EDIT: APRIL 11, 2012.

I took down this epilogue (last edited in June 2011) and re-uploaded it in case anyone tracking this wanted to see it. I've changed the second half of this epilogue to better suit the idea I've got for the sequel. I'm really amazed at how many people want to see a sequel! Thank you all so so much for supporting me, it really means a lot to me!

The thing is, though, the last time I actually watched Ben 10 was in June 2011. Those were the Omnitrix episodes. I haven't watched Ben 10 since, but a quick search yesterday told me that apparently there's a new series off of that with an Ultrimatrix in the Omniverse? Idunno... So just a warning, if I do do a sequel it'll be based off of him with the Omnitrix. And the characterizations most likely won't be 100% accurate. I'm sorry, but I just don't have time to watch alllllll of those episodes and get all that stuff straight anymore. :/

That being said though... I hope you enjoy this revised epilogue! A sequel is 90% sure on the way!

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Epilogue

Ben stared at the crumpled body on the floor in front of him. He was speechless with horror, numb with shock.

What had just happened? What had he just witnessed?

The Other Ben shoved the gun irritably back into his pocket, muttering furiously.

"Useless girl," Ben heard him spit. "Good-for-nothing mortal."

"Hope?" whispered Ben anxiously. She did not answer.

"Hope?" he called again, desperately.

Why didn't she answer?

Why couldn't she answer?

Why wouldn't she answer?

Suddenly, Ben felt rage taking over him, an irrepressible fury that he had never felt before. Only a rage this terrible could have given him the strength to break out of these chains. Only a rage this terrible could have motivated him to act in such a reckless manner, bringing him to the verge of insanity. Only a rage this terrible could have obliterated all rational thought from his mind.

And a feeling as intense as this could have been induced only by his deep attachment for Hope Burne.

A roar escaped Ben's lips as he flung himself blindly at the man who had hurt her, the man who had damaged her memory beyond repair, the man who had betrayed her, the man in possession of his Omnitrix - the man who had stolen his face.

Ben found himself punching, kicking, flailing senselessly at any part of the man's body he could reach, any part that would render him pain, pain, pain, enough pain to make him repent for what he had done to her, enough pain to make him feel remorse for everything he'd done to him, enough pain to bring him to his knees and beg for mercy, and the man cried out briefly in surprise, but immediately responded with a burst of fire, and it burned, it burned more than anything else he'd ever experienced, even more than Hope's fire had ever burned him, but that was okay, because he felt alive, alive because he was fighting with his own body, not an Omnitrix's form, alive because he was fighting for -

"Stop."

The both of them stopped dead. That voice...

In the exact place where Hope Burne had fallen, a girl stood there. A girl with a head of untamed hair, with scars on her bare forearms, and a blazing sphere of fire floating in her right hand.

She was Hope Burne in every way possible, yet she seemed more ferocious than Hope Burne had ever been before.

She advanced on the two of them, the ball of fire bouncing between her hands, stopping when she reached Ben - not Ben Tennyson, but The Other Ben.

What is she doing? Ben thought to himself, panicking.

"Oi!" he yelled at her, but she didn't seem to hear. "I'm Ben Tennyson! That's the master, the guy that tortured you and betrayed you! Hey, are you listening to me? I said, HEY!"

Hope turned to him, her eyes ablaze with fire.

"I don't care," replied she coldly.

It was as if an icicle had pierced his heart. A frightening chill rolled over him; he stayed rooted to the spot, unable to move.

He couldn't tear his eyes away as he watched her hands snake around her master's waist, embracing him, pulling him in to a tight kiss as her hands roamed everywhere. They slipped inside his shirt, squeezing him tightly, reeling him in as their lips danced in unison.

Ben looked away in agony, the pangs in his heart consuming him.

He saw a bright flash of fire from the corner of his eye. Startled, he looked back, but The Other Ben was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there stood Hope Burne with a spark of steel in her eye. She was covered in soot, but she was there.

Hope tore her gaze from the place where The Other Ben had been, and looked Ben full in the face. She was even prettier when she was tough.

"Hey, Ben," she said to him, smiling. "Long time no see."

She reached out and hugged him; he gripped her tightly, forcing back tears from his eyes. The terror of almost losing her had definitely caused him to lose his mind.

"Hope," he murmured, caressing her hair, "I love you."

Suddenly, she turned her head and kissed him fiercely, but not before he saw that spark of steel again in her eye.

"Remember," she breathed against his mouth, "natural ability and pure luck."

At the touch of her lips, he fell unconscious.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"The name's Hope." She grinned lazily, her brown eyes sparkling with light that made them glow with a tinge of red.

"I know that," he replied, sort of confused.

She shook her head, still grinning. "In a little bit you won't. But that's okay."

"What do you mean?" he asked. He reached out to grab her hand, but she shied away quickly.

Still grinning, she turned, and walked away, the dark mist around them swallowing her up.

"Wait - Hope!" he called after her. Where did she think she was going? He still had a lot of questions to ask, about her, about her family, her abilities, how she came to be -

He called her name again. The name and face jumped to mind - but something curious was happening. Somewhere inside him, he felt like he was trying to grab at something, something that was slipping away. What was it grabbing at? What was it that was slipping away? Whatever his subconscious was trying desperately to retrieve, it was fading away fast, to be replaced by what felt like a hole in his mind.

He felt a tap on his shoulder. Turning around, he saw her again and was about to breathe a sigh of relief - until he realized that this was not who he thought it was.

The figure was the same height as the one that had just left, but that was all he could discern from the dark mist surrounding them. Two red eyes stared right into his own green ones. The rest of the figure just seemed to be black. Just... black.

Suddenly, without warning, the figure reached back with his left hand and delivered a shocking blow right to his right shoulder.

"YOW!"

"Ah, Tennyson, you're finally awake," the teacher acknowledged calmly, only glancing up once from his book.

Snickering erupted from random areas of the classroom.

"Seeing as it's the first week of senior year, I'll let it go. In the future you'll be suffering more severe consequences."

Ben snapped fully awake at those words.

Senior year?

But Christmas dance in junior year had only been the other day - hadn't it? Come to think of it, the events at Christmas dance - in fact, right up until this moment - became a chaotic blur in his mind. A blur that threatened to suck up the rest of his mind, the longer he thought about.

He shivered a little, even though he was wearing his trademark green jacket. Maybe it was just the recent blow to his shoulder, but he felt a little colder on his right side than his left.

Glancing over to his right, he saw that the person sitting next to him wasn't the person he expected it to be. He'd been expecting - he'd been expecting -

The blur in his mind became more like a black hole, leeching off the remainder of his memories. He tried not to think about that.

"I - uh - hi," said Ben lamely. He didn't recognize the guy, which was unusual because he knew almost all of the guys in his year.

The new student straightened up and glanced over to return Ben's stare. With black jeans, topped with a white tee and a black jacket, and a messy black haircut, the newcomer was... hot?

Ben tried to take in all of the new guy's appearance discreetly, from his black converse to his evidently toned figure to the small skateboard keychain on which was an ornate R was emblazoned. The other student, on the other hand, wasn't so secretive about his actions. His brown eyes wandered all over Ben; a hint of contempt could be traced in them.

His eyes snapped back up to meet Ben's.

"The name's Kole," he replied lazily.