Shadow War: Plummeting Royalty

Job Details:

Sign-Up page 15, Post Number 362

-Bellum, early evening-

Wearing the guild armor and carrying the disguise ring in her pocket, Stiletto was stalking the shadows of Bellum in search of a wealthy supporter of the Shadow Collective who bankrolled their operations in Bellum in exchange for using them to carry out the occasional dirty job that he could not be linked to. The supporter was not Mr. Gorman, but another man named Mr. L'Argesse. He was a man who was fond of wine and of old black-and-white movies, sometimes both at once. Tonight he would be attending the movie theater to view a showing of an old movie called Ascending Royalty. It was about a Bellum family's start in abject poverty and the relentless humiliation of being a mage family that had fallen on hard times thanks to an ancestor's reckless spending in casinos. Once the male head of the household broke into acting and starred in a string of successful films, his family experienced a meteoric rise in fortune that culminated in them becoming one of the one hundred wealthiest families in the country with a commanding presence in Bellum's film industry thanks to some prescient purchases of up-and-coming studios that produced hit musicals and dramas.

Stiletto had a plan to get close to Mr. L'Argesse. She would sneak into the movie with a disguise, sit through the film, and hopefully get a chance to dispose of him somewhere between the movie theater and his home. That was an ideal plan, but like with the Walter MacKenzie contract in Hargeon Town, she might have to come up with a new plan on the fly.

Speaking of Walter MacKenzie, Stiletto had read that it had taken three days before someone finally cared enough to call the police. Once the police investigated the man's home, they found some incriminating evidence of Shadow Collective activity that led to the group losing a few agents to arrest and making it a lot harder for them to carry out their activities in Hargeon Town. It did not stop the collective, but the loss of MacKenzie and other useful contacts had definitely hurt them.

Stiletto was here to keep the momentum going and take out another Shadow Collective supporter before they cottoned onto the fact that someone was targeting their support network for destruction. If she were able to take out Mr. L'Argesse the Shadow Collective would lose a wealthy backer and may have to curtail their operations in Bellum due to a decrease in funding. Them curtailing their operations in Bellum would make life for Clarence and Madeleine Necargie easier, which was a good way to pay the two Necargies back for them alerting her to Mr. Gorman's plot to have her killed.

Stiletto observed the movie theater from the shadow of an apartment complex overlooking the building. The movie theater was a giant facility with twelve theaters for showing movies and none of them were cheap. It cost 1,000 Jewels per ticket to see a movie. Stiletto was not worried about cost because she had saved her money from past jobs and could easily pay the price of admission.

She needed to think of a good disguise to wear to infiltrate the theater without raising suspicion. A maid outfit was definitely out of the question. A fancy dress would fit the bill, but she did not need to wear one that was too fancy because an overly fancy dress would draw attention to herself and make her memorable. Stiletto wanted people to not pay attention to her. She took a look at the time displayed on an old-fashioned giant clock tower about three kilometers to the right of the theater and saw that she needed to hurry up and pick a dress... the movie started in fifteen minutes!

[Word Count: 646]
[Total Word Count: 646/3,500]

Stiletto ducked into a deserted alley to change in private. She needed a dress idea, but what style should she go with? She needed to wear something that was classy but not too attractive because she wanted to have a relative degree of anonymity in case the attempt on Mr. L'Argesse's life failed and she needed to get away. She stole a look towards the line of people walking into the theater and saw that the women in line wore a variety of colors like black, but there were also women wearing dresses that were white, blue, green, red, and even purple. Seeing that gave Stiletto the idea that she needed.

With her mind made up, Stiletto used the power of the ring to transform the armor into a simple sleeveless blue dress with white high heels and her hair color into dark brown while changing her eye color to brown. Those changes should be an adequate disguise for this job. Straightening her dress, Stiletto waited until no one was looking to saunter out of the alley and onto the main street. She got in line behind a young woman in a "little black dress" and black high heels who was with a young man in a black tuxedo.

Stiletto noted that she only had six minutes until the movie started, but the mage did not panic. She waited her turn in line and bought a ticket to Ascending Royalty, which would be shown in the largest and most elaborate theater the complex had to offer. Now there were only three minutes to get in her seat before the movie started.

-Inside the movie theater-

Stiletto stepped into the theater and was greeted with an impeccably decorated lobby that had burgundy carpet under her feet. The walls were beige and had movie posters hung in gold frames on the wall. The line to the concession stand was marked by an old-fashioned maze of burgundy rope that customers had to make their way to to get concessions. The concession stand itself had a "retro" style with old-fashioned popcorn machines and beverage dispensers complete with levers that employees had to pull. Stiletto did not have time to admire the decor... she had to get to the theater showing Ascending Royalty before the opening credits rolled.

She strolled through the lobby and past impeccably dressed ushers in red vests over white long-sleeved shirts and black pants with black dress shoes on the way to Theater 12, where the movie was showing. Stiletto followed the numbers on small rectangular signs hung over the door until she found Theater 12, which was a good distance from the lobby and down the carpeted hall to the right. She grabbed the golden door handle and pulled the thick wooden door open, then stepped inside the theater.

-Inside Theater 12-

Stiletto walked through the hallway lit by tiny dim LED lights and up a short flight of four stairs to reach an open doorway to the left, which opened up to a large three-hundred seat theater with multiple rows of seating. Stiletto looked at her ticket and learned that she was seated in Seat J10, which was on the tenth row of seating out of twelve. She walked up the stairs lit by small dim LED lights on the baseboards and fought her high heels to make it to Seat J10.

Stiletto sat down in the leather seat with reclining controls and adjusted the seat just as the previews started. She had made it to her seat just in time because the preview of some generic cop movie featuring the typical rule-breaking super detective who could fire a six-shot revolver twenty times without reloading, had a level of accuracy that made trained military marksmen look like bumbling amateurs, and had a dry one-liner for every situation. The film's name was Six-Shooter Sleuth and it looked to be another boring and predictable movie exactly like the ones in its genre were. Its status as cookie-cutter action movie fare was cemented when he shot a moving car in the engine and the vehicle went up in a CGI fireball like it had been hit by a missile. Stiletto sat through the preview to Six-Shooter Sleuth and wondered how anyone could stand sitting through such a generic movie.

Stiletto's Dress:

[Word Count: 736]
[Total Word Count: 1,382/3,500]

After sitting through the preview of Six-Shooter Sleuth and a generic romantic comedy about a boy and girl taking the same Creative Writing class in an exclusive prep school called The Write Stuff, Stiletto was ready for the movie to begin. She activated her night vision mode and began to look for Mr. L'Argesse so that she would have a basic idea of where her target was. It did not take long to spot the man. She spotted him on the front row of the theater with a bottle of vintage wine in his hand and curses on his lips.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN I CAN'T BRING ALCOHOL IN HERE?! DON'T YOU KNOW WHO I AM?! I'M MR. L'ARGESSE! I HAVE ENOUGH MONEY TO BUY YOU, YOUR FAMILY, THIS THEATER, AND EVERYONE IN IT!" The man raged at a visibly shrinking usher. He was an older man who was completely bald on top and wore a black tuxedo with matching dress shoes. The only hair on his head was on the back and it was gray. The hapless male usher quickly backed away from the angry man and abandoned his attempt to dissuade the man from drinking in the theater.

"He should know not to tell his betters what to do! I taught him a lesson he won't soon forget!" Mr. L'Argesse boasted to a blonde young woman with curly shoulder-length hair in a red dress who was many years his junior. She giggled in a sycophantic fashion and turned to face the movie screen. Stiletto focused her attention on the screen as the screen filter changed from color to black-and-white and the lights in the theater were dimmed. The screen flashed the title Ascending Royalty in white letters and the movie began to play.

Stiletto listened to the violin-heavy soundtrack as the opening scene played. It showed a tall, gaunt man in tattered clothing and worn-down shoes walking through the rain in the "bad" part of town and weaving through a side alley before knocking on the door of a one-story brick house lit by lanterns glowing through a window. The door opened to show a brown-haired woman in a simple dress holding a baby in her arms with a second child clinging to her dress. The violins played again and mingled with a mournful piano tune to emphasize the family's dire straits as the man and woman walked into the kitchen and the man peered into the nearly empty wooden cupboard.

"You shouldn't have married me, Sally. I wanted you to have more in life than two children and a run-down house in the rough part of town!" The man said to the woman while grabbing a half-consumed loaf of bread. He put the loaf on a round wooden table with legs supported by blocks of wood and a checkerboard pattern tablecloth and turned to a well-worn refrigerator with numerous dents in the door. He stooped down and began rummaging through the refrigerator in search of something to make a sandwich out of.

"I knew what I was getting into, Carl. I saw something in you that I didn't see in any other man in this town." The woman defended her choice to him. The man stood up with a package of bologna and pulled out two slices, then walked over to the table and pulled out a wooden chair. He sat in it with a defeated look on his face as he glumly separated the two pieces of bread and dropped the slices of bologna onto the bottom piece without the slightest concern for accuracy.

"I didn't get the part." He said simply as a high violin piece started to play. The violins were meant to be sad, but they were starting to get annoying because they had been prominent in each scene so far. The wife immediately pulled out the chair opposite him and sat down with the baby in her arms.

"You'll get a part, Carl. Just keep auditioning. Some director will see what an actor you are and give you a part." The woman advised him. The husband set the sandwich down on the table.

"I don't know how much longer I can keep going, Sally. I've auditioned at every movie studio and at every theater in town. I've got nothing." Carl expressed his doubts to Sally. Sally's face did not change as she tried to cheer up her husband.

"You'll get there, Carl. Don't give up on yourself!" She encouraged him. Carl remained unmoved and cradled his head in his hands. The violins hit a new high as the man struggled to come to terms with the direction his life was heading in.

"If only my father hadn't wasted the family fortune on horse racing... we'd be in a better house in a better neighborhood" He lamented. Sally looked at him with concern as the screen darkened and the letters "THE NEXT DAY" flashed on the screen. Stiletto found the movie to be somewhat dull with an obnoxious soundtrack, but it had potential. The actors and actresses were good so far and the scriptwriters had done good work. She continued to watch the movie... Carl had gone into the movie studio of a director named Fred Poccola and was auditioning for a part in a Poccola production called Wagons North!

[Word Count: 922]
[Total Word Count: 2,304/3,500]

-Three hours later-

Stiletto's legs had went beyond numb and had crossed over into painfully numb because the movie was three hours long and she had not moved the entire time. Still, it was worth it because Ascending Royalty was a surprisingly good movie. Even though it was in black-and-white, had a soundtrack that was a bit too reliant on stringed instruments for her taste, and had no CGI whatsoever, the movie had a lot in its favor. The actors and actresses were skilled in their craft, the scriptwriting was splendid, and the lack of CGI was a blessing because it forced the film's director to rely on substance instead of style to make the movie "good." Stiletto might even return to Bellum to see the movie again once the Shadow Collective business had been resolved.

The mage finally stood up and wobbled on her feet when she did. She had not moved from her seat during the course of the three-hour movie and now she was paying the price. The wobbly mage slowly made her way to the staircase and held firmly onto the gold handrail as she wobbled down the stairs. Just ahead of her was Mr. L'Argesse with his arm candy latched firmly onto his arm. Stiletto stopped in place and let the man and his much younger girlfriend pass before proceeding herself.

Stiletto's legs were slowly coming back to life, which was good because she really needed to go to the restroom. Even though she had not eaten or had anything to drink before the movie, the length of the film had made a visit to the restroom inevitable. She walked briskly towards where she needed to go and found that there was a long line of thirty women who needed to do the same thing. Stiletto sighed. This was going to take awhile and Mr. L'Argesse was not going to wait.

The mage decided to leave the movie theater and use the restroom elsewhere before resuming the "pursuit" of her target. Stiletto discreetly followed the couple out of the theater and nodded when a young male usher wished her a good evening. She walked out into the night air and followed the couple from a distance to avoid spooking them. Her plan was to catch Mr. L'Argesse alone and deal with him, but the presence of his young girlfriend made it difficult. Patience was key to completing this mission.

Mr. L'Argesse took a swig from his vintage wine bottle and slapped his female companion's backside. She giggled in response. She looked to be about as drunk as her older boyfriend was. Their intoxication could be useful to her.

-Two hours later-

Stiletto followed the couple through the city to Mr. L'Argesse's three-story mansion and watched as the two strolled through a wrought-iron fence held open by an older man. The fence creaked to a close behind them, but now the mage knew where her target lived. He lived in a nice neighborhood surrounded by numerous mansions that were one or two stories but were still opulently decorated with hand-sculpted shrubbery and walkways paved with old-fashioned cobblestone. Stiletto retreated to the shadows of a deserted space between two mansions and dropped the transformation, reverting the guild armor to its normal appearance.

Becoming one with the shadows, Stiletto looked around the eight-foot-high wrought iron fence surrounding the mansion grounds for a discreet way to climb it. She found a way thanks to a thick patch of ivy vines that had grown over the east side of the fence. Stiletto sneaked over to it and listened for any signs that she had been detected. When she did not hear any, she grabbed the thick ivy vines and climbed until she had gotten over the fence, then quietly dropped down to the ground without anyone knowing she was there.

-On the L'Argesse Mansion grounds-

Ahead of Stiletto was a sprawling yard full of perfectly cut grass, immaculately cut shrubbery, and a back door where a shipment of wine was being taken out of a white delivery van with a green wine bottle on the side. The back door was her best chance of getting into the mansion to make the kill, but first she had to cross the sprawling grounds without being detected. The shrubbery was high enough to provide cover, but she still had to be careful because Mr. Largesse was on the third story balcony with his youthful companion.

[Word Count: 764]
[Total Word Count: 3,068/3,500]

Stiletto began her lengthy trip across the yard of the L'Argesse Mansion by creeping between pieces of shrubbery that served as excellent cover as well as excellent yard decorations. Being mindful of the mansion staff that she had spotted near the front gate, Stiletto made sure to watch and listen out for them before making a move. She sneaked from cover to cover while trying to avoid being spotted by the mansion staff, the target, his girlfriend, or the wine delivery company.

The yard was wide open except for the shrubbery, but Stiletto was able to sneak through unobserved thanks to her power to blend with the shadows. Stiletto slowly crept around the yard and managed to work her way to the path that led to the back door, which was to the right of the front door. To get to the back door she would have to traverse a large open corridor with the house on the left and the iron fence on the right with a cobblestone path winding down the corridor. There was no cover except for the shadows, but that was all that the Hidden Blades operative needed. Stiletto kept to the grass and moved slowly so that the wine delivery crew could not hear her approach.

-At the back door-

Stiletto paused in place and listened for any alarms or the sound of guards mobilizing. She did not hear those dreadful sounds, but she did hear the wine delivery people talking. The topic of discussion was the wine habit of their customer.

"This guy ordered 144 bottles of Regent wine. That stuff's about 5,000 Jewels a bottle!" A man declared incredulously as the sound of clinking bottles rang out.

"Yeah. This guy's loaded, so he doesn't have to worry about the cost. He's also our best customer by a long shot. He orders Regent wine from us every month." Another man answered before squeaking wheels sounded. They were loading a crate of wine for transport into the mansion. Stiletto tried to think of a way to get past the men without alerting them, but there was no way to get by unnoticed. She opted to wait and let the men proceed with the delivery.

-Thirty minutes later-

Stiletto heard the delivery van crank up and the men pull off into the distance. She finally peered around the corner and found the back door unguarded... and cracked open. That was the opening she had been waiting for. Stiletto sneaked up to the back door, carefully opened it, and slipped inside the mansion without anyone noticing.

-Inside the L'Argesse Mansion-

Stiletto found herself standing inside a kitchen with black-and-white checkerboard tile floor and state-of-the-art appliances, including a kitchen island with a chunk of expensive ham sitting on a wooden chopping block waiting to be prepared for a meal. She saw a door to the right and passed through it. The door opened up to a hallway lined with red carpet and gold trim with a flight of stairs at the end.

In between her and the stairs was a branch to the left that led to the wine cellar. That was the last place she wanted to be because there would be household servants in there, so Stiletto quickly sneaked down the hallway and moved towards the stairs. She had started halfway up the stairs when she heard the wine cellar open and Mr. L'Argesse himself come out with a clinking bottle. Stiletto hurried up the stairs and ducked into a side room on the second floor.

-On the second floor, side room-

Stiletto quietly closed the door and waited inside the room, which was bare and only had a simple bed and a trunk at the foot of the bed for storing personal belongings plus a small walk-in bathroom. It must have been a staff member's room because it was so sparsely decorated and Mr. L'Argesse did not seem like the type to spend much on accommodations for his staff. Stiletto listened in silence as Mr. L'Argesse passed by with the clinking wine bottle and listened as he walked down the hall while she heard slamming noises coming from an unknown source. Once they stopped she emerged from the room into an empty hallway.

[Word Count: 725]
[Total Word Count: 3,793/3,500]

-In the hallway, second floor-

Stiletto stood in the hallway and looked for the staircase that her target had used to get to the third floor. It was easy to spot because there was a trail of wine stains on the carpet leading to the staircase. Stiletto began to sneak down it when she heard the sound of screaming and heavy thumping coming from the staircase. She quickly ducked into a coat closet and listened to the high-pitched voice of the young woman from earlier.

"NO! GET AWAY FROM ME, YOU OLD PERVERT!" She screeched hysterically, pausing right in front of the closet where Stiletto was hiding in darkness. Mr. L'Argesse's voice issued a loud retort.

"I DIDN'T WANT YOU ANYWAY, YOU DUMB BIMBO! THE ONLY THING YOU'VE GOT GOING FOR YOU IS YOUR CHEST! GET OUTTA MY HOUSE!" Mr. L'Argesse shouted, slamming a fist on the wall. The young woman made a deeply offended sound and hurried down the hallway. It sounded like the two lovers had a falling out, which would work to Stiletto's advantage because the target was now alone. She waited until the young woman had fled the building and the target had stormed off to the third floor before emerging to an empty hallway once again.

Stiletto quietly shut the closet door and sneaked down the hallway to the staircase, which was straight ahead and to the right. The mage quickly climbed it and made her way up to the third floor without being noticed.

-The third floor-

Stiletto emerged from the staircase onto the third floor, where she was greeted with elaborate wall paneling done in mahogany, brass candelabras hanging from the ceiling with glass globes protecting light bulbs, and red carpet leading to a room with double doors. The wine trail leading to it hinted that she was on the right track, so she made her way to the room door and listened. Inside Mr. L'Argesse was ranting to himself about the young woman he had had a falling out with.

Stiletto carefully opened the door and stepped into Mr. L'Argesse's room, which was large and square with a four-poster bed with immaculate white sheets and a large walk-in closet off to the right. To her immediate left was a small square table with a recently opened crate of Regent wine sitting on top with a bottle missing. To the left of the table was a bathroom with a gold-framed mirror and marble countertop. In front of her was another set of double doors that opened up to a balcony with wrought iron railing, the same balcony she had spotted the target and the young woman standing on during the infiltration of the mansion grounds.

Standing on it was the target. He was standing right in front of the railing with his back to her, giving her a perfect opportunity to shove him over. He was oblivious to her presence because he was ranting about the young woman from earlier.

"That stupid bimbo... I don't need her. I can buy any woman I want. ANY WOMAN." He muttered to himself between swigs of alcohol. Stiletto began to creep towards him as he continued to rant about his relationship problems, unaware of what was about to happen to him. Stiletto was halfway to him when he stumbled forward and caught himself on the railing of the balcony. He stood up and brushed himself off while not spilling a single drop of wine, prompting Stiletto to move in and finish the job with a firm shove.

The inebriated man toppled over the railing with the wine bottle still in his hand. She heard the impact of man meeting cobblestone and hurried out of his room. On her infiltration of the mansion and on her approach she had left no footprints or fingerprints thanks to her armor and her special abilities, but now she needed to escape before mansion staff sounded the alarm and called the police.

-Outside the mansion, fifteen minutes later-

Stiletto had worked her way back to the same point she had come in and had just climbed over the fence when she heard horrified screaming coming from the back door and saw lights flipping on. The staff had finally found Mr. L'Argesse's body. It was time to go. Stiletto climbed down the strong ivy vines and made her getaway without anyone spotting her. Thanks to her special abilities she had left no prints anywhere on the grounds or inside the mansion, so Mr. L'Argesse's death would be chalked up to an alcohol-induced accident.

Stiletto left the mansion behind and worked through the neighborhood without being spotted by anyone or anything. Making her way to the border of Bellum would be easy. She ignored the sound of emergency services approaching the mansion and was long gone by the time they finally got to the L'Argesse mansion. His death should set back the Shadow Collective for awhile.

[Word Count: 843]
[Total Word Count: 4,636/3,500]