[Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?] Told I'm No Good
Title: Told I'm No Good
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Characters: The Dying Informant, the Snowball-gram Messenger, the Technet Techie, and the Freshnet Inspector
Table: 50 prompts
Prompt: outshine
Rating: PG13
Spoilers/Warnings: Seriousness in a generally light-hearted fandom.
Summary: When the Techie has a bad day, the others do their best to cheer him up. Too bad the rest of the world seems to be working against them...
Author’s Note: Crossposted to other LJ comms and the V.I.L.E. HQ fanfic forum
Author's note: This fic was inspired by today's 31 Days prompt ("My shadow pinned against a sweating wall") plus the 30 gens prompt "Hero," and fits in my timeline somewhere before my current mystery fic. As always, the characters aren't mine, and the story is. Thanks to Lucky Ladybug for plot help!
*********************
The voices followed him all around ACME Crimenet, taunting him… laughing endlessly at him…
“Look; there he goes! This’ll be priceless…”
“Hey! Hey, Clumsy!”
“What’s the matter, Butterfingers? Can’t you hear us?”
A foot stuck out of nowhere, and the Techie tripped over it, sending him sprawling to the floor.
“Down he goes!” a voice taunted. “Hey, he really is pathetic; he can’t even see where he’s going!”
“No wonder he dropped those circuit boards... right into the pool..."
“Hey, Techie, have you heard the news? You’ve been put under a restraining order; you can’t go within twenty feet of any breakable objects!”
“Ha! But that won’t do any good; he’ll fall over his feet so hard that the impact will create seismic waves that’ll knock over and break anyway!”
“Hey! Hey, Techie! I hear they’re saving a spot for you at ACME Demolition-Net; you’re going to be transferred!”
“Just don’t break the wrecking ball!”
“Bet you ten to one he finds a way to break it, anyway!”
They couldn’t see the Techie’s face. They couldn’t register the hurt and shame he was feeling. They couldn’t see the torment that they were bestowing upon the poor agent who had instantly become the laughingstock of ACME Crimenet after word had gotten out that he had accidentally ruined a very expensive shipment of circuit boards by stumbling beside the ACME pool while he had been carrying them. He had fallen into the water, circuit boards and all, rendering the equipment useless. And most of the other ACME agents were teasing him unmercifully.
“Hey, Techie!” another agent said. “Is it true that you have to be tied down before you go to sleep so that you don’t break anything?”
The Techie trembled, and he probably would’ve started to break down had it not been for a familiar-and angry-voice arriving on the scene.
“Shut up, all of you,” the voice growled. “Don’t you guys have work to be doing? And while you’re at it, see if you can find your obviously misplaced maturity!”
“Lighten up, Informant,” one of the teasers replied. “In case you forgot, those circuit boards were worth a small fortune. And he totally broke them!”
“Yeah? Well, you’d better clear out before I break something.” The fiery youth’s knuckles cracked. “And if I do, it won’t be an accident.”
“No…” the Techie began. No… he didn’t want the Informant getting into a fight on his account.
“Hey, Informant; it looks like Butterfingers over there has something to say to you!”
“That’s it…” the Informant snarled, running at them.
“Whoa, Infy!” said the Messenger, he and the Inspector arriving in time to seize the young agent’s arms.
“They aren’t worth it,” the Inspector said.
The crowd was starting to disperse, and the Informant calmed down, prompting the others to release him. The second he was free, he placed an arm firmly around the Techie’s shoulders.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Define ‘okay’…” the visibly upset Techie replied.
“I guess I shouldn’t have asked,” the Informant sighed. “I’m sorry…”
“No… I’m sorry,” the Techie replied. “I should’ve had a better grip on those things”
“Big deal,” said the Informant. “It’s only money. It doesn’t take much to build up an account… just a little work…”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. I deserve all this flak; I really am worthless--”
“Hey,” said the Messenger, frowning. “You know, it’s bad enough we have to hear all of those idiots putting you down; don’t start doing it yourself.”
“You see, unlike them, you’re human,” said the Inspector. He was particularly upset Mrs. Pumpkinclanger at the moment; she had chided the Techie for the noise he had made falling into the water, and a couple agents who had been passing by the alley heard her rant. And then they had spread the story around ACME like wildfire.
“That’s right!” said the Informant. “They must be RoboCrook’s cousins.”
“It’s not just them,” said the Techie. “The other lab technicians are distancing themselves from me… ” He swallowed hard. “They don’t want to be tarred with the same brush; someone already scribbled on the ACME Tech-Net sign to change it to ACME Clumsy-Net.”
The Informant let out an angered hiss. This had gone too far.
“You know we’ll stand by you, though,” he said. “I hope you always remember that.”
“You heard them, though,” said the Techie. “They were starting to taunt you, too.”
“That’s fine with me,” said the Informant. “As far as I’m concerned, they already have enough to ridicule me-all those failed assignments where I came back and just crashed to the floor…”
The Messenger sighed. The truth was probably that the other agents knew that the Informant had been badly hurt whenever he returned from those failed assignments. No one had gotten hurt from the circuit boards incident, and that was probably what had made it seem so hilarious to everyone else.
And it was probably easier to tease the Techie as opposed to any of the other three. The Messenger usually poked fun at himself well before anyone else could try, and his quick wit would often send taunts right back where they came from. As for the Informant… No one, not even those creeps, would ridicule him after spending several days in the infirmary after those mistakes. And as for the Inspector… Well, no one ever dared to taunt him. One look at his strong build and deadpan glare was enough to send even the most daring of teasers fleeing.
But the Techie… the Techie was so shy and reserved… easy pickings for bored agents with nothing better to do than make themselves feel better by making others feel worse. And the Techie deserved this the least; he was so quiet and unassuming, not to mention friendly to everyone, greeting them with one of his winning smiles…
It was terribly unfair.
But the Techie was beginning to feel better with the support of his friends… At least, he was until they returned to the agents’ suites. He tripped over a fishing line that someone had strung in the hallway, attached to sign that said, “Have a nice trip.”
“I don’t believe this,” snarled the Messenger, dismantling the trap. “This is just sick… This crossed the line long ago.”
“Just ignore it, ” said the Inspector, helping his friend to his feet. “They’ll stop soon enough.”
But the Techie was not buying the idea.
“I’ll… I’ll be in my room…” he replied, slamming the door behind him.
“But…” the Informant began. But the Techie had locked the door. With a sigh, the young man turned back to the others. “We’ve got to put a stop to this.”
“There seems to be only one way,” said the Messenger. “And we all know that the Techie would be even more upset if we got into a fistfight with those creeps.”
“So it’s a no-win situation?” asked the Inspector, frowning. “I won’t believe that…”
The Informant suddenly snapped his fingers.
“If we can’t stop it, we can at least get is mind off of it,” he said. “Whenever I’m upset about something, I usually like to distract myself by going to the Chief and asking for a tailing mission. Maybe that’ll work with him!”
“Wouldn’t hurt…” the Messenger agreed. “Go to it, Infy!”
“Right!”
*********************
The Techie could hear his friends talking outside, but he still didn’t feel like talking to them right now. There was no need to drag them into this mess. They didn’t deserve to be ridiculed just for associating with him; that didn’t seem fair at all…
“Techie!” exclaimed the Informant. “Hey! Open up; we’ve got an assignment!”
The Techie sighed. Great… Another chance to totally mess something up…
But he opened the door anyway.
“What’s up?” he asked, half-heartedly.
“Eartha Brute,” the Informant announced. “She and RoboCrook were seen in V.I.L.E.’s old warehouse hideout, trying to salvage some stuff from the amphibious shark fiasco… ” That hadn’t been one of the Informant’s best moments, either…
“Why would they be looking for stuff in there now?” the Messenger wondered aloud.
“Oh, you know V.I.L.E.,” said the Inspector. “They’re not the type to leave anything valuable around…”
“Especially when they went through so much trouble to steal it in the first place,” the Informant smirked. “But RoboCrook left some time ago; Eartha is the only one still there… Of course, one capture is better than nothing.”
The Techie finally managed a smile. Perhaps getting away from all of the teasing here at ACME was just what he needed.
They were on their way out the door when one of the female techies approached them.
“Excuse me,” she said. Her expression did not bode well.
“What’s happened now…?” the Techie asked, dreading the answer.
“The other members of ACME Tech-Net have decided that it’s… Oh,, I’m so sorry,” she said, with a shake of her head. “They wanted me to break it to you; they said that you’d take it best from me, but… They want you to step down as head Techie. They… They’ve nominated me to take your place. They want you to sign this to validate it…”
The Techie stared at her, horrified.
“Oh, it’s only temporary,” she assured him. “Until all this hoopla dies down… Maybe the ridicule will stop if everyone believes that you’ve been reprimanded. It wouldn’t last for more than a week or two at the very most--”
“We’re going out on an assignment,” the Informant said through gritted teeth, as he steered his friend out the door. “He can’t be bothered with that right now.”
“But… please understand!” she said. “I didn’t want this…” She turned to the Inspector and the Messenger. “Come on, Guys…”
The other two looked away as they followed the Informant and the Techie out the door.
“Maybe this is a bad idea…” said the Techie. “If I slip up, it’ll probably go to three weeks of me stepping down--”
“It won’t,” said the Informant. “You know why? It’s because you are going to bring in Eartha with such skill, the other members of ACME Tech-Net will be begging forgiveness. And everyone else will see you for who you really are.”
“A sometimes-successful klutz?”
“An invaluable member of ACME,” the Informant corrected him.
“Are you four out on some other noisy excursion!?” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger asked, surveying them from her usual place at her window.
The Inspector glared daggers at her; she was the cause of all of this.
“What’s that look for!?” she chided him.
“Techie’s suffering because of you and your big mouth,” said the Informant. Mrs. Pumpkinclanger looked shocked; the Informant was normally very soft-spoken.
“Just what do you mean!?”
“Why’d you have to yell loud enough for the whole street to hear about the marble, huh!?” the Informant asked, placing an arm around the Techie’s shoulders again.
“Well what do you want me to do; start yelling that I was wrong and it was someone else who tripped!?”
“Forget it, Infy,” said the Messenger, placing a hand on his shoulder. “What’s done is done. But we can bring Eartha in, at least.”
“Right…” the youth sighed. “Let’s go.”
*********************
The trip to the warehouse hideout was uneventful.
“Okay… We should split up. ..” said the Messenger. He turned to the Inspector. “You come with me; we’ll take the east side of the place.”
“Looks like it’s you and me heading west,” the Informant said, trying to lighten the mood. The Techie smiled, but only slightly.
The two friends headed off in search of Eartha, finding nothing. She had come in a while ago, and had probably left, taking a hoard of items with her.
But the Techie’s mind was hardly on the case at all. All he could think about was how the other techies were turning on him. Clearly, he was an embarrassment to them; that was why they had asked him to step down…
“Don’t you pay any attention to them,” said the Informant, sensing his friend’s thoughts. “They’re all a bunch of cowards who only care about themselves.”
The Techie didn’t reply, kicking a wrapper from a Roddenberrian candy bar that had obviously been left behind by Kneemoi. The Informant glanced at, eyebrows arched. Earth food had plenty of unpronounceable ingredients as it was; he didn’t even want to think about what was listed on that.
“For what it’s worth, we care about you a lot,” the young agent went on, as the Techie continued to kick the wrapper in silence. He placed his arm around his friend’s shoulders again. “You know we’d never turn our backs on you. And really, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it only matter what your true friends think?”
The Techie still didn’t say a word; he hadn’t even said anything since they had left ACME; he had just spent the entire time thinking. Maybe the other members of ACME Tech-Net were trying to tell him something… Maybe fieldwork wasn’t for him… Maybe he’d be better off with a desk job. It was probably safer…
“Techie!” the Informant cried at last. “Say something!”
The Techie glanced back at the Informant.
“I’m sorry,” he said, at last. It wasn’t fair, he realized. The Informant was only trying to help him, but the Techie was only making him feel worse. The Informant didn’t deserve to suffer because of him. He tried to move his arm, but the Informant only responded by strengthening his hold around the Techie’s shoulders. The Techie closed his eyes as he walked, silently thanking him.
Elsewhere, the Inspector and the Messenger weren’t having much luck, either.
“I see V.I.L.E. has their own gym membership…” the Messenger mused, as they wandered into the exercise room. He absentmindedly tapped a few buttons on the treadmill. “I can just picture Sarah Nade rollerblading in place on this thing…” He crossed to a set of weights. “I’m guessing Eartha will be back; these look like hers…” He tried, and failed, to lift one of the dumbbells.
The Inspector smirked, proceeding to pick up the very same dumbbell.
“Show-off…” the Messenger said, but he was smiling. “Oh, look-they had cable TV in here…” he flipped through the channels.
“They probably didn’t even pay for it,” said the Inspector. He stopped, noticing something sparkling on the ground, and he was surprised to discover that it was a diamond ring; it must’ve been stolen by one of the V.I.L.E. gang, and had been left behind in the evacuation…
“You think…?” the Messenger grinned, turning the set off. But something in the darkened screen caught his eye. His eyes widened. “Behind you!”
The Inspector turned in time to see the strongwoman’s large fist heading in his direction. Thinking quickly, he raised the dumbbell as a shield, with limited results. Eartha hit the dumbbell, but the force of the blow sent the Inspector across the room.
The Messenger tried to snap a set of handcuffs on her from behind, but she heard the movement. She seized him by the arm and threw him across the room at the Inspector. He had just gotten to his feet, and could not brace himself in time as the Messenger crashed into him. And neither of them had time to brace themselves as the strongwoman tackled them next. The battle ended almost as quickly as it had begun, the Inspector and the Messenger trapped and stunned beneath each of the strongwoman’s arms.
“Two down,” she huffed. But she knew there would have to be more; they traveled in packs, these ACME agents…
She hauled the two agents into the room she had prepared, leaving them to come to their senses in their new quarters.
But the sounds of the fighting had not gone unnoticed by the Informant and the Techie; they had heard the struggle echoing, even from where they were standing. And then all had gone quiet… too quiet…
“No…” gasped the Informant, heading back to the other direction.
“Wait!” cried the Techie, trying to run after his friend. “It might be a trap--”
He tripped over a lamp cord, sending the appliance crashing to the ground along with him. He let out a cry of frustration as he disentangled himself from the cord.
“Come back!”
But the Informant was too far ahead to hear him; the Techie could just barely see him in the dimly-lit corridors as he followed him. But, as he approached, he could clearly hear the Informant’s cry as he collided with a very angry strongwoman.
“NO!” the Techie cried out, but his voice was lost in his horror as Eartha seized the Informant by his trenchcoat collar, lifting him like she had done during the time she had outfitted him with cement shoes.
“You again?” Eartha huffed. “You never learn! It doesn’t matter whether I give ya cement shoes or set an attack dog on ya, you still poke your nose in other peoples’ business! Well, it ain’t gonna happen again!” She slammed him against the wall, stunning him, and she drew her fist back, aiming to strike…
“STOP!” yelled the techie, running over, heedless of the danger. Not him! The Informant had come on this mission as a morale booster for the Techie… to cheer him up by trying to get him to forget his marble mistake… If anything happened to him now…
Eartha looked up, and the Informant shut his eyes, stars still filling his vision.
“No…” he pleaded. “Get out of here…”
“Oh, you’re that clumsy one,” the strongwoman sneered. “You’re no threat to V.I.L.E. But Carmen won’t like me lettin’ ya go… I know; I’ll get you some nice cement shoes like I did to your friend here…”
The Techie was furious; he had been so sickened and worried she had thrown him off of the falls, and here she was, talking about it like it had been nothing!
“Or better yet…” she went on, amused at how he was reacting to her words. “How about some of those circuit boards you dropped? I think that’ll fit better, won’t it?”
Now the Techie was horrified. How did she know about it!? The story had spread far beyond ACME, he realized. V.I.L.E. knew about it… And perhaps even E.M.C.A.; they were always spying on ACME anyway…
“But I’ll have to deal with you in a little bit,” Eartha went on. “First things first… I need to deal with this little pest…” She shook the Informant roughly. The youth flinched. “Aww, does it hurt? Does the widdle Informant hurt? We’ll put the Informant out of his misery, then…”
And now the Techie felt his anger return.
“Leave him alone!” he yelled, running at Eartha.
“No, don’t--” the Informant pleaded.
But Eartha had expected it. As the Techie ran at her, she casually struck out at him with her arm, sending him crashing into the wall. He fell forward, barely conscious as his head throbbed in pain from the blow.
“NO!” the Informant cried, fighting against her hold.
“Quiet!” she boomed, giving him a knockout blow on the shoulders.
The Techie let out a weak cry as the Informant fell unconscious in the strongwoman’s arms. But it was taking every ounce of his remaining strength to not black out himself as Eartha stomped away, dragging the Informant with her.
“No…” he whispered, trembling as he got to his feet.
He would have to follow her. He would have to save him. He could not let Eartha get away with what she was planning.
“I’m coming…” he said. “Hold on… please…”
*********************
“Hey, wake up!”
“Infy, wake up!”
The Informant’s head still throbbed, but he recognized the familiar voices.
“Oh, Mama…” he mumbled, forcing his eyes to open. “What on earth…!?”
He gasped as he realized his surroundings. He was in a tall, plexiglass chamber, as were the Inspector and the Messenger.
“She got you, too?” the Informant asked, as his friends nodded.
“At least Techie escaped,” said the Inspector.
“Not for long,” Eartha assured him, as she worked at some sort of control panel. “As soon as I figure out how this thing works, I’m goin’ after him. But Robo set this thing up; he always makes everything so complicated… Ah, here!”
She pressed a few more buttons, and the Informant, who had been looking on in confusion, cried out as water began to fill his chamber, as well as the others’.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” said the Messenger, his eyes widening in horror. “Can’t we discuss this like civilized beings!?”
“Nope,” she said. And then she glanced at the Inspector, who was trying to break down the glass walls. “Don’t bother; they’re shatterproof.”
He just growled in frustration.
“Now I’m gonna go find yer friend,” she huffed. “I’m sure he’ll wanna say bye-bye.”
“No!” yelled the Informant, pounding a fist against the glass in despair. Poor Techie would be permanently broken if he saw them like this, knowing that they had only gone on this mission for his sake…
The Informant continued to pound on the glass, but nothing happened.
And that was when the Techie staggered into the room, horrified to see not only the Informant, but also the Inspector and the Messenger, trapped in the rising water.
"No..." he moaned, weakly. This was all his fault... They had had no reason to even be on this case if it hadn’t been for him...
"Go!" cried the Informant. "Eartha will be back any second; you have to get out of here while you still can!"
"I'm not leaving you like this!" the Techie cried back, horrified. He ran to the control panel. He would not allow himself to lose his friends like this!
"We know you can do this..." said the Messenger, as the water rose to his chest. He glanced at the others. The Inspector was holding on, but the Informant, being a head shorter than both of them, was already up to his shoulders.
The Techie let out another cry of despair.
"RoboCrook has encrypted everything!" he said.
"Keep trying!" said the Inspector.
"And we'll keep holding on!" said the Informant, the water up to his neck. He struggled to climb up the cylinder, but the walls were too slippery.
The Techie worked harder, praying for a miracle. Unfortunately, that was when Eartha showed up.
“Here you are!" she boomed, running at him.
He dove out of the way with a cry, glancing at his friends. The Informant was completely underwater now, trying to hold his breath.
"NO!" the Techie cried, hammering on the glass with his fists. But it was to no avail. Eartha seized the Techie by the collar as the Inspector and the Messenger called out to the Informant.
"You keep messin' up, don't ya?" asked Eartha, as she slammed him onto the control panel.
He wasn't even paying attention. All he could see was the Informant falling unconscious. He desperately tried to reach out to his unresponsive friend, but failed.
Something came over him then. He would not sit idly by and watch this! This was one time when he could not afford to mess things up! With an enraged cry, he kicked out at the strongwoman, his foot connecting with her jaw. She was only stunned for a moment, but it was enough for the Techie to escape her hold.
But Eartha regained her senses fairly quickly. As the Techie tried to get back to work on hacking through the encryption, she swung a massive fist at him again.
“I think I got it--” he was cut off as the blow landed. He desperately reached out to the panel as the darkness closed in, entering the override command.
Eartha didn’t even notice the water levels receding in the cylinders; she dealt the brunet another blow and then another, sending him flying into the narrow space behind the control panel. She was satisfied; he had already been weakened from the first trouncing.
But she has unaware of what the Inspector had been trying to do the entire time while her back was turned. He had been holding on to the diamond ring he had found and had been using it to cut the glass. And now he had succeeded.
Quickly cutting the Messenger out as well, he handed him the ring to free the still-unconscious Informant as he tackled the strongwoman.
This time, she was taken by surprise, and he knew that was his only advantage at the moment; in spite of his own strength, he knew that he was no match for Eartha. But he succeeded in getting a pair of industrial-strength handcuffs on her-a pair that had been made especially for restraining her, since they had long since learned from experience that normal cuffs wouldn’t cut it. Eartha glared at them, unmoving.
“Infy!” exclaimed the Messenger, as the boy fell limply into his arms. “Come on, Infy…”
The young agent spat out a mouthful of water, his eyes widening.
“Techie…”
He tried taking a step forward, but stumbled; he would’ve fallen if the Messenger hadn’t still been holding on to him. But he could only watch was the Inspector wandered to the back of the control panel, pulling the limp Techie out from the narrow space.
“No…” the Informant gasped, pulling away from the Messenger’s grasp to get to his side.
“Infy…” said the Messenger, only able to place a hand on his shoulder. The Techie had saved them all from a terrible fate, but at what cost…?
The Informant could only hug his motionless friend.
“I’m so sorry…” he said. “I should never have tried to force you to go on an assignment…”
“You only wanted to help…” said the Inspector.
“You only wanted to restore his confidence,” added the Messenger.
But the Informant could not be consoled. The Techie would have been safe in his room if he had just kept his big mouth shut… He had hated to see him lost in self-loathing and having to face all of that merciless teasing, he had wanted them to get away… And now what? The Informant was fully responsible for what had happened…
“Come back to us,” he pleaded. “It doesn’t matter what the rest of ACME thinks… We want you here… Isn’t that enough?”
“…It’s all I could’ve ever wanted…” a weak voice replied.
The Informant froze, and glanced down at his friend. The Techie had just come awake, and had managed a weak smile.
The Informant joyously glomped him in relief. The Inspector just sighed, while the Messenger blurted out, “Don’t do that!”
“I’ll try not to,” the Techie promised, as the Informant helped him to his feet. “You sure you’re alright?”
“Me?” the young agent asked, incredulously.
“I was so worried when you went under…” the Techie said, with a shudder. “I thought that I was going to lose you, and you had only been here to help me feel better…”
“We were worried about the both of you,” said the Inspector.
“Okay, so maybe asking for this assignment was a bad idea…” sighed the Informant.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said the Messenger, with a grin.
Everyone looked at him.
“You know what happened the first time we chased this not-so-little lady, don’t you?” he asked, indicating the annoyed Eartha. “She helped forge our friendship, Infy. And now Techie’s got his confidence back. Nothing like chasing Eartha to set things right.” He patted the strongwoman on the back. “Thanks! And to show our appreciation, we have free room and board set up for you, courtesy of the ACME penitentiary!”
Eartha just glared daggers at him as the other three laughed.
*********************
The Techie received the due hero’s welcome. Word soon spread around ACME about how the Techie had saved the others and was the major contributor in the capture of Eartha, at great personal risk. The other technicians quickly reconsidered their decision to have him step down as head Techie, and all of the teasing that had followed the brunet was now being replaced by awe and congratulations. The circuit board incident was forgotten.
But something was still unresolved, he realized. And as he saw the Informant playing frisbee with Borealis in the alley, he realized what it was.
“Hey,” he said, wandering outside. “How’s it going?”
“Well, I’m still trying to teach Borealis the difference between frisbee and tug-of-war,” the youth grinned, trying to remove the plastic disc from the husky’s jaws.
“Listen…” said the Techie. “I need to apologize--”
“For what!?” asked the Informant. “You didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Yes, I did,” he said. “But it’s not about the circuit boards. It’s about how I was just caught up in my own self pity when you and the others were only trying to help me. I didn’t try hard enough to listen to you, and for that, I’m sorry.”
“Well, if that’s all, you’re forgiven,” said the Informant.
“And take care that you don’t do it again,” said the Inspector, arriving with the Messenger.
“Now what’s with all of this seriousness?” the Messenger asked, his arms folded. “I don’t want to see any of that right now. The case is solved, we have our Techie back, so I want some crazy mayhem, and I want it now!”
“Incoming!” yelped the Informant, as the Messenger reached into his pocket for a snowball-gram.
Within minutes, the snow was flying, the mayhem was unleashed, and Mrs. Pumpkinclanger was yelling once again.
Just another day at ACME Crimenet…
Fandom: Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?
Characters: The Dying Informant, the Snowball-gram Messenger, the Technet Techie, and the Freshnet Inspector
Table: 50 prompts
Prompt: outshine
Rating: PG13
Spoilers/Warnings: Seriousness in a generally light-hearted fandom.
Summary: When the Techie has a bad day, the others do their best to cheer him up. Too bad the rest of the world seems to be working against them...
Author’s Note: Crossposted to other LJ comms and the V.I.L.E. HQ fanfic forum
Author's note: This fic was inspired by today's 31 Days prompt ("My shadow pinned against a sweating wall") plus the 30 gens prompt "Hero," and fits in my timeline somewhere before my current mystery fic. As always, the characters aren't mine, and the story is. Thanks to Lucky Ladybug for plot help!
*********************
The voices followed him all around ACME Crimenet, taunting him… laughing endlessly at him…
“Look; there he goes! This’ll be priceless…”
“Hey! Hey, Clumsy!”
“What’s the matter, Butterfingers? Can’t you hear us?”
A foot stuck out of nowhere, and the Techie tripped over it, sending him sprawling to the floor.
“Down he goes!” a voice taunted. “Hey, he really is pathetic; he can’t even see where he’s going!”
“No wonder he dropped those circuit boards... right into the pool..."
“Hey, Techie, have you heard the news? You’ve been put under a restraining order; you can’t go within twenty feet of any breakable objects!”
“Ha! But that won’t do any good; he’ll fall over his feet so hard that the impact will create seismic waves that’ll knock over and break anyway!”
“Hey! Hey, Techie! I hear they’re saving a spot for you at ACME Demolition-Net; you’re going to be transferred!”
“Just don’t break the wrecking ball!”
“Bet you ten to one he finds a way to break it, anyway!”
They couldn’t see the Techie’s face. They couldn’t register the hurt and shame he was feeling. They couldn’t see the torment that they were bestowing upon the poor agent who had instantly become the laughingstock of ACME Crimenet after word had gotten out that he had accidentally ruined a very expensive shipment of circuit boards by stumbling beside the ACME pool while he had been carrying them. He had fallen into the water, circuit boards and all, rendering the equipment useless. And most of the other ACME agents were teasing him unmercifully.
“Hey, Techie!” another agent said. “Is it true that you have to be tied down before you go to sleep so that you don’t break anything?”
The Techie trembled, and he probably would’ve started to break down had it not been for a familiar-and angry-voice arriving on the scene.
“Shut up, all of you,” the voice growled. “Don’t you guys have work to be doing? And while you’re at it, see if you can find your obviously misplaced maturity!”
“Lighten up, Informant,” one of the teasers replied. “In case you forgot, those circuit boards were worth a small fortune. And he totally broke them!”
“Yeah? Well, you’d better clear out before I break something.” The fiery youth’s knuckles cracked. “And if I do, it won’t be an accident.”
“No…” the Techie began. No… he didn’t want the Informant getting into a fight on his account.
“Hey, Informant; it looks like Butterfingers over there has something to say to you!”
“That’s it…” the Informant snarled, running at them.
“Whoa, Infy!” said the Messenger, he and the Inspector arriving in time to seize the young agent’s arms.
“They aren’t worth it,” the Inspector said.
The crowd was starting to disperse, and the Informant calmed down, prompting the others to release him. The second he was free, he placed an arm firmly around the Techie’s shoulders.
“You okay?” he asked.
“Define ‘okay’…” the visibly upset Techie replied.
“I guess I shouldn’t have asked,” the Informant sighed. “I’m sorry…”
“No… I’m sorry,” the Techie replied. “I should’ve had a better grip on those things”
“Big deal,” said the Informant. “It’s only money. It doesn’t take much to build up an account… just a little work…”
“You’re just saying that to make me feel better. I deserve all this flak; I really am worthless--”
“Hey,” said the Messenger, frowning. “You know, it’s bad enough we have to hear all of those idiots putting you down; don’t start doing it yourself.”
“You see, unlike them, you’re human,” said the Inspector. He was particularly upset Mrs. Pumpkinclanger at the moment; she had chided the Techie for the noise he had made falling into the water, and a couple agents who had been passing by the alley heard her rant. And then they had spread the story around ACME like wildfire.
“That’s right!” said the Informant. “They must be RoboCrook’s cousins.”
“It’s not just them,” said the Techie. “The other lab technicians are distancing themselves from me… ” He swallowed hard. “They don’t want to be tarred with the same brush; someone already scribbled on the ACME Tech-Net sign to change it to ACME Clumsy-Net.”
The Informant let out an angered hiss. This had gone too far.
“You know we’ll stand by you, though,” he said. “I hope you always remember that.”
“You heard them, though,” said the Techie. “They were starting to taunt you, too.”
“That’s fine with me,” said the Informant. “As far as I’m concerned, they already have enough to ridicule me-all those failed assignments where I came back and just crashed to the floor…”
The Messenger sighed. The truth was probably that the other agents knew that the Informant had been badly hurt whenever he returned from those failed assignments. No one had gotten hurt from the circuit boards incident, and that was probably what had made it seem so hilarious to everyone else.
And it was probably easier to tease the Techie as opposed to any of the other three. The Messenger usually poked fun at himself well before anyone else could try, and his quick wit would often send taunts right back where they came from. As for the Informant… No one, not even those creeps, would ridicule him after spending several days in the infirmary after those mistakes. And as for the Inspector… Well, no one ever dared to taunt him. One look at his strong build and deadpan glare was enough to send even the most daring of teasers fleeing.
But the Techie… the Techie was so shy and reserved… easy pickings for bored agents with nothing better to do than make themselves feel better by making others feel worse. And the Techie deserved this the least; he was so quiet and unassuming, not to mention friendly to everyone, greeting them with one of his winning smiles…
It was terribly unfair.
But the Techie was beginning to feel better with the support of his friends… At least, he was until they returned to the agents’ suites. He tripped over a fishing line that someone had strung in the hallway, attached to sign that said, “Have a nice trip.”
“I don’t believe this,” snarled the Messenger, dismantling the trap. “This is just sick… This crossed the line long ago.”
“Just ignore it, ” said the Inspector, helping his friend to his feet. “They’ll stop soon enough.”
But the Techie was not buying the idea.
“I’ll… I’ll be in my room…” he replied, slamming the door behind him.
“But…” the Informant began. But the Techie had locked the door. With a sigh, the young man turned back to the others. “We’ve got to put a stop to this.”
“There seems to be only one way,” said the Messenger. “And we all know that the Techie would be even more upset if we got into a fistfight with those creeps.”
“So it’s a no-win situation?” asked the Inspector, frowning. “I won’t believe that…”
The Informant suddenly snapped his fingers.
“If we can’t stop it, we can at least get is mind off of it,” he said. “Whenever I’m upset about something, I usually like to distract myself by going to the Chief and asking for a tailing mission. Maybe that’ll work with him!”
“Wouldn’t hurt…” the Messenger agreed. “Go to it, Infy!”
“Right!”
*********************
The Techie could hear his friends talking outside, but he still didn’t feel like talking to them right now. There was no need to drag them into this mess. They didn’t deserve to be ridiculed just for associating with him; that didn’t seem fair at all…
“Techie!” exclaimed the Informant. “Hey! Open up; we’ve got an assignment!”
The Techie sighed. Great… Another chance to totally mess something up…
But he opened the door anyway.
“What’s up?” he asked, half-heartedly.
“Eartha Brute,” the Informant announced. “She and RoboCrook were seen in V.I.L.E.’s old warehouse hideout, trying to salvage some stuff from the amphibious shark fiasco… ” That hadn’t been one of the Informant’s best moments, either…
“Why would they be looking for stuff in there now?” the Messenger wondered aloud.
“Oh, you know V.I.L.E.,” said the Inspector. “They’re not the type to leave anything valuable around…”
“Especially when they went through so much trouble to steal it in the first place,” the Informant smirked. “But RoboCrook left some time ago; Eartha is the only one still there… Of course, one capture is better than nothing.”
The Techie finally managed a smile. Perhaps getting away from all of the teasing here at ACME was just what he needed.
They were on their way out the door when one of the female techies approached them.
“Excuse me,” she said. Her expression did not bode well.
“What’s happened now…?” the Techie asked, dreading the answer.
“The other members of ACME Tech-Net have decided that it’s… Oh,, I’m so sorry,” she said, with a shake of her head. “They wanted me to break it to you; they said that you’d take it best from me, but… They want you to step down as head Techie. They… They’ve nominated me to take your place. They want you to sign this to validate it…”
The Techie stared at her, horrified.
“Oh, it’s only temporary,” she assured him. “Until all this hoopla dies down… Maybe the ridicule will stop if everyone believes that you’ve been reprimanded. It wouldn’t last for more than a week or two at the very most--”
“We’re going out on an assignment,” the Informant said through gritted teeth, as he steered his friend out the door. “He can’t be bothered with that right now.”
“But… please understand!” she said. “I didn’t want this…” She turned to the Inspector and the Messenger. “Come on, Guys…”
The other two looked away as they followed the Informant and the Techie out the door.
“Maybe this is a bad idea…” said the Techie. “If I slip up, it’ll probably go to three weeks of me stepping down--”
“It won’t,” said the Informant. “You know why? It’s because you are going to bring in Eartha with such skill, the other members of ACME Tech-Net will be begging forgiveness. And everyone else will see you for who you really are.”
“A sometimes-successful klutz?”
“An invaluable member of ACME,” the Informant corrected him.
“Are you four out on some other noisy excursion!?” Mrs. Pumpkinclanger asked, surveying them from her usual place at her window.
The Inspector glared daggers at her; she was the cause of all of this.
“What’s that look for!?” she chided him.
“Techie’s suffering because of you and your big mouth,” said the Informant. Mrs. Pumpkinclanger looked shocked; the Informant was normally very soft-spoken.
“Just what do you mean!?”
“Why’d you have to yell loud enough for the whole street to hear about the marble, huh!?” the Informant asked, placing an arm around the Techie’s shoulders again.
“Well what do you want me to do; start yelling that I was wrong and it was someone else who tripped!?”
“Forget it, Infy,” said the Messenger, placing a hand on his shoulder. “What’s done is done. But we can bring Eartha in, at least.”
“Right…” the youth sighed. “Let’s go.”
*********************
The trip to the warehouse hideout was uneventful.
“Okay… We should split up. ..” said the Messenger. He turned to the Inspector. “You come with me; we’ll take the east side of the place.”
“Looks like it’s you and me heading west,” the Informant said, trying to lighten the mood. The Techie smiled, but only slightly.
The two friends headed off in search of Eartha, finding nothing. She had come in a while ago, and had probably left, taking a hoard of items with her.
But the Techie’s mind was hardly on the case at all. All he could think about was how the other techies were turning on him. Clearly, he was an embarrassment to them; that was why they had asked him to step down…
“Don’t you pay any attention to them,” said the Informant, sensing his friend’s thoughts. “They’re all a bunch of cowards who only care about themselves.”
The Techie didn’t reply, kicking a wrapper from a Roddenberrian candy bar that had obviously been left behind by Kneemoi. The Informant glanced at, eyebrows arched. Earth food had plenty of unpronounceable ingredients as it was; he didn’t even want to think about what was listed on that.
“For what it’s worth, we care about you a lot,” the young agent went on, as the Techie continued to kick the wrapper in silence. He placed his arm around his friend’s shoulders again. “You know we’d never turn our backs on you. And really, in the grand scheme of things, doesn’t it only matter what your true friends think?”
The Techie still didn’t say a word; he hadn’t even said anything since they had left ACME; he had just spent the entire time thinking. Maybe the other members of ACME Tech-Net were trying to tell him something… Maybe fieldwork wasn’t for him… Maybe he’d be better off with a desk job. It was probably safer…
“Techie!” the Informant cried at last. “Say something!”
The Techie glanced back at the Informant.
“I’m sorry,” he said, at last. It wasn’t fair, he realized. The Informant was only trying to help him, but the Techie was only making him feel worse. The Informant didn’t deserve to suffer because of him. He tried to move his arm, but the Informant only responded by strengthening his hold around the Techie’s shoulders. The Techie closed his eyes as he walked, silently thanking him.
Elsewhere, the Inspector and the Messenger weren’t having much luck, either.
“I see V.I.L.E. has their own gym membership…” the Messenger mused, as they wandered into the exercise room. He absentmindedly tapped a few buttons on the treadmill. “I can just picture Sarah Nade rollerblading in place on this thing…” He crossed to a set of weights. “I’m guessing Eartha will be back; these look like hers…” He tried, and failed, to lift one of the dumbbells.
The Inspector smirked, proceeding to pick up the very same dumbbell.
“Show-off…” the Messenger said, but he was smiling. “Oh, look-they had cable TV in here…” he flipped through the channels.
“They probably didn’t even pay for it,” said the Inspector. He stopped, noticing something sparkling on the ground, and he was surprised to discover that it was a diamond ring; it must’ve been stolen by one of the V.I.L.E. gang, and had been left behind in the evacuation…
“You think…?” the Messenger grinned, turning the set off. But something in the darkened screen caught his eye. His eyes widened. “Behind you!”
The Inspector turned in time to see the strongwoman’s large fist heading in his direction. Thinking quickly, he raised the dumbbell as a shield, with limited results. Eartha hit the dumbbell, but the force of the blow sent the Inspector across the room.
The Messenger tried to snap a set of handcuffs on her from behind, but she heard the movement. She seized him by the arm and threw him across the room at the Inspector. He had just gotten to his feet, and could not brace himself in time as the Messenger crashed into him. And neither of them had time to brace themselves as the strongwoman tackled them next. The battle ended almost as quickly as it had begun, the Inspector and the Messenger trapped and stunned beneath each of the strongwoman’s arms.
“Two down,” she huffed. But she knew there would have to be more; they traveled in packs, these ACME agents…
She hauled the two agents into the room she had prepared, leaving them to come to their senses in their new quarters.
But the sounds of the fighting had not gone unnoticed by the Informant and the Techie; they had heard the struggle echoing, even from where they were standing. And then all had gone quiet… too quiet…
“No…” gasped the Informant, heading back to the other direction.
“Wait!” cried the Techie, trying to run after his friend. “It might be a trap--”
He tripped over a lamp cord, sending the appliance crashing to the ground along with him. He let out a cry of frustration as he disentangled himself from the cord.
“Come back!”
But the Informant was too far ahead to hear him; the Techie could just barely see him in the dimly-lit corridors as he followed him. But, as he approached, he could clearly hear the Informant’s cry as he collided with a very angry strongwoman.
“NO!” the Techie cried out, but his voice was lost in his horror as Eartha seized the Informant by his trenchcoat collar, lifting him like she had done during the time she had outfitted him with cement shoes.
“You again?” Eartha huffed. “You never learn! It doesn’t matter whether I give ya cement shoes or set an attack dog on ya, you still poke your nose in other peoples’ business! Well, it ain’t gonna happen again!” She slammed him against the wall, stunning him, and she drew her fist back, aiming to strike…
“STOP!” yelled the techie, running over, heedless of the danger. Not him! The Informant had come on this mission as a morale booster for the Techie… to cheer him up by trying to get him to forget his marble mistake… If anything happened to him now…
Eartha looked up, and the Informant shut his eyes, stars still filling his vision.
“No…” he pleaded. “Get out of here…”
“Oh, you’re that clumsy one,” the strongwoman sneered. “You’re no threat to V.I.L.E. But Carmen won’t like me lettin’ ya go… I know; I’ll get you some nice cement shoes like I did to your friend here…”
The Techie was furious; he had been so sickened and worried she had thrown him off of the falls, and here she was, talking about it like it had been nothing!
“Or better yet…” she went on, amused at how he was reacting to her words. “How about some of those circuit boards you dropped? I think that’ll fit better, won’t it?”
Now the Techie was horrified. How did she know about it!? The story had spread far beyond ACME, he realized. V.I.L.E. knew about it… And perhaps even E.M.C.A.; they were always spying on ACME anyway…
“But I’ll have to deal with you in a little bit,” Eartha went on. “First things first… I need to deal with this little pest…” She shook the Informant roughly. The youth flinched. “Aww, does it hurt? Does the widdle Informant hurt? We’ll put the Informant out of his misery, then…”
And now the Techie felt his anger return.
“Leave him alone!” he yelled, running at Eartha.
“No, don’t--” the Informant pleaded.
But Eartha had expected it. As the Techie ran at her, she casually struck out at him with her arm, sending him crashing into the wall. He fell forward, barely conscious as his head throbbed in pain from the blow.
“NO!” the Informant cried, fighting against her hold.
“Quiet!” she boomed, giving him a knockout blow on the shoulders.
The Techie let out a weak cry as the Informant fell unconscious in the strongwoman’s arms. But it was taking every ounce of his remaining strength to not black out himself as Eartha stomped away, dragging the Informant with her.
“No…” he whispered, trembling as he got to his feet.
He would have to follow her. He would have to save him. He could not let Eartha get away with what she was planning.
“I’m coming…” he said. “Hold on… please…”
*********************
“Hey, wake up!”
“Infy, wake up!”
The Informant’s head still throbbed, but he recognized the familiar voices.
“Oh, Mama…” he mumbled, forcing his eyes to open. “What on earth…!?”
He gasped as he realized his surroundings. He was in a tall, plexiglass chamber, as were the Inspector and the Messenger.
“She got you, too?” the Informant asked, as his friends nodded.
“At least Techie escaped,” said the Inspector.
“Not for long,” Eartha assured him, as she worked at some sort of control panel. “As soon as I figure out how this thing works, I’m goin’ after him. But Robo set this thing up; he always makes everything so complicated… Ah, here!”
She pressed a few more buttons, and the Informant, who had been looking on in confusion, cried out as water began to fill his chamber, as well as the others’.
“Wait a minute, wait a minute!” said the Messenger, his eyes widening in horror. “Can’t we discuss this like civilized beings!?”
“Nope,” she said. And then she glanced at the Inspector, who was trying to break down the glass walls. “Don’t bother; they’re shatterproof.”
He just growled in frustration.
“Now I’m gonna go find yer friend,” she huffed. “I’m sure he’ll wanna say bye-bye.”
“No!” yelled the Informant, pounding a fist against the glass in despair. Poor Techie would be permanently broken if he saw them like this, knowing that they had only gone on this mission for his sake…
The Informant continued to pound on the glass, but nothing happened.
And that was when the Techie staggered into the room, horrified to see not only the Informant, but also the Inspector and the Messenger, trapped in the rising water.
"No..." he moaned, weakly. This was all his fault... They had had no reason to even be on this case if it hadn’t been for him...
"Go!" cried the Informant. "Eartha will be back any second; you have to get out of here while you still can!"
"I'm not leaving you like this!" the Techie cried back, horrified. He ran to the control panel. He would not allow himself to lose his friends like this!
"We know you can do this..." said the Messenger, as the water rose to his chest. He glanced at the others. The Inspector was holding on, but the Informant, being a head shorter than both of them, was already up to his shoulders.
The Techie let out another cry of despair.
"RoboCrook has encrypted everything!" he said.
"Keep trying!" said the Inspector.
"And we'll keep holding on!" said the Informant, the water up to his neck. He struggled to climb up the cylinder, but the walls were too slippery.
The Techie worked harder, praying for a miracle. Unfortunately, that was when Eartha showed up.
“Here you are!" she boomed, running at him.
He dove out of the way with a cry, glancing at his friends. The Informant was completely underwater now, trying to hold his breath.
"NO!" the Techie cried, hammering on the glass with his fists. But it was to no avail. Eartha seized the Techie by the collar as the Inspector and the Messenger called out to the Informant.
"You keep messin' up, don't ya?" asked Eartha, as she slammed him onto the control panel.
He wasn't even paying attention. All he could see was the Informant falling unconscious. He desperately tried to reach out to his unresponsive friend, but failed.
Something came over him then. He would not sit idly by and watch this! This was one time when he could not afford to mess things up! With an enraged cry, he kicked out at the strongwoman, his foot connecting with her jaw. She was only stunned for a moment, but it was enough for the Techie to escape her hold.
But Eartha regained her senses fairly quickly. As the Techie tried to get back to work on hacking through the encryption, she swung a massive fist at him again.
“I think I got it--” he was cut off as the blow landed. He desperately reached out to the panel as the darkness closed in, entering the override command.
Eartha didn’t even notice the water levels receding in the cylinders; she dealt the brunet another blow and then another, sending him flying into the narrow space behind the control panel. She was satisfied; he had already been weakened from the first trouncing.
But she has unaware of what the Inspector had been trying to do the entire time while her back was turned. He had been holding on to the diamond ring he had found and had been using it to cut the glass. And now he had succeeded.
Quickly cutting the Messenger out as well, he handed him the ring to free the still-unconscious Informant as he tackled the strongwoman.
This time, she was taken by surprise, and he knew that was his only advantage at the moment; in spite of his own strength, he knew that he was no match for Eartha. But he succeeded in getting a pair of industrial-strength handcuffs on her-a pair that had been made especially for restraining her, since they had long since learned from experience that normal cuffs wouldn’t cut it. Eartha glared at them, unmoving.
“Infy!” exclaimed the Messenger, as the boy fell limply into his arms. “Come on, Infy…”
The young agent spat out a mouthful of water, his eyes widening.
“Techie…”
He tried taking a step forward, but stumbled; he would’ve fallen if the Messenger hadn’t still been holding on to him. But he could only watch was the Inspector wandered to the back of the control panel, pulling the limp Techie out from the narrow space.
“No…” the Informant gasped, pulling away from the Messenger’s grasp to get to his side.
“Infy…” said the Messenger, only able to place a hand on his shoulder. The Techie had saved them all from a terrible fate, but at what cost…?
The Informant could only hug his motionless friend.
“I’m so sorry…” he said. “I should never have tried to force you to go on an assignment…”
“You only wanted to help…” said the Inspector.
“You only wanted to restore his confidence,” added the Messenger.
But the Informant could not be consoled. The Techie would have been safe in his room if he had just kept his big mouth shut… He had hated to see him lost in self-loathing and having to face all of that merciless teasing, he had wanted them to get away… And now what? The Informant was fully responsible for what had happened…
“Come back to us,” he pleaded. “It doesn’t matter what the rest of ACME thinks… We want you here… Isn’t that enough?”
“…It’s all I could’ve ever wanted…” a weak voice replied.
The Informant froze, and glanced down at his friend. The Techie had just come awake, and had managed a weak smile.
The Informant joyously glomped him in relief. The Inspector just sighed, while the Messenger blurted out, “Don’t do that!”
“I’ll try not to,” the Techie promised, as the Informant helped him to his feet. “You sure you’re alright?”
“Me?” the young agent asked, incredulously.
“I was so worried when you went under…” the Techie said, with a shudder. “I thought that I was going to lose you, and you had only been here to help me feel better…”
“We were worried about the both of you,” said the Inspector.
“Okay, so maybe asking for this assignment was a bad idea…” sighed the Informant.
“Oh, I don’t think so,” said the Messenger, with a grin.
Everyone looked at him.
“You know what happened the first time we chased this not-so-little lady, don’t you?” he asked, indicating the annoyed Eartha. “She helped forge our friendship, Infy. And now Techie’s got his confidence back. Nothing like chasing Eartha to set things right.” He patted the strongwoman on the back. “Thanks! And to show our appreciation, we have free room and board set up for you, courtesy of the ACME penitentiary!”
Eartha just glared daggers at him as the other three laughed.
*********************
The Techie received the due hero’s welcome. Word soon spread around ACME about how the Techie had saved the others and was the major contributor in the capture of Eartha, at great personal risk. The other technicians quickly reconsidered their decision to have him step down as head Techie, and all of the teasing that had followed the brunet was now being replaced by awe and congratulations. The circuit board incident was forgotten.
But something was still unresolved, he realized. And as he saw the Informant playing frisbee with Borealis in the alley, he realized what it was.
“Hey,” he said, wandering outside. “How’s it going?”
“Well, I’m still trying to teach Borealis the difference between frisbee and tug-of-war,” the youth grinned, trying to remove the plastic disc from the husky’s jaws.
“Listen…” said the Techie. “I need to apologize--”
“For what!?” asked the Informant. “You didn’t do anything wrong!”
“Yes, I did,” he said. “But it’s not about the circuit boards. It’s about how I was just caught up in my own self pity when you and the others were only trying to help me. I didn’t try hard enough to listen to you, and for that, I’m sorry.”
“Well, if that’s all, you’re forgiven,” said the Informant.
“And take care that you don’t do it again,” said the Inspector, arriving with the Messenger.
“Now what’s with all of this seriousness?” the Messenger asked, his arms folded. “I don’t want to see any of that right now. The case is solved, we have our Techie back, so I want some crazy mayhem, and I want it now!”
“Incoming!” yelped the Informant, as the Messenger reached into his pocket for a snowball-gram.
Within minutes, the snow was flying, the mayhem was unleashed, and Mrs. Pumpkinclanger was yelling once again.
Just another day at ACME Crimenet…