Sorry I haven't updated for a while! I've been busy.
Last time on Attacked!:
Shane could smell Holly all over Artemis the morning after they had sex, and Artemis and Shane got in a huge fight because Shane still thinks that Artemis is dating Brody. They turn into werewolves and Foaly gets freaked out. Artemis almost attacks Holly. Riley breaks up the fight, and Grub Kelp bursts in, gun raised. He shoots Artemis, but Artemis heals, and scares the living hell out of Grub, who runs away.
Chapter Ten: To Be A Hero
"Don't you ever get shot again, Artemis Fowl." Holly whispered into his ear.
Artemis laughed once. "I'll try to avoid it as best as I can."
Suddenly, Holly was ripped away from his arms and Shane was in her place, squeezing the life out of Artemis.
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!" Shane repeated
"Gah, Shane!" Artemis struggled to push him off. "It's fine!" Shane released him.
"Hey guys, I think the centaur fainted." Caden called to them. Holly walked over to Foaly and slapped him, forcing him back into consciousness.
"What happened?" Foaly asked as he got back up.
"You fainted." Riley answered.
"Why?" Foaly asked.
"It might have had something to do with Artemis being a werewolf." Holly laughed when Foaly's eyes widened as he remembered. He then turned to glare at Artemis and Shane. "You two broke my computers!"
Artemis blushed. "Yeah, sorry about that Foaly. I'll pay to fix them."
"Holly, you knew Artemis was a werewolf and you didn't tell me?" Foaly accused her.
"Don't yell at Holly! She was keeping our secrets!" Artemis told him.
Foaly looked at all the teens. "You are all werewolves?" he asked backing up.
"Yes." Artemis answered. "But you don't have to be afraid of us." Foaly looked at him like he was crazy. "Seriously Foaly! You know me. I'm your friend."
"Yeah, well what was that whole fight about?" Foaly asked.
Artemis and Holly blushed.
"Shane got mad at me for sleeping with Holly because he thinks that I'm still dating our friend Brody." Artemis explained. "Which I'm not." He added pointedly to Shane. "He and I broke up right before Opal took him." Shane nodded, embarrassed for overreacting.
"Wait! Holly, you slept with the Mud Boy?!" Foaly exclaimed.
"Yeah, what of it?!" she yelled, not liking the fact that her sex life was the topic of the conversation.
Foaly backed off, but then remembered something else that Artemis had said. "Isn't Brody the guy that Opal took? Artemis was datinghim?" Nods all around, except Artemis, who looked away blushing. Foaly stared at Artemis for a minute before tilting his head back and laughing loudly. Artemis' face flushed angrily and he whacked Foaly upside the head, causing the others in the room to laugh at his pain.
"I imprinted on Brody. My wolf is a buftie, not me." Artemis explained.
Foaly rubbed his head where Artemis had hit him. "Okay, okay. Mulch and N°1 are on their way, by the way." Artemis nodded and sat down on the couch. Foaly stared at Artemis for another minute, a grin spreading across his face.
"What?" Artemis spat, becoming increasingly more annoying with Foaly by the second.
"Arty likes men." Foaly teased. Fortunately for Foaly, Holly got to him before Artemis could. Holly slapped Foaly across the face.
"I am not a man." She said to him. She turned and went over to Artemis, who grabbed her waist and pulled her onto his lap. He was the one grinning now.
The pack of werewolves, the LEP Captain, the dwarf, and the young warlock were strapped into a fairly large shuttle. It was the kind of shuttle that was used to transport busloads of civilians to the surface so that they could do the Ritual or visit tourist sites. Usually the LEP didn't use this kind of shuttle on missions, but considering the amount of passengers, it was sort of imperative that they use it. Plus, Butler was meeting them at Tara, so that's one more.
The shuttle landed at E1 at around 11 am. There were risks involved in parking it on the surface at this time of the day, but they had Butler on their side. He had successfully scared of any humans who came too close to the shuttle port. Butler hopped into the shuttle, strapped himself in, and the group flew toward the States.
Butler looked questioningly at Artemis. "Why are your friends here, Artemis?"
"Because they can help." Artemis answered simply.
"I'm guessing that you won't reveal your plan to everyone until the time comes, am I right?" Butler said conversationally.
"I could tell you right now, old friend, if you'd like." Artemis leaned forward, as did Mulch and N°1. The teenagers only leaned forward because they were interested in why everyone else was doing it.
"My plan," Artemis started, "is to go in and find Brody and the twins. We separate into two groups, one to find them, and the other to find the two Opals and stop them. Then we get out." He sat back, smirking when Mulch's face visibly fell.
"That is your master plan?" Mulch asked incredulously. Artemis nodded. "What has happened to you Fowl? Where did your massive brain go?"
"Do you have anything better?" Artemis asked him.
"I think it's a good plan." Said Kyle, and the other teens agreed. They could definitely get their hands dirty with this.
They arrived in Louisa County, Virginia around noon. It didn't take long after that to find the power plant. Holly parked the shuttle in a secluded area. It didn't seem like it would matter much anyway. The place seemed deserted.
"Where is everybody?" Mulch wondered aloud, his beard hair stiffening. He had a bed feeling about this place. Someone was going to get hurt.
"I'm guessing that Opal has mesmerizedthe workers." Artemis answered him. "She's probably using a few of them to keep the power plant running. A blackout would draw unnecessary attention to the building and she could be caught. She'd have mesmerized them into not noticing anything out of the ordinary. She's probably using a few of them as guards as well."
"I think you're right Mud Boy," said Foaly in his ear. Everybody had earpieces and mics, so that they could communicate with each other and Foaly. The only exception was Holly, who was wearing an LEP helmet.
"Of course I'm right," replied Artemis snidely, "I am a genius and I've never been wrong about these things before. I am the expert in deciphering Koboi's plans and figuring out how to foil them."
There was a moment of silence, and then:
"Wow, Artemis. You're a cocky little bitch," Shea stated simply. All head whipped around in her direction. The fairies and Butler looked at her in disbelief, Artemis raised an eyebrow at her, and the other teens laughed quietly, so as to not give away their positions. Artemis chuckled as well.
"Still as arrogant as ever." Holly said, smiling slightly while shaking her head.
Inside the power plant
Brody woke up feeling like he had been hit by a truck. The feeling had still not gone away even hours after that. He didn't know how long he had been tied to that chair, but it felt like forever.
During most of that time, Brody had been attempting to clam two hysterical three-year-olds. They had stopped wailing, but Becket was still crying. They too were tied to chairs.
Suddenly, the door burst open to reveal a rather strange looking creature. It was obviously female and very small. She looked human, but she also looked like a fairy. He was confused.
She stopped a few feet in front of Brody and looked questioningly at him. After a moment, she simply pointed to him and said, "You are not Artemis Fowl."
Brody rolled his eyes. He couldn't help it.
"Really? I thought I was. I guess my whole life has been a lie then, huh?" he spat sarcastically at her. She glared at him but the look quickly turned into an evil smirk.
"Who are you then?" she asked him in a fake sweet voice.
"Who are you?" he countered at her.
She was visibly annoyed, but answered the question nonetheless.
"I'm Opal Koboi." Brody then remembered Holly's cryptic message.
"Past-Opal or Present-Opal?" he asked, just to mess with her. He needed to appear smarter than he really is. That would throw this bitch off good. He thanked God that he had answered Holly's phone call earlier.
A flash of confusion flickered across Opal's face, but it soon changed to suspicion and she narrowed her eyes and glared at him.
"How do you know about that?" she asked cautiously. They were asking each other a lot of questions, and getting barely any answers.
"Wouldn't you like to know." He said defiantly. He wouldn't tell her anything about Artemis, the fairies, or werewolves, he decided. He didn't know what she could use against them. "The name's Brody."
If she was angry, she didn't show it. Instead she walked over to the twins, who tried to distance themselves from her as best as they could.
Before Opal had come in, Beckett had looked like he was on the verge of hyperventilating. He cried out for his parents, Butler, and even Artemis. Myles, the more rational and level-headed one, had stopped crying a while back, and had been attempting to shush his brother. When Opal had thrown the door open, Beckett had been shocked out of his hysterical state and into silence, while Myles had watched Opal with intrigue. The three year old studied her, looking for signs of weakness, because she was the obvious bad guy here.
But when Opal approached the twins with that evil smirk on her face, both of them squirmed in attempt to get away from her. Beckett began to whimper in fear, and Myles had to fight hard to control himself and not do the exact same thing.
"What are you doing?! Leave them alone!" Brody yelled to her, panicked. Opal stopped beside Beckett, and reached into the pocket of her shirt, bringing out a small, plastic container. She opened it and withdrew a syringe. She stroked Beckett's hair, almost lovingly, while the child screamed in fear.
"Stop! They're just children!" Brody yelled at her again.
"Not so cool anymore, are you?" Opal said tauntingly to him. She bent down and moved the syringe to Beckett's arm. Little Beckett screamed louder and wailed, as she pushed the needle in and injected him with the mystery fluid. She brought the needle away and placed it back in its case. Seconds after being injected, Beckett calmed considerably before slumping over, barely conscious.
"What did you do to him?" Brody snarled angrily at Opal. Myles cried for his brother.
"Don't worry, the boy isn't hurt. I've just given him a muscle relaxant so he would shut up," she told him, "and so he wouldn't struggle," she added after a slight pause. That damned evil smirk never left her face.
"Struggle?" Brody croaked out, almost hesitantly.
She nodded before turning to the completely-relaxed-but-still-conscious little boy and untying him. She picked him up and walked out the door, ignoring the cries and protests of Brody and Myles.
Back to Artemis and Co.
The team stood outside the power plant, making sure to stay hidden. Butler stayed by Artemis' side the whole time, positioning himself between his charge and any windows.
"Butler, please give me some space," Artemis told him, becoming irritated. "You're hovering, and you need to stay lower."
Butler was surprised at Artemis' request. "But, sir," he argued, "this is how it always is. You could be picked off by sniper fire."
Butler didn't quite understand why Artemis' friends doubled over in laughter at that statement. Artemis himself even joined in on the merriment. Were these teenager laughing at what he had said?
Butler saw Holly give Artemis a glaring look, and Artemis immediately grew silent. He coughed and shushed his friends. All grew silent.
Artemis closed his eyes and breathed in deeply through his nose, held it, then let the breath out slowly. Butler recognized the relaxation technique used in meditation and nodded his approval. Finally, Artemis was getting his head on straight.
The approval did not last long, however, when Artemis stepped from their hiding spot and seemed to sniff the air. Butler worried for two reasons: 1) Artemis could now be seen by the enemy, and 2) how was sniffing the air going to help them? Artemis seemed to be losing his mind.
Artemis smirked after a moment, obviously satisfied.
"You got his trail?" Riley asked, walking over to Artemis. The rest of the teenagers followed.
"Get back here!" Butler hissed at them. Honestly, Artemis must try to make his job difficult.
Much to his annoyance, Butler was ignored.
"Yes." Artemis answered Riley.
"Then let's go." Riley said, moving forward. Artemis stayed in step with him and the others followed.
Butler jumped up. What did they think they were doing?! Holly ran after them and Mulch and N°1 scrambled to catch up.
"Come on!" Holly whisper-screamed at Butler.
And so, Butler followed, wondering what had gotten into his young charge.
Butler was not as fast as he used to be. By the time he had caught up to the rest, they had already managed to unlock the door. They stopped right inside the door.
"Alright," Artemis said, addressing Foaly through his mic, "what's the floor plan like, Foaly?"
"Seven floors." Came Foaly's voice in his ear. "I've hacked into the security system, but the Opals appear to have taken several cameras out. Probably because she knew I could hack it, and she didn't want to give away her location."
Artemis nodded. "My thoughts exactly, which means she's expecting us. There isn't much we can do at this point but to fight back. That's why we have such a large group. He need two reasonably sized teams to fight two Opals. Do you know where Brody and the twins are, Foaly?" Artemis had positioned himself beside Holly during his short speech, and had placed his hand on the small of her back. She put her visor up so that she could look up and give him a reassuring smile. He returned the smile gratefully.
Butler raised an eyebrow at the small exchange, but said nothing.
"No, they must be in a room that has disabled cameras." Foaly responded.
"That's okay. We can find them just fine, I just thought to ask just in case, so we can make this quicker." Artemis then turned to the people around him. "Let's go."
They all nodded and Riley took the lead again, walking down the hall. There was a lobby at the end of the hallway, and the corner of a receptionist desk was visible.
Butler watched in fascination as Artemis followed behind Riley, never removing his hand from Holly's back. The human teenagers positioned themselves on the outside of the whole group. Butler, Mulch, and N°1 were surrounded by them, but only Butler noticed this because this is what he trained to do. If Butler could be more than one person, he would have done the same thing. The three of them walked behind Artemis, Holly, and Caden, who were behind Riley.
Artemis and Holly walked close together, and even closer when Artemis moved his hand from her lower back to wrap his arm around her waist, almost protectively. Butler saw this and looked down beside him to Mulch, who was looking at the elf and genius in confusion. They exchanged looks that said 'What the heck is going on?!'
They arrived at the lobby and stopped short when they saw the receptionist at the desk.
"Oh!" the middle-aged woman exclaimed. "Are you the group form the trade school? The one that's supposed to take the tour?"
The group looked at each other, then to Artemis and Holly.
"Mesmerized." Holly said quietly to Artemis. He looked at his companions and nodded.
The group then broke into a brief chatter. 'Yes's and 'oh, yeah, totally' and similar things were heard. As the chatter died down, Owen was heard saying "I do love electricity!" Most of the group had to stifle their laughter after that.
"Well, go on ahead!" the receptionist told them. "Right through that door." She pointed to a door to the left, and went back to doing paperwork.
The group glanced at each other before continuing on.
"It's an obvious trap." Butler said to Artemis.
"I know."
The door they went through led to a stairwell. As they climbed the stairs, they noticed that there were no doors for every floor. The only floor this stairwell led to was the sixth. They turned right once they were through the door, and began checking all the doors in the hall. They were all closed and locked. Halfway down the hallway, Artemis let Holly go and took off at a run, turning unexpectedly to right, and into the only door that was open. They ran after him.
"Artemis, what is it?" Caden asked as soon as they entered the room. Artemis was crouched down, but he stood up and turned to his friends when they entered. There was a shoe in his hand.
"It's Brody's," Artemis said.
Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind them, and the TV monitor flickered on. Present-Opal was on the screen. The room went quiet.
"Hello Master Fowl." She started. "You fell for my trap. And here I was thinking you were smarter than that." She smiled widely. There were mumbles of protest, but she could not hear them.
"I have something you want." She continued. "Finally I get my revenge on you and your friends for imprisoning me!"
"Oh my God, make this bitch shut up," mumbled Shane. The group chuckled slightly, but they were quickly distracted by Opal speaking again.
"I am currently standing on the roof directly above the room that you are in." Artemis glanced at the window quickly. It was wide, taking up the whole wall, and it was completely glass.
"Oh, and there's someone who wants to say hi to you." Opal added smirking. She bent down and when she stood back up, she had an unconscious Beckett in her arms. Artemis' low growl was heard clearly by everyone in the quiet room, surprising everyone who was hearing it for the first time.
The camera began to zoom out as she said "Make sure to watch the window closely Arty. It may be your last chance to see your brother alive." By that point, you could see clearly that Opal and Beckett really were directly above their room, because the group was seen clearly in the window two floors below them.
At Opal's words, Artemis' eyes barely had time to widen as Opal dropped Beckett from the seven-story roof. At alarming speed, Artemis ran at the window. Butler called out to him, and gasped, as did Mulch, N°1, and Holly, when Artemis crashed through the thin glass, managing to turn mid-leap just in time to catch the toddler.
"Artemis!" Holly called to him and the group all rushed forward to watch him fall. The window was completely gone, giving everyone enough room to lean down and see the ground. Artemis fell heavily in a car parked beneath them. The roof of the car caved in and its windshield shattered. Beckett landed on top of Artemis, safe and alive, with on a few broken bones. Artemis, however, would be dead from the impact.
Horrified, Butler realized that Artemis had known that he would die when he jumped. But he had saved Beckett. He looked at the television. Opal was gone.
"Oh thank God!" Shea exclaimed with her hand over her heart. "I thought he wouldn't catch him."
"Thank God?!" Butler yelled at her. "Artemis is probably dead!"
The teenagers laughed heartily, angering Butler further.
"Butler calm down!" Holly said soothingly, but she only received a glare.
Mulch looked at Holly, obviously confused. "I don't get you, Holly." She looked like she was about to ask, but he continued talking. "I saw the way Artemis held you in the hallway earlier. I don't know if there's anything going on with you two or not, but even if there isn't, I don't see how you're not upset right now. If it had been you, Artemis would be inconsolable." He looked so disappointed in her. He was clearly upset, though he wasn't crying.
"You guys need to chill out. There's nothing to be upset about." Shane said irritably, rolling his eyes.
Butler almost exploded. "You little punk ass freak! –" he started before Holly cut him off.
"Don't yell at him like that!" Holly defended Shane.
Mulch started yelling at Holly. "Holly, what the hell?! One of your best friends just died and you don't even care!" He grabbed her arm and pulled her to the window. Shane went after them and removed Mulch's hand from Holly. "Holly, just look at him!" Mulch yelled, pointing to the ground below. "He's –" He looked down at Artemis and stopped mid-rant, a look off total disbelief creeping its way onto his face.
Holly smirked, looking eerily similar to Artemis when he smiled that vampire smile. "He's what, Mulch?" she asked, even though she already knew the answer.
"I don't believe it." Mulch said to himself. Everyone came over to look.
Artemis was moving. Not only that, but he was getting up. He cradled his fragile brother in one arm as he pushed himself from the car, and slide onto the hood. His friends cheered him from above while everyone who did not know his secret looked on in amazement.
Mulch looked at Holly and mumbled an apology. She nodded and looked down at Artemis, smiling proudly.
"Good catch Arty!" she called down to him. He beamed and gave her a thumbs up.
One of the longest chapters I've ever written? I think so. Review if you love me! If you don't, I will assume that you don't love me, and feel sad.
Love, Rose