Ka-Chunk!
The keys in the locks turned and ancient gears began to turn as the floor beneath the five adventurers shuddered and began to move... downwards. "The keys activated some sort of elevator!" Tails exclaimed.
"Well, I'll be darned." Sarah commented, "Who could've though the ancients were the first to create elevators even before the modern ages came and people started making them in office buildings and tourist attractions, huh?"
The room around Sonic, Lara and their friends soon faded from sight as the elevator took them down into the darkness, the walls covered in glowing glyphs and murals illuminated the slightly dark chamber and the corridor ahead.
Both hedgehog hero and human archeologist held hands, assuring each other they would be fine. Sarah, who was apparently scared of dark places, trembled in fear but Tails gave her a reassuring hug. Oskar just put up with it.
As the elevator-like platform soon reached the bottom with a small thump, allowing Sonic and Lara to step off, followed by Sarah, Tails and Oskar. The platform began rising to the top again, leaving the five of them alone.
"Too late to turn back now." Lara said, turning and facing the darkness ahead, "Only when we get it, then we can leave. Getting inside was easy, but getting out is probably goin' to be bloody hard."
"Relax, Lara." Sarah said with comforting reassurance as she hugged the British tomboy, "We've escaped a few sticky situations during the quest. We got away from both that Russian nutcase and we evaded Montana Jane."
"Thanks for the comfort, Sarah. But I think we know we'll get out of here without an issue and survive like we always do, I'm not very nervous. Besides, I'm strong and brave like all of ya, I don't need a big motivatin' speech."
"Sarah wasn't trying to give a motivating speech." Tails commented, "She was just trying to assure you that we'll be fine. Even if we landed in hot water, we'll be able to get out of whatever situation we end up in one way or another."
"We always do." Oskar said, "Why do we need to state the obvious? Stop worrying, we gotta get movin' before somethin' happens that'll probably throw us all off track and somebody might snatch the statue."
Cutting the chit chat and focusing on adventuring, tomb raiding and treasure hunting, the group made their way down the corridor ahead, listening to the crackling of lit torches ahead and ghostly, whispering voices in the darkness.
"These spooky voices are nothing like the ones we heard in the Ratakyan Pyramid over in Egypt." Sarah spoke with a shivered whisper, getting chills from hearing the ghostly voices. Of course, she was still spooked by ghosts.
"Yeah," Tails laughed, "Only this time there are no damn barbarian phantoms chasing after us, who wants to go through more spooky ass shit? I think we need a bit of a break from encountering the supernatural."
"Y'know, I agree with ya, buddy." Sonic remarked, crossing his arms and shivering as the ghostly voices caused the furs on his neck and arms to stand and chills to crawl up his spines, "We gotta try to steer clear of spooky stuff."
"Quiet!" Oskar hissed, holding up his hand, "I think I'm hearing somethin'."
The group stopped and listened, trying to hear what Oskar thought he was hearing. Sure enough, they could hear voices echoing down the corridor.
"Get the stuff and get outta here!" Someone with a gruff voice yelled.
"Do I get any payment?" Asked another with a smoother voice.
"Payment! Who said anything about it?"
"It was one of 'em cartel bosses, they promise lots of big dough."
"Ok, pal. I'm gonna give you to the count of ten before you end up on the ground with metal in your heart."
"Alright. I'm goin' for it, I'm goin' for it!"
"One, two, nine, TEN!"
BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM BLAM! "HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
When the explosive shooting noises stopped, the gruff voice of the unknown shooter spoke up one last time, telling his unfortunate ex-partner, "Stay out of the money bin and keep your spare change to yourself, stupid."
"I dunno what just went down," Oskar commented, starting to shake with fear, "But I have a bad feelin' about this. Looks like somebody just beat us to the statue and got there first before we did but took a while to nab it."
"How did they get in here without the keys?" Sarah asked.
"Dunno how, but I think we should leave."
"What, no!" Lara grabbed Oskar by the arm, "Why would we do that when, obviously, something fishy is going on and is worth investigating?"
"I think I may have recognized one of their voices." Tails said, "That gruff voice sounded like it belonged to the infamous Long Arrow Jack and the smooth voice belonged to his partner Short Eye Pete."
"Long Arrow Jack and Short Eye Pete lived a few centuries ago." Lara said with skepticism, "How can they be alive now and how did they get inside the temple? Also, how did THEY know about the Ratakyans' legacy?"
"Ok," Sonic started moving ahead and looked back at his companions, "I'm gonna look into this. Besides, suppose somebody did break in without the keys somehow. If they did, why didn't they leave with the statue yet?"
"So, what are you saying?" Tails, Lara, Oskar and Sarah asked.
"What I'm saying is, I think somebody's toyin' with us and trying to make us think we were beaten to the statue by a group of no good crooks who haven't been seen in a few hundred years and were very bad news, so lets do it to it."
"Aye, we're behind ya all the way, dear blue lad." Oskar said enthusiastically.
With the hedgehog and his archeologist girlfriend leading the way, despite almost having no idea where they were going, the adventurers resumed their trek through the dimly lit corridors.
The ghostly voices continued and the nearby torches glowed brightly, casting shadows that danced along the walls and, with Sonic and friends in the area, resembled monstrous creatures.
At least it didn't cause any problems, that was a good thing it didn't as monster problems were not needed at all, besides who wanted people to think there was a monster here and have a big panic attack?
As the two brave and heroic adventurers and their three helpful and courageous pals got further down the corridor, passing by a couple stone statues, they soon heard the voices they heard earlier again.
"Somethin' tells me we're hearing sort of recording and there's some sort of recorder device close by." Tails commented, scratching his chin just as the gruff voiced man threatened to shoot his associate for the second time.
"Brilliant deduction, Miles." Sarah said as she kissed Tails on the cheek.
"But if there's a recorder device," Lara asked just as the gruff man fired off his gun and told the fallen, smooth voiced man to stay out of the money bin and keep the money to himself once more, "Where is it hidden?"
Tails grabbed his Miles Electric and gave it to Sonic, asking him to go track down any electronic devices close by. Happy to oblige, the hedgehog went on ahead of the group and used Tails' device to start recorder device hunting.
Looking around, up and down, the blue hero listened for the voices and the second he heard "Get the stuff and get outta here" followed by "Do I get any payment", the hedgehog looked under the feet of a Ratakyan statue and...
There it was! A medium sized metal box with a glowing red light, The Miles Electric started beeping wildly as the hedgehog nabbed the box and pulled it out to examine it.
Looking closer he saw an inscription that read, Property of Rotcod Toborkin Ovidrocot Of Eripme Namgge Kintobor, manufactured 20XX, do not steal. If replicated, Toborkin will sue you or ezicitobor you.
Ezictobor, the blue blur thought, it's a backwards version of a certain word. What the...? It clicked into his mind, ezictobor was backwards for none other than the term for converting people into robots; Roboticize.
"Oh no..." Sonic breathed, a realization starting to dawning on him as he tapped a red button that deactivated the device, causing it to crumble to pieces in a heartbeat. It couldn't be possible, it couldn't be.
"You ok?" Lara was right next to him, Tails, Sarah and Oskar too, they both noticed the broken device as well as the look of terror and concern that lay upon the fast hedgehog's face and his green eyes.
"Well, we know nobody managed to get in here without the keys," The intrepid speedster said, trying to smile just a bit, "The people we thought we heard was nothing but a recording set to play on loop."
"But who set it up?" Sarah inquired.
"I didn't think it was possible, but the inscription on it said it was the property of Rotcod Toborkin Ovidrocot and also said that if it was replicated or stolen, 'Toborkin' would sue or ezicitobor i.e. roboticize the person in question."
"Wait!" Tails exclaimed, "Ezicitobor? Backwards for roboticize, does that sound like this device was made by somebody we know and dislike?"
"I know Toborkin Ovidrocot anywhere!" Oskar exclaimed, "I never forget a thing like it, neither have I forgotten Kidarn Tombort. But, because roboticize was mentioned, it sounds like these two names are anagrams for somethin'."
Failing to notice that somebody else was close by, eyes glowing in the darkness as the mysterious stalker observed, Sonic rolled his eyes and said, "Lets put that aside for later, besides, I think we're close to the statue."
"Really?" Lara asked, "You want to wait until something has happened later to worry about something really terrible has already happened and a certain somebody you know has already made a move and come out of the shadows?"
"We'll deal with it after we get the statue." Sarah suggested, "Ok?"
"Thanks for the suggestion, Sarah." Sonic said as he high fived her.
"Yeah, great idea, blue buddy." Tails chimed in, half-sarcastically.
Sweeping away the remains of the device and putting aside any concerns about who was following them, the group proceeded past the tall statues and continued down the corridor, spotting a door just up ahead.
They could now hear drips of water close by and seeing the door closer, they saw another lock on it, shaped like one of the Ratakyan Keys, just like the lock on the device which activated the elevator.
Inspecting it thoroughly, Sonic realized it was shaped like the water blue key. He pulled the key out of the bag, which he and his companions still had thankfully, and gently placed the key into the lock before turning it.
Click!
The door opened slowly, allowing the five heroes to enter a slightly lit room with beams of light pouring in from cracks in the ceiling above. The chamber was big and square, like most temple chambers, and a bit dusty too.
It was as if nobody had set foot here in thousands of years, a few cobwebs littered the walls and, on the left side of the room, something moved in the darkness, something making a noise that sounded like… growling or purring.
"Look!" Sarah exclaimed, pointing her finger, "There's the statue!"
Sonic, Lara, Tails and Oskar looked ahead at the far end of the room and their eyes widened: Sitting on a smooth dais, shaped like a gorilla and shining gold, just waiting in sight, was the Yujunaka Statue, the legacy of Ratakya.