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For as long as Black Sheep could remember, she had lived on VILE island. When she pressed to know about her origins (mainly by bothering the VILE staff with pranks), all she got was a story of being found as a baby in Buenos Aires (and no amount of coaxing or pranks could get someone to tell her who found her as a baby, but Black Sheep would always have her suspicions).
And just as long as she remembered living on the island, did she remember words resting on the wrists of people. The first time she remembered seeing the words, it had been on her new nanny, one from China, at the fresh age of six. Black Sheep had previously noticed the bands on the wrists of the VILE staff and students, but she had never thought to ask about it, thinking it was normal.
At the time, Black Sheep’s nanny had been in the middle of explaining the New Year’s holiday and the traditions surrounding it when Black Sheep noticed black writing on the inside of her nanny’s wrist as she raised it to point at something on the whiteboard (much later on, Black Sheep will reflect on how her nanny had blatantly decided to ignore a VILE rule and be impressed). Black Sheep, ever the curious child, had taken one look at it and promptly jumped off her chair, grabbing her nanny’s wrist.
“What- hey, Black Sheep!” Ismelda (or was it Caroline this time?) screeched. Black Sheep took no notice of her protests, wanting more to read the phrase on her wrist.
You look cute, Ms. Red Hair.
Black Sheep blinked. Then gasped. “Is that a tattoo?” Black Sheep was a little disappointed that the first tattoo she saw was just boring words since she could think of a million better things to put on your skin permanently rather than a bunch of words .
Her nanny was not having any of it though, pulling her limb towards her chest and stared at Black Sheep. “You know, these words are very private to a person?”
Black Sheep blinked again. “Why are they private?”
Her nanny seemed to soften at the question, finally letting go of her appendage and kneeling down to Black Sheep’s level. “Do you know what a soulmate is, Black Sheep?” Black Sheep shook her head. “Well, a soulmate is someone who will complete you, your other half in life, your missing part,” her nanny says dreamily, seeming to imagine this unknown person.
“Complete me?” Black Sheep wrinkled her nose and frowned. “I don’t need anyone to complete me! I’m my own person.”
Her nanny laughs. “Well then, they’re going to be someone special in your life, like . . . like a best friend!”
Black Sheep tilts her head at this. A best friend would be really cool, and plus, Black Sheep herself doesn’t really have any friends on the VILE island. And this person could help her play pranks on the staff! But who is this person?
“But . . . where do they come from? Who is this soulmate?” she asks, still confused.
“Well, they’re chosen for you since your souls match. No one really knows when it happens, but sometime in your life, you will get words that appear on the inside of your wrist. Those words are the first words your soulmate will tell you,” her nanny (Anne?) explains patiently, smiling.
Sometime in your life? Black Sheep doesn’t have one, so when will she get hers? “When did you get yours?” she asks her nanny.
“I got mine when I was six years old. I still haven’t met them though,” her nanny (is her name Sofia perhaps?) says sadly.
Black Sheep frowns at her wrist. She’s already eight years old and she still doesn’t have any words.
Her nanny, following her line of sight, pats her back. “Don’t worry, Black Sheep. Yours will appear when it’s time.” Her nanny then stands up and turns back to the whiteboard.
Black Sheep, who’s still not finished with the whole soulmate deal, doesn’t pay attention to the rest of the lesson, preferring to stare at her wrist instead. She thinks about what her soulmate words would be, and if she would get along with her soulmate the moment she met them. Would they like her? Would she like them? So many questions and Black Sheep had no answers.
But even so, Black Sheep begins to feel a sort of hope and excitement inside her, knowing that somewhere, somehow, she was destined to have a friend who would understand her. She quite liked that thought, even though she was still dubious on how the universe was basically choosing a friend for her.
After that lesson, Black Sheep immediately runs over to Coach Brunt, demanding questions and information about soulmates, wanting to learn more. Coach Brunt, who is normally happy to humor Black Sheep, is initially shocked, then shuts down her questions quite firmly, stating that thieves shouldn’t care about soulmates.
(A week later, a new nanny, one whose name Black Sheep doesn’t bother to remember, appears, and no amount of her questions could get that nanny to tell her anything about soulmates.)
(Three weeks later, Black Sheep breaks into the VILE library, trying to find any information about soulmates.)
From that day forward, Black Sheep religiously checks her wrist at all hours to see if any words pop up.
At age nine, she checks her wrist every morning and night.
At age ten, she checks every night, in the safety of her bed, and pretends that her heart doesn’t plummet as her wrist appears blank.
At age eleven, she goes through a three-month period where she doesn’t check her wrist at all until she breaks after a hard day of being scolded by Shadowsan, and there are still no words to comfort her.
At age twelve, Black Sheep is back to checking her wrist every night.
At age thirteen, she checks at the most random of times, hoping that she will be pleasantly surprised.
At age fourteen, she loses hope she’ll ever get her words and resigns to her fate.
At age fifteen, she starts wearing a band along with the rest of VILE academy and refuses to check her wrist at all (Coach Brunt is proud, all Black Sheep feels is numb).
At age twenty, the skin beneath her band starts itching and irritating her, and for the first time in years, she takes a look at her wrist.
There isn’t much information about the soulmate phenomenon, Black Sheep finds out at age eight. They are mysterious as they are blessings, and all anyone knows is that somewhere between the age of three and thirteen, your soulmate’s first words will appear on their wrist.
Unfortunately, the system isn’t perfect, and many still don’t find their soulmate despite the simplicity of it. Some have generic phrases heard every day, causing them to panic over every other person. Some get their words after they’ve been said, and sometimes those words are said by a stranger long ago. Sometimes people don’t remember if their words have been said or not.
There were so many issues, Black Sheep finds, and she wonders how lucky she’ll get with her words.
After some digging, it’s revealed that not even everyone gets their words. 0.0001% of the world population doesn’t have words, and many have theorized that it’s because the world made an error, and their soulmate was already dead. Some theorize it’s simply because they do not have a soulmate, or are perhaps aromantic. Black Sheep frowns at the information and moves on, certain that she isn’t part of that statistic.
At age thirteen, she returns to that same book, wondering what, exactly, the universe was doing.
At age fourteen, she decides that she doesn’t need a soulmate anyway. She’s always been strong enough on her own, and if she were to become a thief, she would have to give up her soulmate. After all, there’s no room for romance in criminal life.
Gray has been in love with the idea of the soulmate words since he first heard of it.
As a child, Graham was raised in a middle-class family in Australia, with both a mother and father that, surprisingly, were not soulmates. In fact, the first time he had ever heard of it was in 1st grade, when his teacher gave a surprise lesson on the subject. Gray, who had been in love with the idea as soon as he heard it, made sure to run back home quickly and find his mom to ask her about it. His mom, on the phone, takes one look at his excited expression and tells him to talk to his father.
Gray, quickly hiding his disappointed expression, sits down in his room and starts his homework as he waits for his father to get home. When his father finally arrives at around midnight, Gray is back to jumping around and getting excited again, ready to ask a million questions about soulmates. His father, who smiles at Gray’s energetic nature, takes off his jacket and sits on the sofa, ready to humor him.
Gray, after asking a million questions and staring at his father’s wrists for what seems like forever (“A coffee for the I-want-to-pass-out-from-caffeine-intake”), asks, “Are you and mom soulmates?”
His father, who’s eyes widen at the innocent question, shakes his head. “My soulmate is . . . gone and your mother never had a soulmate,” he says carefully, and Gray frowns. No wonder they always fight, Gray thinks. They’re not soulmates so they aren’t suited for each other!
Although Gray would like to say this is a shocking piece of news, Gray has grown apathetic to his parents’ fights and arguments that have been going on since before Gray was born. Gray nods to himself, seeming to justify why their behavior is like this, but then frowns again.
What if he’s like his mother and has no words? He doesn’t want to have a marriage like his parents. Gray scrunches his eyebrows, thinking this over. If he doesn’t have a soulmate, he just won’t get married! Gray nods, accepting the logic of his conclusion, and then turns back to his father.
His father sighs, smiling and ready to spend another hour awake while his son rattles out whatever comes to mind.
After that day, Gray checked his wrist every day to see if his words had appeared. Though not obsessed like some of the people in his class were, Gray thought the idea of a soulmate was a novelty and was completely prepared to meet her.
At age ten, after twelve years of marriage, Gray’s mother leaves. That period makes Gray attached to his words more than ever, needing the reason that they’re not soulmates to be the explanation for this split (and not something else, like him being born).
At age thirteen, Gray is disappointed but not surprised when no words appear, and he accepts the fate that he’s just part of the statistical population that has no soulmate.
At age sixteen, Gray decides that his passion for electrical engineering and all things mechanical was a career path he wants to pursue, and joins the electrician program at the Sydney Opera House of his city. His father, who hears of his acceptance that night, smiles and hugs him.
At age seventeen, Gray’s father passes away. It was a car accident, and his dad never saw it coming. Gray, filled with grief and anger, and not knowing what to do, turns to crime.
At age eighteen, Gray’s begun to actually enjoy his crime life and finds that it pays much better than his junior electrician position at the Sydney Opera House. Stealing in the cover of darkness was ingenious if he could say so himself, and Gray was proud of the abilities he’d honed.
That same year, an international crime organization recruits him for their academy to become an agent thief, and Gray accepts, no hesitation. It’s that same year he meets Black Sheep.
At age twenty-one, Gray wakes up from a three-year-long coma with amnesia and a new set of words on his wrist. He wonders why he feels like he’s changed so much when all he’s done for the past few years was lay in a bed. He goes back to his job, but he feels like something’s missing.
At age twenty-two, the words he held close for about a year are spoken.
VILE academy, for Black Sheep, had been everything she expected and more, she found in her first month attending. It was a little strange to change from simply a visitor and freeloader in the academy to an actual student, but it was worth it to actually attend classes and hone the skills she’s had for years. And naturally, just like she expected, Black Sheep instantly enters at the top of her classes, always an expert in every skill she finds.
What Black Sheep doesn’t expect is the connections she makes along the way. Gray (her best friend), Jean-Paul, Antonio, and Sheena (well, she’s more like a frenemy, really) have all become people she cares a lot about, and it’s the first time she finds herself making friends her age. It’s also the first time she’s made friends besides Player ever. (Black Sheep does not freak out the first month about how to act around them and what she should do because she’s never had a real in-person friend before and she might mess this up, and gosh, Player, stop laughing and help her-)
Having friends, Black Sheep finds, is exciting (and surprisingly really comforting?), and she doesn’t feel pressured to be anything but herself, especially when her normal behavior is being the best at everything they’re studying (which helps a little with her confidence, but Gray’s reassuring compliments do that job so much better). It also helps that no one talks about their words, instead covering them up with a band, a behavior Black Sheep found was actually a social norm and not just some weird VILE thing to prevent their agents from looking for romance. The only one who has never worn a band was Gray, and Black Sheep hasn’t gotten the courage to ask him about that until three months into their budding friendship, in the most casual way she can muster.
“So you have no words, huh?” Black Sheep was also very much not versed in the art of tact, so the attempt to be casual might have just come off as being invasive. Gray’s wide eyes and frozen stance was really proving the uncomfortableness of this subject, so Black Sheep backtracks.
“I mean, sorry, it’s just, you don’t wear a band, and you have no words, so . . . I mean, if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s totally fine!” Black Sheep finds herself waving her hands around as she tries to explain herself, and she’s very conscious of the heat she feels blooming in her cheeks, so she shuts up and turns away, ready to run away off the island and never again talk to Gray (she blames Countess Cleo for her dramatic side, that no one will ever know exists ever ).
Gray, who has been blinking the entire time down at her, softens and smiles. “It’s no harm, mate. I’m not wearing a band and it isn’t a secret, so it’s fine if you ask,” Gray explains. “It’s quite simple really - I just don’t have a soulmate. A lot of people surprisingly don’t know this, but there is a very small percentage of the population that actually doesn’t receive soul marks, and I’m part of that population.” Gray’s quick to reassure Black Sheep after spotting her thoughtful expression though, which he mistakes for sadness. “It’s not a big deal really, so don’t worry about it.”
Black Sheep, who has never met anyone like her before, feels a lot less lonely after finding out Gray is like her. It’s a bit selfish, but it was comforting to know her best friend and her were in the same situation.
“Actually,” Black Sheep says sheepishly as she removes her own band. “I don’t have a soulmate phrase either.”
Gray widens his eyes in surprise, then places his hand on her shoulder. She smiles in response and knows they’ve reached an understanding. They may not have soulmates like most of the world population, but they were already unlike most of the world population by their choice of career. They’d get through it and survive stronger.
Black Sheep pats the hand on her shoulder and moves on.
At VILE, agents were taught to improvise when things go wrong and adapt quickly to surprising situations. In fact, this acting was one of the best skills Crackle had, besides his electrical know-how. And so, a day where these skills would fail him was never expected.
But they did. And it was because the most unexpected thing that could have happened, happened. His shock was so severe that he almost jeopardized the entire mission, and Crackle was sure he was going to get a lecture when he went back to the island.
(The lecture would never come since there had been more pressing matters to discuss (“Carmen Sandiego”), but Crackle hadn’t known that at the time.)
The mission had called for an appearance at a formal event, and he had been out there rubbing elbows with the rich when it had happened. For this mission, he and Tigress were partnered on working to capture a famous art piece on auction. Le Chevre and El Topo had been on their own mission at the time, transporting some items from one of VILE’s hideouts, although Gray didn’t hear much of the details. (Black Sheep was off who knows where doing who knows what and no, Gray was not bitter at all thank you very much-)
It should have been a simple mission. (It rarely is.) The setup was perfect, and the security was laughable.
His left arm, though, had been on fire for the entire event, and he couldn’t stop rubbing it the entire time, wondering if this would affect his pickpocketing skills and if he would be able to successfully pull this off when his arm seemed determined to spite him.
Finally, he’d had enough and decided to excuse himself to the bathroom for a bit to wash up his hand and see what the irritation was all about. It was dangerous, leaving his post, but he couldn’t take another second of whatever was happening.
He shoves his sleeve down, taking a look at his wrist, and stumbles.
(He hasn’t been this shocked since it was announced that Black Sheep left the island.)
( What was happening!?)
The minutes after that are a daze. He pours cool water on his skin, dries his hands, and leaves the restroom.
He creates a blackout as planned. He helps Tigress steal the charity piece. The police show up. He’s almost seen. He doesn’t care .
Tigress has to pull him by the neck into the hiding spot in the nick of time and give him a scathing glare. Crackle only rolls his eyes, not bothering to dignify her with an answer. That was close, but right now he has more pressing thoughts to think about.
(Like how a soulmark just suddenly appeared on his wrist!)
Only half-aware on the trip back to VILE, Crackle barely registers when he makes it to his room. Once he does, Crackle flops down on the bed and wonders what he did in his past life to deserve this. He sighs, then raises his wrist up, tracing the words with the little moonlight his window captures.
You first.
You there!
Why is her life so complicated? What did she do for her to get a soulmark late ?
Gray had always felt like he was missing something in his life. It had only gotten worse after the accident. Something that was supposed to be there wasn’t there anymore.
Maybe this was finally it.
It all comes to a head one normal day. Gray had started the day in a routine (a routine he fashioned at the advice of his doctors) and then headed to work to man the latest show: Carmen .
It had all been going well until Gray noticed the fedora and red coat backstage. (Strong fashion statement there, he muses.)
Figuring it was just one of the guests who had lost their way and accidentally entered backstage Gray approaches. He guesses from the figure and long hair that the person is likely a female, but he can’t be sure until he sees her.
He ends up approaching her, calling out, “You there!” A jolt runs through her and she turns around, eyes widening. Wow, she’s beautiful.
Shaking his head to derail his thoughts, he tries for a glare. “What are you doing back here?”
The woman, to her credit, gets over her shock glares at him right back. “You first.”
He blinks, about to explain to her that as part of the staff, he has full rights to be there, before he jolts all of a sudden. You first. Only then does he notice that his arm is tingling and realize what happened. He pulls his sleeve up suddenly, watching the woman tense at the sudden movement, and he takes a look at his words. They seem to glow as he rubs them, and it’s then that he is sure he met his soulmate.
He met his soulmate.
He met his soulmate!
He stares for a moment at his arm then looks up at the shocked gaze of his fellow companion. Well “I’ll be. Wasn’t expecting this to happen now.”
She whips her head up to look at his eyes again, and he notes how fear and worry seem to radiate from her expression. (He’s not sure how he’s able to read her expression but honestly, Gray’s not sure of a lot of things these days.)
“Nice to meet you soulmate, I suppose,” he starts, wondering what the woman will say back. She opens her mouth and closes it as silence radiates between the two. “You still have to leave the backstage though. No wristband, no entry,” he adds, wanting to fill the silence as she seems to process everything.
Somehow the words leave her even more speechless, which he isn’t sure why, but he decides to give her a moment since it really is not every day one meets their soulmate. (He tries to ignore the whispers that she perhaps may not be his soulmate.)
She finally speaks. “I . . . right, sorry, I just . . . I wasn’t expecting this happen to right now either, I guess. Ah, nice to meet you too as well, Gray?” Good god, now that he’s paying attention, even her voice is pretty!
Again ignoring his thoughts, he takes note of what she called him. Gray? “It’s actually Graham,” he corrects, gesturing to his nametag. She flicks her eyes there, then focuses back on his face.
“You . . . work here?” she asks, seemingly curious.
“Yep, as an electrician.” Hearing some commotion from further backstage, Gray turns towards the noise then turns back, sighing. “Look, as much as I’m enjoying this, I do have a show to run. And you need to not be caught backstage. So how about I escort you out, and after the show, we can talk more. Sound alright?”
He really, really hopes she says yes.
“I - Yes, yeah, sure!” she replies hurriedly after a moment. Gray smiles.
“Alright, let’s just go this way out, and I can meet you out, in front of the opera, a bit after the show,” he explains as he walks, pulling his sleeve down and feeling a bit giddy. She follows after him, seemingly dazed, which he can quite understand.
Opening the door and bidding her a see you later, Gray hopes he made the right choice.
He takes a deep breath and tries to focus on his job.
Later on, Graham will kick himself for not asking for her number or setting up a more detailed meeting spot. He can’t be sure of where she’s waiting or if she’s still waiting at all.
He checks the seats, the entrance, and even backstage again, looking for her after the show, but he cannot spot her anywhere. Just as he’s given up and decides to walk back from after somehow losing his soulmate , he hears someone approach.
“Looking for someone?” Graham immediately turns around, his breath catching in his throat as he spots his mysterious red-clad soulmate once more. Then he smiles.
“Well, they were rude enough to leave before even introducing themselves, after all,” he cheekily replies. The red angel giggle and Graham feels warm all over. “Not from around here, are you?”
She smiles sheepishly. “No. I was actually hoping to find a guide for the outback as I’m doing a bit of sight-seeing myself. Know anyone good?”
Graham grins and pulls out a piece of paper and pen (it’s always good to be prepared, after all). After scribbling the address of his favorite cafe down, he hands the paper over to his angel (who’s yet to introduce themselves!).
“This a number to a guide?” she asks as she side-eyes the paper in her hand.
Graham laughs. “No. A good guide can be found through a good old-fashioned google search. This here’s the address to a cafe I frequent. I’ll be there tomorrow night if you’d like to chat.”
The red devil smiles over the information and tucks the paper into her pocket, which Graham counts as a win. “I best be going to find that guide then.” She turns and makes her way out from the plaza, and Graham suddenly remembers something important.
“Wait! I still don’t know your name!” She turns to him briefly and smirks.
“Call me Carmen.”
The next night, Graham finds himself nervously waiting at the cafe, holding a cuppa in his hand. He really hopes Carmen (his soulmate!) turns up to talk to him.
For the tenth time that day, he curses himself for not just giving her his number instead. Would be so much easier and faster. He tries to appear calm though, no matter how much he’d just like to bounce his leg up and down.
(After the electrical accident he experienced a while back, Graham’s noticed he’s had more success in being able to appear calm and collected, even when he was anything but.
He briefly wonders if comas can change slightly change personalities. Ever since waking up, he hasn’t felt like himself, and he’s not sure what he reason is. Although, they do say that events such as these can be traumatic and cause changes in behaviour, so who knows? Maybe this is all normal.
Graham is too scared to check.)
Just as he’s considering the chances of him being a complete idiot and writing down the wrong address, he notices her.
Carmen.
She’s across the street, waiting at the red traffic light for her to be able to pass.
Graham gasps, noticing her more casual outfit today (that she still somehow looks incredibly hot in). She’s put her hair up and donned a casual jeans and hoodie, but she still somehow shines brighter than anyone on that street. (He briefly wonders if this is what it feels like to meet your soulmate.)
Just as he’s admiring her figure, she looks up at him. They make eye contact and his heart beat instantly increases. Hoping to still appear suave in her eyes, he smiles, raising his drink. And boy does his heart rate go through the roof when she smiles back.
However, he can’t help the sinking feeling of dread that appears in his stomach. Her smile is small, and almost looks sad. Suddenly, he’s siezed by the intense idea that he’s about to disappear.
Just as he’s about to run up to her to escort her here, despite how weird it would look, a bus passes and suddenly she’d gone.
Graham blinks and checks again, then looks up and down the street looking for her. He stands up, ready to run if he does spot her.
He doesn’t spot her.
He looks around for nearly an hour afterwards before he gives up. The sadness that lays in the pit of his stomach doesn’t help.
It’s few nights of waiting at the same place that makes Graham face the fact that maybe she just doesn’t want to see him.
It’s another few weeks before he admits to himself that he may have imagined that glimpse of her to begin with.
Those few months after meeting her, Graham goes through his daily life in a daze. The utter despair and hopelessness that comes with not getting to properly meet and get to know his soulmate sets in, and before he knows it, he finds himself just going through a routine, no longer paying attention nor caring for what happens in his life.
It probably doesn’t help that he has no family or friends to speak of at the moment to help distract him or take the burden off, but that’s neither here or there.
It also doesn’t help that he’s been getting urges to steal expensive items off of guests at the Opera House just for the thrill. He’s so tempted that there are many times he nearly does it, if not for the face that flashes back to him just as he’s about to go through with it. (He thinks he may be becoming a kleptomaniac of sorts, and it scares him that he doesn’t even care anymore.)
It’s a spiral he’s familiar with, but he takes care to not let it drown him. He’s sure if he does, it’ll lead a path he will never be able to leave.
In summary, he misses Carmen. Despite knowing her for only 5 minutes. It kind of scares Graham how attached he has become to her despite not knowing her. (He had thought about looking for her, but the world is large, and she strikes him as a person who can make sure no one ever finds her.)
Slowly, over the months, he becomes more used to the idea of never seeing her again. It hurts, but he’s sure that it’ll lessen with time, and it keeps the weird urges and flashes away as time passes by. He’s just again stabilized his life (even got a semblance of a social life), before its turned up upside down again.
He could have lived without his memories, to be honest. Crackle would’ve actually preferred it. But Professor Maelstorm had given him back his memories, and was clearly waiting for him to make a decision.
Crackle wasn’t sure what would happen if he refused this time, but he wasn’t eager to find out.
And Carmen. Black Sheep. One of his closest friends, the person he trusted the moment. And my soulmate.
He doesn’t know why the words appeared late, or why they appeared after they’d already met even, but it was clear that their history made their relationship even more complicated.
Crackle- Gray wished there was an easy answer to what he should do, but at the moment, he was stuck.
And by the time Black- Carmen broke into the hideout and confronted him (which, of course she did), Gray had even less of an idea on what to do.
The only thing he knew for sure? “The only thing I ever regretted doing for VILE . . . was hurting you.”
The soft, touched look on Carmen’s face was worth the pain and suffering they had to go through. It was enough for him to solidify his decision to stay with her, despite the consequences. And it was enough for him to help make sure VILE would never become powerful enough to hurt his soulmate ever again.
Taking her hand to leave the snowy mountains, Gray was sure his heart had never been lighter.