI: I don’t think I ever want to fly like that ever again…

JUNI: I’m honestly surprised that it worked… It was either that or have the Kitsune spin her tails into a propeller…

KITSUNE: I can’t do that with my tails! And we turned out fine!

MIRAI: I’d like to know your definition of “fine”…

JUNI: So can you explain more about that creature? You said it was a Gashadokuro?

DAICHI: Exactly. Um, you know, the ガチガチ (gachigachi) sound, like something is rattling?

MIRAI: So the bones were making that sound?

KITSUNE: Particularly the bones from their teeth, because it’s hungry.

MIRAI: Woah! Nobody mentioned anything about being eaten!

DAICHI: (laughs) Why else would a giant angry skeleton be chasing us?

JUNI: Wait, but how can a skeleton be hungry?

KITSUNE: …All right so that was just to scare you all, but they really will bite and kill you.

MIRAI: That doesn’t make me feel any better.

JUNI: I thought you mentioned that there weren’t too many dangerous creatures here, what’s going on?

KITSUNE: It’s because you little mice snuck into the park. Everyone’s a little on edge. No offense, but you aren’t all that discreet. 

MIRAI: It wasn’t me! I’ve been diligently wearing that mask you gave me!

DAICHI: You’re not wearing it now…

JUNI: It was probably me… I have been sticking my face near a lot of creatures lately…

DAICHI: Yeah, I would tone that down a bit…

MIRAI: So what do we do now? Can we stop the Gashadokuro?

DAICHI: Do you honestly think you can stop a creature that’s 10 meters high?

MIRAI: Well, not me specifically, but isn’t this a huge problem for the park?

KITSUNE: Yes… but unfortunately it’s the strength of their malice that contributes to their size. The only thing we can do is wait for its anger to burn out.

JUNI: The answer is to just wait? Surely there must be some charms or talismans that could help.

DAICHI: There are, however, it’s more to keep them away, instead of stopping them. 

MIRAI: Well, it’s not like any of us have talismans anyways. 

DAICHI: But it really is weird… Why would such a creature of misfortune appear? I feel like I haven’t seen one in decades. 

KITSUNE: It could be a case of a sorcerer. Wasn’t there a famous one in the past that created one as well?

SFX: (A battle ground of a losing fight. Someone gets stabbed.)

DAICHI: Takiyasha Hime, yes. During the Heian period, her father had started a rebellion against the government, only to be killed and brought in by his own cousins. They took his head and showed it off in Kyoto. 

SFX: (A sorceress casts a spell and a giant monster with zombie sounds comes out and destroys the city)

DAICHI: Seeing this level of disrespect, Takiyasha Hime cast a spell on all the dead soldiers from the battle and created the Gashadokuro. Then, the Gashadokuro laid siege to the city of Kyoto until they were able to bring her father’s head to a safe place that now became what I think is called… Tokyo. 

SFX: (The atmosphere slowly shifts from the battlefield to cityscape.)

MIRAI: Tokyo?! There’s a guy’s head somewhere in Tokyo? 

JUNI: The Heian period was roughly a thousand years ago… I don’t think the head’s still there.

DAICHI: Perhaps just a grave marker or something, I’m sure. But back to the issue, Takiyasha Hime was a famous and powerful sorcerer. I don’t know if anyone on her level exists in this modern era. 

KITSUNE: But what other reason could there be? There’s something strange going on here. It’s not just your arrival either. The skeleton’s behavior itself is weird. It usually isn’t even awake at this time of day. They like their snacks around 2 in the morning.

MIRAI: Maybe something woke it up and it’ll go back to sleep soon…

DAICHI: We can certainly hope, but something tells me that’s not the case, is it Kitsune?

JUNI: What do you mean?

KITSUNE: I’ve been tailing your little group for a while now. 

MIRAI: Tailing us?! Why were you doing that? You could have just told us. I could have certainly used your help…

KITSUNE: Because I didn’t know what your end goal was. You said you were here to find your brother, a regular human being who seemingly knew nothing about myths and legends and yet… I heard this very boy speak about a very similar park with very similar creatures to a Kappa just a few days ago.

MIRAI: Jun-nii! You… I thought you lost your memories. You’ve been acting this whole time as if you didn’t remember anything!

JUNI: I don’t!… Kinda. It’s still just bits and pieces. Like when you smell something familiar and then all of a sudden you remember this childhood snack that you used to eat. 

MIRAI: But why did you come all the way to Japan when the park was just back home?

JUNI: I-I don’t know. When you said you were studying abroad here in Japan, it was like I was a sleeper agent who was activated. 

DAICHI: Well, you did say one of the Three Wise Monkeys called out to you. They’re Japanese creatures so maybe you had to come all the way here? It is weird though, they could technically go anywhere…

JUNI: That may be it. It was driving me crazy that I had all these missing pieces. You know, I thought about them so much, I actually started arguing online about how certain I was that there was a hidden park somewhere back home.

MIRAI: That was you??

JUNI: Huh? You’ve seen my posts?

MIRAI: Not me, but this is how this entire adventure got started! Because of your post, Alina investigated it, and then got involved in the park. And is now asking for you to listen to her story for some reason. This is all connected! But Jun-nii, if you’re starting to remember bits and pieces of it… Then you must remember Sam. 

JUNI: I don’t. And… I kinda don’t want to remember him?

MIRAI: Why would you say that? He misses you, I know it!

JUNI: If what you say has been true, it’s been three years Mirai! Three years is a long time to change, and grow, and be an entirely different person. 

MUSIC: (“Park in Twilight” Piano theme plays.)

JUNI: I spent two of those years stuck in my room. And he’s been, what? Having adventures day in and day out as usual? Still being the hero? What if the Junichi he remembers isn’t the Junichi that he actually wants? 

MIRAI: Oh boy. I think we need to have a talk. It’s been awhile since I’ve seen this version of Jun-nii.

JUNI: What do you mean?

MIRAI: Your confidence, Jun-nii! You always had these weird expectations that you had to be somebody because you’re the oldest. And yeah, our parents did instill those ideas in you, and it’s not fair, but you can’t let those ideas stop you from living! 

JUNI: I am living! But this is different…

DAICHI: I don’t think you should have anything to worry about. You’re always so excited to meet new creatures. 

KITSUNE: You thought of the plan to use my fire to help us escape too. You’re fine for a little mouse.

JUNI: But… I should be better than this. 

MIRAI: (sighs) You gotta stop being so hard on yourself. You know, when we were growing up, everyone thought Junpei was the older brother. Which is stupid, seeing as you were born two minutes apart, but for some reason, that was what stuck. 

And it ate you alive knowing how confident and excited Junpei was to grow up and know exactly what he was going to do, when our parents expected you to have that same level of determination. You hid it so well, Junpei didn’t even realize you were struggling until college acceptances came, and you didn’t apply to the same schools as he did.

JUNI: I just didn’t want to live under his shadow anymore… 

MIRAI: And Mom, Dad, and Junpei slowly understood that. We saw you smile more in college. We saw you standing up straight. And we just saw you more confident. And I think this confidence is something you’ve had all along. It just took you a while to find it. 

JUNI: I… I don’t know. I’m too scared to even listen to these audio files, let alone face Sam.

DAICHI: Well, let’s just take things one step at a time. I know we haven’t had a minute to look around yet, but I believe we are exactly where we need to be to find some monkeys.

JUNI: Okay, yeah. One step at a time.

MIRAI: Sounds like a plan. (stands up and stretches) But where should we go from here? 

MUSIC: (“To Punch a Pachyderm” plays.)

SFX: (A loud rumble hits, like the Gashadokuro has found them again.)

KITSUNE: Everyone get up, it sounds like the Gashadokuro has found us again.

MIRAI: Again?! We had like what? 15 minutes of peace?

DAICHI: I guess trying to escape a huge skeleton  is more difficult than we thought… 

JUNI: We should get going, maybe find somewhere it can’t find us. 

MIRAI: But then what? If we stay out any longer, the Gashadokuro won’t be the only thing we have to worry about! 

DAICHI: Uh, oh! The three wise monkeys could shelter us. We could risk it and just keep going with our search, because I also don’t think it’d be a good idea to stay out much longer!

KITSUNE: Then let’s go. We’ll stay in the shadows and move quickly and quietly. Luckily this part of the mountain range is pretty hidden.

SFX: (They all start moving, careful to not make too much noise.)

MIRAI: (whispering) Do we know where exactly the monkeys could be? 

JUNI: (whispering) Are there perhaps… hot springs nearby? Isn’t that a thing?

DAICHI: (whispering) You remembered they like hot springs but not that they live in mountains?

JUNI: Hey I told you my memory was tampered with!

DAICHI: Of the parks, not of animal facts!

KITSUNE: Quiet! There are in fact hot springs around here, but it’s very out in the open. We can take a quick look, but that’s it.

MIRAI: Lead the way, it’s better than nothing…

DAICHI: Okay, go, go go!

SFX: (The entire gang starts running now. The Gashadokuro is close enough that moaning has also started.)

MIRAI: (panting) What are we going to do?

JUNI: (panting) We need a plan!

SFX: (All of a sudden, a giant skeletal hand reaches out and swipes at them.)

MIRAI: It’s on top of us!

KITSUNE: (Creates a fireball) We’re not going to make it. (Throws it at the skeleton) Little mouse, let’s make a deal. 

MIRAI: Right now?!

KITSUNE: Honestly, you’ve surprised me by making it this far, but this is probably where it’ll end if I don’t intervene.

DAICHI: Wait… what are you thinking?

KITSUNE: I’ll let you go this time, but you have to come back and find me. It’s been a long time since I’ve found a good human to play with.

MIRAI: Hey! I’m not a toy!

KITSUNE: No, you’re my little mouse. And I’ve got big things in store for you. So stay alive and find me once you’re done with all… this!

SFX: (Another large hand sweeps down.)

MIRAI: Uhh, fine! But I don’t know how exactly I can help you with anything!

KITSUNE: Just you wait, I’ll see you soon, little mouse. 

JUNI: Wait, what are you going to do? I thought you said you couldn’t handle it by yourself?

KITSUNE: I can handle a little distraction. You can come back and play too if you’re free! 

SFX: (The Kitsune goes off to fight and distract the Gashadokuro, using fire and tricks to lead it away.)

DAICHI: I don’t know if it was the best idea to make a deal with that fox.

MIRAI: Do we really have a choice at the moment? This is the second time that she’s helped me.

DAICHI: No, but… just be careful when you see her again.

JUNI: Should we not try and help her?

DAICHI: Believe me when I say it’s really hard to kill a kitsune. 

MIRAI: It’s gotten a lot quieter now. I think we’re in the clear.

DAICHI: Great. (sighs) All right, then let’s go to the hot springs.

FADE OUT.

CREDITS: 

Residents of Proserpina is a production written and produced by Angela Yeh. Directed by Angela Yeh. Featuring in order the voices of Vida Shi, Zerreth, Pao Panganiban, Spencer Hiroshi Field, Christine, Sam McDonald, Angela Yeh, Maddie Shallan, Skyler Giordano, Ben Pollizi, Ashley Dawson, Sara Roncero-Menendez, and Madi.

Dialogue edited by Angela Yeh. Sound design by Rebecca Liu. Mixed and Mastered by Angela Yeh. Script edited by Sara Roncero-Menendez. Original music by Hoa Pham. Season 4 cover art by Molly James. Series logo by Macy Tang. For more information about the show, please go to our website residentsofproserpinapark.com 

AFTER CREDIT SCENE: (They finally make it to the hot springs area. A monkey is just chilling in the water)

JUNI: There! A monkey!

DAICHI: Wow, that was really easy. 

MIZARU: (kinda drowsy) Huh, what? (Sees Junichi) You! Ah!

SFX: (The monkey quickly gets out of the water and starts to make a run for it.)

JUNI: Hey wait! Stop! Weird, I thought he wanted to talk to me…

MIRAI: I guess that means we need to run… again…