Author's Note: Hey again! Welcome to another chapter of Ben 10: Origins. Looks like we already have a lot of people tuning in, that's awesome! I'm glad to see so many people tagging along for the entire story of Danger Watch, and believe me when I say it will be totally worth it. If you've been reading for a while, or even if you're new around here, what do you think of the story? Have you spotted any of the Easter eggs and hidden clues to other cartoons throughout the series? Let me know in the Reviews. Anyway, that was a long AN. Let's jump right in!

Chapter 01

June, Present Day

Ben fidgeted in his seat as he watched the clock tick down. The final day of school had arrived, and he along with all of his classmates were anxious to get out of their seats and finally, finally, catch some sunshine. His homeroom teacher was keenly aware of this, and so had allowed the class the last few minutes of the structured day as free reading time. While the other middle schoolers chatted quietly or read, Ben was staring at the clock. He couldn't wait to get out of there.

Unlike most of the other students at Bellwood Junior High, Ben was a below C average student. He didn't have a great attention span, and his natural rejection of authority as well as impulsive tendencies and overconfidence tended to get him into heaps of trouble. Because of that, he had built up a bit of a reputation as a "bad kid," to the point where his parents had to be called in to speak with the principle.

That had been last month.

Today, however, Ben's mind was far from the miserable bench outside of the school office. His thoughts were far and away from locker combinations, cafeteria food, and homework assignments. Ben was thinking of freedom and adventure: video games! Comic books! Sleeping until noon and then waking up to his mom's brunch.

Summer vacation, he thought. The dream. It was so close now. Only minutes away, and he would go rushing out of the doors, get in his mother's car, and drive to the games store like they always did at the end of the school year.

When the bell finally rang, Ben was the first kid out the door.

As Bellwood Junior High filtered out onto the playground, beside which was the pick-up area, they lounged around, enjoying the bittersweet goodbye that was the end of school. Many of them would stay in touch, of course, but some friendships were hard pressed to stick together outside of school, especially at the age of 12. Not wanting to say goodbye quite yet, the kids were sitting around, signing yearbooks, and eating snacks provided by the after-school caretakers.

But not Ben.

Ben dashed straight past the playground, straight past the other kids, and right to the parking lot, his backpack bouncing on his shoulders as he ran, the summer wind blowing his unkempt mop of brown hair out of his face. He was free! Finally! As he ran, he scoured the lot for signs of his mother's green sedan, but even as he searched and searched, he found no sign of it. Eventually, he stopped and frowned. His mother was never late. Where was she?

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of a loud, novelty car horn.

Ben watched, in utter horror, as the biggest, ugliest, yellow-est R.V. he had ever seen rolled into view. It moved like some colossal whale through the sea of small cars, the top of the vehicle laden with what was clearly camping supplies. Tents, chairs, and various luggage could been seen bulging out of the bungee chords sustaining them. As the huge mobile home came to a whining, hissing stop, Ben realized, his stomach dropping, that it was coming to a halt directly in front of him. He glanced over to the other kids, embarrassed, as the door to the vehicle opened, and he was met with the cheerful, double-chinned, crows'-footed face of his one and only grandfather.

Grandpa Max.

Max was wearing a pillowy red Hawaiian shirt, with a fanny pack bridging the gap at his waist to a pair of cargo shorts. He had sunglasses perched on his forehead, and a big, white dollop of sunscreen on his nose, and he was smiling broadly at Ben.

"Surprise!" He said.

Ben just stood there, mouth agape, not wanting to acknowledge what was happening. Max chuckled.

"I know it's been a while, but don't ya recognize me? It's Grandpa Max!" He said.

Internally, Ben winced. As much as he was embarrassed by the vehicle (and Max's appearance), he knew that his grandpa was a sweet old man, and even he wasn't apathetic enough to simply give the cold shoulder to the man. He put on a false smile as he hitched up his backpack.

"O-Oh! Hey, Grandpa Max!" He said. "What, uh, what are you doin' here?"

The old man's smile widened.

"Surprise!" He reiterated. "I can't believe Sandra never spilled the beans. I guess Carl must be rubbing off on her."

As Max brought up his parents, Ben sighed. So they had been involved in this practical joke. Of course. Max went on to explain how they were going on a cross-country road trip, and how he had been planning the trip for months, and how both his parents and Gwen's had been involved in making sure neither of them had any idea. The mention of Gwen was what snapped Ben into attention again.

"Wait," he said, "did you say… Gwen?"

"Yup! She already on board! Gwen, come say hi to Ben," Max called back into the R.V.

"Why? Isn't he about to get on anyway?" Came a young girls voice.

Ben wrinkled up his nose in annoyance. He and his cousin, Gwen, were not on the best of terms. In the nicest way possible, he thought she was annoying, stuck-up, and bossy. Conversely, she never passed up an opportunity to remind him how gross, stupid, and annoying she found him. Despite that, they were of course family, and the same age at that, and were forced to hang out together at most of the Tennyson family functions. Grandpa Max took note of Ben's displeasure, and gave him a knowing look.

"C'mon, Ben," he said, trying to keep the cheery atmosphere. "Come aboard and say hello."

Ben, sighing inwardly, hitched up his backpack and climbed the set of steps that led into the R.V. As he did, Max unbuckled from the driver's seat and stood up to take the boy into a big, tight, bear hug. Ben struggled against the old man's embrace, turning a bit red. However, to his own surprise, the young boy actually was happy to see his grandpa again… Even if the trip itself was looking abysmally bleak. As the old man set him down, Ben turned and found himself looking at Gwen.

Gwen was Ben's age, just about his height and build, with short cropped red hair, kept in line with a little cat hair clip. She had her knees pulled up to her chin, sitting in one of the booth-like chairs that were on either side of the main table of the R.V. In front of her on the table was a huge, brown leather-bound book. Its pages were worn and aged, and there were dozens of off-color notes and strange markers lining the side of the tome. Ben looked at the large book with a look that could only be described as betrayal, before speaking.

"You gotta be kidding me," he said, "you're doing homework on summer vacation?!"

"It's not homework," Gwen instantly corrected him, never looking up from her book. "I found it in the R.V. It's about monsters."

Ben raised an eyebrow.

"Wait, what? Monsters? Really?"

"Er, its just an old storybook I used to read," Max said somewhat hastily from the front of the R.V. He had donned a small pair of spectacles, and was trying to make sense of the instructions he had printed from MapQuest.

Ben's expression drooped once more.

"Oh."

"It's really cool. There's a whole chapter on unicorns and their habitats. What they eat, how they sleep, and even where to find them!" Gwen said.

Ben groaned. Unicorns, Gwen, books? It was a nightmare! He had waited all of this time to finally be free of the shackles of the classroom, only to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire of this cramped R.V. that smelled a bit too much like his grandfather's aftershave. He dropped his backpack haphazardly on the floor of the R.V., and with a huff, slumped down in the seat across the aisle from Gwen, crossing his arms. Gwen finally looked up from her book then, so make an annoyed face at him.

"What's your problem?" She said. Ben rolled his eyes.

"I don't have a problem. Read your nerdy book," he said. Gwen scoffed.

"My book's nerdy? You read comic books," she said.

"Dude! Spider-Man isn't nerdy, he's cool!" Ben countered. "Grandpa, does Gwen have to come?"

"Now, now, Ben," Max called back. "I know you two have had your differences in the past, but you're family. That's important. We Tennyson's have to look out for each other. Now, buckle up your seatbelts! If we get going, we'll be able to get some good distance before we have to bed down tonight."

"Wait, we're leaving right now?" Ben asked. "What about my stuff? I gotta pack!"

"No need," Max said with a cheeky grin. "I already did that for you."

Gwen snickered as Ben took on a defeated look, buckling his seatbelt and slumping down as the clunky old R.V. began to pull out of the school parking lot, and his grandpa turned on the radio. There was an exclamation of joy from the front of the cab.

"Oh, you're in for a treat kids!" He called back. "I used to love this song! Its a classic!"

Then, Ben and Gwen suddenly covered their ears as Max cranked the music up loud, and old school rock music started to blare. The caravan took off onto the freeway, its rickety old wheels making unsettling noises that made Ben and Gwen stare wide eyed at each other, but soon the old machine found its stride, and they were cruising along the road as the sun turned the sky a brilliant orange, their grandpa singing at the top of his lungs at the wheel.

"It ain't me! It ain't me! I ain't no fortunate son, no no no!"

Ben slumped back even further, leaning his head against the window as he watched the familiar skyline of Bellwood fade into the distance.

It was going to be a long summer.