Chapter 4: Clothes, Heroes, Smoothies
Previously on My Ultimate Academia…
"My name is Ben. Ben Tennyson," Ben smiled at Midnight, who returned the smile.
"Perhaps you'd like to stay with me? At least for the moment?" suggested Midnight, causing Ben to widen his eyes in surprise at the offer.
Both Ben and Midnight arrived at the Pro Hero's home and Nemuri helped Ben get settled in and cleaned up. The teen then shows the mature woman his powers, changing into Swampfire then into Big Chill, causing Midnight's interest to rise.
"I really appreciate what you're doing for me, Nemuri," thanked Ben as he sat on the couch with the aforementioned woman.
"Think nothing of it, Ben," she replied while playfully ruffling his hair, "You helped me when I needed it, now I am simply returning the favor."
"See you in the morning," said the Alien Defender as he headed to the guest room to turn in for the night, Midnight watching him leave.
Nemuri then went into the kitchen and picked up the phone while dialing a specific number.
"Hello? Yes, this is Midnight," she said into the phone's microphone, "I was wondering if you search a name for me? Yes. The name is Ben Tennyson."
Ben grimaced as he felt sunlight shining down on his face. He let out a little groan as he rolled onto his side, wanting to catch a few extra Zs before waking up. The teen hero had had a difficult time getting to sleep last night but he eventually did get some rest. After a few more minutes, there was a knock on the door.
"Beeeen, it's time to wake uuuup~," said Nemuri through the door in a singsong voice. The teenager however just mumbled something in his sleep and rolled over onto his side. "Ben?"
Ben just pulled the sheets closer to his body, groaning something about chili fries. A few seconds passed before the door suddenly burst open.
"YOU'RE REALLY GONNA MAKE ME REPEAT MYSELF?!" shouted Midnight as she broke the door down, scaring the teen awake.
"JEEZ!" cried out Ben as he practically jumped from the bed and fell to the floor, "Seriously? What the heck, Nemuri?" He looked up and gave the woman, who was dressed in her outfit from yesterday, a glower to which she simply shrugged.
"Well you didn't answer me when I called you, Ben," chided the Pro Hero as the brunette sat up, rubbing his head.
"Sure, but did you really need to break the door down?" he complained while sitting up.
"Well, I wouldn't have needed to if you were awake, now would I?" stated Nemuri as she placed her hands on her hips, "I can fix it later anyway. Now get dressed. We're getting your jacket cleaned and then going shopping."
"Alright, alright," grumbled Ben as he started to get up, the sheets falling from his body. It was then he realized what was about to happen and, realizing he was only in his boxers, quickly grabbed the sheets, "A little privacy, please!?"
"Oh right. Of course, Ben," nodded Midnight, satisfied that he was getting dressed, but giggling a little at flustering him a bit. Turning to the open spot where the door used to be and stepping over said door, she headed out while Ben grabbed his clothes which he had folded last night to wear in the morning. As she was leaving, she happened to notice something on Ben's back out of the corner of her eye: a long, jagged, slash mark going down his back, starting from just below his right shoulder before moving diagonally down to the left side of his waist. She narrowed her eyes slightly, wondering what that was or what could have made it, but decided to address it later.
Once she left Ben let out a sigh as he got dressed, putting on his socks, jeans, and shirt. Once he was fully dressed, the teen hero gave the room he was in a little glance around as he recalled the events of last night. The guest room he was borrowing from Nemuri had a bed, a desk, a walk-in closet, a bedside table, and a wardrobe. All in all, it was actually very nice and comfortable; about the same as his room in Bellwood. Ben then frowned slightly as he glanced down.
'Home…,' he thought as numerous other thoughts flooded his mind. What were Gwen and Kevin doing right now? Were they worried? Were they trying to figure out what happened and where he went, if he was still alive? And what about Grandpa Max, he would be worried out of his mind since his grandson had simply vanished off the face of the planet.
Ben let out a sigh. As much as he wanted to, he couldn't think about that right now. He had other things to worry about, like his cover story. In his rush to create an excuse to explain why he was alone, Ben had accidentally let slip that villains had killed his parents and destroyed his home and he was on the run from them. Technically, this wasn't a lie; Vilgax, Malware and Albedo were going to show up and no doubt try to find him if they found him here, but he had no idea when or where or even who would show up first. Not to mention, he had planned to reveal his bad guys later, but it looked like he was going to have to tell Nemuri the truth about them.
He glanced at the Omnitrix for a second. While working as a Plumber, Ben had the Omnitrix linked with the criminal database that the Plumbers had and could access the files of any criminal, warlord, or psychopath in the galaxy. Ben had saved the files of Vilgax, Albedo, and Malware onto the Omnitrix to brush up on every once in a while. He figured this might make things a bit easier to explain when he revealed to Nemuri who he really was and how he truly got here.
For the moment, however, it seemed like Nemuri had bought his story, though he had a feeling she would put the pieces together eventually if she hadn't already started. Despite the way she acted sometimes, he could tell that the woman was very perceptive and would no doubt figure out that he wasn't quite who he said he was. He just hoped she wouldn't think he was bananas when he did make the big reveal. Then again, he wouldn't be surprised if she believed him outright, remembering Paradox said that pretty much everyone and their mother had superpowers in this universe, something that had no doubt been considered fantasy or sci-fic at one point. So something like aliens or alternate dimensions might not be so farfetched… right?
"Ben! Breakfast is ready!" shouted Nemuri from down the hall.
"Coming," he replied, after feeling his stomach growl lightly. Leaving the bedroom, he headed to the eating area to see some toast, eggs, and a pitcher of orange juice had been set out.
"Eggs and toast?" Inquired Ben as he sat down and grabbed the pitcher to pour himself a glass.
"Well, it's pretty clear to me that you're American, so I thought I'd make something from home," explained Nemuri with a smile as she held a cup of coffee in her hands, "Speaking of which, you never did tell me where you're from."
"I didn't?" asked Ben in a shocked tone as he looked up at Nemuri. Seeing the inquisitive look in her eyes and the knowing smile seemed to answer his question. "Right, I guess I didn't. Well, obviously I'm from the States, speaking English and whatever. As for specifics, I grew up in a small town in New York State called Bellwood."
"Interesting name. Sounds like a nice place to visit. Haven't been to the States before, but I've heard it can be pretty exciting," said the Pro Hero.
"It can be if you know where to look," chuckled Ben, recalling all the adventures he had when he was ten, running around the country with Gwen and Grandpa Max that fateful summer. Then, five years later, he would do it again with Kevin and Gwen. A few seconds of comfortable silence passed before Nemuri spoke up again.
"Ben... do you mind if I ask you about that photo I found in your jacket?"
"Oh... that." Ben's expression fell slightly as he glanced at his pocket.
"If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine, honest," reassured Midnight, seeing the downcast expression on the boy.
"No, no, it's alright," spoke up Ben as he reached into his pocket and took out the photo of his family and girlfriend and handed it to Nemuri. "The man and the woman behind me is my mom and dad, Sandra and Frank Tennyson."
Ben then pointed to his cousin, "That's my cousin Gwen and her boyfriend and my best friend, Kevin Levin. That's her parents Carl and Natalie Tennyson. Behind me is my Grandpa, Max Tennyson. He's my dad and Uncle Carl's dad."
"And the girl with you is, or was, your girlfriend?" Recalled Nemuri.
"Yeah, Julie Yamamoto."
"If you don't mind me asking, why aren't you staying with your cousin's parents or grandfather?" asked Nemuri, looking at Ben with a slight intrigued and concerned look. "If your parents are gone, wouldn't it be likely you would stay with either of them?"
"Remember how I said my Quirk is very uncommon and more than a few villains would want the ability I have?" reminded Ben, earning a nod from the mature woman. "Well, I didn't want to drag them into a life and death situation, constantly worrying about who might attack. What happened to my parents was proof enough of what could happen. So I decided I wouldn't put them through that and went out on my own."
Nemuri's eyes widened slightly at the revelation. Hearing that Ben basically cut himself off from his family to keep them safe was very noble but also very sad to hear. Though she suspected that there was more to this than Ben was revealing to her.
"That must not have been an easy decision," said Nemuri after a moment, handing Ben the photo back.
"Trust me, it wasn't," replied Ben with a sigh as he looked at the photo one more time. "But it's better if I get hurt then all of them getting caught in the crossfire."
"Well, that's very brave of you, Ben," praised Nemuri, though she did give a small frown. "However, might I recommend sending messages to them and perhaps letting them know you're doing okay? I'm sure we could find a safe way of delivery and I'm also sure they'd very much appreciate it."
Ben's smile faded a bit when asked that, knowing doing so would be impossible right now, but deciding to humor her for now. "I'll think about it," Ben said.
That seemed to please Midnight thankfully. "Good. Now finish your breakfast and we can get going."
Ben nodded as he started eating his meal. As they ate, a specific memory surfaced in the Pro Hero's mind as she subtly glanced at Ben from time to time. A memory of a very shocking discovery concerning Ben and his history… or rather, lack thereof.
Flashback: The night before…
Nemuri put in a phone number and waited a few moments before her call was answered.
"Hello, this is the US Department of State. Amanda Locke speaking," a woman on the other end of the call spoke in fluent Japanese, leading the Pro Hero to assume she had been transferred to someone who spoke Japanese.
"Hello, this is Midnight," introduced the R-Rated Hero.
"Ah, yes, Ms. Midnight," replied Locke, "What might I do for you?"
"I was wondering if you could search a name for me," requested Nemuri.
"An odd request, but I'm sure you have your reasons," stated the woman, "I assume this is for Pro Hero business?"
"Yes," confirmed Midnight.
"Alright. Now, what is the name?"
"The name is Ben Tennyson."
"Alright…" Nemuri could just hear the patter of keys of a keyboard as the agent was likely searching the name, "Okay, I've found multiple people with that name. Could you possibly provide a few more details regarding who it is you are searching?"
"Very well. Who I am searching for is a male caucasian teenager, with brown hair, green eyes, slim body with some muscle, and appears to be about sixteen to seventeen years old," listed Nemuri based on what she knew of Ben. The Pro Hero waited a few minutes before the woman on the other end of the call spoke up.
"Hmm, strange," noted Locke after several moments.
"What is strange?" inquired Nemuri.
"I'm not getting any matches based on the description," explained the agent, "At least none that include all the details you gave me."
"What does that mean?" asked the Pro Hero with greater curiosity.
"I'm saying that the Department of State has no files of the person you are looking for," elaborated Locke. Now that got Nemuri's attention. What did she mean there weren't any files about Ben?
"The files have been erased from the system?" supplied the mature woman.
"More like the files for this 'Ben Tennyson' never existed," corrected the agent on the other end. Nemuri's eyes widened slightly when she heard this. How was it possible that no files existed about Ben? Surely there had to be hospital records, birth certificates, social security information, anything.
"How is that possible?" asked Nemuri.
"The information you gave me is still very limited so it could just be the system is unable to further narrow down the correct person you're investigating," explained the woman, "Do you have any other pieces of information I could use to identify who it is you're searching?"
Nemuri was silent for a few seconds before she answered, "Not at the moment, but I will call you back when I find out more."
"Very well then. Thank you, Ms. Midnight, have a good evening," replied the woman before the Pro Hero hung up. She left her hand on the phone for a few moments, tapping her index finger on the plastic as she thought about what she learned. There were no files of Ben Tennyson.
'No information at all? How is that possible?' thought Nemuri as she glanced toward the hallway that led to her bedroom and the guest room she was currently letting her 'guest' sleep in. Dozens of thoughts went through her mind, all of them relating to Ben Tennyson and the most prominent one of all was very simple.
"Who are you, Ben Tennyson?" she said aloud to herself as she folded her arms.
End Flashback...
"Hey, Nemuri? You alright?" asked Ben suddenly, getting Nemuri's attention. She blinked a few times to see a confused expression on the boy's face.
"I'm sorry?" apologized to the Pro Hero.
"You were just kinda staring at me for a while," explained the teenager. "It was a little strange to be honest."
"Oh, I was just thinking," she explained, earning a nod from Ben as he finished the rest of his breakfast. Once they had their meals, the Pro Hero and Wearer of the Omnitrix got ready to go shopping, one decidedly more eager than the other for a plethora of reasons.
"Got your jacket, Ben?" asked Nemuri as she waited by the door, putting on her shoes as Ben carried his signature green leather jacket.
"Got it right here," confirmed Ben as he held up his jacket, "Though you sure it's a good idea to get it cleaned? I've heard that dry cleaning leather jackets can damage and even mess up the way the jacket feels when wearing them."
"Don't worry, Ben," assured the Pro Hero, "This is an old friend of mine we're going to. He has cleaned all kinds of clothes before, leather jackets included, and knows just how to avoid damaging them in any shape, way, or form."
"That's good to know, I really like this jacket," joked Ben, earning a chuckle from the mature woman before the two set out to get Ben some new clothes. Getting into Nemuri's car, the Pro Hero pulled out of her driveway and headed towards the more urban part of Musutafu, specifically the shopping district where Ben got a first taste of what this world was like.
Upon arriving, the Teen Hero could easily tell this was notthe same Earth as his own at all, mainly because some of the people didn't really look like people at all. Some citizens appeared to be a cross between animals and humans. Others had extra appendages or even different bodies, while some looked like regular humans, but Ben had learned not to judge a book by the cover. After all, he was a great example of that. All in all, this wasn't the strangest sight to Ben, having experienced far stranger and weirder things in his years as a hero.
"Come on, Ben," called Nemuri, getting the teen's attention. "We've got work to do!"
"Right behind you," replied Ben as he quickly followed the Pro Hero into the shopping district. The commercial district of the city was as Ben kinda expected: extremely popular, dozens of citizens milling about, and stores of all kinds on every corner. If it wasn't for the Omnitrix's ability to translate everything Ben saw into English as well as words, he would have had no idea what anything said.
The first thing Ben and Nemuri did was drop off his signature green jacket at the Pro Hero's friend's dry cleaning shop. The owner assured the teen that his jacket would be perfectly fine and that if it was damaged in any shape, way, or form, he would compensate Ben for the damages, despite the wearer of the Omnitrix saying that it was alright and he didn't need to do that. It seemed like the guy wasn't going to accept 'no' for an answer so Ben relented after a minute of objecting. With the jacket at the dry cleaners, the Pro Hero and Wearer of the Omnitrix started shopping.
And immediately, Ben wished they hadn't.
From the get-go, Nemuri had Ben try on loads of different combinations and styles of clothing. Basically, whatever the Pro Hero thought would look good on the teen, she had him try on. So for as long as the two were shopping, Ben was Nemuri's doll that she was playing dress-up with. Basically, most men's worst nightmare: clothes shopping and being forced to change their style of attire.
Initially, Ben had tried to pick out his clothing, which mainly consisted of black t-shirts and jeans. His argument when Nemuri gave him an odd look was that "It's my style," he'd stated to her quirked eyebrow look. This of course wasn't accepted by the Pro Hero which led to where they were currently with the teen hero at the mercy of this woman's sense of fashion. Thankfully, Nemuri allowed Ben to keep a few of the clothing he had picked out, provided he let her choose some more stylish clothing.
"You never know when you might need it," she stated, to which Ben didn't say anything but give an eye roll.
After some time getting new clothes for the bearer of the Omnitrix, the two decided to take a short break at a cafe, taking a table outside to enjoy the warm sun.
"I still think you enjoyed yourself a little more than you should have," commented Ben somewhat indignantly, not particularly enjoying being basically forced to play dress up for Nemuri.
"Maybe, but I wasn't gonna let you pick out something so boring, for your clothing," countered the Pro Hero as the waitress brought out two beverages. The raven-haired woman had ordered an ice-tea while Ben had chosen a fruity beverage.
The Omnitrix hero took a few sips from his fruity beverage before glancing down at it. As the taste set in, he shrugged nonchalantly.
'Eh, I'm not really feeling this drink,' he thought to himself, 'Pretty sure there's a smoothie place around here, at least I hope there is.'
"Either way," picked up Ben, returning to their conversation, "I still want to say thanks for doing this for me."
"It's no worry at all, Ben," assured the Pro Hero with a smile. "If you want, just think of it as me repaying you for your help during the arms deal."
"Still, I feel like I'm freeloading off you," responded the wearer of the Omnitrix.
"I promise you, Ben, you aren't," Nemuri encouraged the teen. "If anything, it would be nice to have someone else around the house."
"What, no boyfriend at all? Or should I say, boyfriends?" Ben asked with a smirk. "Considering the way you dress, act, and look, I find that very hard to believe, Nemuri."
"Oh shut up," Midnight said, though it was with a chuckle. "I've had a few for your information. Just never really got anywhere with them is all. Truth be told, they were all sorta boring anyway. I did know this one guy I sort of really liked back when I was younger, but..." She paused for a minute as her eyes seemed to be far away again.
"Midnight, you're doing it again," Ben piped up.
"O-Oh! S-sorry. Well, things just… happened. Never got the chance to tell him and eventually, my Pro Hero career took off and we just... drifted apart."
"I see," Ben nodded. He was sure there was a bit more but didn't want to pry.
"Oh, but listen to us sounding like gloomy Guses," Nemuri exclaimed with what looked like a hastily pasted smile. "Let's talk about some more fun stuff, yeah? Wanna hear about the time some friends of mine and I broke up a Quirk-enhancing drug ring?"
"Would I!?" Ben said excitedly as he sat forward a bit
So Nemuri told Ben about how they fought some villains that had used a drug that was supposed to boost the power of one's Quirk, but also turned them into monsters. After that for the next few minutes, the two continued chatting with each other. Not really about anything specific; just shooting the breeze so to speak. It wasn't long though before the Pro Hero and teenager were suddenly interrupted when they heard about three sets of footsteps approaching them.
"Well isn't this a surprise!" said a feminine voice from behind Ben. Upon that, Nemuri looked behind him and her face fell as she muttered,
"Oh great." This caused the Bearer of the Omnitrix to turn around to view the source of the voice and Midnight's displeasure.
The first thing that entered his field of vision was a verylarge rack that was held within what looked like a purple bodysuit. A voluminous blush swept across the young hero's face as he leaned back to see who it was that owned this… rather impressive pair of assets. The person was a voluptuous young woman with purple eyes with white pupils and elegantly long eyelashes. She also had long, voluminous, creamy blonde hair that reached her waist, with two shorter strands curled to frame her face which were parted slightly to her left. Her clothing looked like a costume a hero would wear, composed of a purple and tan-colored skin-tight bodysuit, which was accented with orange stripes.
The suit appeared to have a pair of purple gloves with orange accents on the edge of the cuff. The design was similar for her "boots" which were cut off at the thigh in a deep v-shape. The suit also had three peculiar orange diamond-shaped dots on the purple top that were located under her chest. On her face, she wore a purple domino mask with horn-like protrusions on the sides.
With the woman were two others, both of whom looked to be men based on their physique. One was a little short, wearing a dark blue bodysuit that included a wooden belt, knee pads and shoes. A small bundle of roses hung from the left side of his belt. The other was a slim, muscular male who stood a bit shorter than the woman, but taller than the other man. He had gray hair shaped into three sharp points that covered the right side of his face, dark gray eyes and a mask that covered his mouth.
This man's costume was also much more detailed than the other man's. He wore a blue mask that covered his mouth, tied with red yarn. He sported a red shinobi shozoku underneath a blue robe. His arms are covered in a thin dark cloth that tucks into his white forearm sleeves. There were red straps attached to his belt and his robe that extended outward. Not only that, but he had a gold mask attached to his shoulder and sported a red scarf that featured a white patch attached to the front of it. Finishing his costume was a pair of blue socks and yellow geta sandals. All in all, Ben figured the man was looking to adapt the appearance of a traditional ninja.
"Now who is this handsome little devil?" asked the woman leaning down closer to Ben with a somewhat impish grin.
"Uh... hi," greeted Ben awkwardly.
"I have to say, I did not expect that we would run into any of you today," greeted Nemuri, coming to Ben's rescue, drawing the attention of the woman, "How are all of you?" Ben noticed that she actually seemed to be addressing the men more than the woman, as if she was trying to ignore that she was there at all.
"We're doing just fine, thanks, Midnight-Sama, thank you for asking," replied the ninja-like hero, addressing the Pro Hero with a slight bow, "Mt. Lady saw you at this cafe and wished to say hello to your friend here."
"I figured," Nemuri sighed." She then turned to Ben. "Ben, this is Shinya Kamihara, the Pro Hero Edgeshot," she gestured to the ninja before pointing to the wood man, "and Shinji Nishiya, who goes by Kamui Woods."
"Hey! What about me?" the blonde, apparently "Mt. Lady", protested, pouting and crossing her arms under her breasts, lifting them up and causing Ben's cheeks to redden more.
Midnight sighed and rolled her eyes before pointing half-heartedly at the other woman, "Right, right. This is Yu Takeyama, better known as Mt. Lady. The three of them form the Pro Hero team known as The Lurkers."
"Really?" replied Ben as he turned to each other the heroes, "Well, it's nice to meet you three."
"Well, now that you've introduced us, Midnight, why don't you introduce us to your handsome little friend here, hmmm?" suggested Mt. Lady as she smiled at Ben, who blushed a bit more and leaned a little further back.
"I was getting to that, thank you," replied the Pro Hero in a slight testy sounding voice before she took a deep breath and pointed to Ben. "This is Ben Tennyson. He's staying with me at my home at the moment."
"Well, it's nice to meet you, Benji. Very nice," greeted Yu as she went around Ben and quickly pulled a chair over to sit down next to the teen, which didn't seem to please Nemuri much. Her friends then took seats between her and Midnight. "I take it you're not from around here, right?" Yu asked Ben with a slight flutter of her eyelashes.
"No actually," replied Ben. "I'm actually from the United States."
"Oh?" said Yu in interest. "Where from?"
"A small town in New York by the name of Bellwood," he answered. "How'd you know I wasn't from around here?"
"Oh, a woman can tell," replied the blonde Pro Heroine. "Plus, I know Americans. I've been Stateside before. The folks there are pretty friendly, lemme tell ya." She then gave him a saucy smirk. "Especially the guys."
"Uh, you… you don't say," Ben said nervously, tugging his collar a tad. Suddenly it had just gotten a lot hotter outside. Thankfully, Shinji provided a distraction for Ben from his… rather mature thoughts.
"Why are you staying with Midnight? I know she's not the type to simply invite a stranger into her home," he asked, tilting his head to the side slightly curiously. Ben was about to answer before Midnight beat him to it.
"Ben's parents are old friends of mine," she explained. "You see, not too long ago, Ben's parents were killed in an attack from Villains. They asked me if anything happened to them, that I would look after Ben."
"I see," responded the Pro Hero before he turned towards Ben. "I am sorry for your loss."
"It's alright," said Ben. "You didn't know and I've gotten over it. Doesn't mean I won't forget what happened though."
Shinji nodded as he accepted the young hero's answer. Ben and Nemuri then shared a private look with their eyes, thankful they'd boughten the story. While the two had been on their way to the shopping district, they'd come up with the little cover story that Ben's parents were old friends of Nemuri's. That way if anyone asked why he was living with her, Ben or Nemuri would simply say that she had been made his guardian if anything happened to them and, with their death's, he was now staying with her.
"Well it looks like you're fitting right in already," chirped Yu. "Your Japanese is very good."
"Indeed," Shinji agreed. "I can't even hear an accent."
"That's because he isn't really speaking Japanese," spoke up Midnight with an amused smirk.
"What do you mean?" asked Shinya.
"I think I can answer that," spoke up Ben, getting the Pro Heroes attention. He then held up the Omnitrix. "You see, my watch isn't really a watch. It's actually a genetic stabilizer that also has a universal translator built-in. Basically, the translator lets me speak or read any language in the world while making it seem, at least to me, that everyone is speaking English or that stuff is written in the same language. It also lets me speak any other language that is selected while making it seem to me that I am still speaking English, whereas to everyone else I am speaking the selected language. Does that make sense?"
"I believe so. You're saying that it is a translator that can help you understand any language in any other in real-time," surmised Shinya. "A very useful tool indeed, Ben-San."
"Saves a ton on lessons at least," added Ben humorously, earning a chuckle from both Midnight and Yu. However, Shinji picked up on one thing Ben had said.
"So this allows you to speak, read and understand any other language. Might I ask what you need a genetic stabilizer for, though?" asked the Pro Hero.
"That? Oh, well, that has to do with my Quirk," answered Ben.
"Really?" asked Yu, raising an eyebrow, "What sort of Quirk do you have that you'd need something like that?"
"Well, I guess you could say my Quirk is extremely rare, like one of a kind," began Ben, going over the cover story he made in his head once more. "My Quirk, Omni-Forma, makes my genetic code extremely unstable, and makes it easy to mutate or transform. Essentially, I can rewrite my own DNA to allow me to take on numerous new forms with different abilities depending on how my genetic code is arranged. But because my code is so unstable, I can't maintain those forms for very long, which is where this little gadget comes in."
He held up the Omnitrix for the Pro Heroes to see. "The watch acts as a genetic stabilizer, allowing me to maintain my transformations for longer periods of time."
"I don't think I've heard of a Quirk like this before," said Yu, her coy smile returning as she leaned over to Ben. "Guess that makes you a one of a kind sorta guy, huh?"
"I-I guess it kinda does," he chuckled awkwardly, his blush returning as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Very interesting. But I'm curious; what would happen if that device was ever removed from your wrist?" asked Shinji.
At that question, Ben made a grimace. "Well, see, it's a little difficult to explain, so I'll try to give a hypothetical example. Have any of you ever seen the movie Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark?" replied Ben.
"Yes/No." While Yu had said 'no', the other Pro Heroes had answered 'yes.'
Shinji then chuckled at that. "I have to say, you chose quitethe old film to make a comparison to. A Pre-Quirk one at that."
Ben let out a nervous chuckle of his own. "Well, what can I say? I'm kind of a real classic movie buff thanks to my Grandpa. So anyway, do you remember that scene when the Nazis opened the Ark of the Covenant and they started melting?"
"Yuck! There's people melting!?" Yu cried with a gag, "Remind me never to watch that film!"
Midnight gave her a glare before turning back to Ben, "Yes, I remember that scene. Gave me nightmares for a few weeks to be sure. But what does that have to do with..." Nemuri then trailed off as she realized what Ben was saying. "Oh…" she said with a grimace of her own.
"Yeah, it wouldn't be pretty. Either that, or I'd end up a huge, rapidly changing, jumbled mass of different forms, not being able to move or talk or even breathe!" finished Ben, causing the others to stare with wide and slightly horrified eyes.
Internally, Ben was mentally thanking that despite how different this world is compared to his own, there were still some things that are consistent between them. He had to be more careful, though. There was still a lot about this world he didn't know and he couldn't make comparisons like that anymore. At least not until he did more research into the timeline and pop culture. He was a bit curious anyway about what sort of time he was now in if movies like The Last Crusade (which was only a couple decades old back in his world) apparently seemed to be on par timewise with movies like Casablanca from the way Shinji spoke of it.
"So if that device was ever removed... you could die as a result," finalized Shinya, his tone a bit more grave.
"I really hope I never have to find out, but yeah, I could very well end up biting it," stated the Teen Hero. A bit of an uncomfortable silence followed for a few seconds before Yu spoke up.
"Well, on a more positive note, do you think you can show us one of these forms of yours?" she asked, "I'd love to see what you can turn into!"
"I don't see a problem," shrugged Ben as he tapped the faceplate of the Omnitrix, the device beeping as the holographic wheel appeared and he began swiping through his transformations.
"I wouldn't if I were you," said Shinji seriously. "After all, the use of one's Quirk in public without authorization isprohibited by law."
"Oh," replied the Wielder of the Omnitrix as he deactivated the watch and put his arm down. "Well then, I guess I'll have to show you some other time."
"You just might have to," agreed Yu as she unexpectedly reached to wrap her arms around Ben's right arm and pulled it into a hug, the limb being tucked in her generous cleavage. "Personally, I'd love to learn more about someone as handsome as you, Benji."
"O-okay," stuttered Ben as his face started turning bright red and was very relieved when Nemuri stepped in.
"Why does it feel like that isn't the only thing you want to do with him?" inquired the Pro Hero, her brow twitching as a dangerous grin spread across her face, "Do I have to mention that Ben here is a little young for your tastes?"
"Maybe for you," Yu shot back with a challenging look, "I'd say I have more of a chance. Not to mention that I happen to like my men young and virile."
She then stuck her tongue out at her. At that, a vein appeared on Midnight's head as her smile turned into a murderous glower and her long red nails began clawing the table, leaving small scratch marks.
Ben could now easily discern three things from this conversation: Firstly, Yu was an incorrigible flirt and loved to use her bombshell looks to get any guys she thought were cute to like her, even if (like Midnight mentioned) they were younger than her. Second, just because Nemuri and Yu knew each other didn't mean they were friends. If anything, Midnight and Mt. Lady seemed to be "barely-tolerable acquaintances" at best. And third, there was no doubt going to be a catfight with him right in the middle of it!
"I-I think we're getting a little off-topic here, don't you?!" Ben quickly spoke up, desperately trying to get the conversation back on track before the inevitable female battle royale broke out. The two women continued glaring at each other for a few more seconds before they sighed and he felt Yu loosen her grip on his arm, though his face remained pretty red.
"I agree with Ben. If you don't mind me asking, what are you three doing here? I don't think it's just to say hello, right?" asked Midnight. She suspected that the two male heroes weren't here just because. Yu, however, could very well be. After all, given her reputation among Pro Heroes for being extremely vain and adoring the attention she got from the civilian population (the male civilian population in particular), it wouldn't surprise Nemuri in the slightest.
"You'd be correct, Midnight-Sama," replied Shinya, "We were actually on patrol. There's been suspicion that a Villain may attack this area."
"How precise is this suspicion?" asked Nemuri, her eyes narrowing slightly. Before the Pro Hero could answer, a huge explosion erupted not far from where the heroes were present. All the Pro Heroes and Ben shot to their feet as the screams of civilians fleeing the area followed the echo of the explosion. From the smoke and fire emerged a single figure, a woman who appeared to be wearing a dark blue leotard with long sleeves, black gloves, and thigh-high high-heeled boots. A lightning bolt cut out went down her chest, exposing her cleavage. Her skin was a pale blue, much like her hair and eyes. Other than her appearance, the most notable thing about this woman was the lightning that was arcing from her hands!
She currently was facing what looked to be a bank with a line of ATMs lining the outside of the building. A wide grin formed on her face as she sent out arcs of electricity towards the machines. The bolts of energy latched onto the ATMs, causing them to begin sputtering wildly before spewing out hundreds of thousands of Yen bills onto the ground.
"Jackpot! We have a winnah here!" cackled the woman.
"Guess that answers that question," commented Ben dryly.
"Go, get to safety," ordered Kamui Woods as he, Edgeshot, and Mt. Lady charged right towards the villain. The wearer of the Omnitrix watched in surprise as Yu suddenly started growing in size until she was a towering 67 feet in height. Seeing the charging Pro Heroes, the Villainess turned her attention to the trio and gave a sadistic smirk. She then fired a large bolt of lightning at them, scattering the three, but hardly stopping them.
Ben's hand instinctively went to activate the Omnitrix, however, Nemuri stopped him by placing her hand on his shoulder. Looking back, he saw the expression on the Pro Hero's face.
"Ben, I know you want to help, but you heard Shinji; using your Quirk without a license is a very serious offense," warned Midnight.
Ben thought about it for a moment, debating if he should listen to her or not and it wouldn't be the first time he ignored someone's orders, a good example being when he would use the Omnitrix during basic Plumber training when he, Gwen, and Kevin were being trained by Magister Hulka.
'Besides.' Ben thought to himself, 'I don't think getting arrested would help me that much in this world.'
On the other hand, Ben had "hero" ingrained in his system and that didn't mean he couldn't do anything. So in the end, Ben decided on a compromise he hoped Midnight would accept.
"Alright, I'll leave it to them. Still though, let's at least help get the civilians to safety. Don't always need powers to do that."
"Fair enough," answered Midnight with a nod.
So while the three on-duty Pro Heroes attempted to subdue the electric-based Villainess, Ben and Nemuri helped anyone and everyone they could get to safety and out of the immediate area to allow the Heroes to do their work. Of course, they also had to be careful due to the random bolts of electricity that would arc randomly outward and strike whatever was unfortunate enough to be hit with what could only be 300 million volts at least. Basically, you would be struck by lightning if you were unfortunate enough, so caution was a big must.
Meanwhile, with the battle, the Villainess seemed to be getting a kick out of the fight with the three Pro Heros. "Aw, what's wrong heroes?" taunted the villainess as she kept them at bay, blasting bolts of lightning out at The Lurkers as they tried to attack her. "Afraid of a little lightning?"
The electricity-based foe spun around and blasted out a bolt at Kamui Woods, forcing the wooden hero to extend a long tree branch and hoist himself out of danger as the bolt struck the ground where he once was. The Villain's body crackled with electricity for a moment before she transformed into a bolt of lightning herself and shot across the four-way intersection. Edgeshot had tried to attack her from behind, having flattened his body into an extremely sharp blade. The blade however only pierced the road where she had been previously standing. Edgeshot then morphed his head back to normal as he attempted to chase after her.
The villainess zapped around the area before reforming in the center of the intersection. She thrust her hands forward, blasting another bolt of lightning at the ninja-like hero that actually hit him and caused Edgeshot to cry out in pain as he was slammed into a wall behind him, returning to his normal form. Glancing behind her, the electric Villain saw Mt. Lady charging towards her. With a dark grin, she raised her hands into the air as all around her- the traffic lights, light poles, anything that had electricity flowing through it, suddenly seemed to have its charge sucked right toward the Villainess. She brought all the electricity to her hands and created a large orb of lightning before hurling it at the heroine.
Yu's eyes widened in surprise before she just barely avoided the deadly projectile by darting to the right and let the ball strike the building behind. The orb electrocuted the entire building, shattering all the lights within, and a few of the windows as a loud buzzing echoed through the air.
"I have to say, Mt. Lady," commented the electric Villainess as she charged up another bolt of electricity, a taunting grin on her face, "I didn't know you could move like that, but I think I shouldn't be so surprised, given how much you like guys attention."
"That supposed to mean something, Sparky!?" demanded the heroine as she was back on her feet, a furious snarl on her face at the obvious insult and innuendo.
"Hey, you're smart, Blondie," the villainess replied, as she fired another ball of electricity, "YOU FIGURE IT OUT!"
Back with Ben, he was just helping a few people get to safety, ushering the shoppers to a good distance, and helping whoever needed it the most. He had just finished getting a few more people out of potential danger when Nemuri jogged over to join him.
"I got all the civilians to a safe distance and the police are on their way," informed the Pro Hero.
"Good to hear," replied Ben as he turned to face her. "Just got the people on my side to safety, so I think that's everyone."
"That just leaves the Villain," stated Midnight as she turned to watch the situation, the Wielder of the Omnitrix doing the same.
While they were watching the fight play out, Ben couldn't help but be a little bit in awe of the situation at hand. Sure he had seen and experienced plenty of crazy things first hand being the wearer of the most powerful weapon in his universe, but honestly, it had been a while since he'd been on the sidelines on something like this. Watching three heroes take on a powerful villain, each with their own unique powers. In a way, like a repeat of when Ben first laid eyes on the Galactic Enforcers when he was ten. Even more so, it kinda reminded Ben of himself when he, Gwen, and Kevin fought the bad guys.
It didn't need to be said that Ben was enjoying watching the spectacle very much; so much so that a certain something almost slipped his attention. Upon hearing a cry, Ben looked and his eyes widened. Near one of the stores on the other side of the fight was a young girl of about medium height and slim build with ginger hair that was tied into a high ponytail on the left side of her head. She looked as though she was pinned down by the leg by a piece of debris that she was trying to lift, but not having much luck with.
'Must have fallen off the building when it was hit by that orb,' thought Ben as he noticed the damaged structure behind her.
Every part of Ben was telling him 'go help her,' but he then remembered what Shinji had said. Using his powers could get him arrested and he really didn't want to go through that hassle, especially since he didn't exist in this world and that alone could be a serious problem for him in the long run. So for now, he just had to sit, wait, and pray that the heroes notice her and give her aid. Unfortunately, from the way things were going, it seemed they were too focused on the Villain.
"Come on...," pleaded the Omnitrix wearer quietly, "Someone, just look to their right…"
"What did you say, Ben?" asked Midnight as she turned to Ben.
The young hero was about to answer when suddenly, the villain charged up another one of her electric orbs and hurled it at the Pro Heroes, who dodged the attack but the girl on the other hand couldn't because she was still pinned.
Suddenly, Ben broke into a sprint, activating the Omnitrix while he rushed as fast as he could to the trapped girl, ignoring Nemuri shouting his name as he ran full speed. At the moment, he wasn't thinking about the consequences, the trouble he'd get into. All he was thinking about was protecting that girl. As the orb closed in on the trapped civilian, Ben found the alien he needed and selected it, the faceplate sliding back to reveal the core as it sprung up. Seconds passed as Ben put himself right between the orb and the trapped girl and a bright green flash erupted from the teen as he slammed the core down.
"Dammit!" cursed Edgeshot as he, Mt. Lady and Kamui Woods formed up together, "We're getting nowhere like this!"
"Not to mention that with how much energy she's giving off, we can't even touch her. That energy transformation power of her's is a pain too," added Kamui, recalling trying to catch the villainess in his branches several times but she simply zapped out of his grip each time.
"I can't even use my full size," grumbled Mt. Lady, having reduced in size to avoid being an even larger target for the villain to hit and to avoid property damage.
It was true that they were getting anywhere in this battle. Unfortunately for them, the Villainess knew this little fact too as she gathered more electricity into another orb. A sadistic grin spread on her face as she charged this one up even more than the last one she'd fired at Mt. Lady.
"Having a hard time today, Heroes?" taunted the Villainess, "Well, I wouldn't worry too much; it'll all be over in a second!"
She then hurled the orb at the three, forcing all of them to dodge the attack.
"Ben?!" Midnight suddenly shouted, catching the attention of the Pro Heroes as they spun around to see the teenager sprinting towards something. It looked to be a girl that had gotten trapped by some fallen debris from a building.
"Stop him!" shouted Edgeshot, but it was already too late.
None of the heroes could move fast enough to stop Ben or save the civilian from the incoming attack. It was at the last second that a miracle happened, a bright green flash erupted from Ben as he stood between the orb and the girl. The flash caused the Pro Heroes, Nemuri, and the Villainess to look away for a moment before looking back to see what had happened.
Standing where Ben had once stood was a large seven-foot-tall cycloptic humanoid that looked to be made of purple rock with several dark lines and spots. His hands and face were magenta and he sported six magenta shards on his back; two on his chest, one on the top of his head that resembled a horn. His face consisted of a mouth and one large green eye at the center. His arms were crossed over his chest as his entire body crackled with electricity, but that electricity suddenly changed and became an array of colors that swept across his entire body.
The figure brought his arms down and took a step forward, striking a small pose with his arms by his sides. "CHROMASTONE!" shouted the figure as the energy faded away, his voice having a sort of metallic ring to it. A green and black symbol was positioned on the center of his chest, having been revealed when he lowered his arms.
"B-Ben?" asked Mt. Lady, surprised by the sudden appearance of the purple humanoid. She wasn't the only one as Edgeshot and Kamui Woods looked equally shocked. Nemuri's eyes widened and the girl simply stared wide-eyed at her savior. The Villainess, on the other hand, looked a little more annoyed.
"So, another wannabe Hero, huh," she sneered. "Well then, Rocky, let's go!" Her hands crackled with lightning menacingly.
Chromastone looked at her and then looked up at Yu, and then at her partners, his mouth in a smirk.
"Guess you guys get to see my Quirk in action after all, huh?" inquired the transformed teen hero humorously.