The Guila Desert, Arizona
Bloodhawk soars through the night sky. He notices how different the sky is here than in the Savage Land. There, it was more humid and not so cold as here. But Bloodhawk is happy to finally be home again. Suddenly, he sees giant footsteps below him on the ground and decides to check it out. Below, a giant robot steps undisturbed through a town and scares all the local people away. The robot is damaged and plans to return to its place of origin and, thanks to his programming, has to destroy everything that stands in its way.
The robot destroys a farmer's truck, his beloved "Maybelline," causing a huge explosion. Luckily, nobody gets hurt. Bloodhawk flies quickly towards the robot, carrying several grenades on his back. He wanted to bring his omni-cannon as well, but that could have slowed him down. And, with an enemy this big, Bloodhawk thought that speed was of essence. The smoke from the explosion clears up and Bloodhawk is finally able to see the robot better. But army helicopters arrive, making Bloodhawk wonder why the soldiers would try to risk their lives. The robot grabs the helicopter and slams it on the ground.
While fighting the robot, Bloodhawk recalls that once, nuclear-powered Colossi were used during the Dakota Range Wars, but he also knows that most of them were destroyed decades ago. Bloodhawk throws a grenade at the robot, but it brings no harm to it. The robot notices Bloodhawk and punches him away.
Fifty feet underneath the hills of Berkeley, California.
Krystalin is back at the Free Radicals base. But unfortunately, she and her brother Zak are both tied up. Zak is brought back to normal, but isn’t happy with Krystalin’s attempt to rescue him and broke the law. Krystalin defends that she only tried to help Zak, but he doesn’t care. Krys says that she didn’t have much of a choice and thought that the Radicals would have kept their word. She asks Rainmaker why he broke it. Rainmaker says that they simply changed their minds. Daze says that would things have been otherwise, Zak would have gladly imprisoned all of them.
But the Radicals at least appreciate Krystalin’s successful effort to rescue their machinist, Billy the Kid. Billy says that everyone at the Radicals owed him, since he not only upgraded their equipment, but also taught them that, in order to fight a group like the Panthers, you have to use every weapon imaginable. Or, in Billy’s case, his magic bag. Billy takes a power tool out of his bag and works on a satellite he built. Zak asks Billy if he plans to release more toxic rains on another city, like he did to Oakland. Billy denies and explains that the Satellite of Love delivers an electro-magnetic pulse that will blanket half the state.
Zak tries to tell Billy about all the lives he will ruin, but Billy isn’t interested. He only wants freedom. And the means to achieve that goal, to Billy, is anarchy. Billy gets tired of Zak and summons Trance and commands her to put Zak in a trance again. She does as told. Krys tries to tell her brother not to look in Trance’s eyes.
Arizona…
Bloodhawk harshly falls down on the ground and gets approached by a woman, wearing a strange suit. She recognizes Bloodhawk from the Newsnet special on mutants, and introduces herself as Jade Ryuteki. Jade says that she is part of a group called the Vanishing Point. Jade says that she was flying the helicopter the robot smacked down, but survived. Bloodhawk asks what the robot is. Jade says that the robot is actually a retrofitted Trask Range Warrior 750. Jane has nicknamed the robot as Monstrorobot when she was five years old. She says that you could say that the robot belongs to her.
Jade begins to explain. Jade reveals that, technically, she inherited the robot, but never fully wanted it. Still, the robot has some sentimental value to her. Jade explains that her father owned Joruri Robotics. Jade’s father made a fortune designing compact domestic drones, but his real love was for antique range war Colossi. Jade continues and says that her father hauled the robot that is now attacking out of a Fargo metal yard and began to rebuild it. When Stark/Fujikawa launched a hostile takeover on Joruri, Jade’s father buried the robot in the desert to prevent it from getting taken away from him. When Jade found out that the robot dug itself out of the ground a few days ago, she set off an alarm that her father had installed. And now that Jade’s father isn’t around anymore to handle things, the duty fell upon her.
Bloodhawk says that the nuclear battery in the robot is poisoning the land. Jade says that her father meant to remove it, but had grown forgetful in his old day. But Jade promises that she can contain the radiation leaks if she can get the auto-repair program on-line. Bloodhawk takes Jade up and flies away and asks Jade how she plans to do that. Jade explains that the Brand models have a small control bridge located in their heads. If she can get inside, Jade can shut it down. Bloodhawk knows that the radiation impact will be huge, but Jade says that’s what her radiation suit is for. Bloodhawk throws several grenades at the robot, hereby distracting it and allowing Jade to go inside. Jade tells Bloodhawk to go out of arm’s length, or else he’ll get destroyed like her helicopter. Bloodhawk does and tells the girl to be careful.
The robot begins to notice Jade and tries to shake her off. Bloodhawk notices and continues to distract the robot so that Jade can move further. Jade tries to unplug the robot, but she doesn’t have the patience for it. Jade instead finds a way to override the robot’s system. Jade climbs out and informs Bloodhawk, who was grabbed by the robot, that the leaks are being sealed and coolant is diluting the radiation-soaked hardware. Bloodhawk frees himself and brings Jade safely to the ground. Bloodhawk says that they’ll still have to get rid of the robot itself, but Jade promises that she already has that covered.
As they land, a car stops. Two lawyers step out and introduce themselves as representatives of the legal department of the Stark/Fujikawa Corporation. They claim that the robot has to belong to them now. Bloodhawk wants to attack the lawyers, but Jade holds him back. She gladly signs the paper and is happy to be rid of all the responsibilities. Suddenly, the robot flies up. The surprised lawyers ask what’s going on. Jade says that she should have done what her father should have done ten years ago. She makes the robot fly out of the atmosphere, and then self-destruct.
California…
After bringing Zak under another spell, Trance also tries the same with Krystalin. Krys desperately tries not to look in Trance’s eyes and tries to concentrate her powers. She crystallizes her hands and is now strong enough to free herself. Krys bravely fights the other Radicals. She has a plan, and decides to simply destroy the Radical’s Satellite. As the Satellite explodes, a bright light appears, blinding almost everyone. Krys protects her brother and frees him. Zak activates the homing chip on his clothes, knowing that hereby the Panthers will arrive soon. The Radicals realize that they have been defeated and teleport away. Zak tries to follow them, but fails to. He tells Krys that it’s all her fault, but she just laughs about that.
Suddenly, she stops. When Zak asks what’s wrong, Krys tells him to come take a look at the holomonitor. A “D”-like symbol appears on it, and the man calls Doom begins to speak. Doom says that he has interrupted all North American bandwidths to speak to the citizens of the United States. Doom continues and says that as of today, he claims presidency of all the states as his own!
