The story is set sometime after Ben's fight with Vilgax in the episode "Vengeance of Vilgax"
"BEN, ARE YOU COMING?" Ben awoke to his cousin pounding at the door. "COME ON BEN, IT'S TIME TO GO!"
"Huh? Oh, yeah, right, I'LL BE RIGHT OUT!" He had fallen asleep watching Sumo Slammers late into the night. He rolled of the bed, knocking over his leftover chili fries and Mr. slushy. "Time for a little help from an old friend" After selecting the desired figure, he slapped down the raised face of the amazing watch he'd gotten five years ago. In a brilliant flash of green light, he could feel his body rearranging itself as the Omnitrix worked it's magic.
"XLR8!" he exclaimed with a smile, the transformation complete. He'd completely forgotten to pack. Zigzagging around the room in a flash of blue, Ben grabbed what he thought he would need and threw it all into his backpack. He'd have to thank Cooper later, for helping him unlock his older set of aliens; He could now select from 30 different alien species. In a few seconds he was done, grabbing his bag as he swung open the door and zipped out before Gwen could blink. "Waitin' on you now, Cuz. Let's go," he called back, chuckling at his own joke.
"Well hey, that brings back memories," jibed Kevin from behind him, "I don't think I've seen this one since we met in the arcade."
"Yeah," Ben replied, powering down. "It's been awhile."
"All right everyone!" called Grandpa Max, "all aboard the Rust Bucket!" They were going on another camping trip, to the usual spot in Colorado. Everyone was coming on this trip; Gwen, Kevin, Julie and ship, Cooper, Alan, Helen, Manny, and Pierce. The rookies all got in the RV, while Ben, Gwen, Kevin and Julie climbed into Kevin's car and followed behind.
"Alright, we're here!" exclaimed Manny, rocking the RV as he leapt off.
"Yeah this is gonna be fun!" Called Ben. Grandpa Max's camping trips were the best.
"All right everyone, settle down," called Grandpa Max as he came around to the campsite. "It's already getting dark so we need to hurry up and set up camp. Helen, why don't you go find us some firewood? Meanwhile, I'll start on dinner. Alan—when she gets back—if you could take care of the campfire please. The rest of you can set up your tents."
"What?! We're sleeping in tents?" Ben asked.
"Well, you didn't think we were all gonna squeeze into the Rust Bucket did you? That may have worked when you and Gwen were kids, but if all 10 of us tried to fit in there, none of us would get any sleep. Now, there's three tents so here's how you'll be split up; Gwen, Helen, and Julie, you're in the first tent. Ben, Kevin, and Manny, you're in the next one. And that leaves Alan, Cooper, and Pierce in the last one." He tossed the tent bags to each group as he addressed them.
"Huh?" said Ben "Grandpa, you're not camping out with us?"
"Nah, you kids have fun," he replied with a smile. "I'll stay with the Rust Bucket. Someone's got to guard the old girl." With that, he vanished inside his RV before anyone could pose further objection.
Gwen and Julie got to work on their tent while Helen ran off to get the firewood. Ben watched as she disappeared into the trees in a brilliant blue blur, remembering how he used to do the same: The speed, the agility, the wind, the pranks you could play on people; he enjoyed being XLR8 very much.
"Come on Tennyson let's go," Kevin called to his left. "I've never set up one of these things before."
"Me neither," Manny added.
"Alright, hold on I'm coming." Ben snapped from his trance and turned to help his two friends with the puzzling challenge of tent pitching.
"So, Ben, how'd you manage to access XLR8 again?" Kevin asked, "I thought that set was locked."
"Oh, Cooper helped me out with that," Ben replied.
"So, you can turn into any of your old aliens again?" Kevin asked, a grin beginning to appear across his multi-surfaced face.
"Yeah, it's pretty cool isn't it" Ben said, chuckling.
"Definitely" Kevin responded, continuing. "Hey, you know what would be cool: you should transform into Four-arms again and have a wrestling match with this guy" gesturing to Manny.
"What's he talking about?" Manny's eyebrows pressed themselves together.
"You'll see in a second," Ben replied, smiling. He selected Four-arms from the Omnitrix's database and slapped the watch down. The familiar green light accompanied his transformation, as Ben's arms split and his skin turned red. After a few seconds had passed, Ben Tennyson once again wore the muscular features of an adolescent Tetramand.
Manny grinned. "Oh, this ought to be fun." Four hundred pounds of Manny flew through the air and slammed into Ben.
By this time Helen had returned with the firewood, and noticed Ben and Manny rolling on the ground. "Stop it you two!" she called. Before either could blink, Helen had pried the two apart and ran a figure 8 around and between them to distance them further, stopping in the middle.
"What's going on here? Why are you always fighting?" Ben didn't answer, standing transfixed by her speed and grace. She had handled the situation so well, and so quickly, even if she had mistaken their intentions.
Manny however, responded immediately. "Hey, come on. We were just messing around; we wanted to see who would win in a fair fight, and you can't get much more fair than this." Helen turned—following his hand—and for the first time noticed that Ben had transformed into the same alien as Manny.
"Oh," she said, eyes wide. "Sorry about that, I thought you were… never mind" As she walked off, Ben didn't quite notice Manny lunging at him again and soon found himself on the ground.
(I tried to keep everyone in character so tell me how I did. compliments or criticism are both helpful, and I'm still writing the next chapter so I'm open to suggestions. Please rate/review)