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Lara pulled herself out of the pond in the vast cavern, the few-hours-old wolf carcasses lying around, wafting the scent of blood. Now that all animals in both smaller and larger vicinity had been disposed of by her own hand and no tunnels were crumbling over her head, everything appeared so blissfully quiet.
She glanced behind her. The entrance to the tomb of Qualopec was now completely blocked by the debris.
Oh well, she’d found what she had come for. The strange, round-shaped artefact that was now resting in her backpack had truly enjoyed some impressive protection, Lara had very much appreciated the challenge. Jacqueline Natla had been right, a big park, indeed. The “little trinket” the businesswoman had asked for…
Lara finally fished it out of her backpack and looked it over now that she had time, sitting on a rock by the shore. Well, it was nice. Unique, certainly, there was no telling which culture this relic could belong to, despite the advantage of having it found in its resting place rather than in someone’s uncatalogued private collection. Could it have been brought here from somewhere else?
For a brief moment, Lara wondered at what place in her mansion it could be displayed at, but Natla had arranged this nice little adventure for her, so it was only fair to keep her part of the agreement.
Besides, Natla might have some more fun trip ideas if Lara contacted her. It was worth not keeping one little artefact.
Lara had been right – Natla really had more to offer.
The artefact was actually created from more parts, and the one found it Peru was the first of it. Natla seemed quite happy to let Lara search for the next piece and gave her what information she had on its location.
The exploration of an old Greek folly which hosted some truly impressive exhibits of differently dated architecture deep underground was more fun than Lara had in ages!
Good old Egypt. Lara always welcomed an opportunity to marvel at its great history. And another part of the artefact – Scion, Natla called it when Lara presented the third piece to her over a video call, sharing Lara’s joy at a job well done.
Hopefully it was constructed from many, many more parts.
Blimey, the third part was the last part… Natla seemed almost regretful informing her of it when they met in a hotel in Cairo, but couldn't really force it over the excitement she radiated when she held the third piece in her hand.
Lara had briefly contemplated withholding it from her until Natla gave her another interesting place to explore, but if this was all Natla needed, then she probably didn't know about any more adventures anyway.
Another of Lara's thoughts had offered keeping at least this part for herself to display at home, but she had already handed over the other two so it would be shamefully incomplete. Ah well, if she really felt like it, she could break into Natla's place of residence later and steal the whole thing. There was no hurry.
Lara looked out of her bedroom window. Some people were screaming, which was unusual considering how far from civilization her mansion stood. Then she noticed something like a huge, skinless bat flying by, shooting fireballs at said people.
More skinless creatures now caught her attention, some flying like the first one, some running and jumping around. After a minute something like a whole skinless... centaur?... passed by. All the creatures were liberally shooting fireballs at anyone and anything that moved.
It was interesting. Usually Lara had to find things to shoot herself, but this time they came right to her.
She grinned excitedly and called to one room over: “Winston, no need to prepare the targets at the course, I'm using something else today!” Then she opened her window and jumped out.
Natla was really glad she’d hired Lara Croft. Well, hired – she hadn't even had to pay her! And now the world was swarmed with Natla's little babies. Lara was killing quite a lot of them, but that was to be expected. She was certainly not lacking in strength. If more people were like Lara Croft, Natla might have not even had to go through with this plan of sped-up evolution. Oh well, those who would survive would be just as formidable.
The human population of the world dwindled. Whole cities laid covered in corpses. Little groups of survivors were valiantly fighting off the attacking swarm, fewer yet were hiding in constant fear in hopes of staying alive as long as possible.
Jean-Yves popped out of a bush next to Lara, who was gleefully shooting some Atlanteans. “I though I wasn't going to tell you until a few years later, but YOU’VE DOOMED THE WORLD.”
Lara didn't let him disturb her though. She was having too much fun.