Benjamin and Sebastian woke up and found themselves in an empty white void. There were no objects, no doors, no people except for them. It felt like being trapped in a giant, white box with no way out.

“Hey, where are we?” Benjamin asked.

“Why are you asking me? I have no clue.” Sebastian replied.

“Well, this sucks. Do you have any idea what happened back there?”

“Not really. What about you? Do you know what was up with those things?”

“No way. I mean, I remembered summoning a monster to help me, but it never showed up, and I don’t believe it’s any of those guys.”

“Wait, say that again?” Sebastian asked.

“Say what again? That I tried to—?”

“So, you’re the one that summoned that monster in the junkyard?”

“Whoa, hey, hold on... did the spell work after all?”

“Tell me something, Benjamin. Why are you here? How did you even—?”

“Wait, I wanted to take over worlds, but I didn’t want to destroy them,” Benjamin told him. “And besides, Troy’s the one that put me through all this mess! I’d be in my dorms if it weren't for—”

“Troy? Are you blaming it on him? Now I can’t believe what you’re saying...”

“What's gotten into you?”

“You’re the one responsible for all this, aren’t you? Is the traitor you of all people? I can’t believe it, but with this opportunity, you leave me no choice.”

“What are you saying? Why would I—?”

“You know, I’ve been thinking,” Sebastian muttered, lowering his head. “What do I want to do with my life? What is my goal in life? I wasn’t so sure at first; in fact, I didn’t want to decide, but, after spending time on this little planet, I...”

“Let me guess; you want to help Earth and humanity?”

“No, I only want to protect those I care about... and I’ll start by killing you! Prepare to die!”

Sebastian’s hair and sword changed to orange as he charged at Benjamin. With every swing of his sword, he threw some magic beams at Benjamin, who focused on dodging.

Sebastian didn’t understand. They’ve been fighting and arguing for as long as they’ve known each other, proving who’s superior. This spar could be the best chance to settle it once and for all. But, for whatever reason, Benjamin didn’t fight back.

“Why aren’t you fighting back?” Sebastian asked, fuming.

“As much as I want to,” Benjamin started, “you’re not my real enemy here.”

“But who else could you be targeting, besides...?”

“Can’t you see I’m not the one you should fight? You never told me why you were even on Earth to begin with!”

“Me?” Sebastian stopped attacking. “Well, Lauren pushed me to a portal that led me here so I could find the traitor. I don’t know why she did that; I mean, she could’ve easily told me or...” A wave of realization hit him as his face dropped. “Oh my gosh, she set me up.”

That took you long enough. Benjamin thought. “She and Troy are working together. They must have sent us both here so they could take over the school without worrying about us trying to stop them. They probably did the same to the teachers, I think.”

“What — How do you, of all people, know—?”

An echo of clapping interrupted their conversation. Sebastian and Benjamin looked up and saw a familiar face.

“So, you finally figured it out?” The Benjamin clone questioned with a smug smile.

“Is that... a clone?” Sebastian guessed.

“Wow, I guessed that too,” Benjamin admitted. “Thanks for confirming it for me, you loser!” He shouted.

“Man, you’re irritating.” Fake Benjamin muttered.

“But even so, you showed up again...”

“So are you the one who sent us here? Why would you do that?” Sebastian asked.

“So it’d be easier for me to kill you both. No one will help you either.”

Sebastian clenched his teeth; he didn’t know how to react or what to do. Benjamin, on the other hand, glanced at Sebastian’s weapon before snatching it and lunging at the clone, cutting his cheek, as a trickle of blood ran down on his face. This took aback Sebastian.

“What do you think you’re—?”

“This way, it’ll be easier for you to tell who’s who,” Benjamin answered, handing back Sebastian’s sword.

“No way, that’s brilliant of you! When did you—?”

“Now is not the time to talk about this. We have a bigger problem in front of us!”

“Hey, are you guys done talking?” The Benjamin clone asked as he readied his magic orbs. “Are we going to fight or not?”

“You ready?” The real Benjamin asked.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” Sebastian replied.

“Let’s do this.”

.-.-.-.

Benjamin’s clone threw magic orbs at the duo, and they dodged them as best as they could. Sebastian blocked the shots with his sword and fired some beams right back at the clone. Like an audition for a Kung-Fu movie, fake Benjamin blocked them off with his fists.

Benjamin shouted ‘aura beam’ and blasted a beam from his wand, trying to catch his clone by surprise, but the impostor swallowed it, licking his lips afterward.

“Mm, that was tasty.” The fake Benjamin commented.

“Hey, give that back!” Benjamin shouted.

“Sure thing.” The clone replied while he blocked another one of Sebastian’s attacks and inhaled deeply.

Benjamin’s aura beam reappeared as he exhaled, his mouth right towards Benjamin. He got out of the way, just in time, with the beam connecting with the wall behind him and exploding.

Sebastian went in for another attack but got countered by a sword, and the clone materialized.

Benjamin gave another battle cry as he attempted to strike the imposter in the back. The clone created another dark sword, blocking his attack and knocking Benjamin’s wand out of his hand.

“Benjamin, you need to stop shouting and giving away your position!” Sebastian pointed out.

“Well, at least I’m trying here!” Benjamin exclaimed.

“Are you saying I’m not?”

“Whatever happened to ‘no time for arguing’?”

“I never said that, and you started it!”

“I did?”

“Hey!” The clone called out to Benjamin, “You don’t have to try if you don’t want to.”

“What?” Benjamin asked.

“Why not give up and stop fighting altogether?”

“No.” Benjamin calmly replied, “Give me back, Harry and Chi-Chi, and then we can talk!”

He whispered to his wand as it commanded it to summon water. The water rose quickly, flooding the room at an alarming rate. The imposter soon caught on, but Sebastian had no clue what Benjamin’s plan was.

“Ah, I see,” The fake Benjamin commented smugly, “But there’s no way you’ll ever beat—”

Sebastian went in for another attack, but the clone blocked his sword again. This time, Sebastian surprised the clone by kicking him in the stomach, causing the clone to fall into the water. Sebastian snatched the dark sword before it fell. Benjamin flew over to where his companion stood. They both performed lightning spells directed at the water. Once the enchantments finished, the two high-fived each other.

“Great teamwork!” Benjamin complimented.

“Wait, we don’t know if he’s dead or not.” Sebastian pointed out.

“What? But how could he survive something like—?”

The water quickly rose like a geyser. Using it as a distraction, the clone Benjamin snuck up behind the real magician and tackled him to a nearby wall. They punched and kicked with all their might, eventually falling into the water, leaving Sebastian panicking above them. Unsure who was who anymore, he grabbed his sword, aiming carefully at them.

In the water, the two Benjamins struggled, keeping themselves from drowning. The clone grabbed Benjamin by the neck and started choking him. However, he let go and backed away, barely missing several energy beams as they sliced through the water.

Benjamin’s unconscious form sunk into the water, as his life drained from his soul, and he couldn’t move anymore. A soft voice spoke to him from the fading darkness of his mind.

Don’t give up. Don’t be discouraged. You can make it out of this; please keep trying...

Benjamin slowly opened his eyes. Within the water’s reflection, he saw many people he’d met throughout his travels, list some of them. Benjamin clenched his fists, knowing he shouldn’t lose after coming this far, and he wouldn't back down either.

“Where did he go now?” Sebastian asked as he looked around the waters, “Was that even the right one?”

“Surprise, suckers!” The fake Benjamin jumped out of the water and headed straight towards Sebastian.

Sebastian tried to stall him by blasting magic at him, but the clone easily brushed them off. Sebastian shot magic at his face as the clone readied a kick, pushing him back. The water rose again. This time, the real Benjamin leaped out and grabbed his imposter’s legs, dragging him down into the water.

They struggled more until Benjamin kicked his clone in the head and swam to the top. As he reached the surface, he closed his eyes and imagined the area turning cold, hard, and white. Thanks to the power of his magic, the water became completely encased in ice, trapping the faker underwater.

“Phew, that was close.” Benjamin sighed in relief.

Sebastian, however, wasn’t sure who won the fight.

“Hey you,” He drew his sword and pointed it at the magician, “are you the real Benjamin?”

“Of course I am. Who else could it be?”

“Hmm...”

“Seriously? Ok, look, remember this?”

“The scar, it’s not on your cheek!”

“Yeah, but it's dried up now, since the water—”

The ice broke, and Benjamin’s imposter slowly surfaced from the water, confronting the two.

“Why... you...” He hissed at them.

Sebastian and Benjamin had no clue what to do; at this rate, the fight would never end. A portal appeared and swallowed the pair before vanishing. The clone rushed over to follow them, but he was too late.

His body slowly weakened as they left him behind in the white box. He closed his eyes and allowed himself to fall back into the icy water.

I’m sorry. The man thought, his mind fading away, but I wasn’t able to — He died alone, sinking to the bottom of the empty, white room, unable to finish his last sentence.

.-.-.-.

Benjamin and Sebastian got out of the mysterious portal and fell into a room with even more entrances, surrounding them everywhere they turned. However, the ones before them appeared tainted with strange darkness.

A female voice broke the silence from a distance as they got up from the ground.

“Oh, what now?” The voice drew closer to the boys. “Oh, and who are you? Are you here to cause more trouble?” Murasakiiro hissed.

“No, wait, we mean no harm!” Sebastian proclaimed.

“What is that thing?” Benjamin whispered.

“Seriously? That’s not a nice thing to say. And don’t change the subject!” Murasakiiro retorted.

“Saki, what’s the holdup?” Clause came over and asked.

“Well, these two showed up out of nowhere,” Murasakiiro explained.

“Benjamin, Sebastian! How odd to see you two here!”

“Clause?!” The duo exclaimed.

“You know them?” The Princess Pilkon questioned.

“Why, of course, it’s the same case with Bridget...”

“Bridget? Is she here, too?” Benjamin and Sebastian inquired.

“Afraid not right now.” Clause replied, shaking his head.

“I see,” Murasakiiro said, then turned to Benjamin and Sebastian. “I apologize for the accusation,” Murasakiiro told them with a bow.

Once they returned to the cauldron room and introduced the duo to Akapin, they took turns explaining crucial information to one another.

“Big news, they’re around the area where the cure is being held!” Akapin proclaimed.

“They’re not far off then? That’s great news!” The Princess Pilkon responded, zooming around excitedly. “Now Bridget and the others need to find the cure, retrieve it, and leave the area immediately after that! Once they come back, and we’ll administer the treatment, we’ll get you guys back to your worlds, as promised, no questions asked.”

“Can I touch the pot?” Benjamin asked, raising his head.

“No. If you mess with the water, you can easily distort the world there, and your friends will be in a much worse situation than ever before.” Murasakiiro explained. “We must redo the connection if that’s the case.”

“Oh, so all we can do is wait, huh?” Sebastian muttered as he hung his head.

“Let us wish them the best of luck and have faith in them.” Clause comforted and reassured the two. “Hopefully, they’ll be able to make it in time...”