I do not own any characters or ideas created by Eoin Colfer
A/N You probably want to get on with the story so I won't keep you waiting. Thank you to all of my new reviewers. On with it then!
Chapter 4- Shootout in Fowl Manor
The sound of the bullet cut through the stillness of the air like a sharp blade. Artemis collapsed on the roof. He wasn't dead. The sound had startled him. But he wasn't even hurt. Johnson just stood there, in shock at his now empty hand.
"Put your hands up, Johnson," said a deep voice behind him. It was Butler. Before Johnson had had a chance to shoot, Butler had climbed through the window and shot the gun out of Johnson's grip. Artemis looked up. A look of relief crossed his face.
"That was some really fancy shooting, Butler" Artemis said happily. But then he realized that Butler was hurt. He was bruised and bleeding and his arm was grazed, possibly from a missed bullet shot. A look of worry crossed his face this time.
"Not to worry, Artemis. He's fine," said Juliet who had just appeared behind him. She looked as bad as her brother if not worse. Johnson finally got back to his normal self.
"It appears I'm quite surrounded, doesn't it?" he said. He was having an extremely difficult time not looking angry. "I had better be on my way…" he said while he walked toward Artemis.
"Hands up" said Butler in a more demanding tone. His Sig Saur (A/N I think that's what it's called…) was pointed menacingly at Johnson's back. Johnson then responded by swearing at Butler and Juliet and shooting Artemis a look that meant, You can't hide from me forever you little bastard. He actually thought it more than try to let Artemis know it, but same thing. And with that, he jumped right off the roof. This temporarily startled everyone, including Butler, but they quickly came back to normal.
"Freeze Johnson!" Butler shouted hopelessly. Juliet looked at Artemis, then at Butler, then at Johnson (who had landed on a nearby tree by the way) and jumped after him. She landed lightly. He tried scurrying away and fell off onto the ground.
"Be careful, Juliet! Come Artemis, we must hurry" Butler said as he pushed through the window. Artemis followed.
"Butler, how did you know I was in trouble?" he asked curiously.
"Tiles don't usually fall to the floor all by their very lonesome Artemis" he responded. "I turned around in time to foil my attacker's intention, and save you. Juliet heard the brawl, and she stopped her attacker when she turned around, too." They ran down the stairs, Butler taking two at a time. He threw open the doors, and ran through. Suddenly, the sound of a gunshot split the silence. Juliet was on the ground under the tree when they arrived, Artemis panting.
"Juliet?" they both said.
"Artemis, did you bring a cell phone?" Butler asked urgently.
"I already called. I'm sure they'll bring an ambulance, too." Juliet had a red stain on her shirt. The blood was spreading more quickly than usual. The shot was right under her ribcage.
"Juliet?" Butler said a little more urgently. No response. Artemis looked around. He couldn't find Johnson. But he was right in front of him. Johnson hid behind the tree, laughing in his mind like a madman. You're next, kid. In his hand, he clutched a small revolver. Johnson had hid another gun in his breast pocket.
"There's a bomb in your lovely manor, Fowl!" Johnson shouted. Butler rounded the tree. Johnson took brief aim, and tried firing but Butler lashed out with his hand and knocked out the small gun out of his grip. Johnson then lunged at Butler, Holding the Sig Saur between them. They struggled for the gun, and suddenly Johnson gripped the trigger three times. BAM BAM BAM! Three more shots disturbed the silent night sky. Juliet was dying second by second. Artemis hurried around the tree and saw Johnson and Butler fighting over the gun. Artemis' hand flew to his pocket. His hand felt a metal bar. The buzz baton. He took it out and activated it. SMASH! He hit Johnson behind the knee as hard as he could. Jolts of electricity raced up Johnson's leg. He crumpled to the floor, crying in pain.
"AHHH! You little bastard! I'll kill you!" he shouted at him. He also shouted some more very vulgar words. But he didn't loosen his grip on the gun. But suddenly he let go and lying on the ground, he grinned.
"Do you think I would just shoot three times for no reason?" he asked quite jokingly. Three men carrying firearms appeared around the corner of the house, or should I say manor? They ran up to the duo.
"We're outnumbered Artemis."
"I know Butler. But there's still one small hope.
----------------------------------------
Holly Short and Mulch Diggums left the speeder in their secret hideout. They took a hoverbike instead. Holly knew of some routes to Munich on foot. The hoverbike, of course would take them a lot faster. They sped away as fast as the hoverbike allowed them. Holly went over a lot of rough terrain. Now it was getting bumpier. Bumps turned into small hills. Small hills turned into big hills. Big hills turned into tiny mountains. She swerved around the mountains and guided them closer to Munich. Finally, she started slowing the hoverbike. They hopped off and Mulch grabbed on to the rope on Holly's utility belt. She then flew off into a little tunnel that she knew of by heart. She took them threw the tunnel as fast as her wings would let her. They reached the surface and she wrapped Mulch in cam-foil. She then turned on her shield. She was now invisible to humans. The view of Munich didn't surprise her anymore. Artemis was in danger and they needed to get to Fowl Manor as soon as possible. Finally, it came into view. She dived down and saw a group of seven people. Butler, Artemis, Juliet, a man on the ground, and three other men who had their weapons trained on Artemis and Butler.What's wrong with Juliet?she thought. Holly landed out of sight of the others behind the tree right next to Juliet. She was bleeding.
"Oh my god! Mulch do you see?" Holly asked. Mulch just finished unwrapping himself.
"I see. Why don't you use your magic?" he responded.Stupid! Holly thought to herself. She had been so shocked she forgot all about her magic!
"Heal…" she said as she touched Juliet's wound. Juliet awoke with a start. Holly put a finger to her lips to say, shhhh. Juliet took out her weapon and looked around the thick tree trunk.
"Hitmen" she murmured. Holly took out her Neutrino and Mulch his baton and electric pistol. They spun out behind the tree, startling the killers. BOOM BOOM! BAM BAM! Gunshots exploded all around them. Holly didn't bother hiding herself. She fired at the humans. Butler, seeing that Artemis was in danger, led him out of the crossfire. He took him inside Fowl Manor.
"There's a bomb inside Butler!" Artemis cried urgently.
"I know. We have to find it." The group of fighters moved inside the open front doors of the manor. They split up there. Some went upstairs. Others went right. Others went left. Vases and statues were exploding around Artemis. Suddenly, Johnson ran past Artemis, pistol in hand. They armed thatmadman again?Artemis followed him. Shots punctured the wall in front of Johnson so he quickly stopped and turned. Artemis was unarmed except for the buzz baton. Holly came behind Johnson. Damien turned a corner and disappeared. Artemis had cheated death once again. Holly followed Johnson, Neutrino at the ready. Meanwhile, Juliet was running around chasing a brown haired hitman. He was the one who had tried killing her earlier. She turned a corner and fired. One bullet grazed his leg and another missed. He fell to the floor. He then turned and fired some shots in return. She kicked open a door and jumped inside just in time to evade the bullets. Butler however, was on the roof. The hitman that had attempted to murder him was on his trail. Butler turned another corner and dodged the bullets meant for him. Butler stopped and turned. When the hitman turned the corner, Butler pounced on him and knocked him off his feet. He then punched him and the hitman rolled off the roof and landed hard on the ground. Holly was still following Johnson around the manor. He was faster than she would have expected. He shot some bullets over his shoulder. Holly dodged them easily since he kept shooting in the exact same spot every couple of minutes.
"A bomb is set to explode in two minutes!" he shouted. "I suggest you look for that instead!" Holly thought about it for a while and decided he was right. She went off searching and bumped into Mulch.
"Mulch!"
"Holly!"
"What are you up to?" Holly asked.
"I'm in search of a bomb."
"Me too." They continued their search together. Finally, they found it in the main floor behind a desk that once held a vase. There was… ONE minute left!
"We have to evacuate everyone!"
Artemis was in his room. He was with his laptop and he was typing furiously. Sabotage. Johnson had broken in earlier and deactivated the alarms. Constantine had been a decoy. Holly burst into the room.
"We have to get out!" she screamed.
"Hello to you too, miss Short." She tugged at his sleeve but he wouldn't budge.
"Come on! There's a bomb set to go off in… fifty seconds!" This motivated Artemis to get off his bed. Holly left to tell the others. Artemis packed some things quickly. He heard sirens.The police are fashionablylate once again. He ran out of his room and down the stairs. Outside he saw Butler and Juliet, Mulch and Holly. Artemis ran out and didn't stop. They all ran in a big group. Up ahead, Johnson had run out of the gates and evaded police in his Mercedes Benz.
Damien Johnson had escaped again.
A loud explosion suddenly shook the floor. Artemis went flying and landed with a hard thud on the floor. Chunks of brick and marble rained down on them. Debris covered the whole group. Artemis looked up and saw ruins. The place he could always count on for safety had just been destroyed.
A/N That's one big bomb don't you think? Well, I'm losing my author's touch to my stories but thank you for reading. I don't know when I'm going to post the next chapter but I'll do so as soon as possible. REVIEW!