Disclaimer: I DO NOT own any of these characters.

Ben 10: Frog Hunt

CHAPTER 1: 6x6

"Are you sure about this, Rook?"

Ben Tennyson sat in the passenger seat, fiddling with his seatbelt as Rook flew the proto-TRUK across the dessert in the night.

"I am absolutely positive," said Rook, stopping to check the scanners on the dashboard before continuing, "According to my sources, Sixsix should be in this area planning to blast a passing ship out of the sky."

"Remind me again who your sources are that somehow found out this oddly specific, yet useful info?"

"I apologize, Ben, but that is a secret."

"Weren't you the one who told me that trust between partners is essential and that secrets hurts that trust?"

"Yes, but when I said that, I was talking about your past with Feedback that you would not share. This is a secret because it has to be, for the rules state that I am not to share the identity of that party in case one were to find out and get rid of them. I only share it when it is absolutely necessary."

"Ugh!" groaned Ben as he flopped over to the window.

They had been patrolling the dessert for what seemed like hours, and still no sign of the purple-armored bounty hunter. Considering that it had only been a month since his encounter with Maltruant, Ben thought the excitement in his life would go up a little.

His plan was for the gang to go on an epic road trip throughout space and explore what it had to offer, and he even thought about bringing Kai. However, Gwendolyn had to stay at college because her professors piled a lot of homework and tests to prepare for, while Kevin planned to work in the garage extra hours so he could get a ring for Gwendolyn.

Ben was shocked and excited to hear about the news, and the offer to be Kevin's best man.

As for Kai, Ben tried to give a shot at having a relationship with her. However, despite what Spanner told him, Ben did not truly believe they belonged together. He simply did not have feelings for Kai like he used to, and neither did Kai for him. Mutually understanding, they ended the relationship two weeks after they started dating. Yet despite that, Ben still felt sad about it.

"Ben?"

Ben snapped himself out of his thoughts and turned to face Rook. "What?"

"I asked you if everything was okay."

"Yeah, it's nothing, it's just . . . I'M SO BORED! We've been out here for hours and there's nothing happening!"

"Well, the spaceship is supposed to be coming by soon, so if Sixsix attempts anything, we will be able to find him. Are you sure that is the only thing that is wrong?"

Ben hesitated for a moment before saying, "Well, you know I had big plans for exploring the universe, but that clearly isn't happening!"

"Yes, I was disappointed as well. I was hoping that we would stop by Revonnah and visit my family."

"Yeah, I'm sure your dad would be looking forward to see me."

"Well, despite how you aggravated him by causing so much trouble during the harvest, I am sure he would! I appreciate your optimism!"

"No, Rook, it's . . . you know what? Never mind. I'm too upset to explain sarcasm to you right now."

Rook was about to say something, but thought it was better not to for now. They continued to fly in silence until Rook finally said, "Ben, I hope you forgive me if this makes you feel worse, but is this about Kai?"

Ben almost whipped his head toward Rook in alarm, but he looked back down and remained silent.

"Ben, it has been weeks since you broke up with Kai, and yet you seem like you are not over it. I thought you said you had no feelings for Kai."

Ben still didn't say anything, he just stared down at his feet.

Rook sighed and said, "Look, Ben, I know this must hurt, but you have been wallowing in sorrow for a long time now and you need to talk about this! If you do, you will feel much better."

"I'm gonna step outside," said Ben, then he opened his passenger door.

"Ben! What are you doing?! We are still flying!"

Ben didn't acknowledge his partner's warning as he scrolled through the aliens in his omnitrix and slammed his hand on it. There was a green flash of light, and when it died down, Wildmutt sat in the seat in place of Ben. Then he jumped out of the ship, landed on the ground on all fours, and started running.

He didn't know where he wanted to go, and he didn't care. He just sprinted across the sandy terrain, up and over the dunes, until he finally stopped after the last dune he jumped off of. Wildmutt just sat there panting, and then let out a little whine.

Suddenly, the gills in his neck opened. He jerked his head up and sniffed the air. He quickly front flipped out of the way just as a missile was about to reach him. Wildmutt growled and looked in the direction of the sand dune just jumped from earlier. While he could not see it, the outlines of Sixsix' armor glowed and he reappeared. Sixsix growled and chittered, then his hands turned into machine guns and started blasting the Vulpimancer. Wildmutt dodged the attacks as he ran up the dune and tackled Sixsix, he was about to bite down on his armor but Sixsix held back his mouth. Suddenly, a shoulder laser came out and shot Wildmutt in the face, causing him to slightly loosen his grip. Then Sixsix activated a missile launcher on his wrist and blasted the creature off of him.

Soon the omnitrix made its timeout sound and transformed back into Ben. He rubbed his head and then looked up to see Sixsix pointing his missile launcher at Ben and chittered. Suddenly, a laser blast hit Sixsix in the helmet, causing him to miss Ben. After that, Rook jumped and kicked Sixsix off the sand dune.

"Are you alright, Ben?" asked Rook as he extended a hand to help him up.

"Of course I'm alright!" said Ben, taking Rook's hand and getting up, "I had it under control!"

"Then why did you change back into your human form, leaving yourself defenseless?"

"I didn't do it on purpose! It was the watch's fault!"

"Ben, you realize the omnitrix is not a . . . GET DOWN!"

Rook suddenly tackled Ben to the ground to avoid a missile that would've hit them from behind. Sixsix flew into the air with his jetpack, weapons at the ready. Rook got off of Ben and sprang into action, getting out his proto-tool and tried shooting back at the bounty hunter, but Sixsix' armor withstood the lasers while he retaliated with the machine guns in his hands.

"Come on, come on!" said Ben as he repeatedly slapped the omnitrix, then it suddenly flashed green.

"Finally!" Then Ben activated the omnitrix, and in a flash of green light, he transformed into Astrodactyl. "Alright! (Squawk)!"

Astrodactyl flew up into the air and lashed at the villain with his energy whips, causing him to wheel backwards. After Sixsix corrected himself, he tried blasting Ben with lasers and missiles, but he dodged them all and got behind the bounty hunter. With that, Ben released a propulsion blast from his jetpack, sending Sixsix hurtling towards the ground. Then Rook jumped up and delivered a hard punch and kick, then the purple-armored alien crashed into the sand. Rook landed near Sixsix and turned his proto-tool into an energy sword and slashed the bounty hunter's jetpack, disabling it. As Rook got out some handcuffs for the bounty hunter, Astrodactyl landed near them and changed back into Ben.

"Nice work, partner!" said Ben.

"Same to you, Ben!" said Rook as he finished cuffing the villain. As he made Sixsix stand up, Rook said, "So, want to help bring Sixsix back to headquarters? Maybe a trip to space will help you feel better."

Ben looked down, but then looked around the dessert, then finally back to Rook. "No thanks, man. I'm just gonna stay here and . . . just be alone for a while."

"I understand."

With that, Ben transformed into Fasttrack and sped away.