Ben and Gwen put on fake smiles as Grandpa Max left the campsite to get some firewood. When he was out of earshot, they turned on each other in anger.

"You had ONE job Ben!" Gwen exclaimed. "Get a cake for Grandpa's birthday and keep it safe."

"Hey! Is it my fault the cake was destroyed yesterday when Animo attacked?" Ben replied.

"Yes, if you weren't patting yourself on the back, you would've seen his mutant parrot coming and the Rustbucket wouldn't have been flipped!" Gwen replied. "Grandpa only turns 60 once!"

"I know…" Ben sighed. "It's not like I didn't try to stop it." He said somberly. "And I'm sorry... I just need to celebrate victory okay? I need to feel like I'm doing something right…"

Gwen softened up at that. Ben had been talking down on himself a lot lately. "Hey, you do a lot right." She said.

"Yeah… While stumbling through each fight on fake bravado, making mistake after mistake…" He sighed. "I don't even know why I'm telling you this…" He started to walk into the Rustbucket.

"Ben…" Gwen sighed and went to follow. Then a yellow portal opened up, catching both their attentions. A woman flew through the portal and snatched up Gwen. "Help!"

"Hey!" Ben screamed as he activated the Omnitrix and turned into XLR8. He followed the woman holding Gwen through the portal before it closed.

Ben rushed through and tackled the woman, sending her and Gwen flying. He caught Gwen and sped to the other side of this futuristic looking city square.

"Where are we?" Ben asks Gwen.

"I don't know…" She looks around. "Looks like Earth, but there are aliens in the streets and kids riding hoverboards like the one Tetrax gave you… I think we may be in the future."

"Good guess." The woman from before says, flying over to them.

Ben got into a defensive posture in front of Gwen. "Why did you bring us here?" Ben asks.

Before the mysterious woman could answer, Exo-Skull came crashing in. "Tennyson! I'm going to have my revenge!"

"Uh, do I know you?" Ben asks.

"Ha ha, nice try. I'm gonna crush you." He started rushing at Ben.

Ben grabbed Gwen and dodged his attack. Exo-Skull then shot laser blasts towards them, but the woman raised a shield in front of them.

Ben put Gwen down and ran towards the rhino alien, but the Omnitrix decided to time out just then and he went flying into the cyborg.

The mysterious woman started fighting Exo-Skull off when another XLR8 came running onto the scene and fought Exo-Skull. "You looking for me Exo-Skull?" This XLR8 asked in an obviously more feminine voice. She used her speed to literally tear his robotics off and with one final pass, she flipped onto her tail and kicked the rhino under the chin about 100 times in a few seconds. Exo-Skull fell to the ground.

"Back to the Null Void with you." She says, taking a handheld projector out of the bag Ben just noticed she was carrying and shot the cyborg, sending him off in a flash of red light.

Ben was awestruck, she had taken out this huge alien in less than 5 minutes. But he did notice how she was definitely a girl, so he was also confused. 'Maybe she's my daughter or something.' He thought.

The XLR8 ran over to them. "What are these 2 doing here?" She asked the woman. "Send them back Gwendolyn then meet me back at Headquarters." She ordered before running off.

Gwen looked at the woman. "You're me?"

The woman nodded and took off her hood and scarf. "Yes I am Gwen."

Ben looked over and was even more confused now. "You're Gwen?" He asked.

Gwendolyn sighed and nodded. "Yes Ben, though I've gone by Gwendolyn since college."

"I went to college? Was it ivy league? Do I get a doctorate?" Gwen asked in rapid fire questions.

"Gwen I didn't bring you here to spoil your future." Gwendolyn told her.

But before Gwen could complain, Ben interrupted. "Why did you bring us here then?"

"I went back to get you." She replied.

"Why did you take Gwen then?" Ben asked back.

"Because she knew your listening skills are non-existent and that you'd come after her if she took me." Gwen answered for her elder counterpart.

Gwendolyn nodded. "Exactly. As for why, the woman you asked about, the hero you just saw, is not ready for a coming crisis and needs help." She said. "And believe it or not Ben, she is you."

Ben looked flabbergasted. "Me? How could she be me?" He asked, pieces starting to click in his brain and he didn't like the implications.

Gwen looked just as confused. "Some sort of glitch in the watch or something?"

Gwendolyn sighed. 'Oh, I forgot Ben didn't know what those feelings meant at that time…' She rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Ben, you know those feelings you have like everything is wrong?" Ben's eyes widened and he nodded. "Well, that's because you're transgender Ben."

Gwen was surprised by this development. "Wait, you're saying that Ben is actually a girl?" She asked, conflicted. "But born a boy?"

"No! It's not true!" Ben burst out before Gwendolyn could confirm. "Sure I can change into aliens... But I'm not that kind of freak!" He had tears in his eyes as he started to run off in a random direction.

Gwen went to run after Ben, but Gwendolyn stopped her. "Ben just needs some time to think… Ben has had years of bigoted talk from our aunt and uncle…" She placed a hand on her younger counterpart's shoulder.

Gwen shook her off and started running in Ben's direction again.

Gwendolyn sighed. She remembered this playing out like this when she was a kid, but it still hurt to see it happen again. She tapped her belt buckle. "Grandpa, I brought Gwen and Ben to the future and they just ran off like I knew they would… Could you go to Sector 28-B, to pick them up?"

"Of course Gwendolyn." Max replied and the com went dead.