Why ?

Doubt and escape

"It won't work on me Maesltrom, you can talk your shit but I know him, he would never do that." She tries to sound confident but her voice trembles slightly.

I send her a little dose of electricity, "Your language, Black Sheep. Think about it, whose fault are you our prisoner? Did he help you confront the robot and Dr. Bellum or did he leave you alone ?"

"It was me who gave him the order to..."

I cut her off, "And did he contradict? Insisted on staying? No... he abandoned you to save his own skin like you did on that train to Paris. He doesn't care about you as much as you think..." I stroke her hair in a reassuring way "... contrary to us."

Her face reflects her confusion as she considers my words. It's time to place my last pawn. As she lowers her head, I remove her blindfold and grasp her chin to force our eyes to meet. The determination once present is replaced by doubt. "My dear, we can help you, you know. Let you ask him yourself, all we need is to know where to find him." She looks away. Just as I'm about to demand an answer, my phone rings.

"Think about what I said, Black Sheep. I put her gag back on before walking away to answer it.

Carmen POV

Is it true? Everything that happened to Gray is my fault after all, he would have every reason to hate me. No. Maelstrom is manipulating me, I have to trust Graham, he cares about me. Right ?

I need to know for sure, but giving anything to VILE is out of the question. The handcuffs are not very tight, a little pity for the bare flesh of my wrists which hurts like hell. As quietly as possible, I straighten up and put my restraints under my feet to place my hands in front of me. Slowly approaching Maelstrom, I neutralize him with a quick blow to the back of the head. I get the remote and unlock the collar and handcuffs, allowing me to remove them. I need to get out of here before anyone notices I'm gone.

I walk along the walls to stay in the shadows as much as possible and not be spotted. This castle seems huge, as I pass a window I notice the height, so I am upstairs. It seems to be almost dark outside, but with the storm, it's impossible to be sure. As I speed up my pace, I hear Bellum's voice in the distance.

"The information has been planted and recovered. If all goes according to plan, Team Red will show up and hopefully find Black Sheep. We just have to make sure that she plays her part when the time comes."

I come closer, concerned about what they are planning for my team. Hiding in the shadow of the door I notice Cleo and Brunt surrounding Bellum as she works on her extractor.

"Why don't we just kill her if we can't reprogram her. After betraying us, I think we're being too soft on her."

"Because, Coach, she's our only leverage against Shadowsan and her crew. Besides, imagine how she'd feel knowing that now all of our capers are successful thanks to her. That will hurt her more than any injury," Cleo explained mischievously.

"We'll just have to watch her fall apart while we keep a tight leash on her team," Bellum sneered without looking up from her device.

I can't let them do it, as I was about to go back to my path a voice came from behind me.

"Carmen Sandiego ?"

I turn around and see El Topo staring at me as Le Chèvre arrives. The half-open door where the Faculty was, opens and Brunt looks surprised at the corridor. Wasting no time, I run down the corridor towards a door. I hear screams behind me but don't look back, past it are stairs. I run down as fast as I can and arrive in a corridor. An alarm sounds throughout the building.

"Shit."

I recognise the door leading to the Faculty Room at the end of the corridor, I could get out that way. The footsteps of errands come closer to me as I quickly enter the room and close the door. I push a desk in front of it, ignoring the pain in my shoulder, that should be slowing them down.

Redoubling my speed I quickly knock out the few guards in the room and rush through the large entrance doors. Outside, the rain has stopped but puddles are still visible. A small explosion sounds behind me, they have passed the door, I run towards a gate in the distance. Just as I'm almost there, El Topo emerges from the ground in front of me and Le Chèvre lands next to him.

"You're leaving already? We didn't even have time to enjoy ourselves." I turn around to see Tigress, all claws out giggling.

"Surrender Carmen Sandiego, you can't escape," Le Chèvre tells me with disdain.

"We won't hurt you if you follow us nicely, mi amiga."

"You should know that I never surrender without a fight."

I get into a fighting position. Tigress charges me, I dodge her and send her to finish her rush on El Topo. Le Chèvre attacks me, I parry his blow and retaliate with a kick to the abdomen. El Topo takes the opportunity to grab my right arm which I quickly release with a left shoulder strike, not without a cry of pain.

"It looks like your right side is hurting," Tigress sneers.

"Why don't you check it out for yourself Sheena," I reply, running towards the gate. I have to get out of here as quickly as possible but Le Chèvre holds his position in front.

That's when I realize it. Their goal is not really to bring me back by themselves but to hold me back. Indeed, a few seconds later a dozen VILE agents and guards surround me, the Cleaners among them. Reasserting my fighting stance, I look for any escape in vain. This was going to be a hard fight.