No holds barred. This is getting quite interesting.

I enjoyed this chapter quite a bit. We had a throughline of similarities, with Taylor pointing out similarities between herself and Bitch, similarities between the Travelers and similarities between the Undersiders and the Nine, and each part was quite good.

The part with Bitch was definitely the highlight, though. Instead of focusing on locating her and getting her out of some sort of trouble, we got a really good interaction between Taylor and Rachel, in which they both opened up with each other more than ever before, for better and worse. I think they came out of it with some positive development of their relationship, and while there is still a long way to go, I stand by what I said at one point during the scene: This is one of the most important interactions for the development of their relationship so far.

I think it’s fairly likely now that the Travelers’ shared backstory and their overall high power levels have something to do with Cauldron. Yes, it’s possible they all triggered young, possibly together, but this chapter strongly hinted that that’s not the right track.

And finally, there’s the meeting. Taylor may need to work on how she introduces pitches like this, but it ultimately worked out. The no holds barred tactic seemed to get approval, with less reluctance than I’d honestly expect. And apparently she wants to blow the Nine the fuck up? I can’t blame her.

Sundancer’s reluctance to kill may prove troublesome later, we’ll have to see. A fair bit of time was devoted to establishing that, so I doubt it’s entirely irrelevant.

Next chapter, well… it’s time to attack. We’re not going to learn the plan until we’re seeing it in action, so I think it will for the most part work out, though complications may occur in the later stages.

See you then!