Yesterday’s Hero by Misty & Ann Disclaimer: "Where on Earth is Carmen Sandiego?" and the characters Zack, Ivy, The Chief and Carmen Sandiego are not our own inventions. All these characters are copyright Dic and Broderbund. The original game "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?" and all characters found in that game and its sequels are the property of Broderbund. Characters are used without permission, no copyright infringement is intended. "Hey, Chief. What's up?" Ivy asked, striding gracefully out of the C-5 corridor. Ivy was a pretty girl; standing five feet, nine inches, with a mane of fiery hair - to match her personality, her adversaries knew. Her usual demeanor was that of no worries, no nonsense, but she had changed lately. The dark circles under her eyes were a telltale sign. "What’s up? What’s up?? Crimenet’s been trying to get a hold of you forhours, and all you can say is ‘what’s up?’!" the Chief exclaimed, indignation painted all over his computer graphic face. "Waoh, hold on, I’ve been ready to come in for hours. It was Zack!" Ivy replied, equally as indignant. "First, he wanted to sleep in. Then, when I finally got him up, he had to take a shower. Then he wanted to play his video game, then......" "Fine," the Chief interrupted, "but where is he?" "I’m here," a boy with a mop of blonde hair replied, coming in on a skateboard. "Chill, sis." Only Zack would enter the control room of the world’s most prestigious, most technologically advanced detective agency in the world on a skateboard, and reprimand someone else. "See what I mean?" Ivy asked the Chief pointedly. "Enough chit-chat, we need you," said the Chief. "Carmen just stole Joan of Arc’s armor!" "What!" both siblings exclaimed together. "Why would she steal that again? The last time she stole it was when I was in the hospital, and Ivy had resigned from - " Zack trailed off, seeing his sister tense up. Zack looked at the Chief as if to say "See? I told you." Ivy had been acting unlike herself again lately, and he was starting to get worried. Zack had thought everything was better: Ivy had been her usual short-tempered, passionate, determined self again. But now he was starting to fear they would have to go through the whole, painful ordeal all over again... Again. The unspoken word echoed through Zack’s mind. He had been able to push those horrible times away, back to the deepest corners of consciousness, with the strength of the knowledge that it was over. Lee Jordan was in jail. Ivy was at Acme again, and would never leave. But still, the memories were there, of pain, hopelessness, and confusion. Surely, Ivy and himself didn’t deserve to go through that again. Chief was watching the whole scene with a sad look in his computer-generated eyes. He too had noticed a change, but was hoping it wasn’t real. But he knew it was. Ivy did seem to be acting unusual, yes, but it was a different kind of unusual than before. Her demeanor seemed to be one more of bewilderment, confusion, hurt, betrayal maybe, but not like the one she had in the whole episode with Lee. He was getting worried and trying every which way he could think of to help. He knew Ivy wouldn’t tell him, Zack, or anyone else very readily, and she controlled her emotions and expressions enough to keep her problem, or whatever it was, a secret. The Chief shook his head slightly, thinking how similar she was to a raven-haired woman he once knew. Or thought he did anyway. Ivy herself was also lost in her own reverie at this moment. She saw the looks passing between the Chief and Zack, but tried to ignore them. She knew those who knew her best could tell something was wrong. She had been getting side glances from Josha, Armando, and Gia as well, and she knew what they were thinking. They weren’t even close, but she wasn’t going to tell them that. She was actually thinking about Carmen Sandiego. Carmen confused her. Ivy knew Carmen was a thief, and she was a detective - it was black and white. And yet, Carmen had been there for her when she needed a friend the most. Carmen - a friend? That wasn’t right. Carmen was a criminal, was on the other side of the law. Perhaps this was the real reason Ivy couldn’t tell a soul of her conflict. Shame. Respecting a criminal made one every bit as bad as that criminal. She could not think about the Carmen of today without thinking about the Carmen she had idolized as a child, about her scrapbook, the one in the attic with pictures of a certain Acme agent and her partner. Also, how Carmen had helped her so much in the whole problem concerning Lee. Carmen had invited her to her home, risked being caught in the Smithsonian to make sure she was okay, inviting her and Zack in that Christmas, opening her home to them. How Carmen had betrayed her trust, after she had gone to great lengths to defend Carmen at her *trial*. Why had Carmen done that? Wasn’t this just more evidence that she was not to be trusted? Kidnapping them to make sure that they didn’t get kidnapped like Mrs. D’Angelo had, and apologizing to her. Carmen apologizing.. now that had been a surprise, which made Ivy even more distressed. She had so many questions she wanted answered. But she knew she would not get truthful, no double-talk answers, because, after all, Carmen and her were a lot alike. They were both passionate, determined, strong, could take care of themselves... And both could conceal their emotions quite well. In spite of everything though, Carmen had been there more for her than her own mother. Her mom had never approved of Ivy’s choice of a career, and even when she was younger, her parents had never had much time for her. Ivy guessed deep down that her parents did love her, but they didn’t ever do anything to show that. She still had Zack though, and for that she was eternally grateful. She loved him dearly, and couldn’t imagine her life without him, even though he drove her up the wall sometimes. And Carmen, Carmen seemed to care about her more than her own mother... But still, Ivy would never in the foreseeable future tell anyone what she was thinking. How could they understand? They would say she was still stressed from the Lee Jordan ordeal, hurting from old wounds, which was almost correct. Zack and the other detectives didn’t know about the scrapbook and her one-person vendetta. Chief was still dealing with his own confusion about Carmen becoming a thief, how could she dump her own ponderings on him? And Carmen...well, who knew what Carmen might do these days. "Ivy, Zack, we need you to C-5 over right away," Chief exclaimed urgently, snapping out of his reverie, and breaking into the two siblings thoughts. "We’re on our way," Ivy said solemnly, jumping into the corridor, her personal problems forgotten for the moment. Zack followed her in and the C-5 closed after them. Though Ivy’s problems left her mind for a short time, she would have to solve them sooner than she expected, and this was sure to change the way the way the young girl looked at life. But would the light of newly gained wisdom be harsh and painful, or would it soothe old fears, and bring resolution? * * * "This is the only evidence left at the crime scene?" Zack questioned a grumpy police officer. After years of chasing Carmen around the globe, he knew that a single, cryptic clue, intentionally left, would always be the "only evidence left at the crime scene," but he asked out of habit. He walked over to where his sister was examining the clue. "Any luck, sis?" Ivy shook her head and sighed. "I can’t figure it out." She handed him the clue. It was a note which read: "Charter a plane for a great trip to England." "’Charter’ and ‘great’ are underlined, but why, Zack?" "I don’t know, Iv’," What could chartering a plane, and something being great have to do with anything Carmen would want to steal?" Zack asked himself quietly. "What about the reference to England?" questioned Ivy. "Hey, wait a sec- Charter and great- Iv’, what if we switch the underlined words around?" "Then we’d have "great charter..." "And "great charter" in Latin is Magna Carta!" "And King John of England was forced to sign it." "But, why is Carmen trying to steal the Magna Carta again?" Ivy could only shake her head in reply. * * * A tall figure entered the dark corridor and crept silently across the floor. The only sound that could be heard in the empty room was the clicking of heels. ‘I love this,’ thought Carmen to herself, moving towards her prize. ‘I don’t have to wait in lines, I have the museum all to myself- and a few guards of course. I wonder when my favorite detectives will get here?’ She laughed a little as the thought of how much less of a small fortune this time around the heist would cost. ‘And this time I don’t have too use or trick anyone,’ she thought, becoming solemn. ‘Why did I do that? Argh, that’s not like me. Ivy was surprising, her truth and justice speech and then I did that too her. What were you thinking, Sandiego?’ she asked herself, irritated. Pushing her thoughts aside, she noticed she was now in front of the case that held the item she was creatively *borrowing* for herself. Just then she heard a noise behind her. "Taking another trip down memory lane, Carmen?" a taunting voice questioned out of the shadows. Carmen turned and smiled at her determined adversary. "Yes, Ivy, but this one you can take with me." she replied, matching Ivy’s taunting tone. Ivy paused momentarily, what did Carmen mean? "You’re trapped Carmen, there’s no way out," another voice shouted. "Ahh, Zack, you have much to learn. Lesson number one, there’s always a way out!" With that she turned and fled towards the door. "Get her, sis" Zack’s voice snapped Ivy back to attention. Ivy ran after Carmen, with Zack trailing behind. She caught up to Carmen on the roof. "Here’s two clues, the first for just you, Ivy, and the second for both." Carmen said, putting on the taunting tone again. She tossed Ivy two objects and jumped onto the little platform waiting to take her to her hover craft. She flashed one of her trademark smiles, and Ivy leapt to catch her, but missed. Just then Zack come running up. "She got away again, little bro," Ivy said, exasperated. "Yeah, yeah big surprise." Zack replied sarcastically. "Did she at least leave a clue?" "What do you think," Ivy snapped, annoyed Carmen had got away, especially after saying something like that. What did she mean, Ivy could go with her? "Woah, sis, what’d I do?" Zack asked taking a step back. "Sorry Zack, I didn’t mean to be like that. Here it is," she replied, handing him the second piece of paper Carmen had given her. The paper read: "In Days Gone By and Years in the past, Poe and Water, Swirl and teams, Foes and Fears, Book and Log," "What in the world does she mean," Zack asked, puzzled. "Uhh, what?" Ivy asked, thinking about the scene she had just witnessed. "I am so totally confused with this, she could be referring to any number of things." Zack said, looking at his sister quizzically. Ivy sure wasn’t paying attention today. "Yeah," Ivy agreed, a little distracted. "You know, Zack, can you work on this by yourself for a little while? I have to do something. Don’t worry," she added quickly, not wanting Zack to get suspicious. "From the looks of it you’ll be here when I get back." "I resent that," Zack said, relieved that Ivy was still teasing him at least. "Bye, Zack" Ivy said, smirking. She walked down from the roof to the ground. After looking around to be sure no one saw her, she opened the package Carmen had given to her. She found a note with the following written on it: "Dear Ivy: No tricks or traps, this is important... I want to talk to you. I promise not to steal anything. I can’t just tell you where I am though, so here’s a clue for you to solve. If you can... Carmen Sandiego" Carmen will be Carmen, Ivy thought, a smile creeping across her face. 'I wonder what she wants.' "She better not try to steal any thing," Ivy muttered, partly out of habit and partly because she didn’t want to get off her guard. What if Carmen tried to get her to admit something? Ha, forget it. "There is no way on this Earth I’m telling Carmen anything," Ivy said to herself, thoughts of her scrapbook entering her mind again. She pushed them away. "You don’t have time for this, you have to figure out her clue," she admonished herself, opening the folded paper and reading the following: "The site of a Party, friends and food, revolts in three’s . Nuts in dough, a place of craziness." "What could she mean?" Ivy asked herself. "The site of a Party. Well, that could be her birthday party, the Christmas party, or the Acme Technology Conference, but that wasn’t really a party. Friends and food, well, that’s pretty obvious. Revolt’s in three’s, and a place of craziness. Cool! That can mean only one thing! Player, C-5 me to the site of Carmen’s birthday party, V.I.L.E. headquarters, Paris, France. But do it without telling the Chief, he has enough on his mind." With that Ivy leapt into the C-5 portal, and it closed after her. * * * Meanwhile Zack was still working on Carmen’s clue. "Chief, what could she mean? Days gone by, years in the past. Does she mean when she was a kid? When she was a detective? A thief? Man, why does Carmen do this? And then Ivy just up and leaves!" Zack exclaimed indignantly. "Uh, huh, where did she say she was going, uh, huh?" Chief replied, impersonating Elvis Presley. "Chief would you quite fooling around, this is serious!’’ Zack exclaimed. "Where did I leave my skateboard? I think better on it. Player C-5 me to Acme Headquarters in San Francisco." Zack ordered, jumping in. "Hey, wait for me, where’d he go?" Chief asked, joining him in the corridor. * * * Meanwhile, in Paris, France, Ivy had just landed in a tree. "We have got to get the Chief to fix that," Ivy remarked, jumping down from one of the branches. "Now to figure out where I am. Why am I even here? I don’t care what Carmen has too say, do I? Yes, you do," she replied, forcing herself to be honest... "And whether you care to admit it or not, you do care about her. No! Stop it, I don’t want to think about it," Ivy shook her head, trying to get rid of these very uncomfortable thoughts. She glanced around, trying to figure out where she was. She spotted a building which she recognized as the V.I.L.E. headquarters that had held Carmen’s Party. Ivy walked silently through the deserted street, watching for any traps that Carmen could have set up. "Why am I being so careful, Carmen said she wasn’t playing around," Ivy asked herself. "Oh, sure and what happened last time you started trusting her? She set you up, just to steal the Magna Carta," Ivy reminded herself, now in front of the building. Creeping inside she moved through the entrance to the darkened dining room. "Welcome, detective," Carmen’s voice called from across the room. Ivy couldn’t see anything, but could hear Carmen moving closer. As Carmen walked towards Ivy, she tried to calm her small case of nervousness. What would Ivy say, would she even listen? The last few attempts at apologies hadn’t gone too well. Carmen reached for the light switch and flicked it on. "How are you, Ivy?" Carmen asked, as calm and collected as ever. "Fine, Carmen." Ivy replied coldly. "What did you bring me here for?" "Something important, but let’s get more comfortable, shall we?" Carmen answered, hoping this went the way she had planned. She guided Ivy through the enormous building, leading her into a large room with a roaring fire in the fireplace. "Would you like some tea?" Carmen asked, referring to a silver pewter set sitting on a small end table. "Umm, sure," Ivy replied, relaxing a little. "There’s some cinnamon buns there too, they’re quite good, if I do say so myself." Carmen added, smirking a little. "You made them?" Ivy questioned, helping herself to one. "Yes, I did," Carmen replied, smiling. "So, what did you bring me here for?" Ivy asked, breaking the momentary silence. "I’m sure it wasn’t just to show off your culinary abilities." "You are certainly right. I have something very important to say," Carmen said, forcing herself to stay calm. ‘I wonder what, she sounds very serious.’ Ivy thought to herself, glancing at Carmen. "Do you remember when I used you and Zack to steal the Magna Carta?" Carmen continued, studying Ivy to see what her response would be. Ivy winced, not pleased with the memories Carmen’s words were bringing up. Stay together, she willed herself. "Yes, I remember" she answered. "Well, it was a heartless and cruel thing to do and I wish I’d never done it. It was wrong to do and I felt -and still feel- really bad about it,-" "What are you saying, Carmen?" Ivy interrupted, not sure where Carmen was headed. "I’m saying, I’m sorry, from the bottom of my heart." Carmen said, her voice cracking for a split second. "You have a heart, Carmen?" Ivy asked, not able to help herself. Carmen had hurt her so much, who’s to say she wouldn’t do it again? "Yes, I do, detective," Carmen replied quietly, Ivy’s words had cut like a knife. "And I know there is no reason on this earth for you to forgive me, but I’m asking anyway. Before you answer though, I have something for you." Carmen reached behind the armchair she was sitting on and pulled out the Magna Carta. "I’m giving this back to you to prove how sincere I am. I stole it because it fits in with my crime spree, and so this time I could do it the way I should have in the first place, without using you or Zack," she explained, waiting for Ivy’s response. * * * Back in San Francisco, Zack was riding his skateboard up and down at Acme Headquarters. "What does Carmen mean?" he asked the Chief. . "Let’s read her clue again, maybe that will help," he replied. "Let’s see, we know it’s sometime in the past, but when?" The Chief shook his head. "Let’s forget that for now and work on the rest." "Good idea, Chief!" Zack exclaimed. "Hmmm, Poe and water. Poe is capitalized, info-scan on anything with that name." "Listen up, gumshoe, if you’re talking Poe, and I think you are, we have a few candidates! Poe number 1, Edgar Allan Poe was know as the father of the modern detective story-" "Freeze-frame, Chief," Zack interrupted. Remember when Maelstrom escaped? One of the clues Carmen left us was a clipping of one of his stories." "Exact-a-mundo, Zack! And you started working with Carmen after you went to the swirling water, otherwise known as a Whirlpool!" the Chief exclaimed, bouncing enthusiastically around the room. "Right, but what would she steal? Wait-a-minute! Book and Log, what if we switched those words around?" "You’d have Log Book" Chief answered. "And Maelstrom stole the Log Book from the Carpathia! That’s where Carmen’s going!" Zack finished, looking like he would bounce around if he could. "Player, C-5 us there!" "What about Ivy?" Chief asked. "Leave her a note, we’re outta here!" * * * ‘What should I do?’ Ivy asked herself. ‘I do forgive her, but should I tell her? Yes, you should. Fine, fine, I’ll do it.’ Ivy drew in a breath and said, "Yes, Carmen, I forgive you. And thank you for giving back the Magna Carta." As soon as the words were out of her mouth, she smiled. She knew she had done the right thing. Carmen smiled at her adversary and said, "Thank you, detective." Ivy got up and thanked her for the buns and tea. Resisting the urge to hug Carmen, she walked back down to the street. "I’m glad I came, but was this apology enough? Did it answer any of my questions? Did it help me come to terms with my feelings for her? I don’t think so, I still feel betrayed, hurt, lost. Maybe I should have told her what I’m feeling. Don’t be dumb, just because she apologized that doesn’t mean I’m going to tell anyone, not even Carmen what I’m feeling. Player, C-5 me to Acme Headquarters, that’s where Zack probably is." Jumping in, she tried to ignore the conflicting emotions she just couldn’t get rid of. To be continued...