Chapter 7: Fold

* Cover
* Archaic

*"You're only as good as the hero you think you are."*
―Max Tennyson**[src]****Chapter 7: Fold** is the seventh chapter of 5 Years Later.

## Plot Summary

Eon sits atop an artificially-grown tree, meditating. Vlad approaches him, questioning his involvement in The Alliance, stating that Eon is more than powerful enough to handle Ben on his own. Eon reassures Vlad that Ben is a significant threat, and reveals that Vlad was recruited to be the one to defeat Ben.

In a pocket dimension, Danny sorrowfully reflects on his friends and family, and how he might not be enough to stop what’s coming. Rook offers some emotional support to Danny, and the two gather in The Hatch to meet with the others, and interrogate Zim.

Ben uses Pesky Dust to read Zim’s memories. He is only able to decipher their current location, as Eon remained secretive about his motives even to his own allies. With Zim in a hypnotic trance, the team contemplate what their next move will be, as Ben refuses to solve the situation using his reality-altering transformation – Alien X.

Eon enlightens Vlad on the Trea Xugau Concept; the knowledge the Chronians possessed to harness their abilities to bend time and space. He explains that the only known compound that can transcend all rules of reality is ecto-energy, commonly found in the Ghost Zone, and its many inhabitants. This energy can aid the user’s abilities to nigh omnipotence, should the user utilize the energy efficiently and intellectually. This power that Vlad has is the key to killing Ben, even in his most powerful transformation. Vlad agrees to play Eon’s executioner, on an unknown condition.

Grandpa Max, currently light-years away fighting Limax, answers Ben’s call. Ben reveals his insecurities about handling the situation the right way to his grandfather, who responds that Ben shouldn’t worry about classifying his beliefs to his idea of being a hero.

Max advises Ben to find the balance, leading Ben to put Danny in the authoritative role in battle from here on out, after analyzing the pattern between his defeats, and Vlad’s ecto-energy. Danny is hesitant, but is soon swayed by Ben’s persistence when he inspires Danny to fight for those who believe in him – his own friends and family.

As The Heroes gear up to confront The Alliance, Ben activates the Uniform Mode on his Omnitrix, clothing him in more battle-friendly attire.

They arrive to find Eon and his accomplices fearlessly waiting for them, standing in front of a machine that has the Hands of Armageddon attached. Eon snaps five alternative Ben Tennyson slaves before them, under Technus’ control. Eon boasts about his oncoming victory as the alternative Bens transform into mutated fusions of Ben’s alien transformations.

## Details

### Major Events

* Eon reveals that Vlad’s role in his master plan is to kill Ben Tennyson.
* Vlad agrees to kill Ben under an unspecified condition.
* The Heroes find The Alliance’s location through Zim, and arrive ready for battle, only to find Technus controlling five alternative Bens via Nanites.
* Alien X, Ben’s most powerful transformation, is mentioned.

### Characters

#### Heroes

* Ben Tennyson
* Danny Fenton
* Gwendolyn Tennyson
* Kevin Levin
* Rook Blonko
* Max Tennyson

#### Villains

* Eon
* Vlad Masters
* Zim
* Dr. Animo
* GIR
* Technus
* Fallout Ben
* Jungle Ben
* Super Ben
* Ninja Ben
* Experiment 10

### Transformations

#### By 21-Year-Old Ben

* Pesky Dust (5YL Debut)
* Humungousaur (5YL Debut)

#### By Kevin

* Cannonbolt
* Koisen

### Locations

* Ben 10 Universe
	+ Plumber Base (Orion-Cygnus District)
* Zim's Dimension

## Mythology

* Eon calls Ben’s Timeline the “Prime Timeline”, first officially established in *Ben 10: Omniverse*.
* Danny is shown looking at the same photo of himself and Sam that he pulled from his wallet in Chapter 1. He is also shown with a few Mr. Smoothie’s cups from Chapter 2.
* Rook giving Danny a fist bump mirrors Ben doing the same in Chapter 3, showing how big of an impression Ben has had on Rook over the years.
* Zim talks about replacing The Heroes' organs, which he was first shown doing in the *Invader Zim* episode Dark Harvest.
* Eon indirectly references Wulf (“You could tear a hole in reality with a finger’s gesture”) and Clockwork (“You could transcend time”) from *Danny Phantom* when speaking to Vlad. He also alludes to Youngblood and the Box Ghost (“Your world is filled with gods who use their powers to dress up as pirates and levitate cardboard boxes.”)
* Max mentions the Limax, a reference to The Limax Wars of 2017, the supposed incident where he inevitably loses his right arm.
* The Uniform Mode's transformation scene is meant to resemble the original Omnitrix Recalibration scene from *Ben 10: Alien Force* episode Ben 10 Returns: Part 1.
* Two of the Alternative Bens (Fallout Ben and Experiment 10) were previously shown in Chapter 4.
* When Gwen describes Eon as “like Ben's evil future, but not”. Danny replies “Oh, one of *those* things”, referring to Dark Danny, a villain from an alternate future where Danny and Vlad's ghost halves merged together.

## Trivia

* Technus controls the Alternate Bens with Nanites, from the Generator Rex series.
* Two of Ben's alternative counterparts first introduced in this chapter are based on Superman and Sasuke, two other characters Ben's voice actor in his series is known for playing.
* A sneak peek was shown on the 7th of August 2018, when the Kuro's Discord server reached 3,500 members.
* The original working title for this chapter was “Pregame”.
* This chapter was released a day earlier than planned when a special challenge was completed on Kuro's Discord. This challenge was created due to scheduling conflicts on the original release date.
* It is revealed that Zim planned to betray Eon for the Almighty Tallests.
* This Chapter has many firsts:
	+ The first Chapter Ryan Asher worked on.
	+ The first chapter to feature artwork from another artist - Scorchle, although only in the Archaic version.
	+ The first chapter to have artwork drawn with a digital tablet.
	+ The first chapter to have Ben remove his hat.
* Between Chapter 6 and this one, Ben used Bloxx to create a new wing for the Plumber Ship, while Kevin used his abilities to seal it on, making the ship airborne, but still depleting on power.
* Trea Xugau is an anagram of Gautreaux, Alex's last name.
	+ Although, the official name of the Chronian philosophy, Trea Xugau was removed in the Recalibrated version to simplify Eons dialogue.
* The first half of the numeric code on screen when Ben calls Max is Paul Eiding's birthday, the original voice actor for the character.
* It is revealed that Ben's catchphrase “It's Hero Time” derives from advice Max had given to Ben as a child.
* According to the 2/4/2021 Drawing with Kuro stream, Ben obtaining Lank was originally planned to be shown in this issue of the comic, but he cut the scene to avoid constant questions about when Lank would show up.
* Ben and Eon's actions mirror each other throughout the Chapter:
	+ Ben enters Zim's mindspace as an alternative to torture, to show mercy. Eon enters Vlad's mindspace to show his power and intellectual superiority.
	+ Ben comes to the conclusion that no one deserves to be a god, while Eon believes that underutilized abilities are wasted potential.
	+ Ben puts his faith in Danny for the sake of the multiverse. Eon puts his faith in Vlad for the sake of himself.
* The Uniform Mode is meant to represent what a typical Omnitrix uniform would look like on a human – hence, no buttons on Ben's wrist. Ben will only transform into his aliens mentally from now on.
	+ The transformation graphics used for Ben have also evolved from a flash with green bubbles, to an Omnitrix icon with cybernetic branches behind Ben.