La Chèvre sighed as he and El Topo boarded the helicopter to take them back to the Isle of VILE.
They had just gotten back from a rather successful mission. Since Carmen Sandiego wasn't there to stop them like she usually was.
They had been used to her showing up and thwarting their plans. So much that it had been added into their daily routines—get up, get assigned a mission, Carmen Sandiego shows up, and they end up going back to the academy empty handed.
But..not this time.
Which really confused them both, since they hadn't injured her. So, she can't be somewhere like a hospital recovering.
Maybe she was on a vacation? Nah. Black Sheep was never the one to rest until she got something done. And he figured Carmen would be the same way.
So..where on Earth was she?
"Mi amigo?"
La Chèvre snapped out of his train of thought and looked up to see El Topo looking at him.
"Oui?"
El Topo sighed. "Do you ever wonder...what our lives would've been like if we didn't join VILE? Would we still meet each other? Would we have still met the others?" He asked, looking down at his feet.
"Sounds like you do, mon amour." La Chèvre said, putting his VILE communicator down beside him.
El Topo nodded. "It's just..I somehow don't feel that staying at VILE..is right anymore." He confessed, scared of how his partner and friend would react.
La Chèvre raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you mean?"
"I mean that..maybe I should quit. Maybe we should quit. VILE doesn't allow relationships to happen, especially in this line of work." El Topo looked up at La Chèvre. With tears welling up in his eyes.
La Chèvre shook his head. "Mon ami, we are not quitting! If we do, we die! The best thing for us is-"
"Is to not stay with a criminal organization that will cast us aside once we aren't useful anymore!?" El Topo snapped, surprising La Chèvre completely.
La Chèvre recovered from the shock and glared at El Topo.
"Mon ami, listen, if we leave VILE, then they'll automatically find us! They'll send their deadliest operatives out to track us down and then..I'll lose you. And I can never lose you." La Chèvre said.
They both stared into each other's eyes. Not sure what to say next. But, before one of them can even open their mouth, La Chevre's communicator beeped. Signaling that the Faculty was calling him.
"La Chèvre, El Topo, how did your mission go?" Professor Maelstrom asked.
"It went well, Professor Maelstrom. Carmen Sandiego was surprisingly absent, though." La Chèvre reported.
"Si. She didn't show up at all, which gave us the perfect opening." El Topo chimed in.
Professor Maelstrom smirked a little too knowingly. "Is that so? Well, thank you for the good news. Please stand by for further instruction." He said.
Once they saw Maelstrom's face disappear from the screen, El Topo spoke up.
"I don't want to lose you either, mi amigo." El Topo said somberly. "I..can't bear the thought of losing you to VILE. If they ever wipe our memories of each other away."
La Chèvre shook his head, standing up. "I'm giving you some time to think. Listen to me when I say—you are wrong, mon ami." He said, before walking to the front of the helicopter. Leaving El Topo behind in the cockpit.
____________________
A week later, the two men were still keeping a distance from each other. El Topo, because he couldn't believe what La Chèvre said. And La Chèvre..because he feels like El Topo needs some time to rethink everything he said on that ride back to the Isle of VILE.
La Chèvre was currently outside of the Faculty room. Having been called down for a meeting with the masterminds of VILE themselves.
La Chèvre took a deep breath, before slowly opening the doors. Revealing the green-hued room with a wide table in the middle. Where the Faculty sat in their respective seats.
La Chèvre cleared his throat. "You wanted to speak with me, Faculty?"
Countess Cleo leaned forward in her seat. "Yes, it's about El Topo, your partner."
La Chèvre frowned. "What about him?"
Coach Brunt sighed. "La Chèvre, El Topo has done nothing but hold you back." She said.
Professor Maelstrom nodded. "El Topo doesn't seem like the correct partner for you, is what Coach Brunt is trying to say."
La Chevrel's eyes adjusted slightly. "What do you mean by that? He can dig, I can climb. We're simply yin and yang!"
"Precisely." Dr. Bellum started. "But the problem is..El Topo is too soft. And operatives here at VILE are required to be vicious and hardened. Not the complete opposite."
"Which is why you will be partnered with Tigress for now on."
La Chèvre's frown deepened. "And El Topo? What will happen to him?"
Dr. Bellum spoke up once more. "He will have his memories of you and us erased. From this day forward, he is no longer a part of VILE."
La Chèvre's eyes were now as wide as saucers. "No! You cannot do that!"
Coach Brunt raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh? And why is that?"
'I love him.' La Chèvre thought to himself. 'If he is leaving VILE, then I am too.' He then felt a pang of guilt in his chest.
He told El Topo that they had to stay at VILE and that running away was not a good idea. But..that was a week ago.
But now? Seeing that the Faculty utterly did not care about their operatives at all? And that they are just..cast aside like that?
He should've listened to El Topo that night on the helicopter. Because if he did, he wouldn't be here right now being told that his partner, his best friend, was going to forget him.
La Chèvre sighed. "I..love him." He whispered.
Professor Maelstrom smirked. "What was that?"
La Chèvre growled. "I. Love. Him."
"Aww..that's cute." Coach Brunt cooed, before looking at the Cleaners.
"Cleaners, take him away. He can join his little boyfriend in the lab." Coach Brunt said, as the Cleaners approached La Chèvre.
La Chèvre felt both his arms being pushed behind his back as he was struggling against the Cleaners' surprisingly firm holds.
And then, La Chèvre was being dragged out of the room by the Cleaners. Screaming in protest.
La Chèvre felt tears well up in his eyes as he was being taken to the lab. Where his memories were going to be erased. Along with El Topo's.
"Mon amour.." he whispered.
"I'm sorry.."