Hello Readers!

Here's the next chapter in my Artemis Fowl/ COTT Crossover, but first, let's recap on what's happened to far…

Artemis Fowl has been told that he's to become a normal teen, something that he's not very happy about. He goes to visit an old childhood friend, a Canadian friend by the name of Jay.

Unknown to Jay, Artemis is secretly working for Cronus. Cronus is planning his new way of taking over the world, and he needs Artemis to help him. His plan: a Time Virus that will eat up time like a kid eats chocolate.

The gang found out about this plan, and made a counter-plan to trap Cronus. Half the gang set up half the traps in New Olympia at the park, while Jay and the rest of the gang went to Cronus' new hideout.

What will happen next???

Chapter Seven

Odie was hiding outside the caves. Due to his X-ray Goggles, he could see through the solid rock and into the cave itself. He could see Cronus and his giants as if they were standing next to him. He could also see the titanium-reinforced container that held the target- the Time Virus.

"Time Virus," he thought. "Only Cronus would think of that."

The Time Virus was the ultimate weapon. When it was unleashed, everything that ever existed would be eaten up and never seen again. And there was no antidote. If Cronus let that thing out, they would be facing an unstoppable force that would spell the end of everything.

The sooner they got rid of it, the better. Odie was using every bit of self-control he had to keep himself from running into the cave and destroying the Virus. Sure, Jay wouldn't be happy for no sticking to the plan, but at least the world would be safe.

His PMR rang. He got it out of his pocket and saw that Jay was calling him. "Are you ready?" Jay asked. "We're about to start. Cronus will disappear any minute."

"We're ready here," said Odie. "I'll let you know when Cronus is gone. You need to appear right outside the cave so we have the element of surprise. The giants will see you, and start attacking you. Herry and the gods will take over the fighting, and you can help me in the cave."

Jay nodded. "Good idea," he said. "I never thought of that. Anyway, let me know when Cronus is gone."

Odie ended the call. He put it back in his pocket and peered into the cave with his goggles. Not a second later, he saw a magical screen appear in front of Cronus. Artemis' face was on it. He couldn't hear anything, but that didn't stop him. Odie was a trained lip-reader, and could 'listen' to a conversation over two kilometres with good binoculars.

"Cronus," said Artemis. "Stage one of our plan is complete. I've got one of the heroes as a hostage. We can use her to get the Time Virus into the school. If we launch it in there, then the gods and the heroes will be the first to disappear."

"Very good," replied Cronus. "Where are you now?"

"I'm at the park."

"I'll be there in a minute."

With that, the screen disappeared. Cronus smiled evilly, sending shivers up Odie's spine. The god was formidable, even from behind solid rock.

Cronus created one of his portals in front of him and stepped inside it. It closed itself behind him. "Time to go," though Odie. "Better get Jay and the rest of my team."

Odie hit the speed dial button on his PMR and selected Jay's icon. He let it ring a few times, and then hung up. That was the signal to say that Cronus was gone. Jay would be arriving within seconds.

Sure enough, a glowing blue portal appeared seconds after Odie replaced his PMR in his pocket. A very determined looking Jay stepped out of it. Odie recognised the look; it was the infamous 'Leader Face'. It meant Jay was in the zone, and that could be both good and bad.

Jay gestured towards the cave. 'Better get going, eh?"

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Meanwhile, in a small clearing on the other side of the mouth if the cave, not everyone was ready to start the day. Three tents were pegged out at the end furthest from the cave. This choice was done unconsciously; the tents' occupants ha no idea about their unwanted neighbours.

Belle stepped out of her tent and scowled. The sun was beating down on her, and it was at least midday. She glanced at her watch at the time was confirmed. They had slept in, and Alistair wouldn't be happy now. Then again, her patrol leader wouldn't really care. They were here for five days, and hadn't really planned anything to do for the days.

She walked a few paces to two other tents in the clearing. She could already hear faint snores coming from the direction of the tents. "Boys," she thought. "Why can't they ever get up on time?"

She lightly kicked the tent, but the snoring continued. She kicked it again, this time more forcefully, but still the snoring continued. Angrily, she pulled out the pegs from the tent and pushed it over. The snoring stopped, only to be replaced by annoyed yelling from the boys inside.

"Get up," she said irritated. "It's already midmorning. We overslept."

"Belle!" One boy moaned. "It's still dark."

"That's because you've got your sleeping bag over your head Tom," another boy replied. "Belle's right."

Belle rolled her eyes. "Come on," she said. "There's stuff that we could do today. I didn't hike here for nothing, so get up already!"

She stormed off to the last tent in the clearing. This time, she was a bit gentler with waking the occupant up.

"Alistair," she whispered softly. "Time to get up. Rise and shine!"

"I'm already awake," replied the boy inside. "I've been up since dawn, unlike you lot. I'm trying to figure out what we're going to do today. You can come in if you want, I need help with this."

Belle slipped off her shoes and crawled inside the tent. Sure enough, Alistair was already awake and planning the day ahead of them. Notebooks were scatted over the floor, and a sleepy but awake Alistair was sitting in the middle of them.

Belle smiled at him. "Morning," she said again.

Belle liked Alistair; there was no doubting it. She had often thought of asking him out, but it seemed that she never had a private moment with him. He was always busy, either with scouts, school, soccer, tennis, bike riding or one of the many other sports he excelled in.

Belle knew that she wasn't the only one at school that liked Alistair. Over half the girls in Victoria liked him! Maybe that was exaggerating just a little bit, but not much. But Belle had promised herself that this camp she would find a private moment with her patrol leader. She would ask him out.

And if he said no, well, at least she had the guts to ask.

"What do you think?" Asked Alistair, barely noticing Belle. "Hiking or exploring the cave? I think Tom said he wanted to look in the cave, and so do I, but Jack and Cal want to go and hike around the area. I don't want to annoy everyone by choosing something that they don't want to do. And I know that we can do other things tomorrow, but they won't see it like that because they want to do it today and-"

"Alistair!" Cried Belle. "Take a chill pill. Chillax already!"

Her patrol leader could be a bit tense sometimes. Not that it bothered her though. She was one of the only people that got to witness Alistair's worry moments, and this showed just how close the two were. They had know each other since kindy, and had joined scouts together.

Alistair mockingly looked upset. "I've done it again," he said jokingly. "What have I done?"

Belle couldn't help but laugh. The look on his face when he did that- he sent her cracking up every single time. Within moments, Alistair was laughing too. They were literally rolling on the floor laughing.

Their laughing stopped when Tom stuck his head in the head. "Quiet!" He whispered. "There's something you've got to see, like now!"

The five scouts crouched behind a bush close to the mouth of the cave. They peered through the dense foliage and saw what Tom had spotted minutes before.

There were teenagers and two adults. But they were older then the scouts, and different somehow. They spoke with an American or Canadian accent, and were carrying very strange items. One boy had a weird looking device that looked like a computer, but far more advanced. Another had a sword in his hand, and a girl near him had nun-chucks. The adults were even stranger. One wore a simple dress and was barefooted, but had a sword at her hip. The male was middle aged and overweight, but had a look of strength. He was wearing a skirt, and had a tattoo in his left arm.

Belle pointed at the weapon in the girl's hands. "That's nun-chucks," she whispered. "Their illegal in Australia unless you have a permit."

Cal gestured at the strange computer like device. "That's a SAM," he said. "Short for Substance Analysis Meter. But that's weird. I mean, it's a military grade item. You can't buy that at Kmart."

"And they all have accents," said Alistair. "Canadian probably. I think around Toronto or New Olympia, but I'm not totally sure."

The four other scouts turned to look at their patrol leader, surprise written all over their faces. "What?" He said. "I didn't take that Accents Course and learn nothing."

Perhaps an introduction would be a goo thing, as these scouts aren't your typical, knot-tying do-gooders that you'd find at normal scout troops. These are some of the most experienced and advanced scouts in Australia, and perhaps the world.

Our five scouts are Patrol Leader Alistair Woods, Assistant Patrol Leader Belle Winters, Tom Collins, Jack Gregory and Callum Redfern. They're from 1st Kembla Park scouts, a Wollongong based troop about eighty kilometres south of Sydney.

There are three levels in scouting- red, blue and green, with green the highest. It takes almost four years for a scout to achieve green level, thus making it a very prestigious award. In a normal patrol, you would have about three or four red level members, one or two blue level people and, if you're lucky, a green level scout. All the scouts in this patrol are green level, and have been for many years.

So it was a bit of a pity that Jay and his group didn't realise who they were.

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"We're being watched."

Jay nearly choked when Atlanta muttered in his ear, but all his training paid off. He remained totally still, acting like Atlanta didn't say anything. To any observer, he looked uninterested with whatever his friend had said to him. But his brain was accelerating.

"Where?" He murmured back.

"Nine o'clock, in the bushes. About four or five or them."

Jay nodded. That would be the best place to hide, if you wanted to watch the caves. But who ever it was would only hide if they were planning to launch an attack. They would have to be dealt with, Jay style. That meant a sneaky, counter-attack that they would never see coming.

"Tell the others. You follow the rocks around and come up behind them. You'll then attack. Wait for my signal."

Atlanta walked away in the same casual manner that Jay had used when he replied to her. She was smart enough to realise what Jay was planning. It was one of the skills that made her a great team member and a hunter.

Jay watched her approach each member of the team, nonchalantly talking to them. "Good girl," he though. He casually turned around and fixed his shoelaces. But really, he was watching the bushes. Sure enough, he could make out the outline of four or five figures.

He stood up again and faced his team. Atlanta had already gone, and the rest of the team had done what she had told them. They were waiting for his command to attack. He gave Atlanta a few more seconds to get behind their unknown observers.

He then nodded briefly at his team.

They charged at the bushes, taking the people by surprise. He heard several startled cries as Atlanta came up from behind them. "Success," he though. "Good work Atalnta!"

But it wasn't over. The people weren't about to surrender. One of them, a girl a couple of years younger than himself, stood in a stance that he'd seen Theresa in so many times when they were fighting bad guys . The girl turned to face him, and in a spit second he knew what would happen next.

Her first kick took him in the stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Surprised, he fell to the ground. Around him, his team were shocked. Jay was never hurt in a fight! But they then saw how young the people were. They didn't look any older that fourteen, and would be a pushover in a fight. It was only a fluke that Jay was winded.

That was their first mistake. Their second was to keep fighting.

The smaller group formed a defensive circle, but the girl stood her ground. Roaring, Herry charged at her. Normally, he let Theresa or Atlanta take care of fighting girls, but this one hurt Jay. She would be sorry for that.

Herry never saw the girl's arm come up. He didn't see her clenched fist, or her determined face. He never saw the professionalism of her stance, nor the small muscles that were because of the years of practice she had.

And he certainly didn't see the pocket knife that she retrieved from her pocket as she punched his stomach. But he felt it enter his body. He felt the pain in his belly, and knew what had happened.

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Wow, that's pretty long for one of my chapters. Normally I only get twelve or thirteen pages on Word in size 16. This is nineteen pages in size 14!

I realised that I had completely forgotten about the scouts, and knew that I had to bring them back into the story. They just had to have a part! And I'm going to be tying up a few loose ends from earlier chapters soon. I know that half the storylines are waiting for an ending, and I'm sorry for this.

More about the scouts. I know in America that scouting is only for boys, but this is not the case in Australia. Girls have been in Scouts for a while, and they can join either Guides or Scouts. Boys can only join Scouts though, not Guides.

Australian Scouts are aged 11-15, but in some states they can join when they're 10 and a half. This is not the case in New South Wales, where theses scouts are from.

Anyway, the main reason that I'm bring scouts into this Artemis Fowl/ COTT crossover is because a) I'm a scout and b) this year is one hundred years of Australian Scouting, and that's pretty cool. This is my way of telling the world (the FanFiction world, that is!!). LOL, that's pretty sad. *sniff*.

Keep sending those reviews in!!!!!! Thanks so much to all my faithful reviewers- photo41, Ferlinda, Zialicious, Irish-table, tragedy-muse and , especially, CSC. You're all awesome, thank you :)

Little Miss Illusional