A New Beginning...? By: Athena (This section contains some violence.) Part Nine: Unknown location; sometime later The first thing Carmen was aware of was laughter. Something stung her cheek, and she forced her eyes open. She reeled back as the hand slapped her face again. She was nauseated from the drug they'd given her and would've thrown up then and there had it not been for the fact that she hadn't eaten in two days. She was slapped again. Now fully awake, Carmen could see her assailant. "You!" The man laughed. He was in his early sixties with white hair and a vengful fire in his eyes. "Rise and shine, Sandiego. It's time to meet your fate." The man bent down and cut the ropes holding Carmen to the chair, and she rose, unsteadily, rubbing her wrists to try to get some circulation back in her hands. Then she noticed that her wig and glasses had been removed. "I thought you were dead." The man she thought was dead was named Garner. He was a murderer she went after in her detective days. Just as she was about to make the arrest, the old apartment they were in blew up from a gas leak. Carmen had barely made it out alive. She was told that Garner was dead, but it was now apparent he survived somehow. "Well, do I look dead, Detective? Oh, this is going to be good. My arch-enemy is going to be put to death." "What are you talking about?" "Not, now, Sandiego. You remember how the game is played. You have to play by the rules." His rules, Carmen thought. I never thought I'd hear about those again. "Now, Detective, remember the number one rule?" "There are no rules." "No, no my dear. You've been playing games long enough. You should know what the number one rule is." Grudgingly, Carmen answered, "You make all the rules." "That's right! Good for you, Detective. And I decide that the second rule is that you will carry a gun." He held his gun out in a gloved hand for Carmen to take. She looked down at it, disgusted. "You know how I despise weapons, Garner." He shrugged and let the gun fall to the floor by Carmen's feet. "So, Garner, how are you mixed up in all this? Did you kill Lockhart?" Garner laughed. That laugh was starting to annoy Carmen. "Of course I didn't kill her. You did. Don't you remember, Sandiego? She surprised you when you were playing your little game and you shot her." "No, I didn't." "And you killed those two Acme detectives who were following you, too." As he said that, he turned on a light in the back of what appeared to Carmen to be a warehouse. On the floor, were two unconcious and bleeding forms, Zack and Ivy. "NO!" Carmen reached down to the ground and snatched up the gun in her rage. She pointed it at Garner, uncocked it, and tightened her grip on the trigger. <> Blood red rage clouded Carmen's vision and judgment as she held the gun. This man had to pay for what he did. It was the scream that woke Ivy up. She thought it was her imagination, but it sounded to her like Carmen. The last thing she remembered was following Carmen off the elevator in the Mannheim building. Then a tall, near 300 pound man grabbed Zack and threatened him with a knife. When Ivy tried to stop the attacker, her leg was cut by the knife, and she was hit over the head with a blunt object. Ivy opened her eyes to see Carmen pointing a gun at an elderly man. She was ready to shoot him. Ivy watched in horror and disbelief as Carmen's finger pulled on the trigger. "Carmen! No!" The gun metal felt cool to the touch, but the gun itself was terribly heavy. In the back of her mind, Carmen realized that her gloves were gone, too, but the thought didn't fully register until Ivy screamed. Ivy's cry washed away the red film that had covered Carmen's vision. She realized what she was doing. The gun fell the the ground, harmlessly. Not a shot fired from it. <> Carmen asked herself. <> Garner laughed. Carmen hated him for what he almost made her do, but she expertly controled her temper. "Yes, you killed them all, Detective. You see. That gun was the one that was used to kill Vera Lockhart, and now YOUR fingerprints are all over it." Carmen ignored it. It was too late to do anything about it now. Zack and Ivy were still alive, but not for long unless she could keep Garner talking. "Why did you want Vera dead?" "She didn't pay Joe back. So he asked me to do a little dirty work for him. He called on me again when you made the appointment. Really, Detective, Ivy Johanson? That's a little obvious, don't you think? Besides, I've had some of my people watching you." Zack was still unconscious, and Ivy tended to him the best she could. Their communicators had been taken away so there was no way they could C-5 out of there. "Really, Detective, Ivy Johanson? That's a little obvious, don't you think?" Ivy looked up. Carmen had used HER name? Maybe she was having a creative slump at the time. Ivy watched Carmen and the old man, still not knowing what was going on. She caught Carmen casting concerned looks her way. Ivy nodded slightly, trying to tell her that she was all right. <> Ivy wondered. Then she saw the gun, and Carmen's bare hands. <> The old man laughed. Ivy thought Carmen looked pretty ticked about something. "Now, Detective, the real reason I brought you here." He held up a tape recorder. "They'll go easy on you if you confess, Sandiego." He pushed the record button. "I'll never confess to something that I would never do." "But, my dear, your fingerprints are all over the murder weapon, you were at the crime scene, and you had a motive. I think they'll convict you if you confess or not. But if you don't confess, any jury would sentence you to death." Carmen looked at Garner with fire in her eyes. Ivy wondered if she'd really confess. "Detective, my patience is wearing thin. I'll give you to the count of ten to confess, or else...." "Or else what?" "I'll kill one of the two detectives over there for every minute you don't confess after that. And to make it all the sweeter, I'll do it with this gun you so graciously handled." He took the gun from the ground at Carmen's feet. Ivy realized what he was doing. If this man killed her and Zack, Carmen would be blamed for it since her prints were on the murder weapon. Ivy wasn't going to sit back and let some maniac shoot her and her brother. But as she rose to stand, a firey pain cut through her leg. She looked down to see blood running from a long scar down the back of her calf down to the ankle. It looked like her Achilles tendon was cut. She wouldn't be able to walk on it. <> Ivy thought. "One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six." Carmen stood defiantly, glaring at Garner. "Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. Sorry, Detective. Time's up. Say goodbye to your Acme friends." Garner turned around and pointed the gun at Ivy. She braced herself for the shot. As Garner was counting Carmen weighed the facts, but she always knew that she would never confess; eventhough it might mean never seeing her daughter again. <> Carmen asked herself. They're depending on me. I can't let them down. Garner turned around with the gun and pointed it at Ivy. He stood only a foot or two away from Carmen. <> Carmen thought, refering to a rash idea that had sprung up in her head. She ran at Garner and tackled him to the ground. The gun firing off in the process. The sound was almost deafening, but Carmen ignored it as she fought Garner for the gun. "Freeze! Interpol!" A voice out of no where commanded. It was backed up by a second voice. "Drop the gun!" <> Carmen thought. <> Garner let go of the gun, and instinctivly, Carmen grabbed his arms. She looked at the two Interpol detectives. Both were in their mid-thirties and reminded Carmen of FBI agents. One of the two detectives handcuffed Garner while the other cuffed Carmen. "I didn't kill Lockhart. Garner did." "We know. We heard him confess. But you are still wanted for grand theft on the scale of national monuments." She knew it. Carmen knew that she'd never really be able to go back to Acme. And as much as she hoped that she could change it, she was really nothing more than a common thief. What would Esmeralda think of her? She hung her head in defeat. The shot came, and Ivy noticed that it had completely missed her; she watched Carmen wrestle Garner for the gun. When she heard the Interpol detectives, Ivy thought everything was going to be fine. They arrested Garner, but they also arrested Carmen! If they heard Garner confess, then they also saw that Carmen had just saved Ivy's life. But maybe they didn't want to see that. <> Ivy thought. Ivy tried to think through the pain, but all she could think about was the last time she and Zack had done after Carmen in that museum. All Carmen needed then was a distraction. <> Ivy thought. "Hey!" Ivy called. The Interpol detectives looked up. "I need some help here. My little brother's unconscious." The detective holding Carmen let her go and walked Ivy's direction. Carmen smiled when she realized what Ivy had done. She'd created a distraction for her to get away. <> Carmen thought, as she picked the lock on the handcuffs. Noticing three communicators on a nearby table, Carmen ran over and grabbed them. She threw Zack and Ivy's to them while she made her escape. The two Inerpol detectives tried to follow her, but when they opened the door she'd gone through, she had disappeared. Ivy grabbed her communicator as it came sailing through the air. "Thank you, Carmen," she whispered reverently. The two Interpol detectives had explained how they'd gotten a tip off from the host at the resturant in D.C. They had been following Zack and Ivy, following Carmen since New York. Zack began to stir next to Ivy. And he finally woke up. "Whoa!" he said, shaking his head to clear it, "Did I ever sleep! Hey, Ive, where are we? Did I miss something? What's Interpol doing here?" Ivy just laughed as they C-5ed back to Acme. To be continued....