Years before the main events of the comic, a young Carly practices singing as her father Charles helps tailor her Statue of Liberty costume. Carly protests that she doesn’t want to wear the costume or sing in an upcoming 4th of July parade, particularly since she doesn’t want to embarrass herself in front of Siggy with bad singing, but Charles explains that Carly was the one who wanted to enter a float in the parade and so she has to do a fair share of the work. Carly points out that her mother is a better singer than her, but Charles says that Carly should learn that she can’t just ask other people to do things she doesn’t want to do; if she wants something badly enough, she needs to be able to do the work to get it even if the work is unpleasant.
In the present day, the Kamen Corps sings the National Anthem at a Cubs game. Carly gets a message from Black Hops and slips away while Sylvia wraps up the performance and directs people to their booth, where everyone can meet the heroes, get autographs, and buy merchandise from Visions by Vanders and Kanekochan. Sylvian and Kimiko are selling ramen when they’re visited by Chad Kaiser, AKA Icetosterone, Darlene Keane, AKA Marmot Maiden, and Henshy, Darlene’s pet marmot. Chad and Darlene are former heroes who worked for Lansky before he cut them loose and took the rights to their costumes; since they’re friends with Carly, they’re hoping she can make them new outfits. Siggy, now acting as the brand manager of the Kamen Corps, says she’ll pass along the commission request but notes that Carly is swamped with work. Kimiko wishes that she could contribute more and disagrees when Sylvia says that Kimiko already does enough by finding them new material for their inventory, since that only makes even more work for Carly to do. Misha notes that at least Carly gets to go on Black Hops missions while they sell merch.
Bandit Okami and a few henchmen and monsters drive a van of stolen microprocessors through Chicago. Okami, ever the otaku, drops random Japanese words and anime references while talking with a henchman named Burke. Millius and Grendel are watching the van, and as it nears, Millius vaults from a barricade onto the van’s roof and attaches a beacon developed by Dr. Gracey which can be homed in on by Carly’s blasts. Carly zaps the beacon with concentrated bioelectricity and wrecks the van, with Millius noting that Cryptiq is much less dangerous now that Kanina Lovacova (whose Private Military Contractor firm Ningen had been backing Cryptiq up) is in custody. Grendel sets up computer targeting on the henchmen and Millius shoots them with guided electric blasts from his gun. Grendel then proceeds to battle the monsters while Carly faces down Okami himself, who wields a sword from Apex Moth which can absorb and reflect Carly’s bioelectric blasts. Carly shoots energy at him and is blasted back when Okami reflects the attack, but Millius manages to attach another beacon to his trenchchoat, and Carly is able to blast the beacon and zap Okami.
While Millius arrests Okami, Carly asks him how Vicki is doing, but she’s swarmed by press before she can get an answer. A reporter named Karat Enshtick asks if Carly is working with the military and if she’l intervene with some kind of disaster in Paris. Carly insists that she doesn’t intervene in foreign affairs (and that her only fight abroad so far, her battle against Misha, was on account of her trying to rescue Siggy’s father Barrett and not out of a desire to sway the overall course of that conflict), but is brought up short by the reference to Paris. She asks what is going on there.
Small gremlin-like robots swarm the Eiffel Tower but are stopped by a group of five people who dress in Power Rangers-esque suits and call themselves the Zenerengers. This new force includes Zener Pyro, who wears red and has fire powers; Zener Hydro, who wears blue and has water powers; Zener Techno, who wears orange and can manipulate technology; Zener Ecto, who wears purple and can manipulate ghosts and ectoplasmic energy; and Zener Psycho, who wears black, has psychokinetic powers, and is the same entity that pretended to be Schultz and temporarily gave Vicki powers. Zener Pyro removes his helmet and identifies himself as Marius Reeser, then claims that the Zenerengers are an international group of heroes dedicated to protecting all countries from all threats. Without specifically naming the Kamen Corps, he criticizes other heroes who stick to national boundaries and ignore problems outside their own borders. The Zenerengers, he insists, will instead do what’s needed to save the whole world. He also says that they have their own ambassador: Lansky.
A reporter asks Lansky if he’s still wanted by American and international authorities for helping Vermillion Masquerade, but Lansky lies that he was actually trying to stop her. He claims that the American government refused all foreign help in dealing with Masquerade, so the Zenerengers approached him and asked him to recruit American heroes to deal with the problem, but all the heroes he found — including Chad, Darlene, Sylvia, and Carly herself — were too jingoistic to do so and so betrayed him by leaving his service. After the Kamen Corps finally managed to eke out a victory over Vermillion, Lansky goes on to say, the American government was embarrassed by its failure and is trying to silence Lansky so the truth doesn’t get out. He insists that the government won’t win, however, and says that the Zenerengers are going to save the world.
The Kamen Corps reconvenes at Carly’s rebuilt home and studio. There they plan their next few days: Carly and Sylvia are doing a modeling show in Vegas while Misha and Siggy work at a gun show, after which everyone goes to Japan to meet with Kimiko’s family and discuss a sponsorship. Kimiko again wishes she was doing more but is reassured by Carly that she’s helping out plenty by organizing everything and providing her with more material for her fashion line. Kimiko continues to fret and says that, if she had only gotten into medical school, she could be the team medic. Sylvia jokes that the Kamen Corps is indeed all tanks and no healers, causing Kimiko to ask if Sylvia plays JRPGs and Sylvia awkwardly insisting that she doesn’t.
Carly notes that she dislikes the idea of sponsorships but will make an exception for a family-run business like Kanekochan. Sylvia warns her that Lansky is making hay out of the Kamen Corps’ apparent refusal to solve overseas problems, but that conversation is cut off by Siggy, who arrives to pick up Misha so they can set up for the gun show. Misha arrives in a fancy and provocative dress, then proceeds to flirt with Siggy, who sees Carly’s frustration with this and skedaddles. Misha acknowledges to Carly that she isn’t truly dating Siggy yet but she intends to, and if Carly has feelings for Siggy but won’t admit them or ask him out, that’s on her.
— Misha Lovacova
Carly acknowledges that Misha is right and notes that she’s been second-guessing herself since learning of Vicki’s descent into villainy. Then she leaves with Sylvia for Vegas while Misha and Siggy drive off and Kimiko stays behind to care for Badger.
The fashion show starts well, with Sylvia modeling a series of America-flag themed outfits on the runway, but robots soon attack and they prove resistant to both Carly’s bioelectricity and her martial arts attacks. Because Sylvia needs her power armor to fight and she left it at the hotel, she runs off to get it while Carly gets beaten down by the robots. Carly is defeated, but Sylvia manages to return with her armor and slice up the robots just in time to save her.
Sylvia and Carly examine the debris and scan it for Dr. Gracey but find that the robots’ circuits all self-destructed, leaving little to analyze. They are approached by Daisuke Aragaki, a researcher and the president of Kagemitsu Engineering, who says his company was approached by Interpol to examine the robots after the Paris attack. He confirms that little information can be found in the robots and then thanks Carly for stopping Okami; it turns out that the van Okami stole contained components from Kagemitsu. Aragaki invites Carly to visit his company’s headquarters and then leaves, but before Carly can respond, angry citizens yell at Carly for being too parochial and not helping other nations with their problems. Carly is stunned that she’s actually being blamed for this attack (on the grounds that she didn’t do anything after the Paris attack and thus allowed the robots to regroup), but Sylvia takes her back to the hotel.
The Kamen Corps reconvenes at Carly’s home, where Misha says that Carly needs more martial arts practice and also teases that she had dinner with Siggy. Everyone goes to bed except for Kimiko, who says she feels like she’s the only person who didn’t do anything useful that weekend, but she’s hoping to change that the next day.
Chad and Darlene look after Badger while the Kamen Corps travels to Kanekochan’s headquarters in Japan. The headquarters is a huge skyscraper and Carly learns the business is actually a massive multinational conglomerate and not just the small business she’d assumed. They tour the headquarters before going to the Kaneko family mansion, where Kimiko says she has many ideas for setting up the sponsorship. Carly, however, says that she doesn’t want to be sponsored by a huge company because it would go against her beliefs; she worries that if she took money or other benefits from Kanekochan, they’d be able to use the Kamen Corps to spread their own agenda like Lansky did. She also says she won’t make more mistakes like she did when she lost Vicki to evil, and since she thinks taking Kanekochan’s money would be a mistake, she won’t agree to the sponsorship. Kimiko protests that Kanekochan is still a family business even though it’s huge and that her family runs it with integrity, and she also indicates that she thought this was a way she could finally make meaningful contributions to the team, but Carly stands firm.
Misha has Kimiko show her around the mansion while Siggy and Sylvia sit down with Carly, who again protests that she’ll work with small businesses like Siggy’s family’s gun shop or Sylvia’s family’s bait shop but she won’t work with big ones. Sylvia realizes that Carly doesn’t know anything about her family’s business, and she explains that the ‘bait shop’ is actually a major sporting goods chain with more than a hundred retail locations. Carly looks this up online and is stunned while Sylvia points out that corporations aren’t sentient but are run by people, and her mom runs it ethically. Siggy also points out that Carly is trying to grow her own business and may make it big someday, but that doesn’t mean she’ll change who she is or how she runs her company. Carly finally agrees to sleep on the decision.
The next day, Kimiko tells her father that Carly turned down the partnership. Before they can discuss it much, the robots attack. Kimiko tries to fend them off but is surprised by Zener Hydro, who joins the side of the robots and batters Kimiko with water attacks.Hydro, who can dissolve into water and reform at will, says that Kimiko has no skill and just mindlessly batters things with jets of water; she also says Kimiko has no potential as an heiress to Kanekochan. The rest of the Kamen Corps show up and Kimiko apologizes for being useless, after which Carly again reassures her that she’s an important member of the team and that her hard work is both appreciated and critical for their success. The Kamen Corps then resumes battling the robots.
While the Kamen Corps fights hard, their attacks are neutralized by the robots, and while Siggy manages to take one out with a forklift, the others are hard-pressed. Hydro rants that she’s in control, but Kimiko says she doesn’t care about power or control and just wants to protect her family, her friends, and her honor. She blasts Hydro with ice chunks hard enough that Hydro temporarily dissolves, causing the robots to self-destruct too.
Kimiko’s father, Aragaki, and Enshtick arrive, with Enshtick asking if Carly has agreed to fight internationally after all. Before Carly can answer, Hydro reforms and says that the Kamen Corps did the right thing by fighting outside of American borders. She thanks them for their ‘help’ and lies that the hits she took from them were just friendly fire. She then leaves as Kimiko rants that Hydro was lying. From a hidden position, Zener Techno finishes observing the battle and sends data on Kimiko’s fighting abilities back to the Zenerenger’s base.
The team, Kimiko’s father, and Aragaki return to the Kaneko mansion, and Carly congratulates Kimiko on protecting people from the robots and defeating Zener Hydro herself. Kimiko says she’s not upset over Carly declining the sponsorship and says that she admires how Carly never deviates from her conscience and her principles, no matter who tries to pressure her. Kimiko also says that fighting alongside Carly has finally given her a sense of purpose. For her part, Carly says that she’s reconsidered and believes that Kimiko’s family are good people who are running their business ethically; while she still doesn’t want to accept their sponsorship, she’d be happy to offer them a sponsorship from Visions by Vanders. Kimiko’s father approves of this and notes that working with a fashion label will improve their package designs.
With everything settled, the group settles down to dinner. Misha takes Siggy’s arm, though he doesn’t seem to notice. Aragaki notes that the robots give off an energy signal and says that’s how he knew of the attack in Las Vegas; he then assures the others that they’ll find whoever’s sending the robots soon enough.
The last panel reveals Lansky and Reeser, the latter in uniform, standing behind a smirking women. The nameplate on the women's desk reads: Cynthia Prestige.
In an epilogue, Carly goes to church after returning from Japan and talks about Vicki with Father Blatty. When she leaves, Father Crane steps out from the shadows and reveals that Blatty is a member of the Soulfinder combat exorcist group just like him. He holds up pictures of Vicki and Kanina as well as a drawing of Saint Columba and a folder labeled 'Spec Hops,' then says they have much to discuss.
This comic contains examples of the following tropes:
- Making a Splash: Zener Hydro shows off these powers, and of course Kimiko still has hers too.
- MegaCorp: Both Kanekochan and Prestige Incorporated (of which Prestige Rookery and Rookery is just one small part) are this.
- Opponent Switch: The Kamen Corps tries to do this against the robots during the attack in Japan, but this doesn’t work.
- Politically Correct Villain: The Zenerengers talk about overcoming differences and unifying to help all nations, but they're the evil force behind the robot attacks.
- Psycho Rangers: The Zenerengers are clearly stylized as these, dressing similar to Power Rangers characters and mirroring many of the Kamen Corps’ powers.
- Take a Third Option: Carly is unwilling to accept a sponsorship from a big company for her group of heroes, but she knows that Kimiko's family is ultimately trustworthy and it would be wrong to treat them otherwise, so she eventually decides that she will offer them a sponsorship from her clothing line. This allows both parties to benefit and acknowledges the integrity of Kimiko's family while at the same time keeping the Kamen Corps free of corporate influence.
