Double Argent

by KeepCaliforniaDreamin

After being taken advantage of a time too many, Julia Argent takes a position as VILE's latest operative with her only objectives being taking down the only two people who have wronged her: Carmen Sandiego and Chase Devineaux. The two must form an unlikely alliance to help stop Julia and get her away from VILE's sinister clutches. R&R.

13. Amoureux Fous

Carmen and Dash have a heart to heart about some possible deeper problems Carmen's currently experiencing while also having a moment with Shadowsan who was dispatched to help her while Shadowsan has another run-in with Marauder who finds closure with her spat with Paper Star, and Zack & Ivy's relationship with Carmen deteriorates as A.C.M.E. closes in on Carmen's charitable interests with Chase Devineaux having second thoughts about being a secret agent.

13: Amoureux Fous

PARIS FRANCE 1017 HOURS

A bruised, bedraggled, and bleeding Carmen had recently disconnected with Player. She was slow to get to her feet as Dash had passed out from seeing so much blood. She rubbed her head, her fedora had fallen off. She threw it back on and quickly picked up her fallen things. She looked over to the steps, the left over brass from the bullet had rolled down a few steps. Carmen pocketed the evidence and turned to Dash. If left untreated he could succumb to blood loss.

She sighed, a part of her wanted to leave Dash to face the music, but Carmen knew she was better than that...right? Besides, she remembered her talk about forgiveness and right now she needed some from Dash. She put her hands under his arms and started to drag him as police sirens began to draw closer. She had a few ideas of where she could hide out.

SKIES OVER LAKE MICHIGAN 0444 HOURS

The Cleaners had the chopper picked up in one of their many fleets of cargo planes with a fuselage big enough to store it. Chief was still passed out and tied to a chair while Julia sat idly, staring off into space knowing what her new mission entailed.

Did she want to kill Carmen? She had thought the Faculty wanted her to return so she could be given one of Dr. Bellum's famous lobotomies and then forced to become a puppet for the very organization she sought to destroy. But I guess that ship sailed.

It seemed so undignified. She could have looked at Carmen as a soulless thief every day of her life but instead she will be her demise. But there was an order, and there was no way Julia's sweet talking with The Faculty could change that now...right?

Her train of thought was interrupted by Tigress coming towards the back of the fuselage with two lattes in hand. Julia smiled and blushed as she took the coffee. Tigress sat in the jump seat next to her.

"You're so sweet" Julia cooed, leaning on Tigress and nuzzling up on her shoulder.

"I'm okay" Tigress sighed. "I feel like, I dunno, you're always rescuing me and stuff."

"But you've rescued me, my tiger" Julia said, leaning up and cupping Tigress's chin. "This night, stressful though it was, gave me the biggest rush of my life. I see what you meant" Julia cooed rubbing her hand along Tigress's thigh, and the two blushed.

Tigress was still uneasy. "You sure you're okay? Working with psycho Paper Star? I know you two aren't exactly besties."

"The Faculty had spoken. Besides, how much trouble could we possibly get into? We're doing the one thing we both have in common: eliminating Carmen Sandiego."

"I guess. I just worry."

"I will be fine" Julia assured her, taking a sip from the latte.

From across the fuselage, Chief started to come to. Her eyes adjusted to the light, and she knew without looking that her arms were bound. Once the wooziness died down, the first image she laid her eyes on was Julia and Tigress in romantic throngs of passion.

"Look who decided to join us" Julia said facetiously.

"Have a nice nap?" Tigress asked, now the tough girl again.

"You can shut your trap" Chief snarled to Tigress. "And you can go to hell" she spat in Julia's direction. "To think I nearly sent you there."

"You're going to wish you had" Julia hissed. She got up and approached Chief, now towering over her. "All you had to do was sit your office and lead your covert espionage organization, but no; no. No, you had to relive your former glory days. Well it's cost you dearly."

Chief was undaunted, she had one ace up her sleeve. "I don't suppose your girlfriend explained to you the little deal I set up for her?"

"Ah yes, I seem to recall you explaining that to me in my ear while you were attempting to strangle me to death!" Julia fumed. "Ask yourself, Tammy...was it worth it?"

Chief raised an eyebrow. "It's a mistake, you bringing me to your headquarters. Do you not think I'll be plotting my every move to break out of whatever perilous situation you're putting me in and then find you and finish what I started? You see girls—" Chief continued, addressing Julia and Tigress. "You may have guessed by now that I'm not some desk jockey. I've done things to people, terrible things. You think Dexter Wolfe was my only kill? Don't make me laugh. And while true, every soul I've taken gives me nightmares, but somehow it's always worth it knowing vile scum are out of commission for good. My only concern is just how I plan to kill you. Cause it will not be quick" she finished. Tigress gulped while Julia remained ostensibly stoic.

"Do you really believe you can get under my skin?" Julia chuckled.

"Why not? That's why you turned traitor, no?" Chief smugly asked.

"Don't be so full of yourself, Tamara. You know there are more reasons than you—"

"I know. I've come to realize it now. Like say, your obvious crush on Carmen Sandiego? I think I have all the details I need. V.I.L.E. wants to turn one of my agents to have a leg up, so they pick you. You get kidnapped in London and they let you go out of fairness so you can think it over, which is why that day you were extra jumpy, assuming V.I.L.E. could get to you even at A.C.M.E. So, after your stress gets to you, you decide you want to depart from A.C.M.E. based on how myself and Devineaux treated you so you can go be with your crush, perhaps for solace and protection...but then she rejects you, doesn't she? Does she even know? I bet not. And now, heartbroken and with a dormant ego building you decide to take up V.I.L.E. on their offer and here you are. All over a girl. I bet it really had little to do with me and with A.C.M.E. and Devineaux. This was all some sick romantic revenge fant—" Chief couldn't finish before an angry Julia backhanded her across the face. Chief huffed, noticing her nose was bleeding. She spat some blood and smirked.

"In front of my lover. How dare you."

"I've had A heart-to-heart with your "lover", you're a lucky woman, Julia. She was such a pretentious letch before meeting you. My how you've turned her around...and my how she's corrupted you. Or was I right and this "Marauder" was always there and you're just some mentally deranged lunatic underneath the sweet, innocent, mousy exterior?"

Julia gripped her fists, seething with rage once more. She wound up her back hand but Tigress got off her seat and grabbed Julia by the arm. "Okay, okay, that's enough. We still need her alive" Tigress reminded her.

"Yes, yes of course" Julia nodded, lowering her arm. "It may please you to know, Tamara, that the Faculty has assigned me the task of eliminating Carmen Sandiego. Would that be something someone who was romantically obsessive would do?"

"Yes, heck it's textbook" Chief deadpanned.

"Well, let me say this so you can understand me clearly" Julia whispered getting right in Chief's face. "You will not ruin this for me. Understand?"

Chief looked quizzically at Julia and raised an eyebrow. "We'll see about that."

"Yes, indeed we will" Julia nodded and then walked back to her seat as the plane ride continued in some silence.

SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 0637 HOURS

Tis dawn in sunny and scenic San Diego. Most of the city was busy making breakfast, and surfing, and preparing for work...or sleeping, it's still pretty early. Gypsy was hard at work counting money and earmarking it to be laundered, while Vincent seemed absent.

Emerging from the stairs was Shadowsan, go bag at the ready and some mission gear on...which is to say he was wearing his usual casual attire but with a tactical vest added. Gypsy greeted him as he went to briefly make a coffee.

"Oh! Shadowsan, how's the boy?" he asked.

"Carmen and the twins ran into some trouble in Paris. Player's sending me there now."

"How bad?"

"He couldn't even get the words out."

"That's bad."

"Where's Vincent?" Shadowsan asked.

"He went jogging so I got an early start."

"Good. Keep at it. Hopefully I will return with a Latina in red and two Irish kids from Boston" he said before putting the coffee in a to-go cup and heading for the door.

"Sounds like a Woody Allen movie" Gypsy joked. Shadowsan smirked before closing the door behind him. BUT, as he did, Gypsy got an email alert on his nearby open laptop. He briefly checked to see what it was and was instantly disturbed upon reading it. "What in the f—"

BELLEVUE WASHINGTON 0902 HOURS

Sometime later, we cut to a hospital in Bellevue. Chase had been brought by the police to said hospital and was slowly awakening. His head was in pain and so was his ribs, but he was otherwise in good spirits.

"Ugh, oh. Everything hurts" he mumbled.

A nurse was nearby tending to another patient and noticed Chase's ramblings. "Oh! Mr..." she paused looking at his chart. "Dev...Devi...Dovine...D-D—"

"Devineaux" he muttered. "Devin-oh" he enunciated.

"Devineaux, of course. I'll get the doctor in right away."

"Where am I?"

"St. Sebastian's in Bellevue. Boy, whoever did this to you sure did a number on your ribs" she continued reading his chart, and not making him feel any better. "The police said you're FBI. Now it's none of my business so I won't ask."

"FBI?" a confused Chase asked.

Curious, he reached for his pants and pulled out his A.C.M.E. ID card, except when he looked at it, the card read: FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION, AGENT DEVINEAUX, CHASE. But knowing it was in Chase's hands, the badge swiped, revealing the white background with Chase's A.C.M.E. credentials.

"Sacre bleu. Chief thought of everything."

"I'm sorry?" Nurse asked.

"Oh yeah, yeah. It was uh, it was one of those nights. And I am sorry but it is also classified."

"Right of course. None of my business. But it must've been something. I was told you were found knocked out next to a trash can."

"Oh, right" Chase remembered.

"And you were bleeding all over the place."

"I'm sure."

"And there was vomit everywhere."

"Okay, I get it" Chase deadpanned.

"I mean, I'm a nurse, I've seen some vomit in my day but that—"

"Enough!" Chase boomed.

"Sorry. I'll fetch the doctor right away. Be right back" she said before leaving.

Chase fell back down on the bed. Marauder's words were like weapons to him. He couldn't shake the feeling that...maybe he was useless? And a lousy secret agent...or even maybe a lousy human being.

This recent string of failures were certainly taking its toll on the veteran detective. For one: Chase had more responsibility at A.C.M.E. and he felt as though he was letting everyone down around him. Marauder was unrelenting and there was seemingly no way he could stop her.

He was depressed about Chief's routine reprimands of his work and his character, and it made everything Marauder said to him seem that much truer; while she was busy beating him into oblivion.

Before Chase could ponder and worry and make himself into a depressed mess, the doctor entered. He was a middle aged man with scrubs underneath a white lab coat. "Mr. Devineaux. I was told you've returned to the world of the living" he said jokingly grabbing his chart. "Hmm, well that's good news, some spraining aside you're doing alright. I think we might be able to release you today" he explained.

"Wonderful" Chase deadpanned.

"I'll be back to check up on you in an hour or so and if your vitals look promising we shall release you" he finished, putting Chase's chart back and heading for the other patient's bed while Chase groaned, rubbing his head revealing it to be bandaged.

SEATTLE WASHINGTON 0923 HOURS

Not far away, Anthony was driving Chase's car to work as per his instructions because that's just how good a friend Anthony actually was. He had not gotten the news that Chase and Zari were summarily rocked by Marauder the previous evening.

Anthony, unlike Chase actually had some wheels turning about Marauder, and in fact those wheels would be turning in the right direction. He was suspicious from the beginning when Julia just showed up at his house, not to mention all the other crazy coincidences that happened with her as of late.

None of that went unnoticed by Anthony, despite his looks to the contrary. He was beyond suspicious and now he was grappling with the possibility that Marauder was in his house last night. At a traffic light he made an abrupt turn and headed over to Julia's place. He parked and made it just in time for the mailman to let him inside the building. He found her room number on the mail box and one elevator ride later he was right outside her apartment door.

He took a deep breath and put on his best Anthony-face. "Julia? It's me, Anthony Falco. Are you there? Are you at work?" he called, knocking on the door. He heard nothing. Anthony readied his stun gun, seeing no one else around and tried to force the locked door open. After a few tries he kicked it open, raising his gun as he charged inside.

Julia had quickly cleaned up the mess of the romantic dinner that never was and there still suspect food stains on the floor, which Anthony thought was odd. The kitchen itself was still a mess form the fight otherwise.

"Ju-Julia? Argent? It's me, Anthony!" he nervously called. After some more silence, it was obvious no one was home. Anthony put his gun away and started to search for some kind of clue. He came up with nada...until he went into Julia's bedroom which was unkempt and one could obviously tell two people had been sleeping in her bed recently.

The one thing of real suspicion that caught Anthony's eye was Julia's Fabergé Egg on the nightstand Tigress had stolen as a gift. As an A.C.M.E. agent, Anthony had been accustomed to handling genuine historical artifacts, and he knew this egg was the real McCoy, continuing to cement his suspicions. "Gotcha, you rat" he sneered.

A call came over his phone, he quickly answered it. "Falco . . . Uh-huh . . . uh-huuuuh . . . uh—he's what!? I'll be right there!" Anthony quickly hung up, this being the call of what happened to Chase. He looked at the egg one more time.

BATTLE CREEK MICHIGAN 0519 HOURS

The plane landed on an airstrip behind the lair which was added when V.I.L.E. took the old factory over. The three deplaned, with Chief still tied up but able to move her legs. As they disembarked, Julia saw Paper Star skipping over to the massive jet humming that creepy tune she's always murmuring.

"You sure you're gonna be okay with her?" Tigress asked.

"I will manage. Perhaps we'll come to an understanding" Julia shrugged with an ominous tone in her voice.

Paper Star skipped over to the three of them. "I believe you have something of mine."

Julia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"My thirty percent. From your little unsanctioned heist? Ring any bells?"

"Thirty percent? You contributed nothing!" Julia sneered.

"Yes, but I didn't tell the Faculty" Paper Star countered.

"Lot of good that did, they found out about it anyway" Julia snarled.

"Why don't you take it outside" Chief groaned.

"Who's the suit?" Paper Star asked.

"None of your concern" Julia hissed, crossing her arms.

"The "suit" would like for this awkward exchange to end. So could someone please adjourn me to whatever dungeon you've set up?" Chief asked.

"We'll get you a corner suite" Tigress huffed.

"I suppose we should hurry now" Julia nodded, Tigress stopped her.

"Be careful."

"Always. I'll return for you" Julia winked, and gave Tigress a brief kiss. Tigress blushed but then dragged Chief across the airstrip while Julia and Paper Star walked back on the plane as the Cleaners finished refueling it, and the tied down chopper and taking out the V.I.L.E. chopper.

PARIS FRANCE 1211 HOURS

Slowly but surely, Dash was coming to. He woozily shook his head and groaned. When his eyes adjusted he noticed he was tied to a chair with a crude tourniquet around his wounded arm to temporarily stop the bleeding.

Upon further inspection, Dash knew he was in a V.I.L.E. safehouse still probably within the city limits of Paris. Dash also knew he was alone. On a table across this apparent living room was Carmen's pistol and the bullet brass. Also folded up on the table was Carmen's trademark red coat and fedora. He struggled to free himself but the more he did and the more he adjusted from waking up, a ton of pain washed over him as the shock and adrenaline were gone and he was left with nothing but excruciating agony.

"Gaaaaaah!" he hissed.

Suddenly, he heard someone at the front door. But he was dismayed when Carmen entered with a few bags of things. She closed and locked the door behind her. She was limping a bit but otherwise fine, now clad in her black undershirt and pants.

"Lucy, you're home" Dash deadpanned.

"Seems like an outdated reference. How are you feeling?" Carmen asked.

"Like I've been shot with a gun!" Dash hissed.

"Well, Dr. Carmen's here to fix it" she dumped one of the bags on the table, revealing some surgical tools.

"Well Dr. Carmen also caused my injury!"

"YOU pulled the trigger, Dash, not me!" Carmen insisted, forgiveness suddenly not in the cards. "And besides had you gotten my gun you would've killed me and you know it."

"Not kill, maybe just maim" Dash shrugged.

"You're real lucky I didn't just leave you to die."

"So, why didn't you?"

"It's not who I am."

Dash let out a heavy sigh. "Mmm-hmm. I know what you are, Carmen."

"Do you? Enlighten me" Carmen groaned, readying the tools for Dash's impending bullet removal.

"You're obsessive. I've known you since you were a teenager and you haven't changed a bit since."

"I'm obsessive? Me?" Carmen asked desperately not wanting to give Dash any satisfaction.

"Yes. You were this angsty prankster who was obsessed with seeing the world...then you got a taste of V.I.L.E.'s real intentions and you became obsessed with seeing us fall."

"You say that like it's a bad thing" a smug Carmen blurted.

"Obsession isn't healthy, honey. Besides, I'm not just talking about your goals. I'm talking about people."

"Fine. I'm obsessed with wanting to throw Marauder's evil butt in jail. Ya got me."

"But yet here you are, obsessing over her. Is she all you think about?"

"Lately, yeah. But only because she's hindering me from stopping you and V.I.L.E. from stealing everything there is to steal on this planet."

"Is she in your dreams?" Dash asked.

"Are you a psychiatrist now?"

"All I'm saying is maybe these feelings are pent up. Maybe you're thinking about something else and you don't know how to manifest what you really want."

"Can you stop talking in riddles, please. I'm not in the mood for the psychoanalysis."

"I'm saying you're really obsessing over this new villain because you have an attraction to her."

Carmen stopped dead in her tracks as she was about to put on a pair of latex gloves. Was Dash calling Carmen a lesbian? And more importantly, what a baseless theory. Carmen had no love for Marauder.

But yet...here she was, as a slight shade of red appeared on her face. This couldn't have made sense. Carmen thought she was this overzealous and toxic person, which would fit the obsessive personality, but just because she had unresolved feelings about Julia and her father did all that mean—

WAIT A SECOND! Carmen paused. Something Dash said really struck a chord with her. All of her negative feelings began right after she rejected Julia from joining her. Carmen was quite quick to dismiss her. But she thought it was because Julia was meant to be at A.C.M.E., and that she couldn't handle this aspect of her line of work, playing fast and loose with the law and to selfishly be a go-between for her and A.C.M.E...but Carmen did so without much thought, like it was almost a kneejerk reaction to keep Julia at an arm's length. Was all this over unresolved romantic feelings? No. No, Carmen thought she was doing the right thing and was now regretting it. She did want Julia on her team, after the fact at least. No, she couldn't be attracted to her. She shook her head and put her stoic face back on.

"You want that bullet out of your arm or what?" she asked trying to change the subject, to Dash's quiet amusement...which was snuffed out due to the fact he was in so much pain.

BELLEVUE WASHINGTON 1026 HOURS

Chase was about to be released by the doctor. He was now dressed and sitting on the side of his hospital bed while the doctor had out his pen and prescription booklet. Chase sat with a depressed look on his face.

"Alright Mr. Devineaux, all seems well, your vitals are all good just try not do anything strenuous for at least a week and no major physical fitness or labor for three weeks. Your ribs took the brunt of the abuse but other than some discomfort from coughing, sneezing, or laughing you should be okay. Now I'm gonna prescribe you some Percocet's for the pain, if you finish the prescription and the pain still subsists, come back and we can take some additional x-rays."

"Um, since you are here, doctor, I've been feeling...well, I've been feeling really depressed lately. Is it at all possible to prescribe me something to calm me down? Valium, perhaps?" Chase asked.

"I can't prescribe an opioid and a benzodiazepine simultaneously, it's gotta be one or the other" the doctor said tearing off the prescription from the pad and handing to Chase. He was about to grab it but the doctor recoiled for a moment. "If you got the blues, have you considered cannabis? I can write you a prescription to get a medicinal card."

"What do I look like? Some kind of lazy stoner? No thanks" Chase defensively grunted, taking the prescription from the doctor. "Besides, I am a federal agent" he lied, ostensibly to keep his cover to keep A.C.M.E. secret.

"Well if you change your mind, it's legal for recreational use in Washington State so you can find a dispensary at your convenience" The doctor nodded before moving on to another patient. Chase looked at the prescription for a moment.

But before he could continue feeling sorry for himself he heard a familiar frantic voice out in the hallway. "Where is he? Where is—oh, Chase!"

It was the last person Chase wanted to see...well, second to—well, third to last...okay maybe Anthony wasn't that far down but still wasn't at the top. Anyway, he entered carrying three different bouquets of flowers, some fancy chocolates, a GET WELL SOON teddy bear, and a Papyrus greeting card. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Chase doesn't deserve a friend like Anthony.

"Chase my man! Are you okay? I didn't get the details, I had to hear it from Agent Barendarsky! You and Zari got jumped?"

"That's putting it mildly" Chase scoffed. "I am fine, I will live."

"Well, I put in a call to Irene and we didn't know which flowers to get you so I went to three of the best florists in the metro area, and I got your favorite chocolates, the kids are gonna make you A homemade card but I got this one in the interim, and they had this in the gift shop and your favorite mints are in my pocket. I had to go to five stores to find them—"

"I don't want any of that. Give it to Zari, she must be here too" Chase said before walking up to the nurse tending to the other patient. "Excuse me nurse, was there a woman who was admitted with me, or—"

"Yes, she's upstairs I believe, but she's in bad shape. Best not disturb her."

"Right" Chase nodded before turning to Anthony. "Come on Anthony, let's go disturb her."

"On it, pal!" Anthony followed Chase out.

PARIS FRANCE 1235 HOURS

In another safehouse across town sitting in an upstairs living room were the still knocked out Zack and Ivy, both tied to chairs sitting side by side. While Ivy slumbered peacefully, sans sawing logs as loudly as your uncle with sleep apnea, Zack was making no noise but was drooling like a sieve.

He awoke first, and quickly took a look at his surroundings. He awoke to the sound of a cheer and a jeer. El Topo and Le Chevre were sitting on a couch watching a big screen TV. A soccer match was in progress. Barcelona had just scored against Manchester United and while El Topo was pleased, Le Chevre was disappointed...the same disappointment Detroit Lions fans were used to experiencing.

"Si! Goal!"

"That was rigged! He was fouled!" Le Chevre jeered.

"Soccer? Boring" A woozy Zack complained. The two took notice.

"What's soccer?" El Topo asked.

"He's an American, mon ami, that's what they call futbol."

"Then, what do they call futbol?"

"The sport with the grown men in faux armor—I made the joke earlier already, Google it!" Le Chevre dismissed him.

Ivy was jostled awake moments later by Zack, who used his partially bound leg to kick her chair. Ivy was startled awake. "Zack! Look out!"

"Were passed that, sis. They got us" Zack sighed.

"Oh, right."

"I'm sure you're both wondering what's going to come next, eh?" Le Chevre asked.

"Does it involve brainwashing us to be V.I.L.E. operatives? Cause, you guys tried that and Carm kicked your butts from here to Helsinki!" Zack proudly said, but his smile faded. "Oh right, I'm mad at her right now."

"I can't believe this" Ivy complained. "All her talk about sticking to missions, and loyalty, and she sidelines us when we could've been most helpful! I bet she thinks we can't take care of ourselves. Like she always needs to bail us out of jams all the time."

"I can say from my past experiences with the three of you, that she has made a second career out of doing just that" El Topo explained.

"Yeah, well...we-were improving!" Zack defended.

"Clearly not enough" Le Chevre jeered.

"Carm really thinks of us as amateurs, doesn't she?" Ivy asked.

"She clearly does. Are you sure we cannot entice you both to join V.I.L.E.?" El Topo asked.

"You both like automobiles. Think of the collection you can amass" Le Chevre added.

"Fat chance" Zack scoffed.

"I own three vintage formula one race cars—one was the winner of Le Mans in 1957. Do I need it? No. Do I ever drive it? No. Glad I stole it? Absolutely" Le Chevre smirked.

"Just cause were miffed at Carmen doesn't mean were just gonna go a full one-eighty on a dime. You'll have to try harder than that" Ivy smugly explained.

"Well, your options are fairly limited" El Topo countered.

"Oui. You can join us on your own accord, or be mind-wiped" Le Chevre said, pointing to his temple for added effect.

"Or option three: Carm rescues us, like—"

"Like the two amateurs that you are" Le Chevre said before Zack could finish. "Face it, you're wasting your time with Carmen Sandiego. All the back-breaking work and for what? For her to not appreciate you both?"

"She appreciates us!" Zack snarked.

"Yeah, were her go-to twins" Ivy agreed.

"And yet, here you are, about to be permanently turned into V.I.L.E. operatives and where's Carmen to rescue you?" El Topo asked.

The twins nervously looked at one another, they were right, because it had been some time and there was nary a distress call from Carmen.

Speak of the devil. Carmen had on a pair of gloves with a pair of hemostats and some sutures at the ready. She had rolled up Dash's bloody sleeve, his wound dripping in blood. Carmen hit his neck with a morphine shot, and Dash slowly began to relax.

"Alright, just relax" Carmen urged him.

"I am...very...v-very...relaxed" a newly sedated Dash slurred.

"Alright, it doesn't look like it hit any major artery, probably broke your arm though."

"Just get it out...please."

"I'm working on it" Carmen stretched the hemostat onto the wound, moving the parted skin aside and Dash let out a primal scream.

"GAH! Why does it hurt this much!?"

"It's morphine, Dash, not a miracle. Now hold still!" Carmen demanded

With another hemostat she reached through the skin, and after some digging around, and Dash writhing in pain, she pulled out the bloody piece of lead. "Bingo" Carmen dropped the bullet aside and then went right to work sewing up Dash's wound with the suture. She disinfected the wound with some alcohol, which made Dash scream in pain once more.

She quickly stitched up Dash's wound, and after what seemed like hours, Carmen was done. She threw off the now bloody surgical gloves and sat down on a chair across from the well-dressed villain.

The silence was deafening. Dash felt like he could fall asleep and any regular person would use this time to relax and get some sleep considering they didn't sleep for nearly a day, but Carmen was not a regular person and was always on her guard, never taking a moment to truly relax.

But really, this was her previous conversation with Dash reeling in her head. She wasn't so much thinking of Marauder as she was thinking of Julia, and how she treated her, and how she really had no real reason to not let her on her team...was Dash's accusations holding their weight? She had to know more. But for now, there was a tense calm throughout the safehouse.

BELLEVUE WASHINGTON 1029 HOURS

A few floors and some bad directions later and they found Zari's room, which was private...except someone was there at her bedside.

Zari was still knocked out from the heavy stun, almost in a borderline coma. The man watching the heart monitor she was attached to was a bit taller than Anthony and Chase. He was tan, rugged, wearing a similar attire to them only in gray, with short dark hair and an otherwise cleanly shaven face.

"Um, hello?" Chase said.

"Hey, how's it going? Not sure we've met officially, I'm Arturo Rojas, I'm Zari's boyfriend" he said in a calm voice. He held out his hand for the two to shake it.

Chase and Anthony both couldn't have been more slack-jawed. Zari...had a boyfriend? Robotic, no nonsense, no feelings Zari had a boyfriend...someone who spends time with her outside of work. The two were frozen stiff and Arturo awkwardly lowered his hand.

"You are...Zari's...boyfriend?" Chase asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Like, you know—boyfriend, boyfriend?" Anthony asked for clarity.

"I don't understand the question" Arturo answered confusedly. "But: yeah, sure. We've been together for five and a half years."

"She's never mentioned you" Anthony said. "Ever."

"She doesn't want to get distracted at work. She's a workaholic you know."

"We know" the two deadpanned simultaneously.

"How'd this happen? She knock herself out with her own stun gun again?" Arturo jokingly asked.

The two froze. How did Arturo know that? Zari was revealing A.C.M.E. secrets to outsiders? Never! Not Zari. They stammered trying to think of some kind of excuse. "Um, well, you know—"

"She's, she's very, uh..."

"Relax fellas" Arturo chuckled, taking out an A.C.M.E. key card with his name and face on it. "I'm a company man, too. It's how we met."

"Hey, a pisan!" Anthony cheered, finally shaking Arturo's hand.

"That makes sense now" Chase nodded. "Someone she could talk work stuff with."

"I must've just missed you last time she was laid up, I usually work night shifts anyhow" Arturo explained.

"Hey, if you're with A.C.M.E. how come I've never seen you before?" Anthony asked.

"I'm an analyst. We wear a different color than you field agents. If you come into the Crime Net server room, you'll see me. I'm the Special Agent in charge of Technology and Criminal Analysis" Arturo explained. "By the way, Special Agent Devineaux, I'm tired of ordering new A.C.M.E. vehicles every two weeks, maybe take a defensive driving class, huh?"

"Ha-ha" Chase grunted.

"So, what happened, exactly? Barendarsky was telling me you two went on a raid of Union Square?" Arturo asked. "It was that Marauder psycho, wasn't it?"

"It certainly was" Chase groaned, answering Arturo's question. "I don't remember much, we had split up, she must've knocked us both out separately. Our Fort Knox suspect was in the building; the two of them must've been plotting something diabolical."

"There were reports of a green helicopter leaving the area as police were clearing the floor you guys were on" Arturo explained. "Safe bet that's how they made their getaway—but here's the kicker, forensics did fifty sweeps of that place this morning, and nothing-nada was stolen."

"Nothing?" Anthony and Chase said together.

"Nothing" Arturo confirmed.

"Strange, that's not V.I.L.E.'s M.O. at all" Anthony pondered.

"Stuff was broken, don't get me wrong, but nothing stolen. And let me tell yous, Chief sure picked a helluva day to pull a Ferris Bueller, no one can get a hold of her and she isn't at work."

"Oh right, what did Chief want?" Anthony asked Chase.

"What? What do you mean?" Chase asked.

"You know, last night? Chief called you, remember? You said she called and you got all depressed and said you'd call later or something?"

"Chief never called me, Agent Falco."

"Uh, yeah, she did, I remember."

"Anthony, she didn't call" Chase reiterated.

"Yeah man, she did! It was around the time when-..." Anthony trailed, remembering last night, and the impromptu raid of Julia's apartment.

"What's the matter?" Chase asked. Before Anthony could answer, a nurse entered.

"Excuse me, gentlemen, I need some signatures for the next of kin of the patient."

"Oh, that would be me, I'm her boyfriend" Arturo raised his hand.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to that" Chase muttered.

"Thank you sir, we need your written permission to do an exploratory surgery so we can see if there's any internal bleeding from her fall" the nurse explained.

"Right of course"

"We'll uh, leave you alone. It was nice meeting you, Arturo" Anthony nodded.

"You too, fellas. Hey, I'll get you my extension. I have a hunch we'll be working together more in the future" he said before taking the forms from the nurse. Anthony pulled Chase out into the hallway, and around a corner where no one was around.

"So, are you going to let me in on your pause?" Chase asked.

"You had a call from Chief, I remember."

"We were both very drunk—"

"Neither here nor there, my friend. You claim there is no voicemail or call and I do? Why would I think that? What changed since last night, hmm? I wonder—oh right, Argent!"

"What?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Come off it, Chase. She just randomly shows up to my house, unannounced to tell me she had something important to tell us and smash cut to this morning and there is no call or voicemail? Julia knew to come to my house because you're always sharing your location on your phone—"

"Anthony—"

"Let me finish! She knows you're at my house so she shows up."

"So what? Even if there was a voicemail, what would benefit Miss Argent from making sure I don't hear it?" Chase asked. "Are you really assuming that Julia is Marauder? Again? I thought you were over that ludicrous bullsh—"

"Assuming? I'm past assuming, amigo. No, that ship sailed when she infiltrated my house. My own private domicile where my wife and young children sleep! I was suspicious already when she was just kidnapped by our suspect and Marauder but yet there's no sign of Marauder when we show up, only Julia and no one else can corroborate where she was before being kidnapped."

"Keep your voice down. Secret agents, remember?" Chase raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry. But then, suddenly we return to HQ and our perp makes a clean getaway, and who was the last person to talk to her? Anyone, anyone—Argent. Didn't you notice how eager she was to make sure we couldn't hear inside the room? They were plotting an escape! I wish I had the foresight to turn the speakers back on. Coulda had them both locked up by now!"

"That is circumstantial at best" Chase crossed his arms. "And where does Chief fit into your conspiracy theory?"

"I think Chief was closing in, and didn't want to waste any time trying to take her in and risk Julia escaping again, so she calls you because she trusts you, you didn't get the call at the time but neither of us thought anything of it. So, she confronts Julia, there was a struggle, they figured out she called you and Julia makes a beeline for Everett with a flimsy pretext to be there and then she erases the voicemail and uses your drunkenness to gaslight you into thinking it was never there. I'm guessing in the interim, Chief broke free and captured the perp in Union Square, probably luring Julia aka Marauder there and in the time it took you and I'm guessing Agent Zari to get there, Julia ran back home, changed into something more evil and did the dirty deeds, escaping with the perp and Chief" Anthony finished.

"Sherlock Holmes over here" an unconvinced Chase rolled his eyes.

"Chase! Open your eyes, man! Who else could it be? Did-did-did Julia even tell you whatever thing was so important she had to tell you at my house?"

"I don't remember! I was drunk, I could barely see straight! I was probably thinking and saying all kinds of dumb things! And if you're so convinced, why not make a move while we could have overpowered her in the pool house?"

"Two reasons, one: yes, we were drunk, we were in no condition, and two: secret agents; my wife thinks were salesmen, there's no way we could apprehend Julia without someone in my house knowing, and if I kept her thinking no one was the wiser she would do whatever thing she came to do and leave without incident where no one could get hurt, ideally, my wife and kids. Why do you think I was so eager to get her away from Irene? So we could keep an eye on her."

"I'll admit last night was strange, but that doesn't mean Julia is a vicious and evil criminal mastermind."

"What more do you need? Do we gotta unmask Marauder ourselves like were Scooby-Doo? She fits the profile to the letter! Possible A.C.M.E. agent, dark hair in a pixie cut, petite body, suspicious Chief vanishes without a trace—and now Zari is out of commission. Did she say anything?"

"Actually yes, she had a phone conversation with Chief and said it sounded irregular."

"Gee, I wonder why? Because it had to have been after she was captured by Argent and the perp and they coached her what to say. I'll bet Zari knew something or figured it out and Julia made sure she wouldn't talk."

"No matter what you tell me, I will not be convinced it is Argent!" Chase huffed, crowding Anthony's space.

"Why? Whenever you and I are doing stuff when you're not complaining about Chief, you're complaining about Julia! "Dull facts", "boring things" yada-yada-yada! I thought you'd be chomping at the bit with my revelation! You kept saying she's the reason you never caught Carmen Sandiego."

"No! It's my fault!" Chase boomed. "Thank you Anthony for opening up those wounds! Yes, fine! I admit it, happy!? I, Chase Devineaux am a lousy law enforcement agent! I let two twenty-somethings in ridiculous outfits routinely outsmart me while I fall on the hood of my car and let them take whatever they want! Does that make you feel better, Agent Falco? You and your perfect life, and your adorable children, your good looking wife and your house in suburbia! While I sit in my lonely bachelor pad with my string boards losing sleep and getting older with no wife, no heir to my name and apparently no friends!"

There was a pause. Anthony didn't know what to say. Wow, Chase really felt that bad? Even the most ardent Chase-hater might feel sorry for him in this moment of weakness. But Chase stopped, trying to hold back another meltdown. He quickly turned and charged away.

"I have to go!"

"No. Chase, wait! Wait!" Anthony tried to follow him still holding all the flowers and things he got for Chase in the first place.

SKIES OVER THE ATLANTIC OCEAN 1247 HOURS

The V.I.L.E. aircraft was darting over the Atlantic barreling towards France. Julia sat in her jump seat looking across at Paper Star, legs folded over one another with one tapping. She was humming her tune and folding some paper into shuriken.

Julia groaned. She was tired-no, strike that, she was exhausted. And now she was forced to work with quite literally the last V.I.L.E. operative she wanted to be around, and to add to her frustrations, she now owed her a cut of the heist of which she contributed less-than-nothing to.

She felt her communicator buzz. Julia answered it, there was an Asian man on the other end of the screen, V.I.L.E.'s answer to Player: The Troll.

"Marauder, greetings."

"Yes, uh, Troll, is it not?"

"Almost. The Troll, please. I get it sounds like a passing detail. There are many on the internet who want to be trolls, but there can only be one The Troll."

Julia sighed. "Yes of course, "The" Troll. Did you receive the hacked documents I sent you?"

"Ah yes, the official letterhead of the Chief of A.C.M.E. Got the file right here" he said splitting the screen revealing a piece of blank letterhead with Chief's auto penned signature at the bottom. "I got to hand it to you, you are diabolical my evil friend. With just a few clicks we can send "official" commands to everyone at A.C.M.E."

"Yes, it can be anything from "the wrong address to any of our heists", to "promoting me to underboss of the organization" to "adding rice pudding to the commissary menu", the possibilities are endless."

"Ooh, maybe you can give yourself a medal" Paper Star cattily muttered yet deliberately loud enough for Julia to hear, and she scowled.

"Anyway, I have "Chief's official" notice of leave right here. You can proofread it in case I couldn't make it sound like her" he said, enhancing an image of a letter explaining Chief's abrupt absence.

Julia briefly perused the letter, smiling. "Yes, this is perfect. No one will suspect Chief is really our prisoner."

"Excellent, I'll hack her email and send this bad boy out to the entire organization shortly. Really good work, no wonder the Faculty won't shut up about you."

"Thank you, The Troll" Julia smirked "There is one more matter of urgent business."

"Absolutely, lay it on me."

"It's obvious A.C.M.E. is getting suspicious of my activities here and with or without Chief being our prisoner, people will talk. I'm sending you a link, it's a database bio of every A.C.M.E. operative current or former. I need you to scour through it in its entirety and find the most reasonable facsimile you can to my own likeness" Julia ordered.

"Ahhhhhhh, and we can make it appear as though she is Marauder which takes the heat off you. Clever."

"Sort of, find her and we will get her first, keeping her under wraps to assume she is Marauder while A.C.M.E. wastes their time chasing a lead that isn't there."

Now this of all things caused Paper Star to intervene. "Whoa. You're going to frame an innocent person and then kidnap her?"

"Evil enough for you?" Julia sarcastically asked. Paper Star said nothing.

"That is brilliant! I'll get right on that and hopefully have the perfect scapegoat lined up before you finish up in Paris" The Troll said.

"Good, message me the moment you have a narrowed list" Julia insisted before ending the call. Her smile faded when her eyes fell on Paper Star. "You still don't like me, do you?"

"I have trust issues" Paper Star deadpanned. Julia crossed her arms.

"Trust? Or jealousy?" Julia mused.

Paper Star stopped her folding. At first she just remained blank in the face but she eventually slowly looked up and towards Julia. "Maybe it's both. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe screw yourself" Paper Star said before launching the shuriken she was working on towards Julia, and it landed on the wall of the fuselage right next to Julia's head, but she was unmoved.

"It's alright to be jealous. Not everyone has what it takes to take down Carmen Sandiego on their own."

"And yet for all the opportunities you've had, she's still alive" Paper Star countered.

"Her days are numbered. The Faculty handed the contract down to me."

"Pity. She would have made a good operative. Must've really screwed up because I know Professor Maelstrom is obsessed with making her one of us. One way or another."

"It matters not. The point is, It will be me who eliminates her. And not you" Julia smirked.

"Yeah, we'll see about that."

"I'm sure we will. But, you still never answered my question. You are jealous of me, aren't you? Now, I'm certain I can guess it's not merely of my success with V.I.L.E., but that it is romantic in nature. Is it because I have Tigress...or, because Tigress has me?" Julia asked.

Paper Star paused and stared at Julia with the coldest, most dead eyes you ever saw. After a moment, she went back to folding paper and looked away. "You gotta be careful in Paris. So many opportunities to get yourself hurt. It sure would be a shame if I came back alone, wouldn't it?" Paper Star said in a nonchalantly threatening tone.

"It would. But, think of it this way, Paper Star...you know what I am already capable of, and you should know that your tone doesn't threaten me. You don't threaten me. So, it would be wise not to make an enemy of me, because you are far more expendable than I could ever be. And, given what you know about my exploits, it would be in your best interest to tread lightly" Julia hissed. "Because you coming back alone and me coming back alone will be two completely different reactions from the Faculty."

Paper Star said nothing, she didn't even make a face, she just continued her work while Julia huffed, her face seemed angry at first but slowly, a creepy smile emerged on her lips as the plane continued its journey to Paris.

PARIS FRANCE 1338 HOURS

Carmen wrapped Dash's arm in a sling but he was otherwise bound to the chair. She had procured some baguettes on her way back from pilfering medical supplies and was feeding him some bread.

The two were very quiet through it all, mostly as neither had gotten much sleep the previous evening. Carmen looked over at her captive. His accusation seemed so false to her...right? But the more Carmen wanted to believe that the more her mind just went back to rejecting Julia and how easy it was to her; how quick her mind made such a kneejerk reaction.

It started to resonate with her. Why else make such a flimsy excuse to keep her from joining her crew? All Carmen could think about was how selfish she was acting and how her recent decisions had been quite off-the-cuff and irregular for her. It wasn't that she was so selfish...well, it wasn't the whole reason, but she was really repressing were romantic feelings.

Carmen thought about her romances in life...Graham. Yeah, that was it. Carmen's pseudo "big brother" who clearly had similar feelings to the Latina. But Carmen never really thought about women that way...well, not until she had all this time to actually stop and think.

The more Carmen tried to justify all this, her mind began to wander and it thought about Julia, not even about Marauder, or her father, or anything else at all, but to Julia. A small shade of pink appeared on Carmen's face as Dash took notice.

"Who you thinking about?" he smugly asked.

"Huh, what?"

"Do you think I'm an idiot, Carmen? I know my little "observation" about you definitely started you thinking."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "Please. I'm just tired, that's all."

"Mmm-hmm" Dash smirked. "I bet you're thinking about Marauder."

"Not hardly" Carmen huffed. "Look, I grew up on that island, I saw a lot of operatives come and go, but I've never seen anyone so patently evil and insane like her. So no, Dash, I'm not attracted to Marauder!"

"Would it make a difference if she were a man?"

"No" Carmen deadpanned. "And besides, how you know what I like?"

"I was on that island for a long time myself, sweetie, and I definitely took notice of you when you actually went through the program. You and Crackle?"

Carmen blushed again. "Graham was sweet, like a big brother."

"If that's how you think of a brother, you have some serious problems."

"Not literally. He was cute and the only one of you I've ever missed."

"I can think of a fellow V.I.L.E. operative that misses you" Dash bemused.

"Really?" Carmen scoffed, crossing her arms. Then she recoiled. "I guess I hit it off with El Topo."

"No-no, not El Topo."

"I mean, Le Chevre was always nice to me—"

"Nope, not Le Chevre, either."

Carmen rolled her eyes. "I'm not playing this game with you. Why don't we skip the high-school-girl chatter and you just tell me who it is."

"Why you've never noticed? Of course not, then we wouldn't be having this conversation...it's our feline friend with the blonde hair."

Carmen blushed again. She shook her head in total disbelief. "NO! Tigress!?"

"That's her."

"Tigress? That Mean Girl stereotype? She hated me—she's the only one that always hated me!"

"Have you ever wondered why she was always so hostile with you?" Dash asked.

"I'm guessing it stems from years of abuse from an unhappy childhood?" Carmen guessed.

"Don't be cute. You know what I mean...the same reason were talking about this right now. She liked you, and not even she knew that. Her brain was desperately trying to justify the feelings but didn't want to seem weak. I happen to be pretty clairvoyant with people's desires."

"And yet here you are, shilling for Countess Cleo. My how the mighty have fallen."

"My point is: she was into you, and I'm here saying you are into Marauder. I can read it all over the blush."

"I'm not a lesbian, Dash!"

"I never said you were. You can be bi."

"I'm not—forget it! It's not important. I'm married to my work."

"Marriage and having feelings are not one in the same."

"I don't have feelings for her!" Carmen defended, standing up abruptly.

"Whatever gets you to sleep at night."

"What do you know? You're Cleo's glorified errand boy!"

"I'm just making an innocent observation. You're the one getting defensive."

"Because it's not true!"

"So then why yell? If you're so morally superior, why let this bother you?"

"Because!"

Because why?"

"It's none of your business, Dash!"

"Again, you don't have to respond to my questions so angrily. Why not just tell me the truth?"

"Because if I let her on my team I'll would've gotten too close to her!" Carmen finally blurted.

Carmen stopped in her tracks. Whoa...whoa. It all finally hit her. Dash may have been talking about Marauder, but little did he know Carmen was referring to Julia...so much irony.

There it was, a secret Carmen barely knew about herself now out in the open. It felt almost peaceful, like this huge weight was lifted off her shoulders. All the talk of Carmen being this blind altruist where everyone had a place to her was cast aside; this wasn't because Carmen was overzealous and inflexible, not completely, she wasn't afraid of losing an ally inside of A.C.M.E...she was afraid of letting Jules on her team might develop an attraction between them.

Carmen thought of the past when she was going to ask Julia in D.C. and was rejected herself, she thought this was because she didn't like the feeling of being told no, but it was because Julia had rejected HER! All the nightmares, all the uncertainty, all the risky behavior...this was all to repress romantic feelings for Julia. She leaned forward, putting her head down. She made a loud sigh and wiped her eyes.

"There was this A.C.M.E. agent. She wanted to—she was the one who nearly had you apprehended in the forest in California...and I told her no, ostensibly because I needed her at A.C.M.E. to help warn me of what they were doing, or getting the stolen goods back to their owners in a timely manner. But, I think, I mean, I guess it's because I think I may like her" she said before looking up. "Happy?"

"My arm's broken because I was shot. No, I'm not happy. But I bet you feel better, no?"

"A little" Carmen said before blushing and looking away. "She's really sweet. She loves history, she has this adorable English accent. I think, that maybe why I was so concerned it might be Julia Argent, that's who she is" Carmen said, remembering it was Zack who put the idea in her head to begin with. "I don't know how I could live with myself if it's her. Tell me it isn't? You don't want to tell me her name? Fine. Whatever, I'll figure it out. Just please tell me it isn't her, Dash" Carmen begged.

Dash stared blankly for a moment. What an opportunity he had. On one hand, he felt the news might be so shocking it might make Carmen go into a fugue state and give him time to make his escape, but on the other hand, he knew Carmen was really unstable at that moment, and he was still bound to the chair. No one would hear him scream. What if the news was so much that Carmen took her anger out on him? So, he lied.

"She never gave a name. She had the codename picked out from day one. And you know V.I.L.E. policy: the less we know about you, the less someone can use against you in a court of law. Nobody ever asked."

"But it's not her, right?"

"It's not her" Dash lied.

Carmen breathed a sigh of relief. But this nice moment would be short lived as Dash pressed his luck. "But it's not gonna matter who it is, because you can't stop her, and I know that's eating you up just as much. Attraction or not."

Carmen scoffed and the two remained with this subtle tension building. "It's been nearly two weeks. It's been killing me, giving me nightmares. And who knew it's because I have a crush?"

"Congratulations honey, you're a human" Dash deadpanned.

"Then I guess maybe I'm not some selfish altruist who never knows how to shut off?" A hopeful Carmen asked.

"Oh no, you're that too, but at least you don't have this hanging over you."

Carmen rolled her eyes, desperately not taking her eyes off of Dash, but as the two became silent once more, Carmen felt it all the more difficult to remain awake.

SEATTLE WASHINGTON 1120 HOURS

One Lyft ride later and Chase was dropped off a block away from A.C.M.E. HQ as per protocol. He was so embarrassed form his own crazy outburst that he had forgotten Anthony drove his car there and had his keys. He looked down the block and spotted what looked like a storefront for a Cannabis dispensary. Chase shook his head and walked towards HQ.

Much like Carmen, Chase was having an existential crisis. His ego had been shattered and he was questioning whether he could still function as a secret agent. All his past failures seemed to be catching up with him. All the ruined automobiles, all the perps that got away, and a lady in red always there to laugh at his misery.

But this was different, Marauder had completely taken all the wind out of Chase's sails, and it almost seemed personal. He was desperately trying to shake Anthony's accusations. Chase couldn't believe Julia was his new sworn enemy because he didn't think Julia could hate him so much. He didn't want to lose someone he thought dearly as a friend and couldn't believe he could be so toxic, it would be enough to flip someone from good to evil.

He shuffled into his office, first glancing to Julia's well-kept desk that was unoccupied as she was on her way to clean up a mess in his native France. He then turned to his mess of a desk. His eyes shifted to the photos above the computer. The Die Hard poster, now a permanent reminder that Chase will never be John McClane. There was the homemade picture of Carmen locked up, also a reminder that she'll always be three steps ahead of him.

Finally, there was the grainy CCTV shot of Marauder at the Smithsonian with Chase's motivational statement below it. Chase took one look at the photo and his sadness was slowly replaced with rage. In a fit of frustration he tore the photo from the wall and tore it up, before angrily grabbing his keyboard and smashed the torn remains of the photo, ultimately knocking some keys out and smashing everything he could find on the desk.

Chase finally stopped when he got control of himself, which was too little, too late as a few concerned passersby looked in the cubicle to get a glimpse of the noise and vitriol. Chase nervously put the now broken keyboard on the desk.

"Oh uh, heh-heh, there was a really big spider—a wolf spider. I-I think I got it. Nothing to see here, get back to work" he ordered everyone, who at various paces went back to their day. Chase slumped in his chair and wiped his forehead. Looking down at the floor, there was a piece of the photo which was that of Marauder's face, wordlessly taunting him.

PARIS FRANCE 1431 HOURS

Across town, both Twins had fallen asleep as the soccer match bored the heck out of them. Ivy felt something on her thighs and started to wake up. As her eyes adjusted she saw a blurry image right in her face. Once fully adjusted she saw it was Paper Star.

"Boo."

"GAH!" Ivy appropriately shouted, rousing Zack.

"No officer, I swear!" he shouted, realizing he was no longer in a dream, but a nightmare.

"Goody. They sent the psychopath" Ivy hissed.

"Which one?" Paper Star facetiously asked.

On cue, the door to the room opened, and slowly the twins gulped when they saw who else, but Marauder enter. "I prefer sociopath, myself" she smugly said.

Marauder grabbed a chair and sat in front of the twins, who were both sweating profusely and couldn't take their Bostonian eyes off of the egotistical villainess in front of them. Paper Star skipped over to the now empty couch and flopped on it.

"So, Carmen Sandiego's two lackeys. Le Chevre was briefing me on the details. It turns out there is some dissatisfaction among the ranks?"

The twins paused, too frightened to answer Marauder's semi-cryptic quips. She unsheathed one of her blades, and held it up to their faces. "Answer me!" she demanded.

"Well, I wouldn't necessarily call us dissatisfied. More upset? Perturbed—"

Already out of patience, Marauder backhanded Zack across the face. "Zack!" Ivy cried.

His head to the side, Zack coughed. Some blood and spit landed on the floor. He turned back, his left eye was black and his nose bloody. Marauder held up the blade right to his neck.

"We'll try this again, and this time, no stupid jokes, or monkeyshines, only straight and true answers, or else Carmen's coat will not be the only thing red around here."

A very frightened Zack looked over at Ivy. He gulped and turned back to Marauder. But before he could speak, she interrupted him. "No, I'd only be wasting my time with you. Perhaps I'll have more luck with the pretty one" she purred, turning her attention to the helpless Ivy.

"I-I-I-I'm not that-th-that pre-pre-prett-pretty" she stammered.

Marauder put the blade right to her neck, getting her head in close. "If you're smart, you'll answer my questions correctly and truthfully or you'll find yourself in a most painful predicament. Now, about your sudden rift with Carmen Sandiego?" she asked.

Zack and Ivy looked at each other, then at Marauder.

We cut to Carmen. The silence was becoming monotonous, and the two slowly drifted off to sleep in their respective chairs. Dash was completely slumped over while Carmen rested her face against a table right next to the chair she sat upon.

For nearly two weeks Carmen had been driving herself crazy thinking about what Julia had told her the night she rejected her. And the more Carmen thought the more it suddenly didn't really matter anymore. It all felt like smokescreen so she could forget about her attraction to Jules...right?

Now there was a part of Carmen that was dangerously afraid she had lost a friend to V.I.L.E.—no, scratch that, lost a crush to V.I.L.E. In his current position, Dash Haber would have told Carmen anything as long as she did him no more harm.

She could barely sleep, she could hardly eat, all she could think about for once in her life was her own mortality and shortcomings as a person in a way she never did before. I guess that figures, being raised on an Island that housed a school for super thieves doesn't give one much of a chance to stop and think about anything existential.

And the more these thoughts and feelings coursed through her head, the more she just wanted to say: screw it, and sleep. Dash seemed to be asleep as well and in Carmen's current state it didn't matter. She slumped in the chair, eyes shut.

"Wake up...Get up!"

Carmen felt the hard slap of a palm across her face and she awoke. As her eyes adjusted she gasped as her disembodied nightmarish alter ego Black Sheep stood in front of her. Carmen was stunned, this had to be a dream.

"Wh-what do you want? I-I'm not afraid of you! I know I'm a good person! I just...I'm just, I-I like—" Carmen tried to get the words out, but she froze when Black Sheep reached into her coat pocket and picked up what looked like a ghostly pistol. She aimed it right at Carmen's face.

"You'd better wake up unless you want to DIE!"

She fired and Carmen seemingly awoke, now sweaty. She caught her breath, realizing this had to be reality. But then, she looked forward to an allegedly sleeping Dash Haber. She saw some of his ropes were cut, and in his good arm Carmen looked at the hand where it was clear Dash was hiding a knife as she could see the tip protrude out from between his knuckles. He was pretending to sleep so not to arouse suspicion.

Carmen glared. This was what Dash was waiting for. If Carmen had slept through that Dash could have easily escaped or worse, make good on his earlier threat. Was all his this BS? Did Dash mean anything he said earlier? All Carmen knew was this rage within her and a presence compelling her to turn her head towards the table, where the pistol lay.

Carmen slowly reached out for the concealed carry weapon with her eyes trained to a seemingly sleeping Dash. Carmen slowly picked the pistol up and gingerly stood up from the chair, a very audible creaking noise was made.

Her handle on the gun seemed steady, and Carmen began to raise it towards Dash's face as she approached. She suddenly heard the disembodied and muffled shouts of "What? What are you doing! Stop! Don't do it!"

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK

Hearing the knocks Carmen snapped out of it. She saw she was standing up, a few feet from an awake and suddenly startled Dash as Carmen had the gun in her hands, and aimed it right between his eyes.

Carmen now saw she was dreaming before. And what was worse, now she was sleepwalking, and almost sleep-killing. The two said nothing but heard the knocking once more. Carmen put a serious face on and made the zip-eh-da-lip motion with her fingers, Dash nodded.

Carmen ran to the front door and checked through the peephole, relieved to see Shadowsan out front. She tapped her head against the door and huffed out a smile. She quickly holstered the gun behind her and opened the door up, pretending not to be excited to see Shadowsan.

"What kind of ninja knocks?" Carmen coyly asked.

"Well I am the one who knocks" Shadowsan coyly answered.

"I thought you hated impressions?" Carmen raised an eyebrow. Shadowsan walked in and Carmen closed and locked the door behind them.

"It was in case Player's GPS wasn't precise" he explained. He walked into the living room and saw the bound and injured Dash.

"Teach. Ooh, and looking cut I must say."

"Thank you, Dash" Shadowsan deadpanned.

"The look suits you, why not in red?"

"There's too much red around here" Shadowsan groused before turning to Carmen. "What happened to his arm?"

"Well, let me tell you, your little psycho—" Dash began before pausing. Carmen was behind Shadowsan and glared at Dash moving the pistol into view but obviously Shadowsan couldn't see. Dash took the hint and gulped. "There was a struggle, and I fell."

"You fell?"

"I fell a lot" Dash added.

Shadowsan turned to Carmen who kept the gun out of view. "He fell?"

"By the Seine. The pathway along it" Carmen explained which is not technically a lie.

Shadowsan knew better. "A lot of blood for a fall" he noted, seeing the dried blood all over Dash's jacket. "I need to talk to you" he said to Carmen, then walking to another room.

"What if he escapes?" Carmen asked.

"We'll hear him, and he won't get far" Shadowsan added. "Or I'll break the other arm" he threatened.

"Message received" Dash gulped.

Carmen walked into the next room, an office with all the furniture covered in dusty sheets. "I've been enabling you". Shadowsan blurted.

"What are you talking about?" Carmen asked, arms crossed and leaning against a dresser, cause she's so cool like that.

"You've been messing up lately, and I've been letting it go and telling you everything will be okay; justifying your depression and your current mental instability."

"I've been fine—"

"You are not fine!"

"Alright, this caper didn't go as planned, I admit, but I had good reason!"

"Okay, I'm waiting?" Shadowsan asked, also arms crossed. "What's the reason?"

Carmen froze. Dang, she wasn't expecting that. "He-Dash ambushed us" she lied.

"You've always been a bad liar, Carmen! What happened?"

Carmen sighed. "I wanted a name, and I guess I took too long or messed up somehow because he escaped and so did El Topo and Le Chevre who now have Zack and Ivy, happy?"

"Thank you. Now give me the gun" Shadowsan held out his hand.

Carmen was instantly taken aback but composed herself, not having time to process how he instantly knew somehow. "Wwwwwhat gun?"

Shadowsan had no time for games. "You can give it to me willingly or I will take it from you."

Carmen put up her hands. "Shadowsan, I promise you, I don't have anything."

Shadowsan rolled his eyes and made a loud and unrelenting sigh. He should have seen that coming. Without warning he charged at Carmen, grabbing her by the collar and pinning her to the wall. "Hey!" she struggled.

Carmen tried to break free while Shadowsan fumbled around one handed for the gun. After Carmen nearly pushed him away, Shadowsan got a handle on it and grabbed it from behind Carmen's back. He released from her and backed away as the two eyed one another. Carmen was out of breath.

"Where did you get this?" Shadowsan demanded. "And don't tell me you found it!"

Carmen sighed, Shadowsan wasn't playing around. "In Boston."

"Figures. Who?"

"Does it matter?" Carmen sneered. "It's an unregistered firearm—"

"And if a police officer finds this on you, you get two years minimum!" Shadowsan shouted. "And how long before A.C.M.E. indicts you or-or-or V.I.L.E. spirits you away to be reprogrammed! What were you thinking!?"

Carmen paused. She really wasn't thinking. At the time, she needed it, then she decided to keep it and was able to get information out of Chief. But other than that, she really didn't need it...right?

"You weren't thinking. And that's my point" Shadowsan said in a marginally slower and calmer voice. "I know you want to succeed in our shared goals but it's mistakes like this that are costing you. I know this is taking its toll on you and behavior like this is exactly what is going to make it worse! You shot him, didn't you?"

"There was a struggle, he shot himself" Carmen defended.

"Debatable!" Dash called from outside, obviously eavesdropping...but who wouldn't?

"What did you need this for? You were paying a debt?" Shadowsan asked.

Carmen sighed. "I was alone with no ground support and no nothing, about to walk into an unfamiliar place! He-he-he's not just some shy, he's a captain in the Mafia! They make people like us disappear for a living! I didn't want to take the chance I couldn't trust them, ya know, from one criminal to another?"

"Fine, but why keep it? I'm sure whomever gave this to you didn't intend on you returning it?"

"I-I...I felt...I felt safer with it" Carmen admitted.

"Did you harm anyone else?"

"No!"

"Car—"

"I'm not lying! I've told you before, this is MY outfit and I'll run MY outfit the way I see it! You're not my father, Shadowsan!"

"Well somebody has to be!" he fumed.

Silence. The two glared at one another while the awkward was so thick you could cut it with a proverbial knife. Carmen was so embarrassed. But, so was Shadowsan. He had promised Carmen he wouldn't step on any toes and here he was pulling rank which he didn't have.

"It haunts me, for what happened to him. When I brought you to the island you know that I vowed not for you to follow in his footsteps. But I guess some things fell between the cracks. You grew up too quickly Carmen, and now I fear you're in over your head. I wasn't there for you when you needed me."

"This isn't a reflection on your quasi-parenting, Shadowsan. She was going to kill Ivy—or at least seriously injure her. V.I.L.E.'s done some dirty tricks but they're doing more than threatening to brainwash us, they'll stop at nothing to succeed, even if it means taking lives. This-this was just a precautionary. Just until Marauder is captured, then I throw it in the bay, I swear!" Carmen promised.

"And what if she can't be captured? What if she does not wish to go alive? I don't care if it's a dictator or the mailman, do you really have it in you to take someone else's life?" Shadowsan asked.

Carmen hung her head. Did she? I mean, if it weren't for Shadowsan she may have killed Dash accidentally in her sleepwalking stupor. God, now there was yet another ethical quandary to Carmen's dilemma.

But yet, she had resolve, and she knew come hell or high water, Marauder had to pay. Carmen nearly lost Zack and Ivy once and she was not about to let that happen again. If it came to it, Carmen didn't want to take the chance.

"If it's hers, then yes. There's too much at stake and Marauder has murder on her mind."

"You've never taken a life, I have. You will never be the same again" Shadowsan explained, shedding a single tear.

Carmen clenched her fists. "If it's me, or her—"

"You're too smart for this, Carmen" he said approaching her and putting a hand on her shoulder. "It wasn't just the life of thievery I didn't want for you, I didn't want you to have to even need the option to kill. You know there is another way. I know you are angry, but killing is something you cannot walk away from, something you cannot rewind. You will regret it for the rest of your life. I will not let you make that mistake."

Carmen tried to smile as she wiped a tear from her eye. She leaned up and wrapped her arms around Shadowsan, supposedly to give him a hug, which seemed like a much longer hug than usual. Carmen released.

"Maybe you're right."

"So you will find another way?" Shadowsan asked.

"Definitely" Carmen nodded. The two shared a smile, but Carmen's smile seemed like it was more of a smirk...a rather mischievous smirk.

We cut to the mischievous smirk of Marauder who had just finished hearing Zack and Ivy's dissatisfaction with Carmen. Paper Star was still sitting nearby, scrolling through her phone and making more origami shuriken.

"So, you two have been used by Carmen?"

"I'd say she treats like amateurs who always need her help" Ivy reiterated.

"I too know where you coming from" Marauder began. "Fortunately, I had friends looking out for me. I had a way out, perhaps we could work something for you both?"

"You mean join V.I.L.E.? Willingly? Fat chance" Ivy boomed.

"Yeah, and besides, we'll get over it, eventually" Zack added. "We just gotta prove to Carm that we're just as formidable as she is."

Paper Star made an audible snort. "I must second my unruly partner's outburst" Marauder agreed. "You two are far from Carmen's potential, but perhaps that can be changed, with the proper training."

"Sounds painful" Ivy gulped.

"It is" Paper Star deadpanned. She sat up. "You've seen Coach Brunt, right?"

"I still have the burns" Zack cringed.

"Imagine that while she's yelling at you" she continued.

"If you want us to join up, this ain't helping" Ivy scoffed.

"I'm trying to help you both, because your options are quite limited" Marauder continued, pacing around their chairs. "You may join V.I.L.E. on your own accord, or on ours. At least you'll have your sentience if you join up on your own."

"Forget it, crazy. Carmen will save us and haul you and your demented friend here off to the slammer, where you belong" Ivy confidently spouted.

"We'll see about that. And how can you both be certain Carmen will come for you? If she even knows where you are?" Marauder asked.

"She'll find out, she's wicked cool—right, still mad at her" Zack recoiled.

"I have a hunch she'll leave you both in the dust" Marauder snickered. She then felt a buzz and took her communicator from her belt. "I'm dreadfully sorry I have to take this call. Paper Star will keep you both company until I return" Marauder explained before heading for the door.

This suited Paper Star just fine. She perked her head up and smirked while the twins had looks of pure anguish, despair, and fear. She started to lazily throw her shuriken in their direction but missed...though they were forced to turn their heads to dodge.

Marauder walked into the next room where El Topo and Le Chevre waited. They listened in on the call, it was The Troll. "The Troll. Report" Marauder ordered.

"Okay, it was an exhaustive search but there is but one A.C.M.E. operative that fits your description. I could only get a name but from my mad hacking skills I was able to discover the last known address and a few other goodies. Former field agent Vivian Hanna, maiden name Yung. Born in Manchester, former MI6 joined A.C.M.E. at its conception retired four years ago. Married Vincent Hanna, retired Los Angeles Police Department homicide/robbery detective, her second marriage, his fifth."

"Fifth, by that point, it is you amigo, not them" El Topo shook his head.

"Hanna, that name sounds familiar" Marauder mused.

"Yeah he was the guy who took down Neil McCauley back in the 1990's, they made a movie about it called Heat. Al Pacino played Hanna" The Troll explained.

"You have an address?" Marauder asked.

"In fact I do! They live in some Podunk town in the literal middle of nowhere...hold on..." he clicked away. "753 Snafu Drive, Gravity Falls, Oregon."

"Dispatch a crew to abscond with her, and make sure they're discreet and that Hanna isn't around, we want this to be covert..." Marauder then paused. "Wait a second" she then surveyed the room. "Who is our best forger?" Marauder asked the brain trust.

"Roundabout" the two said in unison.

"Definitely Roundabout" The Troll agreed.

"Excellent. We shall have him forge a letter in Vivian's handwriting that she is leaving Hanna."

"What? Why?" El Topo asked.

"You said so yourself, El Topo: by the fifth marriage it isn't her, it's him. And this'll provide the perfect cover story for her "leaving" and no longer wishing to live a second life of a homemaker when she can be a career criminal."

"Right! That way it looks plausible to everyone involved that she is you?" Le Chevre guessed.

"Precisely."

"Diabolical" El Topo mused.

"Slight caveat" The Troll said raining on their parade. "While she bears a striking resemblance to Marauder, her hair is a bit longer and in kind of a blowout you see here, and the kicker: she's at least fifteen years older than you if not twenty" The Troll explained blowing up the photo of Vivian he found on screen.

"It matters not. No one besides Chief knows my secret anyhow and soon, there won't be anyone on this earth that will be able to stop us" Marauder snickered.

SEATTLE WASHINGTON 1305 HOURS

Chase was doing everything he could to avoid Anthony, in the operation meeting he kept it as short and sweet as he could and left before Anthony could walk in. Chase was feeling really low, not to mention embarrassed; not only about his outburst with Anthony, but also his embarrassment of being routinely humiliated by his enemies, and his ego was drowning in this very sad dose of reality.

He adjourned to his office, fruitlessly typing away at some old CCTV footage of Carmen's old heists. Ah, the good ol' days. He decided to check his email for a slight break in the nostalgia and of course, the breaking news came in.

"What?" he asked quizzically.

There were two emails from "Chief" on her official letterhead, but you already knew that. The one was about her abrupt absence from work that day, explaining she didn't feel safe knowing Marauder could still be among them and as the leader of A.C.M.E. her life would be the most in jeopardy. So "Chief" decided to work from an undisclosed location and send in her orders via email.

The next email was of course the picture of Vivian Hanna while "Chief" explained that their intelligence had exhausted all possible leads and have good reason to believe Vivian is in fact Marauder. Chase was thrilled. For all the talk about Julia being this diabolical villain out to destroy him and Carmen Sandiego at all costs; it now seemed that all that was for nothing. Chase quickly threw his blue blazer back on and was about to sound a mission alert to find Vivian.

As he was about to leave, his dismay and shattered ego returned when Anthony stood in the foot of his door, no longer with his get well goodies. "Hey, look—"

"Now is not the time, Agent Falco!" Chase boomed.

"Uh, actually it's the perfect time because I'm guessing you got both emails, correct?"

"In fact I have!"

"So you know this is a crock of horse puck-y, right?" Anthony asked.

"What are you talking about? This is from Chief's official letterhead! You know the rules: any order can come from Chief remotely as long as it is via hologram or an email with these parameters!"

"Chase—"

"Annnnd your time was wasted thinking Marauder was little Argent, feast your eyes on the REAL Marauder!" Chase opened the Vivian picture.

"I admit, there is a similarity—"

"Ah-ha!" Chase interrupted him.
"BUT, it would be logical except Chief just going missing with a formulaic excuse is not in her nature at all, AND, I know Vivian Hanna—I knew her back when she used her maiden name. Chase, it can't be her."

"Why not? Retired agent, could have a bone to pick with A.C.M.E., someone who knows the inter-mechanisms of the organization inside and out! And they look identical!"

"She retired years ago! Why would she have this blood-lust of a vendetta with you and Carmen Sandiego if you two never met her!?" Anthony demanded.

"To throw us off her trail, of course!"

Wh-WHAT!? Why? That doesn't make sense!"

"You don't make any sense!" Chase countered...not making any sense.

"You know what? Fine. I know where she lived last, if she's still there. Irene and I used to go and have barbeques before we had the kids. She lives in Oregon."

"Oregon, huh? The perfect location. Not too far away from headquarters so she, aka: Marauder could keep an eye on us" Chase postured. He started down the hall. Anthony was after him.

"So, can we discuss what happened at the hospital?"

Chase turned to him, he scowled. "There is nothing left to discuss" he hissed, then started to walk again. Anthony sighed, and continued on after him.

PARIS FRANCE 1456 HOURS

The twins were busy trying to undo all their entanglements, but this was no use. On the second floor below them, Julia was without her mask while joined by El Topo, Le Chevre, and Paper Star.

"Does anyone have any thoughts as to where on earth Carmen Sandiego may have taken Dash Haber?" Julia inquired.

"His hat signal went dead near the Seine" Le Chevre explained. "There's been no reports of any crime reported, except, someone made a report of a gunshot heard not far from where the signal was lost."

"Gunshot?" Julia asked raising an eyebrow.

"Could it be? Is Black Sheep strapped?" Paper Star asked.

"That's not Carmen Sandiego's brand. Not at all" Julia dismissed her. "It must be a mistake."

"Regardless, she can't admit him to a hospital, she would be arrested herself, and half of her colleagues are in our control" El Topo explained.

"The only place she could possibly take him to are V.I.L.E. safehouses. Nobody uses them. And Carmen, knowing her time at V.I.L.E. she may know where we still have a few."

"Are there any in that area, Le Chevre?" Julia asked.

"Only one, hasn't been used in years I would say."

"Perfect, I shall go and retrieve Dash Haber, while you remain here and defend our safehouse when she inevitably arrives" Julia ordered.

"Why do you make the orders?" Paper Star asked.

"Oh, if you have a better idea, please, enlighten us" Julia snarled.

Paper Star crossed her arms and glared. "I can't promise anything if it comes between me and her."

"Don't worry, you couldn't take her out anyway" Julia smirked, Paper Star sneered. "But no one will take her out, because we are going convince her two sidekicks that she will save her own skin if she's boxed in a corner...and I might know just how to pour it on" she lowered her mask, becoming Marauder. "I'll be stopping off at the Louvre really quickly, to finish what we started" She smiled before heading for the stairs, leaving the three quite perturbed.

SAN DIEGO CALIFORNIA 0945 HOURS

We'll go back to earlier this morning. Gypsy was frantically counting money while looking over the electronic ledger, and hastily typing out emails when he wasn't doing that. Something was definitely wrong.

Who should nonchalantly stroll in? T-shirt and track pants, it was a sweaty Vincent, holding a plastic grocery bag with something in it. Gypsy turned to his partner-in-crime and was not amused.

"Where the heck were you!? I've been trying to call you for hours!" he fumed.

"I left my phone here, I told you I was going jogging" Vincent defended.

"For three hours!?"

"Sorry if I believe in physical fitness. Anyway, I passed the mall, went into Spencer's and picked this up for Carmen. Check it out" from the bag, the oblivious Vincent took out a plain white coffee mug with the words WORLD'S BEST BOSS written in basic font in basic black. "What do you think?"

"Michael Scott over here!"

"I know right. Is it weird to gift wrap something like this?" Vincent asked.

Ah, fongool the gift wrap! We got real problems here Vin!"

"Why, what's wrong?" Vincent asked, putting the mug on the kitchen counter.

Gypsy turned his computer towards him. "You know Alvin Reitman?"

"Refresh my memory."

"Marketing and Communications director for Netflix, one of our donors."

"Yeah, we sent their money, and they're sending it to Doctors Without Borders."

"No they're not! Not anymore! Look, they're being audited! IRS!"

"Holy cow" Vincent suddenly realized this was serious business.

"Specifically looking into "charitable" donations. It's not just them! Apple, NBC, Hillshire Farms, Mossberg! Same thing—and our charities, too! Audited!"

"Okay, that's it, we gotta pull the plug!"

"Three steps ahead of you, I've had our people moving the cash and withdrawing it as we speak from the banks they gave us. We should have all of it by the end of the day—hopefully."

"It's too dangerous to keep it electronically" Vincent said worried, opening his laptop and getting to work. "It's not going to take long before Black Sheep Inc. gets the audit axe next."

"I agree. But we can't stash it all here" Gypsy said, before having a brainstorm. "Wait! Don't you still got that old warehouse in Carlsbad, or whatever?"

"Escondido, and yes. Totally empty last I checked" Vincent nodded.

"Were back in business! We'll have our people load it all there, you know, until this blows over" Gypsy insisted.

"Yeah, until it blows over" Vincent gulped, taking out a burner phone and making a call. The two nervously got back to work, there was no time to waste. "Carmen's gonna kill us."

"Yeah, forget about that, she'll kill us more if we all get pinched"

"Good point" Vincent nodded, getting right to work.

GRAVITY FALLS OREGON 1527 HOURS

We take you now to a different network, to this fictional town in Central Oregon where anything ordinary never happens. It's a place with weird things, supernatural anomalies, and talking gnomes.

At this rustic log cabin at the rural 753 Snafu Drive, a woman was pouring herself a cup of tea with a lemon wedge. This was Vivian Hanna, nearly late forties, who was about to go to her living room to sip her tea and watch Dateline, because the Matlock reruns ran after dinner.

As she was about to watch some Chris Hansen, she heard a rummaging noise in the kitchen. The veteran agent was suspicious, but her suspicions waned slightly in retired life, especially after moving to this strange town. So she called with cautious optimism.

"Honey? V? Is that you?" she spoke in a light Manchester accent. She got up and went for the kitchen and gasped upon seeing our favorite New Zealander sitting at her table sipping tea. Mime Bomb was standing nearby, sipping an imaginary cup of tea...how does this guy eat?

"Ello there, my sweet. Allow me to introduce myself: The name's Neal, Neal the Eel that is. My silent friend and I would very much appreciate if you'd come with us."

"V.I.L.E., I presume?" the veteran agent asked. "I am retired. I have nothing for you."

"Oh, Mrs. Hanna you have us mistaken. See, it's not your information we desire...it's you" Neal ominously explained. Several faceless V.I.L.E. hench-guys emerged from the exit, Crackle Rods at the ready. "Right then, now, I much prefer the easy way myself, but if you'd like to go the hard way, I'm sure we'd all be happy to indulge you."

The camera closes in slowly on Vivian's face. Her expression going from stoic, to defeated. Glad Tidings by Van Morrison starts to play in the background, gradually increasing in volume as we cut on this old 1986 Jaguar XJ6 with its windows down, blaring the song on the radio.

Driving was a grizzled specimen of an Al Pacino facsimile if ever there was one, a man at best in his late sixties. This was Vincent Hanna, who we shall call Hanna as we have a Vincent of our own already.

He happily drove down the road, stopping at a red light. A beat up pickup truck pulled up to the lane next to him. The driver, was a portly Hispanic man dressed in a tacky three piece suit and a red fez on his head with a weird symbol on it. This was Jesus Ramirez, who went by Soos.

"Soos me boy!" he called in a gravely grizzled New York accent.

"Hey Mr. Hanna-dude, how's it hanging?" Soos called in a dopey voice.

"Oh, I'd complain. But who'd listen?" Hanna chuckled.

"I'd listen!"

Hanna's smile briefly faded. "Yes, that's what we call a joke, Soos. I still love ya, you goofy idiot."

"Same here!"

"Hey, what are you and Melody doing tonight?" Hanna asked.

"Oh the usual, watch Better Call Saul, eat off-brand cornflakes, talk about our sandwich shop idea where the bread is the meat."

Hanna was once again dumbfounded. "Don't let that one get away, whatever you do."

"Ha-ha, everyone keeps telling me that."

"Heed their advice, man! But seriously, yous two come over, Viv and I we'll get a bottle of vino and play some penuckle—c'mon hey, you like penuckle" Hanna insisted.

"I do, I never remember how to play."

"Again, that's why I love ya. When do the two Stans come home from wherever, huh?"

"Tomorrow night."

"Well listen, I bought a mean charcuterie board today, we are going to break into that, drink some wine, play some penuckle and complain about our neighbors. How's that grab you?"

"The perfect small-town evening" Soos chuckled.

"And how. See you at seven?"

"Absolutely" Soos said before the light turned green. "Hey-hey, tell Viv I said hi!"

"Tell her yourself when you see her!" Hanna called before riding through the intersection. "And tell your Abuelita, I'm flattered but spoken for!" he jokingly called.

Hanna drove up to his house, where there was an eerie and foreboding presence. But, he was high on life and too happy to notice. He finagled all three grocery bags in his hands, singing along to the song.

"And we'll send you glad tidings from New York" he hummed.

The song slowly faded as Hanna staggered inside. The foreboding presence started to feel real as his old man body slowly moved towards the kitchen. "Viv! Hon it's me! Hello? Honey. Yo, Vivian! Hey, I ran into-I ran into Soos at that red light on Hirsch and Main! Him and-and Melody are coming over for penuckle! I'm gonna go pick up a bottle of that Chardonnay, the one from that vineyard near Astoria! Viv!?"

Hanna walked into the kitchen, he plopped the bags on the counter before his eyes instantly turned to what looked like a note sitting on the kitchen table. "Vivian where the f—" he stopped when he saw this strange piece of paper sitting on the otherwise clean kitchen table. Hanna looked quizzically at the note and his cop senses started tingling. He looked around, Vivian was nowhere to be seen...

PARIS FRANCE 1622 HOURS

Carmen and Shadowsan were eating lunch and occasionally feeding Dash. Carmen was letting Shadowsan in on the plan to save Zack and Ivy. "No prisoner exchange?" Shadowsan asked.

"I vote for prisoner exchange!" Dash chimed in.

"Tough. That ship sailed when you guys decided to drive us insane" Carmen quipped.

"What did you have in mind? Do you even know where they would be holding Zack and Ivy? If they are even still in Paris?" Shadowsan asked.

"They are, because they probably know we have Dash or at least they assume Dash is missing. And I remember eavesdropping on some V.I.L.E. chatter a heist or twenty ago. Le Chevre was bragging about this plasma TV he stole and stashed it in a loft with great surround sound. I happen to know of only one V.I.L.E. safehouse in Paris with a loft. And if I know my former schoolmates, they are just as predictable" Carmen explained.

"Am I to assume I am on babysitting detail?" Shadowsan asked.

"I do love it when I don't have to explain myself" Carmen smugly mused, suiting up in her coat and hat.

"You sure you're okay?" Shadowsan asked.

"I am f—"

"I mean it! They will definitely be expecting you. This is no time for second guesses and reckless behavior!" he warned.

"Trust me, I will handle it. We will get the twins, apprehend Marauder—cause you know they've dispatched her by now, and drop her and Dash off at the local gendarmerie and we are home by...breakfast tomorrow."

There was some silence while Carmen checked her equipment, trying to make sure one pocket was out of Shadowsan's view. She had given him the footnotes on her revelation into her problems beforehand.

"So, what you told me, how are you feeling about it?" he asked.

"Pretty good. I guess I am an overzealous person, but at least I have some kind of reason for the way I was acting. Not that I's inexcusable."

"What if you find Argent, and she wishes to join?"

"Lately? I doubt that. But it would be nice. Hopefully if she would ever forgive me" Carmen blushed.

"Awwww, still in love" Dash playfully sneered.

"Yeah, fine. I like Julia Argent. I wish to be in a relationship with her. Everyone happy? Good. I'm off. And don't worry, no operative's used this safehouse in years—since I went through V.I.L.E. Academy the first time. It's possible no one will even show up."

"If they do, I'll be ready" Shadowsan nodded. "Just remember, think before you act!"

Carmen sighed, she was just about to leave. "Don't you think I know that? I'm still not a child. I will handle this."

"Nobody is doubting you. It's just a reminder."

"It doesn't need to be said! I get you're looking out for me, Shadowsan, but I can take care of myself!"

"And a fine job you've done so far!" he motioned to the wounded Dash.

"You just have to do it. Always with the "father-knows-best" routine, huh? If you want a kid so badly, have one of your own, because as much as you'd like to think of me as your daughter, I'm not! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go prove to Marauder just what I'm made of!" Carmen boomed before dramatically slamming the front door behind her.

"Well, that went well" Dash sarcastically shrugged. An exasperated Shadowsan grabbed a baguette from the table and pelted him with it in the face.

Outside, Carmen sprinted down the sidewalk and slid into a nearby alleyway, however we see this from an aerial view from above a row of apartments nearby...meaning somebody was watching her leave.

Over to Le Chevre's safehouse loft...which was actually a three story flat—we call that a condo or a brownstone, El Topo, the aforementioned Goat Boy, and Paper Star huddled around a communicator while The Troll was on-screen.

"Okay, did everyone procure the flash bang grenades?" The Troll asked. Three heads nodded. "Smoke bombs?" more nods. "Okay, and I've tapped into your surround sound system inside the flat so we can broadcast the "gendarmerie" storming the building."

"What's the point?" Paper Star asked. "A lot of work to maybe turn those two numbskulls against Sandiego. Dr. Bellum can brainwash them into doing whatever we want."

"It worked for Marauder" El Topo shrugged.

"I still say it's a bunch of work for maybe nothing, but what do I know?" a sarcastic Paper Star rolled her eyes.

"Now we just sit and wait" The Troll said leaning back in his computer chair.

"Easy for you to say" Paper Star muttered.

BATTLE CREEK MICHIGAN 0834 HOURS

Slight break in the action as we take you back to earlier in the Great Lakes state. Chief had been brought to the makeshift dungeon in the basement of the factory, which was once a place of cobweb infested storage was now converted into a cell block of sorts. Chief's cell was your standard nine by twelve with an uncomfortable cot, sink, and toilet.

She heard footsteps approach while she laid on the cot that someone clearly stole from a sporting goods store. She leaned her head up to see Tigress standing outside her cell with a tray of food-like slop.

"Not hungry" Chief deadpanned.

"Well, it's here if you want it" Tigress said before sliding the tray through the slit in the bars on the floor. She stood there for a moment before leaving, and Chief took notice.

"They could've sent any knockaround to feed me. Why send you?"

"I had nothing better to do" Tigress lied.

"Don't lie. You want advice...or, are you interested in my deal?" Chief asked.

Tigress looked around, nobody was around to see or hear and the cameras in the cell block were not equipped to monitor audio. "Of course I am. I dunno, seeing how close death can hit you...it like, took its toll, or something."

"But you still won't go without Julia?"

"I love her. I'm shaken but I will go on. Just not without her."

Chief sighed. "You really do love her, huh?"

"Totally."

Chief sighed again, sitting up on the edge of the cot. "You have to understand, despite my pettiness, it won't be easy. She's done way too much not to do any time. I can personally write her all the 5K letters I can. But there isn't a snowballs chance in hell that Argent won't see the inside of a federal prison for these crimes, even for a few years. Anything short of a Presidential pardon, she will go to jail. Can you live with that? Can you wait for her?"

Tigress thought for a brief moment but then crossed her arms. "Yes. Yes I can."

Chief sighed, then shrugged. She picked up the tray and used the spork to mix her slop. "Well, good luck."

"Does that mean yes?" Tigress asked.

"It means good luck. If you can swing her."

"I am pretty persuasive."

"I'm sure you are. Tell you what, I have a lot of sway in the Justice Department as you can very well imagine. I may be willing to put my reputation on the line and heavily vouch for Argent if say someone could feed and take care of my cat who I seem to have abruptly abandoned."

Tigress's interest: piqued. "You have a cat?" she asked with a hopeful inflection in her voice.

"Persian longhair."

"Awwww, they're so cute."

"Her name's Commander" Chief said, reaching into her coat pocket and tossing Tigress her house keys through the bars. "If anything is stolen, so help me I'll show you where your habeas ends and your corpus begins."

"Got it" Tigress nodded.

"I'm doing this for you because my soul is tainted, Tigress, it's not too late for you. And who knows, somewhere in the back of my mind maybe it isn't too late for Argent, but that's on you to make sure she doesn't do anything too unforgivable" Chief said ominously, staring longingly in the distance.

GRAVITY FALLS OREGON 1709 HOURS

We hear no sound, only Hanna running to his room and frantically looking for any sign of Vivian. A suitcase was missing, along with some clothes, a distraught Hanna knew what this meant. We cut to the kitchen, where Hanna sat at the table, half pint bottle of Popov vodka in hand; he was drinking heavily and reading Roundabout's forged note for the five hundredth time. Chief continued via voice over.

"Who knows what she'll do before she truly ruins somebody's life."

Suddenly, Hanna looked up and saw a shadow move past his kitchen window. He stood up, seeing another. His cop senses were off the charts. He swilled a mighty gulp of the super cheap spirit, taking out a concealed pistol in a holster in his pants. "Let's dance" he slurred.

He heard what sounded like people stacking outside of his front door. Hanna ran and opened it, running abruptly outside, almost tripping. Vodka in one hand, pistol in the other...a great combination for unmitigated and unintended disaster.

There standing were a few A.C.M.E. agents, Chase and Anthony among them. He surprised them, taking everyone off guard. "What are you doing? Where did you—where did you gavones take my wife!?"

"Sweep the house!" Chase ordered, several agents entered.

"Yes sir!"

Chase walked over to Hanna who took one last swig, the bottle now empty. It was clear Hanna posed little threat against the sober agents. "We have a search warrant!" Chase boomed, sloppily shoving the copy of the warrant at Hanna who crunched it aside.

"She left me. She freaking left me!"

"Who did?" Chase asked.

"Who—Halle Berry-who do you think? Vivian! My wife!" Hanna yelled, going for another swig, only to realize the bottle was empty. In a fit of rage he tossed it aside, and could barely stand up.

"Leave you, huh?" Chase asked, smugly turning to Anthony. "I think a case is coming together."

"V. What happened?"

"Falco? Is that you? Oh thank God, someone with brains—hey, tell Pepe Le Pew over here to wipe that smirk off his face before I wipe it for him!" Hanna shouted in Chase's direction.

"Alright! What happened? What do you mean Vivian left you?" Anthony asked.

"Yes, do enlighten us" Chase insisted with an eyeroll.

"I was getting some groceries—we were gonna have friends over tonight. Charcuterie, nice bottle of wine, some penuckle, then I come home, she's nowhere to be found, can't get a hold of her, and I found this!" he shouted waving the note. He was about to hand it to Anthony but Chase grabbed it, reading it first.

As he did, he started to smirk, as all this was exactly what he wanted to hear. "Well, well, well, I bet you look foolish now, Agent Falco! She admits she left this Al Pacino wannabe for a life of crime in V.I.L.E. as our nemesis, Marauder! See, I am not crazy!"

"What? That doesn't make any sense."

"You're telling me" Hanna slurred, waving his gun.

"Okay, V, you've been drinking" Anthony tried to take the gun from him.

"Isaac Einstein over here!" he slurred.

"That's Albert—never mind. Look, I know Viv told you what we do and Chief let that go because of your own past, clearly you know your wife as well as us had many enemies" Anthony explained. "Did Vivian say anything or do anything strange in the last few weeks?"

"Such as make clandestine phone calls, spend large amounts of money, disappear for hours at a time?" Chase smugly asked.

"Listen here Jacques Clouseau, I don't even know who you are but I have had it up to here with you! I know Anthony and I never met you, so stay out of my business!"

"He's technically my boss, V, anything you can tell me, you can tell him" Anthony said.

Hanna sighed. "We were doing so well. I laid off the drinking—a little. I quit coke. I even stopped drinking Coca-Cola. I swore when I retired I would shut off. No more crooks and evildoers in my life. Wife number five was gonna be it, I told myself. Now this! It doesn't make sense" Hanna said, starting to cry as he finished.

"So, she never left on strange hours, started to keep secrets?" Chase asked.

"You got dirt in your ears!? Of course not! This was completely out of the blue! Who would take her? Those-those villain-thieves or whomever?"

"I think it was V.I.L.E. yes. As I see it, it's the only logical explanation."

"Where was she last night?" Chase asked.

"What are you getting cute with me, huh? In our bed, asleep! She didn't sleep so good the night before so she took one of my Ambien, knocked her right out."

"But you slept too, and you cannot say accurately she was there" Chase insisted.

Hanna sighed. "If you'd quit interrupting me, Louie LeBeau, I'll continue. We've been having a bear problem in our vegetable garden out back. I didn't take an Ambien, but I heard something outside. I checked, and it was nothing. I couldn't fall back to sleep and went to the living room, drank a glass of warm milk, watched two episodes of M*A*S*H and one TJ Hooker, went back to sleep, surprise-surprise, there's Vivian, peacefully sawing logs."

"When was this?" Chase asked.

"About two in the AM."

"Oh, 2:00 AM, huh?" Anthony rhetorically asked, stunning Chase, as that was definitely around the time he was doing battle with Marauder.

"It can't be" Chase shook his head. "Are you certain?"

"You calling me stupid or liar? YES! We have one staircase which is visible from the living room and that house creaks like a leaky ship! Maybe an hour and a half, two tops I didn't see her, and I mean tops."

Chase shook his head. Now he looked more foolish than ever. He couldn't believe it. This seemingly easy ace in the hole, seemingly from Chief's intelligence seemed to be incorrect...and as per his usual, he took the bait. Chase walked away while Anthony followed him.

"Chase, wait! Wait!"

"Leave me alone, Anthony!"

"Chase! Listen to somebody else for a change!" he uncharacteristically yelled, turning Chase around. He reached into his coat pocket, taking out the Faberge Egg he found at Julia's apartment, handing it to Chase. "Chase, listen to me, you know what this is?"

"Mmm-hmm, a giant novelty egg."

Anthony facepalmed, and sighed. "It's a Faberge Egg, one of its kind, priceless!"

"This sounds a lot like dull facts and boring things. I'd sell it for thirty Euro" Chase said dismissably and carelessly tossing the egg back to Anthony who caught it in time.

"I found it. I was trying to tell you in the hospital, I stopped by Julia's apartment, she wasn't there, but I saw what looked like a struggle in the kitchen and this in her bedroom!" Anthony explained.

"What kind of a struggle?" an interested Hanna asked from nearby.

"Butt out, Michael Corleone!" Chase snarled, turning back to Anthony.

"Listen, this is hard for you to understand, I know. Chase, this was stolen a week ago total covert operation, who had already vanished from our organization at that time?" Anthony asked despite Tigress stealing the egg and not Julia. "I think she hacked our directory, found the closest facsimile to herself and had her kidnapped to ensure her and Marauder will never be in the same place and staged it to appear as though she's confessed and left V, alone."

"It can't be her!" Chase hissed. "It can't!"

"Yes it can! You belittle her! You're demanding! You dismiss people outfight and make fun of them for nothing! Nobody knows that better than Argent—who else could have a vendetta against you!?"

"SHE'S TOO NICE!" Chase boomed. "She's smart and she's affable, and she has two degrees! Someone that nice and kind whose been such a good friend can't be someone so evil! I couldn't have pushed her to a life of crime! I won't believe that!" Chase hissed, realizing he was yelling again. He turned away while Anthony stood there still stunned.

"That's right, Napoleon, walk away. You don't know you, but I can state categorically, if you are part as something elite as A.C.M.E., they're in some trouble, because you buddy, are pathetic" Hanna slurred to Chase.

That did it. Chase couldn't have felt lower and here was this guy yelling at him...semi-justifiably. Chase charged at Hanna who in his current state was undeterred. "Come on, tough guy! Let's go!"

Chase tried to throw a punch but slipped and Hanna, now knowing the extent of Chase's injuries kneed him right in the chest and Chase hit the deck.

"UGH!" he screamed in pain just as Hanna lost his balance and fell over.

"Chase!" Anthony ran over to help Chase up who was clutching his chest. As they got up, the agents awkwardly stood by the front door.

"Uh, Special Agent Devineaux? The house is clean" one agent finally had the courage to say.

"Special Agent, huh? Oh, you guys are screwed" Hanna said, getting up and dusting himself off. "Thanks for wasting my mother-effing time!" he fell weeping into Anthony's arms.

"It's okay V, it's alright. We'll find where they're holding her, it's alright."

"I tried, Tony. I really tried" Hanna wept.

"I know, I know. We will find her and stop V.I.L.E."

Hanna, drunkenly then wept in Italian. "Era mia moglie! L'ho amata! Ero pazzo di lei!"

Anthony shh-ed him, consoling his old friend. "Shh, la troveremo, Vincenzo. Ti ama moltissimo."

"Grazie Antonio, sei un amico meraviglioso" he then switched to English. "Who would do such a terrible thing?" Hanna rhetorically asked. "Who!?" he sobbed as Chase looked on at Hanna with a mixture of disdain and depression.

PARIS FRANCE 1748 HOURS

We cut onto an image of Marauder who was the one who saw Carmen leave earlier, she was at the back alley of the safehouse, and found the fuse box, she opened it up. "Perfect" she snickered.

Inside, Shadowsan was sitting in silence and Dash was too afraid to speak up and try to cut the obvious awkward tension. But before he could say anything, the power to the safehouse was automatically cut.

"Well, well, well. My rescue is here" Dash smirked.

Shadowsan immediately as a kneejerk reaction looked on his person for the gun, dismayed to discover it wasn't on him. Which is when he figured out Carmen had stolen it off of him in their earlier hug...revenge for Stealth 101 notwithstanding.

"That little—" he clenched a fist.

We cut to Carmen, smugly checking her coat pocket to confirm our suspicions. She is right across the street from the flat in question and she used her binoculars to look inside. She looked through the third story window and saw her two redheads inside.

"Too easy" she smirked. She used her grapple gun to swing to the other side of the street, while in the background Lion Skin by Hands Like Houses starts to play over this sequence.

Carmen landed on a ledge on the second floor as there was no good footing outside the third story windows.

She held herself up on the ledge, while using her lockpick to jimmy open the window and she summersaulted inside. Too easy indeed. Another cut to Shadowsan who elongated a collapsible Bo staff he brought with him. The room was dark and he attempted to go to the nearest window to open up the dark shades.

He heard a presence inside the apartment now, and it wasn't just Dash Haber. He felt the presence grow closer and closer. The wily veteran ninja stopped, trying to lure this foe into a false sense of security. He made an abrupt turn and kick while also smacking the assailant with the staff. Through a crack of light in the blinds, Shadowsan could see this was clearly Marauder.

"That's not bad" she mused and the two circled one another. "Pity you decided to switch teams."

"Pity for you" he deadpanned. He then made another lunge.

Back to Carmen, She tiptoed into the darkened flat, she turned a corner and she saw the kitchen, where El Topo was seemingly oblivious. Carmen sneaked up on him, readying her taser. El Topo tried to surprise he with a kick to the face but Carmen ducked underneath him and hit him with the taser right in the gut, zapping him to the floor.

"Is Paris burning?" he woozily asked before passing out. Carmen smirked and continued on into the kitchen and down the hallway.

Over to Shadowsan, Marauder was doing a few spin kicks, but Shadowsan learned from their previous encounter and was admittedly the better fighter between the two of them. He grabbed her by the ankle as she went for a kick and he threw her over his shoulder and across the room, right by Dash who was getting slightly worried that their best operative was getting her butt handed to her.

"Uh Marauder, not that I don't have any faith in you...but could you start you know, maybe doing better?"

"I'm working on it!" Marauder sneered. She made a roll for Shadowsan and threw some combinations at his face.

Cut to Carmen. She wall crawled through the hallway and turned a corner. Near the steps to the third floor was Le Chevre, again, seemingly oblivious. Carmen turned a corner and sprinted towards him, and before Le Chevre could react, she drop kicked him into the wall, and he fell to the floor, disoriented.

"Guess you're one of those fainting goats, huh?" Carmen coyly and sarcastically asked before jumping to the stairs, running up to her captive lackeys.

Next cut to Shadowsan who we see pin Marauder against the nearest wall. She was running low on options and couldn't kick Shadowsan away. With little recourse she leaned her head back and flung it forward, butting right into Shadowsan's face.

"Gah!" it was enough for him to release her.

She made a grab at his Bo staff, but Shadowsan pulled her in, and getting his revenge by headbutting Marauder he again lunged by ended up knocking them both over and Marauder was able to kick him over her body when she hit the ground. He recovered and gave her a neck chop when she lunged again, once again worrying Dash as Shadowsan was seemingly unscathed despite everything.

"Still not reassuring" Dash groaned.

Next over to Carmen, she found her way to the third floor. She spotted double doors at the end of the hallway, but who should come out of the woodwork? Why, none other than Paper Star who launched two origami shuriken at Carmen. She did a Matrix dodge and limbo-ed her way underneath them.

She rose to face her psychotic opponent. "What's the matter? No Marauder to break you out of a jam?"

"I don't need her to break me out of anything!"

Paper Star lunged, throwing more stars every time she would make a lunge and kick at Carmen. But the lady in red dodged most of her blows and tried to predict when she would try and throw another star.

As she was about to, Carmen threw out her hand, and grabbed Paper Star's wrist, throwing and slamming her against the wall. She fell on her back. "You might want to reconsider that" Carmen quipped.

She continued on, passing the room Paper Star emerged from. She peered in and to her surprise, it was a stolen bag of paintings. The very same ones V.I.L.E. was pilfering from the Louvre. What luck!

"Perfect!" Carmen went to grab the sacks of "priceless" art, and went to drag them down the hall.

And over to Shadowsan. He neck chopped Marauder to the ground and fell on top of her, pinning her to the floor. She tried to swipe at him. She broke free but Shadowsan tried to knock her in the face.

Marauder tried to push his face and neck away. Shadowsan responded by making another swipe, this time knocking her mask right off. Julia gasped and tried to turn her head as Shadowsan broke free of her hand to his face and got an incriminating look.

"It's you!" he gasped. "Argent!?"

"You peeked" Julia deadpanned. She kneed Shadowsan hard in the chest and socked him in the face, rolling off of him!"

"Ah!" he screamed.

He rolled to the floor and Julia rose to her feet, towering over him. "You'll soon see what V.I.L.E. does to traitors."

"The only traitor around here is you!" Shadowsan coughed.

"Nope. Still only you" Julia kicked him in the face one last time, knocking him out. She turned to Dash. "Satisfied?" she went to pick up her mask.

"All those weapons, you could've easily sliced him to smithereens."

Julia stammered. "In close quarters? I could've hit you. Last time I checked you wanted to leave here, alive. Now, we have to move!" Julia, now Marauder insisted, using a kukri blade to cut the ropes binding the wounded Dash. The two looked down at the knocked out Shadowsan.

"Oh the mighty Shadowsan. Not bad" Dash smirked.

"He's not so tough. Just like the soon-to-be-late Carmen Sandiego" Marauder smirked sheathing her blade. "Help me with him, the Cleaners will pick us up from the roof" they each grabbed a limb and pulled Shadowsan up the stairs towards the roof, as the song faded.

Back to Carmen. The double doors flung open, and Carmen dragged the paintings into the room, where she was delighted to see Zack and Ivy, still bound to the chairs, but now gagged. Camren ran over them.

"Zack! Ivy!"

Carmen dragged the paintings over and undid their gags. We then fade to a computer screen, a camera watching them. On the other side of this camera was The Troll, ready to set their gaslight plan in motion.

"And here...we...go!" The troll snickered while typing away at his keyboard.

Back in the room, Carmen untied the twins' gags. "I am so glad I found you guys."

"Yeah, thanks for breaking us out of a jam, Carm. Again!" Zack snarled with obvious sarcasm.

"Why so snippy?" Carmen asked.

Suddenly, they heard loud sirens that felt like they were right outside the apartment, in reality, Le Chevre's surround sound system that The Troll tapped into. A man with a French accent on a bullhorn yelled. "THIS IS PARIS METRO POLICE! YOU ARE SURROUNDED! SURRENDER PEACEFULLY OR WE WILL USE FORCE!"

Carmen gasped and tried to frantically untie Zack and Ivy who were very tied up, and with reinforced nylon ropes so they were hard to cut. The undaunted twins still wanted answers about Carmen's Boston caper she kept them out of.

"So anyway, Carmen, what's uh, what's this I hear you went to our old stomping grounds? Say, last weekend perhaps?" Ivy asked.

"What?" A stunned Carmen asked. "What are you talking about?"

"Le Chevre! He told me everything! Last week the day of the Smithsonian you send us out to eat so you can go out to Boston without us!?" Ivy boomed.

"Not to mention to pay our debt to Shark Head Eddie! Which we intended on paying him back!" Zack added.

"YOU HAVE 30 SECONDS!" the bullhorn called.

"I-I did no such thing—and who are you gonna believe? V.I.L.E., or me—"

"Come off it, Carm!" Zack bellowed.

"Player told us everything" Ivy scorned.

Carmen hung her head. Crud, her own reliable hacker squealed on her. But Carmen had no time, she tried to untie them both. "In the first place, you're welcome! Second place: do you two have any idea the interest you racked up? I had to do some fancy footwork just to convince Eddie to settle your debt."

"Oh riiiiiiight, cause we can't take care of it ourselves? You treat us like were idiots! Amateurs!"

'It's not that, Ivy! I wanted to help you guys out!"

"You're always helping us out! We wanted to be adults and do this for ourselves!" she continued.

"I just wanted to do something nice for you both!"

"Why this? Why now?" Zack asked.

"This really isn't the time, Zack. We can talk about this later!"

Suddenly, they heard the sound of the front door being kicked open and boots were stomping just two floors below them. Carmen couldn't get them untied, it was no use. She leaped in front of them.

"Look, we can talk about this later! I can't untie you guys."

"What!?" Both twins boomed.

"But Carm!"

"Look, it'll be better if the police get to you both. They can't even hold you two because you're hostages."

"But what about A.C.M.E.?" Zack asked. "If word gets to them, we're toast!"

"Trust me! I will get you both out! It'll be fine. You just have to trust me."

"Carmen, you're-you're gonna let us take our chances with them?" Ivy asked.

"They won't even arrest you, I'll be just a block over and I can—" Carmen backed up and tripped over the sack of paintings and some spilled out. One frame was on its back and Carmen then saw a sticker, selling this "painting" for fifteen Euro. "Erg! Bait and switch!" she sighed.

"Carm!"

"Carmen! Are you even listening to me!?" Ivy sneered, tears in her eyes.

"I promise I will—"

The doors then flung open and two smoke grenades were tossed in. "Smoke!" Carmen yelled as the grenades exploded. She assumed this would be followed by the gendarmerie. She ran for the doors and made a few front flips assuming she would be leaping over multiple bodies.

When she landed in the hallway, the smoke cleared, and there was nobody there.

"Hey? What was—"

Carmen then got smacked towards the stairwell, it was Paper Star, smirking wickedly. Carmen fell on her back down a few steps and slowly crawled back down towards the landing while Paper Star stood at the top of the steps.

Outside the flat, the V.I.L.E. chopper flew above, and a rope came down, and sliding down it was Marauder, back to finish what she started. The rope slid down next to a window and She crashed through it, staring at the smoke filled room which was clearing. She smirked seeing the twins in defeated anguish, stunned that Carmen was going to leave them.

"Hmm, it looks like your boss really doesn't value you both, now does she?" Marauder taunted them. "Can't say I did not warn you" she turned her head to the doors and saw Paper Star with her back to the door at the top of the stairs. Marauder smirked. She turned to the shocked Zack and Ivy.

"I'll be right with you both" she said going into the hall. "This is long overdue."

From Carmen's point of view, she could see Paper Star reach for another shuriken. Carmen had her hand in her coat pocket, hand gripping the pistol. "And now to stain these lovely walls with your blooooooooo!"

Paper Star couldn't finish as she was pushed off balance and down the stairs. Carmen moved out of the way as Paper Star hit every stair on the way down to the landing, hitting her head against the hard wall.

Carmen got a good look at her, then looked at the top of the stairs and got wide-eyed as Marauder was now standing there. "Let's face it, nobody really liked her anyway. Just like you, Carmen Sandiego!"

Marauder aimed her wrist laser but Carmen ducked back down the stairs just in time. She could hear Marauder run after her and try to fire down the stairwell, getting some very close shots. Carmen sprinted to the first floor and out the front door. She drew her gun and ran through the streets into an alleyway with Marauder close behind.

Carmen hid behind a dumpster, now clutching the pistol close to her. She could hear Marauder's footsteps. Carmen wanted to fire! She wanted to, but she had a million and one things flowing through her head, and in this frame of mind who knows what she could do? It was one thing when her mind was playing tricks on her, but this was something else. Tears dripped from her eyes. Carmen's blood boiling.

"Don't worry about your crew, Carmen!" Marauder called. "We'll take great care of Zack, Ivy, and Shadowsan...just like we'll take care of you."

Murder was in Carmen's eyes. She looked down and to her right. The sewer, a way out. Carmen dropped to her knees and forced the cover open, darting down inside just as Marauder tried to surprise Carmen. She jumped down too.

Inside Paris's famous sewer, Carmen sprinted down the tube. Getting some distance she looked back, and saw a shadow being cast at the entrance. Carmen turned to face Marauder, who was completely dark the way the light was shining on her.

Carmen narrowed her eyes, her left one twitching. After some deep breaths, Carmen paused. Here was the perfect person to take her anger out on. "GAH!" She aimed the gun and followed all the remaining rounds, finally stopping after the gun clicked the action forced back. Carmen looked, her shaky aim caused her to miss every shot.

Marauder then aimed the laser and barely missed Carmen, shooting a hole through the side of her coat. Carmen then took off down the sewer. Marauder remained in the light and shouted. "You have no idea what you've just unleashed! Your days are numbered! Do you hear me!? But we'll meet again! Mark my words! Sooner than you think! Au revoir, Carmen Sandiego! Au revoir!" Marauder called She walked back into the light and moved her mask up. Julia leaned against the wall, we see tears forming but she takes a deep breath and composes herself before she climbed back up the ladder.

From another sewer cover, Carmen crawled out, right by the Seine. She fell against the wall of the nearest building to catch her breath. She held the pistol in her hand, and sobbed uncontrollably.

SEATTLE WASHINGTON 1943 HOURS

A despondent Chase returned with his crew to A.C.M.E. Not a word was exchanged between him and Anthony, with Chase stonewalling every attempt Anthony made to try and talk with him.

He sat back at his desk, feeling more hopeless than ever. Now everyone thought of him as a laughing stock. A joke. He wanted to believe this Vivian Hanna was Marauder and all the circumstantial evidence pointed to her. Yet, Chase didn't know for sure, and it was killing him.

He was in pain, and felt like a colossal failure. He ran his hands on his face and looked at his semi-broken keyboard.

In another fit of rage and frustration he shoved everything off his desk. He sat back down, and looked at his reflection in the black mirror that was his blank computer screen on the floor. This wasn't him. And as far as Chase was concerned, it was obvious he was doing more harm than good to A.C.M.E. Everyone was right, from Marauder, to Chief, to Julia, to Hanna—anyone, he was pathetic, and a lousy secret agent. It all added up to him. The enemy did in fact control him...and largely, the enemy was within himself. With a heavy sigh he got out a piece of paper and picked up a pencil, and started a memo.

We cut to Chase slowly walking towards Chief's office. He passed Connors. "Special Agent Devineaux! We just got word the IRS is in the first stages of auditing the charities Carmen Sandiego gave the V.I.L.E. money to."

Chase forced a fake smile. "That's...good. But I want you and everyone to run through Agent Falco from now on, I'm putting him in charge of the operation" he explained patting a confused Connors on his back before walking to Chief's closed office door. She had a mailbox outside so people could send her in written complaints and such. Chase held up his letter, the words we see: MY RESIGNATION. Chase sighed and opened the mailbox, dropping the letter in he closed the box but kept his hand on the lever. He released, shoving his hands in his pockets, he slowly walked out of A.C.M.E. seemingly for the last time.

BATTLE CREEK MICHIGAN 1234 HOURS

We go back in time as the V.I.L.E. crew was returning from their successful outing in Paris. Le Chevre wheeled out a badly injured and comatose Paper Star from the plane while El Topo moved a still knocked out Shadowsan. Dash, still wounded hobbled out as well, while other agents handled Zack and Ivy. Marauder stood on the plane holding bags of the real paintings, she smirked at the twins as they were forced past her.

We cut to inside Tigress's room, where she was in some casual clothes, fixing her makeup. She glanced down at Chief's housekeys she laid on her dresser, thinking about the proposition. She heard a knock at her door and frantically stashed the keys.

"Uh, just a minute!" she stowed them just in time as a triumphant Julia entered, now out of her uniform and freshly showered.

"My darling" she said seductively, holding out a stolen Rembrandt. "This is for you."

"Hey, thanks. How was Paris?" she asked, giving Julia a kiss.

"Marvelous! Everything went perfectly!"

"Oh, did you...finish her?"

"I came this close" Julia sneered. "But it's no matter, we have the perfect bait to lure Carmen Sandiego into one final trap. Our next caper is the Broad in Los Angeles. They're doing an expose on recovered ancient Greek statues. She won't be able to resist."

Tigress sighed of relief. "So, she's still alive?"

"For now. But we are more alive than ever. Shall we nap? Or perhaps something a bit more romantic in nature, hmm?" Julia said enticing Tigress to come over to the bed with her.

Tigress gave a nervous smile and hopped into bed after Julia, and the two laid in each other's arms. "Soon, we'll get what we always wanted, Sheena...the end of Carmen Sandiego."

"Looking forward to it" Tigress said nervously. Somebody to Love by Jefferson Airplane started to play in the background as Tigress looked longingly at the ceiling while Julia too had on a brave face, she too was quite nervous. But the two looked at one another and feigned some happiness; they had each other, yet were now suddenly keeping secrets hidden. The song continued to play as the credits roll.