Many years later when Prati and Aishwarya were teenagers, Prati finally had enough of being bored, and decided one night to sneak out to join her friend. Aishwarya then took her parents’ boat out to Elephanta Island with Prati, to explore the famous Hindu caves dedicated to Shiva. The excitement filled the sheltered girl, and her adrenaline was rushing, as Prati had never done anything like it before. Aishwarya told her they were about to have the time of their lives, and she couldn’t wait.

Prati marveled at the dark sky over the ocean as they sailed to the island. The night sea air flowing through her hair was the greatest feeling she had ever experienced. Aishwarya laughed at the sight of her friend finally enjoying some freedom, comparing her to a bird who lived its life in captivity, and finally got to fly outside. However, when they arrived on the island, Prati grew more nervous than happy.

They snuck into the caves as the guards were not looking, and began exploring at their will. Prati kept saying they should leave or they were going to get caught, but Aishwarya calmed her down, and told her to enjoy herself. After some moments, Prati was able to, and that was when she felt alive again. The caves were beautiful, and she felt amazed while walking through them. Naturally, it was when she was at her highest moment of happiness that Prati experienced tragedy.

As Prati walked through the caves, she accidentally slipped and fell down a hidden hole, deep below the caves. The landing cracked her head open and rendered her concussed. She screamed in pain, and Aishwarya yelled to her from above that she was going to get help. Prati was terrified! She cried and cried, and then she felt something – blood was pumping out of her head. The sight of it made her want to pass out, but before her eyes closed, she noticed a glowing substance was also dripping from her head. As she looked around, she noticed her head landed in a small reservoir of this strange substance. The rest was dark after that.

When Prati woke, she was in a hospital. Her parents were sitting by her side, and they were relieved to see her awaken. However, their joy was short lived, and they then began scolding her for sneaking out. Prati argued with them, saying though she got hurt, it was the best night of her life. More shouting ensued, and the father grew very weary of his daughter’s defiance. So, he moved to raise his hand to slap her. At that moment Prati reacted with quickness, and intercepted her dad’s hand before he could even raise it. This shocked him, because it was as if she read his mind and knew what he was going to do. Her father was stunned, and feeling alarmed, he left the room. Her mother followed him, and then Prati began crying. Her tears slowed, though, when she saw a teddy bear with a note next to her bed. It was from Aishwarya, and the note said she was sorry Prati was hurt, and that she would make it up to her if they ever met again, for her parents sent her to live with family in Platinum City as punishment. Prati grew even more upset,and the water works flowed once more.

Months went by, and as Prati healed, her life was torturous. Her parents watched her every move, and she was forced to go back to doing nothing but studying. When she graduated from high school, her parents wanted her to go to the University of Mumbai. However, Prati had aspirations of her own, and secretly applied to Platinum City University. Lo and behold, she was accepted to PCU on a full scholarship. She also received a full ride from U of Mumbai, but she refused to go, which caused another rift between her and her parents. Yet, Prati did not give in, and though her parents were not happy, they could not stop Prati from going where she wanted.

When Prati arrived at PCU, her first objective was to find Aishwarya. She knew she may never achieve her goal, but she was determined to try. Luckily for her, she did not have to look far: Aishwarya was also a freshman starting at PCU! After being sent to the States, her aunt and uncle forced her to clean up her act, and when she did, she excelled in school. Prati was ecstatic, as was Aishwarya, and the two did not skip a beat in reuniting as best friends.

Ultimately, they graduated together from PCU undergrad and medical school, looking to become doctors. However, during their residency something tragic happened. One night, a mysterious individual appeared out of thin air in their apartment and grabbed them. It was the book ninja, Cliché! She took them both to Sir Vellichor‘s Grand Library, where Aishwarya was transported into a book. It was Prati’s task to free her. Reluctantly, she agreed, and allowed herself to be placed in the book as well.

Back on Earth, General Hank Garrison, Lt. Rashard Bonds, and several others were in the midst of preparing for an imminent attack by the Tromokratesian armada of battleships and star cruisers. Captain Noble had returned from being lost at space, and was helping to spearhead the preparation efforts. Garrison, however, pulled Lou and Noble aside, and informed them that they needed to get to Sir Vellichor’s library to address the kidnapping of these two women, as well as the nine other people who had been snatched by Cliché and taken to the mystical realm in the last few days. Lou, of course, scoffed at the general, and said he had to be out of his mind if he thought they were leaving when the Tromokratesians were on their way for the triplos aseri.

Gen. Garrison was not joking, though. Recognizing the graveness on his face, Noble asked how he was so sure that Vellichor was behind the kidnappings. The General then revealed that a little more than a week before, Cliché had visited him in his office at the Pentagon, and demanded to speak to Lou and Noble. She claimed the library was under attack by a malevolent being, and they needed the help of two mighty heroes to thwart the menace, as it had become evident that after devouring the library, “The Entity”, as Cliché had called it, could very well break from Sir Vellichor’s realm, and devour all of the Core Reality. With Captain Noble lost in space at the time, and Lou out on a series of missions with the Alpha Initiative, the General was forced to tell the book ninja that he could not help her. She, in turn, told him that she would be forced to continue bringing other hyper-beings to the library in an attempt to stop The Entity, but she made it quite clear that without Lou and Noble, they probably did not stand a chance. She begged him to promise her that he would simply say the words“John-One-Five”.

Lou looked to the Captain, and the two paused for a moment. Another cataclysmic event was taking place, and though they both wanted to stay and prepare for the battle with Emperor Kako and his forces, nobody else knew the Library, Sir Vellichor, or his people like they did. Then, Gen. Garrison asked, what good is it to prepare to save the world from the Tromokratesians, if there is no world to save by the time they arrive. Lou shrugged in reluctant agreement and the heroes agreed to go. Lou said he needed to coordinate with the Alpha Initiative for a while first, so Captain Noble said he would be getting a shave and haircut while he waited. It was time for the cosmic beard and hair to go.

Within a couple of hours, both heroes were ready. Garrison did as he had been instructed by Cliché, and spoke the words. Noble asked what “John One Five” meant. But before he could get and answer, Cliché appeared, took them each by the wrist, and teleported them to Sir Vellichor’s Grand Library. She then answered his question by telling him that it was a bible verse – “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it.” The two of them then exchanged glares, as their long held animosity toward one another had not died one bit. Chuck Chapter trotted past Cliché, and began rubbing his head against Captain Noble’s leg, showing signs of missing the hero. Noble petted Chuck, and commented that it was good to see the Library pet still hated her. Before they could bicker back and forth, though, Sir Vellichor arrived, accompanied by Lexicon and Binder.

Lou told Sir Vellichor to skip the eccentricities and get straight to explaining why he broke their terms and kidnapped Prati and others, knowing full well he’d face dire consequences. Everyone in his Book Club had not to capture hyper-humans anymore. Sir Vellichor explained that he had no choice, because something was destroying his Library, and at the time the two of them were not available. Furthermore, Lady Paige had also disappeared, leaving his library completely and utterly vulnerable to this Entity that was destroying his home, and threatening to destroy the universe if it could not be stopped.

Captain Noble asked how it all started. The master of the Library responded with a magnificent tale of high adventure, in which Cliché, Binder, Bookmarc and Lady Paige had traveled to a planet at the furthest reaches of the universe, and found a vast collection of extraordinary manuscripts, on what seemed to be an abandoned world. It soon became apparent that the books themselves were actually the inhabitants of the planet! They were sentient, and they were ferocious! The books attacked them like a swarm of killer bees. The battle was long and brutal, but eventually the Book Club was able to overcome the vicious volumes, rendering them a pile of ripped pages and broken spines. All but a single book was decimated, and it was the one book that seemed to not be sentient at all. They grabbed it, and returned to the library. Sir Vellichor was overjoyed with the new addition. But just a few days after adding it to his collection, it turned out to be more than he bargained for, as one day after he had read a few chapters – which seemed to recount the history of an ancient race of humanoid aliens in a yet-uncharted area of the multiverse – the book refused to close. Then, one by one, the pages began to turn black!

Startled, he tossed it to the ground. The darkness quickly spread to the books on the nearby bookshelf, which in turn began spreading to more books. Soon, dozens of books were blacked out. Binder telepathically leapt into one of the blacked-out books, in an attempt to discover what was happening, and when he did, he felt a deep void of nothingness. He also sensed that the darkness would eventually spread throughout the entire library, and once it was done with the books, it would break out into the rest of the universe. Lady Paige was sent in to destroy The Entity, but after several hours she had not returned, and neither Binder, nor Sir Vellichor himself could detect her telepathically. For all intents and purposes, she was gone. So, they began capturing hyper-humans, and sending them into the collection to fight the Entity. But to this point there had been little success. In fact, all had been lost to the Entity except two – and one of them was Prati Bimb. Sir Vellichor needed Lt. Bonds and Captain Noble to go into the books, and help them defeat the darkness.

The heroes had zero desire to do so, but they looked around the library, and it was evident that the darkness was indeed spreading throughout all the volumes. There was a good chance he was telling the truth. Plus, if there was a chance to save innocent lives, they could not ignore it. And so, they agreed to go in. They went over to the volume in which Prati was placed and Binder worked his magic, transporting the two of them into the book.

The scenery was that of an abandoned metropolis, and the mood was hostile, violent winds ripped at them, and a number of shadowy creatures lurked around every turn, as if they were perpetually on the verge of attacking. As Lou and Cap searched for any answers, they were confused as to why the master of the Library would kidnap two med school students. Then, they heard a loud commotion, and ran to see what it was. It was Prati!

She was going head to head with a group of the shadowy figures. To their surprise, the young doctor was quite masterful in her tactical and combat skills. She moved about with precise intent, constantly beating her enemy to theattack, or defending perfectly, seemingly knowing what offensive move they were going to perform. She was carrying a sword, and wielded it with lethal skill. Her strikes were true, and she always found the openings in the enemy’s guard, despite their ability to disappear for short periods. It was not long before Prati took them all down.

After the fight was over, Prati heard the heroes nearby, and prepared for more battle. Captain Noble, however, quickly explained why they were there, and asked why Sir Vellichor would kidnap her and her friend. Prati referenced the dark entity, and she said that Sir Vellichor is scared of losing everything, so he’s been kidnapping hyper-powered people to fight on his behalf. She explained that her hyper-ability allowed her to read people’s moves before they even performed them, by tapping into their frontal motor cortex. She had also developed advanced speed and agility, in tandem with her hyper-cognitive abilities. Lou then asked where she’d learned to fight. Prati answered, over time, in the books. They said it was impossible to learn how to fight that well in a few days. This made Prati pause, though, for by her calculations, she had been trapped in the books for almost ten years, battling against the shadowy figures, and watching other hyper-beings be consumed by the darkness. The time-continuum in the books and the Library had thrown everything off, apparently.

Finally, Captain Noble asked why Sir Vellichor had also taken Aishwarya, knowing she had no powers at all. Prati told them she was incentive to ensure Prati helped him. He said if she failed, Aishwarya was dead. Thus why, Prati refused to give up. The heroes looked at each other for a second, and then decided they should all work together to defeat the darkness that was spreading. Prati agreed, and the three went off on their way find and destroy the Entity.

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