The playground was a battlefield, and Max was a general without his troops. He stood alone in the middle of the sandbox, a stick in his hand, tracing the fortifications of an imaginary castle. A few feet away, Linus and his friends were playing kickball, their shouts echoing across the asphalt. Max could almost hear the whistle of a tiny rocket ship and the roar of a giant robot battling a sea monster, but the real-world sounds of the playground were a jarring intrusion. He knew he could just snap his fingers and turn the kickball into a supernova or make the swingset morph into a skyscraper, but that felt like cheating. He wanted a real adventure. He wanted to fight a villain who wasn't just a cranky kid, and he wanted his friends by his side. A deep sigh escaped his lips. He was the most powerful being on two universes, yet he felt utterly powerless on a simple playground.