Chapter 1: The Encounter
Chapter Text
They stood at the entrance to The Forge Of Creation, only having been there once before. But this time, it was much more dire than what you may think. "Are you sure this is the right place, Gwen?" "I hope so. Ben's mana is pretty easy to track, so this is probably the right place." The doors opened as Gwen summoned her Anodite form, carrying Kevin on a magic platform as they floated into the endless void. "That's weird," Kevin thought aloud. "Where are all the other Celestialsapiens? This place feels like a ghost town." Gwen looked around, agreeing with her boyfriend as it was surprisingly empty.
They floated around for a while, making small talk here and there while they searched for Ben. Gwen then stopped dead in her tracks, the platform Kevin was standing on stopping as well. "What is it?" Kevin asked. "Woah..." Gwen breathed, staring in the void in awe.
What was in there was breathtaking. A mass of rings, all with the faces of different people covering them. It was unlike anything the duo had ever seen before. "What the hell is that?" Kevin asked in a low mutter. "I don't know, but it's...amazing." Gwen answered. Her magic then began to shine, a hum emanated from her hands. "Mana. Ben." Kevin looked at her with a face of confusion. "What about him?" He asked. "That entity. I felt Ben's mana when we got close to it. I think it's Ben."
Kevin stared at her in shock. "How is that possible?" "I don't know," she responded. "I'm going in there to investigate." She took Kevin back to the entrance, telling him to get the ship if things go sideways. She then floated back to the entity and prepared for a confrontation.
Getting to the inside wasn't easy. She wasn't afraid to say she did hit herself on the rings once or twice, but once she got inside, she was met with thousands of noncorporeal faces all talking over each other, arguing, and leaving most with no time to speak at all. And at the center of the chaos, she saw it. A white figure with the universe at his fingertips, the Ultimatrix symbol placed upon his chest. She floated up to it, snapping her fingers in front of him to garner a reaction. She was then caught off guard when a voice made of thousands thundered in front of and around her.
"Who do you believe you are?" They asked, Gwen steeling herself for a response. "I'm Gwendolyn Tennyson. I come in search of my cousin Ben to bring him home," she said, the faces then looking down at her with a mix of shock and disapproval. "The human you once knew as Ben Tennyson is now gone. Your search has been in vain," they told her. "He has used the power of the Omnitrix to merge with the Celestialsapien race to watch over the Omniverse." Gwen floated in shock at what the being said to her. Her magic gleamed in response to her emotions, giving her an idea. She held her hands out in front of the Omnitrix symbol, beginning to speak an incantation she had learned from Charmcaster's old spellbook.
"Hac potestate te exsolvo e carcere, ad te detines, et ad vivum te reducam et ad me." Her hands began to glow, reacting to the incantation and her own mana. "What are you doing to us? What are you trying to achieve?" The ultimate Celestialsapien asked her, the questions going over her head as she focused "What I'm trying to achieve is bringing my cousin back," she responded, eyes glowing pink with power and determination. "Hac potestate te exsolvo e carcere, ad te detines, et ad vivum te reducam et ad me." She repeated, the symbol beginning to shine pink as a reaction to her spell. "The spell, it's working!" She thought to herself. "But it's not enough, I need something stronger." The light on her hands dimmed, the Celestialsapien speaking once again. "Why are you doing this, Gwendolyn? You know in your mind this hypothetically will not succeed."
"What did you call me?" She asked, lowering her hands a small amount. "I called you Gwendolyn, how come you ask?" They answered. She gasped, realizing her efforts weren't in vain. "Ben's in there still, this might work!" She thought to herself, getting a new sense of determination to save him. She channeled a new spell she had picked up on her studies, her hands glowing with the new emotions coursing through her system. "Qui haec audit, peto a te; redi ad mentem tuam, et me foveam amplexu tuo, dum iterum cor tuum sentio pulsantem." The words flowed seamlessly off of her tongue, tears beginning to float off her face as her hands shone brighter than they ever had. The symbol glowed brighter, reacting to the new incantation being spoken. "This shouldn't happen, Gwendolyn. We are doing this for the good of the Omniverse." They said calmly. "I don't care anymore!" she responded. "I'm doing this so he can lead a normal life again!" She shouted, hands shining as bright as the stars in the sky.
"Qui haec audit, peto a te; redi ad mentem tuam, et me foveam amplexu tuo, dum iterum cor tuum sentio pulsantem!" The symbol began to crack, giving way to the girl's powerful abilities. With a combination of a growl and a scream ripping out of her throat, she channeled one last attack and threw a punch, breaking the symbol and deactivating the Ultimate, the other Celestialsapiens splitting up and going back to the Forge to stand idle once again. She stood there panting, Anodite form dissipating, leading to her conjuring a shield to protect herself from the atmosphere-free environment.
"What the hell did I just do?" She thought, laying in her protective bubble while she caught her breath. "Wait, where's Ben?" She floated over, finding her cousin lying unconscious in the void in a black bra and green plaid pants, the last thing she remembers him wearing before he went missing. "It worked..." She whispered, before grabbing her cousin in a tight hug, crying into his hair in relief that it was all over, and she could hear his heartbeat for the first time in a long time.
Chapter 2: The Aftermath
Summary:
They get the heck outta Dodge.
Notes:
Friend said it felt too fast paced so here ya go ig \_•-•_/
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
In the Rustbucket 3, Kevin sat waiting for Gwen as she confronted the entity that was Ben. Just then, he heard the friendly voice of one Professor Paradox, who helped them get there. "Kevin, how have you been? And where is Gwendolyn?" "Oh, hey Paradox. She's out talking to or fighting that thing. Said she'll be back soon." "Well, I was dropping in to see if you needed any help leaving the entrance." "I don't think so, but thanks for the offer and for getting us here." "Oh, it was my pleasure. I better get going now, safe travels." "You too, Professor." The aforementioned scientist took out his multidimensional pocket watch and Kevin watched as he warped off to who knows when or where, sitting in the front seat, waiting for Gwen's call.
About half an hour later, Kevin was awakened by the thunderous sound of the door to the ship being thrown open and the sound of quiet sobs. Kevin launched out of his seat to meet with his girlfriend in the hallway, Gwen being in her human form with tears streaking down her pale cheeks and holding Ben so tightly as if he would disappear if she let go for a mere second. "Gwendolyn! Are you okay?" Kevin asked, cupping one of her cheeks as she looked up at him, one of the lenses on her glasses having a crack running through it. She tried to say something, crying so hard out of fear and relief she couldn't get a word out. He gently hugged her, taking Ben from her arms and grabbing a blanket, wrapping it around him and laying Ben on a couch so he could rest.
Kevin started up the ship, engaging it's autopilot so their course wasn't hindered by unknown space threats. "Well, looks like it'll be a few hours till we get back to Earth, so wanna watch a movie or something." He asked, Gwen giving a weak nod, exhausted from both crying and her magical output. He threw on a movie they had both seen before, and they got to talking. "So, what in the world happened back there?" He asked, Gwen wiping the rest of her tears. "It's kinda a long story," she said. "I don't mind," he replied, giving her a kiss on the cheek. She laughed quietly, then began to tell her story.
"Whenever I got past those rings, I was just bombarded by all these people talking over each other and arguing with each other, the figure in the center just being unbothered by it all. It talked to me, asking who I was and what I was 'trying to achieve'." She made air quotes with the last sentence. "And I told it that I was there to save Ben, and it was like 'You can't do that, that's hypothetically impossible' and I was like 'I don't care, he's gonna have a normal life again', so I used this spell that I found in Charmcaster's old spellbook that was used to exorcize possessive spirits, and it kept trying to say this was 'for the good of the Omniverse', and that only made me angrier, so I cast that spell, and then just punched the badge on its chest, and then it exploded, and all the Celestialsapiens went back to normal, and here we are."
Kevin sat there in shock and subtle horror at Gwen's capabilities, then put a hand on her shoulder. "Has no one ever told you you're a fuckin' badass?" She cracked a smile, then burst into laughter, Kevin joining in as they laughed at the honesty and sincerity of his question.
A few hours into their trip, the duo were sitting by the TV, watching some random show as they added commentary in between. Gwen looked over at her cousin, the back at Kevin, a worried frown on her face. "When's he gonna wake up?" She asked, gesturing to Ben peacefully sleeping on another couch, a twinge of drool leaking from the corner of his mouth. "I don't know," Kevin responded. "He's been through something that another person couldn't wrap their head around, so he might be out for a while." She chuckled, running a hand through his hair, the other one interlocked with Kevin's as they watched TV, enjoying each other's company.
A few minutes later, Kevin came to a realization. "Wait, what are we gonna tell his parents?" Gwen gave a puzzled look. "What?" "I mean, we can't just say 'Hey, turns out your son was an interdimensional cosmic being beyond our mortal comprehension for a while', right? They'll think we're nuts." Gwen gave him a blunt look. "They've had experience with Plumber technology and have probably experienced the universe exploding, this isn't the craziest thing that has happened to them." "Makes sense," Kevin said. "Your aunt and uncle have crazy stuff happen to them a lot."
It was long after the last conversation. The couple had been long asleep on the couch, the TV still droning nonsense. A small sound then made Gwen sit up, only to be met with her cousin rubbing sleep out of his eyes, then staring at his hand. "It's so quiet," she heard him mumble. She saw the slight sparkle of stars on his fingertips, a side effect of the last form he had taken. His eyes darted around the room, landing on Gwen. "Gwendolyn?" He asked, voice shaking. A sniffle left her throat before clearing it and responding to his call. "Yeah, Ben. It's me." Ben shook with held back tears, mumbling about how it was so quiet, and hadn't been this quiet in so long. He then walked up to her, putting a hand on her cheek, thumb rubbing against it. "You're real, this isn't a dream?" He asked himself. "This is real, Ben, you're safe now." Gwen whispered.
It was silent in the cabin for a second, then Gwen heard what she could only describe as a combination of Wildmutt's roar and a scream of despair as he ran towards her, the blanket Kevin put on him falling as he tackled her to the ground, hugging her so hard it was as if she would dissappear. She hugged back just as fiercely, as if to say, "I'm here, it's okay, it's all over now." She tangled her fingers through the thick mess that was Ben's hair, only pausing to scratch at his scalp with her blunt, short nails, holding him as he howled against her. "It- it was so loud in there. So- so many of them, couldn't even say anything or- or hear anything. It was- it was terrible. Kept trying to- to tell myself this was the right thing, but was it really? I don't- I don't even know anymore!" Another shriek left his throat, Gwen giving him support and listened, silent tears leaving her eyes as well.
Before they knew it, they were touching down in Bellwood. Grandpa Max had come to meet them, Kevin calling and explaining where they had been. But once Max and Kevin came to get Ben and Gwen, they found the two asleep on the couch, their arms protectively wrapped around each other, leading Max and Kevin to let them rest, they could come pick them up in the morning.
Notes:
Leave whatcha thought if you want ig
theamazingcyrith on Chapter 2 Tue 29 Jul 2025 12:26PM UTC
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YourLocalAuthor on Chapter 2 Tue 29 Jul 2025 03:34PM UTC
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