Troubled Waters, ch 5 (Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, The Dying Informant; "Hero")
Title: Troubled Waters, chapter 5 and epilogue (other chapter are available on my journal, 30_hugs, and the V.I.L.E. Headquarters fanfic forum).
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (The Dying Informant)
Table: Do-it-Yourself
Prompt: "Hero"
Rating: PG13
Summary: When an attempt to free the Messenger goes wrong, is all lost?
Warnings: Villainy
Will be cross-posted to my journal, 30_hugs, and the V.I.L.E. Headquarters fanfic forum.
Patty led him through the cellars. They tunneled underground in a maze, the pathways lit by blazing torches mounted on the walls; this hideout had apparently been used by V.I.L.E. before.
“Carmen’s ancestors had been quite active during their day,” said Patty, reading the Informant’s mind. “I’ll bet that there’re a lot of old treasures down here…” She trailed off, her hand coming to rest on one of several old barrels. “I wonder what they kept in here…”
She opened the lid of the barrel, and she and the Informant both recoiled at the strong smell.
“Moonshine…” the Informant said, his eyes watering, as he glanced at the other barrels. “I’ll bet that all of this was made by one of Carmen’s ancestors during Prohibition.”
“I think you’re right…” Patty said, with a cough, as she opened another barrel to find more of the same liquid. “Oh, wow… I think Top Grunge would be the only one who could stand to drink it now… But never mind; you wanted me to take you inside, didn’t you?”
She led him further through the cellars, and, finally, they emerged to see Carmen standing with her arms folded, the Messenger standing silently before her. The shark, growling in frustration, was caged.
“I had a feeling you would show up here,” said Carmen, glancing at the Informant and Patty. She gestured to the Messenger. “Explain. What is he doing here with the shark?”
“Well… what it is…” began Patty.
“I was too smart for her,” said the Informant, bluffing. “I told Patty that I knew what she was trying to do with that serum. But, as it turned out, I had a falling out with him,” he added, indicating the Messenger. “And since I didn’t want to draw attention to myself at ACME, I cleverly convinced Patty to let me slip the serum to him, so that he would bring the shark to you for me, and that I would follow him on the pretext of investigating what he was doing with the shark. And here is the shark, as you requested, well within the twenty-four hour time limit you gave me. He was just… part of the plan to get it to you.”
“He’s your best friend, isn’t he?” asked Carmen, her eyebrows arched.
“Once,” said the Informant, feigning disgust. “He’s half the reason why I came to join V.I.L.E. in the first place!”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Carmen. “You’ve just made my life a lot easier.”
“…Huh…?”
“You see, I was wondering what to do with him…” Carmen said, glancing pointedly at the Messenger. “He is clearly of no further use to me, whether under the influence of the serum or not. Of course, I can’t let him go.” She smirked. “Here’s your chance to pay him back for all of the misery he caused you.”
“…What do you mean?” asked the Informant, dreading the answer.
“I mean that he needs to be dealt with-permanently. And you’re going to be the one to do it. After the success of your first mission, I have no doubt that you can pull this one off,” Carmen replied. “Get rid of him. Now.”
“…Right. Of course…” said the Informant, his mind in turmoil. How was he going to get out of this one?
“I’ll see you when you’ve finished,” said Patty. “I’ll be downstairs-I want to take a closer look at those barrels down there.”
“Yeah, you know what? That might be the best way to do this,” said the Informant, seizing the Messenger by the shoulders. He glanced back at Carmen. “All that old moonshine down there… just a sip of that could send someone to buy the farm, you know?”
Carmen’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll give you ten minutes,” she said. “When I come down there, you’d better be finished.”
“Right. Of course…”
********************************
“It’s over…” the Informant gasped as he led the silent Messenger to the cellars. “It’s all over for the both of us. Carmen’s going to take him out when she comes down here, and then I’ll follow.”
“It’s not too late for you,” said Patty. “You can leave, or go ahead and obey her.”
“Patty, I can’t! Look at him!” he cried. “He doesn’t even know that he’s done for! And he’s still my best friend-he’s like a brother to me! Look, I’m so sorry that it didn’t work out between us…”
“Maybe there’s still a chance…” she said. “Maybe if you two do get out of here, the both of us can still be together… without ACME or V.I.L.E. ever knowing. We can meet on neutral ground-no enmity between you and me. It’ll be our secret.”
“I’d go along with that, but how do I get out of this one?”
Patty pointed to the pink alien hovering above them, a little vial in her hand.
“Kneemoi!?”
“Patty asked me to make this,” the alien replied cheerfully.
“But… why are you helping me?” asked the Informant, bewildered.
“Because, for starters, Patty is my colleague and friend; I want her to be happy, and she’ll be happy if you’re happy. Secondly, it’d be no fun if you and your friends weren’t around to chase us all over the world-we like the challenge! And lastly, not all of us at V.I.L.E. are cold and sadistic,” chirruped Kneemoi. “Some of us have hearts-I have three, myself!”
The Informant grinned as Kneemoi tossed him the antidote.
“I’ll never forget this,” he promised. “Both of you. But, uh… just don’t take it personally if I’m forced to arrest you in the future…”
“Just don’t tell Carmen!” said Kneemoi, as she flew off. “And let the games continue!”
“Right…” the Informant said. He realized that he was putting a lot of faith in the alien, but it was necessary. Turning to Patty, he added, “Listen… I don’t want Carmen to do anything to you, okay? After I escape, I want you to tell her that I was a double agent.”
“She’ll be furious…” Patty warned. “The rest of V.I.L.E. will be after you with a vengeance.”
“Nothing new to me,” the Informant said, with a wry smile.
He walked over to the Messenger, who turned, glaring at him.
“Hey, Bro…” said the Informant. “I’m sorry about all of this… but this antidote should set you free…” He trailed off as the Messenger’s hand closed down on his wrist, stopping him from bringing the antidote any closer. “What are you doing!? I’m trying to help you!”
“Look out!” exclaimed Patty.
The Informant looked up in time to see the Messenger’s other hand close into a fist and strike. The younger detective jumped aside, the Messenger’s fist driving into one of the old barrels of moonshine, which began to empty it contents as the Messenger withdrew his hand in order to strike again.
“I don’t understand!” cried the Informant. “He was quiet until right this second…” He dodged another blow-this one struck a stack of barrels, whish crashed around them, unleashing more of the foul-smelling liquid, which began to flow throughout the passageways. Patty and the Informant were both coughing, eyes watering from the fumes all around them. Broken barrels soon littered the caverns as Patty and the Informant both fled from the apparently crazed messenger, who continued to pursue them relentlessly.
The next strike hit, causing the Informant to lose his grip on the antidote. The little bottle rolled down one of the passageways. But before the Informant could even attempt to search for it, the Messenger seized one of the torches, the firelight illuminating the cold, blank expression in his eyes.
The Informant glanced up at him, helplessly, as he knelt on the floor that was damp with the spilled moonshine. The fumes were making the youth’s head reel-he wouldn’t have been able to fight, even if he had wanted to. And Patty was holding on to the cavern wall with one hand while massaging her forehead with the other-the fumes were getting to her, as well.
“I’m… sorry…” the Informant gasped, trying to get to his feet in his dizziness. “It should’ve been me, standing like that… not you…”
But he noticed that the Messenger was trembling slightly; was he fighting against the serum that was trying to control him? The older agent was beginning to back away, but still holding the torch in front of him as a warning.
“Here…!” called Patty. She was holding up the antidote bottle that she had just spotted. She tossed it to the Informant, who, wordlessly, held it out to his friend.
“Come on, Bro,” he said. “This is your way out of this mess.”
He stepped forward, but the Messenger continued to back away, ending up behind a barrier of fallen barrels. But slowly, his hand reached out for the antidote, though some part of his mind-the part being controlled-was trying to stop him from taking it.
The Messenger’s hand closed around the bottle, but the serum wasn’t about to let him get away with his disobedience. It had become a monster in its own right, and, with an angry cry, the Messenger hurled the torch to the ground. A wall of flames, fed by the spilled moonshine, rose between the two agents.
“No!” cried the Informant, trying to find a way through the fire.
“What are you doing!?” cried Patty. “We have to run-the whole place is going to go up in flames!”
“But he’s--”
“You can’t help him now!” she retorted, seizing his arm and pulling him down the passageway as the fire began to spread. “What good will it do him if you get caught in the fire, too!?”
She had to drag him back to the upper level of the warehouse, forcing herself to ignore his heartbreaking cries as he looked back to see the fire burning furiously. He now, slammed his fist into the wall.
“What’s the matter now?” asked Carmen, coldly.
Patty swallowed hard. She knew that the Informant would never be able to work for V.I.L.E. after losing his best friend. She knew what she had to do.
“He’s a double agent, Aunt Carmen!” she said, feigning anger. “And he destroyed all of the cellars!”
“I’m not surprised,” said Carmen. “In fact, I had expected it. I hope you realize, Patty, that you were blinded by your feelings for him. But it doesn’t matter now; we have a place all set up for him.”
Carmen snapped her fingers, and RoboCrook clomped in.
“Take him to the cooler,” said Carmen, her voice colder than that of the poor Informant’s destination.
*****************************
Failed missions were nothing new to the Informant, but today was a failure that he would not be able to recover from. He hadn’t just failed his mission; he had failed his best friend. He could only mourn for his friend as he paced the frigid room. Undoubtedly, Carmen would keep him there until he froze. No one at ACME would ever find out what happened to him.
Or maybe Patty and Kneemoi would free him somehow. But the thought made him tremble with shame; how could he ever show his face at ACME again!?
And even if he did find a way out of this, and if the rest of ACME didn’t blame him for what had happened, he knew that he would never forgive himself for losing his best friend in such a way.
“I was supposed to be the one who took the serum-not him…” he thought. “I’m responsible for what happened to him…”
It had seemed like only yesterday that they had joined ACME. It had taken a while for their friendship to form, partly because the Informant had found the Messenger to be too wild and crazy. But after working together to capture Eartha Brute in the underground caverns of Paris, their friendship had formed.
But now… it was all over.
He couldn’t think of anything else as the time passed. Eventually, he was too cold and tired to pace. He sank to the floor, drowsy. He knew that falling asleep now would probably seal his fate. And yet he couldn’t resist against it.
“Infy!” a voice was saying. “Infy, wake up!”
But the young detective merely turned his face away, too tired to respond.
“You’re making this difficult…” the speaker was saying. “Come on!”
The Informant felt himself being shaken roughly, but he still did not respond, prompting the speaker to literally drag him off.
“What have you been eating? That shark was easier to haul around than you!”
Now the youth’s eyes snapped open to see his friend.
“What are you doing here!?” he gasped, his voice quivering from the cold.
“Aside from saving you from the deep freeze?” asked the Messenger.
“But… you… the fire…” the youth stammered.
“Yeah, I know,” the Messenger grinned. “Quite a duo we are, huh? One of us nearly flambéed, and the other one nearly frozen…?”
“But… but how did you…?”
“Get out? I started coming around after things started going up in smoke,” he explained. “And I knew I had to take the contents of that vial in my hand. So I did… and that was when I saw that I was trapped under there. So I did what anyone would’ve done: panicked. And I ended up breaking a crumbling part of the wall which led to another passageway and came up through a trapdoor. And I overheard Patty Larceny talking to Kneemoi about how Carmen had gone to check on another branch of V.I.L.E. and that a certain double agent was locked in the freezer.”
The Informant blinked. He had a feeling that Patty and Kneemoi hadn’t been conversing about him for no reason. And he was grateful to them for it.
“Of course, I knew I had to create some sort of diversion so that I could find you…” The Messenger trailed off, smirking, prompting the Informant to glance at him with arched eyebrows.
“What did you do…?” the younger detective asked, almost afraid to find out.
His query was answered as he glanced down the corridor and saw a frantic Wonder Rat being chased by the amphibious shark.
“Unfortunately, most of the V.I.L.E. agents here fled as soon as they realized that I let the shark loose. I think Wonder Rat will soon join them, but I doubt that either of us has the strength to tail him now; they’re probably heading to another hideout. But it was either chasing after them or getting you out of here.”
“So Patty and Kneemoi escaped…?” the Informant thought. “Well, they are the reason why he’s back, so I guess I should by happy…”
“Backup should be arriving soon to salvage whatever they can from this hideout and put out the fire in the cellars,” the Messenger went on. He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. “Come on; we have to get out of here in case V.I.L.E. returns with backup, too.”
He was deliberately avoiding everything about the case-the date with Patty, not being told about the mission, being led to believe that the Informant had been ready to join V.I.L.E.… He clearly did not want to talk about it.
The Informant shakily got to his feet. Perhaps it had been too much to hope for, but he had been banking on the fact that his friends would understand about why he hadn’t been able to tell them about the mission. But the Messenger was still visibly upset. And there was still the issue about actually having feelings for Patty; how on earth would he break that news to his friends?
“It isn’t over yet,” the Informant realized, with a sigh.
Epilogue
Within hours, the fire was put out, stolen property (the shark included) was seized from the V.I.L.E. hideout, and the Informant and the Messenger were back with the Techie and the Inspector (and Borealis), narrating how the antidote had “somehow” been obtained (the Informant was not yet willing to admit that Patty and Kneemoi had helped him).
A slight beeping from his cell phone made the Informant realize that he had a new text message. Without thinking, he checked the message, and was surprised to see that it had come from Patty.
“I just thought you’d like to know… your friend is alright; he found another way out, and he must’ve taken the antidote because he was looking for you. I had Kneemoi stage a conversation with me so that he could find out where you were being held. I’ll be honest; I don’t like him, but at least I know that he’s going to help you, and that’s good enough for me. Aunt Carmen has set up a new hideout, and we’re all here. She’s furious with you, though, and so are several of the other V.I.L.E. agents. And I’m worried about you; they’ll want to get back at you and your friend for this. I’m not mad at you for pretending to join V.I.L.E., though. …In fact, like Aunt Carmen, I sort of expected it; I knew that it was too good to be true. But I did enjoy getting to know you, and perhaps we can meet somewhere where the lines between ACME and V.I.L.E. are blurred. Until then, I’ll be thinking of you. Love, Patty. ”
The Informant saved the message, knowing that he would want to reread it later, and he returned to the conversation with his friends. They were just starting to discuss about how the Informant had been freed from his frigid prison when the Chief arrived to speak with the Informant.
“Listen, Chief…” said the Informant, humbly. “I’m sorry about failing the mission, but--”
“It turns out that there was no mission,” said the Chief. She handed him an official document. “I was suspicious when they suddenly wanted to assign one of my agents on a mission such as this, so I double-checked the orders and did a little investigating of my own. The ‘orders’ I received were a forgery sent by Conrad Knuckle of E.M.C.A.”
“What!?” cried the young detective. “You mean I went through all of that for nothing!?”
“It wasn’t exactly a fun time for me, either,” said the Messenger, frowning slightly.
“Yes; apparently, he thought it would be amusing to see me send off one of my best agents on a mission that he saw as being doomed to failure,” said the Chief, visibly furious. “I’m not taking this sitting down.”
But she knew very well that it would do nothing to erase the turmoil that the Informant had been through over the past day.
“However,” she went on. “You did an excellent job handling this mission. V.I.L.E. has lost one of their hideouts, and we managed to recover several lost and stolen objects. It wasn’t all in vain.”
“I know that, but…” the young detective exchanged glances with the Messenger, who immediately looked away.
The Chief seemed to be thinking along the same lines as the Informant. She took the Inspector and the Techie aside to speak to them in order to allow the Messenger and the Informant to talk.
“Listen, Bro…” said the Informant. “I wanted to tell you-I really did! But I thought it was an official mission, and I couldn’t. The orders that Conrad forged swore me to secrecy.”
“Yeah, I understand,” said the Messenger, still looking away, visibly upset. “Sorry it turned out to be nothing but a big waste for you.” He kicked a rock in frustration. “Sorry I got in the way.”
The Informant clenched his fist.
“Well, you had a good reason to,” he said. “You thought I was running out on you and the others… And to top it off, you ended up getting the serum that should’ve been for me.” He frowned at the thought. “I wish I had gotten it. I’d have deserved it…”
Now the Messenger faced him, glaring at him.
“Is that so?” he asked. “Infy, do you honestly believe that the others and I would’ve let you turn into Carmen’s mindless lackey? Look… I should’ve had more faith that you weren’t going to betray ACME. But I didn’t, and I paid the price for it. I just didn’t like the thought of Patty leading you astray. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, and they’re not all V.I.L.E. agents.”
“Well…” sighed the Informant, steeling himself for what he had to say. “I won’t deny that Patty and I actually had a good time last night. I wish she was on our side.”
The Messenger’s expression was unreadable.
“Well, she isn’t, and you’ve got to remember that,” he said at last.
“Yeah, I know…” the Informant replied, thinking about how Patty had spoken to him about meeting on neutral ground, and then repeating it in her text message to him. He had to admit to himself that he liked the idea, though he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention it to the Messenger… or, for that matter, anyone. She was right; it would have to be their secret.
“You sure you’re alright, Infy?” asked the Messenger.
“Yeah… just a little chilly,” he said, forcing a grin. “You?”
“Who, me? Oh, I’m fine, as usual…” he replied. “…Though we never did get our breakfast this morning due to that shark taking over the mess hall…”
“Want to go back to headquarters and see if there’s any food left over?” asked the Informant, suppressing a smirk.
“Now you’re talking!” the Messenger replied, with a grin.
The two rejoined their friends and headed back to ACME. True, it may not be over yet… but at least things were getting better.
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (The Dying Informant)
Table: Do-it-Yourself
Prompt: "Hero"
Rating: PG13
Summary: When an attempt to free the Messenger goes wrong, is all lost?
Warnings: Villainy
Will be cross-posted to my journal, 30_hugs, and the V.I.L.E. Headquarters fanfic forum.
Patty led him through the cellars. They tunneled underground in a maze, the pathways lit by blazing torches mounted on the walls; this hideout had apparently been used by V.I.L.E. before.
“Carmen’s ancestors had been quite active during their day,” said Patty, reading the Informant’s mind. “I’ll bet that there’re a lot of old treasures down here…” She trailed off, her hand coming to rest on one of several old barrels. “I wonder what they kept in here…”
She opened the lid of the barrel, and she and the Informant both recoiled at the strong smell.
“Moonshine…” the Informant said, his eyes watering, as he glanced at the other barrels. “I’ll bet that all of this was made by one of Carmen’s ancestors during Prohibition.”
“I think you’re right…” Patty said, with a cough, as she opened another barrel to find more of the same liquid. “Oh, wow… I think Top Grunge would be the only one who could stand to drink it now… But never mind; you wanted me to take you inside, didn’t you?”
She led him further through the cellars, and, finally, they emerged to see Carmen standing with her arms folded, the Messenger standing silently before her. The shark, growling in frustration, was caged.
“I had a feeling you would show up here,” said Carmen, glancing at the Informant and Patty. She gestured to the Messenger. “Explain. What is he doing here with the shark?”
“Well… what it is…” began Patty.
“I was too smart for her,” said the Informant, bluffing. “I told Patty that I knew what she was trying to do with that serum. But, as it turned out, I had a falling out with him,” he added, indicating the Messenger. “And since I didn’t want to draw attention to myself at ACME, I cleverly convinced Patty to let me slip the serum to him, so that he would bring the shark to you for me, and that I would follow him on the pretext of investigating what he was doing with the shark. And here is the shark, as you requested, well within the twenty-four hour time limit you gave me. He was just… part of the plan to get it to you.”
“He’s your best friend, isn’t he?” asked Carmen, her eyebrows arched.
“Once,” said the Informant, feigning disgust. “He’s half the reason why I came to join V.I.L.E. in the first place!”
“I’m glad to hear it,” said Carmen. “You’ve just made my life a lot easier.”
“…Huh…?”
“You see, I was wondering what to do with him…” Carmen said, glancing pointedly at the Messenger. “He is clearly of no further use to me, whether under the influence of the serum or not. Of course, I can’t let him go.” She smirked. “Here’s your chance to pay him back for all of the misery he caused you.”
“…What do you mean?” asked the Informant, dreading the answer.
“I mean that he needs to be dealt with-permanently. And you’re going to be the one to do it. After the success of your first mission, I have no doubt that you can pull this one off,” Carmen replied. “Get rid of him. Now.”
“…Right. Of course…” said the Informant, his mind in turmoil. How was he going to get out of this one?
“I’ll see you when you’ve finished,” said Patty. “I’ll be downstairs-I want to take a closer look at those barrels down there.”
“Yeah, you know what? That might be the best way to do this,” said the Informant, seizing the Messenger by the shoulders. He glanced back at Carmen. “All that old moonshine down there… just a sip of that could send someone to buy the farm, you know?”
Carmen’s eyes narrowed.
“I’ll give you ten minutes,” she said. “When I come down there, you’d better be finished.”
“Right. Of course…”
********************************
“It’s over…” the Informant gasped as he led the silent Messenger to the cellars. “It’s all over for the both of us. Carmen’s going to take him out when she comes down here, and then I’ll follow.”
“It’s not too late for you,” said Patty. “You can leave, or go ahead and obey her.”
“Patty, I can’t! Look at him!” he cried. “He doesn’t even know that he’s done for! And he’s still my best friend-he’s like a brother to me! Look, I’m so sorry that it didn’t work out between us…”
“Maybe there’s still a chance…” she said. “Maybe if you two do get out of here, the both of us can still be together… without ACME or V.I.L.E. ever knowing. We can meet on neutral ground-no enmity between you and me. It’ll be our secret.”
“I’d go along with that, but how do I get out of this one?”
Patty pointed to the pink alien hovering above them, a little vial in her hand.
“Kneemoi!?”
“Patty asked me to make this,” the alien replied cheerfully.
“But… why are you helping me?” asked the Informant, bewildered.
“Because, for starters, Patty is my colleague and friend; I want her to be happy, and she’ll be happy if you’re happy. Secondly, it’d be no fun if you and your friends weren’t around to chase us all over the world-we like the challenge! And lastly, not all of us at V.I.L.E. are cold and sadistic,” chirruped Kneemoi. “Some of us have hearts-I have three, myself!”
The Informant grinned as Kneemoi tossed him the antidote.
“I’ll never forget this,” he promised. “Both of you. But, uh… just don’t take it personally if I’m forced to arrest you in the future…”
“Just don’t tell Carmen!” said Kneemoi, as she flew off. “And let the games continue!”
“Right…” the Informant said. He realized that he was putting a lot of faith in the alien, but it was necessary. Turning to Patty, he added, “Listen… I don’t want Carmen to do anything to you, okay? After I escape, I want you to tell her that I was a double agent.”
“She’ll be furious…” Patty warned. “The rest of V.I.L.E. will be after you with a vengeance.”
“Nothing new to me,” the Informant said, with a wry smile.
He walked over to the Messenger, who turned, glaring at him.
“Hey, Bro…” said the Informant. “I’m sorry about all of this… but this antidote should set you free…” He trailed off as the Messenger’s hand closed down on his wrist, stopping him from bringing the antidote any closer. “What are you doing!? I’m trying to help you!”
“Look out!” exclaimed Patty.
The Informant looked up in time to see the Messenger’s other hand close into a fist and strike. The younger detective jumped aside, the Messenger’s fist driving into one of the old barrels of moonshine, which began to empty it contents as the Messenger withdrew his hand in order to strike again.
“I don’t understand!” cried the Informant. “He was quiet until right this second…” He dodged another blow-this one struck a stack of barrels, whish crashed around them, unleashing more of the foul-smelling liquid, which began to flow throughout the passageways. Patty and the Informant were both coughing, eyes watering from the fumes all around them. Broken barrels soon littered the caverns as Patty and the Informant both fled from the apparently crazed messenger, who continued to pursue them relentlessly.
The next strike hit, causing the Informant to lose his grip on the antidote. The little bottle rolled down one of the passageways. But before the Informant could even attempt to search for it, the Messenger seized one of the torches, the firelight illuminating the cold, blank expression in his eyes.
The Informant glanced up at him, helplessly, as he knelt on the floor that was damp with the spilled moonshine. The fumes were making the youth’s head reel-he wouldn’t have been able to fight, even if he had wanted to. And Patty was holding on to the cavern wall with one hand while massaging her forehead with the other-the fumes were getting to her, as well.
“I’m… sorry…” the Informant gasped, trying to get to his feet in his dizziness. “It should’ve been me, standing like that… not you…”
But he noticed that the Messenger was trembling slightly; was he fighting against the serum that was trying to control him? The older agent was beginning to back away, but still holding the torch in front of him as a warning.
“Here…!” called Patty. She was holding up the antidote bottle that she had just spotted. She tossed it to the Informant, who, wordlessly, held it out to his friend.
“Come on, Bro,” he said. “This is your way out of this mess.”
He stepped forward, but the Messenger continued to back away, ending up behind a barrier of fallen barrels. But slowly, his hand reached out for the antidote, though some part of his mind-the part being controlled-was trying to stop him from taking it.
The Messenger’s hand closed around the bottle, but the serum wasn’t about to let him get away with his disobedience. It had become a monster in its own right, and, with an angry cry, the Messenger hurled the torch to the ground. A wall of flames, fed by the spilled moonshine, rose between the two agents.
“No!” cried the Informant, trying to find a way through the fire.
“What are you doing!?” cried Patty. “We have to run-the whole place is going to go up in flames!”
“But he’s--”
“You can’t help him now!” she retorted, seizing his arm and pulling him down the passageway as the fire began to spread. “What good will it do him if you get caught in the fire, too!?”
She had to drag him back to the upper level of the warehouse, forcing herself to ignore his heartbreaking cries as he looked back to see the fire burning furiously. He now, slammed his fist into the wall.
“What’s the matter now?” asked Carmen, coldly.
Patty swallowed hard. She knew that the Informant would never be able to work for V.I.L.E. after losing his best friend. She knew what she had to do.
“He’s a double agent, Aunt Carmen!” she said, feigning anger. “And he destroyed all of the cellars!”
“I’m not surprised,” said Carmen. “In fact, I had expected it. I hope you realize, Patty, that you were blinded by your feelings for him. But it doesn’t matter now; we have a place all set up for him.”
Carmen snapped her fingers, and RoboCrook clomped in.
“Take him to the cooler,” said Carmen, her voice colder than that of the poor Informant’s destination.
*****************************
Failed missions were nothing new to the Informant, but today was a failure that he would not be able to recover from. He hadn’t just failed his mission; he had failed his best friend. He could only mourn for his friend as he paced the frigid room. Undoubtedly, Carmen would keep him there until he froze. No one at ACME would ever find out what happened to him.
Or maybe Patty and Kneemoi would free him somehow. But the thought made him tremble with shame; how could he ever show his face at ACME again!?
And even if he did find a way out of this, and if the rest of ACME didn’t blame him for what had happened, he knew that he would never forgive himself for losing his best friend in such a way.
“I was supposed to be the one who took the serum-not him…” he thought. “I’m responsible for what happened to him…”
It had seemed like only yesterday that they had joined ACME. It had taken a while for their friendship to form, partly because the Informant had found the Messenger to be too wild and crazy. But after working together to capture Eartha Brute in the underground caverns of Paris, their friendship had formed.
But now… it was all over.
He couldn’t think of anything else as the time passed. Eventually, he was too cold and tired to pace. He sank to the floor, drowsy. He knew that falling asleep now would probably seal his fate. And yet he couldn’t resist against it.
“Infy!” a voice was saying. “Infy, wake up!”
But the young detective merely turned his face away, too tired to respond.
“You’re making this difficult…” the speaker was saying. “Come on!”
The Informant felt himself being shaken roughly, but he still did not respond, prompting the speaker to literally drag him off.
“What have you been eating? That shark was easier to haul around than you!”
Now the youth’s eyes snapped open to see his friend.
“What are you doing here!?” he gasped, his voice quivering from the cold.
“Aside from saving you from the deep freeze?” asked the Messenger.
“But… you… the fire…” the youth stammered.
“Yeah, I know,” the Messenger grinned. “Quite a duo we are, huh? One of us nearly flambéed, and the other one nearly frozen…?”
“But… but how did you…?”
“Get out? I started coming around after things started going up in smoke,” he explained. “And I knew I had to take the contents of that vial in my hand. So I did… and that was when I saw that I was trapped under there. So I did what anyone would’ve done: panicked. And I ended up breaking a crumbling part of the wall which led to another passageway and came up through a trapdoor. And I overheard Patty Larceny talking to Kneemoi about how Carmen had gone to check on another branch of V.I.L.E. and that a certain double agent was locked in the freezer.”
The Informant blinked. He had a feeling that Patty and Kneemoi hadn’t been conversing about him for no reason. And he was grateful to them for it.
“Of course, I knew I had to create some sort of diversion so that I could find you…” The Messenger trailed off, smirking, prompting the Informant to glance at him with arched eyebrows.
“What did you do…?” the younger detective asked, almost afraid to find out.
His query was answered as he glanced down the corridor and saw a frantic Wonder Rat being chased by the amphibious shark.
“Unfortunately, most of the V.I.L.E. agents here fled as soon as they realized that I let the shark loose. I think Wonder Rat will soon join them, but I doubt that either of us has the strength to tail him now; they’re probably heading to another hideout. But it was either chasing after them or getting you out of here.”
“So Patty and Kneemoi escaped…?” the Informant thought. “Well, they are the reason why he’s back, so I guess I should by happy…”
“Backup should be arriving soon to salvage whatever they can from this hideout and put out the fire in the cellars,” the Messenger went on. He looked as though he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. “Come on; we have to get out of here in case V.I.L.E. returns with backup, too.”
He was deliberately avoiding everything about the case-the date with Patty, not being told about the mission, being led to believe that the Informant had been ready to join V.I.L.E.… He clearly did not want to talk about it.
The Informant shakily got to his feet. Perhaps it had been too much to hope for, but he had been banking on the fact that his friends would understand about why he hadn’t been able to tell them about the mission. But the Messenger was still visibly upset. And there was still the issue about actually having feelings for Patty; how on earth would he break that news to his friends?
“It isn’t over yet,” the Informant realized, with a sigh.
Epilogue
Within hours, the fire was put out, stolen property (the shark included) was seized from the V.I.L.E. hideout, and the Informant and the Messenger were back with the Techie and the Inspector (and Borealis), narrating how the antidote had “somehow” been obtained (the Informant was not yet willing to admit that Patty and Kneemoi had helped him).
A slight beeping from his cell phone made the Informant realize that he had a new text message. Without thinking, he checked the message, and was surprised to see that it had come from Patty.
“I just thought you’d like to know… your friend is alright; he found another way out, and he must’ve taken the antidote because he was looking for you. I had Kneemoi stage a conversation with me so that he could find out where you were being held. I’ll be honest; I don’t like him, but at least I know that he’s going to help you, and that’s good enough for me. Aunt Carmen has set up a new hideout, and we’re all here. She’s furious with you, though, and so are several of the other V.I.L.E. agents. And I’m worried about you; they’ll want to get back at you and your friend for this. I’m not mad at you for pretending to join V.I.L.E., though. …In fact, like Aunt Carmen, I sort of expected it; I knew that it was too good to be true. But I did enjoy getting to know you, and perhaps we can meet somewhere where the lines between ACME and V.I.L.E. are blurred. Until then, I’ll be thinking of you. Love, Patty. ”
The Informant saved the message, knowing that he would want to reread it later, and he returned to the conversation with his friends. They were just starting to discuss about how the Informant had been freed from his frigid prison when the Chief arrived to speak with the Informant.
“Listen, Chief…” said the Informant, humbly. “I’m sorry about failing the mission, but--”
“It turns out that there was no mission,” said the Chief. She handed him an official document. “I was suspicious when they suddenly wanted to assign one of my agents on a mission such as this, so I double-checked the orders and did a little investigating of my own. The ‘orders’ I received were a forgery sent by Conrad Knuckle of E.M.C.A.”
“What!?” cried the young detective. “You mean I went through all of that for nothing!?”
“It wasn’t exactly a fun time for me, either,” said the Messenger, frowning slightly.
“Yes; apparently, he thought it would be amusing to see me send off one of my best agents on a mission that he saw as being doomed to failure,” said the Chief, visibly furious. “I’m not taking this sitting down.”
But she knew very well that it would do nothing to erase the turmoil that the Informant had been through over the past day.
“However,” she went on. “You did an excellent job handling this mission. V.I.L.E. has lost one of their hideouts, and we managed to recover several lost and stolen objects. It wasn’t all in vain.”
“I know that, but…” the young detective exchanged glances with the Messenger, who immediately looked away.
The Chief seemed to be thinking along the same lines as the Informant. She took the Inspector and the Techie aside to speak to them in order to allow the Messenger and the Informant to talk.
“Listen, Bro…” said the Informant. “I wanted to tell you-I really did! But I thought it was an official mission, and I couldn’t. The orders that Conrad forged swore me to secrecy.”
“Yeah, I understand,” said the Messenger, still looking away, visibly upset. “Sorry it turned out to be nothing but a big waste for you.” He kicked a rock in frustration. “Sorry I got in the way.”
The Informant clenched his fist.
“Well, you had a good reason to,” he said. “You thought I was running out on you and the others… And to top it off, you ended up getting the serum that should’ve been for me.” He frowned at the thought. “I wish I had gotten it. I’d have deserved it…”
Now the Messenger faced him, glaring at him.
“Is that so?” he asked. “Infy, do you honestly believe that the others and I would’ve let you turn into Carmen’s mindless lackey? Look… I should’ve had more faith that you weren’t going to betray ACME. But I didn’t, and I paid the price for it. I just didn’t like the thought of Patty leading you astray. There are plenty of other fish in the sea, and they’re not all V.I.L.E. agents.”
“Well…” sighed the Informant, steeling himself for what he had to say. “I won’t deny that Patty and I actually had a good time last night. I wish she was on our side.”
The Messenger’s expression was unreadable.
“Well, she isn’t, and you’ve got to remember that,” he said at last.
“Yeah, I know…” the Informant replied, thinking about how Patty had spoken to him about meeting on neutral ground, and then repeating it in her text message to him. He had to admit to himself that he liked the idea, though he knew that it wouldn’t be a good idea to mention it to the Messenger… or, for that matter, anyone. She was right; it would have to be their secret.
“You sure you’re alright, Infy?” asked the Messenger.
“Yeah… just a little chilly,” he said, forcing a grin. “You?”
“Who, me? Oh, I’m fine, as usual…” he replied. “…Though we never did get our breakfast this morning due to that shark taking over the mess hall…”
“Want to go back to headquarters and see if there’s any food left over?” asked the Informant, suppressing a smirk.
“Now you’re talking!” the Messenger replied, with a grin.
The two rejoined their friends and headed back to ACME. True, it may not be over yet… but at least things were getting better.