**Well yay!!!! School is out, my finals and studying days are over…for the
sixth grade at least …. So its back to writing for me!**
**A whole summer of writing!!! /sniff/ It's too good to be true!**
**I like this chapter a lot. I hope it meets my expectations and yours though too…**
**Kree**
They had decided to take a ship. Flying there with the Hummingbird 2 was okay, but if there was a time of escape, they needed a more convenient way. They would only take two, Holly, Mr. Fowl, and Foaly in one and Root, Kelp, Juliet and Chix in the other.
Foaly also introduced a new invention. He made sure that Opal was watching, so he could show off a bit. Not a bit actually, a lot. It was top class. A flying motorbike, all in one little cell phone size remote control. After pressing a button, the remote control would produce a hologram, and the hologram would become solid. This was a piece of advanced fairy technology.
"Impressive, donkey boy, but don't let that get to your head." Root commented.
"Thank you, Julius, but I only have three because of my low budget." Foaly smirked. "Holly, Verbil, and Fowl will get one." He declared. Holly grinned taking the remote control Foaly handed to her quite graciously. Chix handled the remote control quite carefully, as well as Mr. Fowl. They attached it to their belts. "Other than that, we have the walkie talkies, iris cams, and our weapons, and that's probably all we'll need. Oh yeah, we have this blanket too." Foaly took out a huge blanket that was about 10 feet long.
"And what is that for?" Root questioned.
"Oh, I dunno. I just think it feels kind of soft and fuzzy." Foaly grinned.
Everyone else did too, and they felt the blanket and Root began to get annoyed.
"Here, Julius, I think that you would like to carry it." Foaly smugly slipped it into Root's belt as Root scowled.
"Well, if Mr. Donkey Boy is finished, let's move out." Root glared, seeing Foaly smirk because he purposely didn't give a motorbike to Root and he knew he annoyed the Commander. "Let's not keep the Mud Boy waiting."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We're taking the E148." Foaly announced to them as they neared the station.
"And we're taking two ships with us? How are we going to fit them on?" The Commander scowled.
"Always come prepared." Foaly murmured. He held up two more remote controls that were slightly larger than the motorbikes'. He slipped them back into his pockets.
"Can we get moving?" Holly motioned to Foaly and Root and Chix, Trouble, Mr. Fowl, and Juliet boarded the elevator. The two shrugged and ran into the E148. Holly adjusted the internal gyroscopes at once, and strapped Mr. Fowl and Juliet extra tightly.
"What was that for?" Mr. Fowl asked out of curiosity.
"We're trying to limit the amount of Mud Men vomiting in this one. A lot of tourists come through the E148." Holly replied.
"Oh." Mr. Fowl suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Don't worry … There's a first for everything." Chix murmured remembering his first time up the E1.
"Holly, take it easily. We have Mud Men coming up for the first time." Root ordered.
"And how come you didn't do that with me?" Chix grumbled.
"Verbil, when you come to ride the shutes a lot, you'll learn to enjoy them, and the speed is an extra bonus." Trouble grinned, catching Holly's grin as well.
"Okay, let's see what this slammer can do." Holly pulled back the controls.
And thus began another breathtaking ride to the surface…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Jeez, and I thought theses suits were something since they now completely kept out the cold, but now, that's not the problem anymore. Now it's the exact opposite." Holly wiped the sweat that ran down her face as she steered the ship.
"Blame Foaly, not me." Commander Root muttered through the speaker from the other ship.
"Once again, if my budget was higher …" Foaly started.
"Hey, what a good idea," Juliet said sarcastically from the other ship. "Mr. Fowl?"
"I think we all need a raise." Trouble grinned.
"There's a good landing place over there," Root ignored everyone. "Over there by the shore, so no one will see us. Take her in, Short."
"Roger that." Holly replied. She grasped the controls and turned. She landed perfectly, right on the sandy shore with absolutely no one in sight. Perfect, they were at least miles away from civilization and they wouldn't have to risk anyone bumping into it. Holly took off her helmet. Sure, it was against regulations, but no doubt Captain Kelp, Private Verbil, and the Commander himself took theirs off as well. She fixed her hair and she unstrapped herself as everyone else did the same.
"Verbil and Short, scan the area. Let's try to make this as quick as possible." Root ordered.
"Okay, Chix," Holly began. "Your first lesson in scanning and spying. Exciting, eh?"
"I wouldn't know…" Chix grumbled.
"Well, Short, since you seem to have everything under control, why don't you show Verbil the proper scanning techniques?" Root ordered.
"Yessir." She grumbled. "Follow me, Chix." She motioned as she turned around. "We'll take the west area."
"Foaly, you take Mr. Fowl. Kelp, Juliet, and I'll go alone." Root commanded.
Chix and Holly had already left, with Holly instructing him what to do. "You have to use your senses, Verbil. That is a fact when you scan. The first thing you do is look. Your iris cam will help you with that." Holly let Chix look around first before she continued. "Then, you use your sense of hearing. Listen to your surroundings, concentrate for slight movements or change in position."
"Hey … I think I hear some voices to the left." Chix said.
"Good, I was hoping you would hear that. And more importantly, you have to use your head." She winked. "No use using all your senses if you land yourself in a trap. Come on, let's call the commander now and tell him we might have found the meeting." She pulled the walkie talkie from her belt and put it centimeters away from her mouth. "Commander, meeting found, 59 degrees west. Repeat, meeting found, 59 degrees west."
"How do you calculate the degrees so quickly?" Chix questioned.
"You'll learn it soon, don't worry. Come on, those bushes over there should be just the right size to spy from." Holly pointed.
They both tiptoed stealthily as they neared the bush. They sat down, and looked over the bush, to see what was there. Indeed, there was a meeting: chairs were put in many rows and there was a mini stage in front of them. There were Mud Men everywhere, some were talking, some were sitting down, and some were just look around, waiting for any signs of the beginning of the meeting. Holly saw a lot of Irishmen, and some Russian, but that was probably it. She caught sight of their eyes, and saw immediately that their irises were jagged deeply.
"Chix, their mesmerized, see that?" She whispered to him.
"How?"
"Always remember: if a Mud Person's iris is jagged, the have been mesmerized. Also, sometimes you can tell by strange behavior, but must Mud People's behavior are strange anyhow."
Moments later, Root arrived, and made Chix go to the back so he could watch from the front. Foaly came and he watched from afar as Mr. Fowl made his way where Chix was sitting. Then, Captain Kelp and Juliet arrived so they could watch too.
Holly noticed that there wasn't that much commotion going on. Sure, it was kind of loud with everyone talking but not much was happening. But, after a few minutes, things started to change as a tall black caped figure stepped onto the platform. Holly watched the faces of every Mud Man light up with fear and attention as the man made a slight movement. Everyone quieted and sat down in their seats as the caped man cleared his throat.
He wore Mud Man clothes; a jet black cape and a royal purplish tunic. He had a gold chainlike belt around his waist with bright jewels decorating it. He wore long black pants with high black boots. Though he wore the clothes of a Mud Man, it was obvious to Holly that he was not. He had pointed ears, and a fairy nose. This man was obviously a fairy. But what kind of a fairy would kidnap a Mud Man and betray his own kind, besides Cudgeon (Holly thought in her head)? He had neat dark brown hair and dark eyes. He was tall, and somewhat, attractive and handsome. He would have been to Holly at least, if it weren't for the chill that he sent down her spine. He was eerily somewhat familiar to her as well and an evil gleam in his eyes sent all her senses flying. His glare was full of hatred and malevolence.
"Quiet up!" He shouted to the few people who were still talking. "We have business to discuss now." His hands folded as he walked across the platform.
Another figure stepped onto the platform, wearing goggle like glasses around his eyes. He was not as tall as the man who was speaking, but only a little shorter. His light brown hair was a bit sloppy, while his eyes couldn't be seen at all. He wore a black trenchcoat sort of garment with a green turtleneck and black gloves. Around his waist was a tight belt that held a gun and a dagger on it. He had long black pants and boots as well. He was a fairy as well, with his smug cupid nose and pointy Elvin ears.
"As you know, we have successfully kidnapped Artemis Fowl the second." The other figure announced.
The crowd cheered, even if it was only a little, but there were a lot of delighted looks upon their faces.
"From him of course," The caped fairy began. "We will ask, no demand a ransom for his safe return from his family, Artemis Fowl Senior and Angeline Fowl. They will pay of course; they would do anything for their son. And their rich as well." The Mud Men's faces were filled with pure delight and amusement.
Holly could only scowl. "Mud Men … they are all so selfish …"
"They will pay a pretty ransom fee indeed, for the young twelve year old Artemis Fowl Junior stole from the fairies himself before." The caped fairy glowered.
"Why don't we just ask a ransom from the fairies themselves?" A Mud Man called from audience, not standing up just in case he was to be punished.
The caped fairy only laughed. He laughed and laughed most maliciously as his expression turned into a scowl. "Are you kidding?" He snickered. "You actually think that the fairy council would PAY for a Mud Man's return?"
"They have more gold. We get richer. More money." The voice started again.
"Better with some than none. There is hardly a fairy in the Lower Elements that would /care/ about the kidnapping, except for maybe little Captain Short and their overweight Commander. What does that matter? Even if the Donkey Boy, Foaly cared, what could they do? The rest of the fairies? Not a chance! They all hate him."
"So if the fairies don't care, then why did we send the message of Fowl's kidnapping to the fairies if only /they/ cared?" The Mud Man who had been speaking cautiously stood up with a little bit of fear in his eyes.
The caped fairy chuckled. "You better watch yourself, foolish Mud Man. Though some of your points were good, your questioning self might just get on my nerve one day." He walked to the front edge of the platform. "We sent that message to eliminate some of the incompetent fools who might get in our way. It will all come clear to you, Mud Man, when the time comes."
"Shall we move on?" The other fairy on the platform asked.
"Yes. Now, after we get the ransom, we will go looking for your world's /greatest treasures/. Ones that you might call, "The Hope Diamond", and other riches like that." The caped fairy explained. "It will be very valuable in bribing or blackmailing more soldiers to join us in our army. All our riches will be used for gaining a more powerful, numerable, skillful army. The same, we will use the ransom for Fowl for army uses."
"I have heard that some of fairies, sprites, pixies, elves, and goblins who have been recently attached to collecting such riches like you have mentioned." One Mud Man from the audience commented.
"Agent Z, make note of that." The caped fairy ordered the fairy that was on the platform with him. "None of these /treasures/ I repeat, none of these treasures are to be used for anything else. All we need for ourselves … is magic." As he spoke the word magic, his eyes gleamed with a kind of madness that made Holly and everyone else who was watching shudder. "As some of you, the ones who actually pay attention know that I have fully regained every bit of magic that has ever run through my veins."
The Mud Men cheered again. Of course, Holly had no idea what significance that held, so she watched on.
"I will be able to power the ancient force that will drain and strip every last fairy of all their magic and acorns and it will all go to me." The caped fairy grinned wickedly. "We will be unstoppable. We will destroy LEP and we rule your world and mine for the rest of eternity!"
The Mud Men cheered again, as if they were a bunch of drunk partying teenagers. Holly nearly grew sick from the sight. The entire scene was so /cliché/.
The caped fairy smiled to himself. These stupid and pathetic Mud Men, who were they kidding? He had mesmerized them all quite easily, all of them able to believe his stupid lie of ruling the world with him. He wouldn't go through all that just to share power… like long before. Everything would turn out perfectly. He would have his revenge and then rule the world. No doubt the Commander was already on the mission of getting Fowl back. He couldn't wait to destroy all of them: Root, Foaly, Short, and Fowl. Maybe he find Koboi later … as a little bonus.
"Okay … now our issue with Artemis Fowl …"
But his eye caught sight of something … or someone. Well he caught sight of a long lock of auburn hair. He knew for a fact that the bunch he picked, none of them had long hair, like lot of the punks he saw on the streets. He saw … a girl. There she was … behind the bush … she was quite pretty, but no one he could recognize. But when he glanced to her side, he scowled. It was Commander Root.
"It looks like we have some intruders …" The caped fairy lowered his eyes folding his hands together as Holly and Root froze. "Agent Z, why don't you take your troops and invite the them in? Get them!" He pointed to Holly and Root. "I want them alive."
"Split up!" Root gritted his teeth. "And run as fast as you can to the shore."
Holly jumped onto Foaly's back. Foaly just looked at her in disgust. "What do you think I am? Some kind of pony ride?"
"Let's put it that way if you want it to be." Holly retorted. "Gallop, pony, gallop."
Foaly, against his will, pretended to neigh and then he galloped away from the scene. Root ran out alone while Juliet and Mr. Fowl ran another way together. Chix ran away along and so did Trouble with Agent Z's troops hot on their tail. And literally, they were. On Foaly's at least.
"Foaly, come on, faster!" Holly urged.
"Hey, you're not the one who's running!" Foaly groaned.
All of a sudden, Foaly felt a painful tug at the end of his tail. "AHHHHHGHHHHHHHHH….." He yelled in pain.
Holly turned around to face a Mud Man who was holding Foaly's tail being dragged as Foaly galloped on and on. "Hold on, Foaly, I'll get him off." She pulled out a gun and aimed it carefully at the poor Mud Man who was being dragged and hitting against all the trees and rocks and animals they passed. "I'll shoot."
The Mud Man's eyes widened with fear and shook his head. "You wouldn't."
"I dunno … I am the "crazy girly captain", my nickname back in the Lower Elements." She flashed him a grin.
The Mud Man hung on for a few seconds, but that was it. He quickly let go, rolled over a few times, crashed into a tree and rolled back the opposite way, and landed lying down in the dirt. Holly winked at him, and turned her head forwards.
"Thanks, Holly."
"No problem," Holly looked back again, seeing that no one was following them now. "Why don't we look for our friends now?"
"Roger that."
"Foaly, we aren't in a ship, or Operations Booth in your case."
"Well, I'd rather pretend we are instead of pretending we're prancing around in a circus."
"Okay, play time is over, I see our Commander over there …" Holly pointed to the right.
Commander Root spotted her on Foaly. As much as he wanted to crack a joke, he knew that there just wasn't any time. "SHORT, FOALY, GET TO THE SHORE AND GET ON THE SHIPS! GET EVERYONE ELSE, AND THEN GET ME! GO NOW! THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!" He didn't hear the Mud Man with the huge rock in his hands approach him from behind.
"Julius! Look out!" Foaly called, but it was too late. The Mud Man dropped the rock right above Root's head and Root fell to the ground like a melting ice cream cone.
"Foaly, go around where Root is!" Holly instructed. Foaly decided not to question her. If she told him to do something, she usually had a plan, and even if it did cause a little damage, it usually worked. Holly jumped off of Foaly and tumbled and stood up in front of the Mud Man who knocked out Root. The Mud Man smugly smirked at her, thinking that he could "beat her up" quite easily because she was a /girl/, but he never met Holly, so and there's a first for everything. Holly grabbed his shirt and lifted him up. She threw him against a tree, and knocked him unconscious. She picked up Root (she struggled… a lot) and after a while, she got him on Foaly, he was kind of waking up, but he was still in the dream zone. "Foaly, you take him to the ship, I'll find another way to get there."
"But the Commander had direct orders! He'd be on our heads if we disobey them!"
"And how many times have I done that before? Just do it. He unconscious. He probably won't even remember. He's hurt anyway." Holly argued.
"Well … I would still rather carry you then him. One person is a lot more easier than two."
Holly just rolled her eyes. "Just get him to the ship."
"I will." Foaly nodded. "And Holly?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful."
"Aren't I always."
"No really, be careful."
Holly saw Foaly as she had never saw him before. "I will." She finally answered. And the two separated in different directions. Holly took a remote control from her waist and pressed the button. Out came the motorbike, she hopped on, and set the controls, and flew away.
"Juliet, look behind you!" Mr. Fowl called to Juliet when he saw a man behind her about to attack her from behind.
Juliet turned around just in time and uppercutted him in the stomach. He poked him in the eyes and kicked him away. However, she wasn't finished and her wrestling and fighting skills were yet to be tested. Six more men surrounded the two and they were ready to fight.
"The man is handicapped." One of said in a Russian accent, grinning. "He will be an easy target."
"And the other is just a girl." Another mocked. "We have a very easy day."
Three surrounded Mr. Fowl and three surrounded Juliet. Juliet kicked and punched one of them away, pushed another into a tree after jabbing him in the stomach and then flipped one of them over and kicked him away. Mr. Fowl, on the other hand, took two men at the same time; one in each of his hands held them high and threw them to the ground. The other, just ran away in fear.
"Hey, where did you learn to do that?" Juliet grinned. "Was it supposed to be in my training?"
"No, after I lost my leg, my arms grew stronger because I did a lot with my arms. That trick…" Mr. Fowl chuckled. "Well the time I spent watching the Mafiya, I learned a few tricks myself …"
Juliet laughed as Mr. Fowl got out his own remote control and pressed the button. The motorbike was activated and the two hopped on it and flew it away.
Trouble Kelp did not hear Agent Z sneak behind him and follow him. So it was a surprise when he felt a tight grip around his neck that began to choke him. But Trouble went through this training before. He took the grip and struggled to get it off his neck. He back kicked Agent Z from behind and Agent Z's grip released.
"I guess that /was/ what I expected from you." Agent Z sneered circling Trouble. "You are the most "gung-ho" agent in LEP, a skilled soldier, and excellent leader. However, I think I can better you now."
"Who are you and what makes you think you can talk to me as if you /are/ better than me?" Trouble scoffed.
"Trouble, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I cannot wait to watch you lie defeated after I'm through with you." He grinned evilly.
"You wish." Trouble glared.
But he couldn't say anything more. Agent Z jumped on top of Trouble, wrestling him to the floor. They rolled around punching each other fiercely and trying to choke each other. And then, Agent Z pulled out a knife. He tried to pierce it through Trouble's shoulder, but Trouble kept dodging it by moving left and right. He grabbed Agent Z's hands and forced them away from him, but he struggled a lot. Agent Z was quite strong, though Trouble was taller than him. But Trouble was stronger than him as well. He kicked him off and Trouble stood up, though panting and out of breath.
Agent Z was furious. He rammed himself into Trouble slamming Trouble against a tree. Trouble tried to get Agent Z off of him but Agent Z picked up Trouble and kept on throwing him to the ground. There was a steep hill nearby… with rocks at the bottom. Trouble was too weak to fight anymore. He was bruised, scratched, bleeding, and in pain, closing his eyes. Agent Z grinned evilly as he picked up Trouble once again… the last time … and dropped him to the rocks.
But Trouble never felt the rocks stab into his body. Instead, he felt warm hands catch him and then he felt himself on something hard. He opened his eyes a little to see Holly on her motorbike holding him. She placed him right behind her. "Hold on to me." She instructed and began to fly away and left Agent Z cursing.
Holly caught sight of Chix on his motorbike, Mr. Fowl and Juliet on theirs, in the air and Root on Foaly just below them. "Chix!" She called out to him. "Do you see Foaly and Root down there?"
"Yeah …" But Chix wasn't really paying attention to them. He was paying attention to Trouble arms that were around Holly.
"Help Foaly out. Get Root and fly to shore." Holly ordered.
"Okay." Chix flew the motorbike down to where Foaly was. Foaly stopped and Root weakly sat on Chix's motorbike. "Uh… Commander? What happened to your head?" Chix stared at the bump that the rock had given Root.
"Just shut up, Verbil." Root grumbled.
"Okay, Verbil." Foaly began. "Get Root to the ship."
Holly flew down with her motorbike. " What about you? I've looked at the distance to the shore, and it's almost a mile from here."
"Just leave me." Foaly started, but he had fear in his eyes. "I'll get there … somehow."
"What if they get you before you get to the ship?"
"That's a risk …" Foaly murmured. "That I will have to take."
Holly just glared at him. "Foaly, we leave no one behind. That's a fact. We're all in this together. We'll find a way."
"We don't have to." Mr. Fowl announced as he landed the motorbike next to theirs. "I have one. Commander Root, please take out the blanket that Foaly stuck in your belt." Root pulled it out. He handed it to Mr. Fowl and he began unfolding it. "Juliet, put the motorbike directly in line to Holly's, but maybe about ten feet away from it." Juliet did as she was told. "If we attach the blanket to each motor bike, we can carry Foaly up with them, just like a horse or another animal is carried.
"I refuse to be treated like a horse! I already was today! Once is enough!" Foaly yelled.
"What other choice do you have?" Chix mumbled.
Foaly groaned as he looked at the two motorbikes and the blanket. He could tell that Root was smiling, and he was enjoying every bit of Foaly's suffering.
Chix was steering the ship instead of Holly this time. Foaly had to go on the other ship with Root so he could help Root with his "bump". Mr. Fowl was on the other ship as well, steering it. Juliet was with Holly, Chix, and Trouble. Holly had to help Trouble with his injuries as well. When that was over, they switched to the regular pilots and started flying to the E148.
"I just don't understand it though." Holly sighed. "Why did Artemis send us here? Why here to a meeting? Why didn't he just send us to where he was being held captive?"
"I know it's hard for you having him kidnapped and all." Trouble put his arm around her. "But he probably meant it for the best. He probably knew that it was valuable information for us to learn. He'll tell us where he is. And we'll find him, and if we all can't, then I will."
She rolled her eyes but smiled as she still focused on steering the ship. "Really?"
"I promise."
But then Holly's "cell phone" began to beep. Trouble answered it and saw that it was a text message. He began to read it off to her.
HVN WILL BE ATTCKD. GO BCK IMMDTLY. HRRY, HVY DSTRCTN PLNND.
ARTMS FWL
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The caped fairy shook his head as he sat down at his desk. Their standing opposite him was Agent Z. "Who escaped?" He questioned, already disappointed at the news of no capture. "Who was there?"
"Well …" Agent Z began. "There was of course Commander Root, Captain Kelp, Foaly, Juliet Butler, Artemis Fowl Senior, Private Chix Verbil, and… oh yeah … Captain Short."
The fairy's eyes widened with madness. He grabbed Agent Z's shirt and pulled him, nearly choking him. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Captain Short?"
"CAPTAIN SHORT WAS THERE? WHERE?! WHO WAS SHE?"
"The one with the long auburn hair."
"DIDN'T SHE HAVE A DAMN CREW CUT?"
"Well … she did …"
The caped fairy just yelled in fury for the rest of the night, and even some fairies from the Lower Elements swear that they heard it from there.
**Yay! It did! Well, I hope you like this chap!**
**Plz review!**
**Kree**
**A whole summer of writing!!! /sniff/ It's too good to be true!**
**I like this chapter a lot. I hope it meets my expectations and yours though too…**
**Kree**
They had decided to take a ship. Flying there with the Hummingbird 2 was okay, but if there was a time of escape, they needed a more convenient way. They would only take two, Holly, Mr. Fowl, and Foaly in one and Root, Kelp, Juliet and Chix in the other.
Foaly also introduced a new invention. He made sure that Opal was watching, so he could show off a bit. Not a bit actually, a lot. It was top class. A flying motorbike, all in one little cell phone size remote control. After pressing a button, the remote control would produce a hologram, and the hologram would become solid. This was a piece of advanced fairy technology.
"Impressive, donkey boy, but don't let that get to your head." Root commented.
"Thank you, Julius, but I only have three because of my low budget." Foaly smirked. "Holly, Verbil, and Fowl will get one." He declared. Holly grinned taking the remote control Foaly handed to her quite graciously. Chix handled the remote control quite carefully, as well as Mr. Fowl. They attached it to their belts. "Other than that, we have the walkie talkies, iris cams, and our weapons, and that's probably all we'll need. Oh yeah, we have this blanket too." Foaly took out a huge blanket that was about 10 feet long.
"And what is that for?" Root questioned.
"Oh, I dunno. I just think it feels kind of soft and fuzzy." Foaly grinned.
Everyone else did too, and they felt the blanket and Root began to get annoyed.
"Here, Julius, I think that you would like to carry it." Foaly smugly slipped it into Root's belt as Root scowled.
"Well, if Mr. Donkey Boy is finished, let's move out." Root glared, seeing Foaly smirk because he purposely didn't give a motorbike to Root and he knew he annoyed the Commander. "Let's not keep the Mud Boy waiting."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"We're taking the E148." Foaly announced to them as they neared the station.
"And we're taking two ships with us? How are we going to fit them on?" The Commander scowled.
"Always come prepared." Foaly murmured. He held up two more remote controls that were slightly larger than the motorbikes'. He slipped them back into his pockets.
"Can we get moving?" Holly motioned to Foaly and Root and Chix, Trouble, Mr. Fowl, and Juliet boarded the elevator. The two shrugged and ran into the E148. Holly adjusted the internal gyroscopes at once, and strapped Mr. Fowl and Juliet extra tightly.
"What was that for?" Mr. Fowl asked out of curiosity.
"We're trying to limit the amount of Mud Men vomiting in this one. A lot of tourists come through the E148." Holly replied.
"Oh." Mr. Fowl suddenly felt uncomfortable.
"Don't worry … There's a first for everything." Chix murmured remembering his first time up the E1.
"Holly, take it easily. We have Mud Men coming up for the first time." Root ordered.
"And how come you didn't do that with me?" Chix grumbled.
"Verbil, when you come to ride the shutes a lot, you'll learn to enjoy them, and the speed is an extra bonus." Trouble grinned, catching Holly's grin as well.
"Okay, let's see what this slammer can do." Holly pulled back the controls.
And thus began another breathtaking ride to the surface…
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Jeez, and I thought theses suits were something since they now completely kept out the cold, but now, that's not the problem anymore. Now it's the exact opposite." Holly wiped the sweat that ran down her face as she steered the ship.
"Blame Foaly, not me." Commander Root muttered through the speaker from the other ship.
"Once again, if my budget was higher …" Foaly started.
"Hey, what a good idea," Juliet said sarcastically from the other ship. "Mr. Fowl?"
"I think we all need a raise." Trouble grinned.
"There's a good landing place over there," Root ignored everyone. "Over there by the shore, so no one will see us. Take her in, Short."
"Roger that." Holly replied. She grasped the controls and turned. She landed perfectly, right on the sandy shore with absolutely no one in sight. Perfect, they were at least miles away from civilization and they wouldn't have to risk anyone bumping into it. Holly took off her helmet. Sure, it was against regulations, but no doubt Captain Kelp, Private Verbil, and the Commander himself took theirs off as well. She fixed her hair and she unstrapped herself as everyone else did the same.
"Verbil and Short, scan the area. Let's try to make this as quick as possible." Root ordered.
"Okay, Chix," Holly began. "Your first lesson in scanning and spying. Exciting, eh?"
"I wouldn't know…" Chix grumbled.
"Well, Short, since you seem to have everything under control, why don't you show Verbil the proper scanning techniques?" Root ordered.
"Yessir." She grumbled. "Follow me, Chix." She motioned as she turned around. "We'll take the west area."
"Foaly, you take Mr. Fowl. Kelp, Juliet, and I'll go alone." Root commanded.
Chix and Holly had already left, with Holly instructing him what to do. "You have to use your senses, Verbil. That is a fact when you scan. The first thing you do is look. Your iris cam will help you with that." Holly let Chix look around first before she continued. "Then, you use your sense of hearing. Listen to your surroundings, concentrate for slight movements or change in position."
"Hey … I think I hear some voices to the left." Chix said.
"Good, I was hoping you would hear that. And more importantly, you have to use your head." She winked. "No use using all your senses if you land yourself in a trap. Come on, let's call the commander now and tell him we might have found the meeting." She pulled the walkie talkie from her belt and put it centimeters away from her mouth. "Commander, meeting found, 59 degrees west. Repeat, meeting found, 59 degrees west."
"How do you calculate the degrees so quickly?" Chix questioned.
"You'll learn it soon, don't worry. Come on, those bushes over there should be just the right size to spy from." Holly pointed.
They both tiptoed stealthily as they neared the bush. They sat down, and looked over the bush, to see what was there. Indeed, there was a meeting: chairs were put in many rows and there was a mini stage in front of them. There were Mud Men everywhere, some were talking, some were sitting down, and some were just look around, waiting for any signs of the beginning of the meeting. Holly saw a lot of Irishmen, and some Russian, but that was probably it. She caught sight of their eyes, and saw immediately that their irises were jagged deeply.
"Chix, their mesmerized, see that?" She whispered to him.
"How?"
"Always remember: if a Mud Person's iris is jagged, the have been mesmerized. Also, sometimes you can tell by strange behavior, but must Mud People's behavior are strange anyhow."
Moments later, Root arrived, and made Chix go to the back so he could watch from the front. Foaly came and he watched from afar as Mr. Fowl made his way where Chix was sitting. Then, Captain Kelp and Juliet arrived so they could watch too.
Holly noticed that there wasn't that much commotion going on. Sure, it was kind of loud with everyone talking but not much was happening. But, after a few minutes, things started to change as a tall black caped figure stepped onto the platform. Holly watched the faces of every Mud Man light up with fear and attention as the man made a slight movement. Everyone quieted and sat down in their seats as the caped man cleared his throat.
He wore Mud Man clothes; a jet black cape and a royal purplish tunic. He had a gold chainlike belt around his waist with bright jewels decorating it. He wore long black pants with high black boots. Though he wore the clothes of a Mud Man, it was obvious to Holly that he was not. He had pointed ears, and a fairy nose. This man was obviously a fairy. But what kind of a fairy would kidnap a Mud Man and betray his own kind, besides Cudgeon (Holly thought in her head)? He had neat dark brown hair and dark eyes. He was tall, and somewhat, attractive and handsome. He would have been to Holly at least, if it weren't for the chill that he sent down her spine. He was eerily somewhat familiar to her as well and an evil gleam in his eyes sent all her senses flying. His glare was full of hatred and malevolence.
"Quiet up!" He shouted to the few people who were still talking. "We have business to discuss now." His hands folded as he walked across the platform.
Another figure stepped onto the platform, wearing goggle like glasses around his eyes. He was not as tall as the man who was speaking, but only a little shorter. His light brown hair was a bit sloppy, while his eyes couldn't be seen at all. He wore a black trenchcoat sort of garment with a green turtleneck and black gloves. Around his waist was a tight belt that held a gun and a dagger on it. He had long black pants and boots as well. He was a fairy as well, with his smug cupid nose and pointy Elvin ears.
"As you know, we have successfully kidnapped Artemis Fowl the second." The other figure announced.
The crowd cheered, even if it was only a little, but there were a lot of delighted looks upon their faces.
"From him of course," The caped fairy began. "We will ask, no demand a ransom for his safe return from his family, Artemis Fowl Senior and Angeline Fowl. They will pay of course; they would do anything for their son. And their rich as well." The Mud Men's faces were filled with pure delight and amusement.
Holly could only scowl. "Mud Men … they are all so selfish …"
"They will pay a pretty ransom fee indeed, for the young twelve year old Artemis Fowl Junior stole from the fairies himself before." The caped fairy glowered.
"Why don't we just ask a ransom from the fairies themselves?" A Mud Man called from audience, not standing up just in case he was to be punished.
The caped fairy only laughed. He laughed and laughed most maliciously as his expression turned into a scowl. "Are you kidding?" He snickered. "You actually think that the fairy council would PAY for a Mud Man's return?"
"They have more gold. We get richer. More money." The voice started again.
"Better with some than none. There is hardly a fairy in the Lower Elements that would /care/ about the kidnapping, except for maybe little Captain Short and their overweight Commander. What does that matter? Even if the Donkey Boy, Foaly cared, what could they do? The rest of the fairies? Not a chance! They all hate him."
"So if the fairies don't care, then why did we send the message of Fowl's kidnapping to the fairies if only /they/ cared?" The Mud Man who had been speaking cautiously stood up with a little bit of fear in his eyes.
The caped fairy chuckled. "You better watch yourself, foolish Mud Man. Though some of your points were good, your questioning self might just get on my nerve one day." He walked to the front edge of the platform. "We sent that message to eliminate some of the incompetent fools who might get in our way. It will all come clear to you, Mud Man, when the time comes."
"Shall we move on?" The other fairy on the platform asked.
"Yes. Now, after we get the ransom, we will go looking for your world's /greatest treasures/. Ones that you might call, "The Hope Diamond", and other riches like that." The caped fairy explained. "It will be very valuable in bribing or blackmailing more soldiers to join us in our army. All our riches will be used for gaining a more powerful, numerable, skillful army. The same, we will use the ransom for Fowl for army uses."
"I have heard that some of fairies, sprites, pixies, elves, and goblins who have been recently attached to collecting such riches like you have mentioned." One Mud Man from the audience commented.
"Agent Z, make note of that." The caped fairy ordered the fairy that was on the platform with him. "None of these /treasures/ I repeat, none of these treasures are to be used for anything else. All we need for ourselves … is magic." As he spoke the word magic, his eyes gleamed with a kind of madness that made Holly and everyone else who was watching shudder. "As some of you, the ones who actually pay attention know that I have fully regained every bit of magic that has ever run through my veins."
The Mud Men cheered again. Of course, Holly had no idea what significance that held, so she watched on.
"I will be able to power the ancient force that will drain and strip every last fairy of all their magic and acorns and it will all go to me." The caped fairy grinned wickedly. "We will be unstoppable. We will destroy LEP and we rule your world and mine for the rest of eternity!"
The Mud Men cheered again, as if they were a bunch of drunk partying teenagers. Holly nearly grew sick from the sight. The entire scene was so /cliché/.
The caped fairy smiled to himself. These stupid and pathetic Mud Men, who were they kidding? He had mesmerized them all quite easily, all of them able to believe his stupid lie of ruling the world with him. He wouldn't go through all that just to share power… like long before. Everything would turn out perfectly. He would have his revenge and then rule the world. No doubt the Commander was already on the mission of getting Fowl back. He couldn't wait to destroy all of them: Root, Foaly, Short, and Fowl. Maybe he find Koboi later … as a little bonus.
"Okay … now our issue with Artemis Fowl …"
But his eye caught sight of something … or someone. Well he caught sight of a long lock of auburn hair. He knew for a fact that the bunch he picked, none of them had long hair, like lot of the punks he saw on the streets. He saw … a girl. There she was … behind the bush … she was quite pretty, but no one he could recognize. But when he glanced to her side, he scowled. It was Commander Root.
"It looks like we have some intruders …" The caped fairy lowered his eyes folding his hands together as Holly and Root froze. "Agent Z, why don't you take your troops and invite the them in? Get them!" He pointed to Holly and Root. "I want them alive."
"Split up!" Root gritted his teeth. "And run as fast as you can to the shore."
Holly jumped onto Foaly's back. Foaly just looked at her in disgust. "What do you think I am? Some kind of pony ride?"
"Let's put it that way if you want it to be." Holly retorted. "Gallop, pony, gallop."
Foaly, against his will, pretended to neigh and then he galloped away from the scene. Root ran out alone while Juliet and Mr. Fowl ran another way together. Chix ran away along and so did Trouble with Agent Z's troops hot on their tail. And literally, they were. On Foaly's at least.
"Foaly, come on, faster!" Holly urged.
"Hey, you're not the one who's running!" Foaly groaned.
All of a sudden, Foaly felt a painful tug at the end of his tail. "AHHHHHGHHHHHHHHH….." He yelled in pain.
Holly turned around to face a Mud Man who was holding Foaly's tail being dragged as Foaly galloped on and on. "Hold on, Foaly, I'll get him off." She pulled out a gun and aimed it carefully at the poor Mud Man who was being dragged and hitting against all the trees and rocks and animals they passed. "I'll shoot."
The Mud Man's eyes widened with fear and shook his head. "You wouldn't."
"I dunno … I am the "crazy girly captain", my nickname back in the Lower Elements." She flashed him a grin.
The Mud Man hung on for a few seconds, but that was it. He quickly let go, rolled over a few times, crashed into a tree and rolled back the opposite way, and landed lying down in the dirt. Holly winked at him, and turned her head forwards.
"Thanks, Holly."
"No problem," Holly looked back again, seeing that no one was following them now. "Why don't we look for our friends now?"
"Roger that."
"Foaly, we aren't in a ship, or Operations Booth in your case."
"Well, I'd rather pretend we are instead of pretending we're prancing around in a circus."
"Okay, play time is over, I see our Commander over there …" Holly pointed to the right.
Commander Root spotted her on Foaly. As much as he wanted to crack a joke, he knew that there just wasn't any time. "SHORT, FOALY, GET TO THE SHORE AND GET ON THE SHIPS! GET EVERYONE ELSE, AND THEN GET ME! GO NOW! THAT'S A DIRECT ORDER!" He didn't hear the Mud Man with the huge rock in his hands approach him from behind.
"Julius! Look out!" Foaly called, but it was too late. The Mud Man dropped the rock right above Root's head and Root fell to the ground like a melting ice cream cone.
"Foaly, go around where Root is!" Holly instructed. Foaly decided not to question her. If she told him to do something, she usually had a plan, and even if it did cause a little damage, it usually worked. Holly jumped off of Foaly and tumbled and stood up in front of the Mud Man who knocked out Root. The Mud Man smugly smirked at her, thinking that he could "beat her up" quite easily because she was a /girl/, but he never met Holly, so and there's a first for everything. Holly grabbed his shirt and lifted him up. She threw him against a tree, and knocked him unconscious. She picked up Root (she struggled… a lot) and after a while, she got him on Foaly, he was kind of waking up, but he was still in the dream zone. "Foaly, you take him to the ship, I'll find another way to get there."
"But the Commander had direct orders! He'd be on our heads if we disobey them!"
"And how many times have I done that before? Just do it. He unconscious. He probably won't even remember. He's hurt anyway." Holly argued.
"Well … I would still rather carry you then him. One person is a lot more easier than two."
Holly just rolled her eyes. "Just get him to the ship."
"I will." Foaly nodded. "And Holly?"
"Yeah?"
"Be careful."
"Aren't I always."
"No really, be careful."
Holly saw Foaly as she had never saw him before. "I will." She finally answered. And the two separated in different directions. Holly took a remote control from her waist and pressed the button. Out came the motorbike, she hopped on, and set the controls, and flew away.
"Juliet, look behind you!" Mr. Fowl called to Juliet when he saw a man behind her about to attack her from behind.
Juliet turned around just in time and uppercutted him in the stomach. He poked him in the eyes and kicked him away. However, she wasn't finished and her wrestling and fighting skills were yet to be tested. Six more men surrounded the two and they were ready to fight.
"The man is handicapped." One of said in a Russian accent, grinning. "He will be an easy target."
"And the other is just a girl." Another mocked. "We have a very easy day."
Three surrounded Mr. Fowl and three surrounded Juliet. Juliet kicked and punched one of them away, pushed another into a tree after jabbing him in the stomach and then flipped one of them over and kicked him away. Mr. Fowl, on the other hand, took two men at the same time; one in each of his hands held them high and threw them to the ground. The other, just ran away in fear.
"Hey, where did you learn to do that?" Juliet grinned. "Was it supposed to be in my training?"
"No, after I lost my leg, my arms grew stronger because I did a lot with my arms. That trick…" Mr. Fowl chuckled. "Well the time I spent watching the Mafiya, I learned a few tricks myself …"
Juliet laughed as Mr. Fowl got out his own remote control and pressed the button. The motorbike was activated and the two hopped on it and flew it away.
Trouble Kelp did not hear Agent Z sneak behind him and follow him. So it was a surprise when he felt a tight grip around his neck that began to choke him. But Trouble went through this training before. He took the grip and struggled to get it off his neck. He back kicked Agent Z from behind and Agent Z's grip released.
"I guess that /was/ what I expected from you." Agent Z sneered circling Trouble. "You are the most "gung-ho" agent in LEP, a skilled soldier, and excellent leader. However, I think I can better you now."
"Who are you and what makes you think you can talk to me as if you /are/ better than me?" Trouble scoffed.
"Trouble, I have been waiting for this moment for a long time. I cannot wait to watch you lie defeated after I'm through with you." He grinned evilly.
"You wish." Trouble glared.
But he couldn't say anything more. Agent Z jumped on top of Trouble, wrestling him to the floor. They rolled around punching each other fiercely and trying to choke each other. And then, Agent Z pulled out a knife. He tried to pierce it through Trouble's shoulder, but Trouble kept dodging it by moving left and right. He grabbed Agent Z's hands and forced them away from him, but he struggled a lot. Agent Z was quite strong, though Trouble was taller than him. But Trouble was stronger than him as well. He kicked him off and Trouble stood up, though panting and out of breath.
Agent Z was furious. He rammed himself into Trouble slamming Trouble against a tree. Trouble tried to get Agent Z off of him but Agent Z picked up Trouble and kept on throwing him to the ground. There was a steep hill nearby… with rocks at the bottom. Trouble was too weak to fight anymore. He was bruised, scratched, bleeding, and in pain, closing his eyes. Agent Z grinned evilly as he picked up Trouble once again… the last time … and dropped him to the rocks.
But Trouble never felt the rocks stab into his body. Instead, he felt warm hands catch him and then he felt himself on something hard. He opened his eyes a little to see Holly on her motorbike holding him. She placed him right behind her. "Hold on to me." She instructed and began to fly away and left Agent Z cursing.
Holly caught sight of Chix on his motorbike, Mr. Fowl and Juliet on theirs, in the air and Root on Foaly just below them. "Chix!" She called out to him. "Do you see Foaly and Root down there?"
"Yeah …" But Chix wasn't really paying attention to them. He was paying attention to Trouble arms that were around Holly.
"Help Foaly out. Get Root and fly to shore." Holly ordered.
"Okay." Chix flew the motorbike down to where Foaly was. Foaly stopped and Root weakly sat on Chix's motorbike. "Uh… Commander? What happened to your head?" Chix stared at the bump that the rock had given Root.
"Just shut up, Verbil." Root grumbled.
"Okay, Verbil." Foaly began. "Get Root to the ship."
Holly flew down with her motorbike. " What about you? I've looked at the distance to the shore, and it's almost a mile from here."
"Just leave me." Foaly started, but he had fear in his eyes. "I'll get there … somehow."
"What if they get you before you get to the ship?"
"That's a risk …" Foaly murmured. "That I will have to take."
Holly just glared at him. "Foaly, we leave no one behind. That's a fact. We're all in this together. We'll find a way."
"We don't have to." Mr. Fowl announced as he landed the motorbike next to theirs. "I have one. Commander Root, please take out the blanket that Foaly stuck in your belt." Root pulled it out. He handed it to Mr. Fowl and he began unfolding it. "Juliet, put the motorbike directly in line to Holly's, but maybe about ten feet away from it." Juliet did as she was told. "If we attach the blanket to each motor bike, we can carry Foaly up with them, just like a horse or another animal is carried.
"I refuse to be treated like a horse! I already was today! Once is enough!" Foaly yelled.
"What other choice do you have?" Chix mumbled.
Foaly groaned as he looked at the two motorbikes and the blanket. He could tell that Root was smiling, and he was enjoying every bit of Foaly's suffering.
Chix was steering the ship instead of Holly this time. Foaly had to go on the other ship with Root so he could help Root with his "bump". Mr. Fowl was on the other ship as well, steering it. Juliet was with Holly, Chix, and Trouble. Holly had to help Trouble with his injuries as well. When that was over, they switched to the regular pilots and started flying to the E148.
"I just don't understand it though." Holly sighed. "Why did Artemis send us here? Why here to a meeting? Why didn't he just send us to where he was being held captive?"
"I know it's hard for you having him kidnapped and all." Trouble put his arm around her. "But he probably meant it for the best. He probably knew that it was valuable information for us to learn. He'll tell us where he is. And we'll find him, and if we all can't, then I will."
She rolled her eyes but smiled as she still focused on steering the ship. "Really?"
"I promise."
But then Holly's "cell phone" began to beep. Trouble answered it and saw that it was a text message. He began to read it off to her.
HVN WILL BE ATTCKD. GO BCK IMMDTLY. HRRY, HVY DSTRCTN PLNND.
ARTMS FWL
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The caped fairy shook his head as he sat down at his desk. Their standing opposite him was Agent Z. "Who escaped?" He questioned, already disappointed at the news of no capture. "Who was there?"
"Well …" Agent Z began. "There was of course Commander Root, Captain Kelp, Foaly, Juliet Butler, Artemis Fowl Senior, Private Chix Verbil, and… oh yeah … Captain Short."
The fairy's eyes widened with madness. He grabbed Agent Z's shirt and pulled him, nearly choking him. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
"Captain Short?"
"CAPTAIN SHORT WAS THERE? WHERE?! WHO WAS SHE?"
"The one with the long auburn hair."
"DIDN'T SHE HAVE A DAMN CREW CUT?"
"Well … she did …"
The caped fairy just yelled in fury for the rest of the night, and even some fairies from the Lower Elements swear that they heard it from there.
**Yay! It did! Well, I hope you like this chap!**
**Plz review!**
**Kree**