1) I really appreciate the reviews and feedback all of you guys are giving me! Keep it up! Thank you for all the positive responses. I would ask only that you also include feed back. Remember, feed back will make this fic better!
2) I am going to open up a submission contest. Create a character, a short scene, or a plot point that you think will be cool, and the top five will be put into the story at some point, while characters may become permanent members of the cast. Please make these serious. I do not want vampiric bunny ninjas or anime characters as submissions. If I do put them in the story it will only be so that Butler can kill them with a pencil. Thou hast been warned. Submit characters =)
3) I own nothing!
Thanks alot!
Italics = Gaelic (Native Language of Ireland)
The suit was a work of art, a sleek grey-black silk custom tailored construction. Artemis's tailor in Saville Row London had spent quite a long time working on this particular piece of clothing. Artemis looked like royalty in it. The four men standing behind him looked decidedly uncomfortable in their's. That would not do. Artemis straightened his black tie, and turned. Expensive clothes should look expensive. That was sort of the point. The catch was, that if the person wearing them had no presence, no edge, the expensive suits and rolex watches looked fake and cheap. Mobster's clothes, not the clothes of the bodyguards of the most powerful man in the British Isles.
"Mr. Cutter relax, you are not wearing a dangerous creature." A wiry man who was smoking a magical cigarette a little too quickly to be relaxed. The man nodded swiftly. "Let the suit do the work. Forget that your wearing it. That was addressed to you Mr. Kirkwald." A muscular man with a shaved head grunted and let his shoulders relax. "Mr. Leopold and Mr. Harris, the tie is not meant to strangle you. Loosen them slightly." The last two men, one of whose face was turning blue, nodded and gasped as they loosened their ties. Butler, upon hearing that he would not be accompanying Artemis to the Malfoy Gala, had gone and found Artemis replacement bodyguards, after a rather loud argument via cellphone, which Artemis had had to then explain to a snooping Hermione Granger as a fight with his mother. The four guards had received a very painful crash course in close combat, body guarding, and a lecture on how indescribably dead they would be should any harm befall Artemis.
"You are not wearing diamonds gentlemen. Think of these clothes as chick magnets. The point is that they make you look good, not you looking good in them. They should convey the message that you are powerful without the clothes, just as you are in them. You are in the employ of the Fowl's, which further means that in any room you enter, you are expected to be the most lethal, ruthless, and efficient killer present. Let that image shine tonight, and everything will go perfectly.
"Sir." Cutter grunted, his Irish accent rumbling softy behind Artemis as the boy genius loaded a revolver and placed it in a shoulder holster in his coat. "The portkey is ere."
"Thank you Mr. Cutter. Remember gentlemen, Gaelic only while we are at the Malfoy Manor. I'd rather not be understood by our fine English hosts." Artemis swept out of his room, the four man falling in around him. They strode down a long hallway somewhere on the second floor of the Fowl Manor, dress shoes clicking on the marble floors. For all that Butler was a comfort to have at his side, Artemis knew that his current consignment of security was in a way more intimidating. Butler was one man, albeit a massive one, but one man could be killed. Four men, especially four seasoned murderers, were much more difficult. At least in theory. In reality, Butler was the clear preference, but the theory was what people thought. They never took the reality into account. That was what Artemis was counting on.
"I'm leaving father." Artemis called as he walked towards the front door.
"Good luck son." Artemis I replied from upstairs. "We will talk when you return."
Artemis and his bodyguards strode down the gravel drive to a waiting portkey in the shape of a oaken chair, and together, they departed for the Malfoy Manor.
"Aye sir."
"Five seconds."
Ten men entered the Medici Wizarding Bank in Florence. They spread out, a few moving into line, the rest idling around the outer edges of the long hall in which Italian wizards and Medici wizard clan bankers traded money.
"Open up. Muggle weapons first, then wands."
The bank filled with the sound of gunfire, the ten men pulling sub machine guns from under long black coats and spraying the crowded bank with lead.
Artemis appeared in the drive of the Malfoy Manor with a stomach jerking tug, the portkey almost pitching him from his seat on the oaken chair that had acted as the portkey. One of his guards caught him as he stumbled, brushing him off as he rose to his feet.
"Are you alright sir?"
"Fine. Did anyone see me?"
Around them, other wizards were popping into existence, some tumbling to the ground, others being caught by their entourages as they fell.
"No sir. We came out first."
"Good. Is Malfoy here?"
"No sir."
"Hmph. Very well. Let's find a quiet corner and wait for our host."
Artemis walked through the rapidly growing crowd of wizards, many of whom were shunted out of the way by his guards. Two young wizards pushed back when Cutter pushed them aside. Artemis heard Cutter snarl angrily.
"Calm yourself Mr. Cutter."
The criminal turned bodyguard hissed, but turned away.
"Fuckin Irish." the young wizard snorted. "Bad as mudbloods."
"Ladies and gentlemen!" Lucius Malfoy stood at the top of a stair, leading from the long lawn to a rose garden and then the manor. Beside him stood Draco Malfoy, and a beautiful blonde woman Artemis assumed was Mrs. Malfoy. "Welcome to my home. Before we go inside, I would like to introduce an incredible young man, Artemis Fowl!" Lucius pointed his cane at Artemis, who bowed his head slightly. "A new addition to the Slytherin House, and a close friend of my son Draco." Lucius placed his arm around his son's shoulders. Damn. Lucius really was pushing the family friends story hard. That would need correction at a later date. Still, it was gratifying to watch the two young wizards turn tail and run when they heard "close friend."
"Mr. Fowl. Lucius Malfoy is approaching."
Malfoy was striding through the crowd of guests, a smirk on his thin face. "Artemis! How are you?"
"Where can we speak privately?" Artemis hissed. "You and I need to have a conversation."
"Why of course... my study is unoccupied." Malfoy replied, his smirk faltering.
"Lead on." Artemis followed Malfoy into the Manor. He was led into an ostentatious office, the walls adorned with paintings of what Artemis assumed were Malfoy's ancestors. An ornate desk sat in front of a double window, the legs carved into the shape of snakes.
"Mr. Malfoy, I don't think you understand our relationship."
"What do you mean?"
"I am not your friend Mr. Malfoy."
"Come now, I know you're far from pure blood but..."
"Mr. Malfoy, you are property. I am not your friend, but your master. You are on my payroll. Your money is in my bank. I own you. If you say something, it is cleared by me. If you buy something, it is cleared by me. You will make introductions for me with the following people who are your guests tonight." Artemis tossed a rolled up piece of paper into Malfoy's face, which was white with fury.
"You...you come into my home and order me? Mr. Fowl, I don't think you know who you are insulting!"
"I am insulting Lucius Malfoy, former Death Eater, adviser to the Minister for Magic, and pure blood supremacist. Now let me tell you whom you are dealing with. Artemis Fowl the Second, brightest mind in Europe, most dangerous man on the planet. I could have you murdered in the middle of the Ministry of Magic, in front of the Minister, and no one would investigate. I own the Auror Office. I own the Minister. I own everything. I play games that you could never comprehend. Speak back to me again Mr. Malfoy, and you might find your Death Eater status reviewed. Make the introductions." Artemis's voice was soft, but the words seemed to drive Malfoy backwards, until he collapsed in the chair behind his desk. The man nearly jumped out of his chair when a great horned owl rapped on the window of the study.
"Bran, my owl." Artemis murmured. Opening the letter, the boy genius froze. "Mr. Malfoy, I must be excused, a student has been attacked at Hogwarts. I suggest you join me there in two hours."