Megazone 23 Part III: Day of Liberation

Won Dai delivers a speech and says that after nearly destroying Earth, humanity was forced to wander through space for centuries to atone for its sin. But he says the System has resurrected Earth and is using Eden as a training ground before allowing humanity to freely roam the Earth. Won Dai says the day of liberation is coming, but not for those who are led astray. After the speech, Won Dai tells Yacob that a section of the city is no longer under his control, putting Eden out of balance. Yacob thinks it’ll be easy to restore balance once they get rid of Orange, but Won Dai says if they don’t address the cause of seditious elements, there will be more groups like Orange. Won Dai still wants Orange destroyed, and Yacob reports that Shion is out of the picture. He’s concerned that the Eve program is out of control now, but Won Dai says Eve is nothing compared to his new program. About 30 percent of the net is now under Orange’s control, and Yacob orders Miura to move the Garland simulation to phase two for combat mastery. At his headquarters, Derekman is angry that Shion is absent just when they have the chance to attack the System. A man named Edval reports that it looks like Shion wanted to become the operator of 7G. He shows Derekman the limited data that Shion recovered about something called Project Heaven. Derekman wonders why Won Dai has so much power, and Edval says there’s rumors that he’s a Megazone survivor. Derekman thinks that’s ridiculous because it would make Won Dai centuries old, so he wonders if Won Dai is a computer generated illusion like Eve. Miura makes a citywide announcement that Eden is under martial law due to net difficulties. Ryo and Lisa watch the news, and Lisa unsuccessfully attempts to call Eiji. Ryo uses a disk Eiji gave her and manages to reach his access codes to leave a message. Suddenly, Derekman breaks into the broadcast and says they have started a revolution because E=X abuses its power. He says the new hypernet from Orange will surpass E=X’s net. At E=X, Miura reports to Yacob that Eiji has entered the area where Eve is located, an old shelter city from the great war. Yacob believes that Shion wanted to use Eiji to awaken Eve and trigger a system down. Yacob looks at specs of the Original Garland and says he wants to use it, but Miura tells him they don’t know its abilities because it’s a thousand years old. Down in Eve’s chamber, she tells Eiji that she can’t access the System because Eden has a network she knows nothing about. Eiji asks what he can do as the operator of 7G, and she says they have to find Bahamut and get some information. Two Flaggers pick up Eiji’s trail, and Yacob orders them to kill Eiji when he sees Eve on the Garland. They reach a dead end, but Eve opens a door that Eiji drives under and the Flaggers crash into. Ryo drives through the streets on a scooter, but she turns away from a checkpoint and accidentally falls off the scooter. She runs into an alley and meets some Orange people, who take her to see the wounded Shion. Shion says the wounds are what he gets for trying to test Eiji. He says Eiji is more than what he thought he was and is the real operator of 7G. Down below, Eiji and Eve drive through an abandoned area. She says people built Eden above this area and stayed there to program the System. She’s the last of those people, and she adds that Megazone operator 7G didn’t awaken her.

As they ride up an elevator, Eve explains that Bahamut was the computer that ran Megazone and returned to Earth. She asks Eiji if he’s afraid of going outside, but he says he’d never thought about it. When the door opens, they’re shocked to see Eden surrounded by a mass of filthy machines. Eve says that the city is trying to maintain its closed environment by expanding into the forest. In the city, Shion says that Yacob will make the next move, but he’s still concerned by Project Eden. Ryo asks what will happen to Eden, but Shion says he doesn’t know. Dominique tells Shion they can’t break past E=X’s protection, and Ryo gives him a disk that connects to Eiji’s terminal at E=X. Elsewhere, Derekman and Edval watch the progress of Bud and other boys fitted with cyber plugs to use the Hargan simulator. Elsewhere, Eiji and Eve reach the ruined capsule from Megazone 23 that contains Bahamut. Eve activates Bahamut and has it run a check on the Earth revitalization system. When Bahamut says everything is running properly, she asks why it hasn’t released nature to humanity. Eve asks what happened to Shogo Yahagi, but Bahamut says all files related to Shogo have been deleted. A hologram of Eve appears and says there’s still one file left about Shogo in another room. Eiji finds Shogo’s wrecked, five hundred year old Prototype Garland. He’s amazed to discover that it still works and ejects a data disk. After studying it, he and Eve conclude that the System was apprehensive about humans because Shogo disappeared and never woke up the real Eve. Eiji asks if he’s just supposed to be a replacement for Shogo. He decides to confront the System so that people stop hurting each other. Back at Eden, Won Dai tells Yacob that Eiji and Eve are coming, and he leaves to administer Project Heaven. Elsewhere, Edval prepares a drugged up Bud to launch in a Hargan. The Hargans launch, and Yacob orders the Garlands to launch, despite Miura’s objections. Shion cracks into E=X and discovers the purpose of Project Heaven: to launch Eden into space. Shion decides to take control of Orange’s network to stop Won Dai’s plans. He thinks Eiji and Eve have left Eden, but Ryo is sure that Eiji will return. Shion leaves with his mobile command truck and says he’s waiting for Eiji to come back too. Miura protests to Yacob that citizens will become casualties, and he tells her to run if she’s afraid. Bud and the other Hargan pilots attack and easily destroy the Garlands. Derekman orders Edval to lock their cyber modes once they reach the E=X Tower. Once they’re done fighting, he can blame them as being Shion’s men and not his own. Yacob addresses E=X employees and says that although he doesn’t want to turn Eden into a battlefield, they can’t restore balance if they don’t stop the netjackers. After finishing the address, he moves out in the Original Garland.

Shion, Dominique and the others blast into Orange’s headquarters and take control. Derekman asks if Shion has betrayed him, and Shion says they have to end the bloodshed so they can stop Project Heaven. Edval explains that it’s too late to stop the Hargans because the pilots’ cyber modes are locked. Yacob attacks with the Original Garland’s beam cannon and destroys all the Hargans, except for Bud’s. Shion wants to stop the cyber system on the Hargans, but Derekman says they can’t do anything except a suicidal charge. Shion pulls up the data on Project Heaven and says he wants to distribute it to all citizens. Bud tries to move in close to attack Yacob, but Yacob hits him with missiles. As he prepares to make the killing shot, his beam gun is blasted by Eiji. Yacob is about to attack Eiji, but he is forced to retreat after hearing that Project Heaven’s data is being spread throughout the city. Eiji runs over to the Hargan and asks Bud what he’s doing there. Bud says he wanted to show his strength to the System, and he dies. At the E=X Tower, Yacob speaks with angry businessmen on video monitors who demand a halt to Project Heaven. Yacob says that it’s the will of the System because it has judged them as unworthy of living on Earth. Miura plans to help citizens escape because she hasn’t given up on humanity like Yacob has, but Yacob shoots her to death. Elsewhere, Shion asks Eve to come with him to the System’s core. She says there’s a path only she can take and cut off the circuits that connect the System. Shion decides that he and Eiji will distract E=X. As they move out, Eve tells Eiji that Shogo is with him. Yacob blasts into Orange’s command center and prepares to kill Shion, but Eiji attacks him. Elsewhere, Eve opens the door to the System’s core, allowing access to Dominique and several others. Yacob chases Eiji through a highway, and Eiji can’t even land a shot on him. The entire city begins to rumble, but the explosives planted by Dominique’s men go off and stop the movement. Eiji tells Yacob they’ve destroyed E=X’s network, but Yacob says they shouldn’t have done that because it’s the end of Eden. The System’s core begins to rise from the ground, and Eve addresses the city, saying that Won Dai’s plan is to have the Adam lunar defense system destroy Eden. Eiji flies up to the System core to rescue Eve, but he’s chased by Yacob. Eiji pops in Shogo’s data disk and attacks the Original Garland, cutting off one arm with his knife. Eiji’s Garland is trashed and crashes into the System. Yacob fires the beam cannon and misses because his power output is dropping. As he prepares to fire again, Eiji throws a knife into the beam cannon, causing the Original Garland to explode. Eve meets with Won Dai and tells him what he’s doing isn’t the System’s will. Won Dai says that disposing of humanity is the only way to preserve Earth, and Eiji calls that a massacre. Yacob says that he and Eiji are the same, but Eiji says he isn’t a slave of the System. Eve believes that the System’s misconceptions about humans will be cleared once it makes contact with Eiji. Won Dai creates a barrier in front of Eve and shocks Eiji with electricity. Eiji accuses Won Dai of killing Shogo, but he pulls out the data disk and says that Shogo lives on inside of it. Won Dai then collapses and tells Eiji that he’s been alive for too long. He asks where Eiji got the disk, and Eiji tells him it was inside the old Garland inside Bahamut. Won Dai says he was controlled by the System for too long and dies. Eve enters the control chair area and tells him that Eden will be freed and that she’ll stop Adam. She kisses the glass panel and says goodbye to Eiji and Shogo. Later, Ryo walks through the street and is reunited with Eiji. They embrace and kiss.