A choice to be made, and a price to be paid. Sometimes, doing the right thing means paying the ultimate price. Linden Lampkin, fifteen, ignored by an uncaring father, bullied and harassed by his peers, almost meets his end one night in an alleyway. The victim of a random mugging, he enters a portal into a parallel universe, a universe very much like ours. Linden ends up at the Tower, a hangout where a group of very unusual people—the Ultras—live and work. With advanced technology and medicine, they heal his injuries. The procedure ages him to that of someone almost twenty years old, and he begins a new life working with his mentors, a group of enhanced individuals who help out those on Earth whenever help is needed. Fitting in is difficult at first, but through hard work, Linden copes, succeeds, finds a girlfriend, and thinks he's found happiness. However, a chance meeting with someone on Earth leads him to think that the Ultras aren't really who they say they are. His search also pits him against a super-villain who has no qualms about killing, and when Linden finally learns the truth about who he's been living with, he also has to make the choice between saving his life and doing the right thing.