Chapter 13: The Belfry
Jessica Drew assesses Purple Hayes seated across from her.
On one hand, Ms. Hayes has a bookish appearance. Her glasses are big and thick-framed. She wears a lavender oxford (over white blouse) and indigo slacks. Her figure is slight. Her cropped hair parts nerdily to the right, and Purple Hayes even has a nerdy name, if one is honest.
On the other hand, Hayes holds a steaming cup of tea perfectly balanced on her fingertips beneath a cool, stony expression. Purple has been perfectly calm during this interview although she must know who Jess Drew is and why she is here. Despite any nerdy appearance, this apparent poop is actually sharp as a fang. Hayes is actually Nosferata. This effete heiress is a poor man's Nighthawk, and Spider-Woman might want to respect that fact—at least a little.
Purple Hayes assesses Jessica Drew seated across the living room.
After an hour chatting, the dilettante detective knows who Jess is and why she is here at Hayes Manor. Ms. Hayes might not be the world's greatest detective, but the slight She-Bat is not a complete lightweight and bumbler. In this parlor, Purple has not let Spider-Woman draw her into her web. Throughout discussion, Hayes has oppugned, obfuscated, and observed.
Purple Hayes has even astutely noticed that Jen Walters is not here deposing her. Friend She-Hulk has sent Jess instead. Porfiry Purple ponders. Possibly, the green gal-pal wants to hide her involvement in this investigation. Possibly, She-Hulk fears a confrontation over sticking her nose into Nosferata business. Possibly, Purple is no longer trusted to be truthful to Jen, so Jen dispatched investigator Drew to interview her. So deduces the insouciant sleuth.
Clearing her throat, Drew starts to summarize the ladies' conversation, "So, you do have the silver mask and pistol from the original Enforcer. You do not deny diving as Nosferata to retrieve them from Block Island Sound."
Hayes states, "That is correct. My assistant Freda and I salvaged them for safe-keeping."
"They are safer here than on the ocean floor?" Drew asks.
Hayes answers, "Well, a person can also keep items for sentimental value. Any evil-doer's artifacts have historical significance, and I collect them in my Nosferattic above us. Call me eccentric."
"Fine, you're eccentric," Jess says with a smirk, "May I see the Nosferattic?"
Purple smirks back, "No, it is Nosferata's secret hideout. If I took you up there, I might have to kill you." Hayes titters. To her credit, she does not do it nervously.
"I see," Jess bats her eyes, "Has Jen ever been in your clandestine den then?"
"Sure," Purple says—before saying nothing further.
"Oh," Spider-Woman swiftly stands. She stares down her subject.
Interestingly, Nosferata remains calmly seated. She sips tea and assesses whether the Avenger is about to attack. Deciding not, Hayes continues showing all of the confidence in the world. Spider-Woman saunters forward while keeping Hayes solidly in her sight. The Purple Hayes does not crack a bit.
Continuing to study the She-Bat, Drew stops just short of her subject on the sofa. The private eye looks Purple over from the planted shoes on the carpet to the pixie cut on her pate. Jessica ventures one more question, "Say, a Louis Dawson was in your employ, correct?"
"I told you before," Ms. Hayes states, "Yes, he worked at the Stark-Hayes Life Science Center in upstate New York."
"How do you feel about his death?" Jess probes.
Purple purses her lips. She replies, "I feel bad, of course. The deceased is a former policeman who caught some bad breaks in life. He was good people, as they say."
"Do you know why your good man was impersonating the Grim Reaper?" Jess leans in.
Hayes smirks subtly, "Maybe, Nosferata somehow inspired a gothic theme in him. I am famous, you know. A PR firm used to even ubiquitously promote my alter ego [see Sensational She-Hulk #19-20]."
"Plus, Louis Dawson was the Reaper in the first place, so he was close to a Grim Reaper out of Gotham anyway," Jess suggests.
"Plus that. Sure," Purple grants.
"But, why would Reaper attack Hellcat and She-Hulk?" Spider-Woman wonders.
"I don't know. Maybe, they interfered in his business," Nosferata fixes her gaze, "Reaper did clash with Power Man and Iron Fist when they interceded in a vigilante's work."
"Did Dawson do any vigilante work with you?" Drew puts a firm hand on her fellow crimefighter.
Hayes finally looks a little angry. She intones, "Louis Dawson didn't do a damn thing for me except run security in Syracuse, New York."
"I see," Spider-Woman steps back and removes her hand.
In the room, quiet follows. Outside, the stiff wind rustles the treetops and whistles over Hayes Manor. Before Spider-Woman, Nosferata glares threateningly as though she would transform into a giant bat and sink fangs into Spider-Woman. Upstairs, Jess' super-hearing detects muffled movement and possibly machinery. Her excellent olfactory has detected whiffs of burning methane, rotting meat, and roses—a curious combo—from vents throughout the visit. But, distance and likely security measures keep Drew from detecting anything distinct in the attic.
The Nosferattic and Nosferata have (mostly) successfully kept their secrets for the last hour. Jessica Drew decides to bid Ms. Hayes "adieu to you".
"Adieu to you too, Nancy Drew," the miss winks.
"Well, Happy Thanksgiving tomorrow," Drew says. She swivels around and strides from the room without further adieu.
"Okay! Freda will see you out!" shouts Hayes behind her.
Freda Pfennigswert gets the front door and even escorts the guest to her car. That sedan speeds west a short ways to a farm with a big hill. Upon that drumlin, a Jade Giantess stands prominently against an overcast gray sky. Around her, white fog flows lazily on shifting breezes.
As air teases verdant tresses, She-Hulk gently exhales mist into the mizzle and patiently waits for her comrade to park her auto on the muddy road below. The Sensational one makes sure to enjoy the crisp, cool autumn air for a moment, for Jen is wary of what news Jessica brings. Purple Hayes has ever had heroic potential, and it is hard to accept any disillusionment about her. Still, Jessica Drew strolls through the morose fog like arriving fact. Often, Avengers must deal first in truth and then in justice.
"Salutations," Jess mock salutes.
"Hello, what is news?" Jen gets to business.
"Well, the news is not especially good," Drew informs the great green gal.
Walters frowns. Her comrade-in-arms pats her bicep for two seconds. But, two seconds is all that the duo can take to consider tough news. Avengers ever have the world's wrongs to correct, even when they must urgently confront an old ally such as Yellowjacket, Black Knight, Vision, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Moondragon, Starfox, Tigra, or Nosferata. (Iron Man, Captain America, Captain Marvel, and the Hulk are all even more involved topics for She-Hulk).
"Shall we discuss my suspicions and discoveries?" Jess gets to business.
She-Hulk sighs, "Sure."
Spider-Woman glances right and left, "Are you certain that we should talk in this open pasture? Our gothic buddy could be hiding in the fog with a 'Miskatonic microphone' or something. Whatever she would dub her listening device."
"Nah, here is fine," She-Hulk sits upon a ready boulder, "I suggested that we meet face-to-face so that Nosferata could not tap Avengers communicators. I suggested that we meet in an open, windy space so that Nosferata would struggle to eavesdrop or to approach unnoticed. But, if she does outfox us, she does. Purple Hayes is frequently a putz, and I am always a powerhouse."
"So is Iron Man," Spider-Woman further discusses, "We could have joined Tony at the U.S. air base in the vicinity. A secure facility might have had a 'cone of silence' that we could have used."
"Get smart," She-Hulk replies, "Tony Stark is also often a putz. Except, he is the kind of puny meddler who deports my cousin into space and temporarily deactivates my gamma abilities [see She-Hulk v.2 #18]. Tony is the type of putz who, when briefed about Nosferata, says that he is willing to have the 'girls' handle the Massachusetts situation. He will visit New York state where his good name has apparently been besmirched. But, rest assured, Tony Stark, the Iron Man, the Golden Avenger, can rush to our aid if need be."
"So, we women are willing to be A-Force to show an a-hole," Spider-Woman deduces.
"Yep," the green lady grins. The Web-Lady gets that this Nosferata affair is Jen's fight.
"Well, may Tony Stark find something useful to do in Syracuse," Jessica finds something nice to say, "Howard the Duck and Porcupine are already exploring the Stark-Hayes Life Science Center. Hopefully, the incorrigible Iron Man does not pester them too much in their important work."
"I hope that the boys do not have much work to do at all," Jen states, "I hope that Howard the Duck is off on a wild goose chase and that Purple keeps her best sinister swag in the Nosferattic. Enforcer and Wind Witch were rough on the Duck, and he does not deserve to encounter Elfqueen-in-a-can or something of the like."
"Surely, Howard the Duck has the tailfeathers to cover his 'buttquack'," Spider-Woman makes light, "I am sure that he planned his mission ahead."
"True. Let us plan our next move," She-Hulk nods, "What did you learn in your Hayes Manor visit?"
Detective Drew elucidates, "I learned that Purple Hayes is not as good of a dissembler as I am an interrogator. She has things to hide from her fellow heroes. And, my enhanced hearing indicated that those things are stored in the Nosferattic."
"Let us plan a panty raid on Purple for her perfidy," Walters plays with words, "Let us maraud our second New England manse in the month of November. Let us forestall future problems by policing our possibly profligate pal presently, as is apropos of Avengers."
Meanwhile. Into the Nosferattic, Purple Hayes creeps after Jessica Drew's departure. While Jen and Jess conference in the open country, Purple visits Victoria secreted in her belfry's tight quarters. In flickering light, Dr. Victoria von Frankenstein fusses with flesh fixed upright in a tin tray. Madly, she experiments. Profanely, the sick scientist sends a strobe light into the dead eyes of a man's detached head. Re-animation has not yet occurred. But—like mythical Miskatonic's Herbert West—Victoria von Frankenstein is hopeful that it will. She has worked very hard to reconstruct, rehydrate, and rejuvenate the head of Charles Delazny Jr. And, she would emulate her infamous ancestor Victor's ugsome work. She too would whimsically wish to raise the long dead.
To Vicki's left, the semi-decayed craniums of Commander Kraken and the Grappler sit in eerily illuminated jars. The formaldehyde distorts their grotesque features even further. Dr. Frankenstein will attend to them soon. For now, the mad scientist sets aside her unsuccessful Delazny experiment, and she reaches for her next sample. It is also her best subject and best chance for sick success.
Victoria sets the inert top of Eric Williams in the tray. She smiles at it. She strokes its cheek. But, the pale, expressionless extremity remains as at rest as it has been since Nosferata retrieved it from Block Island Sound. It is a dormant doodad, seemingly dead. But, Dr. Frankenstein sees its unorthodox possibilities for resurrection. Since summer, Williams has not rotted one bit. And, the infamous Grim Reaper was undead in the first place. To Frankenstein, the horrid head represents hope. She can work with it.
"I hope that your experiments succeed. I pray that they do," Ms. Hayes sneaks up on the sordid scientist.
"This one should work," Frankenstein says over her shoulder.
"Wouldn't that one work better? He is fresh and whole," Purple Hayes points to recently-deceased Louis Dawson on a gurney.
Faithful servant Freda Pfennigswert robbed Reaper's grave last week. Ms. Hayes feels for Dawson's bereft widow, who also lost a son once. But, Purple lost two parents once, and Nosferata needs to complete her mission. Nosferata needs to retire. The Dark Princess of the Night needs to disappear into further obscurity than she already has. In her entire career, Nosferata has only faced-down two supervillains: Jack Serious and Adrenazon. And, both were jokes. The She-Bat herself is a joke. She is merely a parody of Nighthawk or the fictional Batman, himself a phony character.
In her costumed guise, Purple has even been beaten black and blue by street thugs, and she has never known success without She-Hulk coming to her aid and rescue. Quite possibly, the Dark Princess could never be a mighty Avenger such as the Jade Giantess. When Iron Man contacted Nosferata to potentially join the Initiative, Tony Stark ultimately decided to pass on her. Only Purple Hayes could attract Stark's attention later by getting him to agree to invest in an upstate research facility. And, she had to do a dinner date with him. Only heiress Hayes actually matters; it would seem.
Thus, Nosferata must retire. However, in order to retire, Purple needs Timothy and Blair back. She needs her murdered parents back so that there is no reason for a Nosferata.
So, like two ghouls, Nosferata and Freda recently disinterred Purple's two long-dead loved ones. Father and Mother are not in this attic's grotesque setting, of course. Rather, their disturbed coffins lie peacefully in a first-floor parlor surrounded by roses and other deodorants.
Stories above, Timothy and Blair's dedicated daughter does what is necessary. Because of their long sleeps, Purple Hayes must let Victoria Frankenstein do extensive experimentation on evil men, criminals who might more deserve desecration than the average cadaver. With bats in her belfry, Nosferata in the Nosferattic believes that decades-old dear dead bodies must rise and walk and that these five bad human beings—Enforcer, Grappler, Kraken, Reaper, and Grim Reaper—are but stepping stones to such tenebrous achievement. Certainly, insane Dr. Frankenstein believes that, rationally, one can raise the recently dead, then the longer reposed and rotting (such as Scourge's victims), and then ultimately the nearly skeletal. That is just good science.
In Purple and Vicki's psyches, even the corpse of an ex-cop must give itself to an obscene cause. Unbeknownst to him, Louis Dawson has always been just another servant to heiress Hayes. He was crazy enough to believe that she worked in his interest. To hire him, she convinced him that the Syracuse Stark-Hayes facility would work upon both bringing back her parents and his beloved son Andy. Free of grief and ghosts, neither Nosferata nor Reaper would need their vigilante identities anymore. In the Empire State, Dr. Arthur Nagan likewise promised liberation of Louie's head. However, Dawson was always only an appendage, like servant Freda, or like the four Syracuse stooges, to prosperous Purple Hayes.
Nosferata used Reaper like a tool. She had an agent that she could send into She-Hulk's Ideahive just as She-Hulk had today sent Spider-Woman into Hayes Manor. Hayes had a loony who would don the Grim Reaper wear after Williams' unfortunate fate in Block Island Sound (although the incident did fortunately provide more test tissue). Empowered, entitled Hayes had simply objectified Dawson, and she would not mind continuing to manipulate his body and soul now.
Purple Hayes prepares to roll Reaper's bier to Dr. Frankenstein. Unexpectedly, the She-Bat's ears hear a chuckle from the mad scientist.
"Do not disturb dead Dawson, darling," Victoria requests, "Come here. I told you that this one is still alive—or undead at any rate."
The Dark Princess strolls through the shadowy lab to her companion miscreant. There, in the tin tray, Eric Williams' eyelids flutter, and his orbs frantically shift as if in a nightmare. Suddenly, his eyes snap open. Putrid tears of rot roll down his face. He screams silently—dislodged from any lungs. The dead head mussitates an execration upon the repulsive parties of its re-creation.
"Cool," the She-Bat states, "Now, I had better change into my Nosferata suit. She-Hulk and Spider-Woman are about to raid us."