I do not own any characters or ideas created by Eoin Colfer

A/N This is my second last chapter. I know these have sucked greatly and that I've lost your interest. It just seemed like such a good last encounter to me a long time ago… Well whatever. Enjoy!

Chapter 18- Escape From Death

Butler's first impression was a torch. A big metal torch. When he walked in, all he saw was the big metal column and where the boiler room should have been, a ball of fire. He scanned the room and saw a limp body on a landing higher up on the other side of the big cylinder of a room. He ran o the little circle. It lit up and carried him up to the landing across from his. He stepped on another circle and that took him up. When close enough, he jumped on the landing where the body was. He flipped it over with caution. Sure enough, it was Artemis. He put his principle on his shoulder and jumped back on the circle. His earpiece crackled to life.

"This place is gonna blow you big ape! Did you get the kid yet?" Sool asked as Butler ran down the hallway.

"Yes. I'll be there in a minute," he replied. He ran as fast as he could.

Upon arriving at the hangar, Butler found Holly, Trouble and Juliet on a speeder used for transporting big boxes. He raised one eyebrow at them.

"We needed to get lots of people away from this place before it blew up," Juliet shrugged. "It seemed like a logical way to get us out of here." Butler hopped on another one. He looked at the controls and knew he could drive it.

"Let's go," he said. The speeders zoomed off, leaving dust behind.

"As you all know, the change of winds is coming soon," Foaly informed them through their earpieces.

"Yes," they all replied at once. The change of winds was exactly what the name said it was. The winds would go from one direction, to another. "And of course, thanks to this, we can make the toxic wastes go somewhere else in the underground! I'm going to detonate the bomb now…"

"Donkey, wait!" Sool shouted. But it was too late. The bomb went off, and a tidal wave of green dust came at them.

"Ahh!! Errr… the change of winds will save you!" Foaly shouted. It didn't come. The tidal wave came closer to them… and Haven.

"We passed!" shouted Trouble triumphantly as they passed the city borderline. Buildings and houses instantly engulfed them. But the wave didn't stop. It crashed… hard. The dust sent Butler flying off the speeder. Artemis also went flying somewhere else. Everyone was sent violently off his or her speeders. Even the police cruisers up ahead were shaken like a toy car. Then everything was quiet.

Artemis awoke with a throbbing headache. His leg was also hurting like it never had before. He noticed he was still on hard floor. He looked down and saw his leg sticking out in an odd angle. Suddenly his thoughts drifted to Johnson's incineration. Artemis tried scrambling from his position as if he would escape his thoughts. Instead, his leg made a horrible cracking sound and it twisted even more than before. He screamed in pain. Then he fainted.

When he awoke for the second time, he found himself on plush pillows and a soft bed. He felt that his head had been bandaged and his leg was being held together by something hard.

"Bleeding head and broken leg," someone wheezed nearby. Artemis turned around and saw Mulch on another bed, covered in casts. "Welcome to the Central Hospital of Haven." He laughed.

"What happened? How is everyone?" Artemis asked.

"Everyone's alive, just injured. There's no way anyone escaped without an injury. Not from that hit. The wind changed at that moment so we weren't that badly poisoned." To respond to Artemis' look of worry, he responded,

"Everyone got poisoned but it's nothing severe. What I'm worried about is Sool. He sent an arrest warrant for us once we recover."

"WHAT!" Artemis was outraged. After all they did for him? Two burly LEP officers stepped into the room with a doctor.

"These are the last two," the doctor reported. "They are fully recovered." The officers yanked them off their beds and dragged them to another room. Artemis was handed crutches and Mulch was stuffed into an automatic wheelchair. They went to another, bigger room where Sool stood proudly on his feet, cast covering his right arm. Everyone else was there. Butler, sling around his left hand and scars smothered in some kind of cream. Juliet, wearing a bandage around her whole head. Lenz, in a chair linked to a breathing apparatus. Sotter, cast around his hand, stitches on his chin. Trouble, scars covering his face and a cast on his leg. An officer was urging him to use crutches but he was stubbornly rejecting. Holly was in a chair herself, pale and there was a scar that reached from her ear to her chin.

"You're all under arrest," Sool stated, pointing to a screen behind him. The screen flashed to life and it read:

Holly Short- elf Mulch Diggums- dwarf Artemis Fowl- human

Domovoi Butler- human

Juliet Butler- human

Officers came at them with handcuffs.

"You can't arrest us. We'll be expected at home," Juliet protested.

"That's been arranged, human!" Sool snarled. Trouble, Lenz, and Sotter stepped up to Sool's sides. (Well, Lenz kind of sat beside Sool.) They all looked at each other and nodded. Trouble moved quickly, using his finally accepted crutches to smack Sool across the face. Sotter Reached down into Sool's waistband and pulled out a gun. He fired at two of the officers. The last one took out his gun but Holly rolled onto his foot. He gave out a yelp of pain and missed the target. Butler moved towards the doors while Juliet stepped behind the officer and knocked him out. Butler pressed a button and the doors opened. Holly raided the officers for something until she found it. Bombs.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sool shouted. This earned him another smack on the face.

"Everyone close your eyes and run towards the door!" Holly shouted. She threw the bombs into the air and light exploded in the room. Blinding light. Artemis crawled blindly until he found the door. He stepped outside and felt air on his skin. He was outside. Someone yanked him up unto a seat. It was Butler. Artemis opened his eyes. Butler, Holly, and Mulch were in front of him.

"You're in for it know," Artemis told her. She laughed.

"Here's the drill. Lenz is gonna drive you to the station. You're going to go to Berlin, rebuild Fowl Manor, and live happily ever after, deal? Lenz is going to ditch any LEP forces and come meet us at a meeting point, abandon the car, and go with us by which I mean Mulch, me, Foaly, Trouble, and Lenz. Flawless plan! Now you better get going…" Artemis stopped her.

"They joined the rebel group too?" he asked.

"Yup," she said cheerily. "They gave up a lot for this. Be thankful."

"I am. I'm just not very good how to say this…" Artemis said awkwardly. Holly smiled.

"Thanks. It's really simple to say really. I'll see you around." And with that she hopped off the car and rolled to her from of transportation.

For the most part the adventure was over. They had lived, survived. He knew he could count on his friends for anything.

A/N That's pretty much the end. Except for the epilogue, of course, hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!!!