Whew - glad this one's over! :P
Firstly, a big huge THANK YOU to my reviewers! You guys make me go on! :)
nemesis: Thanks a lot! Hope you enjoy this! :)
LithiumSiege: Thank you! :)
gyikhu: Truly it is. Story-wise, AOD had the best plot in all Tomb Raider games. I wish they could have continued it :( Hope my continuation makes up a little for it though :)
Angy1996 (who PMed me her review) - thank you so much girl! ^.^
Now this chapter - I had to combine 2 chaps of the initial ROD to make this one. Already I've introduced a nameless character thus far - wonder what she's going to be like in the end... Hmmm :p Although her bit in this chapter seems pretty ambiguous, I promise more to her in future chappies! :)
Disclaimer: I do not own Lara, Kurtis, Karel, Gunderson and all the actors appearing in AOD. They are property of Core Design, Eidos Interactive, Square Enix and Crystal Dynamics. I am making no profit from this story, whatsoever. I do own the plot, and the characters I introduce.
Without any further ado...
RETURN OF DARKNESS
Lara Croft Tomb Raider
Chapter 1 Escaping the Strahov
The cold wind cut daggers at her form, despite being covered head to toe in black leather. Racing along the deserted streets of Prague on her rented bike, she made her way towards the hub of all evil – her goal simple, her roaring rage powerful.
Once she saw the looming domes and arches of the Strahov, she pressed the accelerator further, hoping to cover the distance in between her and the building in the quickest time possible. Up front, the Strahov was just a massive, seemingly deserted warehouse on the edge of a long-forgotten industrial estate. Yet months of painstaking research and expensive information proved the structure could lead her to the one thing she craved the most.
Skidding sideways to a halt at the base of the building, she killed the engine and dismounted the bike. After re-adjusting her knap sack, she took in the grandeur of the gothic Strahov. Taking off her helmet, she stood in momentary awe at the massive arches and domes – her historical architecture lessons from long-gone university days coming back to her. But then, the moment passed, and with the promise of revenge, she muttered a solitary line, more to the cathedral-esque warehouse than to herself, holding a simple plastic card she had paid a small fortune to acquire.
"It all ends here."
No sooner than the words were spoken, the heavy silence of the night was replaced by a deep, ominous rumbling that enveloped the entire structure. The rumbling soon led to thunderous shaking of the ground. Fierce blinding light that illuminated the building, making the hollowed arches appear as long shadows – ghosts of all the monsters who had and would die for its illegal causes. Shielding herself from the light, she took one step forward, only to be thrown several meters back – as the heart of the Cabal exploded, leaving behind smoldering, black smoke.
Hitting her skull onto the lightpost with a loud clang, she fell into a heap – making fists of her hands in the snow as darkness blurred her vision.
Lighting a flare, Lara walked further into the dark hole – the late mutant Boaz's Lair. The green glow lit up the darkness for a bit – and it took all the strength she could muster to not retch at the sight.
Human bodies clad in navy lay sprawled over – Boaz's fodder; with limbs and heads missing. The fetid smell of blood, rotting muscle and acid burned in her nose as she tried her best to breathe through her mouth.
"Damn it, Kurtis!" she muttered to herself. Glancing at the chirugai, she added softly: "Where are you?"
As if in answer to that, the disk suddenly sprung to life, vibrating ferociously and glowing brighter as the seconds ticked by. Following its direction, Lara walked over the gory carcasses when the weapon slipped from her hand and sliced across to the corner of the lair.
The tomb raider broke into a fast run in a bid to catch the disk. A doorway was situated at the farthest end of the area, leading to metal walkways surrounding a steel tank suspended in the middle of the hallway – a containment area of sorts. Yet Lara was not focusing on the scenery, for at the end of the walkway was a human figure, sitting on the knees and holding the railing. The glaive began to encircle the crouched figure – and Lara's worst fears confirmed.
In the faint orange light of the room, her comrade and temporary partner was on the ground, clutching his abdomen and literally covered in sweat, blood and acid. With an effort, he managed to crane his neck and glance up at Lara – raw pain like that of a tortured animal flashing in his azure orbs. "L-Lara," he managed weakly.
"Y-yes its me, Kurtis" Lara provided quickly, recovering from the shock. Ever since she clapped her eyes on him in Paris, Lara had imagined Kurtis as the street-wise ace who never ran out of tricks to untangle himself from whatever problem he was facing. Always ahead of the game; always aware of the true scheme of things. Seeing him struggle to speak or even stand up broke the wall of indifference she had built to protect herself as her heart twisted in pain for him.
"You're hurt," she replied, crouching beside him – gently making him let go of the railing and turn toward her. Vitals unstable – she mentally concluded at his feverish skin and after checking an erratic pulse. She had seen a lot of wounds – surely this couldn't be that worse.
"Sweet mother… Kurtis," she muttered, immediately fishing out health supplies from her backpack. There was, without any exaggeration, a hole in his gut. Apart from merely a few torn tissues obstructing her view, Lara could practically see through Kurtis.
"That-God-damned-bug-face!" Kurtis spat bitterly.
"Boaz's doing, I gather?" Lara asked, trying to keep her voice strong and straightforward – Kurtis could use the strength emanating from her.
"Sure as hell," he groaned, grunting painfully as she cupped his wound to stop the bleeding. Warm blood began to seep through her tight-set fingers and she realized she needed to tie a tight bandage to prevent him from bleeding to death.
"You're gonna make it, Kurtis. Just ha-" he cut her off by grabbing her forearm and halting her actions. Lara looked into his eyes to see pained rage.
"Is he-gone? Did-you-?"
"Eckhardt's dead, Kurtis," she said in reply, and then went on to filling him on Karel's true nature and what happened at the lab – all the while with fingers moving expertly at peeling off his drenched shirt upto his torso and cleaning the wound. Kurtis merely nodded and grunted in reply, but Lara sensed that was enough to take his mind off his wound. "What about you? What did Boaz do to you? Any idea where we are?"
"This-place…" Kurtis drew in a sharp breath, and then exhaled slowly. He held up a hand before Lara could apologise for over-doing the spirit. "Part-of-containment area, kept-in the hag's-P-proto." Kurtis paused. "The one-you… let out." Lara was now taking out rolls of bandages. Leaning against the wall, he tried to breathe deeply.
Lara bit back a smile. "Go on."
He nodded. "After you left – I just shot the-freaking-acid-pumps on her b-body. T-Turns out the real deal's her-damned-pixie form – had sp-spears for arms… Sh-shot her in the-head, thinkin' I'd-got her," he paused before adding darkly: "Shoulda kn-known better than to t-turn back on an e-enemy."
Lara was almost done by the time he finished. "True," she said softly, gripping his waist. "C'mon Kurtis, up you get!" She said, pulling him up. He got up, shaky. "You've lost a fair amount of blood, and hell would freeze over before I let you die on me – Lets get you out of here and to a hospital…"
Dizziness broke out and hazed his vision. With one hand gripping the railing, the other Lara's shoulder, he somehow managed to put one foot in front of the other. Despite Lara's timely buck-ups, he felt darkness closing in on him.
When he slumped, Lara patted his face and cupped his chin and exclaimed, frustrated: "Kurtis – get up this instant! My watch isn't showing your death – come ON!" Yet with a horrified gasp, she realized his wound had started bleeding again.
With a low moan, he came about again, using his powers to strengthen his body – steady his vision, trembling with silent agony. "T-there," he said, pointing to a glassed area and an automatic door beside it. Once they reached to the area – a control room Lara figured – they saw more bodies strewn across the floor. Shaking her head, they entered an elevator, and made it to the ground floor of the loading bay. The crates and vehicles were ablaze with fire while most part of the bay had collapsed – with the wintry snow falling in from the dark skies above. The entire place was blood-red, and felt hot and burning. A computerized voice continued to announce the unlocking of all doors – and a warning to evacuate immediately.
"N-not very far," Kurtis whispered. Apparently he was familiar with this part of the loading bay. Leading Lara to a door on the far left of the area, they exited the Strahov and entered into a cold street. Shivering, Lara spotted Kurtis' bike parked a little way up front and at the same time, her comrade produced the keys to his beloved bike. They walked the distance, Kurtis gaining a little strength and once there, Lara unrolled her shorts so they became baggy army fatigues once more. Vaulting over, she revved up the engine as Kurtis climbed up behind her, put his head on her shoulder and panted from the exertion.
"Hang in there, Kurtis. We'll make it there," she replied, concerned yet determined.
And with that – they accelerated further into the cold street, unaware that they were being watched from another dark, leather-clad figure, crouched behind her bike.
"Lara Croft," the figure whispered to herself, nodding slowly. The supposed Monstrum on the loose, but she knew better than the authorities on this one. Once they were out of sight, she came out from the shadows – the tomb raider could have well taken care of the situation, but she wanted to room for any doubt. Using the same door, she zipped open her jacket and drew her weapon – going deep into the depths of the Strahov to find her answers.
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