"Kevin?" Gwen turned to the black-haired boy as Naruto propped the unconscious Ken up. "Kevin, what did he mean? What's Khoros?"

"Well… you see, I… uh…"

"That's not important right now." Naruto waved his hand nonchalantly, taking a drag from his cigarette. "Now Gwen, come here." The girl walked over to her unconscious brother. "I see you've been working on your magic."

"It's not magic." Kevin grumbled. Naruto and Gwen ignored him, while Ben patted his back.

"Yeah, I've been working on it a bit." She tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. "Why?"

"Tell me, what do you think is happening here?" Naruto motioned to Ken.

"Really? Now? Can't you just fix him?"

"Yeah, we have to go get Grandpa too."

"Grandpa will be fine Ben." Naruto assured his younger cousin. "He's been doing this a lot longer than we've been alive. And Gwen, you're one of us now."

"'One of us'?" Kevin snickered. "You make it sound like a cult or something."

"Or something just about sums it up. Point being, use every situation you encounter as an opportunity to learn."

"Naruto, please. Later."

"Fine. Ruin my fun, why don't you. It's not every day I get a potential student." The blonde sighed. He turned his blue eyes towards the purplish thing that had attached itself to Ken's head. His eyes started to glow, and a purple energy enveloped it, ripping it away from the man's head. Ken jolted up, grunting in pain, and sat back down, gasping. "You're alright now, Ken."

"N… Naruto?" The brown-haired man raised his head. "Gwen?"

"KENNY!" She hugged her older brother tightly. "Are you alright."

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Somebody wants to tell me what happened?"

"Well, it's a bit complicated." Ben smiled as he walked up. "Hey Ken."

"Benji." The older Tennyson nodded. "And you are?" He turned to the black-haired teen.

"Kevin. I'm a friend of theirs."

"Rest now. You'll be fine." Naruto stood up and turned to a hallway leading deeper into the factory. "Stay here, it should be safe. The rest of you, follow me."

"Wait." Naruto frowned, turning around. "I remember some things. I remember… Grandpa!" Ken shot up from the floor. "I remember luring him here and knocking him unconscious."

"That wasn't your fault Ken." Gwen put a comforting hand on her brother's shoulder.

"She's right. You were controlled. Nothing you could've done. Hell, just remembering it shows a remarkable resilience, cousin."

"You would've fought it."

"Maybe." Naruto shrugged. "I don't think it's a good idea to consider what I'd do, though."

"Either way. I'm coming." Ken's eyes steeled. "Don't try to stop me, cousin." Naruto looked at the man for a few moments before grinning.

"Wouldn't dream of it." He turned around and started walking, quickly followed by Gwen and Ken.

"You want to help? That is kinda cool." Kevin commented as he and Ben brought up the rear.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

The factory was eerily quiet as the group of five walked quietly through it. It was pretty dark, too, illuminated only by Naruto's lit cigarette.

"You're still smoking those?" Ken looked at Naruto. "Don't you know they're bad for you?"

"Yeah, yeah. So mom tells me every time." He took a drag. "Now kindly shut up, will ya. We're trying to sneak."

"Says the guy with a light floating in front of him" Naruto ignored Ken's grumbling.

"Stair over there." Ben motioned to the left. "How much do you wanna bet they're guarded?"

"Sucker's bet." Naruto snorted. "Alright kids, let's see what you can do." They could all hear a strange scurrying, chittering sound as the mass of shadows above them moved. "They're coming." Naruto took a few steps back to stand next to Ken. "Keep your eyes open, Kenny. You don't want to miss this."

Kevin put his hand on the floor and started turning into the heavy-duty concrete. Next to him, Gwen's eyes started glowing as her hands were enveloped in a pink energy, and Ben was fiddling with his watch, before settling on a figure.

"Ready guys?" He asked, lifting his palm above the watch.

"Yup."

"Ready."

"Alright. It's hero time!" He slammed his hand down and, in a green flash, was transformed into a giant green anthropomorphic plant with red leaves coming off of his shoulders and black patches on his torso. His eyes were green circles, and what looked like flames were wrapped around his head. "SWAMPFIRE!"

Ken's eyes widened as he looked at the three abnormal teens. "Naruto, I think it's time you explain some things to me."

"Yes, I think so." Naruto said simply as they continued to keep an eye on the kids.

Kevin punched one of the DNAliens in the face with his concrete fist, knocking it back a few feet. It was caught in a pink whip by Gwen and was sent into another that tried to sneak up on Ben. The transformed teen threw a few pods on the ground a little bit away, and vines shot out, wrapping around three of the aliens.

"There's a lot more to this world than you know, Kenny."

"Now you're starting to sound like a deep sea documentary." Naruto smiled but continued.

"Humans like to ask themselves if they're alone in the universe. Well, the short answer is no, they're not. You're watching proof of that right now. Kevin, the black-haired one, is half-osmosian from what I can gather. Osmosians are capable of absorbing matter and changing themselves to fit it. And of absorbing and discharging energy, although that's pretty dangerous."

"Why?"

"So much energy in a frame that's not fit to handle it has a few pretty bad consequences. The main one for osmosians is that it interferes with the electrical signals in their brain. It basically turns them evil."

"Seriously?"

"I never joke about going crazy with power."

"When you fraise it like that I can't help but wonder how many times…" Naruto cut him off.

"On to Ben. You saw the watch on his wrist?" Ken nodded. "It's an alien device created by the smartest race in the galaxy. It uses a repository of genetic material and a power source human's haven't reached yet to transform its user into a copy of another species in the galaxy. What Ben is right now is called a 'methanosian'. They're a plant-like alien species from the planet Methanos."

"Really? He changes completely?"

"From what I can see, yes. From his features, to his voice, his powers… possibly even his hormone balance and the inner workings of his body. He may well eat something that, to normal humans, is considered inedible. Even poisonous."

"And Gwen?"

"Ah, now onto our family. Grandpa married, and had children with, an alien." Ken's eyebrows shot up. "She was an energy being called an anodite. I don't think Gwen knows this just yet. She keeps referring to her powers as 'magic'."

"You mean it's not?"

"Well, it is and it isn't. It's complicated, but being part-anodite allows her to easily manipulate her energy. That energy is what some would call 'mana', which is used to cast magical spells. So it is magic, but even if she wasn't using it she would still have those powers."

"Could I do that too?"

"Who knows?" Naruto shrugged, pulling Ken a bit to the left as a DNAlien sailed past them. "Being related to Grandma gives us the possibility of what she called the 'spark', the ability to manipulate the energy. But male anodites are really rare. Hell, I don't even know if there are any."

"Then what are you?" Ken deadpanned as Naruto raised a hand. Dark purple tendrils of energy shot from it and wrapped around each of the seven remaining DNAlien's necks, choking them into unconsciousness and dropping them onto the floor.

"Abnormal." Naruto grinned, walking in front of the teens to the stairway. "Very much so."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

I've got the pairings mostly sorted out. Naruto will be with Luma, kinda obviously, and Gwen with Kevin. I like their dynamic, and I like Kevin, and I like the thing with osmosians going crazy when they absorb energy. But I'm having trouble deciding on who to put Ben with. So I'll allow a vote, but only between Charmcaster, Attea, and Helen. Maybe some others I can't think of now. But not Julie or Kai.

Anyway, I'll be putting Luma into the story soon, probably after this episode. That means before Omniverse. A lot before.