Author's Notes

Why Rem has not killed Ben, or attempted it

Natsuki Subaru's mistakes: He smells like the Witch, came literally out of nowhere after just happening to save Emilia from an assassin. out of all the dumb stuff he could have requested, he just asks for a job as a menial servant. He's just radiating suspicion. 

What Ben has that Subaru didn't:  Roswaal hired him directly, meaning he's already got the boss's seal of approval. Ben's pretty open about the Omnitrix and his powers, a power which he could have hidden to use to his advantage against Roswaal. Ben's got PTSD which makes him the last type of person anyone would want for a spy. 

Also... Subaru just dies a lot. He finds new ways to die a lot every single arch. 


While Ben just seems to find new ways to cheat death every day. 

Ben sighed as he used his mop to rub some more stale food off the dining room floor, just half the place clean, having taken hours out of the day to clean it already. 

Rem stood sentry over him, sipping a cup of tea as she sat on a stool. 

"I am amazed." Rem remarked. 

"Amazed of what?" Ben muttered as he continued to mop up. 

"Amazed that you are refusing to use any of your forms to shorten the cleaning time, unless you do not have forms capable of such a feat?" said Rem. 

"Well you know, I get stressed.. and.. " 

"You used Chromastone to carry luggage, and both Brainstorm and Big Chill last night with no issue."

Ben opened his mouth and closed it. "Huh, you're right.. why is-?"

"I believe the length of time over which you refused to use your powers might have affected you much like how a disease reaches its peak. But you built an immune response to the initial shock after turning into an alien for the first time in years." said Rem. "As long as you don't deal with shocking sights or sounds, I believe that you will be better now.. "

"Not really, truth is I was having a mild anxiety attack the whole time." Ben said. "My heart was throbbing, but my anger made me ignore how stressed I was just from being an alien."

"It will go away, gradually." said Rem. "You're just missing one crucial thing I guess."

"A therapist, am I right?" Ben said.

"Or perhaps just somebody to talk with." said Rem. 

"Doubt Ram would be much help." Ben muttered. "If I am to narrow down possible candidates, I'd say, Emilia and.. er.. you."

Rem blinked. "I.. I am not well suited to conversation. My sister is far better at doing such a-."

"Ram insults me at every turn, you really think she's going to sit still and listen to any sob story I have from my life?" Ben said.  "I mean come on, at least give it a try. You try to act cold and stoic, but I think you've got a good heart underneath all that Blue Demony stuff.. 

"I will ask for Emilia to assist you." said Rem. "I am sure she would be more than happy to help anyone with their troubles."

Ben frowned. "Fine I guess."

"Though while we are making conversation, I suppose I would like to ask you something I've been curious about." Rem said. "Bartholomew didn't mention why you got insulted, and Roswaal and Lady Emilia haven't been forthcoming about the situation. What happened?"

Ben looked at Rem. Her eyes were currently colder than Ram's which was saying something, he wasn't going to be able to wriggle out of this one. "Uh, well at first I just yelled at him cause he said something horrible about Emilia, called her a pet or something, don't really remember."

"Understandable." Rem murmured, her gaze softening. "But nothing to really be furious over. As a half Elf Emilia has been persecuted quite often, she is used to it, and is strong enough to stand on her own two feet."

"Why are Half Elves specifically hated?" Ben asked. 

"They say The Witch of Envy, Satella was a Half Elf."

"OH!" Ben said. "yeesh, that's some heavy stuff."

"You are many things Ben Tennyson, impulsive maybe, but not illogical to the point of immaturity." said Rem. "So what was the final thing Bartholomew said?"

"He called you a whore." Ben grumbled in almost undertone.  "After that I guess for some reason I got really really pissed."

Rem's eyes went wide as she seemed to stare at Ben for who knew how many seconds?

Rem's face suddenly turned into something else that Ben couldn't understand whatsoever.

Immense guilt. 

"It appears that you were not as at fault as I imagined." Rem whispered. "Forgive me."

"Wait, are you blaming yourself for what happened!? Are you serious!?" Ben exclaimed. 

"If Ram was here instead of me, she would've been able to stop you when Bartholomew started insulting me. She would've handled everything perfectly so that his insulting of me would not cause you to-."

"Okay, even you have to know that's a huge stretch." Ben said. "This happens so much. You worship Ram like she's God's Heaven-Sent angel, and depreciate yourself to nothing more than dead meat when you're in fact a super amazing maid.  If you weren't here, I doubt Ram would ever be able to run this place by herself. Heck I could run it better than her myself, and I'm inexperienced! But you, your cooking's amazing, just so incredible I could cry. You manage this place like only a super woman could. You're incredibly strong, and frankly you're far more tactful than Ram ever was. If my cousin Gwen ever met you she'd so love you."

Rem stared at Ben. "Wh-why throw all these compliments at me-?"

"Because they're true and you deserve them." Ben said.  "I'm sure Ram's amazing in her own way. Lazy or not, she did teach me to read, and she's good at allocating work and management. Plus with a cold stare like the one she's got, I bet even Ma Vreedle would be impressed.  But you're also amazing in your own way and you shouldn't need people to tell you that, you need to have some self pride."

Rem's expression dimmed, and for a moment, Ben saw who Rem truly was. Not the cold distant maid that resembled her sister to a degree, but a soft hearted girl who was truly struggling. Her eyes seemed to be struggling not to tear up, and her expression was far kinder and softer than Ram's genuine cold taciturn glare. 

But she shook her head. "I'm not who you think I am Ben Tennyson, if you knew me.."

"If I knew you more, I think I'd be sincerely honored. "Ben said. "Fine, it's honestly tearing me up inside that you're so self demeaning, so I'll show you my side of the story, the part which has me constantly thinking the same way to this very day."

Ben set his mop against the wall and pulled out a chair. 

"What are you doing? Your work isn't finished." said Rem. 

"I'll finish after I'm done telling you. Why I retired." Ben said. "Why to this day I can't look at myself in the damn mirror without feeling disgust. Why I have trouble going alien without panicking."

Rem went silent, stunned. "Wh-why me of all people, you barely-!?"

"It was fall, I was 16." Ben said. "I just had the new Omnitrix constructed. It was a pretty unique thing. Had all the good stuff the previous omnitrixes had. The Power Core was highly stable, it had the Evolutionary Feature which was useful.  You could say I got drunk with my own power. I had just defeated Diagon the Destroyer and Vilgax after all."

"Diagon the-!?" Rem's face turned to shock. "You lie. The name of one of the Lesser Old Ones!? You can't possibly say you defeated a mere myth to scare gullible mages who go too fa-."

Rem froze. The look on Ben's face was so serious, so honest, that Rem at the moment believed every word that came out of this strange boy's mouth. 

"How could I not have heard of you before?" Rem whispered. "How did you achieve such deeds and not become world renowned?"

"I was renowned, in my homeland at least." said Ben. "Where I come from is uh, not really on any map. In fact I doubt I could go back if I tried.  In any case, I was at a point in my life where my arrogance was a t a peak. It was a weakness of mine, one that I recognized and kind of hated but never really got around to telling anybody how much I hated it.  Because of this, I thought I could do anything and almost made the same mistakes from when Vilgax managed to take the first Omnitrix."

"There was a first?"

"Of course." Ben said. "What you see here's the latest model. Azmuth can always make more, though he prefers there only be one active at a time. In any case, I started trying to take on things more on my own. Grandpa tried to hook me up with a partner at one point, but I just flat out refused. Thought I could always handle things on my own even with Kevin and Gwen going off to college. And that's when the unthinkable happened."

Rem leaned in closer, she couldn't deny she was fascinated by the story. 

"Two of my enemies tried to team up against me. Wasn't the first time they did, and they were two of my worst." Ben said. "I was dumb enough to think I could fight them on my own.  I didn't call anyone for help. "

"So what happened then?" Rem asked before she could stop herself.

"I got soundly beaten." Ben said. "They lured me into a trap, and then they tortured my girlfriend and parents in front of me, till they were driven insane."

Rem couldn't speak. 

"In the end I was saved by Gwen. She found us, and accessed her full power to the point where my enemies might be dead. I never saw their bodies, they were probably totally vaporized." Ben said with a shrug. "After that, she became my homeland's new hero, and I just retreated into the shadows. But there was a price. Gwen's power has a few uh, bad sides to it. She ended up accidentally destroying her whole body."

"What!?" said Rem. 

"She's part Annodite, that's a type of alien energy being, so she does have a nonphysical body. But as a result she lost all her human memories.  Kevin managed to get back her human self, but not before going through months of trial and error, me and him weren't on great terms throughout that time, but we made up afterwards, not like that I deserved a friend like him, my trauma was too big for me to even look at the Omnitrix for those months. You still think you're the only person with self esteem issues? Rem whatever happened to you, I'm not going to pretend that I know anything about it, maybe what happened to you was worse."

Ben grinned sheepishly. "But I guess what I'm saying is, you're not alone, and as long as you keep putting yourself down, I'll be here to raise you up! So better get used to compliments!"

Rem's lip trembled for a minute. Then she stood up. "I will help you clean after all."

"No worries, truth is the reason I'm not using an alien is because this punishment is well deserved, won't feel like I'm paying any price if I go XLR8 and get it done in 2 seconds." Ben said cheerily. 

"All the same." Rem said, smiling openly for the first time without covering it. "I have to take responsibility for my junior in the work place."

"Oh! Speaking of taking responsibility!" Ben exclaimed. "Remember how I said I left something for you in your room? Well after I found out Sir Jerks-a-lot was staying in your room I kind of had the sense of mind to take the gift out and wait till I met you in person. Here! Uh, don't open it here, I don't think Roswaal minds you having a weapon, but I don't know how much the morningstar Eatle ate was actually worth to him."

"He was already in the process of getting me a new weapon." said Rem as she took the wrapped cylindrical package. "This however, seems to be small. Is it a knife?"

"Uh something WAY better trust me." Ben said. "Just don't open it in front of you know who as well." 

"Very well." said Rem.

Later that night, after Rem got dressed in her night dress, she sat on her bed, eying the package. 

Vertilot was out on business in the village, and he wouldn't be back for a while. 

Looking left and right, she ripped off the package paper to reveal a long black, sleek looking handle of some sort, with green circuits that glowed and ran over its surface (not that she knew what circuits were). 

It had a plush grip that definitely meant it was for holding, and there seemed to be an assortment of switches on it. 

Attached was a note, written in awkward Lugnican letters that Ben had obviously requested Ram's help in properly transcribing. 

"Dear Rem." said the Letter. "Say hello to your Proto Tool, part of a class of weapons that are known for being the most versatile in the Universe. The model I got you is a Close Range type, meaning it doesn't do ranged weapons, but after I saw you use that morning star, I have a feeling this is right up your alley."

"Proto-Tool?" Rem muttered, eyeing the cylinder. 

"I couldn't actually buy you an original legal Proto-tool unfortunately." the letter continued. "That's in my homeland, and I can't exactly go back or even order one off the Galactic Extranet. So I used one my alien forms, Upgrade, to sort of- well it's made of Upgrade's body, but don't worry, Upgrade's a living machine, so it's not gross.. I think."

"Eh!?" Rem blinked, holding the proto-tool tentatively now. 

"The tool isn't magic." the letter continued. "As I'm sure you'll know when you don't sense any mana. Its power source is unlimited too.  The weapon's got many modes that I'm sure you'll want to test out, but for now, the basic instructions on how to use it are-."

Rem just stared, feeling dizzy at the multiple instructions Ben had put down. She wondered if Ram while writing this for Ben, had gotten a little dizzy herself. 

Some of the instructions even seemed slightly ridiculous such as "If you see Meme Mode, uh don't try it, I don't think that's even meant for combat." and "okay so stay away from Bunny Girl Mode.. I'm starting to suspect the original inventor was a weirdo."

"N-neh?" Rem blinked. "Eh, I suppose I should try.. this?"

Suddenly as Rem squeezed the grip, a long line made of green energy, like an energy rope or 'chain' whipped out, growing longer until a large spiked morningstar made of solid green energy fell with a thud onto the floor, cracking the wood under its weight.  The weapon's weight and feel felt almost identical to Rem's old morningstar.

"Whoaaaa." Rem whispered. 

"Calibrating to New User. Greetings User, How do you wish to be addressed?" the device suddenly spoke in Ben's voice. 

"Uhhhh.." Rem said. 

"Registered New User 'Uhhhhh..'" said the Proto Tool.

"N-Neh th-that's not what I wish to be called! A-abort! Uh, cancel!? Eh!?" Rem squealed. 

"You wish to see all the Denny's locations in your area?" said the Proto Tool

"What is Denny's!?" squealed Rem. 

"A chain restaurant local to the Earth Nation of The United States of America, primarily known for selling breakfast foods of varying quality." said the Proto Tool.  

"Such a strange device. Why it would use Ben's voice however, I find quite unusual frankly." Rem murmured. 

"I heard, 'Search for Quite Unusual Fetishes' do you wish for me to proceed with said search?" asked the device.

"N-NO!!" squealed Rem. 

"Acknowledged, now searching for, Big  Booby women with giant honkin' booties that-."

"Rem? Are in there?" Emilia's voice came out muffled from behind the door as a soft knock was heard. 

"JUST A MOMENT!" squealed Rem as she desperately pressed buttons over and over. 

"Suck on dinosaurs,  Big Men with big mucles and giant juicy-."

"STOP STOP STOP STOP!!" Rem stammered, her face bright red as she slammed the handle of the Plasma Morningstar against her writing desk. 

"Activating Auto Combat Mode." 

"HAH!?"

Rem squealed as she flew around the room, the morningstar pulling her along as it began randomly moving left and right, rapidly searching for enemies to destroy. 

"I'm  coming in-.." Emilia slowly opened the door. 

Rem dove on the Proto-tool as its energy particles morphed into a battle axe and put her pillow over it, jumping on top of the pillow. 

Emilia walked in, blinking as she stared at Rem sitting in her odd belly down position over a pillow that was oddly enough, glowing green underneath. 

"Are you okay?" Emilia asked.

"Yep!" said Rem quickly. 

"Playing 'Smooth Criminal' by Michael Jackson." came a muffled voice. 

Immediately, strange music that Rem had never heard before began to play from underneath the pillow as a strange voiced man began singing "Are You Okay!?" 

Emilia just stared with a slightly open mouth as Rem went a deeper and deeper red.  Ben's gift was amazing, a little TOO amazing. 

"D-don't ask." Rem squeaked. 

"I won't, but, I've been wanting to talk about something else." Emilia said. "Rem I want you to call off this marriage with Mr. Vertilot."

https://youtu.be/a8gcKBknLf4

"E-eh? B-but Mr. Roswaal said." Rem began. 

"Forget what Roswaal says." said Emilia. "I want the throne for my own selfish reasons, that is true, but it isn't worth tearing away your happiness over. I was genuinely glad to see Ben defending you, even if he made a mess of the dining room in the end."

Rem went silent. "Did Ben ask you to tell me this?"

"No, but I do think he's a good person." said Emilia. "He's always trying his best to help others, even when it's of no benefit to him. I know that I've only known him over a couple of days but, if there is one truth I am sure of, it's that Ben Tennyson is a kind hearted hero."

"Hero." Rem murmured.

"Yes, that's what his profession was in his homeland." Emilia said. 

"You believe that story?"

"Well when you see the power he wields, it's kind of hard to doubt he'd be able to pull it off." said Emilia with a wink.

"I suppose it is. " Rem said.  "But if I don't marry then.."

"Then so what?" Puck popped out from behind Emilia, smiling brightly, waving his little paws.  "We're all rooting for you. Emilia doesn't need every little thing to be Queen anyways."

 "Hmmmmm.." Rem murmured. 

"I'll be here to raise you up."

Ben's smiling face at that moment wouldn't leave Rem's mind.  And for some reason she began to feel her heart beat a little faster. 

"N-neh." Rem clutched her chest quickly.  "What is-?"

"Rem, marry somebody you love, not somebody who only comes to your affection out of obligation to some duty." said Puck, his tail wiggling cutely. "Is there anybody you can think of who just steals your heart away  for some reason?"

Rem clasped her hands together, smiling. It was such a different smile from all the ones before. It wasn't the smile she had from copying Ram's cold personality and mimicking her every stoic movement. Rather it was a smile from  the true Rem. 

The True Rem who had gone into hiding ever since that night when her village was attacked.. 

The True Rem who Ram had always secretly hoped would return one day, buried under the mask of imitating her sister.

Rem's face no longer looked cold and indifferent. It was filled with life, with a soft and kind smile and a bright look in her cheerful eyes. 

"I.. I don't know how to explain it,  but there is somebody." said Rem. "H-he sticks up for me when nobody else will, even when I won't stick up for myself. He never gives up even when he can't clean a room well and.. ehh.. ehh.."

Rem clasped her hands to her reddening cheeks. "I.. I don't know what to do."

"Eh, I'm not sure myself." Emilia said with a chuckle. "I'm not really familiar with that myself."

"Ahhh, Emilia and Rem, both so childlike when it comes to love!" Puck said, wagging her paw. "Listen to your Master Puck! Don't go out just declaring you love them right off the bat. Rather, give them a chance to love you by spending time with them as friends!!"

"As friends?" said Rem. 

"Yep! I think I can suspect who it is you're in the heat for!" said Puck with a wink. "He's so dense he probably doesn't know either even if you outright tell him. Rather he needs to experience the REAL Rem first!"

"Th-the real Rem?"

"Yes, the Rem we've known till now was a fake! Seriously, we want that Omnitrix boy to fall in love with Rem, not Ram's clone! Am I right?"

"EEEH!" Rem squealed, her face now completely bright red as she jolted back.  "But.. b-but what about Bartholomew, he might be b-back soon.. "

"Eh? Just tell him its off right?" said Puck.

"I n-need some time to do it right. He may be a jerk, but I am about to break somebody's heart I guess." Rem said.

"Hmm hmm, no worries, I'll stay in the room with Emilia and wait for his return. The story is you had horrible gas and needed to visit the village doctor over night! Use that time to mull over things!" said Puck with another wink.

Rem smiled. "Y-yes! and for now, I.. I'll try and show everyone.. the real me!"

https://youtu.be/b48ouY1m8jQ

When Ben awoke the next day, his mind was still immensely groggy as he stared up at the ceiling, his eyelids half open.

"Ugh.." Ben muttered, scratching his butt as he sat up in bed. "Maybe I'll make pancakes today. Maybe if I make something sweet I can get Rem to open up more about- UAAAAAAH!? R-R-REM!?"

Rem was sitting on a chair next to Ben's bed, already fully dressed, smiling cheerfully.

"Good morning Ben-kun!" Rem said brightly. "Did you sleep well?"

"Eh.. er.. sure." Ben said. "Uh, how long were you there?"

"Since 4. I wake up early to prepare the ingredients, but I finished that part early so I thought I'd make sure you were getting a healthy rest." said Rem. "Would you like some tea?" 

'Rem feels a lot more happy for some reason'. Ben thought. 'But it feels like such a natural kind of happy that I can't put it up to being some sort of act. Did something happen?' 

"Uh, you don't have to trouble yourself-." Ben began.

"No no, it's no trouble at all." Rem said shaking her head. "Ben-kun, you underestimate how well I can manage myself while working. Your all purpose maid Rem is perfectly fine spoiling her junior coworkers sometimes you know."

Rem held up a tray with a teapot and a few teacups. "Why don't we greet the new day together? We need our strength if we're going to prepare the meals for our guests!"

"Alright then." said Ben, taking a cup. "Don't see why not."

"Oh! And try and use your aliens a bit for some of the work! Even if the labor is menial, every little bit contributes to your recovery!" Rem chided. 

"Er yeah! Wow Rem, you're being so nice today." said Ben. "But if I didn't know better, I'd say you were always like that."

"eheheh, maybe I have been." Rem said. 

"Haha, maybe. " Ben said, jumping out of bed. "Okay now for some clo-."

Ben opened his wardrobe and immediately froze. "R-Rem, my clothes are all folded and clean."

"Hmm, well you don't seem to often do your laundry. Ram would be mad at you if you started to get unruly, so I took the liberty of-."

"N-no, I mean I don't mind, in fact I'm flattered you'd do so much for me.. it's just that.. you washed-."

Ben used his trembling fingers to hold up a pair of underpants that was dotted with designs of Ishiyama, Ben's favorite Super Hero from the Sumo Slammers TV show. 

"Y-you saw and washed.. " Ben squeaked.

"Oh! yes! I didn't know patterning your undergarments with the image of an Oni Sumo Wrestler was a thing in your homeland, to be honest I found it cute. Perhaps patterning undergarments can become a new fashion-." Rem began. "E-EH!? B-Ben-kun!? Ben-kun are you alright!? Ben-kun!?"

Ben had fallen to his knees, sobbing in embarrassment. "Rem.. the fact that a girl knows you wear something like that is not something you're supposed to be happy about.. "

"O-oh!" Rem put a hand to her mouth, getting it. "Eh-eh.. I suppose I didn't think about that. I know, why don't we make something from your homeland's recipes for today's breakfast? Would that cheer you up?"

"We're gonna gain like a ton of weight." Ben said, looking up. 

"Then we'll just have to put a lot of extra physical effort into our work today." Rem said cheerfully. 

"Heh, alright then! Get ready for the Genuine Article Ben Tennyson Supreme Breakfast."

Later that morning, Emilia came down to the dining room amid a beautiful view. 

"Oh!? These aren't dishes I find familiar." said Emilia. "The toast  and jam I know but.. wha..?"

"They are called cheese and bacon omelettes." said Wilhelm, who was already seated at the table, eating his food in a well mannered posture. "Mr. Tennyson was kind enough to grant us a taste of his homeland's breakfast foods.  Apparently you put this red tomato based sauce known as ketchup upon it to enhance the flavor. 

"Dig in guys, me and Rem put a lot of work into this ketchup, so enjoy it to your heart's content!" said Ben as Rem put a bite of omlette into her mouth. "Also we have French Toast with maple syrup, and buttermilk pancakes. 

"I must admit, this feast is quite swe~ell." said Roswaal as he cut his omlette with a knife. "Rem, Ben, you are both doing well in Ram's absence."

"Where is Ram?" Emilia asked.

"Oh, she requested some va~acation days." said Roswaal. 

"I don't remember Ram ever requesting a vacation in like.. ever." said Puck, floating above Emilia's head. 

"Truth be to~old, she decided to use this time to visit the Vertilot family, I'm sure you can guess why." said Roswaal, giving Ben a wink. 

Ben sighed and shrugged at Roswaal. "Fine I guess the jig's up, we're looking for a way to get the ore alternatively so Rem doesn't have to marry Vertidork."

Roswaal chuckled. "I figured a~as much."

"A-about that, I would like to make an announcement." said Rem. 

"Hmm?" said Roswaal.

"I would like to say that-." Rem said. 

"Morning peasants! A fine morning it is!" at that moment Vertilot walked in. 

"Th-that we'll be cooking Ben's homeland dishes for Lunch as well!" Rem stammered. 

"Really!? D-does that mean we'll finally have a barbecue cookout!?" Ben said. "But Ram was always like 'do you intend to make Master Roswaal eat outside Dog Pee Boy?' or something like that."

"That was a scary good Ram impersonation." said Puck. 

"B-but Rem, weren't you about to say-?" Emilia began, but Puck put a paw to his mouth and shook his head, nodding at Vertilot, who took his seat without noticing. 

"What is this peasant trash?" Muttered Vertilot as he eyed the food on his plate.

"Food, you're free to eat it." said Ben. 

Vertilot took a tentative bite. "Hmph, very well, I suppose it's okay, for scraps. Tsk I expected more of you Rem dear, that a maid would allow this low peasant food to pass upon a table."

"Hey, even Bill Gates loves eggs. " Ben muttered. 

"I think Ben's dishes are delicious." said Emilia. 

"I give them Fi~ive stars." said Roswaal. "Perha~aps we can bring Beatrice a plate or two later."

"Hmph, well I can't fault a bunch of fools living out in the boonies for not knowing real five star cooking." said Vertilot. "Come along Servant.. Ben was it? You will accompany me for morning sparring today."

"Eh? Me?" Ben said.

"As insulting and unruly as you are, your ability to transform into monsters has made me feel you would be good practice. As the eventual successor to my father whose job is to slay Malbeasts, you will be the perfect opponent. One who attacks not with magic and swords, but with wing and claw."

"I have a bad feeling about this." Ben muttered. 

https://youtu.be/BxeVKoTIj8g

Later they were once more outside in Roswaal's garden, this time with Ben facing Vertilot instead of Rem, who had removed his knight's coat for what appeared to be a cotton shirt to allow easier movement, a blade in one hand. 

"Let us make this quick shall we? Last time I merely gave you a taste of my true power in a foolish food fight." said Vertilot, flexing his wrist, smirking. "This time you will get no such quarter."

"So that's it isn't it? You want revenge for last night." Ben said. "Huh, then I'm not going to hold back either. Still afraid of ghosts?"

Vertilot grinned. "Ahhh, so you're eager for this fight too?"

"Not gonna lie, with the way you treat your wife to be, I'm pretty ticked and ready to kick butt, it's hero time asshole."

"Hero time?" said Vertilot. "What a strange peasant you are."

Wilhelm approached the duo, raising a gloved hand. "the rules are simple, the first to get knocked down or rendered motionless shall lose. All forms of killing are forbidden. Should I will the fight to stop, you will stop or be declared the loser.  Is that clear?"

"Crystal Wilhelm, crystal." said Vertilot, twirling his blade with such skill, Ben could only surmise that Vertilot hadn't earned his title of knight through nothing. He really was a formidable opponent. 

"Clear as ice actually." said Ben in response to Wilhelm as he pressed his palm against his wrist.

"Big Chill.."

The hooded Big Chill appeared, levitating slowly into the air, cold hissing from his mouth like a dense fog all around him. 

He no longer felt the same sort of automatic panic  that he felt when he used to transform a couple of days ago. This time, he was calm as he was during the days when he was a full time hero. 

And there was a reason why.

He could see Rem watching on the bench, seated next to Emilia. 

No reason to mess up or turn back now.

"Hmph, going with the being that sneaks through floors? How inelegant."

"Now now, no need to give me the cold shoulder Vertidork." said Big Chill in his echoing ethereal voice. "But be careful, wear a sweater, it's about to get chilly tonight."

"SHEEEEN!" Vertilot moved faster than the eye could see. cleaving through Big Chill in an instant.. 

But instead of actually touching the alien, Big Chill's body turned see through, and the sword immediately phased through him.

Vertilot stared, stunned as his blade was coated in ice, hissing with icy fog. 

"Told you so." said Big Chill. 

Vertilot smirked. "Hmph, a childish trick nothing more. Even spirits can't phase through the wind itself. 

Vertilot hurled out his blade in swift slashing motions. "La Fura, Despovi!" 

Multiple wind blades exploded from the frozen sword's slashes, encircling Big Chill and slashing at him from all directions. 

Big Chill narrowed his eyes as he rose into the air, avoiding the wind blades, one of them narrowly cutting through a tree that was close to the audience and fell just a bit away.

"Soul Knight Vertilot, he's as creative as ever. " said Roswaal. 

"Eh?" Emilia said. 

"Well of co~ourse he's quite a renowned fighter." said Roswaal. "Though I don't think I would ever put him at Julius's level, his ability to reinvent magic is descended from the Vertilot family, and he has a natural talent at it. Altering El Fura into a target seeking 360 degree attack for instance, not even Ram could've come up with the spell formula needed to make that. "

"So his talent lies in making new spells that nobody's ever thought of?" said Puck. 

"Tha~at, and his rather spectacular swordsmanship." said Roswaal. 

"FURA LORDE!" back on the battlefield, Vertilot swung his blade upwards, and two twin massive cyclones exploded at Big Chill as he spread his wings out and took to the skies, avoiding the attack with measured skill and patience. 

Big Chill suddenly took a deep breath.

"Eh? What's he trying?" Vertilot growled. 

"FFFFFSSSH!" Big Chill let out a hissing death rattle as a column of freezing blue breath shot down at Vertilot. 

Vertilot's eyes flashed as he swung his blade, and a massive gust of magic wind exploded into the icy breath, turning it into a wave shaped ice sculpture. 

"Oho? Now that's interesting, seems you don't call that thing Big Chill for nothing." said Vertilot. "Quite a sad trump card though, and bringing it so late into the game, hmph!"

Vertilot's blade moved again at vicious speeds, sending out more and more high powered wind blades that screeched through the air as they vibrated rapidly like makeshift buzz saws. 

Big Chill phased into the ground, disappearing with a wisp of cold fog. 

"Hiding won't do you much good." said Vertilot. "I can sense your very mana you know. That is the power of an elite knight. Your gate is quite visible to me."

"He's a dumb one that's for sure." said Puck. "He still hasn't seen it."

"Seen what?" Emilia asked. 

"How terrifyingly skilled Ben is." said Puck. "The only reason Ben hasn't attacked in earnest yet is because he's minding that the fight doesn't get too out of hand. All this time he's been flying in a manner that guides Vertilot away from us, in order to keep any spare or missed attacks from hitting us. He probably could phase through the wind magic any time in all honesty, but he didn't want to force Bartholomew to accidentally blow a hole in one of us. The fact he is able to multitask to this extent while dancing Bartholomew around like a puppet to get him into a suitable position to take down, speaks to the fact that his job was pretty much to fight in a way that keeps collateral to a minimum and innocents out of the way. "

"Now, lets finish this!" Vertilot raised his blade. "UL FUR-"

"Crkkkkkkk.."

Before Vertilot could even finish his sentence, Big Chill had risen out of the ground and with a freezing trail of icy breath, Vertilot's entire torso and legs were encased in a large chunk of ice. 

"G-h ghhh.. c..cc.. cc...cold!" squeaked Vertilot. 

"The winner, is Ben Tennyson!" Yelled Wilhelm. 

"WHAT!!?" Vertilot roared as Ben returned to human form. "y-you.."

"HEY!" 

Vertilot turned his head as that was the only thing he could move at the moment when he heard that voice.

"Rem!" Vertilot said, smiling gratefully as he saw the girl moving in. "You saw your darling fiance crying heroically as this boy used cheap tricks to win our spar and felt moved to free me from this ice didnt-?"

"Are you alright? Ben-kun" Rem asked, putting a hand to Ben's shoulder. "He didn't graze you or anything?"

Not a scratch, really, I mean Big Chill's perfectly capable of phasing through crap." said Ben with a sheepish chuckle. "Er, though now that I think on it, maybe an alien that's immune to physical blows is a bit of a cheap thing to use."

"You use whatever is at your disposal and do so with great skill, you have nothing to be ashamed of." said Wilhelm. "Master Bartholomew, you fought well, but I recommend that you not let your cockiness blind you to your enemy's strategy. With your level of skill you could've lasted far longer, even against something as unusual as Big Chill. "

"U-understood." Growled Vertilot, grinding his teeth furiously as he watched Rem fuss over Ben, patting the dust off his clothes.  "Yes, I think I understand things perfectly now.."

Vertilot's eyes nearly turned bloodshot from rage. "Ben Tennyson, you foolish thief. I'll show you the true measure of hell."