Michelle, Kate, and another girl are sitting at a low table in a small room. A knock is heard on the door, and Kate gets up to open it. Benjy, standing in the doorway, enters the room and closes the door behind him.
Michelle Don't go into the bathroom on the right side of the hall, someone threw up maggots in there.
Benjy The guy at the counter told me too, but thank you.
Benjy pulls up a chair at the table and sits down.
Benjy So, where are you guys at?
Girl Max voiced his desire to throw his hat into the ring, as did several others.
Michelle Katie, Sid, and even Emily.
Benjy Emily?
Girl Emily Rita. You know, the one with the light blue hair.
Benjy Four then, which means the freshman class will be pretty divided at best.
Kate Six, Michelle also has plans.
Michelle Shush!
Benjy Wait, six?
Michelle I thought you were running…
Benjy Like I'd get anywhere.
Girl Michelle I keep telling you: they want Dina back, not her little brother. Long story short, it's not going to end well with the freshman class so divided. But you already knew that.
Michelle What we need to do is solidify a strong leader for the student union candidate before more people come out of the woodwork.
Kate And by solidify, she means behind her.
Michelle Shush Kate!
Girl She's a loose cannon, perfect for a vice president.
Michelle face-palms.
Michelle You realize that we're with a reporter, right?
Benjy Don't worry. She hasn't said anything even remotely newsworthy.
Girl Plus its off-campus, so it's not even relevant.
Michelle You do realize that they print whatever the (bleep) they want, right?
Girl Really now? Lets say we–
QST.camera's picture pulses as Benjy realizes what the girl is going for
Benjy We're not running attack ads, Alex would never allow it.
Girl Come on now, we didn't invite Alex here for a reason.
Benjy It was an absolute disaster when we did that for the national election. Imagine the damage it would cause if we did that for a school election.
Girl Oh, come on. What's your political agenda?
Benjy Killing those trips that keep getting us sued and getting rid of what's left of the dress code, but that's about it, thanks for asking but I'm not running attack ads.
Kate You're really relying on the fact that only Dina's sister could get away with something like that.
Michelle Sister? Kate, you mean brother.
Kate Same thing.
Michelle Actually, hon, they're not. But, killing trips will make us look like a pawn of the administration.
Girl It'll free up budget money for your projects though.
Michelle Kate, what are your thoughts?
Kate I like pie.
Benjy, Michelle, and the girl hang their heads down (and dark lines appear in the air near their foreheads)
Kate What?! You asked what I thought!
Michelle Uh-uh. No. Never. He's got some interesting ideas though. With the right PR, we could… Kate?
Kate It's genius! All we have to do is force the cake from the drainpipe!
Michelle turns to Kate curiously.
Michelle Kate, your cake is a lie.
Girl Michelle, she's gone.
Michelle I sorta figured. But we need those attack ads.
Girl You don't want Sid to be president, do you?
Benjy Sid is an attack ad. A walking attack add. Not to mention he's got maybe three people backing him at most.
Girl Still, you never know…
Benjy Name one thing Sid has done in this last year that isn't creepy, disgusting, or just plain rude. You can't, can you?
Michelle But what about Emily?
Kate Appoint her to the ministry of cuteness.
Michelle That was mean!
Kate So?! You've got to break a few eggs to make an amulet.
Yami Benjy She means 'omelet'?
Benjy Yes, she does.
tuesday
Benjy walks out of the main building room and into the courtyard. Pixielite rests on his head, absorbing sunlight with its wings spread wide.
Max I still can't believe she let us out, I mean, is she that insecure about her (bleep)?
Benjy Maybe Caton hit a soft spot.
Caton I said I was sorry!
Benjy I'm not blaming you… There was no way to know that would happen.
Caton And your eyes are really glowing.
Benjy Yeah, my vision is completely tinted yellow.
Benjy sits down on one of the picnic benches and pulls out his laptop. Chikorita jumps onto the table next to the laptop and lies down, basking in the sunlight. Benjy now opens his laptop and groans.
Max What?
Benjy Zarking kernel panicked, again…
Max Didn't you just have that problem yesterday?
Caton You think PETA did something to it?
Benjy Doubt it, time to power down.
Max You're going to lose all your work!
Benjy The kernel's panicked. It's already gone…
Benjy presses the power button, but the computer fails to shut off, so Benjy opens it up and begins to take the battery out. This fails to shut the computer off, so Benjy puts the battery back in, in confusion, which *does* shut the machine off.
Will Must be a bug in the firmware…
Max And if there isn't?
Will Then my mom is a tomato.
Alexandra I thought she was?
The group stares at one another.
Max You have any idea of what you just said, Alexandra?
Alexandra No.
Will Excuse me, but I have to run. I'm late for group therapy in the Realie Underground with my group of dancing zombie unicorns wearing radioactive sweaters.
As Will walks away, Alexandra calls after him.
Alexandra Have fun!
Will Thanks, I will.
Max Wow…
Benjy Yup.
Lana I bet Will did something in the Realie Underground.
Benjy Sure he did. Sarcasm
Max Wait a minute, that's the only logical explanation!
Benjy I thought you said that the underground was something Will made up.
Max Benjy. Your computer runs without electricity!
Benjy We've been through this before.
Alexandra Maybe it's a ghost?
Lana Or mole people.
Benjy All are perfectly valid theories–sadly. Or it could just be some serious solar flares going haywire.
Lana Then how come Max's laptop isn't affected?
Benjy Max?
Max pulls his laptop out of his bag, only to find the kernel has panicked. He swears and tries in vain to power it off. Right at this moment, Benjy's eyes pulse with a massive flash of blue light and QST.camera switches to an overhead view.
Lana Hey check out Benjy's eyes!
Max What?
Yami Benjy projects himself.
Yami Benjy Wavelength of four hundred seventy nano-meters. Something strange is going on.
Benjy You win, let's find that underground area.
Benjy If it exists. Under Breath Mutter
Max Holy (bleep)! Your eyes.
Lana He's an alien, Max.
Max You're a genius! I'll bet that glow is a beacon to the rest of his kind!
Benjy Shut your gumhole.
Benjy, Lana, Max, and Alexandra move through one of the hallways under the main hall, all holding flashlights. Pixielite holds onto the back of Benjy's shoulder, and a Ralts holds onto Lana's back. A Meowth stands at Alexandra's heels.
Lana Wait why are we holding flashlights? It's plenty light enough to see…
Max Because certain people have been known to turn off the lights for a quick giggle.
Alexandra Lana…
Lana You know all my giggles are totally kawaii.
After a few more steps Yami Benjy projects himself again.
Yami Benjy We're closing in on the source, wavelength of four-forty nano-meters.
Benjy I know, my whole field of vision is tinted purple.
Alexandra How much further?
Yami Benjy I don't know. That all depends on how strong the initial charge is.
Max Everyone, this way!
Max begins to rush off down the hall, and as Benjy, Lana, and Alexandra follow him, the glow of Benjy's eyes changes from a blue-purple to a more vivid shade of violet.
Max In here!
Max tries to open the door, but finds it locked. Pixielite lands on the doorknob and extends its tail into the lock. It sparks, and the door swings open.
Alexandra Thank you.
Inside the door is a dark and dusty room, lit primarily by Benjy's glowing eyes and the beams of flashlights. One of the flashlight beams lands on an old Nintendo Gamecube, covered in a layer of dust. Shelves line the room, holding odd trinkets also under a dusty layer.
Lana Is this… Whisper
Max The Realie Underground… Whisper
Benjy Or just some storage closet.
Yami Benjy Be careful. Something isn't right here.
Alexandra whispers to Lana's Ralts to use safeguard, and it does, meanwhile, the four students continue to examine the room for about a half-minute. Pixielite scans multiple objects as it flies around the room. Alexandra's Meowth darts under a desk and emerges seconds later with a dead mouse in its mouth.
Benjy Personally, the only thing I find unusual about this place is the layer of d– du–
Benjy begins to sneeze, but then the sneeze fails.
Max Don't you just hate it when that happens?
Benjy Ah-choo!
Benjy's sneeze blasts the surface of a dusty desk, causing a plume of dust to spread across the room.
Yami Benjy I feel it, something is–
Yami Benjy cuts himself off as he sees Alexandra just about to open a door on the other side of the room. Yami Benjy quickly projects himself, and calls to Alexandra to stop.
Lana It's not like it's a horror movie.
And with this, Alexandra turns the knob and the door creaks open, with a sight that causes Alexandra to take several steps back. Two guards are standing behind the door, each wearing unearthly armor and wielding strange energy cannons.
Guard2 Freeze, morons.
Yami Benjy …
The guard presses a button and the energy cannon begins to charge.
Max Isn't that the trophy gun from Smash Bros?
The Millennium Gameboy Advance glows brightly.
Yami Benjy Mirror force!
The trophy gun shoots a black arrow directly at Alexandra, but Pixielite flies in the way and uses its mirror force, creating a barrier that causes the arrow to bounce and shoot back at the guard.
Guard2 Oh, zark–
The energy arrow pierces the guard through the chest, and he collapses to the floor unconscious. (The guard is NOT turned into a trophy, as happens in the Smash Bros™ game series) The first guard looks rapidly around, trying to see if he can get past the mirror force attack. While he is still in the process of doing so, Lana has Ralts hit him with a confusion attack. His disorientation caused by the attack, allows Max to send Cantherius to attack him with thunderbolt. He also collapses to the ground unconscious.
Alexandra continues to back away, but Yami Benjy runs up to the unconscious guards.
Yami Benjy There's something familiar about them. Do they go here?
Lana approaches one of them.
Lana Yeah, they do go here.
Max Then we did it!
Alexandra Did what?
Max Found the fabled Realie Underground!
A feminine voice belonging to none of them echoes through the room:
??? And very soon you'll wish you hadn't.
All of them begin looking around to see where the voice is coming from. Yami Benjy thinks he sees something, and sends Pixielite to warp tackle something. Pixielite collides with something invisible, knocking out the invisibility field before flying away.
Yami Benjy You again?
QST.camera split-screens to show the expressions of shock on Lana, Alexandra, and Max's faces:
Max You've seen her before?
Ila Now that you mention it, I do remember seeing you before. Just the other day was it? Tell me, what's your name?
Yami Benjy You really expect me to tell you that?
Ila Of course not, I expect you to die.
Seeing Alexandra tremble, Ila smiles.
Ila Avada kerzona!
A sudden green flash permeates the room, along with the sound of the breaker, but when it fades, Yami Benjy, Max, Lana, and Alexandra are still standing.
Ila …This is odd.
Benjy She's acting like she expected it to work or something…
Yami Benjy Yes, it seems like mind games…
Yami Benjy Pixielite, thunderbolt!
"Ila's Wingspan - Rough Design"
Max You can't do that! It's all pretend! SHE'S METHOD ACTING!!!
Yami Benjy I don't believe she is…
Ignoring Max, Pixielite launches a thunderbolt at Ila. She blocks it with an energy barrier.
Ila Why are you still alive? Oh, that… Safeguard… Of course it's all pretend, just step out of the safeguard and let me show you.
Max looks curiously at Ila, tilting his head to the side.
Max You must think I'm stupid.
Ila You are a boy aren't you–tah!
Alexandra But we're not boys… Under Breath
Pixielite flies away from Ila after having shocked her with electricity. Ila turns quickly.
Ila Avada Kerzona!
Pixielite is already within the safeguard and is thus unaffected. Ila turns to Yami Benjy, announcing that the safeguard won't protect him for long.
Yami Benjy Is that a threat?
Ila No, but this is!
Ila zips forwards, crashing into Yami Benjy and knocking him out of the safeguard onto the ground. Ila is over him on all fours.
Ila Avada Kerzona!
The green light engulfs Yami Benjy, but before the light clears Yami Benjy strikes Ila, knocking her away. The fact that Yami Benjy survived makes Max, Lana, and Alexandra believe that the spell is fake, and Alexandra sends her Meowth to use fury swipes on Ila who dodges, leaping out of the way.
Ila So sad. I'd say that you'd have to learn the hard way, but…
Ila Avada Ker–
Ila is unable to finish the spell as something explodes right in front of her, knocking her into a pile of dusty shelves. As she gets up, she discovers that a blue light is projected on her chest.
Ila Avada…
Ila looks up to see a man in a suit holding the device projecting the blue light.
Man Even you know better than to try to cast spells with a sonic weapon present.
Ila jumps and flies around the room trying to escape the sonic beam, but the man manages to keep the beam locked on Ila.
Man Ila, you know better than this.
As Ila tries to escape the beam, she calls on a Shroomish and a Goombogart to stop the beam. Goombogart rushes the man, who gasps, but Max's Cantherius cuts it off with an aerial ace.
Ila Shadow rush!
Man That's bad children! If she cuts off the beam we all–
Shroomish crashes into the man, knocking him down, though he manages to keep the beam on Ila. Shroomish tackles him again, and Goombogart breaks free of Cantherius and charges the man.
Yami Benjy Tractor beam go!
Alexandra Fury swipes!
As Goombogart rushes the man, Pixielite snatches it up in it's tractor beam, tossing it over itself. Meowth plows into Shroomish, sending it flying. But in the commotion the man looses track of Ila.
Ila Avada Ke–
The man refocuses the beam on Ila and Ila's spell explodes. Goombogart attacks at Ralts, who responds with confusion, allowing Pixielite to hit it (Goombogart) with an aerial ace. Meanwhile where Cantherius and Shroomish are battling, Shroomish releases a cloud of spores sending Cantherius to sleep, and charges at Meowth, knocking it out of the way, then zooms at the man.
As Shroomish zooms at the man, Yami Benjy calls on Chikorita, whom headbutts her (Shroomish) aside. The man jumps over a pile of debris to keep his beam on Ila. Behind him, Shroomish and Chikorita scramble franticly.
Back by Yami Benjy, Pixielite delivers a thunderbolt to Goombogart; and Meowth joins the attack against it, Meowth's claws being quickly able to land a KO. This leaves Chikorita scrambling on the other side of the room with Shroomish, the battle that Yami Benjy now turns his attention to. Pixielite, Ralts, and Meowth all now rush to join the battle, but Shroomish dodges their attacks with abnormal speed and goes shooting at Yami Benjy.
The millennium gameboy advance glows gold and creates a barrier, which Shroomish collides with.
Yami Benjy There's something wrong with that pokémon.
Yami Benjy reaches down for something.
Benjy That much is obvious but–
Shroomish's rubbing up against the barrier makes the barrier spark and crackle.
Yami Benjy This won't end well–hmm.
Yami Benjy snatches a poké ball off of one of the chairs nearby. Holding it in front of him. Gold light shoots into the ball, turning it from clear to black and gold.
Yami Benjy Snag ball initialized. Ready whenever.
For another second, Shroomish pushes up against the barrier, then it crashes through, disappearing into the ball in a flash of gold and black light. Yami Benjy immediately drops the ball holding his hand in pain.
Lana Woah…
Max Cantherius! Speak to me!
Cantherius opens an eye sleepily, then zaps Max.
Lana You okay?
Max I'm fine!
Lana I was talking to Benjy.
Yami Benjy looks around quickly, and a green flash explodes in the distance, followed by an explosion that rocks the room. Yami Benjy recalls Chikorita and then rushes towards the explosion, but after a few paces, Lana and Alexandra catch him and try to drag him back, but are only able to slow him down.
Man I'm warning you, use your magic near a sonic weapon and–
An explosion seems to burst out of the air all around Ila, forcing the man to partially dodge behind a chest of drawers, temporarily freeing Ila of the beam. Ila casts a green light at Yami Benjy, but the man blows the spell apart with the beam of his device.
Man I'm warning you, Ila! You don't know what is going to happen!
Ila Zark you!
Ila charges forwards, crashing into Yami Benjy.
Ila Gimme that!
Ila snatches at the sonic weapon, but the man moves it out of her way, accidentally tossing it aside. Ila tries to incant a spell, but Yami Benjy smashes into her chest, knocking the wind out of her. Yami Benjy and Ila struggle back and forth. Ila grabs Yami Benjy by the neck, but Yami Benjy crashes into her as a result knocking her backwards into a wall, the shock of which forces Ila to loose her grip.
Ila begins to incant something, but the blue beam hits her in the forehead, causing an explosion, knocking her and Yami Benjy apart. Yami Benjy staggers and coughs up a tiny bit of blood. Ila charges Yami Benjy, but Yami Benjy shields himself with a golden barrier, and Ila stops upon seeing this.
Ila starts to incant something.
Man Ila!
Ila I don't give a zark, Doctor.
Ila steps back, and a fissure erupts from the ground where she had her foot. Yami Benjy leaps out of the way, as does the man. The fissure rips through the room, threatening to cause the ceiling to collapse. Ila launches a green light at the man, who blocks it with the beam of blue light from his sonic weapon. The explosion brings the ceiling down in front of Ila.
Man Run kid! Run!
The millennium gameboy advance begins shining brilliantly.
Yami Benjy Who are you?
Man Nevermind that, run!
A sudden blast of light breaks through the rubble in front of Ila, and Ila emerges in a sphere of yellow light, with balls of orange light in each hand. She combines these into a single sphere and fires a beam of orange light at Yami Benjy and the man.
With figurative lightning reflexes, Yami Benjy grabs the fallen man and jumps aside, crashing to the ground on the other side of the fissure (the fissure is only 4 inches wide at the point this far back). They land in a heap, and Ila sweeps her beam at them. The man points his sonic weapon at Ila and Ila dives into the widening fissure in the floor. The man now grabs Yami Benjy and pulls him towards the exit.
After a few steps Ila emerges from the fissure and fires a green flash at them, which the millennium gameboy advance blocks with a barrier. Ila now fires the orange light at the barrier, knocking both Yami Benjy and the man to the ground due to the force of the impact. The man flicks on his sonic weapon pointed at Ila's chest, blasts her, causing her to disappear into the wall.
Man She's got a portal.
Yami Benjy Not anymore…
With a loud *crack*, the wall gives way and the room starts to collapse. Junk falls from the ceiling on the man and Yami Benjy, and the millennium gameboy advance re-generates the shield as they both run for the exit. The portal on the wall explodes in a small ball of light. Crashing through the shield, a large chunk of ceiling falls on the man's leg, trapping him.
Man Save yourself! I can…
Yami Benjy looks at him squarely.
Yami Benjy Something a friend told me. It's not by might, it's not by power.
The millennium gameboy advance glows with a blinding yellow light.
Yami Benjy But by spirit…
The man chuckles.