The third flight lost the magic of the first, but the city of Istanbul brought the wonder back. While Shanghai was full cramped streets and, in his area, poorly built housing, Istanbul was mostly made up of beautiful stone architecture. 

The trio pushed their way through the crowded marketplace. Instead of the smell of frying oil, seafood, and, in the worst parts, opium, Short Round's nose tickled with the scent of spices, coffee, and oranges. They passed by a stall selling Turkish sweets and the pickpocket may or may not have swiped a piece when Indiana Jones and Wu Han's backs were turned. The sugary treat bombarded his tongue. Glancing behind him, Indy noticed Short Round sucking on something happily and just shook his head in disapproval. 

Finally, the archeologist turned into a shop with his friends in tow. A bell rang as the door was opened and a Turkish man popped up from behind the counter. His eyebrows shot up at the sight of the foreigners, brown eyes shining at the prospect of a pretty coin. Tourists were always ready to pay handsomely. 

  "Welcome to my pawn shop, my friends," he greeted grandly, spreading out his hands. "What can I do for you?"

Indiana Jones kept his hat low over his eyes, shading his face. Even to Short Round, there was an air of mystery around the man when he did so. The pawn shop owner's smile faded some. 

  "Is there anything you're looking for in particular?" 

  "Actually, there is." Indy placed his hands on the counter. The American towered over the Turk. "I'm looking for Narhachi. A tip led me to your pawn shop." 

  The trembling man glanced at Indy's whip and the bulge under his leather jacket. "Ah. Yes, yes. I have him right here." Carefully, he reached under his counter and placed the Manchu jade urn on the surface. "The price is 14968 lira or two thousand U.S. dollar." 

Indy grimaced and reached back. His jacket followed his arm, revealing his gun. The pawn shop owner visibly paled. 

  "Though for you, sir, I can negotiate down to–"

  "Relax," Indy grunted, pulling out his wallet and thumbing through his Turkish currency. "Here." He handed over the set amount. 

Warily, the man reached out and took the money as the experienced archeologist took the urn. 

Suddenly, a gunshot rang out. Short Round instinctively ducked and turned to see the shooter. It was a Chinese man dressed in a black tux and pants. It was one of Lao Che's goons. 

Strong arms snagged his torso and he was dragged behind a display as another volley of gunfire rang out. Indiana Jones shoved the urn into his hands then pulled out his gun and unwound his bullwhip. 

  "Stay here and protect Narhachi. He's trying to steal it before we can make the trade." 

Before Shorty could protest, Indy caught Wu Han's signal and lurched forward, using his friend's cover fire to move close enough to whip the gun out of their attacker's hand. 

Short Round watched the skirmish from behind a shelf full of now broken treasures. The pawn shop owner crawled away to safety through the back, lamenting his shattered wares. 

While the boy watched the fight, he failed to notice that the assailant had partners. He felt someone watching him and glanced up... and up and up. 

Clasping Narhachi closer to his chest, Short Round briefly wished he had his knife with him. Indy had told him that airport security wouldn't let him take it on board. They only let Wu Han and Indiana Jones take their guns because of their licenses and if they kept them stored in their suitcases. 

  So instead of fighting, he scrambled away before the large man could grab him. "Wu Han!"

Also distracted by Indy's fight with the leader, his friend turned and realizing the boy's danger, aimed his gun at their attacker. With a heavy blow to the hand with the butt of his automated weapon, the man successfully disarmed Wu Han. Short Round crawled behind the counter with Narhachi while Wu Han resorted to dirty hand-to-hand combat with his larger opponent. 

  "I have to help them," Short Round muttered to the ashes of the dead emperor. Thinking quickly, Short Round crawled stealthily behind Lao Che's men until he reached the door. 

  "Hey!" Every head turned toward him as he raised the urn in the air invitingly. "You want this? Come and get him!" he added in Chinese before running off into the marketplace. Anyone else would think him foolish. He was unarmed, they had guns. He was fast, but his legs were shorter than theirs. If they caught him, they would kill him and pry Narhachi from his cold, limp hands. For once, he wasn't thinking about his own safety. All he cared about was saving Indiana and Wu Han. 

The man Indy had been fighting before they paused their brawl immediately ordered his men to follow the child. Each one of them left accept for him. 

  "Go help him! I got this," Indy grunted. Then Wu Han too rushed out of the destroyed pawn shop to help Short Round. 

Indiana Jones recognized this man. This was Lao Che's younger son Koa Kan. He was at his father's side during their deal and since had been following Indiana Jones around at his father's orders. 

Now the gangster loomed over Indy as he choked him, smiling sadistically. 

  "My men will find the boy, Dr. Jones. They will find him, and kill him, and then kill your friend. When I'm finished with you, we will take Narhachi back to my father, and you will just be ancient history for another archeologist to discover."

Frantically, Indiana's free hand groped around until he gripped the handle of something. He slammed it into Kao Kan's temple, forcing the gangster to release his throat and roll off him. Recognizing that he was holding a sword in his hand, Indy swung the blade down. 

Kao Kan screamed. He lay on the ground, holding his right hand. Warm blood streamed down his hand from his severed forefinger. 

  Standing over him, Indy wiped his bleeding lip with his thumb and said, "I'm not going to kill you, which is more than what you would do for me. You're going to go back to dear old dad and tell him that a deal is a deal. I'll be there at the exchange with Narhachi at the time we agreed on." Then he turned on his heel and sprinted out the door. 

The marketplace was a mess. Frantic chickens fluttered around, baskets were smashed, and fruit rolled out into the streets. People were wide eyed as multiple explanations were giving to curious arrivals.  Among the chaos, he spotted a path of broken wares where Lao Che's reckless men had stomped through. Deciding it was as good a place to start as any, Indy followed the path hoping it would lead him to his friends. 

Short Round's chest felt tight as he continued to weave through the crowd and duck under tables, hoping to throw the gangsters off his trail. They were not as careful as he, pushing past shoppers and smashing through set ups. People who noticed the firearms stayed out of their way so his pursuers were not slowed in the slightest. 

Then for one terrifying, fatal moment, Short Round accidentally stepped on a woman's dress as she was walking, causing him to trip. The boy managed to curl in on himself to protect Narhachi from spilling out onto the dusty ground, sacrificing his chin, cheek, and hands to be scraped up  in the process. 

Before he could scramble back to his feet and start running again, a hand gripped the back of his collar and dragged him up. He saw three sardonic grins above him and the knowledge that he was caught made his heart drop. 

  "This one really gave us the chase," the one gripping Short Round's collar remarked and the other two laughed. 

Short Round struggled, so one of the men grabbed his arm while the last drew a sharp knife. The boy froze as his heart hammered in his chest. He could only watch the blade rise into the air as he waited for it to fall and end his life. 

A blur struck the man's hand, forcing to drop the knife and wave his hand vigorously as if it had been burned. The other two holding Short Round glanced up only to be shot down. Now free, Short Round kicked the last man where the sun don't shine, bringing him to his knees. With a quick karate chop to the throat followed by a kick to the head, the last thug collapsed. 

Indy and Wu Han ran up to him, the archeologist coiling his whip while his bodyguard held a still hot gun. 

  "You all right, Shorty?" Indiana asked worriedly. 

  "Yes. I okay, Indy." Then he held up the urn to the American. "Narhachi okay, too."

  A grin spread on each of the adult's faces. "Not bad, kid." Indy teasingly pushed the visor of his baseball cap down to his nose. "Not bad at all."