"There it is..." Helena Kirby shifted through the pile of boxes, finally spotting the object of her search. Picking up the box, Helena made her way to a nearby table. As she had hoped, still stored inside the box was her old magician's outfit. "Let's see how well it's held up..."
It was Friday evening and Helena had driven out to the family estate. She decided that a night off from being the Huntress wasn't that bad of a thing. There was a charity costume ball that Helena would be attending tomorrow night and she still needed an outfit to wear. With everything that happened during the week, Helena didn't have a chance to shop for a costume. That was until she remembered her old stage magician costume from her college days.
After a quick change, Helena regarded herself in the mirror. The costume was a female version of the standard stage magician's attire. She wore a tight white blouse covered by a golden vest with dull black trunks. Her long legs were enveloped by fishnet stockings finished off by shiny black pumps. A dark blue overcoat tied everything together. It was cut high in the front, with long tails in the back. A matching dark blue top hat rounded out the ensemble.
"Not bad... Not bad at all. A little tight in some places, but overall a comfortable fit." Poking around further in the box, Helena added the pièce de résistance; a dull black wand with a white tip. Helena observed her image once more, spinning for a complete view. "This will do just fine."
Checking out the many hidden pockets in the garment, Helena found some of them still held old stage effects. Flash powder, coins, scarves, and the like. "Just about everything I would need to put on a show."
Satisfied with her costume, Helena carefully replaced the garment in the box and changed back into her street clothes. The box tucked under her arm, she made her way through the deserted mansion. "It's a shame to let this place sit unused..." The thought of moving out of her Central Park loft came across her mind, but was ultimately discarded. Her apartment made her secret life as the Huntress all that much easier. Moving back home would just complicate things. Or would it? Helena couldn't decide for certain.
After stowing her magician's storage box in her car, Helena re-entered the house. She activated the secret switch that opened the entrance to the Hunter's Lair. Turning the lights below on, she made her way down into the secret sub-basement.
Helena hit the storage bins first, replacing those gadgets she had spent in her past adventures. Some of the bins were getting low. "Guess I'm going to have to see about getting replacements. I wonder how dad handled that?"
There were many gadgets that Helena was unfamiliar with in the large room. Some of them would require modifications before they could be usable by the Huntress. The Hunter used a wrist launcher as his main means of transportation. The device fired off swing lines that the hero used to move among the skyscrapers of New York City. Unfortunately, it fitted Hunter's forearm like a glove. Helena's was much slimmer. Additionally, it was connected into a series of supports built into Hunter's costume, transmitting the stress of swinging on a line across his entire body instead of just his right arm.
"Potentially useful," Helena concluded, "but would require extensive re-designing for me to use. Maybe something like the grenade launcher in the armor I wore during the raid on DEMON would be more practical?" The grenades had proven to be extremely useful, producing a concussion force that would put down most criminals.
Helena sighed to herself. "Perhaps I should have been taking engineering instead of criminal law? Guess I'll have to talk to Scarlet and see if she can help me out."
Still other gadgets came under Helena's scrutiny. One bin contained small spheres that burst open upon forceful contact and then projected netting around their target. Lenses to allow night sight or heat tracking were stored in other bins. Underwater gadgets were present as well as an underwater version of the Hunter's costume. Just about anything Helena could imagine was present, including several things she wouldn't have dreamed of.
"Guess I'll have to ask for help in this area. Either Scarlet or maybe Musky. This sort of thing is more their field than mine. Oh well, a worry for another day." Helena sealed up the Hunter's Lair once more. After making sure to activate the security system, Helena got in her car and drove back to New York City.
Traffic was heavy, of course, being a Friday Night in the big city. Helena directed her vehicle into its assigned parking space and shut the engine off. The visit to her apartment lasted only a few minutes. Once inside the door, she changed from her street clothes into the black body suit Scarlet had given her the previous night. Helena left the hood hanging behind her head. Over this she put on her loose fitting jogging outfit and a small backpack.
Helena made her way back to the ground floor of her apartment building. Once across the street, she began to jog through Central Park. The Avengers Mansion was on the other side of the large park, just a few blocks to the north of Helena's apartment.
Central Park was busy this evening. Many couples strolled the pathways hand in hand. Helena eyed them with a slight trace of envy.
"Having a family is something I never really gave any serious thought to. I guess I figured that I was still young and that dad was going to be here longer... I may only be twenty-two, but I'm the last of my line. Unless I have children, there will be no fourth generation Hunter..."
Helena never had much time for romance. She was always so much younger than the others in her classes at college. Helena had been on her share of dates before, but she never considered any of the men she had been with as possible husbands. In her quest to be the Huntress, she had overlooked many of the things normal young women do. Like falling in love.
Once close to the Avenger's Mansion, Helena removed her jogging outfit behind some bushes in Central Park. The running gear was then stored in her backpack. The all-black costume's hood now in place, Helena make her way across Fifth Avenue, ignoring the looks given to her by passersby. Helena ran towards the outer wall of the mansion, leaping upwards at the last moment. She grabbed the top of the wall, used it like a springboard, and propelled herself over the wall. Helena twisted in mid-air and tumbled to a stop on the grass.
Pleased with her performance, Helena moved towards the front door of the Mansion. She took her Avenger's ID card out of her backpack and placed it in the slot. Once her identity was confirmed, Helena opened the front door and entered the Avengers' Mansion.
Turning left from the foyer, Helena moved up the stairway. A small hallway led directly to Black Diamond's office. As she had suspected, a light could be seen through the partially open door. Silently, Helena creeped forward, peering into the room.
Black Diamond was seated behind her desk, shuffling papers. Occasionally, she would turn to her desktop computer, punch a few keys, and then return to her papers.
"All work and no play makes Black Diamond a dull heroine," Helena stated as she entered the room.
Diamond looked up, slightly startled. "Helena? Is that you?"
"You like it?" Helena entered the room, pulled the hood up uncovering her face, and moved to the side of the desk. "It's a special fabric Scarlet came up with. An improved ballistic cloth. I'm giving it a try out for her."
Black Diamond eyed the material, feeling the fabric when Helena offered her arm to the heroine. "It certainly doesn't leave much to the imagination."
"No, but it's stronger, more flexible than what my Huntress costume is made from."
"I see. Very nice. So what brings you to the Avengers' Mansion on a Friday night?", Diamond asked.
"I was hoping that you could run another practice session for me. Figured that I'd kill two birds with one stone-- get more practice in and test this fabric out at the same time."
"That's certainly a possibility. Let's see if the Simulator is available." Rising, Black Diamond led Helena out of the room, down the corridor and into the elevator. The Avengers' leader pressed a button and the elevator began to lower into the depths of the Avengers' Mansion.
"It's pretty quiet tonight," Helena observed. "Where is everyone?"
"Jeeves has the night off. The Enchantress is on monitor duty. I think Ben went to the ball game. The others, I'm not sure about."
The elevator doors silently parted, leaving the pair on Sub-Level One. Another short walk brought them to the silent Combat Simulator area.
"It's free to use," Black Diamond announced as she headed towards the control booth. The Avengers' leader was pleased that Helena was so open to the idea of running simulations. It gave Diamond a chance to monitor the young heroine's progress.
"Great! I think I'm getting the hang of this Strike and Evade program. Oh, do you have my results from my first run?"
Black Diamond stopped and turned. "That completely slipped my mind, Helena. Come on into the booth and we'll see what the computer came up with."
Inside the Control Booth, Black Diamond turned the lights on and activated the equipment. Taking a seat at the control panel, Diamond punched several keys producing a profile of the Huntress on the monitor.
"Here we go," Diamond said, pointing to the screen. "We use a system to rate those who are being tested. Your dad came up with it. As you can imagine it involves complex formulas that don't make sense to most folks."
"That's not surprising," Helena answered in agreement. "Dad seemed to love to make things more complicated than they needed to be."
"Anyway, the Power rating is your raw physical strength. You rate in at 1.8 on the scale."
"Which means what exactly?", Helena asked.
"Well, on this scale, a 1 is considered to be the average athlete. Something like being able to lift and hold 200 lbs for a certain length of time. I did say that it was confusing."
"How does the scale progress?"
"Every additional .5 effectively doubles your strength. So, at 1.8, you're nearly as strong as four athletes."
Helena nodded, seemingly impressed. "Not bad. So I could lift and hold something like 700 lbs for a minute or two. That seems to fit my experiences."
"Good, then the scale is worth something."
"Okay, so what do you rate, Linda?"
"Well, in all modesty, I usually don't--"
Helena rolled her eyes and gave her a 'spare me' look and said, "Come on, give!"
"Oh, all right... I'm a 6.0. Ben's an 8.0, if you wish to compare."
"Sheesh!" Helena turned back to the monitor. "What's this rating here? Agility?"
"Agility is a combination of mobility, eye/hand coordination, and other factors. According to our trial run, you're a 5.25 on the scale. Again, a rating of 1 is your average athlete."
"In this area," Helena concluded, "I really am superhuman compared to normal people. I'm glad that I didn't find that out during the Olympics. What's your agility."
"8.4", Diamond answered. "I can guess your next question: How do you compare with your father?"
"I was getting to that," Helena conceded. "Just for curiosity's sake. I'm not comparing myself to him."
"Good. Anyway, Lane was a 3.0 for Power and a 8.1 in Agility."
Helena quickly compared her results with those of her late father. "Our results are significantly different," Helena concluded. "I figured you were right in one aspect, Linda: that I should be a bit less super powered than dad. But I never dreamed that it was this wide of a gap!"
"You have to consider that these scores were Hunter as his peak. In all likelihood, you are not near your own top physical condition yet," Black Diamond offered.
"So, I guess I'd better get cracking at your test simulations."
"Give me a second to bring up the program and you'll be all ready to go."
Helena departed the Control Booth and moved into the main simulation area. She pulled the hood back into place and waited. Giving Black Diamond the signal to proceed, Helena leaped into the exercise.
Several hours later, Helena laid in her bed, staring absentmindedly off into space. The drills went much more smoothly this time out. Overall Helena was pleased with her performance. "Looks like Scarlet was right. I'm not feeling as stressed as I was before. We might not have gotten anywhere with the Hanged Man, but it's not going make a mess of my life." Sleep soon followed.
Saturday seemingly passed in a blur. Helena was up early and finished with her morning exercise regimen before eight. She spent most of the day doing the mundane chores needed to maintain her apartment: cleaning, laundry, and grocery shopping. It was 4:30 before Helena even realized it.
"Better get your act together, girl. Gary will be here before you know it." Putting away her groceries and cleaning supplies, Helena hit the shower. Next she styled her hair in the way she wore it when she performed her stage magic show in college. Then she changed into her costume and put the final touches on her make up. "Looking good, girl. Now go out and have some fun for a change!"
Assistant District Attorney Gary Simmons was punctual as always. Helena only had to wait a few minutes inside the front door of her apartment building before his BMW pulled up. He pushed open the car door from across the seat as Helena approached.
"May I say that you're looking lovely tonight, Helena."
"Thanks. Always the gentleman...", she noted with a slight trace of sarcasm. Helena sat down in the car, closing the door behind her. She glanced towards her date, eyeing his costume. "...your majesty." Gary was dressed in a Henry the VIII costume, complete with bulging belly and fake turkey leg.
"You like it? I thought it would be a unique experience to try something like this out." Gary turned the car into traffic, heading towards the Madigan estate. "It's really not me, but then again it is a costume ball. So why not let loose and go really wild? Say, what's your costume all about?"
Helena launched into a quick explanation about her attire, but was otherwise content to remain silent and contemplate during the long drive. "He's a nice guy," Helena thought to herself. "But, I can't see us as husband and wife. Sure, he's kind and caring, but he's just-- so--- dull." Gary continued to chat about anything and everything.
"Have you known the Madigans for very long?", Gary asked.
"I've attended a few parties there before, mostly with my father. Simple acquaintances sums up my relationship with the Madigans."
"I see. So this event is for charity, I understand?"
Helena sighed internally, and went into answering the latest question from her date.
Finally, Gary pulled into the Madigan Estate. "Oh my... Now this is impressive", was his response upon seeing the sprawling estate. "It's like something you see in the movies."
"Karrie never did anything on a small scale," Helena explained. "Her husband is a big player in the stock market, a financier extraordinare. He's a powerful mover and shaker; she throws spectacular parties. No doubt we're going to be rubbing elbows with the wealthy, the powerful, Hollywood stars... Just about anybody who is anyone."
Gary let out an audible gulp. "I had no idea this was so high classed. I wish you would have let me known-- I would have come up with a better costume."
"Relax, you look fine."
Helena produced the couple's invitations and a generous donation at the checkpoint. Following the guards' instructions, Gary drove into a waiting line of cars. Eventually, they reached the parking valet.
"Come, my queen. Let us join the gathering masses." Gary held out his arm, which Helena accepted after a beat. Together, they entered the party.
The Costume Ball was in full swing as the couple entered. The party filled several of the huge halls on the Madigan estate. The grand ballroom was packed with hundreds of guests, each in one outlandish costume after another. A complete orchestra provided the music. Security was provided by a group of supers calling themselves the Wildcards. Helena had never heard of them before. Given the nature of the party, the Wildcards could literally be just about anyone.
An adjacent hall held a grand buffet. Hundreds of various foods covered a huge table that had to be over seventy-five feet long.
Gary eyed the staffed bar. "Say, how about a drink?"
"Sure. I'll have a Tom Collins."
"Coming right up!" Gary waded into the crowd and headed towards the bar.
Helena surveyed the party-goer's around her. She recognized only a handful of people. The wealthy industrialist Sheryl Campbell was here dressed in a costume modeled after Cleopatra. Her platinum blond hair was a dead give away. Several attractive men dressed as Egyptian guards served as her escorts and personal security.
Speaking to Ms. Campbell was a man in a wheelchair, dressed like Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Helena recognized him as one TJ Lawrence, another industrialist who was based on the West Coast. A tragic traffic accident had left the man crippled from the waist down. No doubt the two were discussing business.
A woman in a nurse's uniform caught Helena's eye. She was pretty and in her early twenties. Her black hair was cut very short, too short for Helena's tastes. Otherwise, the woman was unremarkable. And yet she seemed to have some significance to Helena. "I know her... But from where?"
Before Helena could move closer, Gary returned with the drinks. "Your beverage, my queen!" She turned to accept the drink. By the time Helena turned back towards the nurse, she had disappeared into the crowd.
"Anything wrong, Helena? You look troubled."
"Oh, no, everything's fine. Just thought I saw someone I knew." Helena took a sip of her drink. "This is good."
The two chatted as they enjoyed their drinks. After finishing the refreshments, Gary took Helena's hand. "Shall we dance?"
"After you, your highness..."
The two danced for a time. Gary was not the best of dancers. He stepped Helena's foot three times so far, which for Gary was pretty good. Finally, they departed the dance floor and made their way to the buffet table. Helena ate lightly, while Gary dove wholeheartedly into the rich fare. They chatted all the while. Well, actually Gary did most of the talking. Helena's mind was more fixed on trying to identify the nurse she had spotted earlier.
"This is great stuff," Gary said in between bites. "I'm so glad that you invited me to this party. I've never seen anything like this before!"
"Karrie's parties are always quite memorable. It's her trademark. Care to try the dance floor once more?"
"I'm a moment, Helena. I really need to use the little king's chamber, if you get my meaning."
Helena shook her head at the comment. The man had class-- not. "I'll just wait here."
Gary moved away, towards the rest rooms while Helena's mind went back to the problem of figuring out who the nurse was. Only a minute or so passed before she heard a familiar voice come over her shoulder. "Funny, I'd have thought you might've come dressed as the Little Green Sprout."
Helena turned, regarding a man in some kind of leather rogue costume from the 1800's. "Well, well, if it isn't the leather musketeer..."
A short time later, Helena was back dancing with Gary. Her interlude with Muskateer had been interesting. (Editor's Note: See Muskateer #14)
"Who was that annoying fellow?", Gary asked.
"Just an acquaintance from college," Helena answered.
There was no way she was going to reveal that he was in reality the Muskateer. Apparently he never realized just how attracted the Enchantress was to him. To Helena, it was as plain as the nose on her face. "But not everyone has had the kind of training that dad put me through," Helena thought to herself, while avoiding Gary stomping on her foot once more.
"I'm really sorry, Helena. I not usually this clumsy..."
"No, you're usually worse."
"It must be these shoes..." Gary stated, but Helena was no longer listening. A final piece in the puzzle fell into place. The identity of the woman with the short black hair in the nurse costume came in a moment of sudden clarity.
"She's the nurse who was in my father's room on the day he died!", Helena thought to herself. (Editor's Note: As shown in Avengers #3) Vainly, she tried to locate the woman once more on the crowded dance floor. "How did she end up at this exclusive party?"
Finally, Helena caught a glimpse of her target. "Excuse me, Gary, I think I've spotted an old friend. Why don't you hit the buffet table again?"
"Uhm, sure, Helena. Whatever you say."
Helena didn't wait for an answer as she stalked off, filled with purpose. Somehow the nurse sensed that something was amiss, as she turned and spotted Helena moving towards her. The woman's eyes grew wide and she turned and walked briskly out of the ballroom.
Following as fast as she dared, Helena reached the doorway which the nurse had exited a few seconds earlier. The elegant double doors led out onto one of the many balconies that ringed the ballroom. Night had fallen, but the estate was well lighted. Helena glanced left, then right, but the balcony was empty. Puzzled, Helena moved to the railing. She spotted a figure in white running off, trying to keep to the shadows.
Ditching her pumps, Helena leaped off the balcony and after a short drop hit the ground running. She wasn't sure if the fleeing woman had spotted her or not. Helena took a direct course towards the running nurse and rapidly gained ground. Finally, Helena dove forward and locked on to the nurse's ankles, bringing her down in the finely manicured grass.
Before the woman could recover, Helena rolled her over, sitting on her stomach. "Who are you!? Why did you run? Talk!"
The woman's face, once filled with concern, shifted to one of amusement. "Just looking at you makes me bleed inside."
The comment took Helena off guard. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"
The nurse surged, throwing Helena off to one side. The strange woman was up in a flash, landing a powerful kick to Helena's stomach. As Helena, doubled over in pain, trying to catch her breath, the nurse ran off again. Once Helena regained her breath, she took off in pursuit once more. "She's more powerful than I suspected! Her strength is considerable!"
The strange nurse reached the wall that separated this part of the estate. Without pausing, she rushed forward, leaped into the air, and cleared the fifteen foot wall with ease.
Helena skidded to a stop at the foot of the wall. This was much higher than anything she had ever attempted before. The gate through the wall was too far away, the nurse would be gone by the time Helena reached it. Helena measured the distance, ran a few steps and leaped with all her might. The top of the wall was beyond her reach. Undaunted, Helena tried again and came up short once more. She screamed in frustration, turned and ran towards the gate.
Upon reaching the gate, Helena scanned the area beyond for any sign of the nurse. She found none. Disgruntled, Helena made her way back towards the party. "This doesn't make sense... That woman was the nurse while dad was in the hospital. She obviously recognized me. Maybe she's the one who poisoned him? But who is she??"
Lost in thought, Helena retraced her steps back to the balcony, collecting her top hat and wand that she had dropped along the way. She leaped up, easily catching the edge of the ten foot high balcony. Helena climbed back over and recovered her shoes. Silently, she made her way back into the party.
The mood of the partygoers seemed odd, but Helena didn't pay it much attention. She was too lost in thought to notice. "I had her-- in the palm of my hand-- and let her get away! Damn! I've got to get out of here... The Huntress has some work to do..."
"Helena!" Gary's voice was heard somewhere off in the distance. "Helena!" Helena paused this time, looking for the source. Spotting Gary, she moved towards him. "Are you alright, my Helena? They didn't hurt you did they?"
"Pardon?" Helena had no idea what Gary was talking about.
"Oh, my dear, you must be stunned from the turn of events. Those vile criminals didn't hurt you, did they?!"
"Huh?"
Gary grasped Helena by her upper arms. "Those thugs! They put you into a state of shock! It's a good thing that the Wildcards were here or I would have taught them a thing or two!"
Slowly it dawned on Helena. No doubt an attempted robbery took place while she was busy out on the grounds. The security force, the Wildcards, had dealt with it. This might be her ticket out of here in a graceful manner. "Uhm-- yes! It's was horrible! I don't think I can take much more excitement. Can we please go now?"
Gary turned, placed his arm around his date, and led the way towards the exit. "Of course, my dear. I understand perfectly. Being in the presence of such desperate men must be trying to someone as sensitive as yourself."
Helena laughed inside. "He doesn't know the half of it," she thought to herself.
The ride home passed quickly enough. Helena spent most of the time lost in thought while Gary rambled on about how his office was going to prosecute the robbers to the full extent of the law. Gary pulled up before Helena's apartment building.
"Are you sure you're all right?", Gary asked for the fortieth time.
"I'm okay. The shock is wearing off."
"I could come up and stay with you for a while."
Helena sighed. "Thank you, but that's not necessary. I'm very sleepy."
Gary leaned over and kissed Helena on the cheek. "If you need anything, just call me."
"I will. 'Nite." Helena got out of the car, closing the door, and made her way into the apartment building. Once inside the elevator, she let out a huge sigh. "Finally! I'm free! Free!"
Helena entered her apartment and made a beeline straight to where she hid her Huntress costume. She stopped short, as she spotted broken glass on the floor before her. "What in the world--?" Looking up, Helena could see that one of the skylights had been smashed open.
"So sorry about the mess," a female voice called out. Helena spun in the direction of the intruder. A figure stood before one of the windows off to one side, the moonlight reflecting off the intruder.
"Who are you? What do you want?"
"You forced my hand," the intruder stated, moving into the light. "I hadn't planned on killing you so soon." The armored woman walked fully into the light.
Helena gasped, recognizing her from the descriptions she had heard. "Artemis!"
The armored killer raised her hand, pointing her weapons launcher at Helena. Then she fired...
