Takes A Thief To Save A Thief

by puppydogs68

VILE will stop at nothing to capture Carmen Sandiego, a former student that betrayed them. We all know that Carmen's smarter, and that she's better...but sometimes, life just isn't fair. Carmen's captured, and it's up to Graham Crackle, now currently an ACME agent, to pick up the pieces. Who was he before, really? Rated T for violence; no cursing. (Cover art now up)

9. Chapter 9

Takes A Thief To Save A Thief Chapter 9: "Distrust"

NaoSa: Thank you! :)

BookwormCM18: Nah, it's just an alias. c:

Drama Lover's Dream 513: Lol, thank youuuuuuuu! :3

beehappy13108: I will! :D

GiddyReflections: Sassy Carmen is the best Carmen. XD

Enjoy everyone!

Shadowsan glared at the two former car racers, "What do you mean she got caught?" He was standing inside the Carmen Brand Outerwear shop, which Team Red used as a headquarters when they were around the area.

"Well, we don't exactly know specifics, buuuut..." Ivy chewed on her lip, wondering exactly how she would explain how she and Zach fell asleep on the job. Shadowsan already didn't think to highly of her or Zach.

"...we think VILE captured her." Zach finished.

Shadowsan crossed his arms, "I guess this is what happens when you work with a team of children." Player, who was now communicating to Shadowsan from an earpiece radio, smirked.

"Hey, at least we 'children' were there with Carmen when it happened. Not off doing our own business."

Shadowsan seethed, "Which is exactly WHY YOU should KNOW what happened!"

"Hey, don't blame me. I lost contact with Carmen because VILE hacked me." Player told them, putting his hands up like a police officer had just showed him a gun.

Shadowsan raised an eyebrow at the twins.

"Well...we...we have a good excuse too!" Zach huffed.

"Which is?" Shadowsan looked most unimpressed with his behavior.

"...uh..."

"..."

"..."

Zach and Ivy gave each other a look.

"For starters, we totally stayed awake and waited for Carmen to return..." Zach (very obviously) lied.

Shadowsan face-palmed.

"Okay, what's done is done. Now, what should we do about it?" Player asked.

"None of us know VILE really well...except for..." Ivy trailed off.

Everyone looked at Shadowsan.

"My time at VILE would not be any use to us, I can assure you that." Shadowsan explained, "I only worked as a faculty member. I made the plans to capture people and goods, but I never involved in planning where those prisoners were kept. I rarely went on missions. VILE also moved their location, meaning I'm even more unfamiliar with them as of now."

"So, we have no major leads on anything." Ivy concluded. She frowned, "Strange. Usually VILE would leave a clue or two."

"This operation was obviously very well planned." Shadowsan said. He licked his lips, "My theory is that VILE used ACME to help capture Miss Sandiego. Player, you said that both organizations were there, trying to hunt her down. VILE must have known that ACME would be there, so they decided to attack with them." His eyes widened, "Meaning, ACME unknowingly helped VILE."

"Yeah." Player agreed. He typed something on his keyboard.

"I think that we should find someone from ACME, and ask them." Ivy said, "They were there when it happened. They must know a thing or two about what was happening."

Shadowsan nodded slowly, "That...actually doesn't sound like a terrible idea. But I must warn you: It's a small group of people up against two large organizations. It's not going to be a fair fight."

— Graham—-

Graham prodded the pile of paperwork in front of him with a finger, "Okay, that's it, I've seriously had it with the paperwork already. Where's all the excitement?"

"It will be exciting, once we're back on the field. We just need to wait for the Chief to give us a signal." Agent Zari explained. The three ACME workers were sitting at a desk, working on...welll...paperwork. The number one, most fun thing a job has to offer.

Whooo.

Graham stopped when he heard a beeping noise, "What was that?" He turned to Agent Devineaux, noticing that his pen was flashing. Devineaux took it out, placing the pen on the table upwards. A hologram appeared.

"Hello, team. I just wanted to inform you of a new agent joining your team today."

Agent Zari hissed, "SERIOUSLY?! How many more new arrivals are we going to have?! Might as well bring in a whole CROWD OF RANDOM PEOPLE, and call them agents!"

"This is my decision, not yours." Chief responded sharply. Zari sat back down, still annoyed at the thought of sharing the room with yet another "agent" who had the mindset and smarts of a pre-schooler.

"Plus, I assure you, she is one of-"

"One of the best agents, who should only have the highest regards for his or her duties. Yes, I know, you mentioned it a million times." Zari mumbled.

"Very good. You listened."

"Of course." Zari straightened up.

A knock sounded from behind them.

"Oh! That must be her. Someone mind getting the door?"

Graham got out of his seat, opening the door to find someone who looked to be in her mid-twenties. She had short white hair and wore the ACME uniform. She looked just like everyone else, except she had a small orange and black bracelet around her wrist.

"Hi there. I'm Agent Stripes." She stuck out her hand for Graham to shake.

Graham took it, but he couldn't help but notice something...off about her. She just looked so familiar to him, though he couldn't quite place how. He kept trying to think back to before the accident for any possible clues, but there were none. Disappointed, he walked out of the way so she could step inside. Her voice sounded sweet, but Graham still felt intimidated by it, as if the sweetness was hiding something evil, like a rose with tiny, prickly thorns that would stab you.

He already knew that he didn't trust her.

Not one bit.

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