The crisp fresh air prickled the hair on Kuki's arms. She was excited, this was going to be her first time breaking into the Delightful Children from Down the Lane's mansion alone! She knew she shouldn't be doing this, but she was doing it for her best friend, Wally. The five goody-good children had taken all of his homework she had been helping with him with. She was going to get it back, no matter what the cost.
As she came upon the towering mansion, Numbuh Three looked up to find a window that was open. As it turns out, there was only one open on the third floor of the house; however, this did not stop the determined girl. She took out a grappling hook gun from the backpack she had brought with her and aimed it at the open window. She stuck her tongue out slightly as she aimed for the place of entrance, then clicked the button. A long rope with a hook attached to the end shot out of the gun, hurling toward the window. Kuki heard a light thud, and she knew that it was attached to the window's sill. Slowly, she started to climb the rope up toward the opening; when she had finally reached the top, she hurled herself into the room. Kuki tumbled onto the floor then quickly hid under the nearby bed, thinking that someone would come in and spot her. She held her breath for a moment, then realized no one was coming. Slowly, the girl crept out from under the bed and headed toward the door. She took a deep breath as she opened it, then headed through the long dark hallway toward one of the Delightful Children's rooms. Perhaps they had stored all of the homework in one room? Or maybe they had destroyed it all. No matter, she'll fight them if she has to in order to get the papers back.
As Numbuh Three crept into Lenny's room (the football helmet boy), she heard a slight creak behind her. She jerked herself around and saw the five Delightful Children smiling at her in a sarcastic and mocking manner. "Well hello Kuki Sanban," the five said in unison in their monotonous way, "we're so delighted to have you over for company! I'm sure you've heard of Mr. Toasty, he'll be glad to "play" with you while we go make us some snacks."
"Oh, boy! What kind of games?" Kuki chimed in a joyful way.
"Well, it's the game where we DESTROY YOU!" the five children yelled with a devilish smile on their faces, "Mr. Toasty, get her!"
Suddenly, an extremely large flaming knight came hurdling through the door way, hopping over the Delightful Children, and was charging toward the small Japanese girl. Kuki shrieked, and ran toward the only window in the room, but within a blink of an eye, metal bars shot down, blocking the window. The young girl quickly turned around and ran toward the five devilish children with the red-hot knight following close behind. Kuki then made a slide past them, the knight, however, was not so lucky. He ran full force into his masters. "No, you fool! Not us, the wretch from the Kids Next Door!" the five bellowed with flames suddenly engulfing them, "after her!"
Numbuh Three continued sprinting down the long never ending hallways, looking for an escape. She found the stairs that led to the fourth floor and climbed them as quickly as her little feet could carry her. On the next floor she found the next set of stairs that led to the fifth floor, and after she scurried up those, she found the final flight of stairs that led to the sixth floor. Flying up the last set of stairs, she took a sharp right turn and continued to run down another long hallway. In that hall way, she found a string that hung from the ceiling; it was attached to a door that led to the attic. Quickly, Kuki jumped up and grabbed the string, pulling the door down with her weight. As it fell down, a ladder unfolded, yet another set of stairs for Kuki to climb. She heard the rumbling footsteps of Mr. Toasty and most likely the Delightful Children, so she clambered up the ladder as fast as she could. She then pulled up the ladder, and with a slam, the attic's entrance was shut. At this point, Kuki was hyperventilating and was scanning the attic for an exit. After a brief pause, she saw a light at the end of the attic, so she bolted toward it. So much for fighting the Delightful Children; she knew that if she was caught that she was going to end up running away as soon as she entered the mansion.
The light was growing larger as Kuki sped toward it, but she also heard the clamoring of the six villains behind her. She knew she couldn't stop. The light, it was right in front of her now! She jumped toward it and exploded through another window, grabbing onto its outside sill. She began to scale up the side of the house, almost like a gecko, only slightly less limber and steady. As Numbuh Three reached the roof, she pulled herself onto the top of the house. Now where could she go? There was nowhere to escape except to jump off the roof! She knew she couldn't do that though, that would be suicide! The next thing the little Japanese girl heard was an explosion behind her; Mr. Toasty and his masters hurled through the roof; wood and metal shingles flew around them, making a strong metallic noise fill the air. "Well, Kuki Sanban, it looks like you have nowhere to run, and no one is here to save you!" the five delightful children exclaimed, followed by a devious laugh. Just as all hope drained from Kuki, a helicopter's whirring noise grew louder, and almost instantly it was above the seven people on the roof. It was Numbuh Three's teammates, they had come to save her! Ropes shot down from the bottom of the helicopter and Numbuhs One, Four, and Five sliding down them. "Hey guys, How did you know I was here?" Kuki exclaimed happily.
"We put a tracking device in your watch-caller," Numbuh One explained over the loud whirring, "ever since the shark incident, we've been concerned about your whereabouts."
Kuki didn't care that the team was technically stalking her, she was happy they had. She looked at Mr. Toasty and the Delightful Children mockingly, "Bye-bye!" The Japanese girl grabbed onto Numbuh Four's rope as Numbuh Two flew the plane away from the mansion. Kuki was smiling, the team had come to her rescue once again. She was safe. At least that's what she thought at the moment. "Eh Kooks, you alright?" Wally called down to Kuki from his position above her on the rope.
"Yeah, I'm fine!" the smiling girl replied as she shimmied up the rope toward him. Just then she heard the five goody-good children shriek, "Oh no you don't! Mr. Toasty, shoot her down!"
Suddenly, a thin line of fire was hurling toward Kuki and Wallabee's rope. It penetrated the space right between Numbuh Four's feet and Numbuh Three's hands, severing the rope in half. There was a snap, and Kuki and her rope fell from the helicopter. "Wally!" the frightened girl shrieked as she shot her hand up toward Wallabee, "help me!"
"Kooks!" Wally yelled as she fell. He reached down attempting to grab her hand. He barely missed it. It was too late. He watched her fall as her scream was fading, cursing at himself for not pulling her up while she was climbing toward him. Numbuh Two jerked the controls downward, and with a jerk, the helicopter was suddenly shooting toward Kuki, hopefully catching her before she hit the ground. The wind was rushing past Numbuh Four, blowing his hair out of his face. His rope, Numbuh Five's rope, and Numbuh One's rope were flailing in the wind, with the children holding on for their lives. "Kuki, I'm coming for ya!" Wallabee bellowed as the Kids Next Door were closing in on the falling girl. Soon enough Wally was next to Kuki again. He extended his hand and reached out for his best friend. She extended hers in return, but as they both tried to grasp each other a gust of wind blew Kuki away from her savior. Once again, they had missed, and she was doomed. The team couldn't do more than watch their beloved friend fall. Within a couple of seconds the girl had hit the ground, and the helicopter landed no more than ten feet away from her. Wally ran over to his companion cursing under his breath with tears in his eyes. He looked down at the poor girl. She wasn't moving, only the very slow, barely visible rise and fall of the girl's chest. He fell to his knees and began to sob at the horrible tragedy. The other three friends came to join Numbuh Four in standing by Numbuh Three's side.
"Numbuh Four, we need to get her to a hospital. Now," Nigel said in a dark tone, "she's in a critical state. This could possibly be fatal to her." In return, Numbuh Four grumbled through his sobs. The last thing he heard was the evil cackle of the Delightful Children. They no longer had the innocence of children though. They had attempted manslaughter when they purposefully cut Kuki's rope.
