GUARDIAN

Permanent Retirement

The Rust Bucket has stopped on a desert road, at an ice cream parlor. Ben, Roisin, and Gwen are getting ice cream, while Max is using the local ATM. A dirty red pickup truck pulls up to the same spot, and a big burly man walks up to Max.

"Outta the way, "Grandpa". I got a major withdrawal to make!" He shoves Max to the ground. Max looks up and sees a buck-toothed man in front of him smiling; who seems to be the other man's associate.

In the parlor, the kids are choosing their ice cream. A frowning old man is serving them.

"What do you have that's non-fat with less than 3% sugar?" Gwen asks.

"Napkin," He turns to the others, "What about you two?"

Ben opens his mouth, but he and Roisin get distracted by the sound of a large chain. They look out the window and see the burly man walking to the ATM with a chained metal hook.

"I'm about to go rocky road!" He runs out of the parlor and primes the Omnitrix. Roisin shakes her head and lets him take care of the problem.

She turns to the man and smiles, "I'll take the Vanilla,"

Outside, the burly man digs the hook into the ATM and yells to his associate in the pickup. "Hit it!"

The buck-toothed man tries pumping the gas, but nothing happens. Suddenly, the wheel melts out of his hands and the entire dashboard forms into Ben's black technorganic alien, Upgrade.

"Your cash request has been denied!"

Upgrade merges with the entire pickup and kicks the man out the door. He forms back into himself. The burly man grabs the hook, swings it in the air, and throws it at Upgrade. He lets the chain wrap around his arm and tugs hard, launching the man upwards into a pole. As he tries to get up, Max puts his foot on his chest.

"Where do ya think you're going? Good work, Ben!"

"Oh yeah! I'm ready for anything! Bring it on!" Ben cheers. "What's next?"

"We're headin' off to see your Aunt Vera for the weekend!" Max says as Gwen and Roisin join them.

"Ugh, boring old Aunt Vera?! Nooooo!"

The Rust Bucket continues driving through the barren desert. Inside, Ben is sitting on the table across from Roisin who's putting together Gwen's upgraded laptop while Gwen does the dishes.

"When Aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it!" Gwen says.

"Does she hate people or something?" Roisin comments.

"Something like that," Max says.

"Aw man, this summer was supposed to be about F-U-N, not hanging out in some old lady's place," Ben complains.

"I like Aunt Vera!" Gwen says.

"Duh! That's because you act like you're a hundred years old!" Ben retorts.

Roisin flicks a blot at his forehead.

"Ow!"

"There's nothing wrong with being mature Ben. Plus I happen to like Gwen's mature personality," Roisin tells him.

Gwen smiles at that, a slight pink color on her cheeks as she catches Roisin's eyes, "Thanks Roisin, "

"You're welcome,"