Chapter 202: Ponies of the Lost Ark Part 2: Search for the Ark
The flames that Spyro had released ended up hitting one of the men and forced the man in the black trench coat to let go of Marion to release her, everone seeking cover as they opened fire on them, Spyro being quick enough to catch the bullets and tossed the bullets away as Loona dodged another volley, leaping towards another of the mans minions, wrestling him to the ground as Rainbow Dash zipped around, disarming another while Daring Do leapt up and kicked him to the ground. Octavia rushed another, who fired at her, but Spyro intercepted the bullets, deflecting them while Discord turned into a snake, wrapping around another and putting the squeeze on him.
"Octavia, remember your training!" Spyro said.
"Right!" Octavia said, dismissing the blade.
She then moved her hands to form a triangle, which a purple light appeared and unleashed dark winds, pushing everything from furniture to fire towards one man, who flinched and got barbacued, running around in pain before his disguise faltered, revealing he was actually a Heartless, shocking Spyro as it suddenyl exploded, a pink heart flying into the air and disappearing.
"A heartless?" Spyro asked.
Another man who was carrying a machine gun snuck up behind him, loading a new magazine to get him, but Spyro's shadow erupted, Aragami appearing and slicing him in half and turning him into shadows, making Spyro turn around.
"Jikai wa mata mimasu." Aragami said.
Translation: Watch you back next time.
"Thanks Aragami." Spyro said, which the spirit blocked an Armored Knight's attack as mroe came. "Everyone, they're Heartless!"
"You got to be kidding me!?" Rainbow Dash said, slashing the man and revealing he was actually a Gargoyle, releasing a pink heart as it was destroyed. "No he is not kidding!"
"Coulda fooled me!" Loona shouted, biting down on another mans neck, shaking him around and tossing him into the bar, making dozens of bottles fall and shatter on him. "He seemed plenty human to me!"
"Same here!" Indiana shouted, hitting antoher in the shoulder.
"Shoot them you fool!" The man in the trench coat said. "Shoot them all!"
The final man he came with pointed his weapon at Octavia, pulling the trigger right as Loona saw him.
"Octavia!" Loona shouted.
She leapt over and pushed octavai out of the way, ending up taking the hit as the bullet hit her in the shoulder.
"Loona!" Octavia shouted, looking to the man as he loaded a new clip, standing up and feeling something snap in her. "Your soul will be torn to shreds!"
As she said it, a purple spell circle with a pentagram appeared under her, the shadows moving on their own as dozens of demonic hands shot out, grabbing the man and making him scream in terror and pain, the darkness tearing him apart and forcing the man in the coat to retreat behind another table, catching his breath as he watched them fight, looking down and finding what he was looking for, a bronze pendant with a ruby in the center of it, smiling and reached down to pick it up, but as soon as he got it in his hand, it started to burn, yelling in pain as he ran for the window, leaping out of it as Spyro watched him.
"What did you think would happen when you pick up red hot metal moron!?" Spyro shouted. He then heard a gunshot, looking back and seeing Marion had finished the last of the mans cronies, seeing the Heartless begin to retreat as Aragami got back into Spyro's shadow as he smiled. "Nice shot."
"My medallion!" Marion shouted, running over with a cloth.
"Loona!" Octavia said.
Spyro looked over and saw she was holding her shoulder, Spyro rushing over and picked her up to run them out of the room and out of the building, everyone getting out of there as it started to burn to the ground and he set the injured Hellhound down, having a look at the wound as she growled.
"It went clean through." Spyro said. "Don't worry, you'll be fine after I patch you up."
"Well Jones, at least you still know how to show a lady a good time!" Marion shouted over the storm.
"Boy, you're something!" Jones replied.
"Yeah, well tell you what!" Marion replied. "Until I get my five thousand dollars, you're going to get more than you bargained for! I'm now your partner!"
She then held up the medallion for them to see, everyone smiling as Spyro got up and took it.
"How about I hold onto it." Spyro said, taking it and putting it on. "Just to be safe."
"And you!" Jones said, looking over to Loona, Discord, and Octavia. "You're friends with some kind of monsters!?"
"A bit of a long story." Spyro replied. "I'll explain on the plane to Cairo. Come on, before hot hands catches up or get's ahead of us."
The group then started to make their way to the airport to get them to Cairo while nearby, the german who tried to pick the medallion up had his hand in the snow, cooling the burn off before removing it and getting a perfect copy of one side of the medallion as a man in a black trench coat walked over, his hood up as he looked down at him.
"You failed." The man said.
"It wasn't my fault Mein Freund." The man said. "Dr. Jones had help from some kind of demons and-"
"Demons?" The man said, looking to the group as they pushed through the storm. "So, the Prince is here. And he's got Loona and Octavia here as well. Things have gotten more interesting now." He then removed his hood, revealing he had dark purple hair with a streak of pink in it, yellow eyes and a scare over his nose, smiling as he watched them go. "Far more interesting."
The next day in Cairo, everyone was following a known associate of Indiana's, Sallah up some stairs and onto the roof of his home, over looking the entire city of Cairo as they all took in the sun, Discord, Loona, and Octavia in their human forms to not draw attention, Discord snapping photois while Daring Do marveled at the sight.
"Cairo, the city of the living." Sallah said. "A paradise on Earth."
"It's amazing." Daring Do said. "In all my travels and all my adventures, I've never seen anything like it."
"And there's a whole lot more you've yet to see." Indiana said as they heard children screaming for joy.
They all looked over and saw they were playing with a monkey, everyone walking over and seeing him have fun before it leapt onto Marion, instantly taking a liking to her.
"Cute." Marion said, trying to be nice. "What an adorable little creature."
"Then it is welcome into our home." Sallah said.
"Oh no, you don't need to keep it here because of me!" Marion said, trying not to sound offensive.
"Smile!" Discord said, snapping a photo.
"Discord, we're not here to site see." Spyro said.
"He's right" Indiana said, sitting down. "I knew the germans would hire Sallah as he's the best digger in all of Cairo."
"My services are inconsequential." Sallah replied as everyone sat down. "The have either hired or shanghaied every digger in Cairo. The digsite is enormous. They hire stong backs, but only pay pennies for them."
"Not surprising there." Spyro said, waving his hand and filling his glass with water. "They're not exactly nice people with their current leadership."
"It's as if the pharaohs have returned." Sallah added.
"Did they find the map room?" Indiana asked.
"They did." Sallah replied. "They found it three days ago. Though they have not one brain among them, except for one. He's a very clever man, a french Archeologist."
At that, Indiana looked up, nnot looking too pleased as he looked at Sallah.
"What's his name?" Indiana asked.
"They call him Bellosh." Sallah replied, which made Indiana laugh while Spyro groaned.
"Belloq." Spyro said. "Great."
"The Germans have an advantage over us." Sallah said. "They're very near to discovering the Well fo Souls."
"Pretty hard to do without the medallion." Indiana said, which Spyro took off his neck and showed it to him.
"The markings on the side are some kind of language." Spyro said. "I've never seen it before. Do you know someone who does know this language?"
"I believe so." Sallah said, taking it. "But Indy... there's something that troubles me."
"What's wrong?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"The Ark." Sallah said. "If it really is there in Tanis, then it is safe to assume that it's something that is not t be disturbed. Death has always surrounded it. It's not of this Earth."
"I have to agree with Sallah." Spyro said, looking to Indiana. "And believe me, I know a thing or two about this kind of stuff."
"I bet you do." Indiana said. "How long until we can meet this friend of yours?"
"He'll be here by tonight." Sallah replied. "Until then, I suggest you take the time and explore our fair city. Relax for a while. Tomorrow, we head for the excavation site."
"Heck yeah!" Rainbow Dash said. "Time for some relaxation!"
"I'm not so sure it's a good idea." Spyro said.
"Oh come on, don't be such a party pooper." Discord said, putting a hat on him that said Party Pooper. "Besides, we got loads of time before we have to go to the digsite, so we can afford to relax for a while, ok?"
Spyro looked at his friends, seeing how excited they were for the adventure and for some time to relax, smiling as he took the hat off and looked to them.
"Alright, I suppose some time ont he town wouldn't hurt." Spyro said.
"Alright!" Rainbow Dash said, jumping up from the table. "Then what are we waiting for!? Let's go!"
She and everyone else then got up from the table and all ran down the stairs, Spyro shaking his head and getting up to walk after them to make sure they didn't do anything that would draw attention to them. Meanwhile at the digsite, the german soldiers were having everyone their either hired or kidnapped work on the digsite trying to find the Well of Souls, Belloq examining the crystal he had taken from Indiana, trying to figure out what it was and what kind of energy was inside of the crystal as the man in the black trench coat and the purple hair walked up, Belloq seeing him and putting the crystal down.
"So, any news on the Well of Souls?" Belloq asked.
"Nothing yet." The man replied. "We did find the head piece, but your Dr. Jones took it. And what's worse, he had help from the Prince of Light and Darkness. This makes your mission to finding the Ark all the more... interesting."
"I don't care what it takes, I'll find that Ark before he does." Belloq said, getting up. "The Ark of the Covenant is one of the biggest Archeological finds for any man or woman to find. Absolute power, fame, glory!"
"You first need to find the thing." The man said.
"I'm well aware of that Wild Side." Belloq said. "Have you any clue as to where we start?"
"Well, the man you sent after this Marion did get half of the medallion burned into his flesh when he picked it up." Wild Side said. "Maybe you can decipher something from it."
They then looked over to the man who tried to get the medallion before, smiling as he raised his hand, revealing the burns and seared on picture of the medallion he got from trying to pick the head piece up. In the market district, the group was walking along, seeing the sights while Octavai also did a little shopping, using her own magic to conjure a few gold coins that got her whatever she wanted while the others got food and other things while there, Spyro leaning on a wall and smiling, seeing how happy they all were, without anyone trying to attack them or destroy them, just a normal day, despite it being in human forms.
"Looks like everyone is having a grand old time." Discord said, hanging upside down. "Despite them not being back home, everyone's very happy as can be."
"Yeah, they do look happy, don't they?" Spyro asked, smiling.
"Shame Daring Do won't be able to write about this little adventure in her book series." Discord said, pullin gout one of her books. "It'd be one of her best sellers yet."
"I'm sorry, but if knowledge of the other worlds got out, who knows what kind of repercussions might happen." Spyro said. "So I must make sure that this adventure remains hidden from others."
"And will that include erasing Daring Do's memory?" Discord asked, Spyro looking to him. "I mean, she doesn't have a Keyblade, so what's to say that she won't go ahead and write her book?"
"I don't know, what's keeping me from wiping your memory and turning you back into a baby?" Spyro asked.
However, a moment later, they heard some kind of commotion going on, looking down an alley and seeing that Indiana was in a bit of trouble as multiple men tried to attack him, which he tossed marion into a wagon full of hay and got his whip out, cracking it to scare them, but he ended up sending the whole wagon away as the horses moved as soon as the whip was cracked.
"That can't be good." Daring Do said.
"Quick, we need to help them!" Rainbow Dash said.
"Discord, help Marion to escape!" Spyro said. "We'll help Indy!"
"Righto!" Discord said, saluting him. He then went to help Marion while the others rushed to help Indiana, which the cart then stopped a moment later and allowed for her to get off and try to run, but a man was running at her, so she got a frying pan and held it to fight back, but he pulled out a knife and laughed, but Discord popped up behind him, smiling as he got a boxing glove out and put it on, turning to the readers as he smiled. "I picked this up from an old Bugs Bunny cartoon."
He then blew itno the thumb of the glove, making it bigger before tapping the man on the shoulder, punching him all the way into another building with rubble falling on top of him, Marion looking at him in confusion.
"How did you do that?" Marion asked.
"Believe me, if I told you how I do anything, we'd be here for another three chapters." Discord said. "Come on, we need to find you a safe place to hide." He looked and found a few baskets, grabbing her and pulling her to them, helping her in and looking around. "This should do."
"You sure?" Marion asked, getting in.
"Trust me, you'll be safe in here." Discord said, putting the lid on and running, but not before stopping and looking to the reader. "Honestly, she's not safe in there. The little monkey gives away her position. Just because I'm reformed doesn't mean I have to be that reformed, now do I?"
He then giggled a bit and ran off right as the men ran by, the monkey giving her position away as Discord said it would. Back to the fight, Spyro just dropped kick one of the men down and threw him into one of the stands, covering him in fruit right as Daring Do and Rainbow Dash knocked another out, both heading to the cart as Loona and Octavia tag teamed another and saw the cart was empty.
"Marion!" Indiana shouted.
"Relax, I had Discord help her find a safe place to hide." Spyro said right as Discord arrived. "Good timing. Where's Marion?"
"Relax, I hid her in a basket." Discord said.
However, a moment later, the crowd parted and revealed a single man in all black robes with a massive sword, laughing as he swung it around to try and intimidate everyone, but Spyro cracked his knuckles, ready to flatten him, but Indiana just got his revolver out and shot him, ending the battle before it started, everyone looking to him.
"Dude, seriously?" Loona asked. "Couldn't even be bothered with fighting the guy fair and square?"
"Maybe he needed to go to the bathroom?" Discord suggested, which the world paused and Spyro looked at the reader.
"Fun fact, that's exactly the reason he did that." Spyro said. "The actor who played Indiana Jones had a bad case of Dysentery, meaning he needed to take a mean @* and instead of getting into a lengthy fight, he just shot the guy." A moment later, the world resumed and they heard Marion shout for them, seeing a couple of men cary her away and Spyro looked ot Discord. "I thought you said she was safe!?"
"She was." Discord said. "Must have been the monkey that gave her away."
Spyro just face smacked himself and they all ran after Marion, pushing through the crowd as they ran to catch up, running through the alleyways to try and get her, but as they got into the open, they ran int a sea of baskets, making it impossible to tell which it was and Indiana resorted to trying to pull the baskets down to try and find her, but they then heard her, running to a couple of men with a rope tied to the top of the basket and as they ran, they saw a truck that they were running to, but another man was ready, firing a machine gun at them and forcing them to retreat and find cover, hiding behind the building as they started the truck up. They then started going, but Indiana had his pistol ready and Spyro spun his hand around, turning the air aroud it into water and freezing it into icicles, both running out with the archeologist firing his pistol while Spyro threw the ice shards, nailing the driver and causing the truck to turn and fall to it's side.
"Quick, get Marion!" Spyro said.
However, as they both ran to get her, the truck exploded, destroying itself and everyone in it as Spyro turned and sumond his wings, covering everyone from the explosion while getting a few pieces of metal in his leg, looking at the wreckage after it had calmed down a bit and everyone felt their hearts drop as they saw it burn. A little later, they were all in a small restaurant where Indiana was drinking his sorrows away while Spyro was removing the last of the metal, his healing factor repairing the damage, but everyone's mood was bad, filled with depression and sadness at loosing a friend.
"I'm sorry about Marion." Daring Do said, putting her hand on Indiana's shoulder. "She was a good friend."
"It's my fault." Discord said, his color literally draining from his suit as he looked down. "If only I had found a better spot for her to hide."
"We should have stuck together." Rainbow Dash said. "We should have not let our guard down, even if it was to relax and have fun for a change."
"It's not your guys fault." Indiana said, drinking more. "I shouldn't have gotten her mixed up in this. And now she's gone."
Everyone was quiet for a time, looking to their friend as he sunk lower into depression, but as they sat, a couple of men in suits approached, Spyro sensing there was something wrong with them as he reached for his Lightsaber.
"Dr. Jones." One of them said. "Come with us. There's someone who'd like to see you all."
Indiana, who was in. No mood for a fight, got up and followed them, the others following closely as they went into the building and followed the men all the way to the last person they expected to see, Belloq.
"Belloq." Indiana said.
"Dr. Jones." Belloq said. "Good to see you again. You and your colleagues."
"I oughta kill you now." Indiana said.
"A bit of a public place for a murder, don't you think?" Belloq asked.
"These guys don't care if we mop the floor with you or not." Loona said, cracking her knuckles. "You're gonna pay for what your little friends did to Marion."
"Well, aren;t you the feisty one." Belloq said. "And who might you be."
"Her name is none of your business." Spyro said, looking up and seeing the people. "Something tells me you didn't come here unprepared."
"Right you are." Belloq said. "I can see you're the smart one. Everyone here is armed to the teeth. There are over thirty men here ready to protect me with guns and knives. It would basically be five to one odd of you escaping alive."
"I like those odds." Spyro said, his eyes turning to Sith eyes.
"I'm well aware of who you are, your highness." Belloq said, spooking Spyro as his eyes returned to normal. "Besides, it wasn't I who brought the girl into this business. Please, sit. We can atleast be civilized."
"Yeah, like your german friends?" Spyro asked.
Everyone was on edge, waiting for one or the other to make a move, but it was Indiana who sat down, ending the tension for a moment as he sat and the monkey moved away from him.
"I see you will have some taste in friends." Belloq said. "How odd that it should end here after so many stimulating encounters. I almost regret it. How will I find a new adversary so close to my own level."
"Indiana's no where near your level punk." Rainbow Dash said. "He's two floors above you. You're all the way down with the snakes and backstabers."
"Yeah, try looking in the local sewer." Indiana said. "I'm sure you'll find plenty there."
"You're friends have spirit." Belloq said. "You and I are much alike Dr. Jones. Archeology is our religion. Yet we're both foreign from the purity of faith. You're not that much different as you pretend you are. I'm a shadowy reflection of you. Takes only a nudge to make you like me."
"He's nothing like you." Spyro said.
"And what makes you so sure of that?" Belloq asked.
"Because I have faith in him." Spyro said. "I have faith that he'll always do the right thing, no matter what. No matter the losses or the odds of our victory. He'll always pull through."
"You having faith in him?" Belloq asked. "Heh, now that's rare. Because it doesn't take much for him to become like me. Besides, look at this." Belloq then pulled out a pocket watch, showing it to them. "It's worthless. Ten dollars from a vendor in the street."
"Good for you." Daring Do said.
"I take it, bury it in the sands for a thousand years and it becomes priceless." Belloq continued. "Like the Ark. Men will kill for it. Men like you and me."
"And what about your boss, the nut case?" Indiana asked. "I thought he was waiting to take possession of it?"
"All in good time." Belloq said.
"Too bad he's not getting it." Spyro said. "I'll personally make sure of that."
"Are you all so ignorant?" Belloq asked, looking to Indiana. "Do you even know wat it really is? A transmitter. A radio to talk to God!"
"You're delusional." Spyro said. "It carries the Ten Commandments. Soulless beings like yourself have no right to such a thing. And you won't get it."
"You want to go talk to God?" Indiana asked, looking at him. "Then we'll go see him together."
He then suddenly got up, pulling his revolver as everyone got their weapons out, but Spyro raised his hand, summoning the earth to create shards while Octavai got her magic ready, everyone preparing for a fight when Sallah's kids came in, wanting to get Indiana and everyone out while the crowd of people laughed.
"Next time Indiana, it'll take more than just children to save you." Belloq said.
"And next time we meet Belloq, I'll personally make sure that you have a one way ticket to Inferno." Spyro said, everyone walking out with Sallah's kids towards his truck, which Sallah was there waiting.
"Figured i'd find you all there." Sallah said. "Not exactly the United States Marines, eh?"
"Marions dead." Indiana said, loading Sallah's kids up.
"I know." Sallah said. "I am sorry my friends. But life goes on. Besides, the Elder is waiting for you. And so is someone else."
"Who?" Spyro asked.
"He didn't give me a name." Sallah replied. "Said he was a friend. Said he was related to a member of your group."
They looked at Sallah, wondering who it was that would be related to a member of their group, so they all loaded up into the truck, heading back to Sallah's house to drop the kids off before makign their way to the elders house, which once they enetered, they saw a man wearing dark brown pants, a blue dress shirt and a red vest, looking that them, but none but Loona and Octavia recognized him.
"Dad!" Octavia said excitedly.
"Via, my sweet girl." Stolas said, hugging his daughter. "How have you been? Have you been good?"
"Dad, I'm doing fine." Octavia said. "Better than fine, Spyro's teaching me a lot. He's like the big brother I always wanted."
"I'm so happy to hear that my sweet owlet." Stolas said, looking to Spyro.
"Stolas, why are you here?" Spyro asked.
"You know this guy?" Indiana asked.
"I do." Spyro replied. "This is Stolas Goetia. "He's one of the heads of the Royal Goetia Family in the Ring of Pride."
"A pleasure Dr. Jones." Sotlas said, shaking his hand. "I ran into a few of the people you sent into Hell. They're not exactly too pleased with you."
"I bet they are." Indiana said.
"So why are you here Stolas?" Spyro asked.
"Well, I came here because of the Ark." Stolas replied. "When Blitz told me you were after it, I knew I had to come and warn you about it."
"We got a bigger problem than that." Sallah said. "Belloq has a copy of the head piece."
"Seriously!?" Rainbow Dash asked. "How'd he get a copy!?"
"Ten bits says that the guy who tried to pick it up back in Nepal had it burned into his hand." Spyro said.
"However they got it, they're now far ahead of us." INdiana said. "You sure they have one like ours?"
"I tell you only what I saw with my own eyes." Sallah said as one of his kids brought over some dates. "A headpiece like that one, except the edges were a little rougher. And in the center, the frenchman had embedded a crystal and surrounding the edges were raised markings like the one we have."
"Then we're in trouble." Spyro said, grabbing one of the dates as did Indiana and the monkey. "Did they make the calculations in the map room?"
"This morning after you arrived." Sallah said. "Belloq and the boss german Dietrich. And when they came out, they gave us a new spot to dig."
"Then we ned to crash that Dig site and get the ark before they do!" Rainbow Dash said.
"You must keep them from getting the Ark." Stolas said. "Humans are not meant to have such an artifact as it could destroy everything that looks into it."
"That I'm in agreement with." Spyro said, spinning the date around. "If the germans get it, then the world will be in danger."
"Where's the new dig site at?" Daring Do asked.
"It's outside of the camp." Sallah replied.
"The Well of Souls." Indiana said, about to eat the date.
"Come, come, look, look." The elder said, everyone walking over and sitting. "Sit, sit down."
"What's up?" Octavia asked.
"This is a warning, not to disturb the Ark of the Covenant." The elder said.
"Does it say how long the staff is?" Indiana asked.
"Yes, here." The elder said, pointing to a section around the medallion. "It says that the staff is no greater than six kadam height."
"That's about seventy-two inches." Spyro said.
"Well now we know how high it needs to be." Indiana said, he and Spyro moving to eat the date.
"Wait!" The elder said, flipping it over. "And take back one kadam to honor the hebrew god whose arK this is."
As he said that, the entire room went cold, the wind blowing through as Spyro felt a sudden push of power go through the room, looking to Stolas and Octavia who also felt it, everyone getting up to talk as Daring Do got a date for herself.
"Their head piece only had markings on one side." Spyro said. "The side that said their staff needed to be seventy-two inches long."
"But it actually needs to be sixty inches long." Daring do said, everyone smiling.
"They're digging in the wrong place." They all said in unison.
Sallah started to laugh, singing in Arabic as Spyro went to eat the date, but as he did, he could smell something coming from the date, taking another whiff of what was on it and knew immediately they were poisoned, looking to Daring Do as she tossed it into the air, but he grabbed it, the same with Sallah as Indiana did the same thing, Daring Do looking to him in annoyance.
"Dude, what the heck!?" Daring Do asked.
"They're poisoned." Spyro said.
"Wait, what?" Rainbow Dash asked, both she and Octavia about to eat a date they had. "How do you know that?"
He then looked to the floor and saw the dead monkey, everyone following his gaze to the poisoned monkey with a date in it's hand, everyone dropping the dates and wiping their hands as Sallah looked at it.
"Bad dates." Sallah said.
"You can say that again." Spyro said.
He then put the poisoned dates back in the dish and walked over to the monkey, placing his hand on it's head and speaking a few words in elvish before picking it up and carrying the poor thing outside to bury it. In the morning, they were outside of the dig site, seeing all of the wooden structures and equipment, the animals and men working on digging, Spyro and Indiana wearing white clothing to blend in with the diggers while Indiana had the staff they needed.
"Now that's a dig site." Daring Do said. "Biggest one I've ever seen."
"Same here." Indiana said. "Spyro, you, me, and Sallah will go down there first. I want to make sure nothing bad happens to your friends."
"I'm with you there." Spyro said, looking to Discord. "Discord, keep them safe. If anyone sees you and tries to capture you, do what you do best."
"Wait, you mean it?" Discord asked.
"I'm not taking any chances." Spyro said. "Not after what happened to Marion." He then looked to his friends, seeing the worry in their eyes as he also felt a little worried, walking over and kissing Rainbow Dash on the head before lookign at her. "I'll signal you guys our location when it's safe. Discord, keep them safe."
"Sure thing." Discord said.
"Wait, i'd like to go too." Daring Do said. "I'm an explorer, not a damsel in distress. I can handle myself."
The three men looked at one another, knowing they didn't have much time, so Spyro nodded and the four of them then walked into the dig site, walking among the other diggers who were digging to find the Ark and blending in without any issue.
"Geez, they must have half of Cairo here digging for the Ark." Spyro said.
"Well Sallah did say they had every digger they could find." Indiana said. "What time is the sun supposed to hit the map room?"
"About nine in the morning." Sallas replied.
"Then we don't have much time then." Spyro said. "Where are they digging for the Well of Souls?"
"On the ridge to the northwest." Sallah replied. "But the Map room is on the other side of the dig site. They don't have any guards there, usually."
"Then we better move." Spyro said. They then moved to a hill where the Map room was at, seeing a large hole in the side of the hill with barbed wire surrounding it. Using the Force, be pulled a couple of the pikes up to give them some walking room before reaching the hole, looking down it and seeing the drop was pretty high, looking to Indiana and Sallah. "I'll go first. Drop the staff to me when I whistle."
They nodded and he jumped down, using the force to slow his fall and dust himself off before whistling, letting Indiana know to drop the staff, so he did and Spyro caught it, holding the staff as Sallah got a rope ready and allowed for Indiana and Darign Do to repel down into the Map room, both men looking and seeing the map of the entire city, marveling at it.
"It's amazing." Daring Do said.
"It's something alright." Spyro said. "Indy, where do you need to put the staff in?"
"In the stone slab in front of us." Indiana said. "There's a specific hieroglyph I need to find the right hole."
Indiana then started to look, following the slab until he found the line he needed, sweeping it off as Daring Do helped, getting her own brush out and helping him to sweep until they found what they were looking for, mollowing the glyph all the way to the hole they needed, so he got up and took the staff, attatchign the headpiece to the top of the staff and putting it in the place they needed and they all waited for the sun to move over the headpiece, watching the light move as it went over the headpiece, the outline of the medallion and crystal move until it reached where it was supposed to be, a laser firing from the medallion and all three looked, Spyro already moving to where the laser was and writting down all the measurements and degrees that they needed to find the ark, smiling as he wrote it all down.
"Got it." Spyro said, putting the notebook away. "Let's get out of here."
"Not before doing this." Indiana said, snapping the stick and tossing the headpiece to Spyro, who caught it and put it on and into his clothing to keep it hidden. "Sallah, toss down the rope." Nothing happened, all of them growing worried as nothing happened. "Sallah!"
"Something must have happened." Daring Do said.
"Let's hope not." Spyro said.
A moment later, something fell on Indiana, who removed it and saw it was a flag, which belonged to the germans and looked up, not wanting to question where he got it from, they all climbed up, seeing Sallah there as he helped them up.
"I am sorry my friends." Sallah said. "The soldiers dragged me away from the hole and took the rope away."
"That's alright Sallah." Spyro said. "We got what we need. Let's go."
"We'll need to go through the Germans camp to leave." Sallah said.
"Terrific." Spyro said, looking to Daring Do. "Stay close."
They then started to move through the camp, Spyro finding a sheet and passing it to Daring Do so she could pass by without being spotted, passing by a table full of soldiers wanting water, so Sallah distracted them while the three of them walked by, seeing another platoon, so they all dove into the nearby tent, Spyro keeping a hold on Daring Do as he kept an eye out if they were being followed while Daring Do looked at him.
"You always this protective?" Daring Do asked.
"Of course." Spyro said, looking at her. "I'd do anything to protect my herd."
Daring Do found it kinda sweet, feeling her face turn red and looked away, but as she did, she saw something that made her eyes widen, so Spyro looked at well, seeing it was Marion, alive and well. Jones immediatly hugged her as she screamed and tried to kick him off, but he removed the cloth hiding his face, calming her down immediately as he removed her gag.
"I thought you were dead." Indiana said.
"We all thought you were dead." Spyro said, moving around to her bonds. They must have switched baskets to throw us off and discourage us from continuing the hunt."
"Kinda smart actually." Daring Do said as Indy and Marion kissed.
"Did they hurt you?" Indiana said as Spyro changed his hand into a dragon claw.
"No, but you need to get me out of here, quick." Marion said. "They'll be back soon. Get me loose, quick. They keep asking about you all, what you know."
That was when Spyro stopped before he could begin cutting, looking at Indiana and both silently agreed.
"Marion, we can't cut you loose." Spyro said, changing his hand back.
"What?" Marion asked. "Why not?"
"We know where the Ark." Indiana said.
"It's here?" Marion asked.
"It is, but if we cut you loose, this entire place will go on lock down and won't be able to get to it." Spyro replied. "They'll start combing the place for us and we'll never get the ark."
"I hate to say it, but he's right." Daring Do said. "If we free you now, then we're all dead."
"So what do we do?" Marion asked.
"You're gonna need to stay here." Spyro said, standing up. "The only reason they kept you alive is to pry as much info out of you as possible. You need to stay here and lead them away from us until we get the Ark. We'll come back for you as soon as we have it."
"Alright, but you better be back soon." Marion said.
Spyro nodded as they put the gag back on her to make sure n one was suspicious of them, but as they left, he snapped his fingers and Aragami appeared, looking at him as he looked outside, his friends moving away from them.
"Stay with Marion." Spyro said, looking to her. "If we get the Ark and Belloq snatches it, meld into his shadow and wait for the opportune moment to strike."
She nodded and moved across the shaded floor, going into Marions shadow as he left, following his friends onto a ridge with a telescope, so Spyro took out his journal and gave it to Indiana to use, looking through the scope and following the measurements that he wrote down all the way to a rock before adjusting to another ridge, focusing the scope until he found the right spot, smiling as he looked at it.
"That's it." Indiana said, letting Spyro have a look.
"We found it." Spyro said. "I'll signal the others to meet us there."
He then got out a small piece of paper and wrote down where to meet them, turning it into a swan and blowing on it to bring it to life and fly towards their friends. After that, hey got Sallah and a few of his men and went to the ridge, climbing up to see the entire dig site and knew they would be discovered if they didn't move fast, So Indiana whistled for them and they got everything set up to make it look like it was another area they were trying, beginning digging as their friends arrived, the sun setting as they dug. As night fell, a storm was coming, one that Spyro could feel powerful magic was causing and felt his skin crawl, not liking it, but a moment later, one of the picks hit something hard, everyone stopping as the looked down.
"Indy, here, we his stone!" Sallah said.
Both Indiana and Spyro rushed down, dusting away to see the ground is stone, both looking at one another as they knew exactly what it meant.
"Clear it off!" Indiana said. "Find the edges."
The men then got to work, lightning cracking above them as they dusted it off and as they did, they slowly found the edges, finally revealing the entire slab and makign them smile.
"Good, good, good!" Sallah said. "See Indy, see!"
"Bring the Pry bars in!" Indiana said.
"No, I'll handle it." Spyro said.
He then extended his hand, reaching out with the Force as he slwly lifted it up, but as he did, he suddenly felt his magic being drained, his powers growing weaker as did Discords, feeling dizzy and forcing him to sit down, but Spyro pushed through, struggling with the Force to lift the slab up to reveal what was underneath the, feelign his own power growing weaker and weaker, but he managed to lift the slab, pushing it away before dropping it, dropping to the ground in exhaustion.
"Spyro!" Rainbow Dash said, she and Octavai running over to help him up. "You ok?"
"I'm fine." Spyro said. "But something's draining my magic. It has to be the ark."
They then looked itno the room, holding torches to see inside when the lightning cracked, revealing a jackal hea and spooking Sallah and a few of Spyro's friends, Rainbow Dash holding onto his arm as they looked in and saw the statue, now knowing what it was that drained him.
"What is that?" Daring Do asked.
"An Egyptian Monument to Anubis." Spyro said. "The Egyptian God of death and funerals. That's why I feel so weak. These monuments have protective spells carved in them to prevent magic from being used if it's not the original caster. I have one in my vault to keep dark magic out."
"Uh, Spyro, why is the floor moving?" Loona asked.
He looked down and saw that it was moving, having a bad feeling about what was down there as did Indiana.
"Sallah, give me your torch." Indiana said. He took the torch and threw it down, revealing that the entire room was filled with snakes, much to the archeologists and to Daring Do's horror as they saw them slithering around, making them both pale as they saw them. "Snakes. Why did it have to be snakes?"
"For protection I guess." Spyro said. "One of the traps meant to keep grave robbers from trying to take the Ark would be my guess." He then looked up, seeing that Daring Do didn't look so good and felt worry. "You ok there Daring Do?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'll be fine." Daring Do said. "Not a big fan of snakes myself."
"Asps." Sallah said. "Very dangerous." He then looked to Indiana, shaking his shoulder to get his attention. "You go first."
Everyone looked at Sallah in disbelief, Spyro looking livid as he looked at him.
"Did you seriously tell a guy whose afraid of snakes to go first?" Spyro asked.
"Yeah, what's wrong with you!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"We need to get to the ark." Indiana said. "Give me some rope and I'll go down."
"I'm going with you." Spyro said. "Girls, stay here. Daring Do, you especially. Snakes can sense fear."
Spyro then leapt down first. Landing on the ground with a thud and felt his power being drained by the second as Indiana repelled down, barely sensing his fear as he looekd for something to keep them back, finding a few torches and grabebd them, using the first to light them up and put them around them in a protective circle as Indiana reached the ground, grabbing some nearby gasoline and putting it into another contraption.
"Sallah, get down here!" Indiana said.
He then started to spray the snakes, covering them in gasline before grabbing a torch and burning them, Sallah and Rainbow Dash coming down to help followed by Octavia, Loona, Discord, and surprisingly Daring Do, all getting torches and making a path to an alter where they believed the Ark would be.
"Daring Do, what are you doing here?" Spyro asked.
"I came to help." Daring Do said. "Despite my fear of snakes."
"Yeah, well, stay close." Spyro said. "I don't want to take any unnecessary chances here."
They then started to make their way to the alter, making sure to remain in the path they made as the snakes hissed around them, feeling their aggression as they moved.
"So why did they choose these statues?" Discord asked. "Why not use angels or anything like that?"
"Because Anubis is the god of death." Spyro replied. "Those who took the Ark saw that any who touched it would die of mysterious circumstances. It's a warning."
"A warning of what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Not to disturb the Ark." Spyro replied.
They then reached the alter, which they found that the top of it could be lifted up, so Indiana, Sallah, and Spyro moved to either side and lifted up, removin the top and throwing it aside, revealing to their amazement, the Ark of the Covenant. Everyone was speechless when they saw it, Discord moving to touch it, but Spyro grabbed his hand, shaking his head to discourage him from touching it out of fear o fhim dying from it. They spotted a couple of wooden rods and picked them up, using them to lift the ark out of it's resting place before beginning to move it towards the entry way as octavia and Daring Do got a crate ready for them, but as they moved, Spyro could hear voices coming from the ark, tempting him to touch it or to open the lid to claim the power inside, but he ignored it, reaching the crate and boxed it up, tying a rope on it as they began to lift it up.
"Alright, lift it up!" Indiana said. "Easy does it!"
"Indy!" Sallah said, getting a torch and moving a snake away.
"Shoot!" Daring Do said, getting another and keeping the snakes back. "Spyro, can't you use your magic or something!?"
"I can't." Spyro said, grabbing another torch. "The statues power is draining my magic. I can't use anything except for the Force."
To prove his point, Loona['s disguise started to fail, her tail popping out, so she made it stand up to try and hide it.
"Then we need to get out of here." Discord said.
"Sallah, you go first." Spyro said. "We'll cover you."
Sallah then started to climb up the rope, reaching the top, but the rope then fell, everyone having a bad feeling about out as they looked up to see what was wrong.
"Hello!" Belloq said, smiling at them and waving. "Hello! Why Dr. Jones, what are you and your colleagues doing in such a nasty place?"
"Why don't you come on down here and we'll show you!" Indiana shouted.
"Thank you my friend, but I think we're all very confortable up here." Belloq saidf, everyone laughing. "Yes, we're all very comfortable up here. And once again Jones, what was briefly yours is not mine. Such a fitting end to your lifes pursuits. You and and your friends will become a permanent addition to the archeological find. Who knows, maybe in a thousand years all of you will be worth something."
"Ha, ha, ha, @*@ you too!" Spyro said. "Now throw us down a rope and I'll only punch you in the nose!"
"I'm afraid we must be going Dr. Jones." Deitrich said. "Our prize is awaited in Berlin. But we won't leave you alone in that awful place."
They then brought Marion pover, who was trying to get free while she was in a dress, being thrown in, but Indiana caught her while Spyro kept the snakes away.
"The girl was mine!" Belloq said.
"The girl is of no importance to us now." Deitrich said. "Only our mission matters. I wonder if you have that in mind Belloq.'
"It was not to be, chérie." Belloq said.
"You sons of @#@es I'll get yoiu for this!" Marion shouted.
"Indiana Jones, and others... adieu." Bellow said.
The soldiers then forced the workers to close the hole, Sallah looking sad as they closed the hole as Marion shouted for them, Belloq looking disappointed as they took the ark and left, leaving the group alone in the Well of Souls to die.