Gwen moved her fork through her salad with a slight frown on her face, she was wondering how she'd be able to bring Null over to her side. She knew nothing about them, so sweet-talk probably won't work. All she knew was they were fighting for a cause, she was fighting for a cause too; but Null seemed uninterested when she brought up her ideals. I wonder how Ben is doing. She couldn't help but worry about the teenager whenever Null showed up. They were similar in the fact that they wanted to hold the entire world on their shoulders, not wanting anyone to help and much rather suffer in silence than ask.

"Gwen? Honey, you've barely touched your salad, is everything alright?" her mother asked with a concerned tone.

The mom has noticed that Gwen has been giving her and Frank the cold shoulder lately. She's rarely home and whenever she is, she locks herself in her room for the night. Natalie has been worried about the well-being of her only daughter, but Frank reminds her that Gwen is a strong, confident woman that goes on alien adventures with their niece. Of course she'd be a little standoffish at times, she remembered him saying. But in her heart, she felt something big was going on. She couldn't bear for something to happen to Gwen, especially after last year and that whole fiasco with Ben. Natalie remembered the teen would sometimes come home sobbing and other times she'd be completely stone-faced. Neither persona bothered to tell her mother what was going on. She wanted to be strong like Frank, but it was hard.

"Yeah, not really hungry at the moment."

"Oh… well we don't have to eat he-"

"No no you went out of your way to take me out today," Gwen interrupted. "Of course, I'll enjoy myself," she continued as she shoveled greens into her mouth. "Things are just hard," she finished with a fake smile.

"What's hard, honey?"

"Things. Things are just hard."

"Okay well don't forget that you can come talk to me about anything."

"Thanks mom." Gwen said with a smile.

Gwen couldn't complain, she was at her favorite restaurant with her mom on a sunny day in quiet Bellwood. What else could she wish for? Maybe for new heroes to pop up, but that took time and the young red-head hated waiting. She had to be patient in her quest for allies, otherwise she'll end up pushing them away. Pushed away. Just like Ben pushed her away and how Kevin pushed the cousins away. She couldn't shake the feeling that she needed to hurry and complete her end of the deal or Ben would end up disappearing again. She always felt the need to prove herself to the hero, ever since they were kids. Gwen saw Ben in the constant spotlight, good or bad, and she wanted to share that burden with him. Not that she was jealous of his fame but because she saw his loneliness. A lone wolf howling in the night, calling out to people like him. Only for him to finally find that special someone and realize it's a reflection staring back at him in the water.

The panicked words of some passing strangers grabbed the red-head's attention. She glanced towards the window they were pointing at and she widened her eyes in fear. Gwen instinctively grabbed her mom and pushed her underneath the table as an unknown vehicle crashed into the small Italian restaurant. Screams and yelling filled the girls ringing ears as she cradled her mother. Debris covered the two anxious women, as they struggled to find stable ground. Gwen didn't notice any serious injuries to her mom, so she grabbed her hand and crawled from underneath the splintered bench and crushed table. Her heart was racing as she led her mom past the severed limbs of dead bodies. When it was safe to stand, she rushed towards the hole that leaked sunlight into the restaurant. Sirens were blaring in the distance as ambulances sped to the scene. Gwen saw distraught people moving away from the destroyed building and others rushing towards the tragic scene to help.

"Gwen, you're not thinking of going back in there?" Natalie asked hopefully.

She lowered her eyes when she saw Gwen's sad smile and realized that her daughter was a hero, and that's what they do.

"Just be careful,"

Gwen sprinted back into the horror scene and materialized pink bubbles around the people too injured to move, the bubble made their way back out towards medical assistance. Paramedics saw the floating pinkness and decided to focus their attention on the bubbled people. Gwen searched underneath the rubble for any missing people as she made her way closer to the ship. The redhead got a closer look at the sparking wires of the exposed cockpit. A shiver ran down her spine when she noticed the giant barely breathing inside.

Vulkanus. Gwen's mind was filled with flashbacks from her younger teen years. Even glancing at the bloodied alien gave Gwen a sour taste in her mouth. Vulkanus was Kevin's ex-partner from when he decided that a life of smuggling was the best choice. Another factor that ruined Kevin's teenage life, she wanted to place the blame of his tortured soul on the prick laying in front of her. One look at his destroyed ship and she knew he was back to smuggling, yet again innocent people were caught in the crossfire of his criminal life.

"There you are…" a feminine voice spoke from behind.

Gwen glanced back at a woman standing in the hole the ship made. The unknown woman, clad in black armor, was hard to see with the bright light behind her. The red-head squinted and placed her hand above her eyes to block out the sun, she noticed a black space helmet to match her uniform and a cape waving in the wind. Is she another hero? Gwen was confused at first but her question was answered when the person stepped closer. The Plumber crest sat on her armor chest plating, and "BLACK OPS" was written over her chest.

"Kill me… I beg of you!" Vulkanus whispered to the red-head. "Don't let her take me!"

Gwen's eyes glared at the pleading alien and had half a mind to spit in his face. She clenched her fists at the thought of him asking her for favors when all he caused was pain for the trio.

"You've been giving me the run-around for quite a while now, Vulkanus," the soldier laughed as she approached the crashed ship.

Gwen looked back at the mysterious woman, her visor was tinted so she couldn't pin a face to the voice. Ben had warned her about a group of merciless soldiers in the Plumber agency and she assumed this person was one of them. He said they had something to do with Azmuth's death and was the root of his Plumber hatred.

"Take your helmet off," Gwen asked coldly.

"Fuck off, girly. This is Plumber business or do you want me to cuff you too? I'm willing to bet you don't have a license for using magic."

The black ops agent walked past the girl without another word before she stopped and chuckled darkly. Her red hair fell down to her shoulders as the warm summer air touched her face. She had a deranged smile on as she turned around to see her spinning helmet floating above Gwen's pointer finger.

"Someone has to answer to these pointless deaths. I plan to ask this prick some questions," Gwen explained.

The soldier sighed and lowered her head, "that's why I hate you Tennyson fucks. You don't know how to mind your own business."

Gwen narrowed her eyes as she recognized the red-head as the woman from Hope's Galvan Prime adventure. The one with extremely powerful fire magic and the one who gave Hope the idea of learning her history.

"You should know by now that we don't leave well enough alone."

"What's your excuse for sticking your nose into this? Why do you want to save this guy? He's a scumbag smuggler and has more bodies than a graveyard, nobody worth saving in the slightest."

"Oh trust me I know more than you think about him."

"Then you understand…"

"Part of being a hero is saving everyone and anyone in need," Gwen responded. "No matter who it is."

"He's been selling our weapons to terrorists."

Gwen kept silent as she stared into the fiery red eyes of her foe.

"I'm taking him to a holding cell, so he can be fairly trialed and properly punished."

"Oh… we both know that's not true."

Gwen grabbed the reaching arm of the soldier and the woman's eyes flared up at her action.

"It's not worth it," the agent calmly said. "Let this one go."

She was right. Gwen had been studying her aura this entire time and fighting her at this point was not a definite win for her. Their mere fight would not only destroy most buildings in a 20 block radius but cost the lives of countless individuals in the vicinity. Too much was at stake for her to start a fight. She watched the soldier place the injured alien in cuffs, and led him towards the exit.

"You forgot your helmet," Gwen called out as she extended her arm.

She widened her eyes when nothing was actually in her hand and Gwen glanced at the leaving soldier, who had her helmet on already. When? Gwen was confused when she got it back, but she decided not to focus on it for the moment. This proved how strong this opponent was, and Gwen needed to get stronger if she was going to beat her without casualties.

Natalie hugged her daughter as the crowd cheered her on for assisting with the tragedy. Gwen paid them no mind as she peered up at the leaving ship that her new nemesis boarded. She was thinking of how to train, she didn't exactly know where her grandmother was and Charmcaster is dealing with her own problems. She couldn't afford to leave Bellwood anyway, so she'd have to settle on a local teacher and she knew just the goddess to fill the position. Her birthday present was a much needed wake-up call. Happy birthday to me.