Just to clarify again, this will not be a harem story. No one is fighting for Ben other than Hope herself, and the process of that will pick up soon. I promise.

"What is it?" Ben dared to ask his raging counterpart, who was glaring at him with unmatched fury.

"What is it?" Bad Ben echoed him. "Where the hell were you?"

He frowned. "Out. Dealing with villains. What's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Oh, yes, something happened alright." Bad Ben truly seemed furious. Like he would just lunge towards him. "While you were gone, Julie showed up."

Ben's jaw dropped to the ground. "What?"

Bad Ben chuckled. "Yes. She said she was worried because of Elena."

"And... you... did you tell her-"

"No, I didn't tell her. What am I, an idiot?" His counterpart fumed. "I pretended I was you. It was painful."

"Mhm," Ben answered after staring at him for a few seconds. "What am I supposed to do now?"

Bad Ben gritted his teeth. "Nothing. And that's the funny part. You can do nothing. While I had to deal with your problems."

"Maybe Azmuth sent you here to deal with stuff that while lesser than Vilgax, would make you change."

Bad Ben scoffed. "Change. What change? Am I supposed to turn into a boy scout, like you?"

"I'm not a boy scout," Ben replied.

"Yes, even that, you cannot be. What do all call you? A hero? Maybe you're satisfied with such childish categorization."

"Maybe I am." He spoke. "Maybe I am satisfied with doing the right thing. To save others."

"And look where this got you." Bad Ben spread his arms. "Despite all the fame you have and fortune that you could have gotten, instead, here you are, surrounded by former enemies in a hotel room. Very fitting for the best of us, don't you think?"

"Maybe I find more meaning in the simpler things rather than fame or fortune," Ben answered, now his teeth gritted.

"Indeed, take your Omnitrix off. What's left after?"

"Funny that you ask that." Ben answered, completely fed up with this argument. "Because you're one with the bare wrist. So, I can tell what is left of you. An angry, bitter, and sad man. I didn't ask for Julie to come and see me! Get over it!"

All the previous rage in Bad Ben's eyes, if possible, looked tame compared to now. He had a hateful look, fists clenched. Fearing a confrontation, Ben started to creep his hand towards the Omnitrix, but before anything could happen, his counterpart stormed off with heavy steps.

"He is insufferable." Hope spoke. Ben had almost forgotten she was here. "Don't take his insults to the heart."

"I wouldn't," Ben answered, certain of it. "I don't need anyone to tell me that he is a jerk. I can see it."

"Ben-" Hope started, perhaps to resume their previous conversation, but at the same time, his phone rang. "Go on, it's okay."

He nodded and picked up the phone, which was from an unknown number.

"Hello?"

"Good morning, do I speak with Benjamin Tennyson?" A woman spoke.

"Yes..." Ben answered carefully. "Who is this?"

"My name is Clara. I speak from Bellwood General Hospital. We're calling because Elena Validus has made a recovery."

.

The drive to the hospital was quiet. Bad Ben wasn't present, but Ben had made sure to at least make him aware of where he and Hope were going. Hope remained quiet throughout the entire trip, perhaps absorbing the information she had become aware of.

Ben himself felt like he needed some time to grasp everything. He wasn't alone. It wasn't like he intentionally felt like the people close to his heart were dead... but... technically, wasn't that the truth? It was haunting. Copies were... copies. Even if they had all their memories, experiences, personalities. They were technically his creation. That was, as Hope had phrased it, terrifying.

And now that he thought about it, perhaps there were more. Just... not anyone he would probably care about. If Ledgerdomain wasn't affected, so wouldn't the Null Void. Understanding the Null Void was complicated. But he knew for a fact that it was another dimension. So, the people in the Incarcecon built in the hellish dimension were also the same.

And that applied to the Rooters as well.

But when he got to Hope, why did it feel different? He had no love for the merciless guards or criminals that lived in the prison. Nor he felt any sympathy for the squad designed to kill him. Perhaps he wouldn't have felt like this toward the Charmcaster he knew, but this was almost like a different person. Hope could be ruthless, he knew that. But she was honest. That much was clear.

Redemptions aren't given to those who don't want it. Kevin was a prime example. To begin with, he didn't even want redemption. He was fine living his life as a black-market arms dealer. But when Magister Labrid died, it made Kevin rethink his ways. Provided you forget when he stole the Rust Bucket. But Vulkanus gave him a lesson as to why he shouldn't try that again.

And it worked. Kevin never again – of his own free will – opposed Ben as an enemy. And Ben wished the same for Hope. He remembered when Gwen and Charmcaster together bonded in Ledgerdomain, when they remained on friendly terms for a while. But... the witch's mental state had been deteriorating for a while. And it all went to hell.

But not now. Ben was determined to make her have at least a normal life. As normal as it could be for a sorcerer, at least.

"Ben Tennyson?" A nurse called him, drifting him away from the whirlwind of thoughts.

"Yes, that's me."

"You can come in to see the patient." The nurse told him, and Ben got up from his seat, taking a last look at 'Sunny', who had her eyes closed, probably meditating.

"How has she been?" Ben questioned.

"A Plumbers medical team arrived on Earth to run tests on her. Her body is completely absent of those chips." The woman seemed disturbed as she spoke. "And her situation is stable, although I believe you already know she was dehydrated and remains malnourished for the time being.

"Yes," Ben confirmed. The nurse opened the door to a room, and Ben thanked her with a nod. He got inside, where found a Elena so different from the one he left off here. She was thin, too thin. Dark circles were present beneath her eyes. But when she looked at him, the eyes, while tired, possessed the same affection as always.

"Ben." Elena's voice was weak, timid, almost inaudible. But he did hear it and got close to her bed.

"Hi, Elena," Ben spoke carefully. He didn't have a way to know what her head was looking like now. The nurse sure didn't tell him.

"You came to see me." The words made Ben startled, but her tone didn't betray madness.

"Of course I did. We're... friends." He spoke carefully. "I wouldn't let a friend down."

Elena chuckled weakly. "I know. You're so sweet for that."

"Thanks." Ben smiled awkwardly. "How are you feeling?"

The former queen stared right into his eyes. The clarity in her eyes was surprising, but they also sported pain. Perhaps not physical, Ben remarked in his head.

"Ben, if I must be honest... I had my life taken away from me." Her voice became clearer. "Years of building something that made sense... but now I'm back to the bottom of the pit. And for what?"

"You were hurting people," Ben argued, and while he wanted to be careful... he also wanted to convince his friend of her wrongdoings. "The chips were driving you insane."

"I know!" Elena exclaimed. "But what am I without that?"

"You're Elena Validus. Former Plumber-in-training. Tech genius. Badass. All that, remember?"

"I'm none of that now." The dark-haired girl sighed. "I am insane. Someone that needs to be reevaluated. Powerless. Not just because I lost my chips, but even in my life."

"I can vouch for you," Ben spoke in a low voice. "We can get you out of here. You could resume your training."

Now, Elena fully glared at him. "We could have had everything, Ben. Think about it. You could have been my king."

"I do not want a kingdom built on blood, Elena!" Ben pointed out. "You can forge your path now. You are back to being you. You weren't even yourself for years. Trying to kill Julie, Gwen, Kevin, the team... You wouldn't be able to do that."

"I did everything to be with you." She argued.

"And do you think I would want to be with you after you slaughtered my friends and family?"

Once more, Elena chuckled. "No. Nothing can drag the attention of the great Ben Tennyson."

At that, he stopped. Ben had gotten good at reading other people's feelings, by their voice, and body language... it was part of the Plumber training. And came naturally after his years of experience. And... he wouldn't call what he just heard madness; he wasn't a therapist to diagnose her.

But it was very close.

"I think I will go now."

"When will you come back?" Elena's tone did a 180º. He could barely understand it. But now, she truly seemed worried that she would be left alone.

"Soon," Ben promised, but he wasn't sure. Not until he could understand the situation fully. "I will remain in touch with the doctors. I'm your emergency contact."

"Good." Elena beamed. "Bye, Ben."

"Bye."

.

They arrived back at the hotel room only half an hour later, Hope saying she needed a shower. Ben simply nodded and sat on the couch, feeling exhausted. Sleepless nights weren't something new, not really. At least he felt like he could wait for Hope so they could go to bed. She had told him on the way that she was also tired. Even if she was also used to staying awake all night on multiple occasions.

Ben, however, didn't notice his counterpart approaching the couch with hesitation, not until Bad Ben sat down by his side, not looking directly at him.

"Hi?" Ben greeted, confused.

"How was she?" That was his question. So, there was a heart down on his chest.

"Not great." He answered. "She is stable. Just... her mind is pretty messed up."

"Nothing new, then." Bad Ben leaned on the couch. "The chips only aggravated something already present."

"You speak of experience." That was a statement, not a question. And it earned a weird look from Bad Ben.

"Yes. My Elena was far gone from what society would call sane when she blew up Undertown." Bad Ben said. "And yours at least is now powerless. It would only get worse."

"I see."

There was a moment of uncomfortable silence between the two. Ben felt like he had so much to say... but no way to say it without triggering an angry outbreak.

So, it was unsurprising that it was Bad Ben himself who spoke first. "You have questions."

"Yeah. I do." Ben blurted out.

"Fine. I'll try to answer. We cannot stay in this hostile state forever."

That much, Ben agreed. "What happened?"

Bad Ben seemed truly confused. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, like, did you do something? Did something bad happen to you?"

It took a moment for realization to dawn on Bad Ben's eyes.

"Oh. I know." Sea-green eyes met emerald ones. "You have a simple view regarding trauma. Nothing... happened. It's not just one bad day and suddenly you turn... I suppose you'd call it evil."

"But I doubt you would turn out like... this..." Ben spoke carefully, trying not to offend his counterpart. "If things had gone the way they did for me."

"True." Bad Ben conceded. "But haven't you thought about how it could have simply been different life experiences?"

"I have. And I know that you are also much older, somehow."

"Time is confusing, I know. But yes, I have gone through a life that is fundamentally different than yours."

"The Omnitrix never felt like a toy for me. Not even before Tetrax showed up, talking about responsibilities. It always felt like a burden. A burden I came to accept for the good of the universe. Grandpa Max wasn't a hero, by any means. He encouraged me to do what needed to be done. But I admit, I was... naive in my beliefs for a time."

"I suppose. You just seemed... evil, when we met."

"For you, it was two years ago. For me, it was six." Bad Ben argued. "I was in a poor state of mind then."

"So, something did happen," Ben said.

"I suppose so if you want to emphasize that so much." Bad Ben took a deep breath. "It was Levin."

Ben's heart skipped a beat. "Did he go insane?"

"Yes." His counterpart confirmed. "I never fully trusted him... like you did. And trust went both ways. While he was dating Gwen... he absorbed my Omnitrix. And started to hurt people."

Ben nodded, urging Bad Ben to continue.

"And I did something I had done before to deal with villains."

"You killed him." The hero guessed. Now, it was Bad Ben who looked in disbelief.

"Yes... surely you..."

"I was inches close." Ben shuddered, remembering the sole disk that threatened to explode Ultimate Kevin's skull. "He hurt so many people... and it was Gwen who stopped me."

Bad Ben stared at him for a while. "Gwendolyn tried to stop me. I didn't listen to her. It made her leave Earth."

Ben widened his eyes. "She went to Anodyne?"

His counterpart confirmed. "Never seen her again since then. And then that Vilgax showed up. It was like looking into a ghost. I had dealt with him..." Ben remembered his visit to the future when he was ten. How Vilgax had been turned into pieces by him. It was something closer to home, much closer than he wanted to admit. "But this one offered me a universe to rule. Or at least a refuge. I didn't trust him, but I thought such a deal would be honored. I was blind-sighted."

"We all were," Ben said. "Eon was so pissed."

Bad Ben smiled. "I remember that jerk. Bossing us around like we were his pets."

"He is a jerk. You're not like him."

Ben received a skeptical look. "Has your opinion been changed so much by words that could be lies?"

"Your eye isn't twitching. I know you're telling the truth." There were more practical reasons to sense honesty in his counterpart's words. "To me, it just seems like you are... I wouldn't say broken... just left to fend for yourself. Years with Elena certainly didn't help."

"No." Bad Ben chuckled. "Look... I don't care what Azmuth wants. I might get my Omnitrix, my not... but... while I'm here... I don't want to keep fighting."

"Neither do I, man. Can we start over again?"

"I'd be delighted to. We can at least make this more pleasant." Bad Ben extended his arm forward, looking at him with certainty.

And Ben shook his hand.

.

The mecamorph opened his eye in a frenzy.

Where was he?

Wasn't he dead?

No, he wasn't.

Of course not! He was very much alive. Not thanks to Vilgax.

But he didn't remember much.

The vacuum of space wasn't an issue to the mecamorph. He could survive even in the direst conditions, given that he wasn't a fully organic being.

He quickly found out he could not move. Not a good sign. Was he trapped again? Had Azmuth retrieved him? But if so, why was he still alive?

No... his father would not kill him. Crueler and cold as Azmuth was, he did not have the guts to do that.

"At last." A voice spoke, and lights were turned off, blinding him for a second. His vision was still blurry, but he could make up the figure of a bipedal being... seemingly a tall human. "I almost thought this would be a lost cause."

"Who are you?" His voice was weak. Almost inaudible.

"I'm Servantis, mecamorph." He was shocked to see that this wasn't really a human. Instead, it was a hybrid of a human and a cerebrocrustacean. Servantis's eyes were just as red as the mecamorph was, and he wore a black suit that didn't look unfamiliar. "And I take you are indeed Malware."

"I am," Malware confirmed, finally getting a good grasp of his surroundings. He was back to his second form, before he absorbed the Tachyon Cannon, and restrained by mechanical bounds. They were in a lab, and judging by the window that showed a deep crimson and purple sky... either they were on a hellish planet, or... "What is this?"

"This is my base of operations. Far away from the eyes of the Plumbers." Servantis gazed at Malware from top to bottom. "I will get straight to the point with you, Malware. I am aware you are an unknown quantity."

The mecamorph chuckled. "If that's what you'd like to use..."

"And that you have an unstable mind, prone to anger. And yet, useful and resourceful."

"Should I feel flattered or offended?"

"Flattered." Servantis decided. "And most of all... it shouldn't take you long to realize that something unites us. A common foe."

Ah. Now we're getting started. "A plethora of individuals can claim the same regarding Ben Tennyson."

"But we, mecamorph, understand the gravity of that boy," Servantis told him. "I am aware of what you're capable of, trust me. But I am more concerned with the threat Ben Tennyson poses to the universe at large."

"You are playing a dangerous game..." Malware said. "Ben Tennyson isn't the only dangerous being in the universe."

"But none can even rival the levels of power the boy possesses, all thanks to a watch on his wrist." Servantis turned away, looking into the window. "I am willing to offer you a free path to your revenge against Ben Tennyson. Then, I do not care. Even if you finish what you started with Galvan Prime... You will never be as dangerous as a teenager that can turn into a Celestialsapien."

While Malware's ego was certainly struck by Servantis's words, if he thought enough, he could see that even if absorbing the entirety of Galvan Prime, there could be someone to rival him. And the hybrid was right. Ben Tennyson could find a way to defeat him, even at the height of his power.

"So, what do you want of me?" Malware inquired.

"Your expertise. Your strength. To deal with the pest that infects the universe. Exile doesn't serve us right." Servantis pressed a button on a computer, and Malware was released from his containment. "I offer you revenge. If that doesn't motivate you... I may still release you. You will be a nuisance to them regardless. But with you by my side..."

"I accept your terms," Malware stated. "As long as his head is mine."

Servantis grinned. "I can promise that."

The Elena part was written with my own experiences with mentally unstable people. I hope you liked that bit, it was my favorite part of writing this chapter.