Chapter 2
Still wary of the ground he walked on, Indy slowly proceeded up the steps to where his prize lay. Only a few feet off, the Obelisk was almost in reach. Again stopping to check for traps, he still did not find any. Seeing that the artifact did not have any discernable traps nearby, Jones grew the evermore cautious. 'This is not right' he thought, 'either the people who built this place used the room too often to have traps or there was something he was missing.'
It scared him not knowing what to expect. As long as he knew there were traps, he could safely avoid them. If he did not know of any traps than he could not avoid them. This was the reason why his profession was so dangerous and most of his competitors were history.
Not letting his worries get to him, Indiana proceeded forward and reached out to grab the relic. Just inches away now, he froze. Something wasn't right. As he continued to stare at the obelisk, he noticed something different about it. Instead of it's regular impression of darkness that was conveyed, it almost seemed now to give off light. That's when he noticed it was not his imagination. The obelisk actually gave off a slight glow, not only that but the light coming from it was increasing rather quickly. Realizing that something was definitely wrong, Indy had barely been able to mutter the words "Oh" and "Shit" before the brightness had reached it peak. As it did this, a sudden explosion of energy was released from the obelisk sending Indiana Jones flying back into one of the stone walls and landing on the floor behind a stone pillar, unconscious.
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'What the hell happened? Last thing I remember, I picked up the obelisk, and everything went black. The obelisk! Of course, I must of activated a trap of some kind. At least I think I did. I'd rather have that then fight another monster spawned from another mystical artifact. Either way I'm glad that I am still alive' Lara thought.
That's when she noticed something was not right. Even from on the ground, Lara could tell she was still in the main chamber. Sure, it was the same room but something had changed. No longer was it dark but, from were she was lying she could see the flames coming from the narrow trough against the wall. Not noticing anybody around, Lara decided to investigate further.
First checking that she was not hurt. Lara then proceeded to cautiously get up to look around, making sure she did not set off any traps or alert anybody who could be there to her presence. As she got a better view of her surroundings she noticed that something was definitely wrong. Unlike her last glimpse of the room, it was now in near perfect condition, nothing chipped or broken. It was almost as if she was viewing the room when it was still in use. Well, except for the bit of dust here and there, so it wasn't exactly that brand new.
Looking back to the altar in front of her, Lara spotted the obelisk standing there, the same place she had found it before. Something was different about it now. It no longer seemed to draw her attention as it did before. The thing seemed almost lifeless and ordinary. Not wanting to test for traps the hard way again, Lara decided to let the artifact sit there for now. 'Its not exactly going anywhere' Lara mused as she decided to examine the room again and try to figure out what happened while she was unconscious.
This time looking of the room more closely, she spotted something she missed the first time around. She couldn't exactly tell what it was because it was slightly obscured behind one of the many stone pillars in the room. What she could make out, looked like a brownish pile lying on the ground. Deciding to get a closer look, Lara cautiously started walking over to get a better look. Letting her curiosity get the better of her, she no longer was paying attention to the room around her and was focused on trying to find out what was lying behind the pillar.
She realized her mistake as she heard click followed by a lot of shouting as well as some more clicking from guns preparing to fire. Slowly turning her head she saw the group of people who had just came through a passageway leading into the room. From what she could tell, they looked like German militants based on their language and behavior. What also stood out was the fact that they seemed to prefer old weaponry over new ones since they were using old World War 2 guns varying from pistols to machine guns.
Not wanting to provoke them into using those antique guns of theirs, she remained still, examining the situation, waiting for them to make a mistake so she could make a run for cover. Slowly putting her hands up, Lara waited for them to make the first move. She did not have to wait long and saw a man come out from the passage who seemed to be the one in charge. After briefly surveying the situation, the man decided to open his mouth and speak.
"Ah, I see we were not the first ones here" he opened with in heavily accented English, "I was actually expecting to meet someone else but since you're here, how about telling us who exactly you are."
"Funny, I was about to ask you the same thing" Lara replied coldly.
"Well now, I asked you first."
"Croft….. Lara Croft."
"And I'm Dietrich Heldermann"
"Now that we've gotten past the pleasantries, how about getting your men to holster their weapons"
"Unfortunately my dear, this is more business than pleasure. But if you want we can get more 'aquatinted' later" Dietrich responded as he grinned evilly, not hiding his intentions.
Resisting the urge to go over and beat the shit out of him, she forced herself to remain calm but not before her face had shown her anger and disgust towards the man.
Speaking in German now he ordered one of his men to get the Obelisk of Nefats and retrieve it. Running over cautiously to the altar, he went to pick up the artifact. Waiting for the grunt to trip something she watched intently. Picking up the obelisk, nothing happened, and then the soldier ran back and gave it to his leader. Confused for a moment, Lara realized that she must have tripped the only trap that there was, letting the soldier retrieve it unmolested. Taking the obelisk from him, Dietrich proceeded to study the piece briefly before turning his attention back to Lara.
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Waking up to the sound of the Nazis, it took Jones a while to figure out where he was. Determining that they had not found him yet and that he was safely hidden behind one of the stone pillars, Indiana assessed the situation. From the sound of it, there was someone else in the room with him besides the Nazis. Someone female, British, and going by the name of Lara Croft. He then heard a second person, male, German, and he used the name Dietrich Heldermann. Jones did not know who the first person was or what she was doing here, but the second name sounded familiar. Then he remembered who he was, 'the damn Nazi leader of this expedition' he realized.
'It pays to know who your up against' he thought. That guy had been the one he heard of that was running archeological digs in the area. The woman he did not know. He had not planned on any third parties in this expedition and had not heard of any others through his contacts. What he did hear so far from his hiding spot however, was that she wasn't exactly friends with the Nazis.
Carefully, looking out from behind the column, Jones saw one of the Nazis run up and retrieve the obelisk and give it to the one in charge. He couldn't let them take it, 'It belonged in a museum, this temple, locked away in some vault, anything but in the hands of those Nazis' Indy thought. Deciding to make his move, Jones reached for his revolver and pulled it out, aiming at his targets.
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"A very fine piece indeed, I just hope its worth all the trouble to obtain it. If it can do what its believed to be capable of, it should ensure our rightful place as rulers of this world" said Dietrich. "As for you my dear, how about we go back to my tent and get to know each other better, alone" the last part saying with an evil grin.
Before Lara could tell him to take his invitation and stick it up his butt she was interrupted by a shout from near one of the pillars.
"Does that mean I'm not invited?" Jones said out loud as he pulled back the trigger, his gun responding as it let itself be heard. Not soon after one Nazi bit the dust, followed by a second as another bullet left the gun.
Seeing the soldiers switch their aim from her to the more immediate danger, Lara decided it was time to run for cover, simultaneously making a move for her pistols as she did so. Just as she was close to one of the many columns, one soldier turned to fire on her but was cut short by two shots from her Colt pistols.
Having their numbers being cut down, the Nazi started to move to the closest cover, in this case, the passageway that they entered through. Even as they did this, the Nazis continued to fire back from whatever weapon they carried, whether it be a small pistol or a machine gun. They unleashed their rounds as Lara and Indy fired back. Their bullets pounding into their stone surroundings while the sound of gunshots reverberated in the confines of the chamber.
Yelling above the roar of gunfire, Dietrich gave the order to retreat.
"We're done here, we have what we came for" said Dietrich to one of his subordinates as he exited the passage, back in to the desert which was quickly getting dark.
"What about them?" the soldier asked
"Destroy the entrance, seal them in"
"And if we need to go back to the temple?"
"It's not going anywhere, and neither are they" he said, laughing at his remark.
Almost at the same time, both of the adventurers noticed something was up. The usual flow of Nazis to replace the ones that had fallen had stopped and had actually reversed. All that was left now was just one soldier with a machine gun, continuing to keep Lara and Indy pinned down. All of a sudden he too had got up and ran back through the passageway. Now all that was left was smell of gunpowder and the deafening silence from the absence of the gunfire. It was now only Lara and Indy who remained. Wondering whether it was some trap and whether or not the other person would now fire on them if they went out into the open.
Their first question was answered for them as a loud explosion shook the temple and clouds of dust and rocks came forth from the passage. Both realized that the Nazis had just blocked the passageway with debris, to try to seal them in the temple so they could not escape. Now that the Nazis were temporarily out of the picture, the two now contemplated how they would get out of the temple and how they would deal with each other.