Angela:

The corridors were long and dark… and long.  The smell of ancient humidity contained within the ruins of Machu Piccu sent a stale chill down Angela’s throat as she followed the path deeper into the pyramid’s core.

Any moment now. 

Angela paused to listen.  She was most assuredly alone.  But not for long.  A smirk pulled Angela’s mouth into an evil grin.

Any moment now.

 

Jaselyn:

Meanwhile, back up in the dirigible, Jaselyn has retaken her post by the door.

“Benedict, can you circle back around so I can get a better aim at Ernesto?” she asks her companion-slash-pilot. “We’ve gotta take him out before he can follow Angela. I have no clue what he’s got up his sleeve, and I’m a bit foggy on the details of her plan, too. All I know is I’ve got to watch her back.”

As they swing slowly through the air, Jaselyn gets into position, taking aim for who knows what might come at them next.

 

Sugie:

Sugie was loathe to leave Ben to Angela’s potential threat again, but she had faith in her partner. Cory was so new to the fight, she didn’t want to send him off on his own. Not that she doubted his loyalty, or anything like that, just that she didn’t want him to feel… well, she’d rather he stayed with somebody.

“I’ll go,” she said, and Ben handed her his spare pistol. She now had the paintball rifle, two pistols, and a grenade she had picked up while Jaselyn had been hanging by the ladder to the dirigible.

“You have enough weapons?” she asked Ben and Cory.

The men patted various weapons and pockets and confusingly, Cory patted his cap. Was he hiding a weapon under there?

“All right, I’ll meet you back here with Ernesto,” Sugie promised, sprinting off into the forest toward where she had last seen the floating gondola.

As she, riding one bear, leading another, trotted  through the underground, Sugie finally reached the spot where the two flying craft hovered. She saw that Benedict had circled his craft back so that Jaselyn was within range to fire on Ernesto, or worse, his inflated craft. Could a paint ball punch a hole in that?

Sugie wasn’t taking a chance. She used the sniper rifle, quickly focused on Jaselyn, and exploded green, yellow, and puce paintballs all over her and her weapon, which jerked back. She no longer had a bead on Ernesto.

“Erneseto!” Sugie hollered.

“Sugie, cover me!” he yelled back, as a rope fell from the rail of his gondola to the ground.

Sugie continued to pummel Jaselyn with paintballs, and Jaselyn gave back as good as she got. Sugie had been prepared for a messy mission, and had her visor down. It was getting hard to see, but she continued furiously swiping the paint off her visor to get in more shots.

Within minutes, though it seemed like hours, Ernesto was at her side, adding his volley to the attack on Jaselyn.

“All right, let’s get back to the ruins, to Ben and Cory,” Sugie huffed.

Ernesto was excited to get away from Jaselyn and Benedict, but when he saw the bear Sugie had brought for him to ride, he wasn’t quiiiite as excited.

Ben:

Meanwhile in the dark, dank dripping corridors of an ancient Peruvian ruin, Ben and Cory advanced stealthily past the remnants of innumerable ancient ham sandwiches.

They have come to a fork. “Cory, take the left passage and I shall take the right,” Ben whispered.

Afterward, alone in the dark, he sensed something in up ahead. It took him a moment to realize it was a faint rustle of laurel leaves. “I found her” flashed the triumphant thought as Ben dashed forward, gun at the ready.

Jaselyn: “Dang it!” Jaselyn cried out from her post in the dirigible. “They got away! And now I’m covered in puce.”

She looked out the door one last time before dramatically turning back inside to contemplate their next move.

“Benedict, it’s time. Unless you know something I don’t, I think we’d better move into position above the pyramid.”