Disclaimer: I own Trish and the OC's.
A/N: Thank you those who read this fic! It means a lot to me that you found the fic, and [hopefully] it at least makes you smile. :)
Chapter Two: Fly Patrol.
Lara, slowly, opened her eyes as she heard someone ask if they were even alive.
Ugh, I feel terrible. The last time I felt this bad it involved that chili Trish had made and a bad outdoor obstacle-course trip. Stupid quad. She thought as her vision adjusted to the dim light in the room.
It didn't take her more than a second to realize that she was eye-to-eye with a wide hazel eye.
She lunged back on the bed as King Nod stumbled back before landing on his rear. He blinked, as if just waking up, or trying to stay awake, as a young woman in a crop top and flowing pants rushed over to his side.
"Father!" She cried, falling to her knees next to him. "Are you hurt?"
A young man with wide blue eyes hurried over to the young woman's side as Lara got off the bed she was on, spotting Kurtis and Trish nearby, Kurtis scrubbing at his face furiously and muttering about sand. With a cautious glance at the strangers, and one hand at her hip where one pistol was still holstered, she hurried over to her boyfriend and friend's sides.
"Kurtis? Are you all right?" She asked, kneeling at his side as Trish fell off the bed she was on with a startled squeak.
"Yeah, just got sand stuck to my face." Kurtis grumbled, stopping scrubbing long enough to reach out and touch Lara's face. "Are you all right?" He asked her, concern running deep in his crystal blue eyes.
Lara nodded as Trish groaned. "I'm all right too!" She said as she pushed herself to her feet. "Erm, guys, there's some men with swords here... And they look paranoid..."
Lara and Kurtis looked up and confirmed Trish's comment. There were guards standing between them and the old man.
"C'mon," Lara said, helping Kurtis up.
The six people stared at each other from across the room before the fallen man, with the help of his daughter and the other man, got to his feet. "Get me The Thief! Now!" He cried.
A tiny man with a gong taller than he was rang the gong, shaking and jolting across the floor as they winced at the noise.
"Ye-ow!" Trish said, plugging one ear. "That's louder than the dinner bell back home in Texas."
Lara shook her head as Kurtis spoke.
"Ladies, I don't think we're in that tomb anymore." He said.
Trish sighed. "No kidding, Kurtis." She muttered.
Lara, knowing that she was the most diplomatic one of the group, turned to the old man. "I apologize for the intrusion, but, if you don't mind me asking, where are we?"
The young woman next to the older man blinked before stepping forward. "I am Princess Yum Yum. You are in the golden city of Baghdad. Who are you?" She asked.
"We're where?" Trish blurted out. Seconds later, she clapped her hands over her mouth. "Sorry. That was rude of me." She apologized from behind her hands.
Lara cringed. Weird name. Then again, everything is weird here. "I am Lara Croft. This is Kurtis Trent," Kurtis crossed his arms, "and Trish Saes," Trish nodded, "and we are from England-" She stopped. "Well, I'm from England. They're from someplace else…"
The three strangers gave them confused looks as Lara realized that their location was only one small blip of a problem.
"What... Year is it?" Lara asked cautiously.
Yum Yum's next sentence confirmed her suspicion's: They weren't in their own time anymore.
"Oh dear…" Lara sighed as she turned to Kurtis and Trish. "Tread carefully. We are one wrong remark away from being marked as shaman. I don't know what will happen from there. There's also the whole issue of..."
The other two nodded, understanding.
"One wrong move and God knows what the future will turn into. I don't really like the sounds of that." Kurtis said.
Trish sighed. "Can nothing go right?"
Zip yawned as he shuffled into the Tech Room. He was wearing red and orange-stripped pajamas and pink bunny slippers, with a dark blue robe with lime green dots on it. If Zip hadn't had his coffee, he didn't have a sense of fashion.
Taking a seat in front of one of the computers, he blinked tiredly before typing in the password and logging on. Typing a couple of commands in, he found the link to Lara's headset and pressed "play" to see the video footage he had missed.
He watched them explore a tomb, including Trish freaking out during a run-in with a flock of bats and knocking herself out, before they reached a large room. As he watched the scenes occur, he grew dizzy. Finally, they slid down the tunnel.
"Where are they going?" He asked as they made their way across the room before falling… And then the feed cut out.
"Huh?" He said out loud before poking the computer tower. "Did you do something to the video?" He asked it before rewinding the footage and playing it again, slowly this time. "Oh, that explains it." He said sarcastically as he watched them fall into the hole again, a blinding light at the end.
"Okay, I think that tops Lara's list of freaky things happening on a raid." Zip said, leaning back in his chair as he grabbed the nearby satellite phone and dialed Lara's number.
A busy signal was his only answer.
"Okay, now I'm worried." Zip said, leaning forward again and putting the phone down.
He resumed staring at the footage, deep in thought.
Winston finally popped up after several minutes, standing behind the monitor Zip was at.
Zip looked up, slowly. "AH!" He leapt back, hopping out of his chair, as he frowned. "Winston what are you doing?"
Winston looked around, his eyes wide, before ducking.
Zip leaned over the monitor only to find Winston gone.
"Weird." He said, shaking his head. Suddenly a clatter was heard to his right and he looked in time to see Winston disappear into the room on the other side of one of the mystery doors in the Tech Room.
"Winston what are you doing?" Zip asked, following the older butler.
He looked into the room, which was very dark, and sighed. No sign of Winston.
"Where's Alistair when you need him?" Zip asked no one as he grabbed a flashlight before following Winston.
The Thief soared after the advisors, deep in thought.
Hmm… I wonder if they're serving pears or watermelon at lunch today. Pears are nice, but they are useless as weapons. Watermelons are perfect weapons and work as great shields, but they are so messy. And you can't bring them with you as a snack later. I wonder if we'll be having cake as well…
The Thief failed to notice the turn in the hall coming up shortly.
…Of course, plum pudding instead of chocolate pudding would be a nice cha- OOF! He crashed into the wall, stars flying around his head as he crashed to the floor.
The advisors continued running down the hall, oblivious to The Thief on the ground behind them.
Huh… I always thought cartoon stars were yellow. Who knew they could be neon green as well? The Thief thought as he stood, shakily, and looked around. Uh-oh- They're getting away. Fly Patrol- After them! He pointed as he ran, leaving the flies behind as they shrugged at each other before charging after the advisors, swarming around their heads.
"Ack! A plague! We must move quicker!" One yelled, leading the charge away from the flies.
Mm… This calls for desperate measures I see. The Thief thought, grabbing a pole that just happened to be lying around. Commence launch in three, two, one- He vaulted off the ground into the air, soaring once more. We have liftoff.
He soared through the air, dramatic music playing as the advisors fled the flies. Well, actually, it was as they tried and failed miserably to flee from the flies.
Soon the Thief ran into another problem- awnings- while the advisors reached a set of massive gold doors.
"Inside- Quickly!" One shrieked as they fled inside before slamming the doors shut.
Hey- How come I never noticed those doors? The Thief wondered as he bounced from awning to awning.
Seriously, these awnings are becoming a real pain. Who keeps putting them up? Especially within the palace? He wondered, soaring past one of the windows to the room that Kurtis, Lara, and Trish were in.
Kurtis saw him fly by and raised an eyebrow. Soon after, he shook his head. Strange people… Who bounces off of awnings in their spare time? And what's with the layout of this place? Windows, indoors? Honestly...
Natla stared into a golden orb- well, the orb could be gold, but it wasn't currently. It was showing the inside of the vault of the palace where several advisors ran in circles from a plague of flies.
"Mm… If that's who they have guarding that piece of the Scion then I shall have no trouble retrieving the piece without my presence being acknowledge." She said, her hands behind her back.
The sound of footsteps, albeit odd ones, and the swishing of robes alerted her to company in her hidden lair as she turned around. She was dressed in her "royal Natla" outfit, headdress and all, as a blue man wearing black robes and strange shoes entered the room. He bowed, a vulture soaring in after him. Somehow it managed to land on his shoulder.
"Oh greatest queen of all the land, to what is your royal command?" Zig Zag asked as he straightened before taking a step back from Natla's cold glare.
"I need you to tell me how to get the Scion from the royal vault." She said coldly, Fido shivering on Zig Zag's shoulder.
"She makes you seem happy, Ziggy." Fido muttered.
"But of course noble queen. Of course not everything is what it seems." He said.
"Must you always talk in rhyme?" She asked with a roll of her icy blue eyes as she turned back to the orb. "In three days there will be an eclipse- And I need the Scion long before then. Can you or can you not tell me how to retrieve it?" She asked, watching as one advisor stared at the Scion.
"If you wish to retrieve the Scion, then you must first know Klingon." He said.
She frowned, wondering why Star Trek was so popular before it was even created and why she always had to do extra work just to get an idea as to how to get the Scion.
"What do you mean?" She asked, rubbing her temple. She had a migraine coming on…
"The head of security is a thief. And please do not feel disbelief. He can be easily distracted, especially by the three golden balls, even though he is supposed to guard the palace walls…" Zig Zag was loosing his ability to successfully rhyme…
"So what you're saying is that I need to make sure the head of palace security is not doing his job and then I can get the Scion?" She asked with a raised eyebrow as she turned to look at him over her shoulder.
"Indeed." He replied.
She sighed. "Why couldn't you have just said so to begin with?" She asked, turning and heading for the doors leaving the room.
Sorry about the delay in updates- Those rhymes with Zig Zag were really hard to think up, but I actually thought of all of them in about twenty minutes. I will try to update faster.