Part 6
Written by:
Laurie LeBlanc
Carmen shook her head. "He just...He just..," she began. Then she
caught a glance of Hotaru who met her eyes with a cold expression. "Right,"
Carmen said softly, "I was just leaving." With that, Carmen walked out of
the dorm room. Zack followed her and saw her sitting on the floor outside
of the room.
He closed the door and sat down next to her. "Carmen...uh," he
began awkwardly.
Carmen said nothing. She put her head down and fixed her glance on
the floor.
Zack began again. "Carmen, Hotaru isn't angry at you. I know it
seems that way, but...well, I mean, with Marco loose, she's probably just
upset...and....seeing you probably brought back painful memories."
"Is it my fault?" Carmen asked, not lifting her head.
"No!" Zack exclaimed.
"How do you know?" Carmen then whirled towards him, "Were you
there?"
"Whoa," Zack responded as he raised his hands as if to say, "settle
down." He began again, "Carmen, I think you're being too hard on yourself.
Did you put the bullet holes in Hotaru's parents?"
"What kind of question is that Zack?" Carmen asked a bit angered.
"Answer the question Carmen. Did you?"
"No, but-"
"Then there. It wasn't your fault. Was there any other way out?"
"Maybe, but I never saw one."
"Then there you have it. Put the blame on who really did it, not
yourself."
Carmen sighed. "Think Hotaru will forgive me?" she then asked.
"She will come to her senses I think," Zack replied. "Maybe you
two should talk."
"But...well, I guess you're right."
"I'll go get her, ok?" Zack offered.
"Sure," Carmen replied. A smile began to form on her face. "Thanks
for listening, Zack."
"No problem," Zack replied with a faint smile. He then got up
and entered the room, then closed the door behind him.
When he got inside the room, he could tell a conversation had been
going on in his absense. Hotaru had her arms folded, and Suhara was
saying, "...but you know that isn't it! She would have done anything to
save them that she could!"
"Oh? Why didn't she?" Hotaru asked coldly.
"She did!" Suhara exclaimed. "She even offered her own and mine
in exchange for your parents AND your own."
Hotaru thought about it, and the memory of that horrible night came
back to her. She remembered Carmen saying,'Marco, please let Suhara's
family go. They are innocent- it's us you want!' Then, Hotaru remembered
Marco's reply, 'Being noble, I see. Well, you can stop it right now
because your nobility won't have any effect on my game. Now, let me ask you
again; are you ready to play?'
Tears came to her eyes and she put her arms around Suhara. "What
have I done? Why did I think-"
Suhara patted her back and whispered, "Shh, everything will be
all right, you'll see."
"I'm just so scared! I don't want to die! I don't want anything
to happen to you either, Uncle- or the others!"
Zack cleared his throat and began, "Maybe you should go talk to
Carmen and tell her-"
"Tell her I'm sorry, right?" Hotaru finished.
"Well, tell her how you feel at least. She's sitting outside the
room."
Hotaru looked at Suhara and he replied, "Go on, Hotaru."
Hotaru nodded and stood up. She wiped her tears on her sleeve and
walked outside the room. Zack closed the door behind her, offering the
two of them some privacy.
When she got outside, Hotaru sat next to Carmen who then glanced
over at her. "Um...hi," she began.
"Hello, Hotaru," Carmen replied.
"Listen, I...I...was...um...just....well, I..." she growled in
frustration. "Let me try again."
Carmen nodded, and patiently waited.
"See, well...I was upset when I saw you. I mean, I found out
Marco was loose and I saw you and I just...I dunno! I just got so angry!
I thought it was you that was to blame, I don't know why. Maybe I'm just
a screwed up kid that whoever took over Freud's practive should see."
"Hotaru, I can understand all that," Carmen replied. "You're not
scrwed up at all. I mean, it's perfectly normal to be upset. I mean, when
I heard Marco was loose, I panicked!"
"You did? I thought you never lose your cool," Hotaru replied.
"I do, just not too often. Just when the situation is out of
control."
"Like now?"
"Exactly. Whenever Marco is up to something, he's holding all the
cards."
"Unsettling, isn't it?"
"To say the least."
There was an awkward silence and then Hotaru began, "So, can you
forgive me for lashing out at you?"
Carmen nodded and smiled. "Of course I can," she replied.
Hotaru smiled, "So, now what?"
"What do you mean?"
"So, we're ok now, right?"
"Yes, of course."
"'kay, so then we maybe we should join the others...I guess?"
"Sure, why not?"
Hotaru and Carmen got up and re-entered the dorm room. Suhara saw
the two together and he smiled for joy. "Is everything all right now?"
he asked, just to be certain.
"Yes, Uncle," Hotaru replied.
"Good! I was beginning to think-"
Suhara was then interupted by the sound of Zack and Ivy's
communicators. Everyone in the room froze.
"Uh-oh," Zack mumbled.
The signal sounded again and Ivy said, "We'd better answer it."
The others nodded and Ivy said into her communicator, "Go ahead."
The screen appeared projecting a figure with a black hood over his
head. "Good afternoon," the figure said.
"Marco!" Suhara cried out, "What-"
"Easy old man, mustn't get so worked up, you know. You may have a
heartattack and keel over or something," Marco replied slyly.
"And I suppose you wouldn't want that to happen so you could have
the chance to finish him off yourself. Is that what you meant?" Ivy
barked.
"Ivy!" Carmen exclaimed as Zack was saying, "Uh...Ivy, I wouldn't
say anything like that to him."
"Ivy!" Marco exclaimed in an unsettling cheerful way. "So, I finally
get a chance to speak with you. I've heard so much about you through the
reports my guards gave...and, might I add my only glimce of you was through
this picture they got for me. You look so much nicer in person."
"What the hell are you getting at?" Ivy demanded.
"Ivy!" Everyone in the dorm room cautioned.
"Why nothing at all. Just making some small talk. I'm allowed to
do that, aren't I?"
"Well...of course," Carmen replied. "But, I must say, this is a
little odd of you."
"Ah, if it isn't Carmen Sandiego herself. A throwback to the 80s, I
see with that outfit," Marco replied.
"Well...I suppose it is but-"
"If I remember correctly, that was your old detective outfit,
correct?"
"Yes..." Carmen replied slowly.
"Right, and wasn't it in your detective years that you foiled my
plans quite a few times?"
Carmen nodded slowly, wondering where Marco was going with this
line of questioning.
"Exactly!" Marco exclaimed in rage.
A chill went down Carmen's spine as she noticed the transformation
of her enemy. The once calm and collected Marco Kane was now an angry
being. "Do you know what it's like to have to spend so long in jail
because-" Marco then stopped himself short, and took a couple of deep
breaths. There was a short pause, and Marco began to speak again, only
this time, much more calmly. "Well, that's in the past now, right?"
"Well-" Carmen began.
"Never mind, I don't need an answer to that. Let's see, who do
we have in the room here?" Marco glanced around, and then began with
sinister playfulness, "Well, other than Carmen of course, there's Ivy, and
let's not forget good ol' Suhara, and there's this blonde kid...ah, you
must be Zack, Ivy's partner and younger brother, right?"
Zack looked a bit to nervous to speak.
"Oh Zack? I asked just a simple little question, you can speak,
right?"
"Yes, I can. And to answer your question, I am Ivy's partner and
younger brother," Zack replied nervously.
"Oh, so you're the computer ace who can speak all those languages.
Nice gift to have when travelling for sure." Marco replied somewhat
impressed.
"Yes sir," Zack replied with a gulp.
Marco continued with his eerie playful tone and said, "Well, let's
see who else is here. Hmm, that young Japanese girl must be, Hotaru right?
Gee, I haven't seen you since you were five years old. How much you've
grown since then."
"What do you want with us?" Hotaru asked.
"You know, I am so glad you asked that, because that's why I-"
Marco looked a bit distracted for a minute and a muffled speaker could be
heard in the backround. He had turned his head for a minute and then shut
off transmission momentarily.
"What do you think is going on?" Zack asked.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Ivy replied.
The communicator sounded again and Ivy answered, "Go ahead."
The screen returned with Marco again, but this time, Sara Bellum
was with him. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot about the nutty professor here,"
Marco began, "She really knows her computers, but she's a bit too wacked for
me. Want her back?"
"If you're willing to let her go," Carmen replied.
"Yeah, yeah," Marco replied rudely, "Don't ever say I didn't do
you any favors." With that, a blue circle appeared and Sara fell out of it
and on to the floor. The circle then disappeared.
"Are you all right, Sara?" Carmen asked as she helped her up.
"I think so," Sara replied, looking as though she wanted to say
more a better time.
"Why did you do that little favor?" Carmen asked.
"Why? Are you not pleased?" Marco asked.
"Oh no!" Carmen exclaimed quickly, "But this just isn't-"
"Isn't like me, right?" Marco finished. "Well, let's just say I
am a little different in my old age."
"Old age? Marco, you're 39," Carmen replied.
"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, let's get back on track here. Before the
nutty professor interupted me, I was going to give you an invitation."
"To what?" Suhara asked.
"To my place for a little game," Marco slyly replied.
"You haven't changed that much, Marco," Suhara replied.
"Of course not. You can't expect that, now can you? And, as you
might expect, the stakes are high."
"Lemme guess," Ivy began, "We'll be fighting for our lives, right?"
"But of course!" Marco exclaimed with eerie cheerfulness.
"Oh no," Carmen replied.
"Oh but this will be a different game," Marco began.
"How so?" Suhara asked.
"No more questions, just a maze of wits for all of you," Marco
replied. "All of you, well, maybe not the nutty professor, but anyway-"
"Stop calling me dat!" Sara exclaimed.
"Sara-" Carmen began.
Marco continued his invitation, interupting Carmen's caution to
Sara. "Of course, a few of my guards will be around to stop you, and if you
can get to me, I'm yours. If not, well..." Marco trailed off with a
very evil grin.
"Winner take all then," Carmen replied.
"Indeed," Marco replied.
"So, quite simply, we either capture you, or die trying," Zack
said.
"A simple way to put it, yes," Marco commented.
"Oh, great," Zack said nervously.
"A fitting game though. If you can catch me, well then you'll all
be happy. If not, well, then I go home happy for sure," Marco said.
"So, where is this game?" Carmen asked.
"Eager to play? That's a first!" Marco exclaimed.
"I'm not eager, I just know I don't have a choice- just like
last time!"
"Well, I suppose this time you sorta do have a choice, but seeing I
know where you are and can track your every move now-"
"How?" Zack and Ivy asked.
Marco laughed and added, "You should know how."
Zack smacked his head. "Duh, our communicators!"
"Right you are!"
"But if we left them somewhere, then you couldn't," Ivy replied
with a smirk.
"I suppose not," Marco realized.
"I suppose we have the upper hand here," Ivy said.
"Not really," Marco replied.
"Ivy," Zack began, "He still has all of Acme at his fingertips!"
"D'oh!" Ivy exclaimed, "That's right!"
"And, I have all of Acme in the comfort of my own home. The nut-
er, Sara there has done that for me," Marco confessed.
"So, if we ever want to see the Chief again- and all of CrimeNet's
files, we have no choice but to play," Ivy said.
"Smart girl," Marco said with a sly grin. "Now then, I shall
contact all of you very soon with directions to get here-"
"Wait, wait," Ivy cut in, "You're just gonna tell us where you
are?"
"He has done that," Carmen replied, "But only when he has some sort
of trap set up."
"Well, that still hasn't changed about me," Marco added with a
sly chuckle. He then continued, "I shall also provide further instructions
for all of you. Oh by the way, I assume you have other modes of
transportation available, right?"
"Of course," Carmen replied.
"Very well then. Expect to hear from me shortly," With that, Marco
ended transmission.
"Great," Zack began, "Not only is he psycho, he's an unpredicatable
psycho. He's not even playing totally by his old rules!"
"No, he's not," Carmen replied. She then added, "And I think that
makes him even more dangerous."
To be continued...
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