Disclaimer~ I don't own anything.
A/N~ Thanks for the reviews everybody. And trust me, I'm not going to let Holly scream. That would be too wrong. I'll try to update soon!
Outside the Warehouse, Ireland
For the next ten minutes everyone sat quietly in the car. No one spoke for fear it could cause them to slow down, and every second was precious to Holly. Butler slowed the car in front of a dilapidated warehouse then swung around and parked in the bushes so that their enemies wouldn't spot them.
The group clambered out and ducked down low into the bushes.
"So what's the plan?" Mulch offered. All eyes turned to Fowl. At this Foaly's voice came through Commander Root's helmet, "You know, he's not the only genius you could turn to for help. I am here. And I hope you know that if it wasn't for me the whole entire Council would be on your cases so fast that,"
"Okay, Foaly. What is your plan?" Artemis said as he cut Foaly off.
"Oh, well now that you mention it I do have a plan and it's a good one, just so you know Julius. Now what I want you all to do is go up to the door and open it somehow." He began.
"Aren't there any guards patrolling the area?" Butler asked.
"No, actually. Must be a pretty stupid kidnapper. I already searched the premises and there are no living creatures that could hinder your progress on this level of the warehouse. But, I've noticed an odd amount of metals in the floor and walls. I believe that they could be bombs of some sort. So watch where you step. When you get inside there is a rickety, old staircase leading downward on your right, when you get there notify me." He said as he got off the line.
"Probably bombs, he says. Of course they are bombs, what else would they be. This kidnapper can't be that stupid even if there aren't any guards on this level of the warehouse." Root said as if it wee the easiest thing in the world to identify.
"Perhaps, Commander. Although, there is a large possibility that Foaly's tracking device didn't work and that in fact is not Captain Short." Artemis pointed out.
"I pay that stupid horse too much for his machines not to work so it had better be Captain Short when we get to her." Root growled.
Oh, you all have such little faith in me." Foaly complained.
"I thought you said that you were getting off the line, pony, so that we can do our jobs." Root said menacingly.
"Well, you know what, I thought it my be helpful if I stayed on the line so that if any of you had any problems I could resolve th-"
"Hello? We have a Captain to save. So stop your bickering so we can get this done and over with." Captain Kelp said, raising his voice slightly.
"In case you haven't noticed, Captain, but I am your commanding officer and what I say goes and I will have your badge for another outburst like that, Kelp. Now lets go." He finished and he group followed him cautiously to the door of the warehouse.
Dark Room, Somewhere in the Warehouse, Ireland
Bang!
Out of nowhere, it seemed, the three large men were beating her all over with their nightsticks. The pain was so overwhelming Holly could almost see stars circling around her head like in the mud-men cartoons. I've got to stop watching those, Holly thought. She gritted her teeth together in pain as another blow came down, though she couldn't tell which one had delivered it.
Soon her vision blurred. The men had stopped striking her on the back and had moved onto her head and neck. Any more of this and I'll be out like a light, she thought. And I have barely enough magic to heal a paper cut. A concussion is probably inevitable. I wonder if this Russey guy will kill me while I'm unconscious or wait till I'm awake to do it? Huh? Wait a minute. What am I thinking? I'm not going to fall unconscious or die without a fight. That wouldn't be me if I didn't fight. I'm not going to be snuffed like a candle. I can make it out of this. Hopefully Foaly has already sent people to come rescue me, but I can't wait on something that may never come so I'll have to get out of here myself, Holly thought.
With some of her last strength, Holly managed to fling out her leg strategically so that the Australian man tripped and fell onto the other two. Of course she didn't just do this at any given moment she had to time it perfectly so that they were stuck on the ground for a while.
"Hey, what did you do that for man?" the biggest asked.
"It wasn't my fault, she-" the Australian started.
"Oh yeah. Blame it on the girl who's tied to a wall and has been hit a lot. I think you did that on purpose." Said the smallest, and smartest, although it was hard to tell.
Holly had seen something like this on The Three Stooges or something like that. Thank goodness Foaly had an odd love for American mud-men television programs or she would have never seen any of that.
The two made their ways over to the slightly frightened Australian, bearing their teeth and flexing their muscles while all three left their night sticks in a forgotten heap within Holly's reach. She smiled gently but stop immediately from the pain. She turned her head slowly to see the action.
The big guy and the smaller guy were currently slamming punches and hurling kicks upon the Australian man. After a while he started to whimper and it might have been her imagination but she could have sworn that she saw a tear or two.
One down, two to go, she thought.
At the Warehouse Door, Somewhere in Ireland
After throwing a small pebble at the door to see if it exploded, Butler expertly jiggled the handle, which surprisingly wasn't locked, and opened the door. With an eerie creek it swung slowly open to reveal a large room with a grimy floor much like that of a common shanty. A draft was pulled in through the large gaps in the ceiling and walls due to poor construction.
"What kind of criminals are these guys? This place looks worse than if a troll had chewed it up and spit it out." Mulch said in a hushed whisper.
"You would know, wouldn't you?" Root said with a sly grin upon his face.
"Hey, are you insulting my looks? You know we all can't be born beautiful so I can understand that you're jealous." He countered with an evil smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"What? Why you little-"
"Let's concentrate on the matter at hand instead of arguing like children." Artemis said coolly. Honestly, they really do act like children, Artemis thought. If they could just get along for a little while they could have already saved Holly. I hope she's all right.
"Fine." Said Mulch as he started walking towards the stairs. He was about to go farther when Butler's arm shot out from nowhere to restrain him. "Listen, big man. I know that we haven't seen each other in a while but that doesn't mean there is a need for hugs."
"You were about to step on a bomb." Came Foaly's annoyingly high- pitched voice from Trouble's communicator this time.
"Oh! Well then we can forget what I just said." Mulch said meekly, or rather, as meekly as is possible for a kleptomaniac dwarf.
"How come you didn't tell us this before, Foaly?" came Trouble's exasperated voice.
"Umm, slipped my mind?"
"Alright, pony. I'll let that one slide because I almost got the pleasure of seeing the convict blown to smithereens. Now, are there any other bombs that we should know about?" Root said, his patience waning.
But Artemis was far ahead of their conversation. Quick as a blink he threw small rocks in equally distanced places, that, if looked at closely enough, could be seen to form an eight-point star, right in front of the landing leading to the staircase. Half a second later the small bombs on which the rocks had landed exploded. The group was far enough away that they were only hit with chunks of debris.
"Artemis! You could have gotten yourself along with others killed. What were you thinking?" Butler hissed.
"It would have had to be done anyways. But you see the bombs were placed strategically so that anywhere you may have stepped near the landing would have killed you. Clever." He said smoothly avoiding the question.
"Okay. So this criminal is smarter than he or she seems or lets on about." Trouble said, more to himself than anyone else. With that, the group advanced to the stairwell cautiously.
Please review!
A/N~ Thanks for the reviews everybody. And trust me, I'm not going to let Holly scream. That would be too wrong. I'll try to update soon!
Outside the Warehouse, Ireland
For the next ten minutes everyone sat quietly in the car. No one spoke for fear it could cause them to slow down, and every second was precious to Holly. Butler slowed the car in front of a dilapidated warehouse then swung around and parked in the bushes so that their enemies wouldn't spot them.
The group clambered out and ducked down low into the bushes.
"So what's the plan?" Mulch offered. All eyes turned to Fowl. At this Foaly's voice came through Commander Root's helmet, "You know, he's not the only genius you could turn to for help. I am here. And I hope you know that if it wasn't for me the whole entire Council would be on your cases so fast that,"
"Okay, Foaly. What is your plan?" Artemis said as he cut Foaly off.
"Oh, well now that you mention it I do have a plan and it's a good one, just so you know Julius. Now what I want you all to do is go up to the door and open it somehow." He began.
"Aren't there any guards patrolling the area?" Butler asked.
"No, actually. Must be a pretty stupid kidnapper. I already searched the premises and there are no living creatures that could hinder your progress on this level of the warehouse. But, I've noticed an odd amount of metals in the floor and walls. I believe that they could be bombs of some sort. So watch where you step. When you get inside there is a rickety, old staircase leading downward on your right, when you get there notify me." He said as he got off the line.
"Probably bombs, he says. Of course they are bombs, what else would they be. This kidnapper can't be that stupid even if there aren't any guards on this level of the warehouse." Root said as if it wee the easiest thing in the world to identify.
"Perhaps, Commander. Although, there is a large possibility that Foaly's tracking device didn't work and that in fact is not Captain Short." Artemis pointed out.
"I pay that stupid horse too much for his machines not to work so it had better be Captain Short when we get to her." Root growled.
Oh, you all have such little faith in me." Foaly complained.
"I thought you said that you were getting off the line, pony, so that we can do our jobs." Root said menacingly.
"Well, you know what, I thought it my be helpful if I stayed on the line so that if any of you had any problems I could resolve th-"
"Hello? We have a Captain to save. So stop your bickering so we can get this done and over with." Captain Kelp said, raising his voice slightly.
"In case you haven't noticed, Captain, but I am your commanding officer and what I say goes and I will have your badge for another outburst like that, Kelp. Now lets go." He finished and he group followed him cautiously to the door of the warehouse.
Dark Room, Somewhere in the Warehouse, Ireland
Bang!
Out of nowhere, it seemed, the three large men were beating her all over with their nightsticks. The pain was so overwhelming Holly could almost see stars circling around her head like in the mud-men cartoons. I've got to stop watching those, Holly thought. She gritted her teeth together in pain as another blow came down, though she couldn't tell which one had delivered it.
Soon her vision blurred. The men had stopped striking her on the back and had moved onto her head and neck. Any more of this and I'll be out like a light, she thought. And I have barely enough magic to heal a paper cut. A concussion is probably inevitable. I wonder if this Russey guy will kill me while I'm unconscious or wait till I'm awake to do it? Huh? Wait a minute. What am I thinking? I'm not going to fall unconscious or die without a fight. That wouldn't be me if I didn't fight. I'm not going to be snuffed like a candle. I can make it out of this. Hopefully Foaly has already sent people to come rescue me, but I can't wait on something that may never come so I'll have to get out of here myself, Holly thought.
With some of her last strength, Holly managed to fling out her leg strategically so that the Australian man tripped and fell onto the other two. Of course she didn't just do this at any given moment she had to time it perfectly so that they were stuck on the ground for a while.
"Hey, what did you do that for man?" the biggest asked.
"It wasn't my fault, she-" the Australian started.
"Oh yeah. Blame it on the girl who's tied to a wall and has been hit a lot. I think you did that on purpose." Said the smallest, and smartest, although it was hard to tell.
Holly had seen something like this on The Three Stooges or something like that. Thank goodness Foaly had an odd love for American mud-men television programs or she would have never seen any of that.
The two made their ways over to the slightly frightened Australian, bearing their teeth and flexing their muscles while all three left their night sticks in a forgotten heap within Holly's reach. She smiled gently but stop immediately from the pain. She turned her head slowly to see the action.
The big guy and the smaller guy were currently slamming punches and hurling kicks upon the Australian man. After a while he started to whimper and it might have been her imagination but she could have sworn that she saw a tear or two.
One down, two to go, she thought.
At the Warehouse Door, Somewhere in Ireland
After throwing a small pebble at the door to see if it exploded, Butler expertly jiggled the handle, which surprisingly wasn't locked, and opened the door. With an eerie creek it swung slowly open to reveal a large room with a grimy floor much like that of a common shanty. A draft was pulled in through the large gaps in the ceiling and walls due to poor construction.
"What kind of criminals are these guys? This place looks worse than if a troll had chewed it up and spit it out." Mulch said in a hushed whisper.
"You would know, wouldn't you?" Root said with a sly grin upon his face.
"Hey, are you insulting my looks? You know we all can't be born beautiful so I can understand that you're jealous." He countered with an evil smile tugging at the corner of his lips.
"What? Why you little-"
"Let's concentrate on the matter at hand instead of arguing like children." Artemis said coolly. Honestly, they really do act like children, Artemis thought. If they could just get along for a little while they could have already saved Holly. I hope she's all right.
"Fine." Said Mulch as he started walking towards the stairs. He was about to go farther when Butler's arm shot out from nowhere to restrain him. "Listen, big man. I know that we haven't seen each other in a while but that doesn't mean there is a need for hugs."
"You were about to step on a bomb." Came Foaly's annoyingly high- pitched voice from Trouble's communicator this time.
"Oh! Well then we can forget what I just said." Mulch said meekly, or rather, as meekly as is possible for a kleptomaniac dwarf.
"How come you didn't tell us this before, Foaly?" came Trouble's exasperated voice.
"Umm, slipped my mind?"
"Alright, pony. I'll let that one slide because I almost got the pleasure of seeing the convict blown to smithereens. Now, are there any other bombs that we should know about?" Root said, his patience waning.
But Artemis was far ahead of their conversation. Quick as a blink he threw small rocks in equally distanced places, that, if looked at closely enough, could be seen to form an eight-point star, right in front of the landing leading to the staircase. Half a second later the small bombs on which the rocks had landed exploded. The group was far enough away that they were only hit with chunks of debris.
"Artemis! You could have gotten yourself along with others killed. What were you thinking?" Butler hissed.
"It would have had to be done anyways. But you see the bombs were placed strategically so that anywhere you may have stepped near the landing would have killed you. Clever." He said smoothly avoiding the question.
"Okay. So this criminal is smarter than he or she seems or lets on about." Trouble said, more to himself than anyone else. With that, the group advanced to the stairwell cautiously.
Please review!