simon snow is the (worstchosenone) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-05-04 12:11:00 |
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Entry tags: | ~plot: ancient vallo |
THE ASSASSINATION PLOT
Search any Vallo history book and you will find a single line—maybe a paragraph, if you're lucky—about the attempted assassination of one of the Ivory Three in the fallen metropolis known as Civitas. Some Vallo historians support the theory of a resistance inside Civitas, as long lost eye-witness testimony placed another group there. No one can seem to locate names, descriptions, or even alliances or factions these people belonged to. Through the years, the stories have been distilled down to a group of strangers. It remains one of the biggest, unanswered questions in Vallo's history—a game to play between fledgling apprentices and weathered professors.
Who were they? Why did they intervene? Why were they never heard from again?
Speculation never comes close to the truth. Ever heard of "right place, right time?" Serendipity? Kismet? Fate? Coincidence or accident, a series of unexplained events is the real history.
On this particular morning, a public forum to discuss the current unrest in Civitas and address the whisperings of strange new arrivals in the already overcrowded magical city convened. After the protest from the day before, patrols and guards were stationed in massive numbers around the area. Too many to count, too many to do appropriate background checks—not that such a thing existed.
It was easy to slip in a few extra guards who weren’t quite what they seemed.
The agora was bustling. Shops lined the columns, and a large crowd had gathered—to listen, to watch, to catch a glimpse of the Ivory Three, present at the forum to quell fears. Bonnie Bennett and Richard Campbell Gansey III, familiar with the ancient history of Vallo, recalled those few lines in the history books about the strangers stopping the planned assassination and pushed into the crowd in order to see who so as to answer that age-old question. Their presence close to the podium had caused a few unsettling looks to be pointed in their direction. Specifically one of the men posted as a barrier between the crowds.
Fandral, flirting incessantly with a guard near the stage, had unintentionally (or maybe intentionally?) distracted the undercover Kalish assassin, who consequently missed their cue to take out another guard on rotation. This left their partner to defend against two guards instead of one, and the scuffle drew the attention of Steve Rogers and Peggy Carter. There was no mistaking that something nefarious was being enacted, and Steve, Peggy, and Fandral split up across the agora in order to sort out who else might be involved and move citizens away without causing a commotion.
Getting a whiff of the word assassination had Diego Hargreeves attending, that long-standing obsession with JFK now being adopted for the Ivory Three. With Isabela by his side, their eagle-eyed vision scanned the crowds from the edges of the stage. When everyone was looking forward toward the Ivory Three, Diego and Isabela were looking up, where two sharpshooter mages were poised for a direct line. Some quick, although relatively inconspicuous knife work, finished them off in record time. The blades however were the only evidence that remained of their involvement.
Katherine Pierce seeing suspicious characters begin to gather on the fringes of the agora, followed innocently behind them. By the time they realized they were being shadowed by an interloper she had already knocked two unconscious. Noticing tense movement from within the audience, Jesse McCree, a sharpshooter absent his gun, turned to his improvised weapon—a slingshot. The first set of thrown stones served as a distraction for a second set. Two sharp shots straight to the throats of would-be assassins before Katherine had time to snap their necks. (The mages thank you, Jesse.)
The last one—in a flash of magic—disappeared in a flash-bang of smoke. Chaos erupted after that.
Even with all the hiccups in the plan by seemingly random people, there were still pieces in play. As the attendees to the forum started to flee in all directions, a fireball sparked from the crowd and bounced pitifully and dissipated against Bonnie's inconspicuously crafted magical shield. Gansey, putting himself slightly (read: purposefully) in the way, tripped a guard (the guard) which dominoed through the press of people, forcing undercover assassins to find another way through and ultimately causing them to miss their opportunity to take one of the Ivory Three out.
In a last-ditch effort, members of the tightly-wound retinue surrounding the Ivory Three revealed themselves as part of the assassination plot. One placed a knife to the eldest one's throat while the others ran—seeing as they were surrounded by unexpected variables. It was Simon Snow, having caught the commotion and sensed the need to help, who barreled in with his giant red wings (and giving up the cover he had been using for the past few days to not draw attention) knocking the assassin across the stage. Tony Stark finished off the other members with a few well-placed fists to the face and a clever retort. (What that was exactly couldn’t be heard over the shouts from actual guards.) The two scattered immediately before being caught by authorities swarming the stage in confusion. Better to be helpful and run, than to take the glory and be painted as an enemy.
In the chaos it was easy to lose the stragglers. But Malcolm Bright, with his years of work as a criminal profiler, was able to follow a trail of clues with relative ease to one of the assassins who had tried to camp until the coast was clear. A few well-placed tips led Civitas guards to them to make the arrest.
All it took was a few seconds to change the course of history.
Just a group of strangers stopping an assassination.