Prologue: The Return of the Monstrum

CENTRAL NATIONAL BUREAU, PARIS

COMMISIONER MIREPOIX,

SPECIAL CRIMES INVESTIGATION FORCE

TO THE PREFECTURE DE POLICE

REPORT ON RECENT SERIAL ATROCITIES WITHIN THE CAPITAL

As yet no significant arrests have been made for this latest spate of "Monstrum" killings in the capital; seventeen have been reported so far. A woman was seen leaving the apartment of the latest victim, Professor Werner Von Croy. Described as Caucasian, brunette, about 1.8m, and of slim build, she was wearing jeans, a denim jacket, and sported a pony tail. She is dangerous and probably armed. Officers are being advised to use extreme caution when apprehending the suspect.

The press have sensationalized this latest outbreak of killings as "The Monstrum's Dark Renaissance," referring to similar atrocities in the capital over the last decade, and possibly as far back as the 1950s. There are definite links to atrocities in other European cities going back at least 50 years.

Forensics have made no headway regarding the bizarre metallic eruptions found on the bodies of all the victims. At present nothing appears to link any of the individuals involved. There have been significant numbers of casualties within the Parisian gangland factions.

It would appear to be the work of a single, highly psychotic perpetrator. The bodies were desecrated and all crime scenes daubed with unintelligible graffiti, indicating some ritualistic fixation. There are no known survivors of these attacks so far.

The suspect's apprehension should be made top priority.

November 10, 2002

There was a chilly silence inside the abandoned apartment. The only sounds that could be heard were the pitter-patter of heavy rain drops, the wind blowing from outside, and the booming sounds of thunder that rocked the black skies above the city of Paris. Inside the apartment, a bright flash of lightning illuminated the darkness and revealed the bizarre remnants of the gruesome occurring that happened just two days earlier. Among the wreckage was the gleaming gold-plated jackal walking stick that belonged to one of the latest victims in a series of gory attacks which have literally painted the walls of Paris a deep red. Shards of glass from the broken circular window in the living room were strewn across the blood-stained carpet and the light cream-colored walls exhibited the same strange graffiti that had been reported in each of the other crime scenes. Most notable of these strange markings was the large circular symbol above the fireplace, which seemed to carry some kind of importance to the murderer, whoever the person was. And, just like the other markings that were observed in the other crime scenes, the murderer's medium of choice was the blood of his or her victims. An armchair lay on its side next to a sofa on its back and a small rectangular-shaped table was collapsed at its base by the fireplace on the opposite wall. By contrast, the rest of the apartment was very tidy just as it was before the gory events unfolded, but the scars from the incident created a dark and chilling atmosphere that forced much of the city of Paris into hiding. Clearly, no one in the city was safe, not even those who thought they were over-privileged enough to avoid it at any cost.

Even now, no one was able to understand what happened, or even why it happened. The victim's body had already been taken away and police tape guarded the entrance to the apartment to keep people out...but not for very much longer. It was only a matter of moments before the sound of footsteps became prevalent outside the room and in the illuminated main hallway that connected the other apartment suites. They stopped in front of the abandoned apartment. The police tape that guarded the door was ripped down and the dark figure of a woman opened the door and emerged around the corner into the gloomy crime scene. After a moment of observing the somewhat familiar surroundings, she started to slowly walk down the tiny hall and around the corner before emerging into the main living area. She paused again, taking in the depressing scenery as another flash of lightning illuminated the dark room before making her way over to the broken window, taking slow tiny steps to avoid disrupting the evidence left behind. That was when her right foot came across something on the floor.

CRACK.

She looked down to the floor and saw that it was a framed photograph, despite barely being able to make it out in the darkness. The woman picked up the picture and scraped the loose glass shards to reveal the image. In the picture were two people and in the background she saw that they were both standing under a sandy blue sky in the middle of a desert next to a large stone with Egyptian hieroglyphics. Obviously the picture had been taken in Egypt. The person on the right was an older man with round glasses and white hair wearing beige-colored clothing, the prominent wardrobe choice of the typical archaeologist. The person on the left was a younger woman with auburn hair that was tied back into a French braid. She sported a light blue sleeveless top and brown khaki shorts and round red-colored sunglasses. Looking at the picture, the woman recognized the younger woman in the photograph as herself, at a time when everything in her life seemed much better. For a quick moment, a rush of nostalgia started to creep into the back of her mind as she looked down at the broken memory, but it was soon replaced with regret and sorrow as she started to question herself and who she really was as an individual.

After another moment of examining the photograph, the woman walked over to a large painting over by the broken circular window and set it on the chest of drawers just below it. A flash of lightning illuminated the darkness inside the apartment and Lara Croft briefly saw her reflection in the glass, the hardened and blackened shadow of her former self shown in the picture. The once great 'tomb raider' and explorer who used to seek mythical treasures and relics around the world and uncover lost civilizations that would have otherwise remained lost forever was no longer. Her tomb raiding days have become a distant memory. She starred questionably into the painting, trying to recall what happened two nights ago when her former mentor was brutally murdered and once again started to question her possible role in his sudden and gruesome fate…

Hey everyone,

I went ahead and started another story based on my favorite female protagonist. Now, for those who might have came across my other writings, you might be asking "what about the other stories you've started, but haven't finished?" (with the exception of The Two Sides of Luigi, which I do plan on finishing). I acknowledge that I have a horrible habit of starting things and not finishing them on this site. But in this instance, I have a good reason for it.

Out of all the Tomb Raider storylines, Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness always had, in my opinion, one of the most cryptic storylines of any of the games. It also had one of the greatest musical scores of any game I've played. In terms of gameplay, it was by far the worst. But in terms of its original intent, I think it would've been a far grander creation had the people at Core Design actually took the time to rationally work out the bugs and restore its initial luster. It's sad to think that there was going to be a sequel that would have resolved any plot inconsistencies that were present. Now we're stuck with what we've got (at least for now, I hope).

However, over the summer I came across a link on Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness HD Remaster's Facebook page containing a curious set of zipped files which contained many documents pertaining to the development of TRAOD. Apparently, someone had managed to access the original archives of Core Design and was able to recover many of these lost files, many of which contained lost story elements, things that never made it into the game. There was even an outline of the proposed sequel: Tomb Raider: The Lost Dominion buried within! The more I looked, the more fascinated I became. In addition, the original Tomb Raider comic book series (which I proudly own) had already made mention to one of the lost locations of the game, Cappadocia, when they released a string of comics based on it back in the day.

Armed with this new knowledge, I was inspired to start writing this. I hope you've enjoyed the prologue. Overall, its very much the same as in the retail version of Angel of Darkness, but there will be some drastic changes later on, particularly in the arrangement of certain levels and their placement in the game's storyline (which I'll explain later on). In addition, there will also be elements from The Lost Dominion included within! :)

I'm excited to take on this project, and I hope you are too. I'll be uploading chapter one soon. I hope to hear your input! See you in the next update ;)

Yours