Important Author Note: Unless it is specified who says which part, the dialogue typically alternates between Tsuna and Hayato.
WARNINGS: OOC, Language (there is a lot of cursing), Violence, Indiscriminate Killing (Tomb Raider Typical Killing- applies to humans, animals, and mythical creatures), Dialogue Heavy, Set In The Tomb Raider Games 'Verses, So May Not Make A Whole Lot Of Sense If You Don't Know TR (unless you, like me, don't mind that), Uses Dialogue From The Game, Collection of Snippets/Drabbles/Scenes Featuring Tsuna's And Hayato's Adventures In The TR Games, Beware Of Unexpected Mood Whiplashes, Ship Teasing, Slight BoyxBoy (why do I even warn about this anymore?), Platonic 5927 (To The EXTREEEEEEEME!), Snark, Badass Tsuna And Hayato, Badasses In Dresses, Perverted Swords, Cute Hammers, And As Always: Shameless Self-Indulgence/Ridiculousness.
Disclaimer: Don't own TR or KHR.
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"C'mon Tsuna." Hayato shook Tsuna's shoulder; Tsuna shoved him away and curled up deeper into his Corner of Woe, his lions curling up next to him, all with the same sad expression.
Off to the side was the only way forward: a deep tunnel going down- full of water. As much as the lions were surprisingly amazing acrobats, they weren't divers.
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Tsuna stomped on the rat with extreme prejudice and used an unnecessary amount of bullets to shoot down the bats, all the while wearing a scowl worthy of Hayato as he was back in his teen years.
Usually, Hayato would give a snarky comment about unnecessary violence, but Tsuna wasn't in the mood for playful banter. Tsuna rarely got into such a mood. Even that time when Hayato told him about what Kurtis did in the Louvre didn't rile him up so much.
Hayato sighed; all he had to do was wait and hope Tsuna finished venting his frustration soon.
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(Getting Tsuna hyped up by way of his 'babies' was a double edged sword, just as easily and quickly it could raise Tsuna to the heights of exuberance and happiness, it could drag him to the pits of despair and wrath.)
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When the door opened, it allowed two gorillas and two lions into the arena. Hayato winced, was it a good idea to let Tsuna come into contact with lions again so soon?
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Tsuna patted the lions on their heads as he smiled at them, "You did a good job. Now, go. Do whatever you want."
'Whatever you want' apparently translated into 'following Tsuna around'.
Tsuna sighed, "I'm afraid you can't always follow me around all the time."
"Hayato."
Hayato jumped, "Yeah?"
"You don't have to walk on eggshells around me."
"…" Hayato walked up to Tsuna and grabbed him, ruffling his hair. And then Hayato walked off, "Let's go."
"Hey! Hayato!"
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"Spears?"
"Better than the blood-stained spikes of last time."
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"The fire trap last time wasn't this terrifying."
"Eh. Let's go."
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"I prefer Midas' Palace this time around."
"Yeah. It's much smaller. Not to mention easier to navigate."
"God, I can't even remember how many times we got lost last time around."
"Or how long we spent lost. It's a wonder we caught up with Pierre."
"He may have been just as lost."
"Of that, I am absolutely convinced."
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"You know, last time we confronted Pierre at least five times all before the Tomb of Tihocan, yet we have yet to glimpse him."
"Maybe he was sufficiently scared away by your babies?"
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"Ah, it's simpler here as well. Remember all the jumping and climbing and swimming that we had to do last time?"
"UGH."
"Not to mention there are less gorillas as well."
"UGH."
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Tsuna and Hayato huddled close to the temple's door, their guns raised and trained on the centaur statue to the right of the temple.
Fifteen minutes later, they reluctantly lowered their guns, "It's… not going to come to life and attack us?"
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"Pierre is not here?"
"God, where is that guy?! I thought I'd get to shoot at him at least twice! But I haven't seen any trace of him!"
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"Oh, here he is. Sneaking up from behind us."
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They stared at the two centaurs which apparently came to life after Pierre left with the Scion piece.
Pierre stared at the centaurs that bore down on him.
"Let him die. I honestly preferred the Pierre of last time."
"Yeah. At least that guy did his job."
Pierre threw the Scion towards Tsuna and Hayato; the centaurs tracked its movement through the air. Hayato caught it.
"Bonne chance~" Pierre attempted to back away, but the centaurs whipped their heads back to stare at him.
The centaurs literally trampled him with their hooves.
After they were done with him, they turned back towards Tsuna and Hayato.
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"What's that glow?! They didn't emit it the last time around!"
"I don't know! But I get the feeling that we should- stand down!"
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Tsuna kicked up the shield just in time to catch light and reflect it back at one of centaurs.
"It fucking petrified it! Fuck!"
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"There! Done!"
Hayato looked at a piece of petrified centaur and made a face.
"But damn, what a way to go." Tsuna made a face over Pierre's corpse, "If I never see the corpse of someone trampled again, it would be too soon."
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"Off to Egypt, then."
"AGAIN."
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"Hello, Egypt. It's been ages."
"How many years?"
"Around fifteen."
"I still think it's too soon."
"C'mon, Hayato. It's Egypt, a classic."
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"I don't remember there being such weight sensitive parts that would drop down or retract when someone is on it."
"We'll have to be quick then."
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"Boy am I glad that those mummified creatures don't explode."
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"Those traps weren't there the last time around."
"Well, crushing boulders and rotating blades. C'mon, Tsuna. It's a classic."
"Stop throwing my words back at me."
"Nuh-uh."
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The two looked at the four sets of rotating blades. Each two sets rotated in the same direction which made two sets rotate towards the other end of the hallway while the other two made their way towards Tsuna's and Hayato's direction. Two sets were on a lower level than the other two.
"How are we going to go past this?" Tsuna observed the blades, thinking of ways to bypass them.
"How about I give you a boost to jump across. Then I'll wait until there is a gap between the blades, jump over the ones at the bottom and then duck under the oncoming ones at the top."
"O-kay?"
Hayato positioned himself in front of the blades as Tsuna ran towards him, and pushed Tsuna forward into a leap across.
"Alright. Here I come."
Tsuna stared in awe as Hayato jumped over the blades at the bottom, landing in a roll, and springing into a forward flip to cover the rest of the distance.
Hayato landed safely next to Tsuna.
"Wow…" Tsuna breathed out.
Hayato puffed out his chest in pride.
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"This place is new."
"Yeah. Should we jump down?"
"Yes."
With that, the two dived into the pool down below.
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"No Larson here, huh?" Tsuna wondered as he holstered his guns after the last mutated creature dropped to the ground.
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Tsuna hesitated in combining the Scion pieces.
"Tsuna?" Hayato looked at him, worried.
"I… just got a strange feeling from the Scion. It reminds me of the chamber where Amelia disappeared."
Hayato put his hands on the Scion, "Should we continue?"
"Y-yeah. I think so? It doesn't feel hostile or threatening."
"If you say so." Hayato looked skeptical.
The moment the three pieces of the Scion were combined, Tsuna's flames exploded alongside with the blinding light being emitted from the Scion.
"Tsuna!"
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When the vision began, Tsuna slumped over Hayato.
"Tsuna!"
Hayato gave Tsuna a once-over, noticing his unfocused eyes. Hayato framed Tsuna's face with his hands and reached inside of Tsuna's core with his own flames, blue and yellow; he felt around, engulfing Tsuna's core with the flames, searching for any disarray, and smoothing it over. Through his search, he passed over his own bond with Tsuna, thick and strong; Kurtis' bond, old and frayed and weak but still there; and finally a bond that wasn't there before.
Wha-?!
Light flashed and the vision slipped away, leaving Hayato clutching a still groggy Tsuna.
Natla plucked the Scion from Tsuna's fingers, right as Hayato refocused on his surroundings. He and Tsuna were grabbed by the same dark-skinned thug from last time.
Stupid, stupid Hayato! He cursed himself, how could you forget about Natla's ambush?!
He didn't bother to check to know that he had been stripped of his guns, along with Tsuna.
"You were the queen of Atlantis," Hayato spoke with a carefully measured tone, he already knew this, but it was better to keep her talking, distract her and her men. Hayato wasn't sure he could pull off the same dive down the cliff to waters below with Tsuna in that state.
"Once."
"And the Scion holds its history."
"It holds far more than that. All the knowledge of the ancients, things none of you could even comprehend, Mr. Croft- just look at the other Mr. Croft."
Hayato slowly breathed out, was the bond between Tsuna and the Scion?! Was it even possible to create a bond with an artifact?
"What is the Seventh Age?"
A way out, a way out! Where?!
"How far are you willing to go to find out, Mr. Croft?"
There was only one way, by using his flames, but that would be showing his abilities in front of Natla. Was it worth it?
"Not far enough I'm afraid. Kill them quickly! We have work to do." Natla walked away from them towards the car.
The youngest of the men hired by Natla aimed his gun at Tsuna and Hayato, the one holding onto them pulled out a knife.
Hayato clutched Tsuna closely, Tsuna tiredly clutched back. It was wholly worth it- and more.
Hayato's flames pulsed around, green and electric, forming a shield around him and Tsuna, and then his red flames pushed out of it, creating an extra layer, a very harmful extra layer.
"Kuh!"
Hayato took advantage of the distraction the flames provided and ran towards the edge with Tsuna doing his best to keep up, the green and red flame shield still at around the two of them.
The extra warmth flowing to Hayato from Tsuna's skin was reassuring; they could jump off the cliff and Tsuna's flames would slow their descent. As much as Tsuna appeared to be physically exhausted, his flames weren't.
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"C'mon, Tsuna, you think we can give chase?"
"Y-yeah." Tsuna greedily gulped in air, "We're not letting Natla and her men get away. Besides, we should get them back."
"'Get them back'?"
"Them, the Scion."
"An artifact that is basically a library of ancient knowledge beyond human comprehension uses they/them pronouns. Sure, why not?"
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After Hayato made sure that Natla and her group left the yacht, he helped Tsuna to climb up to the deck.
"You feeling better now?"
"Yeah." Tsuna breathed deeply, "Much better."
"What happened back there?"
"I accidentally created a bond with the Scion. They're such a vast library of knowledge, nearly melted my brain with a basic information dump."
The two sat in silence for a few minutes before Tsuna stretched and stood up, "C'mon, we don't want them to get too far ahead of us."
Hayato gave Tsuna a searching look and carefully nodded.
"But if you faint again…"
Tsuna pouted, "I didn't faint!"
Hayato smiled, "Sure, keep telling yourself that."
"Hmph!"
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"Sorry, darlin'. This is the end of the line."
Tsuna's eyebrow twitched, he was not in the mood for this.
Next to him, Hayato sighed, "Look, I'm feeling a bit generous so I'll warn you: stand out of the way." He paused momentarily, then added, "And give us that fuse while you're at it."
"No can do."
Tsuna's eyes narrowed and glowed orange; he raised his gun, "I don't think you'd like to know how many times I shot you in my entire life."
There was a brief moment of silence, and something shifted.
"Wha…" Larson faltered, "You are not…"
"Lara Croft?" Hayato viciously smiled, "No, we aren't."
"I was wondering when one of you would question why Natla keeps referring to us as 'Mr. and Mr. Croft'."
"Now," Hayato interjected, "Like I said before, just hand us the fuse and move aside. You're just unfortunately caught up in this. Would Tsuna shoot you? He would. Will he? Maybe. The alternative is death by fire, also at Tsuna's hands. Which do you prefer?"
At Larson's silence, Hayato continued, "This has nothing to do with you anymore. It's personal business for us." Ancient knowledge meant possible lead on the chamber where Amelia disappeared, which meant a lead on what happened to her.
"Then, what's it got to do with you? The Scion belongs to Natla-"
"No, they don't." Tsuna interrupted, "They belong with me, with us."
Hayato whistled lowly, "Now, Larson, you pissed Tsuna off. Would you like to die, or would you like to horribly die?"
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"The Pyramid is better this time around."
"Certainly. The one before was a horrible haze of white and red. Eugh."
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"You know, it's slightly amusing to see two doppelgangers this time around instead of one like last time."
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"There they are." Tsuna let out a self-satisfied smile at the sight of the Scion. The Scion sparked and glowed while Tsuna's eyes glowed orange.
"You've reached the top, Mr. and Mr. Croft. There is no way to go but down."
"Right back at you." Hayato smiled blandly at Natla.
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"It takes three to rule. Tihocan and Qualopec were too weak to destroy what stands in the way of the Seventh Age. But you two have the strength to claim this seat beside me." She trailed her long nailed-fingers on the back of the throne sitting in front of the Scion, "Immortality has its price; what are a few lives to sacrifice for your dreams?"
Tsuna scoffed, "We have no interest whatsoever with whatever it is you're preaching. Our dreams? You do not know what it is that we seek." Tsuna raised his hand, flames started to wreath it; at the same time, the Scion started to glow and Hayato positioned himself right behind Tsuna, his arm wrapping around Tsuna's waist, "Similarly, you do not even know who we are, what we can do, do you?"
The Scion shook and launched forward towards Tsuna's hand. Natla screamed in rage and launched herself after the Scion, and Hayato jumped back off the edge with Tsuna in his arms.
Natla connected with them and attempted to wrestle the Scion from Tsuna's grasp. Tsuna's flames flared and burned Natla, she momentarily let go as she let out a cry of pain; the flames burning her torso then turned into ice, weighing her down and causing her to go all the way down to the lava pit at the bottom, all the while shrieking in pain, rage and disbelief.
In the meantime, Hayato had launched his grapple hook and caught it on the edge of the platform underneath. The two of them dangled in the air for a moment before they started their climb towards the edge of the platform.
Once they made their way up, they looked at the ceiling where a pulsing meat sack was.
Tsuna put the Scion in his backpack and took out his guns in tandem with Hayato. Just in time for the sack to burst, and a huge mutated creature to drop down from it.
Tsuna looked contemplative, "I think that I prefer this one's appearance."
"Yeah. It looks less like a crawling ribcage."
"Let's just hope this one doesn't take as long as the last one."
"Don't remind me."
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"Look! This one rushes forward!"
"We can make it go over the edge!"
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"YEAH!"
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"Thousands of years I've waited for this moment!" Natla snarled at Tsuna and Hayato, who stared at her new appearance in shock; her skin looked as if it was made of scales, reddish brown and with protrusions at her shoulders, elbows, hips and shins; pale lines spread across her skin which was marred with a distinct burn mark (caused by Tsuna's flames) that spread from her stomach towards her right cheek and covering her right breast, shoulder and side of the neck on its way; her head was the same as her skin, with horns across her forehead and going up; the top of her head was literally flaming; even her wings were different.
Her glowing eyes glared, "Do you realize what you've done?!"
"Do you think we care?" Hayato shrugged, his guns were out and pointed at Natla, "We have the Scion in our possession, they're ours now. We don't care for much else."
"We could kill you, right here, right now." Tsuna growled as his flames burst forth, "You attempted to take and use what's mine; I will not stand by idly and let you go without payback."
"Besides, "Hayato added, "None of us here has the higher moral ground. We're all fighting for selfish reasons."
Natla snarled and launched at Tsuna.
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The two climbed into the yacht still outside the island as the island rumbled and shook.
Tsuna reached into his backpack and took out the Scion; he and Hayato stared at them. Then the two looked at each other and smiled. This had so much potential.
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End chapter 8
