It had been a hazy week for Devlin and Kevin. By Devlin's training his eyes were already restored to a deep, homely brown. The dark circles under his eyes were completely gone.
Devlin had told him as much as he knew about Osmosians. Which, was kind of ironic, he'd just tell them to him all over again in the future.
"So, where are your folks?" Kevin said as they hung around a burger joint. Devlin nearly dropped his burger, "O-orphan?" Devlin said trying to hide the fact had made it up on the spot. "Oh." Kevin said rotating his burger and taking a hearty bite.
"You?" Devlin said his eyes scanning the pebble written asphalt parking lot. Kevin made a gagging sound as his bite stopped half way in his esaphagus. He gasped and the food passed.
"Long gone." He said pride evident in his voice. "What'd you mean?" Devlin said inching closer, curiousity was getting the best of him.
"Dad's dead. Mom married a loon who convinced her to kick me out of the house..." Kevin said slowly his raven hair draping over his eyes.
"Oh." Devlin said. What's he talking about? Grandma's great and he still talks to her like every week.
Kevin's head bolted up. He was wearing a seemingly happy smile. "It's okay though, means I don't have to answer to nobody."
"Guess that's cool." Devlin laid said hitting his stomach as a long belch belted out. "Nice one." Kevin said sinking the paper wrapper of the burger into a nearby dumpster.
Mom always said Dad had a sort of 'troubled' past. But she never said anything about this. Devlin thought as they returned to Kevin's subway station home.
Meanwhile a rusty RV just crossed city lines.
"New York looks awesome Grandpa!" A fiery haired, jade eyed ten-year-old exclaimed as the first sites of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building came into view.
A boy with a black and white striped shirt sat in the back of the RV his feet propped up as his thumbs pushed various buttons on a Sumo Slammer handheld.
"Yeah, it does." A stout old man said his view shifting from the rear view mirror to the road.
"You better not mess this up Ben." The red head said her hands on her hips. She wore a blue long sleeve kitty shirt with white pants and white shoes. Her expression looked sassy and sarcastic.
The boy, whose name was apparently Ben looked up from the pixelated screen and stuck his tongue out. He seemed immature yet at the same time somewhat overconfident and cocky. A bulky green and black wrist watch was on his wrist it didn't have any hands or numbers for that matter. Odd.
They rolled through the traffic and through the streets of the city, the girl's face stuck to the window as the skyscrapers, people, and food carts passed.
The RV finally stopped in front of a swanky five-star hotel. The girl squealed, "We're gonna stay here Grandpa?"
The old man sat up slowly and slid out of the driver's seat, "Like it Gwen?" He said his arms outstretching for a hug.
'Gwen' ran to him squeezing him as tight as she could, "Oh, THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU!" She said running to the back to grab her suitcases.
Ben sat up and stuck a tongue out at the hotel. Gwen had ran out of the RV and was jumping eagerly in front of the silent doorman.
"It's been your day all summer, Ben. Just one day for your cousin?" Their Grandpa said the handles of his suitcase and stepped out the RV.
Ben sighed and looked at the hotel through the window. He dragged his suitcases out as well and frowned as he met them at the front desk.
"Do not mess this up." Gwen hissed as he set his bags down next to theirs. "Relax, what's the worse I could do?" He said smiling just to tick her off.
She gave him a glare and then abruptly turned around to see what kind of room he was booking.
Ben looked around, still bored. But his eyes instantly lit up when he spotted a familiar Sumo wrestler.
"SUMO SLAMMERS 2.0! THAT HASN'T EVEN COME OUT YET!" He exclaimed running towards the room.
A large man held him back. "HEY!" Ben said his irratibly. "No entrance." He said in a low, husky voice.
"But-" Ben said raising a finger. "No entrance." He repeated again. Ben walked away mumbling some words a ten year old shouldn't even know.
"Fine, if BIG FAT MEANIE doesn't want to let me in I guess GhostFreak will just have to let himself in. " He fiddled with his watch looking at odd shaped green silhouttes. He stopped on one shaped like that of a ghost.
He hit the raised platform and was suddenly replaced by a ghost-like creature with one eye. The creature spoke in a shady, menacing voice, "Sumo Slammers here I come."
The creature showed its apparent ability of intangibility as it turned invisible and phased through the wall. "Yes!" It said as it landed inside of the room.
A single arcade game sat in the corner seeming like the one back in the arcade but with a 2.0 painted in a technical font.
He morphed back into his usual human self. And ran up to the game and started it up. His fingers itched eagerly as it powered up he smiled and jostled the joystick.
Just as he was about to set the bar for the high score something with a low voice cleared its throat. "oh.." Ben said gulping as the large security guard from earlier punded his fist into his hand.
"Woo-ah!" Gwen, Ben, and their Grandpa said as they were thrown out of the hotel.
They sat up and instantly Gwen's bright green eyes flashed with abundant anger. "Nice going there Ben! I KNEW YOU WOULD MESS IT UP!"
Ben sat up and dusted his self off, "Hey, it's not my fault."
"Yes, it IS!" She stomped as she threw her luggage angrily back into the old RV. "They had a spa!" He heard her yell as from inside the RV.
He sighed, he was never gonna hear the end of this. He stomped back up the stairs, shoulders slumped.
"Ben, you can't just go using the Omnitrix for your own pleasure." Ben listened.. sort of.
"Yeah, I know. 'With great power comes great responsibility'." He said using air quotes around the famous Spiderman quote.
"Good. Now, I'm going to see if I can get a refund on that hotel room." Their Grandpa said exiting the RV.
"Grandpa Max's right. Why can't you ever just-" She was cut off.
"I know, Gwen. 'I ruin everything' yadayada." He said his eyes crossed and his arms flailing. "Yeah so-" She was cut off again.
"Whatever." He said shoving past her and towards the door. "Ugh," She said making a face. "Where are you going?" She yelled as she turned around and saw he wasn't there.
"Out." He said almost bitterly. "Ugh." She repeated plumetting into the table seat of the RV.
"It's been a week! A WEEK!" An older Gwen yelled as she paced around the kitchen. "Calm down, Gwen." Kevin said raising a hand to calm his wife.
"Do not tell me to calm down, Kevin Ethan Levin. Your son has been missing for seven whole days!"
Kevin gulped and retreated to the back of the kitchen next to his bestfriend, Ben Tennyson and his wife, Julie Yamamoto.
"Well, you're in for it." Ben chortled. "Can it Tennyson." Kevin said lightly socking him.
"Why don't we call Paradox?" Ben said putting his life- and hearing on the line.
"Paradox?" Kevin asked quirking an eyebrow. "You mean, you think he could've landed somewhere in time?" Gwen said her voice calm as she stopped pacing.
"It's worth a shot, right?" Ben said rasing his hands. Gwen's eyes shifted over Julie, she half smiled and shrugged.