A/N: Here is a story that I have always wanted to get out. Crossover between Samurai and Ninja Storm. Pairings include Jayden/Emily, Kevin/Mia, and Blake/Tori!

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers!

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

Power Rangers – Tainted Stone

By: DreamStar14 & StarSlingerSnitch

Chapter 2: The Letter

Antonio laughed and he joined in on Emily's hyperness and excitement as the others looked on. Rainbow's End really was a beautiful place. It was fun, and like Emily said, it was a perfect way to forget about being Samurai Rangers for a day. To be honest, if Jii hadn't told them to bring their Samuraizers, Jayden would have completely forgotten his.

As he looked at Emily, his smile never wavered. She made his day every single day, but just being happy and bubbly and cheerful.

And to think...he had nearly lost her on her birthday, the happiest day of her life, every year. He knew Mike was angry at Splitface and Jayden felt that if he himself wasn't so good at hiding his emotions, he would have lost it too, just like Mike.

"We're not going to let you down, Em. We'll save you. Just hang on until then." 'I promise...' he had thought.

That's what he had said to her on that day. Mostly, he was trying to reassure himself more than her, but he had stuck the "brave face" on for her anyways, despite the fact that she said she could see right through it.

"No, Em. Mike's right. You're the best..."

And yet, he managed to save her. It took them nearly becoming Nighlocks and Antonio coming and saving their sorry butts just in time to do it. But he did it. Using the Clawzord, Antonio drew him out and blocked Splitface's body swarm attack. Kevin and Mia attacked next and sent him to Mike, whole flung him to Jayden. He himself had delivered the final blow.

Luckily, they had saved her in time to let her celebrate her birthday with her "such wonderful friends" that she was "so lucky to have". The look she gave Jayden, and kept sneaking at him, was enough to make him realize his true feelings for her.

He loved her.

He couldn't bear to loose her again. He just loved spending time with her, just like Terry's concert. When he heard his and Antonio's song, he thought of Emily.

"Being with my friends means the world to me..."

He could never, would never, forget that line of the song. When she laughed at one of Antonio and Mike's double-teamed jokes, he was, once again, reminded of why he fought for her.

Mike, Mia, and Kevin had gone to get ice cream for them all. Antonio had pulled Jayden off the side and they had stopped. Hearing Antonio talk a mile a minute to Jayden, who merely stood and laughed gently at him, Emily sat down on the bench beside them both and pulled out Serena's letter that Jayden had given her that morning. Taking a deep breath, she started to read, expecting the worst, but also hearing Serena's voice.

"Dear Emily,

I know you're doing great being the Yellow Ranger. I know you get yourself in danger a lot, but every time that happens, I feel it and I feel like running to that House just to see if you're okay, even if it's just a little scrape on your elbow. But I can't do that. I'd be putting you and the other Rangers at risk by doing that.

I'm cured, but that illness took such a huge bite of my strength, it will be impossible to get myself back into shape again. I just thought I'd let you know that so you can stop your fussing. I'm fine.

Remember, I am very proud of you, Em. I always have been and always will be. Mom and Dad are proud of you too.

Love you and miss you heaps,

Serena"

Antonio plopping down onto the seat next to her drove her back to reality.

"Watcha reading?" Antonio asked. Emily folded the letter back up and placed it back in her jacket pocket, seeing the others having walked up with the ice cream, Jayden standing beside her. All were staring at her, interested in what the letter she was reading had to say.

"A letter from Serena," Emily said, smiling sweetly.

"Serena..." Antonio thought. "Oh, yes, Serena. She is your big sister, correct?" Emily nodded. "But what I always wondered is why you are the Yellow Ranger and not she..."

Emily seemed a bit taken by back by this question. "Huh? Oh, Serena got sick and I had to take her place."

"Oh, a duty to family I see," Antonio said, smiling at her bravely and nobility. She was willing to take on the dangerous position of Yellow Ranger for her big sister. "You know an interesting thought?" The Gold Ranger suddenly asked.

"No, what is it?" Mike asked, licking his ice cream, the others randomly doing the same with theirs.

"What if Serena was Yellow instead of Emily?" Antonio asked.

This struck Emily like a knife to the heart. Antonio was right. It was an interesting thought. What if Serena never got sick? What if she never had to take her older sister's place? What if she never met the others? What if she never fell in love with Jayden?

But, she wasn't the Yellow Ranger. She was only a replacement.

"Let's not talk about that now," Jayden interupted, bringing everyone out of their thoughts, including Emily. "Emily is our Yellow and that's all we need to know." Emily smiled at this.

"He's right," Kevin said, wrapping his arm around Mia, who was so close to being his girl. "So what did Serena have to say, Em?"

"Good news," Emily said, her smile not wavering. "She's cured, but she's permanently scarred."

"I feel happy for you, but also bad for Serena," Mike said. "You're perfectly healthy, but she's stuck with an illness that she'll have scars from for the rest of her life."

Emily's smiled never staggered. She gave off a short, yet gentle laugh. "Don't worry about me or my sister, Mike. Besides, we have a day off to enjoy, don't we?"

"Yes, let's get on with it!" Antonio said, getting up from the bench before Jayden held his hand out to help Emily up from her own seat on the bench. After nodding her thank you, she turned back to face the front of the group and off they marched (not really, but still) down the walkway of Rainbow's End.

Somehow, she couldn't help notice and strange feeling deep in her chest. it wasn't painful, but it was slightly uncomfortable. Realizing that the feeling was growing very slowly, she stopped walking.

Mia noticed one of their own lagging behind. "Hey, Em, you still coming with us?"

When the others turned around, Emily's smile was completely gone. Instead, she was lightly panting, but other than that, nothing else was wrong with her. Her smile being gone was strange enough behavior already.

"What's wrong, Em?" Jayden couldn't help but ask.

Emily's hazel eyes snapped back up to her friends. "Don't you...feel that?"

A confused look appeared on all their faces. "Feel what?" Mike asked.

Emily didn't answer him right away. She simply got down on one knee and placed a firm, yet slightly shaky hand pressed on the stone-hard pavement ground.

"The Earth...feels really weird..." She looked back up at her friends and understood why they didn't feel anything like she did.

Jayden controlled fire, Mia controlled wind, Kevin controlled water, Mike controlled plants, and Antonio controlled light.

Emily controlled earth.

Jii had said once that they were emotionally, mentally, and sometimes physically connected with their own individual elements. If the water was poluted, then Kevin would feel it. If the fire was going out, then Jayden would feel it. If the wind was dying down, Mia would feel it. If the plants were poisoned and couldn't grow properly, Mike would feel it. If it was getting dark, Antonio would feel it. It would only be natural that if something was happening to the earth itself, then she alone would feel it.

She got up, slowly, and tried to put her smile back on. "It's nothing. Forget it. We still have a day off to enjoy, don't we?"

None of the others really took her word for it, but they didn't rebel against it either. "Okay, Em. If you say so..."

With Emily glad that they were continuing on with their day off, the group kept walking.

But that strange feeling never really left.

~S-A~M-U~R-A~I-&~N-I~N-J~A-S~T-O~R-M~/-P~O-W~E-R~R-A~N-G~E-R~S-

"So this is Paronorma City?" Shane comments as they walk around. They had used Ninja super speed to get there, but had powered down when they arrived as to not attract suspicion. Now, they were following the coordinates Cam had found back at Ninja Ops that showed where the Earth was marred.

"It's nothing compared to Blue Bay Harbor, of course, but it's still nice," Shane continues as they pass a park full of playing kids. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off the concrete and almost blinding them, but surprisingly wasn't too hot. Not a good sign.

"Yeah," Tori agrees while they walk farther and farther away from the green grass. Soon it's no more plants, and their surrounded by tall, white buildings with multiple windows al looking down over a square. The square is crowded with people, heading in all different directions.

"Hey Cam, what were those coordinates again?" Dustin asks. He's starting to feel a little weird, like a feeling of…tiredness. Weary. He shakes it off, knowing that their mission has no time for it.

It's just from the competition, that's it. The competition.

"We're almost there, it's just a little ways down here," Cam reassures him. "It's twenty-three degrees, fifty six degrees northwest." He points in that direction as he glances around, looking for anything suspicious. Dustin nods, narrowing his eyes against the sun's rays.

It's very quiet as they get farther and farther away from other humans. By now they had gotten past most of the populated area and were headed towards the beach. As they climb over some rocks, they notice that there's no one else on the beach. The ocean is bare, a vast spread of emptiness beyond the barren plane of sand.

As Tori looks at it, she feels something's not quite right. The water is a little too calm, the sand a little too smooth, the air a little too sweet. Or it could just be that forbidding sense in the air, that even though their rangers again, it comes with a price.

"You sure this is it, bro?" Blake gazes around at the uninhabited beach. "Cause there's no one here. Not even a monster." Cam nods, repeating various calculations in his head and trying to remember the exact code of coordinates.

"That's the thing though," Shane pointes out. "That no one's here. That should be, like, your first clue that something's not right." Dustin's eyes flutter a little bit and he takes a step backwards. He had just been hit with a feeling of…well, he couldn't really place it. It was a mix of slight pain, helplessness, and weakening hope. Hunter nudges him, concern in his wide eyes.

"You okay?" Shane looks over and notices Dustin's strange behavior. He nods, distracted.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm good. But it's so…weird, you know? There's no one around and that in itself is a little eerie."

"I feel it too," Tori says, looking around nervously. "There's something…ominous, about being here alone. Like something's just waiting to happen." Blake steps closer to her and rubs his arm against hers. Hunter and Dustin catch each other's eye and roll theirs, biting their lips to conceal their grins.

"Would it make you feel better if we morph?" Blake asks her. Tori nods, her blond hair blowing in the breeze that just picked up. Cam conceals his shiver as it blows by them. The others are right. He would've expected something to have happened by now. Wouldn't the monster have appeared or at least made its presence known?

"Come on then. Let's do it," Hunter says. They all take their stance, quickly morphing.

"Ninja storm, ranger form, ha!"

"Thunder storm, ranger form, ha!"

"Samurai storm, ranger form, ha!"

"Now that that's done, what should we do next?" Shane asks, his helmeted head turning back and forth along the length of the beach. Cam shakes his own, the green matching the scare trees still behind the rocks they had come over to get to the sand.

"I'm not actually sure."

"What? The super genius isn't sure about something? Oh no, this is bad, so very bad," Blake teases, trying to lighten the mood.

"Oh, ha ha," Cam responds dryly. "Give me a minute to think."

"Okay, whatever." Hunter crosses his arms as he watches the waves tumble into the shore. The sound is comforting, lulling. He used to feel this way when he had the Gem of Souls and was hiding it. He feels this way when riding, although it's mixed with a sense of adrenaline.

He wants to feel this way with someone.

Suddenly Dustin stumbles.

"Whoa dude, what's up?" Blake catches Dustin by the arm as he loses his footing, his voice surprised. They all make a little circle around Dustin who is shaking his head, trying to clear it of the strange feeling. He's slightly panting.

"I'm fine, really, guys…" he tries to reassure them. "We should be focusing on the mission…" But no one was listening to him.

"Dustin, if you were feeling bad earlier, why didn't you tell us?" Tori chides him. She's known him a long time and the thought of him not feeling well is making her ill.

"Yeah, we would've let you sit this one out," Hunter argues. He's always liked Dustin from the beginning, even though he was supposed to destroy him. True, he was different, but Dustin's a cool guy.

"I'm not hurt, it's not painful, it's just…really weird," Dustin tries to explain. "Like there's something not right but no one else can feel it, you know? Like it's crying out for help." Blake turns to Cam, his posture stiff.

"Cam…" he says slowly. "You know how you said that this might affect Dustin badly since it's hurting the Earth? What if that's it? What if…" His brother finishes the sentence as dread settles into everyone's chest.

"The earth is dying?"

Everyone looks at each other even though they can't see the other's eyes. But the concern and worry is still plain in the air.

"Hunter, let's not jump to conclusions," Shane begins.

"Let's jump to your doom instead!" A voice above them squeaks and they all look up, startled. Explosions happen in front of them and they tumble away, coming up squatting. The smoke obscures their vision for a moment but then it clears, revealing a figure. A monster of some sort is standing on the rocks above him. He's a shade of dark blue, indigo almost, with an oval face and large black eyes. His hands, clutching a lethal-looking sword, are a light gray, matching his clothes. His mouth, grinning sickly, looks like a scarecrow's mouth-only twice as revolting.

They all take out their Ninja swords, standing up slowly. Blake gets his Thunder blade ready as Hunter takes out the Thunder staff, followed by Cam's uncovering of the Samurai saber.

"Uh, Blake? I think we found the monster," Shane says.

To be continued…

~PR~PR~PR~PR~

A/N: Yes I am co-writing this with StarSlingerSnitch. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up soon. Review, please! :) They are very much appreciated.

Confused? Don't be afraid to ask either one of us! We'll be happy to explain it to you.