Ben 10 (Reader insert)

Don't Drink the Water

"Don Juan Ponce de Léon arrived with Christopher Columbus on the adventurous second voyage to America in fourteen-ninety three." The tour guide droned on. His dated costume probably doing no favors in this heat as the sun reflected off the shiny armor pieces he wore.

Our group, consisting mainly of older people, Grandpa Max, Gwen, Ben, and I all followed in silence. I was bored out of my mind and focused more on the plants than anything else.

Wish I had brough my DS.

You should of this history is wrong. (Name) answered back.

"While in Spain, de Léon heard stories of the Fountain of Youth and made it his mission to find it." The tour guide paused at a bridge, gesturing to it blankly as he droned on, "He located this stream here in Saint Augustine, Florida. However, he never found the fountain."

"What I wanna know is where is the fountain of soda?" Ben groaned once the tour guide continued on.

"Me too! Anything to help with the heat at this point." I answered him, waving a hand at my face in a futile attempt to cool down.

Gwen shooshed us, shooting daggers with her eyes as she scolded us, "Show some respect! You two are in the oldest city in North America."

"Okay, and..." I asked, folding my arms over my chest.

"And, you need to respect it!" Gwen argued.

Ben and I shot each other annoyed looks, but decided not to push the issue further as we followed her and the guide onwards.

Stopping before a sign littered with dated pictures and paragraphs of information the tour guide gestured to it vaguely. "You can read it in this text de Léon's description of his discovery."

At that Grandpa Max trotted forward, leaning over to read the small print with squinted eyes. He pulled out a pair of glasses to read better, mumbling out a complaint. "Now, why do the words always have to be so darn small?"

Ben answered, "Well if you can't read the words, Grandpa maybe we should get you a magnifying glass or a big telescope." He started to laugh at his own joke, until he choked off in pain as I stomped on his foot.

"Hey! What did I say?"

I stuck my tongue out and turned my head away. All the while Grandpa Max just moved on, having not heard a thing. We all followed after the elder to a fountain in much better condition, clearly cleaned more often than the dated path or sign that was stained in dirt.

Approaching the waters edge, I sat down and let my fingers dip in. A sign past my lips and I watched as Ben joined my side. But instead of just following my lead, he dipped his whole hand in and in his grasp was a water gun.

Catching his green gaze, he winked and nodded towards the angry Gwen.

Uh oh.

"The one thing about old people is they don't want to be reminded their old." Gwen spat.

"Eh, I wouldn't worry about Grandpa getting mad at me saying stuff like that." Ben shrugged off.

"And why is that?" Gwen and I asked together.

"'cause he can't hear me over your nagging Gwen." Ben replied, drawing the loaded water gun with a smirk. "I got you beat."

"I heard that!" Grandpa Max suddenly cut in, looking over in confusion. "What do you mean, I have lead feet?"

Ben smiled smugly at his red-headed cousin. "Told ya." Then pressed the trigger, soaking the girl as she held her hands up and glared.

It was the start to a fight, Ben racing away before Gwen could grab him. They darted around the path, Ben laughing all the while. As they past Grandpa Max though, the elder smiled and gave chase himself calling out a warning,