Unintended Consequences

Why were there so many aliens living under Bellwood?

It was unnerving, watching all these aliens who had apparently been living here since he was born. It was like learning a stranger had secretly been living in your house your whole life.

Ugh, he had no idea where he was going down here. He couldn't read a lot of the signs and the paths were a mess. This place had clearly grown naturally over time rather than having been a preplanned setup. But all he really needed to do was find Ben and that shouldn't be too hard. He'd sent a few bats out to look and Ben's fights weren't known for being quiet. He'd find them.

For now, he was sticking to the shadows, leaning his back against the wall of a seemingly empty building. He didn't think humans were too common down here. His disguise didn't change his species.

He looked at himself in a piece of nearby glass. It still felt weird, looking at his reflection only to see a completely different person.

His hair was black now and slightly longer than his normal hair. His eyes were now blue. His face had changed in minute ways. He was even a tiny bit taller. The mask also changed his voice slightly.

It was ingenious bit of magic. Rather than having to keep some level of focus keeping up his disguise, the mask itself stored the transformation. It also meant he didn't have to worry about perfectly replicating his last transformation each time. He'd been struggling with that, especially the face shape, and the mask solved the problem. All he had to do to change his appearance was take it on or off and it was magically protected so only he could remove it. The black masquerade mask was obviously very standout and memorable but all he was trying to do was not be recognized as Ken Tennyson, which it accomplished.

A flapping sound reached Ken's ears and he held up a fist in preparation. A second later, a shadowy bat landed on it.

"Find anything?" he asked. The creature chirped in affirmation. "All right, show me."

The problem with the bats was they were… simple creatures. They did their best. Unfortunately, their best couldn't remember complex orders and tended to make mistakes with certain things. For example, they could hunt down a specific person if shown a picture, but if the person was average looking with no unique identifiers, they could get confused. Ben's jacket and watch should be enough for them, but there was still a chance they'd made a mistake.

The bats were correct this time. Ken murmured his appreciation before absorbing them back into his shadow. The fight had already begun which made things difficult for him. He couldn't just jump in.

The girl, who he assumed was Frightwig, was using her weird super long red hair to grab and throw things at his siblings and their plumber friend. The hair acted like tentacles but other than that, her incredibly pale skin, and her black and yellow stripped costume, she looked like a normal human.

The other guy was, er, kinda zombie looking. He must be Acidbreath. Super pale, only two strands of hair on his head, even his eyebrows were gone. And his teeth were a yellow, rotting mess. Probably a result of the green smog that kept seeping out of his mouth. His costume matched the girl except his stripes were orange.

Ken was in the process of trying to figure out how he could subtly help when he felt something… incredible.

Where was it coming from?

His eyes widened as he tried to pinpoint the source, fight forgotten. This was- he'd never fed on something this amazing before. The way it coursed through his veins was almost euphoric. He might even be drooling a little.

'Hehe, they really want to kill him. The girl less so but the hatred is still there.'

Ken stiffened. Wait, that was what it was? The bad guys' hatred for Ben? Maybe he shouldn't be- urgh, but it was so good. He'd never tasted anything so intense. It was fine. It was definitely fine. Definitely. For sure.

Having assured himself, he stood there watching the fight (kinda, honestly he wasn't paying much attention anymore) and absorbing the energy. He had a great vantage point being high above them on a rooftop. They were doing fine so far; he'd step in if needed.

He wasn't sure how long he'd been standing there when a pained gasp broke through the haze. Jerking back into focus, Ken zeroed back onto the fight. Gwen was clutching at her now very red arm while Rook stood over her. Ben was still fighting tentacle hair lady.

That freak's smog had burned his baby sister.

Where was he?

Ken scanned the area, his own rage now burning through his veins. Ah, there he was. Gwen must have knocked him back into that alley when he attacked her. No one would be able to see him while he was in there.

Growling, Ken raised his arm up to the side and made a circular motion. A red swirl of energy appeared and a matching one formed in the alley below. He plunged his hand through and on the other end a massive red hand with black specks lunged out and grabbed the unsuspecting Acidbreath, dragging him back. Yanking his hand back out, the magical fist came with it, pulling the freak through and slamming him into a nearby wall. He'd never pulled something so big through a portal before. Adrenalin really was nature's booster.

"How dare you?!" Ken snarled, slamming the guy against the wall again. He'd hurt his sister. He'd been part of the group who'd tried to kill his parents and his uncle and aunt. He'd probably hurt or even killed tons of innocent people he didn't even know about.

The freak coughed. "Whoo-o…?" he asked hoarsely.

"It. Doesn't. Matter." He punctuated each word with another slam. He should probably be trying to be quieter so he didn't attract attention, but he was too enraged to care.

'Burn him back.'

Ken sent a blast of crackling energy through the hand and Acidbreath howled with pain. Smog was pouring from his cracked lips, but Ken could repair the hand as fast as it was damaged.

'Hm, he doesn't seem very sorry.'

No, no he didn't. Ken slammed him again, this time letting him drop to the ground. The red blood stood out even more against his extremely pale skin. He tried to stand up, but he was shaking too much and he collapsed right back down. Smog was still leaking from his mouth.

Ken was about to blast him again when a strange groaning sound distracted him. What was- oh.

He suddenly realized there were cracks in the wall where he'd been slamming the guy. The metal billboard above it also had a lot of its support beams melted from the smog. Had he really been hitting him that-

There was a snap and the metal sign (it was advertising some weird alien food) slid downwards. He had the vague thought that the sheet of metal reminded him of a guillotine as it fell. Right into Acidbreath's chest, basically cutting him in half.

Ken's anger faded as shock set it.

Red stained the roof and the sign. And the guy definitely wasn't breathing. The lifeforce was gone… He- he was dead.

He'd killed someone?

'We have to go. There is no way they didn't hear and see the sign falling. They could come investigate any second.'

Ken didn't realize he'd teleported away until about three seconds after he'd done it. He was still in Undertown, but much closer to the exit. He wanted all the way out.

A couple ports later and he was in a closet… somewhere. There were cleaning supplies in here, but he wasn't 100% sure which building he'd landed in. No noises from outside the door. It was dark too, both in here and out there.

Hands shaking, he removed the mask and his body returned to normal. Slumping back against the wall, he let out a long breath. He hadn't meant to kill the guy.

'What exactly was your plan then?'

He- he hadn't had a plan. It was a spur of the moment thing. It wasn't-

'Why so upset? It's not like he didn't deserve it.'

Well, yeah- yeah, that was true. He'd been a creepy murderous scumbag. One who had hurt his family many times. The world was better off but-

'The universe is better off. You didn't do anything wrong. Besides, he was the one leaking acid everywhere. The sign falling was his fault. Karma at its finest. You should just be proud you contributed to wiping away his filth in some small way.'

Yeah, he should be. He was. The anger itching at the back of his brain cleared away most of his panic. Still, he wasn't ready to see anyone quite yet. He needed some time to process this. And he didn't want to stay in this random closet. He should head back to his temporary base.

Wait… his eyebrows furrowed. Since when did he have a temporary base?

'Last night. Nothing fancy. Just someplace for while we're in town.'

Oh… right. Yeah, he kinda remembered that. That must be why he'd been so tired this morning. Man, this whole situation must be affecting him more than he'd thought if he'd forgotten that.

Sighing, he teleported away.

Ken didn't actually remember how he'd found the location for his little hideaway. Maybe he'd sent scouts who had stumbled across it or maybe he'd heard about it at some point and partially remembered? He doubted he'd just stumbled on it by chance.

A little outside Bellwood, tucked in a forest, there was an unassuming shed. Inside, there was a hatch hidden in the floor that led to a decently sized bunker. Whether it was made by an alien to hide from humans or a human to hide from aliens or was some kind of zombie bunker, he didn't know. But it was available, and Ken had taken full advantage of it.

The hatch had already blended into the floor, but Ken had added a couple extra charms. One to cast an illusion to hide the hatch fully and one that would alert him if the hatch was improperly opened. This also meant he had to hop down rather than just teleport inside.

It was dark in the bunker; the electricity didn't work. That was fine though. Ken liked the dark and could see fine in it anyways. He did have some candles lit with magical flames for at least some light.

He was greeted by a Stalker as soon as he descended. He did vaguely recall summoning a few to guard the place.

Stalkers were currently his most advanced summons. Almost their entire body was made of a black shadowy mass. Rather than legs, their spines extended down to the ground where it anchored to its base shadow. It stayed hunched over as it technically floated around, its long arms ending in clawed hands that almost dragged on the ground. They didn't have faces, just smooth, oval, white masks. In the center of that mask there was a circular hole with cracks around it that let a red glow seep through. The hole hadn't originally been there, but they'd been blind before. They could sense everything around them, so it wasn't a huge deal, but it was nice to be able to say, 'grab the green one' and have them actually able to do it. The cracks were because he hadn't done the modification 100% right. It was a tricky business.

They were his best option for guards. Slightly bigger than the average human with the highest intelligence out of his summons. Good fighters, being able to stretch and twist around from their anchor and armed with large, clawed hands. They could even be stealthy, able to retreat all the way into their shadow anchor except for their masks. Their only real drawback was they took a while to make so he couldn't just summon one on the spot. He'd left three here if he recalled correctly (which honestly these days wasn't as sure of a thing).

Ken frowned slightly. Had he really made three? That was a lot just to keep an eye on the place… He nodded to the Stalker as it drew back to let him pass. There was a bed in here somewhere. He just needed to lie down and collect his thoughts. He didn't have forever; people would start questioning where he was eventually.

What was that?

There was a red forcefield dome active to one side of the main room. Why would he-

"Grandpa?!"

Ken stared in shocked disbelief at his grandfather, who looked equally surprised. Why was he locked up? Automatically, Ken started to raise his hand, the red glow of magic swirling around it, to release the barrier.

'No.'

No? Oh, oh, wait. The events of last night suddenly came crashing back to him. He felt sick. Shit. What was-

"Ken," Grandpa Max breathed rushing up to the barrier. "You're oka-." The elderly man's eyes flicked from Ken's still frozen half raised glowing hand to the Stalker that had drifted to hover slightly behind his grandson. "You- you've developed magic? But we- we had you tested. You were negative. Not even a trace."

Ken shrugged, struggling to contain his confusion and growing panic. As if his day hadn't already sucked before, now this? "Guess I was a late bloomer. I don't know how that stuff works."

"Ken, what is going on?" Max pleaded. "When did this happen? Why didn't you tell anyone?" Ken's anger spiked as red flooded his vision. 'Why didn't he tell anyone?' Did he seriously have the gall to ask Ken that question?! Like they ever let Ken know anything?! "What are those things? Are they threatening you?"

That last question caught him off guard. "What, them?" Ken asked, puzzled, glancing back at the Stalker. "No, I made them. They-"

'Stop talking to him.'

"What? Why can't I talk to him?" Talking might help clear some things up because Ken felt very jumbled up right now. "He already knows."

'The more you talk to him, the more the memory spell will have to erase.'

"Oh, right." The memory spell, he was supposed to be learning that.

'Memory spells can be tricky. We could try to erase just the memories of you and him interacting that night, but you are inexperienced and that risks you simply deleting any memories of Ken Tennyson entirely.'

His throat constricted. That was definitely not an option. He did not want that.

'Yes, him forgetting just you would be far too suspicious. At this point, the easiest and most efficient method is to erase the last couple days entirely. This week even so it doesn't coincide with your visit. It will be obvious he is missing time, but there are many possible reasons such a thing could occur. They'd never suspect you.'

What a relief. It was like a weight had lifted from his shoulders and chest. He could fix this. The alternative would've meant keeping Grandpa Max locked away from a long time.

In front of him, Grandpa Max's eyes had narrowed. "Who are you talking to?"

Ken opened his mouth to say 'no one', he didn't even know what the man was referring to, then remembered he wasn't supposed to interact.

He looked at the area his grandpa was trapped in, guilt twisting his gut. It was bare except for some pillows and blankets, not exactly the most comfortable. Hopefully, he wouldn't be in there long, but he could still add a chair or a lamp or something. They'd been feeding him, right?

'It hasn't been that long. The only meal he would have missed so far is breakfast. But yes, they have been feeding him.'

Ken kinda wanted to lie down and curl up on the floor. He had his grandpa locked up in his basement. How had it come to this?

'This was his fault. He's the one who violated your privacy and followed you. He deserves this.'

That had been pretty awful of him. Ken was twenty years old, an adult, he could go out for a nighttime walk if he wanted to. Grandpa Max hadn't had any reason to follow him. Not a good reason, at least.

'You should have been more careful. More suspicious. When did he ever invite you over before? You should've been on edge from the moment you stepped foot in the city.'

Ken tried to swallow away the bitter lump in his throat, the anger he'd been suppressing was steadily trickling through the cracks. He'd known his parents were up to something, but he hadn't thought they'd rope grandpa into it to this degree. That his own grandpa would stalk him like that. Had his parents told him to do that, or had he done it on his own?

"Ken!"

He realized Grandpa Max had been talking to him for a while. He hadn't caught a word of it.

"Just let me out of here and we can figure out this magic thing together." Why was he talking like Ken was a cornered animal? He wasn't the one in the cage.

Ken's fist clenched. So now he got attention, huh? A little magic and suddenly he was worth talking to? Worth spending time with? This was one of the reasons he hadn't told anyone, this wasn't what he wanted attention for.

"The magic isn't the problem," Ken snarled. Max opened his mouth to reply, but Ken raised a hand to rub frustratedly at his forehead. "No, no, I am not dealing with this right now. Just-" He waved a hand and the barrier became a solid red (Ken and grandpa couldn't see through it anymore, but the Stalkers would still be able to) and sound isolated. The way it should have been from the start.

Ken turned and stomped further into the bunker. He'd just ignore him until he fixed this.