Sorry everyone, I wasn't able to put in anywhere near as much fluff as I wanted because this IS a project… Anyways, here's chappie two! Hope you like! Review response time!

renee- Thanks for being my first reviewer! Well, nothing really… I tried to write a story with my own OCs, but it didn't work because I tried too hard to develop them and lost the scientific aspect. So I borrowed Arty and crew and added in the information from our book. I think I like the way it's turning out… But that's just me. Hope you like this next chapter!

I should be Studying- Thanks! Happy New Year to you, too! Lol, I like Gregory.,. Did Holly make fun of him for it in your fic? Cuz she did in my other one… Like the penname too, it goes well with my situation right now… Cuz review responses are hardly productive. But oh well… I wish I could read your fic, but I can't read things that are rated R… I'm 14. Sorry…  And please check out some of my Inuyasha fics! Anyway, thanks for reviewing and hope you like this chappie!

VampirePeaches- Yea, it was kind of obvious… But look on the bright side, that means I didn't leave a cliffie, did I? Sorry I didn't explain, but that's what I did when I started my first try on this project, I created characters and tried to develop and explain them too much. So how about this- I finish writing this, and then I write a prequel to this story with the explanations. Actually, depending on how Together Forever ends up, it could be considered the prequel… What do you think? Anyway, story time, please R&R!

almostinsane- Thanks! Updating!

Li- OMG you're hilarious! See you Tuesday, silly…

SnuHiFoot- BAKA! It's Snuffhifoot, no Snuhifoot! lol whatever… Thanks for reviewing but any SUGGESTIONS? Anyways, you coming Tuesday? Ttyl, lylas!

Disclaimer: I don't own Bill Nye… He's a person for goodness sake! I would I go about owning him? looks thoughtful Hm… For anything else, see chapter one, and don't sic the lawyers on me!

Chapter Two: Opal's Return

Artemis smiled softly as a very disgruntled Foaly signed on. "Fowl!" he exclaimed irritably, "What do you want? I just talked to you a few hours ago!" His expression quickly transformed into a worried one. "Spiro didn't attack you, did he?" he asked, concern permeating his tone.

Artemis nodded wearily. "Yes, he set off a bomb in the room below mine and Holly's. That, however, isn't the problem."

"Not the problem!" he cried. "Not the problem? What under the earth are you on about, Fowl? The most dangerous man in the country, barring yourself, of course, just set off a bomb in your manor! Mind telling me what could be worse?" he ranted, his efforts rendering him slightly out of breath.

Artemis sat calmly throughout the centaur's tirade. He was, after all, used to Holly's anger; Foaly's was nothing in comparison. When angered, the elf gave Commander Root a run for his money…

"The bomb was clearly not handmade; it would have taken a large sum of money to procure it. Money an escaped convict would not possess."

"Point being?" Foaly asked, clearly angry at Artemis' lack of concern for the situation.

"Point being," Artemis continued, "that I believe Opal Koboi is not as imprisoned as she would like us to believe."

"Opal?" he said softly. "But… But…" Suddenly, Foaly's anger overcame his shock. "It can't be Opal! She's in Howler's Peak! Under high security! No one's broken out of there in thousands of years! And I would have been informed if she had broken out!"

Artemis knew Foaly's anger was clouding his good judgment; it wasn't really that hard to create a duplicate of oneself. And knowing Opal, it wasn't beneath her intelligence to find the needed materials, even in a place such as Howler's Peak goblin prison.

"Then I think it's time we paid Miss Koboi a visit."

The security guard looked nervously over his shoulder at the people he was leading towards the high-security cell. It wasn't every day that someone of his stature led such important people around- this day would mark the future of his career. If the guests were pleased, he would most likely get a promotion. If he displeased them, however… He shuddered at the thought. His career would be ruined. Besides, it wasn't a good idea to anger the commander, and he had heard every rumor about Fowl. The captain and the centaur didn't look too happy, either. He paused for a moment, and was treated to a cold glare on the manservant's part. Nope, definitely not a good idea to get them angry…

He continued hurriedly to the cell, avoiding eye contact with the group. They reached the cell in question, and the guard nodded upon seeing the commander, stepping aside to allow them passage. The name tag of the guard they had been following flashed in the lamplight, proudly proclaiming his name to be Ed. He hurriedly pulled his key ring from his pocket, trying to look important and unafraid. After all, not just anyone got an entrance key to the most heavily guarded cell under the earth.

He was about to push the door open when Foaly rudely pushed past him. Holly gave him an apologetic look and opened her mouth as if to say something, but quickly changed her mind. It wasn't as if she could say to the poor man, "Sorry, but it's his ex-rival you've got in this cell, and we think she's out to kill us all. So sorry for my colleague's behavior, but we're all a bit on edge right now." That would do wonders for security. Not to mention Root would have her head.

She followed Foaly into the cell and watched carefully as Artemis examined Opal with a device similar to a medical tricorder. A series of numbers appeared on the small screen, and Artemis frowned. He stood and said to Root, "Radio the Council. This isn't Opal Koboi."

The four sat in the Ops booth, viewing the security tapes Howler's Peak had sent them. The door to Opal's cell opened, and a security guard entered with a tray of food. He bent down to place the tray on the floor, and she promptly shot him in the back with a clearly homemade laser she had drawn from her pocket. Not as powerful as a Neutrino, but it was effective enough for the job she required of it. The man fell to the floor, stunned. They watched in amazement as she proceeded to pull out a miniature holographic projector and produced a solid copy of herself, and then pulled yet another device from her pocket. She aimed it at the man and then trained it on herself, and she transformed into a carbon copy of the unconscious security guard. Another gadget rendered the man invisible, and she grabbed his keys and left the room.

Foaly sighed. "Leave it to Opal to find the materials to make stuff like that in a place like Howler's Peak." His good sense had finally overcome his anger, and he was putting all of his energy into finding out what had happened between Opal and Spiro.

Suddenly the screen flashed, and a smiling head appeared on the screen. Their expressions darkened. "Speak of the devil…" Foaly muttered.

"Koboi!" Root shouted. "Do you want another life sentence in prison? Get back here NOW!"

Opal giggled. "Come on now, Julius, that wouldn't be any fun, now would it?"

The commander growled. "You have about thirty seconds before I send all my people after you, pixie."

Opal gasped in pretend abashment. "Commander, is that a threat?"

"You bet it is," he replied, spitting out a fungus cigar.

The deranged fairy grinned. "Well, if you're going to be like that about it… Would you like to make a deal?"

None of the occupants of the room liked her expression.

"What kind of deal?" he asked suspiciously. "I can't think of anything you could possibly come up with that would convince us to release you."

Opal smirked. "Nothing?" she inquired. "Very well… I suppose I'll just feed her to a troll then." With these cryptic words, she reached down and pulled Ebony into view. The assembled party gasped, and Holly and Artemis turned to Foaly, who had turned white.

"I… I'm sorry…" he said softly. "I left her with Trouble. I thought he could take care of her. I can't imagine what she could have done to-"

"What," the pixie interrupted, "him?" She held up the limp form of Trouble Kelp and smiled at their expressions. "Wasn't that hard to knock him out, I simply snuck up behind him with a baseball bat. Pitiful, really, how untrained all your officers are…"

Root turned red. "Shut it, Koboi! Kelp was one of my best officers!"

Opal raised her eyebrows. "Then I would hate to see your rookies. And what is it with you and calling everyone by their last names?"

Root spluttered, she had asked a question he didn't have an answer to. Had the situation not been so serious, Artemis, Holly, and Foaly would have burst out laughing. This was a question they had often wondered about themselves.

"What's wrong, commander?" Opal asked in a honey-sweet tone. "Lava tiger got your tongue?"

Root bristled. "Look, Koboi, give Kelp and Fowl back. NOW!"

"Oh, of course," she replied, still in that fake, sugary tone, "But there area a few… Conditions."

Artemis suddenly felt lightheaded. That was nearly exactly what he had said to the commander about Holly so many years ago… He had held all the cards and hadn't been afraid to play them. Ready for anything, sure to succeed. Needless to say, it wasn't fun to be on the other side of the situation.

"What kind of conditions, Opal?" Artemis inquired, upon seeing that Root was almost ready to explode.

"I want full pardon," she replied. "as well as the reinstatement of my position at Koboi Laboratories. A couple thousand ingots of gold wouldn't hurt, either."

Root's complexion had long since turned violet. "And why under the Earth do you expect to get all this? As much as I hate to say it, Koboi, the council isn't likely to agree to your demands.

"Oh, but you're in charge of my case, aren't you commander? You can easily pardon my escape and past crimes. As for the gold, I sincerely doubt that Mr. Fowl here is lacking. And about my company…" she shrugged. "That's your problem."

The screen flashed once more, and Opal winked out of existence.

Artemis sighed and rubbed his temples gingerly. "We're going to have to be extremely careful with this. In my opinion, the best way to approach this is to return home and investigate the residue left behind by the explosion. Once Spiro is apprehended, we can place him under the mesmer and discover Opal Koboi's whereabouts. We have neither the time nor the equipment to track her first; she will be, no doubt, heavily guarded, and will also expect an attack. It is only logical that we go after Jon first."

Holly envied his ability to be calm and logical, even though she knew he was a nervous wreck inside. The past week had been the first time he had been away from Ebony for more than a day, and this long-term separation was clearly wearing away at him. She broke the silence to divert his attention from their daughter's precarious predicament. "How do we find him?" she asked.

"First we go home," he replied, "and analyze the explosion site. We have to prove that Jon set it off, or else we will have no proof as to his whereabouts. I'm betting that he thought all evidence was destroyed, but even in large explosions not everything combusts. The cap I found should have enough fingerprints to confirm Jon's guilt, at which point we can involve the authorities. This might be more of a setback than anything, however, as it will be nearly impossible to mesmerize him when he is under the power of the Irish government."

The others were silent for a moment, digesting this information. Silence. Prolonged, unendurable silence. Holly finally spoke, her tone weak, weary. Broken.

"Let's just go home, okay?" she said softly. "I don't think I can take this anymore…"

Artemis took her in his arms and held her tightly. "It's alright, Holly, don't worry. We'll find Ebony. We'll get her back."

She nodded, wiping the tears from her eyes. "You're right. I'm just making things worse by breaking down like this…" She took a deep, calming breath and looked into his eyes, expression set and determined. "Let's go."

Back at his lab in Fowl Manor, Artemis had the blasting cap under his microscope. He had dusted latent fingerprint powder on it a few moments before, using aluminum powder due to the dark color of the cap, and was attempting to retrieve any useful, incriminating evidence from it. So far he had found only partial prints, but he thought them defining enough.

The first print, clearly the thumb due to the opposable position, was a clear radial loop, while the print on the screen, Jon's from a previous file, was a tented arch. This frightened Artemis for a moment, before he realized that this could be Jon' left hand they were dealing with, not his right, his right being the hand Artemis had a full set of prints for. He continued snapping pictures of the prints until he had one of every finger that had touched the cap, all but the pinky on one hand and the middle finger on the other.

He fed the pictures into his laptop and compared them. What he saw gave him goose bumps. None of the prints matched. He cross-referenced them with each of the other prints in turn, until every print had been matched with every other one possible, but none were even remotely similar. He hacked into Foaly's system, not feeling like wasting the time to call the centaur and ask him to send it, and compared the prints he had collected with Opal Koboi's. Still, no match, which could only mean one thing: there was a third person involved in Koboi's plan.

He again cross-referenced the prints, this time through Foaly's entire database, but to no avail. He had feared this, it meant that another human was involved. He then ran it through the Interpol database, nothing again. By now he was very concerned. If the third member of Opal's 'team' hadn't even been added to the Interpol site, then they would be nigh impossible to apprehend.

He crossed his fingers and ran the prints through his own files. He was pleasantly surprised when a sharp 'ping' echoed throughout the room, signaling a match. Artemis was confused, who had he dealt with that Interpol hadn't?

He clicked the 'open' button and scanned the fingerprints, smiling. Each one was a perfect match. So who had Opal employed? He looked up at the name above the prints and drew in a sharp breath.

There, flickering on the screen, was the name Ebony Fowl.

In her 'office', a small, computerized shack in the middle of the Amazon Jungle, Opal Koboi giggled at the look on Artemis' face. She reached down and pulled a small four year old girl into her lap, smiling. "Look, child," she said softly. "The bad man found out that we set off that bomb. He'll capture Jon soon, and he'll come after us. What will we do then, child?"

Ebony answered in monotone, a hollow look in her eyes. "Destroy. Bad man might hurt us." A part of her mind rebelled against the words that she spoke, the words that found a way into her thoughts and forced their way out. A part of her remembered those words as her father's, and knew that the woman holding her was the reason the words had been first spoken. She attempted to break away from her stone prison, the place where her captor kept her imprisoned in her own mind… But it was to no avail. She was trapped, unable to break free from the oppressing presence that controlled her mind, body, and soul…

The pixie smiled approvingly, and Ebony felt the last of her control slipping. There was nothing she could do, she was now no more than a pawn, an instrument in a deranged fairy's twisted plan…

She felt herself spiraling into darkness, her last thought reverberating off the resonant walls of her now empty soul. 'I'm sorry, daddy…'

Artemis stormed through the hallways of the manor and unceremoniously threw open the door to the room where Foaly was attempting to catch a few hours of sleep. The handle hit the wall and made a loud slamming sound, startling Foaly from his restful state.

"Artemis?" he asked, clearly confused. "What-"

"No time, Foaly," Artemis interrupted. "Is there a way to counteract the mesmer after it has been placed on someone?"

Foaly blinked, clearly startled by the question. "Well, the person who cast it must either remove the spell, be knocked unconscious, or die. Why?"

Artemis growled, startling the centaur. "Fowl, what under the earth-"

"As much as I would like to take the last option, Miss Koboi deserves a few centuries in jail… Some place much more secure than Howler's Peak," he added darkly.

Foaly was still bewildered. "What are you on about, Fowl?"

Artemis sighed and sat down in a chair near the bed. "I identified the fingerprints on the cap."

Foaly nodded, this was something he understood. "So that means you can take Jon to the authorities after he tells us where Opal is, right?"

Artemis shook his head. "The fingerprints weren't Jon's."

He blinked, this was certainly unexpected. "Well then whose were they?"

Artemis looked away, unable to meet his friend's eyes. "Ebony's."

Foaly blanched. "Are you sure? Maybe it was a mistake…"

Artemis finally snapped at this blatant disregard of fact. "Yes, Foaly, I'm sure!" he exclaimed. "Everyone has a different pattern on their hands, it can't be that easily faked! Every print matched! Every single one! It isn't coincidence! Somehow either Opal or Jon, I'm guessing Opal, got Ebony to bypass the security alarms and plant the bomb! You think I like this, Foaly? You think I'm trying to write my daughter off as a common criminal? It's obvious she was under outside influence, and that she was forced to do this somehow, whether by threat, blackmail, or the mesmer I don't know. But the fact is that she did do this. If you can't accept that, then I guess we'll have to do this without you. Don't let your guilt override your common sense. Don't look at me like that, I know you're feeling guilty that Opal kidnapped Ebony. How do you think I feel? If I hadn't discovered the people in the first place, if I had allowed you to wipe my memories, if I hadn't created the cube and gotten Jon angry with me… So many mistakes, so many other ways my life could have gone. So many ways that everyone could be safe now. But we can't go back in time, Foaly, we can't change the past. So accept it, and move on. There's nothing you can do about her being kidnapped now, but you can stop further harm from coming to her. We need you, Foaly. Are you with us?"

Foaly nodded, mind still reeling. Ebony's fate was surprising, but more so was the speech Artemis had just made. He had understood so completely, so correctly interpreted his emotions… He was so much wiser than he ought to be. He had grown up more quickly than he should have, more quickly than anyone could have ever imagined. He acted like and adult as a child, and possessed the maturity and wisdom of a wizened old man as an adult. He had experienced so much, seen more things than anyone ever should have seen… Yet he bore it all without complaint, accepting his fate for what it was. He was prepared to risk everything for the ones he loved…

He nodded again, more forcefully this time, and walked to Butler's room, side by side with Artemis. There was work to be done.

Okay, what do you think? My fav part was the Artemis/Foaly interaction… Yea, and for the last bit of my project I have to incorporate something to do with a gun… It's actually more complicated than that, but whatever. What I need to know is who do you want Jon to shoot? He's gonna aim for Opal (not telling why!). Should he hit her or should he miss and hit someone else, like Holly or Artemis? Please review, and place your vote!

Torina