Amy's life, ever since Grace's death, had never been normal. In fact, it was as far from normal as it could get.

When Grace died, she found herself caught in some kind of race—a race to find the 39 Clues, said to change the course of civilization as she knew it. She began to learn that she was related to the great people in the history of the world—Napoleon Bonaparte, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Neil Armstrong and more—learning about the history of her family in the process. She'd traveled all across the world with her other relatives at her back, often fearing for the lives of her and her brother's. Most of all, she experienced many things she never thought she'd experience—how it felt to be betrayed, how it felt to solve a problem, how it felt to trust no one. Yes, life had indeed turned complicated after Grace died.

But the weirdest of all was what was happening at the moment—with William McIntyre contacting them recently, saying something about an "urgent meeting" that needed to be "attended to at once."

She couldn't understand that. She couldn't understand that as much as she couldn't understand why they had to travel back to Korea to Uncle Alistair's house.

"It's a trap, I tell you!" Dan chided, using dramatic gestures for articulation. "They just want us to go back to Korea so that they could finish us once and for all!"

"Shut up, Dan!" Amy scolded, looking back at the caller ID in Nellie's cell phone. "I'm pretty sure that it was Mr. McIntyre. We all heard his voice, and he really sounded nervous when he called us."

"Exactly!" Dan cried. "It's all part of the plan!"

Amy gave him another condescending look, the ones Dan always felt instigated his "little brother" role. He always disliked those looks since it always made him feel small and since it always made Amy look bossy.

When they finally arrived at Alistair Oh's mansion, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. It was just as they had left it—cheery, pristine, and with an aura that could make you smile. Entering the gates, there had been no dart guns. No big dogs out to kill them. No nothing. It was as if all the events that had occurred beforehand had been one big joke.

Their security was then confirmed as they saw the familiar figure of Mr. McIntyre coming out of the doors. His face was quite flustered, as if something outrageously bad had occurred. Then again, it was Mr. McIntyre after all—the man who told them to trust no one, and who seemed to do a good job following that motto. He signaled the three to come inside hurriedly as if he was being watched by some other life form. Nellie stretched her arms in response.

"Well, what're we waiting for? Let's go!" she said enthusiastically, sprinting towards the mansion. Amy sighed. Nellie just loved the luxurious life.

As they entered the mansion (it had been all-too familiar for them), William McIntyre then led them to the Banquet hall, still looking nervous. "Good Grief! I was rather afraid that you wouldn't make it… was your trip alright? Did anybody ambush you?"

"Uh, no." Dan replied, looking at the man weirdly. He was acting stranger than usual.

Mr. McIntyre then sighed in relief, dabbing a sweat drop on his head with a white handkerchief. "That's good. That's very, very good… at least the three of you are safe. I'm afraid that times like these are quite… dangerous for the Cahill family." Looking around suspiciously, the man leaned forward secretively. "Are you sure you didn't encounter any—suspicious activity?"

"N-No, sir." Amy stammered, a bit unnerved by Mr. McIntyre's disposition. Regaining her composure, she turned to him to speak. "So, Mr. McIntyre, what is the emergency?"

Yet before Mr. McIntyre could respond, they had already reached the banquet hall. A voice from the hall suddenly piped up, sounding cheerful and relieved at the same time. To say the least, Dan and Amy's heart skipped a beat at the sound of that voice— the sound of that one person they had previously thought dead.

"Children!"

"Uncle Alistair!" Amy cried as the man in the cherry-red suit came up to them. The two then hugged for the longest time, until Dan came up to them.

"Hey, though you kinda ditched us, I guess we could forgive you a bit," Dan spoke right before he hugged the old man as well. Nellie blew her nose on Mr. McIntyre's white handkerchief, a gesture which he, to say the least, didn't appreciate one bit. "Aww! Isn't that touching?"

Mr. McIntyre cringed at his now-soiled handkerchief. "Yes, indeed it is."

"How did you escape?" inquired Dan, eyes gleaming in curiosity. Alistair chuckled at this, ruffling his hair. "Well, it's quite a convoluted story, but we must settle that for later. Right now, we have to listen." He then faced the banquet hall, and the two siblings gasped in shock at what they saw.

It seemed as if Alistair had not been the only other one who had been invited to the meeting—to their dismay, there sat Irina Spasky, Jonah Wizard and his father, the Holts and—most unfortunately—the Kabras. Amy's stomach churned at the sight of them, deciding to look away. Alistair seemed to have caught her sense of distress.

"It will be alright," he coaxed. "It is a family meeting, after all… and you and Dan could sit next to me. You won't have to see them." Amy then smiled at the man, and the four resumed to their seats. Nellie, just as she was about to sit, made a last-minute decision to go to the kitchen.

"I mean, seriously—the food is awesome here!" she later explained, proceeding to the pantry.

When all the competitors were seated, William McIntyre then went towards the front podium and cleared his throat, getting a device from his pocket that looked like a remote control. Pressing a button, a screen came down from the ceiling; not without Dan looking at it in awe. Amy gave him a scolding look, knowing exactly what crazy idea was brewing in his mind at the moment.

"You just love to ruin the fun, don't you?" he protested, folding his arms. It was then when William McIntyre began to speak.

"As you may know, I have arranged to have an urgent meeting this day in order to inform you of something... rather grave." he spoke, looking a bit nervous. "As of then, all of you were on your respective ways towards the next clue."

"Yeah, until you interfered," spat Eisenhower Holt, who was then shushed by his wife, Mary-Todd.

Mr. McIntyre cleared his throat. "Ah, yes. Well," a map flashed from the screen. "As I was saying, all of you were on your respective ways towards the next clue. You have been going around the world searching for all the clues, if I'm not mistaken." A flash of red dots appeared on the map, showing the areas the others have traveled. "Some of you were just about on your way before I had intercepted you."

"Indeed," spoke Ian Kabra, who was leaning on his seat slightly. "Natalie and I were on our way to Kyrgyzstan before that fateful call."

Amy noticed the stress he put on the word "Kyrgyzstan". Taking a quick glance at him, she noticed that he was staring at her; causing bile to rise up in her stomach. She looked away again in repulsion—not withstanding his gaze.

The man continued. "As you may know, only the Cahill family knows about this race of ours. But unfortunately," the man straightened up his collar, as if he was about to announce some dubious circumstance was at hand. Amy noticed that the others seemed to pale a bit. "Someone, or some persons, have been monitoring our every movements as we speak."

"What do you mean, good sir?" came the aghast voice of Uncle Alistair.

The man paled, as if he was about to reveal something that would shake the core of the earth. "What I mean is, Mr. Oh, somebody has been monitoring our movements—even to the point of chronicling them to the general public."

Reactions were heard about the room. Mr. McIntyre then stepped forward, grabbing something he had put on the table. Holding it up, it was revealed to be… a book.

"This, dear members of the Cahill family, has been released to the public internationally," He held up a blue book, tossing it to Amy. Barely catching it, she examined the cover with an analytical eye. An array of bones exploded in full graphics, with the title of the book written smack-dab in the middle in big, bold letters.

"The 39 Clues," she whispered, and everybody inched towards her. They all wanted to know what the big deal was. Turning the pages, Amy read a bit of the book out loud, looking at everyone in surprise. They all seemed to share the same sentiment.

"It's…" Dan spoke. "Exactly how it happened."

"May I see it?" came a smooth voice behind Amy, a hand landing on her shoulder. She stiffened at the sound of the voice, knowing who it belonged to. Without looking at him, she nonchalantly passed the book to Ian Kabra, who began to read another excerpt. Uncle Alistair led out a loud "Hah!"

"I remember that time in the airport! Right down to the fist hurtling towards my face!" spoke Alistair, casting a quick glance at the Holts. Eisenhower narrowed his eyes at him, cracking his knuckles.

"What were you saying, E-kat?"

"There's more," came the choked voice of William McIntyre. He was undeniably uncomfortable about the subject, noting the way he handed the green book to Dan, who read yet another excerpt. "Dang, they even got the monks part right!" he shuddered. "I will never look at monks the same way ever again." Mr. McIntyre then handed Amy the red book, with his face as pale as a corpse's. She scanned it instantly.

"Hey, this one's about what happened in…" reading yet another line, before her face fell and her voice became inaudible. "T-Tokyo."

Although she wasn't looking at him, she knew that he was looking at her.

"How in the world would they get this much accurate?" came the strangled voice of Irina Spasky. "I have never seen such inconspicuous spying in all my years of living!" Then, adding silently, "And I was a spy myself."

Mr. McIntyre pulled at his collar again, as if he was about to faint. "Which is precisely why I have called this meeting. I have had many theories about this matter, and the most plausible being—" the man paled. "That a Cahill is not the culprit. I believe that this is the work of the…"

Everyone paled.

"Madrigals."

The room suddenly turned silent.

"But don't despair!" he spoke quickly. "My subordinates and I have thought of a foolproof plan as to keep them off track. If we are to keep our hunt secret, we must first try to throw the enemy off-track. That is why I am proposing a new type of race."

"Another type of race, Mr. McIntyre?" came the silky voice of Natalie Kabra. Mr. McIntyre nodded.

"Yes. I assume that all of you have heard of 'The Amazing Race'?"

All Cahills present looked at each other quizzically.

"Uh… yeah," came Amy's timid voice. She couldn't really understand what was happening, yet something about the mention of The Amazing Race seemed to make sense. "So… is the race you're proposing—something like that?"

"Correct," the man spoke, adjusting his glasses. "Yet instead of many teams of two, we will be having two main teams. The drastic change of this all will, in theory, be able to throw off any Madrigal who will cross your way. Instead of finding the real clues, you will be finding some clues I have formulated all over the world. The rules are simple: the first team who crosses the finish line wins the race."

"Sounds like awesome TV, home dawg!" came the overly enthusiastic voice of Jonah Wizard.

"And for the last time, Mr. Wizard… you are not allowed to film the race."

"Aww, man!"

"So any questions or clarifications?" inquired Mr. McIntyre. The room fell silent once more. "Then it is settled. Let's begin."

"Before we begin the casting, I will first make some announcements. In order to find the clue to proceed to the next location, all of you will encounter some challenges that correspond to a specific branch: Ekaterina, Tomas, Janus, and Lucian. Each team must work together in order to proceed to the next stage." spoke Mr. McIntyre as he straightened his tie. Nellie and Mr. Wizard stood on both sides of him, glancing around the banquet hall boredly. "I, Miss Gomez and Mr. Wizard will be monitoring your progress. You must do whatever it takes to get to the next clue, otherwise you may get lost on the way."

"And yada yada yada! Let's go bust some heads!" yelled Eisenhower, with his wife nudging him strongly in the ribs. Mr. McIntyre nodded, with Nellie handing him a cardboard box full of paper strips.

"Thank you," he said, with Nellie responding with a peace sign. "Now, the following will be included in the Blue team:

Eisenhower Holt

Mary-Todd Holt

Alistair Oh

… and Irina Spasky." finished Mr. McIntyre, crumpling the last shred of paper. Alistair and Eisenhower shot each other dirty looks, obviously not happy at the knowledge that they'd be working together. William McIntyre ignored this as he pulled out some more paper.

"Now, as for the members of the Red team:

Amy Cahill

Daniel Cahill

Hamilton Holt

Madison Holt

Reagan Holt

Ian Kabra

Natalie Kabra

… and Jonah Wizard." He then crumpled the paper again, dusting his hands. "Any objections?"

Irina Spasky raised her hand to object. "I believe that we are at an unfair disadvantage. The Red team," she pointed at the kids. "Have much too much members! They are practically four more than us!" She exclaimed, cursing in rapid-fire Russian. Poor Mr. McIntyre looked like he was going to have a heart attack on the spot.

"No worries; we have already arranged for that beforehand." With a gesture of his hand, he waved to the entering visitors from the east side of the hall.

There were three of them all in all, wearing trench coats and hats that obscured their faces. A little bit of their chins shown, and judging by their bodies, they were two women and a man; all seemed to be in their forties. An air of sophistication surrounded them, as if they were aristocrats from ancient Rome.

"Blue team, meet your new members." Announced Mr. McIntyre, and the three simultaneously dropped their hats and coats. The Kabras gasped.

"Mum?! Dad?! " Natalie and Ian said in unison, not able to believe it.

But there they were. Vikram Kabra and his dazzling wife stood next to each other, with their cinnamon skin and jet-black hair. Vikram had a strong profile, one that was sure to elude anyone—as if his expression was in a complete poker face. Some gray hairs littered his otherwise flawless hair, and his amber eyes shone bright. His wife was a petite woman, looking mysterious in her red dress. Natalie seemed to have inherited much of her looks—for the woman was quite a beauty, with eyes filled to the brim with secrets better left untold.

"Now children," Vikram said flawlessly, making a smug smile that resembled Ian's. "We're just here to play a little game Mr. McIntyre invited us to join. And Ian, have you been taking care of your little sister?"

"And Irina, there you are!" came the voice of Mrs. Kabra. "What a pleasure to see you again!"

Irina mumbled something inaudible in Russian.

"Hey, Momma! You're here!" came the excited voice of Jonah Wizard. "You're actually here!"

Indeed, the third person was none other than Cora Wizard, head of the Janus. Tall and confident, she looked like someone of her ranks could match superstars like Beyonce Knowles, Halle Berry, Whoopi Goldberg and Queen Latifah… all at the same time. She beamed a dazzling smile at her son. "Hey, Baby! How're ya doin'?"

Mr. McIntyre cleared his throat. "Ahem. I hate to spoil this family reunion, but we really must get going."

"Not so fast," Ian spoke briefly. "You really don't expect us to compete against our own parents, do you? And they're Branch Leaders, for crying out loud!" Mr. and Mrs. Kabra just smiled smugly at their son, as if they had anticipated something like that to happen. Mr. McIntyre rubbed his temples.

"As said, we have made some arrangements beforehand should such conflict arise. Red team, meet your new members." He then gestured towards the main entrance, where three other people entered.

Amy could've sworn that her jaw dropped that exact moment.

The Starlings made their grand entrance, complete with matching smiles and matching outfits. The theme for their ensemble was red that day, which was quite convenient since they were chosen to be members of the Red team. Sinead looked just gorgeous, while Ned and Ted were their usual charming selves. Well, outwardly that was—just like the Kabras, they were actually quite spoiled on the inside. Sinead then headed towards her respective team, looking at Amy and Dan. Making a disgusted face, she pointed at them.

"You owe me a cell phone." She spoke in a slight Valley Girl accent. Amy swallowed hard at the statement, while Dan just frowned.

"Aren't you guys supposed to be in the hospital?" Dan said annoyed, crossing his arms. Amy just sat down, twiddling with her thumbs in a nervous manner. Sinead then brushed off a strand of her hair, tucking it behind her ear. She kept her hair down this time, which framed her face perfectly.

"Well, we're feeling better. And this Amazing Race thing sounded fun, so we decided to go for it." finished Ned, speaking coolly. This seemed to get on Dan's nerves a bit.

"Quite sorry to interrupt your conversation," came the voice of Mr. McIntyre. "But we really must begin our first challenge now! If you won't mind, please follow me outside to the garden… er, one of the gardens. Nellie will brief you on the first challenge."