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 29

"Is our monster doing any better as a giant?" Calios asked, sounding bored.

"I'm afraid not, my lord," Factoraze reported regretfully. Suddenly, he began beeping, "Foreign object detected. Approaching Earth at a rapid pace."

"Again? I swear, if it's another Cromulon-"

Moses took a look at the monitor, "Cool down, will ya? It's just an ordinary meteor. It's not even gonna hit the Earth, it's just gonna pass overhead." He narrowed his eyes, "Wait a second, there is something off about it."

"Really, like what?" Calios asked.

"Well, for one, it's big, slow, and doing loop de loops. Also, it's-"

Chazz and Carl fired twin ice beams at the starfish monster. When they were done, the starfish had been dyed blue and was shivering cold. "Let's see you regenerate with frostbite!" Chazz taunted.

"Finish him, Dickson!" Carl called out.

"Right!" Dickson's head and neck split and he unleashed his water blast, destroying the starfish for good.

"Man, I'm glad that's over with," Duncan sighed.

Cooper pointed up at the sky, "Hey, lads, look at that shootin' star! It's huge!"

Said shooting star passed them by, causing a flash of light so bright that both humans and Zords recoils.

"There is no way that was normal," Chazz said. To help clear his vision, he rubbed his eyes with his hand…Wait, hand? "What the?" He looked down to see that the ground was way closer than it usually was. "Uh, guys? Something's really wrong here."

"Yes, I noticed."

Turning to where Dickson's voice came from, Chazz saw, instead of a giant Sauropod, there was a fifty-something black man with a buzz cut. He was wearing a pink T-shirt, black jeans, and silver shoes.

This prompted Chazz to take a look at himself. He was wearing a black tank top under an open white hoodie. His pants were grey and his shoes were purple.

"This feels weird," Carl said. His human form resembled a kid in his early teens. He was wearing a blue, long-sleeved shirt decorated with silver diamonds patterned on it. He was also wearing black shorts and shoes.

"You're not the only one feelin' weird," a Scottish voice boomed.

The three Zords-turned-human looked up to see a pink Ankylosaurus Zord with purple armor plates looking down at them. "Cooper? Is that you?" Dickson asked.

"It's the rest of us too."

The new humans turned around to see a white and purple Allosaurus Zord standing alongside a blue Troodon Zord half its size.

Chazz and Carl were wide-eyed at the sight. "Duncan!?" "Mother?!"

"Yeah, it's us," the Troodon confirmed in Brody's voice. "I think we should let Kenny and Jane know about this."

"Fair enough," Dickson said. He made to leave, only to wobble and fall over. "It's…strange having two legs," he commented as he pushed himself up.

Jane was scanning through a medical textbook when she heard a knock at the door. She wasn't expecting to find a handsome, twenty-something guy with snow white hair with lavender streaks, nor was she expecting him to be leaning on a blue-haired kid a few years younger than her. "Um, can I help you?"

"Jane, it's us, Chazz and Carl," the white-haired guy said.

The girl's eyes widened. She couldn't deny that Chazz's voice had just come out of the guy's mouth. Adding to that, they were wearing the morphers Duncan and Brody usually had on. She looked at the kid, "So this isn't a prank?"

Carl shook his head, "No, Father."

The kid's voice and appearance, combined with the way he addressed her made Jane blush. She quickly got herself together, though, "So, where's Duncan and Brody?"

"They're back in the generic quarry. Could you drive us back there? I really don't want to be Chazz's crutch anymore," Carl begged.

"I'm sorry, okay!? Walking with two legs is hard!" Chazz spat defensively.

Jane shook her head and corralled them into her car, reaching the quarry in no time. When they got there, they found that Kenny, Dickson, and G2 had beaten them there. "How shocked were you when you got the news?" she asked.

"Master had me slap him to make sure he wasn't dreaming," G2 reported, making Jane laugh.

The two natural humans looked at the new Zords, determining who was who through their color.

"Brody?" Jane said breathlessly. "You're, uh, so big."

The Troozord leaned down to get a better look at his girlfriend, "And you're pretty small. It's actually kinda cute."

"Alright, save all that for later," Duncan butted in. "I can't smoke weed if I'm a giant dinosaur. How do we undo this?"

Dickson put his hands on his hips, "Until we figure that out, I say we take the time to get used to our new bodies."

"I'll start right now," Chazz said. Detaching himself from Carl, he took a few shaky steps before losing his balance and falling onto Jane. He quickly got off her, "Sorry."

"I-It's fine," Jane blushed.

Carl helped her up with one hand while speaking into his morpher with the other, "Alicia, we have a situation. Could you guide Mother and the team underground?"

"Who in the hell is this?" Alicia asked.

"We all got transformed, so Carl sounds younger than normal. Just get up here," Chazz clarified.

The Austrozord arrived in about five seconds and was naturally stunned when she took a look at everyone. "…Que?"

"I'll tell her," Cooper volunteered. "Some meteor flew over and we all got transformed. I'm Cooper, and the blue and white ones are Brody and Duncan."

Alicia looked between the new Zords before looking to the humans on the ground. She chuckled, "Looks like you ain't the biggest one around anymore, Carl."

Chazz tussled Carl's hair, "I know. It feels so good to be the taller one for a change."

Pouting, Carl lightly pushed Chazz, making him fall over again. "Oops," he deadpanned.

"Let's get down to business. Kenny and G2 can 'train' two of us while Jane helps with the third," Dickson stated.

"Chazz, you can go with anyone besides Jane," Brody droned.

'Oh, my God. I think he got jealous,' everyone thought at once.

Alicia began herding the new Zords along, "Vamos, everyone."

"Okay, you ready?" Kenny asked.

Chazz took a deep breath. "I can do this," He muttered to himself. He slowly got up from the chair he was sitting in and took one step after another.

Kenny snickered and held his arms out, "Come to daddy."

"Don't push it, Kenny," Chazz glared. The former Zord kept walking around the room until he stopped being shaky. "Huh, not so bad once you get used to it."

Nodding Kenny opened the door to the next room. "How are things with Dickson?"

"Good, Master!" G2 reported. He gestured to Dickson, who was walking around with no problem.

Kenny clapped his hands, "Perfect. Next, we move onto arms."

"I've always wanted longer arms," Carl said happily. Having been bipedal before the change, he needed less practice getting used to his new body. He eagerly used his new appendages to pick up and handle objects in Jane's house.

Jane resisted the urge to squeal at how adorable Carl looked and acted.

Picking up a book, Carl turned pages one by one with his index finger and thumb, "And having five fingers is fantastic."

"If you like that, then you're gonna love this," Jane said, walking into the kitchen. She came back out with a hot dog on a plate. "Have a bite."

Carl picked up the hot dog and bit into it. His eyes instantly lit up and he wolfed it down. Panting from eating so fast, he looked Jane in the eyes, "Human food is great."

"Um, Jane? Who's this?"

The girl looked to see that her parents had entered the room.

"Oh, this is, uh, Carter," Jane made up on the spot. "He saw me doing Taekwondo and he couldn't afford lessons, so he asked me to teach him."

"Well, that's sweet of you," her mom nodded.

Jane quickly left the room, beckoning for Carl to follow, "Let's do this in the backyard. Get some open space."

"Yes, father," Carl said as he went her.

Jane's parents looked at the door for a moment. "Hm, he's got dyed-blue hair and he just called our kid 'father'… You think he's special?' her dad asked.

"Dear, be a little more sensitive," her mother scolded.

"Ok, let me guess how a Zord fights: you bite, headbutt, claw, kick, or tail whip the enemy. Do I have that right?" Duncan surmised.

"Totally," Kelly nodded. "There is one teeny, little thing you forgot, though. Your element."

"Oh, right, you guys shoot beams all the time," Duncan recalled.

Kelly raised her head proudly, "Well, don't you worry, Duncy. Professor Kelly is gonna teach you good!"

"Somehow, I don't feel inspired," the Allozord droned.

"Okay, you remember how you do your finishing moves when you were human, right?" Duncan nodded, so Kelly continued, "Well, this isn't that different. Just imagine your element flowing through your body and out through your mouth."

Duncan took a deep breath, "Alright, I just gotta feel the flow." Closing his eyes, he felt ice energy pass through his system. Reopening his eyes, he opened his mouth and let out a beam of ice.

"You did it!" Kelly cheered. Her mood lowered when she saw Duncan wasn't letting up. "Uh, Duncan? You can stop now." In an effort to turn his beam off, Duncan swung his head around, accidentally aiming at Kelly at one point. "Yikes!" the Kosmozord quickly made a wall of earth and crystal to shield herself.

Eventually, Duncan ran out of energy and his beam fizzled out, leaving him panting.

"Well, that, like, coulda gone better," Kelly commented as she lowered her wall.

"Whoa, you're as big as Lil Dicky," Pops said in awe.

"I sure am, Pops," Cooper agreed patiently. This being the twelfth time Pops had noticed his size. "So, can you teach me how to use me new tail?"

"Sure thing, Big C!" Pops geared up and spun 360 degrees, his tail making a green streak as he swung it.

Nodding, Cooper tried to mimic the action, but his swing lacked the same momentum Pops had. "Huh, not as easy as it looks."

"That makes sense. You're big and heavy," Pops noted. "I know! Let's work on your defense. I'm gonna come at you from all sides and you make sure I don't flip you over."

Cooper lowered his stance, bracing himself.

Pops fluttered his plates and began flying all over, firing wind beams from every angle. The beams bounced off the plates on Cooper's back, and no matter how low Pops flew, he couldn't hit Cooper's underside. Changing things around, Pops curled up for his buzzsaw attack. He came down hard on Cooper's back.

The pink Ankylozord grunted from the impact but was otherwise unfazed. Figuring counterattack was fair play here, he launched a beam of water from his mouth, nearly hitting Pops.

After some brief evasive maneuvers, Pops went in for one last go. Flying at ground level, the Paranthozord reinitiated his buzzsaw move and literally came at Cooper sideways.

Having seen the attack coming, Cooper leaned a bit to the side, causing Pops to roll up his back like a ramp.

Pops landed squarely on his feet. "I think that's enough. You did good, Big C."

"Not sure how I feel about that nickname, but thanks," Cooper smiled.

"I hope you're ready to run, Nino," Alicia grinned.

"I'm ready. You can tell by how excited I am," Brody said in a deadpan tone.

Not bothered, Alicia got them started, "And uno, dos, tres!"

Seeing her shoot off in a yellow blur, Brody followed suit. As fast as he was going, something told him the Austrozord was slowing down just a bit to let him keep up.

"Try and keep up!" Alicia taunted. First, she led him through a mountain range, forcing Brody to adapt to the uneven terrain. Next, she led the Troozord to a giant jungle to test his maneuverability. Suffice to say, he ran into at least three trees.

Eventually, they came to a stop back where they first started. "Bueno," Alicia nodded.

"So, what now?" Brody asked.

"Hm, let me check." Alicia dashed off. About twenty seconds later, she returned. "Cooper's doing fine, but Duncan is working on firing his beams. Once he gets done with that, we're gonna teach you the most important part of being a Zord: transforming."

"I gotta wonder what the hell kinda meteor that was," Calios thought aloud. He shook his head. "You know what? It doesn't matter. Who wants to bet just one monster is enough for this?"

"I'll take that bet," Moses and Leopold held up their hands.

"I already have a new monster prepared, my lord," Factoraze stated.

"You need to move around when you fight," Kenny corrected.

"Got it," Chazz said. He began darted around the punching bag instead of standing in front of it and throwing haymakers. He took a break to catch his breath, "I don't wanna jinx it, but I've got a feeling we can take whatever threat shows up next."

"You likely did jinx it," Dickson said as he watched from the sidelines. "Nonetheless, we should all get some rest. It's getting late."

Dickson's call for rest was justified when, the very next morning, Kenny burst into the living room where the two former Zords were crashing. "The city's under attack by a new monster!"

"Cryolophosaurs, we'll be needing a lift," Dickson spoke into his morpher.

As Chazz and Dickson rode off on their mounts, G2 pointed out, "Couldn't they have just let you drive them?"

"Just follow me to the car," Kenny said, with his robot following.

The boy and his bot arrived downtown just in time to find Chazz and Dickson dismounting from their Cryos. Hearing another car pull up, they all looked to see Jane arriving with Carl.

"So, the gang's all here," a new voice said. A bolt of blue lightning zapped in from nowhere, taking the form a what otherwise looked like a blue version of the Shadows. "Name's Freddie Sparkury."

"Great, now we have something to write on your tombstone," Chazz threatened. He and his comrades all activated their morphers, donning their suits. However, everyone noticed that, while the same color, these suits were a bit different than the ones worn by their partners.

For Chazz and Carl's suits, the only noticeable difference was the helmets. The visor of Chazz's helmet had a toothy pattern similar to all the other Rangers' helmets, and the horns had been replaced by small ridges similar to that of an Allosaurus. Carl's helmet, on the other hand, was lacking the mini horns that Brody's helmet usually had, leaving it plain.

Dickson's suit had more visible differences. First and most obviously, he had no kilt. Secondly, rather than lines extending down his arms and legs, he had purple, diamond-shaped patches instead. Lastly, there were no crests on his helmet.

"Well, now that's done. I was told you guys are basically rookies, so let's see how I fare without using my best moves," Freddie Sparkury commented. He charged in.

It was at this point, the new trio of Rangers realized they'd made a mistake. While they'd practiced moving and fighting in their new bodies, they hadn't practiced fighting as a team. As a result, having three against one was giving them no real advantage.

Carl and Chazz each threw a punch at once. Freddie Sparkury caught their fists and zapped both of them.

Dickson went in next. While his punches were sloppy, they were still decently fast, enough that Freddie Sparkury had to put some effort into dodging and blocking.

The blue lightning Shadow managed to find a gap and retaliated with a kick in the gut.

Having recovered from the shock they'd received, Chazz and Carl reentered the fray. Not wanting to risk close combat again, they played it safe and used their Switch-Guns.

The blasts hit home, encasing Freddie Sparkury's upper torso, but before the Rangers could celebrate, the ice quickly began melting, allowing Freddie Sparkury to bust out. "Electric heat, bitches!" he boasted.

"…I say we kick this up a notch," Chazz said, tapping his belt buckle. Instead of a pair of shields, however, this summoned an axe to his hand. It was a bearded axe, small enough to be wielded with just one hand. What made it distinctive was that on the side opposite the blade, there was a large cast resembliing the top half of Duncan's head. "Oh, I get it. I'm partnered with an Allosaurus, so I got a new weapon to go with it," he observed.

As Chazz went in and started swinging, Dickson looked at Carl, "I say we bring out our own weapons."

"Agreed," Carl nodded. The two tapped their own belt buckles, summoning their new arms. "Huh, I think this could work," the young Blue Ranger said. Instead of something handheld, he a raptor-esque sickle claw sticking out of the top of each of his feet.

Dickson got something just as unusual. What he got was the tail club of an Ankylosaurus…Just the club, nothing more. "I am not sure what to do with this."

Dodging another swing from Chazz, Freddie Sparkury decided to stop fooling around and began firing bolts of blue lightning from his hands.

Dickson and Chazz both took hits, with Carl being the only one left. The Blue Ranger moved in and did a front flip, slashing the electric monster with his foot claw.

Freddie Sparkury growled and grabbed Carl by the neck, electrocuting him directly.

"Carl!" Chazz called out. The White Ranger drew his Switch-Gun and waited. The second the electrocution ceased, he fired, landing a clean hit.

"Grr, I'm gonna-" Freddie Sparkury began. He stopped talking when he felt a tap on the shoulder. He turned around to see G2. The robot stretched out a rubber band in his hands and let it snap, hitting the monster in the face. He stood there for a few seconds before throwing his hands in the air. "NOOOOOOO-" He spontaneously exploded mid-no.

The Rangers all stared in bewilderment. Chazz was the most thrown-off of all of them, "So that worked!? But it was so easy!"

All villains present slowly turned their heads toward Factoraze.

"Man, what a letdown," Moses commented.

"Pick which of your limbs you want me to rip off," Calios said. His tone was calm but clearly furious.

Duncan stood up from his seat, "I think I'll go next. Anyone with me?"

CJ walked up to him, nodding, "Count me in."

Author's note: Hope you like my fic's new cover. Drawn up by Lugas Haryo. You can find him on Fiverr.