To Benjamin's surprise, a different lady stood beside the desk. The look-a-like hung her previous clothes on the wall, while a mannequin with a wig sat on the bureau. He already got weird vibes from this room and desperately wanted to hightail it out of there and try to find the girl that had his sphere.

“Ah, hello there. I’ve been expecting you.” The young lady remarked. She had short purple hair and a long flowing sweater skirt. She didn’t look like the young woman he was pursuing anymore, as her age was more apparent now that she was dressed more like an adult than a teen.

“Y-you have?” Benjamin was at a loss for words. He directly pointed at the wig on the desk with a puzzled look on his face.

“Oh, I sometimes dress up differently to learn more about my students here.”

“Uh... ok?” Benjamin wasn’t entirely sure why that was relevant, but earthlings were rumored to have strange customs. ‘Why am I here again?’

“Here’s your application, sir.” She gave him a piece of paper from the top of her desk. “All you have to do is sign here, and you can be in that girl’s class.”

“Oh, so is that what this is all…? Hmm.” Benjamin couldn’t believe his luck. He looked down at the standard form that read ‘Substitute Teacher Application Form’ across the top. It never dawned on him to inquire why the principal knew about his intention to find the young girl or, more importantly, why she was helping him to accomplish this.

“You did want to be a substitute teacher for this school, right?” The principal empathized with the words in a taunting tone, as if questioning his intentions.

“Uh, yeah, I do. Just sign here?” Benjamin took the pen from the principal’s hand and wrote his name across the signature line at the bottom of the page. “Ok, this shouldn’t be too hard.” He said aloud.

“That’s right.” The principal replied. “Alright, Mr... Benjamin? You’re all set.” She pointed toward the door as she rolled the application form into a cylinder and tucked it into her desk drawer. “Your class should be on the fifth floor, second door on the right.”

“Awesome, nothing’s going to stop me now,” Benjamin muttered under his breath and got up from the cramped student desk where he had been sitting.

He headed out when the school bell rang, announcing that everyone should be in class by now. It caught him off guard and hurt his ears with how loud it was. He touched his head with both of his hands and grunted.

“What’s wrong? Have you never heard a school bell before?” The principal looked at him oddly, but Benjamin paid her no mind.

He was on a mission and wasted time by staying here. He hurried up the stairs to the fifth floor with a new plan in mind.

Just you wait, whoever you are, because soon I’ll be coming for you and my crystal sphere!

.-.-.-.

In the classroom, the students grew impatient with the absence of their assigned teacher. It was unfortunate enough to have a substitute teacher, but sitting and waiting for them to get there was equivalent to torture. The large, framed young man slumped down in his seat, snoring quietly. The young pink-haired girl held her book bag closer to her legs. She trusted Nicky to protect her, but also knew he wasn’t always the brightest tool in the shed.

“Ugh, I wonder what’s taking the teacher so long.” She groaned out loud. Her eyes opened wide in fear as she held her breath. No. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t. There’s no way.

.-.-.-.

Back in the monster world, Sebastian read several books he checked out from the library. He plopped himself down in the middle of the hallway and on the aqua-green floor, surrounding himself in a section where the wall was a pale shade of white.

He had remembered spending most of the night trying to figure out if there was a surefire way to know the culprit and their motives. So far, he seemed to have no such luck. But Sebastian didn’t want to give up and let poor Glenda down. He had to keep on going for her sake.

Just as he opened another one of the books, a familiar voice spoke up and jolted him from his concentration. Sebastian turned to find Troy walking over towards him, seeming to have heard him mumble to himself.

“Hey there, uh, what are you doing?” Troy asked.

“Reading, of course. What does it look like?” Sebastian replied, turning back to the book on his lap.

“But in the middle of the hallway, why?” Troy continued to pester him; his curiosity just wouldn’t let up.

“Look, I got nowhere to—” Sebastian started, when the bells rang again, causing him to jump. “Oh, goodness, I didn’t realize the time! I got to hurry!” He sprung up from his feet, picked up his books, and sprinted down the halls.

“Hey, wait!” Troy called out to him.

“My apologies, Troy, but I can’t chat right now!” He shouted without looking back. The last thing Sebastian needed right now was to get a tardy for class.

.-.-.-.

To his relief, Sebastian had made it just in time, and well before the bell rang for the second time. He breathed a sigh of relief as he went over to his seat, his perfect attendance secured, and Benjamin and Lauren won’t make fun of him either.

Glenda had walked into the room; after some greetings, she went to do the daily attendance. Roll call went on as usual, at first. Glenda called Bridget and Lauren’s names, and they responded the same way as last time. However, when she came to Sebastian, he didn’t respond. Sebastian had trouble straightening himself out. He got so tired and busy from yesterday that he couldn’t concentrate on anything she said.

Remembering how he didn’t get much sleep last night, his eyes drifted elsewhere. His eyes drooped as he plummeted into a deep slumber. As Glenda called for him again, Lauren nudged him on the shoulder to get him to wake up.

Sebastian jolted over from his seat and shouted: “I AM A PRESENT!”

Glenda stared at him for a while before saying: “Uh, ok then?”

Sebastian placed his head down on the table and sulked quietly to himself.

Oh man, I can’t believe I just did that, and in front of everybody, no less. I’d rather have been late for class...

Before saying the last name, Glenda looked over and couldn’t help but glance at Benjamin’s desk. It appeared dusty; no one seemed to notice the dead silence without his loud demeanor, energy, and a somewhat lousy attitude.

Glenda bit her lip as her eyes darted across the room. Was there already an absent student? They were just about to get into the real meat of the program, too. Should she wait for him to arrive before continuing the next lesson? She remembered the principal telling her that all the students should succeed no matter what, and if he were to fall behind- no, she couldn’t take that risk; it wouldn’t be worth it. But where had Benjamin gone?

Now that she also thought of it, he arrived late yesterday too, so maybe he’ll show up at any time soon? But how much longer until he showed up? Then, she thought up an idea to pass up the time.

“We will postpone our lessons until further notice (or until Benjamin finally shows up).”

“What?!” The other students complained.

“No complaining. You guys do whatever you want until I get back from something, just as long as it isn’t stupid or harmful. I’ll be right back...” Glenda finished as she got up and left the area, leaving the students inside.

“Uh, what just happened?” Sebastian asked with a yawn.

He raised his head, rubbed his eyes, and looked around, noticing the teacher was nowhere in sight.

“Yeah, what was that all about?” Bridget added, “I just hope it’s not something too terrible...”

“Eh, who cares?” Lauren shrugged.

Well, I, at least, can finally nap without consequences. Sebastian sighed with contentment as he rested his head on the desk and closed his eyes.

.-.-.-.

Meanwhile, back in the world with those humans, Benjamin still headed up to the fifth floor. Slowly, but evidently, he tried to press on, but it grew tiring for him, as the muscles in his body tightened around him and beads of sweat rolled down his body.

How can ordinary humans put up with this tripe? As the magician continued climbing, he saw that it was only the third floor. How much longer will this go on?! He feared his legs would pass out!

But before Benjamin could potentially think of a way of finding the person who invented the stairs and cast a spell on them, a ding noise caught his attention as he glanced across the hallway.

Huh, did I hear something beneficial for me?

He turned to notice two guys coming out of some weird contraption that took them to this floor without any requirement of walking around. Now that’s something a real magician should ride!

“You there,” Benjamin spoke to the two of them. “That thing you were on earlier, what is that? It looked like a teleporting magic box.”

“Uh, an elevator?” The guy in the wheelchair replied.

“Do you not know what that is?” The other guy who pushed the chair questioned.

“No, of course not. I demand an explanation!” Benjamin shouted at the guy doing the pushing.

“What’s the magic word?” He asked.

“Magic? Do you guys know magic?”

“No, it shouldn’t be that hard to—”

“But I can’t think of anything like—”

“It’s please.”

“Please?!”

“Sure, since you said it, but try it in a better tone next time?”

“Huh?”

“An elevator takes you from one floor to another in seconds. Push the buttons you see when you come in. However, only those who need it may go inside.”

“Wait, then how can you go in there without any problem?”

“Because I’m with someone who needs it. Lazy schmucks like you can go to the one beside it or take the stairs; it's good exercise, ya know.” The guy snickered as he walked off with the other guy in the chair.

I don’t like that guy. Benjamin glared at him until they both entered a room.

Benjamin decided it was no time to think about destruction, yet, he had to hurry to class, and that elevator was his ticket up to the highest floor without having his legs sprained. Of course, Benjamin could always use magic, but he didn’t want to risk getting caught by someone of little worth.

He turned his head in both directions of the hallway to ensure no one looked before reaching for the elevator button stuck on the wall. It took a while, but it eventually came down with a loud ding sound. As the door opened and Benjamin stood right before it, he looked over... some stairs? You have to be kidding! Who puts stairs inside an elevator? And how did they do that!? Would these humans be desperate enough to pull this card!?

Fortunately for him, Benjamin looked over. A guy with crutches headed into an actual-looking elevator, which had already opened up. He remembered the other guy had gone in with someone who needed it, so Benjamin followed him inside before the doors closed. Benjamin pushed the five-button for the fellow elevator man, as he also had to go to that floor. He thought this couldn’t be a coincidence, but he saved time and helped both of them as they waited.

Gravity pushed him down as the elevator rose two floors. Benjamin wondered what kind of magic caused this. The other guy just looked at him with a confused look on his face. Eventually, the doors opened, and they both got off, heading to their classes. The dark magician noticed the guy was a door closer to where he needed to go and struggled to open the door. Benjamin decided that since the boy was of help to him, being the magician that he was, he would open the door for him.

As he did that, however, complete with the man thanking him for his kindness, Benjamin realized something was amiss.

Wait a minute; what am I doing? I shouldn’t be doing this; I have a crucial task to do! Benjamin paced the halls in a state of panic. What kind of a dark magician am I? I’m the worst!

He desperately needed to hightail it to class; Benjamin ran but then stopped upon realizing that his room was next door. He got ready in position and smiled before opening the door. Now it’s time to show them what he’s got; it's showtime.