Author's Note: Sorry I haven't been putting up a chapter on FanFic, but I had heaps tests and stuff at school and I had writer's block, so I couldn't think of any good ideas.

But it's all gone now! So here's the newest chappie!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Artemis Fowl characters (as much as I wish I did)

Chapter 4: Through the Sewers

Limerick

Butler strode down the stairs of the luxurious hotel. He had been booked in for quite a while. He would have used the lifts, but they were "under repair". He wheezed slightly and stopped to catch his breath. These difficulties were not new to him as he had experienced it often. It was as if he had grown old in a day.

Butler grinned to himself. Like that was possible.

He made his way down to the bottom of the staircase and tipped his cap as he walked past Gerald at the front desk before heading out of the foyer.

This morning he had to make sure his contact had finished examining the lens, he couldn't leave Artemis by himself in Fowl Manor any longer.

If only he knew Artemis had the company of a few old friends back at the mansion.

Fowl Mansion

After a brief conversation, Artemis, Mulch and Holly moved into the dining room. Holly was partially shocked at what Mulch had done but also partially relieved by the fact that Artemis could help with the current problem she faced. He seemed slightly reluctant to hear about it, but she had convinced him just to listen to what she had to say.

"I still can't believe you were able to lay low for a whole year!" Captain Short exclaimed.

"A year and a month," replied Mulch. "Isn't this the part where you cuff me?"

"You don't know how tempting it is. I keep fingering the handcuffs but I ...,"she incomprehensibly mumbled the last words.

"What?" said Artemis and Mulch together.

Holly mumbled the words again.

"What?!"

"I said, I need your help!" Holly yelled.

"No need to get bigheaded," she added as she saw them grin at one another.

I wouldn't be asking for this, but I think there's something going on at—"

"Bip-Captain Short, this is Officer Tensair. Are you there?"

The low crackly voice emanated over the speakers of her com set.

She fished it out and replied, "Yes, what's the situation?"

"We have possible acts of hostility in Haven City," came the reply. "We can't receive a reply from the Operations Booth. The systems are going crazy, they've sensed some kind of strange magic signals coming from everywhere but we can't see anything."

Fear had trickled into the officer's voice even though he seemed to be trying to keep calm.

"I'll be there as soon as I can," responded Holly, worriedly. She terminated the link.

"Well?"

She turned to see Artemis and Mulch's faces watching her expectedly.

"There's something going on underground but no one knows what it really is. Before you found me on the windowsill, I saw Diggums and tried to contact Foaly but I couldn't establish a link."

Artemis opened his mouth.

"No, it wouldn't have been magma flares because Foaly found a way of making sure they don't affect communications."

Artemis closed his mouth, annoyed that Holly had ruined his deduction.

"I assume this is what you wanted help with," said Mulch dryly, emptying a vase of flowers into his gigantic, gaping mouth.

Artemis winced. "Those were a present from Juliet," he said coldly.

"By the way, where is the karate kid?" added Mulch.

"Juliet? She's going into a wrestling tournament in America."

Holly interrupted. "If you've finished your little conversation, we'd better get going. Haven City is in big trouble."

"Yeah, whatever," replied Mulch, easing himself out of the chair.

Artemis left a message for Butler in case he came home while they were gone. He secured the house and then the three of them stepped outside.

The Bentley stood in the garage. Butler had taken the private jet instead. Alongside it stood a sleek black Porsche.

"Well, what are we waiting for," said Holly, glad that Artemis had something other than the boring Bentley.

Holly and Mulch stepped forwards to get into the car, but stopped when they noticed Artemis hadn't moved. He looked apprehensive and nervous. He gazed at the car and tugged at the collar of his designer shirt and straightening his tie.

He opened his mouth.

Once again, Holly beat him to it. "This is the part where confess something to us, right?"

Artemis nodded warily.

Mulch sighed. "What is it Mud Boy? I'm dying for a bit of action."

"I-I," stuttered Artemis. "I can't drive it."

"Let me get this right. You bought a sweet new vehicle...but you don't know how the drive it, because you're under-aged, meaning you don't have a license?"

Artemis nodded.

Mulch brought a hand up to his forehead while Holly said impatiently, "Well you're going to have to drive due to these urgent times. We don't really want Mulch driving, if you can remember last time."

A memory passed through Artemis's head.

"Shouldn't you untie that foot in case you need to use it?" asked Juliet.

"Brakes?" laughed Mulch. "Why would I use the breaks? I'm not doing my driving test here."

In the back of the van, Artemis and Holly simultaneously reached for their seat belts.

Artemis grimaced at the remembrance. "OK, I'll try to drive."

Holly awkwardly patted his shoulder, something she still wasn't sure how'd he'd react too. She was glad that she had Artemis and Mulch with her to help her accomplish her mission. No matter what anyone said, Artemis did have something good in him that was beginning to show at long last.

The three companions got into the car.

"Remember, you are a genius so this should be a cinch," Mulch said, strapping himself in.

"Now," said Artemis, staring around at the interior. "How do you start this thing?"

Underground

The sewers. The smell hit them like a gust of dwarf's wind. For people who don't know, that's pretty powerful. Murky grey water sloshed endlessly around them.

The troop of goblins had obviously become accustomed to the conditions. They were equipped with boots and helmets that blocked out the scent of rotting fish.

Root and Foaly were not so lucky. Foaly cringed every time his hoofs touched the liquid and wrinkled his nose. Root kept swearing in a low voice. Once or twice, his head struck some goop on the top of the sewer tunnel, causing his temper to go up a notch.

The goblins surrounding them added to the atmosphere. They glared and hissed, resisting the urge to attack the hated LEP members.

But they knew that the commander had been trained in combat, even if it was ages ago, another reason why they had manacled his hands together. They hadn't bothered with the centaur because they knew how hopeless he was in the current scenario.

After walking for what seemed like hours, they reached a tunnel that dropped vertically into the darkness. An unstable lift dangled on an iron rope. It looked as if it hadn't been used for millenniums.

Somehow the whole group managed to fit in. One goblin grabbed the rope and coaxed it to move the lift slowly and jerking.

Root found one part of the tunnel familiar and one item he noticed in particular triggered the truth.

There was a hole bored into one of the columns. Mulch rubbed the edges fondly.

"Diamond laser cutter. Little nuclear battery. That baby could cut through anything."

"I remember that cutter too," said Root. "You nearly decapitated me with that once."

Mulch sighed. "Happy days, eh, Julius?"

Root's reply was a swift kick in the behind. "Less talk, more eating dirt, convict."

A little fear that had slipped into Root slipped back out as he calmed down. The diamond cutter was still there, that meant that they were under where Koboi Laboratory had once been. Where it had once stood, was now occupied by a popular pizza shop.

Root grinned, but it turned to a grunt as a goblin kicked him in the leg.

"This ain't meant t'be funny, elf," it growled, blinking it's scaly eyelids.

The rest of the journey down was uneventful, except for when one of the goblins got the hiccups and several of his peers, being stupid and not knowing what it was, sat on him to make him be quiet.

It also got a lot warmer and felt like they were nearing the Earth's core. Strange orange creatures darted amongst the pulsing orange cracks in the walls.

Finally, the lift stopped. Foaly had a cramp in his legs; he had never had to stand for so long in his life.

The ground was thick sediment of rock that gave a strange humming sound. The area was surrounded by various tunnels leading off in different directions.

Shadows were seen clearly in most and sparks flew out of one to the right.

Here, the group of goblins split up. Several went off into different tunnels but the others remained with Root and Foaly.

They led them to a tunnel.

Dark Tunnel

The entrance seemed light but darkness conquered it as they ventured further down the tunnel. The goblins were not very enthusiastic and a few started muttering about wanting their mummies.

At the end of the tunnel was a door, lit dimly. The cracks around pulsed an evil shade of purple.

Foaly whimpered and grabbed Root. Root pulled him off muttering "honestly."

The goblin that had had spoken in the Ops Booth whispered a strange word and the door hissed open, releasing a wave of grey mist.

Both centaur and elf were pushed, undesirably, into the room.

The goblins slammed the door shut and the sound of a lock was heard.

There was a brief moment of silence, only broken by the sound of Foaly's moaning and wavery breathing.

The mist cleared to reveal...

"What in the name of Frond...?" gasped the commander.

Author's Note: (Dramatic Music) Sorry, I just had to leave it on a cliff-hanger!

I will try to write the next chapter as soon as possible.

It will include: Artemis driving his first car

More memories and

...a revealed enemy as well as...

Um, I'll stop now in case I give too much away.

Please read and review. I probably won't start a new chapter until I get 10 reviews, but I'll see how it goes.

Till next time- BYE!