TWO WEEKS LATER
A-lot can change in two weeks, that much was absolutely certain. In that period of time, the city had started whispering.
Not loudly. Not yet. But in the spaces between police sirens and late-night news segments, between shaky phone videos and anonymous tips that kept coming true.
They called them Cloak & Dagger.
Two figures who appeared out of shadow and light, dismantling street operations, collapsing trafficking rings, exposing corrupt officials with surgical precision. Unlike a-lot of other heroes, there wasn't much collateral damage if any, and they were extremely efficient.
The crimes they stopped weren't random, they were definitely targeted in some mysterious way, and that was what worried the Young Justice team, who had been recently tasked with finding out more about this duo, and either taking them down or recruiting them depending on the situation.
The Mount Justice briefing room was dim, holographic displays hovering above the central table. National City glowed in layers of red, yellow, and green markers, crime nodes blinking as they appeared and vanished.
Dick Grayson leaned back in his chair, arms crossed, his mask catching the light, "We've been tracking these two for quite a while between our other missions, and we've gotten essentially nowhere,"
"Hey, we've learned something. At least some basic understanding of their M-O. They clearly aren't doing this for pride, there's an obvious pattern," Aqualad said, gesturing as the display shifted.
Orphanages to drug corridors, shell foundations and various political pressure points. All connected by invisible lines that only became obvious when overlaid with Cloak & Dagger's appearances.
"They are dismantling infrastructure," Kaldur continued, "They're not reacting, they're anticipating where they need to be,"
Superboy frowned, arms tense, "So what? That makes them efficient."
"It makes them dangerous," Artemis shot back, perched on the edge of the table. "Anyone who knows this much and stays this invisible isn't just lucky."
At the far end of the room, Miss Martian stood with her hands clasped, brow furrowed in frustration.
"I still can't find them," she said quietly, and that made everyone look at her.
That made everyone look at her.
"I've tried every ethical approach," M'gann continued. "Passive scans. Ambient emotional echoes. Even deep-range sweeps tied to the events themselves." She shook her head. "Nothing. It's like they're not just hiding their location, they're absent. Even when I read the memories of people who come across them, it's just....nothing,"
Dick raised an eyebrow, "Absent how?"
"Like… their minds don't leave footprints," she replied. "Or something is actively smoothing them over. I can't even get a psychic afterimage."
Superboy scowled, "You're telling me two street-level vigilantes are blocking a Martian telepath?"
"I'm telling you," M'gann said firmly, "that whatever they're using is deliberate, and sophisticated, at least for me,"
A new hologram appeared, League insignia rotating slowly as Batman's voice filled the room, calm and absolute, "You are not to engage unless necessary. Just observe, especially Cloak, we need a deep understanding of him,"
"We can barely get close, and you expect us to somehow learn anything about them?" Dick said frustratingly.
"This is an important mission, if you all want to be real Heroes, you can figure it out, and I repeat, Do Not Engage unless absolutely necessary," Batman said.
Despite not calling anyone out, everyone looked at Superboy, known for his emotional instability even if he'd improved over time alongside the team, especially with M'gann.
However, Batman cut off communication before they could say anything else.
Dick sighed as that happened, "So… the usual. We watch, we learn, and we don't poke the sleeping shadow monster."
"And the glowing knife ballerina," Artemis muttered.
Later that night, Young Justice regrouped on a rooftop overlooking National City's waterfront. The wind carried the smell of salt and rain. Below them, the city looked normal.
"They were here last night," Grayson said, crouched near the ledge, scrolling through a holo-display. "Drug hub collapsed. There were no fatalities and five arrests, that Dagger girl also prevented some overdoses similar to the first time they appeared,"
"Which means they're already gone," Superboy said.
Zatanna closed her eyes briefly, whispering a detection spell under her breath, but catching onto nothing.
She opened her eyes, annoyed, "No residual magic. No signature. No echo. It's like the city itself swallowed them."
M'gann clenched her fists. "I don't like not knowing."
***
High above the waterfront, higher than the rooftop Young Justice team stood on, there was a place where light bent strangely and shadows refused to behave.
Tandy saw them first.
"They're closer than last time," she murmured, eyes narrowing behind her lenses as she adjusted the Lightforce shutters. The city below glowed in layers of heat and emotion, but a couple of distinct presences stood out like pins driven into the night.
Young Justice Team!
Tyrone stood beside her, half of his form dissolving into the surrounding darkness as if the night itself had decided to keep him. From this angle, from any angle that mattered, they were invisible, folded into a pocket of shadow anchored to a rooftop ledge that didn't technically exist.
"I know," Tyrone said calmly. "They've been getting better."
Below them, Dick Grayson gestured animatedly while the others scanned the city, frustration practically radiating off them in waves. Tandy could feel it brushing against her senses like static.
"They're not wrong to look," she said quietly. "If I were them, I'd be doing the same thing."
Tyrone didn't answer right away. His gaze lingered on Miss Martian, who stood very still, eyes unfocused as she tried, again—to touch something that refused to be touched.
"She's strong," Tandy added, "If anyone was going to find us, it'd be her."
"And she hasn't," Tyrone replied. "Because she can't."
He shifted slightly, shadows responding to the movement like a living thing. "Whatever Dimension our powers are connected to, it makes sure we're safe from her psychic searches,"
A moment passed. Wind rolled in from the bay, tugging at Tandy's hair before the suit sealed it back into place.
"They could help us," she said finally. Not really trying to argue, just stating a truth, "The League has resources. Reach. Legitimacy. If things get worse, "
"They come with rules," Tyrone said immediately.
Tandy looked at him then.
"They come with oversight and a whole lot of red tape. Wait for this, don't do that. It'll just be frustrating being overseen by people who never had to choose between letting a system rot or tearing it open," he said.
"If I didn't know you, I'd swear you really didn't like the League," Tandy said with a smile.
"What? I'm a huge fan, The Flash is my GOAT, but being a fan and actually working with them is different," he continued, voice low but steady. "They'd tell us where we're allowed to look. Who we're allowed to touch. What lines we're not allowed to cross."
"And you don't want that," she said softly.
"No," Tyrone said. "I don't."
He watched Dick Greyson leap effortlessly to another rooftop, issuing quiet orders to the team.
"I've lived my whole life inside lines drawn by other people," Tyrone went on, "Police lines. Gang lines. Economic lines. Even almost dying with you didn't free me from that." His jaw tightened, just slightly. "This? What we're doing now? It's the first time it feels… clean. Honest."
Tandy's Light dimmed, then steadied.
"They'd make you compromise," she said.
"They'd make us compromise," Tyrone replied. "And not in the ways that matter."
Silence stretched between them, not uncomfortable, just thoughtful.
Below, Artemis muttered something sharp. Superboy paced. M'gann clenched her fists again.
Tandy exhaled slowly.
"As long as they don't find us, they'll eventually give up. For now, let's focus on our actual mission, making this City a better place, and putting a stop to the people who did this to us," Tyrone said.
He extended his cloak, darkness unfurling like a curtain call. The city shifted as the pocket collapsed, light and shadow knitting together seamlessly.
As Young Justice scanned the rooftops one more time, feeling watched but finding nothing, Cloak & Dagger were already gone, moving beneath the city, unbound, unseen, and very much awake.
The heroes kept searching, but they were chasing Ghosts.