Play Falling by Cryoshell
Instrumental
Screen starts off black. One by one, spotlights come on, revealing the three Rangers looking at the ground. They then lift their heads as the title Power Rangers: Paleo Force shatters through the remaining darkness above them.
Lights out.
Duncan, Brody, and Cooper are all at the generic quarry, looking at their Zords and smiling.
No one's here.
Kenny is working on a circuit board with a robotic hand sitting on his desk. He grins as he taps the circuit board with a stylus, making the hand twitch.
Hear the silence.
Jane and Brody are in a room together with Jane bandaging Brody's leg.
Scent of fear.
All the heroic characters look up to the sky.
You start running.
The view moves up into space, where we see our main villains in their spaceship, followed by a close-up of each of them.
With mistrusting and skeptical eyes.
We get a shot of Cooper, Duncan, and Brody staring down an army of Shadows.
Are you haunted?
The three look at each other before nodding.
I call out.
One by one, they take fighting stances as they ready their morphers.
I'm counting on you.
The screen cuts to black.
Falling.
All three Rangers charge in slow motion with an explosion in the background.
Is this the end of the line, and can we make it in time?
In a rotating shot, Brody slashes Shadows with his Carnage Sword, Cooper shoots them with his cannon, and Duncan blasts enemies with his Switch-Gun.
Falling.
We see Brody, unmorphed, calling out in distress with his arm outstretched.
My world is spinning around. I'm crashing into the ground.
Calios descends from space like a comet and, after landing, walks forward, slowly drawing his sword.
Falling.
Moses folds his arms as three silhouetted figures gather on either side of him.
Now I need you to see it's up to you and me.
The Paleo Force Megazord shifts into sword-and-shield mode. It slashes a monster before using its Cryo Slash on it, making it explode.
I'm counting on you.
Consecutive shots of Cooper doing a Ranger Punch, Duncan doing a Ranger Slash, and Brody doing Ranger Kick at the screen.
Cut to the end of the song as the music fades out.
The Rangers stand confidently in front of their respective Zords, who roar behind them as the screen fades to black again.
Brody raised his morpher to his face. "Mr. Cooper, tell me you've seen the news."
"What news? Hold on, I'm checking now," their teammate's voice came from the other end of the line, and after a pause, "…Holy shit!"
"Now what do we do?" Chazz asked. "What if another monster shows up? The public might tear you up faster than it could."
"Can we quit being Rangers now?" Duncan asked nonchalantly.
"We can't just quit," Brody said angrily. "The monsters aren't going to."
"Still, this is quite a predicament," Dickson chimed in. "It may be difficult to protect a public that views you as villains."
Brody sighed. "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we get to it."
Predictably, the school was abuzz with gossip about the supposed scandal involving the Power Rangers. Some were arguing the Rangers' innocence while others were buying into the idea that they were killers who had fooled the whole town.
"Thank God no one knows who we are," Duncan muttered.
Moments later they spotted their two friends and walked on over.
"I, for one, think the Rangers are being set up somehow. What about you guys?" Brody asked, wanting to hear Kenny's opinion on the matter.
Their Japanese friend took a few seconds to type some stuff into his translator before saying, "I do not think they are guilty."
"So, we're all in agreement. We all think there's a setup goin' on," Cooper declared.
"I wonder what Jane thinks about this," Brody whispered to himself.
Duncan heard him and grimaced. "Yeah, it'd be weird if your crush hated your alter ego."
Cooper chuckled at that, while Brody said, "Shut up."
And so the boys, minus Cooper, went to class. The day actually went by pretty normally in spite of all the chaos. People were gossiping about the Rangers wherever they went, but at least they were safe in their anonymity. Eventually, lunchtime rolled around, and the brothers got a better idea of what was being said.
"I heard they gathered a bunch of people together and made them fight to the death to join their group," a random jock's voice floated above the lunchroom conversation.
A nerdy looking kid chimed in next, "I heard that they're not even human. They're actually ninja pirate zombie robots in disguise."
"I heard that every time someone says 'what,' they destroy an old lady," a third guy said.
It was all such nonsense that Duncan and Brody didn't even bother to correct them, simply shaking their heads and returning to their meal.
"Do you guys hear yourselves?"
The brothers and the gossipers all looked over to see Jane standing nearby with her lunch tray.
She continued, "You sound like little kids who watch too many cartoons. You don't really believe that stuff, do you?"
One of the jocks got up in her face, "Why are you defending those guys, huh? Did you not see the picture?"
"I saw the picture. I'm just saying that—" She was cut off by a slice of bread hitting her in the face.
Everyone began laughing.
"Mind your own business," one of the jocks said, his sandwich now looking a little light on carbs. He chucked another piece of food—only this time, Brody caught it.
"Leave her alone," he said.
"Ooooh," said the group of bullies.
The lead jock stepped forward, lightly shoving Brody back. "Since when do you ever take a stand, Branson? You're just a wallflower. You sure you wanna act tough?"
"Yeah, I am," Brody said confidently. "And Jane is right, those rumors you're buying into are ridiculous."
That got him another push from the jock. "Shut the hell up. If you've got a problem, you better take it somewhere else. Unless you're looking for trouble." Some of the other gossipers gathered behind him.
Brody frowned, hesitant to pick a fight with a whole group of people unmorphed. Fortunately, Kenny stepped up beside him, putting him at ease a little. Not only that, but Jane also took his other side.
"Heh, wow, I bet you guys actually think you're tough," the lead jock taunted them. "You sure you wanna play cock of the walk?"
"I don't wanna play at all," Brody said, trying to smooth out the situation. "Just lay off of Jane."
"Hmm, I could, but I think I'd rather do this!" The guy threw a punch, which Brody slipped under.
Quick as lightning, he came up on the other side and hit the jock in the ribs before he could turn around. This naturally prompted the rest of the group to gang up on the trio.
Jane saw a guy approaching and kicked him in the thigh, stunning him long enough to administer some powerful kicks to his stomach and face as well. Turning to the side, she stopped another guy's charge with a push kick before punching him right in the kisser.
Meanwhile, Kenny kicked one opponent in the groin, bringing him to his knees before moving on to the next. He grabbed another enemy by the head and pulled it into his knee.
Even with his friends' help, Brody ended up facing three people at once. He initially had trouble fending them off, but once he picked a target, he lashed out with a straight cross, nailing one of his attackers in the jaw. He push-kicked the jock to his right, following up with punches to the stomach, chest, and face. The jock fell flat. Brody looked to his last opponent, the nerd who'd been gossiping with the rest of jerks who started the fight. Unwilling to fight Brody one on one, the nerd turned tail and ran.
Seeing they'd won the fight, the three regrouped.
"So, uh, you can fight? What martial art is that?" Brody asked Jane.
"Just some taekwondo," she replied.
Duncan walked up to the trio, clapping his hands. "Good fight, guys. That was fun to watch."
Brody kicked him lightly in the shin. "And what the hell were you doing this whole time?"
"Watching football on my phone," his brother replied.
Suddenly, there was an announcement over the speaker system. "Will Brody Branson, Kento Hayashi, and Jane Dawson report to the principal's office?"
"Yeah, that's exactly why I didn't join in," Duncan said.
Brody began walking out of the room. "Whatever. See ya later."
Kenny passed him by next. "Baka."
Then came Jane. "Wimp."
"Alright, we've set them up," Calios said. "Now it's time to draw them out. What monster have you prepared this time?"
"This new monster is built for speed, my lord," the three-armed robot replied.
"Okay, off with it," said the knight.
As the monster went to the launch tubes, Moses leaned toward Lensia. "I bet you ten spacebucks the Rangers will take this thing out by the end of the day."
"You're on," the faceless witch said.
"Mind if I join in on the action?" Calios asked.
"Suit yourself," his two subordinates replied.
The bell rang and school finally let out. Seeing his brother and friend weren't present, Duncan texted them: How did your meeting with the principal go?
To which Brody replied: We explained that we didn't start the fight. That got us some leniency. But we still fought in school, so we have detention for the afternoon.
"Hmm, that makes sense," Duncan said to himself, feeling relieved it wasn't any more serious than that. "Well, I guess I'll go home and light up a joint."
"Is that all you ever think about?" Chazz asked.
"Not all the time. Just most of the time," Duncan said.
Unfortunately, he only made it three steps before his phone buzzed up again. He checked and saw it was a report of another monster on the loose. Wishing he could go home already, he contacted Cooper, "Hey, Mr. Cooper? Could you take care of the monster of the week this time?"
"Get off your lazy arse and come help me, boy," was the response he got.
Chazz chuckled. "Well, he sure told you."
Duncan just sighed and made his way to the scene. For some reason, the monster was attacking an ice cream factory of all places. That brightened him up a little bit.
"Hey there, lad," Cooper greeted him before looking back at the factory. "Vanilla Ice, huh? You like this brand?"
"Everyone likes Vanilla Ice, Mr. Cooper," Duncan stated the obvious. "Should we really be doing this, though? You know, since just about everyone thinks we're killers?"
"You can't let a little thing like a bad reputation slow you down. If everyone did that, then ex-criminals would never get jobs," Cooper countered.
"My partner is correct," Dickson agreed. "What others might think of you should not stop you from doing what is right."
Duncan facepalmed. "First Brody, now you guys."
With their exchange done, the two Rangers entered the factory. The moment they heard a noise, they morphed and stunt rolled away from each other. This turned out to be a pointless move since they were knocked aside by an unseen force anyway.
"What the fuck was that?" Duncan wondered aloud.
Just as the two Rangers got up, they were immediately struck down again. Getting frustrated, the White Ranger drew his Switch-Gun and began firing recklessly, hoping to hit the unseen force.
"Will you knock it off!? You're not hittin' anything!" Cooper yelled as he forced Duncan's arm down. "There's gotta be somethin' else we can do."
Unfortunately, with each second that passed, the duo simply kept taking more damage.
"Alright, screw this, we're outta here!" Duncan grabbed Cooper and ran out of the building.
Holding the door shut behind them, the Pink Ranger frowned. "Not our finest moment."
Duncan raised an eyebrow behind his helmet. "You think?"
Back at the Branson residence, Brody was watching TV when his program was interrupted by the news.
"It seems the Power Rangers have wreaked havoc once again. After driving out the staff of Vanilla Ice, the Rangers proceeded to shoot up the factory before making their exit."
Brody spoke into his morpher, "What the hell happened?"
Suddenly, his partners burst in through the door. "We got our asses kicked, that's what happened," Duncan spat out bitterly. Before his brother could say anything, he cut him off, "We were right outside when you called."
"I think we might be dealin' with an invisible enemy, lads," Cooper suggested.
Dickson disagreed, "That may not be the case. Judging by how rapidly you were being struck, there is a chance the enemy was moving at such a high speed it was rendered invisible."
The youngest Ranger nodded. "Either way, we've gotta fight an enemy we can't see. Real nice."
The team brainstormed, but they couldn't see any way around the problem, at least not one that was obvious. It wasn't long before they decided to call it a day.
"Wait a minute!" Carl shouted. "You can't just leave things be! That monster is still on the loose. What if it finds another place to trash?"
"Fair enough," Brody conceded. "Alright, let's send out the Cryos. They should be able to sniff out the monster, just like last time. Once they find it, we'll move out."
"Roger that. They're on their way," Chazz said. "If they find anything, they'll let us know."
With that, Cooper went back to his own house while the brothers simply kicked back and relaxed.
A couple hours later, though, the team got the call.
"Guys! The Cryos found the monster!" Chazz informed them.
"Where is it?" Duncan asked.
"It's on Kanye Street."
The older Branson brother pondered that for a moment. "Kanye Street. That sounds familiar. Where is that again?" he asked Brody.
"It's on the west side of town," the younger twin replied.
"Ah, right, let's go."
The three Rangers had to drive to the location since their mounts were naturally occupied with the monster. Once they'd reached the somewhat narrow street, however, they realized that the Cryos had been laid out.
"Okay, time for plan A," Brody said as the Rangers morphed. Summoning his Carnage Sword, he stabbed it into the ground, casting a glossy sheet of ice over a ten-meter radius.
A few seconds passed by as nothing had happened. Then, suddenly, they started taking hits.
Duncan voiced what they were all thinking, "Shouldn't the monster be slipping on the fucking ice?!"
"Everyone, look!" Carl shouted. The team looked up to see hundreds of footprints embedding themselves in the walls of the buildings around them. The monster was moving so fast it was able to adhere itself to vertical walls using nothing but its own velocity.
"Screw this! Time for plan B!" Duncan yelled as the mold on his morpher turned brown from Kelly's power. "Ground-Type!" Taking on his palette-swapped form, the now-Brown Ranger slammed his fists into the ground. This caused earth to rise, creating a dome to protect the heroes.
"Could someone explain to me what we saw out there?" Cooper asked.
Carl kindly answered him, "It seems like the monster began literally bouncing off the walls to avoid the frozen ground."
"Uh, guys?" Kelly cut in. "Shouldn't the monster be, like, trying to get in here or something?"
The trio realized the Valley girl Zord was right. The monster had yet to make any attempts to break into the dome. Taking down the dome, the Rangers scanned the area as they braced themselves for another attack, but nothing happened.
The team waited another painfully long minute before Brody came to a conclusion, "I think it left, guys."
Cooper groaned. "I hate to say it, but that was probably a smart move. It didn't wanna waste time breaking through the barrier, so it just went off to wreak havoc elsewhere."
"Now what?!" Duncan complained. "We only had two plans and neither one of them worked!"
Brody thought about it for a moment. "Chazz, Carl? Do you guys know any Zords that can give us super speed?"
"We know someone who might be up for the job," Chazz said. "But it won't be easy to convince them."
"I can take you there if you would like, Mother," Carl offered.
"Hey! It's the Power Rangers!"
The team looked up to see that several civilians had begun scrambling around them, all grabbing anything that could be used as an improvised weapon, baseball bats and the like.
"Uh, maybe it's time to go," said Brody. He put a hand on Duncan's shoulder "Get us out of here."
The Brown Ranger nodded and used his powers to open a tunnel in the ground, allowing them to make a quick escape.
Reconvening at the Branson residence, the Rangers went over their next course of action.
"Okay, Carl will take me to find some Zords that can help us fight this monster while you guys keep trying to stop said monster," Brody laid out the plan.
"It kinda feels like we've got the short end of the stick here," Cooper groaned.
Duncan agreed, "Yeah, how come you get to go on some big adventure while the two of us have to stick around and get our asses kicked?"
The youngest Ranger crossed his arms. "Hey, it was my idea, so I get to do the cool part."
The other two were forced to concede his point, and with that, Brody made his way out of town to meet with Carl.
The blue Carnotaurus leaned down, putting his snout to the ground. "Hop on, Mother."
Brody did so, making sure to hold on tight. "Lead the way, Carl."
The Zord made his way down the hole he had dug when he and Chazz had first met the boys. After several minutes of walking, they reached what appeared to be the lowest level.
Brody was shocked by what he saw. There was a whole city down here! It actually kind of resembled the cities on the surface, only slightly more high-tech. More glowing lights, sleeker designs, and from what he could tell, there were no emissions coming from the vehicles. As Carl got closer, Brody noticed something else: the place had clearly been built to accommodate all different types of Zords. The streets of the city were wide enough that various Zords could walk through them without risking stepping on vehicles or civilians.
Speaking of civilians, they were lizard people.
"Perhaps we should go around the city, Mother," Carl said. "We don't know how they'll react to a human showing up on the back of a Zord. It's not really a sight they're accustomed to down here."
And so, the Carnozord began walking along the outskirts of the city. Though, as you would have it, he was spotted anyway.
"You there!"
Carl turned to see several Zords and lizard folk approaching.
"Yes?" the Blue Zord replied nervously. Brody was lying flat on Carl's back, hoping no one would notice him.
The lizard man at the front of the crowd spoke first, "A couple of us thought we smelled a mammal in this direction. Know anything about that?"
"I smell it coming off of him right now," said one of the Zords.
Figuring Carl might end up getting in trouble if things went any further, Brody decided to reveal himself.
"It's me!" he said, his hands up. "Don't blame Carl. I asked him to bring me here."
"A human?" the head lizard man said in shock. He faced Carl, as if Brody wasn't even there. "What in the hell is he doing down here?"
"Monsters have been terrorizing his home. Until now, he has been relying on my power, but the most recent monster has proven too much even for that," Carl explained.
"So, you brought him down here to find reinforcements, right?" the head lizard man guessed. When Carl nodded, he continued, "What if he's just gathering Zords for military power?"
Carl shook his head. "I doubt it. He's had no contact with his people's government about Zords like me."
"Though it is weird that the government hasn't reacted in any major way by now," Brody commented, and was again ignored.
"Plus, he even gave his brother a speech about using power to stop monsters when no one else could," Carl finished. "What I'm trying to say is that I trust him."
Some of the Zords and lizard people looked convinced, though there were still some holdouts.
"What if he's just gathering power for himself, then?" the head lizard man said.
"I've only seen him use my power to fight those who threaten innocents," Carl countered.
The lizard man clearly wanted to ask more questions, but Brody raised another point, "The monsters we fight are being sent by the invaders from a million years ago."
This time, his point was impossible to ignore. The entire crowd gasped at the revelation.
The lead lizard man said, "Okay, if that's true, then you'll need all the help you can get. You can go ahead."
Carl nodded and thanked him, and the two of them finally entered the city proper.
"Hey, Carl?" Brody said. "Thanks for vouching for me back there."
"Anytime, Mother," the Blue Zord replied.
As they walked through the city, Brody observed the various Zords and lizard folk. Their interactions weren't that different from the Rangers with their own Zords: some were being casual and friendly, others were speaking professionally. As he did, he made a connection. "I guess not all dinosaurs evolved into Zords."
Carl nodded. "Indeed."
"And those lizard guys, they're small enough that my morpher would fit on their wrists."
"Very observant, Mother," Carl said. "They were the ones who created the morphers. They used the power of Zords to don Ranger suits long before you ever did—though they didn't call themselves Power Rangers."
Brody raised an eyebrow. "What did they call themselves?"
"There was no special name. They simply referred to themselves as soldiers, since that was their purpose," the blue Carnotaurus explained. "Ah, here we are."
Brody looked over Carl's shoulder to see that they'd arrived at a train station.
"We have to take a train to find that Zord you were talking about?" said Brody. "They sure are out of the way."
"Perhaps the domain of the Zords is just bigger than you imagine, Mother," Carl said cheerily, and the two of them set off on the next leg of their journey.
The next day, on the surface, Duncan went to school like normal. Well, one thing wasn't normal: his friend's face was covered in ash.
"Kenny? What the hell happened?" he asked.
"Blew up in my face," the Japanese boy deadpanned.
"Oh, you mean that project you've been working on?" Duncan asked, to which Kenny nodded. "So, I guess you've still got a ways to go?"
"Alright, class, settle down," the teacher said, shutting down their chat. He then asked the obvious question, "Duncan, do you know where Brody is?"
"He's got the flu," Duncan lied smoothly, and the teacher nodded and began lecturing the class.
Duncan sighed and rested his head in his palm.
'I hope Mr. Cooper's having more fun than I am.'
"Well, ain't this a whole lotta fun?!" Cooper yelled sarcastically.
The Cryolophosaurs had spotted people being killed by a fast-moving blur, and knowing it was the unseen monster, Cooper had made his way to the scene. Unfortunately, things weren't going any better than the last couple times.
"Please tell me you've got some sort of idea, Dickson!"
"Try looking for a pattern in its attacks," his Zord partner suggested. "If you can't keep up with it, maybe you can anticipate its moves instead."
The Pink Ranger nodded and tried to keep track of when he was hit and from which angle. Eventually, he noticed that while most of the attacks were random, every third strike was made from his left side. Hoping he could time it right, he lashed out with a punch, finally landing a hit on his foe and knocking it over.
When the beast hit the ground for the first time, Cooper finally got a good look at it. The newest monster of the week was a hybrid of mammal and insect. It had a tiger's head but with mandibles coming out of its jaws. The left side of its midsection was insectoid while the right half was muscled and blanketed with striped fur. The monster's legs were the opposite, the left leg a tiger's leg and the right leg a spindly insect leg.
"What in the hell are you supposed to be?" Cooper asked.
"I am the fastest being ever to serve under Lord Calios, a vicious fusion between a tiger beetle and a tiger. I am Tiger Beetle!" the monster boasted.
Cooper was bemused by this announcement. "Uh, wouldn't that make you a tiger tiger beetle?"
"What? No, it doesn't! I'm just Tiger Beetle!" the hybrid spat out in response.
"I was thinking he was a tiger beetle tiger," Dickson suggested.
"Oh, yeah, that makes sense too," Cooper agreed.
Tiger Beetle roared in rage, "That's it! You got off easy last time, but this time, you're dead!" Blurring out of sight, the monster renewed its assault.
"Whoa, this is way faster than any trains on the surface," Brody observed.
"Um, excuse us?"
Brody looked down from Carl's head to see a couple of lizard children. Climbing down from his Zord partner, he knelt in front of the two kids. "Can I help you?"
"Can we touch your skin?" the boy asked.
"Uh, what?" Brody raised an eyebrow.
The girl spoke next, "Sorry. What my brother means is, we've never seen a mammal before and we're curious."
Seeing no harm, Brody held out his hand for the kids to grab, which they did.
"Wow, no scales at all," the boy said in awe.
"Kids, let's not bother the mammal," said the children's mother as she moved them away.
Brody thought about objecting but acknowledged that the mother was just being cautious. If he'd had kids and they started talking to a strange lizard man on a train, he'd probably do the same.
"This is gonna suck," Duncan moaned. It was the day after Cooper had tried his luck with the monster, so it was his turn to face Tiger Beetle now. He had to skip school—he didn't mind that part, but if he was going to play hooky, he'd rather spend the day on the couch than getting his ass kicked by a monster.
"Look, Brody's gone and Cooper's in the hospital after what that monster put him through," Chazz reminded him. "So it's really up to you."
The White Ranger groaned. "Yeah, yeah."
Arriving at the scene where the monster was last reported, he was quickly assaulted. Shifting into his Ground-Type form, Duncan slammed his fists into the earth, causing stone spikes to spring forth from beneath the pavement. The spikes covered a radius of twelve meters and were close enough together that there was no way to step in between them.
"Try and get me now, motherfucker!"
As it turns out, that was the wrong thing to say, as the monster rebounded off the wall, flying straight into Duncan and tackling him onto the spikes.
"Oh, come on!" Despite his frustration, Duncan realized this was an opportunity. He grabbed Tiger Beetle by the shoulders and headbutted it repeatedly.
Tiger Beetle got to its feet and began dragging the Brown Ranger along the ground. As he was being dragged, Duncan made the spikes recede into the ground, making the trip slightly less painful, though it did leave him exposed once again. That wouldn't do.
"Earth Power!" he announced. His entire body glowed as he slammed his fist into the ground, causing a burst of energy that sent both combatants flying.
Tiger Beetle recovered first and began speed blitzing the young man.
Duncan endured and readied his next attack, "Alright, dickhole, let's see you dodge this. Diamond Storm!"
Duncan slammed both his palms into the ground, causing a barrage of crystalline minerals to shoot out from beneath the earth. The Brown Ranger waved his hands around, directing them like a blizzard.
The attack was too widespread for Tiger Beetle to dodge in time, and it was pelted with the gems as a result.
"Ew. Like, some of those gems weren't even pretty," Kelly complained through Duncan's morpher.
"We're working with what we got, Kelly," Duncan snapped. Continuing the attack, the Brown Ranger attempted to finish the fight then and there. He charged and leapt forward in a spin, yelling, "Drill Run!"
Unfortunately, Tiger Beetle simply dodged the attack, Matrix-style. Once Duncan landed, the monster saw its opportunity. It leapt forward and hit him with a flying knee strike right in the spine. The last thing Duncan heard before passing out was the sound of his backbone cracking.