Chapter 13: Uncharted Territory

"Someone turn off the sun," Ben muttered as he pulled the pillow out from under his head and put it over his eyes. It felt like he was trying to sleep in the middle of a spotlight. He shoved himself deeper into his bunk and tried to get comfortable.

But instead of the comfortably cool metal wall he expected he rolled into more upholstery. He opened his eyes and saw the light blue back of a couch.

"Not the Rust Bucket."

Ben immediately checked, as subtly as he could, to make sure he could move and that there weren't any strange machines attached to him. Well, any but the one he always had with him. It came up way more often than it should in his life.

It was one of the drawbacks of being a superhero.

Once he was reasonably sure he wasn't locked up he tried to remember where he had been. The last thing he remembered was lying on the floor of a dark room with Gwen lying on his arm. He had been staring at the ceiling and listening to the soft wheezing snores that she always denied she made no matter how often he recorded her doing it. He remembered thinking about changing into Fourarms to carry her to her room right before he yawned and closed his eyes for just a second.

Just remembering yawning made him yawn again. He stretched out, took a deep breath and finally noticed the softest scent of oranges that filled the air. It was a smell he was very familiar with. "Gwen?" He rolled over and stared at the empty but made bed across the room from him. Almost empty. The blue teddy bear he'd given her was resting on the pillows.

Ben stretched and groaned a little. The couch was comfortable enough, but it wasn't as nice as the bunk he was used to. He looked over at the bed and wished whoever had brought him in here had just let him sleep…

"Not finishing that thought," Ben muttered to himself as he remembered whose bed that was, and who must have slept in it the night before. Just being bunk mates was weird sometimes, he couldn't imagine…

Except he didn't have to imagine. "So not the same thing," Ben said and leapt to his feet. They'd been little then. Babies. The memory still made his arms itch.

They'd been four or five and Ben's mom had brought him over to spend the night. He still remembered the look on Gwen's face as she came running down the stars and telling him in a rush all the games they had to play. He was just about to go off after her when their moms went to the kitchen together instead of his leaving. Which was bad, because if their moms stayed together for more than five minutes they would start to argue. And the second that happened, either Ben or Gwen would be scooped up and taken home no matter what they were doing.

So Gwen sat by the door next to him as they waited for the fight to start.

Except it didn't. Gwen's mom gave his a cup of coffee and told them to play. The only time either had even raised their voices was when they tried to get Gwen to stop scratching the little red bumps that covered her body and were driving her nuts. Gwen even gave him a lollypop when they weren't looking just to scratch her back.

He'd asked Gwen's mom what the bumps were, but Aunt Lili told him not they were nothing and to go have fun. He should have known it was a trick because two weeks late he learned how itchy 'nothing' could be. The only good thing was that he got to stay home from school for a week just like Gwen had. It was a lot less fun than he had thought it would be.

When he finally got to go back to school, his friends told him what the 'nothing' was. Cooties. Of course it had to be cooties. He'd yelled at her when he saw her next for getting him sick. That was the start of a lot of yelling.

Except for five minutes yesterday, when Gwen's grandma had herded him in here to change, that was the last time he'd been in her room. It was pretty much the last time he'd even been in her house.

Now that he had a chance to look around, Ben had to admit that the room looked a lot nicer. He'd probably only need a half-hour long shower to keep the cooties off this time. She had gotten rid of all the pink and repainted her walls with different shades of light blue. Well, as much of the walls as he could see. There was a huge poster of Einstein sticking his tongue out hanging over her bed while a dresser with a mirror sat across from the bed and three bookcases lined the wall next to the door.

He found his good clothes lying on the floor where he'd left them and gave them a quick sniff test before he changed out of the dress clothes he'd slept in. Then he went looking for anything with blackmail potential.

Ben wandered over to the bookcases. Only the middle had any books, and he only looked at it long enough to make sure there weren't any adventure books or comics. Not that he really thought there would be, but it would have been nice to have something to look at. All he saw were school type books on science and computers. Ben recoiled at the sight of them. He wasn't about to read any school books on his vacation, no matter how bored he was.

The one to the right was all little knickknacks. Ben recognized her old karate belts right off the bat. Gwen had them hanging in a frame that sat right on the middle shelf, right at eye level. It was a fancy frame, with a spot labeled off for each belt. Only the spots for the white and yellow belts were filled. The orange was probably waiting by her gi.

Most of the rest of the stuff on the bookshelf was beyond lame, but the Dweeb had managed to get a few cool things. Not as cool as what he had, but still pretty good. The two best were a big chunk of gray rock with chisel marks that kinda looked like part of an eyebrow, or maybe a beard, from Mount Rushmore. Next to that was a silver dollar sized red stone with black lines that Ben recognized right off the bat. The Keystone Charm of Bezel. He picked it up and flipped it around in his hand and waited for it to make him more awesome than he already was, but it didn't.

Couldn't improve on perfection.

That and it hadn't worked in a year. Still, it was kinda cool, even if it was busted. He flipped it around in his fingers and remembered how happy she had been when she'd found it and now it was just sitting on her bookcase. It seemed like a waste. It was her coolest thing, and she couldn't keep it with her like he did his. He looked at the stone and had an idea. And the idea became a small crime as he slipped the charm into his pocket.

If things worked out like he hoped, he just saved himself some work for Christmas this year. And it would bug her for months when she noticed it was missing. A double bonus.

He looked over the rest of her trophies. There were a few more cool things, but most of it was just awards she'd won at school or for her stupid science camps.

And Ben didn't care about any of THAT stuff. Not even a little. And he wasn't scowling at all when he walked over to look at pictures filling the other bookcase, which was filled with framed photographs.

There were plenty of photographs of her parents and grandparents, of course. Pictures from birthdays and Christmas, or just fooling around in the back yard. And there were plenty of her, mostly from at school or her clubs, almost all of them involving her on stage with some ribbon around her neck or an award in her hand.

One of the better pictures was of her and Grandpa Max that was a few years old. Grandpa Max was holding Gwen on his shoulders and charging the camera while Gwen had her head down and her hands to her forehead. It looked almost like she was covering her eyes until Ben saw that she was holding her two index fingers out like horns.

It was just more proof that the Dweeb could have fun. It gave him hope.

The oldest photo - one that was so old that it was actually yellowing in its frame - was sitting right on the middle of the center shelf of the bookcase. It was of Grandpa Max cradling two babies in his arms. The babies looked almost identical except for the hair. One had a dark dusting of hair and the other a lighter shade. Both of the babies were looking up at Max with wide but unfocused eyes and he was grinning as he looked down at them. It was only when Ben noticed the blue socks on the dark haired baby and the pink on the light haired that he realized who they had to be.

Ben smiled, but it faded as he looked over the rest of the photographs and realized that was the only one he was in. "Dweeb," he muttered and turned away.

He looked over the rest of the room and tried to decide what to snoop in next. The dresser had some opportunities, but a lot of danger. Not just because someone would find him if he tried to search all six drawers, but because…

To put it bluntly, he'd seen all he'd ever wanted of Gwen's clothes during their week long fight. Sending him up against Vilgax without the Omnitrix would have been more fair than forcing him to do her laundry. Grandpa Max wouldn't even let him borrow the Plumber suit.

And if she did hide anything good in her dresser, it was probably under something lacy. He could not deal with lacy. Not today.

And he didn't even want to think about her closet. If it was anything like his, opening the door would unleash a tidal wave of junk. Junk he'd have to clean up.

So he settled on the nightstand by her bed. There was nothing on it except for a lamp and an empty picture frame, but there was a drawer that had some promise. He gave the door a quick glance before he sat on the very edge of her bed and opened the drawer. He'd hoped for a diary for sheer embarrassment potential. He still kicked himself for using Upgrade on her computer in front of her. By the time he realized he could have snooped through it she'd already cleaned it out.

Except he had even less luck with the nightstand.. It was empty except for some jewelry, an envelope full of money that he didn't touch, and a bunch of sticks of lip gloss. "Ew, gross," he muttered as he found an open tube and the gooey gunk inside got smeared across his fingers.

Ben sighed as he closed the drawer and absentmindedly wiped his hands on his pants. He gave the dresser another look as he stood – maybe if he could find some kind of stick so he didn't actually have to touch anything - and smacked his leg right into the nightstand. He managed to catch her lamp before it fell, but the picture frame that had been sitting facing the bed fell over onto its face.

"Oh hell," Ben whispered as he gave the door another look. He prayed for the best as he lifted the frame. The glass wasn't cracked, but somehow a photograph of Ben, Gwen and Grandpa Max standing in front of the Liberty Bell had appeared inside of it.

"Now that's a good trick," he said to himself as he picked up the frame and started turning it this way and that just to figure out the secret.

He almost thought it was magic until he noticed the three small buttons at the top of the frame. He touched the first and the picture changed to one of him and Gwen making faces at IT, the world's biggest rubber band ball and strangest prison.

"Cool," Ben said. It must have been one of those new digital picture frames his Mom was always going on about. It figured that the geek would have one. He kept hitting the button just to see what she had in it. Gwen and Ben chasing each other on the beach, followed by one of the two of them all dressed up for Cousin Joel's wedding. The next was still them dressed up, but a more dignified shot of him pulling his eyelids open while Gwen had her mouth pulled wide and was sticking her tongue out at the camera.

Ben grinned. It wasn't often Gwen actually loosened up a little. If the proof wasn't sitting in front of him, he probably would have thought he'd imagined it. And that was a good day, full of alien butt kicking…

…and the feel of Gwen's hand in his while her waist moving under his left hand as she taught him how to dance. Ben blushed just as brightly now at the thought as he did when Grandpa Max caught them then and every time he brought it up after. The only thing that made that story bearable at all was that Gwen would go just as red.

Ben pressed down on the button and prayed the next one wasn't another wedding photo.

It wasn't. It was Grandpa, Gwen and him standing in front of Santa's Workshop at Christmas Village, then a picture of a park somewhere. Ben was lying across a picnic table reading an issue of Super Sumo Slammer while Gwen snuck up behind him with a water gun.

Ben kept tapping the button and staring at the flood of pictures. She must have scanned every photo they'd taken last year and loaded them into the frame. Well, every one that didn't have aliens in it. She had to have spent days doing it.

He put the frame down when he realized that and felt oddly guilty.

Almost as bad as he did that time he'd gotten them kicked out of a 4 star hotel and cost Grandpa a bunch of money. Or when he'd helped Kevin beat up some kids. Which was the same day, he remembered. Two major screw ups in one day was a record, even for him.

No, he was used to feeling guilty, but never just for looking at some pictures. Pictures he was in! But it felt more like snooping than anything else he had done since he woke up. He looked and realized that the frame was pointed right at her pillow. She must have looked at it every night.

"What are you up to, Dweeb?"

Ben spun around and saw Gwen standing at the door. She'd changed into jeans and a light yellow tank top. She had her arms crossed and was glaring at him from under the still damp bangs of hair that hung down between her eyes no matter how much she blew at it.

Ben took a half-step away from the nightstand and glared right back. "I'm just waiting for some people to stop hogging the bathroom, Doofus."

Gwen's opened her mouth and he thought she was going to start the next round of insults. Insults Ben was more than ready for, but instead she looked down at her toes and muttered a soft, "Sorry."

He wanted the insults. That's how it was supposed to go. Maybe if he gave her a good enough one, she'd get back in the game. "You're not going to start crying again, are you?"

Gwen's eyes shot back up and she nailed him with a hot glare. "So not." He let out a sigh of relief that things were back to normal when he saw how watery her eyes looked. She wasn't crying now, but she was on the edge.

And he felt like dirt again. He looked away and scratched at the back of his head. "Good," he muttered. He was as surprised when he added, "I hate it when you do."

He didn't see her move, but he sure felt it when they collided. She drove him back a half step. He was sure she'd just tackled him and was ready to take her worst when she gave him a hug.

Ben's arms went around her without him even thinking about it. Which was a good thing, because he was way too busy trying to figure out when he started to hate seeing his dorky cousin cry. Was it because of yesterday?

He'd never seen her like she had been yesterday. He would have given everything he had to keep her from ever looking like that again. He spent the entire ride home trying to find a way to fix things, to give her back her brother. But all he could do was sit with her. He'd never felt so useless in all of his life.

But it wasn't. Even before that, with the insults they traded, the pranks, and the occasional fight, even at their worst, even when they were so bad that their families stopped even visiting each other - He could yell at her, tease her , insult her – and he'd come up with some good ones over the years - chase her, but he always stopped when it looked like she might really be getting upset.

Except for one time, when they were eight. Grandpa Max had somehow convinced both of their families to come out to a camp ground for a couple of days during the summer, right after school had gotten out. Gwen and her mother spent both days bragging about how well Gwen had done and asking Ben about his grades until he'd had enough and thrown her favorite doll into the fire right in front of her.

That was their worst fight ever, even before their mothers had gotten involved, and their last family vacation. He'd watched her burst into tears then, too, and hated it just as much as he did right now. And he had no idea why.

Just like he had no idea why he was hugging her back. He had no idea why he was doing it, but it felt... not wrong right up until the second Gwen pulled away. Then it felt like his face was on fire. "What was that for?"

Gwen blinked at him. Her own cheeks started to burn even as the corners of her mouth twitched up. "Doofus," she said with a roll of her eyes.

"No, really, why'd you…?" He paused. He couldn't force out the word hug so he just kind of waved around his stomach.

Gwen just shook her head, which made her still damp hair dance around her face and sent her bangs into her eyes. "One day I'm going to trim this off," she said as she slipped by Ben and opened the top drawer of her dresser. She pulled out a little yellow hair clip and clipped her hair back into place.

That important task done, she turned back and marched to the door. "Come on. Breakfast is almost ready." As she passed Ben again she reached down and caught his hand in hers and pulled him after her.

Ben started a little at the feel of her hand in his as she pulled him out of the room. A dozen insults and complaints came to mind, up to and including just ripping his hand free and wiping it on his pants, but she had had a rough day, and he could probably survive if he washed his hand really good later.

Ben's stomach growled as he followed her, but his step faltered as he smelled something wrong in the air. "Who's cooking?"

Gwen slowed down and her hand tightened with worry around Ben's. "I don't know. Nana yelled for me to get you right after I got out of the shower. I hope it's her. She makes great pancakes."

"Pancakes would be good." Just as long as it wasn't Grandpa Max cooking. He still hadn't recovered from Grandpa's surprise crab meat pancakes.

They hurried down the stairs, which were lined with more photographs of the family. It went from oldest at the top to newest at the bottom. At the very bottom there was a small frame of a fuzzy black and white photograph. It took Ben a second to realize what it was and when he did he hurried a little and hoped Gwen didn't see it.

Only to run into Gwen because she stopped short. The good news was that Grandpa Max wasn't cooking. The bad news was the Ben's mom was. He loved his mom, but the only thing that kept her from being the worse cook in the family was she was up against Grandpa Max.

And Grandpa Max was in a universe all his own when it came to cooking.

"There they are," Gwen's grandmother said with just a hint of disapproval. Ben had only run into her a few times, but he didn't remember ever seeing the woman smile. It was one of his goals in life to keep Gwen from ending up the same way.

Ben felt Gwen's hand slip away from his as she hurried over to give her grandparents a hug while Ben looked around to make sure no one noticed that he'd been holding hands with his cousin. No one seemed to, which meant Ben could finally breath again. Except he could almost still feel her hand in his, even as he rubbed it off. And it felt... not wrong. Like her hugging him.

Great. He was getting sick. Again. It had to be something about her room.

"About time you two got up," Gwen's grandpa said to Grandpa Max, who was sitting across the table. "Back in my day, we were awake as soon as the sun rose."

Grandpa Max didn't look like he'd slept at all last night. He glanced over at Ben and Gwen and something seemed off about him. "Back in our day we had to be. Besides, these two deserve a bit of a break."

"I suppose so. Just as long as they don't get spoiled."

Ben and Gwen shared an eye roll at the two and sat down at the table. Ben sat down in the empty seat between his dad and Grandpa Max while Gwen sat across the table from him with her Grandparents. "Aren't we going to wait for Uncle Frank and Aunt Lili?" Ben asked, trying to delay the horror to come.

No one looked at him. "Frank and Lili are sleeping in," Gwen's Grandmother said.

Ben fidgeted in his seat and wished he was doing the same thing. Just a couple more days and they'd be back on the road...

"Guys," Grandpa Max began and Ben felt that hope die. "I was thinking about putting the rest of our summer on hold for right now. I know you had plans, but... Maybe in a few weeks..."

There was silence as the adults waited for them to freak out. Gwen flinched and found something to stare at on the table, but she didn't say a word. So it was up to him to be the hero again. "I think I'm a little tired of driving around anyway."

Grandpa Max blinked in surprise. They all looked surprised. It was kind of insulting now that Ben thought about it. He felt his Dad's hand on his shoulder. "You sure?"

No. That's what Ben wanted to say. Maybe. "Yeah?"

Grandpa Max nodded and looked over. "What about you, Gwen?"

"If that's what the Doofus wants…"

It was the last thing Ben wanted.

"I guess we'll be staying a while," Grandpa Max said with a nod.

"Yeah," Ben said. He finally snuck a look at Gwen, who was sitting there, staring at him. Her eyes fell the second she realized she'd been caught. But then she looked back up and mouthed a silent 'thank you' at him.

Ben shrugged and grinned the second she stopped watching. With that done he took a deep breath…

Which was a massive mistake. He'd gotten whiffs of things like this before. It smelled just a little better then Grandpa Max's cold remedy, and a little bit worse than the locker room at school. His nose tried to fold in on itself for protection. "What's that?"

"Good news, Ben," Grandpa Max said. Ben cringed at those words. Usually it meant that Grandpa had found something new to cook. Not a recipe, some new kind of animal or plant. "Your mom's trying a new recipe!"

Just as bad.

Ben's eyes flickered to Gwen, and judging by her wrinkled nose she'd smelled the same thing. Gwen got up from her chair and padded over to the door that led to the kitchen.

Ben moved in next to her and watched his mom cook. He'd hoped for pancakes, and the things in the pan looked a little like pancakes. Or a well run over poodle. They were pale white discs that somehow looked hairy. "What are you making, Mom?"

Please be road kill, Ben thought.

"Just something I saw online. We're just lucky that Lili had enough tofu in the house," Sandra called back. "I figured everyone could use a wholesome and healthy meal."

"Smells great, Aunt Sandra!" Gwen called out even as she gave Ben a wide eyed panicked look he was very used to. He got all the bad jobs.

"It does, Mom, but I think Gwen and I are going to take a walk before breakfast."

Sandra's face fell just a little. "Are you sure? It won't be that much longer."

"We just want to get some fresh air," Gwen said while Ben gave his mom as pathetic a look as he could manage.

"Get nice and hungry," Ben added.

Finally Sandra sighed. "Just be careful."

"We will be!" Ben and Gwen promised as they hurried away. It was fun watching the looks around the table. Her Grandparents looked like they wished they'd thought of the walk excuse while Ben's dad looked downright jealous. Only Grandpa Max looked the least bit eager to taste the food.

And at all disappointed in them for leaving.

That didn't stop them, though it did slow them down a little. They pulled on their sneakers and rushed outside.

Ben grinned for the first time in days as they all but ran down the sidewalk. Not just because he'd missed another one of his mother's creations, but because he was out of the house. It had been a beyond bad day yesterday and it would probably be another bad day today when they got back, but for right now…

"There's a pancake place a couple of blocks down the road," Gwen said as she dug into her pockets and pulled out a few dollars.

Ben checked his. He still had a good fifteen bucks. More than enough for breakfast. The thought of an actual, human breakfast made him grin. "Real food? Its going to be a great day!"

He closed his eyes and kicked himself as he watched the smile melt off of Gwen's face. She turned and glanced back at her house with that far away look he'd seen way too much of yesterday.

"That was too close," Ben said as he thought as fast as he could for something to distract her. "Mom's cooking is bad enough, but when she'd breaking out something new…" He gagged as glossily as he could. Gross enough to make even him feel sick.

And gross enough to get Gwen's attention. She made a face and shuddered. "Yeah. I remember her chips and cheese casserole."

Ben gagged for real at that. "Oh, God. That was bad. She almost beat Grandpa's chocolate covered locusts with that one." They'd found a box of what they thought were chocolates that looked like insects in the Rust Bucket's refrigerator last year. The first half of the box had been pretty good. At least until Gwen bit one of the chocolates in half and saw the little green leg inside.

Ben glanced over in time to see Gwen shiver from the memory and felt a little smug. His walk down gross-out lane had done its trick. It had done so well that Ben finally got a chance to look around. There were plenty of houses on the street, and what looked like a small strip mall at the end. But no matter how much Ben sniffed, there wasn't a hint of food in the air. There was plenty of stink, though. "We are heading the right way, right?"

Gwen's steps slowed as she looked around. "Yup. It should be right around the corner."

Ben's stomach growled in anticipation. The restaurant was still there, but instead of the pancake house he'd been promised.. "Mooby's?" Ben groaned when he saw the cow statue standing in front of the restaurant.

Gwen's mouth was open in shock. "It was pancakes a month ago! I swear!"

"I want pancakes," Ben whined.

"Mooby's makes pancakes," she protested, but her tone made it clear her heart wasn't in it. Ben just made a face. "I'll spring for bacon."

Ben sighed. "Deal."

The door mooed as they stepped inside. There was no one else inside, not that Ben expected there would be, so at least they didn't have to wait in line.

The tall blonde dude who worked there gave them both a bored glance as they walked up to the counter. "Shouldn't you two be in day care or something?"

"Shouldn't you be in college?" Ben asked back.

For a second the guy looked like he was going to come over the counter, but then he just grinned. "Touche."

If that had been all, it would have been fine. The guy took their order, but he kept glancing at Gwen every few seconds. When another teenager came out from the back with their food on a tray the clerk elbowed him and pointed at Gwen. "Nice hair on your girlfriend, dude. She lose a bet?"

Gwen stiffened and her hand went to her hair. Almost all of the green die had washed out. Almost. No one had said anything yesterday, but under the cheap lights it looked like her hair was covered in fungus. "He's not my boyfriend! EW"

The guy shrugged. "So you did lose a bet?"

Gwen glared and turned away. Ben grabbed up the food and hurried after her. He caught up just in time to see her fingers twitch. There was a flash of light and...

"Son of a bitch!" the guy shouted behind them as the soda dispenser erupted. Ben glanced back as he sat down and watched the two clerks run around behind the counter with a mop.

"Jerk!" Gwen muttered as she sat down on the far side of the booth just so she could watch. She stabbed her straw into her cup of orange juice with one hand while she pulled her hair in front of her eyes with the other.

Ben didn't say a word as he poured syrup on his pancakes and very purposely didn't look at her hair. He tried so hard not to look that he couldn't stop himself from glancing up every few seconds. And each time it looked worse. Ben didn't even taste his pancake as he chewed at it. "Sorryaboutyouthair," he finally said, the words coming out in a jumbled rush.

"What?"

"Your hair," Ben repeated, the apology somehow worse now that he had to say it again, "Sorry about it."

Gwen looked up from her food and stared at him from over her fork. She dropped the fork without a word and leaned across the table so she could press her hand against his forehead.

Ben slapped it away. "What are your doing, Dweeb?"

"That sounded almost sincere, you have to be sick." She say back and pushed their plates to the side. "Do you feel dizzy?" Then she got a worried look and pushed herself as far away from him as she could. "You're not going to throw up, are you?"

"I'm not sick." He grabbed his plate back.

"You're sure?"

"I just… forget it all right?" Ben stood up and started to walk away. His mom's cooking at her worst would be better than this garbage anyway.

"I'm sorry about the drink!" Gwen called after him.

Ben turned and gave her a look. "So you did do it on purpose!"

Gwen gave him an offended sniff. "Did not. It was an accident. But…"

Ben glared at her as a thousand different pranks went through his head. Green hair? He felt bad about giving her some green hair? He'd make that look like nothing. He'd make her wish he'd only turned her hair green…

Gwen closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, okay?"

And with that Ben's resolve was cracking, and when she started to pout it shattered. "Fine," he muttered and sank back into the booth.

Gwen smiled just a little. "Good," she said. She drowned her pancakes in syrup, but still didn't try to eat another one. She stabbed the pancakes with her fork a half a dozen times before she said, "Why did you have to talk to that girl?"

"What?"

"At the Karate Exhibition. It was supposed to be our thing. Instead you spent the whole time talking to her."

Ben thought back. He didn't remember... And then he did. "She asked who was performing because she got there late. I was just telling her who Anthony Atkins was and where he was from. Is that why you...?"

She looked down at her food and kind of sort of shrugged as she looked very miserable. Ben knew he should have been angry, but.. Well, the last time he felt like this was when he had sent Vilgax flying into space with just one punch. The only difference was that that had been cool. This was... The feeling lasted until he attention went back to her hair. He'd always liked... "I thought the food coloring would wash out."

Gwen gave him a confused look, and then an understanding one as she ran her fingers through her hair and shrugged. "It will. But you do it again and I'll turn your watch into a weed - "

There was a loud crash outside.

"But not right now."

The two turned to look out the window. From the sounds, Ben expected to see a dozen cars crumpled together. His hand was already on the Omnitrix and he was already deciding which alien to pick. Had to be strong in case people were trapped, tough...

But the only cars they saw were trying to get away in a hurry. A semi plowed right through the red light without even slowing. As soon as it passed, Ben saw that the noise had come from the bank across the street.

What was left of it anyway.

The front had completely collapsed. It looked like someone had taken the idea of drive through way too seriously. Except there wasn't any car inside the bank. Just one guy.

One huge guy.

Ben didn't think it was an employee.

The guy had pale white skin, and when he turned his head the yellowing toenail in his forehead caught the light.

"Thumbskull?" Gwen asked.

"Thumbskull!" Ben felt so giddy that it was all he could do to not dance. After the last few days he finally had something he could hit. "And where one freak is..."

The two shared a look as they said the magic words together.

"Hero time!"