Hey, I'm sorry from the really slow posts now, it's just that I am not doing very well medically (and therefore scholastically), so don't really have that much free time. This probably means that chapters might shorten up a bit as well.

The Lamborghini purred softly as Artemis drove through the Irish Hillside with complete dexterity. Suddenly, a dark thought exhumed in the confines of Holly's mind. Her face grew pale and melancholy and she couldn't help but let her eyes drift over to Artemis in the driver's seat.

'All of this… This is all Artemis's fault. He made this disease…' she thought, and immediately cursing herself for doing so.

During this time, Artemis had been looking out of the corner of his eye over at her. He noticed when she was looking over at him, and he definitely noticed the look on her face. He pulled off to a scenic overlook, and stopped the car.

"Artemis, what are you do-"

"What are you thinking of?" He asked bluntly, unclasping his seatbelt, and looking over at her.

She looked shocked for a moment, and then remembered who she was talking to.

"It's just… Why did you make this thing?" she asked, trying to be as nice about it as possible.

Artemis took a heavy breath, his gaze moving downwards.

"It… It was a project that someone had employed me to work on. Some Russian. He worked with the government, and they gave him an enormous budget, and he had heard of me. I was supposed to deliver the serum next month. The thing is, he also asked for a machine that would control the infected, which I had designed, but haven't gotten the chance to make yet. I don't know if it will work or not…"

"And the reason why you didn't say this when we were with Foaly was because…?" she asked, somewhat frustrated.

"Well, I didn't feel it was necessary at the time…" he said, a bit taken aback.

"And why would you make something like this? Even for the money! This has got to be by far the stupidest thing you have ever done! And it's even lower than the stupidest thing MULCH has ever done! And you're supposed to be the genius here!" she said, fully flipping out.

"I… I…" he said, completely stunned, and unable to respond. With that, Holly sighed, crossed her arms, and looked out the window. He sighed as well, and then started the car again. The ride up to the Fowl Manor was a very long and solemn one.

They pulled up the drive, and things automatically seemed… Off. Things were quiet. Too quiet. (Not to be cliché, though)

Artemis turned off the car, and got out. Holly did the same, and they both walked to the trunk of the car. Holly got the shotgun out, and Artemis got out the knapsack and threw it over his shoulder.

"Come on," Holly said, still angry.

Artemis sighed and nodded. He then started jogging around to the south end of the building. Holly was surprised, but then she actually looked him over. His arms were barely contained beneath his suit jacket, and his legs still seemed as long as they always were, but were a lot sturdier now. She had no doubt in her mind that Butler had taken him to the gym many times after their many escapades. She followed silently behind him, making sure to look behind them every few seconds.

Artemis led them up to the back door, and he typed in a rather lengthy code, allowing them entrance. He opened the door, and slipped inside, Holly following, before the door closed loudly behind them. They realized how deep they were in as soon as a moan resonated from the rest of the house.

"D'arvit, D'arvit, D'arvit!" Holly said, and looked around the room for something that could be useful to them.

Artemis automatically went to the drawer, and grabbed one large butcher knife, and one large carving knife.

"Come on! There are some things we can use in the basement!" he said, walking into the next room. Holly followed, and closed the door. The moaning became louder, and then there seemed to be endless pounding coming from the other side of the door.

"Artemis! Why did you get us trapped in here!" Holly yelled at him.

"Because we aren't trapped!" he said, and turned away from the door. He went over to the wall, and slid up what appeared to be just another piece of the drywall.

"A dumbwaiter?" she asked, incredulously.

"Got any better ideas?" he said, looking back at her, and picking up the two knives.

She simply sighed, and got in. Artemis followed suit, and then the door burst open. Holly pulled up the shotgun, and fired into the crowd twice before Artemis sliced through the rope holding the dumbwaiter up, and they started plummeting downward…