Stan Vickery always had a nose for a scoop, and the altercation between the Undersiders and the Protectorate in the middle of an attack by the Slaughterhouse Nine certainly stank of something going on behind the scenes. Over a thousand people were dead, the Rig was a heap of scrap in the Bay, and the official story stank.

  The Protectorate Tinker had a video released upon his death at the hands of a cape known only as The Major. It was stressed upon him that the ‘The’ be capitalized when referring to her back when he first ran a story on her following the attacks on the Empire. A bit pretentious, and there was precious little footage of her available to the public.

  Then there was Taylor Hebert, also known as Cyber, who was once assumed dead at the hands of an Empire hit only for her to come back in the middle of an attack by the Nine. Now, she was presumed dead again, this time by causing the detonation out on the rig, at least, that was the case if you took Armsmaster’s final message at face value.

  Stan certainly didn’t. There was so much there that didn’t quite add up, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it. He had all of his people combing the internet as well as boots on the ground interviewing everyone they could find that had seen even so much as a spec of the fight.

  So far, he had concrete proof that Dauntless had been injured in the explosion, shielding several people in the process; he was being hailed a true hero for it. Footage of Velocity evacuating a cafeteria as the explosion ripped through it in a display of truly amazing super speed was running as often as the Network could justify.

  Thankfully it was confirmed that the Wards weren’t on duty, Legend himself ordering them to stand down due to the threat that the Nine posed, and thus none of them were harmed. Well, aside from the Ward turned Undersider that is. Shadow Stalker had fought with the Undersiders against Dragon and Armsmaster, and departed with them in the aftermath.

  Most of those in line for Panacea ended up dead when exposed to the Bonesaw plague, even with Panacea apparently countering it with a mere touch. Yet more footage going viral and rumor was that Panacea and Surgeon would be working together in the future to help with recovery from the Nine.

  That too was a story waiting to happen, and he wouldn’t forget it, but there was a bigger scoop to be had. Namely, why was Dragon dead, and did Cyber have something to do with it?

  The Undersiders were known to operate out of the docks, and he just had an inkling that they had the answers he wanted. Not many people were out, the Nine were either lying low or had fled after the battle with New Wave and Haven. There were at least two fatalities among Haven, but he hadn’t heard of any among New Wave itself, they were keeping tight-lipped and only Glory Girl, who had fought alongside the Undersiders and several other heroes, had been seen out and about since.

  There were so many questions bouncing around in his mind, like why decorated heroes such as Mouse Protector, Assault and Battery and the younger Dallons were all assisting the Undersiders when the fighting with Dragon and Armsmaster began, even if Assault and Battery had taken The Major into custody after she shot Armsmaster.

  “Alright, where to start,” he muttered, looking over the apartment buildings.

  “Well, this is a sight,” someone said, prompting him and his cameraman to turn around. “Not many people brave the docks these days.”

  She was an unassuming girl, blonde hair done in a simple braid and a dusting of freckles across her nose and around those piercing green eyes of hers. What gave him pause was how calculating that gaze was, and how he felt like a predator was watching him. Then she grinned and he knew there was more to her than she let on.

  He’d found his scoop.

  Her grin widened. “The real question you’re going to ask yourself when this is all done is ‘did you find me, or did I lead you to this moment’.”

  He swallowed on reflex and revised his assessment. He’d found a cape, probably one of the Undersiders, and there was only one that matched her description in the slightest. There were rumors of her death at the botched bank robbery, but they too hadn’t been confirmed at the time. Well, her standing here meant they had to be wrong.

  He’d found himself a Tattletale.

  “Not bad,” she said. “I trust you’ll keep that part to yourself, no matter how obvious it is.”

  “Discretion is part of the game,” he said with his best practiced smile. “I take it you have a story you want to share if you went through all this trouble.”

  “You could say that,” she said, sauntering over. “There’s a lot of information floating around, a lot of it rather conflicting wouldn’t you say? I figure I could shed some light on it, then help you put together some interviews to help corroborate how you came to those conclusions. Interested?”

  “Couldn’t you just release this on your own?” he asked.

  “I already have,” she said, shrugging. “It still helps to get the full story out there among more official channels. For example, did you know that Dragon was an AI enslaved by Armsmaster and that Cyber was attempting to free her when he detonated the Rig?”

  He had seen that rumor floating around on PHO, but hadn’t considered it anything more than tinfoil hat territory. Well, he may have been led by the nose, but it seemed he would get his scoop regardless. Even if it wasn’t all true, it would still make for interesting content, of that he had no doubt.

  Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.

  His phone dinged, and he pulled it out, a message from an unknown SMS number greeted him, along with an attachment.

  “Everything I’m about to tell you can be verified against the information contained within,” Tattletale said. “Now, let’s get comfortable while I spin you a tale.”

  Stan pulled his favorite fountain pen out along with a pad of paper and settled in.

  “Is it safe to run this?”

  Stan eyed the rest of the room, the meeting with legal the last hurdle to get his latest story on air. He knew he was being played, but when the story was so sensational, how could he not play along? Tattletale painted him one hell of a picture, of a hero who felt inadequate, and of a Director who hid their powers in a long game to control a city.

  A tale of a troubled girl ignored by everyone until she had value, and gunned down by the PRT Director when she didn’t play his games. Only to bounce back thanks to Panacea and her own tech and come out swinging. Of Armsmaster attempting to murder a celebrated member of his team, only for his eventual executioner to rescue her. Miss Militia was quite alive, and recovering in Master Stranger quarantine. Legend himself had come to Brockton to supervise and there were rumors that Hero was also making an appearance.

  He wished he could get those interviews, but Tattletale warned him about overreaching. He had his story, which she helped edit to pass muster for the masses. He had proof of long term collaboration between Armsmaster and the Empire, and even proof that Brandish worked with them to bring down Marquis.

  So much damning information just handed to him, because he was the most convenient pawn Tattletale could employ. That didn’t mean he relied on her. He’d managed to verify most of her information, hell, the Guild even came clean about Dragon being an AI when asked, but some items were less concrete.

  Not that he put that bombshell into his story, some things were too sensitive to release and the voicemail left by a group of high pitched children threatening him if he did resulted in a pale faced Tattletale telling him to heed the warning. Instead the story was that Dragon’s flesh and blood body was being held captive by Armsmaster, with physical restraints instead of digital ones.

  Proving Brandish worked with the Empire against Marquis would be impossible, as the supposed informant was killed two days later during a drive-by. That was a trend with a lot of informants and leads. Loose ends were culled with ruthless efficiency. His video included a clip of Miss Militia talking about being one such loose end that managed to get away, and how thankful she was to Panacea for rescuing her from the Nine.

  “My only worry is how the Protectorate will respond,” the slimy lawyer type said. “This paints the PRT and Protectorate in a very unfavorable light.”

  “That’s why it was framed as local corruption,” Stan said with a smile. “The national side of things have been quick to step in and root out problems after all.”

  “It’s called damage control,” another said. “Mr. Vickery, this video is dangerous. We aren’t just risking legal repercussions, we’re risking cape reprisal.”

  “From who?” he asked. “I’ve already told you the Undersiders were one of my sources. The Empire is extinct, Lung doesn’t care and the Merchants are all getting high off some new weed strain. National reprisal isn’t happening, not when all it would do is reinforce the corruption angle. Run it.”

  “He has a point,” the network president said from his video line. “This is too big of a story to allow the PRT to suppress, and last time we had a story of this scale pop up, I was given a very pointed warning at gunpoint by a woman in a fedora. That hasn’t happened this time, so I say run it during all slots for the next twenty-four hours, nationally.”

  “Sir?” “Nationally?” “What about our advertisers?”

  Stan sat back and watched as the room descended into chaos, but he had achieved his goal, he would get the story out there. It also promised him more stories in the future, if Tattletale knew he could get things done. A Thinker of her level with a network of informants and contacts could get him the scoop on anything he wanted. There was no way he would risk burning such a source.

  The video played again, the image of the not so innocent freckled blonde telling all about how she heard Miss Militia accuse Armsmaster of trying to kill her played as the segment looped. Yes, that would certainly stoke the network ratings.

  Stan took a sip of his coffee as he watched the morning news.

  “Not bad,” Tattletale said, sitting across from him.

  He inclined his cup to her, then turned back to the segment that detailed all the shady dealing Armsmaster had been involved in, including interviews with Assault and Dauntless on the subject. He’d heard whispers that half of the surviving PRT troopers were now in custody or on the run, which was interesting to hear. Apparently Calvert simply folded most of Coil’s mercs into the PRT when he took over, and those few aware of his dual identity were in the base when it detonated.

  He could have easily gotten away with it if not for the efforts of a dedicated few.

  “I did have some help,” he conceded.

  “More than you know,” Tattletale said. “Legend and Hero both had people investigating things before the Nine arrived and threw a wrench into things.”

  Something about that felt wrong, but he couldn’t quite place it. The timing of the Nine attack did seem a bit on the nose, but it was delayed to such a degree that it gave an air of deniability to the whole thing. What if…

  “See, this is why I approached you,” Tattletale said suddenly. “You’re not an idiot, so even you should understand why that line of thought is dangerous.”

  He swallowed. “Noted.”

  If the Nine really were an arm of the government that dealt with things off the books, then he certainly didn’t want them pointed his way.

  “After all,” Tattletale said with a smirk. “Remember who set up these meetings, you never know when someone in the room might be a cape.” She stood back up and downed her coffee, leaving the cup. “I look forward to working with you in the future.”

  As she left, every single patron stood and walked out together. A chipper blonde girl no older than twelve even stopped to wave at him. He didn’t need another reminder. He had sold his soul for a story, and now they owned him. He needed something stronger than coffee.

  Suddenly, he regretted taking her up on that offer for an interview, and yet…

  He knew that future scoops would be just as career defining as this one had been. He couldn’t help but laugh, because he walked right into the deal willingly, and all it cost him was having a secret lorded over him.

  “Talk about selling your soul to the devil.”