A.N: Yeah I'm really sorry for the big delay. Shit happened but I'm not gonna bore you nor excuse myself. Read the AN at the end if you're interested for more disclosure.

P.S: this is a really long chapter - probably my longest. (Over 14k)

"Yatta!"

"Somebody help Saji-kun wake up!"

If you're wondering why this short-stack dressed in a fancy kimono is enthusiastically throwing her fist up in the air, and the passed-out blondie lying on the ground with several girls attending him; let's dial back a few minutes.

A minute or two earlier.

"Might as well introduce ourselves to the whole world if this keeps on going. I can't believe how many people we got to meet on our first day -and more to be added," You guys kinda did, Kirito, but hopefully nobody noticed.

"But meeting new people is always good if they're nice! You never know, they might help you in the future if they take a liking to you!" Asta voiced his opinion. I wish everyone shared your viewpoint, Asta, because the world definitely would've become a better place.

"S-scary t-t-tigers... D-d-d-don't eat m-me!" Isagi was having nightmares while still being carried by Four Arms like a sack of potatoes. Looks like Rath gave him one heck of a PTSD.

"...Is he gonna be okay?" Pointing at the traumatized teen, Shoto spoke with his usual lackadaisical tone that lacked any concern -despite genuinely being concerned for the dragon boy.

"He'll be fine; don't worry about him," said Four Arms in his gruff voice before entering the room. One fact to note is that the restaurant's personnel didn't seem to mind Ben's appearance. Whether or not they're in the know or just charmed to not pay any heed to them is up in the air.

Upon entering the room, the chat group was met with the stares of the ORC, the second-year Sitri servants, Azazel, and the previously mentioned short-stack.

WOOSH!

The kimono-wearing short-stack had a gleam in her eyes before dashing toward the otherworldly people and appearing before them in the blink of an eye as she began inspecting them while gushing like a kid in a candy store.

'Holy shit she's fast!' thought Asta as he sweats a bit. While the other three could also tell that she was really fast, they couldn't tell how much because they weren't using their powers whereas Asta's senses are more potent than theirs.

"Ben Tennyson."

"Kazuto Kirigaya."

"Asta."

"Shoto Todoroki."

The supposed Maou said their names in full. Not gonna lie, it made the group kinda creeped out.

'This woman is freakishly scary for how cute she is,' Kirito thought while having a sweatdrop. Meanwhile, a dark aura surrounded the Maouas she let out some creepy slasher film laughter.

"Kukuku... Finally,"

'It's like she's possessed by a demon -oh wait, she is the demon.' Ben said inwardly before continuing, 'But isn't she supposed to be a chipper magical girl? Then why the heck is she acting like a slasher movie serial killer now?'

His doubts would soon be quenched as Serafall Leviathan regained her chipper mood and said something that would bring more horror to Ben and Kirito than the fate of the slasher film protagonists.

"I can make the grand crossover for the Levi-tan: The Magical Girl and the Oppai Dragon kids' shows!"

Serafall made contact with some of the greatest producers from several realms to create the biggest kids' movie in the entirety of history ever as soon as she heard about their new guests from Azazel. She couldn't wait to get in action after this Kyoto shenanigan gets dealt with.

"Surely, you don't want us to–" Kirito tried politely declining the incoming business deal with her, but before he could do so, Asta butted in.

"I don't know what a "kids' show" is but if it involves making kids happy then I'm all in for it!"

'You and your big fu–!' Ben almost dropped the F-bomb; the keyword "almost", because he got interrupted by Sitri group's blonde dude - Saji Genshirou.

"Hey, wait a minute! Is no one gonna point out the elephant in the room?!"

He was met with utter silence.

The Dragon King host then nervously continued,

"I mean, are any of you sure these guys are the genuine article? There's no way they're real!"

WOOSH

At that moment, a green light illuminated the area, which alerted the other devils unfamiliar with Ben's power but soon calmed down when they noticed it was him. The Alien Hero then spoke without letting the blondie respond,

"Benjamin Kirby Tennyson, aka Ben Ten, Galaxy's greatest Hero; at your service."

"Oh, Sitri-sama..."

It was Saji's last words before he fell unconscious right beside Issei. Seeing Ben's human form was the last straw holding his sanity in check. Vritra's host couldn't believe three famous characters from very popular anime series, and one of the best main protagonists of Western cartoons' golden era; were standing right before him. His peerage-mates didn't pay much attention to the otherworldly group - mostly because they didn't know enough about Shounen series to care about their origin. All that aside though, the Sitri girls went to immediately help the shocked Dragon King host.

"...I'm starting to think we shouldn't go anywhere without a proper coverup."

Finally, someone with a normal common-fucking-sense is in this room full of insanity.

"Good point Shoto, but we didn't have enough time to make one," said Kirito before continuing inwardly, 'Besides, I think it's good to be known here; we can make a lot of allies because of our connection with Issei, and gain help from our supernatural fans as well.'

Ironic coming from Kirito - who's the most infamous member after Issei (in other worlds, not in DxD). It's not that Kirito is a bad character - far from it; the light novels were very well received but the anime (the more well-known form of SAO) butchered his character by removing his inner monologues and ruined the plot to a degree. Thus, SAO became one of the most infamous series and the originator of Isekai Harem clones.

Anyway, a little time skip.

"So, the Khaos Brigade's Hero faction is the one behind this?"

Serafall didn't have her happy-go-lucky attitude anymore, she was here to have a meeting with the Dai Youkai of the West Kyoto Youkai faction, Yasaka, the nine-tailed fox. If something happened to her, it would be a huge problem, so they must act accordingly and save her.

"It was definitely them. Their leader, Cao Cao, h-had 'it'... That s-spear still gives me shivers every time I think about it," Issei, after waking up, said in a very scared tone while gripping hard on his clothes. Almost having your one-eyed snake pulverized by that spear wasn't the best of memories, after all.

"Hey, cheer up Ise! At least you can brag about having survived the strongest Holy Relic,"

"Hmm hmm! Not even most Ultimate-class Devils get to face the True Longinus and live to tell the tale, Ise-san!"

Issei appreciated Xenovia and Asia trying to cheer him up, but he knew that he didn't honestly face the guy; although it's true that just staying near that thing is dangerous for nearly all Devils.

"Thanks, girls... But it wasn't me who fought Cao Cao," said Issei before pointing at Ben.

"Eh?!"

Aside from Kiba and Saji who knew of Ben's strength after watching his show when they were kids, the rest of the Sitri group and the ORC couldn't believe that a human(?) could face off against the strongest Longinus.

"Ha! He was pretty good, not gonna lie, but I faced stronger people before!"

However, in the back of his mind, he was feeling uneasy about that guy. His martial prowess far outclassed his and that spear's holy light would've been a big pain in the butt had he not turned into Chromastone. Ben wasn't sure if he could even beat the guy without bringing out the big guns.

All that aside though, the way he carried himself was the most puzzling thing about him. The Alien Hero could tell that Cao Cao knew he wouldn't be able to beat him -let alone with him and Issei combined! But his confidence suggested that there was a hidden card up his sleeve that they wouldn't know about till the fated moment.

Here comes the weird part. If his trump card is related to the experiment and the Kyuubi, why would Cao Cao bother going through with it even though it won't be enough to defeat him? From what little research he did, a Kyuubi has around one or two Dragon Kings' levels of strength -which Way Big would be enough if anything near that power level comes after him. Is he underestimating him? Who knows, but Ben knows that he can surely win this if this is Cao Cao's strategy against him.

Unless there's something else playing at hand...

'Whatever he's planning, I must be careful. He's dangerous,'

Said Ben inwardly before entertaining the DxD crew with the tale of his adventure.

"...One time as Rath I jumped down the throat of a huge alien and rescued the marshmallow aliens' prince. Then I threatened the guy that if he tried anything like that, I'd rearrange his insides and make a sweater out of them,"

Before could anyone be amazed or disgusted at him, Issei became horrified as he remembered that Ben said something similar to him. So he shakingly asked,

"Y-you didn't mean it, d-did you..?"

"Haha! Who knows? Maybe you shouldn't push your luck, Issei."

Hearing Ben's nonchalant answer when he smiled like it was no big deal didn't really reassure the pervy dragon...

"Ahem... I think we're getting a bit sidetracked here. Anyway, you kids better focus on your trip and have fun; we grown-ups will handle it. The situation is too dangerous for you Devil folks." said Azazel after grabbing everyone's attention.

The DxD students nodded. It wasn't that they were cowards to oppose him, but rather they weren't idiots to risk getting vaporized by Cao Cao.

Azazel then looked at Ben and said, "Tennyson and co, you also aren't obliged to help, so feel free to enjoy your stay here in Kyoto. We can handle this."

"Yeah! We'll show them what the magical girl Levi-tan is capable of!" said Serafall cheerfully as she made a peace sign over her eyes, but she got quickly shot down by the Governor.

"No, you're staying here to calm down the other diplomats, Serafall."

"Why you're leaving me with the boring job?!" she complained while pouting. Of course, she knew why but she also wanted to be in the action.

"Because the True Longinus is still very dangerous for a Satan class," said Azazel.

In response, the self-proclaimed Maou Shojou sighed while complying with the Fallen Angel's request.

"Fine, just make sure you kick their butts!"

"So does that mean I can help you guys?" Suddenly, Ben asked with his usual confident smirk. It's not because of his ego that he volunteered to help solo. No, in fact; he doesn't want to put his new friend in danger.

"Are you sure about that? I don't want you to miss out on your vacation just to help us with something we can handle," Although Azazel appreciated his kindness, he didn't want to put any burdens on his otherworldly guests with something he could deal with.

"Thanks, but because of my job as a Hero I'm not letting that light stick-wielding poser hurt innocent lives," He was serious about facing him again - it didn't matter what tricks he'd use to gain the upper hand, the Alien Hero will overcome it!

"I was curious about all of this Isekai stuff so I just went with the flow. However, now that I have new comrades to protect I'm willing to lend my hand to them whenever I can. We're not Devils so it should be fine for us, right?"

"As the future Wizard King of my world, I must establish official diplomatic relationships with my friends! So count me in to help y'all!"

Both Kirito and Asta chimed in due to not wanting to be seen as lower than Ben. It hurt their pride a little but they understood where Ben came from -their first clash with the Hero faction wasn't ideal, after all. But this time, things will be different. Asta even said his most academic sentence.

Unlike these two though, Shoto was in deep thought. Ironically, he's the youngest as well as (probably) the weakest person here but he still wanted to help these guys out. After all, his main reason as to why he came here is...

"I know I'm not as strong as them, Azazel-san, but please use my power as you see fit. I want to know if my ambitions still ring true," said Shoto while looking at his left hand.

His ambitions are fairly obvious at face value if you watched/read MHA. Despite that though, there's a deeper layer to them that even he doesn't remember -for now.

'Typical Shounen protagonists...' thought both Kiba and Saji simultaneously. Out of everyone here (aside from Serafall and Azazel), they were the ones with the most knowledge about the chat group members. And seeing their resolve did remind them of a certain Oppai Dragon...

Meanwhile, the rest of the DxD crew were so impressed by their selflessness that it made Issei speak up as well,

"Then I'm also-!"

But then he got interrupted by the chat group's admin.

"Nuh-uh you're not going anywhere Issei, don't wanna get your precious one-eyed snake atomized for real now, do ya?"

The Sekiryuutei gulped. Yeah, he clearly didn't want to experience that again. Before he could back down though, Azazel sighed and said,

"I won't refuse your help, however, I won't bother you guys if it doesn't come down to it."

"Deal."

Time skip.

"Man, I seriously wanna have a private talk with the person that invented wasabi paste. It tasted like crap on fire!" complained Ben. Even though he did enjoy Japan's cuisine, he didn't take a liking to the substance from hell.

"You mean the green stuff?They tasted great though," said Asta with a quizzical face. Of course, the bullhead would love spicy food.

"Eh, you'll get used to it, but it's essential to eat it when having sushi to fight off the bacteria from the raw fish." nonchalantly responded Kirito while using a toothpick.

"..." Meanwhile, Shoto said nothing while drinking a cup of matcha tea. The reason why only the four of them are still here is that they decided to stay for extra desserts and discuss things for tomorrow, whereas the Kuoh staff and students had to leave for the hotel earlier.

"Then why not cook the fish instead?" Ben chugged down a big glass of Japan's special matcha smoothie as he retorted. Contrary to his expectations, it tasted really good.

"Don't ask me, ask my dead ancestors about why they decided to create it," Kirito wasn't a cooking nerd to know about such things, after all.

"Anyway, what y'all guys are thinking about doing after our training session with the ORC? I'll probably hang around with Azazel and Rossweisse."

"So you wanna ask her out, huh? Surely, the mightiest Hero in the galaxy wouldn't be afraid to venture into the hearts of women?" The Black Swordsman teased the Hero with a Cheshire-like grin.

"W-what the heck Kirito?!" A question like that definitely caught him off guard, however, he soon calmed down before responding properly, "...no. I don't want to rush things like that; it wouldn't feel organic. We'll just hang out with each other and see where it goes after all things are said and done,"

Kirito nodded with a thumbs up before replying, "That's the spirit," but then he recalled what Ben asked them if he didn't interrupt him. "oh! By the way, before you came here with Issei, the rest of us decided that we'd be touring Kyoto on ourselves - with disguise, of course."

"Even though I know zilch about all these technological advancements, they all seem so exciting!" As Asta stated; he indeed knew almost nothing about the modern world so he was dying to experience it with the guidance of his new friends.

"I wouldn't mind a change of pace after all the ruckus from yesterday," said Shoto while taking another sip from his matcha tea.

"Gee, thanks for not inviting me guys."

"Well, we were thinking of inviting you as well but looks like you got your own plans."

Before the admin and the vice-admin could continue their banter any further, Asta interrupted them with a panicked face.

"Ehhh... Does anyone feel a very super scary aura approaching us?"

Being the only one with Ki sensing among the group, and due to the amount of Ki being significantly more in Issei's world compared to his; Asta's senses were further enhanced so he could sense the incoming calamity.

The duo then began thinking about what kind of threat might approach them while Shoto was calmly drinking his tea. It only took a few moments for them to conclude who was emitting this foreboding aura. Color drained from their faces as they both simultaneously whispered,

"Hide."

"Gah!"

With only Shoto not having a sense of self-preservation - as he just sat there and continued drinking, the others tried to hide themselves from the disaster (keyword: "tried").

"Hi hi hi...eh?"

Serafall entered the room in a manner befitting a slasher movie serial killer - only to get confused when she saw just Shoto having tea without the others being there. Her lips then curled up into a gentle smile before asking the dual-quirked boy,

"Did you see where the others went, Shoto-kun?"

"No."

He answered with such aloofness that it would've made everyone think he was dead serious; had it not been for a single sweat on his forehead.

'Your sacrifice won't be in vain, Shoto!' thought the rest of the gang.

"Hmmm... It's admirable that you got your friends' back Shoto-kun, but lying is not good you know?"

One moment, she was there right in front of Shoto, and the next, she appeared in front of the closet which had the silhouette of three different people on it. Just her speed alone made him widen his eyes as he said inwardly, 'She's stupidly fast.'

While she stood there, a couple of whisperings could be heard from within the closet.

"You don't think she found us, did she?"

"If you two don't stop whispering, then yes."

"Guys... she's right here."

Looks like the murde- *ahem*- Magical Girl Levi-tan found her new victims!

"Found you~!"

"Kyaaa!"

Girlish screams rang out as soon as Serafall opened the god dang door. Just the thought of being forced into one of her kids shows scared Ben and Kirito shitless; plus her acting like a serial killer added another point. Whereas Asta just went along with them even though he didn't understand why they were scared in the first place.

"...I'm surrounded by idiots," muttered Shoto under his breath.

He failed to acknowledge he's a one as well because he jumped into a life-or-death situation without even bothering to think too much of it.

One minute later...

"Please! I beg of you! Not as a Maou, but as a producer full of dreams to help me with this project!"

After everyone calmed themselves down, Serafall asked the chat group members for their help by bowing ninety degrees. Honestly, it made them feel bad about her as she threw out her pride like that and begged them. Few seconds of contemplation and Ben sighed before saying,

"Fine, we'll do it."

"Yay! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" The self-proclaimed magical girl got so excited that she couldn't contain herself and immediately began shaking Ben's hand - which embarrassed him to some degree but it didn't bother him.

Kirito gave Ben a look that said "Are you sure about that?".

"I did a couple of gigs for some charity events, and can't say I didn't have fun while playing with kids," said Ben with a smirk on his face while glancing at Kirito.

The latter also sighed before giving his own answer, "I think it wouldn't hurt us to entertain a few kids,"

"Yosh! I'm also in!" Asta agreed to join as well.

"...To be honest, I'm not quite sure why should I join this gig in the first place," Shoto voiced his doubts. Of course he would, it's obvious why: because his real part in the MHA plot hasn't even started yet.

Everyone aside from Icy-Hot looked at each other, before facing the said dual-quirked boy. Should they spoil him?

As if reading their thoughts, Shoto frowned as he stated, "I'd appreciate it if you guys don't spoil me, thank you very much."

Then something quite surprising happened. Ben's Omnitrix changed colors from green to yellow and beeped a few times before the cylinder popped up as it began scanning the pure-blooded Satan-class Devil in front of him from head to toe. Serafall got confused whereas Ben looked interested.

"Eh?"

"Well, color me surprised."

It continued scanning her for a few seconds before the Omnitrix returned to its default state. Silence ensued for a minute or two after the scan's completion.

"Hmmm... what did that thing do?" Asta broke the silence by voicing his question.

"It means that Ben can turn into a Devil now," Kirto beat Ben to the punch by answering first before the latter could explain it to Asta.

"Ho? Interesting... Hey, Ben, do you know what kind of Devil you'll be? Because there are some strict rules when it comes to Devils' physiology, for example: non-born Low-class and Middle-class Devils will become Strays if they don't have a master to control their mana flows. As for Strays, they're basically the hideous, monstrous Devils you all hear about in legends, but they still do keep some of their sanity intact to be considered sentient."

Ben appreciated the small info that Serafall gave him. If worse comes to worst and his Devil form is indeed Low-class, then he'd still retain his sanity, though he might become a little unhinged; just like Rath.

"Thanks, but I think it's getting late now. We'll head for the hotel now if you wouldn't mind,"

"No problem. Pleasure doing business with ya!"

With another handshake, the chat group members and the Maou parted off as a new day awaited them.

.

.

.

"Huh, this is pretty neat for an underground training facility,"

Just as Kirito mentioned, they're at the training facility built under the hotel for the security staff to train themselves if they ever feel rusty. It was pretty massive, likely a few times larger than the hotel itself, so it must've been constructed via magic. Despite the walls being ordinary, they were coated with many complex barriers in case somebody accidentally let out a huge attack. And in terms of equipment, it's pretty much filled with anything you can imagine a supernatural training facility might have.

"Well, we will face the Khaos Brigade if things turn south, so it'd be a waste if we don't make use of it." Xenovia firmly voiced her opinion. She wanted to ready herself for any situation to protect herself, but she also wanted to test her skills against Asta and Kirito even though her main sword wasn't repaired yet.

"I'm calling dibs on the sparring area, it's been a few months since I had a real fight so I need to prepare myself," Ben jumped in the arena and started stretching himself as he waited for somebody to be his opponent.

"Anyone willing to fight him?" Kiba asked and almost everyone shook their heads. He also didn't want to fight Ben because he knew he'd get wrecked, although he did want to have a front-row seat in seeing Ben in action.

Then somebody quite unexpected hopped in the ring as they didn't expect the guy to have the guts to face The Alien Hero.

"Ahhh! I might regret this, but there's no way better than this to train my three forms."

It was none other than Issei, The Oppai Dragon.

"Heh, don't disappoint me Issei,"

"Oh, I'll do more than that!" Issei declared before summoning his Boosted Gear and calling out to Asia, "Asia! Buchou's patch."

"Hai!" The former-nun-turned Devil brought out a golden patch that had the Gremory family's insignia on it. It's basically a permit that allows Issei to Promote himself to the Evil Pieces without needing Rias to be present. Handy in situations like these.

"Yosh! I'm gonna give it my all, Tennyson! Balance Breaker!" Red armor plates covered Issei as he activated his Balance Breaker. No matter what, he'll try to come out victorious in this sparring match - but he also mustn't use his Queen form due to his training, so he'd have to settle with Knight, Rook, and Bishop.

"The same goes for me as well, Issei," replied Ben with a confident smirk as he didn't waste a second to turn on his Omnitrix and quickly chose the optimal Alien for this battle. Slamming the cylinder as he did so.

"Diamondhead!"

With the green light dissipated, a bipedal being made of entirely crystals was in place of Ben with two big shards of crystals growing on his back as well. He wore a sleeveless black shirt with one large green stripe down the middle up to his belt and black pants. And the Omnitrix symbol was on his belt.

"Promotion: Bishop!"

BLAST!

BLAST!

Issei went on the offensive as soon as Ben transformed into one of his aliens. Bishop increases his magical stats by quite a large margin so he threw a couple of Dragon Shots at Diamondhead for his opening move.

But...

BOOM!

...the Dragon Shots ricocheted off from the alien's smooth body and hit the area near him instead of damaging him. It didn't matter to him though, as this is exactly what Issei wanted.

"Trying to obscure my vision, huh?" Yes, because of the explosive power behind Issei's Dragon Shots, it resulted in dust and ash filling the whole arena.

Issei, instead of normally answering him, decided to talk with his fist.

"Promotion: Knight!" Knight makes Issei almost as fast as Kiba, so there's no way for Ben to react to him in time. Making a beeline towards Diamondhead, Issei cocked his arm for a devastating punch. Ben also got ready to take on Issei's punch since the former could sense the pervy dragon rushing at him in a straight line.

WOOSH!

However, what he didn't anticipate, is that it was a feint! Due to his immense speed, Issei could circle around Ben at the last second to throw him off-guard and make it look like he just disappeared and reappeared behind him.

"This is too easy!" yelled Issei before sending a heavy straight punch onto Diamondhead's back.

.

.

.

Despite the momentum he gathered with Knight's speed, it did nothing against the Petrosapien. Not even a scratch nor a single budge.

"Hmm, did you even touch me?" Diamondhead looked back at Issei mockingly.

'Oh shit! H-he's super hard!' screamed Issei inwardly. It seems that Knight would be useless here, so he must resort to Rook to face off against Ben in his current form.

While Issei was lost in his own world and began formulating a plan to beat Ben, the latter took advantage of it as he grew a large stump of crystal from his back and hit Issei square in the face with it.

BAAM!

As he sent the Sekiryuutei across the arena, Diamondhead turned around and leaped toward him by using the stump he created under himself as a springboard. He then shouted as he positioned himself to hit Issei with a Superman punch, "Don't get distracted!"

"Kuh! I'm just getting started! Promotion: Rook!" The third piece, Rook, gives him a huge boost in strength and endurance, letting him plant his feet whilst in midair to slow himself down as he skidded the rest of the way. Issei then crossed his arms together as he readied himself to take on Ben's strike.

BAAM!

Shockwave erupted as Diamondhead's fist clashed with Issei's armor. It pushed back the latter for quite a bit while the former pushed himself even further to make Issei's back hit the wall.

"Not so tough now are ya?!" Issei mocked Ben as his attack did nothing against him while grinning behind his helmet.

"Hah! Let's see if you can handle one of my Carat-e moves," After making this terrible pun, Diamondhead grabbed Issei's arm.

'What is he doing now?' Sekiryuutei asked himself before he got terrified when he saw the answer for himself. As soon as the shapeshifter took hold of him, his armor immediately began getting covered with crystals at an alarming rate. He had to quickly do something!

"Fuck it,"

Issei had never been a planner guy so he decided to discard planning and improvise instead. By the time he reached this conclusion, one of his arms was entirely entrapped due to Ben's crystallization - but he didn't panic yet, as he was about to turn this into an opportunity.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]

With a couple of boosts, he brought his leg up from the ground and kneed Ben in the gut with his full strength.

"Gah!"

Diamondhead's grip loosened for a bit, so Issei successfully managed to take control of his arm back. However, he wasn't finished yet, as he used the same arm that got entrapped in the crystal as a club to deck Ben in the face.

"AHHH!"

[EXPLOSION!]

BOOM!

Resulting in Ben getting sent away to the other side of the arena and crashing in on its wall, which left a big crater on it.

"Oof. Now that hurt," As Issei hit him pretty hard in the face, it took a few moments for Ben to recover himself. But he was met with a small annoyance.

CRRNCH!

The two shards on his back got stuck on the wall.

"Dammit,"

And unfortunately, Issei took advantage of this and rushed in to give Ben another taste of his mean fists. However, Diamondhead wasn't having it.

"No, you don't!"

A humongous crystal formation grew in front of Ben's foot and continued doing so as it headed toward Issei at a rapid pace. That's right, even though at first glance Diamondhead may look like a close-range fighter, it's actually stronger when used in long-range but that doesn't mean it's a pushover if the situation needs him to be one.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]...

Instead of sidestepping or dodging as a normal person should, Issei ignited his thrusters even further after a few more boosts. He didn't want to hold back, after all - aside from not being able to use Queen due to his training, but that's beside the point.

SHATTER!

Fists coated with ancient dragon armor met crystals strong enough to be one of the galaxy's toughest minerals. As you might've heard, Issei managed to break through his way into the crystal formation because of the immense strength that his Boosted Gear and the Rook piece provided him. While Issei continued punching his way towards Ben as the crystals still kept coming at him, but it wasn't enough to keep the Sekiryuutei at bay.

Diamondhead knew this, so he opted to take it up a notch. Two large shards grew from the wall to his sides and got launched at Issei after he snapped his fingers as they homed in on the Oppai Dragon.

Although it may have looked like Issei was too focused on reaching Ben, and as if he had eyes from his back, he flipped back to avoid the two crystal missiles from behind.

"You have to do better than that to get me, Ben!" However, his confidence was short-lived as two new crystal formations came rushing at him from different sides as well and a lot more homing crystal missiles were chasing after him. Gritting his teeth, he switches to Knight once more.

"Kuh..! Promotion: Knight!"

The Sekiryuutei became like a blur - only being able to be seen by the ones blessed in the realm of speed, as he jumped from one crystal to another by using them as springboards. Flied between them like an expert with the help of his wings and thrusters. And rushed past them with his impeccable speed.

But Diamondhead wasn't finished either, as he brought his hands and began firing shards at Issei like a mounted machine gun from where he stood.

It's like the whole Great Emu War again, where Diamondhead used all the artillery power he had just to keep the slippery bastard (i.e., Issei) at bay.

Meanwhile, the chat group members and the ORC had different reactions to the fight.

"Hmm... I'm starting to think the arena wouldn't last if either of them got serious," Kirito commented while rubbing his chin.

"Wait, you mean they aren't serious yet?!" asked Irina as she pointed at the battlefield. Sure, she knew how strong her Ise was, but she couldn't deny Ben's strength as well. So hearing that none of them were giving it their all was pretty shocking.

"Fortunately or unfortunately, yes. As we all know, Issei can't fight using Queen for training purposes as he's using the other pieces to bring out their full potential. Whereas Ben is using one of the only few forms that he has completely mastered control over, so there's a lot up his sleeve that we haven't seen yet."

Insert nerd emoji for Kiba*

"Does Ise-san have any chance against him, Kiba-kun?" Asia asked the nerdy knight of the Gremory.

"I honestly can't tell," Genuine doubt could be read from his expression. That's right, he couldn't predict the outcome of this match as there are a lot of factors to consider.

"Man, I'm really fired up to fight both of them!" Asta couldn't hold his excitement as the anticipation of fighting Ben and Issei made him feel ecstatic.

"Don't bother. Issei's physical stats far outclasses you and Ben doesn't have a lick of magic for you to negate," However, instead of making him back down, Kirito excited him even further.

"But that's the thing that makes it exciting! You never know till you try,"

Then there were two people who were completely engrossed in the fight's spectacle; the two being Shoto and Xenovia - with the latter focusing on the battlefield as a whole whereas the former solely focused on Diamondhead's manipulation and generation techniques.

'Even though our materials aren't the same, his techniques are far more sophisticated than mine,' said Shoto inwardly as he looked at his right hand. For the near decade of training he did with his right side, he was still far away from reaching perfection with it.

"...Ise might not win this," Xenovia muttered under her breath with her eyes narrowed. Well, she's about to find out whether her speculation is true or not in the next few minutes.

Shoto only glanced at her due to her remark before resuming his attention on the fight.

'We'll see,'

Now back to the fight, Issei was getting tired from all the evading that he did in the past few minutes so he decided to go in the offensive again. He narrowed his eyes as he called out the Heavenly Dragon within him, "Ddraig, give me strength!"

["On it, partner!"] Ddraig responded in kind as Issei's Scale Mail glowed brightly before rapidly casting Boost without any intervals.

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]...

"AHHH!"

WOOSH!

Taking "speed equals power" literally, Issei flew toward Ben in an explosive burst of acceleration with the help of his wings, thrusters, and Boost - as he still continued casting so. He was going so fast that the world appeared like a blur to him as he felt like vomiting due to not being used to such speeds; even so, he held himself back from throwing up as he set his eyes on the target.

Diamondhead wasn't having it, so he generated another crystal formation that headed directly at Issei's line of flight. He knew that if Issei tried dodging this then he'd lose momentum the outcome is decided whether he tries to avoid it or take it head-on.

SHATTTEERRR!

But he immediately discarded that idea and prepared himself to take on Issei's onslaught, because as soon as Issei's fists were met with the crystals, the sudden impact was too much that it broke them in half as he rushed through them like a bulldozer in a nitro boost.

"Looks like I'm not hard enough, but as they say: no diamond's made without pressure!"

Ben created a multilayered sphere around him by putting very thick layers of crystals on top of each to let him stall Issei for some more time. There's no way he's letting this perv get the dub on him, and fortunately, he has a plan to beat him.

"PROMOTION: ROOK!"

BAAAMMM!

Switching back to Rook at the last second, he used all the momentum he gathered as Knight to hit the crystal sphere with all he had. A huge shockwave erupted as Issei's punch broke the first layer upon contact. He continued to push his fist further instead of swinging for another strike while still casting Boost. It proved to be quite effective as Issei continued to break through the layers at a rapid pace, but it took him just a bit more time to take down each layer as he got deeper.

However, those few mere moments were enough for Ben to enact his plan.

"Ha!"

SHATTER!

As soon as Issei broke the last layer, he and everyone else aside from Ben, widened their eyes in shock as the said Alien Hero was nowhere to be seen and a large hole was in his place instead.

"Where did he-!"

Before Issei could finish his sentence, he heard a rumble underneath and getting past him so he turned around - only to be met with the sight of Diamondhead jumping from underground as he sent an enlarged fist toward Issei by extending his arm.

"Gotcha."

WOOSH!

"No, I got you!"

But rather than panicking, Issei switched to Knight as he avoided Ben's surprise attack and used his speed and mobility to appear above Diamondhead before using Rook again to send him crashing down on the floor.

CRASH!

However, neither Ben lost his cool as he retained his smirk like he had a sure-fire strategy to beat Issei. He then proceeded to give some of the most god-awful puns in history,

"You might have facet-nating powers, Issei, but they can't sparkle like mine!"

As soon as he finished, Diamondhead covered the whole floor with clusters of crystal and began raining down on Issei from below at a pace that the latter couldn't react to all of them in time.

"Somebody please stop this guy from making horrible puns..!"

Ignoring Kirito's visible cringe at Ben's pun, Issei tried to think of any way to come out of this tough situation. No matter his speed, there are just too many shards for Knight to defend against. He also couldn't guarantee that he would be able to tank them all with Rook considering Diamondhead's crystals are very sharp. And since he prohibited himself from using Queen...

Therefore, there's only one solution.

"PROMOTION: BISHOP!"

Issei might not be the brightest bulb in the head, but he still knew a thing or two about science. Before doing what he's about to do, he once more calls out Ddraig,

"Lend me your power partner!"

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]...

Instead of getting an answer, he was hit with multiple Boosts. However, rather than focusing them all on his overall power, he instead targeted his vocal cords to strengthen them and his lungs to increase his air capacity. After taking a very deep breath, Issei let out a cry that would've shaken the whole district had it not been for the magic surrounding the training area,

"DRAGON ROAARRR!"

By also adding his magic into the equation, Issei took down all the crystals with his Draconic Roar in a breathtaking spectacle. Everyone had to shut their ears off due to how loud it was. Meanwhile, somebody was having a rougher time than the others.

"Kuh..!"

Cracks started to appear on Diamondhead's body at an alarming rate. He was surprised that Issei could come up with such a move to beat Diamondhead into submission, as he relentlessly continued shouting in Ben's direction till he admitted defeat.

"Thank God Issei shut him up," Kirito smirked and commented after activating his Avatar Replication. Being the most ordinary without his power turned on, he wouldn't have been able to handle Issei's shout without his OP stats.

"S-sorry, couldn't hear you Kirito! I'm losing my edge here..!"

"Never mind, I'm leaving."

The Black Swordsman proceeded to exit the facility, but, before he could start doing so, something strange occurred during the fight.

"Gah!"

Issei momentarily held his head as if something really sharp just stabbed through his brain, and Ben used this split-second offered to him by launching himself to the side as a last-ditch effort to buy himself more time. It didn't matter to Issei, though, as he immediately continued his sonar blasts on Diamondhead after landing gracefully.

"Well, looks like somebody had to pray for a Devil," Kiba said while glancing at Kirito. The latter brought his hands as if to defend himself by replying,

"H-hey, It's not like I'm a nerd who remembers every single detail from an anime!"

"It won't matter anyway. The match's already decided,"

"So who's the winner, Xenovia?" Not being much versed in the realm of fighting, Asia asked the blue-haired knight.

"It would be hard to tell at first, but it's Ben who's got this in the bag."

"What?!" Everyone who wasn't fully aware of Ben's strength didn't expect this answer; since clearly, he is the one on the defensive now and things aren't looking pretty well for him.

Xenovia then began explaining her reasoning, "Think about it: If Ben's supposed to be one of the greatest shapeshifters to ever exist, why hasn't he switched forms during the fight to gain the upper hand when he had many chances to do so?"

The Anti-Mage, Asta, answered instead of everyone else as he faced the arena once again, "It's because he's tricking Issei into thinking he can't! Since he doesn't know much about Ben, he'll lower his guard when he's about to win,"

"..Then he'll finish him with a surprise attack." Unexpectedly, Shoto who hasn't spoken a single word yet, finished Asta's sentence. Of course, he also knew beforehand that Ben would win this. Because...

'You can't win by only relying on half of your power.' He didn't know how he came up with this, but he felt like something akin to a deja vu as he uttered these words in his mind. Like, he'd hear these exact words from someone dear to him in the near future.

It's the precise reason that Issei could gain the advantage against one of Ben's strongest aliens - by not choosing the easier option (i.e., using Queen) and instead, creatively using all the other three pieces in combination to adapt against Diamondhead. No matter how flawless Ben's techniques were with the Petrosapien, he couldn't win against Issei by solely using this form. Ben knew this himself, despite that, however, things would be over in their next clash.

While the spectators were still discussing, the sparring match continued. Fortunately or unfortunately though, Issei couldn't hear them due to being at the center of his shouts.

Now back to the fight.

Rather than rushing like he usually would, Issei walked slowly toward an injured Ben and prepared himself for any attack that he'd throw at him.

"Don't wanna admit defeat yet?"

"This is far from over..!"

Diamondhead aimed his broken arm at Issei and fired crystal shards in a pitiful manner.

"ROAR!"

He let out another roar, thus, easily shattering Ben's shards whilst sending him crashing down on the wall - making him stuck on it once again.

"Nngh..! Dammit,"

Issei continues attacking him with his Dragon Roars knowing that if he stops for even just a second, Ben will use that to regain the advantage. But there's something strange going on because rather than feeling down, Diamondhead only lets out a smirk and says something that lets him know he's done for.

"but y'know what?! You're not the only one who can switch forms mid-fight!"

Diamondhead's hand was already on the Omnitrix symbol as he uttered these words. Issei instantly rushes toward Ben after canceling his attack and shifting into Knight to stop the latter before the dreaded green light shows up.

But he was too late.

"Stinkfly!"

This time, a brown-greenish alien with an insectoid body replaced Diamondhead. Aside from four crab-like legs and two three-clawed hands, his more notable features were: two fragile dragon-like wings that had veins running through them, an extremely sharp stinger, and four prehensile stalks with two on each side of his head that acted as his eyes. It wore a sleeveless bodysuit with a green underside and black linings. Lastly, the Omnitrix symbol was on his forehead.

WOOSH!

Despite not being as fast as Issei's Knight promotion, Stinkfly flew in Issei's direction in a decent burst of speed as he aimed his stinger at the latter's face. Sekiryuutei knew that he couldn't dodge the incoming strike in time so he had to block with Ascalon.

CLASH!

Like it came from straight-up Assassin's Creed, a hidden blade popped from Issei's gauntlet as he used it to parry Stinkfly's stinger. Truth be told, he didn't know his armor would survive a direct from that thing even if he was in Rook because it was just as sharp as it looked, but better be safe than sorry. Still, if this is it then...

"If this is all you got Ben, I'll be disappointed!"

'And jeez! What the hell is that smell?!' It looked like Stinkfly's smell was too much for the Oppai Dragon he thought of puking right then and there.

"Hehehe! Don't worry, you'll be in a sticky situation very soon!"

The pair continued trading blows with Stinkfly using his stinger as a sword and Issei with his makeshift pata. Coming to a standstill after clashing for a few seconds, the two locked swords (or sword and stinger?) with one another as Issei began analyzing his opponent.

Right up till now, this bug hadn't used anything other than tail attacks. There were his stalks too, but he didn't know anything about what they could do other than maybe act as his eyes. Well, he'd get the answer to that right now.

BLURP!

Stinkfly aimed his eyestalks at Issei's legs before showering them nonstop with a green gooey substance that came from those said eyestalks. Having this slime already reaching his knees in a single moment alarmed Issei to no end as he used Rook to push Stinkfly far away from him with sheer force, but due to the latter being a master fly-er (please kill me XD), Ben managed to recover quickly.

And when Issei tried to rush toward Ben...

'Oh, so that's what he meant by a "sticky situation",'

Issei had a deadpan face as he came to the realization: he couldn't move his legs because of the slime attached to them. It's useless to overpower it 'cause he's already in Rook, but he had to find a way to get out of this mess ASAP - or else risk getting beaten to a pulp by another alien of Ben's.

"Kekeke..! Looks like you're stuck like glue, huh?"

Stinkfly flew a few feet above Issei and mocked him. In return, Issei looked back at him seriously as he shouted,

"I'll bring you down from your high horse!"

[BOOST!] [BOOST!] [BOOST!]...

Unfurling his wings and igniting his thrusters once more, he began casting Boost once more. Even if he couldn't detach himself from the sticky slime previously, that doesn't mean he can't a bit later; after all, that's what his true power is all about, isn't it? To be able to overpower anything as each second passes.

"AHHH!"

FWOOSH!

Ben's grin widened because that's exactly what he wanted. His slime would stick to Issei's armor no what he does, so what he'll bring to him is not just himself, but a big chunk of the heavy floor as well. And it turned out just as he predicted; with Issei - still stuck on the floor with slime, carrying that said chunk of the floor without him realizing it due to his strength.

That's the cue to start his finisher.

In another burst of speed, he flew towards Issei as he was about to hit the Omnitrix symbol once again.

"Lemme lend you a hand, Issei. To be precise..."

Hitting it for the second time, Stinkfly got replaced with...

"...FOUR HANDS!"

FourArms dived fist-first into Issei to give him a mean knockout. And just before he could hit him, is when Issei was horrified as he noticed that he couldn't move nor evade the attack because of the weight he was carrying. He was so heavy due to it and Rook, to the point that it hindered his mobility that he prided himself on. Well, he had a lot of fun during this fight and learned new things as well, but as they say: all good things must come to an end.

'Farewell, Ddraig, Rias, and everyone else. Looks like this is it for me,'

BAAAAMM!

That's when Issei blacked out after all four punches hit him, resulting in easily blasting through the chunk of the floor he carried with him, and crashing down to create a huge shockwave as it left a huge crater.

It's clear who's the winner.

"Hmmm.. Argento-san, I think you should go check up on Issei-kun 'cause I don't think he can stand up anymore," Kirito said while having a sweatdrop. Watching them through TV is one thing, but witnessing their power IRL is something else entirely. It becomes more frightening to think that neither of them used their full power; hopefully, he doesn't have to face them any time soon

"Hai!" The medic of the ORC entered the arena to heal Issei with her Sacred Gear: Twilight Healing.

"Regardless of Issei-kun losing, it was a pretty good match. I'm even tempted myself to spar with Tennyson-san," As Kiba commented, everyone except Asta looked at him like he lost his mind or something.

.

.

.

In the middle of the crater, there stood a barely unconscious Issei without his armor on as he deactivated his Boosted Gear. He may have lost this one, nonetheless, he really had fun. The Sekiryuutei wished he could fight the Alien Hero with their full power next time. But first things first...

"Ugh... I feel like throwing up all the breakfast I just had."

Understandable, considering two of Ben's fists directly hit him in the gut.

"Don't be a wuss and get up you perverted dragon,"

Thankfully Ben was there to help him get back on his feet. Ben gained quite some respect for the Oppai Dragon during their clash, and it would've been pretty bad of him if he didn't show any signs of good sportsmanship. Still, he had to praise the said dragon for being able to keep up with him.

"Good fight, and that magical roar thingy you did against Diamondhead was clever of you."

"Hah..! I'm flattered," Issei weakly accepted the compliment.

"But you could've won though,"

"Huh?!"

"Stinkfly's weak against fire, so it would've been over for me if you figured that out."

"Then, why didn't use another form if you knew I could breathe fire?"

"Two reasons: 1) I knew you couldn't hit a stroke of genius twice in a row. 2) Let's say, I turned into one of my other aliens that could phase through yourself and your attacks while simultaneously freezing you. Now it wouldn't have been fun, would it?"

Just hearing things like that existed in Ben's watch made him shudder. He basically has an arsenal of every superpower in existence. But then another important question spurred from his mind; wouldn't all these powers come at a cost?

"Sorry if I'm asking this Ben, I don't mean to pry into your life, but surely there was a price you had to pay for all this strength, right?"

"To give up on my normal life. It's not exactly a hidden secret because I'm the sole hero of my world who can fight off against dangerous threats twenty-four-seven. Can't say I'm a huge fan of my current lifestyle, but I just like saving people; that's all."

Ben answered without missing a beat as he had a look of acceptance, although, he also had a genuine smile on his face that couldn't be ignored. It almost made Issei feel pity toward him, but he stopped himself from doing so; as he understood that this is the lifestyle Ben chose for himself - not one forced by others.

Well, it's not like he can speak for himself considering he got thrust into this supernatural by force due to the actions of a certain fallen angel, but he grew quite fond of it since he can finally accomplish his dream.

"So, have things calmed down in your world that you decided to drop by for a vacation?"

"Pretty much. Nothing more than a few petty crimes here and there ever since I beat my archnemesis, Vilgax. All the other stuff is being dealt with by the Plumbers."

"That's good, but I still don't understand why they call themselves 'Plumbers'."

"Yeah, me neither. Never understood why they named the organization like that,"

He never bothered to know useless trivia, after all.

"Ise-san! Are you alright?!"

The blonde of the Church Trio jumped into Issei's embrace whilst using her SG to heal him.

"Oh, Asia! Y-yeah, there's nothing to worry about,"

Can't say he wasn't embarrassed though when she hugged him like that.

"Please tell me when you need something, I'll do anything for you Ise."

'Let's pretend I didn't hear that.' said Ben to himself inwardly as he slowly walked out of there to not interrupt the blushing duo when they realized the implication of what the blonde just said.

.

.

.

After everyone got finished with their training, each of them went their own way. Ben headed out with Azazel and Kuoh academy's civic teacher, Rossweisse, to do some business talk with the Youkai faction and clear up the misunderstanding regarding their surprise attack on Ben and Issei. With the latter decided to tour Kyoto with his classmates and peerage mates. Kirito, Asta, and Shoto decided to have fun by themselves while maintaining their disguises.

When they were about to go out though...

"So yesterday you actually meant: "No, let's reveal ourselves to the whole world by wearing our costumes!" What a genius you are, Kirito." Sarcasm was practically oozing from Ben's tone.

The two were currently in a small argument because Ben saw them in their costumes as they were about to head out, whereas he simply wore a white hoodie over his signature t-shirt and fake glasses to cover himself up.

"Hey, hey. Technically we were caught to some degree if you checked out this world's Twitter last night, and guess what? Nobody gave a damn thing 'cause they all thought we were cosplayers. I say we'd be more prone to suspicion if we did wear regular clothing as a disguise,"

"Hmmm... you made a pretty good point, just make sure you guys stay safe, alright?"

"Will do,"

"See ya later, Ben!"

"...Goodbye."

The trio headed off to start their misadventures for the day.

"Sigh... they're all goofballs in their own way, but I guess, so am I," Ben muttered to himself before meeting up with the Governor and the former Valkyrie.

.

.

.

"So, where are we going?" asked Ben while glancing at Azazel.

"Are you familiar with Rating Games?" Azazel asked a question of his own instead.

"Yeah, what about them?"

"The place we're going is called the 'Inner Capital' and is based on Rating Games' bounded fields, so it'd seem like we're entering another world. Few Youkai live on the surface of Kyoto because almost all of them live here," Rossweisse answered rather than the fallen angel as an excuse to talk with Ben.

"Huh? Pretty neat. Reminds me of the first time I visited another planet to have diplomatic discussions between two races as a mediator."

'Wow! What an accomplished man!' Acting as a mediator - especially for diplomatic relations between races is no easy feat. Having this successful man as her fiancée is something that many girls would dream of - or so she thought. This Valkyrie isn't the most knowledgeable about romance, after all.

When entering the supposed Youkai 'world', the trio was met with many different kinds of Youkai from Japanese folklore. From the raven-feathered tengus. Fluffy-eared kitsunes. Ferocious horned onis, etc.

But of course, we also shouldn't forget about Walmart-Ripjaws: the kappas.

Anyway, the Youkais began gossiping with one another as soon as the three entered.

"Is that a freaking human?!"

"But isn't he familiar? I swear I know him from somewhere..."

"Yo! That pretty foreign girl is a Devil,"

"And look whom they're accompanying; the Fallen Angel Governor!"

Ben Ten was used to this kind of gossiping back in his world but he didn't expect the same to happen here - and in his human form no less. Maybe he would've been less suspicious had he turned into one of his aliens, no?

"Gaining attraction as soon as we enter. Great,"

"Hold your sarcasm, Tennyson. Our guide will be here soon enough,"

As mentioned by Azazel, a kimono-wearing kitsune lady showed up as she greeted them after bowing.

"Welcome, Azazel-dono and Tennyson-dono. The princess is awaiting your arrival."

"Lead the way,"

The kitsune nodded before conjuring a teleportation portal that led to the royal palace for the Kyuubis. As they were about to enter it though, Ben whispered to the fallen angel.

"Did you have to expose my identity like that? Not that I'm complaining,"

"You wouldn't have been able to come here if I didn't. Don't worry though, us supernatural folks know when to be discreet when it's needed; as of now, nobody outside of Kyoto knows about your group's existence."

'...Aside from a sis-con Satan,'

But he didn't have to mention that to him.

"Well, let's get this over with," said Ben before taking off his fake glasses and entering the portal with the others.

It may have been called a 'royal palace' but the place was more like a shrine instead. When the kitsune guided them to their destination, they were met with two familiar faces - at least for the Alien Hero. The two were none other than Serafall and the same girl who launched a surprise on Ben and Issei; whom she mistook as members of the Khaos Brigade.

"Yo! Ben-kun!" Being as eccentric as she is, she went in and hugged Ben in a tight embrace. Can't blame her though, 'cause she was too ecstatic when he and the others decided to help with her shows.

"H-hey, Serafall." He didn't want to admit that he was embarrassed because of how her badonkers were pressing against his chest, and how they were surrounded by other people.

"Don't worry, I'll reward you for yesterday in due time~ Teehee~!"

When the Maou whispered something dubious into his ear, she noticed the fuming face of the Valkyrie in a business suit looking at her with contempt.

'Ho? A challenger? Then...'

As she smirked she made a funny face to the white-haired woman as if saying "You gotta act fast if you don't want me to have this green-eyed cutie all to myself." With him also accepting to help her, she'd have a lot of time to spend with him when they go to the Underworld for the shootings.

Taking that as a sign of challenge, Rossweisse narrowed her eyes in fierce determination as she accepted it in a heartbeat. 'Oh, you're on Maou-sama! I'm not gonna back out even if you're technically my superior now! Not when I found the perfect man!'

Somehow, Ben felt that he was being treated as a trophy between these two women. Which he honestly didn't know how to feel about since both were freakishly gorgeous. That's when his savior came in to save him from this embarrassing situation.

"Ahem. Serafall? I think you're making our guest quite uncomfortable here,"

'Thank you Azazel!'

"Sorry! I got a little over my head,"

The Maou Shojou cutely apologized after letting go of the superhero. However, she didn't forget to wink suggestively at him before doing so.

'Maybe agreeing to help her wasn't the best of ideas,'

But now's not the time to think about regrettable past decisions. He shook his head to rid himself of impure thoughts. It's not like that he was too bothered by her (he is a boy after all), but there's one thing he wanted to scream right now that he couldn't so he let it out internally.

'Damn this Ecchi genre!'

Watching/reading the genre as a form of entertainment alone in your room is one thing, experiencing it for yourself is something else entirely.

Now back on track, he had to greet the little princess right in front of him. He could see that she was uncomfortably squirming around out of shame from attacking him yesterday due to a misunderstanding; although, he wasn't one to hold a grudge against a little girl as he understood where she came from. Crouching, he greeted her with his signature smirk,

"Hey little fella, how're ya doing? Don't worry I'm not angry at ya because of yesterday."

"R-really..?"

"Yup! I know you weren't feeling well at the time so you were quick to jump the gun when you saw me and my friend. 'Cause even I would if I heard the Hero faction kidnapped my mother. But Ben Ten is here to save the day!"

Hope returned to her eyes as worry 'Alt F4-ed' itself from her being for now when she saw Ben assure her like a true superhero. She composed herself before introducing herself in a ladylike manner with a court bow, "Greetings, Tennyson-dono. I'm Kunou, daughter of the West Youkai Faction, Yasaka, and apologies for my unsightly behavior from yesterday. I hope you see within yourself to forgive me,"

The Alien Hero let out a chuckle before ruffling the little Kyuubi's blonde hair. "Aww. That's so cute when you're trying to act like a proper lady, but you don't have to be so formal with me. Just call me Ben, Kunou."

She dropped her mask as she began tearing up a bit. The Kyuubi princess looked up to the alien and asked with a shaky tone, "Then... c-can I ask you something?"

"Sure, go ahead,"

"Please! I beg of you, save my mother!" She bowed as much as her little body would let. It pained Ben to see her like this as it made him feel like decking that Chinese Jesus right in the face for separating a child from her mother. Still, he had to reassure her.

By putting a wide grin on his face, he answered in a manner befitting the one bearing the title of the 'Hero of Heroes. "Hah! I would've saved her regardless if you asked me or not. After all, that's what Super Heroes do," He made sure to emphasize 'super' to let her know he's different from those posers.

In response, Kunou smiled. "Thank you..!" Before jumping into the hero's embrace she began snuggling him.

"Haha!" While on the outside, Ben chuckled as he patted the princess on her head. On the inside, he held a blazing rage towards Cao Cao. 'I'm coming for you, bastard. You made a kid cry,"

Meanwhile, in Cao Cao's base.

Said Chinese Jesus felt a chilling shiver run down his spine as if the Reaper's scythe just grazed past him. His right-hand man, Georg, noticed this as he asked in concern,

"Are you feeling well, Cao Cao?"

"...Nothing. How's the trap for Tennyson going?"

"I set it up as you mentioned; although, would a simple teleportation trap to Shiva's temple would be enough to stop him from coming back here?"

"Hardly, he'll be back in a few minutes. But that few minutes is all I need,"

"For what?"

"To warm this up," answered Cao Cao while glancing at True Longinus lying on his lap.

Georg raised his brow before asking with skepticism, "You're not planning on using Truth Idea, are you?"

He shook his head as he answered, "No," before continuing internally, '...I'm planning on something much crazier.' Cao Cao's gaze was focused on the monitor in front of him which showed one of Ben 10: Alien Force's episodes for his research. Specifically, the episode:

'X = Ben 2'

Back with Ben and co.

While Ben took care of the little princess, the others thought highly of him due to how unexpectedly good he was with kids.

'Man, hopefully, Issei will be as good as him when he comes here later,' Azazel thought to himself while having a slight smile on his face.

'Umu! I knew I was right about him when hiring him!' Levi-tan was proud of herself and got more hyped for the next special episode of her show. Unfortunately, she couldn't risk airing it on the human world lest she would want to cause mass hysteria.

'I wonder will he play with our children like that...' Then Rossweisse realized what the hell she just said as she began screaming internally, 'AHHH! Stop fantasizing about him like that when you haven't talked more than a few sentences with him, you slut!'

Well, she's not wrong about that. There were two reasons for it though: 1) Azazel was there so they couldn't talk casually with one another. 2) She was just too nervous to start a conversation with Ben.

'Hmm, looks like I should help them,' After all, the Governor wasn't blind to such things as he noticed the awkwardness between the two. Maybe he should lend them a hand and push them in the right direction. Well, whatever it may be, Wingman Azazel is on the case! But he should go through this political talk first before he starts doing that.

However, before they could start, something strange happened which was familiar to the present Maou due to the incident last night. In a flash of yellow light, the Omnitrix scanned the Kyuubi princess which made her feel curious rather than wary, as she didn't feel any harm from it. The moment the watch finished doing its thing, Ben quipped,

"Is there a transformation bargain sale going on that I'm not aware of?"

"Whaddya expect when you're in a world full of new species? You even scanned a Satan-class Devil like me for Hell's sake,"

Hearing Serafall's statement shocked the Valkyrie and the Governor - especially the latter as he's a (magical) science freak who barely managed to hold off his mad scientist instincts for now. After all, which scientist wouldn't be excited if they heard the wielder of Omnitrix knocking down on their door?

"So now you can turn into a Devil with Satan-class powers on top of a Nine-Tailed Fox which should scale around two Dragon Kings in Kyoto, huh? You can virtually become one of the strongest beings in this world with just these two forms alone if you train with them enough Tennyson,"

"Eh.. how strong we're talking about?"

"Miss Maou here can blow a country with a single attack, and Kyuubis are masters when it comes to using Youjutsu (eastern magic); although, that doesn't mean they can't use Senjutsu (life force or ki manipulation) either since they're Youkais as well, just like Nekomatas. But you must meditate a lot to be able to master it,"

Ben narrowed his eyes when he heard Azazel. Sure, it's not like he was unfamiliar with handling dangerous powers when he had aliens that could shoot radioactive energy, control time, warp reality, etc. But he never forgets the phrase "with great power comes great responsibility" every time he transforms into one of his powerful aliens.

Meanwhile, the said Fallen Angel began hypothesizing regarding the conditions for the watch's scanning function to activate.

'I can understand why it didn't scan Issei since his DNA is mixed with a Dragon's as well. Or the Omnitrix doesn't consider Reincarnated Devils as genuine ones. How about a Fallen Angel progenitor like me? Would it consider me a subspecies of 'Angels' or count my DNA as 'corrupted' since I was turned instead of being born as one,'

Thus decided to request Ben something that would benefit the latter.

"Tennyson, you wouldn't mind scanning me as well? I wanna see the result of it."

"Are you sure, Azazel-san?"

"Well, he didn't have to volunteer to help us either. Just see this as repaying some part of our debt to him, Rossweisse-chan,"

In a way, he also wanted to gift Ben for trying to help him with his world's problems which he didn't have to. It wasn't much, but he'll properly reward the group when they get to Kuoh town.

"It's not like you guys are indebted to me, but sure, why not?" Ben pointed the Omnitrix at Azazel and manually activated the scanning feature.

And who would've guessed? Ben gained three forms in the span of two days.

"Looks like there's really a transformation bargain sale going on,"

Now they can finally have some talk with the other higher-ups that act in Yasaka's stead.

To summarize it (as to not bore you readers): After asking for reinforcements from his connections, he received word that they'd arrive a bit too late so it's up to Sekiryuutei and his friends to take out the core members of the Hero faction, and Azazel with his troops to take care of the Annihilation Maker monsters alongside the Hero faction's fodders till they arrive. Needless to say, he wanted to object because of his students' safety but couldn't as this was the only option they had. Well, not until Ben jumped in saying he'd help them just like how he promised to him last night. The fallen angel was relieved, as he ended the briefing by saying that the strategy meeting would be held tonight alongside the ORC and Saji due to them being part of the attack squad. Thankfully, things went smoothly as even the high-class Youkai that acted in place of their leader agreed to help them by sending some of their platoons to aid Azazel.

.

.

.

"That went pretty well, so we'll be fetching Issei's group now?" asked Ben while glancing at Azazel.

"Yeah but that can wait for later," he replied. Azazel then added after faking a yawn, "I think I'll be getting some rest now so see you guys later."

"Don't you want me to escort you back to the hotel, Azazel-san?"

"Nah, Rossweisse, this old geezer can still take care of himself, y'know? And try to have some fun while you're here. That's what we were supposed to do in the first place, after all." Azazel finished with a teasing grin.

'Eh... so does that mean..' Yup, she'd be left with the ; with him alone. That just sounds like a...

'Date?!'

She was totally excited at just the thought of it. Finally, she could for the first time, date somebody after all these years with her having almost zero social life and constantly getting bullied by her peers because of it - ironic, since she is a Civics teacher.

While the Valkyrie was immersed in her fantasies, Azazel sneaked up on Ben and grabbed his shoulder before whispering words of encouragement to him,

"I know she can be a bit cranky, but you can definitely work with it. Go get 'er tiger!"

Then disappearing without leaving a trace as soon as Ben turned around to face him.

"Great. What a splendid wingman you are Azazel."

His sarcasm aside, he also wanted to have fun since he came here.

"So do you have any plans right now?"

Ben asked the spaced-out Valkyrie since he thought that she'd be more familiar with here. However, her next words were quite unexpected to say the least.

"..A date!"

He blinked at the thing she just blurted out unconsciously. Her face then gained a red hue as she realized the implication of that and immediately began trying to deflect it.

"Uwawa! Just forget what I said..!"

"I don't mind the sound of that, but where we're going next?"

Totally ignoring her, he agreed to the idea of having a date with Rossweisse. What kind of an idiot would refuse such a cute klutzy Valkyrie? Not him obviously.

'ah... he didn't mind? Then...'

She regained her confidence when she heard his answer. Her lips curled into a smirk before she declared,

'I swear if she says shopping then-!' Ben dreaded about his wallet being in danger.

And to none of our surprise, he hit the bullseye.

"We're going shopping!"

'Son of a b-!'

Timeskip

'She's... uh, surprisingly a cheapskate,'

Even he got shocked when he saw the overly-enthusiastic Valkyrie wanting to buy cheap stuff during sale at an hundred-yen shop. Thank God his wallet is safe for the time being. Since everything was cheap, they bought a lot of stuff that most of which Ben didn't know what they were meant to do (spoiler alert: they were cosmetics).

The two also decided to buy kimonos while they were there.

"Hmm.. yeah, this looks pretty good."

Ben grabbed an emerald green one that had cloud designs embroidered on the front and the face of a fox was printed on its backside; with also a pitch black obi that matched pretty well with his aesthetic. Overall, it looked straight up from a cosplay convention. But him being who he is, the Alien Hero really liked it.

"Now let's check up on her to if she's finished or not,"

As mentioned by him, earlier Rossweisse went to try on the kimono she picked but there was no sign of her for almost thirty minutes. He got almost worried for her so he thought it wouldn't be a bad idea to do so.

"Hey Rossweisse you there?"

For a few moments, Ben heard nothing before the sound of the embarrassed could be heard from the changing room.

"I-i'm almost finished..!"

"Don't rush it. I'm waiting here,"

She heaved a sigh of relief in response before getting back to ready herself. A minute or two later, her sound was heard again the moment she opened the door.

"How do I look..?"

"You look absolutely gorge-!"

His words were caught in his throat as he failed to finish his sentence. Sure, the green based kimono that had a mixed-colored floral design on it with the yellow obi did make her look stunning, but there was a slight problem.

'I watched a lot of anime and played enough Sumo Slammers games to know kimonos shouldn't do that,'

Hmmm, how should I put it? Her 'distractions' were too much for the kimono to handle as they almost popped out of the clothing - revealing her black lace brassier that barely covered them. Ben immediately turned back and showed a thumbs up as he hid his flustered face.

"Yup! Totally stunning! Beautiful!"

'But why do they have to be so big?!'

The Alien Hero got almost too distracted that he nearly fell into one of Issei's trances. He now understood why the latter has an obsession of them, but he didn't want to stare at them like an idiot.

Meanwhile, the Valkyrie was a bit conflicted. On one hand, she wanted to be appreciated by her date which made her pout a bit, but on the other hand, she was thankful he wasn't an idiotic perv like Issei. Her lips curled up into a small smirk and a pink hue appeared on her cheeks as she thought of a way to tease Ben.

'I didn't know wanting to tease someone would make me excited,'

Like a mischievous cat that has found its new prey, she hopped on Ben's back and put her arms around his neck as she pressed her chest on him - causing him to blood flow more into his cheeks. She then whispered to home in a very suggestive tone,

"...You aren't being genuine, are you?"

'Holy shi-!'

Not having the time to finish cursing his current situation as Rossweisse pressed on even further - trying to imitate a certain Maou, Ben mustered all his willpower to not raise the 'Shield Hero' and responded with a genuine smile after facing her.

"Now why would I lie to this cutie in front of me? I rather kill myself than throw empty compliments at you,"

While his wording wasn't the best, it had its intended effect. Ben managed to flip the table on the Valkyrie, making her blush and surprised a little since she wasn't used to hearing genuine compliments from other men. She never bothered to get any male friends back in Asgard since she was Odin's bodyguard as soon as she graduated, and some Devil nobles that did try to court her were lacking in crucial departments such as: personality, career, and charisma.

Whereas the Super Hero in front of her had all the deeming qualities of a perfect man with a handsome face, a promising future, and the charisma of a real life Super Hero. So you bet that she'd get flustered when he tells her something like that.

"Y-you idiot... Don't say that stuff outta the blue,"

With her cheeks blushing red, and getting embarrassed due to Ben's honest remarks; she loosened her grip on him which led to her to get caught off guard by his next move. Ben used this opportunity to turn around and pin her down on the wall via the cliched wall-slam method. He then gave her a gentle, yet suggestive smirk as he looked straight into her eyes before replying,

"Don't act like you didn't want to; even a blind man can tell what you're up to."

Looks like our Valkyrie got caught red-handed by the Hero. Of course, due to the lack real intimacy in her life, she resorted to illicit materials made by a certain industry in order to fill that void in her heart; which then corrupted her on fantasizing about certain taboo topics - plus, coupled with her sexual frustration something like this was bound to happen sooner or later.

Meanwhile, Ben was having a mixed bag about this. On one hand, he was feeling quite guilty and nervous about it that he may have gone a bit too far? But on the other hand, he was also excited in anticipation of what's about to happen next since there were no signs of refusal from her. Not to mention, he saw what kind of look Rossweisse was giving to him. He only saw that face on Julie when she really needed "it".

'Fuck! Don't think of another girl right now!'

Anyway, soon all his worries vanished when he saw the Valkyrie letting out a deep breath and a coy smile as she said, "I never thought my first time would be so... thrilling,"

The taboo of doing it in the public and in a very tight place at that, it reminded her of all the 'nuclear codes' she had read to ease her frustrations.

She then looked into his eyes with a suggestive gaze before further adding, "Show me how much of a man you are, Benjamin~"

Ben noticed one thing since he came to this world. Any character that's somewhat related to Issei is like either an open pervert or a loose closet one that'd burst open at any moment if the right switches are flipped. And of course, the Valkyrie in front of him had to be of the latter.

"Don't mind if I do."

There was no going back now. As soon as Ben decided to become a Man of Action, he received an emergency notification from the Chat Group in the form of blue screen appearing right in his face.

[Kirito: Get here ASAP]

[Kirito sent his live location.]

*Tap to see]

'Me and my very good luck.'

You don't need to be a rocket scientist to guess our hero's that salty because he can't have a normal private life.

Even Rossweisse could feel that something was amiss when Ben's expression took a one-eighty. She asked with a worried face, "Ben, is everything all right?"

Ben grumbled a bit while pinching the bridge of nose as he answered, "You remember what I told you about how we got here, right?"

She nodded.

"Well, the rest are in a bit of a pickle right now, so if I don't go, things might get outta hand."

To be quite honest, she did feel a bit down at how she couldn't go on with the... fun they were about to have. Nonetheless! She must be supportive of him as a good girlfriend. The former Valkyrie knew what she was signing up for when she decided to date a literal superhero.

"I won't stop you then. Get on with your duty as a Hero!"

She looked determined when she gently pushed Ben away from the changing room.

Ben was, to be frank, a bit surprised that she accepted the situation so quickly - as if she experienced similar incidents as well. He then smirked as he gave a thumbs up, "Got it! Though I'll make sure nothing will get in our way next time."

The girl blushed a bit and before she could say anything in return, Ben bolted away towards the cashier.

He put a hundred bucks for the cashier and politely said, "Keep the change to yourself if it's not too much."

'Damn! Whoever caught him is one lucky gal!' the cashier thought to herself when she saw the foreign boy darting away.

That is, until a few minutes later she met a gorgeous European lady that presented herself as the American boy's date.

'...or he might've been the lucky one.'

...

A couple of minutes ago with Rossweisse, she felt herself in a bit of an emotional turmoil. She looked herself in the mirror and saw her own conflicting eyes.

"Is this how Rias and the others feel when Issei jumps in to save the day?"

She muttered as she felt being selfish when she wanted to keep Ben to herself at that moment, yet she couldn't do so because she understands that duty calls first.

But more than that, a heavy blush crept up her face when she recalled what she was about to do with him. She almost threw herself at him like a total S word!

"Ngh... I think he'll secretly hate me now..."

Rossweisse felt a bit depressed when she realized what she just did. Even if it was her first time having a relationship, it didn't mean that she should delve into her fantasies and act like a hormonal teen.

"Looks like I should get rid of those magazines. They're warping my sense of relationships,"

She felt quite embarrassed for having to admit that she read such things. That aside, she now could more or less guess what would happen if Issei doesn't date somebody in the long run. Rias' Rook (read: Wing Woman) will do anything for her to make sure that they finally get together! After they return to Kuoh, of course.

...

Somewhere in Kyoto.

The trio consisting of Kirito, Asta, and Todoroki were walking the streets looking like some exotic cosplayers due to how 'real' their outfits felt.

"...Are you sure we won't be found out, Kirito-san?" Shoto was nervous, and rightfully so - even if he didn't show it on his face. Walking among the crowded area and getting asked for selfies every now and then didn't really assure him of their cover.

Kirito responded with a confident - as well as smug, expression, "Totally. Hell, even if I use Star Burst Stream right now they'll only write it off as an expensive light show."

He then glanced at the mundane crowd that leisurely minded its own business.

"People's mind work that way. They'll cling unto any justification if it means keeping their sanity intact."

"That's... surprisingly deep and philosophical of you."

"Heh! Whaddya expect from the father of Isekai?" Surely he did seem proud but he seems a bit dead inside when he said it. Looks like checking up Anitubers of other universes trashing his series wasn't the best for his mental health after all.

At least he gave birth to whole slew of copy-paste 'Kiritos' with "minor" differences.

Shoto could only hope that shit won't hit the fan while they're hanging out.

Meanwhile, a certain muscly goofball was having the time of his life as he looked at the modern era with starry eyes. He simply marveled at how much fun you could have with these technological advancements, even though he's oblivious to the dark side of it (but no one shall ruin this goofball's innocence!).

"Wowza! Look at how cool everything is!"

Well, to the two Japanese boys it was a familiar sight, but it was amusing to see Asta gushing over mundane things like a kid.

"Say, anyone up for some matcha boba tea?" The virtual swordsman suggested after a while.

"I wouldn't mind."

"I'm up for trying anything new!"

So they happened upon a matcha coffee shop after a minute or two of walking. They sat down in the corner where they (hopefully) won't be noticed. With being the most 'normal' of the trio, Kirito decided to get up and order for them.

"Three boba teas, is that okay with you guys?"

"I've no complaints."

"It better taste good!"

A smile crept up from Kazuto's face; it was really nice to finally have dudes around his age to hangout with. No hate on his friends back at his home world, but they are ages apart from each other.

Anyway, Kirito headed to the receptionist to give his order. He said simultaneously with the guy beside him that he hasn't noticed yet, "Three matcha boba—!"

The two stopped to look at each other as both thought that the other person was familiar to them.

'The Walmart Zoro Copycat!?'

'Why in the hell is this lunatic wearing his combat uniform out in the public?!'

Lo and behold! Siegfried with casual clothes was ordering from a coffee shop like a normal person. Both looked agitated the moment they noticed each other for completely different reasons.

The Black Swordsman was about to panic and throw hands with Sieg as soon as he lifts a finger, but his attention was diverted to a blue screen that appeared out of nowhere in front of him.

[Activate the (Mental Floating Screen) function of the Chat Group?]

'Yes!'

He didn't care how or why it happened; all that mattered to him was to inform the Alien guy to get here ASAP without seeming sus.

A.N: So yeah, I'm sorry about the unannounced hiatus. I really hate myself for it. To summarize: shit happened IRL with college and some family stuff. I don't wanna bother you guys with my sob story and excuse myself for it.

Also sorry if some parts don't have a consistent writing style cuz I visited this chapter in various times so each time my style differed a bit than my previous one. It got to this point due to the chapter's length; coupled with my perfectionist nature, it was hell for me to make sure the quality stays alright throughout the whole chapter and finish it on time (which I couldn't).

So I decided that whatever and decided to finish it in the past few days and upload it in a classic yolo fashion.

Lastly, there's an upcoming side story to show what's about to come :)