As soon as I sensed Lisa was in trouble I spread my wings and jumped off the roof I was on, Panacea yelping in surprise as I did so. I flew towards the building and attempted to grab the entire roof with my magic. I pulled on it as hard as I could, my horn taking a bright over glow.

For a moment nothing happened. Then I heard the entire structure give a massive groan and I redoubled my efforts. A second glow enveloped the first, followed by a third glow as I continued to pull.

The ceiling came off with a massive screeching sound as I bent the metal and curled it up into a ball. I saw Lisa darting between some Workers, knocking them down as they looked up in awe at me as I flew towards them. I reached out with my magic and grabbed all of them that were stuck in the room before crushing their guns and pulling them into the air. They swallowed nervously as I held them several dozen feet above the ground.

"Tell me," I said as soon as they were as high in the air as me. "What do you know about Rune?"

Was it sad the news vans were here before the police? Since they weren't capes and I really didn't like the PRT right now, Cheshire called the normal human police to take care of them. She waited until the Workers were arrested and gone before revealing herself, just to make sure he identity didn't get spoiled by them.

I flew several feet above them with Panacea after the two of us agreed that we didn't want to answer questions without Cheshire there. Or at all for that matter, but I could see why we would want to.

When Cheshire did come out I flew down to meet her, landing by her side and following her as she strode towards the news crews. Panacea slid off my back and walked alongside us. The questions started flooding us before we even stopped moving.

"Nova, what exactly happened here?"

"Who is this other cape?"

"Why is Panacea here with you?"

"Is this an official partnership with New Wave?"

"What were The Worker's up to?"

Cheshire held up a hand to silence them. Once they had quieted down she offered them a smile.

"My name is Cheshire, and today we got confessions out of some The Worker's higher-ups," Cheshire said, beaming at the crowd. "We had someone sneak into their base and start gathering information. This will get confirmed by the police later, but The Worker's admitted to being involved in the deaths of Hookwolf, Krieg, and Rune. The last one occurring while Rune was in PRT custody. They also admit that The Workers are allied with The Doctors and were working on getting allied with the other two recent gangs."

"Is this the end of The Workers?" One female reporter asked.

"Doubtful," Cheshire said. "This was just one of their bases, probably one of their biggest. There is still a lot of work to do if we're going to clean this gang out."

"Do you honestly think you can end the gang when others have been unable to end the gang presence in this city?"

"Yes," Cheshire answered without hesitation. "Because these gangs made a mistake and now everyone is against them. There was some doubt before, but now we know that these people are responsible for recent events. Now they are going to facing pressure from both The Empire and the ABB and the PRT."

"Are they really that much of a threat that the other gangs might single them out?"

"Absolutely," Cheshire said with a nod. "Considering they are all part of a massive conspiracy."

The effect of that caused an instant wave of questions from the reporters. Cheshire waited for them to settle down enough for her to speak and be heard.

"These gangs," Cheshire announced. "Act like they are four separate gangs that happen to be working together, and in fact, most of their members think they are four different gangs. But they are being manipulated by one person. Someone who I believe is trying to execute all the villains in the city to get complete control. And I learned for a fact that these Workers are taking orders from a man named Max Clay. I if were to hazard to guess, I would be willing to say the other gangs probably know that name too."

"Are you saying that the four newest gangs in the city are part of one large conspiracy group with the intention of taking over the city?" One of the reporters asked.

"Yes," Cheshire said. "And Nova and I are going to take them apart just like we did today."

"I've got a question for Nova," one reporter said, turning the microphone to me. "Why have you been able to hit these gangs as hard as you have and what are you going to do if they bring in capes to fight you?"

I swallowed a little as I felt my throat go dry and my heartbeat began to pick up. I was on television, for the rest of the city to see. I didn't plan ahead for this, I thought Cheshire would handle it all. In retrospect, I should have expected this given how I was a larger symbol than her. I took a breath and a step forward, using the movement to open my wings a little more. I was silently glad my hair almost always perfect.

"I've been able to hit them hard like this for one simple reason," I stated. "I'm more motivated than the PRT, I'm less restricted than the PRT, and I recognize that these conspirators are far more dangerous than they have been making themselves out to be."

"Nova," someone called out, "Are you claiming that the PRT is poorly equipped to take down this kind of threat."

"No," I stated. I felt a spike of anger rise inside of me. At first, I only wanted to make a point that if we had been part of the PRT and Protectorate we would have never been able to do what we did, that only the fact that we were independent allowed us to. But I was suddenly reminded that those were the same people that were at least partially responsible for Rune and turned murders into heroes.

"I am stating as fact that the PRT is incompetent. They write their own press releases and actively have tried to make these people seem less of a threat than they were. These Workers, these conspirators, killed dozens of Merchants and melt Hookwolf's body around himself. But try to find where they said that in their press release because they never did." I probably should have stopped there, but the more I spoke the angrier I got. I should have stopped myself before I said something I regretted, but I couldn't. "Because the PRT's business isn't about making you safe from threats, not even large ones like this. It is about making people feel safe. But feelings don't change facts."

The excitement of the reporters skyrocketed as soon as I finished speaking. Every single person was practically shouting questions and showed no signs of stopping. I frowned and shook my head, shooting a glance at Panacea and then Cheshire. Cheshire had an unreadable expression as she pointed upward. Looking in the direction she was pointing at, I saw Glory Girl hovering above us. Her arms were crossed and she didn't look that happy.

Cheshire reached over and grabbed onto my saddlebags. I gave Panacea a nudge and she did the same. I closed my eyes and teleported up to her. This was bound to happen eventually.

Director Piggot stood on the other side of the glass, watching Armsmaster interrogate The Worker as she tried to forget the PR problem waiting for her back in her office. It had taken some time to pull him away from the Brockton Bay Police Department, but the massive PR issue Nova had caused them help legitimize the claim that they were in fact cape related.

"Let's start from your discovery of the Thinker that infiltrated you," Armsmaster said. "You said she was hiding in a locker. How did you discover her?"

"She gasped," he grumbled with a scowl.

"I find that unlikely," Armsmaster replied. The Worker shrugged.

"What can I say? She made a mistake."

"You're lying," Armsmaster stated. The Worker paused a moment then rolled his eyes.

"Right, Tinkers."

"Do the Worker's have a way to detect Thinkers?" Armsmaster asked. A smug smirk appeared on the Worker's face.

"You can say that."

"How," Armsmaster asked. There was no inflection in his voice, not a hint of emotion. Just a simple question and answer set up. The Worker leaned back in his seat with a smug grin and said,

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok."

Piggot's eyes narrowed as Armsmaster froze for a brief moment. Suddenly he rose out of his chair and his hand shot up to his helmet to press a button.

"Implement Master/Stranger protocols immediately." Armsmaster turned on his heel and walked out of the room, locking the door behind him. What should have been a short five seconds from the interrogation room to the observation room took almost a full minute as Armsmaster went under screening. She started tapping her foot impatiently as Armsmaster finally entered the room.

"What happened in there," Piggot demanded.

"Did you not hear him say… that?" Armsmaster asked, his voice slightly hitched. It threw Piggot off as he rarely ever let emotion into his voice like that.

"Are you referring to when he said 'Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok'?"

Armsmaster drew a breath and took a step back.

"Director," he said slowly. "Can you understand that?"

"What's wrong with it?" Piggot asked. Armsmaster shook his head and frowned deeply.

"I can't understand the phrase. When you say it I… I forget how my technology works for a few seconds."

Piggot's jaw clenched and she pulled out her phone and quickly typed in the phrase before turning the screen back towards him. Armsmaster stared at for a second before forcibly turning his gaze away from it. Her now heart thundering in her chest, Piggot dialed Miss Militia.

"Hello Director?" She answered.

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok." Piggot stated.

"I… Sorry? What was that?" Angrily, Piggot hung up the phone and called Battery.

"Adkins S Montgomery is Ragnarok."

"Is there something wrong with your phone, Director?"

She hung up and called Assault.

"Uh, what?" He asked in response. She hung up and tried Dauntless.

"I'm afraid I don't understand."

Triumph.

"I can't hear you, Director."

Clockblocker.

"Is this a prank call? I know it's not like you but…"

Aegis.

"I think I've got bad reception, I'll just come to your office."

Piggot hung up and slipped the phone into her pocket and stomped out the door of the room. She looked at the two PRT officers standing guard outside and told them the same phrase.

"Who is Adkins Montgomery ma'am?" The first asked.

"And what does it mean?" The other asked.

Piggot grimaced and struggled to not crush her phone in her grip.

"It means we have a massive problem."