Sweat, Strength, and Determination

by Katie Fleming

Lara flipped through the newspaper, her red pen waiting to circle the perfect ad. It was nearing the summer of 2002, and she was looking for something fun to keep her active until her summer vacation.

"Any luck, Lara?" Winston asked. She shook her head, and continued to scan the pages.

They were sitting outside on the edge of her large water fountain. The warm breeze flowed with sweet smells of flowers, and freshly cut grass.

"Winston, look!" She pointed to a small ad at the bottom of a page.

"Intensive training: do you have speed, determination, and strength? We want YOU! One selected male or female will be chosen at the end - to go on the world's deadliest mission. Think you're tough enough? Prove it. Send a video of your abilities before May.7. One hundred people will be chosen, then the training will begin! Can you do it?" Winston finished reading, and glanced at Lara. "Can you be ready in ten minutes?" he asked. She nodded, a grin on her face.

BOOM! BOOM! The music blasted through the ten-foot speakers on Lara's roof. The spotlights shone down, increasing the air temperature by 10º. Fog machines were turned on full blast, and the music was getting louder and louder! The bass pounded into Lara's heart, her adrenaline level high. Cameras on? Check. Equipment ready? Check. Enemies loose? Check.

"A figure steps through a dark door, barely visible from the thickness of the fog. Her face wears a frown. Her arms and legs look sweaty. Holsters strapped to her legs, magnum pistols snuggled in." Winston's deep voice was perfect for the narration. He zoomed the camera in on Lara's face. Take it away! he thought.

Lara's brown eyes moved quickly to the left, and then straight ahead. She clenched her fists tighter, and stretched her legs. Running forwards suddenly, she moved swiftly to the hardcore music. Lara jumped over top of a gap, and then jumped upwards to grab a set of monkey bars. She grabbed rung after rung, her upper body strength making it seem effortless. Halfway across, a huge blast shook the air. Lara pulled her body up into a chin-up position, and held without shaking. BOOM! Lara let go of the rung, and grabbed hold of a rope. With only her legs holding on, she slid down the rope - her body turned on a 90º angle, arms stretched out in front shooting her pistols. She landed on the hard pavement and sprinted forwards, flipping in the air, shooting several targets. Suddenly, Lara stopped.

"A huge shadow rises up in front of her. What is it? The fog is too thick! Is this the end?" (Laughs) "Yeah, right!" Winston's voice boomed. Lara's hands held onto her hips, and her foot impatiently was tapping the ground. BOOM! BOOM! Lara's heart pounded more and more, and sweat began to form on her face. A large face looked through the fog suddenly at Lara. She grinned at it, then with her right hand, she pushed its face away hard.

"You're it," she said. Raarrhhh! Lara ran past it, her arms and legs speeding. She pushed a button on her watch, and her eye camera turned on. She could see the massive machine racing toward her. She grinned, and continued to sprint forward. Lara ran into the huge wall that surrounded her house, turned around and held onto a rope that was in front of the wall. Large beads of sweat fell from her face, some hitting her small mike that was attached to her head set.

She watched the machine stomp towards her, its pace slowing. Just as it arrived in front of Lara she tugged on the rope.

"You're too slow for me," Lara said to the machine just as she was jerked upwards, onto the top of the wall.

"Is this it?" Winston's voice blasted though the speakers. "Oh no. There's more." Lara climbed onto her motorcycle that was conveniently parked in front of her. She drove ahead towards her racetrack where there weren't any spotlights to light up the track. Lara hopped down into the center of the track, and waited patiently.

"Dead zone?" Winston asked.

"No," she spoke into her headset. Right on cue, five headlights turned on, lighting up Lara's face. She could hear the throttles been cranked up. With her eyebrows raised, Lara's hand motioned them to come. ZOOM! The five motorcycles sped forwards all aiming for her. Lara stood watching with a steady gaze.

"It's the end!" Winston yelled, trying not to laugh as he could hardly wait to show the movie to Lara. At the last split second before Lara became new dirt for her track, she jumped upwards and grabbed a hold of a bar. The motorcycles rushed underneath her, as she flipped around the bar a few times before landing back on the ground. They turned their motorcycles around. They were going to try again! Lara reached into her backpack and took out a flame-thrower. She turned it on full blast, and made a nice wall of fire in front of her. Fog suddenly was dropped into the race track area, and Lara lost vision of the motorcycles. A moment later the air cleared and Lara looked with satisfaction at the grosteque scene before her.

"And this is just the beginning." Winston's voice echoed throughout the air. Lara looked at the camera, and fired her flame-thrower at it, a large grin on her face. "That was perfect, Lara!" Winston called down from the roof. Lara grinned. All the stunt men got up from the ground.

"Great job guys!" she said. They bowed, then began cleaning up the gory mess.

The next day…

Lara shipped out her video first thing that morning. She sure hoped she would be accepted! Lara turned on the TV and was soon lost in the show.

Two days later…

Ring, ring! Ring, ring! Lara dashed for the phone.

"Hello?"

"May I speak with Ms. Lara Croft, please?" the voice asked.

"Speaking."

"Ah! Ms. Croft, I am calling you to tell you that we received your video. It was marvellous! We would be delighted if you are still interested in the training?"

"Of course!" Lara happily responded.

"Excellent. I'll put you on the phone with Carl. He will give you the rest of the details." After Lara spoke with him, she smiled at Winston.

"They've accepted me!"

"That's great, Lara!" he replied.

"I have to fly down to Nevada, and from there they'll take me to the camp. It's somewhere in the middle of the Nevada Desert."

"Have fun, and good luck!" Lara said goodbye, then drove to the airport. She had packed earlier, assuming she would be accepted. Lara brought her headset, pistols (which she hid in her boots, that a scanner can not detect), and a canteen.

Eight hours later…

The jeep jerked and jumped as Lara was being driven to the camp. There were four jeeps ahead that Lara could count, and five behind. Fifteen minutes later, they arrived at the camp. Lara curiously looked around, and saw that the building was huge. A fence surrounded the outside, topped with barbed wire. Two security guards were greeting each jeep, pointing to where the passengers were to get out.

Five minutes later Lara along with forty-nine others were sitting on their beds in Dormitory B. Across the large open hallway was Dormitory A which also held fifty people. Lara sat cross-legged on her bed, which was at the far corner of the room touching the wall. The security guards had given each person a small booklet with information about the camp. Lara opened it up to the first page. It was a map.



The next page contained the layout. Two dormitory's, two mess halls, two bathrooms, one set of showers, one Olympic sized pool, one set of 20' monkey bars above a hot sand pit, one shooting range, and one running track with weight lifting stations and thirteen guard/security stations.

Lara flipped to the next page, and found herself looking at an itinerary.





Lara nodded her head, thinking the itinerary was just fine. She looked at her watch. 3:57pm. In three minutes they would be called for supper. Lara looked around her dormitory. The camp had separated the males from the females, exactly fifty of each gender. She saw a variety of different age groups. Two girls who were on the other side of the room were twins. A girl sat three beds down from Lara, with a makeup kit on her lap. She was applying a green coloured eye shadow. The girl next to Lara looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Looks like we've got a pile of wimps if you ask me," she said.

Lara shook her head. "You can't judge by appearances!"

"I know, but look at that one over there," she pointed across the room at a blonde haired girl. She was shakily removing things from her oversized suitcase. One of her shirts appeared to be caught, and she was tugging roughly on it. Suddenly, the shirt ripped out, and so did everything else in there! Pieces of clothing were now scattered about, and she ran frantically around clumsily picking them up.

"Oof!" she grunted as the girl tripped over another suitcase and fell to the ground. Several girls laughed, and pointed at her.

"I wonder how her video was chosen!" The girl beside Lara laughed, and laughed. "Hey, what's your name?"

"Lara."

"I'm Steph." Lara shook her hand thinking she reminded her of someone she disliked back in grade school. A second later a loud alarm rang. "Dinner time!" Steph yelled.




4:30pm: Mess Hall B

Lara finished slurping down the warm broccoli soup. She wiped her mouth on her hand, and leaned back in her chair, happily satisfied with the meal. Lara glanced over at Steph who had only taken a few mouthfuls.

"Yuck! This stuff is gross!" she complained, shoving her bowl aside. Lara licked her lips, then shoved her bowl aside, and replaced it with Steph's. A minute later Lara finished the rest of her soup, and patted her full stomach.

"Hmm hmm." Everyone looked up from their bowls. A security guard stood at the front of the room. "It is five o'clock now. Usually you would all go for your testing, but since it is your first day we're going to do things a little differently. Ten other guards will be going to both dormitories interviewing each of you. This will take about an hour or so. Then, you can have free time to do as you wish, but you must stay in your dormitory. All right, single file in two lines. Everybody out!"

Fifteen minutes later…

"Lara Croft?"

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Carl. I believed we talked on the phone together?" Lara nodded. "Well, ok. Let's get started on this interview." He shuffled through some of his papers on a clipboard, and took the cap off of his pen. "Have you ever done any serious training before?"

"Yes, by myself." Carl scribbled on his paper.

"Why did you audition to come here? Is it for the reward at the end of been chosen as the best?"

"I auditioned for this, because it's an adventure. I love adventures! It's definitely not business, it's pleasure. I will travel anywhere in the world to see extraordinary things that most people would never have the chance to." Again Carl scribbled on his paper, taking a bit longer than before.

"Energy level. What do you consider a warm up?"

Lara laughed. "This is a trick question, isn't it? Well, I like to start on my tumbling mat doing several front flips, back flips, and side rolls. Then I run, jump, sprint, climb, hang out on the monkey bars for awhile, then go for a swim." Carl nodded, a smile on his face.

"Last question. Do you know how to use a gun?"

"I'll give you a short list. Magnum pistols, Uzi's, MP5, M16, laser gun, shot…"

"…Woah! That's good Lara. Thanks for the information. I'll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow at training." Carl winked at her, then moved onto the next person. Lara smiled, then opened her canteen and took a few mouthfuls of the cool refreshing water. She looked at the small booklet they had received, and studied the training area. It was huge! The shooting range, and the monkey bars caught Lara's attention. Just like home! she thought.

6:45am: Mess Hall B

Lara had finished her breakfast fifteen minutes ago. Again she watched as Steph shoved her bowl away, complaining that she didn't like lumpy oatmeal. Lara shook her head then waited patiently for the alarm to end breakfast. Lara looked at her itinerary, which she kept in her back pocket of her khaki shorts. They had their first training next. Lara could hardly wait!

Twenty minutes later, Lara along with everyone else sat on the dusty ground in the enormous training grounds. They were listening to a sergeant yell at them. Lara actually found it quite amusing, and had to control her snickers.

"…AND IF YOU STOP, YOU'RE OUT!" he barked. "YOU SAID YOU WERE STRONG, SO LET'S SEE IT!" his fists were now raised in the air, and the blood level in his head had increased. "YOU!" he growled, pointing at Steph, "WEIGHTS, NOW!" Steph scrambled up on her feet, and hurried over to the track. "AND YOU, YOU TOO, AND YOU." he pointed to several people, but not Lara. He looked at a clipboard he was holding, and began reading off some names. "Jeff, Carley, Sue. SHOOTING RANGE! COME ON! FASTER!" He ordered off about fifty more people, his anger rising to a somewhat startling level. Suddenly, he glared over at Lara, then his clipboard. Lara saw a vein bulging out of his right temple. She starred at it for a moment, fascinated! "LARA CROFT?" he barked.

"Yes, sir!" she replied, nodding her head. He snickered, motioned for her to stand, and then shook hands.

"Lara, my name is Sergeant Reineld. Carl told me last night after the interviews about you. I'm impressed so far about what I've heard. I'll be keeping an eye on you."

Lara nodded.

"All right, you on the monkey bars right now."

"Ok," Lara replied, then ran off. Sergeant Reineld watched her with a strange look on his face, and then scribbled something down on his clipboard.

8:30am: Monkey bars

"I THOUGHT YOU WERE TOUGH! COME ON! KEEP GOING! FASTER!" A different man that Lara had never seen before was yelling at the clumsy girl that had made a fool of herself the other night. Her shirt was drenched in sweat, and her face was bright red. It looked like her head was going to explode! She had managed to get almost 1/4 of the way across, but Lara could see that she wasn't going to make it. Her hands began to slip, and a moment later she fell down into the hot sandpit. The man laughed, then looked at Lara.

"YOU HAVEN'T GONE YET! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!" Lara raised an eyebrow.

"For her to move. You wouldn't want me to land on her if I fell, would you?" The man breathed in deeply, then shook his head. Lara stood under the first rung, not bothering to use the raised block to get up. With one swift jump, Lara was holding onto the first rung. Each person had to hang there until he told them they could go.

"GO!" Lara's body swung from side to side as she crossed over the bars. Her arms moved gracefully from rung to rung without any hesitation. She was 3/4 of the way across now, and Lara was still swinging without any problem. When she got to the last rung, she dropped safely to the ground. Lara looked around at astonished faces. Even the man looked impressed. Again he scribbled something down on his clipboard, then nodded for the next person to go.

11:45am: Bathroom B

After all the toilets and sinks had been thoroughly cleaned, Lara among with six other girls threw their sponges into a large yellow bucket filled with dirty water. They each took at seat on a long bench that was standing beside a wall. Steph, who was sitting next to Lara tapped her arm.

"How were the monkey bars? I heard you blew everyone away!"

Lara laughed. "They were fine. How did the shooting go?"

"Well," Steph sighed, "considering I can't even name one type of gun, let alone shoot one, it went awful!"

Lara nodded. "If we get to train together I'll give you some pointers. It's actually pretty easy."

"Thanks!" Everyone stood up when the alarm went for lunch. Lara was starving!

1:00pm: Track

Lara began to pick up speed as she started up her third time around. She was far ahead of everyone, at least two laps to the lead. Lara opened the lid of her canteen, filled her dry mouth, then spat it out onto the ground. After she was finished her fourth lap she slowed her pace, then sat down on the ground. Her turn was over for today. The coach came over to Lara and sat down beside her.

"You're a very good runner," she said.

Lara smiled. "Thanks."

"Most people can't even make it half way on the first lap!" Lara nodded her head. "Well, keep up the good work!" Lara smiled, then returned her attention back to the other runners. A minute later another person finished their set number of laps. He came over, and sat down beside Lara. The front of his shirt was sweaty, and he was guzzling water from his water bottle.

3:00pm: Break II

The alarm went off to say that the second break had started. Lara jumped up and found herself walking to the mess hall with the clumsy girl. Lara smiled at her, and the girl outstretched her hand towards Lara.

"Hi, my name is Paige. Who are you?"

"Lara." They shook hands, and Lara motioned towards a nearby table. "So," Lara began, "how's everything going here with you?"

"Awful! On the first day here, as you probably saw, my suitcase exploded! And, I've been messing up a lot of things. I've been watching you, though. You're amazing! I would give anything to do what you can do!"

Lara laughed. "It just takes practice, that's all." Paige nodded, then fell silent for a few moments.

"Hey, Lara?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering…you don’t have to, but umm…would you consider giving me a few pointers when we do our training again? I completely understand if you don’t want to…"

"…Of course I'll help you!"

"Great! Thanks Lara!" Paige jumped up, and whacked her leg on the table. Lara grimaced, then shook her head.

4:30pm: Mess Hall B

For supper, everyone was served mashed potatoes, a piece of ham, and some corn. This time Steph hungrily ate everything. Lara smiled at her.

"Worked up an appetite, have we?"

Steph nodded. "Need all the energy I can get, I heard the testing is going to be rough."

"Can I have your attention please?" a voice called. Lara looked up, at a sergeant. "For testing, all of you have already been put into groups. Please check the back of your booklets for a letter. That letter is for the order, and the place you will be going to." He read off the times corresponding with the letters. Lara was going to be tested at 5:10pm at the shooting range. Twenty minutes later they were dismissed from supper.

5:05pm: Shooting range

Lara, and four other people were each handed a small pistol. Sergeant Reineld stood before them, a frown on his tired face.

"LOAD YOUR GUN!" he roared. Lara did so, then waited while the others fumbled with theirs. A minute later they were all loaded. "SEE THOSE TARGETS? YOU WILL GO ONE AT A TIME. SHOOT THE CLOSEST TARGET, THEN MOVE ONTO THE OTHER ONES. THINK OF THIS AS A COMPETITION. THE PERSON WHO MISSES MORE THAN THE OTHERS WILL BE OUT!" he nodded at the first person to go. They raised their arm, and unsteadily tried to aim. BANG! Missed. BANG! BANG! They shot at the five targets, only successfully hitting one at the edge. Paige was up next.

"Hold it steady," Lara said. Paige nodded and took in a deep breath. This obviously meant a great deal to her. BANG! Paige missed the first target by a long shot. "It's ok, try aiming at the target before you hit it." Paige wiped her sweaty hands on her shorts, and held the gun up again. Lara could see her eye focusing on the target. She watched as Paige slowly squeezed the trigger. BANG! She hit the target! "Way to go Paige!" Lara cheered. The poor girl was practically crying because she was so happy. The bullet had hit the target along the edge, but at least she hit it! Paige's last three shots missed the targets, but that one 'lucky' shot left her face shining.

Lara was up next. She held the gun straight in front of her with one hand, and fired. Bulls eye! She fired at the next target, not even bothering to aim, and again the bullet hit dead center. Paige jumped up and down.

"Go Lara!" she yelled. Lara grinned, then just for show tilted her gun on an angle and shot the last three targets right after the others. Sergeant Reineld nodded at Lara, pleased. He scribbled on his clipboard, then told the next person to go.

8:10pm: Showers

Lara stepped under the warm shower, and closed her eyes as the water splashed down. She was thinking about her day, and found herself wondering about a few things. How long would it take for them to pick the best person? What was this 'worlds deadliest mission?' they were all trying out for? She remembered how happy Paige had been when she shot the target. Lara smiled, then turned the shower off.

9:58pm: Dormitory B

Lara's eyes closed. A second later she was fast asleep, snuggled in her warm blankets.

A shadow stepped over Lara's bed, a syringe in hand. They reached over, and carefully inserted the sharp needle into her right arm. The light blue liquid was forced into her bloodstream…

6:40am: Mess Hall B

Steph came and sat down beside Lara. She smiled, then titled her plate for Lara to see.

"Eggs and toast this morning. Sorry Lara, all mine!"

Lara laughed. "That's ok, I snuck some extra eggs."

"I heard they're going to cut fifty people today."

"Fifty?! Are they running out of food?" Lara joked. Steph chuckled, then shrugged her shoulders.

8:00am: Training grounds

Carl along with Sergeant Reineld, and a few security guards stood before all one hundred people. Each held a clipboard (as usual) and were flipping through the pages. Carl raised his arm for attention.

"Today, as you've all probably heard, we will be cutting fifty people." Lara heard a few people suck their breath in. "We would like to thank you for coming out, and in future we would encourage many of you to try again." For the next five minutes or so, he read off the names of the people who would have to leave immediately. Lara's name was not called. Steph's was. She gave Lara a smile, then waved goodbye as she exited the training grounds with the others.

11:30am: Mess Hall B

It wasn't time for lunch, not for another half-hour. Lara was on cleanup duty in the mess hall, along with Paige and two others.

"Too bad for Steph," Paige said, "I thought she was doing great!"

Lara nodded her head. "So did I, but I guess they're looking for someone different?"

"Yeah…but why would they keep me? I am doing horrible!" Paige wailed. Lara shook her head.

"I can see that you've been improving. Just hang in there, ok?"

"Ok."

Lara began to mop the floor again. A few minutes later Carl came into the room, and called Lara.

"CAN I TALK TO YOU FOR A MOMENT?" he yelled. Lara ran over, then both left the room.

"What's up?" Lara asked.

"Looks like you're working pretty hard in there, so I wanted to give you a cold drink, here." He handed Lara a tall glass that was filled with sparkling ice cold water. Lara thanked him, and drank it all at once.

1:00pm: Pool

For just over ten minutes, Lara had been swimming laps in the Olympic sized swimming pool. Her powerful legs propelled her body through the refreshing water.

After completing a set number of laps, everyone had to go diving for different coloured rings. By the end of training, Lara was starving, and ran to the mess hall.

4:15pm: Mess Hall B

Again Lara had extra food on her plate, but this time she wasn't the one who added more. While in line, Sergeant Reineld had given Lara a plate with food. The salad dressing tasted a little odd, but everything else was great. Lara took a seat beside Paige, and another girl whom she had never spoken with.

"There's going to be more cuts tomorrow." Lara told Paige.

"Yeah, forty five more. That means there is only going to be five people left!" Paige shook her head, and leaned her chin against her hand.

"They must have a good idea who they want by now," Lara explained. Paige nodded.

8:05pm: Training grounds

The testing had finished a moment ago, and Lara was quite satisfied with how she had done. She beat everyone at sprinting, weight lifting, and shooting. Paige also had done well, but was still her clumsy self.

Carl informed everyone that the next day instead of training, they would announce the five people who would be left.

1:22am: Dormitory B

A shadow stepped over Lara's bed, a syringe in hand. They reached over, and carefully inserted the sharp needle into her right arm. The light blue liquid was forced into her bloodstream…

"Do you think she knows yet?" a muffled voice asked.

"No, it's still too early," a second voice replied.

"How many more?"

"Just one." They nodded at each other, then quietly left the room.

6:10am: Dormitory B

Lara had awoken ten minutes ago. She already had her bed neatly made, was dressed, and ready for breakfast. She glanced at the empty bed beside her, then at her arm that was slightly red and itchy. On her forearm, was a slight rash.

7:00am: Training Grounds

The remaining fifty people sat on the dusty ground. Some looked weary, others quite calm. Everyone sat patiently not making a sound. They were all anxious to hear who would be staying.

"ALL RIGHT, EVERYONE LISTEN UP!" Sergeant Reineld yelled. "THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE WILL BE ASKED TO STAY," a pause, "Lara Croft, Carley H, Paige D, Zac S, and Jack K. EVERYONE ELSE, PLEASE GATHER YOUR BELONGINGS A.S.A.P AND THANK YOU FOR TRYING OUT!" Lara smiled. She was still in!

"YEAH! WOO HOO! AHH!" Lara looked over to her right and saw Paige jumping up and down, screaming her head off. Five minutes later, everyone who did not make it, were gone. Carl walked over to Lara and grinned.

"Congratulations, Lara!"

"Thanks!" she replied.

"It's tough competition from here. Are you up for it?"

"I can take on anything." Carl nodded his head, then left.

5:02pm: Training Grounds

It was time for testing. Carl, along with two security guards were attaching long ropes to the ceiling from above the shooting range, to the far side, over top of the pool.

The place kind of reminded Lara of what the jungle looked like. There was about thirty ropes that Lara counted, all the perfect gripping size.

"ALL RIGHT EVERYONE." Sergeant Reineld's voice boomed, "WE'VE SET UP A LITTLE OBSTACLE FOR YOU. STARTING ABOVE THE SHOOTING RANGE, YOU MUST SWING ACROSS TO THE OTHER SIDE, LANDING IN THE POOL." As he finished giving them the instructions, four security guards were attaching a huge safety net below the ends of the ropes.

"PAIGE!" he screamed, a bulging vein popping out of his head. "YOU'RE FIRST! THEN JACK, LARA…" he called out the rest of their names, then focused on Paige, who was now hanging from the first rope.

A minute passed.

Paige didn't move.

She hung frozen in place.

"Come on Paige, you can do it!" Lara called. She shook her head, then shakily slid down the rope, and onto the safety net. Jack quickly replaced her a moment later, then started across.

"What happened up there?" Lara questioned.

"I froze! I didn't know how to do it! I couldn’t move!" Lara gave her a reassuring pat on the back.

Jack was about 1/4 of the way across, but he was all tangled between the ropes. Suddenly he just gave up, and fell down onto the net. He jumped off, shrugged his shoulders, and then sat down.

Lara grinned to herself as she hung from the first rope. She looked down at Sergeant Reineld and he nodded for her to go. Lara thrust her body forward, grabbing rope after rope. She glided easily through the maze, not getting tangled. Lara let go of the rope with her legs, and continued to travel across with her powerful arms holding her up. Soon she was hanging overtop of the pool. She swung back and forth, then forward jumped into a perfect dive into the pool.

Lara could hear applause as she surfaced. She climbed out of the pool, and walked over to the group. Carley went next, and again Lara watched another team member get tangled between the ropes.

8:45pm: Showers

While Lara was cleaning herself up in one of the shower stalls, a dark shadow entered the room. Very gracefully it moved over to the bench where Lara had a few belongings of hers. The shadow pulled out a small vile that contained light blue liquid, and carefully poured it into her canteen. It slipped quietly out of the door. Lara never heard a thing.

6:40am: Mess Hall B

Since the training camp dismissed forty-five more people, the few men who were left re-located to the girls mess hall. Everyone sat around one table eating scrambled eggs, and toast. As usual, Carl who always gave them morning announcements greeted them.

"Today we are making the final cut. Instead of our regular itinerary, we are going to test you all day. Please go to the training grounds in ten minutes."

6:51am: Training grounds

Each person had been assigned to a certain area for their testing. Eventually they would get back to their original location after rotating through each station.

Lara had been assigned to the weights. For twenty minutes each person was tested at their station. Lara's powerful arms didn't have any trouble, and the sergeant who was evaluating her had a slight smile on his face.

Lara was up next for the monkey bars. She jumped up and grasped a hold of the first rung. She grinned, then as fast as she could, Lara travelled across, doing a set of ten rounds back and forth. When she arrived back to the first rung, Lara swung up, flipped around in the air and caught a hold of it again, but facing backwards. She watched Sergeant Reineld's face as she grabbed rung after rung backwards! When her time was up, she noticed that Sergeant Reineld was smiling! Lara frowned, she wanted to see his bulging right temple again!

10:00pm: Dormitory B

Lara had fallen asleep fifteen minutes ago. Extensive testing all day really wore you out! Paige didn't do that great today. Her clumsiness had overpowered her. Lara had scored very high in all areas of testing. Tomorrow at breakfast they would find out who was going on the worlds deadliest mission.

A shadow stepped over Lara's bed, a large syringe in hand. They reached over, and carefully inserted the sharp needle into her right arm. The light blue liquid was forced into her bloodstream. The shadow wiped the puncture with alcohol, and silently left the room…

6:32am: Mess Hall B

Lara gobbled down her sugared cereal and toast. Everyone sat in silence, eagerly waiting for the results. Paige nudged Lara.

"Are you nervous?" she asked.

Lara shook her head. "Are you?"

"Yeah, kinda," Paige replied. Lara smiled at her, and then looked up at Carl, Sergeant Reineld, and a few guards.

"We would like to thank you all for coming," Carl said. "You all showed your strength, and we had fun working with everyone. As you know, only one person can go on from here. And that person, is LARA CROFT!" Lara jumped up, a huge grin on her face. A loud applause erupted around her. She couldn't believe it! Sergeant Reineld came over, and slapped her back.

"GREAT JOB LARA!"

12:04pm: Entrance

Lara waved goodbye to the jeeps as they each took one of the four people away. Carl came up behind Lara and waved as well.

"Ok Lara, now there's no time to waste. I have to tell you about this mission you will be going on." Lara nodded, then followed him to the mess hall.

"This mission was attempted seven times before. Each person failed. You will be going to Antarctica, travelling several hundred feet below the surface. You see, there are tunnels underneath that have been dug out."

"By humans?" Lara asked. Carl shook his head.

"By the Beast. You see, he is somewhere down there…guarding the treasure."

"What kind of treasure?"

"A four pound, solid diamond statue." Lara raised an eyebrow, and Carl nodded. "But you see, it takes someone who isn't afraid of getting a little sweaty, someone with strength, and most important of all, determination. You will have to go down by yourself, we'll pick you up after you make it back out. We're one hundred percent sure you can do it."

Lara frowned. "You said I'll be several hundred feet below? I'll freeze!" Carl shook his head. "Don't worry, it has already been taken care of."

"Great. When do we go?"

Carl looked at his watch. "Now. That way you can sleep on the way, and we'll get there early morning."

Lara smiled. "Let's go!"

Five hours later…

After a few hours of rest, Lara awoke refreshed. She picked up a guidebook off of the floor beside her, and began to flip through the pages.

Within the last 50 years, two volcanoes 'Big Ben', and 'Deception Island' have erupted.

The largest land animal can fit on a penny. This life form is called a Midge. One might think that penguins are land animals, but they are not. Penguins are in fact seabirds. There are about 7 different species of penguins on Antarctica, which include: Adélie, Chinstrap, Emperor, Gentoo, King, Macaronk, and Rockhoppers. Penguins can dive more than 244 metres deep into Antarctica's chilly waters. Research has shown that they cannot swim in warm water for very long because they will overheat.

On the surface of Antarctica, winds blow 80 km/h. During the summer, the average temperature is -32ºC.

Millions of years ago Antarctica was connected to Africa, and South America. This means that there was once a forest which grew on Antarctica. The most interesting discovery though, is that there are valuable resources hundreds of feet below the surface today. An example of these include: Zinc, copper, lead, gold, and silver.

Scientists have discovered various fossils of creatures who once roamed the surface. Another great find, was an Antarctic fish called Notothenioids. Research was done on these fish, and was found that their blood is colder than 0ºC. Antifreeze molecules in their bodies keep their blood and body fluids from forming ice crystals, which would rupture their cells.

The most fascinating and interesting innovation on Antarctica was Lake Vostok, the world's largest freshwater lake. It is 510 metres deep which is hidden under 4 kilometres of ice covering 14, 000 square kilometres. Scientists have yet to drill into the lake because they don't want to alter any life form or oxygen that hasn't been touched for over a few million years ago.

Lara closed the guidebook and leaned back against her seat, perplexed at what she had read.




The next day: Antarctica

A cold gust of wind hit Lara's face as she jumped out of the helicopter. Sergeant Reineld shouted out at Lara.

"GOOD LUCK LARA!"

"THANK YOU!" He had given her a shotgun with eight shells, which he said were for emergency purposes only. With the gun, he also gave Lara a backpack with a small flame-thrower and a note.

She waved goodbye as they took off. They had let her off at the entrance to the main tunnel. She dropped through the hole and landed five feet below. Lara walked through the uneven tunnel, feeling her way along the icy walls. Five minutes later Lara found herself at the top of a huge ice slide. A wild smile formed on her face. She took out the shotgun, and fired four shells into one of the walls leaving a large square in the center.

Lara turned on the flame-thrower, and outlined the square with the fire deep in enough so she could pull out a good-sized block. Lara put the shotgun away, and placed the ice block on the ground. She bent down, and pushed a small button on her right boot. Sharp spikes rose out of the bottom of them. Lara stomped both of her feet down onto the block, turned the flame-thrower on again, and hopped forward.

Lara slid down the huge ice slide holding the flame-thrower raised beside her body. She did some fancy moves on her ice block as she descended faster and faster. The freezing air flew all around Lara, but it only felt cool to her. When she reached the bottom, Lara turned the flame-thrower down to a minimum, and pressed the button on her boot to make the spikes go back into her boots.

Surrounding Lara, were several more tunnels heading off into other directions, and re-connecting with other ones. The walls amazed Lara. They glowed a soft white colour, and their light reflected off of the icy floors. Lara left the ice block where she was standing, so she would know if she was walking around in circles. Lara chose the closest tunnel to her right to explore first.

As she ventured deeper into the tunnel, it started to get darker and a bit deeper under the ground. Lara turned the flame-thrower up a bit higher, and held it in front of her. She gasped as she turned a corner. The next part of the tunnel was glowing a white colour like where she had begun. Lara stared at what she saw before her…dead bodies, frozen in the ice.

The first corpse's right side of their head looked like it had been torn open, and part of the brain was visible. It too had been torn, however it had a rather large chunk missing from it. The corpse's lips were white, and were slightly parted. Their eyes had rolled upwards, and were frozen in place.

The next body was in worse shape than the first. Their head had been decapitated. Blood was splattered within the ice.

The last body's stomach looked like it had been slit down the middle. Several organs were missing, and some hung outside the body. Lara was determined that this place wasn't going to be her permanent home forever, so she continued down the twisting tunnel with extreme caution, her eyes and ears tuned for any sign of danger.

About ten minutes later, Lara found herself staring down at the ice block she had left there before. At least she wasn't lost! Lara proceeded towards the only tunnel that was left for her to explore. There were many smaller alcoves branching off of the tunnel. Lara investigated all of them, and found one room quite fascinating. There was a small pool of water in it that was a slight green colour. Lara wondered how any sort of liquid could possibly not be frozen down there?

She sat down on the ice ground, and took her backpack off. She pulled out her canteen and took a sip. Lara also removed the note that Carl had given her, and began reading.

Hello Lara, hope your doing just fine down there. Not too cold I hope? I know that the outfit we gave you to wear was warm, but if you really stop and think you will realise that it is almost impossible for anyone to survive down there. Anyone who is where you are, could not survive for more than ten minutes (maybe). But don’t panic!

Every night when you were sleeping one of us slipped into your dormitory, and gave you a needle in your right arm. We injected you with a light blue liquid that is a high-energy compound. Remember that fish you read about? Notothenioids? We had a dozen of them shipped up to us about a month ago. We paid a few scientists to remove their antifreeze molecules. They are only activated when/if your body core temperature drops down to 35.5ºC. So if you get cold enough the compounds will be activated, keeping you warm enough to survive.

These compounds eventually will be metabolised by your body should your temperature never drop to 35.5ºC, they are not harmful to your body. Good luck Lara, we know you'll do just fine!

Lara put the note into her backpack. She had been injected with fish molecules! That's what the rash had been on her arm. Lara wasn't angry with them, although she could have survived without them, as she had done before. Anyway, it didn't matter anymore, now that it had already been done. All would be well, just as long as she didn't start to grow scales… Lara moved towards the strange liquid. She bent down, and stuck her finger into it. It felt like rubber, and when Lara took her finger out, it wasn't wet!

"Weird!" With both hands, Lara scooped up the rubber liquid. Surprisingly it all lifted up off the ground! She wiggled it around, playing with it for a few minutes. Lara tried to pull it apart, but was unsuccessful. She emptied the rest of her water from the canteen, and dropped the rubber liquid into it. She wanted a nice souvenir from Antarctica!

After another half-hour of wandering around the maze of tunnels, Lara found herself in front of a dead end. Without even a bit of hesitation she took out the shotgun, and fired the last four shots into the wall making a large square. Like before, she took the flame-thrower and outlined the square. Lara back flipped five times, then suddenly shot forward, sprinting at full speed. She did a dive roll at the last second into the wall, and the square was pushed inwards. Lara stood up, and pushed the block in as far as it would go. She climbed through the newly made entrance, and found herself in a room she had never seen before.

Lara looked around in amazement. She was in a diamond shaped room with many icicles that hung in different sizes and shapes from the high ceiling. In the very centre of the room, slightly lowered from the ground level was a small pool of sparkling white water. The water was moving around, and Lara watched as several penguins climbed out of it. They were very large in size and were heavy looking. Lara watched for a moment as the penguins waddled around the room. Suddenly, an idea aroused in Lara's head. She walked slowly over to the water, and sat down beside the hole with her legs in the water. One of the larger penguins in the room looked over at Lara, and waddled towards her.

"Hey, you!" Lara called, "I need your help." The penguin tilted its head, and blinked. Lara motioned for it to keep coming, and it obeyed, then slid into the water. Lara pushed herself into the icy water beside the penguin.

"Ready?" she asked. Lara wrapped her arms around its body, and took in a deep breath as it plunged down into Lake Vostok - the world's largest fresh water lake.

After they were about 100 metres from the surface, Lara lit a flare, and tugged on the penguin when she wanted it to change directions. When they were 230 metres from the surface, Lara pulled on the penguin to stop it from continuing down further. Lara moved the flare in front of her, not sure what direction to go. Suddenly, the penguin shot forwards through the water, Lara holding on tightly. He probably needs air soon…just like me! Lara thought. Her lungs started to tingle, her air supply was running out.

Five seconds later Lara found herself being pulled out of the water up under an enormous ice block. She let go of the penguin and sucked in a deep breath.

Air!

Under the lake?

In a chunk of ice!

Who would have thought an ice chunk could preserve clean, fresh air under the water for a few million years? Lara patted the penguin on its head, then lit a new flare. She rose her eyebrows as Lara looked around. It was an identical room as to where she discovered the water. In the centre, raised on a small pedestal was the solid diamond statue of a penguin. It sparkled so bright! Lara smiled, then walked over towards it.

She circled around the pedestal, and grasped a hold of the statue with both of her hands. She held it in her outstretched arms, admiring its beauty.

A sudden rumble made Lara spin around. She stood face to face with the world's deadliest beast! RAARRHHH! Lara turned back around, and threw herself forward into the water once again. She kicked her legs and arms furiously propelling herself upwards. Lara felt a sudden rush of water behind her as the Beast plunged into the water after her. She imagined it biting into her leg, ripping it away, and whipping it around in the water like a dog playing tug of war. Lara pushed on further, swimming for all that she was worth.

Lara felt another rush of water underneath her, and flinched when she felt something rubbery under her. It was the penguin, and it was pushing her upwards! Lara put her hands above her head into a dive position so she was able to glide through the water more easily. A moment later the penguin burst out of the water, and onto the ground. Lara jumped off in mid air, and ran towards the exit yelling her thanks to it. She ran like she had never run before. Lara sprinted out of the room into a tunnel, not knowing where she was going. The Beast was gaining on her, and Lara still hadn't found her ice block she had left behind. BOOM! BOOM! Lara turned a sharp corner, and continued to run faster and faster. Up ahead she could see several sharp looking pieces of ice jetting out part way into the tunnel. Lara grabbed her canteen from her backpack, and poured the rubber liquid onto her hands. She sprinted even faster now, her teeth clenched, her face determined. Lara jabbed one end of the rubber liquid over the corner of the icicles, and the other end stretched over to the other side.

She dove into a small alcove, and watched as the huge, ugly Beast ran into the blockage that Lara created. For a split second the creature was stopped. Then, suddenly the rubber liquid forced the Beast backwards at an incredible force and speed. It smashed into the wall at the end of a tunnel, and was instantly buried by a pile of snow and ice.

Lara frantically looked around. The place was starting to cave in! She grabbed the rubber liquid (she wasn't leaving it behind) and ran through another connecting tunnel. She saw the ice block she had used on the ground. Lara quickly bent down, and pushed the button her boots. The small spikes came out of them, and Lara began to run up the large ice slide she had come down before. Lara's legs started to burn as she continued to push on, but she wasn't the type who gave up. Lara clenched her teeth, and with all the power in her body, she safely made it up the ice slide.

At the top, Lara pushed the button on her boot, and ran forwards, jumped up and pulled herself out of the hole. Using the last bit of fuel from the flame-thrower, she signalled the approaching helicopter to stay level a few feet above the ground.

"You made it!" Carl yelled. Lara nodded, and held out the statue. Carl grinned. "Throw it up to me, then we'll put the ladder down for you!"

Lara frowned. What was wrong with her going up with the statue?

"No, I'll come up at the same time!" Lara called back.

Carl shook his head. "We don’t want it to get broken now, do we?" he snapped back. Lara couldn't believe it. Everything made sense now.

They wanted the best person to risk their life to get a statue for them. They weren't going to give the ladder to Lara afterwards! They were going to leave her stranded! That blue liquid they injected her with was to help Lara, but in the end help them.

"FORGET IT!" Lara called back. Sergeant Reineld appeared suddenly at the doorway. He was holding a gun, and it was pointed at Lara.

"GIVE IT TO ME NOW, OR I'LL SHOOT YOU!" his voice boomed. Lara's face muscles relaxed.

"Fine!" she yelled back. Lara bent down with the statue, getting it in position to throw it up. When her arms heaved it up, Lara was holding a pistol that was stored in her boot! Sergeant Reineld's face was bright red, he was furious!

"That's it Lara," he called down, "no more warnings!" BANG! BANG! He fired twice at Lara, but missed. Lara, having exceptional skill, side jumped out of his line of fire. Two more people appeared at the doorway behind Sergeant Reineld. BANG! Lara shot one of them in the arm. He grasped his wound, and fell from the helicopter onto the ground. Suddenly, the door of the helicopter was shut. Lara waited, the statue still undamaged under her arm. The helicopter was starting to fly upwards, and Lara began to shoot at it. After it was about 15 feet higher, it swung around, and began to nose dive right for Lara!

Lara laughed as she sprinted away from it - she loved playing tag that was life threatening. The helicopter flew down just a few feet above the ground, trailing right behind Lara. At the last second, right before she was hit, Lara side flipped out of the way.

When the helicopter turned back around, she could see Sergeant Reineld hanging halfway out of the doorway - holding a shotgun! The next few moments seemed to go by in slow motion. Sergeant Reineld shot about a dozen times at Lara as the helicopter chased her over the icy ground.

Lara sprinted forwards, while shooting her pistol behind her. They were gaining, and Lara knew she couldn't run forever. She put her pistol away, while side flipping furiously, holding on tightly to the statue. She took out the rubber liquid, and stopped running.

She dropped to the ground as her pursuers whizzed overhead. Lara jumped up, and ran towards the helicopter, throwing the rubber liquid at the tail. Lucky for her it wrapped around quite nicely. Lara held onto the other end of it - watching it stretch more and more.

Just as the helicopter was about to turn back around, Lara did a running jump into the air. She held on with both hands as the rubber liquid snapped her forwards like an elastic band. The helicopter flew higher and Lara swung through the air behind them. Sergeant Reineld appeared at the doorway with one other man. Lara quickly let go of the rubber liquid with one hand, and grabbed her pistol. BANG! BANG!

"Argh!" She hit Sergeant Reineld! He fell out of the door, and splattered on the ground below. His head was smashed open, and blood poured onto the ground beside him. His body was twisted in an odd way.

BANG! BANG! BANG! The other man shot at Lara. She swung side to side, dodging each bullet that flew towards her.

"YOU'RE BEING VERY STUBBORN LARA!" he yelled, "WHY DON'T YOU JUST GIVE UP?"

Lara laughed. "I NEVER GIVE UP! AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET THAT. I ALWAYS WIN." BANG! Lara shot him right between the eyes, and she watched as he plunged to the icy ground. She put her pistol away, and held onto the rubber liquid with two hands once again. Lara kicked her feet up behind her, and swung forwards at an incredible speed. She landed in the doorway of the helicopter. Lara pulled hard on the rubber liquid to free it from the end of the helicopter.

Lara put it in her backpack, then with her pistol held in front of her, she walked up to the pilot.

"Do you work with them?" she asked.

The man nodded slowly.

"Not anymore." Lara pushed him out of the door, and grabbed the controls. She took in a deep breath, smiled, and then started to fly away.



The next day…

The solid diamond statue was placed in Lara's treasure room in a glass case that was a bit taller than her other ones. The statue sparkled different bright, radiant colours that lit up the once darker room. Lara smiled, then went outside.

"Hey!" Lara called at Winston.

"What?"

"It's my turn! Get off of there!" she called back. Winston looked over at Lara and shook his head with a grin on his face. There was no way he was getting off of their new rubber liquid trampoline just yet!





Sweat, Strength, and Determination is ©Katie Fleming 2002. Tomb Raider and Lara Croft are © Core Design and Eidos Interactive