Thanks everyone who reviewed! I'm using the rest of my summer holidays to try and write as many chapters as possible for me!

Chapter 3 – In which we find out how one teenage genius reacts to another

Artemis Fowl was not happy. It had been an hour at the airport and he was still waiting for the plane coming in from London. Even though half his classmates were there as well, he was still quite fed up of waiting. He always knew that public flights were unreliable.

The plane had been delayed for half an hour now, and everyone's patience was wearing thin. He turned to Butler to request to go to the Bentley, but one glance at his friend and bodyguard and he realised that Domovoi Butler was not about to disobey an order from his father. So Artemis Junior settled down to wait, reading the exchange letter again for the fifteenth time.

Greetings, co-worker to be. My name is Ivy Saraswati Kestrel, and the first thing I must mention on this ridiculous letter is that the only reason I am writing this down is so that my mother and father do not deny me access to the Internet.

It says here on the note I have been given by my professors that I need to tell you what I enjoy doing in hope that you will choose me. I doubt it, seeing as my talents and leisure activities are not exactly featured on the average teenager's list.

I enjoy hacking into Interpol, MI6 files and so on, on a daily basis. Last time I was bored I robbed a high security bank with my associate Nubi. I spend some of my time doing gymnastics but I do sword practice with Nubi twice a week. I enjoy painting, especially Impressionists like Van Gogh. I must warn you that if you do annoy me, I can easily reduce you to tears in seconds.

It also says here that I have to include a photo. I must warn you that I have applied a reactant on the photo, so if you take it out of the bag to try and get a closer look, it shall combust.

It also states that I must mention what my parents do for a living. My mother is a hypnotist therapist, and is very good at her job, even though I can hear some of you scoff, and my father is an MI5 agent. I've no need to hack into MI5 because I can just ask my father for the passwords and he'll give it to me. If you want more feedback then ask them yourself… I'm not going to ask them for you.

My conclusion is that if you are willing to take me on as an exchange partner, then I must profess my anxiety that you are either in need of therapy or just plain retarded.

Yours truly,

Ivy S. Kestrel

Artemis was startled to hear that she could protect herself, and had competed in the Junior Gymnastics World Championships a year ago and had won. The letter was brief and to the point, and the photo was, indeed, kept inside a blackened envelope. It was frustrating that his mysterious exchange partner was reluctant to let others see her picture. Most of the other girls had been eager to put their pictures in.

At last, an announcement came saying that the exchange students were finally coming through. Artemis almost sighed with relief. Any longer and he may have been forced to go to the lavatory and escape from there.

He nodded to Butler, who held up a sign saying 'Miss Ivy S. Kestrel'. Artemis hadn't seen her face, so he had been forced to use an amateur way to attract attention.

"Artemis, I think I see a girl coming this way." Muttered Butler. And indeed, he was right. A diminutive girl with long, flowing and almost golden brown hair was shaking her head at a friend, and headed their way.

The girl was small, and small enough to be a fairy. Even her ears were slightly pointed, but her eyes were like cats'. Emerald green, but when she returned his stare, he wanted to wince. They were more like eagle's eyes.

"Artemis Fowl, I presume. I read your letter. Quite amusing, if you take away the fact that you need an older male to protect you in social activities." Drawled Ivy, holding out a hand.

"Miss Kestrel. Delighted to make your acquaintance, I'm sure. And where is your bodyguard, Nubi? I see you aren't surprised." Artemis was careful not to let his surprise at her coolness slip.

"That would be because you got that information from Juliet Butler. My bodyguard and her used to train together. She said that Juliet was quite a wild card." Smiled Ivy. "All this macho repartee is all very well, but aren't your parents waiting for us to arrive at Fowl Manor sometime this millennium?"

"Of course, you probably need to freshen up. I forget how girls need to do so many things like this." Smirked Artemis, and immediately regretted it as a swinging leg came hurtling this way. And, even if Butler had been as fast as he was before the healing, he still couldn't have stopped it.

"Take that back, you sexist pig!" Yelled Ivy, her eyes blazing, her stance in attack mode, feet apart and centre of gravity shifted. Butler knew immediately that fencing wasn't the only thing that Nubi had trained her young charge in.

"Now, see here, Miss Kestrel…" Began Butler, prepared to stop the diminutive girl forcefully if necessary, before Ivy jabbed a finger onto a nerve cluster. Butler sunk to his knees slowly, resisting the entire way through. How embarrassing for a six foot professional bodyguard. Obstructed by a thirteen year old with a finger.

"Not now, Domovoi. Not until I've taught Master Fowl here what a girl can do." Hissed Ivy. Butler's eyes widened. How could this girl have known his first name?

Artemis stared at Ivy in wonder. She was short. Short enough to be a fairy, and he could have sworn that her ears were slightly pointed. The only difference was that her skin was pale… although she could have been a pixie…

Even her name was like Holly's. Another plant, and she had been named after Saraswati… the Hindu goddess of wisdom. So she was either fibbing about her intellect and boasting her name or she had an approximate IQ of a genius like him.

But he couldn't think much more, seeing as a foot had collided with his stomach, and Butler was still doubled over in pain.

Ivy wasn't finished teaching the boy a lesson before Jane grabbed her from behind and soothed,

"Calm down, Ivy, I think he's learnt his lesson… he won't be insulting girls anytime soon, okay?" Jane whispered, as Ivy tried to gain control over the raging emotions inside her. She really didn't want to get to Fowl Manor in pieces because of some freak storm she had caused.

"Alright, Master Fowl, but you had better watch your tongue in future." Snapped Ivy, and phoned Nubi. "Yes, Nubi, I'm fine… yes, I have found Fowl… no, I haven't… seriously, you'll see for yourself! Okay, I'll see you at the manor." She finished, and closed the line.

"You… you hit me." Gasped Artemis, unable to believe that two people had managed to lay a finger on him to harm, and both of them had been diminutive girls. Of course, Holly had been a police officer, so Artemis had an excuse ready for why he had been punched by her. But this girl… she was different.

"Yes, I hit you, now get over it already! My bodyguard has already arrived at the Manor and is getting reacquainted with Juliet; you have a problem with Nubi searching your Manor for weak points?" Challenged the girl, pouting fiercely.

Artemis Fowl II shook his head. For another embarrassing time in his life, he had been speechless. In fact, he didn't even try to make a jibe at Butler, seeing as Dom himself was now a fifty year old man and wasn't exactly what you called 'as quick as a flash' anymore.

In the Bentley, he watched in fascination as Ivy pulled out her palmtop and began typing so quickly that her fingers were a blur. Under the circumstance that Ivy had not just clobbered him within a few seconds, he would have asked her what she was doing, hoping to get information on the MI5 for purposes to be kept secret.

Unfortunately, they were not in that circumstance, they were in the completely opposite situation. So the journey was carried out in silence.

Butler squinted at the two adolescents through the rear mirror. He sighed; this trip wasn't going to end happily. Not if it had started out as badly as this. Once again, he raised his eyes to the sky and cursed whatever forces made him end up with the pale teenager that was Master Artemis. And why, out of all the possible people he may have been able to be partnered with, did Artemis have to be partnered with this girl?

In a way, they were quite alike, Butler thought, switching his attention to the road again, they're both loners and they were both somehow obsessed with their technology.

So, aside from the fact that his charge had dealings with an underground fairy detective agency, their personality was pretty much the same. But their history? Not so sure…

Here, Butler tensed. Miss Kestrel hadn't included a whole lot of information about her family history, and even her mentions of family were brief. Artemis had openly pronounced that his parents were owners of Fowl Manor and he already owned a laboratory of his own manufacture. Domovoi Butler had enough psychological experience to figure out that the girl didn't know much about her parents… either that or she just didn't like to talk to them. One thing was for sure though, Ivy Kestrel was no normal girl.

But then again, in Artemis Fowl Junior's life… what was normal?

Once they arrived at the Manor, Mistress and Mister Fowl were there to greet the new guest in Fowl Manor. Ivy wasn't as open armed and welcoming as you may have thought she may be.

"Ivy, darling, welcome to the Manor…" Crooned Angeline, trying and failing to ignore the hostile glares going on between her son and Miss Kestrel. When two vivid colours go up against each other, it's usually quite hard to put aside.

"Miss Kestrel, your bodyguard is conversing with Juliet at the moment. Would you like to join them?" Asked Artemis Fowl Senior, breaking the tension between Artemis Junior and Ivy. Nodding curtly, she gestured at her bags,

"Where am I to put these, sir?" She asked politely, looking for all the world an ordinary thirteen-year-old girl. Unfortunately for the Fowls, this girl was about as far away from the 'average' line as Andromeda is from our Galaxy.

"No, no, I'm sure that Butler will be more than happy to help you to your room. I'll tell Juliet and… er… Nubi, was it? To go to your room." Smiled Angeline, hoping for a warm beam from the little girl in front of her. What she got was something between a sneer and a frown and a verbal thank you.

Angeline looked at her husband and sighed. The school couldn't have chosen a worse pairing for their little Arty.

Ivy surveyed her room, and was glad to find that there were no bugs in her room (she had borrowed it from the LEP… it wasn't as if she was going to use them for criminal activities… it was just to annoy Sool) and she continued to put her own little invention, the 'Warn Yarn' which was basically just a piece of string that set off an alarm system.

But there was a difference. A huge difference. You or me could hitch up a primitive one, where anyone who tripped the wire would get the alarm. Ivy's was updated. Instead of a piece of string, she had used a piece of near invisible wire that was the human equivalent of a spider's web. It wasn't breakable, and it was too thin to be detected. Something that Foaly and his biochemistry had helped her create. What was more, the alarm wasn't something that the intruder would be able to hear. It could only be heard by any dogs in the neighbourhood. The young Kestrel had put the alarm into high frequency, so only those who wore the special transmitters would be able to hear it.

Ivy had just finished setting it up when Master Artemis stepped in, setting off the alarm. Amazingly, he noticed the slight pressure on his leg, and smirked,

"It seems that your little alarm system isn't working. Need any offered help?" He asked, whilst Ivy rolled her eyes and jammed a tiny transmitter into his ear. At once, he instinctively put his hands over his ears, before he realised that it was the transmitter that was causing the consistent screeching.

Tearing it out, he stared at the girl, who was smiling smugly right now. She picked up the transmitter, and fixed the wire back. Artemis watched in fascination, and twanged the wire slightly, but not enough to set off the alarm again.

"What is this material? It has a highly woven standard, and it seems to be unbreakable. Any reason why?" He requested from the dark haired girl in front of him. His mother had sent him here to check if the exchange student was settling in properly.

"For the mere reason that it is quite difficult to make, and it takes a lot of my school time to do so. Even if the teachers are no good to learn from, they provide a very good target for my psychological experiments." Smirked Ivy, as if this were some normal conversation about the last episode of Doctor Who (A/N: I couldn't resist mentioning Dr Who… it's my favourite ever sci-fi show!).

A knock came at the door, and Ivy called through the door,

"Nubi, I know that's you, there aren't any hostiles, I've swept the entire room, there are no bugs, and I've set up the Warn Yarn so mind your footing, please." Smiled Kestrel, and the door swung open to reveal two tall girls, one with shoulder length black hair, her sunglasses perched on the top of her head, to reveal a pair of deep, brown eyes. You could have sworn they were black.

"Artemis, have you told you partner the arrangements yet?" Asked Juliet, her voice accented from a couple of months spent in America. She was had just come back from her tour, but she was still in the wrestling business.

"Ah. Not exactly, no." The pale adolescent turned to the equally pale girl in front of him, "Breakfast is at seven thirty, in time for us to get to school," Even though there's not much point. "and dinner at six. At seven, I'm usually in the gymnasium… you are welcome to join me if you wish." And even you know that I would rather not have you there. "Next weekend, we shall be taking you to Tara. I trust you have heard of the magical qualities of a well there?"

"Of course I do, I'm not a pessimistic senior citizen who shall insist that magic doesn't exist." Snapped Ivy, at the same time cursing her mother for putting her under the stupid oath.

"We shall also visit one of my… ah… favoured spots for a bit of… bird watching." His look at Juliet explained his meaning clearly. Ivy immediately figured it out. Master High-and-Mighty here wanted to go to Tara to meet with someone. Obviously, next weekend must have been the full moon. The perfect time for a surface sick fairy to come up and meet with the infamous Artemis Fowl.

"Fine by my watch. I'll take my binoculars with me." These words were addressed to Nubi. The binoculars were not normal ones. Like Artemis, she had cobbled together something that could see through fairy shields. Only these could detect fairies with locators as well.

"Now, if you'll excuse me, Miss Kestrel, I need to get back to my research on the different forms of carbon." Now this caught Ivy's attention, despite herself.

"Diamond, graphite, coal and buckminsterfullerene? I've done a little research on that subject. Care to let me have a look?"

"Of course, I am searching for a cure for cancer as well. I have hypothesised that all the cancers come down to one single gene that triggers the cancer, depending on where this faulty gene is situated." He gabbled, testing Ivy's vocabulary. If she could understand a word that he was saying, then he was impressed.

"Then your hypothesis is not the same as mine. I have theorised that the development of cancer is also dependant on your pituitary glands as well. Also, the notion of infinity is ridiculous, and I'm hoping that you agree…"

Juliet and Nubi were left in the room, startled by the way the two teenagers had started to argue on scientific and mathematical problems that had been accepted by the rest of the world so easily.

"Well, I guess that's how two brains the size of Jupiter react to each other." Murmured a startled Nubi, and started to help Juliet with the unpacking of her charge's luggage.

"Hey, I'm sure that I've seen one of these helmets before, I just can't place it…" Called Juliet, holding up a helmet with the insignia of an acorn on the front, and several buttons on the side. Nubi's eyes widened as she realised what it was...

A/N: Don't expect too many updates... I've got coursework when term starts and a whole load of homework besides... so you'll have to wait for about a month in between chapters.

Thanks again to all of my reveiwers... please feel welcome to submit negative reviews as well!