9977/Into the Evil Temple of Evil Doom

Into the Evil Temple of Evil Doom
Date of Scene:	09 November 2019
Location:	Somewhere in Austria
Synopsis:	Investigating an underground dig, Lara stumbles into a sneaky French thief and an undead snake THING (probably not French) in the Dark Evil Temple of Doom
Cast of Characters:	Fantomex, Lara Croft

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Fantomex has posed:
About a few weeks ago there was a bit of excitement among the explorer/archeologist community. A routine maintenance in the basement of a twelve century church in the Austrian Alps had led to the discovery of a set of tunnels deeper into the mountain. Tunnels some experts dated as over four thousand years old. Pre Myceanean. In the Alps.

Even today the bulk of the archeology and historian community clings to the Twenty Century idea civilization started in the Indus and Mesopotamia about four of five thousand years ago. Lara probably knows better. Enough Hyborian artifacts have been discovered in the last couple decades showing a medieval-level civilization ten thousand years ago. Not to mention the Atlanteans claim they had a fairly advanced nation on an island about twenty thousand years ago, and they have provided some solid evidence too.

But it is still interesting when something like this is found. And then it is even more interesting when a 'curse' starts killing people. Not so interesting when the 'curse' is traced to a local gang of religious weirdos. Satanists, said the newspapers. It actually made it to British newspapers, but in the tenth page.

Still, the place was cordoned, the investigation delayed and then a whole archeologist team vanished. So the site got closed and Lara received a phone call. At this point it was Lara Croft or maybe calling the army.

It is possible some of the cultists are lurking in the tunnels? But it is probably something worse. So Lara, go raiding.

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara gets a call of this variety, she's prepared for the worst... quite literally. Her long trip to this location was one she spent time planning for, by researching the area and by making sure that she was equipped with the safest of gear. Being a member of SHIELD gave her some bonuses that she might otherwise not have though, namely in the form of transportation and the ability to cross borders with gear that might otherwise get her gummed up, if not out-right detained.

But, thats not the case now in Lara's life and she arrives to this location in fully prepared survival gear, with no small amount of weapons on her person as well. Lara is an archaeologist by profession, one of growing notoriety due to her theatrical lifestyle as well as her ability to actually get results, where others simply aren't prepared to do. Lara's life had yielded her training and knowledges that the average archaeologist just didn't get in their days of normal life plus schooling... hers included so much more than that.

So Lara arrives, searching for her contact(s) who might give her additional guidance on her next steps forward to solving this odd mystery.

Fantomex has posed:
In the nearby town Lara is received by an old professor from the Vienna university as well as the local police chief and the Interpol representative. They gave her a map of the explored tunnels, which seem to go at least a mile into the mountain. Also a dossier of the six missing archeologist. Well, two archeology doctors, two senior students and a couple speleologists that were helping. They have been gone three days, so maybe they are still alive.

Lara has 24 hours before a heavily armed group of cops goes in and make a mess. The archeological community would like to avoid a bunch of heavily armed and armored policemen going into the 'discovery of the century' (for Austria, at least).

The tunnels, she had pictures, are looking remarkably stable for their age, walls of large bricks, with stone reinforcements every few yards. That is no ancient mine, for sure. Someone built that to last millennia.

The entrance is in the basement of the local church, which also old but not very interesting. Romanesque early medieval, with a few early gothic reforms. There are dozens of those in Central Europe. Only thing strange is Saint George seems to be preeminent in the oldest nave. But contrarily to what most think Saint George is not a British Saint, but a Greek one, and from the Fourth Century.

Lara Croft has posed:
When Lara arrived, she did-so with her gear in luggage strapped to her person. She'd met and greeted the officials that had been waiting for her, she'd specifically assured the police chief that his people wouldn't be needed and that she'd solve this and find those who've gone missing... internally she-to is amongst those that does not want to see a fully armed squad of police officers dredging into any newly discovered ancient site before its had time to be fully explored, catalog and... just generally better understood. Teams like that can completely trash a site, without even realizing they're doing it.

Once inside the church, Lara began to assemble her gear upon her person, with everything from climbing equipment to even weapons for self defense. The basement was looked over as she wandered through it toward the catacombs entrance, but she knew she was on a clock and would have to do the real research once she'd found those who'd gone lost.

So, stepping into the tunnels, Lara activates a tracking beacon at the gateway. It will follow her every move on a handheld device, allowing her to easily know every twist and turn she might take down within the dark, which in-turn allows a quicker return by following those directions in reverse.

Once inside said dark, Lara activates a chemlight and hangs it from the side of her handgun holster on her right hip, it casts a warm 'candlelight' hued illumination to the tunenls around her as she sets off to find the lost researchers.

Fantomex has posed:
The first part of the tunnels has plenty of signs of exploration. Markings, some gear, lamps (dried off batteries), even an expensive metal detector. Deeper, there is almost nothing, barely even dust. They were being cautious. The 'curse' had injured several workers and killed an archeologist even before the cult was found.

Then Lara goes deeper, into areas were the tunnels were only sketched. They used a drone to take pictures, and then they lost the drone. And when Lara finds the drone, it is skewed by an iron spear into the floor. A mechanical trap that survived thousands of years. An engineering impossibility. The spear is somewhat rusty, but clearly not carrying centuries of rust.

And then there is a secret passageway down.

Formerly secret, because someone pushed a few bricks on the wall and caused a narrow entrance open at the other side. There is a staircase down, into the darkness.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara creeps along in the dark with her candlelight chemlight giving her some guidance toward where to go next, she keeps her senses peeled to help guide her further though and when she comes across some of the items belonging to the team that had been down here, she spares a few moments to look at what they'd had, perhaps finding any clues she might need. But ultimately she presses on deeper, until she finds the drone.

Its here that Lara reaches down and manipulates it to get a better look at it. The spear. She gathers that up and rolls it over in her half-gloved hands, inspecting its craftsmanship and the quality it holds today... She discards it, ultimately though, and with it she unclips the chemlight from her holster and drops it on the ground too, leaving it here to illuminate this chamber in her wake.

Lara's right hand lifts up to her head where she pulls down a set of goggles that she secures over her eyes, a second later and she's given a fair amount of low-light vision, or night vision. With her hands free now, she starts down the staircase, keeping her back to the walls and not using its center, electing instead to stay close to the walls for protection from behind while she descends, looks and listens...

Fantomex has posed:
That spear was strange. The Arabs had spears like that a thousand years ago. But not... quite. They didn't build things like this, either. The stonework is ancient. More like ancient Egyptian in style, but again, not quite. The technique is much better than those of the Pyramid-builders, almost Renaissance-age. Yet it feels -much- older.

It might be the discovery of the year, even. A pre-historical culture in Central Europe able to build this? Not discovery of the century, though. The Norse gods rebuilt Asgard on Earth just a couple years ago. It is going to be difficult to top -that- archeologically speaking.

The staircase is also odd, because it is granite and it is worn. Which means it was used for centuries, maybe millennia. Also, it is broad enough for four people, which is crazy talk considering how difficult must have been digging this using ancient equipment.

And then Lara reaches a point the staircase is broken. It was another trap, a pit hole trap that someone triggered very recently. Looks deep.

Lara Croft has posed:
If Lara were in a place where she could truly spend time within all of this, she'd likely be a-light with talking to herself about all that she's seeing... its something she's done since she was a little girl, of course its also fairly common for 'only children' to do that, talk to themselves, after spending so much time without another sibling to interact directly with.

But due to the nature of this action, she knows that she can't do such a thing, because there are rogue elements here, people who might try to do her harm if they get the jump on her arrival before she gets it on them... So, Lara is left taking all of this visual information in, and boy is it certainly making her thoughts light up with intrigue. It is without a doubt a remarkable site and a big discovery... she intends for those who found it to get back safely to enjoy it with the rest of the world.

When the deep cut in the stairs is reached, Lara pauses beside it. She peers down within it and then up and across it. Her left hand reaches to her corresponding hip and she detaches the climbing ax dangling from a strap against her thigh. She uses it then to turn to the wall and gain leverage to attempt to cross over the pit... to get past it and back on course down the staircase.

Of course, this will make a little bit of noise that she hopes she can keep reduced, but... it'll be challenging to stay stealthy while crossing said trap.

Fantomex has posed:
There is a bit of noise, but it shouldn't be hard.

Bu then there is a voice coming from the bottom of the pit. "Well, now..." it starts, accented French. "You quite the sight. Unexpected, too. I heard they might send some cops tomorrow morning, but not about attractive lone women."

There is a brief pause. And if Lara points her flashlight down, there is a man at the bottom of the pit. There are also many iron spikes at the bottom of the pit, although the man seems to be standing (uncomfortably) at the edge, somehow having avoided a nasty impalement. He is masked and clad in white. "Would you be so kind to drop a rope. I can't quite manage to climb out. Broken legs, you see."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara didn't expect to hear a man's voice speaking UP to her from the bottom of that pit, let alone one appraising the quality of her appearance in the amount of infiltration and stealth gear she's wearing, but all the same, when he does speak she pauses and looks down to him... Its surprising, of course, but she just stares for a moment until he expresses needing help...

it could be a trap... at the bottom of a previously designed trap, no less.

Lara finishes her climb, reaching the other side of the pit and then she peers down into it. Suddenly a light shines down upon the man inside the pit and there's the sound of a gun being holster from her thigh. "What is your name?" She asks, having been told all of the names on this expedition that she's looking for, so she'll know if it is one of the missing or not... if its not, then he may very well be a threat to her.

"How did you end up down there?" She asks further then, the white LED-powered light shines brightly down upon him, trying to take in the sight of everything he has going on... to assess the potential threat to her here.

Fantomex has posed:
The man in white hrms, looking perhaps embarrassed. "I had an argument with a... thing. A thing I confused with a man for a while," he admits. "I am Fantomex, ma chere," he adds. "France's greatest gentleman thief. You are British, aren't you? So you must have heard about me."

And Lara has likely heard about him, since Fantomex has stolen a few priceless art pieces from the British museum and the Louvre, although he usually preys on the private collections of the super-rich. He might have even stolen something Lara obtained at great personal risk!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara, having the literal high ground here, keeps her flashlight at the ready, though her back is now to the depths of this catacombs unexplored areas, since she'd crossed the pitfall and was now staring down into it at the man down below.

"I see." Comes the Briton's soft response. "I believe I have heard of you indeed." She then adds before she takes another step to her left. "You're a wanted man, as you likely know." She then adds before she starts to work with something on her belt, on her hip, though it'd be hard to see what she's doing since she's shining the light down at him.

"You spoke of a 'thing'?" Lara asks him then. "I take this thing is associated with the individuals I've been asked to come find down here?"

A moment later and a rope drops down beside him, she's offering him a line and a way to climb up.

Fantomex has posed:
"Oui, the disadvantages of success, I suppose," but look, a rope! Maybe she likes outlaws. "Although I do not truly know what you have been requested to do," he comments climbing quickly, if favoring one of his legs. "I will presume it has to be with the missing archeologists. And it was my intention to investigate their fates too, although it is not my main goal here."

He reaches the top of the pit, pulling himself out with a pained grunt, sitting at the edge. His white clothes are stained with blood, particularly on the legs. "I thought I found one of them. But the body language was all wrong. Not quite human. I tend to notice those things, and yet still I was tricked into this pit."

Lara Croft has posed:
By the time that Fantomex makes it to the top of the pit, Lara has already stepped back several feet, and taken her gun out of its holster. She doesn't trust him. She has no reason to based on what he's already told her. He's a thief, he'll swindle her or worse if it means he gets his own goals accomplished. But she's not about to leave him to rot in a pit.

Her eyes look him over and now that they're on level ground she's more easily visible herself, with her hair tied back and held down beneath a rugged wool knit cap that she's wearing on top of her head. "I'm not sure if I hope that is your blood on you, or someone else's." She says back to him in her contrasting accented English, British to his French.

"Are you injured?" She has to ask him then, her brown eyes up upon his face. "And yes, I'm here for the Researchers. They dug themselves into a situation they weren't prepared for. We're on limited time before the local authorities begin to storm this place and there-in likely further damage the historical significance of this site. I'm here to preserve that, and the people... I just have to find them."

She glances further down, into the dark depths.

Fantomex has posed:
"Oh, it is all mine," admits Fantomex. "The 'thing' didn't bleed even when I put a hole where a human has the heart." He stands up with some effort. "But I heal quickly, I will be able to walk in a few minutes." He glances at the woman and her gun, seemingly unworried, although the mask hides his expression.

"To be honest I wasn't ready either," he grumbles, "I can deal with armed thugs and mechanical traps. And with mutants and metas to a point. But this is not it. Here I found... something else."

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's entire demeanor toward this man can easily be described and summarily summed up as 'unsure of'. She's unsure if she trusts anything he says, unsure if his intentions are true or what he might do one moment to the next. So after he says these next few things she just curtly nods her head toward him a single time.

"Right." She softly speaks in that calm voice of hers. "Well then, I must proceed. I'd recommend that you head back the way I came from, if you're injured it'll give you time to recover and you don't have to witness what likely will come next." She's treating him like she would a 'normal' civilian that she might find or rescue down here, but she's doing it for a number of reasons... one being she doesn't really like to work with others on missions like this. She's trained to kill from the shadows, which is difficult when you're with another person... especially one you're unsure of...

Lara's light is deactivated leaving just the ambient illumination in the stairwell and tunnel to remain dim and barely present. She holsters her handgun and reaches behind her for a very fancy archery bow that was mounted on her back, along with a number of equally fancy arrows that are attached to its side.

Without much else to say, Lara turns and starts to descend into the depths further. "Thank you for the information." she quietly says on her way. If he has super powered healing, he might assume she has some sort of powers herself... as bold as she seems to be toward all of this.

Fantomex has posed:
"Oh, that is kind of you, but..." wait, she is really going alone? Bold. But Fantomex doesn't seem to know who she is, so perhaps he is assuming she has superpowers. "Before you go, I'd love to know your name, my savior."

Is he turning back? Of course not. But he is not so altruistic he won't let Lara go first. Or maybe he figures he can step in and save her if she runs into trouble. That would make them even, which is good for his pride.

He can certainly be very, very stealthy when he must. And contrarily to Lara, he can see in the dark.

Lara Croft has posed:
As the woman starts down further into the depths, she looks back over her shoulder at him. His request takes a moment of thought before she yields to it. "Lara." She states, pausing, then adding. "Croft." As though she'd said it a million times before. Her eyes sweep back ahead then. "To be honest with you I'm not entirely sure I'm comfortable with a thief coming along with me on this, if you must know. There are people's lives at stake down here, it isn't solely about the treasures that this place may contain." Which some might odd coming from her... but people have a distorted viewpoint on what Lara Croft's actual morals truly are. Especially now that there's a movie and a video game based on her life's exploits out there in the pop culture of this wild world.

With her bow gripped in her half-gloved left hand, Lara continues on downward into the darkness. "They'll likely hear us coming if we're speaking as well." Which of course, she's right, so she's trying to keep her tone down as best she can.

Fantomex has posed:
Fantomex ahas. Yes, he has heard of her. No, he didn't see the movie, but E.V.A. did. To be honest E.V.A. watches too many movies, and since E.V.A. is technically part of him, he actually kinda did saw the movie.

It is complicated, okay? He is not crazy (much) he is a mutant that has an autonomous brain with personality.

"My partner liked your movie," he comments as the woman leaves. "And no worries, no one hears me if I don't want to." Which does not mean she sees him following her, because she probably won't.

The staircase continues down what must be about eight floors from a normal building, then opens up into a cave. And now Lara can see torchlight in the distance. Someone is definitely there. The air smells different, too. It is heavier, low in oxygen, with a faint whiff of rot and decay.

Lara Croft has posed:
"I'm glad to hear it." Lara says about the movie, she herself wasn't a fan of it. She'd actually not been involved in its production what so ever, but she did have some involvement in the video game... of which she's only seen videos of its finished form, never actually played it herself. Its a very weird thing for her to have her life exposed like that, to others, but it all stems back to the legal deals that were done after her shipwreck on the lost island of Yamatai.

"You have a lot of interesting talents then, Mister Fantomex." She states to him as they continue to descend. Once the staircase reaches and opening into a cavern, the air pressure shifts and the atmosphere grows more ominous in a way, though the torchlight up ahead doesn't help with that.

Lara's eyes peer into the darkness, she starts forward, though she's training her senses to look for threats while she tries to keep herself in as shadowy of a location as she can while still gaining ground. She glances back to Fantomex, but she doesn't say anything to him... he likely knows what threats are there just as well as she does, if not better.

Fantomex has posed:
No response this time, and Fantomex seems to have chosen to stay behind, since there is no one there when Lara glances back. In truth he let her go ahead for a minute before following. His legs still hurt from crashing on the pit, and he got some nasty cuts from the spikes despite avoiding most of them.

Fortunately now that E.V.A. is closing, he can pretty much ignore the discomfort.

Meanwhile Lara sneaks around with remarkable skill, sliding closer to the torch-lit area, to what looks like a Greek-style temple built in a cave. Vaguely Greek. Definitely an anachronism given the estimate age. The good news is that she can see several of the missing archeologists standing in a circle in the middle of the area. Not all of them, though.

Lara Croft has posed:
In the early days of her adventuring life, Lara wasn't as concerned with stealth. She never though that she'd be doing things like this in her teenage years, while those years were focused on her schooling, and basica survival training... once she hit her twenties and was dropped neck deep into a world of greater dangers and morally bleak situations, Lara started to learn new skills that she mixed in with her existing set... stealth skills.

This is the bulk of her training within SHIELD's facilities as well, and the Agent training they provide has helped quite a lot.

So Lara sticks to the shadows, her archery weapon clutched in her hand with its technical specifications being nearly on-par with something Hawkeye might use, though its custom built for Lara's build and with her tastes of course.

She spies the people she's here to save, and they... remain more important to her right now than this very odd Greek-like temple they're all immersed within and near-to. Another thing Lara's had to work on, prioritizing situations like this.

Right now, she's trying to target the threats, and come up with a way to disable them... the best way possible. She's not even really thinking about Fantomex or what he might do or bring to this situation. Though she does look to him here and there to make sure he's staying out of sight himself, and to factor him into her plan...

Fantomex has posed:
Stealth seems to work, no alarms are raised, although Lara's expert eye can spot a couple nasty mechanical traps through the most obvious approaches. Obviously someone has given them some maintenance, as they must be centuries old.

Finally she is close enough to the circle of people and she can spot some details. There are four standing, and Lara would recognize the two students and the speleologists. They look ashen-faced, eyes unfocused, barely breathing. A fifth figure becomes apparent too, an elderly woman lies crumpled on the ground.

The sixth missing person is not there.

Another detail becomes apparent. There is a large snake marble statue in a dais craved on the rock wall. It seems the main focus of this odd temple-like area. It is obviously very old, the dark marble cracked and stained.

And... plot twist, the eyes of the snake seem impossibly large rubies. Because of course. Each of those must be worth a king's ransom.

Lara Croft has posed:
Each individual trap that Lara spies she tries her best to quietly disable, or mark more obviously so others won't fall into them... truth be told, Lara wouldn't even wish her enemies to the fate of most of the traps she's found in old places like this. Some of them are utterly brutal, and though most of the enemies she faces off with she's had to harm in brutal ways too she's never desired that outcome for any of them, they generally just leave her little choice.

The sight of the people are taken in, the missing one is noted, and the snake statue is observed for a moment with Lara's brown eyes. The ruby's are noted, but she doesn't concern herself with 'treasure' much beyond its historical meaning and impact.

What Lara does do though, is start to try to lure one or more of the guards in to her own trap, draw them apart, make them separate so she can get the drop on them. Her goal is to disable them... though again, she'll kill if she has to.

So to that end, Lara makes quiet noises, tossing a rock into a shady location that she could easily ambush one of the guards if they were to venture in to investigate.

Fantomex has posed:
It sounds pretty loud, acoustics in this place are strange.

There was no guards on sight, but Lara was absolutely correct to assume there are guards. At the tick-clack noise of the tossed rock, the eyes of the snake statue seems to glow faintly. Perhaps a trick of the torchlight, but no... something fades into view slowly in the middle of the circle of people. Making them shudder slightly, tears streaking down their eyes.

It is a THING, as Fantomex said. A chalk-white copy of the sixth archeologist. Ghostly and cadaveric, it slinks forward a few yards. Lara can see a large bullet hole where a man's heart should be. But dead or not, it moves. It glances in the direction of the tossed stone. Then turns towards Lara.

Lara Croft has posed:
Its best to be cautious after all...

Lara lies in waits in the shadows, she observes the Serpent Statue when it reacts to the noises though... but its the apparition that appears that ultimately draws her attention. Once she takes in its details and it... looks to her, thats when she emerges from the shadows.

Lara steps out of the shadows with her bow up, and a arrow already pulled back in the compound bow, meaning its ready to fire without draining any of her physical strength out of her shoulders and arms due to the design of the bow.

"What is this?" Lara speaks out now, staring down the shaft of the arrow. "Release these people." She demands in a cool voice, a steady and even toned from the Agent and Adventurer. She's lost track of Fantomex though, not knowing where he is now.

Fantomex has posed:
The ssssssh sound the creature does sounds more reptilian than human. "No. They are mine now. As are you, foolish mortal. Defiler. Thief." The bow doesn't seem to intimidate the temple guardian. "Oui, I put a bullet through its heart, but don't think it has one anymore," whispers Fantomex.

"I can hear you, thief," growls the guardian.

"But not see me? Tres bien. I was concerned my tricks were not working on you," the man in white fades into view at the side of the creature, a large handgun aiming straight to its head. Definitely he was there, but invisible to Lara.

Lara Croft has posed:
Once the intentions of the 'Thing' are spoken, and Fantomex makes his point, Lara adjusts her game plan here. there's really no other options or choices but to get creative. "Not likely." Lara speaks back in-short to the 'Thing' with a clenched jaw so her words are tight and menacing.

She turns then and takes several quick steps before she raises her bow and aims it right at the Serpent Statue. She releases the arrow and sends it twirling through the air toward one of the two Ruby Eyes!

Lara's assumption in this is that those prominently featured eyes made from a very clearly rare source, are magically infused, that they might... MIGHT be powering the magic behind whatever is creating this illusion and the hex or spell it seems to have over the Scientists that are standing like charmed zombies!

Fantomex has posed:
"You can't harm me with your weapons, stupid humans," states the guardian.

And then Lara shoots at one of the statue's eye. "Nooooo!"

It shatters. Ruby shouldn't shatter like that. It was more like a lightbulb exploding. There is, instantly, an acrid and rotten smell. The four archeologists fall down to the ground.

Fantomex says something about 'excuse me if I try again' and puts several bullets on the monster head, which draw its attention back to him, and also seem to enrage it very much. The ghost throws a lightning bolt and the French thief goes flying to the other side of the cavern. BOOM.

Then turns to Lara and attempts to do the same to her.

Lara Croft has posed:
After Lara's shot is released, she watches the results and knows it was a well thought-out guess, especialy at the apparition's response to it! She then moves, at first toward the group she'd come here to help, but when they crumple to the floor is when she hears, then sees Fantomex take a energy bolt which sends him flying...

Thats not good.

So to avoid drawing the spirit's attention to her and the remaining survivors, Lara leaps forward across a small gap in the rocky floor and then dives behind some cover just as the same energy bolt that had hit the French Thief, slaps into the stone she's ducked behind.

"There's only one left!" Lara calls out. "Submit and survive, in whatever incarnation you're in now, or watch me destroy it and you with it!" The limbs on Lara's bow are retracted into its central body, she stows it behind her back, then draws out her handgun from her left thigh, gripping it tightly in her leather half-gloved hands.

Fantomex has posed:
That makes the guardian even more furious, launching a bolt of lightning after another to Lara. Giving her no time to shoot.

And then Fantomex is back. "That stings a little," he admits. "Now, I am insulted. For thinking such tiny bolts could harm me. And calling me 'human', of all things! Did I mention I came here to steal one of those eye baubles?"

There is sarcastic and there that... Fantomex tone distills a degree of condescending mocking, deliberately denigrating disrespect that even Lara, not being the target, can feel the hairs of her nape standing up.

(Or maybe it is all the electricity around)

The thing goes absolutely berserk at hearting that. He forgets Lara and charges Fantomex blasting him with rock-shattering bolts of eldritch energy.

Lara Croft has posed:
The onslaught of attacks from the spirit to Lara's cover has her keeping down and low with her gun held close to her sternum, now gripped by both of her half gloved hands. She keeps it close and keeps herself down so as not to find out what Fantomex had found out about being blasted by that powerful energy... or so she hopes.

When she hears the attacks lessen, she stops crouching and suddenly raises up. She sees the Frenchman drawing the fire from the spirit away from her and this gives her a chance. She doesn't outright shoot at the statue, no she runs at it. Her gun lowers down to her side and is dropped back into her holster...

Lara chooses a new plan of attack, not to obliterate the eye, but instead...

She starts to scale the Serpent Statue. With her nimble ability to climb she's up it in moments, and her left hand is now brandishing a survival knife, that she jams into the socket of the snake and tries to POP the ruby eye OUT of the statue!

She's a treasure hunter too, after all!

Fantomex is probably not enjoying having to play distraction this long though...

Fantomex has posed:
The truth is Fantomex usually enjoys playing distraction and mocking people. Even if they are not really people.

There is a rather lot of lightning flying, though. And although he is very good at acrobatic dodging, he is running out of space.

Lara touching the ruby instead of just destroying is a serious mistake, though. The guardian hisses in anger, but the ruby glows bright and red energy flows into her body. And into her mind.

    >> It is MUCH, MUCH older than it seems. A million years ago. Beings with snake-heads. Chosen of the dark gods, they ruled this region. But with the passing of the millennia the gods of mankind made war to the alien demon-gods and the snake men were pushed away into dark caves. Hunted down. Slow to grow in numbers, they killed a hundred men for each of their own lost, and still they lose the war, just like their powerful, but slumbering gods lost the war to the antediluvian human gods. A few, however, survived physical death through dark rituals. Living of stolen soul energy, they went on and on, spreading hatred and misery on the human world. Even now! <<

Understanding comes to Lara - along with the compulsion to surrender and serve as soul-battery for the undead monster!

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's intention hadn't been to touch the ruby, part of her had thought that it might have a trap with direct skin contact, but the desire to have this item to research it and learn from it was too great. So when her knife failed to gain purchase on loosening the ruby, she did resort to reaching her hand out to try to pry it free.

This leads to a wealth of information, a vision even, to flood her mind of this stone's history as well as the history of those tied to it.

But with the effective learning of that history, Lara's soul is invaded and darkened by it. She shakes her head, squints her eyes and releases her hold on the statue, dropping down/sliding down the serpernt statue until she's dropped into a crouch position beneath it. Her dagger is planted into the ground and her eyes are facing down into the dirt.

Lara's free hand comes up to her face and she covers her eyes and nose with it, she rubs at her brows with her bare fingertips, back and forth while she tries to shake this dark presence inside of her mind. She can hear the fight continuing around her, but it sounds echoed now and distant...

She's struggling to gain her control back as she rises to her feet, leaving her knife behind, she stumbles away from the Serpent Statue now... leaving Fantomex to likely wonder what has become of her.

Fantomex has posed:
Releasing the ruby eye does not immediately break the contact with that dark device. It lingers like burning tar somewhere between Lara's mind and spirit, and a weaker woman would have drowned into such darkness.

Meanwhile Fantomex is finding pretty hard to keep ahead the snake monster trying to keep him. His broken legs are not fully healed, and the thing keeps shrugging off his best bullets. Although IT doesn't look human anymore, as the thief had blown up large sections of its head, revealing underneath the rotting skeleton of a snake-headed humanoid. Wearing a human skin like a creepy dress.

Lara Croft has posed:
Lara's will and mental fortitude are some of her strongest traits. She's no super powered hero, she's no mutant with genetically granted gifts. She's a human female, with strength of heart, character and quality that shines in other capacities. Though the mental grasp that that Snake's magic has on her mind is strong, its likely somewhat weakened due to her having already destroyed one of its eyes.

Now, stumbling to her feet again, she can hear the fight continuing around her as she reaches down to her hip and draws her gun. It slides out of the holster with a metal across nylon sweep, she raises it up and spins around to aim it up at the Serpent Statue's face again.

Lara's brown eyes peer down the sights of the handgun and she centers her aim right upon the glinted lgiht bouncing through the red ruby eye that remains. She'd tried to claim it, tried to pry it out with a knife, but it'd been savvy to that, a trap she hadn't seen coming in all the chaos of this event around her.

So now, she resolves herself to destroying it as she had its brethren. Lara squeezes the trigger on her handgun to blast the ruby to pieces!

Fantomex has posed:
The gunshot somehow comes much louder than all the other gunshots from Fantomex's twin guns. Deafening. There is a flash of darkness. A quiet explosion. Then all the torches go out and there is a total, chilling silence.

It might take a minute for Lara to realize she has fallen into the hard stone ground of the cavern. The darkness is complete, the temperature barely above freezing, it smells to rot and dust.

Then Fantomex shows up, a flickering luminous globe floating over his shoulder. He looks even more battered than before. "Still with us, mademoiselle?" He offers his hand to help Lara stand.

Lara Croft has posed:
Situations like this were the kine that Lara both despaired and desired. She'd grown addicted to adrenaline and it often left her unable to sleep at night, especially when she was in a safe place like her loft in Manhattan, it being the place where she generally sleeps the worst. Even just being in a tent out in the far away wilderness finds her better able to sleep.

Situations like this are what she's come to realize she lives for, even if she fears her own demise in them at any possible moment. 'Keep your wits about you, use what you've learned and been taught. You've had the best teachers, Lara, you can survive.' she'll tell herself.

When Fantomex arrives, she sees the illumination from over his shoulder and she looks to his hand. She reaches one of her own up to take it and rises up slowly with his help. She exhales, a heavy sigh. "I'm not sure thats the end of... whatever that thing was." She admits to him. "And yes, I'm fine. How are you? Thank you for the help."

Fantomex has posed:
"Only mostly black and blue under my no longer white uniform," admits the faux French thief. "I am not sure that thing is ended, but at least it is gone, and so is most of the architecture. The glowing ball glows a little brighter, revealing just old rocks. Not even nice stalagmites or stalactites. The 'temple' is gone. The big snake statues is just a boulder that only very vaguely resembles a snake.

The archeology team is there, though, on the floor. Four of them suffering of hypothermia and severe exhaustion, and will require years of therapy to recover from the horror of the last few days. Another is dead, cardiac arrest. The sixth? The sixth is just a bag of skin with weird bones inside. Bones that seem a mixture of human and snake bones. Something for WAND's researchers to puzzle over and have some nasty nightmares about.

Lara Croft has posed:
Once she's back on her feet and Fantomex bathes more of the ruins in light she takes in the sight of it all. "Its not normal for power like that to be in an... area like this. There's much to be explored yet down here." She quietly comments while turning around to look in all directions before finally her eyes fall upon the survivors from the team.

"We need to help them get back to the surface." She tells Fantomex, looking to him now. "Or at least, I do." She knows his reputation, that he's a wanted man. She realizes now that he probably has no intention of being seen by any of the authorities above them back on the surface, back where its 'safe' from dark magics that lie in deep places.

Lara holsters her gun, slides it back into its home on her thigh and she starts to walk toward the frightened people. She'll try to introduce herself to them, she'll try to convince them that its time to go and that they'll need to come back for their departed colleagues.

Fantomex has posed:
"I'll help you," decides Fantomex. Who has no intention to be seen by the authorities, but he won't vanish again until they are close to the cavern entrance. He then will have a long talk with the occultists that sent him to fetch a 'red snake eye'. He might never see the money, but he will have some answers, and maybe some blood.

The archeologists are barely responsive, so helping them out takes a few hours. But that gives Fantomex time to recover, and of course to ask Lara for her phone number. The floating glowing light remains with them the whole time. No explanations given.

Lara Croft has posed:
Once its all said and done and they're near the top of the cavern and ruins again, Lara stands beside the survivors with them taking a moment to rest. She spends a few minutes telling them what to expect up above and then turns to regard Fantomex.

She does give him contact information for her, she happens to have some on her in one of the pockets of her her clothing. Her SHIELD Agent information is included in it. "Your help was appreciated in this." She tells the man. "I realize you were down here for personal profit, but you stayed to help these people." She glances toward them, then back to him. "That means a lot. Even if there's no real evidence to tell those who may speak ill of you. But... I guess you're likely used to living in a gray world."

Lara shows him a faint smirk then and a light nod. "Thank you again, however, for what its worth. If something comes up that you think I can help with, feel free to contact me. I... can't support thievery, but there are a lot of items in this world that cannot end up in the wrong hands, I can - however - help with that sort've thing."