Fanfic / Smuggler's Redemption

An Alternate Continuity Assassins Creed fan-fiction that is essentially a "what if...?" scenario in which Ezio Auditore da Firenze chooses to spare one of his targets, the Smuggler Lia De Russo, and the ensuing adventures Lia has as a result, namely joining the Assassins undercover alongside fellow Templar agent Il Lupo while simultaneously being preyed upon by the notorious Malfatto.

Essentially an Alternate Character Interpretation type story with, as the title suggests a Heel–Face Turn at the center of it. The fan-fic can be read here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/7632402/1/Smuggler-s-Redemption.

The author of the Fan-Fiction, AzureSpider, has also written several other fan-fictions, some of which have pages on this site: The Hammer and the Rings and Spider-Man: Downfall.

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This story contains examples of:

• A Day in the Limelight: Lia De Russo and Il Lupo obviously.
• Action Girl: Lia De Russo herself, though she starts out as more of a Dark Action Girl. Also Faustina Collari
• Adaptational Heroism: A mild case. Even before having a full Heel–Face Turn Lia De Russo here is more sympathetic than in the actual game, and also didn't murder an innocent shopkeeper but instead threatened her. She was still a villain though due to being a Templar Smuggler who indulged in human trafficking.
• Affably Evil: Cahin, though he tends to babble, is still in his own way sociable and polite when speaking to the Assassins he fights and even takes his own death in good humor
• Affectionate Nickname: Il Lupo is fond of calling Lia De Russo "bella donna" which means "beautiful woman".
• Anti-Nihilist: Il Lupo as it turns out
  Il Lupo: "Lia, I've been thinking really, and...I don't think there's anything for me after death. If there is any greater power out there, I don't think he cares about people like you and me...Lia...I don't want to die in this war"
• Anti-Villain: It turns out that Lia De Russo is a solid Type II, having a very Dark and Troubled Past. Doubles as a Freudian Excuse.
• Arch-Enemy: Malfatto to Lia and Il Lupo
• Armor Is Useless: Averted with Verulo Gallo, who's armor allows him to take an obscene amount of punishment before finally going down.
• Ascended Extra: Almost the entire cast due to being made of mostly Multiplayer Characters who have fairly minor roles in the overall series.
• The Atoner: What Lia De Russo becomes. Also Il Lupo as it turns out. Chapter 9 is even called "Atonement"
• Ax-Crazy: Malfatto. Also Cesare Borgia

• The Bad Guy Wins: The Templars manage to destroy the Assassins island base, but fortunately many of the Assassins, including Lia and Il Lupo are able to escape with their lives and find temporary residence in Faustina Collari's hideout.
• Battle Couple: What Lia De Russo and Il Lupo become
• Beat Them at Their Own Game: Il Lupo uses similar attire, weapons, and techniques to those of the Assassins...
  • But I Read a Book About It: All of which came from The Barber's notes on them from watching actual Assassins on the hunt, as well as the Barber and the Courtesan's specific instructions to him on how to pretend to be an assassin.
• Becoming the Mask: Played with. While Il Lupo admits that he has long since abandoned his intentions to betray the Assassins and destroy them from within, he also knows that he will never fully be one and is also not prepared to fully embrace the Assassin's ideology, due in part to his slight cynicism on how he doubts that the Assassins will be able to win. Played just a bit more straight with Lia De Russo, but like Il Lupo, she ultimately does not embrace the Assassins ways in full
• Bilingual Bonus: There are a few Italian words sprinkled throughout.
• Bittersweet Ending: Lia De Russo and Il Lupo manage to escape Rome together and get to live a new life together with their son, but this is after being framed to look like traitors and having to kill some vengeful Assassins in self-defense. Not to mention that the Assassin's island base got destroyed earlier too.
• Blade Below the Shoulder: Besides the standard Hidden Blades, there's also Lia De Russo and Il Lupo's unique variations of the weapon.
• Body Double: Malfatto uses his protege Seraffo as one for himself
• Breaking the Fourth Wall: Cahin and Caha's introduction has the former doing this.
  Cahin: Admit it: You can't look away. HAHAAHAHAH!!
• Bright Is Not Good: Cahin and Caha may wear bright and colorful jester costumes, but don't mistake them for good guys.
• The Cameo: Rodrigo Borgia and the Privateer Blaise Legros appear in flashbacks to Lia De Russo's childhood. Sofia Sartor makes a cameo in the epilogue, but is not referred to by name.

• Children Are Innocent: Lia De Russo and Il Lupo's son Figlio Di Lupo in the epilogue/
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Cahin tends to babble nonsense that makes sense only to him. Whether or not it is solely for the purpose of disorienting his enemies is unclear.
• Cool Helmet: The helmets of Verulo Gallo and his men
• Cool Mask: Besides Malfatto's there's also the Pariah Illario Lombardi's mask and of course, the jester masks worn by Cahin and Caha
• Cool Sword: A Sword of Eden shows up at one point in the story, coveted by Cesare.
• Dark and Troubled Past: Both Lia De Russo and Il Lupo have these, as revealed in Chapters 6 and 8 respectively. The latter of which even lampshades this by being called "Innocent Beginnings".
• Dark Action Girl: Caha and Fiora Cavazza. Also Lia herself before going through Character Development

• Deadpan Snarker: Il Lupo and Machiavelli. Lia also has her moments.
  Francesco: "Well, this is definitely not good news..."
  Machiavelli: "Well Francesco, you've just proven to have a remarkable talent for understatement"

• Death by Adaptation: In the actual AC universe, the final fates of Fiora Cavazza, Illario Lombardi, Verulo Gallo, and Teodor Viscardi are unknown. Here they are all confirmed to have died.
• Defrosting Ice Queen: Lia De Russo to Il Lupo.
• The Dragon: Seraffo to Malfatto. Malfatto himself becomes this to Cesare Borgia after Fiora leaves the Templar order.

• Drill Sergeant Nasty: Machiavelli when training new Assassin recruits.
• Dual Wielding: Il Lupo does this with both a sword and a hidden blade and with both of his hidden blades.
• Elite Mooks: The Papal Guards and Verulo Gallo's men.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones: Caha first flies into a rage and then breaks down into tears after Cahin is killed
• Even Evil Has Standards: Even before going through any Character Development, Lia De Russo is absolutely disgusted and repulsed by Malfatto. She's not the only one either.
  • Apparently Eveline Guerra fitting this trope is why she left the Templars.
• Evil Mentor: Malfatto to a younger, Pre-Ottoman Doctor Seraffo, explaining how he came to be what he is in Revelations.
• Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Il Lupo (The Wolf) has a son named...Son of Wolf.
• Eye Scream: Il Lupo kills Verulo Gallo by stabbing him through the slit of his visor with his hidden blade.
• Face Death with Dignity: Cahin, after Il Lupo runs him through
  Cahin: Good show my boy, good show
• Faux Affably Evil: Malfatto, particularly in his interactions with Il Lupo.
• Final Battle: Lia and Malfatto have theirs in Chapter 13. It ends with Malfatto dead.
• Good Scars, Evil Scars: Cahin leaves Il Lupo with a long scar across his face before Il Lupo manages to run him through.
• Good Feels Good: Lia realizing this is what finally prompts her Heel–Face Turn.
• Good Is Not Nice: The Assassins, who are willing to kill to get the job done but are still fairly heroic and benevolent.
• Green-Eyed Monster: One of the first signs that Lia has feelings for Il Lupo is her jealousy towards Fiora Cavazza after learning that she and Il Lupo used to have a Teacher/Student Romance.
• The Heavy: Malfatto, being the main villain of the story despite being The Dragon to Cesare Borgia.
• Heel–Face Turn: The entire premise of the story is Lia De Russo having this. Several other Templars do too, namely Il Lupo, Faustina Collari, and Eveline Guerra.
• Heroic Sacrifice / I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Il Lupo was planning to take the dive for Lia while she fled, knowing that the Assassins would kill him. Fortunately, it doesn't come to that.
• High-Heel–Face Turn: Of the Four Templar agents who defect, only one of them (Il Lupo) is male. Averted with Fiora Cavazza and Caha though, both of whom prove to be villains to the very end.
• Hooker with a Heart of Gold: Subverted with Fiora Cavazza. See Jerk with a Heart of Jerk.
• Hot-Blooded: Cesare Borgia, who if anything is even worse here than in the actual game.
• If You Ever Do Anything to Hurt Her...: Il Lupo to Malfatto:
  Il Lupo: If you touch her, I'll cut you open!
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: How Cahin dies, courtesy of Il Lupo.
• Improbable Weapon User: Averted. Here Malfatto does not use his syringe due to the fact that syringes did not actually exist back then. Instead he uses what doctors really used back then and is much scarier as a result. Played straight with Faustina Collari though, who still uses one half of a scissor in combat.
• In the Hood: Lia, Il Lupo, and the entire Assassins Brotherhood.

• Jerk with a Heart of Jerk: Fiora Cavazza may be with the Assassins, but she is clearly just as amoral as she ever was when with the Templars and doesn't buy into the Assassin's ideaology in the least.

• Knight in Shining Armor: Il Lupo, at least when around Lia De Russo anyway. Averted with Verulo Gallo, who is really only a knight in name and appearance.
• Knight in Sour Armor: Machiavelli, in keeping with the way he is in the games.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Malfatto is killed by Lia de Russo, which is not only fitting after what he tried to do to her, but is also karmic due to his being killed by a woman.
• Left for Dead: Il Lupo by Fiora Cavazza. Also Malfatto by Ezio and his apprentices here.
• Legacy Character: Here we see that Seraffo deliberately meant to honor Malfatto by becoming a second doctor.
• Malevolent Masked Man: Cahin, Caha, Illario Lombardi, Verulo Gallo, and especially Malfatto.
• Meaningful Name: Lia De Russo's son "Figlio Di Lupo" means "Son of Wolf."
• The Mentor: Not only does Machiavelli train new Assassin recruits, but Faustina Collari, now on the Assassins side, teaches the Assassins how to pickpocket.
• The Mole: What Il Lupo and later Lia De Russo become to the Assassins, the idea being that they will infiltrate the Brotherhood to destroy it from within.
• Monster Clown: Cahin and Caha of course.
• Mood Killer: Pretty much Luigi's main role.
• Nice Guy: Il Lupo is by far the nicest, warmest, and most pleasant of all the Templars. Also Faustina Collari and Eveline Guerra, who are both shown to be very laid-back and easygoing individuals since leaving the Templars behind.

• Old Friend: Everline Guerra and Lia De Russo have history with one another as it turns out, having often worked together back when they were both Templars.

• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: Seraffo goes on one of these against the Assassins after Malfatto's death, becoming a new Doctor in the process.
• Sarcasm Mode: Occasionally employed by Machiavelli.
• Serial Killer: Malfatto, who here is a serial killer of women in general, instead of just Courtesans (though they're apparently his favorite victims).
• Shown Their Work: The author clearly did their homework concerning the Multiplayer characters.
• Shout-Out: Several:
  • The character Luigi, who used to be Mario Auditore's valet before becoming Ezios. An ally of Marios named Luigi
  • Damn it Cesare I'm a Doctor not a soldier of fortune!"
  • "Admit it: you can't look away. HAHAHAHAHA!"
  • "You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?"
  • "No matter what comes through that gate, you will stand your ground!"
  • The title of Chapter 13, "Doctor, Prowler, Smuggler, Spy."
• Spared by the Adaptation: Lia De Russo obviously. Also Il Lupo. Subverted with Malfatto though, who does survive Ezio's attempt on his life in the actual game only to die anyway at the end of the story courtesy of Lia.
• Take That!: The Assassins' titular creed "Nothing is true, everything is permitted" is not-so-subtlety criticized.
  Lia De Russo: Sounds pretty nihilistic to me
  • The author also outright admits to hating the modern-day portions of the AC universe but incorporated them anyway.
• Teacher/Student Romance: What Il Lupo and Fiora Cavazza used to have.
• The Tease: Il Lupo to Lia de Russo, whom he affectionately calls "bella donna."
• Token Evil Teammate: Malfatto to the Templars. While all of the Templars are evil to varying degrees (except Il Lupo), Malfatto is by far the worst of the bunch, to the point that he is not well-liked by even his fellow Templars.
  • Also Fiora Cavazza to the Assassins after joining them.
• Token Good Teammate: Il Lupo to the Templars.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Lia De Russo and Il lupo both as it turns out, though having said that, the latter had a bad habit of stealing For the Evulz as a kid.

• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: Averted several times. First Illario Lombardi does indeed try to shoot Lia De Russo, but fails. Later, Il Lupo tries to shoot down Verulo Gallo and his men, but the bullets of his Hidden Gun are only occasionally effective if at all. Finally, Lia De Russo takes the opportunity to shoot Malfatto and kill him for good