Disclamer: I do not own Artemis Fowl, so please don't sue.
Excavate
By FairyDragonShadow
Chapter 3 - Trash Cove
A lanky gray soldier cautiously walked up to the trapped
elf, gun poised and ready, just in case. One foot after
another, his boots slapping onto the stone ground. But he
never got there. Half-way, he suddenly slumped over and
collapsed, with the slightest groaning sound.
It took all of them a moment to figure out what had just
happened. Someone had shot this guy. But who?
As if on cue, a stranger came out of the shadows in one of
the alleys. White coat, long shotgun, machine gun, and ice-
cold eyes. He was the first to speak.
"May I join the party?"
And that broke the silence. All the attention was on him,
and so were the guns. Fortunately, they all had normal
shotguns, and could not shoot repeatedly, and the stranger
easily jumped out of the way. Gun shots rang out, hitting
the cement walls, a CLANG when hit on a metal can, and an
occasional CLICK when the soldiers inserted new ammo. But
all of them were no match to him. Nimbly dodging all the
bullets, he jumped behind a trash can, and then put his
machine gun in action. The gray Mud People fell like dead
flies out of the sky, and soon, all of them were down,
never to rise again.
After a couple more seconds, the young man came out behind
the can, smiling triumphantly.
'No,' Holly thought, 'He's smirking. Now he's gonna take
me prisoner. Maybe it'll be better than getting caught by
the soldiers.'
She glanced at him, seeing his dangerous long fully-loaded
shotgun, slung half-heartedly over his shoulder.
'Okay...maybe NOT better...' Holly reconsidered.
The captain's hand moved slowly to her hip, where her own
gun was.
"Didn't you hear them?" The young man spoke, his eyes on
her.
Holly jumped. His voice was cold as his eyes. "Hear what?"
Captain Short tried her best to keep her voice under
control and shaking. She tried.
The stranger stared at her. Holly was petrified. "Hear them
say, 'Don't try reaching for your little gun, either' I
quote."
Finally, he looked away, and switched his eyes at his
gloved hands.
Now Holly relaxed. "I don't have to follow their rules." It
was a lie. When directions were given to a fairy, they had
to obey it.
The stranger chuckled. "Oh, really? And you don't think I
know that you're a fairy? Excuse me, an elf specifically."
Holly started to sweat. "So you have found out about us..."
Suddenly, she remembered who was the one responsible for
this, and gritted out angrily, "That Artemis Fowl is going
to pay. I bet he had let the secret out. Mud People are
bad at that."
Again, he laughed. "Do you not remember me...Captain Short?"
The man watched her again.
Holly's eyes widened. "Y-you? A-Artemis Fowl? B-but?" She
managed to stutter.
"I'm glad you finally recognized me, Captain." Artemis'
eyes gleamed. "Surprised?"
"B-but everything's changed!"
"What?" He spread out his arms.
"Well, to start off, how did you learn how to use firearm?"
Artemis smirked. "Didn't you expect me to learn? Anyways,
guns are survival now. If you don't have one, you're not
going to last long." Fowl patted his auto-gun.
"And yourself - you've changed!"
He smirked. "For better or worse?"
"I see you've also picked up a sense of humor."
"Well...after eight years since seeing you last...surely I
should have changed. You didn't think I'd stay as a little
boy for long."
"I know, but still...And who WERE those guys? I almost died
back there!"
"You're right...it's still dangerous. BlueS can come any
minute now...and I can't take any more on...Follow me."
Artemis turned and started jogging down one of the alleys.
"W-wait!" Holly ran to catch up. "What about -"
"Can it wait? We're still in a chance of getting killed.
Just hold on until we get to my place." Artemis ran faster,
turning this way and that, meandering through the turns and
paths. Right, left, straight, left, left, straight, right,
left, right, left, right, right, straight, right, straight,
it was almost like a maze. Since he was wearing white, it
was easy for Captain Short to follow him.
'I've come here to kill him...and he saves me. Huh. What am
I going to do now? No, let it wait. Just let it wait.'
* * *
They soon got to a dead end. It was messy, with empty boxes
and trash everywhere.
"Is THIS where you live?" Holly asked.
"Do you think so?" Artemis kicked a can away. "Why would I
live in this crap?"
After sorting through some papers and going around garbage
bags, the came to a pile of more trash. But there was a
large, rectangular wood piece. Artemis took his
finger-less gloved hands and lifted the table slowly.
"Here, I'll help." Captain Short walked beside him and
lifted the heavy piece of wood with him. Underneath, there
was more junk.
"And?" Holly asked.
Fowl ignored her and swatted some papers away. Underneath,
there was a corner. Using that as a grip, he lifted it, and
Holly saw that all the so called "junk" was glued onto a
platform, that you could lift off. Underneath, there were
three buttons, red, yellow, and blue. All three colors were
faded. Now Artemis thought, and pressed the buttons in a
certain order: red, blue, red, yellow, blue, red, blue,
red, yellow, blue, red, red, yellow, blue, yellow, blue,
and so on. There was a CLICK sound after he finished, and
a voice asked, "Pass?"
Artemis hastily answered, "Trash Cove. Out."
The same mechanical voice said, "Wrong pass." Pause. "Pass?"
"Underground Slum. Out." Fowl answered again.
Another CLICK, and that also lifted automatically,
revealing a staircase, leading down. There was no light,
and it seemed the steps were leading down to nothing.
"Come on. We're almost there." He looked at Holly. His eyes
didn't seem so hard now. "You go down first. I'll watch
from the back to see if any BlueS had followed us."
"BlueS?" Captain Short asked.
"BlueS are the guys that was dressed in crap that almost
blew your head off back there."
Holly nodded and started descending.
A/N: Yeesh...there I go again. Do I make the chapters short
or something? Or are they too long?
Thank you to all those people who are reading my little fic
and...er...thanks!
Review!
^_~
-FairyDragonShadow
3/2/2002
Excavate
By FairyDragonShadow
Chapter 3 - Trash Cove
A lanky gray soldier cautiously walked up to the trapped
elf, gun poised and ready, just in case. One foot after
another, his boots slapping onto the stone ground. But he
never got there. Half-way, he suddenly slumped over and
collapsed, with the slightest groaning sound.
It took all of them a moment to figure out what had just
happened. Someone had shot this guy. But who?
As if on cue, a stranger came out of the shadows in one of
the alleys. White coat, long shotgun, machine gun, and ice-
cold eyes. He was the first to speak.
"May I join the party?"
And that broke the silence. All the attention was on him,
and so were the guns. Fortunately, they all had normal
shotguns, and could not shoot repeatedly, and the stranger
easily jumped out of the way. Gun shots rang out, hitting
the cement walls, a CLANG when hit on a metal can, and an
occasional CLICK when the soldiers inserted new ammo. But
all of them were no match to him. Nimbly dodging all the
bullets, he jumped behind a trash can, and then put his
machine gun in action. The gray Mud People fell like dead
flies out of the sky, and soon, all of them were down,
never to rise again.
After a couple more seconds, the young man came out behind
the can, smiling triumphantly.
'No,' Holly thought, 'He's smirking. Now he's gonna take
me prisoner. Maybe it'll be better than getting caught by
the soldiers.'
She glanced at him, seeing his dangerous long fully-loaded
shotgun, slung half-heartedly over his shoulder.
'Okay...maybe NOT better...' Holly reconsidered.
The captain's hand moved slowly to her hip, where her own
gun was.
"Didn't you hear them?" The young man spoke, his eyes on
her.
Holly jumped. His voice was cold as his eyes. "Hear what?"
Captain Short tried her best to keep her voice under
control and shaking. She tried.
The stranger stared at her. Holly was petrified. "Hear them
say, 'Don't try reaching for your little gun, either' I
quote."
Finally, he looked away, and switched his eyes at his
gloved hands.
Now Holly relaxed. "I don't have to follow their rules." It
was a lie. When directions were given to a fairy, they had
to obey it.
The stranger chuckled. "Oh, really? And you don't think I
know that you're a fairy? Excuse me, an elf specifically."
Holly started to sweat. "So you have found out about us..."
Suddenly, she remembered who was the one responsible for
this, and gritted out angrily, "That Artemis Fowl is going
to pay. I bet he had let the secret out. Mud People are
bad at that."
Again, he laughed. "Do you not remember me...Captain Short?"
The man watched her again.
Holly's eyes widened. "Y-you? A-Artemis Fowl? B-but?" She
managed to stutter.
"I'm glad you finally recognized me, Captain." Artemis'
eyes gleamed. "Surprised?"
"B-but everything's changed!"
"What?" He spread out his arms.
"Well, to start off, how did you learn how to use firearm?"
Artemis smirked. "Didn't you expect me to learn? Anyways,
guns are survival now. If you don't have one, you're not
going to last long." Fowl patted his auto-gun.
"And yourself - you've changed!"
He smirked. "For better or worse?"
"I see you've also picked up a sense of humor."
"Well...after eight years since seeing you last...surely I
should have changed. You didn't think I'd stay as a little
boy for long."
"I know, but still...And who WERE those guys? I almost died
back there!"
"You're right...it's still dangerous. BlueS can come any
minute now...and I can't take any more on...Follow me."
Artemis turned and started jogging down one of the alleys.
"W-wait!" Holly ran to catch up. "What about -"
"Can it wait? We're still in a chance of getting killed.
Just hold on until we get to my place." Artemis ran faster,
turning this way and that, meandering through the turns and
paths. Right, left, straight, left, left, straight, right,
left, right, left, right, right, straight, right, straight,
it was almost like a maze. Since he was wearing white, it
was easy for Captain Short to follow him.
'I've come here to kill him...and he saves me. Huh. What am
I going to do now? No, let it wait. Just let it wait.'
* * *
They soon got to a dead end. It was messy, with empty boxes
and trash everywhere.
"Is THIS where you live?" Holly asked.
"Do you think so?" Artemis kicked a can away. "Why would I
live in this crap?"
After sorting through some papers and going around garbage
bags, the came to a pile of more trash. But there was a
large, rectangular wood piece. Artemis took his
finger-less gloved hands and lifted the table slowly.
"Here, I'll help." Captain Short walked beside him and
lifted the heavy piece of wood with him. Underneath, there
was more junk.
"And?" Holly asked.
Fowl ignored her and swatted some papers away. Underneath,
there was a corner. Using that as a grip, he lifted it, and
Holly saw that all the so called "junk" was glued onto a
platform, that you could lift off. Underneath, there were
three buttons, red, yellow, and blue. All three colors were
faded. Now Artemis thought, and pressed the buttons in a
certain order: red, blue, red, yellow, blue, red, blue,
red, yellow, blue, red, red, yellow, blue, yellow, blue,
and so on. There was a CLICK sound after he finished, and
a voice asked, "Pass?"
Artemis hastily answered, "Trash Cove. Out."
The same mechanical voice said, "Wrong pass." Pause. "Pass?"
"Underground Slum. Out." Fowl answered again.
Another CLICK, and that also lifted automatically,
revealing a staircase, leading down. There was no light,
and it seemed the steps were leading down to nothing.
"Come on. We're almost there." He looked at Holly. His eyes
didn't seem so hard now. "You go down first. I'll watch
from the back to see if any BlueS had followed us."
"BlueS?" Captain Short asked.
"BlueS are the guys that was dressed in crap that almost
blew your head off back there."
Holly nodded and started descending.
A/N: Yeesh...there I go again. Do I make the chapters short
or something? Or are they too long?
Thank you to all those people who are reading my little fic
and...er...thanks!
Review!
^_~
-FairyDragonShadow
3/2/2002