NOTE: Tomb Raider and the Uncharted series do not belong to me. Only the plot and OCs do.

Haven't uploaded in awhile, sorry about that! This is a bit of a shorter chapter as well, but don't worry! The end is coming soon!

The group carefully made their way to the base as they saw that all of the soldiers had been inside the tents set up, considering the rain had made them have difficulty in leaving like they were instructed earlier from Nadine. White hadn't quite made it there yet, but the group was shivering from the cold. Making the group follow her into a nearby tent, they soon found themselves in a more comfortable and drier environment.

"Ma'am?" A soldier sprung up, seeing the woman. He was in shock since none of them had seen her in quite some time. "We were starting to think you and White had died."

"Not quite," Nadine murmured, setting down her stuff. "Things got complicated real fast."

"What do you mean?"

"White isn't on our side now. He's an enemy," she replied. She gestured toward the group that came with her. "Treat them like you would me. We're helping them against White."

The soldier nodded, though surprised at the sudden change. "Okay," he said, scrambling to figure out what to do. "Ah— what did White do exactly? What's wrong?"

Nadine pinched the bridge of her nose. "He's not… him. He's more of—…"

"A weird monster god thing," Nate finished for her. "He wants to continue his plan with getting the fountain water spread to everyone. He's on his way here right now."

"So, we need to stop him?" the soldier asked. "What exactly is at hand here?"

"I don't know… maybe the next plague?" Nate sighed, shaking his head as he tried to think. "Listen, it won't be good, that's all I can tell you."

"Get everyone prepared now. If you see White, shoot. You'll know when you see him," Nadine ordered, waving the soldier off. He walked away in following her orders, leaving the group for a moment. Gritting her teeth, she tried to think on what their plan would be for defeating Leo. She sat down in a cot and rubbed her temples.

Lara realized that Nadine was lost. Not only because she recognized the emotion, but because she felt the same thing. How would they defeat something that was basically a god now? The fountain was a divine source of power, and although she and Nate had their fair share of ultimately defeating ferocious creatures in the night, it almost felt different this time. What would be the fate of White?

Nate put his hand on her shoulder then, pursing his lips before he decided to just smile at her. A smile of, what he hoped, looked like reassurance. He didn't want her to second guess herself, even if there were no plans to second guess at the moment. "So…" he murmured. "What do you think?"

"I don't know," she admitted.

"Well, we have to come up with something," Nadine reminded them. "Bullets will only slow him down, I doubt they'll stop him."

While that rang true, the problem was even figuring out how anything would work. Nate had mentioned the importance of the moon, so maybe there was something to that. But what could it be? It surely wasn't something so simple.

Nadine grabbed at the canister around her waist and looked it over. Inside was the fountain's magical and deceitful water. Blood for new blood. Drink the water and you'd be as healthy and young as ever. Why did she grab this when she knew the devastating properties that could come with it? This wasn't even useful anymore. Going to pour it out now, Nate glanced over and quickly stopped her.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What? I don't need it anymore," she uttered.

"We could use it," he explained. "Against White. It might be helpful."

Sully made a face as he sat down in a cot next to Nadine. "Why would you say that?"

"Well, I don't know… maybe if he drinks it again under the moon it could do something. We can't exactly rule out any possibilities here, can we?" Nate reasoned, sighing a little. "I mean, we don't have a lot of choices."

"And where'd you come up with that?" Sully questioned.

"I don't know," he muttered. "Vampires burn up when the holy water hits them." That was an attempt at a half-assed joke, but at least it was something.

Laughing, Sam shook his head. "Basing your assumptions off movies?" He crossed his arms. "I don't quite think he's a vampire."

Nate gave a grin. "The fountain takes blood and gives immortality. Kind of is," he argued playfully. "So, maybe my plan isn't so far fetched."

Lara smiled softly, though part of her felt the plan could be useful. "It's worth a shot," she said. "Added with extra wounds I think it could… do something."

The rain had stopped and the soldiers prepared for whatever necessary when White would come. They didn't really know what was ahead of them and Nadine wouldn't tell them. All they needed to know was to shoot. That was their main goal; hit your target and shoot as much as you can. Get some damage. Stay your ground.

The main group spoke with one another as they figured out plans on what they could do, but ultimately, they prepared themselves. They had semi-decent plans in place, though the main thing was to be prepared for whatever was to come. No one really knew what White was going to do.

Sighing, Lara walked with Nate outside of the tent. "So, our plan is what? Make him drink the water again?" she asked, unsure of herself. "Is that really all we have?"

"That or waste all our bullets," he reminded her.

She nodded in response. She knew that were true. She hoped some magical idea would hit her soon, but for now all they had was the simple plans put into place. But what exactly was White going to do anyway? He wanted to get the water to the people, sure, but what was his plan to do that? Was his tactic to try and scare the soldiers to be on his side?

"If your theory is true… how are we even going to get him to drink it?" she questioned, looking up at him. It was a valid question. Their only option would be to make White drink the water by force.

Nate rested his hand on her shoulder and smiled gently. "We'll figure it out," he reassured her. "That's kind of our whole plan anyway, isn't it?"

Lara nodded in response, looking at his hand. She rested hers on top of his, feeling a sense of unity. "Right," she muttered.

"There's something in the trees!" a soldier yelled in panic, and spew of machine guns soon followed after his call. Shocked at hearing such a thing, Lara grabbed onto one of her guns, preparing to shoot at whatever it was that lurked. She knew it had to be White.

The others came out of the tent as well, taking their places to prepare and fire at the creature. When everyone had found their own position, White found himself in their area. His mummified exterior was still a nasty sight to behold.

"I have to say, this is the worst welcome party I have ever received," White let out, tilting his head. "And where are my guests of honor anyway? My little adventurers."

Silence. Lara and Nate had hid themselves behind a nearby tent. Nobody was shooting at White now. They wanted to save ammo for when they needed to use it.

He jumped onto a few crates. "I want to make an offer. I need help with getting the fountain to the people," he stated. At the new height, he looked down to see where some of the group had been hiding, but there was no sight of the two he wanted. He saw Nadine, narrowing his eyes. "Look who it is."

Nadine snarled. She didn't want to act out. She decided to stay where she was.

"Joining the other side. How easy you are to betray," White cackled, waving it off. "Let's see if you'll do it again: where's Lara and Nathan?"

She shook her head. "I'm not telling you anything," she responded. "You're not winning this."

He growled, deciding to wave her off again. He wasn't dealing with her. He jumped off the crates and began to inspect the area to find the two treasure hunters. Then, realizing that he hadn't checked a key place, he looked behind the tent.

There they were. His little treasure hunters.

"You're bad at hide and seek," he teased. He stepped in front of them, looking down at the two. "And you didn't even let me count."

Lara gripped her gun tighter.

"I wanted to make a proposition," White explained. "Just listen to me."

Confused, the two glanced at one another. In the back of their heads they knew they wouldn't be able to get out of it, so they turned their attention back to the other.

"If we work together, then we all split the profits. The pride. The beautiful feeling of helping the people of this world," he smiled, gesturing towards the sky. His smile was eerie, his cracked lips and mummified skin making him look like something from a horror movie. "We won't have to fight. This is a good deal I'm offering, here."

"You think we would give up everything?" Lara asked. "We got this far and you think-"

"It's your best choice," he growled. He gestured towards himself. "In case you forgot what I am now."

Nate gave a huff. "Listen, White… we're not working with you," he stated firmly, reaching for his handgun. "You know how dangerous the fountain is." He narrowed his eyes. White knew very well, but he was denying the truth.

"Very well then," White replied, his smile coming back to him as he suddenly grabbed onto Nate. His grip was firm, his monstrous hand holding onto the adventurer's neck.

Panicked, Nate fumbled with the gun before he was able to actually fight back. He managed to put the gun under White's chin and fired, which caused the other to let go of him and stumble back with a screech. Nate coughed, looking to Lara. She began to shoot at the creature then, trying to weaken him a little.

The others heard the shooting, some of them leaving their cover to shoot at the monster. White continued screeching before jumping onto the top of the tent. Furious, he tried to think of his next move. He would have to get Trinity to assist him in getting as much water as possible, and besides, he was still the leader of them. They couldn't say no, really.

"I'm still the power of Trinity," he yelled, wanting any surrounding soldiers to hear him. "You follow my orders! I want that fountain's water."

"They're not going to listen to you, White," Nadine shouted at him. "You understand that, don't you?"

White growled at her. Nadine suddenly had power over his soldiers. There was only one way to easily take care of that.

He jumped down onto the ground in front of her, and although she was quick to shoot, he was quicker to grab her. He put a sharpened nail up to her throat in threats to slit it, holding her tightly.

"Shit," Nate muttered, seeing the scene as he stood to his feet. He gave a heavy breath. "Let her go, White."

"I don't think I can do that."

Lara furrowed her brows. "Listen to me… if you kill her, it's not going to change anything. If you try to 'give charity' with the fountain, it's only going to end in failure," she explained. "I don't know how many times we have to tell you."

Nadine gritted her teeth. "It turned you into a fucking monster, Leo," she told White, giving a heavy breath. "You're not even human anymore. You're not thinking straight."

White looked around, seeing that all of the soldiers he once had an authority over were fearful of him. They once saw him with a light of hope. This made him grow with more fury, snarling as she threw Nadine onto the ground.

"That fountain will save the world. It will appease our savior!" White exclaimed. He was annoyed. How can nobody see that? It was plain as day.

"No god is asking you to do any of this," Nate stated.

White snarled again. He was getting more angry. He needed them to understand. He needed to get the fountain out into the world.

"I guess I'll have to make you all see it," he shouted.

A/N: Leo is now going to be referred to as "White" for ease of remembering he has transformed into a monster, in case some of you were confused. Hopefully the next update wont take forever, lmao. Hope you enjoyed!