Home for the Holidays, Ch 2 (Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego, Dying Informant; Waiting Room)
Title: Home for the Holidas (Chapter 1 is 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: Waiting room
Rating: PG13
Summary: Things said in anger are usually never meant to be said. But once they're said, it's far too late.
Warnings: Villainy
Will be cross-posted to my journal, 30_hugs, and the V.I.L.E. Headquarters fanfic forum.
“You!” accused Eartha. “You let go of Patty! You can’t arrest her; she didn’t do anything! You don’t even have a warrant!”
The Informant didn’t know whether or not to be relieved; Eartha had mistaken his holding hands with Patty as him trying to arrest her. That solved one problem, but that didn’t put the Informant in a position that was any better. Eartha was still there, fuming.
“And you ruined our museum heist!” she boomed, clomping over to him.
The Informant glanced behind him; there was nowhere for him to go-the ocean was surrounding him on the three sides of the dock, and Eartha was blocking the only way off of the dock.
“Eartha…” said Patty, unsure of what to say.
“Don’t ya worry, Patty, I got yer back,” she huffed. “And I’m gonna get him!”
“Eartha!” cried Patty. “Eartha, wait--”
The Informant hit the ground, but he wasn’t quick enough; Eartha was landing her blows upon him. He bit back a cry at first, but as she continued to attack, he could no longer hold back his cry.
Patty could only watch, horrified, as Eartha continued to pummel him.
“I dunno how you got out of those cement shoes I gave ya,” said Eartha. “But you’re not gettin’ away this time!”
And through it all, the Informant’s communicator was still relaying a transmission from the Messenger. Thinking quickly, while Eartha was occupied with clobbering the Informant, Patty seized the communicator.
“Hello…? Hello, are you still there!?” she asked, not able to take her eyes off of the unfolding scene.
“Patty Larceny!?” the Messenger yelled. “What are you doing with Infy’s communicator!? Where is he!? What have you done with him!?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Patty cried. “I was just talking to him, and then Eartha showed up and she’s…” She trailed off, her eyes widening as Eartha lifted the unconscious Informant over her head. “Eartha, no! Don’t do it!”
The strongwoman couldn’t hear. She hurled the unconscious detective into the frigid water. Patty screamed.
“She just threw him off Domino Pier!” she said to the Messenger. “He’s knocked out; he can’t swim! You need to come here and help him!”
She tossed the communicator aside as Eartha walked away from the edge of the dock.
“Come on, Patty; we’ve gotta get back to V.I.L.E.,” she said. “At least that Informant won’t be bothering us anymore.”
She walked on, but Patty couldn’t go. She waited until Eartha had gone, and then ran back to the edge of the dock, calling for him. But she had only been doing so for a few seconds when a pair of arms seized her roughly by the shoulders. Patty screamed, startled, as she looked into the face of the Messenger; she had never seen anyone so infuriated.
“Where is he!?” he yelled, shaking her slightly.
“Hey, hold on!” said the Techie, his eyes wide at the Messenger’s sudden outburst of anger. “I don’t think that’s the best way to question her…”
“He’s in there!” Patty replied, sobbing as she pointed to the water.
The Inspector frowned.
“If he got caught in that undertow--” he began, but was cut off as the Messenger abandoned Patty and leaped into the frozen water. The Inspector’s eyes widened, and he turned to the Techie. “Get a life preserver! Or a buoy… or… something!”
“Right!” the Techie exclaimed, trying not to panic. The thought of losing two friends was far too much for him to bear.
Meanwhile, under the water, the Informant had only slightly begun to come to. He made an honest but feeble attempt at swimming, but the current was too strong for him.
His vision was blurred and impaired by the low light, but he was vaguely aware of a figure heading towards him. But before he could see who it was, he lapsed into unconsciousness again.
The Techie found a life preserver at last, and was astounded to see the Messenger return to the surface with the still-unconscious Informant. The Techie threw him the life preserver, and he and the Inspector pulled the both of them in.
“Is he alright!?” asked the Techie, kneeling beside his friend.
“I don’t know…” gasped the Messenger, shivering from the freezing water. He placed his hands on the Informant’s shoulders. “Infy? Infy, can you hear me!?”
He was still unconscious, and Patty was still off to the side, watching the scene unfold as the Inspector called for an emergency ACME helicopter to take the Dying Informant to the nearest hospital.
They wouldn’t take her along, she realized, as she watched them frantically carry the young detective aboard the helicopter. She would have to find her own way to the hospital.
************************************
The Messenger could do nothing at this point, other than sitting in the waiting room with the Techie and the Inspector at the local hospital. They had not been allowed into the room where the Dying Informant had been taken, in spite of all of their protests.
The Messenger’s mind was in an angry muddle, too. He wanted answers, but wasn’t getting any. No one could explain why his best friend was somewhere in the hospital, slipping away…
…No one except for the blonde girl who had just entered the waiting room. The three ACME agents froze upon her arrival.
“How… How is he?” she asked.
“Why do you care?” asked the Techie. “You’re from V.I.L.E.; you guys are the ones who want to see him like this.”
“Not me!” Patty insisted. “I… I care about him; I’m not like one of those other agents who couldn’t care about what happens…”
She trailed off as the doctor emerged through the doors and signaled the ACME agents to follow him. Patty hesitated, but followed silently behind them.
“He isn’t in the best state,” the doctor was saying, as the Informant’s friends inquired about his well-being. “He still hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
“But he will pull through, won’t he?” asked the Inspector.
“Assuming he wakes up soon, there shouldn’t be any long-lasting repercussions of the night’s event,” the doctor replied, leading them to the room where the Informant continued to sleep.
“Infy…” said the Messenger, clenching his fist. “Come on; you can’t give in like this… You’ve faced off against worse and still manage to pull through each time…”
“I must be on my way, Gentlemen… and Lady,” the doctor said, noticing Patty.
As soon as the doctor left, the Messenger faced Patty, furious.
“And what are you doing here!?” he demanded. “You don’t belong here; Infy’s friends are supposed to be by his side, helping him through this, and you’re the reason he’s in this state! Just because you have a crush on him and because he pretended to fall in love with you when he pretended to be a double agent…” He trailed off. Could it be that he hadn’t been pretending, and that he really did have feelings for Patty? Was she telling the truth, then, about how they had been talking? The Messenger swallowed hard. No… he wouldn’t believe it!
He turned angrily back to Patty.
“I should have you arrested,” he said. “But I don’t have a warrant, so I can’t. But, in any case--”
“I think he’s waking up!” the Techie exclaimed.
“Alright…” said the Messenger, his eyes narrowing. He had to find out the answer to this. He signaled the others to be quiet and hide out of sight in the corner of the room. He turned to Patty. “You…” he said, scowling. “You speak to him.”
He joined the others in the corner of the room as the Informant began to come awake.
“Where am I?” he asked. “Patty? What happened?”
“You’re in the hospital; Eartha threw you over the dock,” she said, realizing that the Messenger was trying to see if the Informant was, in fact, in a relationship with her. “But I should tell you--”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” he recalled. “She thought that I was arresting you because we were holding hands. Wow, it’s like we’re caught up in West Side Story or something…”
“But, I should tell you…” she repeated.
“I think it stands to reason that I’ll have to take a rain check on tonight; I need to get in touch with my friends… They’ll be worried…” The Informant trailed off as Patty slapped her forehead. “What’s wrong?”
“Your ‘worried’ friends are appalled!” said the Messenger, causing the Informant to nearly jump a mile high. “Appalled that you’d go off going on a date with the enemy…!”
“Bro, look,” said the Informant. “It wasn’t like that; Patty’s actually a very nice girl. The only reason she’s with V.I.L.E. is because she can’t leave, just like how I can’t leave ACME--”
“I didn’t want to believe it, Infy,” the Messenger went on, visibly upset. “I wanted to give you the benefit of a doubt… I wanted to believe that there would be no way that you’d be romancing the enemy!”
“Hold on,” said the Techie. “Give him a chance to explain--”
“Oh, come on!” said the Informant, cutting the Techie off as his temper began to rise. “Patty just saved my life!”
The Messenger’s expression darkened.
“She got you into this mess; I was the one who risked my neck by jumping into that freezing water to save you.”
“But she was the one who called you,” the Informant pointed out. There was no use in hiding that he did care for Patty, especially when it was obvious that she cared for him, as well.
“Alright, alright,” said the Inspector, trying to bring peace. “Both of you, just calm down for a second--”
“I don’t believe this!” the Messenger said, ignoring the Inspector. “You’re actually taking her side!?”
“Look, it’s not what you think!” said the Informant. “Patty is a very nice girl; she just got caught up with the wrong crowd, and I’m trying to help her.”
“And she’s trying to lead you astray!” the Messenger retorted.
“Guys, stop it!” pleaded the Techie, to no avail.
“No, she isn’t’!” the Informant insisted. “If she had been, I would’ve left ACME when I first realized that I was in love with her! But I’m staying with you guys, aren’t I?”
“So that’s it, isn’t it?” asked the Messenger, his voice uncharacteristically cold. “If it weren’t for us, you’ve have ditched ACME a long time ago? Well, please…” He glared at Patty. “Don’t let me stand in the way between you and the love of your life!”
It wasn’t like him at all to be so sardonic, but he was hurt. He had always seen the Informant as his honorary younger brother, but he was seeing this as a betrayal… Patty Larceny, who had dragged ACME into so much trouble with her misdeeds, was trying to turn him against them, and she had succeeded. It would only be a matter of time before she convinced him to join V.I.L.E., and there was nothing that he, the Messenger, could do about it. The Informant was refusing to see how much that the Messenger had risked saving his life, instead saying that Patty was the one who had saved him. True, she had alerted him to the situation, but she hadn’t been the one to jump in the water, facing hypothermia and undertows.
“Look I didn’t mean it like that,” the Informant said. “You’re taking this way out of proportion. There’s no way that we can’t get this to work out--”
That did it.
“Work it out!?” the Messenger retorted, his voice rising. “This isn’t about you working as a double agent anymore; this is about you stabbing us in the back and running off with the enemy!”
“I’m doing no such thing!” the Informant insisted. “And will you stop calling her that!?”
“No, I won’t, because it’s the truth!” the Messenger retorted, angrily. “You’re going to have to make a choice, Infy-it’s either her or us!”
“Well, if this is the way you’re going to be, then maybe I’d be better off with her!” the Informant quipped, without thinking. “At least she doesn’t yell at me!”
“Yeah, and she doesn’t even bother to jump in to save you if you’re in trouble!” the Messenger shot back. “Of course, see if I ever do that for you again!”
“Oh, please, don’t bother,” said the Informant, coldly. “Don’t get into trouble on my account…”
“Oh, I won’t,” the Messenger assured him.
“That’s enough!” the Inspector boomed, causing everyone to jump about a foot.
“He’s right,” said the Techie. “Come on; you two are like brothers--”
“Brother? What brother?” asked the Messenger. “I lost him to her a long time ago, apparently…” He glared daggers at Patty, and then glared back at the Informant. “What I should do is tell the Chief about this.”
“You wouldn’t dare…” the Informant growled as the Techie and the Inspector glanced at him in disbelief.
“Try me,” the Messenger said.
The Techie glanced helplessly from his feuding friends to the Inspector. He was at a loss; he was losing his friends left and right, and could do nothing to prevent it.
***********************************
The flight back to New York was cold and bitter. Patty had returned the Informant’s communicator and fled without saying another word. She honestly had to admit to herself that she was pleased that the Informant and the Messenger were feuding; it was the Messenger who was single-handedly preventing the Informant from getting together with her, and if they severed ties, she would finally be able to be with the Informant.
The Informant and the Messenger, in the meantime, were refusing to speak to each other, in spite of how the Techie and the Inspector were trying to get them to do so. The Informant was absolutely livid at his accusations, and then going around and threatening to tell the Chief; and the Messenger felt terribly betrayed by the Informant apparently choosing Patty over his alleged friends.
And as they arrived back at ACME headquarters, it looked as though that the Messenger was going to follow through on his promise to tell the Chief about Patty. He didn’t bother to give his usual wry greeting to Mrs. Pumpkinclanger as she scolded them for making too much noise upon their arrival; nor did he even say “hi” to the Recruiting Officer, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being pushed aside. The Techie and the Inspector gave him an apologetic shrug before stopping their feuding friends from entering the Chief’s office.
“Look,” said the Techie, desperate for a peaceful end to this. “Can’t we just discuss this? We’ve always been able to work out any problem.”
“This is different,” said the Informant. “This time, it’s personal.”
“Are you sure you’re still choosing Patty over us?” asked the Messenger, his hand on the door.
“You wouldn’t tell her…” said the Informant, trying to call his bluff. “You wouldn’t want to get rid of me unless you’re sure I was a gone case. And besides, you know that V.I.L.E. won’t take me after that double agent stunt.”
“You are a gone case,” the Messenger replied, coldly. “For both ACME and V.I.L.E.; just go run off somewhere with Patty and live happily ever after. I’m sure the Chief will agree.” He opened the door. “Chief?”
“Ah, there you are,” she said, as she noticed him arriving. “Not a moment too soon… I need this official letter to be delivered to its designated destination immediately.”
“Chief, I need to talk to you…”
“About what…?” she asked. “Could it possibly wait until that information is delivered?”
“Yeah, I guess it could,” he said, glaring at the Informant as he smirked. “Don’t get that look; I’ll be back… and I’ll tell her…” he muttered so that only the Informant could hear.
The Informant’s smirk faded.
“Then go; don’t let me keep you…” he snarled.
The Chief glanced at them in surprise, sensing the hostility between them. But before she could say a word about it, the Messenger left the office, the letter in hand. Even from where they were, they could hear the door slam and Mrs. Pumpkinclanger scolding him for slamming it.
The Informant then retreated to the ACME lounge, still seething with rage. He wasn’t even cheered up by the ACME Ruff-Net husky, Borealis, bounding over to greet him.
He sighed, angrily. Fate had weird ways of working… like turning one’s best friend into their worst enemy.
Author: Crystal Rose of Pollux (rose_of_pollux)
Claim: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego? (The Dying Informant)
Table: Do-it-Yourself
Prompt: Waiting room
Rating: PG13
Summary: Things said in anger are usually never meant to be said. But once they're said, it's far too late.
Warnings: Villainy
Will be cross-posted to my journal, 30_hugs, and the V.I.L.E. Headquarters fanfic forum.
“You!” accused Eartha. “You let go of Patty! You can’t arrest her; she didn’t do anything! You don’t even have a warrant!”
The Informant didn’t know whether or not to be relieved; Eartha had mistaken his holding hands with Patty as him trying to arrest her. That solved one problem, but that didn’t put the Informant in a position that was any better. Eartha was still there, fuming.
“And you ruined our museum heist!” she boomed, clomping over to him.
The Informant glanced behind him; there was nowhere for him to go-the ocean was surrounding him on the three sides of the dock, and Eartha was blocking the only way off of the dock.
“Eartha…” said Patty, unsure of what to say.
“Don’t ya worry, Patty, I got yer back,” she huffed. “And I’m gonna get him!”
“Eartha!” cried Patty. “Eartha, wait--”
The Informant hit the ground, but he wasn’t quick enough; Eartha was landing her blows upon him. He bit back a cry at first, but as she continued to attack, he could no longer hold back his cry.
Patty could only watch, horrified, as Eartha continued to pummel him.
“I dunno how you got out of those cement shoes I gave ya,” said Eartha. “But you’re not gettin’ away this time!”
And through it all, the Informant’s communicator was still relaying a transmission from the Messenger. Thinking quickly, while Eartha was occupied with clobbering the Informant, Patty seized the communicator.
“Hello…? Hello, are you still there!?” she asked, not able to take her eyes off of the unfolding scene.
“Patty Larceny!?” the Messenger yelled. “What are you doing with Infy’s communicator!? Where is he!? What have you done with him!?”
“I didn’t do anything!” Patty cried. “I was just talking to him, and then Eartha showed up and she’s…” She trailed off, her eyes widening as Eartha lifted the unconscious Informant over her head. “Eartha, no! Don’t do it!”
The strongwoman couldn’t hear. She hurled the unconscious detective into the frigid water. Patty screamed.
“She just threw him off Domino Pier!” she said to the Messenger. “He’s knocked out; he can’t swim! You need to come here and help him!”
She tossed the communicator aside as Eartha walked away from the edge of the dock.
“Come on, Patty; we’ve gotta get back to V.I.L.E.,” she said. “At least that Informant won’t be bothering us anymore.”
She walked on, but Patty couldn’t go. She waited until Eartha had gone, and then ran back to the edge of the dock, calling for him. But she had only been doing so for a few seconds when a pair of arms seized her roughly by the shoulders. Patty screamed, startled, as she looked into the face of the Messenger; she had never seen anyone so infuriated.
“Where is he!?” he yelled, shaking her slightly.
“Hey, hold on!” said the Techie, his eyes wide at the Messenger’s sudden outburst of anger. “I don’t think that’s the best way to question her…”
“He’s in there!” Patty replied, sobbing as she pointed to the water.
The Inspector frowned.
“If he got caught in that undertow--” he began, but was cut off as the Messenger abandoned Patty and leaped into the frozen water. The Inspector’s eyes widened, and he turned to the Techie. “Get a life preserver! Or a buoy… or… something!”
“Right!” the Techie exclaimed, trying not to panic. The thought of losing two friends was far too much for him to bear.
Meanwhile, under the water, the Informant had only slightly begun to come to. He made an honest but feeble attempt at swimming, but the current was too strong for him.
His vision was blurred and impaired by the low light, but he was vaguely aware of a figure heading towards him. But before he could see who it was, he lapsed into unconsciousness again.
The Techie found a life preserver at last, and was astounded to see the Messenger return to the surface with the still-unconscious Informant. The Techie threw him the life preserver, and he and the Inspector pulled the both of them in.
“Is he alright!?” asked the Techie, kneeling beside his friend.
“I don’t know…” gasped the Messenger, shivering from the freezing water. He placed his hands on the Informant’s shoulders. “Infy? Infy, can you hear me!?”
He was still unconscious, and Patty was still off to the side, watching the scene unfold as the Inspector called for an emergency ACME helicopter to take the Dying Informant to the nearest hospital.
They wouldn’t take her along, she realized, as she watched them frantically carry the young detective aboard the helicopter. She would have to find her own way to the hospital.
************************************
The Messenger could do nothing at this point, other than sitting in the waiting room with the Techie and the Inspector at the local hospital. They had not been allowed into the room where the Dying Informant had been taken, in spite of all of their protests.
The Messenger’s mind was in an angry muddle, too. He wanted answers, but wasn’t getting any. No one could explain why his best friend was somewhere in the hospital, slipping away…
…No one except for the blonde girl who had just entered the waiting room. The three ACME agents froze upon her arrival.
“How… How is he?” she asked.
“Why do you care?” asked the Techie. “You’re from V.I.L.E.; you guys are the ones who want to see him like this.”
“Not me!” Patty insisted. “I… I care about him; I’m not like one of those other agents who couldn’t care about what happens…”
She trailed off as the doctor emerged through the doors and signaled the ACME agents to follow him. Patty hesitated, but followed silently behind them.
“He isn’t in the best state,” the doctor was saying, as the Informant’s friends inquired about his well-being. “He still hasn’t regained consciousness yet.”
“But he will pull through, won’t he?” asked the Inspector.
“Assuming he wakes up soon, there shouldn’t be any long-lasting repercussions of the night’s event,” the doctor replied, leading them to the room where the Informant continued to sleep.
“Infy…” said the Messenger, clenching his fist. “Come on; you can’t give in like this… You’ve faced off against worse and still manage to pull through each time…”
“I must be on my way, Gentlemen… and Lady,” the doctor said, noticing Patty.
As soon as the doctor left, the Messenger faced Patty, furious.
“And what are you doing here!?” he demanded. “You don’t belong here; Infy’s friends are supposed to be by his side, helping him through this, and you’re the reason he’s in this state! Just because you have a crush on him and because he pretended to fall in love with you when he pretended to be a double agent…” He trailed off. Could it be that he hadn’t been pretending, and that he really did have feelings for Patty? Was she telling the truth, then, about how they had been talking? The Messenger swallowed hard. No… he wouldn’t believe it!
He turned angrily back to Patty.
“I should have you arrested,” he said. “But I don’t have a warrant, so I can’t. But, in any case--”
“I think he’s waking up!” the Techie exclaimed.
“Alright…” said the Messenger, his eyes narrowing. He had to find out the answer to this. He signaled the others to be quiet and hide out of sight in the corner of the room. He turned to Patty. “You…” he said, scowling. “You speak to him.”
He joined the others in the corner of the room as the Informant began to come awake.
“Where am I?” he asked. “Patty? What happened?”
“You’re in the hospital; Eartha threw you over the dock,” she said, realizing that the Messenger was trying to see if the Informant was, in fact, in a relationship with her. “But I should tell you--”
“Oh, yeah, that’s right,” he recalled. “She thought that I was arresting you because we were holding hands. Wow, it’s like we’re caught up in West Side Story or something…”
“But, I should tell you…” she repeated.
“I think it stands to reason that I’ll have to take a rain check on tonight; I need to get in touch with my friends… They’ll be worried…” The Informant trailed off as Patty slapped her forehead. “What’s wrong?”
“Your ‘worried’ friends are appalled!” said the Messenger, causing the Informant to nearly jump a mile high. “Appalled that you’d go off going on a date with the enemy…!”
“Bro, look,” said the Informant. “It wasn’t like that; Patty’s actually a very nice girl. The only reason she’s with V.I.L.E. is because she can’t leave, just like how I can’t leave ACME--”
“I didn’t want to believe it, Infy,” the Messenger went on, visibly upset. “I wanted to give you the benefit of a doubt… I wanted to believe that there would be no way that you’d be romancing the enemy!”
“Hold on,” said the Techie. “Give him a chance to explain--”
“Oh, come on!” said the Informant, cutting the Techie off as his temper began to rise. “Patty just saved my life!”
The Messenger’s expression darkened.
“She got you into this mess; I was the one who risked my neck by jumping into that freezing water to save you.”
“But she was the one who called you,” the Informant pointed out. There was no use in hiding that he did care for Patty, especially when it was obvious that she cared for him, as well.
“Alright, alright,” said the Inspector, trying to bring peace. “Both of you, just calm down for a second--”
“I don’t believe this!” the Messenger said, ignoring the Inspector. “You’re actually taking her side!?”
“Look, it’s not what you think!” said the Informant. “Patty is a very nice girl; she just got caught up with the wrong crowd, and I’m trying to help her.”
“And she’s trying to lead you astray!” the Messenger retorted.
“Guys, stop it!” pleaded the Techie, to no avail.
“No, she isn’t’!” the Informant insisted. “If she had been, I would’ve left ACME when I first realized that I was in love with her! But I’m staying with you guys, aren’t I?”
“So that’s it, isn’t it?” asked the Messenger, his voice uncharacteristically cold. “If it weren’t for us, you’ve have ditched ACME a long time ago? Well, please…” He glared at Patty. “Don’t let me stand in the way between you and the love of your life!”
It wasn’t like him at all to be so sardonic, but he was hurt. He had always seen the Informant as his honorary younger brother, but he was seeing this as a betrayal… Patty Larceny, who had dragged ACME into so much trouble with her misdeeds, was trying to turn him against them, and she had succeeded. It would only be a matter of time before she convinced him to join V.I.L.E., and there was nothing that he, the Messenger, could do about it. The Informant was refusing to see how much that the Messenger had risked saving his life, instead saying that Patty was the one who had saved him. True, she had alerted him to the situation, but she hadn’t been the one to jump in the water, facing hypothermia and undertows.
“Look I didn’t mean it like that,” the Informant said. “You’re taking this way out of proportion. There’s no way that we can’t get this to work out--”
That did it.
“Work it out!?” the Messenger retorted, his voice rising. “This isn’t about you working as a double agent anymore; this is about you stabbing us in the back and running off with the enemy!”
“I’m doing no such thing!” the Informant insisted. “And will you stop calling her that!?”
“No, I won’t, because it’s the truth!” the Messenger retorted, angrily. “You’re going to have to make a choice, Infy-it’s either her or us!”
“Well, if this is the way you’re going to be, then maybe I’d be better off with her!” the Informant quipped, without thinking. “At least she doesn’t yell at me!”
“Yeah, and she doesn’t even bother to jump in to save you if you’re in trouble!” the Messenger shot back. “Of course, see if I ever do that for you again!”
“Oh, please, don’t bother,” said the Informant, coldly. “Don’t get into trouble on my account…”
“Oh, I won’t,” the Messenger assured him.
“That’s enough!” the Inspector boomed, causing everyone to jump about a foot.
“He’s right,” said the Techie. “Come on; you two are like brothers--”
“Brother? What brother?” asked the Messenger. “I lost him to her a long time ago, apparently…” He glared daggers at Patty, and then glared back at the Informant. “What I should do is tell the Chief about this.”
“You wouldn’t dare…” the Informant growled as the Techie and the Inspector glanced at him in disbelief.
“Try me,” the Messenger said.
The Techie glanced helplessly from his feuding friends to the Inspector. He was at a loss; he was losing his friends left and right, and could do nothing to prevent it.
***********************************
The flight back to New York was cold and bitter. Patty had returned the Informant’s communicator and fled without saying another word. She honestly had to admit to herself that she was pleased that the Informant and the Messenger were feuding; it was the Messenger who was single-handedly preventing the Informant from getting together with her, and if they severed ties, she would finally be able to be with the Informant.
The Informant and the Messenger, in the meantime, were refusing to speak to each other, in spite of how the Techie and the Inspector were trying to get them to do so. The Informant was absolutely livid at his accusations, and then going around and threatening to tell the Chief; and the Messenger felt terribly betrayed by the Informant apparently choosing Patty over his alleged friends.
And as they arrived back at ACME headquarters, it looked as though that the Messenger was going to follow through on his promise to tell the Chief about Patty. He didn’t bother to give his usual wry greeting to Mrs. Pumpkinclanger as she scolded them for making too much noise upon their arrival; nor did he even say “hi” to the Recruiting Officer, who had to jump out of the way to avoid being pushed aside. The Techie and the Inspector gave him an apologetic shrug before stopping their feuding friends from entering the Chief’s office.
“Look,” said the Techie, desperate for a peaceful end to this. “Can’t we just discuss this? We’ve always been able to work out any problem.”
“This is different,” said the Informant. “This time, it’s personal.”
“Are you sure you’re still choosing Patty over us?” asked the Messenger, his hand on the door.
“You wouldn’t tell her…” said the Informant, trying to call his bluff. “You wouldn’t want to get rid of me unless you’re sure I was a gone case. And besides, you know that V.I.L.E. won’t take me after that double agent stunt.”
“You are a gone case,” the Messenger replied, coldly. “For both ACME and V.I.L.E.; just go run off somewhere with Patty and live happily ever after. I’m sure the Chief will agree.” He opened the door. “Chief?”
“Ah, there you are,” she said, as she noticed him arriving. “Not a moment too soon… I need this official letter to be delivered to its designated destination immediately.”
“Chief, I need to talk to you…”
“About what…?” she asked. “Could it possibly wait until that information is delivered?”
“Yeah, I guess it could,” he said, glaring at the Informant as he smirked. “Don’t get that look; I’ll be back… and I’ll tell her…” he muttered so that only the Informant could hear.
The Informant’s smirk faded.
“Then go; don’t let me keep you…” he snarled.
The Chief glanced at them in surprise, sensing the hostility between them. But before she could say a word about it, the Messenger left the office, the letter in hand. Even from where they were, they could hear the door slam and Mrs. Pumpkinclanger scolding him for slamming it.
The Informant then retreated to the ACME lounge, still seething with rage. He wasn’t even cheered up by the ACME Ruff-Net husky, Borealis, bounding over to greet him.
He sighed, angrily. Fate had weird ways of working… like turning one’s best friend into their worst enemy.