Somewhere in the middle of a long stretch of desert highway, the Rust Bucket had pulled over beside a tiny roadside convenience stand that looked like it had been there for decades.
The place had a faded sign, a couple of dusty coolers, and a freezer filled with ice cream that hummed loudly in the heat.
Inside the shop, Gwen and Ben stood in front of the ice cream freezer while the old store owner leaned behind the counter, looking like he had already had a very long day.
Gwen carefully studied the list of flavors and ingredients printed on the freezer door.
"What do you have that's non-fat with less than three percent sugar?" she asked politely.
The old store owner didn't even hesitate.
"Napkins," he answered flatly.
He folded his arms and glanced down at Ben. "What do you want, kid?"
Ben was just about to give his order when a loud metallic clanking sound came from outside. Everyone in the shop turned toward the window.
Ben opened his mouth, ready to answer.
But before he could say anything, a loud metallic clanking sound suddenly echoed from outside.
Everyone in the shop turned toward the window.
Across the small parking lot, two extremely suspicious-looking men were standing beside the ATM.
One was a large, overweight guy trying to pry open the front panel with a crowbar, while the other, who looked like the goofiest robber imaginable, was nervously glancing around while holding a sack.
Ben stared for a second before a grin slowly spread across his face. "I'm about to go rocky road."
Without waiting another second, he ran out of the shop and slammed down on the dial of the Omnitrix.
A flash of green light exploded outward.
"Upgrade!"
When the light faded, the sleek black and green alien Upgrade stood in Ben's place.
The robbers barely had time to react.
Upgrade slid across the ground like liquid metal, instantly merging with the ATM for half a second before popping back out behind them. One arm stretched into a flexible cable that wrapped around the crowbar and yanked it away.
The overweight robber spun around in confusion.
"Hey!"
Before he could finish, Upgrade reshaped his arm into a mechanical clamp and gently but firmly pinned both robbers to the ground.
The entire fight lasted less than ten seconds.
By the time Max stepped outside, the two criminals were already tied together with pieces of their own tools.
Max smirked proudly at his grandson. "Good work, Ben."
Upgrade clearly pleased with himself. "Oh yeah! I'm ready for anything. Bring it on! What's next?"
Max smiled in a way that immediately made Ben suspicious. "We're heading off to see your Aunt Vera for the weekend."
Upgrade's confident expression collapsed instantly. "Aw, boring old Aunt Vera? Nooo!"
Back inside the Rust Bucket, Evan had watched the entire scene from the window before slowly shifting his attention back to the small chip resting in his hand.
After the incident with the Kraken, he had managed to salvage enough mechanical components and circuitry to assemble a small upgrade module. It wasn't anything major, but it was enough to access a new feature.
He activated the Another Omnitrix on his wrist.
Using the analytical data he had previously gathered while transformed as Brainstorm, he carefully inserted the newly built module into a slot beneath the dial.
The device immediately lit up and began rotating softly as internal systems recalibrated.
A calm feminine voice echoed quietly from the watch.
[Data Upgrade Detected. Life Form Lock Mode is now available.]
Evan studied the display for a moment and quietly sighed. "Hmm… wrong code again. I was aiming for Master Control, but this works too."
He deactivated the watch and leaned back into his seat. This wasn't the first time he made upgrades for his Omnitrix; getting random small boosts and new functions is quite normal for him.
Then he suddenly asks. "How long until I get a new DNA sample?"
The device responded immediately.
[New DNA sample will be available in: 56 Hours, 36 Minutes, 11 Seconds.]
"Still a while then," he murmured.
At that moment, the RV door opened, and Max, Ben, and Gwen finally stepped back inside, with Ben still in Upgrade form, loudly complaining about having to visit his aunt.
Gwen walked over to the table holding two cups of ice cream and placed one in front of Evan.
"Here," she said. "I ordered something similar to mine, with less fat and lower sugar."
Evan glanced down at the cup before gently pushing it back toward her. "Thanks, but I don't like sweets anymore."
Gwen blinked in surprise and raised an eyebrow. "You don't?"
"Yeah," Evan replied calmly. "The last time I tried a sweet drink with my sister, Nakayama Festa, it didn't go well. It was supposed to be milk tea or something like that, but Gold Ship decided to spice it up with a large amount of sugar, honey, corn syrup, molasses, and fruit juice concentrates."
Gwen immediately sweat-dropped. "That sounds less like a drink and more like a chemical weapon. Then what happened?"
"Nakayama and I were hospitalized," Evan replied in the same calm tone. "Later, Dream Journey punished Gold Ship for causing trouble."
Ben, who had just transformed back and sat down nearby, stared at him for a moment. "Your family naming sense is weird."
Evan simply shrugged. "Being weird basically runs in my family. Even my real name is Ever Gold."
Ben blinked in disbelief. "…Wait, seriously? Your real name is Ever Gold?"
Evan just shrugs. "Evan just sounded better and more normal."
...
"When Aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it," Gwen said while wiping down a plate and placing it neatly into the drying rack.
Outside the window, there was nothing but open land and quiet roads stretching far into the distance.
Ben, meanwhile, was slumped across one of the seats in the Rust Bucket with a bored expression that made it very clear what he thought about the place.
"Oh, man," Ben groaned dramatically. "This summer was supposed to be about f-u-n, not hanging out in some old lady's house in the middle of nowhere."
"I like Aunt Vera," Gwen replied with a small smile.
Ben immediately frowned at her.
"Duh. That's because you act like you're a hundred years old," he shot back.
From the driver's seat, Max chuckled as he glanced at the two kids through the rearview mirror.
"Hehe, you two really get along well," Max said warmly. "Anyway, we're almost there, so get ready. And just a little warning, your Aunt Vera is really good at pinching cheeks."
...
At the retirement complex, Vera was talking to her neighbor, Marty, who was watering his garden.
"It's been years since I've seen Max and the kids," she said. "I'm not sure I'll even recognize them. Stop by and say hello."
"I'd like that," Marty said as he went inside.
Inside his apartment, he put down some snacks and sat down on his sofa to watch a movie. But as he picked up his snack, a slimy formless mass stuck to his hand, and he gasped as it attacked him.
...
A few minutes later, the Rust Bucket rolled to a stop in front of a small western-style house surrounded by a tidy yard and a white wooden fence. Standing at the front door was a stout elderly woman with bright eyes and a welcoming smile.
"Max!" Vera said, running out to hug her brother.
"Vera!" Max smiled as he hugged his sister.
The moment Max stepped out of the RV, the two siblings hurried toward each other and shared a big hug.
The woman, Vera Tennyson, looked older than Max but still energetic as she laughed warmly.
"I can't believe you're finally here!" she said happily.
After letting go of Max, she turned her attention to the kids and opened her arms.
"Oh, look at you two!"
She immediately pulled Gwen into a hug before the girl could react. Gwen stood there awkwardly while Vera squeezed her affectionately.
"And you've grown so much!"
Vera then grabbed Gwen's cheeks and gently pinched them while shaking her head fondly.
"So grown up!"
When she finally let go, Gwen rubbed her cheeks with a quiet groan.
Next came Ben. Vera hugged him just as enthusiastically before pinching his cheeks the same way.
"Ow," Ben muttered as she finally released him, his face still sore.
Only then did Vera notice the quiet boy standing nearby.
She smiled kindly. "And who might you be, young man?"
Max stepped forward to introduce him.
"Ah, this is Evan Gold," he explained. "He's Stay Gold's kid. I agreed to bring him along during the summer vacation."
Since Evan technically wasn't a Tennyson, Vera didn't immediately grab his cheeks the way she had with the others, but she still gave him a warm, curious look.
"Hello," Evan said simply in his usual calm tone.
"Well then," Vera said cheerfully, clapping her hands together. "Everyone come inside. I've made lunch."
Inside the house, the atmosphere was warm and cozy, with shelves full of old photographs, handmade decorations, and small collections that clearly meant a lot to the owner. The furniture looked old but well cared for, and the faint smell of cooking still lingered in the air.
Ben wandered around the living room with his hands in his pockets, glancing at the decorations with a completely unimpressed expression. Meanwhile, Gwen sat beside Vera on the couch, chatting enthusiastically about school, books, and random trivia that only the two of them seemed to find fascinating.
Evan, on the other hand, quietly walked around the room, studying the various items on the shelves with mild curiosity, occasionally pausing to look at an old photograph or one of Vera's collections.
Before long, everyone gathered at the dining table.
Placed proudly in the center of the table was a large orange Jell-O mold filled with white and brown chunks suspended inside it. The moment Ben and Gwen saw it, both of them nearly gagged just from the sight alone.
The smell didn't help either.
Ben leaned back slightly in his chair and squinted suspiciously at the wobbling dish.
Evan studied the food carefully. Considering how unusual his own family's meals could sometimes be, he hesitated for only a moment before taking a small bite to test it.
Ben and Gwen, however, looked far less confident about doing the same.
Max, on the other hand, seemed perfectly happy as he scooped up another spoonful.
"Vera, this is truly delicious," Max said with obvious satisfaction. "What are these brown chunks?"
Vera smiled brightly, clearly pleased that someone appreciated her cooking.
"Oh, those are pork chops, and the white bits are cauliflower."
Ben stared at Evan in disbelief after hearing that seeing him still eating.
"I think I'll pass," he muttered, completely shocked that Evan had somehow managed to swallow something like that without immediately collapsing.
Vera chuckled softly before turning her attention to Ben.
"So, Ben," she asked kindly, "what have you been doing so far this summer?"
Ben leaned back confidently in his chair. "Dealing with alien life forms."
Evan slowly turned his head toward him at that answer, silently wondering how Ben had managed to keep his identity a secret all the way until the events of Ben 10: Ultimate Alien when he casually said things like that in normal conversations.
Vera simply laughed. "Oh, you kids and your wild imaginations."
While the conversation continued, Gwen stood up and began looking around the room again. Her attention quickly landed on a shelf filled with carefully preserved bird models.
She leaned closer, clearly intrigued, until she spotted one particular red bird.
"Aunt Vera, is that a stuffed red-billed North American chickadee?"
Vera gasped happily. "How perceptive, Gwen! And did you know the song of the red-billed North American chickadee is actually-"
"-a call indicating alarm or excitement?" Gwen finished.
The two of them then proceeded to imitate the bird's call together.
Ben slowly lowered his spoon and stared at them in horror while they chirped enthusiastically.
Vera eventually returned to the table holding a small bowl. "Ben, would you like some candy?"
Ben's eyes lit up instantly. "Now we're talking."
He grabbed one of the candies and popped it into his mouth.
Two seconds later, he immediately spat it out.
"Coffee? As a candy?!" he exclaimed in disbelief. "Is this some kind of joke?"
Ben quickly pushed his chair back and stood up. "I need to use the bathroom."
He practically fled from the table.
"I must escape this place," he muttered as he disappeared down the hallway.
Not long after the bathroom door closed, a faint green glow slipped through the crack beneath it.
Inside, Ben activated the Omnitrix and transformed into Ghostfreak.
Before leaving the table earlier, he had leaned over and quietly whispered "boo" into Gwen's ear, making her jump while Evan merely glanced at him with mild amusement.
"Hehe… where should I go play?" Ghostfreak snickered before phasing straight through the wall and floating outside.
The town was quiet in the early evening, with most of the streets nearly empty.
While drifting through the neighborhood, Ghostfreak suddenly noticed a golf cart parked along the roadside.
"Hello."
He floated over to it and pressed his body against the gas pedal while using his hands to push the steering wheel.
To anyone watching nearby, it looked like the golf cart had suddenly come to life and started driving itself.
Ghostfreak grinned at the chaos he was causing. Just then, a delicious smell drifted through the air.
He quickly slammed against the brake and turned his head toward a nearby house.
"Mmm… apple pie."
A freshly baked pie sat on a windowsill. Ghostfreak floated toward it eagerly.
But just as he was about to grab a piece, he noticed an old lady inside the house violently swatting at a fly.
Suddenly, she leaped straight up and stuck to the ceiling.
Then she grabbed the fly and swallowed it in one bite before dropping back to the floor and cracking her neck joints with a disturbingly loud sound.
Ghostfreak recoiled in disgust. "Blech!"
Then the realization hit him. "No way… ninja old people?!"
"This town is way too bizarre," he muttered before floating away again.
As he continued wandering through the neighborhood, the strange sights only increased.
One old woman casually performed a perfect backflip while watering her garden.
An old man nearly caused a car accident because he was too busy sprinkling water across the road while humming cheerfully.
In a nearby waste area behind an apartment complex, Ghostfreak watched another old man casually lift a folded red rug onto his shoulder. The man then walked up to a metal gate, stretched his legs upward, and stepped over it with absolutely no effort at all.
Ghostfreak stared in disbelief. "This place just keeps getting weirder by the minute."
He floated through the gate to investigate further.
Inside, he watched as the old man pushed a large dumpster aside, revealing a hidden staircase underneath.
The man was about to descend when the Omnitrix symbol suddenly started beeping rapidly. A flash of red light burst out. Ben fell to the ground with a grunt as the transformation ended.
At that exact moment, the old man slowly turned his head around one hundred and eighty degrees to stare directly at him.
"Ahhhhh!" Ben screamed in terror as the old man suddenly grabbed him by the shoulders.
Ben struggled desperately and managed to break free before scrambling toward the gate.
He quickly climbed the metal grating, jumped down the other side, and sprinted toward the golf cart.
Behind him, the old man stretched his legs over the gate again and began chasing him with surprising speed.
Ben jumped into the cart and slammed the pedal.
"Okay… creepy old guy coming right for me!" he yelled while looking back in panic. "Maybe this won't be the most boring place on this vacation after all!"
The golf cart sped forward at a maximum speed of about forty miles per hour.
Unfortunately, the old man kept gaining on him.
Then suddenly the man stretched his arms forward, grabbed the front of the cart, and began dragging it backward.
Ben panicked. His eyes quickly landed on a duffel bag containing golf clubs.
Without thinking, he grabbed one and swung it as hard as he could, slicing the man's stretched hand loose.
The cart shot forward again. But before Ben could relax, he suddenly felt a heavy thump on the roof.
The old man had climbed on top.
The sudden weight caused Ben to lose control of the cart, which slammed into a parking block before both of them were thrown into a nearby tree.
Ben groaned in pain as he slowly sat up and leaned against the trunk. But the old man's body suddenly reformed like rubber.
Before Ben could react, the man grabbed his legs and began stretching backward, pulling him across the ground.
Ben desperately reached for his Omnitrix.
Just then, the old man suddenly noticed a lawn sprinkler nearby spraying water across the grass.
He froze before letting out a frightened grunt and immediately ran away.
Ben blinked in confusion. "What the heck was that all about?"