So here’s a thing: I actually like Hookwolf as a character now, ever since his Interlude. He’s being antagonistic here, but he’s also being interesting.

On some level I liked Kaiser as a character too, but as a person, I despised him to the point that it practically became a running gag. He became the sort of character whose main redeeming feature is that they’re fun to hate.

Hookwolf, on the other hand, is a man who with just a slightly different worldview could be a decent, quite likeable person. I could actually see a redemption for this guy being done without completely changing his character, though I doubt that will happen in canon. Steven Universe this ain’t.

It certainly doesn’t hurt that while he does still manipulate others a bit, which is something I actually like in characters most of the time, he does it in a way that is nowhere near as shitty and abusive as Kaiser’s manipulation, from what we’ve seen so far. Though he also seems far less skilled at it.

“This isn’t of any concern to us,” Miss Militia spoke, stern.  “The only reason we’re here is to get information on the Slaughterhouse Nine, their motives, and strategies for responding.”

Interesting. “We don’t care if they’re taking over the entire city.”

At least she’s focused?

“That might help you in the next week or two, but a month from now you’ll be regretting it,” Hookwolf told her.

Perhaps true.

“Quite frankly, I don’t think we have any other choice,” Miss Militia replied.

“We do,” Hookwolf said.  “They want us to lose our territories to them while we busy ourselves dealing with the Nine-”

Does he actually believe this part of it, or is he just saying that to manipulate the rest into turning on the Undersiders and Travelers?

“That’s not our intent,” Trickster cut him off.

“Pigshit,” Skidmark muttered.  He looked angry.

Oh, you stay out of this. The grown-ups are talking.

Even Purity had a hard cast to her face, or what I could see of it through the glare of her eyes and hair.  These were people who thought highly of themselves.  Whether that self-esteem was deserved or not, they didn’t like being played for fools.

Which just leaves the question of who’s playing them, for them to figure out for themselves. Either way, there’s someone to be angry at.

What was that about no in-fighting, Hookwolf?

“They haven’t taken territory,” Hookwolf snapped back, “They’re taking the city.  Split it up all nice and proper between them, and now they’re taking advantage of the distraction the Nine are giving them to secure their positions before we fucking catch on.”

Okay, that last part might be taking your conspiracy theory (that is otherwise right on the money) a little too far.

Grue looked at Trickster, and there was some kind of unspoken agreement between them.  Knowing Grue, I was certain he was deliberately ignoring Coil.

Sounds reasonable. Might want to not give Hookwolf more fuel to his theory that Coil is involved.

No use volunteering more information than necessary.

Exactly.

Trickster spoke, “We didn’t know the Nine were around before we put this into motion.”

I guess the unspoken agreement was “no use keeping up the act”.

There was a flicker of surprise on Purity’s face.  “So Hookwolf is right.  You are taking over.”

Not every conspiracy theory is false. 🙂

“Something like that,” Grue responded. 

What was Hookwolf’s game?  Had he brought everyone here under a different pretext so he could ambush us on this front?

Nah, I think he’s just nabbing the opportunity, going the other way. Still a little bit hypocritical after his reaction to Faultline and Skidmark – this might not be arguing, but revealing this to the PRT and other villains is still a way of putting the Undersiders and Travelers at a disadvantage. Hell, if they step too far now, he might even be able to create a later truce to team up against the Undersiders and Travelers, after the Slaughterhouse Nine have been dealt with. That could be the main conflict in a future Arc.

“We’re not stupid,” Hookwolf said.  Three answering flashes appeared over the water.  I heard the faint noise of a boat motor.  Everyone present on the roof readied for a fight, turning towards either Hookwolf or the incoming boat.  I used my power to call on local crabs, and to draw out the bugs I’d stored in the boat, keeping them close to me.

Eyy! Nine Arcs later, Taylor’s ability to control crabs finally comes back to relevance!

There were three more flashes, close, and Victor responded again.  In moments, the boat arrived.  It wasn’t the Nine.  It was the good guys.

Yay! But which good guys?

I would assume this is not a double-crossing in which Hookwolf has set the other leaders up to be arrested, but rather the good guys being invited to discussions that matter to both sides under the protection of the truce.

Miss Militia was first out of the boat, and Battery activated her power to haul the boat up onto ‘land’ in a flash before stepping up to Miss Militia’s side.  Triumph, Weld and Clockblocker rounded out their group.

This seems like a good crew. We don’t know much about Triumph beyond “he yell”, but the other four are characters I like.

Our circle made room, though half the people present seemed to be tensed and ready to use their powers with the slightest excuse.

Yeah, I think Hookwolf had a good reason for not telling the rest of the groups that he had invited the good guys. It would’ve spooked some of them away from coming, truce or no truce.

Hm. It is a bit unfortunate that we’re not getting any New Wave members among them, but I suppose they’ve had enough of the Slaughterhouse Nine for some time, and they know it’s runaway Amy they’re after. Though that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re safe.

The way the Travelers and Coil had positioned themselves, we’d formed a haphazard ring.

Just the Undersiders, Travelers and Coil, or everyone?

“No cooperation here, no sirree.”

From the top of the roof, going clockwise, the arranged groups were Hookwolf’s Chosen, Faultline’s crew, us, the Pure, Coil, the Travelers and the Merchants.

Ah, okay, everyone it is. That makes more sense anyway.

“It seems everyone is here,” Coil spoke, taking in the collected villains.  Forty-ish of us in all.

Damn, these numbers go up pretty quickly.

“Not quite everyone,” Hookwolf replied.  “Victor, Othala.”

Hm? Are you asking them to fetch someone?

Othala touched Victor, and Victor raised one hand.  A fireball appeared in it, then disappeared as he clenched his hand.  He repeated the process two more times.

Or, uh, summon a demon or something.

“Who are you signalling?” Purity’s asked.  Her hand flared with light, ready to fire.

Ahh, I see.

Better not be signalling Shatterbird, Hookwolf.

“It would be a grave and stupid mistake if you invited the Nine,” Coil told Hookwolf.

It would, wouldn’t it? This battlefield has their enemies gathered in a tight spot, but it’s otherwise not particularly suited to the Nine’s strengths. Then again, Burnscar alone could do some serious damage, and these are a whole bunch of high-priority targets.

Coil was the last of us to arrive, maybe because he’d wanted to be fashionably late.

Oh, hi! I was kinda figuring he’d decided to sit it out and let his subordinates do the talking, but I suppose that doesn’t make much sense.

The two soldiers who’d driven his boat stayed behind.  Purity set down by where the boats had landed, followed by Fog and Crusader, who I hadn’t seen in the dark.

Oh, hi there.

Night stepped out of the lake, between our parked boats and onto the roof, water streaming from her cloak.  Had she been the just-in-case measure if an incoming boat hadn’t known the signal?

…huh. I don’t know what the physical characteristics of her monster form are, but if it’s good at swimming, then underwater in the dark is pretty much ideal for her.

She would be invisible in the pitch black gloom beneath the water’s surface, which would mean she wasn’t in her human form.

Exactly.

Another series of flashes served to alert us, indirectly, of incoming arrivals.  The Travelers appeared soon after.  Trickster, Sundancer, Ballistic each stood on the back of some kind of turtle serpent.

Heh, nice one, Genesis.

I couldn’t make out Genesis’s form in the gloom.

Mentioned separately to highlight that Genesis is relevant to how they’re arriving.

What little light was available came from the moon and Purity’s radiance from where she floated above us.  I could have used my bugs to get a feel for the shape Genesis had taken, but my habit was generally to place my bugs on clothing where they wouldn’t be noticed, and Genesis was effectively naked.

Oh yeah, that’s both awkward and easily noticed.

I didn’t know anything about them, but they were our allies.  I didn’t want to irritate her and upset anything between our two groups.

Yeah, probably best to keep relations good.

She shook her head.  It was more the kind of head shake that accompanied an eye roll.

Hehe. An appropriate response.

Skidmark went on, “You’re mercenaries.  Don’t tell me you don’t have the cash.  I’ll only ask for five mil.  One for each vial you took.”

…you know, I can actually believe that that is a good deal for those vials. But Faultline and co. have approximately no reason to make a deal in the first place.

Fautline didn’t answer him.  Instead she looked at Hookwolf and asked him, “Did we really need to invite him?  Does he contribute anything to this discussion?”

Oof.

…but it’s true, he’s not among those with ties to people targeted by the Nine. I’m sure his people would get caught in crossfire if Shatterbird went big, but how much would he himself care?

The only real reason he’s here is that he’s made himself a bigshot in Brockton Bay.