BILLY STEELE: KID RANGER, IRON HORSE VS. IRON GIANTS

Satana, shocked by his betrayal, ordered the rest of heavy metal thunder to, "destroy the traitor!"

The clanging and banging of metal was deafening as the killer robots battled each other. Iron Hand’s furious fists were no match for his six swarming adversaries. Golden Gun, Silver Spears, Steel Shield, Copper Claw, Bronze Blade and Alloy Axes were rabid robots in Iron Hand’s devastation. After suffering a barrage of pain, Iron Hand fell lifelessly, and his carcass was deposited in a desolate patch of land by his one time comrades-in-arms.

There the Iron Giant was sprawled motionless, its burned exterior a target for buzzard droppings until…

Lupe, the pretty Mexican tomboy and classmate of Billy Steele’s, rode by the monster. Her soft brown eyes caught the glimpse of shiny light coming from Iron Hand. The dark haired 12-year old, adorned in a red work shirt and jeans, had never seen anything like the prone machine. Her impoverished family had barely made ends meet while working their small farm. Her father, brothers and sisters did the plowing, and Lupe and her mother often worked the fields with bare hands. To her, a futuristic machine was inconceivable.

As she explored this curious contraption, she felt it suddenly rumble and roar back to life. The unimaginable power hidden in Billy Steele’s lost mine, the object of his epic quest and the rampaging force that could be used for good as well as evil, impacted Iron Hand. The power Dr. Satana used to destroy him, now resurrected the robot, and he looked down upon the tiny girl.

Lupe was awe struck upon seeing the giant robot come alive! She was as amazed as Pandora when she opened the box and Aladdin when he released the genie.

"I ‘m Lupe," she said sheepishly, "Whom do I have the honor of addressing, Senior?"

The great Iron Hand paused for a moment, its gears and inner machines rattled loudly as all its insides came to order.

"I am Iron Hand," the robot replied humbly, "My creator and gang betrayed me and left me for dead after trying to terminate me." Somehow, this creature of artificial life shed tears when telling Lupe how he became abandoned. Lupe wept while hearing his story.

"Maybe you could come home with me," Lupe thought, "I will adopt you and make you part of my family. We have a farm and my family is very poor. Can you help us?"

Iron Hand scooped up the hard ground in his great grasp. He uprooted dead trees with ease. And soon Lupe and her new friend returned to her farm.

When they arrived at the farm, Lupe’s family became overwhelmed with a numbing fear of this giant from the unknown. Lupe’s pleas stopped her father from firing his shotgun at the robot. She begged her family to let Iron hand prove himself.

Soon, Lupe’s family watched from a shaded tree. Iron Hand plowed their fields in mere minutes under the hot sun. Later that day the family became cooled by the refreshing waters from a new well dug by the one time killer robot.

Iron Hand’s help saw Lupe’s family grow more plentiful and better crops and raise some cattle. The family enjoyed the profits when they went to market and in turn, they found love in their hearts for this inhuman creature. And the robot who earlier expressed a desire to be human, found a family.

Meanwhile, miles away in White Eagle’s solitude, the Indian shaman gently placed the battered and bruised body of Billy Steele on his bed. The boy was alive, but barely.