A New Ally

Chapter Six | Choice

The world faded slowly, a flurry of sounds and muffled screams surrounded her, but she was too tired, too confused and helpless to do anything about it.

~

"Carm?" a voice asked her, coming from somewhere beyond her void.

The void shook, more and more voices clamouring around her as she slowly blinked, taking note of where she was.

Light. Bright, blinding light and shrill sirens were the only things that filled her senses. She heard a few words here and there, they did nothing to calm the lump that had begun to form in her throat.

Missing

Unsure

Concussion

Unwell

And her the most worrisome of all, Kidnapped

She was in the hotel room she was in before, her head was throbbing and the light in the room didn't make it any better. What had happened?

The memories flashed back, Tigress, Julia, VILE, the push, oh no, where was Julia!?

Carmen blinked a couple more times, staring up directly at the faces of Ivy and Shadowsan, "Julia.., where's Julia?".

The two of them exchanged a look, "Look, Carm,".

Ivy didn't get to finish, "No," Tears broke from Carmen's eyes, "Oh no," the tears continued, "No, no, no!".

The pieces fit together like a jigsaw puzzle the more she thought about it. She'd taken her, Tigress had planned to take Carmen, but she ended up taking Julia instead. Why, why had Julia pushed her out of the way? Now she was probably being tortured, this was exactly what Carmen had wanted to avoid.

Why did it feel like someone had torn her heart out and cut it into pieces?

Ivy bit her lip and Shadowsan looked away, giving Carmen a pat on the shoulder. Zack looked downward with a somber expression on the other side of the room. Player sat in a chair as he always did, on a FaceTime call via Carmen's computer. They were all filled with concern, concern for Carmen who was crying in front of them for the first time and concern for their missing friend.

"I promised her that I'd protect her," Carmen managed through tears, "Now I don't know what I'll do! VILE has Julia and I doubt they'll make it as easy to rescue her as it was to rescue Zack and Ivy,".

Player signed from beyond the screen, "I know this sounds crazy, Red, but VILE doesn't have Julia,".

Her head shot up, "What? Where is she then!?".

"ACME, they took her," Shadowsan interjected.

Carmen's eyes narrowed, "Geez, I really hate them, they really are a thorn in my spine. But, at least I know that they won't hurt her, they are at least trying to be good,".

She sighed, leaning back against the pillows on the bed, "You know what Jules would say right now? She'd be all like: 'What a fine mess you have yourself in Carmen!',".

Carmen laughed a sad little laugh, letting the tears fall quietly and slowly down her cheeks, "Well, what is it, what do they want for them to give me Jules back? Me to join them? Information? VILE's location? An apology?".

She saw how everyone held their breath as she said that, "Why don't you see for yourself, Carm," Ivy said, handing her a tablet.

Carmen took it reluctantly, not liking the looks on her friends' faces. She opened it up, automatically activating the only message on the tablet. The video was just Chief in a white room making demands, but it really felt like the end of the world for her.

"Hello, Carmen Sandiego. You must be wondering, how did we manage to capture Julia when it was someone else who apprehended her? Well, it's quite simple, we stole her from that other person. From that person, we managed to learn that you and Julia seem to be a pair. So, here's the deal Carmen, you have two choices.

You can one, continue being Carmen Sandiego: The Scarlet Superthief and we'll keep Julia locked up and tortured forever.

Or, you can turn yourself in to us and face the punishment you deserve, and then your precious Julia can go free.

It's your choice, you have until the end of the day tomorrow.

Choose wisely, because there are no take backs.

With that, the video ended and Carmen felt her world shatter into a million more pieces. 

~

A/N:

So, uh, yeah, I've been gone for a while. Sorry 'bout that! This was kind of a short chapter, but I feel like it served its purpose. The next part should be up on the 20th, I'll try to make the next one longer! Thank you so much for reading!

See you next chapter!

~ xoxo Indie