[Galvantula]

It was hard to believe that it's been over a week since all this craziness started but for the most part Ben was used to it by now. While Kevin wasn't too thrilled about what happened to his car he was still willing to use his connections to get their oddball guest a house to stay in since with the additions of Erin and Ran Ms. Leven's house wouldn't be big enough for all of them. Ben was staying with them as were Julie and Manny but still there was some doubt in Ben's mind. 'Just how am I going to deal with my car with the money I have?' he thought sadly to himself. Manny meant no harm but the damage was beyond what he could fix and since he didn't really know how to work the new Omnitrix he couldn't use Upgrade to work his nanotech magic on it. For all he knew he could turn into Rath or worse Ghostfreak and just make things worse. Plus while he was fond of his new friends they tended to be somewhat louder than he'd like. So he would spend some time in his temporality room to get at least a little peace and quiet. But today he would have no such luck as Gentaro was somehow able to unlock the door with a old gift card he found a few days back.

"Dude, I'd love to play with your friends but I've been having these monster headaches and your loud voice doesn't really help that at all" Ben grumbled as he covered his head with his pillow. But the young Rider would have none of that as he yanked the pillow from the poor boy."Can you just let me sleep it off?"

"I can't let my friends suffer in silence. My parents told me to treasure my friends as they would save me and you are a friend of my friends so I think I need to help you out. That's the code of the Kamen Rider after all." Gentaro politely answered. "I think Yuki may have something to help you out with your headache problem. Let's go downstairs and see if it's ready for you" Ben got up since he knew by now Gentaro would not let anyone be unhappy, no matter what. But he was dreading what was about to happen.

It wasn't easy to make congee with the American rice cooker but still Yuki was resourceful. She really wanted to make her special space congee but lacked the ingredients to do so. But if there was one thing she loved as much as space that thing is spending time with friends and family. Having parents who loved to cook was quite a good experience for the girl as she learned all about great things to make and she was quite good at it too. But she was fond of space and her space-themed recipes didn't go over quite so well with others. She still remembered the day she made the curry overly spicy and poor Shun fainted from the heat. Still no one was hurt thankfully but that was embarrassing to have food you made knock a friend out cold. As Ben and Gen walked down to the table she was pleased indeed as for the fulfilled looks on JK, Ran, Erin, and Julie's faces told her that her congee was very good indeed. "Gen-chan, Ben-san breakfast is served. I made vegetarian congee for everyone so I hope you enjoy." she happily stated to the two boys. Yuki then raised her arms overhead and proclaimed that "Breakfast is here!" Gentaro joined her in her cheerful statement and Ben had to cover his ears since while Gen and Yuki are friendly people who love to help out whenever they can the concept of indoor voices was something they have yet to understand.

Manny however wasn't happy about having congee for breakfast. He wanted bacon and mancakes but he was outvoted by the girls and to his surprise JK as well. He never in all his life have ever met a man who didn't want meat for breakfast. But still someone was nice enough to make him food to eat and he was never one to turn down free food. and he slowly ate the congee. "Hey Ben how are ya holdin out there buddy? Still having those spells from the Ultimatrix?" he asked with his mouth full of food. Erin looked a little grossed out by Manny's lack of manners but she was worried too as Ben looked like he wasn't his usual cheery self. The ill look on the Omnitrix wielder was noticed by Julie as this has been going on and off for the last month.

"Ben are you feeling OK?" she asked him, a look of worry on her face. As Ben sat down he was not looking like he wanted to eat right now. "Gen I know you meant well but Ben might need to go lay back down. He's not looking so good-" Her discussion with the Rider was cut off by Ben vomiting on the floor. His face looked even more haggard than before but he just raised his hand to say he wanted to tell them what they needed to know.

"I'm sure you're all worried about me right now but this is nothing new to me. You may be surprised to hear this but it has something to do with Vilgax" What he said got their attention as he told them the story of what happened to him that long month ago...

30 days or so ago

As Ben swung Ascalon at the fused form of Vilgax, Diagon and a Lucurbra he was worried that he should have gone alien instead. But now was not the time to be doubting himself right now. If he failed there the Earth and then the universe would fall to Vilgax. Parrying his energy balls Ben tried to stab the former ruler but Vilgax dodge rolled away and kicked Ben away. Before Vilgax could crush his head underfoot Ben stood up and did a two-handed slash on his chest, causing Vilgax to howl in pain. "C'mon Vilgiy you really want to be Diagon's slave for the rest of eternity? The Vilgax I knew at least had some sort of pride! He'd never let some lame squid brainwash his to become his lackey!" Ben's words did nothing to stop the onslaught of attack from the chimera as Vilgax glared at him. Seeing that Vilgax's breath was on his face Ben tried to stab Vligax so he can end this and free everyone from the spell of Diagon. However Vilgax was too fast for him and grabbed his head, the helmet the only thing keeping Vligax from crushing his head. Ben grunted in pain as he attempted to do SOMETHING, anything to get free but so far no dice.

"Ah hahahaha! You may be the wielder of both the Ultimatrix and Ascalon but only I hold true power! A pity you effects are in vain. But history only favors the victors and your story ends not with a triumph, but with a whimper." As he tried to finish the job Ben was finally able to stab the Gavan sword directly into the heart of Diagon, deep in the chest of Vilgax. With a blinding flash Vilgax was back to his normal form with the energies of Diagon in the sword Ascalon, Ben holding it by his side. He didn't know how and why he got his missing equipment back but he didn't care. Ben now had the power to reshaped the universe as he saw fit. That may prove useful to him. But no matter what he tried Ben was deadset on curing the Flame Keepers and turning them all back to humans. But in the end to Gwen and Kevin's horror Ben finally considered doing Vilgax's bidding and wiping out everyone that threatened the universe. But before Ben could do Vilgax's will Julie flew to where they all were with Ship as her battle armor. To Vilgax's eternal rage she was the one to save Ben's soul and get him to do what he intended to all along and cure the Flame Keepers. When that was said and done the power of Diagon faded as the old god finally died to the conqueror of ten worlds' anger. To make matters worse Ascalon crumbed to dust, all the power in it being too much even for Gavan science to withhold.

"Julie, thank you for telling me what truly matters. I think for now I need to make things right by you and from now on you're looking at the new and improved Ben Tennyson. More thoughtful and kind than ever" But before Kevin could make a quip about Ben being even more girly than before Vilgax shot off a Ruby Ray at Julie. But Ben thought ahead and turned into Diamondhead to block the shot off."And I thought I was the sore loser here. Just admit you lost and we'll call it even, OK?" Vilgax snarled at his innocent question and tried to cleave Diamondhead in half. But his sword only hit the ground below them as Ben turned into XLR8 to speed Julie away from his hopefully last battle with Vligax. As Ben rapid punched the ruler to little or no effect Vilgax grabbed his tail and slammed him down brutally around five or seven times. Ben changed form to Swampfire and burned Vilgax's face with his fire attacks, rolling away before Vilgax could regain his bearings. "I don't think it's hero time right now. It's time to go Ultimate!"as he clicked the dial to the Ultimate form setting.

"ULTIMATE SWAMPFIRE!"

Hitting Vilgax with a blue tornado as he also blasted him with blue balls of fire Ultimate Swampfire thought that would be the last he saw of Vilgax. But to his horror he saw that he protected himself with that lousy shield of his. Switching to Ultimate Cannonbolt he sped to where Vilgax was and rammed his head-on, breaking his shield in the process. As Vilgax tried to keep U. Cannonbolt away from him with his claws now smoking from his attempts he then was able to kicked the evolved alien away from him. Ben however didn't want to give up just yet. Powering down and switching to Chamalien he stabbed Vilgax in the face with his stinger then cloaked himself and ran around the ruins of the Mount Rushmore base, Vilgax cursing the fact that he knew not where Ben was. Vilgax gave up on finding the boy and bashed the heads of Gwen and Kevin together, knocking them out to the utter shock of Julie and Ben. To this day Ben still has nightmares about what transpired next.

Vilgax impaled Julie with his sword and threw her limp form over to where the viewing window was. As Chamalien ran over to where she laid, her face looking as pale as death he then turned to where Vilgax was gloating as his face grew hot from his understandable anger."Look at it this way Ben. Julie just isn't all that popular with some of your fans. I did you a favor here this day" he evilly told him with a sick smile on his face. Ben had just about heard enough of his madness. Morphing to Rath, his body shaking with rage he then activated the Ultimate setting. Soon his body was covered with white fur as his hand now had two talons jutting out of them with his mouth now having two saberteeth in there as well. He was much larger than before and his fingers and toes had sharp claws at the ends of them.

"ULTIMATE RATH!" he thundered, the air around them vibrating from the sheer volume of his voice. Vilgax however wasn't worried at all. but that soon ended when U. Rath stuck him in the eyes with his larger talons. As Vilgax fell back in pain he was stunned that Ben would go this far for the human girl. But U. Rath was beyond the ability to speak as he charged at the ruler, Vilgax doing the same as his eyes have finished healing. Soon the air was quaking from their blows as the both of them were not gaining any ground but they were too angry to even care at this point.

It was early in the morning as both combatants were still going at it, giving no care to the new day as it greeted them all with the promise of something better. "LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN VILGAX! YOU CAN HURT ME, YOU CAN HURT MY FEELINS IF I HAD ANY BUT IF YOU MESS WITH MY GIRLFREIND THEN YOU'RE GONNA DIE! PAINFULLY!" Vilgax was pleased that Ben had finally given in to utter rage and was about to give him the battle to the death he wanted even since Ben was a young boy. But nothing lasts forever as at along last Vilgax grabbed the Ultimatrix from Ultimate Rath's chest and tore it clean off, blood stepping from the fresh wound as Ben slammed both hands on Vilgax's head, knocking him unconscious. "Guess I'm the winner at long last Vilgax! That's what ya get for messin with Rath's lady, ya dumb mook!" as he changed back to being plain Jane Ben and falling down, a sad smile on his face as he slumbered. Sure he won but at what cost to Julie? As the Ultimatrix laid forgotten Gwen and Kevin tried to give Ben and Julie medical aid but so far nothing wanted to work for them. But soon Azmuth showed up and then things would change forever.

NOW

While everyone was gripped by Ben's tale he had to stop for a bathroom break. When he got back he would finish his tale and then they would all know why he was the way he is now.

About 20 minutes after Ben's so-called last battle with Vilgax

Gwen was upset upon hearing the news about Ben and Julie's conditions. Not only was their chances of survival slim but even if they lived though this they would have horrible scars the rest of their lives since Vilgax somehow had managed to store a small portion of Diagon's power and the supernatural energy that was his being meant not even Gavan science could fully fix them. It ultimately fell to the both of them to save themselves and she couldn't do a thing to save them, the cousin he loved like a brother and the girl she cared for like a younger sister. Kevin gave her a comforting look but it did little to soothe her troubled mind. "I know you mean well Kevin but I just can't help but worry about them. George was the expert on Diagon and even he didn't know everything about him. It just upsets me that even though we saved the universe AGAIN we may end up losing Ben" She then breathed harshly and bit her lip to keep from getting even more upset than she was right now.

"Look Gwen, we all know stupid people are tough and Ben's pretty dumb so that makes him one of the toughest people around. But his lack of smarts never stopped him from doing the right thing even if his ego grew to the size of Jupiter. He's going to be fine, I promise" Kevin soothing told her but to be honest he wasn't sure Ben would pull though. As they walked back and forth in the waiting room while Ben was getting surgery that will hopefully save his life they wondered if he knew how bad things were right now. The Plumbers were swamped with getting people to safety after Diagon's spell was broken and the skeleton crew that was operating on Ben and Julie wasn't as fully trained as the normal group. Just then Azmuth walked in to where they were. His face looked worried but his feelings were so much more than that. He was upset with Ben for risking his life fighting Vilgax, angry at Albedo for making the Ultimatrix and building it so poorly, disappointed at the Forever Knights shouting revenge against Ben even though Diagon was George's true killer and more than anything else he was angry at himself. He should have gave Ben a new Omnitrix when he had it finished but if they was one character fault Azmuth would admit about himself it was he held on to grudges longer than can be considered healthy and he was still upset about Ben blowing up the Prototype Omnitrix, although it was for noble causes. Plus it seemed Ben would remain a child forever, whining and pouting when thing did not go his way and bragging about every little accomplishment he ever did. But Ben was wiser than he gave him credit for and he had grown up so much since he last saw him. But he had to deliver the news regarding Ben and Julie and it was something that worried even the Gavan.

"As you both are aware of magic isn't a field that the Plumbers normally deal with. We did all we could for the both of them but it's going to take some time for them to heal" Azmuth then cleared his throat as he had more to say to them both. " I have deactivated the Ultimatrix as it was such shoddy work. It's not even fit to be called Gavan technology! Ben will from now on use the True Omnitrix, the true successor to my first Omnitrix. It is superior to both the Prototype and the Ultimatrix in every way plus it doesn't have that forsaken evolution function Albedo added. Behold!" With those words Azmuth had two nurses and to this Ben wanted them to be cute girls, not rough burly men, wheeled him in to where Gwen and Kevin were right by. Gwen was crying tears of happiness and Kevin was about to cry too, but he would NEVER admit to doing it. Ben weakly held up his wrist to show that instead of the bulky and clumsy Ultimatrix he now wore a sleek and stylish new Omnitrix that looked like something that fits Ben than the more warlike Ultimatrix.

As Ben and Azmuth went on about the new features and functions of the "watch", Kevin wanted to just go home but Gwen sharply but quietly told him that they have to wait for Julie. Kevin gave a embarrassed "Oh yeah" and let the two finish what they wanted to share. When all of that was said and done Ben showed Gwen and Kevin his new scar. Gwen was sickened to her stomach while Kevin was impressed as tough guys normally are with scars. On Ben's chest was a small but ghastly X-shaped scar that would there the rest of his life. Soon after Julie was brought in. She was in better shape than Ben was, but she was still woozy from lack of blood. Lifting her shirt up she showed the trio of Ben, Gwen and Kevin that on the right side of her stomach was a long red scar but other than that she was relatively unharmed.

It was a long month of recovery for Ben as he didn't have Azmuth tell anyone other than Julie and his family than all the forced evolution he did to himself had finally taken its toll on his body. Albedo never made the Ultimatrix to used as long as Ben did and it was showing that the younger Gavan flatout sucked at making Omnitrixes: Ben's cells were breaking down. Azmuth didn't know if there was anything that the Plumbers could do to save him but Ben still wanted to be a hero. Azmuth was pleased that even though his life was at risk Ben still wanted to save lives and in general do good. His relationship with Julie had improved dramatically as while they was still some clashing of egos Ben and Julie were more open and honest about how much they cared and loved each other. After a few dates Ben told her that if they was something that could be done about his cellular breakdown problems then he would marry her after they finished collage together.

NOW

Ben's story had moved Erin, Yuki and Ran to tears while Gentaro and JK were flatout crying their eyes out. It wasn't the most romantic story ever but they were impressed with Ben's tale of heroism. Manny however was asleep as not only did he hear this story three times already he was, to be quite honest, bored with it. So bored in fact that he was face deep in his less than half-eaten congee, his snoring causing bubbles to form. This however was noticed by Erin as she grabbed his shirt collar and shook him awake. "I find it hard to believe that someone as lazy and thoughtless as you gets to go to space. Ben's story was not only intriguing but his woes with forced evolution may be able to help us out as well." she scolded the by now wide awake half-alien." We don't know if they are any side effects that may happen down the road and if I am to become a astronaut I need to know if there's going to things that might go wrong with my body" Ran gave Erin a worried look as she was deeply upset about the changes that were forced upon her too. Could she be suffering the same fate as Ben was?

Manny wiped off the rice dish from his face and looked over at the two girls. They were really, REALLY cute even when upset and he knew it. "You both are quite fine indeed" he leered at them as his eyes were focused on their bodies to Erin's nervous joy and Ran's annoyance. "But if you're worried about side effects then what about your buddy that kinda spilt from her Zodiart form?" as he directed his gaze to where Yuki was as she held onto her Hayabusa-kun doll, a look of profound sadness on her face.

While Gen wanted to smack some manners into Manny JK stopped him from doing so, at least for right now."His question was lacking in tack but I'm worried about Yuki-san too. If it's alright can you tell us just what happened to you before?" he asked politely.

Yuki swallowed hard as this was not a memory she wanted to bring up but she knew they had the right to know just what was the deal with her Zodiart form. "If you may be seated then I shall begin. It's not a happy tale but you all have the right to know why Gemini became separate from myself." She was on the verge of crying but Gentaro held onto her hand to comfort her and she was deeply thankful for that. With that out she continued her tale of woe as the others looked on, concerned about how she may be holding up since this was a very upsetting memory she was bringing up.

Sometime during Chapter two...

"WHAT DO YOU MEANT SHE'S GOING TO JUST SPLIT UP?! HUMANS DON'T DO THAT...normally. If there's anything else that I need to know then you tell me NOW!" Vilgax raged at Gamou as Yuki looked at the both of them in utter fear. Vilgax was scary enough just standing there but Gamou frightened her the most. He was someone she looked up too her entire life and to think that not only did he want her to become one of the monsters she swore to fight with her friends the Kamen Rider Club but to go somewhere else that they weren't even sure they would be able to come back from. Gamou however was as calm as ever and that scared her even more than anything else.

"Gemini is a unique constellation. Those born under its light that can evolve into Horoscopes have a different effect happen to them. When they active Zodiart Switches the dark side of them come out of them and gains a body of Cosmic Energy. From there the dark side will drain away everything from their former host until one of them dies. Should the dark side die then the Switcher regains everything and reverts to a normal human, but without the dark side in their mind. But if the former host should die then the dark side becomes a true human with the powers of the Gemini Zodiart as the former host dissolves into stardust. It's as simple as that" Gamou answered Vilgax as if he just wanted to know the time. However the ruler of Vilgaxia wasn't too happy about all of this. He wanted just the girl to be part of his army, not have to deal with a duel between her and her darkest aspects.

Yuki however just wanted to run away and find somewhere safe but with Psyphon blocking the door she had nowhere to go but where Vilgax wanted to go. The girl broke down and cried loudly as Vilgax covered his earholes in pain. Gamou however had a heart and tried to give Yuki a comforting hug. But Yuki shank away in fear of him but a growl from Vilgax made her consider otherwise. As he rocked her back and forth she felt a little better but not by much.

"If it makes you feel any better I can then have Psyphon tweak your Switch so you can change without that side effect. But you must promise me that when you are in you new form that you not lose control of your anger or otherwise your darkside will come out and you will have a 24 hour window to deal with that before you fade away unless you darkside dies before the 24 hours are up. Do you understand?" he asked the frightened girl as she nodded in complete fear. It hurt Gamou to see the young woman he loved as a daughter shake in fear like this and someone else who was 'visited' by the Presenters too no less. As he sadly watched as Vilgax carried her away as she screamed and howlered in terror he made it a point to stay by her side until she was her cheerful self again.

Back to where we were before.

"Gamou-san told me the rest as they did the work on my Switch. I was so worried that I'd never see you again but there you were. But you have a good bit too make up for, going after some boy and forgetting our promise, although I'm glad you remembered it when I needed you too the most" As Yuki gave Gen a sad smile he wondered if she would ever be as happy again as she was before. "You really messed up Gen-chan. I'll always love you but I don't know if I can trust you as much again" she mused as Gentaro looked deeply ashamed and Ben gave a nervous chuckle.

"Ben, you're not at fault here. But I think you have to help Gen and Yuki out. We were kind of in their boat before, remember?" Julie whispered to Ben. Still the both of them were worried about what effect the events of the last week will have on them all in the long run.