Open Carnival

[Molly]

A voice would sound behind her, a familiar voice. "You look absolutely lovely tonight."

"Thank you," Molly smiled. Working in O'Sullivan's bar she wasn't a stranger to compliments about her looks, but there was something very sincere about the way the South African spoke. She decided she liked that, "It's not a Springbok jersey but I think this looks good on you too."

Unlike the other members of ACME she didn't have a radio, and would have to rely on Nace's connection. Leaning closer, Molly straightened the tuxedo bow-tie and brought herself closer to his microphone, "Chickpea checking in," She confirmed to the command room in a casual enough manner, so that any observers would think she was simply adjusting and commenting on her date's clothing.

It was over Nace's shoulder that Molly spied a rather nervous looking man. She couldn't quite put her finger on it, but he looked just a little too familiar and a little too suspicious.

"Psst," Molly whispered and quickly tilted her head towards the man, "I think we should keep an eye on him."

 

[Nace Bilby]

"Thank you," Molly smiled. Working in O'Sullivan's bar she wasn't a stranger to compliments about her looks, but there was something very sincere about the way the South African spoke. She decided she liked that, "It's not a Springbok jersey but I think this looks good on you too."

"I am glad to hear that I cleaned up nicely enough." Nace replied, butterflies swarming his stomach. He hadn't felt this way in a long while.

"I did, however, have ample incentive to do so." Nace replied, feeling the butterflies' wings flapping even faster in his stomach with Molly's closeness.

At Molly's mention of the man he became all business again, however a glance into his eyes would reveal the butterflies were quite active and joined by the pitter patter of his heart.

"What did you see?" Nace asked Molly, seeming to whisper in his date's ear, "And I agree we should keep an eye on the bloke."

 

[Tanya]

[Cowritten with Chase]

Tatyana Erzin, for her eye in the art of disguise, joined the team in Rio de Janiero as part of the mobile crew. Commander Ivy was in charge of the surveillance team while Lee Jordan's inside job relied on Tanya Erzin and Mikal Darsha. The Russian Press Officer and the Israeli Informant had worked together before in a case spanning several countries, this would be their second field assembly. Except this time, they had a more important asset to monitor. Chase Devineaux took time off from his busy schedule to help with a little 'trust' problem. Jordan's cover story involved ties with fictional Swiss Banker Dominic Geiser. People have talked about Chase as if he had one personality, but with over a decade of work as a covert agent, Devineaux was an incredible actor.

As if taking care of ACME's Director of Operations wasn't stress enough for Erzin, Jordan just reported a no-show on Barbas Chuate's part. The primary target was starting to get cold feet. All this while a perpetual enemy happened to appear.

The newly disguised Dominic Geiser waited patiently on a chair in front of a lit mirror. A talented make-up artist meticulously adjusted his facial hair. Chase studied his reflection, and after a long assessment of the man in the looking glass, he shrugged with the corners of his mouth.

"Sir, you don't like the beard?" the artist spoke with a brisk but respectful tone as she paused to try guess his thoughts.

He said nothing.

Tanya, removed from another round of comm-checks, came close for her first look at the Swiss Banker. She was awed.

"Oh, wow," the rarely expressive Russian changed her viewing angles but kept her eyes on his reflection, "Da..."

"I did good?" the female artist tucked her brush behind her as she placed both hands on her hips. Her name was Argine Marks and until today, she had worked professionally for the makeup department of Cirque du Soleil. Getting her second degree with ACME Academy resulted in this quick trip to Brazil and being Tanya's right hand when it came to prosthetics and paint jobs.

"Wow..." was the Russian's only reply.

"I'm going to go clean up," Argine acknowledged with some pride, "then we'll be on standby until you say the word."

"Thank you, Gene," Chase added as she left and Erzin noted his posture and the way he talked felt a good distance from what she recognized.

Tatiana spent the next few seconds meeting Dominic Geiser's discerning glance in the mirror. Any agent could attest to the almost surreal experience when the Director of Operations thoroughly looked at someone. His expression had a way of relaying empathy, and Tanya was convinced he was either reading her mind or she wanted him to.

"Stay calm," Devineaux encouraged, "let Jordan handle the talking and Darsha handle the floor, I'll be fine."

He was right, she was nervous. While she didn't fully agree with leaving the talking to Jordan, she nodded. The confidence Chase exerted was reassurance enough.

"It isn't only that," the blond made an apologetic gesture towards her boss, "Ivy's surveillance team is starting to notice suspects. Some of them are familiar."

"How familiar?"

"V.I.L.E-familiar," Erzin reported, "What do you want to do?"

Chase glanced to the mirror and moved his head slightly back as if to check the disguise again, but Tanya felt something deeper. It read like a symbolic action, a man in conversation with his own logic. As she attempted to understand him, she was suddenly reminded of Arctic ships forcing their way into thick, blue-white sheets of ice.

"Let Ivy handle that," Devineaux replied with finality, "Keep focused, Tatyana"

And 'score', the Russian internally thought, for the ice.

 

[Derrin]

"Your Ruger is showing," He whispered, "I see bodyguards at the west door. Keep an eye out here, yeah?"

Derrin's cheeks burned, the mask she wore gratefully concealing the flush.

"Thanks." she replied, both for the drink and the advice. Taking a quick sip, she readjusted the fabric of the garment. She then smiled at the gentleman, her expression asking, is this better? which he responded to with a quick nod.

Paying heed to the second part of his statement, she glanced over in the general direction, quickly picking out the individuals that obviously did not belong. Not willing to make any sudden moves, she took yet another sip, for now content with observation.

 

[Ivy]

Ivy nodded and mentally checked of the names as confirmation came in. Wildcard (Tex), Dingo (Nace), Chickpea (Molly), Bacon(Zack), Cobra (Derrin), Spock (Evgeni), Bones (Sophie) and Poodle (Lee) were all in position, though a few had yet to reply. Zack was due to arrive in the next few minutes, while Calina Coranos worked translating the incoming audio feed.

This was her cue to go. From now on, Jason West - one of ACME's newest recruits - was going to help keep an eye on the cameras. With spiked hair and sleeve tattoos, the 30-year-old looked more like he should be fronting a rock band than behind the nerve center of ACME's covert operations. Despite appearances however, he was chosen for his calm demeanor and the fact that few other computer specialists bore the same enthusiasm for high risk missions.

"Keep close tabs on Bones and Cobra," She gestured towards two of Jason's screens, "They're closest to the entrances."

As she left the control room, Ivy grabbed the tuxedo jacket from a chair and dexterously knotted her back tie. Paired with skirt, pumps and one of the few plain white masks ACME was able to procure, she looked no different from one of the Copacabana's staff members.

The Commander did not have to walk far to see that there was a slight commotion as a rather important looking man entered the party. He sported a silk eggplant pinstriped suit and fedora, complete with a blood red dahlia on his his lapel. Even though he was a large man - stout, square and seemingly equal parts muscle and fat - he seemed to walk with an odd amount of ease and swagger through the crowd as he headed towards the Golden Room. There was little doubt, it was Barbas Chuate.

Just close enough to get visual verification, Ivy whispered to the ground team, "Grub. Main entrance. Let Poodle make first contact."

 

[Sophie]

He was an extraordinary escort, colourful and flamboyant--and, at this time, he was exactly what Doctor Sophie Conrad desired. While she dawdled before a carefully curated array of artifacts with remarkable history and value, conscientiously inspecting both the relics and their accompanying descriptions, Evgeni Morozov amused and distracted the curious vicinity. She agreed to all his claims with amicable lightheartedness and they trailed through the Gallery of the Copacabana Palace arm-in-arm. Sophie leaned into her companion, now and then, to quietly point out the marble balusters that guarded the carefully-restored staircase they had climbed and, later, steered his attention to the heavy chandeliers that hung in stately uniform over the Antique Casino rooms.

She had some elementary knowledge--both on and off the record--about what ACME had come to Rio de Janeiro for, but did not quite foresee the assemblage of VILE members she had flagged so far, as her verbal orientation of the space continued through the nano-transmitter attached to her mask. Using the various rooms, their plastered columns and crystal chandeliers as landmarks, she highlighted--to Evgeni and the Command Room--the figures she recognised, both ACME and VILE… leaving out only one.

Sophie had identified the enigmatic Carmen Sandiego not by the way she had stood out from the milieu, but from the way she had evanesced into it. It had been but a glimpse, and in as quickly as the Delphic kleptomaniac passed into and out of her vision, the doctor made the decision to remain silent on her presence and last known position.

And then, there was Commander Ivy Monaghan.

At her seven o'clock, she was disguised as a member of the Copacabana Palace staff, and Sophie only watched the reflection of her off the glass she pivoted between her fingers, the distal edge of the stemware flirting with images of the entrance of the Golden Room.

The arrival of Barbas Chuate was impossible to ignore, and so was the unavoidable collision with the wandering stride of an adorned jester as Sophie turned to gauge the expression of Evgeni at the sight of the drug baron...

 

[Jason West]

Jason West sat back in the chair and began to survey the monitors on the table in front of him. He pulled the laptop that usually stayed in his bag out and started receiving the nano-transmissions of known V.I.L.E. members that were in attendance and their positions. He had a sneaking suspicion that there was going to be more to this mission than just taking down drug kingpin Barbas Chuate. Just by the presence of V.I.L.E. members, sent a red flag up to the new recruit.

Jason checked and rechecked to make sure the digital video recorders were powered on and recording. He hoped that by recording the positions and movements of V.I.L.E. members, he'd be able to stop the nefarious plan that V.I.L.E. was about to set in motion.

"Control to Cobra and Bones. Anything yet?"

 

[Joe Kerr]

More people had begun to flock to the gallery in an effort to view the priceless artifacts on display. Joe had thought it prudent to join in the fun, but it wasn't the artifacts he was busy perusing; the Jester was busy amusing himself by trying to see how many familiar faces he could find dotted amongst the crowd.

Upon entering the gallery, he had spotted Contessa Adriana in conversation with a dark haired young lady.

Out of the corner of his eye, he had also spotted a red-haired female staff member that looked strangely familiar.

Chuckling to himself, he decided that since VILE didn't exactly come here on business, for the moment at least, he would refrain from interfering with whatever ACME had planned.

Live and let live he thought in much amusement.

As he continued his visual safari, his attention, like most everyone else's in the room, was drawn to the arrival of Barbas Chuate.

The arrival of Barbas Chuate was impossible to ignore, and so was the unavoidable collision with the wandering stride of an adorned jester as Sophie turned to gauge the expression of Evgeni at the sight of the drug baron...

The Jester apologized immediately and profusely; chivalry, after all, demanded that he accept the blame for this travesty.

He gave her a quick glance to make sure that none of the drink had spilled on her, breathing a sigh of relief when he realized he was the only casualty.

"I am so very sorry for this mishap; it was so careless of me to not observe where I was going. May I offer to get you another drink?"

 

[Zack]

Zack saw a man who both wore the color (and resembled an) eggplant arrive with an impressive entourage.

Neat. He thought.

"Grub. Main entrance. Let Poodle make first contact."

Barbas Chuate's file talked about him doing a lot of things in Rio. Some of it was true and some of it had to be false. They said he had the local police in his pocket, which was why ACME was on this case. They also said he had a private zoo where his tigers wore jeweled collars and were fed his enemies and that for his daughter's festa de debutantes (15th Birthday celebration) he threw a party worth 3 million dollars and gave her a solid gold Ferrari with diamond license plates. Another rumor was that the Santo Anjo Uriel orfanato e futeboll escola para abandono de crianças no Brasil or Santo Anjo Uriel Orphanage and Futeboll School for Underprivileged Children was actually half owned by him and was being used as a front to launder his drug money.

Despite all this, Barbas was notorious for never leaving a traceable paper trail, and people were too afraid of him to give a testimony. It was no wonder everyone in law enforcement was drooling to catch him. While trying to get a better look at their mark, Zack ran into Tex. Trying to remain inconspicuous he quickly shook the Cowboy's hand as if they had been business partners.

"Good to see you!" Zack yelled boisterously then moved closer to whisper, "Dude, it looks like this place is lit up with V.I.L.E. what do you think they want?"

 

[Evgeni]

Barbas Chuate was not a very stylish man in Evgeni's opinion. He seemed to have forgotten his pinstripes, and that was just unacceptable for a man of his social status. The Russian shook his head at the drug lord and patted his fat wallet with a wink and a gloating smile. It was fun to show off a bit.

The red guiding light he had been following suddenly exited his peripheral, and he halted and turned around to locate her. Another man in celebratory costume had bounced into the doctor.

"I am so very sorry for this mishap; it was so careless of me to not observe where I was going. May I offer to get you another drink?"

The ACME agent immediately interrupted. "Zdravstvoitie! You're like my girlfriend? I'm get us champagne." Without allowing for response, he fetched three flutes, haphazardly rattling them as he locked the stems of the glasses between his fingers. "We're got lots drinking on menu. Here's go."

As Evgeni handed each a champagne flute, he unpocketed a pair of dice and 'accidentally' rolled them into the jester's drink. "It's too bad! Snake eyes!" In one fluid motion, the young man subsequently retrieved the gambling cubes and spilled a flow of cards from his sleeve onto the floor around Joe's feet--a complete deck of fifty-two. "Izvinitie. You're fail! We're have bad magician in house."

 

[Tex "Ace" Holdum]

"Good to see you!" Zack yelled boisterously then moved closer to whisper, "Dude, it looks like this place is lit up with V.I.L.E. what do you think they want?"

Tex returned the handshake firmly, patting Zack on the shoulder and speaking through his grin, "I ain't got a clue, but I reckon that means we'll be pullin' double duty keepin' our doggies in line. Don't suppose you're deeper in the loop with that kin a' yours, know what she's gonna do if our plans turn out to not be worth a hill a' beans?"

As he listened to Zack's reply, Tex kept his eyes on the room. It was a great party, and a surveillance team's nightmare. Everywhere there were people meeting, conversing, and there were simply far too many people of actual or suspected importance to have a good idea of what was worth noting. It was like having just one rancher leading five hundred head of cattle. ACME didn't have many more ranch-hands to call in, so he began to work on ways to get the terrain to change. What they needed was a corral before such time as it was needed to stop the stampede that could very well occur.

 

[Spring-Heeled Jack]

Johnathan noted the lady in the tastefully elegant white gown, but made sure not to let it show on his face until he had turned away, smiling as he held up a basic eye mask of deep scarlet. It was refreshing, seeing a dress of simple elegance such as that white one on a night like tonight in Rio de Janeiro. That being said, he did have to admit that this party was certainly more elegant than a lot of the Carnival celebrations going on out in the streets and in the dozens of other parties around the city.

Of course, the other parties weren't quite as potentially explosive as this one, either.

He had noted a few of his V.I.L.E. comrades wandering around, his new family, those who knew what he looked like when not looking or acting like Spring-Heeled Jack, and he had of course been given the information on the fact that their illustrious leader would be there, as well as some gifts that some of the others were thinking about presenting her for her birthday. He supposed he should probably think about something to steal as well, but he had always been one for getting gifts at the last minute anyway. Idly musing on the subject, his thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of someone that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end. The man walked with the confidence of an alpha lion on a savanna, surrounded by others that were at best lower members of his pack and at worst his prey. Jack didn't know who the fellow was offhand, but his instincts were telling him he was someone to either be cautious of, or to take down a peg, depending on how he was feeling. As Johnathan watched the man go towards the Golden Room, he took a champagne glass from a passing server and sipped, leaning against a wall to take some weight off of his leg.