Oook, so this one has a LOT of major character deaths. I'm so sorry, but it is necessary to the plan that my co-author and I are developing.
Anyway, I know that this story was suppose turn out into a parody, but instead, it's more drama than anything. I'll change it when I get a moment to spare.
And finally, I know that some people are copying ideas from BATB, and some people are getting upset about that. Especially CaptainS10 and I. I want to thank everyone who has looked out for this story and the reviews I have read considering the plagiarism.
Anyway, I am writing this to let you know. If you think that your story idea, big or small, is anyway remotely close to Beauty and The Beast, to please talk to me and/or CaptainS10 first. Thank you!
BATB Ch. 37-
2 months after Holly left:
Artemis stared at the computer in front of him. He was currently bamboozled at the current problem that stood in front of him. A soft knock came to the door.
"Come in." Artemis muttered in concentration.
The door opened softly, Butler entering the room. "You called for me, sir?"
Artemis nodded, distracted at the moment. That was, until he sighed, taking a break for a second. "Yes, Butler. I'm afraid we don't have funds for the ransom."
Butler frowned, "As I suspected. But you said that we wouldn't be paying."
Artemis shook his head, looking at the monitor before sighing and looking back at the manservant. "As much as I would despise to do so, having the funds should be an option. And since you couldn't trace the video, I'm suspecting that the Russians are high tech. So it wouldn't be hard for them to see if we have the funds or not."
The Eurasian nodded in agreement. "Yes sir. How long should it be until we do have the funds?"
Artemis glanced back at the computer, "Right now, Butler, we are looking at years of work, planning, and takeovers."
4 years after Holly left:
Artemis had just finished a business meeting with a man with the name of Spiro. He had conned the man out of half a million American dollars. As Artemis entered the manor, Butler right behind him as usual, the 16 Year old boy moved up the staircase quickly. He shut himself in his study for the longest time, and Butler thought he would either have to break it down or enter through a window to get to the teen.
But soon Artemis opened the dark door. He was grinning madly, a spark in his eyes he hadn't seen since Holly was living there. Right away, the manservant knew what was going on.
"So we have the funds for the ransom?" Butler asked.
Artemis nodded, "It took alot longer than expected, especially for only 5 million. But coming out of the shadows was hard enough. People these days do not trust teenagers!"
Butler chuckled, shaking his head. "So what do we do now?"
Artemis thought for a moment, leaning on the doorway he was standing under. "The video was untraceable, and so far there hasn't been any traces of the people who have my father." His voice at the end came out panicked.
"Artemis, it is going to be alright." The manservant assured him. "Like you said a long time ago, the mob probably has access to see how the money and takeovers are going. Now that the records say we have 5 million, the mafia will be sure to contact."
Artemis nodded, "Because we have been on the map for so long, it would be wise to become invisible for the sake of our safety. We won't make any more deals or takeovers until this Russian Mafia is taken care of."
5 years after Holly left:
After Artemis went "off the map" so to speak, things returned to normal. Or at least normal in the Fowl family. Artemis's days went by with more and more projects and technology while taking care of his mother.
Angeline wasn't doing so well. Her frail frame was so delicate, her skin was practically see-through. Everyday it seemed as though she be and more and more sick.
One day, it was just a normal day at Fowl manor, Butler was making lunch and Artemis was taking a short break from a large project he was working on, talking to Butler.
Suddenly, a loud crash came from the back of the manor. As soon as that happened, Butler was on alert. He grabbed a hidden gun under the counter and told the boy to stay where in the room and to crouch behind the counter. Artemis did and Butler left the room to investigate.
Butler only left a few feet from the kitchen. He didn't leave Artemis at all costs and left him in the kitchen because it was a concealed area with no Windows and only one door. But then, then whole world went black when something hit him in the back of the head.
Artemis heard a thud before the whole kitchen was swamped with people wearing black. Two fairly large men took hold of Artemis and no matter how much he struggled, Artemis wasn't strong enough to break their grasp. The teen was led out of the door, only glancing at Butler before he was dragged to his study upstairs. The two men pushed him into his black desk chair rather roughly before turning and going to the wall, standing there for further instructions.
After a few moments, a tall man with brown hair and a black turtleneck and jeans stepped into the room.
Artemis might have been sitting in his chair, turned around so he was facing the man instead of his desk, but the boy still knew his desk inside and out. He searched for a hidden compartment under the table, which opened and had a gun inside.
But the man in front of him just chuckled and shook his head. "Before you find it, Mr. Fowl, let me remind you that I still have your father." His voice coated with a heavy Russian accent.
Artemis spent half a decade remembering that hideous voice. Artemis sneered, "You don't have any proof that he is still alive, it has been over 5 years." Artemis finally found the compartment and opened it, letting the gun drop into his hands and pointing it at the man in front of him.
Then the Russian leader nodded thoughtfully. "True, but you won't want any blood on your hands, would you?"
Artemis smirked, knowing he had him in check. "Who? Your blood?" The boy shrugged. "I don't care. Even if your goons kill me afterwards, I'll know that I already had my justice."
The man shook his head, and this time he was smirking. "No, hers."
The door to the blood red study opened. Two more men came in and forced the person between them to their knees. She cried out in pain when she hit the ground. The two man held her hands behind her back as she struggled to get away.
The leader hummed before going to the girl. He knelt down before tilting her head up and pushing away the blond hair that fell in her face.
"Juliet." Artemis muttered. He looked down before tossing the gun lightly to the ground. He couldn't fight them now, he couldn't do that to Butler, or Juliet. She had no part in this.
The man got up from the ground, turning back to Artemis. "Good." He moved the gun away from Artemis, handing it to one of the men who were standing at the wall patiently.
Artemis knew their intentions for being here. He should have expected this, but instead he had busier himself with more and more projects. The odds were not in Artemis's favor as of right now.
The man paced in front of Artemis hurriedly. "Mr. Fowl. I can assure you that your father is alive. I have waited 5 years for you to have the funds for my demands. Although, I am certain that this is not the time or place for a transaction. Now, we will meet in 2 weeks and make the trade at the coordinates I will send you shortly. I can also assure you that no one is going to be hurt today."
He snapped his fingers and the two men holding Juliet injected a liquid into her neck. Juliet lost all focus and the men let go of her, letting her fall to the floor unconscious, so she couldn't fight.
Then the leader and his men left as Artemis watched. As soon as they closed the door behind them, Artemis went over to Juliet, checking her pulse. She was sleeping soundly.
2 weeks passed by quickly, and as promised, Artemis was sent the coordinates. They led him to a dock not far from Dublin.
Artemis and Butler soon set foot of the place. The Russian Mafia were waiting there. Artemis went over to the mob, Butler next to him.
The leader stepped forward to meet. He looked at both of the males before spreading his hands, "Where is the money?"
Artemis nodded, "I have deposited the money at a Russian warehouse that I believe you own, according to some of my own research. The warehouse requires this key to get the money."
The Russian just rolled his eyes. "And how am I suppose to believe you, boy?"
Artemis shrugged, "Its your warehouse. And I'm sure that you have security cameras in there."
The leader nodded thoughtfully before snapping his fingers, a man came up, revealing a computer with him. He clicked a few keys before smirking. "You tell the truth."
"Of course." Artemis replied. "Now where is my father?"
The Russian leader looked back before two more men stepped up, Artemis Fowl Sr. in between them. Butler put his arm underneath him, taking the man from the men and supporting him up.
Then the mob all pulled out their guns, pointing them at the three men in front of them.
"Any last words, Fowl?" The leader demanded.
Artemis smirked, chuckling and shaking his head. "I wouldn't do that if I were you."
The leader scoffed, "Why shouldn't I? The money is already delivered."
Artemis nodded, "True. But unless you want the money to be burnt to pieces by the time you get to it, I suggest you drop those guns."
"What are you talking about boy?" He asked.
"Well, in the blind spot of the security cameras, I put in a bomb. It is large enough to blow that large warehouse to the Atlantic."
The Russian's eyes grew wide. He then shook his head in defeat and told his men to drop their weapons. They did, though reluctantly.
Butler and Artemis slowly went back to the Bentley, Artemis Sr. Still in Butler's arms. He put the adult in the backseat with his son and took the drivers seat, never taking his eyes off of the Russian mob until he had to.
Artemis got to work as soon as Butler started driving back to Fowl Manor. Of course he hadn't put the money in the warehouse. He had sent men to do that that morning, but as soon as he started the loop with the video feed of the money being there, he took the 5 million out.
But the bomb wasn't a hoax. When the Russian mob got there, it would explode. Artemis did not want to do this, but since the Mafia had broken into the manor before, it had to be done.
But the Russians weren't without their tricks. When Artemis injected the fluid to wake his father up, a concoction he created, he was struck with confusion when Artemis Sr. didn't even twitch. He immediately checked for pulse.
It had stopped.
Artemis scrambled back, telling Butler to pull over.
The manservant did, moving quickly and putting the man on the ground outside so he could try to revive Artemis Sr. But after a solid 10 minutes of CPR, Butler stopped.
"I'm sorry, Artemis." Butler whispered. "I tried my best."
Artemis exhaled shakily as he looked out into the distance, tears gathering in his eyes. All he could do was nod.
The way back to the manor was silent, Artemis sitting in the front this time while his father lie in the back. The only words from Artemis were when they exited the car. He muttered, "We do not tell mother." Before he entered the manor, going directly to his room.
8 years after Holly left:
It took a while for Artemis to get over his father's death. He came to the conclusion that the Russian's had created the sedative to be deadly and active when Artemis Sr. woke up.
Still, for 3 years, Artemis blamed himself. He kept mentally kicking himself because the teen thought he could have stopped it.
But Artemis wasn't a teen anymore. At 20 years old, he was grown up. Realizing right from wrong, he didn't con people anymore. He just spent his days working on environment boosting products.
Artemis forgot all about his takeovers, which Butler was relieved about. Now that the boy wasn't in constant danger, he could loosen up a bit. But not much, he was still a bodyguard, trained by Madame Ko.
It was raining at Fowl manor. The dark and gloomy aura spreading throughout Dublin. The fog made it impossible to see anything outside the Windows of the manor.
Artemis was finishing an email to the environmentalists consisting of a new invention that would stop Global Warming altogether. He sighed as he signed the document and sent it, spinning around in his black desk chair and leaving the seat. He paced the study, looking at the blood red walls surrounding him.
He thought about everything happening. About Holly specifically. It was amazing that he could actually remember what she looked like, what she smelled like when you held her close, and how her voice sounded after she laughed contentedly. It had been 8 years since he had seen that elf and yet in his mind it only seemed like she flew off in Root's arms the day before.
He brushed some imaginary dust off of his dark green Armani suit. He had started to grow fond of that color in the past years.
He stopped pacing, but shook his head and started for the door to go and talk to Butler. His hand was on the shining handle when a loud shot rang out. Artemis, startled, went back to his desk and got the small-handheld gun hidden within it. He swiftly went back to the door, opening it slowly and peeking out of it. When he saw no one, he exited the study fully, going down the long hallway to reach the stairs with his gun raised expertly like Butler had taught him last year.
Artemis approached the steps carefully, looking back at the study to the left before stepping down the stairs steadily, wincing when the stairs creaked even minutely.
The manor was quiet. Too quiet. Everything was silent and the only this Artemis could hear was his hushed breathing. Soon, as he neared the kitchen, he could hear something else. A soft groan, but nothing else.
Artemis quickly entered the kitchen, gun raised still with extreme caution. However, when he saw what had happened, his caution faltered.
Butler was lying on the ground, many bloody, gaping bullet holes in the middle of his chest. Artemis didn't go over to the bodyguard automatically. Instead, the man surveyed his surroundings, looking for whoever had done this. He wanted to go over to Butler, Artemis could see right now that the wound was fatal.
However, Artemis felt presences behind him. Without even turning around, the mastermind smirked with disgust, knowing who had done this. he should have known in the first place that this would have happened.
Artemis turned around slowly, revealing that his guess was right. In the doorway of the kitchen stood Jon Spiro, the person he had conned 4 years ago. Next to him stood Arno Blunt, Spiro's bodyguard, with a gun in his hand, pointed at Artemis.
"Hello, Fowl." Spiro said, a sickly sweet smile on his face. The look of victory.
Artemis held his emotions to the side, though barely. His dearest friend was lying on the floor dying and the genius couldn't do anything about it.
"What do you want Spiro?" Artemis said, glaring at the American. He didn't lower his handgun, which was one-third the size of the one in Blunt's hands.
Spiro scoffed slightly. "What I want is already done. You conned me out of my money, so I conned you out of something just as important."
"It was only half a million." Artemis replied. "That is nothing to the fortune you already have."
Spiro walked up to the boy and for a minute Artemis thought about shooting the man in front of him. But then, Butler's death wouldn't be avenged. The bodyguard had spent his whole life protecting him and if he shot Spiro, Blunt would shoot him. So instead of shooting Spiro, Artemis lowered the gun and dropped his gaze to the floor.
"Good, Fowl." Spiro sneered. "I would hate to have to kill someone else." The American's eyes flicked to the doorway or, to be more specific, the stairway leading up to the attic.
Artemis's eyes widened a fraction, but he doubted the villain would notice since they were still trained onto the floor.
"No. It isn't much to me." Spiro continued the conversation from before, "But you took something else away from me. My pride. Losing money to a kid is not something most criminals would earn respect with."
Artemis smirked inwardly, but it went away shortly when his focus went back to the dying man on the floor.
"So, Fowl." Spiro said, putting a bit of mockery in the man's last name. "You come after me again, you are next. Revenge or not. Goodbye."
And with that, Spiro and Blunt left. Artemis waited until he heard the door close with a certain click before rushing over to the fading bodyguard.
But Butler was strong, he knew ways to hold out the inevitable. He gasped in pain as Artemis came over to him.
"Butler, I am so sorry." The Genius said. "I feel as though this is all my fault."
Butler blinked slowly a few times and gasped shallowly before gasping out an answer. "This...isn't your fault...Artemis. Don't ever blame yourself...and don't go into depression like when your father died...You must carry on."
Artemis closed his eyes as tight as he could, trying to stop the oncoming tears. However, he couldn't, and they started to fall like a faucet dripping its last drips. "I don't think I can."
"You must, Artemis." Butler demanded sternly, even in his current state. "...For me."
Artemis nodded sadly, making the promise to do as he said. They stayed like that for a moment before Butler let slip one last word and then remained still forever.
"Domovoi."
Artemis did as Butler asked, mourning softly at his funeral and then carrying on with his work. That didn't mean he missed his bodyguard, he did, but he didn't blame himself, no matter how much he wanted to. That was Butler's last wish, and Artemis was going to make it happen at whatever cost.
After the funeral, a month after Butler's death, Juliet went up to Artemis.
"Hey Artemis." She mumbled slowly, not looking the man in the eye.
"Hello, Juliet." Artemis said, still directing people how to put things after the ceremony, which was in Fowl Manor.
The woman bit her bottom lip thoughtfully as she paused to continue. "I-I don't think-"
"I already filled out the paperwork to have you removed from the FowlGuard system." The man said, putting his hand on her shoulder. "And signed you up for a professional wrestling career."
Juliet's eyes lit up at Artemis's words. "Really?"
She asked before throwing her arms around him. "Thank you Artemis!"
Artemis was stiff when Juliet put her arms around his frame, but relaxed after a split second he relaxed and hugged her back warmly.
9 years after Holly:
After Juliet left, it was quiet around Fowl Manor. Artemis spent his days taking care of his mother-who barely remembered him half the time-and writing even more time consuming papers for projects he planned on forthcoming.
However, Angeline became more frail and fragile by the day. Soon, Artemis's only activity was taking care of her.
But one faithful day, it was just too much for Angeline. She couldn't move anymore and when Artemis got no response out of his mother when he went to check on her in the morning, he sent for the doctor.
Doctor Dante Deforte was the top rated Doctor in the world, and when he came to Fowl Manor, Artemis had hoped for better results than he had gotten.
The Doctor exited the attic door, heading down the stairs to the room where Artemis was waiting patiently for the results.
Deforte put down his medical bag and sat down in the cream colored chair across from Artemis. He pinched the bridge of his nose, thinking about what to say to the young man.
"Mr. Fowl," he started slowly, "I'm afraid I have no idea what is happening to your mother. She seems as though her organs have all been shut down, leaving her motionless except to talk."
"I could have guessed that." Artemis hissed, getting up and starting to pace the room. "I want to know if there is some kind of remedy to fix the problem. Some kind of antidote or drug that can help her in some way."
The Doctor just shook his head, "I'm sorry, Mr. Fowl." The man replied, searching in his bag. "But it is a unresolvable situation. Your mother is dying slowly, and she will die sooner or later. The only thing that will help her is this." He said, carefully taking a small box into his hand, opening the clear case to reveal a small syringe, filled with a slightly misty serum.
Artemis knew right off the bat what it was. If his mother was injected with that, she would pass immediately. Artemis closed his eyes and fought hard to send the tears that were coming upon him back.
Finally, after a moment of silence, Artemis opened his eyes. He took a deep breath before nodding his head Yes, he would go through with this. Mother didn't deserve this kind of torture if the end results were just the same.
The Doctor just nodded solemnly and stood up with the mastermind. "Would you like to say a few words to her before the process begins."
Again, Artemis nodded softly, not allowing himself to say anything in fear that he might break down. The raven-haired man turned around, going to the stairs and up to the attic as quickly and quietly as a mouse.
Artemis entered the attic silently, making sure the door didn't creak when he opened it slowly. He took a few steps to his mother's side, taking her very thin hand in his.
Artemis looked over her. She looked so fragile, almost porcelain as she was that see through. Her cheeks were hollow and you could see her wrist bones protrude a bit.
"I'm so sorry mother." He said quietly, so quiet that it was barely audible.
Angeline moved her head shakily to the right, to look at Artemis. "Wh-who are you?"
"It's me mother." Artemis whispered, praying that she actually remembered her son.
But to his dismay, the older woman scrunched her eyebrows together. "No, you aren't my Arty. My Arty is a good boy, and a boy at that. Not a man, leave my presence."
"Mother please!" Artemis begged. "Please just remember me!"
"Leave. My husband is a very important and short-tempered man. He will not be pleased to come back and see that you are here." She ordered. Even though she was weak and shaking, Angeline's voice was sure enough for Artemis to crack a bit.
"Artemis Fowl the First has been dead for five years." Artemis snapped. But immediately after he said it, he wished he hadn't.
His mother's eyes widened as she softly gasped, but then that gasp turned into a shriek, and that shriek turned into a scream.
The door opened quickly as the doctor calmly walked to the bed. He expertly inserted the needle into her arm as she said her final words.
"My Arty would never let that happen."
10 years after Holly left:
After his mother died, Artemis did nothing. He simply stayed in his study or room all day. The Manor was dead quiet now, and Artemis spent most of his days staring into nothingness. After Angeline died, Artemis had nothing more to live for, to hope for.
But a year after his mother died, Artemis remembered What was keeping him going.
Holly.
The elf who had promised to return to him as soon as the mission she was assigned to was dine. The elf he hadn't seen in a decade.
Suddenly, Artemis felt a surge of anger flare inside of him. Holly hadn't returned yet, and with everything about his father and Spiro the genius had actually forgotten.
The fact was, how could she get away from him? Was she really not done with her mission, or was she somewhere confined by the people at LEP, or if the sneaky little elf had somehow reversed the order.
Artemis took a deep breath to try and calm himself before heading over to his computer across the room.
He spent the rest of the night at that computer, gathering enough information about the forgotten underground city and about a plan that started shortly when Holly arrived in Haven. A plan named 'Project X.'
As day approached, Artemis left the manor, ready to take back the elf that was rightfully his.
Like I said, I am deeply and utterly sorry.
785 GO!