Ben 10 redux Chapter 13 - alien training by becquerl

"Hmmmmm..." Diamondhead narrowed his eyes at the rough crystaline shape sprouting from his palm. "Trees are harder than I thought." The little diamond spire started sprouting smaller spires off of it's body, gradually fractalizing into smaller and smaller bits. Diamondhead wiped a bead of nonexistant sweat off his crystalline brow, staring intently at the little- *POP!*

The tree abruptly lost stability and exploded, sending little crystal chunks plinking off his face.

Diamondhead sighed explosively and leaned back on the stump he had been perched on for most of the afternoon. "Eunice, is this supposed to be so hard?"

The Omnitrix symbol on his bodysuit lit up. "THESE EXERCISES ARE DESIGNED FOR YOUNG PETROSAPIENS LEARNING HOW TO SHAPE CRYSTALS FOR THE FIRST TIME, USER BEN. PRACTICE WILL, IN FACT, MAKE PERFECT."

Diamondhead groaned in exasperation and laid on his back, the crystalline spikes coming out from his shoulders sinking into the dirt next to the stump. "Sure, of course it will. Just takes foreeeeever."

Eunice made a vaguely comforting humming noise, but refrained from commenting any further.

Diamondhead watched the clouds roll along high overhead for a while, enjoying the warm summer afternoon. After some time had passed, long enough for the Omnitrix to time out and leave regular Ben laying on the stump, he was broken out of his daydreams by a familiar voice calling his name.

"Ben! There you are!" Gwen walked up to Ben's stump and leaned over, blocking his view of the lovely clouds with her even more lovely face and promptly captivating him with her big green eyes and stern frown. "Weren't you supposed to be practicing with your big diamond guy all afternoon? What are you doing lazing around, huh?"

Ben opened and closed his mouth for a moment, distracted by the way his cousin's orange hair swayed in the breeze, then finally remembered how to speak. "Just, uh, taking a break! It's not... going very well." He sighed and closed his eyes, not noticing how Gwen's expression softened at the exhaustion in his tone.

"Scootch."

Ben opened his eyes and looked up at his cousin's determined face. "Huh?"

"Move over, buster. I'm sitting down." Gwen snapped. Ben hastily shuffled over to the side to give his cousin some room. He quickly found out that it wasn't enough, as her plonking down on the stump beside him led to her plump hips squishing into and slightly over his. Gwen laid down beside him, gently grabbed Ben's closest hand and reached over to turn his head to face her with a finger on his chin. "Sooooo, what's the problem?"

Problem? What problem? Ben didn't have any problems. He grinned goofily at his cousin.

Gwen started rubbing soothing circles on the back of his hand. "Come on, you're trying to make little crystal trees, right? What's the issue."

Oh right. "Uh, I guess it's just hard to keep a tree in mind, you know? I start and then just lose track halfway through. Then they, uh, explode. For some reason."

Gwen hummed thoughtfully, the close proximity sending shivers up and down Ben's spine. "So you can't focus, huh? Have you tried thinking about something else and making that?"

"Uh, well, no. Eunice said something about crystal trees being traditional focuses for first timers." Ben shrugged. "I guess I could try for something else..."

"Hm, good." Gwen leaned over and nuzzled her forehead against Ben's, then sat up. "Grandpa Max wants to 'experiment' again, so I'm going to make us something real to eat. Come inside once you're done practicing, ok?" She stood up, stretched (which did all sorts of interesting things to her wide bottom) and started strutting over towards the door to the Rust Bucket, wiggling her hips like she was a model on a catwalk. She looked over her shoulder and winked at Ben's captivated gaze, then slipped inside.

Ben promptly sat up and shook his head. Now wasn't the time for- For whatever he may or may not be feeling! Now was the time to practice!

He twisted the dial on the Omnitrix and promptly changed back into Diamondhead. "Alright, think of something else. Maybe a dog? Dogs are neat."

He cupped his hands and closed his eyes, concentrating on a mental image of a dog. A lump of crystal started to spout from his palms as he concentrated. Lets see... Four legs, furry, brown hair... Green eyes, yeah! A flash of a pretty pair of green eyes flitted through his mind.

The lump began to expand and twist.

Uh, where was going with that? Right, ginger hair. A pretty smile and some backhanded encouragement whenever I need it... A really big, um- Diamondhead giggled lecherously. After concentrating for another few minutes, he opened his eyes and beheld his brand new statue of Gwen.

Diamondhead looked at it for a moment, noting the soft little smile the miniature Gwen was giving him and her finely detailed hair. He looked a bit further down, noting the skimpy outfit with the little tiny shorts and the tiny crop top from their shopping trip the other day, and eyeing the very big caboose his fantasy had conjured up.

"Yeah, I can't show this to anyone."

*Later that evening, shortly before bed

Gwen quietly stepped out of the RV and jogged over to the stump Ben was sitting on earlier. She started digging around in the old leaved piled up around the base, well aware of how lazy Ben was at hiding things. Hopefully her little show earlier has given him the inspiration he had needed... Ah-hah!

She pulled out the statue from a little pile of leaves and hugged it to her chest, squealing slightly. She'd definitely be keeping this squirreled away to look at later."Yeah, I can't show this to anyone."