SHANGHAI, CHINA, 2:57

Holly let out a little sigh of relief as the grey buildings of Shanghai came into view. The air was polluted, but it gave her some relief that she would have more to look at than cows in paddocks below. Spikkle had fitted her with a state-of-the-art shimmer suit and helmet. There was no doubt his budget was bigger than Foaly's – the wings were so light and fast she actually had to slow down, and the shimmer suit material was made of cam foil so refined it blended into the most complex of patterns.

She brought up the GPS system on her new helmet visor and scanned the buildings below. A dot appeared on one of the buildings – a glass affair with a large gathering of people outside. She made sure the cam foil was working before swooping down in a wide arc. Spotting a good place to land behind a neglected burger bar, she lowered herself towards the ground and let her feet settle soundlessly on the ground.

She clicked her neck to check her magic supplies before fading out of sight. Her magic supplies were draining, but she couldn't allow herself to be seen. She had been lucky when hitchhiking – the man had believed her disability tale.

Next time I might not be so lucky, she thought as she buzzed up into the air. The air was beginning to cool as evening crept closer – she could feel it buffeting against her as she zoomed up and landed on the roof next to the shopping mall. Any ditziness had been left behind her, now she only had one target – get Mulch out, and fast. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that something bad was going to happen, and Recon had taught her to trust her instincts. Holly still wasn't sure exactly what Mulch was up to – all Foaly had told her that it looked like he was following another dwarf, most likely trying to arrest him. Luckily though, he didn't end up digging into the shopping mall, but a local park instead.

'Foaly,' Holly said briskly. 'Relay the description of the dwarf Mulch was following.'

'I've put the DNA through the LEP mainframe, using my own patented technology of course,' he couldn't resist adding. 'And it seems we have a criminal.'

'Well?' Holly pressed, some part of her brain telling her she had to hurry.

'The name is Muldoon. More commonly known as 'The Pilferer'. Not a dazzling name by gang standards, but he's built up quite a reputation. Highly skilled – has escaped the LEP numerous times Seems he isn't loyal to any gang, making him quite hard to track down'

'So does he just do solo jobs then?'

'It doesn't look like it,' Foaly observed. 'He works by himself, but does all his jobs for other people.'

Holly knew what he meant. 'Are you saying he is employed by other people to do jobs for them?'

'As far as we know, yes,' Foaly paused. Holly could imagine him looking at his notes. 'Basically, people pay him money, he gets the job done. And I can't see him going to the surface for a stroll.'

'You're right,' Holly clenched her fist in anticipation. 'He's up to something, I can feel it'

She perched herself on the edge of an office block building, scanning the ground for any sight of the shady dwarf, but keeping the shopping mall in her sight at all times. She zoomed in with her helmet cam, but the throngs of people down below made her give up any hope of finding him in a hurry. Instead she switched to heat sensor and scanned the shopping mall for any signs of life within the cold glass exterior. A small blob of orangish-red showed crouched in one of the rooms. 'Is that Mulch?' she asked Foaly.

'It looks like it,' Foaly said then abruptly stopped. 'Uh – oh'

'What?' Holly asked, but she could already see what was happening. At first her mind couldn't comprehend it; it wasn't something she expected to ever see. Through the infrared thermal filter on her helmet visor, Holly saw tiny orange dots appear throughout the building, seemingly from nowhere. Every red dot blossomed, a bit like a flower growing at many times the speed.

Holly's reflexes kicked in a split second before the impact hit her, her suit going into armoured mode, toughening as the consistency of the material changed to that of metal. Like Foaly's newest design of shimmer suit, it hardened in such a way the impact could be deflected, but the person could still move reasonably well. But Spikkle's large budget had allowed him to add something Foaly had designed but couldn't actually afford – liquid armour. While the metal-like material of the shimmer suits deflected most of the impact, the liquid armour absorbed it. It was a thin layer between the outer and inner layers of the skin-tight suit, consisting of a substance neither solid nor liquid. It simply absorbed any impact that couldn't be deflected, leaving Holly feeling like she had been hit by a pillowcase, not a massive explosion.

Her helmet visor darkened, shielding her eyes from the blinding light.

The whole building had exploded.

FOWL MANOR, IRELAND

Artemis ran his finger down the piece of paper, mentally ticking things off the list. The party preparations had almost finished – all they needed now were the caterers, who were starting to arrive through the main gates. Everything was running swimmingly, with Beckett and Myles already dressed in little tuxedos and the fireworks already set up in neatly choreographed bunches.

The neatly mown grass rustled softly as Artemis made his way across the lawn towards the manor. The party had given him an unusual energy – he felt a bit like an excited little kid again. He had only one worry – Holly hadn't replied to the party invitation yet. He could only hope she would still turn up.

He pushed open the heavy front door to a rush of caterers carrying hundreds of elaborate party dishes from roast turkeys to sticky date puddings. All were cooked by world renown chefs, all organised by Artemis himself. Of all his achievements, Artemis almost had to say this was the best. It wasn't like everything else he had ever done – this wasn't for his own personal gain. It gave him a warm, fuzzy feeling to know in a few hours people would be filling the foyer, enjoying the party.

He watched happily as Angeline and Artemis Sr. walked down the staircase, both in their formal clothes. Angeline was in a sweeping pale pink dress, and Artemis Sr. had traded his suit for a tuxedo and pink bow tie.

Artemis smiled at them before trotting up the stairs to his room. Another perfectly pressed tuxedo hung from his wardrobe door, paired with shiny black shoes and a deep red bowtie. A crimson rose sat in a cup of water for him to slip in the pocket.

He put the ensemble on with great care – just because he planned to 'lighten up' didn't mean he should start getting sloppy – then walked back out into the second floor hallway. Juliet and Butler both stood there talking, also in their formal attire. Even Butler was donning a pink bowtie.

'Master Artemis,' Butler said in greeting. 'How are the party preparations coming?'

'Excellently. Although Juliet did most of the work – I am not too good with the whole love-heart thing'

'As we've discovered,' giggled Juliet.

Butler smiled down at his younger sister. 'And we all know Juliet's a girly-girl at heart'.

Juliet had really made herself up for the occasion – wearing a pinkie-purple dress and chandelier earrings she almost looked like one of the mistresses of the house, not a bodyguard trained in several martial arts and firearms.

Butler whistled as he looked at the mass of caterers bustling about below the main stairway. 'Quite a team you have here,' he commented.

'I know. But we have quite a few guests,' he handed Butler the guest list. 'I want you to keep an eye on the ones underlined in red – I don't want them trying anything'

Butler sighed and shook his head. 'I thought this was going to be a relatively criminal-free party?'

Artemis shuffled his feet uncomfortably. 'Well, Mother and Father had a few friends they insisted I invite...it wasn't like I could say no.' Butler still looked dubious, so Artemis added; 'you don't want to get on the wrong side of criminals'

'You generally don't get on the wrong side of criminals by not inviting them to Christmas parties,' Butler reasoned.

'Criminals are a touchy bunch,' Juliet glanced at Artemis teasingly. Artemis shot her a filthy look. 'Think of Artemis after his plans have been foiled. Perfect example.'

'I have to agree,' Butler laughed despite Artemis's glare.

'I have to check the cake is here,' Artemis said sulkily, storming off down the stairs and leaving Juliet and Butler in peals of laughter. It seemed no matter how hard he tried to change things he still ended up being called a criminal.

Maybe I will always be a criminal, he thought sadly. Sometimes there are things you just can't change.

SHANGHAI, CHINA 3:00

Captain Holly Short got up stiffly, her limbs burning despite the high tech armour. Bright orange flames were beginning to lick at the shopping mall, blackening wooden counters and shelves. Items for sale were indistinguishable – most had been reduced to blackened carcasses of soft toys and electronic devices. She ran right to the edge of the building, thankful she still had enough magic to keep her from prying human eyes. Her shimmer suit's thermal filters cooled to protect her from the heat, but she could still faintly feel the intense waves radiating from the building.

Mulch is in there, she thought in dismay. I can't leave him. But her pessimistic side was starting to show through – she didn't know how anything could survive in such heat. She quickly switched on her wings, which had thankfully survived, and zoomed over to the window which she assumed was nearest Mulch, pulling a gun from its holster. It wasn't her faithful neutrino, but she was still thankful to have a gun at all. Aiming at point-blank range, she flicked the setting up to full and shot the window.

The whole pane of glass exploded, sending shards bouncing off Holly's shimmer suit and falling into the void below. She was lucky enough that all the spectators had fled screaming to the safety of the nearby park.

She sped through the window, ignoring little pricks of pain at some pieces of glass that had found their way through the armour of her suit.

'Mulch?' She called, even though she didn't expect an answer. Smoke had made the details of the room fuzzy and indistinct, and thermal imaging proved impossible, but Holly still managed to spot the unmoving Mulch lying under a broken fish tank. She ran over to him, tears threatening to dribble down her cheeks. The kleptomaniac dwarf was her friend, and the last thing she wanted was to find him gone forever. Please don't go, please don't be dead...

Holly checked his pulse before putting her hand on his chest, focusing all her magic on his dwindling heartbeat. He spluttered amidst the smoke and Holly let out a sigh of relief. Carefully she picked him up, adrenaline somehow giving her the strength to fly him onto the roof next door.

'I've sent some fairies over to pick Mulch up,' Foaly said. 'He will need a bit of time to recover and get the smoke out of his lungs, but he should survive.'

Holly's head was still reeling from the shock. 'How did he survive? You saw what it was like in there.'

'Pure luck. One of the explosions must have hurled him into that giant fish tank, covering him with water. It helped him keep cool temporarily. But he has some severe burns.'

'I'm just glad he's alive.' Holly moved Mulch beneath an overhang of concrete so he couldn't be seen by roaming mud man helicopters. 'But the job isn't done yet. I still need to find that dwarf who planted the bombs in the first place.'

'You can't,' Foaly said sadly. 'He's long gone. But do a scan of the ground anyway'

Holly vibrated out of sight and launched herself into the air. Mulch's near-death had made her realise you can never take friends for granted. She opened up her Mail inbox and sent a message to Artemis. It was only two words long, but she was sure he'd understand.

She halted mid-air and the post-mission happiness stopped cold.

Painted on a football field in black were three letters.

OPAL KOBOI RETURNS

UNKNOWN LOCATION

Opal Koboi drummed her red painted fingernails on the side of her Magnachair™, scratching the paint on the armrest. She took great pleasure of feeling her nails gouging into one of Foaly's beloved creations – it was the fifth chair she had got through that month. But it didn't matter – she could afford as many as she wanted. Seeing as she had bought them all off the black market, none of her money went to Foaly anyway.

'Archie!' She screeched impatiently. 'Come here now'

A flustered pixie skidded on the polished floor as he stopped in front of the doorway. His forehead was covered in a thin layer of sweat and he was panting heavily.

'The water in my foot spa is tepid. Replace it now.'

'Y-Yes Miss Koboi. Right away,' Archie flustered. He scurried off hastily.

'Grab me a Martini while you're at it.' Opal wasn't enjoying the relaxation as much as she'd hoped. She couldn't help imagining those pesky LEP officers prancing about in their hideous jumpsuits. When I come to rule Haven, she thought. The first thing I'll do is change the uniform. Then I can eradicate that annoying mud boy.

Archie hurried back into the room, carrying a tray with a martini glass balanced precariously on it, and a jug of steaming water clutched in one hand. He placed the martini on a hovering table next to her, then started the difficult process of trying to replace the foot spa water without moving Opal's feet.

Opal picked up the cocktail, sniffed it, then slammed it back down on the hovertable, making a few drops spill over the edge.

'Why has this got lemon in it?' she sent Archie an icy glare. '..lemon'

'S-sorry Miss Koboi'

'So you should be,' she flicked her hand at the martini. 'Get it out of my sight'

'Of course, Miss Koboi'

'And your face is giving me a headache. Go do something useful.' She spun around her chair so he back was to him, flicking tiny droplets of water off her feet, which barely touched the ground. She shooed him away with a flick of her fingers then turned on the flatwall™ TV screen in front of her.

'Get me a secure connection to 109' she ordered the computer. The screen flicked on to a shadowed face.

'What is it?' The face grumbled. 'This better be important'

'I can talk to you whenever I like' Opal said stubbornly, crossing her arms. 'Don't forget, I'm the one funding your precious company.'

'Both you and I know you are not giving money as charity,' the shady figure reasoned.

'If my plan works, you will be a very rich elf. I trust the supashakes are going well?'

'Oh yes, no one suspects a thing' he let out a laugh. 'I bet even the LEP will be drinking them soon. Pip n' co are on their way up'

'Yes,' Opal Koboi agreed. 'They certainly are.'

Archie shivered as evil laughter filled the room.

* * *

Author's note:

The introduction of Spikkle to the storyline has caused quite a few reviews, not all good, but you must understand he is not a main character as such. Please put up with him for now :) . Now, though, it's time for a few questions to be answered.

Isn't Foaly a genius?

Yes, Foaly is a Genius, but there are still smart fairies out there. Spikkle just chose to work for the Atlanteans instead, not travel an evil path like Opal Koboi. Foaly is still just as smart, but Spikkle has a bigger budget and can afford better materials. Yes, Foaly is a Genius, but there are still smart fairies out there. Spikkle just chose to work for the Atlanteans instead of the LEP, and not travel an evil path like Opal Koboi. Foaly is probably smarter, but Spikkle has a bigger budget and can afford better materials.

Why isn't Arty in the story more?

Artemis will be in the story a lot more around the party and the shock that comes after it (I'm not giving away any more, sorry). Artemis is already cemented into Chapter 10, which should be released within the next couple of days.

Is this an H/OC story?

Not really, no. It's mainly Artemis and Holly, with a few hiccups along the way, mainly due to Artemis's social awkwardness and social insecurity. (I hate it when all of a sudden Arty is confident socially – that doesn't match Eoin's Artemis at all! We have to face it, Artemis still has a lot to learn.)