Confronting Larson

"I'd love to join you, but I forgot my trunks." Larson said sarcastically as Lara climbed out of the cool water.

"Why am I not surprised?" Lara asked as she looked at Larson. "I knew you were planning something all along. What do you want from me?"

"Well, all I can say is that you got your job, and I got mine." Larson replied. "I'll take it from here."

Larson motioned his hand for Lara to hand something over, but she knew what he was referring to and refused to abide by his request.

"Come on, Lara! Give me the Scion!" Larson said, his eyes narrowing with his growing anger. "It's the only way you'll be able to get out of this alive."

"I hope Natla sent you here with more than that shotgun," Lara said "because I'm really not in the mood for any of this nonsense."

"Don't sweat it, kitten. I prefer a more 'hands-on' approach." Larson replied as he suddenly threw a punch at Lara. She was quick enough to dodge the attack. Lara threw the next punch, but missed as Larson suddenly moved out of the way. Then, Larson jumped at Lara with his hands out in front of him, as if to grab her by the neck. However, Lara was able to counteract his attack by perform a forward somersault over him, hence making him land on the hard ground. Larson immediately got back up on his feet. In an attempt to gain the upper hand, Larson took a handful of loose gravel on the ground and threw it at Lara as she started running towards him. Lara, however, did not seem to get affected at all by this and was able to deliver a hard kick to Larson's head, followed by a swift punch to the face that knocked him back onto the ground. By this point, Larson was becoming increasingly infuriated and was about to resort to his last tactic. He reached for his shotgun and aimed directly at Lara. Suddenly aware of the escalating anger in Larson's eyes, she quickly drew one of her pistols and shot Larson's right arm before he was able to blast Lara with his gun. Larson was now screaming in pain, as blood ran down his right arm and started losing his strength. He dropped the shotgun on the ground, with Lara standing over him with one pistol pointed at him. Lara kicked the shotgun away from Larson to prevent any future complications.

"You, b****." Larson said as he struggled to ease the pain in his arm.

"Well, you have my total attention now." Lara said. "I'm not quite sure if I've got yours though…hello?"

"I'll heel and hide you to a barn door yet!" Larson said angrily as continued dwelling over the intense pain.

"Of course." Lara said.

"You and that drivelling piece of the Scion. You want to keep it so bad? I'll harness it right up your…"

"Wait." Lara said, stopping Larson in mid-sentence. "We're talking about the artefact here?"

"Damn straight we are."

At that point, Lara knocked Larson to the ground and kneeled down on the ground next to him, pulling out the Scion in the process.

"What did you do that for?!" Larson asked.

"This is only one piece of the Scion?" Lara said. "You knew all along didn't you?! Where's the rest of it?!"

"Give me a minute. I'm thinking…" Larson replied. Lara, however, did not give in as easily as he had hoped, for she started bringing the pistol closer to his head.

"Whoa! Give it a rest, would ya? It makes no difference to me…Pierre's probably already found his piece of the Scion."

"Pierre Du Pont?!" Lara said. "He's looking for another piece as we speak?! Where?"

"Ha! Why should I tell you? You ain't fast enough for him." Larson replied.

"So you think all of this talking is just holding me up?" Lara asked.

"I don't know where his little jack-rabbit frog legs are running him to!" Larson replied. "You'll have to ask Miss Natla yourself."

Lara continued to glare at him for a few more moments before she realized that what he was saying was the truth. She put the Scion back into her backpack and stood back up.

"Alright. I'm convinced." Lara finally said, as she started making her way back to where she came in earlier at the top of the giant cavern.

"Damn, girl!" Larson said. "You really had me going there…"

Lara heard the unpleasant sound of Larson cocking his shotgun and suddenly turned around and gave a swift and powerful kick to Larson's head, knocking him unconscious.

"That should teach you for messing with the wrong girl." Lara said. She reached into his backpack and took all of the shotgun ammo that she could salvage and switched her own shotgun out with Larson's more modern weapon, taking the bullets out of the other shotgun in the process to ensure Larson's suffrage in the near future. She also took a business card from Larson's front pocket that had the address to Natla Technologies.

"I guess it's time I paid Natla a visit." Lara said. "But first, I have to find my way out of here, which shouldn't be too difficult. Next stop, Los Angeles."

It was around midnight when Lara finally made it back into Lima using Carlos' Jeep. Exhausted and out of strength, Lara was somehow still able to make it through the front door of the Lima Airport Hotel. Upon reaching the front desk, she saw that there was someone standing behind it and asked in Spanish if she could use their international phone line to make a phone call.

"Absolutely, Miss Croft." replied the woman in English.

"Thank you." Lara said.

Meanwhile, five time zones away in England, Winston was preparing his morning tea when the telephone started to ring. He went over to the receiver and answered the call.

"Croft Manor. Winston speaking." he said.

"Winston. It's Lara."

"Why Miss Croft! What a pleasant surprise!" Winston replied. "How was your adventure?"

"Well, I found the tomb." Lara said. "But it turned out that when I found the Scion, I only found one part of it.

"What makes you think that?"

"Well…Larson told me."

"Larson told you? When did he tell you this?" Winston asked.

"Right after I escaped Qualopec's Tomb. The whole place started collapsing as soon as I grabbed the Scion."

"Well, that's a shame!" Winston said. "At least you're safe now and found what you were looking for. Did Larson try to hurt you?"

"Yes." Lara replied. "Not only did Larson try to hurt me, but he was actually ordered to so by the very person who hired me to retrieve the Scion."

"So, Natla was behind this evil plot?" Winston asked.

"I guess so. However, Larson also mentioned that Pierre Du Pont was looking for another piece of the Scion somewhere else in the world. I have yet to figure that out."

"How will you figure out where he is?" Winston asked. "Or do you wish to figure out where he is?"

"I have to now." Lara replied. "But the only way I can figure it out is if I travel to Natla Technologies in Los Angeles."

"Dear, God!" Winston said.

"I have to, Winston." Lara said. "I feel obligated to solving what is now revered as one of the world's greatest mysteries, no matter how far it takes me. I'm sure father would agree with me."

"Yes, but to an extent." Winston replied. "I'm sure we could agree to that."

"I suppose." Lara replied. "By the way, I did manage to find you a few souvenirs in the form of valuable and ancient artefacts that I collected during my adventure."

"Oh, splendid! I can't wait to see what you brought me." Winston said. "What did you find?"

"It'll be a surprise." Lara said. "But I promise you'll like it."

"Anything you get me, I'm sure I'll enjoy it." Winston replied. "So when do you plan on catching a flight to Los Angeles?"

"As soon as I can." Lara said. "I might even go this morning if I can. I can't let Pierre get to the next piece of the Scion before me, wherever he is."

"Well, as usual, be careful Lara." Winston said. "And try to get some rest if you can. You sound awfully tired."

"You wouldn't believe the trouble I had to go through today to get to the Tomb of Qualopec." Lara said. "I'll tell you more about it later though."

"Okay, Miss Croft. Let me know when you touch down in America if you can."

"Will do." Lara replied. "I'll try and contact you before then if I can."

"Sounds good." Winston said. "I guess I will talk to you at a later date then."

"Alright, Winston. You take care." Lara said.

"Thank you, Lara. You do the same."

And so concludes the first part Lara's epic adventure in unraveling the mysteries of Atlantis and the powerful artifact known as the Scion...

The next chapter is set to start in Los Angeles, but it is merely the transition towards part 2 of the story. Most of you probably knew that anyway, but I figured I would clarify in case any of you aren't too familiar with the storyline.

In the confrontation between Lara and Larson, I used dialogue from both Tomb Raider and Tomb Raider: Anniversary as well as my own dialogue to make the conversation "seamless". I also tried including details from both renditions of the fight scenes that occur before the confrontation in both of the games to make the fight scene true to both titles. I hope to see you when part 2 begins, so keep watching for updates! I'll try and update as often as I can, depending on the demands of my schedule. It's not easy having free time in college! See you then :)

saturn95