That's a true conflict with characters like Lara, because she doesn't crave power - she feels like she has enough already. Thugos wouldn't be someone who would understand that, because he always wants more.

So he went the wrong route with her entirely. She's strong in curiosity, but doesn't want power.





That is also a good way to drive nu-Hood up a wall.





Or at least it could have been someone waiting for the right amount of distraction, not needing to create one.





I also get the impression that the Winkleweld is kind of amused by Lara because she's not afraid of him. I get the feeling he's amused by anyone who doesn't fear him. Which would make Lara able to tell at first look that nu-Hood isn't the real thing. She would look in his eyes and see anger instead of amusement.





In her time protecting her own universe, she learned a lot about things that are part of balance, and better off not tampering with. The original Hood would be one of those. So rather than off him, she would rather simply give him a good reason to do what she wants.





Faite has this conundrum going where she could make sweeping changes to the universe, but she doesn't want to, because then she can't *enjoy* it. If everything is predicable, then it's boring.





I still have that in-progress, because I started writing a longer one that's more of a novel format. Not sure which one I'll keep yet.





She draws it very slowly from the entire universe. It's also a two-way street, so she can sense when something is wrong with the energy she's drawing from, and also that's the reason she can go between universes. It's sort of the equivalent of drinking from a stream, then becoming the water and going with its flow.