After several more hours of driving in silence, Max finally suggested they set up camp for the night in a nearby RV park. Gwen shrugged, stating she didn't really care. Ben simply ignored the offer, still slightly smoking about the hoverboard.
Gwen shimmied over on the seat, her eyes never leaving the computer screen. "Doofus, Grandpa asked you a question!"
Ben continued playing his game.
"Earth to Ben?"
Ben muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Don't speak dweeb."
Gwen twisted the laptop so she could see Ben clearly. "Oh, just great Ben. You've started to use the same comebacks again. Real original."
"Like you could think of anything better!" Ben replied angrily. "A freak like you probably looks yours up on the computer or something."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Even the lousy ones by a two-year-old are probably better than yours," she mumbled.
"What was that?" Ben said in a menacing tone.
"Nothing, nothing."
"You said something!"
"How would you know? What, have you got super-sonic hearing now?"
"It's better than having a dictionary instead of a brain!"
"So? That just makes me smarter!"
"Yeah, smarter alright. Smarter than dirt."
"Smarter than you, too!"
"You mean you wish you were, right?"
The two bickered like that for quite some time, until Grandpa finally pulled into the RV park. He asked them to pause World War III long enough to help him set up camp. Ben and Gwen agreed to help, and spent the next half an hour jostling around, getting firewood and water. They roasted hotdogs and marshmallows for dinner (or in Gwen's case, tofu dogs and sugar-free mini marshmallows) and picked up the fight where they left off afterwards.
By the time Ben and Gwen were in hand-to-hand combat, Max proposed they go to sleep. "Maybe some rest will break up this fight," he said, although he knew it was a never-ending battle.
So the two snuggled into bed. Ben pulled up his covers yelling "Goodnight, dweeb."
Gwen didn't miss a beat. "Goodnight, freak."
Max smiled. "Goodnight you two, now go to sleep."
Gwen said something about Ben getting up and turning her into a werewolf, but Ben was already half dead to the world and didn't hear. He fell into a fitful slumber where he dreamed about losing control of the omnitrix, turning evil against his will, the aliens leaving it, and much more. He awoke in a cold sweat many times during the night, and was relieved to see the sun coming up on his last nightmare.
Ben got up and dressed in his usual outfit: a white T-shirt with black rimming on both the bottom of the sleeves and around the collar, with a thick stripe going vertically down his front. He zipped his olive green cargo pants and tugged on a pair of socks and shoes. Pulling a comb though his hair, Ben swiped a toaster pastry (with kelp-flavored filling, courtesy of his grandfather,) out of the cabinet and walked outside. He flung the comb onto the table before he left.
It was a nice day. The wind was blowing a gentle breeze; the sun was shining pleasantly down. There was a light dew on the grass of the RV park, untouched at this premature hour.
Ben spent a while knocking the water droplets off the grass. When that grew boring, he sat down and enjoyed the feel of early morning.
"It's pretty nice," he admitted. No Gwen, no Grandpa- just him and a field. A field…
Just him and a field. He was all alone… Ben jumped up. What was he doing, just lying around? He could be playing with the omnitrix! He dusted himself off and activated the watch. He cruised though the aliens, trying to pick just one. He settled on Grey Matter, which he didn't use much. As smart as he was, most fighting was done with strength. The last time he used Grey Matter was to deactivate two bounty hunts after the omnitrix. That was the day he got the hoverboard. Ben deactivated the watch. He stuck quietly into the RV, past Gwen and Grandpa, into the front of the van. He searched as noiselessly as possible. When he came out, Ben was holding a long, disk-like object with a grin bigger than Texas itself.