#‘hey op isn’t this cookie run’ there are only. so many ways to draw a gingerbread man

[thestuffedalligator]

I’m going to make my own fairy tale noir urban fantasy series

[snowflake-apocalypse]

🍎 The Big Apple Caper

Musical inspiration: But it’s Better if You Do; Panic! at the Disco

Team Red arrives in New York, they start scoping the area and discreetly gather intel on the stock exchange. Carmen, decked out in jeans, a t-shirt with a ball cap, is walking through the Grand Central Station when someone places a hand on her shoulder from behind. Carmen whips around,

“Jules!-Julia. What are you doing here?”

“Here to arrest you, of course...

And if there was ever an ultimate look of dread, Carmen was wearing it.

“I’m joking. Player called me. Said you were capering the stock exchange. I thought you may need some help. And I was worried about you. I’m sorry I stormed off like that,...I just couldn’t bare what you were doing to yourself.”

Carmen, now wearing a small, sad grin. She missed Jules.

|7 Days & Counting|

|Monday|

A week before the planned caper, Julia goes to the NYPD and sets them on a false lead, gets them as far away from the Manhattan Bridge as possible. In disguise, the ground Team went around and looked suspicious as Julia took some pictures.

||Tuesday||

Team Red, disguised as punks and ruffians with their sunshades on, hit the streets of the White Plains district. Objective: Stir up suspicions in the area. (Note: Zach and Ivy are wearing their outfits from “Where on Earth?” respectfully.)

Zach: “Okay, gang.. how we gonna do this? I could run up and down the streets, knock some trash cans over... jump on some cars-“

Cut to Ivy, who’s listening to this like “WTF?”

Carmen: “Zach, we want to look suspicious, not get arrested.” Carmen states from her spot on a bench, scoping out the area.

Zach: “Right, yeah. Got it. Calm down, Zach.”

Team Red gets to work, Julia is snapping pictures from various rooftops.

Carmen: “How are we looking, Jules?”

Julia: “Oh, very photogenic.” Causing Carmen to blush, while attempting to control a smile.

Ivy: “Oh, you flirters...” Ivy mumbles under her breath, amusement in her voice. Ivy is walking up and down streets, alley ways, looking into cars, hands in her jacket pockets.

The team continues being “shady” frequently over the next three days.

||Friday||

And one flash of the ACME ID, and Commiss is all hears.

Julia: “Hello, Commissioner Lock, I’m Agent Sliver. My office has intel to believe that banks in the White Plains district are being targeted for robbery. My suggestion is to increase security and patrols in that area should anything arise.”

Julia shows the “evidence” to the Commissioner.

Lock: “I see. Well, New York is such a big place, it’s hard to catch everything. And I’ve heard of trouble stirring up in that area from my officers... I’ll have my departments look further into the matter. Thank you for the tip, Agent.”

Julia: “And thank you for your time, Commissioner.”

Then from her ear piece,

Player: “Brr-haha!”

Julia: “Ehh.. what do you think? Too on the nose?”

Player: “No, not at all, Julia. That was great. Besides, V.I.L.E doesn’t keep any of their moo-la in the White Plains area. We won’t be going anywhere near there.”

Then further in the week, Player just starts setting off random bank alarms in the area. He’s having way too much fun with this caper.

||Monday||

Now the day of capering is upon the team. Carmen goes to the Manhattan Bridge, and she’s announcing that she’s about to make a heist, by dancing. 2-25 different dances.

News Anchor: “Breaking news: Carmen Sandiego has just been spotted, the first time in months actually, on the Manhattan Bridge and she’s.... dancing..? What in the world is she up to...?” And she and Player are naming off different dances..

Carmen: “And slide, jazz hands...”

Player: “Waltz.”

Carmen: “Tango.”

Player: “The Mash Potato.”

Carmen: “Hey... Macarena.” And their just having a grand ole time, this goes on..

And then moments later... the entire stock exchange crashes. Just stops.

Player: “And... freeze.”

Letting the world, and V.I.L.E. know that she’s alive and about to wreck them. All the stiffs on Wall Street begin to freak out, trying to unfreeze the system. But, the deed is done.

Player: “And... done! Get out of there, Red.”

Carmen: “Awesome job, buddy. Goodbye New York, thank you for the warm welcome back!” She winks and bows at the helicopter camera coming her way, and disappears without a trace.

|Part 2|

Player: “Hey, Red. Looks like V.I.L.E. also keeps safes in New York as well.”

Carmen: “Well, seeing as we’re already here...” She says with a smug smile.

This is the night after they robbed the stock exchange, took more than 10 billion from V.I.L.E.. They anticipate there only being about 5 million in total revenue in this safe. But once in..

Carmen and Shadowsan, who just opened the safe: “😦 uh, guys... this is more than 5 million... We’re gonna have to make two trips. Fast.” There are gold and silver bars lining the walls, certificates worth 10,000 each.. just loaded. So this is where Team Red acquires their large sum of liquid. Between the 5 people in the field, they split up the bars and cash and such and go their separate ways for a bit. Player puts the certificates in many separate fake accounts.

|The next day at VILE:

The faculty are watching the news of the big screen, and it’s December 1st, so Cookie is there.

News Anchor: “Yesterday after the abrupt freeze, more than a dozen corporations at the New York Stock Exchange mysteriously went bankrupt. (Cookie just smirks and barely holds back a laugh.)

Dr. Bellum: “Something funny, Ms. Booker?” Dr. Bellum is furiously looking up all the financial records for all the fake corporations they made to spread their wealth out.

Cookie: “Oh, no. Not at all, Sara.” And she mumbles to herself: “Huh, the kid listened to me after all..” Proud mother moment.)

News continues...” Many are saying Carmen Sandiego was responsible. The scarlet thief made her reappearance after nearly 2 months of no activity. Authorities have yet to locate Ms. Sandiego for questioning. She remains at large.”

Maelstrom: “Coach Brunt, increase security at our banks in New York. I have a feeling she isn’t done yet.”

Brunt: “Too late.” She has a 😐 look on her face. Brunt is on the phone with their bank manager in New York. Maelstrom just buries his head in his hand out of frustration.

|Later with Team Red...|

Everyone is in the current hideout, they’re all watching the same news as V.I.L.E., Zach and Ivy cheer,

Player: “Okay, numbers crunched.”

Player just crunched the numbers and everyone is like 😮.

Ivy: “That’s a lot of zeroes, you guys.”

Carmen: “We gotta get rid of this.”

They donate a lot to charity, art & culture museums.. etc. Everyone takes a handful of turns on what they want the money to go to.

Founder of a Children’s Home: “On behalf of our gracious private donor, I would like to announce that we will be developing over 50 new homes worldwide. We will work tirelessly on construction, and to hold to our mission statement, that no child is left out in the cold.”

They take turns in deciding where the money gets donated to. They been around the group at least 5 times already.

Player: “Julia, you’re up.” As the group is circled around a table in a hideout, eating ice cream out of the bucket.

Julia: “Hm.. The Children’s Music Society.”

Player: “You got it. Shadowsan?”

Shadowson: “The Koi Fish Protection Foundation.”

Player: “Koi fish, very nice.”

So tonight everyone mostly donated to the kids,

Zach: “To the kids!”

The group: “To the kids!” They all hold their spoons up in a toast.

Ivy: “And the koi fish!” And then everyone shares a laugh.

Then still have some left over. They start expanding. And I want to be clear, Player is using pocket change in what they stole.

Carmen: “Merry Christmas, Player. Can you make the last of the stash disappear?”

Player: “Oh, I’m sure I can work something out.” As he looks to the rough draft drawings he’s made of Mission Control.

| Continues in OP: Mission Control|

|Epilogue|

So the Team is in Rome, a week since they robbed V.I.L.E blind. Most of the stash has been donated, with a little bit going to of the Team. Carmen is out browsing the city.

Player: ”Whatchu up to now, Red?”

Carmen: “Oh, just spending my cut.” As she stops in the front window of a very posh jewelry store, eyes set on a pair of 1 1/2 karet diamond studs.

Carmen: “Hey, do you think you could make another set of communication earrings?”

Player: “Sure. No problem.”

| Then story picks up in Rome, where Carmen asks Julia to officially be apart of Team Red.|