A/N: Well, it was bound to happen. It's been two years since I updated this story, and I've got little to show for it. I vowed not to discontinue a single story I started, but alas, I couldn't bring myself to care to finish this one. I'm genuinely sorry to those who enjoyed this, however few of you there may be, but honestly I knew my heart wasn't in it. I still stand by my opinions and I love how I wrote the first two chapters. Meta commentary on this level is so fun to write, but I don't know if this type of thing will age well. Sometimes, I think it will, but other times, I think we as a fandom have moved past this topic. I didn't want to seem outdated, or worse, too mean-spirited, so I decided to end it here. This is what I got so far for the scrapped third chapter. I hope this makes up for the cancellation, at least a little bit.

Ben 10: Hero Generation

...

The DNAliens screeched as they charged the trio. Some of them reared their heads back and started to spit slime, which Gwen protected them from with a shield. Not everyone was so lucky.

"Oh come on! Not my ride!" Kevin yelled as his car got splattered.

"We'll worry about that later," Ben said. "Right now, we have to-"

"Ah!" Gwen's shield broke but she managed to bring up another just in time.

"Gwen! Are you okay?" Kevin asked.

"Y-yeah," she tried not to blush at his worrying.

Ben activated the Omnitrix. Its dial popped up and a green hologram of an alien was projected from the faceplate. Switching through them until he found the one he wanted, he slammed down.

The alien DNA sample shot through the Omnitrix's database, analyzing its information. Through an instantaneous transformation, Ben's body shone brightly in a green light. His DNA warped and changed, and his ribcage started to expand. Emerging from the green light, Ben rose not as himself, but as:

"Humungousaur!"

The scaly dinosaur alien jumped into the air and slammed his fist into the ground as he landed, delivering a shockwave that knocked the DNAliens off the ground. He roared at them for intimidation.

"Big man's here, let's go!" Kevin yelled and ran at the enemy with his fists raised. The DNAliens spat and fired at him with their weapons to no effect. He started clobbering his way through their forces. Gwen hurled mana discs from a distance, each of them shattering upon impact. They managed to slow down the ones advancing on her, but their numbers were ultimately too much for her. She held up a shield as one threw a punch at her; the punch instantly destroyed the shield and Gwen yelled "Ah!" as she was knocked out.

Kevin turned around to see her fall. "Gwen!" He ran back to her with his arms held up blocking his face. The DNAliens attacked him, but that only spurred him to go faster. He threw his arms down on the nearest DNAlien, knocking its head right off. He began pounding on everything near him, intent on killing those who dared hurt her. But his blind rage proved to be a mistake, as one of the DNAliens got behind him and fired point blank at the back of his head, which caused his head to vibrate suddenly. Feeling dizzy, Kevin groaned as he fainted as well. He dropped down next to Gwen and dropped his metal coating, his hand landing just a few inches from hers.

Humungousaur stomped his foot and sent all the incoming enemies high into the air. He spun around and whipped his tail to strike at every one that fell. All of his targets were sent flying in different directions, landing on the ground or crashing into their vehicles. Once they recovered, they started to panic and ran into their vans, taking off. The screeching of tires filled the air as they retreated.

Ben reverted to human form and ran over to Gwen and Kevin.

"Gwen. Gwen? Wake up," he shook her shoulder.

"Mmm. What...happened?" She groggily rubbed her eyes.

"The DNAliens fell back."

"Oh."

Ben looked over at the still unconscious Kevin. "How should I wake him up? Shake an illegal gun under his nose or slap his face?"

"Don't do that!" She chided him but smiled despite herself. She looked at his sleeping face. "You know, I never would've thought that troubled kid would grow up and turn out like this. He looks so...innocent."

Ben rolled his eyes. "Kiss him then. He'd wake up to that. That's how it works in the fairy tales right?"

"Ben!" Gwen blushed.

Ben got up. "Come on. We have to find out what they were doing here." He walked away.

"Kevin," Gwen placed a hand on his cheek.

Kevin regained consciousness, slowly blinking his eyes open. He saw Gwen's beautiful face staring down at him.

"Now that's a sight for sore eyes," he muttered.

"What?"

"N-nothing," Kevin got back up. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm fine."

"Good."

They sat there silently for a second, unsure of what to say.

"I guess we should join him," Kevin said.

"R-right."

Gwen and Kevin got up, shaking off their embarrassment. As they surveyed the area, they couldn't find anything worth investigating. Once they determined nothing else was out of the ordinary, they regrouped inside the car and drove back out into the night.

Ben looked sullenly out the window. Just when he thought they'd gotten somewhere, they ran into another dead end. It was infuriating. It took all he had from punching the window viciously until his knuckles bled. He thought back to when it all started, back when his innocence was shattered and the harsh stone cold glare of reality rushed back into his life.

...

A few weeks ago

...

Cash kicked the soccer ball across the field, sticking close behind it. J.T. ran next to him, keeping a close eye in case he sent it over. Cash knit his eyebrows in concentration as the goal of the opposing team came into focus.

Ben stood in front of the goal with his arms outstretched. He smirked at Cash with a daring smile.

You're gonna get it you little prick, Cash ran faster and kicked the ball harder.

"Cash! Pass it to me! I've got a clear shot!" J.T. yelled, which Cash ignored.

He continued to speed up until he was just a few yards from the goal. He gave the ball a mighty punt, which started to spiral through the air and out of control. Ben leapt up and with a grunt, caught it. The crowd went wild as the game ended, and Ben's team won.

Ben's team ran at him and picked him up, bouncing him into the air. "Whoa!" He yelled. Smiling, he held the ball up victoriously.

Cash glowered at the sight. J.T. nervously walked up next to him.

"Uh, Cash?"

"Forget it!" He snapped. "Screw this, we have better shit to do."

A girl in a pink hoodie smiled at Ben as he boyishly smiled upon hearing his team chant his name. "Ben, huh?"

A little later, when the stands cleared and most people went home, Ben unlocked his bike and was getting ready to leave himself. He had been gifted a medal, which he was wearing around his neck. The girl in pink approached him.

"Hi."

Ben looked up and was instantly slack-jawed at the sight of her. "Hey."

"That was a nice save. You definitely earned that medal."

"Oh this?" Ben looked down at it. "Thanks. Although it was definitely more of a team effort. Couldn't have won it without the other guys."

"Fair enough. But you really saved everyone back there. I guess you could say you were a hero."

"Yeah..." Ben trailed off at her words. "Oh! Where are my manners? I'm Ben."

"Julie." They shook hands.

"Have I seen you around before?"

"We have a couple of classes together. We were always too busy to talk, though."

"Well, we're talking now."

"Yes we are."

Ben awkwardly stood there, ironically becoming unsure of what to say. "So...what brought you out here? Got a friend playing today?"

"No, I just like watching people work."

Ben had no idea how to respond to that, but for some reason, he could feel a connection with her. Maybe it was her weirdness.

"Appreciate the attention, but I need to go. It was nice meeting you, Julie. I gotta get back home, show this medal to my family."

"Totally! See you at school next week," Julie waved goodbye as she left.

Ben watched her go before mounting his bike. Life was good, but it was always getting better. He started riding away.

Ever since the fateful summer vacation five years ago, peace had settled once again on Earth. Without a reason to fight, Ben had returned to his daily life and was enjoying it. Little did he know how much his life would change in the coming minutes.

After cycling home and showering, Ben dressed himself in his jacket and jeans and cycled over to an RV parking area. He parked next to the Rust Bucket, his grandfather's residence.

Knocking on the door, he called out "Grandpa Max?"

Nobody answered, which Ben found odd. Opening the door, he stepped in. "Grandpa?"