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When he opened his eyes, he was lying on a red couch with no idea of where he was. He jumped up and looked around for a weapon, but stopped when he saw Carmen.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
He held a hand to his temple. “Not.. great,” he admitted. “I still don’t know what happened. And you promised to tell me.” Carmen bit her lip. “Please.”
“Fine. But you have to promise me that you’ll listen and not freak out. Promise me,” she implored.
“Okay,” He held up his right hand. “Scout’s honor.”
Carmen raised an eyebrow. “You never were a scout.”
“Fair enough.” He plopped back down on the couch. “Now, what happened?”
Carmen sat down on the couch across from him and took a deep breath. “From what I remember, you were a junior electrician at the Sydney Opera House, when ‘a light went out.’” She made air quotes. “V.I.L.E. approached you and told you that they would like to enroll you in a school- a school for thieves. During orientation, Coach Brunt called me Lambkins and you laughed and said you didn’t know V.I.L.E. Academy had a mascot. I happened to be sitting directly behind you and taught you a little lesson, telling you that my codename was Black Sheep, and that only my friends called me Lambkins.
“We met our roommates, Sheena, Antonio, and Jean-Paul. You and I became thick as, well, thieves.
“Classes and teachers were as expected. Shadowsan taught Stealth 101 and he was the mean teacher. He never smiled and he hated me. He thought I was a prankster and undisciplined. Professor Maelstrom taught lessons in psychological manipulation, and Sheena was the first of many victims of his psychotic ways. When he introduced the Bait and Switch, she was on the receiving end of some particularly nasty bait. Coach Brunt taught us how to hold our own in a fight and told us to always protect the face. Countess Cleo showed us how to detect forgeries and tried to tame my wild side. Dr. Bellum was your favorite teacher. She taught us gadgetry and science. She was kind of a mad scientist, and you,” Carmen took a deep breath, “you used her CrackleRod as your signature weapon.”
“My signature… weapon?” Gray stuttered. She nodded and continued.
“On December first, you and I and the rest of our roommates bombarded the V.I.L.E. bookkeeper, Cookie Booker, with water balloons. Unfortunately, we were caught by the Cleaners, the Faculty’s number one henchmen. They kindly brought our pranks to the attention of the Faculty. It nearly got us expelled, but Coach thought that was extreme, so they gave us detention, where we were required to come up with our codenames.
“I stayed with Black Sheep. For you, I suggested Power Failure, but you said it didn’t have that ‘crackle’ you were looking for.” Carmen smiled at the memory. “Then you stood up on the table and said ‘Get this! I’m Graham Crackle!’ Sheena thought you were an idiot. Jean-Paul said ‘Really? Who would take us seriously if we had puns for names?’ and you said you would drop the Graham. Crackle was born. Sheena chose the codename ‘Tigress’, Antonio chose ‘El Topo’, preferring to be underground than anywhere else, and Jean-Paul chose ‘Le Chèvre’, turning into the ‘Human Goat’.
“From then on, we threw ourselves into our schoolwork. We all passed every class, except,” she gritted her teeth, still sore from the image, “I failed Shadowsan’s pickpocket class.”
“What?” Graham leaned forward in his seat.
“I failed. The rest of you passed. And you left me to plan your first caper.”
“Carm, I-” he dropped his head into his hands. Sweat beaded on his forehead. Different images flashed in his head, stories that contradicted the one Carmen was telling him. She dropped to the floor in front of him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Gray? Are you okay?”
“No, no, I'm not okay.” He swayed back and forth, and he was afraid he was going to be sick. He grabbed Carmen’s hand. “Please tell me that this is the truth.”
Carmen’s face hardened. “Believe me. It is."176Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyMnwptOOxC
