TOKI TOKI — SEASON 2, EPISODE 2

“The Pulse Distorted”

COLD OPEN

EXT. FOREST CLEARING — SUNRISE

A soft morning glow spreads across Lóngshān. Birds chirp hesitantly. Everything feels almost normal.

Camera pans down to reveal:

A rabbit cautiously approaching a bamboo stalk.
The bamboo pulses once—faintly—and the rabbit’s fur stands on end.

Suddenly, the rabbit darts away as the bamboo gives off a glitch-like ripple, as if reality flickered.

Cut to:

EXT. FOREST TRAIL — SAME TIME

Toki, TokiToki, Ranger Liu, and Maya hike through the reserve. Maya’s handheld scanner emits a fuzzy, distorted whirring sound.

Maya
I swear it wasn’t doing this yesterday.
It’s like the frequency of the forest is… scrambled.

The scanner screen glitches, showing random symbols and static.

Toki winces, ears drooping. He can feel something too.

TokiToki
(looking concerned)
Toki? You okay, big guy?

Toki nods softly but glances into the forest uneasily.

A deep, distant rumbling echoes through the trees.

CUT TO TITLE CARD:
“THE PULSE DISTORTED”

ACT I

SCENE 1 — THE CORRUPTED ZONE

EXT. INNER FOREST — MORNING

The team enters a part of the forest where the bamboo is twisted unnaturally, glowing with unstable, erratic pulses.

Toki’s bamboo shoot flickers weakly like a dying ember.

Ranger Liu
This is worse than last night…
I’ve never seen the aura this chaotic.

Maya
The energy readings are so unstable, I’m not even sure this thing—
(scanner sparks)
—uh… is safe to hold.

TokiToki grabs the scanner.

TokiToki
Don’t worry, Maya. I’ve got this!

The scanner sparks again.
Maya yanks it back.

Maya
…Please don’t “got this.”

They share a laugh, briefly breaking the tension.

Suddenly, the bamboo shakes violently.

Toki raises his staff—
It flickers, sputters, then stabilizes with a faint hum.

SCENE 2 — THE FIRST SPIRIT-BEAST HYBRID

A low growl echoes.

From the bushes crawls something utterly unnatural:

THE SERPENT-WEAVER

A snake-like creature with a mechanical spine and bamboo-like plates growing from corrupted aura patches across its body.

It glitches with every movement, like frames skipping.

Toki positions himself protectively.

The beast lunges—
Toki blocks with the staff, but the corrupted aura sends a shock up his arm.

TokiToki dodges a strike, rolling behind a tree.

TokiToki
(shouting)
Toki—its movements are glitchy! Try to match the gaps!

Maya analyzes its rhythm.

Maya
The aura distortion is creating time skips.
Hit when it lags—right after the pulse!

Toki focuses—waiting—

Pulse.

GLITCH—

Toki swings.

WHAM!
He lands a direct hit, knocking the serpent into a tree. It collapses, sparks fading.

Toki pants heavily, weakened by the unstable aura.

SCENE 3 — THE CLUE INSIDE

The creature’s chest flickers open, revealing a small black box engraved with glowing lines.

Maya kneels, inspecting it.

Maya
This isn’t just tech…
It’s absorbing the forest’s energy.
Someone built this to weaponize aura.

Ranger Liu frowns darkly.

Ranger Liu
Shen’s doing.

TokiToki notices faint blinking patterns on the box.

TokiToki
(softly)
Wait… it’s blinking like the beetle from last night.

Toki touches it—
He is hit by a sudden flash vision:

A lab table.
Cables plugged into living bamboo roots.
Spirit energy forced into metal.
Shen smiling coldly.

Toki gasps and stumbles back.

TokiToki runs to steady him.

TokiToki
It’s okay, Toki.
Tell us what you saw.

Toki can’t speak, but taps the ground.
He motions toward the deepest part of the reserve.

Maya points her scanner in that direction—
It suddenly stabilizes, showing a blinking compass-like arrow.

Maya
He’s right.
Whatever’s causing this distortion…
It’s coming from the Forbidden Grove.

Ranger Liu stiffens.

Ranger Liu
Not there…
Anything but there.

TokiToki looks between them.

TokiToki
What’s in the Forbidden Grove?

Ranger Liu swallows hard.

Ranger Liu
A place no ranger is allowed to enter.
A place where the Panda Guardians sealed something… ancient.

TokiToki and Toki exchange nervous glances.

ACT II

SCENE 4 — JOURNEY TO THE GROVE

As they trek forward, the forest becomes increasingly distorted. Colors shift unnaturally, leaves flicker like holograms.

Toki struggles with each step—
His bond with the forest makes the corrupted aura affect him the most.

TokiToki takes his paw.

TokiToki
We’re almost there, okay?
Just lean on me. I’ll help.

Toki smiles softly.

A loud snapping sound echoes.

Trees bend outward as if something enormous pushed through.

Ranger Liu motions them to hide.

From the shadows emerge:

CORRUPTED AURA DRONES

Botanically infused metal drones scanning the forest with red-beam eyes.

Maya’s eyes widen.

Maya
These used to be… forest monitoring drones.
Shen corrupted them.

The drones fire scanning beams.
The group slips behind fallen logs.

Toki’s staff pulses faintly—
The drones immediately turn toward their hiding spot.

Ranger Liu
Whispering
The staff’s aura is acting like a beacon…

A drone fires.

Toki shields the group—
The blast knocks him backward.

TokiToki
(shouting)
TOKI!

Toki struggles to rise, but the aura is overwhelming him.

SCENE 5 — HEART OF DISTORTION

Suddenly, the drones stop attacking.

A new hum fills the air—
A deep, mechanical pulse.

The forest trembles.

Leaves swirl into a vortex.
The bamboo cracks widen and glow brighter.

All the corrupted creatures in the area respond to the pulse…
Moving in unison toward the center of the grove.

Maya checks her scanner.

Maya
The forest isn’t just unstable—
It’s being synchronized.

TokiToki looks terrified.

TokiToki
Synchronized for what?

The scanner flashes a word:

OVERRIDE

Ranger Liu’s face darkens.

Ranger Liu
Shen is trying to take control of the forest’s spirit network.

Toki’s staff flickers violently, almost burning his paw.

He drops to one knee.

TokiToki rushes to him again.

TokiToki
No! Toki—stay with me!

Toki growls and struggles, trying to control the unstable energy.

Maya kneels beside them.

Maya
If Shen completes the override…
Toki could lose his connection to the forest.

TokiToki’s eyes widen with horror.

ACT III

SCENE 6 — THE SHOCKWAVE

The humming grows louder, building into a crescendo.

Ranger Liu shouts over the noise:

Ranger Liu
We need to get out—NOW!

Before they can move—

A massive green-white shockwave explodes outward from the grove.

The entire forest ripples like water.

Toki leaps in front of the group, staff raised—

The shockwave slams into him.

BOOM—

He is blasted backward, crashing through bushes and rolling to a stop.

Silence.

TokiToki screams.

TokiToki
TOKI!
(dashing to him)
Toki?! Wake up! Please!

Toki’s eyes flicker open weakly.
He tries to stand—but collapses.

The staff falls from his paw—

And for the first time ever…

It does not glow.

Maya gasps.

Maya
The connection…
He’s losing it.

Ranger Liu looks devastated.

Ranger Liu
Shen’s override pulse…
It severed part of the bond.

TokiToki holds Toki tightly, tears in her eyes.

TokiToki
No.
Listen to me, Toki.
You’re not alone.
We’re going to fix this.
I promise.

Toki looks at her, weak but determined.

SCENE 7 — THE NEW PATH

As the shockwave subsides, the grove becomes eerily quiet. All corrupted creatures disappear into the shadows.

Maya examines the scanner.

Maya
The override pulse came from deep within the Forbidden Grove.
And…
(eyes widen)
There’s something else.

She turns the screen toward them:
A pulsing symbol — unmistakable.

TWO staff fragments.

One is Shen’s stolen piece.
The second is… unknown.

TokiToki
(confused)
Wait… there’s another fragment?

Ranger Liu
(stunned)
That’s impossible.
The staff was supposed to be whole…

Maya shakes her head.

Maya
No.
The data is clear.
There’s a second piece.
Hidden somewhere in the grove.

Toki’s eyes light up faintly.

TokiToki grips his paw.

TokiToki
Then that’s where we’re going next.

Ranger Liu hesitates—fearful.

But he looks at Toki, sees the determination, and finally nods.

Ranger Liu
Then we head for the grove at first light.
Whatever Shen is planning…
We need to stop it before the forest loses its heart.

Final shot:

CLOSE ON TOKI’S STAFF

Its glow nearly extinguished…
But a single spark remains.

FADE OUT.