The weakness of a criminal mastermind
Phase IV
Barcelona, Spain
"So he's definitely seen the cameras, then" Holly said with malice
"Not exactly, all we know for sure is that he can see you, but in all likelihood, yea the mud boy's seen the cameras" Foaly sighed
"So what's he after, revenge?" Root snarled
"Who knows" Holly said wearily and continued to tail Artemis, pretending to not see the smug smirk on the boys' face.
-x-
Artemis smirked to himself, they actually sent Captain Short, it seems everything is going to plan the pale adolescent ignored Butlers' raised brow, he'd answer the manservants' questions later and he knew Butler would wait patiently.
"Are all the pieces in position?" He murmured, fully aware that Holly could hear him.
"Yes, sir" Butler replied, he had been gathering materials while Artemis was at school, hiding them, and assembling them to Artemis' exact specifications, trusting that they weren't being followed at that point as Master Artemis had said.
"Good, back to Dublin?" Artemis suggested and Butler nodded once, Artemis didn't even look up from his phone and Butler resisted the urge to roll his eyes, sometimes Master Artemis was just as much the teenager as everyone else his age. Of course that didn't change the fact that the boy wouldn't be caught dead saying LOL or anything of that sort.
Meanwhile a certain dwarf was giving a toothy grin as he observed his prize as it glinted in the sunlight "Master Fowl will be pleased"
-x-
Foaly didn't admit flaws in his equipment. He just didn't do it, generally it wasn't his equipment to blame –in his opinion it was the stupid tough guys that joined law enforcement just to fly in to burning buildings- but this time, if they get launched into an interspecies war, it would be all his fault for wanting to spy on Artemis Fowl, the no1 enemy of the people. His cameras were seen, his equipment failed and it might have doomed them all.
Root didn't scare easy. He'd been an agent for many years, he'd thought he'd seen it all –Trolls, evil brothers etc. - when Fowl came along. And he was scared, scared that Holly wouldn't make it out, scared that that the mud people would find out about the people and scared ever so slightly that he would lose his job. But the latter was firmly in the back of his mind. Now the fear was back, that cold child with the vampire grin was once again threatening their very existence and they started it. As commander he should have stopped Foaly when he found out what was happening. Artemis Fowl was dangerous and it was common knowledge not to poke a sleeping dragon.
Holly was determined. That wasn't unusual; every day was a battle to prove herself. She might be the only fairy not afraid of the boy. That's probably because she was the only one to see him for what he was, a boy. Albeit a very smart boy. They learnt a lot about him through the videos and she didn't intend to forget anything. After all she'd seen she just didn't find him scary. That didn't mean she planned on underestimating the boy. As she sat on top of the plane Artemis and Butler boarded, she steeled herself for battle.