Author's Notes: 

-By this point in the story, NRG does have the ability to go out of his Containment suit for short periods. The containment suit has a warning function that immediately sucks NRG back in when it senses that his radiation levels are becoming dangerous to the ecosystem or people around him that Ben can choose to leave on or turn off in the Omnitrix's advanced settings.

-In a fight against the Great Rabbit and Echo Echo, Echo Echo would win as his silicon body would actually poison the Great Rabbit if eaten, and his organic matter doesn't satisfy the 'flesh' condition that the rabbits feed upon, meaning not only would Echo Echo genuinely be ignored in an encounter, but Echo Echo can freely duplicate himself and destroy every single last rabbit. 

-The Ultimates vary in appearance compared to their Ultimate Alien versions not because of a difference in design, but because their evolution is a theoretical transformation of what would happen over millions of years of civil war in the Galaxy. Because of this, while most iterations of the Ultimates across versions of the Ultimatrix share the same abilities, sometimes they have a few extra powers, and varying appearances.  For instance, Albedo's version of Ultimate Spidermonkey has six gorilla arms, while Ben's version in this world has four gorilla arms and four spider arms on his back while Ultimate Echo Echo has vibrating plugs in his fingers, something his version from the Ultimate Alien cartoon didn't have at the time. 

-Certain aliens are all immune to certain properties of the three great Mabeasts. The Hakugei's (the White Whale) erasing mist does not work on Ghostfreak whose existence is 'beyond memory' nor on Clockwork who has a special 'temporal' existence.  

The Great Rabbit, as noted above, will not attack nor pay any attention to silicon based lifeforms or aliens not made of flesh and blood. 

The Great Serpent cannot affect energy based beings, which means NRG is immune. Biomechanical organisms like Upgrade are likewise somewhat not effected, meaning Atomix, Eatle and Armodrillo are also possibly immune. 

-While Vilgax is currently not as strong as Ben due to losing The power of 10 heroes that he stole after the end of Ultimate Alien, this is subject to change..  

-Albedo went missing about 2 weeks after Ben came to Lugnica.

"So, uh, we're not going to meditate today?" Ben asked as he followed Halibel into the wilderness. 

"No." said Halibel. "I think you've learned to calm yourself in the presence of danger to a reasonable degree, but there's still one thing we haven't solved."

Ben had just come back from work. So far, other than what happened to the unnamed girl, things had been quiet and he had been unable to find so much as a clue to what happened to her. 

And investigating her origins proved near impossible, for while Ben himself seemed to mysteriously remember her, everyone who knew her were forgetting more about her by the hour to the point that after he talked to the mourning family, they had already forgotten why they were mourning in the first place, being highly confused as to why they were crying. 

By the end of the day, everyone had forgotten there was even an incident, which was scary as hell. 

The only people who knew or remembered anything were Ben and the people he told, for even though they forgot the girl, they didn't forget anything about Ben, and therefore anything that Ben told them.

But why Ben never forgot he could never surmise. It was odd to say the least. But at the moment he couldn't focus on that. His training was important too. 

Ben and Halibel stood several meters apart in the woods. Rem was watching, several boxed lunches in her lap, sitting on a boulder a distance away.  Just seeing her there was an immense calming feeling. 

"While you can fight without stress in a normal battle of brunt force and little bloodshed, the hemophobia you developed from your past trauma it seems, is still quite strong." said Halibel. "Indeed you rarely exercise your full strength because you are afraid of making your foe bleed even a little bit."

"In other words, we're going straight to sparring, you want me to stop worrying about the bleeding part and go full out." said Ben. 

"Hmm, you catch on fast Ben-san!" Said Halibel, adjusting his kiseru with a smile. 

Ben nodded.  Over the past month he had been setting goals for himself over the course of his spars and meditations with Halibel. 

One of those goals he intended to achieve today: Beating Halibel fair and square. 

Halibel was good at throwing shurikan knives and the like, his main method of fighting was indirect and based on misleading the opponent thoroughly.  In other words aliens that relied on fighting things head on had a disadvantage, and yet if he could catch Halibel in a situation that could easily turn into direct confrontation, this also became an advantage.  

In other words, Ben needed an alien that could both be indirect to lead Halibel into direct confrontation, and then have the ability to take him head on when it came to that point.

Ben grinned. 

"Hmm, I see you've already got a strategy in mind." said Halibel, stroking the fur on his chin. "Then let's begin shall we?"

Halibel's body shimmered and in an instant, there was four of him standing there instead of just one.  Clones, a staple Ninja technique in popular media that was for certain. 

"I wonder what alien he'll try today?" 

"Ah don't wonder, it'll become apparent in a second."

"Well Ben-san, any day now?"

All the clones spoke independently of each other, smiling at Ben in a sort of honorable taunt, but Ben's hand was already moving towards the Omnitrix. 

"Echo Echo!!" 

A small alien resembling a 3 foot tall robot with a large head, a wide mouth and rectangular eyes appeared. It's wrists and feet seemed to have MP3-like attachments with green glowing sound connection symbols, and it's head seemed to wear earphone like contraptions. 

"What you can do." said Echo Echo in a voice that sounded like a distorted soundwave from a microphone. 

Echo Echo's body glowed green as multiple identical copies of the alien numbering to at least 20 formed. 

"We can do better." said all the Echo Echos 

"Oho! So there are lifeforms out there that can naturally clone themselves without ninjutsu, and to top it off-." said one Halibel clone.

"-It seems this one's got a better limit than mine." said a second Halibel.  "But you should know, all four of me have identical fighting strength to the original."

"Us too!" said the Echo Echos. 

"Now.." Halibel smirked as one of his clones moved at such speed, that he almost appeared as blurred as XLR8, immediately zooming in and kicking one of the Echo Echos, sending him flying and exploding through a tree with a boom. "Sorry Ben-san, but I am observant after all, this is the origin-.."

"KAAPOWWW!!" Halibel's clone was forced to retreat as multiple Echo Echos converged and punched right at the ground where he had been moments before, rupturing the earth.

"Did I not knock the original out?" Halibel muttered. 

"Or.." said another Halibel.

"Your clones don't function on the same laws as mine." said the first Halibel.

"We're a biological defense mechanism, not a magic art of any kind." said the Echo Echos. "So when we clone, we're literally splitting up, not being created from an original. We're ALL the original."

"That in itself is a huge advantage, nice."  said Halibel with a laugh.  "That means as long as one survives, you can always escape a troublesome situation."

"Oh that's not all.." Echo Echo said. "Take.. THIS!"

The Echo Echos all opened their mouths, letting forth high pitched screams and hurled out a high powered sonic blasts with vibrations so intense, that they were visible as pulsating rings exploding at Halibel.

Halibel's clones let out a yell of shock, instantly finding themselves blasting into the ground, dragging gouges in the earth. 

It was all according to plan. 

Ben knew Halibel's style. He'd confuse Ben with attacks from the front at first, but then use the opportunity to escape into the woods and begin stealthily flying around from all angles, hitting him with long range knife throws. 

Wildmutt and Spidermonkey had been what he had used to try and get the drop on him before, but Halibel was so amazingly strong that even then he hadn't had much luck. 

But this time, Halibel was staggering from the unexpected sonic attack. Even if he could dodge the blast, the sound of Echo Echo's screams had probably put a real shock to his eardrums, taking him off guard so he'd take the full hit.

"GOT YOU!" Echo Echo exclaimed as the rest of his clones cheered and hi-fived each other. "And the fight barely lasted a sec-.."

"Urrrhh.." All the Echo Echos froze as they saw Rem was on the ground, clutching her head.

"Shit!" Ben hadn't considered that Echo Echo's screams would hit Rem's ears as well.

There was a flash of green light as all the Echo Echos remerged and turned back into Ben, rushing to Rem and putting a hand on her shoulder. "I-I'm sorry Rem- I.."

"POW!!" Rem's body suddenly exploded into smoke, turning into a smirking Halibel, who had a knife to Ben's throat now. "Oho? Did you lose?"

"HUUUH!?" Ben exclaimed as Rem appeared from behind a tree, smiling guiltily, earmuffs on her head. 

"Y-you used a transformation technique to look like Rem, and then.. oh shit!" Ben smacked a hand to his head. "REALLY!? Okay, who ratted me out about using Echo Echo this time!?"

"Ram-chan, she was amused with your plan, but she said something to the effect of 'Dog Pee Boy's gotta learn to look for surprises on his end too, he's too confident.'" said Halibel with a laugh.

"Dagnabbit!" Ben moaned as Rem took off her earmuffs and patted him on the back. "But that's what I deserve for not warning Rem in advance I guess."

"Well it was a good plan." said Rem. "Sorry."

"Not a bad transformation." said Halibel. "I must say I like this Echo Echo form. The ability to overwhelm with numbers and even individually each clone is strong enough to take down an Alpha Wogarm in one blow. Utility is off the charts with that guy.  Now lets say we set back up shall we, don't hold back with me, I've got my means of surviving."

"Easy for you to say." Ben said. "I used to know exactly how much force to put up against my enemies, but nowadays, I either am too afraid to go anything beyond the minimum, or too panicked not to go overboard."

"Well then let us test that.." Halibel said. 

Halibel swiftly slashed a kunai knife over his palm, and red blood began to seep out.

"H-HEY!" Ben stammered leaping back, sweat starting to pour down his face. "Th-that's."

"H-Halibel-sama, that's harsh!" said Rem quickly. 

Ben already began to feel panic well up in him. It wasn't as horrible as it had been before when he was Chromastone fighting Elsa, but he could already feel a panic attack quickly expanding into something dangerous. 

"M-make it stop." Ben gasped. "P-put a bandage on."

"Ben, remember what I said." said Halibel. "Project it, the object that you decided on to distract you. Project it clear in your head. Wipe out all the trauma you associate with this blood and instead associate it with that replacement object. We had to take this jump eventually."

Ben took deep breaths over and over, trying to do what Halibel said.

Halibel had told him from the beginning of meditation to pick an object that he would make his "Ben Distraction."

It could've been anything from his big toe to the sound of the waterfall they used to meditate. This object was supposed to serve as his root, his anchor. Everytime something associated with his trauma turned up, he would train himself to only focus on that thing. 

What he picked though was something a little personal. 

Ben tried to associate blood to automatically trigger him thinking about this wonderful 'thing' that he had picked, trying to turn every trauma trigger into a reflexive trigger for thinking about it the 'thing' instead. 

But overall Ben could shake and sweat as he stared at the blood. Julie's screams filled his head, as her blood itself dripped from Halibel's fingers. Yes, not Halibel's blood, her blood.

And Halibel's face warped like a twisted illusion, turning into a black haired girl's face, plastered on the wolf man's body, her eyes leaking blood like tears as stared at Ben in horror.

"Why did you let this happen to me?" Julie gasped, her voice seemed to echo across the far reaches of Ben's mind.

"URRRRAAAAAAHHH!!" Ben fell back, clutching his head just as Rem grabbed a hold of him and hugged him close and Halibel withdrew his hand, swiftly bandaging it in no time. 

It took a moment to get his breathing under control as Rem held him there, stroking his back. 

She felt warm, and she smelled like fresh strawberries. 

"B-Ben-kun." Rem said. "Are you-?"

"I'm fine." Ben gasped. "Just a little feverish."

"Hmmm, this is why I had Rem here." Halibel muttered. "I didn't expect it to go easily the first time."

"I didn't either, but I didn't fly into a panic." Ben smiled tentatively as he stood up. "I've made some progress, and that's enough to give me hope."

"Yeah, just don't let that hope drop your guard." said Halibel. "Traumas aren't something we turn off at a whim, it takes focus and training to develop reflexive meditation distractions like what we're doing. Basically we're using your object as a blanket cover up the trauma, covering up every trigger with your meditation object. But if you find a new trigger you didn't even know you had, then the blanket flies off of all the others, and you might have to retrain from scratch. It's a hard fix and a fragile one."

"Right." Ben said. "I see."

"Which is why having the actual object of your meditation here with you is a good idea." said Halibel with a smirk as he looked at Rem.

"E-eh!?" Rem went pink. "Wait, I'm -?!"

"Halibeeeeell!" Ben moaned, going red as the setting sun. "Don't TELL people!! I told you it was personal!"

"hahahaha! Forgive me!" said Halibel. "I just think you both are too good together!"

Rem smiled and clasped Ben's hand in both of hers. "Ben-kun I-."

Rem stopped talking, her expression changing rapidly as her eyes went wide from the feeling of something approaching with rapid bloodlust. 

A hooded figure leaped from the trees, drawing out a sword in a rapid flash. 

https://youtu.be/BWgc4F725L8

The sound of Iron biting an object made of solid energy, something which sounded like the combination of a clang, and a sound reverberating through echoing rubber, resounded throughout the forest rapidly as Rem's prototool activated its morningstar mode, the flail's energy chain deflecting the sword's rapid bites of steel.

The hooded figure withdrew as Ben looked stunned, and Halibel, without wasting a beat moved like a shadow flying across the grassy earth. Her dimunitive form seemed to speak of a woman of some sort. 

The assailent moved her sword like a viper executing swift rapid strikes of darting metal flashes, deflecting the shurikans fired from Halibel, who moved behind the woman with ease right after, slashing his wolven claws at her.

But she deflected the claws with another few flashing darts from her sword before whirling to face Ben and Rem once more, ignoring the strong shinobi behind her.

Her blade glowed with immense light as she sent it slashing forward, and a massive wind blast exploded towards Ben and Rem like a slicing blade. 

There was a sudden flash of green light as the wind blade neared. 

"Eatle!!" 

Eatle appeared, wrappingn Rem in his armored embrace, the wind blade glancing off his tough metallic exoskeleton. 

"He transformed so fast, without even missing a beat." Halibel muttered. "Just goes to show you how much experience he has. Now, as for you young lady, you must be quite the assassin to even be able to hide your presence from me. I'm impressed."

"Likewise, honestly I wouldn't attack if I knew that Halibel of Kararagi was accompanying these too." said the assailant in a solemn voice.  "Perhaps I should change tactics."

"Tell that to him not me." said Halibel with a chuckle. "He seems ticked."

The woman turned just in time to see Eatle charging at her head on, his horn lowered like a rampaging rhino.

Trees flew into the air as the woman barely leaped over the alien in time and the powerful humanoid insect smashed through several thick ancient trees, his horn carving through them like paper. 

Eatle grabbed one of the massive trees in both hands and opened his tremendous jaws, chomping into the wood and devouring the tree in mere seconds before letting out a huge burp. 

"Vmmmmmmm!" The woman's eyes widened beneath her hood as Eatle's horn began to glow. 

"Shit!" the woman swung her blade which now glowed again, and this time a far more massive wind blast erupted at Eatle while at the same time, the alien fired a tremendous green blast from his horn. 

"KAAABOOOOOOOMMM!!!"

Rem coughed as Halibel dove in, shielding her from the shockwave while a dust cloud shrouded the area for just a moment.

The assassin rose from the dust cloud, shaking her head rapidly to get over the shock of the close range collison between attacks, right as Eatle erupted from the dust, his two bottom arms grabbing the woman and holding her, as his two massive upper arms whipped her sword from her hand. 

"Got you!" Eatle exclaimed. 

"Do you!?" The woman kicked Eatle in the chest, and a powerful blast of wind pressure erupted from her foot, sending the alien flying, letting go of the woman. 

Eatle's feet dragged a gouge in the earth while his heavy body regained its footing as the woman grabbed her blade.

"That technique you used just now is quite familiar." said Halibel with a nod. "The one you used to deflect Eatle's attack, ahh right, the famed 'One Blow, A Hundred Felled' I imagine, quite unlike you to attack in disguise hmm? Crusch Karsten."

"Wh-what!?" said Rem. "Crusch, as in-?"

"The Princess candidate!? And the girl who Wilhelm wanted me to spar with when we first met!?" Eatle finished. 

The woman chuckled, as she sheathed her sword and pulled her hood away to reveal her beautiful features and dark green hair. "Well, Wilhelm didn't exaggerate about your eyes seeing battle.  You performed admirably."

"Can somebody please explain what the hell just happened?!" Eatle growled. 

"Enough, Sir Tennyson." A familiar voice rose through the air, and the group turned to see none other than Wilhelm, striding over wearing a cloak over his usual work uniform. 

He bowed his head. "I apologize for the ambush, but Crusch wanted to be sure of your talent."

"My talent!?" said Eatle. "For what!?"

"Quite simply, I wish to win your loyalty." said Crusch. "Absolve your loyalty to Emilia the Half Elf, and instead come work for me in my bid for the throne of Lugnica, Ben Tennyson."

Eatle could only stare stunned for a second. "Uh.. whaaaaaaaaaa!?"

https://youtu.be/2I6LaZjnzh8

 A little later, Ben in his human form, eyes twitching as he alongside Rem, Ram, Halibel,  Blukic, and Driba, sat in a large plush couch, muttered incoherently, arms folded.  "Could've asked instead of attacking straight off the bat that little-."

"Dog Pee Boy, stop complaining." Ram said. "If I wanted to ascertain if your skills were truly genuine, I wouldn't have warned you before testing you. Battle is not something that always gives out warnings and preparation on a silver platter."

"Look I know that, but still." Ben muttered as Rem patted him on the back. 

They were sitting in a large tent that was far fancier than anything Ben had ever seen before. It had its own writing desks, set of chests for storage, even pictures hanging on the canvas walls, mostly displaying framed maps. 

"To think that Bartholomew was relaying our location all this time to Crusch while we were in hiding, that's the height of betrayal right there." Driba huffed.  

"And yet Crusch hasn't taken to arresting us or anything." Ram said. "She must be taking an awful a lot of risk letting us off the hook and not pursuing us for arrest in spite of knowledge of our location, especially given her knight is part of the Royal Guard."

"Indeed, she said she wanted Ben-kun to join her." said Rem. "But his loyalty is already bought."

"Eh? It is?" Ben muttered. "How? By who?"

"Eheheheh, I have already taken full hostage of Ben-kun's stomach with my cooking." Rem teased by poking Ben's belly, which was now slightly inflated in full satisfaction of having recently been endowed with Rem's box lunches.

"Hahahaha! That is indeed true!" said Halibel. "Ben-san's stomach is now in the full employ of Rem-chan for sure!"

Ben grinned. "Eheheh, well you're not wrong."

At that moment, the tent flap opened, and Crusch stepped in, now wearing a full tailored tailcoated military uniform and boots with white gloves, her sword sheathed at her hip as  Wilhelm followed her in as well, also followed by none other than-.."

"Ferris!?" Ben said.

The familiar cat eared knight winked at Ben. "Hello! Ferri-chan's pleased to see you!"

"I see you've met Felix Argyle, my knight." said Crusch. 

"Yeah, she and Reinhard helped me out once." said Ben.

"She?" said Crusch. "Oh, I see. I suppose it is easy to mistake."

"What is?"

"Ferri-chan is a boy you know." Said Felix, giving Ben a wink. 

There was a long pause.

"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!?" Ben heaved, his eyes popping comically. 

Felix Argyle laughed as Crusch took her seat at the writing desk, clasping her fingers together. "Again, Tennyson, I must commend you and apologize. Few could have thrown the blows to harm me and done so with the skill that you possess."

"Harm you? I'm not sure I-." Ben began, but then he stopped as Crusch pulled up one of her sleeves, smiling, revealing a set of bandages. 

"That attack you utilized by eating with that form." said Crusch. "Even when not directly hit, the heat it exudes can make some nasty burns. Even Felix had a bit of trouble healing it."

"Uh, right." said Ben. "Sorry."

"You are not the one that needs to apologize Mr. Tennyson." said Crusch.  "Again, you were fully within your right to fight and defeat me with all your might in defense of your allies."

"So is there any particular reason why you're offering to have me join you?" Ben asked. "I mean, this is a bit sudden."

"My subordinate, Bartholomew Vertilot, I'm sure you're familiar with him. He's a bit hard to handle with how spoiled and arrogant he can be, but deep down he only wishes to do the right thing. He noted that he had misgivings about any of you returning to work for Roswaal." said Crusch.

Ram's eyes hardened. She took any insult or disrespect towards Roswaal as pretty much a declaration of war. 

"And then he told me of your power, and your abilities, and I had them confirmed with Wilhelm." said Crusch. "After a bit of discussion, we noted that as far as your relationship with Emilia is concerned, you never had much of one to begin with. The most you can say is that the two of you are acquaintances, rather she is one of your employers, like Mathers."

Ben opened his mouth to rebuke Crusch, but nothing came out. The hard truth was, it was true he really wasn't well acquainted enough with her to really call her a solid friend. In fact, most of his time in Roswaal manor had been spent in the company of Rem and Ram.

"Where is Vertilot?" Growled Ram. "He couldn't come here himself to disrespect Roswall to my face? In fact he wasn't even at the house when you came calling. Hmph, coward."

"He is no coward, he wanted to be here himself, but I did not think it would be wise to use him in such manner." said Crusch. "I wish for you to join me of your own volition after hearing what I have to offer and what misgivings on Roswaal that I share with Bartholomew. I would remind you that Bartholomew sacrificed much to help your group."

Ben looked at Ram and shook his head. "Lets hear her out. I don't like anybody dissing Roswaal as much as the next guy, but she made the trouble to come all this way. She can't just be here to throw shade."

Ram folded her arms in surrender, but still glared at Crusch foully. It was the symbol of how much their friendship had grown that Ram relented to Ben's wishes in spite of her precious Roswaal being insulted. 

"Ram, you seem angry,  here, allow me to comfort you through the traditional Galvan art of shoulder rubbing!" said Driba, leaping onto Ram's shoulder. 

"Die in a hole." said Ram. 

"Oh why thank you!" said Driba. "To wish my death be in burial and not out of the ground must mean you have high hopes for me indeed!"

Crusch raised an eyebrow as Ben shrugged. "Er, don't ask."

"Very well." said Crusch. "In any case, Bartholomew has had misgivings about the way you ended up in this circumstance, did Mathers even bother to try and stop you before you tried to go rescue Ram? And did Roswaal even try to rescue Ram himself?"

Ben frowned. "Hmmm, well, I figured he thought I had the best chance of doing it."

"Do not be so quick to judge Roswaal's strength when you have yet to see him in battle Sir Tennyson." said Wilhelm, nodding his wise old fierce eyes towards the boy before him.  "Roswaal and his family have long been known for being powerful mages, each being a master of the five elements to the extent that their battles could leave altered landscapes in their wake. I was well acquainted with his grandmother Roswaal J. Mathers. Her fists alone could do as much damage as that beetle form's horn."

"Roswaal's strength well matches or perhaps even surpasses most of the Arch Bishops of sin and perhaps even the Witches themselves." said Crusch.  "He could have easily rescued Ram, or perhaps even defeated this so called Eltanin in the process."

Ben felt sweat trickle down his head. He respected Roswaal. For one thing, he seemed to genuinely care for Rem, Ram and Beatrice. How he felt about Emilia was still something Ben debated now and then, but there was no doubt he was an odd person overall. 

But there was another question that needed handling. 

"What do you mean 'so called?'" asked Ben. 

"Ben-kun is a foreigner to Lugnica originally." said Rem in response to Crusch's confused look. "He does not know much about the Witch's Cult."

"In that case, its rather simple. The Witch's Cult are so adept at covering up their own tracks that we only have records of the most active of the radical faction. Arch Bishop of Sloth, Petelguese Romanee-Conti."  said Crusch. "I never met him myself, but he is responsible for most of the carnage across the world that the cult has caused in general."

"So Eltanin's a new name?" Ben asked. 

"Well no, his name isn't new, he's a well respected Oni from Lugnica and Kararagi's history." said Halibel this time. "However he never was put down as an Arch Bishop before. In fact, part of the reason I investigated him and ran into you was because he was supposed to have died. After that I began turning up some twisted things."

"Yes, I believe you and I have turned up the same things during our investigation as well." said Crusch. "Unfortunately as a Princess and not a direct Ascendant to the throne, my authority is limited only to who serves the house of Karsten, which the council doesn't serve, as it should be."

Ben nodded, he respected Crusch's allegiance to the separation of powers. If Princess Candidates all had the authorities equal to a ruler, their race for the throne would be wrought with deception and ugly inhouse fighting. 

"While it seems we've gone on a bit of a tangent, it isn't that bad, as this investigation and the review of possible infiltration of the Witch's Cult into Lugnica's most prominent Royal Families is partially why I want you to join." Crusch said. "Ben Tennyson, the Vertilot Family seems to possess a lot of information on you."

"Yeah, I noticed." said Ben. "I always thought it was fishy, but Bartholomew didn't know much when I asked him. Or he was lying."

"Bartholomew is many things, but he is no liar Benjy dear!" said Felix with a wink. "He's hard to handle sure, but he's honest."

"At the bottom most floor of the Vertilot Manor, there is a secret library holding mysterious artifacts and objects rumored to be from beyond the stars and realm of human understanding." said Crusch. "I wish to access that library with your help.  I have reason to believe that those objects are associated with the artifact on your wrist. That which is called The Omni Matrix, or Omnitrix."

"I see, so that's why you really want me." Ben said. "Somehow the Vertilot family has access to mysteries only I can answer right?"

"The things we turned up in our investigation were by far, quite disturbing." said Crusch. "A book that was so old it was falling apart, but told tales of a boy wielding a wrist ornament that could transform him into all the sentient life of the Universe, and a Great Creator who backed him, a being named Azmuth who had connections to the Vertilot Family. In an age before gods, when there were mortals who could stand above them."

Crusch gave Ben a serious look. "Not many know of you Ben Tennyson, not many have heard your name, nor are there any  who see you and think they see a hero except those with a trained eye. I felt something that day you came in with the offer to spar from my servant here. Ben Tennyson, do you know why I seek the throne?"

Ben shook his head. 

"To take away Lugnica's dependency on deities once and for all." said Crusch. "To absolve the contract that Volcanica took with the throne. We cannot continue to rely on gods for our means. Mortals must take their future with their own hands. I don't know how much of your legend in this old aging book is true, but you are certainly a mortal who found ways to stand above gods."

Ben blushed. "Er, look, without the Omnitrix I'm honestly just an ordinary guy."

"And without my Divine Blessing I'm just a woman who can be quite feisty." said Crusch. "Ben Tennyson, do not pretend that your talent with that artifact is something that anybody else can achieve.. I saw your skill for myself.  You have the potential to stand at my side as the symbol I need against those who bathe in the luxuries provided by the gods and grow fat and weak."

Crusch nodded at Rem. "Naturally my offer extends to Roswaal's maids as well as any other allies of yours that you feel you cannot go without."

"Even if I must sacrifice my very body, I will not betray Master Roswaal." said Ram coldly. "However, whatever choice Dog Pee Boy makes for his life I will respect."

"Whatever choice Ben-kun makes, I'll come with him then." said Rem quietly. "I do not wish to leave his side anymore."

Ram's eyes went wide as her face appeared stunned, and then she went quiet, her expression sad. The fact that she did not try to argue with Rem almost tore Ben's innards apart. The two of them were probably really struggling with this too, even if Rem had made up her mind to absolutely follow Ben on whatever he wanted to do.

The problem was Ben didn't know WHAT to do. This was no longer the Black and White decision he was used to making in his line of work. 

Before it had been easy. Vilgax is evil, fight him. Dagon is evil, fight him. Aggregor is evil, fight him.

There had always been a line that couldn't be crossed. 

But here was something he had no real answer for. 

Crusch seemed like a good person, an honorable knight type. But Ben had no idea how good at governing she was, or how far she would go to separate humanity from the gods. He didn't even know what roles the gods of this world like the Dragon Volcanica and the Sage Flugel played in this world.

Emilia was a good person, innocent, caring, selfless. But Ben didn't know why she wanted the throne. And Roswaal was becoming more of an enigma by the day. 

All he knew, was he wanted to stay with Rem and Ram. Ram because she was his friend, and the first person who ever found out about the pain he carried and understood, even if it was thrust upon her. And Rem because.. well to even think about why he cared for Rem would only make him turn red and start hyperventilating. 

He just couldn't help loving her. 

All Ben knew was the black and white thing to do.

He had to defeat Eltanin so he could get Rem and Ram back to their normal lives, and so the The Arch Bishop of Pride wouldn't hurt anybody else.

That was his goal. So the logical way to proceed would be to pick whichever side helped that goal the most right?

Crusch had resources that was already apparent, and so did Roswaal. But who could he trust more? Was Crusch's talk of Roswaal's untrustworthiness just her own ploy?

And in any case, Ben trusted Ram plenty on many things, but Ram's fondness of Roswaal was not something that Ben attributed to genuine capable logic. Ben had no doubt that even if Roswaal one day jumped onto a stage in a mankini and started singing Friday with the voice of Gollumn, Ram would still regard Roswaal as the greatest thing to happen since Lugnica's International Bacon Festival. 

So Ben did the one thing that felt right when all other things failed. 

"I'd like some time to think on it." said Ben. "Like maybe a few days, if that's okay."

Crusch smiled, as if she had expected this, and nodded. "Take your time. I made sure to have a suitable explanation for being in Kararagi, nobody suspects my true purpose here or that you are in fact here yourself."

After they left the tent, led out by Wilhelm,  Ben sighed. "I'm really kind of stuck here you know. I'm not sure what to do."

"Ben-kun." Rem said. "You don't want to end up having me and Ram separate do you?"

"Well, honestly, I don't want to lose you either, call it a selfish wish." Ben said awkwardly. "I mean if you're happier with Ram, I don't wanna force anybody to choose. Not that it'll be hard for Ram."

"Roswaal shall forever be the one I die in service to." said Ram. "However, I feel Rem would.. ehem.. I feel R-Rem would.. b-be.. happier with Ben."

"That sounded painful." said Halibel.

"I will kill you, eternal fat hound." 

"Actually it's Eternal Playboy, but its nice to know you've still got your normal coldness heheheh." Halibel chuckled. 

"What do you think?" Ben directed his next question at Wilhelm. 

"Hmm, you want my opinion on the matter?" Wilhelm asked. 

"Well to be honest, you seem like the type of guy who tells things honestly, and well you were the first person to offer a job to me, and you're always keeping your cool." Ben said. "I guess, I kinda feel like you know stuff."

"Heheheh, perhaps with age comes the perception of wisdom from others. But I am merely a swordsman whose seen too much battle." said Wilhelm. "However I guess I could offer advice to the younger generation, even if I'm not sure it is the best."

Wilhelm looked at Ben. "Allies come and go. Even if you are far apart, that does not mean your bonds will disappear. I don't think Emilia will think less of you for joining Crusch. She is not the sort to bear ill will.  Nor would Crusch think less of you for remaining at Emilia's side.  I will admit, I am biased in the fact that I would like you to join. You and I are alike, the both of us. The both of us have seen far too much, and I would like to help you if I could."

Wilhelm sighed. "However, that does not mean I am the best person to heal your pain. You already found her, and she intends to stick by your side no matter what you choose.  So I gather your dilemma is simply knowing what is right to choose. As  a Hero, I know that burden, and so I simply say this, there is no right or wrong choice here. Merely the easier path and the harder path."

"Meaning..?" Ben asked. 

Wilhelm placed a hand on Ben's shoulder at the entrance back into Banan Town. "I trust Crusch with my life.  She is an honorable woman. Also Emilia, whatever her reasons for the crown, is selfless and loving. Even with Roswaal to consider, there is nothing wrong with choosing either path. But Crusch has resources, and Emilia lacks them, even with Roswaal as a Lord.  Crusch would be the easier path. But, Emilia is no less deserving of your support if you can offer it."

Wilhelm smiled. "Choose instead what truly speaks to your ideals instead of what is universally right or wrong. Think less like a hero in this instance, and more like a selfish human being who has aspirations for how they think Lugnica should be ruled."

Ben nodded. "Thanks. That's actually some pretty amazing advice."

Wilhelm bowed. "I am sure you will make the best choice, regardless of what it is in the end."

As Wilhelm watched the group leave, Felix stepped over next to him.

"You seem a little more sociable with this one than most people Wilhelm." said Felix with a wink. "Did something about him catch your eye when you first saw him?"

"Hmmm, you could say he's come close to becoming something that I could never attain at an age which I would've previously thought impossible." said Wilhelm. "In other words, I feel sympathy towards him."

"Not pity?" said Felix, his smile disappearing. "You said the pain of a warrior was apparent in his eyes."

"To pity him would be to insult him." said Wilhelm without a pause in his words. "He is far more at the age of 17 than I ever was at twice his age. He suffers yes, but right now he is striving to shed his wounds. Pitying him at this point would only say that one does not believe in his capability to return to what he once was."

Felix smiled and nodded. "Hmmm, well take away that watch and he's just a human boy."

"Even without that artifact however, he has the will and strength to become a hero through other means." said Wilhelm. "That much I believe."

Felix chuckled. "Nyaha, guess I should keep an eye on him too. If the Sword Demon Wilhelm Van Astrea says this much."