It was a calm afternoon in Haven city. In the Kelp house, the two brothers, whose mom died not so long ago, were sitting in their living room. Trouble Kelp, Deputy Commander of the LEP was reading his regular newspaper, and Grub, who was still a Corporal, was watching his favorite soap-opera.
When the soap was over Grub turned the TV off and went towards the door.
"Where are you going?" said Trouble over his newspaper.
"I need to make the ritual."
"Where?"
"Somewhere in America."
"Still afraid of Ireland?"
"Yeah. If someone like Artemis will kidnap me like he did with Holly, there's no way I'll make it. In America it's completely safe."
"Well… knock yourself out."
"Thanks." Grub took his wings and went out the door. He never liked the ritual. It was way too scary for his unadventurous mind.
Max Benson, agent of the FBI, was working on "The Operation" for quite a while. It all began when he saw that diary, of someone he thought was at least seventeen years old. Most of the diary was about fairies and what the boy was about to do to catch one and get their gold.
Max did not want gold. The salary he made was more than enough for him. He just wanted to catch a fairy so he can prove the world that they exist. Just for fun, and glory.
Of course, his budget was not too big. He could not afford that boy's equipment and he could not ask for funding from Robin Richards, head of the FBI. Somehow, Max thought it was just stupid to ask him, "Hey, Mr. Richards. Can you give me a nice big budget so I can catch fairies?"
So he did it on his own. He found a place where there's an ancient oak, and a curve of the stream. It was a full moon. Just the right time and place.
He took his van to the old Dosone River, took his gun and waited. He didn't want to kill the poor fairy, of course, but a bullet in its leg won't do too much harm.
He listened to some music, looked at the stars, tried to name states. Anything to keep himself awake. It was quite late, about three AM, when he saw it coming.
The fairy suddenly appeared, almost out of nowhere. Max didn't believe it was actually happening to him. It really paid off! Fairies DO exist!
He aimed his gun and shot.
There was silence for a moment, and then a scream.
"D'Arvit! Ahh!"
The fairy fell down, holding its leg. Max ran.
"Hi."
The fairy looked at him with wide eyes.
"What's D'Arvit?" Max asked, trying not to look threatening.
The fairy didn't say anything, but looked as in excruciating pain. Quite understandable when you have a bullet in your leg.
"Can you walk? I guess not…" Max said and laughed sarcastically. He lifted the fairy himself to the van, and drove away.