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

Kevin and Mia were out on a date. James had taken Terran to a playgroup he had signed him up for called Daddy and Me. It had been a special group for kids to play around and make new friends, as well as a support group for single fathers, which when James had signed up for the group, he had been a single father.

Jayden and Antonio were also on a date, but unlike Mia and Kevin, who had gone into town, they were in the forest by the stream, fishing up dinner for that night. Jayden still wasn't much of a fisherman, but loved the alone time with Antonio, and loved to see his boyfriend so happy.

Ji and Kate were also out. They refused to call their lunch a date, but the entire house was already convinced they would be in a loving relationship soon, and forced the title. Ji had simply rolled his eyes and ignored the young Samurai, like usual, and Kate chuckled.

Mike was in his room with his headphones on. After a long morning training, he had chosen to unwind by playing some of the new video games Ji's friends had left him after his old ones had been destroyed in the disaster that took the Shiba House. He was having the time of his life, and could barely hear anything beyond the game's sound effects (which were loud and they were the reason he had to wear the headphones).

Serena was taking a nap. Terran had decided not to let either of his parents get any sleep the night before, so Serena was catching up now that he was out of the house. With her down and out, Mike in his own little world, and everyone else out of the house, Emily had the entire house to herself.

Or, almost. There was still Storm, whom Emily hadn't seen much of in the last couple of days. Normally she took time out of her busy day to play with the dog or walk her, but getting back into a normal routine, finally, hadn't been the smooth transition she had hoped for, and Storm ended up being slightly neglected. Emily wanted to make up for it today by spending the afternoon with her.

But first she needed to find her. With the bag of dog treats in her hand, she started to walk around the house. She searched all of Storm's favourite hiding places first, but couldn't find her little dog. She shook the bag and knew that if Storm could hear it, she would come running.

But there was no dog. Emily started to get worried, but she hadn't searched every room yet and Storm had a tendency of getting herself into trouble when left unattended for too long. As Emily approached the laundry room, a place Storm rarely ever ventured, she heard some whimpering from the cage. It was Storm's cage, basically her second bed. It was covered in a blanket for privacy and Storm had a tendency of hiding in her cage when she was feeling scared or sick, or when she just needed to get away from the Samurai. Storm was a very independent dog, and as much as she loved playing around with her human friends, she needed time to herself, and a place to herself. Not surprisingly, in a house full of young adults, the laundry room was the room that was used the least, and its schedule never coincided with the times Storm needed to be alone.

Emily approached the cage and looked inside. Storm lay on her side and looked sick as… well, a dog. She was panting loudly, seemed very tired, and looked thinner, like she hadn't eaten in a couple of days. Emily couldn't remember the last time she had filled her dog's bowl, but was certain someone had done it. With nine people able to pour food into the dog bowl, feeding Storm was a chore that was always done. Sometimes, it was even overdone.

Hoping maybe treats would cheer her dog up, Emily pulled a few out from the bag and held them out. Storm didn't move, like she had no idea Emily, her favourite of all the Samurai, was holding out her favourite treats. Emily inched in closer to the cage. It was a bad idea already when the dog was feeling fine, but if Storm was sick it was dangerous. Though she knew better than to bite or snap or be aggressive with any of her human friends, when she was sick or hurt, she played fast and loose with those rules and reminded the Samurai to back off by biting at their hands or ankles. It was never serious, but it still hurt like hell. Storm had very sharp teeth and she knew how to use them well.

But Storm didn't react at all. Dropping the bag of treats, Emily scooped her limp dog up in her arms, crawled backwards out of the cage and rushed to her room.

"Mike!" she called for her husband but he was too busy with his video games to notice, and his headphones meant he couldn't hear her. She tried to step in front of him, but he leaned to the side, choosing the TV over her. Emily normally wouldn't care during video game time, but this was serious. Her arms were full with Storm, so Emily kicked her foot up, knocking the controller right out of his hand.

"Emily!" he ripped off his earphones, "I was only going to play for another hour! You couldn't have waited…?"

"Storm's sick," Emily whispered. Mike looked down at the dog, seeing she did not look well at all. Forgetting about his game entirely, he placed his hand on Emily's back and guided her to the bed.

"How long has she been like this?"

Emily shrugged her shoulders and hugged her dog, "I don't know. I haven't seen her around much lately. I… I tried to make up for it but… I f-found her like… like this."

"Should we take her to the vet?" Mike asked. "She looks really, really bad, Em."

"I know."

Mike kissed the side of her head and got up, "I'll wake up Serena and we'll get the van set up for the trip. You make Storm comfortable, okay?"

Emily nodded her head and followed Mike until she reached the common room. There, she set Storm down in her bed and started to collect a few of Storm's favourite things, just in case when they got to the vet Storm would stay the night. Emily didn't want her dog feeling scared and lonely, and thought a few toys would help remind her of home.

After waking Serena up, Mike went to the laundry room to get the cage. Normally when he took Storm to the vet, a leash was enough to get her there, and Emily's arms would keep her calm and out of trouble, but given how sick the dog looked, the cage was best. He carried it down the hall and then out the door, and Serena went to help him get it into the van, picking up the toys Emily had taken out for Storm.

Wanting the cage to be as comfortable as possible, Emily left the common room for just a moment to grab the pillow case from her bed. She had slept on it for long enough now for it to carry her scent, and she was sure that would reassure Storm that she would be well looked after. As she pulled the pillow out from the casing, she heard her door slide open a little wider. Thinking it was Serena or Mike, Emily continued to work on her stubborn pillow.

"Can you go get Storm's blanket from her bed. She'll want that with her too," Emily whispered. There was no reply, but footsteps continued to approach her. Emily groaned and started to turn around, "You can hug me later, we need to take care of…"

She was cut off as a giant, fluffy, she wasn't sure what, covered her face and wrapped around her head. Then she was forced back until she hit the wall, and whatever had grabbed her slammed her several times against the hard surface. Emily would have screamed for help, but whatever was covering her face prevented her from doing so, and would have muffled her cries anyways.

Reaching out with her hands, she grabbed the thing holding her face, but by that time had no strength left in her body and she could feel herself losing consciousness. If her face hadn't been covered, she was sure she would have been seeing huge spots by now.

Suddenly, whatever was holding her head let go. Emily fell forward, first landing on her knees, and then hitting the ground. She had been right about the spots, but looked up and tried to see through them to see what had attacked her. Inside the house, she should have been safe from anything that would want to hurt her, especially monsters that were big enough to grab her face. Before she blacked out completely, she saw a large, werewolf-like creature like the ones from Mike's video games, only instead of gray or black fur, this one was somewhat red, almost the same colour as Storm's fur. Emily's eyes widened. She tried to push herself up to get a better look but blacked out before she could.

Just after she hit the ground again, the creature's body was covered in symbols. They were the protective symbols that kept the house safe from the Nighlok and anything else that was connected to the Netherworld. The creature swung at the symbols and tried to rip them off, but they were everywhere and took over, covering every inch just like the fur. Suddenly, they expelled the creature from the house, shooting it through the walls, without causing damage to the house.

They shot the creature over the gate, capturing both Mike and Serena in awe in terror. Suddenly, their Samuraizers went off and they could hear the Gap Sensor blaring loudly for a few moments, before it shut itself off. Looking to each other in a panic, they knew there was still trouble and raced inside to see what was going on.

They checked the map first but there was no Nighlok in sight. Looking back in time only a few seconds, they saw a Nighlok had, in fact, triggered the Sensor, and they had done so from inside the house.

"Emily?" Mike called and started to look around for her. Serena turned her attention to Storm's bed, seeing it was empty.

"Storm?" she hadn't gotten a good look at the state of the dog just yet, but based on what Mike had told her while loading up the car, she could tell it was bad enough to keep Storm down. If she wasn't where Emily had left her, something very bad must have happened, either forcing her to get up and run, or taking her from her bed.

Neither were good.

"Storm!" Serena called again and whistled.

Mike was already halfway down the hall to his room. He saw the door was opened wide and Emily was on the floor. He raced over to her and rolled her on her back. She wasn't waking up, even when he started to shake her.

"Don't touch her, you idiot!" Serena yelled at him and pulled him away, "You'll make it worst!"

"But she's…"

"I have eyes. I see exactly what happened," Serena said. She had a look at her sister and then gestured to Mike that it was safe to come back, "Help me get her up on the bed."

Doing as he was told, Mike carefully lifted Emily, doing all he could not to move her around too much. Very, very gently, he and Serena set her onto the bed and Serena started to look her over.

"What about Storm?" he asked, putting the device to his ear he waited for his mentor to pick up.

"She's gone," Serena whispered.

Mike furrowed his brow, "She's gone? Serena, she can't be gone. She couldn't even lift her paw, never mind leave."

"Then someone took her," Serena shrugged and moved her inspection up to Emily's head. If her sister was unconscious, surely her head had taken even just a bit of a beating.

"Someone breaks into the house, while we're in front of the only entrance, assaults Emily, but leaves with a sick dog?"

"Mike…" Serena very gently rolled Emily on her side, exposing the back of her head to Mike, where blood had already stained her hair and her pillow. Serena brushed her hair out of the way and saw cuts, two on each side of her head, which were the cause of the bleeding.

"Holy…"

"They aren't deep. Cuts on the head bleed quite a bit. Whatever caused this didn't try to cut her," Serena said. She brushed a little more of Emily's hair out of the way, "This is what worries me."

Mike couldn't see anything and shrugged. Serena sighed.

"Bruises. Big, round bruises. It's like something got her head.

Mike looked at his hands. They weren't huge, but they were about average size for most men. Being careful not to actually grab Emily's head and hurt her, he placed his hand on the back of her head. Serena shook her head, slowly lowered her sister on her back again, and moved Mike's hand so he was grabbing the front of her face.

"Nighlok."

"Are you sure?" Mike asked, though there was very little doubt, except for one detail that could prove Serena wrong, "The symbols…"

"I don't know," Serena shook her head, "but who do you know that's big enough to wrap a hand around someone's head?"

"Two hands…?"

"There's only four scratches."

"But the symbols…"

"That thing!" Serena cried out suddenly, "right before the Gap Sensor went off it flew right by us, remember?"

"In the sky," Mike's eyes widened. He took Emily's hand, "How did a Nighlok get in the house? Why did it go after Emily?"

"Why did it take Storm?" Serena asked. "What could the Nighlok want with Storm?"

"Anyone still home?" Ji's voice called from the front door, announcing he and Kate were home from their "date". "We brought some extra dessert!"

"Ji's trying to bribe you all into agreeing this wasn't a date!" Kate called out for clarification, and there was a less-than-subtle laugh in her voice, "Despite the fact that we did share…"

"It's cookies!" Ji called again, hoping that if Emily was home she would dart over fast enough to distract Kate.

In the bedroom, Serena put her hand on Mike's shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze before she walked out of the room. She met up with Ji and Kate and was unable to hide the worried look on her face. Ji and Kate were instantly concerned.

"A Nighlok got in the house."

Ji didn't look like he believed Serena at first, but she had no reason to lie about this. Kate wrapped her arms around Serena and held her close, "Are you okay?"

"Mike and I were loading up the van. We were going to go with Emily to take Storm to the vet."

"Why?"

"She was sick," Serena sighed, "but now she's gone."

"What do you mean, gone?" Ji asked and Kate gave Serena a comforting squeeze.

"Physically gone," Serena answered, "and instead of a vet, we might need a doctor."

"Why? Ji asked but Kate didn't need to hear anymore. She let go of Serena and raced down the hall, looking for Emily. Knowing only Serena, Mike, and Emily were home, and knowing Serena was fine, Kate could easily assume Emily was either hurt, or looking over her injured husband. Neither of which sat well with Kate.

Ji put his hands on Serena's shoulders, "You mentioned a Nighlok."

"The Gap Sensor went off for a second," Serena nodded, "Something flew by Mike and I. We came inside and Storm was gone, and Emily had been attacked. "

"Are you okay?"

"I want to figure out what could have gotten in, how it got in, what it did to my sister, and why, of all things, it took Storm."

"Stay within the Gates until the others come home," Ji told her. Serena nodded and then showed him to Emily's room.