A/N 1: It's the beginning of the sixth installment of the T5RYCB Ranger Series. This time, we Go, Go Samurai to that season and look at the actions of one Jayden Shiba, and why you can't blame him for leaving the Shiba House during the middle of the war with Master Xandred...twice.

A/N 2: This is my first Samurai based story (thanks Netflix for allowing me to binge watch that season), so I hope this goes well. This is sort of a test drive so to speak. If all goes well, you can expect a massive crossover story with several Ranger teams in coming months. Including that season.

A/N 3: You know the drill...Power Rangers belongs to Saban and formerly Disney as well, and T5RYCB and your new host Jonathan "The Coach" Coachman (formerly of WWE fame) belong to ESPN.

Chapter 1 – Case Against Jayden, Best of the Rest

(Show comes on the air and music starts playing)

"Jayden, you can't go!" Mia Watanabe says.

"Coming up on the Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame..." Jonathan Coachman says

"No true Power Ranger, unless he is forced, should ever up and leave his team in the middle of a war...Ever," Jason Scott says. "Especially someone who wears a shade of red. Conner McKnight did the same thing on Tommy's team and I let him have it."

"Jayden is my best friend, and I know that Lauren's return hit him really hard, because Lauren is my girlfriend now," Antonio Garcia says. "But him leaving...twice...during the war, is very hard to justify."

"He was and is very hard headed and stubborn," Emily says, "but we were in the middle of a brutal war where the monsters were getting worse daily. It's still hard to accept that he left us twice."

(Montage of Ranger moments starts playing, as does the show's theme, then the logo appears followed by Coachman)

Hello again everybody, I'm The Coach, and welcome to the Top 5 Reasons You Can't Blame Ranger Series, a series that takes a fresh look at Power Ranger topics and controversies which have been largely popular since the show started in 1993. Our mission is not to vilify the subject of these controversies, simply to take a look at the positive side of what they did. You will hear evidence and testimony from all characters. All you need is an open mind," Coach says. "In this show, we head to the Samurai season and examine the actions of one Jayden Shiba, and in particular him leaving his team not once, but twice, during the war with Master Xandred and his band of Nighloks. We're going to count down the top 5 reasons you can't blame him for leaving twice, but first, let's examine the tenure of one of the most unique Red Rangers in history."

(Tape of Jayden rolls, showing him fully morphed as Red Samurai Ranger)

"As someone who is married to a Red...or Crimson, the Red Rangers are completely different from any other color set of Rangers in history," Tori Hanson-Bradley (wife of Hunter Bradley) says. "But I'm not sure anyone has had the history that Jayden Shiba had."

"He was targeted as much as any Ranger in history, and yet somehow always survived," Cole Evans said. "I know because, while he doesn't know, I share a piece of his history."

"As a young kid, Jayden had trained all his life for the fight against Master Xandred, and when it was time, though he had reservations about being teammates with four other members, and later five, he was ready to lead his team," Coach said. "And with his Fire Smasher and all the other weapons at his disposal, he immediately made an impact."

"The one thing you must remember about Jayden...his resiliency and refusal to lose is the trait that made him a great Power Ranger," Mentor Ji says. "Whatever it took to be successful, he was going to do it."

"During his journey, he mastered the Beetle Disc which allowed the Rangers to beat a tough opponent. Amongst other things, he also gained control of the Bull and Shark Zords and gained the power of the Bullzooka," Coach said. "In all, Jayden had at his disposal eight different Ranger forms; Samurai Mode, Mega Mode, Super Samurai Mode, Super Mega Mode, Shark Attack, Shark Attack Mega, Shogun and Illusion Mode. This accounts for third most in Power Ranger history as well as those forms' various weapons."

"And the amazing thing is, with all that power, he knew just how to use that power to win a fight," Tommy Oliver said. "When you have that much power on your hands, you are going to be a target, and he was among the most targeted Rangers in history. And yet the power he possessed and his will to win won the day every time."

(Next the tape rolls of him walking away from his team in "The Great Duel")

"However, not all of his actions were a bed of roses for the 18th head of the Shiba Clan. In particular, he walked away from his team twice during the fight with Xandred, something that has landed him in hot water with some of the Rangers past legends and even the Samurai themselves," Coach said

"The first was during a fight with a Nighlok with a Scottish accent called Robtish, who flattened the Rangers and Jayden in his first encounter with them. In that battle, it was revealed that the Red Ranger and head of the Shiba Clan, with their sealing power, was the only thing that could seal Xandred," Coach said. "Feeling the pressure, and knowing what the truth was, which will be revealed later in this episode, Jayden left the Shiba House at night, not wanting to put the team in harm's way."

"I've been to Panorama City and it is really boring," Jen Scotts-Collins said. "If it wasn't such a boring city I would have beat the crap out of him for doing that. The first time, that is."

"Jayden would be attacked the next day by Robtish and his Moogers and the team would eventually win the fight. Jayden returned to the team, and continued on his journey. However, when his sister, Lauren, arrived on the scene and defeated Fiera, Jayden was planning on leaving the house for good, feeling that his time had come," Coach said.

"The first time he left, I understood because he was feeling a lot of pressure," Kevin said. "The second time, I still tell Jayden I can't reconcile that. At that point, the war with Xandred was as bad as it ever was."

"Even though Lauren had arrived on the team, we welcomed her with open arms and we'd have made Jayden welcome still," Emily said. "But...he chose to leave us and he put himself, and by extension all of us in danger because we cared that much."

"Things only got worse for Jayden from there, as it turned out that he was not just walking away from the place he called home, but into the fight of his life with the tormented Deker, the final duel between the two," Coach said. "In the end, Jayden escaped with his life, and he and the rest of the Rangers defeated Xandred, but it still was not seen by some in the Ranger family as very wise to walk away from home, or accept the duel."

"Fact is, Power Rangers win as a team, we lose as a team, we celebrate and mourn as a TEAM. This has been true throughout all of history," Kimberly Hart-Oliver said. "For a Ranger, and a Red Ranger at that, to walk away from his team...just grinds my gears."

"I stopped through Panorama City on concert tour during the time where the Samurai Rangers were fighting Xandred. That guy was as big and bad as Mesogog, Zedd, Rita, Mondo, Divatox, Trakeena, Lothor, you name it," Kira McKnight said. "I know Conner did it once so I give him grief about it, but for a Red to walk away from his team, at the HEIGHT of the war, that's just not excusable."

(Picture of Jayden walking away from the Shiba House is shown as the tape ends)

"Now you can see why Jayden is criticized by many Ranger legends for being at times distant from his teammates, in more ways than one," Coach said. "But ah, there is much more to this story. Before we count down the top 5 reasons you can't blame Jayden for walking away from his team, we have reasons that did not quite make the cut. We call them the Best of the Rest."

(Picture of Jayden standing alone, key word alone, is rolled)

"He always walked as the lone wolf," Coach said. "A trait that has defined many Red Rangers throughout history, Jayden would often distance himself from his team, preferring to walk the path the way he wanted it walked."

"I'm married to a Red, so I know about Reds being lone wolves," Aisha Campbell-DeSantos says. "What Jayden does is nothing new. Reds are macho, they think they can do it all themselves. It's what makes Reds so loved...and very annoying at times. He may have been in the blue suit but Rocky fought King Mondo alone once. How very Red Ranger of him."

"How do you blame Jayden for walking out on his team when he's simply another Red to do something brash and some would say stupid?" Ashley says. "I married the guy that helped put Forever Red together, and by the way he needed ice bags when I got through with him after that."

"Another Best of the Rest: He Returned Both Times," Coach said, "which helped build trust amongst team members that no matter what happened, the team would always stick together."

"I think what's important to remember, as someone who is engaged to him," Mia Watanabe said, "is that Jayden never wanted us to get hurt. He was only looking out for us and the good of the world. He wanted to fight this alone because he didn't want others to get hurt for his cause."

"The good thing is, when he returned both times, he figured out he needed us," Mia said.

"That was his biggest lesson learned as a Ranger, that he needed his teammates," Ji said. "He learned it a little the first time, but after his final fight with Deker is when he really learned how much his team loved him, and they truly loved him back."

"By the end, they were a true team, I saw it when I came back for the Legendary Battle, and Reefside High is major rivals with Panorama City in a lot of sports," Tommy said. "You could see how much those guys loved each other and I think that's the one major thing Jayden learned by the end...team."

"When we come back, we'll begin our countdown, and we'll examine the wear and tear Jayden suffered as a result of being constantly targeted as much as any Ranger in history," Coach said.

"One thing is for sure...being a Red Ranger and being in the line of fire all the time...is no bed of roses," Jayden said.

(Music plays as segment ends)

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