A/N: I know, I know. Two chapters in one week is so unlike me, but you guys deserve it. The last chapter was short, and, granted, this one's only a few words longer, you've been waiting for months, and, like I said, I couldn't wait to write this. So, here you go! And also, just so you know, I read online that Edwin's real last name was Grandsmith so from now on, that's their last name. If I get a comment asking me about why their last name's changed AGAIN, THIS IS WHY!

"Umm… Devlin, Jenny and I decided to change into teen versions of you guys to scare the bad guy more?" 16-year-old Ben tried. Did the lie sound as bad to them as it did to him? He saw both pairs of the adults' green eyes narrow. Clearly, it did.

"Do you think we're stupid?" the red head demanded. She uncrossed her arms to reveal what looked like an ordinary handgun, but everyone was sure was about ten times as dangerous as one.

"Mom," Jenny said cautiously, "We can explain. Just put down the gun and-"

"Young lady, I am so fed up with you that it might be safer if you don't talk at all at the moment," the woman declared, sounding perilously close to yelling.

"Devlin, you wanna explain this?" Ben 10,000 asked his adopted son, gesturing at the scene of his ruined living room, "You're not trying to bust your dad out of the Null Void again, are you?"

"No," the boy growled, hands balling up into fists at his sides, "Do you really think I'd be stupid enough to try that again?"

"Considering there's a teenager here that looks an awful lot like him holding a girl who looks almost exactly like a teenage Gwen, I'm starting to have my doubts," the man announced, missing the immediate spark of anger in his adopted son's eyes. "And where is Kenny? Don't tell me he wasn't in on whatever it was you three did."

"Two," Devlin corrected his adopted father. He seemed to be absolutely unaffected by the gun. After all, he'd stared down the barrel of one before as part of training. Besides, Mrs. Grandsmith wouldn't really shoot at them, would she? "It was me and Kenny. Jenny didn't help bring them here."

"But she did help you two," the adult Gwen stated, turning back to her daughter, "Jenny, you are grounded for life. No TV, no cell phone, and we are leaving tomorrow. Do you understand?"

"Yes, Mom," the youngest red head mumbled.

"Good," the oldest anodite said, seeming to have gotten better control of herself, "Now get to your room."

"Hold it," the girl's uncle stopped her before she could even take the first step, "Gwen, your daughter doesn't have a lying bone in her body."

"I used to think so," the girl's mother muttered. Jenny's jaw tightened as tears swam in her cerulean eyes. Ben went on as if she hadn't spoken.

"Devlin here is the son of two villains. I don't know about you, but I trust her a little more than I trust him." Again, there was that spark. Devlin could see red, he was angry. He could feel himself wanting to change, to shift into that creature his dad – because that's who he was, no matter what anyone said, – had warned him not to.

"Hey!" the teenage Ben suddenly cried. He could see how close Devlin was getting to doing something everyone was gonna regret. As the Earth's greatest hero, it was his job, at least at that moment, to make sure it didn't happen. "Cut the kid some slack. It wasn't all his fault. The two of them, Kenny and Devlin, snuck down to Grandpa Max's lab, Kenny found a remote, pressed a button, and brought us here. We're from a parallel universe, and Kevin's been helping Grandpa Max rewire the thing so that we can get home."

"How could that work?" the adult Gwen asked, gun still poised at the ready, eyes narrowed in suspicion, "If Grandpa Max thought you were from another time, and he and Kevin were working on the same project?" The name felt like poison in the anodite's mouth.

There was a moment of silence as realization struck. He knew. Max had known all along about the teens. He just hadn't thought it necessary to tell the adults. Ben 10,000 hissed out a breath angrily.

"You know, tomorrow I think I'm gonna have to have a talk with Grandpa Max about family trust and values," he ground out. Kevin, who had been disturbingly quiet up until that point, suddenly gave a bark of laughter.

"You're one to talk," his tone was mocking, near hysterical. His grip on his beloved girlfriend tightened. "Your own cousin's been laying here for the past ten minutes, unconscious, powerless, and very possibly dying, and all you can do is yell at my kid and blame him for trying to free some psychopath from the Null Void, while we just sent another psychopath there!"

"Kevin, I-" Jenny started, taking a half-step towards the osmosian, but was interrupted for the second time by her mother.

"Don't step any closer, Jenny," the anodite warned, gun now pointing unflinchingly at Kevin, "He's a dangerous criminal, who-"

"He's fine, Mom!" the 10-year-old girl cried out, tears spilling from the corners of her eyes. Her own mother was pointing a gun at her and her companions. It would have been a little too much for anyone. "At this moment, he's less homicidal than you!"

"Jenny, listen-"

"No, Mom, you listen," the girl snapped, growing hysterical, "You're the one holding the gun. He's the one holding the unconscious body of his girlfriend. And who is that again? Oh, that's right! It's you!" Her breath was heavy by the time the speech was done. Jenny looked exhausted, and her eyes held nothing but a sense of betrayal. How could they not listen? She'd always been perfect, never given anyone a reason to doubt her! How could they. The tears were coming in rivers now. Devlin placed his hand on her shoulder in a comforting way.

"I think you made your point, Jenny," he said softly, "And it's also time to get to bed. That spell took a lot out of you." He stepped forward, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and tugging her close. He gently started guiding her away from all the commotion, past the adults, and through the exit. In the doorway, he stopped and turned to his adopted father. His green eyes had been closely trained on the two kids the moment they started moving. His cousin's were still trained on the teens. She was upset at her daughter's outburst, but there were other, more important things that needed to be taken care of at the moment.

"Kenny's in the infirmary," Devlin told the adult Ben, "That creep we took down stole all his energy, just like he did with Gwendolyn."

The man's eyes widened and instinct took over. His son was in the hospital. His son, his own flesh and blood, had been hurt, and he wasn't there to protect him. He had to go. A thin, perfectly manicured hand wrapped around his wrist before he could dash out.

"Kenny's fine," Gwen assured him, "Right now we need to focus on the immediate danger." After a moment's hesitation, the man gave a brisk nod. He knew she was right. That didn't make it any easier.

"Is what Jenny said true?" the red head addressed the two teens, "Is the parallel version of me really stupid enough to date Kevin Levin in your universe?"

"You're the one who's stupid," the teenage Ben announced, defending his cousin. He knew his friend was close to a mental breakdown next to him if they didn't get the 16-year-old anodite some help at that moment. So, he did what he always did when he had no idea what to do: he started blathering. "You realize you've married a total douche, right? I mean, do you even love the guy? Why did you even marry him? Was it because of the money? Oh, God, Gwen, your family already has a ton of it!"

"I married him because I loved him," the woman declared, posture tensing up even more. That had hit a little too close to home.

"'Loved'? As in, past tense? As in 'used to love, but don't anymore'?" There was a mischievous glint in the teen's eye as he picked on the detail. Suddenly, memories of how he'd teased Gwen when they were kids came rushing back. He remembered that it had used to be fun, and was now finding it to be true again.

"He's got a point," the adult him agreed, shrugging his shoulders, feigning innocence.

"That doesn't matter!" the anodite cried, enraged at her cousin for taking the teen's side, "We've got an insane con-"

"Ex-con."

"Whatever! – in our house, who needs to be locked up!" At that moment, the teenage girl let out a soft moan and turned in her beloved osmosian's arms so that she was on her back, facing the ceiling even more. A thin stream of blood trickled out of the girl's nose, pouring down her cheek, leaving a small, barely visible stain on the 17-year-old's tuxedo. Everyone was staring at the girl with wide eyes. Kevin's head snapped up and he locked eyes with the older version of his girlfriend.

"You get Gwen some help and you can lock me up wherever you want," he promised her. The adults seemed to be willing to accept this deal, but before either of them could utter a single word, or make a single move, a single word, clear as daylight, left the mouth of the 16-year-old idiot, who Kevin was just about ready to strangle at that moment.

"No."

"Kevin Levin just handed himself to us on a silver platter, and you want to pass that chance up?" Gwen cried, completely outraged. This guy was an even bigger idiot than her Ben!

"More importantly, do you want Gwen to die?" the teen's friend cried out. His hands tightened on his beloved redhead. "Or are you just the biggest moron in the Multiverse!"

"Yes, no, and no," the teen said patiently. His eyes flitted back to his cousin. The blood was still coming, but very slowly. She needed medical attention. Unfortunately, this couldn't wait. Gwen was strong, the teen hero tried to calm himself, she could wait a few more moments. "First of all, I wanna keep on my cousin's good side. And if she finds out I let her boyfriend get locked up somewhere while she's lying in the recovery room, that's not gonna end well."

"And second?" Ben 10,000 asked through grounded teeth. His green eyes were trained on the small stream of blood. If they didn't do something soon, she would die. He'd seen this happen before, once, with his Gwen. She'd used too much power one day, when she was sick. They'd brought her to the hospital. The doctors had said she was lucky. A few more minutes, and she would have been dead meat.

"You're gonna send him to the Null Void, aren't you?" the younger Ben asked, eyes wary.

"That's usually where we lock up Earth's greatest villains, yes," Gwen answered impatiently.

Kevin's jaw clenched. Ben walked a little closer to the two adults. He didn't want his best friend overhearing this.

"Kevin has… anger management issues."

"That's an understatement," the red head scoffed.

"He's gotten better since you sent him off to those anger management classes," the teen continued like he hadn't heard her, "but, well, he's still not too keen on villains who hurt the people he cares about. Especially Gwen."

"What's your point?" she demanded, getting fed up with this whole thing.

"If you send him to the Null Void, Kevin's gonna do way worse than just kick Darkstar's butt," the brunette boy told them, "He already may have inadvertently killed his father's murderer."

"What?" the woman exclaimed. She'd never heard anything about Kevin's family at all, let alone that his father had been murdered. That would explain some things, though. She made a mental note to check the information out on her computer later.

"Long story," the teen said, slightly dismissive, "The guy's probably still floating around space. Anyway, I don't want my best friend to be a killer, and if you so much as leave him alone with Darkstar in one room for more than five minutes, there's gonna be a fight, guaranteed. A whole dimension of criminals? It's gonna be a bloodbath."

"What happens to criminals after they get put away in the Null Void isn't our problem," Gwen told him brusquely, "They can kill each other off as far as the Plumbers are concerned."

"Look where that philosophy got you with your Kevin: he came back 30 years later stronger than ever!" the teen exclaimed, throwing his hands up in the air dramatically.

The tired-looking anodite heaved a great sigh and turned to her cousin.

"What do you think?" she asked, sounding completely defeated. It had been a long day and now all that she really wanted to do was soak in a nice, hot bubble bath and go to bed.

"I'm still on the part where Kevin Levin actually took anger management classes," the woman's almost entirely useless cousin announced. He was rubbing his chin with one hand, lost deep in thought. The voice of the seemingly nice, teenage version of his enemy broke the man out of his trance.

"Yo, Tennysons," Kevin snapped, "Sometime this century perhaps?"

"We'll keep him locked up in one of the cells tonight," the greatest hero of this universe finally decided, already on his way to the two teens. "We'll decide what to do with him tomorrow." He tried to reach for the teenage red head in the osmosian's arms, but he shifted so that neither one of them was within his reach. Ben 10,000's eyes narrowed. "I can't help her if you don't let me touch her."

Kevin shifted again and, a second later, the girl was in the man's arms, being carried out bridal style to the infirmary. As he passed by Gwen, the hero stopped and whispered: "Can you handle him?"

"Don't worry about me," the woman told him, "Take care of her." And with that, Ben 10,000 left his living room. The remaining red head walked over to the still-slumped teenager, walked around to his back, and pointed her handgun to his shoulder.

"You know what this is?" she asked. The osmosian took one look at the gun and turned away.

"Modified 9mm," the raven-haired teen recited as if though reading from a text book, "Has the design of a regular gun, but doesn't carry bullets. Or, at least, not the ones with gunpowder in them. Each bullet is designed to release 1000 volts of electricity once it's buried inside any living thing."

"That's right," the anodite sounded surprised, "So you know what's gonna happen to you if you don't do exactly as I say."

"You don't even need the gun," Ben snickered, "He'd still do exactly as you say."

The adult version of the teen's cousin turned around, gun still pointed at the ex-con. Her eyes were deadest. It was a look that allowed no argument. If her orders were disobeyed, the red head wouldn't hesitate to harm.

"Go to your room, and get to bed," she ordered.

Ben looked like he was about to protest, but seemed to decide against it. He wasn't sure if it was the murderous look in the woman's eyes, or the slight shake of his friend's head that led to that decision. Without a word, the bearer of the Ultimaterix took off.

"Get up," Gwen ordered her prisoner. The teen slowly rose, facing away from the red head.

"Turn around."

He turned around.

"Start walking."

He started walking, letting the gun guide him down the hall, down three flights of stairs, past several more rooms, and into an elevator.

"Basement," the woman ordered, "Code 3785411."

"Code accepted," a female voice coming from a loudspeaker on the ceiling announced, "Gwen Grandsmith."

They stepped out of the elevator into a sterile, white hall lined with what looked like oversized aquariums without water. All were empty. Gwen stopped at cell 5667 and entered a few numbers into the keypad next to the glass. It slid open to admit the two into the small room. Kevin was unceremoniously pushed inside it.

"Now you stay there until morning," the anodite told him firmly, "Someone will be by to give you breakfast and let you out… or not. Either way, they'll have the gun, so don't try anything stupid." Secretly, the anodite was hoping she could send Kai to do it. Better her than someone useful... or who actually was capable of feeling.

"Can you do me a favor?" the teen asked before she could turn to walk away.

"Depends on what it is," she told him, stopping and turning around cautiously. Her eyes were narrowed suspiciously.

"Go easy on the kids," he said resignedly, "Especially Jenny. You and Ed-dork-"

"Edwin."

"- remind me of Gwen's parents, and she's had it bad enough," he finished, a forlorn look on his face. The teen thought of all the times he'd come to find his beloved Gwen too tired to give fighting aliens her best shot, or fallen asleep on the incredibly uncomfortable bench in his garage. "I'm sure you have, too."

She gave a brisk nod.

"Anything else?"

"Yeah," he smirked, stepping back a few steps until his back hit the wall and he slumped down. His eyes closed, as if though the teen were getting ready for a good night's sleep. That same unsettling smirk laced his lips. "Divorce your husband."