Chapter Eleven

And now we come to the end. The end of my story. My, sad, sad story. I won't delay any longer. I won't ramble on about the triumphs and failures of men and mortals. I won't talk about god. I won't make some clever analogy. I can't. I can't because I'm dying, too. And the reality that rejected me once is welcoming me back with open arms, and the devil is lighting his grill, ready to burn me for my sins.

The four discharged their weapons onto the tall robot that blocked their way. It exploded, and fell. Ben 10 put the plasma pistol back into its holster, and the four began to once again run towards the battle between Ben X and V.

"Okay." Kevin Omega said as he looked at a holographic projection of a map. "If I'm reading this correctly, I think that we should go this way." The group followed his lead. He put the map away, and they walked into long hallway guarded by a strong, metal door. Kevin Omega pressed a few buttons on the pad next to the door and it opened.

Instantly, they were overcome with a disgusting scent, of rotten fish and latex. They walked into a slender hallway with dozens of doors on each side.

"Is this the right way?" Gwen asked as she held her nose.

"Yeah. Right through here and we should be close to the sector that's about to get launched off. Which means we'll be close to wherever they're fighting."

"Whatever. Let's go." Ben said. He led the way. He looked from side to side, looking inside the rooms through the bars. He was shocked to see that there was any sort of jail on the ship. What crimes did criminals look down upon?

It didn't even register to Ben that all of the "prisoners" were all female. It did, however, come to Kevin as he looked inside. His stomach churned and he felt he was going to vomit.

"Oh my god." he exclaimed.

"I see you've noticed too." Dr. Animo muttered. Ben stopped to look at the two. Dr. Animo looked at Ben. He didn't feel the need to shield the child from the atrocities after what he did to Kevin Levin, and after what he was willing to do with the plasma pistol on his leg

"These rooms…They're rape rooms, Ben." Dr. Animo informed him. Ben's face went green. He turned to the nearest room to see a woman coming up to the bars.

"Hey." She said. Her voice had no soul in it. She was blue, with black eyes and tentacles for hair. "I'll take care of you, kid…got any food?"

"Jesus Christ." Ben muttered. He walked towards the door and looked for a lock. He was even more horrified to see that there was none. The door came right open. She looked at him and frowned.

"You…you don't have any food? That's okay." She began to unzip her jumpsuit. Ben turned away, not wanting to see what her confinement had done to her body. "You…you don't want to-"

"Look!" ben yelled. "We're taking down Ben Tennyson. So…so just go, alright! Get out of here!"

The woman didn't respond. Ben walked away from her. He yelled it loud enough for the entire hallway to hear, but no doors came open. The women didn't run away as they should've. They were broken. Broken and rebuilt into obedient creatures of sex.

As they walked by a door, however, Ben was happy to see a woman with silver hair walk out. She looked at Ben.

"Your…your taking him down?" she asked. Ben looked at her, and he knew he recognized her, but couldn't place from where. Suddenly, Dr. Animo shot past Ben and in front of the woman.

"Charmcaster!" he yelled. Dr. Animo reached for her, but she pulled away, her eyes not seeing the man she once called "uncle."

"It's me!" Dr. Animo yelled. "Dr. Animo! Uncle James! I'm here, I've come for you." He grabbed her by the wrist.

"Dr. Animo?" she asked blankly. Dr. Animo disregarded the fact she didn't remember him. He knew that, with what she had been through, it was likely she didn't remember her own name.

"Come on." He said. He pulled her back towards the door they had come in at. Kevin looked at the old man as he walked by them.

"Where are you going?" Gwen asked.

"I'm taking her home. We passed some escape pods on the way here. I'm leaving." Dr. Animo said. Ben looked at Kevin and then back at Animo. He ran over to him.

"You can't just leave!" Ben exclaimed.

"stop me." Dr. Animo challenged.

"We need you."

"I'm sixty seven years old!" Dr. Animo stopped and screamed. he looked at Ben, and Ben began to see the age in his eyes. He kept walking. They walked out of the hallway and over towards a dozen escape pods lined on the wall "I'm bleeding internally. Every single bone from the waist up is broken. I'm no help here. Just let me take the closest thing to family I have home and get her help. Please."

Ben stopped. Dr. Animo opened the escape pod and dragged charmcaster in. Ben watched as he closed the door, and the escape pod left the son of god. Kevin and Gwen walked up to Ben and watched the escape pod disappear from their view.

"Hope he knows what he's doing." Gwen said. The three turned around, ready to once again pass through the slender hallway that stunk of rotten fish and latex.

Dr. Animo watched as his allies disappeared from view. He sat down in the pilot's seat. He plugged in a few coordinates and the ship began a course for earth. He laid back in the seat for only a split second before he realized Charmcaster, like the blue alien woman, was probably hungry. He stood up and searched for a survival kit in the many compartments. He found one and opened it up to find some dried, alien food, in a blue plastic wrap.

"alright, Charmcaster." Dr. Animo said. He opened the plastic bagging to find what appeared to be jerky. He split it in half and walked over to her. She was looking out the window, watching the Son of God get smaller and smaller. She turned to Dr. Animo.

"Here." He said. He handed her the larger piece of jerky. She took it, but didn't eat it. She looked at Dr. Animo.

"where…where are we going?"

"Home. We're going home. Back to earth." Dr. Animo said. Charmcaster looked back at the Son of God.

"but…but my home is there." She said. She looked at Dr. Animo. The psychic conditioning given to her by Ben V kicked in. she held the rock hard jerky in her hand, and, in one swift movement, shoved it into Dr. Animo's eye. She got on top of him.

"Take me home!" she screamed. "Take me home!" she pulled out the jerky and threw it aside. She began to pound Dr. Animo with her fists. Dr. Animo stopped his reflexes from throwing her aside. He knew she was fragile. Too fragile to hit. Too fragile to defend against. The old man let her beat him until she ruptured blood veins and arteries in his neck, and he died, content with knowing that he kept his promise to his old friend. The pod was on its way towards earth. And there wasn't much she could do about it.

Charmcaster lifted her bloody hands. She looked around for Ben V. he would take care of her. He would thank her for killing one of his enemies and commend her for defending herself. Maybe he would even visit her again!

But instead of Ben V being there when she looked out the window, she instead saw a massive explosion. A sector of the Son of God had exploded, dismantled due to the damage. The sector jettisoned out due to the explosive decoupling. It came for the pod. it came back to reclaim her.

She waved her arms, as if though the decoupled sector could see her. It seemed to. The entire sector crashed into the pod, and Charmcaster became one with her home once again.

Ben X and Ben V flew back into the Son of God's main hull. Ben V's personal quarters, along with about ten percent of the ship, was forced to disconnect. Ben X caught only a glimpse of space. He could see they were in Earth's solar system, likely about to pillage earth herself. But that wasn't going to happen. Ben X would stop him before he set foot on his home planet.

They got into the main hull. The doors shut, and the pressure that was pulling them into space ceased. The two Bens looked at each other. Ben V was beginning to get bored with the battle, and Ben X knew that, soon, his family would be close. Close enough for Ben V to take hostage and escape.

"This is pointless." Ben X stated. "We're too equal. If one of us does something to the other, we just regenerate."

"good point." Ben V said. "I might not have a ship left if we keep fighting." He turned towards Ben X and shrugged. "Alright. What do you propose?" Ben X stared blankly at Ben V. he swallowed as much of his fear as he could.

"We take off our omnitrix's." Ben X said. Even Ben V's mechanical eyes showed his disbelief. "We beat each other. One of us dies. Plain and simple. It'll be just as equal as it is now. Except we won't be immortal and indestructible. What do you say?"

"what do I say?" Ben V said. "Genius! Alright. This isn't going to be some trick, is it? You're going to have me take off my Omnitrix but you won't?"

"Decouple. Code Zero Zero Nine Five Four. Stand by." Ben X said in response.

"affirmative." His Omnitrix replied. Ben V's eyes widened.

"Alright. Operation Negative Ten. Decouple. Hold for my order." Ben V stated. The two looked at each other.

"Now." They said in unison. There was a burst of atomic energy that blinded even I. When they it dissipated, I saw them. Each one without the cybernetic wires on their faces. In their hands they held large wristwatch looking device. Each one threw it aside.

"Feels good!" Ben V yelled. "Being invulnerable means I don't feel all the little things, like wind and such." Ben V looked at his counterpart and smiled. Ben X stood tall, ready to fight. "Alrighty then! Let's get this over with."

"Before we do." Ben X said. Ben V stopped walking forward. "you wanted to know the difference? Between you and I?"

"You've figured it out?" Ben V asked. "Well. Please. Enlighten me." Ben X smiled and laughed

"The difference between you and me is…" He reached into the concealed pistol holster on his back. He aimed it at his counterpart, who responded with eyes so wide with surprise that they were in danger of falling out. "I carry a gun."

Ben V turned to his Omnitrix. He dove for it, but before he was even halfway, Ben X pulled the trigger and shot him into the Null Void, where the tables would be turned, and he would be the victim.

Ben X sighed. He silently wondered what would've happened had Ben V thought to look for weapons, as he did. But it didn't matter. It was over. He put the pistol back in his holster and reattached his Omnitrix.

Just as he did, Ben 10, Kevin Omega and Lucky girl sprinted into the room. Ben 10's Ultimatrix glowed green, finally recharged. Kevin Omega bared his teeth, and Lucky Girl was ready to blast her alternate universe cousin. Ben X looked at them and smiled. He raised his hand and raised his thumb.

"He's in the Null Void." Ben X said. He walked over the red Omnitrix that lay on the ground. He picked it up and held it as if though it was the finest trophy. "It's over. We won."

"Indeed!" I yelled. I stepped out of the shadows. Ben X turned to me, and saw, much to his horror, that Ben V was on his knees right next to me, unharmed. I wasn't about to let my second favorite creation die at the hands of null void nobodies.

"Emit Levart." Ben X addressed. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"

"Emit La-wa?" Ben 10 asked. "What are you talking about? That's Professor Paradox." He said, addressing me by his name for me.

"Neither is correct, when it comes down to it." I said. "Even I don't know my real name."

"What are you doing here?" Ben X asked.

"Oh. I thought I'd come here and clean up the massive cosmic mess you made." I said. I grabbed Ben V by the hair and threw him into the metal. He awoke from the coma I induced after I plucked him from between realities.

"What's going on?" Ben V asked.

"Shut up, you petulant child." I ordered. "The winners are speaking."

"What do you mean clean up?" Ben X asked. Suddenly, he was no longer holding Ben V's Omnitrix.

"This. It was fun, really. What started out as a simple mistake on my part turned out to be the most entertaining sequence of events since Caesar was killed by the senate." I said. I walked up to Ben X, making sure he noticed that my chin was higher than his. "I'm putting this Ben back on his anarchistic little throne. Sending you all back to your home universes and making damn sure you'll never come back."

"You can't do that!" Lucky girl yelled. She ripped off her mask in anger. Ben X raised his hand to stop her.

"Stay back, Gwen." He ordered with a healthy respect for me.

"Gwen?" Ben V asked. I turned my head to see Ben V trying to get to his knees. Gwen looked at him. "Gwen…Tennyson?" he asked, his voice losing the menacing quality that brought entire civilizations to their knees.

"Yes." Gwen responded. Ben V smiled. He began to chuckle and he fell forward, he pounded the metal with his hands. He understood.

"Son of a bitch." He muttered. "It was a coin toss. A single goddamn coin toss."

"What are you talking about?" Ben 10 asked.

"I don't know what happened to you, kid." Ben V told him. "But me and big blue here? The difference between us? A single coin toss."

"Elaborate." Ben X ordered. Ben V looked up with crying eyes.

"Remember? Dad got that promotion! He was going to take us on vacation!" Ben V yelled. I allowed him to speak, I wanted to see Ben X's reaction. "The choices were Disney Land or Kings Island! He let us choose! But it was too hard, so I got a coin. Heads was Disney Land. Tails was Kings Island. You…you must've gotten tails. You drove, didn't you? Dad liked to drive. But Disney Land was too far. We had to fly." Ben V began to cry. "But because it was such a big deal…Mom and Dad invited Gwen and her parents to come too! But the plane…"

"It never made it." Ben X filled in. "it crashed, didn't it?"

"Yep!" Ben V yelled. "The fucking pilot was drunk. Crashed right into the ground. Gwen died in my arms. They couldn't even find mom and dad, and all that was left of Gwen's parents could fit in a goddamn water bottle! I went to live with grandpa. You'd be surprised what he's like when he's drunk. He hit me. Beat me. Begged me for an answer as to why I survived but his sons didn't!"

"And alas…" I said. "Poor Ben grew up with no moral compass. Living in a trailer park with his drunk of a grandfather. Until one day…he saw something fall from the sky."

"I don't get this." Ben 10 said. "Dad…My dad…he never brought us on Vacation. Anywhere. No planes, no cars."

"That's because you're the mainstream." I informed him. "These two here? These are my children. The product of an experiment that I govern. Your father didn't get that promotion for years. Theirs did. Theirs did because I wanted him too. And then I made that trucker fall asleep. I put the scotch in that pilots hand." I raised my arms. "Just to see this! Just to see!" I closed my eyes, taking in the glory, the recognition. Had I kept them open, I might have seen it. Had I not put my entire self in my human form, my omnipotence would've warned me. Ben X pulled a silver device from his pocket and balled it within his fist…

And when I opened my eyes, I saw Ben X, punching me in the gut. His super powered arm went clean into my body. He ripped his arm back out and stepped away from me.

I laughed at what I thought was his anger. I didn't realize that Ben X had outsmarted a god.

"Oh no!" I yelled sarcastically. I stood up straight. Some of my intestines fell out. "Now I'm going to die! My livers ruptured, my kidneys exploded! Good god, Tennyson, you've murdered me! It isn't as if though I can snap my goddamn fingers and create a new body." I paused for effect. "Oh wait. Yes I can."

I snapped my fingers, which was completely unnecessary. It simply adds style.

But when I snapped my fingers and willed my body to become new and uninjured once again, I was dumbfounded. Nothing happened. I fell to my knees, pain now overwhelming me.

"What did you do to me!" I asked. I looked up at Ben X. "you son of a bitch! What did you do to me?"

Ben X pressed a button on his arm. Suddenly, the tower that had brought them there materialized in front of us. I looked around to it.

"What? What is this? What's going on?"

"I attached your body to the Multiverse Travel Unit." Ben X informed me. He held up his bloody arm. "I balled a connector into my fist and left it inside you."

"So? So what! I don't understand!"

"The Multiverse Travel Unit is designed to break cosmic laws, nullify the rules of reality so I can break them at will. You, Emit…you're a rule of reality." He smiled. "And you've been nullified."

"HA!" I yelled. "It doesn't matter! Once my host body dies, I'll merely be god once again!"

"I know." Ben X said. "You're god…here. I wonder whose god in that ben's home universe. I wonder what will happen if we go there."

"No!" I yelled. "Please, Tennyson, I'll do anything! I'll bring your parents back! Please! Anything but that!"

He didn't listen. Goddamn that boy, he didn't listen. He zipped over to the tower and pressed a few buttons while I begged and bled.

And suddenly, we were no longer on the son of god. We were right outside the movie theatre that this entire ordeal began in. I looked up to see helicopters circling overhead. Police had taped off the strange scene.

But then something peculiar happened. The blades of the helicopter stopped. The cops stopped moving, stopped speaking into their radios and interviewing witnesses. Time had stopped. My heart sank, as he came into view in front of us.

Ben X was shocked to see him. He looked just like me. And in a way, he was me. The two Bens likely readied themselves, but my counterpart stopped them.

"It's okay." The other me said. "I'm on your side."

"So even gods have alternate versions of themselves." Ben X pondered.

"Not quite. I'm not a god. He is." My counterpart said. "I assume he told you the story of our creation?"

"You tried to go back in time." Ben 10 filled in.

"And you got stuck. At the nexus of reality." Lucky girl continued.

"Went mad. Then went sane." Kevin said. "So what?"

"So you don't just go sane." My counterpart said as he looked down upon me. "This man here…he's my insanity. My sadism. My desire to mess with the lives of the innocent."

"You splintered him off." Ben X said.

"Yes. And he festered there, at that nexus of reality, for dozens of eternities. Until he gained enough power to play god, and create two entirely different universes." My counterpart said. He turned to Ben X. "I'm sorry about what he did to you. And what he did to the other you. I truly am."

"Whatever." Ben X said. "I'm done with you cosmic entities and your bullshit." He walked over to Omega and Lucky Girl. He smiled. "Send me back. We've got a wedding to plan."

"No." My counterpart said. Ben X turned to him angrily and my counterpart took a step back. There's no doubt in my mind he had a plan to take out my sane version if he had too. "Not yet. There's some unfinished business."

"What?" Ben X asked. My sane counterpart turned to me.

"Him."

"Let the prick die." Ben X commanded.

"I'm afraid I've been given instructions by…a higher power. I can let him die. But it isn't that simple. He is god. Two universes balance on his existence. If he dies…your universe…and the other Ben's universe. They will collapse." He raised his arm, as if though presenting Ben 10. "And become one with his. You will have never existed."

"Ha!" I yelled. "Better stop the bleeding then, eh, old chum?" I told Ben X. he looked at me.

"No." he responded.

"Yeah. No." Gwen agreed. Kevin Omega sighed, and nodded his head.

"No?" I asked, shocked. "What the fuck do you mean, No?"

"Let him die." Ben X repeated.

"Wait." Ben 10 said. He stood in front of me. Thank god for idealism, I thought. He's going to save me. "I know you're mad, but…"

"Ben, this is what we do." Lucky girl said. "We put our lives on the line every day. If he dies, everything goes back to the way it should. We're willing to die for that."

"This isn't dying!" Ben 10 screamed. "This is not existing! Everything you've ever done, everything you ever will do, it won't matter. It'll just be undone!"

But the trio stood looking at him, their resolve unwavering. Ben X put his hand on his counterparts shoulder. Ben 10 began to shed tears.

"You…" he started.

"Ben…this is the kind of decision I make every day." He said. "I haven't saved more lives that the other Ben's destroyed. Maybe I could repair some of the damage he's done, but I'd never undo it all. And if he waved his magic wand and wanted me dead? There'd be nothing I could do to stop him." Ben 10 cried and put his head into Ben X's shoulders.

"But…but we're the good guys." He cried. "We're supposed to win."

"Winning can mean a lot of things, Ben. I walked away from that battle at Orion. I survived Charmcasters assassination attempt. But I didn't win." He ran his hands through his counterparts hair. "I'm not sad. Becoming you? That's…that's not a disappointment. Not to me."

"But…" Ben 10 said as he pulled away. "Will I even remember you? Will I remember any of this?" he turned towards my sane counterpart. The good Professor Shook his head…no.

"But I will." Professor Paradox said. "Trust me. This, all of this…it's my mistake. I'll never leave such a loose end untied ever again."

"Good enough for me." Kevin Omega cheered, his eyes on the verge of crying.

"It's now or never." My sane counterpart said. I could feel the flames of hell creeping up my back, burning me. Ben X turned to his cousin and hugged her. Kevin looked at Ben 10 and smiled.

"Make sure I get together with Gwen, will ya kid?" he asked. Ben 10 smiled the best smile he could with tears weighing down his face, and raised his heavy arm to give a thumbs up.

"You got it." he replied.

"This is it." my sane counterpart warned.

I can feel my heart stop beating, and the entire ordeal is passing by my eyes. I'm relaying it telepathically to someone out there, my last act of godhood and my first act of sanity. The last thing I feel is Ben 10's hands on my face, violently beating me before he too goes back to the way things were. His words are the last thing I hear as I fall into hell.

"Next time someone has a gun to your head." he screams. "Don't give them one more reason to pull the trigger."