A/N

A slightly longer chapter, sorry for the lull in updates, I've been trying to keep on top of it!

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"You think that we can hike to a ranger station and leave Mr. Warren behind?" Jamie had his hand securely covering his nose.

"Do you even know where it is?" Julian had his nose plugged with tissues, as his sense of smell was far better than Jamie's. It didn't seem to help.

"No, but I bet if we walked to the road we could hitchhike."

Kurt was suffering much the same way Julian was. With their superior sense of smells, staying in camp with Warren nearby had simply not been an option.

So they were sitting on a large rock overlooking a river. But they could still smell Warren.

"How iz zis possible?!" Kurt moaned from his perch on the tree. "The smell permeates everyzing!"

"And the wind isn't even blowing." Jamie pointed out.

"It'll take forever for the smell to get out of here."

"I'm bored of the woods."

"I'm sure Warren is too." Kurt said with a hint of sarcasm.

"Can we go to the Burger Bomb?" Jamie asked hopefully.

"I left my image inducer at home." Kurt looked like he was going to cry at that statement. "The Professor said he didn't want to break it."

"This stinks."

"Literally." There was another chorus of moans from the two furry mutants.


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"What was I thinking?! I am never coming back to that school for as long as I live! I will put a restraining order on MYSELF to make sure I can't return!"

Warren ranted softly to himself. He really wanted to fly out of this place and leave for somewhere nicer and less nerve wracking. Away from these kids.

Alaska. He always heard Alaska was a great place to be alone. It should be just wonderful this time of year, almost spring.

Yes, that would be his dream spot.

"How am I going to get this smell off?" He moaned outright. The stuff stuck into his clothes, his shoes, everything. His clothes he could throw away. But the stench would not remove itself.

"Perhaps we should cut this vacation short. I was never made for Camping…yes, that's what we'll do, we'll go back. Then I'll go to a nice cabin far, far away, and stay there until this horrid smell comes off!"

Warren stood up and went off in the direction of the children with a new purpose.

However, when he got there, they were nowhere to be found.

"Where are they?!"

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"Man, I don't know if that's supposed to happen. Is it supposed to get stronger?" Jamie asked his friend.

"I dhuno." Julian snuffled. His blocked nose was starting to make him sound stuffy.

"I hope Kurt's back soon. How long does it take to find a place that doesn't stink?"

Kurt bamphed in not two feet away. "Zere is a road back there, a cabin and a car, I bet zey have some food. Jamie, you go in first."

"Alright, food!" Jamie rushed off in the direction that Kurt gestured with Julian following close behind.

Because of the proximity of the skunk to camp, food in the camp had become totally uneatable. They had all given up when they smelt the food.

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The cabin the car was parked beside was barely standing, more of a shack than a living house.

But this was ignored by Jamie, who trotted up and knocked right on the door.

"Hey! Anybody home?!"

A few minutes of silence, then the door slowly opened to reveal a man in a long trench coat and a wide brimmed hat standing with one arm hidden behind him. The other arm was on the handle of the door.

"What do you want, kid?"

"I had a horrible accident, and I have nothing to eat-"

"That's nice." He was about to close the door.

"Wait! Don't you have any food to spare for me and my friends?"

"Friends?" The question was guarded and tense.

Julian, hidden in the underbrush with Kurt, twitched his ears, trying to remember where he saw the man before. Then it him. He jumped straight up into the air. "I KNOW YOU!"

The man jerked out his other hand, revealing the gun he had hidden in the folds of his coat. He had been ready to shoot at the furry mutant. He seemed to stare at the mutant for a moment, then realized who he was.

"You're her son."

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"So why are you living in zis shack?"

Arcane didn't answer the furry blue mutant. He really didn't like to answer questions about himself all that much.

The two boys were eating away at what meager rations he had. Basically a couple emergency TV dinners. He didn't really mind, though. He didn't really like those two types anyway, it saved him from eating them.

The furry blue one, Kurt was his name, shrugged at his silence and wandered around, eating the last of his food, a couple of carrots.

He was prepared to throw them out, but if these kids were hungry enough to eat them, that was fine with him.

"So have you seen Mom lately?"

The little mutant Danny had brought back with her was much larger than he remembered. And much more aware of the world in general. He seemed to have that same strange gift his mother had of being aware of something he couldn't hear.

"I saw her once. This winter."

"When she went to see Great Grandma? Did you see Great Grandma? What she like?"

"Interesting."

"Oh. How so?"

"…."

"You don't talk a lot do you?"

"…"

"Oh. Hey, you wouldn't mind if we stayed here, would you? I mean, Mr. Warren really stinks."

Arcane titled his head slightly towards Kurt in silent question. Kurt gave a grimace.

"He had an encounter with a skunk."

"I see…If you want to stay, you can. Just don't get in my way. And don't cause trouble."

Julian and the other boy, Jamie, plastered the looks of complete angels on their faces.

What did he just let himself get into?

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A/N

Sorry for the lull in updates, things may be getting a little crazy in the way of updating, Wizard of Oz starts next week, so I may have very sporadic updates. But after that is Spring Break, and I plan on writing lots of stuff!

Asteria: That quote is so true.

Chrissy: Well, I implemented the long distance thing in my AU, and I figure it would probably happen to him, seeming as he does have his mother's abilities, however watered down. Glad you like it!

Laureate: Girl scout cookies, yum! Actually, I do like Angel (even though he's actually on my bottom of the list of favorite  characters) I have a complex where I like them all. I can't help it.

Anon(girl): Thank you, I'm glad you and fishy like it so. Thank you so much, I hope you enjoy it!

Raliena: That's okay. Glad you like the skunk!

Anee: Heh, glad you like it.

Aicha: Heh, yes, but the angel shall have his day, or at least drag some other poor soul down with him.

Drunk on Tang: Thank you, that's exactly what I think of when I think about skunks. Heh, yeah, long distance would be murder.

Rogue77: Glad you liked it! Yeah, they do love their little cubs, don't they? Squirrels and bees? I suppose that would match the description as well…

Kally will take reviews! She wanted me to ask for internet rat toys (apparently she has too much food!).