Inside the Rust Bucket, Evan was lying on the back bunk with his eyes closed, his chest slowly rising and falling with each breath.
Max let out a tired sigh of relief.
After Evan had collapsed, everyone's heart had skipped a beat. They had rushed him back toward the Rust Bucket as fast as possible, carrying him all the way back because none of them wanted to take any chances with his condition.
Once they finally reached the RV, Max immediately pulled out some of his high-tech alien medical equipment and began checking his grandson's condition.
Fortunately, Evan was fine.
There were no internal injuries or strange conditions affecting his body. Aside from the half-healed wound on the left side of his lips, which had now turned into a scar similar to the one above his right eyebrow, his body was surprisingly perfectly fine.
Considering everything Evan had just gone through, Max almost couldn't believe how normal the medical readings were.
His grandson was physically fine.
But Max knew that didn't mean everything was fine. He stared at the sleeping boy for a while before putting the equipment away.
He couldn't keep this matter to himself any longer.
Max pulled out his communication device and made a quick call to Stay Gold, telling his son about what had happened and explaining Evan's current condition.
That usually free-spirited girl of his instantly dropped everything.
She didn't even hesitate before getting on her motorcycle and using higher-space travel to reach them in less than an hour.
Max nearly lost it when he saw her arrive.
Higher-space travel was not something anyone should be using so casually, especially on a planet.
The technology allowed someone to travel distances spanning multiple solar systems in a matter of seconds or minutes. It was useful for interstellar travel, but using it while inside Earth's atmosphere was extremely dangerous.
One wrong calculation could send someone shooting beyond the planet's solar system. And there was another problem. A few seconds or minutes spent traveling through higher space could mean days or even weeks had passed back on Earth.
Max stared at his daughter with a mixture of disbelief and exhaustion.
No DNA testing was needed.
The two of them were truly father and son.
While the kids stayed behind to watch over Evan, Xylene eventually left Earth. Max then pulled Stay Gold aside so the two of them could have a private conversation about Evan's condition.
"So he is suicidal..." Stay Gold murmured under her breath.
The previous tension she had been feeling had only just begun to subside after hearing that her son was physically fine and wasn't suffering from any serious injuries.
Only for her father to reveal that there was something much more serious going on with him.
Her expression became heavier.
"Dad, can you list the details?" Stay Gold asked seriously. "From where do you think this began?"
Her usual laid-back and joking tone was completely gone.
She might have seemed irresponsible because she was rarely home to take care of her wives and children, but there was more to her than that.
Keeping up with four wives in bed was already a difficult task, but somehow, she always managed to make it through. She sent ninety percent of her paychecks back home for her family, providing them with mostly whatever she had.
She even lived off the strange foods Max had taught her how to prepare, only rarely using the pocket change she kept for herself when she genuinely had nothing to eat or couldn't make it over to her father's place for a quick meal.
For all of her usual carefree behavior, Stay Gold cared deeply about her family.
And hearing that something was seriously wrong with her son had immediately stripped away her usual humor.
Max nodded.
"Originally, I thought he was just overprotective of his family, just like you." he explained. "Then Oru and I started suspecting that he might secretly be suicidal."
Stay Gold's expression tightened.
"But after last night, it pretty much confirmed it."
Max then began explaining everything he could remember.
He started with Evan's strange ability to resurrect himself every time he died.
They still didn't know exactly where that ability came from. The only explanation they had was that it was somehow connected to the Another Omnitrix.
Then Max began listing the times when he believed Evan had shown signs that he had little regard for his own life.
The earliest major sign he could remember went all the way back to when Rojo and her gang caused the gas station explosion.
Evan had run headfirst into the explosion simply to make sure Max and Gwen wouldn't get caught in it.
He had taken the full force of the blast himself.
At the time, Max had simply seen it as Evan protecting his family.
Looking back on it now, however, he could see the pattern beginning to form.
Then there was the most obvious example.
Their first encounter with Vilgax.
Evan had literally thrown himself in front of Vilgax's blade, allowing himself to be cut in two just to protect his family.
That was when his ability to resurrect himself was first revealed.
It was also around that point that Max believed something in Evan's mind had started to fracture.
The second major incident happened during their visit to Donovan's underwater resort.
When they were leaving the damaged resort, Evan and Orfevre were dragged down by one of those machine squid aliens.
Evan had instinctively reached out and used his own body to shield his sister.
And even after hitting his head and body against a metal slide before crashing straight into the cold seawater below, the first thing he did was ask if Orfevre was okay.
As if he hadn't just thrown himself into danger again.
Then there was Bancroft Academy.
When Zs'Skayr threatened to jump off using Gwen's body, Evan didn't hesitate.
He transformed back into his human form and allowed himself to be possessed. He had knowingly put himself in danger simply because it meant protecting Gwen.
After that came their adventure in outer space.
Evan didn't waste any time arguing. There was only one Plumber-issued hazard mask suit left, and instead of using it for himself, he immediately gave it to both of his sisters.
He allowed himself to remain exposed to the cold vacuum of space so that they could survive.
And now there was what had just happened.
"It seems that either Evan or Specter has some kind of power that allows him to transfer every bit of damage meant for someone else toward himself," Max explained.
Stay Gold listened quietly.
"This one wasn't even difficult to figure out. Evan released a powerful attack directly toward my location, yet I was completely fine."
Max's expression became tired.
"And he was the one who suffered the damage."
The more examples he gave, the clearer the pattern became.
Evan always put himself between his family and danger.
He never hesitated or even stopped to consider what would happen to him. And because he could resurrect himself, it seemed as though he had slowly convinced himself that his own life was somehow worth less than everyone else's.
Stay Gold stared at the ground for a moment.
"Wow," she said.
Then, despite the seriousness of the conversation, a faintly amused tone slipped into her voice.
"You sure have a lot of adventure in the span of a summer vacation."
Max gave her a tired look.
"Tell me about it. I didn't expect a summer camping trip with my grandkids would lead to confronting my nemesis, an alien warlord."
Stay Gold chuckled lightly.
It was a small laugh, but it helped keep the conversation from becoming completely overwhelming.
"I could contact the Plumbers," she said. "Although they're currently off Earth right now, getting in touch with one of the space stations shouldn't be too difficult."
She paused before looking back at her father.
"The main issue is how do we convince Evan to go get a health checkup?"
Max already understood what his daughter was trying to say.
They could force Evan toward as many hospitals as they wanted. They could have him undergo as many medical checkups as necessary. They could have Plumber doctors, alien doctors, or even some of the most advanced medical technology in the galaxy examine him.
It still wouldn't solve the real problem.
The person who needed treatment was Evan.
And if Evan himself failed to recognize that there was something wrong, then none of those medical examinations would actually help.
His body could be perfectly healthy. His scans could come back completely normal.
But that didn't mean his mind was.
Max looked back toward the Rust Bucket, knowing that getting Evan to understand that would be far more difficult than simply taking him to a doctor.
"He has to realize that he doesn't always have to be the one taking the hit," Max said quietly.
Stay Gold nodded.
"And that protecting those he cherishes shouldn't come at the cost of his own life every time."
With Evan currently unconscious, Stay Gold had to go to outer space to reach one of the Plumber bases.
The group continued with their road trip, seeing how Evan was just unconscious and wouldn't be waking up any time soon.
The best they could do now was simply wait and make sure he didn't do anything suicidal again.
...
The Rust Bucket was parked beside the La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles, California, the familiar RV sitting quietly near the edge of the famous pits while the morning slowly came to life around it.
Inside, the smell of breakfast filled the cramped interior as Max stood at the stove, calmly cooking while he watched the kids begin to stir from their beds.
"Rise and shine, sleepy heads," he called out.
Ben slowly rose from his bed, still looking half-asleep as he rubbed his eyes. He glanced down at his Omnitrix, only for his expression to change when he noticed the device beeping repeatedly. The alien selection display was rapidly scrolling through different choices on its own.
"Huh? What's up with this thing?" Ben asked, staring at the Omnitrix with a confused look.
Before he could figure it out, a scream suddenly came from the upper bunk.
Gwen fell straight out of her bed and landed on the floor with a startled yell. The others turned toward her, while Orfevre simply groaned and pulled the pillow over her face.
"Something tells me this is going to be a good day," Ben said.
Orfevre eventually lifted her head from the pillow, clearly deciding that there was no point trying to get any more sleep. She sat up and cracked her joints back into place before reaching over and grabbing Gold Ship.
"Wake up."
She shook her sister lightly until Gold Ship finally stirred, looking considerably less interested in waking up than anyone else. Once everyone was up, the group slowly made their way toward the table for breakfast.
"Hope you guys are hungry," Max said as he finished cooking. "I've cooked up one of my world-famous breakfasts."
"Oh boy," Gwen said, staring at the food with absolutely no enthusiasm.
Ben immediately covered his nose. "Plug your nose and kiss your taste buds goodbye."
Max ignored the comment and continued doing his thing, placing five plates on the table. Each one contained scrambled eggs, two strips of bacon, and a sausage.
Ben stared at his plate for a moment before looking back at Max.
"...So is this groundhog bacon and salamander eggs?"
"Nope. Just good old All-American bacon and eggs," Max replied. "But I understand if it doesn't sound good to you."
The kids exchanged shocked looks.
For a moment, nobody touched their food. Then, almost at the exact same time, they all dove into their breakfasts as though it might be the last meal they would ever have.
Max could only watch them with amusement.
Ben was halfway through eating when he suddenly noticed something strange. There was an extra plate sitting on the table, positioned right between Gold Ship and Orfevre.
"Hey, whose breakfast is this?" he asked.
He looked around the table, trying to make sense of it. Besides Max, there were only four of them inside the RV right now. So why had there been five plates?
"Huh, I must have made a mistake," Max said, reaching over to take the extra plate away.
Ben simply shrugged and went back to eating, deciding it probably wasn't worth thinking about.
Still, he couldn't help feeling that something about it was strange.
For some reason, he couldn't remember who usually sat between his two cousins.
The thought lingered for only a moment before he dismissed it.
Later, after breakfast, Ben let out a loud burp directly in Gwen's face just as she was stepping outside of the RV.
"Right in my face! Good one, Ben!" Gwen said with a smile.
Ben's eyes widened. "Aren't you going to freak out or something?"
"Why?" Gwen asked. "It was just a joke, right?"
"Yeah, a super funny one at that," Orfevre added with a smile.
Ben stared at both of them.
"Come on, let's check out the tar pits," Gold Ship said, already heading outside.
"Nah," Ben replied. "There's got to be something else going on around here."
As if the universe had been listening to him, a school bus came driving around the corner of the area.
The bus didn't make it very far.
One of its tires suddenly blew out, causing the vehicle to wobble before coming to a stop right in front of them.
The cheerleaders inside immediately looked outside, concerned about what had just happened.
"Oh no! What do we do?!"
"I wish somebody could help us."
Ben looked toward the stranded bus.
"...I guess that'll do."
Before they could do anything, however, a strange whirring noise came from above.
The group looked up.
A spaceship was looming overhead.
It descended toward them before finally touching down in front of the group.
The hatch opened as two familiar bounty hunters stepped out of the ship, glaring at the group.
Gwen immediately recognized them.
"Sixsix and Vulkanus?" she asked. "What are they doing here?"
"They're about to get their alien butts kicked, that's what!" Ben declared.
He raised his Omnitrix, ready to transform.
But as he did, he paused.
That same strange feeling returned.
Something or someone was missing.
He couldn't explain it. He couldn't even figure out why the thought had crossed his mind in the first place. He simply stared at the Omnitrix for a moment before shaking his head.
"Forget it. It's hero time!"
He slammed the core down.
Green light burst outward from the Omnitrix, engulfing Ben as his body rapidly transformed. His frame expanded, his arms became massive and muscular, and his entire body took on the appearance of a dark brown, scaled, massive humanoid dinosaur.
Ben looked down at his enormous hands, flexing his fingers before giving a satisfied smirk.
"Wow, I actually became this guy!?" he exclaimed. "Sweet!"
He took a deep breath, stretched his massive arms, and let out a powerful shout.
"Humungousaur!"
Humungousaur paused after saying his name.
"No wonder why he likes to shout out his alien names..." he murmured.
Then his expression shifted slightly.
"Wait... who is he?"
He couldn't remember the face of the person he had just thought about.
The strange feeling was still there, but it refused to make sense.
Sixsix didn't give him time to think about it. The bounty hunter raised his gauntlet and fired several missiles toward the group.
Humungousaur immediately charged forward.
The missiles slammed into his body and exploded around him, filling the area with a massive cloud of dust and smoke. Yet Humungousaur continued moving through it without slowing down.
His enormous feet struck the ground with every step, sending tremors through the earth as he pushed through the dust cloud and charged straight toward Sixsix and Vulkanus.
The two bounty hunters barely had time to react.
Humungousaur slammed into them, tackling both of them and sending them crashing hard into the ground.
"Don't worry, ladies," Humungousaur said confidently. "We're here to-"
He didn't get to finish.
Vulkanus came charging out of the attack and drove an uppercut straight into Humungousaur, launching the massive alien into the air.
Humungousaur crashed back down into the ground, leaving a deep indentation beneath him.
He slowly stood back up and glared at Vulkanus.
Gwen immediately rushed over.
"Ben, are you okay?" she asked, with Orfevre and Gold Ship following closely behind her.
Humungousaur looked at them in confusion.
"You guys are worried about me?" he asked. "Did you all get hit in the head or something?"
Vulkanus suddenly let out a roar.
Before anyone could react, he grabbed the school bus and lifted it over his head.
"Uh-oh," Gwen muttered.
Vulkanus threw the entire bus toward them.
Humungousaur immediately sprang forward.
His body grew even larger as he charged toward the incoming vehicle, and he caught the school bus easily with one hand.
He held it steady for a moment before carefully lowering it back onto the ground.
The cheerleaders inside stared in surprise.
Gold Ship took that opportunity to run forward.
She leaped into the air and delivered a powerful jump kick directly to Vulkanus's face, sending the bounty hunter stumbling backward.
Humungousaur barely had time to react before several laser blasts came from above.
He ducked as the beams passed over him.
Looking up, he saw Sixsix hovering overhead and firing his weapons.
Humungousaur crouched low.
Then he jumped.
His enormous body shot through the air as he flew toward Sixsix, one fist clenched at his side while the other was raised upward in a dramatic superhero pose.
His fist slammed into Sixsix's face. The bounty hunter went flying and crashed down onto the ground.
Humungousaur landed on him, immediately leaped off, then turned around just in time to see Vulkanus charging toward him.
Humungousaur ducked beneath the attack and spun around, driving his fist into Vulkanus's face.
The massive bounty hunter was sent flying across the area.
Gwen followed his trajectory and noticed where he was heading.
She raised her hand. Magic surrounded the nearby dumpster and lifted it into the air just as Vulkanus crashed into it.
The impact sent the dumpster tumbling before Gwen used another spell to shrink it down to the size of a rock.
It dropped neatly at her feet.
Gwen dusted off her hands and walked back toward the others with a satisfied smile.
The group smirked. Then they heard screaming, causing everyone to turn.
Sixsix had reached the school bus.
He reached inside and grabbed one of the cheerleaders, pulling her out and holding her hostage while aiming his blaster.
Orfevre immediately reacted.
She clapped her palms together, and a crimson orb began forming between them.
"Piercing Blood."
The crimson projectile shot forward in a perfectly straight line. It struck Sixsix's weapon, causing it to explode in his hand.
Orfevre smirked.
"You know, Sixsix, you have a lot to learn about school spirit."
She fired another Piercing Blood. This time, the attack struck Sixsix's jetpack. The damage sent him flying upward uncontrollably. Sixsix spun through the air as he desperately tried to regain control.
"This... could get sticky," Humungousaur said.
Sixsix continued tumbling through the sky before finally losing control completely. He fell back down and splashed into one of the tar pits. The thick tar immediately swallowed him up to the point where he found himself stuck.
Humungousaur smiled. He casually walked back toward the RV and noticed the conveniently hanging spare tire attached to the back.
He reached over, pulled it free, and carried it toward the damaged school bus.
He knelt down beside the blown-out tire and replaced it with the new one, securing it into place before standing back up.
The cheerleaders inside the bus immediately began cheering.
"You're good to go, girls," Humungousaur said.
"Yay!"
"You guys are awesome!"
"And so cute!"
Humungousaur smiled at their excitement.
Then, from the corner of the bus, a familiar-looking young girl stepped out.
She looked toward the heroes and smiled.
Humungousaur froze.
His expression immediately changed as recognition hit him.
"...Kai?"
The bus began driving away from the site, leaving Humungousaur staring after it.
Just then Ben transformed back into his human form, but his head remained toward the direction of the bus.
Gwen looked at him.
"Didn't she break your heart after we took down that werewolf in New Mexico?"
Ben sighed.
"Thanks for reminding me," he said.
He looked away for a moment before continuing.
"And she didn't really break my heart. She's just into someone else... that's all."