“Mannequin went after Armsmaster.  Armsmaster was hospitalized.”

That was some small shock to everyone present, though I might have been less surprised than some.

Huh.

Well, I guess she’s less surprised by Armmaster being someone the Nine would be interested in.

Armsmaster as a prospective member for the Nine.

Yeah, that.

I mean, even from Taylor’s perspective of the guy, it seems like a stretch, but she has reason to be somewhat less surprised.

“What you suggest is too dangerous,” Faultline said.  “We’d all be gathered in one or two locations for them to attack, and if Armsmaster was attacked, we could be too.”

That is true.

“And their whole reason for being here is recruitment,” Coil spoke, “Perhaps the plan would work if we could trust one another, but we cannot, when many here were scouted for their group, and may turn on their potential rivals to prove their worth.  We would be vulnerable to an attack from within, and we would be easy targets.”

Funny you should mention that. *glances at Bitch*

Miss Militia frowned.

“Please.”

She turned away from me and called out, “I would suggest a compromise.”

Nice. What do you have in mind?

The arguing stopped, and all eyes turned to her.

“The Undersiders and Travelers would move into neutral territory until the Nine were dealt with.  But so would the powered individuals of the Merchants, the Chosen, the Pure, Coil and Faultine’s Crew.”

Hm, nice. Though it is still worth noting that the Merchants, the Chosen and probably the Pure practically have small armies of mundanes that could still be sent to take territory and terrorize citizens.

“Where would this be?  In the PRT headquarters?” Hookwolf asked.

Where exactly are the PRT headquarters these days anyway? Apparently Armmaster’s house arrest apartment is part of it, at least.

“Perhaps.”

“You were attacked as well, weren’t you?  Who did they go after?”

Ooh, this might get an interesting reaction from Taylor if Miss Militia answers honestly. Not just finding out Armmaster was targeted by the Nine, but finding out that he didn’t get punished as hard as they were going to punish her for a smaller crime.

“You’ll be earning the enmity of everyone here if you refuse,” Hookwolf said.  Was there a hint of gloating in his tone?

“I’ve won. You know I’ve won.”

“We’ll be ruining ourselves if we agree, too,” Grue retorted.

“I strongly recommend you agree to this deal,” Purity said.

I don’t think they’re very receptive to your advice, Purity. You’re one of the beneficiaries from this nonsense.

“No, I don’t think we will,” Trickster said.

“No,” Grue echoed Trickster, folding his arms.

Good work, boys. Stick to your guns.

There’s a bumpy ride ahead.

That only provoked more argument, along many of the same lines.  It was clear this was getting nowhere.

I turned to Miss Militia, who stood only a few feet from me.  When I spoke to her, she seemed to only partially pay attention to me, as she kept an eye on the ongoing debate.  “This isn’t what we need right now.  Hookwolf’s made this about territory, not the Nine, and we can’t back down without-”

Miss Militia seemed to be particularly interested in keeping the meeting focused earlier. It’s a wonder she hasn’t interjected more.

I stopped as she turned her head, stepped a little closer and tried again, “We, or at least I have people depending on me.  I can’t let Hookwolf prey on them.  We all need to work together to fight the Nine.  Can’t you do something?”

Miss Militia is among those who know about Taylor’s original scheme. I’m sure that might help her be more inclined to believe Taylor here, especially when mixed with Battery’s reports. Battery might also be relevant to bring into this side discussion.

Hookwolf was manipulating this.  He wasn’t as subtle about it as Kaiser had been, it was even transparent, what he was doing.  Dead obvious.

Oh yeah. But it works.

At the same time, the scenario he was suggesting was just dangerous and believable enough to the Merchants, to his Chosen, and to the Pure that they couldn’t afford to ignore it.  Coil couldn’t talk sense into them without potentially revealing his role as our backer.  Even the heroes couldn’t counter his argument, because there was that dim possibility that he was right, that they would lose control of the city to villains if we continued to grab power.

He’s got them spun around his finger.

Which was admittedly the case.  Dealing with the local heroes was one of our long-term goals, for Coil’s plan.

True that.

We were fighting for Coil’s plan and Coil wasn’t helping.  He remained silent, inscrutable, sticking to the situation that worked best for him and him alone.  Damn him.

Yeeah. He’s just racking up the “damn him” points with every major appearance.

Faultline just accused the Undersiders of being stupid. Maybe that means it’s Tattletale’s turn to talk, given how much she hates being called stupid.

“And we will,” Trickster said.  “We just won’t give up our territory to do it.”

“Because you’re hoping to expand further and faster while the Nine occupy the rest of us,” Hookwolf growled.

How about this: Anyone who does that must give themselves in to the PRT and face the consequences associated with abusing an Endbringer situation.

“We agree to this like you want, and you attack us from behind.”

Like you can be trusted not to do the same.

“We haven’t given you any reason to think we’ll betray a truce,” Grue told him, his voice echoing more than usual, edged with anger.  The darkness around him was roiling. 

“You have.  You’re refusing the terms,” Purity said.

That is…

That’s just stupid.

“No,” Grue echoed me, his voice carrying across the rooftop.

Defiant Undersider chorus?

Maybe Undertraveler?

“No?” Coil asked, his voice sharp with surprise.  Was there condemnation in there?  It was very possible we weren’t going the route he wanted.

Uh oh. He’s not used to them going against him.

Maybe it’s time to part ways from the Undertravelers’ sugar daddy and make the territories independent? But that doesn’t work well for Taylor, who relies heavily on Coil’s money for improvements to her territory, and on being a good employee to save Dinah.

Grue shook his head, “We’ll help against the Nine.  That’s fine, sensible.  But Trickster is right.  If we abandoned our territories in the meantime, we’d be putting ourselves in an ugly situation.  That’s ridiculous and unnecessary.”

Well put.

Trickster nodded at his words.

“If you keep them you’ll be putting yourself in an advantageous position,” Purity intoned.

How?

“Don’t be stupid, Undersiders, Travelers.” Faultline cut in, “You can’t put money, power and control at a higher priority than our collective survival.  If Coil’s precog is right, we have to band together against the Nine the same way we would against an Endbringer.  For the same reasons.”

Are you guys just not listening? They said they would help. Hookwolf’s the one trying to keep them out of the fight, with the “hotel” thing.

In those weeks or months it took to retake territory and slog ahead with constant opposition, there could be further delays.  It would mean that my plan to efficiently seize the Boardwalk and surrounding Docks would fall apart.  I’d have to pull away from my people and my neighborhoods to help the others fight off attacks.  I wouldn’t be able to offer exemplary service to earn Coil’s trust and respect in the mess that ensued.  The opportunity to free Dinah would slip from my grasp.

Aaand we’re back to Dinah again. THIRD BASE!

Wait, shit, that Who’s on First reference sounds so wrong.

Worst of all, there was no reason for it.  We’d claimed more of the city as our territory than they had assumed, and now Hookwolf was building on that, giving them reason to worry we had other sinister motives.

He doesn’t seem to be quite as skilled at manipulating the individual as Kaiser was, but he knows how to direct a group’s thoughts.

“No,” I murmured, barely audible to myself.  I could see some of the other Undersiders -Grue, Tattletale and Bitch- turn their heads a fraction in my direction.

Ooh.

Defiant Taylor speech?

*starts chanting* Speech! Speech! Speech! Speech!

At this point, I don’t think they’ll be actually properly talking about the Slaughterhouse Nine until next chapter.

Taylor could use a hotel vacation, though.