Ugh. Life is exhausting. I'm so sorry, it's been forever. Here's an overview of all that's happened so far:

Artemis Fowl has loosened up since his last adventure- maybe too much. When his Mother starts acting strange, he writes it off as her sometimes quirky nature. However, this action costs him, for soon his Mother is telling the family about a trip she 'planned herself'. The entire journey to California seems entirely made to personally torment him (it turns out, that maybe it was).

They leave Butler behind to watch over the mansion. Hours after arriving, they go to the vacation house and call it a day. Artemis wakes up, finding himself alone. He decides to make some tea after seeing that nothing that he plugged in charged. Someone breaks in, and he flees a nearby forest, only to be caught there instead- he is taken to the School, a place he doesn't know much about.

Opal reveals herself to Artemis and leaves him at the School to 'rot or die'. He is injected with avian DNA (not that he knows ;) ) it doesn't work the first time (because his magic). Jeb, very confused, reinjects him a second time...

That time it works.

For the LEP, things are stiring up, and some officers are starting to notice something amiss with the increase in crime. Foaly and Holly see that the cameras in Fowl mansion are all looped; this does not bode well for anyone.

OOOOoooo. I wonder what will happen next, wink wink. Haha. But yeah. Poor Artemis has his work cut out for him. This chapter we get a peak at the flock (and maybe Arty ;)) Anyway, sorry for the super long note. Back to the story! Sorry if any of the characters are OOC, and thanks to Anjuu Makaa, Leo, shinyleopard, and Fantasy Freak for reviewing ! You guys are awesome :3 .

Counting Crows: One for sadness, two for mirth; Three for marriage, four for birth; Five for laughing, six for crying: Seven for sickness, eight for dying; Nine for silver, ten for gold; Eleven a secret never told. -Nursing rhyme by unknown.

Chapter 6: The New kid

They had been captured; after traveling around for an entire month, everyone had been exhausted. Iggy jumped at every sound (yeash), Gazzy fell asleep while flying (twice!), Nudge had become more quiet (concerning), Fang had insomnia (you could totally tell), Angel was relying on Total to tell her if she was drifting off course (she was practically sleep flying at this point. Not actually the weirdest thing they've ever seen), and Max... well, she was definitely feeling potential burnout. Not to mention that even though it had been almost a week since they were attacked, she couldn't help but feel like something was coming, like something was going to happen- and it did.

The Flock (being as tired as they were) had decided to lay low for a week. They had saved up some money and were able to rent a cheap hotel room. It was only enough for couple days at most, but it was a couple days sorely needed. The manager hadn't even questioned why a dirty group of kids had wanted a room (the relief combined with fatigue melted away any suspicion they might have had). It had seemed too good to be true- and it was. In the morning, they were attacked by a horde of Erasers. Even though the flock had gotten a good nights rest, none of them had stood a chance.

They were taken back to The School. Instead of crowding them in a room with other experiments like before, they were given a seperate room (the avian wing. Pun unintended). None of them were separated from eachother (thankfully), but the room seemed to be locked up tight. There was even a passcode needed to go in or out through the door. That didn't make things any better than before. The dog crates were just as small and uncomfortable, the lighting was just as bad, and the smell of chemicals (and blood) reeked deeply. Not to mention the experiments- Jeb and his fellow White Coats seemed to be testing them with renewed vigor. He practically glowed with a fascinated excitement that Max hadn't seen in years- it was beyond fishy. There was no visible reason for this sudden happy spree either, except for the flock's recent recapture.

Instead of focusing on any aches or pains from experiments, Max focused all her efforts (that weren't being used for escape or protecting her family) on ruining Jeb's day or snarking whenever they came into contact. She was almost never successful in the former. Sighing, she shifted, trying get comfortable, a useless effort. There was a cough to her right, and she turned her head.

"How's it going", she wispered. There was a couple carefully wispered replies and a sneeze. Acrossed from her, Fang cracked an eye open and shrugged. So far, there had been no luck in identifying a way to pick the locks on these crates, let alone a way to unlock the door to this room. They had been carefully searched for lock picks and anything else that could aid escape. Even their shoes were taken, which really sucked. The entire flock was in this room- except for Angel. She had been gone for hours now, and Max was starting to get nervous. Just as she was about to say something, loud foot steps were heard just outside the door. Everyone went still and silent. Not a single cough, moan, sigh, or shift was heard.

The door creaked open, and the room was flooded with light. Fang hissed softly and covered his eyes. An eraser stepped in with Angel (also a second empty crate?), and Max watched with piercing eyes as Angel was shut away to the left. To her relief, Angel looked fine, if a little worn out.

As soon as the Eraser stepped out and closed the door, Angel blurted out in an excited whisper, "I got something! Something small and thin-". The reaction was immediate; Nudge (nearly) squealed, Fang glanced over, Iggy sat up (as much as possible anyway), and Gazzy gasped. Max felt proud, but also worried.

"Are you okay? You didn't get hurt did you?" Gazzy asked in a concerned whisper (he was such a sweetheart, Max thought warmly). Everyone leaned forward, and Max looked towards her sharply, giving her a concerned, yet critical eye once more. Angel did indeed look worn out, and there was a bruise appearing on her face that she hadn't noticed before. Angel hesitated, a look a slight wonder on her face.

"I'm okay. I was doing some basic agility tests until.." She trailed off. Fang raised an eyebrow, and Angel shook her head as if to clear it. "There was a boy there. I've never seen him before."

The room was silent for a moment before a burst of whispered questions flooded the room. The 'small and thin' object (that could possibly be used to pick locks) was practically forgotten. It was almost nice to think about something that didn't revolve around running away or escaping the school.

"Who was he?" Nugde question excitedly. All she recieved in responce was a shrug.

"I'm not sure, I didn't have time to read his mind. He was just being taken somewhere by Jeb. But when he saw me, he looked pretty upset- angry even. And then he-", she leaned forward slightly, "he punched Jeb! In the face!", she whispered, acquiring the same look from earlier.

Fang cleared his throat. "Respect." Everyone broke into muted giggles. It died down after a couple minutes, but it had left a positive affect on the room. Angel shook her head and grew slightly pale, the only one not affected.

"I don't think I've ever seen Jeb look so... mad before. I hope that kid is okay. The Eraser guarding me had to go over there and break everything up too. That's when I found this thing on the ground; no one seemed to see me pick it up", Angel said, fishing out the object as she finished telling them what had happened to her. After a bit more discussion, it became quiet for a while. Some of them decided to think, while others had decided to try and sleep.

After about two weeks of being at the school again, they could finally start putting the plan they made to get out in action. Being here, even for the short amount of time they were (it felt like centuries) brought back horrible memories. The sooner they were able to get out of here, the better It would be for everyone. Being at the School was starting to negatively affect the others too, even though they were doing their best not to show it.

A couple of hours passed, and some quiet conversations were restarted. Gazzy and Iggy were talking about how to make big explosions from normal household items, Max was talking to Nudge (sometimes getting a full sentence out), Fang was sleeping, and Angel was thinking. Eventually, they started to talk about the escape plan that they had made as soon as they were lucid enough- in hesitant murmurs. The words spoken were so low, so quiet, that they could hardly hear each other. It was a simple plan with only three steps, yet it had been quite lengthy:

Step #1. Find something to pick locks (use it to get out of the crates.)

Step #2: Figure out the passcode for the door (so they can leave.)

Step #3. Wing it (pun totally intended).

They already got step one; it had taken a while to find something small enough to pick locks, but Angel had done it. Considering Nudge's ability to hack, step two should be a breeze. They would wait a bit longer to go over any 'just in case' ideas, but they would put their plan in action soon. They couldn't wait too long, but jumping into the plan right away didn't sound like a good idea.

Soon after the discussion was finished, they were alerted to the sound of heavy clumping footsteps in the hallway. The room became as stiff and silent as it had been before. Max held her breath as the door was swung open, and was greated by a sight she had never expected. Standing there was an eraser, carrying a heap of blood and feathers. No- it was a boy. He appeared to be in his early teens at most, with deep black hair and matching wings. His skin was the palest white she had ever seen, nearly transulant. He was covered in scratches (claw marks maybe?) and bruises. He didn't look awake. The flock was struck into a shocked silence as the eraser locked him in the crate brought in from earlier.

"It looks like you wimps have a new roommate", the dog creature stated, his face twisting into what might have heen a sneer, if not for the sharp teeth. He turned, giving them one last wolvish grin, before leaving.

_A_While_Ago_

The pain in Artemis's back had become nearly unbearable, so much that he was often left unable to move. The skin in his back would crawl, making it (even more) impossible to sleep. Not only that, but it was becoming apparent that he was running low on magic. Before, he could feel the magic practically dancing across his skin (Artemis could definitely see why the fairies would call it 'running hot'). Now however, the buzz was dull like a caffeine crash. He could tell when the full moon was full now (voices of the people would flood his mind, and the urge to leave would become even stronger).

At the moment, he was being taken to a testing room by 'Jeb'. He always seemed too happy and would smile widely while doing tests (what Artemis wouldn't give to knock that look off his face; Fowl's however, were not stupid. Everything in this building looked too clean, and the rooms reeked of chemicles. The bright fluorescent lights and smell were alone strong enough to trigger a migraine.

"I was thinking something easy today; a toxicity test or just an agility test. Nothing too strenuous. You've been behaving very nicely, so consider it a break day", said Jeb with his noxious smile. Artemis couldn't even muster a glare. Instead, he tried to focus on something other than the pain slowly increasing in his back. He heard some footsteps in the coming corridor, and glanced up wearily as Jeb chatted on obliviously.

There was the heavy clumps of one of those dog creatures, but there was also a set of lighter steps. Perhaps a person who worked here? But these were even more quiet than Jeb's. Artemis furrowed his brows in silent concentration. The steps were very hard to hear, as if someone very short or small was walking. Could it perhaps be a fairy? He felt almost hopeful at this thought before brushing the feeling away. The only fairy that would come to this place was Opal, and he didn't exactly want to see her at the moment.

His ponderings were put to a halt as he rounded the corner and was met with a sight he hadn't given thought to. Next to the humanoid wolf was a small girl who looked like she could be no older than nine or ten.

She glanced at him with tired blue eyes and waved lightly, Jeb not even taking notice. For a moment, he felt utter shock- which turned to horror, and then to anger. How dare they- how dare they do something like this to a child- He twisted around and faced Jeb. The latter paused his talking, and before Artemis knew what he was doing, they were both on the floor. He punched him in the face as hard as he could, being met with a sharp snap as something broke. The anger he had quickly turned to fear (a Fowl was never afraid) and the dog grabbed his arm and pulled him up.

As Jeb forced himself off the floor, an agonizing throb burned up Artemis's back, and he bit his tongue hard to keep from crying out. As he drifted back to attention, the first thing he noticed was that Jeb was not smiling anymore. No, this was more like an ugly, twisted sneer that bled from pure rage. It was silent for a moment as another dog carrying a dog crate came and got the girl. Artemis remembered his earlier thoughts about how Fowl's were not stupid. That had been a lie- sometimes, even geniuses could be idiots.

"I thought that you, unlike the flock, would be greatful for my wonderful gift. You were behaving so well, so perfectly... I've made you into something more than any human could hope to be- but just like them, you took my kindness and threw it back at my face", his voiced raised to a shout at the end and was he left taking forceful gasps of air as he tried to calm down.

"No matter. You'll see in the end- yes you all will", he muttered to himself, turning blood shot eyes to the bear like creature gripping Artemis's arm, in a way that would surely leave bruises later. He took another breath of air and released it, looking just a tiny bit calmer, but no less deranged. His grimace turned into a dark empty smile, and he spoke. "Prepare the training room. I think subject 584 needs to learn a lesson."

They threw him to the wolves.

IT'S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE! Some of you guys from other countries might not celebrate Christmas, but yeah. Wooo... I was supposed to have this done so much earlier, but my computer broke. I only recently got it working. I also rewrote this chapter many times. The first several were in Artemis's pov, but it wasn't working out. When I finally wrote something that I liked, it got deleted. We weren't supposed to see the flock for another chapter, but this is good :D . After writing in the flocks pov, I decided to check this over as many times as possible so it would be written well. I also tried to write more to make up a bit for my absence (did it work? No? I thought not).

There might be some mistakes toward the end, since I rushed a bit, but yeah. Other than that, I tried to make this a quality chapter. I thought that I might write some oneshots for this story, or rewrite some of the chapters. What do you guys think? Please tell me what you think in the comment section below. Anyway, merry Christmas to those who celebrate it, and Happy New Year! I hope you guys liked the chapter.