Play "Falling" by Cryoshell

Instrumental

The 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 stand together 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 together at the hospital, 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 as an explosion goes off 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.

CJ extends her arm, directing her Zords to charge forward.

My world is spinning around. I'm crashing into the ground.

Calios descends from space like a comet and, after landing, steps 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, then uses 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 a 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.

Chapter 16

"Whoooooaa," Cooper gasped. "So this is what it's like down here?"

"Yes," Dickson said. "Though I heard from Carl that the locals were suspicious of Brody when they visited, so you should probably keep to yourself."

"Yeah, makes sense. I wouldn't wanna go causin' a sce—BAR!" Cooper hopped off his Zord and headed over to examine the Happy Hour menu..

"Dammit, Cooper, come back!" the pink Dicraeosaurus shouted after him.

Cooper either didn't hear him or didn't listen—maybe a little of both. He burst through the door, walking right up to the bartender.

"What do ya got?"

The bar patrons just stared at him. The establishment was populated entirely by lizard people, and they reacted to Cooper's presence with a mix of emotions ranging from mild annoyance to complete shock.

"Another human? Is this gonna be a thing?" one of them finally said.

Turning his attention away from the bar, Cooper addressed the complainer, "Don't worry yourselves. I'm here on a solo mission."

One of the lizards came up and grabbed him by the collar. "And how do we know other humans won't just follow you down here, huh? We've seen your kind. It feels like you guys can't even go two seconds without fighting. You need to get out of here!"

He wound up his scaly arm and punched Cooper in the face.

Cooper was back up in a second. "So, that's how you wanna be? I didn't come here lookin' for a fight." He raised his fists and began bouncing on the balls of his feet. "But if you're offerin'…"

The lizard threw another punch, but this time, Cooper was ready. He blocked and counterattacked with a one-two combo. His first punch hit the lizard in the gut and the second was an uppercut that knocked the guy out cold.

Realizing how the other patrons might take this, Cooper said, "Come on, now. I didn't do any lasting harm. Anyway, this is a bar. We should be partying!"

Thankfully, one of the patrons was buzzed enough to agree with his statement.

"Hey, he's right!"

Hearing one of their own speaking in his defense, the lizard folk relaxed and soon enough, an actual party did get started.

"Okay, you ready for this, champ?" Duncan asked, jokingly massaging Brody's shoulders.

The younger twin brushed him off. "Will you knock it off? This isn't that big a deal."

"Of course it's a big deal, Mother," Carl said through his partner's morpher. "This is your very first date."

Brody groaned, "It's barely even a date. We're just two friends meeting up…And how'd you know this is my first one?"

"Uncle told me," the Carnozord replied.

"Now, go get her," Chazz encouraged.

Brody said nothing and began walking to Starbucks. He felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Figuring it was Duncan with more "encouragement," he ignored it, and his mind wandered to the third member of their team.

'When I went underground, I got treated with suspicion. I hope Mr. Cooper's doing better.'

"But if you go carryin' pictures of Chairman Mao, you ain't gonna make with anyone anyhow! Don't ya know it's gonna be! Alright!" Cooper sang.

With no band to back him up, the bar patrons clapped along to the song. Cooper finished off the final chorus, "Alright! Alright! Alright! Alright!"

The lizard folk in the bar all clapped. Cooper was relieved that he'd won over the crowd.

"Um, Cooper? Did you forget we have somewhere to be?" Dickson asked through his morpher.

"Ah crud," Cooper realized, making for the exit. "Sorry, everyone, me partner just reminded me we're on a mission."

"What's the mission?" one of the lizards asked.

"We're gonna find a Zord, make friends with it, and then have it fight alongside us to protect our home," the Scotsman explained.

"You'd better get going," another lizard said, looking disappointed. "But on your way back, could you share some more of the Beatles with us?"

Cooper smiled and nodded before leaving to meet up with Dickson.

"You realize you were in there for hours, right?" Dickson asked.

The janitor shrugged. "What can I say? The booze was good and those guys knew how to party."

"Nice as that is, we still have business to attend to. Now, follow me to the train station," the sauropod instructed.

A short walk later, the duo arrived at the station, where Dickson arranged for a trip to South Africa.

When Brody arrived, Jane was already waiting for him. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting."

"I only got here a minute ago," she smiled. They walked to the counter and got some refreshments. "No coffee for you?"

"I actually don't like coffee," Brody revealed, grabbing a couple packets of madeleines. "I do like these, though."

She giggled. "Then why suggest this place?"

"Because everyone but me likes coffee," Brody smiled.

"So, you know a bit about me already. But now that I think about it, I'm not sure I know too much about you," Jane pointed out as they picked out a place to sit.

"Well, for one, I'm really into this Japanese series called Kamen Rider." Before she could ask, he preempted her, "It's a live-action superhero show with a bunch of installments. You know how there's more than one Law & Order?" Jane nodded. "Well, it's like that. Duncan likes to tease me and say I'm a fanboy."

"Brody?"

The brown-haired teen looked up and saw another Jane approaching. This new Jane frowned at the sight of them, and the Jane sitting across from him had started to look pretty concerned too.

'Oh, give me a break!' He looked helplessly between them for a second before saying, "Okay, I see what's going on here. Which one of you is CJ?"

"I can prove I'm the real one," said the Jane who wasn't sitting. She pulled out her phone and showed it to him. "Look, I sent you a text saying I'd be a few minutes late."

They turned their attention to the Jane that was sitting down.

Seeing that the jig was up, she raised her fists, a morpher appearing on each of her wrists. Unlike the main trio, however, she didn't need to tap hers to get them to activate.

Once she was morphed, she lunged at the original Jane.

There was a shout from an onlooker, and the Coffee Cavern's patrons scattered from the fight, some rushing for the exit, others simply taking out their phones to record the altercation. Brody activated his own morpher and intercepted CJ by catching her wrist. He tried punching her, only for her to catch his arm by the wrist as well, putting them in a stalemate.

"Jane, get everyone out of here!" he said.

Jane nodded and corralled the customers to the exit, punching something into her phone at the same time.

With that taken care of, Brody asked the evil Ranger, "Why bother chatting it up with me? What the hell did you get out of that?"

"I was gonna kill you, either during or right after our little date," the clone said with a malicious smile. "Ugh, the look on your face when you realized I'd fooled you was priceless."

This made Brody furious. "You bitch," he muttered, and the two hit each other in the gut with a snap kick, forcing themselves apart.

As Brody attempted to form change, the Red and Black Ranger summoned her gauntlets and fired a shot, hitting him in the wrist.

"No, you don't!" She charged, grabbing him by the neck with the teeth on her gauntlets and slamming him against the wall. Before he could hit the ground, she yanked him up by the arms and threw him out the window, which exploded in a shower of glass as he sailed through.

Brody grit his teeth in pain and scrambled to his feet as the enemy Ranger approached him. She threw one kick after another. The Blue Ranger powered through them and got in close enough for some punches. He threw a couple of jabs, then faked a cross before going in for a hook. She ducked under the hook, but the second she rose back up, he got her in a clinch and kneed her in the gut.

CJ gasped for breath from the knee, and when he tried to do it again, she bit his thigh and shin with her gauntlets and threw against the wall.

"Duncan, I need backup! Now!" Brody shouted into his morpher.

"There's a new monster on the loose downtown!" Chazz answered. "He's busy dealing with that. I'll send in the Cryos—"

"I've got a different idea," said Brody. "Carl, Alicia, mind crushing this girl for me?"

"Yes, Mother," Carl said at once.

"What's the magic word, niño?" He could hear a smile in Alicia's voice. With her super speed, she never seemed to feel a sense of urgency.

Sighing, Brody played along, "Por favor."

The yellow Austroraptor arrived on the scene in seconds, and in a moment Brody saw Carl approaching in the distance as well.

"Am I supposed to be scared?" CJ asked, holding up her own morphers. "What do you think is powering these?"

Brody felt the ground rumbling. Carl and Alicia had stopped running, so there was only one explanation. Behind CJ, a pair of large black and red figures appeared on the horizon.

Taking the initiative, Carl and Alicia opened their mouths and fired their respective elemental beams. The newcomers dodged the attacks easily as they finally came fully into view.

They shared a few of the typical Zord features—one dominant color with purple and silver highlights—but that didn't mean they'd go easy on Carl and Alicia. They looked particularly menacing standing behind CJ. The black one was slightly larger and had a thick tail with a fist at the tip, while the red one was slightly smaller and had more armor. Neither of them looked like any dinosaur Brody had ever seen.

"Allow me to introduce my friends," CJ said smugly. "The black one is Todd, a Teratophoneus. And the red one is Andy, an Appalachiosaurus."

Brody shook his head. "I don't know what either of those things are."

"Same here," Jane agreed.

"They're part of the same family as Tyrannosaurus, Mother," Carl explained.

"Thanks, Professor," CJ deadpanned. She pointed a finger at the heroes. "Get them."

The two Tyrannosaurs roared and advanced. Carl met Todd head-on and the two clashed in a headbutt. They separated after a few seconds, with Todd throwing a punch with his tail fist. Carl caught the fist in his jaws. Roaring in what was likely a combination of pain and anger, Todd whipped his tail before Carl could let go, bashing his head into the ground.

Alicia dashed and darted all over, scratching and biting Andy in a rapid series of hit-and-run strikes. Andy roared and his body burst into flames. Those flames expanded and formed a dome-shaped shield around him. Alicia was moving too fast to stop and collided with the shield of flames, burning herself. The Appalachiozord took the opportunity to clamp his teeth onto her neck and shake her like a rag doll.

Enthralled by the Zord fight, Brody was caught off guard when CJ came at him from the side, punching him in the temple. Before she could press the attack, however, G1 grabbed her from behind and suplexed her.

CJ got up quickly and threw a high roundhouse kick. G1 countered by ducking under the kick and knocking her standing leg out from under her, leaving her on the ground once more. G1 pressed the assault, standing over her and raining down punches. She dodged by rolling away.

"Ike, G1!" Kenny cheered from the sidelines. Now Brody knew who Jane had been texting.

After a couple more seconds of rolling, CJ was able to get in a kick on G1 and get to her feet. This time, she tried a spinning hook kick, only for the robot to simply duck under it, lunging forward and hitting her in the solar plexus. The Red and Black Ranger snap-kicked the robot away as she gasped for breath.

"Hey."

CJ turned around to see Jane and Brody behind her. As if psychically linked, the two threw roundhouse kicks at the same time, with Brody aiming for her torso and Jane aiming for the head. The blows stunned the R&B Ranger.

Brody reared back for a Ranger Punch but was thrown off when the ground shook. Just a few meters away, Carl had been floored by an attack from Todd's tail fist. Making things worse, Andy still had Alicia by the throat.

"Guys, try forming the Megazord!" Brody yelled.

Carl nodded and used his tail to swipe Todd's legs out from under him. This gave Alicia the chance to get up and jab Andy with her tail's drill bit. With Alicia free, Carl morphed into the Paleo Force Megazord's main body, the Austrozord forming the arms.

"You think you're the only one that can manage that little trick?" CJ asked.

She snapped her fingers and her Zords acted accordingly. Todd's body shifted around and took on a shape resembling a thinner, armless version of the Paleo Force Megazord. Todd's tail split in two and attached to the mecha's shoulders, forming arms, though the left arm was missing a hand. To remedy this, Todd's head came off and attached to the left wrist. Finally, Andy's armored plates came off and attached to the new Megazord, rounding out its frame.

The heroes stood in stunned silence at the display.

CJ grinned under her helmet. "You like it? I call it the Hell Force Megazord. You know, fire and darkness and all that." She continued before Brody could give a response, "And remember, if you run, I'll trash this whole city."

The Blue Ranger paused for a moment before asking, "Kenny, can G1 handle her?"

"Yes." Kenny gave a thumbs-up.

Brody nodded and hopped into the Megazord to help Carl and Alicia fight.

Settling into his station, he had his mecha throw a couple slashes. The enemy Megazord blocked the slashes with its right arm and attacked with a thrust from its jaw hand. Brody and his Zords flinched at the damage. They couldn't sustain a fight like this for long.

"Mother, we should finish this now!" Carl suggested.

"Works for me!" Alicia agreed.

And so, the Paleo Force began its Golpe de Trueno attack, throwing hundreds of slashes in rapid succession. The slashes initially bounced off the enemy Megazord's armor, but Brody knew that they would break through soon enough.

Unfortunately, before the damage could pile up, the Hell Force's armor glowed red, and it thrust its head hand forward, aiming right for the hero's mecha. As it surged toward them, its whole body was encased in a giant projection of a T-Rex tooth.

The attack hit dead-on. The Paleo Force sparked all over before disassembling, throwing Brody out of the cockpit in the process.

Seeing this, Kenny gave his robot an order, "G1, time to run!"

Without looking at his master, G1 threw a strong roundhouse kick and hit CJ in the thigh, making her flinch. He followed it up with an eyebeam, blowing her away. Taking advantage of the distraction, Kenny and Jane helped Brody up and escorted him away from the scene.

Carl, meanwhile, addressed CJ, who was about to direct her Megazord to destroy shit.

"You've had your fun for the day. Now, leave us be," he growled.

CJ considered his words. "Hmm, I guess he's right. There's always next time, after all."

Carl watched in amazement as the clone left with her Zords. But when will next time be?

"Are you gonna be okay?" Jane asked as she helped Brody walk.

"I'll be fine. I just need some R&R," Brody replied as he de-morphed. He obviously spoke too soon, because clutched his head in pain, "Fuck, I think that fight made my head injuries from last time worse."

Jane supported him as best she could, "We'll find you some pain pills as soon as we can." When they got to the Branson residence, they found Duncan already there, smoking a joint as per usual.

"No, wait, let me guess, you lost," the ginger teen speculated.

"Yeah. She had Zords of her own this time," Brody answered. "So, how was that monster you fought?"

"It was a turtle monster, and I beat it," Duncan replied.

Brody tilted his head. "A turtle monster? Let me guess, its name was Shell Shocker?"

"No."

"Shelldon?" Kenny guessed next.

Duncan shook his head. "Nah, he said those names were too cliché. His name was Shell Silverstein."

"Real nice," Jane said. "I really hope Mr. Cooper gets back with that new Zord soon. You guys can't take much more of this."

"I can fight until you get better," G1 offered.

Jane's eyes widened. "Wait, the robot can talk?"

"Yes. I don't know how, though," Kenny replied. He paused when he heard snoring and saw Duncan had fallen asleep.

"He does that," Brody explained. "Getting back to what Jane said, I had to run my legs off to prove myself to Alicia. I wonder what kind of Zord Mr. Cooper will find."

"Fantastic job, CJ," Calios complimented. "That's three-for-three now. I trust you had fun out there?"

"Are you kidding? That was great!" CJ spread her arms. "At this rate, I'm gonna give that blue guy brain damage!"

Moses crossed his arms, chuckling, "I'm picturing that right now. It's hilarious."

"Agreed," Calios said, tenting his hands, "Alright, CJ, you're dismissed. Feel free to return to your quarters." As the evil Ranger walked away, the knight grinned, "Who would've thought that messing around with someone's head could make them such a sadist. I forget, Factoraze, what exactly did you do?"

"I linked her dopamine levels to aggression while making her. She literally gets pleasure from fighting and attacking people," the robot explained.

"Oh, how wicked," Calios laughed.

The train continued on its path as it had for several days.

"I'm kinda gettin' bored now," Cooper complained. "And I really want a drink."

"Patience, Cooper," Dickson told him. "We're almost there."

True to his word, at that moment, the train started slowing down, and the duo exited.

"So, what is this place, Nigeria or somethin'?" Cooper asked.

"We are on the Skeleton Coast in Namibia," the pink Dicraeosaurus answered. "Or rather, below it. We'll have to take another train to get to South Africa.

Cooper nodded and took a moment to absorb the sights. There was a bit more grass than he was expecting to see. The bigger surprise was that several nearby buildings had projectors shooting light up at the "ceiling" of this underground world. The lights allowed viewers to see through the ground, showing numerous wrecked ships. "Wow, there's a place like that in Africa?"

"Yes, there is. I had heard it was a popular tourist attraction around here," Dickson informed him. "Now, when we get to South Africa, how do you propose we recruit a new Zord?"

Cooper didn't have an answer, "Uhh…"

Dickson sighed. "This was your idea in the first place, but you came here without a plan? That's disappointing."

"I'll come up with somethin', alright?" Cooper defended himself. "We'll, uh, we'll ask around. See if any Zords like fightin' and see if they'll help us out."

"That's better than nothing," Dickson nodded. And so, the two began walking to catch another train.

As they did, something occurred to the Scotsman. "Well, as long as we're here." Cooper walked up to a nearby lizard woman and asked, "Excuse me, miss? Do you know any Zords who like a good fight?"

The woman was taken aback. "What is a human doing down here?"

Dickson sighed. "Here we go again."