sharp as a blade

Peter was at the grocery store buying cooking supplies. This time, since he was free and had no patients, he decided to try cooking for himself. He had been addicted to fast food, and that wasn’t a good thing.

Well, it wasn’t like he chose that. If he wanted to earn a living as a doctor, he had to work non-stop. He had been working for 24 hours straight, treating numerous patients over the past weeks. So, it was a relief that the clinic was finally empty, with no one in need of treatment.

He was now inspecting a can of tomatoes, reading the carbohydrates and calorie count, wondering if it would make him feel full. Then he moved on to another item, but suddenly, he felt something strange. His spider-sense flared up, so he raised an eyebrow and slowly turned toward the store entrance.

…And nothing happened.

Was his spider-sense malfunctioning? Or was it just a warning—

The sound of a break-in cut off his thoughts. Masked men stormed into the store shouting,

“Get down! Now!”

They were carrying rifles. The cashier dropped to the floor in terror, and most customers either hit the ground or held their heads, trembling. Everyone complied… except for one person.

Peter clicked his tongue. “Yep. The warning before the storm.”

He sighed. This was his only free day. The first day he’d decided to cook for himself in six months, and now… a grocery store robbery?

What luck, Peter Parker.

He placed the can of tomatoes in his basket and walked casually, as if the criminals hadn’t just shouted moments ago. He headed toward the cashier, who was still lying on the floor trembling, and looked at him nonchalantly.

He pulled out his wallet and calmly said,

“The total is $12.75.”

Then he glanced at the robbers before adding,

“And the change is, hmm… you know what.”

He handed the money to the cashier and tossed it on the counter.

“Keep the change.”

Then he began putting his items in his basket, ignoring the angry and shocked looks around him.

One of the robbers shouted in frustration,

“I told you to get down, you damn bastard!!”

The thief pointed his gun at Peter’s face, his eyes burning with rage. But Peter didn’t seem scared at all; he raised an eyebrow in confusion, as if the man had just asked him to pass the salt at the dinner table. Calmly, Peter pushed the gun away with the back of his hand, as if swatting a fly, then simply turned and walked toward the store entrance.

The three robbers froze in place, staring at him in shock and confusion. How could a normal person act like an armed robbery didn’t concern him? What kind of reaction was this?

The one who had first shouted at him – who seemed to be their leader – cursed under his breath, then spat in Peter’s face. Pointing the gun closer again,

“I said get down, asshole! You wanna die?!”

Peter stopped at the door and wiped the spit from his cheek with his sleeve. He wasn’t angry. He wasn’t even annoyed. He just let out a tired sigh and raised his glasses slightly to reveal his eyes behind them.

Then he said in a calm but sharp tone,

“Oh, please… just shoot. Why threaten if you’re going to do it? If you’re going to commit a crime, at least be confident about it.”

A heavy silence fell over the place.

Peter raised his hand and looked at his watch coolly, then said,

“Well... you’ve got, hmm, ten minutes before the police arrive. Don’t you think it’s better to hurry up and rob the place instead of wasting time threatening me?”

A brief silence followed. The robbers exchanged glances, and the leader clenched his teeth in anger. Then he nodded to his partners.

“Grab the money, fast! And you—don’t lower that gun from him if he tries to run!”

One moved toward the cashier, while the other began searching the customers and stealing their wallets. The third remained in place, pointing his gun at Peter as instructed.

That was… perfect.

Peter didn’t look worried, but he watched them closely. Now they were scattered, each focused on something different. The one stealing from the cashier was trying to make him hand over the money quickly. The other was busy patting down customers. And the third… was aiming his gun at Peter, but he looked nervous.

Good. That was exactly what Peter wanted.

He looked at the man holding the gun at him and noticed his clenched grip, his fast breathing, and the visible unease on his face. He was angry… but he also seemed nervous.

Peter smiled faintly, then tapped his foot on the ground like he was waiting for a boring appointment and said in a calm but challenging tone,

“So… how much are you taking? Five thousand? Ten? Or are you just that bad at robbing?”

The leader growled in anger, pointing his weapon at Peter.

“Shut your damn mouth before I make you!”

The one robbing the customers muttered,

“Why don’t we just kill him? This idiot won’t shut up.”

As for the guy pointing the gun at Peter, he looked more nervous than before, his grip tightening on the weapon, sweat forming on his brow. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to shoot and cause a scene.

As for Peter?

He was silently counting in his head.

3…

One of the robbers glanced at the door, anxious.

2…

The leader half-pulled the trigger, his eyes narrowing.

1…

And suddenly—

The power went out.

The place plunged into total darkness.

Everything paused for a moment—then a random gunshot rang out, followed by terrified screams, shaky breathing, scared footsteps, and tense whispers and hisses among the robbers.

Then…

Chaos began.

In the pitch black, the robbers had nothing but their heavy breathing and growing fear.

Suddenly—“Ah!” one of them gasped and collapsed in shock, his body hitting the shelves, his weapon slipping from his hand. “What—?!”

The next didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence, as a swift strike to his neck took away his control over his body, and he fell helplessly.

The leader spun wildly, trying to raise his weapon, but he barely moved before a strong hand grabbed his wrist and twisted it hard, making him cry out in pain before he was taken down with a precise hit to his chest that knocked the breath out of him.

There was no time to fight back.

Not even a chance to see what was happening.

Within moments, all three were down, gasping in confusion, unable to comprehend what had hit them.

Peter hadn’t been violent. He hadn’t caused any lasting harm. He had just struck their vital points—precise spots that made them unable to move for a while.

He quickly gathered their weapons, emptied them of bullets, and tossed them into a trash bin carelessly. He held the bullets and scattered them over a high shelf, making them hard to reach.

He picked up his basket, gave the chaos behind him a quick glance, and walked toward the door—and the moment he stepped out—

The lights came back.

The lights flickered on, the refrigerators hummed back to life, and the grocery store transformed from chaos in the dark to a strange calm.

The cashier, who had stayed down the whole time, slowly lifted his head, eyes widening at the sight—

The three robbers, tied up with a jump rope, lying on the ground like defeated corpses.

As for the customers, still in shock, they exchanged puzzled looks. What just happened?

And the most confusing part… the man in the white coat who had been there moments ago…

Had vanished completely.

Just a few minutes later, the sound of police sirens echoed outside the store. Their cars stopped quickly, and the officers rushed in, weapons raised, expecting a dangerous confrontation.

But what they saw made them freeze for a moment.

Three robbers, lying on the ground, tied up with a jump rope, without weapons. No resistance—just weak groans from the criminals still trying to process what had happened to them.

The officers began questioning everyone.

“Who did this?”

The cashier looked at the customers, and the customers looked at each other. It was clear they all shared the same question.

Who?

“There was… a man,” the cashier muttered, voice hesitant, as he slowly got up from the ground. “A man in a white coat. But… he disappeared.”

One officer furrowed his brows. “Disappeared?”

“Yes, he was here before the lights went out. Then… when they came back, he was gone. Maybe he ran away… but I didn’t see the door open, because I was hiding, so…”

The officer jotted that down in his notebook, then turned to one of the customers and asked, “Did you see this man?”

The customer shook his head. “He was standing right there… then suddenly, he wasn’t.”

Another officer approached the robbers, who were still unable to get up. He looked at them with disdain and asked, “What happened to you?”

The leader, having regained some of his senses, growled in frustration. His companions were unconscious beside him, and he couldn’t even lift his head.

“Damn you, man…”

The officer stared at them for a moment, then exchanged glances with his colleagues. It was a strange scene. There were no signs of a violent fight—just precise strikes that completely disabled the robbers.

And of course, no one knew how it happened.

In the end, the robbers were arrested, witness statements were taken, but the police had no name or clear description of who had done this.

The man in the white coat?

Just a ghost, as far as the police were concerned.

---

Steve was sitting in the Avengers Tower kitchen, sipping his morning coffee while flipping through the newspaper. He didn’t expect a small headline on the left side of the page to catch his eye, but it did.

“Man in a White Coat Saves the Day?”

He raised an eyebrow slightly, then began reading the details.

The article wasn’t long—just a small paragraph in a corner of the paper describing an armed robbery at a local grocery store. The robbery itself wasn’t what caught his attention—crimes like that happened every day—it was the way the situation had been handled.

According to witnesses, no known superhero showed up. No mention of any recognizable name, or even a tough police officer who might’ve acted heroically.

Just… “a man in a white coat.”

And the shocking part?

No one could describe his features. No one saw him move. No one even caught clear details of his body. Because of the fear during the robbery, all they knew was that he was there… then he wasn’t.

Steve slowly folded the newspaper, staring into space for a moment.

“White coat, huh?”

This was interestin

After Steve finished reading the article, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something was off about the incident. It wasn’t just a foiled robbery—it was the way it happened. It was quick, clean, and with no witnesses able to describe the savior.

This wasn’t the work of an ordinary person He thought about bringing it up with the Avengers.

At the Avengers Tower, the team gathered around the table as Steve placed the newspaper in front of them.

“So… a man in a white coat?” Tony said sarcastically, munching on a piece of toast while lifting the newspaper. “This sounds more like the plot of a mystery movie than actual news.”

“But it’s not just a story,” Steve said seriously. “The robbery wasn’t anything special, but the way it was stopped is what’s suspicious. No one knows how it happened. There’s no description of the person. Just… a white coat, and then he was gone.”

Natasha, who was sitting with her legs crossed, holding a cup of coffee, looked at the paper carefully before saying, “Not many details here, but the execution… it feels professional. Someone who knows exactly where to hit, and how to vanish.”

“Or maybe just someone who got really lucky,” Sam said as he stole a spoonful of peanut butter from Clint.

“Hm, no. Not with that kind of precision,” Bruce commented, rubbing his chin and scratching his head thoughtfully. “I don’t know, but it sounds like someone with training… maybe a former soldier?”

Natasha shook her head slightly. “It said he was wearing a white coat, Bruce. Soldiers don’t behave like that. Their combat style is different. This is… fast, efficient, leaves no trace,” she said, leaning back in her chair. “That’s not how ex-soldiers move.”

Tony tossed the newspaper back on the table and leaned back, hands behind his head, sounding bored. “So the real question is… is this guy dangerous or not? My guess no. You’re just being paranoid, Steve. Relax. Not every robbery is a red flag.”

Steve looked at the paper again with a conflicted expression, then sighed. He knew Stark had a point… but something still felt off.

“I still feel uneasy about this…” he said quietly.

Clint, leaning back in his chair, let out a low whistle before speaking in a laid-back but intrigued tone.

“Oh come on, maybe it’s just someone who got tired of paying for groceries and decided to be Batman for a day.”

Steve shot him a serious look, but Clint raised his hands in surrender.

“Alright, alright, I get it—it’s weird. But it’s not the first time someone randomly shows up, saves the day, and disappears. New York is full of mysterious people with strange talents.”

Tony smirked and said mockingly, “Because New York is so used to mysterious people, right?”

“I’m just saying, why worry?” Clint said, spreading his hands. “He didn’t steal anything, didn’t hurt anyone—just knocked out some thugs and tied them up like a present for the cops. I think the guy in the white coat deserves a thank-you.”

Sam added dryly, rolling his eyes and taking another bite of his food,

“Yeah, and when he does it again, he’ll suddenly be a vigilante gone rogue. Believe me, I’ve seen too many people switch up.”

Natasha gave Clint a sideways glance and said in a calm voice as she sipped her coffee,

“This kind of person… they’re either a great ally—or a big problem later.”

Clint sighed, grabbed a cookie from the table, took a bite and spoke with his mouth half full.

“Well, when he becomes a problem, let me know, Captain. Until then, I’m focusing on my own issues… like why no one bought me coffee today.”

Everyone ignored him.