Disclaimer: see chapter 1

What sounded like distant thunder echoed through the corridor. "What was that?" Indy said, startled. He released his daughter and stepped several paces in the direction from which they came. "Oh no…not now." This was the last thing he needed right now. He cursed under his breath as he grabbed Anna and started off in the opposite direction.

"Is there any particular reason why we're running? What was that sound? What's going on?" Anna managed to squeak as her father seemed absolutely set on tearing her arm out of its socket.

"Yes. They got the door open. They're coming after us."

At his words Anna seemed more than willing to run along side him. "Alright. -- Now what?" she huffed.

"I dunno; I'm making this up as I go." He darted around a corner, only to skid to a stop before a large, black, and seemingly bottomless pit. It was roughly seven feet wide and about twenty feet long; the hall continued on the other side, but there was nothing to indicate any form of bridge that might span it, making crossing impossible, or at least improbable. The ceiling, however, opened onto a hole of roughly the same dimensions, but extended upward into blackness. It appeared the one could only go up, or down.

"Aw, crap." Anna groaned.

Indy mumbled angrily to himself as he paced back and forth near the edge. Anna irritably kicked a pebble into the mouth of the pit, and waited several seconds before she heard it plop into shallow water below. She then drooped against the wall. Indy watched her slide herself down the rough surface. His expression changed from anger to curiosity as Anna's shirt cleared away some dirt as she slid. There was a picture painted on the wall behind her. Two figures back to back; crouching in the air above what looked like a river. That was it.

"Anna, come here," Indy said hastily, hoping his half-cocked plan might actually work.

"Now what?" Anna had to ask.

Indy spun her around and linked his arms with hers. "Put a foot against that wall," he said.

"Alright…" Anna replied, confused.

"Okay, now the other one; we're gonna brace our backs against each other," he stated. "Ready? One…two…three." They hoisted themselves into the air above the floor, suspended only by their shoes working with the traction of the walls.

"Wow, we made a bridge." Anna quipped sarcastically.

Indy ignored her remark and went on. "We're gonna walk up there."

"Where? In the ceiling?" Anna was baffled. What was he thinking? Risk their lives going to possible death above a bottomless pit of certain death? He had to be out of his mind.

"Yes, in the ceiling. Alright, let's start off left."

"Your left, or my left?"

"The pit is to my right, so…"

"Right, right. My left."

"Ready, and--"

"Which foot do I move first?"

Indy moaned. "Well, which way are we going?"

"Right-right-right. Left. Got it."

With some effort, they centered themselves over the pit. Above them they could now see a very faint light coming from an opening on the same side as the tunnel they were in, only it was in the shaft about a hundred and fifty feet or so up.

Anna gulped audibly. "Tally ho."

Together they worked their way, slowly but surely, up the shaft and into the opening. The aperture was only slightly smaller width-wise than the tunnel they were in before. Indy lit a torch found on a rack on the wall. The idol chamber blossomed into view. No more than thirty feet in front of them the little gold idol of the storm god rested on a small pedestal covered in wilting plant life. It was in the center of a square room at the end of a short hall covered in ornate patterns and pictographs. At their end of the hall, about five feet in front of them, a thin stone trim stuck out about four inches into the hallway in a continuous line over the top of the hall, stopping about three feet from the floor on either side. On their side of the trim and directly next to it was a crevice carved into the wall, following the line of the trim, only it wrapped around the trim and continued to the end of the hallway roughly halfway up the wall. Below the crevice and just beyond the trim laid two skeletons clad in the fragile remains of slacks and button-down shirts; the would-be raiders of twelve years past.

Anna's breath caught in her throat. "Ohmygodohmygodohmygod…" She backed up.

Indy snatched her before she stepped back into the pit from where they just came. "Don't!" She then rushed forward and he was forced to yank her back and shove her to the floor. "Don't do that either." Anna only blinked, dazed and in shock at the reality around her.

Indy moved carefully up to the trim and crevice, then observed the raiders without crossing the trim. Both were slumped against the wall as if they had fallen there instead of willingly sat down. Neither held a weapon, indicating that they were probably alone. Neither had made it very far before they fell victim to whatever got them, so whatever it was worked quickly; probably before they knew what hit them. Everything about this said danger. Indy crouched, puzzled by the situation. His gaze shifted from the trim to the skeletons to the idol and back. Then he noticed something he hadn't seen before; a small dart; hanging from the lower part of one of the raiders' shirt. The scene before him clicked. Indy rushed over to Anna and tore off a piece of her skirt.

"Hey! What are you doing?" Anna whined.

Indy didn't respond. Instead, he stood about a foot from the trim and wafted the fabric out in front of him. within a heartbeat, a small dart whizzed from within the crevice only to strike the opposite wall rather than flesh.

"C'mon," Indy ducked down and motioned for Anna to follow him. "And whatever you do, don't stand up."

They moved into the idol chamber where Indy determined that there was no danger of getting poisoned darts stuck into them. Indy stood transfixed, his eyes glistening as he remembered all he had been through to find this idol and bring it back to the museum. Memories of his friend filled his mind, and he decided that he would complete this mission for Brody. He sighed and shook his head. "Let's take this thing home." Indy used the fabric from Anna's skirt to wrap the small but powerful idol and she buried it deep in her pocket. As they moved toward the hall, Picarde emerged from the chasm at the end if it, followed by several of his men.

Picarde smirked. "Well, well, well. What do we have here? Doctor Jones, I believe thanks are in order?"

"You're not going to get it. I'm not giving it to you." Indy said with conviction.

"What makes you say that?" Picarde said from the end of the hall.

Indy grabbed the pistol he had taken from the table outside and aimed it at the man. Picarde only laughed.

"Go ahead. Shoot me. Go right ahead."

Behind him he heard Anna gasp. Two voices battled inside his head. One told him to shoot. If he did, they could get away. Picarde dies and his men won't be a problem. Cut the head off of the snake and the body dies, He remembered from years of adventuring.

The other told him not to become what had killed Brody. It told him if he were to shoot, he'd be no better than one of the skeletons on the floor in front of him. It told him not to become a ruthless mercenary like Picarde and his crew. It told him that if he did, He would no longer deserve to be called Indiana Jones, and that he would lose all he had fought to become, as well as lose the daughter he had only just found.

Indy dropped his head. "If I give you the idol, will you leave us alone?"

"But of course. If you give me the idol, I will leave you two here to go on you merry way, just so long as you stay here long enough for me to get back into the city. And if you try to follow me, my men will kill you." He said calmly.

Indy sighed, and nodded at Anna to hand it to him. She fumbled in her skirt for a moment before removing the bundle of fabric.

"That's right. Bring it here." Picarde acted as if he were talking to a dog.

Indy was about to take the idol from Anna when she shot him a look and started to crawl herself. Halfway down the hall she stopped to bind the idol even tighter in its fabric wrapping, then rolled it to Picarde.

He turned to leave. "Goodbye, Doctor Jones. Perhaps we shall meet again." He then tucked the bundle away in a small bag and grabbed a rope that his men had mounted into the wall for their decent. "And remember; let me return to the city. Or my men will hunt you down." Leaving them with that, Picarde and his crew left the way they had come.

Anna crawled back and sat next to her father. They were silent for several seconds before she spoke. "Alright. Let's go."

"Do you want to get shot?" Indy said, staring blankly in front of him.

"No, but I would like my yoyo back."

Indy looked at her questioningly, and with a mischievous grin, she pulled the golden idol from her skirt, now free of its previous wrapping.

"Why you little…" Indy laughed, and climbed to his feet after making sure he was safely in the idol chamber. "Sounds good. Let's get out." He started around the perimeter of the room.

Anna grinned, then paused to think for a second. "But how do we get out without them hearing us? That hall echoes like crazy."

Indy pulled her close to him and pointed up. "There. They always cut a separate air shaft if the room is detached from the main hall. It's still open, or else the plants in here would never be able to survive."

Anna looked up at the tiny hole and once again her loud swallowing was heard. "Thank goodness I'm not claustrophobic."