TWO5 Outline 4: The Assassination Part 1
MAIN PLOT:
District 1
The Guardians (officially: Hiro & Baymax, Merida, Hiccup & Toothless, Elsa, Ralph) are sent in to lead the invasion for District 1, but it turns out to be surprisingly easy to get into with minimal resistance. This is because most forces have been pulled back to the Capitol, and this choice makes the entire Rebellion uneasy.
After District 1 is taken over, President Bludvist wants to disband the Guardians, stating that he doesn't think them necessary. Elinor (as the Man-in-the-Moon) counters that the Guardians as a team represent unity of the 'Free Districts', and is needed more than ever against the Capitol. And the Guardians, especially Merida for her charisma and Elsa for her powers, are very popular amongst the people. This leads to some tension between them both.
Invading the Capitol proves difficult, as the Capitol has far better technology than the Rebels, though the Rebels now have more resources and numbers. Because of Valka's dragons and Hiccup's involvement in the Guardians, Stoick become more heavily involved in military leadership in the Rebellion, and since he knew the Capitol well, he does a pretty good job of this. This strikes the ire of some of the Rebel leaders, of course — President Bludvist especially.
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Subplot 1: Emma Alone
Capitol - the Undergrounds
Emma weeps in prison, only to find that she's stuck with another prisoner. This prisoner turns out to Olaf, (who if you don't remember was Elsa's stylist back in the 74th Hunger Games and basically the Cinna of this story). Apparently, they had dragged him in for questioning after the Games went down crazy, but left him here and had forgotten him for most part.
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Subplot 2: Jack Frost
Jack's gets a vision of himself stuck in an ice palace again (see Chapter 12). He's freezing cold, and apparently still kneeling on a frozen lake. Next to him is a pile of dust-like glass pieces, towering to his height. Apparently, he finds that his very cold, very weak body arranging these glass pieces on the frozen lake. In his mind, echoes evil Snow Queen's voice - which sounds way too much like Elsa - asking him to use the glass fragments to form a word, and if he succeeds in doing so, she'd set him free.
District 13
When Jack wakes up from this dream, he finds that the black marks around his body have grown significantly and his chest starts to hurt a lot.
Apparently, since he had been behaving well for sometime now, he's permitted to leave his cell with an escort (that is Ralph with tranquilliser darts). Kristoff helps to bring him around the place.
While eating at the canteen (garnering some unwanted attention), he meets Anna, whom he gets along okay with. The Guardians are back in District 13 for recuperation. So later Merida joins the table, who's a bit wary, but still is civil with him. Hiccup is okay with him, and so is Hiro, but then Elsa turns up.
It makes things a bit awkward, especially with Jack fighting the urge to either kill or flee from her. He leaves their table, and ends up joining Rapunzel at hers while she waits for Eugene to bring their meal. As someone struggling under the brainwashing from the Capitol, the two of them kinda relate to each other pretty well. Rapunzel convinces Jack to consider that not all that things his mind tells him are necessary true and to continue with his therapy. Jack feels a lot better after talking to her and leaves after Eugene arrives.
While more optimistic now, he continues to be taunted by an Elsa-like's voice telling him that he was weak and being tricked and all kind of stuff, and finds himself occassionallly zoning out back into the vision of the frozen lake and the glass pieces.
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Main Plot:
The Rebellion siege on the Capitol remains slow.
Most of the team keeps busy. Astrid joins the special forces team under Sgt. Calhoun, along with a recovered Kristoff and Eugene. Anna has pretty much become a full fledged medic now. Rapunzel has shifted to a more agriculture role. Merida continues to work on propaganda filming, with Elsa and the other Guardians helping. Hiro continues to do his hacking work and tries to broadcast Merida's filming.
Elsa continue to get strange secret messages taunting her, and till now she doesn't tell anyone about them. She gets a communication network code, which leads to her getting a private call from Pitch. In exchange for giving her blueprints of all the traps that have been set across the Capitol for soldiers, he asks to meet her. She confides this to Merida, who in turn asks for Hiccup's support. They choose not to tell others, as Merida is sure they won't approve.
They meet at Pitch's chosen rendezvous, which happens to Elsa's District 12 home. He asks to speak to Elsa alone, which Hiccup (& Toothless) and Merida reluctantly leave (though they eavesdrop). Basically, Pitch warns Elsa about her role as an icon for the Rebellion would expire once Drago Bludvist wins the war.
E: You mean once the Rebellion wins the war.
P: You're not that naive, are you?
E: ?
P: You're mutant. I'm a mutant. People like Bludvist, people like Lotso - they only see us means to an end. Once our use expires, they'd put us down like dogs. Do you see how he treats those dragons of his? You're like that to him.
He proceeds to explain that the popularity of the Guardians is something that the Rebellion authorities see as a threat against their rule. If the Guardians don't support the leadership that the Rebellion puts in power (meaning Bludvist), Bludvist will make sure they become...irrelevant.
E: ...why are you telling me this?
P: I'm telling you this so you'll pick the correct side.
E: There's no way I'm supporting the Capitol.
P: I wasn't talking about that. There aren't just two sides to a war, you know.
Pitch basically hints very strongly that he thinks the mutants to should be the ones in charge, not the normal humans.
P: Of course, I'll give you time to contemplate my offer. We still have to end this war before we can start another. (louder) Oh, and I'm sure you'd want to discuss this with eavesdropping friends. Maybe a chat with them will convince you that my option might actually be the best offer after all.
To Hiccup, he says, "Your dragon is very precious to you, isn't he? Bludvist certainly doesn't share your sentiments."
To Merida, he smirks and says, "Tell your mother Wild Card says hi."
With that, Pitch leaves.
The three head back to District 13, feeling very sombre. A discussion between them results in them concluding that the Guardians have to be the one who put an end on the War, not the Rebellion. That way, the Guardians would have the right to establish the leadership that comes after Lotso.
H: We have no army, and we can't directly oppose Bludvist, or Calhoun, or any of the higher-ups without being labelled as mutinous.
M: So we have to be sneaky, basically. What's the fastest, most sure way we can end the war without an army?
E: We get Lotso to surrender. Somehow.
H: That would be impossible.
M: Okay, if we can't make him surrender...
E: ...we kill him. We kill him before the Rebellion can, and end the War.
And that's how the Guardians Kill Squad was formed.
They keep this a secret though, and because of that also keep secret the data that Pitch gave them (after all, they'd have to explain that they met Pitch). Under the guise of wanting to go the Capitol to film some propaganda, they pick out a team based on those they think they can trust to join them in their mission— each of choosing two:
Hiccup picks Astrid —who picks Eugene (see Chapter 5 of The Wrath of Five, where Astrid had a bonding moment with Eugene), Merida picks her mother and Ralph, Elsa picks Kristoff and Hiro (and thus Baymax).
Elinor herself doesn't approve of the mission, mostly because it's very dangerous for Merida. Merida goes anyways, and Elinor promises not to get in the way or reveal them, but she won't be involved. Later, Hiccup points out that Elinor might be a better presidential candidate compared to Bludvist, and if she's to remain credible, she couldn't be associated with 'mutinous' assassins.
The day before they leave to 'film the propaganda', however, Stoick apparently confronts Hiccup about it - and gives his full support for the mission. They hug it out, and Stoick warns Hiccup to be careful about who he trusts. It's probably the most honest and decent conversation that the Haddock men ever have.
The Kill Squad land in a 'safe' area of the Capitol battle encampment. They film a few propaganda shots so that they can cover their actual work. Only after this do they reveal the assassin plot to those who don't already know.
Eugene and Astrid is 100% in. Ralph and Kristoff are supportive, though a bit wary. Hiro (in his exoskeleton suit)is the only one a little disturbed by a plot for assassination, and later argues about this with Elsa, but eventually concedes to help.
However, before they can dive under the radar, an extra member of their 'propaganda crew' is unexpectedly added, and that of course would be Jack Frost. Though the team is kinda split about it, they decide to carry on with the mission (Elsa is the one who has the most doubts about it.) They try not to tell Jack too much of their mission, but he figures it out anyways and calls them no better than the Capitol.
With the data that Pitch gave them, they successfully make their way through most of the Capitol, and camp out in the abandoned houses in the cleared out areas of the Capitol. They watch some propaganda by Lotso, which they find disturbing.
Travelling the next day brings them across publically displayed corpses of executed 'rebels' by the Capitol . Amongst them is Abigail Overland, but while Jack stares at her for a long time, he can't identify her.
They come across a troop of Peacekeepers, a fight that triggers a series of booby traps, and... basically a lot of things go wrong.
Something in the battle makes Jack lose his mind and he starts attacking everyone indiscriminately, injuring Merida and causing Kristoff and Toothless to get captured by Peacekeepers. Because of that, everyone gets split up and are forced to flee in separate directions.
So this splits them into further smaller groups and subplots:
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Subplot 3: The Thief, the Cripple, the Psycho and the Marshmallow
Eugene, Hiccup, Baymax and Jack end up hiding in one of the houses that Eugene knew about (back from his days in the Capitol where his unwanted profession as a prostitute made him spend a lot of time in there).
Since the map that Pitch gave them is downloaded into Baymax's hard-drive, Eugene wants to use it to continue the assassination mission. Hiccup on the hand is distraught that Toothless was captured and wants to rescue him. Jack Frost is just kinda out of it. Eugene asks Jack why he was sent to join the team, and he honestly doesn't know, but he thinks it was under the President's orders.
As they turn in for the night, Jack Frost asks Eugene to kill him if he snaps again in such a way that threatens the life for the rest of the group (he thinks Hiccup might not do it, coz Hiccup has a softer heart). Eugene agrees. Baymax doesn't approve of this plan, but no one cares about his opinion.
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Subplot 4: Merida and Drago Bludvist Play chess
Astrid, the injured Merida and Ralph, find refuge in some old train passage, and eventually find themselves at the old Game Centre (where they trained and stayed during the Hunger Games) which was currently abandoned.
Astrid and Ralph find some medical supplies to help Merida out, and they all reminisce the Games - and how screwed up it was. Merida and Astrid finally sorta reconcile for their hunger games rivalry.
They watch some Capitol propaganda where President Lotso shows videos of them being 'killed' by booby traps, especially highlighting Elsa's 'death', and also highlighting the dangers of mutants like Jack Frost, whom they are casting the blame on. This broadcast gets interrupted by District 13, where President Drago Bludvist argues against Lotso, and instead paints the team out as martyrs. Merida is quite disgusted with Bludvist's action, noting that 'He seems quite eager to confirm that we're dead.' Ralph disagrees with her about this, stating that President Bludvist was meant it well. He suggests that they contact District 13 to come rescue them, since they can't do the mission without the map anyways. Merida disagrees, not trusting District 13's involvement. Nonetheless, Ralph secretly contacts District 13, and Merida is furious about it. They get picked up and brought back to the District, where Merida gets treatment but is also jailed (again) for possible treason, since she had deliberately withheld info (the Capitol blueprints) from the Rebellion. Astrid and Ralph are not charged similarly, since they didn't know about the mission earlier. Ralph spills to Calhoun about the hopes for an assassination of Lotso, but thankfully refrains about why they didn't want to share it with the rest of District 13 (which was to gain power over Bludvist). Of course, Merida is placed under a lot of suspicion, even when Elinor steps in to defend her, trying to excuse her for being very rash. But because of this, Merida is stripped of her right to arms and her military title (just assume that she has one now). Drago Bludvist insists also she no longer be in propaganda, claiming that the supposed 'Martyrdom of the Guardians' can fuel the Rebellion far better.
Merida and Elinor knows that Bludvist just wants the Guardians out of the spotlight, so they scheme with the remaining District 3 survivors (Gogo, Wasabi) to bring Merida back into the propaganda limelight, and she assures that the Guardians are very much alive and still fighting the war 'in their own way'. Her survival is met with much joy, as Elinor predicts, and as Bludvist seethes.
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Subplot 5: The Queen and the King
Elsa and Hiro escaped into the Capitol's undergrounds. Hiro kind of blames Elsa (and the other two) for how badly this has turned out, so they quarrel, but nonetheless still work together.
Thanks to Hiro's photographic memory recalling the blueprints, they successfully navigate the Capitol Undergrounds to find a place to rest. They find a suitable place to rest for the night, and for Hiro to fix the issues with his exoskeleton (he's paralysed waist down in the story, so the suit helps him to walk). They somehow encounter Olaf and Emma in prison, and help them break out (Olaf and Elsa's Reunion would be nice). During the breakout, Elsa's suit (which helps control her powers) suddenly starts wonking out and doesn't let her produce any ice. Emma however takes charge and successfully navigates them out of the prison. The four of them go and hide out in Olaf's old design studio, which has been abandoned.
After talking to Emma, Elsa realises who she is and reveals to her that Jack is alive but...different. Emma's still tearfully joyful though, and insists that she must meet with her brother and 'save him from the evil Snow Queen'. Elsa is shaken by this at first, but realises then Emma is not referring to herself.
Hiro and Elsa discuss between going back to District 13 and staying to finish the mission, since they now have a child to think about (ignoring the fact that Hiro, being only 16 at this point, was also still a child). Emma claims that Jack was still in the Capitol, and refuses to leave without bringing him home too. So they decide to continue with the mission.
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Subplot 6
Meanwhile, while Pitch reviews the escape footage - which is largely fuzzy and seems to be doctored - he manages to catch a glimpse of the moving toys actually helping Emma in leading the other 3 adults out of the Underground. Pitch goes to review the toys that Bonnie has, and find that they are normal toys which aren't alive (sorry, this isn't the Toy Story movie). He concludes that Emma herself must have powers, like her mother and brother, and quietly schemes to find her.
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I'll stop here for now.