A/N: Here's the next chapter everybody! Thank you for all your wonderful reviews! I was so happy I actually danced around the room! Until, however, I fell down the stairs. So I'll have to find some other way to celebrate. Dragginninja, you had a good point. Thanks for catching that for me. I'll be sure to clear that up in this chapter. Also, I think I forgot to mention that Arty is seventeen.

Disclaimer: I don't own Arty or anything, yada yada yada…

Holly took Beckett's hand and Artemis took Myles', sticking close together. Holly grinned with excitement, thinking of how much she loved the Mud Man game of laser tag. She had only played it once before as a child, her parents sneaking her up to the surface for a bit of fun.

The laser tag arena was one place where Holly could blend right in. Her chin length auburn hair effectively hid her pointy ears, though no one could really see them in the dark anyway. Nobody thought anything of a little girl coming to the arena. It was perfectly acceptable; laser tag was for anyone. On the other hand, it was a bit tricky when she went with Artemis to see a rated R movie.

The group of four was ushered into a tiny, poorly lit room with giant carpeted steps to sit on. The walls were bare except for a large mural of the solar system in desperate need of repair and a lengthy list of policies and regulations.

A dozen or so little boys about the twins' age were charging. One seemed to be strangling another, while one was singing a T.V. show theme song at the top of his lungs. Another kid stood with his finger up his nose, next to him a child gnawing on his own arm. A boy was licking the carpet, and one kid was cuffing the lot of them repeatedly with a threadbare, slightly crazed-looking sock puppet. The rest of the pint-sized terrors were doing similar activities.

I must remember to refrain from giving soda to the twins, Artemis mused amongst the chaos.

There were four other people in the room. A huge man in a leather jacket stood in the corner, not unlike Butler except for his choice of attire. Next to him was a girl grinning at nothing, slowly rocking back and forth on her heels. Two bored looking teenage guys slumped against the wall, muttering about something.

"Whoa," Holly gazed bewilderedly around, "This is like the last funeral I went to."

"A funeral? Hmmm… human funerals are rather morbid events," Artemis remarked as they sat down.

He wrinkled his nose disgustedly at the seats, sitting on the very edge. Holly rolled her eyes.

"Elven funerals are too, but you didn't meet who died. And quit being such a baby. It's a bench, not a heap of trash."

Just then a girl with a green mowhawk, spiked dog collar, and all black clothing slouched in. She had about twenty face piercings and fake fuchsia eyelashes. On her arm was a tattoo of what appeared to be the statue of liberty break dancing alongside a rabid beaver.

"Shaddup, ya little monsters!" she barked, scowling at them all.

Everyone froze, and all heads swiveled in her direction.

"Someone sneezed in your hair," Beckett observed.

Holly swiftly covered his mouth with her hand.

"Quiet, dude!" the girl snapped, "I'm Janice, and I gotta tell you the rules."

"I do believe you are at the wrong place. The prison yard is right down the street." Artemis declared snidely.

Holly clapped her other hand over his mouth as well.

"You feelin' lucky, punk? You wanna go? Huh? Huh?" Janice snarled, getting up into Artemis face.

Artemis sat with his arms crossed, defiant and silent, partially because Butler wasn't there to protect him, and partially because Holly was preventing him from speaking.

"Yeah, that's what I thought," Janice addressed the rest of the players, "So, you've got this gun, and you hold it with both hands 'cuz it's got a heat sensor under it, and you shoot people on the opposite team. If you get shot, yer out for ten seconds," she held up a black vest with a chest plate, shoulder plates, and a back plate. These areas all contained blue flashing lights. A gun with blinking lights was attached by a cord.

"You can get shot here, here, here, here, and here," Janice explained, pointing to all five blue places, "And just don't kill each other and stuff," she waved her hand (with fluorescent orange nails) dismissively at the list of numerous rules.

How completely uninformative, Artemis thought disdainfully.

Janice examined the crowd for a few moments, walking slowly up and down the group with her hands behind her back. She resembled a general surveying his troops.

"You, you, you, you, you, you, and you," she pointed to seven of the rambunctious boys, "You're on the red team."

We don't get to pick our own teams? Artemis' stomach felt heavy with dread.

"Ummm… You, you, you, you, you, you…" Janice had selected Holly, Myles, Beckett, the giant man, the two teenage guys, and her finger was hovering over Artemis' head.

Please pick me, oh Frond let her put me on their team! Artemis prayed.

"Aaaaaand… you," with a slight smirk; she had quickly pointed to the socket puppet boy at the last minute, getting her revenge on Artemis for his insult, "You're team green."

Artemis' heart dropped into his shoes, a pair that had just recently got gum stuck to one of the soles. Without Holly on his team, he was dead meat and he knew it.

"All the rest of you are team blue."

Artemis mentally evaluated his teammates. The girl that appeared to be a slightly off her rocker was on his team, and so were the rest of the boys.

This is hopeless, He thought, Completely hopeless. I'll be lucky to make it through in one piece.

"Hi!" the unstable girl bounced over to Artemis, giggling manically, "My name is Kay and I love bikes! Be my friend!"

With that statement, she threw her arms around a disconcerted Artemis, toothy grin stretching from ear to ear. Looking past Kay's head, he could see Holly literally rolling on the floor laughing, right next to the carpet-licking boy who was also on his team.

I take it back. This unfortunate situation isn't hopeless. It is probably fatal.

"M'kay. Let's go."

Janice walked briskly around the corner, leading the group down a narrow catwalk through a tunnel. Neon plastic crystals glowed softly off the path, and glow-in-the-dark star stickers dotted the walls and ceiling.

"And now we're warping into the future, blah blah blah." Janice remarked in a bored tone.

"'Warping into the future'. Ha! This is nothing like the time stream." Holly sniffed, examining a cluster of crystals.

The little boys (minus Myles and Beckett, who were obediently strolling in front of Holly and Artemis) began whooping with glee and mock fear, hopping up and down and jostling the foursome. Kay was texting furiously on her phone, so she hardly took notice.

At the end of the tunnel was an oblong room lit with black lights. Along the walls were racks of vests like the one Janice had presented, only with different colored lights on them. Artemis gingerly plucked one with blue lights off the railing, holding it away from him as if it had a disease.

"The "future" seems to have even worse technology than the present," Artemis remarked, brushing invisible dirt off the frayed material.

Holly grabbed a green vest, expertly strapping it on and tightening the loose places like a pro. After all, she was in the LEP.

"I am going to enjoy this so much," she chuckled, helping the twins with their vests," You are goin' down, Mud Boy!"

Artemis made a strangled noise that sounded like something in between a whimper and a groan. With a tortured look on his face, he slipped the heavy thing over his head, hesitantly letting it rest on his ridiculously expensive Armani suit. For a few moments, he fiddled vainly with the buckles, finally surrendering them to Holly.

"For Frond's sake Artemis! You're a genius that can hack into the Pentagon in a matter of seconds, yet you can't buckle a vest. Honestly," Holly complained good-naturedly.

"Thank you Holly," Artemis sighed melodramatically, "But I hardly think it matters whether I die in a secure vest or not."

"You're not going to die, Arty," Holly snorted, then faltered, "Well, probably not. I mean, it's possible, but the chances aren't that big…"

Holly clammed up once she saw Artemis' face.

"All right! Ready? Well, too bad! Go! Now!" Janice pointed to yet another dark doorway.

Techno music drifted faintly into the room, and Artemis could see multicolored strobe lights sweeping frantically over the floor. Eagerly, Myles and Beckett ran towards the entrance, waving their weapons in the air. Holly unclipped her own gun, holding it expertly with both hands, just like instructed. She saluted Artemis and headed after the twins.

"Bye Arty! See you later!"

As she walked, she shimmered out of sight. Her disappearance went unnoticed, for Janice was struggling to boot all the little boys into the arena.

Artemis' jaw dropped.

No. She can't shield! That is cheating! How unfair…

"You. In there. Now! Hurry, up, I haven't got all day! It's gonna start!" Janice pushed Artemis towards the doorway, right into his untimely demise.

Oh no…

A disembodied female voice came from over the speakers.

"Three…two…one… engage."

A/N: Next chapter, Artemis will finally get to play! Wahoo! Tell me what y'all think! Was it all right? Hmmm… I'm feeling ambitious today, so…. I won't update until I get ten reviews! What are you waiting for? Let's get those ten!