CH 25: Alistair VS Ben P1 (E5)

In the middle of the desert, standing meters away from each other and quite a distance away from the RV, with the camera rolling, Alistair smirked at Ben :"You ready?" Ben grinned back :"I was born ready!" Lifting their hands, Alistair gently pressed down his watch while Ben —as usual— slammed it down.

Red and light intertwined, and the boys were replaced by aliens :"MENACE/Fourarms-" While the tiger (with pants) showed off his giant biceps menacingly with a bloodthirsty grin, Fourarms who was full of vigor suddenly lost all excitement at the sight of his opponent :"No. No, no, no. Not happening!"

"WHY, YOU SCARED?" The Appoplexian smirked smugly, causing the Tetramand to point accusingly :"When we agreed on choosing random aliens, you said nothing about choosing Menace! It's not fair!"

To have an easier conversation, without profanities and less rage, Menace turned back to Alistair. He crossed his arms, smirking :"How was I supposed to know that you'd be so scared of lil old Menace?"

"Scared?! I'm not scared of him!"

"Your acting says otherwise."

"I'm not scared of anybody!" He stomped forward, standing several meters taller as he pointed intimidatingly :"You hear? Nobody!" But Alistair, unfazed, simply smirked :"Then you should have no problem with me choosing Menace, right? Don't worry, since this is just a spar to get you to learn more about using just muscle in fights, I'll go easy on you."

"Grr, you know what?" Fourarms lower till they were face to face, whispering menacingly :"It's on, Al. Let's see who's the stronger hero between us." And the noiret smirked in provocation :"I thought we knew that answer already, Benji. Don't tell me you've gotten even dumber than you initially were?"

"Oooh, burn~!" Gwen, sitting under the shadow of the RV, smirked as she applied sunscreen on. Glaring, Fourarms stepped back to his initial place :"Oh, whatever. Not like we're planning on staying as a single alien anyway."

"You've got that right. Then let's hustle!" Without touching his Nemetrix, he transformed into Menace again :"MENACE!! LEMME TELL YOU SOMETHING, BEN TENNYSON WHO I DEEPLY CARE FOR BUT ALSO WANT TO BEAT THE SHIT OUT OF! I'M GOING TO BEAT THE SHIT OF YOU!"

Fourarms gulped, getting ready to fight as he mumbled :"Somehow, hearing him say he cares about me doesn't feel good here at all when Menace's the one saying it." Of all the aliens he wanted as an opponent, Menace wasn't one of them. No sane person would. And he had half the mind of just taking a run for it when he started sprinting at him. But not wanting to seem like a wuss, he sprinted at him as well.

He got a sucker punch to the face though. But he didn't back out. Landing an uppercut, Fourarms hit him with a left hook before getting gut checked. Spitting unintentionally from the force of the punch to his stomach, he bent over and groaned :"Those claws are seriously unfair, dude."

Menace growled in annoyance :"FINE, THEN I WON'T USE THEM SO YOU'LL STOP WHINING EVERY SECOND!" And true to his words, he retracted them. Grabbing Fourarms's head, he made him look up :"YOU CAN TASTE MY BARE KNUCKLES INSTEAD!"

And landed an uppercut that sent him flying away. Laying on his back, Fourarms groaned in pain before he was grabbed by the ankle :"W-whoaaAAAH-" And slammed to the ground before Menace threw him onto the RV.

"Hey, what are you two doing?!" Gwen gasped, quickly running away with Max :"The fight was supposed to stay away from the RV, remember?!" Max shouted :"Be careful not to hurt Rust Bucket, kids!"

Ignoring them, Menace picked up Fourarms and hugged him upside down, smiling evilly while doing so :"I'VE ALWAYS WANTED TO DO THIS MOVE! POLARIS PILE-DRIVER!!" Roaring, he jumped meters into the air and delivered the mother of all pile-drivers to Fourarms.

The ground shattered beneath them and created a small crater. It was shocking how Fourarms's head and neck weren't completely shattered. But Menace, being the menace that he was, wasn't done yet. He got up and jumped onto the RV again, before leaping into the air :"PEOPLE'S ELBOW!!"

Landing the meanest elbow drop on the Tetramand, Menace relished in the loud grunt of pain that escaped him as he turned while holding his stomach. "Seriously, dude, chill out!" Fourarms groaned, but the Appoplexian simply growled as he got up :"HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO GO EASY ON YA WHEN I'M TRYING TO TEACH YOU GRAVITY OF WHAT'S GOING ON WHEN WE GET INTO ACTION?!

HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO MAKE YOUR DUMB, EMPTY CAN YOU CALL A HEAD UNDERSTAND WHAT FIGHTING MEANS?! FIGHTING ISN'T ABOUT JUST MUSCLING EVERYTHING, YOU DUMBASS! FIGHTING IS ABOUT USING YOUR MUSCLES TO THE BEST POTENTIAL!!

BUT YOU DUMBASS DOESN'T FUCKING UNDERSTAND THAT SIMPLE FACT! YOU JUST THINK THROWING RANDOM ASS PUNCHES WILL FIX ALL THE PROBLEMS AND DEAL WITH EVERY SINGLE VILLAIN THAT PULLS UP! NEWS FLASH, IT DOESN'T!

WANNA KNOW HOW I KNOW?! IT'S BECAUSE I'VE BEEN KICKING YOUR SORRY ASS LIKE YOU'RE MY BITCH!! LIKE AN ALCOHOLIC DAD THAT HAD A SHITTIEST DAY EVER AND CAME HOME TO SEE HIS WIFE AND KIDS!

I GAVE YOU THE MASTER CONTROL SO YOU CAN TRANSFORM INTO SOMETHING ELSE WHEN YOU WERE IN A FUCKING PINCH AND THE GODDAMN ALIEN THAT YOU HAD TRANSFORMED INTO WASN'T GETTING YOU OUT OF IT! LIKE THIS FUCKING PINCH!

*Mimicking him* BUT NO, WHY WOULD I DO THAT?! FOURARMS IS OBVIOUSLY GOING TO SOLVE EVERYTHING IF I JUST MINDLESS RUN IN AND START SWINGING! I MEAN, HAVE YOU SEEN THE MUSCLES ON THIS GUY?! WHO COULD TAKE HIM ON?!

WELL, GUESS WHAT, BEN TENNYSON?! THIS GUY CAN! MENACE CAN! CAUSE YOU KNOW WHY?! CAUSE I'M HIM!! AND GUESS WHAT, YOU'RE NOT DOING SHIT WHEN ALL YOU DO IS TRYING TO DO EVERYTHING WITH YOUR STRENGTH AND COMPLETELY TURNING OFF YOUR BRAIN! YOU DON'T ACT LIKE A HERO, YOU JUST ACT LIKE A KID WHO HAS A COOL WATCH!"

"Then what do you expect me to do?!" Fourarms shouted back with a glare :"Turn into Diamondhead just so you can break my body apart?! Turn into Stinkfly to retreat while you're holding me?! Even if I had turned into Heatblast, I still wouldn't be able to escape in time!"

"YOU, HAVE, A FUCKING GHOST AS YOUR ALIEN!!" Menace roared so hard the pebbles around Fourarms's heads flew around by the sheer wind :"A GODDAMN GHOST THAT CAN TURN INTANGIBLE! DO YOU KNOW WHAT INTANGIBLE MEANS?! OR AM I SUPPOSED TO BEAT THAT INTO YOUR NONEXISTENT BRAIN TOO?!

YOU DON'T LIKE THAT?! WHAT ABOUT THE DAMN ALIEN THAT'S LITERALLY SLIME?! WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO TO THAT?! PUNCH IT?! OR WAS I SUPPOSED TO HIT IT WITH A SUPLEX?! NEWS FLASH, YOU CAN'T GRAB LIQUID! JUST LIKE HOW YOU CAN'T GRAB UPGRADE!

YOU DON'T LIKE THAT EITHER?! WHAT ABOUT GREY MATTER?! EVEN IF I COULDN'T NOT TOUCH IT, YOU COULD HAVE STILL BOUGHT ENOUGH TIME TO NOT HAVE YOUR HEAD BUSTED OPEN BY THAT PILE-DRIVER!"

"Oh..." Fourarms went silent. Even with his stupidity and immaturity, he could still see the point of whatever he said. Although it was hard since having a walking, talking tiger roaring at your face was pretty scary.

"BUT NO! NO, WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?! THOSE ALIENS ARE SIMPLY THERE FOR FUN, RIGHT?! THEY'RE THERE FOR YOU TO USE THEM ONLY FOR MESSING AROUND! LIKE, WHAT'S A GHOST SUPPOSED TO DO IN A FIGHT?!

IT'S NOT LIKE COMPLETELY IGNORING ANY ATTACKS THANKS TO BEING INTANGIBLE IS USEFUL AT ALL! WHY WOULD YOU GO INTANGIBLE WHEN YOU CAN TANK WHATEVER THE HELL HITS YOU, RIGHT?! IT'S NOT LIKE THERE ARE LASERS THAT CAN INSTANTLY VAPORIZE YOU! IT'S NOT LIKE THERE ARE ANY GENIUSES BESIDES ALISTAIR FUCKING ALIYEV OUT IN THE FUCKING UNIVERSE THAT CAN MAKE SHIT LIKE THAT, RIGHT?!

WHAT ABOUT UPGRADE?! WHAT'S THE GOOD OF THAT SLIME WALKING ON TWO LEGS?! IT'S NOT LIKE BEING ABLE TO MERGE AND LITERALLY UPGRADE ANY TECHNOLOGY IT BONDS TO IS USEFUL AT ALL! OH, IT CAN TURN A TOASTER INTO A DEADLY WEAPON?! WHAT'S THE POINT OF THAT?!

AND LET'S COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT GREY MATTER! BRAIN?! SMART?! INTELLIGENCE?! YUCK, KEEP THAT AWAY! IT'S NOT LIKE IT WAS GREY MATTER'S SPECIES THAT HAD A CRUCIAL PART IN MAKING MY AWESOME DEVICE, PANDORA'S BOX! WHY WOULD I EVER USE THAT?!

SEE MY POINT?! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ANYTHING I SAY?! CAN YOU COMPREHEND A SINGLE WORD?! YOU'RE NO HERO, BEN! YOU JUST WANNA MESS AROUND AND TRY TO SAVE THE DAY WHILE PRAYING THAT YOU'LL SUCCEED WITHOUT EVEN THINKING ABOUT YOUR NEXT MOVE!

DO YOU REALLY THINK THE VILLAINS WILL JUST WAIT AROUND?! NO, THEY'LL TRY TO DO WHATEVER THEY CAN TO SUCCEED IN WHAT THE FUCK EVER THEY'RE TRYING TO DO! DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS?! THAT MEANS THEY WON'T CARE WHO THEY WILL HURT!

AND WHOEVER GETS HURT THEN, IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO FUCKING STUPID TO COMPROMISE! TOO STUBBORN TO ADAPT! AND WHAT DOES HAPPEN THEN?! PEOPLE GET HURT! PEOPLE DIE! AND ONE DAY, IT'S —YOUR— LOVED ONES THAT WILL GET HURT!

MAX, GWEN, YOUR PARENTS?! THEY'LL BE CAUGHT IN THE CROSSFIRE AND GET HURT BECAUSE YOU WERE TOO HARDHEADED TO ADAPT TO THE SITUATION AND CHANGE YOUR TACTICS!"

Fourarms's eyes widened in horror. At first, he was getting mad. Mad that he was being yelled at for no reason. But when he began hearing what consequences he would suffer "for no reason", the reality of what he would always ignore began to sink in.

It was always like a game. The heroes showed up, boom, bam, and they won after a fight. A very fun fight. He didn't care about being hit and hurt, since nothing serious had ever happened. He had become arrogant. Always thinking some violence could solve it all.

But when he heard what could happen because of his arrogance, the lives that could be lost, the lives of his loved ones, his heart tightened on itself. Tightening with horror and guilt. Just the thought of his family being hurt hurt. Much less imagining them dying. And because of him? It was enough to nearly make him cry.

It wasn't surprising. He was a child. Not even a teen, but a simple 10 year old boy who had the biggest responsibility in the universe latched onto his wrist. Imagining anybody dying because of his arrogance, because of his ignorance, especially his family, had him shaking. The fact that Menace didn't mince a single word delivered the harsh truth even harder. It was exactly why Alistair went with Menace to give him the harsh truth.

If Ben was going to understand the weight of what he had on his shoulders, he needed to know the consequences of fooling around with it. He didn't believe in "with great power comes great responsibility", but he believed that if you chose a side, a responsibility, you needed to do your best in it. That's what responsibility meant.

Ben, even if in the form of a giant red alien, was about to cry. Tears welled up in his eyes, but he didn't want to cry. He fought back the sadness, the guilt and the tears, turning them into rage and aggression as a bright green light illuminated the place.

The next thing Menace knew was that he was blinded by a bright light and roared in pain by the intense heat that burnt him. He stepped back, feeling his fur burning throughout his entire upper body.

"SON OF A-" He patted his burning head to get rid of the fire as Heatblast's shout came :"You think I don't know that?!" Seeing a fire coming at him, Menace quickly jumped and rolled to the side :"You think I don't know what happens when I go alien?!"

Seeing another fire beam heading towards him, he growled and transformed before breathing ice. Stopping the fire by using Wynter's ice breath as Heatblast continued :"You think I don't know the responsibility I shoulder when I fight a stupid villain who only has greed in mind and doesn't care about how many lives end and are ruined because of him?!"