Tears rolled down Ben's red face as he witnessed Erza's body get sucked deeper into the azure blob. He felt like his heart and gut were simultaneously twisting into large, painful knots. He couldn't bear to see this.
Ben placed his forehead against the surface of the lacrima and sobbed madly. He had failed. Despite his best efforts, at the end of the day, Erza was still going to die. Suddenly, Ben's eyes shot open when a horrifying memory that he had been trying to suppress for the past two years came crashing back hard. His heart beat through his chest while his breathing hitched in his throat and his mouth dropped slightly.
Ben was stuck in this frozen state for a moment before his determination abruptly returned. His eyes narrowed in fury while he clenched his fists and gnashed his teeth together. What the hell was he doing?! He couldn't give up!
"No…" he said weakly. Ben then slammed his fists against the lacrima crystal. "NOOOOO! I WON'T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!"
Ben reared back his left fist and punched the lacrima with all his strength. He grimaced from the impact and the bleeding cuts on his knuckles. Nevertheless, he continued punching the crystal blob with all of his remaining strength.
"NO! DAMMIT!" Ben yelled, frustrated. "I won't let it end like this! ERZA!"
Suddenly, when Ben's left fist made contact with the blob again, a small, green bolt of energy sizzled out from his Omnitrix and into the crystal. As a result, the surface became liquid-like and promptly sucked in Ben's left arm.
The Omnitrix wearer cried out from the searing pain filling his body. Despite the stinging sensation filling his body, Ben continued pressing forward and stepped into the lacrima. He stretched out his arm and reached for Erza.
…
Erza's shot open. She had just had a dream of when she had gotten her right eye repaired by Porlyusica. She looked around to see she that she was seemingly sinking into the ocean. Bubbles floated past her and up to the surface, where a bright light was shining down.
'Where am I?' Erza thought. 'Is this the lacrima? No…it feels different…'
Without warning, a white flash consumed her vision. When she reopened her eyes, she realized that she was floating in the air. She noticed that she was also wearing a white dress. Erza glanced around and studied her surroundings.
She was back in Magnolia; more specifically, the town's graveyard. The sky was blanketed in grey, depressing clouds as rain poured down. Below her were all of her guildmates from Fairy Tail. They were all wearing black outfits and stood in front of a statue with sad, downcast expressions.
Erza looked at the statue and gasped in shock. It was a statue of her riding on top of a horse and holding a javelin-like weapon, and behind it was a giant carved ankh. There was a tombstone in front that read:
Erza Scarlet
X765-X784
Erza's eyes widened in realization: she was at her funeral.
'Is this me? It can't be…' Erza dreaded. 'I'm dead.'
"Erza Scarlet touched many lives in this world, with a heart as huge and boundless as the sky above." Makarov announced sadly, holding back his sobs. "Her noble sword shone vibrantly as she protected those she dearly loved. She moved with the grace of a fluttering fairy, and her exquisite beauty rivaled that of Mother Nature herself. It's a painful reminder that love can give you strength, but losing love can render you powerless."
Makarov sniffled as his body shivered. "We'll miss her."
Erza looked on at small, old man in melancholy. "Master…" she whispered.
"Our Fairy Tail family will never be the same." Makarov continued.
Suddenly, seven members of the Magic Council stepped into view, wearing black robes. In the lead was the head of the council, Org.
"In the wake of this tragedy, we have been left with two empty seats on the Magic Council." Org said. "We have unanimously voted to award one of those seats to her posthumously. I am proud to declare Miss Erza Scarlet an eternal member of the Ten Wizard Saints."
The members of Fairy Tail all glanced back at the seven councilmembers with desolate frowns, obviously apathetic over their announcement. Erza looked around and paused when she spotted Ben. He was off the side away from the group, sitting on a lone stone bench. He was hunched over and his face was buried in the palms of his hands. Like all of the present male guild members, he was wearing a black tux and dress shoes.
"I've had enough!" Everyone turned to see an angry Natsu stepping up the path that led to her grave. "I can't just sit back and watch you go through with this!"
Erza looked on in sympathy for her pyromaniac friend. "Natsu…"
Natsu came up and kicked off the roses that had been laid on her grave, startling the gathered mass of mourning people.
"Just what do you think you're doing, young man?!" Makarov shouted angrily.
"Please," Lucy pleaded tearfully, "calm down."
Gray rushed forward at Natsu. "How dare you!"
However, before the Ice-Make wizard could reach him, Natsu felt a fist connect with his face. He was sent sprawling onto the cold, wet ground. The group of gathered wizards gasped when they saw who had punched the Dragon Slayer, even Erza was taken aback.
Natsu sat up and rubbed his sore face, angered that someone had punched him. He looked and was surprised to see Ben standing over him, still in his post-punch stance. The upper half of the shape-shifter's face was shrouded in darkness.
The pink haired wizard growled and was prepared to yell at him until he noticed something. Ben was scowling down at him with tears streaming down his red face. Natsu gasped lightly, shocked to see Ben so livid.
"YOU THINK YOU'RE THE ONLY AFFECTED BY THIS!?" Ben roared. "We're all suffering here, you idiot! Not just you! Throwing a temper tantrum isn't going to bring her back!"
"B-but…" Natsu stuttered, choking on his sobs, "She has to be alive!"
"FACE IT! She's gone!" Ben then looked away, his rage turning into depression. "She's gone…I failed…" he whimpered.
Ben collapsed to his knees and hunched over, breaking down into anguished sobs. Lucy and Gray rushed over to Ben's side. The former kneeled down and wrapped Ben in a hug, and he buried her head into her right shoulder. The latter laid a comforting hand on his left shoulder, looking down in sympathy and despondency.
Erza closed her eyes and placed her hands over her mouth, which only muffled her sobs. She couldn't bear to see this heartbreaking scene.
'I sacrificed myself…because I thought it would make the future better for them.' Erza despaired. 'But that's not the case. I never thought things would turn out this way. I wanted to save them so they could go on living happily. I never meant to hurt them like this.'
All of a sudden, the scene faded into a gold and white space. Erza pulled her hands away from her face and looked around in shock and confusion.
'What's going on?' She wondered.
Suddenly, through the brightness, Erza spotted a large hand with a white and green watch attached to the wrist reaching out to her. Then, her vision went dark as she faded into unconsciousness.
…
Ben grunted painfully as he pulled Erza's limp form out of the blob-like lacrima, his arms wrapped around her back. He yelled out as he finally freed Erza from the blob and fell onto his back with Erza lying on top of him. The teen hero grimaced as he gently rolled the redhead off of him.
He gnashed his teeth from the painful sensations racing through his nerves. Despite the anguish, Ben gathered enough of his strength to shakily return to his feet. He turned his gaze to the azure, bubble-like crystal standing in front of him.
A moment passed as the tower resumed its quaking and torrents of cobalt energy fired from the structure. Judging by how unstable the tower was becoming, Ben predicted that there was less than a couple minutes left before it exploded. He needed to act fast.
He glanced back at Erza and Natsu, who were both lying on the floor unconscious.
'I won't let any of them die.' Ben thought determinedly.
He lifted up his left arm and looked at the Omnitrix, letting out a sigh of relief to see that the faceplate was now green. "It's Hero time." He said inaudibly, activating the watch and scrolling through the holo-wheel.
Meanwhile, Erza's eyes slowly fluttered open as a groggy moan left her lips. When her vision refocused, she noticed that she was staring up at the black, cloudy sky. She could also feel the ground beneath her shaking violently.
Erza steadily sat up on her knees and gasped when she realized that she was no longer in the lacrima. "What happened?" She asked out loud.
She then looked forward to see Ben standing in front of the lacrima she had stepped into earlier, currently messing with his Omnitrix. Erza's eyes then widened in recognition. The hand that had stretched out toward her…it was Ben's!
He had saved her again. He had found her through that sea of magic energy and rescued her. Erza felt her heart flutter, much to her confusion.
"Ben?" Erza said weakly. "What are you doing? Why did you pull me out?"
Ben ceased fiddling with his Omnitrix and froze; much to Erza's bewilderment. He was silent for a short moment before he finally spoke.
"You've lost friends… and suffered so much here." He said gravely, without looking her. His fists then clenched as his body began to lightly quake. "And I'll be damned before I let you die in this place…"
Erza flinched when Ben looked back at her with a livid expression; it was exactly identical to the look that the Ben in her vision had given Natsu after he punched him. "YOU HEAR ME?!"
Erza was rendered speechless. She stared at the emerald eyed teen with wide eyes and her mouth gaping open. The scarlet haired knight was bewildered when she felt a warm feeling begin to swell in her chest. What was this sensation?
"Ben…" She breathed heatedly.
"I'll handle this." Ben continued, turning back to the lacrima. "You, Natsu, and the others are going to live. I'll make damn sure of that."
He turned his attention back to the Omnitrix, selected an icon, and slapped down the dial. After the usual emerald flash, Ben had been replaced by…
"Chromastone!"
The Crystalsapien walked up to the water-like blob and smashed his balled fists into it. Chromastone's body began to shine luminously with the colors of the rainbow as he proceeded to absorb the magical energy within the Tower of Heaven. As a result, the energy geysers shooting from the tower and the constant shaking began to lessen slightly.
Erza was forced to shield her eyes as the light shining from Chromastone's body became brighter by the second. A moment later, Ben let out a groan of discomfort from the strain being inflicted on his body. As Chromastone, Ben could absorb a lot of energy; however, he did have a limit, and it appeared he was steadily approaching that limit. To make matters worse, he could still feel a lot of energy remaining in the tower.
Erza panicked when she noticed that Ben was beginning to struggle. "Are you crazy?!" She scolded. "You can't possibly absorb this much magical energy!"
Chromastone grimaced, knowing that Erza was right. If he continued to absorb so much energy, his body would shatter into pieces. What could he do? Suddenly, Ben's eye widened when an idea popped into his head. He wasn't sure if it would work, but it was worth a try.
"You're right." Chromastone admitted, making Erza breathe a sigh of relief; unfortunately, her relief was short-lived. "Which means it's time…to step it up a notch!"
He pulled out his right hand and slapped the Omnitrix on his chest, causing four spikes to extend from the disk. He was again consumed in emerald light as an evolutionary surge filled his body.
His height increased to twelve feet whilst his body became bulkier and robust; more so than Diamondhead's. His crystal skin turned into a reddish-black color. The six crystal spikes on his back became longer, octagonal-shaped, and bright ruby-colored. Three more octagonal-shaped crystals sprouted from his shoulders and resembled sapphires. Four smaller spikes extended from each forearm; the right was emerald and the left was amber. His right and left hand were emerald and amber respectively to match the spikes on each forearm. The two crystals on his chest were diamonds. The pink crystal on top of his head grew a couple inches larger whilst two more pink spikes sprouted out, one in the front and one in the back; it looked almost like a Mohawk. Though he still had one green eye, his face had turned ruby red.
"Ultimate Chromastone!" He shouted.
Erza stared at this new Ultimate form in awe and fascination, her jaw hanging open slightly. Ultimate Chromastone kept his left hand in the lacrima and continued to absorb the ethernano. He turned back to Erza and extended his right hand toward her.
Suddenly, two rainbow-colored energy tendrils manifested out from his hand and wrapped around a surprised Erza and an unconscious Natsu. The tendrils then came together and changed into a multi-colored energy sphere, trapping Erza and Natsu within.
"BEN!" Erza cried, banging her fists against the sphere. "What are you doing?"
"Getting you and Natsu out of here," he answered. "I'll teleport you two to a safe distance from the tower."
One of the new features of this Omnitrix was that whenever Ben transformed into a new form, the Omnitrix would send details of its abilities to Ben's mind. This was how he was able to quickly figure out how to use Beelzebash, Ultimate Articguana, and Atomix. However, Ben still needed to practice using their powers in order to master them, naturally.
One of Ultimate Chromastone's abilities that Ben had discovered instantaneously was that he could teleport himself with just a thought and others via an energy sphere.
"NO! Please…you can't…" Erza yelled frantically. "You could…you could…"
"I'm well aware of what might happen to me, Erza." The hyper-evolved Crystalsapien replied flatly. "But that doesn't matter. What matters is that I get you and Natsu to safety."
Erza stared at Ben, her bottom lip quivering as tears streamed from her left eye. "No…please…don't…"
A small smile graced Ultimate Chromastone's ruby face. "No stopping me now. Someone's got to keep this tower from blowing sky high." He paused. "Be safe, Erza, and…live."
"BEN!" Erza sobbed wildly. "DON'T!"
Ultimate Chromastone clenched his right fist, causing the energy sphere to shine brightly before it vanished into thin air…along with Erza and Natsu. The ultimate Crystalsapien sighed deeply, relieved that his friends were now safe. Now, he needed to prevent the tower from exploding and killing any innocent lives that might still be within the blast radius.
He turned back to the blob-like lacrima and stepped inside it. Once he was fully emerged in the liquid-like substance of the lacrima, Ben closed his eye, concentrating on his abilities.
All of a sudden, Ultimate Chromastone's body began to glow brilliantly with the colors of the rainbow as he absorbed the tremendous amounts of magical energy within the tower. As a result, the tower began to stabilize as the excess power was absorbed into Ultimate Chromastone. The shaking and the ethernano torrents shooting from the crystal gradually deceased.
Ultimate Chromastone groaned loudly as he was filled with more and more magic power. Though he could absorb an immense amount of energy in his upgraded form, he still had a limit.
The hyper-evolved Crystalsapien grunted and refocused on absorbing the ethernano. He didn't have time to worry about limits. He continued sucking in the massive amounts of energy still coursing through the giant lacrima. Ben groaned as he felt the strain on his crystal body.
The wizards in Juvia's Water Shell looked on in awe and confusion at the Tower of Heaven. Just a minute prior, it was shining a brilliant blue and looked ready to explode. Now, however, rainbow-colored shafts of light cast off of the crystal structure. It truly was a breathtaking sight to behold.
"Whoa," Sho gaped. "What's happening?"
"So pretty…" Millianna marveled.
"Why is the tower shining like a rainbow?" Lucy asked.
"No clue." Happy admitted. "This doesn't make sense. Why is the lacrima doing that?"
Gray looked at the radiant, colorful tower through narrowed eyes. He had seen that kind of energy before, but where? He wracked his brain to remember until it suddenly came back to him.
"I know. That has to be Ben." Gray answered.
The other wizards turned to the Ice-Make wizard, confused.
"On Galuna Island, I remembered Ben transforming into some kind of crystal-man that could shoot rainbow-colored energy blasts." Gray clarified. "That energy looks exactly like it."
Lucy's eyes went wide in recognition. "Oh yeah…that's right."
"Wait! What's happening now?" Wally shouted.
They turned back to see that the multi-colored light was flowing up the structure of the tower toward the very top. In its wake, the crystal began to crack and fall away.
"The tower…it's breaking apart…" Happy muttered, shocked.
Meanwhile, back in the lacrima, Ultimate Chromastone clamped his mouth shut to suppress his growing agony. The power building up inside him was becoming too much to contain. A few cracks had already formed across his torso and the gemstones on his arms and shoulders. Nonetheless, Ben wouldn't stop until he was certain that he had absorbed every last iota of energy within the tower.
'Gotta…keep…pushing…' Ben thought tensely.
A moment later, the Ultimate Alien let out a sharp cry of pain. A spider web of cracks spread across his body. He was on the verge of shattering into pieces. Confident that he had absorbed enough power, Ultimate Chromastone pointed his arms upward and discharged all the energy he had gathered.
Astonishingly, a colossal, multi-colored beam shot up into the sky and out into space. The wizards in Juvia's Water Shell and the members of Trinity Raven looked at the brilliant ray in pure awe. As the Etherion's magical energy was fired into space, the giant lacrima began to rapidly shatter into nothingness.
A minute passed before the beam disappeared. Suddenly, a thundering boom echoed across the ocean as a large tidal wave was produced from the destruction of the tower and the island it had once resided on.
The group of mages cried out as the ball of water they were standing in was quickly washed away with waves, far away from where the Tower of Heaven had once stood.
…
Ben's body slowly sank into the dark ocean depths. A trail of bubbles floated away from his open mouth. His black polo shirt and brown slacks had been left in tatters and his body was covered in bruises and scrapes. He remained unconscious as he plunged deeper into the ocean abyss.
Was this the end for Ben Tennyson?
Suddenly, the teen hero's eyes fluttered open as his consciousness returned. He was confused when he noticed that his vision was blurry and that he could only see blue. The last thing Ben remembered was changing into Ultimate Chromastone, teleporting Natsu and Erza out of the tower, and absorbing the Etherion's energy.
Ben's thoughts came to a screeching halt as an air bubble escaped his throat and water filled his lungs. He came to the easy conclusion that he was in the ocean and currently drowning.
The teen hero panicked and tried to swim; however, his body refused to cooperate. Every fiber of his being was numb and weak. He simply didn't have the strength to swim.
Ben felt his vison grow darker as he sank deeper into the dark abyss. It was then that a daunting realization set in for him: this was the end. He closed his eyes as he prepared to let go of the last bit of air left in his chest, accepting his fate.
All of a sudden, a golden light entered Ben's vision. He paused and stared at the light in curiosity. Ben gasped when an apparition of a certain blue haired man appeared before him.
'Jellal?'
He was surprised to see that instead of looking at him with scorn or malign intent, Jellal was smiling at him in a friendly, nonthreatening matter. It was like he was an entirely different person now.
"Ben," he spoke out, "you cannot die here."
'Huh…'
"Go…return to Erza…and stand by her side." Jellal paused as his smile grew brighter. "She needs you now more than ever."
'…Erza…' Ben thought.
"Thank you for freeing me, Ben Tennyson."
Jellal's form vanished along with the gold light clouding his vision. The harsh reality of Ben's situation swiftly returned. He couldn't hold his breath much longer. He needed to do something now.
A light-bulb shined in Ben's head. Digging deep into his remaining reserves, the brunette reached out to his left arm. He could see the blurry white image of the Omnitrix on his wrist. He tapped the faceplate, causing the holo-ring to pop out. Unfortunately, due to the water and Ben's already clouded eyesight, he couldn't make out the icons on the interface.
Taking a chance, Ben pressed a random icon and weakly slapped down the dial…just as he let loose his last gulp of air.
…
A few clouds were scattered across the night sky. The ocean glistened under the bluish-silver light of the full moon that shone vibrantly.
Sprawled out on a sandy beach was a redheaded woman and a pink haired man, both unconscious. The eyes of the former slowly opened as she began to awaken from her slumber. The first thing she saw was the partially cloudy night above, and she could hear the gentle crash of the ocean waves.
Erza steadily sat up and could see that she was on a beach somewhere. "Where am I?" She asked.
She glanced to her left and could see a passed out Natsu lying on his stomach. Erza reached out and gently shook his shoulder.
"Natsu…wake up…" She said.
The Dragon Slayer groggily groaned in response, which prompted Erza to increase her shaking; eventually, Natsu finally woke up.
Natsu moaned tiredly as he used his arms to pick himself off the sandy ground. He glanced around, bewildered. "Ugh…what happened? Where are we, Erza?"
Erza turned away and looked off toward the dark blue ocean. A short moment passed before Erza spoke up. "I don't…"
"ERZA! NATSU!"
The duo was startled by the sudden shouting of their names. They turned to see Lucy, Happy, Gray, Juvia, Sho, Wally, and Millianna all running across the shore towards them. Happiness and relief was etched into their features. The group of wizards gathered around them.
"Sister," Sho kneeled down and wrapped Erza in a hug, which she gently returned. "You're okay!"
"Geez, what happened to you, flame-brain?" Gray taunted, taking note of the numerous scrapes on Natsu's body and the tears in his outfit.
Natsu glared at the ice mage angrily. "I was kicking ass! That's what happened, perv!"
Lucy sweat dropped. "You two just met back up and you're already arguing."
"Aye," Happy chimed.
Erza separated from Sho and returned to her feet. She glanced around the group and tilted a brow when she noticed one person missing. "Where's Ben?"
Immediately, downcast and desolate expressions took hold on everyone's features. Erza could see tears forming in Lucy, Juvia, and Millianna's eyes as they lowered their heads. The guys, not counting Natsu, looked away in dismay.
Erza felt her chest clench in apprehension from those expressions. What had happened to Ben? Suddenly, Erza sharply gasped when it all came crashing back to her. She remembered Natsu and Ben's fight against Jellal, stepping into the lacrima to sacrifice herself, Ben pulling her out, and using a new Ultimate form to teleport her and Natsu away.
"What happened? Where is he?!" Erza demanded frantically.
"We saw a huge energy beam fire from the tower and into the sky. After that, the tower disappeared and a tsunami washed us away." Gray explained despondently.
Wally sniffled as he pulled off his hat and held it over his heart in reverence. "I'm sorry, doll, but…nothing could've survived that."
Erza's eyes widened and her bottom lip began to quiver. A moment that felt like eternity passed as the frightening realization set in. She fell to her hands and knees, staring off into space.
"No. No. NO. NO! It can't be!" Erza sobbed, smashing her right fist into the sand. Tears streamed from her left eye as she began to cry without abandon.
Lucy kneeled in front of her and wrapped Erza in a comforting hug, tears rolling down her cheeks as well.
Erza's mournful sobs echoed across the beach. The others hung their heads in despondency. A melancholic air hung over the group as they grieved at the loss of their friend.
Happy looked away toward the ocean with tearful eyes. He couldn't bear to watch Erza cry so much. As he lifted his head, he perked up when he spotted something. He narrowed his eyes toward the sea, studying the object more attentively.
The blue cat went wide-eyed and gasped when he saw what the object was. "LOOK!" Happy shouted as he jumped up and down.
The group, minus Erza, turned to Happy in confusion. When they looked to where he was frantically pointing, their jaws dropped in shock.
A black and greenish-white, fish-like humanoid was walking through the gentle rolling waves and up to the shore. The creature's mouth was hanging open as it panted heavily. It appeared to be completely exhausted.
They smiled brightly when they spotted the hourglass disk on the creature's belt and the Fairy Tail mark on its left shoulder.
Ripjaws shakily ambled to the shoreline before he collapsed to his knees. In a flash of emerald, he transformed back to Ben. He was breathing deeply while his heart was pounding through his ribcage. A mixture of ocean water and sweat raced down his face.
"BEN!" The group shouted simultaneously.
They all rushed to Ben in excitement and relief. Instantaneously, the depressing aura had been uplifted. Lucy and Juvia rushed over and gave him a quick hug, happy that he was alive while the guys simply grinned.
"You're alive!" Lucy squealed happily.
"Thank God..." Gray sighed. "We all thought you died in that explosion."
Ben lightly smirked. "It's gonna…take more than that…to take me down." He breathed in-between each pause.
The group chuckled at Ben's cocky response.
Erza, meanwhile, was still on her hands and knees in the sand, petrified. She stared at the green eyed teen with wide eyes and her mouth agape. A storm of emotions was raging through her mind. She didn't know what to feel at the moment.
Suddenly, Erza's fists clenched as her body stiffened. A dark expression crossed her features as she stood back up.
Lucy and Juvia helped Ben get back to his feet. He was a little wobbly in the knees for a moment before he regained his ability to stand. Ben was about to speak up until…
"BENJAMIN KIRBY TENNYSON!" Erza roared, causing everyone to shake in their shoes and look at her.
The redheaded warrior stomped past everyone and went straight toward Ben. The Omnitrix bearer gulped nervously as she approached him. "Uh…Erza…"
SMACK!
Ben fell back to the ground, holding his now bruised cheek. The others looked on in shock at Erza, who had lowered her right hand after slapping him. Ben then sat back up.
"You idiot!" She knelt down and punched Ben in the gut with minimum force, but enough to get her point across. The young man gritted his teeth in pain as she continued to lightly punch him in his abdomen. Normally, he would've tried to shield her blows; however, he was simply too exhausted.
"What the hell was going on inside your head?" Erza demanded angrily as she continued her onslaught. "You could have been sucked into that lacrima for good and be gone forever! Do you have any idea how worried we all were?! Lucy and Juvia were worried as hell about you!"
Lucy and Juvia both went bug-eyed. "Don't drag us into this!" The former shouted.
Natsu scratched his head, stumped. "But…you were crying more than any of us."
Erza ceased her punching and looked away with closed eyes.
Ben looked at Erza with half-opened eyes. "Erza...I..."
Erza turned back to Ben and, to his shock, she was crying. Not just from her left eye, but her right eye as well. Without warning, the Fairy Queen embraced the Omnitrix bearer in a tight hug, her face buried into his chest.
"You idiot!" She wept. "P-please…don't ever do anything like that again…" Her sobbing increased. "I…I can't…I can't lose…" She trailed off.
Ben blushed slightly from Erza's closeness and from how much she truly cared for his wellbeing. The teen hero felt another warm sensation stir in the pit of his stomach, much to his confusion. What was this feeling?
Ben ignored it as he wrapped his arms around the middle of Erza's back, hugging her gently. He rested his forehead on top of her head. "I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "I promise…I won't ever…do that again."
Erza sniffled. "If there's one thing this experience has taught me…you don't die for your friends…you live for them…because the future wouldn't be as bright without you."
Ben smiled. "I couldn't agree more."
Finally, exhaustion caught up with the wearer of the Omnitrix as he went limp in Erza's arms, drifting off into sleep. Just before he faded into slumber, Jellal's voice echoed through his mind.
"Go…return to Erza…and stand by her side. She needs you now more than ever."