Hey! I'm back! I'm sorry I've been away for so long, there's just been so much going on and i haven't been able to kepp writing but i'm back now and writing fast (well...if you call it that) I'm allready working on chapter 14 so the 13th should be along soon. However at the monent this is the new chapter, I hope you enjoy it! I'll shut up now.
Chapter 12
E1: Tara
The damage was terrific. Everything was covered in a black powder. All the shutters were still sealed by the lockdown.
E1: A fairy disaster zone. And that was exactly where Captain Fowl was going. To get to E1 he travelled in a LEPcar which was on autopilot. During the time he was in the car he was learning about his new gun, his helmet and Wings.
The way Artemis was learning about these wonderful pieces of equipment was by a tutorial in side the LEPhelmet there was a tutorial, unfortunately Foaly had used only one person's voice, Holly's. Artemis felt the pressure on his shoulders; if he didn't get up there and back again before Holly died he would face manslaughter charges along with the guilt of being the one who caused her death. That's why he wouldn't let anything get in his way, not even a lockdown.
Artemis removed his handheld computer from his pocket. He turned it on and started to hack into Foaly's computers...again. He found what he was looking for and 'flicked the switch'. Almost immediately the lights of Haven City were restored to former normality, and the LEPcar got a power surge and stalled. Artemis pressed the 'start' button. Thankfully the car had saved his destination and moved off again this time with a bit more speed.
A few minutes later, he had arrived. E1 was a total mess. Artemis opened the door of the car and stepped out, removed his helmet and looked round. He walked towards the entrance. He was then stopped by an LEP corporal. "I'm sorry no-one can come through here." he said.
"Okay, I understand but I don't have time to explain. So if you will excuse me." replied Artemis starting to get annoyed. He tried to push pass but got a tap from a buzz baton for his trouble. 1000 volts passed through his elbow to his chest. After Artemis collected himself, he stood up looking the corporal straight in the eyes. "Now that's not a very nice way to treat a captain on his very first half hour, is it?! Especially as his is trying to save one Major Short who is lying unconscious on her death bed!"
"Oh... I'm ever so sorry sir, I didn't realize, because I didn't recognize you, and I still don't recognize you, anyhow...how come you don't have a buzz baton?"
"Haven't been given one yet!"
"I've got one in the back of my car." as he ran to his LEPcar.
"What's your name?"
"Jack" he shouted in the near distance. "Jack McCauley, now here is a Buzzy and a set of wings." said the corporal who handed him a Buzz Baton and another set of Dragon Fly.
Artemis now had two set of wings one in each hand, "and what am I supposed to do with two sets of wings?"
"Oh." said Jack with a chuckle as he took back the extra set of wings. "How come Major Short's life is in danger?"
"Jack, if I told you that, I would have to kill you." said Artemis as he put on the wings and clipped the baton to his belt. Nothing else was said. Artemis started at a run down a corridor (like one of those corridors you would find in the London underground...only black, from the soot. He closed his helmet visor because otherwise he would have choked from the thick clouds of soot. As Artemis continued along, he wiped the visor several times. It had already come to Artemis how the soot had been created; the burning of the sound proof materials in the walls of the shuttle port. However this was only the bottom. He still needed to get to the surface. He couldn't go to E2 as that was apparently in worse condition and all other ports were too far away. He would have to get up using his wings, this was dangerous, very dangerous, and that was how desperate he was to get to the surface, how desperate he was to save Holly.
Artemis fiddled with his helmet controls putting him indirect contact with Foaly. "Foaly?"
"Where the hell are you?! Holly has been asking for you! You haven't...Never mind just come back now!"
"Foaly! I need to ask something. It might just save her. Have you ever heard of someone going up a chute with wings?"
"Err...that's a odd question, but no."
"Are there any operational shuttles in E1?"
"No, most were blown to bloody kingdom come."
"Well that thing about someone going up a chute with only wings is just about to come true."
"Don't you dare, do you want Holly to... Hold on a second."
Artemis heard the opening of a door and some low conversation in the back ground he couldn't make out who the people were or what the conversation was about. Then there was some rustling.
"Arty please don't do it, please, if you do need to get up there take one of the LEPEC."
"Holly...I...LEP what...? but... I'm sorry" stuttered a very confused Artemis.
"Take one of the LEPEC, in other words a Lower Elements Police Emergency Chute."
"Yes...where is one?"
"I don't know my-self, but I'm sure Foaly does, I'll pass you over." Artemis grew more emotional by the second. 'Your Artemis Fowl The II! Your not an emotional person! Are you? Anyways if you don't think about that's Holly life depends on this, you can think better! In turn saving her life.'
"Ah Artemis! Back so soon?" Foaly said trying to sound cheerful for Holly.
Artemis removed his helmet and took the removable headset out placing it on his ear it was like a Bluetooth headset for Fairies.
Haven City Hospital, Recovery room 77.
"Foaly leave the room I need to speak to you without being overheard." Foaly obeyed, leaving Holly and Trouble in the room.
Holly noticed something wrong with Trouble's eyes, she scrambled in her bed side table draw for her pen light. When she found it she beckoned Trouble over who had been staring at the same collection of flowers for over an hour. Trouble walked over to Holly with an angry look upon his face. Holly raised her hand with the pen in it and flashed it straight in his eye, he didn't even flinch. His eyes were blood shot. Bloody blood shot. In fact they so blood shot there was no white to be seen. When Holly lowered her pen, he look directly into her eyes and craned his neck to the side. His hands curled into fists.
E1: Tara
"Foaly your a real bastard you know that!" Artemis shouted
"Why?"
"You put Holly's voice as the tutorial!" Artemis felt two tears run down his cheek but only one was his, 'The ceiling must be leaking' he told himself but he then realized something. 'So I'm miles under ground and there's water leaking? That can't be right.' he put on his helmet and checked for water pipes, which there were none. 'Odd...D'ARVIT! FUCK! SHIT! BASTARD!!' he said in his head however out loud he said; "That's not too good!" The leak started to get quicker. Artemis reached into his pocket again.
When he tuned his radio to all channels, he was horrified. Atlantis was locking down too. Atlantis had changed, it had once been underwater but somehow 'they' had got it underground. So there was no need for the gills that the citizens had. The LEP in Atlantis were asking for aid from any other LEP force because Atlantis was in flames. How could this day get any worse?
Haven City LEP Plaza.
The council was sat round a table, waiting for Foaly's students to finish setting up the projector. "Would you please hurry up!" Mr Gristwood shouted, he was the head of the council. "If you don't hurry up you'll be wishing you hadn't been born!"
A minute later, Foaly's students had finish and were connecting the projector to one of Foaly's laptops. "Why are we still using projectors that aren't holographic?" asked another council member.
The head of the students told him the answer, "Money. Not enough of it." suddenly the room lit up with a light blue light. Although it was only the projector the students and the LEP officers who were attending turned away from the light fearing it was the same as earlier, but the councilors only squinted as they let their eyes adjust.
Everyone turned back to the light when the head of finances said, "Turn down the brightness, its way to bright." The officers and students sniggered. The council had not been in the building earlier, they only come in when they are needed.
The projection changed from blue it went on to a human TV channel; BBC One. The viewers were just in time to see the next story on the news. "The famous Stonehenge and the not so well known Tara in the Republic of Ireland exploded at the same time this morning. It was first thought to be a terror attack, but when forensics examined the two sites, they found two plates with unusual symbols on them. Both Irish and British Governments have tried to contact the Irish mastermind Artemis Fowl the second with no luck." said Peter Gibbs. The whole room fell Silent. No-one noticed that the news was finishing and going on to adverts.
To break the silence they most inexperienced of Foaly's team said "Did you know Foaly hacked in to the BBC and gave then an animation thingy!"
"The one to watch tonight" said the projection as the picture changed from a red swirly circle with to a business man who was dressed in a black suit who was pointing a finger with two people next him.
"You haven't got a clue" said the business man as everyone look at the projection. "Not a bloody clue. Your Fired." then everyone looked at the inexperienced student giving him a 'do what he said' look. And with that the student left the room never to return.
"The Apprentice tonight at nine on BBC One."
"Right can we please get back to the situation in hand?" said the chief councillor.
The head student click the mouse twice. The pictures that came on screen was of Atlantis city. Even with over five hundred camera angles to choose from, could you only saw the same thing, orange flames.
E1: Tara
"You have got to be joking me." said Artemis.
"What? What is it?" Foaly asked. Artemis turned on his helmet camera, giving Foaly the chance to see what Artemis could. "Oh...I see what you mean." Artemis had selected the flood lockdown setting, which was like a standard lockdown although slower it was water-proof. The only problem for Artemis was that if he didn't get out of E1 now, he'd never get out alive. The problem was like it was out of a film, the metal shutter was closing but at a slow rate. Artemis made some calculations, he would have to travel well over thirty miles per hour to clear the closing shutter which was moving downward. Which being Artemis Fowl would not be possible even if he sprinted. "That 'change' must have lowered your IQ level or something. Use the wings!" No sooner had Foaly said that, the wings were activated and Artemis was flying millimeters off the ground, Artemis gained speed quickly, but Artemis' calculations were wrong. Artemis Fowl the II had finally got something wrong! The speed he really needed to reach was more like one hundred and thirty seven miles per hour. "Faster! Faster! You need to go faster, much faster! Foaly's voice echoed round Artemis' head. After another meter, after another, the shutter came closer but not quick enough. He was less then forty meters from the target. Thirty meters. Twenty meters. He wasn't going to make it. The thought of crashing into a solid re-enforced metal shutter wasn't the best thought Artemis had had in a long time, apart from the future death of Holly.
"Okay here it comes!" shouted Foaly "when I say, turn you whole body 90o and cut the engine, Okay?!"
"Okay"
"NOW!!" shouted Foaly just as Artemis was about to hit the metal shutter.
Artemis cut the engine and turned his body at the required angle, he hit the ground and started to skim the floor at seventy-five mile per hour. Was he going to make it?
Artemis suddenly heard the breaking of one of the wings and without warning the whole set of wings came off. He felt the suddenness of a stop but he hadn't.
Seconds Earlier on the other side of the metal shutter.
"D'Arvit! D'Arvit! D'Arvit! I would like to report that a captain is trapped in the E1 lower station section." Said the corporal that Artemis was talking to a couple of minutes ago. "Yes lower E1 station section!" He shouted down his mike. But without warning he heard a loud thump on the shutter and then found his legs being taken out, it reminded him of the time he was in LEP academy. He shuddered. BANG!! He hit the ground with quite a thump. He managed to get back to his feet. Then he saw the captain he had been talking to earlier. The captain nodded at him then walked off like nothing had happened.
"And where did you learn to fly like that?!" questioned an amazed Foaly who had obviously forgotten about Holly.
"I learnt from the best" said Artemis.
"Who? Holly by any chance?" replied Foaly with a laugh that subsided so quickly it was untrue.
"Yeah...so where is this bloody thing then Foaly?"
"It's to your left."
"Got it"
Artemis walked up to a small black door which was in the middle of one of the cities surrounding walls. "Lets me guess, one it's not been used in a while and two it's though there."
Half an hour later, A small ritual site. 'Meeting place' of Holly and Artemis.
Artemis walked up to the tree he remembered the cold dark night of which he had kidnapped Holly. He took an acorn from the tree and placed it in the ground. He then felt his magic being restored to him. But with out warning he felt the air around him getting very cold. He then heard the voice dark of an old enemy. "Well, well, well, what do we have here? Is it the great Artemis Fowl?" said John Spiro.
"I just came down here to tell you that in a few minutes your father will be dead. All I have to do is to give the order."
"Oh for fuck sake Spiro is this all you do kill, kill, kill? You must think it's a sport. Oh and another thing, I'm really really pissed off at the moment because too many people in my fucking life are having theirs taken away!" Artemis commented as he drew his neutrino carefully. "You came alone didn't you?"
"You think that I would come alone, are you stupid or something. I have to say though I'm surprised that you don't have your bodyguard with you!"
"I can look after myself thank you very much."
"I see that, but what about your girlfriend who's dyeing in hospital?"
"She's not my girlfriend!"
"You still feel that way though, don't you. It's a shame though."
"What do you mean it's a shame?" said Artemis as he took off the safety catch on his gun. "She 's not dying, she's making a good recovery."
"Yeah, but what you don't know is that I've got several spies in the LEP, I shouldn't have told you that but oh well, and they know all about what happened. I'd love to kill you here and now but I'd rather see you face manslaughter charges."
This was when Artemis took his chance; he spun round, took his neutrino out of the holster and pointed it straight at Spiro's face, "I thought that you where in prison, let me guess out for good behavior?"
"No actually, I got out with a little help from a little person, can't remember her name exactly something like Apal not sure."
"Opal, I knew it!" Artemis tightened his grip on the trigger. "You bastard, you absolute bastard." And with that Artemis pulled the trigger. Spiro let out a small wail and clasped to the floor. His two bodyguards had drawn their pistols as soon as Artemis had turned round. One of them pulled the trigger of his gun but only heard a small click. This made Artemis laugh. "If you want to kill me..." he took a step closer to the two bodyguards "...next time don't load an empty mag! Idiot."
Artemis put back on his helmet and shot both the bodyguards.
"Captain Fowl, do you copy? Over." Came a slightly familiar voice.
"Loud and clear. Who is this anyways?" Replied Artemis
"Corporal McCauley, Sir. Foaly and the deputy commander want you down below now, I'll be waiting for you at E1 LEPEC sir."
I must again give a special thanks to Kitrin for checking this last chapter. And thanks to all the people who have reviewed (I won't list you as some readers get annoyed when writers do that.)
