Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.

Mike finally had an advantage.

He had gotten bored and decided to have a look around the house. After almost two years of living at the Shiba House, he had never really searched the deep dark corners. When he stumbled upon a roll of bubble wrap, he turned into the little boy he had never really outgrown and he started to pop it. He carried it around the house and popped it in everyone's ears; scaring them if they were too focused, annoying them if they tried to ignore him, or not letting them have a piece when they wanted to join him.

Bubble wrap was fun.

It was also Storm's worst enemy.

The dog had cautiously approached Mike after hearing the sound of bubbles pooping for a while. She was curious about what strange new thing had entered her home, and whether it was a threat to her or the humans. When she saw Mike playing with it, she growled. She could not understand it at all.

So, Mike set some on the floor and then stepped on it. All the bubbles under his feet popped at once, which made Storm jump, whine, and then run away. Mike grabbed the role of bubble wrap and went after her. He was winning.

He got her in a corner and laid down several sheets of bubble wrap in her path. Now she couldn't leave without stepping on the bubbles and popping them. Mike pushed some of the bubbles closer to her. Storm whined in fear, but gave Mike a look that told him she would kill him if he weren't protected by the loud bubbles.

"Ha-ha, I win," Mike stuck his tongue out at the dog and started to dance around, "If you don't want me to spend the rest of the day with Emily, just come here and bite my hand."

He held his hand out and Storm was very tempted. She looked at the sea of bubble wrap before her and decided she would try to jump over it. She had to. Not trying meant she would give up and she never let Mike win.

But her jump was too short and all four paws landed on the bubble wrap. She cried, and yelped, and jumped, and whined, and popped all the bubbles as she ran across them to safety. Mike grabbed his sides and fell over, laughing hysterically.

When Storm made it on solid ground, she was shaking from fear. Suddenly, she didn't care about getting revenge on Mike. Her heart was pounding. She hated bubbles. Mike was still laughing. She hated Mike.

As the panic started to wear off, Storm felt something else creeping up on her. Something that wasn't Mike's fault at all. It was dangerous. She spun around, trying to figure out what it was, and then backed herself into Mike. If the bubbles hadn't gotten her worked up before, whatever was coming next was.

"Storm?" when Mike felt the dog lean into him for comfort, he knew there was something wrong. Had he maybe gone too far? Was Storm really that scared? Had she gotten hurt?

Suddenly, cracks started to appear in the floor and the ground trembled. It started off slow, but got faster and faster in a matter of seconds. Mike scooped the dog up in his arms and started to run. He wasn't sure where he was standing was safe and he needed to go somewhere else. He needed to seek cover.

As he was about to leave the hallway, a giant boulder fell through the roof, blocking his path and nearly crushing him and Storm. Mike turned around to run the other way, but another boulder, this time bigger, fell, cutting him off again. He couldn't understand where these were coming from. Serena and Emily were a possibility, but though they had caused some damage before, they never let their powers get this out of control.

Storm's whining snapped him from his thoughts. Right now wasn't the time to wonder what was happening. Right now was the time to find a way out. He turned back and slipped himself and Storm between the boulder and the wall and he ran as quickly as he could. If he could leave the house, he thought he would be safe. The ground started to fall apart under his feet. The hardwood floor was first to go, and suddenly, everything else went with it, including Mike. Using his body, he shielded Storm as rubble, rocks, and whatever else the sky had to throw at him pounded on his back while he hit the ground with a loud thud. Before he could even think to call for the others, he was out.

What felt like seconds later, but was truly hours, he woke up to someone nibbling on his ear. He pulled away, but his whole body was sore and he regretted it instantly. The movement also made the rubble above him start to cave in further, squishing him more and more between dirt and rocks. He was surrounded by earth; literally caught between a rock and a hard place. Realizing this, he began to hyperventilate. Small spaces were not his friend.

The nibbling on his ear continued and he remembered he had Storm tucked in his arms. Somehow, she had managed to reach to the side of the face to bite gently on his ear. She had woken him up, letting him know he was still alive, but at the same time, letting him know he was trapped.

Then, when he thought things couldn't get any worse, Storm started to bark. They weren't her usual barks either, where she would hold back so as not to drive everyone crazy. She didn't hold back. Every breath of air she stored in her lungs was pushed out as she cried out for someone to hear her. Mike couldn't bear it. The small space, feeling trapped, and the loud noise were all too much for him. As he was about to smother the dog to make her stop, he heard rocks shifting and someone called his name.

Emily. The voice belonged to Emily. She was calling for him, and thanks to Storm, she was getting closer. Her cries shifted from his name to the dog's. Mike was a little jealous, but Emily had no way of knowing they were together.

Then, he heard the most amazing sound in the world. As weight was lifted from his back, the sound of rocks hitting each other reached his ears. Emily was digging him out. He would be saved.

"MIKE!" she screamed when she saw his back and moved the last few rocks. Mike uncurled himself, despite the pain, and sat up. He was thrown onto his back as Emily jumped into his arms, pulling him into a passionate kiss while at the same time she started to cry.

"What happened?" he asked her, only to realize he had a mouthful, and likely a lungful of dust in his mouth. He started to cough it out, and couldn't stop himself. Emily moved away, her eyes wide in horror, but her hands moved quickly as she reached out and grabbed a water bottle.

"I found this. Drink it."

Mike took the bottle from her hand and chugged it. He had to spit out the first half, as the dust and water mixed into mud in his mouth, but the second half went down smoothly. He could breathe a bit better, so he asked her again, "What happened?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders and shook her head, "I… I don't know. I… I was…"

"Shh," Mike could see she was distraught. He wasn't getting an answer from her. He never should have asked it anyways. He finally got a good look at her and saw there were blood stains in her hair and on her clothes, as well as streaks of blood dripping down her face, smearing along her cheeks and her arms from the many cuts on her body. Mike was sure his back was in no better condition. It had taken most of the attack, and was likely completely black and blue all over. Thinking about it now, he was surprised he could move at all. Just to be sure, he wiggled his toes and breathed a sigh of relief. It hurt, but he could do it.

Just as he was about to pull her into his arms to comfort her, Emily's eyes widened again in horror and she let out an ear-piercing scream as she called out Mia's name. Faster than Mike could see, Emily had run from him. He breathed another sigh of relief. It seemed all her injuries were superficial – which was a good thing. He doubted he could do much.

Then he looked down, feeling a weight on his lap. Storm was curled up into a little ball, trembling in fear. He hugged the dog to his chest and slowly picked himself up on the ground. He made it a few steps and then fell over again. He wouldn't be moving around anytime soon.

Remembering Emily had run from him in a panic, Mike looked over to see what had grabbed her attention but he couldn't see her.

"Emily?" he called her name but there was no answer. He called a few more times with still no answer. Just when he started to worry, he saw a few rocks moving and suddenly, Emily's blonde and red hair poked out from under a pile of rocks. She had somehow dug herself under the rubble and was coming back up.

When she was out of her tunnel, she turned around and reached for whatever she had inside. As she pulled it out, Mike saw it was Mia. He tried to get up again to help, but his body hurt too much. All he could do was watch. Emily pulled Mia out as far as she could, and then started to dig again, trying to make the tunnel wider.

"Emily?"

"Her foot's stuck!" Emily shouted to Mike, "I have to get her out. I have to…"

"Em…"

"I'm fine! Call for her! Try to wake her up!" Emily shouted and then climbed back into the rubble. Mike was terrified it was all going to cave in on her but there was nothing he could do except what she had asked him. He called Mia's name, hoping to bring her back. He thought he saw her stir, but there was no answer from her at all.

While Emily was still under the rubble, the rocks shifted slightly, giving Mike a heart attack. He was sure he was going to lose her. He closed his eyes and looked away, hugging Storm a little closer. After a moment, he felt someone touch his shoulder and suddenly he was pulled up to his feet.

"Lay off the pizza."

He opened his eyes and looked down. It was Emily. She was out safe and sound and helping him walk. They both stumbled several times and each took a few hard hits, but eventually they made it to the yard, where no rubble had fallen. There, Emily set Mike down. Mike noticed he was sitting close to Mia, who lay on the ground and she looked… he didn't even want to think it.

"Lie on your stomach," Emily whispered to him.

"What about Mia?"

"I did what I could."

Mike looked over and saw Mia had been taken care of. Torn pieces of Emily's clothes were wrapped around her head and her knee, and other pieces were covered in blood and left on the ground. Mia wasn't healed, but she had been looked after. Given their lack of supplies, this was the best Emily could do. Mia would have to do the rest on her own.

Mike gulped and lay down on his stomach. Emily pulled his shirt up. He heard her hiss and then felt something wet hit his back. He tried looking over his shoulder but Emily gently lowered his head.

"The freezer was crushed. I can't get you ice."

"I'll be fine," Mike insisted. "Let me look at you."

Emily rubbed her hands against her face, trying to wipe off the blood, but only smearing it around. She wasn't bleeding heavily, but she was still bleeding.

"I can go to the river," Emily got up, "I'll bring you back some water. That might help."

"Em…"

"Here," Emily's Samuraizer was in her pocket. She pulled it out and created a symbol. A blanket appeared where the symbol had been drawn. Emily caught it and draped it over Mike, tucking him in. Then, as Storm tried to get up to go with her, Emily commanded for the dog to stay. Mike would need someone to keep him company.

Though Mike protested, Emily left him, running as fast as she could from the Shiba House to the lake. Mike dropped his head back on the ground.

A thought occurred to him in that moment. Emily hadn't even tried looking for the others. She hadn't brought them up. He couldn't figure out why. Either she had her hands full already with him and Mia and the others hadn't even crossed her mind yet, or she had already searched for them and came up with nothing. She had been very relieved when she found him. It was also very unlike she forget about her sister.

Mike turned his head and looked over to the rubble, where the Shiba House once stood as a safe house for the Rangers.

Another thought crossed his mind. He furrowed his brows and turned to Storm, who was making her way down along his side, as if inspecting his back for herself. When he moved, Storm looked over at him.

"What the fuck just happened?"