A/N: It's been more than 8 months. I'm not going to bother addressing that in great depth here, just know I'm sorry. I doubt there's really anyone still paying attention to this story, but if you've stuck around, you're awesome – thank you. I'm going to finish this story, probably in the next few days. There are only a few chapters left, and they're pretty much ready for upload. Just a little polishing left. Then it'll all be done. Maybe I'll start a new project. We'll see.

I would STRONGLY recommend refreshing your memory on what's just happened this story. This is pretty much it, the final showdown: Opal and her army vs. Hartemis and Natalya. I hope you enjoy :)

-Kio

Chapter 24; Duel

Shangri-La

It didn't take Natalya long to find him. She cast her fistful of flames from side to side, illuminating as much of the cave as she could, eventually revealing Artemis. The boy was collapsed in a gruesome puddle of blood and vomit, red and black and green all mingling together. He barely looked conscious. Pieces of former fairy lay a short distance away. The smell of sick fought for dominance against the stench of rotten flesh. It lost.

Natalya did her best not to breathe. "What happened to you?"

Artemis's eyes fluttered open. "Help me," he croaked. It was all he could manage.

Natalya made a face. "You're disgusting. I'm not touching you."

"Where's Holly? And Butler?"

"Since I'm the only one with light, I was lucky enough to get saddled with finding the stupid impulsive Mud Boy duty." She let her eyes linger on Artemis. "And what a pleasure it's been."

"Help me," Artemis repeated.

Natalya shrugged. "I was sent to find you. Mission accomplished. Carrying wasn't mentioned. So if I were you, I would get up. Because it's about to get a lot darker again."

She turned and starting walking back in the direction she had come from. Already what little light she had brought was fading. That was it, conversation over. Artemis groaned. He could wait for Holly to show up and probably also refuse to carry him. Or he could carry himself.

The pain was bad, but it was tolerable. He would be infected, but at this point, it didn't matter. By the time the parasite had taken hold, he would either be dead or the creature would be gone. Without the hivemind, the parasite would stop spreading and infected cells would cleanse themselves. Probably. He groaned again and hauled himself to his feet, picking bits of the former fairy off his skin. The luxury of a shower had never felt further away.

Artemis followed Natalya at a distance and was surprised when they didn't return to the passage they had been following originally. They continued downwards until the network of caves opened up into a large cavern. He spotted Holly and Butler a short way away.

"One Mud Boy," Natalya was saying. "Delivered in impeccable condition."

Artemis saw Holly catch sight of him and smiled at her. Holly opened her mouth to say something, inhaled the smell he had brought with him, and gagged.

"What happened to you?" she managed.

"Later. We need to find the creature."

Butler nodded to the other end of the cavern. "Way ahead of you."

Artemis looked. At the far end of the cave, what looked like sand covered the stone. Curious, he made his way towards it. It took him a moment to realise that it wasn't sand, but thousands of tiny crystalline shapes.

And they were moving.

Fidgeting.

There was no mistaking it: this was the hivemind. Artemis took a sudden step back. And another. Then he looked up. The roof of the cave was alive. So were the walls. More and more tiny crystals emerged from every nook and cranny, sliding over each other as though anxious to greet their guests.

There weren't thousands. There were billions. And their movement was growing more restless with every moment that passed. They weren't fidgeting anymore. They were seething.

Towards Artemis.

The boy backed up. "Holly?"

"I see it, Artemis." The elf's voice was tight, and Artemis didn't need to turn to know that she had her neutrino drawn. Not that it would be any help. "What do we do?"

Artemis paused his retreat. "Wait," he called. He squinted into the seething mass. Their migration had revealed something previously hidden. An altar. Covered in symbols and pulsing with magic. Dark magic. He pointed. "That's it! That alter is Opal's, it has to be. She's possessing the hivemind. That's how she's controlling it!"

"Artemis!"

The boy looked down just in time to see the seething mass of crystals about to reach his feet. He yelped and leapt back.

"Holly. Explosives. Now. We bury it with fire. For now, at least."

"How many?"

Artemis took a split second to consider, still backing away from the hivemind. "Two."

"Only?"

"We need the rest."

Holly didn't bother questioning him. There wasn't time, and she had learned over the years that when there wasn't time, listening to Artemis was almost invariably the right call. She took a pair of grapefruit sized spheres from the bag clipped onto her moonbelt and punched a sixty second countdown into each. Both devices started beeping innocently and she tossed them into seething mass of crystals.

"Come on, Artemis," she called. "Let's get the hell out of this place."

Artemis didn't need telling twice. He broke into a run, or the closest thing he could manage in his condition. He reached the others, and together they made a break for the caves through which they had entered.

"Wait." Faced with an unfamiliar mess of rock and passages, Artemis skidded to a halt, clutching his bitten shoulder. It hurt like hell. "Which way?"

Natalya pushed past him. "I never forget a path. Follow me."

The Russian girl started clambering away from them. Nobody bothered to question her. It was her life on the line as well, after all. Behind them, the hivemind followed, its progress marked by the hiss of cascading sand. It took the four of them about thirty seconds to make it back to the passage they had originally been following. As soon as their feet hit smooth ground, they ran hard, Artemis being dragged along by Butler, putting as much distance between themselves and the explosives as possible.

Detonation came as they reached the turbine room. Deep beneath them, flames blossomed and energy spiked. Rock shattered. Destruction thundered into every open space it could find.

Artemis stumbled and almost fell as the ground beneath his feet shook. Behind him, the passageway through which they had escaped collapsed. By the sounds of things, the room they were in was about to follow suit.

Before he could comment, a hand grabbed him and yanked him forwards. A moment later, a chunk of the roof smashed into the ground where he had just been stood. He was surprised to find that the arm belonged to Natalya.

"Err, thanks."

Natalya ignored him, already heading for the exit. Artemis and the others were hot on her heels. More of the ceiling was coming down. If they stayed here any longer, they were dead.

The four of them burst out into the next passage, narrowly avoiding being crushed under collapsing rock. They didn't stop. The temple was still shaking, and their footsteps were punctuated with the sound of falling debris. It wasn't until they arrived back outside the temple entrance that they paused to catch their breath.

"Fowl." Natalya was to the point as always. "What now?"

Artemis was too busy sucking in lungfuls of air to respond. One hand clutched a stitch in his chest, the other was clamped over his wounded shoulder. The pain was getting worse.

Natalya sighed and raised her hand, a lonely pair of black sparks hovering on her fingers. She brought the hand to Artemis's shoulder and the sparks sank into his skin. The wound didn't close fully, but the pain did fade. Artemis breathed a sigh of relief.

Holly looked offended. "That's it?"

Natalya shrugged, unapologetic. "I'm still recovering. I'll need every edge I can get my hands if I'm going to take down Opal. Assuming that's what you're going to ask me to do, Fowl?"

Artemis nodded. Holly looked unimpressed.

"She's a pixie," she scoffed. "She's not even half your height."

Natalya's eyes were hard. "She's powerful, desperate and insane. And probably guarded by the Fallen. And I can't risk killing her. But if that sounds easy to you, go ahead, you can fight her."

Holly opened her mouth to respond, but Artemis got there first.

"Everyone be quiet. We don't have time for this. Opal will be here soon, and I doubt that was enough to do more than slow down the hivemind. We're still fighting a war on two fronts. We have to be ready."

Holly and Natalya glared at each other for a moment, then turned to Artemis. They both nodded.

Artemis smiled. "Very well. This is what we do…"

Opal strode into the Dead City like a victorious queen returning from war, legions of Fallen at her heels. Borne aloft by magic, she floated upwards, over the ruins, hunting a vantage point. A once grand structure, far taller than those that surrounded it, winked at her from the gloom. A hotel, maybe, or administrative building. Not that it mattered. She floated over, settling on high a balcony, and surveyed the ruined city. The Fallen followed, milling around the building's base, waiting for her command to attack.

It didn't take long to spot Artemis Fowl and his friends. They stood alone at the bottom of the temple's steps, defiant, as though their deaths weren't inevitable. Perfect. Two humans and an elf against all the wrath of the Fallen, with no reinforcements forthcoming. It seemed that the wretched LEP had finally abandoned Captain Short to her fate.

Oh, I'm going to enjoy this.

"Fowl," she called, her voice easily carrying over the hundred or so metres between her and her enemies. "Ever the nuisance. Are you ready to be torn apart?"

"Give it up, Koboi," Artemis shouted back. "It doesn't matter what happens anymore. The hivemind has been destroyed. You have lost."

Opal giggled. "I think not. You didn't honestly expect a little explosion like would be enough, did you?"

Artemis's confidence dropped a fraction. Not much, but enough for Opal's keen eyes to pick up on it. She smiled internally. She always was good at reading people.

"We filled the cave it was occupying with – what would you say, Holly? The equivalent of about half a megaton of TNT?" Holly Short nodded. "Doesn't sound like a small explosion to me."

Opal shook her head. "Sure, it was big enough for me to feel. It hurt, by the way. I hope you're proud of yourselves for that. But it was nowhere near enough to actually kill the hivemind." She raised her arms wide, smiling. "How do you think I'm still in control?"

Artemis's mask of confidence evaporated. He turned to Holly Short and asked a frantic question that Opal couldn't hear. The elf nodded and patted a bag clipped onto her belt. It looked full. Opal noticed that Fowl's bodyguard was carrying an identical bag. She wondered what they contained.

Artemis continued speaking to Short. A moment later, the elf nodded again, and Fowl's bodyguard passed her his bag to her as well.

Opal frowned. "What's going on?" she called.

Short ignored her, turning and disappearing up the steps and into the temple.

"Tell me what you're up to, Fowl," shouted Opal, her patience running thin. "What's in those bags?"

Artemis's composure slipped and for a moment he was grinning like a guilty schoolboy. He shrugged.

"No idea what you mean, Opal."

Opal was opening her mouth to shout back when it hit her. Explosives. That's what was in the bags. Artemis hadn't run out, he had just assumed that the hivemind was already dead. And now he had sent Holly back with the rest. From the looks of things, it might even be enough to kill the hivemind. The blood drained from her face.

"Something wrong, Opal?" taunted Artemis.

Opal pointed a shaking finger in Artemis's direction. "Storm the temple!" she screeched. "Protect your master!"

Artemis started backing away as a few hundred former humans started swarming towards him and Butler.

"I think, old friend," he said quietly. "That it is time to leave."

Butler nodded. "Agreed."

The two of them turned tail and retreated to the temple. Holly's voice immediately called from the shadows.

"She bought it?"

Artemis smiled. "Naturally."

The elf didn't waste time on celebrations. "How many are coming for us?"

"Two hundred. Maybe more."

"D'Arvit." Holly let go of the bags she was holding, letting the rocks inside spill out over the temple floor. The real explosives had been laid at strategic points all over the city. When the time came, they would be able to collapse the entire thing into the lava below, temple and all. The hivemind would be destroyed at last. But they had to take care of Opal first. "What about Opal? Is she coming?"

"Didn't look like it."

Holly took a breath. They could hear the formers outside getting closer. "No Opal. OK. Good." She drew the knives Butler had given her when they first arrived in Shangri-La. "We can do this."

"I hope you're right," muttered Artemis. "Come on, we should start moving. Up is our best bet. Most of the Fallen will head straight to down to try and reach the hivemind. The further we are from it, the less we'll have to deal with."

Opal clutched the balcony rails as she watched the Fallen swarm the temple, her knuckles turning white. She couldn't fail now. She had come so far. Would it be possible for Short to destroy the creature? She wasn't sure. Maybe. What would become of her then? Would the Fallen still obey her? She had developed a connection with them. They were like family now. Surely they wouldn't desert her…?

Except if they did. They were dead things, after all. Corpses held upright by a combination of her hatred and the hivemind's will to dominate. Maybe they wouldn't even continue to live without the hivemind. If you could call what they did living.

She couldn't believe she had been so foolish. She had stood there and taunted Fowl, told him that his plan hadn't worked, and given him the chance to come up with a new one. She could have had the Fallen tear them apart while they still believed the hivemind dead. It would have been easy. But instead she had landed herself in this mess.

Almost every warrior she had at her disposal had been sent into the temple. All she could hope was that they reached the hivemind before Holly Short did.

"Hello, Mother."

The voice was soft. Russian and unfamiliar. Opal spun. There was a girl stood in the doorway behind her. A girl with two swords strapped to her back and a face she had seen once before, gaunt and scarred and strapped to an operating table.

"You…" she whispered.

"Me."

"I… I know you. You were at New Dawn."

The girl stepped forward, eyes blazing with hatred. "Oh, I know. I remember."

Opal felt the blood drain from her face all over again. "This can't be possible. New Dawn was destroyed. All my research… gone. All my scientists dead, my servants lost. And you, you are meant to be mine."

The girl took another step. "You made me to be unstoppable. Mission accomplished. You made yourself a monster. But no monster is content to stay caged forever."

"They told me you were resistant. You broke my hold."

"I did. And I burned every last wretched corner of that hellhole, slaughtered every last one of your wretched accomplices. And then I caught up with you. It took a long time. Years. But it was worth it. The look of fear, of utter terror on your face before you died." The girl smiled. "Now that was true beauty."

"What do you mean when I died…" Opal trailed off, realisation washing over her face like a plague. "It was you," she said, her voice shaking with quiet fury. "In Russia. You murdered my future self."

The girl's smile widened. "You didn't think your sins were going to stay in the past, did you? You didn't think the world was going to forgive them, did you?"

Opal snapped. "How dare you! You are mine! My creation! My slave! I command you to stop!"

The girl laughed. "I'm not your whore anymore, Opal. My name is Natalya. And soon I will be free of you. Forever."

Opal shook her head. "No. Soon you will be dead, and my future will be avenged."

Opal raised her hand, electricity coiling around her wrist, but Natalya moved faster than anyone she had ever seen, twisting past the lightning bolt even as it was released and slamming a kick into Opal's chest. Bones snapped and the pixie tumbled backwards over the railings and suddenly there was nothing between her and the ground. She screamed all the way down, clutching her shattered ribs and desperately calling for her magic to dampen the inevitable landing.

Natalya leapt after her, hit the ground hard, rolled, came up with a sword in each hand. Blue-black sparks were already dancing across Opal's injured chest, healing the damage. Natalya ran straight for her. She couldn't give the pixie time to recover.

Forcing herself up, Opal spotted Natalya charging at her and fired off an optimistic bolt of magic, forcing Natalya to dive aside. Grateful for the brief respite, Opal finished getting to her feet and reached out with her mind, tried calling the Fallen back to her, but she could sense their indecision, torn between saving their master and their mistress. She sent another bolt Natalya's way, but the Russian girl was ready this time and dodged easily.

Opal tried summoning a fireball, but Natalya was one step ahead, throwing one of her swords straight at Opal. The pixie was far too slow to move and went down screaming with the blade in her thigh. Natalya followed up with a fireball, and then another. Only one connected, but it was enough, exploding against Opal's chest and coating her in flame.

Writhing desperately, Opal tried to call her magic, tried to put out the flames, but then Natalya was one her, hazy through the flames, sword in hand. Opal lashed out with a fist full of fire, blind instinct guiding her. The blow connected and sent Natalya staggering, burned and cursing. Opal closed her eyes for a heartbeat, using her magic to collect all of the flames that had taken hold of her into a sphere. She opened her eyes, forced a smile, and sent the fireball Natalya's way.

The Russian girl blinked, sidestepped, threw a fireball of her own. But her aim was off and Opal didn't even have to move to avoid being hit. The pixie laughed, raising her hand, palm out. An invisible wall of air slammed into Natalya, sending her stumbling.

Opal followed up with another bolt of lightning that passed millimetres from Natalya's head, knowing she couldn't risk letting the Russian girl bring the fight back to close quarters. She reached down to her leg and tore Natalya's sword free. The blade clattered to the ground, magical sparks already closing the wound.

"You can't beat me," Opal called, hatred twisting her pretty features. "I made you. I own you. You're a tool, nothing more. A thing. An animal. And you'll be put down as such."

Natalya hurled another pair of fireballs but Opal just waved her hand and the air between them shimmered blue. Both fireballs exploded harmlessly against the sudden force field. The Russian girl tried again, this time grabbing a chunk of rubble and throwing it with enough force to buckle armour plating. It hit the shield and shattered into nothing more than dust.

Opal laughed. "You see? I'm more powerful than you. You had the element of surprise, but you squandered it, allowed me to heal. Silly girl."

Natalya growled, but refused to allow Opal's goading to distract her. She raised a hand, concentrating on the ruined house behind Opal, and reached out with her mind. A loose brick pulled itself free and rose into the air.

Opal Koboi frowned, unaware of what was happening behind her. "What are you doing? Don't you realise you can't get through my shield?"

Natalya grunted, focusing all her energy on controlling the floating brick. "I'm not trying to get through your shield."

Even as the penny was dropping, the brick slammed into Opal's shoulder, sending her staggering and crying out in pain. The forcefield instantly disappeared. It wasn't the headshot Natalya had been aiming for, but it was good enough, and already she was following up, bringing the fight to Opal.

The pixie backed up, in too much pain to concentrate on conjuring another shield, frantically dodging Natalya's fireballs as she willed her shoulder to heal. She fired off a desperate lightning bolt, missed, and then Natalya was on her, sword swinging for her throat.

Opal cursed, ducked back, narrowly avoiding the blade. She might be powerful, but she was nothing compared to Natalya in close quarters. The Russian girl swung again and Opal tried to raise her hand, tried to shove Natalya away with magic, but then the blade flashed, cutting through the pixie's forearm like it was nothing.

The hand fell, cleanly severed.

Pain registered and Opal screamed and screamed and Natalya moved in, the sword entering Opal's chest between the third and fourth ribs. The pixie continued howling. Natalya twisted the blade and Opal's screams reached new heights.

"That," spat Natalya. "Was for New Dawn."

Opal forced her scream into a growl, rational thoughts fighting through the haze of pain. Fear turned to rage. She poured magic into her remaining hand and slammed a supercharged fist into Natalya. Caught unawares, the Russian girl shot back and smashed through a ruined wall. What was left of the surrounding structure collapsed on her broken body. She didn't get back up.

Opal fell to her knees, gasping as she pulled the sword from her chest and cast it aside. The pain was extraordinary, but she knew she didn't have time or magic to waste dampening it. Gritting her teeth, she crawled over her fallen hand. If she was quick, it could be reattached. She picked it up with her remaining hand and held it against the bloody stump on her other arm, siphoning magic away from healing her other wounds. The sparks scurried down her arm and leapt onto the severed hand. Tendons grew and skin reformed. It cost her valuable time and enough magic to tire her, but after a few minutes, Opal's arm was whole again.

The pixie flexed her fingers and smiled grimly, forcing herself to her feet as the hole in her chest continued to heal. She looked over at Natalya. The Russian girl was rising from the wreckage, shaking off a blow that would have been fatal to any ordinary human. But then, it wasn't clear how much human was left in Natalya. Opal had seen to that.

Opal raised her good hand to send a lightning bolt Natalya's way before she could get her bearings back, but she was weak and her hand shook and the bolt went wide. She cursed and made to try again, but Natalya come at her like a freight train, murder in her eyes. The Russian girl ducked the fireball Opal threw and smashed into her, taking her off her feet. Opal landed painfully, rolled, just about managed to find her feet again. She swayed slightly. The cuts and grazes she had just picked up refused to close over.

Natalya laughed. "Not so strong now, are you? All that healing, really takes it out of you, doesn't it?"

"I'll recover," Opal spat. "I'll tear you apart."

A few former humans finally returned from the temple and made to attack Natalya, but she tore through them in seconds, hatred lending her even more savagery than usual.

"I don't think so," the Russian girl said. "You used to have much power coursing through you, but look at you now. You can barely stand."

Opal tried to summon fire, but she couldn't concentrate. Healing two major injuries had robbed her of most of her power. Natalya crossed over to her and slammed a fist into her face. Opal's world rocked and the ground rushed up to meet her. As her vision cleared, the pixie saw Natalya standing over her, beautiful even now, condescending smirk firmly in place.

"Accept it, Opal. You have lost."

Opal shook her head, all her dreams of vengeance flashing past her eyes. "No."

"No?"

"No!" the pixie screamed, slamming a fist into ground like a petulant child who didn't like the way a game was being played. "This is not how it was supposed end! I was supposed to be a god! I was supposed to be unstoppable!"

Opal reached deep within herself, right into her iron core, summoning all her fury, all her spite, all her desire for vengeance and destruction and let it flood her body. Let it consume her. A hundred years of hatred coursed through her veins, collecting every single spark of magic she had left, every last vestige of power, bringing it forth. Her hands glowed white and then lightning burst from her fingertips to Natalya, a constant stream of electricity connecting pixie and human.

Natalya instinctively, raising her hands against the torrent, and then the lightning was on her, the energy storming through her, electrifying every nerve in her body. She staggered against the onslaught, screaming, the pain beyond anything she had ever experienced. Magic flooded her body, healing the damage even as it registered, but already she could feel her power dwindling. In seconds, she would run out and then Opal would burn her alive from the inside out.

Opal let the lightning keep flowing, watching Natalya scream and falter.

"Unstoppable!" she shrieked, madness lending her resolve. She cackled, watching the lightning thrash and coil, a beast far too strong to be tamed by the likes of her. It spread hungrily, leaping at anything it could reach, blasting debris and electrifying the dead formers. But Opal was too close to Natalya, and already the lightning was pouncing on her, too, indiscriminate in its path of destruction. She screamed at is coursed through her, frying her body. Suddenly her magic was divided, half trying to keep her alive, half trying to keep up the flood of lightning. Opal did her best to maintain both, but she was too weak, in too much pain, and then the lightning was gone. Opal collapsed back on the cobbles, her magic spent, every last drop of it. Residual charge arced through her body as her consciousness slipped away.

A/N: Can anyone guess the inspiration for the ending of the chapter? ;)

So that's it. Opal defeated. What happens now? Maybe everyone lives happily ever after? Or maybe you've got to know me a little too well to expect that…

In any case, I'd be chuffed if you left me a review. Basically just let me know if there's still anyone paying attention to this or if I'm just updating into the void at this point. Not that I'd have anyone else to blame if I was.

-Kio