A magic portal opened up, dropping Benjamin, Isabelle, Harry, and Chi-Chi onto the grassy ground.

“Are we... alive?” Harry asked, weakly.

“I think so...” Chi-Chi responded sickly.

“Well, it seems like we’ve finally made it out to our destination. Wherever that may be.” Benjamin concluded as he stood up, put his hat back on, and brushed himself off.

“Did we at least make it to the right place?” Isabelle wondered.

Benjamin looked around the area as it felt familiar to him. When he turned around, he saw a building that he recognized immediately: It was the Monster Academy, Streterra!

“Aw, yeah, now that’s what I’m talking about!” Benjamin exclaimed, raising his fist in the air. Harry and Chi-Chi jumped for joy. “Now let’s go get my crystal sphere!”

He marched off, along with his furry companions, toward the school. The magician looked back and realized Isabelle didn’t follow suit and stopped to face her.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Harry asked her.

“Well...” Isabelle said, looking up. “I wasn’t expecting the school to look so normal, especially compared to the ones I’ve seen in shows and books.”

After a moment of silence, Benjamin and his sidekicks turned to face the school and walked away, leaving Isabelle behind.

“Hey, wait for me!” Isabelle cried as she ran over to catch up to them.

.-.-.-.

Benjamin opened the front doors, nobody was in sight.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

All right. He thought with a grin.

“Wow, talk about fancy hallways!” Isabelle caught up with Benjamin and shouted, interrupting his thoughts.

“Be quiet!” Benjamin hissed at her.

“Why?”

“It’s nighttime, and I need to sneak into my classroom.”

“Why?”

“To get the crystal spheres from inside the desk!”

“But, w—”

“You’re stalling, aren’t you?” Benjamin asked, getting fed up with her nonsense.

Isabelle and Chi-Chi tried to contain their laughter while Harry merely rolled his eyes.

Benjamin, Harry, and Chi-Chi went back to their search for his classroom as they sneaked around the school, trying not to get caught. Isabelle strolled along without a care, taking pictures of different things with her camera along the way.

“That'll be perfect for my research.” She chirped to herself.

“Stop lollygagging and focus; we didn’t come here for you to look around all willy-nilly!” Benjamin retorted, “You’re just lucky that no one has noticed us yet.”

“That’s strange. Is everyone in their dorms?” Isabelle questioned.

“No, there should be some people out at their night classes or something, but why the Devil is this place so quiet?”

“They could be in their dorms like Isabelle said, you never know.” Chi-Chi guessed.

Benjamin turned to face his classroom door. He tried but couldn’t get it to open. He then peeked through the window as Ms. Glenda’s desk caught his eye.

“Hey, help me out here.” He asked as he turned back to Isabelle.

Isabelle, however, wasn’t so sure. Something felt off. “But—”

“Don’t ask me why and just do it already!” Benjamin commanded, getting impatient.

A loud gasp caught them off guard. The two turned and saw a panicked, freckled student standing there.

“What’s she so shaken about?” Benjamin pondered.

“Maybe she’s shocked by that outfit you’re wearing.” Isabelle teased.

“I don’t want to hear it, especially coming from you.”

“Uh, Master, you ought to look behind you,” Chi-Chi whispered.

Benjamin turned around, and to his surprise, another person who looked exactly like him stood beside him! How did he not notice that sooner?

“W-was he always there?” Benjamin asked nervously.

“I-I’m not so sure about that.” Isabelle stuttered.

“I hope you don’t mind me causing a little trouble.” The other, Benjamin said.

He summoned plasma balls and threw them at the classroom door, utterly destroying it. The other Benjamin entered the class and, soon, came back out with the desk drawer which held the crystal spheres inside.

Benjamin walked over to him and gasped in awe. However, Isabelle and the freckled girl watched, stunned in horror.