Stormfront (Page 2 of 2)
Meanwhile, back at home. Max locates Logan in a rock-study class. Logan examines his science experiment of recreated Earth layers under a small volcano.
Logan: "My assignment was to create a replica magma solution for kids' volcano experiments, but I also wanted to test my theory on mantle plumes. You see, the Earth's crust moves to align volcanoes with theoretical plumes connected to the core and then-- BAM, end of the world!"
He moves his volcano over a red plume, flicks a heating-element switch, causing the eruption of red liquid. The liquid then eats away at the experiment, table and then floor.
Max: "--Anyway. I need to ask your contact at the University if he can tell me any more about this liaison."
Logan dials his phone and puts it on speaker.
Logan: "Maurice. What is up with the university liaison to our school? You know what I mean. A friend wants to know, and now I'm curious. Also, why is inquisitiveness so contagious?"
#Maurice: "The liaison? He's been away sick for the past few days. He ate a week's worth of Japanese Knotweed salad and his gastrointestinal process hasn't been the same ever since."
Max: "Wait a second. If the liaison that we gave the presentation to isn't from the University, then who is he?"
Logan: "Whoa. You're describing the functions of a conventional mystery plotline of the Tom Clancy variety-- the kind of which I do not involve myself in, ever. Though, if you're looking for that, I recommend Tinco, our history expert. The very nature of his academic focus is an advocate for this sort of thing."
Back under the Temple of Quetzecoatl, Jacques and Quinn find themselves in ever-growing danger with the clubs descending from above. A group of statues emerge out of the side of the pedestal at the base of the reverse-pyramid.
Quinn: "Hey, did you know the Aztecs used obsidian for the blades on their weapons? They're sharper than Spanish swords!"
Jacques: "At least my death will fascinate weaponology experts."
Quinn: "Jacques! The pictographs on the top step-- They're describing something about the god Ehecatl being attacked, year after year."
Jacques: "Hmm. There is a version of Ehecatl's mythology where it's said he was being hunted by the Tzitzimitl for kidnapping one of the fertility goddesses."
Quinn: "What's a Tzitzimitl?"
Jacques: "They were a kind of demon that were feared by the ancients, the star demons, controlled by the goddess Itzpapalotl."
Suddenly, as the clubs near their heads, one of them breaks off and slams into the floor next to them. Jacques and Quinn move down the steps of the reverse-pyramid.
Jacques: "These statues look like they rotate around this pedastal. I bet if we move it to the right spot, the system will think we're worshippers."
They approach the pedastal. The protruding statues seem to be on a rotatable stone-ring, with ingraved calendar pictographs circling underneath.
Quinn: "These statues are of different gods. What if we match Ehecatl with that goddess you said he kidnapped?"
Jacques: "It's worth a try. Help me move this."
They both struggle to rotate the statues around the pedestal. When the Ehecatl statue meets up with the Mayahuel symbol, the area shakes again, causing more clubs to fall. Jacques and Quinn dodge before returning to the pedestal.
Jacques: "Something's not right. The top step depicted the demons attacking Ehecatl. Whoever came down here must've favoured the gods most Aztecs feared."
Quinn: "You mean, like, worshiping the bad guys? Then we match Ehecatl with Itzpapalotl. She was chasing after Ehecatl afterall. She catches her prey!"
Jacques: "Right."
They struggle to rotate the statues again, but it stops just before their preferred alignment.
Quinn: "It's stuck! Figures that stone-debris accumulation over a period of 6 centuries is our greatest enemy."
Jacques: "Quinn, remember that time I manipulated the library council into banning Lewis Carroll's 1865 book, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland?"
Quinn: "Yeah. A group of combined generic Rights Activists stormed the place when I was trying to check the overdue balance on my card."
Jacques: "Well, push with the anger you felt when I antagonized them by ripping out the pages from in the middle of the book."
Quinn: "You were so out of line that day!"
They both struggle to move the statues. The Ehecatl statue then budges over the Itzpapalotl symbol. The clubs suddenly stop moving down and start moving back up. Another one breaks off in the distance.
Quinn: "I don't get it. I thought we succeeded? We're quote-unquote Itzpapalotl worshippers now, right?"
Jacques: "The falling clubs aren't part of the defense system. They're breaking off because they're so old. We have to get out of here!"
The two make a run for it, dodging club after club. They make it to the door as its opening, narrowly avoiding being crushed.
Jacques: "Remind me never to leave a broken ceiling lamp unfixed."
Over at the base of a giant hill with a church on it, the soldiers of the Yakuza and the Cartel are everywhere. Cruz and three personal guards approach Reen and Eve.
Reen: "You're late, General. I'll let it pass, though. I can't expect your kind to understand the intricacies of punctuality in the real world work environment. Speaking of which; you know, it's amazing that your men and I have been getting along so well together."
Cruz: "What are you talking about? I've had guns pointed at you for the last half hour!"
Both Reen and Eve turn to see some of the Cartel aiming weapons at them.
Cruz: "Why didn't you fools say anything!?"
Lin: "Sorry, boss. We thought they knew?"
Anton: "Yeah, they were standing so perfectly still."
Reen: "That can be attributed to years of good posture and balance on my part. I apologize for that. --In response to this move, Cruz, I must say, this is a highly predictable and, may I add, an amusing change on your part. Do you honestly believe you've got me?"
Cruz: "This is my home country, so I was easily able to recall double my men to yours. Also, my intentions are more honorable."
Reen: "Oh please. One of your men went looking for this jewel a week ago and lost their life in the pursuit? That's barely enough reason to go to the funeral, for a drug dealer anyway."
Cruz: "It wasn't just any one random of my men, Reen; it was a woman. Someone close to me. It's not something I expect you to understand."
Reen: "Still, what you lack for in accountability, you can't make up for in a waste of time. Never-the-less, I'd love to see where you're going with this, so, please, continue."
Cruz: "I was getting to that! First order of business-- Do as I say and I won't kill you too hard. Second-- tell me where we get into this buried rock slab of annoyance."
Eve, looks at the calendar: "The engraving on the upper left corner of this is a combined water and fire symbol. I think that's a way to symbolize the concept of balance."
Reen: "The Aztec's believed there had to be a life time of personal battle between the spiritual and the material. Perhaps this symbol is pointing us to a place like that."
Eve: "Well, the top of the pyramid is where they practiced most spiritual ceremonies. Not to mention they believed it was a middle point between heaven and earth; an axis mundi, if you will. So, somewhere high."
They all look at the top of the mountain. A giant Catholic church sits there.
Cruz: "Damn 15th century era Spaniards! Always building Catholic churches on top of things!"
Reen: "Gotta build them somewhere."
Cruz: "Shut up! Move it. You two are with me, and I am not letting any of you out of my sight no matter how twitchy my eye is!"
He points his rifle at them as they begin walking up the temple.
Back at the school, Tinco and Max hide in the artifact storage room, in the Archeology office.
Tinco: "This is really bad for my assumed allergies. How did you even convince me to go along with this?"
Max: "Easy. I simply compared our mission to that of President Roosevelt's Rough Riders campaign, and you became aware of the heroic undertones."
Tinco: "He was a drunk! But he did carry a rifle around wherever he went, and won a noble peace prize, so I suppose it's okay."
Max: "And after a lengthy and suspicious tour with Hitomi in this storage room, I'm convinced he's come to steal those tablets for himself."
Tinco: "What gave it away?"
Max: "He couldn't say the word 'chaplet' without messing up. Which is weird, because we had no business talking about chaplets to begin with."
Tinco: "That's a university representative! Who are we to interfere with his plans of secrecy and darkness??"
Max: "We're more than just brain-dead students on auto-pilot. That's the principle force behind all this ridiculous funding."
Tinco: "I just always figured it was an embezzlement thing."
Later, Jacques and Quinn climb out of the hole-entrance and get up on the surface.
Jacques: "Excellent work, Quinn. You surprised me."
Quinn: "Well, we were about to die. But, you're right, I mostly did it as a rite of passage."
Jacques: "You know, our inadvertent cooperation suddenly reminds me of Ehecatl and Tlaloc."
Quinn: "So, not calling the cops at all never entered into your head then?"
Jacques: "No, I mean their friendship. Tlaloc was a friend to Ehecatl during Ehecatl's time on the run; which explains why there was a secret tribute to Tlaloc at the Metro Pino Suárez altar."
Quinn: "Yeah, I wish I never found that damned calendar!"
Jacques: "Well, don't worry. We won't be going anywhere now that Moctuzuma moved the find. And by that I mean, it's time we went home."
Quinn: "Oh, no you don't. That's a trick. You're trying to lull me into a false sense of security and as soon as my back is turned--BAM you're gone again."
Jacques: "No, I'm serious. Reen is ten steps ahead of us and, if anything, I've proven that I'm way over my head. We almost dying, for example."
Quinn: "Look. I realized something when I was on that presentation-- Linguistics is as much an equation as is this complex plot of varied pursuants. Take away the main element and you change the language."
Jacques: "So, you're going to take away the Ehecatl's wind jewel? To what, save us from it?"
Quinn: "Exactly. We have to destroy it."
The two stop and judge each other's next move. Jacques attempts to move past him, dismissively, but suddenly, Quinn lurches a punch forward and Jacques extends an arm to block. Quinn grabs the extended arm and twists it around Jacques' back. Quinn then manipulates Jacques' back pack strap and ties it around Jacques' wrists.
Jacques: "Ugh!! You think this is enough to stop me?!"
Quinn: "It'll hold you long enough for me to finally make a difference-- a thing I've never been able to do locked up in that library everyday."
The two kick and deflect each other's legs until Quinn kicks Jacques back and into a nearby vespa. He quickly ties Jacques' wrists to the back of the vespa.
Quinn: "How do you think I got here so fast? --Well, not fast, fast or anything."
Jacques: "Dammit, Quinn! I'm telling you there's no way to know where Moctozuma moved that jewel to. Besides, our lives aren't worth gambling with."
Quinn stops and takes out Jacques' journal with Jacques' notes.
Quinn: "If that Yakuza hack could figure it out, then so can you. I'm just speeding up what you would have eventually done anyway. --Let's see what your notes say... Around the ehecacozcatl symbol on that Pino Suárez calendar are four symbols."
Jacques: "Four useless symbols!"
Quinn: "Not exactly. They're telling us where to go. Below it is a temple and a plant symbol. Above it, to the right was a rugged earth symbol. You didn't finish drawing the one on the left."
Jacques: "Hah! Sorry about that. I got distracted when I boarded a chip truck. As a student, I'm sure you can relate to unfinished homework and domestic starvation."
Quinn: "Not since I started eating military rations. And you and I both get straight A's."
Jacques: "Ouch, man. Ouch."
Quinn: "I've got it! The temple symbol sits under the rugged earth symbol on purpose. This calendar points to another underground chamber, only this time, the whole temple is underground right along with it."
Jacques: "That doesn't make sense.... unless............ Cholula?"
Quinn: "That's right. The pyramid at Cholula, here in Mexico, is not only the largest pyramid in the world, but it's also buried under a giant hill."
Jacques: "Great Ceasar's ghost!"
Quinn, jumps onto the vespa: "Ehecatl's wind jewel is making everyone crazy. If I destroy it, this equation of madness will finally unravel like an Egyptian mummy at discothèque."
Jacques: "There are so many things wrong with that analogy."
The badguys make it to the top of Cholula, enter the church and walk through it slowly accompanied by a group of thier men.
Reen: "This is impossible. We won't find anything inside this glorified God house. It was built centuries later!"
Cruz: "That doesn't matter. An entrance is an entrance. If we have to dig through these tiles to get to it, we will do it; and without the attitude, I might add."
They approach the altar and stop to look around.
Eve: "Now's a good time to pay our respects."
Cruz: "You'll be paying with more than that if you don't get moving."
Reen: "Careful what you say. She'll crush your larnyx. It wouldn't be her first time either."
Cruz: "I don't have to anything, you suit-sleeper!"
Eve walks behind the altar out of curiosity and notices something at her feet. One of the tiles has an etching on it.
Eve: "Here's something I bet the Priest doesn't know about. There's a scratchy etching of a conch symbol on this floor tile."
Cruz, walks over: "We were right! That's the symbol of ehecacozcatl."
Reen: "Why don't you leave this to the professionals, Cruz? Out of my way."
He pushes him aside, leans in and pulls at the edges of the large tile. It comes off and he sets it aside. Underneath is a hole to an underground section, large enough for people to stand in.
Cruz: "If that etching is on a church tile, it means someone has gotten this far before us."
Eve: "How? All the clues to this point have been buried under other temples?"
Reen: "Those underground chambers and altars could have been accessed any number of times, if you knew what you were doing. All you would need is something pointing you to them."
Cruz: "Rumours and word of mouth got Skie this far. She was better than anyone at retrieving information. We even had a competition. Won three years in a row."
Back at the Archeology storage room, Max and Tinco witness Hitomi attempting to steal from the school.
Max: "Hold it right there, Hitomi. The gift shop is closing up early today."
Hitomi: "Ah, so you've caught me in the act of stealing. Excellent work, for a random kid I've never even heard of before."
Max: "I'm the guy who's been chauffeuring you around the past few days? I refilled one of your ink-blotter pens??"
Hitomi: "That was you?! You did it all wrong and practically destroyed the metal fill. I had to order a whole new one from the manufacturer!"
Max: "That must've been an easy swing, since you're a member of the Yakuza! --Or a variant, thereof."
Hitomi: "Well, score two for the Hardy Boys. You people friends with Nancy Drew, or is she, like, competition or something?"
Max: "I noticed the traditional gangland tattoo on your arm when you were taking off your coat yesterday; the rank-specific chain you dropped on the floor after lunch; and last, but not least, the business card you left on your table, detailing your functions within your alternative organization."
Hitomi: "Dammit! I meant to leave those at home, and in my wallet. This is all because I've been having everything at my house corduroyed-- even the lamp shades!"
Tinco: "That is the worst decor choice I've ever fathomed."
Hitomi: "You should talk! You're that kid that was lecturing a group of law students on the briberies of Sir John A Macdonald!"
Tinco: "People were paid money to vote in the 1800s! Why wouldn't I bring it up, randomly, in present day conversation??"
Hitomi: "Talking about it just ruins the spirit of voting! You fools!"
He launches an attack that Max and Tinco quickly block and return. The three engage in fighting.
Meanwhile, Quinn and Jacques are speeding along the highway on the vespa; Jacques facing the opposite direction with his wrists tied to the back bar.
Jacques: "So you're saying you have a school credit card too, and you used it to rent this hippie bike?"
Quinn: "Typically, only select in-field archeology students have temporary access to those cards for flight changes and whatnot, like yourself, but CJ and I were asked to attend a Da Vinci DeCode seminar in Vancouver last week and neither of us had change for the bus."
Jacques: "How'd it go?"
Quinn: "There was a lot of upset, and a lot of crying from both sides."
Jacques: "Let's just pretend I didn't ask that."
Quinn: "Actually, it was almost as bad as finding out the University liason was an imposter; which, by the way, turned out to be a blessing, since it would've meant the continuation of the in-field portion of the archeology program and your death-trips."
Jacques: "For your information, I only use the chances of death as a starting point. Anyway, completing the Linear-B presentation would've never saved the archeology program in the first place."
Quinn: "Oh please. Like you know anything about school. You spend half of it in other countries."
Jacques: "What I mean is, Logan told me the University was planning on shutting us down either way. He found out through his University contact and friend, Maurice, who was judging a stalagmite-constructing competition at the time."
Quinn: "I tripped over one of those things on my way to a walking seminar!"
Jacques: "Exactly. The truth is, this was never about Brommen's threats to cut my credits to begin with. Granted, those would've been a setback, but what was more concerning were these rumours."
Quinn: "Great thunderbolts of Jove!"
Jacques: "I had a gut feeling the University would follow through with their plans, but I just didn't want to believe it."
Quinn: "And you pressured me into completing that presentation!?"
Jacques: "Hey, it's not my fault I was channeling the stress of losing the program before it happened in the first place. Blame psychology for that."
Quinn: "Yes, I think I'll blame yours!"
Max and Tinco fight Hitomi, and kick him out of the artifact storage room. Hitomi hits the floor in pain, unable to get up.
Tinco: "I think I could get used to beating up teachers."
Max picks up Hitomi's agenda and flips through the pages.
Max: "It looks like he was tracking the progress of his team mates, internationally. They're all criminally involved in antiquities collecting."
Tinco: "Is that a career option? I feel like I saw something about that in a course list somewhere."
Max: "Actually, this latest entry goes into some detail. --Apparently, his family Lieutenant, a one Reen-san, is in Mexico searching for the jewel of Ehecatl."
Tinco: "Didn't you say Jacques and Quinn were in Mexico right now, on an unannounced vacation?"
Max: "I was talking to Logan during a chance encounter at the cafeteria. Were you eavesdropping??"
Tinco: "Well, obviously. I can only lecture my own classmates on Hargrove's normative culture model for so long."
Max: "That was one of my term papers! --Never mind. It was one of my worst. The point of all this is, even though Hitomi was only interested in stealing from us, there are some details in here about actual University plans."
Tinco: "It's important that when undercover, one does the cover-job right to ensure all doubt is removed."
Max: "We should check in with Quinn, and update him on these here goings ons and such ases."
Quinn and Jacques suddenly reach Cholula pyramid. They park behind an ancient structure.
Jacques: "Look, let's just both call it even. I mislead you and you mislead me. We're all none of us perfect, I think I heard an old person say once."
Quinn: "We're still not going home, though. I have to put an end to this craziness once and for all. These hunts go against everything archeology and linguistics stands for."
Jacques: "Those things stood for something?"
Over the structure they see Cartel holding Yakuza members hostage all over the place.
Quinn: "All I have to do is circumvent these weight brains. You know, find another way in. Easy-peasy lemon squeezy."
Jacques: "What the hell? It looks like Reen's joint operation has become a point operation!"
Quinn: "Maybe we should both lay off the one liners. I feel like we shouldn't be okay with these."
Jacques: "There are Cartel and Yakuza everywhere. There is no way you're going to avoid a confrontation. Look, you can untie me and I can help."
Quinn: "If I untie you, you'll escape, and my point will be made with no validation. The worst kind of point-making!"
Jacques: "Dude, it's time we trusted each other. That's a call back, by the way. Also, you did say I wasn't the giving up type and then immediately after saying that, you solved my Moctozuma problem."
Quinn: "Well I am on a roll of sorts."
He starts to untie Jacques.
Quinn: "Wait. You're not doing that attack first thing again, are you? Because I hate that."
Jacques: "What are you so worried about? You get to go second."
He whips out his grappling hook and starts running into the open area. One of the Cartel takes his weapon off a Yakuza member to fire at Jacques, causing the Yakuza guy to attack the Cartel guy.
Chaos breaks out as Yakuza members use this distraction to fight back.
Back in the church, the group hears of the commotion.
Reen: "What is that noise? Cruz, tell your people to celebrate later. Not that there will be a reason to since you won’t make it."
Cruz: "They were supposed to put the champagne on ice! I didn't rob a liquor store at gunpoint to practice my shouting. Though, it did help a bit."
Anton, runs in: "General. It's that kid. He's back!"
Cruz: "Which kid? We get foiled by them on a weekly basis here. --A by-product of the neighbourhood, you understand."
Anton: "The archeology student?"
Cruz: "Dammit! I thought he was dead!"
Anton: "What is death, really, but a beginning to something greater-- As a religious man, I'm sure you understand."
Cruz: "I never agreed to this conversation! That's two more strikes against you, Anton! Now finish off the kid, like you were supposed to at El Tepozteco!"
Anton: "Wow. When words hurt."
Eve, Reen, Cruz, two other Cartels and the Yakuza member, Tagasaki, descend into the lower area under the Cholula Catholic church. The tile is placed back.
Outside, one of the Yakuza guys runs up at Jacques and attacks. Quinn leaps out from his spot and tries to catch up.
Suddenly, Quinn gets a call on is phone. He picks it up.
#CJ: "Quinn! You didn't mention you were leaving the country the other day? We had practice scheduled for this afternoon. How long is your flight? Can you make it?"
Quinn is suddenly attacked by a Cartel guy. He quickly knocks the weapon out his hands and fights him.
Quinn: "Sorry, CJ. You know how we all always wondered why Jacques would attend every archeology trip offered by the school?"
Jacques knocks three guys out and is confronted by another guy.
#CJ: "Yeah, that's usually when I broke out the tofu donuts."
Quinn knocks the Cartel guy into another approaching.
Quinn: "Well, this is why. You see, we're chasing down an ancient relic, which happens to be buried in a temple, which in itself is buried under a 16th century church."
He fights and doesn't notice someone approaching from the side. CJ listens to the footsteps carefully.
#CJ: "Quinn, there's one on your left!"
Quinn ducks the guy in front of him and punches into the guy approaching from the left.
Quinn: "Thanks. Wait. What? Never mind. This satellite phone sure does come in handy."
Jacques, stops over: "--Sweet sister from another mister! I remember what the other calendar symbol was; balance. Which means we have to go to the top of pyramid."
He runs off.
Quinn: "He didn't mean to be rude; it just comes to him naturally."
#Tinco: "--Quinn, it's Tinco. Forget what crazy thing you were just speaking on, briefly, because I have some information for you."
Quinn: "Is it about that history paper I borrowed from your locker? I'm telling you the photocopier ate it out of nowhere! They do that you know."
#Tinco: "No. This is about that University liason, and not in the imposter-way, which you were already informed about."
Quinn: "Good. Because repetition is hardly acceptable in today's information-overload age."
#Tinco: "You'll get no argument from me... Well, at least not twice."
Reen and the group are presented with a large overhead painting and a row of statues on a ledge against the wall.
Eve: "Good call on the extra people. We're going to need the bodies as trap bait as we get knocked off one by one by the devastating elements of this unfriendly environment."
Reen: "She makes a good point. The oncoming of death is plainly predictable, plot-wise and circumstance-wise."
Cruz: "Now you're probability experts? Maybe you can tell me when I'm going to be shooting you, because I'd like to enjoy it to the fullest!"
Eve: "Speaking of conversational diversions; notice that this mural is headlined by a giant Ometecuhtli painting, and underneath are four sculptures of Aztec gods."
Reen: "He was the creator god. The one that created all the other gods."
Cruz: "Thanks for pointing out the obvious, famous archeologist Howard Carter. Where exactly does the Yakuza get its historical education? Mafia College?"
Reen: "Now that you mention it, we do provide funding for members pursuing classes that are relevant to specific crimes. But in my case, it's a personal endeavour."
Eve: "Do you two mind? I'm trying to think here! There's a plus symbol on this mural that is driving me mad. And why would one of the ends of it be highlighted by a sun symbol??"
Cruz: "Because it is a navigational pictograph. Ometecuhtli gave birth to four gods. Each of these four gods represented a direction. North, South, East and West."
Reen: "Then this symbol is pointing to one of those gods in question."
Eve: "On this mural, it looks like the sun symbol is sitting on the West."
Cruz, walks over with one of his men: "Then I believe it's referring to the god Tezcatlipoca."
He then nods to his man, Feng, who then approaches one of the statues and attempts to move it. The statue depresses and the chamber shakes. A giant spear launches out and strikes Feng. Then, a bunch of compartments open all around them and sand starts to pour out. Cruz leans over and examines Feng's handy work.
Cruz: "You fool! That's the statue of Huitzilopochtli."
Eve: "He can't hear you right now. There's a spear in him."
Cruz depresses the correct statue and everyone waits for the sand to stop. Instead, the floor opens and everyone falls down to a second level. Compartments open and the sand continues.
Reen: "Perhaps I was wrong about you, Cruz. Now, let's continue before we're transformed into badly sculpted sand castles."
Jacques fights his way up the Cholula hill. He runs into the church and stops in his tracks as the Cartel at the altar open fire at him. Jacques quickly dives behind a peer.
Jacques: "Talk about laying on the church guilt!"
Jacques launches his grapple at one of them, hitting, grabbing and retracting them onto the seats. He slides out across the middle isle, launching again and grabbing another one down.
Anton: "We do not represent this religious organization!"
Jacques: "That's not why I'm here! But you have to admit, it's a little easy to misconstrue."
Anton: "Do I? We are clearly holding weapons and standing guard in an unreligious manner. I fail to see where the misinterpretation lies."
Jacques: "Wait. Are we really arguing about this? That was just a line, with no actual purpose other than to make light of the tension."
Anton: "Well your lines can hurt you know! Just because we break the law for a living, doesn't mean we don't have feelings."
Jacques: "Dude, relax. Okay, I'm sorry-- Wait. Why am I apologizing to someone trying to kill me??"
Anton: "You dare describe our actions verbally? We'll kill you for that!"
Jacques: "Sorry again--- Uggh. Stop it! You're messing with my head!"
Anton: "Precisely the point I should've been making, instead of the previous one; you see, you'll never catch up to the others, not just because we're going to terminate you, but because you're no match for them in the artifact hunting business. They are already way ahead of you!"
Jacques: "That was awfully specific. Actually, I appreciate the effort you put into insulting me. Some henchmen these days just don't get it, you know."
Anton: "You really think so? Well, thanks!"
The Cartel aim around the seats hesitantly, unsure where Jacques is hiding. Suddenly another grapple comes flying out of the sea of seats and takes another one of them down.
With one remaining, and in shock, he decides to shoot recklessly into the peers. A grapple comes flying out from somewhere and onto his face as he is then pulled down.
Anton: "AAuuhhhh!"
He hits the floor in pain, unable to get up. Jacques then stands and approaches his beat-up opponent.
Jacques: "Bah. Why is antiquities tracking so competitive?"
Back at the school, Max and Tinco are with CJ who hangs up the phone.
Tinco: "So, wait. If those two are competing against the Yakuza for rare antiquities, what are the odds Jacques and Quinn will live through the threat?"
CJ: "There is much we don't know about Jacques' activities on those trips, but with Quinn out there on our behalf, Quinn's level head will temper Jacques' over-ambition so that together both may overcome any obstacle."
Max: "Like we did when we put Hitomi down. We proved what we were capable to ourselves, and that's what matters the most."
Tinco: "Stop talking like an after school special-- a type of television program from the 1980s."
Max: "At least give me one more. I think we should still call the authorities for Jacques and Quinn. It is only the right thing to do."
Tinco: "Only if we're also ordering a pizza. I've learned that multitasking is a habit that breeds success."
CJ: "Very well. What shall we get on it?"
Tinco: "Anything but green peppers."
Max: "Now, wait, wait. What ever happened to eating right? Just because it's rare we all meet up in one place doesn't mean we should throw our health out the window."
Tinco: "Is this an anthropology thing? Because if it is, I want no part in it."
CJ: "Max has said in the past that everything is an anthropology thing. But staying healthy is good either way. We would also be maintaining consistency with recent honourable intentions."
Tinco: "Oh alright, fine. Green peppers it is! Man, I'm hungry. What were we initially using the phone for again? Never mind. Let's make that order."
Meanwhile, Jacques makes his way inside Cholula, down the levels. Quinn arrives, late. They approach the statue in the second last chamber.
Quinn: "Sorry about that. The satellite phone started picking up the Army and there was this whole thing about a guy needing backup, and blah, blah, blah."
Jacques: "Pfft. The Army. Always wanting things."
Quinn: "Yeah! Anyway, thanks for taking care of the henchmen on the other levels. Any idea why we're always talking and fighting at the same time?"
Jacques: "I think it simultaneously exercises our minds as well as our muscles."
Quinn: "Gonna be honest; it's odd that we're even discussing this. Speaking of talking, we have a lot of deciphering to catch up on. If each of these deities represents a cardinal direction, the one on this wall painting must be pointing to must be Quetzecoatl, right?"
Jacques: "Xipe Totec, in a matter of point."
Quinn: "Dammit! You better not be judging me. Cause that's not cool, dude."
Jacques depresses the next statue, instead causing the entire floor to separate. On the next level (the third) is chaos-- Reen, Eve, Cruz and others struggling neck-deep in a slowly rising sand pit.
Jacques and Quinn hang on to the floor edges from opposite sides of the room.
Cruz: "Gah!! We get one statue wrong, and this sand follows us down to all four levels!"
Eve: "Thanks. We were there. And it's called gravity."
Reen: "Jacques, how nice of you not to die at Teotihuacan! I see that locking you away was a miscalculation."
Jacques: "Typical antagonist mistake. But your math problems don't stop there, Reen. Outnumbered much? --The question finishes my point."
Reen: "When I get out of this death-trap, the only thing you're going to be counting is your last breaths!"
Cruz: "Hold on. It appears that they can reach the Quetzalcoatl statue; the one needed to progress onto the next level. We, on the other hand, are about to become desert decor."
Quinn: "Ha! Now who's got the upper hand? That's right; us. --Hey Jacques, what's the best way to gloat? A victory dance, or some kind of point-and-laugh hybrid?"
Jacques: "Neither! I'd rather be caught discussing made-up 20th century religious faiths than going in and helping these Jimmies."
Quinn: "If we don't take action right away, that statue is going to be sandgested!"
Jacques: "Ugh. Always with the drama with you, isn't it?"
He reaches over and depresses the statue. Suddenly the floor opens up and reveals the last level, which is laced with rotating beams with sharp obsidian blades. The sand filters right through it, and everyone grabs onto the floor edges of the fourth floor before falling into the trap.
Cruz: "Uggh!! I don't get it? We completed the sequence correctly!"
Eve: "It was our mis-choice on the first level. Without all four gods working together, in equal timing, Cipactli wins!"
Quinn: "The who-dy-whatsit, then?"
Jacques points to the statue in the centre of all the rotating beams.
Jacques: "That's Cipactli, an all-consuming monster that all four gods had to defeat in order to create the cosmos. He was a menace, but, in a strange way, also became a source of the universe."
Reen: "Fascinating, you strange freak-child, you. I don't suppose the chances on your nimble brain having any bright ideas for defeating this thing is plausible right now?"
Quinn: "Yeah. Is it??"
Jacques: "Well, in the creation story, to beat the monster, the four gods pulled the Cipactli in four directions. So..."
He lets go of his ledge and strategically drops down onto the tall Cipatli statue. The structure is cut four ways, so he begins to spread the stones apart. As the stones spread, they fall and create four bridges covering the danger below.
Everyone lowers themselves to the bridges and follows one to a cave-pathway. At the head of the pathway sits a face engraving. Cruz moves ahead to examine it.
Reen: "Hold it right there, General. Now that your men are gone, the Yakuza outnumbers you in these here caves."
Cruz: "Fine. It doesn't matter who's in control anyway. We're all in the same proverbial boat... albeit one that's without water, but that's besides the point."
Reen: "Really? You had to go there to make your point? I should just kill you right now."
Jacques: "Reen, if you threaten people as good as you kill them, he'll live longer than an old man doing a cartwheel with sparklers on his legs."
Reen: "He'll perhaps live longer than you-- I'm no boy scout, but that I can promise."
Eve, points to the face: "Can somebody scout me some info on what that means?"
Cruz: "It's an engraving that resembles an Aztec mask. The masks were often used for rituals and worn on the dead as death masks."
Reen: "Why would there be an engraving of a mask? I'm not surprised at the General's misinterpretation, considering his constant mistakes lately."
Cruz: "At least I didn't need to go traipsing around the country for months before getting a lead on Ehecatl's wind jewel. You couldn't find a needle in a box of needles!"
Jacques: "Months? Reen, no wonder you teamed up with the drug society for children."
Reen, pulls out his small sword: "Tagasaki. I think it's time these two learned what kind of pinch our needles have."
Eve: "Pinch me first, I think I see something in the distance..."
She flashes her light and begins walking. They stop at a point in the tunnels where two circular stone altars sit in a larger circular floor. Everyone's weight depresses the floor and the floor begins to sink slowly.
Quinn: "This is not good. These Ehecatl altars have a habit of causing spontaneous rain to occur. It's like when dry leaves on a hot day suddenly combust, only the opposite."
Cruz: "This time we won't be provoking the god Tlaloc, like we did last time. We know that now."
Eve: "Is that supposed to be a joke? What planet am I on again?"
Cruz: "That's the problem with you tourists. You study the facts, you bury yourselves in books, but you fail to really understand what you're really dealing with. Gods like Tlaloc may be long gone, but their essence remains. They are powerful."
Tagasaki: "Perhaps next time you can get them to help you on your treasure hunts."
Cruz: "Give it up Tagasaki. Reen told me your nickname used to be Gum. Like the chewing kind! Besides, I only teamed up with you because you had a really nice poster! You know, the one with the stars and bold-italicized lettering?"
Reen: "Enough about our marketing department! I want out of this death trap. --You two, get to work!"
He points his swords at Jacques and Quinn.
Quinn: "Uh, well, there are engravings on this altar, but they're very unlike the one at Pino Suarez. It appears to be a sun and moon god."
Jacques: "Wait a second. This is a continuation of the creation puzzles we've encountered as of late-- you know, that five creation suns thing we worked out under the Temple of Quetzecoatl?"
Eve: "All I remember is you almost getting us chopped by those spinning mauahuitl clubs."
Jacques: "Ah, good times. I'll never forget them. --Anyway, on this altar is an engraving of Tonatiuh, the sun god, and Tecciztecatl, the moon god. The way the legend goes is that Tonatiuh became the fifth sun by throwing himself in the great fire. Teccizetal did the same thing, but became the moon instead."
Quinn: "Always the bridesmaid, never the bride-- in celestial terms, I mean."
Suddenly, a ring of fire erupts around them from below. Tagasaki and Reen aim their swords.
Reen: "Hurry it up! I'd like to get out of here before the sixth sun!"
Jacques: "Both entities were too large to get off the ground and move, so Ehecatl used his wind power and sacrificed the other gods to get them moving."
Both altars are on a groove that circles the floor, so Jacques begins to push one of them. Eve and Quinn help.
Jacques: "First, the sun began to move..."
As that altar is in motion, he goes over to the other altar.
Jacques: "Then, the moon..."
He pushes that one as well, and with both altars in motion, the fire is extinguished by a gust of wind from below.
Reen: "Excellent! The gravity maintaining the planetary orbits never looked so good."
Suddenly, the floor drops at immense speeds and everyone holds on to the altars. The floor slows to a stop near the bottom, into a large chamber. Inside this chamber lies many unconscious bodies and several Ehecatl altars.
The group slowly walks through the dead bodies in awe. Most of them are burned and charred, and also have small arrows in them. An giant calendar sits embedded into the far wall.
Eve: "It would appear we weren't the first ones here."
Jacques: "You ever get that awkward feeling when you've shown up late to a museum tour? This is that, except these people can't stare at you disapprovingly."
Cruz: "Grease-guzzling toe-trippers!? These men are all Cartel!"
Tagasaki: "So, you guys really did get this far. I must extend my congratulations, General; the previous faction was obviously far more versed in ancient civilization-ese."
Cruz, looks around the bodies: "Skie was an antiquities trade addict. Something I eventually learned to appreciate myself-- in a masculine way, of course."
Reen: "We should also appreciate the danger in this chamber. Any sudden movements and we'll trigger whatever it is that killed these people."
Cruz: "You think I really care about this stupid wind jewel? I just took an interest in it for Skie. But if her body is here, that changes everything."
Quinn: "What about the fact that you committed so much of your resources to this search? You even sold your most heavily outfitted gun-arm attachment back to the military that you originally stole it from in the first place."
Cruz: "That thing was useless unless one of us had an amputee arm! Anyway, I was willing to risk angering the Gods themselves to find Skie."
Reen: "Whatever you're planning, don't even think about following through with it. The Yakuza will never forgive you, General. A second betrayal is most unlucky, and we were supposed to kill you on the first!"
Cruz: "Sounds like you're falling behind, because here's a third!!"
He jets off, stepping on a tile that depresses and releases a barrage of arrows from the walls. Everyone is hit, except Cruz, and they all hit the ground.
Reen gets up in pain, and launches his short sword into the air, at Cruz, nailing Cruz in the back shoulder. Cruz goes down, but in doing so, lands next to Skie's body.
Cruz: "Skie! You look horrible, but in that nice way where it wouldn't offend a woman."
Skie: "Cruz... you... you came? I ran out on you after that fight over whether or not it would be better I ran out on you or not."
Cruz: "I know. It was because I was never in support of this venture of yours. But after you went missing for two weeks, I realized the only way to find you was to follow your trail.
Skie: "--So you found the chambers under Teotihuacan? The actual key from Metro Pino Suárez?"
Cruz: "It took some under-handed back-stabbing, but I made it. Not all of my progress was dastardly either; much of it was from the historical books you left behind. The rest, we acquired from the services of the Yakuza, who happened to be in town on a criminally mandated vacation at the time."
Skie: "Dammit! You mean Reen and his syndicate, don't you? He betrayed me at Calixtlahuaca, and left me there to die."
Cruz: "What!? You were working with him??"
Skie: "Yeah. In fact, it was he that convinced me to break off from you guys. After he betrayed us, we found and destroyed a portion of Calixtlahuaca that told us how to get here-- but not before the traps wounded us."
Cruz: "That pitiful relic!"
Skie: "We'd have survived these traps if it weren’t for the last ones. Damn sequentialism. --Anyway, Cruz. You have to finish what we started and get the wind jewel. It's the most important find of the century!"
They both notice as Reen starts walking over.
Reen: "Speaking of found, I wasn't expecting to see you here."
Jacques and the others, with arrows in them, are able to struggle to their knees to see what's going on.
Jacques: "I don't get it. What's going on with General Cruz?"
Eve: "No drug lord would squander their time with tracking an antiquity, even if its historical value really is priceless; the research required is just unheard of."
Quinn: "A pharmacist wouldn't do it either. One told me once."
Eve: "Like the General said earlier, he's after that woman from his team. He must be in love with her."
Jacques: "By the power of Greyskull!?"
Quinn: "That explains why he was tearing up. I knew there weren't any onions around here. I knew it!"
Jacques: "Cruz was the most desperate one of us all. He sacrificed everything to get this far. But in doing so, he dug his own grave."
Quinn: "Question-- Are we supposed to feel sympathetic for the General? He is a drug trafficker after all."
Jacques: "I'm confused about that too."
Eve: "Feel how you want. No one is the boss of you. The point is, no matter what the obstacle, or who the person, love is a drive that transcends all that."
Quinn: "No, no. Only good guys can have feelings, and even then, they're more masculine. This is all wrong."
Jacques: "It looks like Reen has his own plans for Cruz's misguided efforts."
Suddenly, Cruz grabs Skie's gun and opens fire on Reen. Reen quickly dives behind an altar for cover.
Cruz: "You foreigners come into our country and claim these artifacts for yourselves. Then they sit in your museums for uneducated morons to gawk at while their ownership is tied up in courts for years! They don't belong to you!"
Reen picks up a gun.
Reen: "I'm a private collector, General. I hate museums just as much as you do."
He returns fire.
Reen: "The only difference is, I don't care about country ownership. Finders keepers and all. You understand."
Reen hits Cruz, knocking Cruz down again.
Quinn: "He's busy explaining himself!"
Jacques: "Perfect. Typical bad guy move. Let's open this door and cut him out of the equation-- as if our situation could be analogous with math or something."
As Reen continues with Cruz and Skie, Jacques and Quinn run over to the giant calendar stone.
Quinn: "Jiminy Christmas... this thing is like nothing we've ever seen before."
Eve, approaches: "It's bigger than the sun stone from El Zócalo, and the one you found at Pino Suarez."
Jacques: "And it's completely devoted to Ehecatl. This outer ring must be the trecena-- or the 13 month system. Something usually kept on codex, not calendars."
Quinn: "It's very Hadron Collider-ish, if you think about it."
Eve: "This bottom section explains what's going on here. It's saying something like, Ehecatl searches all the temples, year after year. He arrives to Cholula on a specific day."
Quinn: "'Year after year' sounds just like the pictographs we saw on that top step under the Temple of Quetzecoatl."
Jacques: "You're right! There must be a connection to that. At Quetzecoatl Temple, we established the story of Ehecatl and the death-order placed on his head by the warrior goddess Itzpapalotl."
Quinn: "You also said she was getting back at him for kidnapping Mayahuel."
Eve: "If you two actually know what you're talking about, then you should know there's a trecena period of 13 days dedicated to Mayahuel."
Jacques: "Jumping jehoshaphat! I'm willing to bet that never-before-heard-of Ehecatl-specific-day-of-searching falls under that period."
Quinn begins moving the outer ring. He matches the Mayahuel symbol with a bottom arrow. Suddenly, a plume of fire bursts out in separate areas of the room, in threat, but only reach already fallen Cartel.
Reen pulls his sword out of Cruz's back and sheaths it. He severely punches Cruz to the ground, then glances over at Jacques and Quinn.
Eve: "He's acquired a taste for blood!"
Quinn: "Damn his adaptations. This is the worst Cinqo De Mayo ever."
Eve: "There's no time for your observations on society! We have to get through this door. --What do we move the inner ring to?"
Jacques: "Pfft. Ehecatl, obviously. It's his jewel after all."
He then helps Quinn move the inner ring.
Tagasaki leaps for Jacques and Quinn, but Quinn turns and kicks Tagasaki to the ground. The inner ring meets Ehecatl with Mayahuel and the wall starts rumbling.
The giant calendar begins to open from its centre, slowly. Eve and Quinn leap through it, into the following room, followed by Reen tackling Jacques through as well.
The calendar then closes the four of them in. They find themselves in a closed room, suddenly partially lit by torches. The ground is full of maguey plant life and holes open up in the stone layer wall, above them; and more torches light up, revealing the centre of the room.
A pedestal and a big Ehecatl altar are displayed. On the head of the altar is an embedded mask, and on the pedestal is Ehecatl's wind jewel, a jumbled shape of sharp edges and flat surfaces.
Jacques: "There it is!"
Reen: "Now must be exactly when whatever ritual the Aztec's performed down here begins."
Eve: "Good thing we're not Aztecs."
Jacques approaches the altar but the crystal is unmovable.
Quinn, walks over: "It looks like there's a locking mechanism on it?"
Under they find movable stone symbols in a circular lock.
Jacques: "It's a Moctozuma symbol over the temple symbols for the Temple of Quetzecoatl and Cholula."
Quinn: "Yeah, you're right. And under them are the symbols for motion, death, flower and what I think can be interpreted as dream..."
Jacques: "What does Moctezuma have to do with any of these?"
Quinn: "Of course! This is what the guys back home were trying to tell me. That University liaison imposter was Reen's main researcher; He was working on this very problem; on the relocation of the Ahuitzotl's Ehecatl wind jewel."
Reen: "That explains Hitomi's sudden lack of contact! He was captured by meddling kids, wasn't he? It wouldn't be the first time."
Quinn: "Just be glad we got this information before Reen. Hitomi hadn't figured out much beyond Cholula, be he did conclude Moctezuma II's motivations for moving the jewel were based on a dream he had."
Jacques: "Great Scott! It was said, that before he lost the empire to the Spaniards, Moctezuma was incredibly disturbed and despondent over an unknown, upcoming situation."
Eve: "Probably something he ate."
Jacques: "He was having premonitions! He didn't know what was to come, so in that uncertain period, he moved the jewel of Ehecatl."
Reen: "Fine! I'll allow you to proceed. We'll see if your friends' information extraction was right. If not, I won't have to be the one that kills you-- since this puzzle, in a process of elimination, will eliminate you!"
Quinn, steps back and joins the others: "Yeah, try not to have the guys back home and you be wrong if you can. Your track record so far could use it."
Jacques reaches over and moves the dream symbol into the circle and struggles to rotate it. Finally, the jewel is suddenly released.
Jacques: "Sweet sister!"
He picks it up.
Quinn: "Am I the only one that doesn't see a jewel, but instead, crystal?"
Jacques examines it.
Eve: "There's a difference?"
Jacques: "Now Quinn's right. A jewel is a piece of mineral or rock, cut and polished by an expert, specifically for adornment; a crystalline object has an orderly atomic arrangement in nature, only appearing to be cut and polished."
Quinn: "They're the liars of the gem world!"
Jacques: "It looks like a variant of Mica, except not flaked, but formed in a way I've never seen before."
Reen, aims his sword: "That organized lying shard cluster is going onto my already flipped upside-down Mayan pottery collection-- The reverse orientation doubles as potential pedestals."
Jacques: "You can forget the ceremonial placement tip toe, Reen. This handle-with-care eye-shocker is destined for an overly-priced museum."
Suddenly, Quinn launches a fist at Jacques, to which Jacques blocks. Quinn snatches the crystal with the other hand.
Quinn: "Sorry, but that naturally occurring cobblestone baby has a date with destruction."
Jacques fights back, kicking, punching and blocking several times.
Jacques: "The only date you're going to be making is the one you have with the ground."
Reen watches in disappointment.
Reen: "Eve, if you want to get paid; bring me that crystal."
Eve acknowledges and leaps into the fight. It goes three-way and she engages in kicks and punches until she is able to grab the crystal from Quinn herself.
Eve: "Sorry, boys, but I've got bigger buyers for this piece of work. I'll be able to retire after this."
Reen: "Insolence! And after I let you borrow my copy of The Man Who Would Be King. I should've listened to my first instinct and kept our interaction strictly professional. You'll regret this, Eve!"
Jacques launches his grappler into the crystal, knocking it from Eve's hands and pulling it back to his-self. Quinn goes for him, but Jacques leaps away, onto the altar. Eve and Quinn go for him at once and the three start fighting again. Suddenly, Jacques forces them back with an unexpected gust of wind.
Quinn and Eve hit the back wall, as everyone stops in shock.
Eve: "How the--?"
Quinn: "I'm no physiologist, but people aren't supposed to be able to do that-- at least I don't think. I did skip a chapter in Biology class once."
Jacques: "Maybe it was just a random gust of wind? Through a tunnel?"
Reen: "You fools know nothing about the inner workings of giant hills!"
Jacques, snaps: "Wait. It was the crystal! It's somehow allowing me to control the air around us."
Quinn: "You leave that alone. That's for breathing!"
Jacques: "Remember the altars we used to get down here, and their descriptions of Ehecatl's use of wind to move the sun god? Maybe, whatever this is, WAS the source of Ehecatl's power?"
Reen: "Of course! Your question-answer makes total sense-- in context; not sentence structure-- the wind jewel is an actual wind jewel. Ehecatl used it to move the sun and moon, literally. Why didn't I see this before?"
Quinn: "Because crazy?"
Reen launches an attack at Jacques. Knocking him back into the pedestal, and knocking the crystal onto the altar. The crystal glows and a gust of wind enters into the room from the holes on the walls swirling around everyone.
A strange ghost-like entity enters with the wind and circles everyone.
Jacques: "It's Ehecatl!"
Reen attacks again, as Jacques blocks and deflects. Ehecatl starts visiting each maguey plant in the room, seemingly searching for something.
Jacques: "Ehecatl is literally searching the maguey plants for his lost love."
Suddenly a massive continuing wind flows in through the holes above. A bunch of dark entities fly in with it and begin circling around, swiping into Ehecatl at various passings.
Reen, looks around: "Those are the Tzitztimitl demons! I discovered their pictographs on the walls of Calixtlahuaca weeks ago."
Quinn: "You did stuff without us? Lame."
Eve and Quinn hold on to nearby stones, trying not to blow away. An entity swipes passed between Reen and Jacques, knocking them back.
Jacques: "If these demons are here then the death-order placed on Ehecatl's head never ended. In the legend, the Tzitzimitl tore apart his love, Mayahuel, and pieces of her became the land; but they never caught Ehecatl."
Eve: "Right. And the Aztec's must've found his wind crystal and used it to summon him and these demons down here every year!"
Reen attacks again, but this time is intercepted by Quinn and Eve.
Reen: "Nicely done. But unfortunately all your work was for nothing."
Quinn: "We're in high school; we're already used to that. --Jacques, you've got to finish the Aztec ritual before the demons kill Ehecatl."
Jacques, looks over at the demons: "Of course! If they keep attacking him in this closed space, he'll die. --The question is, how did the Aztec's do it?"
Eve: "They had a great rapporteur?"
Jacques: "No! The mask!"
Reen then knocks Quinn and Eve off him.
Eve: "Oh, right. It is the mask of the warrior goddess, who is their master."
Reen runs for Jacques.
Jacques immediately evades Reen by leaping over an incoming demon and picking up the mask as he rolls over to the other side of the altar. Reen then reaches for the crystal but his arm in knocked away by Jacques. Jacques leaps back over to Reen's side and the two fight until Reen is able to grab the mask back for himself.
Jacques: "Ughh-- The Intercepting Fist?!"
Reen: "Hahaha! Did you think you were going to beat me? I know all about your little school trips, you filth-drenched child. Why are people so blind to the fact they are not in the game they think they are? Face it, being way out of your league is the basic premise of all young adults; besides that, my people have already shut you down as we speak."
Quinn: "Wait. I have something to add to that--"
Reen: "Silence! You shouldn't even be here. You're so dumb, you thought it was possible to destroy the crystal! Idiots. This, and the next crystal, will be mine!"
Jacques: "Wait. The next what?"
Reen: "Shut up! It's clear now that removing you two is required before anything more; thus, this--"
Reen puts on the mask, causing all of the demons to stop in their tracks, giving Reen all the attention.
Reen: "Amazing. When I went to Calixtlahuaca I discovered a painted wall that depicted just this, and now I can sense their thoughts of it... They hunger for a sacrifice... They are begging me to tell them WHO to sacrifice."
Reen points his finger at Jacques.
Jacques: "Reen, no!"
Reen: "Hahahaha! This is fulfilling the ritual after all! You can't just tell these things to stop. Don't you see? This is how the Aztecs saved their precious Ehecatl!"
Jacques then comes to the same terrifying realization of the truth and his own potential fate. Instead of mentally stopping, he quickly grabs the crystal and uses gusts of wind to blow incoming demons away. He then blasts Reen into the far wall, dropping the mask and shattering it.
Ehecatl escapes through a designated hatch with his logo over it, but the demons loose focus and begin attacking everyone.
Quinn: "Ahh! They're in my hair!"
Eve: "Their hold by the 'local' Itzapapalotl must've broke when the mask shattered!"
Jacques: "You two could do with a little less yelling, thanks."
He blasts demons away from Eve and Quinn.
The designated hatch is activated by Ehecatl's pass-thru, causing the main door to open. The three leap through to the area they came from, and look inside as Reen is taken down by demons on the altar. The door closes him inside, but the room they're in now is swarming with flying demons.
Quinn: "Well you turned the tables on him quickly."
Jacques: "Yeah, mostly because he was going to have us killed. Not that I wanted the same for him; Maybe a light disfigurement of the face, or a mis-appropriated rib, or something lesser. It's the law that should sentence law breakers, categorically speaking. Anyway, why did you help me instead of destroy the crystal?"
Quinn: "I thought I was making a difference, but seeing him made me realize there was a bigger difference to be made-- helping him. And, about the closing of the Archeology program, I meant to interject that the 'true' was in fact a 'not'."
Jacques: "What!?"
Quinn: "Well, at the risk of being interrupted, you see--"
-Tagasaki: "AAuugghh!!!"
They look over and see Tagasaki is being attacked by a demon, while another flies around. The free demon sees the three and attacks. Jacques blasts it away.
Eve: "Forget your lame school. Let's go!"
She grabs the crystal from him and blasts demons away. The three run passed Tagasaki, who is being attacked by a demon.
Tagasaki: "Aauugghh!!! Just ignore this. It's only appearing like a setback. I'm still threatening! Wait, where's Reen?"
-Jacques: "He got trapped inside a ritual chamber and was taken down by evil demons. Nothing to be alarmed of."
Tagasaki: "You fool! He was my ride home!"
He drags himself over to the door. The others stop in their tracks to see what he's trying to do.
-Quinn: "He's really slowly shifting the calendar!"
-Eve: "It's inching over to the week of Itzapapalotl!"
He begins moving the outer ring of the calendar in accordance.
-Jacques: "Relax. I do this to my clocks on daylight savings. Besides, general trouble doesn't increase after the main trouble-y thing happens. That's like competition, right?"
It then activates a defense mechanism and suddenly causes the whole place to shake.
Tagasaki is suddenly hit in the chest by a bullet, knocking him against the calendar and smearing it with blood as he goes down.
Cruz drops his smoking gun with his last breaths.
Cruz: "Damn foreigners. That was for Skie."
A demon goes for Cruz and Skie as fire erupts in certain areas of the chamber. The three reach the circular floor they arrived on. Eve blasts away approaching demons buying them some time.
Quinn, reading a nearby wall: "So, the combination of people being here and the calendar being on the week of Itzapapalotl causes the whole site to destabilize..."
Jacques: "Most likely a fail-safe mechanism the Aztec's built out of superstition."
Quinn: "Amazing. But also, economically irresponsible."
Eve, blasting demons away: "Will you two shut up! Get us back to the surface!"
Quinn: "I think we have to reverse the sequence on these altars."
Jacques and Quinn rotate the altars in the opposite directions. The floor begins to move back up the vertical tunnel, increasing in speed.
A half of the floor bursts to pieces from a wave of fire and demons. The floor gives out but they have just reached the top.
Eve and Quinn climb out, followed by Jacques.
Jacques: "Nice assessment, Quinn. Speaking of which, you were saying about the program?"
Quinn: "Surely; as long as we're not suddenly interrupted a second time---"
Suddenly, the demons fly out as well and chase them down the hallway. Eve blasts them again, getting rid of them.
The three reach the vertical shaft with the rotating clubs below. They run accross the bridge and meet in the centre.
Quinn: "Oh right. When the guys back home called, they said they stopped the Yakuza from destroying everything. Hitomi was going to rob the antiquities room and end the archeology program from the University."
Suddenly, their weight activates a defense mechanism in the four way bridge. It then starts spinning.
They quickly leap onto the sides of the shaft, clinging to protruding rocks.
Eve: "Is this really the time to be talking about school??"
Jacques: "Golda Meir once said-- I must govern the clock, not be governed by it."
Eve: "It's sexist to quote a strong female leader just to appeal to me for being female."
They begin to climb upwards. The spinning four-way bridge suddenly moves up for them, forcing them to climb faster.
Quinn: "Move, move, move! And Jacques is right! There's no time like the present."
Eve: "Except, maybe, later??"
Quinn: "That's exactly what Hitomi knew about the program; that it was to continue going forward later next year, despite rumours by some of the other faculty."
Jacques falls but saves himself with his grappling hook. They just make it to the next upper chamber, before getting slashed by the four-way bridge, almost out of breath.
Eve: "Ugh. This is the worst."
Quinn: "And the worst is exactly how the Archeology program won't be going now that Hitomi was taken out of the picture before he could do any damage."
Eve heads for the stairs of the second chamber that lead up to the first chamber, but a giant spear lurches out at her to connect with an opposite wall. She quickly dodges it.
Suddenly, giant spears lurch out from all over the place, in an effort to kill them.
Jacques: "Everyone avoid death like your life depends on it!"
The three dodge and jump over lurching spears, making their way up through the next chamber. Each pillar gets harder and harder to avoid just as they make it through to the church floors.
The three leap out as a spear is launched out the hole right behind them, missing and striking the church wall.
They each are half off the floor, trying to catch their breath.
Quinn: "Don't get me wrong. I still think that crystal should be destroyed. But perhaps I let jealousy of your drive get the best of me in this case."
Jacques: "Well, this is a severe contrast to the withholding of things we both demonstrated earlier in the general sequence of events of things."
Quinn: "It's almost like all people have an arc of some kind. Not to mention, the truth is never what it seems, and virtuous forces like education programs aren't easily put to an end by maliciousness."
Jacques: "So, does this mean we get to keep the giant Olmec head in the school's central yard that we use for shade on hot summer days?"
Quinn: "There was an appointment made for shipping us a second one, actually."
Jacques: "Finally! I won't have to haiku-battle the poetry club for a spot anymore."
They look around and find no Yakuza or Cartel anywhere. But there are screams coming from outside the church.
Eve: "Wait. Where'd everyone go?"
Jacques: "By the sounds of it, out of their minds..."
They run outside in time to see Tzitzimitl demons everywhere, attacking and murdering Cartel and Yakuza all over the place.
Jacques: "We have to help them!"
Jacques grabs the crystal off of Eve and runs into the chaos. He blasts demons left and right, making his way off the pyramid, dodging and deflecting attacks on himself as well.
Eve: "I wish I knew he was going to do that. I would have prepared myself mentally."
Suddenly, a demon goes for Quinn and Eve. The two flip back and dodge several attempts at swiping.
Quinn: "Being prepared is pretty much what we're not!"
Eve: "Are you segwaying? That's really annoying."
The two are backed into the Catholic Church. Suddenly, the demon turns away from it and flies off. Quinn and Eve look at each other awkwardly.
Quinn: "Uhh. What the hell?"
Eve: "I don't know, but let's just pretend we didn't see that."
Meanwhile, Jacques is blasting a few demons away when he notices that pretty much everyone is either dead or dying. He stops, realizing his efforts are wasted. The remaining demons fly off into the sky.
Jacques: "Dammit. This is all my fault..."
He looks over at Cholula and sees Ehecatl floating and staring at him. Ehecatl then flies off in a gust of wind.
Jacques launches his grapple to bring him back up the hill, but Ehecatl is already gone.
Quinn: "He seems a little obsessive over the maguey plants, don't you think?"
Eve: "Like the General, Ehecatl lost the love of his life. When we all lose something so big and important, we all get a little crazy. Mayahuel became the plants, and anguish became Ehecatl."
Jacques: "And we almost became the scenery."
Eve: "Yeah, it was nice of us to experience the extent of the Tzitzimitl first hand. They only saw Ehecatl as a kidnapper. Did I say nice? I meant, horrifying."
Quinn: "Well, we have the crystal to thank for not only saving us, but Ehecatl as well. I guess you never know what to expect with artifacts, and pre-judging them is just asking for a bunch of demons to get you."
Jacques: "What about these hunts going against everything archeology and linguistics stands for?"
Quinn: "That was before the existence of wind gods and their broken hearts. It's relatable to even us mortals."
They just look at him.
Quinn, defensively: "Hey, I've had a girlfriend before."
Jacques: "Anyway, now that the Cholula temple traps are activated, and the descending altars are destroyed, it's likely no one will be prompting that ritual ever again."
Quinn: "Wait, what? Can't the traps just reset to their previous states?"
Eve: "Those things were the worst. I can not get myself out of here soon enough."
She turns to leave.
Jacques: "Wait. Where are you going? What about the crystal?"
Eve: "I've learned way more than I wanted to about this wind god, and now that I've practically met him, I don't want it anymore. It's like meeting the people of the house you're breaking in to. The lesson here is, never do that. So, you two can have it. Leave it to the museums... or to its destruction. Whichever you prefer."
Jacques: "What about your money?"
Eve: "Maybe I'll get my buyers a Calaveras Skull and see if they'll buy the plausibility of it, metaphorically and literally."
Jacques: "Eve, no! Don't you see that you're just perpetuating the illegal trade industry? You're turning a timeless science into a devitalized scavenger hunt!"
Eve: "Hey, I still have to live. You try paying your rent with ancient maps of Babylonia. Just make sure you put that thing where you intended it go, or I'll be back to take it from you."
She leaps off the ledge and makes her way down, like a ninja.
Jacques: "So, Eve was a ninja all along!"
He examines the crystal.
Quinn: "You think the museum will display that?"
Jacques: "I don't know. But I can't consciously turn this thing over knowing the power it holds. Yet, I can't claim to be the right person to hold on to it."
Quinn, blandly: "Uh, yeah, great dilemma; I feel paradoxical-pain for you. --Anyway, before he was quashed by Tzitzimitl, didn't Reen mention there was a second one?"
Jacques: "Perhaps, but the thought of getting torn to pieces and reborn as plant-life takes great residence with me. Besides the fact we wouldn't have a starting point, this is a whole new level of danger."
Quinn: "So that's it? You're done treasure hunting?"
Jacques: "Yes, and I'll thank you not to tie me to a vespa like some kind of stalk of American hay; to be bought and used in a maze."
Quinn: "Fine. But if you ever change your mind, you're going to need a good languages guy-- i.e. me-- the person you're talking to right now-- presently."
Jacques: "It won't come to that. They'll probably ban me from any kind of school trip, after this-- even the mundane manila folder factory tours. Besides, if it did come me choosing someone, I'd choose someone with less destroying aspirations of valuable objects than me."
Quinn: "You can't argue with a good demolishing! Anyway, we'd better get out of here before the authorities arrive. I hear their dusty and old jail cells are as bland as 5-star hotels."
He joins Jacques on the walk down.
Quinn: "By the way, do you think this obsessive compulsive complex with antiquities and people is unhealthy?"
Jacques: "Not really. I mean, once you get to the thing, you're good."
THE END