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 30
The whole team reconvened at the Branson residence. "Alright, I'm saying it: that sucked," Chazz said. "The only reason we won that fight was because G2 hit the guy with a rubber band. Still can't believe that worked, by the way."
"How did you know that would work?" Dickson asked.
Kenny spoke in place of his robot, "He didn't know it would work, he just thought it would. I'm as surprised as you are."
"I think there's only one thing todo," Jane pointed out. "You're gonna have to train how to use your powers and gear."
"Very well," Dickson nodded. "Let us head to the generic quarry. I'll contact the Cryolophosaurs and have them meet us there."
"Okay, throw them at me," Carl ordered.
The Cryos nodded and they, along with Chazz and Dickson, began throwing rocks.
The Blue Ranger unfolded his Switch-Gun into its blade mode and summoned his foot claws. He slashed several rocks with his blade before standing on his hands. He spun around on his hands, destroying more rocks with his foot claws.
Even as they threw rocks, Chazz and Dickson were in awe of how gracefully Carl switched between attacking with his hands and his feet.
"Okay, now to test out my finishing moves. Throw something bigger!" Carl said excitedly.
The Cryo roared and set about, eventually finding a suitably large boulder. It took all three of them to lift it, and with a heave, they tossed it at Carl.
With his sword charged up with ice energy, Carl swung with all his might, "Ranger Slash!" The boulder was cut clean in half.
The Cryo gang all roared a round of cheers.
Carl rubbed the back of his head, "Hehe, thanks, guys."
"I would like to go next," Dickson said, walking over to take Carl's place. He morphed and summoned the tailless club that was his weapon. "Does anyone have any idea how I could use this?"
The pink Cryo growled out a suggestion.
Dickson tilted his head, "I suppose that makes sense, but I am not exactly trained in that field."
Shaking its head, the pink Cryo nudged Dickson and led him away from the group. Finding a separate spot in the quarry, the pink Cryo growled some more, telling Dickson that his weapon was basically a ball, so he shouldn't think too hard about how to use it. To demonstrate, it took the club from Dickson and threw it at him hard.
The Pink Ranger only narrowly sidestepped the attack. This left him unprepared for when the Cryo got up close, attacking only with its arms and legs in a loose attempt to simulate a more humanoid opponent.
Before Dickson even knew what was happening, the Cryo stopped attacking him and got its claws back on the club. It faked a kick, prompting Dickson to dodge prematurely. It then kicked the club at Dickson, hitting him in the gut. The club rebounded off him back at the Cryo, who kicked it at him again. After a few rebounds, the Cryo held the club in its claws and swung it at Dickson's face, stopping just short when it remembered that it wasn't trying to seriously hurt the Ranger.
Dickson sighed, relieved that the assault had come to an end. "I have a brand-new respect for you," he said.
The Cryo "chuckled" at the compliment before handing the club to Dickson and telling him to give it a try.
Looking at the club in his hands, Dickson took a deep breath and made his move. Charging in, he threw punches with his left arm while keeping his right arm in reserve. Once he saw an opening, he swung the club at the Cryo, who was too bulky to dodge at close range.
Before the pink dino could retaliate, Dickson did a 180 and ran away, making the beast gawk. Dickson ran off behind a boulder. Before the Cryo could follow him, it was caught off-guard by the club bursting through the boulder and flying straight at it.
The pink Cryo took the club straight to the head.
"I believe this round goes to me," Dickson said confidently, walking up to retrieve the club. "I came up with a finishing move of my own, but perhaps I should save it for the real enemy."
The Cryolophosaur growled in agreement as it got back to its feet.
Taking a deep breath, Jane threw a series of kicks followed by punches. With the humans-turned-Zords underground and the Zords-turned-humans out in training, she'd needed something to do on her own, so she'd gone home, put on her gi, and began practicing her taekwondo in her backyard.
"I hope the rookies are doing okay," she muttered to herself. The sound of splintering wood snapped her out of her thoughts and she turned around to see a certain Dunkleosteus busting through her fence. Jane tried to keep a straight face, but inside, she was having an 'oh crap' moment.
"Hey there," Duncan waved. "Can you guess what I'm here to do?"
"You wanna eat me?" Jane guessed. When Duncan nodded, she began running, "You gotta catch me first!"
Duncan shook his head and started after her, "You think I won't chase my prey!?"
"And that is how you fly a kite," Kenny smiled.
"This is great, Master," G2 said, looking up at his kite.
The duo's good mood was ruined when a bullet of fire destroyed the kite. They followed the angle of the bullet and saw, to little surprise, that CJ had arrived on the scene.
"Hey there," she waved. "Can you guess what I'm here to do?"
Kenny shared a glance with his robot and the two took fighting stances.
CJ summoned her other Biting Gauntlet and fired blasts of flame and darkness.
G2 countered the blasts with his eyebeams while Kenny moved in for close combat. When he got close enough, he threw a punch aimed at her solar plexus.
Grinning under her helmet, CJ didn't bother trying to counter and threw a punch in the face. The two punches hit their marks but while Kenny was sent flying, CJ barely flinched.
G2 picked up where his master left off and tried his luck. Unfortunately, he wasn't as skilled as Kenny was, so CJ easily countered his haymakers. She kicked him in the gut before hitting him with several hard punches of her own. Grabbing him by the back of the head, she slammed her flaming elbow into his face.
"One has brains, the other has brawn, but you can't beat me even when you're together. That's fucking rich," CJ laughed.
Growling, Kenny weighed their options. They just weren't a match for the Ranger in a straight fight, and it wasn't like she'd just let them walk away. If they wanted to escape, they'd need a distraction. He reached behind his back and threw something at CJ, which splattered all over her helmet.
"What the hell!?" CJ quickly wiped the substance off and saw that it was the remains of a cupcake. "Who throws a cupcake?! Honestly?!"
"It was my lunch!" Kenny called out as he and G2 ran off.
CJ growled and started after them.
"I think I'm getting the hang of this," Chazz said. After a little practice with the white Cryo, he was getting nimble with his new ax. He paused and raised a hand to his ear. "You hear something?" he asked the Cryo.
The Cryolophosaurus nodded, and the sound happened again, louder than before this time.
"That sounded like Kenny," Carl pointed out. The two new Rangers looked into the distance to see Kenny and G2 running toward them with CJ right on their tails. "Looks like it's time to apply our training."
"Oh, I wanna try something," Chazz raised his ax. "Kenny, G2, scatter!" He brought his ax down on the ground, causing ice to spread in the direction of their friends. The two leapt to opposite sides, causing the ice to hit CJ.
The evil Ranger quickly shrugged off the hit, "Congrats. You got in a sucker punch." She split in two, but before she could attack, Dickson flew into her dark half from behind.
Dark CJ threw Dickson off her and kicked him in the side. Chazz came at her with his ax. She dodged the first couple swings before catching the blade with her gauntlet. Charging her right fist with darkness, she delivered a dark Ranger Punch, hitting him right in the face.
Seeing his friend go skidding, Carl immediately ran over to check up on him, "Are you alright, Chazz?"
"Grandma, your cookies make me feel like I have a really huge dick," Chazz rambled.
"Definitely not alright," Carl observed, shaking his head. He drew his Switch-Gun and fired at the CJs before they could get too close.
The CJs dodged the blasts but were instead struck by a club. The club bounced between them briefly before bouncing back into Dickson's hand.
"How many points was that?" he snarked.
"Dinner time!"
Turning around, Dickson held out his club, which Duncan bit down on.
Duncan was surprised when the club wasn't cut by his teeth, "Huh?"
"This club is even tougher than it looks," Dickson commented. He yanked the club out from between Duncan's teeth and jumped, dunking the club onto his foe's head like an NBA star.
"Ow, I felt that through my head plates!" Duncan complained, rubbing the spot he'd been hit in.
"There is plenty more where that came from!" Dickson boasted.
Carl gasped for breath as Flame CJ drove her knee into his gut before throwing him to the ground. The Red and Black Rangers had already made short work of the Cryos, and with Chazz still concussed, Carl was left on his own.
"Any last words?" Flame CJ taunted.
Glaring under his helmet, Carl answered, "On your left."
The CJs looked to their left, only for Kenny and Jane to come in from the right and pull Flame CJ away.
"One-Inch Punch!" G2 pressed the assault.
Carl took advantage of the distraction to slash Dark CJ with his Switch-Gun blade. "Take this!" he summoned his foot claws and leapt at her, hitting her with a flying bicycle kick. "I think I can handle you one on one."
"Keep telling yourself that!" Dark CJ raised her gauntlet, generating shadows and encasing both of them in a dome of darkness. With her powers, she could see just fine while Carl was blind. She took an excessive amount of joy in knocking him around like a punching bag.
Nothing Carl tried worked. Spread ice with an AOE attack? CJ countered with one of her own. Try to run away? She intercepted him no matter which direction he went.
Dark CJ charged up her Biting Gauntlet with dark energy, wound her fist back, hit Carl in the face with an uppercut.
The Blue Ranger was launched out of the dome, so dazed he was surprised he was still morphed.
Chuckling, Dark CJ aimed her gauntlet at the boy, charging up a shadowy beam. She was stopped, however, when Chazz, having regained his bearings, snuck up from behind and kicked her in the groin.
"Oooooooh," Carl winced.
As Dark CJ fell over, curled up in pain, Chazz helped his friend up. "You okay?" the White Ranger asked.
"I'll manage," Carl nodded.
Flame CJ parried a rapid series of kicks from Kenny and Jane. When Jane tried throwing a punch, the Red Ranger countered with a flaming punch of her own.
"AAAH!" Jane recoiled, her knuckles burnt by the flames.
G2 moved in and grappled with Flame CJ, though she immediately forced him off.
Taking advantage of the brief distraction, Kenny came in from the side and Karate chopped the Red Ranger in the neck. When she turned to face him, he kicked her in the gut.
"Will you-" Flame CJ grabbed Kenny by the neck and flung him into G2. "-give it a rest?!" She looked down at her opponents as they struggled to get up. "Why are you guys even trying?" Pointing at Kenny and Jane, she continued, "You two are only good for sneak attacks when your little friends are in trouble." She aimed her finger at G2, "And that guy isn't much better. He's tough and all but he can never win without help."
Kenny got to his feet and shook his head to regain his bearings. "G2?" he said firmly. "Prove her wrong."
"Yes, Master," the robot said, punching his fist into his palm. He began walking towards his enemy.
"Okay, guess you're dead first." Flame CJ aimed her gauntlet at G2 and charged up a shot. Right before she could fire, she was hit in the face with a small rock thrown by Jane. "Fuck! Always with the-" she paused when G2 grabbed her head between his hands. "-sneak attacks."
"One-Inch Eyebeam," G2 announced as he fired his laser right in CJs face. When he was done, he released her, letting her flop onto her back, semi-conscious.
"That move doesn't even…make sense," she rasped out.
Duncan growled. No matter what he did, Dickson managed to either dodge or block with that stupid club ball thing he had with him. To make things even more frustrating, he couldn't so much as scratch the club, whether with his jaws or with his Scissor Slice-that had never happened before.
Suddenly, Dickson leapt back and tossed his club in the air. This distracted Duncan long enough for the Pink Ranger to move in and roundhouse kick him in the side. As the club came down, Dickson caught it and slammed it into Duncan's shoulder.
As his opponent reeled, Dickson taunted, "Such thick armor, but it only protects your head."
"At least I have armor at all!" Duncan yelled, rubbing his shoulder to ease the pain. Moving in once again, the anthro Dunkleosteus attacked with his Scissor Slice. Dickson managed stop both arms from meeting by blocking them with his forearms, so Duncan lunged, trying to bite him again.
"Shit!" Dickson was forced to back away, lowering his guard and allowing Duncan's hands to converge. The attack only grazed his chest, but even that was enough to injure him. This left him open for Duncan grabbing his head and slamming it into his own. Several more headbutts and Dickson flopped backwards, dazed.
Chuckling, Duncan stood over the fallen Ranger. He opened his mouth nice and wide and lunged.
Dickson saved himself by grabbing a fistful of dirt and throwing it right into Duncan's mouth. As his foe gagged and coughed, Dickson forced himself to his feet. Retreating to gain some distance, Dickson focused his energy, causing his foot to glow blue. He set his club on the ground and punted it as hard as he could.
The water-infused club hit Duncan in the chest, rebounding back into Dickson's hands. Duncan stood in place for a moment before falling backwards and exploding.
"How do you like that!?" Dickson taunted. He then groaned and rubbed his forehead, "Ugh, I'm going to be feeling that tomorrow."
"Duncan," Moses muttered breathlessly. He grit his teeth, "Lensia, do it."
The remaining members of the Seven Deadly Seas were also bitter to varying degrees. Bailey was wide-eyed, Simba was glaring at the screen, while Leopold simply lowered his head in silence.
Seeing Calios nod, Lensia honored her colleague's request and cast her magic.
In a flash of red light, Duncan resurrected as a giant version of himself.
"Oh boy," Chazz commented. He quickly raised his morpher to his face, "Uh, guys? I hope you've been good students, 'cause it's time for an exam."
"We're on our way!" Gooduncan replied.
"I'll eat you before they get here!" Baduncan yelled as he lunged at the ground.
The team scrambled to get away. Their troubles didn't end there as blasts of fire and shadow rained down on them. CJ, having remerged into one person, had summoned her Zords.
Todd and Andy gathered elemental energy in their mouths and fired again. This time, however, twin ice beams intercepted their own, while a beam of water struck them.
"Launch me, lads!" Cooper instructed.
Duncan and Brody nodded and headbutted Cooper with all their might. The Ankylozord spun toward their enemies and knocked them all over like bowling pins.
"Grr, Todd, Andy, merge and fuck them up!" CJ ordered.
At her command, Todd shifted into his Megazord form, with Andy's armor attaching to him to complete the formation.
"Alright, Duncan, time to put our training to the test," Brody stated.
Duncan took a deep breath, "Alright, let's do this." Willing himself to change, Duncan's body forced itself into an upright position, with his head and tail detaching.
Brody's body split into different pieces which then attached to Duncan. His torso split in half and attached to Duncan's sides, forming shoulder while his legs acted as arms. His tail split in half as well and connected to Duncan's shins as armor. His head, which didn't split in half, planted itself where Duncan's head had been.
Kenny gasped, "I know the perfect name for this! The Wonder Twin Megazord!"
"No way," the combined brothers said.
"Too late! That's what we're going with!" Chazz declared as he and Carl leapt into the new Megazord.
"My turn next!" Cooper announced. Like with Duncan and Brody, his tail detached. Next, his forelegs detached and combined with his hind legs, giving them the strength to let him stand upright. His back was facing everyone, but his head rotated to face the other way, making his back his chest in this form. The pink Zord's tail split down the middle, with each half attaching to his shoulder, forming arms with clubs for fists. Lastly, Cooper's head flipped up, revealing an armored face underneath.
"Behold, the Coopersaurus Megazord!" the Scotsman announced.
"I have no comment," Dickson said as he leapt into the Pink Megazord.
"Let's get ready to rumblllllle!" G2 announced.
Jane gave the robot a dull stare before looking at Kenny, "You let him watch wrestling, don't you?" Kenny could only shrug.
True to G2's prompt, a two-on-two battle commenced.
With CJ at the wheel, the Hell Force Megazord thrust its arm forward, intending to take a bite with the head on its hand.
The Wonder Twin countered by summoning its weapon, an ax. The ax was formed from Duncan's head, which had opened its mouth to reveal an ax blade within. The head was attached to the stump of his tail, which formed the handle. Blade met teeth, and the two Megazords were caught in a deadlock for a few seconds.
The lock was broken when Andy breathed a blast of fire at the blue and white Megazord, knocking it back and allowing the Hell Force to land several punches.
"I've got this!" Carl shouted. He willed their Megazord to fire an ice beam from its mouth, repelling the Hell Force. Now having some breathing room, the Wonder Twin swung its ax at Andy.
Andy leapt back to avoid the slash. The Wonder Twin followed up by throwing its ax. Andy tried to counter with another fire beam, but the ax cleaved through the stream and struck him. Without his armor, the red Appalachiozord was taken down by the attack.
Chazz took the reins next, blocking a punch from the Hell Force and retaliating with one several of his own. "This is for killing Duncan's dog!" WHAM "This is for giving me noggin boppin'!" WHAM "And this is for being a plain old bitch!" WHAM
While briefly stunned at Chazz's display, Carl composed himself and helped guide the Megazord, "Full power, everyone!" The Wonder Twin grabbed ahold of the Hell Force as its whole body began glowing neon blue.
"No you don't!" Having an idea of what they were doing, CJ supercharged her own Megazord with its dual elements.
"G2, Jane, Kenny, run!" Brody prompted. As their friends on the ground fled, the four fighters yelled in unison, "ICE-SPLOSION!"
Seeing that hiding behind a rock might not be enough, Kenny shouted, "Get behind G2!" This caution proved warranted when the rock they hid behind shattered from the force of the explosion.
When it was over, G2 collapsed onto his back. All the armor on the front side of his body had been shredded, revealing his wiry endoskeleton from when he was G1.
"Holy shit. Is he okay?" Jane asked, concerned.
"M-Managing well e-e-enough," the robot stuttered, twitching.
As for the Rangers and Zords? Well, the Hell Force couldn't take blast and reverted back into Todd, with CJ flying out of the cockpit.
The Wonder Twin fared only slightly better. While the Bransons had managed to maintain their combination, the sparks erupting from all over indicated they'd taken plenty of damage too.
Duncan threw a punch, which the Coopersaurus met head-on. The two punches collided, causing Duncan to pull back, shaking his fist in pain.
"Not your smartest move," Dickson taunted from his cockpit. At his command, his Megazord threw some more punches.
In the split second before one of the punches hit him, Duncan's mouth snapped open in the blink of an eye, letting the Megazord's right arm enter. He clamped his teeth down instantly.
"Aaaah! Fuckin' shit!" Cooper yelled. The plating on his arm kept it from being completely severed, but the teeth were still cutting him pretty bad.
Thankful he couldn't feel his partner's pain, Dickson had the Coopersaurus wind up its left arm and hit Duncan in the abdomen with an uppercut. This made Duncan gasp for breath, releasing his grip.
"Time for payback!" Cooper called out. "Juice me up, Dickson!"
"Right!" Dickson answered as he focused his energy. The Coopersaurus stepped toward Duncan, its right fist glowed blue. "Azure-"
"-Blue-" Cooper continued before they finished together.
"OVERDRIIIIIIIVE!"
The punch hit home, destroying Duncan in a massive explosion.
"K.O." Cooper said smoothly.
"Nice one, guys!" Jane called out. Her good mood was cut short when Kenny tapped her shoulder and pointed off to the side.
CJ, while injured, was still up and about and looked eager for another round. Before she could do anything though, she was teleported away by a flash of red energy.
"The fuck?" CJ asked, looking around the throne room. "What was that for!? I wasn't done!"
"Uh, how about a 'thank you'?" Simba snarked.
"The comet that altered the rangers and their Zords is looping back around," Lensia explained. "If I hadn't pulled you out, who knows what would've happened to you."
While not happy about it, CJ conceded their point.
The remainder of the Seven Seas were quiet. "There's not even enough of Duncan left to bury," Bailey muttered.
"Does a-anyone else see that?" G2 pointed to the sky.
Duncan and Brody disassembled while Cooper reverted to his regular Zord form.
"That looks like the comet that caused all this," Carl observed.
"If it is, then you guys need to get out of here," Brody said to their little friends. "The comet might change you too."
"I don't think we can get away in time," Jane said.
Brody nodded, "Then allow me." The blue Troozord gently scooped his friends up and sped away from the scene, returning once he'd gotten them far enough away.
"Alright, let's hope to God that this gets us back to normal," Cooper said, looking up at the comet.
"It's gonna be good to be back in my body again," Chazz smiled.
"I'm going to miss having usable arms," Carl bemoaned, looking at said arms.
The team closed their eyes as the comet passed them by, causing a flash of light. When the light faded, everyone opened their eyes back up.
"I'm me again!" Duncan announced as he hugged himself. "I love my body! I don't care how weird that sounds!"
"I must say, it is nice to have my neck back at the right length," Dickson sighed in relief.
Cooper nodded, "It's been a long-arse day. What do you say we all go get some R&R?" Needless to say, everyone agreed.