Professor Gunnar Maelstrom is addressing the faculty members of the V.I.L.E. council. He presents to them the Magna Carta, the English charter of rights originally drafted to settle tensions between King John and his barons in 1215. Seventeen original copies are known to remain, all of which will be displayed together for the first time in history at a museum in Mumbai, India. Maelstrom proposes a theft of the documents, which prompts Shadow-san to question whom he has in mind to carry out the task. Though unnamed, Maelstrom does have someone in mind, an individual Shadow-san compares to Carmen Sandiego as a wild card that is not ready to take on such a task. However it is put to a vote and Shadow-san is outvoted by the other members of the council.
In Mumbai, Carmen is casing the museum where the Magna Carta copies are on display, expecting V.I.L.E. to make a move on the historic documents. Once night falls, Carmen is sneaking around the building when she happens across a disabled camera, taken out by a very sharp paper throwing star. Carmen reflects on her time at the academy, in particular to a flighty girl who was studying there during her holdover year. The girl had a knack for using origami to create dangerous weapons, something that wasn't thought highly upon by the faculty. Meanwhile, inside, more paper throwing stars are used to take out the remaining cameras along the way while the thrower hums a strangely tranquil tune. Carmen confronts the intruder, Paper Star, and the pair engage in a duel.
Paper Star is able to overwhelm Carmen with a flurry of paper throwing stars, forcing Carmen to retreat and resorts to using the museum brochures once her own supply of paper runs out. Unimpressed by Carmen's inability to fight back, Paper Star leaves the fight and heads for her objective. Carmen pursues her but is lured into a trap, allowing Paper Star to take what she came for unopposed. On her way out, she triggers the fire alarm. Carmen manages to escape the museum before anyone arrives, but by that point Paper Star had already fled into the night.
The next day A.C.M.E. agents Chase Devineaux and Julia Argent are investigating the Mumbai museum. Chase notices the origami left behind by Paper Star and assumes they were left by Carmen, which he uses to connect her to the crime. Julia argues that Carmen's recent pattern has suggested she only steals with noble intentions, referencing the Vermeer incident, but Chase dismisses it out of hand. Julia also takes note of the state of the crime scene, pointing to how "sloppy" it was compared to Carmen's usual work. Chase argues it was a rush job but Julia counters by saying there may have been a fight in the museum that resulted in such a disarray.
Chase receives a call from A.C.M.E.'s chief, who shows the pair footage of Carmen Sandiego leaving the museum the previous night. Julia asks the footage to be rewound and notices a fast-moving object that was captured shortly before Carmen exited the building. Elsewhere, Carmen is stewing about her previous night's encounter. She briefs Player, the team's hacker, on V.I.L.E.'s handoff protocol and what they need to do in order to intercept the chain of custody.
That night, V.I.L.E. operative Le Chevre is sneaking his way into the ancient Elephanta Caves, not far from Mumbai. As he walks through the dimly lit hall, a low humming can be heard echoing through the building. Sitting at the base of a large statue, Paper Star is playing with her paper and humming to herself as she frequently does. Le Chevre introduces himself by reciting a code phrase but Paper Star tells him to drop the formalities, indicating she will take custody of the item the entire way to its destination. Le Chevre objects to the break in protocol but Paper Star snubs him and slices his hand when he attempts to take the objective from her, threatening Le Chevre into giving up the location of the drop. Reporting back to his superiors at V.I.L.E., Le Chevre informs them that he cracked and gave up the drop location in Agra City.
Carmen and Player review footage captured of Paper Star traveling on a ferry, noting that she still has the objective on her person and that she's booked under a fairly obvious alias, likely to attract Carmen's attention. Player cross-references the alias with any other use of the name he can find, which leads to a train ticket bound for Agra City. The following day Carmen is on the train and is surveying the passengers for Paper Star. Not wanting to cause collateral damage when dealing such an unstable individual, Carmen bides her time until the train reaches its destination.
Before she can do anything, however, Carmen is interrupted by Agent Devineaux sitting directly across from her. Despite not wearing her signature red attire, Chase was able to pick her out and demands to know the whereabouts of the Magna Carta. As he goes to place her under arrest, the train passes through a tunnel, which gives Carmen the chance to handcuff Chase to the chair and make a break, pilfering his A.C.M.E. ID card in the process. Carmen ventures into the next car to keep tabs on Paper Star and happens to sit at the table across from Agent Julia Argent. Quickly making the connection between Julia and Chase, Carmen engages in small talk to avoid drawing attention to herself.
Julia laments that her work is keeping her from enjoying the sights and history of India. Carmen asks her about thoughts on the Magna Carta theft but quickly cuts off the conversation when she notices Paper Star has left the train car. As she leaves to follow, Julia inquires about her name but immediately realizes she was talking with Carmen Sandiego. She tries to call it in to her partner but only goes through to voicemail thanks to Chase being handcuffed to the seat in the other car. Carmen, meanwhile, pursues Paper Star to the private cabins of the train but Paper Star knew she was being followed and makes the first move. The two women brawl but Carmen steals all of Paper Star's ammo and destroys it in the toilet. Upon noticing the presence of a nearby magazine, the fight continues to keep it out of Paper Star's reach. Paper Star succeeds in grabbing the magazine but was only allowed to because it distracted her long enough for Carmen to take the documents from her.
Carmen runs away with the goods onto the roof of the moving train and is pursued by Paper Star, who corners her at the edge of the train. She attempts subdue Carmen but, thanks to being outside on a moving train, her paper weaponry is rendered ineffective due to its light weight. Paper Star and Carmen resort to a straight fight which sees Carmen get pitched over the edge of the train. Paper Star attempts to escape by grabbing onto a ladder but Carmen, pulling herself back onto the roof, uses a metal cover to sever the document tube's shoulder strap and succeeds in taking it back from Paper Star as the train speeds off into the distance.
Meanwhile, back inside the train, Julia happens upon Chase's predicament. Chase tells his partner to go get his handcuff keys out of his briefcase in the dining car. Julia complies and goes back to the dining car only to find the document tube resting against Agent Devineaux's briefcase, the Magna Carta copies safely packed inside. Carmen departs the train and asks Player to decode Chase's A.C.M.E. ID card to see what they can learn about Chase's new affiliation but when she reaches into her pocket, she notices it's gone.
Back at V.I.L.E. island, the faculty are discussing Paper Star's reckless disregard for their operating procedure when Paper Star blissfully skips into the room. Professor Maelstrom expresses his disappointment with her failure but she hands over the A.C.M.E. ID that she stole from Carmen as a substitute.
Tropes
- Aborted Arc: The previous episode implied that Professor Maelstrom brought Paper Star in for a personal assignment that would target Carmen directly. However, come this episode, Maelstrom proposes assigning her to a more typical V.I.L.E. mission and hadn't contacted her for any assignments prior to this.
- Bring My Red Jacket: Referenced. While no blood is shed, Paper Star says Carmen should be grateful for her red coat prior to their first scuffle, implying that she's looking to cut deep.
- Internal Reveal: Carmen and V.I.L.E. learn about A.C.M.E.'s existence.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Paper Star broke V.I.L.E protocol to transport the Magna Cartas herself and quietly challenged Carmen to try and steal them back. While she didn't make it easy for her, Paper Star all but gave Carmen the chance to swipe the Magna Cartas and leave them for A.C.M.E to find. However she did manage to steal the card Carmen took from Devinaux. Which will ultimately play a big part in the season 1 finale...
- Tempting Fate: Agent Devineaux tells Carmen he lost her in a train before, and it won't happen again. As he moves to handcuff her, they pass through a tunnel, and the area goes dark. When they get out of the tunnel, Devineaux finds himself cuffed to the chair and Carmen gone.
- Paper Star deliberately does this with her alias being Tammy Origami, which Carmen explains is her way of saying "Come get me if you dare". This becomes her Fatal Flaw as it causes her to lose the Magna Cartas to Carmen and fail her mission.
- Traintop Battle: The final showdown between Carmen and Paper Star happens on the roof of the train bound for Agra City. Paper Star discovers her paper throwing stars don't work when they're thrown against the direction of travel of the train, given that they're just paper, but she does manage to nearly throw Carmen off the top of the train in hand-to-hand combat.
