Artemis: The girl behind the mask

I was a normal kid until I wasn't. My mother was all about fairytales, she talked of damsels in distress who would eventually be saved by a knight in shining armour. She would tell me to be patient and wait for my knight to show up and save me whenever I was in trouble. Since I can remember, it has always been just me and mom. I was never a curious kid, never asked my mom about my dad because I knew that whatever the answer was, it would do nothing but hurt her. And if she said that he was dead I would never have a knight to come save me.

There were things I did not know as a child and some I wish I had never known. My aunt was very different from my mother. She did not believe that women needed to be saved, so she made me my own saviour. My step dad was very rich and my aunt owned an abandoned factory. It was where we would train. Every single day I would wake up at four, train till seven and then go to school. This training was physical as well as academic, by the age of fifteen I had written five theories on quantum physics and come close to time travel, I could fight ten men without breaking a sweat. However, there was one talent I had, that no one could take from me. I could shoot arrows. Well, it’s more exciting than it sounds. I have never ever in my life, ever missed my target. It’s always a bullseye. 

When I was thirteen, my aunt forced me to make my own arrows, That was when I discovered what I call ‘The Bag’. This bag was compact but it could hold five hundred arrows. These arrows were very special. Some were normal, others had bombs, electricity, nets, you say it and I had it. I trained continuously until I was better and smarter than my own aunt. Now, it was time for her to let me go. I helped my step dad in his business for a year or so. I had made quite a huge fortune in that time. 

I decided to buy my aunt's factory which she had now turned into a high-tech research facility with an amazing training arena for me. I was having fun, fighting neighbourhood criminals. Every fight I won my aunt could sense me growing stronger, she could sense that I was ready.

The day I graduated school my aunt sat me down and told me that my father had been killed. My father’s killer was on the loose. My mother was there too, she sat there silently, listening. “I will bring my father to justice”. I said in a bold tone. “Yes, you will. That is what I have prepared you for. Darling, there is much evil in this world. The world might not be ready for you, but you are for it. I want you to use this place as your headquarters, avenge your father’s death and fight crime all over the world. But listen close, all this time we have trained, we have never taught you to kill. Life is precious no matter whose it is, their life is not yours to take. Catch the criminal and lock them up. Your father’s killer has powers now, these people cannot be bound by mere handcuffs. However, you can trap them in the mirrorverse. The mirrorverse is something your father discovered but we don’t know how to open it, so that is another mystery for you to solve. Remember you are not alone,we are right here”.

We talked for hours and then I set out to find the perfect members for my team. Before all that, I needed a hero name. My aunt named me Artemis after the Greek goddess because she was good with arrows too. 

My search took me all over America. I fought a few criminals along the way, It was incredible. Then I met Psych, a superhuman with powers such as mind reading and extreme intelligence. He is our mad scientist, you could say. He is the brains and brawns combined. I did not stop there I went forward and found the triplets, Marl, Aqua and Zephyr. Marl can order the plants to grow and soil to move. Aqua controls water and Zephyr commands the wind. They are my Elementals. Ever since we have met, their powers have only grown. Zephyr can now fly and control literally anything in the air, Aqua learned to speak sea and Marl has become handy with the wildlife.

Then I met Permafrost, she is a little naive but she’s our ice queen. We put our heads together to try to find the mirrorverse and a way to trap the killer there but we failed. I did manage to trap him in the quantum realm but not for long, we needed to find a route to the mirrorverse. Our answer came right to our doorstep- Arwin Bowen. He came from the future where I made time travel possible. Arwin is the smartest man alive. The guy has seven Phds and counting. He came with my Dad’s journal. With all the information about the mirrorverse in it and Arwin by our side, we finally trapped Wave in the mirrorverse.

We called ourselves the Hunt. And so, we fought crime together for a long time. We found more people like us who were willing to protect humanity. That is what has brought us here today. We have made a new establishment in this location so we can keep more people safe, and I cannot be happier to leave this lab in the hands of Psych and his teams. The Hunt is not alone, I would like to introduce you to Team Psych. Now, I would like Psych to take the pedestal. 

“Artemis and I have been talking of a second establishment for quite a long time and together we have finally made it possible. The Hunt is my family and now, Team Psych is too. I will go out with Zephyr, who will join me in my search for superheroes and we will find people and we will protect our city . Thank you Artemis!”.