The Anti Thieving Duo

"Hello" - (Normal talking)

"What happened?" - (Thoughts)

"What do I do?" - (Flashback)

{"Hey, can you hear me?"} - (Communication)

":Now arriving at your destination:" - (Another Language)

"\Prepare for departure\" - (Radio and speakers)

Hope that you all enjoy this chapter.

Chapter 24 - The Big Bad Ivy Caper

(VILE Castle)

The weather was nice outside, while Gunnar, Brunt and Cleo were sitting in their seats at the high table, as they looked at the large screen, which had a video image of Saira on it.

{"Esteemed colleagues, I am thrilled to announce that I have solved our problem"} Dr Bellum said with a wide grin, as she adjusted her goggles.

"You went and found spare parts to repair our brain wipe doohickey?" Coach Brunt asked with a smile, with her arms crossed as she leaned on the table.

{"Our ongoing problem"} Bellum said.

"You captured Naruto Uzumaki and Carmen Sandiego?" Professor Maelstrom asked with a cocked eyebrow.

{"Our separate but related other ongoing problem"} Dr Bellum said with a frown, as she waved her hand in the air.

"And that is?" Countess asked curiously.

{"The all too frequent failures of our highly trained operatives, which I can only attribute to….human error"} Saira said, as she crossed her arms with a scowl.

"Not again" Maelstrom said with a groan, as he face palmed.

"We should never allow Saira to visit her Himalayan Laboratory without adult supervision. She simply has too many toys there" Countess Cleo said, as she rested her elbows on the table, her chin placed on her interlocked fingers.

{"If we remove human error from the equation, our success rate would skyrocket, and I would no longer be tasked with wiping memories of VILE from our former students"} Bellum said, as she crossed her arms with a huff.

"So what, you're gonna train monkeys to steal for us?" Brunt asked with a raised eyebrow.

This caused Dr Bellum to laugh for a few moments, before she stopped, when she saw the blank looks the others were giving her. {"It is quite funny if you picture it. But do not be absurd, Coach Brunt. Programming will eliminate any need for training, with….the ultimate VILE operative"} she said, as she backed away to something covered by a white cloth, which she pulled off, showing a green robot, while she grabbed a remote control and pressed a button on it, causing the robot to power up, as green lights appeared where its eyes were.

{"My Robo-Robber is programmed to steal, with hands of steel"} Saira said with a wide smirk, while Coach Brunt had a look of disinterest, Professor Maelstrom looked impressed and Countess Cleo looked intrigued.

The robot looked at the remote control in Dr Bellum's hand and grabbed it, before it turned and walked off screen.

{"No, no, no"} Bellum said, as she chased after the robot, with metal clanking and glass shattering off screen, before the robot reappeared, carrying a few things in its arms, as it walked at the back of the lab, heading for a device in the corner of the lab.

{"Oh, no. You don't want to do…."} Saira was saying in a worried voice, before she was cutoff, as the robot grabbed part of the machine and squeezed it….

KABOOM!

Which caused the machine to explode and made the other Faculty members slightly flinch from the explosion.

As the smoke cleared, Dr Bellum was seen coughing into her hand while waving her other hand about, as the robot fell to pieces, while the machine it had grabbed was completely destroyed.

{"...that"} Bellum said, before she coughed some more into her hand. {"A minor hiccup. Will circle back"} Saira said to her fellow Faculty members, as she walked towards the camera in her lab while waving any smoke away, before she turned the camera off.

"Hiccup? Heh, more like a belch" Brunt said with a smirk.

"Perhaps we should focus our attention on the rather large sum of stolen gold bullion currently languishing in Bavaria" Maelstrom said with a cocked eyebrow, as he looked at Countess.

"My operative has already been dispatched, Gunnar. In fact, we cooked up a rather delicious plan to smuggle it out of the country" Cleo said with a smirk.

0o0o0o0

(With Naruto)

{"Guys, I have intel that VILE's planning a meet and greet with someone who calls herself Madame Goldlove"} Player said into Naruto and Carmen's earpieces, as they were each punching a punching bag.

"There's a name," Carmen said with a grin, as she threw a few punches at the bag, followed up with a kick.

"You think they might be meeting to discuss, oh, I don't know? The gold that vanished from that German bank a few weeks back?" Naruto asked with his own grin, as he threw some punches at his own punching bag, before he walked around it and then sent a side kick at it.

"Bingo. The meets happening in the German state of Bavaria. Exactly 24 hours from now during first….period" Player said with a smile, which soon changed to a frown, as he looked at a piece of paper next to his computer.

"First period?" Naruto and Carmen asked together in confusion, as they punched the bags a few times.

"There's….something that I need to tell you guys. My mum and dad decided that I spend way too much time alone in my room, which means goodbye, home school, and hello, public school" Player said with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto and Carmen stopped punching their bags at this. "That….may take some getting used to" Carmen said, as they leaned against the wall with slight frowns on their faces.

"Or not. Phone, laptop, tablet. I plan on staying connected" Player said with a grin, as he placed the electronic devices into his backpack, along with his school schedule.

"We appreciate that, Player, but really, school comes first," Naruto said, as he and Carmen each placed a towel around their necks, before they each grabbed a water bottle.

"Agreed" Carmen said with a nod, as they took a drink from the water bottles.

{"Says the drop-outs"} Player said with an audible smirk.

"Hey, crime school doesn't count, and you know that we're all about education," Naruto said with a grin, as he and Carmen pushed off from the wall and walked off.

"Ha!" Player said with a snicker, as he put his backpack on his back. "Well, I can't be late on my first day. I'll book your flight from the school bus" he said, before he shut his computer systems down, a look of sadness on his face as he did, before he got up from his desk and left his room, closing the door behind him.

0o0o0o0

(With the others)

Zack was imitating the noise of a plane, as he moved a spoon of food about in the air. "Coming in for a landing. Open wide!" he said with a grin, as he put the spoon in front of Shadowsan's mouth.

Shadowsan gave a grunt at this, while giving Zack a flat look, before he looked down at Ivy, who was holding a painter's palette in her hand, while squeezing some paint on it. "That's a lot of paint for one small drawing," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"I decided that you have enough space here for one big drawing," Ivy said, as she looked at Shadowsan with a wide smile.

Before anyone else could say anything, they heard the elevator ding as the large doors opened, as Naruto and Carmen walked into the room, wiping their foreheads with their towels.

"Zack, Ivy. We're off to Bavaria" Carmen said with a smile.

"Oh, the land of the giant pretzels and those short pants with suspenders!" Zack said with a wide grin.

"Lederhosen," Ivy said with a smile and a raised eyebrow.

"But, yo-de-lay-he-who'll take care of Shadowsan?" Zack asked curiously, as he pointed a thumb at the wheelchair bound man.

Shadowsan gave Naruto and Carmen a flat look, as he shook his head slightly.

"I could stay here and look after him," Naruto said with a small shrug.

"Noted. Ivy, girls trip" Carmen said with a grin, as they walked over.

"Whoo-hoo!" Ivy yelled out, as she jumped to her feet with her arms raised in the air.

"Boys night! Oh, yeah!" Zack said in excitement, as he gave Shadowsan a one armed hug, who grunted in disapproval at this with narrowed eyes.

"Anything that we should know about a certain Madame Goldlove?" Naruto asked curiously.

Shadowsan looked at Zack with a frown, which caused him to back away with a nervous smile. "Few have ever met her. But her passion for bullion is rumoured to be exceeded only by her notoriously cruel and vicious nature" Shadowsan said.

Ivy gulped nervously at this. "Girls trip. Whoo-hoo" she said with a scared look, as she half heartedly pumped her fist.

"Don't worry Ivy, we'll be fine" Carmen said reassuringly, as she walked over and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"I can still come with you two to help out, if you want," Naruto said.

"Thanks babe, but I'm sure that we can manage. Plus, I'm sure that Shadowsan would appreciate having you around to keep him company" Carmen said, as she patted him on the cheek with a smile.

"Yea, not to mention stop Zack from annoying him" Ivy said with a whisper, as she nodded at this, before they left the room to go get ready.

0o0o0o0

(?)

"Hello? I thought that you were going to release me?" Gray called out from the room where ACME had left him, as he looked around.

Before he could say anything else, he heard a noise, which caused him to look over at the door, which slid open, as Chase entered the room, before the door slid closed behind him.

"You have no idea how happy I am to see you again," Devineaux said with a wide grin, as he walked over to the table, where he leaned over it to look at Gray.

"Sorry, mate. I don't believe that we've met" Gray said, as he looked at Chase in confusion.

"Of course, I was conscious at the time. You were not" Devineaux said, as he walked around the table to stand in front of Gray, while he took his glasses off and placed them in his shirt top pocket, before he leaned in close to Gray. "Do you care to tell me what you were doing on the train from Poitiers to Paris 18 months ago, Monsieur Calloway?"

"You have the wrong guy. I've never even been to Paris or France" Gray said with a frown, as Chase stood up straight.

"And yet I saw you there with my own two eyes. Unless you happen to have a twin?" Devineaux asked, as he leaned in towards Gray again, with narrowed eyes.

"Not that I know of. I'm an orphan. But I was in Sydney at the time, hospital stay" Gray said with a raised eyebrow, as Chase walked behind him.

"Having a wart removed from your tissue of lies?" Devineaux yelled out, as he turned around and pointed at Gray with a hard look.

"I got electrocuted on the job. Zap! It really laid me low. There's a pretty big chunk of my life that I don't have any memory of" Gray said with a frown, as he rubbed the back of his neck.

Chase raised an eyebrow at this, a perplexed look on his face.

0o0o0o0

(With Carmen)

Carmen and Ivy were onboard the private jet plane they used to get from place to place, heading towards Bavaria.

"Since Player's occupied, I'll do the honours" Ivy said with a smile, Carmen's laptop on her knees. "We're heading to….the largest state in Germany, Bavaria."

"The Alps run through the region. They're a mountain range that extends through Central Europe" Carmen said.

"Woah! That's one wicked sweet storybook palace!" Ivy exclaimed, as she saw a picture of what looked like a castle on the screen.

"That's Neuschwanstein Castle. It was commissioned in 1868 by King Ludwig the Second of Bavaria. You can see why he was sometimes called 'The Fairy Tale King' by some people" Carmen said.

"Oh, Bavaria's famous for its Oktoberfest. An annual festival that lasts more than two weeks" Ivy said with a grin.

"It began in 1810, to celebrate the marriage of Crown Prince Ludwig, who went on to become the first King Ludwig of Bavaria" Carmen said.

"Zack would have a field day with all that food," Ivy said.

"Bavarian cuisine has plenty to offer, such as weisswurst, or white sausages. The pretzels, as Zack mentioned, and even…." Carmen was saying, before being cut off.

"Chocolate? Hm, my one true weakness" Ivy said with a smile.

Carmen smiled at this, as they played a few games and slept for a bit, before they landed at Bavaria.

Once they'd gone through customs, they headed for a hotel to drop off their luggage, before they got dressed in winter clothing and headed for where VILE would do the meet and greet, with Ivy on the street and Carmen on the rooftop, keeping an eye out.

"I sure wish that I was nursing a toasty mug of hot chocolate right now. It's freezing out here!" Ivy said with a scowl, as she rubbed her arms.

"It's nearly showtime, Ivy. If VILE's meeting a potential buyer for the stolen gold, this may be our only shot at letting them lead us to the loot" Carmen said, as she used her binoculars to look around the town square.

"Copy that, Carm" Ivy said with a nod into the earpiece, before a look of annoyance appeared on her face. "Just wish that my earbud would stay put" she said, as she used her fingers to pull the earpiece out to look at it, only for her eyes to widen upon seeing the letter Z on it. "Ew, gross! It's Zack's!" Ivy yelled, before she gagged while holding it as far away from her as possible.

0o0o0o0

(Back at the teams headquarters)

"I hope that you enjoyed your brunch of bacon and gummi grub worms with extra bacon, Sensei. Now, I am ready for my training" Zack said with a grin, as he put the dirty dishes to the side, before he looked at Shadowsan, while doing a ninja hand sign with a smirk.

Shadowsan ignored him, as he laid on the couch, reading a magazine.

"Zack, you know that doesn't sound like a healthy brunch to eat. And you need to clean the pots" Naruto said, while doing some stretches off to the side.

"I know, I know. I'll do 'em later. Plus, I thought that Shadowsan would like to have some junk food for brunch to go with his bacon" Zack said, as he looked thoughtful for a moment, before he snapped his fingers and ran off, where he began pulling the other couch over, so that it was next to the one Shadowsan was on.

"Or, we can watch Rogue Vendetta 8: Rideshare Nightmare?" Zack asked with a grin, as he hopped over the back of the couch to sit on it.

Shadowsan gave Zack a raised eyebrow at this.

Zack gasped in shock at this. "You haven't seen one through seven? We can binge!" he yelled out excitedly, as he pumped his arms in the air.

Shadowsan gave a growl of annoyance at this, as he held his magazine tightly.

Naruto gave a sigh at this, as he stopped doing his stretches and walked over, so that he can suffer with Shadowsan.

0o0o0o0

(?)

Gray was still sitting in the ACME room, with a hologram of Chief and an ACME agent, who was holding a tablet in his hands, now in the room with him and Devineaux.

"From your hospital stay" Chase said, as he placed an open folder on the table, before he slid it across to Gray.

{"We have records of your release…."} Chief said with a hard tone.

"And yet, no records of your admittance" Devineaux said, as he finished off the sentence, while leaning on the table. "So tell me, how does one leave a hospital without first entering it? Unless of course you were born there."

{"Furthermore, the nursing staff has no recollection of you. So you were either suffering from a rare form of contagious amnesia…."} Chief said with a cocked eyebrow.

"Or your discharge papers were doctored, just as your release from Interpol Paris seems to have been" Chase said with narrowed eyes.

"Which I also have zero recollection of" Gray said, as he looked down at this.

Chief had a raised eyebrow at this, before a scowl appeared on her face. {"You are a walking enigma, Calloway. Do you remember anything from your supposed hospital stay?"} she asked him.

"It's all a blank. But no one wants to piece together that missing period of my life more than me" Gray said with a determined look on his face.

Chief and Devineaux looked at the ACME agent holding the tablet, who was looking at it for a moment, before he raised his head and nodded at them. "He's telling the truth," he said.

Chief looked off to the side at this, as she gave a sigh, a look of concern on her face. {"We may be able to help, but the means that I'm considering is highly experimental"} she said.

Gray looked at all three of them curiously. "It won't hurt, will it?" he asked worriedly.

0o0o0o0

(Back in Bavaria)

"My ears are in need of some serious disinfecting" Ivy said with a scowl, as she had her finger in her ear, as she moved it up and down, making sure that the earpiece stayed in. She then looked around and gasped in shock, as she saw a familiar VILE operative walking around.

"Dash Haber" Ivy said, before she gulped when Dash looked her way, with a raised eyebrow. "And he has excellent hearing" she added with a nervous smile, as Dash walked over to her.

"The crow flies at midnight," Dash said, as he looked to the sides, seeing if anyone else was about to hear.

"That's a secret passphrase. He thinks that your Goldlove" Carmen said, as she looked down at them with her binoculars. "He's waiting to hear the reply phrase."

"Mm-hm" Ivy said, with a slight nod at this.

"Mm-hm?" Dash repeated with a cocked eyebrow.

"Uh" Ivy said, not sure what else to say.

"I thought that you were someone else" Dash said with a frown, before he walked past her.

"He's obviously never met her before, so play along. And remember, be cruel and vicious" Carmen said, as she looked at Ivy through her binoculars.

Ivy looked unsure for a moment, before she did the meanest look that she could manage.

Dash was walking away, before he felt a hand on his shoulder, which caused him to turn around to face Ivy, a look of surprise on his face.

"Oh, you have the right someone. I was too stunned by the sight of your face to respond" Ivy said with a scowl, in the most violent and vicious manner that she could manage, while in her best German accent.

"My….face?" Dash asked in confusion, with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, your silly face. And the silly sounds that came spitting out of it" Ivy said, as she spat out some spit, only for it to stay attached to her mouth, before she slurped it back into her mouth.

Dash had a look of bewilderment on his face at this, before he backed up, as Ivy advanced on him with a glare, a scared look on his face. "Have you never heard the saying 'Say it, don't spray it' hm?" she asked with a hard firm tone.

"I….I was only trying to clearly enunciate the code words, ma'am" Dash said, trying to calm her down.

Ivy then grabbed the collar of Dash's coat and pulled him down, to look him in the eyes, as Dash had a look of worry appear on his face. "If you think that I would lower myself to play your even sillier word games, perhaps you should picture yourself as my personal chew toy" she said with narrowed eyes, before she growled and barked at him like a dog.

On the rooftop, Carmen watched this through her binoculars. "Wow. You may want to dial it back" she said with a smile, as she put her binoculars down, before she noticed something on the streets that caused her to look through them again with a frown, as she saw a man dressed as a butler/driver and a woman who wore a fancy business suit. "Oh, boy" Carmen said in concern, realising that was most likely the real Madame Goldlove, with the man most like her bodyguard. She quickly saw which way they were going, before she got off the rooftop and ran to stop them from meeting Dash.

Back with Ivy, she'd shoved Dash back while letting go of his coat collar, as he put his hands up, to calm her down.

"Look, I'm just following orders. I need to hear the correct reply, or the deals off. Auf Wiedersehen, madame" Dash said with a frown, as he fixed his coat before he turned around and walked off.

Ivy looked worried at this, as she wasn't sure what to do.

Meanwhile, the man and woman that Carmen had spotted earlier were walking down the street, heading towards where Ivy and Dash were.

"Hugo, we are looking for someone named…." Madame Goldlove was saying, before she was cut off, as they were walking past another street.

"The crow flies at midnight," Carmen said, as she stood next to the building, causing them both to look down the street at her, as she wore glasses over her eyes.

Madame Goldlove and Hugo both looked at each other for a moment with raised eyebrows, before looking back at her. "But can the crow carry a tune?" Madame Goldlove asked.

"Hmm. 'But can the crow carry a tune?' That is the correct response" Carmen said into her earcomm with a small smile.

Ivy raised an eyebrow at this for a moment, before she realised that was the reply phrase, as she narrowed her eyes, as she walked off.

Dash was looking at his watch, before Ivy appeared next to him, causing him to look surprised. "But can the crow carry a tune?" Ivy asked Dash with a scowl.

This caused Dash to smile at this.

"Are you happy now, biggest of babies?" Ivy asked with her arms crossed, while glaring at him.

"Ecstatic. Now follow me, if you like gold" Dash said, as he walked off.

"Like it? I love it. I love gold" Ivy said with a nervous smile, as she followed Dash.

Back with Carmen, she was talking with the real Goldlove.

"And you would be?" Goldlove asked curiously, as she and her bodyguard walked towards Carmen.

"Dash Haber," Carmen said.

"I was expecting a male operative," Hugo said with a slight frown.

Madame Goldlove held out her hand, causing Hugo to stop walking, before she grabbed his chin and made him look at her. "She knew the reply phrase. Do not make me tear the nose hairs from your face. With my teeth!" she said with a scowl.

Carmen had a look of shock appear on her face, before she quickly schooled her features, so that they didn't notice. "We have intel that Carmen Sandiego may be in the area, so there has been a slight change of plans. We have no clue if Naruto Uzumaki is with her or not" she said.

"I have heard of this Carmen Sandiego and her partner Naruto Uzumaki. If either of them were bold enough to interfere with me, I would crack them both like little red and yellow pistachios" Madame Goldlove growled out with narrowed eyes.

"Another operative is waiting to meet you at Neuschwanstein Castle" Carmen said.

"Does VILE not realise that it is a tourist trap?" Madame Goldlove asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Do you not realise that VILE prefers hiding in plain sight?" Carmen asked with her own raised eyebrow.

Madame Goldlove narrowed her eyes at this, before she walked past Carmen. "Come, Hugo. To Neuschwanstein Castle" she said, as Hugo followed after her, while looking at Carmen from the corner of his eye, as he walked past her.

Carmen turned around as she watched them leave, where she gave a small sigh of relief, before she ran off, hoping to catch up to Ivy and Dash, so that she could be led to where the gold is.

Meanwhile, Ivy was following Dash, before she put her finger in her ear, to try and keep the earpiece in her ear. But as she pulled her finger out of her ear, the earcomm also came out, which caused her to juggle it, as she tried to catch it, before it fell on the ground with Dash stepping on it, crushing it.

"No!" Ivy said with a worried look.

"What is it?" Dash asked, as he looked over his shoulder at her.

Ivy knew she had to say something quickly, to avoid suspicion. "It is….your hat. The sight of which offends my cruel and vicious sensibilities. Especially from this angle" she said, with one of her eyes closed.

Dash had an offensive look on his face at this, as he adjusted his hat with a frown and a pout, before he turned and walked off.

Ivy leaned down and picked up the comm and put it back in her ear, which caused it to hiss and making Ivy grunt slightly in pain, before she continued to follow Dash.

Eventually they reached a road, just as a limo pulled up.

"After you, madame," Dash said with a cocked eyebrow, as he opened the door. Ivy climbed into the limo, with Dash behind her, before he closed the door as the limo drove off, with Carmen arriving just to see it driving off.

"Ivy, can you hear me?" Carmen asked, as she placed her finger on her earcomm while taking off her glasses, only to winch slightly, as it wheezed. "Sorry to bug you on your first day of school, Player" she said, as she pulled out her phone and pressed his number.

0o0o0o0

(At a Canadian High School)

Player was in a classroom, standing at the front of the class in front of the other students, with the teacher standing next to him. This was Mr Humphrey.

"Everyone, please welcome our new student," Mr Humphrey said to the class, before he looked at Player. "Go ahead and introduce yourself."

"Uh, hi. I'm new here. My friends call me Player" Player said with a nervous smile, as he waved at the class.

"Your real name, not your gamertag" Mr Humphrey said with a cocked eyebrow.

Player looked down in embarrassment at this. "Oh, right, sorry. Hey everyone, I'm -" he was saying, before the phone in his pants pocket rang, causing him to look startled and worried

"Personal devices must be turned off in the classroom" Mr Humphrey said with a firm look and tone.

"Sorry, Mr Humphrey. I'll just -" Player said, as he took out his phone and hung up, which caused the one in his backpack to buzz and flash a light up.

Mr Humphrey raised an eyebrow at this.

"I'll go ahead and turn that off too" Player said with a small grin, as he took his backpack off and unzipped it.

Before he could, his watch flashed with an alarm going off, showing Carmen's hat icon on the screen, as Mr Humphrey crossed his arms at this a stern look on his face, as all of his gadgets rang with alarms going off, causing Player to have a look of concern.

"Um, maybe I should go and put all of this in my locker" Player said, as he held his backpack to his chest.

Mr Humphrey nodded slightly at this with a frown on his face, as Player walked towards the classroom door, as he opened and closed it.

Once he'd closed the door, Player quickly walked towards his locker and opened it, before he pulled out his laptop and placed it inside, as he opened it up. "What's up, Red?" he asked, as he typed on the keyboard, with the screen showing a video call of Carmen and a map of Bavaria.

{"I lost contact with Ivy. Any chance you can trace her commlink?"} Carmen asked with a look of worry on her face.

"I'm on it. But staying connected here at school might be harder than I thought" Player said, as he looked at his backpack, which was filled with his tech.

0o0o0o0

(With Zack)

Zack, Naruto and Shadowsan watched as the movie finished, with Shadowsan laid on his couch, a blanket over him and a pillow under his head, while Zack and Naruto were sitting on the other couch, with their own blankets, while some junk food and fizzy drinks were on the table.

"What was your guy's favourite part?" Zack asked Naruto and Shadowsan, as he turned off the TV.

"The end" Naruto and Shadowsan both said together in flat tones, frowns on their faces.

Zack gasped at this, a smile on his face. "Me too! I totally didn't see that twist coming" he said, as he put the remote down.

Naruto simply shook his head at this, as he wondered if staying behind was such a good idea after all.

"Okay, now it's time to order some pizza, then the ultimate showdown begins!" Zack said with a grin, as he held up some game controllers.

Shadowsan and Naruto both groaned in annoyance at this, before Shadowsan looked thoughtful. "If it is a showdown that you seek, perhaps you would benefit from some proper training" he said, as he sat up.

Zack gasped at this, as he dropped the controllers on the ground. "You mean….ninja training?" he asked with wide eyes.

Shadowsan nodded at this with a slight smile.

"Then show me the way, sensei," Zack said with a grin.

Shadowsan threw the blanket off and moved down to the other end of the couch where his wheelchair was, before he lifted himself onto it and grabbed his magazine, as he wheeled himself into where his room was, with Zack eagerly following him.

Naruto had a grin on his face, as he wondered what Shadowsan was going to have Zack do first.

After entering the room, Shadowsan had Zack place a mat on the floor by the door before telling him to sit on it with his legs crossed, as he moved to the other side of the room, while Naruto sat at a small table off to the side, drinking a cup of tea.

"Now, the first skill that a ninja must master….is stealth" Shadowsan said.

"My body is a vessel, waiting to be filled with your wisdom," Zack said with a wide grin.

"Mastering stealth begins with mastering complete and total silence" Shadowsan said with a smile.

Zack had a look of confusion at this. "Are you sure?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Shadowsan merely raised an eyebrow at him, as Naruto smirked.

"Okay, feeling strong" Zack said, as he wiggled his shoulders and closed his eyes, before he inhaled and held his breath.

Shadowsan and Naruto both smiled at each other, as Shadowsan picked up his magazine to read while Naruto sat back and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

"For how long?" Zack wheezed out, as he opened his eyes to look at Shadowsan.

Shadowsan groaned at this, as Naruto sighed while shaking his head at this.

0o0o0o0

(VILE Castle)

{"Behold, the perfect thief. It's newly improved and now completely voice activated"} Dr Bellum said with a smile to the other Faculty members, with Countess Cleo looking at her phone, Coach Brunt resting her elbows on the table with her hands on her chin with a look of boredom on her face and Professor Maelstrom was sat upright, as the robot from before walked to stand next to Bellum. {"Snatch my pocket pens, without me seeing you"} she said to the robot, before she turned away from it and hummed a tune.

The robot looked at Saira and grabbed her goggles, causing her to yell in shock, as the robot turned and walked off screen, leaving her to blindly stumble about.

"Oh, 'bait and switch'. He's a real chip off the ol' block" Brunt said with a smirk.

{"Please return my goggles, they are prescription. Hello?"} Bellum said, as she walked around while waving her arms about, which caused her to knock over the camera.

0o0o0o0

(?)

An ACME agent placed some kind of device on Gray's head, who had an anxious look on his face.

The agent looked over his shoulder at Chief's hologram, who nodded at him, before the agent touched the screen on his pad, which caused the device to turn on and light up, as Gray closed his eyes.

"Do you remember anything from 18 months ago?" Chase asked him with a raised eyebrow. "You were on a train."

Gray furrowed his brows at this, as he remembered what happened on the train, before he opened his eyes in shock. "No!" he gasped out in worry.

Devineaux and the ACME agent looked at each other curiously, wondering what caused Gray to react like that.

Gray's eyes widened, as a flood of memories flashed through his head, which caused him to sweat and pant for breath. "Now hear the true name of VILE" he heard a woman's voice say in his mind, before he yelled while holding his head with his eyes closed.

{"That's enough"} Chief said with a firm tone, as the ACME agent touched the screen on his pad, causing the device to turn off.

"Monsieur Calloway, are you alright?" Chase asked, as he walked over and placed his hand on Gray's arm.

This caused Gray to snap his eyes open, before he grabbed hold of Devineaux's arm, which caused him to gasp in surprise, before Gray stood up and slammed his elbow on Chase's shoulder, which caused him to fall to the floor, unconscious.

{"What? No!"} Chief said in surprise.

The ACME agent pulled out his sleeping gas gun and aimed it at Gray, but Gray was able to quickly moved his arm off to the side, before he spun around and chopped his arm on the agents arm, causing the gun to be aimed at his face just as the agent pulled the trigger, causing him to be knocked out, as he too fell on the floor, while Chief watched on in disbelief.

Gray then reached down and pulled out the keycard from the ACME agent's coat pocket.

{"Agents down! I repeat, agents down!"} Chief said into her earpiece, as Gray walked through her hologram towards the door, where he used the keycard he took to open it, as he took the device off his head and dropped it on the floor, where it broke, with Chief scowling after him.

After Gray left the room, the door closed behind him, before he stumbled slightly, as he winced in pain while holding his head. He then heard footsteps, which caused him to see two ACME agents heading towards him, both holding their sleeping gas guns at the ready.

Gray gave a scowl, as he ran towards the agents and avoided their attempts to knock him out, before he turned the guns on them instead, causing them both to fall to the floor unconscious, before he walked past them.

0o0o0o0

(Bavaria)

Meanwhile, back in Bavaria, the limo had dropped Dash and Ivy off at a factory, before it drove off.

"Your palace awaits, madam," Dash said with a smile, as he pointed at the doors.

"This had better not be the funny business" Ivy said with a frown, before she punched her fist into her hand while leaning towards Dash, who had a look of worry appear on his face. "I know 15 different lethal martial arts, and I will not hesitate to pound you into….cacao?" she was saying, before she opened the doors and was in shock, at what she saw while Dash had a smug look on his face.

A few VILE agents were standing around a machine, which was making small chocolate figurines, before packing them into boxes.

Ivy walked over to the machine and picked up one of the figurines on the conveyor belt. "Yum!" she said with a grin.

"These confections are too rich to eat" Dash said, as he walked over, before he took figurine from her and broke some of the chocolate off, showing that it was covering up the gold figurine underneath. "See?"

Ivy's eyes widened in shock at this, as she saw that melted down gold was being poured into a box, as one was opened to show a gold figurine, before it was covered in chocolate. Dash then handed the figurine back to her, before he walked off.

"Pure, 24 karat gold bullion. Melted down and then encased in the finest Bavarian chocolate. A rather ingenious way to smuggle gold out of the country and into your personal vault, wouldn't you say?" Dash asked with a grin, before he saw Ivy off to the side, with her back to him. "Uh, Madame Goldlove?"

Ivy turned around to show that she was eating the chocolate off the gold figurine, before she scowled at Dash, as she walked over to him, who had a perplexed look on his face. "What? Brown is my favourite colour next to gold. Do you want to fight about it?" she asked with a scowl, as she stabbed the gold figurine into the conveyor belt, before rolling up her sleeves. "Say the word."

"I'm good, really" Dash said with a nervous chuckle, while lifting his hat off slightly.

Ivy scoffed at this, as she rolled her sleeves down and turned around before walking off. "Then spare the jibber jabber so that I may take a self guided tour" she said, before knocking against the large machine. "German engineering, das ist gut" she said, as she walked around it.

Once on the other side of the machine, Ivy took her hat off and pressed her finger to her earcomm. "Carm? Are you there?" she asked, before flinching slightly, as it buzzed. "Man, I sure hope that boys night is going better than girls trip" Ivy said with a look of concern.

0o0o0o0

(Back at HQ)

Zack was still sitting cross legged on the floor of Shadowsan's room, with his eyes scrunched up shut, a look of hard concentration on his face while holding his breath, before he opened his eyes with a smile, panting for breath as he did. "How long was that?" he asked Naruto and Shadowsan, who were sitting at the table.

"Thirty two seconds" Shadowsan and Naruto said together with deadpans, before they sipped their tea from their teacups.

"Oh, yeah! New personal best!" Zack yelled out with a wide grin, before he gasped slightly. "I mean, new personal best," he whispered.

"Perhaps we should move onto the second skill that a ninja must master. The Pressure Point Pinch" Shadowsan said, as he placed his teacup on the table, before he gave Zack a stern, hard look.

Zack gasped in shock at this with wide eyes, as he quickly stood up and walked over.

Naruto smirked into his teacup at this, as he knew what Shadowsan was going to do.

"Find the point where the muscles of your neck meet the base of your skull," Shadowsan said.

"Right here?" Zack asked, as he placed his hand on his neck, while turning around to show Shadowsan.

Shadowsan nodded at this with a raised eyebrow. "Very good, now pay attention" he said, before he reached up and placed his hand where Zack's hand was, before he squeezed slightly.

Zack's eyes widened slightly, before his eyes closed and he fell over, landing on the floor with a thud.

"Ah, peace and quiet at last," Shadowsan said with a small smile, before he picked up his magazine and began to read it.

Naruto snickered at what happened to Zack, as he too grabbed a magazine to read.

0o0o0o0

(Back in Bavaria)

After looking around for a while, Ivy had walked back over to Dash.

"Well, if you are satisfied, madame, the payment instructions" Dash said, as he held up a piece of paper to her, as she reached out to grab it.

Meanwhile, off to the side, Carmen was hiding behind a pile of cardboard boxes as she saw what was going on, before she crouched down, making sure that she wasn't seen by Dash or any of the VILE agents.

Carmen was about to come up with a plan, when she noticed a shadow over her, which caused her to look up and gasp in shock, where she saw Hugo glaring down at her, as he ran forward and grabbed her in a bearhug, causing the boxes to get knocked over and reveal themselves to everyone in the room.

Carmen groaned, as she tried to get out of Hugo's grip, while Madame Goldlove walked over. "It would seem that Hugo was correct. You are clearly not Dash Haber" she said with a scowl, as she grabbed Carmen's chin, with Carmen scowling back at her.

"Carmen Sandiego? But, then who are you?" Dash asked in shock, with Ivy also looking shocked, as the three of them looked over at them.

"I am Madame Goldlove, you fool" Madame Goldlove said with a scowl.

"Oh, boy," Ivy said with a worried look and tone.

"Then who are you?" Dash asked Ivy with narrowed eyes.

"I….uh….What she said! She's an imposter!" Ivy said, as she grabbed Dash's coat with a scowl while pointing at Madame Goldlove, with Dash raising an eyebrow at this.

"What?" Madame Goldlove yelled out in anger, before she took off her coat and tossed it off to the side. "Do you want to fight?" she asked, as she glared at Ivy.

"Uh, no! Why? Do you?" Ivy asked in fear, as she moved back slightly, as Dash gave her a suspicious look, with Ivy looking at him for a moment, before she glared back at Madame Goldlove and stood up straight. "I mean, yes. I will mash you into an easily mashed thing!" she said, as she punched Dash's arm, causing him to wince in pain and rub his arm, before she punched her fists together.

Madame Goldlove scoffed at this with a smirk. "This silly one does not interest me, Hugo. She is the pistachio that I wish to crack" she said, as she gestured at Ivy, before she pointed at Carmen, who was glaring hard at her.

Madame Goldlove then threw a punch at Carmen with a yell, but Carmen was able to slip out of Hugo's grip, leaving her winter coat in his arms and causing him to get hit instead as he groaned in pain, while falling to his knees, holding his stomach as he did.

Carmen then tried to trip up Madame Goldlove, but she avoided it, by jumping back. Carmen then used the boxes to get up to the walkway above the machinery, before she jumped over the railing and looked down at Madame Goldlove, who growled in annoyance at this, as she jumped off Hugo's back, causing him to grunt slightly as she did, and then she used the boxes to reach the walkway herself.

Dash turned to Ivy and took off his hat with a cruel smirk. "Would you care to insult my hat now?" he asked, as razor sharp blades came out of the rim.

"You know what, on second thought, I think that it looks really sharp on you" Ivy said with a nervous smile, before she turned around and ran off.

Dash gave a slight chuckle at this, before he threw his hat at her.

Ivy was running towards the chocolate machine, before she glanced over her shoulder and gasped as it was close to her, before she dove to the floor to avoid it, which caused the hat to cut into the pipe on the machine, allowing chocolate to spill out onto the floor.

Ivy stood up and winced when she saw this while holding her neck, with the hat still stuck in the large vat, as the machine shut down.

"Get her!" Dash yelled at the VILE agents, as they quickly ran over, with Dash not far behind them.

Ivy looked around for a moment, before she looked at the pipe, which caused her to smirk. "Hey, who wants some candy?" she asked, before she tore the rest of the pipe off the machine and covered the floor in front of her in chocolate, which caused the agents and Dash to slip and fall on the floor.

Ivy smiled at this, before she noticed that Hugo was running towards the chocolate, before he skated on it towards her. "Oh, boy," she said in concern.

Once Hugo had reached her, he tried to grab her, but Ivy used the pipe to blast him in the face with some chocolate, causing him to be sent back. Ivy grinned at this, as she moved the pipe closer to her face, so that she could drink some of the chocolate, before she yelled as she dropped the pipe and ran off, as Hugo tried to grab her once again.

Meanwhile, Carmen was fighting against Madame Goldlove on the walkway. Carmen dodged the punches that were thrown at her by moving backwards, by either ducking under the punches or moving to the side as she did.

Carmen avoided a kick Madame Goldlove sent her, by grabbing hold of the rails to lift her up, before she sent a kick of her own, which Madame Goldlove dodged by ducking under it, before she began throwing more punches at Carmen.

Meanwhile, Ivy was running as she stopped to catch her breath for a moment, before she noticed some VILE agents running towards her. "Oh, fudge!" she yelled out, before she ran up some stairs, with the VILE agents following her.

Carmen was blocking and deflecting the punches and kicks that Madame Goldlove was sending at her, before Madame Goldlove kicked Carmen in the chest, causing her to be sent flying back.

Madame Goldlove then ran towards Carmen to continue to attack her, but Carmen noticed a valve handle next to her, which caused her to turn it with a smirk and release some steam to be released and made Madame Goldlove stop for a moment, to cover her face with a growl of annoyance.

This allowed Carmen to use her grappling gun, so that she could attach the hook to a pipe and move higher up, just as Madame Goldlove jumped out of the steam to try and kick her, but she'd missed.

Carmen reeled the grappling hook back in, then she saw that Ivy was on a walkway, being chased by the VILE agents, before she stopped and next to an open box, as she reached inside it and picked up some of the figurines and tossed them at the agents, either hitting them in the head, where they fell on the walkway unconscious, or hitting them somewhere else, causing them to stop running to avoid being hit.

"What now, Carm?" Ivy asked Carmen in worry, as she kept on throwing the figurines at the VILE agents.

"Duck and run," Carmen said in concern, before she got out her grappling gun and shot the hook at a pipe.

Ivy looked confused for a moment, before she turned around and gasped, as she saw that Hugo was running towards her. But before anything else could happen, Carmen swung over and kicked Hugo off the walkway, causing him to fall into a large vat of chocolate, where he glared up at them.

"Eww! Way to ruin chocolate for me" Ivy said with a look of disgust on her face.

Carmen landed on the walkway, before reeling in the grappling hook once again, as the two of them smiled at each other.

But before anything else could happen, Madame Goldlove had jumped down, sending Ivy to the floor, before she did a roundhouse kick at Carmen, causing her to be sent over the railing of the walkway and before she fell too far, she grabbed hold of the edge of the walkway, as she dangled over a vat of chocolate.

":Good night, miss:" Madame Gldlove said with an evil laugh, as she looked down at Carmen, as she moved her foot towards Carmen's hand.

But before she could step on it, the sounds of police sirens could be heard, as lights were seen flashing through the windows.

This made the VILE agents and Dash look around in worry, before they quickly exited the building.

"You tipped off the polizei?" Madame Goldlove asked with a scowl at Carmen.

"Well, it beats trying to deliver ten tons of gold bullion to their doorstep," Carmen said with a smirk, as Madame Goldlove growled in annoyance at this.

"Hey, Goldilove!" Ivy yelled out, getting Madame Goldlove's attention, as she turned around with a raised eyebrow, where Ivy did a spinkick at her, which caused Madame Goldlove to scream as she was sent flying off the walkway and into the vat of chocolate under Carmen.

Carmen smiled at this, as Ivy reached her hand through the railing to Carmen, who grabbed hold and pulled herself up.

"Way to rock girls trip" Carmen said with a grin, as she and Ivy fistbumped each other, before they walked off.

Madame Goldlove emerged from the chocolate, a fierce look on her face, as she growled in anger at this, before she heard the doors open as the police entered the building.

0o0o0o0

(VILE Castle)

{"And that's how the chocolate gnome crumbled"} Dash said with remorse from the large screen to the Faculty members, with Dr Bellum on a small screen in the corner.

After Dash had signed off, Bellum's screen filled the monitor, with her arms crossed and a smug look on her face. {"LIke I told you, human error"} she said.

"Indeed, Saira. But have we not also witnessed our share of mechanical error today as well?" Cleo asked with a smirk, before she scowled with her chin resting on her interlocked fingers.

{"Well, since you mention it, all your talk of gold inspired me to incorporate the precious metal into my precious metal"} Saira said with a grin, before she stood to the side and snapped her fingers, causing the robot she'd made earlier to walk over, while pushing a safe on a metal trolley, before it stood in front of the safe with green electricity running down the side of its arm, from its elbow to its fingertips. {"The excellent conductivity has really improved Roby's performance."}

"Roby the Robo-Robber?" Countess Cleo asked with a raised eyebrow.

{"You could say that Roby now possesses hands of steel and a heart of gold"} Dr Bellum said with a smirk, as Roby cut the safe door off and removed a gold bar from it, as Saira snapped her fingers once again, causing the robot to smash his arm on the safe, crushing it.

This made the other Faculty members smirk at this, as they looked at each other.

0o0o0o0

(Bavaria)

It was now morning, with Carmen and Ivy sitting on the edge of a fountain, drinking hot chocolate.

"It's been a while since you've left bad guys behind for the police, huh, Carm?" Ivy asked with a grin.

"Not since leaving Gray for Interpol, on the train to Paris" Carmen said with a look of sadness, before she smiled at Ivy and lightly punched her in the arm. "And you were pretty cruel and vicious. I need to remember not to cross you."

"Who knew that I had a big bad Ivy inside me, just waiting to bust out?" Ivy asked with a chuckle, as she rubbed her head slightly in embarrassment.

0o0o0o0

(With Gray)

Gray was walking down a street, clutching his head as he did. "Four, three, seven. Four, three, seven, nine, five, two. Four, three, seven, nine, five, two" he said to himself, as flashes of images appeared in his head.

After walking for a while, he came across a phone booth, where he picked up the phone. "Four, three, seven, nine, five, two, five, five" Gray said, as he pressed the numbers, causing the phone to ring a few times, before he heard a beep, as someone answered. "An apple a day keeps the doctor away."

0o0o0o0

(VILE HQ)

Inside a communications room, a VILE agent was sat before a screen, showing that they were the one who accepted Gray's call, before they looked to the side, as The Cleaners walked over to look at the screen for a moment, before looking at each other.

The two of them then headed towards the three Faculty members, who were still sitting at their high table.

"Voice recognition and passcode matched, 100 percent" Boris said to them.

"Crackle? How could he possibly recall our distress code?" Cleo asked in disbelief.

"Dr Bellum used the brain wipe doohickey on him. You know, before it broke" Brunt said with a frown.

"Perhaps we should take the call and find out what's on his mind," Maelstrom said with a scowl.

0o0o0o0

Author's Note: To those who want me to lemon/sex scenes in every chapter or so, I can't as I need to find the right time/moment to do them. Such as, on their plane, in a hotel room or in a train's sleeping carriage. So please, stop asking me to keep adding them, as I'll do them when I please.

Hope that everyone enjoyed the chapter, and that you're doing what you can to avoid getting this COVID by following the rules, while any and all flames are no longer welcome. Also, for some reason, if I get a PM from anyone, it wouldn't show me the number(s) on fanfiction (so if you send me a PM, and I reply to it late, that's the reason why). Let's hope that now the vaccines are all done, we can rest a bit easier.

I have also posted a few story ideas on my home page, and if any of you want to use them please, PM me and let me know.