Note: Digimon Genesis turns one year old on March 15th, despite what the publish date on this website may say. And for a special treat for the occasion, I plan to have Chapter 22 released on that day. Of course, there's a chance that I won't get it in on the deadline . . . okay . . . there's a 12% chance that I'll get it out on that day. But anyway, I'm already writing it as of this release, so . . . blah blah blah.

DISCLAIMER: Iay on'tday wnoay Igimonday, ownay eavelay emay loneaay ouyay diotsiay!

. . . ndaay leasepay topsay astingway imetay ranslatingtay histay rapcay!

Last time on Digimon Genesis:
We found Ryota sleeping in his bed, alone in his room . . . or so he thought. Turns out to of the members of the Shadow Gang had arrived, and had given him some weird potion to drink!
Meanwhile, Takumi and Reina were having problems of their own. At first, it looked like they would never even look at each other again, but with a bit of reassurance, the girl was back on her feet, now a member of the team.

Six of Naoki's team arrived to Miho's house, only to find that she wasn't at home! After watching a low-bro newscast report, they went upstairs to find that Miho's younger brother Kunikazu was dead!
They all went searching for the victim's older sister, only to find that she had suffocated him! Miho then turned her back - both literally and figuratively - on them and revealed a gun that she pointed in their faces!

DIGIMON GENESIS
CHAPTER XXI

THE MADNESS OF MIHO

"Stupid Marusa! Always so worried about you and your stupid family! Well look where your stupid security has got you now, huh?" She pointed the weapon right at Shun's forehead. "If I had to kill anybody here, it would be you, Shun Oshiro! Perfect Shun Oshiro!" Takumi was half-expecting for the deranged girl to blow the chubby boy's head, but she did not pull the trigger.

Takumi put both hands in front of him in surrender. Naoki covered his chest with his crossed hands. Yuka took shelter by covering her head. Ryota held a fist to his heart and one between his eyes . . . but the foremost one knew that this was dumb, for if the bullet did not scrape an area where he wasn't covered, it could go through his hand too and he could be critically injured.

"Don't - shoot!" Takumi requested, holding both hands in the air. He knew this was dumb and he looked like an idiot, but over the loss of his life or his nerve, he would choose nerve.

Miho looked as though she had played a wonderful joke on everyone. Laughing hard, she choked: "I don't want your lives, you ignorant bugs. I want your devices! Hand them over, now!"

"Huh?" Takumi lowered his hands a little, but still kept them by his side. This was puzzling. "Why? Why do you want those?"

Miho rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue as though it was obvious, but she did not answer his question. Instead, she started to rant, stepping right in front of him. "Oh, Takumi. Look at you cry. I've heard that your dad isn't around anymore? Well guess what? You may have spent a few years with him, then he was wiped off the face of the Earth . . . well, my father still lives . . . but I've never met him. But if I ever did, you'd be sure that I'd haul a bullet right up his filthy throat so fast it would make your head spin! My mother the slut probably wouldn't be able to sleep unless she slept with one man a day. You'd think she'd learn her lesson after getting pregnant with me - how lucky! But no. She continued seeing these bastards - and guess what? I'm positive that at least a million times, she forgot all about me! Her own daughter! How pitiful is that? But I guess it's easy to forget about things when you're out gambling, or having sex with total strangers, or getting high at nightclubs! I'm very surprised that she was able to stick to one man so long for him to propose to her! Unfortunately, this man she met - Marusa, that faggot - was no better than my own father!"

Takumi wanted to speak, but he didn't dare speak a word. The others did likewise.

" 'Oh, hello, what's your name, oh yes - Miho, how are you doing? See, this guy proposed to me, you might have heard us wearing out the bedsprings late at night, and so I accepted and we're getting married. Oh yeah, I'm also pregnant, oops. I think I'll love this child more than you because you're the spawn of a good-for-nothing guy that I laid when I was sixteen.'"

Miho performed a somewhat accurate imitation of her own mother.

"My stupid mother left me out in the dark so many times. What a bitch! I hope you'll see now why I had to steal from Kunikazu. That little idiot who didn't deserve anything got all the love and affection!" She sniveled, wiping her nose several times through her story. "But if there's one person who I hate more than Kunikazu, it would be that jerk that she got married to. I wish I could have the joy of killing him, then watching him stare, eyes-open, as I kicked him into a hole! That horrible man who I was forced to call father - Marusa. He beat me, that jerk! If I hadn't been so dumb back then I would have called the police! They would probably arrest him for all the bad stuff he did to me! He was an ignorant bastard; he thought that I was coming between him and my mother. How stupid is that?"

Looking insanely sad, she continued:
"But there was one thing that I could do that somebody else stole from me. You know who you are! You're another thief, Shun Oshiro! But you're also evidence. That's why I'm keeping you."

Shun stepped back, looking at her strangely, but still closely eying the gun in her hand. "W-what are you talking about?"
Miho rolled her eyes again and brushed back her dirty-blonde hair. "You know very well what I'm talking about, Shun Oshiro! Art class! Mrs. Daishi! Mr. Shale! Ever since I met you, Shun, everything's gone worse! I hate you so much!"
Takumi looked from Shun, trembling with fear, to the insane girl, who still held the weapon tight in her hands. "W-what are you talking about?"

She sighed and rolled her eyes yet again - Takumi imagined that they would start to hurt by now. "I was very good at school. Really good. Probably because I didn't have anything else to do, and it was my only outlet to other people besides my parents. Everything was well until I met him! Shun Oshiro! You stopped me from reaching perfection!"
Shun stepped back, but answered truthfully: "I know what you're talking about. And I'm sorry. But we just have different ideas -"
"Your ideas suck, Shun! Nobody cares about what you paint. Your art is about peace and happiness, and beautiful scenes, and people dancing and acting all gay - my paintings are about the real world! About what life truly is! So what if I draw someone getting stabbed? People get stabbed in real life! People grow old. People die. People commit suicide. People kill others. This is not some stupid place and gay people dance around and play with each other, it's a hateful world! And I'm only revealing what the world is! But people like you and Mrs. Daishi doesn't respect that.

Takumi wondered if he dare speak. He looked around, then finally asked: "Who's Mrs. Daishi?" He had heard of her before, but didn't know exactly who she was - after all, he always felt like all the other students at East Yokohama knew something that he didn't.

"Mrs. Daishi, Takumi," explained Miho, "is the worst art teacher the world has ever seen! Dance around and praise Shun's paintings, you fat bitch! Totally criticize mine! Worried about how I'm feeling, are you? That's none of your business! I say, freedom of art!"
So Miho was an art student too, Takumi thought. But why all this?

The armed fourteen-year old girl continued on with her story:
"Me and stupid Shun got in a dumb argument about what art is. What a bitch, that stupid Mrs. Daishi signed us both up for counseling! Counseling! Together! With Mr. Shale! We both explained our problems, and he advised me to draw lighter. What the hell does he mean by lighter? Nobody cares about happy paintings! They aren't real. They don't show anything! So then, counseling quit, I still wasn't any better - meanwhile Mrs. Daishi praised la-la-la Shun, who's a lazy faggot and doesn't even try in schoolwork. Meanwhile, I'm still criticized! I passed school with straight A's, but I got a B in Art! Why? Because of Mrs. Daishi! Well, take this - die, Daishi! When I get the recognition I deserve after I turn all you digital freaks in, I'll ask Mrs. Falle to fire that miserable teacher!"

"Recognition?" Ryota asked. "The only recognition you're going to get is at a mental institution! Why do you think that turning us in will make you any less of a digital human? You're one of us, and by doing this, you're not only betraying us, but yourself! Put that gun down and calm down!"
Miho stormed up to him and pointed the gun to his chest. Takumi watched in horror as Ryota stepped back, his hands up.

"Don't - shoot," he breathed.

Miho smiled insanely. "I can assure you I won't . . ." she whispered, "unless you make a wrong move. And by wrong move I mean turning into a Digimon. Anyone who thinks they can evolve to Digimon form without getting shot in mid-evolution is just kidding themselves!"

Takumi secretly felt for his D-Monster deep within his pocket, but his smaller companion asked him not to.

"She's dangerous," Naoki convinced. "Don't evolve, and everything will be all right. There's still a chance."

Meanwhile, the traitor stood by Ryota, pointing the weapon at his face. "Ryota, hand over your device. NOW!" Knowing that it was either hand over the digivice or face doom, he reached for his D-Monster and, sighing, dropped the blue device on Miho's outstretched hand.

Naoki and Yuka's devices were the next to go. The latter held hers out without even being threatened, apparently she didn't want a gun at her chest - and neither did the rest of them.

Shun came shortly after. He was quite intimidated at this time because he believed that Miho would not hesitate to kill him - but she did not.

It looks like she has the sense not to kill somebody, Takumi thought as he grabbed his red D-Monster as Miho came by, grinning, and holding the gun in the air, a few feet away from his chest.

"Hand it over," she ordered, stretching out her left hand (her right one held the undesirable weapon). Knowing that he had no other choice, he reached for his little red device.

Good-bye, old friend, he thought as he groped about for the key chain . . .

"Hurry up!" Miho shouted, right by Takumi's ear. "I'm waiting very patiently. A bit too patiently, if you know what I mean."
The boy grabbed from his jean pocket the device - the device that might have saved all, had he not been so cowardly in this moment of shock. He was about to drop it in Miho's ugly, outstretched hand, but his fingers did not turn lose.

"Give it, now!" ordered Miho, holding the gun closer to his chest.

Takumi breathed uneasily, knowing that he was choosing between life or death . . .

"GIVE IT NOW!" shouted the insane girl, holding the black, foreboding weapon up in the sky. "If you think I'm kidding about this whole thing, then get this!" She fired the gun several times up the air. The sound was so loud that the boy standing nearby almost fled at the shot. Miho then held the gun up to the boy's chest.

"I'm warning you," she whispered in his ear, "I'm warning you. I'm giving you a chance. If you hand me the device now, you live."
But there was a voice in his head, a voice more powerful than the girl's - a voice that dominated over the traitor.

Don't hand it over. You've worked so hard at keeping this a secret. Don't give up now. Don't give up. The whole team depends on you . . . don't hand it over. Don't let Miho win.

With the courage of a lion, he faced Miho eye-to-eye and shouted:

"I'm not handing it over!"
Miho stepped back. "You what!?" she demanded, holding the gun closer to his chest.

Takumi stepped forward. "I'm not about to hand over my device! Kill me now! I have the courage to say no! So now I'm asking you - do you have the courage to kill me?"
The insane girl, shaking the gun violently in her hand, shook her head, as though in denial. "No," she whispered, "no. Oh no. Takumi, you made the wrong choice. And it's your fault. Oh well. I'm sure one kill won't be too much harm. Anyways, I won't let you spoil my chances. When I come to the police station with evidence of the real murderers, I'll just say that you, in your Digimon mode, tried to attack me, so I had no choice but to shoot you. I'm so close . . . and I'm sorry. I can't let you live. You brought this on yourself - if you die, none of it's my fault. None of it at all. Because it's all your fault."

Takumi, breathing hard, looked up at the mad girl, and . . . smiled. "You're right," he replied, grinning, as the others watched him in horror, "you're right. It is all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry about you, Miho. It's my fault. It's my fault. IT'S MY FAULT!"

The fourteen-year-old girl jumped back from Takumi's shouts and wiped the spit from his mouth off her usually clean face. "That's it, Takumi. I gave you many chances. And you lost them all. Good-bye, Takumi Hito . . . it looks like another bastard will be joining my dumb half-brother Kunikazu in Hell. Now you won't be able to steal anything from me, thief. Because YOU'RE DEAD!"
Takumi closed his eyes, terrified, knowing what would happen next - his device was grabbed from him - a bullet ripped through the air, then shouts from people, people that he knew - then a scream, a girlish scream, no doubt from Miho - a growl, then -

Opening his eyes, the boy saw the sight before him. He looked about and saw his friends, cheering in happiness - then saw Miho on the ground . . . being clawed by the fox Digimon - Suraiimon - Reina. He joined his friends as he watched the battle scene . . .

"Takumi!" shouted Shun, patting him on the shoulder. "We thought we had lost you! Suraiimon just jumped into battle! She must have heard those gunshots!"

Grinning, he cheered for the fox, who was pummeling a frightened Miho to the ground. "Watch out," warned Naoki, stepping up close. "Suraiimon may have saved you from a bullet, Takumi - but she's uncontrollable for now."
Miho dodged the oncoming claw and rolled over on her stomach, hiding her head from those hideous nails, but that was not enough. The traitor was able to realize what was happening and grabbed from her pockets the six devices she had - Ryota's, Naoki's Yuka's, Shun's, Takumi's, and her very own yellow D-Monster.

"Let's see how you match up with Jikimon!" the insane girl shouted, pressing the top button on her device and transforming into the disgusting plant monster - the ugly-looking Jikimon.

There was no comparison, at least in beauty, between the two female Digimon. Suraiimon, with her elegantly-trimmed claws and soft, red body was clearly the winner. Miho seemed to realize this, for she looked around at her own Digimon body in disgust.
The fox Digimon lunged at the hideous plant, claws stretched, growling ferociously . . . but that was not enough. Using one of her vines, Miho's monster form was able to swipe Suraiimon down in one hit.

"UGH!" the beast growled as it's head hit the pavement, it's opponent cackling with might and menace . . .

But the fox Digimon was not ready to admit defeat quite yet. Beginning at a walk, then a run, it gathered speed and half-glided, half-flew in the air shouting:
"Season Bullet!"
From Suraiimon's fanged mouth came many darts that, in a way, resembled the leaves of fall - orange, yellow, green, and red. The bullets flew down on the vulnerable plant Digimon, who had great offense but lacked horribly in defense. Cutting through Jikimon's vine-like body, Suraiimon now had the advantage.

"Sidewinder Claw!"

Reina attacked again, releasing her beautiful claws from her body and firing them at full speed at the already-injured plant Digimon. Jikimon was blown away by the sheer force of the long claws. Gasping in a terrible, raspy voice, the vegetation Digimon dropped to the ground, seemingly unconcious.

"Don't you want to help Reina?" Naoki asked Takumi, who replied:
"I think she's doing a good enough job on her own though, don't you think?"
"For a Digimon that can't control it's powers, I'd say yes."

The fox seemed to hover over the lifeless being that was the plant Digimon, until it was able to get back on it's feet.

Takumi and the others stepped back. The disgusting flower monster looked even more awful than before, even sickly. It was a horrible sight to look at: Her petals were chopped, her face seemed lopsided, and vines stuck out at odd places. Plant arms hung to the side limp and injured.

"DO YOU SURRENDER NOW?" Naoki shouted at the gruesome monster, but Jikimon only shook her head and laughed: A cold, sinister laugh that Takumi noticed was even more horrible than Miho's past laughs. And this time, she said something even stranger than before:
"I thank you, Naoki. I owe so much to you. With control of my powers, I can function better. You see, when we gathered at the woods near your house, you taught me how to fly." Takumi almost jumped back in disgust when he saw Jikimon spread out her white, fly-like wings.

"La la la!" she sang, mockingly taking to the skies over the confused and mad fox Digimon, who was Reina. "I can fly in the sky, in the stratosphere! Oh, what a wonderful day! To turn in a bunch of rascals. Fame and fortune, for me, for me . . ."

Her plant-like body vanished over the treetops, over the houses and the tall buildings, high into the atmosphere, where the pressure was great. She flew so high that in minutes she was a dot in the air, and (thankfully) her raspy singing could no longer be heard.

Suraiimon shook her head sadly, clawed at the air for a few minutes or so, wanting to catch it's enemy, but when she saw that there was no hope of catching up with it, she doubled around and devolved into Reina.

"Reina!" Takumi shouting, coming quickly to her aid. The brown-haired girl was breathing hard in exhaustion, her hands on the blue pavement of the street. "Are you alright? You did great! How did you do it?" Then, back to his first question, "Are you alright!?"

Sighing, she answered, "Yes. I'm fine. But I let her get away. Now she's got your device things and she'll turn you in for sure."
"That's okay," Takumi said, hugging her warmly, "as long as you're okay." He stared into her eyes for a moment. "You saved me. Thanks."

Reina nodded. "When I heard the gunshots, I came down here, and when I saw what was happening - well, I couldn't wait. I was so angry that I evolved to Suraiimon. I tackled that girl to the ground - was that Miho?"
Smiling, Takumi replied, "Umm . . . I'll tell you in a minute."

The others, however, were not romancing, though Naoki and Yuka were holding hands tightly, the former staring hopefully at the sky, at the little black dot that was Jikimon, hovering over even the tallest buildings, surely to turn them in. Suddenly, the young boy's serious, stern-looking face lit up and turned into a smile. "We're alright," he said happily, holding Yuka's hand. "We're alright."
Ryota looked down at him and narrowed his eyes. "Just what do you mean 'we're alright'? We're not alright. Jikimon still has our devices."
Naoki shook his head happily. "Not for long. If the news reports are correct, then -"

BLORG.

A sound like a cannon ripped through the air. They could hear, from the ground they were standing on, a loud, insanely-high scream, raspy and disgusting - a scream that belonged to Jikimon. Naoki watched, his blue eyes following as the little black dot that was the plant Digimon hummed to the ground, far away, before splitting into tiny, tiny pieces. Even tinier were the devices, which fell to the ground as well.

PHLM.

For some reason, all of the devices stopped in mid-air and started directly for their owners - the digital humans. Yuka and Naoki held out their hands and received their brown and clear devices, respectively, Shun reached out his arm and grabbed his gray one - Ryota picked his blue one, and Takumi watched happily as his lucky red D-Monster floated into his arms, before he started to hug Reina again (who snatched Miho's old device, the yellow one).

"What - happened?" Shun asked, blinking up at the sky as if in disbelief.

"That," explained Naoki happily, "was the last we'll ever see of Jikimon. That sound was a missile - the military has been monitoring the skies lately, shooting down unidentified flying objects. If my suspicions are correct, then they do know something about these monsters - and it looks like they just struck one down."
Reina peeked inside of her D-Monster, looking for any sign of - anything.

"Hmm," she wondered, "there's no sign of anyone ever owning this device. It doesn't display Miho's name or anything. And Jikimon's not inside it anymore."
Naoki looked through his clear one and pocketed it. "That's right," he replied. "Jikimon's spirit has left the device - forever, it seems."
Ryota, meanwhile, inspected the gun that Miho had dropped right before she had evolved to the plant Digimon of Jikimon. After a quick examination of the bullet cartridge, he announced happily, "The bullets are all out on this thing." The gun had been hanging by a sewer hole. Grinning, Ryota dropped the weapon ("Oops!") into the sewer hole, where it clattered and broke.

It looked like everything was peaceful in the world, but Naoki still wondered. "Say, we had better be heading off soon. But it looks like we're one short of our team." Grinning, he added, "Not that it matters, of course. We've got a new, better one to replace her."

Reina smiled, looking up at Takumi and exchanging another hug.

"So, are we heading out at last?" Naoki asked.

His question rose much enthusiasm from the members of the group, who took to the nearby woods and made their own path, out in the wilderness.
Takumi crunched his feet on the dead leaves, the atmosphere was perfect - a blue sky, the morning was not chilly, everything seemed perfect. The squirrels played, scrambling up the trees in the most carefree way you could imagine. Birds sang their beautiful songs, flying from branch to branch. Reina stuck by Takumi, holding hands. Naoki and Yuka crunched on the dead leaves. The jail-breaker Shun retrieved (with a hint of disapproval from the youngest girl) a large twig and used it as a walking stick. The only one who didn't seem to have the air of a happy person was Ryota, who slacked behind, hands in his pockets, kicking leaves out of his way.

Takumi allowed the others to go ahead in front of him. Taking a halt, he waited for Ryota, who followed them up the hill and stared ahead, sternly.

"What's wrong?" he asked the unhappy boy, who shook his head.

"Nothing," was the lie - obviously it was something. Seeming to understand this fact, Ryota then said truthfully: "It's Miho. I can't believe she would do something like that to us. I trusted her - well, sort-of. I knew that something was afoot the minute she invited us to that crap tournament. But I had no idea that she wanted to use our devices to turn us in."

Takumi looked at his companion thoughtfully, then up at the leaves above them. "She was crazy," he commented, going along at the same rate as his chum, "but there's nothing that we can do now. She's dead - what's done is done." He gulped, thinking of how Miho had been there one minute and was gone the next.

Ryota didn't seem to be listening. "I can't stand it anymore!" he stated loudly. "What if - what if you, Takumi, are the next one to go crazy and try to turn us in? Huh? What if you've been hiding this secret behind you all this time, like Miho did?"

The boy's smile became unfixed. He snatched up a stick and twirled it around with his fingers. "That's illogical," he said, motioning for Ryota to quicken his pace. The boy did not. "I mean, I'm worried too. I don't know what to think either, but all I know is -"

The other shook his head. "Just - be quiet. I can't deal with this. I'm scared, Takumi. I really am. The new place we're going to - leaving everyone - Miho dead - being assaulted by a gun - I can't take this any longer. I want to go home. And I have the worst of all headaches . . ."
At this point, Reina turned around and asked, "What's wrong?"
Takumi did not answer, so the girl went up to both boys.

"Ryota, are you alright?" she asked pleasantly. The boy had began to clutch his forehead in pain.

"Shut up!" he shouted, making Reina jump back. "Please! Shut up! It's hurting so much!" Takumi surveyed his hurt companion, in a bit of a small panic. He sounded awful - like he was dying!

The rest of the group stared back at Ryota, who started sobbing on the ground.

"What's - going on?" asked Naoki, who crept closer, as though Ryota were a very large animal. Takumi watched Naoki's bright eyes widen in horror. After a few seconds of wondering what was wrong, he realized that the boy who was in pain was growing a blinding blue color - the color of the sky, except much more intense. The brown-haired boy shielded his eyes from the sight, as did the others. The only one who spoke was the smallest member of their team, Naoki:
"Ryota! You're glowing! Use your device to control yourself, quick!"

Ryota seemed to do as instructed - he held out his dark blue D-Monster, pressed the button - and gasped. Nothing happened.

"Something's wrong!" Ryota shouted, now a wildly vivid blue. He pushed the buttons numerous times, but to no effect. "I can't - take it - HELP ME!"

But none could help him, for they were too busy shielding their eyes from the brilliant light that came from Ryota's glowing body.

"TRANSFORM!" Takumi heard a deep, growl-like voice that did not quite sound like Ryota shout. ". . . HYPOTHERMON!"

When the transformation was complete was the time in which all of them could open their eyes again . . . and they gasped at what was before them.

Hypothermon looked a lot like Ryota's other form, Kibamon - large and tiger-like, but this time the cat Digimon was armed with two cannons coming from his shoulders, meeting into a bigger, adjustable cannon that rested on his head. A spiked collar was tied around the snow leopard's neck, making him look like a ferocious jungle cat. Most of his body was covered with a shiny silver armor - even the Digimon's teeth seemed to be armored with a thicker coat. What little fur you could see shone like diamonds, and his claws were now machine-like and looked as though it could fire them at long range, like Suraiimon could.

"He looks like Kibamon . . ." Naoki stated, "but he's not . . . he looks like a new, improved snow leopard."
Yuka clutched his arm. "Can't you think of anything besides that? We've got to transform . . . now!"
A series of transformations from human to Digimon followed, each member of the team (except Ryota and Reina, of course) using their own devices.

"TRANSFORM!" shouted Takumi, holding up his red D-Monster and pressing the top button. In seconds, he was the champion-level virus-type Digimon whose idea of a fun game was one where you played with fire - ". . . HIAMON!"
"Transform! . . . SORCERIMON!"

"Transform! . . . MEKANORIMON!"
"Transform! . . . MIKEMON!"

Instantly in the children's places stood their Digimon forms: Hiamon, the great dragon, Sorcerimon, the icy-cold wizard, Mekanorimon, the gray transport Digimon, and (last but not least) Mikemon, the quick, agile house-cat.

The four Digimon growled at their friend-enemy, ready for battle, while Reina, the only member of the team who didn't have a device, took shelter under a nearby tree and watched the battle, hoping not to be spotted by the brutal snow leopard monster that was really Ryota.

Hiamon flew to the sky, high above the trees (but not high enough to be spotted) and swooped to the ground, steel claws out and shining, shouting:
"TRIPLE DRAGON TALON!"

The attack, however, never made impact. Though Hypothermon only looked ferocious, he did not lack intelligence. The cat Digimon had been prepared for this and fired, from both shoulder cannons, a devastating technique:

"Cold Cannons!"

From the Digimon's body came two missiles, both blue and, Hiamon noted, were smiling evilly. The dragon wanted desperately to turn back, but alas, the attack came extremely quick and almost before he realized what was happening, the attacks had collided with his stomach and sent him souring to the ground, where he felt he hit his head. Somebody rushed to his side, it was Reina.

"Are you alright?" she gasped, looking at him anxiously.

"I'm . . . fine," he said, realizing that he was back in human form and that his head probably hurt more than Ryota's had. When he finally opened his eyes, he realized that another body had joined him in the pile of scraps that Hypothermon had lay aside - Mikemon - then another, Mekanorimon.

"Ouch!" the robot hummed before he devolved back into chubby Shun, who sat on the ground, clutching his side, probably wishing that a girl like Reina would come to his aid too. Both, however, were able to watch the battle between the new Digimon and their remaining ally- Ryota was now a temporary enemy.

Sorcerimon stood between the Digimon-stricken kids and the ice-cold snow leopard, who didn't look like he was all that interested in fighting.

"Crystal Cloud!" the sorcerer called, sending a barrage of ice from his staff, but Hypothermon simply dodged it by turning his head. Groaning, the powerful Digimon fired his claws at Sorcerimon, who then joined the pile of other defeated ones.

"He's way too powerful," the now devolved Naoki said, raising up his hands at the snow leopard Digimon, who was looking at them through his cold, digital eyes. "Don't hurt us!" he shouted.

And, as though Hypothermon could understand and obey the command, he turned their back on the children, who stared, puzzled, at their new acquaintance, who looked around the forest floor for a moment, then utilized a new feature of which the digital humans had never heard of before - hidden wings sprouted up on the snow leopard's body.

Gasping, the digital humans realized the sheer power of this new Digimon - who, using both the wings and a powerful jet pack located on his back, flew, higher and higher, a bit above the trees.

"What's going on?" Yuka asked innocently.

"Hmm," thought Naoki aloud, "he doesn't seem to be too interested in fighting us. So what's he doing, and where's he going?"
Now the Digimon seemed fresh and harmless, so the digital children were very surprised when a loud roar came from Hypothermon, who flew higher and faster than ever before (but not as high so anyone spotting, like the military, could see). Takumi also wondered if this Digimon had limits to the pressure it could handle. It seemed so powerful that it looked like it could handle anything . . .

And so Ryota, who was now much more powerful than his previous form, as Hypothermon, disappeared from view, in the direction of the morning sun.

"He's heading east," Takumi stated, pointing in the direction in which he had departed. "Come on! If we transform again, we can follow him."

* * *

Mr. Shale took a book from his drawer and opened it up, skimming through it and scribbling things down on a sheet of paper on his desk. Another weekday. Humming to himself, he put back the pen on his supply case and was about to take out another pad of paper before he was rudely interrupted by another person entering the room (very unwelcome, if I may state).

"So, Mr. Shale, looks like you've lost the bet." Mr. Mes appeared, smiling in a very unusual way and clapping his hands together in excitement.

"Good morning, Okii," greeted the counselor, nodding at the janitor, who took a seat without invitation where patients would normally sit - a small, comfortable chair that was blue in color.

"Good morning to me," corrected the janitor, pointing both index fingers at himself. "Now, Mr. Shale, you wouldn't happen to remember our little deal yesterday? You know - boys skip school, boys get zero?"
"I remember very clearly," was the reply that he gave, without looking up from his notes.
"Ah!" shouted Mes with glee. "Then you might want to know something interesting. Neither Hito nor Surashi came. And what did Mr. Bando say yesterday? He had caught them trying to skip school, and like the good boy he was, reported it to the teachers. And you didn't believe him. But I did. I followed him all the way through. And I just learned from Miss Andrews that they were having a quiz in Language Arts that day. Well, quiz goes to zero, I guess! And Mr. Katsumata? He informed me that they had a big social studies test that day. Zero for that, too, for Surashi! Remember?"
Mr. Shale smiled, not looking up. "Of course I remember. Well, then, I'd write them up zeroes if I were you."
Mr. Mes hopped up out of his seat and snapped his fingers. "With pleasure, Mr. Shale!"

Taking a sheet of paper out of a folder, the counselor chuckled. "Though I would advise you, Okii, to take a look at the news. The ONN were just reporting on how they found that Mr. Hito, Mr. Surashi, and Miss Yoshida had all disappeared from their homes possibly this very morning. And Miss Yoshida's account doesn't seem intentional."

Mes laughed, glancing around the counselor's office. "Oh, I dunno. Yoshida? That's be that upstart Reina, am I right? I know who you're talking about. Many time a day I see her chatting with her little friends, littering gum and garbage all over the dang school! Oh yeah - where have I seen her before that? She's that girl that Hito went out to the dance with! No wonder! They're all skipping school together!"

Mr. Shale's eyebrows perked up, finally looking up from his paper to peer at the janitor (who was more upstart than Reina ever would be). "I don't know. You may want to have a look at Reina's grades. She doesn't strike me as the type who would feel comfortable with skipping school. And most of the time, students don't skip school in groups of three."

Mes clapped his hands impatiently, staring around in disgust at the paintings that hung on the walls. "Oh, I dunno - it makes sense to me that some boys and a girl would like to skip school and burn their houses for a little rubba-dub-dub, eh, Mr. Shale?"

The counselor sighed. "In the seven years that I have worked here, there have been some nine hundred and seventy-eight incidents of children playing hooky, and I have had no cases of kids setting fire to their homes for it."
Mes took a seat and breathed of victory. "Ah, but what kin ya do? What kin ya do? Kids these days, thinking they can make pussies of teachers by skipping class - darn lousy kids, thinking that the world is owned by them and that they can walk all over it if they want. When I was a child, things didn't go that way! It was, 'work hard and accept life, or get whipped'. Now if you don't mind, I think I'll go and inform the Surashi family, the Hito family, the Yoshidas. I hope they'll be pleasantly surprised!"

Mr. Shale looked up at the ceiling. "Do as you wish, Okii. But if I were you, I would not call them - if you turn out to be wrong and they really are kidnapped, or dead, then it would only make them feel worse. They'll find out later tonight, at any rate."
"Ah!" spoke Mes, who gazed around for a phone, and upon seeing one shouted "Aha! I found you". Paying no attention to the counselor's words, he picked up the receiver, and started to dial. Humming happily, he waited . . . and waited . . . and waited - until he received . . .

"Static!" shouted the janitor, throwing his fist in an odd way, as though to set down a mop angrily (but he realized halfway through that he didn't have one). "Darn lousy phones! They must be down again!"

He walked away, Mr. Shale smiling amusingly.

BEEP BEEP.

Mes turned around and surveyed the phone with an exotic expression on his face. "What's wrong with this thing, I wonder?" He picked the electronic up again and held it to his ear. Static again.

The counselor stood up and stretched, sending his wheeled chair rolling backwards. "Well, I leave it to you to fumble with the phone, Okii. Perhaps you should call the producers of that telephone and ask them what's wrong with it."
"Great idea, Mista Shale!" shouted Mes, as the counselor disappeared out the door. The janitor tried ringing up the phone again, but when he discovered his mistake it was too late - Shale's footsteps could be heard walking down the hall.

Mes shook his head, then rested it in his arms - but not for long.

CRASH. BJMMP.

"What the -" asked Mes to himself as the whole school shook. He could hear glass shattering. "What the hell was that?"

He then saw what was happening before his very eyes - the windows of Mr. Shale's office had shattered, a large animal had come through. Screaming, Mr. Mes cringed to the corner of the room, watching as what looked like a gigantic blue snow leopard rose his head and released a long, loud roar . . .

Next time on Digimon Genesis!

Uh-oh! Looks like Mes is in quite a fix! What is the secret of this ultimate-level Digimon, Hypothermon? What will happen to East Yokohama Middle School? Will the Shadow Gang finally reveal their faces? It's going to be a real 'schoolhouse rock' on the next Digimon Genesis:

STONE COLD

HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Well, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! This is a real turning point of the series: one of the members of Naoki's team is now dead. Ryota has evolved to the ultimate level. The Shadow Gang is just about to be revealed. So please click that little review button to your left and drop me your thoughts! I'm working to improve, and I love reading them anyway!