"Hi Julie, you've got it. I did something stupid, and you're letting me know the face," Ben greeted nervously.
"That depends. Did you kiss Jennifer Nocturne after you saved her yesterday?" Julie asked, sounding as angry as she looked
And that explained why she was here, Ben thought. After all, he hadn't broken up with Julie before he had signed up for the dating service or started dating Kim
"No, Julie, I promise she kissed me, and when she came on to me, I told her I had a girlfriend in Middleton," Ben told her. Ben watched Julie's fiery expression melt, becoming relieved
"Thank goodness I was skeptical with all the garbage Harangue is spewing about you and Danny Phantom, but Kim's my friend. I wanted to be sure."
Ben nodded before her words registered. "since when do you and Kim hang out?"
"After the high breed invasion, me Kim and Gwen, she's pretty cool," Julie answered nonchalantly with a shrug, while Ben wasn't sure how to feel about his current girlfriend, his ex-girlfriend, and his cousin hanging out
"So you got to team up with Captain Nemesis last night. Must be pretty exciting teaming up with one of your inspirations to be a hero," Julie asked, changing the subject
Ben nodded. It was pretty cool. He used to have a poster of Captain Nemesis on his wall next to Superman's.
He and the Kangaroo commando show inspired him to become a hero.
"Yeah, it was pretty cool," Ben said. "he invited me to a party tonight."
"That sounds cool. My advice is to take your actual girlfriend with you and end this rumor before it gets out of hand," Julie said.
"Good idea," Ben agreed sheepishly.
Ben called Kim to tell her about the party and ask if she could be there to dispel the rumors about him dating Jennifer.
That night, the party was in full swing at Nemesis Tower. Ben walked in with Kim on his arm. Cameras flash as reporters take pictures of the young couple
"Least you're not getting kissed by any actresses tonight," Kim said.
"I promise it'll never happen again. I'm only interested in kissing my actual girlfriend," Ben promised. Kim smiled, leaning up. She kissed him. Ben smiled, kissing her back.
Jennifer Nocturne watched the two teens kiss, and she jealously frowned at Kim.
The photographers went crazy seeing the kiss
When the couple pulled apart, Ben noticed Captain Nemesis, and Ben walked over to say hi.
"Well, Ten Bennyson, you seem quite popular with the ladies," Ben idol said
"It's Ben Tennyson, actually," Ben corrected. "I was actually hoping that I could get some advice. You've always been public with your identity. I was wondering how."
"How do I handle the press?" Captain Nemesis asked knowingly. Ben nodded
"Any advice you could give, I'd really appreciate it," Ben replied. "I asked my girlfriend Kim first, but she never had problems with the press."
Captain Nemesis frowned briefly
"Well, young Bennyson, the key is taking control of the narrative. Every man is the star of their own story. You're the one who should narrate it, not anyone else," his hero advised. "now that video reel of you causing some property damage is less than ideal; my good friend Mr. Incredible got into some trouble over it back in the day."
Ben nodded. He'd remembered learning about the superhero relocation act back in the day, how the government offered superheroes who'd gotten sued full pardons in exchange for walking away from their alter egos
Mr. Incredible, the strongest human alive according to some people on the internet, had beat Superman in a fight and one of the greatest heroes was one of the first to get sued
"Take another hero from my glory days, for example, Thunderhead tall storm powers, nice man good with kids. The one thing people remember about him is how he passed away four years ago. This cape snagged on a missile, and he should've called himself dunderhead if you ask me."
Ben frowned, mocking a fellow superhero who'd died in the line of duty. That didn't sound right
Maybe he was joking, though Captain Nemesis had previously worked with many heroes. Maybe that's just an old joke between them or his way of processing his grief
"What'd be a good way to change how the press sees you? A little friendly competition between you and me. Think about it: the legend and the legend in the making going head to head. We could do it for charity. People go nuts when people like us donate to the less fortunate."
Ben nodded. That sounded like a great idea
"Great, let's do it," Ben agreed
Maybe Ben probably shouldn't have agreed to that contest at first; he thought that it was going well-having fun, but the more the competition went on, the angrier the captain had gotten
Now, Kim and Jennifer had been kidnapped by someone Ben used to look up to. "Nice entrance from Tev Benndyon," Captain Nemesis said mockingly. His armor was glowing a bright red
Ben frowned, not bothering to correct him again. "where are they?"
"Look at you trying to be a hero telling me what to do," he said with a scowl
"Says the man who hired thugs to kidnap an actress," Ben replied angrily
"You want to be a hero; go ahead and pick," he declared. A spotlight shone on his statue. Hanging from each of the statues was one of the kidnapped girls
"You're the narrator of your story. Who will the great ten Bettyson choose to save, the teen hero who will make him leave him in the shadows or the arm candy that will help him fix his reputation that the press has dragged through the mud?" he asked
"Don't do it!" Ben shouted as Captain Nemesis fired a laser on the line, sending the girls plummeting two stories toward the grounds. Turning on the Ultimatrix, Ben turned into Goop catching his girlfriend bridal style
"Thanks for the save," Kim said.
"No big," Goop replied
"What about Jennifer," Kim asked
"The big difference between Nemesis and me is I have help," Goop said. Gwen and Kevin helped Jennifer to her feet, freeing her from the restraints
"Noo," Nemesis growled, his armor glowing as he unleashed a powerful blast. Gwen brought up a shield that buckled under the power but stayed strong.
Sweat poured down his cousin's face. "he's like a furnace."
"It's that armor. It's overloading. If he keeps this up, he'll blow up the entire block."
"You have to take off the armor," Ben called out, trying to warn him
"Don't tell me what to do, you ungrateful little brat. I waited fifteen years for that stupid law to be repealed to be back in the spotlight where I belonged. I had it planned, but you, some snot-nosed brat with a magic watch, just had to reveal his identity and upstage me," he ranted
"It was bad enough being second fiddle to that blonde dolt incredible and the alien from the metropolis but a kid who had the gall to pretend to be my fan while standing in my way. I can't believe I wasted my life protecting people like you. From now on, call me Overlord."
Ben frowned, turning into Water Hazard, and blasted the armor with cold water. The conflicting temperatures embittered the metal, removing all the moisture that destroyed it.
Before Overlord could react, Ben moved in and hit him, changing back and grabbing him by the collar
"How could you? You were a hero. You fought alongside Mr. Incredible Frozone and Hypershock to stop Baron Von Ruthless' doomsday machine. I looked up to you. I wanted to be a hero like you. Could you do this?" Ben demanded to know
"Sorry you had to deal with that," Danny said the next day, sitting across from Ben at Mr. Smoothie
"Yeah, I wanted to be a hero just like him when I grew up," Ben said. "One of my heroes was a royal jerk who'd stage crimes to get in the spotlight."
"Grow up," Danny asked skeptically before shaking his head
"Dude, you're already a better hero than you were when you were ten years old. You found one of the most powerful devices in the universe when you were ten, and you decided to become a hero and help people."
Danny laughed. "well, after setting a forest fire."
"Accidentally," Ben said, laughing with his friend
"Thanks, man," Ben said
"Anytime, dude," Danny said
Ben got up. He had to get back for his date with Kim at Cafe Les Fleurs and was about to fly off when an alarm went off. Robbers in purple drove Off, followed by the police
Danny and Ben looked at each other. "you thinking what I'm thinking?" Ben asked
"Don't you have a date with Kim?" Danny asked
"I've got time," was his reply
Danny looked around, seeing no one around. "I'm going ghost," he called out, transforming
"It's hero time," Ben called out, transforming into Jetray
The two fly off after the robbers.
Ben was finishing off the last bit of his third smoothie, frustrated
"Want to talk about it?" Gwen asked
"Not really" Ben answered. "I'm just mad about the whole thing."
"What's there to talk about? The guy didn't care and was only in it for glory and fame," Kevin added. "You can find people like that in every law enforcement agency."
"There always are rotten apples in every bunch," a new voice said. Ben turned to see an old man in a plain brown suit walk over. "would you mind if I join you, Ben?"
"Depends. How do you know my name?" Ben asked suspiciously, reaching for the Ultimatrix
"I've known who you were for a long time, Ben, ever since you first found the Omnitrix," the old man answered, sitting down. My name is Rick Dicker. I used to work for an agency that helped superheroes."
"Relocating the ones were part of the superhero relocation act, you mean?" Kevin cut in, "You worked for the NSA."
"The law they repealed about superheroes who got sued over a lot of property damage," Ben asked
"The same though we did more than that as I was saying; I've known who you were for some time. You were more scrambling footage concealing identities, offering support when needed, financial or otherwise." Dicker smiled. There was a hint of exasperation. And nostalgia in his smile
"You weren't half bad at concealing your identity. I've known heroes four times your age who've had problems with that."
"You keep using the past tense. What happened?" Gwen asked
"The government happened. People in Washington couldn't understand the idea of people for nothing in return, and still can't even after the Screenslaver incident. It's why I came, Ben. I wanted to apologize." he twisted his straw around his smoothie
"Back before we could have made sure your identity never ended up getting exposed, we've done it before," Dicker apologized
"It's fine, not your fault," Ben replied. Dicker reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a business card
"If you ever need anything, I'm still owed some favors by people in Washington," Dicker told him. Ben nodded
"I appreciate that, thank you." Ben took the card and put it in his wallet
As Dicker stood up, "Well, it was a genuine pleasure to meet you and to thank you for everything you've done."
Dicker walked off
"Gahh," Humongasaur yelled, crashing into a parked truck. A metal claw grabbed him, lifting him and tossing him
The arm was attached to a two-story tall robot, all black with a round body and a little head with a glowing red eye moving around on four legs on a video screen on its chest was Will Harangue
"Had enough yet because surrender isn't an option for a menace like you," Harrangue said
Humongasaur pushed himself up onto his feet
"You know they've got words for what you're trying to do, Harrangue child murder," Humongasaur growled
"Evil has no legal age. If you were truly innocent, you'd give up your weapon to the people who can properly use it," Harrangue retorted. A turret came out of the robot's head
Kevin yelled, leaping onto the robot's head and smashing the turrets to bits before Harrangue grabbed and tossed him down. The metal claws began spinning like a drill aimed at Keven's heart
"No!" Humongasaur yelled, changing into Big Chill and grabbing Kevin before the claw could impale him
"Adding being a mutie lover to your lists of crimes, Tennyson," Harrangue sneered
"You know you make me sick, you know that Harrangue? I've looked up your past reports of mutant registration calling the people who found baby Superman when he landed on earth that they deserve life in prison and that Marshall law needs to be declared so the army can hunt down anyone with powers that the superhero relocation act wasn't enough that all superheroes needed to be locked up so they couldn't spread their diseased genes to normal people they and anyone who associated with them
The more Ben read, the more he wished he had a mind-wiping alien so he could erase what he'd read about Harrangue from his brain
Some of the stuff made Vilgax look humane
Harangue didn't look apologetic. "I spoke the truth," he brought down his claws. Kevin got up, absorbing the robot's plating. Kevin grits his teeth, his hands crushing into the claw as he pushes back. Big Chill took a deep breath and unleashed a cloud of freezing mist
"No opinions, big difference," Kevin retorted
The robot heated up, melting the ice
That's how it had been
Every alien had been countered and neutralized
Speaking of which, the robot rolled forward big like a freight train. Big Chill grabbed Kevin, flying away
"It's like this thing knows what I'm going to do before I do it."
"It's analyzing my moves and predicting what I'll do before I do them, but with you, it's different," Kevin added. "Dude, the videogame"
"I should have known the video game was too good to be true. That means it knows all my aliens."
Kevin smirked, getting an idea. "not all your enemies."
Ben grinned, remembering transforming. "Nanomech," he called out in a tinny voice before flying towards the robot, shrinking down frying systems, destroying machinery, and tearing it apart from the inside
Especially when, through its hard drive, Ben had seen WHAT this machine had been used for
To hunt down and kill superheroes how after it'd been damaged, it'd been repaired and sold in the black market to Harangue
Nanomech unleashed his fury, destroying the robot
Flying out, changing back to Ben, he reached into his wallet and pulled out the card. "Agent Dicker, this is Ben Tennyson. About those friends in Washington, are any of them in the FBI."
Ben and Kim were on a date. Ben was in a much better mood than the last time he'd been here, not just because he was with his girlfriend.
After calling agent Dicker Harrangue had been arrested on live TV for attempted child murder, buying a weapon of mass destruction from the black market, and lying on his taxes
Yeah, his die-hard supporters were trying to say Ben had framed him, but they were a minority, not the majority, and people were moving on from Ben's identity to other stuff
Things were looking up for Ben Tennyson