"A Legend Is Born"
(before Tomb Raider: Legend)

by: Jason R. DeMello
April 4, 2006

LOCATION: Mexico - Pyramid of the Magician

As Lara ascended up hundreds of steps to the opening of this lost temple, she got an unexpected sad feeling of her parents death not too long ago. Only years to be exact. She paused in her tracks and looked up.

“Only about another fifty to go.” Lara replied in relief.

Next she turned on her headset which communicated back to Zip (one of Lara’s most trusted) in her mansion. Zip was able to see and hear everything Lara could, and would be able to help her. If needed.

“Zip ? Zip, are you there?”

“Hello beautiful. Of coarse I’m here.. I’ve only… been…. here since you arrived in Mexico.. I… thought you were turning the headset on when you arrived… not…. when…… you were half way to the temple.”

“A little bit of breaking up there heh Zip?”

“I’m working on it, and now it’s clear speaking. How far do you have left ?”

“Get your nose out of a book and take a look at your computer screen.” 

Zip looked at the screen and it was completely filled by the opening of this temple.

“Girl.. What am I going to do WITH you?”

“I know what you can do FOR me. Get me a schematic of the temples structure. I’m going in.”

Lara walked slowly, pacing herself. She had to be weary for tourist. I don’t think any tourist of her stature would be wearing a gun belt with it’s holsters fully loaded. She quickly did a jumping front summersault past a group admiring a painting.

“Zip.. Let’s go!” Lara demanded jumping up to grab a bar on the ceiling and wrapping her body around it. “Zip!” Lara let out a yelling whisper. “Patience girl. Patience. I got it.. Head to the North wall, where there will be a mural of a King and his five sons. Lara.. You’ll have to blow the wall..”

A fun filled grin came upon Lara as she watched the last of the tourist leave. Swaying her hips, she walked over to the wall and slowly grasped a grenade from the back of her belt. She placed it at the base of the wall, pulled the tab and took a run for it. Back at home, Zip plugged his ears. The explosion occurred sending stone everywhere and smoke shot out the temple’s entrance. Walking back to the wall, Lara climbed through the opening using the broken pieces to lift herself over. When on the other side, she noticed a large hollow statue, about the size of the exploded opening. 

“Great Lara, but now all the tourist are going to have a new attraction.”

“Don’t be to sure of that.” Lara replied placing her foot flat on the floor and bending her knees. Then took a forward jolt to the statue, pushing it to block the blown entrance.

“Jeeesh.. I thought I was supposed to solve these problems?”

“I’ll let you know when I’m in a problem I cannot handle.” Lara answered his smart remark following the next path.

As she walked slowly, the ground was cracking and Lara knew it was pieced together so that even the slightest bit of weight would render it to fall apart. Pieces from beneath her feet began to fall into a floorless pit. While descending into this grave, Lara without hesitation pulled her grappling hook out and shot as the end attached to a plate on the ceiling. This gave her the advantage to swing to a crack in the wall. The hook let go and shot back into her belt with her gloves just barely grabbing hold of this crack. Hanging there would only make her loose her strength eventually so she began to shimmy to the side where there was a ledge. Lara let her body free hang while one hand still fisting the wall and she took a jump.

“Ah!” She gasped, grabbing the ledge.

She took a deep breath and vaulted herself up onto safe grounds.

“WHOA! Lara? Lara? Come in..”

“Hold onto your keyboard Zip, I’m still here.”

“Yeah, but just barely!”

“I’m moving on. Keep me up to date with new finds.”

Continuing once again, Lara came to a ledge with water far beneath her. There was a conjoining ledge about twenty feet. Reaching down on her belt she equipped her binoculars. Using them, she focused on the next ledge and she was close, but it was forty feet.

“Double of what I expected. Bugger!”

Clipping them back into place she glanced to her side and notices four vertical spears in a row sticking out from the wall leading to the ledge.

“Lara? I can see what you can yah know!”

“Then you’ll know exactly what I’m thinking.”

“That’s what scares me.”

As she took petite steps to her right, Lara positioned herself at the edge just four feet from the bar. She took a deep breath and then jumped grabbing the first bar. She hung there for just seconds before rocking her body backwards and then forward into a flip and released herself. Soaring through the air she grabbed a hold of the next and then threw herself to the one after. 

“Only one left to go.” Lara replied to herself lifting her stomach up to the spear and going into a front summersault. 

She did three of these in a row to pick up speed. Then when her body was about to be in a handstand, she threw herself into a font flip. Soaring through the air, she landed on the ledge in seconds.

“Close, but not enough.”

“I’m glad that’s all your thinking because, I’m thinking a lot worse.”

Lara walked fixing her holster straps. They had loosened during the flips. Her guns almost released from the holsters. A slight problem came as Lara almost walked into a large sized door while paying more attention to the engravings on the wall, rather than ahead of her. Just feet above, lied a switch.

“Zip? Are you getting this?”

“Yeah, but your not reaching that by jumping. The schematics tell me it’s twelve feet above you.”

“That’s why I just adore your new devices.”

Taking a step backward, Lara grasped the grappling hook and shot it up towards the lever. It wrapped around twice.

“Uh…” Lara pulled down and the door to her right slid open.

The rope shot back into place as she entered a large room with an exit leading to a dig. In Lara’s line of work it was normal for herself to carry ammunition, but these guys at this “dig” had guns. Big guns. M16 machine guns and shotguns.

“Damn! Zip, we have company!”

“Just come back alive and don‘t do anything stupid.”

Lara watched herself and she snuck up behind of the men. She wrapped her arm around his neck and tripped him to the ground. “SOMEONES HERE! A STUPID LITTLE GIRL! GET HER!” Men all around were heading towards Lara shooting. Doing a side flip to safety, Lara drew her guns. She was hiding behind a rock, but it would soon be a pebble. Two men. Each side. Shooting like crazy.

- BDAM-KCHOW-BAAAAAAM BAAAAAAAAAAAM- 

The guns shot and she had a plan. Lara climbed to the top of the rock and did a front flip towards the men, spreading her arms outward to shoot at them both.

- BDAM BDAM BDAAM!-

They were down, but Lara had to worry about another eleven men. Double checking her counting, she landed into a front summersault shooting three more men. A bullet had grazed her arm leaving a severe burning sensation.

“Bloody hell!” Lara replied to herself as she holstered her guns and equipped an M16 Machine gun Rifle from one of the down men.

Kneeling down behind a statue, she lifted the gun onto her right shoulder and looked through the scope.

“Gotcha!”

Lara shot two more men down.

- BBBBBBBBBAMMMMM -

The scope had sited the four other men hiding. Right to each side of them was two huge statues of a great King. Lara shot at the base of each, going back and fourth between the two. The statues had not fallen yet, but Lara was out of ammunition as the chamber slid back and locked in place. The men were unaware of her plan so she sprinted by other guy, taking his shot gun. Taking a risk, Lara walked slowly to where the four men were. Two on each side of her. Lara swung the shotgun to her right and shot one in the chest as he fell onto the other, making the statue topple on top of them.

To her left, she shot one last good shot at the base as it fell on one of the men. One man left.. He was just there. Now he’s gone.

“Did you get them all?”

“Of coarse Zip!” Lara replied hoisting the shotgun on her backpack. “There was one more, but he got away!”

When Lara was about to turn and continue, a man came up to her throat with a knife.

“Young beauty.” The man said licking his lips.

“Ugly beast!” Lara responded kicking him in the groin and drawing her pistols.

- BDAM BDAM BDAM BDAM BBBBDDDAAAAM -

Lara sent the man flying as she emptied the remaining magazine into his chest.

“All done now.”

Walking toward a ledge Lara noticed a truck with papers scattered in the cargo.

“I wonder what they were looking for.”

Lara searched through the remains and found a map of South America with a little red X marking a location.

“It must have been something of value to go through all this equipment, and guaranteed more are already there. What I came here for must have been brought there, and their cleaning up their mess they made here.”

“Lara? Are you coming home, now that you know nothing is there?”

“Not yet.. I’m moving on.”

“Where to?”

Lara tried not to remember her past encounter by saying this.

“Bolivia.” 

THE END

Lara Croft and Tomb Raider are trademarks 
or registered trademarks of Square Enix Ltd. All rights reserved.
Story by Jason R. DeMello