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 of the Seven Deadly Seas gather on each 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 23

"Alright, it's time to challenge the Rangers once again," Calios said excitedly. "You guys ready to rumble?"

Bailey crossed her arms. "I am, but not in the way you mean."

Moses facepalmed and huffed before replying dryly, "we don't need to know that, Bailey."

Trying to getting everyone back on topic, Cameron held up a hand. Once everyone quieted, he shook his head while speaking loudly. "Sorry, big guy, but it's been too long, and I've gotta be getting back to what I do best."

With that, he headed for the door.

"That is not a wise decision," Factoraze objected. "Going out alone will allow the Power Rangers to gang up on you."

"So what? They haven't even seen my full power. I'll be fine," Cameron asserted as he took his leave.

The remaining group looked at one another in a tense silence.

"What did he mean by 'do what he does best?'" Calios wondered, raising an eyebrow under his helmet.

Moses shook his head. "He's a tentacle monster, Calios. Think about that for a second."

"Oooooooh," Calios gasped in understanding.

"Dude, it's no big deal," Duncan said, raising his hands defensively.

"No big deal?" Brody held up his phone, showing a news report, "Thanks to you, everyone thinks there's a sex ghost on the loose in the aquarium!"

Before Duncan could reply, he looked at the news report and his eyes widened. , "Uh, you might wanna look at that."

Turning his phone back so he could look, Brody's eyes widened as well. He glanced back at his brother. "Let's go."

The Branson brothers rode their Cryos to Kelly Street where they found Cameron wrapping his two tentacles around the waists of two random girls. The Blue and White Rangers drew their Switch-Guns and fired, hitting Cameron and forcing him to let go.

The Cameroceras monster growled, "You know what? I shouldn't be mad. I knew you guys would show up."

Rather than respond verbally, the two young men simply fired more blasts from their guns.

Cameron dodged the blasts and leapt forward, getting just close enough that they were in range of his tentacles. Grabbing them by the waists, he used his tentacles to bash them together several times before throwing them to the ground in a heap.

Duncan and Brody quickly got to their feet and took fighting stances, only to find that Cameron had fled the scene.

"Okay, that's different," Duncan commented.

At that moment, Cooper rode in on his own Cryo, the sound cutting through the deafening silence.

"Cooper to the resc-" He cut himself off when he saw that the monster was absent. "Uh, where's the monster?"

"We don't know. He just left." Brody shrugged.

Suddenly, the blue Cryo nudged Brody and pointed south.

"He's saying the monster went that way," Carl translated.

The Rangers immediately went south, following the Cryos into an office building and, sure enough, found Cameron with his arms wrapped around another girl.

"Sorry, but you're not spoiling my fun." The cephalopod began retreating once more, this time keeping the girl in his slimy embrace.

Not having the patience for another chase, Brody shifted to Electric-Type and sped after their foe. Clearly Cameron wanted a fight, and clearly he had a plan in mind, none of the Rangers were going to allow him total freedom and Brody was done delaying the inevitable.

To counter the Ranger's high speed, Cameron backed himself against the wall and held out the girl he'd snatched as a human shield, stopping Brody in his tracks.

"Go ahead. No one's stopping you," Cameron said with a laugh.

Unfolding his Switch-Gun into its sword mode, Brody tried coming at Cameron from the left, only for Cameron to move the girl into harm's way again. More attempts yielded the same result. "Why are you so good at using a human shield!?" Brody yelled in frustration.

"Natural talent!" Cameron snarked.

Lunging forward, he grabbed Brody with his free hand and threw him at his teammates. While the other two Rangers caught their partner, Cameron revealed another power of his. The shell on his head glowed blue as a blade of energy protruded from it. He swung his head forward, with the blade extending until it reached the heroes, striking them down as if they were bowling pins.

They toppled with a collective groan, but worked on peeling themselves off the ground, helping each other as needed. Their focus was on one another, making sure no one was too badly hurt as they collected themselves, took stock of any damage, and got up. By the time they picked themselves up, the Rangers saw that the Cameroceras had fled once again.

Brody turned to the Cryo gang, "Can you guys sniff him out again?"

The trio of dinos shook their heads and growled, with Chazz being the one to translate this time, "They said they would love to, but there's something wiping out his scent this time, so they can't."

"What do you think he wanted the girl for anyway?" Cooper wondered.

"He's a tentacle monster, guys. Think about that for a second," Duncan said, letting his teammates work it out for themselves.

"Oooooooh," Cooper and Brody said. They scowled as they realized how fucked up the implications were. "Oh."

The next day, the entire team was out on patrol. Though, due to her previous encounter with Cameron, Jane refused to participate in the search, a decision no one objected to.

As Cooper passed by a church, he heard screaming inside. He ran up to the door and peaked inside, confirming that Cameron was abducting another woman. This time, it was the bride at a wedding.

Morphing, Cooper went inside to save the day while the all the wedding guests streamed out in terror. "Hey, porn star! Let her go!"

Cameron punched the bride in the face, knocking her out. She slumped in his arms as Cooper approached and for a second, Cooper worried the asshole would do worse. However, Cameron set her down in a pew, then transformed his arms into tentacles, using them to lash out at Cooper.

As the Pink Ranger dodged and darted around, he contacted his teammates, "Guys, the monster's at a church! Home in on me morpher!"

Getting tired of dodging, Cooper managed to get ahold of one of Cameron's tentacles and reel him in.

Cameron changed his other tentacle back to a regular arm and threw a punch, which Cooper caught with a grunt.

This put the two fighters in a stalemate, and they spent the next several seconds contemplating their next moves, planning, dismissing options, and struggling lightly, each eager for the upper hand.

Cameron made the first move, activating his shell blade attack. "Razor Shell!"

However, just before his blade could connect with Cooper, Duncan stopped it with his Switch-Gun's blade.

"Pokemon moves are my thing!" The White Ranger shouted as he forced the monster away.

Duncan and Cameron began crossing swords, while Cooper threw a punch here and there, trying to get through the monster's defenses.

As they fought, Cameron hid one arm behind his back. The Rangers would've questioned this, but seeing as how this made it easier to land hits, they didn't bother to overthink it.

At that moment, Brody entered the building. "Sorry I'm late, I was kinda far away."

"Just get in here and help us!" Duncan ordered, not taking a break from the fight to look over. "Now!"

Right as Brody got in close, Cameron decided the time was right. Turning the arm behind his back into a tentacle again, he did a low sweep with it, knocking the team's legs out from under them. Taking the opportunity, the Cameroceras grabbed his intended victim and fled just as the Rangers were righting themselves.

The team made their way outside, only to find that Cameron was gone.

"Dammit!" Duncan threw his weapon to the ground in frustration.

Cooper sighed and crossed his arms. "I guess we'll just have to wait until he shows himself again."

"We can't do that this time," Brody pointed out. "He's already got two women. For all we know, he'll just enjoy himself with them. Who knows when he'll next show up or where he will if he decides to!"

Cringing at the reminder, Cooper nodded. "Alright then. We'll search every centimeter of this city if that's what it takes."

Calling up the Cryos, the Rangers began scouring the city. Unfortunately, it didn't matter where they looked, be it abandoned buildings, miscellaneous workplaces, or rooftops. The anthro Cameroceras was nowhere to be found.

Day after day went by with the team finding nothing.

"How come the Cryos can't find him?" Cooper wondered.

"I have a theory about that," Dickson spoke up. "Did any of you see the small siphon on the back of this monster's head?"

Duncan shook his head. "No, we were kinda busy fighting him."

"Perhaps he released some kind of gas to mask his scent," the Dicraeozord suggested.

"So now what do we do now?" Brody thought aloud.

"I don't know. I'd better get myself some inspiration," Duncan said, lighting up a couple joints at once. Not two minutes later, he came up with an idea, "We just gotta bait him out."

"How do we do that?" Cooper asked.

"Easy. We just put the word out that some crazy-stupid-hot girl is getting married, and that'll probably tempt him to come and get her," Duncan explained with a grin.

"Not a bad plan, Duncan, but what if he doesn't care and decides to just keep the two girls he's got?" Chazz asked.

"And where do we get a hot girl?" Brody followed up. "And don't say Jane. She's not getting within a mile of this guy."

Duncan grinned brightly, completely unbothered as he continued working out the plan in his head. "Oh, I have a plan for all of that."

Cameron sighed in content as he exited his private room. He strolled around Calios' ship, but before he could decide what to do, Moses called out to him. "Hey, get over here. We're doing some training."

That made Cameron pause and tilt his head. "Training? Since when do we do that?"

"Since you decided to start going solo against some of the toughest enemies we've ever faced," Moses said as he beckoned for the other Sea to join him, Leopold, and Simba.

"Okay, Calios was one thing, but it almost sounds like you're scared of these guys," the Cameroceras taunted.

Moses didn't show a visible reaction to the jab, "These guys have done a bit better than most of the planets we've crushed. So yeah, I'm taking them seriously."

"I can vouch for the yellow one," Simba grinned.

"Does he really count as yellow if he always starts out blue?" Leopold wondered aloud.

"I don't care what color anyone is. Besides, I don't need training anyway. I've proven that. Now, if you'll excuse me, it's molesting time," Cameron said as he turned to leave, only to be stopped when Moses put a hand on his shoulder.

"What is it with you and keeping your mind in the gutter?" Moses growled.

Cameron knocked the hand away, "Maybe if you had a girl, you'd understand."

The two sea monsters got in each other's faces. Before anything more than idle threats and attempts to intimidate each other could happen, however, Bailey interrupted.

"If I may?" she held a flier in front of Cameron's face. It read about a wedding with a crazy-stupid-hot girl as the bride.

Grabbing the flier, Cameron looked it over, "Hm, this might be just for me."

Moses moved to stop him, only for Bailey to get in his way. "Just let him go."

This made her three compatriots narrow their eyes.

"You're enabling him?" Leopold asked.

Rather than answering, Bailey just shrugged and walked away.

Having lost the coin toss for who did what, Duncan was the one standing at the altar as the bride approached him.

Kenny was on music duty, playing 'Here Comes the Bride' on a synthesizer. Brody was dressed up as a priest, and the only attendant was G2 wearing a false mustache.

As the bride got to the altar, Brody began the typical sayings you'd hear at a wedding. "Dearly beloved, and I use that term loosely, we are gathered today-""

Suddenly, the doors were kicked open.

"For that," Brody finished.

Cameron marched into the church, chuckling sinisterly before threatening Duncan. "You should run if you know what's good for you. I'm here for your wife. Your-" he looked the bride up and down, "Oddly-muscular wife."

"Joke's on you then," the bride lifted her veil, revealing "herself" to be Cooper. "And you're gonna-"

Cameron stopped him by holding up a hand. "Hold that thought. I need a moment."

He ran through a side door to the bathroom.

Hearing the sound of vomiting, Cooper asked his teammates, "Do I really look that bad in this?"

"Yes, you do," they all answered in sync.

"Whatever." Cooper shrugged and held out his hand. "Now pay up."

Duncan handed him a hundred-dollar bill before they all shed their disguises, revealing their regular clothes underneath.

Cameron gasped as he came out of the restroom, "Alright, I'm outta here." He made for the door, only to find the white Cryolophosaurus waiting for him. The dino headbutted him, forcing him back inside. "Fuck!"

Without waiting for a fight to break out, Cameron pulled himself from the ground, ran, and leapt out a window. This time, the blue Cryo was the one who stopped him, knocking him back into the church with a flying kick.

Seeing the Cameroceras crash back into the building again, Duncan bragged, "Yeah, you're stuck with us this time."

With that, he and the rest of the Rangers morphed, with G2 taking a spot beside them.

"…Hehehe, you're gonna wish I'd gotten away," Cameron said. Making the first move, he lunged forward spinning like a drill.

Having learned from the last time he did this, Brody drew his Switch-Gun, flipped it into sword mode, and brought it down on Cameron's shell. "Ranger Slash!"

The energized ice sword clashed with the super-tough shell, with neither winning in the end. It merely stopped the charge and paused the oncoming battle for an extra second.

As Cameron flew back, Duncan and Cooper charged in. The Cameroceras monster turned one of his arms into a tentacle and began tickling Cooper, while using his Razor Shell to counter Duncan.

Not to be left out, Brody and G2 got on opposite sides of Cameron and fired energy blasts at him.

While the beams nearly brought him to his knees, Cameron still didn't go down and grabbed Cooper, swinging him at G2.

"Take this!" Cooper managed to tap his morpher, turning green. He summoned his flail in its mace form and swung it, with the spikey stick tearing through the tentacle. "I'm sure that's a hit you feel."

Having lost his "weapon," Cameron charged Duncan and threw a punch.

Duncan morphed into his Ground-Type form and met the punch with one of his own. His cestuses hurt the monster's fist, making him reel in pain. Cameron let out a low, pained sound, but didn't show any signs of giving up or surrendering willingly.

Wanting to go next, Brody shifted to Electric-Type and appeared in front of Cameron in a blur. "Machine Gun Spike!"

The Yellow Ranger threw hundreds of kicks in the span of just a few seconds, severely damaging Cameron.

The Cameroceras was blown back. After landing, he slowly got to his feet, showing the electrical burns on his chest. Painting, and slightly dizzy, he was still ready and determined to hold his own.

"Wow, you survived that? You're tough," Brody couldn't help but compliment.

"You know, I usually prefer girls. But for you guys-" Cameron's arms split lengthwise into ten segments. These segments divided even further and further, becoming dozens of tentacles. "-I'll make an exception!"

"Ugh, I felt violated just hearing that," Duncan complained with a shiver.

"Kenny, G2, get behind me," Cooper said, extending his mace into its flail mode.

Cameron roared and sent his tentacles at the team. Smothering them completely, he chuckled. The win was short lived. His mood was killed when he heard them call out their attack names.

"Ranger Slash!"

"Precipice Blades!"

"Thresher Dome!"

Cameron's tentacles were torn apart by an electrified sword, glowing blades of earth, and a small, green dome of razor wind. Pain rippled through him, making him gasp. No enemy had been able to counter his tentacles like that before, so Cameron was speechless.

"Let's finish this, guys!" Brody directed. Using his speed, he ran over to Cameron's eight o'clock while Cooper flew and landed at his four, leaving Duncan at his twelve. "Let's finish it NOW!"

The three Rangers reared back their fists, charging them with elemental energy. "HAH!" they all cried as they threw their punches.

Unable to take the combined might of earth, wind, and lightning, Cameron screamed as he exploded.

As Kenny and G2 applauded at their friends' success, Brody felt his phone buzz. He checked it to see it was Jane.

"Did you kill him yet?"

Brody texted back, "Got him just now. His second life is next."

"Great. I'll be sure to find a good spot to enjoy the view," was her reply.

"This is exactly why I wanted us to train at least a little bit," Moses sighed, shaking his head.

"Do I really have to revive him?" Lensia whined, naturally not wanting to bring back a creep like Cameron.

Calios waved her off, "Just do it. We may as well see what he can do as a giant."

Groaning, Lensia waved her hands and cast the revival spell.

Cameron resurrected as a giant, roaring in anger from his first death.

"We finished him off with our power-ups. What do you say we finish him again with our power-up Zords?" Cooper suggested.

"Way ahead of you, señor," Alicia said through Brody's morpher.

Being the speedster that she was, the Austrozord was the first one on the scene. "I'm going to enjoy this," she growled. "Thoroughly enjoy it."

Kelly erupted from the ground, "Me too!"

Seconds later, Pops landed next to the two, "And me ten!...I think."

Making the first move, Kelly spat out a stream of gemstones from her mouth.

Cameron spawned his tentacles and batted away all the gems as they came, not missing even one. When Kelly ran out of jewels, he extended his limbs, hitting her in the face with a dozen punches.

When it was over, Kelly was unsteady on her feet.

"Owie." She flopped over on her side, exhausted and dazed.

"Okay then, take this!" Pops fluttered his plates, launching blades of razor wind up into the air.

To counter this, Cameron activated his Razor Shell and rocked his head like he was jamming to a rock song, deflecting the wind without issue.

"Wow. You're one tough weirdo. So take this instead!" Pops spun around and swung his tail, which Cameron caught. Despite how scatterbrained as he was, Pops knew what was coming next. "Oh boy."

Cameron grunted as he used Pops' tail to swing him around and slam him into the ground. Pops groaned, laying there as his body absorbed the impact.

"Alright, I'm finishing this," Alicia growled. However, the moment she tried to move, she fell forward. "Qué?!" The yellow Austroraptor looked to see a tentacle wrapping her feet together.

"Maybe next time, you shouldn't bother waiting your turn to fight!" Cameron taunted. He leapt up in the air and landed hard on her chest, making her gasp for breath.

The heroes on the ground flinched.

"Wow, epic fails all around," Duncan commented.

"Guys! You've gotta work together!" Brody shouted at them.

"You got it, little dude!" Kelly agreed. The Kosmozord used her earth powers to make blades erupt from the ground, severing the tentacle grabbing Alicia's legs.

Cameron growled at losing a limb, "Why you-"

"Over here, squiddy!"

Looking over, Cameron saw that Pops was gearing up for another tail swipe. His tail now had extra spikes made of earth, courtesy of Kelly's power.

The Cameroceras reactivated his Razor Shell, "Try that again, and I'll chop your tail off!"

"If you couldn't do it before, what makes you think you can now!?" Pops swung his tail, which Cameron countered with his blade. Together, wind and earth overpowered water. Pops cheered as his attack managed to crack Cameron's shell, "Score one for the boys back home!"

"Kelly! Hold him!" Alicia instructed.

At her words, Cameron sunk into the ground up to his knees. The Austrozord briefly ran back to gain some distance before charging back in and leaping into the air. Refusing to simply take the attack head-on, Cameron spawned more tentacles and thrusted them at her.

Alicia grinned and did her aerial acrobatics, shredding the tentacles. Landing in front of Cameron, her teeth crackled with electricity. She lunged forward and messily bit through his neck, decapitating him.

Pops and Kelly both cringed at the unexpected gore, with the Rangers being put off as well. Few could bare to look at the scene even once it was all over. Alicia was casual about it, "Don't look at me like that. I'm a raptor. We do shit like that."

The rest of the heroes were a bit uncertain, though the Cryos nodded in agreement.

"Hey, uh, guys?" Jane asked as she came onto the scene. "What do we do about the women he already kidnapped?"

Kenny and the Rangers looked to each other, not having an answer for that problem. Fortunately, someone else had it for them.

"They're right here," a voice said. Everyone turned to see Bailey holding the two women under her arms.

Duncan put his hands on his hips, "You set them free? I kinda forgot to ask you for that. Thanks."

"I didn't do it for you." Bailey shrugged. "I just hated Cameron as much as any sane girl would."

"Fair enough. We still on for the drive-in theater tonight?" Duncan asked.

"Oh yeah. See you then."

As the anthro Basilosaurus left, Cooper asked Duncan, "A drive-in? I thought you two hated each other. Why're you takin' her on a date?"

Duncan waved him off, "Oh, it's not a date. We're just gonna fuck in front of the projector."

"I wish I hadn't heard that," Brody and Jane said in sync. They looked at each other when they realized this.

"So, uh, you guys destroyed a pervert monster. That's pretty cool," Jane complimented awkwardly. "You wanna hang out later?"

Brody had to fight the urge to start stuttering, "How about the mall? Tomorrow?"

She nodded. "Sure."

As the group began walking to their respective homes, the guys all huddled beside Brody. "That's another step forward, lad," Cooper whispered. Duncan and Kenny both gave a thumbs-up.

Brody rolled his eyes. "Thanks for the support, guys."