(Ring! Ring! Ring!)
Tess Hartwell, aka "Silver Glory", woke up with a groan. Her silver hair sticking out in every direction like an electrified bush.
Sunlight filtered through her curtains, painting soft stripes on her pink pajama decorated with tiny bear heads.
She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
Grabbing her phone, she tapped with a bit of force the phone icon to accept the incoming call—the culprit why her sleep was disturbed.
"Look at the news! Limitless Void finally showed up again!"
The call was from the headquarters.
Hearing it, she groaned inwardly. "Ugh… villains don't wait for me to finish sleeping…" she muttered, wiping her drool. She would die once the public knew this side of her.
Regardless, her eyes shone, wide open. She waited for him to appear— only to waste a week without any sign of that evil showing up even a shadow of him.
"Now you have finally shown up!"
"I swear… I will stop him. I will show the world that justice still wins."
She pushed herself out of bed and shuffled toward her bathroom like a war veteran returning to the frontlines. She brushed her teeth while staring at her reflection—the heroic image the world loved and her parents' most beloved treasure in the world.
"Focus. Today's the day," she told herself, splashing cold water onto her face. "I'm catching Limitless Void!"
The villain responsible for every unexplained cruelty.
She towel-dried her face and marched into her workspace—an organized chaos of holograms, mission files, coffee cups, and a giant digital board filled with pictures of Limitless Void with red circles and arrows pointing everywhere.
Her assistant, Lena, was already there, terrified and holding a stack of reports.
"You're early?" Now in her Silver Glory mode, she raised an eyebrow.
"I—I slept here," Lena said, gesturing weakly to a pillow hidden under the desk.
"Good. That's dedication."
Silver Glory plopped into her chair and stretched. "Now let's begin. Operation: Capture Limitless Void."
Lena nodded vigorously and activated the holo-display. Screens appeared midair—maps, timestamps, sightings, crime footage, data heatmaps.
Silver Glory crossed one leg over the other, now fully alert and serious.
"He moves unpredictably. No patterns. No weaknesses observed. He strikes randomly and vanishes before the heroes arrive."
"Right. But," Lena said meekly, "I analyzed the distances between every known incident. There's a slight central cluster forming around Zone Seven."
"Zone Seven…" She hummed. "The densest civilian area. Of course he'd strike there to cause maximum casualties," she said and sighed.
Then Silver Glory rose from her chair and walked closer to the hologram, studying Limitless Void's figure frozen in a frame—the infamous shot of him slashing a civilian.
Her eyes hardened.
"This man has killed more civilians in two weeks than some villains do in a lifetime. And he has abilities we don't fully understand."
She tapped the screen and zoomed in on Limitless Void's void energy.
"He's dangerous. He's ruthless. And he's getting bolder."
Lena gulped. "S-so what's the plan?"
Silver Glory straightened her posture, her aura shifting into full hero mode.
"We need to set a trap. But how to do it is the question."
"Wait." Lena tapped her tablet nervously. "Upon careful studying… I noticed something in his recent crimes. All of them—every single one—were committed when there was a prereported incident."
Silver Glory blinked. "Meaning?"
Lena brought up a timeline on the holo-display. Red markers flashed: accident reports, robbery warnings, rescue requests, emergency calls.
"All these happened before Limitless Void appeared," Lena continued. "Almost like he's drawn to areas where trouble has already been reported."
Silver Glory leaned closer, her silver eyes narrowing with focus.
"Are you saying," she asked slowly, "that this villain… reacts to danger instead of causing it?"
"I-I'm not completely sure," Lena stammered. "But if he relies on these prereported incidents—maybe he's using them as opportunities to kill civilians."
For a moment, Silver Glory remained still.
Silent and thinking.
Then—
A spark. A sliver of hope flickering in her eyes.
"…So that's it."
She lifted her head, determination radiating from her like a rising sun.
"He's not striking randomly. He's following emergencies. Using chaos to cause chaos." She clenched her fist. "If we can manipulate the emergency reports… we can lure him."
Lena swallowed. "A-Are you suggesting we… fabricate an incident?"
"No." Her tone sharpened. "We'll set up a controlled scenario. Something believable. Something dangerous enough that he won't ignore it."
She grabbed a marker and scribbled across the holo-board, connecting arrows between red markers around Zone Seven.
"Limitless Void always arrives first. Before the heroes. Before the press." She smirked. "Then we'll be the ones waiting for him."
Lena's hands trembled slightly. "So that will be our trap… a staged emergency in Zone Seven."
Silver Glory nodded. "We'll request a civilian convoy. Fully monitored. Fully protected. The moment he arrives to cause 'mayhem'—"
"We surround him," Lena finished.
"Exactly." Silver Glory straightened, confidence surging through her body. She stared again at the frozen image of Limitless Void—his dark blade raised, his eyes unreadable.
"Since the day he appeared, he made a fool of the association," she whispered. "But now… now I finally have a way to catch him."
Her silver hair swayed as she turned back to the board.
"This is it, Lena. Our first real chance."
"Oper—" Lena began but Silver Glory lifted a hand, her expression firm and fierce.
"Operation: Ending the Void."
Lena exhaled shakily.
Silver Glory's heart pounded, not with fear, but with a hero's burning resolve.
"Limitless Void…" A small, confident grin tugged at her lips. "…your luck ends tonight."