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, speakers and TV)
Hope that you all enjoy this chapter.
Chapter 26 - The Himalayan Rescue Caper
(?)
{"The security cameras were down. Big surprise. Which means all that ACME has to go on, is what you saw with your own two eyes, before Carmen Sandiego and Naruto Uzumaki locked you up"} Chief said with a scowl, as her holographic form stood before Chase.
"It was not my proudest moment," Devineaux said, as he looked off to the side.
{"Face it, Devineaux, they're the ones who busted Calloway out of jail. Why else would they have been there in a police station in Reykjavik?"} Chief asked with a hard look and tone.
"But freeing Monsieur Calloway makes no sense! Carmen and Naruto once left him unconscious on a train for Interpol to find" Chase said.
{"At the time, you were convinced he was their victim. Neither theory adds up, considering that we possess intel which suggests that Sandiego, Uzumaki and Calloway are….friendly"} Chief said, as she brought up a holographic image of Carmen, Naruto and Gray sitting at a table together.
Devineaux had nothing to say to this, before Chief made the image disappear.
{"Think outside the box, Devineaux. We need to know what Carmen and Naruto's game is,"} Chief said firmly, before her hologram disappeared.
"Yes, we do. Or I shall lose what little remains of my sanity" Chase said, as he popped a mint in his mouth, before sitting on the chair in the room with him.
0o0o0o0
(Somewhere in the Himalayan Mountains)
The VILE helicopter was flying through the mountains, before it headed towards a specific mountain, which had a hidden high tech looking building, as the chopper began landing on a large helipad and once it hand landed, the pilots began shutting it down, while someone wearing winter clothing climbed out and headed towards a door, which was guarded by two VILE agents, who let the person in, while standing on either side of the doors, as the person lowered the hood on their coat, showing that it was Professor Maelstrom.
"Professor! Welcome to my home away from home" Dr Bellum said with a smile, as she walked down a hallway towards him, while wearing the crown on her head. "It's so rare that I have company drop by."
The two of them then looked back down the hallway, where they saw Roby walking towards them, carrying a tray with two steaming mugs on it, as it stood in between them.
"Ah, 'The Queen of the Robots.' I think it suits you," Gunnar said with a smirk.
"I am merely keeping the Crown warm for Cleo" Saira said with a chuckle, as she took a mug from the tray before sipping from it. "Ah Roby, you spoil me so. Care for some hot cocoa, Professor?"
"No thank you, as it would clash with the sardines and clam juice that I enjoyed on the flight" Maelstrom said, as he waved off Roby offering the tray to him, before he gave a cruel smirk. "And our 'guest'?"
"Oh, we've kept him warm for you" Bellum said with her own cruel smirk, as she led Gunnar somewhere to put his winter clothing, before leading him towards where Gray was being kept.
As for Gray, he was being kept in a cosy looking room, with two VILE agents guarding the door.
Gray was looking out the window, looking at the Himalayan mountains, as he had flashbacks going through his mind, which were centered on him with Naruto and Carmen, when they were in New Zealand.
Naruto and Carmen then held out a hand each to Gray. "Do you trust us?" Naruto asked with a smile.
"Hang on tight, don't let go?" he asked, as he grabbed their hands.
"Yup" Carmen said with a nod, before they jumped off the tower.
After flying for a while, their gliders folded away, with Naruto and Carmen holding onto Gray tightly.
"Gray?" Naruto asked, as they both got up and ran over to him.
"Gray?" Carmen asked, as she rolled him onto his back, with her and Naruto looking worried.
After a few seconds, Gray's eyes moved before they opened. "It's Graham" he said, smiling up at them, which they returned.
"Guys, I have to know….are you spies?" Gray asked them curiously.
"Something like that," Carmen said.
"But we are the good guys?" he then asked.
"Absolutely" they said together, as they both nodded.
Before Gray could think on anymore, he heard a knock coming from the door, which caused him to turn around. Gray then looked around for anything to use as a weapon, thinking that someone was coming in, before he grabbed the lamp from the table nearby, causing its lampshade to get knocked off, as he ran to lean against the wall, a scowl on his face as he focused on the door handle, as he watched it turn before the door opened and someone entered the room.
Gray came round from behind the door and swung the lamp to hit them, but it was quickly grabbed by Professor Maelstrom, stopping it from hitting him on the head.
"I see that you still possess that spark, Mr Crackle" Gunnar said with a smirk, as he looked at him while letting go of the lamp, as the door closed behind him.
"Crackle?" Gray asked in confusion, as he looked at the lamp in his hands, before images flashed through his head.
He saw himself wearing the suit he's seen on himself a few times, while holding the rod, which had green electricity coming off it as he raised it in the air. "Lights out, baby" he heard himself saying, before it changed to a different image, which was of the man in front of him and a woman in a lab coat, as they were in what looked like a lab, with a chair in the middle of the lab.
"Have a seat. Please" the man said, as he looked over his shoulder with a sinister look on his face.
Gray sat in the chair, only for clamps to appear over his wrists and ankles, keeping him in place, as he struggled to get free.
"Relax. This won't hurt a bit" the woman said with a cruel smirk, as she placed what looked like some sort of visor over his eyes.
"You were there! You did this to me, you messed with my head!" Gray said with a scowl, as he pointed the lamp at Gunnar.
"We did what we deemed necessary at the time, for your own well being" Maelstrom said with a smile as he held his hands up, before gesturing to Gray.
"And was bringing me here against my will for my own 'well being' too?" Gray asked still with a scowl, as he kept the lamp pointed at the Professor.
"No. It was for ours" Professor Maelstrom said with a smirk.
Gray raised an eyebrow at this.
"But we do hope that you're finding your new accommodations to be cozier than an Icelandic jail cell," Gunnar said with a grin, as he looked around the room.
Gray lowered the lamp, before he walked to the middle of the room. "Who are you?" he asked, as he looked over his shoulder at the Professor.
"The question that we really should be asking is, who are you?" Maelstrom asked with a smirk, as he pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it, which caused a screen to be lowered down on the other side of the room, covering the windows as it did, as Gray watched with a perplexed look on his face.
0o0o0o0
(On an Icelandic road)
A white van was seen driving on the road, which had Zack behind the wheel in the driver's seat, with Naruto in the passenger's seat while Carmen and Ivy were in the back.
"If Bellum's lab in the Himalayas is functioning as her robots base camp, we suspect that's where we'll also find Gray" Naruto said with a frown, as he gestured to himself and Carmen, who was looking over his shoulder, as he talked with Shadowsan on his phone, who was on his phones screen.
{"We now have coordinates, thanks to the satellite images Player gathered"} Shadowsan said, before he began typing on the laptop on his lap. "I have made special arrangements to facilitate your arrival."
After driving some more, the group arrived at an airfield, with Zack driving onto it, before he parked the van and turned off the engine. "Whoa. Sweet!" he exclaimed with a wide grin, as he saw an Airbus A400M Atlas waiting on the runway.
{"A high altitude jump will be the most efficient way of getting you onto the premises undetected. Since Dr Bellum's laboratory is bound to possess state of the art security"} Shadowsan said with narrowed eyes.
"We'll be at a disadvantage without Player, but he'll be in the middle of a history exam when we're ready to touch down," Carmen said with a small frown.
"Yeah. Like he wouldn't love any excuse to get out of that?" Zack asked with a chuckle, with Ivy smiling in agreement.
"Player's already been sent to detention on our account. And it's only his first week of school. We can't ask him to skip class" Naruto said, as he and Carmen both had slight looks of worry on their faces.
"What if there was no class to skip?" Ivy asked, as she leaned forward from the back of the van, as she glanced at Zack with a slight smile, before the two siblings smiled at Naruto and Carmen.
Naruto and Carmen both looked at each other for a moment, before they looked at the siblings with raised eyebrows of confusion.
0o0o0o0
(Dr Bellum's hidden Himalayan Lab)
Back with Gray, he was watching a video of himself in what looked like a police interrogation room, with the Professor recording it on camera, while he was sitting in a chair and Maelstrom was standing next to the fireplace.
"\You've taken a keen interest in our vocational school\" Gunnar said.
"\That's right, mate. I want to be successful\" Gray said with a smirk, as he leaned back in his chair with his feet on the table.
"\You are currently an electrician at the Sydney Opera House, on a fast track for a promotion to Stage Lighting Technician. Do you not consider that successful?\" Maelstrom asked, as he stood up from looking through the camera's lens.
"\True, but I feel like my talents can be put to more….lucrative ends. And besides, Opera's a bore\" Gray said with a smile as he shrugged slightly, while taking his feet off the table.
"\Opera is nectar for the soul, but that is beside the point\" Professor Maelstrom said with a scowl, as he leaned on the table, taking Gray by surprise at this, before the video was paused.
"So you recruited me into a school for thieves?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You enrolled of your own free will. You were a practising criminal when we scouted you. We simply provided you with the tools to hone your skills" Gunnar said, as he looked at the fire.
"And how'd I do?" Gray asked curiously, as he glanced over at the Professor.
"You were at the top of your class, one of our finest graduates. That is, until you fumbled. But we are now offering you a rare second chance, to make good on your former schooling" Maelstrom said with a grin, as he glanced over his shoulder at Gray.
0o0o0o0
(At a University in Oxford)
Meanwhile, at a University, in a large room, Julia was standing on a stage before some students, with a picture and some writing projected on a white screen behind him.
"When you think of so-called 'Ancient' Greek, you may imagine the writings of the legendary poet Homer, who wrote The Iliad and The Odyssey. But the Greek language is far older" Julia said to everyone, before she raised an eyebrow, when she spotted a poorly disguised Devineaux sitting in the back row, holding a book to his face, as he wore a jersey with a Maneki-Neko's head on the front on one side and some gold pieces on the other.
"For example, Mycenaean Greek was etched on clay tablets back in the 13th century, BCE" Julia said, as she continued on with her class.
After Julia's class was over, all the students left the room, as Julia packed everything up before leaving herself, with Chase carefully following her, making sure not to be seen.
Julia walked through an archway, as Devineaux pressed himself against the wall, as he cautiously leaned over to watch her, before pressing himself back against the wall, making sure that he wasn't spotted as she turned a corner.
Chase then ran off down the archway to make sure that he didn't lose sight of Julia, before he turned the corner and almost ran straight into her, as she was standing there with her arms crossed, as though waiting for him, which caused him to grunt in surprise, as he backed up slightly.
"Agent Devineaux?" Julia asked with a flat look and tone.
Devineaux laughed nervously at this, as he placed his hand on his head. "Ms Argent? What a coincidence" he said.
"Is it?" Julia asked with a raised eyebrow.
Chase smiled nervously at this for a few moments, before his smile vanished, as he gave a sigh while giving Julia a sad look.
Julia said nothing to this, before she turned around and walked away, with Devineaux following her, before they arrived at Julia's office, which she soon unlocked as they walked in before she closed the door behind Chase, who sat down in the chair in front of her desk, while she walked over to her bookshelf and began to browse the shelves.
"So, to what do I owe this 'coincidence'? Is it a sudden interest in dull facts and boring things?" Julia asked with a mocking tone, as she briefly glanced at her former partner, as she pulled a book off the shelf and opened it, as she read a few pages.
Devineaux gave a sheepish chuckle at this, before he got serious. "Ms Argent, Julia, since you resigned from ACME, I have been seeing things quite differently" he said with a smile.
"Differently how?" Julia asked with a frown, as she put the book back, before she continued to browse the bookshelf, as she pulled off a different book, before she walked to her desk and sat down, as she opened up the book.
"Well, as you might see things. Except, with less clarity. Far less. Uh, as if I wore your eyeglasses, but splattered with mud! It began in Venice, Italy, after being assigned a new partner, on a case where we were -" Chase said with a smile, as he began explaining his recent change, before Julia cut him off with a raise of her hand.
"Agent Devineaux, I do not think that it would be wise for you to be sharing classified ACME business" Julia said, before she looked at the book on her desk.
"But I need your help, so that I might better assist Naruto and Carmen," Devineaux said with a pleading look and tone of voice.
This caught Julia's attention, as she looked up at her old partner with wide eyes. "Are they alright?" she asked in concern.
"Of course, they are alright. They continue to make us chase our tails" Chase said with an annoyed look and tone, which made Julia smile at this.
Devineaux then stood up and placed his hands on the desk. "Please, Ms Argent. I must know. Are the Crimson and Blonde Ghosts bad, or are they good?" he asked with a worried look and tone.
Julia gained a thoughtful look on her face at this question, as she turned her chair slightly while pushing her glasses up her nose. "That is a complicated question. One that we can discuss over lunch" she said, as she looked to the side with a slight frown, before she stood up and walked towards the door of her office, which she opened, so that Chase could leave.
"Perfect! I am starving!" Chase said with a grin, as he walked out of the office.
"...next Friday, at noon. Since I have three important seminars to prepare for right now" Julia said.
"I will meet you here. Wearing the appropriate the lunch attire, of course" Devineaux said with a sheepish smile and a cocked eyebrow, as Julia closed the door on him, before she leaned her back against it and slumped down a bit, a small worried frown on her face.
0o0o0o0
(With Gray)
Meanwhile, back in Doctor Bellum's hidden Himalayan Lab, Gray was still sitting in the chair, looking at the screen, which had an ink blot on it, while Professor Maelstrom was sitting in a chair of his own off to the side, holding a different remote in his hand, which was pointed at the screen.
"What do you see?" Gunnar asked with a smirk.
"I can see darkness," Gray said with narrowed eyes, as he looked at the ink blot.
Maelstrom then pressed a button on the remote, causing a different ink blot to appear on the screen. "And here?" he asked.
Gray leaned forward slightly, as he looked at the next ink blot for a moment, before his eyes widened slightly, as he saw five people sat at a table overshadowing the ink blot. "Authority," he said.
"And this one" the Professor said with a wide grin, as he changed the screen to the next ink blot.
Gray's eyes widened at this, as he had various small flashbacks.
(Flashback one)
Gray saw a younger version of himself laughing at something, before he was yanked over the back of the chair he was sitting in, where he saw a younger version of Naruto and Carmen.
"My codenames Black Sheep/Dark Fox" they both said with a scowl at him. "Do you understand?"
(Flashback two)
The second flashback he saw was of him with Naruto and Carmen, along with three others around their age; two more boys and a girl.
"So take aim and bring the rain" Dark Fox said with a grin, as he and Carmen held up a water balloon each, with the others doing the same thing, each with a smile of their own, before they threw their water balloons.
(Flashback three)
The third flashback was of him in a helicopter with the three from before. He was adjusting his safety glasses, getting ready to jump, before he saw Naruto and Carmen running towards him, as they grabbed hold of him, while pushing him out of the helicopter.
(Flashback four)
The next flashback was of him holding some kind of electrical rod, as he turned a dial on it, causing it to power up.
"Gray, no!" Naruto and Carmen yelled out, before Carmen ran over and tackled him to the ground, causing Gray to miss hitting the old man, as he hit a part of a ruined wall instead.
(Flashbacks over)
"Carmen? Naruto? They were students too. But, they're the good guys" Gray said with a frown, as he looked at Maelstrom, who had put the remote down, as he was pouring two cups of tea.
"We prefer not to view the world in black or white, but shades of grey. Carmen and Naruto have simply chosen their true nature….as we follow ours" Gunnar said with a smirk, as he poured some milk into one of the cups of tea, before he handed it to Gray, who took it and looked at the cup with a perplexed look, before he walked back to his seat and picked up the other cup and the remote, before pressing a button on it, causing Gray to look up and see a picture of himself, wearing the VILE Academy uniform, while holding a rod in his hands with a cruel smirk on his face.
After a while, Professor Maelstrom came out of the room with a smile on his face, with the door automatically closing behind him, where Dr Bellum was waiting for him, as he walked away.
"And, how did the inkblot testing go?" Saira asked curiously, as she walked alongside him.
"His psychological profile shows promise. Though, as expected, the Red and Blonde Rogue's both continue to be a hindrance" Gunnar said with a smile, before he scowled while placing his fingers to his forehead.
"Do you think that it's wise that we attempt to reinstate him, then?" Bellum asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"Not doing so might leave him vulnerable to Carmen and Naruto's influence and they would find a way to use him against us," Professor Maelstrom said with narrowed eyes.
0o0o0o0
(Meanwhile)
The Airbus A400M Atlas was flying in the air, with Naruto and Carmen sitting in the seats in the back next to each other, wearing flight suits.
"We'll be over the dropzone in 30 minutes" Carmen said to Shadowsan, as she had her laptop on her lap, with Naruto leaning over, so that he and Shadowsan could see each other, with an image of the Himalayan's on one side of the screen, along with a red dotted line showing where the plane was.
{"Then you may find an overview of the environment to be beneficial. The Himalayan Mountains stretch approximately 1,500 miles, passing through the nations of Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, China, Nepal and Bhutan. They are home to nine of the ten highest mountain peaks in the world, including the tallest of all: Mount Everest. Which rises over 29,000 feet above sea level. The word Himalayas comes from the ancient Indian language of Sanskrit and means 'abode of snow'. Even though climates are actually tropical at the base of the mountains. Which unfortunately is not where Dr Bellum chose to keep a laboratory. The terrain where you are headed is certain to be treacherous"} Shadowsan said with a frown.
"We need to rescue Gray before VILE can harm him, or poison his mind with lies," Naruto said with a worried look and tone, with Carmen nodding in agreement.
"Or worse yet, if they tell him the truth" Shadowsan said with a small scowl.
This left Naruto and Carmen feeling even more worried and concerned, as Carmen closed the laptop.
0o0o0o0
(With Player)
Player was sitting at his desk in the classroom, as he had some sheets of paper on his desk.
"All right, folks. You'll have an hour to write four short essays. And the first topic that I would like you to explore is…." Mr Humphrey was saying, before he was cut off.
"Oh yea, this place is crawling with them," Zack said, as he and Ivy entered the classroom, wearing exterminator overalls, while carrying scanners in their hands, causing everyone to look at them, as Zack showed Ivy the readings on his scanner.
"If you mean students, well, of course, this is a classroom, afterall" Mr Humphrey said, as he crossed his arms with a frown, while Zack walked over to the blackboard, moving his scanner around, as Ivy put hers away and pulled out a pen and clipboard, as she looked around with the pen on her lips.
"We were actually referring to your infestation" Ivy said, before she began writing on the clipboard with a cocked eyebrow, while Zack began using the scanner on Mr Humphrey.
"An infestation of what exactly?" Mr Humphrey asked them with a raised eyebrow.
"Bees/Termites" Zack and Ivy said together.
This caused Mr Humphrey to look at them both in confusion.
"Termites/Bees" Zack and Ivy said at the sametime, as they looked at each other, with Zack scowling slightly at Ivy with a small growl of annoyance, while Player leaned out to look at them with a cocked eyebrow and a look of confusion on his face.
"Uh, termite bees. It's a new strain of hybrid insect. They sting and devour wood" Ivy said with a firm tone and look, with Zack nodding his head in agreement.
"And they are wicked dangerous. I mean, we're talking Double Code Red here" Zack added with his own firm tone and look, before he slightly looked over at Player, whose eyes widened at what he was meaning, before he pulled out his phone and began to rapidly type on it, causing images of termites crossed with bees to appear on the web.
"Whoa! They're not kidding. Termite bees are all over the internet" Player said as he stood up, while pointing at his phone in his hand, causing Mr Humphrey and the other students to look at him.
"Alright everyone, grab your stuff and head outside, while these two track down the insects, so that they can dispose of them" Mr Humphrey said to the students, who all grabbed their school books and other school items, as they headed towards their lockers, so that they can put them in their bags, before heading outside of the building.
0o0o0o0
(Back with Naruto)
Naruto and Carmen were both standing at the back of the Airbus A400M Atlas, holding their helmets in their hands, as Naruto pulled a lever, causing an alarm to blare as the lights changed to red, while the ramp was lowered down, with the two of them putting their helmets on, causing them to light up once fully on.
{"It is crucial that you time your landings with pinpoint accuracy. Deploy your parachutes too early, and the ensuing drift could cause you to miss the target entirely"} Shadowsan said.
"We'd have a long climb ahead of us back to the top if that happened" Carmen said
{"But deploy it too late…."} Shadowsan was saying, before Naruto finished the sentence.
"And we'll both have you beat in the broken bones department" Naruto said, as he and Carmen both frowned at this.
Naruto and Carmen both closed their eyes for a moment, as they took a few breaths, before opening their eyes and took a few steps back, then ran and jumped off the plane, which flew away, with the ramp closing up as it did, while Naruto and Carmen fell towards the Himalayan Mountains.
0o0o0o0
(With Zack and Ivy)
"Everybody file out in an orderly fashion" Mr Humphrey said to the students, as they exited the school building.
"You're doing the right thing by evacuating the students, sir," Ivy said to him, before she turned around and walked off.
"We'll alert you the moment that we locate the nest," Zack added, before he followed his sister, with Mr Humphrey watching them go with a raised eyebrow.
Zack and Ivy ran up the stairs to the school, where they ran into Player, who was just arriving at the front door, with his bag on his back.
"Okay, so how bad is it?" Player asked them curiously.
"Ruto and Carm need you. Now" Ivy said with an urgent tone.
"Okay. Then I'm gonna need somewhere private to help them" Player said with a nod.
Zack rubbed his chin in thought for a moment, before he smiled as he snapped his fingers. "I've got just the place in mind" he said, before he ran off.
Ivy and Player looked at each other curiously, before they ran after him.
After running for a few minutes, Zack stopped running as he stopped next to a cleaning room door. "Here, this should be private enough," he said with a grin.
Ivy and Player looked at each other with small shrugs, as it seemed like a good idea, before Ivy opened the door, with the three of them looking inside curiously.
"I'll get to work" Player said with a firm look and tone, as he walked into the closet, while taking his laptop out of his bag, before he threw his bag to the side. He then sat down and placed the laptop in his lap and opened it up, before he interlocked his fingers and stretched them over his head, causing them to crack as he did, then began typing on the keyboard, as Ivy closed the door.
"You know, Player looks a lot smaller in person" Zack said with a raised eyebrow.
"I think that I once heard someone say that the Internet adds ten pounds," Ivy said with a shrug.
0o0o0o0
(With Naruto)
Naruto and Carmen were still free falling through the air, as they headed towards the mountains, before they both frowned, as they ended up in a blizzard.
"Oh great," Carmen said with a tone of annoyance.
"Shadowsan, it seems that we've bumped into some weather. Visibility is compromised. Shadowsan, do you read?" Naruto said with a frown, only for him and Carmen to hear just static coming from their helmets communications, meaning that either the mountains were blocking the signal, the weather was so bad or both were the cause.
"Oh crap, that's not good" Naruto said with a tone of worry, as both he and Carmen looked concerned, as they couldn't see anything at all.
Just when they were about to try and figure out how to get to Dr Bellum's lab with no visibility, Player suddenly appeared on the side of their helmets visors. {"Hey guys, what's up?"} he asked with a smile.
This caused them both to smile back at him. "Player! We're up. But not for long without your help" Carmen said, as she and Naruto both smiled at him, before frowning.
"Can you track our position?" Naruto asked him.
"You're both miles high, and falling fast, and about to rendezvous with the source of a radio signal" Player said, as his laptop's screen showed the situation with the weather, along with Naruto and Carmen's elevation and the Himalayan Mountains.
{"It must be Bellum's lab"} Naruto said.
{"Agreed. We'll both need to deploy the moment that we align with it, would you care to navigate?"} Carmen asked Player.
"I'm guessing that you have about ten seconds. Start banking right" Player said.
Naruto and Carmen then moved themselves slightly to the right, as Player kept a close eye on his screen, making sure when to tell them to open their parachutes.
{"Five seconds. Three, two, one. Deploy now!"} Player said urgently.
Naruto and Carmen both pulled on the cords for their parachutes, which caused them to both be jerked into the air, as their chutes caught the wind.
After moving about for a while, they saw a good place for them to land. They both tried to place their feet on the ground, to slow themselves down to release their parachutes, but the wind continued to carry them away.
Naruto and Carmen both pulled out their grappling guns and shot their hooks at the rocks, and once the hooks got a good grip, the two of them ground to a halt, as they felt the strain and pain in their arms and shoulders, as their parachutes were trying to pull them away, while they could feel themselves losing their grips on their grappling guns.
Naruto and Carmen quickly reached for the straps of their parachutes and unclipped them, which caused the parachutes to be sent flying off in the wind, while the two of them were quickly pulled towards where their grappling hooks were anchored.
"Player, you're the perfect travelling companion" Naruto said with a smile, as he and Carmen reeled in their grappling hooks before looking at Dr Bellum's hidden laboratory.
{"You're just saying that because neither of you ever have to buy me a seat"} Player said with an audible smile, as Naruto and Carmen removed their helmets and flight gear, leaving them in only their winter clothing. They then put their backpacks on, before heading towards the building.
0o0o0o0
(Inside the Lab)
Gunnar was in a fancy looking room, sat in a chair with his eyes closed, as he waved his arms to some orchestra music that he was listening to, a wide smile and a sinister look on his face as he did, while Gray looked at a large picture of him in his Crackle suit, with Naruto and Carmen there along with those he'd seen in his brief memory flashbacks, a frown on his face.
Gray then saw as the screen changed to a video, with many teenagers his age standing before the five grown ups that he'd briefly seen in a memory flashback. "\Now hear the true name of VILE: Villains International League of Evil\" a woman wearing a coach outfit said, which caused Gray to close his eyes and bow his head at this.
Outside the lab, Naruto and Carmen had reached a door on the side of the building and quickly hid, so that the guards wouldn't spot them, before they crouched down in front of the control pad, as Naruto pulled out his pen flash drive and plugged it into a USB port, which allowed Player to open the door, without alerting anyone that it was opened.
Once the door opened, Naruto grabbed his pen flash drive, before he and Carne carefully and cautiously entered the base, with the door soon closing behind them, as they walked down a hallway.
After walking for a while, they heard the familiar footsteps of the robot walking, so they quickly looked for somewhere to hide so that it couldn't spot them, before they looked up and saw that there were pipes in the ceiling, along with enough space for them to stand. SO they quickly used their grappling hooks to pull themselves up, just as the robot appeared.
Roby looked down the corridor that Naruto and Carmen were in, before it walked down it and stopped, as it looked around, not knowing that Naruto and Carmen were right above it, or noticing the snow footprints on the floor.
As Naruto and Carmen sat on the pipes in the ceiling, they both noticed some water on their boots, about to fall down in front of Roby's eyes. And they knew if that happened, that they'd both be in really big trouble. Just as the water fell down….
"\Oh, Roby! Your Queenie wants some more cocoa!\" Dr Bellum's voice was heard over some speakers, which caused Roby to turn around and walk off, just as the water fell past his head onto the floor.
After waiting for a while, to make sure that the coast was clear, Naruto and Carmen lowered themselves down with their grappling lines, before reeling it all back into their grappling guns, as the two of them gave a sigh of relief, while leaning against the wall.
{"You alright there, guys?"} Player asked in their comms.
"Robot crossing. Which means that Gray is most definitely in here somewhere" Carmen said, as she and Naruto both frowned at this.
{"Do you see anything that's likely a holding cell?"} Naruto asked Player curiously.
"You're near the entrance to some sort of subterranean bunker. It could be storage or a prison" Player said with a cocked eyebrow.
"We'll check it out, thanks" Carmen said, before she and Naruto made sure that the coast was clear, before quickly running off.
0o0o0o0
(With Gray)
Gray was sitting in the chair, a frown on his face, when he heard a knock on the door. "Come in….Professor Maelstrom" he said, as he glanced over his shoulder, as said Professor entered the room, before he turned back around while leaning forward, resting his arms on his knees.
"Ah, it would seem that it's all coming back to you," Maelstrom said with a grin, as he closed the door behind him, before he walked over to Gray, with a box under his arm, which he held out to Gray when he reached him.
"What's this?" Gray asked with a raised eyebrow, as he looked at the box curiously.
"Consider it a welcome gift. Should you decide to accept our invitation, of course," Gunnar said with a smirk, as he placed the box on Gray's knees.
"And should I choose not to?" Gray asked with a cocked eyebrow.
"A simple tune up and you'll be back at the Opera. None the wiser that you and I even had these chats" the Professor said with a smirk, as he pointed at his head.
"You'd really just let me walk out of here and return to civilian life?" Gray asked.
"We did before, didn't we?" Maelstrom asked with a grin.
This made Gray think about this, as the man was right, as he looked to the side with a frown.
Gunnar then turned and headed back to the door, before opening it. "Buzz me once you've made a decision" he said, before leaving the room, closing the door behind him as he did.
Professor Maelstrom stood outside the door, as he glanced over his shoulder slightly at the door with a smile. "Should he attempt to leave, you know what to do" he said, as he walked past the man guarding the door, who stood up more straight at this.
Inside the room, Gray opened the box, which caused him to gain a look of shock on his face, as he gazed at what was inside it.
0o0o0o0
(Elsewhere in the base)
Meanwhile, as all this was going on, Naruto and Carmen were very carefully and quietly making their way towards the room that Player had mentioned to them, where they could see green light coming through the gaps as they approached the double doors.
Once the two of them opened the doors enough to peek inside, they both gasped in shock at what they saw. "No" they both said with wide eyes.
{"What is it?"} Player asked curiously.
"Bellum's building an entire army of robot thieves," Naruto said, as he and Carmen entered the large room.
"Yea, there must be dozens of them in here. Maybe even hundreds. All of them waiting for activation" Carmen said, as they looked at the robots.
{"We need to stop her from getting them online"} Player said urgently, as Naruto and Carmen carefully and quietly crept into the room, in case there were any VILE agents in the room or if they accidentally activated the robots, in case they made any noise.
Naruto and Carmen looked around the room for a moment, before they spotted something that made them both smile. "I think we see a way to make that happen," Naruto said, as he and Carmen both took off their backpacks, while walking deeper into the room.
0o0o0o0
(With Zack and Ivy)
Meanwhile, back at Player's school, Zack and Ivy were both peeking round the corner of the school building, while making sure that they weren't seen by either the students or Mr Humphrey.
"All right class, roll call" Mr Humphrey said, as he stood before the students, a clipboard in his hands.
"Uh oh" Ivy said in concern.
"Don't worry. It'll be a while before he even gets to the P's" Zack said with a smile.
"The 'P's'?" Ivy asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You know, for 'Player' of course" Zack said with a slight shrug, still smiling.
"Mr Bouchard?" Mr Humphrey called out, as he looked around for a moment, before his eyes narrowed in thought, as he turned around and headed back into the school. "Everyone is to stay here until I come back" he said to the other students.
Zack and Ivy both gained looks of panic at this, before following after him.
"Don't you know, that roll call is based on last names, not first names, you moron! And Player is his codename, not his real name!" Ivy said with a scowl at Zack, who looked sheepish at this.
Meanwhile, with Player, he was busy typing away on his laptop in the cupboard, when the door suddenly opened, causing him to stop typing and lean his head back, to see Mr Humphrey looking down at him with a scowl on his face.
"How very predictable" Mr Humphery said.
"Uh, but -" Player was saying, a look of concern on his face, before being cut off, as Mr Humphery placed his fists on his hips.
"You really need to unglue yourself from your screen once in a while, before you end up isolated with no idea of the world around you" Mr Humphery said with a firm tone, as he stared down at Player, when he seized up for a moment with a grunt, before he fell to the ground knocked out, showing Zack was behind him, a perplexed look on his face, with his thumb and forefinger spread apart.
"Whoa! Bro?" Ivy asked in shock, as she looked at Zack.
"I did it. I actually master the Ninja Pressure Point Pinch" Zack said with a wide smile.
"I am so expelled" Player said, as he looked at his knocked out teacher, before placing his hand to his face.
0o0o0o0
(Back with Naruto)
After Naruto and Carmen had finished off their business in the large room with all the VILE robots, they scoped out more of the base, trying to find the room where Gray was most likely being held, when they peeked round a corner and saw a guard standing outside a door.
Naruto and Carmen looked at each other for a moment, as they nodded at each other, before they ran round the corner at the guard, who turned towards them with a look of slight surprise on his face.
Carmen sent a roundhouse kick at him, with the VILE agent quickly grabbing her leg and turning around to throw her down the hallway, where she landed in a heap. Naruto then jumped on the man's back and wrapped his arms around his neck in a sleeperhold to knock him out, but the agent reached over and grabbed Naruto's clothes and threw him off towards where Carmen was, causing him to land next to her.
The two of them both got on their hands and knees, before they glanced over their shoulders and noticed another VILE agent had appeared round the corner, holding a crackle rod which he activated, before running towards them just as the first VILE agent did.
Naruto quickly grabbed hold of the crackle rod in the agent's hands, while he laid on the ground, as he pointed the crackle rod at the agent running towards them, which caused him to get shocked by the crackle rod, before he fell to the floor, his chest smoking slightly and knocked out.
Carmen then got to her feet and sent a roundhouse kick to the other agent's face, which sent him flying towards the wall, where he hit it before he too fell to the floor, also knocked out.
"Well, that takes care of them," Carmen said, as Naruto got on his feet, before he tossed the crackle rod away, as he and Carmen approached the door, which Naruto opened, where he and Carmen saw Gray was sitting in a chair in front of a large window.
"Gray? We have to move, like right now" Naruto said, as he and Carmen walked into the room, before he closed the door.
"The name is…." Gray was saying, before he was cut off.
"Graham. We know, we know" Carmen said, as she and Naruto walked towards him, both with small smiles on their faces.
"No," Gray said, which caused them both to stop walking, as they raised their eyebrows in confusion, while Gray stood up. "It's Crackle" he said, as he glanced over his shoulder at them, with a crackle rod in his hands, which he activated.
Naruto and Carmen both had looks of shock on their faces at this.
"And I assume that you prefer I continue to call you both 'Naruto and Carmen' eh?" Gray asked with a grin, as he pointed the crackle rod at them.
"Gray, no matter what they told you, you're not that guy anymore" Naruto said, as he and Carmen backed away slightly, both looking concerned.
"But I am that guy. I've always been that guy" Gray said with a frown.
"No. Sydney, the cafe, we're the good guys, remember?" Carmen said, as she and Naruto both smiled at him.
Gray scoffed at this. "When you finally had that cuppa with me" he said with a small smile, before he scowled. "Being good only mattered to me because Bellum rewired my thinking, programmed me to be some sort of 'innocent fool' by wiping my mind."
"It's never too late to change," Naruto said, as he and Carmen both frowned slightly.
"I've had time to reflect, piece together the fragments. And there's only one thing that I've ever regretted doing for VILE" Gray said with a frown, as he walked a little closer to them both, before he closed his eyes and lowered the crackle rod, where he turned it off.
Naruto and Carmen both looked at this in slight confusion.
"Trying to hurt the two of you," Gray said, as he looked at them with some sadness.
Naruto and Carmen both smiled a little at him, a bit relieved about this, as they both backed up to the island, where they leaned against it.
"I know that neither of you will ever come back to VILE, since we've already had that chat, on the train to Paris. But I'm begging you, give up trying to stop us, because I don't ever want to be put in a position to hurt either of you again" Gray said with a pleading look at them, before he frowned.
Naruto and Carmen's looks of relief disappeared, as they closed their eyes with scowls on their faces. "Then, apologies. Because we won't stop trying to take down VILE" Carmen said, as they both glared at Gray, before they both held on to the edge of the island tightly.
"Yea, not ever. And definitely not now" Naruto said with a nod, as he and Carmen pulled out detonators and flipped their lids open, which caused Gray to widen his eyes at this, as they pressed down on the buttons.
Inside the large room where all the VILE robots were, beeping could be heard, as two bombs were on some large canisters, where their screens were flashing, showing the timers were at zero, before the bombs blew up, which destroyed all the robots in the room, along with some of the base, damaging it.
Gray got up off the floor, where he'd been thrown from the explosion while covered in some dust, where he saw that the room was trashed, before he saw Naruto and Carmen by the window, which was broken.
"Goodbye, Gray" Naruto and Carmen said together, as they looked over their shoulders at him, which caused Gray to look worried, before they both jumped out of the window and as they fell, skis appeared out of their boots, while pulling out ski poles handles from their pockets and once they hit the snow, the ski poles had extended to full length, as they skied over to the front door of the base.
Professor Maelstrom and some VILE agents came out of the front door while coughing, with smoke billowing out with them, while Dr Bellum flew out with Roby following her.
"My babies! Years of work, destroyed!" Bellum yelled out, as she looked at her lab in despair, before she turned around, just as Naruto and Carmen skied past her, with Naruto grabbing the crown that was still on her head. "Cleo's Crown!"
"Well, that explains what happened inside," Gunnar said with a scowl, as Naruto placed the crown inside a bag.
"Get them!" Saira screamed angrily, as she pointed at Naruto and Carmen.
Roby got into a running position, as ski's appeared from its feet, before it used its arms to push itself along, while Dr Bellum flew off after them, a furious look on her face.
Naruto and Carmen both expertly skied down the mountain, with Bellum and Roby chasing after them.
As Naruto and Carmen were passing by some trees, they glanced to the side and saw Saira flying alongside them.
"Give me that crown!" Dr Bellum screamed in anger, as she dove towards them with her hands stretched out, as she tried to grab them, but Naruto and Carmen easily avoided her.
"Not in the mood, doctor!" Carmen yelled at her.
"Yea. But if you want a crown that badly, then you and the Countess can make paper crowns together, while personalising them" Naruto said with a grin.
Saira growled in anger at this, as she flew ahead of them, before she turned around and flew down towards them, her hands once again stretched out to grab them. But before she could, Naruto and Carmen both quickly turned to the sides, which caused some snow to be kicked up and sent towards Dr Bellum, covering up her goggles.
"Ah! I can't see!" Bellum yelled out, as she erratically flew in the air, waving her arms around as she did, before she crashed into the ground, where she gave a groan, before Roby skied past her, covering her up in snow.
"Well, that's her taken care of," Carmen said, as she and Naruto glanced over their shoulders for a moment, before concentrating on skiing down the mountain.
"Yea, but now we gotta deal with the Robocop ripoff" Naruto said, as he looked back, seeing the robot chasing after them.
Carmen scowled at this, before she and Naruto used their ski poles to go faster, while leaning down and forward for less wind resistance, regularly checking over their shoulders to see where the robot was.
They soon saw a piece of a fallen tree lying on top of another one, leaving enough of a gap for them to ski under the tree, which they did by lowering themselves down, where they almost touched the snow, with the robot just busting through the tree, causing pieces of wood to be sent flying everywhere.
Naruto and Carmen both weaved while skiing down the mountain, trying to get the robot off their tail. They both looked over their shoulders for a moment, where they saw the robot gaining on them, as it reached out to grab them and when they faced the front again, their eyes widened in shock, as they saw that they were almost at the edge of the mountain.
Naruto and Carmen both narrowed their eyes at this, as they leaned forward to speed up, causing them to move out of the robots reach, who bent down and used its hands to speed up after them.
Just as they were about to reach the edge, they both immediately slid to a stop, with their skis hanging over the edge, while Roby went over the edge.
Before it went too far, the robot turned around in the air and shot its grappling hand at Naruto, causing it to grab hold of Naruto's leg, which caused him to go over the edge with a yell, before he grabbed hold of the edge to stop himself from falling as his skis came off his boots and fell down to the bottom, while the robot slammed into the side of the cliff, just as it retracted its own skis.
"Naruto!" Carmen yelled, as she retracted her skis and grabbed hold of him, both to stop him from falling and to try and help him up.
Naruto held on for dear life, while the robot activated the electricity on its other arm, as it began walking up towards him. But after taking a few steps, it slipped and fell, causing Naruto's grip to loosen on the cliff edge, along with Carmen almost going over.
Upon hearing the cliffedge cracking, Naruto quickly pulled out his laser cutter and began using it on the robots grappling cable, trying to cut it off its hand, sweat pouring down his face as he did from trying to hold onto the cliff edge with a robot hanging onto him, who was climbing back up towards him and Carmen, using its electrified hand to dig into the cliffside to help it climb up.
Naruto was just about through the grappling cable, when the cliffedge he was holding onto broke, causing both him and Carmen to fall down, where they both grabbed hold onto the robot, which made it come off the cliffside and fall, with Naruto and Carmen screaming as they fell, while Naruto kept on cutting through the grappling cable and as they fell into some clouds, Naruto was finally able to cut the grappling cable off the robots hand.
Naruto and Carmen immediately opened up their glider backpacks, causing them to fly off, while the robot looked at where its detached hand was, before it hit some rocks, causing it to explode, as its parts were scattered about, along with its head, as the light disappeared from where its eyes were.
Naruto and Carmen looked back at the smoking lab, both with sad looks on their faces, before they focused on flying away.
Meanwhile, back at the destroyed lab, Gray had walked out of it and stood next to Gunnar, as they both looked at the disappearing forms of Naruto and Carmen.
"So, I take it that your still being here means that you've chosen your side?" Maelstrom asked with a frown.
Gray said nothing to this, as he narrowed his eyes.
0o0o0o0
(A few days later)
Player ran out of the front doors of his school, holding his bag in his hand, where he saw the school bus pulling away.
"Hey, wait!" Player called out, just as he put his bag on his back, before he stood on the sidewalk, watching the bus drive off. He was about to walk off, when he looked across the street and saw Naruto and Carmen were sitting on a bench, with the two of them giving Player a small smile.
The three of them then headed off to a nearby cafe to get something to eat, with Player calling his parents to let them know that he'll be eating dinner with friends.
After they arrived at the cafe, they chose a double booth to sit, before ordering some burgers and fries along with drinks. Once the food arrived, they all ate some of the food, as they were quite hungry.
"So, how is school going?" Naruto asked Player with a grin, before taking a bite from his burger, then he ate some fries with ketchup and mayo on them.
Player drank some of his drink, before he smiled at them both. "Actually, today was my last day," he said, before eating some fries.
Naruto and Carmen both looked shocked at this. "No. You weren't expel -" Carmen was saying, before being cut off.
"No. My parents totally freaked out when they heard about my school's bug problem. They decided that home schooling was safer" Player said.
"Go figure" Naruto said with a grin, as he drank his drink, before he noticed that Player was staring at him and Carmen, with Carmen noticing the same thing. "What is it?"
"You both just look taller than I thought you would in person" Player said with a grin, as he took a bite of his burger.
Naruto and Carmen both smiled at this, before they both gave a small sigh, as a downcast look appeared on their faces, while they played with the straws in their drinks.
"You guys didn't come here just to celebrate retrieving a stolen crown and destroying a robot army, did you?" Player asked them, a look of concern on his face.
"We just felt that we needed to connect with our other oldest friend from our school days," Carmen said, as they crossed their arms on the table, while smiling at Player.
"Don't worry, guys. I'm not going anywhere" Player said with a smile at them.
"We know" Naruto and Carmen said, returning the smile with their own, before they continued eating, while making idle chatter.
0o0o0o0
(Nevsehir, Turkey)
A pair of archaeologists were inside a catacomb that leads into a cavern.
"The catacomb was newly discovered, after the recent earthquakes" the female archaeologist said, as she and her male co worker walked through the cave, shining their torches around the area, before they came upon a large pile of rocks, blocking a doorway. "It looks to be completely undisturbed. Who knows what it may hold?"
On the other side of the rocks, was a large room, filled with what looked like treasure, along with a 'V' symbol made of rock on the wall.
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.