*Hey I am so sorry this chapter has taken me so long to publish, life has kept me quite busy and I promise I'll try and do my best to publish more chapters, so for now I hope you enjoy this chapter!*

Chapter 35

Days have passed and Jayden has recovered from his injuries much to the relief of Nariko, Ji and the rangers. Today at the Shiba household, the rangers were hard at work training in the front yard. Mike, Kevin, Emily and Mia had paired off with each other while Jayden trained by himself.

With Mike and Kevin the two were sparring with their swords though as Mike charged at his teammate, Kevin easily dodged his attack and thought aloud "Why would Master Xandred attack Serrator?" he blocked two of Mike's attack with his back turned, "Serrator must have gone rogue, attacking at odd places like that island but why?"

The blue ranger then knelt down just as Mike charged at him, he flew over Kevin and crashed into Nariko that happened to be passing by at the time. The two cried out in surprise as they crashed to the ground, Emily, Mia and Jayden stopped what they were doing and hurried over to them.

"Mike, Nariko are you ok?" asked Emily

The green ranger rubbed the back of his neck as the yellow ranger helped him up, "Yeah I'm fine…Sorry about that Nariko."

Jayden helped his fiance up and the Yamada princess gave Mike a small smile, "That's all right…"

Everyone then gathered around the blue ranger who placed some rocks before him. "What's up Kevin?" asked Mia

"Serrator has made a series of attacks on us…If he's fighting us and Master Xandred…He must be up to something big!"

And with that Kevin rushed into the household with the others following, in the living room the blue ranger sat at the table looking over the map just as the rangers and Nariko gathered around him.

"Check this out!" said Kevin, he began placing marks on the map "If we put a dot on the map for each recent nighlok attack like I did with those stones outside this is what we get."

Mike nodded at this, "Oh I see it!" he then leaned over to Emily and asked her, "Now what am I seeing again?" all the yellow ranger did was shook her head, not knowing what Kevin was doing.

"Let him finish Mike." Said Jayden

"Well…Serrator doesn't seem like the type of nighlok to just attack randomly…I'm thinking that there must be a pattern…I mean why else would Master Xandred and Dayu attack Serrator? He really got out of there fast…Look if we place a mark where Serrator has appeared or sent a nighlok himself…"

"They form a line." Finished Mia

"Yeah…But this isn't a coincidence, Serrator is up to something!"

"And knowing him…It's probably something really bad…" said Nariko

Jayden wrapped his arm around his fiance, holding her close "Don't worry…Whatever he's planning we'll stop it."

Minutes later Nariko had retreated to her room and began looking over some family scrolls. As she sat upon her bed, reading over the scrolls a knock was heard upon the door. Not once taking her eyes off the scroll in her hands, Nariko said "Come in."

The bedroom door opened to reveal Ji who strolled over to the Yamada princess, "Nariko." She looked up from the scroll to find the samurai mentor stopping by her bedside, "Oh Ji…Is there something that you need?"

From behind his back Ji pulled out an envelope and handed the item to Nariko, "This came for you."

The princess took the envelope and immediately she froze once setting eyes on the symbol that is stamped on the front, "It's…It's the Yamada Clan symbol…" Nariko opened the envelope, retrieved the letter inside and began reading its contents.

Once she finished reading, the princess slowly put the letter down. Ji immediately notice the look on her face and asked, "Nariko are you all right?" "Yes…I'm all right…It's just that the letter…"

"It's from him isn't it?"

"Yes it's definitely him…He says the time is getting close…"

"I see…Nariko…"

The Yamada princess got up from her bed, "I need some air…" she brushed pass Ji who couldn't help but watch after her in concern, "Oh Nariko…"

30 minutes later in the kitchen with the rangers and Ji, the samurai mentor was prepping some snacks for the group when Jayden happened to notice his fiance is missing. The red ranger looked to his mentor, "Hey Ji…Where's Nariko?"

Ji who had been cutting up some fruit at the time, stopped and looked at Jayden "She's out in the garden…She's been there for a while now ever since receiving that letter…"

Once mentioning the letter, Jayden got closer to the samurai mentor and lowly whispered to him, "Was the letter from him?" "Yes…It was from him…Could you go and talk to Nariko, Jayden?"

"I was about to go do that." Jayden lightly patted his mentor on the shoulder, "Thanks for telling me Ji."

Thus Jayden quickly left out of the kitchen with the other rangers staring after him in confusion. Mike then looked to their samurai mentor, "What was that all about Ji? I never have seen Jayden leave the room so quickly."

"Let's just say something has come up that has somewhat upset Nariko."

"Anything we can do to help her?" asked Mia

Ji shook his head, "No…I believe Jayden has got that covered…"

Meanwhile outside the Shiba house, Jayden had just arrived at the garden to see Nariko sitting on the stone garden bench fiddling with her necklace. He approached the princess from behind and wrapped his arms around her, "Something wrong, love?"

"I know Ji told you about the letter I received today…Which is why you're out here."

"That and I wanted to make sure that you're all right."

"I'm fine it's just that…I wasn't expecting a letter from him…"

"I thought you would at least be happy finally receiving a letter from him…And yet I find you here upset…"

Nariko stood up from the bench, causing Jayden to let go of her. He watched the princess approach the pond with her arms crossed over her chest. The red ranger walked over to his fiance and stood behind her, "Don't even think about trying to avoid this…It's clear that you are upset about receiving his letter."

Nariko huffed, "Well I wasn't expecting to receive a letter from him at all! Not after what happened that night…"

"And after all this time you still hold resentment towards him…"

"What he said to me that night hurt me Jayden, you should know that!…After all he's-"

The red ranger turned the Yamada princess around and pulled her into an embrace, "I know Nariko…I know…But you need to calm down…"

Nariko heavily sighed and wrapped her arms around Jayden, burying her head in his chest. The red ranger kissed the top of her head and began to rub his fiancé's back in comfort. The couple remained like that for a few seconds when the gap sensor went off. Nariko looked up at Jayden who laid his forehead against hers, "We'll continue this when I get back all right?"

"Ok…"

Thus the couple quickly ran into the household and entered the living room to find Ji and the others looking at the map. "Serrator is attacking a spot right in line with the others. The longer the line gets it's like he's cutting the Earth in two!" said Emily

"Wait! Could he really split the Earth like that?" questioned Mike

"Maybe that's his plan." Said Kevin

"All that is going to be cut is his plan, let's roll." Said Jayden

Ji pulled out his cell phone, "I'll call Antonio and tell him to meet you there."

Before leaving the red ranger turned to his fiance, "Nariko…"

She gave him a small smile, "I'll be fine Jayden, now go and take care of Serrator."

Jayden nodded and gave a quick kiss to Nariko then left out of the household with his team following.

Later in the living room Nariko was sitting at the table gazing at the map. She studied the points of Serrator's attacks and muttered to herself, "Where have I seen this before?" the princess stood up from her seat and walked over to the bookshelf. She pushed some books to the side and found a scroll, Nariko grabbed the scroll and unrolled it. While reading through its contents the princess tightly gripped the scroll, "Oh no…"

She dropped the scroll and quickly began making her leave from the household, Ji stepped into the hall at this time and immediately spotted the princess leaving "Nariko? Nariko where are you going? Nariko!"

Meanwhile in the city the rangers had been fighting the nighlok named Pestilox when Serrator showed up to stop the samurai rangers. Serrator then ordered Pestilox to continue with his plan while he distracted the rangers, but as the nighlok began making his escape to fulfill Serrator's order Mike, Kevin and Antonio quickly engaged Serrator in a fight. Thus this gave Jayden, Mia and Emily the chance to chase after Serrator's nighlok minion.

As Kevin, Mike and Antonio were fighting with Serrator, the devious nighlok overpowered the three rangers. They groaned in pain from Serrator's powerful attacks and before Serrator could finish the trio off, Nariko appeared and attacked the nighlok with her sais. Serrator quickly took a few steps back, clutching his chest in pain while Nariko stood in front of the guys.

"N-Nariko…What are you doing here?" said Kevin

"I'd figured you could use a little bit of help, we can't let Serrator put that final wedge into the Earth. If he splits the world in two it'll be catastrophic with the Sanzu River flooding the Earth, no one would stand a chance. "

"Well it's a good thing you're here then, with you here to help we'll be able to stop Serrator." Said Mike

As the three rangers began to stand back up, Serrator was about to attack the group again when he suddenly felt a familiar presence behind him "Well, well…Deker…How unexpected…" Serrator turned around and faced Deker, "What a pleasant surprise."

Deker positioned his substitute sword at Serrator, "Spare me…You know why I have come here."

"You've come for your real sword: Uramasa. Good timing, my plan is reaching its climax. That glow coming from those humans is their misery creating a wedge in the Earth and surprise!"

Serrator quickly steps away from Deker, "It's the final wedge I need all of my attacks in this world were designed to create a line of human misery. I used Xandred's monsters to orchestrate a symphony of human suffering to serve my brilliant objective and now each of the wedges I've created are ready to be activated. Accept your fate we're at the end of my perfect plan and the end of the world as you know it. Welcome to the start of my reign! And once this wedge is in place, the whole world will be bursting at the seams, ready to be split open with one mighty stroke."

Serrator opened out his arms and began slowly spinning in one spot, "And flood the entire Earth with the Sanzu River, not with a trickle like Master Xandred had planned but with a terrorizing torrent that has never been seen! The Earth will be entirely submerged in the red waters of evil and I will finally become the ruler of both our worlds!"

Nariko tightly gripped her sais and charged at the devious nighlok, "Not if I can help it!"

Though before she could land a hit on the grinning nighlok, Serrator quickly stepped out of the way and kicked the Yamada princess hard in the stomach. She flew back a few feet and tumbled to the ground stopping right in front of Antonio, Mike and Kevin.

The guys quickly surrounded her, "Nariko!" Kevin gently gripped her shoulders, "Nariko are you all right?!"

The princess placed her hand on her stomach and winced in pain, "Y-Yeah…I'm all right…"

"Oh don't bother." Told Serrator, he gestured to the group of civilians who were being affected by Pestilox's bugs, "See? Their misery is sinking into the Earth, now the last wedge is finally in place."

Serrator remained in his spot as Deker placed his substitute sword at the nighlok's throat, "Enough talk…Give me what you promised, give me my sword Uramasa!" "Why of course! But first to complete our deal, you owe me one final favor."

"Favor?"

"Just a little favor…The one to crack open the world is someone who feels the pain of both the human and netherworlds but belongs to neither…That's you Deker."

Though before anything could happen, the group heard a loud noise and looked to find Pestilox being destroyed by the Samurai Megazord. "All right Jayden, Emily and Mia did it!" exclaimed Mike

Serrator scoffed at this and turned back to the half human nighlok, "Pestilox's defeat won't save them, the final wedge is set!" at that moment the ground began to shake a bit, "Look its power is surging! Now is the time for you to finish this with a final strike from your one true sword!"

From within the confines of his sleeves, Serrator pulls out the sword the half human nighlok had wanted to wield again, "Deker time to play your part! Uramasa, your sword as promised…Live up to the deal, take it Deker! With it you shall shatter the world!"

At that moment Jayden, Mia and Emily arrived on the scene, Deker glanced at the rangers and looked straight at Serrator "No…All I want is my sword Uramasa." Though before he could grab his sword, Serrator quickly jumped away from Deker "Of course you do! I planned for this and made sure that your centuries of misery and rage were locked up inside of Uramasa!"

"What?"

"Yes…The only way to release yourself from all that pain is for you to quickly take your sword and strike before this wedge explodes. Trust me with one quick slash, your curse will finally be broken and you will truly be free."

"Free…Free at last…"

At that moment the ground began to brightly glow beneath their feet, Nariko grunted in pain as Antonio and Mike helped her to stand, "The energy is surging…The ground is weakening along the line…"

From across they heard Jayden loudly exclaim, "Get down!"

Though they were too late, a huge energy blast emitted from the ground making the rangers and Nariko fly back. As they landed on the ground hard, Serrator hovered above them delighted to find that his plan had started "This is just a taste of the awesome power to be unleashed! See? The Earth cries out ready to be carved into two, and you Deker are the only one who can make it happen. I shall locate the weakest spot between our two worlds for you to make your final strike. I know that in the end you will do my bidding. Rangers! Your world is crumbling before your own eyes there's nothing you can do to stop me now!"

Jayden harshly glared up at the devious nighlok before turning his attention to his unconscious fiance, lying a few feet away. He winced in pain and reached out towards the princess, "N…Nariko…" and just like that the red ranger blacked out along with the other rangers.