**Well, I really worked hard on this one …. Let's see how this turns
out ….**
**Kree**
Captain Holly Short strolled down the LEPrecon headquarters hallway down to her own little office. Ever since the "B'wa Kell" incident five years ago, she was promoted to second in command, just under Commander Root. The first female officer in history to have made it this far. She proudly opened the door, walked leisurely to her desk, and sat down on her nice, soft, swivel chair.
She remembered what it had been like years ago, coming into the LEP headquarters. Though she would always be on time, Root's beet purple face would always be in hers, yelling at her for being "late". There would be captains later than her and her Commander would /still/ yell at her. But then after the "Fowl" incident, he never got on her case that often, and actually respected her. It was strange how all of that changed, and now she would hardly ever hear a yell from Commander Root now. She closed her eyes and relaxed …
If only her life as a Captain could only be this simple.
Commander Root opened her door and stepped inside. Holly immediately opened her eyes and pretended that she was just about to turn on the computer systems in her office. She weakly smiled at Commander Root, seeing if she could get away with "sleeping" on the job.
"Hello, Commander Root." She said quickly.
"Captain Short …" Root grinned as he walked by her desk. She straightened up, trying to look professional. She hadn't changed a bit. She had her auburn hair tied up and her LEP suit fitting her quite muscular body perfectly. She was still defying and arguing with him, but he won most of the time and he seemed to accept it now a lot more. "I have a little assignment for you …"
Holly hid a groan. "What is it, Commander?"
"Do you know Private Chix?" He leaned against her desk.
Holly couldn't hide that groan. Of course she knew Private Chix. Everyone knew how he felt about her, and he thought he was absolutely irresistible. She remembered the last time she saved his life: he acted as if he knew she would always save him. She rolled her eyes just thinking about him. She spent most of the day avoiding him.
"Yes sir." She finally answered.
"Well, he has fully recovered from the "B'wa Kell" incident." He continued, while inspecting her system.
"Oh, that's good." Holly knew how most of the time, he had aids to help move his left arm, and how he was blind in his right eye.
"And the Council has given consent to let him fly again."
"Fly? Really? Great. Wonderful. I'm so happy for him." Holly said without a care.
"I want you to supervise his flight."
Holly's jaw dropped. "What? You've got to be kidding? /Supervise/ his flight??? Supervise? Commander, I'm not a babysitter. He must still remember how to fly! He knows the controls! It was only five years ago, Commander!" Holly whined.
"And he's a sprite, Short, a sprite. You know how they behave! You know how they get distracted! You know they tend to disobey orders and do what they please!" Root argued.
"Like me?" Holly smirked.
"Yeah, like you, but they're a different case."
"Commander, I am not, not, NOT going in. Can't you get another pilot to retrain him and "baby-sit" him?" Holly complained.
"Holly," Commander Root grinned, with Holly nearly pumped with fear when he said her real name. "Why should I get another pilot to train him when I can easily get and order the best pilot in all of Haven to do it?"
Holly groaned. Her Commander had won.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I love it when we're cruising together!" Private Chix Verbil sang as he steered the pod's controls.
"I don't." Holly shook her head, nearly about to hit it against the window. She couldn't stand this. "Verbil, I can't believe you actually listen to Mud People music. It's revolting to even think about."
"I dunno about that, Capt'n." He grinned. "It kind of has a catchy tune to me." He liked glancing at Holly every now and then. Holly /was/ pretty, it was kind of obvious to see. He wanted to see her face every chance he could get.
"Chix, just pay attention. You got one chance, I suggest you don't waste it or you'll be taking out trash for the rest of your sprite life." She sighed, and wondered if Root did this just to torture her. He probably did.
"Hey Holly, can we stop by over a restaurant and get somethin' to eat?" He asked.
"No, Private. This is a training session in flying. Not a training session in eating. I don't want to get sick watching you eat."
"Is it me, or have you grown taller?" Chix tried to compliment.
Holly sniggered. It was the most stupid thing to ask. Sure, mostly every LEP agent was taller now, because of the new potion Foaly had just invented. The "groce" it was called and it increased their height by a lot. Instead of Holly being just a centimeter under three feet, she was now way above five. So was a lot of fairies Underground nowadays.
Chix smiled and took the controls and spun the pod upside down and then right side up again. He smiled, liking the bit of pleasure he just had. Holly, who was surprised by the sudden "ride" banged against the window. She groaned and glared at Chix. "Private Chix, you better hope to Frond that Foaly doesn't know about that or you're a dead sprite."
"I do." Spoke a voice on the intercom. "Foaly know everything." Foaly laughed.
Holly shrugged at Chix. "Good luck passing the Council's test now."
"Well, actually …" Foaly started. "Root and I made a little bet … if Chix would pass or not and I bet on Chix. Sorry Holly, but I /might/ just let that pass by."
"God, Foaly, you're annoying." Holly gritted her teeth.
"Hey, that's what I'm here for."
Chix and Holly flew around for another hour. It seemed like forever for Holly, absolutely having a nightmare, but for Chix, time flew right by. He enjoyed every second of it. Holly counted each second that went by until she would have to "order" Chix to stop and land.
It was that second.
Holly tried to hide a grin. "Okay, let's see if you can still land, do you remember?" Holly asked.
"Of course I do. How could I ever forget?" Chix boasted.
Holly quickly scanned for a clear space where they could land. She spotted a wide deserted ally way and pointed to it. Chix flew the pod over to that area, and slowly, he landed perfectly.
"Great job, Verbil." Holly jumped out of the pod. He did the same, trying to impress her. "And now for the next test."
"And what's that?"
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Ready?" Chix scoffed. "Of course I am."
"We now walk to LEP headquarters."
"What? That's a whole two hievgs (2.5 human miles)! Can't we just use the pod?" Chix whined.
"Oh Verbil, you've been babied with the gift of flight. You can't get too attached to it. You've got to learn how to walk on your own two strong legs that you were given!" Holly grinned.
Chix groaned. He knew he was going to pass out even before they had finished on hievg. What an impression that would make.
However, he somehow, somehow, did seem to make it anyway. Of course, with a little help from Holly, he managed to walk 1.5 hievgs until they stopped to rest. They were right near the E37, the pressurized elevator that led up to the Mud People's world. To be specific, it led to Paris, but that didn't seem to matter anyway. They sat by a bench, resting for maybe five minutes. Chix was out of breath, breathing heavily, so to quiet him down, Holly gave him a water bottle.
"Thanks." Chix took the water bottle and chugged it down. He offered some to her, but she instantaneously refused. First of all, she didn't need it. She was accustomed to walking these long distances without water. Second of all, /he/, Chix, just drank it.
The E37 doors opened, but the passengers were not fairies ….
They were Mud Men.
How the hell did they get into the elevators? Holly screamed that thought in her mind. What traitor told them about the People? Holly immediately grabbed Chix and pulled him aside to an alley. She held up a walkie talkie device to her mouth. "Foaly! We have Mud Men on E37, repeat, Mud Men on E37 with weapons! Send down a troop now!" She was nearly yelling.
"Roger that." For once, Foaly seemed serious. She heard him ordering a troop, and he was yelling too. This was a serious issue. No time for his smart mouth to kick in.
"Mud Men?" Chix stuttered.
"Yup, we've got ourselves a serious group of twenty Mud Men, Chix. Get out your Neutrino 4000 now and get ready for your first bit of action." Holly popped out her own Neutrino 4000 and got her index finger ready for a shooting position.
"You mean we're gonna shoot?" Chix trembled, for once looking weak and scared.
"Of course not, we're gonna play tag with them! What do you think, Verbil? Of course we're gonna shoot!"
Chix looked as if he was going out cold.
Holly sighed. "What's wrong Chix?"
It took him a while to answer, and he looked embarrassed. "I've … I've never shot a living thing in my entire life."
Holly was nearly cracking up. "Never? In all eight years?"
"Only in practice." He swallowed.
Holly thought for a moment. "Chix, let's make this a little easier. Let's pretend that Mud Man over there is the person you absolutely hate the most. Pretend how much you would like to wring your hands around his or her neck." Holly started. "And then …" She pretended to sound like she really meant it. "Think of it as /doing it for me/."
Chix grinned. "Okay."
Holly weakly smiled and when Chix turned away, she was nearing vomiting about what she last said. Pretty pathetic, but it worked well for fooling this sprite.
"Verbil, stay here and shoot from here. I'll take the other side. I know how to cross /much/ better than you."
Chix nodded, actually agreeing with her for once.
She looked at her pointer finger, where one single scar rang across it horizontally. "Artemis, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to shoot this gun." She whispered to herself. "I'll do this for you." So Holly ran to the other side of the Mud Men, shooting one as she ran. The rest of the Mud Men started shooting her. They missed and Holly didn't worry that much until … The blast from the gun forced her flying into the ground. Though her reflexes were quick, she did not expect this. Her lip began to bleed, but she quickly got to the other side.
Holly was astonished. Flabbergasted. How did these humans all of a sudden get such advanced weapons? All they had to do was shoot it near the target, and it would cause an explosion anyway. They weren't that advanced yet. The last time Holly went up there was just a week ago, and there was no advancement of the human race.
The LEP troops got there, led by Captain Trouble Kelp. He led about thirty corporals and lieutenants into battle. Holly continued shooting, as so did Chix. Though the Mud Men's weapons were advanced and able to cause a huge and monstrous impact, Holly was not greatly affected by it. She only had to protect Chix from getting a kiss from their new weapon.
There were only twenty Mud Men though, so the fight did not last long. The rest who were surviving, which was only about four, retreated and went back into the elevator, escaping the scene. Holly sighed as she leaned against her "barricade". It was over. She took deep breaths, and walked over to wear Chix had been shooting from. Chix had a few bruises and scratches, but nothing really serious. He still wore a defiant grin as she walked toward him.
"Congrats, you've survived your first battle." She said.
"Yup," he grinned. "I bet you're really proud of me."
"Yup, sure. Really proud." Holly nodded, exaggerating every word. "You did pretty well. Who did you think of?"
Chix's grin grew even wider. "Guess."
"An old childhood enemy."
"Nope."
"A current enemy."
"Nope."
"A rival."
"Nope."
"A sibling."
"Nope."
"A criminal."
"Sort of."
"Cudgeon?"
"Nope."
"Who? I give up." Rolled her eyes.
"Artemis Fowl."
Holly's jaw would have dropped, but she decided to save her emotions. "Artemis Fowl." She asked, trying to look surprised. "Why Artemis Fowl?"
"He kidnapped you. And he could have killed you."
"Chix, that was nearly six years ago. I don't have a grudge on him. Why should you?"
"He did it, didn't he? What if you weren't here today? What would have happened? What would have happened when Cudgeon attacked before?"
"But I am here, that's the important thing, right?" Holly argued. "Things change, Chix. People change, even the worst of heart."
"It almost sounds like you're defending him."
Holly sighed. "Chix, we better hurry to the Commander. I have a feeling that he will want to hear a report from us."
Chix shrugged. He could care less about walking, but it was with Holly.
"Holly, I think you might want to hear this." Said a voice. Holly looked around, and then finally realized with was Foaly talking to her in the head phone.
"What Foaly?" She questioned.
"We just got an interesting note. Some Mud Man was also here too, and he shot an arrow to the LEP building. It could go through the window, you know how we feel about bullet proof windows. Surely an arrow would have no chance against it either."
"Go on." Holly said, listening carefully.
"Well, with the arrow, there was a note attached to it."
"Primitive," Holly nodded. "But effective."
"I dunno, but it's still an insult. Thinks he's Robin Hood or something and he'll beat us second to one."
"What did the note say?"
Foaly took a deep breath. "I will be strictly protected after this moment. You will not be able to harm me after I read this to you."
"Foaly, I already can't hurt you because you're our only technician. Shoot."
Foaly read the note, and with every word, Holly's eyes widened. She nearly dropped the walkie talkie. Chix saw that Holly's eyes grew almost teary as she looked away but she wiped them away. Fear and worry took over every emotion in her eyes. Her once seconds before, strong, confident, determined eyes, had quickly turned into weakness.
"Activate your wings, Chix." Holly ordered blankly after Foaly finished.
"What? What about the test?"
"Looks like we'll be taking the expressway this time. We're flying to Root's office right now."
Chix didn't mind. He was happy that this walking test was off his back. They activated their wings and flew to Root's office.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Commander Root." Holly burst into his office. No appointment, no knocking, just burst in.
"Holly, I'm surprised you're actually bursting into my office for once." Root rolled his eyes. "So, what do you want Holly?"
"I found out something right after the Mud Men attack."
"Oh? What?"
"Think about these two words in the same sentence and how strange it seemed at first when you first heard it. I just got some news from Foaly."
"What are the words?"
"Artemis Fowl" and "Kidnapping"." She replied plainly.
**Yes, it was exactly my goal!!!!! Plz review!**
**Kree**
Captain Holly Short strolled down the LEPrecon headquarters hallway down to her own little office. Ever since the "B'wa Kell" incident five years ago, she was promoted to second in command, just under Commander Root. The first female officer in history to have made it this far. She proudly opened the door, walked leisurely to her desk, and sat down on her nice, soft, swivel chair.
She remembered what it had been like years ago, coming into the LEP headquarters. Though she would always be on time, Root's beet purple face would always be in hers, yelling at her for being "late". There would be captains later than her and her Commander would /still/ yell at her. But then after the "Fowl" incident, he never got on her case that often, and actually respected her. It was strange how all of that changed, and now she would hardly ever hear a yell from Commander Root now. She closed her eyes and relaxed …
If only her life as a Captain could only be this simple.
Commander Root opened her door and stepped inside. Holly immediately opened her eyes and pretended that she was just about to turn on the computer systems in her office. She weakly smiled at Commander Root, seeing if she could get away with "sleeping" on the job.
"Hello, Commander Root." She said quickly.
"Captain Short …" Root grinned as he walked by her desk. She straightened up, trying to look professional. She hadn't changed a bit. She had her auburn hair tied up and her LEP suit fitting her quite muscular body perfectly. She was still defying and arguing with him, but he won most of the time and he seemed to accept it now a lot more. "I have a little assignment for you …"
Holly hid a groan. "What is it, Commander?"
"Do you know Private Chix?" He leaned against her desk.
Holly couldn't hide that groan. Of course she knew Private Chix. Everyone knew how he felt about her, and he thought he was absolutely irresistible. She remembered the last time she saved his life: he acted as if he knew she would always save him. She rolled her eyes just thinking about him. She spent most of the day avoiding him.
"Yes sir." She finally answered.
"Well, he has fully recovered from the "B'wa Kell" incident." He continued, while inspecting her system.
"Oh, that's good." Holly knew how most of the time, he had aids to help move his left arm, and how he was blind in his right eye.
"And the Council has given consent to let him fly again."
"Fly? Really? Great. Wonderful. I'm so happy for him." Holly said without a care.
"I want you to supervise his flight."
Holly's jaw dropped. "What? You've got to be kidding? /Supervise/ his flight??? Supervise? Commander, I'm not a babysitter. He must still remember how to fly! He knows the controls! It was only five years ago, Commander!" Holly whined.
"And he's a sprite, Short, a sprite. You know how they behave! You know how they get distracted! You know they tend to disobey orders and do what they please!" Root argued.
"Like me?" Holly smirked.
"Yeah, like you, but they're a different case."
"Commander, I am not, not, NOT going in. Can't you get another pilot to retrain him and "baby-sit" him?" Holly complained.
"Holly," Commander Root grinned, with Holly nearly pumped with fear when he said her real name. "Why should I get another pilot to train him when I can easily get and order the best pilot in all of Haven to do it?"
Holly groaned. Her Commander had won.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"I love it when we're cruising together!" Private Chix Verbil sang as he steered the pod's controls.
"I don't." Holly shook her head, nearly about to hit it against the window. She couldn't stand this. "Verbil, I can't believe you actually listen to Mud People music. It's revolting to even think about."
"I dunno about that, Capt'n." He grinned. "It kind of has a catchy tune to me." He liked glancing at Holly every now and then. Holly /was/ pretty, it was kind of obvious to see. He wanted to see her face every chance he could get.
"Chix, just pay attention. You got one chance, I suggest you don't waste it or you'll be taking out trash for the rest of your sprite life." She sighed, and wondered if Root did this just to torture her. He probably did.
"Hey Holly, can we stop by over a restaurant and get somethin' to eat?" He asked.
"No, Private. This is a training session in flying. Not a training session in eating. I don't want to get sick watching you eat."
"Is it me, or have you grown taller?" Chix tried to compliment.
Holly sniggered. It was the most stupid thing to ask. Sure, mostly every LEP agent was taller now, because of the new potion Foaly had just invented. The "groce" it was called and it increased their height by a lot. Instead of Holly being just a centimeter under three feet, she was now way above five. So was a lot of fairies Underground nowadays.
Chix smiled and took the controls and spun the pod upside down and then right side up again. He smiled, liking the bit of pleasure he just had. Holly, who was surprised by the sudden "ride" banged against the window. She groaned and glared at Chix. "Private Chix, you better hope to Frond that Foaly doesn't know about that or you're a dead sprite."
"I do." Spoke a voice on the intercom. "Foaly know everything." Foaly laughed.
Holly shrugged at Chix. "Good luck passing the Council's test now."
"Well, actually …" Foaly started. "Root and I made a little bet … if Chix would pass or not and I bet on Chix. Sorry Holly, but I /might/ just let that pass by."
"God, Foaly, you're annoying." Holly gritted her teeth.
"Hey, that's what I'm here for."
Chix and Holly flew around for another hour. It seemed like forever for Holly, absolutely having a nightmare, but for Chix, time flew right by. He enjoyed every second of it. Holly counted each second that went by until she would have to "order" Chix to stop and land.
It was that second.
Holly tried to hide a grin. "Okay, let's see if you can still land, do you remember?" Holly asked.
"Of course I do. How could I ever forget?" Chix boasted.
Holly quickly scanned for a clear space where they could land. She spotted a wide deserted ally way and pointed to it. Chix flew the pod over to that area, and slowly, he landed perfectly.
"Great job, Verbil." Holly jumped out of the pod. He did the same, trying to impress her. "And now for the next test."
"And what's that?"
"Are you sure you're ready for this?"
"Ready?" Chix scoffed. "Of course I am."
"We now walk to LEP headquarters."
"What? That's a whole two hievgs (2.5 human miles)! Can't we just use the pod?" Chix whined.
"Oh Verbil, you've been babied with the gift of flight. You can't get too attached to it. You've got to learn how to walk on your own two strong legs that you were given!" Holly grinned.
Chix groaned. He knew he was going to pass out even before they had finished on hievg. What an impression that would make.
However, he somehow, somehow, did seem to make it anyway. Of course, with a little help from Holly, he managed to walk 1.5 hievgs until they stopped to rest. They were right near the E37, the pressurized elevator that led up to the Mud People's world. To be specific, it led to Paris, but that didn't seem to matter anyway. They sat by a bench, resting for maybe five minutes. Chix was out of breath, breathing heavily, so to quiet him down, Holly gave him a water bottle.
"Thanks." Chix took the water bottle and chugged it down. He offered some to her, but she instantaneously refused. First of all, she didn't need it. She was accustomed to walking these long distances without water. Second of all, /he/, Chix, just drank it.
The E37 doors opened, but the passengers were not fairies ….
They were Mud Men.
How the hell did they get into the elevators? Holly screamed that thought in her mind. What traitor told them about the People? Holly immediately grabbed Chix and pulled him aside to an alley. She held up a walkie talkie device to her mouth. "Foaly! We have Mud Men on E37, repeat, Mud Men on E37 with weapons! Send down a troop now!" She was nearly yelling.
"Roger that." For once, Foaly seemed serious. She heard him ordering a troop, and he was yelling too. This was a serious issue. No time for his smart mouth to kick in.
"Mud Men?" Chix stuttered.
"Yup, we've got ourselves a serious group of twenty Mud Men, Chix. Get out your Neutrino 4000 now and get ready for your first bit of action." Holly popped out her own Neutrino 4000 and got her index finger ready for a shooting position.
"You mean we're gonna shoot?" Chix trembled, for once looking weak and scared.
"Of course not, we're gonna play tag with them! What do you think, Verbil? Of course we're gonna shoot!"
Chix looked as if he was going out cold.
Holly sighed. "What's wrong Chix?"
It took him a while to answer, and he looked embarrassed. "I've … I've never shot a living thing in my entire life."
Holly was nearly cracking up. "Never? In all eight years?"
"Only in practice." He swallowed.
Holly thought for a moment. "Chix, let's make this a little easier. Let's pretend that Mud Man over there is the person you absolutely hate the most. Pretend how much you would like to wring your hands around his or her neck." Holly started. "And then …" She pretended to sound like she really meant it. "Think of it as /doing it for me/."
Chix grinned. "Okay."
Holly weakly smiled and when Chix turned away, she was nearing vomiting about what she last said. Pretty pathetic, but it worked well for fooling this sprite.
"Verbil, stay here and shoot from here. I'll take the other side. I know how to cross /much/ better than you."
Chix nodded, actually agreeing with her for once.
She looked at her pointer finger, where one single scar rang across it horizontally. "Artemis, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't be able to shoot this gun." She whispered to herself. "I'll do this for you." So Holly ran to the other side of the Mud Men, shooting one as she ran. The rest of the Mud Men started shooting her. They missed and Holly didn't worry that much until … The blast from the gun forced her flying into the ground. Though her reflexes were quick, she did not expect this. Her lip began to bleed, but she quickly got to the other side.
Holly was astonished. Flabbergasted. How did these humans all of a sudden get such advanced weapons? All they had to do was shoot it near the target, and it would cause an explosion anyway. They weren't that advanced yet. The last time Holly went up there was just a week ago, and there was no advancement of the human race.
The LEP troops got there, led by Captain Trouble Kelp. He led about thirty corporals and lieutenants into battle. Holly continued shooting, as so did Chix. Though the Mud Men's weapons were advanced and able to cause a huge and monstrous impact, Holly was not greatly affected by it. She only had to protect Chix from getting a kiss from their new weapon.
There were only twenty Mud Men though, so the fight did not last long. The rest who were surviving, which was only about four, retreated and went back into the elevator, escaping the scene. Holly sighed as she leaned against her "barricade". It was over. She took deep breaths, and walked over to wear Chix had been shooting from. Chix had a few bruises and scratches, but nothing really serious. He still wore a defiant grin as she walked toward him.
"Congrats, you've survived your first battle." She said.
"Yup," he grinned. "I bet you're really proud of me."
"Yup, sure. Really proud." Holly nodded, exaggerating every word. "You did pretty well. Who did you think of?"
Chix's grin grew even wider. "Guess."
"An old childhood enemy."
"Nope."
"A current enemy."
"Nope."
"A rival."
"Nope."
"A sibling."
"Nope."
"A criminal."
"Sort of."
"Cudgeon?"
"Nope."
"Who? I give up." Rolled her eyes.
"Artemis Fowl."
Holly's jaw would have dropped, but she decided to save her emotions. "Artemis Fowl." She asked, trying to look surprised. "Why Artemis Fowl?"
"He kidnapped you. And he could have killed you."
"Chix, that was nearly six years ago. I don't have a grudge on him. Why should you?"
"He did it, didn't he? What if you weren't here today? What would have happened? What would have happened when Cudgeon attacked before?"
"But I am here, that's the important thing, right?" Holly argued. "Things change, Chix. People change, even the worst of heart."
"It almost sounds like you're defending him."
Holly sighed. "Chix, we better hurry to the Commander. I have a feeling that he will want to hear a report from us."
Chix shrugged. He could care less about walking, but it was with Holly.
"Holly, I think you might want to hear this." Said a voice. Holly looked around, and then finally realized with was Foaly talking to her in the head phone.
"What Foaly?" She questioned.
"We just got an interesting note. Some Mud Man was also here too, and he shot an arrow to the LEP building. It could go through the window, you know how we feel about bullet proof windows. Surely an arrow would have no chance against it either."
"Go on." Holly said, listening carefully.
"Well, with the arrow, there was a note attached to it."
"Primitive," Holly nodded. "But effective."
"I dunno, but it's still an insult. Thinks he's Robin Hood or something and he'll beat us second to one."
"What did the note say?"
Foaly took a deep breath. "I will be strictly protected after this moment. You will not be able to harm me after I read this to you."
"Foaly, I already can't hurt you because you're our only technician. Shoot."
Foaly read the note, and with every word, Holly's eyes widened. She nearly dropped the walkie talkie. Chix saw that Holly's eyes grew almost teary as she looked away but she wiped them away. Fear and worry took over every emotion in her eyes. Her once seconds before, strong, confident, determined eyes, had quickly turned into weakness.
"Activate your wings, Chix." Holly ordered blankly after Foaly finished.
"What? What about the test?"
"Looks like we'll be taking the expressway this time. We're flying to Root's office right now."
Chix didn't mind. He was happy that this walking test was off his back. They activated their wings and flew to Root's office.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Commander Root." Holly burst into his office. No appointment, no knocking, just burst in.
"Holly, I'm surprised you're actually bursting into my office for once." Root rolled his eyes. "So, what do you want Holly?"
"I found out something right after the Mud Men attack."
"Oh? What?"
"Think about these two words in the same sentence and how strange it seemed at first when you first heard it. I just got some news from Foaly."
"What are the words?"
"Artemis Fowl" and "Kidnapping"." She replied plainly.
**Yes, it was exactly my goal!!!!! Plz review!**