Here is the second chapter, which some of you have doubtless been waiting for.

*

"Thank you, Artemis," said Foaly. "But there are two things you must observe. Firstly, you must not give her your name. Secondly, and very importantly as well, you must not let her have any of your blood."

Artemis nodded. What kind of idiot would do that?

"And there is one more thing you need to know," said Foaly, the barest hint of a smile tugging at his mouth. "The location of her little Wicca hideout. This was procured by a valiant sprite. We never saw him again."

"What happened to him?" asked Artemis, though he could guess.

"The witch caught him and burnt him alive," shuddered Holly. "We detected the heat through the iris-cam. Witches have an affinity for roasting their enemies, even though they cannot bear fire." Artemis gulped. What he had though of wasn't as… horrible. Opal Koboi didn't come close to this.

*

"It had to be in Arabia, didn't it?" grumbled Butler. He wasn't the kind to grumble, but Artemis could perfectly understand why. The temperature was hovering around the fifties, and that measure was in Celsius. Artemis did not like sweating, and now he felt like he was going to melt altogether – although he fully knew that that was impossible.

"The location Foaly gave us referred to an area a little far from here," said Artemis. "What worries me is what the word 'little' might mean." The helicopter they were in was like a solar stove – all the sunlight shining full force onto the chopper was being absorbed by the metal surface, turning the inside into an oven.

"That must be it," said Butler, peering at a metal dome in the distance. It shimmered in the heat, a grey metal dome rising out of the sand. It was very large – wider than taller, and it looked rather unnatural there, all alone.

The chopper descended, and they got out of as the still slowly spinning blades blew up the dust about them and made them cough. Artemis approached the dome. There was a door set into the metal, with a small button set into the side. He pressed it.

The door slid upwards, revealing an inner compartment, with another door set into it. He entered, Butler stepping in after him. He pressed the button next to the inner door and it slid upwards too, opening into another room. This one was very large, and rather dark compared to the blinding glare outside. The temperature here was very cold, probably around fourteen or thirteen degrees. When their eyes adjusted to the dim light, they saw a person around Artemis' height standing there, with her back to them. It was Jasper Stargate. The door slid closed behind them.

"Good afternoon, Artemis Fowl," said Stargate, not even bothering to turn. So she was rude as well, to add to the list of negative points. But the truth hit Artemis a little later. She knew his name. Foaly's first rule already broken. Smooth.

"Good afternoon," returned Artemis, trying his best to sound sophisticated and dark at the same time. He succeeded, but Stargate showed no sign of it. She turned, and he saw a small smile on her mouth. He was a little taken aback by her beauty. Fourteen but ravishing. Not 'pretty' beautiful but 'femme fatale' beautiful. Evil beauty. Not nice. It sent shivers down any normal person's back. Artemis wasn't a normal person, so he just felt a little uncomfortable. Her canines were very sharp, not to mention twice their usual length. They were painfully obvious. Her ochre eyes glittered like topaz jewels, and her black hair cascaded down her back like a bit of midnight.

"Wrong, Artemis," she said, slurring the 'r's in his name. "It's midmorning. Shows how much you know about the time. It is noon in India. And as far as my DNA data goes, you are Irish." Artemis struggled to keep his expression impassive. This girl was obnoxious as well as rude. But the way she said his name was delicious. He was almost annoyed at his train of thought, and deliberately edged away from that line.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked. "Get rid of an enemy? I'll do my best to record it happening - though it'll be R rated, for gore." She laughed, and Artemis could hear the edge of madness in her laughter.

"Is there anything else?" he asked. "Can you… manipulate the stock market?"

"Of course," she said. "Child's play." She smiled at her little joke, and he saw those canines again. And then she gasped. "I have been a rude host," she said. "Why don't you sit down?" She indicated to two chairs nearby.

"Thank you, ma'am, but I think we'll keep standing," answered Butler. He had spent the last four hours cramped up in a chopper seat.

"Your wish," she mumbled. Then she brightened. "Back to business. By how many points would you like the stock to rise?"

"As many as is possible without causing damage."

"Damage to reputation is inevitable. I'll try my best." Which probably meant that the Fowls would be several grand richer in a week.

"Do you charge for this?"

"Nothing is free, Artemis," she said, slurring the 'r's again. Artemis tried not to think about it. He didn't really succeed.

"How much will it cost?"

"Seven thousand euro. Take it or leave it. You have overnight results, with a minimum of seven points increase an hour." Artemis nearly balked. This was daylight robbery; but, then again, this was a witch he was dealing with. "Agreed."

Stargate walked over to a file in the far corner of whatever she was working on. She pulled out a sheet of paper, and placed it on a desk nearby. She took a pen from a drawer, and then looked at them. "Sign," she said. "Both of you." Artemis thought this was odd, but did not say anything. He walked over and took the pen from her. Then something startling happened. Serrated blades shot out from the pen's sides and cut into his fingers. They were very sharp, and Artemis found his hand covered with blood. The pen fell to the floor. It was covered with blood.

He had broken Foaly's second rule as well. This was a deliberate move on Stargate's part.

"Oh dear," she said, picking up the pen. She placed it gingerly on whatever she had been working on when they had arrived, and then began to lick her bloody fingers one by one, like Myles licked flavor dust from his fingers. It was sickening.

A bullet soared from behind Artemis (Butler's Sig Sauer) and buried itself in Stargate's chest. She didn't do so much as flinch. She just looked down a little ruefully, and moaned, "Oh dear, that's going to leave a mark." One would have expected her to scream out "I'm going to die!" or something along those lines. But she just picked out the shining bullet with two long fingers and tossed it aside. The red stain did not grow.

"Never try to kill a witch," snarled Stargate. She licked the length of her little finger before continuing, "Especially not that way. Trust me: it doesn't work."

She turned to Artemis, who was clutching his wrist and trying to stop the flow while looking dignified at the same time, and said, "Would you like to know what I was doing?" She threw out one arm. A red spark flew from it and the insides of the entire dome were lighted for five seconds. Artemis' eyebrows shot up.

The place was far bigger than he'd thought it was. In the middle were seven large tubes, connected to massive machines. These machines were hooked up to small dishes, one of which held the pen. The blood from it was leaking into the machines. A shadow was struggling inside one of the tubes. At least, it looked like a shadow, dark and curled up into a fetal position. It looked vaguely familiar.

"Would you like to know what that is?" asked Stargate, positively gleeful. She pressed a large button next to the dish containing the pen. There was a noise like a drain emptying itself, and then complete silence. Artemis did not really want to know what it was, but a morbid curiosity made him watch, transfixed.

A minute later, a form walked out of the darkness. He was dressed in a suit. Most disturbing was the fact that his eyes had no pupils. As he got closer, Artemis realized who he was. His heart shot up into his throat.

"It's you!" Stargate shrieked in apparent delight. "Heard of voodoo dolls?" he looked at it, and then at him. "Hm," she remarked. "Not perfectly identical. A lot cuter, I have to admit, but not the same. Ah, it doesn't matter." Artemis felt like he was going to be sick. Those blades were rather rusty.

"Let's go, Artemis," hissed Butler. It took a lot to freak him out, and it was happening. Stargate heard it. "Surely you aren't going to leave so soon?" she asked, a leer crossing her face. Now she did not look pretty. She looked plain evil. Demented.

Butler did not care. He grabbed Artemis' arm and headed for the door. It slid open.

Stargate tutted, crossing her arms and leaning against the table.

As Butler ran through, into the outer chamber, metal ropes twisted themselves around his legs. They, too, were edged with the same metal blades. They ripped through his suit and cut deep into the flesh, holding tight. He broke free and dragged Artemis through, nearly running towards the helicopter. The heat hit them and threatened to push them down onto the blinding-hot sand, but he kept running. The sand flew into the open wounds and it stung worse than anything they'd felt in a long time, but they kept running.

Stargate came to the entrance as the helicopter rose off the ground. Her hair flew about her head in the wind, giving her a demented appearance. She put her finger to her throat and hollered, "I know who is behind this. The Fairy People." Her voice boomed up around them, magnified by her magic.

Artemis slumped in his seat. "Great," he muttered. "Just great."

*

Don't bring on the flames, I know that Artemis is acting a little OOC. But I just wanted to bring around the utter 'evileness' of Stargate.

Well? Do you like it? Do review. I do not care if you aren't signed in. Just tell me your opinion. It makes me feel very gratified to see those mails in my inbox.