The encrypted texts from Spoiler started the next day.
Spoiler:Tracking a fencing operation in the East End. Stolen electronics. DON'T interfere if you see people moving boxes near the old electronics district. I'm mapping the network.
Marcus stared at his phone during his morning coffee.
So this is coordination. Getting told where NOT to intervene.
He texted back: Revenant:How long have you been tracking this?
Spoiler:Three weeks. Almost have the whole supply chain mapped. One more week and I can hit the distribution center, not just street dealers.
Revenant:Got it. Will avoid that area.
Spoiler:Thanks. BTW, there's a drug operation running out of the warehouse on Grundy Street. Two-man crew, 11 PM-2 AM window. That one you CAN hit if you want. It's not connected to anything bigger I'm tracking.
Revenant:You're just... giving me targets now?
Spoiler:I'm coordinating operations for efficiency. You want to help people? Here's a way to help without disrupting my investigations.
Revenant:Fair enough.
Marcus logged the exchange in Sarah's app later that morning.
That evening, he hit the Grundy Street warehouse. Just like Spoiler said—two-man operation, drug dealing, 11 PM timing.
The takedown was clean. Enhanced speed, combat training, both suspects restrained. But as Marcus was calling Bullock, his phone buzzed.
Spoiler:How'd it go?
Revenant:Clean. Two suspects down. How did you know I was there?
Spoiler:I'm tracking Crime Alley activity. Saw the police response time and location. Figured that was you.
Revenant:That's either impressive or creepy.
Spoiler:Both. Get used to it.
Over the next week, the coordination evolved.
Spoiler would text him about operations to avoid—her ongoing investigations that needed careful handling. In exchange, she'd identify targets he COULD hit—smaller operations, immediate threats, things that needed reactive response.
Tuesday night:
Spoiler:Mugging in progress, corner of 5th and Morrison. Single suspect, knife. You're closer than I am.
Marcus responded, stopped the mugging in under two minutes.
Revenant:Handled. How did you know about it?
Spoiler:Police scanner + location tracking + pattern analysis. You're not the only one monitoring criminal activity.
Thursday night:
Spoiler:DON'T touch the chop shop on Grant Street. I'm tracking stolen vehicle network. Let them operate.
Revenant:Even though they're actively stealing cars?
Spoiler:Even though. Taking down the chop shop gets us 3 guys. Tracking the network gets us the whole operation—15+ people. Think bigger.
Revenant:Point taken.
Friday night:
Spoiler:Armed robbery at convenience store, East End. Two suspects. Your specialty.
Revenant:My specialty is getting shot at in convenience stores?
Spoiler:Your specialty is reactive response to immediate threats. Go be reactive.
Marcus stopped the robbery. Both suspects down, clerk safe. No shots fired this time.
Revenant:Clean takedown. You're getting good at this coordinator thing.
Spoiler:Thanks. You're getting good at following instructions.
Revenant:Was that a compliment?
Spoiler:Don't let it go to your head.
Sunday morning review with Sarah and Jackson analyzed the new dynamic.
"You're essentially taking tactical direction from another vigilante," Sarah said, scrolling through the text logs. "That's... actually working well."
"She's better at the strategic stuff than I am," Marcus admitted. "Sees patterns I miss. Thinks three steps ahead."
"And you provide immediate response capability she might not have," Jackson added. "Complementary skill sets. That's good teamwork."
"It's weird though. A week ago I didn't know she existed. Now she's telling me where to patrol and what to avoid."
"That's called coordination. Professional cooperation." Sarah pulled up crime statistics. "And look—combined, you two are more effective than either alone. Crime in Crime Alley is down 15% this week. That's significant."
Marcus looked at the data. She was right. Working together—even at a distance, even through just text coordination—they were making a real difference.
"She wants to meet again," Marcus said. "Wednesday night. Says she has tactical training she wants to share."
"Like what?"
"Investigation techniques. Pattern analysis. Strategic thinking." Marcus shrugged. "The stuff I'm bad at."
"You should go," Sarah decided. "Learning from someone with more experience is valuable. Just maintain your operational security."
Wednesday night, Marcus met Spoiler on the same Monarch Theatre rooftop.
"You came," she said, not turning around from where she sat on the roof edge.
"Your texts were pretty insistent." Marcus approached, maintaining his usual careful distance. "Something about 'if you want to stop being reactive you need actual training'?"
"Did I say that? Sounds harsh."
"You said that verbatim."
"Then it's true." Spoiler stood up, pulled out a tablet. "Okay, Revenant. Time for strategy 101."
She spent the next hour teaching him pattern analysis. How to track criminal activity over time. How to identify organization structures. How to distinguish random crime from coordinated operations.
"See, you stopped this mugging last week," Spoiler pulled up a map with crime locations marked. "And this one. And this one. All in the same six-block radius. All targeting the same demographic—college students walking alone at night."
"So they're connected?"
"Probably the same crew. Three or four guys working a specific area, targeting vulnerable individuals." Spoiler traced the pattern. "If you'd been thinking strategically, you would have staked out the area and caught the whole crew at once. Instead you caught them individually, and now they know someone's interfering."
Ouch. But accurate.
"So I should have waited?"
"You should have recognized the pattern and acted on it instead of reacting to individual incidents." Spoiler zoomed out on the map. "Crime isn't random, Revenant. It's organized. There are structures, hierarchies, patterns. If you learn to see them, you can hit the organizations instead of just the symptoms."
Marcus studied the map. She was right. He'd been so focused on helping individual victims that he missed the bigger picture.
"Show me more."
Spoiler smiled—he could hear it in her voice even through the mask. "There's hope for you yet."
She spent another thirty minutes walking him through criminal organization structures. How street dealers connect to distributors. How burglary rings operate. How to identify coordination vs random crime.
"This is like... criminal sociology," Marcus said.
"That's exactly what it is. You can't fight crime effectively if you don't understand how it works." Spoiler closed her tablet. "Your turn. Show me what you've got."
"What do you mean?"
"You've got physical advantages I don't have. Enhanced speed, strength, whatever else. Show me what you can actually do."
Marcus hesitated. Showing his full capabilities meant revealing more about himself.
"It's okay to have secrets," Spoiler said, reading his hesitation. "But if we're going to work together, I need to know your operational capabilities. I'm not asking HOW you got them. Just what they are."
Fair point.
Marcus demonstrated his enhanced speed—crossing the rooftop in under a second. His enhanced strength—lifting a chunk of concrete one-handed. His enhanced reflexes—catching items Spoiler threw at him without looking.
"Okay, those are serious advantages," Spoiler said, clearly impressed. "How long have you had these?"
"Few months. Since I started operating."
"And you're still learning to use them effectively." She pulled out her phone, made notes. "Your speed is your biggest asset. Use it for positioning, not just charging in. Your strength means you can move obstacles, create barriers, control the environment. Your reflexes mean you can dodge projectiles—use that defensively more."
"You're analyzing my combat style?"
"I'm analyzing how to maximize your effectiveness. There's a difference." Spoiler looked up from her phone. "You're powerful but you're not using your powers efficiently. You fight like a normal person who happens to be enhanced. You should be fighting like someone enhanced from the start."
"What's the difference?"
"Normal person with enhancements: uses speed to punch faster. Enhanced person: uses speed to be three places at once, forcing opponents into impossible situations." Spoiler demonstrated with positioning. "You're thinking like a boxer who got faster. Think like someone who can break the normal rules of combat."
Marcus absorbed that. She had a point. He'd been using his enhancements as multipliers on normal techniques instead of developing entirely new approaches.
"You've thought about this a lot."
"I've spent eight months watching how enhanced people fight. Batman, the various Robins, other meta-humans." Spoiler shrugged. "You learn patterns. You're not maximizing your potential."
"Guess I need more training."
"We both do. I need better combat technique. You need better tactical thinking. We can help each other." Spoiler moved toward the roof edge. "Same time next week? I'll bring more analysis, you bring questions?"
"That works."
"Good. Oh, and Revenant?" She paused before grappling away. "Thanks for not disrupting my investigations this week. Made a real difference."
"Yeah, well. Your coordinator skills are pretty good."
"I know. See you around."
She grappled into the night, leaving Marcus alone with his thoughts.
Over the next week, the coordination became routine.
Daily texts about operations. Strategic guidance from Spoiler. Reactive response from Marcus. They found a rhythm—her investigative skills plus his enhanced capabilities creating something more effective than either alone.
Abilities gained:
Click - Strategic pattern recognition (from detective at police station during hospital visit)
Click - Advanced urban geography knowledge (from delivery driver)
Click - Chemical compound identification basics (from pharmacy tech)
By the end of the week, Marcus had 260 abilities. His collection kept growing.
But more importantly, he was learning to think strategically. To see patterns. To understand criminal organizations as systems instead of random bad guys.
Saturday evening brought a test of the coordination.
Marcus spotted what looked like a drug deal in progress—three men, exchange of packages, classic setup.
His first instinct was to intervene immediately.
Wait. Think. Is this part of something bigger?
He texted Spoiler: Revenant:Drug deal, corner of 8th and Grundy. Three guys. Part of anything you're tracking?
Her response came thirty seconds later: Spoiler:YES. That's connected to the distribution network I'm mapping. Do NOT interfere. I'm so close to having the whole thing.
Revenant:Even though they're dealing right now?
Spoiler:Even though. Taking them down gets 3 guys. My investigation gets the whole network. Trust me.
Marcus watched the deal complete. Every instinct screamed to stop it.
But she's right. Bigger picture. Strategic thinking.
He pulled back, let it happen, logged the details for Spoiler's investigation.
Revenant:Didn't interfere. Logged everything for your records.
Spoiler:Thank you. Seriously. That's the hardest part of strategic work—letting small crimes happen to catch bigger ones.
Revenant:Feels wrong.
Spoiler:It is wrong. But it's necessary. Welcome to the hard part of vigilante work.
Sunday morning, Marcus logged his thoughts:
DATE: July 21
TOTAL ABILITIES: 260
SPOILER COORDINATION - ONE WEEK SUMMARY:
Working relationship fully established. She provides strategic guidance, I provide reactive response. Complementary skill sets creating better overall effectiveness.
WHAT I'VE LEARNED:
Pattern analysis - crime isn't random, it's organized
Organization structures - hierarchies, supply chains, coordination
Strategic thinking - sometimes letting small crimes happen catches bigger operations
Enhanced combat theory - I should fight like someone enhanced, not like a normal person who got faster
WHAT SHE'S LEARNED FROM ME:
My operational capabilities (speed, strength, reflexes)
My response time and effectiveness
My blind spots (strategic thinking, investigation skills)
EFFECTIVENESS: Crime in Crime Alley down 15% this week. That's measurable impact. Working together is genuinely helping people.
HARDEST MOMENT: Watching drug deal happen and not interfering. Went against every instinct. But Spoiler's right—catching three dealers vs catching the whole network. Strategic thinking is harder than reactive response.
PERSONAL DYNAMICS: She's professional, direct, slightly sarcastic. I'm learning a lot from her. Relationship is purely operational—no personal info shared, clear boundaries maintained. That works.
VIOLENT IMPULSE: Stayed at 3-4/10 all week. Strategic thinking might actually help manage it—gives me framework for channeling aggression productively instead of just controlling it.
SARAH'S ASSESSMENT: "This coordination is making you more effective. Keep learning from her."
JACKSON'S ASSESSMENT: "Still be careful about trust. We don't know her civilian identity or ultimate motives."
MY ASSESSMENT: This is working. I'm better at vigilante work than I was two weeks ago. She's teaching me things I couldn't learn on my own. As long as we maintain operational security, this is valuable.
NEXT STEPS: Continue coordination. Keep learning strategic thinking. Apply pattern analysis to my patrols. Meet her weekly for tactical training. Stay professional but open to actually becoming a team if trust builds.
Marcus closed the app and looked at his ceiling.
Three months since resurrection. 260 abilities. Professional coordination with another vigilante. Actual strategy instead of just reaction.
I'm getting better at this. Slowly. But better.
His phone buzzed.
Spoiler:BTW, next week I'm teaching you interrogation techniques. You can't just punch everyone and hope they talk.
Revenant:I don't punch everyone.
Spoiler:You punch most people.
Revenant:Only the ones who deserve it.
Spoiler:That's everyone you encounter. See the problem?
Revenant:Point taken. Interrogation techniques next week.
Spoiler:Good student. Keep it up.
Marcus smiled despite himself.
Okay, Spoiler's sarcasm is growing on me.
This coordination thing might actually turn into actual partnership eventually.
If we both survive Gotham long enough.
Outside his window, Gotham's chaos continued.
But for the first time, Marcus didn't feel like he was facing it alone.
Somewhere out there, Spoiler was doing the same work.
And together, they were making a difference.