Ace, was sitting calmly at his desk, in his office, as he was looking through some recent reports. There wasn't much going on today, so he decided to help some of his brothers with their paper work, so that they could leave early. Not that he loved paper work, but he needed something to pass the time. He was looking through the papers and saw reports made out by Ultraman, Seven, Jack, 80 and even Zoffy. But, as he came to the end of the pile, he noticed that not one report was made out by Taro. He thought this was odd and went completely through the papers again, but still, nothing from Taro.

Ace, scratched the back of his head, as he wondered why Taro hadn't sent in a report. Taro, was always very prompt when it came to paper work, so this was pretty unusual. "Maybe he just forgot," Ace thought to himself, trying to think of an explanation. But, as he thought about it, he realized that he hadn't even really seen Taro for the last few days. He remembered seeing him pass by him in the hall a couple of times, but he never stopped to say anything. If Ace greeted him, he would just mumble something barely audible and keep walking, keeping his gaze on the floor. If he didn't know better, he would think that Taro had something to hide. Ace was beginning to wish that he had looked into it a lot sooner. Taro was his brother, after all, and if he had a problem, it would be up to Ace to help him. Or their parents, of course. Even though, they only adopted Ace, he still sees them as his true parents, and Taro as his true brother.

Ace's, thoughts were then interrupted by a light knock on the door. He quickly straightened up his desk, and placed all his papers in a neat pile, before getting up to see who it was. As he went to the door, he immediately hoped that it might be Taro, so that he could finally talk to him. He was surprised, though, to open the door and not find Taro, but Ultra Mother standing there.

"Mother…uh, what are who…I mean, come in!," Ace stuttered, as he quickly stepped aside and gestured for her to come in.

She stepped inside his office, and Ace knew right away that something was wrong. He closed the door and offered her a chair, which she refused. She looked at him, while rubbing her hands together nervously, showing how upset she really was. Ace, was just about to ask what was the matter, when she beat him to it.

"Ace, have you noticed anything strange about your brother lately?" He could clearly hear the concern in her voice.

"You mean, Taro?"

"Yes!" she practically snapped, startling Ace.

"Uh, well, I guess, I have noticed him keeping to himself lately. Why, what seems to be the problem?" Ace asked, becoming more worried about his brother.

"I don't really know..it's just…"

"Just what?"

"Well, he doesn't come around to visit me and father anymore…and every time I call him, he says that everything is fine and that he's just very busy. But, I can always tell when he's lying. I just know that something is wrong, and it all started when you and him returned from your last mission."

"You mean, where we picked that strange girl?"

"Yes. Ace, I'm so worried about him, so would you please just go and talk to him? I would, but he seems to be avoiding me. Maybe he'll listen to you."

Seeing how truly concerned she was, Ace knew that he could hardly refuse. Not that he wanted to anyway, since he too, was curious as to why Taro was acting so strange. So he assured Ultra Mother that he would see Taro and get to the bottom of this. He told her that everything would be fine, though, he wasn't totally sure whether it would be or not.

Taro, was in the middle of his plan, as to how he would get Xena out of jail. He had waited until it was night so that there wouldn't be anyone around, that is except for the guard on duty. He decided that he would just tell the guard that he was transporting the prisoner to another location, inside space headquarters, so that she again could be brought in for questioning. Taro, of course, knew that he could never get away with it, unless he had actual written orders, by ultra father himself, or commander Zoffy. So Taro decided to risk printing fake orders, and was even so desperate as to forge his father's name on them. The name, however, had to be handwritten, so Taro did his best to imitate his handwriting, and just hoped the guard wouldn't notice.

Taro, walked into the prison, trying to act as cool as possible. He didn't recognize the night guard, which was good, since it meant that he had never seen Taro visiting the prisoner before. The guard saluted him, already knowing Taro's authority.

"I have specific orders from Father of Ultra, to relocate the female prisoner in solitary."

Taro, could see the curious look on the guards face, since he was probably wondering why Ultra father would want the prisoner moved in the middle of the night, of all times.

"May I see the orders Master Taro? Only for a precaution."

"Of course," Taro tried his best not to hesitate as he handed over the fake orders.

The guard looked them over and didn't seem to be becoming suspicious. He folded them up and handed them back to Taro, while giving a nod, indicating that they were indeed satisfactory. He unlocked the heavy prison door and walked in by himself, undoubtedly getting Xena ready for safe transport. Taro's safety that is, not hers. After a minute the guard came back out, this time having Xena with him. He had sealed a pair of special forcibly restraining hand cuffs on her. Only to make sure that she wouldn't try anything funny. Without another word, he handed her over to Taro.

Taro, tried his best not to make any personal eye contact with her, until they were completely out of the guards sight, and out of the prison. They walked down the dark sidewalk together, without saying a word. Taro, kept a firm grip on her upper arm, trying not to give a suspicious impression in case anyone saw them. He didn't want to tell her where they were going, until he was sure that they would make it without being spotted. They walked silently together for about five minutes, until Taro led her into a public building. He quickly unlocked one of the room doors and rushed her inside, before anyone saw them.

Xena, looked around the room in confusion, as she realized where he had brought her. His quarters! She spun around to face him with a look of half rage and half embarrassment.

"Why did you bring me here?!"

"It was the only place I could think of. Besides, you have to admit it's better than that prison cell."

She, simply huffed and turned away while crossing her arms, before saying, "But, you know that by tomorrow they'll figure out what you did, and this will definitely be the first place they'll look!"

"Yeah, well, we're not going to be here that long, " Taro said, while getting something in his door.

"What do you mean?" Xena asked, placing her hands on her hips and turning back to him.

"I mean, we're leaving tonight."

"Tonight?!," Xena shouted, then noticed him writing something on a notepad. "What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to write a note of explanation, in case anyone should come looking for us here, after we've left."

Xena, took this opportunity to fully examine his room. She was surprised as to how simple it was. An ordinary bed, a night stand with a lamp, a single dresser, and a couple other doors, one which was probably a closet.

Taro, finished his note and left it on the dresser where someone would be sure to see it.

"Now, I just have to contact my brother Ace and convince him to help us get back to Twiloh."

"Are you sure he will?"

"I'm not sure, but he's our only chance, " Taro then gave a light moan and rubbed his face, which had started sweating. For a second, Xena was worried that he was going to pass out. But, instead he just sat on his bed and slumped his shoulders, while leaning forward.

"Taro, your getting weaker by the second, " she said while clutching his shoulder, so that he would look at her. "You have to get in touch with your brother before it's too late."

Just then, they heard someone at the door. Taro, immediately stood up, fearing that the security guard had discovered the truth and was here for an investigation. He pulled out of Xena's grip and quickly told her to hide.

"Hurry, get in the closet!" he said in a yelling sort of whisper. Without giving her even a chance to react, he grabbed her by the arm and pulled her over to the closet. He briskly opened the door, led her inside, and shut it in a fast but quiet manner.

Taro, hurried over to the other door and opened it. He was surprised, but also very relieved, to find that it was only his brother Ace!

"Ace? What are you-? Taro was cut off by Ace.

"Taro, we need to talk."