Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers: (Super) Samurai. This is purely fan-made.
Walking back into the yard after spending the day at the mall, the girls noticed that nothing was in its place.
The bench was overturned, the equipment was knocked over, the tools for the barbecue were on the ground, the chairs for the picnic table were on their side… in short, it looked like the battle against Xandred had been fought in the yard, and none of the girls were sure who won.
"We leave the house for a few hours," Serena groaned, "and the boys manage to turn it upside down."
Mia was the first to reach the door and she pushed it open. The lock on the door had come off, so it swung open without much effort. Looking inside the house, Mia saw it looked worse than the yard.
"Boys?" she called inside, stepping over a broken pot and sighing at the fallen bonsai, "Hello, are you here?"
It was then a smell reached her nose. It was unlike anything she had ever smelt before. It was worse – way worse – than that time she had done Mike's laundry. It hit her like a truck, knocking her back. She stumbled onto the porch with tears in her eyes and a burning sensation up her nose and down her throat. She coughed uncontrollably, catching the attention of the yellow and white Rangers, who were doing what they could to put the yard back in order.
"Mia?" Emily called with a hint of worry, hearing Mia's coughs and seeing she wasn't able to stop, "Are you okay?"
Mia shook her head and pointed to the house with one hand while the other clutched her throat as she tried in vain to cough out the smell that was now burning her lungs. While Serena checked up on her, Emily hesitantly walked to the house and very carefully stepped inside.
"Skunk!" she gasped and ran out of the house before the smell could catch her like it had done to Mia. Growing up on the farm, she had had plenty of encounters with skunks. She had a dog for a while growing up who on occasions had run into a skunk and Emily herself had even been hit a couple of times, earning her a few very mean nicknames from her classmates.
"Oh no," Serena groaned. She too remembered the run-ins with the skunks. Unlike Emily, however, she remembered all the work required to erase all traces of the skunk. It was more than just bathing the victim in tomato juice and spraying a few fresh scents around the house. It was a huge mess that required nearly everything be thrown away and replaced or cleaned vigorously. Once the smell of skunk sunk into anything, it was very hard to get rid of.
Mia was finally able to breathe the fresh air again and looked to the sisters with worry. This was a mess she did not want to clean up, but she knew it was going to take the entire team's effort to do so.
"That smells."
"No shit," Serena rolled her eyes. She grabbed Emily's arm and then pushed her into the house, "Go find out where the boys are and what happened."
Emily ran out of the house and shook her head, "Why me?"
"This isn't your first rodeo. Now go, Stinkers."
"Not nice," Emily crossed her arms over her chest. Serena pointed to the door. With a sigh, Emily covered her mouth and nose and went in.
She was inside for two minutes before she came back out. Mia and Serena took a step back. The smell had clung onto their little sister already.
"So?" Mia asked, "What's verdict?"
"Who would win in a duel between a skunk and five trained Samurai plus a dog?"
"Storm was hit too?" Serena groaned, "Dammit."
"Girls!" Antonio cried from inside the house. He had been walking through the halls with a training sword when he saw the front door was open and the girls were standing outside. He raced over to them and Mia and Serena could finally see the severity of the situation. Antonio was dressed head to toe as a Samurai. The armour had been taking out of Jayden's closet and Antonio was using it to keep himself safe from the skunk. He was also wearing a mask to protect himself from the foul smell. Judging by the armour and the sword, the girls could safely assume the skunk was still in the house, and the mask indicated that the smell only got worse further into the house.
"What happened?" Serena rubbed the bridge of her nose in frustration. She hadn't even gone into the house and already she wanted to turn around and leave.
"Storm got loose."
"You let Storm get out!" Emily cried and punched Antonio in the chest. Luckily for him he was wearing armour. The impact still hurt a little, so Antonio rubbed his chest.
"We all went after her," he assured Emily, "but Storm was on the hunt. Little did we know, she was going after a skunk who decided to fight back."
"If Storm got loose, why does the house smell?" Mia asked.
Antonio turned to the house and narrowed his eyes. He looked ready to kill, "This is not a normal skunk."
"It's in the house, isn't it?"
Antonio got out his Samurai Morpher and texted three symbols. Three masks appeared on the ground in front of the girls' feet. He nodded his head.
"You're going to need these."
"Did Storm get hit?"
"We all got hit, Em," Antonio gave her shoulder a pat, "C'mon. There's no more armour left for the three of you, but hopefully you don't need one."
"We're doomed," Mia sighed and put on her mask. She followed Antonio into the common room, where the other boys had gathered. They were also wearing Samurai armour, carrying wooden swords, and hiding behind masks to keep the smell away. When the girls walked in, Storm jumped up and raced over to Emily, whining loudly as Emily picked her up.
"You're going to need a long bath," Emily held the dog at arm's length. "You got hit a few times, I can tell."
"Good, you're home," Kevin said, "We were just going over the extermination…"
"NO!" Emily cried and almost dropped the dog, "It's not Stripes' fault you were too stupid to close the gate properly. He only sprayed you because he's scared."
"You named him, Emy?" Serena groaned. "You haven't even seen him yet."
"That doesn't mean we kill him," Emily put her foot down, "We release him."
"Emily, this isn't a normal skunk," Mike assured her. "We tried getting her out humanely, but she sprayed us, and then I swear she laughed at us. We have no choice but to…"
"No!"
"We'll do it in a non-lethal way," Serena promised Emily and then looked to the boys. They, Ji included, were putting down their swords and stashing their Samuraizers away. Serena sighed loudly, "Once Emily names something, we can't kill it. That's how we ended up keeping a one legged goat who couldn't produce milk."
"Then you can come up with a plan, Em," Jayden said, "If you can get this skunk out of the house without killing it, we'll follow your lead."
"I'm going to need a trap, and some of your dog food, Storm," Emily looked at her dog, which seemed to give her a reluctant look. She didn't like the idea of sharing her food with the skunk that sprayed her. Emily ignored it and walked to the kitchen to get a bowl. Storm followed her, whining the entire way.
"If all else fails, your father gave us his shotgun," Kevin said to Serena, "I know…"
"It'll take a couple of bullets to kill the skunk," Serena said, "If you do that, though, Emy's going to turn into a master huntswoman and she'll take you out with a single shot. Do you really want to risk it?"
"It really stinks in here," Jayden groaned.
-Samurai-
The Samurai all knew their roles in the plan, and it was to stay away from the skunk while the dog's food lured it into the trap. Once inside, the trap would keep the skunk in a cage safely until Emily could get him outside. There he would be released and if he had any brains at all, he would stay away from the Shiba House for the rest of his life.
Emily was sure if that planned failed, her friends would use other methods.
While they closed the doors to the rooms the skunk wasn't in, Emily stayed in the shadows and kept her eye on the trap. Eventually the skunk would get hungry and it would go for the food. Emily remembered luring in a bunch of stray animals in this very same way back on the farm. It was effective and it would work.
Jayden crouched down in the spot beside her, staying as silent as he could. The skunk was nearby, he could smell it, and he didn't want to scare the little creature away.
"Are you sure you know what you're doing?" he asked. "That little guy's got another few sprays left in him, I'm sure."
"He can only spray so much at once," Emily shook her head, "and they don't like spraying people. You must have really pissed him off."
"We pissed him off?" Jayden frowned, "He is in our home."
"And if you were keeping an eye on Storm like you should have been doing, none of this would have happened."
As soon as those words left her mouth, Emily heard the cage door snap shut. Something had been caught in the trap. A bright smile lit up Emily's face as she turned to the cage and lifted off her mask, believing she had won. The trap had caught something, unfortunately, it had caught the wrong animal. Storm had been lured in by her food and had gotten trapped in the cage. Emily and Jayden jumped up to free the dog, who now seemed terrified and pissed off. If Storm had a way of spraying a foul smell around the house, the Samurai would suffocate by now.
"Storm, I warned you not to eat the food!" Emily cried as she opened the door and pulled her dog out. Storm was shaking and staring off into the distance. Jayden turned to see what caught her eye while Emily reset the trap.
"Em," Jayden grabbed her arm, "Run."
"What? Why?"
"Grab the dog and…"
Jayden had been right. The skunk had one more spray left and he decided to use it on the three of them. Jayden, Emily, and Storm were all sprayed by the skunk's stink and were down for the count. As they all gasped for breath and cried out in pain, the skunk took off running.
Mike and Antonio had seen their partners attacked by the skunk and called out for war, picking up their swords. The skunk ran around the house, ducking under furniture, jumping over tables and counters, and knocking things over, creating obstacles and blocked paths for the boys. Though the skunk was no longer able to spray, he was far from defenseless. After racing around the house once, he was back in the common room. Mike and Antonio were determined to get him and chased him around everywhere, refusing to give up despite running into everything and earning themselves new bruises. The skunk jumped up onto the table, and then leapt over to the bookshelf. He landed on the shelf that held Scruffy's urn and knocked it over as he tried to jump somewhere else. Antonio and Mike both dove for Scruffy, smashing their heads together, but catching the urn before it smashed and the ashes flew out everywhere.
The skunk, however, got away.
-Samurai-
After tending to Jayden and Emily by rinsing their eyes and spraying them down once (a real bath would be taken once the skunk was gone for good), Mia and Serena were on the skunk. This skunk was proving to smart, but it wouldn't outsmart them. When they put their heads together, nothing could defeat them.
"Emily says he can't spray anymore," Serena reminded Mia, "So when we see him, you grab him and I'll open the door."
"He can't spray, but he can scratch," Mia shook her head, "You go after him. I'll open the door."
"No way am I touching that striped demon," Serena said, "I've handled enough skunks. It's your turn."
"You're the expert. You know what you're doing."
"Neither of you know what you're doing," Ji sighed and pointed down the hall, where the skunk was sitting comfortably on a chair, as if settling down for a nap. He held his finger up to his mouth, signalling for them to be quiet and very carefully they tiptoed over to the skunk.
They were standing right over him when the skunk realized they were there and jumped up from the chair. He raced off as the girls and Ji all dove for him. They landed on the ground with a thump, and Mia felt her fingers brush against the fur of the skunk's tail, but none of them caught him. Skidding around the corner, the skunk got away. Ji was the first on his feet and chased after the skunk, but he slipped around the corner, landed with another hard thump and then there was a cry. Mia and Serena, worried the older man was hurt, hurried to his side, letting the skunk find a new place to hide.
Ji wasn't hurt, but he wasn't doing well either. Though the skunk couldn't spray anymore, he could leave a smell.
"Looks like I'm not the only one who landed face first in poop," Serena chuckled as she and Mia helped Ji to his feet. Both girls were laughing, but Ji was far from amused. He wiped the skunk's poop from his face onto both hands and smeared it on the girls' cheeks.
Now it was funny.
Mia shuttered at the thought of the skunk's waste on her face. She was going to need a hot shower when this was done.
-Samurai-
With Jayden and Emily still recovering from their direct hit from the skunk's final stink bomb, and Mike and Antonio nursing what was sure to be a concussion (they both had hard heads), and Ji, Serena, and Mia washing themselves from the skunk's poop, Kevin knew he was all alone.
He was very tempted to grab the shotgun Jack had given the Samurai. He had trained with the Hydro Bow his entire life, and though a bow and a gun were very different weapons, Kevin knew he had good aim and he was a quick learner. He would get rid of the skunk problem once and for all. However, Emily had forbidden any harm come to the skunk, and unless Kevin wanted to live with a very angry Emily, he needed to respect that rule.
Fortunately, while the others had been running around mindlessly after a skunk that was obviously smarter than all of them, he had come up with a plan. He was going hit the skunk, but with a symbol that would put him to sleep. Then he would take him outside, put him somewhere safe to sleep off the effects of the symbol, and the house would be skunk free.
Kevin just needed to find the black and white striped demon.
Turning the corner, he saw the little creature clawing at the wall, as if trying to dig himself a little hole. Kevin knelt down as quietly as he could and pulled out his Samuraizer. He would need to get the symbol right the first time, and he would have to hit the skunk. If he made noise and the skunk ran away, he would have to find him and trace the symbol all over again. If he got the symbol wrong, he could hurt the little stinker.
"Alright, little guy," Kevin very carefully whispered, "I'm not going to hurt you. Just stay right where you are and you'll be out of here before you… STORM! NO!"
The dog, now angry with the skunk, came running down the halls, barking angrily when she saw the skunk and scaring the creature off. Kevin lowered his head and sighed in frustration as Storm chased the skunk up and down the halls. All the doors to the other rooms were closed and there was nowhere to run except outside. The door wouldn't close properly and would swing open after some time. At this point, it was wide open and it was the skunk's only way out.
"Go, Storm!" Kevin cheered, realizing eventually Storm would chase the skunk out of the house. Kevin followed, trying his best to keep his eye on both animals until finally the skunk did what everyone wanted it to do. It ran outside, leaving the Shiba Home.
Storm, however, wasn't done the chase. By nature she was a hunting dog and wouldn't stop until she caught her prey. She had her sights set on the skunk and needed to win this battle.
"Storm, stop! Come back! No! Bad girl! Bad…" Kevin skid to a stop when suddenly Storm started running in the opposite direction, headed for home. Something had scared her off.
Kevin then found himself face to face with it. It that seemed all this time, he and the Samurai had been chasing after a young skunk and this young skunk had finally found its mother.
Enraged, mama skunk turned her butt to Kevin, lifted her tail, and coated him in her smelly liquid. As Kevin suffered the effects of the smells, the two skunks disappeared into the deep forest.
-Samurai-
Smelly, bruised, and beaten, the Rangers had no choice but the leave the Shiba House. The skunk had gone everywhere and had left it's smell on everything and everyone. The house was a mess, the smell was too powerful for the Samurai to hang around, and they were all too tired to deal with cleaning everything up. After dropping Storm off at a dog hotel and forking out a lot of extra money to have the employees wash the smell from Storm's fur, the Rangers and Ji decided to spend the night in a hotel.
"A room for eight, please," Ji said to the man behind the counter – far behind the counter. The Samurai had all taken a quick shower, but they still smelt very bad.
The poor hotel worker didn't know what to do, "Uh, I'm sorry but there are no…"
"Please, we've had a long day," Ji said, "We'll take whatever room you have."
Ji saw the hesitation from the worker and knew he would need to be reminded of the rooms available. Pulling out his wallet, Ji started writing a check to the hotel, adding a couple more zeros than needed for even the most expensive room in the building.
"I'll find you something," the man smirked.
While Ji got the Samurai their room, the Rangers were sitting on the couches, ignoring the looks from the other guests who walked by. It was clear the smell was from a skunk, but that didn't stop people from judging. Uncomfortable with the stares, Emily leaned into Mike. He pulled away.
"Sorry, but you stink!"
"Mike!"
"It's true! You really, really stink."
"We all stink!"
"Yeah, but this stink isn't helping my concussion at all," Mike said. He didn't like pushing her away, but he was enjoying the turn around this provided him. Normally, if anyone was refusing a cuddle it was Emily and it was because he stunk.
Mike got up, wanting a little space from his friends. As he walked over to the other set of couches, he gave Serena a pat on the shoulder, "You know what, you can have her back. She didn't stink this much when I first got her."
"MIKE!" Emily cried. She knew he was only kidding, but it still wasn't funny.
Serena chuckled, "Had I only known."
Kevin sighed heavily, "How long do you think we'll have to let the house air out before it's safe to go home?"
"Decades," Mia muttered.