Duskynite: Just finished reading' The Eternity Code'. Does anyone know if there's another coming out? Oh yes, this is my first Artemis Fowl fic. SIDE NOTE! I said in the beginning that Demeter had black eyes, then said later that her eyes were gray! Sorry! They are supposed to be black! If I made any other typos, I apologize. My bad.

Disclaimer: I do NOT own Artemis Fowl or any of the characters. I do own Aunt Katherine, Uncle Joseph, Ryu Koanoshi, and Demeter.

Ice Raider: Thanks for the review!! Yes, it is a little unbelievable that Artemis would let his computer be hackable-but remember, Demeter is his cousin. If anyone can figure out how to hack him, it's her.

Chrysgirl- =D Glad you like! I'm updating as fast as I can! DON'T WORRY ABOUT ROOT!! I haven't kill him off just yet (even if it does look like it)

Big Friendly Walrus- THIS IS NOT A MARY SUE! Ha! Could someone let me know if I start to stray into that territory though?

Dslguy14- **schniff** you flamed meeeee!!! Oh well, idc. Bai bai!!

Oh, one more thing. Tamogatchi is not mine either. You know, those little digital pet thingies from way back when? Don't own em either.

Chapter Four: Spiders, Spiro, and other nasty things

Artemis made a mental note to hack some of Short's personal files while he was in the Haven as he hurtled down a pitch black chute. He could feel the air pressure building up around him, making his ears pop. He closed his eyes and waited for this less-than-thrill ride to end.

The four tumbled out at the other end in an ungraceful heap. Demeter jumped up and looked around what appeared to be a landing bay.

"Cool.my mice got some of this!" She crowed, bouncing around. Ryu jumped up and eyed the place warily. He didn't like the complete silence he was getting around here.

"Everyone is in a lockdown," Holly explained as she descended from the gloom. "Come with me, we're going to visit Foaly."

She took off at a brisk walk, following the emergency lights that glowed on the tunnel-like walls. Artemis hurried to catch up with her, Butler right behind him.

"Holly, about Commander Root-"

"He's gone, Mud Boy."

"Is he?"

Holly stopped in her tracks and glared at him.

"When there's a crisis as big as this, Root was always the first one on the scene. He's been missing for days now. Unless they have him completely out of commission, he's dead."

"He's not dead till we have a body," Artemis said firmly, glaring straight at the elf cop. "And I have an idea. Demeter!"

"Yes?"

"Are those bloody rodents of yours trained?"

"Of course they are!" Demeter cried, bristling.

"Then get them looking EVERYWHERE. We have a Commander to find. Now. Move!"

Demeter's eyes widened and she turned to Ryu, whispering something. He handed her a backpack he had been carrying. She opened it and pulled out a cage.

"You brought a mouse WITH you?" Holly cried. Demeter nodded.

"Some people," she said, giving her cousin a pointed look, "never go anywhere without their spycams, weapons etcetra, I never go anywhere without Tinkerbell." She picked up not a mouse, but a large, tan rat. Artemis cringed.

"Disgusting."

"Perfect," Demeter grinned setting the rat, Tinkerbell, on the floor. It scampered for a minute, then came back to a stop at the girl's foot.

"I need something of Root's, so Tink can follow a track."

"Use this!" A fungus cigar came flying out the window of the Ops room and Foaly stuck his head out after it. "If anything identifies the bossman, it was those bloody cigars!"

While Demeter took care of her tracking rat, Artemis, Holly, and Butler entered Ops.

"Our biggest problem is that somehow these guys got into the Haven without us knowing. What's their secret? Who's been helping them? That sort of thing," Foaly explained as Artemis started doing preliminary searches on all files in the database. He frowned.

"This can't be right.there are GAPS in your files, like something took a bite out of them." Artemis continued to type, processing everything at lightning speed. He kept noticing something, though. In every file that was missing information-mainly weapons and military files, not to mention some blueprints of the city-there was a little insignia. A spider.

"Oh, no," Artemis could feel every ounce of blood in his body turn cold. "Oh, no, oh, no, NO!" He grabbed Foaly's shoulder and thrust the centaur's face at the screen. "Why didn't you tell me about that?!"

"Because it wasn't foreign," Foaly replied in a remotely calm voice. "The computers have registered it before."

"Of course they have!" Artemis shouted. "Because you were pinged before with it!! My me!"

"By you? This is your technology?" Holly asked, frowning.

"Yes, you stupid elf! The C Cube! The spider was the insignia of the C Cube!!"

"Now, wait just a minute," Foaly retorted, shooing the Mud Boy away from Holly. "We took all fairy technology out of the C Cube. It's not doing this."

"Not mine, maybe, but there's another in the world that is." Artemis replied, rubbing his temples as a new plan began to form at a rapid pace inside him. "When Spiro took the Cube, he had scientists look at it. It's very possible that they took blueprints on the makeup of the Cube and made one of their own. It may not have fairy technology, but they've managed to mirror it."

Holly threw her hands in the air.

"Why is it that ALL things bad lead back to YOU, Fowl? Are you FOND of destruction and confusion?"

"Yes!" Was Demeter's muffled reply from outside.

"Be quiet, Mouse!" Holly yelled back. Demeter walked in, grinning innocently.

"Tink's on the trail. She'll be reporting back to this spot in forty- eight hours, so if you see her, Mr..um..what's your name again?"

"Foaly," everyone replied in unison.

"If you see her, Mr. Foaly, just let her in and she'll sit quiet till I get here."

"Fine, fi-D'ARVIT!" Foaly swung back to the computers, his face livid. "We're getting chomped again!"

Artemis looked over the centaur's shoulder as more gaps in information started to appear. Foaly set up firewalls, muttering under his breath the whole time. Artemis shook his head.

"The Cube will dismantle those," he said with a hint of smug pride. "Even if it is a copy."

"Shut your mouth, Mud Boy, just shut your mouth," Holly warned.

Then the windows blew in.

Butler hurled Artemis to the floor, shielding his young charge with his shoulders and back as glass rained in on the place. Ryu had shoved Demeter under a table and was blocking her from sight, weapon drawn. Foaly's hooves scrabbled on the slick floor as e righted himself and set the alarm, and Holly was already out the door, shouting into her helmet.

Artemis scrambled after the elf cop, pushing Demeter back under the table when she tried to follow.

"Too dangerous for kids like you; stay."

Demeter glowered at him and followed anyway.

The whole quadrant of the Ops compound had been completely flattened. There was a good sized crater in the ground where the bomb had apparently been dropped or planted. Artemis skidded down into it, looking for traces of the explosive.

"Artemis?" Demeter called from above, her face hidden from view.

"I told you to stay inside!" Artemis bellowed, his patience gone as he began to delicately pick up shreds of metal coated in a weird, bubbling fluid.

"Artemis!" Demeter called again, a thread of fear in her voice. "What are those?"

Artemis climbed out of the crater and looked around Butler. His eyes widened.

Ryu was standing in front of Demeter, his gun drawn at something down the tunnel. Holly was standing about a dozen yards away, completely frozen. Demeter looked over at Artemis, her face pale.

"We've got company."

"No kidding."

They looked like the ugliest kind of troll, only smaller of course. Their pebbly, mottled skin was drawn tight over narrow, pointed faces with slitted green eyes, pointy ears, and thin mouths. Their clothes were shreds, but those details were minute, compared to the weapons they carried. Giant, complex guns that glowed an eerie silver in the half-light and Artemis could hear the distinct rumble of machinery further down the tunnel.

"Are these our guys?" Ryu shouted to Holly.

"Yep."

The lead ugly raised its head and started bellowing in a strange, screech-like language. Demeter clapped her hands over her ears and cringed. Artemis remained stoically unmoved.

"What do we do?" He asked Butler, who now had his own weapon drawn.

"We wait for them to make the first move. That's all we can do."

For a moment time stood still. Then, another ugly creature from further back approached Holly, holding out what looked like-

"A speaker?" Demeter frowned. She didn't like where this was going.

"Hello, Artemis," a voice boomed from the black box. "Remember me?"

"Spiro," Artemis whispered to Butler. "I thought he was in jail!"

"Oh, I've been long gone out of jail," the voice cackled almost maniacally. "I've been having a lot of fun with this little box you created. Shame I couldn't have the original."

"What are your demands, Spiro?" Artemis called, keeping his voice level and emotionless.

"Demands? You misunderstand me, child." Spiro chuckled. "I have no need to make demands. I'm just here to practice my new toy. And what better way to do so, then to see how far its destructive capacity can go?"

"Then why not go to a test field?" Demeter shouted. "Why kill people?!"

There was silence from the block, then a group of the monsters surged towards Demeter and Ryu. Ryu opened fire on the uglies, but it didn't seem to have any effect.

"Shoot all you want!" Spiro called in a singsong voice. "They can't die!"

Artemis frowned, analyzing the monsters as they headed towards his cousin. Bullets were ineffective, so what would work? He looked around, then focused again on the slimy assailants. They were covered in the same goo as the shredded metal in the crater. Artemis's brain clicked and he smiled his vampire smile.

"Short!" He shouted. "Blast it! They're not neutral to fire!"

Holly knew better than to question the Mud Boy in this situation. She pulled out the Neutrino, set it on its highest setting, and fired a sweeping stream of white hot at the monsters.

Above ground, the trees shook with suppressed explosions.