[center][color=gray][h2][s] West; Caana [/s][/h2]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/azMeMBS.png[/img]
[h1]Pit of Estydoom.[/h1][/color]

[hider=Bring Popcorn]
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wxIw0jZsaSo[/youtube]
[/hider][/center]

[hr]

The thought process while under stress can be difficult to understand. But by this time, Nick had a chance to realize exactly what type of room he and Cosette were in. Up until a few minutes ago, he'd been so busy keeping himself alive, to keep Cosette safe in the future. But a thought dawned on him. They were fucked and rightfully so.

[i]It's a goddamn pit. CDE can't be the only thing down here. There has to be someone controlling this place remotely.[/i] Nick's thought process turned into quiet mumbling as he maneuvered around the room, "I don't even know if it's Von anymore. He's not this good. But [i]who[/i]?"

Nick kept his mouth shut with his furthering conspiracy theories. [i]Mechnoz? They claim to be a startup, but is that all they really are? Never heard of them until recently.[/i] If only to not poison Cosette's mind with all the white noise rattling around his brain. [i]And why dinosaurs?[/i] 

With another avoidance jump of the flailing deity's hand, Nick called out to Cosette, "Hey, you still got your grappling hook in your watch? Try hooking it above Buluc and get the hell outta here. Then find Nova." 

Sadly, he'd deliberately left Jay and Anna out of his words. Jay being a Mechnoz employee and Anna for not knowing what she could handle. Nova at least thought the situation through, right? She could keep Cosette safe should he fail, right? Well, she at least seemed like a responsible trustworthy person in Nick's mind.  

Truth of it was, Nick was feeling annoyed with himself. His rash behavior. [i]I mean, I really did just jump in.[/i] He argued with himself as he fired a few more shots. Hopefully headshots and hopefully they'd hit their target, Buluc.

They didn't.

[hr]
[center][color=gray][h2][s] The Egyptian Museum in Cairo [/s][/h2]
[img]https://i.imgur.com/GqGeT5m.png[/img]
[h1]A Variant Timeline[/h1][/color][/center]
[hr]

Two men strolled down The Royal Mummies Hall. The bickering they did amongst themselves was hushed and whispered. Frantic French, if any of the Arab royal guards could hear them.   

"This isn't going to work." His hands fidgeted with the Angel Cracker, trying to shove an extra CDE battery into a rather tight spot, "Let Cosette go... Let [i]him[/i] go. He was dumb enough to jump head first, I'm sure."

"This has to work." Came a sleep-deprived gruff voice, "It [i]has [/i]to."

"You don't seem to understand, Thierry. I don't have clearance anymore now that Ramses is dead. And I was almost electrocuted the last fucking time." Aaron sighed heavily, "This...!"

"Almost." Thierry fiddled around with an instruction manual for a prototype. The one they'd just stolen. "[i]Almost[/i]."

"Fucking thing!" With a smack, Aaron did manage to get the battery into the slot. Still argued with Thierry about the whole thing, "Just let Nick go. Loss happens, we all die eventually."

But then Aaron hesitated with a sigh as he swiped at his sweaty brow. Then chuckled slightly at his own words, "I mean, it's not like you [i]loved[/i] him."

Wrong choice of words.

If eyes could shoot lasers, Thierry would have shot Aaron down, easily. His voice was still hushed, but the Frenchman made sure to over pronounce every word slowly, so his American partner could hear each word perfectly, "My love life is [i]none [/i]of your business."  

But the truth of it was, romantic love wasn't the reason Thierry was going through all this extra trouble. Some might call it denial, others might say delusion. But the truth of the matter, Thierry was selfish. And without Nick's [i]burn the world[/i] attitude around, Thierry felt old. [i]Too[/i] old. And he didn't like it.

"There they are!" Arabic. They'd been spotted. 

"Shit. Time to go!" Aaron shuffled over a horizontal sarcophagus before being smacked across the head with a rifle's muzzle. 

A blast from one of Thierry's stored bombs didn't happen as he'd been tackled before being able to pull the pin out. Even with hands behind his back, Thierry still fought the three guards that escorted him along.

"You're lucky you're not just any random Louvre agent, Monsieur." A tactical Shemagh was pulled down as the man had spoken, "I have direct orders to kill them."

Aaron shot a hot glance over to Thierry as he was being lead along as well. He hadn't known about the order.

The Egyptian Royal Guard chuckled a bit, "I wonder if Mr. Augustus knows you're here."

"Let me save you the trouble of asking him," Thierry spat, "He can go [i]fuck [/i]himself."