The protagonist, David, is rushing out to a club called The Reeve Playhouse to witness a rebel group, The Reckoners, assassinate an epic. He sees a moderately high-level epic named Fortunity and realizes that he must be the target. An attractive blonde woman in a red sheer dress approaches Fortunity and speaks with him for a moment, and then the two leave, the woman on Fortunity’s arm. David begins to believe that the woman must be part of the Reckoners, leading Fortunity away from the crowd into somewhere more isolated to carry out the plan. As he begins to follow them, a bodyguard epic Curveball comes up to the 2 and begins to talk with Fortunity, worrying the blonde. David notices and starts to realize because of Fortunity’s precognition abilities any slight hiccup in the plan could mess anything up. He impulsively runs up to Curveball pretending to be another bodyguard for the Reeve playhouse and is eventually able to lead him away. As they walk they walk and talk, David slips up with his words and reveals to Curveball that he was lying about his identity causing Curveball to open fire. With no other choice, David prepares to shoot at Curveball but is interrupted when Fortunity runs past him in handcuffs, followed by the yelling blonde. Suddenly, Curveball drops to the ground to David’s relief, but then a bullet is shot towards him. The blonde comes up to him and begins interrogating him before bringing him out to the front of the alleyway, forcing him on his knees, and contacting a sniper to watch over him, shooting if he moves. As she left, bombs went off causing Fortunity to run in the opposite direction. As the woman chases after him, 4 men, also from the Reeve Playhouse appear with machine guns, following her. This panics David as she can’t see them and the sniper isn’t doing anything. Again, he makes an impulsive decision, picking up his gun and shooting at the thugs.
After confirming the death of Fortunity, Megan and David approach a garbage truck and enter. There appear to be 4 other voices in the truck, and they talked about the almost failed mission. David began to put names to the voices, the driver was Prof, the one with the French accent was Abraham, and the big one was Hardman. The truck came to a stop and they unloaded several pieces of equipment and started down a twisted bath into the steel catacombs taking well over an hour to reach their destination. When they finally arrived, the Reckoners cornered David, forcing him to realize he wasn't part of the group, he was a captive. A slim redhead named Tia uses a device called a dowser on David to test to see if he's an epic. Once the results came in, they started to question him, trying to figure out how he knew they were going to target Fortunity. He began to explain how he managed to find them almost entirely on his own, demonstrating his extensive knowledge of epic behaviours and the Reckoners' attack patterns. Seeing how Prof was still sceptical, Megan mentioned how he had made some attempt to help. David then made an attempt also to get Hardman’s word as he would’ve had to see how he had helped protect Megan, only to find out that there were never any snipers and the person he had assumed was Hardman was actually named Cody. Prof decides he isn’t a threat and tries to send him on his way, but David insists that he joins the Reckoners. After being rejected, he started calling out the Reckoners' fear of striking truly powerful epics striking Cody’s curiosity. He then asks what David would do differently and David goes on to explain that attacking Steelheart would be the move to make. Unimpressed, Prof said he would only put them into battles they could win, and then they left. David followed the Reckoners again trying to reason with them but made no progress. He then decided to reveal he had seen Steelheart bleed, a secret he had never told anyone. This made the group stop in their tracks. Everyone knew that Steelheart was invulnerable so no one believed him. He insisted that he was telling the truth and that they listened to his story. Prof decided he would hear David out. As they headed back to the room David started putting positions in the group. Once they arrived, he began his story. After finishing, Prof sat the the group to discuss the likeness of it all. The destruction of the bank wasn’t unheard of but was also part of a string of other city buildings destroyed the same day, the Day of Annexation. There had been suspicion about why the bank would’ve been the first building destroyed, but that wasn’t enough for the team to leap into danger. As they continued to discuss, Prof brought up that David knew that the social workers were killed and how it had been an outlier in all the other destroyed buildings. As they talked Prof began to realize just how much David knew about epics and the Reckoners, in fact, he was even able to predict the general area and epic that they would strike next. This made Prof decide to stay in Newcago a little longer, if not to strike Steelheart then to at least throw anyone else off their trail.
They left the room, and David noticed a deep hatred in Prof's eyes, a hatred of Steelheart. He then realized exactly who “Prof” was, Jonathan Phaedrus, the leader and founder of the Reckoners. After leaving David began asking questions like he was part of the group, annoying Prof and prompting him to send him over to walk with Megan. David took this opportunity to make some conversation with her, remembering how she had become cold to him after he had told his story. David hadn’t known much about things outside of Reckoners and Epics so the conversation started off rocky. Eventually, though, they came to discuss the Understreets and David's past working at a weapons factory. As he continued talking, he noticed Megan’s inattentiveness and began to rant about how frustrating it was that he wasn’t able to talk about the things he had dedicated the last 10 years of his life to. While rambling, he brought up his notes and explained to Megan that he kept notebooks with information on both Epics and the Reckoners in his flat. This worried Megan, if the woman he had pulled out of the car reported his face, law enforcement could storm his apartment and find the information and predictions he had collected. She grabbed his arm and pulled him to Prof. Hearing the story, Prof decided it would be best to simply blow the flat up, but David insisted that they’d need the information. Although it took some convincing, he decided to let Megan and Cody accompany him to collect his stuff, only if enforcement hadn’t beaten them to it. Once getting to the apartment they scoped out the area before noticing a strange shimmer near a trash can. David was able to determine that it was an illusion epic named Refractionary. The others wanted to blow the building like Prof had said, but David urged them not to and said that he could come up with a plan by exploiting Refractionary’s weakness, it would even grant them the opportunity to off an epic. David entered the apartment, the others unsure of his plan. On his way, he thought of Megan, her ability to fire unpredictable handguns with great accuracy, her passion for killing epics, and her good looks. Realizing he was distracted he refocused and went through his trunk, pulling out a handgun and smoke grenade. He pulled the notebooks out of his mattress but then noticed 3 enforcement officers standing at his door. He began to plead his innocence, but the lead office didn't buy it. Another officer confirmed David’s fascination with epics, a past adjunct officer at David’s old factory named Roy. Just then a bullet fired right into the lead officer's head. David grabbed his gun and shot at Roy’s knees. He then activated the smoke bomb and dropped it to the floor, waiting for Refractionary to appear. David realized she must’ve stayed outside and in a moment of quick thinking, he grabbed Roy’s mobile and phoned her. He heard a gunshot and left his apartment, unable to breathe from the smoke. When he got out he saw a dead body, Refractionary’s dead body, they had just killed another epic. After some of the smoke had cleared David reentered the apartment to collect his notebooks. He slipped them in his bag and before leaving told Roy that an epic by the name of Limelight was coming to challenge Steelheart. For the final time, he left his apartment and met up with Cody and Megan. Although Megan wasn’t impressed, Cody was. As they walked, David explained the fake epic he had come up with to cover the Reckoners' tracks. On the way to the base, Cody began to explain Prof’s scientific background, that they didn’t know a lot, just that he used to work at a lab that experimented on epics when they were just beginning to pop up. He started to get into some of his inventions, like the tensors, gloves that could disintegrate solid objects by using vibrations. Megan lead them using a map of the steel catacombs until they approached a small uphill tunnel. David went in first, and although uncomfortable he soon made it towards a light and was helped out the tunnel by Abraham, realizing the room they stood in was made by the tensors that Cody had mentioned earlier. David then handed over the notebooks and Prof began to flip through them.
The group read through the notebooks, paying attention to special markings, classifications, photos etc. David liked keeping tabs on certain epics with powers similar to Steelheart's, looking for signs of their weakness too. He also had a bit of an unusual grouping of epics according to Tia, he preferred to group them by weakness rather than just ability. Cody lost interest and reminded David not to focus too much of his life on defeating epics and getting his revenge, that he needed to live a little. Prof reminded David that the walk of life they live didn’t offer free time or casualties, that they lived to kill. Abraham and Prof then started to consider the things that David had said, and Abraham seemed to have a similar mindset that killing low level epics wouldn’t ever change much. After looking at some of the evidence in the notebooks, the team is starting to believe they should look more into attacking Steelheart, everyone except Megan at least. Prof takes them to a projector room set on the camera around the city. He decides to give David a change to pitch his idea, but he has to get Megan to agree. David laid out his plan through the various questions Megan asked, when Roy reported what had happened, he would bring up the fake epic David made, Limelight. The Reckoners would make it seem like Limelight was a rival epic, and under his name kill Steelheart’s bodyguards, take-down enforcement, and lure him out so could could off him. Prof, although intrigued wasn’t sure because of how easy something could go wrong, but after watching Reinforcement and seeing Steelheart destroy an inhabited building to strike fear into his subjects, he decided it was their only opportunity, and they were going to take it. Prof sent Cody to train David with the tensors. It took a while for him to gain control over them since everyone used them in their own way, but eventually, he was able to make a small, inaccurate blast, vaporizing part of a chair. While cleaning up the mess, the two discussed Cody's past as a cop and why he was so motivated to bring the epics down. Cody then went to see Tia's progress in finding out Steelheart's weakness. She had been looking for a way to find anything that the bank might've been holding that day but had so far found nothing. Just then, Cody pointed to a paper, it was a list of clients of the bank and the insurance company. This would allow Tia a list of the things stored in the vault that day. Prof then asked for David, mentioning a weapon dealer called Diamond. David wanted a weapon that could mimic epic powers. Prof then sent him off. Abraham and David spoke more about possible weaknesses as Megan trailed behind. David took note of the ever-watching people they walked past, wondering why Steelheart allowed them to live there. Abraham explained to him that it was best for Steelheart to be aware of the whereabouts of people like them, people with nothing to lose. Just then David noticed they were being followed, prompting both himself and Megan to reach for their guns. A large group closed in on them, but Abraham remained calm. He spoke with the leader who wanted their weapons, and they decided to have a duel. The man agreed, and quickly fired at Abraham hitting him in the chest, shoulder, and leg. Abraham didn't even flinch and shot him in the thigh, winning the duel. He tended to the man's wound, giving him advice on how to care for it, before the trio left. Abraham took off his jacket revealing a bullet wound. The jackets were made to limit physical damage, and although imperfect, they did work pretty well. He cleaned his wound and they continued again, Megan now in front of them. They discussed Diamond and how he also supplied weapons to Steelheart, but how Diamond made sure they bought from him at different times. They reached the entrance and were greeted by a young girl dressed in yellow, letting them in after being handed a chip. They walked through a few corridors, and they were there.
After arriving David began to strike conversation with Megan while looking at the impressive selection of weapons. Abraham introduced David then David began to browse, looking for something capable of imitating epic abilities. He found a detonator pen that fascinated him and then picked back up on his conversation with Megan. She asked about why he disliked being a nerd so much, mentioning that being smart wasn't a bad thing. David began to speak about his past in the factory, how the smart kids were taken to work for Steelheart and how he didn't want that. Plus, he didn't have time to study school, everything in his life had to relate to Steelheart. Diamond struggled to find something distinctive enough to pass for an epic, but soon found a weapon that could explode large objects with a green beam. The only problem with the gun was that it required a large amount of energy, energy that they didn't have. They still ended up buying it though and snagging a few pen denators too. As they began to leave, David detected a strange scent of garlic. He realized exactly what it was, Phosphorus, meaning Nightweilder was there. Nightweilder and his team had come early and would recognize David if they saw him. They couldn't leave the way they came in, so Abraham decided to try and use the tensors to carve their way out the back. As he warmed up the tensors David watched the group, seeing Nightweilder as well as 7 other underlings. He remembered Nightweilder's powers, being able to create tendrils out of the darkness and take incorporeal form. He listened in on one of the underlings' conversations with Diamond. Just then, Megan accidentally knocked down a box alerting Nightweilder. Improvising, David went out to them with Abraham's gun, claiming to be a new employee. They took an interest in Abraham's gun and ended up buying it off of David. Diamond then gave David the opportunity to leave, but David wanted to test and see if Nightweilder's weakness really was sunlight. He found a UV light and a camera and shined the light on him, making it seem like an accident. Diamond, scared of worrying him, sent David to the back, giving David an opportunity to slip away. David told Abraham about the gun, and then the three watched the footage. The video showed Nightweilder returning to a physical form once hit with the light. Megan, although impressed, reprimanded David for putting the three of them in danger, but this was definitely a win. They took out the chip and continued to carve their way out.
They arrived back at the base and noticed that Cody was out on a mission, he had been doing a lot of them recently. Megan talked with Tia about the mission while David went to speak with Prof. Prof and began talking about some of the flaws with David's plan and how they could fix them. Two of the main flaws are how everyone would know the epic was fake after the fact and that killing other epics would look more like something the Reckoners would do, not another epic. The latter problem led Prof to decide to hit the city's sewage system. David disagreed saying they should go for a power plant instead, mentioning the gun they had gotten before. If they're epic had energy powers, it would make sense to attack a power plant. Prof seemed to like the idea and they went on to talk about the tensors, Prof giving David his own. David mentioned his confrontation with Nightweilder impressing Prof and instilling confidence in him. David and Megan were now at the power plant getting ready to break in. David couldn't stop thinking about Megan, but he pushed his feelings aside to focus on the mission. He began making an opening for himself with the tensors. When they entered they avoided hallways as there were cameras in there. Cody watched over them informing them of the locations of employees and security inside the building. As they traversed through the rooms, David started thinking about the effects of their actions, and how innocent people could get hurt. He focused on Steelheart to get the feeling to go away, after all, Steelheart was his entire life. They came to an elevator and made little holes they could hold onto with his tensors. As they traversed up the shaft, Megan blurted out that she didn't like what David was doing to the team. The way she saw it, Steelheart was a tyrant, but at least he kept the city in good shape. Many places were decrepit and destroyed because of epics, and if they killed Steelheart, that might happen to Newcago. David thought about what she said as they continued to climb, just then Cody messaged them. Security was there. The guards were shining flashlights down the hole, and while they did so David accidentally activated his tensor making an opening in the wall. There was a room behind it so they decided to crawl through. They looked through the room and realized it wasn't on the map, and there were also bomb already set up. They found some folders, bagged them, and left the room heading to where the power cells were. They stashed a few, then disguised as workers and pretended to panic as bombs went off. They told the security at the front they had seen an epic and left the building. After everyone evacuated, they detonated the final bombs and the building was destroyed.
After Tia found it, the group walked towards the vault while Tia spoke about the vault itself. The vault had never been truly destroyed, just hidden and left untouched. They entered the vault to see it surprisingly well preserved. They looked through it and David's memories began to flood in. He then saw his father's body, consumed by the steel. Frozen Prof came to talk to him, mentioning how his father was brave and that seeing the best in people wasn't a bad thing. He then thought that Steelheart's weakness may not have been something in the vault after all, that he himself had assumed it was something in the vault and buried it. The theory made sense, but they continued to search just in case. They began to look through the safe deposit boxes. Most of the contents were useless, but there were some things like gold that could be sold and jewellery that could be investigated. David suspected that it couldn't be the jewellery because Steelheart had no bans on any type of gemstones and Tia agreed. She suspected it was some type of oddity and sent everyone to search for any of those. As they talked Prof brought up his concerns with the pace of their plan. They were close to their opportunity to fight Steelheart, but they still didn't know his weakness. It was too late to cancel the plan too because they had placed evidence around so people would know it was the Reckoners that killed Steelheart after he died. It was then time for them to go so they packed as many of the things as they could and left the vault. Abraham found David's dad's gun in the rubble and handed it to him. When they arrived Prof talked about how Steelheart still believed the attacks had been from rebels and not an epic. They would have to be extra careful with their plans to really sell Limelight. For this reason, it was time to hit Conflux. Tia had stayed behind to monitor, Prof was in his own vehicle, and the rest of the Reckoners were in the van waiting for the armoured limo carrying Conflux. As they waited, David and Megan talked and a bad metaphor cracked her up. Seeing her laugh like that really made David happy. David went over the plan in his head again to stay focused. The limo was almost there, and David spoke about more weakness possibilities, like how he may only be hurt by things not meant to hit him. The group refocused as the limo turned down their street and Megan slowly followed behind. The dowsers confirmed that there was an epic in there, a strong one. Looking into the car, David noticed one of Nightweilder's underlings from the shop, and she noticed him too. He then realized it was a trap, and just then Nightwielder appeared on the top of the car.
Dark tendrils wrapped around the outside of the van. With quick thinking, David grabbed his UV flashlight and managed to shine it on Nightwielder, forcing him out of his incorporeal form. David noticed the fear in his eyes as he fled the scene and the tendrils disappeared. It wasn't over though, as a helicopter chased after the van firing at it. Tia mentioned 4 more on their way, and Megan started driving faster. They evacuated the van and then opened the back revealing the motorcycles David had seen at Diamond's. Megan, Cody, and Abraham each had their own and David got on the back of Megan's while carrying Cody's pack. They all split up, and Abraham went after the limo. Megan and David worked to get enforcement off of Abraham but they were everywhere. In fleeing, Abraham was hit by an armoured unit, still alive but in bad condition. He managed to slip away while Megan and David took the attention off of him. Megan and David continued to drive, but were soon heading towards a dead end. He remembered Cody's pack, looked inside it, and found the gun that they had bought from Diamond's. He shoved a power cell in and shot at the wall. The wall was completely destroyed, as well as the ones that the pair would come up to as they rode. Cody was now in pursuit of the limo, planning to drill through with his tensors. The two broke into an old mall in an attempt to lose enforcement but they continued to follow. Noticing a copter overhead, David shot towards it vaporizing it, but also falling off the cycle. The fall did little damage because of his jacket, allowing him to return to the cycle. The gun was destroyed. As they drove Cody reported that he had taken the limo down, and found Conflux knocked out in the trunk. After some deliberating, the group decided to take Conflux with them. As they talked however more bullets fired into David and Megan's cycle, and it spun out.
The cycle hit the ground and while David was able to easily escape Megan was trapped and unconscious. David picked her up and used the pen detonator to explode the cycle. Prof had told him help was on the way, he just had to hold out. Enforcement was closing in and they were running out of time. The tensors were fully broken. David, unsure if they would leave alive, began to thank Megan for giving him something something other than Steelheart to care about, her. David decided to put her out of her misery, Prof destroyed the ceiling with his tensors, vaporizing any bullets coming his way. He attacked the men, claiming to be Limelight himself. Once done with enforcement he made a tunnel back to the base, David following behind. Now back at the base, Tia attempted to fix up Megan's injuries but after many tries, determined she wouldn't make it. Prof came in, telling them to pack up and leave, that this base was no longer safe. As they left David wanted to take Megan's body but Prof objected, pushing him to get over it and focus on Steelheart. This motivated David and they left. While walking, David spoke to Tia about Prof's attitude to him, and he comforted him by telling him his anger wasn't directed at him, but more at himself. When they arrived David ignored his injuries and went to lie down, then he began crying. The next day while eating a broadcast came on every one of the Reckoners' mobiles. It was a message from Steelheart, he was ready to fight. Just then Abraham's mobile informed him Conflux had woken up. The rest of the Reckoners headed towards where they were keeping him, but Abraham stayed back telling David to live his own life, one not controlled by Steelheart, and then left with them. Prof questioned Conflux whose actual name was Edmund. He offered to prove that he really was Conflux and they eventually allowed him to do so proving that it really was Conflux. As they continued to question him, it started to become clear that Edmund was more of a slave than anything, he was just a power source. Hearing this, Prof gave him a choice, either shut down his power or be killed and have his power shut down anyway. He decided to shut it down himself, and then there was no power in all of Newcago. David was unsure what to think of such a polite and timid epic such as Edmund. The rest of the team was discussing places they could take on Steelheart settling on the solider field. Again they began discussing Steelheart's possible weakness. Although still unsure of it, the group knew they had to take Steelheart on. They planned on scattering the anomalies found in the fault around the field and they would also bring David's dad's gun. Abraham would get as many shots in as he could, in case his weakness was people who believed in the good of others. Finally, they would attempt to get Steelheart's own soldiers to accidentally fire at him in case his weakness was crossfire. They also made plans for if Nightwielder or Fireflight showed up. If they needed to leave they would escape via helicopter. After finishing their plan, they responded telling him they'd fight in three days. The team was now constructing a system of tunnels underneath the soldier field that they could use during battle, some rigged with explosions. While digging David and Prof talked and ended up on the topic of Prof's pasted, where he allowed David to ask him one question. The question ended up revealing that Prof was just an elementary science teacher before calamity and that most of the devices the reckoners used weren't actually made by him. They added the finishing touches to their tunnel system, making it easier to traverse and adding spots to fire from. David continued practising using the tensors as he had seen Prof doing it before. It was early morning and almost time for Steelheart to arrive, they were hoping his soldiers were tired from the night. Prof arrived and it was time.
David was positioned in a small hole at the third deck of the stadium, allowing him lots of chances to relocate if he needed to do so. Enforcement started piling in and as they did David was sure he saw someone up there with him but shook the feeling off after Tia reassured him she hadn't seen anybody on the cameras. Steelheart then began coming in, as well as Nightwielder and Fireflight. Cody positioned himself and shot the first bullet. Cody continued to fire but it didn't affect Steelheart in the slightest, realizing it wasn't his weakness, Cody switched positions so as not to get caught. Abraham began to get ready to take his shots, but both Nightwielder and Fireflight began moving, taking out the UV lights hidden around the stadium. Then Nightwielder began to come for David, shadow tendrils coming around him. David fought them off shining his personal flashlight on him and fleeing deeper into his tunnels. Once he got to the bottom, he continued forward trying to lose him. As he continued through the darkness, he noticed a familiar figure. He then realized it was Megan. Nightwielder then attacked him with more tendrils and as David fought him off Megan disappeared. David managed to escape Nightwielder and continue through the tunnels, mentioning to the others how he saw Megan. Tia said it must have been an illusion caused by Fireflight to distract them and David began to believe it. The team had tested out the crossfire theory while David was still in the tunnels and it hadn't worked. David's dad's gun was the only lead they had left. Prof was currently fighting Steelheart with his tensors, and Cody and Abraham were both under attack. They needed David out there and he was trying to escape. David also thought of the possibility that Steelheart had gotten ahold of Megan's mobile while they were in the mall, and had been listening to all the Reckoners' conversations. As he continued traversing through the tunnels, he saw another illusion of Megan. This one though had a voice, and followed him calling him knees, Megan's nickname for him. In a moment of confusion, David grabbed onto her arm, she was real. Just then, an explosion went off. In the heat of the moment, David had gone in the wrong direction leading him into one of the explosive pockets. Again, Megan was gone. As David started to leave attempting to find the surface, he decided to test if their mobiles were really being listened in on. He told everyone he had been going to hide in the bathrooms then made a hiding spot for him near them. Nightwielder came right up to the bathrooms, they had been listening in. While looking at Nightwielder David heard Megan crying for help, she was bleeding. He temporally ignored her and shot and Nightwielder while shining his flashlight at him. Nightwielder was dead. The bloodied Megan disappeared, another one walking towards him. David began to realize that Megan was Firefight, that she had been working for Steelheart the whole time. She denied nothing and left, David wanted to follow her, but he ran out to the surface to help instead.
Tia decided the team had to retreat as Prof was getting more unruly and violent, a seeming effect of his use of the tensors. David notified the others that he killed Nightwielder and that Fireflight would probably leave them alone. He watched as Prof took on Steelheart, he wasn't doing any damage but he was keeping up with him. David informed Tia that Steelheart had access to Megan's mobile, and she created a different server for them to speak in. Before leaving, David convinced Tia to let him try one more time to damage Steelheart, this time using his father's gun. Tia allowed it and he shot three bullets Steelheart's way. The bullets did nothing. Feeling defeated Steelheart came up to David, luring Prof out to protect him. Steelheart threw Prof and punched his head, seemingly killing him. He then came over to David again, getting ready to kill him. Hearing his father's words David finally realized what Steelheart's weakness was, a lack of fear. Steelheart worked so hard to make sure that everyone feared him so that no one could hurt him. As he took David's gun ready to kill him, he pulled the trigger, activating the bombs rigged below. The only person who wasn't scared of Steelheart was Steelheart. The bombs and fire tore his body apart. David didn't celebrate though, the fire was approaching him and he was next. Suddenly the fire settled confusing David. Prof rose from behind him healing as he walked. Prof was an epic, a gifter, the inventions didn't actually do anything, they were just cover-ups for him giving the others powers. Using his own powers corrupted him, it corrupted all of the epics. He revealed to Prof that Megan was an epic, that's why he couldn't give her abilities. David then went off to find her, even though he was sure she had left. He heard his own voice, it had been a recording of him speaking to Megan at the mall before she died. She was there replaying it over and over again. She spoke telling him that her last moments every time she died were recorded so she could watch them after being reborn. David tried to convince her to come with them, to let Prof speak to her but she didn't want to listen. Prof urged David to come on, and Megan pulled a gun out on David.