Chapter 41
The Ultimate Hero Part 1
Lisa couldn't believe that Billy has been abducted. Then, the heroes finally came back from the Sahara Desert. When Bella and Lincoln heard from Casey Linct what had happened to Ryder Linct,they calmly asked who did this to him. Lisa, dejected that Billy is gone, explained that it is Dennis Longshun, the leader of the Council of the Crystals and the Midnight Eves. Lincoln got mad because Ryder was his rival, but he knows that he doesn't stand a chance against the person who did that to him. Meanwhile, Billy got sent to Bali, Indonesia. The Council of the Crystals and the Midnight Eves are now waiting for their leader Dennis Longshun to arrive from Australia. As they waited, Blackjack wanted to make Billy into one of them by erasing his mind. Darkdrake suggested that they kill him and toss him aside. Tidalthree and the other Midnight Eves members supported Darkdrake's idea. Billy (completely defenseless because he is still trapped in the jelly monster Blackjack) could only watch. Meanwhile,as Betty and Marianne watched the Buenos Aires sunset together, the 'M' scar in Marianne glew. Betty touched her hand and asked Marianne what is wrong. Marianne said that she doesn't know. All of a sudden, both Marianne and Betty were transported to Bali, where Billy is located. They encountered Billy trapped and defenseless.
Lisa’s voice cracked, a tremor running through her as she stammered, "Billy... he's gone." The raw disbelief in her eyes mirrored the stunned silence that had fallen over the remaining heroes. Just then, a shimmering portal opened, and a weary but determined group emerged, blinking in the sunlight. Bella and Lincoln, their faces etched with concern, approached Casey Linct, who was tending to the gravely wounded Ryder. With a calmness that belied the fury simmering beneath, Bella inquired, "What happened to Ryder?" Lisa, her shoulders slumped in despair, explained, "It was Dennis Longshun. The leader of the Council of the Crystals and the Midnight Eves." Lincoln’s jaw tightened, his rivalry with Ryder momentarily forgotten in the face of such brutal incapacitation. He knew, with a sinking certainty, that facing Longshun was beyond their current capabilities.
Meanwhile, in the humid embrace of Bali, Indonesia, Billy Rodrick found himself a prisoner. The Council of the Crystals and the Midnight Eves awaited their leader’s arrival, the air thick with anticipation. Blackjack, her jelly-like powers a constant, unsettling presence, proposed a chilling fate for Billy: to have his mind erased, to be remade into one of their own. Darkdrake, ever the pragmatist, countered with a more final solution, suggesting Billy’s life be extinguished and his body discarded. The other Midnight Eves members, and Tidalthree, nodded in agreement. Trapped within Blackjack’s gelatinous prison, Billy could only watch, his formidable powers rendered useless.
Miles away, in Buenos Aires, Betty and Marianne stood on a rooftop, the vibrant hues of the sunset painting the sky. A shared moment of quiet reflection was shattered when the 'M' scar on Marianne's brow began to glow. Betty, her hand instinctively reaching out, asked, "Marianne, what's wrong?" Marianne could only shake her head, a strange sense of unease washing over her. Suddenly, a disorienting lurch, a swirling vortex of energy, and they too were transported, finding themselves in the same tropical paradise as Billy. Before them, he remained, defenseless and trapped, a stark testament to the escalating machinations of their enemies.