What's stolen

The missing Jewel

"I really dislike this!"

She points out, the light from the flashlight shaking along with her hand. She didn't like the dark corridor nor the dark old mansion, but she couldn't back down on a challenge from her brother and at least she had brought Julia with her.

"Everything will be alright; it looks like this was a dead end after all. The amount of untouched dust in this building, it's clear no one has been here for years."

Julia reassures her, the young woman had been walking behind her this whole time. Hearing her words, Ivy starts to relax, and her hand stops shaking. She was happy that she had dragged Julia with her and not Chase.

"But I wounder why VILE would start moving around here."

When she didn't get an answer, Ivy turns around, expecting to see a Julia in deep thought about her own question. When the light from the flashlight only shows an empty hallway behind her, Ivy starts to grow worry once more.

"Julia!"

Ivy carefully calls out, turning round in a try to locate her friend with no luck. Remembering what she had said about the dust, Ivy turns the flashlight to the ground, finding Julia's footsteps only to see them disappear in thin air from where she had been standing just moments ago.

"This is bad, this is very, very bad!"

She had to find her brother and Chase and that was fast. If someone else is in this building, they needed to act fast and make sure they get Julia back. Speeding up her steps, Ivy soon finds herself running down the corridor she and Julia had been walking in earlier, hopping that her brother and Chase would be close by from where they had all started.

With luck, she hears the voice of her brother not far away and she pushes herself more. Realizing that she could just have called them over the come system the moment she rounds the corner to see her two partners, if she had, she wouldn't be out of breath now.

"Bro!"

She managed to get out, making Zack and Chase turn towards her. Looking at them as she tries to take a few deep breaths, she can see that Chase is holding onto a paper.

"Perfect timing sis! Where is J?"

Zack asks, looking over Ivy's shoulder in a try to find the last one in their weird little team. Taking in a large breath, Ivy takes one last moment to collect herself properly.

"Julia is missing. One moment she was right behind me, in the next she just vanished in thin air."

She explains, seeing how worry now grows in Chase and Zack's eyes, both looking at the paper that Chase is holding onto. Seeing their behavior, Ivy narrows her eyes slightly.

"What is that?"

She asks, when neither of the boys' answer, she takes a step towards Chase and pulls the paper out of his hand to find out what had made them so worry. Reading what had been written on the paper, Ivy understands as to why their worry is as high as it is. Looking at her brother, she knows what they will have to do. Deep down, she could feel that she was happy to be given an opportunity to meet their old boss again, it had been far to long. But having to tell her that Julia had been taken once more isn't a reason she would choose to meet with the woman in red again.

"Please tell me you are not thinking what I'm thinking."

She asks them in one last try to hope for the best, the look in their eyes told her that they were on the same page anyway.

"We need to call this in now."

Chase points out, taking out his pen as he does. Zack takes a step back to Ivy and he looks her dead in the eyes. She knew the same thing had gone through her brothers head just moments ago and she could see the same conflict in his eyes.

"Found anything?"

Turning her attention towards the voice, Ivy is meet with the hologram of the Chief and she can see the moment the older woman realizes that something is wrong, and her eyes narrows.

"What happened? And where is Agent Argent?"

"She's gone missing."

Chase takes points in the conversation, being the oldest and the one doing this type of work the longest. And it was just much easier to let him deal with the Chief.

"What?"

It was clear that the Chief didn't like what was being said and Chase reaches out for Ivy, or rather for the paper in her hand. Once it's back in his own hands once more, he holds it up the Chief to see.

"Ivy and Julia had taken one part of the mansion as me and Zack took another. According to Ivy, Julia had been behind her one minute and gone in the next. Me and Zack found this not just a few minutes before Ivy found us. It says: Thank you for brining me the Jewel, now we finally have the last piece to bring forth her end."

Chase tells the older woman and silence fall over them all as they can see the Chief thinking.

"And you think the Jewel they are talking about is Agent Argent?"

"Wouldn't be the first time VILE kidnaps her, and if they still want to take down Camren then, she's the best way to go."

Chase points out and Ivy rolls her eyes, he could at least try to be a bit more tactic about this.

"Return back to base, we need to try and..."

Chief starts to order, only to stop when she sees Ivy taking a step forward. Ivy herself had not realized she did it until their boss had stopped talking and now there was no turning back since the Chief is looking at her with one eyebrow up.

"Zack and I will have to make a quick stop before coming back. We need to tell Carmen about this, she might not be the Carmen Sandiego that helped us out when VILE first started to show up once more. But she would want to know that Julia have been taken because VILE thinks that's the easiest way to get to her. Maybe this can help getting Carm back into action once more, only for a little while at least."

Ivy explains, hopping what she had said would be enough for the Chief to see it her way. Silence fell once more before the Chief let's out a sigh.

"Chase, go with them. Make sure to make proper contact with Ms. Sandiego and do what every you can to push her to help and work alongside us. Report back to me once you have spoken to her, I'll make sure there is plane tickets for you all."

Chief orders before the hologram is gone. Chase bows down to take the pen and he looks towards ivy and Zack; it was clear that he is trying to figure out what they were planning in that moment. Looking at her brother once more, Ivy could see that they were thinking the same thing and she takes out an old earring from a hidden pocket in her jacket. Putting the earring in her right ear, she let's out a soft sigh of relief when she hears it come back to life.

"Hey, Player. We need to come in contact with Carmen, any way you could sett us up with a meeting face to face, for old time sake?"

"I'll see what I can do."

-X-X-X-X-X-

"Do you see her?"

"No."

"This is the spot Player told us she would be right?"

"Yes."

"So why isn't she here?"

"Who should in know?"

Zack was starting to really go on her nerves in that moment and she is about to lift her hand and smack him in a desperate try to shut him up.

"Le femme rouge!"

Hearing Chase call out the old nickname for their boss however, Ivy and Zack turns around, eyes landing on a smiling Carmen. Dressed in the all to familiar red hood and shorts, her hands in her pocket, she walks right towards them.

"So, Player told me you guys really needed to talk."