Hero Time

***Hero Time*** is the fifteenth *Ultimate Alien* chapter of *Clock 10: Choose Your Own Adventure*.

## Plot

Clockwork Firefly, Taryn, and Kevin are waiting outside a theater for the premiere of a new movie starring Jennifer Nocturne. During their wait, Clock jokingly brings up the idea of Nocturne as a "back up" in case the relationship with Charmcaster doesn't work out, which sparks laughter from the other two, though mocking the idea of him being with Nocturne and not necessarily what he was joking about.

Nocturne then arrives, only to be ambushed by several thugs a few moments after leaving her limo. Clock transforms into Nanomech, flying over and dismantling the guns while remaining unseen. However, as he goes to a third thug, said thug is knocked to the ground in a large net. Someone calls out, and everyone notices the local hero Captain Nemesis, the alter ego of billionaire Carl Nesmith, as he lands.

Nanomech becomes human again and tries a friendly greeting with Nemesis, which is given a half-assed resiprocation. As the two talk, Nocturne interrupts with gratitude for being saved. Nemesis intially takes the credit, but she insists the thanks are for Clock and not him, going so far as to give the former a kiss.

After having been invited to the movie's VIP after party, Clock returns home to find Taryn, Kevin, and awkwardly enough, Julie, the three of which are watching the news regarding, as Kevin calls it, "Clockturne." Taryn and Kevin, albeit the latter with convincing, leave to give the two some privacy. The two have a conversation regarding Clock's fame status and his newfound "relationship" with Nocturne. However, the conversation is cut short when a door to the room falls, due to Kevin having been trying to eavesdrop.

Before Clock can act on his anger towards Kevin, Will Harangue's news station reports Captain Nemesis fighting Computron's Dimension 12 robots at a dock. Kevin agrees to go with Clock to take them down, while Taryn stays to comfort Julie. Kevin drives off in his car, while Clock bcomes Heatblast to fly there. Once there, he attempts to fight off the Computron robots, though they prove invulnerable to his fire. Instead, he then tosses a few into the water, which proves effective, but also puts out his own flames.

Although annoyed at Clock's presence, Nemesis elaborates that the robots come from Dimension 12, a place with no time, which allows their creator Computron to continuously create them. After being knocked into the water by Nemesis (caused by one of his own comments, mind you), Heatblast is surprised by the arrival of Kevin, who knocks another robot into the water with his car, which changes to become sea faring as it hits the water. Heatblast then leaps from the water, turning into Armodrillo and seeing more robots approaching, which he easily destroys, though Nemesis destroys the last one.

With them destroyed, Armodrillo becomes human and tries to leave as Nocturne arrives, only for Nocturne to drag him back into the spotlight, and goad him and Nemesis on about being "heroic rivals." After a brief heated discussion, the two agree to a contest to determine who is the better hero. The first round deals with throwing a train car. Nemesis throws the train car about twenty yards, while Clock uses Humungousaur's full size form to throw it out of sight.

The second round deals with speed in a race. Clock attempts for Jetray but gets NRG instead, which gives Nemesis a lead in the race. Rather than harming people with his true form's radiation, he tries for Jetray again, but gets Eye Guy. Annoyed by the mistransformations, Eye Guy lets Nemesis win the race round.

The final round begins, a more direct test of strength: a tug of war. Nemesis' confidence dwindles as Clock assumes the form of Rath. Rath easily wins, but begins to thrash Nemesis about like a ragdoll, which somewhat damages his reputation, though he does still win the competion overall. On the way home, Clock gets a call from Julie, which is actually Nemesis demanding he show up at his Nesmith Tower that night.

Clock arrives at Nesmith Tower, where he meets with Nemesis. While there, another visiter arrives: Jennifer Nocturne. Upon entering, she accidentally reveals her feelings for Clock to be disingenuine, and she and Nemesis have an argument regarding their "plans" regarding the press. Originally, they were going to set up being a controversial couple, but Jennifer changed the plans to be a love triangle between them and Clock, which Nemesis did not approve of.

Nemesis threatens to kill Nocturne, Clock, and then the latter's friends, in order to become the only idol for people. Clock attempts for Rath again, but becomes Frankenstrike when hit by a blast from Nemesis. Frankenstrike blasts him back, and goes to protect Nocturne, which prompts Nemesis to remind him that he has Julie, who is dangling far above the ground before he drops her. Using his electromagnetic body, Frankenstrike jumps and catches her, bringing her to safety.

Nemesis readies his aim and fires rockets at the two, only for Frankenstrike to turn into Goop, tanking the blast and regenerating from it. Goop then sprays acid at Nemesis, causing his suit to malfunction, and proceeds to grab him, using his anti-gravity projector to go all the way to the top of the tower at Nesmith's penthouse suite. Once there. Goop proceeds to.... do something we're not allowed to say here.

The police come and pick up Nocturne and Nesmith, while Julie approaches Clock. The two reconcile and Julie determines she's fine with them being separated.

## Major Events

* Clock's team fights Captain Nemesis for the first time.
* Proper closure is made between Clock and Julie.

## Characters

* Clockwork Firefly
* Taryn Firefly
* Kevin Levin
* Julie Yamamoto

### Villains

* Captain Nemesis/Overlord
* Jennifer Nocturne
* Computron's Robots
* Hired Thugs

## Aliens Used

* Nanomech
* Heatblast
* Armodrillo
* Humungousaur
* NRG *(selected alien was Jetray)*
* Eye Guy *(selected alien was Jetray)*
* Rath
* Frankenstrike *(selected alien was Rath)*
* Goop

## Trivia

* To some extent, this episode takes inspiration from *Catch a Falling Star* in regards to Jennifer being connected to Nemesis already.