NOTE: This chapter concludes the introductory arc of the story, moving this into an area where I'll a bit more freedom to do things both original and with Ben 10 elements. I planned for this arc to be longer than how Ben's camping with his family was, as in a way for Emi to get used to some of her transformations. There are still some of the original 10 that didn't get used during the camping trip, but will appear soon!

Please enjoy and review!

Chapter 7: Heart of Diamonds

"Wake up, Emi," Mai gently shook her friend awake. Mai was dressed in a yellow blouse and grey skirt.

Emi's deep blue eyes fluttered open, she sat up to look at her friend. "What time is it?"

"Time for you to get moving," Rekka cut in. The idol entered the cabin, already dressed for the day. Wearing a dark red skirt and a hot pink shirt with "TOP IDOL" printed on the front.

"Huh? Moving for what?" Emi asked, still sleepy. Rekka rolled her eyes at Emi's forgetfulness and pulled her friend out of the tent.

"It's time for us to load our belongings onto the bus, Emi. Today's the last day of camp," Rekka explained. Emi blinked repeatedly to try and comprehend Rekka's words. She eye'd the entire campsite, seeing classmates taking their things to the bus, and taking down their tents.

"Camp is over…CAMP IS OVER!?"" Emi's brain seemed to have finally woken up. Rekka sighed in exasperation and Mai frowned at Emi's panicking state.

"B-B-But! It's too soon! There are still so many things we haven't experienced yet!" Emi protested the fate she has been dealt.

"Ain't nothing any of us can do about it. Now go get dressed, they still have some activities to announce during Breakfast," Rekka pushed Emi back into the tent, zipping it up. She then walked away from the tent to make sure the counselors(And Kamiko) didn't mess up her belongings. Mai hastily followed after Rekka.

"Why did you treat Emi like that? You know she would be upset about this," Mai said.

"I know that, Mai. I did that, because she can't waste time being upset over camp. There are bigger things to be worried about," Rekka responded.

"Worried about what?" Mai asked. The idol gave Mai a dead stare, before pulling her over to the side so nobody would overhear them.

"About the watch, Mai!" Rekka whispered. The flower girl's mouth made an "O" shape in realization.

"W-Well shouldn't we just let Emi decide what to do with it?" Mai suggested.

"No! Because, she'd just end up giving away her secret if left to her own devices. Emi is a terrible liar, especially when it comes to lying to her mother and Aichi," Rekka said. Mai couldn't disagree with that part, Emi couldn't lie her way out of a paper bag.

"Do we just follow her around everyday, then?" Mai asked, unsure.

"No, because we can't be with her 24/7 like we have been with the camp. So, we'll just have to figure something out before we leave for home," Rekka answered.

SPLASH!

"EEEEKKKK!"

Everyone turned to the direction of the scream to find Emi drenched in muddy water and slime. Her new attire which consisted of a pink hoodie with a cartoon kitten design on the front was now dirty brown. Her blue skirt was covered in sickly green. Apparently the girls forgot a slime balloon in their haste to fight the Bees.

From behind some bushes were Kamiko and her group, giggling to themselves at taking Sendou by surprise.

Emi heard the approaching steps of her friends, but didn't care at all. Her eyes were watering with tears, soft sniffling could be heard. Without a word, Emi took off into the woods, ignoring the cries of worry and protest from her friends.

Mai rushed forward into the woods after Emi, while Rekka paused. Turning around, she saw that Kamiko and her group had already silently emerged from the bushes without being noticed. Rekka calmly marched over to Kamiko.

Kamiko proceeded to try and feign innocence. "Hm? Tatsunagi, if this is another attempt to try and blame me for somebody purposely wanting to ruin Sendou, then you're wro-"

SLAP!

A red handprint was painted all over Kamiko's left cheek. Kamiko slowly touched where she had been slapped, ignoring all of the noise being generated by the other students. Her eyes found their way back to Rekka's intense glare.

"Screw you," And with that Rekka took off after Mai to find Emi. Leaving everyone else there stunned at the Idol's actions.

"EMI! IT'S JUST ME! COME OUT!" Mai screamed into the forest. She had started screaming Emi's name the moment she lost sight of her.

"MAI!"

The flower girl turned around to see Rekka had caught up. The idol stopped, hunched over to catch her breath. Tilting her head to look at Mai, Rekka began speaking.

"Have you found Emi yet?" She asked.

"No...I'm worried, Rekka. Emi always talks to me whenever something's troubling her," Mai began tearing up. Rekka quickly hugged her, rubbing Mai's back.

"Don't worry, Mai. I think Emi just needs some time to think. I should've been more supportive to her this morning, if I knew Kamiko was gonna be such a bi-"

"Rekka!" Mai cut Rekka off from swearing. Rekka sighed at Mai's "No swearing" ideals.

"Come on, let's just go back to camp before we get lost out here," Rekka took Mai's hand and made her way back to the campsite.

"What about Emi?" Mai asked, concerned.

"She'll get back to the camp with that watch of her's. She needs time to herself," Rekka responded as the two walked back to camp.

Unbeknownst to the girls, Emi was listening in to their conversation the entire time. The youngest Sendou turned tangible as she floated in the air, currently in the form of Ghostfreak. She had transformed when she managed to lose Mai by ducking into some bushes.

Ghostfreak stared at the ground below her, ashamed that she had been too scared to show herself to her friends. But, she was just so upset at herself, at Kamiko, at the world, and the watch on her wrist.

She didn't even make a move when the watch started to beep red and she turned back into Emi. All she did was lean against a tree and sat down.

"All I wanted from this was to have a fun camping trip with my friends. I didn't ask to be bullied by Kamiko at every turn, I didn't ask to have my luck turned upside down everyday, I didn't ask to fight some stupid killer bees, and I didn't ask for this stupid watch!" Emi cried into her hands.

"This entire camping trip was a mistake, I never should've come here. I should've just listened to Rekka and stayed home. At least at home I wouldn't have almost gotten an entire forest killed off by cyborg bees, at home I wouldn't have been bullied at all, and most of all I wouldn't have found this stupid watch!" Emi continued crying, cursing whatever force had struck her with misfortune.

"All I want is to go home."

Vilgax's ship floated in the void of space, still under repairs to become operational again. Within the ship Vilgax himself floated within his healing tank. His mangled body was still too severely injured to leave the healing pod. The only functioning eye on his body glared down at the shaking robot in front of him.

"Is it ready yet?" Vilgax asked.

"Y-Yes, Lord Vilgax! The Titan Drone is finally operational to retrieve the Omnitrix!" The drone responded, hastily. Touching the holo-pad in it's hand, a holo-screen flashed before Vilgax. "As you can see we've made modifications to make the Titan Drone transportable an-"

"I DO NOT CARE!" Vilgax roared, scaring the humanoid drone.

"If it is operational, then send it to retrieve the Omnitrix immediately!" Vilgax commanded. Nodding its head quickly, the humanoid drone entered a few commands onto the holo-pad.

Outside of the ship, a medium sized pod flew out of the ship and towards Earth.

Rekka Tatsunagi irritatedly bit into her sandwich, not caring to hold a dignified look while eating. When her and Mai had returned to the camp, the two were punished for running off without permission and Rekka specifically was punished for slapping Kamiko. The two(And Emi) were now responsible for handing out dinner to everyone else and had to be the last ones to eat.

However, that was the last thing on their minds as Emi still hasn't returned to the camp. Mai poked her sandwich.

"Emi's not here, Rekka," Mai said.

"I know, Mai. We just have to wait a bit longer. Now eat your sandwich," Rekka commanded. The flower girl nodded her head and bit into her lunch.

From across the cabin Kamiko glared at Rekka's back. She felt anger from being hit and humiliated by the idol earlier. The desire to get back at Rekka surfaced, she picked up a spare sandwich and chucked it directly at the back of Rekka's head. No longer caring about being subtle.

SPLAT!

The sandwich hit its mark, smearing the contents in Rekka's hair. Mai and other students gasped at the action, while Kamiko grinned to herself.

Rekka slammed her hands on the table, rising from her seat. "FINE! Kamiko, if you want to say something then say it directly to my face! You schoolyard bully!" Rekka stomped angrily towards the other female. Mai rose from her seat to try and stop Rekka.

"Oh I have something to say alright! You spoiled little princess! Always acting so high and mighty!" Kamiko met Rekka's glare head on.

Sato whistled at the on-coming confrontation between the girls. "Finally! Something exciting is happening!" Sato grinned. Fuji raised an eyebrow at his friend's readiness to see a fight.

"No, Rekka! You can't fight Kamiko!" Mai protested, pulling on Rekka's arm.

"Out of my, Mai! She's been attacking us for no reason since this trip started! It's time for her to get her dues!" Rekka replied.

"No! What would Emi say if she were here!?" Mai tried to persuade Rekka to stop. Her efforts proved futile as the girls finally reached one another, ready to fight.

CRASH!

A loud crashing noise drew the attention of everyone in the cabin. All of the students rushed outside or towards the windows to see what had happened. While the adults(Who were eating outside) tried to maintain order.

Kamiko had been the first one outside to see what had happened, being the closest to the crater that had spawned in the middle of their campsite. Grey eyes widened in shock as a large robotic hand gripped the edge of the crater. Eventually the rest of the machine pulled itself upwards, revealing itself to everyone at the campsite.

Being roughly 40 feet tall with insectoid legs and claws, the Titan Drone gazed down at the campers. The drone had found most of the Omnitrix's essence within this area, justifying landing in this area.

The adults quickly tried to get the children back inside, but one foolish kid had already decided to take matters into his own hands.

"Get out of here you freaky alien robot!" The boy threw a rock directly at the machine. Turning its attention onto the campers. Everyone froze when a red beam of light was shot at the kid, shocking everyone. The boy was too frozen to move, however Mai quickly pulled him out of the way.

"EVERYONE! WE NEED TO RUN!" Mai shouted, loudly. She turned around to see the Drone launch another shot that grazed the cabin, freaking out everyone inside. Mai gulped in fear at the approaching death machine. She quickly helped the boy to his feet and started running, prompting everyone else to do the same.

Sadly enough the bot shot a long beam, circling the camp. The effects from the attack made the trenches too deep for anyone to escape from the campsite.

Rekka and Mai could only stare in horror at what was happening. They were now trapped with a deadly robot with no ways to escape. Both silently hoped that Emi heard the noise and would be on her way to save them.

CRASH!

Emi snapped her head towards the loud crashing noise that came from the campsite. Rubbing away her tears, Emi got to her feet and began running towards the camp. When she arrived, she looked on in horror at what was happening.

A giant robot that looked similar to the drones that had attacked her on the first night of camp was trying to kill her classmates and teachers.

"WHAT IS THAT!? WHY IS IT HERE!?" Emi shouted mentally. Was it after her? That made sense, since the drones and the bees were attacking to get her watch. "Which means that all of this is my fault, again. Everyone is going to die, because of me!" Emi felt like crying once more. Once again this damn watch was causing problems that will have permanent consequences.

She glared down at the device on her wrist, before remembering what she said to the Queen.

"I'm sorry that I caused this pain that you and your Hive went through. But, I can't allow this to continue anymore! I'm going to fix my mistake, by taking you down!"

"Fixing my mistake," Emi mumbled and turned back to the attacking robot.

"That's right, I'm the reason you're here. That makes you my problem, not theirs! I'll fight to protect my friends!" Emi activated the watch, slamming down the dial in a flash of green light.

Kamiko tripped over her own feet and fell to the ground. The mean girl got to her knees and rubbed her head in pain. She saw her friends running to find some sort of cover, leaving her behind in all the chaos.

THUMP

Behind her was the robot, ready to crush her with its giant foot. Kamiko fell back onto her rear, holding her arms up in a measly defense to protect herself. "Oh god...I'm gonna die! I'm gonna die without ever having a boyfriend or telling my Grandmother goodbye!"

SHRINK! CHINK!

"Huh?" Kamiko opened one eye to see a wall of crystal shards blocking the robot's foot from hitting her. Though, her attention was more focused on the being that had saved her. In front of her was a creature made entirely out of crystals. She had a thin muscular body with shiny crystals, the creature was wearing a jumpsuit that was half light pink and half dark pink. The only way Kamiko was able to identify the creature was female was because of the creature's breasts.

"Are you alright?" Emi reached forward to grab Kamiko, but a sudden spark flew in between the two, shocking them both. Neither had time to question what happened as the robot began breaking the crystal wall.

Two pairs of arms quickly took hold of Kamiko, the mean girl looked behind her to see that Rekka and Mai were dragging her away from the fight. "Huh? What are you losers doing!?"

Both ignored her in favor of giving Emi a nod of appreciation, which Emi was grateful for. She silently promised to talk to her friends once the fight was over.

CRASH!

Emi rolled out of the way of the robot's foot, however she was too late to dodge the robot's claw coming towards her. It smacked her away, sending her crashing into the cabin and launched a laser beam directly at the building, blowing it up.

"EMI!" Mai and Rekka shouted in concern, mentally.

There was no need to worry as Emi ran out of the flames without a scratch on her. The crystal woman tried punching the machine's legs, but all she did was dent it a couple of times. Suddenly it grabbed her with its hands.

Emi struggled within the robot's grip, punching its arms repeatedly. "Let go of me! Dang it!" In her bout of anger her arms turned into sharp blades that pierced through the Exo-skin of the robot. "Huh? Didn't know I could do that," Emi blinked surprised.

Grinning like a madwoman she began to slice through the Drone's hands, forcing it to drop her. Seeing that the robot was processing what had happened to its hands, Emi ran towards the feet. Cutting them apart, forcing the machine to its knees. She planned to cut through the center of it, but was once again smacked away by the arms.

Sailing through the air, Emi crashed into the ground by her friends and everyone else, who were all grouped together. Mai spoke up as Emi groggily got back to her feet.

"Are you alright!?" She asked. Emi turned around and gave them all a thumbs up.

"I'm fine, you guys just stand back and let me handle thi-"

"LOOK!" A student cried out, pointing at the robot. Everyone turned their attention back to the machine as it was charging up a very strong laser blast and fired it. Emi panicked, because she didn't know how she could stop the blast from hitting everyone else.

"Wait...uhhhh….D-Diamondheaded lady! Try reflecting the blast back at it!" Mai suggested. Which Emi quickled followed, turning her arms into blades, she held her arms against her body. The blast connected to her arms, reflecting off of her crystal body and into a different direction. Acting without hesitation, Emi directed her arms to force the blast back at the robot's head.

The machine was too late to cut off the attack, before its head exploded in a bright flash of light. Ending the fight permanently.

There was a short pause before the students erupted into a large cheer, praising their savior. Emi blushed, bashfully until hearing soft coughs from her friends. Realizing that they were referring to her time limit, Emi quickly sprinted off into the forest away from the camp. Students tried to follow her, but were stopped by the adults quickly.

The adults were busy calling for help, and keeping the unruly students in line.

"I...I think I'm gonna apply for a different job," A male counselor said to his colleagues. They also agreed about getting a job change after all of this.

A humanoid drone nervously made its way to its Overlord. Vilgax awoke from his slumber and looked down, expecting good news from the droid.

"What? Has the Titan retrieved my Omnitrix?" Vilgax asked, expecting to soon see his destiny achieved.

"Um...ah...s-sir...it would seem that the Titan Droid was destroyed on the planet. The retrieval of the Omnitrix has failed," The humanoid drone flinched back in fear as Vilgax began shaking.

"RRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!" Vilgax's roar could be heard even in the deep reaches of space. The Galactic Tyrant was furious at another failed attempt to get his prize. Though at first he was confused as to how the droid could be destroyed until he realized something important. Someone must've found the Omnitrix and has been using it, a fool was running around with his destiny and using it for their own benefit. Vilgax swore to make whoever dared to stand in his way pay with their blood.

"Yes, mom. Mom, don't worry I'm perfectly fine, please tell Aichi there's nothing to worry about. Yes, I love you too. See you soon," Emi hung up the phone. It had been a few hours since she had defeated the robot, and the police and fire department had arrived to take care of the situation. Though, she was unsure if it was wise to let them examine that robot body. The entire camp had been destroyed in the attack, luckily though the bus with all their belongings was just fine.

Emi saw that the majority of kids were on their phones talking to their families.

"Yes, Suiko, fine. You can tell Kourin and Takuto they don't need to fear me being injured or anything," Rekka reassured her elder sister and hung up the phone.

"I'll see you soon, dad. Tell mom that I'm fine," Mai hung up her phone as well.

All three turned to each other, then looked around at everyone else. Once it was clear the others were absorbed in their own things the girls snuck away from the destroyed campsite.

Kamiko noticed the three sneaking away, but at the moment she was more focused on what had happened when the diamond woman tried touching her. "What was that shock? And why did it feel so good?"

"I'm sorry!" Emi bowed her head to her friends, taking them both by surprise.

"S-Sorry for what!? Emi, you saved us all!" Mai responded. Emi didn't raise her head at Mai's words.

"I'm sorry for putting you guys through everything this entire week! All of these incidents were caused by me finding this watch. The bees and the robot attacks were all my fault! I'm sorry for almost getting you killed and ruining our camping experience!" Emi apologized. Her friends were silent for a while, which scared Emi. She had expected them to respond back immediately.

"Emi, you have nothing to be sorry about. Everything you just said were all coincidences and you didn't put anyone in danger. It's not like you chose to get attacked by killer robots," Rekka hugged Emi.

"That's right, Emi. We were willing to help you out with the bee fight, knowing the risks that came with it. You're our friend, Emi. And we'll always be by your side," Mai joined the hug.

The youngest Sendou was in tears from their words, not expecting them to be willing to stick by her side. "I have such amazing friends," Emi thought. She broke the hug to smile at her best friends.

"Then that makes this next part easier," Emi said.

"Huh? What are you talking about?" Mai asked. Rekka was curious too.

"Well, with this watch attached to my wrist and after today's events. I've decided that I want to use this to help people. There might be more attacks like those robots and that Bee Queen is still out there somewhere. So, I figured I could use the watch to stop crime, while also keeping my secret," Emi explained her idea.

"...So you want to become a superhero?" Rekka asked, to which Emi nodded her head.

"Sure, I'm in," Rekka had no qualms with doing it. With this decided, she figured that she wouldn't tell Takuto about the watch at all. "I'm sure he won't mind if he doesn't know anything."

"I'll help you too, Emi! It'll be pretty scary though," Mai feared.

Emi gave both of her friends a thankful smile. "Don't worry, Mai. With the three of us, there's nothing we can't handle!" Placing her hand in front of her, the other two followed Emi's lead, placing their hands on her's.

"Because, IT'S HERO TIME!"

Chapter End