A/N: Plot bunnies suck, right? Another computer game story. I may write Carmen a little more "Where On Earth..." if possible. It's a novelized version of the game "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego" or "Carmen Sandiego's Great Chase Through Time". Basically twelve-year-old Saffron Gold loves the TV shows, so when she finds the computer game, she buys it. However, she is pulled into the game, and she's a real ACME agent. Even if you're unfamilar with the game canon, this should still be readable, and hopefully enjoyable. Please review!
Saffron slotted a disc into her computer. She had just bought the game "Where In Time Is Carmen Sandiego". She'd watched the 90s cartoon based on the (fictional) master thief by that name and had loved it, liking that for all Carmen's stealing, she had serious morals and seemed to genuinely have concern when her detectives were in trouble.
"Why does Carmen have brown hair in this?" Saffron wondered out loud as the game installed and began. In the cartoon She watched as there was an explanation and credits. Apparently, Carmen had stolen the Chronoskimmer and sent her people from her organization, VILE, to steal various items through history. "Huh, that doesn't sound like Carmen." muttered Saffron as the Chief from this version talked – an African-American woman with a serious face, acted by the late Lynne Thigpen.
"You must follow the thieves' trails through the time tunnels and retrieve the objects they have stolen." the Chief said. She pointed to the right. "There's the time portal. Jump in and I'll give you more details as you travel. It's take-off, Time Pilot!"
Saffron grinned. "This game sounds pretty cool." But then she frowned a little. "But it sounds like I won't be seeing much of Carmen – not the Carmen I'm familiar with, anyway. She sounds so – stereotyped, like an evil one-dimensional character. The Carmen I know would be so much more interesting."
However, her disappointment in Carmen couldn't completely dampen her spirits, and Saffron couldn't wait to play the game. She clicked on the swirling time portal, but first, a box popped up, asking for her name.
She typed her full name, including her middle name, "Saffron Sunny Gold", although she grimaced at the yellow theme. Then, the screen cut to black for a moment, then she saw the grey of the spiralling tunnel. It wasn't staying on the screen, though. It swirled out, pulling Saffron up. She gave a squeal of fear as she was suspended in the air, then sucked right through the computer screen.
That was just a short prologue. The next chapter will be centered on Case 1. Sorry, but the only canon character from the cartoon will be Carmen. I wish I could include the detectives, but they don't appear in the game. However, they do make several appearances in my other game-cartoon crossover "Enchanting Pixie" about Carmen's daughter. And please, REVIEW!