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 26

Brody hummed as finished making his dish. Once it was done, set it on some plates and served it up for Duncan.

His brother raised an eyebrow, "Omelets? So you're a cook now?"

"Things change," Brody grinned.

Duncan rested his palm in his hand, smiling, "Man, this whole 'girlfriend' thing is really bringing out a new side of you."

"Am I supposed to deny that or something?" Brody said as he dug in.

"I am glad you're in such a great mood, Mother, but shouldn't we be worried?" Carl asked. "Luckat's appearance has made me realize, in the time we've been dealing with the Seven Seas, the enemy has had time to stockpile the monsters they usually make. Who knows what we could be facing next."

"Eh, all we can do is wait," both brothers said in unison. They looked at each other before laughing.

The Shadow in between them bobbed its head as if it were laughing as well. The three got so into it that they wrapped their arms around each other's shoulders like good friends.

"Will you wake up and read the room!?" Alicia yelled through Brody's morpher.

That snapped the brothers out of it and they quickly pulled away from the Shadow. The Shadow raised its hands to show it wasn't there to fight before handing them a note card.

Snatching the card from its hand, Brody read it aloud, "New monster. North side of town. Baby Street."

Duncan scratched his head, "Which Baby Street? Lil Baby or DaBaby?"

The Shadow shrugged and became 2D, proceeding to slip through the cracks in their front door.

"Huh, so that's how that thing got in?" Chazz observed.

"Okay, I've got it figured out," Duncan said. "Some of us will go to one street, and the rest of us will go to the other. Problem solved."

"But they didn't even tell us what time they want us to meet this new monster," Brody pointed out.

"Then we just lie in wait," Duncan shrugged.

Following Duncan's plan, the team spilt up and waited for the new monster to show. Brody, Cooper, their respective Cryolophosaurs, and Jane waited on DaBaby Street. Meanwhile, Duncan, the white Cryo, Kenny, and G2 kept watch over Lil Baby Street.

"You guys smell anything?" Brody asked.

The Cryos shook their heads.

"I think you guys spoke too soon," Jane said, pointing off to the end of the street.

They followed her finger to see the new monster. It was a faceless robot wearing a black and red T-shirt, blue jeans, and a black fedora.

"Do you guys think you're tough?" it asked.

"Since you asked, yeah, we do," Cooper answered with a grin.

"Well, you won't be when I do this," the robot charged in and engaged with Cooper.

Brody unfolded his Switch-Gun into its sword mode and moved in for a sneak attack. Unfortunately, the robot had apparently seen this coming and spun around, hitting him in the chest with a palm strike. The boy's body glowed and just like that, there were suddenly two Brodys. Both unmorphed, and both about eight to ten years old.

Cooper and Jane were shocked. Even the Cryos' jaws were hanging open. "Huh!?"

Shaking off the surprise, Jane pulled out her phone and called Kenny to alert him and his team.

The B team was lying in wait on the roof of a hotel. Duncan was already morphed in case the monster showed up to their street but had his helmet off so he could have some weed.

Chazz, despite his lack of physical presence, tried passing the time by helping Kenny with his English. "Okay, repeat after me: 'Hello, Mr. Diplodocus.'"

Kenny took his time to make sure he got every syllable correct, "'Hello, Mr. Diplodocus.'"

"There you go! You spoke English instead of Engrish!" Duncan congratulated, patting Kenny on the back.

Kenny smiled and realized his phone was buzzing. He quickly answered it and put it on speaker for the whole team to hear.

"Guys! The monster showed up on our street! Get over here!" Jane yelled.

A large object suddenly crashed onto the roof, making a hole. The intruder leapt up out of the hole, revealing itself to be Duncan the Dunkleosteus. "Sorry, toots, but they're kinda busy."

Despite feeling the buzz, Duncan had the good grace to put his helmet back on and draw his Switch-Gun.

G2 put his hand on Duncan's gun and lowered it, "If you try to shoot him, he'll just block it with his head."

Duncan nodded and holstered his gun, instead raising his fists. "Alright, it's fishing season."

"Come on! Why is this guy so nimble?!" Cooper complained. He'd been firing his Dicraeo-Cannon over and over but his shots weren't connecting.

The kid Brodys looked at their wrists to see that both of them had morphers now. Deciding to try it out, they both tapped their morphers. "Henshin!" In a flash, the two boys were clad in child-sized Ranger suits.

"Oh, my God, they're so cute," Jane muttered to herself.

Cooper was thrown off as well, "Aw, that's adora-"

Unfortunately, this was enough of a distraction for the casually-dressed robot to hit him as well. This split him into two young men who looked to be in their early to mid-twenties.

Before the robot could make another move, it was hit by several shots from one of the little Brodys. Everyone was shocked when the robot simply dusted itself off. "Nice try, but when your age gets cut in half, so does your power," it informed them.

"Maybe this is a good time to retreat and regroup," one of the Coopers suggested, to which the other one nodded. Both of them morphed into their Flying-Type forms. "Up, up-" one of them said, grabbing Jane. "-and away we go!" the other finished, grabbing the two Brodys.

Duncan's team was naturally surprised when they saw what'd happened to their teammates.

"No-" Kenny started.

Duncan went next "-fucking-"

"-way," G2 finished.

Duncan chuckled, "Well, I was already the older brother, but this way, people will know for sure."

"Dude, being a few minutes older doesn't mean shit," one of the Brodys said, clearly unamused.

Crouching slightly to be at their level, Duncan wagged a finger at the two preteens, "Watch it, young man. One more swear word, and you two don't get desert tonight."

The Brodys pouted which made Duncan, as well as the Cryos, laugh.

"Well, ain't that sweet?" one of the Coopers commented.

"Whoa, Cooper, is that you?" Chazz asked.

Both Coopers grinned. "Sure is!" the other one said. "I haven't had this much energy in years! That robot guy is gonna regret makin' me younger!"

Kenny checked his phone, "No sign of Baduncan. Guess Gooduncan must've been too much for him."

"Still hating that nickname," Duncan droned. As he lit up a joint, he asked, "So, we just wait around until the monster comes around again?"

"Looks like it," one of the Coopers nodded. He then gasped and looked at his counterpart, "Do you know what this means? We can spar with ourselves!"

The other Cooper gasped too, and both of them immediately left, presumably for the gym.

"G2 and I will go and strategize," Kenny said, beckoning his robot to come with him.

It was then that Duncan got a wicked grin on his face as an idea came to him, "Hey, Jane, I'm not the most responsible guy around the house. Would you mind babysitting?"

Brody glared at him, "Duncan, she's not gonna do that. She's probably got-"

"Sure, I'll do it," Jane answered.

"Hehe, then it's settled. I'll go get some takeout," Duncan said as he made for the door. "Be back in a bit!"

Now all alone with the two of her new boyfriend, Jane looked down at them, "You wanna have a study session? Tomorrow's Monday after all." The boys nodded.

When Duncan got back, he found Jane and the Brodys sitting at the kitchen table going over a textbook. "Seriously? That's all your doing? If it were me and Bailey, we'd-"

"Don't even finish that sentence," the three of them said in unison.

Duncan backed down and unpacked their dinner. He got a couple burgers for himself, some hotdogs for his little brothers, and some chicken tenders for Jane, plus a bunch of other food.

"We can't eat all of this," one of the Brodys pointed out.

"Oh, this isn't all for us," Duncan shrugged.

The sound of the front door opening got everyone's attention. Besides Duncan, everybody's jaws dropped when Bailey walked in and sat at the table like she owned the place. "Hey, fuckers," she greeted rudely.

"Why the hell is she here?!" one of the Brodys asked.

"She texted me and said she felt like coming over and I didn't have a way to stop her, so I figured I oughtta just prepare accordingly," Duncan shrugged. He then flicked Bailey in the side of the head. "Break anything in my house and you're dead, by the way."

The anthro Basilosaurus said nothing, opting to just stomp on Duncan's foot instead.

"This feels way too casual," Jane muttered, to which both Brodys nodded.

"I say we just leave and watch a movie," the Brody on Jane's left suggested.

"Seconded," the other Brody said.

Jane nodded and corralled them into the living room. First, they watched Kamen Rider J, finishing their dinner in the process. "Huh, so that's what your Rider guys are like?" she wondered.

"Yep," the Brodys said in sync, pleased that she wasn't put off by their favorite superhero brand.

They followed it up with Fantasia. About halfway through the movie, Duncan and Bailey entered the room, with Bailey wearing Duncan's shirt, which was thankfully long enough to keep her decent. Both had some new bruises forming on various spots on their bodies.

Having a good idea of what they'd just been up to, Jane glared at them, "Sit anywhere but the couch."

Bailey shrugged and claimed the easy chair, leaving Duncan to sit on the floor.

As the movie neared its end, the Brodys started dozing off, leaning into Jane's sides. Jane smiled gently and planted a kiss on each of their heads. "Don't you say a word," she whispered without looking up from them.

Duncan raised his hands defensively while Bailey just didn't care.

Eventually, the next day came.

'Holy crap, I just spent the night at a guy's house,' Jane thought to herself. She was distracted when another thought crossed her mind, "Crap, what do we do? Brody can't go to school like this."

"Relax, it's fine," Duncan assured her. "We'll just tell some lie to cover for him. He and I have done it for each other before." He glanced to the side, "Now get the fuck out of here, Bailey."

Bailey made for the door, but as she passed Duncan, she stopped, grabbed him by the hair, and forced his lips against her snout, kissing him. When it was done, she shoved him to the ground and left.

Jane just shook her head at the exchange.

"Mr. Branson, where's your br-"

"He got hurt when a monster attacked, so he couldn't make it," Duncan cut the teacher off. Class went on as normal, and when it let out, Duncan and Jane were shocked to see someone they weren't expecting-

"Mr. Cooper?" they chorused.

"Come on, I'm young now. Just call me Cooper," the young man informed them. He was currently dressed in a new jumpsuit and was mopping the floor like he always did. "I told the principle that 'Cooper' wasn't feelin' well, so he sent me in as a temp."

Duncan chuckled, "And the principle bought that? That guy will believe anything."

"Where's the other you?" Jane wondered.

"Off at a bar," the Cooper answered.

"Are you old enough to drink?" Duncan asked.

Cooper put his hand on his hip, "I'm twenty-three, so yeah."

"Twenty-three? So you're normally forty-six?" Duncan tilted his head.

"Hehe, figures you never learned me age. Too much weed," Cooper laughed, lightly punch Duncan in the shoulder.

"Hi, everyone," Kenny greeted as he approached. His eyes widened, "Mr. Cooper?"

Thankfully, the school day went by without incident. Things didn't simply end with that, though, as an announcement featuring the new robot appeared on everyone's TVs.

The robot cleared its throat despite being, well, a robot, "Attention Power Rangers, both originals and those made by me. I'm sure we all want to finish what we started, so meet me in the town square as soon as you can. This is Neil Young, signing off."

"And that makes two monsters named after famous people," one of the Brodys observed.

"Well, let's do this," Duncan said, getting up from the couch. He stopped when he noticed his little brothers following him. "Uh, when I said 'let's,' I just meant me. You're still a little kid, dude."

"There's two of me. If we attack together, we should be strong enough to do damage," one of the boys stated.

Duncan shrugged, "Great, now I'm playing babysitter."

The brothers headed to the town square, though they had to go by car since the Brodys were too small to ride the Cryolophosaurs. Spotting Neil Young out in the open, they exited their car and morphed.

"Let's end this," Neil Young said.

"Man, you're so serious. Usually guys on your side have some kinda personality quirk that makes you more fun," Duncan commented.

"I know, right?" the Brodys agreed.

Neil Young walked over to a nearby water fountain, ripped a chunk out of it, and threw it at the trio.

One of the Brodys shot the debris out of the air, and when the robot got in close, Duncan and the other Brody slashed him across the chest with their Switch-Guns.

"This is feeling too easy," Duncan said.

"Behind you!"

Taking the advice, Duncan rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding a bite from the other Duncan.

The Dunkleosteus monster growled and glared at Kenny and G2, the ones who'd shouted the warning, "Thanks for spoiling the surprise."

"What are you even doing here? I would've expected CJ," one of the Brodys admitted.

"Well, she wanted be here, but I played paper and she played rock, so I got to go out and take you guys," the armored fish explained.

Kenny quickly came up with a game plan, "Guys, G2 can't get younger, so he should fight Neil Young. You two fight Baduncan."

"Still hating that nickname," the monster Duncan droned. "But yeah, that works for me."

As the monster lunged at the Rangers, G2 confronted Neil Young. The yellow-armored robot approached his enemy, faking a punch, and when his opponent moved to counter, he grabbed him by the shoulder and thrust his knee at his chest. G2 stopped just short of his target, only to resume his strike. "One-Inch Knee."

The blow crushed Neil Young's chest and sent him staggering back.

G2 fired an eyebeam but was shocked when the enemy dispersed the attack just by punching it.

"There's a bit more to me than the power of youth," Neil Young informed him.

Undeterred, G2 went in for another round.

The Rangers' fight with Baduncan led them into a nearby parking garage. Gooduncan blocked a punch with his shields, but the force was so strong that he was knocked back into a car.

Baduncan was immediately upon him. He raised his right hand up and lowered his left hand before quickly bringing them together.

Figuring he wouldn't like whatever was about to happen, Gooduncan leapt to the side. His worry was justified since, when the monster's palms slid past each other, the car in front of him split neatly in two.

"Holy shit!" the Brodys exclaimed.

"You can do that with your bare hands?!" Gooduncan observed.

"I call it the 'Scissor Slice.' Pretty cool, huh?" Baduncan said smugly. He spun around and crouched, letting a slash from one of the Brodys pass overhead. He grabbed the boy by the neck and hoisted him up. "I'm a gangster," he boasted. "You think I wouldn't expect a sneak attack?"

The Dunkleosteus reared a fist back and punched. Thankfully, Gooduncan thrust his arm in the way, blocking the punch with the shield on his forearm.

This gave the other Brody a chance to stab Baduncan through the leg with his Carnage Sword.

This made Baduncan fall to one knee, dropping the Brody he was holding.

Gooduncan and the dropped Brody went in for the kill with their Switch-Gun blades. However, to their shock, Baduncan bit clean through their swords with his massive jaws.

"New plan!" Brody yelled. He gestured for his other self to follow.

"Wait, what do I do?!" their brother yelled as he grappled with the monster.

"Set him up for us!" the two preteens yelled back. When their older brother got the monster into position, they charged forward, charging their fists with ice. "Double. Ranger. PUNCH!" Their twin strike hit the Dunkleosteus in the back, bringing him to his knees all over again.

Gooduncan followed up with a punch of his own, only for the monster to roll away.

"Looks like I'm in over my head. Time for a retreat." True to his words, Baduncan began limping away as fast as he could.

The Brody whose Switch-Gun was still intact took aim, only for him and his counterpart to start glowing and merge back together in a flash of light, forming the normal, 17-year-old Brody.

"Holy shit, Kenny's robot must've won!" Gooduncan commented.

"Man, it feels good to be my age again," Brody said, looking himself over. He looked up to see that Monster Duncan was gone, "Crap, we should've been attacking instead of feeling relief."

The duo ran to the entrance of the parking garage and took a look around. "Uh, shouldn't we be seeing a giant version of the monster or something?" Brody wondered aloud.

"I don't know, I-" Duncan paused as he felt his phone buzzing. He checked and reported to his brother, "Bailey just texted me. She said her boss didn't think it was worth making this one grow huge."

"I guess that saves us some trouble," Chazz commented. "Hey, what do you think Cooper was doing the whole time you guys were fighting?"

The bartender and the patrons were all staring blankly at the drunk Scotsman lying passed out on the floor.

"Uh, anyone else see two twenty-something guys get drunk and then fuse into one middle-aged guy?" one of the patrons asked. Everyone nodded their heads. "Good. Just wanted to make sure it wasn't just me."