That touched on that sensitive subject again.  My original motivations, my act, such as it was back then.  I turned the subject of our debate back to the meeting.  “What do you think?  If it was up to you and you alone, would you want us to go?”

I’m thinking no. He’s giving plenty of signals that he doesn’t agree with Taylor’s desire to go.

“No.  But it isn’t up to me and me alone.  When I weigh everything in my head, including the risk of our groups spending time fighting and arguing on the subject when we could be organizing and putting measures in place to protect our territory in our absence?  I think it makes more sense to accept it and go with the flow.”

That’s a wise train of thought. I like it.

“When is the meeting?”

“With a situation this critical?  There’s no time to waste.  Tonight.”

Good. The sooner the meeting is, the sooner Coil can drop the timeline branching and go back to using that for other things.

“You’re talking like you want to do this.”

“I do.  Kind of.  If all the top villains of the city attend and we don’t, are we really doing ourselves any favors?

Only if all the other top villains get brutally attacked, and I’m fairly confident that won’t happen.

Our rep will take a nosedive, we’ll be out of the loop, and there’s nothing saying we wouldn’t be targeted by the Nine all the same if we sit it out.”

In fact, we have Cherish saying you definitely will. Twice over, though you don’t know that.

“Why do I get the feeling your decision here is motivated by your rushed attempts to get more control, more rep and finish this phase of our territory grab as soon as possible?”

Oh, looks like I got mixed up with regard to who was speaking which lines for a moment. Taylor’s probably got one more reason to want to do it, namely that Coil said so and she knows he’s probably split the timeline and told another version of them to not go.

And hey, if Grue comes up with her excuse for suddenly being so interested in the Undersiders’ rep, that’s convenient for her.

“Because it is.”

He sighed, and the sound was eerie, altered by his darkness.  “To think I used to like that you were hardcore serious about the supervillain thing.”

Hah! Would you rather she be hardcore serious about the superhero thing?

“Coil wants everyone present.  Tattletale thinks Hookwolf is on the up and up, but he’s only one of the potential problems that could come up.”

I’d trust Coil on this one. The fact that this is what’s happening suggests it’s going to go alright. At least better than staying home.

I thought of the others who would be at the meeting.  “Like the fact that Skidmark is one of the local powers.  Or he is if he’s managed to recuperate rep-wise from the ass kicking that Faultline gave him.  He’s not exactly the type to keep to the truce at the meeting.  An unpredictable element.”

I dunno. Last time, he kept it about as civil as you can expect from a guy like him. Even when he was met with racism and condescension at the main table, he didn’t stir up too much trouble. And while he’s gotten a bit more of a taste of power these days, right now, right after that defeat, would be a bad time to do something stupid at the meeting.

“Yeah.”

“But if Tattletale is right, and Hookwolf isn’t on the side of the Slaughterhouse Nine, if we can trust Skidmark to have the basic common sense to back the rest of us up if they attack-”

Now that part I’m less sold on.

Brian turned toward me, and I could imagine him giving me an ‘are you serious?’ look behind his visor.

Pfft.

“-Or at least not get in our way,” I corrected myself.

Ahaha, yeah, that sounds more like it!

“We could fight back, if it wound up being most of the villain groups against the Nine.  Our group’s powersets lend themselves to slipping away if that went sour, and Tattletale might be able to sense trouble before it hit us.”

This approach, the villains of Brockton Bay teaming up against the Slaughterhouse Nine, makes a ton of sense compared to the Undersiders taking them on by themselves, and I’m ashamed I didn’t think of it.

Hell, just like the Endbringers, the name of the Slaughterhouse Nine was literally introduced as an example of enemies prompting this reaction. It was in the cards all along, especially as we reached the Arc 11 Interludes and started putting capes beyond the Undersiders up against them. This, if it works for the characters, is an excellent way of dealing with a) most nominees being almost defenseless against the Slaughterhouse’s powers on their own and b) telling the story of the testing of the non-Undersider nominees without resorting to more Interludes.

“He was one of the people they visited.”

“He was.  Which means this could be a trap.  Some kind of grand slaughter to commemorate his joining the group.  Taking out the other prospective members in the process, like Regent.”

As someone who’s read Interlude 11e, no. That’s not what this is. But from the perspective of the characters, this is a completely justified fear, especially given their history with the E88 and Hookwolf in particular.

“Or it could be a target for the Slaughterhouse Nine to attack.  Create chaos, maximum bloodshed, the kind of stuff that gets attention.  They’d be killing some of their possible recruits, but that’d suit them, being unpredictable, never letting you think you’re safe.”

Another quite valid concern. It’s a risky endeavor, especially since Cherish would be able to detect the concentration of people of interest.

Grue nodded.

“At the same time, if we don’t go, it’s crucial info that we’re missing out on.” I thought aloud.  “What does Dinah say?”

The latest fad in bumper stickers!

“Her power is out of commission after the attack on Coil’s base, apparently.”

Ah, right. That’s unfortunate.

Is Taylor going to latch onto the idea of that possibly being a result of Coil’s abuse (which it is, born from necessity or otherwise)?

“So we’re flying blind, with only Coil’s power to back us up.”

“Whatever it is.”

Well, at least Taylor knows.

“Whatever it is.” I echoed him, feeling bad for the dishonesty and my lack of disclosure. “What do Coil and Tattletale have to say about the meeting?”

Coil’s input could be incredibly valuable here. He can tell them to go in one reality and not to go in the other, and then see how it goes.

“Who was the other, at Coil’s?”

“Coil isn’t saying.  We think, with Tattletale’s educated guess helping us out, that Hookwolf might have been another possible recruit.”

Don’t look at me, Taylor. I wouldn’t know. *shifty eyes*

“And at the PRT offices?  Shadow Stalker?”

Heh, she would jump to that guess.

Of course, Taylor doesn’t know what Regent did to Shadow Stalker. Maybe Grue’s about to inform her that Shadow Stalker hasn’t been seen in town for a while?

“As good a guess as any.  We’re not sure where she wound up.”

Fair.

“So what does this mean?”

“It means Hookwolf is calling together a meeting of the local powers that be.  Crook, criminal, mercenary and warlord.  We have to decide if we want to go.”

Ooh, another villain get-together á là Hive! I like this.

“Regent got a visit from one of the Slaughterhouse Nine last night.  So did Coil, though the man is quiet on details.

Interesting that Coil mentioned that. I suppose it makes sense to keep them informed, though, and it might’ve come up naturally when he was informed about Cherish’s visit to Alec.

Also apparently Interludes 11f and 11g took place on the same day.

Coil’s also reporting that Hookwolf got a visit on Tuesday, and one of Coil’s undercover operatives died in the ensuing carnage.

What day is it today? Thursday?

The PRT office downtown also got hit, according to Tattletale…”

Nice, so by now the Undersiders as a whole know vaguely about at least four out of the events from the Interludes, not counting the fifth one Rachel is presumably keeping to herself. Them being informed on this could come in handy later.

“They’re active.”

“Yeah.  More to the point, they’re recruiting.  Looking for a ninth to round out their group.  Regent was one candidate.”

Which is a huge problem, though likely not as big of one as the fact that Bitch is also a candidate. I think that might create problems even beyond bringing a second set of tests down on the Undersiders.

“No.  You’re right.  I’ve been thinking too short-term.”

“I really did want to come by and talk about less serious things.  It’s a shame we can’t.”

You can’t?

“We have time to do that, don’t we?  We could go back to my lair, hang.  I can show you what I’ve got done on your new costume, and we could talk about the mask,” I suggested.

“Let’s go home to my place and talk about clothes.”

So is this where the Slaughterhouse get involved?

He shook his head.  “No.  What I meant was that I’d hoped to spend today talking about that stuff.  But we’re not going to get the chance.  Something more serious has come up.”

Looking like it.

“Oh hell.”  My initial suspicions had been right.  This wasn’t a social call.

Nope.

“No, but it’s something.  Look, Coil’s a proud guy.  He said it himself.  He’d be upset if he took over the city and it wasn’t better than it was before.  I’ve got the old Boardwalk here.  I can help set that going again.  I’ve also got the Docks, here.  A part of it.  If I can improve things here, if I can take this place and make it better than it’s been in decades, wouldn’t that be a feather in his cap?”

That is assuming he was telling the truth, but yes.

“Even if things went smoothly, that’s not going to happen fast, and it’s not going to be easy.”

I don’t think Taylor is in it for “easy”.

Not fast.  Grue had been pretty merciless in trying to poke holes in my approach, but the realization that he was right on that score was like a punch in the gut.  “If I can show Coil I’m making headway…”

But here we have Taylor, who’s been trying to do everything as fast as she could, to show Coil that she’s serious about this, and maybe to set Dinah free faster. Getting a reality check on how fast she can actually do this is something she kinda needed, I think.

Even I wasn’t convincing myself.  Coil wouldn’t give Dinah up for something as minor as a good start.  I think Grue noticed my dejection.

Slow down, focus on doing a good job over time rather than on doing everything at once.

“I’m sorry if I’m being hard on you,” Grue settled one hand on the armor of my shoulder.

I don’t think he is. He’s being blunt about some truths and opinions that are hard for Taylor to swallow right now, but I think he’s fairly civil about it and not making it feel like an attack.

“What do you want me to do?  That doesn’t involve taking protection money or peddling drugs?”

“Those would be your biggest revenue streams.”

Are you doing that?

“I’m taking control like he wanted me to.  Faster than the rest of you.”

“But you’re not leaving yourself in a position to do anything with that control.”

Well, besides helping people.

“I can get all of the people in my territory onto Coil’s side.  And I have over three hundred and fifty thousand dollars I can put towards infrastructure here.”

Skitter is certainly not poor these days.

The point about making people loyal to Coil is an interesting one. I suppose a good start is making them loyal to yourself. And while it’s an outright lie that you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar, the meaning behind that saying does hold true here.

Or at least the flies you catch will get more stuck. Metaphorically speaking.