CHAPTER ONE
A NEW BEGINNING
"This is Reporter Lisa Torres for EyeWitnessNews-13. Today, I'm speaking to the mother of a missing 12 year old girl. Ms. Reed, please tell us what is happening."
The camera pans to a visibly shaken woman who is obviously very anxious. "My daughter left for school yesterday morning and hasn't been seen since. The police are treating her like a runaway, but she has no reason to to do that."
The segment last another minute before the scene switched back to the news studio. Lisa Torres was seated in her chair facing her co-host and the weatherman as she speaks to the television audience, "...and this is the third disappearance of a young girl in the past month. EyeWitnessNews-13 contacted the local Police Department for a statement and were told, 'No Comment'. Please parents, take care of your children, it only takes a moment for them to disappear."
The television is switched off by a small hand holding the remote control. The owner of the hand is the last of the Vigilantes, twenty-six year old Mindy Macready-Lewziski. Mindy sat in the chair for several minutes, thinking about frightened children. She and Dave busted a child smuggling ring seven years earlier, rescuing several children and killing the slave traders. No other moment as a masked Vigilante meant more to her than telling the children that they were going back home.
Mindy Macready-Lewziski's past five years were a sorry waste of time. College, dead-end relationships, lost weekends, one night stands – nothing mattered. Mindy couldn't make a difference, but maybe Hit-Girl can.
"Fuckers. 'No comment', my ass." Mindy walked to a locked walk-in closet, entered a code on the keypad. The light on the keypad blinked and she pushed the door open. She entered the closet, closing the door behind her.
The closet is the size of a small bedroom. Firearms lined the walls, a bench with a small grinder sits in a corner. A built in cabinet fills the far wall with a shelf over the cabinet. She reaches up and pulls down a white box that's placed on the shelf. Placing it on the bench, she opened it, then pulled out a purple catsuit, along with a black and purple cape, a pink utility belt, a purple masquerade mask, a Scottish Tartan and purple wig. After staring at the costume for several moments, she slowly stripped to her underwear, then started the process of putting on the costume. When most of the costume was on, she looked at herself in the full length mirror mounted on the door. The outfit still fits, although she hasn't worn in in over four years. Picking up some makeup, she hides the remnant of a scar on her left cheek. Memories and emotions flood through her; common sense telling her to take the costume off and never look at it again. A deeper voice telling her that the world needs Hit-Girl again. Well, maybe just a frightened little girl needs Hit-Girl. To Mindy, that's enough to bring Hit-Girl out of retirement.
When she exits, she's wearing a dress that reaches mid-calf, a long sleeved, button-up shirt that reaches her neck. Her footwear doesn't match her outfit, looking like a pair of lace-up black combat boots. She goes to her computer, does a Google search, gets an address then walks to the attached garage. She enters her car, a 2020 purple Dodge Challenger, inputs the address into the onboard GPS system as she presses the garage door open button. A split-second after the door opens, the Challenger launches onto the darkening streets of New York City.
