NOTE: Another chapter here for you guys!

1. I am changing some stuff around Ben and Gwen, all of which will be revealed later on. The things I'm changing aren't too major and still keeps these two the same as they are, but it'll give some background knowledge for Yukiko to understand them.

2. The Investigation Team will be a part of this story, but that'll be after season 1 is done. Season 1 is mainly gonna be focused on Yukiko getting used to being on this road trip and the Tennysons.

3. I'm really looking forward to Lucky Girl and Kevin 11 episodes and of course Yukiko coming face to face with Vilgax. Though, you guys are gonna have to wait a while for that one.

Enjoy the chapter and Review!

Chapter 7: Retired Persona

"Which flavor to choose?" Yukiko hummed to herself. She scanned the case below to figure out which ice cream flavor she desired. Ben and Gwen stood on opposite sides of her, both wondering the same thing.

Gwen looked up from the ice cream choices to the cashier. "What do you have that's non-fat and less than 3% sugar?" She asked.

"Napkins," The old man rudely replied. Gwen bristled at the quick dismissal of her question. She felt Yukiko's comforting hand on her shoulder, which she appreciated.

The old man didn't flinch at Yukiko's glare and turned his attention to Ben. "What about you kid?"

Unlike his cousins, Ben was unaffected by the old man's attitude. Though, before he could answer they all heard a clunking noise from outside the shop. Outside were two guys trying to rob the ATM in front of the store.

"I'm about to go Rocky Road!" Ben smirked, activating the watch. The boy ran into the bathroom and transformed into Upgrade.

"We gotta work on his puns," Gwen shook her head.

"Yes we should. Now, stay here," Yukiko pulled out her fan. She rushed outside to see Ben merge with the truck. Looking towards the right she saw one of the men with a sickle & chain in his hands. On the ground behind him was their Grandfather.

"You attacked the wrong old man," Yukiko glared at the thief.

"And what are you gonna do about it, girly?" The thief began to swing the sickle and chain as he marched towards her.

Yukiko smirked devilishly and closed her fan. "This," She tossed it at him with extreme precision and speed, taking him off guard. The fan knocked him face and flew right back into her hand. Yukiko opened it back up and began fanning herself. "It truly is too hot in the summer."

The man growled at her, but before he could get back to his feet, Max kicked him in the face, knocking him out. "Good work, kids," He congratulated them.

"Oh yeah! I'm ready for anything!" Ben bragged as Gwen walked over to them.

"Thank you, Grandpa. Now, about this darn heat," Yukiko's attention went back to the ice cream that was going to cool them off.

"What's next?" Ben asked, ignoring Yukiko's mini dilemma.

"We're heading off to see your aunt Vera for the weekend," Max explained, knowing what Ben's reaction would be.

"Boring old aunt Vera!? Nooooo!" Ben complained as if the world was ending.

"Huh? Who?" Yukiko turned back around to face them after hearing a new name.

"When aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it," Gwen brought up. The Rustbucket drove through the desert area to reach aunt Vera's home. Inside of the RV Gwen took her turn washing the dishes. Yukiko sat next to Ben at the table.

The teen watched as Ben's downtrodden gaze turned to the window. "This summer was supposed to be about F.U.N-OW!" He felt a slap on the back of his head. He glared at Yukiko, who still had her hand raised. "What was that for!?"

"Ben, you know better than to curse!" Yukiko scolded, not knowing what he had meant.

"F.U.N stands for FUN, Yukiko!"

"Oh...sorry...hehe.."

Gwen giggled at seeing Ben get slapped. "Well I for one like seeing aunt Vera!" Gwen said, factly.

"Duh! That's because YOU act like you're 100 years old!" Ben shot back.

"I for one look forward to meeting her, I want to meet more of my family over here in America," Yukiko cut in.

Ben scoffed at her. "You're saying that now, but you'll be singing a different tune when you meet her."

"But, I'm not singing at all…"

The only one response she was given were two sighs from both her younger cousins, confusing her more.

"This is gonna be soooo boring! Their idea for excitement in this place is probably to watch the grass grow!" Ben kept complaining. Gwen glared at him, getting tired of Ben's non stop complaining. Yukiko was tuning him out by busying herself with her book.

Outside of the RV one of the old men was doing repairs on the roof. When he finished he did a backflip off of the roof inside of using the ladder to get down.

Ben had been looking outside of the window when it had happened. "Woah! Did you see that!?" He asked his family.

Gwen rolled her eyes and looked outside. She saw nothing, but old people being...well...old people. "See what? The heat must be frying that pea sized brain of yours," Gwen replied. He glared at her then turned to Yukiko in hopes that she'd listen to him.

"Yukiko, did you see it!?" He asked. When she didn't pay him any mind, he grabbed her arms and shook her. She was pulled roughly out of her reading and gave the boy her attention.

"Huh!? What is it!? Are we being attacked!?" She gasped, due to not paying any attention to everything around her.

"Yukiko, did you see that old guy outside?" He asked again.

"Sorry, Ben, I was too focused on reading. Though, this is a really nice neighborhood," She complimented the area.

Giving up, Ben slouched back into his seat and huffed.

Yukiko watched as Gwen squirted Ben with a water gun and giggled. She could've stopped it, but felt that the action was justified for Ben's behavior all morning. And for the simple fact that it was funny, but she wouldn't say that out loud.

She stepped up next to her Grandfather with a bit of apprehension. "Is there anything else I should know about aunt Vera, Grandpa?"

He smiled at her with mischief. "Just watch your cheeks, Vera's a pincher," He laughed.

Yukiko's face morphed into an expression of horror. "She's gonna touch me there!?" She thought.

"Max!"

"Vera!"

Yukiko was pulled out of her thoughts by the two old people hugging each other. She stayed in the back as Gwen and Ben approached her. Vera was happy to see family again and began pinching Ben's and Gwen's cheeks.

"Oh, that's what he meant…" Yukiko felt silly about her earlier thought.

"And you must be, Yukiko! Max told me all about you!"

"Huh, wha-" Yukiko didn't get to finish as two elderly hands pinched her cheeks and shook her face. "Ow…" She mumbled, rubbing her face. "It's great to finally meet you, aunt Vera," Yukiko bowed.

"Aw, there's no need for all the formalities! Come in, I can't wait to chew the fat with all of you!" She said and headed inside.

"Chew the fat?" Yukiko questioned the expression.

"She means to catch up," Max explained.

"Oh."

When they entered the house, Yukiko scanned the interior. Finding the home very welcoming, but there was an odd chill that ran through her. "What was that chill?" She wondered.

Ben on the other hand made his thoughts known. "Why do old people's houses always smell like somebody's cooking socks or something?" He asked.

"People cook socks? Maybe I could use that next time I cook a meal!" Yukiko figured that must've been an American thing old people did.

Gwen glared at Ben, knowing he just gave her a terrible idea. He shrugged, knowing that he'd explain his words to Yukiko later.

Yukiko pokes the jello on her plate, not knowing how she should go about eating it. Ben and Gwen were on the same boat as she was when it came to looking at their lunch. Max was once again unbothered by the weird looking food.

"Vera, this looks delicious. Now, what are these brown chunks in the mold?" He asked her.

"Pork chops and the white parts of cauliflower," She answered.

"What a weird food combination," Yukiko said, bluntly. The younger duo gave her blank stares at her judgement at other people's cooking.

Vera didn't look insulted in the slightest. "Weird as it may be, but experimenting is the best part of cooking," Vera smiled.

Yukiko gasped, dropping her spoon. "You think so too!? Cooking is so much fun when you follow your instincts and try new things. I tried explaining to my friends that following the recipe will never satisfy the stomach," Yukiko was jumpy with happiness.

"Exactly! I can show you some of my recipes that'll leave your stomach in a bundle!" Vera said.

"I would love that!" Yukiko responded with equal enthusiasm.

A weird shadow of death crept up Gwen's back and she knew right then that whatever was happening in front of her was a deal with the devil. "H-How about we change the subject!?" She interjected.

"Oh sure, we can talk later, Yukiko," Vera chuckled.

"Yes! I am looking forward to it!" Yukiko smiled brightly.

Gwen hastily jumped to her feet and walked over to the shelf next to the table. "Aunt Vera, is that a stuffed Red Bill North American Chickadee?" Gwen asked, curious.

Vera gasped in delight at Gwen's knowledge. "How perspective, Gwen. And did you know the song of the Red Bill North American Chickadee is actually…"

"A call indicating an alarm of excitement!" Both of them began mimicking the call of the weird bird.

"Pfft!" Yukiko had to cover her mouth to stop a laughing fit from bursting through. She didn't notice Ben sneakily placing his jello onto her plate.

"Man! I am totally stuffed!" He lied.

"Ben, would you like some candy?" Vera asked, with a bowl of chocolate in her hands.

"Now we're talking," Ben nodded his head to accept the treat. He grabbed one of the pieces of chocolate and ate it. He immediately spat it out, not liking the taste.

"Coffee!? As a candy!? Is this some kind of joke!?" Ben complained. He quickly rose from his seat and headed for the bathroom. "I gotta use the bathroom!"

Yukiko sighed, shaking her head at her cousin's constant rude behavior. She turned to Vera to apologize on his behalf. "I'm sorry for Ben's attitude, he doesn't know how to show proper respect sometimes."

"Oh, it's fine, boys his age just need to get all of their energy out," Vera waved off the concern. Vera reached off the shelf and grabbed a shell. "Here, Gwen, this is Valentiana. Can you hear the ocean?" She handed Gwen the shell.

Yukiko watched Gwen place it up to her ear to hear the hollow sounds. She tilted her head confused when Gwen's eyes went wide with surprise at the sounds coming out.

"...oser…"

"...Loser…hehe...HAHAHAHA!"

Even though he was invisible, Gwen could feel Ghostfreak behind her. When she could no longer feel his presence, she figured that Ben must've disappeared off somewhere

"What's wrong, Gwen?" Yukiko approached her while the old people conversed.

"I thought I could feel Ben somewhere," Gwen answered.

"Weird, she should be in the bathroom," Yukiko walked over to the bathroom and knocked on the door. When there wasn't an answer she knocked once more. "Ben?" Yukiko slowly turned the knob and entered the bathroom. She was greeted with an empty bathroom and came to only one conclusion.

"Why am I not surprised…"

"Grandpa!" Ben ran into the house screaming. He was immediately shushed by Max, who told Ben that Vera was sleeping. "Seriously? It's like only 6:30," Ben responded confused.

"Nevermind, listen, this whole place is creepier than I thought. First this old lady runs up a wall and then munches a fly. Then Marty, that weird next door neighbor is an ET or something with a face at the back of his head! And these long sticky arms and this body that ooze right through his cane and-"

"Ben."

He stopped talking when Yukiko's voice cut through his rambling. He recognized that tone of hers and it was a tone he didn't like. She didn't say anything else, but the look in her eyes spoke of the disappointment she was feeling.

"Ben, you snuck out. Aunt Vera was hurt," Gwen frowned at him. His snarkiness returned immediately after Gwen spoke.

"She's old, she'll forget," He responded, uncaringly. "Listen, I say I go Four Arms and we check out Marty's apartment!"

"So, after sneaking out of one old person's home, you want to break into another with a big red four armed alien?" Yukiko asked.

"Uh...when you word it like that you make it sound bad," Ben replied. She was trying really hard to not slap him, but Ben made it incredibly difficult.

"You know, Ben may be onto something. We old folks are strange, but we don't forget as much as you think," Max mocked Ben with a stereotypical old man voice. Yukiko giggled at her Grandfather's silliness.

"You know, ever since you had that watch you're like a magnet for the weird," Gwen told him.

Ben began pretending to be a magnet attracting to Gwen. "You're right!" He said as he kept getting closer to her. Yukiko was doing her best to not laugh, her irritation at Ben slowly diminishing. For some reason she just couldn't stay mad at him.

The Tennysons made their way to Marty's home after making sure that Vera was asleep. Max slowly opened the door to Marty's home. "Hello?"

They walked in when nobody answered, staying quiet so as to not alert anyone home. "Well, nothing seems out of the ordinary," Max said.

"Maybe except for the rug that was right here!" Ben pointed at the imprint on the floor where a rug used to sit.

"EEK!"

At the sound of Yukiko's scream they rushed over to the dining room to find her. However, there was no need to worry when they saw Yukiko rubbing her face against that of a fat fluffy cat.

"You're so adorable!" She giggled as the cat struggled to get out of her grasp.

"Alright, let's hurry up and get out of here," Max sighed and made his way to the exit. Yukiko followed after with the struggling cat still in her arms.

"And leave the cat here, Yukiko!"

"Awwwww…"

"Is there anything in here to make breakfast with?" Yukiko looked through the fridge with Ben. They had to cut the investigation due to not finding anything and it getting dark out, so Max had explained to them that they'd continue in the morning, much to Ben's irritation.

"Nope, nothing but prune juice," Ben shut the door closed. "Why does it seem like old people were always old?" He asked.

"Maybe they found the fountain of youth!" Yukiko playfully answered.

"Isn't that meant to make people young and not old?" Ben responded.

"Hmmm...maybe it had reversed effects?" She said.

Gwen ignored their conversation and turned to face Aunt Vera. "Morning, Aunt Vera. How did you sleep?"

"Just fine, how about you?" She answered, weirdly. She reached for Ben's face and began pinching roughly.

"F-Fine...Aunt Vera," Ben answered.

"I made you some coffee," Gwen approached with a tray of water and coffee. Gwen wasn't watching her grip and the tray fell out of her hand, shattering the glass and spilling the liquid on the floor.

"Gwen!" Yukiko rushed over to Gwen, making sure none of the glass had cut here after shattering on the floor.

Suddenly, Aunt Vera jumped into the air. Splitting her legs against the wall and table to avoid the water. "Clean it up! Clean it up right now!" She asked, terrified.

All three Tennyson kids eyed each other at the weird behavior from their aunt.

"That's not something you see everyday. Maybe, Ben was onto something again," Yukiko figured as Gwen cleaned up the mess.

Vera touched back onto the ground once Gwen cleaned up the liquids. She looked over at the open bedroom that Max had slept in. "Where did your Grandfather go?"

"He said he was going for an early walk," Yukiko answered.

"Well, behave yourselves. I'll be back soon," Vera left the house.

Ben waited for the door to shut close to bring up the matter from yesterday to his female cousins. "She's totally one of them!"

"One of what?" Gwen responded back with a question.

"Whatever's possessing these old people. Something or someone has gotten to Aunt Vera and who knows how many others!" Ben explained.

"Then, let's get out there and find out. And hopefully find Grandpa," Yukiko took charge. The younger two nodded their heads in agreement.

The three walked down an alleyway, on their way to their destination, Yukiko noticed just how deserted the neighborhood was. There was barely any sign of life around and it reminded her of the TV World in a creepy way.

"So, where are we heading, Sherlock?" Gwen asked as Ben stopped in his tracks.

"We need to get to that trap door by the dumpster," Ben informed them.

"Why a dumpster?" Yukiko cringed at the thought of even touching one.

"I don't know, but it seemed to be an accessway for them," Ben answered.

When the coast was clear they ran out of the alleyway and continued to make their way towards the dumpster. As they walked through the neighborhood, they passed two old ladies playing shuffleboard, but something about it creeped Yukiko out.

"HISSSS!" The old women glared at the trio, revealing their sharp teeth. They pulled back their sticks and slapped the pucks towards them.

"Yup, that'd be the creepy part. Maragi!" Yukiko shot small fire balls at the pucks, destroying them. She grimaced when it seemed that the 'old women' weren't deterred in their efforts and began launching more pucks at them at rapid fire speeds. "RUN!" She commanded Ben and Gwen. "MARAGI!" Yukiko destroyed a majority of the pucks flying their way.

She ran after her cousins who thankfully managed to find cover. When she reached them she found her cousins being attacked by their 'Grandpa'.

"You two, run!" Yukiko commanded and slicked the arms of her fake grandfather, causing it to scream in pain. "Nobody impersonates my family! Agilao!" The medium sized fireball hit the creature, sending it flying away. Yukiko grimaced when it seemed like the fire ball didn't do much to it.

"Yukiko, hurry!" She heard Ben's voice.

"Right!" Yukiko followed their lead.

Their efforts were once again halted by the fake old people lifting a car in an effort to kill them. "Oh, this is not good!" Ben exclaimed.

The 'old people' threw the car at the kids. Yukiko pushed them out of the way and summoned Amaterasu. The Persona sliced the car in half and the two halves fell onto the opposite sides of her. The Persona user smirked and pushed strains of hair out of her face.

"Woah…" Ben was amazed at how cool Yukiko looked. Gwen grabbed him by his arm and picked him up off the ground.

"We have to keep moving!" She told him.

"Y-Yeah!" He replied.

Yukiko saw that they were nearing the dumpsters that Ben was talking about earlier, the only issue was the 'old people' that were chasing them.

"Hurry, the trap door!" Ben pointed at the dumpster. Gwen nodded her head and attempted to push the dumpster out of the way as the 'old people' got closer.

"Ben! Now would be a good time to-" She was interrupted by a green flash of light. Standing in Ben's place was Wildmutt.

"Doggie!" Yukiko patted his head.

Wildmutt growled at her nickname for him, and threw her onto his back. He hurried over to the dumpster and tossed it at the 'old people'.

"Gwen, hurry and undo the lock!" Yukiko told her.

"Got it!" Gwen replied as she finished opening it. Seeing their way in was now open, Yukiko grabbed Gwen by her backpack and pulled her onto Wildmutt as the Alien Dog jumped in.

Yukiko wrapped an arm around Gwen as they held onto Wildmutt tightly as he landed onto the rocky underground surface.

"Does the expression, look before you leap mean anything to you!" Gwen yelled at him, dizzy from the fall.

"Now's not the time for an argument! Ben, hurry and go!" Yukiko saw that the 'old people' were fast approaching them.

Wildmutt sprinted down the cave, his speed made him too fast for the 'old people' to catch up to him. He stopped when the three came face to face with multiple tunnels in the cave.

"These tunnels must go under the whole complex!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Which means that whatever has been doing this has been mapping out where each of these elderly people live," Yukiko added. She and Gwen stepped off of Wildmutt to examine the cavern.

Just as they did Wildmutt sensed an enemy behind them. The fake Grandpa attacked them, but Wildmutt grabbed its arms and tossed it into the wall.

Yukiko glared at the fake. "Thought I got rid of you! Agilao!" Yukiko launched the fire ball. The fake seemed to have learned from their last encounter and dodged the attack, he charged at Yukiko. He sent a strong punch into her stomach, knocking the wind out of her. She was sent crashing into the cave walls.

"Yukiko!" Gwen shouted, concerned.

Wildmutt growled, fiercely at seeing her get hurt and charged at the fake. It may look like his Grandpa, but his Grandpa would never hurt them.

While the two duked it out, Gwen ran over to Yukiko. "Are you ok, Yukiko?" Gwen helped the teen to her feet.

"Y-Yeah, I've had worse hits than that. Wish I had my armor though," Yukiko winced at the bruising on her stomach.

"Armor?" Gwen questioned.

"RAAAGGGHHH!"

The girls looked back to see Wildmutt freeze in attacking the fake, giving it an opening to attack him. Hurrying over to Wildmutt, they jumped on his back and glared at the imposter.

"Remember Ben, that's not Grandpa!" Yukiko said.

"Yeah! It's an alien freak pretending to be him! And you know what we do to alien freaks who impersonate our family!?" Gwen asked him.

"WE KICK THEIR BUTTS!"

"RAWWWRR!" Wildmutt roared in agreement.

Wildmutt charged forward at full speed, headbutting the imposter into the cave wall. Yukiko summoned Amaterasu and glared coldly at the fake. "Burn in hell. AGIDYNE!" The massive fireball incinerated the fake completely, ending the fight in their victory.

Wildmutt began to spaz out wildly, his gills moving rapidly and he took off down one of the tunnels.

"Ben, what's wrong!?" Yukiko and Gwen clung tighter onto his back.

"Be careful, you don't come with seatbelts!" Gwen reminded her alien cousin.

At that moment the watch began to time out just as they were approaching a wall in the cave. "LOOK OUT!"

CRASH!

FLASH!

Ben turned back to normal just after he crashed through the rocky wall. Yukiko wasted no time in checking them both over for injuries.

Gwen glared at Ben once Yukiko had finished looking her over. "Hey Freakshow! What do we look like, crash test dummies!?" She exclaimed.

"That was really dangerous, Ben. I could've just blown the wall down with a powered up Agidyne," Yukiko told him. Ben nodded his head, but his attention was focused elsewhere.

"Listen! I don't know what it is, but I picked up some kind of scent in here," Ben explained his actions to them. The three walked towards the opening in the cave and saw something crazy.

Yukiko gasped at the sight of the large abundance of green eggs that surrounded a giant spaceship in the middle of the clearing. "And now I can add an alien harvest farm to the list of things I'd never thought I'd see," Yukiko said.

"It's like everyone in Retirement Village has been podded up," Gwen said, as they walked through the area.

"But, for what reason?" Yukiko poked one of the eggs. She flinched back when the person inside moved from her poking.

"Grandpa!"

Yukiko saw Ben tear open one of the eggs and their Grandfather fell out of it. She rushed over to help him to his feet.

Max groggily looked around. "Uhhh...I was out for a walk and then…I can't remember what happened next," He told them.

"Ben, let's get the rest of these people out," Yukiko told him.

"Yeah!" He ran over to another one, but suddenly an arm smacked him out of the way. Yukiko caught him and held the boy close as the aliens cornered them.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you," The fake Vera said.

"Well, you're not me!" Ben responded, glaring at the fake.

"Not yet, I'm not!" The fake Marty and the rest of the old people transformed into their true forms. They were now a very sickly green color with their organs visible. Each of them had multiple eyes located at different areas on their bodies.

"They're like Shadows!" Yukiko exclaimed. She remembered that Shadows would have those weird black forms with masks before they attacked. Transforming into any kind of creature they wanted.

"You kids can fill me in later!" Max said as they backed away from their attackers. Gwen backed into the ship, her hand brushed against it and opened up the entrance. She saw that there were even more eggs located inside.

"Look in here!" Gwen yelled.

"Their ship!" Max responded.

The aliens began to freak out over their secret being found out. "The ship! We can't let them out!"

"Get the pods on board! They've been marinating long enough!" The leader commanded.

"Marinating…" Yukiko gasped at the realization. "You plan to eat them!?" She shouted.

"They've got Aunt Vera!" Gwen discovered Vera's pod. Ben glared at the aliens and activated his watch.

"You guys really Burn me Up!" Ben slammed down the dial and transformed into Heatblast.

"We really gotta work on those," Yukiko pointed out. She turned her attention to the aliens and noticed that they began to back away from Ben. She noticed how they seemed to resist the flames that he was shooting at them. "No wonder my flames weren't working so easily! They can resist it!" She realized

"Doesn't matter, we'll just pound them down!" Heatblast pounded his fist into his hand.

The aliens began pooling together, meshing their bodies into something larger. "Whoever you two are, you just made a terrible mistake! Us Limax live for the heat! Why do you think we came from the desert!" The Limax pointed out.

"Ok, Shadows never fused together, so this is new," Yukiko grimaced. "If only Chie-chan was here with her ice attacks."

"I got this!" Heatblast charged forward.

"Ben, wait!" Yukiko called after him.

Heatblast tried to punch the Limax, however his punches only went through it. It grabbed Heatblast by his arm and slammed him into the ground repeatedly. Yukiko grimaced at her cousin getting beaten.

"AGIDYNE!" She shot a powerful fire blast at it's arm, managing to sever it. Heatblast fell to the ground, dazed. The Limax glared down at Yukiko and launched a tentacle at her.

She rolled out of the way and shot Agi's at it, each one not doing any damage. However, it was growing annoyed by the meddlesome attacks and shot some goop out of its body. The goop wrapped itself around her hands, stopping her from launching another attack. "GROSS!" Yukiko whined at the goop.

The Limax turned back to its ship and saw Gwen and Max taking pods out of the ship. It sent two more pods to deal with them. Gwen attacked one of them with her backpack, knocking all of its contents out. When the Limaxes saw the water gun on the floor they fled in terror. Gwen realized what their weakness was and shot them with her water gun, killing them.

"They hate water!" Gwen yelled out.

"Kinda already figured that one out," Yukiko finally managed to get the gunk off of her hands.

"Aunt Vera, when she was in the kitchen!" Gwen yelled.

"Or Marty when I was on the golf cart!" Heatblast realized. He looked up and saw the sewer pipe leaking above them. "YUKIKO!" Heatblast called out her name.

Yukiko glanced up at the multiple sewer pipes above them. She realized what his plan was and smirked. "MARAGI!" Yukiko and Heatblast both shot their flames at the pipes, breaking them and causing mass amounts of water to spray down on the Limax.

"See ya, Slime ball!" Heatblast laughed as he ran away from the melting Limax. The Limax screamed in pain as it melted into a pile of green goo and died.

Inside the ship, Max and Gwen managed to get the last couple of pods of the ship in time before it took off back into space. "Sorry, there's no drive thru service here!"

Yukiko watched as the ship took back off into space, leaving the Earth. "And hopefully, they never return." She turned back to Gwen and patted the girl on the head. "Good job, saving these people," She smiled.

"Yeah, let's just take a break from the hero stuff for a while...I'm tired," Gwen sat down on one of the eggs.

"We should hurry up and get these people back into their condos, before waking them up. So, they'll think they never left," Max said.

"But, how are we going to get all of these people back home?" Yukiko asked.

Heatblast smirked at their dilemma. "Give me a few minutes, I'll see if XLR8 can help out," He said.

"Don't be strangers," Aunt Vera hugged Max goodbye.

"We won't," Max responded and entered the RV.

"Bye, Aunt Vera," Gwen walked over.

"Bye, dear. Here take this for the road," Aunt Vera handed Gwen a case of her green jello. "Ben told me how much you liked my Gelatin mold. This one is lined with chunks of grouper and chip peas," Vera said.

Gwen glared at the boy behind her while he smirked in satisfaction. Yukiko just sighed at the boy's antics.

Vera turned her attention to Ben once Gwen walked away. "I'm sorry, Ben, if there wasn't enough excitement here for you. I hope you weren't bored to tears," Vera apologized.

"Actually, it turned out better than I thought," Ben said earnestly and hugged her. Yukiko smiled, happy that Ben was finally being nice to Aunt Vera. She watched as they broke the hug and Ben ran back into the RV.

"Yukiko."

The heiress turned back to her Aunt. "It was nice meeting you, Aunt Vera. Hopefully, we can visit again soon. I might even bring my parents along," Yukiko hugged her.

"That would be wonderful, dear," Vera responded and broke the hug. "Can you promise me something, dear?" Vera asked.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Can you make sure to keep Max and Ben out of trouble? Those two are trouble magnets and could use all the help they can get," Vera said.

Yukiko giggled at the promise. "I will, Aunt Vera, don't worry," Yukiko promised and ran to the RV.

"Good, and make sure to use those recipes I gave you to good use!" Vera waved goodbye as the Rustbucket drove off.

"Something tells me those four will have one interesting summer," She smiled.

Chapter End

NOTE: In my head Ben can eat multiple helpings of Mystery Food X and not die, because of the Omnitrix saving his life basically. Max can eat it no problem, because his body is used to eating weird shit. Gwen is honestly the only one in any real danger of dying due to Mystery Food X.

Yukiko can't be with Ben during everything he does. Here she couldn't just take off and look for Ben, since she wanted to get to know Vera. She just had to assume Ben didn't do anything that could get him hurt, but it's Ben and he ended up discovering an undercover alien kidnapping plot.

Next chapter is Hunted, so look forward to Yukiko meeting Tetrax!