BILLY STEELE: KID RANGER, CHAPTER THREE

Billy had both haves of the map that led to his parents’ secret mine, full of a great and glorious power. But he lacked the key to the map, the shimmering black coin stolen from his parents by the evil ones over a decade ago.

Both Billy and The Dark Skull needed what the other possessed. But neither would give in to the other’s demands.

"It’s no use, Billy," The Dark Skull sneered with a merciless satisfaction. "I can easily kill you and take the map. I have your dead parents’ black coin and then we’re off to their mine and soon we will conquer the West, and then the world."

The outlaw army smiled in sadistic agreement with their leader while they trained their savage guns on the boy and his elderly Indian sage. "But I’ll make a bargain with you, Billy," The Dark Skull growled. "I’ll let you live, if you hand over your map and ride away."

"This is my parents’ gift to me. You stole what belonged to them, my legacy, my heritage, and now you want me to give up everything to you, a crazed killer? Never, you’ll have to fight me for it" screamed Billy.

"Well, if you don’t care about dying, that’s your choice, Billy," The Dark Skull cried. "But maybe, you care enough about your old Indian buddy. Maybe you want him to live."

Billy turned and saw that the aged White Eagle was captured by The Wolf Man and Don Diablo. The half man, half beast clutched the Indian’s throat while holding a dagger to it, while the devil’s disciple pointed his six-shooter at White Eagle’s heart and cocked back the hammer agonizingly. .

With an army of guns trained on him, the 12-year old cried at his realization that he could not sacrifice the life of his beloved teacher. In mere seconds, Billy was forced to make a life and death decision. Relinquish his heritage and homeland or the life of his mentor? Although White Eagle implored Billy not to give in to the evil, Billy read the terror in White Eagle’s eyes and he could not let his heart die. As Billy prepared to hand the map over to his hated enemy, the evil one howled in his ear.

"The deal has changed, Billy," The Dark Skull yelled. "In exchange for White Eagle’s pitiful life, I want something more than your map. I want that little black arrowhead he gave you. Legend tells it has some sort of magnificent power, which will ensure my dominance."

Billy remembered the sacred promise he made to White Eagle. If Billy relinquished the arrowhead’s great power to The Dark Skull it’s the same as Billy becoming a betrayer of the arrowhead’s power, and thereby, Billy would be unleashing the arrowhead’s dark curse. Billy will not only lose his power to become The Lightning Warrior, but also, Billy will release a great tragedy upon his loved ones, home and country. If Billy breaks his promise and gives the arrowhead to The Dark Skull, Billy will be giving all the Indian, magical, magnificent power to the worst scourge the world has ever known. Billy could not imagine all the horror The Trinity Of Terror would cause if they had thousands of years of Native American magic at their wicked command. Billy remembered how White Eagle, the super heroic Manitou of old, suffered a horrible fate when he was forced to betray the arrowhead to save a loved one’s life, and that made this dilemma’s horns even sharper.