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There it was, a giant present wrapped in red with a yellow bow. Carmen couldn't figure out why anyone would give this to her or even who as there was nothing in the 'from' part of the tagged, only a 'to'.
'To: Carmen Sandiego'
She investigated the box to make sure this wasn't a trap. Nothing to suggest so, at least nothing she couldn't handle. She then attempted to lift the present, only to then realize it was far too heavy to do so.
Finally deciding to open it, she got out a small pair of scissors from inside her coat and cut the ribbon. She then started to lift the top off only to find it was lifting itself. Nothing could prepare her for what happened next
"Happy birthday Carmen!"
The four were now seated at a table inside the building, or three of them were seated and the other was seated as well as a computer program could be. In the middle of said table was a white frosted cake with red-tipped dollops at the edges.
"So, you're truly not here to arrest me?" Carmen pressed.
"Yes, if we really were you'd already be in cuffs," Ivy assured her, "Besides would we really bring a cake if we were just gonna arrest you?"
"Yup, yup!" the Chief chimed in, "You're 32 this year! Wow, can you believe it?"
Carmen breathed in for a moment, "Yep."
"That's a big milestone for you guys! But you know what else is a milestone?" Chief quizzed.
There was dead silence, all trying to think of what great milestone he was talking about. It wasn't until Zack spoke that the silence broke.
"Uh... How many karate trophies Ivy's won?"
"How much Zack sweats each night?" Ivy joked, earning a glare from her brother.
"How many times you two have failed to capture me maybe?" Carmen grinned, the two siblings looked at her with blank gazes.
"Er, er, and..." the Chief paused, "Kinda technically half right if you were to be nicer about it. It's been five years since Ivy and Zackeroni here were assigned to chase Carmen around the globe!"
"Woah, I didn't even think of that!" Ivy said shocked, "I guess chasing Carmen just became so normal."
"Yeah, I can't believe just five years ago I was some lame uncool 14-year old," Zack reclined in his seat and put his arms behind his head.
"Yeah and you still aren't cool," Ivy teased twisting his backwards cap forward.
"Hey!" his voice cracked.
"Alright you two," Chief began, "It's Carmen's day so settle down."
"Oh yeah, that reminds me," she stood up to grab a lighter as Zack fixed his hat and hair. She came back and lit the candles on the cake, "What are you gonna wish for Carmen?"
"Ivy, she can't say that!"
"And why not?" Ivy raised an eyebrow.
"Cause then it won't come true," he said shrugging his shoulders.
"Oh, grow up Zack!"
Carmen listened to the two bicker as she pondered her wish. Unlike most birthday wishes, Carmen wasn't thinking of anything material that you could buy from a store (or steal from a museum). She looked at the fire of the candles burn and decided, she just wanted things to stay like this forever.