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 28

Brody and Jane walked along down the street, holding hands. "Are they still following us?" Jane asked.

"Yep," Brody answered.

The couple subtly glanced behind them to see the rest of the crew pretty much stalking them. Their "disguises" consisted of caps and sunglasses.

"A bit intrusive, but I can understand why they're doing this," Carl said, with the humans nodding.

"'Scuse me a second," Brody pardoned himself. He picked a dandelion growing on the sidewalk grass and handed it to Jane, "Make a wish."

Jane smiled, "This another tip from your wingmen?"

"Ha ha. This move is all me," Brody jokingly glared at her.

"I feel kind of ridiculous," G2 said as they followed the couple.

Cooper patted him on the back, "Relax, they don't even know we're here. We're in disguise."

"These aren't disguises. We just look like us at a baseball game," Duncan pointed out.

"I agree with Duncan," Kenny nodded.

"Well, you should be glad we're taggin' along. Lookee there," Cooper pointed upward.

The others follow his finger and saw Duncan standing on a nearby rooftop…the monster, not their ginger friend.

Right as the Dunkleosteus was about to leap down and attack the couple, G2 fired an eyebeam, blasting him away.

"We'll get him. You guys keep watch," Kenny said as he and his robot left.

"You saw that too, right?" Brody asked.

"You mean a laser shooting a monster off a building? Yeah, I saw that," Jane nodded.

"I suppose we really can't judge them for following us now," Carl added.

Brody shrugged, "Fair enough. Hey, wanna check out that bookstore?"

Duncan put his hands on his hips, "Well, well, well, it's been a while since I fought you."

G2 looked from the monster to his creator and back, "You should find a place to hide, Master."

Nodding, Kenny backed off, leaving his robot to face the monster alone.

The anthro Dunkleosteus charged in. G2 fired several eyebeams, but the fish blocked the shots with his armored head. He lunged for a bite, which G2 stopped by grabbing his forehead and chin. That didn't stop Duncan from forcing him to the ground, eager to take a bite out of him.

G2 struggled and squirmed, not having much room to counterattack in a position like this. Thankfully, he quickly recalled that his techniques needed no windup room. He rolled to the side, pulling Duncan to the ground, and aimed a fist at his chest, "One-Inch Punch."

The blow sent Duncan rolling to the side. Getting to his feet, G2 raised his guard, beckoning the monster to come at him again.

Duncan growled and got up, "I'm gonna-" He paused when someone tapped his shoulder, and turned to see that it was Kenny.

The boy held up a can of pepper spray and let loose in Duncan's eye.

"AAAAAH! SOMEBODY HELP ME! SOMEBODY HELP MEEEEE!"

This distraction gave G2 the perfect chance to land a hit. He swung his leg, stopping just before his shin made contact. "One-Inch Roundhouse."

Again, Duncan was sent flying by the attack, skidding along the ground. "How does that move even make sense!?"

"Okay, Duncan got intercepted," Calios observed. "Anyone else wanna go and spoil their fun?"

Simba stood up from his seat, "I'll give it a try. I bet it'd piss blue boy off if he got swept off his feet in the middle of a date."

As the Cymbospondylus headed for the launch tubes, Factoraze noticed something on a nearby monitor, "My lord, a large object is making its way toward this planet."

Descending from his throne, Calios observed the monitor, "Oh shit. Tell our crew to lock and load. We're gonna need all our firepower for this one."

Now fully expecting another villain to show up, Cooper and Duncan got out of the public eye and donned their Ranger suits so they'd be ready. Their caution paid off when Cooper spotted a tan blur moving toward Brody and Jane at a rapid pace.

"Duncan, I've got this one. The rest is on you," Cooper said, changing from pink to green in a flash of light. He took to the air and moved to intercept.

"Didn't know you were into mysteries," Brody commented, referring to the book Jane had bought.

Jane grinned, "There's plenty about me you don't know."

Suddenly, two blurs converged in front of them, a green one and a tan one. The green one wrapped something around the tan one, dragging it a way.

"Gyah! What the fuck!"

Squinting, the couple made out the sight of Cooper, in his Flying-Type form, having lassoed Simba with his flail.

"Huh. Thank you, Mr. Cooper," Jane muttered. Her attention quickly went elsewhere, though, "Wanna get some ice cream?"

"Sure."

Cooper didn't stop until he reached the generic quarry, throwing Simba to the ground before landing himself.

Simba quickly got to his feet, "So it's you, huh? Later." He sped away from the area but was shocked when Cooper was able to keep up, flying low right alongside him.

Retracting his flail back into its mace form, Cooper swung the spiky stick, bashing Simba right in the chest.

"Didn't know you could move that fast," Simba commented, holding his chest as he came to a stop.

"Brody's got raptor speed and Duncan has that speedrock power or somethin'. Me?" Cooper did a loop de loop before hovering in place, "I can fly."

Simba grinned viciously, "Well, this should be fun." He was on Cooper in an instant, throwing a volley of punches.

It was at this moment, Cooper realized he was at a disadvantage. Sure, he could fly about as fast as Simba could run, but his striking speed wasn't on the same level, forcing him to give ground. Changing tactics, he took to the sky and swung his mace, launching razor wind from a safe distance.

Annoyed that his opponent was out of reach, Simba began grabbing any decently-sized rock he could find and threw them at the Green Ranger, who punched them into dust as they came.

Not worried, Cooper snarked, "Can you throw up some gin with these rocks?"

It was getting dark now, and Brody and Jane had finished their ice cream. To finish their day, they decided to have a nice, simple walk through the park. Despite how quiet it was, they failed to hear the footsteps of a third person approaching them from behind.

CJ had to resist the urge to chuckle. She aimed one of her gauntlets at the back of Brody's and her original's heads. However, right before she could shoot either of them, someone tackled her from the side. Once they came to a stop, CJ saw that they were all the way on the other side of the park.

"What do ya know? It's you…I'm angry at you," Duncan said in a lax tone.

In response, CJ split in two, with her dark half attempting to leave the scene.

Duncan targeted that version with his Drill Run.

Dark CJ clearly expected this move and turned right around, countering his attack with a Ranger Punch.

As the two struggled for dominance, Flame CJ came in from the side with a fire punch, knocking him to the side. The two CJs didn't waste a second and ganged up on him before he could get up.

Despite the beating he was taking, Duncan managed to draw his Switch-Gun and fired a bunch of shots into the air. The CJs were in for a surprise when the shots he fired came raining back down. As the evil Rangers recovered from the blasts, Duncan slammed his fists into the ground, creating fissures that swallowed them both up.

The Brown Ranger pounded the ground again, closing the fissures hard. "That was for Fido," he panted. "I wonder if I would've enjoyed that more if I wasn't high."

Any satisfaction he might've felt was ruined when CJ, now one person again, burst out of the ground in an explosion of both her elements.

"And you're still alive," the ginger sighed.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" CJ roared before charging in with reckless abandon.

"Good luck with that. I've got weed," Duncan said quickly. Activating his Accelerock ability, he sidestepped her and hit her in the back of the head with a roundhouse kick. "See ya!"

CJ snarled like a mad dog, her body crackling with fire and darkness.

Unmoved, Duncan's body glowed brown as he powered up his own element.

"Judging by the explosions we saw and the sounds we heard, I'd say Duncan is fighting CJ," Brody said.

"I guess we owe those guys," Jane commented.

"Hey!"

The couple looked to see Bailey approaching.

"I'll alert the Cryo gang," Carl said sternly.

Bailey raised her hands. "Relax, I come in peace, not something I say every day," she muttered that second part. "Anyway, there's something big coming and we're gonna need your help to get through it."

Brody crossed his arms, "And why should we believe you?"

"Trust me, if I wanted to beat up a Ranger, I'd just go fuck your brother," Bailey shrugged.

"TMI," the humans deadpanned.

"Anyway, what's this 'something big' you mentioned?" Jane asked.

"And your answer better not involve Duncan," Brody glared.

The anthro Basilosaurus answered, "It's this giant thing called Cromulon, and it looks like-" Before she could finish, a golden head big enough to be seen from the Earth's atmosphere appeared out of nowhere. "-that."

"Show me what you got!" the head demanded.

"We need you guys to stall that thing while we gear up for an all-out strike on it," Bailey continued. "If you fail, that thing's gonna kill us all."

Jane pointed to the Cromulon, "And how do we stall something like that?"

"Just sing to it. And if you suck, it'll blow up the planet," Bailey explained.

"Sing!" the Cromulon specified to any who may have been listening.

Bailey began walking away, "Don't screw this up. In the boss's words, 'We're not done with you yet.'"

Jane and Brody looked at each other. "You call Kenny, I'll call the others," Brody said, to which Jane nodded.

The team met up just outside the town square, where much of the town had assembled as well. Various citizens were taking turns singing to please the Cromulon.

"Huh, do we even need to do anything? Someone in town is probably good enough," Kenny pointed out.

Apparently, no one's performance had satisfied the Cromulon so far. "Last chance," it announced.

That made the public panic, with everyone drowning each other out, desperately singing in hopes of saving themselves.

"Never mind. We should maybe give it a try," Kenny corrected himself.

Let's find somewhere away from the crowd," Duncan suggested. "Chazz, have the Cryos get my electric guitar."

Kenny walked away from the group, "I need to get something. Call me and tell me where we're meeting."

The team nodded and settled on the local football stadium, figuring it was as good a place as any. Kenny joined them soon after.

Brody raised an eyebrow, "Is that a synthesizer?"

"I have other hobbies besides working on this guy," Kenny snarked aiming a thumb at G2.

"So, uh, who should sing?" Duncan asked.

Cooper immediately bowed out, "Not me. I'm not bad exactly, but I ain't that good either."

"Same here," Kenny agreed.

"Brody and I are good, but in a cheesy kind of way," Duncan said, shooting himself and his brother down. He looked at Jane, "And that just leaves you."

"Think you can do it, Jane?" Brody asked.

With all focus on her, the brown-haired girl started sweating, "Sure. No pressure or anything." She looked between Duncan and Kenny, noting they'd be the ones playing the actual music. She huddled with them for a moment before they decided on a song.

Duncan started things off with a few notes on the guitar, with Jane singing along.

Can I tell you something just between you and me?

When I hear your voice, I know I'm finally free.

Every single time, I find it harder to sleep. 'Cause I need you here with me.

At this point, Kenny joined in with his synthesizer.

When you lift me up, I know that I'll never fall.

I can speak to you by saying nothing at all.

Every single time I find it harder to breath. 'Cause I need you here with me.

Every day.

You're saying the words that I want you to say.

There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away.

Now I know I'm falling in deep. 'Cause I need you here with me.

Every day.

Kenny and Duncan smiled and went all out with their instruments.

You're saying the words that I want you to say.

There's a pain in my heart and it won't go away.

Now I know I'm falling in deep. 'Cause I need you here with me.

Cooper folded his arms, grinning, "Well, would you look at that? Your girl can sing, Brody." He got no response. "Brody?"

Glancing to the side, he saw that the brown-haired teen was practically frozen in awe, making him chuckle.

"Alright, I think that's as much charge as I can build up," Calios stated, his fists glowing with silver energy. "How about you guys?"

Lensia condensed her magic into a sphere between her plams and Factoraze charged up his arm cannon. "Same here," the witch replied.

"And the rest of our fleet is in position?"

"Indeed," Factoraze reported.

"Perfect," Calios nodded. "Ready, aim, fire!"

And so, the knight, his inner circle, and every ship in his fleet concentrated their firepower on the Cromulon. The damage piled on before the giant head could react, and just like that, the life left its eyes.

"Aw, man. Anyone else feeling drained?" Calios sighed as he fell on his ass. "Oh well, quick and easy is the only way to take one of those things out."

"Nice one, Jane," Duncan complimented. He and Kenny held out their fists.

Realizing what that meant, Jane reciprocated and bumped them with her own.

"Hey, lass?" Cooper walked up to the trio, dragging Brody with him. "Think you could snap him out of it?"

Jane giggled at the look on Brody's face and gave him a kiss on the forehead, making him shake off his funk.

Kenny and Duncan chuckled, with the latter saying, "If only I could've gotten a video of that."