In 2000 Los Angeles, California, Rollerboys leader Gary Lee addresses the city’s youth via television, decrying the economic depression that resulted in a Japanese takeover, and proclaiming his white-supremacist gang as savior of the United States. Although Griffin, an orphaned rollerblade enthusiast, ignores Gary Lee’s propaganda, his younger brother, Miltie, is enthralled. Later, Miltie is given boxing lessons by “Speedbagger,” a retired African American prizefighter, who allows the boys to stay at his bicycle repair shop. That night, while delivering pizzas, Griffin crashes his delivery van through the front of a burning house to free “Bullwinkle,” a young man trapped inside. Moments later, Griffin is arrested as an accomplice in the Rollerboys’ drug operation, and informed by Detective Jaworsky that the burning house was a drug laboratory. After charges are dropped, Griffin’s employer, Pinky, demands compensation for the damage to his van. The following day, Gary Lee recalls his childhood friendship with Griffin, and offers to repay him for saving Bullwinkle. Although Griffin wants nothing from the Rollerboys, Miltie accepts Gary Lee’s offer, and asks him to replace Pinky’s van. Later, Bullwinkle and his comrade, “Bango,” try to extort protection money from Speedbagger, but desist as a favor to Griffin. During a party on an amusement pier, Gary Lee invites Griffin to join the Rollerboys. Unable to respond, Griffin walks away, followed by undercover detective Casey, who begs him to sell her “mist,” the addictive drug manufactured by the gang. When Griffin rebuffs Casey, Jaworsky tries to recruit him as a police operative. Griffin refuses, despite Jaworsky’s warning that Miltie is already selling mist for the Rollerboys, and will likely become an addict. The next evening, Griffin is mistaken for a Rollerboy by a member of rival gang B13, and Bullwinkle saves his life. Realizing the danger to his brother, and his own obligation to the Rollerboys, Griffin accepts Jaworsky’s offer. Gary Lee is happy to renew his friendship with Griffin, but warns that treason is punishable by death. Griffin and two other boys undergo an initiation in which they are required to skate through a heavily guarded shipyard and steal a security officer’s badge. Only Griffin survives the ordeal, and after he is sworn into the Rollerboys, Casey assigns him to locate the gang’s new drug laboratory, known as a “mist house.” While giving Griffin a guided tour of gang headquarters, Gary Lee discusses his vast financial holdings and reveals that Casey is the sister of a deceased Rollerboy, placing her above suspicion. After learning the location of the mist house, Griffin informs Casey, hoping he will be allowed to leave town and remove Miltie from the gang’s influence. However, Casey insists that Griffin remain until he is promoted to mist “cooker,” enabling him to secure evidence against Gary Lee. Griffin takes part in an attack on B13, but when he allows a pair of rival gang members to escape, Bullwinkle questions his loyalty. Meanwhile, Gary Lee discovers that Miltie has been using mist, and warns him of the consequences. Griffin attempts to prove his loyalty by participating in the beating of an African American man. When he realizes that the victim is his friend, Speedbagger, Griffin stops the beating. Bullwinkle becomes suspicious and follows Griffin to Casey’s house, where he discovers her police badge. As he holds Casey and Griffin at gunpoint, detectives Tyler and Watt shoot the gang member, saying they will blame the killing on B13. Gary Lee assigns Griffin to the mist house, where Bango reveals a secret additive, nicknamed “the rope,” which sterilizes users, preventing their offspring from compromising Gary Lee’s plan to create a master race. Tyler and Watt raid the facility, kill Bango, and hold Griffin at gunpoint while stealing drug money. Casey shoots them from behind, and Jaworsky admits that the raid served as a means to dispose of the corrupt detectives. Gary Lee takes Miltie hostage, but Jaworski refuses to negotiate with the gang leader. Miltie breaks free, and while a gunfight rages between police and Rollerboys, Gary Lee pursues Griffin through the compound. Miltie arms his brother with a gun, but Griffin refuses to kill Gary Lee, even as the gang member swears revenge. Sometime later, Griffin, Miltie, Casey, and Speedbagger drive north to Oregon, believing they are free from the Rollerboys. Meanwhile, the imprisoned Gary Lee is aware of Griffin’s destination, and instructs his accountant to explore business opportunities in the Pacific Northwest.