The Doors

First Published: September, 1991 by Fantagraphics Books

• Miyamoto Usagi
• Ame Tomoe
• Lord Noriyuki

A man slowly pulling a cart through the town is stopped by guards at the gate to the Geishu stronghold, and he reveals himself to be a painter bringing a gift to the young lord. The guards ask to see the gift before they allow him entry, and decide their master will want an immediate meeting with the newcomer.

The painter introduces himself before Lord Noriyuki and an impassive Usagi and Tomoe as Goyemon. He is newly arrived in the province and is opening a shop in the Geishu capital. He reveals his gift - a set of doors painted with a mythical scene of four samurai battling a gigantic red spider. Lord Noriyuki recognises it as a depiction of the great hero Minamoto No Yorimitsu and his lieutenants fighting a demon spider. According to legend, Noriyuki recalls, Yorimitsu had fallen ill and a spider masquerading as a servant was found to be responsible. Three of the hero's lieutenants tracked it back to a cave and slew it, whereupon Yorimitsu recovered. Lord Noriyuki is overjoyed to have such items and decides to use them in his personal chambers - and to reward the talented artist with a silk robe and an official escort back to his shop. Meanwhile, Usagi and Tomoe remark to each other on the sense of unease the paintings provoke in them.

Night, and the household is roused by a scream. Tomoe rushes to the side of her lord, and while he protests that he was just having a nightmare, she discovers scratch marks on his neck. Usagi orders the room searched, but nothing is found and Lord Noriyuki is left with guards at his door. When dawn comes, the household peace is again shattered by a scream - this time from a serving maid bringing the lord breakfast and discovering him lying with green ooze dribbling from his mouth.

Once again Usagi and Tomoe rush to Lord Noriyuki's side. The doctor tells them the young lord is in a coma, but has no idea what caused it. Strangely, the scratches have disappeared from the victim's neck, but the guards noticed no disturbances after their lord returned to sleep. The doctor claims that moving his patient to another room may be fatal, so Tomoe and Usagi resolve to take alternate watches - Usagi will remain with Noriyuki during the day, and Tomoe will guard him at night.

The day watch passes uneventfully, and as Usagi examines the panels, he is startled by their sudden movement - opening as Tomoe comes to relieve him. Koro, Lord Noriyuki's dog, begins to bark and whine as soon as he is brought into the room, and leaps from Tomoe's arms. Eventually he curls up unhappily at his master's side, and Tomoe's watch begins. Hours pass uneventfully, but suddenly Koro and Tomoe sense...something. They turn to see a gigantic red spider crawling towards them from the doorway. Koro's barking and Tomoe's calls alert Usagi and the other guards, but the doors prove immovable. When Tomoe tells them that the painting has come to life, Usagi sets off with some guards to find the painter.

Led by a member of the escort, the guards rush to the paint shop and Usagi confronts Goyemon...who seems unsurprised. The painter admits he was expecting to be found out when Lord Noriyuki survived the previous night. Dodging around Usagi's questions as to why he wishes the Geishu lord's death and who he works for, Goyemon introduces Usagi to another of his paintings - this time of Uwabami, a gigantic serpent.The creature begins to materialise from the painting, and Usagi barely dodges aside as the monster crashes through the wall, jaws agape. As Usagi orders nearby civilians to evacuate and his fellow warriors to attack, the serpent devours an unfortunate guard. While the others stand unsure of how to deal with the creature, Usagi rushes back inside to stop the evil at its source. Unfortunately, Goyemon is busy putting the finishing touches to a final painting - that of a Tengu, an undefeatable goblin swordsmaster.

Meanwhile, Tomoe struggles to protect her lord. Hacking off a pair of chitinous limbs, she is flung against the wall by the spider and briefly slips into unconsciousness. Coming to, she finds the monster coccooning Lord Noriyuki. With a great cry she leaps to the attack and cleaves the creatures head in two.

Back at the painter's, the Tengu exchanges blows with his long-eared adversary, and winds him. Narrowly avoiding several deadly thrusts, Usagi fights desperately to fend off his assailant as Goyemon watches impatiently. The painter decides to finish the matter himself as Usagi and the Tengu stand, swords locked. As Goyemon lashes out with a tanto, Usagi draws his wakizashi and slashes the artist's throat in one blurred motion. As a flash of supernatural light surrounds Goyemon and ghostly energies rush away from him, Uwabami and the Tengu begin to fade out of existence.

Back at the stronghold, guards finally open the doors just as the webs enveloping the Geishu lord begin to fade and he starts to regain consciousness.

The following day, Lord Noriyuki sits in discussion with Tomoe and Usagi. They inform him that all the paintings faded away with the death of the evil painter. The doors have been removed and destroyed, but the paints used by Goyemon are nowhere to be found.

Elsewhere, on a sunny hillside, a child sits in deep concentration, trying to paint a butterfly. Sudden shock turns to happy wonder as the brightly colored creation flutters away from the page...

Last change: 19. May 2003

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Usagi Yojimbo, including all prominent characters featured in the stories and the distinctive likenesses thereof are trademarks of Stan Sakai and Usagi Studios. Usagi Yojimbo is a registered trademark of Stan Sakai. Names, characters, places, and incidents featured in this publication either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons (living or dead), events, institutions, or locales, without satiric content, is coincidental.