Hello everyone! Apologies for the delay on this chapter. We should be back to regular update from now on! Please enjoy this next part, as things start to align to get us in shape for some of the events mentioned in the first episode. As promised, more Ivy and Sheena in this chapter and as such, there's some use of profane language, as young adults tend to do.
New York City, New York
August 17, 2018
"How did you even know about these kids anyway?" Carmen whispered as she carefully tucked in her new earpiece. She'd been watching the long deserted storefront address Player had given her for hours and was just about at the limit of her patience. "I didn't even meet them until way after I dumped my old phone with the hard drive."
"Uh, well…You see, a funny thing about Boston." Played said slowly, "It's got a lot of security cameras. And I, uh, may have tapped a few of them. And run, like, a teensy bit of facial recognition to make sure that Haber wasn't following you. Or any of those cops. Or those two kids. That's sort of how I found out about this."
"You were spying on me!" Carmen accused him with a smile he couldn't see.
"I was worried! Those kids are sketchy, and you were being chased, and I didn't-" It had been a long time since Carmen could count on someone having her back (not that history hadn't proven she really should have counted on Gra- well, that was neither here nor there.) and she appreciated that even being alone didn't mean abandoned. For the most part.
"Player? Thanks."
"You're welcome, Red."
"But don't ever do that again. A lady needs her... privacy."
"Ugh, you had to make weird, didn't you?"
A chip in the painted-over windows of the storefront revealed slight movement inside for the first time that night, and Carmen moved toward the entrance. "You wouldn't listen if I didn't." Her smirk faded as a high-pitched cry rang out through the alley. "Stand by, I'm going in."
Player's camera scan had picked up the twins once again as they were ransacking the same donut shop Carmen had met them in almost two months ago. Normally that wouldn't really be enough to take her off course- Carmen saw and generated plenty of crime on her own- but it definitely met the bar when two men in gray coveralls and Dash Haber showed up to stop them, rather than the police.
Top tier felons, these were not. Carmen spent the train ride watching Player's playback of a rough, sloppy fight, where the pair were ultimately subdued by VILE's henchmen. Just before the morning deliveries were made at the donut shop, the kids were bundled up in supply boxes and tossed into the back of a waiting truck.
One of these days she'd have to learn how to drive. It would make following bad guys a lot easier than having to jump on a train every time she had to run to a new city. In this instance, it had been a literal jump, as she'd cut it pretty close.
In either case, they'd managed to track the truck to a row of long-empty storefronts in New York City ("It's technically leased to about four different shell companies, but guess who the ultimate landlord is? Go on, guess." Player had offered. "I don't understand why a company with so many assets even does crime, sheesh.") and although Carmen didn't mind doing reconnaissance, she knew whatever VILE had in store for the twins couldn't be good.
Carmen slipped around the back of the building, carefully counting off entrances to match the window with movement in the front. She pressed an ear to metal fire door, straining to hear anything from inside. There was low painful moan- the boy, Zack- followed by a slightly higher pitched plea to stop.
No time to waste.
Carmen steadied her hand and made short work of the heavy lock on the door. With a quick run and jump, she threw her weight against it, and it flew open with a bang.
The girl- Ivy, Carmen recalled- was bound to a rickety-looking chair facing the door. Her face was smeared with dirt, but two clear streaks of tear-tracks ran down either side of her face. She must have been straining against the cord, because as soon as Carmen burst in, she gasped in surprise and shrunk back.
The man in the middle of the room swung a baseball bat toward Carmen, but she'd trained against that type of attack far too many times. She thrust one hand upward to catch the bat at the base, and pushed her attacker off balance with a quick blow to the side of the knee. With a twist of her wrist, Carmen rolled the bat into her own hand, and glanced up at a still-terrified Ivy before she tightened her grip determinedly and swung the bat down. It landed with sick crack on her opponent's head, and he dropped to the floor.
It was only then that she realized he wasn't the only one- a mop of red hair lay on the ground nearby, unmoving.
"They wouldn't stop," gasped Ivy. "I tried to- we don't have anything. I don't know what they were talking about. But they wouldn't stop. Oh, God, Zack."
"We'll get him to a hospital." Carmen replied gently. He looked pretty bad, with blood covering most of his face and several darkening bruises scattered all over. She put a hand to her ear to reactivate the earpiece. "Player, can you…?"
"On it, Red."
Carmen hummed in acknowledgement, and then stood to cut Ivy loose. She jumped up, then immediately collapsed to the ground next to her brother with a fresh sob. Carmen knelt next to her, gently feeling for a pulse. Slow but steady. "His pulse is ok, but his breathing sounds ba-"
"Oh, no, you don't!" In a flash of red to her left, Ivy sprang off the ground. Carmen spun on her knee just in time to see Ivy tackle the second man in coveralls, who had somehow come up behind them unnoticed. He had clutched the discarded bat in his hand, but was now struggling in the face of Ivy's brute force. She sat sprawled over his chest, fist pounding with each word. "What! Do! You! Want! What! Did! We! Do-"
Carmen carefully moved behind her, caging her frantic arms in a bear hug as she tried to calm her. None of her training had covered this. Tactics, yes; combat, sure; but Carmen had always had that training to fall back on. For better or for worse, first instincts when in danger were how to use her abilities to gain advantage, to accomplish her goals.
She'd never fought for her life, as Ivy now desperately was.
"Ivy." Carmen tried to plea, "Ivy! Stop! It's over. He's out. We have to help Zack."
Ivy choked out one final sob and nodded, rolling herself to her feet. Carmen grabbed the discarded cord from where Ivy had been restrained, and quickly bound hands and feet of the two other men.
If they were both here, then there was no time to wait on an ambulance. Haber would want an update to report back to Cleo, and if he didn't get it, there was no telling what kind force would arrive next.
Carmen looked around, hoping a plan would form itself. Ivy was still on the floor trying to rouse Zack, but there was little else in the room, and no time or safe way to explore.
What to do?
"We have to get him back to Boston," Ivy broke through her thoughts. "We have a doctor there we can take him to see. Going to a hospital is the bigger risk." Zack, who had apparently awakened, nodded ever-so-slightly.
Ivy's face took on the expression that Carmen remembered from a donut shop months ago- full of honesty- and she couldn't find it in herself to argue. She quickly pulled a set of keys from the man on the floor in front of her.
"I don't suppose to you know how to drive that truck outside?"
Despite everything about the situation, Ivy grinned. "I'm a great getaway driver."
They pulled out of the back alley just as the ambulance arrived.
Boston, Massachusetts
August 18, 2018
The clinic that Ivy pulled into did not seemed surprised to pull a near-comatose young man from the back of a bakery truck, and Carmen tried to avoid asking too many questions about that until they knew how Zack was doing.
"Mob doctor." Player chimed in with a singsong voice in her ear. "Bet you anything that's why she didn't want to go to a hospital. Be careful, Carm. None of this adds up."
Despite its gaps, organized crime had been a surprisingly detailed part of her education (though Professor Maelstrom warned them against become "too pretentious" if any student considered running their own syndicate as a career goal: "Never lose the touch yourself. That's how they get you.").
"I don't know," Carmen considered the dimly lit room and cracked linoleum. "This looks a little low rent to generate that kind of cash."
"What do you wanna do about her? She's gonna crash any minute." Player's voice over the earpiece confirmed what she was seeing in person. Ivy had shaved a good portion of the travel time by relentlessly speeding with a focus that Carmen hadn't seen outside of her find-the-dollar-in-the-coat days. But her mission now accomplished, Ivy was looking pale and shaky.
"Ivy?" Carmen called out softly, approaching from her line of sight. "Ivy, you shouldn't be here alone. is there someone I should call? Family, or…?" Ivy looked up from the floor with a steady glare.
"No."
Oh. Carmen certainly understood that, but didn't really know what else to say. Can I do anything seemed trite. It will be okay was almost certainly a lie. I'm sorry was completely true but equally useless. Finally, she settled on "I'll figure this out, Ivy. I know who did this and I'll do everything I can to stop them."
Ivy nodded as though she was listening, but her response was off-time. "I'm not, you know." Sensing Ivy was working through her thoughts, Carmen was silent as she continued. "Alone. I'm not alone. Zack and I have always been a team. And even if he's hurt, it doesn't mean-" Ivy clamped a hand over mouth to hide a sob. A minute later she sat up, stone faced once again.
"I'm not alone." she repeated. "He's my brother, so I'm not alone even if he isn't right here, y'know?"
Carmen glanced at her phone and put her hand over one of Ivy's. "I know exactly what you mean."
An elderly nurse came through a set of double doors, and gestured for Ivy to join her. Ivy stood with a tremble, and Carmen, uncertain exactly what sort of conversation this would be, turned to give them some privacy.
"I can't find any licensed doctor at your address, Carmen. This place is sketchy as hell." Player's voice popped back on as soon as Ivy moved.
"They seem to know Ivy well enough." It wasn't a defense and they both knew it. "I can't just leave them like this. Someone from VILE could come back."
"The ambulance picked up the two flunkies, but no sign of Haber." Player offered. "But if he brings reinforcements after them, you might be better off going to ground."
"What's VILE doing in the donut business anyway? Seems like a lot of trouble over a botched robbery."
Player huffed in exasperation. "That's what I've been trying to tell you! You saw the footage; the day Ivy and Zack broke in, they weren't robbing it. They tossed the office and the register, but didn't take any cash. They were looking for something else. That store is reporting way more income than it actually makes. It was practically empty the day you were there, but they are constantly recording major cash transactions. Something about this is majorly fishy, Carmen."
Carmen tried to think through what she remembered from Professor Maelstrom's lecture on diabolical accounting. "Recording paper transactions is a bad idea, isn't it? Not the best way to hide your money."
"It is if you're trying to launder cash instead of hide it."
Set your sights higher than pulling pranks or picking pockets, Cookie Booker had told her, white collar crime is where to real money is.
Of course, VILE would have a larger financial operation than just a ledger on a hard drive!
"Then we have to go back." Carmen whispered determinedly. "This means maybe we don't need to hack the hard drive to find evidence of VILE!"
Ivy walked back up to her just then, looking worn-out but calm. When she spoke, her voice was hoarse and barely above a whisper. "He'll live. It's bad, but he'll live. Buncha broken ribs, tailbone, leg. Punctured lung. Concussion."
Carmen let out a heavy breath and jumped to give Ivy a hug. "He'll be ok, that's what matters," she added with a smile. "But Zack's a pretty tough customer, so it's no surprise."
Ivy gave what was supposed to be nod, but in her exhaustion was little more than a tip of her head. "Listen, they want to move him to a hospital downtown as soon as he's stable. I need to go by our place grab his ID and some...other stuff." Carmen kept her expression neutral. "We don't exactly have a lot of transportation options, but if you need me to drop the truck anywhere…"
"VILE will be looking for that one." Player offered with pointed cheer over her earpiece. "If you're going to get kidnapped by a member of the mafia, I can recommend a nice sports car parked three blocks away owned by a landlord that has six HUD complaints."
Boston, Massachusetts
August 19th, 2018
"This is nice." Ivy whistled from the driver's seat of the sleek car. She gave Carmen a sidelong glance. "I'm not sure how much I should ask about it, though."
"Not a lot." Carmen smiled. "But it's definitely in better hands now than it was."
"What's your deal, anyway?" Ivy finally asked. "You saved my life, my brother's life. You had every chance to walk away instead of wait for hours at the clinic. Is this some kinda 'someday, and that day may never come, I will call upon you to do a service for me.' shit I've gotten myself into? Did one of your relatives get married yesterday?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." Carmen wrinkled her nose. "The people who tried to hurt you? They do that a lot. I want to stop them."
Ivy nodded but didn't say anything else. As she turned onto the freeway, Carmen finally broke the silence. "What's your deal? You've been to that donut store before, I remember. This wasn't a run-of-the-mill robbery, was it?'
"It's our Dad." Ivy admitted. "He's not great, y'know? But he's all we've had since we were eight. He was there. Most of the time, at least."
"He...died?" Carmen guessed. But Ivy only shrugged.
"He disappeared, last December. Just got a phone call and ran out the door. Never came back." Ivy paused to curse at several vehicles that had the audacity to drive at what Carmen thought was a perfectly reasonable speed. "We didn't worry at first; he's done that a few times. But he always called and he always came back in a few days. So when he didn't, we started looking for him."
"At the donut shop." Carmen added.
"At a bunch of places." Ivy confirmed. "Look, you're not stupid. Zack and I pick locks and steal cars. You beat the hell out people, and I don't even know what else. Our Dad ran suitcases of money from one storefront to another. Let's just stop pretending we're on the up and up."
Ivy and Zack's Dad worked for VILE? Carmen nodded in encouragement to hear more. "I also pick pockets and talk to a video-game obsessed teenage boy in my ear."
"Hey now," was Player's vaguely offended response. "You're not wrong, but rude!"
"Right." Ivy did not appear to find this strange in the least. "So like I said, our Dad was usually around, and for a while, when we were younger, he sometimes took us with him. I guess it sold the image; harried upstanding suit-wearing businessman buys his kids a donut, or a pizza, and they distract everyone by running around. So we knew three or four of his regular stops, and figured someone would know where we went. But every time we went, even when it was people we'd known for years, they acted like they didn't remember us at all. Like we'd never met. Eventually we got tired of trying and decided to look for ourselves."
"How many other places have you searched?" Carmen asked urgently. Could Ivy already have the evidence they needed to put VILE away?
Ivy winced. "That was the first. We upgraded from storefront distraction to getaway drivers awhile back, but sneaky was never our style."
"Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
"What?"
Ivy and Zack's House
Boston, Massachusetts
August 19th, 2018
"This should only take a few minutes." Ivy explained as she opened the door on an aging townhouse. "I just need his ID and some paperwork that can get him admitted to a hospital. We didn't take much with us the night that..."
Carmen quickly nodded, not needing more details. She glanced behind them as she followed Ivy through the door, but ran straight into the redhead, who had stopped cold in the threshold.
"Who's there?" A tall, older man in a trim suit stood inside, pointing a firearm at them. "How did you get in here?"
"Dad?" Only because she was so close, Carmen could see the ever-so-faint tremble that ran through Ivy's shoulders. "When- How?!" She was shaking her head, like the words didn't even make any sense.
"I got no clue what kind of trick you're looking to play, sweetheart, but my kids are eight and live with their mom. You definitely aren't one of them." He had dark hair and the beginnings of wrinkles forming at his mouth, but something about the way he stood reminded Carmen very much of Ivy.
Ivy reached her hands out, in an attempt to explain. "Dad! I'm Ivy. I'm your daughter. Zack and I lived with you!"
"Get out before I lose my temper. I don't know how you know those names, but I swear to God if you've done anything to my kids..." He pointed his weapon at Ivy and Carmen once again.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Ivy continued. "Dad! You really don't recognize me at all?"
The man's wrist tightened, and Carmen knew they'd reached the edge of his patience. She didn't know anything about Ivy's family, but his eyes were startlingly empty of...anything.
She looped an arm over Ivy's shoulder and pulled her back through the door. "We're very sorry. We didn't mean any offense. Wrong door." Carmen hastily apologized. "She's had a family emergency today and is a little confused. We'll leave."
The two managed to stumble back down the front steps and Ivy didn't speak as she rolled over the engine of the car and beat a hasty retreat away from her home. She managed to pull the car onto a side street a few blocks away before she killed the engine and lights.
"What the hell was that?" Ivy turned to face Carmen. "Hands down, this has been the worst week of my life, and I can't even explain what the hell just happened. How did my Dad just completely forget almost a decade of my life?"
"I don't know." Carmen offered weakly. "I've never seen anything like that."
"The people who you talked about. They did this, didn't they?" Carmen could tell Ivy already knew the answer, so she didn't mince words.
"Yes." Carmen couldn't explain how or why, but she was positive about the who. "I recognized one of the men involved in your fight at the donut store. I think maybe your Dad worked for them, too."
"And now they'll be after me an' Zack." Not a question, this time, just cold realization from Ivy. "I can never come back here. God only knows what they'd do to him next."
"Ivy, I'm working on a way to stop them. If we can shut them down, everyone will be safe." Carmen glanced softly in the rearview mirror, double checking they hadn't been followed from the house. "If you remember anything about the places your Dad worked, it might help."
"I can make a list." Ivy nodded. "On one condition."
Carmen raised an eyebrow and waited for her to continue.
"I want in."
Massachusetts General Hospital
August 24th, 2018
"So you'll be in the record system but I'll keep changing the name." Player's voice didn't travel far in the small room, but it didn't need to go far. Ivy was leaning over almost out of her seat, and the phone itself was on the nightstand next to Zack's bed. Carmen sat in the chair on the other side of the nightstand.
"You can just...do that?" Zack asked. "That's wicked cool. I should learn how to do that."
"You have enough to do just trying to walk again, little bro." Ivy scolded. "Don't get ahead of yourself."
"She's right." Carmen interrupted. "Doc says another week post-op in the hospital, and three months physical therapy after."
"You're both ganging up on me." Zack complained from the bed. "It's unfair. Have some respect for the almost-dead!" Ivy and Zack began bickering over the nature of 'almost-dead', and Carmen took the opportunity to sneak out of the room with the phone.
"Any luck on the locations Ivy gave you?" Carmen was all business once she was in the hallway. "The storefront in New York was already toast, but the three others might be good leads."
"We already knew about the donut shop, I tracked what she remembered to a pizza place in Cambridge and a dry cleaner downtown. They both fit the same profile: a lot of cash on the books. But based on the fact that they torched the store in New York, and Ivy and Zack didn't turn up anything at the bakery, I'm not sure there's a lot to find. I don't think sticking around here is a good idea."
"She said when they went there, no one remembered them." Carmen continued on while taking a drink of coffee. "VILE may have already done whatever they did to their Dad, but some records or other proof might still be there."
"Erasing memories is weird business." Player agreed. "Do you think there's any chance he was faking it? Or maybe he was just surprised after coming home from a long vacation?"
Carmen considered it, but shook her head even though Player couldn't see it. "I don't think so. The look in his eyes was...completely blank. I'll never forget it. He had no clue. And the timing was too perfect."
"It fits-" Player cut himself off. "Never mind. I don't know what I'm talking about."
"Player." Carmen said nothing else and waited him out.
"The timing is pretty perfect. Right after the only two people who asked any questions slip through their fingers, Dad shows up again as proof of what happens to people who get caught?"
Carmen saw through his excuse immediately. "That what I just said. What were you going to say?"
"It's just an idea," Player sighed unhappily, "But if he did work for VILE, especially on the finance side, it would make a lot of sense. He went missing last December right after the bookkeeping hard drive was stolen, and then everyone else involved also seems to lose their memories…VILE probably took out the whole channel. You might want to back off this or we're going to raise a lot of alarms."
Carmen's coffee hit the floor, but she didn't notice the puddle. Everything around her ground to a halt. "This is all my fault."
"Carmen, that's not what I'm say-"
"I'm the one that took the hard drive. I started all of this."
Player hadn't wanted to start this conversation, knowing that Carmen would blame herself. But he still felt compelled to try and get her to see reason. "He was a criminal Carmen. He knew what he did was dangerous. And VILE is responsible for their own actions, not you."
"We have to put them out of business." Carmen stated flatly, and Player knew any number of reasons why she shouldn't blame herself would go unheard. "Waiting to prove VILE exists to anyone else will take too much time; I can't just let this happen."
"Are you sure you know what you're saying? You're talking war with VILE. Are you ready for that?"
You're just a kid, you have no money, no connections…
Set your sights higher than pulling pranks and picking pockets…
You happen to be unruly, undisciplined…You'll have your chance, next year.
It was true, that most of people that had a hand in creating Black Sheep had been able to get the best of her. But she was Carmen Sandiego now, and VILE had been allowed to run free for too long.
"Yes. I am."
Dunkin Donuts, South Boston, Massachusetts
September 10th, 2018
"There's nothing here. Just the staff schedule and some time-off requests. The office has been stripped entirely clean." Carmen reported. She hadn't expected much else. "I don't even see any suspicious transactions on the bank deposits."
"Didn't think there would be, Red I'll download the transaction history just in case, but this is a waste of time."
Player must be having an especially bad day, Carmen thought, he was usually more game to investigate.
A few boxes of day-old donuts sat in a pile marked for the next day's early shift. Even though she knew she'd regret it, if it got Player out of funk then...Carmen took a bite.
"Ugh. Just so you know, these donuts are still terrible. They taste like...fish." That should give him plenty to tease her about, right?
"You knew that. Let's move on."
Well, that was the last straw. "Ok, what's the deal? You've been sulky all night."
"Why don't you go play with your new friends, then? They're obviously more fun than I am." The reply was surprisingly vehement, and caught Carmen completely off guard. "Forget it. Call me after you've staked out the next place."
He disconnected, and Carmen was left agog. What just happened?
[Player?]
[I am a master of ignoring texts. Don't think you'll put me off.]
[Tell me what's wrong.]
[It's nothing. Sorry I blew up.]
[It's not nothing. If you're not ok I'm not ok.]
All Star Pizza, Cambridge, Massachusetts
October 12th, 2018
"I'm pretty sure this pizza tastes exactly like one of VILE's donuts. How is that even possible?" Carmen had endured a lot of painful things in both her Vile Academy training and living on her own since, but hanging out at VILE's front-restaurants until closing time was up there with the worst of them.
"Well, if they were good at it, there wouldn't be a need to turn to crime." Player reasoned. "You know, if the whole 'Red Hat' thing doesn't work out, you could always start a food blog. I, for one, would line up for pizza-flavored donuts."
"The superior choice is clearly donut-flavored pizza. And pass." Carmen replied into her phone, glad for the lighthearted conversation. "I'll leave the food reviews to Zack. I admit I feel bad leaving them alone, but it is nice to get some fresh air."
"Yeah, you've been taking of care of him and Ivy both pretty much nonstop." Player responded in an oddly level voice. Carmen instantly noticed.
"Player?"
"Forget it. The next guy up should be your man."
Carmen took another bite of pizza- this one tasted vaguely of….socks? - and watched the next customer in line slip carefully behind the register with a large black duffle bag. She ducked in behind him, and he was unconscious on the floor in seconds.
"Definitely still up to sketchy business here, Player." Carmen whistled as she examined the pages from the man's notebook. "I've got some account numbers for you."
Carmen snapped a few photos of the ledger in the office behind the kitchen, and Player wasted no time in draining them. "Payday! Alright." he sang. "I might be able to finally afford that new Call of Duty."
"We're only keeping what we need. Donate the rest to the hospital. Not everyone can blank a bill like you can."
"Caaarmen. Call of Duty in 4k. I've been waiting for this since summer."
"Fine." Just this once time, it couldn't hurt, right? It's not like she was constantly going to buy extravagant gifts, and Player clearly needed some cheering up. "You can get one new computer-gamey thing."
Twenty minutes later, Carmen was walking down the sidewalk with duffle bag of cash slung over her shoulder, the bagman was tied up on the curb, and the notebook and accounting documents were a smoldering pile of ash.
Clever Cleaners, Boston, Massachusetts
November 10th, 2018
"You have to take me in with you." Ivy hissed with a nod to Zack napping in the cramped backseat. "He's driving me crazy. I'm going to join VILE just so I can get credit for murdering him."
"I'm not even going in." Carmen exclaimed. "There is a lot more going on at this place than the others. Something is happening. We're just trying to see we can recognize any of the guys in these photos as repeat customers."
"You said I could help." Ivy whined.
"You drove here." Carmen reminded her. "And you're helping watch."
"She's got a point, Red." Player's voice chirped over her earpiece. "You have a lot of very impressive skills, but you sort of suck at letting people help you."
"Wow, I'm getting it from all sides today." Carmen leaned back in her seat dramatically. "I'm trying to keep all of you alive and in your right minds."
"Yeah, yeah" "Yeah,yeah" Identical annoyed responses came back to her in stereo. Carmen had been trying to keep Player happy, Ivy from running headfirst into a VILE hideout, and Zack from getting re-hospitalized for nearly three months, and she'd had enough.
"Ok, what is with everyone?" The temper that had once pulled Gray over a chair when he mocked her name now focused itself on those before her- physically or otherwise. "What we are doing is dangerous. So take whatever attitude you want, but it won't change my mind. You could all die. I've lost basically everyone who has ever been important to me until now, but I'm not about to lose any of you."
Silence. Ivy shifted in her seat. Zack jolted awake with a confused expression. Carmen listed to her words echo in her mind. They sounded painfully familiar.
I kept you safe. And even if it means you'll never speak to me again, I don't regret it.
Well, damn.
"I'm sorry." Ivy broke the silence. "It's just- You're so good at this, you and Player both. I have no idea what I'm doing most of the time, but I don't want you to think you have to hold back for my sake."
"And I've just been a huge pain the ass." Zack added. "But now that I'm back to one hundred percent, you better believe I'm all in."
"You're a pain in the ass anyway." Ivy glared. Carmen smiled despite the seriousness of the moment.
"I'm sorry, too." Player's voice came over the car stereo instead of Carmen's earpiece, and all three of the occupants jumped. "Bluetooth, guys, c'mon."
"I...I was jealous." He continued. "It took so long just to let me help at all, and every time it looked like you were going to make it here, something went wrong. But then as soon as Zack and Ivy wanted in, you couldn't wait to stay in Boston and start a new team."
"This is all my fault." Carmen offered. "I should never have let any of you feel like that. I've been on the other side, and it's terrible."
"Stop doing that, Carmen." Player argued. "Not everything is your fault. We're all here because we want to help, and we believe in you. No one here is blameless. I should have just been honest with you when you asked."
"He's right." Ivy added. "We follow your lead. If you need a driver, I'm happy to do it. It's not like Zack and I have a lot to lose, here."
"Which is why we're not going to Ontario. The less VILE knows about who is involved in this better. Not just for your sake or your family, Player," Carmen cut off his expected retort, "but it's to all our benefit. We won't have the element of surprise for long, so we should try keep what we can under our hat. It's too late for the rest of us, but If Player can stay off their radar, then it stays that way as long as possible, ok?"
"Deal."
"Gotcha."
"Zack, get in the driver's seat. You're in charge of getaway. Ivy, follow me. I'm going to show you how to disarm that guy who just went it. Player, stand by for the account numbers, and try to shut off any surveillance cameras inside."
There was a flurry of activity, both in the car and over the call.
This might actually work, Carmen realized. They might actually get the best of VILE.
"Did I miss something?" Zack's confused voice interrupted her. "I feel like I missed something."
Eventually.
VILE Academy, Isle of Vile
December 1, 2018
It was Sheena, in the end, who sent the message to the rest of them.
[Class reunion on Saturday. Meet on the island by the docks or else.]
No one else was going to do anything, and even though Black Sheep had been an annoyingly naive stitch in her side for the better part of a year, she'd still...been there.
And now she wasn't.
So someone should do something, and as with most things, it fell to Sheena to actually get it done.
Mimebomb was easily found at the academy already. Black Sheep's life and death had left many permanent marks, but the need to keep sharper eyes and ear on the machinations of the student body was one of the easiest to see in action.
Jean-Paul and Antonio were unsurprisingly on assignment together, but Sheena knew they would be amenable to the idea. Antonio had liked Black Sheep, and Jean-Paul liked social formalities where he wasn't expected to make a lot of jokes.
Crackle, disgustingly moody thing that he was these days, had been bound and determined to ignore her, and if she were anyone else, he might have gotten away with it. But she wasn't Tigress for nothing, and it had been many a year since nature had thrown a man in her path that she wasn't able to get the better of in one way or another.
That was it, really. Of the forty people that had been in their class, only sixteen had become operatives. Just eight of them had shared all their classes and a dorm room; two had washed out before the first month was up, and that just left of the five of them as...friends, for lack of a better word.
(She needed to find a better one.)
So there he was, standing next to a eager-looking Antonio and lightly scowling Jean-Paul. Mimebomb stood on Sheena's other side, and held up an imaginary glass.
"We're doing a toast." She declared, holding up a real flask of her own. "In honor of Black Sheep."
A confused look went around the group. Gray finally said the thought out loud, although he had to clear his throat a few times before his voice would work. "I have to admit, you were the last person I'd expect to get nostalgic, kitty."
"Honor among thieves." Sheena retorted, taking a swig from the flask and passing it on. "Have some respect for the dead, you ass."
As they each took a drink- Gray refused to move to take it, so Antonio took two and passed it on- Sheena spoke again, in a quieter voice. "We knew what we signed up for. Walk away from everything and everyone in your life, gain skills and riches and power you could have only dreamed of."
Sheena felt certain each of them had heard something similar; those had been almost the exact words that Shadowsan had used to recruit her. It hadn't taken much more than that.
It's a life few can manage, Shadowsan had said, even fewer are young women. I'm looking for someone who can turn that to their advantage. Many will underestimate you.
Many already have, she'd replied without hesitation, but I'm still here.
She'd been a teenage girl making her trade off shoplifting from overpriced boutiques in Beverly Hills and pickpocketing drunk businessmen who had seen Pretty Woman and gotten the wrong idea about who was exploiting who on Hollywood Boulevard. She knew she could do more, and jumped at the chance to prove it.
If you truly want to become the best, I can teach you how. If you are willing, I can guarantee you'll have a job that will make you richer than you'd ever dreamed. But in return, I require one thing.
Gray looked at his feet; Sheena wondered if he knew how obvious his face was, or if he cared if he did. He'd give it all up, go back to square one in Sydney, if it meant getting Black Sheep back.
What do I have to do?
Be at the top of your class. Someone else will be there, another student that you will need to outperform at every turn. Ensure that she fails, get expelled, or anything to make certain she does not succeed.
I'm not going to sandbag another women because a vindictive man can't do it himself. No deal.
If you don't, it will mean her certain death.
None of them could go back.
"The trade off," Sheena continued,"Is that no one else knows who you are, no one remembers you. No one notices when you're gone. There won't be flowers, a marker, or memorial when it's our time. There's just us. Black Sheep has been gone for a year, but we're still here, so we should remember. And be grateful we're here to do it."
Jean-Paul turned to face to water with a faraway look on his face; Antonio and Mimebomb were both red-eyed. Gray hadn't moved from staring resolutely at the ground. There was just silence and the sound of waves hitting the dock. A few birds called over the water. Sheena hadn't planned to say any more than that, but then-
"To Black Sheep."
Four stunned faces fixed themselves on Mimebomb, who shrugged and took another hit from the flask.
"She never spoke about herself," Jean-Paul sat himself on one of the large rocks overlooking the dock and took the flask next. "I mentioned once getting into the academy was the best way I could leave La Réunion, that I wanted to go to bigger and better places. She said that's exactly why she entered the academy too. But never more than that. I guess there are things we are never meant to know."
"She definitely knew the island really well." Antonio agreed. "Her Spanish was perfect, but she spoke to just about everyone in their own language. I was so nervous on the first day, but ending up in class with her, it helped. She was a good friend."
"I didn't come here to make friends-" Jean-Paul poorly covered no shit with a fake cough; Sheena ignored him. "And that didn't change. But she hung around when people made of stronger stuff than her washed out, I guess that's respectable, even if what happened was inevitable."
Gray finally raised his head. "Black Sheep was the best out of all of us. Certainly better than you. Maybe if you'd spent less time hating her and more time trying to-"
"Oh God, Gray, spare me your sanctimonious white knight bullshit for once, ok?" He was clearly in A Mood, and as usual, Sheena was the only person willing to say the reasonable thing. "She was totally out of her depth. Maybe not by technical skill, but in terms of experience? Being here was a game in her eyes. She had no clue what she was getting into. The smartest thing she could have done was try to get out. Too bad you sent her back the first time she tried."
Gray dove for her, arms outstretched, and it was only her quick reaction to duck that saved a full on fight. Antonio gamely tried to step between them, but Gray shoved him aside. "How can you say that? Why do you hate her so much?"
"The one I hated was you." Sheena hissed. "She was annoying but you were an asshole. The first thing you did was pick the smallest in the herd to prop yourself up and bolster your own ego. You think I haven't seen your type? Please, you're a dime a dozen. I've stabbed better men than you with a shoe."
"She was my best friend." Both Antonio and Jean-Paul jumped up to hold Crackle back once again. "I did what I did to save her life."
It was on the tip of her tongue to reply- and how did that work out, Crackle?- but Mimebomb stepped between them pointing frantically at the horizon, the top of his wrist, and them swinging an arm as though he was pitching a ball.
Every first of December, she arrives right on schedule.
Joining Black Sheep's stupid water balloon attack had been one of Sheena's lesser attempts at getting the girl kicked out, but one of Black Sheep's many mysteries had been the detailed knowledge she had about the workings of the academy. Sheena had to admit, for the crazy things the faculty had made them do, it had been a nice bit of watery revenge.
Take aim, and bring the rain.
Sheena looked at her own watch, then up at Mimebomb. Ten to noon. The boat was already visible in the distance. She had completely forgotten today was the hard drive delivery, but Mimebomb was around the island much more than she these days.
"We don't have enough time." She told him. "I don't even know where we would even find water balloons."
"Well," Gray started, the fell quiet for a beat. "I brought some. It felt like a fitting tribute."
"Me too." Antonio confessed, holding up his backpack. "Might as well carry on the tradition."
"We're out in the open." Jean-Paul complained. "We should have hidden from the start if that was your plan."
"Actually, I have something that can help. A new piece of gear I've been working on." Gray added, as he started to open his duffle bag. "It's for multipoint full-field broadband invisibility. We can reverse the freq-"
"Blah blah blah." Sheena interrupted him. "Too much information. No one cares. Just tell us what to do."
Gray smiled tightly. "We need to stick this generator," he held up a box the size of book, "on the dock, and keep the other one here. Anything in between with these markers on it," now he pulled out a sheet of metallic stickers, "will disappear, like this."
Gray set the two boxes down, and put a rock between them. Nothing happened. Then, he added one of the silvery sticker on each end of the rock, and in blink, it was gone.
"That's-" Very impressive, is what Sheena's instinctive response was, but she couldn't make herself say it out loud. "When do we get it for capers?"
Gray smiled fully this time, as though he knew what wasn't said. "Soon as it has a proper field test."
Exactly nine minutes later, a mountain of water balloons sat ready to be marked and launched. El Topo swam under the dock, and gave a thumbs up that the device was in place with just enough time to jump back in the water before the boat pulled alongside the pier.
Gray gave the first balloon a hearty toss, and they waiting with bated breath as it disappeared. Without warning, a small explosion of splash! hit two pairs of shoes and Gray laughed madly. The rest of them wasted no time in continuing the assault, even though their laughter and noise somewhat ruined the stealthy effect. By the time they were out of balloons, Antonio had returned to the cliff-side, along with stern-faced Dr. Bellum and Coach Brunt.
Dr. Bellum examined the small generator. "Fascinating. What is this?"
"What in the name of all that is holy would cause five of my best operatives to act like brand new recruits who don't know a damned thing?" Coach Brunt's voice became more southern when she was angry.
Gray laughed oddly once again from where he lay on the ground, but it was mixed with a choking sort of sob. "Black Sheep, of course."
Sheena looked at him with new sympathy. Maybe he really did care about her after all.
End chapter 4
Someday, and that day may never come - This from the Godfather. If you don't know it, you should watch it! But for the purposes used here, Ivy is basically asking if she's unknowingly indebted herself to the mob, much like Carmen and Player have been wondering about her:-)
Louis, I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship - This is the quote from Casblanaca that Gray used on Carmen in the last chapter. She's learning to make pop-culture references! It's in explained in-text there, but just wanted to explain it here in case someone wasn't familiar :-)
Sixteen graduates: So, the scene showing VILE's graduation clearly does not have forty people in it, and to the best I can see the whole room, there are only sixteen people who actually graduate as VILE operatives. That leaves a little room for interpretation- as a "vocational school" (as stated by Shadowsan), it seems reasonable that you could pass exams but not be offered a position at VILE (maybe with a memory wipe, or maybe not since no one seems to know where the academy is), as there were twenty-some people with green "pass" marks in the exams scene. Since Black Sheep doesn't have a previous non-VILE life to memory-wipe her back to if she refused to be an operative, she'd probably fall into the "leave no witnesses" camp, which I'm assuming is why Shadowsan was so hellbent on not letting her graduate.
Unrelated, I got one message on the last chapter about a playlist for this story. Is that something y'all are interested in? I happen to actually have one I listen to when writing this story, but it seemed very presumptuous to assume that everyone wants to hear it:-)
