"Explain to me why we're going in through the janitor's office window?" Mr. Stone whispered to his children.

The three of them were sneaking through the silent, sleeping town, headed for the Aumakua Museum - a large, imposing structure that almost looked out of place among the smaller island buildings. A soft breeze blew dry, dead leaves across the road, rustling and rasping on the pavement, and the full moon cast its haunting glow over the island, painting the town silver with its light.

"Because it's the only one in the entire building that's free of security sensors," Billy answered quietly, peering around a corner before creeping forward again. His father nodded.

"Right." He paused. "And why are we bringing this along?" He briefly brandished the jar of honey he was carrying before hastily stowing it under his jacket again as the moonlight glanced off the shiny plastic.

"It's needed," the young boy answered insufficiently. The archaeologist glared at the back of his son's head.

"Elucidate."

"We need it to break in the window quietly," Billy replied as the small family slunk along in the shadow of the museum wall. "It's a method that Allie read about in some book." Dr. Stone grimaced.

"I really need to get some idea of the kinds of books she's reading if she's picking up burglary tips," he muttered. Unable to see very well in the dark, he stepped on the back of his son's shoe, and Billy stumbled, clacking some loose gravel against the wall.

"Ssh!" Allie turned to glare at them from her position at the front. "Quiet now, we're at the janitor's office," she hissed. Pulling a thick, fluffy washcloth out of her pocket, she unfolded it and drew a knife from her belt. "Honey," she whispered, and her adopted father handed her the jar. Dipping the blade into the sticky sweetness, she smeared a generous amount all over the cloth and plastered it to the window, pressing it firmly against the glass. "Hammer." Billy passed her a small hammer, and she firmly rapped each corner and three spots around the center. "I hope this works," she murmured, handing the hammer back to her brother. Her adopted family peered closely over her shoulders, and all three of them held their breath as she peeled the cloth away. Bits of broken glass clung to the sticky mess, leaving a large, jagged hole in the window.

Identical smiles spread across Billy and Allie's faces, and Mr. Stone released his pent-up breath in a devout sigh of relief. "Thank goodness it worked," he breathed, and gently pushed his children aside, pulling on a pair of leather gloves as he stepped up to the window.

"Dad, let me, my arm is smaller," Billy said in a low voice, but his father smiled slightly and shook his head.

"Absolutely not," he whispered firmly. "I'll do it, I've just got to widen the hole a little more. Allie," he held out his gloved hand, "give me that washcloth."

"It's got honey all over it," the girl murmured, gingerly picking off the broken shards and passing it to her father.

"Doesn't matter, I just need it to muffle the noise." He wrapped the thick cotton cloth around the largest chunk of glass and gave it a solid whack with the hammer Billy handed him. It broke away with the faintest crack, and Dr. Stone carefully reached through the hole, unlatching the window and pushing up the sash. "Alright, everybody in, and watch where you put your hands," he whispered, brushing broken glass off the windowsill.

Allie went first, pulling herself up onto the narrow ledge and swinging her legs through the open window before sliding through into the dark office. "Okay, it's safe to co- Ah!" Her feet slipped as they touched the floor, and she vanished from sight with a startled squeak.

"Allie!" Billy and Mr. Stone hurried over and peered anxiously through the window. "Are you alright? Did you hurt yourself?"

"I'm fine," the girl whispered, standing up and brushing herself off. "Careful though, there's a slick patch right here." She took a few deep breaths, her heart rate slowly returning to normal. "Here, pass me the bag and Faleaka's stick." Billy handed her his ever-present canvas satchel and the smooth walking stick - topped with a beautifully carved eagle - through the window before hoisting himself onto the sill and clambering through.

"Okay Dad, you can come on," he said, turning back toward the window as he slung the large bag over his shoulder again. "Do you think you'll fit?" Mr. Stone shot him a reproving look.

"Of course I'll fit," he answered. "It may be a bit of a squeeze, but it shouldn't be too bad."

It was a bit of a squeeze, but the archaeologist finally managed to wriggle into the small office. They all breathed a collective sigh of relief when he was safely through, and Mr. Stone pulled the broken window shut again. "I feel bad about that," he said under his breath, gesturing at the jagged hole in the glass. "Let's see if we can patch it up somehow."

The children found a few cleaning cloths and some duct tape, and their father layered them up, taping them over the hole. "There, that'll at least keep bugs out 'til tomorrow," he whispered. "Come on now, let's go." He unlocked the door and they all crept out, wincing at the loud skreeking noise the hinges made.

"Somebody needs to invest in some oil," Billy muttered. The other two shushed him, and they all trooped up the maintenance stairs to the main hall as quietly as possible.

"Alright, we're going to have to really keep an eye out now," Allie whispered. "There's probably laser webs and sensors everywhere. Billy, you have the talcum powder?"

Mr. Stone raised an eyebrow. "Talcum powder?" he mouthed. His son ignored him, rummaging in his satchel before producing a bottle full of white powder. He handed it to Allie, who shook some into her palm and tossed it in the air ahead of them. It swirled about in a lazy cloud for a minute before starting to drift downwards.

"All clear," she hissed, and they padded along the hall as silently as possible, keenly aware of the security cameras glaring balefully at them from all directions.

'When we get back, we're all going straight to jail,' the archaeologist thought ruefully. He watched with faint disapproval as Allie tossed a second handful of the fine white dust into another hallway before starting down it. 'I really do need to pay more attention to the books she reads. She and Billy seem far too comfortable breaking and entering into a high-security building. If I don't watch out, I'll wind up with a right pair of delinquents on my hands.'

He almost bumped into his adopted daughter as she stopped abruptly. Peering over her head, he saw, through a cloud of talcum, faint, fleeting glimmers crisscrossing the hall ahead of them. "Laser web," he remarked under his breath, and Allie nodded.

"Our first major obstacle," she whispered. "How on earth do we get through it?"

The Stones stood for a moment, staring blankly at the myriad, nigh-invisible beams of light that barred their path, as if they could will them to disappear. There was total silence for a few minutes, heavy with the nervousness emanating from the three burglars, when Billy suddenly slapped a hand to his forehead, making the other two jump.

"Idiot!" he exclaimed quietly. "Moron! Me, I mean. Makala told me ages ago - why didn't I remember it before?"

Formerly one of Mr. Cobb's thugs - before Billy and Allie changed the course of Aumakua history - Makala Umberdoth was one of his father's friends, a former archaeologist who got a job at the museum after suffering a heat stroke during an excavation. He was, as the museum director dryly put it, "a big man with a big heart, but not much to brag about up top." Allie, unable to forget his now nonexistent past, always did her best to avoid him, but Billy had befriended him, and now it seemed that friendship was going to come in handy.

Mr. Stone just hoped it wasn't going to cost the rather dimwitted man his job.

"Just what did Makala tell you?" he asked suspiciously. His son edged along the wall, away from the golden threads of light, and started unscrewing the bolts that held one of the dimly glowing light fixtures to the wall.

"There's an override system to the laser webs, in case something glitched and they wouldn't deactivate," Billy whispered over his shoulder. "He told me the access panel was hidden in the wall behind this light." Lowering the heavy glass globe to the floor, he switched on the flashlight that Allie handed him and scanned the wall in front of him. "Here!" he breathed excitedly, catching sight of two small grooves in the wood. Fitting his fingers into them, he gave a tug, and the access panel swung open, revealing a keypad set into the wall.

Allie brushed her blond hair over her shoulder. "Great!" she whispered, an edge of sarcasm under her tone. "I don't suppose you happen to know the override code?"

"No," Billy answered steadily, "but Makala said it was a four-digit code." He squinted at the keys, holding the light closer. "One...four...seven...and zero," he murmured. His father peered over his shoulder.

"How can you tell?" he asked quietly. The boy was already pressing the buttons, careful to use the back of his fingernail.

"Fingerprints," he replied easily. "Hush now, let me try and crack this."

Luck was with him; he had only tried a few different combinations of the four numbers when a green light flashed on the keypad and the laser beams flickered out. Allie tossed another small cloud of powder into the air to make sure and nodded.

"All clear," she whispered. "Let's go!"

They sped along the hallway to the very end, where their quarry rested on a blue cushion, protected by a bullet proof glass case.

"Alright, Miss Notarbartolo, how do we get to it?" Mr. Stone whispered. "I assume you and young MacLean here have a plan for that?"

Billy looked confused. "What's he talking about?" he whispered to Allie, who rolled her eyes in exasperation.

"Leonardo Notarbartolo was a famous Italian jewel thief," she explained quietly, "an extremely successful one. His downfall was, believe it or not, a half-eaten sandwich he abandoned that contained traces of his DNA. Jack "Superthief" MacLean was an even more famous, successful, and wealthy cat-burglar, who was known for his habit of leaving sarcastic notes at the crime scene and his non-destructive methods of getting to what he wanted - such as lock picking." The archaeologist glared at his son, who had enough decency to look a little ashamed. "He would also shut down alarm systems and security traps, and then turn them back on when he left. If he didn't know how it worked, he'd steal that too, so he could learn about it later."

Mr. Stone ran an agitated hand through his short grey hair. "See, that's exactly the sort of thing you shouldn't know!" he exclaimed in a loud whisper. "I want to know where you learn about all this stuff."

"Dad, now is really not the time," Billy said pleadingly. "We've got to get back a couple of centuries and defeat Cobra. We'll talk when we get back, alright?"

"You better believe we will," his father said firmly. The boy grimaced, and they both turned to Allie, who was kneeling next to the case, gently knocking on it with her knuckles and humming softly.

"The only way we'll get in is if we shatter the glass with sympathetic vibrations," she informed them quietly. "I think..." she tapped the case again, "the note needed here is F sharp above high C."

Billy stared at her blankly, but Mr. Stone nodded understandingly and took a deep breath. Pursing his lips, he whistled a long, sharp note, trying to ignore the dizziness that started to set in. The glass shivered, ringing faintly, and the children tensed with excitement.

"That's it, Dad!" Allie exclaimed softly. Mr. Stone paused to take a breath, then resumed, and the case shook harder. Without breaking his note, he grabbed Billy and Allie and pushed them behind him, covering most of his face with his hands.

Just as he thought he would pass out from lack of proper oxygen intake, there was a magnificent crash as the bullet proof case exploded in a shower of shattered glass. The two children cheered quietly and rushed forward, but their father's hands on their shoulders stopped them. The archaeologist turned, ignoring Billy's whispered "Dad, what are you doing?" and looked squarely at a security camera that was quietly monitoring events from the corner of the room.

"Honesty," he stated, clearly and firmly, "is always the best policy. You probably already know who I am, but I want to make sure of that." Pulling the flashlight from his son's canvas bag, he switched it on and shone it on his face. "I'm Dr. Micheal Stone, and I am borrowing without permission - stealing, if you like - King Huko's medallion. I don't condone what I'm doing, but my family is in great need of it, and I will take full responsibility if, for some unforeseen reason, I am unable to return it." He paused, then gave a small nod. "That's it," he said simply, and turned back to the golden amulet still lying on the cushion.

Billy and Allie glanced at each other, then stepped forward, facing the camera side by side. "I'm Billy Stone-"

"-and I'm Allie Stone-"

"-and we're involved in this theft too," the boy said loudly. "We will all protect the medallion to the best of our ability and return it as soon as we can, and if something happens to it, my sister and I will be as responsible as our dad. Just thought you should know that." The boy glanced over his shoulder guiltily. "Oh, and I'm really sorry about all the broken glass." They looked at each other again and returned to their father, who swept them both into a tight hug.

"I'm so proud of you two," he said muffledly, then gave them a brief squeeze and released them. "Now let's go, before Billy disappears into nothingness." Allie picked up the magic amulet and passed it to her best friend, who dropped the cord over his head. The familiar weight was somehow comforting, and he felt a tension he didn't even know he had ease out of his shoulders. He allowed a small smile to touch his lips as he took his family's hands and lifted his chin.

"I wish..."

A moment later, the only indication that the burglars were ever there was an empty cushion and a layer of shattered glass littering the floor.


In a shimmering blue glow and a quick shower of sparks, the three Stones appeared on the bank of the river. A hot, bright, noonday sun glared down at them, dazzling their eyes, and the sudden change of terrain caught them off balance.

Still disoriented from the abrupt journey, they never saw the three wooden darts - the tips smeared with a primitive knockout drug - that flew out of the trees and struck them in their necks.


Gaaaah, I am SO GLAD I've finished that chapter! 0_0 (I kind of hate it. XD) It's probably not plausible in the slightest, but I've never tried to burgle a museum before, nor have I ever studied the science of resonance and its destructive powers, so it's just going to have to be implausible. -_-
Also, Makala was the larger of Mr. Cobb's thugs, and Kalani was the shorter, skinnier one. Cobra's trackers were Makawa and Kalanu, respectively. Just wanted to throw that out there, since you probably wouldn't know that unless you've read the novelized version of the movie. ;) I gave Makala the surname of Umberdoth, just because he needed one and it was the first thing that popped into my head.