Disclaimer: This wonderful cartoon is not mine.

A/N: Yes, new chapter! Hope you'll like it!

When love's not enough

Chapter 2

Pacing back and forth in his room, Numbuh 1 started to get rather impatient with his team. There had been no activity on the T.A.L.K.E.R., something he found rather annoying. Placing a hand on his chin, he started to think of the number of reasons why there was no report on the neighborhood status from his team. He was worried that there had been some kind of accident, but he doubted it strongly. He was pretty sure that they had forgotten to report the status, something that had occurred before. Although Numbuh 5 usually was good at remembering to inform the leader about anything, even if everything was normal around the neighborhood.

He decided to get a glass of lemonade to satisfy his thirst, so he left his room, making his way to the kitchen. He wasn't surprised to see Numbuh 2 in there, getting a big pile of sandwiches for lunch.

"Hey, have you heard anything from the others yet?" Numbuh 2 asked, taking a big bite out of one of his sandwiches.

"No, I'm afraid not," Numbuh 1 replied as he crossed the kitchen to get to the counter. "It's very odd. They should have reported something, but the T.A.L.K.E.R. has been absolutely quiet. They know better than to be joking around and forget to report the neighborhood status."

"Yeah," Numbuh 2 replied with his mouth full, flipping through a comic book. "Aw, man! I've already read this one!"

Numbuh 1 grabbed a glass and filled it with lemonade, ignoring Numbuh 2's discovery. He took a big sip of it before he said: "Maybe something is wrong?"

Numbuh 2 shook his head. "I doubt that. How can they possibly mess up such an easy mission?"

Meanwhile, somewhere in the Delightful Children's Mansion:

A secret passage behind the bookshelf in Father's living room led down a dark, cold stairway that smelled like an old basement from the middle ages or so. At the end of the stairs there was a long hallway that led directly to an old dungeon in the creepy crypt somewhere down in the depths of the big mansion's sublevel. Numbuh 5 thought it smelled horrible down there. She tried to breathe through her mouth instead so she wouldn't smell it.

Father had the three young operatives thrown in the dark and cold dungeon, leaving them there as his prisoners. The only light he had left there was a torch up on the wall by the lonely cell the three helpless operatives now was confined.

"What are we going to do?" Numbuh 3 cried out clueless. "They took the T.A.L.K.E.R.s away from us! We can't warn Numbuh 1 now!"

"Calm down," Numbuh 5 said with a steady voice, even though she was just as clueless. "We just have to wait. Numbuh 1'll figure it out soon enough."

Numbuh 4 held on to the bars inside the cell, looking around as he tried to figure out a way for them to escape. "There's got to be a way to get out of here," he muttered. "There's just got to!"

"Numbuh 5 says we just chill," Numbuh 5 said as she sat down on the cold floor. "There's nothing to worry about. Numbuh 1'll be here before you two can say strawberry-ice-cream. He's probably noticed how we haven't reported any status yet."

Numbuh 4 turned to face her. Numbuh 3 stared at her. They didn't seem too sure about what she'd just said, but it seemed to calm Numbuh 3 down a little bit.

Back in the Treehouse:

"Hey, if you're really that curious about them, why don't you just contact them on their T.A.L.K.E.R.s yourself?" Numbuh 2 asked his leader and shoved the last bite of the sandwich into his mouth.

Numbuh 1's eyes met his. The thought had crossed his mind, but the fear of him accidentally interrupting a fight of some kind made him turn the alternative down for now. "I don't want to do that, Numbuh 2," he told him. "I don't want to disturb anything. If they were in trouble they'd contact us."

"Unless something happened to them," Numbuh 2 said thoughtfully, getting up to bring his plate to the counter.

Numbuh 1 thought about it while leaving the kitchen. He headed back to his room. Maybe I should try to reach my team mates after all, he thought. Like Numbuh 2 said, what if something had happened to them? He grabbed his T.A.L.K.E.R. and tried to make contact. When there was no response from any of the three operatives his worry grew. He was now certain that something had happened. Maybe there had been a battle? It seemed likely, after all none of them had responded to his calls. He quickly left his room to find Numbuh 2. They had to leave immediately!

Numbuh 2 was in his room now, singing an old Elvis song to himself as he got back to his work on the S.K.Y.C.L.A.W.

Numbuh 1 rushed into his room short while after he again was standing with his head down in the engine. "Numbuh 2 – get ready, we're leaving right now!"

"What?" Numbuh 2 looked up at him with a frown. "Did you get any information from the others?"

"That's exactly what I didn't get!" Numbuh 1 replied impatiently as he walked over to the mechanic. "I think something happened to them, otherwise they would have answered me! I have a feeling the Delightful Children are behind it. We're checking the mansion out. Common!"

"Okay, I think we should take the M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.O.," Numbuh 2 said, wiping his oil covered hands on a towel. "I just fixed it this morning. It's working perfectly."

"Alright, let's go!" ordered the leader as they both headed for the ship.

In Father's living room:

"You wanted to see us, Father?" the Delightful Children asked in unison, the shadows crawling across their expressionless faces. They looked up at the big comfortable chair facing away from them.

"Yes, my children," a dark voice replied from behind the chair. "You have done great today. I'm proud of you." The chair turned around slowly to face the five glassy blue eyed children. The shadows were even darker around Father's face, his eyes glowing red. "I suggest we deal with the three of them now before the two others show up to rescue them."

"You want us to kill them?" the Children asked with their monotone voices.

Father's eyes narrowed. "We're not killing them just yet," he replied. "They are holding back on a lot of important information that we need. If they die we'll lose that." He turned his chair back away from the children. "I would like you to get that information out of them. It doesn't matter how you do it, as long as I get what I want. Do I make myself clear?"

The Delightful Children looked at each other with evil smiles on their faces. "Perfectly, Father." A monotone laughter followed.

It didn't take long before they were down in the creepy dungeon, staring at the three Kids Next Door operatives with their evil smiles. "Abigail, Kuki and Wallace," they said, sounding a little sympathetic, yet mocking at the same time. "Which one of you would like to go first?"

"It's Numbuh 4 to you, you losers!" Numbuh 4 yelled, clenching his fists.

"You ain't getting nothing out of this if that's what you're thinking!" Numbuh 5 told them with an irritated voice, waving them off.

"Oh, but we are, Abigail," they replied. "We just love to see you like this, you wild kids trapped behind bars in a cold dungeon."

"Jeez, you ought to get a new hobby!" Numbuh 4 grumbled at them. "Besides, we won't be trapped down here for long. Numbuh 1'll show up and get us outta here!"

"Think again, Wallace," the Delightfuls replied. "Nigel doesn't even know where you are. How could he possibly find you down here?" They smiled at him as if they knew he wouldn't have a proper answer to that.

"It's Numbuh 4!" he shouted, grabbing a hold of the bars to get as close to the irritating Delighfuls as possible. "Is that so hard for you to understand? Numbuh 4!"

"He'll figure it out somehow," Numbuh 5 said to answer the Delightful Children. "True, he hasn't been in this part of you're precious mansion before, but he'll find it."

"You really don't realize how wrong you are, Abigail," the five Children muttered, shaking their heads in despair. "We're going to take care of you before Nigel even thinks about rescuing you." They turned their heads toward Numbuh 3. "How would you like to come with us for a while, Kuki? We've got a surprise for you."

Numbuh 3 stared at them. The she smiled. "What kind of surprise?"

"Don't listen to them, Numbuh 3," Numbuh 5 warned, getting back up on her feet. "It's a trick. They don't really have any surprise." She walked over to the Japanese girl, concerned about her ignorance. "You do remember what Numbuh 1 told you about them, don't you?"

Numbuh 3 grinned at her. "That they're a stupid bunch of losers that will stop at nothing in trying to trick us into spilling information?"

"Sss-something like that," Numbuh 5 replied with a cocked eyebrow. She turned to face the Delightful Children. "See, not even Numbuh 3 falls for your stupid tricks."

"It was not a trick, Abigail," they told her. "It was a simple suggestion. We do have a surprise for you."

"Yeah, a certain death!" Numbuh 4 added with a sneer.

"Quite the contrary, Wallace," they replied monotonously. "Now, if we killed you we wouldn't have anybody to play with anymore, would we?" The five of them laughed at what they'd just said as if it had been a killer joke. Then they suddenly turned serious, glaring at their three enemies. "Enough talk. We're taking Kuki with us for a stroll."

"Oh, no, you're not!" Numbuh 4 snarled through clenched teeth, sounding rather threatening. He kept holding on the bars with a tight grip, brows lowered and emerald eyes burning with hatred. "You're taking her first because you know that she's the easiest one to crack!"

"Very well, Wallace." The Delightful Children stared him right in the eyes. "Then you will be the first one. Is that what you wish?"

Numbuh 4's face softened up a little bit as he suddenly realized what they'd just said. He knew that if they him took first the girls would be safe – for now… But he wasn't sure of what they'd do to him. He was on their turf now, weaponless and without a leader. The terrifying word torture forced itself into his mind. No way, he thought. They didn't have the guts! Did they?

Suddenly a huge man dressed in an old-fashion hangman suit, his face masked, stepped into the dungeon. He stood beside the Delightfuls, staring at the three inferior kids in the cell.

"Say hello to Henry, Kids Next Door," The Delightful Children introduced with their evil smiles. "He will be your executioner for the day." Their smiles grew wider as they pointed at Numbuh 4. "Wallace would like to go first, Henry. Would you mind giving him a hand?"

Numbuh 4 backed away from the bars and gulped.

The Delightfuls handed the big man a key. He took it and went over to the cell with two long steps. Was it just Numbuh 5, or did the brick floor shake under their feet as he walked?

The big man turned the key in the lock and opened the door to the cell. He had to bend his back not to hit his head on the bars above the doorway. He was really a rather frightening sight, especially since his face was covered. He reached out for Numbuh 4 with a giant hand. The blond fighter dodged away from him, but he didn't get far. The mysterious man grabbed a hold of Numbuh 4's orange hood, hindering his getaway.

"Crud!" the Australian cried as he was being pulled away from his team mates. He tried to get back up on his feet so he could turn around and fight, but there was no way he could regain his balance at this speed. The man dragged him roughly out of the cell.

"Numbuh 4!" Numbuh 3 cried and tried in vain to follow his captor. The Delightful Children slammed the door shut and locked it. "No!" She grabbed the bars and shook the door. "You can't do this!"

"You just watch us, Kuki," they replied, lowering their heads to look up her with threatening eyes. "You just watch."

Henry was incredibly big and strong. Numbuh 4 was amazed by his strength. He groaned in pain as his butt was getting soar from being dragged over the cold, hard floor. Out of the dungeon, into the hallway, through another door. Henry lifted Numbuh 4 up in the air by his hood, causing the young Australian to choke, before he tossed him on the floor.

Numbuh 4 coughed to get his breath back. Then he stood up carefully, eyeing the big man. The man was just standing there. Numbuh 4 glanced around the old-fashion room and noticed a control table to his left. Weird, he thought. I didn't think there was any electricity down here.

"Make yourself comfortable, Wallace," the monotone voices of the Delightful Children chimed from the doorway, making him flinch. "Or maybe it won't be too comfortable after all." The blond Delightful Child in the front of the bunch held out a remote of some kind. He pressed a button, and suddenly four metal claws shot out from the wall behind Numbuh 4. All claws grabbed each their limb on the Australian boy and dragged him back to the wall. They turned him upside down and tightened around his wrists and ankles, leaving him hanging there.

"Quite impressive, don't you think?" the Delightful Children asked as they walked closer.

"What do you want?" Numbuh 4 asked with an irritated voice and lowered eyebrows.

"You see that big machine up in the ceiling there, Wallace?" they asked and glanced up. Numbuh 4 followed their eyes with his. "That is our new toy. It's called the MindReader 3000. We thought you'd be delighted to try it first."

"What?" Numbuh 4 raised an eyebrow at them, suddenly feeling how his head was filling up with blood. It was a very uncomfortable position, that was for sure.

"With this thing we can suck the information about you little organization out of your brain, or copy it, if you will," they explained. "We'll be able to see all of your thoughts. You see, we want more information about you and your friends, especially top secret information."

"And you wanted to bring Numbuh 3 in her first to steal top secret information?" Numbuh 4 asked with a sneer. "She doesn't even know what top secret means!"

"We're going to use the machine on all of you, Wallace," the Delightfuls replied. "We had to start somewhere. And since Kuki usually would be willing to come with us without putting up a fight, we thought she was perfect. But it doesn't matter."

Numbuh 4 had to look to what was down to him to see the machine in the ceiling. It was big, and it looked pretty much like a big vacuum cleaner in metal. He glanced back at the Delightful Bunch in front of him. They were smiling delightfully. "Just one more question," he started. "Why the crud am I hanging upside down?"

"It's quite simple, really," they replied. "It's so your brain will get a lot of pressure on it. That way it'll be easier to suck information from it. Besides, it is very satisfying seeing you like this, Wallace. So helpless, so clueless."

"I've said it before and I'll say it again – get a new hobby!" Numbuh 4 grumbled and stared at them with angry eyes. His feet were getting cold now that the blood was leaving them. It was very uncomfortable hanging like that. He knew he was about to get very, very angry.

The Delightful Children didn't reply to that. The blond Child with the remote pressed another button. A loud noise was heard from the ceiling as the machine reacted to its master's command. It lowered a big pipe with a round bowl-shaped end. The bowl-shaped metal end looked a little like a helmet of some kind.

Numbuh 4 stared at it in disbelief as it moved closer to his head. When it was about to place itself on his head, he stretched his neck, maneuvering away from the helmet.

"Don't move, you imbecile!" the Delightful Children yelled at him. "It'll all be over soon, and it won't hurt… that much!"

The last two words made Numbuh 4 frown. He tried to escape the helmet again, but this time it got him. It placed itself on his head. He tried to shake it off, but it was as if it was glued to the top of his head. He groaned with anger and tried to break his arms free from the claws, but it was impossible. They started to hurt around his wrists instead. He suddenly felt how the helmet started to hurt his head. It was as if it was squeezing his head roughly.

The Delightful Children stared at the poor Australian boy as he squirmed to break free, which to them was a rather delightful sight. They had satisfied smiles on their faces, the dark marks around their eyes seemed to grow darker.

The helmet seemed to tighten its grip around Numbuh 4 head even more, it started to hurt him now. He let out a cry of pain and squeezed his eyes shut. It felt like the helmet was digging itself into his brain, squeezing it. He clenched his teeth and tried to hold back a howl of pain and anger. It somehow managed to escape his lips anyhow. When would it all stop? He tightened every muscle in his body, feeling how it grew weaker by the minute. He cried out again.

Finally, the Delightful Child with the remote pressed another button, the very button that made the helmet stop hurting Numbuh 4's head and return to its place in the ceiling with the rest of the machine. They sent Numbuh 4 a last wicked smile before they turned around and walked over to the control table on the left side of the room. They pressed a few buttons and stared at a screen that was installed in the table. All that Numbuh 4 knew about the Kids Next Door was saved on the computer of the control table, could the screen confirm. They smiled to themselves again, satisfied with the process, before they turned around to face Numbuh 4.

Numbuh 4 was drained from his powers, now hanging on the wall with his eyes shut, breathing heavily.

"You know amazingly lot more than expected, Wallace," the Delightful Children chimed. "Maybe you're not so stupid after all. What do you think of our machine? Impressive?"

Numbuh 4 opened his eyes enough to see them. The room seemed to spin. He felt ill and noticed how the pizza he had eaten this morning was on its way back up again. His head was still aching, his stomach twisting.

"You look awful, Wallace," the Delightful Children remarked monotonously. "Maybe you need to lie down while we let your little girlfriends out in the cell have just as much fun with the MindReader as you had."

Numbuh 4 thought about what they had said. They were going to do the same thing to Numbuh 3! He couldn't let them do that! "Don't you dare touch Numbuh 3!" he warned with a weary, yet angry voice.

The Delightful Children stared at him blankly for a moment before they understood why he'd said just that. They smiled their delightfully wicked smile again. "That's right, you have a thing for Kuki, don't you? We'll take good care for her, Wallace, don't you worry about that." They snickered at him and turned to face the big man, who had been standing by the door this whole time with his arms crossed. "Henry, would you please show Wallace the way out? And make sure he won't vomit on the floor. Father wouldn't like that!" The Child in the front pressed another button on the remote which made the four claws that held the KND operative to the wall open and drop the power-drained fighter to the floor.

Numbuh 4 clenched his teeth at the painful fall from the wall to the stony ground beneath him, where he now was laying on his stomach. He groaned as he tried to push himself up with his arms, but they wouldn't obey. The painful experience with the MindReader 3000 had drained out most of his strength.

The big, masked man made his way over to the blond boy the floor, bending over to pick him up by his hoodie. He roughly lifted him from the floor and carried him out of the room. Numbuh 4 didn't bother to do anything, even though he actually could squirm out of his hoodie and escape the big man. But he realized he wouldn't get far without more energy. He pushed the thought of escaping away as he was carried back into the dungeon.

"Numbuh 4?" Numbuh 5 hoarsely whispered. Her voice was shaking.

The masked man unlocked the door and threw Numbuh 4 into the cell. The blond boy landed on his hands and knees, letting himself fall to the floor as the pain shoot through him.

The girls didn't bother to try and escape now that the door was open. It was quickly closed anyways as the big man slammed it shut and once again locked it before walking away. The girls just stared at their team mate with fear and sorrow. Numbuh 5 kneeled next to him.

"Wally?" Numbuh 3's voice was stifled with sobs and tears had gathered in her eyes. She held her green sleeved-covered hands in front of her mouth as she slowly walked over to Numbuh 4. With a sigh of sorrow she kneeled next to him as well, carefully touching his shoulder.

"What happened?" Numbuh 5 asked with a low voice. "We heard you scream."

"What did they do to you, Wally?" Numbuh 3 asked, bending down to see his face.

Numbuh 4 let his eyes meet hers for a second before he shut them again and tried to push himself up in a seated position. It was harder than expected. The girls grabbed one of his arms each and helped him up. He muttered some curse words under his breath and clenched his teeth.

"You're a mess," Numbuh 5 whispered to him. "What happened?"

"T-they have this… uh, machine thingy," Numbuh 4 managed to force out in a whisper through his gritted teeth. "I-it reads your mind and… s-steal information out of you brain… and it drains your body for energy."

Numbuhs 3 and 5 exchanged looks. Then they stared at their team mate again. They kept holding on to him so he wouldn't drop to the floor. Numbuh 3 bit her lower lip anxiously. Numbuh 5 glanced out of the cell to check if anybody was watching them. She suddenly got this creepy feeling…

Suddenly, the Delightful Children stepped into the dungeon, staring directly into the cell with their glassy blue eyes.

Numbuh 5 wrinkled her nose at them, seeing as her feeling was right. She hated to see them standing there, glaring at her and her friends as if they were wild animals trapped behind bars, the bars that separated her from her freedom. "What ya'll want?" she asked with an irritated tone. "Haven't you gotten enough pleasure for a week?"

They didn't say anything, just letting their smiling muscles pull up half a smile on their other so expressionless faces.

"You hurt him, you monsters!" Numbuh 3 yelled and lowered her eyebrows at them. "You can just wipe those stupid smiles off you faces!"

"He had it coming," the Delightful Children replied quickly. "First of all, we got the information we wanted, second, we got to see him squirm with pain! It was delightful!"

"You guys are nasty, you know that?" Numbuh 5 hissed at them and let go of Numbuh 4's arm as she got up on her feet.

Still with the smiles on their faces, the Delightful Children just snickered. "Luckily for you, we decided to take Kuki with us before you, Abigail!" Their smiles faded as they said that, leaving their faces in the cold expressions that reflected their ice cold soles.

"What evuh, it doesn't matter to Numbuh 5!" she replied and pointed at herself with a thumb. "Besides, you might want to take Numbuh 5 first anyway."

"Really?" the five Delightfuls asked without much enthusiasm. "Well, we've already made up our mind. Kuki's going first."

Numbuh 4 gathered all the strength he had left in his body and stood up on two unsteady legs. "Don't even think about it, you Delightful Losers!" he snarled at them. "You touch her, you die! I'm not even close to kidding!"

"It's nice to see that you've made the way to recovery so quickly, Wallace," the Delightful Children said with their monotone voices. "Maybe you'd like another round with the MindReader, so we could find out why you're so overprotective of your little girlfriend? Or was that your secret, Wallace? That she's your girlfriend?"

Numbuh 4 lowered his head with his emerald eyes burning threatening at them. "She's not my girlfriend! And for your information, you Delightful Dorks, I'm just doing my job! It's my job to watch over my team mates!" He clenched his fists, suddenly feeling that there wasn't much energy left in his body and that he most likely had to sit back down again soon.

"Face it, Wallace," his enemies chimed. "You've barely got enough strength to stand upright. You can't possibly try to beat us!"

Numbuh 4 bit his lip, knowing that they were right. I hate it when they're right, he thought angrily. I am weak. Oh, Numbuh 1, where the crud are you?

Up in the wild blue:

"Step on it, Numbuh 2!" Numbuh 1 ordered the pilot. "I'm afraid we're running out of time."

"Aye, aye, sir," Numbuh 2 replied, speeding up the vehicle. The Delightful Children's mansion soon came into view. He slowed down and landed the ship in the backyard of the mansion. Numbuhs 1 and 2 got out quickly with their weapons close to their chests. Numbuh 2 was wearing a backpack filled with 2x4 technologies that could or could not come in handy if a battle broke loose.

"Common!" Numbuh 1 whispered to the mechanic. "We have to find a way inside."

Running up to the wall, Numbuh 1 checked for any signs of life around in the yard. When he confirmed that the coast was clear, he turned his rocket boots on and hovered up to one of the windows. The room inside was left in complete darkness. The switched the rocket boots off again and landed softly on his feet. He turned to Numbuh 2. "I think we can break an entrance here," he said, pointing at the window.

"Discreetly or… not so discreetly?" Numbuh 2 asked, slipping his arm out of the right strap of the backpack and leaned the weight of it on his left shoulder. He stuck his free arm down in it and started to fumble around after something he could use to break in with.

Numbuh 1 cocked an eyebrow at him. "Discreetly would be nice," he muttered with a stern voice.

Numbuh 2 giggled nervously as he noticed he'd brought the wrong equipment for a discreet break-in. "Well, I've… I don't have anything like that today…"

"What?" Numbuh 1 sighed in despair. "Alright, so what do you have?"

Numbuh 2 pulled out a W.A.L.L.B.L.A.S.T.

Weapon/vehicle interruption:

Kids Next Door W.A.L.L.B.L.A.S.T.

Walls Are Likely Loudly Bombed Leaving A Serious Termination.

Now ending weapon/vehicle interruption…

I've got this," Numbuh 2 said, holding out the bomb that was made by two bottles stuck together filled with thick grease mixed with baking powder. It wouldn't go off unless it was winded.

"It'll have to do," Numbuh 1 said. "I'm afraid that if we won't act quickly we might lose the others."

Numbuh 2 stuck the W.A.L.L.B.L.A.S.T. to the wall, winded it and cleared the area. Numbuh 1 followed right behind him. The wall was blasted open in a giant hole.

"Wow, I wasn't aware it'd be that loud!" Numbuh 1 exclaimed and examined the hole.

"It's a prototype," Numbuh 2 replied. "I'm still testing it. And it worked perfectly!" He grinned at his leader and gave him two thumbs up. "I don't wanna brag or nothing, but I must say that this invention was a real blast!" He laughed at his own lame joke and followed his resigned leader through the hole in the wall.

They kept close to the walls, making sure their bodies remained hidden in the darkness and out of the daylight that so bashfully shined through the windows. Numbuh 1 led them down a dark hallway. He stopped and glanced into a familiar room. Father's living room. Father's voice was heard from inside.

"I need you to check the trophy room," his voice said stressfully. "I heard something out there. I'm not paying you to sit on you asses, you know!" He was talking on the phone with some of his servants.

Suddenly, Numbuh 1 noticed some movement over by the bookshelf. To his surprise, it opened! The Delightful Children came walking out from a secret passage behind it. The bookshelf closed right behind them. They walked up to Father's armchair.

"We're here, Father," they said in unison.

Father turned his chair around to face them, his red eyes burning with fury in his dark face. "They're here!" he shouted at them, making them all flinch. "Get ready for battle, and make sure you finish off the others right away!"

"Yes, Father!" they replied.

"I'm going to go check the trophy room myself," Father growled. "You do what you're supposed to, and then come back to me, understood?"

"Yes, Father," they repeated and watched as Father got up. He headed for the door with quick steps.

Numbuh 1 gasped and pulled his head back out of the open doorway. He motioned for Numbuh 2 to follow him behind the big drapes that covered the windows in the dark hallway.

Father left the room and disappeared down the hall.

Numbuh 1 peeked out to see if the coast was clear. Then he hopped out from his hiding place and went over to the door of Father's living room again. He could see the Delightful Children as they walked through the now open bookshelf. Then he made a quick motion with his hand to get Numbuh 2 to follow him. They quickly, but silently ran over to the bookshelf and stared into the hidden passage. It was poorly lit up by a torch on the wall further down the stony stairs. The Delightful Children was already on their way down.

The bookshelf was open long enough for the two KND operatives to skip inside. You know, those two-three extra seconds the heroes in cartoons always gets to follow the bad guys through a door they're not actually supposed to enter, in order to save the day.

Numbuh 1 looked at the pilot and put a finger over his mouth to tell his team mate to be quiet. Then he silently started to make his way down the stairs, Numbuh 2 right behind him. The two boys weren't sure of what they'd find in the end of those stairs. All they knew was that this secret passage had something to do with their lost team mates, and so help them God, they were going to find out! But they had no idea it would turn out as it did.