Lost in a World of Heroes

by DMDSKLL

After a grave defeat, Ben loses hope in being a hero but after some unexpected circumstances, the wielder of the Omnitrix is transported to a world filled to the brim with heroes. Having to adjust to not only a new country but also going to school to be a hero Ben has plenty of challenges ahead.

19. Chapter 19

-Chapter 19: The Final Match-

Making his way into the locker room once again, Ben could hear Present Mic announcing who would be fighting in the match before him.

…

"Alrighty, sports fans, who is ready to start the semi-finals?!" Present Mic declares through the sound system. The crowd cheers in response. "This first match is between the elemental Shoto Todoroki," Said boy was stretching out his shoulder, "And the shadowy Fumikage Tokoyami!" the avian-headed boy was then surrounded by his shadowy companion Dark Shadow.

…

"They are both powerhouses in their own rights. This could be interesting." Ben said to himself, resting before his match.

…

On the screen, the Omnitrix user saw both fighters get ready, Todoroki leading with his right side while Tokoyami kept Dark Shadow at his side. Midnight cracked her whip, starting the fight.

Not wanting to waste a second, Tokoyami was launched into the air by Dark Shadow, narrowly missing being frozen to the ground. Dark Shadow softened the landing as he descended before striking out at Todoroki.

The dual-haired teen blocked the shadow's attack with an ice wall. The shadow began clawing through the barrier, forcing Todoroki to stay focused on it. Due to this, the heterochromatic teen could not see the foot coming from his left side.

Tokoyami connected a devastating roundhouse kick to his elemental opponent's face, sending him across the arena. Dark Shadow soared to tackle Todoroki, sending the boy closer to the edge. Todoroki instinctually used his fire to swat at the shadow monster away. The living quirk changed his trajectory once the light made contact with his body.

…

"This world is quite interesting, Tennyson," Came a malevolent voice from the corner of the room.

This alerts Ben, activating the Omnitrix, and the teen calls out. "If you know who I am, you know better than to sneak up on me!"

"Ah, I know you all too well," The voice said on the other side of the room after a flash of purple light. "I've had to deal with thousands of alternate versions of us across the years, after all."

"That's enough games; I know who you are, Eon! Stop pulling the bullcrap that Paradox does and show yourself."

Walking out of the shadows, Ben could get a full look at the intruder. He wore a black trench coat with purple accents and circuitry-filled gauntlets on his arms. Under the coat were parts of a breastplate connected to a black body suit with purple accents. The whole look was brought together with a purple domed helmet on his head.

"Don't bring up that Time-Walker in my presence! He has made this mission of mine a living nightmare." Eon spat in annoyance. "You see, Young Ben, an old friend of ours, has requested my expertise in finding you across this vast omniverse." The time traveler then began strolling around Ben. "While you have been hiding in this world of quite interesting heroes, HE has recovered from your last fight and wants to finish the job."

Ben's muscles tightened hearing that. "You have to be lying. Why would you work for him after the last time the two of you teamed up!"

"That is a fair question, Benjamin. After the incident with our alternate counterparts and the time bomb, I personally took care of several counterparts of him to satisfy my anger. Sadly my fun had to come to an end when his toady built a device that anchored me to a single dimension." Eon then pulled off his left gauntlet revealing a watch-like device on top of a severely scarred arm. This device was maroon red with Kirby Dots pulsating inside a blood-red orb. "The only way they would let me go is by tracking you down, and now that I know where you are…."

"He will be on his way," Ben states, connecting the dots.

"Very smart, my boy. I can't say when he will appear, though. Between opening a portal large enough for his ship to pass through along with breaking into a new timeline all together, it's going to be quite the challenge for that cyborg of his."

"This isn't like you, Eon. Why are you sticking around for so long?"

"Oh, no reason. Just wanting to see the despair in your eyes. After all, I did go back and watch the blood bath he made. Watching our dear cousin get atomized, that delinquent lose his mind with the energy that was sent through his body, your partner slayed by his own weapon. The best kills he delivered had to be to our dear Grandpa Max, getting his arm ripped off before being stabbed through, and that girlfriend of yours, your face when her head rolled into your lap, was priceless." Eon taunted, reveling himself with each word. "I never did get the chance to date my Kai. She lost all interest in me when I destroyed my Omnitrix."

"Enough!" Ben shouted angrily as he disappeared in a flash of green. Heatblast replaced his form. The Pyronite angrily shot a blast of blue fire at his alternate counterpart, but the time traveler was too fast. In a flash of purple, Eon disappeared without a trace. "DAMN IT!" Some of the nearby lockers began to melt from the extreme heat coming from the flaming alien.

…

"TODOROKI WINS!" Present Mic shouted inside the commenter's box.

"The matchup was unlucky for Tokoyami." Aizawa chimed in. "Dark Shadow becomes more powerful in the darkness and the opposite in the light. Any of our semifinalists would have been a bad matchup for him. Between Bakugo's explosions, Todoroki's fire, and some of Tennyson's transformations, Tokoyami would not make it into the finals."

"Not to knock the kid for trying. It's like trying to stop a tsunami with a bucket." Present Mic continued Aizawa's thought. "It was just a bad match-up."

…

Across Japan, the Hosu Police and Medical were cleaning up the latest hit of the Hero Killer: Stain. This villain has been on the radar of several heroes across Japan. He had murdered dozens of heroes and crippled many more. Said mad man was currently watching the first responders clean up his statement.

Suddenly in a blink of an eye, Stain drew his jagged katana and slashed at what crept behind him. His blade plunged into a purple miasma with glowing yellow eyes. "Please remain calm. We are of the same mind. I have been searching for you, Hero Killer. My employer has heard of your exploits and wishes to meet you in person. We can do this the easy or the hard way, but you will be meeting the young master." Kurogiri stated flatly.

…

Walking up the steps to the arena, Bakugo was getting pumped for his next fight, bouncing on the balls of his feet. The Blonde Bomber has been waiting for his chance to take down the American. "He may have quantity in his transformations, but I have quality with explosions." Bakugo thought to himself. "Plus, I don't need a support item to fight. I just need to blow him away before he can transform."

Ben, on the other hand, was unmoving. The Omnitrix user had a faraway look to him as if he was thinking about something else, but when he made eye contact with his opponent Bakugo's ruby orbs morphed into a solid crimson with no pupil or sclera, just red. The blonde boy's features also changed; his skin shifted into an olive green, and his hair disappeared while a breathing apparatus appeared over his mouth.

The American's hands clenched upon seeing that face once again. All sound was drowned out except for a faint "Ready? Fight!" Ben instinctually activated the Omnitrix and chose a transformation at random. The boy disappeared in a flash of green light. In his place was the hulking form of a husky-like alien. It stood at eight feet, with black and white fur; it wore a green open vest showing off some white fur on its torso; the Omnitrix was on the left pectoral. The new form wore ripped jeans with no footwear covering its clawed three-toed feet. The fur on his arms was thick before shifting and condensed to create a faux metal coating before morphing back to soft fluffy fur.

Not only did Ben look different, but this new form also rewired his brain. Ben was aware that he was a new alien, but he didn't care. He could see Bakugo soaring at him and wanted nothing more than to make him eat dirt.

"DIE!" The living grenade declared, releasing a close-range explosion. Much to his surprise, he heard a metallic clang.

Moving faster than Bakugo could react, the newly transformed Argencanine gripped his opponent by the face and slammed the boy into the ground. "HOW DOES THE GROUND TASTE, LITTLE MAN?!" He called out before grabbing Bakugo's ankle and throwing him like a ragdoll across the arena.

Using smaller explosions, Bakugo was able to land on his feet. "You furry BASTARD! I will kill you!" The ash-blonde then flew high into the air, skipping on his explosions. Releasing larger explosions, the bomber stayed just out of range of the American's swipes.

Taking a step back, Bakugo took a deep breath. "No one could tank those blasts and still be awake. Midnight, call the match!"

Before the teacher could raise her whip, a loud howl mixed with a roar came from the smoke cloud. As the dust settled, everyone could see the transformed teen shift his fur from a shining metallic to thick fur.

"You copying Shitty Hair and that 1-B loser now?" taunted Bakugo. "What do you call this one? Metal Mutt?"

With a snarling smile, the Argencanine stated, "I don't have a name for this guy yet. This is m first time using him. But you better shut your face before I bash it in." he then paused, thinking for a second, "I like the sound of that Bashface, no not quite." he then snapped his clawed hand before declaring. "Bashmouth!"

The newly named Bashmouth dashed on all fours, tackling Bakugo to pin him to the floor. A single meaty paw was placed on the boy's chest, holding him down, the other cocked back before the fur morphed into a knuckle duster. The Argencanine began delivering devastating blow after blow across Bakugo's face.

"You, are, a, bitch." Bakugo grunted out between slugs. When his opponent reared back to punch him, Bakugo snapped his arms up into Bashmouth's face releasing a double-handed explosion sending the alien canine high into the air, causing it to land on the other side of the arena. "I'll admit it, Tennyson," the blonde spat out some blood. "You put up a good fight, much better than that pink-haired loser."

Hearing those words leave Bakugo's mouth; something snapped for the American. Metal began to grow around his teeth before a growl released from deep in his throat, "Not another word."

"What? I didn't hear you mutt." Bakugo taunted

"I said, not another word!" Bashmouth declared, clanging his metal teeth together. He moved quicker than Bakugo was expecting. As a last-ditch effort, the boy reached out with both hands, ready to perform another double explosion. Much to the bomber's surprise, the dog-like alien grabbed both his wrists before forcing them to point outwards, causing the explosions to miss. "You talk so much shit, how you are better than everyone." The Argencanine growls too quiet for Midnight and Cementoss to hear. "Well, you're wrong. You ain't better than me." to prove his point, Bashmouth swiftly twisted his own wrist, causing Bakugo's forearms to break like twigs in his massive paws.

Before Bakugo could cry out in pain, he was sparta kicked square in the chest. The boy flew into the far wall of the out-of-bounds area, stuck in a creature of his making. Bakugo's eye was open, holding an unimaginable fury momentarily before it shut. His body went limp in the wall.

Midnight was by the defeated boy's side in an impressive burst of speed, checking his pulse. Bashmouth's keen hearing picked up her talking into an earpiece, "He's alive but unconscious. Recovery Girl is not going to be happy about this." She then turned around, cracking her whip and declaring. "Bakugo is both out of bounds and is unable to continue. Tennyson is the winner!"

…

As Ben entered the tunnel, one of Ectoplasm's many clones emerged from the shadows. "Tennsyon, a moment, please."

"Of course, Mr. Ectoplasm; what's up," Ben asked. Not sure why his teacher was there.

"I'm here for two reasons, and how the first reason goes determines the results of the second reason," Ectoplasm explains.

"Oh," Ben was unsure what to say.

"You have shown off two new forms today. I was going to ask about them in your next heroics class, but your actions against Bakugo have forced my hand into asking about them now."

"Ah," Ben now understood what was going on. He then scratched the back of his head nervously. "Which form do you want to talk about first?"

Ectoplasm only glared at the boy. The black domed mask and the exposed teeth were not helping with Ben's anxiety. "I believe we both already know the answer to that question. What I want to know is the mental effect that form has on you."

"Bashmouth is another form that affects my personality. It's similar to Rath but not at the same time."

This would have gotten a raised eyebrow from the hero if Ben could see it. "Care to explain more?"

"Remember, in Rath's file; I describe his anger as blind and wild. No one is safe from it." Ben starts pulling up the head icon of the said alien; a tiger-like face can be seen.

"Of course, even though, as Rath, you're always angry, but you can at least guide it in a direction."

"Right, now take that blind anger and narrow it into a fine point. That point becomes the sole focus of your attention until it passes."

"So instead of a wild beast chasing after anything close by, Bashmouth is a calculated, relentless hunter until the hunt is over?"

"Yes, Once the fight was over, I felt a wave of calm wash over me, something I've never felt as Rath."

"Interesting," Ectoplasm started, thinking over his next question. "So the choice to break Bakugo's arms…."

"Was influenced by Bashmouth's change to my personality." Ben finished the teacher's thought.

"Good," Ectoplasm nodded, "Now for my second reason for being here. I'm leaving you with a warning. You will be disqualified if you intentionally break another student's bones like that again. Now go and rest up. You have ten minutes before the finals start."

"Of course, Mr. Ectoplasm," Ben said, going further into the tunnel, waving behind him. "Wish me luck!"

…

"Alrighty, Sports Fans!" Present Mic announced through the stadium stirring up the crowd. "This is the match we have all been waiting for! After this fight, we will know who The First Year Champion is! We have the frozen fighter with firepower to boot. He's hot, and he's cold; he's yes, and he's no. It's SHOTO TODOROKI! On the other side of the arena, when you see you see him, you'll be in for a big surprise. He'll turn into an alien before your very eyes. He's slimy, creepy, fast, and strong. He's every shape and size. It's BEN TENNYSON!"

…

"Ok, boys," Midnight raised her whip to start the fight, "remember, win or lose, you made it to the finals in your first Sports Festival. Not many people are able to claim that and be proud of your accomplishments. I know your families would be."

Ben couldn't say anything to what Midnight said. His eyes got teary thinking about those close to him. "This is for you guys."

Todoroki, on the other hand, glanced into the crowd to where his father was before he smeared ever so slightly and brought his attention back to his opponent.

"If everybody's waiting. I don't want to tease this fight any longer." Midnight said into her microphone in a sultry voice. Let the finals BEGIN!" She declared, cracking her whip.

…

In the blink of an eye, both a brilliant flash of green light and a glacier of ice washed over the arena. Todoroki was seen panting heavily while a tiny bit of frost could be seen forming on his right side just outside of his icy blast. There was no sign of the Omnitrix wielder, though.

Raising an arm to get his teacher's attention, Todoroki calls out, "Miss Midnight, call the-"

Todoroki was cut off by a rainbow light emanating from deep within the ice structure. The glowing became brighter and brighter, becoming almost unbearable to those who looked directly at it. Suddenly a condensed beam of this light was shot out of the top, creating a gaping hole in the block of ice. Leavinating from it was rocky, crystalline cyclops with magenta crystals for hands. These same crystals covered his face and protruded in a total of nine spikes, six on the back, two on the chest on either side of the Omnitrix dial, and a single coming from the top of the head like a horn. A similar rainbow trail was following the flying Crystalsapien.

"CHROMASTONE!" the newly transformed alien declared for the stadium to hear. Swooping down to Todoroki, Chromastone extended his arms while making fists with both hands. The rainbow ultraviolet light shot out at the half-frozen boy.

Todoroki dove to his side at the last moment; as he fell, he used his ice to create a slide to get more distance away from the flying combatant. While supine, Todoroki slammed his right hand on the ground to create a spiked dome structure around him before rolling over. From inside the dome, the ice user could see a tall, lean structure land on one of the spikes on the side of the dome, the ice was made haphazardly, so it was hardly clear. The blurry form then braised itself on the spike with one hand while the other began to chip away at the ice with surprisingly powerful strikes.

"Come on, Todoroki," Chromastone was taunting from the outside of the ice while creating a deeper crater the size of his fist. "What happened to that fire? You were acting so fierce." Breaking through the ice, the Crystalsapian's fist lodged into the dome. "Hit me with your best shot!" He then shot blindly into the structure.

The blasts nearly missed Todoroki; the teen had little room to wiggle in the confined space. Several blasts whizzed past his head, eventually destroying enough of the ice behind him to crawl his way out. Once he was out of his attempt at defense, he almost couldn't move due to the amount of frost across his body.

"SHOTO!" the elemental user could hear his father calling to him in his head before a second voice could be heard. "IT'S YOURS! YOUR QUIRK, NOT HIS!" a second voice could be heard much louder when he heard Midoriya's voice, a literal and figurative warmth washed over him.

The frost across Todoroki's right side began to recede as embers were created between his left hand's fingers. "You wanted to see my ferocity? Well, here it is!" Todoroki shouted as he made an upward-swiping motion across his body, sending a wild torrent of flames at the crystal alien.

Taking the brunt of the attack, Chromastone crossed his arms over his face while braising himself on the ice. The overwhelming heat wasn't much discomfort for the transformed teen, but that couldn't be said for the frozen platform he was standing on. Only after moments, the structure was falling apart before he knew it. Chromastone fell to the ground, landing on his rear, "I can hear Gwen mocking me for not thinking about the ice." He muttered to himself, rubbing his backend while standing back up.

A second wave of fire washed over Chromastone as Todoroki stood up. The suddenness of it knocked the American back to the ground. The heterochromatic teen was unbearing with his assault before a ray of ultraviolet light cut through the fire. The beam punched Todoroki in the chest, sending him across the arena into the glacier he made earlier.

The Crystalsapien floated back up to his feet, rubbing his chin. "Your lucky I don't burn like most people. Plus, since you pulled off the kid gloves, I'm going to too." He then reached up, tapping the Omnitrix dial. He was replaced by a giant, tan dinosaur-like alien in a flash of green light. "HUMUNGOUSAUR!" The Vaxasaurian roared out.

…

"Here we go, folks," Present Mic exclaims, "Ben Tennyson has finally revealed his quick change ability!"

"He hasn't had much of a reason to utilize it. Tennyson has a skilled eye for what he should transform into." Aizawa chimes in. "With as many transformations that boy has, he needs to know what to transform into and when to change things up."

…

"This is your chance to back out, Todoroki," Humungousaur warned; before growing to sixty feet, stegosaur-like plates grew along his spine, and four spikes grew out of his tail. "Surrender now, or you will need to see Recovery Girl."

"Never! I can't lose now. I have to prove to that bastard I can do this!" Todoroki cries, sending another glacier at his opponent.

The Vaxasurian shoulder checked the incoming ice barrage causing A large chunk of ice to fall beside him. Picking up the car side block of ice, Humungousaur hurled it back to Todoroki, only for the block to be melted by a torrent of flames, creating a thick wall of mist. The large alien dropped low to the ground dashing on all fours toward his opponent. In three enormous strides, the dino-like alien could grab the elemental user. Humungousaur was so large that Todoroki fit almost perfectly in his palm.

Humungousaur felt a chill in his hand before the fist was encased in a ball of ice before creeping further up the arm, stopping at the elbow. Suddenly a warm glow was emanating from the center of the ice ball. Even though Vaxasaurians have incredibly thick skin, making them resistant to heat and most types of damage, it doesn't make them fireproof.

"Son of a-," The transformed teen cut himself off by slamming the frozen limb into the ground. The ice shattered like glass across the cement, freeing his hand and revealing the torrent of flames that Todoroki was producing. "Would you just quit it with the fire!" Humungousaur roared, throwing the boy out of bounds. Despite the elemental user's best efforts, no amount of ice could stop him from colliding with the outer wall.

…

"Todoroki is out of bounds! Tennyson is the winner!" Present Mic cheers through the stadium's sound system, barely loud enough to be heard over the crowd's cry. "The final match is officially over! The first-year champion of the Sports Festival is Ben Tennyson from Class 1-A!"

Ben transformed in a flash of green light back to human. He pumped his arms up into the air to rile up the crowd even more as he walked into the tunnel.

"Alrighty, everyone," Aizawa starts, "we will be taking a brief twenty-minute break for our champion and the runner-up to visit Recovery Girl and get cleaned up. Please feel free to visit the many vendors just outside of the stadium.

…

As Ben made his way into Recovery Girl's office, he was thrown to the side by two drones carrying Todoroki on a stretcher. Luckily enough for the American teen, he landed on one of the many beds in the room, not the floor. Unluckily for him, Ben landed on the same bed as a pink-haired classmate of his.

"B-Ben?" Ashido sleepily questions. "What did I miss, and why are you in my bed? I mean, I'm not complaining, but-"

Ashido could not finish her thought when Ben realized where he was sitting. "Oh shit, um." he attempted to stand back up, but when he went to push himself off the bed, his hand landed on Ashido's plump thigh. "Gah, sorry, I- Oof." The flustered teen stumbled off the bed, falling backward onto the floor.

"You good?" Ashido asked, looking over the side of the bed.

"Yeah, the floor is super comfortable. How did you know?" Ben snarked back while lying on the floor awkwardly.

Before the two could continue, a diminutive figure encroached on their field of view. "I'm sorry, dearies, but I am going to need you two to be quiet. Your classmate is going to need some rest." Recovery Girl then points, with an oversized syringe, to Todoroki in a separate bed asleep.

"Oop, sorry, Recovery Girl." Ashido squeaked. "Ben just dropped by and apparently didn't stick the landing."

"Har har," Ben fake laughed as he stood back up. "This is what I get for wanting to check in on my friend." Brushing himself off, Ben beams at Ashido. "Oh, by the way, I won."

"You won, won what?" the acid user was still a little fuzzy from being asleep for most of the day. "You beat Bakugo?"

"I did beat Bakugo, along with kicking Todoroki's ass!" The boy exclaimed the last part of his statement with a massive grin across his face.

"Wait, how did you-" Ashido tried to connect the dots before her eyes went incredibly wide while the corners of her mouth shot skyward. "OH, MY GOD! BEN! YOU WON THE FESTIVAL!"

Before she could get another word out, the duo was struck by an oversized syringe to their middles. "WHAT DID I SAY ABOUT BEING QUIET!" Recovery Girl half yelled, half whispered.

'Sorry, Recovery Girl," Ahisdo sheepishly said before attempting to stand up. "Has the award ceremony started yet? I want to watch you get your medal, Ben."

Assisting his friend up, Ben attempted to help support her weight but being several inches taller made it a little awkward. "Mina, slow down, your not at a hundred yet. No, the ceremony hasn't happened yet. Todoroki needed to be bandaged up before we could start." The duo made their way out of the short healer's office.

…

In one of the many halls of the stadium, Ben was assisting his friend up one of the many staircases that led to the 1-A suite.

"He would be proud." Ashido suddenly says.

"Hm?" Ben tilted his head. "Who?"

"Grandpa Max. He would be super proud of you if he could have seen what you did today. Everyone from back home," Ashido adjusted how she was leaning against Ben to grab his hand, "and I'm proud of you, Ben."

The American teen stopped in his tracks; he wrapped his arms around the shorter girl. As he held her close, she could feel droplets of water land on her head and her horns. Looking up at Ben, Ashido could see him tearing up.

Returning the hug, Ashido began rubbing the damaged boy's back. "Thank you, Mina. I can hear Grandpa right now." Ben wipes his eyes before starting a poor impression of his grandfather. 'Kiddo, you did great. If you tackle school like how you took down that blonde kid, you would have passed chemistry.' He then would have ruffled my hair before going on a tangent about some strange concoction he was making involving tentacles or insects."

"I wish I could have met him. He seemed like an amazing person." Ashido beamed at her friend.

AN: The Sports Festival is almost over, folks. The next chapter will be covering the awards ceremony, along with Iida letting everyone know about what happened with his phone call from a couple of chapters back.

Bashmouth. Talk about something unexpected. Going into that fight, I knew I wanted Ben to be brutal to Bakugo, but I didn't want to use Rath. I personally find Rath to be a little annoying, and having the angry student fight the angry alien would be obvious.

Like always, if you have any comments or critiques, please do so in the reviews.