A/N: Hello again! This is the beta'ed version of Chapter Eight - new and improved by Little Lobster! There might be a few spacing problems, but no matter how many times I fix it, FF still takes away some spaces.

People to Applaud:

Little Lobster: The Beta

Royal Danielle: She's still an awesome beta, even if she didn't beta this

Iciclegirl235: The Random Reviewer

So without further ado...go ahead and read the revised edition...unless you'd rather not...


"Chapter Eight."

"Watch out!" Amy screamed.

"Hunh!"Alistair gasped, heaving himself upward.

Clanggggg!

Dan felt the ladder jolt. He hung on tight, staring at the amazing sight below.

With a sharp, precise movement, Alistair had brought his walking stick down hard, knocking the blade from the attacker's hand. Then, on the backswing, Alistair caught the yakuza on the side of the head, sending him spinning downward to the track.

"Daniel, the hunt for the 39 Clues has been going on for centuries," Natalie said, struggling to hide the glint of amusement in her eye. "Naturally, every branch would learn at least something,though the Lucians have achieved the most."

Dan rolled his eyes. "Really? Are you sure?" he said, his voice dropping with sarcasm. "And besides, Alistair is old. I didn't think that he would still be able to do that!"

Alistair sighed. "I beg to differ." He was old – that's true - but that doesn't mean that he was that incapable.

Isabel glared at the three, irritation evident in her voice. "Alistair is an old man; the Lucians are the best among the rest; and Daniel is stupid. Now that that's all settled, you can now shut your mouths."

Dan glared at Isabel. Alistair was also slightly offended, but he knew better than to test the patience of Isabel Kabra. He only hoped that his nephew did, too.

"Get out, Dan!" Alistair commanded, shouting upward.

"How did you learn to do that?"Dan asked.

"I'm full of surprises – now move!"Alistair said.

Amy had managed to push aside the grating at the top of the ladder. Dan scrambled to the street, pulling up the objects behind him. A moment later, with a loud grunt, Alistair heaved himself up onto the sidewalk. A mother pushing a baby in a stroller swerved around them. Dan quickly began shoving the grating back, getting it over three quarters of the hole before Alistair yanked him away.

"No time for that!" he said, pulling Dan with him as he stepped into the street.

"Wait!" Dan protested. "What about Amy?"

Amy was trying to catch up, limping over the curb in their direction.

Shiiiink…SHIIIINK!

Soot stained fingers, reaching up from underground, were sliding the grate open.

"Shoulda closed the grate, man," Jonah told Dan and Alistair knowingly, shaking his head all the while.

Dan redirected his glare to the Janus heir, but Hamilton got there first, never missing a chance to shoot down the rap star. You would have thought that the enmity was between the Janus and Tomas, not the Tomas and Ekaterina.

"They were being chased by yakuza,smart one," Hamilton sneered. "You try closing the grate. No, wait. I bet you wouldn't even do it in the first place, 'cause you're probably tooscared to get your hands dirty."

Jonah opened his mouth to retaliate, obviously struggling to find a witty comeback. Everyone else was watching with amusement.

"And you – you're a stupid Tomas who doesn't know anything. You can't sing or dance, while I'm the king!" Jonah accidently made his words rhyme, making the sentences sound like a poorly formed rap.

Hamilton began to laugh at a reddening Jonah, and there were scattered snickers among the rest.

Jonah looked humiliated. Amy watched him silently, thinking that perhaps Hamilton had been too hard on him this time. Sure, Jonah was a jerk, but he looked so embarrassed thateven Amy felt sorry for him. Silently meeting the eyes of Nellie, the au pair nodded in understanding.

"Now that you've all finished laughing," Nellie began, glaring at each and every one of them with her special au pair glare – the one that is guaranteed to make anyone shut up. "perhaps we should continue reading." Her words were simply a suggestion, but her tone made it clear that it was a command.

"Pardon me, please," Alistair said, rushing over to the hole. Like a golf pro, he drew back his walking stick and swung it down toward the fingers. Hard.

"AAAAAAAGHHH!" came a tortured shout.

Dan heard the thumping of multiple bodies hitting the ground below the ladder.

Alistair knelt, his back to Amy. "Climb on."

She leaped onto him and he locked his arms under her knees, grimacing as he limped across the street behind Dan. Their shadows were elongated in the setting sun, making them look like some misshapen beast.

HONNNNK!

A car swerved out of the way, its driver shouting at them.

"The objects –" Alistair called out through gritted teeth. "Drop them in the alleyway. We will come back for them!"

Dan spotted a dark, narrow space between buildings and threw Alistair's tightly packed jacket into it. They raced around the corner, up a hill between low brick buildings where the smell of soy sauce and fried shrimp belched out of ground floor windows in steamy wisps. Alistair darted right at the top of the hill, into the open gate at the back of a vast, empty playground.

"Where are we going?" Dan cried out.

"I have friends!" Alistair said. "All we need to do is get a taxi –"

As if by magic, a cab sped toward them up the street. Alistair let go of Amy with one hand and waved frantically, shouting in Japanese.

But as the taxi swerved at him, it picked up speed, its engine roaring.

"Who wants to bet that it's not a real taxi?" Hamilton murmured under his breath. Only Ian, who was sitting rather close to him, heard what he said.

In Ian's opinion, taxis were one of the best ways to steal Clues. All you had to do was slip the driver a few thousand dollars, and they would plant a GPS, lie, trick, steal, and basically do anything you tell them to do. Thousands of taxi drivers were on the Lucian payroll, evidence that the Cahills had discovered the hard way more than once. Then, Ian's smile disappeared as he thought of Amy. He didn't like tricking her - or even her idiot ninja-obsessed brother for that matter. But why not?

'I do not like Amy,' Ian told himself firmly. And in truth, he believed it. Or did he? As Ian mused to himself, his mother continued reading.

"Look out!"Dan screamed.

Alistair jumped away. Amy went flying off onto the blacktop as the cab hopped the curb, missing them by an inch. It squealed to a stop and spun around.

At once, all four doors opened.

"Yakuza!" Alistair shouted.

Now even Amy was moving fast. As Dan ran after her, he heard a high whistling sound."DUCK, AMY!"

A jagged edged silver metal disk sliced the air. It whizzed over Dan's head as he leaped for his sister, grabbing her by the waist.

She screamed as they tumbled to the ground again.

"What was that?" Amy gasped.

"A shuriken," Hamilton interrupted. "Ninja throwing star."

"Ashuriken,"Dan shouted. "A ninja throwing star!"

Dan grinned. "Cheater!"

Hamilton shook his head. "I said it before Mrs. Kabra read it, so you cheated!" he stated.

Amy shook her head, amazed at how quickly the tense atmosphere had dissipated. Boys…

"This way!" Alistair cried out. Dan felt the old man's hand clasp his wrist, yanking him upward. In a split second they were racing into a large steel tunnel, part of the playground.

Thunk! Thunk! Thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk-thunk!

Dan flinched as each throwing star hit the outside of the tunnel, inches from their heads.

They emerged from the other end into a complex of thick wooden climbing equipment. Alistair was running, crouched, his head low and his walking stick tucked under his arm. Splinters flew around their heads like hailstones.

Barking, angry Japanese instructions rang out behind them. Car doors slammed. Tires screeched. Dan, Amy, and Alistair ran blindly out of the playground, across a lawn, into a backyard, over a small fence."Yeowww!" Amy shouted, her foot jamming in the fence's links.

Nellie frowned. "You seem to be getting hurt a lot, kiddo," she told Amy, concerned.

Amy sighed. "That day wasn't a good one for me."

Isabel snorted. Then, she realized – a little too late - that snorting was not lady-like in any way. She scolded herself mentally. As Isabel Kabra, she had built a reputation that she kills people like a lady, with grace and poise. So, therefore, she was a lady and she had to act like one at all times.

"Oh, that day was a very good day, Amy," Isabel said, smiling. "You were hurt, my dear, and whenever that happens, it's a good day."

"Sadistic bitch,"Nellie hissed in a mock whisper.

Isabel whipped her head around to glare at the au pair. "What did you just say, you ugly –"

She was stopped abruptly as most of the people in the room leaped forward and silenced her.

Hamilton had one huge, meaty hand clamped over Isabel's mouth. Then, he wondered whether her tongue or teeth were dipped in poison or something. 'It's too late now,' he thought.

"I suggest that you remove your hands from my wife," Vikram's deadly quiet voice cut through the air like a dagger.

Slowly - and reluctantly - Isabel was free again. She immediately wiped her lips in disgust, murmuring something nasty about the hygiene of the Tomas branch. Her icy glare cut into the ones who leaped at her, promising a slow, torturous death for each of them.

"Maybe our Mrs. Kabra shouldn't read anymore," Nellie said sweetly. "I'm sure Hamilton would like to read."

Normally, Nellie wouldn't have done what she did. But if there was one thing she was protective about, it was her au pairees, Dan and Amy. No one would do anything bad to Dan or Amy if she could help it. But in the Clue Hunt, she knew she couldn't help it. But Isabel's remarks – that she could stop. So she made an exception for herself.

Hamilton snatched the book from Isabel, leaving no room for argument. Isabel's face reddened, and her furious face made the room drop thirty degrees. Dan shivered, suddenly feeling cold.

Hamilton began reading, his voice flat.

"Keep up!" Alistair retorted.

The throwing stars had stopped, Dan realized. Theyakuzawouldn't use them in a residential neighborhood – would they?

They emerged at the other end of a block, this one with a line of stores on either side. To their right, Dan could hear a speeding engine. "Go left!"

The street sloped downward to a big, open market area. Inside, vendors were packing up, cleaning out stalls. Dan realized that he, Amy, and Alistair could get safely lost in there. Theyakuzawould be asking for chaos if they followed.

VRRROOOOOM!

Dan stopped in his tracks. A red Porsche was turning into the road in front of them. Blocking their way to the market. Rounding the corner, the Porsche flashed its brights. Dan cowered, momentarily blinded.

Grabbing his sister, he sprang away from the street. "Jump –jump!"

They leaped onto the sidewalk, rolling past a metal mailbox as odd noises rang out.

Thwip! Thwip-thwip!

Isabel was furious. And she was getting tired of the book, especially since it only revolved around Amy and Dan. Natalie and Ian were nowhere to be found.

Now, as she listened, the sound effects the Tomas boy was making sounded like a stun gun. She glared at Ian. 'That stun gun had better be you, Ian, or there will be consequences.'

Isabel hated incompetency.

Shots flew by them, up the hill from the Porsche to where theyakuzataxi was now bearing down on them

Smash!

One of the taxi's headlights popped.

Thwip-thwip!

A projectile cracked the taxi's windshield. The taxi began to skid to the left, whirling. Its tires hopped the curb – and the car's broad left side hurtled toward Dan, Amy, and Alistair.

Amy screamed. Or maybe it was Dan himself. He couldn't tell. He was only aware of flying through the air. His head banged against the side of the building as a flash of yellow steel rolled by him, massive and dented.

With a sickening crunch, the taxi crashed through the plate glass window of a closed flower shop.

It came to rest on a bed of broken bouquets and shattered glass, its wheels in the air. Two men groggily worked their way out of the wreck, stumbling for a few seconds while they gained their bearing. Dan, Amy, and Alistair huddled together in the shadows, but the men ran up the hill, looking in dazed fear over their shoulder.

"What just happened?" Amy said.

"We were in a ninja fight," Dan said in amazement. "For the first time in my nonvirtual life. And I hated it."

"Really, Daniel," Ian drawled, trying to get back to his mother's good graces. "I would have thought that a ninja –" Ian made the word sound like a disease, "would have loved it."

Dan gave no reaction. Ian was nothing compared to his mother - unless he touched Amy. But then again, anyone with bad intentions who touched Amy automatically got on his hate list.

A din of voices swelled from below as people from the market began walking up the hill to join the other gawkers, who descended from all sides.

Dan slowly stood. The Porsche was partially blocked from view by the mailbox, but Dan could see its gleaming mag wheels and tinted windows. "If they hadn't saved our butts…"

"Be careful," Alistair warned.

Suddenly, Dan heard the doors fly open. He froze.

"Mrrp?"

The tiny cry rang out. Dan's heart thumped as a silky animal grazed his ankle, and he glanced down at an Egyptian Mau that looked identical to Saladin but for the slightly mangy coat.

"Oh…" Amy said with a wistful smile.

"Really, Daniel, getting sentimental over a cat." Ian didn't mention Amy. This fact was not lost on his mother.

"That looks just like you-know-who," Dan said.

Hamilton forced himself to chortle and lighten the atmosphere somewhat. "Are you trying to say that Saladin is Voldemort?"

Saladin gave an indignant mrrp.

Amy chuckled quietly. Dan shook his head and burst out laughing.

Meanwhile, Natalie was staring at Hamilton. "You read books?" she said incredulously. She didn't mean for it to sound so derogatory, though it did. She was trying to be nice, despite the fact that it was clearly for FLOs. But Daniel was relatively nice and kind … and as far as she was concerned, he wasn't a FLO.

Hamilton rolled his eyes. "Of course I read. I'm not stupid." He was really getting irritated because everyone thought allTomases were dumb. "And besides, I'm reading right now."

The Mau was slinking over to Amy, who held out her arms to it.

"The breed is very popular around here," Alistair replied absently, his eyes still riveted on the Porsche. "Is anyone…alive in there?"

In reply, a figure staggered around from behind the mailbox. Dan's breath caught in his throat.

"Next time, dudes, hold on to your tickets," said Nellie Gomez.

Hamilton finished the chapter, giving a thumbs-up to Nellie. "Nice entrance, dude."

"I will read next." Vikram's sharp voice held no room for arguments. Hamilton threw the book at Vikram, and looked disappointed when Vikram caught the book easily.