-1A brown haired boy sat high up in a tree which, for many purposes, held a very good view over a ginger haired girl beneath it typing away on her laptop.

Ben grinned widely as he stalked his victim from the tall branches. He pushed down on a button activating the watch-like device on his left wrist. He twisted the dial until an alien insect silhouette shone on the screen. He glanced down at the steaming cup of tea next to his unsuspecting cousin and chuckled.

"And this time I won't miss," he laughed to himself as he slammed down on the dial.

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Gwen cocked her head slowly, halfway through reaching for her tea, at a loud, familiar noise followed by a groan which emitted from the leaves above her head. She picked up her laptop and drink as quickly as she could and scrambled to a safe distance. "Ben! I'm going to tell grandpa that you were going to use the omnitrix to trick me again!"

"Oh man!" she heard her cousin curse. She watched in confusion as her cousin, in a very human form, fell out of the tree and sat down wearily. "Keep it down dweeb, you're giving me a headache."

"You're the one who's been trying to stinkfly my herbal tea all day." She growled when her cousin didn't reply. "I've had to wash my hair three times already today!"

"Seriously, Gwen. Cool it." He held his head groggily. Gwen took a step closer.

"Are you alright Ben?" He looked at the concern on her face and showed a goofy smile.

"Yeah, I just hit my head. I'm fine, really." Gwen wondered over and sat down next to the boy, placing her closed laptop and mug on the grass next to her.

"You should really be more careful, doofus. You want me to go get grandpa?" Ben looked at her as if she were nuts.

"And have him cook up another of his concoctions? I'd rather eat toenails." Gwen grimaced at his comment and stood up again.

"Well I'll be back in the RV," he stated before wondering in said direction. Ben waited until she disappeared behind the trees before sighing deeply. He took the wrist which held the omnitrix from behind his back and inspected it. The usually green, vacant face was dull and white. He pushed a few buttons, scowled at it and punched it.

"Oh man! Stupid thing, not again." He bashed it against the tree bark in frustration. It had been acting strangely for quite a while on really random occasions. The bad thing about it was that he couldn't go alien and not only that but it hurt. Whenever he pushed down the dial to become any alien, whether it worked or not, the omnitrix would send a painful pulse throughout his body. It was getting increasingly difficult to hide it from his relatives. He couldn't believe that he'd broken it again! He couldn't even remember what he did.

He sighed deeply and stood up. Throwing one last glance over the bordering trees and up to the grubby city buildings before wondering back through the park.

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"Ben!" Gwen hammered angrily on the bathroom door. "Ben! You've been in there ages! What're you doing!?"

"Oh, sorry, but the sight of your face all day is giving me diarrhoea," he snickered through the door. Gwen froze as her face burned with anger.

"What?! Ben Tennyson you get out here right now!" She roared hammering twice as hard as she had before.

"No can do," he replied and turned back to the watch on his wrist. It still hadn't fixed itself and, no matter what he did to it, he feared it wasn't going to anytime soon. He cursed to himself and scowled as the racked on the other side of the door stopped. He felt a feeling of dread sweep through him as he somehow knew what was coming next.

"Ben?" Gwen called sweetly through the door as a realisation dawned on her. "Do you want me to take a look at the watch for you?" She laughed discreetly at his reply.

"And why the hell would you want to do that?"

"Well I've noticed that you haven't been using it lately and so I though that perhaps you've… BROKE-" Ben dashed out of the bathroom and clamped a hand over her mouth.

"What was that?" Max Tennyson called from the drivers seat.

"Nothing, grandpa," Ben replied, "Gwen just needs to remember to cover her mouth when she burps." Gwen pulled Ben's hand from her mouth and frowned at him. There grandpa sighed and turned back to the wheel.

"Well, if you have to bicker all the time, please do it quietly."

"Yes grandpa," the two chorused in reply. Gwen turned to him with a wicked grin on her face.

"So, what did you do this time?" Ben gave her an unknowing look.

"What're you on about now? It's not broken." He regretting saying that once he had. Perhaps he should have said 'I didn't break it,' because he was slowly starting to believe that it wasn't his fault.

"Don't play dumb. You haven't gone alien for days!" Gwen poked him knowingly in the chest. He cringed at her touch and resisted the urge to hiss the word 'cooties' at her.

"It's fine. Seriously Gw-" he held a breath as she pulled up his arm and inspected the omnitrix. Ben watched hopefully as her face twisted in confusion.

"But I was sure…" She let go of his arm and cast him a suspicious look. "If I see anything wrong with that thing I'm telling grandpa." She stalked off, miffed that she was wrong.

Ben watched her draw the curtains to obscure his view. He sighed. "Girls, who needs 'em." He looked down at the omnitrix and smiled. It really knew when he was in trouble. The face glowed a deep green.