Benjamin stood over the area in shock as the laptop drifted across the ground.

“Hey, why is that thing glowing?”

“Uh, why do you care? It’s just a new feature I gave it.” Isabelle quickly picked it up and held it close to her chest.

“But I know that glow; it’s very similar to the crystal sphere I...” His voice trailed off after mentioning that.

Then it hit him. Why would this girl try to protect her laptop when it was the crystal ball that he wanted and that she needed to keep away from him? Putting two and two together, he figured it all out.

Benjamin asked, “Excuse me, but did you merge my sphere with this device?”

“Um, about that...” Isabelle hesitated. “Well, it was more like, your sphere got consumed by my laptop.”

“Hey, is that guy ok?” Nicholas asked upon seeing Benjamin’s reaction.

“No, no...! That sphere was the only one I had!” Benjamin said, shaken, his hands trembled, and his eyes widened. “I needed it to merge with my weapon and take over this stupid place, but you, a human, somehow did it, no problem!?”

“Are you saying you’re helpless now? Without your magic?” Isabelle asked, her face brightening up.

“Thank goodness,” Nicholas added with a sigh of relief, “I was worried over nothing.”

The pair gave each other high fives as Benjamin fell to the ground. Enraged, the magician pounded the ground with his fists. Sure, it hurt like crazy, but he didn’t care, not anymore at least.

“It was the only chance I had to find my way back home, and now I’ll be stuck here forever!” Benjamin choked on his words.

Nicholas and Isabelle stopped cheering and glanced towards the magician.

“Oh yeah, that is a problem, isn’t it?” Nicholas asked.

“So, did we do the right thing or not?” Isabelle tilted her head in confusion.

“Well...” Nicholas wasn’t sure how to respond to the question.

“So, you think I’m no threat anymore, huh?” Benjamin interrupted the two. “I may not have my magic powers or my crystal sphere... but I still have my agility and strength!”

As he charged over to knock the laptop out of the girl’s hands, Nicholas jumped in front of Isabelle. The laptop glowed brighter, and when she opened it, Isabelle accidentally pressed a key on the keyboard. A robust aqua-colored force field grew around her, causing Nicholas and Benjamin to fall back and land on the grass. Fortunately, they didn’t get hurt nearly as badly as they thought.

Benjamin got up in quick succession and sprinted at her again. Panicked, Isabelle pressed a button on her keyboard, which caused a ray of light to come out of her laptop.

Benjamin had to stop in his tracks and cover his eyes from the brightness.

“What’s going on?” Nicholas asked, throwing his arms in the air. “How are you doing this?”

“I don’t know!” Isabelle replied, hands gripping on the device. “I think it has a mind of its own or something! Either that or I unleashed its power on accident...”

“Well, whatever that is, it’s awesome!” Nicholas exclaimed.

“I know, it’s insane!” Isabelle added.

Benjamin trotted on his feet again. “Be careful!” Nicholas warned her once he found out.

“On it, just need to find something else to drive him back!”

Isabelle looked over and pushed ‘H’ twice on her keyboard as fast as she could. The ray of light stopped, which allowed Benjamin to see again, but when he looked up, two giant hammers lingered over him, both the same aqua color, coming out of the laptop.

Isabelle moved the touchpad mouse to control the hammers, and whenever she clicked, they would strike down at the ground. Benjamin ran and barely dodged them.

Nervous, Isabelle quickly tapped the arrow keys, wondering what they did. Little hovering arrows appeared and made a beeline for Benjamin. They hovered from the ground, so he leaped at them. However, some of them zoomed up to where he was still in the air.

Benjamin tried to air dodge through them all as best as he could, but some of them zipped through the air, and tore his cloak, and scratched the side of his face.

Benjamin dive-rolled to safety and wiped the blood dripping from his cheek. He glanced up and gasped as more approached him and ducked to avoid them altogether.

Just as Benjamin thought he could relax and take a quick breather, the ground he stood on shook to its core and ripped out of the land. He found himself on a moving platform made of grass, dirt, and rocks.

Before he got too far off the ground, he held on to his magenta hat and jumped off the platform, trying to take down Isabelle and the laptop. Isabelle pushed ‘S’ on the keyboard and composed a shield that blocked his attack. It pushed Benjamin back as he landed on his backside again.

Ugh, she’s too good. Benjamin thought while grinding his teeth. How am I supposed to beat her at this rate?

I don’t know what I’m doing, Isabelle thought while panting. I hope I can pull through, but this guy just won’t quit!