Ambush on Kyle Bates

The **Ambush on Kyle Bates** was an attempt to ambush and kill Kyle Bates in Forest Park by the Babylon Coalition. It happened a day after the Attempted Assassination of Edward Maglio, as part of Fu Zedong's attempt to murder Edward and his friends after he suspected that they were trying to expose him for cheating.

## Background

Fu Zedong was a rather troublesome student, having known to have committed various forms of fraud to get ahead of his classmates and getting away with it. Nobody suspected a thing, however, because Fu Zedong covered up his tracks well. To make things even more tense, a Psychology exam was scheduled for February 22, 2019.

After having gotten away with potentially numerous cheating attempts, Fu's biggest slipup came on February 12, where he was getting caught using portable electronics in Psychology Class. His classmate Edward Maglio suspected something and attempted to inform his peers, but was brushed off because of lack of evidence. It was only after Fu was talking suspiciously with his peers about "cutting corners"

To that end, he decided to assemble a team of student investigators to expose Fu.

One day earlier, Edward Maglio fell victim to an assassination attempt by an assassin for the Babylon Coalition going by the name Ariah Allen. Suspecting a connection between that incident and the earlier assassination of Kyle Black, Edward raced to warn Kyle before Kyle was targeted next.

Unbeknownst to Edward, Kyle had already found himself in the sights of another Babylon Coalition assassin, Giovanna Barnes.

## Ambush

> "*Behind us. Tall, female, black jacket. I think she's armed.*"
> ― Harper Michaels alerting Kyle Bates to Giovanna Barnes' presence
>
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On the afternoon of February 19, 2019, Kyle and his friend Harper Michaels were going out for a run after studying for the upcoming Psychology exam. While this was happening, Giovanna Barnes was secretly observing the two, waiting for the perfect moment to strike while attaching a suppressor to her FN Five-Seven handgun. Giovanna then began tailing Kyle and Harper, hoping to isolate them before she could kill them both. Unfortunately, Harper was able to alert Kyle to Giovanna's approach and they attempted to evade their assailant by zigzagging across Forest Park and headed for a nearby restaurant, under the pretense of getting a bite to eat and catching their breath.

Giovanna continued observing the pair until they entered the restaurant. As the two dined, Kyle phoned the police about their situation. Giovanna then infiltrated the restaurant, under the pretense of "meeting a friend." She then opened fire on Kyle and Harper, sending the entire restaurant in a panic. During the chaos, Kyle and Harper went to hide in two different parts of the restaurant: Kyle fled to the kitchen area, where he told the terrified kitchen staff members to call the police, while Harper went to hide in the women's restroom. Hidden in a toilet block, Harper immediately called 911.

Meanwhile, Giovanna searched the restaurant for the two targets, before entering the women's restroom. Once inside, Harper attempted to deceive Giovanna by attempting to sneak into another stall. She was then able to trick Giovanna into shooting the toilet block she just left. Just as Giovanna realized the ruse, Harper jumped her from behind and engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand fight against her assailant, eventually killing Giovanna by suffocating her to death with a plastic bag.

## Aftermath

Kyle and Harper gave a statement that was errily similar to that of Edward Maglio, leading police to take the hitmen seriously. It was here that Kyle told police that Fu Zedong was behind this. Police then launched a raid on Fu's dorm with a warrant for his arrest, but the dorm was empty. By this time, the school authorities were tipped off that Fu was behind the attempted murders, though Fu himself was unaware of this. A police manhunt for Fu ensued.
After giving his statement, both Kyle and Edward received a panicked text message from their friend Corinne Kitson, in which she reported someone following her from her workplace. After Kyle gave his statement, Edward drove him back to Corinne's dorm to talk to her.