In the Command Centre Zordon and Alpha saw the whole thing on the viewing globe.
"AI-YI-YI-YI-YI! This is terrible! The Rangers have been turned into mutants!" Alpha exclaimed.
"DO NOT PANIC ALPHA. TELEPORT THEM BACK TO THE COMMAND CENTRE AND PUT THEM IN A HOLDING FIELD" said Zordon.
"Right away Zordon." He tapped the control panel but nothing happened.
"Oh no! The teleportation systems can't lock onto them! What are we going to do?"
"I DO NOT KNOW ALPHA. FOR NOW WE MUST CONTINUE MONITORING THE SITUATION AND WAIT UNTIL AN OPPORTUNITY TO HELP THE RANGERS EMERGES."
Alpha worriedly turned back to the viewing globe.
The Arcane plantation was a foreboding image even in the daylight. The building stood out like a blight upon the swamp, its stark, man-made silhouette a sharp contrast to its natural surroundings despite the moss growing on its walls. It was creepy and imposing, looking more like a mausoleum than a place living people would call home, and offering more than a hint of the diabolical work that went on beneath it. But even so there was still beauty to be found there, if one knew where to look.
The gardens around the back of the house were exquisite. There were trees, bushes and colourful, fragrant flowers, all of them lovingly maintained and cared for. More exquisite still was the one who tended the gardens. Her name was Abby Arcane, Dr. Anton Arcane's stepdaughter.
Abby was a beautiful young woman with blue eyes, long white hair, light skin and a lean figure. She wore blue jeans with a green belt, green pumps, a purple crop-top and a pink shirt tied together at her waist. A gold locket hung around her slender neck.
Currently she was in the garden listening to birds singing. She smiled as she watched a song sparrow flit over to a bird feeder she had set up and begin eating hungrily.
Abby chuckled. "I guess all that singing must work up an appetite."
The birds stopped singing and took to the air as the peace was suddenly broken by the sound of a spinning propeller. Abby recognised it as her stepfather's Bayou Blaster. She also realised it was moving slower than normal.
Curious, she peered through a gap in the bushes and saw the red vehicle disappear down the concealed hatch that led to the underground lab. She gasped as she saw the reason it was moving slower. Trailing after it were six humanoid mutants, two female and four male. The hatch closed behind them.
"What has my stepfather done?" Abby said, horrified at innocent people being used in his monstrous experiments. She hurried back into the house, heading right for one of the secret passageways that led to Arcane's lab.
"Now then" said Arcane as he stood in front of his new minions. "Who are you and why are you here?"
He listened intently as one of them, identifying himself as Jason, told him the whole story. He had heard reports of the so-called "Power Rangers" battling monsters in California but had never paid them much attention. He had no time to waste on outlandish stories. Now however it seemed that the reports were completely accurate. It was gratifying to know that the creatures Skinman had seen were not in fact mutants, meaning no-one had stolen or duplicated his research.
"This sword, you say it's some kind of power source" he said.
"Yes Dr. Arcane" said Jason, his voice a dull monotone.
"Just looks like a fancy pig-sticker to me" Weed Killer scoffed.
"We shall see. A simple spectrographic analysis will determine if there's anything unusual about it" said Arcane.
Deemo placed the sword inside the analysis machine and activated it. Arcane studied the screen in fascination.
"Remarkable. This sword is completely stable and non-radioactive, yet it somehow contains tremendous reserves of energy. With this my transducer will be more powerful than ever! I can create nine Super Un-men! Swamp Thing won't stand a chance!" He laughed maniacally,
Unknown to any of them Abby was listening from her hiding place behind a bank of machinery and had heard everything. Her eyes widened in alarm.
"I have to warn Alec" she whispered as she slipped out of the lab, unseen by anyone.
Once she had left the house she quickly made her way through the swamp. Most people would have immediately gotten lost but Abby knew exactly where she was going. Before long she arrived at a large tree with irregular wooden platforms on its trunk. This was the home and secret lab of Alec Holland, AKA Swamp Thing.
"Alec! Alec!" she called.
A large figure stepped out of the leafy canopy and onto one of the platforms. He was over seven feet tall and though he was humanoid and possessed a mouth and red eyes his body was formed of green plant material, with an outer covering of brown roots. The sight of him would have sent most people fleeing in terror. She knew better.
Alec Holland was a brilliant scientist who had created a formula to enhance plant growth and so end world hunger. Dr. Arcane had attacked his lab to steal the formula and in the struggle Alec had been splashed with the chemical and set ablaze. He had ran into the swamp to try and douse the flames but in doing so the formula had reacted with the surrounding environment, mutating him into the human/plant hybrid known as Swamp Thing.
He reached out with one hand and his arm extended, growing in size as it did so. He carefully picked her up and retracted his arm to set her down gently in front of him. His arm shrank back down to its normal size.
"What's wrong Abby?" he asked. In contrast to his appearance his voice was deep and gentle.
She told him the whole story. When she finished he clenched his fist in anger.
"Mutating innocent people and using them as pawns! Arcane won't get away with this!"
"What are we going to do? We've never been so heavily outnumbered before" Abby pointed out.
"Let's get Tomahawk and Bayou Jack. I have an idea." he replied.
Arcane watched gleefully as Tommy climbed into the transducer and the lid was lowered. Coloured lights flashed and electricity crackled as the machine was activated.
The other Rangers had already been transduced, along with his henchmen. Jason was now a humanoid T-Rex, with large jaws filled with huge sharp teeth and three-toed feet with sharp claws. Billy had two horns growing from his forehead, a third horn growing from his nose. The back of his head sported a large bony frill and his mouth was replaced with a short curved beak.
Zack was covered in thick fur, with a long trunk and two curved tusks. Trini was a humanoid feline, with pointed ears, clawed hands and feet, and two long sabre-teeth.
Kimberly's arms were now wings, with her little finger stretched out and elongated, connected to her waist by a membrane of leathery skin. The beak she had acquired was now long and pointed, and a feathered crest curled up from the back of her head.
Deemo, Skinman and Weed Killer had also been transformed into their Un-men forms. Skinman was now a monstrous humanoid bat. Deemo's head had been replaced with that of a giant red snake. Weed Killer's head was now a grotesque centipede-like creature with red stalk eyes, a large fanged mouth and eight insect legs ending in pincers.
The transducer's lid raised up and the now Un-man Tommy stood up. He looked like Jason's Un-man form but with green skin and a ridge of spikes running down his back.
"Excellent! Such splendid new Un-men" said Arcane. "Now my new recruits, to mark the end of your old lives I will give you all new names." He pointed at each of them in turn. "You are now Red Rex, Triceraton, Tusker, Sabre Cat, Wind Storm and Drake."
"Yes Dr. Arcane" they all replied.
"Great names boss" said Weed Killer.
"Now go my Un-men army! Scour the swampland! Find Swamp Thing and bring him to me!" Arcane exclaimed.
