#aproblemsart

Just a little idea I had after seeing this outfit:

worn by Paul Nakauchi, Shadow-san's voice actor.

@jackie-shitposts suggested Carmen's outfit, but I took some liberties...

Also I was listening to this song when I thought of it.

The plot goes:

V.I.L.E. activity in Brazil and Venezuela indicates they're planning a caper of sorts, although it is unknown what they're planning to steal their activity seems to be just a tad too close to the protected areas near the region to leave unchecked.

Carmen and Red Team part to Venezuela, a country on the northern coast of South America with diverse natural attractions. The 26 states that make up Venezuela offer a wide array of habitats to explore, such as towering mountains, cloud forests, scrublands, plains, river deltas, lush rainforests and beaches. It is home to the world's highest waterfall, Angel Falls and the second longest river in South America, the Orinoco. It also has the longest coastline to the Caribbean sea.

This wouldn't be the first episode/chapter so, I'd have explained why Ivy, Zack and Shadow-san are back in the crew (I might post about those encounters later).

While doing reconnaissance, to try and find out more about V.I.L.E.'s plans the gang gets caught in a boat chase along the Orinoco and it's many branches; It's a given since this is a fanwork and not canon, but I've changed the way V.I.L.E. operates in order to have higher stakes, so operatives now have guns! and they shoot them at Red Crew. Zack and Ivy get split off from Shadow-san and Carmen (who end up in a branch of the river that leads to a waterfall.

They seek refuge in the caves of the area, after their boat crashes. They hide for a while and stalk the opening (they came in through) waiting for their allies, but most importantly, for the V.I.L.E. operatives to leave the premises (they didn't want to get shot at again). V.I.L.E. stays there to clean up the evidence (the crashed boats) and as a measure in case Shadow-san and Carmen hadn't died i the crash.

In the dark Shadow-san stumbles a bit for his usual ninja self and Carmen questions it.

Shadow-san, however refuses to make a big deal out of it, remaining silent and eventually relenting and saying "It's just a scratch." when Carmen's worried eyes remain on him.

Eventually she questions if the reason he doesn't trust her anymore is because of what happened at the end of S4, when she was brain washed. He denies this and finally shows her the scratch that was bleeding from his side. - In the boat chase, when they had first been shot at, he had pushed her out of the way and ducked them both under cover. - Carmen reaches the conclusion that's where the scratch came from.

Carmen and Shadow-san stumble upon why V.I.L.E. had been stalking the area. Because the operatives with guns were taking a long time to leave the main entrance they had used before, they opt to look for other ways to leave and find a secret passage that leads to a cave full of ancient gold.

On top of the cave there's a opening to the outside, so they climb out and call Player. They escape the area (know the location of the treasure) and send that information the local authorities.

V.I.L.E. leaves before the cops arrive ofc but they aren't able to even sniff a piece of that treasure. Another win for Red Team.

I made some other sketches for the scene between Carmen and Shadow-san too:

Here's a wip of the writing too:

"You got shot? And you weren't going to tell me?" She sounded angry.

Not like the angry she had sounded like when they had butted heads in Rio, nor the betrayed angry she had sounded like when she thought he had went to Japan to complete the daishō, nor even the hurt angry she had sounded like when she thought he might've killed her father. It was a far more gentle, far more worried angry. She was worried about him.

"Like I said, it's just a scratch, and it does not impede from my duties. It's nothing to worry about." Stubborn as always he keept his ground.

"But I am worried! Doesn't it hurt?" Carmen sounded exasperated.

He stayed silent for a second, he had been clutching his side from the strain of moving while the wound was still bleeding, although small, it was painful plenty, but he wasn't going to tell her that. "I can manage." He answers instead.

She was not happy with that answer.