Chapter 3: Reunion

* Cover
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*"Even in my absence, you grow more like me each day."*
―Vlad Plasmius**[src]****Chapter 3: Reunion** is the third chapter of *5 Years Later*.

## Plot Summary

Ben Tennyson and Danny Fenton begin to face-off against Vlad. Vlad briefly destabilizes Danny, causing Ben to go in alone, but Ben quickly underestimates Vlad's strength. After recovering, Danny attempts to burn Vlad with his ocular ecto-beams, but that Vlad was just a clone.

Enraged, Danny introduces Vlad to his new ghost power, dubbed by Vlad as the Phantom Flame, as the battle transitions to Bellwood Park. Vlad reveals that he spent his five years in isolation mastering his ghost powers, and unlocked new abilities as well, notably the Ghost Wail, which was previously a power exclusive to Danny.

Ben catches up to the battle as the two attempt to take Vlad head-on. Vlad manages to stun Ben, transforming him back to human, but is quickly saved by Danny, who temporarily traps Vlad in a pillar of ice. Ben begins to analyze the type of energy Vlad used, as his transformation, Chromastone, has never encountered an energy he couldn’t absorb before. After coming up with a plan, Ben leaves Danny with a communicator and orders him to lead Vlad away from the city while Ben ensures there are no civilians in harm's way.

Vlad frees himself and chases Danny around the city. The destruction of their battle causes a Weather Tower to topple over, nearly crushing a few blocks of civilians. The Tower is stopped by Danny using his ice abilities yet again, but the over-use of his powers causes him to nearly pass-out. Danny is thanked by all the civilians he saved, but they confuse him to be another one of Ben’s aliens.

This catches Danny off-guard enough for Vlad to gain the upper hand, and phase Danny into the sewer, where he continues to attack him. Ben gives Danny the idea to attack more offensively, and lures Vlad out of the city to the Bellwood desert, where he uses his belt's Ecto-Sword to pierce through Vlad’s shields, as Vlad primarily uses defensive tactics.

Danny, nearly drained at this point, gets punched around a few times by Vlad before Ben is able to trap Vlad using his Gravattack transformation. Just before Danny can begin to question Vlad, Eon slows time to a halt and pulls Vlad out of Ben's Dimension. When time resumes, Ben and Danny had not seen how Vlad escaped, leaving them to speculate what Vlad’s true motivations were.

Back at the Plumber base, GIR is shown escaping into another dimension.

## Details

### Major Events

* Battle in Bellwood
	+ Danny and Vlad fight for the first time in five years.
	+ It is revealed that Vlad has mastered every ghost power available.
* Infiltration of the Orion-Cygnus Outpost
	+ Eon has successfully stolen information from the Plumber Archives via GIR during the Bellwood City Battle.

### Characters

* Danny Fenton
* Ben Tennyson
* Bellwood Civilians

### Villains

* Vlad Masters
* Eon
* GIR (5 Years Later Debut)
* Zim (5 Years Later Debut)

### Transformations

* Slingshot (Debut)
* Four Arms
* Slampeed (Debut)
* Chromastone (5 Years Later Debut)
* XLR8
* Gravattack (5 Years Later Debut)
* Itsy Glicky Spider (Debut, Cameo)

### Locations

* Ben's Dimension
	+ Bellwood
	+ Plumber Base (Orion-Cygnus District)

## Mythology

* The device Vlad uses to incapacitate Danny resembles Vladco technology.
* The park in Bellwood where part of the battle takes place is the same one Ben defeated Vilgax in during the Ben 10: Alien Force episode The Vengeance of Vilgax: Part 2.
	+ The blue crystal at the center of the statue is salvaged from Ben's Diamondhead transformation during that battle.
* Danny calls Vlad a “Fruit Loop”, one of his most common insults towards Vlad during their rivalry in *Danny Phantom*.
* A Highbreed Weather Tower is shown from the first two seasons of *Ben 10: Alien Force*.

## Trivia

* This is the first chapter to take place in only one dimension.
* This is the first chapter not to include an opening monologue.
* The *Ben 10 (2016 Reboot)* series exists in the 5YL continuity as a fictional cartoon, as shown through advertisements and merchandise around Bellwood.
* Full Stop's silhouette appears on the cover, this was released four years before his proper debut in Chapter 11: Shattered.
* On the roof where Ben places the civilians, four of them resemble Duncan Rouleau, Joe Kelly, Joe Casey, and Steven T. Seagle of Man of Action, the creators of *Ben 10*.
* Butch Hartman used to have a cameo in this chapter, but he was replaced with Phil Gacks in the final version of the chapter.
* When Vlad says "It would be a shame to leave your father's work… unfinished, wouldn't you say?” is a nod to how Danny ended up in the Null Void in Chapter 1 – by trying to complete Jack's cross-dimensional upgrade to the Ghost Portal.
* Astrodactyl, AmpFibian and Antigravitesla were almost used in place of Slingshot.
* In a cut scene from this chapter, Eon would have revealed himself to Danny and Ben while rescuing Vlad before they teleport away. In this cut scene, Ben would have transformed into Sucker Punch to try and stop Eon.
* A billboard advertising the Dunder Mifflin Paper Company makes an appearance during Danny and Vlad's fight.