Inside an old warehouse, three teenagers sat in a room designated as their "command center."
Surrounding them were glowing computer monitors displaying streams of data—everything from intelligence Spider-Man, a.k.a. Peter Parker, had gathered during his daily patrols, to files Lila Barton had pulled from her own deep dives on the internet.
Surprisingly, this teenage superhero team actually operated with a fair bit of professionalism.
"Alright, that guy who shoots energy blasts didn't show up again today, and it's getting really late. If we don't head home soon, our families are going to freak out. So let's keep this short," Peter began.
"On my way home from school, I ran into four guys robbing a self-service bank. They were armed with some kind of alien tech. Luckily, Neko here had my back, and we managed to take them down without too much trouble."
"Whoa, alien tech?" Lila immediately locked onto the key part of Peter's story. "What kind of weapons were they using?"
"Oh, they were super powerful! Looked like they'd been modded, too!" Peter said enthusiastically.
Launching into a vivid play-by-play of how he'd thwarted the robbers, complete with dramatic embellishments about how cool he looked stopping them.
Meanwhile, Kagura's attention drifted to something else Peter had said—the guy who shoots energy blasts.
According to Cortana's earlier investigation, this "Friendly Neighborhood Team" operating in New York seemed to consist of three members:
Peter, Lila the archer (known online as "White Owl"), and a mysterious third figure, rumored to have superpowers.
So, based on what Peter let slip just now, the missing third member was someone capable of energy-based attacks.
That certainly fit the profile of a superhuman.
'An energy-blasting guy, huh…?' Hitomi thought to herself.
'Captain Marvel? Nah, too unlikely.'
In the Marvel Universe, people with those abilities weren't that common, but there were still a few options…
'Mysterio? But he's a villain…'
'No way it's Ultraman, right?'
…
"Peter, about those alien weapons you ran into today—did any of them have that same ghostly quality we've seen before?" Lila suddenly asked.
"Were the robbers able to phase through walls or teleport out of nowhere?"
Before Hitomi could sort out her thoughts about the mystery teammate, Lila brought up a question that caught her completely off guard.
'Ghostly qualities? Teleportation? Phasing through walls?'
'What the hell?!' Hitomi was almost stunned. 'Are all the enemies you deal with this… intense?'
Peter waved dismissively. "Nah, these guys were just regular crooks with alien guns. Nothing like those 'ghosts' we ran into before. These were a lot easier to handle."
"And even then, you needed Neko to bail you out?" Lila crossed her arms. "Come on, Spider-Man. Maybe it's time to reflect a little. Aren't you supposed to be the city's friendly neighborhood hero?"
"No, no, that was just a fluke! How was I supposed to know they had anti-gravity weapons?!" Peter protested. "Even if Neko hadn't shown up, I could've handled it! Really, I mean it!"
"Pffft…" Hitomi couldn't help but giggle behind her hand.
Yep, Peter Parker was definitely still a prideful high schooler at heart.
"Alright, alright, I get it," Lila said with a dismissive wave. "Still, the fact that they were using alien weapons is worth noting."
"It looks like those 'ghosts' might be hijacking alien tech shipments and selling the gear on the black market."
"Um… wait a second," Hitomi finally chimed in. "What exactly are these 'ghosts' you're talking about? Sounds like something seriously dangerous."
"Oh, that's right—Neko doesn't know yet," Lila said, pulling up some files on her screen.
"Lately, we've been dealing with some strange incidents. There's this group of people—if you can even call them that."
"Who can phase through walls, teleport, and vanish into thin air. They've been hijacking high-tech parts and sweeping up alien gear scattered across the city."
"Phasing through walls? Teleportation?" Hitomi frowned. "Are they superhumans?"
"Possibly," Lila replied. "All we know for sure is they move like ghosts—appearing and disappearing out of nowhere. And the weirdest part? They leave no trace behind on any electronic surveillance equipment."
"You mean not even one digital footprint?" Hitomi asked. "What about optical sensors?"
Lila shook her head. "Doesn't matter. Sometimes, even when we see them with our own eyes, they flicker and become nearly transparent. It's like… they really are ghosts."
"Whoa… that's intense," Hitomi's eyes widened. "Ghosts, huh…? Sounds even tougher than crooks with alien guns. I mean, have you guys thought about calling in the Avengers?"
At that, Peter cut in, "The grown-ups are busy. I mentioned it to Mr. Stark a few times, but at most, he just marked it as a suspicious incident. The Avengers aren't really interested in chasing shadows."
"Fair enough," Hitomi nodded in understanding.
Indeed, even if a teenage hero like Peter uncovered something huge, it would be hard to convince the Avengers to pay attention to what they'd consider small fry.
"In any case, we need to keep tracking these 'ghosts'—and we should stay on top of any alien tech activity, too," Lila said while entering notes into her computer.
"After they attacked that Rhodes Industries convoy, the ghosts haven't shown themselves again. I think they're plotting something bigger. We need to stay alert."
'Oh?'
Hitomi's expression shifted to one of curiosity.
Today had turned out to be a treasure trove of intel.
According to Cortana's earlier report, it had been Spider-Man who attacked the Rhodes Industries transport.
But after hearing everything from Lila, Hitomi was starting to piece it together—and she was nearly certain of it now.
Spider-Man hadn't attacked the convoy.
He'd tried to stop the attack.
The real culprits were likely those very same "ghosts" Lila had mentioned.
Ghosts who couldn't be tracked by any sensors.
Ghosts who could phase through walls and vanish without a trace.
Ghosts who struck without warning and disappeared just as fast.
So who were they?
Why were they stealing and collecting advanced technology?
Was it just for black-market sales?
Or… was there something even deeper at play here?
'Things were getting very interesting.' Hitomi narrowed her eyes in thought.
Looks like it's time for her to go find these so-called "ghosts"… and have a little chat.