Gwen's in the library when it starts. She's always in the library. She isn't fully aware of what's happening, but she can hear the other Plumbers running and yelling commands at one another.
She's on high alert, she stands and strut toward the door briskly and with purpose. Before she can even imagine leaving, the large oak doors slam shut in her face. Gwen blinks in surprise and tries to pull on the doors but they don't budge.
She knows that she can blast the doors with her magic, it's not hard. She also knows that someone is trying to isolate her and trap her. That is what she's worried about.
She sighs and turns to look in the library, she's using her powers to search for any signs of aura or mana. She finds a strange one in the back of the library. They're hidden behind shelves but they are facing Gwen, waiting.
A shiver runs down her spine as she realizes that she is trapped alone. She thought this would be the case. She's also realizing that this is it, this is the Forever Knights attack. In theory she should have known they would try to separate them; a unit is easier to destroy in its separate parts.
Her main goal is trying to not overthink where Kevin is and if he's alright. She knows he'll be fine, especially if Ben's with him.
There's a strategy for her being isolated, so she'll play their game. She'll win too.
Gwen pulses her cerulean mana through her hands and follows the dark purple aura that's pulsating and swirling in what she can only assume is rage. This aura isn't normal, it's filled with rage much stronger than any she's seen. It's all directed at her too, she can almost feel it trying to wring her neck with how thick the air is.
She concentrates and pushes her hands forward, and her mana acts as an extension of her hands as she uses her blue rays to push aside the bookcases to expose the person hiding.
Under the swirling hazy violet aura stands Michael Morningstar, or Darkstar now, who stands proud and smug. He doesn't even flinch at Gwen shoving the bookcases aside, as if he was expecting her to do that.
Gwen can't see his face, it's hidden behind a metal helmet, but she knows his face is twisted in some smirk.
She doesn't hesitate and starts sending her mana projectiles at him. He jumps gracefully in the air, dodging almost all of her small bursts of power.
"You're going to need to do better than that lovely Gwen." He says crouching on top of a bookcase and reeling up his own attack.
Her skin prickles at him aiming for her, she knows she cannot let him touch her. The second he has access to her skin, she's done, and she can't take that risk today. She never wants him to lay a finger on her again.
Darkstar sends out a pulsating dark ray at her from his own hand. Gwen lifts her own easily and casts, "Tur-bo." A small whirlwind starts in her hand and redirects his attack back at him.
She hits him directly in the chest and it sends him spiraling backwards into one of the large bookcases. It shakes and sends books tumbling on top of him.
"Don't call me that Michael." She spits out at him in rage.
He meets her fierce gaze and he matches her tone, "I'm Darkstar now, I've told you that!" He tries to fire at her again, but in his rage, Gwen easily dodges him.
"Oh yeah? Guess I forgot, it's just so forgettable." She continues on.
He's easy to rile up, he always has been. It's his biggest weakness because he gets sloppy with his attacks. She had seen enough of that from the many times she saw him spare a match or two with Ben.
He had a big mouth, but couldn't handle the same in retaliation.
"Don't mock me Tennyson! All of your family will be destroyed after today, all except you. There's a better fate in store." He chuckles in a condescending tone at her.
She rolls her eyes, readies herself for his next attack, "Oh please enlighten me." She fires back.
Darkstar picks himself up and starts pacing towards her. She responds by sending a barrage of blue mana orbs toward him in rapid succession.
He tries to dodge but many hit him, on his shoulder, stomach, and his head. He rolls back some, he readjusts, and uses his own powers to throw up a shield to block her attacks.
He stares her down, Gwen can feel it. Even though she can't see his eyes behind his mask she can feel his creepy gaze tracing her body. It makes her feel vulnerable and viscerally angry.
"Don't you know Gwen? You'll become my meal, my never-ending source of energy!" He exclaims and pushes out an attack at her with a force that sends Gwen spiraling back.
She rolls on the ground, bruises already forming, but she forces herself back up. She's had worse.
She spits at him, "I will never let you use me again! I'll die before you lay your hands on me." She says it with such conviction, she sees him stumble slightly.
It lasts only a second before he goes rigid, he looks at her and raises his hand, ready to attack, "Then die."
A large mass of black energy swirls out from him and Gwen throws up a shield just in time.
She's pushing back against his brute force; his anger is fueling him. She feels a strong push and her shield starts to crack. Another pulsation comes quickly after and the split continues. Gwen doesn't have time to throw up another shield before he is on top of her.
His attack hits her directly and it knocks her down. She rolls onto her side and struggles to get up, exhaustion hitting her.
She feels herself being yanked up, forced to look at Darkstar. He's holding her by her ponytail; his grip is tight and he forces her to look at him.
He takes his mask off; underneath Gwen is horrified. His flesh is gray, and his skin in taught against his bones. He's almost mummified. He eyes and cheeks are sunken into his skull, his skin wrinkles against his bones. The dark circles under his eyes are almost black. His hair is matted or even completely gone in some spots. He looks like he came out of a horror movie.
Gwen struggles against his grip and his cracked lips smile at her sardonically.
"You did this to me Gwen. Now I'll repay you and you can watch that hideous monster of yours die alongside your family."
Her eyes widen in fear and he goes to grab her, to feed off of her. She trashes against him and his tight grip on her hair doesn't budge. He pulls her face closer to his.
He hisses in her ear, "Stop moving and be a good little meal or else I might over indulge myself."
She gasps in horror and her body freezes. She meets his eyes with a set glare, one she hopes will shoot through to his core.
"Get your hands off of me!" She yells at him.
Gwen pulsates her mana into her hand and slashes it through where her ponytail is connected the base of her head. The weight from her hair is gone and the motion sends Gwen forward to headbutt Darkstar. The momentum knocks him back and Gwen rolls away from him and quickly pulls herself back up.
"Tera Cavo!" She exclaims and slams both of her hands into the floor and sends a wave of her mana into the attack.
A split in the floors starts, its brilliant blue shooting directly towards Darkstar. He flounders for a second and tries to outrun Gwen's attack but he's too late.
As he runs the floor underneath him starts to tremble and shake, books begin falling all around them. Large wooden bookcases start collapsing around them to the floor, the weight adding more force to the ground already vibrating and quaking beneath their feet.
The floor starts falling behind him, rushing toward him even, the earth underneath breaking apart easily and catching up to him ready to consume him into the ground.
He doesn't make it far before the ground falls beneath his own feet, he struggles to keep a grip on the edge of the floorboards.
The ground below opens up into the depths of below, the bottom nowhere to be seen. Gwen makes her way over to him, seeing him holding on by the edge.
"Please! Please I don't want to die don't let me fall! Gwen please! Lovely Gwen, I love you, I always have! They were just using me the Forever Knights, all of them!" He starts spewing words at her, words that she doesn't believe, to try and save himself.
Gwen steps on one of his hands, using the full force of her heel to dig into his flesh. He howls in pain, begging her to stop. She squats lower to his face.
The last view of Gwen that Michael Morningstar sees suddenly makes him believe in an afterlife and that he will be swirling in the pits of hell.
She's crouching to lower herself to him, her face is hard and her green eyes pierce him like those of a cat. She's seeing right through him, like he's transparent. Her heel is digging into his flesh, or really what's left of his flesh, and her freshly cut hair is splayed out around her, barely touching her shoulders.
She looks like a goddess of death. Her bruises are slowly splotching up on her tanned skin, the purple peaking up doesn't look deep, just a surface level wound. Her clothes have some new scratches but she clearly could care less. Her hair is being fanned out from a breeze he can feel from the open pit below him. Michael swallows hard, realizing he never was going to win this fight, for the first time in his life, he is frightened beyond belief.
"You will never hurt me or my family again." She hisses at him. Gwen sees the fear in his eyes and she shows no remorse. She brings herself back up to her full height and releases her foot from on top his hand.
"Terra Clusus." She says and waves her hand over the massive hole in the earth she created.
The sides of the ground that just opened start to close back together, Darkstar still inside of it, unable to pull himself out.
He's screaming and trying to escape, but Gwen doesn't care and she doesn't look back.
She continues on towards to the doors and swings them open ready to find her friends.
All she hears before she exits is the screams of Michael Morningstar fading away like an echo and the ground closing up.