It was like stepping into a mirror, which is ironic because that's what he did. Everything inside the portal was a complete reflection of his reality.
This included all of the carnage and destruction plaguing his world too. Benjamin quickly got used to the mirrored landscape and pressed onwards. He was still holding an unconscious Velena. He followed Jackie through the desolate landscape, being mindful of any danger. They walked on the open ground due to the lack of cover.
As he walked Benjamin recalled a conversation, he had with Corey about his mirror dimension. Corey had said something about a creature that lurked within. A watcher.
The watcher could see through every mirror in existence, so it knew just about everything. And that means it could know about what those people have in store for us, Benjamin thought. He yelled ahead, "Jackie, I'm gonna take a detour to look for something that could help us. Take Velena back to the others and I'll meet you there."
Jackie looked back at him and opened her mouth to say something, but Benjamin had already laid Velena on the ground and was heading off in another direction.
Jackie had no idea what Benjamin was doing. But, deciding not to question it, she picked up Velena and Kitsune and continued. Jackie walked briskly toward the city center. Upon reaching the destroyed buildings, she saw a portal very much like the one they had come through.
Cautiously she approached it until she was right next to it. Suddenly Corey's head popped through the portal. Jackie screamed, throwing out a hand that made contact with the side of Corey's head.
Corey yelped in pain and asked, "What was that for?!?" Jackie then replied, "Sorry, you scared me." Corey, still rubbing the side of his face, led Jackie through the portal into the group. Everyone there was relieved to see Jackie and Velena in one piece.
However, before the group could properly welcome them back, Evan asked, "Where's Benjamin?" "He said he had to go find something and that he'd meet back up with us," Jackie replied. Everyone looked at her worried. Somewhere in the mirror dimension, Benjamin was roaming around the landscape, looking for something that might not exist.
Benjamin roamed aimlessly, each step bringing him closer to the brink of death. He could barely stand. Even though it had only been an hour, to him it felt like days. He could feel he was getting closer to something, but what? His questions were tearing at him like hungry dogs, starving for answers.
As long as those questions were tearing, he could keep going. Eventually, he reached the edge of the mirror dimension. He collapsed knowing that his death was approaching. He began to close his eyes hearing the screams of billions as he realized he had failed his home, his people. When his eyes finally shut, he heard something massive moving.
He opened his eyes, but he wasn't in the mirror dimension anymore. He was in what looked like outer space. Millions of stars surrounded him. He was in awe. So much so that he didn't notice the worm circling him. When he finally tore his gaze away from the stars, he saw the watcher. It was a wormlike creature, long with a segmented body.
Its body shimmered as it distorted the light that collided with it. Benjamin stared in awe. The more he looked, the more transfixed he became. When the worm creature spoke, Benjamin felt his whole-body shake.
"Name your purpose," it boomed. Benjamin snapped out of his trance and asked, "Are you the watcher?" "Why would you need to know this information," It responded without hesitation.
Benjamin thought carefully then asked, "Who are these people attacking us? Why are they attacking us?" The worm thought for a moment. It gazed at Benjamin intently before finally answering.
"Those people you say, they want to eliminate every reality until there is only one left," it said. Benjamin pressed further, "What do they get from doing that?" "To understand that you need to understand this," The worm replied.
Eying Benjamin intently, the worm continued, "Realities are stacked like layers. The higher your reality is, the more power it holds. But just like stacks of objects, the fewer things there are in the stack, the higher your position. Beezlebub is trying to eliminate all realities to make him the top. He wants freedom from the knowledge that he is less than anyone else.
He wants to be a god." Benjamin was horrified at this new information. If he didn't return immediately his entire reality could be erased. "How can we stop them?" Benjamin asked frantically. The worm looked at Benjamin but didn't reply. In his panicked state, Benjamin didn't notice the worm drifting farther and farther away from him.
Shadows started swarming around his field of vision, obscuring the worm from sight. The worm turned and disappeared into thin air. Benjamin's sight became more and more obscured until all he saw was darkness.
Benjamin opened his eyes. As his vision cleared, he could see Corey, Miles, and Velena standing over him, worried looks on their faces. Benjamin sat straight up breathing heavily. "What the heck is wrong with you?" Velena practically screamed in his face.
He took a deep breath and sighed. "You did it for a reason…" Benjamin gathered his thoughts and said, "I went to see the watcher."
"He told me that the reason for all this is because a guy named Beezlebub wants to eliminate our reality. He watched as everyone exchanged horrified glances at one another. Evan spoke up saying, "Well we gotta stop him!" He stood up and put his spear on his back. "I'm going to go stop this, no matter what it takes," Evan said to everyone.
"If you want to help, I suggest you come along." Everyone looked at each other in silence. The silence was broken when Lennox got up and cracked his knuckles. Isaiah then piped up, "Let's go to my lab first." "Why?" Evan asked, clearly annoyed.
"I need to upgrade our gear," he said, "We don't stand a chance against them in our current state." Reluctantly, Evan agreed. The group briskly walked across the street to the ruins of the school. Digging through the rubble Corey found the hatch to Isaiah's lab. Isaiah punched in the code, opened the hatch, and exposed a ladder leading into complete darkness. "Well, here we are," Isaiah said. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"You first," Corey snickered." Isaiah inhaled deeply and began to descend the ladder. Isaiah dropped down into his lab. He walked quickly.
He walked up to what seemed to be a solid wall and pressed his palm against the surface. The wall slowly began to shift revealing a wall full of armor, each with its respective colors. Isaiah smiled and turned to face his friends. "Welcome home Theseus," he said, a manic glint in his eyes.