Meanwhile, outside the school, Troy and a Benjamin clone watched Streterra burn to the ground again. They had Harry and Chi-Chi both encased in a magic bubble.

“Everything is going according to plan...” Troy said aloud to himself, as he looked down at his black and purple pentagram.

“So, how is the spell coming along?” The Benjamin clone asked.

“It’s almost complete; soon, I’ll be able to conjure up this new spell.”

“Great to hear.”

“Hey, wait, why go for only this world? Why not use dark magic to conquer all the worlds? I mean, the real Benjamin and his allies are still on Earth somewhere.”

“Not a bad idea. Anything I can do to help?” In response, Troy whispered into the clone’s ear. “I see; you got it.” He nodded in agreement. “I’ll finish this before your spell is complete.”

“Ok, get to it.”

The fake Benjamin created a portal to hop into it.

.-.-.-.

Once the fake Benjamin arrived at the portal realm, he chanted a magic spell, which caused black blobs to appear. He ordered them to go into the portals laid out before them. The clean, pristine portals got contaminated, spreading across the areas and regions.

“Now, this is more like it!” He exclaimed.

“Hey, who’s there?” A female voice called out from afar.

“I’ll go check...” Another person chimed in.

“Uh, oh... I got to hurry and leave...” The Benjamin clone muttered to himself.

“Hey, stop! What do you think you’re doing?” Princess Murasakiiro came into the room and asked.

“Just giving you guys a little present before I go. See you, suckers!” The Benjamin clone taunted before jumping back into a portal.

“No, wait!”

“What happened, Saki?” Akapin came over and asked.

“A man put a curse on all our portals, affecting each of the worlds they represent!”

“He did what?”

“Yes, and whatever it’s doing, they’ll all—”

“Girls come quickly, there’s trouble!” Clause ran into the room and exclaimed.

.-.-.-.

The two Pilkons went back to the cauldron room, only to find that all the world bubbles had turned black and stopped moving.

Black blobs spawned and came to life, running around and causing havoc in each represented world. Princess Murasakiiro floated to the cauldron and realized that the water had become a pitch-black tar. She didn't know what to do.

“This is bad; this is awful!” She panicked.

“What should we do?” Clause asked.

“I, uh, we need to tell Bridget and the others to come back here as fast as possible!”

“But what about the antidote?”

“Their safety is also important, but... I don’t know anymore!”

“We have little time left.” Akapin mentioned, “If they don’t get it soon...”

“Let’s hope they do then; time is running short.” Clause replied.

.-.-.-.

Bridget, Midoricha, and Gurenji made it to a part of the region where the green had resided. They went through the odd forest in search of the antidote.

“There’s so much green in this place, too much of it!” Gurenji said in a disgusted tone.

“There’s also a lot of bugs around here, too,” Midoricha added.

“Well, yeah. There are a bunch of crazy and different worlds out there. You never know what happens in each of them...”

“Huh.”

Just then, a familiar female voice called out to them.

“Guys, can you hear me?”

“Was that Saki I just heard?” Bridget asked.

“I think I heard it, too,” Gurenji replied.

“Please, listen to me.” The Princess pleaded. “You must leave this place at once.”

“But why?” Bridget questioned.

“Yeah, why?” Gurenji and Midoricha added in unison.

“It’s dangerous; more enemies have invaded the world. If you don’t make it out of there—”

“But what about your mom?” Gurenji asked, “Weren’t we going to—?”

“I know, but...”

“No, we’ll take our chances.” Bridget interrupted. “We promised to get the antidote for you, right, Saki?”

“Yeah, we won’t give up!” Gurenji agreed.

“Well, ok, I trust you guys,” Murasakiiro replied.

“All right, let’s get going, then!” Bridget declared.

“Yeah!” Midorichi and Gurenji nodded in agreement before heading off once again.

“You know, that’s the first time I’ve heard you agree with me on something.” Bridget pointed out.

“Well, of course,” Gurenji responded proudly. “What you said was 101% correct.”

“I also agree,” Midoricha added.

“You’ve been quiet lately, Midoricha...” Bridget commented.

“Well, I didn’t want to get yelled at by Gurenji again.”

“Look, about that...” Gurenji began. “What I meant by that is you shouldn’t always state the obvious.”

“Oh, now I get it.”

A rustle in the bushes got the group’s attention. Bridget turned and watched as a strange creature jumped out from the bushes. It had heads and limbs attached to one giant flabby blob with red eyes, purple arms, and a black swarming torso.

As it walked towards them in an unsettling way, Bridget, Midoricha, and Gurenji all made a break for it and sprinted away.

They ran for their lives, trying not to trip and get caught by the strange creature, until they came across a cliff. Stuck in a tight spot, with little time to think of a way out of their mess, the blobs inched closer to them. The Pilkons could probably float away, but what would that leave Bridget?

“What should we do now?” Gurenji asked.

“Jump!” Bridget yelled.

“What? Are you out of your mind?” Gurenji doubled back in shock.

“That's a fantastic idea; let’s do it!” Midoricha exclaimed.

Bridget leaped off the cliff without looking back, with the other two Pilkons following right behind her. Gurenji and Midoricha grabbed Bridget’s feet so she could float safely onto the ground.

After separating from her feet, the three looked up as the creatures didn’t follow them. Then again, considering how steep the cliff was, they couldn’t be sure if it wasn’t following them.

“Man, that was a close one.” Bridget sighed in relief.

“My head hurts,” Gurenji complained.

“And that’s a long way up from here,” Midoricha commented. “Guess there’s no turning back now.”

“Tell me about it,” Gurenji muttered bitterly.

“Let’s get going then. Hopefully, we should be almost there...” Bridget proclaimed.

She continued to walk the path in front of her, with the Pilkons not too far behind.

.-.-.-.

Back at the base, a portal formed within the TV. Isabelle and Benjamin flew from it and landed back on the couch. Benjamin rubbed his head before opening his eyes, realizing what had happened.

“Chi-Chi! Harry!” He shouted as the portal within the TV disappeared. Benjamin ran to try and make it through despite this, while Isabelle just watched, unsure what to say.

“Hey, Isabelle?” Nicholas communicated to her through the laptop.

“Yeah, I’m here. What’s up, Nicholas?” Isabelle asked.

“Thank goodness. You’re all right...”

“I know, but how are we supposed to defeat that guy? Not to mention, save Benjamin’s animal buddies?”

“Well, er, I—”

“What have I done?” Benjamin mumbled sorrowfully, burying his face in his hands. “If only I hadn’t—”

“Benjamin, don’t blame yourself...” Isabelle said as she crawled over to place her hand on his shoulder.

“But I got arrogant and careless. I ended up caring more about the sphere than Harry and Chi-Chi’s safety. I left them behind, because of my—”

“Don’t worry; we’ll get them back!”

“I don’t know how, though...”

“I’m sure we can find a way.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Benjamin muttered.

“No problem.” Isabelle chirped.

Nicholas screamed, “Oh, shoot!”

“What’s wrong, Nicholas?” Isabelle turned and asked.

“Save the talking for later; look out the window!”

Isabelle and Benjamin peeked outside, and to their horror, mutant blob-like creatures roamed the streets from the reflection of the window glass. They had dark green faces, purple bulging eyes, dark red veins, and black limbs loosely attached to their bodies.

People screamed in fear as they ran from the monsters. The things headed towards Benjamin’s house, and as the pair dashed back inside, they blocked the doors and windows.

Once they finished that, the two returned to the center of the house and exchanged worried glances.

“Where do we go now?” Benjamin asked.

“Uh... up! Let’s go up!” Isabelle replied, pointing toward the ceiling.

Benjamin decided not to question how; he didn’t care as long as they got out of their current situation. Isabelle typed up as fast as she could on her laptop, creating an aqua-green platform for the two of them to stand on.

Benjamin grabbed his wand from the ground and hopped onto the platform before it took off. As they reached the roof, Benjamin used his magic to create a hole in the ceiling and have the remains hit the creatures, who had just now broken in.

.-.-.-.

After pausing their ascent above Benjamin’s roof, the two saw the strange creatures everywhere they looked, causing mayhem and mischief in their waking hour.

“Oh man, this is horrible!” Benjamin exclaimed, watching the chaos unfold.

“Nicholas, where are you right now?” Isabelle asked through the laptop. “We can pick you up!”

“Well, I’m kind of on a roof,” Nicholas replied.

“You too?”

“Yeah, but I’ll try to manage until you get here.”

“You shouldn’t be too far, though; just hang in there!”

Isabelle moved the platform to fly as Benjamin held on for dear life. In no time, they found Nicholas fending off some creatures that climbed up to his house.

The platform slowly disappeared as Isabelle waved and shouted for Nicholas’ attention. Having nothing to stand on, Benjamin and Isabelle fell. Nicholas grabbed Isabelle and pulled her up onto the roof with him, but Benjamin wasn’t as lucky and fell straight onto the ground.

He rubbed his head, brushed off his clothes, and saw that the creatures were gaining around towards him. Benjamin tried to brace himself, but when he shut his eyes and opened them again, the beings soon became ash.

Benjamin saw a guy fighting the monster's back with a sword. Even from a distance, Benjamin recognized him almost instantly. Isabelle and Nicholas noticed him, too, and watched as he sliced the creatures up with his sword and zapped them to ash with magic.

“Who’s that guy?” Isabelle whispered.

“I don’t know, but he's not bad,” Nicholas whispered back.

“Man, these things just keep coming,” Sebastian said to himself. “I hope I can handle them all.”

“Hey, you there!” Benjamin called out as he walked over to him.

“Benjamin?” Sebastian paused in his fighting.

“Sebastian?” Benjamin couldn’t help but stop in his tracks.

“What are you doing here?” They asked in unison as they pointed at one another. “You’re asking me?”

“Guys, pay attention; they’re still in the area!” Isabelle called out to them.

Nicholas looked over at his friend’s computer and saw it had grown a sickly purple aura around it. The atmosphere had spread out and formed into a beam of light, zooming past him and hitting Benjamin and Sebastian instead, making them disappear without a trace.

Isabelle and Nicholas both gasped in shock.

“What the— What happened?!” Isabelle asked, frantic.

“I don’t know; I’m so confused!” Nicholas exclaimed.

“What’s going on? Where are they now!?"