Hey everyone! I decided to update quickly this time, but I can space out the chapters a little more if you want me to.

May 3rd, 2005

Tokyo, Japan

Nine year-old Zai Kabalui was lost. Not physically lost, but lost in thought. He was walking down a small street with his older brother, Zade. For once, Zana wasn't with them. Zai had noticed that he and Zana had started doing less and less things together in the past year.

Zai sighed. Things around him were changing. Ever since they'd gone back to Kauai from the Himalayas, things hadn't been the same at home. His mother was around much less than she used to be, attending business, and he and Zana had been slowly growing apart. That's why, when Zai had wanted to go and explore Tokyo, Zade was the only one willing to go with him. Usually, they twins did everything together.

Zai tried to push those thoughts out of his mind. I'm sure things will be back to normal soon, he told himself. This is just a tough time. He was just wondering why their mother had dragged them to Tokyo when Zade interrupted him.

"Hey, Zai? Are you hungry?" he asked. "'Cause I am."

That was kind of an odd question, seeing that it was only ten in the morning. But Zai guessed that something was up.

"I guess so." he answered.

"Good." without waiting for a reply, Zade dragged Zai into a cafe down the block.

A few minutes later, Zade and Zai were seated at a small table in a cafe, waiting for their order to be taken.

"Hey Zai?" Zade interrupted the scilence.

"Yeah?" he replied.

"Remember back in Peru a few years ago, we helped Mom in that fight?"

"Of course." Zai laughed. "How could I forget? It was my first fight. Our first fight." He sighed.

"Yeah." sighed Zade. "The thing is, I think the same sort of thing is happening now."

"You mean Mom's in trouble?" asked Zai worriedly. Zade nodded.

"I put a GPS tracker on her phone, and she's been in the same place for ages." he said. "I think maybe we should check it out."

Zai wasn't sure how serious that was.

"Don't you think that she might be at a meeting?" he asked.

Zade nodded. "I thought that at first, but I also hacked into her e-mail account, and I saw a message about a 'meeting place'."

"You hacked into Mom's e-mail account?" Zai asked incredulously. He sounded amazed. "You've got to teach me how to do that."

Zade blushed slightly. "Sure, I can teach you, Zai. But, that message was signed-"

He leaned closer to Zai and whispered the name. Zai jerked back.

"NO WAY." he whispered hoarsely. "Are you serious?"

"Yep." Zade said grimly. "Mom's definitely going to run into some trouble."

"Well then we've got to get out of here!" Zai exclaimed, jumping up. "Mother is probably in serious trouble!"

Now it was Zai who was running, dragging Zade down the street, who was looking intently at his phone.

"If we want to get to Mom, we'll need to take a taxi." he said, looking at the location of their mother's phone.

They ran down the block and stopped at the intersection.

"Should we go back and get Zana?" asked Zade slowly. He, too, had noticed that his younger siblings weren't doing as many things together as they used to.

Zai shook his head. "With a situation like this, we need to get there as soon as possible. We don't have time to go back to the hotel." Zade could tell that Zai had a hint of disappointment in his voice. He probably wished they could go back for Zana.

The taxi pulled up in front of the dingy warehouse that Zade had instructed the driver to take them to. The driver shivered and didn't say a word. He clearly wasn't comfortable being here.

Zai and Zade walked up to the warehouse. It had a huge metal door with a rusty handle. Zade cautiously pushed it. The door swung open, leading into a dingy hallway.

"This isn't a normal warehouse." Zade whispered. Zai nodded. They walked down the hallway, which had puddles on the cement floor. At the end of the hallway was another door. Zai gasped quietly. The door was painted with the insignias of the 4 branches: The Tomas bear, the Lucian snake, the Janus wolf, and the Ekaterina dragon. The Tomas bear the the biggest of the four, though. Suddenly, Zai got a stabbing feeling in his stomach. He doubled over.

"Whats wrong?" Zade exclaimed, worried.

"I-I think Zana's in danger." Zai muttered. He didn't knew how he knew, he suddenly felt a stabbing sense that his twin sister was in distress. Must be a twin thing, he thought.

Zade looked at his younger brother strangely, then shrugged. He trusted Zai's judgment. After all, they were twins.

Zade slowly pushed open the door. Behind it was a carpeted, well-lit hallway, not anything like the one that they were currently in. They cautiously stepped in and started walking. They had gone about ten feet when they heard a shout coming from further down the hall.

"That sounded like Mom!" exclaimed Zade. He and Zai broke into a run down the twisting hallway. At the end was another door. This one had a fingerprint scanner for security.

"Shall I?" asked Zade. Zai shrugged and nodded. What did they have to lose?

Zade pressed his had against the pad. A green bar rolled down the pad, scanning his fingerprints. After a few seconds, the whole pad turned blue.

Access Granted. Welcome, Zade Rabak!

The door slid open.

Zade Rabak? thought Zai as they walked in. I didn't know that was his name. Come to think of it, I never knew Zade's father. I wonder...

Inside the door was a large room with about five doors along the walls, each with a label on it. They heard another muffled shout from the 'meetings' room. Without hesitating, Zade and Zai rushed over and threw open the door, and gaped at what they saw.

In the room were ten people. And two of them were Zana and Yasmine were bound and gagged, tied to two chairs. Their eyes widened with relief and surprise when they saw them.

A woman standing in font of Zana and Yasmine whirled around. Zai flinched back. She looks familiar, he thought. She glared at them for a second, then she relaxed with recognition.

"Zade. It's certainly been a long time, hasn't it darling?" he said in a sickly-sweet voice. Zai gasped. He knew who she resembled! Zade! With a start, Zai realized that she had the same amber-colored eyes that made Zade so unique.

"I-Isabel Kabra? What are you doing here?" he asked with something in his voice that Zai couldn't place.

"Why, I was just having a talk with your mother. She's not being very cooperative, as you might've guessed. And your sister..." Isabel sighed. "She's quite rude and un-ladylike. Such bad qualities in a young woman. Well, like mother, like daughter, I suppose."

"Shut your mouth." Zade growled.

"Yeah, Isabel, stop! This has gone far enough." a man spoke up from the corner of the room. He was huge, with a military-style buzz-cut and a red face.

"Quiet, Eisenhower." Isabel snapped to the big man. She turned around, to all the rest of the people in the room. "None of you intervene." she warned, drawing a pistol.

Zai looked around for the first time and studied the other people assembled in the room. There was Eisenhower, the man who had just spoken out, and a woman with dreadlocks standing next to him. Zai recognized her as the world-famous artist Cora Wizard. Zai even had some of her paintings in his room back in Kauai. A boy that Zai assumed was her son was standing next to her. He was wearing a couple tons of jewelry, including gold and platinum necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Zai couldn't understand why anyone would want to dress like that. He preferred to wear loose clothing that allowed easy movement.

On the other side of the room was an older man wearing a bright yellow suit with a baby blue shirt carrying a diamond-tipped cane. Zai thought he looked Korean. He was sweating slightly. Next to him was a blond woman, wearing a Russian KGB uniform and a face that looked like it might have been carved out of marble. Further down were two more kids, a boy and a girl, around Zai's age.

They must be Isabel's kids, they look just like her. thought Zai. They both looked slightly scared. The girl looked at Zai and smiled slightly. Her brother nudged her in the ribs, and she quickly looked away. Finally, there was another kid who looked about thirteen standing directly next to Isabel. He had really, short dark hair and the Lucian insignia on his shoulder.

Zade looked at Isabel's children for a few seconds. Zai saw recognition flash through his eyes.

"Ian! Natalie! Come here!" Isabel barked. Her two children, Ian and Natalie, inched forward, looking terrified. What will Isabel make her children do? thought Zai. He felt a twinge of sympathy for Ian and Natalie, their mother was clearly abusing them.

"Do you have the new dart gun that Daddy got you for your quarter-birthday?" Isabel asked her daughter. Natalie looked on the verge of tears. Her brother was trying to put on a brave front.

"Natalie, stop acting like a sniveling, jelly-boned coward and get your dart gun!" He scolded. But his eyes said something different. His eyes were saying, Do what she tells you, you know what happens when you disobey!

"Natalie! Get your dart gun! Now!" She barked again. Natalie was looking really scared now. Zai realized he had to do something.

Isabel might be an adult with a gun, but Zai had the element of surprise on his side. He leaped forward, and kicked with all his might at Isabel's hand.

"BLAM!" a shot went off. Then, the room broke out into chaos. Eisenhower started shaking the older Korean man by the shoulders, screaming something about burritos and slimy Ekats and someone called 'Bae'. The blond woman was shouting at Cora in Russian, who was shouting back in Russian. Ian and Natalie were standing in a corner, trying to become invisible.

"Zai!" Zade whispered. "You get Mom and Zana free, I'll handle Isabel." He handed Zai his Swiss Army Knife. Zai took it and nodded. He dashed around Isabel to where his mother and sister were tied up. He reached into his pocked and pulled out the knife that Zade had given him. Just before he could cut them free, the kid with the dark hair and the Lucian insignia on his shoulder leaped between them. Zai noticed that he was wearing sunglasses.

"You think I would just sit here and let take the prisoners?" he snarled.

"Duh! Of course not!" Zai retorted. Why are these things never easy? Without saying another word, he jabbed forward with his fist. The kid leaped back, and for the first time Zai noticed that he was wearing sharp blades on his knuckles.

Gotta stay away from those, he noted. The kid jumped forward again, and slashed forward.

"Whoa!" Zai dropped to the floor under the range of his blades and kicked his opponent's legs out from underneath him.

"Uff!" he fell to the ground. Zai jumped up and was about to bring his foot down on his head when the kid raised his arm.

"AAAUGH!" Zai yelled out in pain as his leg connected with the blades on his opponent's knuckles. His sisters eyes widened in fear. Now Zai was really mad. There was no way he was going to lose to this punk. He lunged forward, but collapsed on his bleeding leg. He struggled to get up, but by then, it was too late. His opponent had managed to pick up Isabel's gun off the floor, and was now aiming it right at Zai's forehead. His hands shook, as if he couldn't bring himself to shoot. Or maybe he was just torturing Zai. Zai tried to get up again, but his leg hurt too much. Well, he thought, I guess that-

"Hrrk!" Zai was interrupted from his thoughts. He looked up. Elias was standing frozen, his eyes wide. A dart was embedded in his neck.

"T-traitor.." he muttered, then slumped to the floor. Natalie was standing behind him, holding her dart gun.

"Natalie!" Zai exclaimed in surprise and relief. He had not even met her yet, and she was already betraying her fellow Lucians saving his life? In any case, Zai decided that he should be grateful.

"Thanks, Natalie." he told her sincerely. She blushed slightly at the praise and pressed something into his hand, then turned around and hurrying away. Before Zai could figure out her strange behavior, he heard another muffled shout. Zai stuffed the thing Natalie had handed him into his pocket and limped over to where his sister and mother were tied up. He pulled out his brother's Swiss Army Knife and cut through the ropes holding his sister and mother, and they pulled off their gags. Zana jumped up.

"What happened to you?" Zai asked them.

"Zana and I were shopping when Isabel and about ten bodyguards kidnapped us." Yasmine explained, flexing her wrist.

"Where is Isabel? I want a crack at her!" demanded Zana.

Zai pointed over to where Zade and Isabel were battling it out. Zai hadn't expected Isabel to be such a proficient fighter.

"I'd help you two, but I my leg can't support my weight." he told Zana. She nodded and rushed over to help Zade. Most of the other people in the room had left, except for Ian and Natalie, as well as the young Lucian that Zai had been fighting. With dismay, Zai realized that he had gotter up, and was now fighting at Isabel's side.

He's tough, thought Zai. Dangerous, too. Just then, Zai's mother, Yasmine, charged into the fight. Now it was three against two. Surely the odds were in their favor now. Zai felt wretched, watching from the sidelines while his family battled it out. Then, he saw Isabel shove Zade backward. Zana rushed in to take his place, only to have the kid with the sunglasses kick her in the stomach. Hard. Zana fell to the floor gasping.

Now Zai was extremely mad. He and Zana might have their differences, but she was still his twin sister. And now she was on the floor, gasping in pain. Trying to ignore the pain in his leg, he rushed over and kicked the kid with sunglasses in the neck. He hadn't seen Zai coming, so he was taken by surprise. He stumbled, trying to regain his balance. Zade used this opportunity to deliver a swift punch to the temple, knocking him to the floor. Now it was Zade, Yasmine, and Zana (sort of) against Isabel. She picked up the kid with the sunglasses by the arms and shook him. He slowly opened his eyes. Without another word, Isabel ran off. Her children quickly followed, Natalie throwing Zai one more glance over her shoulder. The young Lucian hesitated for a minute, trying to decide weather to attack again, when they heard Isabel calling, "Elias! Get out, now!" The young Lucian, Elias snarled and ran off after his branch leader.

I wouldn't want to run into him again, thought Zai. He's really a really tough and dangerous opponent.

About an hour later, Zade supported Zai as he, Zai, and Zana walked down the street. Yasmine had gone home already to get tickets to get out of Tokyo, but Zai had wanted to spend just another hour in the city. Zana had come with them this time. Zade looked at his younger brother and sister.

"Hey." he said. "Are you guys hungry?"

Another chapter: Successful! At least I thought so. But I want to know your thoughts, so read and comment!