At some point on the way back to the star observation room, Argyle had passed out. It might have been after Four Arms' first leap up to the floor above, or possibly the second. Either way, when Four Arms knelt to set the man down carefully next to Murowa, he was limp and didn't so much as twitch. The pain that Argyle must be in had to be agonizing. As he stood up, Four Arms found himself coated in a thin layer of sticky, red-tinted goo that he realized was a layer of Argyle's skin that had come off with him. He grimaced but ignored the churning of disgust in his gut. There were still things to do.
The star was growing more and more volatile. Ben wasn't sure how long it would stay small enough to not kill them, but he was sure that it couldn't be long. It hurt to have his eyes open in the room, not to even start on what a terrible idea it would be to look at it directly.
Turning back to human, Ben felt his skin tingle unpleasantly from the light and rising heat. Best case scenario, he left for Earth with a sunburn or a tan, if he was lucky. And the worst-case scenario… Well, Ben was never the type to think about that, anyway.
He fell to his knees at Patience's side, slumping and already soaked in sweat. Having his shirt off didn't help avoid the heat and being coated in a toxic peranite slurry wasn't doing him any favors either. If it wasn't soaked in Murowa's blood, he might have considered grabbing his shirt again to use as a flimsy shield against the heat. "Hey," he said, giving Patience's shoulder a shake. The wound in her chest was fully sealed over, so she had to be okay. Right? "Are you awake yet? We kind of have a situation on our hands."
Patience didn't stir, which was frustrating and worrisome. Ben couldn't just slap her — she was made of crystal. And he couldn't pour cold water on her because he didn't just have a bucket of that stuff lying around. Would it even work on a Petrosapien? He had never registered temperature very well as Diamondhead.
Ben shook her a few more times, knocking her head back against the ground, and let out a sigh of relief when it got a groan from her. Okay. Even if she wasn't awake, she at least wasn't dead. That was more than some others who had sided with Ben could say.
He left Patience where she was and stood. It was starting to get really old, having to rely on people saving him or trying to protect him or telling him the plan. Ben kept his eyes closed as he faced away from the star and yet, it still made his eyes water. He needed to calm down the star, needed to save everyone, but what could he do? What aliens did he have that were powerful enough?
Aside from Alien X, there was really only one option.
A hand wrapped loosely around his ankle, lukewarm against his heated skin and all jagged edges. Starled from his thoughts, Ben nearly cut himself on Patience's hand trying to instinctively pull away. He glanced down and, seeing that it was only her, let out a hard breath. "God, you scared the hell out of me," Ben muttered. He knelt down at her level, seeing as how Patience still looked weak and exhausted. Maybe that stab wound had hit something important. "Thanks. For, uh, saving me. I was worried that you wouldn't make it," he admitted.
She scoffed, letting go of Ben to attempt to push herself into a sitting position. He set his arms around her to pull her up, more out of habit than any real belief that Ben was strong enough to hold Patience up. "Well, after all the time and effort I've invested into you, I wasn't going to let you get dismembered." Patience grimaced, setting a hand over her closed eyes. "Why is it so much brighter in here? Did you…?" Dread sunk into her voice. "Did you destabilize the star?"
"It is a pretty bad situation to be in, huh?" Ben looked up with a heavy sigh. "I… think I have a plan. But I don't know if you're going to survive it. Or, Argyle for that matter." He was glad that Patience couldn't stand to open her eyes at the moment. As twisted as their relationship was, he didn't want to have to explain to her that he had crippled her brother for life.
Of course, Patience cursed — loudly. "Well, that was the plan the first time, wasn't it? To kill all of us?" She snapped. When it had been her idea, she had been a lot calmer about the idea of walking into her death. "There's nothing here left to save, anyway. At least you'll survive. That's still more than we could have come out with the first time."
He shook his head. "You're really bad at being optimistic. I… I have an alien form that could do this, but I'm not sure about handling a whole star. I've never tried to manage that much energy at once. And if it backfires, then…" Ben bit his lip. "All of my friends die. And so do a bunch of unsuspecting Plumbers. I don't think that I can do that. I can't just… sign away that many people to their deaths."
Patience muttered something under her breath that Ben didn't catch. Then said, "You didn't have a problem with it earlier."
Sighing, Ben said nothing. He couldn't justify that so he didn't try to.
She sat up straighter and hunched in on herself, thinking or cursing Ben's name or saying a prayer to whatever gods Petrosapiens believed in. He didn't know and he didn't ask. "Does Argyle have a radio on him?" Patience asked finally. "He probably wouldn't have one with a strong signal, but you have a Galvanic Mechamorph unlocked on the Omnitrix so that shouldn't be an obstacle."
Ben's heart lept up into his throat. He could get a radio, call for help, talk to Gwen and Rook and Kevin… He wanted that more than anything.
"Yeah," he said shakily. "Yeah, I can… I'll search Argyle for a radio. Hold on."
He stood and walked away from Patience, following his memory to where he had left Argyle. Thankfully, the man was still unconscious and hadn't moved. As bad as Ben felt, going through Argyle's belongings given the state that he was in, he knew that he didn't have many options. There had been too many casualties already for him to be okay with anymore.
Fumbling with his eyes closed, Ben patted down the bent and torn remains of Argyle's suit until he found a pocket. From it, he pulled something rectangular and mechanical, letting out a sigh of relief as he felt the grooves of buttons and dials.
He turned the dial on the Omnitrix, opening his eyes to little slivers as he scanned his selection for the alien that he wanted. Ben had a few different mechanical aliens that could probably get the job done, but he settled on Upgrade and pressed down slowly on the core.
In a flash of green light that barely registered with the blazing glory of a star behind him, Ben slumped into a new body, void of muscle or bone or blood. The radio was still in his hand. The other, Upgrade noticed, was still solid peranite. Having that attached awkwardly to part of his body made him incredibly uncomfortable and felt lopsided. He almost wanted to try dropping it off of him but was, honestly, terrified of what that might do to his chances of getting a functional left hand again.
So, doing his best to ignore it, Upgrade focused on the radio. His good hand melded into it, automatically making repairs and improvements where needed. Had he the facial structure for it, Upgrade would have frowned. He could feel the difficulty that he was having with getting his radio waves outside of the station. Argyle had some impressive barriers in place, but luckily, Upgrade did have his radio. He changed the frequency of his broadcast to get around it and could only hope that the Plumbers would try picking it up.
Upgrade sent out burst after burst in every direction, trying to ping on someone that could help. He tried to reach for Gwen's lingering mana signature, but it was so faint when he was Upgrade that it might as well have been nonexistent. He wished that anyone would pick up. Anyone had to be better than no one.
Then static crackled in his head and, despite not having lungs, Upgrade held his breath.
"This is Standard Plumbers Cruiser number five-oh-seven, Brigadier Advitya and Brigadier Doramu of Plumber Sector AC-Three, answering unknown radio signal," a feminine voice said. Upgrade visibly relaxed as relief washed over him. "Please state your name and location. We can't get a good read on you, clear."
"Hey. Advitya, right?" Upgrade said with forced cheerfulness. "Sorry about my location being difficult for you. There's a signal blocker that I'm still trying to work my way around. You might have heard of me, though. My name is Ben Tennyson. I was hoping you could patch me through to Max Tennyson."
She was silent, probably stunned. It wasn't often that someone on a search-and-rescue mission suddenly received a call from the person they were looking for.
"Oh, um, of course, sir!" She said in a rush. "Apologies. It's a relief to have you back, Mr. Tennyson, sir. We'll have you put through right away. I'm sure that the Magister will be very happy to hear from you. We all are."
The static returned but, that time, Upgrade wasn't nervous. He wasn't even annoyed by being called "Mr" and "sir," like he was an old man instead of a teenager. It was almost possible to forget the star behind him about to expand and kill everyone within a few hundred thousand miles. He was going to talk to Grandpa Max, and Gwen and Kevin and Rook and—
"Ben?" It was Grandpa's voice, exhausted and hopeful in a way that Ben had never heard it before.
Upgrade hummed nervously. "Hey, Grandpa. Yeah, it's me. Sorry for not calling."
If Max could tell that Ben was using the jokes to keep from finding out whether Galvanic Mechamorphs could cry or not, then he didn't comment on it. All he said was, "Ben. Christ…" He made a noise that sounded like he had literally dropped the weight of worlds from his shoulders.
There was clearly a lot that Grandpa wanted to say, but Upgrade, unfortunately, didn't have time for it. He cut Max off right as the man was about to continue, saying, "I want to catch up as much as the next kidnapping victim, Grandpa, but we have a major problem. Like, kill-everyone-with-a-massive-explosion-of-a-star levels of major."
Even though Max said nothing at first, Ben could feel when he switched from Grandpa to Magister. "Tell me what we need to do to bring you home," he said seriously.
Or maybe he could be both.
He didn't have a face, but Upgrade's "eye" crinkled into what was his non-auditory version of a smile. "Not much, actually. I have a plan, I just need you to send a ship down here to evacuate a few people so that they don't get caught in the blast. Three allies, a prisoner, and…" Upgrade hesitated. "...two dead bodies."
"Understood." Max didn't need to pause. He didn't make a noise to signal shock or even disappointment. Ben could picture him nodding resolutely. "I'm sending Gwendolyn's ship. Now that we have your signal, we'll been able to track it despite the signal being blocked. They'll be there in a few minutes."
The mention of the word "they" caused Upgrade's internal power source to produce at a higher-than-average rate for a few seconds, but he quickly clamped it down. He was going to see his best friends. "Okay. Great. Thanks, Grandpa."
The conversation could have ended there, but Ben didn't end the call and neither did Max. After a moment whether neither of them was quite sure what to say, Grandpa sighed. "I love you, Ben," he said gently. "It's almost over. I'm so proud of you."
Ben had his answer. Galvanic Mechamorphs couldn't cry, but it was damn tempting to. His ocular sensors even burned as though filling with tears, though he knew that such a thing was impossible. "I love you, too," Ben whispered. "I'll be seeing you soon. I promise."
It was almost over.
He said goodbye to Grandpa and turned back to Ben before he could convince himself to keep talking. His peranite arm jostled unpleasantly against flesh-and-blood skin. He had missed everyone so much that it actually hurt. Ben couldn't wait to get home and put everything that had happened behind him. In all honesty, he wanted to forget that the whole incident had ever happened.
Dropping the radio, Ben walked back over to Patience. He crouched down next to her, glad to see that she was at least sitting up and hadn't gone back to sleep. Thought it probably wouldn't have been easy to do that with the light of a star turning the entire room white and unbearably hot.
"Hey. I called for backup," he said to her. "Gwen's coming, so she'll be able to find Tetrax and Conway. And…" Whatever was left of Popigai's body, unless the other Petrosapiens had already recovered it after waking up from Murowa's attack. "Anyway, they're gonna take you and Argyle. Probably Murowa, too." Ben pursed his lips. "I wouldn't feel right about letting them leave her behind."
Patience let out a snort of laughter. "If you think I'm leaving while he's still alive," she spat, "you're dumber than you look, Tennyson. If you can't finish him, that's fine. Just show me where you left him and I'll end this once and for all."
Before she could finish, Ben was shaking his head. "No way," he said firmly. "You're not killing anyone. I won't let you."
Her eyes narrowed. "Do you really want to waste time fighting me over this, hero?"
Despite himself, Ben looked away, grimacing. He really wished that people would stop calling him that so sarcastically. "I don't need to," he said after a moment. "I don't have to fight you. I just have to make sure that you don't kill anyone."
There was a quiet moment where Patience tried to figure out a way to reply, but then the moment was over. The sound of metal tearing sounded from above and, so quickly that Ben barely had time to process it, the Rustbucket III had burst into the room with a flare of mana to clear the way. It hit the ground of the observation room hard, skidding and kicking up sparks and no doubt tearing up the paint job on the underside. Surprised, Ben watched with his mouth hanging open. The ship came in so fast that he was surprised it hadn't shot through another dozen floors.
He stood up, thoroughly confused. Even Patience had been stunned into silence. Ben glanced up at the hole left in the ceiling. How had they even got into the station? Was there a giant hole somewhere letting out all of the oxygen? Had Gwen really just carved through countless miles of steel and wiring to get the ship to Ben without having to slow down?
And they called him reckless?
The side door to the Rustbucket swung open and four figures spilled out of it. Three of them rushed forward. Ben thought that the one hanging back might have been Mantle, but he didn't get long to stare, as he was abruptly reminded that Gwen could fly when she was right in front of him in seconds.
"Uh—" Ben uttered reflexively, taking a step back out of surprise. He didn't get any further, because Gwen had tears in her eyes when she wrapped him in her arms.
"You're such a fucking idiot," Gwen hissed through clenched teeth. She was quiet, little hitching breaths as she shook with the effort of holding back sobs. Tears dripped onto Ben's neck but he couldn't even pretend to care. "I was so scared. Don't ever do this to me again."
Ben chuckled weakly and she squeezed him tighter. "I'll do my best," he said awkwardly. He reached up his hands to hug her back, but as soon as he touched her, Gwen jumped back.
He held his hands up in surrender, but it didn't take longer than a second for him to notice what she was looking at. Ben glanced at his peranite arm and winced, quickly hiding it behind his back. "That wasn't—" He started but didn't get to finish.
Kevin and Rook had caught up. Any chance of a happy group hug reunion was ruined. Based on the looks on their faces, both of them had seen Ben's arm too. And, unlike Gwen, it didn't seem like they had known about it beforehand. Seeing it with her own eyes was much different than seeing it in his head.
"What," Kevin said lowly, "is that?"
Hesitantly, squirming under their concerned gazes, Ben brought his hand back out. He heard Rook audibly hiss, but didn't look at any of his friends. He stared at his crystallized fingers instead, willing them to move to no success.
"It's a, um, long story," Ben tried weakly. "It's reversible. I think it is, anyway." He was hoping that it was.
There was silence between them for a moment until, Ben realized, Gwen started to hum. She was glowing pink through her skin and clothes, looking seconds away from incinerating her body and burning the entire station to ash.
White, pupil-less eyes focused on Ben. "Where are they?" Gwen's voice echoed, overlayed with something that sounded low and powerful and dangerous. No one had to ask what "they" was supposed to be.
"Gwen—" Ben tried holding his hands up to soothe her.
"Don't you start with me, Benjamin Tennyson!" Gwen cut him off with a noise like a snarl. "You're filthy, covered in your own dried blood, visibly lost weight — you don't even have proper clothes! — and you've lost an arm because of what they did to you! Tell me where they are. They are going to pay."
The way that Gwen said it, it wasn't a threat — it was a promise.
Bending down, Kevin grabbed hold of a piece of the torn-up floor and absorbed it over his body. "You two might want to step back." He waved at Rook and Ben, gaze lingering on the latter before he turned back to Gwen.
Much as Ben wanted to comfort his cousin, he didn't know what to say. He was pretty sure that his presence wasn't helping, since that was what had gotten her so worked up to begin with. He didn't understand. Gwen had seen him get hurt in the past and she had never reacted like that.
Rook took hold of Ben's forearm (the non-crystal one) gently, tugging him back several yards and angling it so that his broad shoulders kept Ben from view. Despite that, he got the feeling that Rook wasn't any happier about the situation than Gwen was. They had a moment alone for the first time in who knew how long, but Rook wasn't so much as looking at him. He kept his scowl firmly fixated on a spot above Ben's head. He still hadn't let go of the hold he had on Ben's arm.
Apparently, Rook wasn't going to break the ice. Fine. Ben shifted a few inches to peek around him and watch. Kevin had his metal-coated arms wrapped around Gwen, one hand rubbing circles in her back and the other running through her hair. They were arguing, it looked like, both scowling and exchanging muttered hisses. What they were talking about, Ben had no idea. Even if Gwen was still glowing, at least she hadn't burned through her skin. She let Kevin pull her close, still fighting to hold onto her anger even as her expression softened. He was whispering something against her ear, arms curving to almost cradle Gwen in his hold.
Ben looked away. He didn't want to ruin their tender moment. Also, that was his cousin.
He focused back on Rook instead, who had closed his eyes at some point. Was he not happy to see Ben? Was Rook still mad that Ben had gotten hurt and been unable to help them? His grip on Ben's arm had only gotten tighter.
"Hey," Ben said weakly. He tugged a little on his arm, just to get Rook to open his eyes. "It's, um, good to see all of you again. But we sort of have a situation." He gestured to the star.
At the reminder, Rook grimaced. He wiped his brow with his free hand and it came away damp with sweat. "Yes, I had noticed," he said dryly. It felt so good to hear his voice again that Ben couldn't help but smile. "We will evacuate whoever you need us to. First, I want to know… What happened?" His face creased with concern and guilt, which surprised Ben. For the first time since arriving, Rook really seemed to look at Ben. He soaked in the matted hair, pasty skin and hollowed eyes, the blood stains, the torn remainders of clothes. Had he been able to, Ben thought that Rook might have blown up, too. The grip on Ben's arm was released and, as carefully as handling fine china, Rook ran his fingers along the scar where Ben's front stab wound had been. The sensation of touch made him shiver — it had been a long time since Ben felt anything warm. "Last I saw you, Ben, you…" Rook didn't finish. His touch drifted to Ben's peranite arm and his expression hardened. "I thought that you died. What happened?"
Rarely had Ben ever heard someone so angry, especially when it was on his behalf. He winced. "Can it wait?" He sighed. He shifted his arm away from Rook, again tucking it behind his back. "I don't want to keep repeating the same story. I'll tell you guys everything, just… can it wait until we're done? I still need your help."
For a moment, it seemed like Rook was going to refuse. He glanced from Ben's arm to his face, then back again, mouth opening and closing like a fish all the while. Then, to Ben's surprise, Rook nodded. It was stiff and forced, but unmistakable. "Alright," he agreed with visible displeasure. "Tell me who we are evacuating. I will pass it along to Gwen and Kevin once they have both calmed down."
Despite what he had just got done saying, Ben arched an eyebrow. "Both of them?" He repeated. "Gwen is the only one crying and threatening to kill people."
Rook bit out a sarcastic laugh. "Yes, now she is. I can assure you that the positions were quite reversed while we were searching for you. I was convinced that Kevin would wear a hole through the floor with all of his pacing. It goes without saying, but he will be replacing equipment once we get back to Earth. He spent a fair amount of time punching things and cursing."
Usually, Rook liked to take the moral high ground, but his tone didn't sound judgemental. Ben was struck by the thought that, though Rook didn't say it, some of that equipment had probably met the business end of the Proto-Tool. Or, hell, even Rook's bare claws depending on how upset he had been. There was a vivid memory of Conway reaching for him, Rook at Ben's side and gripping him like a lifeline with bared teeth and slit pupils.
Ben shook the thought away. He had to stay on task. "I was with Tetrax and Conway a while ago. They should still be on here. Gwen can probably track them. And Popigai was with me, but…" He trailed off, swallowing the lump in his throat. He had to look away from Rook before he could finish. "Popigai didn't make it. I'm sorry."
Silence fell between them. Ben could hear Rook's thoughts whirring. Shock, then anger, and grief, followed by understanding. He knew that Rook wouldn't blame Ben for it, but that didn't mean anything. No matter how forgiving, Rook hadn't been there. It could only be Ben's fault that Popigai had died. If he hadn't needed to be saved, it wouldn't have happened. Rook wouldn't have lost a friend.
Before Rook could formulate a response, Ben continued. They didn't have time to grieve. There were more important things than the guilt that made Ben's chest tight and his throat constrict. "I need you to get Patience out of here, too. She's hurt. And so is Argyle. He's, um, alive. Murowa… isn't, but I want you to take her body anyway."
There was another shot of guilt, though it still confused Ben. He knew what Grandpa and Rook would say — that Murowa was better dead than alive anyway, that it wasn't Ben's fault if she had chosen to risk her life for his, that she probably would have used that to get a "favor" or some sort of debt from Ben had it not killed her. They would say that there was no reason to miss her and no reason to be upset at her passing. And they would be right. But no amount of reasoning was going to get rid of the one emotion Ben didn't want to acknowledge: regret.
Taking a deep breath through clenched teeth, Rook nonetheless nodded. "Alright. We can do those things. But we will be talking about what happened as soon as you are safe and in a medical bay," Rook said firmly.
He didn't like the dotting and concern, but Ben smiled anyway. It was just nice to work with Rook like they were still partners, instead of… not. "That's not all we need to talk about," Ben added. It was too much to get into at the moment, but he knew that he needed to talk to Rook. Being angry and petty, after everything that he had been through, seemed so exhausting. Ben couldn't keep doing it. "I'll get Gwen and Kevin to break it up. Then I'll see you guys after I'm done taking care of that." He jerked a thumb toward the star.
Starting off, Ben was surprised when Rook again grabbed him by the arm. It wasn't as desperate as before. Contemplative, almost. He let go quickly, frowning at Ben. "And what, exactly, is your plan for that?"
It felt so good to be doing stupid and dangerous things that had a low chance of success again. Ben grinned. "You'll see. Trust me, it's going to be awesome," he promised. Before Rook could stop him a second time, Ben turned and darted toward where Gwen and Kevin were still wrapped in each other.
Gross, but whatever. Ben was sure that if he had a girlfriend, he would do weird and affectionate things like that, too. Besides, Ben was sort of used to it. Gwen and Kevin had been giving each other heart eyes since the day they became a team. He had learned to ignore it.
"Hey, guys," Ben interrupted. Both Kevin and Gwen look up at the same time. Thankfully, his cousin wasn't glowing anymore, so at least Kevin knew what he was doing. "This reunion has been great, seriously, but we still have—"
He was cut off when Gwen flung herself against him. Not a moment later, Kevin joined, wrapping his arms around both of them and squeezing so tightly that it actually made it hard to breathe for a moment. Ben thought to protest, but he felt Gwen weak against him and Kevin's unshaking support and let himself have a few moments with the most important people in his life. He relaxed, trying to get his arms around both of them. Kevin tensed at the feeling of Ben's peranite hand but, instead of panicking like Gwen did, let out a breathless laugh.
"You two are going to give me fuckin' grey hairs before I'm thirty," Kevin muttered. But he pressed a kiss to the top of Gwen's head and pulled Ben closer, so he probably wasn't upset.
Ben bit back a smile. "'Least your car hasn't been destroyed yet."
There was a soft huff as Gwen giggled, before things between the three of them went quiet. It wasn't awkward, though. They were saying everything that they needed to just by standing in each other's arms. For a moment, Ben thought about including Rook in their group hug, but… not yet. They still needed to talk, and Ben wasn't sure if Rook would even be comfortable hugging them all.
Finally, Ben was the one to pull back. He kept one hand around Kevin's back and the other on Gwen's shoulder, looking at them both seriously. "I need you both to go with Rook in the Rustbucket. I already told him everything, so he'll tell you guys what to do. After that, I need you guys and all the other Plumbers to get as far away as possible as quickly as you can. I think I know how to handle this star, but in case something goes wrong, I don't want you all caught up in it." He wasn't that worried. Now that he had warned them, their chances of survival were a lot higher, considering that their ships could travel faster than light.
Neither of them seemed happy, but Gwen nodded. Years of working together had taught her not to try stopping Ben when he got something insane into his head. "Okay. Just give us a few minutes before you do your thing, alright?" She hugged him again, briefly, and pulled away with a smile. Instead of tears in her eyes, there was hope.
Kevin punched Ben in the shoulder. Or nudged him, rather, because there was practically no force behind it. He reached up, ruffling Ben's hair. "Don't do anything too suicidal. If you die now, Tennyson, I'll never forgive you." And the way that Kevin spoke, Ben knew that he meant it.
"I love you guys, too," Ben said fondly. He glanced over at Rook. "Now you all need to leave. Argyle and Murowa are over there, and Patience—" He looked to where he had left her and held back a groan. Of course she was gone. Why couldn't anything ever be easy? He cursed. "God, I don't even—! I'll find her, you guys just get Argyle and Murowa onto the ship. Don't take off 'til I bring her back. It'll be quick," he promised. Without waiting for their responses, Ben jogged off. How did he miss a giant chandelier walking away?
His first thought was to look by Argyle. Ben hurried over to him, hoping that the man was still alive, but he didn't have to get very close to see the rise and fall of his chest and the way he was shifting in his sleep. If nothing else, Argyle was alive. Despite himself, Ben relaxed, though his frown stayed. All Patience ever seemed to talk about was killing Argyle. If she wasn't with him, there where could she have run off to?
On a whim, Ben continued straight ahead from where he was. He was worried about the star, but it wasn't burning his eyes out of the sockets yet, so he figured that it wasn't any worse than it had been a while ago. Things that massive usually took a while to have any change happen, which was a blessing.
It wasn't until Ben had gone far enough that he could no longer see his friends that he finally ran into Patience. Literally.
He hit something hard and immovable, stumbling back. Ben nearly fell flat on his ass, but righted himself at the last moment. A good thing that he did, because Patience didn't even flinch, let alone move to catch him.
She was facing directly ahead, inches away from the window protecting them from a swift and painful heat death. Her face was scrunched up, either because she was thinking of something unpleasant or because the brightness was hurting her eyes. It didn't strike Ben as a good idea to be staring at a star that was so close to them, but he wasn't about to tell her to stop. It was clear just by the way she was holding herself that the wrong word would be enough to set Patience off. Maybe she would punch a hole in the window and kill them all.
Of course, Patience wasn't going to break the ice and acknowledge him, but Ben didn't let that deter him. Inwardly, he sighed. Nothing could ever be easy.
"Hey, Patience." He tapped her, getting the slight clinking sound of his finger against crystal but not earning a reaction. "You know, you have to go. You saw my friends arrive, didn't you? They're going to take you somewhere where you won't die when I blow this whole place up. Then you'll probably get to go back to Petropia and start rebuilding. That will be fun, right? You'll be in charge again." Still, nothing. She didn't so much as blink.
It was tempting to get mad at her. Ben really didn't have the time or the tolerance or the energy to deal with whatever was making her so unreasonable. He was exhausted and injured and, at the moment, she was a huge roadblock standing between him and getting home. He refused to let anyone else die, so leaving Patience wasn't an option.
Scowling, Ben lifted his hand to the Omnitrix. Diamondhead or Four Arms could probably move her. Hell, even Humongosaur if Ben felt like going all-out. He could have her in his arms and shoved into Kevin's ship in no time.
But that wasn't really a solution. That was just forcing the result that Ben wanted.
He struggled for a moment, then sighed, lowering his hands and looking up at Patience. Really looking at her. Eventually finding the words, Ben managed, "Why didn't you kill him?"
At the very least, it got a reaction from her. Patience looked over at him, taken aback, then scowled. "What are you talking about?"
As if she didn't already know. Somehow, Ben resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He scraped together his self-restraint and kept his expression neutral. "Argyle. You walked right by him to get here and you didn't even touch him. The entire time I've known you, your only goal was to kill this guy. So why didn't you?" He explained.
Patience blinked down at him, looking like she would rather be anywhere else. "I don't have to explain myself to you," she settled on finally. "Get going, hero. You have a star to stop and lives to save. Just leave me."
"To what? Get yourself killed?" Ben snapped. His tone surprised even himself and earned a wide-eyed stare from Patience. He didn't care. Sure, it didn't involve hitting things, but venting his frustration sounded like a damn good idea to Ben at the moment. "Goddamn it, do you think this is a competition? Even with your stupid plan to turn off the fusion drive, you were convinced that your only way out was some worthless suicide mission! This isn't your grand finale, Patience! This isn't a blaze of glory that they'll sing songs about and write into the history books! You aren't meant to be a hero so would you please just stop trying and leave?"
She whirled around to face Ben fully, towering over him with a snarl. "Are you insinuating that I'm only doing this for attention?"
Ben shook his head. "No, I'm saying that you're doing this to make yourself feel better. You want so badly to be the hero in this story. Well, I hate to break it to you, but you're not! I don't know why you didn't kill Argyle, and I don't care, either. I just want you to get out of here so that you don't end up dying when this whole place comes apart!"
Stubbornly, Patience clenched her jaw. Her eyes narrowed. Ignoring the rest of what Ben said, her only reply was, "You don't have to be a good person to be a hero."
He didn't miss a beat. "You don't have to die to be a hero, either," Ben shot back.
That shut her up. Patience opened her mouth and closed it, then opened it again and was quiet. She broke their locked stares, glaring at a point over Ben's shoulder instead. He gave her a few moments to collect her thoughts and didn't have to wait long. "I don't really want to be a hero," Patience admitted. "I want to be… better than I am right now. It wasn't like this before Argyle… before he was, well…" She grimaced. "I used to be a better person. I used to be better than— this." She gestured hopelessly around them and slumped into herself. "I thought that killing him would be what I needed to get back to where it was before, but I can't even do that, apparently."
He was quiet at first but then, expression softening, Ben said gently, "You should go. Really. There's no reason to die here. You're not done just because he is, Patience."
Against all odds, she nodded. Still refusing to look at him, Patience nonetheless straightened. Instead of determination in her eyes, there was something that looked like acceptance. "Yes. I suppose you're right."
She turned and left. Just like that, without another word. Ben thought about following, to make sure that she actually got into the Rustbucket and left, but he decided against it. He had a funny feeling in his gut that everything was going to work out. Somehow, even after everything, it would be okay again.
A minute after she was out of sight, Ben heard the whir of the Rustbucket's engines starting up again. He didn't actually see the ship when it left, but he heard the noise of the walls being busted down again and couldn't help but smile. His friends were crazy, no doubt about it, but he wasn't sure where he would be without their help. Ben took a moment to stand there, his chest tight with affection. Maybe they could all get a smoothie together, back on Earth.
He gave it another minute before turning to the Omnitrix. The timing would be close, but Ben was pretty sure that what he wanted to do would take a while, anyway, and he wanted to get it done before the stabilizing machines gave out entirely and the star was too out of control for him to handle.
Turning it on, Ben flipped through to the alien that he needed: Atomix. He controlled nuclear energy and that was what powered stars, too. Of course, Ben had never field-tested it on such a large scale, but there was no time like the present. He pressed down on the core.
Like with becoming NRG, Ben felt energy bubbling from inside of him, melting his bones and muscles and skin. The enormous containment suit followed, caging him in. Instead of a prison, it became a relief, soothing the near uncontrollable urge to release as much energy as he could. His crystal hand dissolved alongside everything else and Ben felt relaxed in a way that he hadn't been since he first got kidnapped. With near limitless power came confidence. Nothing could hurt him. And he refused to let anyone else get hurt, either.
The star pulsed with thrums of energy that pulled on him. Atomix didn't have to squint to look at it — he took in the star in its full glory. It felt familiar. Like coming home.
God, did he want to go home.
With a light tap of his foot, Atomix propelled himself into the air. Floating above the ground, he closed his eyes. It was hard to feel for other sources of energy with a star so close, but he did feel something. It wasn't far, relatively speaking. Everything was close when considered relatively.
"I'll have to get my hands dirty for this," Atomix muttered to himself. He reached up and grabbed the head of his containment suit, neatly twisting it open with a slight hiss. His true form crawled out and the empty, lifeless metal husk dropped to the ground with a clang.
His human consciousness drew his formless mass of energy together into something that loosely-resembled a body. Atomix ran his hands over the belt around his waist, fingering the Omnitrix idly. He knew that, had he looked into a mirror, he would have looked like Ben. Green and swimming with skin made of energy, but Ben. He wondered if Gwen would have appreciated that, the closest that he would ever get to looking like an Anodite.
He took a deep breath even though he didn't need to and, in an instant, went from motionless to traveling at the speed of sound as he crashed through the viewing window. The force of it sent the entire thing shattering, reinforced peranite sliding out of the frame and twisting into the vacuum that surrounded the star. Atomix didn't hear it, barely even noticed. He was traveling faster than sound, nearing the speed of light when he came to a near instantaneous stop right in front of the star.
He could reach out and touch it, if he wanted to. The air around it crackled and twisted with the intensity of the heat. Even Atomix felt it, tingling against his body. The star surged again and grew, enveloping him. It was, ironically, cooler inside the star. Although, saying it was "cooler" in relation to a star wasn't saying a lot. Transfixed, Atomix reached a hand out to try touching the plasma swarming him. He couldn't get his hands around it, of course. Ben had never been inside of a star before but, to Atomix, it felt right. He knew what to do, impossible though it seemed.
Holding his hands out in front of him, Atomix tried touching the plasma again and succeeded. Green spread from his fingertips and to the surrounding heat, until he had made himself a little bubble inside of the star. And then Atomix pushed his influence further, calling the mindless energy to him, under his influence. It spread like ink to water, more and more, further and further. The power only seemed to go up and there was no limit. There was the lingering feeling that he ought to be overwhelmed, but he wasn't. Atomix pushed himself deeper into the star, reaching out to it with all of his might.
There was no star by the time he finished — there was only Ben, powerful and limitless.
When Atomix pushed again, he wasn't pushing his force of will. He pushed at the energy surrounding him and the green star obeyed. Dimly, Ben knew that he had completely destroyed the wormhole device keeping the star contained, but then again, that was his intention. The star surged and he was right along with it. He barely noticed the space station being swallowed up as he grew. He felt gentle taps against the star's surface from whatever didn't burn before reaching him, but that was all. Nothing stopped him. In a few seconds, there was no station. Not anymore. Still, Atomix pushed.
His size grew dizzying, but the energy became easier to control when it wasn't compacted right on top of him. Atomix barely held it together. When he was done, he didn't know how big he was. A hundred miles across? A thousand? The numbers were so, so similar in the grand scheme of things that he didn't think that it mattered.
It was difficult to focus on anything outside of his endless energy, but Atomix managed. He found that same star from before, remembering the way it felt. It was bigger than he was, but not by much. For what he wanted, it would suffice.
Atomix forced himself to move, dragging the mass of a star along with him. It was difficult to start, but once he got himself going, it was harder to stop. A distance of hundreds of millions of miles was crossed in what felt like a minute but was, in reality, probably closer to an hour. He could feel it, the way that the energy was weighing on him. His consciousness was spreading thinner and it was hard to tell where Ben ended and the star began.
He had to remember soccer in the summer: muscles burning and lungs heaving and soaked with sweat, exhausted but satisfied. He tried to imagine that he had a tongue, to recall what smoothies tasted and felt like. And most of all, he thought of Rook tracing the scar on his stomach, Gwen clutching him like he would die if she let go, Kevin ruffling his hair. All experiences that were exclusive to being solid. Being human. There was nothing wrong with a little bit of humanity.
Technically, Atomix never arrived at the other star. He got close enough that its gravity began pulling on him insistently, tugging on his star's mass until it was shaped more like an oval than a sphere. He pushed himself in the other direction slowly, carefully. If he removed his influence entirely, the star would burst into its true size and Ben could do without the mess.
He let the energy slip by him, as gently as a running stream, and felt chilled when his body broke the surface. With his wrist still embedded in the green star, Atomix floated forward to follow it. He had the ridiculous urge to shush it, as though it was a pet. He could see the stars in front of him, both utterly silent. Mass and energy curled around the bigger one like a ring, gradually sinking into it. The bigger one grew, puffing up like a balloon as it turned from yellow to red and then to a bright, vivid blue. Atomix pulled his influence back, desperately struggling to fit his mind back into a confined body without feeling claustrophobic. He didn't even have skin and the sensation made him want to claw his way out of it.
What was left of the star slipped free from Atomix and he drifted back to watch. He had never seen something so violent or graceful in his life. The matter of two stars slammed into each other, their surfaces rolling and cresting with waves thousands of miles tall, but they sank into each others folds as though embracing like lovers. Looking at them, Ben wasn't sure how he felt, but he suddenly understood that things would be okay.
He had done it. He had saved the day. Just like a hero ought to.
Had he a body, Ben might have felt exhausted. Atomix only registered feeling low on energy, but that was to be expected. With the high of an entire star came a depletion low the likes of which he had never felt before.
In the distance, a spaceship gleamed. Even without being able to make out the details, Ben knew that it was the Rustbucket. What else would it be? He managed a tired smile. He might have gone to meet them, but he couldn't muster the will to move. Even waving felt like an impossibility. Atomix had limbs made of energy — how could they feel heavy?
It seemed to take both forever and no time at all for the Rustbucker to arrive. Atomix didn't have a great sense of time passing, which he was thankful for. If he thought too much about how long he had been floating there, alone in the desolate voice of space and barely holding himself together, Ben wasn't sure if he would be able to handle it.
The Rustbucket pulled up alongside him and he glanced briefly at the window to see Gwen smiling at him. She still looked worried, but she was safe. They were all safe. The crushing relief nearly sent Atomix collapsing in on himself.
The airlock slid open and he managed to drift toward it. Grasping the edge of the frame, Atomix slipped inside. His touch left the metal distorted and blackened. As soon as he was in the ship, the door snapped shut behind him. His feet touched the metal floor and his legs immediately gave out, devolving into mush that clung to him as Atomix collapsed into a puddle of his weakened body. He forced himself to hold out, just a few moments more, until he heard the ship ding to signify that the air level in the room was stable.
As soon as it was, there was a green flash and Ben winced as he hit the floor on his stomach. His legs and arms felt like jelly, but he panted and sucked in greedy gulps of air as though he had never had lungs before. And, if he was being honest with himself, there was a moment back there where Ben had actually forgotten what it was like to breathe.
He tried pushing himself up, but found arms around him, lifting him with ease. Ben registered that it was Kevin (somehow, he had missed the airlock door opening) and went limp in his arms, gripping him back just as tightly. Gwen didn't hesitate to join them, tucking her face against Ben's neck and pressing her fingers to the pulse in his wrist. If she needed the reminder that he was alive, he couldn't blame her. A part of Ben still felt as though he needed it, too.
Rook lingered in the doorway. He hesitated, averting his eyes uncertainly. It was, surprisingly enough, Kevin who said, "Hey, don't think you're getting out of this. Get your ass over here before I drag you, Rook."
His eyes snapped to Ben and there was a guilty clench in his chest as he watched his ex-partner shrink in on himself with discomfort. "I am not sure if—" He tried, but never finished.
At that moment, Tetrax stepped behind Rook, clapping a hand on his shoulder. There was a grin on his face, though it faded when he took in the state that Ben was in. "I'm not interrupting, am I?" He asked.
He was, but Ben didn't care. He squirmed free of Gwen and Kevin's hug to throw himself at Tetrax, almost managing to get his arms around the man's torso. "Tetrax! You're alright!" Ben stepped back, beaming up at him. "I was worried that you and Conway got caught up in the blast." He hesitated, looking at the cabin around Tetrax, but it was only the five of them. "Where is he? And Popigai, is he…?"
Tetrax set his hands on Ben's shoulders, grimacing. "Conway and Patience both went to separate rooms. They needed some time alone, understandably so. But Conway wanted me to tell you that he's glad you're not dead. As for Popigai…" He winced. "We have him, but you don't want to see him, Ben. His head is, um, well… half-gone."
Despite himself, Ben flinched. He had watched Argyle crush his skull and, yeah, he definitely didn't want to see that again. It hadn't been pretty or pleasant.
The good mood had wilted but, forcing a smile, Gwen grabbed hold of Ben's functional hand and tugged him forward. "Here. We have video links and I think Grandpa will be happy to see you. There's someone with him that was really worried," she teased.
"Who?" Ben asked, confused even as he let Gwen ease him down into a chair in front of a screen. He was surprised by how good it felt to sit down, relaxing as his aching thighs finally stopped protesting. She gestured at Kevin, who reached into one of his storage cabinets and pulled out a blanket. It was handed to Ben and he wrapped it around his shoulders gratefully. "He didn't bring my parents, did he?"
Gwen smiled more genuinely, but shook her head. "No. He did tell Carl and Sandra. It's not like they didn't notice when you didn't come back on schedule, but they aren't here. They'll be glad to hear from you, though." She leaned over Ben and tapped a few commands on the keyboard. The screen blinked to life and the ringing of a phone started as they waited for their call to be answered. She stepped back and Ben swallowed the nervousness threatening to choke him.
On the second ring, the call was picked up. The screen blinked to life and, to Ben's surprise, it wasn't Grandpa that he was looking at.
"Azmuth?" His jaw dropped a little, but then Ben grinned. The Creator of the Omnitrix was standing on a Galvan-sized hoverpad, positioned close enough to the camera to take up most of the screen and looking severely unimpressed. "Aw, were you worried about me? I'm flattered. You dropped all of your important science-y stuff for me."
As was so common when he was talking to Ben, Azmuth scoffed. "I've been worried about my creation, not you. You overloaded it so badly that you nearly maxed out the monitoring instruments that I have. I'm amazed you're still alive. Emergency alerts have been going off practically non-stop. What have you been doing with the Omnitrix, beating it against rocks?"
Ben couldn't help but grimace. "Yeah, um, about that. See, it's a funny story." He held his arm up for Azmuth to see and whatever he had been about to say died on his lips. "I swear this wasn't my fault. Is it, uh, reversible by any chance?"
Hearing that, Azmuth blinked. He looked to Ben incredulously, as though he had never heard a question that stupid in his life. Azmuth took a deep breath. "I am the smartest being in three galaxies," he muttered, more to himself than Ben as he rubbed his temples. Then, focusing back on his Champion, Azmuth said, "Even after all the fail safes I've implemented to avoid genetic damage, you somehow managed to corrupt your entire lower arm. I'm rerouting this ship to your location and you'll have to be taken to Galvan Prime for immediate treatment. It should be reversible." He paused. "...in theory, at any rate."
"In theory?" Ben repeated. "Well, that's reassuring!"
"It's not like this has ever happened before!" Azmuth snapped. "I swear, of all the idiotic, careless, asinine things you could have done—!" He moved off-camera, continuing to mutter and curse Ben's name. His talking grew quieter and further away until it was gone entirely.
Amused, Ben quirked his lips into a smile and chuckled faintly. Turning to Gwen and Kevin behind him, he said, "I've never seen him so angry before."
Kevin narrowed his eyes. "I don't blame him," he said darkly.
Flashes of Kevin's mutation on the satellite, how ruthlessly he'd killed Diavik, how overwhelming his anger had been, made Ben wince. He was thankful when Gwen spoke up because he didn't know how to reply.
"He's just been worried about you," she sighed, elbowing Kevin pointedly in the side. "We all have. He covers it by being mad. It's not like Azmuth is upset with you."
"I know." Ben waved away her concerns. "He's really bad at pretending not to care. He acts like it, but I'll get to Galvan Prime and have the best doctors available and Azmuth will give me a bunch of attention while still complaining about all the better things he should be doing." He snorted, but there was a fond smile on his face.
Before anyone else could add in, there was movement from the screen. Ben turned back around and grinned when he saw Grandpa Max adjusting the camera to focus on him. "Ben," he sighed when he saw his grandson. The tension visibly left his body as he relaxed. "I'm glad to see you're alright after that light show, though Azmuth seems a little the worse for wear." He chuckled good-naturedly.
Playing innocent, Ben shrugged. "I don't know what got into him. He's always like that."
Grandpa laughed. The sound caused Ben to relax, affection making his chest tight. He couldn't believe how much he had missed everyone. He wished that he was with his grandpa so that he could hug him.
"Still—" Max started, but never finished.
There was a loud clatter from down the hall and Ben was automatically on his feet. "Sorry, Grandpa," he said as a second-thought. The sound of pounding footsteps and twisting metal had most of his attention. "We have a situation. I'll call you back." He hung up as Grandpa was protesting, dropping the blanket to hover a hand over the Omnitrix. Gwen's hands were glowing with mana, Kevin had absorbed the steel floor, Rook had his Proto-Tool in his hands, and Tetrax's arms were spikes.
Somehow, he wasn't surprised to see Argyle come pounding into the cabin. He looked taken aback to see all five of them standing there, but merely narrowed his eyes and clutched what was tucked into the crook of his arm closer. Ben recognized it to be Murowa's body, wrapped politely in a body bag with only her hair sticking out from where she had been jostled during the sprint.
"Getting sloppy," Argyle panted. "Just because I can't influence peranite doesn't mean that normal handcuffs can hold me."
Gwen growled and made a move to lash out, but Ben put his hand on her arm and gently lowered it. For some reason, she let him. No one attempted to attack Argyle as Ben stepped forward. He even held his hands up in surrender to show that the Omnitrix wasn't activated and he wasn't trying to start a fight.
"Argyle," Ben said firmly, but not unkindly, "stop this. You've lost. You have no powers, no arms, and no secret life to fall back on. Even if you can kill all of us and escape, you won't be able to go anywhere in this galaxy without being a wanted man. The Plumbers will never give up on your capture and you know that." He took another step forward and, when Argyle's only response was to glare, took another one. "This is pointless and you know it. You just don't want to admit that you lost."
And, to Ben's surprise, Argyle actually looked contemplative. He frowned, glancing at the five of them in turn. "Maybe you're right," he said carefully. Argyle lost his fighting stance, though Ben was the only one to relax. He ignored all of them, glancing down at Murowa awkwardly clutched against his chest. Giving her body a faint squeeze, Argyle bent over and muttered something against her ear. Whatever he said, Ben would never know.
Looking back up at Ben, Argyle flashed a wicked smirk. "I'll always wish that I could have managed to kill you," he hissed. Then he turned his body and tossed Murowa as hard as he could.
Alarmed, Ben automatically moved to catch her. He had to jump, but managed to knock the body with his good arm and catch it against his chest with his peranite one. The action nearly caused Ben to tumble over, had it not been for Rook grabbing his shoulders to keep him standing upright.
Ben barely noticed. He looked up from Murowa's body just in time to realize what Argyle was doing. "Don't—!" He shouted, but it was too late.
The airlock had been left open and Argyle threw himself against the second door, the one that let out directly into space. Even without peranite manipulation, Argyle was a lot stronger than steel. It tore like paper beneath him. Alarms sounded as air was swiftly sucked out into space. Ben flew off his feet, refusing to let go of Murowa's body, and the only reason he didn't go flying out the door was because Rook had yet to let go of his shoulders.
Gwen threw up a mana shield just in time for Tetrax to smack into it. Fumbling for the door release, he pulled it hard enough that it sparked and whined. Regardless, the door slid into place to cover the ruined airlock and, panting, Gwen released her mana shield and sagged to the floor.
She wasn't the only one. Kevin moved over to set a hand on her shoulder, catching his breath before helping her back up. Ignoring them, Ben darted up to the heavy airlock door and tried peering through the viewing window in an attempt to see if he could spot Argyle.
"No," he whispered. Another person had died. Argyle had just killed himself and Ben had let him do it. He whirled on Kevin, gesturing frantically to the door with his free arm. "We have to go back and get him! He could still be—!"
"Ben." Tetrax set a hand on his shoulder and his jaw snapped shut. Saddened, Tetrax could only shake his head. "I'm sorry, Ben. Petrosapiens can't survive in space without a suit. There's no point in going back. There won't be anything to find," he said gently.
For a moment, Ben said nothing. He tried opening his mouth several times but, on each occasion, nothing came out. He looked down at Murowa's body bag. Ben didn't want to see a corpse, but he ran his hands over the cover, feeling the curves of her face. Dead. He was holding a dead body. There was another one somewhere on the ship. And a third one had been swallowed up by that star when Ben destroyed the station. Yet a fourth one was floating just on the other side of thin steel walls, probably still warm.
"Fuck." Ben wiped his eyes with his good hand, but that didn't stop more tears from following. He sniffled softly, hitching out a weak sob. "Fuck!"
Gwen hugged him first. Someone tried to take Murowa out of his arms but Ben refused, clutching her tighter and curling in on himself as he cried. He was shaking with the force of his sobs when Gwen lowered him to the ground, running a hand through his hair and shushing him softly. He felt the blanket again placed around his shoulders and gripped it with his free hand, hard enough that his knuckles were white and his entire arm was shaking. Kevin settled in on his other side, saying nothing, but Ben broke when he felt Rook press against him from behind and hold him just as tightly as Gwen and Kevin were. He didn't think that he could manage to cry any harder than he always was, but Tetrax knelt down in front of Ben to pull him in and all he could think about was how hard it was to breathe, how awful he felt.
For the failures, for the losses, for the struggles, and especially for the sacrifices, Ben cried. Even long after he had wrung himself dry, he huddled closer to his friends and cried. But he had won. Despite everything, it was over.
Ben was going home. And that was, perhaps, what made him cry hardest of all.
A/N: I'd like to give a special thanks to my top commenters: noodl3Gal (AO3), entity9silvergen (FF), Bloody Monthly (AO3), Anon (AO3), and PipeDreamPrayer (AO3)! Comments mean so much to me and all of yours have been such a delight to read. I'm always looking forward to hearing from you all!
I hope that finale was as good for you guys as it was for me! The epilogue for this fic will be posted on April 19th, a Sunday, to commemorate the one-year anniversary of this fic. Thank you all so much for the support!
I leave my faithful commenters with two questions: 1) Do you have any questions or loose ends that should be tied up in the epilogue? Maybe just something that you want to see? 2) If I made a "behind the scenes" bonus chapter going over some of the writing of this fic and discussing my planning and early ideas, would anyone be interested in that? If I did that, I would include a Q&A, so if you want that, feel free to include questions.
Thank you all for supporting me through this!
Epilogue: All Things Considered...
