II

Becoming Carmen Sandiego

Poitiers France

Late evening

A white car drove down the street driven by Inspector Chase Devineaux as his new partner Julia Argent sat next to him reviewing everything they knew on her tablet.

"In just the last few weeks, this Carmen Sandiego has managed to rob millions of euros combined from a Swiss bank, a high-end art gallery in Cairo, and a Shanghai amusement park." Chase said glancing at Julia. "Plus an appearance at Florence's National Central Library where she allegedly stole some pages of an unknown book."

"Before vanishing without a trace. Any guards were silently murdered or unaware she was even there." Julia said, not looking up from her tablet. "Headquarters has yet to discern any pattern except that our perpetrator always wears a scarlet coat and fedora and seems to announce her crimes by making random public appearances beforehand." She clicked through several photos showing a mysterious figure in said attire.

"Such as the nearby café sighting earlier today. So we must ask ourselves: Who in the world is Carmen Sandiego? Why would a thief draw attention to herself by leaving clues and wearing bold colors?"

"Perhaps stealing's a game to her."

"Ha! The game is over. She is in my jurisdiction now, though I question why?"

"Poitiers is rich with medieval history. Perhaps she is targeting a priceless antique or historical artifact from one of its many churches, or—"

The tires screech as Chase slams the brakes.

"Ms. Argent, you are an agent of Interpol, not a museum guide. So you may stop sharing dull facts about boring things. You have been on the force merely a fortnight, have you not?"

Julia started to tune him out and suddenly noticed a figure in her car door mirror. A figure in a red coat and a wide-brimmed fedora.

"You have so much to learn," Chase continued as she quickly turned around to make sure, "and since you have been assigned to my department—"

"Um, uh—"

"—I, Chase Devineaux, will be your teacher."

"Inspector Devineaux, Sir—"

"Nuh-uh-uh. Sit back, watch, and learn how to catch a thief."

"She's right there!" Julia says and points out the back windshield.

"Huh?" He looks and sees her seconds before she grapples to the roof. "La Femme Rouge!" He slams the gas and follows. He stops outside a building and they both get out seeing her on the roof. "Remain here!"

"And radio for assistance?"

"No! The Crimson Ghost is mine!"

Carmen slowly walks to the very top of the roof and takes in the breathtaking view. "On top of the world. I can see La Cathédrale Saint-Pierre from here."

"Friendly advice? Save the sight-seeing for after the job." A familiar voice said through her earpiece.

"Heh heh. Player, glad to hear you're on board." Carmen had never met Player in person and yet he had been her companion the longest.

"You know I wouldn't miss a night out with you for the world, Red. Let's get this party started." She could hear him type rapidly. "Virtual Paris sure looks lovely this time of year. Touring through France... locking onto your position over there in Poitiers... and we're synced. If our intel is accurate, the next stop on your sight-seeing tour of historic Poitiers should be... 50 yards dead ahead."

Carmen began to free run across the rooftops.

"How's my temperature?"

"Warm, Red... Getting warmer... You're red-hot." Player said as she was across from an estate.

She grappled to the roof and located the junction box. She opened it and plugged in her lipstick USB.

"Analyzing frequencies... Decrypting security codes... Alarm system disabled. Thermal scans reveal a few guards."

"Let's find out." she said as opened the window, seeing a guard directly below. She silently dropped and killed him with her wrist blades. She quickly hid and observed the other 2. She activated her Eagle Sense and watched the other 2 guards. When they were in perfect positions she pulled out two ninja stars and threw them at the same time. Hitting each in the head. She recovered her stars and moved through the room till she noticed a walled atrium.

"Okay, who walls up an atrium?" She knocks on the wall.

"Anyone who values storage over natural light."

"He said a little too knowingly." She teased.

"Don't judge. I'm happy here in my dark little cave."

She pulled a candelabra and the wall moved reveling a safe.

"You called it, Player. Right tool for the job..." she looked through all the tools hidden in her coat. "Ah, this works." She attached her safe cracker to the door.

"Safe cracked."

The door opened revealing several objects in display cases and at the far end,

"The Eye of Vishnu."

"Red, I think there's a codex page in there too."

"I see it." She opened the case and quickly bags the page. Then something else catches her eye and she gasps.

"What is it, Red?"

"I'm staring at something I thought I'd never, ever set eyes on again."

"It better be more valuable than a sparkly blue gemstone the size of my head."

"Define "valuable". They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder."

"Are you gonna tell me what it is, Red, or—"

They suddenly heard knocking on the door.

"Interpol! Open this door!"

"Bag the gem and get out of there already!"

"I said, open up!"

Chase slams his body into the doors, finally breaking them open and breathing heavily. He sets eyes on Carmen, who smiles smugly and tightens the drawstring of a bag.

"Stop! Thief!"

He yelps as she kicks a stool at him and jumps over him.

"On whose authority?" she asked.

"On the authority of, uh..." he reached into his coat to find his badge missing.

"Inspector Chase Devineaux, Interpol." Because she had it. ""Chase," huh? Hm! Let's see what's in a name." She throws it back to him before grappling out the ceiling window.

Chase sees her on the other rooftop and opens the window "I order you to stop!" he shouts before sliding along the ledge.

She stops "You didn't say for how long." And starts running again.

"Ugh! It was implied!" He reached the other roof and chased after her. He chased her along several rooftops until they reached the one where he parked his car below. A few small pieces of shingle fall on the windshield alerting Julia.

Carmen turns to face chase. "Au revoir." She says before she back jumps off the roof and suddenly a hang-glider opens on her back.

Julia and Chase both gasp, one in awe the other in disbelief. The rooftop cracks and he slides down, then falls face-first onto the car. Julia screams as the car alarm goes off. Julia gets out and takes the remote from his pocket and turns it off.

"Did you just—"

"Never mind that! Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?"

She was already over a mile away, gliding towards the train station. "My train. I'm right on time." Carmen says as she glides overhead.

"Like you ever aren't. Ticket purchased and... uploading."

Her phone beeps. Moments later she lands, changes into jeans and a hoodie, and boards. She stashed her outfit in a red duffle bag.

"She has to land sometime. How far can she possibly get?" Julia asked.

"She is heading for the train station. Secure the crime scene! Deduce what was stolen." He quickly drove away and Julia coughed from the car exhaust.

When he reached the station the train started to leave and he called Julia.

"Inspector. Good news, I hope?"

"Ms. Argent... Julia... You're the smartest person I know, so tell me, please... is it possible for an automobile to catch a moving train? Driving aggressively, of course."

"Well, I'm really not much of a math detective, but I suppose it depends upon how many stops the train makes and for how long at each."

"Mm-hmm. Then perhaps I shall catch this Little Red Robbing Hood."

On the train, Carmen opens a door with the ticket on her phone.

"First class. Sweet."

"My treat, Red. You earned it."

The door opens again showing someone Carmen had been waiting for.

"Well, well." Gray said as his Crackle Rod whirs. "Blast from the past, eh?" He says before he fires it.

"Dude, seriously? Static cling?"

"Side effect of the directional EMP. So you can forget about reaching for your phone or fancy toys. They're dead."

"I know how an electromagnetic pulse works, Gray... You aren't the only one who passed Dr. Bellum's class. And you didn't really think I'd take any of your bait without checking for a tracking device... did you, Gray? That's right. I wanted you to find me. It's time we tied up loose ends."

"You were the only loose end... until five seconds ago, when I captured the elusive Carmen Sandiego. Or should I call you Black Sheep?" he thought back to when they met. "You really schooled me the day we met."

"I thought you should know who you were dealing with."

"Well, it seems I still don't know. The slick red hat, the exotic new name..." he sits down across from her. "Who are you, really?"

"A professional thief, just like you."

"No, you weren't like the rest of us. How did you ever wind up in crime school?"

"You want the whole story?"

"Your clock runs out when we reach Paris. Make it count."

She told him her story from her point of view, from when she was brought to V.I.L.E. Island all the way up to graduation. "The school year came and went. I couldn't wait to graduate and plot our first caper as V.I.L.E. operatives. We just needed to ace our final exams, and we'd be professional thieves. But then, I failed. I know Shadowsan cheated, he always had it out for me. That's why I refused to accept it and stowed away. I thought I knew you like the big brother I never had, Gray, until that moment. You betrayed me."

"What can I say? Graduation was a game-changer. We learned V.I.L.E.'s true name. The Villains International League of Evil."

"Evil? Hmph! My entire upbringing was a lie. Stealing isn't a game. It does harm people. Especially when you're willing to steal lives."

"That's rich coming from you. You've killed a number of our agents."

"Only when I had to. I never kill unnecessarily and I never harm the innocent."

Meanwhile…

Chase pulls up to the train, but it's moving again.

"Ugh! So close!"

He takes off again. Part of the car falls off. His cell phone rings.

"What is it now, Ms. Argent? I am driving!"

"Inspector Devineaux, the purported crime scene is actually filled with stolen goods of all kinds. Cash, bonds, art..."

"What? Was the apartment owner not the robbery victim?"

"That's what I said. So I did some fact-checking. The owner on record isn't an individual, but an import-export company. But even more intriguing, the places Carmen Sandiego recently robbed - the Swiss Bank, the art gallery in Cairo, the Shanghai amusement park - all have ties to the same company."

"Ms. Argent, what is it you are trying to say?"

"Well, what if, for whatever reason, Carmen Sandiego were a thief who only steals from other thieves?"

"Nnnno! No, no, no, no, no, no, no!" he shouts as his car dies. The gas tank is empty. When it stops, he gets out and shouts at it, then groans. He realizes he's right outside a small airfield. Seeing an airplane landing ahead, he runs after it.

"Interpol! Official business. I am commandeering this aircraft!"

Back on the train…

"Our journey's winding to a close. And I'm not any closer to knowing the story behind your chic new look. Or your name." He charges the Crackle Rod for emphasis.

She sighs, "I'll do my best to cut to the chase. Things were strained on my forced return to the Isle of V.I.L.E. Sure I was on my best behavior, but I still had to endure Coach Brunt's guilt. And Dr. Bellum's surveillance. And Countess Cleo's attempts to tame my wild side. And Professor Maelstrom's freaky psych exams. But the worst part? I never felt more alone in my life. The Cleaners had confiscated my phone, my only lifeline to the outside world. When the new school year began, I pretended to throw myself into my coursework. But I was really just biding my time, waiting for my moment to strike. December first, V.I.L.E.'s bookkeeper was right on schedule. My first escape attempt may have been a dry run but this time, I was really gonna bring the rain. I stole the hard drive, her outfit, and escaped on the very boat she arrived in." as she finished they felt the train stop.

"End of the line. We miss you, Black Sheep. V.I.L.E. wants a truce."

"They want me stealing for them, instead of from them."

"You've proven yourself. It's all you've ever wanted, isn't it? The League's offering you a full pardon. Even Shadowsan's on board. They'll make things right if you just come home. Where you belong."

Carmen smiles, "I was hoping we'd end up on the same side again tonight, Gray." Then she frowns. "My side."

He sighs. "Still in a league of your own. Bye-bye, Black Sheep."

"You weren't listening. I go by Carmen now."

She lunges for him and moves the Crackle Rod so it's not pointing at her. They struggle and she grabs it from him. It suddenly fizzles out.

"Hmph. Fingerprint recognition." He says smugly. He starts to grab it away, but she roundhouse kicks him into the window.

"Oof!"

"They never protect the face." She breaks the rod.

"Red. You're back online. I miss anything juicy?"

"Nothing you don't already know." She extends her wrist-blades and prepares to stab Gray, but decided not to.

Chase lands outside the station and quickly boards the train. He sees her coat and hat... "Carmen Sandiego, you are under arrest!" He removes the hat to find Gray, unconscious. "Nnnnno!" He looks out the window to see Carmen walking away. She pauses to smile at him, then disappears. "No! Not again!" At that moment his phone rang. "Yes? What is it?"

"Inspector Devineaux we turned up something rather astonishing. I believe it's the Eye of Vishnu, from the unsolved Morocco heist. We found it between the couch cushions. Almost as if..."

"Let me guess. "Almost as if Carmen Sandiego wanted us to find it." Hah! If our thief left such a treasure behind, she must have gotten away with something truly priceless."

Meanwhile

On the Seine…

"Wait, seriously? You didn't take the gemstone?" player asked Carmen as she rode a boat down the Seine River.

"Total win-win. I knew Interpol would get it back where it belonged, which left my hands free to take the real treasure," she took one of the Russian dolls out of the bag. "My oldest traveling companions. Like an archaeology find, the only link I have to my past. I have Gray to thank for using them to bait me." She took the tracking sticker off the bottom of the doll and stuck it onto a ship going the opposite direction. "Now, did you wire the proceeds from the Shanghai job to the next nonprofits on my list?"

"Food bank, homeless shelter, orphanage. Check. I even had time to decrypt the next entry. Another secret V.I.L.E. hideout. Located in Southeast Asia on the island of Java."

"Just when I thought I was through with islands." She sighs, "Paris will be here. We need to stay one step ahead of V.I.L.E. while we still have the advantage."

"I'll book you a red-eye."

A boat with a man and a woman standing on it follows. They were wearing matching dark gray suits with black ties and gray lensed sunglasses. The women pulled out a pen and held it up to her mouth. "Chief, we have Carmen Sandiego in our sights."

Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?

Sandiego…