In the past, Simon Prestige buys a pyramid-shaped building just before it’s demolished, then funds and designs an exhibit called ‘Symbols of America’ to be housed in the building. Carly’s class tours the exhibit and Charles Vanders, acting as a chaperone, explains what it means for symbols like the Statue of Liberty to personify virtues. He notes that many cultures use women as symbols to personify ideals and culture. When Siggy asks what boys are supposed to do, Charles shows him a military recruiting poster featuring Columbia, a traditional personification of America. Men, he says, looked to Columbia and other symbolic women to inspire them, embolden them, and show them what they were fighting for.
In the present, Siggy flees Zener Ecto on foot and leads him into an apparent cemetery. Ecto gripes that the biker ghosts he’s leading are fat and out of shape, so he dismisses them and tries to raise ghosts from the cemetery, but it turns out to just be a film set with no ghosts to be had. Siggy jumps Ecto and decks him; before Ecto can recover, Charles shoots Ecto and blows his head off. They say they followed Siggy after they saw him speeding and figured there might be trouble, but Siggy says Carly is the one who’s probably in trouble because she’s likely to be attacked while the Kamen Corps is divided. Siggy needs to warn Carly but there’s no phone service in the area and his car is destroyed, so Carly’s parents agree to drive him where he needs to go. They leave as Zener Ecto begins to regenerate.
Siggy and the Vanders return to Misha and Penelope. Siggy explains the situation and says they need to get to Hoover Dam. Carly’s parents insist on going with them, and when Misha notes that the Vanders family could be targets of the Zenerengers, Penelope reluctantly agrees. The group gets into a jet and flies off; once they reach the border of Arizona and Utah, Penelope briefs them. She says she can’t get too detailed because Zener Psycho is a telepath and they don’t want him to know the whole plan just by reading one person’s mind, but she can explain a few details of what’s going on. After noting that Cynthia has a mob of dark suit protesters by the dam and is also backed up by Pyro (real name Marius Reeser), Hydro (Sirena Siyokoy), and Techno (Nano Moritou), she informs them that the governor doesn’t want to deploy the National Guard for fear of causing political scandal in an election year. As such, Penelope says that their job is to deploy by the dam and step in if things get ugly. She adds that Carly is en route to the dam but her mission is secret; similarly, there’s another team en route as well to protect the dam itself, but she can’t say what they’re doing.
Unbeknownst to the heroes, Zener Ecto stowed away in the jet’s cargo hold. He calls Lansky to explain what’s going on, and while Lansky is mad that Ecto isn’t headed straight for the dam to summon some ghost construction workers, Ecto assures him that he’ll get there in time. He also threatens to kill Lansky if Lansky ever speaks to him disrespectfully again.
The Zenerengers blast the military helicopters and use waves to sweep the National Guard away from the base while Reeser complains about their work. He says he’s tired of attacking soldiers, destroying monuments, and doing PR activities like taking off his helmet for photo ops; he wants to get back to helping people. Sirena mocks him and asks who cares about helping people. Reeser is horrified; meanwhile, Millius struggles to stop Grendel from being washed away.
Cynthia declares that the otomotons are not the enemy and that light pollution, as well as the power plants which produce it, are what need to be destroy. Otomotons attack the dam and then assemble into a single massive robot; Carly arrives and stabs it with her energy sword, but it has no effect. Penelope’s plane lands and she takes USA G.I. to find Millius and counterattack; she also tells Misha to find Carly and aid her, and further asks Siggy and Charles to wait for the moment but be ready to grab rifles with stun rounds and help with evacuating civilians if needed. The others depart on their missions, and Ecto leaves too.
Ecto reports to Nano that he’s summoned ghosts to lock the engineers in a valve room. Nano gripes about being behind schedule and says she has to hack the dam and shut it down, but Gracey breaks into her communications and says he’s figured out how Nano’s powers work. He also says that he rerouted the dam’s power to some analog emergency generators in a secret location; Nano’s can neither hack them nor find them and destroy them manually, and so cannot shut down the dam.
Ecto is attacked by Kanina “Hare Trigger” Lovacova and Victoria Kaminski, both now working for the government as part of their efforts towards rehabilitation, as well as a cryptid named Jackknife. The trio comprise a team called “Spec Hops.” Kanina has silver bullets and is able to hurt Ecto, so she attacks him while Vicki scares the workers by using the guise of her old supervillain identity Vermillion Masquerade. She explains that, with her powers weakened, that identity was the only disguise she could still conjure. The workers flee and the fight continues.
The giant otomoton, Reeser and Sirena battle Carly and Misha. Reeser gets a report from within the dam and learns that there’s a fight going on down there; he orders the other Zenerengers to deal with the intruders but not to hurt any civilians. A giant mecha in the shape of a cup of instant ramen then crashes down with Kimiko in the pilot’s seat; Darlene parachutes after her and Henshy drops down too. Reeser is stunned by the robot, which is named Kappa Kappu, and Kimiko has the robot hurl Sirena far into the middle of Lake Mead. Darlene volunteers to haul the stunned Reeser away while Misha goes to help Carly; meanwhile, Kappa Kappu says it’s hungry and Kimiko argues that it needs to get moving.
Cynthia switches to her backup plan and orders the giant otomoton to smash the dam. Vicki runs to save the remaining workers while Ecto is hit by falling debris. Karat Enshtick arrives and reports that the dam looks like it’s about to collapse despite the Kamen Corps’s best efforts. On the plane, Siggy grabs a rifle and goes to help rescue civilians despite the injuries he sustained fighting Ecto; when Carly’s mother objects, Charles agrees to go with him and protect him.
A flashback shows Carly helping her parents pack up for their move to Florida. They’re proud of her, especially since she just got an offer for representation from Lansky, and Charles warns her that she’s ultimately responsible for making something of herself. They leave as Charles says they will always be there for her.
Kanina and Jackknife work to save the remaining civilian staff in the valve room while Vicki struggles to protect some survivors in a crumbling antechamber which is quickly filling with water. She’s laboring to stop the walls from collapsing completely, but she doesn’t think she’ll make it, and so she tells Kanina she’s hanging up so she can call her father. Vicki does so, using a setting on her phone that Sylvia set up, and when he answers she finally tells him she was Vermillion Masquerade. He says he already knew because her supervillain identity looked exactly like the favorite sculpture she made when she was a child. She then tells him she’s going to die, but he insists that she not give up and that she’s tougher than she knows.
— Mr. Kaminski
Inspired by her father, Vicki transforms into something and tells the civilians she’ll save them.
Charles and Siggy guide the fleeing workers to a raft when Nano zaps Siggy and stuns him. She rants that she’s tired of being made to look like a fool, and when Charles warns her of a collapsing wall behind her, she thinks it’s a trick. The wall collapses and traps her.
Carly cuts Kimiko out of Kappa Kappu, which is still refusing to move, and Kimiko exposits that she actually brought it because it’s a Kagemitsu product and Gracey wanted to examine it. Henshy battles his way through a mob of dark suit protesters while Cynthia rants that she just wants to save the planet and appease the otomotons. Sylvia, however, arrives and denounces her, saying that none of Cynthia’s claims of fighting for a greater good can justify the harm she caused. Sylvia then throws Gracey’s newest weapons, a gun and a bow, to Misha and Kimiko respectively before activating her new suit of armor. The giant otomoton attacks her but is stunned by rocks thrown by Vicki, who reveals that she finally gained the ability to activate her own superhero form like Carly, Misha, and Kimiko can do; she calls herself Kamen Terra and apologizes to Carly. Carly accepts the apology and Sylvia throws Vicki a spade that was also developed by Gracey.
The Kamen Corps activate their new weapons together and obliterate the giant robot. It falls down into the dam and winds up close to where Nano is pinned. Aragaki climbs out of the robot’s head and Nano begs for help but he ignores her, and he also overlooks a hiding Enshtick who is filming the scene. He proceeds to rant about how his subordinates have ruined his perfect plan. The heroes overwhelm the dark suit protesters and Darlene captures Ecto with an anti-ghost gun while Aragaki notes that the heroes are growing too strong and people will grow weary of his mob’s riots soon enough. He thus declares he will overload the giant otomoton’s fuel cell, obliterating the dam and killing everyone there except for himself, as he'll hide inside the robot’s cockpit and thus withstand the blast. Nano continues to beg for mercy as Aragaki enters the robot and the fallen machine begins shooting energy blasts everywhere.
Charles returns to Nano with a large piece of fabric that blocks the otomoton's energy blasts, and he uses it to shield her. Nano asks why he’s helping her and he smiles. Meanwhile, Aragaki prepares to detonate the robot, but Cynthia slips into the cockpit and castigates him for letting someone record him ranting about his evil plans. She executes Aragaki and cancels the explosion herself.
Sylvia reports that the Zenerengers are all either captured or running away and the dark suit protesters are also defeated. She asks Vicki to use her earth powers to start cleaning things up, but they’re interrupted when Carly sees her father’s corpse being brought out of the dam. Vicki hugs her as she sobs.
Sylvia rescues Nano. Then, aware that Enshtick is filming, she takes credit for saving the dam and blames everything on Aragaki. She states that the otomotons were invented by his company as part of a scheme to defraud her and embezzle charitable donations; she further adds that she only recently became suspicious of him and began investigating what he was doing. She also acknowledges killing him but says she only did so to prevent him from blowing up the robot and killing everyone, and she pledges her company’s full cooperation into any forthcoming law enforcement operations. She nears her finish by insisting that light pollution is a real threat even if the otomotons weren’t, but when she begins to praise Charles Vanders for his sacrifice, Carly snaps and punches her. Misha holds Carly back from hitting her again and Cynthia makes a big show of acknowledging Carly’s pain, forgiving her, and asking the world not to judge her.
With the broadcast over, Sylvia approaches Cynthia and asks if she really meant it when she said she’s just trying to stop light pollution and that Aragaki was responsible for the otomoton attacks. Cynthia tells Sylvia that Sylvia can trust her.
Later, Lansky and Cynthia regroup in Cynthia’s company's headquarters, which is inside the pyramid building that Simon once used to showcase American symbols. Lanksy complains that the Zenerrengers were filmed attacking the National Guard, so Cynthia tells him to lie that the Zenerrengers were just entertaining the crowd when overzealous troops got in the way. Lansky also complains that the dam is still running, and Cynthia admits this will cause a delay in her plans, but she also notes that Zener Psycho — who wasn’t at the battle — is in Washington to meet with some allies of theirs and has confirmed they’re ready for the next steps. She says they can make up for losing the dam by gaining ground elsewhere and that a large portion of the dark suit protesters are likely to double down on their beliefs and thus remain useful loyalists to her anti-light crusade. Lansky protests that the Zenerengers are mostly out of action, dark suit sales are dropping, and Aragaki’s family is suspicious, so he doesn’t think things are going as well as Cynthia is acting. Cynthia just reassures him that everything is fine.
One week later, Father Blatty conducts Charles’s funeral service. The Kamen Corps and their friends are there as well as Nano, who recalls Charles citing Matthew 5:46, the same verse Carly had cited to him earlier. Carly cries and says she doesn’t want to leave him as her mother reassures her, and Misha pushes Siggy to finally confess his feelings since there will never be a ‘right time’ to do so.
A few months prior, while protesters were still shouting abuse at the Vanders household, Carly told her father than the Kamen Corps were going to be making a television show for a local network. She also said she composed some music, and after she sang a sample for Charles, he told her that she sings like an angel.
Elsewhere, Apex Moth and his minion Keli Hopkins break into a coroner’s office. The coroner is passed out drunk, so the two grab Aragaki’s body and Apex prepares to steal his brain.
This comic contains examples of the following tropes:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Kappa Kappu is largely useless in combat after it enters the battlefield because it insists on being fed ramen before it will fight anything. Carly has to cut Kimiko out of it just so she can get back into action.
- As the Good Book Says...: Charles quotes a Bible verse to Nano as he defends her from the robot.
- Boxed Crook: Kanina and Vicki are now part of a group called Spec Hops, doing missions for the government.
- Deceased Fall-Guy Gambit: Cynthia executes Aragaki and then blames everything on him.
- Evil All Along: Aragaki is revealed to have been evil from the beginning.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Charles dies protecting Nano from the giant otomoton’s energy blasts.
- Heroic Willpower: Vicki’s father inspires her to reach deep within herself and find the willpower to manifest her Kamen powers at last.
- Killed Off for Real: Charles is killed by the energy shooting out of the destroyed otomoton, and Aragaki is executed by Cynthia.
- "Second Law" My Ass!: Kappa Kappu refuses Kimiko’s orders to fight because it wants ramen.
