Not a red crackle but rather a look into VILE's thoughts with raising Black Sheep and their twisted love for her. Hope you guys enjoy!

Summary: Black Sheep was dead, and with it V.I.L.E.'s remaining humanity.

When Shadowsan first brought a baby back to the island with him, the others didn't really know how to act. Countess Cleo gave the babe a disgusted look while Dr. Bellum and Professor Maelstrom looked reluctant and Coach Brunt made a face at having a helpless baby around.

But then they all looked into her eyes and saw her innocent smile, and like Shadowsan, each of them had fallen. She enchanted Brunt the most when she reached her tiny hand and wrapped it around her giant finger. Her toothless smile endeared Dr. Bellum and Professor Maelstrom, having never been around something so pure before, and her stormy eyes ensnared Countess Cleo. Shadowsan was already under the baby's spell—and soon the others joined.

They named her Black Sheep, courtesy of Shadowsan, for she was an oddity among heartless and cruel thieves. The best parenting books were purchased along with anything perfect for their Black Sheep. She had the best nannies they could afford when they were unable to attend to her. Shadowsan would whisper lullabies while Dr. Bellum made trinkets safe for Black Sheep to play with. Countess Cleo was there to read the young Black Sheep stories and play tea party and Professor Maelstrom was there to explain any answers the curiosity of a child needed answering. Coach Brunt was there the most, showing Black Sheep her affection like an open book where she would play with the rambunctious child.

The Cleaners were her protectors and the students were her big brothers and sisters when they were too busy for Black Sheep. She grew up the innocent sheep in a den of ferocious lions, but was never devoured. She was the most precious jewel, and like greedy dragons, they coveted her like a rare treasure.

As she grew older, they knew they had to maintain a certain aura now. They couldn't afford to be weak for their babe. She had to learn who they were, and who to take after. They needed to set an example for Black Sheep to be strong and cunning or else she'd be stepped on. In the world they were in, anything could be used against them. Black Sheep was their weakness, whether they liked it or not.

And then she came demanding to be a thief. Their Black Sheep was growing up—wanted to see the world. The dragons in them resisted internally. Shadowsan was the most vocal. He knew this wasn't the life for Black Sheep. She was too warm and bright and pure.

The others had hope they could change her—mold her into something V.I.L.E could be proud of. Shadowsan warned them. He had always known, since he had picked her from the side of the road, that she wasn't for V.I.L.E's elite to use.

Then she enrolled, made friends, and they began to see. Black Sheep's light couldn't be snuffed out. If she went out there, she would be at the mercy of their enemies without her own ruthlessness. They grew hard—they needed to douse the light of Black Sheep's heart. They pushed her harder, punished her stricter. Nothing worked—her brightness was as radiant as the sun.

Failing her was the only option. They couldn't let her be used against them. She was too deeply rooted in their black hearts, and they selfishly trapped her light for themselves. It was too precious—too radiant—for the outside world. Black Sheep herself was like an artifact. Her rarity was more valuable than a mere stone.

She would understand one day. Their island was her home—her paradise. She didn't need the outside world. Here, they would give her anything she wanted. Eventually, she would give up her dreams of being a thief—it wasn't for her. They could see that now.

Then she ran away.

The dragons stirred inside them, and they wasted no time in setting course to retrieving their princess and putting her back in her tower where she belonged. Shadowsan was oddly quiet—as if he knew something none of the others grasped quite yet, but he too, hurried to cosset their bright gem from being tarnished and worn by the corruption of the world. On the Isle of V.I.L.E, Black Sheep would not be destroyed.

When their gem was brought back to them, it was clear she didn't understand their love. They didn't understand why she was so determined to leave—this was her paradise. She was angry, and they set to work on transforming their jewel into their image. They set forth into pushing her harder—to make her something others would envy. She would have Shadowsan's work ethic, Professor Maelstrom's cunning, Dr. Bellum's ingenious, Countess Cleo's etiquette, and Coach Brunt's ferocity.

Naturally, to fully mold her, they had to cut her ties with her former friends, Gray in particular. They inspired Black Sheep with too many ideas—especially him. He filled Black Sheep's head with fantasies. She was above childish dreams—a diamond was above mere rocks in their plans.

As her rehabilitation went on, they were confident in their Black Sheep. Her light was dimmed, but there was enough there for them to bask in, and V.I.L.E soaked it up greedily. They sensed a focus in her they never saw before, and that proved to them they were doing the right thing for their pearl.

She would thank them one day. They were sure of it.

They were wrong.

When December 1st hit, everything they knew went into pandemonium. Black Sheep had them all fooled. This whole time their gem hid her shine, until she burst forth in her escape, her light blazing brighter than ever as she left their island—her paradise.

That day the sun set on their Black Sheep, and her murderer Carmen Sandiego was born.

She left them as scorched ashes in her wake, her red coat blazing like an inferno, the tails of it catching embers of an eternal fire that could never have been snuffed out.

The council of V.I.L.E was filled with anger, disbelief, and betrayal. Did all her years with them mean nothing to her? Did they not give her everything she could've desired? Shadowsan strangely was resigned, as if he knew this was coming for a long time.

"This wasn't her home—we became her prison." He had said, and it had filled the others with so much anger that they snarled openly at him. It was the first in many years they had a disagreement that nearly broke their unity.

Soon, without Black Sheep's constant light, their darkness festered, and vengeance burst forth from hurt. Carmen Sandiego murdered their gem—she had corrupted her and tainted her worth. Now she was nothing but a common thief wasting away her great potential.

The insult against them soon caused them to burn all of Black Sheep's things—their fond memories of her smoldering into dust as well. They had given everything to Black Sheep, and she had betrayed them. Soon, they would burn the coat and hat of her murderer as well.

Their Black Sheep was dead, and with it, the last of their humanity.