| Synopsis | - Somewhere in America, a mysterious containment project run by the USAF has just gained a new inmate - the still-living remains of the High, a renowned superhero who has been missing for years. After putting him into the system, the two airmen who act as wardens for the facility sit down to observe events in an unnamed city.
In the City, Engine Joe has been rudely awakened by an alien invasion. Rushing into battle, he meets his team-mates, Aeronaut, Thrush, Falconette, and Wallflower. The heroes are part of a team called the Paladins, whose headquarters are on Palatine Hill. In various parts of the City, Johnny Ray-Gun and the Midnight Rider are fighting robbers in zoot suits, Neandra is fighting the Stinkbug, the Black Anvil is handling aliens from the invasion, and Mago and Tumbleweed are fighting the criminal speedster Hotfoot. Engine Joe saves a little old lady from getting run over in a car accident - only for her to be struck by a falling flying saucer. Since it is almost dawn, the Paladins decide to have breakfast.
As the city wakes, newspapers credit Aeronaut with defeating the aliens. In a diner, Engine Joe is bothered that he isn't very bothered about the dead old woman. Mago attempts to encourage his friend to cheer up, before the group is approached by Eidolon, who tells them that "he's coming back. Things will change now. It won't always be the same." Out of embarrassment, Engine Joe takes him outside, but the diner is suddenly attacked by the villainous Doctor Sin and his deadly Sin-Bot, who demands all the palladium in the team's headquarters, or he will kill innocent bystanders.
Suddenly, people around the city begin vanishing in white light. The Paladins assume that Doctor Sin is to blame. However, one of the two airmen has just pressed a large button on their console, which is labeled "Rapture"...
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