Should I start "inserting" more music into these chapters. I think it'd be neat.

Anyways, here's your chapter. Here's the Discord: /cgFmXz3qJ5


So when Ben said he would be ready for anything, he didn't expect for Nesmith to come out armorless. He was dressed in a suit, a damn dapper one if anything. Ben raised an eyebrow.

"What? Final round. I have to look my best." Nesmith grinned.

"Uhhhh huh."

"And yes, the suit is Alexander Amosu."

"...didn't ask, dude." Ben was more focused on Nesmith's strategy. If a suit of solid gold was the last thing to show off...what was the suit gonna be this time?

"What? Expected me to go in with some kind of big flashy titanium alloy armor like last time?" Nesmith asked with a light chuckle; "You must think so little of me!"

"No, I'm making this a fair fight, see. No armor, no weapons, just a bare knuckle brawl. You wanted me to show you the sweat of my brow and the determination I would've shown had I been there to pick up your mess at Beacon? Well here it is!" Nesmith was talking a very big game.

Almost too big.

Ben frowned, as he knelt down. "Uh...huh." He picked up a clump of dirt off the ground...

"...son, what the hell are you..." Nesmith said, before Ben TOSSED the dirt at Nesmith. Nesmith gasped, as he tapped his watch.

"NOT MY SUIT!" He said, as a light barrier suddenly formed around his body, and the dirt slid off. His suit was unharmed. The crowd gasped, as Ben smirked.

"And there we go. We have something to work with." Ben said, looking at the armor. It was see-through, composed of holograms. Nesmith frowned.

"What? I'm rich. I need a quick suit to use." Nesmith frowned. Not part of the plan, but...he could stall.

Ben just looked to the Omnitrix and started to slowly toggle with the dial. He was about to get this over and done with so that they could get back to something that properly mattered.

"You really wanna call this a fair fight and then come in wearing a two piece and use holographic armor to throw me off? Dude, weak." Ben sighed before finally deciding on an alien that might make this go by pretty quick, unaware that Nesmith had more than just a simple hologram on his side.

Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, as rocks began to run up his arms, and cover his body. They suddenly ignited, revealing Heatblast's blazing blue form.

"Now...how much can that hologram suit take?" Ben asked, igniting his hands.

Nesmith quickly grimaced as he prepared himself; he wasn't about to go down. He had a damn reputation to uphold, and he wasn't about to let some fire get in the way of that success that he had held for so long.

"Let's see what kinda guy you are without a layer of metal to save your ass!" Ben rushed at Nesmith, launching a fast moving drop kick on the billionaire. Nesmith's armor could feel the heat radiating from the kick, as Ben started his relentless attack. Basic kicks and punches made Nesmith move backwards, ever so slowly.

Nesmith kept his composure before starting to breathe in, he just had to wait for the right moment. The heat was there for sure, but the punches and kicks weren't making contact with him.

Jacques had said this suit was experimental, and was something that would surely be the best in the line of armors made for his work. He was ready to put that to the test. One more punch from Ben and he was ready to let this brat face his wrath.

Ben punched him again, this time in the gut...and that's when Nesmith unleashed his counter attack. His holographic suit suddenly expanded, knocking Ben back. Nesmith smirked.

"Thanks for the energy, kid. More blows I take, the more powerful this armor gets." Nesmith held out his hand, and suddenly a holographic katana found its way to his side. Nesmith put on some music.

Look in my eyes

What do you see?

The cult of personality

...Ben had to admit. The cool glowy sword and the fancy get up? Kind of a power move. Nesmith advanced at Ben, slashing at him. Ben dodged them, before propelling himself into the air with his fire.

However, just as quick as Ben had tried to get the aerial advantage, Nesmith was quick to follow. He was quick to jump up and strike at Ben with the katana, actively slicing at him and even throwing in a punch to boot to try and send him back down to the ring.

I know your anger, I know your dreams

I've been everything you want to be

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

"Ooooh-! I hate this guy, but damn it, that suit's so cool!" Ruby exclaimed, her eyes practically stars as she looked over the suit.

"That's no ordinary suit either...I didn't think it was possible but somehow he's got a suit made entirely of specialized Hardlight Dust." Weiss seemed a bit more concerned. "If Ben gets himself caught in that..."

Ben frowned, as he unleashed a BURST of flames around his body, sending Nesmith back. Ben had to work around that annoying hardlight dust. Think, think...what could he do to…

Like Mussolini and Kennedy

I'm the cult of personality

The cult of personality

The cult of personality

Ben grinned. "Maybe I dropped below zero." Ben said, as he slapped down the Omnitrix. His body temp dropped like a rock in water, and blue wings appeared on his back. Big Chill was taking to the skies now.

Nesmith watched him shift and started to slowly make his way around the ring, sheathing the katana before slowly focusing on this new alien.

Neon lights, a Nobel prize

When a mirror speaks, the reflection lies

You won't have to follow me

Only you can set me free

"Alright, alright, trying to be like a moth to a light…" He started to focus as the suit crackled and sparked, hardlight dust starting to shift into a new weapon before he glanced up at Big Chill.

"You might wanna cover your eyes for this one."

Ben could see the weapon- a seven bladed sword. It looked to be sparking, ready to counter his intangibility. Ben shook his head. "And here I thought this was gonna be easy..." Ben held his hands out, and quickly formed an icy scythe in his hands. He floated down to the ground, cloaking himself.

Ruby stared, eyes wide in disbelief. "Oh my god."

I sell the things you need to be

I'm the smiling face on your TV

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

"You wanna play hard to get, son? Remember who you're dealing with here. I'm someone who makes kids like you wish they were never heroes!" Nemesis exclaimed before quickly spinning the seven bladed sword in an arc, a large spark of lightning starting to blast off from the blades, acting almost like some kind of makeshift tesla coil.

Ben began his attack by slamming the icy scythe into the ground, causing a flash freeze. Nesmith began to slip and slide around, losing his balance. The icy alien took advantage of his imbalance, quickly slicing at Nesmith's body.

I exploit you, still you love me

I tell you, one and one makes three

Oh, I'm the cult of personality

The slice was enough to send him back, but his weapon was quick to slam into the ring, the electricity arcing off it beginning to create some even ground for the pair as Nesmith simply reached into his suit and started to pull out something.

"Listen kid. Ever since you decided to show up? This whole Kingdom has been going crazy. People like me aren't allowed to be us any more because of your so-called commander in chief!" Nesmith then started to quickly lunge forward, dropping Ben as best he could with the unbalanced ground.

"Right, so, it's my fault for trying to help the public." Ben said, phasing around the drop kick. "I guess those pesky terrorists have NOTHING to do with everything."

Ben raised his icy scythe again, as he slashed at Nesmith wildly. The attacks were actually starting to wear down his shielding...

"Terrorists? The only one who's terrorizing people is you at this rate! You think that the rest of us like having to deal with all of this? Kids like you thinking that they're the best goddamn shot we have at living a better life?" Nesmith focused once more as he let out a loud yell, the hard light dust expanding once more as he threw up his arm.

"Kids like you didn't do shit for this kingdom. Only people like me who fought in battles that you kids never even faced before!"

Ben's cloak seemed to hide his face even more. His head shot back up, staring right through Nesmith's very soul.

Like Joseph Stalin and Gandhi

I'm the cult of personality

The cult of personality

The cult of personality

"...did you almost die?" Ben asked. The entire world around Nesmith seemed to go silent. Hell, the entire crowd did. "Did you ever lose someone important in these...Secret Wars of yours?"

"Of course I have. But you know what they were, kid? Heroes like me. They actually fought for something that was worth a damn back when I was a kid." Nesmith just looked at Ben before starting to smirk.

"You think that your sob-story about your Grandpa dying is gonna get through to me? Kid, this is the real world. Bad things happen to people who don't know how to take care of themselves." His hard light began to slowly form into a rather large weapon, one that seemed MUCH more extreme than the likes of any that had been used, military or otherwise.

"In this world, heroes like me fought in wars to keep brats like you from fucking everything up!" The gun started to slowly shine as the energy within it began to stockpile. "You live to teach freaks like you what the real world is all about."

And with a sudden blast, the entire half of the arena Ben was in had been hit with an attack that seemed almost like a damn dust mine had gone off on that side.

Neon lights, a Nobel prize

When a leader speaks, that leader dies

You won't have to follow me

Only you can set you free

Nesmith smiled- that attack had to have wiped out that kid. The crowd was shocked and silent, lost for all words. Did...did Nesmith just kill him?

"Dude." A voice at the end of the way said. Nesmith turned around- Shock Rock had taken the full brunt of the attack. And he looked VERY, VERY angry.

"That was very uncalled for."

Nesmith was shocked, pun intended, at the fact that this brat had managed to take all of that and was still standing! That blast should have reduced his aura to nothing or at the very least injured him enough to leave him incapable of fighting. Ben didn't give him a chance to respond. Instead, he rushed over to him so damn fast...and flicked his chest.

Nesmith was sent flying backwards, out of the battle arena.

I am the cult of, I am the cult of

I am the cult of, I am the cult of

I am the cult of, I am the cult of

I am the cult of, I am the cult of personality

Nesmith was quickly overwhelmed by the sudden flick that managed to send him careening out from the arena. The crowds were...unsure on what to say.

"I...uh...um, maybe just a bit of light ribbing on Nesmith's behalf?" Jennifer laughed nervously.

Harangue was sweating bullets. "Uh...yeah..."

The audience was not having it. At this point there was a lot of murmuring and talk, all the while it seemed that this little contest had gone a bit off the rails. What WAS known was that Nesmith's armor hasn't fully cracked. He was still able to fight…and even after being launched he wasn't about to let that upstart take his pride

Jacques started to get up, but Ironwood grabbed his arm. "What, leaving so soon?"

"W-well, you know...I am a busy man!" Jacques said with a nervous grin.

"Your tournament. You're staying." Ironwood said, forcing Jacques back into his seat.

As the stadium continued to try and figure out what had just happened they would soon hear the sounds of footsteps as Nesmith slowly made his way back toward the arena. This time he wasn't saying anything but it was clear that he wasn't fucking around any more.

What little sportsmanship he had left was gone as he stared at Ben dead in the eye.

Shock Rock formed his weapon- an enormous broadsword, with a sharpened blade. Ben was deathly serious, and didn't even flinch as his blade struck Nesmith's holographic armor. Nesmith was sent flying back once more, this time into an old train. Ben slashed at Nesmith- the slash nearly cut through his armor...but it went immediately through the train.

"...Lord." Nesmith said, looking behind the sliced in twain train.

Nesmith quickly charged forward, the strength building from his holographic armor allowing him to tank the blows quite easily, but now he decided to form something a little new. Absorbing weapons, capable of redirecting that same energy right back at Ben.

Of course, with all that had been exchanged, Ben had some words of his own to say now that he was serious

"...why do you lie?" Ben said, voice sharp enough to cut steel. "Why do you find a need to project your own self into national tragedies? You weren't there to experience the horror. You only know half truths about the falls. And most of all..."

Ben slammed his sword into the ground. "Your ignorance is far beyond the typical 'disrespect'."

"Because, kid, the real world doesn't believe kids like you. You go through a tragedy once or twice and all they care about is how much money you give back to them." Nesmith seemed to be much more sharp too, he wasn't even bringing in his bravado anymore he was serious .

"Have you ever seen a wartime battlefield, nearly getting blown to bits because of people that look like you, sound like you but hate everything you stand for and want you dead?" Nesmith exclaimed before starting to rear back, this time striking at Ben with nothing but an armored fist.

"...Yes. I absolutely have." Ben said, catching the fist. "This isn't about heroism anymore. This is just between me and you."

Nesmith grimaced before quickly throwing another fist forward, hoping to take Ben out with a haymaker to the left side of his head. It was at this point both men were practically at even odds with one another

Ben reared back his head...and smashed it into Nesmith's own. If Nesmith hadn't been cowering behind his hologram armor, maybe that would've knocked him out.

Nesmith lost his grip, and Ben immediately whipped him to the ground. Letting out a sudden gasp as the wind was knocked out of him, he tried to reach for the holographic proton cannon. He had to use that again, it was his best shot to take out Tennyson and win.

"I'll just absorb it." Ben frowned. "You can't win this, Nesmith! Just give up while you still have your pride in tact!"

"You wanna bet kid? Then I'll ask this, how much energy can you safely absorb at point blank?" Whipping a leg out, Nesmith managed to actually create an opening where he aimed the cannon and went to fire once more.

"...alright, yeah. Fire." Ben said, unfazed. "Watch what happens. It won't shock me."

Nesmith's eyes widened as he then quickly grit his teeth, whipping his weapon around he tried to stop it from firing, only to let it loose toward the crowd, more so where Ironwood and Jacques had been sitting.

Jacques gasped, as Ironwood quickly tackled him to the floor- Ironwood watched the laser blast pass through where Jacques was sitting.

"...seems your champion nearly killed you." Ironwood frowned.

"C-clearly just a malfunction! I assure you nothing is wrong here!" Of course Jacque would note his daughter in the stands with the others, and how Nesmith was now aiming lightly in their direction…

Ironwood noticed even faster. He shoved Jacques aside, and jumped from out of the box, gun already drawn. If Nesmith was gonna play dirty- then he was too.

"TENNYSON! MOVE!" Ironwood yelled, rage in his eyes.

Nesmith glanced at Ironwood and then quickly turned his attention back to Ben, he knew the best way to win was to hit them where it hurt. Years of acting could easily tell you that before he finally let loose the final shot from his cannon

Ironwood yelled...as he got in front of the blast, trying to make sure it hit him and not the bystanders. Ben turned around, seeing Ironwood's aura break, and him falling into the ground.

"...What did you DO?" Ben yelled.

"All's fair in this fight kid! You hit them where it hurts!" Nesmith's ego clearly had gotten the better of him as he felt his armor actually fizzle out for a second…clearly something was up. Had Ironwood not been there, Ruby and the others might not have been so lucky.

Ben was slowly crushing Nesmith's watch, the source of the trouble. Ben's eyes were narrow, focused on his wrist.

"Come on, come on..." Nesmith said- he could still win this fight, if that damn delivery came in!

Finally though, it seemed that there was the sound of airships. Starting to shift overhead and the crowds saw a much larger box being brought above the arena. It seemed the package was finally here.

"...what the hell is that?" Ben frowned.

"A little something I've been working on since you came to town." Carl said. "I call it...the Overlord armor."

"Overlord…You know what? I'm ending this." Ben scowled as he got ready to fully destroy the watch so that Nesmith was defenseless. Nesmith heard the watch crack- and instantly, the armor disappeared.

"...uh oh." Carl said, as Ben held his arm tightly.

"What's to stop me from throwing you across the tundra?" Ben hissed.

"Because if you kill me, you're no better than the villains you swore to beat." Nesmith smirked as he quickly pointed upward. "Now watch closely! This is how your legacy ends, at my hands in front of all these people!"

"Dude, I could care less of a shit with how the public sees me! I'm not doing this for publicity, I'm doing this for safety!" Ben yelled.

"Then you've already failed at both." Nesmith then quickly yanked his arm back and actively managed to perform a sudden takedown to almost slam Ben onto his back, the large box behind him starting to open as Nesmith began to step inside.

Ben reverted back to human- he rushed over to Ironwood, who was starting to get up. "You okay, General?"

"Far from it..." Ironwood said, looking at the box. "The hell is he?"

"He said he's got some 'Overlord' armor. For me specifically." Ben frowned.

Ironwood frowned. "We may need all hands on deck for this thing."

"If I may, general..." Jacques made his way over, still maintaining his stern expression. "Perhaps it would be best to leave this to the boy? You're in no state to fight and no state to put that mettle of yours to the test."

"...shut up." Ben frowned. "Like, legit. Shut the fuck up. Get the fuck out of here."

"Or what?"

"...or I throw you at Nesmith." Ben said.

"Humph. Like I said, I leave it to you boy, the general meanwhile will be evacuating immediately for his safety." Jacques added as he simply gave a glare to Ironwood to state that right now if he made any stupid moves it would be BOTH of their asses on the line

"Yeesh. That guy's an ass." Ben frowned. "Good on you for stealing his wife."

Ironwood gave Ben a weird look.

"Come on. Tiny bit of a power move." Ben said, as he reactivated the Omnitrix.

"I…leave it to you then. Just know that if he tries anything else, we are outside and waiting." Ironwood reluctantly exited.

Ben readied himself, as the box that Nesmith entered...started to morph itself. Ben was on high alert- Ben watched as the box started to transform into a massive suit of armor, tall enough to dwarf Four Arms in stature. The armor had multiple, visible weapons on it- guns, rockets, pretty much all the standard firepower one could have.

"Oh my god," Ben breathed.

"Now you're looking at some real firepower!" Nesmith smirked as he started to aim the two rather large hand cannons toward Ben. He was about to use the might of Atlas' military research to blow this child out of the water…and yes, music was blasting from the suit.

Between the velvet lies

There's a truth that's hard as steel, yeah

The vision never dies

Life's a never ending wheel, say

Ben shook his head. "I'll show you a REAL heavy hitter." Ben said, as he smacked down the Omnitrix. Metal ran up his arm, as his body became shorter. Slapback soon took Ben's place, making Nesmith laugh.

"What is that, some frog?" Nesmith smirked.

"The thing that's gonna take you out of that tin can!" Ben yelled before quickly slapping his palms together and getting ready to throw out some strikes toward Nesmith's Overlord armor.

"Oh, please..." Nesmith raised his hand, and began to fire multiple energy blasts...all of which hit Ben.

In the back. Imagine Nesmith's shock when Slapback suddenly turned into four smaller, denser copies of itself. "What the-"

"Hold him down!" Ruby yelled, as she and the others ran up, weapons drawn.

Noticing the rest of the group, Nesmith quickly focused the power of the suit to its legs, blasting up into the sky...only to be held back by a gravity glyph as Weiss gave a cold stare. "You're not going anywhere!"

Holy Diver

You're the star of the masquerade

No need to look so afraid- JUMP JUMP

Ruby launched herself forward, switching her blade into energy mode. Her attack cut across the machine's body, leaving a notable scratch. Nesmith could barely react before Ruby was on his back, blasting it with multiple rounds of fire dust.

"Rrrgh! Insolent brat!" Nesmith yelled before suddenly engaging one of the rather large weapons on the back of the suit, Ruby's cape suddenly being caught in the sudden lift off of a rather large missile from the suit itself.

Jump on the tiger

You can feel his heart, but you know he's mean

Some light can never be seen, yeah

Ruby quickly boosted herself off the rocket. She landed on the ground, right next to Ben and Albedo. "He's got rockets!?"

"He said he had enough firepower to take me down...let's see how that'll go for him." Ben frowned, as one of the clones picked him up and threw him at Nesmith's suit of armor.

Nesmith seemed to be pretty defenseless...but the moment one of the clones was close enough he performed a right hook that was dense enough and strong enough to send the Slapback clone firing back at the others like a makeshift cannonball.

"Now I know why you had such an advantage, and why you sounded much more...calm when I first ribbed you on. Because you weren't playing fair either! Having a body double is a pretty bold move, gotta say!" Nesmith complimented before pointing upward.

"But unfortunately, it's gonna take a lot more than that to break that thing."

"Body double?!" Albedo huffed.

"Hey, hey, chill. He's just really stupid." Ben added.

"Most humans are." Albedo frowned.

Nesmith's eyes darted over to Weiss, still holding him in place with the gravity Glyph. "Let's take care of you first." Nesmith said, as his chest opened up to reveal a massive machine gun inside.

Weiss' eyes widened as suddenly she had to jump back thanks to the array of machine gun fire that unloaded from Nesmith's chest; the bullets being strong enough to tear through the seats like a hot knife through butter.

"Ugh! This guy really doesn't wanna let up..." Yang scowled before turning to Rex. "Hey! How good are you with improv attacks...?"

Rex morphed his hands into the Smack Hands. "Pretty good, honestly. What's the plan?"

"You go high- I hit low." Yang grinned.

"Got it. Let's do it!" Rex grinned as they quickly started to take opposite sides of the arena, Yang taking a moment to ensure Weiss wasn't suddenly turned into swiss cheese from gun-fire.

"...My hero." Weiss rolled her eyes.

"Yep. Make a few glyphs to speed me up!" Yang grinned. A trail of glyphs appeared along the way, curving off the ground, under Nesmith, and to the other side. Rex and Yang took off- Rex jumping off the ground and over Nesmith's head, and Yang sliding between Nesmith's own legs.

Nesmith could only do so much as he suddenly found himself being smashed in the visor by Rex, with Yang quickly setting up for the follow-up as her eyes briefly turned red Nesmith's body was bombarded with a series of fast fists to the legs, damaging him severely. Nesmith's bot fell to one of its knees, before it started getting bombarded with even more attacks.

Both Yang and Rex were circling Nesmith and throwing off rapidly strikes left and right; though even with this it seemed that he was oddly calm. The suit itself starting to feel warmer as if something was...powering it up?

Ben quickly noticed- the suit was...repairing itself? What the hell was that about?!

"He's using nanotech." Albedo said, a bit angered. "Bots must be repairing the suit and powering it up at the same time!"

"Then, let's cool him off!" Ruby said, as she slapped a round of water dust into her weapon. She slashed her in the air, creating blades of water that smashed into Nesmith's own armor- steam was starting to arise from his body.

Nesmith growled as he quickly started to move the suit, the jets from within beginning to spin the steam around his armor and acting almost as a way to cool his suit off faster. The armor was back to normal, unharmed and powered back up to 100%. Ben growled. "Alright, maybe I should go with a more...consistent heavy hitter."

Ben slapped down the Omnitrix- the Slapbacks merged back together, forming back into Humungousaur. Humungousaur ROARED- he couldn't speak his mind, but he could sure as hell act it. Ben bulldozed his way over to Nesmith, decking him right in the face. Nesmith went falling flat to the ground, as Ben raised up his hands to smash him in further. Nesmith's gauntlets suddenly shot off his armor, quickly attaching to Ben's hands- they were cuffed together.

"I told you- this armor can handle anything." Nesmith grinned.

"Not everything." Albedo explained before suddenly activating his Ultimatrix and deciding that perhaps it was time to throw a little bit more of a wrench in the works.

Albedo shifted to that of Echo Echo, but then began to press down on the Ultimatrix symbol as his body started to glow a fluorescent red.

"The hell is THAT supposed to do!?" Nesmith laughed. "You look like a hollow statue!" Nesmith fired off a powerful blast from his chest...

Only for Ultimate Echo Echo to absorb and destroy it. Nesmith blinked.

"...what?"

Albedo said nothing, as he raised up his arms. Nesmith barely had time to respond- suddenly, his ears were being pulverized by the worst sound he'd ever heard. Everyone covered their ears to block out the attack (except Ben, sadly- his ears were taking full damage). Nesmith's boots on the suit suddenly started to spark and short out.

"AGH! WHAT THE HELL IS THAT THING-?!" Nesmith yelled as he tried to clutch at his ears through the suits.

Eventually he could hear the warning sounds of the suit beginning to lose power. Nesmith angrily started to try and push his way toward Ultimate Echo Echo, but not before yelling to his in-suit communicator.

"Shut off all limiters, put the Overlord Armour at max output. We're blowing these kids to kingdom come!"

Albedo was caught off guard- despite the blows to his armor...he was still going to try and fight back. Ben ripped the damaged cuffs off of his hand, and swung his maced tail at Nesmith's body.

The suit of armor was quick to catch Ben's tail; somehow this bastard was able to actually catch such a blow as he then aimed one arm toward Albedo, a high pitched squealing suddenly sounding out as a pin-point beam fired toward one of the speakers on Ultimate Echo-Echo's face The beam was concussive, not energy based. Albedo crashed into the side of a train, and reverted back to normal. He rubbed his head in pain.

"I'll need to go all out for this." Nesmith said, authorizing pretty much every feature in his armor to be used. "Activate Scorched Earth Protocol."

"Ohhh, that can't be good." Rex grimaced before looking at Yang. "We're gonna need more firepower, think you can handle it?" He smirked before looking up to Ben. "You too, big guy! We need to end this quickly!"

Ben just heard ringing. The full force of that sonic attack kinda made him temporarily deaf.

Ben nodded, pretending like he knew what was going on.

"...OK, I'll take that as a yes then! BREAK!" Rex then quickly rushed toward Nesmith. Rex's machine powers really came in handy here- with a touch of his hand to Nesmith's chest, more and more nanobots started to deactivate. Nesmith yelled in great rage.

"DON'T FUCK WITH MY MACHINES!" Nesmith yelled, backhanding Rex.

Holy Diver, soul survivor

You're the one who's clean

Holy Diver, Holy Diver

There's a cat in the blue coming after you, Holy Diver

"ACK-! Alright, all yours!" Yang and Ben quickly moved in tandem, with Humungosaur taking his tail and swinging it again to bat Nesmith to Yang who took a moment to quickly swing him around, firing a few shots to try and send him soaring into the skies above the stadium so the group could stop him from attacking up close

Ben slapped down the Omnitrix, transforming once more- this time, his stronger body was replaced with Upgrade's liquid body. Ben slapped down the Omnitrix again, armoring up Upgrade into his Omni Drive form.

"Really liked that hologram trick he did earlier..." Ben grinned, as his own nanobots started to form into a cannon barrage. "Wanna see MY rendition?"

"YES!" Ruby grinned.

"Oh, absolutely." Ben said, increasing the size of the cannons. "Get ready for some fireworks-!"

And suddenly, they all fired.

Nesmith let out a growl as he quickly aimed all the weapons he had toward Ben and the others, firing off any and all energy he could as he could see the large cannons firing at him, the clash of beams was enough to be seen from outside the arena's skyline

There was just one slight problem.

Upgrade could handle any tech BETTER than Nesmith could ever dream. Upgrade's cannons tripled in size once more, razing the sky and destroying all of Nesmith's weapons in one powerful blast of energy.

Nesmith let out a yell, trying his best to keep the suit powered but soon he would be sent careening back toward the snowy kingdom below. His suit having fully powered down and rendering him down for the count, crashing into one of the large airships in the junkyard where the competition began Ben huffed and puffed, reverting back to human. Ruby ran over- Ben was seriously out of breath from that powerful finale.

"You OK?" Ben asked as he just looked up at Ruby before clutching at his chest lightly and trying to keep himself upright.

"Considering the last few foes we've been up against? That guy was way easier than the Watch Collector." Ben huffed.

"Ok, but you can't just keep comparing every bad guy we come up against to a literal god." Ruby added before starting to look a little worried. "If he had managed to push you even further, I dunno what would've happened."

"Easy." Ben said. "I pick the nuclear option."

Nesmith let out a cough as he tried to get up, knowing that he wouldn't be able to until the suit was removed; but damn if he knew that this brat still meant business regardless of what was done.

Nesmith grunted, as Ben walked over. Ruby noticed something off- there was this silent rage, an undetectable fire, in his eyes. The way he stared at Nesmith was one of contempt, hatred and utter disgust.

"There." Nesmith hissed. "You beat me. You proved you were the better man."

Ben's pupils shrank. "...did you seriously think all of that was about who's better than who? Are you that stupidly braindead?"

"Yeah. You're just jealous because you'll think I'll steal your spotlight." Nesmith coughed. "You're jealous of me."

"...unless you're self projecting or majorly concussed, you're very, very dead wrong." Ben said. "I don't NEED to be told I'm a better hero. I don't need handouts, or medals, or endless worship. What I need more than anything is the assurance that people are safe."

"Pathetic. What good does it do you?" Nesmith frowned. "What do you gain?"

"No, what do YOU gain? By stopping crimes set up by your people?" Ben asked. "Jacque Schnee could've easily sent you to Mantle to deal with their problems, with their struggles, just to make a good name for himself, but YOU, YOU!" Ben's hands were trembling with rage...as Ruby put a hand on his shoulder.

"...you could've made a change." Ben said, silently glaring down at Nesmith.

"I HAVE!" Nesmith insisted. "The people of Atlas need a symbol of their people. That should be someone born and raised in Atlas. Not some…alien kid from the middle of nowhere. I'm THEIR hero!"

Ben looked furious. "Let me tell you about MY hero. He's dead. He's gone. And he was the greatest man I ever knew. Everything I've learned about being a hero comes from him, and SO, SO much more. I know how to gut a fish, how to find your way without a compass, how to pitch a tent, the beauty of the country-"

Nesmith blinked. "The hell does that have to do with heroics?"

"They humbled me." Ben said, placing his hand on his heart. "A hero isn't just someone you can look up to and pretend to be them- a hero should be someone who shapes you. A person that can be INSPIRED by what you've done or, what you've said. Living life after them." Ben began to walk away.

Nesmith frowned. "You're telling me...that even with that presto change-o wrist watch, even with infinite power, you still act human? Why? Why would you be mortal?"

Ben stopped in his tracks. He gave Nesmith another nasty look. "Power...isn't everything."

"If you just want to seek power, stockpile it and maybe mass produce it..." Ruby began. Nesmith looked offended. "Hey, I know your grubby millionaire hands would capitalize on the Omnitrix immediately..." Ruby said. "If you think a hero is just having all the power in the world...then maybe you shouldn't be one at all."

Nesmith just sat there as Ben and Ruby left. He looked down at his suit, and huffed.

"Screw it. If I'm gonna get locked up, might as well play one last song." He grumbled, punching in the last song.

Learn to love me and assemble the ways

Now, today, tomorrow and always

My only weakness is a listed crime

But last night the plans for a future war was all I saw on Channel 4

Shoplifters of the world

Unite and take over

Shoplifters of the world

Hand it over, hand it over, hand it over

Nesmith looked disappointed. "...really? The Smiths? How'd that get in there?"

Jennifer Nocturne walked over, camera crew following close behind. "A-and, in a surprising turn around, Ben Tennyson is the winner-!" Jennifer declared, awkwardly trying to play off the brutal fight. She was about to approach Ben, when Ruby stepped in between them.

Jennifer cleared her throat. "Um, hi? Excuse me. I'm trying to talk to-"

"I could peel you like a grape." Ruby threatened.

Jennifer turned pale, and turned back to the camera. "...um. No words from Mr. Tennyson." Ruby let out a disgruntled sigh as she watched Jennifer try and salvage the interview. She knew Ben didn't want to speak to the press, especially not after a fight like that.

As they walked away from the battle, Ruby glanced over at Ben. "Are you okay?"

He gave her a small smile. "I'm fine. Just…been holding a lot back. More than I thought. Thanks for dealing with Nocturne. I think I would have said a bit too much if she got any closer."

They walked in silence for a few moments, until Ruby spoke up again. "You know, you don't have to keep everything bottled up. Like…I'd be up for some venting sessions with everyone else."

Ben gave her a grateful look. "I know. It's just...sometimes it's hard to talk about everything, you know?"

"Yeah. I can't imagine how long you've been holding that rant in." Ruby said.

"I'm getting tired of dealing with Atlas," Ben admitted. "But…what other choice do we really have? Sometimes I wonder if we're really making a difference here…"

Ruby hummed. "Well…given how we've been making a lot more allies…I think we're doing something right."

Ben paused. "...you think?"

"Yeah," Ruby smiled, hand wrapping around Ben's. "I know."

Ben felt a little better after that.