Gwen stood in the massive room, her hand resting on Ben's. She looked at the man who lay unconscious before her. Many hours had passed since the procedure had begun. Ben had screamed louder than she had thought possible as Azmuth tore his DNA apart and rebuilt it from the samples the Omnitrix had saved. The Galvan had worked tirelessly on the young man, his hand never wavering or his resolve crumbling. For that, Gwen was thankful. Now, Ben lay on the table, his body seemingly no different than when he had first come to Primordia.

"I believe he will make a full recovery," Azmuth said from the table beside her. "There may be some unforeseen side effects, and you must contact me should you believe any occur. Do not hesitate, Gwen."

She nodded, her eyes never leaving her cousin. Tears began to pour down her face and she bent over to rest her forehead on her cousin's. They had only seen each other for a few hours, and the emotional strain on her was too much for the moment. She cried, her sobs wracking her body. Azmuth looked onwards, silent.

Gwen stood there for several minutes, crying. When her tears began to subside, Azmuth placed a hand on her elbow, drawing her attention.

"Gwen, you have already done so much for him. You have done much for me over these last many years. For that, you have my utmost thanks," he said. "Now, Ben needs you more than ever. I'm worried that the mental effects will be drastic. He has not been without the Omnitrix for over a decade, and that alone will take a toll on him."

Nodding, Gwen squeezed Ben's hand gently. "I'll look after him, Azmuth."

An android stepped forward and took Ben in its arms. Azmuth jumped from the table and began to walk towards the teleport bay, Ben and Gwen in toe. They walked in silence, everyone exhausted from the procedure. When they reached the teleport bay, Azmuth pulled a cellphone-sized object and handed it to Gwen with the words, "Should he present any symptoms, simply press the button and I will come."

Gwen pocketed the device and took Ben from the android. They stepped onto the teleport bay and began to disappear in a cloud of blue particles. Before she knew it, they were standing outside of Ben's house. She knocked on the door and was glad to see everyone. After Max and Carl took Ben to lay him in a bed, she sat down at the table with a heavy sigh.

"So what happened?" Frank asked, pouring his daughter a cup of coffee. "You guys were only gone for maybe three hours or so."

"Time is different on Primordia, apparently," Gwen said. "Time is half what it is here. We were gone for almost seven hours on our end."

"Ah," Frank said as Max and Carl entered the room.

Max sat down and made coffee for himself and Carl. "Azmuth said something about genetic damage from the Omnitrix. What was that about?"

Gwen explained what Azmuth had told her. She showed them the cellphone-like device. "He gave me this in case Ben showed any signs of genetic deterioration or side effects. Apparently, Azmuth's procedure was experimental and not tested."

"Damn," Carl swore. "I wonder how he'll take it when he wakes up?"

Max shrugged, looking contemplatively into his coffee. "Who knows? Ben's been away for so long, I'm not sure what he thinks anymore. When I saw him about to fight Kevin, he seemed so relaxed. It was almost like that was no big deal, that he had faced down much worse."

Gwen perked up. "Ben did say something about a Petropia Wars? That mean anything?"

Max's eyes went wide. Carl saw this, saying, "Dad? What is she talking about? What does that have to do with Ben?"

"What I know is rumor and conjecture," Max said. "However, from what I hear, Petropia, the home of the Petrosapiens, was invaded by Vilgax. After his last defeat, he escaped Earth and gathered his forces. He held a grudge against Tetrax, and he attempted to sack the planet. The Black Company was the first outsider to enter the war. There are rumors that Ben was on the planet, but nothing was ever proven."

"I was there," Ben said from the stairs. He leaned heavily on the stair rail, his torso covered with sweat. His skin was almost grey under the lights. "And it wasn't a war. It was a bloodbath."

Gwen rushed over and wrapped an arm around him, helping the weakened Ben to the table. When he was seated, she sat next to Max and asked, "What happened on Petropia?"

Ben's eyes began to glaze over as he relived the worst three years of his life. "We received a distress communication from the planet as we neared the system. There were rumors of Vilgax spreading, and we wanted to check them out. When we got there, Black Company and all remaining forces were given to Tetrax to command. He refused, saying he would not be an effective leader given his state of mind. I was chosen instead. We made planetfall and were immediately ambushed by Vilgax's forces. He was still using robots, but these were far more advanced than anything we'd seen before. After securing a landing zone, we sent out a message to any remaining Petrosapiens on the planet to make their way to us. Meanwhile, I led an offensive front to retake a city to use as a base of operations. Even though we had skill and tech, we were outgunned and slaughtered. I was forced to make a retreat to the landing zone."

Everyone's eyes widened. They knew Ben had been in dangerous situations, but this far outranked anything they had thought. No one had expected him to be in a full-out war.

"We eventually did retake the city, but it was a hard, grueling experience. This was true siege warfare. We sat for weeks, months even, hurling everything we had at this city. Eventually, the robots were destroyed and we made a base out of it. When the Petrosapiens began to arrive, they brought news from everywhere else on the planet. Entire cities had been wiped clean, slaughtered in days if not hours. We treated those we could. Many died in the initial year of the war. Black Company was reduced to half-strength, maybe less. I remembered the faces of those who died. Eventually, Vilgax upped the ante. He started a scorched earth war, destroying everything. It turned from a war of freedom and repulsion to a war for the very existence of the species."

"It was at this time we managed to locate Vilgax. He was holed up in the capital, managing the war from a throne of bones. I remember Tetrax's face when we got the images; he was furious beyond thought. Something in him died that day. Hell, something died in all of us." Ben began to cry, his tears betraying the agony in his mind. "We decided on one last mission. We would take the Crystal Citadel and execute Vilgax."

Max looked down, shaking his head slowly. He knew the terrors of war, the raw emotions involved with killing the enemy. He couldn't wrap his mind around what Ben had experienced. When he looked up, he saw the ghost of a prideful smile on his grandson's face.

"When I asked for volunteers," Ben said, "Not a single one stepped down. Many Petrosapiens joined Black Company that night. We made our way to the Crystal Citadel under the cover of an earthquake. While Vilgax was busy with the caverns collapsing, we managed to make our way into the Citadel. We were met with thousands of robots, even more terrifying than the ones we faced before. We numbered in the hundreds. We fought our way through legions of robots, but there were six for every one that fell. Eventually, we were pushed into a maze of corridors designed to shift and trap any who entered. Ironically, Vilgax was at the center. Tetrax, Rook, and I escaped the heavy conflict and made our way through the maze. Petrosapiens are naturally attuned to the earth, and Tetrax guided us to our target. We reached the throne room, and everything went to shit."

"I fought Vilgax, but he was far different than when I last faced him. He seemed more machine than organic and built from the same machinery as the robots. He wiped the floor with me, damaging the Omnitrix in the process. Tetrax managed to break his armor in places before he too fell. Rook, that idiot, dropped a quantum bomb into the reactor of the Citadel. He activated a dead man switch. He smiled at us and told us to go, leave the rest to him. Vilgax tried to rip him apart, but Root was too fast. Tetrax and I, along with our remaining forces, escaped. We were badly hurt, but alive. As we made our escape, the earth shook and the Citadel erupted."

Ben put his face into his hands, sobbing. "Rook died, but we lived."

None of them knew what to say. Their minds struggled to grasp the suffering Ben was experiencing. He had almost lost everything, but lost a friend instead. None save Max even had an inkling about what Ben must be feeling as he broke down.

Ben slammed a fist on the table, splintering the wood and shocking everyone. "It should have been me! I should have told him to leave with Tetrax! I should have -"

"Ben, stop," Gwen begged. She leaned down next to him and held him in her arms. "Rook saved you because he believed in you to continue the mission. He knew you would save everyone you could."

Ben said nothing, instead just cried until he could cry no longer.

AN: Hey everyone! So sorry for the late update! I had a nasty mixture of work, life, and sheer, ungodly writer's block get in the way. However, here is Chapter 03 of Crossing the Divide! Enjoy and reviews are most welcome!