Chapter 3
Sudden Death
Julius Root battled furiously, his gun blazing. His was face redder than ever, sweat dripping from his brow.
Six corpses lay slumped around the interior of the luxury shuttle. All of them where human, and now, with the death of the seventh one, all of them where dead.
Root slumped against the stained oak wall of the shuttle. He chuckled to himself, most everybody under the planet thought he was dead and yet here he was, slaughtering Mud men. What a life!
He holstered his gun. Sig Sauer P-228. Mud man design; metal bullets, heavy as hell.
He had gotten used to human weapons over the past few months. That's what you got from living above ground for so long.
So, how had Julius Root escaped the evil clutches of Opal Koboi?
The answer is very simple really. Root had a double. If needed, this fairy could be sent in Root's stead onto some of the more dangerous missions, including Root's 'last'.
Root had slipped above ground until the Koboi affair was over but as he tried to return, the People had taken him as a hoax.
So Root had been stuck.
He had wandered across the States for a while, before traveling to Europe and then Asia. Life had been really slow compared to the frantic lifestyle of a LEP Commander.
He had spent most of his time watching Human soap operas; he could see how Foaly liked them so much.
Now he was finally back underground.
He stepped out of the shuttle, onto the LEP landing bay.
Fairies gaped.
The door of the LEP OPS booth flew open and a furious Mud boy stormed in.
Foaly grinned broadly, seeing the teenager's messy hair and torn clothes. His grin quickly faded, after he saw what Artemis was doing: "What the-"
Artemis stomped across the room, and raised his fist.
"You little backstabbing Donkey!"
He brought his fist down on Foaly's nose.
"That was for Juliet!" he roared furiously.
He tore the 'Wedding' cap off of Foaly's head, and tore the tin foil one in half.
"That was for your sad little memorabilia!"
His final blow landed on Foaly's hairy bottom.
"And, that was for myself!"
Foaly fell, stunned, out of his chair, as Artemis stalked out.
Several minutes later, the door swung open again.
"What the hell are you doing on the floor, Foaly!" said Julius Root, walking in.
Artemis Fowl still couldn't get over his sheer fury at Foaly.
The sad little horse had pounded his pride to the ground. And as if the posters all over Haven hadn't been enough, he found Foaly wearing the most insulting piece of headwear he had witnessed! In his entire life!
He was in such a fury as he stormed out of the OPS booth that he didn't even notice the fairy with the human weapon strapped to his hip, walking in.
He walked the length of the low roofed hallway and turned into a side room.
Inside, were the figures of Mulch, Holly and Juliet. Between them was a glass table.
Artemis seated himself between Mulch and Juliet, his hand sliding down underneath the table to hold Juliet's.
Mulch and Holly exchanged knowing smiles.
"The reason I asked you two to join us here is a matter of utmost secrecy. You must swear not to repeat anything that I will say over the next few minutes."
A muttering filled the room. When Artemis began speaking, no one interrupted.
"Juliet already knows the story. Has Foaly filled you two in?" he spoke the word Foaly with such venom that Mulch jumped slightly.
Holly and Mulch nodded.
"Good. Now, there is the matter of Mr. Spiro to deal with. Juliet and I have no way of knowing whether Spiro escaped the explosion. "We were... erm..." He couldn't believe he had actually just said that. Erm wasn't even a word. "Erm... busy."
"Just admit it Artemis," said Mulch, "You made out. Otherwise you wouldn't be holding hands, which you are."
Artemis gave him a look. That said it all.
"If Mr. Spiro is alive-"
"If?" Said a voice from the doorway, "There's no 'If' about it."
The room was absolutely silent. Then Holly jumped to her feet, crying, and threw her arms around Julius Root.
He didn't even smile, but lifted a gun to Holly's head.
Root pulled the trigger.
Juliet felt the bullet bury itself in her skull.
She was dead.
A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update.