Dammit, where the hell is that nerd? Chandra's thoughts swirled and pounded in time with her racing heart and thudding boots as she ran through the undercity tunnels of Ravnica. Flaming hair illuminating the tunnel, revealing crusting sludge and determined mushrooms and creepy crawlies. Gideon would be welcome company, too, but that muscle-head had run off into this maze before she showed up.
Gideon's and Jace's contacts finally scrounged up reliable information on Vraska's whereabouts and they had taken off as quick as they could. Giving Lavinia the slip had been much more a challenge than they expected.
Down in Golgari territory one had to be wary of... things. Chandra had already needed to scorch a couple aggressive plants and undead – the first with a twinge of remorse, considering how close her and Nissa had become since Kaladesh.
It took her some time to reach an actual junction, the tunnel only opening up to large, disused reservoirs filled with refuse and rubble. Using the intersection to catch her breath, Chandra listened hard down each of the tunnels, hoping to catch something, any sound really, that would help point her in the right direction. Under the crackle of her hair, she heard the faint clink of metal. That worked for her!
Jace had suggested following their own leads separately, leaving Gideon to tromp through the undercity "gardens" by himself. With his known association with the Boros Legion, he was thankfully left alone, giving him free reign to puzzle out the directions uninterrupted. Up ahead Gideon saw the ruins of a building that he was told would take him straight down to the heart of the gorgon's headquarters. He hadn't expected the need to climb down the hard way. The inside was in shambles, as if a wurm had smashed through it, leaving him with a near vertical fall and small juts of floor as his only way down. As quickly as he dared, Gideon scrabbled from floor piece to floor piece, sending chunks of masonry down into the inky depths. He prayed whatever might hear him wasn't large enough to just run him over. He couldn't afford the delay.
The rumble and vibrations of an explosion made its way to him through the stone. If that was who he thought it was, how did she manage to get down here before him? Thoughts for another time. With some effort Gideon spider-crawled his way closer to the sound, finding a small opening hidden in the shadows; he noticed the passage quickly went from rubble to arcade and followed it to a T-junction. The faint rosy color of fire made his choice easy. Around two more bends revealed an auditorium, a ghastly parody of an Azorius courtroom. As expected, Gideon saw Chandra fending of a dark assailant, though her flame seemed superfluous, as her attacker merely dashed through the flames.
"Why! Won't! You! Burn?!" Chandra growled as she lobbed ball after ball of fire at the would-be assassin. In the small, still thinking bit at the back of her mind, she knew the fire wasn't effective, though that didn't mean she couldn't win still. Burn away enough air and you stymie a person's progress. Unfortunately the attacker was getting too close. Between blasts of fire, she'd had to deflect a wicked looking blade, carefully blocking with parts that were protected by her furnace-plating armor. In the residual light of one such blast, a glint of metal in the distance caught her eye. Her concern of another assailant turned to relief when a stone cracked into the floor between them and Gideon's sural flashed to the ready. Together they fended off the assassin, Gideon's golden aura joining Chandra's red flame.
Their reprieve was short lived when a second dark-clad figure stepped out from the shadows. Adjusting their balance, Gideon and Chandra were ready for round two, when a guttural exclamation sounded behind them. A half turn revealed a third assailant, a blue-sleeved arm around their throat, another wicked blade in a twitching grasp before falling to the floor with a clatter. The body dropped in death and Jace stood instead, an esoteric dagger in hand, the blade faintly obscured in shadow.
"Thank you for luring them out," Jace said calmly as he approached his fellow Gatewatch, removing his cloak in the process. "I'll take them from here," he said, handing the cloak to Gideon. "This will require a bit of finesse." Chandra, for once at a loss for words, stood in incredulous surprise.
It was a marvel how muscle memory worked. How long had it been since he had needed to wield a blade? Though lacking in exercise, Lavinia did good in keeping his diet in check. He should probably thank her at some point. A sweeping feint followed by a lunge was parried, rather sloppily he noted, as he backed away to meet the second assassin. A half-step and twist spun him out of harms way, ready to deflect another stab from the first attacker.
Between the pendulum of attack and defense, the spinning footwork to keep ahead of his opponents, the constant demand to calculate and execute the appropriate motion to either defend or evade, Jace found himself excited. He understood it was the adrenaline acting upon his mind in the midst of a life-or-death situation, but that did nothing to dampen the rush he felt. He considered taking Gideon up on sparring practice, but deep down knew that would never come about; Guildpact work was an all-consuming beast.
Understanding of the assassin's combat style coalesced and Jace determined it was time to go on the offensive. He knew his magic wouldn't work on them directly, but obfuscating the mind wasn't the only trick he knew. Casting a two-part spell, Jace shrouded himself while simultaneously sending off an illusory copy to distract. Not surprisingly the assassin was quick enough to find the illusion and redirect their blade against his own. Undaunted, Jace kept up his assault, projecting an attack one way while thrusting or sweeping another; scoring a half dozen or more small wounds upon each assassin. Finally one of them overcompensated, driving their dagger straight for Jace's heart. The satisfying resistance then release of the blade piercing flesh brought a grunt of satisfaction until the assassin realized the dagger was embedded in the stomach of their cohort. Wide eyes stared back in surprise and pain. Confusion peaked until a burning line was dragged across the killer's throat. Looking down to see blood flow down the front of the assassin's garb, the floor rushed up to meet them, but darkness caught them instead.
Jace knelt before the third assassin, knowing there were only a few short moments before the dagger's effect would set in.
"Tell me where Vraska is."
The assassin huffed a airless laugh. "The Mistress has a lovely spot waiting for you in her collection." Death came for the killer before the last word ended.
Irritated, Jace cleaned his dagger off and sheathed it. Turning to his companions, Chandra exclaimed "Where the hell did that come from?"
Affecting her with his usual perturbed stare, "I was the leader of the Infinite Consortium here on Ravnica for some time. Before that... I was Tezzeret's protege. He was a demanding instructor." Pain tinted his words.
Gideon beamed down at Jace with a large, proud smile while he handed the mind mage his cloak. Donning his trademark blue cloak, Jace asked, "Now, shall we continue?"