After a lot of begging, Glitch and Ben finally convinced Max to stop at a nearby ice cream parlour. While Gwen, Glitch, and Ben were inside, looking at ice cream, Max was outside getting cash from the ATM so that they could actually buy the ice cream.
"What do you have that's non-fat with less than 3% sugar?" Gwen asked.
"Napkins!" the parlour worked answered, annoyed, "What about you, kids?"
Before Ben could answer, he was cut off by a strange-sounding noise. Looking out the window, he noticed that a burly man was walking towards the ATM with a chained metal hook, clearly planning to rob it.
"I'm about to go rocky road!" Ben shouted, running out.
Deciding to ignore Ben's actions because he wanted his ice cream, Glitch glanced at all the ice cream flavours, considering his options. Most of them sounded pretty good.
"Uh... I'll just have mint chocolate chip." Glitch told the parlour worker.
The parlour worker just nodded, beginning to scoop the ice cream when he looked out the window and noticed what was going on outside. Ben, having turned into Upgrade, a strange techno-organic-looking alien had grabbed the chain from the burly man, tugged it with enough force that the burly man was launched into a nearby pole. Max put his foot on the man's chest.
"What's going on out there?" the parlour worker asked.
"I don't know. Now can I have my ice cream or not?" Glitch asked, annoyed.
--
After eating the ice cream, the Rustbucket started to drive towards Gwen and Ben's great aunt Vera's house. It was in the middle of nowhere, leaving them driving through a barren desert. Glitch was sitting in the back, next to an annoyed-looking Ghostfreak, trying to get away from the sun.
"When Aunt Vera said she wanted to move away from it all, she really meant it!" Gwen remarked.
"Aw man, this summer was supposed to be about F-U-N, not hanging out in some old lady's place," Ben complained, glaring at the floor.
"At least you're not stuck in the Rustbucket all day," Ghostfreak muttered, sounding frustrated. Glitch seemed to be the only one to have heard Ghostfreak, but he didn't say anything.
"I like Aunt Vera!" Gwen protested.
"Duh! That's because you act like you're a hundred years old!" Ben scoffed.
After what felt like hours of driving, they finally arrived in Vera's retirement village. While Glitch wasn't looking out the window, he could already imagine that it'd just be a bunch of old people standing around, nothing exciting. Wildmutt seemed tense though, and Glitch wasn't really sure why.
"This is gonna be soooo boring! Their idea of excitement in this place is probably watching the grass grow!" Ben complained.
"Actually, I think it's golf." Glitch remarked.
"Whatever- Woah! Did you see that?" Ben asked. Glitch stared blankly at him, confused.
"See what? The heat must be frying that pea-sized brain of yours." Gwen remarked, undoubtedly not seeing whatever it was that Ben had seen. The rest of the journey was quiet, and a couple of minutes later, they parked just outside Vera's house. Stepping outside, Glitch slightly, somewhat irritated by the glaring sun.
"Seriously, why do old people have to live where its sooo hot!" Ben complained, only to get sprayed by Gwen's water gun. "Hey!"
Laughing, Gwen darted away, probably baiting Ben to run after her, but he got distracted by something in Vera's neighbour's window. Glancing over at the window, Glitch froze when he saw the neighbour hissing at them, cracking his neck unnaturally and shutting the blinds on them.
