Hey Guys. I'm back with another chapter. Sorry for the wait. Before we begin, I feel that I must tell you some bad news. My girlfriend and I have recently broken up. It wasn't anything personal; it's just that we both felt we were going nowhere. And we both felt we made better friends, than boyfriend and girlfriend. So we're broken up, but we're not mad at each other, and we are now just good friends.
The good news is, I'm now single, (Ladies, *raises one eyebrow in a devious fashion*)
The Bad news is, there's only a week left till court warming, I can't drive, and now I won't be able to find a date in time. It sucks. But you know, CourtWarming is more about having fun than having a date. So that's what I'm going to do; just go out there and have fun. Besides, there's really nothing I can do about it, since I can't drive and I live in a town with less than 300 people. (That's right. I'm talking john deer, red neck, NASCAR, farming territory. That's the type of town I live in. I love it to death, and the people are the most generous and kindest people I know. Then again, half the people I know are related to me in some weird way. So it's a wash.)
Anyways, with that out of the way, sit back, relax, and enjoy this newest chapter to Apollo.
Song: 2112 Overture/ the Temples of Syrinx. By; Rush
"I think that right now, we live in an amazing time, and yet no one is happy. In my time, we use to have rotary phone, and when you'd dial it…..you do realize how primitive that was right? You were making fricking sparks with your phone. Now of days, everyone has a phone, in their pocket! In their pocket! And yet, never do I see someone say, with much sincerity, "Look at what my phone can do." No. instead, we have all this amazing technology, and it's wasted on the shittiest generation ever. We are, without a doubt, the snobbiest, dumbest, and most arrogant little shit's of a generation. Because I see like, 13 year old girls, I even see my teenage daughters; look at their cell phones with disgust, and go, "ugh. It won't work. It's taking too long." And there are moments, were I see children walking down the street, texting on their phones and acting like that, and I just want to wring their fucking necks and just scream at them, "GIVE IT A FUCKING SECOND. IT'S GOING TO SPACE! Can you give it a damn second to get back from space?"
Louie C.K.
"HOLY SHIT!" Apollo screamed with much terror and trepidation as the shuttle blast down into the earth's core. His brain vibrated in his skull as the major forces of both gravity and speed took its toll on the poor lad. He felt like his skull was going to crack. The hull was shaking way too much.
"Watch your mouth!" Artemis ordered as the shuttle vibrated and shook with much fury.
It was an experience unlike any other for Apollo. The powerful thundering vibrations, combined with the weightlessness of falling, with such speed and vicious ferocity made Apollo shamelessly scream like a girl. Being a teenager, and somewhat of an adrenalin junkie, Apollo was never a stranger to roller coasters. In fact, he enjoyed theme parks in upstate New York very much. But this…this was ten times more frightening than a roller coaster. The rush of adrenalin made Apollo's senses go haywire. It was strange. While he was enjoying the ride cause the adrenalin was tremendous, the fact that he they could be slammed into a wall, crushed like a tin can due to pressure, get eaten by a massively molted fire ball from the depths of the earth, and possibly die, made his paranoia and fear rise above normality.
"Did you piss your pants yet kid?" Mulch teased while strapped to his chair.
"No! And don't you ever call me a kid! I'm not a Kid, I'm a man!" Apollo screamed back offended.
"Right, cause normal men scream like ten year old girls." Holly sarcastically proclaimed as she tried landing the shuttle. Her frustration was higher than normal, due to the fact that she was trying to pilot a craft, while behind her, her son screamed like a girl.
"Dude, you got mom burned!" Mulch exclaimed laughing and pointing.
A long time ago, the Tara shuttle port became renovated and the LEP decided to shut it down to make way for a newer, better, and more stable shuttle port that would be just a couple of yards away. The good news for the team, (being Holly, Artemis, Mulch, Root, and Apollo) was that there'd be absolutely no security once the team made their way out of the shuttle port.
The bad news was, with the shuttle port being inactive for almost a decade, landing the shuttle was going to be riskier and more dangerous. So slowly, and without the normal relentless rebellious nature that she presented in her youth as a fly girl, she tried to carefully land the craft. The sounds gradually began to diminish.
But Apollo was so wrapped up in the excitement, that as the noise of the rumbling went away, the sound of his high pitched screaming began to show. Now, the only noise that could be heard, (if your ears weren't bleeding from the how high pitched his screaming was,) was the girly like screaming of Apollo.
Eventually, a loud bump was heard, symbolizing that the shuttle had landed correctly, and that everything was okay for go. But even then, Apollo didn't relent on his ear splitting shouting, as he was shrieking so loud, that he didn't even hear the shuttle land.
"Apollo, Apollo," Artemis repeated his child's name several times while gently shaking his shoulder, trying to get his son to stop screaming, and snap back to reality. But Apollo was so filled with excitement, that he didn't notice his own father repeating his name and shaking his shoulder. Artemis's frustration was starting to boil, and his fuse ran short. Shaking his son a little bit more than he intended, he shouted his name, "Apollo!" with anger.
Apollo immediately snapped out of his exciting haze, and realized that he was still in the shuttle. Only this time, the shuttle wasn't vibrating, falling, or moving an inch. In fact, the shuttle was completely silent, calm, and still. With color rising to his cheeks, Apollo embarrassingly stated, "Wow…..I'm sorry."
"It's okay," Artemis declared like a good father would, "It was plenty exciting and horrific my first time too."
"Technically, you were knocked unconscious by the sedative in the dart I shot you in the neck with." Holly proclaimed. "So it was really your second time that was extremely frightening."
Not so much stunned by this exclamation, Apollo shrugged his shoulders and smiled. Then, after everyone unbuckled and removed their harasses, Apollo got up in the front of the shuttle, waved his hands in a forward motion, and proclaimed with a smile, "Well, come on. Let's get this show on the road."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Holly repeated several times waving her hands in a 'no' motion. "Where do you think you're going?" Holly asked very confused; assuming the worst.
"With you," Apollo blatantly replied with a quirky smile.
Everyone in the shuttle was stunned. This was a statement that no one was prepared for. It caught everyone off guard. Root and Mulch looked at each other with wide eyes of surprise. Holly's jaw was dropped to the floor. Artemis, while surprised as everyone else was at the time, seemed to be the only one calm enough to voice his opinion.
"No," Artemis ordered. "You're staying here."
"Really?" Apollo whined with a quirked brow, "But why?"
"Why? Why?" Holly barked out angry. "Do you even realize that what we are about to do is completely dangerous! Not to mention, if the LEP catches us, I'm pretty sure this would be considered illegal."
"Why not tell them why you're down here?" Apollo asked with much sincerity.
Root sighed without reserve. His anger and frustration was present in his voice, as he gave himself a face palm. "Does your kid have a hearing problem?" Root asked Artemis in a mumble, as his hand was covering his face in disappointment.
Artemis mumbled in an embarrassed reply, "More like a listening problem."
"Listen Kid," Root explained with his gruff, brave, dog like tone, "We told you before; Opal has some friends on the inside. World domination has a lot of money involved. So we can't trust anyone down here. Anyone can be working with Opal; ANYONE! Oh, and let's not forget that you're the main target Opal's after!"
"Point of the story is, for your safety, we are asking you to stay here." Artemis declared.
At first, Apollo was taking the news lightly. But the more he thought about it, the more he became offended. Eventually, Apollo was furious. With the scrunched face of agony and anger, Apollo almost had a stomping fit. But he was able to keep his emotions under just enough control not to whine and throw a fit like a small child. Instead, however, he proclaimed his frustrations to his biological father. "Who do you think you are?" Apollo exclaimed. "Who are you to judge what's best for me? You barley even know me! You have been out of my life for at least 12 years. And now you think you can boss me around like any other dad. That's bullshit!"
"Hey, watch your lip," Holly shouted back.
Mulch then began snickering, covering his mouth to try and hide his laughing. Unfortunately, the laugh was already exclaimed.
At first, Holly shot a death glare right into Mulch's eyes. Then, Suddenly, Holly realized that she sounded more like an old house mother, than her usual spunky self. So, calming down, she continued the rest of her rant with a cool tone. "Yes, it was a bad choice to be out of your life for so long. We should have told you sooner. But that doesn't matter. The point is, it's very bad for you to go out there into the city right now."
"But I want to see!" Apollo whined. "I want to believe."
"Wasn't the shuttle ride enough for you? I did happen to pull out all the stops just for your enjoyment." Holly stated subtly. "Besides, you can view the city through the window."
"Oooo, a window." Apollo exclaimed sarcastically, as he walked over to the small rectangular window on the side of the egg shape shuttle. "That's so much better than a firsthand look."
Suddenly, a small and almost non-existent beeping was heard. Root lifted up his wrist, and his eyes widen in alarm as he noticed the time on his watch. Hurrying the family along, Root took Holly and Artemis by the shoulders, and began pushing them. "Listen, we got to go now. Apollo; you stay here. Everyone else; grab a camo-foil suit, and follow me."
Opening a drawer in the shuttle cabin, Root grabbed four strange looking suits, that almost looked like old beta astronaut suits, and gave each individual, (excluding Apollo,) a suit. To Apollo's amazement, he watched Root, Holly, Artemis, and Mulch vaporize in front of his eyes. Slowly, they disappeared into thin air. Apollo was deathly shocked, to say the least. Suddenly, he heard footsteps. And then the shuttle door closed. Thinking rationally, (even if the whole situation in the first place, about fairies and what not, seemed irrational,) Apollo concluded that the suits must have given the gang the ability to turn invisible.
Artemis slammed the shuttled door shut behind him. The great thing about the camo-foil suites was the helmets that came equipped with it, gave not only vital read outs, and a sweet radar to boot, but also gave the individual the ability to clearly see anyone else who was shielding, or wearing a suit at the time. Noticing that he was falling behind, Artemis began to run to catch up with his wife and the others. Artemis had no fear that Apollo would be able to leave the shuttle. The door was locked and there'd be no possible way that anybody would be able to spot a human in haven and for the word not to spread rapidly like wild fire.
Unfortunately for them, as Root was grabbing the suites and throwing them out, one suit in particular managed to fall to the ground. Apollo, with much curiosity, tried the suit on. While it was a very tight fit, (being that it was only meant for people three feet and under,) Apollo found out that camo-foil stretches easily to accommodate one's body. Noticing that the foil was successful at making his body invisible, Apollo smiled to himself, as he realized now, he could venture out into haven against his parent's permission, and finally see the great city. And yes, he did know that there were some crazy people after him, and he did know that this was probably not the best decision. But, being a teenager, adolescence rebellion was the only thing that was on his mind. Now all I have to deal with is this pesky door, Apollo thought.
Goblins are notorious for many things. Patience isn't one of them. For a goblin gang, the motto is shoot first, an ask questions later. That is of course, if you have enough brains to put words together to form a sentence.
So when Marcellus Jamal, the high leader of one of the five major goblin gangs (the vulpine vipers), waited for one of his employee's (which were really people entitled to serve him) to deliver a small precious package of jalapeño peppers (for spicy foods in haven are illegal,) to say that he was in low spirits, would have been an understatement. It wasn't though as if he was depressed. It was just the fact that his impatience was starting to take its toll. He drummed his fingers along his desk, which was placed inside a large abandoned warehouse, and tried to hold back that famous temper of his. Unfortunately, his best efforts to hold back his rage were being reduced every second the employee didn't show up.
Finally, with a very sluggish attitude, and with deliberate movements, the employee slowly walked through the front door, and closed it behind him.
"Why, Hello there Jack." Marcellus proclaimed. His loud voice echoed throughout the abandon warehouse. Apparently, Jack wasn't expecting Marcellus to appear so suddenly, for the voice caused Jack to almost jump out of his skin, and with a yelp of surprise, Jacked turned around and faced Marcellus with wide eyes of fear.
Marcellus sat in the middle of the warehouse. He was provided with a usual business desk, (which was very uncommon for goblin gangs) and his favorite lounge chair, which he used as a desk stool for the time being. Standing on both sides of Marcellus, were two of his most trusted homies, Phillip and Taren.
Phillip and Taren were both very dumb, like usual goblins were. Their personalities were distinctively different. Phillip knew emotion and how to handle one's emotion for one's gang. Basically, Phillip knew how to fuck with people, and push their buttons. Taren was more of a muscle man. He had muscle, and lots of it. And his main priority with The Vulpine Vipers, was to strike.
Marcellus was a rare commodity as Goblins come. While most Goblins were stupid and acted on impulse, Marcellus was very resilient towards violent conflict. That did not mean that he did enjoy it. Marcellus was a psychotic. He would have his fun at the tragic expense of others. He loved to kill, rape, and steal. The only difference was that Marcellus was smart. He would wait for the opportune moment to strike, and take what he wanted. Marcellus was cunning, dastardly, and would use his intimidating presence and wits for his personal gain.
Marcellus knew how to make a threatening atmosphere, to get the opponent, or the person to whom Marcellus was talking to, to feel ill at ease, thus making them spill the beans, make a mistake, or fall into his trap. Earlier today, Marcellus made the great decision to not only use the scary and daunting warehouse to make the transaction, but he also used only a small desk lamp for lighting, making his existence in that warehouse more menacing. And his menacing presence seemed to work at the moment, for Jack seemed so twitchy and nervous, that Jack could have easily been confused for having a stroke.
Taren began to move forward just a tad, placing his hand on his hip, to draw out his pistol, (which all goblin gangs seemed to carry, for human fire arms seemed to be the easiest to get off the black market.) Marcellus waved one hand in the air, symbolizing Taren to calm down, and to back away. He had no doubt in his mind that Jack would be so haste as to attack. In fact, Jack seemed to be in the palm of Marcellus hand.
After a strong bout of silence, Jack finally spoke up and answered Marcellus. "Hello sir." He stuttered in a frightened tone.
With a smile that was invented by none other than Satan himself, Marcellus proclaimed, "It's alright Jack. No need to be frighten here. Do you have the package?"
"Oh, yeah dude." Jack finally announced. He reached out behind him, and pulled out a small, white, cardboard box. "The peppers weren't easy to find, you know. I hope I get my pay."
"Good things come to those who wait." Marcellus stated as the small white cardboard box slid itself onto the desk.
Marcellus grinned to himself as he placed his hands out to open the box. He started adding numbers in his head, wondering how much dough he would make once the jalapeño peppers were sold. He knew that there would be regulars who would come and enjoy the spiciness of a pepper, and he also knew that there would also be those who came along, wondering what their first pepper would be like. Never the less, he knew without a doubt, that these peppers were going to place his gang back up to the top of the five goblin gang families.
Marcellus opened the box…..
And then he stared.
"Um….jack?"
"Yes?" Jack asked confused.
Marcellus reached into the box, and pulled out the thinned, sliced, yellow, vegetable, with the look of disgust and anger. It was almost thin and paper wait. And it was defiantly not a jalapeño. "Do I look like a fucking retard to you? Huh! Do I look like a retard?'
"What are you talking about?" Jack asked both concerned and frightened.
"These are banana peppers; not the jalapeño peppers we distinctively asked you for!" Marcellus yelled with the power of a thousand suns, that would haunt any man, woman, and child, regardless of who they were.
It was at this moment that Jack's eyes widen in fear. He realized the error of his ways. This was the third time that he screwed up the transaction. The first time, he only got red peppers. The second time he miserably failed, the product that he displaced was a green pepper. This was the last time, and Marcellus warned him about it. But, being a stupid goblin, Jack tried to persuade Marcellus to give him another chance.
"Please. I'm so sorry! I really tried! I'll do better next time!" Jack announced.
With an exasperated sigh, Marcellus waved his hand in the air, and tried to call off the anxious Jack. Jack immediately zipped his lip, over the fear of retaliation. "Jack, let me explain something." Marcellus than stood up, placing his hand behind his back, and faced away from Jack. With a cold and frozen tone, he explained.
"Jack, put yourself in a situation. You're a leader of a great company. You have lots of workers, and an amazing reputation with rival companies. But there is always that one employee…you know. There's always that one problem child. He worked very hard, that wasn't undeniable, but he always screwed up. And did you know what his excuse was? 'I'll do better next time.' And you let him go, hoping that he would do better 'next time.' And yet every time, he failed, and he'd always tell you, that he'd do better, next time! But he never did…..now, if you were in the boss's situation, what would you do?"
"I'd know what I'd do if I were the problem worker!" Jack exclaimed with much fear and panic in his voice.
"And what's that?" Marcellus chilling asked as he cocked his brow.
"I'D FUCKING RUN!" Jack screamed as he turned to run.
Marcellus heard the tiny footsteps running away. A creepy smile placed itself upon his face. It was his favorite part of being a gangster. Killing for him was a hobby. And it was now time for him, to indulge in it once more. With an icy tone, Marcellus ordered Taren and Phillip, "fire."
Taren and Phillip drew their fire arms, and began to repeatedly fire bullets at Jack. Unfortunately, when both Taren and Phillip fired, they completely missed all ten rounds. When Jack got through the doors, Marcellus realized that he would have to run, to get his kill. "And now the lion catches his prey."
And with that, Marcellus ordered his two men to follow him, and they proceeded to chase Jack down the streets of East Haven.
The truck slowly made its way across the road. It pulled itself with much difficulty. It chugged along as if it were about to die. Then again, a primitive truck such as this one could have easily been better off in a haven museum, than out of the road delivering the goods. The other two trucks seemed more technologically advanced than this one. And that is exactly why Root and Mulch planned on attacking the trucks today. This truck was much slower, older, and easier to take over. Plus, the routes that each truck took every day were different. And this particular route that this truck was taking on this particular day was far away from the public domain of West Haven. And thus, their attack would go as unnoticed, and unobserved.
The group was currently sitting in a hover craft, (to which Root had licensed under a pseudonym), and stayed parked on the top of a very large hill, waiting as the truck moved along at agonizingly slow speeds. Mulch, was seated in the drivers chair, much to the fear of the others. Root was seated in the passenger seat, and Artemis and Holly were seated in the back. Root was currently watching the truck through a pair of high tech, L.E.P. issued binoculars.
"There she is…." Root sighed with much happiness and anticipation as the truck slowly moved along its road.
"Really, I can't-let me see." Mulch exclaimed excitedly. The dwarf then reached out and tried to grab the binoculars from Root's hand. Being polar opposites, Root tried to pull away. Wanting to see the truck (which seemed like an ant without binoculars,) Mulch didn't give up and kept trying to gain control of the binoculars. A small scuffle broke out, when all of a sudden-crack- the binoculars snapped in half. Mulch looked up with much surprise. Root looked down with much disgust. Both of them sighed in irritation, and then threw their piece of the binocular down onto the floorboard, realizing that since the binoculars could only work through their technology, they were now ruined.
Artemis and Holly were feeling very uncomfortable in the back seat. In earlier years, Holly would have probably been okay and very comfortable in the back seat. But now, Holly felt though as if she were trapped in a walnut. Due to her and Arty's partnership, they became both physically and mentally more like the other. In Holly's case, she grew from 3 feet tall, to 5 feet tall. Artemis grew a better since of compassion and understanding of one's feelings through the partnership.
And speaking of Artemis, he felt as if he were trapped in a walnut as well. The hovercraft was way too short for him. His back ached with pain as he and Holly were squished under the roof. And while he very much enjoyed being so close to his wife, he hated the fact that their proximity together was due to the fact that they were too big for this pint sized hovercraft. And with each passing second that they could have been doing something productive, Root and Mulch bickered in the front.
Finally, Artemis raised his concerns.
"Uh….Gentlemen." Artemis stated. "Shouldn't we be doing something more industrious?"
"We are," Root replied. "We're commenting on what a total idiot Mulch is."
"Well, excuse me for trying to get a good look at the truck!" Mulch sarcastically exclaimed.
"Guys," Holly exasperated. "This is getting us nowhere. Now may you please tell us what exactly we're doing here, on the hill, just staying parked?"
Root sighed and waved his hand in front of the dashboard, exclaiming as he spoke, and pointing towards the truck out in the distance. "Well isn't it obvious?" he stated. "We're waiting for the opportune moment to strike."
"With What?"Artemis asked with a corked brow.
"Why, with the hovercraft of course." Mulch affirmed with a smile.
A chill went down the spines of both Holly and Artemis. This was something that they were not expecting to hear. Sure, they knew that they would probably hijack the truck, and that the danger would be present, but they didn't actually think that they were going to risk more than that. "What!" Holly exclaimed; bewildered by the idea that Mulch and Root would put their lives in danger.
"It's simple," Root said, turning around to face Holly. "We run into the side of the tuck. We hold the drivers hostage. We open the back and investigate the type of equipment they have, and where they're taking it to. Then we tie them down to the truck so they can't move, and we drive off into the sunset."
"Yeah, but isn't the whole 'running your car into the truck' thing a little dangerous." Holly asked, flabbergasted that Root could talk about such a dangerous idea with a business like tone.
"Yeah, but it's for a good cause. Besides, it's going to be a hell of a lot of fun." Mulch exclaimed with a smile. Then, he leaned forward, and squinted his eyes, as he tried to focus on the truck out in the distance. He then notice, that the truck was now only a couple of feet away from the target area, which Root planned on striking. "Speaking of which…..it's time."
And with that, Mulch shifted gears and blasted out off the hill at blazing speeds.
Artemis and Holly held on for dear life. The G-forces weren't extremely powerful, but earth shattering none the less. As soon As Mulch pushed the pedal to the metal, Artemis and Holly were thrown back. Afterwards, they had enough sense in their skulls, to buckle up immediately. The Hovercraft would hit small dunes or rises in the road, causing the same effect as if a car hit a pot hole. Their heads struck the roof of the car. Artemis had his head bumped at least 20 times. And they watched in horror, and in extreme tension, as the large truck began to draw closer, and closer, and closer. The small ant truck was now beginning to look more like an elephant.
As Mulch continued his dead on assault, he turned his head to Root at least half a minute before impact.
"Hey Root, I hope you don't mind, but when we were working on the craft a few weeks before I went off to Fowl's mansion to gather evidence, I decided to modify the horn." Mulch deviously smiled as he said this. And with that, he hit the horn.
Immediately, the "General Lee," horn from "The Dukes of Hazzard," sounded off.
Root sighed in annoyance. Root was able to proclaim, "You son of a b-" before the hovercraft slammed into the side of the truck.
The Impact was incredible. Everybody's body flew foreword, and was held back from flying out of the hovercraft, thanks to the safety belts. Even though the windshield and windows were supposedly, "shatter proof," glass was now everywhere. The hovercraft spun out of control. It spun out like a damaged helicopter would, before finally screeching to a halt. One of the thrusters was damaged in the crash. But it wasn't only the gang's craft was the only thing that was damaged. The truck's left wheel and axel was obliterated. Root's hovercraft was actually going so fast, that the truck started to tip. Then with a loud thunderous whomp; the truck landed on its side. The windshield blew out the two drivers that were in the truck flopped out of the vehicle like dead fishes.
Fowl in the back, was completely passed out before impact. He fainted due to the anxiety of the situation. Luckily for him, he didn't have to witness the gruesome crash. He was unlucky, however, for his unsupported head slammed violently into the widow of the hovercraft, cracking it.
Fowl awoke with a throbbing head ache. He moaned out of discomfort and anguish. A thick liquid pooled around his lips. Out of instinct, he spat out the liquid due to the unsatisfying taste. When it landed on the floorboard, Fowl recognized that it was blood. Apparently, he bit the inside of his cheek during the crash. He then looked down on his suit, and groaned in annoyance. Blood was a terrible stain, and it took weeks to remove from clothing. He ran through a mental checklist to make sure he was fine. He tried noticing his surroundings, and all that he could tell throughout the damaged vehicle, was that it looked like hell, and that he could smell the faint hint of smoke. As he started to think about the situation more and more, he began to become increasingly pissed at Root and Mulch. First, they destroy his garden. Then, they put his and Holly's life in more danger than it needed to be. And now his suit was completely ruined.
Suddenly, he felt a soft, caring, warm, and light touch on his cheek. It was thin and slender; almost bony, yet warm like flesh; like it was someone's fingers. He snapped out of his unconscious haze, and turned his head to a worried and concerned Holly. Holly immediately brightened, and gripped Artemis in a caring and aggressive hug. Artemis was now completely awake. And his heart began to melt, as he realized that Holly was there to care for him, even during this giant disaster.
Then, his heart rose 12 beats as he noticed Holly's face, which was cut and bruised. He became disturbed and frightened at the sight, and his concern was present within his voice. "Holly, you're hurt." Artemis exclaimed frightened.
With a laugh and then a sigh of annoyance, she reached out her hand and healed Arty's goose-egg on his head. The throbbing head ache immediately relieved itself. All the pain from his forehead was gone. Realizing that Holly did him a favor, Artemis reached his hand out and healed her face too. He got the few big scars on her forehead, and the bruise on her cheek. He was careful not to overuse the magic. Not because he was selfish, but because since they were partnered, they had to share magic. When one was out, they all were out. Once both he and she came to an agreement on the perfect amount of healing, they embraced each other once more. And then, with a flutter of love rising in their hearts, they gave each other a sweet syrupy kiss.
Pulling back, Fowl had to ask, "So, has anything new happened ever since I was knocked unconscious?"
"Pfft; knocked unconscious my ass. You fainted." Holly playfully teased. "But to answer your question, yes. A lot has happened since the crash. We opened the back of the truck and found all the equipment. Apparently, this Marvin Lawrence guy, the one heading security for Opal's factory, it seems he's prepared for the apocalypse. There were so many guns and ammunition it was making my head spin. We did happen to find a 'deliver to' address on a box of nuclear batteries. It was addressed to, now get this, Paris France. This guy has been living in Paris, and yet no one has spotted him. And we know that he has been living in a hotel, for it was addressed to the Tipton."
Suddenly, Fowl heard a giant banging noise. It was like someone was striking the side of a tin house with a tennis ball. Fowl looked behind his wife and out the back passenger window. He noticed the truck, lying on its side, with smoke coming out of its hood, and its tires spinning, though no one was pressing on its gas pedal. Fowl was somewhat confused by the fact that there was a gas powered vehicle in haven, instead of a hover craft. But after thinking about it a little bit, he came to realize that maybe for criminals; it was easier to obtain human technology, rather than fairy technology.
Then he noticed the strangest sight of them all. Root was leaning against the truck, smoking one of his trademark fungus cigars, and looking like as if he were bored. His camo-foil suit had been deactivated, so the sight was as plain to see as ever. Sitting to the bottom left hand side of Root, was one of the truck drivers. His hair was tangled, spoiled, and ravish, as if he were attacked by a tiger. Fowl automatically recognized that the fairy had to be unconscious. His body was limp and completely slumped. His right hand was standing in mid air, and that's when Artemis realized that the driver's hand was already cuffed by a pair of L.E.P. traffic hand cuffs, to the front bumper. Artemis looked up, and then noticed Mulch, (whose camo-suit had also been deactivated), standing on the top of the vehicle, (which would have been its right door) and he was gripping a bat, and repeatedly striking the window with an aluminum bat.
"Now, what exactly are they doing?" Artemis asked his wife with confusion.
Holly turned her head and looked out the window. She explained the situation in a matter of fact tone. "The other driver is still stuck in there. Mulch is going to try and drag his body out. After that, we'll attach him to the bumper as well, and then we'll be on our way."
Artemis studied the situation for a while. He began to smile as he saw his dwarf friend, struggling to break a window. He turned back to his wife, and kissed her on the cheek once more. Afterwards, he moved around her body, opened the door by her side, and began to step out of the vehicle. Holly followed right behind him. Artemis did not want to miss this humorous situation. Holly began to laugh as well, at the sight of Mulch repeatedly striking a window that wouldn't seem to crack.
Mulch was very angry. "Why won't this window break!" he shouted. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Is it you, you pussy." Root commented as he continued smoking his fungus cigar.
Suddenly, a giant crash was heard by everyone. Root turned around, assuming to see Mulch with a successful grin, standing on top of a shattered window. Instead, Root saw Mulch with a horrified expression. His jaw was dropped and his eyes were wide. And right under Mulch, was an arm which broke through the window on its own.
Artemis and Holly watch with much surprise, as a hand appeared out of nowhere from inside the truck, and break through the window. The hand then grabbed Mulch, and tightened around his ankle. With a scream of terror, Mulch was pulled down, and disappeared inside the truck.
The sound of fighting appeared from the truck, followed by the sound of Mulch screaming, "HELP! HELP! THE GUY IS AWAKE AND IS KICKING MY ASS! SOMEONE HELP! ROOT!'
Holly and Artemis began to run to the truck, not knowing what they were going to do, but decided to run to the truck to at least be there if aid was needed. Root took action, and jumped on the truck, and started looking down inside the truck. Equipped on his side, was a can of pepper spray in case of emergency. But when Root looked down into the truck and noticed that it was completely darkened like a giant bottomless pit, he was reluctant to start spraying, fearing he'd spray the wrong person, and that Mulch would be the one passing out. But when Root heard the sound of Mulch screaming, "SPRAY HIM! SPRAY HIM!" Root decided, 'what the hell,' and began spraying.
Immediately, Root heard the sound of Mulch screaming in horrible agony, "NO! NO! NOT ME YOU IDIOT! SPRAY THE DRIVER!"
Before Root could even have time to re-aim and spray, that giant hand from before, formed a fist and contacted Root, squarely in the jaw. Root was completely surprised, and the force of the impact was so strong, that Root fell off the truck and landed on his back.
Suddenly, the driver arouse from the truck. Everyone was awestruck. Never before had anyone seen a fairy, with so much muscle mass. It was like the fairy had been taking work out tips from a troll, and then had been eating steroids with every meal. The fairy was HUGE! He was basically a body with a head attached, instead of the other way around.
The fairy hand Mulch by the neck. The poor dwarf was gasping for breath. Once the man had gotten out of the truck, he jumped off and turned towards the stunned individuals.
"If any of you want to see your friend alive, you will not follow me!" and with that, the man took off and began running to the west. Not even paying attention to what he said, Root began taking off and chasing after the driver, who was carrying Mulch by the neck, as the poor dwarf was being dragged along. While Root did hate the dwarf, in all teasing and annoyance set aside, Mulch was a good friend to both him and the Fowl's. He was not going to let the poor dwarf die….just yet.
Holly sighed at the sight of Root chasing after Mulch. She was annoyed that Artemis began running to catch up with everyone else.
The attack had taken its turn for the worse, and so, another adventure began.
Root bust through the doors with a powerful ambition. It was an ambition of protection. It was an ambition of defense. Basically, Root's stress was running high, and all his motives lead to one goal. By the end of the day, someone was getting their ass kicked. So, as he burst through the doors of the closed down convenience store, which the driver with Mulch had run to, his eyes were frail and animalistic. He was now sweating bullets. His heart rate had risen to the point of internal combustion. His heart was now pumping battery acid.
And Root was showing no signs of slowing down.
Which is why it was probably a good thing that Holly was able to catch up with Root before he took another step into the convenience store.
"Root," Holly exclaimed, stopping for a moment to lean over and catch her breath. The years of inactive service had taken a tool on Holly. Back then, she'd probably still be able to run two more miles. But now, just the simple half a mile was enough to make Holly gasp for air. Once she finally got enough oxygen in her lungs, she was able to speak to Root. "Listen Root," Holly began. "This is probably not the best idea. I mean, you heard the guy, he's going to kill Mulch now."
"That's Right!" a strong voice proclaimed from the back. It was obvious that the driver was not going down easy.
"He was going to die anyway if we just left him alone with the driver!" Root yelled in reply to Holly.
"Root, Please just go away!" Mulch chokingly replied with a yell from the back. "I'll be fine. I don't want you to get hurt. I can take care of myself."
"You can't even break a fucking window with a bat!" Root shouted. "How do you suspect to get out of this? No! Fuck that! We're helping!"
At this point, Artemis finally showed up. He was more out of shape than his beautiful an athletic wife. Not that he was fat. On the contraire, he was like a toothpick with abs. but the problem was, Artemis never really focused on physical activity. The abs just came along with all the years and all the adventures. So now, years later, even with some muscle mass, running was not his forte. So when he appeared, he breathed without reserve, and gasped like a fish out of water; hands on his knees, bending over, and sweating like Lindsey Lohan in a Liquor store.
"You okay," Holly asked her husband.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Artemis moaned out of pain and aching ribs. It was clear that he was very, very out of shape.
"You sure you want to do this!" The driver proclaimed from the back with a powerful tone. "I'm warning you. Once you start this, there's no turning back."
"FUCK YOU!" Root shouted without reserve.
"Okay, but we don't shoot to injure. We shoot to kill." The driver proclaimed.
Root was completely confused. Holly was stunned. And Artemis, even though his body begged for it, actually stopped breathing, for the perplexity was tremendous.
"Who's we?" Holly asked.
"Me, Smith and Wesson!" The driver shouted with a strange feeling of confidence and surrealistic murder. Out of nowhere, the driver ran out from behind a hallway, and started firing the semi-automatic hand gun, as he ran, and then took shelter behind a shelf of magazines.
Root, Holly, and Artemis, immediately ducked and took shelter behind the shelves of sweets and fishing supplies as soon as the first shot rang out. Luckily, no one was struck by any of the bullets that the fairy shot as he made his way over to the magazine counter. However, that did not mean that the men gave up his brutal assault. As soon as he took shelter, he reloaded his weapon quickly, and began to fire with such speed that an a man on crack would have said, "dude, slow the fuck down!"
At this moment, Mulch came hopping along the side of the convenience store, trying to find Root. He was hoping because while the driver was waiting for Root to arrive, he bonded Mulch with duck tape all around his arms and his legs. On top of that, the pepper spray left Mulch with a burning sensation in his eyes that would never cease. So Mulch had to hop along like an idiot, while avoiding bullets, and make his way to Root's side, before falling face first on the ground, causing his nose to crack again. Root pulled the dwarf closer to the fort of sweet treats, and helped get the duck tape off him.
Once the dwarf was released from his prison of silver tape, he uttered the biggest piece of stupidity that Root every heard.
"Shit dude, he's got a gun!" Mulch proclaimed.
"NO FUCKING SHIT SHERLOCK!" Root shouted back. Root realized that he had to fight back. Otherwise, if they just continued hiding behind the rows of sweets and treats, they would surely be sitting ducks. In fact, they were sitting ducks right now. So, reaching for his side, Root grabbed the pistol that he took from the manor earlier that morning, and was ready to fire. He leaned out just a bit, aimed his weapon, and pulled the trigger.
Nothing happened.
Root went back behind the shelf. His face had the look of perplexity. He was extremely flabbergasted. Why did his weapon not fire? Then, he noticed something else. The gun was very light. It was extremely light weight. Almost like a toy. Then, Root eyed Mulch, who was creating a ruckus, even though bullets were flying by. Mulch was repeatedly hitting himself in the head, and exclaiming, "Fuck me man. God Damn it. I'm an idiot."
"What?" Root asked.
"That's the toy gun with the painted out tip that I used on Artemis this morning!" Mulch exclaimed with fear and self-embarrassment. "I accidently left the real gun at the manor! I'm so sorry man. God damn it, I'm a fucking idiot."
"ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME?" Root exclaimed with anger. Out of pure frustration, Root through the gun down on the ground, and seated behind the fort, he pouted.
"Well, what do we do now?" Holly shouted from the other row right beside Artemis.
Root thought about for a moment. For normal people, it would be hard for someone to think while excessive gun fire was going off, and bullets were whizzing past them. But, being a clone of Root, number 6 had the same mental abilities as the Root he was copied from. Root had a gift of thinking well under pressure. That's why Julius was such a good commander. So, expressing that same ability, and using it well, Root finally came to a conclusion.
"Okay, it's obvious that this guy only has a certain amount of bullets." Root declared. "So, all we have to do is wait until he runs out, then I'll face him off in hand to hand combat."
"Are you delusional?" Artemis screamed. "A fourth grader could have come to the same conclusion as you did. And besides that, you do realize that after a while, he's going to come out and try and get closer to us."
"Don't worry Artemis, this guy is all brawn and no brains." Mulch described. "You see, we did our research, and we found out that the reason Opal hired Marvin Lawrence was because he had ties with the old prison up in East Haven. All the inmates there are notorious for having an 85 percent I.Q. or under."
"Why would she hire dumbasses?" Holly asked.
"Would you want someone smart enough to screw you over? No, you wouldn't." Mulch described.
"You know what, that's a really excellent philosophy. That was a smart choice made by Opal." Fowl described. "You know what a smart idea isn't? Here's a good example; HIDING BEHIND TWINKIES OR WHATERVER THE HELL THE FAIRY COMMUNITY CONSIDERS A DESSERT, WHILE A GUY SHOOTS AT US NON STOP!"
"It's the only thing we can do right now." Root called out. "We don't have weapons, and there's no way we can risk the chance of taking a bullet. We need all of us to work together. If one goes down, we all go down. We're a team. And there is no 'I' in team."
"No, but there's an 'm' and an 'e'," Artemis replied like a smart ass.
"There should be an 'f' and a 'u'!" Mulch screamed.
Artemis leaned back into his part of the fort. He gripped Holly tightly, hoping for this hell to pass. They waited as the driver continued firing furiously at them and missing every time, because the metal shelf blocked their bodies or because he had really horrible aim. He held on tightly, and suddenly, a strange thought popped into his mind. However, the thought was something that he couldn't have agreed more with.
"This is why I'm very glad that Apollo stayed in the shuttle," Holly stated.
Suddenly, Fowl received the greatest surprise of them all. Without warning, he felt his ring finger vibrate. This wasn't caused by nervousness, or by extensive muscle use, but because the communicator on his ring finger, was actually ringing, for he placed the communicator on silent. This struck Fowl as odd. There were only 4 people who had the communicator's number. Holly was sitting right beside him. Butler was gone. This meant that the caller could be either N01 or Trouble Kelp. And why would they be calling at a time like this?
Artemis formed his fingers into the shape of a phone. He placed his fake phone up to his ear. And that's when Artemis Fowl received one of his biggest shocks of his life. As if things couldn't have gotten more stressing for the Irish Lad, he received a call from Trouble Kelp. And apparently, he had some huge news.
"Hey Fowl," Trouble Kelp exclaimed on the communicator. "I know this is going to sound insane, and I don't know where you are right now, but apparently there's a commotion going on. But anyways, this is going to sound crazy, but I have your son in the back of my car, and I just witnessed him kick the living shit out of a goblin gang, using fucking lightning! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!"
(* a few minutes earlier *)
Apollo was spellbound, awestruck, and all around amazed. New York was bull shit compared to this city. Sure, it was small, but New York never had flying cars, or people who were only three feet tall, yet looked completely normal; body part proportionate to their size. The city was like something out of the minds of pre-prequels George Lucas, or Steven Spielberg. It was like if the world of "blade runner," had a love child with the world of J.R. Tolkien. And the best part of it was, no one would ever know that he was there. The cam-foil suit was amazing. He was walking among the fairy folk like a giant, and yet never once, did they spot him. It was amazing, and Apollo was happy.
And in that moment, and that moment alone, Apollo came to terms with who he was, and what reality was. It was a strange enlightenment. In one simple visit, his whole life had been flipped upside down by his parents. And now, his whole life had been flipped right-side-up, thanks to this beautiful and technologically advanced city. He had finally achieved full self understanding, and self-awareness. Usually it took years for a person to achieve such a self knowledge about one's self. All Apollo needed was a quick trip to this city, and he already fully knew who he was.
As he walked along slowly, he lifted his hands up, and slowly activated his powers. Small sparks began to shroud his hand. It was amazing. These powers were a divine gift. They just had to be. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a line from the "Spider-man," movies played itself in his head. "With great power, comes great responsibility." And strangely, that was true. With this power, he could do whatever he wanted. He could knock off a bank and steal millions of dollars in cash. Or, he could become a superhero and protect the innocent.
He looked back up to the virtually lit sky. A hovercraft using the upper road, (which was symbolized using floating cones), flew overhead. Flying cars; a normal human could not comprehend that. People keep talking about how it's the new millennium, and how the future hasn't really seemed to arrive, when they don't realize that they have the future in their pockets; cell phones, IPods, digital cameras. Maybe the world wasn't ready. Sure, They'd freak out at first, and the main worry behind Apollo's decision about his powers, was the fear of retaliation; the fear of being a mutant, or the alien from another planet once more. he could just see it now. Senior year of high school, kids would be going to the busses, and one would tell their friend, "See that kid? Yeah, the one with the red hair and pointed ears. The kid has superpowers. *beat*. No, it's not awesome. He's a freak. One time, the kid went up the lunch line, and accidently singed the ladies hair. Yep. Totally freak. *beat.* no I wouldn't go near him If I was you. He might accidently electrocute you."
It took Apollo years, years, to gain friendship and some, but very little, respect in his school. After all, who wants to be friends with the guy who has elfin ears? It was a horrible process of growing, failing, and learning the hard way each and every day. He couldn't go through all that again. And some would argue, "Why don't you make a secret identity like all superhero's do?" even if he did that, Apollo feared backlash. What about cops? They'd probably frown down upon a vigilante justice. They'd go after him. And fuck man….what if it was like a "Dark Knight," situation, where a Joker dude would come out of the wood works just to see if he could beat Apollo. The kid couldn't take that kind of pressure.
But the biggest fear of all; was the future lack of respect. Sure, at first his super hero identity would be mentioned in the press a lot. T-shirts with his logo and name on them would be produced and sold. And hell, if lucky enough, Mark Millar from Marvel would write a comic book series about his superhero. But Apollo knew that good things would only last a short while. Just as soon as he would enter the world of superheros, he'd soon be forgotten too. People tend to forget that they have such great things in their lives. Cell phones have only been around for a good ten years, (if you didn't count the giant bricks Wall Street executives had to use in the eighties,) and all ready, some kids have seem to lost respect for such great technology. Just as people have lost respect for the cell phone, people would lose respect for Apollo's super hero life style.
And some would argue, that if that was the case, why was he so invested in becoming a rock star, and professional musician? After all, some kids have even lost respect for "The Beatles;" the barbarians.
For Apollo that was different. Music was something that he loved. Music was something that touched a deep part of him that nothing else will. Music was something that he would always enjoy doing, through Good times, and bad times. And as long as he was doing something that he absolutely loved with a passion, he knew that respect didn't matter. He was doing something that he loved, and knew that music would always make him happy.
He wasn't sure if he was enthralled by the idea of a superhero. There would be a lot of work involved in that area he'd be involved in as a superhero. And being one was also very dangerous. Apollo came to the conclusion, that he'd rather do something that he loved, that was also not life threatening.
Apollo came to this conclusion. I'll use my powers for good, Apollo thought to himself, and I'll do it only when absolutely needed. Vigilante justice is out of the question. Only when the moment shows itself, will I use it in that manner. ….but you know, that would be kind of cool to be a superhero just one time, you know. God, if only a moment to be a superhero could appear right now.
Fate has a strange way of answering one's questions. For, out of nowhere, Apollo felt a giant force strike his back and he was thrown to the ground. It was like someone had run into him. In fact, someone had indeed, ran into the poor lad. That person happened to be a goblin. And strangely that Goblin was the unfortunate Jack, who was being chased down by Marcellus, Taren, and Phillip.
As Jack was running for his life, from the gang which he screwed up horribly with, he ran into something. Strangely, this weight seemed to have come out of nowhere. He fell over, face first, did a couple off somersaults, and finally found himself face first with the invisible man he had ran into. A strange and awkward moment happened for both Apollo and Jack. For Starters, Apollo's cam foil-suit came flying off after Jack struck into him. Apollo was left in plain sight, completely visible, and the foil suit was nothing more than shiny tin foil on the ground. So seeing a strange human being appear out of nowhere must have been insane to grasp.
Apollo, face to face with this strange creature, could do nothing except two things. A.) stare in awe and B.) Apologize rapidly with a stutter.
"Oh G-God. I-I-I am s-so s-sorry man." Apollo shockingly replied.
Figuring out that the boy was a mud man, and happened to speak English, the goblin, over-rising the difficulty to speak, came out with the words "Fucking asshole," before Apollo's head was pressed down onto the concrete. The other goblins, not paying attention to Apollo, and only focused on killing Jack with their bare fist, ran over the Poor Apollo, and pressed their feet on the back of his head, slamming it to the ground.
When Apollo looked up after being run over, he was stunned. Now, there were three more Goblins. Two held Jack by his arms, making him a punching bag. The other Goblin began repeatedly punching and kicking the other goblin who was being held up. It wasn't long before Jack began to bleed. His mouth spewed blood where his tooth had been broken. His gut was already starting to bruise.
Marcellus was quite enjoying this spectacle. This was what he liked to do. This is what made his job fun. He turned to Apollo, and thinking that the red headed teenager was actually just a mutated elf, (for he noticed the ears,) exclaimed two words, in a manic and maniacal manner, and in gnomish. "Thanks freak!"
That's when a light bulb went off in Apollo's head. This was his moment. With these powers, he could save annoyance. And today, it seemed as if that someone happened to be a goblin. He could protect him. And no one above ground would know. He could save this man life, be a super hero for one moment of his life, and keep the respect, keep the fame, and have the greatest secret of all, that he, Apollo, saved a life with lightning powers.
Apollo rose from the ground, and tried a small tactic. He grabbed Marcellus and Phillips shoulders, and tried to pull; exclaiming, "Get off him. Leave him alone!"
Marcellus replied by shoving him back, almost hitting him with a fire ball, and exclaiming in English, after realizing Apollo only seemed to speak English, "It's none of your business!"
When Apollo got shoved back, this time, the lighting was thicker. His hands became covered in lightning, and the lightning stayed in place. It was sort of like he had on lightning boxing gloves. "Yes it is," Apollo proclaimed. And with a yell of bravery, Apollo ran towards them.
Yep, so anyways, there's another chapter of Apollo. And the action is starting to heat up. It was my first time writing action. Please review. No flames please.
Originally, I was going to end this chapter in a different way, But I decided that it would take too long, and so, I split this chapter into two parts. I hope you all enjoy it.
Oh, and by the way, I have a special gift for my readers Becket Simpleton, and Captain Holly Short of the L.E.P. If you go to my YouTube page, (which is listed on my author profile,) there's a video there called Heart Shape Box. It's a gift from me to you. I recorded myself playing the drums, guitar, bass, and doing the vocals to the Nirvana song, and then mashed it all together, and produced it. I heard Becket was a major Nirvana fan, and I think Captain Holly likes a bit of Nirvana too. So I made the video for both of you, as a way to say thank you for all the reviews, and all the hits.
The only thing I asked, is for you two to view the video, and send it to as many people as possible. It would really mean a lot to me. I am hoping to get a career in music.
Points to anyone who caught The Dirty Harry refrence.
Anyways, thank you, and the next chapter is coming very, very soon.
PLEASE REVIEW.
