Field Alpha was dim, lit only by the blue hue of Gwen's scanner array.
She leaned over the interface, fine-tuning the filters on their emergency signal feed. "Downtown's quiet. But there's something near Cypress and 8th. Mugging in progress."
Luffy slurped the last of his protein shake and checked the second monitor. "And a break-in on Delmar. Electronics store. Looks like two guys inside."
Gwen stood up, adjusting the hood of her suit. "We split up?"
Luffy stretched and rolled his shoulders. "Just like we practiced."
Gwen: Cypress and 8th
The wind bit at her face as Gwen swung across the narrow streets, silent in the shadows. She landed on a light pole above the mugging, eyes narrowing.
One man shoved a woman against a wall, yelling something indistinct. The alley was dim, lit only by a faulty streetlamp.
Gwen dropped silently behind him.
"Hey," she whispered.
The man spun just in time to get webbed to the dumpster behind him. A flash pellet exploded in front of his face, and by the time the victim blinked again, Gwen was gone.
The woman stood there, trembling. Moments later, a patrol car turned the corner.
From a rooftop above, Gwen watched her speak to the officers. She was safe. She didn't know who helped her.
Gwen turned away, heart pounding not from adrenaline — but from the echo of being unseen.
Luffy: Delmar Electronics
Luffy landed softly on the roof of the shop. Through the skylight, he saw two men rummaging through display cases.
He dropped through the back vent, landing with a soft thud that startled them.
"Who's there?!"
One swung a bat.
It hit Luffy square in the chest—and bounced off like it had struck a tire.
"That wasn't smart," Luffy said calmly.
The other tried to run, but Luffy wrapped his arm around a ceiling beam, stretched, and clotheslined him into a stack of empty boxes.
Both were unconscious before the alarm system could even finish arming.
Luffy tied them up neatly and dragged them near the entrance. He looked up at a camera — which flickered, then fuzzed out.
"Strawhat was never here," he muttered with a grin.
Gwen landed outside seconds later.
"Nice timing," she said.
"Two out. No damage. Super clean."
They disappeared into the alley as sirens approached.
**Back at Field Alpha
The elevator back down to Field Alpha creaked slightly, even though no one else knew it existed. Gwen and Luffy walked in silence for a while, the night's chill still clinging to their suits. Gwen reached into her bag and passed Luffy a thermos of hot cocoa they had stashed earlier.
"I still can't believe you tied them up using one hand," Gwen said.
"They were lightweights," Luffy replied, blowing on the drink. "Besides, you webbed a guy mid-sentence. That was cool."
"It was also risky. I was ten seconds from being seen."
"But you weren't. That's what counts."
They stepped into Field Alpha, the door sealing behind them.
Gwen updated the whiteboard.
Missions:
"Bus Stop Assist – No ID"
"Electronics Heist – 2 Incapacitated"
She clicked her pen twice, then sat on a crate. "We did everything right. No sightings. No noise."
"But?" Luffy asked, sitting cross-legged.
She hesitated. "It's like we don't exist. No one thanks us. No one even knows."
Luffy nodded slowly. "Maybe that's the point. We help because we can. Not because they clap."
Gwen sighed. "I know. Just... part of me wants to be seen. Not as a hero, but... as someone real."
"You are real," Luffy said. "We both are. Just not where they're looking."
Gwen smiled faintly. "Thanks."
At the Stacy Residence
George sat at his desk with a thick folder labeled Project Ghosts.
The folder was thicker than ever. It had started as a few odd cases — victims saved by shadows, break-ins stopped without suspects, scattered rumors from late-night witnesses. Now it was a compilation of every unexplained incident over the last six months.
He flipped through the tabs. "Low-res drone. No thermal footprint. Audio spikes — scrambled."
His pen tapped against the edge of his desk. No one in the department believed him. The official line was still: "Coincidence. Unrelated. No confirmed vigilantes."
But George Stacy knew better.
He remembered his early years, chasing phantom sightings that turned out to be real threats. This felt the same — a pattern everyone refused to see.
He pulled up a map on his laptop and added two new pins. Then, he drew a circle.
"They're narrowing their territory," he whispered. "Or refining it."
A quiet knock came from his door. He quickly minimized the screen.
"Just working on some cold cases," he called out.
No one replied. The hallway remained silent.
Still alone, George re-opened the map.
"You're out there," he muttered. "And I'm going to find you."
He pinned a printout to his corkboard: Cypress and 8th, woman unharmed, no suspect found.
Another: Delmar Electronics, suspects tied up, no footage, no witnesses.
He drew connecting lines.
Same time window.
Zero physical evidence.
Zero public presence.
"You're still out there," he whispered. "And you're getting better."
He reached for a stack of older incident reports and began cross-referencing them in silence. No one else believed. But he kept looking.
Later, on a rooftop
Gwen and Luffy perched above the glowing city. Traffic moved like veins of light. Voices echoed far below.
"We stopped two crimes tonight," Gwen said. "And no one even saw us."
Luffy looked out across the city. "That's what makes it ours. We don't wait for thanks. We act. Quietly. Swiftly."
A drone buzzed by overhead.
It sparked briefly, then flickered out as it passed over them. Gwen's distortion field had triggered perfectly.
They both stood up.
"Ready for another?" Gwen asked.
Luffy pulled his hat down low. "Always."