Lara Croft And The Jewels Of World Power
Lara Croft And The Jewels Of World Power
The bright August sun glistened brightly in the cornflower blue sky. An eighteen year old girl with a brunette plait trailing down her back stepped out of the large maze in one of many gardens near Polaroid House, the huge mansion she had inheritted from her father: Lord Henshingly Croft. Her name was Lara Croft and she was the secret Tomb Raider, a special archaeoligist who could fight robots as well as humans if need be. Her reel of thoughts was cut short as the sight of her butler, Hillary, came into sight from the grand entrance of the house.
“A telegram came for you, Miss Croft. ” he informed her.
“Thank you, Hillary,” came the reply from Hillary’s preoccupied mistress.
“Will that be all, Miss Croft?” Hillary asked giving Lara a puzzled look
“Yes thank you,” Lara’s reply was cold and harsh, it was obvious she was getting slightly annoyed by Hillary’s persistance.
“Very well,” Hillary sighed. Lara looked on as Hillary shuffled slowly away. Lara followed him silently into the immense hall.
“Hillary?” Lara called
“Yes Miss Croft?” Hillary asked turning around
“I shall be in the library upstairs if you may need be,” Lara answered.
“Very well Miss Croft,” Hillary muttered
…
Lara hastily climbed the carpeted stairs and stopped on the landing overlooking the hall. Lara watched as Hillary trundled away. She almost felt guilty, Hillary seemed to be constantly sad after her father had died, maybe locking him in the walk-in fridge in the kitchen on the first day after the discovery of Lord Croft hadn’t been the best way of treating him. ‘But what’s done is done’ thought Lara as she stepped into the music room leading off the landing, into the library. Lara sighed and browsed down one line of leather-bound books. All of a suuden a black piece of material was drawn around her mouth, gagging her. She was dragged backwards and her hands were tied firmly. Lara gave a muffled scream and looked around. A strong-looking man wearing a black balaclava grinned around at her. He drew out a black pistol but as Lara expected, he didn’t shoot her. He shot a hole in the window and jumped out, pulling Lara head first with him. Lara peered down as the ground rushed to meet her. Suddenly Lara noticed she wasn’t being held by her kidnapper. She looked around, there he was. He parachuted over the garden wall and dissapeared. A split second later there was a large thud and Lara Croft fell to the ground by her assualt course, sprawled out on the gravel, hands tied together, eyes closed, a large bruise bleeding from her forehead and a black scarf around her mouth. This is how she lay for some time…
When Lara awoke she was in a hospital bed, dressed in her usual costume of a khaki crop top and combat trousers. Her hiking boots and socks had been removed so now her pale feet were revealed. She felt dizzy as she tried to remember how she got here. A monitor bleeped slowly as Lara lay still, breathing peacefully until a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room. He was carrying a red file which had two words written on the front cover in capital letters: CROFT, LARA. The doctor opened the file and took a red biro out of his pocket.
“Right Miss Croft, I just need some details from you for our database,” the doctor explained
“Ok doctor,” Lara replied. She had a severe headache and wasn’t in the mood for arguing.
“How old are you, Miss Croft?” the doctor asked.
“I’m eighteen, and please could you call me Lara?” answered Lara sighing deeply
“Very well, and where do you live… Lara?”
“Polaroid House” Lara replied
“What blood group are you” enquired the doctor
“AB-“
“And one last question, what nationality are you?” the doctor questioned
“English,” Lara was sleepy now and had limited what she said
“I think you’d better relax now Lara, you’ve suffered a serious head injury and we think you could of broke an arm,” advised the doctor closing the file slowly.
“Ok Doctor,” Lara muttered before closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Lara thought she awoke early the next morning. She sat up in bed and glanced over at the clock by her bed. It said 10.00am. She had been asleep four hours more than usual. Everything was quiet outside her room, to quiet for her liking. She whirled her legs around to the side of the bed and climbed out. Then, Lara saw something on the floor so she bent down carefully, not knowing if she had any injuries. It was the scarf that had been tied around her mouth! Suddenly everything fell into place. She was meant to hit the floor, the kidnapper from the library must of returned and brought her here to this complex thing. Lara could tell it wasn’t a hospital by the way walls curved in. She was in some sort of dome. She had thought the doctor looked familiar. That doctor was her kdnapper! She stood up and saw her 9mm handgun, boots and black socks on a table next to a glass door. She was OK standing by the bed, she couldn’t be seen from the door. But if she went over to the table she could be seen easily. Lara had to risk it, she walked silently over to the table and picked up the gun.
Two minutes later Lara stepped out of her room and found herself on a stone ledge. Two men were staring at a computer screen in one corner of the large control room below her. Lara edged further along and reached the side of the dome. She shot a hole in the titanium shell that seperated her from the outside world. She prised the hole open until she could climb through. There was another ledge on the other side. As soon as she was out she was hit by the refreshing breeze that swept over the dome. Lara jumped down and safely landed. She took a small black grenade out of her pocket. She pulled out the pin, threw it at the dome and ran. The explosion knocked Lara off her feet as the complex was engulfed in black smoke and amber flames that rose high into the air. Lara crawled along the jade green grass which was still drenched in dew. She found that there was nothing wrong with her arm although her head pounded ferociously. She groaned sadly and collapsed…
Lara come round still on the grass a few minutes later. The fire still roared behind her and she instantly knew that soon the grass would catch fire. She had to move. Lara stood up quickly and wished she hadn’t, she had now set off her headache again. Headache or not, Lara wasn’t safe, she ran full pelt over the grass and joined a foot path leading into an empty alleyway. Lara looked left and right then tore down the path to her right, away from the complex and the alleyway. A Ferrari 550 Maranello was parked on the corner. It was scarlet and Lara knew it would be useful. But there were two problems now facing Lara. One was that she wouldn’t be able to get the Maranello to go, she didn’t have the keys and she wasn’t brilliant at jump starting cars. Problem two was she didn’t know where she was, and where Polaroid was in relation to her. Half an hour later problem one was resolved as Lara drew her seatbelt across her lap and plugged it in to it’s socket. The Maranello’s engine purred softly as Lara turned the car around and then with a deafening roar the Maranello was off like a rocket.
Mysteriously her mobile phone rang. It was Jacqueline Natla, Lara’s main enemy. Lara pressed the grren button and Natla’s voice started echoing around the Maranello’s interior.
“So you have escaped my complex, but you will never escape me, Lara Croft!” her voice was harsh but Lara knew that her enemy wouldn’t exactly be friendly with her.
“Surely you can do better than that!” Lara teased “Does the word security mean anything to you, my girl?”
“I am not your girl, Lara Croft. Do not mock me or I’ll come and superglue your lips together!” spat out Natla defiantly
“Sorry,” Lara muttered sarcastically
“I have someone you may want to protect,” Natla continued
Lara gasped in horror as Hillary spoke on the phone
“She’s at Polaroid, Lara! Stay away! Ditch the car, she’s tracking you!” Hillary shouted
There was a groan then a thud followed by silence. Lara hung up. Natla had just thumped Hillary and no way was she going to get away in one piece for even looking at Polaroid. Although Lara and Natla were enemies there was only one major difference between them. Natla had wings which meant she could go higher than Lara at a faster speed. Lara pressed her foot right down on the accelarator pedal and the Maranello blasted forward. An hour later Lara parked the Maranello 2 miles from Polaroid. This would put a spanner in Natla’s works, arriving on foot! She could slip through the back gate and charge into the house. No that wouldn’t work, Natla had the upper hand. Lara was on her own whereas Natla was likely to have a whole army swarming around Polaroid. Lara had to find another way in. Her chance came when she accidently stepped into one of Natla’s invisible teleports. It took her to her indoor swimming pool at the side of the house. Numerous bangs could be heard from upstairs. Lara had limited her search. They were either in the music room, the library or the attic. Hillary hated the attic, he wasn’t a big fan of the dark either. But how would Natla have got a phone signal from the attic? Natla was capable of anything but not that. Lara crept out of the pool room and peered cautiously around the doorway. There were two guards blocking the tunnels out into the hall and one blocking the entrance of the kitchen. ‘Rats! I’m trapped in my own house!’ Lara thought as she clenched her fists fiercely. Then she remebered her gun which was still in the leather holster attached to her belt. Lara drew it out and loaded it. She aimed her gun at one of the guard’s heads. His left eye was in point blanc range. Lara fired, there was a loud bang, a cry of pain and then the guard fell to the floor in a limp heap. This alerted the other guards, they drew their machine guns and advanced in Lara’s direction. Lara stepped out and opened fire once more. The guard from the kitchen door swaggered back and fell to floor as the bullet hit him square in the shoulder. There were now three left. One fired and missed, but hit the chanderlier plunging one half of the room into complete darkness. Lara used this to her advantage. As the three men stood rigid aiming at the door way, Lara backed away to the wall. The guards looked around, shouting to each other, trying to find where Lara was. Lara was now in the doorway of the massive room, she fired a shot which hit another guard in the leg then sprinted down the tunnel and into the hall. She stared up and there she was. Natla stood there grinning like mad. She had an unconscious Hillary gripped in her left hand. She circled her arm and now Hillary was dangling over the bannister. The stairs were directly below him. Lara ran forward and trained her gun at Natla.
“That isn’t wise, Lara Croft!” shouted Natla waving Hillary. “If you even put your finger on the trigger I shall drop the butler! And he’ll die!”
“Don’t try anything, Natla, I’m coming up!” Lara yelled as she walked casually towards the bottom of the stairs. The two guards from before had now rushed out and started hammering Lara with bullets.Lara launched herself backwards, she flipped over and over. Hitting the wooden stairs with every land. She was soon at the top of the stairs. Natla was now staring at her intensely, there was a hint of fear in her eyes and Lara knew it. Natla swung Hillary back over the bannister as Lara strolled down the landing towards her. Natla disappeared through the doorway, Lara fired. Her bullet hit the corner of the wall and pinged off, missing Hillary’s head by centimetres. Lara sighed and rushed towards her butler. He groaned as he regained consciousness and turned his head.
“Come on Hillary, Natla went through there,” Lara urged helping the old man up to his feet.
“Oh Miss Croft, I don’t feel well enough to be racing about after Natla. Let her go, she’s not worth it,” Hillary sighed, staring drowsily at Lara.
“Ok Hillary. You rest here while I … er dispose of our other guests!” Lara agreed pointing with her head at the two guards downstairs. Lara jumped over the bannister but safely landed. She ran down the rest of the stairs and turned to face her intruders.
“Natla’s gone, she’s abandonned you. Now we can do this the civillised way, the not so civillised way or the definitely not civillised way, your pick!” Lara exclaimed, grinning.
“What does each option mean?” one guard asked giving Lara a puzzled look
“Option 1 is you just walk out, option 2 is we have a fight and I kick you through the window… “ Lara started
“And option 3?” the other guard asked
“I was getting to that!” said Lara shouted, glaring at him. “Option 3 is I shoot you both now and deal with you at my heart’s content!”
The guards looked at each other and nodded “Option 2!” they shouted together
“For this to be fair, all three of us must put all our weapons up on the window sill,” Lara explained pointing over to her left. The guards nodded again and walked slowly over to the windowsill. They dropped there guns on the windowsill. There were two shots and they both fell to the floor in a tangled heap.
“I hate sticking to rules!” Lara said to the blank air “Especially with enemies!” Lara put away her gun as Hillary limped down the stairs
“Hillary! What’s wrong?” Lara asked, rushing over to him in distress
“While you were busy down here, Natla returned and shot me in the leg!” Hillary told her, then he collapsed. Natla, who was behind him, now came into view.
“I do a good impression of his voice don’t I?” Natla asked, grinning at Lara’s horrified expression
“You’ve killed him!” Lara screamed staring at her butler’s body which was sprawled out in a bloody heap in front of Natla. Lara shreiked and hurled one of the machine guns at Natla. Natla took off and the machine gun soared underneath her feet. Lara shreiked again, tears streaming down her face. Lara picked up the other machine gun and started waving it about, trying to use it as a sword. Natla gave a cry of distress and flew out the open window behind Lara. Lara ran after her and howled bitterly through the glass as Natla vannished from sight. Lara sat down on the windowsill and just sat there, crying angrily. She stared at Hillary hoping he would wake up and shout ‘Fooled you Miss Croft!’. No such thing happened.
“I’ll get you Natla!” she shouted through her tears “If it’s the last thing I do! You won’t get away with this!” Lara jumped down and ran hurriedly up the stairs. She crossed the landing and ran into her bedroom. Lara slammed the door and flopped onto the bed. After crying herself to sleep, Lara dreamt of Hillary and her father, the plane crash when she was only 9 years old. Her mother, Amelia Croft, and her father both killed.
The next morning, Lara woke up late. The house was silent. Lara sat up and sighed. Bodies were littered all over the downstairs of the house, including Hillary’s. Lara couldn’t bare touching him. She stepped around him and continued on clearing the other men. Lara took them all out to the Maranello which was still dumped on the street. She loaded up the boot and put a little air freshner in with them.
“Oy! That’s my car!” a woman shouted as she ran down the street towards Lara. Lara turned and fled through the gates of Polaroid, dropping the keys on the pavement. The woman glared at her and got in. She started up the engine and roared away. ‘Boy, will she get a surprise when she opens the boot!’ Lara thought as she wandered down the driveway. Polaroid looked bigger than usual. ‘Probably because I haven’t seen it a lot from this viewpoint.’ Lara said to herself as she stepped through the doorway. She stared out into space, then closed the wooden door. Blocking out the harsh outside world. That afternoon, much to Lara’s surprise, the doorbell rang. Lara dragged Hillary into a cupboard, cleaned herself up hastily and opened the door. A man and a women in flourescent jackets where stood on the other side of the door. There were wearing black hats and black uniforms.
“Hello Miss Croft, can we come in?” the policewoman asked
“Of course,” stuttered Lara opening the door wider.
“We’re investigating a burglary we think you’ve committed,” the policeman explained.
“My name is DCI Albright, and this is PC Carter,” the policewoman informed a startled Lara. DCI Albright had a strong Australian accent but was trying hard not to show it. This made her sound, in Lara’s point of view, comical. PC Carter smiled politely and nodded his head as a sort of greeting.
“Come through to the kitchen, where we can sit down and talk,” suggested Lara pointing at the left hand tunnel. “I would say go into the lounge but I have no lounge!”
“Thank you,” replied DCI Albright. They walked through the tunnel but almost immediately turned off to the left. The blue and white kitchen was in darkness as they entered. Lara switched on the lights, then sat down.
“Have a seat!” Lara exclaimed, gesturing at two chairs. DCI Albright and PC Carter sat down silently.
“We have a report that you were seen a few hours ago with a car belonging to Miss Andrea Granger. The car in question was a red Ferrari 550 Maranello. Also it was stuffed with five identical bodies and an air freshner,” DCI Albright exclaimed looking severely at Lara. It was obvious that the DCI was in charge here, and that she intended to get to the bottom of the situation. “Is this true?”
“Yes, unfortuneatly,” Lara admitted. There was no point in lying about it. DCI Albright clearly meant business and anyway, Lara would only get found out if and when they spoke to this Miss Granger. Then she remembered who Miss Granger was. Miss Granger was the secret identity of one of her arch enemies, Amanda Evert. She had met Amanda before was not pleased to be involved with her again.
“Can you tell us in your view, the series of events?” PC Carter asked trying to regain Lara full attention
“Yes, of course!” stammered Lara. “I was upstairs when my adventure started. I was looking for a book about my parents, Lord Henshingly and Lady Amelia Croft when a kidnapper took me away through the window. I ended up hitting my head and I was knocked unconscious. I was then taken to a comlex belonging to Jacqueline Natla. I managed to escape. Miss Granger’s car was the first one that came into view. It was parked on a street corner. I jump started it and came home. Miss Natla was here and after a horrifying battle and six deaths later she left. I took the bodies out and dumped them in the car. Miss Granger saw me do this and retrieved her car. I went back inside and then next thing I know, you’re at the door,”
“You said there were six deaths, but only five bodies were found. Where’s the sixth?” DCI Albright asked. She was not totally convinced about Lara’s story but currently seeing as she hadn’t formally interviewed Miss Granger, Lara’s story was the only thing that the police had .
“Sorry, I am mistaken…there was only five deaths. I got confused,” lyed Lara.
“Do you know any information about this Miss Natla?” DCI Albright enquired.
“Not currently,” Lara answered blinking sleepily “ If it isn’t to much bother could you please leave? I want some more rest.”
“Of course Miss Croft. We’ll let ourselves out,” spoke DCI Albright. She and PC Carter rose from their seats and left the room. Lara rested her head in her hands and sighed deeply. Lara got up and watched the police officers exit then shut the door quietly. There was nothing to do, being the inheritor of a posh lord and living in a big lonely house did have it’s set backs. Lara silently trundled through the archway and back into the tunnel. She carried on until she reached her large dance hall, which was complete with suits of armour, speaker systems, a jukebox and a CD player. None of this excited Lara anymore. She turned around and sighed. She was used to Hillary following her with his tea tray but no one was behind her. Just the empty air was behind her. Lara continued through the square hole in the wall that led into her private swimming pool, the room that had started the trouble. She felt like she had used all her heavy sighs up, so just stared sadly at the crystal clear, rippling water. Lara climbed down the white and brown patterned, marble steps and onto the marble floor which sported the same pattern. She ran down the side of the pool towards the diving board and stopped dead. There was a slip of paper on top of the board right at the edge. Lara knew she had to be careful when retrieving it. If she applied to much weight, the board would lean over and the paper would fall into the pool. Lara ran to the side of the diving board and reached out. Her fingertips brushed the edge of the paper but it wasn’t close enough to reach. Lara suddenly had a brainwave. She jumped into the pool off the side and swam over to where the diving board jutted out over the pool. She reached up and grabbed it. Then Lara swam with one hand over to the edge and placed the paper down on the side as she lifted herself out of the swimming pool. The note was from the Prime Minister. It read:
Dear Lara,
The Jewels Of World Power are under threat from your arch enemies, Natla and Evert. Please could you come to Downing Street immediately where I will personally give you a proper briefing. All security arrangements will be finalised.
Yours Sincerely,
PM David Cameron
P.S. COME ALONE!!!
Lara sighed. There was no one to go with. Lara ran through the house and out the front door. She then remembered her Land Rover which was in the garage. She ran to the garage and flung open the door. There was her dark green Land Rover Defender sitting, as usual, right in the middle of the garage. Hillary always parked the car this way when he returned home from shopping trips. Lara grabbed the keys and jumped in. The engine revved viciously as Lara roared off down the driveway. It screached wildly as its driver sharply turned it onto the road.
Six hours later and the Land Rover pulled up on the corner of Downing Street. Lara got out, tidied herself up and then strolled briskly down the street. Two uniformed policemen stood in front off the gate leading up to the front door. Lara stopped right in front of them.
“Halt!” one shouted
“My name is Miss L Croft, I have an urgent appointment booked with Mr Cameron. He said that the security details would be sorted,” Lara boldly informed them.
“Very well Miss Croft, you may proceed,” the other policeman replied stepping aside. Lara smiled politely and climbed the stairs up to the large black front door. A gold knocker was just above central on the door. Right above it in gold lettering was the numer 10. Lara rapped on the door with the knocker. A maid opened the door and let her in.
“Mr Cameron is in the lounge, Miss Croft. He’s expecting you,” the maid exclaimed gesturing graciously with her hand.
“Thank you,” Lara smiled stepping through a doorway into a richly furnished lounge. The floor was covered with a furry scarlet carpet the stretched across the whole room. White leather chairs were positioned around the room. A corner group in the middle, a sofa in three of the corners, an armchair in the other corner and a recliner next to the window. A brown haired man sat with his back to the door on the corner group. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie and muttering to himself.
“Come on Lara, hurry up,” he murmered
“I’m here sir,” Lara called stepping further into the room. The Prime Minister jumped with fright and swivelled around.
“Oh Lara! You gave me a fright!” he gasped with a startled look on his face.
“Sorry sir!” Lara said apoligetically as she sat down.
“Anyway down to business. There are five jewels which are consealed in different locations in Europe. These jewels are: an Emerald, an Amethyst, a Sapphire, a Topaz and a Garnet. A I said each one is hidden in a different place. The Emerald in hidden in Paris, the Amethyst is in Helsinki, the Sapphire is in Madrid, the Topaz is in London and the Garnet is in Prague. I myself shall look for the Topaz, but the other four are your responsibility. Try to get the Garnet first. It is the most powerful. You may use my private helicopter to fly around in. If you come up with any problems, contact me using your mobile phone. Do you understand?” the Prime Minister explained. Lara couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or not but he never looked up at her, he just stayed staring at the door which was left open. “Quickly, Natla and Evert could of already started looking for the jewels.” Lara got up quickly and left the house. She drove straight to the airport. A black helicopter was placed on a helicopter pad. It’s registration number was written in small white lettering on the tail of the copter, it read: N9747P. Lara got in and started up the copter’s motor. The propellers whirled round at a tremendous speed. Lara pressed a black button on the console and the copter lifted off the tarmac. It hurried away as Lara headed in the direction of Prague.
Four hours later, Lara landed at Prague Airport. She had no idea where this jewel was but she guessed it would be in a temple of some sort. She ran round to the back of the copter and opened the cargo door. There was her Land Rover sitting inside ready for the mission. Lara got in swiftly and drove down the ramp onto the tarmac runway. Soon she was on the highway rushing towards St. Vitus Cathedral. She had borrowed a photo of a statue in the cathedral with a special unknown Garnet on its crown. Lara thought this could be the World Power Garnet. As the cathedral came into view, Lara assessed her knowledge of this mission and found out she knew a shockingly little amount. But when your speeding down a highway in a foreign city you don’t have time to call up your boss so Lara dismisssed this fact and lowered her foot hard down on the accelarator pedal. The car revved fiercely and flew down the rest of the highway. A few minutes later, the Land Rover skidded up to a halt outside St. Vitus Cathedral. Lara jumped down from the drivers seat and sprinted inside. After running past row after row of leather chairs with Czech hymm books Lara found what she was searching for. The statue was sat in the middle of the altar surrounded by golden jewels. The Garnet in the centre of the crown gleamed in the sunlight that poured in from the stain glass windows. Lara pulled it off hastily. Four letters on a scrap of paper and a blob of glue were on the back. Lara rubbed the jewel on her trousers to remove the glue and read the letters, GOWP. ‘Gowp?’ Lara thought ‘What does that mean?’ Lara shrugged her shoulders, dropped the jewel in her pocket and ran back outside.
The next day, Lara landed at Helsinki International Airport. Mr. Cameron had sent her a picture of where he thought the Amethyst was. It was supposedly in the Helsinki Finland Temple. As Lara turned hurriedly onto the road leading out of the airport, she saw something that distressed her very much. Directly above her was Natla, her wings spread. Lara could she Natla was following her. Natla would now be desperate in getting the remaining jewels. Lara knew Natla would know that the Garnet was in her hands. Lara sped off leaving Natla trailing behind. Lara reached the temple first and raced inside.
“Don’t move!” a voice came from inside the temple. Amanda Evert walked out holding a gun. It was the same type as the guns the guards had had during her tragedies at Polaroid. Natla stepped into the doorway with another gun. Lara was cornered. She looked around at the two of them. They were so different in appearance but yet they both had similar minds. Amanda had the Amethyst in her hand.
“Jacky, catch!” Amanda shouted throwing the Amethyst into the air. Lara jumped up to catch it. Natla fired. Pain exploded through Lara’s leg as the bullet made contact. Lara cryed out in pain and collapsed on the floor clutching her leg. The Amethyst whistled over her head and landed in Natla’s hands. Natla picked it up. She fiddled around with it until it was where she wanted it. Sunlight reflected off the jewel right into Lara eyes. Lara raised her hands to shield them but the light still blinded her. Natla laughed screechily, Lara groaned and fell flat on the floor as Amanda kicked her in the back with her steel toed boots as she walked down the centre aisle and stopped next to Natla.
“Bye Lara dear!” one of them said. Lara couldn’t see which one said this but whoever had said it had said it in such a way that Lara suddenly recognised it has her own mother’s voice! Lara screamed and flung herself at the doors which had now closed. The light had gone and now she could she. A scarlet trickle of blood ran down the side of her face and landed on her top. Lara groaned again and reached into her pocket. She rumaged past the Garnet and pulled out her phone. It rang suddenly and Lara pressed the green button. Mr. Cameron’s voice boomed out.
“Lara! Where are you? How many jewels have you got? I’ve got the Topaz right next to me! Lara? Lara? Where are you?”
“I’m here!” Lara called. She couldn’t keep the harsh note of desperation out of her voice. “I’ve got the Garnet but…” Lara sighed and passed out. Her phone slid across the marble floor and hit a chair leg. The phone was smashed to pieces and the sim card flew out, bounced of the walls a few times and hit Lara straight in the nose. It fell down and landed in her lap.
When she awoke, she was still in the temple. She gathered together the pieces of the phone and started slotting them together as she went out to her car. She yanked out the first aid kit and rubbed her head with antiseptic cream. Then she applied a plaster and got back into her car. Lara sped away and fitted her phone it the hands free socket. Her phone automatically dialled the Prime Minister’s number.
“Lara! What happened?” he asked in a distressed tone.
“I have the Garnet put Natla and Evert beat me to the Amethyst. I’m going to go for the Emerald then the Sapphire,” Lara reported as she pulled up at the security post outside the airport.
“Pass please!” the security guard barked as he loaded his rifle in case Lara tried any ‘funny business’. Lara didn’t, she showed him the fake pass David Cameron had given her.
“You may proceed!” the guard informed her after analysing her pass. He opened the barrier and Lara sped past the perimeter fence. The helicopter was still on it’s pad which wierdly surprised Lara. As she lifted it off the ground two minutes later she wundered where Natla and Evert were now. Lara knew that they had quite a big headstart but then again Natla always did. Lara adjusted the joystick and the helicopter turned towards Paris.
Two days later, Lara was at the top of the Eiffel Tower retrieving The Emerald Of World Power. Lara noted this on a checklist she had made. The Emerald, the Topaz and Garnet had a tick next to them. ‘Just the Sapphire and the Amethyst to go!’ thought Lara grinning for the first time this mission. As the week drew to a close Lara returned to London. She had three jewels in a leather draw-string bag on the seat next to her. It contained the jewels Lara had already collected. As her Land Rover pulled up outside 10 Downing Street, Lara was amazed to see the two police officers that she had met at Polaroid where now on duty. DCI Albright was jotting in her pad. PC Carter was whistling tunelessly to himself.
“Why hello, Lara!” DCI Albright called to her across the street. “What brings you to Downing Street?”
“Important business with Prime Minister Brown!” Lara called back to her as she stepped onto the pavement. Suddenly there was a loud BANG and 10 Downing Street blew up! An amber ball of fire burst out of the wall covering Lara, DCI Albright and PC Carter in pieces of the interior of the house. All three jumped to the ground in shock as the house disintergrated in front of them. Lara rolled over and stared at the house. Prime Minister David Cameron threw himself out of a window. He rolled down the stairs in a way which reminded Lara of comedy programmes like Mr. Bean. He got up slowly and ran as a wail of sirens could be heard coming closer and closer.
Two minutes later, six police cars and three fire enginges screeched down the road and skidded to a halt. Policemen and firemen swarmed about. Lara gasped in horror as PC Carter taped off both sides of Downing Street. ‘Trapped!’ Lara thought as she stuffed the jewels into the glovebox of her car. Suddenly Lara spotted a scarlet Ferrari 550 Maranello roll up outside numer three. Two women stepped out of it and strutted briskly down the pavement in there high heeled shoes. They were dressed like businesswomen but Lara knew who they were. One of them was wearing a necklace with an amethyst encrusted in the centre. This one was Natla. Amanda Evert was with her and they both had the same task. To get the Garnet, the Emerald and the Sapphire Of World Power off Lara. Lara placed her hans on the handle of her pistol. Natla and Evert crossed the street and smiled to each other as a white Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 drove down the street away from the Maranello and parked outside number 22. The police weren’t interested in the Lamborghini or the Maranello that had just smashed through their tape. Their main worry was helping the firemen in any way possible and ensuring that Mr. Cameron was not hurt. Their attention was only caught when a black Hummer H3 parked at number 4 and ten uniformed men jumped out. The men’s uniform was black t-shirt, black padded jacket, black padded trousers and black army boots. Two of the men escorted a man and a woman, who had apparently got out of the Lamborghini, across the road to join Natla and Evert. The other eight split into groups. Four acted as distraction while four headed towards Lara. Evert, Natla and their two friends also started walking towards her with the remaining two guards. Lara panicked and fired at the nearest guard. DCI Albright turned in shock and then raised her own gun. Lara thought that the bullet would hit her but Albright wasn’t aiming for her. Albright fired twice and two guards fell to the floor next to the Land Rover.
“I’m not just another pretty face!” she shouted confidently. She ran over to them and Lara and Albright combined to fight of the four guards that remained. Albright fired four times. Two guards went down, one bullet hit the window of number 13 and the last one hit the man with Natla and Evert in the eye. The three women split and ran for cover has Lara and Albright showered their henchmen with bullets
“Yeah! Eat that!” Lara shrieked over the noise of the constant gunfire.
“I think we can stop now!” Albright called to her. Lara nodded and stopped. All six were now dead so Lara and Albright aimed at the remaining four.
In a matter of minutes, all ten men were killed. The firemen and police were all watching in awe as Lara and Albright striked a back-to-back James Bond pose. Lara blew on the top of her gun
“And that’s that!” she cried bursting into fits of laughter.
“Ha, ha very funny. My name’s Bugs Bunny!” came a sarcastic voice from across the street. Evert got up from behind the Hummer and clapped her hands. This was also sarcastic. Lara jumped over to protect the jewels which no one had knew were in the glovebox.
“I’ll have the jewels now please, Lara!” Evert called casually crossing the street for the third time that day.
“Yes Lara, the jewels!” Natla called from high above. She perched on the roof of number three with a megaphone. It wasn’t hard for anyone to guess how she had got there. Her wings now sprouted out of the back of her straight jacket.
“You aren’t getting anything from me…except a bullet through your brain!” Lara shouted wildly firing at Evert. A purple bubble became visible any time a bullet was on target. All the bullets bounced off with a pinging sound.
“Natla’s new forcefileds are great!” Evert chuckled. She raised her own gun. Her finger pulled back the trigger. A bullet soared towards Lara. Lara leaped forward, the bullet hit her in the foot. Lara shrieked in pain and landed splat bang on top of Evert!
“I’ll take that, thank you?” Lara exclaimed snatching the gun from Evert’s hand.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Natla called swooping down from the rooftop. Albright fired. Natla fired. Albright’s bullet missed Natla by milimetres. Natla’s bullet hit PC Carter right in the thigh. He groaned and collapsed. Blood gushed out from within his trousers. Lara’s toe was also bleeding but her injury was only minor. Natla cackled screechily and landed on the roof of the Hummer, setting off the alarm. It wailed at a loud volume until Natla launched into flight once again. Albright pulled her trigger. There was a pathetic click then nothing, her gun had run out of bullets! Natla cackled again
“Now the jewels!” Natla demanded.
“I think I may have got them!” Evert shouted from inside the car. Lara aimed both of the guns in her hands and fired. Twelve bullets penetrated the glass window and hit Evert. She flopped all over the seat, the bag of jewels in her hand. Lara reached her before Natla and grabbed the jewels. Pulling DCI Albright along with her, Lara ran to the Lamborghini. Albright shot at the lock and the door opened. Lara managed to hotwire the enging in two seconds flat. She then screeched down the street, skidded around the corner and was lost from view.
“Lara, what do we do?” Albright asked worriedly.
“We keep on goin’!” Lara replied, not taking her eyes off the road. Suddenly a bullet whistled through the roof and landed on the glove box lid. Luckily no one was sat in the front passenger seat. Albright was rolling around on the back seat, as she had not been able to put her seat belt on. Lara swerved and skidded then turned onto a different road. Her persuer, who was of course Natla, did not see her make this turn and shot off down the wrong road.
“That’ll keep her away for a bit,” Lara muttered to herself.
“What do we do now? Has the plan changed?” Albright called. “Woah!” Albright was hurled across the seat as Lara pulled an impressive handbrake turn.
“You could get a case of deja vu,” Lara replied mysteriously. As Lara turned left again Downing Street greeted their eyes. It looked different now, the fire trucks had gone and so had the police. Evert was now standing in the middle of the road. Her gun pointed straight at Lara’s head. Lara pressed down hard on the accelarator pedal and the car sped forwards. There was a scream and Amanda Evert’s face hit the windscreen with a thud. Evert rolled over the roof and off the back of the car. Her gun flew into the air and landed in the hands of PC Carter. He was almost unconscious but managed to clumsily throw the gun before slumping ito a heap in the road. Lara stopped and Albright ran over to PC Carter
“Goodbye ma’am,” PC Carter groaned. He sighed and then died.
“No!” Albright shrieked “Carter!, wake up!”
“I’m sorry,” Lara sympathised patting Albright on the back. “There’s nothing we can do for him now.” David Cameron walked over to them with a grim expression on his face.
“Too many people died. This isn’t how this mission should have been. Mission terminated!” he muttered. “Can I have the jewels please, Lara?” he put out his hand. Lara looked at PC Carter, then DCI Albright, then Mr. Brown and handed them over. He got out a blow torch and placed the jewels on the floor. He gave the bag back to Lara and sighed. He pulled the trigger and a flame gushed out. It hit The Topaz and it exploded. A yellow light burst out all over Downing Street, followed by red as The Garnet disappeared. He stopped just after a blue light stopped shining over the street. The Amethyst and The Emerald were only the ones left. He got a silver device out of his pocket and aimed it at The Emerald. A blue beam of light hit it and it flew into the air. It landed in Lara’s bag and she jumped in surprise.
“It’s just a normal emerald now, worth about £1,000,000 but I want you to keep it, Lara,” Mr. Brown told her as he did the process again to The Amethyst he had traded from Natla for £1,000.
“Who get’s that?” Albright asked, still staring at PC Carter.
“You do,” He answered tossing it to her. She caught it and put it into her pocket.
“Now! I want all this mess to be cleared up!” David Cameron shouted to the men by the police cars. They all stopped staring and drinking coffee and rushed up the street. Lara watched as Natla took off into flight and disappeared into the sunset. Lara got back in her Land Rover and took off towatds Polaroid. She turned off and took a glimpse at Downing Street. ‘Natla may have had a truce with David Cameron, but I don’t do truces. I’m after you Natla. Wherever you are!’ she thought to herself as she joined the main traffic flow. Lara got back to Polaroid four hours later and was happy she did. Her thoughts about killing Natla were getting a bit too real for her and her plans were getting quite…drastic!
This is where we leave our story. Lara Croft will continue fighting against Jacqueline Natla until the very end of their lives. Her Tomb Raider job will continue and she will live at Polaroid. So until next time. GOODBYE!
“A telegram came for you, Miss Croft. ” he informed her.
“Thank you, Hillary,” came the reply from Hillary’s preoccupied mistress.
“Will that be all, Miss Croft?” Hillary asked giving Lara a puzzled look
“Yes thank you,” Lara’s reply was cold and harsh, it was obvious she was getting slightly annoyed by Hillary’s persistance.
“Very well,” Hillary sighed. Lara looked on as Hillary shuffled slowly away. Lara followed him silently into the immense hall.
“Hillary?” Lara called
“Yes Miss Croft?” Hillary asked turning around
“I shall be in the library upstairs if you may need be,” Lara answered.
“Very well Miss Croft,” Hillary muttered
…
Lara hastily climbed the carpeted stairs and stopped on the landing overlooking the hall. Lara watched as Hillary trundled away. She almost felt guilty, Hillary seemed to be constantly sad after her father had died, maybe locking him in the walk-in fridge in the kitchen on the first day after the discovery of Lord Croft hadn’t been the best way of treating him. ‘But what’s done is done’ thought Lara as she stepped into the music room leading off the landing, into the library. Lara sighed and browsed down one line of leather-bound books. All of a suuden a black piece of material was drawn around her mouth, gagging her. She was dragged backwards and her hands were tied firmly. Lara gave a muffled scream and looked around. A strong-looking man wearing a black balaclava grinned around at her. He drew out a black pistol but as Lara expected, he didn’t shoot her. He shot a hole in the window and jumped out, pulling Lara head first with him. Lara peered down as the ground rushed to meet her. Suddenly Lara noticed she wasn’t being held by her kidnapper. She looked around, there he was. He parachuted over the garden wall and dissapeared. A split second later there was a large thud and Lara Croft fell to the ground by her assualt course, sprawled out on the gravel, hands tied together, eyes closed, a large bruise bleeding from her forehead and a black scarf around her mouth. This is how she lay for some time…
When Lara awoke she was in a hospital bed, dressed in her usual costume of a khaki crop top and combat trousers. Her hiking boots and socks had been removed so now her pale feet were revealed. She felt dizzy as she tried to remember how she got here. A monitor bleeped slowly as Lara lay still, breathing peacefully until a doctor in a white lab coat entered the room. He was carrying a red file which had two words written on the front cover in capital letters: CROFT, LARA. The doctor opened the file and took a red biro out of his pocket.
“Right Miss Croft, I just need some details from you for our database,” the doctor explained
“Ok doctor,” Lara replied. She had a severe headache and wasn’t in the mood for arguing.
“How old are you, Miss Croft?” the doctor asked.
“I’m eighteen, and please could you call me Lara?” answered Lara sighing deeply
“Very well, and where do you live… Lara?”
“Polaroid House” Lara replied
“What blood group are you” enquired the doctor
“AB-“
“And one last question, what nationality are you?” the doctor questioned
“English,” Lara was sleepy now and had limited what she said
“I think you’d better relax now Lara, you’ve suffered a serious head injury and we think you could of broke an arm,” advised the doctor closing the file slowly.
“Ok Doctor,” Lara muttered before closing her eyes and falling asleep.
Lara thought she awoke early the next morning. She sat up in bed and glanced over at the clock by her bed. It said 10.00am. She had been asleep four hours more than usual. Everything was quiet outside her room, to quiet for her liking. She whirled her legs around to the side of the bed and climbed out. Then, Lara saw something on the floor so she bent down carefully, not knowing if she had any injuries. It was the scarf that had been tied around her mouth! Suddenly everything fell into place. She was meant to hit the floor, the kidnapper from the library must of returned and brought her here to this complex thing. Lara could tell it wasn’t a hospital by the way walls curved in. She was in some sort of dome. She had thought the doctor looked familiar. That doctor was her kdnapper! She stood up and saw her 9mm handgun, boots and black socks on a table next to a glass door. She was OK standing by the bed, she couldn’t be seen from the door. But if she went over to the table she could be seen easily. Lara had to risk it, she walked silently over to the table and picked up the gun.
Two minutes later Lara stepped out of her room and found herself on a stone ledge. Two men were staring at a computer screen in one corner of the large control room below her. Lara edged further along and reached the side of the dome. She shot a hole in the titanium shell that seperated her from the outside world. She prised the hole open until she could climb through. There was another ledge on the other side. As soon as she was out she was hit by the refreshing breeze that swept over the dome. Lara jumped down and safely landed. She took a small black grenade out of her pocket. She pulled out the pin, threw it at the dome and ran. The explosion knocked Lara off her feet as the complex was engulfed in black smoke and amber flames that rose high into the air. Lara crawled along the jade green grass which was still drenched in dew. She found that there was nothing wrong with her arm although her head pounded ferociously. She groaned sadly and collapsed…
Lara come round still on the grass a few minutes later. The fire still roared behind her and she instantly knew that soon the grass would catch fire. She had to move. Lara stood up quickly and wished she hadn’t, she had now set off her headache again. Headache or not, Lara wasn’t safe, she ran full pelt over the grass and joined a foot path leading into an empty alleyway. Lara looked left and right then tore down the path to her right, away from the complex and the alleyway. A Ferrari 550 Maranello was parked on the corner. It was scarlet and Lara knew it would be useful. But there were two problems now facing Lara. One was that she wouldn’t be able to get the Maranello to go, she didn’t have the keys and she wasn’t brilliant at jump starting cars. Problem two was she didn’t know where she was, and where Polaroid was in relation to her. Half an hour later problem one was resolved as Lara drew her seatbelt across her lap and plugged it in to it’s socket. The Maranello’s engine purred softly as Lara turned the car around and then with a deafening roar the Maranello was off like a rocket.
Mysteriously her mobile phone rang. It was Jacqueline Natla, Lara’s main enemy. Lara pressed the grren button and Natla’s voice started echoing around the Maranello’s interior.
“So you have escaped my complex, but you will never escape me, Lara Croft!” her voice was harsh but Lara knew that her enemy wouldn’t exactly be friendly with her.
“Surely you can do better than that!” Lara teased “Does the word security mean anything to you, my girl?”
“I am not your girl, Lara Croft. Do not mock me or I’ll come and superglue your lips together!” spat out Natla defiantly
“Sorry,” Lara muttered sarcastically
“I have someone you may want to protect,” Natla continued
Lara gasped in horror as Hillary spoke on the phone
“She’s at Polaroid, Lara! Stay away! Ditch the car, she’s tracking you!” Hillary shouted
There was a groan then a thud followed by silence. Lara hung up. Natla had just thumped Hillary and no way was she going to get away in one piece for even looking at Polaroid. Although Lara and Natla were enemies there was only one major difference between them. Natla had wings which meant she could go higher than Lara at a faster speed. Lara pressed her foot right down on the accelarator pedal and the Maranello blasted forward. An hour later Lara parked the Maranello 2 miles from Polaroid. This would put a spanner in Natla’s works, arriving on foot! She could slip through the back gate and charge into the house. No that wouldn’t work, Natla had the upper hand. Lara was on her own whereas Natla was likely to have a whole army swarming around Polaroid. Lara had to find another way in. Her chance came when she accidently stepped into one of Natla’s invisible teleports. It took her to her indoor swimming pool at the side of the house. Numerous bangs could be heard from upstairs. Lara had limited her search. They were either in the music room, the library or the attic. Hillary hated the attic, he wasn’t a big fan of the dark either. But how would Natla have got a phone signal from the attic? Natla was capable of anything but not that. Lara crept out of the pool room and peered cautiously around the doorway. There were two guards blocking the tunnels out into the hall and one blocking the entrance of the kitchen. ‘Rats! I’m trapped in my own house!’ Lara thought as she clenched her fists fiercely. Then she remebered her gun which was still in the leather holster attached to her belt. Lara drew it out and loaded it. She aimed her gun at one of the guard’s heads. His left eye was in point blanc range. Lara fired, there was a loud bang, a cry of pain and then the guard fell to the floor in a limp heap. This alerted the other guards, they drew their machine guns and advanced in Lara’s direction. Lara stepped out and opened fire once more. The guard from the kitchen door swaggered back and fell to floor as the bullet hit him square in the shoulder. There were now three left. One fired and missed, but hit the chanderlier plunging one half of the room into complete darkness. Lara used this to her advantage. As the three men stood rigid aiming at the door way, Lara backed away to the wall. The guards looked around, shouting to each other, trying to find where Lara was. Lara was now in the doorway of the massive room, she fired a shot which hit another guard in the leg then sprinted down the tunnel and into the hall. She stared up and there she was. Natla stood there grinning like mad. She had an unconscious Hillary gripped in her left hand. She circled her arm and now Hillary was dangling over the bannister. The stairs were directly below him. Lara ran forward and trained her gun at Natla.
“That isn’t wise, Lara Croft!” shouted Natla waving Hillary. “If you even put your finger on the trigger I shall drop the butler! And he’ll die!”
“Don’t try anything, Natla, I’m coming up!” Lara yelled as she walked casually towards the bottom of the stairs. The two guards from before had now rushed out and started hammering Lara with bullets.Lara launched herself backwards, she flipped over and over. Hitting the wooden stairs with every land. She was soon at the top of the stairs. Natla was now staring at her intensely, there was a hint of fear in her eyes and Lara knew it. Natla swung Hillary back over the bannister as Lara strolled down the landing towards her. Natla disappeared through the doorway, Lara fired. Her bullet hit the corner of the wall and pinged off, missing Hillary’s head by centimetres. Lara sighed and rushed towards her butler. He groaned as he regained consciousness and turned his head.
“Come on Hillary, Natla went through there,” Lara urged helping the old man up to his feet.
“Oh Miss Croft, I don’t feel well enough to be racing about after Natla. Let her go, she’s not worth it,” Hillary sighed, staring drowsily at Lara.
“Ok Hillary. You rest here while I … er dispose of our other guests!” Lara agreed pointing with her head at the two guards downstairs. Lara jumped over the bannister but safely landed. She ran down the rest of the stairs and turned to face her intruders.
“Natla’s gone, she’s abandonned you. Now we can do this the civillised way, the not so civillised way or the definitely not civillised way, your pick!” Lara exclaimed, grinning.
“What does each option mean?” one guard asked giving Lara a puzzled look
“Option 1 is you just walk out, option 2 is we have a fight and I kick you through the window… “ Lara started
“And option 3?” the other guard asked
“I was getting to that!” said Lara shouted, glaring at him. “Option 3 is I shoot you both now and deal with you at my heart’s content!”
The guards looked at each other and nodded “Option 2!” they shouted together
“For this to be fair, all three of us must put all our weapons up on the window sill,” Lara explained pointing over to her left. The guards nodded again and walked slowly over to the windowsill. They dropped there guns on the windowsill. There were two shots and they both fell to the floor in a tangled heap.
“I hate sticking to rules!” Lara said to the blank air “Especially with enemies!” Lara put away her gun as Hillary limped down the stairs
“Hillary! What’s wrong?” Lara asked, rushing over to him in distress
“While you were busy down here, Natla returned and shot me in the leg!” Hillary told her, then he collapsed. Natla, who was behind him, now came into view.
“I do a good impression of his voice don’t I?” Natla asked, grinning at Lara’s horrified expression
“You’ve killed him!” Lara screamed staring at her butler’s body which was sprawled out in a bloody heap in front of Natla. Lara shreiked and hurled one of the machine guns at Natla. Natla took off and the machine gun soared underneath her feet. Lara shreiked again, tears streaming down her face. Lara picked up the other machine gun and started waving it about, trying to use it as a sword. Natla gave a cry of distress and flew out the open window behind Lara. Lara ran after her and howled bitterly through the glass as Natla vannished from sight. Lara sat down on the windowsill and just sat there, crying angrily. She stared at Hillary hoping he would wake up and shout ‘Fooled you Miss Croft!’. No such thing happened.
“I’ll get you Natla!” she shouted through her tears “If it’s the last thing I do! You won’t get away with this!” Lara jumped down and ran hurriedly up the stairs. She crossed the landing and ran into her bedroom. Lara slammed the door and flopped onto the bed. After crying herself to sleep, Lara dreamt of Hillary and her father, the plane crash when she was only 9 years old. Her mother, Amelia Croft, and her father both killed.
The next morning, Lara woke up late. The house was silent. Lara sat up and sighed. Bodies were littered all over the downstairs of the house, including Hillary’s. Lara couldn’t bare touching him. She stepped around him and continued on clearing the other men. Lara took them all out to the Maranello which was still dumped on the street. She loaded up the boot and put a little air freshner in with them.
“Oy! That’s my car!” a woman shouted as she ran down the street towards Lara. Lara turned and fled through the gates of Polaroid, dropping the keys on the pavement. The woman glared at her and got in. She started up the engine and roared away. ‘Boy, will she get a surprise when she opens the boot!’ Lara thought as she wandered down the driveway. Polaroid looked bigger than usual. ‘Probably because I haven’t seen it a lot from this viewpoint.’ Lara said to herself as she stepped through the doorway. She stared out into space, then closed the wooden door. Blocking out the harsh outside world. That afternoon, much to Lara’s surprise, the doorbell rang. Lara dragged Hillary into a cupboard, cleaned herself up hastily and opened the door. A man and a women in flourescent jackets where stood on the other side of the door. There were wearing black hats and black uniforms.
“Hello Miss Croft, can we come in?” the policewoman asked
“Of course,” stuttered Lara opening the door wider.
“We’re investigating a burglary we think you’ve committed,” the policeman explained.
“My name is DCI Albright, and this is PC Carter,” the policewoman informed a startled Lara. DCI Albright had a strong Australian accent but was trying hard not to show it. This made her sound, in Lara’s point of view, comical. PC Carter smiled politely and nodded his head as a sort of greeting.
“Come through to the kitchen, where we can sit down and talk,” suggested Lara pointing at the left hand tunnel. “I would say go into the lounge but I have no lounge!”
“Thank you,” replied DCI Albright. They walked through the tunnel but almost immediately turned off to the left. The blue and white kitchen was in darkness as they entered. Lara switched on the lights, then sat down.
“Have a seat!” Lara exclaimed, gesturing at two chairs. DCI Albright and PC Carter sat down silently.
“We have a report that you were seen a few hours ago with a car belonging to Miss Andrea Granger. The car in question was a red Ferrari 550 Maranello. Also it was stuffed with five identical bodies and an air freshner,” DCI Albright exclaimed looking severely at Lara. It was obvious that the DCI was in charge here, and that she intended to get to the bottom of the situation. “Is this true?”
“Yes, unfortuneatly,” Lara admitted. There was no point in lying about it. DCI Albright clearly meant business and anyway, Lara would only get found out if and when they spoke to this Miss Granger. Then she remembered who Miss Granger was. Miss Granger was the secret identity of one of her arch enemies, Amanda Evert. She had met Amanda before was not pleased to be involved with her again.
“Can you tell us in your view, the series of events?” PC Carter asked trying to regain Lara full attention
“Yes, of course!” stammered Lara. “I was upstairs when my adventure started. I was looking for a book about my parents, Lord Henshingly and Lady Amelia Croft when a kidnapper took me away through the window. I ended up hitting my head and I was knocked unconscious. I was then taken to a comlex belonging to Jacqueline Natla. I managed to escape. Miss Granger’s car was the first one that came into view. It was parked on a street corner. I jump started it and came home. Miss Natla was here and after a horrifying battle and six deaths later she left. I took the bodies out and dumped them in the car. Miss Granger saw me do this and retrieved her car. I went back inside and then next thing I know, you’re at the door,”
“You said there were six deaths, but only five bodies were found. Where’s the sixth?” DCI Albright asked. She was not totally convinced about Lara’s story but currently seeing as she hadn’t formally interviewed Miss Granger, Lara’s story was the only thing that the police had .
“Sorry, I am mistaken…there was only five deaths. I got confused,” lyed Lara.
“Do you know any information about this Miss Natla?” DCI Albright enquired.
“Not currently,” Lara answered blinking sleepily “ If it isn’t to much bother could you please leave? I want some more rest.”
“Of course Miss Croft. We’ll let ourselves out,” spoke DCI Albright. She and PC Carter rose from their seats and left the room. Lara rested her head in her hands and sighed deeply. Lara got up and watched the police officers exit then shut the door quietly. There was nothing to do, being the inheritor of a posh lord and living in a big lonely house did have it’s set backs. Lara silently trundled through the archway and back into the tunnel. She carried on until she reached her large dance hall, which was complete with suits of armour, speaker systems, a jukebox and a CD player. None of this excited Lara anymore. She turned around and sighed. She was used to Hillary following her with his tea tray but no one was behind her. Just the empty air was behind her. Lara continued through the square hole in the wall that led into her private swimming pool, the room that had started the trouble. She felt like she had used all her heavy sighs up, so just stared sadly at the crystal clear, rippling water. Lara climbed down the white and brown patterned, marble steps and onto the marble floor which sported the same pattern. She ran down the side of the pool towards the diving board and stopped dead. There was a slip of paper on top of the board right at the edge. Lara knew she had to be careful when retrieving it. If she applied to much weight, the board would lean over and the paper would fall into the pool. Lara ran to the side of the diving board and reached out. Her fingertips brushed the edge of the paper but it wasn’t close enough to reach. Lara suddenly had a brainwave. She jumped into the pool off the side and swam over to where the diving board jutted out over the pool. She reached up and grabbed it. Then Lara swam with one hand over to the edge and placed the paper down on the side as she lifted herself out of the swimming pool. The note was from the Prime Minister. It read:
Dear Lara,
The Jewels Of World Power are under threat from your arch enemies, Natla and Evert. Please could you come to Downing Street immediately where I will personally give you a proper briefing. All security arrangements will be finalised.
Yours Sincerely,
PM David Cameron
P.S. COME ALONE!!!
Lara sighed. There was no one to go with. Lara ran through the house and out the front door. She then remembered her Land Rover which was in the garage. She ran to the garage and flung open the door. There was her dark green Land Rover Defender sitting, as usual, right in the middle of the garage. Hillary always parked the car this way when he returned home from shopping trips. Lara grabbed the keys and jumped in. The engine revved viciously as Lara roared off down the driveway. It screached wildly as its driver sharply turned it onto the road.
Six hours later and the Land Rover pulled up on the corner of Downing Street. Lara got out, tidied herself up and then strolled briskly down the street. Two uniformed policemen stood in front off the gate leading up to the front door. Lara stopped right in front of them.
“Halt!” one shouted
“My name is Miss L Croft, I have an urgent appointment booked with Mr Cameron. He said that the security details would be sorted,” Lara boldly informed them.
“Very well Miss Croft, you may proceed,” the other policeman replied stepping aside. Lara smiled politely and climbed the stairs up to the large black front door. A gold knocker was just above central on the door. Right above it in gold lettering was the numer 10. Lara rapped on the door with the knocker. A maid opened the door and let her in.
“Mr Cameron is in the lounge, Miss Croft. He’s expecting you,” the maid exclaimed gesturing graciously with her hand.
“Thank you,” Lara smiled stepping through a doorway into a richly furnished lounge. The floor was covered with a furry scarlet carpet the stretched across the whole room. White leather chairs were positioned around the room. A corner group in the middle, a sofa in three of the corners, an armchair in the other corner and a recliner next to the window. A brown haired man sat with his back to the door on the corner group. He was wearing a black suit with a red tie and muttering to himself.
“Come on Lara, hurry up,” he murmered
“I’m here sir,” Lara called stepping further into the room. The Prime Minister jumped with fright and swivelled around.
“Oh Lara! You gave me a fright!” he gasped with a startled look on his face.
“Sorry sir!” Lara said apoligetically as she sat down.
“Anyway down to business. There are five jewels which are consealed in different locations in Europe. These jewels are: an Emerald, an Amethyst, a Sapphire, a Topaz and a Garnet. A I said each one is hidden in a different place. The Emerald in hidden in Paris, the Amethyst is in Helsinki, the Sapphire is in Madrid, the Topaz is in London and the Garnet is in Prague. I myself shall look for the Topaz, but the other four are your responsibility. Try to get the Garnet first. It is the most powerful. You may use my private helicopter to fly around in. If you come up with any problems, contact me using your mobile phone. Do you understand?” the Prime Minister explained. Lara couldn’t tell if it was on purpose or not but he never looked up at her, he just stayed staring at the door which was left open. “Quickly, Natla and Evert could of already started looking for the jewels.” Lara got up quickly and left the house. She drove straight to the airport. A black helicopter was placed on a helicopter pad. It’s registration number was written in small white lettering on the tail of the copter, it read: N9747P. Lara got in and started up the copter’s motor. The propellers whirled round at a tremendous speed. Lara pressed a black button on the console and the copter lifted off the tarmac. It hurried away as Lara headed in the direction of Prague.
Four hours later, Lara landed at Prague Airport. She had no idea where this jewel was but she guessed it would be in a temple of some sort. She ran round to the back of the copter and opened the cargo door. There was her Land Rover sitting inside ready for the mission. Lara got in swiftly and drove down the ramp onto the tarmac runway. Soon she was on the highway rushing towards St. Vitus Cathedral. She had borrowed a photo of a statue in the cathedral with a special unknown Garnet on its crown. Lara thought this could be the World Power Garnet. As the cathedral came into view, Lara assessed her knowledge of this mission and found out she knew a shockingly little amount. But when your speeding down a highway in a foreign city you don’t have time to call up your boss so Lara dismisssed this fact and lowered her foot hard down on the accelarator pedal. The car revved fiercely and flew down the rest of the highway. A few minutes later, the Land Rover skidded up to a halt outside St. Vitus Cathedral. Lara jumped down from the drivers seat and sprinted inside. After running past row after row of leather chairs with Czech hymm books Lara found what she was searching for. The statue was sat in the middle of the altar surrounded by golden jewels. The Garnet in the centre of the crown gleamed in the sunlight that poured in from the stain glass windows. Lara pulled it off hastily. Four letters on a scrap of paper and a blob of glue were on the back. Lara rubbed the jewel on her trousers to remove the glue and read the letters, GOWP. ‘Gowp?’ Lara thought ‘What does that mean?’ Lara shrugged her shoulders, dropped the jewel in her pocket and ran back outside.
The next day, Lara landed at Helsinki International Airport. Mr. Cameron had sent her a picture of where he thought the Amethyst was. It was supposedly in the Helsinki Finland Temple. As Lara turned hurriedly onto the road leading out of the airport, she saw something that distressed her very much. Directly above her was Natla, her wings spread. Lara could she Natla was following her. Natla would now be desperate in getting the remaining jewels. Lara knew Natla would know that the Garnet was in her hands. Lara sped off leaving Natla trailing behind. Lara reached the temple first and raced inside.
“Don’t move!” a voice came from inside the temple. Amanda Evert walked out holding a gun. It was the same type as the guns the guards had had during her tragedies at Polaroid. Natla stepped into the doorway with another gun. Lara was cornered. She looked around at the two of them. They were so different in appearance but yet they both had similar minds. Amanda had the Amethyst in her hand.
“Jacky, catch!” Amanda shouted throwing the Amethyst into the air. Lara jumped up to catch it. Natla fired. Pain exploded through Lara’s leg as the bullet made contact. Lara cryed out in pain and collapsed on the floor clutching her leg. The Amethyst whistled over her head and landed in Natla’s hands. Natla picked it up. She fiddled around with it until it was where she wanted it. Sunlight reflected off the jewel right into Lara eyes. Lara raised her hands to shield them but the light still blinded her. Natla laughed screechily, Lara groaned and fell flat on the floor as Amanda kicked her in the back with her steel toed boots as she walked down the centre aisle and stopped next to Natla.
“Bye Lara dear!” one of them said. Lara couldn’t see which one said this but whoever had said it had said it in such a way that Lara suddenly recognised it has her own mother’s voice! Lara screamed and flung herself at the doors which had now closed. The light had gone and now she could she. A scarlet trickle of blood ran down the side of her face and landed on her top. Lara groaned again and reached into her pocket. She rumaged past the Garnet and pulled out her phone. It rang suddenly and Lara pressed the green button. Mr. Cameron’s voice boomed out.
“Lara! Where are you? How many jewels have you got? I’ve got the Topaz right next to me! Lara? Lara? Where are you?”
“I’m here!” Lara called. She couldn’t keep the harsh note of desperation out of her voice. “I’ve got the Garnet but…” Lara sighed and passed out. Her phone slid across the marble floor and hit a chair leg. The phone was smashed to pieces and the sim card flew out, bounced of the walls a few times and hit Lara straight in the nose. It fell down and landed in her lap.
When she awoke, she was still in the temple. She gathered together the pieces of the phone and started slotting them together as she went out to her car. She yanked out the first aid kit and rubbed her head with antiseptic cream. Then she applied a plaster and got back into her car. Lara sped away and fitted her phone it the hands free socket. Her phone automatically dialled the Prime Minister’s number.
“Lara! What happened?” he asked in a distressed tone.
“I have the Garnet put Natla and Evert beat me to the Amethyst. I’m going to go for the Emerald then the Sapphire,” Lara reported as she pulled up at the security post outside the airport.
“Pass please!” the security guard barked as he loaded his rifle in case Lara tried any ‘funny business’. Lara didn’t, she showed him the fake pass David Cameron had given her.
“You may proceed!” the guard informed her after analysing her pass. He opened the barrier and Lara sped past the perimeter fence. The helicopter was still on it’s pad which wierdly surprised Lara. As she lifted it off the ground two minutes later she wundered where Natla and Evert were now. Lara knew that they had quite a big headstart but then again Natla always did. Lara adjusted the joystick and the helicopter turned towards Paris.
Two days later, Lara was at the top of the Eiffel Tower retrieving The Emerald Of World Power. Lara noted this on a checklist she had made. The Emerald, the Topaz and Garnet had a tick next to them. ‘Just the Sapphire and the Amethyst to go!’ thought Lara grinning for the first time this mission. As the week drew to a close Lara returned to London. She had three jewels in a leather draw-string bag on the seat next to her. It contained the jewels Lara had already collected. As her Land Rover pulled up outside 10 Downing Street, Lara was amazed to see the two police officers that she had met at Polaroid where now on duty. DCI Albright was jotting in her pad. PC Carter was whistling tunelessly to himself.
“Why hello, Lara!” DCI Albright called to her across the street. “What brings you to Downing Street?”
“Important business with Prime Minister Brown!” Lara called back to her as she stepped onto the pavement. Suddenly there was a loud BANG and 10 Downing Street blew up! An amber ball of fire burst out of the wall covering Lara, DCI Albright and PC Carter in pieces of the interior of the house. All three jumped to the ground in shock as the house disintergrated in front of them. Lara rolled over and stared at the house. Prime Minister David Cameron threw himself out of a window. He rolled down the stairs in a way which reminded Lara of comedy programmes like Mr. Bean. He got up slowly and ran as a wail of sirens could be heard coming closer and closer.
Two minutes later, six police cars and three fire enginges screeched down the road and skidded to a halt. Policemen and firemen swarmed about. Lara gasped in horror as PC Carter taped off both sides of Downing Street. ‘Trapped!’ Lara thought as she stuffed the jewels into the glovebox of her car. Suddenly Lara spotted a scarlet Ferrari 550 Maranello roll up outside numer three. Two women stepped out of it and strutted briskly down the pavement in there high heeled shoes. They were dressed like businesswomen but Lara knew who they were. One of them was wearing a necklace with an amethyst encrusted in the centre. This one was Natla. Amanda Evert was with her and they both had the same task. To get the Garnet, the Emerald and the Sapphire Of World Power off Lara. Lara placed her hans on the handle of her pistol. Natla and Evert crossed the street and smiled to each other as a white Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 drove down the street away from the Maranello and parked outside number 22. The police weren’t interested in the Lamborghini or the Maranello that had just smashed through their tape. Their main worry was helping the firemen in any way possible and ensuring that Mr. Cameron was not hurt. Their attention was only caught when a black Hummer H3 parked at number 4 and ten uniformed men jumped out. The men’s uniform was black t-shirt, black padded jacket, black padded trousers and black army boots. Two of the men escorted a man and a woman, who had apparently got out of the Lamborghini, across the road to join Natla and Evert. The other eight split into groups. Four acted as distraction while four headed towards Lara. Evert, Natla and their two friends also started walking towards her with the remaining two guards. Lara panicked and fired at the nearest guard. DCI Albright turned in shock and then raised her own gun. Lara thought that the bullet would hit her but Albright wasn’t aiming for her. Albright fired twice and two guards fell to the floor next to the Land Rover.
“I’m not just another pretty face!” she shouted confidently. She ran over to them and Lara and Albright combined to fight of the four guards that remained. Albright fired four times. Two guards went down, one bullet hit the window of number 13 and the last one hit the man with Natla and Evert in the eye. The three women split and ran for cover has Lara and Albright showered their henchmen with bullets
“Yeah! Eat that!” Lara shrieked over the noise of the constant gunfire.
“I think we can stop now!” Albright called to her. Lara nodded and stopped. All six were now dead so Lara and Albright aimed at the remaining four.
In a matter of minutes, all ten men were killed. The firemen and police were all watching in awe as Lara and Albright striked a back-to-back James Bond pose. Lara blew on the top of her gun
“And that’s that!” she cried bursting into fits of laughter.
“Ha, ha very funny. My name’s Bugs Bunny!” came a sarcastic voice from across the street. Evert got up from behind the Hummer and clapped her hands. This was also sarcastic. Lara jumped over to protect the jewels which no one had knew were in the glovebox.
“I’ll have the jewels now please, Lara!” Evert called casually crossing the street for the third time that day.
“Yes Lara, the jewels!” Natla called from high above. She perched on the roof of number three with a megaphone. It wasn’t hard for anyone to guess how she had got there. Her wings now sprouted out of the back of her straight jacket.
“You aren’t getting anything from me…except a bullet through your brain!” Lara shouted wildly firing at Evert. A purple bubble became visible any time a bullet was on target. All the bullets bounced off with a pinging sound.
“Natla’s new forcefileds are great!” Evert chuckled. She raised her own gun. Her finger pulled back the trigger. A bullet soared towards Lara. Lara leaped forward, the bullet hit her in the foot. Lara shrieked in pain and landed splat bang on top of Evert!
“I’ll take that, thank you?” Lara exclaimed snatching the gun from Evert’s hand.
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Natla called swooping down from the rooftop. Albright fired. Natla fired. Albright’s bullet missed Natla by milimetres. Natla’s bullet hit PC Carter right in the thigh. He groaned and collapsed. Blood gushed out from within his trousers. Lara’s toe was also bleeding but her injury was only minor. Natla cackled screechily and landed on the roof of the Hummer, setting off the alarm. It wailed at a loud volume until Natla launched into flight once again. Albright pulled her trigger. There was a pathetic click then nothing, her gun had run out of bullets! Natla cackled again
“Now the jewels!” Natla demanded.
“I think I may have got them!” Evert shouted from inside the car. Lara aimed both of the guns in her hands and fired. Twelve bullets penetrated the glass window and hit Evert. She flopped all over the seat, the bag of jewels in her hand. Lara reached her before Natla and grabbed the jewels. Pulling DCI Albright along with her, Lara ran to the Lamborghini. Albright shot at the lock and the door opened. Lara managed to hotwire the enging in two seconds flat. She then screeched down the street, skidded around the corner and was lost from view.
“Lara, what do we do?” Albright asked worriedly.
“We keep on goin’!” Lara replied, not taking her eyes off the road. Suddenly a bullet whistled through the roof and landed on the glove box lid. Luckily no one was sat in the front passenger seat. Albright was rolling around on the back seat, as she had not been able to put her seat belt on. Lara swerved and skidded then turned onto a different road. Her persuer, who was of course Natla, did not see her make this turn and shot off down the wrong road.
“That’ll keep her away for a bit,” Lara muttered to herself.
“What do we do now? Has the plan changed?” Albright called. “Woah!” Albright was hurled across the seat as Lara pulled an impressive handbrake turn.
“You could get a case of deja vu,” Lara replied mysteriously. As Lara turned left again Downing Street greeted their eyes. It looked different now, the fire trucks had gone and so had the police. Evert was now standing in the middle of the road. Her gun pointed straight at Lara’s head. Lara pressed down hard on the accelarator pedal and the car sped forwards. There was a scream and Amanda Evert’s face hit the windscreen with a thud. Evert rolled over the roof and off the back of the car. Her gun flew into the air and landed in the hands of PC Carter. He was almost unconscious but managed to clumsily throw the gun before slumping ito a heap in the road. Lara stopped and Albright ran over to PC Carter
“Goodbye ma’am,” PC Carter groaned. He sighed and then died.
“No!” Albright shrieked “Carter!, wake up!”
“I’m sorry,” Lara sympathised patting Albright on the back. “There’s nothing we can do for him now.” David Cameron walked over to them with a grim expression on his face.
“Too many people died. This isn’t how this mission should have been. Mission terminated!” he muttered. “Can I have the jewels please, Lara?” he put out his hand. Lara looked at PC Carter, then DCI Albright, then Mr. Brown and handed them over. He got out a blow torch and placed the jewels on the floor. He gave the bag back to Lara and sighed. He pulled the trigger and a flame gushed out. It hit The Topaz and it exploded. A yellow light burst out all over Downing Street, followed by red as The Garnet disappeared. He stopped just after a blue light stopped shining over the street. The Amethyst and The Emerald were only the ones left. He got a silver device out of his pocket and aimed it at The Emerald. A blue beam of light hit it and it flew into the air. It landed in Lara’s bag and she jumped in surprise.
“It’s just a normal emerald now, worth about £1,000,000 but I want you to keep it, Lara,” Mr. Brown told her as he did the process again to The Amethyst he had traded from Natla for £1,000.
“Who get’s that?” Albright asked, still staring at PC Carter.
“You do,” He answered tossing it to her. She caught it and put it into her pocket.
“Now! I want all this mess to be cleared up!” David Cameron shouted to the men by the police cars. They all stopped staring and drinking coffee and rushed up the street. Lara watched as Natla took off into flight and disappeared into the sunset. Lara got back in her Land Rover and took off towatds Polaroid. She turned off and took a glimpse at Downing Street. ‘Natla may have had a truce with David Cameron, but I don’t do truces. I’m after you Natla. Wherever you are!’ she thought to herself as she joined the main traffic flow. Lara got back to Polaroid four hours later and was happy she did. Her thoughts about killing Natla were getting a bit too real for her and her plans were getting quite…drastic!
This is where we leave our story. Lara Croft will continue fighting against Jacqueline Natla until the very end of their lives. Her Tomb Raider job will continue and she will live at Polaroid. So until next time. GOODBYE!