It felt like Lara's heart was going to beat out of her chest. Twice now they'd had to lay low while one or more of hell's creations shuffled past. The imps were paler, almost pink, with many of them having carved demonic symbols into their flesh. With no clothing and only her fists and some poor man's femur, Lara didn't like the odds if they were discovered. That wouldn't stop her, but she didn't have to like it. The caverns seemed to stretch on forever, like they were lost inside some living, breathing thing. The walls leaked blood, and paths sometimes ended in rivers or pools of fiery lava.

They crept around a corner, Lara first. She bumped into an imp. The creature recoiled, and Lara raised her makeshift weapon and swung it at its head. Blood splattered across Lara's face and chest and it took two blows before going down. It had a partner, and Lara rolled under a swipe of claws. She jabbed her fist into its stomach, then swung the femur with all her might. It connected with the imp's jaw and the demon landed on its back hard enough for the sound to echo. Lara didn't wait for it to try to get back up, dropping her knee into its chest and driving the sharpened point of her weapon into its throat.

When she turned to check on Sam, the other woman was staring at her. "Sam?"

"Holy shit."

"What is it, Sam"

"Holy shit!"

Lara stood and rushed over to her. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"What?" Sam chewed on her lip, her face coloring. "No, no I'm okay. We should keep moving. You know. In case something heard all that. The kicking their ass thing." She was grateful when Lara stepped away to retrieve her weapon, but couldn't tear her eyes away from her friend.

She didn't snap out of it until Lara had grabbed her hand and was pulling her along, and then her eye was drawn to the Soul Cube that hovered at Lara's waist. Setting aside the impossibility, she focused instead on the way it seemed to glow. "Lara, the cube is doing something weird. I think it started after you killed those guys."

Lara stopped moving, and lifted the cube to inspect it. "According to the inscriptions we uncovered back on Mars, it was supposed to be powered by, well, souls."

"I don't know what's freakier, that that thing uses soul-juice or that those things have enough of a soul to make it glow."

"We don't know what they are, really." Lara squeezed Sam's arm. "Maybe they're why so many legends and myths speak of demons and monsters."

"Lara, I'm pretty sure we're literally in hell."

"Sam, the Martians disappeared when humanity was still trying to survive an Ice Age."

Sam shrugged. "So we have the same hell. You just said it yourself, maybe they're why so many cultures have demonic myths. Maybe someone once opened a portal on Earth and they came through."

"If so, they were stopped," Lara pointed out. "Otherwise we wouldn't be here to talk about it. We'd have gone the way of the Martians."

"Or maybe we're descended from some unholy union of cro-magnon and demon," Sam whispered.

Lara shot her a look, rolling her eyes when her friend stuck her tongue out. "For a moment I thought you were serious."

"Considering some of the human monsters in our past, I'm not entirely sure I'm wrong."

It was in its own way an appealing thought. Lay the blame for humanity's darkest sins on extra-dimensional invaders, or demons or whatever they were. To think that the visions of herself that she'd seen, what she was capable of had an explanation beyond simply being a part of who she was. Yet, Lara thought that was a cop-out. That darkness buried deep in her heart was something uniquely human and part of her needed to cling to that fact. "No, you're wrong."

Taking Sam's hand, Lara led them further into the depths of hell. As she predicted, the UAC had figured out how to transport gear. They found a staging area in what looked like an easily defensible cave. Stacks of crates filled with weapons, armor and ammunition were piled against the wall and the marines had set up barricades. The marines had set up camp. There were tents that had been shredded and the defenders were little more than smears of blood on the ground.

Lara silently nudged Sam before she could step on someone's intestines. "Don't look down. Walk this way. They must have been overrun."

Sam started to protest, but the look Lara gave her was enough to make her close her mouth. She let Lara lead her to the crates. "Okay so...how the hell did they get this stuff here, but we lost all our shit?"

"Chances are, they had more control over the portal than we did." Lara started to pull out duffel bags, hoping something might fit either of them. "Especially with that...thing… that possessed Amanda."

"I guess that explains why she changed on you." Sam knelt next to Lara, putting an arm around her. "I'm sorry."

Lara shook her head. "I knew these people. This was Arlene Sanders' Bravo squad." She pushed a duffel towards Sam. "This was Kira's, her gear should fit you."'

Sam pulled out clothing, looking at it with a distasteful expression on her face. Her eyes moved from the unfashionable underwear to Lara, and she hesitated a minute before asking, "What were they like?"

"I didn't know them as well as I knew Alex or Amanda." Lara admitted. She gave a silent apology as she pulled one of the men's shirts out of a duffel to try to get some of the blood off of them. "But Fly invited me to eat with them sometimes. Shy man, never said much, but kind. Kira was a bit of a joker. Always smiling and told great stories."

"What about, uh…" Sam looked in a duffel. "Blazkowicz?"

"Don't think I ever heard him talk once, but I'm pretty sure he and Grimm had a thing going."

"Grimm?"

Lara didn't have it in her to laugh, but she still managed a smile. "Not that Grimm. PFC John Grimm. Never saw him smile."

"Name fits, then. Do you think he's okay? Other Grimm, I mean."

She didn't respond until she'd pulled Arlene's shirt over her head and started to adjust a belt. "I never got a response from him after the invasion. I'm going to go with no."

Helping Sam into armor, Lara let her mind wander. It had been weeks since she'd seen the squad in the galley. She'd thought they'd been rotated home, but they'd been here. Fighting. Dying. How long had they known about this? Had she looked Arlene in the eyes while the marine had been hiding her knowledge of all of this from everyone? She snapped the last buckle in place and watched as Sam twirled around.

"You look like a soldier, Sam."

"Did you just feel a chill?" Sam joked.

"Funny."

"You smiled."

She met Sam's eyes. "You know, most people would be having a hysterical breakdown right now. I'm proud of you."

Hands shaking, Sam pretended to dust off the armor on her chest. She wet her lips, and her jaw twitched. "Lara, we're stuck in a literal hell. We were chased by demented babies. I'm wearing a dead woman's clothing. If I spend more than three seconds thinking about it you're going to be carrying me out of here comatose."

"Oh Sam…" Lara finished armoring herself up, and tested the light on the armor. "I wish you weren't here, but part of me is glad for it. I don't know what I'd become if I lost you. Or how I'd make it out if I was alone."

They were words that Sam didn't know how to process, especially with Lara standing there in that armor, her eyes hyper focused. She couldn't even meet Lara's gaze, it was too intense. Sam didn't think they had much more time before something found them or they had to move on, but she wrapped her arms around Lara anyway and rested her head on her shoulder. She felt chapped lips press into her forehead and closed her eyes to keep tears at bay. "Keep saying stuff like that and you really will make me fall apart."

"Come on, love." Lara's voice was barely above a whisper. "Lets pick out some weapons to accessorize our armor."

Sam's laugh sounded choked. She pushed away from Lara. "Retail therapy. You know me so well."

She looked Lara over. The woman, her hero stood next to a crate of weapons, a machinegun propped on her shoulder. The armor was better quality than what Lara had been wearing when she'd found Sam, and fit her well. The pants were dark green, with olive plates on her thighs, knees, hips and shins. Her arms had curved plates at her shoulders and more angular plates on the forearms. The chestplate was segmented front and back, fitting snuggly and providing both movement and protection. The helmet was shaped to direct blows away and and came with a visor that could be pushed open.

Sam rapped her knuckles on her own chest plate. Hers was more grey than green, but otherwise the same design.

"You look good, Sam."

A smile found it's way to her face. "Almost as hot as you."

Lara stared at her a moment, then turned towards the arsenal. "No BFG, but I'm not going to be caught without something bigger than a shotgun this time. And helmets. We're wearing helmets."

"BFG?" Sam looked at Lara, feeling an overwhelming urge to laugh again. She thought if she started this time, she wouldn't be able to stop.

"Takes less time than saying 'big fucking gun,'" Lara replied. She winked at Sam as she handed her a submachine gun. It was small enough for Sam to hold but still packed enough of a wallop to be useful. "It felt apropos."

Sam counted their steps as they continued through the hellish caverns. After two-thousand, they emerged into a landscape with sand red like blood, an ocean of fire in the distance, and a sky overcast with roiling orange clouds. It was suffocatingly hot. Yellow lightning flashed overhead, and it started to rain.

The droplets pinged on Sam's armor, ringing in her ears. They splashed red on Lara's, and Sam didn't dare look up. "Lara. This isn't water, is it."

"No, it's not." Lara turned enough to push the visor down on Sam's helmet before doing the same on her own. She tested the comm link. "Can you hear me?"

"Yeah."

The sky opened up like an infected wound. It became nearly impossible to see, and there was no cover from the relentless red downpour. Things moved in the rain. Imps, and other vile things that Lara hadn't seen before.

She tapped her visor, and a display sprang to life. The burning rivers of fire made infrared useless, but when she toggled the night vision she could see a lot more clearly, even through the rain. She saw Sam copy her, before lifting her machine gun and sighting down the barrel. "Sam, I need you to watch my back. Can you do that?"

With the safety on her submachine gun off and her back to Lara's, Sam looked around. Some of the demons were starting to flank them. Her voice wavered. "I… Yes. Yes."

"Good." Lara squeezed the trigger, firing a burst into an imp's head. She swiveled, firing at one of the new demons. She couldn't make out its features, except it was human shaped, with skeletal face and large hands. Its head exploded just as easily as an imp.

"Sam, I'm going to start moving us forward, just try to keep pace." Lara slowly started to advance, and except for a brief moment where she didn't feel Sam's presence at her back, the other woman kept up, pushing into Lara's back as she shot bullets into enemies that Lara couldn't see. But if they stayed put, they'd never make anywhere alive.

"Down!" Lara shoved Sam to the ground as one of the demons lobbed a bolt of plasma towards them. Sam felt her teeth rattle as her knees hit the ground. The ground was still shaking and her teeth was still rattling, and her ears rang as Lara continued to fire her gun. She looked up, and pounding towards them through the rain of blood was a big demon. The same kind that had nearly killed Lara in the portal room. "Hellknight!"

"Fuck!" Lara rolled over Sam. "Three imps to the left, a skeleton face to the right and another dead ahead."

The chainsaw-like buzz of Lara's gun punctuated her words as Sam turned in the direction Lara had been facing. "Oh fuck me!" She sprayed bullets into the rain until the clip ran empty. The panting of her breath was deafening, but all five of the demons were down. She made the mistake of looking behind her. The Hellknight was nearly on them. Its chest and face bled from dozens of wounds but if anything, it was moving faster. "Lara!"

"Run, run!" Lara shoved at Sam and the two bolted down a thin path between a river of boiling blood and a sea of fire. Lara dropped an empty clip, quickly reloading on the move. Twisting, she took a few shots, and the Hellknight finally started to slow down. It stopped, bellowing.

Something ahead of them bellowed back. Lara grabbed Sam's shoulder and slowed them to a trot. "What the hell is that?"

It was bigger than the hellknight, taller by several feet and much, much broader. With the rain letting up, Lara turned off the night vision to get a better look at it. It was greyish red, with fists that looked more like the end of a medieval mace. Its hind legs reminded Lara of dinosaurs she'd seen in museums and it had a long tail with a similar mace at the end. There were two primal horns on either side of its head and it had a wide mouth, filled with numerous razor sharp teeth.

"That thing looks like the kind of thing that would give a T-Rex nightmares," Sam whispered.

"It kind of looks like one. It's between us and freedom. Like some guardian of hell."

"Good one."

"Thank you."

"But how do we kill it."

Good question, Lara thought, looking down at her gun. The Guardian roared. The sound cut through her, and for a brief moment she thought her legs would turn to jelly and her hands started to shake. But she swallowed her fear. "Sam?"

"I want you to sneak around it while I keep it busy."

"What about the Hellknight?" Sam glanced behind them, but the demon was gone. "...guess he's scared, too." The ground shuddered as the huge Guardian picked up speed.

"Go!" The machinegun buzzed and Sam charged between the demon's legs. She tripped, landing hard on her stomach, but she was clear. She turned to look back at Lara. To her horror, the demon shrugged off the bullets like they were dandelions. Scrambling to her feet, she looked through her weapons. Nothing had the kind of firepower that Lara needed, but she took a shotgun out of it's straps and loaded it.

Aiming at a flesh part of its back, Sam fired a round. The recoil knocked her on the ass, but to her delight, she saw blood splurt. The Guardian shuddered, rearing up and bellowing. It turned around to swipe at her, but Lara fired at the same spot. Sam braced herself on the ground, shooting it in the back when it turned its attention to Lara. She pumped in another shell and scooted away to give herself a few more feet from its long tail. It was a smart decision. Seconds later the demon slammed its tail into the ground where she'd just been.

Three shots each, four, five. On the sixth, the Guardian stumbled, disappearing into the fire. The smell of burning flesh reached Sam's nose and she nearly retched in her helmet.

Something bright glowed on Lara's belt, and she fell to her knees, holding her head between her hands. Images and faces crossed her vision. The Martians. Fighting. Dying. Their hero turning the tide with the Soul Cube but too late to save his people. But the demons, this hell was still so much older. Great feathered beasts, monsters in their own right, fleeing in terror from thousands of Guardians. A hellish rock slamming into the Earth. Extinction. Extinction, always the order of the day.

"Lara? Lara!" Sam shook Lara's shoulder. "Snap out of it!"

"I'd...forgotten about it." Lara tried to clear her head, reaching for the Soul Cube on her belt. She looked down at it. "I think it's fully charged. I think we're going to need it. We have to find the source, and we have to make sure there's no way for these things to make it back to Mars. Or worse, Earth."

Sam chewed on her lip. "We might get stuck here."

Lara nodded. "You still have that gun?"

"One bullet for Amanda, and one for each of us," Sam promised. Her throat bobbed, and she pressed the visor of her helmet against Lara's. "So much for that cheeseburger."

"Sam, I've loved you for a very long time. I need you to know that." Lara smiled tiredly at the other woman. Even though she wasn't ready to throw in the towel, she had to say it. Just in case. "I just wish I could have had the chance to show you properly."

"You're not the only one who's been hiding things." Sam let out a heavy sigh, closing her eyes. "I just… I guess I wanted to… I didn't want to fuck us up."

"We're pretty fucked up now, aren't we." Lara nodded her head at Sam, then forced herself to stand. "Come on." She held out her hand. "That's the worse case. I'm not ready to give up and maybe there's still a chance we can find a way back."

"Some hope is better than no hope" Sam took Lara's hand and let herself get pulled back up. "Besides, did you see how we kicked that thing's ass? We are bad ass, Lara Croft!" She fell silent for a moment, not letting go of Lara's hand. "Promise me something."

"What?"

"We'll fight to the end. Fight to get back, fight for each other."

Lara smiled, squeezing Sam's hand. "I promise."

The twin seas of fire and blood gave way to a jagged canyon. Ledges and spikes of rock thrust out in every direction, many of them jagged or serrated. It really looked as though they were walking through the maw of a beast, with the canyon its belly. The sky continued its turmoil. If there was a sun, it could not peer through the orange clouds.

Sam was getting tired of orange and red. Orange clouds, orange light, red rocks, red demons. Nothing all that large. A pig demon barred their path at one point but Lara dispatched it without breaking her stride or a sweat.

"You'd think there'd be more of them, the deeper we go," Sam observed. "But there's been… fewer and fewer."

"I'm not sure I like what that implies." Lara exchanged a look with Sam, before crouching near a rock outcropping. She gestured for Sam to join her and pointed. A path led down to an altar. Hundreds of skulls lined the altar, and at the center swirled a pool of energy. A figure floated in the air on the near side. She had huge, bat-like wings. Her skin seemed to have rotted off in places and when she sensed them and turned towards them. The skin on her face had sunken in, making her look skeletal and there were large, curled horns on her head. Her legs, now digitigrade, carried a wide torso. Her skin had stretched wide, ribs pressed tightly and all the fat on her body had fallen away.

"...Amanda..?"

"No. Not anymore. She served her purpose." Her voice sounded like a dozen women speaking at once, though rough as though speaking through gravel. "So eager. So idealistic. A lot like you, Lara Croft. She did not know she was letting me in, and when she did, she lacked the strength to stop me. Mourn for her, for there is nothing left of your friend."

Quietly, Lara slipped the Soul Cube off of her belt and handed it to Sam. Then she peered down at the creature through the sights of her assault rifle. "Who are you then?" She swallowed hard, trying to not let the demon's words get to her.

"Oh, I've many names." Her wings beat heavily as she landed a few feet from them. "Abaddon to the Hebrews. Maledict, to some. Lucifer. O-Yama. T'an-mo. Sedit. I can't quite remember what the natives to this planet named me. It was so long ago, and they're gone now. Something with a G." She twirled her hands, each finger tipped by a long, thin iron nail as she took several steps towards them on muscular legs. She touched her nails lightly to her own chest. "The Atlanteans called me Natla. I have spent a very long time preparing this invasion. And finally I have the last pieces I needed."

Lara's finger pressed on the trigger, and in the instant between that action and the bullet leaving the barrel, Natla had closed the distance. She ripped the gun from Lara's hands and tossed it aside. One wing lashed out, sending Sam sprawling, before Natla lifted Lara by the throat. Lara kicked out at her, but couldn't break free. "The blood on your hands runs deep. Look into my eyes. See your soul reflected in them. Stained with the damned and the dead." Gradually, Lara's struggling slowed. Natla's eyes were like endless oceans of blood and damnation, and her head throbbed. She couldn't look away. She wasn't sure she wanted to look away. "Look into my eyes. See yourself reflected a thousand times, drowning in the blood of armies. Look into my eyes, see yourself for what you are. My vanguard, my beautiful Queen of Blood."

She let go, and Lara dropped to the ground. Lara landed, crouching in front of the demon. She stood slowly. Her breathing was erratic, and her motions jerky and strained. She looked up at Natla. The demoness stretched her left arm, pointing one finger towards where Sam lay. "The last sacrifice, my pet. With her blood and with her soul, we shall tear open the veil to Earth and cleanse it with fire."

Murderer, killer, monster, demon. No better, no better, you're no better. The words rang in Lara's head as she stumbled towards Sam. Her hand drew a knife from her belt against her will, and she knelt, her knee pressing into Sam's chest. Slit her throat. Its better this way.

Sam hadn't moved the whole time. She was too afraid to, and instinct told her to keep the Cube out of sight. But as she looked into Lara's eyes, Lara's red, glowing eyes, something inside her snapped. She grabbed onto Lara's wrist. "Lara, look at me, Lara. She did something to you. But you're better than that, you're better than her. Remember Alex! Grimm! Remember Arlene and her Bravo squad. Remember Amanda!. Think about all those people back on Earth who are going to die horribly! And you promised me, Lara! You promised me you'd fight!"

The light in Lara's eyes faded, and she exhaled shakily. "I'm wounded. Doubting me like that." Lara smiled at Sam, and took the Soul Cube from her. "For you, I'd abdicate the throne."

She stood, turning back towards Natla and lifting the Soul Cube up. "You don't have the months you need to work me like you did Amanda."

Natla spread her wings to their full width, shrieking loud enough to make Lara's ears ring. "Where did you get that?!"

Each of the orbs on the Cube glowed brightly, and a voice whispered in Lara's mind. Use us.

It lifted from her hand, blades popping from hidden compartments. They started to whir, and the Cube shot straight for Natla. The demon became engulfed in white light. Lara felt a sudden rush of renewed energy flow through her. Her aches and her pains faded away, and she could feel her skin knitting itself back together. A rib realigned. She sank to her knees as the Cube returned to her. The light faded, and she could see Natla limping towards the portal.

"Shit, she's still alive!" Lara scrambled to her feet. She felt better than she had since this whole thing had started. She heard Sam follow her, and almost at the same time they both opened fire. Natla twisted her wing to act as a shield. It had been shredded by the Soul Cube, but still provided ample cover.

She dove into the pool. Almost immediately, it started to twist violently, like waves in a storm.

Sam shouted as the ground rocked beneath them. "I thought she couldn't go through there!"

"Run faster! The portal is collapsing!"

A whistling sound drew Lara's attention. She grabbed Sam and yanked them both back as a rocket hit the ground nearby. Both women went flying, Lara landing on her shoulder and rolling to her feet.

Running towards them was a literal skyscraper of a demon. Towering fifty feet tall, it had one mechanical leg, and one of its arms had been replaced by some kind of rocket launcher. It vaguely resembled a horrifically twisted Minotaur. When it bellowed, it sounded like a tornado.

Lara checked the Soul Cube and decided there wasn't enough of a charge. She grabbed for Sam. "Portal! Portal now!"

"But-"

"Trust me! It won't be able to follow!"

Not asking why Lara was so certain of this, Sam sprinted towards the collapsing portal. She stopped short, turning to grab Lara's hand, before they both jumped in. The cybernetic demon's war cry faded away.

Swirling light assaulted Lara's mind. She heard voices, whispering warnings. She saw herself still fighting, still bloody, picking off gunmen with a bow in the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. She stood on the deck of a burning ship, rain pouring all around her. Natla was burning and Amanda was shouting. Lara blinked her eyes, and every time she did so she saw herself anew. Waist deep in a jungle river. Gunning down a Tyrannosaurus. In a gunfight in Tibet, back to back with Sam. She wasn't just a survivor, or a killer. She had reasons to live. They weren't always the same, but they always mattered. Something to kill for. Something to die for. She held tight to Sam's hand.

When she opened her eyes, she lay on her back in a dark chamber. It was quiet, and a little chilly. Lara sat up and looked around. They were alone. "It couldn't follow us. The portal collapsed. I think our Lady Lucifer hadn't fully readied the portal yet. Her and us passing through brought it down."

"Where are we?" Sam rubbed her arms. "At least we're not naked this time."

Lara didn't let go of Sam's hand as she flashed her light around. "Atlantis. But I don't recognize this chamber."

There was a fresco, with atlantean writing underneath it. Lara felt a chill run down her spine. She stood and walked over to it. "They discovered a portal. the demons swarmed the city and in order to close the portal they buried their whole city. She must have been making incursions every chance she could. Maybe most of the demons of our mythologies are based on her. She certainly has enough names for it."

"More warnings," Sam whispered. She looked around, then shone her light towards a large, broken door. "Lara."

Lara turned. Her light illuminated a shattered stone door. Indistinguishable footprints marred the ancient dust. Lara's hand started to shake. "Oh no. How?"

"We need to get out of here, Lara..."

Something in the darkness shrieked, and if Sam hadn't started to run first, Lara would have picked her up and threw her over her shoulder. They ran through the ruined city until Lara found a path that looked familiar to her. A quick glance told her that something had smashed the barrier that had stopped her the last time she'd been in Atlantis.

"This way. The entrance is in a submerged cavern." Lara moved with purpose, a nervous feeling gnawing into her gut.

"How are we going to get to the surface?" Sam asked.

"There's some scuba gear stowed here, or there should be." The cavern was large, and there were so many large footprints they'd all mashed together. Lara started digging through the gear she'd left behind the last time she'd come. She stopped partway through, burying her palms into her face. "Shit. Shit…. fuck! It's all my fault!"

"What's your fault? Nothing is your fault! So Natla got some demons through the portal, we could only have moved so fast! The army will take care of them." Even as she said it, Sam didn't sound quite so certain.

Lara lifted her head, staring at Sam with tired eyes. "They buried their people to stop an invasion. Hell has come to Earth, Sam, and I opened the path when I found this city."