Just another random idea I came up with after watching the Ben 10 Omniverse episode "Charmed, I'm Sure".

Disclaimer: I only own Rachel.

The Strength Of Friendship

Swampfire hadn't been feeling well all day. In fact, he felt like he had been in a long, drawn out brawl when he woke up that morning. His head was hurting and his whole body ached, making him wonder what was wrong, because he usually didn't get sick. He now nearly stumbled on the stairs he was now trying to walk up and two hands grabbed him, saving him from falling.

"Swampfire, are you okay?" he heard his friend Rachel ask him now.

"I…I don't know," he answered, feeling weak all of a sudden. Feeling him start to become dead weight, Rachel quickly called for Rook, who came running with Chromastone and Snare-Oh behind him. Seeing Rachel struggle to keep Swampfire on his feet, the three as once stepped in. Chromastone and Snare-Oh grabbed their friend's arms and placed them over their own shoulders, their other hands pressing on Swampfire's shoulder blades to guide him and keep him upright while Rachel and Rook stood in front of the swamp-like alien, ready to help the other two catch Swampfire if he fell. They managed to get him to his room and gently laid him down on his bed as he suddenly began to look really sick.

"What's going on?" Rachel asked worriedly. "I've never seen him get sick before."

"Normally, Methanosians do not become ill," said Brainstorm, who had just come in time to witness Swampfire's condition and hear Rachel's statement. "Unless, they are going through the metamorphic stage of their life which occurs sometime after their first metamorphic stage."

Rachel's head was spinning a little. "Uh, Brainstorm? Could you translate that please?" she asked him.

"Ah, of course. My apologies, Rachel. When speaking about subjects I am very familiar with, I tend to forget others may not quite understand what I'm saying," the Cerebrocrustacean apologized. "I meant that Swampfire's species only become this ill when they are maturing."

Rachel gave the crab alien a confused look. "Maturing? You mean that Swampfire's going through what we humans call…?" she paused, her face turning a bit red as she hoped he wouldn't say it aloud.

"You mean an adolescent becoming a teenager?" asked Brainstorm, realizing that the topic was making Rachel uncomfortable and decided to close the topic discreetly. "Yes, that would be the simplest way to put it."

Rachel felt her face cool down and for once the others didn't tease her about her red face because they knew that such a detailed subject made her uncomfortable. It made them uncomfortable too, so they silently agreed to drop the subject entirely and focus on helping their friend who was beginning to look sicker now.

For almost a week, Swampfire was very sick as he tried to bear it. Rachel said that his sickness looked like a cold, the flu, and scurvy all rolled into one as his body grew weaker and looked like a plant that had been left in the sun too long without water. Rachel had asked if water would help Swampfire with his sickness, but learned that water would actually cause more problems instead of helping the Methanosian. Rachel grew worried.

"What can we do then?" she asked Brainstorm.

The alien crab gently sighed, knowing Rachel hated to see her friend so sick. "All we can do is wait," he said. "Swampfire's body defenses will soon kick in and make him better."

Although really worried, she finally agreed that he was right. All they could do was wait.

At the end of the week, Rachel went in to check on Swampfire who turned his head toward her when she walked into the room. "Hey," she said. "How do you feel?"

He shrugged, burrowing deeper into the covers. "Same as yesterday," he answered, looking miserable. Suddenly, he felt something strange and looked out at the window where he saw his swamp just over the hill. "Rachel, can you get Way Big and ask him to carry me to the swamp?"

Rachel at once went to the window and called for the giant alien, who came when he heard her. Rachel quickly explained the situation and helped Swampfire walk to the window. Way Big reached in and gently grabbed the two of them, bringing them outside and holding them in one open palm, cupping his other hand around them to keep them safe. Swampfire rested as Rachel stayed beside him. When they reached the swamp, Rachel climbed to Way Big's shoulder as the giant gently lay Swampfire down near the edge of the swamp. The methane gases woke him up more as he sat up and commanded the vines to come closer. They did and wrapped around him, forming a sort of cocoon over him.

"Swampfire?" Rachel called out, a little worried about her friend.

"I'm alright," he said, his voice sounding stronger now than before.

The vines then let him go and Rachel gaped at Swampfire, amazed. He looked more like a body builder now and had a sort of collar around his neck and he was still the same green, red, orange, and yellow colors he always had been. His arms were huge and looked like they could lift a few tons of steel with no trouble at all.

"Swampfire? Is that you?" Rachel asked, hoping that despite the new look, inside was still her friend.

"Don't worry, kiddo, I'm still me," he said to her, pulling her into a hug, which she accepted, thankful he was okay.

The three returned to the Mansion and everyone celebrated Swampfire's recovery and watched as he and Four Arms showed off their strength, both Methanosian and Tetramand pretty evenly matched.

Rachel stood to the side with Rook and smiled. "I'm glad he's okay now," she said.

"Me too," he said.

Chromastone, who had just come up to join them, nodded. "I believe you helped Swampfire the most Rachel, with your friendship," he said.

She looked at him. "What do you mean, Chromo?" she asked her Crystalsapien guardian.

He smiled. "You stayed by him and didn't let his metamorphosis change the friendship between you two," he said. "He is fortunate to have such a wonderful person to call a friend."

Rachel smiled. "I think we all are fortunate to have all these wonderful people to call our friends," she said.

Everyone agreed with her on that fact.

How was it? Please review!

Also, we only have to wait until next week to see the newest Ben 10 alien: Whampire! I don't know about you guys, but I'm so psyched to finally see this mysterious alien that Cartoon Network has teased us about since the "Galactic Monsters" arc started. I can't wait!

GoldGuardian2418