NOTE: Maria does not have a last name mentioned in the series. I have included one for this fic. Ryan's Apartment Azalea set her laptop and the Chief opened up. "Thank god you're still alive!" the Chief said. "I told you we were gonna make it out alive." Azalea said. Carmen removed the files from the inside of her coat. "I got the files and pictures of them. Lydexter apparently sealed them in blocks of ice so that if the state inspector came he could claim he was preserving their bodies to be used in 3-D computer models to determine cause of death." Michael retrieved a photo of Yu-jing. He shuddered at the sight of her. "I can't believe Lydexter would do this." Ryan picked up one of the files. "Joseph Harris, DOB January 26, 2008, brown eyes, red hair, 5'10", 145 lbs..." he read off. "Hmm, interesting tidbit on Joseph." "What is it?" Carmen asked. "Joseph's parents Angela and Kenneth were once friends with Lydexter. For some reason they disappeared in 2009, and Lydexter became Joseph's legal guardian." Ryan said. Azalea took the file from Ryan. "'Place of birth, Los Angeles, California.' So what in the world would Lydexter be in California for?" "That, I'll like to know," the Chief said. "Hey Chief, don't you still have the Chronoskimmer?" Carmen asked. "Carmen, you forget. The Chronoskimmer's toast," the Chief replied. "What's a Chronoskimmer?" Michael asked. "The Chronoskimmer was a time-traveling device Acme created when Carmen took her crime wave into time. It was made around the 1990s but in 2007 something went wrong and one of Acme's detectives disappeared. Since then it was deemed too dangerous to experiment time traveling again." "Chief! Maybe we could use that to find out who killed our parents!" Azalea said. "No! I can't let you do that!" the Chief argued back. "Please?" Azalea begged. "The answer is final. And it's NO." the Chief snapped. Carmen stood up. "Chief, why don't you let them?" "Carmen, ever since I lost detective Anthony Morgan in that time case I can't bear the loss of another Acme failure!" the Chief shouted. ********** Heather's home May 19, 2024 Azalea knocked at the door. "Hello?" she shouted. Heather opened the door a crack. "Who are you?" "I'm a friend of Ryan's." Azalea said. "I want to see Iris." Heather opened the door and ushured Azalea in. "Iris hasn't been saying or doing much. Just staring at the ceiling blankly." Heather said. Azalea went over to Iris's room, where the girl was staring at the ceiling. "Iris, are you okay?" Azalea asked. Iris didn't respond. "Iris?" Azalea snapped her fingers in front of Iris' eyes. "Stop doing that," Iris answered, burying herself under the blankets. "Iris, what's wrong?" "I don't want to talk about it." Iris coughed and rolled over, facing the wall. "What did Lydexter do to you?" Silence. "Iris, Lydexter killed three of our brothers and sisters. Don't tell me he's killed you as well." Iris didn't say anything. Azalea put her hand against Iris's forehead. Her eyes widened at the hotness of Iris's forehead. "Oh my gosh, why didn't you tell me you were sick?!" Azalea barged out of the room and into the kitchen were Amy, Jacob, and Heather were at the table. "Azalea, what's the matter?" Jacob stood up. "Iris is sick. I touched her forehead and it was hot." Azalea said. "No wonder why she didn't say anything. She's been sick ever since we got her out of the Asylum, maybe even before." ********** Ryan's apartment Michael and Carmen were alone when Azalea came back. "Where were you?" Carmen asked. "I went to visit Iris. Found out she was sick with a fever." Azalea replied, tossing her jacket on the sofa. Then she noticed her laptop and last night's conversation with the Chief. 'Time-traveling...I could do it within my computer,' she thought. "Carmen, I have a simple request." "And what's that?" Azalea picked up her laptop and walked over to Carmen. "Both Michael and I know you were once an Acme detective and you experimented time traveling when you became a thief. Maybe you can help us go back in time and figure out what Lydexter was up to with the Harrises and with our parents. It's probably the only way to find out." "Azalea, you're forgetting one thing that a good Acme mentor told me back when I was a detective. There is more than one way to do anything. You don't exactly have to time travel to find the answer." Carmen answered. "Then what?" Michael asked. "I'll show you a few tricks of mine..." ********** Outside the Asylum "Carmen, you are insane," Azalea grumbled. "Don't muss your outfit. It cost me quite a fortune to get it, especially during these times," Carmen retorted. "Do you really want to risk getting recognized by Lydexter?" "Going through time would be a better choice." Azalea rolled her eyes. "Azalea, quit whining. We're journalists and we need to impress Lydexter if we want info," Michael answered. Carmen knocked on the door. Lydexter opened it. "What do you want?" "We're covering an article about the Asylum for Troubled Teens. It'll be on next month's cover for Time Magazine. Do you mind if we interview you and maybe some of the residents here?" Carmen asked, keeping cool. "Don't mind if you do, but I'm afraid the residents aren't in a good mood, and there's a slim chance you'll get to interview them." Lydexter answered. "Come on in." Carmen, Azalea, and Michael followed Lydexter into the general room. Carmen and Lydexter took their seats at a couch. "How long have you been running this Asylum, Mr. Lydexter?" she asked. As the false interview took place, Azalea and Michael slipped off. "Here's Lydexter's computer," Azalea said. "He's got some password blocking access." "I'll go hack into it. Go look for anything that might be related to Yu-jing, Joseph, Nicole, or anything unusual going around," Michael said, taking command of the computer. Azalea rummaged through the file cabinets. "Hm...'Azalea Ivy Hayes', 'Michael Zackary Darren'..." she muttered to herself. Taking the files, she stored them inside her purse. She continued rummaging through the cabinets. "Come on..." Michael said to himself, trying to break in. "Yes!" "You got it?" Azalea went over to Michael's. "Yep..." Michael scrolled through the file. "Hm. He's been interested in genetic engineering lately." "Okay..." Azalea was troubled by the discovery. "Junk, junk...Files of 2009?" Michael was surprised. "Save it to a zip file. Lydexter's got a bunch hanging around." Azalea said, going back and looking around. "Hm, Acme and VILE files...why would he have them here?" She picked it up and put it in her purse along with hers and Michael's. "Got everything, Azalea?" Michael asked. "Yup. You?" "Ditto. Come on, let's go before Lydexter gets suspicious." "Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Lydexter," Carmen said, standing up and shaking Lydexter's hand. "You're certainly most welcome, Ms. Carroll," Lydexter replied. Outside, Carmen met up with Azalea and Michael. "We ransacked his office and found some important info on Lydexter." Michael said. "Come on, let's go back to Ryan's apartment," Carmen said. ********** Ryan's apartment "Ryan?" Carmen called out. "Ryan's not home." the Chief floated out. "What's with the fancy clothes?" "Oh, we had to meet someone important." Carmen answered nonchalantly. "I'm going to the bathroom. I can't stand wearing a dress!" Azalea ran straight for the restroom. "Like mother, like daughter," the Chief said. ********** Ryan's apartment May 25, 2024 Carmen appeared at the kitchen table where Ryan, Michael, and Azalea were eating breakfast. "I have something to announce," she said. "What's that?" Azalea said. "I'm leaving the US to pursue a project," Carmen replied. "What's it on?" Michael asked. "I can't tell you. It's top secret," Carmen answered. "Take care, you guys. I'll be there when you need me." She hugged all three, then left. Azalea suddenly lost appetite. "I'm going to our room," she said. Instead of heading to her temporary bedroom she shared with Michael, Azalea headed out of the apartment complex. 'Why is Carmen leaving us?' Azalea kicked a pebble. 'What's so top secret that she can't tell us?' She watched as people huddled around oil drum fires, trying to keep warm, other people trying to sell wares on the street, others more watching others, armed forces keeping control. Azalea made her way to a small park, a break, a dream away from harsh reality. She saw a dark-haired teenage boy watch a man playing with his daughter. 'That girl's so lucky to even have a father,' Azalea thought. She opened her locket and the man and woman in the locket smiled back at her, their faces frozen in time. Looking at Ivy's face, Azalea felt a pain of sadness. Carmen was like a mother to her...a mother she never had, never knew. Sitting down at the base of a tree, Azalea slipped the locket back in her pocket when she felt something unusual. Taking it out, it was a slip of paper with some kind of clue written what looked like Carmen's handwriting. "'I took the Chief out of your laptop. You can still use the C-5 to get to places. Carmen,'" Azalea read. "Whatcha up to?" a voice asked. Azalea looked up to see the dark-haired boy. "Nothing much. Just trying to escape reality." "It's a game that's impossible to win." The boy sat down next to Azalea. "What, reality? Or life itself?" Azalea asked. "Both, I suppose," the boy replied. "Name's Jake." "Azalea." Azalea sighed. "I wish I knew where Carmen went." "Carmen who?" Jake asked. "Carmen Sandiego. She was a former thief back before the Crash. Now she's in hiding." "I wish I knew where Maxine Cale went. She was a nice lady...I remember her back in 2009, sometime before the Wall Street Crash. Now I have no idea what happened to her or even if she exists today." "Did you say Maxine Cale?" Azalea looked at Jake. "Why do you ask?" Jake asked back. "Maxine Cale is Carmen's other name," Azalea answered. "Carmen Sandiego's tall, black hair, and blue eyes, right?" "Yeah, that's her." "Then she is Maxine Cale..." JAke mused. Azalea looked at her watch. "Damn, Michael's gonna have a fit if he doesn't find me back at Ryan's apartment..." "Who's Michael?" "Michael's my cousin. Nice meeting you." Azalea got up and started walking away. "I can give you a lift. I have a motorcycle." Jake offered. Azalea hesitated. "Sure, just be careful not to run anyone over." Jake retrieved his motorcycle hidden behind a bush. "Hop on in the back. Just tell me where to go and I'll take you there." ********** Madrid, Spain Carmen went back to her home, carrying a new laptop in hand. Putting a CD in it, Carmen typed something, and the Chief opened up. "Carmen? Why did you put me in a CD?" the Chief asked. "I had to get you out of Azalea's laptop. If Lydexter gets his hands on her laptop, you'll be gone," Carmen answered. "And if you hadn't taken me out?" "Lydexter would've destroyed you." Someone was outside playing a song. "Hey, it's the instrumental version of 'At the Beginning' from the movie Anastasia," the Chief said. "I'll be there when the world stops turning, I'll be there when the storm is through, in the end I want to be standing at the beginning with you," Carmen mused. ********** Ryan's apartment "What did Carmen mean by she'll be there when we need her?" Michael asked. "I don't know, Mike...but have you noticed that Azalea's been in your room for some time now?" Ryan asked. "I've noticed," Michael answered. A knock sounded at the door. "Maybe Carmen's changed her mind." Ryan got up to answer it. Azalea knocked the door loudly. 'Please answer the door,' Azalea said to herself silently. Ryan opened the door. "Azalea, I thought--" He noticed Jake. "Who's the guy?" "Jake? I went for a walk," Azalea shrugged. "He brought me back here." "Well, I'm glad you got back in one piece," Jake said. "Gotta blaze." He left. "Azalea, what's wrong?" Ryan asked. Azalea looked at Ryan with a mean look. "Nothing. I have nothing to hide," Azalea answered back defensively. Michael looked into Azalea's laptop for the latest news. "'Asylum of Troubled Teens shut down,'" Michael read out loud. "Hey Azalea, you might wanna see this." Azalea and Ryan came over. "'Police swarmed the Asylum of Troubled Teens after receiving evidence from an anonymous source. The Seattle PD was also informed of deaths under suspicious circumstances. Jonathon Lydexter, head of the Asylum, was tipped off as well and was not at the Asylum the time police swarmed the building. Lydexter is now wanted by the Seattle PD for the murders of 15-year-old Yu-jing Wong, 17-year-old Joseph Harris, and 16-year-old Nicole Moreno. Lydexter is also wanted for questioning on the disappearance of Acme detective Anthony Morgan, the murders of Zackary and Irene Darren, Ivy and Thomas Hayes, Armando Arguella, and Maria Gonzalez, the 2009 stock market crash, and money laundering with former state inspector Janetta Rena.' Whoa..." Ryan said. Azalea went over to Ryan's computer. Typing something into the computer, a map came up on the screen. "Lydexter's hiding out in the Andes Mountains of Peru, according to GPS," she said. "Then let's hit the road," Michael said. The C-5 opened up, and the two teens went in. ********** Andes Mountains Peru "Man, it's freezing!" Azalea's teeth chattered. "At least the Chief--or Carmen--provided us with adequate winter gear," Michael said. Azalea looked up to see an immense building. "Is that Lydexter's base?" "Maybe. But why would he not disguise it as the other Incan structures out there?" Michael and Azalea went inside. It was empty, except for a lone man. Azalea cleared her throat. "Excuse us, sir," she began. The man looked up. "May I help you?" he asked. "We're looking for a Mr. Jonathon Lydexter?" Michael inquired. "I'm sorry, but he's in a meeting--" The man took a closer look at the two. "What are you looking at?" Michael moved closer to Azalea, trying to protect her. "Who are you?" the man asked. "Michael Darren." "Azalea Hayes. So are you gonna tell us where Lydexter is?" Azalea demanded. "You two are related to Zack Darren and Ivy Hayes, aren't you?" the man asked back. "They're our deceased parents. What are you up to now?" Michael asked, not taking his eyes off from the man. "And how did you know them?" "Calm down, Michael. Follow me and I'll tell you a story."