Machine Head Takedown

Titan delivers a stolen microchip that Machine Head slots into his own head, boosting his power and cementing his hold. Desperate to buy his freedom, Titan is instead reminded that his debt, and the threat to his family, keeps him chained to the kingpin's will. Seeking a way out, Titan tags a rooftop to summon Invincible and pitches an alliance, laying out how Machine Head profits from arson, slumlords and super-powered hitmen. By showing Mark the human cost and revealing his own wife and daughter, Titan convinces the young hero to look past the label of criminal and help.

The two finalize a plan to breach the fortified penthouse, with Titan claiming he has already sidelined the teleporting bodyguard Isotope. The assault starts well as they smash through the windows and drop the guards, but Machine Head's stolen upgrade lets him foresee the attack, and Isotope teleports in a crew of killers including Battle Beast, Kursk, Furnace, Magmaniac and Tether Tyrant. Invincible is electrocuted, burned, bound and hammered through a wall, while Omni-Man watches from above and only places an anonymous call to Cecil. A burst of rage lets Mark down several foes, but Battle Beast returns and knocks him cold.

The Guardians of the Globe arrive to turn the fight, though Battle Beast dismantles them one by one, critically wounding Monster Girl and breaking Black Samson's arm. The team rallies to take down the remaining villains through teamwork, until only Battle Beast is left; bored by the lack of challenge, he drops the broken heroes and teleports away. Rex knocks out the fleeing Machine Head, and a regretful Titan apologizes to the barely-conscious Invincible amid the ruins. As the wounded are rushed to GDA care, Titan settles into his new position, unaware that Machine Head's mysterious superiors, the Order, are about to take an interest in him.

Titan enlists Invincible to overthrow Machine Head, and their raid triggers the kingpin's contingency: a hired squad of elite villains led by Battle Beast. Invincible is nearly beaten to death and abandoned by Titan mid-fight, while Black Samson and Monster Girl are severely injured.

The arriving Guardians defeat most of Machine Head's crew, Battle Beast leaves out of boredom, Isotope escapes, and Machine Head is captured. Titan takes over the tower, setting up his later entanglement with the Order.

The event unfolds across the fifth Season 1 episode, That Actually Hurt, at Machine Head's Chicago tower during the Thragg Era in early 2023. It sits between the Mission to Mars conflict and Nolan's later confrontation, running alongside Nolan's Odyssey and the Reign of Titan storylines.

In the source comic, Battle Beast wounds Bulletproof and Black Samson rather than Monster Girl, one of several changes the adaptation makes to the roster of the injured.