Lara Croft: Tomb Raider - 'The Empire of the Amon'

Author's Note: I don't own Nintendo, therefore I don't own GameBoy Advance SP (I actually don't own one!), or Mortal Kombat : Deadly Alliance... also don't own Lara any of the characters herein (apart from Solaris Ind's people, I guess). Still wish I owned Bryce ;)

Chapter Three: The Key

"Blimey..." Bryce whined, holding his head in agony. "Nice to see you've woken up," Lara said casually. "What the hell...?" Lara clung to the railings of her cell restlessly. "Don't try to play the hero, Bryce... that's my job," she continued, sounding partly concerned, a sympathetic tone in her voice. She smiled softly, before pacing the front wall of her cell. "Where exactly are we? And where's Alex?" Lara signalled for him to look behind him, and surely enough, in the shadows, Alex West was alseep. "Shot him in the arm with a bear tranquilizer," she said hopelessly. "Squires's hustlers put up a decent fight, that's all I can say. Eventually they beat me and when I woke up, I was here. West was brought in a few hours after me. Do you have any idea why they're keeping us captive?" Bryce nodded gravely. "It's because of the Key. When we were in the mobile unit... we found out that Solaris... Squires, whoever, they can't track down the Key. Only those pure of heart and intuity can find it. That's you, Lara. They knew that you wouldn't find it for them... and I think the story kind of explains itself from there," he explained, nursing the wound on the side of his head. Suddenly, Lara felt an idea forming in her head. "Bryce, Alex still has the tranquilizer dart, right?" The dark haired man peered into the shadows and saw the large dark in the blonde's arm. "Yep, why d'you ask?" Lara glaced down the end of the room. "Throw it over to me." "Lara, you've seen my aim." Lara sighed irately. "Alright... heads up!" He tossed the dart through the rails, and Lara caught it perfectly. She looked down the bars again, before throwing the dart at a panel on the wall, which raised the cell gates. "Lara, you're a bloody genius!" She dragged Alex into the dim light and looked at him properly. "He'll be no use for a good few hours, probably... might as well leave him here for now, nobody is going to come down for at least the night." Bryce nodded and followed the young woman out of the cell room into the cold Russian evening.

No sooner had they left the building were they confronted by a balding man in a thick fur coat. "Ah... if it isn't Lady Lara Croft and her little hack friend." Bryce flung his arms out angrily. "For God's sake, people, what's with the 'hack' malarkey?" he cried desperately. The other man laughed dryly. "I believe that you know your purpose now, Croft." Lara smirked, her eyes glowing with futility. "If you think for even a second that I'm going to find the Key for you..." He laughed again, this time more sinister. "Ah, you see, dear Lara Croft, I don't think... I insist. If you do not, then I will have both of your little friends killed in an instant." She turned round, glanced at the building and then at Bryce, who just gave her a grim weak smile and shrugged. "Do what you think's right, Lara," he said, amazingly calmly. "Alright. I'll find your damn Key, Squires," she growled huskily, eyes shining with malice. Squires walked off, cackling, his slightly bulging stomach quaking. "Get searching, Croft!" he squarked, his two henchmen following silently. She sighed and crouched down in the snow, trying to hide her face. "What the hell have I done, Bryce?" she wailed pleadingly. He bit his lip and knelt down next to Lara. "Come on... you're stronger than this... anyway, you said you'd find the Key, you didn't say that you'd give it to him, right?" Bryce lifted her head up gently by her chin. "That's... that's right... Bryce, you're amazing sometimes." He smiled, kissed her gently on the forehead and helped her up. "Have I missed something?" Lara and Bryce turned to see a profusely tired looking Alex leaning against the doorframe, yawning groggily.

"You're doing WHAT?" the American yelled at the young woman. "Alex, he was going to kill you and Bryce! I had no choice!" she spat back. Bryce suddenly remembered he had his GameBoy Advance SP in one of the pockets of his jacket, so took it out and played Mortal Kombat whilst Lara and Alex argued. They were about to launch into another bout of flaming, but were stopped by Bryce interrupting them with a loud yell of, "FINISH HIM!" They both glared at him, eyebrows raised. "What!? We're not going to get anywhere with you two having a bitchfight, are we?" Alex closed his eyes, admitting defeat. "He's right. Come on, let's find this goddamn Key and destroy it before Squires gets his greasy paws on it." Lara nodded in reply, and went to say something, but once again was interrupted by Bryce. "Bugger! Damn you, Kung Lao!" The young woman walked over and prised the handheld console from Bryce's grip and switched it off, before handing it back to him. "Don't mean to interrupt your little brawl there, but we have a world to save," she quipped casually, smiling. "You heard the lady, hack- ass, let's roll." Bryce laughed sarcastically. "West, you're hilarious! No, wait, let me think about that, no, you're not bloody funny at all!" he fumed, storming after the two Raiders, pocketing his chrome GBA:SP.

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It's not very long... or good... at all, but I need fillage ;) Oh, and in case you're wondering, Squires is half American, half Australian ^_^ Not that you were wondering... yeah... shutting up now *grins*