The Shinobi Visitor

Chapter 47 - Unearthed...

- Middle of Pacific Ocean -

S.H.I.E.L.D. earned its unofficial moniker 'Excessive Agency of Paranoia' due to its director's obsession with knowing everything and everyone who might endanger the safety of Earth and mankind. So much so that the agency and its subdivisions planted hidden bases through the land and the seven seas.

One of its agents was standing on the main deck, having a smoke to relax from the hectic day at the disguised S.H.I.E.L.D. bases disguised as an off-shore oil rig. One of the perks of being sworn as an agent of a secret agency.

"I like this. No trouble, no villains. Just a simple desk job monitoring the sea and nothing else." Except for any sign of possible attacks from the underwater city of Atlantis due to the fragile peace of its ruler and the surface world. "Nothing…else?"

His eyes caught something at the corner and squinted to get a better view but couldn't at all due to the heavy blanket of mist. The S.H.I.E.L.D. jockey ran inside and came out with a set of binoculars before using them to see what the object was and he was shocked.

Although he couldn't see it completely, the jockey saw the outline of a two-mast ship with its sails out sailing on the Pacific Ocean just like in the old days. He gulped as his fingers trembled with the binoculars while trying to shake off his nerves.

The outline soon disappeared in the far horizon heading west and the jockey let out a big breath of relief as one of his friends came out and noticed his current state. "Hey, everything all right?"

".."

The friend looked closer and noticed he was pale. "You sure? Because you look like you've seen a ghost."

"I think I just lucked out with the ghost ship." The jockey muttered weakly as he walked slowly back inside the rig.

"Huh?" The friend looked out the sea to find whatever spooked his scared colleague. "Where is it?"

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(Meanwhile)

- Solarii Fortress, Yamatai -

"Just keep running! Don't stop!"

"Sam! Where are you?!"

Why? After a rescue attempt had horribly wrong when one of the vents exploded due to Patronus's stray exploding tag, the trio and now-former hostages were separated as they escaped the caverns in different routes. The heroes on the other hand escaped the stairs to find and rescue Sam as they did their best to avoid being either burned or crushed by the flaming debris of the palace.

The same could not be said for the Solarii they came across as they were crushed or burned.

They were forced to temporarily run outside and climbed up a craggy wall to an upper level before scaling the side to the far left when Patronus stopped Lara from progressing further.

When she looked at him, Patronus pointed at the ledge. "Watch." Lara did as a flaming Solarii screamed before falling off the ledge, heading straight to his doom. "Go, go." The trio climbed up the ledge and ran across the wooden balcony before reaching a burning room at the end.

Lara noticed a wall filled with pictures and the words 'No One Leaves' written in black bold ink before she ran to the table, catching the heroes' attentions.

"Lara, what are you doing?!" Patronus stepped next to Lara as she scuffled around with the pictures. "There's no for scapbooking!"

Lara lifted a photo showing a certain hateful man in rags to the hooded ninja. "That's Mathias." She looked at the wall and noticed the words. "'No one leaves.' That's what we heard in Japanese before the plane crashed."

"What does that old bastard know?" Patronus asked as he joined Lara to find any clue on the wall. "There's a lot of reference to that ritual connected to Himiko."

"Why is Mathis so interested in it?" Lara mused as she inspected the wall even closely before taking a parchment with her. "Let's find out at a better location."

"Agreed." Patronus answered while Captain swatted away a debris with his shield.

After they climbed to a roof on the second floor, the trio assumed their formation as Patronus led the way down and traversed a zipline to the burning west tower. They reached the end of the balcony when the Solarii on the east building opened fire on them.

"Don't the outsiders near the vessel!"

The duo of Solarii were taken down by Lara's fire arrows as they fell off the building in favor to put the flames albeit in fear. Once the coast was clear, Patronus motioned Lara to go first and she jumped the gap before climbing a craggy wall followed by the heroes as they traversed a non-burning hallway adorned with statues.

They turned the corner where a man in his late thirties with shoulder-length hair and matching moustache, glasses and vest over a long-sleeved shirt and blue jeans stumbled to them. "Lara, you're alive." He said with great surprise.

"So are you… I mean, are you okay? What happened?" Lara asked.

"Once they stopped seeing me as a threat, they let me move about almost freely!" Whitman answered although Naruto wasn't sure if he was angry at Lara.

Lara inputted her response. "Did you know the others were captured?"

"Yes, yes… Sam's in there, but I couldn't free her without a weapon." The trio of heroes were about to move ahead when Whitman stopped Lara. "These Solarii are an anthropological marvel, Lara!"

Patronus stared at the man before looking at a despondent Captain. "Did he really just say that? Tell me I heard wrong."

"They're insane murderers, Dr. Whitman!" Lara answered back assertively. "We need to get our people out of here."

"Of course, of course, I'll keep a look out and you…you three…" Whitman stammered as he began to walk away from them. "You call me when it's safe."

With that in mind, the trio approached the room at the end of the hallway as Mathias spoke aloud.

"I don't think you understand." The leader of the Solarii said soothingly. "You have been chosen, Samantha. This is a great honor for you; for all of us." The trio spread out behind the several pillars as they cautiously approached the unsuspecting Solarii leader and his men. "Some were beginning to doubt we'd ever find you… but here you are."

"Please…" Sam pleaded as Mathias was dangerously in her personal space while she was tied up to a pillar. "I know you think I'm something special, but I'm not. I don't want to be chosen."

Mathias scoffed at her. "This is not about what you want. It's about what you are. Himiko's blood runs in your veins. I think you know this, Samantha." He continued ranting about her specialness all the way nearly choking her when she disrespected him as he soon revealed about the countless times of his escape attempts.

A Solarii came in the room in another door. "The fire's getting worse. The other girl, the shield guy and the hooded freak are gone."

Mathias growled loudly at the mention of Patronus. "This must be ended." He turned around and looked at the sole Solarii in the room. "Dmitri, guard her with your life."

Once they left, Lara dislodged from the pillar and fired an arrow through Dmitri's chest as Sam looked up.

"Lara! Oh my God, you're here." Sam stood up and hugged Lara who returned it tightly while Patronus and Captain secured the perimeter. "I was beginning to think I was going crazy."

Lara soothed her nerves by saying, "It's going to be okay. It'll be okay." She noticed that her missing pistol, machine gun and shotgun were on Dmitri's body before reclaiming them, putting the weapons on her person. "We got to go before they come back."

"Then let's get going." Patronus said simply before motioning them to follow him. They modified the formation with Sam behind Lara for double protection as he stopped in front of the door. "Yo, douche glasses…" Lara and Sam stifled a giggle when they heard that. "Where the hell is he?"

Whitman revealed himself from the corner of the tunnel with his hands bound. "Run, all of you. Run!" He cried out as Mathias made his presence known as well.

"Get them!" Mathias ordered his Solarii after the group.

Captain led Sam back inside the throne room. "You two, get in here!"

"One sec!" Patronus sent a nod to Lara as she fired a support beam in the ceiling with her shotgun, blocking the Solarii's path. They ran to the other side of the throne room when a burning pillar fell, blocking their path as well. "Cap, you got Sam?!"

"Affirmative!" Captain answered back as Sam shouted for Lara.

"Don't worry! We'll find another way out!" Lara assured her friend as she and Captain ran to escape the palace. "We got company!" She alerted after using her sense.

Patronus nodded stiffly. "I see them." He extended his Pivot Blade and Hidden Blade, charging at the Solarii that entered the room as he slashed their chests and drew blood from the fresh wounds.

Meanwhile, Lara fired her machine gun at one Solarii, bringing him down before directing the barrel at another that was about slash at a distracted Patronus. She noticed an incoming dynamite and rolled away from her position as Lara put away her gun in favor for her axe.

The Solarii was taken aback when Lara charged at him and swung her axe into his chest, screaming in pain as she kicked his legs before another strike hit the jugular.

Lara and Patronus finished the last Solarii together with their weapons digging into the head and chest just as more Solarii burst in while the fire had grown to engulf half the room, forcing them to escape the inferno.

The duo ran the hallway and down a set of stairs as four Solarii arrived to fight them. Patronus leapt at two of them, tackling one Solarii to the wall while slashing at the other's shoulder with the Pivot Blade as Lara fired two rounds with her shotgun at the last two.

They continued to make their way until their route reached the outside rain from the cloudy darkness above. A Solarii with thinning white hair emerged from an adjacent open building that has a stationary machine gun pointed at them.

"Go. Find the chosen one!" The Solarii commanded his brethren inside the tower as he pointed the gun at them. "These two are mine!"

Lara's eyes widened not at the blazing gun but at Patronus who shielded her with his person as his back took the brunt of the raining bullets. She closed her eyes tightly as she felt Patronus's body being bombarded by the machine gun, feeling sad and terrified at having lost one of her strongest allies on the island.

"Hahahaha!" The Solari unloaded the rounds of the machine gun unto the outsider's back, inwardly deriding the hooded figure's decision to use his body as a shield to protect the girl. "Suffer for all you've done to my brothers!"

After a little while, the machine gun had ceased firing due to lack of ammunition as the Solari waited for the blanket of dust that covered the two outsiders. His glee ceased as it was replaced with utter shock when the dust disappeared, revealing the completely intact and unharmed outsiders.

Lara couldn't believe it herself as she was completely fine as was Patronus who stood in front of her and turned around to face the shocked Solarii. She saw that his back was riddled with bullet holes from the barrage but no blood at all.

"W-who are you?!" The Solarii demanded before a hook dug into his face.

With a heave of his thrown rope dart, Patronus watched the Solarii and the machine gun fall to the ground as he quickly rolled up the weapon before flicking the blood off.

Lara stared at the hero's back as she was completely shocked at his unharmed state. Was this one of Patronus's hidden capabilities or is something else at play here?

"Lara." Patronus said as he walked in front of her and held an attachment of sorts. "Lara." The stunned archer snapped out of her stupor as she took the attachment and realized it was a grenade launcher. "You know what this is."

Lara nodded as she attached the launcher underneath the machine gun's barrel before grabbing a bag full of grenades nearby. The duo climbed through the floor and ended at a dead end with a barricaded door on the other side as Lara used her newly-acquired weapon to blow it into bits.

"Holy crap! She's got a grenade launcher!"

Patronus chuckled as he followed the archer inside and through a plaza of sorts as Lara fired three more grenades to take out the incoming Solarii while he took care of the unlucky who survived her attacks with his shuriken. They eventually reached a craggy wall leading to a hole of a burning building as they climbed it and ran through the burning hallways.

After blasting through a metal barrier, Patronus and Lara saw Captain America and Sam below in Shantytown as the Avenger took care of the Solarii who attempted to reach Sam. "They're safe. Let's keep going!" He informed as Lara took the lead before following her.

They returned to the Shantytown via a zipline and Patronus beat three Solarii with a quick palm strike, leg sweep and triangle choke for each of them. Their work wasn't done as they faced another Solarii who brought a hail of bullets from afar.

Throwing a smoke bomb in the middle of the route, the duo waited until it was fully covered and climbed up a wall before Patronus threw another exploding kunai at the Solarii, watching the latter being blown away from the force as more Solarii showed up to take them down.

Seeing there were too many, Patronus and Lara climbed down a zipline where they saw Sam through a window-like hole in one of the walls.

"Lara! Lara! Come on, climb over!" Sam said rather hectic, clearly afraid of everything that'd happened.

Lara shook her head. "Head to Roth and Grim. Regroup with the others, but don't get on the helicopter." When Sam had a confused and incredulous look, Lara pleaded this time. "Just trust me, trust me! Go, go!"

"Cap!" The Avenger took Sam's place as Patronus took his turn. "Make sure no one gets on that helicopter yet. It could get shot down."

"On it. And be careful, you two."

Patronus nodded back. "Likewise." They parted from each other as the ninja and archer climbed up a wall near them, traversed a zipline to the other side and scaled a craggy wall to a window before entering inside.

Unknown to them, a Solarii from another open wall threw a bomb inside the room, setting it ablaze and forcing them to quickly climb out of it. They made it out but their vantage view gifted them something rather worrisome.

It was the rescue helicopter.

"Oh, no. We've got to stop them from getting on that helicopter." Lara said with Patronus nodding as they traversed downward on a zipline that led them to the bridges.

Sensing malevolent emotions, Patronus looked back with Lara as they saw Mathias standing afar with two Solarii besides him. "Burn the bridges!"

The Solarii on his right interjected, "But we'll kill our own people!" Those were his last words before Mathias grabbed a gun from the other Solarii and shot him in the face.

"Any more none-believers!?"

Patronus growled before he and Lara ran across the bridge as they were chased by a horde of Solarii. The bridge was quickly bombarded by rockets, breaking and burning the structure as a lone exploding shockwave burst from behind the duo.

Both Lara and Patronus made it to the other side as they grabbed the ledge but a burning Solarii had grabbed Lara's leg. "Let go!" Lara ordered as she tried to shake him off but he wouldn't let go. "Your funeral!" She grabbed her axe and jammed it into his head, forcing him to let go of her leg.

After another round of jumping burning bridges and falling slides on parts as they made it inside a building, Patronus and Lara recovered as they saw the helicopter and heard Roth's voice on their radios.

-"We're taking fire. Everybody get to higher ground!"-

Lara brought out her radio, hoping to belay that order as the way out was blocked by burning debris. "Wait…the storms! It's too dangerous!" She got no answer as the helicopter flew to another location. "Roth?! Damn it!"

As they climbed up to reach the helicopter, Patronus contacted the Avenger. "Captain! Roth just ordered the helicopter to another location. You can't let them get on the plane! The storm will knock it down!"

="Sam and I are not there yet! But rest assured that they won't get on it."=

"10-4." Patronus ended the link as they climbed up to the tower but the wall suddenly had collapsed after an explosion. "Oh crap!" He quickly recovered and leapt onto the platform but Lara didn't as she held onto the ledge. "Here!"

After helping her up, the duo quickly scaled the treacherous and burning obstacles in the tower until they finally reached the roof where Roth and Grim was waiting for them inside the helicopter.

"Come on, you two! Hurry!"

As they were prepared to jump, Patronus noticed the roof was about to collapse and with swift action, he grabbed the surprised Lara and tossed her inside the helicopter. Lara looked back just as the roof collapsed beneath Patronus's feet, sending him down.

"Patronus!" She cried out as her eyes scanned for his figure. It wasn't long until they found him getting up inside the building. "Patronus, hurry! Hurry!"

"Come on, lad!" Grim urged with frantic waves of his hand.

After shaking his head to get his bearings, Patronus sprinted across the burning building platform before leaping at the helicopter, narrowly grabbed the legs as the structure behind him fell. Once he was inside, Naruto sighed loudly while standing up.

"We got to land this thing!" The ninja warned Roth.

"We have to land! We have to land or the storms will crash us!" Lara warned as she looked out the window, seeing her friends and Captain America defending themselves from the approaching Solarii. "We can't leave! We can't abandon them!"

Patronus stayed inside the body of the helicopter as he looked out the window while Lara and Roth tried to convince the pilot to land the aircraft. Suddenly, his senses blared before the helicopter spun out of control and everything went black.

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- Summit Marsh, Summit Forest, Yamatai -

"Naruto!"

"Naruto, get up!"

Ashura and Kurama's voices finally woke him up as Naruto opened his eyes and found himself on the muddy ground and not inside the helicopter. A groan escaped his lips as he stood up and walked around the burning helicopter before seeing the sight that instantly became dreadful.

Three Solarii bodies littered the area with a despondent Lara and frantic Grim sitting next to an unresponsive Roth…with a hatchet in his back.

"No…" Patronus whispered in disbelief as he slowly walked towards them.

The ninja was beaten by the frantic pace of the Endurance crew as Reyes kneeled next to Roth's body while Sam tended to Lara.

"Are you okay, Lara?" Sam asked with obvious concern.

Reyes however wasn't pleased. "Is she okay? Because it's all about Lara, isn't it?" Patronus snarled at her tone and remark at the despondent Lara. "Have you forgotten she's the reason we're here?"

Grim shot to his feet, glaring at Reyes. "Oi, that's uncalled for!"

"That's not fair, Reyes." Sam responded back before Patronus suddenly held Reyes by her throat. "What are you doing?!"

"L-let me go!" Reyes demanded as his grip tightened around her throat. She looked inside his hood and ceased her struggling when she saw red eyes. "Let me go…" She whispered this time.

With a growl, the hooded ninja released her as he stared at Reyes. "You are in no position to place blame on her." Patronus pointed at Lara who flinched. "She more than anyone combined is feeling the pain ten times!"

Reyes looked at Lara and indeed there was a magnified pain in her eyes, making her feel guilty. "I-I should've said that." She saw Patronus move Roth's body and pulled out the hatchet, drawing ire from her. "What are you doing?!"

"Sit there and be quiet!" Patronus ordered harshly, silencing her as he spoke telepathically. "Kurama…can I use your chakra to heal him?"

"*Sigh* Naruto, we have no idea what kind of reaction he'll respond to once exposed to my Chakra." Then an idea came to the Tailed Beast. "Wait, don't you have the healing ointment from Old Man Six Paths?"

"You're right!" Patronus responded as he took out a small jar of sorts and applied the ointment on his back.

Everyone stared at the hooded hero and stiffened when he sighed before shuffling to the side, revealing Roth's wound was beginning to heal. It was healing right in front of them! Their shocked eyes were directed back at Patronus who placed Roth onto his back before raising his hands slightly.

"What the?!" Sam cried aloud when flickers of electricity shot around the hero's hands.

"Lara." Patronus called as she looked at him. "How long has he been dead?"

"N-not long. T-two minutes I think."

Patronus sighed heavily as he placed his electrifying hands just above Roth's chest. "I'm using a small discharge. I just it's enough." He put his hands on the chest and released a small discharge, causing Roth's body to lurch. "Come on."

Another discharge…

"Come on." Patronus pleaded as Lara was beginning to tear up.

Another discharge came as Captain arrived at the scene, watching the whole incident.

After another discharge and no response from Roth, Patronus instead slammed his fists on the chest to send a slightly bigger discharge. "Come on, you old bastard!"

A cough escaped the old man's lips as he tried to sit straight but Patronus gently put him down.

"Roth!" Both Lara and Reyes hugged the formerly-deceased man although he winced from contact. Soon everyone else sans Patronus and Captain joined in the happy moment.

"Great work." Captain said as Patronus sat next to him. "Do you have powers?"

The prankster that he is, Naruto quickly came up with a cover story. "No, inside my gloves are small machines that generate electricity given enough time." He lied to the Avenger. "Although I only had enough juice for one use. Good thing it didn't go to waste."

Captain stared at the rookie hero and nodded at the answer. It wasn't long until the crew walked up to the heroes to give thanks to one of them. However, it was both Lara and Reyes who gestured the savior to come to them and so he did.

Approaching the weakened Roth who sat against a tree with Lara and Reyes on both sides, Patronus crouched in front of them. "How you feeling?"

"Other than getting the electric chair, I'm fine." Roth groaned as he rubbed his chest. "Did I hear you call me ''old bastard?'"

With a 'hmph', Patronus assumed a thinking pose in his crouched position. "Really? I don't recall saying that." Chuckles and snickers came from the crew including Lara and Reyes as well as Captain. "I think your old age is finally getting to you, Roth. Why don't you take a nap?"

"Cheeky brat…" Roth playfully chided.

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They decided to rest for a while after the ordeal and no one complained. Patronus took a vacant spot away to give himself some peace and quiet to meditate as he tried to calm his nerves, which didn't go unnoticed by the rest of the group.

"What do you think he's doing?" Alex asked Jonah as they stared at Patronus's back. "And what the hell did he got through?"

Jonah shrugged his shoulders before pointing at Lara. "I'm pretty sure she knows." Said person looked at him when she saw his pointed finger. "Lara, you've been with him for the past two days. What's his deal?"

Lara shook her head as she looked at Patronus as well. "This is the first time I've seen him so quiet. I guess he wanted some peace or something."

"Sounds like he's a guy who's over his head." Reyes remarked softly as she tended to Roth. "Hero or not."

Sam heard her words and turned her head at Reyes. "You're just upset about him carrying you with one hand. He clearly didn't like you placing blame on Lara."

"Is that true?" Roth asked for clarification as he looked at Reyes who turned her head away. "Why?"

"…"

Roth growled a little as he fixed his position against the tree. "If you don't have a reason, then leave Lara out of this. It's in the past so we move forward and think of a plan without placing blame unto others."

"He's right." Everyone sans Patronus who instead listened to the Avenger. "The crash is in the past and team morale now is at a low. I can see that now." Reyes couldn't help but feel even more guilty in the moment. "But now we all must work together from here. Teamwork is an absolute need. If we watch out for each other, back each other, then I assure all of us will be home."

A smirk etched Naruto's lips as the group felt inspired by Captain's words. He then felt a pull in his mind, a constant sign that his partners wanted to talk to him. "Kurama? What is it?"

"After this whole thing, we should leave this dimension." Kurama informed the blonde as the latter was not surprised. "We've been here since April and there was no hint of a Sealing Key's power here. Don't forget about our main mission."

Their main mission was to find the four Sealing Keys and bring them back to his home dimension to defeat the Shinjuu. They had one so far and in this dimension, there was no output of a Sealing Key's power anywhere on the planet.

A growl emanated from the ninja. "I haven't forgotten that at all, Kurama!" He quickly calmed his nerves as his senses ignored the rain hitting his body. "But you're right. You haven't sensed a power for the past seven months and we're just wasting our time here… Once this is over, we'll leave after a couple days."

"…I guess that's good bye to the Brotherhood, huh?" A sad sigh escaped from his Jinchuriki. "I liked that Connor though and honestly, I respect his people and their Order. To be seen and chastised by the public sans their allies and close friends as killers and monsters and continuing to fight for freedom… That's far above the average human can ever do."

"That's a lot coming from you." Naruto said as he shared a smirk with his partner from birth. "To be honest, I'm not really going to miss this world."

"You say that now, but I wonder if you have a different answer four months from now." Kurama had a smug look as Naruto expressed his blank look. "You know what I'm talking about."

"No, I don't." Naruto answered defensively with a small blush. Soon, he was not alone as Lara took a seat next to him, bringing the ninja out of his meditation. "Is there something you need, Lara?"

Lara nodded as she spoke in a shaky voice. "Thank you. Thank you so much for saving Roth." She repeated her mantra several times as she placed her head on Patronus's shoulder. "I don't know what I would've done without him…"

"…Probably be even more badass than you are now." The duo shared a round of laughter as Lara disengaged her head in favor to wipe her tears. "Though I'm sure you still can as we're on this island with those Solarii around." Patronus said jovially.

"Probably." Lara answered as she looked at the clouds above before looking back at Patronus. "A-are you a mutant?" She whispered to avoid anyone else from eavesdropping.

Patronus almost lost his composure from the unexpected question but quickly fixed himself as he looked at her, seeing that she wasn't going to let this go. "*Sigh* No, I'm not." He whispered back. "I can't tell you more than that, Lara."

"After everything we've been through, you don't trust me?" Lara asked with disbelief as she stared at him.

The ninja stared at the glaring Croft as she scoffed before her body motioned to leave. He stopped her with a hand on her shoulder, stopping her from standing up. "I can tell you this though and you'll probably won't believe me."

Lara sent him an incredulous look. "After everything we've seen, you doubt I'll believe you?" She smirked at using his words back at him.

"Like you said, you won't believe without the facts or evidence." Patronus smirked back at using her words against the Croft.

"Smartass."

"Back at you…" Patronus answered back before letting out with a big sigh. "A few years ago, my father, an archeologist, discovered a map that was riddled with clues." Lara gestured him to continue despite her current expression. "The map led him to an ancient tomb in Nemea."

Her eyes dilated, Lara held back her excitement at the implication as Patronus continued.

"After very, very close calls with death and all, he discovered pottery and tapestries from the Greek period but the one thing he took from that place…" He stared at Lara's eyes as she seemed to have figured it out. "It was the armor of Hercules himself."

"…"

"…"

"Bullshit." Lara finally answered, causing Patronus to blink owlishly. "There's no way. No way that your father found the Nemean Lion's pelt and gave it to you."

"How else do you explain me being unharmed by that machine gun or anything since we've been together on this island?" Patronus asked back before remembering who he was talking to. "I told you that you wouldn't believe me."

That's when Lara realized that he was not joking at all. She had been focusing on his tone the entire time and heard no tells of lying. Could he really be wearing a mythological creature's pelt underneath his costume? It does explain him not being harmed at all but in today's world, there are many technological advancements with body armor.

"Okay… I'll believe you."

Patronus chuckled mirthfully. "You enlighten my heart."

The duo stayed in peaceful quiet except for the occasional thunder. "What are we going to do? The helicopter's shot down and I don't think a third attempt will succeed." Lara said as her mind soon replayed the words both she and the hero heard long ago. "No one leaves."

"The voice?" Patronus asked. "I did mention the storms is manipulated by someone."

Lara nodded as she stood up, prompting Patronus to do the same. "The storms… They're linked to the power of the Sun Queen."

"Did she have such power?" Patronus asked skeptically. A nod came from Lara. "Remember I said Himiko might be alive?" Another nod came from the archer. "What if she's the one causing these storms, alive and well?"

Lara shrugged her shoulders. "Possibly but I can't say for sure. The storms are what's stopping us from leaving." She pulled out the parchment she took from the fortress, unrolling it so they could look at it. "The monastery has a ritual chamber."

"I remember."

Lara continued her spoken observations. "If that's what the Stormguard are protecting, the answer to stopping the storms must be in there." She pointed at a specific spot of the map. "There's a hidden river entrance. We can use a boat to go inland, to the ritual chamber."

"One problem though: we don't have a boat." Patronus pointed obviously.

Their session was interrupted by the remainders of the Endurance, specifically Reyes.

"That old PT boat on the beach, I should be able to fix it up." The second woman of the crew voiced her ability. "But we can use it to escape the island instead."

Patronus sighed loudly enough for her to hear. "If you've been listening to our conversation, then you must've heard about the storms and all."

"That something's controlling them?" Reyes scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "Both of you need some sleep."

Lara inputted this time. "You don't get it, Reyes. Twice the storms knocked down our transport out of here and Mathis mentioned of his attempts to escape by sea failed."

"She's right. Mathias did say so." Sam supported with her statement.

"I'm not dying here!" Reyes said hotly, surprising everyone present. "I'm fixing the boat and we're leaving!"

Patronus stood in front of her. "And what pray tell will you do once the boat's fixed?" Reyes was about to speak but the ninja wouldn't let her. "When the waves crashed down and destroyed the boat, we'll be left with nothing to escape this place and that's going to be on you."

"I don't need this from a rookie hero whom no one ever heard about!" Reyes shot back as she entered a staring contest with the hooded figure.

Captain stepped in and separated the two. "But I have. Patronus here saved Boston's mayor and his family, brought crime down in the city for the first time in a long time and…"

"I've been hired." Patronus finished for the Avenger, surprising everyone even more. "By Sam's father. He came to me personally to save all of you here." He stared directly at Reyes who became unnerved after several moments. "Should I tell her father that you wanted to escape the island and endanger everyone including Sam despite the storms and raging oceans bringing down any vessels in the area?"

Reyes stood there in shock. He was playing her and making her look like the bad guy here.

"And besides that…" Captain gave Patronus a pointed look. "S.H.I.E.L.D. has already sent an aircraft to this island but do you want it to get shot down by the storms as well?" Reyes gulped. "We have an opportunity to destroy whatever's controlling the storm and escape this island."

Everyone stood quiet until Roth finally spoke his opinion. "I say let's do it."

"Roth!?" Reyes asked with shock.

"They're right. We can't get out of here yet." Roth informed them as Sam, Jonah and Alex muttered about their options. "Captain will stay with us while Lara and Patronus goes inland with the boat."

"Sounds like a plan. Let's get going." Patronus led the way with Lara behind him as the others soon followed.

TTIIPMxTTIIPMxTTIIPM

- Shipwreck Beach, Yamatai -

It had taken them all night and several climbing, ziplines and taking down several Solarii, but the large group finally made it to the beach where the wreck of the Endurance floated near the shoreline as its various parts littered the beach, thanks to the early morning sun and broken clouds.

Naruto had also noticed several wrecks of different class of ships belonging to different centuries like a galleon and a World War II submarine. With everything he's seen with the fortress, the torii and structures they saw, the island has existed at least during the ancient times of Japan, perhaps even longer than that.

As they reached the beach and the mentioned PT boat in sight, Reyes along with Sam and Jonah went to work on its engine while Alex left to get tools from the Endurance wreck to help fix the boat.

Naruto judged the sun's position and estimated that thirty minutes had passed since their arrival, which made the ninja a bit anxious. And he wasn't the only one.

Lara came up to him and Jonah who stood next to the hero. "What's wrong, you two?" She had just returned from a wrecked galleon ship to retrieve a rigging called a block and snatch to aid in the boat's repair.

"It's your computer friend." Patronus answered.

Jonah glanced at Lara before looking at the direction Alex left. "Alex should've been back by now."

*Ratatatata* *Ratatatata*

Everyone went on the defensive as a frantic voice was calling for help. They relaxed slightly when the voice belonged to Whitman while Patronus and Jonah scanned the perimeter for any Solarii but found none. Not even Naruto's Kitsune Sense found any in the forest.

"How many are there?" Reyes asked as she looked at the forest.

Whitman shook his head as he gasped for air. "I don't know…"

"Are you hurt?" Sam asked concernedly.

"I couldn't see anyone." Jonah pointed out as Patronus nodded while he kept a suspicious glance on Whitman.

The ninja listened at Whitman's story of having scared off the Solarii with his gun and ran for miles as he was about to refute that when Lara did it for him.

"And you look like you barely broken a sweat." Lara answered suspiciously.

Whitman dusted his pants. "Must be fitter than I thought."

"You could've lead them straight to us…like back at the palace." Lara pointed out as Whitman stammered a little.

Both Jonah and Reyes were stunned to hear that. "What?" Reyes asked.

"That's not how it was, Lara." Whitman answered back but noticed that both the hooded hero and Lara didn't believe him, forcing him to come clean. "They said that it was the only way they'd let you and the others live."

Patronus snapped his fingers while pointing at Whitman. "I knew it! I knew something was wrong back at that moment."

"I-I tried to warn you!" Whitman answered quickly, hoping to gain sympathy from someone.

Patronus walked to Captain and whispered in his ear, "We should keep an eye on him. He's already proven to save himself."

"I agree." The Avenger nodded while Reyes threatened to kick Whitman's teeth if he didn't keep quiet. "However, we must work together if we're to get off the island."

A disapproving groan escaped from the disguised ninja. "Still something about him bugs me."

Wanting to stay away from Whitman for a little while, Lara began to walk. "I'm going after Alex. Where is he?"

"The engine room…Look, he can take care of himself, Lara." Reyes answered back, trying to persuade her from leaving.

But Lara didn't listen to her insistence. "Good. Then we'll be back soon." She paused as her eyes gazed at Patronus. "Well, are you coming or what?"

"What do you think?" Patronus teased as he jogged to her, walking alongside the archer.

Until Jonah called out to Lara, stopping their progress as he grabbed a nearby modern bow. Naruto recognized the weapon from one of the shops back in Soul Universe's Tokyo during Saeko and Medusa's window shopping. It was a compound bow.

"Here, take this bow. I've been saving it for you ever since I found it." Jonah said, giving the weapon in Lara's hands. "It's powerful. Can shoot an arrow through almost anything."

An appreciative whistle came from the hooded ninja as Lara inspected it. "Thank you, Jonah." She said gratefully.

TTIIPMxTTIIPMxTTIIPM

Patronus did a radio check with Captain America as the latter sent a thumbs-up, giving the all-clear before they left to find Alex. The duo's walk ended at a wreck with an anchor post as it was parallel to a pillar in the water that had a craggy wall.

"I wonder…" Lara muttered as she used her newly-acquired compound bow to fire a rope arrow at the craggy wall. It stood secure instead of falling, giving them relief.

They traveled the long rope to the pillar and traversed through the many wrecks that acted as their obstacles for travel while Alex spoke through the radio.

-"Okay, Reyes… I'm getting close to the Endurance."- The duo continued their pace. –"Tell me what do you need exactly?"-

Reyes spoke through the commlink. –"Alex! We were getting worried. Okay. I'm gonna need a breaker bar and the rest of my kit. I can't fix this boat without them."-

-"All right, I'm on it."-

-"Lara and that Patronus guy are heading your way. You should wait for them."- Reyes insisted at the end.

Alex was stunned by the tone of his voice when he said, -"Lara?...No, no I got this. I'm going radio silence."-

Both Patronus and Lara exchanged looks. "Alex…what are you doing?" The archer asked to herself.

After a series of building jumping/climbing followed by ziplining a torii stationed on the beach, the duo made their way to a broken building-like wreck when they heard voices…Solarii voices.

"So what'd they say? What's going on up there?"

His Solarii brother answered, "Some woman and a hooded freak busted out all the prisoners…killed anyone in their way."

"Damn, seriously? Who the hell are they?"

The duo cautiously traversed around the wreck to avoid alerting them as the Solarii continued to talk.

"Don't know. Think that woman came in with that new wreck. As for the hoodie, no one knows." The Solari said, "She killed Vlad during the round-up."

"What?! She killed one of the Russians?!" The stunned Solarii shouted with disbelief. His disbelief grew when the mention of Dmitri and Nikolai fell to her as well. "Holy crap! Did anyone tell Borys?"

"He's running the salvage op on that ship she came in on." Patronus and Lara exchanged looks once more. "I don't think he knows what's going on."

"Damn, when he finds out his brothers are dead…"

Patronus climbed up a wreck that acted as an ascending staircase leading to the big building and helped Lara up before they hid behind a box. Once the Solarii were not facing their direction, the duo released their kunai and arrow at their heads as they climbed to the top and slid on a zipline that led them to an adjacent slightly lower cliff face.

Upon reaching it, Patronus and Lara hid behind a box as more Solarii was walking on a separate cliff face before they took them out with another round of kunai and arrow. They continued onward under a tunnel inside the cliff as the duo journeyed to make it to the wreck.

TTIIPMxTTIIPMxTTIIPM

- Cliffside Bunker -

Patronus and Lara stood at the end of the tunnel when they found a rather impressive bunker that was built inside a cliff. What a challenge for one of them. After scaling the cliffside and entering the bunker via an artillery room, they crouched through a narrow tunnel that led them to a main room.

A Solarii was in front of them, causing Lara to sneak up behind and choked him with her compound bow. Patronus quickly hid the body before he joined with Lara behind a broken pillar as she readied her machine gun. The ninja sent a nod to her which she responded before he threw three smoke bombs in the middle of the room.

"What the hell?!"

"Intruders!"

The ones in the center had no chance with their sight blinded as Lara fired a grenade before firing rounds randomly. The room shook from the explosion while the Solarii on the upper levels pointed their weapons at Lara's position.

A Solarii cried out girlishly as he was kicked off by Patronus after he swiftly climbed up to his location. He ran around the level, taking down more Solarii with quick takedowns, elbow strikes and palm strikes as Patronus ran towards the last one.

"Stay away!" The Solarii stepped back as he frantically tried to reload his weapon.

Patronus reached his target and tackled him off the upper floor, using the Solarii as a cushion to break the fall. "That was easy." He raised a thumbs-up to Lara who chuckled a little. The Assassin looked up at the huge hole in the roof and pointed at it, directing Lara's attention. "Going up?"

The duo traversed through the bunker as they took down any Solarii that dared to stand in their way. As for the last two, Lara jumped on one of them and twisted her body around until they were on the floor as she held him in a armbar hold, releasing only when the Solarii's body slacked off weight.

Staring at her, the impressed Naruto simply twerked the Solarii's head to the side sharply, knocking him out while keeping alive. "Impressive. But your hold has tighter than that if you want to put your opponent asleep faster."

Lara blinked at the information and nodded as she mentally put his advice away for future reference.

They returned to the main center room but on the second floor this time as more Solarii came from the other side, opening fire on them as the duo ran around to reach the upper levels. "Keep going, Lara!" Patronus urged his friend as he threw multiple shuriken at once. "Kosaka Ryuu: Samidare Shuriken!"

Too busy was Lara climbing onto the suspended box close to the ceiling that she didn't see the shuriken hit the Solarii around their shoulders, legs and arms, hearing them scream out in pain. She was about to look back when Patronus grabbed her by the shoulders.

"We can't afford to waste more time." He urged her to move as they made it to the roof and stopped at another campfire that overlooked the Endurance wreck.

Lara stared at the object of their journey, clearly worried about her friend inside. "Alex…what have you gotten yourself into?"

"We'll find him, Lara." Patronus assured her as his hand was on her shoulder. "We should keep moving though."

The duo traversed Lara's rope arrow/zipline to one of the craggy rock-pillars in the ocean before moving unto another zipline that connected to the shipwreck. They released early from the zipline and dropped behind some cover as Solarii patrolled the deck.

Once covering behind a box, Patronus and Lara nodded at each as the former sneaked up behind a bigger Solarii while the latter nocked two arrows at the smaller ones. Their teamwork was flawless as Patronus stabbed his Pivot Blade into the Solarii's shoulder deeply with his hand over the latter's mouth while Lara released her arrows at the last two through their backs.

"Hey, Lara. Look at this." Patronus said as he tossed a device with gears inside. "Do you know what it does?"

Lara looked at the caught device before she nodded. "It's one of those rope ascender. I can pull heavy objects wrapped in rope with it."

"You're already thinking about exploring that place with the thingamajig, aren't you?" He got a shrug as Lara used her rope ascender in combination with her rope arrow to pull a lift crane close to their location.

The cargo on the lift broke minutes later and fell on a weakened portion of the deck, breaking a hole into it and allowing them a way inside as they entered inside the boat.

"Back here again…" Lara muttered aloud.

Patronus didn't respond as they walked through the narrow hallways of the ship but made a brief stop at what's assumed to be Lara's room. He saw her grab a photo of herself and Sam in black gowns before Lara looked at the mirror in her locker.

"So much has happened…" Lara said with wonder.

Patronus nodded in understanding. "Every passed minute changes us for better or worse." It was one of his master's favorite sayings back in his dimension's afterlife.

"Yeah. Let's find Sam before the Solarii does."

"Let's do it."

Patronus and Lara walked through the darkened hallway where a Solarii stood near a zipline anchor post. The ninja and archer used their hidden senses to find another Solarii at the other half of the ship as they quickly took care of them with the Pivot Blade and bow/arrow before traveling down the zipline.

The duo quickly paced through several hallways until they fell into a water-filled lower section of the wreck. "This is too many baths for the both of us."

"*chuckle*Only you. The pelt beneath my robes protects me from the elements." Patronus smugly remarked.

The Uzumaki/Croft team eventually made it the engine room where they saw Alex inside a specific room, apparently in a daze. "Alex, what's going on? Are you alright?" Lara asked with great concern.

"I'm pinned down in here…doesn't look good."

Patronus looked around to find another way inside the room but figured it would take too long to reach Alex, so he decided the easy way. "Step back." He told Lara, drawing Tenkaichi from its sheath and swinging the blade through the electrocution box with swift precision.

"What are you?!" Alex asked with fear.

"Keep quiet!" Patronus ordered as Lara tended to him.

"Sorry… I'm so sorry." Alex apologized to them, specifically Lara. "I didn't mean to get you to rescue me. How often does a guy like me get to be the hero?"

He got a knife-hand chop on the head, eliciting a yelp of pain as a bump appeared sooner after. Lara looked at Patronus in the 'what the hell' look as the latter's body expressed blank annoyance.

"Seriously? Are you for real, Alex?" Patronus asked before throwing a kunai at a Solarii on a nearby balcony, all without looking at the dead enemy. "Alex, just ask Lara out on a date. That's it! But don't put yourself or your friends in danger."

Lara looked at a blushing Alex for being called out for attempting to impress her as Patronus swung his katana at the debris, freeing him from the painful trap. The boat shook violently when another Solarii fired a bullet into a gas tank, forcing them to escape from the shipwreck.

"Go, Lara. Go!" Patronus urged Lara while she carried the toolbox as he had Alex on his back.

They came across an ascending zipline that led back to the other half of the Endurance wreck, but an explosion blew in front of them, hurtling the trio against the wall. Lara quickly stood up but found that their way out was covered by fallen debris.

"Oh no!" Alex cried out when he saw it as well. "How are we going to get out now?!"

Patronus looked around but couldn't find another route. The chamber they left was flooded and the hallway was collapsing every second spent to find another way, so he had only one option left to save them.

"Give me your hand." The ninja demanded with his hand out.

Both Alex and Lara looked at him weirdly until the latter remember his ability that he used to save Grim from the Solarii in Shantytown. She quickly grabbed his gloved hand as Patronus warned both her and Alex.

"Take a deep breath, you two." Patronus said to the survivors as they took deep breaths.

A lone debris was falling to smash in their heads but the trio swiftly disappeared in a yellow flash.

TTIIPMxTTIIPMxTTIIPM

(Minutes Before-Nighttime)

- Survivor's Camp, Shipwreck Beach -

Jonah and Captain America sat around the fire as they cooked their catch of fish while Grim sat on a box nearby, playing with a tri-bladed knife in the air.

"What you got there?" Grim groaned while Whitman's intrigued eyes was on the knife. "Never seen a knife designed like that in my life." Whitman stated.

"…This belongs to Patronus. It was this knife tha' saved my life." Grim praised as he tossed the knife between his palms.

Jonah looked at him oddly while Reyes rolled her eyes at the claim. "How's that?" Roth asked, feeling better after getting some rest.

"He teleported." Cue blank and incredulous looks from the group sans Captain. "It's true! He and Lara were on a separate platform and this Solarii had me in knife-point, bleeding me from my neck and then…!"

"Then what? He showed up in a flash of lightning?" Reyes skeptically said while Grim tossed the kunai into the air.

A flash of yellow light above the kunai before Grim moved out of the way as the falling trio of Patronus, Lara, and Alex landed on the box, shattering it on impact.

"What the hell?!" Reyes screamed out as she and the others jolted out of their seats.

"Whew…" A surprised Alex exhaled out while he struggled to keep his stomach in place. "Is what you two went through the past couple days?"

Patronus and Lara exchanged looks before answering at the same time. "Pretty much/yeah."

"You two are insane!"

Lara's cheeks puffed out when her last meal threatened to escape. "You could've warned us about the side-effect."

"There was no time." Patronus rebutted weakly.

"Lara! Patronus!"

The mentioned people heard their names called out by the worried Sam who ran towards them. Captain and Jonah saw Alex's state before they helped him to get better situated next to Roth. Patronus groaned loudly as he popped his joints from the unfortunate fall.

"Wow, that was something." The ninja muttered before he found his Hirashin kunai next to him and pocketed it in his pouch.

"Who the hell are you?!" Reyes cried out, drawing everyone's attention as she charged at Patronus and grabbed the front of his haori. "You can teleport?! Why the hell haven't you taken us out of here?!"

"Because I'm limited." Patronus feigned heavy panting that was heard by Reyes. "I can only teleport once a day since it takes a lot of energy to do so." Reyes's glare stayed while Patronus continued to lie. "I just pushed that limit to save Lara and Alex from that sinking wreck."

"Reyes…" Roth called out to the woman when she didn't let him go. "Let him go. You're not doing everyone a favor here. Let him rest…He's been through a lot."

Captain walked to the tensed duo and separated them. "I agree. Take a seat, Ms. Reyes." The obvious scared woman glared at the hooded hero before leaving him and the Avenger alone. "That was something, Patronus. I knew there was more to you than meets the eye."

"Don't count on it." Patronus patted his shoulder as he took his seat next to Lara and ate a food pill, satisfying his hunger for a little while. "Oh, that's the good stuff." But before he could get a little shut-eye, Patronus felt a bulge in his robes and took it out, revealing a book. "Lara, you should look at this."

Lara took the book and began rummaging through it with Sam. "Where did you get the book?"

"I found it on one of the Solarii's bodies when we were in that bunker." Patronus answered. "It's probably important and seeing that you're the archeologist of the group, I figured you'd like to take a look. Maybe find something about the storms."

Whitman stood up as if he was offended. "Excuse me! I'M the lead archeologist here, not her! I should look at tha—" He stopped when a sword's tip was close to his boys. "But I should let Lara here get experience."

"That's better. Now sit down and shut up." Patronus ordered as he sheathed his sword.

Both Lara and Sam shared chuckles along with Jonah and Roth as their outlook on Patronus was getting more positive with each passing minute. As for said person, the hooded hero decided to take a little nap after a day he had.

TTIIPMxTTIIPMxTTIIPM

- Near the Research Base, Yamatai -

After much needed rest for the hooded hero, he and Lara were on their way to the research base that was in the mountain. According to the book he found, it mentioned about the Imperial Army having found a way to control the storms to win the war back in 1944 and that's where they're going to find out. There were opposing opinions or one opposing voice who threatened to leave them behind.

Upon reaching the top of the cliffside from the elevator, Patronus and Lara heard the former's touch screen 'beeped'.

="Patronus, do you copy?"=

The ninja responded, "Hey, Cap. You're making sure they won't leave, right? That Reyes is pretty adamant."

="Don't worry. I'm keeping an eye on them so be sharp out there."=

"Likewise."

They traveled across a massive gap to another craggy cliffside with Lara's rope arrow and climbed to the top where Lara noticed a book on one of the crates as she soon read it. Patronus sensed her distress and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"What's up?"

"This is Whitman's writing. God, he's gone insane." Lara pointed out as she showed it to Patronus. "You should warn the others."

With another nod, Patronus contacted Captain America and warned him about Whitman's possible betrayal. The duo continued their trek to the visible research base through a trolley system that was held by two massive towers and traversed down a zipline that led to the lower half of the base.

Climbing to the ground level of the entrance of the research base, Patronus and Lara crouched when they heard voices ahead. "What are we doing here? There's freaking Oni in that tomb!"

"Calm down." The other Solarii said, trying to calm his friend. "We got orders from the man. No one comes in or out."

Patronus and Lara nodded at each other as the former threw his rope dart at one of the Solari's shoulder and pulled him taunt. "Ah!" The Solarii cried out before Patronus clotheslined him with the inside of his elbow.

"Damn!"

Lara ended the Solarii's life with her silencer-equipped gun that she upgraded back at the beach. She was also armed with Roth's firearm that was attached to her other leg for more firepower, something that Patronus approved loudly as he expertly threw shuriken at the last two Solarii that were on balconies.

The duo stared at the gate. "We're going to have to find another way inside." Lara mused, getting a nod from Patronus as they soon scaled the cliffside next to the gate to find another way inside. They managed to climb up to the upper level and entered through the artillery room that housed a massive cannon with Lara's rope ascender.

As they climbed down a craggy wall inside the research base, Patronus and Lara waded through the green-colored water, scaled up a craggy wall and slipped through a narrow space to the other side. "Be careful, Lara. Those two levels are pretty deep. And keep an eye for Yokai. Those Solarii mentioned they were in here."

"I hear you. Thanks." Lara said back as they climbed down the two drops.

And they were not alone inside the base.

"Oh shit, look at all those bodies." A Solarii said aloud with surprise.

The other Solarii cursed him afterwards. "Keep it down."

"The Oni are here!" The first Solarii complained fearfully.

"Yeah, so shut up about it. And keep an eye out for the girl and that hood freak."

Patronus, seeing two of them in the hallway, sneaked behind the Solarii and dug his extended Hidden Blades into their necks as they fell to the ground. Lara had wondered about the significance of the wrist-mounted weapons but she knew that they were effective at taking down enemies.

"They're called Hidden Blades, Lara." Patronus informed her as he showed her the golden Adamantine blades. "Very useful."

Lara nodded while Patronus flicked the blood off them before he retracted the blade. "Are they…"

"No, they're not for everyone. Sorry, Lara." Patronus smirked when Lara pouted at him. Then something else came to mind as he glanced at her. "What's the deal with Reyes though?"

"…"

"I didn't mean to put you on the spot, but she's disturbed about something…like she wants to get back to something." Patronus paused in his stride and sighed solemnly as he figured it out. "Or someone."

Lara nodded slightly. "Her daughter."

"…" Patronus rubbed his head. "She's scared that she won't see her again." He sighed as he would be in a similar situation with his children and family. "Still, that attitude will only get us killed."

"But…"

"I understand her pain and rashness, but we have to be smart. She hasn't seen what you and I saw." Patronus stressed. "We all have loved ones waiting for us to get back home, not just her. True strength comes from others."

"Philosophical much?" Lara joked, getting a slight laugh from her friend.

"Not so much as it is literal." Patronus muttered before he shook his head. "Never mind that. Let's keep going." He and Lara made it to an elevator shaft that broke in mid-way. After working together in an apparent trick game with the bolts, they managed to reach the first floor.

"What was that?" A Solarii cried out in surprise when he heard the crash. "Hello? Hey! Anyone there?" Patronus and Lara stayed quiet, scaring the Solarii even more. "What the hell am I even doing here?"

Patronus used Kitsune Sense and found two including the freaked out Solarii in the tunnel ahead of them. He whispered to Lara of the number as they readied their weapons for the upcoming confrontation before attacking the two Solarii with swift action. The Solarii barely screamed in pain before their lives ended by the duo's Pivot Blade and arrows.

After hiding the bodies from sight, Lara took the lead as Patronus followed her through the base's hallways until they reached a massive ruin and temple at the end. "Alright, this is it." Lara mused with relief.

"Obviously." Patronus responded simply.

They walked up the stairs where a skeleton adorned in complete samurai armor was kneeling in front of a mural with a katana dug into the stomach. Lara noticed the statutes that were near the mural. "They were in Himiko's tomb."

"I remember." Patronus answered with a small nod.

"These statues…warriors…They protected her." Lara mused from her observations as her eyes were on the mural now. "Is this you?" She spoke aloud to the dead samurai while she stared at the mural. Particularly the man on the painting. "Were you some sort of general?"

"Makes sense." Patronus mused aloud as well, drawing Lara's attention. "This armor has all the hallmarks of a general but the design is unlike anything I've seen." Credit went to the mother of his children since Saeko tutored him in Japanese history. That included political and military figures as well as the armor from each century. "Question is…why did he commit seppuku? What was his greatest failure?"

Lara looked closely at the skeleton and the sword. "I'm going to take this out." She pulled out the sword, revealing the blade to be broken in half. "It's beautiful." She winced when her finger got a little cut from the edge. "Still sharp…"

"Careful." The disguised Uzumaki warned her as the Croft archer used her senses to find something odd with the katana.

And Lara did.

She played with the pommel and found a hidden compartment with a small letter inside as she soon unrolled the parchment and made sure Patronus read it too since it was written in Japanese.

"'I have failed my queen. The ritual was corrupted. The priestess knew only death could save her and took her own life.'" Both Patronus and Lara felt dread filling their bodies up as they continued reading the note. "'Now the first and last Queen lives a half-life, a soul in a decaying body. Her rage became the storms and would not stop while her soul is tied to this earth. My Stormguard are sworn to protect her. They must continue, but I cannot.'"

Lara released the air in her mouth that she didn't know she had as Patronus grabbed the note from her. "The soul is trapped in a decaying body… That's what causing the storms."

"…There's something different with the parchment." Patronus thought internally as his fingers rubbed against the scroll, trying to find something inside. Unless it was supposed to be hidden from those with normal eyes. "I wonder…" He activated Kitsune Sense as his eyes changed colors to signify its activation. "Whoa."

"'My brothers or sisters who find this letter…Many times I have written to you of my reports, of the Sun Queen…Often there were times where I had conflicting duties to both my queen and the Order, but I urge you now as both the Stormguard General and fellow Assassin to be aware of the one who trapped the queen. His power unlike anything I've seen dwarfed my queen's own and his eyes…rippled like the water being disturbed. It was those eyes that saw everything was true beyond the deception of the queen and his voice that reached the priestess. I urge to find the being and kill him for I fear that he poses a greater threat than even our arch-nemesis.'"

Patronus stared at the skeleton. "He was an Assassin? How did he do it?" More importantly the mention of the rippled eyes in the letter. "From the letter, Old Man Six Paths was in Yamatai during the ancient times, but if it's true… why didn't he save the priestess from taking her life?"

"Patronus? Patronus!" The hooded hero jolted when Lara shook him by the shoulder. "Haven't you been listening to me?" Lara asked before Patronus shook his head. "I said that to stop the storms, we need to destroy the body in the ritual chamber…" She took out the map and looked at it for the location. "How the hell am I going to convince the others?"

"We'll find a way and if not…" Patronus brandished his fists as they cracked. "Well, I'm sure they'll understand later."

Lara stared at him with a deadpan. "I appreciate you use words instead of your fists." Patronus shrugged his shoulders before taking the broken katana off the ground and putting it within his haori's hidden seals. She was about to ask him about the blade when voices shouted in the chamber.

"Do it now!"

The distracted duo was caught off-guard as the entrance behind them was destroyed by a set of charges. Three more explosions occurred afterwards as Solarii appeared from another entrance and opened fire at them. "Don't let them escape!"

Patronus dashed towards two Solarii and leapt at them as he stabbed his Hidden Blades in their throats, bringing them down. Lara brought out her machine gun and fired at three Solari through their chests and heads. She saw an incoming grenade and rolled out of the way as it exploded at the spot before firing one of her own back at the Solarii.

An explosion rocked the chamber while a Solarii tank walked slowly towards her with machete in hand. Accepting the challenge, Lara pulled out her axe and charged at him. The tank swung his machete but Lara rolled out of the way and landed behind his back as she swiftly plunged her axe into his back, eliciting a pained scream from him.

Patronus watched Lara pull her axe out after he finished off three more Solarii with swift strikes from his Pivot Blade. Lara met up with him before they made their escape out of the research base.

As they walked out of the tunnel while being bombarded by the gentle breeze of fresh air, Patronus noticed that they were back at the beach's perimeter. However, their brief respite ended as their radios were blaring with gunshots. "Captain?!" Patronus called out with worry. "What's going on down there?!"

"Sam! Roth?!" Lara cried out through her radio.

It was Reyes who answered them both. –"We're under attack! Get back here, you two!"-

Both Patronus and Lara then rushed to make it back to the survivors' beach as they hope to make it back in time.

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- Shipwreck Beach -

"Come here!" Captain America shouted as he slammed his shield against the last Solarii.

The rest of the Solarii had already retreated but in fewer numbers. They ranged at 30 upon their arrival to the beach but thanks to Captain America's military experience and guidance, that number shrunk to a third. Reyes, Alex and Jonah continued to fire at the retreating Solarii's backs, hoping to bring more of them down but the Avenger ordered them to cease fire.

The group heard something from behind them and turned around to face who it is, only to find Patronus and Lara there.

"Lara/Patronus!" Roth and Captain called out respectively as the mentioned duo got off the top of the boat.

Patronus was the first for the sit-rep with his arms raised. "What the hell happened?!"

"There's no sign of them." Lara stated after a quick glance at the camp. "What exactly happened here?"

Jonah was the one who answered them. "During the attack, Whitman took Sam and they disappeared."

"What?!" Patronus responded before he punched the boat next to him, scaring the survivors. "I knew that guy was trouble the second he came back!"

"He's taken her back to Mathias." Lara said softly in realization.

Captain America sighed solemnly. "I kept my eye on him but the Solarii caught us off-guard."

"You did the best you could, Captain." Patronus answered softly. "Everyone here is safe thanks to you. Now we just got to save Sam."

"We could leave now." Reyes offered. "The boat's fixed. We should get help."

Lara shook her head. "I bet they thought that too." She referred about the Solarii.

Reyes answered back. "You were right about Whitman but—"

"You've seen the storms. They target any crat that comes near." Lara paused, reluctant to say the next thing. She saw Patronus nod at her, telling her to inform them about they know. "There were scientists here during World War II and they believed the storms were controlled by something in a ritual chamber near the monastery."

Patronus noticed the skeptical look on Reyes' face but it was not as hardened as before. The rest of them however were listening to her the whole time, especially Captain America and Roth.

Lara continued speaking. "Look, I don't have all the answers, but Sam be taken, I know it's linked. And if we try to leave without understanding why, we'll all die. Just like the pilots."

"…"

As Lara and the others were trying to convince Reyes to trust the archer, Patronus walked a bit far from them after he heard something in the woods. Captain America joined him as he also sensed something was amiss in the forest.

"Patronus…"

"Yeah?"

"…How many?"

"Tell them to get on the boat now." Patronus answered as he drew Tenkaichi from its sheath.

Captain turned around and shouted at the crew. "Roth, get them on the boat now!" Everyone was brought out of their discussion before they boarded the PT boat. Lara looked back after getting on and saw that neither Captain America and Patronus approached the boat.

"Patronus! Captain America!" Lara called out for them, but they didn't budge from their position. Dread filled her as she realized what they were going to do. "Come with us! Don't stay here!"

That's when she saw something come out of the forest that headed towards them and it would've hit one of them if it wasn't for Patronus who cut it down with his black katana.

"Get going!"

That was the order Patronus gave before a large horde of Yokai emerged from the forest and charged at the two heroes. Alex screamed like a girl while Jonah stood stiff. Reyes couldn't believe what she was seeing as Roth held her hand to sooth her while Grim urged the monsters to come to them.

But the one who was most shocked was Lara as she stood there, watching the Yokai of different sizes charge at the two-man wall.

"All of you get going!" Captain America ordered as he dodged several swipes from a Yoki before counterattacking with his shield.

Roth heeded their words and began to turn the key to start the boat. The engine though did not start as the crew began to get scared. Reyes snapped out of her stupor and began to work on the engine to figure out what was wrong with it.

Meanwhile Patronus and Captain America were taking down Yokai as their littered bodies never penetrated the line of defense the duo established. Three Yoki swung their swords at Patronus who responded with a strike of his own as their blades and heads were severed by the hooded human.

After deflecting a strike with his shield, Captain America grabbed a katana from one of the fallen Skeleton Warriors and slashed at another one that charged at him. He spun, dodged, and rolled out from several Yokai whether that be a Yoki, Onyudo or an Oni-Bi as Captain landed with some blows to weaken them.

An Onyudo threw rapid-fire punches at Captain who blocked them with his shield but he was pushed back by each blow. Captain America lashed with his shield to hit a Skeleton Warrior that tried to hit his blind-spot and parried a sword strike with his borrowed katana.

Patronus, seeing the Avenger surrounded by Yokai, jumped and ran on the Skeleton Warrior's heads like stepping platforms as he swung Tenkaichi downward, cleaving an Onyudo in half. He spun around with a wind chakra-coated Tenakaichi like a spinner. "Futon: Ningen no Ken!"

The Yokai around the duo were cut, slashed, and cleaved by the spinning Assassin while the bigger ones kept their distance, becoming wary of the human. Captain America parried a strike with the katana before cleaving a Yoki's head with his Vibranium shield's edge as he finished off another Skeleton Warrior via dismemberment around the joints.

Lara stared at the two heroes who mowed down the variety of Yokai whom she never thought to exist until this moment. Her entire life she learned about the different cultures, their languages and folklore but it was here on Yamatai that everything of the mythological stature were real all along.

Her eyes caught a Skeleton Warrior about to stab Captain America's unprotected back as Lara quickly nocked and released an arrow straight at the Yokai's skull, 'killing' it so to speak. Patronus and Captain America looked back at her as the latter sent a salute, thanking her for the save.

Seeing her action, Roth, Alex, Jonah and Grim provided cover fire for the heroes, aiding them by taking down the smaller Yokai while Patronus and Captain worked together to defeat the bigger ones whether it be a Yoki or Onyudo.

Speaking of the mass-muscled Yokai, it stuttered backwards after its targets cut off both arms. Patronus grabbed the dismembered limb and smacked the Onyudo against the body with it before he swung hard at the head as the Yokai stumbled back a few times.

Dropping the limb, Patronus unsheathed Tenkaichi and leapt at the Onyudo as he stabbed its head. The Yokai groaned loudly as it tried to shake off the Human from its form, but Patronus was hanging onto him like he did on the Chief Toad's back in his first time of performing the Summoning Jutsu.

Captain America wasn't one to step aside and let rookies show him up as he thrust his katana into a Yoki's shoulder and bashed his shield once more against its face, stunning the demonic creature due to his enhanced strength. He swiftly swung his shield once more but at the shoulder area, severing the katana-wielding arm as the Yoki backed away and held its miasma-leaking wound.

As if they were one, the two heroes synchronized their finishing moves as Patronus twisted Tenkaichi's blade upward while Captain America sliced the Yoki's throat with his shield's edge. Lara and the others stared in awe as the last two Yokai heads were severed and cleaved off their bodies.

Patronus and Captain America soon heard more footsteps coming from the forests. "Hey, is that engine fixed yet, Reyes or what!?" The hooded ninja exclaimed aloud as he began to slowly form a Rasengan in his left palm.

A moment later, his answer came in the form of the engine idling, much to everyone's glee as he quickly cancelled the Rasengan formation.

The heroes ran to the boat as Reyes drove it towards the river route Lara mentioned while more Yokai burst from the forest. Patronus threw three more exploding kunai at the Yokai, providing them more time as three separate explosions boomed behind him before he and Captain America jumped on the boat.

Reyes kicked the throttle to its fullest as the boat quickly sped down the river route back to the inland, leaving behind the horde of Yokai that stood there on the beach before they retreated slowly back into the forest.

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(Morning)

- Mountain Pass, Inland Yamatai -

It had taken the rest of the night, but the group were sailing close to the monastery's perimeter. They made small talk but Reyes asked Lara about the reason of Sam's kidnapping.

"Do you really want to know?" Lara asked the skeptical woman.

Reyes answered honestly. "No, but you should tell me anyway. All of us here actually."

"There's a soul of an ancient Sun Queen trapped in a dead body." Lara informed her crew and Captain America since Patronus already knew this. "Her rage is what's causing these storms. If we destroy the body, the storms will stop."

"Right…" Reyes replied a little skeptically. "And why does Mathias want Sam?"

Lara shook her head in response. "I don't know. And that's what scares me the most. Look, I know this is a crazy plan."

"Yes, it is." Patronus rolled his eyes at Reyes as she spoke. "But right now, crazy is all we got. So, let's do this."

The group finally made it to the mountain that housed the monastery as Reyes anchored the boat close to a small clearing. Lara inspected her two guns and the rest of her equipment until she noticed that Grim, Jonah, Alex were getting ready with their weapons as well.

Jonah placed his shotgun on his shoulder. "Let's go."

"No, everyone needs to stay and guard the main entrance while Patronus and I go in after Sam." Lara said to her friends, much to their chagrin. "More people means more danger of being spotted."

"But…" Alex tried to reason with her, but Roth silenced them with a raised hand.

"She's right, everyone." Roth groaned as he stood shakily. "None of us will keep with her in terms of stealth and all." He glanced at Patronus who met his gaze. "You keep her safe in here, you hear me."

Captain America stepped forward to make his presence known. "The two of them are not going there. I am also. Sam is my responsibility also."

Lara would've argue with the Avenger but after having seen him defeating Yokai, she knew that Captain America was a force to be reckon with. He certainly lived up to his reputation. She never would admit this to anyone except Roth that the Avenger is the second person she'd have and the first person in her mind was even a stranger who'd irritate her.

The Croft archer continued her reasoning. "Besides, I need all of you here taking out as many of those bastards as you can. It won't just be the Solarii either… There will be… others." She hesitated with the last few words.

"What do you mean, lad?" Grim asked the obvious.

Patronus answered for her. "Samurai. Most likely the Queen's Stormguard…"

"Anything that's not me, Patronus or Captain America, shoot it." Lara insisted firmly.

The crew of the Endurance huddled together as Jonah cited a prayer for the success of Lara's mission and her safety along with Patronus's and Captain's own. Once finished, Patronus, Lara and Captain America began the climb towards the monastery with the absolute intent to save Sam no matter what.

Unbeknownst to the climbing trio, stationed on the opposite mountain adjacent, two distinct figures belonging to a small child and the vulpine category stared at them. If one looked closely at their eyes, they would have noticed their gazes were directly on the hooded ninja's back with such intent.