I do not own any characters or ideas created by Eoin Colfer
A/N I'm nearing the end! I can't freakin believe it! BOOYAH! Yay! Anyways, this will be the second last chapter on the surface. Just to let you know.
Chapter 15- The Hunter Becomes the Hunted
The Wave and the S.W.A.T cars were the only things visible in this isolated place. It was a little gloomy forest in the outskirts of Munich. They made their way across the little pebble road, the only place not overrun by trees.
Butler, Juliet, and Artemis were in the Wave, each thinking something different. Butler was cursing himself for not being closer to Artemis and just letting him chase Johnson around like that. Juliet couldn't wait for the attack on the factory and the ass kicking of Gordon. Artemis on the other hand, felt both gloomy and excited. He was gloomy because according to Butler, he wasn't supposed to join the fight this time. He was excited however, because of the final showdown with Johnson in the factory.
The path sharply turned up, making them switch the cars to first gear, and driving up the hill. When they got there, they all saw an old, black house. It looked so ancient, that the whole thing would just tip over! They all got out of their cars and proceeded to the house. Butler gave Artemis a look that both strictly and tenderly as possible, meant to stay out of the house. Artemis nodded. Juliet followed Butler and the S.W.A.T. agent that was to be with them at all times. The agent went in front of the door, and at the sign of three from another agent, kicked the door open. He ran in, followed closely by Butler and Juliet. Butler instantly began breaking the rules, by running up the stairs when he should have been with the agent. Juliet than took a door to her right, also evading the agent. The rest of the group moved in and split up in several groups to catch Butler, Juliet, and Johnson. Artemis stayed outside, waiting like a dope. He decided to walk the perimeter of the house, considering that the S.W.A.T. had surrounded it. If Johnson gets out of here, he'll have to deal with me in Haven.
Butler kept the Sig Saur held up high, ready for anything. He quickened his pace once he heard the other footsteps. Butler blasted through a door, just to see another one closing. He moved past that one, too. Holly was being roughly stuffed into a wool bag. He saw the one doing the horrible crime mutter something, and run. Another man took his place. He charged for Butler. Butler dodged and hit the man over the head with his gun.
"Holly, are you okay?" Butler asked concernedly.
"Yeah… I guess," she answered, rubbing her arm. To answer Butler's glance, she said, "I took three darts to my arm."
"Put your shield on," he suddenly said. She did, and at that instant, some other uniformed people burst through the door. "The captives weren't in here."
"You weren't supposed to come for them yourself," one of them snarled. Butler ran through a door and the agents followed. Holly followed suit and flew through the door. He ran all across the house, occasionally bumping into unwanted people. He ran and was tackled down by one of Johnson's men. They struggled, and the agents arrived, taking him down. They did the same with Butler.
He was led outside where he found Juliet slumped on a tree with her hands behind her back. Artemis was sitting on a stump with tape over his mouth.
"Why does my sister have handcuffs on and why does my principle have tape over his mouth?" Butler asked.
"The girl was fighting with us like if we were trying to kill her. And the kid, well, he was talking too much," another one answered. This angered him greatly, but he kept his mouth shut. Might as well join my sister. Two minutes later, the agents littered the ground and Butler, handcuffs on, was slumped against the tree with his sister. She was pleased. Suddenly, gunshots were heard higher up the hill.
"Sorry," Butler told the agent that had handcuffed him. He jumped up and kicked the man in the chin. He fell to the ground with a bloody chin. Butler bent down, and with difficulty, grabbed the keys and unlocked his cuffs. He freed Juliet and before he could turn around to Artemis, another gunshot was heard. Butler checked the stump where Artemis was, but he had gone.
"Come on, Juliet," Butler muttered.
Artemis was walking up the hill. Sorry about this, Butler. He was almost to the top. Then he saw a little garage at the top. The floor was littered with S.W.A.T. agents. Someone grabbed him from behind and pulled him back. Artemis was ready to resist, when he saw that it was Butler.
"Hehehe! Umm… hi old friend!" Artemis said sheepishly. Butler groaned but then the other agents came from behind this. At the same time, a car burst through the apparently weak wood door closing the garage. It came speeding down. Right toward them. Butler grabbed Artemis and jumped out of the way. It drove past them, just about two centimeters off. This was too close for comfort, so Artemis began freaking out. He kept his thoughts to himself however, as Butler got up and began firing at the wheels of the car. Some agents joined the shooting until it stopped at the bottom of the hill. They began descending. When they got to the house, there was the sound of breaking wood. Everyone looked up and to their great dismay, saw another car driving down the other way. It drove out of sight. An agent said something into a radio. They continued downward until they reached the car. A dozen or so agents surrounded it, guns drawn. Mulch emerged from the car.
"So what did I miss?" he asked.
One hour later…
"So you're saying that Johnson got away in the other car?" Sool asked them.
"Yup," Juliet cut in. They were in the Ops. Booth, explaining what had recently happened. Foaly suddenly burst through the door, out of breath.
"Sir! I read the whole disc! It's full of everything that we need! We can launch an attack right now even if we wanted to!" he said excitedly. Sool thought about it.
"Then we're going to gather up some men and do that. That factory goes down tonight!" he shouted.
A/N Now I'm really close to the end! I know this was a short chapter but there wasn't really much to talk about. Hope you liked it. I know I'm getting kind of dull, but I guess it's because I've spent too much time on this story and that I long to make new ones. But whatever. I hope you like the story. Be prepared for an action-packed ending. (Not that I'm there yet, anyway.)