"Absolutely not," Butler rumbled, his arms folding and his expression unwavering. "It is too dangerous. Foaly will just have to get the crown himself."
They were back in the hotel room, Juliet nervously flicking through all the channels on the TV while Artemis and Butler had a mild disagreement. It was rare occurrence, as far as their day-to-day activities went. Artemis was the brains and Butler obeyed. But not today. Butler would not risk his principal's safety.
Artemis's face was calm and smooth, but he was obviously agitated, pacing the way he did across the hotel room floor. He was determined to win this fight, and the longer they argued the deeper his resolve was rooted.
"It's not about the diadem, Butler," Artemis said. "They beat us; they were there before we were and won the game before we had an inkling they were there. That is unacceptable. We must get it from them."
"Yeah," Juliet said, not looking away from the TV. "And whoever that blond chick things she is I am going to—"
"No, you won't," Butler interjected. "We are going home, and we will leave this to the fairies. This is not our business."
Artemis studied his faithful bodyguard's face.
"What is it?" he asked. Butler never looked afraid in the normal sense of the word, but the distant expression on his face was enough to give Artemis pause.
"You don't know what you're dealing with, Artemis," Butler said. "Have you ever heard of the Raven?"
Artemis thought of mentioning Edgar Allen Poe, but quickly brushed the thought from his mind. Too many jokes and no one would take him seriously anymore. Instead he shook his head. No.
"We're lucky she was distracted," Butler said. "Or we might not have survived our encounter with her. She was the woman with the swords, scar on her face." He didn't mention her eyes. Not those piercing blue eyes. They were enough to send shivers down the weathered man's spine.
"Please, Butler," Artemis said. "She's only one woman."
"If you're talking about the lady with the wicked swords, I could have taken her," Juliet scoffed.
"Foaly," Artemis said. "Look up the operative codenamed Raven, I want to know everything about her."
Foaly clucked his tongue as he tapped his keyboard.
"That's odd," he said. "There's nothing."
"Nothing?" Artemis said sharply.
"Nothing," Foaly said. "This is… distressing. If she exists, she must have something."
"She exists," Artemis confirmed. "If only all the security footage weren't exploded…"
"She is one of Furan's students," Butler said. "She is very dangerous and obviously very secretive. We cannot go forward."
"Here's something," Foaly said. "A couple of emails, that's all. Something called H.I.V.E.? The Higher Institute of Villainous Education… No, seriously. You mud men are not nearly advanced enough for this to be conceivable, much less possible."
Artemis set his jaw.
"Keep digging, Foaly. This means war."
"News, Sebastian?" Opal Koboi asked, filing her nails blissfully.
"The girl has taken the bait," Sebastian Trent replied, hands folded peacefully in front of him. Opal smiled at the hovering camera in front of her, knowing it burned her ally to be waiting around. He desperately thirsted for her technology, and she still withheld it from him.
"I will be sending them trouble, soon," Trent said. "We are proceeding as planned."
"Good," Opal nodded. "Did the information I planted for your mud men work well?"
"Yes," Trent replied. "They have no idea we are behind this, and already the Fowl boy has started searching for it."
"And they have Foaly on the case? Ha!" Opal laughed. "Keep me updated, Sebastian, I do so look forward to watching them die. Koboi out."
The expression on Raven's face was frightening enough to wake the dead; the students were alert in an instant.
"What's wrong?" Laura asked.
"The safe house has been compromised. H.O.P.E. is calling."
It was enough for everyone to groan. The Hostile Operatives Prosecution Executive had proven a headache for everyone in recent months, particularly for Doctor Nero. He had spent some time under their hospitality in the alps, until Raven and his students had been able to rescue him.
The sound of gunfire broke through their groggy minds, and they ducked in time to avoid the shattered glass flying from the windows.
"Come on!" Raven yelled. "Out! Out!"
The students headed down the stairs and onto the streets, startling plenty of passerby as six teens in identical jumpsuits, two particularly well-dressed gentlemen, and one ferocious ninja-assassin ran for their lives.
Behind them, the buzzing of machinery roared. Two black drones, humming with the anger of a thousand hornets, seemed intent in their prey: them. Raven hung back a moment, throwing one of the explosives she always carried on her person. The bomb exploded, and although neither drone was hit, they both exploded.
Raven frowned. That wasn't a good sign. She turned and followed, but wasn't quite able to shove the nagging thought from her mind. The circumstances required her immediate attention, however, as cars screeched and people screamed in alarm as the debris fell from the sky. Some bystanders tried to stop Raven as she tried to catch up. Their mistake. A few broken wrists later, Raven was keeping pace with the gang.
"Where do we go?" Nigel yelled.
"Away from here!" Shelby replied, hanging an abrupt left as they dodged oncoming traffic.
"Head north!" Darkdoom shouted. "I know somewhere not too far away where we can wait for retrieval!"
"We might need it a lot sooner than that," gasped Otto, halting in his tracks as a line of civilians walked straight towards them. They were normally dressed, maybe, but their uniform steps were unmistakable.
"These are our adversaries?" Wing frowned. The stalking line consisted of a couple businessmen, a woman with an empty stroller, a grandmotherly looking lady, and two grocers—produce in hand. "They do not look like H.O.P.E. operatives."
The granny raised an automatic rifle. Without hesitation, they ran straight into oncoming traffic.
"It's this school for delinquent children, as near as I can tell," Foaly said. "They've got some nasty criminals coming out of there, I'll bet."
"No matter," Artemis said. "This Raven is only one woman, and the rest, assuming they are only criminals, can't compete with my intellect. Our assets include the Butlers, myself, and you, Foaly."
"Don't forget me," Holly Short flickered in the window, risking visibility for a second.
"Come in, Holly," Artemis invited. "It would hardly be an adventure without you."
The fairy entered, pulling off her helmet.
"Sounds like we have the team together," Holly said. "Now all we need is the target."
"Can we track the crown?" Juliet asked.
"It will take a few minutes, but we should be able to trace the magical signature of an object that powerful," Foaly replied.
"Very well," Artemis said. "Now, we simply need to learn a little about our adversaries."
"The blond one took the crown," Juliet said firmly. "Ponytail. There was also some white-haired kid next to her."
"There were two adults aside from the assassin," Butler said grudgingly. "Adult men, suited. One was bald."
Artemis nodded in agreement.
"Looks like there were a few other kids as well," Foaly commented. "You mud men all look the same. Uh… Redhead. Bald kid. Fat kid. Another ponytail kid."
"I'm confused," Butler frowned. "Why bring so many children?"
"Well, if it is a school they will start young," Artemis said. "After all, Butler, you were sent to train when you were ten."
"That's different."
"Well, their youth is a disadvantage," Holly said. "They're inexperienced. Although I'm not sure they're training just thugs. The fat kid wouldn't fit the profile."
"Hey, sumo wrestlers have to bulk up for their fights," Juliet argued.
"I highly doubt they would have a sumo program at a school for delinquent children," Butler said. "Now, we were developing a plan?"
"Hold on a sec," Foaly said. "The diadem is on the move."
Rubber screeched as the cars braked to avoid hitting them. Breathing heavily, the students and their mentors paused on the relative safety of the sidewalk opposite them. The zombie-like pedestrians began to follow.
"As I said," Darkdoom shouted. "North!"
They ran. it was a good twenty minutes before they stopped, and by the time Darkdoom had ushered them into his own private safe house, every face was pink and sweaty.
"I am not wanting to be doing that again," Franz wheezed.
"That's strange, though," Otto said, pouring a bottle of water onto his head. "Those people looked nothing like trained operatives. The woman wasn't even holding her gun right."
"They weren't," Raven said. "They had no training whatsoever."
"You're saying we just ran all this way from helpless civilians?" Nigel asked, wiping the sweat off his head.
"Armed civilians," Laura reminded him. For a moment no one spoke.
"Everyone's thinking it, I'm just saying it," Shelby said. "They were acting like the Contessa had gotten a hold of them."
"But the Contessa is dead," Wing said. He looked to Nero, as if probing his face for the truth. "Is she not?"
"Yes," Nero replied. "The Contessa's power died with her. This must be something else."
"Then what?" Otto asked.
"I don't know, but we're going to find out," Nero said. "Everyone… Rest. See what assets we have. We may be on the move soon."
Darkdoom nodded, and led the students to the reserves. While they were all distracted, Raven approached Nero.
"The Contessa may be dead, but her power is still very much alive," Raven said bluntly. "Do you think she is a threat?"
"I am inclined to think not," Nero said. "If we were sure we are secure, I would dispatch someone to check on the girl, but until further notice that seems unwise. I'll be sure to visit with her when we get back."
Raven frowned. "I still think this girl is a threat."
"Potentially," Nero agreed. "But she may prove an incredible asset, with proper training."
"She's dangerous."
"Did you know, Raven, I had this conversation before?"
"Oh?" Raven raised her eyebrows. "And how did it end?"
"You're here, aren't you?" Nero's eyes twinkled, and he gave her a half smile. Raven scowled, and followed Nero to help pack. It would be nice to be right, for once. Just once.
"Something bothering you, Wing?" Raven asked, joining her student. Wing looked up from his pondering.
"Just a misplaced feeling," he said. "I sense there is more to this problem than meets the eye."
"You've got that right," Raven nodded. She spoke a little louder, for all to hear. "I looked up those people we ran into at the museum."
Everyone perked up a little.
"Apparently we have just encountered the offspring of the recently recovered Artemis Fowl the first. Arty Junior, as it were. He was accompanied by his bodyguard, a man only known as Butler, and Butler's sister, Juliet."
"Fowl," Darkdoom chuckled. "Son of a gun."
"Who is he?" Nigel asked.
"To be honest, Fowl was always a little… eccentric," Nero said. "A genius when it came to making money, but he always veered away from G.L.O.V.E. as far as underworld interactions go. He almost joined us, and the he married that… That…"
"Environmentalist?" Darkdoom offered.
"I was going to use a different word, but yes, environmentalist," Nero continued. "He fell out after that. He was never a real threat to G.L.O.V.E., and I believe he had negotiated with Number One to allow for occasional consulting jobs, and then spent the rest of his time as he pleased. Eventually, of course, he got in way over his head, and without any allies was taken captive in Russia. He was only just retrieved, and apparently has chosen to pursue a different career path from here on out."
"His son has been carrying on the family business," Raven said. "I can remember we had thought about recruiting him, but those plans fell through."
"I'm afraid Mrs. Fowl did not take kindly to the idea of losing her son, and her, ah, interview with the Contessa did not end well," Nero said. "But I heard her mental health was miraculously restored and is much better now."
"Anyway," Raven said. "Fowl the second has been up to a few of his own adventures. He apparently rescued his father and somehow managed to acquire a ridiculous sum of gold—and no one knows how."
"Why was he at the museum?" Laura asked.
"That I can't say," Raven said. "But if Fowl and H.O.P.E. have teamed up, you can be sure we're in for a lot more trouble."
"And the Butlers?" Darkdoom prodded.
"The Butler family is entrusted with protecting the Fowl family," Raven said. "Been that way as long as anybody can remember. Butler will do anything for his charge. His sister, however, appears to be more rambunctious."
"Is she the blond one?" Shelby asked, frowning.
Raven nodded. "She's reported to be very, ah, enthusiastic about what she does. Wrestling, especially."
"Very well," Nero said. "If that's the best we have, then we'll have to work with it. Raven, do you have any last suggestions on equipment we should bring?"
"Firearms," Raven said. "I'm not taking any chances with Butler."
A dark look crossed Wing's face as he was handed a gun.
"Let's hope you don't have to use it," Raven said. "Nero, what's the plan?"
"I'll call for a pickup location," Nero said. "Then we're gone."