"Damn it all."
The voice was muttered, but it echoed in the dark room. Computer monitors were the only source of dim light.
"First that stupid Lactose gets up way too early, and then this. Are they trying to destroy everything?"
The figure in the chair kicked their legs up on a keyboard and heaved a sigh.
"Hey, Doc. What am I supposed to do about any of this? They seem intent on destroying themselves. I've kept it up for long enough, haven't I? Can't I just let them die?"
No one answered.
"Yeah, guess not," the person continued. "I did promise I'd take care of them for you. I can't give up, can I? Not until the very end. No idea what I'm doing here, but I'll keep trudging along I guess."
With a sigh, they took their feet down off the desk and leaned forward to grab the mouse.
"First, let's try and figure out who the bastard who leaked this is. Then maybe we can send one of our newfound minions to deal with it. Who are you, and what do you want, O Great Leaky One?"
"How did this happen?" General McGuire sighed wearily, looking at Colonel Powers.
"I don't know, sir," he replied, a similarly weary look on his face.
Somehow, someone had gotten a copy of Scattershot's autopsy report and released it publicly. Better yet, it was a copy that General McGuire had insisted be undoctored. The simple unvarnished truth. Meadow Rich had been shot and killed by an unknown assailant. No evidence of them entering or leaving the prison could be found.
He'd wanted a copy to work with, but hadn't wanted the public to get ahold of it just yet. Not until they had found the person responsible.
That had now backfired spectacularly.
"Find out how that report made its way out of here, Powers," General McGuire said. "I want it tracked from beginning to end. I want to know who obtained it, how they got it and how they released it without our knowledge."
"Yes, sir." Colonel Powers saluted before making his way out.
"Such beautiful chaos," Twin mused, looking over a plethora of news feeds. Not one hadn't picked up his little tip on Scattershot's death. Right about now, the upper ranks of the military would be frantically trying to figure out how it had leaked, and how to mitigate the damage.
Ah, how he wished he could be there to see it.
"You sure look happy, Twin," Cold Snap said with a chuckle. "There a reason you have us all holding back for the day?"
"Just look at the news feeds," Twin replied gleefully. "Then, when we strike continually this week, things will get even worse. Isn't it beautiful, Kylee?"
"I don't care as long as you don't call me Kylee. I'm Cold Snap now. You made me Cold Snap, so don't try dragging me back to being Kylee."
"Sorry, sorry," Twin said. "Cold as your name, aren't you?"
"As if you aren't delighted by me."
"I'm delighted by every one of you. Now, do you want to play a solo or team game this week?"
"Solo all the way," Cold Snap replied with a grin.
"Excellent. Just please schedule your matches with Ferry ahead of time. It wouldn't do for any of you to follow in Scattershot's footsteps."
"Considering that's the only rule, I'm happy to oblige. I'll go talk with the others while you enjoy your TV."
"Thank you, Cold Snap. I look forward to the show."
"Whatever, ya sicko."
She left the room and Twin went back to swiping through news stories.
"This is bad," Courtney said, calling a team meeting. Cleo and Ned sat on the sofa while Sawyer leaned against the wall.
"Worse than Odin?" Sawyer asked.
"Scattershot died in prison and someone just released all the details on it. Including the cause of death." Courtney put a tablet on the table so they could look over the article.
"Shoot. Should I call Joey?" Ned asked, reaching for his phone.
"No, not if he's at work. Either he'll hear about it there or we can discuss things when he gets back."
"So Odin killed someone else. Why is this such a big thing?" Sawyer asked with a frown.
"Because an unaltered report was leaked. With Phantasma, it was classified as a sudden medical issue. Not a murder. In Hot Rod's case, the cause was similarly obscured. This time, they have documents from the military itself that state that Scattershot was killed. This could lead to further inquiries, and further loss of trust in the military."
"It already has," Cleo said. "I think. I'm not entirely sure if what I'm seeing is from today or tomorrow. It's not that fuzzy, so I think it's today? Maybe this morning."
"What does Odin even want?" Ned asked. "And didn't Joey say something about a kid living down here too?"
"Supposedly," Courtney replied. "I haven't seen her, but he said Darius was making her breakfast yesterday."
"Yeah, uh, another weird thing about that," Cleo said, raising her hand. "I can't see hide nor hair of this kid, no matter how hard I look. It's like there's some weird veil over the entire Underwing that I can't see through. I can only see people or stuff I've seen in real life, which does not apply to anything upstairs."
"Ida is none of your business." Odin's voice echoed through the speakers, making everyone jump.
"That sure sounds like we should be concerned," Sawyer said coldly. "What, you employing child slaves now?"
"I said she is none of your business. That is final. Anything you do to bother her might just result in you getting kicked out. Or, maybe I should just shoot all of you."
"Sorry, Odin," Ned called. "But, uh, while you're here, can I ask why you're killing people if you want stability?"
"The people I kill would cause immense instability if left unchecked. Anything else, Chicken?"
"Sure. Why do you call me Chicken? What does that mean?"
"Inside joke. Explaining it would take too long. Now leave me alone. That leak has given me a lot of work to do. That stupid damn military can't even clean up its own damn messes. Honestly."
The audio cut out, but it sounded like Odin would keep ranting for a while yet.
"Wow. Odin being...useful?" Courtney asked. "At least if he figures out the source of the leak, we might be able to pass that information along to the military and deal with it."
"You want them to be able to keep secrets?" Sawyer asked.
"That's not..." Courtney looked at him, then sighed. "I understand that the military is corrupt. I understand that it has its problems. But I still believe in it as an institution. I believe in what it could be. But it has to have the chance to change. We can cut out the bad stuff and save what's still good. Then we can rebuild it better than before."
"Man you're an idealist," Sawyer groaned. "Fine. I'm in. Just get me a good lawyer if Odin makes me do anything remotely sketchy."
"I'm sure I can figure something out," Courtney replied with a laugh. "Now, how do we deal with this leak?"
