Chapter Text
The entire world is scared of Ben Tennyson.
Images of his face and captions such as Ben Tennyson: A Vigilante, Will Harangue Was RIGHT?!?!, and Ben 0: The Cancellation Of Ben 10 popped up on screens all over New York in a matter of what seemed like hours. Social Media boomed for days. He'd gotten everything taken from him in a matter of a week. All his fame: flushed down the toilet. He couldn't go outside without getting something thrown at him. His enemies laughed in his face. Of course there were those that said he'd done nothing wrong. You'd think there was a war going on with the way The Bird App fought over his actions. Were you ProBen or NoBen? Were you celebrating? Wondering why this was a bad thing? Were you grieving? Arguing over the morality of a seventeen year old boy?
Rex and him had fought a few days earlier and Rex hadn't come over since. Rook was at Plumber HQ and hadn't visited him at home, but Ben made no effort to contact him either. Gwen, and surprisingly Julie, had called to give him support. Gwen would be there later that day. But for now, he stayed in his bed, bingeing all of his Sumo Slammers DVDs.
It all happened like this:
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The incursions attack the Plumber ship holding Vilgax and the small team selected to bring him in. Ben and Rex and Rook are a part of that team. They all get split up inside the Prison after being followed inside. Ben's with Vilgax. Vilgax tests Ben, Ben gets angry. Attea finds them and Vilgax escapes, Attea proposes something to Ben, Ben is thinking it over when Rex appears and fights her off. She escapes, Rex wants to know what she said, Ben tells him, and Rex freaks. He tells Ben not to do it, it's not him, he's not that kind of hero. He's not Rex.
Ben nods, they split up again, and Ben finds Vilgax. Now, this is when things get...ugly.
The octopus alien always had a specific way of getting on Ben's nerves, and it wasn't any better when he kept baiting him. He probably would've done it without Attea's proposal. It just took that one little push, and Rex's words went right out of his ears.
“You're nothing, and you're going to die a nothing, and you're gonna die alone.”
Ben's blood turned to ice. Vilgax stopped behind him, his hands still cuffed together, his eyes still red with hatred. Ben didn't turn around. Oh, no, he lifted one hand from his side and slowly brought it to his wrist, turning the dial, searching. Vilgax said nothing, his height making it so that Ben's big, brown head of hair covered all movement of his hands.
Seconds later, Vilgax was on the ground, his face being smashed in, defenseless as he was held down by Swampfire.
“Well, you're gonna die alone, and slowly. And no one is going to miss you.” He'd never heard Ben's voice like that before, and it would be the last voice he'd hear.
Ben went through almost every alien he had until his watch timed out, which was way after Vilgax's face had turned to mush. Teeth, and liquid a non-human color, was all that was left on top of what used to be Vilgax's torso. Ben stood up, the thick liquid all over his hands, and huffed.
When Attea found him, she cleaned him up and knocked him out, and later Rex, Rook, and Grandpa Max told him that Vilgax and Attea had gotten away.
Months pass. Everything's normal. His partner and boyfriend Rex is by his side, a new Sumo Slammers movie is out, everyone's having a good time— and then Attea and Looma show up, fighting for his love.
Of course he should have seen it coming. Attea broadcasting to the whole world their greatest accomplishment, killing the universe's most despicable villain, was the most outlandish, Princess-ey thing to do! Why would that possibly be a bad thing on his side? Why wouldn't that be the most viable example of them being a power couple? Attea and Ben Tennyson, ruling the world together! Sounds amazing right?
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Ben isn't sure if he and Rex are broken up. He's too scared to call him. And honestly, at this point, he just wants to die. Vilgax was right. He is going to end up nothing and alone. He can't take back what he's done. Can't stop Attea from telling the whole world their secret.
He hates himself, and he hates the world.
---
Rex's entire world is mad at him.
'Entire world' equalling what he used to call Ben Tennyson. He's ignoring Rex's calls, won't meet up with him anywhere, walking away when Rex tries to talk to him at Plumbers HQ.
Ben's world calls him a hero. Rex's world has been fine without him for a year now. Ben calls him an A-hole. Said he went too far. That it's not his job to choose who lives or dies.
Rex said who cares? No one's gonna miss that guy!
Ben said that's not the point!
Rex asked then what is the point?
Ben said that bad guys go to jail, not get their heads chopped off!
Rex said if you had the chance, you would've done it, too.
Ben left and hasn't talked to him since.
It all happened like this:
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Rex and Ben are transporting Vilgax via Plumber ship to a highly renowned prison in the middle of the galaxy. They'd taken every possible precaution: clearing out the prison before letting them in, keeping the transport under wraps, selecting only a few of the Plumber's most trustworthy crew. But that didn't prepare them for an Incursion attack.
At first, they thought it was Vilgax's plan to escape, but it soon became apparent that Attea and her army wanted his head. And good riddance, right? Why not just let her? Except the morality of it was that they couldn't just do that. Just let him suffer behind bars for the rest of his very long, alien life. At least, that's what Rex's entire world tells him.
Everyone got split up. Rex handled Attea, but she kept using that disgustingly long tongue of hers and it freaked him out. She got away. He met up with Ben some time later, but at that point he had lost Vilgax.
They search for him, again finding Attea. But now, alongside her is Eight Eight. Ben said he'll hold them off, so Rex goes on.
He should've fought with him. Would've made it easier on Ben, who would be found unconscious later. Would've made it easier on Rex, who would get in trouble with Plumbers headquarters for killing Vilgax. Would've made it easier on Vilgax, who wouldn't be dead right now.
---
Rex is laying on his bed in Plumbers HQ, looking up at the slate, metal ceiling. He hasn't gotten up in awhile. The only time he does get up is to get food or use the bathroom, at this point. He's been sleeping all day for the past few days, and when he can't do that, he stares up and thinks. No one has called for him. Ben won't text him back, but it's been a few days since he's last tried. He can only lift his phone and stare at the last message he sent. He can't see whether he's been left on read or not. It hurts each time to look, so he puts his phone back down.
He raises his right hand off the edge of the bed, squeezes it into a fist, tries to be angry(maybe punching something will make it better), but his hand only glows, doesn't change, makes a pathetic, whiny sound. He lets it drop back down and hit the side of the bed.
His stomach is growling, but he doesn't have the energy to get up. He can't find a good reason for it. What's the point in eating? Why is it such a necessary thing? He's not even a full human!
So he doesn't get up to get something to eat, but he imagines he does. He imagines he leaves his room, walks right out of this freaking facility, goes to Mr. Smoothies and finds Ben there. He imagines that he apologizes to him, says it wasn't worth it, says he wants them to figure this out, and he imagines that Ben forgives him. He imagines that Ben sits them at a table outside and they order chilli fries even though Mr. Smoothies doesn't make chilli fries, but this is his dream so it doesn't matter, and he imagines they eat together and laugh again. To take it one step further, he imagines Bobo is there, and Noah is there. He imagines Gwen and Kevin come through, and Circe and whoever else. He imagines they all talk and catch up, that they all have amazing stories to tell and no one is mad at him and he can eat food and not feel sick or look at Ben and not feel like he's the worst person on the planet.
His stomach stops aching for a while.
Then there's a flash of light.
---
Ben's in his backyard with a can of black paint in hand and his jacket on the ground. He focuses on this moment and this moment only.
He glares down at the jacket. That ten used to mean something. He layers some masking tape over it and all the green lines on the jacket. After that, he sprays the white on the front of the jacket black, then turns it around and does the back. While that dries, he goes inside and takes his mom's eyeliner into the bathroom.
An hour later, he's back outside, black smudged under his eyes and hair brushed forward in a bang. He puts on his new and improved jacket, and pulls the hood over his head.
Then he hears something. Air splitting apart and being sucked in at the same time. He turns around and faces the flashing light. A man steps out of the portal, and following behind him is Rex.