Chapter 21: An Agreement Kept
The sounds of shuffling feet, orders, hollers, and screams became deafened in the ears of Artemis Fowl, Harry Potter, Twilight Sparkle, Spider-Man, Leonardo, Po, Robin, and Sonic. The League soon found a small, quiet room that overlooked the city from the castle. They all filed in and found seats around a small circular table that, conveniently enough, had been placed in the room with a series of chairs surrounding it. Artemis closed the door and sat down at the head of the table. Harry and Twilight sat next to Artemis, Leonardo sat at the other head of the table with Spider-Man and Po sitting next to him, and Robin and Sonic sat in the middle of the table, opposite to each other.
"Well it looks liked we finally got to have our meeting after all," said Spider-Man teasingly. There were a few chuckles but nothing more. Artemis stood up and placed his palms on the smooth wooden surface of the table.
"Well I'd definitely say that things are not going well," he breathed.
"What are we here to discuss that hasn't been discussed already? Koboi's out there, an army's on the way, and we're to protect Canterlot. Is there really anything else that we have to discuss?" asked Robin.
"Maybe. Maybe not."
"Maybe we're meeting just for the sake of keeping our agreement," said Twilight softly.
"Besides, I think we could use a few more peaceful minutes of talking before the real hell is unleashed."
There were a few nods of disagreement followed by an awkward cough.
"There has to be more to this attack than an army," stated Harry.
"Huh?" asked Po. "What do you mean by that?"
"From what Artemis has told me about Koboi in the past, I can assume that she has more methods of taking over this city than with a large army."
"What more could you need?" asked Sonic.
"I don't know. I just have this feeling that there's more to this than an army."
"I'm with Harry on this one," said Twilight. "I've got a weird feeling in my stomach too."
"Wait a second!" exclaimed Spider-Man. "Twilight, you were held captive by Koboi! Did she ever mention a part of her plan around you?"
"No. She was very careful to keep her secrets and plans to herself when she was around me. I didn't even know about her taking over my brother. The only things I knew was that she was impersonating my mother and that she had something big planned for Canterlot."
"And that something big just turned out to be a complete invasion," said Leonardo.
"Correct."
"Is there anything to eat around here?" asked Po as his stomach grumbled loudly.
"You only ate a couple hours ago!" stated Sonic with a grin.
"I know. That's a couple hours too long!"
"Can we talk about food later?" snapped Harry. Po and Sonic turned to Harry and sighed loudly with agreement.
"So what could Koboi have planned other than an army?" asked Leonardo.
"I have one guess," replied Artemis. "I just really hope that I'm wrong."
Meanwhile, several floors above, a pegasus guard named Flack and his unicorn brother, Han Temple, were busy looking for Opal Koboi and the enchanted Shining Armor.
"If you see Twilight Velvet then you tell me immediately because that's definitely going to be Koboi," said Flack.
"Where is the real Twilight Velvet anyway?" asked Han.
"She's being held in a heavily guarded room so that we'll know that the Twilight Velvet we'll see will be Koboi."
Suddenly, a series of panicked murmurs began echoing from around the corner. Flack and Han raced around the bend and saw Twilight Velvet talking down to a controlled Shining Armor.
"Now snap out of it!" ordered Twilight Velvet.
"I shall always obey you, Mistress Koboi," said Shining Armor.
"Freeze! You're under arrest, Opal Koboi!" yelled Flack as he flew at the pinkish unicorn and pinned her to the ground.
"Wait! I'm not Opal! I'm the real Twilight Velvet!" pleaded the pinned down unicorn.
"I shall always obey you, Mistress Koboi," groaned Shining Armor as he was bonded magically by Han.
"Then why is Shining Armor referring to you as Mistress Koboi?" asked Han with a raised eyebrow.
"It's her! She's controlling my son! She's making him do this! She's taking over the guards! Listen to me!" pleaded Twilight Velvet. There were two large flashes of green light and Flack and Han felt a strange sense of control surge through their bodies. Opal Koboi, now in her pixie form, emerged from the shadows as the two guards slowly fell under her command.
"Come, gentlecolts. It's time to bring Opal Koboi to justice," chuckled Opal.
"Yes, Mistress," said Flack and Han together as they proceeded down the hallway with Twilight Velvet and Shining Armor, making sure to bind their mouths shut.
"Good," said Opal. She then flicked her hand and a group of ten controlled Canterlot guards appeared by her side. "Come. The time is close for the deal to be made." The guards nodded and followed Opal down a separate hallway.
"Well...what do you think she's planning?" asked Twilight as the members of the League murmured to themselves in the small meeting room.
"I really don't want to jinx things," said Artemis with a grin.
"Oh come off it!" snapped Harry. "Just tell us what you think she has planned!"
"A bomb."
"That's it? A bomb? We can take care of a bomb!" said Spider-Man.
"You don't understand. If Koboi has a bomb then it's not going to be any ordinary bomb. It's going to be a bio-bomb!"
"Bio-bomb? Why does that sound familiar?" asked Sonic.
"It's a weapon created by Foaly that is used by the People only as a last resort. Most of the LEP call it a blue rinse."
"Have you mentioned it to us before?" asked Robin.
"I might have but I never went into complete detail."
"So what is it? A more powerful version of the atomic bomb?" asked Spider-Man.
"Yes and no. It's a biological weapon. When it goes off it kills every living thing within the radius that it's made for, yet the surrounding landscape remains untouched."
"It kills every living thing but doesn't cause damage to anything else? That's ingenious!" said Twilight with awe.
"How come we're only learning about this weapon now?" asked Robin with a tinge of annoyance.
"I forgot that I never mentioned it in great detail to any of you."
"Well good job, boy genius!" said Spider-Man.
"Now just wait a minute! We can't be sure that Koboi even has a bio-bomb in her arsenal!" Twilight stated.
"And yet it remains to be a very strong possibility," said Harry. The room fell silent and Po gave a long sigh.
"So what do we do if Koboi actually has a bio-bomb?" he asked.
"We try to take it from her before she sets it off," replied Artemis.
There were three loud knocks on the door and Holly entered. She was followed by Ron, Hermione, and Gwen.
"What's wrong?" asked Spider-Man.
"The armies are getting closer. They're nearly here," replied Holly.
"And that's not all," said Gwen.
"We've heard that they've captured Koboi and Shining Armor," said Ron.
They were quick to make their way down to the room where the supposed Opal Koboi was being kept. Shining Armor was bound and held in place by magical bonds outside of said room. Several unicorn guards were standing around him.
"She's in there," said one of the guards. Artemis nodded and went inside. The others tried to follow but he turned back and shook his head.
"If this is Koboi. I need to face her alone," he said.
"Are you sure?" asked Holly.
"I'm sure."
Artemis went into the room and closed the door. Holly tried to follow but Harry and Leonardo held her back.
"Let him go," said Leonardo. "He's Artemis Fowl. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Nowadays I'm not sure," breathed Harry.
The room was simple and small. It resembled that of a human interrogation room back on Earth. The supposed Opal Koboi under Twilight Velvet's guise was strapped to a chair by magical bonds. A small white table separated the chair that bound the supposed Opal Koboi and an empty chair. Artemis cleared his throat and approached the table. He sat down and stared at the suspect. Tears were slowly falling from her eyes and her mane was strewn. Artemis took one look at the suspect and instantly knew that this was not Opal Koboi. The guards were convinced she was because Twilight Velvet was supposedly being guarded in another room. They had even checked and she apparently was still there. Artemis knew otherwise. The Twilight Velvet in the other room was not the real Twilight Velvet. He knew this for a fact now. But it wasn't Koboi either. He eyed the crying unicorn with great intensity as he went over the facts in his mind.
"Are you going to say something?" asked the tearful Twilight Velvet.
"I know you're the real Twilight Velvet," said Artemis. Twilight Velvet began to smile and Artemis held up his hand. "I hate to be somewhat rude but I really need some quiet right now so can you please remain silent for a few minutes? That includes crying."
Twilight Velvet nodded and took a long, relaxing breath. Artemis proceeded to delve deeper into his mind. If this was the real Twilight Velvet then what was sitting in the other room? It had to be a clone. Either that or some type of convincing dummy or hologram. There was no way that the real Koboi would have taken Twilight Velvet's place in order to have the real Twilight Velvet get caught. This was strange but it certainly made sense. Artemis knew that Koboi wouldn't have been caught so easily and that she had more than one dirty trick under her sleeves. She had something planned. Something bigger than the army. Could it be a bio-bomb? At this point he wouldn't be surprised by that fact. But, even if she did have a bio-bomb, there had to be more to this than just getting Twilight Velvet caught. Then it hit him. It hit him like a cartoon hammer and he nearly face-palmed himself at the thought of how he had been so easily duped. Artemis jumped up from the chair and ran to the door.
"Where are you going?" asked Twilight Velvet as the door slammed shut.
Artemis ran past the others and ran down the hallway.
"Where are you running off to?" yelled Hermione.
"That's the real Twilight Velvet! It's all a distraction! Members! Follow me!" called Artemis as he disappeared down the hallway. Harry, Twilight, and Leonardo were quick to run after him while the others took several seconds to work everything out.
Artemis soon arrived at the room where the real Twilight Velvet was being kept. A few guards were standing around it.
"Nice night for a fight isn't it, gentlecolts?" asked Artemis with an overly happy grin. The other members soon arrived and stood behind him.
"What's going on?" asked Po.
"Oh nothing, Po. I just wanted to see how Mrs. Velvet is doing."
The guards looked at each other and then back at Artemis.
"We are not allowed to let you in," said a pegasus guard.
"But I'm the leader of the League of Inter-Dimensional Heroes. I'm sure the Princesses have told you that my fellow members and I have complete access to the entire castle during this time of war."
"Rules have been changed," stated a unicorn guard.
"Who changed them?"
Artemis's voice was now incredibly happy and suspicious. He knew something and he was letting the guards know it.
"Mistress Celestia of course," said another unicorn guard. The next few seconds were a blur to Artemis as he pulled out his Neutrino and proceeded to blast each guard with a minor blast. Within seconds the unconscious bodies of seven Canterlot guards were laying on the floor at Artemis's feet.
"What the hell did you do that for?" snapped Harry.
"They were under Opal's control. One thing I've noticed is that Koboi loves to have her minions refer to her as Mistress Koboi. Did none of you notice that the guard said mistress instead of princess before saying Celestia?"
"How could we have not noticed?" asked Robin.
"We're looking for a big sign when we should have been looking for the little ones."
"Koboi's been taking over the guards," said Sonic. "Why?"
"She's doing what she's been doing for over a year. She's making distractions."
"Distractions for what?" asked Po nervously.
"For the beginning of Plan A."
Suddenly, the sounds of loud gasps and screams reverberated from outside. Artemis and the others made their way through a nearby door that led out to a balcony. They looked up into the sky and Artemis sighed with frightened annoyance. There, hovering in the skies above Canterlot, was a giant magical hologram of the grinning face of Opal Koboi.