Here are some pics. You can see the purple/whites cloves forming.

It is not a GMO thing. There are no GMO garlic varieties.

I have seen this on softnecks, more some years than others. It is related to growing conditions. So what encourages it? Not sure...stress? too hot? too cold? too dry? too whatever. I just know that some years there is a fair amount and other years there isn't any. That says environmental/cultural to me.

Why do you think yours is a hardneck variety? Much grocery store garlic is softneck.

You can leave it alone and the plant should be fine and grow to a good size. As you suggested, you could try removing it, and IF SUCCESSFUL you MIGHT get a larger bulb. I would not risk it myself.

Honestly I have no idea if it's a hard or soft neck (nor did I know garlic doesn't come in GMO varieties). I was watching some garlic videos on YouTube and thought maybe that's what I had. I have been gardening for years, but never garlic. I thought I had a worm or something when I first noticed this bulge. I'm just going to let it go like you suggested. Thank you for the info!

Since you have seen this before, what do you do with this second bulb? Just use it fresh?

What you have are stem cloves. I've often had them on artichoke (soft neck) garlic varieties, especially if the soil or climate put stress on the plants. I doubt that removing the cloves would improve the bulb size, and might damage the plant. The stem cloves themselves will likely be too small to be useful, but could be planted, and could produce a small bulb next year.