The day had gone shockingly well.
There had been no alien attacks. Well, no large attacks. There had been something, but the regular plumbers had been able to handle it. For once.
He'd been able to spend the whole day with his younger siblings. They'd talked, showed him what had changed around town since he'd last been here, watched a movie, had gotten way too intense with a couple board games, gone out for dinner. And throughout it all, Ben had only been slightly annoying. The worst of it had been when Ben was showing off his new alien transformations and Ken had at least been able to get some good info from it. It was practically miraculous.
He doubted things would go so well two days in a row.
But that was a tomorrow problem. He had a different, more pressing problem to deal with right now.
It was night now. The others had gone to sleep but Ken was just laying in his bed. The room they'd given him was actually pretty nice and surprisingly normal, but he couldn't fall asleep.
He stared up at the ceiling, feeling twitchy and uncomfortable. Now that his siblings weren't here to distract him, his mirror's absence was hitting him hard. A desperate longing pulled at him. Usually, he'd spend at least an hour with his mirror before bed. It was too far. Way, way too far. Horrifyingly far.
Jerking upwards, Ken swung his legs over the side of the bed. He wanted nothing more than to make a break for it, but the math just didn't work out. Even with his limited teleportation, he'd never make it there and back in time.
'No, you wouldn't. There are things that could be done to take the edge off though.'
Things. Right. Things. Ken wavered at the edge of the bed.
Feeding wasn't the same as being with his mirror, less intense, but it was similar in a lot of ways. At the very least, it would stop the tremors wracking his body. Then he would be able to sleep and time would pass faster. But where could he go?
'There's always someone miserable somewhere.'
Yeah, but he couldn't just wander around town searching. And it was so late at night, most people would be asleep. Maybe he could hit up a bar or something.
'Something will turn up. And if we can't find something quick enough, we could always do a little something ourselves.'
True, but how was he supposed to get outside? This was a plumber base. There were cameras. He couldn't just teleport out, people knew him, he'd grown up in Bellwood. If anyone recognized him and mentioned seeing him, people would question how and why he hadn't shown up on the cameras or scans.
A hint of exasperation. 'This isn't a prison, just leave normally. No one will stop you from going on a walk.'
Ken blinked. Oh, right.
Getting fully out of bed, he went to his drawer and slipped into some casual clothes. Nothing that would stand out. As he pulled on his socks and sneakers, he glanced at his now empty suitcase. Well, empty to those who merely looked with their eyes.
Should he bring his mask? Just in case? No, he decided. He'd be fine. The mask was only for emergencies, not for a little hit like this.
He avoided all the cameras he reasonably could on his way out of the base. He'd learned their locations during Ben's tour. Yes, he wasn't doing anything wrong in leaving the base, but he wanted his little midnight stroll to be as inconspicuous as possible. The less footage of him the better.
Once outside and a little ways away from the plumber base, he teleported a few blocks over. He could have walked, but he was in a hurry.
Sticking to the less traveled parts of town, Ken made his way towards the bar on Chestnut Avenue. He kept his head down and walked briskly, mind swimming in a torrent of anxious thoughts.
Was he going to have to do this every night of his visit? He supposed he could lie and say a nightly walk was just part of his daily routine. But what if Ben or Gwen offered to come with him? They wouldn't understand.
His fingers tugged nervously at the hem of his shirt. Feeding on negative emotions? They'd think he'd lost it. And they didn't even know about his magic. They wouldn't understand. Would probably try to stop him. But he wasn't doing anything bad.
'Let me be the one with a secret for once.'
When he arrived, he didn't actually go into the bar. If he did, he'd feel obliged to order something and alcohol was gross. He really didn't get why the stuff was so popular. He'd take a milkshake any day. Besides, he was still a year too young to drink. Not that changing two numbers on his license would be hard. It was an almost zero effort spell.
Instead of going inside, he leaned up against the wall outside and pretended he was doing something on his phone. He didn't need to be in the room to feed, this was close enough.
However, everyone seemed to be in an aggravatingly good mood tonight. There were hints of annoyance, anger, and exhaustion, but nothing strong. Over a dozen people and not one of them was having even a semi-bad day? This stupid town got attacked by monsters every other day, they should be living in fear! Were they just used to it now? That was how far Bellwood had fallen? Were there really no normal people left?
Ken scowled. Screw these morons!
Glancing around to make sure there were no witnesses, he clenched his fist not holding the phone and muttered a spell under his breath. He watched as his shadow detached itself, morphing into a formless blob as it flowed down the sidewalk. It slipped under the crack in the front door, and he could feel it positioning itself in one of the top corners of the room.
A small grin popped onto his face when he heard the first scream. His shadow had released a small swarm of zombie bats which were now wreaking havoc inside the bar. More screaming and yelling erupted from the building. The sound of glass shattering as people frantically tried to get away. One woman, a brunette who looked about twenty five years old, burst through the door and an older man followed a few seconds later. Both of their eyes were blown wide with fear and panic.
Ken absorbed the fear and anger like a starving man. His oasis in a desert.
The emotions felt so good. They wriggled inside him, soothing the burning cold in his veins. He wanted more. He wanted to drag the people who had fled back and lock them in with even more of his creations. Anything to fill the gaping void inside him.
It took all his willpower to send the bats back into his shadow and call it back. The longer the bats were out, the higher the chance of someone getting a good look at them. He'd tried to keep the boney bits to a minimum so hopefully they'd just be mistaken as normal bats.
His shadow slithered up the wall behind him and once again matched Ken's shape. As soon as he felt it slide into place, he started to walk briskly up the street.
It had worked. He felt a lot better now. He'd finally be able to sleep. Still wasn't thrilled this little detour had been necessary though.
He ran a hand through his ginger hair. That had been so much work! In the early days, he could have gotten the same effect by just having someone's locker mysteriously slam on them or feeding on test induced stress. But those barely did anything for him anymore.
'This wasn't that big a deal.'
"How was this not a big deal?"
'The only annoying part was sneaking out. The rest was easy.'
"That wasn't what I meant."
'What do you plan to do with Ben and Gwen tomorrow?'
"Huh, oh, I'm not sure." He should probably come up with a few suggestions. Maybe some Mario Party, that was fun. Normal too. They'd played the older versions when they were kids.
'Could be fun.'
Sighing, Ken teleported closer to the base then walked in normally. If anyone asked, he'd say he took a walk to the pond and back. He doubted anyone would ask though. Most people didn't even notice he existed.
He was actually starting to feel tired as he made his way back through the living quarters. Which only made it more surprising when he rounded a corner and almost crashed into Grandpa Max.
Ken half tripped as he stopped short, internally cursing.
'Why is he up? Why is he here?'
"Ken?" Max sounded surprised to see him. "What are you doing up?"
None of your business, Ken grumbled internally. Out loud he answered, "Went for a walk. Haven't been home in a while and the quiet was nice. As much as I love those two, they can be a bit loud." He tilted his head questioningly. "What about you, they got you working the graveyard shift?"
"No," his grandfather answered, giving him a look Ken didn't like and he wasn't sure why. "Just a personal project of mine. I was just on my way to turn in for the night."
'Where does he sleep?'
Ken didn't know. That was something he should know.
"Personal project huh?" Ken asked, eyes brightening. "Is it some kind of tech thing? The stuff you guys have here is amazing!" It really was. It made his college look like a joke. His engineering degree felt almost worthless when tech like this existed. He'd love to take apart some of their equipment to see how it ticked. He'd taken stuff apart and rebuilt it all the time as a kid.
"No," Grandpa Max chuckled. "Not this time. I'm sure the technicians would answer any questions you have about anything. Just don't go taking anything apart without asking."
Ken rolled his eyes. "You disassemble one lawnmower as a kid, and everyone holds it against you forever. I fixed it afterwards."
"I think the laundry machine made your mom more upset," Max said, amusement sparkling in his eyes.
"She never had to pay for a technician again," Ken said primly.
Max chuckled. "I'm serious though, Ken," he said. "If you're interested-" he said interested in a way that sounded like he knew Ken was interested, which, yeah, was true "-just ask."
"Pretty sure I'd just sound stupid," Ken admitted sheepishly. "This stuff is all way above my level. Besides, I don't want to bother anyone."
"You wouldn't sound stupid," Max assured him. "And I'm sure they'd appreciate your enthusiasm."
"Maybe." He didn't even have to fake the yawn that came out of him. "Well, I'd better hit the sheets. Gotta be well rested to keep up with Benji."
His grandfather smiled. "I don't think anyone really keeps up with Ben. But you're one of the ones who comes closest."
Ken chuckled, a hollow feeling spreading through his chest. "Good night, Grandpa." He hugged the older man briefly.
"Goodnight, Ken."
He'd only gone a few steps when his grandpa suddenly spoke again. "Ken?"
Annoyance. Suspicious.
Ken turned. "Yeah?" he asked, cocking his head.
Max hesitated, then shook his head. "Never mind, it's late. I'll see you in the morning."
"Yep," Ken agreed easily. "You should hang out with us some. I want to spend time with you too."
'Where I can keep an eye on you.'
His grandpa smiled softly. "I'd love that, Ken. I'll make sure I make time."
Ken yawned again, turning around. "Don't let them work you too hard, "he advised amiably. "you're an old man after all."
"Good night, Ken," Max repeated, this time with amusement in his voice.
'He's up to something.'
Ugh. He'd deal with it in the morning.