Ugh, he was so tired.
Ken splashed some of the sink water onto his face, hoping it would help wake him up. The cold did startle him into a more alert state, but it didn't shake off the exhaustion. He'd had more trouble sleeping last night than he'd had the first.
As he brushed his teeth, he had the nagging feeling he was forgetting something. But what? He'd unpacked everything. He wasn't meeting Ben and Gwen until eight. Had he told his parents he would call? No, but he should probably call them at some point anyways.
'If I can't remember, it must not be too important. It'll probably pop into my head later.'
It was so annoying when you walked into a room then forgot why you came there. It didn't happen to him a lot, or, it didn't used to. He felt like it happened to him more often recently, but he had a lot more going on now so that wasn't really surprising.
Sighing, he went back to his bed, double checking that the door was locked on the way. He'd already thoroughly checked the room for cameras or listing devices. Which is why he felt safe summoning his spell book as he flopped into his bed.
He didn't know the name of the language it was written in, but he could read it and that was all that mattered. He wouldn't really be able to practice while he was here out of fear of being caught, but he could still look over the next few spells he wanted to learn. Memorize the words and instructions.
The breathing underwater one was cool. The one that could lock and unlock simple locks would be useful. Soulsense, the ability to scan for life, would also be useful, though it was on the trickier side. There was also a summoning for a dog type creature he really wanted. The summons he had right now were fine, they did their jobs, but he really wanted a dog.
After about fifteen minutes, it was time to go meet up with his siblings. They were going to that pancake place for breakfast. He still felt like he was forgetting something, but he was sure it would come to him eventually.
Putting his spell book away, he made his way to the lobby where Ben and Gwen were waiting. They were alone, no Rook or any other aliens with them. The sight lifted his tired spirits considerably. Not that he really disliked Rook or anything, he seemed fine for an alien, but he wasn't here for him.
"Morning," he greeted cheerfully.
"Morning," Gwen returned.
"Hey, Ken!" Ben greeted enthusiastically. "You ready to stuff your face?"
"You bet I am," Ken grinned, glancing around as he realized someone was missing. "Is Grandpa not coming?" He'd said he was going to come yesterday. He wouldn't be surprised if he'd had to cancel though. Plumbing was a very… time consuming job.
Ben shrugged. "He's probably just running a little late, Blukic and Driba can really drag the morning report out sometimes. At least their arguing can be pretty funny to watch, even if I don't understand 90% of what they're saying."
The nagging feeling intensified.
Ken didn't frown, but he dropped his smile. Had Grandpa Max told him he'd be late? No, he would've remembered that. Was it the- oh, what were they called? Galvans? The little froggy looking ones. Had he promised to do something for them when he'd talked to them yesterday? No, no, that wasn't it either. Man, his mind was really blanking hard on this.
"Should we go check?" he asked. "Or should we go ahead and grab a table? Is this place usually busy this time of day?" It was a newer restaurant; he'd never been there before.
"Pfft, you don't need to worry about that, Ken," Ben assured, waving a hand flippantly. "I'm Ben 10. I have my own exclusive table. I endorsed one of their syrup flavors. The Number 10 is their most popular flavor."
That was…weird to think about. Obviously, he'd known Ben was famous, but he'd never seen much in the way of merchandise. Maybe that was just the area around where he lived, but he'd assumed it was because Ben didn't want to get into all the business type stuff. This was their hometown though, so maybe it was more of just a personal favor?
"What does it taste like?" he asked curiously.
Before Ben could respond, Gwen answered for him. "It's just green maple syrup."
"Really great maple syrup!" Ben protested, crossing his arms. "Plus, it's got my lovable face-" he gestured at his face "-on the bottle."
Gwen rolled her eyes. "The green kinda makes it look like slime."
Ben jabbed an accusing finger at her. "You take that back!"
"Guess I'll have to try it for myself then," Ken said, getting things back on track. "We could do another round of foosball while we wait." They'd been pretty evenly matched yesterday, though Ken had won more rounds overall.
"Oh, you're on!" Ben agreed enthusiastically. "We can check on Grandpa on the way, see how much longer he'll take. Ops room is just down the hall."
Ken knew that. He had the entire layout of the base memorized. Even the prison block and the weapons vault. The base was actually a grounded space station. He wasn't sure what the story behind that was, but it had been cool to find out.
As they started walking towards the Ops room, Ken kept up the conversation. "You guys don't have a pool table here, do you? I've really upped my pool game since starting college. I almost joined the club, but it didn't fit into my schedule. Leon's in the club though, and he's passed on some tricks." He did his best to ignore the sour feeling when he thought about his old friend.
"No," Ben sighed. "But we should have one! A lot of these alien games are way overcomplicated."
They never made it to the Ops room, Rook stopped them halfway there. The look on his face, the way he moved, Ken recognized it. He'd known this would happen eventually. He was not happy about it.
"Ben, Frightwig and Acidbreath have been sighted in Undertown," the alien reported briskly. Why did those names sound familiar?
"Really? They're sure?" Ben asked, attention immediately stolen.
"They both have very distinctive appearances," Rook pointed out logically. "I highly doubt anyone would mistake them for someone else."
"Was it just them?" Gwen asked, apparently already understanding the conversation. "What about Thumbskull and Zombozo?" That last name was especially familiar.
It suddenly came to him. Those were the clown freaks who had been part of the group that had kidnapped Uncle Carl and Aunt Sandra. They'd tried to murder half his family!
Why were they still alive?
Or at least in prison?
Rook shook his head. "Thumbskull is currently in prison," he told her. "No sightings of Zombozo, but according to his file, he prefers to have his lackies do the dirty work for him. It is unlikely he would simply be walking around."
"Maybe they decided to ditch their boss after he abandoned them last time," Ben snarked.
"I doubt it," Gwen said. "They aren't that bright. Maybe they want to try to break Thumbskull out of jail?" Were these their actual names or just names Ben had given them? They were clowns so maybe that was just what they called themselves.
"Well, whatever they're trying to do, we'll stop them," Ben said, cracking his knuckles confidently. "It'll be easy if it's just the two of them, they're not tough by themselves."
Ken always felt so left out of those conversations. At least for this one he vaguely knew who the people involved were.
Rook nodded. "And now that Ben is largely over his fear of clowns, they no longer have that advantage." Ben had gotten over his fear of clowns? Well, he was older now, he supposed. And he'd probably seen truly frightening things exploring space and fighting aliens. Ken felt like he'd missed so much. Far too much.
"I was never scared of clowns!" Ben protested vehemently.
It was a lie. When Ben had been little, around five, he'd seen Grandpa Max in clown make-up (they'd been going to a carnival or a circus. Maybe both? He couldn't quite remember) and it had freaked the kid out. He'd run to Ken (he'd been around nine), who had been very confused, but had done his best to comfort him. Ben's fear of clowns had continued to grow from there.
The memory pressed into him. Tiny Ben clinging to his shirt, burying his face in Ken's chest. Things were so different now. His chest burned.
"Yes you were," Gwen stated matter-of-factly.
"The files do not lie," Rook agreed.
Ben threw his hands into the air. "Who is writing these files?!" He turned a critical glare towards the alien. "And why're you reading my files? Kinda weird Rook. Besides-" he folded his arms indignantly. "-if you'd really read my files, you'd know I'm actually scared of peacocks!" He said it as if that somehow won him the argument.
"They are surprisingly aggressive birds," Ken recalled. They'd been at a farm. This had also happened when Ben was around five. The boy had snuck off to get a closer look at the peacocks, confused to why they were even there. Had said something along the lines of 'chickens belong in farms, peacocks belong in zoos'. Media never portrayed peacock farming in anything Ken could think of so he understood why Ben had thought it was so weird. The peacocks had not appreciated Ben's curiosity. They were very territorial. They were pretty big birds too, especially to a five year old. And their screams were loud. The experience hadn't left Ken very fond of peacocks either.
His words seemed to remind the others that he was still there and they all turned to look at him.
"See, Ken gets it," Ben said, satisfied. He then frowned slightly and turned to Gwen. "I can handle this. You and Ken can go have pancakes without me. I'll catch up later."
Ken wasn't sure if he liked the idea or not. On one hand, one on one time with his little sister. But would they really be able to hang out or would she be distracted by the fight she was missing? All this seemed worryingly normal for them so maybe it wouldn't be a big deal?
There was a part of him that wanted to go and… but not at the cost of the little time he had with his sister.
Rook gave Ben a vaguely annoyed look. "I will be assisting as well," he reminded him, then turned to look towards Gwen. "But he is right, we can handle this. You should go on with your brother."
Right, Ken didn't really have a say in this. Not his world, what would be know.
His little sister was hesitant, mulling over her options. Ken wished he could hear what was going through her head. Maybe there was a spell for that. Emotions and thoughts were two very different, though connected, things. But that would be such an invasion of privacy. If it was even possible.
"No, I should go with you," Gwen decided. Ken's heart sank a little. "We don't know what they're up to and I'll be able to help you catch them faster."
Ken shrugged, pretending it wasn't a big deal, but knowing this might lead to him barely seeing either of them the rest of the day or even the rest of the week. "We can have breakfast for lunch later. Or dinner. Or whenever it ends up being." He tilted his head thoughtfully. "I guess Grandpa Max and I can still go now. I'm not against having double pancakes." There was that nagging feeling again. It was getting to the point of being uncomfortable, but he just couldn't figure out what was causing it.
Gwen's face pinched and she opened her mouth to say something, but Rook spoke first.
"Where is Magister Tennyson?" the alien asked, looking around like he expected the man to be standing nearby. "He was not at the morning meeting, and I was unable to reach him earlier to make this report. My understanding was he was with you three."
"Uh, no," Ben said, confused. "He wasn't at the meeting?"
"Did we tell him we were meeting here or at the diner?" Ken asked. He could've sworn they'd agreed they were meeting here. Maybe this was the thing he'd forgotten.
"We were going to meet here," Gwen confirmed. "Maybe something else came up…" She sounded a little worried. Should he be worried? Missing a meeting with no explanation wasn't something Grandpa Max would do without good reason.
'Which means he had a good reason. It's fine.'
Ken shrugged. "I can try to track him down while you guys are out." Would be nice to feel semi-helpful for once. "I assume you've already tried just calling him?" he asked Rook.
"Alright," Ken nodded. "I'll try again. Look around a bit. Maybe check the diner to make sure he isn't there." Or he could send some of his summons to search for him. That risked them being seen though.
"Sure," Ben said with a shrug. "I'll call you when we're done. This shouldn't take long."
Gwen nodded. "Not long at all."
Then they left. Gwen gave him one last look before leaving the room. A hollow, anxious feeling opened in his chest, but he pushed it away quickly.
Right then. Time to get to it.
He went back to his room first to grab his mask, hiding it away in his inner jacket pocket. Then he wandered around the base a little. Mostly for appearances, but he wasn't not trying.
Ken was sure Grandpa Max was fine. What was actually worrying him was that aggravating just out of reach memory that was driving him crazy. He would get to the cusp, it was on the tip of his tongue, then it would slip away again. Or maybe it was just mirror withdrawals. Going on three days now was a painfully long time.
Had he fed last night?
His eyebrows scrunched together as he tried to recall. He'd definitely gone out… Hadn't he? Or maybe he'd just dreamed it? Because he didn't remember doing anything other than wander around a bit. No, no, that wasn't right, there had been something-
'Ben and Gwen could be getting hurt while you're here just loitering around.'
Oh, right. A flush of embarrassment warmed his face at the reminder. He needed to tail Ben and Gwen. Make sure they didn't get hurt. Maybe take some strides into ending their job more quickly. He could do that now. He had powers. He could protect them again.
'So get going.'