Ken remembered how excited he'd been when his little sister and his cousin had returned from their summer road trip with Grandpa Max. He'd missed them both over the break, Gwen's absence especially, but he'd been thrilled that the two of them had bonded during their trip.
Being the eldest of the Tennyson grandkids was a job Ken took very seriously. He knew most people weren't super close to their cousins, mostly due to distance, but it hadn't been like that for him. Both of their families had lived in Bellwood, so they'd seen a lot more of each other than cousins normally would. And since Ben and Gwen had been born so close together, their parents, their mothers especially, had met up a lot. As a result, Ken had been around for basically Ben's entire childhood.
As for Gwen, he'd adored her since the day she was born. How could he not? The moment he'd first laid eyes on her at the hospital his heart had melted. The knowledge that this tiny, precious person was going to be his little sister had awed him.
He'd loved being the big brother. He'd played with her every chance he got. Begged his parents to let him feed her. Cuddled her to sleep. Read to her with his limited reading skills. All that fun big brother stuff. As they both got older, their amazing sibling relationship had evolved with them, somehow becoming even better. He'd adored her and she had worshipped him in return. It wasn't unusual for people to comment on how weird it was that the they got along so well.
Yes, Ken loved his younger family members. The problem had been that while he could spend time with the two of them separately without any real problems, for some reason the two thought they hated each other.
He assumed it was some sort of personality clash issue. True, Ben could be annoying, rude, and kinda weird sometimes, but that was just how little boys were. Ken secretly found the behavior cute most of the time, and if you knew how to talk to him, which he did, you could totally keep a handle on things.
He was asked to babysit a lot.
Gwen, on the other hand, was much more sophisticated, as she put it. His little sister was super smart, respectful, and polite, so he could see how they might initially not like each other that much. But opposites could attract and Ken was sure that they'd eventually get past all that and learn to get along. At their hearts, they were both good kids and they were family. They just needed to realize they both had things that could benefit the other. Ben could teach Gwen to loosen up a little and Gwen could help Ben straighten up a bit. Ken's past attempts to try and make the pair get along had never worked, but Grandpa Max was evidently a miracle worker.
After that road trip, it had been so much easier to spend time with the two of them. They'd still argued, of course, but there was a respect and friendship that hadn't been there before. Thrilled, Ken had taken full advantage of this new almost peace and gotten even more involved in their lives.
He'd helped them both with school. Encouraged Ben to try out for the soccer team then went on to cheer for him at every game he could make when he made the team. Attended every single one of Gwen's Karate tournaments. Randomly taken them to the movies when the good ones came out, even those weird sumo ones Ben liked. Snuck them backstage for his band's gigs. Cheered them up when they were sick. Sometimes, they hadn't really dome anything and had just hung out. They'd both come to him for advice. They'd looked up to him. It had been great. Again, he loved being the older brother.
Then he'd gone off to college for his engineering degree. For a long time, he'd kept nearly constant contact with his younger siblings. But then one day, their answers had suddenly become sparse. He'd tried to ask Gwen what was going on, but she'd been really evasive about it. Some sort of project with Grandpa Max. He hadn't taken it personally. He knew that he wasn't there and that it was unreasonable to expect them to promptly respond. They were both still in school too, after all, and both had activities outside of school as well.
There was a guy named Kevin his sister had told him about that made him a little nervous though. She hadn't given him very many details about him, but Ken knew his baby sister well enough to know she had a crush on the guy. A guy he'd never met before and knew virtually nothing about. Of course it had to happen when he wasn't there to screen the guy. His baby sister deserved only the best.
He'd tried to look the guy up (it wasn't weird), but even after hours of scouring the internet (which was a perfectly normal thing for an older brother to do), he'd come up blank. He'd been reasonably concerned by this and had vowed to go and visit his sister the first break he got.
His car had broken down while he was making his way home for spring break. Everything after that had been a nightmare. He tried not to think about what had happened during that time, but to say he'd been traumatized was a massive understatement. And as if being infected and taken over by an alien parasite then forced to attack his family hadn't been bad enough, turns out the rest of the family had been keeping a major secret, many major secrets actually, from him.
So it turned out that his grandpa was some sort of space, super cop, his cousin was some sort of shapeshifting superhero, and his little sister was some sort of sorceress. He'd been pretty calm in the heat of the action, but he'd freaked out afterwards, because it was all insane and apparently his younger siblings did this kind of thing all the time. There were constantly a bunch of super-powered alien psychopaths trying to kill them.
They'd tried to assure him that they were fine. That they watched each other's backs. That they never lost. That they were professionals- teenage alien hunter professionals. That they all had powers. That, no, his transformations didn't hurt. None of these reassurances eased his worries. How could they when they'd literally just lost Grandpa Max? He knew these things had to stopped, but why did they have to be the ones to do it?
Gwen had been nervous, as if she were worried that he'd be scared of her now or think she was a freak or something crazy like that. He'd promised her that it didn't change anything because it didn't. Nothing could stop him from loving his baby sister.
They'd hugged it out, then he had, very hesitantly, asked if he was going to develop magic too. He'd been relieved when she said she didn't think so. That he would have shown signs of it by now if he was. Not that there was anything wrong with having magic. It was kind of cool really. Ken just didn't want that kind of life for himself. She'd done a few tests on him, just in case, but at the time he'd come back clean.
He hadn't seen them for a rather lengthy amount of time. It had been difficult to focus on his studies, knowing what was going on and the danger his family was in. He'd managed though. Top of the class.
After the DN Aliens had been defeated, things had calmed down for a while. He'd finally been able to get some decent sleep instead of the fitful slumber that had been previously plaguing him. College was sleep depriving enough as it was.
Grandpa Max hadn't actually died, thank God. Having to pretend to not know what had happened had been taxing especially on top of the already existing grief.
He still hadn't seen them that often, but that was mainly because they all had school. Despite everything that had happened, he had been glad that he knew now. That there were no more secrets between them. He'd thought that it would be easier now that they didn't have to tiptoe around him to hide their secret. That he could be a part of this important part of their lives, at least to some small degree.
Then shit had hit the fan. Ben had somehow been exposed and had become a celebrity overnight. Everything had become hectic, both for them and for himself. The daily struggle to avoid the crazy fans, the haters, and the paparazzi had been beyond aggravating. Ken was known to be a pretty mellow guy, but those people had really been pushing it. He'd had to resort to calling the cops more than once. Significantly more than once.
Everyone, even his friends, had treated him differently once they heard the news. Some had just stopped talking to him altogether and others had acted edgy around him. Like they expected him to be an alien too and he could transform into a monster at any moment. As ridiculous as it was, he'd had to literally beg not to be expelled from the college.
He'd been more worried about what was happening to Ben and Gwen than what was happening to him though. Superheroes in the comics had secret identities for a reason.
When he'd called, Gwen had assured him that they were dealing with it and that it would all blow over soon. She'd asked him if it was causing him any problems. He hadn't lied exactly, it had been more of a half-truth. They'd had their own problems to deal with, they didn't need to be burdened with his as well.
Eventually, the excitement had died down, and things had gone relatively back to normal. He'd understood that they'd be even more busy now that they'd been exposed, but as time went on he'd become more and more aware of how… irrelevant he was.
They never came to him for advice or help anymore because what did he know? He wasn't in what was apparently the family business. And once he'd seen some of the gadgets the Plumbers had, his degree suddenly didn't seem so great. He was an engineering prodigy, yes, but what did that matter when everything cool had already been invented? Anything he could make seemed childish and lame by comparison. Neither one of them really called anymore, not even Gwen. His parents were the only family who still talked to him.
He had kept a positive outlook, most of the time. But sometimes, especially at night, alone in his room, he hadn't been able to keep the bitterness from surfacing. He'd tried his best to ignore the pain at being turned down from a visit because they weren't on the planet right now- they weren't on the planet right now- or they were on a mission. He couldn't ask them to stop helping people, but…
When Gwen had decided to spend her break on a mission with Ben instead of coming home, he'd plastered on a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes and shrugged it off, trying to enjoy his time with his parents. He'd desperately pushed down the jealousy that the two of them spent more time with each other than with him. The two of them were the same age after all, it was only natural. And Ben was his cousin, and cousins didn't usually see each other a lot. But then again, Ben and Gwen were just cousins, Ken was Gwen's older brother.
On one of the extremely rare times he'd visited them in Bellwood, he'd managed to hide that his heart shattered when everyone was surprised that there was another Tennyson grandkid. Nobody had mentioned him? Well, maybe it was for security reasons or-or…
The dejected feeling had only grown as they continued to forget and reject him. Sure, they acted happy to see him on his rare, short visits (which Ken always had to be the one to set up), but once he left; out of sight, out of mind.
When they'd both forgotten his birthday until much afterwards, it had hurt. It wasn't a big deal to them, but Ken always got them gifts for theirs. But maybe his boring life allowed more time for such things.
They never saw him cry. He'd tried to tell himself he was being selfish and stupid. It wasn't like he wanted to be a Plumber and fight scary aliens. It was just hard that his love wasn't requited.
Then one day, about six months ago, during one of his incredibly rare visits, Ben had given him something. His cousin had been going through a big pile of stuff he'd collected on missions, junk by the looks of it. He'd offered to help, of course. Gwen wouldn't be arriving until later so he'd jumped at the chance to spend time with Ben.
While he'd been sifting through the pile for anything potentially interesting, a glint had caught his eye. Curious, he'd moved over to see what it was. It had been wrapped in brown paper that had a rip in it through which the light had hit it. He'd unwrapped it to find an intricately carved piece of glass. A mirror, actually. It was only about the size of his hand and was clearly part of a larger construct. Despite the pattern, it still gave a perfect reflection.
Ken had always been the most artsy of the three of them, and the pattern had intrigued him in some strange way. It hadn't seemed important at the time, just a broken piece of glass, so he'd asked if he could have it. Ben had replied with a flippant, "Sure." He'd put it next to the mirror in his dorm.
He hasn't seen Ben since that day.
His frustration with the situation had continued to grow, festering within him. He'd found himself moodily staring into space more and more frequently. When he'd been in his room doing this, his eyes would be drawn to his newly acquired mirror and he'd stare at that. For some strange reason, this seemed to make him feel better, though looking at it gave him an itch at the back of his… brain. He'd been sure he was imagining it and he liked it anyway.
Sometimes, he'd lose track of time and then would suddenly realize he'd missed meeting a friend or that it was 4am even though he didn't feel tired. It was fine though. He'd been fine.
Then, one day, he'd found out there had been some sort of family reunion between the freaks of the family. Even the weird distant cousins, like Alice and Clyde, had been there. He'd been in his room when he'd read the email his mom had sent him about how nice it had been to see the more distant members of the family.
And something inside him had snapped. The room had seemed to snap along with him. All the glass in the room had shattered and everything had shaken as if hit by an unseen force. The mirror hadn't broken, thank God. It was the only thing in his dorm that hadn't been affected. He'd been so startled that his anger had evaporated into an uneasy confusion.
It had taken him a few minutes to process what had just happened and realize that he'd caused it.
He'd tried to do it again. When he'd focused, a dark, red ball of energy had formed from his hands. It was identical to his sister's, except hers was pink. He'd stared at it, bewildered.
Then the voice had assured him that it was okay, that he was fine, and he'd relaxed.
It was magic, obviously, though he wasn't sure why it had only now manifested. He'd considered telling Gwen, but he didn't want attention for a reason like that. Besides, the voice had taught him everything he needed to know.
A spell book had appeared out of nowhere by his mirror, which was a little weird, but he needed it so…
The cover had unsettled him at first. It depicted a huge, black dragon towering over the cowering forms of what appeared to be human beings. But it also kinda looked cool and that didn't necessarily mean anything bad.
He'd been occupied reading through the mysterious book (which he could somehow read even though it was in a strange language he'd never seen before), so he'd dropped his friends, who really hadn't been doing anything for him anyway. He'd learned how to make a projection of himself to attend his boring classes for him, short range teleportation, and other useful spells. Why had he not wanted magic again?
He'd caught on pretty quick that the mirror was increasing his power and that it felt amazing to let it. He could stare at it all day and not get bored. He did do it, sometimes.
Turns out that negative emotions feed him too. He'd tried to feed on positive emotion because he'd initially felt uncomfortable about it, but those had made him feel sick.
It was a college so there was plenty of negativity to syphon off, though it seemed less and less satisfying each time. Physical pain was apparently a negative emotion too. He'd never caused people real pain though. He'd scare people a little from time to time, if he was having a bad day. Make a locker door suddenly slam shut, things like that. Mostly in the evening or at night. The sun had become annoying bright. A minor annoyance, but still.
Nothing too serious. Nobody got hurt. And if he didn't rush over to help somebody, it still wasn't really hurting them.
He'd mastered magic fast. He'd even learned how to summon/create creatures to help him do things.
Then, one night, he'd come to a realization; as perfect as his mirror was, he only had one piece. And piece implied more pieces.
And just like that he became obsessed with gathering the missing fragments. They weren't gone, he could feel them out there. He was going to mend his mirror.
No matter what.