Author's Notes: I've had several ideas for drabbles, but they've all wound up either unfinished or not even written down. The problem's been a mixture of no time (I've got school, basketball practice, and a novel I'm working on) and an intense dislike towards everything I write. It seems like every drabble I've started turns out terrible and I wind up unable to finish it. So there's my excuse for not updating for so long…

I'm quite pleased with how this drabble came out. It takes place after Absolute Power. I'm not really sure how much after it, but definitely a week at the least. This one was tough to find a good quote for and the one I found doesn't work perfectly, but just imagine 'sensual pleasure' equals 'hunger for energy'.

Disclaimer: I don't own Ben 10 or the quote at the beginning.

"If one wants another only for some self-satisfaction, usually in the form of sensual pleasure, that wrong desire takes the form of lust rather than love."

- Mortimer Adler

65. Horror

"This is nice," Gwen remarked.

"Yeah," Kevin mumbled, taking a glance at the idealized world around them.

They were at a beach with pure white sand, glittering blue water, and a gorgeous orange sunset, a picturesque scene. Besides the couple, the beach was deserted; there weren't even any birds in the air. The only sound was the lapping of the waves on the shore, a few feet from their feet. Kevin and Gwen sat side-by-side on a towel, fingers entwined.

Kevin's eyes returned to Gwen. She was radiant, her skin seeming to emanate more light than even the sun itself. And light was energy… The thought appeared in his mind, feeding a hunger that he had pushed away.

The sun was setting, their surroundings dimming. However, this did nothing to stem the light coming from Gwen or the tantalizing desire growing in Kevin.

"Gwen, lovely Gwen," he breathed the words out softly.

She glanced at him innocently, entirely unaware of all the emotions churning through his mind. Even he wasn't really sure how to sort through them all.

Desire. His hand stretched out for her.

Devotion. The hand hesitated, trembling in the air.

Lust. His hand wrapped around her left arm. The other hand, which had been holding hers, moved up to seize her right arm.

Love. His grip was light on her arms. She had turned around, so that they now sat facing one another.

Hunger. His hands suddenly tightened on her arms, a predatory grip to ensure that she didn't escape.

"Kevin?" Her voice was gentle, soft, delicate, trusting. And questioning.

He didn't answer her, just continued to stare at her radiance. He wanted it. The powerful urge caused his powers to kick in and her face crumbled in pain. The beautiful sunset and beach fell away, replaced by darkness.

"Stop it, Kevin! You're hurting me!" She yelled, struggling in his grip.

He didn't answer. He didn't think. He only gave into that crying hunger, that lust for her energy. It felt so delicious, a thousand times better than a drink for a thirsty man or a slice of bread for a starved man. The energy hummed through him, filling him with her power.

"…Kevin." Her voice was growing smaller, fading away as he sucked away her energy. "Stop, Kevin, stop right now. This isn't you."

A smirk, fed by the thrill of energy, curled on to his face. "Of course it's me. It's just the part of me you don't like so much."

"No, this isn't you." Gwen repeated. "Stop now, Kevin, or you'll regret this."

"Doubt it." His smirk widened.

Gwen opened her mouth to say something more, but the words lodged in her throat. A screech escaped her, her back arching. Still, Kevin held her tightly, continuing to suck away that sweet energy.

The radiance that she had been emitting was dimming rapidly. Her eyes stared beseechingly at him; he stared back with a mad gleam. Her skin began to wrinkle and fold, her eyes lost their shine. Yet he continued to feed.

Then her light disappeared, plunging them into darkness. He released her, every cell in his body thrumming with power. The energy Kevin had been draining glowed around his hands, illuminating the sin he had committed.

Gwen lay unmoving on the ground. Her skin was gray and wrinkled; her eyes stared lifelessly at Kevin. Where there had once been life and energy, there was now only an empty husk.

At first he stared dispassionately at the carcass, but then realization hit him. Kevin backed away, glancing between his glowing hands and the body in dawning horror.

"Gwen," he choked. "Gwen, what have I done? Gwen! Gwen!"

"Gwen!" Kevin shouted, sitting up suddenly with a strangled gasp. His body was coated in sweat. He stared at his familiar surroundings, breathing slowly returning to normal.

He buried his head in his hands, trying to push away the awful vestiges of the nightmare. But every image, every emotion, and worst of all, the hunger remained at the front of his mind.

Ever since he had first tasted Gwen's energy, he had held a deep hunger for it. When he had been a monster, it was apparent and he had been unable to control himself from going after his prey. However, once he had turned back, he had forced the hunger into a box, convincing himself it would just go away because he wasn't a monster anymore.

Yet it had remained in the back of his mind. Easy enough to ignore and forget, but still lurking and yearning, still existing.

Kevin raised his head from his hands to stare at the wall. What could he do? What should he do? Should he leave, just in case the hunger ever overwhelmed him when he was close to her? He didn't want to hurt her, but on the other hand, he didn't want to leave her either. She meant too much for him to just up and leave and anyway, his departure would hurt her in another way.

That left killing himself or pretending everything was okay. Suicide didn't appeal to Kevin and he didn't think he could just lock away the hunger again. One day, it could just burst out like it had in his nightmare and then he would be in trouble.

Which meant he had to control it. It seemed impossible to him until he thought about the love he felt towards Gwen. There was no way in hell he would let anyone hurt her, least of all himself. Sure, there was a part of him that wanted her energy, but there was another part of him, a larger part, that loved her and everything about her.

And that love, he decided, would be able to keep the hunger in check because he was stronger than that and he sure wasn't going to give into some petty wish for power when there was love on the line.

A/N: Show of hands of people who wanted to strangle me because they thought the first part was actually happening and it wasn't all a dream.

So after watching Absolute Power, I got to thinking about Osmosian minds. Just because Kevin's normal again doesn't mean the hunger for energy (Gwen's energy in this scenario) has disappeared. He has enough sanity to keep it at bay and not absorb energy. I don't think Kevin would try absorbing Gwen's energy, but that doesn't mean it's not lurking in his mind.

On another note, I've just noticed how much dream scenes I've been writing recently (points to previous drabble). Strange… I'll see if I can get one of my other drabbles, hopefully one of the fluffier ones, fixed to my satisfaction. Also, I'm working on a full-length Ben 10 story. I'm hoping to write at least two chapters before my winter break ends, but we'll see how it goes.

Twilight Phantom Dragon