The laser fight finally died down after a few minutes. Everyone had set down their weapons (besides Henry, who had been using his watch) at the exact same time that, not too far away, Invisible Brad Belcher had scared Maddy and tickled Derek.

Not, of course, that they knew about it. Dr. Minyak had made sure that no one- not Captain Man, not Kid Danger, not anyone- would figure out that something was up. It required a lot of secrecy.

As much secrecy, in fact, as Henry's identity as Kid Danger; the two scenarios were oddly similar. Dr. Minyak was only giving information to the people who were involved with the plan, and only what they needed. Similarly, the only people who knew Kid Danger's identity were the people who work with him, with the exception of Love Muffin Gwen. Oh, and Drex, even if he lived among the dinosaurs now. Also the Game Shakers….

Okay, so Henry's Kid Danger identity isn't quite as secretive as Dr. Minyak's plan. Either way, both of them were intending to keep everything as under the wraps as they could.

Intending.

At any rate, Henry and the gang had finally gotten back on track with their investigation of The Hole In The Wall.

Well, "back on track" might not be totally accurate. Mostly, they were guessing who might be behind it.

"Maybe Jeff was acting on his own?" Henry finally said, tired of throwing random names out there.

"Could be," said Charlotte. "Maybe… maybe he's started his own crew, so he can bust out easily."

"Still, though," chimed in Ray, "I have a hard time believing anyone would willingly work for or even with him. Unless he bumped his head and his IQ shot up two hundred points."

"Probably not, because he seemed normal last night," Henry pointed out. "Normal for Jeff, anyway. Unless he also got a degree in acting."

"When was the last time we had to deal with him?" Schwoz asked.

"Last night."

"I meant before that, Henry."

"Oh. Yeah, totally knew that. Um…" Henry thought for a minute. "I think… I think the last time we saw Jeff was when we were stuck in those holes."

"At that old video store," added Captain Man. "Dang, that was a long time ago."

"Yeah."

"Long enough," said Charlotte, "for something to happen."

"Something as in what?" Ray couldn't imagine what Jeff could possibly do beyond, geez, maybe robbing a loose-security store.

Charlotte shrugged. "I don't know."

They were silent until Schwoz spoke up again. "Well… it has been a while. Maybe Jeff was able to find people."

"I still don't buy that Jeff could find henchmen." Ray rolled his eyes. "He's an idiot."

"Maybe it's a family business, or something," suggested Henry. "Heck, there could be a Jeff Jr. or two running around that we don't know about."

"Jesus Crust, I hope not." Ray shuddered. "One Jeff is all I can handle without going insane."

"You're already insane," said Henry. Charlotte and Jasper giggled, and Schwoz almost choked on his own spit laughing.

"Har har, very funny," said Ray. "But seriously, guys, we need to figure out who's involved with this."

Talk about buzzkill- everyone stopped laughing.

"I think," said Charlotte, "that this is going to require a bit of spying."

"On who?"

"Jeff, Jasper."

"Oh."

"But we don't know where he is," said Ray. "The best we could do is keep an eye out for him."

"What about asking other people to look around for him?" Jasper suggested. "We could say that we think he's getting ready to rob a place, or something."

"That makes sense," said Ray.

"Yeah, but Jeff might find out and figure out we suspect him," Charlotte pointed out.

"True," said Ray. "I guess the only thing we can do then is be on alert."

"I have an idea," said Schwoz suddenly. He stood up and walked over to the monitors. "I'm been wanting to use this- I figured out a way to get the security cameras we have around Swellview can recognize a face."

"So if Jeff faces a camera it will alert us?" Henry asked.

"Exactly!" Schwoz made a few clicks. "Alright, if Jasper is spotted by our cameras, we'll know where he is."

"Did you just say Jasper?"

"No, I said Jeff."

"Um, I pretty sure I heard my name."

"No, I said-"

"Alright already!" Henry stepped between them. "Is there anything else we can do?"

Ray thought for a minute. "No, I guess not. You guys should head home, anyway. Let us know if you think of anything."

"'Kay."

"Got it."

"Alright."

Charlotte, Henry and Jasper headed for the elevator. They spent the walk home trying to come up with more theories without success.

If only they knew.

"That's all he said? Just that he had another announcement?"

As Henry and his friends were walking home, Derek, Maddy, Brad and Jeff congregated in the room Dr. Minyak and Brad were fighting in earlier. Maddy kept pressuring Brad for more information about what Minyak wants going to tell them, but he doesn't have any.

"I told you, that's it. He wouldn't tell me anything else."

Maddy glared at Invisible Brad. At least, she was pretty sure she was, since they could all see the glasses floating in midair. "Are you sure? Because if it's something important enough that we had to come straight here, he should have come by now." She crossed her arms. "I don't trust you."

"And why is that?" Invisible Brad knew they couldn't tell, but he crossed his arms right back and took a step forward anyway; Maddy could hear that he was closer. "What have I done to you?"

"For starters, you snuck up on me earlier," she snapped. "Second, I don't trust anyone besides him." She jabbed her thumb at Derek, who nodded in agreement. Siblings sometimes had trust issues, but Derek and Maddy had to trust each other back when they devoted their time and energy to stealing game show prizes. Even years later, they still felt that they could rely on each other.

"So what?" Brad said. "We're all bad guys here, apparently. So why should I trust you?"

"All we ever did was steal crap from people. You tried to bury Captain Man and Kid Danger alive. Does that not seem a little extreme to you?"

"Exactly- you two are pathetic."

Maddy drew her arm back to throw a punch, but was distracted by the sound of a door opening and a pair of voices. Jeff, who had been watching Brad and Maddy bicker like it was a blockbuster movie, was the first to identify one voice as Dr. Minyak. They couldn't quite identify the second voice.

The door to the room swung open, and Dr. Maniac himself appeared in the doorway, barely visible in the small amount of light the red lightbuod overhead provided; the carpeted floor made his footsteps silent.

"Apologizes for the wait, there were a few… technical difficulties."

"Technical difficulties? What is that supposed to mean?"

"Maddy-"

"Don't Maddy me!" Maddy snapped at her brother before turning back to Minyak; she was really starting to lose it. "What do you want to tell us, why did you take so long, and who is with you?!"

Dr. Minyak simply smiled and took a step to the side to reveal who was behind him.

When they saw who it was, Jeff raised his eyebrows, Maddy's jaw dropped, Derek took a step back, and Brad almost audibly gasped.

Annnnnnnnd cliffhanger! Sorry, y'all! Anybody have any ideas who it is?

Ciao, and Happy Reading!