When Van and Irvine return after their heroic rescue, they find the shield liger has been encompassed in a huge whirlwind of light. Dr. D exits the light wearing a protective suit stating he was unable to get near the core. He believes that Zeke may be trying to resurrect the liger. Van becomes distraught when he learns that both Fiona and Zeke are inside. No matter how hard he tries, Van is unable to penetrate the light. Feeling rejected he takes off on his Hover Board. Rudolph wants to go after him, but Irvine holds him back.

In another area of the desert, Dennis watches what took place through long-range binoculars. He meets up with Metlenick and Rohto who are repairing their damaged Zoids. Suddenly a red Guysack appears before the three assassins. The pilot announces himself as Stinger. Metlenick knows of him as the feared evil mercenary known as the Fisherman. They call him that because luring in his catch and watching them suffer comes easy to him. After Stinger overpowers Metlenick and his stooges with a poisonous gas, he asks for a 70% cut to take down Prince Rudolph.

Later that day Rudolph takes off on a hover board looking for Van. Meanwhile, Van has come across some ruins that remind him of the day he found Zeke and Fiona. Van is really feeling abandoned and sorry for himself when he hears Rudolph calling for him. Rudolph has taken a nasty spill off the hover board. Van goes to assist him. The young prince begs Van to teach him how to use the board. Sadly, Van feels he wasn't good enough to protect the Liger and therefore, not good enough to teach anyone. Rudolph angrily calls him a weakling and leaves. As Rudolph heads back to camp, he is met by Irvine in the Command Wolf whom had come looking for him.

Back at camp Moonbay is grumbling because she is left alone to cook dinner. Suddenly, she hears an explosion and gunfire. She quickly jumps into the Gustav and rescues a man being pursued by two Dark Horns. Unbeknownst to her, it is the evil Stinger, and she is walking right into his trap. Moonbay is quite taken with the attractive man even if he is quite feminine in nature. She invites him back to camp for dinner.

Back at the ruins, Van hears Fiona's soft voice. She tells him she hates what he has become. Van thinks he is hallucinating, but continues to listen. Fiona's voice becomes panic stricken begging for Van's help. When Van runs in the direction of the voice, he accidentally slips on a rock and falls quite a distance landing on a narrow ledge. He loses consciousness. When he wakes up, he believes that he may have dreamed the whole incident, but heads for camp just in case. Dennis, who was loaned the Guysack to keep an eye on the boy, notices Van is making his move.

At dinner Irvine makes it known that he is not too pleased by the suspicious stranger. Moonbay basically tells him to lighten up as she hands Rudolph his soup. She tells Rudolph to wait a bit, because the soup is hot. A few minutes into the meal, Moonbay's hands become numb and she collapses. Irvine, too, collapses but not before knocking the contaminated soup out of Prince Rudolph's hands. Stinger announces he had put a paralyzing poison into the soup, and they would be incapacitated for the rest of the evening. Enough time for him to finish Rudolph off. Rudolph grabs a handful of dirt and throws it in Stinger's face. At the same time, Irvine uses every bit of strength he can muster to grab Stinger's leg. Just as Rudolph attempts to escape, the two deadly Dark Horns appear before him. He screams Van's name.

Meanwhile Van senses Rudolph is in grave danger, but Dennis has begun attacking him. Van screams Rudolph's name just as the Guysack lines up his target for the final blow.

Whew...I'm out of breath just writing this! If I had asthma, I'd be reaching for my inhaler!!