 
Genotopia: Hidden Paradise

Text copyright © Michelle Dalson TM 2015

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  1. Nira

A thunderous cry shook the walls of the bronze, fifteen-story tower. Nira Dharni shuddered. She pressed her back against the silver elevator walls as it ascended up the building.

"Gosh, I hate the sound of those Rainbirds!" She squeezed her eyes shut and pressed her forehead into the chest of the young man standing next to her. "Taren, I'm so not ready for this."

She felt the man's arms wrap around her shoulders. She flinched at the sound of another earsplitting screech and grabbed his shoulders.

The man chuckled. "Come on Nira. You should be excited."

Nira and her boyfriend, Taren Tasmin, were about to take a test that would match them to one of the eight clans of the Rainbowleaf Jungle League. They would be able to train a new species of genopets—genetically modified beasts. Such beasts had powers to control natural disasters and the ability to cure or cause the most bizarre diseases. Each clan in the Genopet League trained a specific species.

Nira let go of Taren and covered her ears at the sound of a Firefang's roar. "What if the test matches us to the Firefang Clan?" Nira and Taren were members of the Frostfang Clan, a clan that trained white, ice-fanged tigers with blue stripes. This clan, however, was not a Genopet League Clan, but a Stray Clan. Therefore, the humans and their genopets did not participate in Genopet League battles against other clans. However, several months ago, the humans and genopets of the Frostfang Clan had been slaughtered by the Firefangs and their Firefanglish human masters.

Taren nodded. "Of course I'll never forget that. But come on. Wouldn't it be awesome if we match with one of the other League Clans and end up fighting those smoke-breathing brutes? We could avenge the deaths of our birth-clan!"

"Yeah, but what if we match into different clans?" Snapped Nira. The annual Blood-Match was a test that all Stray Clan humans took if they wanted to join one of the eight League Clans: the Firefangs, Rainbirds, Tailips, Elephantoms, Cobrazors, Rockodiles, Applelopes, and Dandeliopards. Depending on how Nira and Taren performed on the test, they would each be matched to the clan with the human race most compatible with their skills, personalities, and physical abilities. Nira's heart raced at the thought of separating from Taren. They had been dating for two years, and had been best friends since childhood.

The elevator stopped and the doors opened. Nira swallowed and tightened her grip on Taren's hand. Taren shot her a quick wink and then pulled her forward.

"Come on, it's just a simple test," Taren reassured her. "You and I are gonna match to an awesome clan—together!"

Nira held her breath as she maintained her grip on Taren's hand as he shouldered his way through a crowd of crimson-haired people dressed in fancy, colorful attire. The Firefanglish. Juvenile tigers trotted beside them. Flames bristled along their red stripes as Nira passed by. They spat sparks of fire and lashed at her ankles, hissing and spitting.

As they headed up a silver-laden ramp, Nira yanked her hand out of Taren's grip. "Taren, stop. This is absurd."

Taren turned to meet her gaze with wide, gray-blue eyes. He sighed. "Come on, this test really won't be that bad. All we have to do is sit back, close our eyes—"

"I know what's going to happen to us in the test," Nira spoke through gritted teeth. "Don't remind me." First, the test would determine their genetic makeup. Then they would perform a series of tasks in which they would demonstrate their physical, mental, and social skills. Finally, they would undergo the Transformation, a process in which their genes would be modified so that they were biologically transformed into the race of the clan they had matched to. Each clan had humans of a specific race, because each genopet species was created to tolerate only a specific human race. Due to the major changes in environment, disease, and natural occurrences, each race of humans depended on a specific species of genopets their race was responsible for training.

Nira clenched her fists. "I have been unable to control myself around any genopet after those Firefangs killed off every human and Frostfang in our clan. I might not even be able to demonstrate any acceptable fighting skills with a genopet. I might get matched to none of the clans and end up as a homeless freak living in the wild without a beast to protect me." She shuddered. The world had become a much more dangerous place over the past few centuries. The most bizarre diseases and disasters had emerged—from raining tar storms to exploding rashes. Such were reasons for the development of genopets to control the curses Mother Nature had brought upon the world.

"Nira, it's not like you to speak like that," said Taren, pushing a strand of Nira's white hair behind her ears. "I know you're still shocked from the Firefang attack. But just keep telling yourself that that is part of the reason why we are about to take this test."

Nira visualized the moments when she and Taren would ride the backs of their white, blue-striped tigers across miles of snowy, barren land. The tigers shot ice shards from their stripes. A tumultuous swirl of snow swept Taren and Nira up in the air and the two of them spun around, dancing through the cold air currents.

Nira shuddered, feeling chilly from thinking about it. Only with Taren was she able to engage in such reckless activities. Without him, she was anything but outgoing. She was born with Frozen Heart Syndrome, a disease common among the Frostfanglish. Her mother was bitten by a Frostfanglish when she was pregnant, and apparently, the bite caused birth defects: Nira's blood would become unusually cold whenever she was frightened. So she seldom spoke to anyone and rarely interacted with the genopets, lest she risk becoming anxious and freezing as a result. She thus became the most introverted person in the clan. It wasn't until she fell in love with Taren that she improved her social skills with both people and genopets.

Nira looked up and gazed into Taren's eyes. Her heart ached and she threw her arms around his shoulders. "Taren, I've improved so much because of you," she whispered. "My blood warms up when I'm with you. Literally." Her disorder made her suffer from a condition known as Blood-freeze. She was easily startled, and whenever her anxiety had reached a certain level, her blood would become cold enough to immobilize her bones and organs.

But her heart warmed as she felt Taren's warm hand rub against her thin shoulder. "Just pretend I am taking the test with you," he whispered. "All you need to do is show how well you can work with genopets. Imagine me performing with you, and you'll do fine." He smiled. "And regardless of what genopet clans we end up matching with, we can still see each other as often as we like."

Nira hugged Taren tightly. "But you know how difficult that will be."

"Cross-clan relationships have worked for some couples," said Taren, stroking her hair. "Some couples even got married. It can definitely work for us too. I'll make sure of it."

Nira looked back up into Taren's gray-blue eyes. Since they were born of the same clan, his eyes were the same color as her own. Her heart quickened as she thought about how different they would look once they were matched to a new clan. After the Transformation, they would be genetically and biologically similar to the race of their new clan. . _We may not even look the same if we match to different clans,_ Nira's head throbbed.

"Trust me," Taren held her hands. "I'll make sure we will see each other, regardless of what clans we end up in."

Nira sighed. Taren always followed through with his goals, regardless of how ridiculous they would sound. She couldn't help returning his smile. "Promise?" She merely whispered.

"Promise," Taren replied in a clear, determined voice.

The two of them kissed.

"Hey, you too!"

Nira and Taren parted lips and looked to the right. A slender young woman was sauntering up to them. Nira recognized her best friend, Dharene Patel since she was a Frostfang survivor as well. She, too, had white hair, which was tied back into a ponytail that hung all the way down to her waist. Her eyes were also gray-blue, and her skin was light brown. Beside her was her boyfriend, Gharry Oviro. His hair was also white, though slick and nicely combed unlike Taren's floppy hair. He was also much taller, with a serious frown on his face.

Taren's warm smile suddenly transformed into a smirk. "Hey there, Dharene!" He turned his body from Nira so that he was facing the long-haired girl with his arms crossed. "Did you and Gharry get to make out before our tests begin?"

The tall, thin man by her side narrowed his eyes at Taren and muttered something under his breath.

Dharene giggled. "Is that any of your concern, Taren?" She batted her long, white eyelashes and smiled innocently.

Taren laughed. "Hah! Of course it is." He strutted up to the tall man by her side and gave him a nudge with his fist. "I've known this guy since we were toddlers. If a famous chick like you has stolen his heart, I should be concerned, right?" He never took his devious smile off of Dharene.

Nira huffed. Dharene Patel had been an actress and singer in their former Frostfang Clan. She had captured the hearts of Frostfanglish men of all ages. Nira looked at Taren's mischievous smile as he rested his eyes on the pretty young lady, and then shifted her gaze to Gharry's irritated frown. _Good thing Gharry asked her out first. Otherwise, Taren would be pulling Dharene around this building instead of me._

The sound of a Rainbird's screech echoed through the building. A masculine voice spoke through the speakers on the ceilings. "Attention, Blood-Match participants. The 3:00 Blood-Match will begin in 15 minutes."

Nira bit her lip. "Oh great," she mumbled.

Dharene turned to fix her dazzling gray-blue eyes on Nira. "Nira, you alright?"

Nira turned and glared at her. "You guys all know what this test means for us. We may never see each other after this." Her eyes shifted over all three of them, feeling her heart ache to think that their similar features—hair color, eye color, skin color, and who knows what else—would change after they were matched to different clans. The genopet species they trained would also change.

The Emperor of their Frostfang Clan, like any Emperor of any genopet clan, had modified the genes of white tigers to create these beasts, giving them the ability to summon snowstorms, ice-clouds, multicolored hailstorms, and a list of other disasters involving extremely cold temperatures. They were also made to produce a remedy that could cure the humans from the new diseases brought upon by Mother Nature's new snowstorms. One bite from these Frostfangs could either freeze or heal a human, depending on the intention of the genopet.

But just a month ago, all Frostfangs and humans in their clan were killed by the Firefangs. The Firefangs were the complete opposites of the Frostfangs: they were tigers with orange fur, red stripes, and red fangs that burned anything they bit. The Emperor of their clan had modified the genes of Benghal tigers so that the creatures could summon fire from their red stripes and regulate a variety of disasters that involved fire, lava, and magma, and use their hot, sizzling saliva to cure the new diseases that came from the new disasters. The Firefangs had attacked the entire Frostfanglish territory, biting into the flesh of various Frostfanglish humans and Frostfangs and infecting them with a deadly disease known as Fireblood Disease. This deadly disease caused the blood of their victim to become sizzling hot, and over time, their organs would literally burn from the heating bloodstream. The heated bloodstream would intensify until the victim eventually died. Of course, the Firefangs had easily set the Frostfanglish cities on fire, killing many families, but by infecting many victims with Fireblood Disease, they were able to kill off the survivors. The disease was contagious, so they had succeended killing off every last Frostfang and Frostfanglish human in their clan, including survivors. The four of them were the only clan members who had managed to escape without catching the Fireblood Disease.

Dharene smiled. "I'm not too worried about the Matching. Gharry asked me out two months ago. Now he and I are obligated to maintain contact with each other, even if we end up in different clans."

Gharry scoffed. His slick white hair hung over his eyes as he lowered his head and frowned at the floor. "It will be difficult, though," he mumbled.

Nira nodded and turned to face Taren. "Just like what I was saying to Taren." Genopets don't like it when their human masters fraternize with humans and genopets of other clans. Each species of genopet only tolerates the scent of the specific human race that created them, and abhors the scent of any foreign human or genopet species.

Dharene giggled and put her arm around Gharry's thin shoulders. She grimaced at Taren. "I'm sure we can all manage to stay in touch with each other, even if we end up training different genopets living in different clans."

Taren put an arm around Nira and brought her closer to him. "Of course we will," he said, smiling as he he held Nira's head against his chest. "Nira and I are inseparable."

Nira sighed, suddenly feeling at ease. She loved it when Taren hugged her this way. Her cheeks felt warm against his solid chest. She closed her eyes as she listened to his beating heart.

Another earsplitting screech shot through the air. Five minutes had passed since the last announcement.

Taren flinched. "Yikes! Ten more minutes before the test." He let go of Nira and looked into her eyes with raised eyebrows. "We should get going." He held out his hand.

Nira bit her lip and nodded. She took his hand and paced with him down a silver-tiled aisle. Dharene and Gharry followed behind. The four of them pushed through another crowd of people passing by with purple-pelted horned leopards at their sides.

Nira clutched Taren's hand and kept her head high, ignoring the genopets. With Taren, her blood could never freeze from anxiety. As she held his hand, she felt a warm sense of security, comfort, and bliss. He was right: nothing could separate them. Nothing would make her lose touch with him, even if she was matched to a different clan.

  2. Nira

Nira, Dharene, and Gharry fast-walked their way up to two magnificent bronze doors. Dharene turned to a cylindrical stand at the left, and entered a numerical code on the screen at the top.

The doors opened. Nira gasped at the man that stood before them. He wore a white jacket with blue sleeves and jeans, and stood in front of a waterfall that poured from the rectangular tile on the ceiling. His stiff blue hair indicated that he was a Rainbirdian, a human from the Rainbird Clan. A peacock stood beside him, though of course, it was no ordinary peacock. It was a Rainbird, a genetically-modified peacock with blue feathers and a large, fan-like tail of feathers that ranged from a variety of blue shades. The Emperor of the Rainbirdian Clan had genetically modified these peacocks so that their tailfeathers could evaporate and summon showers of rain. Though these were one of the more docile genopet species, Nira couldn't help feeling goose-bumps on her skin as the Rainbird faced her with its beady eyes. The genopet must have sensed her fear, for it let out a sharp caw and opened its feathers, splashing Nira's face with a few drops of water.

"Ahh!" Nira jumped back, wiping her face. The dark-blue spots on its tail feathers were like blue eyes, crying spurts of water.

"Ahem!" Dharene stepped in front of her friend and faced the man. "You'll have to excuse her. She's still traumatized from a recent incident we all faced."

"Mm-hmm. The Firefangs attacked your clan, right?" The man raised an eyebrow.

Dharene nodded. "Yup. It may have been almost four months ago, but she's still a little shaky. We all are."

Taren crossed his arms. "But that doesn't mean we're gonna be hiding around like fugitives any longer. It's time we join a Rainbowleaf League Clan and avenge the deaths of our birth-clan."

A smile cracked on the man's face. "You do realize the Firefangs are part of this League, right?"

The four of them nodded.

Taren spoke again. "We've chosen to match with a clan in the Rainbowleaf League because we are willing to fight against those Firefangs. And we can only fight in the Genopet League if we are in a clan of the same League."

Dharene nodded. "And if one of us matches with the Firefangs, we will deny it."

The blue-haired man chuckled. "I hope you're aware that if you deny the clan you match with, you must serve as a prisoner of that clan."

Nira flinched. She exchanged glances with her friends.

"Yes, we knew that," Nira muttered. "But we were almost certain none of us would match with the Firefangs. And if we did, we wouldn't mind serving a few years as a prisoner. A few years as a Firefang prisoner would be much better than an entire lifetime as an official Firefang member."

The Rainbird next to the blue man gave a sneeze, though Nira was sure it was trying to disguise a laugh.

The blue-haired man grinned. "The Blood-Match is for Stray Clan humans only. And all Stray Humans are poor, tribal beings. Therefore, these Blood-Matches are free for you all. Those who run the Blood-Matches—such as myself—have to pay for the tests. So if a human takes a test and decides not to listen to the results, my money would be wasted, right? You'd have repay me by working in a prison camp of the clan you were matched with."

Nira and the three Stray Clan members exchanged glances.

Then Taren nodded at the man. "Like I said, we will take the Blood-Match so that we can live with a clan and fight the genopets that killed our birth-clan. If one of us matches with the Firefang Clan, that person will deny the test and shall willingly serve a few years in prison until the debt owed to you is paid off."

The corner of the blue-haired man's lip twitched. "Very well then. Please proceed. The rooms for the Matching are down this hall." He stepped aside so that they faced the waterfall behind him. The Rainbird by his side gave a squawk and aimed its tailfeathers at the waterfall, sucking in the pouring water into the dark-blue eye-patterns on its tail. Soon, the waterfall was gone, and the four Stray Humans were facing an open hallway. They thanked the blue-haired man and made their way inside. Nira held her breath as she heard the waterfall crashing down behind them after they crossed the opening and entered the hallway.

Taren held her head against his chest again. Nira managed to give a small smile. He always knew when and how to calm her nerves. "We've got this," he said in a smooth voice.

Nira closed her eyes, listening to his heartbeat again. It was throbbing much faster now. He was too excited.

Taren released her head and held her hand again. "Come on. We've got less than five minutes now."

Nira lifted her head and continued to fast-walk with Taren and the others. They rushed through a hallway full of digital paintings of the genopet species from Rainbowleaf League. Nira gazed to her left and glanced at the pictures hanging on the wall.

At first, she passed by a few digital images of crocodiles with bodies completely composed of rocks. Nira recognized them as the Rockodile species. Their mouths were wide open, revealing their sharp teeth, which resembled rock carvings. Some were surrounded by a circle of boulders and shiny rocks levitating above the ground, some were standing on all fours, surrounded by swirls of mud spiraling around their bodies.

Then they passed by digital images of yellow-furred leopards with white spots. But their bodies were almost a foot longer than a normal jaguar's. And if one looked closely, one would notice that their yellow fur was not real fur, but yellow grass. Their spots were not real spots; instead, they were white dandelions heads. Nira shuddered. Those dandelions were composed of sharp, tiny shards rather than soft, feathery specks. Such characteristics made their species known as "Dandeliopard."

The next set of images was a little less intimidating. They were two-foot-tall Rhesus Macaques. These monkeys didn't have anything intimidating about their features: they had flower stems as tails, with tulip heads at the tips. They were known as Tailips. However, like any man-made genopet species, these creatures had useful qualities for battles. Their tulips could secrete a myriad of substances, and such secretions could be toxic, therapeutic, or hypnotic. They were also able to release long, thorny stamens from their tulips to stab at their opponents or wrap them up until they suffocated. But they were one of the noisiest, most rambunctious, and troublesome species to train. She could almost hear screaming ringing in her ears after seeing so many images of their mouths stretched wide open, revealing their sharp, white fangs.

Nira barely paid attention to the images of the Rainbirds and the next species, the Elephantoms, which were small-eared elephants with white, transparent skin. Their trunks were made for releasing gusts of wind and summoning tornados, rather than releasing water. And she felt rather calm when they passed the images of Applelopes. Such beasts were just harmless-looking Antelopes with reddish-brown skin and apples growing off their ruby horns.

But Nira felt her blood run cold as she gazed at the next set of images they passed by. These were slender, scaly king cobras with the tips of their tongues shaped like tridents. Some tongues extended out to nearly half their bodies' length. They were capable of producing toxic substances with their tongues, and their venom could cause a variety of bizarre illnesses, from rashes the size of strawberries to minute-long vomiting. They were one of the deadliest species in the Rainbowleaf League.

But of course, Nira feared no species as much as the Firefangs. She looked away from the last set of images, unable to lay her eyes on the flame-pelted tigers. She couldn't bear to see the monsters that killed her entire clan. But soon, she caught up to Taren's side. His eyes were narrowed and focused, determined to match to a clan and fight those monsters. Soon, her fear turned to rage and she no longer felt the chilliness in her veins. I'll join one of the strongest clans in the League, and I will slay you all. Her angry thoughts rang in her head as she kept by Taren's side.

Finally, Nira, Taren, Dharene, and Gharry stepped into a room full of Stray Clan humans. Each of them had different hair colors, indicating that each were from different Stray Clans. All were arranged in ten columns, standing atop blue tiles.

"Finally we're here," panted Dharene, stroking her white ponytail as she gazed around the room with a nervous look on her face. She then turned to Gharry with a longing smile and batted her long eyelashes. She was waiting for a kiss.

Nira watched as Gharry bent over to press his thin lips against Dharene's. The thin man was almost an entire foot taller than her.

Nira bit her lip as she watched them engage in a long, indulging kiss. She turned to see that Taren was already pushing his way through the crowd, trying to find an open spot in the columns. Too bad Taren is in such a hurry. She would have loved to kiss him for hours.

When Gharry and Dharene finally parted lips, Dharene gave a quick sigh. "Well! I guess I'll find my spot in line now." She nodded at Gharry and Nira. "Good luck, you guys!"

Nira and Gharry watched as Dharene hurried away to the left side of the room. Nira looked up to see Gharry fixing his girlfriend with narrowed, suspicious eyes.

I bet he's worried about the results of this test too, she thought. If Dharene matches to a different genopet clan, it will be hard for both of them to see each other. Ugh, why did humans have to make different genopets hate one another? If the genopet species could tolerate one another, she wouldn't have to worry about cross-clan relationships.

Nira wished she could say something comforting to Gharry. But she barely knew him. Even though he was Taren's best friend, he had barely spoken a few words to her. As a matter of fact, Gharry had barely spoken to anyone. He spoke more than just a few sentences only when Taren was around, and he only cracked a smile when Dharene was by his side. Nira herself was nothing special to him.

So she huffed and simply said, "Good luck with your test."

For a moment, Gharry said nothing. Then he looked down to meet Nira's gaze. He was still frowning. But he gave a curt nod, and then replied in his low, quiet voice, "Good luck with yours."

  3. Taren

As soon as Taren found a tile in one of the columns, the lights in the room began to dim down. A masculine voice spoke.

"Welcome to the Rainbowleaf Blood-Match. I am your guide, Sir Banson. Please listen carefully to my instructions, for I will be briefly explaining the process of the Blood-Match."

The voice paused, emphasizing the silence in the room, and then resumed.

"First, you will undergo genetic screening. This will be recorded in your own personal profiles, which should already be stored in our systems after you registered. This genetic information will be used for the Transformation. Then you will proceed to the next room, where you will demonstrate your physical and mental abilities. Your performance in this room will determine which clan is right for you, and which genopets are most compatible with your physical and mental abilities.

"Right now, we will begin the genetic screening. Please stand still, face forward, and do not make a sound."

Taren stood straight. A beam of green light ascended from each tile beneath each human. Taren waited for about ten seconds before the green light finally descended back into the tile beneath his feet.

"Thank you for your brief patience," said Sir Banson's voice. "The genetic screening is over."

A few murmurs came across the room. Taren stifled a laugh. That was so short!

But the room silenced as soon as the doors in front of each column slid open. Taren arched his neck over the people in front of him. He saw that the inside of the room was filled with rows of cylindrical tubes, each of them opened at the top.

"Please proceed," said Sir Banson.

The candidates walked into the rooms. Taren walked forward and lay in his tube. "This is weird," he muttered. "I thought we were going to—"

Banson's voice interrupted, "Please lay down in your own cylindrical tubes. As soon as everyone is settled in their tubes, the simulation will begin."

Simulation? Taren winced. _So the whole test isn't even real?!_

Sir Banson continued to explain, "You will find yourselves in a virtual world where you will have your physical and mental abilities tested. Yes, this is a simulation only. It is the quickest and safest way to evaluate your abilities and get you matched to a clan. You will therefore find yourselves performing in a simulated world. However, take note of this: you will not remember anything about your performance in the simulated world. Everything that happens in this test will be completed erased from your minds once it's over."

"Why?" Taren frowned. "I'd like to know how well I did to deserve the clan I end up with."

But Sir Banson's voice continued as if he didn't hear him. "Now please lay back and relax. The simulation will begin in 60 seconds."

Taren huffed and lay down. He felt the blood rushing through his veins as he stared at the simulated figure hovering in the corner of the ceiling. It was a simulation of Hox, the forefather of all genopets. The creature was a four-foot long, black bug-like creature with the body of a praying mantis. Its eyes were purple and jellylike. Two, furry antennas stuck out from his head, and six furry legs hung from its body. All genopets were created with injected blood from this creature. Every genopet species had once started out as a normal, earthborn animal, powerless against the new forces of nature until humans had injected them with Hox's blood. Once Hox's blood had fused with the animals' blood, certain genes would be turned on and the animal would receive various powers that Hox possessed. Hox was therefore capable of using all the powers of every genopet in the world.

_Hox, help me and my clan-mates avenge the deaths of our birth-clan!_ Taren thought, narrowing his eyes at Hox. _Those Firefangs broke your law. I'll be sure to make them pay for it!_ The seven species of genopets in the Rainbowleaf League flashed through his head. Rockodile. Dandeliopard. Tailip. Rainbird. Elephantom. Cobrazor. Firefang. Any of them would be perfect, as long as they were not Firefangs.

Suddenly, the lid of his tube was closing in on him.

"Please remain calm," spoke Banson. "As soon as your tubes close, the test will begin."

Taren took a deep breath. _Alright, I'm ready for this._

The tube closed, and Taren felt himself drift off to sleep.

Taren's eyes shot open. He was staring up at the ceiling with the lid of his tube opened.

"Thank you for participating in the Rainbowleaf Blood-Match," spoke Banson. "You may now leave and proceed to the outside screen to see your scores."

Taren immediately sat up from a cylindrical tube. He couldn't remember a thing. His heart wasn't beating any faster, and his breathing rate was as normal as it had been before the simulation.

"Argh!" He jumped off the tube and gazed around, feeling dizzy. People were walking past him, some moaning and complaining about feeling nauseous.

He walked forward, following the crowd out the door, and then snapped into focus as he saw the crowd standing in front of a huge, flat screen displaying rows of names next to small shapes of each of the seven genopet species.

Taren flinched. _This must be the Matching!_

There were numerous shouts, laughter, and crying among the people in the crowd. Taren hurried closer, feeling his heart throbbing. He scanned the screen for his name, and then found it near the top of the fourth column. Next to his name was the genopet species he had matched with.

Taren's mouth dropped open. "Great Hox. You've got to be kidding me."

He had matched with the Firefangs.

Taren made his way down a long, winding escalator. His eyes were wide, and his mouth was slightly open. _This is ridiculous. I can't even remember what I had done to deserve this!_

As soon as he reached the bottom of the escalator, he made his way toward the door across from him. Room 480. He had to cancel this match. _The Firefanglish humans are going to hate me for being a former Frostfanglish. They have always regarded themselves as the superior tiger species._ The Firefangs had become jealous of the growing number of Frostfangs. The increasing snowstorms and blizzards were evidence that the Frostfangs were becoming stronger at controlling Mother Nature's natural disasters. The Firefangs decided to destroy them all before their snowstorms overwhelmed the jungle.

He pushed the door open and approached one of the men behind a silver counter.

"Excuse me!" Taren raised his voice. "Is this where I can cancel my—whoa!" He noticed the man behind the counter had crimson hair. He was a Firefanglish.

The man looked up from his computer and raised his eyebrows—his red, Firefanglish eyebrows—at Taren. "Hello, candidate. Are you here to match with a host-family in your clan?"

"Um, no," Taren spoke carefully. "I—I was looking for the room to cancel my match."

"Ah, you're in the wrong room then. Room 408 is where you cancel your matches, not room 480."

"Aw, nuts."

The man blinked. "May I ask why you'd like to cancel? It is very rare to have a candidate deny their match. It's been almost a decade since we had a denier."

Taren felt his cheeks warm up. "Oh, um, well . . . . have some personal reasons—"

"Wait, let me guess," the man rose from his chair and leaned forward so that his nose was a few inches away from Taren's.

Taren blinked and took a step back. "Um, sir—"

"You're a Frostfanglish, aren't you? And you got matched to the Firefangs?" The man smirked.

Taren gave a quick nod. "Yes. That's right."

"Ah, alrighty, hehe. I understand your reason then," he settled on his chair and crossed his arms. "You know, I wouldn't recommend denying a match with our clan. Our prison camp is one of the worst. Many prisoners die there, usually within the first month."

Taren swallowed. "Really?"

The man nodded. He turned to his computer, typed a bit, and then said, "I'm pulling up your profile now, and I see that you have an exceptional talent for battling. Your physical skills match those of an Advanced Rank Combatant in our clan. Oh! And your host-family has already been matched."

"Really?"

"Yep. Here, let me send it to your netphone." The man hit a button on his keyboard and then handed him a netphone, a hand-sized rectangular touch-screen. Taren saw an icon of an envelope. He tapped it and opened up the message to see a photo of a thin-faced lady with dark, crimson hair—the hair color of all Firefanglish humans. She had brown skin that was even lighter than his own.

"Kalani Tasmin," he read her name.

To her right was a tall boy with spiky hair that was the same crimson color as hers. "Bakur Tasmin."

Next to him was a juvenile Firefang named Jinjei, as well as a young girl named Molhi. She had red pigtails and looked no older than 12 years.

Then Taren looked his host-father and widened his eyes. "Whoa, wait a minute!" He gazed at the stark figure of a man with shiny, crimson hair and a flat, glistening mustache. "This—this is . . . . the Firefang Emperor." He read the man's full name: Afraz Ronhi Tasmin. Beside him was the Prime Genopet, Musaji. Taren widened his eyes. "My host-father is the Firefang Emperor?!"

The man gave a small smile. "His family volunteered to be hosts for the Blood-Match participants this year. Congratulations, candidate."

"Holy fire-cows!" Taren exclaimed, making a few heads turn to him. "I can't believe it. This is amazing." To live with the Emperor of a clan meant a life of luxury.

"Hehe," said the man. "And on a side note, our clan finished number 1 in the League in the past three Genopet League competitions. We've made it to the National League twice, and the International League once."

Taren stared at the photo on his new device, wide-eyed. "Wow. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all."

The man laughed. "Beats dying in our torturous prison camps, eh?"

"You bet."

The man sniggered. "Well, if you'd like to accept your match, you must go to the Transformation Room now. Your genes must be manipulated a bit so that you look and smell just like we do."

"Of course. Thanks a lot." Taren turned and raced out of the room, gazing around for any sign of Nira, Dharene, or Gharry. Then he stiffened. Nira. What would he say to her? The poor girl would be so shocked, she would freeze before his eyes once he told her what clan he had matched with.

Then he felt his netphone vibrate again. He turned to the device in his hand and saw that he was receiving a call from his host-mother. "Oh boy," he tapped the screen and spoke to the device. "Hello? Dame Tasmin?"

"Hello, my dear!" The thin-faced lady with curly red hair was facing him from his screen. "I was just picking up your little host-sister from a friend's house. I'll be there to pick you up right away so we can celebrate at your father's Lab." Every Emperor of a clan had his own Lab. It was where he modified all the genopets in his clan.

"Um, awesome," Taren bit his lip as he thought about Nira. His heart ached as he imagined her falling to the ground, unconscious with her skin white as snow. Perhaps he should rethink this . . . .

"Hello? Taren?" His host-mom's voice snapped him out of his thoughts.

Taren blinked. If he said no, he would have to serve as a prisoner. There would be no way he could make time to see Nira. He may even die from the agonizing work Firefang prisoners were forced to do. _Nira, please understand,_ he thought. _It's better that I accept my placement than be a prisoner of Firefangs. That way, I can at least make time to see you._ He took a deep breath and spoke to his host-mom. "I'll be in the Transformation Room. Can't wait to meet all of you."

He was going to train with the strongest clan in Rainbowleaf Jungle. The strongest clan meant the richest clan—all those Genopet League victories meant huge sums of battle money for the humans of the winning clan.

The man was right: this definitely was better than living a life as a prisoner.

Later that afternoon, Taren was gazing at his reflection on a shining window. His hair was no longer white, but now dark, crimson red. His light-brown skin had faded into a tan, sandy color. And though he couldn't tell, he knew he must smell differently now, at least toward the genopets.

He was sitting in a circular, flat-disc shuttle, on his way home to visit his host-father in the exotic, blazing terrain of the Firefang Clan territory. The shuttle zoomed through Rainbowleaf Jungle. Taren gazed over cities filled with gargantuan metallic trees that stretched several miles into the sky. Some were completely bare, covered with nothing but a shiny coat of paint, some had bushy clumps of branches covered with fruits that were being picked off the trees by genopets and their human masters, and sent to factories that were built on the very branches of the same tree. The branches of the tree-buildings were huge: many stretched far and wide, linking tree-buildings together so that people and their pets could travel from one tree-building to another.

And the metallic tree-buildings were not the only buildings in the territory. Occasionally, the tube of shuttles arched over neighborhoods of steel boulders that protruded two to five stories from the chrome-laden ground, and within the boulders were rooms of people and their pets. There were shiny doors of many different colors at the bottom of each boulder, and from time to time, people and their genopets would be seen entering and exiting their boulder-homes from the doors. People were either traveling on foot, along the chrome-laden roads with their pets, or soaring in the air tubes in the backs of their shuttles. They were either headed for the factories that were built along the branches of the enormous tree-buildings, or for the smaller tree-buildings that grew beside the chrome roads. Some even traveled into the skinny green, metallic stems of flowers that grew ten stories high. Such buildings were where pharmacists manufactured herbs and drugs for genopets and their human masters.

Then he watched as they entered a scorched land full of volcanoes, fiery buildings, and lava rivers. As he gazed at the sides of the volcanoes, he could see people riding flames or surfing on the flames of orange-pelted tigers with red, flaming stripes. They were in Firefang territory.

"Dang," he breathed as he watched a Firefang somersault into spiraling flames. "Can't wait to do that with my own genopet."

Molhi giggled next to him. "You need to undergo a Pairing Ceremony with a genopet before you can claim a Firefang as your own."

He turned to his host-sister. "Oh yeah? When is that?"

"In one week."

He flinched. "That's so soon. I barely got matched with this clan."

"Don't worry," said his host-mother as she turned the shuttle. "The Nursery building is located on the volcano right next to your father's. You can check out the young juveniles whenever you're ready."

They landed on the ledge of a golden volcano, and Taren jumped out of the shuttle to face the building before them. It was a great, shiny-red Lab. The home of his new host-father.

Afraz Tasmin stood in front, smiling proudly. Beside him was his Prime Genopet, Musaji, sitting with her head held high and her red stripes bristling with flames.

"Welcome to our clan, Taren!" He exclaimed, embracing Taren. "You'll make a great Firefang human master."

"Puh! Come on, dad, he's a frost-butt." Taren turned to see a boy with spiky, red hair surfing on flames down the volcano ledge. He recognized his host-brother, Bakur. He was shirtless. Taren noticed a minor trace of abs on his torso. He watched as he swiveled his surfboard and landed on the ledge beside Taren, giving him a smirk. "This is a former Frostfanglish guy, right? You said our new host-son was one of the four remaining Frostfanglish humans that we didn't get to kill."

"He was," Molhi said, flicking a spark away from her face. "But Transformation changed him. He's officially a Firefanglish like us now."

Emperor Afraz nodded. "Bakur, you behave around your new brother. If the Blood-Match matched him with our clan, then he's in the right place."

His older host-brother snickered. He grinned at him, revealing red gems on his teeth. "Come on, frost-butt. You think you're skilled enough to spend your life training the superior tiger species?"

"Hey!" Taren frowned. "Just because my clan wasn't in the Genopet League doesn't mean we were any less strong than you. If I could handle tiger genopets like the Frostfangs, I can totally ace my training with Firefangs."

A burst of flames erupted behind his brother. A Firefang jumped from the flames, landing beside him with its lips drawn back in a snarl.

"Hey, Jinjei," Bakur pet the sizzling beast and then nodded in Taren's direction. "Meet your new chew toy. He's one of the four survivors of the Frostfang Clan."

Jinjei let out a series of growls and snorts. Luckily, Taren had learned how to interpret hoxtongue—the genopet method of communication—and understood what the tiger was saying.

"Pathetic Stray Clan human," snorted Jinjei in his series of grunts. "You should be lying on a pile of dead Frostfanglish humans right now, roasting in the flames of Prime Musaji."

Prime Musaji sat still beside Emperor Afraz, though her eyes were glinting at Taren. A deep growl rumbled in her throat.

Taren clenched his fists. But before he could say anything, Emperor Afraz raised his voice.

"Bakur!" Afraz raised his orange, bushy eyebrow. "Why don't you and Jinjei battle some opponents and raise that winning streak of yours?" He nodded at the tiger by Bakur's side. "Jinjei sure looks like he's ready to tear some flesh."

Bakur's young tiger had his eyes fixed on Taren. The beast breathed out smoke and flames from his nostrils. As he began to grunt and growl, Taren deciphered the next message he was sending to him: _"Totally would love to tear the flesh of a human that once belonged to another clan."_

Taren frowned. He turned to his host-brother. "Geez, Bakur. Your pet is just like you: an obnoxious, hideous fleabag."

Jinjei let out a rapid series of roars. _"What did you call me?!"_ He opened his mouth to release a burst of flames.

Taren ducked as the flames flew over his head and crashed into the shuttle behind him.

"Goodness gracious!" Shrieked his host-mother. She whipped around to face Bakur. "You take your genopet away before he destroys anything else! I can't stand seeing anymore flames bursting around this place." She stomped passed them and headed into the Lab.

Taren's father chuckled and whispered in Taren's ear, "Just to warn you, your host-mother's responsible for her own burst of flames most of the time."

Taren laughed as he watched his mother open up the ruby doors of the Lab and stomp inside.

His father turned to face Bakur again. "Bakur, go and win some battles. I'd like to see you reach the Elite Rank by the end of this year." He turned to Taren. "Taren, you can come with me to visit the new juvenile Firefangs in the Nursery. It's a good idea to familiarize yourself with them before the Pairing Ceremony."

"Hah! Good luck, bro," Bakur smirked at Taren. "Trust me, stray dude. None of our Firefangs would ever wanna pair with a former non-clan member. Especially if you were a Frostfang."

  4. Nira

Nira woke up and found herself lying on a hot, moist ground. In her hand was a club.

Okay, so I'm guessing this is my weapon for this world.

She lifted up her head and realized she was inside a cave. I must be in the network of Rockodiles. The rocky walls were black and covered with mud. Sharp-pointed rocks jutted down from the ceiling.

Oh great. I'm stuck in a computerized world and I have no idea where to start.

"Eeeeoouuuu!" An eerie shriek echoed from a wide ovular hole in the distance. Nira sat up and wrapped her arms around her legs. She took a couple of deep breaths.

"Eeeeoouuuu!" This time, there were multiple shrieks. From the large, oval hole in the wall in front of her, a flock of tiny mud-furred bats, no longer than six inches, poured out of the opening. Nira was immediately surrounded by a swarm of sharp-fanged muddy beasts.

"Ahhh! Get away, get away!" Nira fell on her back, dropped her club. Her blood ran cold. She thrashed her arms and legs for a few seconds, and then found herself unable to move. Her blood was freezing. She had fallen into a state of total blood-freeze: her body was stiff and her skin was blank-white.

The bats squeaked and hissed, spitting slabs of mud from their wide-open mouths. She could feel their slimy mud-covered fur as hundreds of bats swarmed her face, arms, and legs to nip at her stiff, defenseless body. Her mind began to spin as she felt their teeth sink into her cold, snow-white skin.

The cave began to tremble. Soon, rocks fell from the ceiling and the walls began to cave in. The swarm of bats began to disperse, while some clung onto Nira's skin and sucked her blood.

Then a thunderous roar exploded the entire wall to her left.

Nira and the bats were thrown in the opposite direction of the moving wall, landing in a steaming pool of water.

"Urrrrrrrgh!" Nira squealed. She was unable to move her limbs and legs as she sank into the water. Lucky for her, however, the water was hot enough to warm her blood. She screamed as the hot water seeped into her wounds, and began thrashing like a puppy who couldn't swim.

The thunderous roar sounded once again, and a magnificent figure smashed its paws through the rocky wall. Through the dark shadows, Nira could see the figure of a ferocious rock-bodied crocodile. Rock-bodied, sixteen feet tall, and weighing almost a ton, the Rockodile was completely covered in steel. Its claws could extend as far as nine feet to dig its way through the thick soil at the deepest layers of earth. Nira ducked as long claws struck out from the tips of its paws. It was just a couple centimeters short from slicing her neck.

My weapon! I need my weapon! Nira had lost her only weapon in this forsaken virtual world.

The Rockodile let out another bellowing roar and shook the entire underground cave. Rocks started to collapse and the ceiling began to crumble. Nira grabbed onto a ledge behind her and heaved herself up on the rocky platform. She crawled into a hole in the crumbling wall, barely avoiding another slash from the Rockodile's extended claws.

Nira snaked her way through the small tunnel in the wall. Her mind screamed for her father, but she was unable to choke out any words.

Nira struggled to climb her way through the tunnel in the wall. A huge roar escaped from the Rockodile, and the entire wall began to shake. Nira barely managed to slip out of a hole at the other end of the wall before the entire wall collapsed. She looked over her shoulder. The rocks were levitating off the ground. The Rockodile had its arms outstretched as its dangerous, glowing eyes focused on the levitating rocks. Its claws struck out of its feet again, and immediately, the rocks all exploded into bits of sand.

Nira tumbled forward and fell off the cliff, landing on a soft, furry surface. Furry? She widened her eyes and lifted up her head. She had landed on the back of a sleeping groundhog genopet, which was no larger than an average-sized boar.

Except the groundhog was no longer asleep. It let out a tiny squeak and turned its head to blink its small eye-slits at the terrified Nira.

"Squeeeee!" The groundhog genopet returned her shocked expression and jumped up to its tiny feet. It dashed forward, carrying the screaming Nira up a stony ramp until it escaped from the underground cave. The little animal continued running across a flat, open landscape.

Nira looked up a.t a gray sky. Free at last!

She felt slightly relieved.

Then in a split second, the sky turned completely back. Two-dimensional square tiles, outlined in green, began to fill the dark, empty space. Eventually, a red-orange sky formed over the tiles.

Nira gasped. Her blood started to chill again, and her skin grew pale. Am I shifting into another network?

The running groundhog beneath her disappeared immediately, and she felt herself pause in midair. She fell to the ground and landed on her chin with a weak grunt.

She quickly lifted up her head, noticing how easy it was for her to get up. Wow! I must have my energy completely restored every time I shift into a new network! I guess that's something to look forward to.

Flames shot over her head, and she fell to her chin again.

Noooo! Not the network of Firefangs!

Fire balls fell from the sky, exploding as they hit the ground. Nira got up, only to whip around and cover her face as sparks and flames flew past her body. A fire ball had crashed several yards to her left.

"Aaaaach! Aaaaach!"

Nira looked up at the sound of flame-feathered crows. The birds soared through the sky with black flames covering their bodies. Nira looked at her right hand and realized she was holding a weapon again. Except this time, it was a flaming sword.

Oh, thank goodness. Now if only I could tame these monsters with this stupid thing. At least the air was warm enough for her to avoid blood-freeze. She glanced at the sphere at the top of her flaming sword, and then pointed it at the crows. A zap of purple light shot out from its tip, and hit one of the crows out of the sky. Nira watched with horror as it fell to the ground and disappeared. At the spot where it landed, a long-bodied, lizard-like genopet with eight arms and four wings emerged, fixing Nira with a menacing glare.

Nira stepped back and dropped her sword. As soon as the beast let out a piercing cry and released flames from its mouth, Nira turned to run, leaving her weapon behind once again.

Nira fared no better in the other networks. In the Rainbird network, she was swallowed by a whale genopet, and only managed to live because it spurted her out of its blowhole.

In the Tailipian network, she stayed up on a tree branch for half the time, refusing to do anything until a Tailip landed on the tree across from her. The genopet raised its arms and caused her tree's branches to thrash and whip at her with thorny vines.

And finally, in the Elephantom network, a tornado had swallowed her whip. She had to run from a herd of Elephantoms, empty-handed again. Then a horned owl grabbed her shoulders in its large talons and carried her up into the violent wind. She screamed and kicked until it released her three miles high in the air.

The turbulent wind had died down, so she was able to fall straight to the ground.

Nira opened her eyes and stared up at the ceiling. The lid of her cylindrical tube was open.

"Simulation's over," the female voice of the simulation guide sounded cranky. "Your results have been submitted. Please get up and exit through the door on your right. You can see your results on the screen outside."

Nira's head was spinning as she sat up. She looked around, watching through blurred vision as the other Stray Clan participants headed toward the exiting silver doors at the right of the magnificent room full of cylindrical tubes.

Ugh, what happened? I can't remember anything.

Nira sat up and slipped out of the cylindrical tube. She slowly stepped across the flat tiled floor, feeling dizzier. She looked at her arms. There wasn't a single scratch on her. Her white hair was still vibrant and stiff in a long, single braid—exactly the same condition as it was before she had fallen unconscious in the tube.

This kinda sucks. What if I did absolutely terrible with every genopet species? She grasped her long braid and squeezed it tightly. If I don't match with the same clan as Taren or at least one of the remaining Frostfanglish Clan members, I don't know what I'm going to do.

She made her way down the halls, passing by noisy Stray Clan members who were clustered with one another, shouting victoriously. She bit her lip and put a frown on her face.

They probably kicked butt in their tests, she thought crossly. They're all ready to join their League Clan. Well good for them. They're ready to train genopets that would set the paths for the rest of their lives!

Nira felt a cold tremor running down her spine. If she didn't score high enough to match with any of the seven genopet species, she wouldn't be able to obtain a genopet of her own. Without a genopet, she would be vulnerable to all the dangers out there in the wilderness that surrounded the human cities. She would be homeless, living on the streets of the cities, or in the outskirts of the dangerous wilderness.

Holding her breath, Nira turned around and looked up at the giant computer screen on the second floor. The names of all the test participants were listed to the left. To the right, another column displayed a small image of one of the eight genopet species in each League Clan.

At the bottom of the screen was a list of three names displayed in red letters. The three names in red print did not have a genopet symbol beside them, indicating that those particular participants had not scored high enough to match with a League Clan.

Nira bit her lip and looked for her name at the bottom. She could not find it.

Wait, have I been matched?!

Nira looked over the last three names in red letters again. Her name was not among them. Holding her breath, Nira raised her eyes and looked over the rest of the names. Then she finally found her own. "Nira Dharni." She shifted her eyes to the right column. The body of a Tailip appeared to the right her name.

Nira's eyes were wide open. _I've matched with the Tailip Clan._ But how?! She couldn't imagine herself taming those wild monkeys. Their flower tornados would easily swallow her before she could efficiently get any work done.

The guide's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Please proceed to room 480 to match with a host-family. If you would like to cancel your match, please proceed to room 408 and file a Blood-Match cancel request."

Nira took a deep breath. _Well, at least I didn't match with the Firefangs. There's not much I can do now, anyway._

After speaking to the Matchers in room 480, they handed her a netphone and told her to contact her family. She tapped the message icon on her netphone to see the photo of her new host-family. It was only a young man and his gray-furred, pink-faced Tailip. The genopet had a pink tulip sticking out from her bottom. But Nira was staring at the young man. He was wearing small, green-rimmed glasses and had green hair that hung to his jawbones. _He's kinda cute. That shiny-green hair really brings out the lime-green color in his eyes._ She read the man's name. Lahan Drahel. His Tailip's name was Bonnie.

"So this guy is 21 years old, and is an Elite Rank Combatant," she said to herself, narrowing her eyes. "Hmm, this should be interesting." She was barely 18, which was the age that all League Clan members underwent a Pairing Ceremony to pair up with a genopet and started training as Beginning Rank Combatants. At the end of every year, they could move up to the Standard, Advanced, or Elite Ranks, depending on how many battles they had won throughout the year.

"Ahem," the man in front of her cleared his throat. "Your host family will meet you in the waiting room in front of the Transformation Room, which is located at the end of this hallway."

Nira nodded. "Right. Thanks." She turned and headed out the room. Her blood ran cold as she walked down the hallway and faced the room at the end. She stared at the pair of closed doors, feeling her mind start to spin again. _Well, this is it. After this, I'll never be a Frostfanglish again._ She took a deep breath and pushed the doors open.

Nira stood behind the bathroom mirror, staring at her reflection with wide, unblinking eyes. The girl staring back at her was not the same girl she had always seen whenever she would gaze at her reflection in the water. The girl in the mirror had shiny, dark-green hair, dark-green eye-brows, and lime-green eyes. Nira ran her finger across the mirror, tracing the shape of her face. Her physical features were still the same: she was still the same skinny, thin-faced human with a height of five-foot-seven. But her light-brown skin was a little lighter. At this point, her genes were no longer the same as they were before. They were most similar to the genes of a Tailipian, not a Frostfanglish.

"Nira?"

Nira flinched and whirled around to face a young girl with sky-blue hair tied back in a ponytail that hung down to her waist. She let out a gasp.

"Dharene!" Her clan-mate no longer had the white hair and gray-blue eyes of a Frostfanglish. She was blue-haired, blue-eyed, and pale-skinned, just like a Rainbirdian.

Dharene let out a squeal. "Oh my gosh! Nira, we made it!" She gave her friend a tight hug. "We're League Clan Combatants now!"

"Now, wait a minute," Nira wriggled out of Dharene's embrace. "We didn't match to the same clan. Look at yourself, and look at me."

Dharene giggled and crossed her arms. "Like I said, we're not going to let clan differences destroy our birth-clan bonds. You, Taren, Gharry, and I are going to remain friends, regardless of the genopets we train and the clan we identify with."

"Taren and Gharry," Nira gasped. "Did you find them yet? Do you know what clans they matched with?"

"Haven't heard from Taren, but Gharry's actually just waiting for me outside!" Dharene took Nira's hand and pulled her toward the exiting doors of the bathroom. They turned to see the tall, gangly man waiting for them to their left.

"Ahh!" Nira jumped back. "Gharry, you're a..."

The tall young man turned his head to her and gave a frown. His eyes were still gray-blue, but his sleek, finely-combed hair was a faded gray.

Nira finished her sentence. "You've matched with the Elephantoms."

"Hmph," was all Gharry replied.

Dharene stood by his side and took his hand. The differences in their hair, skin, and eye colors made the two of them look like an awkward couple. Nira wondered how crazy she and Taren were going to look when they were seen together after today.

"Well, I think we should find our host families now," said Dharene with a sigh. "I got a text from mine, and they're waiting for me in the Rainbird section of the waiting room."

Nira huffed and slipped out her new device. The three of them exchanged numbers, and then made their way to the waiting room. Nira bit her lip at the sight. There were small clusters of people sitting at different areas in the room. Each cluster consisted of humans that all bore the same hair and eye color, with the same genopets accompanying them.

Nira's heart ached as she bid farewell to Dharene and Gharry before they parted ways and headed to find their new families. She looked around the room, biting her lip. There was no sign of Taren.

"Nira Dharni?" A young man's voice sounded behind her. She turned to see a man with round, green-rimmed glasses and shiny-green hair hanging down to his jawbones. A Tailip with a pink tulip-tail was settled on his shoulder.

"Oh," Nira turned to face him. "Lahan Drahel?"

"Yes," the young man smiled. He grabbed her right hand and gave her a hearty shake. "Welcome! Bonnie and I are going to love to have a new Combatant in the house. I just moved outta my parent's home after I became an Elite Combatant this year, so I wouldn't mind the extra company," he gave her a wink.

Nira blushed and gave a meek smile. "Good for you. Thanks for taking me in."

The Tailip on his shoulder gave a snort. "Hmph! She smells like she took a bath in a sea of urine! You sure you underwent complete Transformation?"

Nira flinched. She faced the genopet and watched as Lahan flicked her shoulder with his long, thin figners.

"Bonnie!" He scolded. "This is a former Stray Clan human. She's probably never bathed her whole life."

Nira frowned. It was true that Stray Clans lived like tribal humans with their genopets defending them from new diseases and new natural disasters. They had no money, because they never trained their pets to fight other clans and win any monetary awards.

But Bonnie flicked her tail and twitched her ears. "Her sanitation has nothing to do with her stench! It's her fear—it smells like urine and sour feces!"

"I'm sorry," muttered Nira, looking down. "I-I haven't been myself around genopets ever since that incident with my clan."

"Ah, yes, you were a former Frostfanglish," Lahan was nodding. "Well, I'm terribly sorry for what the Firefang did to you. But don't worry. Our Tailips are one of the smartest genopets in this League. Let's get you back to our territory and I'll show you all the available juveniles for you to pair with!"

Nira found herself sitting next to the young man in the front seat of his silver-gray shuttle, flying through a territory of golden trees that reached up to heights of several-thousand feet. The tree trunks and branches so incredibly thick that hundreds of people and Tailips were walking across the branches, traveling from tree to tree, branch to branch. Buildings of all shapes and sizes were located on many of the huge branches. Some were located on the giant thorns of mile-tall flowers, or on the leaves of giant bushes and thickets.

Lahan was introducing all the different places to her, pointing out the names of all the cities they passed by on the branches, leaves, and thorns. He reminded her that the first Tailipian Emperor genetically modified the Rhesus Macaques, giving them the ability to control the growth of plants, trees, and anything that grew from earth's natural resources.

Then he landed the shuttle on a branch where a silver mansion was settled.

"You live in a mansion?" Nira gasped. This was so unlike the tribal lifestyle she had grown up with.

"Yep," said Lahan. "Welcome to Tailipian territory!"

Nira lay in a soft canopy made from moss and smooth, hand-sized leaves she had never seen before. She stared at the leaf-covered ceiling of her room, unable to fall asleep. Her eyes were focused on the simulated figure of Hox in the corner, and gave a heavy sigh. Seeing the forefather of genopets reminded her about how much the earth had changed. Now, new forces of nature threaten the prosperity of man and animal.

It all started when an excess of radioactive material had leaked into the earth's core. The coalescence of radioactive substance and the earth's core changed the way nature worked and caused new plants, chemicals, and resources to emerge across the planet. With the new chemicals and resources, new diseases and new natural disasters began to emerge. And with the new changes in environment came changes in the creatures that dwelt in it. A peculiar insect, known as Hox, was the first living organism to have been born from the strange radioactive mixture in the earth's core. He therefore possessed all the new powers that would shape the new resources, regions, diseases and natural disasters that emerged from the radioactive mixture: he could trigger new rainstorms, summon various types of fire, stir up tornados, manipulate all new weather conditions, and cure all the new, deadly diseases that resulted from the new disasters and resources.

A mysterious scientist named Dr. Z was the first to discover this strange insect. After carefully analyzing Hox's DNA, Dr. Z discovered he could incorporate his genes into other earth-born animals and create additional species of powerful beasts that would regulate earth's new natural forces, heal the diseases brought upon by the new resources, and protect the civilizations of humankind. Thus, by incorporating Hox's blood into the blood of different types of animals, Dr. Z created numerous new species of artificial beasts. These beasts became known as "genopets." Their existence altered the natural environment and brought significant changes to the lifestyles of mankind.

As a result of Dr. Z's creation, different races of humans were assigned to train a specific species of genopets. Humans races thus became segregated into their own "clans," so each clan lived in harmony with the particular genopet species the clan was assigned to train. Hence, each species of genopets became vital sources of human progress and sustenance: each species was trained to regulate the natural conditions of the world. Some were responsible for shaping the lands, controlling the climate, or providing human families with food, water, shelter, and electricity.

All species are thus the sole contributors to the advancement and prosperity of each individual human race.

Or were they?

Nira hated how man had made genopets the way they were. Sure, it was wonderful that they were made to protect the humans from all the new diseases by regulating natural disasters brought upon by an evolving Mother Nature. But there was nothing wonderful about how each genopet species was made to hate one another. Dr. Z gave away Hox's blood samples to different Emperors, but each blood sample had certain genes turned on, which was why the Emperor of each clan could only genetically engineer a specific genopet species with a specific set of powers. And each of those species was made to loathe the scent of other genopets, to loathe the scent of the human race that was made responsible for the creation of the other species. It was man's way to provide opportunity for competition among other races, to provide opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of one's individual identity.

These genopets were thus slaves to their natural habits of hating one another, but ironically, the possession of such natural habits were not because nature made them that way, but because man had made them that way.

Nira turned away from the simulated figure of Hox. She didn't want to think about this anymore. She buried her face in her pillow of white flower-petals and white feathers. She inhaled the sweet scent, and suddenly, she felt at ease. She finally drifted off to sleep.

" _Wake up, lazybones!"_

Nira woke up and faced Bonnie, hanging from a stamen that extended from her tulip tail and attached to the leaves on the ceiling.

"Ahh!" Nira flinched and rolled to the right. She landed on the floorboards with a thump.

" _Breakfast is ready,"_ spoke the Tailip in a series of grunts and guttural sounds. "You should feel privileged I bothered to cook anything for you. It's totally against our nature to be nice to non-clan members like you, even if you did transform your race."

Nira mumbled under her breathe as she watched the Tailip swing her way out of her open doorway and land on the ground to scurry away on her feet and knuckles. Bonnie, you're nothing but a rude, bawdy ball of fur. Like all Tailips were made to be. Before she stepped out of her room, she gazed at her reflection. She frowned at her dark, shiny-green hair, her dark-green eyebrows, and lighter-brown skin. She still couldn't get over the fact that she was completely a pureblood Tailipian now. I sure don't feel like a Tailipian. I'm not nearly as extraverted and hyperactive as the human masters in this clan.

At the breakfast table, Nira was scowling at her green pancakes. Yech. I should have told Lahan how much I hate lime-flavored pancakes. She looked up and watched the Tailip stir a giant bowl of flour while her pink tulip-tail hovered over the bowl, sprinkling green dust and pollen from the tulip. Nira winced in disgust as Bonnie lowered her tail to allow a green fluid to ooze from the stamen of her tulips. Then she mixed the bowl again, turning the flour green.

Lahan was sitting in front of her with his back turned to watch the genopet. "Ah, Bonnie, my dear," the young man pressed his glasses against his face and peered down at the bowl. "Be sure to add in some sap-syrup when you get those cakes on the stove. I love my breakfast with extra flavor."

Bonnie looked over her shoulder and glared at the man. She gave a snort. "Whatever," she spoke in a series of grumbles. But she did as she was told. She picked up the two bowls and dumped the green flour on the stove, allowed them to cook, then dumped the pancakes onto chrome-laden plates. Then she opened her mouth and choked out a spurt of brown, sticky substance onto both plates.

"Ah, splendid!" Lahan beamed at the green pancakes and turned to his genopet. "Bonnie, what would I do without you?"

Bonnie snorted. "You'd scavenge until an acid-hurricane swallowed you up." She turned to hop away on her feet and knuckles, mumbling under her breath.

Nira scrunched her face as Lahan set down a plate of two green, sap-covered pancakes.

"So!" Lahan took a bite out of his pancake and watched as Nira poured a cup of yellow-green sap-syrup over her pancakes. "I know I'm supposed to be what they call a 'host-family,' but I'm not sure how you'd like me to refer to you. We're definitely not too far apart in terms of age, so you definitely couldn't be considered my host-daughter. But I can definitely call you a host-sister, if that's alright with you...unless you're fine if I refer you as my host-wife."

Nira instantly dropped the entire cup of sap syrup over her plate. She stared at Lahan with widened eyes. "Uh, no thanks. I think I'd prefer it if you just called me your host-sister."

Lahan smiled and nodded. "Fine with me. I understand it would be awkward to call a complete stranger like me your host-husband anyway."

"Not only that," said Nira, looking to her side. "I'm also dating someone anyway."

"Oh, right. There were three other Frostfang survivors too, weren't there?"

Nira nodded, feeling her cheeks start to burn. When she didn't say anything, Lahan gave another nod and said, "Anyway, the Nursery is open all today, since next week is the day for the Pairing Ceremony. Anyone aged 18 and older will get to become an official Combatant Pair with one of the juvenile Tailips in the Nursery, so whenever you're ready, we can stop by for a visit."

Nira turned and looked down at her pancakes. The cup was sitting on them, tipped on its side with all the sap splayed over the entire plate. She completely lost her appetite. "I'm ready," she said, picking up the cup and setting it aside. "Tell Bonnnie I'm sorry for wasting her breakfast." She gave a sigh, feeling ashamed of herself. "I'll promise to eat anything she cooks, as long as I don't have to watch her make it."

Lahan flew Nira to another tree branch where an enormous pyramidal building stood near the trunk. They entered the building, and Nira looked around to see that the entire room was covered with grass. There were small trees growing here and there. Each was filled with families of Tailips, some of them full-grown, juvenile, or newborns. Many of them had a different colored tulip-head at the tips of their stem- tails. Some had more thorns on their tails than others.

She stiffened, thankful that Bonnie hadn't come along with them. "Lahan, you'll have to excuse me, but I'm still a little shaky around genopets ever since...you know."

"No worries," said Lahan, smiling at a pair of young green-tulipped monkeys squirting each other with a gooey white substance from their tulips. "Look around, and I'm sure you'll find a genopet you're compatible with."

"Hey lookie here!" Nira turned to see a juvenile Tailip with a black-andwhite tulip-tail swinging on a branch of a nearby tree to her right. He was facing Nira with a smirk on his pink face. "I think this human's scared. I sure hope she doesn't pick me."

Nira felt something hit her back. She turned and let out a scream. One of the monkeys had thrown poop at her. She looked up to see a tree full of cackling juvenile monkeys with white tulip-tails.

"You smell like a sick monkey just peed on you!" Shouted one of the Tailips in a series of high-pitched cries and snorts. "Go roll in some fresh poo, and you'll smell less like a rotten Tailip's urine!"

And the rest of the white-tulipped monkeys cracked up in laughter.

"Ugh!" Nira grabbed a nearby towel from a rack and wiped the poop. Only to realize that the towel was covered in pee. "Dammit!" She threw the towel on the ground, ignoring the wave of laughter from the monkeys behind her. "Lahan, I can't do this!"

Lahan, who was cooing and shaking hands with one of the younger Tailip children, turned and raised his eyebrows at her. "Nira, are you alright?" He turned and grabbed a clean towel and wiped the smeared feces off her shoulder. "I'm sorry. If you'd like, you can just wait until next week until the Pairing Ceremony begins. You probably just need some time to settle in and get over your fears before you expose yourself to so many genopets."

Nira nodded, covering her ears as the Tailips' laughtered loudened in the room. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Unfortunately, the week passed by way too fast, and Nira found herself in a worse position than before. She was standing in a crowd with other green-haired, green-eyed humans. Most of them were 18-year-olds. All were standing on a branch of a great, golden tree, facing a golden, castle-like building. It was the Emperor's Lab. A burly, middle-aged man with wild green hair was standing at the top of his Lab. It was Emperor Muktar. He was accompanied by his Prime Genopet, Geoffrey, a stern-faced Tailip with a white tulip tail. Nira swallowed. She wondered if that monkey was related to any of the white-tulip creatures that laughed at her in the Nursery.

The man spoke in a voluminous voice that echoed from the speakers across the tree.

"Good morning, Tailipians!" Boomed the man. "I hope you all are ready to pair with your new companions. The entire Pairing Ceremony shall take no more than two hours. During the first half-hour, you are to swing through the canopies of my tree with the juveniles that are ready to be paired. Once you feel like you've found a Tailip that seems content with you, swing back to this spot, right here in front of my Lab where you are all standing right now. When the 30 minutes are up, all humans and genopets must leave the upper canopies of my tree and return here. If you are not paired with a genopet, you must wait until next year to pair with another pet."

Nira swallowed. She looked up and saw the juvenile Tailips swinging in the upper branches. As soon as Emperor Muktar shot his gun, the humans dispersed, grabbing vines to swing up to the canopies and upper branches to join the monkeys. Nira was among the last humans to grab a vine and swing herself up. She landed on a branch, nearly slipping off as she stood up to her feet.

"Crap, how am I supposed to do this?" She gazed around to see all the humans and Tailips swing from branch to branch, from canopy to canopy. She ducked as a trio of white-tailed monkeys swung over her, screaming taunts at her.

She turned to grab a vine and swing to the lower branches where it was less crowded. But suddenly, her vine snapped and she fell down on a pile of rotten, mushy leaves.

"Ew!" She sat up and looked up at the branches to see that a white-tulipped monkey was waving its tail everywhere, whipping the stamen from his tulip everywhere to chop off numerous vines that hung around him. Many humans were falling from their vines, thanks to this monkey.

Nira huffed. At least she wasn't the only one. She watched as the troublesome little monkey leapt onto the shoulders of humans, nipping at their ears. He wrapped four bodies with the stamen that extended from his tulip, and threw their bodies across the branches. _Hou-ha!_ He beat his fists in the air, letting out high-pitched screams.

Nira bit her lip. That was the same white-tulip monkey that had thrown poop at her in the Nursery. She turned to crawl away. She hid in a corner of the branch, beneath a giant leaf and shut her ears and eyes to drown out the noise.

It wasn't until moments later that she heard a loud yowl from Prime Geoffrey.

"Return to the Lab!" Called the Tailip through the speakers hidden in the branches. "We will begin the Pairing Ritual in five minutes!"

Nira crawled from under the giant leaf and gazed down at the lower branches below her. Most of the humans were already down with a Tailip on their shoulder.

"Shoot," she muttered to herself. "Are there no more juveniles left?"

Something whipped her head. She looked up to see a small, skinny juvenile crouched on the branch above her.

"Wipe that silly look off your face!" Said the Tailip in a series of high-pitched shouts. "You're stuck with me now."

Nira noticed the white tulip at the end of his tail. She immediately recognized this was the same monkey that was throwing the humans everywhere and cutting off their vines. "Oh, Great Hox," she said through clenched teeth.

"Name's Quentin!" Said the Tailip.

Nira crossed her arms. "Nice to meet you, Quentin," she spoke in a sarcastic tone. "I'm Nira. And you probably don't want to pair with me. I'm having a hard time controlling my fears, so—"

"Exactly!" Said Quentin. "That's why I made sure no human paired up with me during this round. I wanted to make sure I paired up with you."

"What? Why?"

The Tailip snickered. "If I'm partnered with a weak, fearful human like you, I'll get to have all the freedom I want when I'm battling. I won't have to worry about being ordered around by a bossy, stingy human."

The Tailip leapt down the branches, and then looked up to see her staring down at him.

"Why are you still standing there? Do you wanna be disqualified from the Ceremony until next year?" He aimed his tulip tail at her and the stamen extended. Nira screamed as the stamen immediately wrapped around her body and yanked her down. Quentin dragged her through the branches as he leapt down toward the Emperor's Lab.

Three days later, Lahan was flying Nira and her new genopet to the Rainbowleaf battlegrounds. Unfortunately, Nira had insisted Quentin be kept in a cage while they were in the shuttle. The little monkey had made a huge mess in Lahan's house, breaking through the windows and throwing household items everywhere.

"I swear to Hox," the monkey was shaking the bars of his cage and kicking at the latch. "I'm a genetically modified beast who can grow the best plants you humans could ever ask for. I don't deserve to be cooped up in this terrible excuse for a home!" The white petals of his tulip opened, releasing a cloud of pollen that swept through the entire shuttle.

"Quentin, stop it!" Nira held her nose and waved the dusty green air. She turned to Lahan beside her. "Lahan, I don't think I'm ready for this. Quentin was one of the most troublesome macaques in the Nursery!"

Lahan chuckled. "You know, you should feel lucky to be his human master. Quentin is one of Prime Geoffrey's sons, and hundreds of 18-year-olds at the Pairing Ceremony wanted to pair with him. But he chose you."

"Yeah, you should feel privileged, missy," Quentin crouched. "If you're not willing to take care of a pet like me, you can always give me back to the Nursery and resume the rest of your life without a genopet to win you some cold, hard cash."

Beside his cage, Bonnie sat with her arms crossed. "You'd also make yourself vulnerable to all the deadly diseases and natural disasters out there."

Nira rolled her eyes. "Ugh! It's so stupid how I have to depend on a genopet to sustain a living! All the genopets in my former clan are all dead, and the only way I can continue to live a normal life with appropriate living conditions is to find new genopets to train. But now I have to train my monstrous pet to hurt other monsters in order to earn any money!"

Lahan sighed. He turned the shuttle to the left and spoke in a calm tone. "Nira, genopets are not monsters. They are partners that stay loyal to their human masters for life. Those genopets that killed your parents were a different matter. They were raised by reckless humans who desire nothing but power."

Nira narrowed her eyes and looked away. "Don't remind me," she growled through clenched teeth.

"Puh..." Quentin crossed his skinny arms and tilted his head. "And who's gonna be the hero who defends you from those stinky fire-kitties?"

Lahan was nodding as his eyes were fixed on the pathway within their air tube. "He's right, Nira. Mother Nature has changed and there are all kinds of new diseases, disasters and chemicals out there. Only genopets can control the disasters and protect us from the diseases. We need them to sustain ourselves, to heal us and and protect us from such dangers, so that we can continue to live normal, civilized lives."

"Dang, would you look at that," Quentin was gazing out of the window on his right as Lahan flew the shuttle out of an opening in the side of the air tube. The Rainbowleaf Battle Grounds was sectioned into seven territories separated by tall gates made of gold-coated wood. Each of the seven sections covered several acres of land. The trees surrounded the entire battle ground area, and at the center was a lake. An island where the Genopet League Arena was located in the middle.

There were trees surrounding the borders of all the Battle Grounds, and they had most unnatural structure Nira had ever seen. Their trunks were completely vertical rectangular prisms, reaching almost half a mile into the sky. Jutting out from each of the four sides were bare branches, each of them shaped exactly like horizontal rectangular prisms. Some rectangular branches were jutting out of other rectangular branches, so that some areas on the tree looked like a network of up-and-down and left-and-right black branches clustered together.

Lahan parked the shuttle on the branches of one of the bordering trees. "Alright, here we are." He turned to face Nira with a smile. "Bonnie and I are going to meet with the other Elite Combatants in our rank at the Gathering Tree for Elite Rank Orientation. Since you're a Beginning Combatant, your orientation will be on another branch of the Gathering Tree, but we can go find it together."

Nira nodded, gazing out of her window to see shuttles landing on the various bordering trees around them. Many humans of different hair colors were exiting with their own genopets accompanying them. "Yeah, you should come with me. The last thing I need is to bump into a Firefanglish human and get my head burned off by their tiger."

She held Quentin's rattling cage tightly in her arms as she followed Lahan across the branches of the tree. As they crossed many bridges and staircases that linked the trees, Nira looked around, feeling goose-bumps on her skin. "Everyone here looks like they fit into their clans," she muttered. "I don't know how I'm supposed to fit in with my clan if I can't control my fear around genopets." She took a good look at all the Beginning Combatants in the crowd around her. 18-year-olds accompanied by juvenile Rainbirds had aquamarine hair color, many of them dressed in shiny, satin vests with scaly leggings. Those with Rockodiles had brown hair with steel outfits. Those with the dreaded Firefangs had red hair, with tight orange-white suits, or blazing jackets and sports clothes. Those with Elephantoms had faded gray hair that flashed in the dimly lit room. Many wore dresses made of feathers, or simple gray or white robes.

Finally, they stopped on the branch of a tree in front of the tallest, widest tree Nira had ever seen. The Gathering Tree. Hordes of humans and their genopets were at the base, climbing up different sets of stairways that led to different branches of the tree.

"Well," Lahan gave Nira a pat on the shoulder. "Bonnie and I are going to find the branch where Elite Rank Orientation will begin. Good luck with your first day of training! If you ever need anything, you have my netphone number."

Nira watched as the slick-haired young man made his way across the bridge that linked their tree branch to the third-level tree branch on the Gathering Tree. She suddenly felt very alone.

"Puh," Quentin scoffed, gazing at the humans and genopets below. "Where are all the Tailips? All these different species are making this place smell like dung. Despicable." The petals of his tulip flapped, releasing a sweet scent around him and Nira. "I can't wait to blow these yellow-bellied buffoons outta my sight."

"Ugh, well save your pollen for training!" Complained Nira, stifling a sneeze from the extra-sweet aroma. "I don't want to catch a cold before we start training."

Quentin was screaming and shouting monkey cries at all the passing pets, banging at his cage and squirting gooey, green substances from his tulip-tail.

"Quentin!" Nira jolted his cage again. "Did you just hear me?! I could tranquilize you right now!" To her relief, Lahan had shown her how to use the tranquilizer app installed on her netphone. All humans of League Clans could use it on their genopets whenever they got out of control.

Quentin squirted purple goo at a passing Firefang walking beside her master. The great cat snarled back at him. Flames burst from her red stripes, and she exhaled flames in his direction.

Nira screamed and jumped aside. "Quentin, please...if you wanna pick a fight with another genopet, don't pick the Firefangs."

"I'm sorry," huffed Quentin, crossing his arms. "It's just that every time I smell another species, I hear Mother Nature's voice in my head, speaking to me in this really scary tone."

"You hear voices in your head?" Nira gazed at her monkey.

He nodded. "It just naturally happens. Once I hear that voice, I am automatically driven to attack the species that I'm smelling. It's something I can't control. Mother Nature's voice is like the software in me, and I'm the hardware, a slave to my natural habits."

Nira huffed. "Well, I'm sorry about that. It's our fault you're made that way, not Mother Nature's."

Suddenly, there was a loud splash. Nira looked over her shoulder and noticed that there was a big pool of water beside the bordering trees. A flock of Rainbirds were flying toward her. Four young women, all of them tall, thin, and dressed in the same identical blue-white short-dresses, were riding the swirling waters that poured down in winding directions from the tailfeathers of their birds.

Nira's heart dropped. Dharene was among those. She watched as Dharene leapt off the swirling waves, did a flip in the air, and skidded across a wave of water that another Rainbird released from its wide spectrum of tailfeathers. She rode the wave and then landed on the ground. The four older girls landed behind her. Nira guessed they must be her host-sisters.

Nira wasn't surprised to see how fancy Dharene looked after her Transformation. Her former clan mate's hair was sky-blue, tied into three swaying ponytails that hung down to her waist. She wore a blue-white tank-top and mini-skirt, exposing her long, slender legs and sylphlike arms. Sapphire bracelets and anklets sparkled around her wrists and ankles, and her sapphire earrings dangled three inches below her ears. Silver bobby-pins dotted her hair so that her entire head was dazzling. Her host family must be rich. Anyone who wore that much jewelry must have an exceptionally powerful genopet in the family, one that was victorious in countless battles.

Nira bit her lip and looked at her feet. She suddenly felt intimated by the stunning beauty of her friend. Then she looked up again and watched Dharene and her noisy, giggling older sisters walk up the stairs to the first branch of the Gathering Tree. A group of shirtless blue-haired boys, each accompanied by juvenile Rainbirds, accompanied Dharene and her sisters and joined in the noisy laughter. Even Dharene seemed to be content as she, too, engaged in the laughter and chatter among her host-sisters and the numerous young men.

Dharene sure looks like she's already well-adapted to her clan...and she hasn't even started training yet!

Feeling lonesome and isolated without her childhood friend, Nira made her way to the same staircase that led to the first branch of the Gathering Tree. She clenched her teeth, frowning as she passed through a sea of staring students and genopets. She stepped onto the first branch, and then looked around. There were elevators that led up to the different levels of branches in the tree. The trunks and branches were coated with gold. On the trunk was a screen displaying a map of the tree. The orientations for Beginning, Standard, Advanced, and Elite Ranks were marked on the maps. Nira analyzed the map for a moment, and found that the Beginning Rank Orientation was on the fourth-level branch on the east side of the tree.

Nira huffed and hurried down her branch toward a set of escalators, and then crashed into a tall, stiff figure.

"Oof!" She stumbled back and fell on her bottom.

"Heh?" The tall figure turned and narrowed his eyes. Nira stared back at a tan-skinned young man with spiky, red hair. "Hey, I've seen you before. You're dating my baby host-brother, aren't ya?"

"Huh?!" Nira widened her eyes. She had been unable to hear from Taren every since the Blood-Match. _Oh no...please don't tell me he matched with..._

The spiky-haired Firefanglish was surrounded by a gang of two other Combatants from the Firefang Clan. One was a huge, muscular boy with wild, red hair and a tall, skinny girl with long, red hair. Each was accompanied by their Firefangs, although they seemed much older than juveniles. Nira guessed they must not be Beginning Rank Combatants.

Quentin let out a scream and grabbed the bars of his cage, shaking violently. "Great Hox! Y'all smell like gas and burned poo. Better back off before I spray y'all with poisonous purple pollen!"

The muscular boy stepped forward with a smirk on his face. "Ooh, feisty little twerp." He bent down to peer at the cage in her hands.

"I'll set him free if you don't step out of my way," Nira threatened, glaring at the three Firefanglish Combatants.

The spiky-haired boy threw his head back. "Hah! Go ahead. Jinjei and I are in the Advanced Rank. Jinjei will kill him with one swipe," he petted the bristling tiger by his side.

Quentin released a squirt of purple goo in the boy's eyes. "Argh!" He flinched back, holding his eye. The tiger by his side let out a roar and released fire in Nira's direction, making her duck and fall on her bottom again.

"How dare you!" The boy growled. "I'm the Firefang Emperor's son. Strike me like that again and you'll be a snack for our Prime Genopet."

Nira's heart skipped a beat. The heat given off by the Firefangs almost didn't stop her from going into a state of blood-freeze again. This was the son of Emperor Afraz? And Taren was his host-brother?!

She watched as the three of them gave her dirty looks before turning their backs and walking down the branch.

Nira eyed them as they disappeared into the crowd. She was just about to mutter curses about them when she heard the sound of snarling in the distance.

"Oh great..." she muttered. She turned to see a juvenile Firefang racing up to her.

"Hey! Raju, get back here!" A familiar voice sounded in the distance.

Nira looked up and felt her heart race with excitement, only to have it overwhelmed with horror. It was Taren. He was dressed in a tan shirt with blood-red sleeves and an image of a red spiral of flames at the front. His pants were red-orange. His floppy hair was no longer white, as it had been when he had flipped it on that first day they had met. Instead, his hair was blazing red. His eyes were emerald green, no longer gray-blue.

Nira was horrorstruck. It was true. He really was a Firefanglish now.

"Raju, stop!" The boy grabbed the fiery tiger by the tail as soon as it released a burst of flames from its mouth. Nira screamed and ducked, but as Taren grabbed his tail, the flames escaped and the young tiger started roaring and wriggling.

"Argh! Taren, let me go at once!" The tiger let out a series of growls and grunts.

"Save all your fireballs for training, Raju," Taren let go of his pet's tail and stood straight. He met Nira's gaze and smiled coolly. "Sorry 'bout that, Nira. Raju's very excited!" He held out a hand and helped her stand up.

Nira huffed and brushed her green skirt. "Don't worry about it. I'm fine." She looked up and narrowed her eyes. "I'm more frustrated with the fact that you didn't even wait around to exchange numbers with me after the Blood-Match. You couldn't even tell me what clan you got, or that you decided not to deny Firefang membership!"

"Sorry," he said, blushing. "I was so occupied. My new host-family was really excited to get to know me, so I've spent the entire past week with them, touring around the Firefang territory and trying out all the awesome sports they do with the Firefangs." He gazed at her with a raised eyebrow. "But hey, sorry about my stupid older brother." He narrowed his eyes down the branch where the spiky-haired boy and his friends had disappeared. "That was Bakur Tasmin, the obnoxious son of the Firefang Emperor. He's also my new host-brother. He and his pet, Jinjei, are Advanced Combatants, but my father is pushing them to make it to the Elite Rank by the end of this year. Zeke—the big buff dude— and the girl, Tahlia Nazir, are his buddies." He gave a shrug. "But don't worry about them! We're here too, so that means we're going to become strong as well. Definitely stronger than they will be!"

"Well, I hope so," all the anxiety had vanished in Nira. She was clutching Quentin's cage as tightly as she could. The monkey was screaming and beating his fists at the bars of his cage, trying to squirt purple goo at Raju, who dodged his attacks and roared back taunts. Nira huffed and kept her eyes on Taren. "I'd sure love to see Quentin poison Bakur or squirt sap in his mouth."

Raju growled and crouched. "Bakur's pet didn't look so tough. I can easily burn his butt!"

Taren laughed. "Nira, why is your pet in a cage?"

"'Cause your girlfriend's a coward, that's why!" Said Quentin, jumping around his cage.

Taren laughed. "Nira, your genopet's gonna have a hard time protecting you if you keep it cooped up in that cage."

Nira gave him a sideways smile. "Don't worry. After meeting your brother, I don't feel scared to let him out." Her cheeks were burning with rage. But looking at Taren, her heart sank. "I just can't believe you're one of them too. Why didn't you deny? I thought we all agreed to file a cancel request if we—"

"Nira, I would have canceled my matching if I wasn't adopted by the Firefang Emperor. Come on, if you're gonna live with an Emperor of an entire clan, it's hard to turn that down, right?" He put an arm around her. "And don't worry. As the host-son of the Firefang Emperor, I'll have a better chance of convincing him to be less of a jerk to the other clans."

Nira chuckled. She gazed around and saw a bunch of eyes staring at them. Many of the passing human masters and genopets were turning heads to frown or giggle at them.

Nira bit her lip. "They're all staring at us..."

Taren nodded. "Cross-clan relationships are frowned upon. Especially by genopets."

Nira flinched as Quentin continued screaming, beating his fists at Jinjei's direction.

The tiger was roaring at him, grunting curses. "Raju, calm down..." Taren laid a hand on the tiger's back.

Nira huffed. She held Quentin's cage behind her back so that the two genopets couldn't see each other. "I think I'll see you later," she said, gazing at Taren with a longing gaze. "I don't want our genopets to expend too much energy at each other before they start training."

Taren nodded. His face was solemn. "That's probably a good idea. I'll see you after training then." The two of them kissed, and then parted ways.

  5. Taren

Taren made his way up the stairs to the fourth-level branch with Raju growling by his side. He stepped off the top of the stairs and made his way down the branch, alone in his thoughts until he heard a loud group of giggling girls. He stopped and spotted Dharene ahead of him, surrounded by a large group of Rainbirdian friends. _Aw, too bad she isn't in the same clan as I am either._ Taren couldn't help staring at her, noticing how well she blended in with all those smooth-skinned, slender Rainbirdian girls. He gave them all a good glance, admiring their long, slender legs, tiny waists, and shapely breasts. For a moment, he was staring at Dharene and her new friends with a sideways smile on his face, imagining how pretty they would look if they were all dressed in the red short-skirts and blazing-red stilletos he had seen many girls in the Firefang Clan wearing.

Someone nudged his right shoulder with their fist.

"Ow!" Taren jerked his head over his shoulder and then smiled mischievously. Gharry was standing behind him with a half-smile on his pale face. His hair was a light gray. "Ah, so you've matched with the Elephantoms."

"Yes. Keep your eyes off my girlfriend, anyway," he muttered.

Taren turned to the gray, ghostly elephant by his side. She was stomping her feet at Raju, who was crouching with flames bristling over his stripes.

"This is Natasha," said Gharry. "She obviously doesn't feel comfortable around your pet."

Taren nodded. He laid his hand on Raju, who was bristling.

"Why must you fraternize with so many other species?" Growled Raju.

"Sorry, bud," said Taren. "These are my old friends." He glanced back to see a group of shirtless Rainbirdian boys—many of them tan and shiny-skinned with glazing blue hair—approaching Dharene and surrounding her and her friends.

Taren slowly shook his head, smirking. "You're gonna be facing lots of competition, Gharry. There are a lotta good-looking guys in the Rainbird clan."

"Hmph," Gharry's stolid, half-smile expression barely changed as his eyes were fixed on the huge crowd of Rainbirdians.

Suddenly, a loud, roar sounded through the room. Gharry looked up. "I think we should separate. The headmaster of Beginning Ranks is going to start orientation."

Taren sighed and then nodded. "I guess I'll see you later." He watched as Gharry turned away and headed to his side of the room with Natasha stomping at his side. They joined a huge group of Combatants dressed in proper feathered suits and smooth slacks. Then Taren turned to join the Firefang side of the branch and stood next to a group of boisterous boys and chatty, wild-haired girls.

A hot gust of wind blew over the young Combatants. Taren looked up and watched as seven human figures stepped forward on the stage. In front of them stood Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji.

"Welcome, Beginning Combatants," said Emperor Afraz in his booming voice. "I am headmaster of the Beginning Rank training schedule. You may recognize me as Emperor Afraz of the Firefang Clan. I'll have you know that the Emperor of the oldest clan in the League always exerts control over the Beginning Combatant training schedules." He gave a smirk before continuing. "During your first week with your new genopets, you will go through the same basic steps that every human individual and their first genopet is required to master. Every day of this week, you will spend half your day with your own Beginning-Rank clan-mates, teaching your pets to master the powers to control whatever they were designed to control. For example, the Tailips teach their pets to make a variety of plants, medicines, and complex resources. They will use their knowledge of the needs of life—such as food, nutrition, and environmental needs—to teach their pets how to shape the minerals and resources of the earth. Each clan of Beginning Combatants will be teaching their pets something different, for each species serves its own purpose in this world.

"The second half of the day will consist of physical practice with your genopets. Practice will take place on the battle grounds. This is essential for your battle skills when you battle other clans one-on-one, or as an entire clan in the Genopet League. With the aid of your pet, you must win as many one-on-one battles as you can, for the number of battles you win in a year determines which rank you are in—Beginning, Standard, Advanced, or Elite. Obviously, the higher you rank, the better your job opportuntiies are in your clans."

Taren nodded. He had shown him all the possible jobs a Firefanglish human could have. Each job was classified as a "brigade," including the Hunting Brigade, the Regulator Brigade, the Volcano Brigade, and a list of other types that a Firefanglish and his pet could apply for. Those who were in the higher ranks could apply for the higher-paying jobs, or earn higher wages for the job they currently had.

Emperor Afraz went on, "The Genopet League competition will happen during the first week of every month. Each clan will battle one other clan every month, and winning clan will take money from the defeated clan."

Emperor Afraz paused, as if to allow the students to process everything he said. Taren looked around, and saw a bunch of Combatants beginning to murmur among themselves. Some of them looked horrified, as if the schedule seemed too daunting for them to handle.

"Shouldn't be too bad, right?" Raju growled behind him. He was seated with the rest of the Beginning Rank Firefangs. "It's just one hour of practice against each clan of pets. We've got this."

Taren nodded, feeling a surge of excitement swelling up inside of him. "So we need to keep track of our one-on-one battles so that we can move up the Ranks by the end of the year. The Genopet League battles are full-clan battles that happen at the beginning of every month, with the winning clan earning a significant amount of money from the losing clan." He smiled and crossed his arms. "Doesn't sound too bad at all."

Prime Musaji stepped forward. "This first week will just be training battles," she shifted her gleaming yellow eyes over the Beginning Combatants. "None of your battles will be recorded on your battle records, because you will have your own teaching instructors helping you with your battles against other clan members. But after training week, you will all be responsible for your own wins and losses. Remember—it takes a certain number of wins and losses in order to be eligible to move up to another Rank. For example, in our Firefang Clan, you need at least 190 wins to move up to the Standard Rank by the end of the year, 230 to move up to the Advanced Rank, and 280 to move up to the Elite Rank. But for other clans, the requirements may differ."

Taren clenched his fists. "Hehe, we're gonna make it to the Elite Rank by the end of this year, Raju." He nodded to his bristling tiger. "Think of how wonderful it would be if we became Elite Combatants in less time than Bakur!"

Raju nodded, narrowing his eyes and flexing his claws. "And if we have the highest winning-streak in the entire clan, we will get to challenge Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji for the Emperor position."

"That would be so awesome," said Taren, gazing up at his host-father and Emperor with a half-smile. "It would be so cool to be leader of a clan someday."

Raju flinched. He turned to Taren with wide eyes. "You just joined our clan and you're already thinking about becoming Emperor?"

Taren chuckled. Emperors of the League Clans can lead for only 5 years. Then they must hand over their position to the Combatant with the highest winning streak in their clan, who is always from the Elite Rank. Of course, they have to battle that Combatant first, and if they win, they get to keep their position. "I bet by the time we're in the Elite Rank, no one will beat us," said Taren. "We're gonna be the strongest Combatant Pair in the entire League."

  6. Nira

After orientation was over, all the Beginning Combatants dispersed with their own clan's teaching instructor. Nira followed the other Tailipian Beginning Rank Combatants to the Tailip battle grounds where they listened to their teaching instructor explain the course of their day. They stopped in a small clearing in front of a giant waterlily.

She stood in the back, keeping her eyes fixed on their teaching instructor. He was a lanky man with wrinkles over his face. The glasses he wore made him look even older than he was. His green hair was rather faded, looking more transclucent than any Tailipian Combatant she had seen. She felt sorry for the old man. He had to use a cane to help him walk up a small mound beside the giant waterlily. Many of the Beginning Combatants were mumbling among one another, and some were snickering and giggling over the feeble stature of their training instructor.

"Great Hox," muttered Nira. "Looks like we have a retired Combatant as a teaching instructor."

"What, are you kidding me?" Quentin jumped in his cage. "I'm never gonna get the proper training without a good training instructor!"

"Ahem!" Nira flinched as the old man cleared his throat. "Quiet please!" He raised his cracked, hard-edged voice. The humans and their Tailips immediately quieted and turned their attention to the instructor. His eyes squinted as he gazed over the crowd before him. Then he smiled and spoke in his hard-edged voice. "Good morning, Combatants! I am your training instructor, Sir Mahnju. Now, please don't get all excited about our training schedule for today, because we ain't gonna learn anything fun until you get the basics down!" He turned to his left to watch as a Tailip with a green tulip-head at the tip of its tail swung down from the leaves of the giant flower and landed on its feet next to him. "This here is Meezo. He is my genopet, and therefore your teacher-pet. He will aid you on the first lesson today. We will be practicing nature-shifting before we begin fighting one another. We will focus on using the Expander Pollen, which is a type of pollen that allows the growth of giant carnivorous fly-traps."

The Beginning Combatants gasped and exchanged wide-eyed looks.

Nira widened her eyes. "Growing carnivorous fly-traps?" She felt her skin starting to chill.

"Hah! Sweet!" Quentin was jumping in his cage. "Oh boy, this is exciting. The first day and we're already learning how to grow carnivorous plants."

Many of the Beginning Combatants were cheering.

Sir Mahnju grinned, revealing the few yellow teeth in his mouth. "This is one of the best weapons y'all can use in your battles against other clans. Since none of ya have much battle experience, it's best to throw out some substitutes to do the battling for ya!" He turned to the genopet beside him and nodded. "Meezo, show these newbies a demonstration."

_Hou-ha!_ Meezo jumped once and turned to face a group of small white flowers, no larger than normal fieldmice. Meezo raised his tail over the flower. The green petals of his tulip folded back, and a cloud of green dust emitted from its stamen. The dust—which Nira guessed was the Expander Pollen—landed over the white flowers and instantly, green roots sprung from the stamens of the white flowers. The green roots grew taller and thicker until there were five, seven-feet-tall Venus fly-traps, each extending from a small white flower. The fly-traps were snapping their mouths, swaying around and snapping at the humans and their pets. The crowd gasped and backed away from the hungry plants.

Nira screamed, jumping back. "Great Hox!"

For once, she wasn't the only one panicking. Many of the new Combatants were screaming and squealing as the fly-traps stretched after them, snapping their mouths and splashing gooey, clear saliva.

Sir Mahnju was cracking up. "Ahahaha! Man, it's hilarious to try this out on da newbies!" He turned and nudged Meezo, who was jumping up and down, clapping his hands in the air as he watched the fly-traps scare the humans. Many of their Tailips were screaming and beating their fists at the carinivous plants.

Quentin snickered. "Hey, this old man doesn't seem so bad after all."

"Are you kidding?!" Nira ducked as a frightened Tailip leapt over her head. "This man is insane! We shouldn't be teaching you beasts how to make dangerous plants like this yet."

Sir Mahnju slapped his stick-thin thigh and then elbowed Meezo. "Alright, Meezo, buddy. You can kill those plants with some Herbicide Pollen."

Meezo raised his tail, opened the petals of his green tulip, and released a purple cloud of pollen from the stamens. The purple clouds surrounded the fly-traps, and all five of them collapsed. One landed atop two humans and a Tailip.

"There!" Sir Mahnju grinned. "This is what y'all are gonna be practicing. Whenever you see any flowers growing nearby, you can always use Expander pollen, or any type of pollen to grow a desired plant. If you want to grow a plant from scratch, release seeds wherever you see soil. However, it takes a little more skill to release seeds, and we will save that lesson for another day. For now, teach your pets to grow fly-traps and deal with them."

Nira watched as the Tailipians and their pets began to climb up the stairs and stand on the canopies. Many of the Tailips were shouting and screaming as they swung around from branch to branch, releasing green clouds of Expander Pollen over the small flowers that grew over the treebarks. Many of the fly-traps that grew were no taller than a few inches, though Nira still couldn't help feeling a surge of fear run down her spine as she watched all those tiny, chomping plants grow all over the branches above her.

"Nira?" Sir Mahnju approached. "Is there a problem? Why is your pet in a cage?" He blinked at Quentin, who was jumping and shrieking at all the Tailips above them, eager to join in the fun.

"Holy firecows, everyone's a loser out here," Quentin narrowed his eyes at a canopy swinging nearby, where two girls were screaming and racing away from the numerous fly-traps that kept growing behind them as their Tailips soared over their heads, squirting pollen at all the flowers around the Combatants so that fly-traps grew and snapped their mouths at the terrified humans.

Sir Mahnju laughed out loud. "Ah, you Beginners are so inexperienced!" He looked around the network of upper branches and frowned at a pair of chimps fighting over a giant, five-foot-long banana. Their human masters were wrapped up in sticky vines and roots from the ground, and were thus unable to approach them. Sir Mahnju's smile turned into a frown as he walked over to help the entangled humans. "Y'all are s'posed to be usin' the Expander Pollen, not the Sticky-Root Pollen."

Quentin snickered and leapt out of his cage. He eyed Sir Mahnju as he approached the struggling, entrapped students. "Sir Mahnju, come teach me how to grow fly-traps as big as Meezo's!" He raised his tulip-tail and aimed it in his direction.

Nira gasped. "Quentin, no—!"

But the Tailip had already squirted the teacher with sticky strands of green stamen. The stamen extended from his tulip and wrapped around the teacher. Sir Mahnju let out a yell and struggled, but was unable to move. He looked over his shoulder to glare at Nira and her monkey. Many of the Beginning Combatant pairs—struggling with their own pets—stopped leaping and swinging around to fix their gazes on Nira and Quentin, who was cracking up.

"Great Hox, this is epic!" Quentin whipped his tail to the left, causing the stamens to throw Mahnju leftwards, smashing the old man into a pile of green mush. Then Quentin grabbed a vine, and soared over the Combatants. Green, sticky stamen continued to extend from his tulip-tail, whipping in the air and over the heads of the Combatants below him. The human masters yowled and raced around, avoiding the whipping sticky stamens.

Suddenly, one of the whipping stamens cut off a hanging giant banana, the size of a school bus. The large front was hanging above Sir Mahnju, who was cursing and wiping his messy green vest.

"Sir Mahnju, watch out!" Nira cried.

But the giant banana had already fallen atop Sir Mahnju, smashing him. Gasps elicited across the jungle. Then Nira sighed with relief as Sir Mahnju leapt out of the banana, this time covered in smashed, yellow mush. His face was red with rage. "Alright! That's it! Nira and Quentin, you two are sitting out for the rest of this training period!"

So Nira had to sit in front of the giant flower with Quentin back in his cage, tranquilized.

When nature-shifting training was over, the Beginning Rank Combatants left their battle grounds to visit other clans for battle training. Their first opponents were the Rainbird Combatants. Sir Mahnju explained that they would be practicing their battle strategies with the Expander Pollen they had just learned to use.

As they began practicing, Quentin swung through the branches that stretched over a large body of water, releasing purple goo from his tulip-tail. The goo fell into the water, causing all the Combatants in the water to sneeze and vomit.

"Come on! This is easy!" Quentin shouted at the other Tailips swinging above the water. "All we have to do is poison the water, and we'll easily beat any Rainbird opponent!"

Nira vomited a small amount of acid. "Ugh, Quentin, cut it out! There are Tailipian humans in the water too!" She gazed up at Quentin as he circled her in the air, hanging onto his vine. "Come on, Quentin. You heard Mahnju and the Rainbird teaching instructor. Both teachers said that Tailipian Combatants would try to stay in the air, on the available vines or the thick floating canopies summoned by their Tailips. But you're not summoning any canopies for me!"

"Oh, right. My apologies. It takes too much energy to make canopies thick enough to hold human weight," he swung away and continued to squirt purple goo at the water.

After Quentin had struck the water a few more times, Sir Mahnju had enough. He told Nira and her genopet to sit out for the rest of the period again.

Nira found herself sitting beneath a fruit tree with a glum look on her face. Beside her, Quentin was grumbling about Mahnju, squeezing Expander Pollen over twigs and watching fly-traps grow from them.

"Nira?"

Nira looked away from the shore. Dharene Patel was making her way up to her with her juvenile Rainbird waddling beside her.

"Hey, Dharene," she greeted her friend with a half-smile. "I see you're adjusting well to your clan."

Dharene gave a musical giggle. "I love the Rainbird Clan! I'm finally surrounded by girls who have acted in movies before, sang in Castelle City's Underwater Choir—"

"That's great," Nira huffed, not wanting to hear anymore. "I still have yet to fit into my clan."

Dharene blinked. "Oh, I'm sorry. Well, of course, not everything's fine and dandy for me either. The guys can get sooo annoying." She rolled her eyes. "I mean, they already know Gharry Oviro and I are dating, but since he's in the Elephantom Clan, they assume he'll find a new girlfriend to stick with. So they're _always_ following me." She rolled her big, blue eyes. "I just got lucky they're leaving me alone right now, since they're partnering up with other Tailipians for battle practice right now."

"Hmm." Nira replied. "How have things been going with your genopet? I suppose you aren't having and trouble training her."

"Oh, my genopet's wonderful!" Dharene beamed.

Nira huffed again. _Of course! Everything's always perfect for you._

Dharene held out her hand toward her Rainbird. "This is my princess, Clarabelle. She's the sweetest, most obedient pet I've ever trained."

The blue peacock let out a musical squawk and gave a proud bow to Nira.

Nira couldn't help but give a smile at the blue-feathered bird. She had to admit that Clarabelle was one of the nicer-looking genopets.

"She's very pretty!" Nira said, smiling.

"Thanks!" Dharene turned to give Clarabelle a kiss on the forehead. Then she faced Nira again. "I was hoping we could partner up with you and your pet. Clarabelle was very excited to train with...what did you named him...Quentin?"

"Uh..." Nira looked away. "I actually can't train him at the moment. Sir Mahnju says Quentin and I have to sit out."

"Oh, I see," Dharene gave a nod. "I'm sorry about that."

"Hah! That's because Quentin's a disgrace to his species!"

A series of growls and roars sounded from the trees. There, sitting at the base of a tree, was Jinjei. "Hey!" Nira glared at the tiger. "You're Bakur's pet! What are you doing here on the Rainbird training grounds?"

Clarabelle lifted her blue, fan-like tail, spashing a few droplets in Jinjei's face. She ignored his curses and started squawking to communicate a message toward the Firefang. " _Yeah, Jinjei! Why aren't you training with your own clan?"_

" _Got bored,"_ growled Jinjei, giving a shrug. " _One of the Rockodile girls is flirting with my master, and he's trying to scare her off."_ He gave a contemptuous snort. _"Filthy Rockodileish humans need to stick to their own clan. They waste time trying to fraternize with students from other classes. While my master tries to throw her off, I decided to avoid the stench of Rockodiles and come here and check on Taren's girlfriend! I'd love to see what a disgrace he and his human master are to their genopet clans and prove Bakur's foolish baby brother is dating a complete amateur!"_

Nira gazed down at the base of the tree. Quentin was crouching on the ground, beating the grass with his fists. Then he rose up to his hind legs and opened his tulip tail. He shot razor-sharp leaves that surrounded Jinjei and spun him in a twister. The tiger yowled and landed on his chin. Jinjei instantly shot up to his feet and whirled around to face Quentin. His striped tail caught fire and the red stripes on the rest of his body started to glow.

"How dare you..."

" _Ah, it's Jinjei, right?"_ Quentin tilted his head as he informally addressed the snarling, quick-breathing tiger. " _Well! Not very nice of you to interrupt another clan's training session."_

The young tiger let out hisses and spits as the razor-sharp leaves blew against his face. He opened his mouth, expelling a blast of smoke.

Quentin began to cough. _"Great Hox! You sick, or something?"_ The billowing flames continued to surround him.

Jinjei's fiery wind blew Quentin across the field and monkey crashed against Dharene's smooth, bare shoulder.

Dharene screamed as Jinjei leapt at her, snapping his teeth at Quentin. The Tailip barely managed to dodge his attack, causing Jinjei to unintentionally sink his teeth into Dharene's neck. She let out a scream.

" _Dharene!"_ Clarabelle whipped her tail. A whirlpool formed from the water that shot through the many blue eyespots on her tail, and she whipped the whirlpool straight toward Jinjei. The tiger spun around and released a blast of flames, and then darted aside as a shot of thorny vines extended from Quentin's tulip. As soon as the fiery tiger dodged out of the way, the thorny vines instead wrapped around Clarabelle, tightening around her body.

"Clarabelle!" Wailed Dharene, clutching her bleeding shoulder.

" _Hah!"_ Roared Jinjei, smirking over his shoulder. " _Looks like you gotta work on your aim there, Quentie!"_ Then he turned to race away, disappearing into the distant trees.

Nira gaped after the tiger, wide-eyed, but relieved that he was finally gone.

" _Dharene!"_ Clarabelle broke free from the thorny vines. Her body was covered with blood dribbling from many punctured sites. She turned to face her master and squawked at the sight of the gash on Dharene's shoulder. _"Oh no, Dharene! Ugh, Quentin, you're such a monster!_ " She glared at Quentin, who stood beside them, groaning and slowly blinking his eyes. "Tailips and Firefangs are such monsters!" She flapped her wings and summoned a small whirlpool around Quentin. The monkey thrashed and screamed.

" _Great Hox!"_ He gargled. He instantly spun out of the water, grabbed a vine, and swung onto a branch. He glared down at Clarabelle. _"How dare you get me wet like that!"_

"Whoa! What's going on here?" Sir Noor, the Rainbird teaching instructor, ran up to the two genopets with Sir Mahnju at his side.

The two men widened their eyes at Dharene on the ground.

"Dharene...?" Sir Mahnju murmured.

Nira felt her face heat up. She watched as Dharene scooped her bird in her arms. She turned to the teachers with her eyes full of tears.

"Jinjei and Nira's monkey attacked me!" She spoke through sobs. "Jinjei bit me and Quentin wrapped Clarabelle with a bunch of thorny vines!" The gash on her shoulder was still dripping down her long, skinny arm. Her face twisted at the sight of it.

"I'll call a shuttle and you can get yourself to the nursery," said Sir Noor. He slipped out his netphone.

"Dharene, you have my sincere apologies," Sir Mahnju was gazing at Dharene with disbelief. "I will be sure Emperor Afraz has a talk with Jinjei and his son."

The blue-haired girl continued to sob. As Sir Noor tried to comfort her, Sir Mahnju looked in Nira's direction and narrowed his eyes.

"I want you to keep Quentin in his cage for the rest of the day. He isn't allowed to practice with the other clans until he learns how to control himself."

  7. Taren

The sound of Prime Musaji's earsplitting screech echoed across the training grounds.

Taren watched his flaming tiger skid to a halt. They had been training with the Elephantomese humans and their Elephantoms for the last two hours.

"Finally! It's lunchtime!" Roared Raju, whirling around to watch Taren ride his flames on Taren's red surfboard, waving his fiery sword in the air. As Raju came to a stop, his flames disappeared and Taren flipped in the air, landed on his feet, and caught his red surfboard in his other hand.

"That was awesome!" Taren turned to see Gharry soaring down to land beside him. The air current that carried him was coming from Natasha's exhaling trunk. "Sweet move," he nudged his friend on the shoulder. "We definitely have to train together again when we meet on your battlegrounds tomorrow."

"Kay, first-years!" Felix, the teacher-pet of the Firefang teaching instructor, Dame Zanara, projected his roars over all the chattering students and their noisy pets. "Don't forget to feed your pets now! Remember: Hox's power-cells feed off animal cells. Thus, after every training session, your babies need to replenish their power-cells with additional animal blood. Otherwise, those power-cells won't have any energy to feed off of!"

A short Firefanglish man ran up to Felix. "Hey, Felix? Can genopets die if they don't consume any animal blood?"

Gharry walked up to Taren, frowning at the short Beginning Combatant.

"What kind of a dumb question is that?" Gharry was eyeing the kid beneath the shadows cast by his dark hair.

Taren huffed, shaking his head. "Of course genopets die without animal blood to feed off of! That was one of the integral lessons everyone learns even before the eligible age to pair up with a genopet."
Taren watched as Felix looked over his shoulder. The tall, thin feline gave the little boy a smug smile. "Videsh, this is why you shouldn't have skipped your 5th year of Elementary Training," meowed Felix. "You should have already mastered the fact that genopet power-cells needed to fuse with animal cells in order for that animal to use the nature-shifting powers from those power-cells. As an animal uses its power-cells' nature-shifting powers, their power-cells take up lots of energy by eating the animal cells they fused with. And that's why you have to give your genopet extra animal cells from Animalyne after training. And every genopet needs its own Animalyne product since they need their own animal cells to replenish their power-cells. "

"How do they die, though?" Asked Videsh. He followed Felix as he turned to strut away. "When power-cells are used, they eat up the animal cells they fuse with...but how does that kill them?"

Raju blew out a puff of smoke. "If he was smart enough to skip the 5th year of Elementary Training, he shouldn't be asking questions like this."

Felix twitched his whiskers and stifled a laugh. "Hmph! Oh, I don't know, Videsh!" There was obvious sarcasm in his tone. "Would you expect a genopet to live if it didn't have animal cells? Would you expect any living organism to live without the right types of cells to regulate its functions in the body?" He chuckled and slowly shook his head. "Seriously, you kids complain about spending too many years in Elementary Training. Well, look what kinds of questions get asked when you skip only one year!"

Videsh frowned in confusion and looked ready to ask another question.

Taren turned his back on him and knelt down to give Raju his Animalyne injection. He slipped out his netphone and activated a needle to slip out from the top left corner of the flat disk.

"Alright, please hold still, Raju," he said carefully. He stuck the needle into the side of Raju's orange neck.

"Mrrowww!" He roared, flinching. He swiped at Taren with an unsheathed paw, barely missing him as Taren flinched back.

"Agh! Geez, Raju, you need this to refuel yourself."

He turned and watched as Gharry bent down and injected Natasha's white, transparent skin. The white elephant genopet didn't even budge.

"Dang, Gharry, you need to teach me how to get Raju to behave like your pet."

Raju snarled. "You think I wanna be anything like that stink-bomb of a genopet?" He lashed his claws in Natasha's direction, who snorted at him and blew a puff of air at his face. But before Raju could retaliate, a young female Firefang strutted up to his side, hissing toward Videsh. "Hmph!" She stuck out her chin in Videsh's direction. "If that human was any shorter, I would have mistaken him for a 10-year-old. He certainly acts like one too!"

Raju rolled his eyes. "Yeah, he's only asking questions because he likes to hear the teachers talking to him. I went to the same Elementary Training School with him, and he hasn't changed a bit."

The she-tiger turned to face Raju, and her twisted face transformed into a more relaxed expression. She gave a low purr. "I'm Khatira by the way. I hear that you were adopted by the Firefang Emperor's son."

Raju blinked and then stood with his head high. "Yes, I am! I'm Raju."

Khatira purred and walked around the young tiger without taking her eyes off him. "You should teach me some of your moves. You and your human looked like Elite Combatants fighting out there."

Taren smiled at the two pets. He looked up to see a redheaded girl with two strands of ponytails hanging from the sides of her hair.

"Khatira!" She gazed down at the she-tiger. "Let's catch the shuttle before it leaves. I don't want to ride the next one with a bunch of Elephantomese people."

Taren gave a sideways smile and walked up to the girl. "Hey, your Firefang was just complimenting my pet about our battle skills. But I couldn't help notice how well you two were doing too." Taren had been watching this girl and her she-tiger excelling at flame-surfing. He had been itching to talk to this girl all period.

The girl turned to him and smirked. "You're Taren Tasmin, aren't you?"

"Yup. And I feel like such a jerk for not knowing your name yet."

She purred. "It's cool. I'm Arvani Simmers." She brushed a few ashes off his shoulder. "And I think the two of us are both excelling these battles." She gave him a wink. "I just heard our teaching instructor talking to Felix about how impressed they were about Raju's and Khatira's skills to carry us on their flames. They were the only Firefangs that didn't drop us in the middle of running, and we were the only humans that didn't lose our balance while surfing."

"Hehe, well except when your Elephantomese opponent whipped at your ankles and made you fall in bubbling mud," Taren smirked.

"Are you trying to say that you did better than me?" Arvani raised her eyebrows and gave him a playful smile. "'Cause once I fell, I immediately sliced his Elephantom's leg with my flame-sword, and Khatira tackled his human until he surrendered. If this were an official battle, we would have had our first victory."

"Taren!" Raju growled. "Are we gonna head to the Dining Tree anytime soon?"

Taren turned to see Raju and Khatira glaring at both of them with flames bristling on their red, glowing stripes.

Taren chuckled. "Let's get our pets something to eat before they devour us."

Taren, Arvani, and their tigers boarded the shuttle that would fly them to the Dining Tree. Gharry departed from them and waited for the next Taxiwing to stop by. "See you later, Gharry!" Taren waved at him as he peered out his open window.

Gharry gave him a curt nod.

Arvani sat next to him and gazed out the window. "Gharry Oviro's genopet is so strong. And Gharry's extremely gorgeous," she grinned and then stroked Khatira's back. "Too bad Natasha's an Elephantom. Khatira would never get along with her."

Khatira scoffed. "Elephantoms smell like rotten poop!"

Raju growled in agreement. "And Rainbirds smell like urine."

Khatira's furry face scrunched up into what looked like a smirk. "Tailips smell like rotting bananas."

Taren couldn't help laughing as he listened to the two young Firefangs. As soon as a shuttle landed at a red-rose pole several meters from the Dining Tree, Taren and Arvani jumped out and rushed into the doors at the base of the tree, through the winding hallways and up the elevators.

"I'll meet you in the dining hall!" Taren called to Arvani.

"Oh? Where you going?" Arvani narrowed her eyes at him.

"Oh, uh, just gonna find someone real quick. I won't be long."

"Hmm. Then I'll be fine waiting right here."

Taren blinked. "Oh, um, okay then."

He turned to see the person he wanted to talk to. Nira was pushing her way through the crowd, struggling to make her way up to him. She looked exhausted as she carried Quentin's cage by her side.

"Hey," Taren stepped in front of her and pressed his lips against hers. He felt his stomach tighten, for he was well aware of Arvani's burning stare a few meters behind him. He heard Khatira and Raju hiss and spit. Quentin started screaming and jumping in his cage, beating his fists in the air.

"Cross-clan lovers!" Shouted the Tailip. "This is unacceptable!"

As they parted lips, Taren pushed a strand of green hair out of Nira's eyes. "So! How was your day so far?"

"Ugh. Horrible." Nira told him about Quentin's escapades with Sir Mahnju, Dharene, Clarabelle, and Jinjei.

"Damn! Jinjei attacked you guys? What a fleabag!" He huffed. "I'm gonna punch my brother in the gut tonight."

Nira laughed. "Well, don't hurt yourself. Quentin's ready to squirt poison at him and his pet when we start training with your clan today."

"Sorry to hear that your first day sucked," said Taren. "I guess I shouldn't talk about how Raju aced his practices carrying me on his flames, hurling fireballs at all his opponents without missing a single one."

Nira narrowed her eyes as they made their way toward the doors to the dining room up ahead. "Whoop-di-doo," she muttered.

"Taren, I'm guessing this is your girlfriend?" Arvani's voice sounded as they passed her.

Taren stiffened. The redheaded girl was approaching his side with a snide smile. He noticed Nira was starting to look paler, and he tried not to gasp. Please don't fall into blood-freeze mode.

Arvani laughed. "No need to be shy. You Tailipians are supposed to be the friendliest and funniest humans in the jungle. Come on, where's that smile on your face? Tailipian humans smile all the time."

Taren chuckled. "Arvani, this is Nira. We were in the same Stray Clan together before we joined this League. And she's had a rough day. If you hear what she's been through, you'll understand why she isn't smiling at the moment."

Nira blushed. "My Tailip has been very troublesome," she added.

"Oh, yea, blame it on the pet," Quentin rolled his eyes and gave an irritated flick of his stem-tail.

Khatira released a puff of flames from her nostrils at the Tailip. "That monkey is dinner for Raju and me!"

"Yeah!" Raju was wriggling in Taren's grip. "All that training's left me famished!"

Quentin narrowed his eyes and gave mild jumps, waving both his fists in front of his face. "Oh yeah? Come and get me then, you sawed-up balls of fur and flames." He released a sour-smelling aroma from his tail, surrounding Khatira and Raju with the dust. The both of them started sneezing and spitting.

Taren's face almost caught on fire as a burst of flames erupted from Raju's stripes.

"Yikes!" Taren jerked his head back.

Arvani grunted. "Ugh, Dammit, Khatira." She started coughing violently. Smoke surrounded her and her face was covered in soot.

Taren gasped. "Are you okay?"

Arvani glared at him. She grabbed his sleeve and yanked him up to her side. "Let's go, Taren. Your girlfriend's monkey is making our pets go crazy." She turned her back on Nira and dragged Taren along with her.

Taren looked over his shoulder to see Nira staring after them with her hands held up and her eyes narrowed in a frown. Taren gave Nira a sheepish grin and shrugged. Sorry, Nira. Hopefully I'll see you later!

"Hey, we should train together next time!" Taren said to Arvani as Nira was out of their sight. "You and Khatira excelled when you partnered with Raju and me. Our pets sure enjoyed each other."

"Yes, they most certainly did," Arvani grinned proudly. "Raju sure has some sweet moves he can teach Khatira."

"How well did Khatira do with the Cobrazors?" Taren's eyebrows rose. "The humans in that clan always look so serious and creepy."

Arvani wrinkled her nose. "I guess that's what happens when you're training under a teacher like Dame Zierra. All throughout practice, she had been walking around, eyeing each pair of Combatants as they practiced. The scariest part about her was that she was the complete opposite of her sassy, Cobrazor teacher-pet: if a person's pet messed up or knocked their master out of a tree, she didn't say a word. Instead, she would stop and stare at the person with her serpent-like eyes, examining the rest of the performance until the student made the pet use the move correctly. Afterward, she remained quiet as she stalked around the field, keeping an eye out for any Combatant who seemed to be struggling."

The corner of Taren's lip twitched. "Hmm." He felt suspicious about the Cobrazors. Apparently, they were always number 2 in the League, barely behind the Firefangs. Their clan was actually almost as rich as the Firefangs'.

Taren and Arvani stepped through the open pair of bronze doors into a wide, spacey roomful of students and genopets. Taren flinched at the sight, and Raju let out a long hiss. Everywhere he looked, he saw genopets devouring carcasses of animals. At the far end of the room, students and their genopets stood in several lines behind seven feeding stations. The stations had hundreds of trays full of almost any animal Taren could imagine. Some trays consisted of a variety of animal body parts, some had an entire animal body lying stiff and bloody. Some animal bodies were covered in extra blood, and some were sprinkled with a strange, steaming green liquid that Taren had never seen before.

"Mrrrr...." Khatira was shaking, flexing her claws. "This smell...it's getting to my head."

"Yeah," growled Raju, who was also shaking. "I can hear Mother Nature's voice inside my head right now, and it's making me famished."

Taren turned to his pet. "Raju, suppress your instincts for a moment. It'll be a while before I get you something good. Just look how long these lines are."

"Oh..." Raju was shaking violently, until he finally shook his head and let out a roar. "Screw these lines! I need my food!" He lashed out his claws and swatted all the humans out of his way.

"Raju, come back!" Taren yelled.

A few Tailips and Rainbirds leapt at Raju, splashing him and wrapping him with thorny vines that sprung from the Tailip's tulip-tails. Taren slipped out his netphone and zapped his tiger with a red beam, and Raju collapsed, unconscious.

Khatira leapt forward to scare off the Tailips and the Rainbrids, but Arvani zapped her to sleep with her own tranquilizer beam.

"Huh!" Arvani huffed. "Probably best to keep them asleep until we get them something. Genopets have the toughest time controlling their natural instincts, especially Firefangs."

"Hey, we made 'em this way," said Taren. "This is why we teach them to control their impulses. Although we humans aren't good at self-control either."

Arvani chuckled. "Whatever." She seemed to look too disgusted to say much. "Taren, you come with me. This stench is awful, and I'm not approaching the meat-eaters' feeding station by myself."

She had already grabbed Taren's sleeve again and was tugging him along before he could even reply. As Taren and the redheaded girl passed the tables and went up to the nearest feeding station, he gazed at the horrendous sight, holding his nose at the strong stench of blood. He looked over his shoulder and zapped his tiger with a green beam, waking him up. Arvani did the same with Khatira. The two Firefangs leapt to their sides, staring at the feeding station with wide eyes and open, growling mouths.

The tip of Raju's tail was burning as the young Firefang stared, wide-eyed and drooling, at the sight. "Hey! At least most of these are raw." He began to lick his lips.

Arvani turned to her tiger. "Alright Khatira, my darling. You want raw or cooked mice?"

"Raw, of course! The cooked ones smell like dung. I don't know what kind of gunk you humans put on the grill when you cook your meat."

Taren laughed and winked at Arvani. "I'll get it for you guys!"

Arvani gave a sideways smile. "Why, thank you."

Taren made his way to the raw side of the feeding station. He reached out for a tray covered with three rows of four mice.

Khatira cuffed her paws at the tray, knocking a few of the mice to the floor. "What do they think I am? A warthog?! I only need two mice to power me up!"

Arvani glared at her pet. "Khatira, that wasn't very nice."

"It's fine, it's fine," Taren bent down to pick up the fallen mice. "Khatira, you can always share with Raju! Or maybe even Quentin would like some."

"Quentin?!" Squealed Khatira, her ears catching on fire. "Are you kidding me?! We're not letting any other genopet species sit with us. We have our own units to sit in!"

"Units?" Taren looked around the room and noticed there were seven sets of stumps and tables, each separated by a black line. All the clans sat with their own clan at the tables, while their genopets sat with their own species in the stumps behind their human masters. "But Gharry's my friend!"

Arvani laughed. "Oh Taren, you're so cute."

Taren blushed. He narrowed his eyes at the girl. "What? We can sit with whomever we want, can't we?"

"Oh sure," Arvani said innocently, twirling a strand of her long, red hair around her fingers. "Unless you want your pet to get into a fight and get you suspended, go ahead! Sit with your Elephantomese buddy, or your Tailipian girlfriend!"

Raju snorted. "Taren, I'm not venturing anywhere near that reeking Natasha. And I'm especially not sitting next to Quentin. You go and sit with whomever, you want, but I'm gonna share some blood-covered moles with Khatira."

"Ooh, blood-covered moles—my favorite!" Khatira's face scrunched up into another smirk.

Taren sighed. "Nah, you're my pet. I'll sit with you." He stood up and handed the tray of raw mice to Arvani. "I'd like to talk to Anwar and some of the Firefang guys about Soccer Flare." He remembered the adrenaline he had felt when Emperor Afraz had taken him to watch a Soccer Flare game, in which two teams of Firefang Combatants played against one another, using a flame-covered soccer ball. The game was played over a network of bridges over a volcano, and the goals were at either end of the rim. Taren had been itching to join. "I'm definitely willing to have Raju try for the team next week."

Arvani beamed. "Oh, wonderful! Khatira's trying out as well. Come on, I can introduce you to some of the players. I know some of them very well."

Taren laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure you do."

Taren and the redheaded girl headed toward a table of boisterous, muscular Firefang boys. Most of them were Soccer Flare players. Then Taren looked over his shoulder. Nira was sitting with Dharene. Gharry was making his way to join them. Their pets, however, were nowhere to be seen.

"Hmm..." Taren narrowed his eyes. He turned to see Raju tugging on a piece of blood-covered meat with Khatira. Then another Firefang blew flames on the both of them, and the three of them engaged in a play-fight over the table, rolling over bloody organs and steaming carcasses. The Firefanglish boys were cheering the pets on. Even Arvani and her two girlfriends were grinning and cheering at the sight.

As they focused on the fight among their pets, Taren snuck away to join Nira, Dharene, and Gharry at the table in the corner.

"Hey," he said hastily, wrapping his right arm around Nira's waist. "You sure no one's gonna notice us sitting together back here?" He looked around, feeling wary.

Nira took a bite out of her pizza. "Who cares?" She said. "I'd probably look even funnier if I sat with the Tailipian Combatants. I'm nothing like those crazy, loud-mouthed Combatants."

Dharene huffed, staring at her salad with a disheveled expression. "I'm definitely not in the mood to talk to anyone in my clan right now since Nira's stupid monkey totally humiliated me."

"Come on Dharene, it was an accident." Nira narrowed her eyes at her former clan-mate. "It's Jinjei's fault, and you know it."

"Of course," snapped Dharene. "But I was still humiliated." She looked away and winced at the sight of a student passing her with a tray of dead squirrels. "And the sight of these dead animals aren't making me feel any better."

Nira set down her half-eaten pizza and got up, her face twisted. "Okay, I think I've had enough of League Clans."

"What are you talking about?" Taren turned to his girlfriend. "Genopet League Clans are awesome! It's only the first day, and our pets are already learning how to summon flames and throw fireballs."

"Oh, come on!" Dharene snapped. "Taren, during our last 10-minute break, you came up to me and Gharry, complaining about how Dame Zanara kept trying to scare you and the other Beginning Rank Combatants with a story about a three-eyed squid in the bathrooms."

"Okay, yeah, that was annoying. But other than that, Dame Zanara's pretty awesome! Before we left to train with the Elephantomese on their battle grounds, she let me and Raju use fireballs during our games, even though she would be letting us practice summoning fireballs next week. I think Raju kinda impressed her when he set her on fire this morning." Taren shot Raju a proud smile, but the Firefang was busy ripping off the skin of his second muskrat.

"Hmm!" Dharene grimaced at him. "Well, glad to hear your day went by smoothly."

Taren chuckled. He turned to Nira. "Well, hopefully next time Quentin can wipe out Jinjei before he hurts him first!"

Nira huffed. She glanced at Quentin behind her, who was sitting at the stump with a bunch of other Tailips. They were all cracking up and throwing food at each other. It was obvious they were the noisiest genopets in the room. "I just wish we didn't make these genopets hate on one another so much. It's so stupid how we've made them slaves to their animalistic desires, yet, at the same time, we teach them to break their natural instincts by using their powers in creative ways to protect and fight for humans like us." She rested her elbows and set her chin on the palms of her hands. "I miss our Frostfang Clan. We didn't have to worry about training our genopets to be skilled fighters, because fighting other clans was just something that Stray Clans never engage in." When they were Stray Clan members, all they had to focus on was training the genopets to control the natural disasters, protect them from them, and heal them from any diseases brought upon by the new resources on this planet.

Taren snickered. "Yeah, but now that we're part of the League Clans, things have gotten so much more exciting! We would never be able to do these awesome acrobatic moves with our genopets if we were still strays."

Nira narrowed her eyes at Taren. "I can't believe you're not even showing a bit of sympathy for our clan. Don't you miss your family, Taren? Your real family?"

Taren's heart suddenly sank. He blinked, and then spoke in a careful tone. "Well, yes. Of course. I miss them very much."

"Right, and the whole point of joining the League was to fight the Firefangs and avenge our clan," Nira seethed. "But you seem to be enjoying yourself with those hot-headed freaks."

Taren gazed from Nira, and then to Dharene and Gharry. All were frowning at him.

Taren narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Look, I'm still just as mad as you all are about the attack on our clan. But guess what? The Firefangs are just people with their own unique characteristics and perspectives. I'm having fun with Raju, and some of the people I've met have been very friendly, especially some of the Soccer Flare players. It's the Elite Combatants that I still carry a grudge against. They are the ones who attacked our entire clan and infected the survivors with Fireblood Disease."

"Along with Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji," added Gharry.

"Yes. I still have mixed feelings about my father, and I promise I'll never forget what he did to our clan. But what can I do about it?"

Nira huffed. She looked into his eyes. "The least you can do is talk to Emperor Afraz and change his perception of himself. All he cares about is Firefang superiority, which is why he wiped out our clan. He needs to change his opinions and think rationally. Otherwise, our clan won't be the only one to suffer from a Cleansing."

Taren stared back at her. A Cleansing was a wipeout of an entire genopet species and their human masters. He gave her a nod without blinking. "Alright. I'll definitely try to talk to him."

  8. Nira

"Hey, look! It's Nira Dharni, the girl with the crazy Tailip!"

Nira's face turned red as she stepped away from their table to head to the feeding stations. Four Tailipian girls at the feeding station had noticed her and were pointing at her. _They must have heard about how Quentin hurt Dharene!_

Then she stopped in her tracks.

"Ugh!" Her face twisted in disgust at the stench of warm blood and raw animal bodies. She scowled horrifically at all the entrées served before her at the feeding station: fried cat-legs, simmered elephant ears, blood-covered squirrels. She saw dozens of people gathered around the feeding station, grabbing whatever tray came to their reach. When she looked over across the room at the tables, she could see hundreds of genopets sitting at the tables with their students, ravenously scarfing down animal flesh.

_Even the Rainbirds are devouring meat!_ She cupped her mouth with disgust at the sight of a Rainbird pecking at what looked like the tail of mouse. Blood was smeared all over its face.

Suddenly, a strong, warm scent wafted through her nostrils. Nira looked to her side and noticed that a middle-aged man, dressed in white clothes and a white cap (she guessed he must be the chef), poured a bucket of blood over a tray of dead lamb bodies. The crowd of people beside her shouted excitedly and their genopets howled with satisfaction. Nira pinched her nose and immediately walked away from the station, heading back toward her table. Then she stopped in her tracks. Dharene's friends were gathering around her table, looking shocked as they chattered and pointed in Nira's direction.

_Great,_ she thought. _Now the whole Rainbowleaf Jungle League is going to be talking about what a terror Quentin is. Is this the kind of stigma most Tailipian humans face? Surely Quentin is no different from other Tailips in our clan._

She watched as Dharene gave Gharry a kiss before she rose up from the table and followed the Rainbird girls toward their table. Then Gharry mouthed something to Taren that she was unable to hear, and then he, too, got up to head over to the Elephantom side of the room where Natasha was sitting beside a group of gray-haired Elephantomese humans.

Nira sighed and set her tray beside Taren _. At least Taren and I can be alone now._

"So!" Taren's enthusiastic voice snapped her out of her thoughts. "I heard Quentin blew Dharene halfway across the training field?"

Nira swirled the straw in her glass. "He's also been squeezing Mahnju in his sticky, thorny stamens all day."

"Ooh, sounds like Quentin would be a good challenge for Raju," Taren smirked. "Tell you what! You and I can partner up this Friday before we start official battles next Monday. He'll be a good warm-up for my pet before official battles begin."

Nira stiffened. She gazed at him, feeling her heart pounding rapidly. Finally, an opportunity to spend time with Taren! "Yes, definitely. That sounds great."

"Awesome!" Taren beamed.

"What's going on here?" Raju was padding up to him, bristling with flames. Blood was smeared around his mouth, and tufts of his orange fur were sticking out from his play-fights with Khatira and the other Firefangs on the Soccer Flare team.

"Raju!" Taren nodded at his tiger. "We're practicing with Quentin this Thursday."

"What?!" Raju growled. "We're training with that stinky monkey?!"

Taren gave his juvenile pet a wry look. "Raju, that's not the right thing to say if you want to become Prime Genopet of your clan someday. Remember—our goal is to have the highest winning record in the clan! That way, we can be the Combatant who can compete for the Emperor's position once Afraz's five-year term is over."

Raju snapped his teeth at Taren and then turned his back on him. He bounded back to the table where Khatira and Arvani were laughing with the Soccer Flare guys and their pets.

Taren turned to Nira and shrugged. "He'll be ready," he promised.

Nira huffed. "I'm sure Quentin will be too."

Quentin showed no improvement in his misbehavior for the next few days of training week. He continued to aggravate Sir Mahnju and squeeze him in his thorny vines.

And Nira wasn't doing any better. One day, when training against the Elephantomese Combatants, the Beginning Tailips were practicing their battles while holding their human masters' bodies in the air so that the humans could use their weapons to fight the soaring Elephantomese that glided through the air, riding on the air currents summoned by their Elephantoms' exhaling noses. The Tailips were supposed to summon sticky stamen in their tulips, and use them to wrap around the waists and abdomens of their human masters. They were to raise their bodies in the air, and the humans were to use thorny vines to whip at the soaring Elephantomese humans in the air.

"Alright, let's do this!" Quentin jumped and gave a single clap with his hands. Sticky, gooey stamen instantly extended out from his tulip and wrapped around Nira's waist within a second.

"Ahh!" Nira instantly dropped her whipping vine. "Quentin, what are you—whaa!" He lifted her up in the air and waved her in every direction. "Quentin, stoooop!" She cried. She heard laughter from the human and genopet Combatants below her.

"Toss her, Quentin!" Screamed one of the Tailips. "Throw her all the way into the Firefangs' volcano!"

"Quentin, don't!" Nira could barely see where she was swaying. Quentin was lassoing her like she was part of a rope. Her body banged against all the Elephantomese humans that were soaring in the air, knocking them out of their wind currents and making them fall to the ground. The Tailipians and their Tailips cheered and yowled, beating their fists in the air. "Sto-o-o-op!" Stammered Nira as her body flayed every which way. When he finally paused, she struggled to hold her head upright. She had never felt so dizzy before.

"Nahhh, keep going, Quentin!" Yowled one of the heavy-set Tailips, banging his fists on the ground. "There are still some Elephantomese humans gliding around!"

Nira whipped her head to the left and faced down at her grinning Tailip. "Quentin, you monster! You're supposed to hold me still so that I can attack the Elephantomese humans with my whip!"

"I don't see you holding a weapon up there!" Quentin shouted. "You dropped your vine-whip as soon as I grabbed hold of ya, so I figured you weren't willing to do any of the fighting yourself. Just like you weren't doing any fighting yesterday! You hid inside an open rock when we were practicing a battle against the Rockodiles, so I had to finish the battle all by myself."

"I got trapped in a rock!" Nira shot back. "That Rockodile cracked a rock open, threw me inside, and smashed it again so that I was stuck inside."

"Yeah, yeah, it doesn't matter, the battle's success was all thanks to me, anyway. Not you." He jumped. "Whoops! Look out, more Elephantomese coming."

Nira was whipped by three Elephantomese that glided up to her and surrounded her. She screamed and waved her arms around her. "Yahh! Quentin, get me outta this--- whoa!"

Quentin resumed swinging Nira's body every which way, banging her against all the Elephantomese students that surrounded her.

"Whoa-ho-ho!" Quentin sounded pleased. "This is a much more effective way to defeat these so-called 'airborne' humans!"

"Agh! Sir Mahnjuuuu!" Nira yowled.

"Nira, this is all on you and your pet!" Called the old teacher in his edgy voice. "I can't try and settle any issues between you two every time we're practicing battles. Human-genopet relationships are the responsibilities of the human and the genopet!"

The old training instructor must have gotten tired of intervening between Nira and Quentin. Every time he came near Quentin, he always ended up wrapped up in the thorny stamen Quentin would summon from his tulip.

Nira spent the rest of that training period and the rest of that day, suffering from Quentin's torturous battle strategies.

Finally, it was Friday and the Beginning Rank Tailips and Firefangs were training with each other. Nira stood at the Firefang battle grounds, facing the clan of Beginning Rank Combatants from the Firefang Clan. Their teaching instructor was Dame Zanara, a short young lady with frizzy red hair explained the techniques they would be practicing for the day.

"Firefangs!" She shouted. "You'll practice using fireballs to distract your opponents as they race through the fiery field. Tailips! You will summon whipping vines from your tulips and use them to whack the fireballs out of your way. Yes, your vines will burn once they are in contact with the fireballs, but if you whip quick and hard enough, you will be able to hit that fireball in the opposite direction before it smashes you in the face."

"Good golly," Quentin glared at the teacher. Her voice projected loudly and clearly across the field. "Does she really have to yell?"

"Hey!" Taren raced up to Nira with Raju by his side. "Ready?"

Nira stiffened. "I guess..." she had been struggling to work well with Quentin especially during practices with the Firefangs. She hated playing so close to fire, so close to the horrendous beasts that were summoning it. The fear of getting Fireblood Disease never stopped haunting her whenever she neared them, and the horrid experience of the beasts terrorizing the ice-sculpted cities of her birth-clan had traumatized her.

"Don't worry, Nira," Taren said to her. "Raju knows what he's doing. He won't catch your hair on fire, at least not in a way that would kill you."

Raju turned to shoot Nira a narrowed glare, and then he turned to growl at Quentin. His tail began to swirl, and soon, a ball of flames formed in midair, above his tail.

Beside her, Nira heard Taren gasp. "Nira, watch out!"

Before Nira could realize what was about to happen, Raju had flung his fireball toward Quentin, who readily waved his tail, whipping out vines that whacked the fireball toward Nira's face. But Taren grabbed her arm and yanked her out of the way. She gasped, watching as the fireball landed beside her and exploded into ashes. Nira and Taren were flung back. They both landed on the hot, dry ground in front of a flame-covered tree.

Nira groaned and sat up, widening her eyes.

Taren sat up beside her. "Argh! Dammit, Raju." He got up and held a hand to Nira. "You alright?"

"Argh!" Nira grabbed his hand, heaved herself up, and then looked away. "Okay, I'm sick of this. My fear of genopets is holding me back from performing my best out there against other genopets and their masters, so Quentin has been forcing me to participate in our battles by using me like some kind of weapon! Like yesterday, he was hitting me against all the Elephantomese in the air."

Taren blinked. "Ooh, I'm sorry about that."

Nira huffed. "Even if I wasn't so fearful, I bet Quentin would use me as a weapon rather than a partner."

Taren laughed. "Nira, we're supposed to be partners with our pets in battle, but we're also their masters. There's a reason why we're called the 'human masters.' We're supposed to be the ones dictating how our pets work with us, not the other way around. You're Quentin's human master, so you should be the one controlling how you two collaborate in battle."

Nira turned to him with a glare. "Taren, don't talk to me like you're my training instructor. I already know that! Which is why I'm telling you how difficult things have been between me and Quentin, especially when it comes to fighting you and the stupid clan you decided to join." She crossed her arms.

"Ah, well, you need to show Quentin who's boss. And the first step is to show that monkey that you're not scared of other genopets. So work on getting over that fear of yours!" Taren chuckled. "I'm no expert on Tailips, but everyone knows they are the clowns in this League. They won't take you seriously unless you show them you're their master."

Nira narrowed her eyes, and then let out another huff. She stepped up to his side. Raju raced up to her, bristling with flames, and snorted out a burst of sparks from his nose.

"Eek!" Nira jumped back, and cringed as Raju gazed up at her and began to bristle.

"Don't be scared," said Taren. "Of all clans of pets, Firefangs hate the smell of fear most of all. Don't make Raju throw another fire bomb at you!"

Quentin sniggered and swung over Nira's head on the vine of a nearby branch. "Oh please, do make him mad. I'd like to see him catch you on fire."

She glared at her genopet, who winked back at her.

"Come on, Nira," Taren gave her a nudge with his elbow. "Show that Tailip who's boss."

Nira walked over to a nearby tree and picked up her vine-whip. She trained for the remainder of the half-hour, racing through showering fireballs and waving her whip in the air to try and whack at the falling clumps of fire. But she couldn't help visualizing how much this reminded her of the showering fireballs back in Frostfang territory. Soon, she was no longer running across a fiery field, but a cold, snowy land full of screaming crowds of white-haired people. Ice-sculpted buildings melted under orange and red flames, and Firefangs pounced on many of the humans and Frostfangs that left their homes. Orange and white flashed everywhere as the Firefangs locked in battle with many of the Frostfangs. Smoke filled the air.

Nira looked over her shoulder and saw two humans and a Frostfang lying behind her. "Mom...dad..." she widened her eyes. It was her parents and their Frostfang. They were wheezing. The skin on her parents' bodies was turning bright red before her eyes, until they were sizzling. "Fireblood!" Nira screamed. Her parents and their pet had been bitten by a Firefang, and had received Fireblood Disease. Their skin burnt away before her eyes, until they were three bodies of bloody, skinless humans. Their blood boiled and bubbled. Even their bones started to melt away.

A Firefang was standing a foot behind them. It was Prime Musaji. Nira recognized the ugly, horizontal scar that cut through both of Musaji's eyes. Musaji glared at her, her eyes, stripes, and fangs glowing red. The blood of her parents and their Frostfang dribbled from the tips of her glowing fangs. She let out a roar and leapt onto Nira, pinning her to the gorund.

"Ahhh!" Nira fell to the ground, and instantly, her vision changed. She found herself back on the scorched ground of the Firefang battleground. She was staring into the eyes of Raju, not Prime Musaji.

"Filthy Tailipian," growled Raju. Smoke expelled from his nostrils and surrounded her face.

Nira coughed. She felt a lump start to form in her throat, and her nose started to clog. She whipped at Raju's face with her thorny vine, making the tiger scream and jump off her.

"Hey, you stay away from my human!" Quentin swung onto a bare branch and squirted the ground with Expander Substance. Fly traps grew from beneath the tiger's feet and started chomping on his legs. Raju roared, bursting into flames and burning away all the fly-traps. He chased after Quentin, leaving Nira crawling away on her knees, coughing and choking.

"Nira, are you okay?" Taren hurried to her side and knelt.

"Uck—can't—c-can't..." her throat was completely congested. She couldn't speak.

"Great Hox!" Taren gasped. "Raju just breathe out the Inflammation Fumes. Your throat and sinuses are completely inflamed!" He helped her stand up. "Don't worry, I'll make sure he takes care of this before you have to see any Firefanglish Healers. Raju!" He called for his pet. "Time out!"

Raju rolled up to his side, tussling with Quentin. As soon as he released the screaming, skinny monkey, he leapt onto his four feet and glared at Taren, his eyes wild with anger.

"Great Hox, don't tell me I need to heal your non-clan girlfriend now," he roared. "Training isn't even over!"

"That's right. So heal her right away and we'll all be able to get more training done before this hour is up!"

Raju turned to Nira and crouched. He clearly didn't look happy.

Taren laid a hand on Nira's back as she struggled to cough out what felt like a golf ball stuck in her throat. "Now, this might hurt a little, but—"

Before he could finish, Raju leapt forward and pinned Nira to the ground again. She would have screamed, but her inflamed throat only made it sound like a hiccup. The tiger sunk his red fangs into her throat, right where she could feel the lump. Nira felt a burning sensation run through her entire body, and for a split of a second, she thought Raju had infected her with Fireblood. But then she felt the greatest sensation of heat in her throat. Her entire neck felt like it was on fire, and so did the area surrounding her nose and upper nasal cavity. The lump in her throat started to fade, and her sinuses cleared. She was able to breathe and scream again.

"Alright, Raju!" Taren wrapped his arms around his tiger's neck and heaved him off Nira. "That's enough, don't burn her to death." Nira felt his burning fangs lift out of her throat, and her neck started to cool down. She lay there, panting with wide, distant eyes.

Taren helped her stand up. "You okay now?"

"Oh," Nira grabbed her thoat. Blood was trickling rapidly from where Raju had bit her. "Great Hox, I should get to the Infirmary Tree."

"Hey, at least thank me for saving your ass!" Raju roared. "You don't know how difficult it was for me to do that to you without completely burning your bloodstream. I could've easily infected you with Fireblood while healing you."

Nira looked at the furious genopet with wide eyes. "Th-thank—"

But Raju leapt over her head to chase after Quentin, who had been shaking his bottom at Raju the whole time.

"Taren, I hate this!" Nira screamed, ducking and crawling under a fiery tree branch to avoid the violent tussling between her pet and Raju. She could feel the heat of the flames on her head. "I can't do this! I just had a vision of the Firefang attack on our birth-clan. I can't stand this."

Taren held her head against his chest. "It's alright," he said softly.

Raju raced across the field, passing them by. The young tiger was surprisingly fast, he was a complete blur of red and yellow flames as he zipped passed her. But then he skidded to a halt. He whirled around and glared at Nira, his eyes glowing red. Nira knew that look. He smelled her fear, and it enraged him.

"Taren..." she whispered, gently pushing him away from her. She hated feeling vulnerable.

Raju raced up to her and lunged himself in the air.

"Ahhh!" She fell to her knees and curled up into a ball.

Taren jumped in front of her, dragging Quentin by the tail.

"Lemme go, you buffoon!" Yowled Quentin, beating his fists in the air.

Nira watched Taren release Quentin, who disappeared up in the flaming branches. Raju landed on the bottom branch and climbed after the Tailip. Then Taren turned around and shook his head.

"Come on, Nira," he was half-smiling. "You made my tiger go crazy. I told you he hates the smell of fear."

"Ugh..." she got up and brushed herself. "I just can't bring myself to work with these Firefangs. Taren, they killed off our entire clan! I don't understand how you could tolerate being around the Combatants that killed your real family."

She and Taren jumped back as one of the flaming branches fell off the tree and landed in front of them.

Taren frowned and looked up. A small form swung past the branches of the flaming tree. "Quentin? That wasn't funny! You scared both of us!"

Nira gazed up and, unwittingly, grabbed Taren's hand. "Taren, that's not Quentin . . . ."

A piercing scream echoed through the air. The small form jumped out from the flames, and landed on the fiery branch, crouching on its four legs.

"What the...?" Taren winced at the creature, surrounded by dancing flames. "Jinjei, is that you?"

The broad-shouldered tiger leapt out of the flames, wagging his flaming speared tail and sending sparks flying in every direction.

"Having fun with your Tailipian girlfriend, Taren?" Bakur's drawling voice sounded from behind the fiery trees. Nira looked up to see Bakur, Zeke, and Tahlia stepping through the smoke. Zeke's sizzling Firefang stomped up to Jinjei's side and the both of them growled menacingly.

"Hey!" Taren glared at the spiky-haired boy. "What in Hox's name are you doing on this side of our battle grounds? This area is for Beginning Rank Combatants only!"

Bakur let out a harsh laugh. "Great Hox, Taren, you're proving to be the most disgraceful Firefanglish Combatant in the clan!" Bakur scoffed. "First you're friends with that gloomy Elephantomese. Then you flirt with his girlfriend, a Rainbirdian. Now you're jumping through flames with your own Tailipian girlfriend."

Taren clenched his fists. "What's it to you? First of all, Gharry and I have been friends since we were two! There's no need to end our friendship just 'cause we're training different types of genopets. And second, Dharene's hot. Every guy—no matter what genopet they train—has a crush on her."

Smoke extinguished from Raju's nose. "I bet you all wanna kiss her!"

Zeke flinched. "Eh? That singer's too delicate for me!"

Bakur raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, you kiddin' me, dude? Don't you know how stupid it is for students to make friends with people who don't train the same types of genopets they do? It makes them softhearted toward the other species; it makes them softhearted to the clan that trains the other species. It jeopardizes their own loyalty to their own type of species within their own clan."

Nira stepped forward. "There's nothing wrong with respecting the other types of pets! You Firefanglish especially need to learn how to respect other species besides your own."

Jinjei jumped forward. "Oh yeah? Want me to show you how disadvantageous it is to show pity to another type outside your own clan?" He released a puff of flames from his mouth.

"Run!" Taren grabbed her hand and the two of them raced away, ducking as the hordes of fireballs began to shower around them. They ran and ran, until they were finally on the open lands of the field, where the students and their pets were gathering around Dame Zanara and Sir Mahnju.

Nira stopped in her tracks, afraid to look back. But she peeked over her shoulder to make sure Quentin and Raju were racing after them without Jinjei or Bakur in sight.

Taren was panting. "Okay, what just happened? Bakur just tried to attack me, and I'm in his clan!"

Nira flinched. "Hey! Excuse me, but I think you should be more concerned that Bakur was taunting you for helping me out. Doesn't it bug you that we have to be segregated like this? We grew up together in the same clan, and now we've changed our races to live with new clans. Don't you find it stupid that we are trained to compete against one another, instead of just simply learning to respect the other types and get along with everyone?"

Raju skidded to a halt and whipped around to face Nira with a wide-eyed glare. "What?! Great Hox, don't tell me you're in favor of a genotopian society! Such a society is said to exist only in the legends."

Nira blinked. "Wait, so you're saying there are legends about genoptopian societies, where humans can train whatever genopet species they want, and live with whomever they want, regardless of the species they train?"

Taren flipped his red floppy hair back and used his forearm to wipe the ashes off his forehead. Then he turned to her and gave her a mischievous smile. "Exactly! Legends say that there is a hidden land somewhere on this world—the land of Genotopia. Humans train whatever genopet species they want, and they live with whomever they want, regardless of their genopet species. But according to the legends, only Hox can take you to that secret land. We can never find it ourselves, because Hox has it hidden, and only he can choose who gets to enter it."

Before Nira could reply, Dame Zanara yelled across the field. "Firefangs and Tailips! We're heading over to the Tailips' battle grounds to continue our battle practice!"

Surprisingly, Nira found herself enjoying the game for the remainder of the hour. Although she was horrified to let Quentin lift her through the trees on a thick canopy, she felt much safer when Taren was crouching on the canopy with her.

By the time the training period was over, she turned to Taren and managed to give him a smile. "Thanks," she said quietly. "I...I think I made a little improvement. But I still need to get used to this. I feel like the most unprepared trainer out here."

"Hey, we're still Beginning Combatants," said Taren. "We're all unprepared in our own way. For me, I don't think I'm prepared to fight an entire clan of Rainbirds in the Genopet League. Or the Cobrazors. have you seen how tough those guys are?"

"Oh yeah," Nira crossed her arms. "Their snakes can do the same things that our Tailips can do, except they can secrete a wider variety of toxic chemicals that intoxicate rather than heal. We have more healing powers, but they have more toxic powers that are much more useful for battle."

Taren laughed. "That's the only part that I struggle with. Just smelling their breath can make me sick or hypnotized."

Nira chuckled. "Well, I don't think your clan will lose to anyone in the Genopet League. Especially if they have a pet like Raju in the clan."

But deep down, Nira felt a little more confident about the official battles next week. And surprisingly, Quentin seemed to work better with her after her training with Taren. Eventually, she got used to engaging in the battles with her monkey. Eventually, the Tailip started to take her more seriously.

On Monday, Quentin did not fool around while battling his opponents, nor did he treat Nira like a toy. After they beat their first opponent, she bumped into Taren.

"You beat the Elephantoms?!" Taren was surprised. "Awesome! So did I! Hehe, I can't wait to rub it in Gharry's face."

Nira chuckled nervously. "Honestly, I think we were just lucky."

Quentin snickered. "She managed to whip the Elephantomese human outta the air, but only because I was waving her around while she was attempting it."

By the end of the day, Nira was completely shocked with herself and her pet. Quentin had won five games out of all seven one-on-one battles. He had only lost to the opponents from the Cobrazorand the Firefang Clans.

Quentin, however, was pouty. "Hmph! I could've won against the Firefang pair if we battled them in our own battle grounds."

Nira and Quentin were now standing in front of the Gathering Tree. All eyes were fixed upon Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji.

"Now, I hope you are all getting off to a great start as Combatants," spoke the Firefanglish Emperor. "Remember that by the end of this year, you have the chance to move up from the Beginning Rank. The battles you won today will be recorded in your battle records. Continue to win as many as you can, because depending on how many battles you win by the end of this year, you may move up to the Standard, Advanced, or Elite Ranks."

Quentin turned to Nira. "Our clan requires a minimum of 260 wins and a maximum of 30 losses in order to make it to the Elite Rank, right?"

Nira nodded. "We ought to consider ourselves lucky. In the Firefang Clan, you need a minimum of 280 wins and a maximum of 20 losses to qualify as an Elite Rank Combatant by the end of the year."

Emperor Afraz continued to speak, "Now concludes the end of our first day. Dinner is being served in the third-level branch of the Dining Tree again. It is entirely optional to stay, although I definitely advise first-years to attend since dinnertime is an excellent opportunity for you and your new pets to get to know your teachers and their own teacher-pets."

As the students began to disperse, Nira looked at Quentin again. The Tailip was up in a nearby tree, cracking up with the other Beginning Rank Tailips. He was bragging about his successful feat against their opponents today.

Nira noticed Taren was beneath their tree, laughing loudly with a group of tall, brawny boys in his clan. Nira guessed they were part of the school Soccer Flare team. During one of their passing periods, Taren had mentioned that he had been interested in trying out for their team.

As he noticed Nira watching them, he gestured a hand for her to come over. Nira blushed and then walked up to him.

"So how'd you do?" He asked, his eyes wide with interest.

She sighed. "Five wins, two losses. Much, much better than what I was expecting."

"Great!"

She gave him a raised look. "I suppose you and Raju aced all your matches and have a winning streak of 7 on your battle record now?"

Taren sighed. "Nah, we lost against the Cobrazors, believe it or not. They're a tough clan. But we beat all our opponents in the other clans!" He looked over his shoulder to see Raju exhaling fireballs at Quentin and the other Tailips up in the tree. Quentin and his clan-mates screamed angrily at him, shooting squirts of pollen and substances at Raju as they tried to avoid his fireballs.

Taren sighed and crossed his arms. "I wish they our pets could just be pals."

That night, when Nira was back at her house, she heard a knock on her door. She turned, frowning. It was 8:00pm, and she was doing the dishes. She made her way up to the door and opened it.

"Hey!" Taren grinned, speaking in a quiet, hasty voice. "Mind if I come in?"

"Taren!" Nira jumped back. "What are you doing here? I sure hope you paid the Toll Tree before entering our territory—you'd be thrown in jail if anyone from our Security Brigade found a non-clan member like you wandering around here."

Taren gave her a wry smile. "Is that the greeting I get for spending almost $200 to get into this territory?"

Nira blinked, and then shook her head, smiling. "Come in!" She opened the door and let Taren step into her house. "But stay quiet," she warned. "Quentin's still awake. He's swinging around the upper branches with Bonnie and one of my neighbor's Tailips."

"Ah, how cute," said Taren. "Where's your host-family?"

Nira stiffened. She realized she hadn't told Taren that the only member in her host-family was a 21-year-old guy and his Tailip. She turned and faced him with an innocent smile. "Well, actually, I only have a host-brother in my host-family."

"No way!" Taren gave a frown. "You didn't tell me this before."

"Well, you never asked," she said. "We never really found the right time to have a real conversation outside of training and battling on our battlegrounds."

Taren crossed his arms, still frowning at her. "How old is he?"

She gave a quick huff. "He's 21. But don't worry! He's an Elite Combatant, and I'm sure he's got tons of ladies in the Elite Rank chasing after him." She raised her eyebrows. "As a matter of fact, he left to go to a party with some Elite Combatants tonight. Bonnie and Quentin decided to stay here and crash it later once all the guests arrive...which is usually around midnight," Nira chuckled. "Tailipian humans hardly get any sleep."

Taren managed to crack a smile. "Heh. Same thing with the Firefangs. They also love to party hard." He rubbed his arms. "Man, after staying in the Firefang territory for so long, I feel like the slightest breeze out here will make me shiver. Am I allowed to come in, or is your host-boyfriend gonna feel offended to have someone like me set foot in his house?"

Nira rolled her eyes. "He's not my host-boyfriend! And no, he wouldn't mind if I had a friend over."

She opened the door to let him walk inside. She peeked down the branches of her tree and looked left and right, verifying that no one had seen him, and then closed the door. Then she turned to Taren with a mischievous smile. The redheaded boy was gazing at all the hanging leaves and vines on the ceiling, and the spiral of flowers at the four corners of the living room.

"Man, the atmosphere here is so...relaxing," said Taren.

"Yeah, very different from the houses in the Firefang cities, right?"

"Oh, totally!" Taren laughed. "We've got flames everywhere. But most of all, it's super noisy, especially at night. The human masters and their pets never shut up—you hardly ever get some sleep down there." He winked at her. "I was lucky enough to sneak away and get some peace and quiet."

"But you love noise," said Nira. "And this place is not very different. The Tailipians are loud and rambunctious at any time of the day." Then she looked around. "So what did you do about Raju? Did he let you venture up here?"

"Raju doesn't know I'm here," Taren smirked. "He's busy play-fighting with Khatira on the slopes of Arvani's volcano. Those two tigers are crazy for each other—I think they're madly in love."

Nira laughed. "They've only known each other for a week. I don't understand how animals can find true love so quickly and so easily."

Taren smirked. "Hehe, I wouldn't say they've found true love. I think they're just at the beginning stages, which is when they just feel horny for each other." He gave her a wink. "That's how I felt like around you, before the deeper, more compassionate feelings started to kick in."

Nira blushed and smiled. She hadn't realized how much she had missed being around Taren. She hadn't forgotten how flirtatious and romantic he could be. She grabbed his wrists and pulled him up the stairs and into her room. The two of them sat down on her bed, side by side, and kissed. Nira indulged in the moment, feeling a tingly, but warm and satisfying feeling in her stomach. She had also missed his kisses. Whenever they touched lips, she always felt as if she was shifting into an alternate universe where she could run as fast as she wanted, fly as high as she wished, and danced as long as she desired.

When they parted lips, Nira gazed into his eyes and said, "Thanks for spending all that time training with me last week. I think I'm just a little less scared of genopets now."

"Ah, no problem!" Taren pushed a strand of her green hair behind her ears. "I'm happy to help you train any time of the day. Just like in Elementary Training!"

Nira sighed and rested her head on his shoulder. "You were the only one who would ever reach out to me and help me deal with the genopets whenever I was struggling. If it weren't for you, I would have been killed by a Firefang by now."

He put an arm around her and held her close. "You're getting better, though! Just remember to be firm and tough with your pet. Never feel or show any sign fear. That smell distracts genopets and makes them agitated with you. They need to be willing to fight against other genopets—not against their masters." He smirked. "Raju really hates Quentin, which is good for him. I'm confident that his hatred against other genopets of other types will also strengthen, so that he'll be the strongest genopet in our clan, and better yet, the strongest in the entire League!"

Nira rolled her eyes and lifted her head off his shoulder. "Okay, this whole nature of genopets hating one another is ridiculous. Dr. Z was completely insane and selfish to make different races of humans make their own genopet species this way. How could some people enjoy watching genopets tearing one another apart?" The natural rivalry between the different types of pets is the reason why the two of them can't be together.

Taren sighed. "That's true. But come on. There's no law saying we can't marry another person training a different type of genopet."

"But it _is_ against the nature of genopets to get along with those who are not of their own species."

"Right, because Mother Nature is literally their conscience. They hear her voice in their heads, and they are naturally driven them to obey whatever she tells them."

Nira crossed her arms. "But humans modified genopets so that they feel agitated around other species. We made them hear violent commands from Mother Nature. So even though the genopets are driven by their natural instincts, in a way, it is unnatural because we programmed their instincts to be the way we wanted them to be." She huffed. "Humans have just instigated their selfish nature into innocent animals. We make them fight one another, but really, we are only fighting amongst ourselves. This is why it's so difficult for humans from different clans—such as you and me—to see each other without being judged."

Taren nodded. "Yeah, it shows what assholes we humans can be toward those who are different. But this is why cross-clan couples put up with long-distance relationships. There _are_ cross-clan couples out there—some who are even married. And they _ensure_ they make the time to sneak away from their pets to spend time with each other." Taren smiled. "Like what we're doing right now."

Nira sighed. "Our pets would be furious if they ever saw us together."

"Yeah, well, they won't. We'll be careful." He leaned forward and kissed her again.

Nira closed her eyes and let herself feel that sense of bliss again. Then when it was over, she and Taren spent the rest of the night, talking about their experiences with their own clan members. They told each other about everything—the people they had met, the clan-mates they dealt with, everything.

Finally, dawn was approaching. Nira and Taren were on the floor, lying atop a soft, pillowy pile of cherry-scented moss, snickering over the conversation they were having about their host familes. Then a loud call sounded from outside. Taren sat up and glanced toward the window.

"Crap! It's already dawn," said Taren.

"Oh, shoot!" Nira sat up. She looked out the window to see the shadowy forms of three humans and five Tailips. The humans were all laughing out loud, probably drunk from the party. The five Tailips were swinging around, hanging from each others' feet and tails. "Lahan, Quentin, and Bonnie are back.

"Don't worry. The Firefangs also barely sleep. Raju's probably still in Arvani's house," said Taren. "But I should get going before Quentin wakes up and poisons me with his purple goo." He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll be back tomorrow night!"

Nira sighed happily. "Taren, you don't have to risk yourself every night just to see me."

"Well, how else can we see each other without getting fingers pointed at us?"

"Let me visit you tomorrow night," said Nira, smiling playfully. "It's my turn to see you."

Taren raised his eyebrows. "Really? You'd be willing to pay the fee at the Toll Volcano? It's almost four times the fee it takes to enter your territory."

"Of course I'm willing to pay! I'm sure Quentin and I are going to win enough battles to pay it all off. He's pretty darn strong, and I honestly think we'll be able to move out of this place and buy our own home tree by the end of this year."

Taren smiled. "Well, be careful. Like I said, the Firefanglish people hardly ever sleep. It's gonna be hard to sneak around the rooms when everyone's up and running around the streets with their Firefangs. They're very unfriendly around cross-clan visitors, which is why the fee is so high for non-clan members to visit."

"I'll take the risk," she winked. "If you can teach me to get over my fear of genopets, I won't be scared of anything."

Taren snickered. "Alright, sounds awesome."

  9. Nira

The next day, Nira decided to have breakfast at the Dining Tree, just so she could sneak in a few more moments with Taren before they started battling opponents across the battle grounds. She stepped into the dining hall with Quentin on her shoulder, inhaling the scent.

"Mmm...they're frying rabbit ears today. My favorite," he said. "Oh...Mother Nature's voice sounds so...pleasant right now. If only you can hear her..."

Nira choked in disgust. "How can you feel so euphoric around the smell of dead animals? You genopets sicken me." _And so do the humans who made genopets this way._

She made her way to the feeding station, holding her breath as she glanced over the bowls, each of them holding four tan, crispy rabbit ears.

"My my," Quentin landed on her shoulder, staring hungrily at the bowls. "These rabbit ears look like they've been fried for a hundred years! These would taste amazing with some rabbit blood-sauce." He turned to the right. "Ooh. They've got some squirrel heads, too! Raw ones."

Nira turned to glance at the trays of squirrel heads beside the bowls of fried rabbit ears. She let out a squeal and bumped into the girl behind her. Her tray dropped to the ground and a bowl of oats and blood sauce spilled to the floor.

"Oh!" Nira whipped around and widened her eyes. Arvani Simmers. Nira recognized the redheaded girl that had been following Taren around on the first day. She widened her eyes as she noticed some of the oats and blood had splashed onto Arvani's red blouse. The redheaded girl was glaring at her with her piercing green eyes. Beside her, Khatira was snarling and bristling with flames as she stared murderously at Nira.

"That was my breakfast," she snarled, releasing a burst of flames from her nostrils.

"I-I'm so sorry," Nira knelt down and grabbed the bowl. "I'll get you a new bowl!" She turned to head toward the oatmeal station, but then felt a warm hand grab her shoulder. She stiffened and turned to meet Arvani's gaze.

"Cool it, Tailipian," Arvani curved her lips into a snide smile, keeping her eyes narrowed. "Khatira's my pet to feed, not yours." Then she tightened her grip on Nira's shoulder and then leaned forward to speak in her ear. "You're lucky you only bumped into _me_ this morning. Spill the food of one of the Soccer Flare guys, and you'd be a pile of ashes." Then she pushed Nira out of her way, knocking her to the side where dead rabbits were hanging from the ceiling.

Nira screamed and waved her hands against all the dead rabbits. As she fell to her knees, she heard the two girls by Arvani's side giggling. One of the girls had orange hair tied back in a high ponytail, the other had half her hair dyed orange and the other half dyed yellow.

"How pathetic!" Said the girl with the half-orange hair. "She's even scared of non-genopet animals!"

Nira looked up, glaring at Arvani and her two friends as they strutted past her.

"Nira!" Taren rushed up to her and helped her up. "Hehe, you gotta be careful around Arvani Simmers. She and Khatira have the highest winning streak in the Firefang Beginning Rank. They even have a higher record than Raju and I do."

"Puh," Nira huffed, brushing a few pieces of meat off her shoulders. "I guess that doesn't aggravate you enough to make her stop following you around."

"Hey, Arvani is just a friend," Taren tilted Nira's chin up so that she was looking him in the eye. He chuckled. "Honestly, if I had a list of the things I fear, that girl would be the only one on there."

"Hey!" Raju was roaring across the noisy room, behind one of the feeding stations. "Taren, hurry up and fetch me my breakfast! You'll have all night to sneak back to Tailip territory and see your girlfriend!"

Nira cringed. "He knows you saw me?!"

Taren sighed. "Apparently, he was heading back to my room the same time I was—right after I had left your territory. He could smell the scent of Tailips on me before I could even say anything to him."

"Oh, _great."_

"Don't worry! I promised him I would take him for extra training with Khatira if he kept his mouth shut. So he hasn't told anyone. Well...no one except Khatira."

"What?! So then Arvani must know!" Nira looked over her shoulder to see Arvani and her redheaded girlfriends teasing a group of yellow-haired girls from the Dandeliopard Clan. Arvani was shouting taunts at the girls as Khatira and the other Firefangs chased their grass-furred, dandelion-spotted leopards behind the oatmeal station.

"No worries," Taren said, not sounding the least bit concerned. "Arvani doesn't care that I have a girlfriend in the Tailip Clan. If she did, she would have expressed her concern a long time ago. She probably would be making fun of me and avoiding me if she didn't want me seeing you."

Watching her pick on the girls from another clan, Nira could believe it. She gave a sigh. "Well, I'll see you later then. You should go feed Raju before he sets us both on fire."

Taren laughed and walked away. "Fine then. See ya at the battle grounds! Remember we have our first battle against each other today."

Nira smirked. "Right. We're going to beat you both!"

The time came when she and Quentin were going to battle Taren and Raju on the Firefang battle ground. Nira arched her neck over the group of flaming pets and orange-suited students to catch a glimpse of Taren.

"Oh please," muttered Quentin. "If I have to chase the same flaming ball of fur at every fire and air training session, I'm gonna grow fly-traps over all seven battlegrounds."

Nira huffed. "Quentin, Raju's the second-strongest Firefang Beginning Combatant. You should be thankful you get to battle him every day."

"Ah, but don't you want to train against the number-one strongest Firefang?" Nira and Quentin turned around at the sound of familiar growls and mewls. Khatira was standing behind them, crouching. As soon as Nira and Quentin met her fierce gaze, Khatira opened her mouth and released a burst of flames in Nira's direction.

"Ahh!" Nira ducked, feeling the heat of the flames over her head.

"Hey!" Quentin leaped in front of her, glaring. "I'm the genopet here, you should be fighting me!"

"She's the one who knocked over my breakfast this morning!" Khatira leapt in Nira's direction, only to be whipped back by Quentin's stamens.

Arvani looked over her shoulder and met Nira's gaze. She smirked. "Guess our pets look ready to fight each other, huh? Why don't we have a little battle against each other?"

"Uh..." Nira looked over her shoulder. Taren was laughing with a huge group of Soccer Flare players, heading over to the opposite side of the field. "I was planning to battle Taren today..."

"Oh please!" Snorted Arvani. "You have plenty of time to see your boyfriend tonight. And I'm sure Quentin wants to take his training to the next level. Let him train with Khatira for a change."

Nira watched as the young she-tiger chased her monkey around. She sighed. "Fine."

Their training didn't go as well as Nira wanted it to go. Khatira was surprisingly fast. She pinned Quentin down as soon as the battle started. She sunk her teeth into his tulip, causing it to burn. Quentin was unable to secrete any useful types of pollen or chemicals.

Meanwhile, Arvani easily dodged Nira's whips. As soon as Khatira had rendered Quentin useless, she expelled a huge burst of black flames in Nira's direction.

Black flames.

Nira instantly found herself surrounded by black flames in her deteriorating Frostfang territory. the Firefangs were exhaling it at the faces of numerous Frostfangs and humans. She watched as the humans fell to the ground and started having seizures. The Frostfangs also fell to their sides and kicked and thrashed in the air, roaring and yowling. A black substance started to leak from their ears.

_Great Hox, it's their blood,_ Nira was horrified. The black flames turned their blood black, which was what caused the seizures.

Soon, she felt her own skin start to burn, and she, too, fell to the ground. She thrashed and seized, seeing rapid flashes of colors before everything finally went black.

She woke up in the Infirmary, lying on a white bed. Redheaded nurses were walking around the room, tending to a variety of humans and genopets who had been attacked by Firefangs and inflicted by their diseases.

_Ugh, that was humiliating,_ thought Nira. Now her battle record had five wins and three losses.

Worst of all, she didn't even get to battle Taren.

That night, as soon as Quentin had fallen asleep, Nira flew Lahan's shuttle out of Tailipian territory and landed at the front of the Toll Volcanoes. Luckily, Taren had sent her the directions to his house. She made her way up to the Toll Volcano of the Firefang territory, feeling goosebumps rise on her skin despite the increasing heat. _I've got to see Taren...I haven't seen him all day. That bitchy Arvani was keeping him distracted during lunch and dinner._ Not to mention, she had a lot to tell him about her training with Arvani. She knew the redheaded girl only offered to battle her, just to injure her badly so that she wouldn't have enough energy to see Taren. The Firefang Healers were never very generous when they healed other clan members.

Nira's cheeks burned with rage, and she almost felt like she would turn into a Firefang and release her own flames. _Arvani likes him. I know it._

"Hey!" One of the guarding Firefangs leapt in front of her, fuming. "And just where do you think you're going, Tailipian?"

"I-I'm here to visit a friend," she held up her netphone. "I'm willing to transfer the $760 fee from my bank account to yours."

"Hey, I know you. You're that girlfriend of Emperor Afraz's host-son. Well guess what? Emperor Afraz doesn't want humans like you snooping around our city."

"What? You've got to be kidding me! I—"

A blast of flames erupted behind her and Nira screamed. She fell forward and landed on her chin.

Two guarding Firefangs stood side by side and glared down at her, smoke coming out of their nostrils.

"You're lucky this is just your first strike," snarled the one on the right. "The next time we see you approaching our territory, Prime Musaji will have you locked up in her fiery dungeons where she'll burn both you and your pitiful little monkey."

"Seriously?! You try to sneak into his room and get caught! How humiliating!" Quentin whipped his stamens at Nira's face.

Nira screamed and jumped back. It was the next day, and they were training on the higher branches of their home tree.

"Quentin, stop!" She screamed. "We didn't get to train with Taren and Raju yesterday, so what do you expect?! I had to see him!"

"Oh, because you love him, huh?" The Tailip cocked his head to the right. "Great Hox, when it comes to love, you humans prove that you are slaves to your desires. You're no different from us."

Nira put her hands on her hips and spoke in a firm tone. "You shouldn't be criticizing us for our uncontrollable passion for each other. You should be criticizing us for making you genopets the way you are: slaves to your natural instincts like you said. Things would be so much easier if you genopets could just get along with other species and not be driven by the powerful instincts we've given you."

"Then I guess that's your fault, right? Sheesh, you humans designed us to hate other species and other human races that train those species. So you shouldn't even be loving another man from a different clan."

Nira frowned. "Do you think I want things to be this way? It wasn't my idea to have all the human races divided into separate clans, and it definitely wasn't my idea to have each race make their own genopet species to fight one another. I didn't ask for things to be this way!"

Quentin crossed his skinny arms. "Well, I didn't ask to be the way that I am either! You think I want to feel hatred against other species? Do you think I don't mind having the urge to destroy those who smell different from my own kind?"

Nira noticed the Tailip's eyes were clouding up with emotion.

Quentin kicked at a branch and let out a scream. "I hate hearing Mother Nature's commands in my head! I hate how I'm unable to control myself whenever she speaks to me, whenever I sniff another species or a human that's not from our clan. But I'm unable to control it! Unlike you humans, I am a slave to a numerous list of other natural desires besides love!"

Nira flinched. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize it was that frustrating for you."

"Oh, it's frustrating alright," Quentin's cries were sharp and high-pitched. She had never seen her genopet so angry. "Whenever I smell another genopet species, or the humans that train them, I'm unable to control myself from obeying Mother Nature's voice and attacking the other speices and their humans. All of us feel this way! This is a habit all genopets have to put up with every day of their lives, because you humans made us this way! But you know what's even more frustrating? Seeing you defy the very norms you humans made, and seeing someone from another clan. You make us hate other humans who are not your race, yet, when you fall in love with a human of another race, you expect us to be okay with that?!" He banged his fists at the branches hanging in front of him and whipped his stamens all over the tree.

Nira ducked, barely avoiding getting her head sliced off by the dagger-sharp thorns on his stamens.

"Quentin, please!" She shouted. "Just calm down! I'll try not to see Taren so often if that would make you feel better."

Quentin paused. He glared at her, breathing heavily. "The whole clan is talking about you, you know. The other Tailips seethe at you and suspect you'll become a traitor to our clan. Not only does that make things bad for you, but for me also! Tailipians talk about me, calling me the pet of the cross-clan prostitute!"

Nira widened her eyes. But before she could say anything, he turned and swung away on a vine.

"Quentin, no! Come back!"

"Need some help?" Lahan was walking up to her with Bonnie on his shoulder.

Oh great! I'm so terrible at training my pet, an Elite Combatant has to help me.

Lahan smiled. "It's understandable to have your genopet frustrated with you when you love someone from another clan."

Nira looked down. "I mean...Taren and I love each other because we were born in the same clan. It's not like we were born in two separate worlds and then fell in love."

"Yes, but think about it. Changing your races hasn't changed how you feel about each other, right? You still love him, even though you know it's highly recommended to stay away from cross-clan relationships."

He was right. Nira would have fallen in love with Taren even if they were born and raised in different clans. She had never been attracted to a funnier, sweeter, or braver guy.

Lahan laughed. "Don't worry, we're not going to hate on you. As a matter of fact, I'm curious to learn a bit more about you and Quentin. He seems very strong. You just need to learn how to teach him to control his powers."

Nira looked up into the tall man's green eyes. He spoke so softly, so sweetly, she almost felt a little better.

When she didn't say anything, Lahan raised his eyebrows. "Perhaps Bonnie and I can teach you a few things today? Bonnie has actually been excited to train with Quentin on the battlegrounds instead of here in this home tree all the time."

Nira blinked. _A pair of Elite Combatants? Teaching me and Quentin?!_ She remembered Lahan and and Bonnie had the highest winning streaks in the Tailip Clan. She suddenly felt lighthearted and content.

"Oh—uh...sure, I guess," she stuttered.

Lahan smiled softly. "Wonderful. Would you like to meet me at our battle grounds at 3:00pm this afternoon?"

"Uh...yeah! Sure, that would be great. Thank you."

"No way!" Dharene widened her eyes. She and Nira walked down the hall of the third-branch of the Dining Tree for lunch. "You're gonna be training with your host-brother, who's the strongest Elite Combatant in your clan?! That's amazing!" Dharene blinked and then giggled. "Don't tell anyone I said this, but Lahan Drahel is kinda cute, too."

Nira shook her head as they walked side by side through the hallway. "I'm not too surprised Lahan offered to train with me and Quentin. Everyone in the clan is always helpful toward one another. Just as any human or genopet is toward their own race and species."

Dharene sighed. They stopped by the front of the doors to the dining hall.

"Well, have fun with Lahan!" Dharene winked at her. "Text me how it goes!"

Nira felt her cheeks turn red. "Oh, because you're too scared to be seen walking around with a friend from another clan?"

Dharene blinked. "Nira, our pets are by our sides throughout the entire day. We can't be seen together, or our pets will get into fights."

"Yeah, I'm perfectly aware of that. But you're just making excuses," Nira crossed her arms and turned her back. "You just don't want all your new Rainbird friends to see you hanging out with such an unpopular amateur trainer like me."

"Nira, that's not true!" Dharene protested.

"Then explain why you never even bother to look my way or answer my texts whenever you're hanging out with all those stuck-up, girly water-heads. I've been texting you the past few weeks, asking you if you'd ever like to meet up with me and Taren for lunch sometime!"

"The girls that I hang out with just have a lot in common with me—which I find very wonderful!"

"Well, you and I never had anything in common, but somehow we were best friends all through Elementary Training...when we were still in the same clan, with the same genopets."

"That was because of Taren," Dharene said. "Taren and I were very close friends, and then when he asked you out, we became a trio of besties."

"Dharene!" A Rainbirdian girl was waving her long, slender arm across the room. "We're gonna go surfing with the guys in ten minutes!"

Dharene looked over her shoulder and then turned to Nira with a quick nod. "Well, I'll be getting Clarabelle. I'll see you around."

Nira watched her friend—or the girl who used to be her friend—disappear around the corner and join the table with the Rainbirdian girls.

Then she huffed and turned to see Quentin already sitting in the Tailip side of the room, gathered around a stump with the other Tailips. She slowly made her way to the feeding station and grabbed a tray with a bowl of soup. Then her sadness transformed into fury as she caught sight of Taren cracking up in the noisiest part of the room with the muscular boys on the Soccer Flare team. He was sitting beside Arvani, who was pointing at all the other Combatants passing by their tables and whispering in his ear, making them all crack up and shout rude comments.

_Taren, you don't belong with them!_ Nira clutched her tray angrily, feeling the urge to throw her entire bowl of oatmeal at Arvani's head. _Arvani and all her friends are nothing but bullies. You're not like that!_

She looked away, not wanting to be seen sitting by herself again—but most of all, not wanting to be seen sitting with Dharene or Taren and risk getting hundreds of fingers pointed at her and people gossiping about her again.

She turned to see Lahan sitting with a small group of Elite Combatants. He shot her a warm smile and she smiled shyly back.

"Hey, so Lahan and Bonnie are still training with us, right?" Quentin leapt to her side.

"Yeah."

"Hmm..." Quentin narrowed his eyes and crouched on his knuckles. "Might as well ask Bonnie for any strategies before we start on the battleground."

"Quentin wait—!" But the monkey was already hopping toward the pink-tulipTailip.

He began squeaking and chattering with the Tailip, who responded in smooth, quiet grunts.

Nira and Lahan met eyes again. When the man smiled softly, she huffed and reluctantly walked up to him. She set her tray down by his side.

"I see our pets are already getting along quite well," he said calmly.

"Of course," she said, not meeting his gaze as she sat down beside him. "They're both of the same species." Humans made them tolerable around each other, so it was in their nature to get along.

Lahan chuckled.

For a moment, neither of them spoke a word to each other. Lahan was busy talking with his friends while Nira sat on his left, on the edge of the table, slowly drinking her soup. Then she set her spoon down and looked around. She was the only one not talking at this table. She could hear the conversation Quentin and Bonnie were having behind her.

"Oh man, you also wrapped Sir Mahnju with sticky vines when you were a Beginning Combatant?" Quentin was squeaking between his laughs. "Great Hox, that's awesome! So you know how funny it is to see him suppress his anger whenever that happens!"

Finally, the awkward lunch was over and Nira and Lahan were practicing on thir battleground. But before they could start training, Jinjei leapt out of the branches and wrestled with Quentin.

"Jinjei!" Screamed Nira. "What in Hox's name are you doing here?"

Quentin escaped from Jinjei's grip and leapt onto a branch, screaming and spitting at the tiger.

Jinjei roared at the monkey and then looked over his shoulder to fix his furious eyes on Nira. "You and your monkey are gonna be dead piles of flesh," he growled. "I heard you tried to visit Taren last night. In case you and that amateur boy didn't know, we Firefangs never let non-clan members visit our territory if they are dating, engaged, or married. If we know a non-clan member is in a cross-clan relationship with someone in our clan, we put in the same amount of effort to keep them out of our territory." Smoke expelled from his nostrils, and he crouched. "So this is why it's easier to just slaughter you right now and avoid any complications with the Toll guards later." His fangs started to glow. Nira's heart skipped a beat. Whenever their red fangs glowed, it meant the Firefangs were ready to infect their opponent with Fireblood.

But as soon as the tiger leapt into the air, Quentin squirted a cloud of golden dust from his tulip. As Jinjei pinned Nira to the ground, the dust surrounded his head. The tiger suddenly stopped growling, and his red fangs stopped glowing. Jinjei's eyes were no longer narrowed and furied, but wide and curious.

"Huh? What's going on?" Lahan gazed over at Quentin.

Bonnie jumped on Lahan's shoulder. "Quentin, what kind of pollen did you release?" She sniffed. "It smells sooo good..."

"I-I have no idea," Quentin was staring at the golden dust around Jinjei's head. He watched as the breeze blew the cloud to the left. Jinjei gave a deep purr and leapt off of Nira to chase after the golden dust. The cloud of dust hovered over the Elephantomese training grounds, just a few meters to the right. The wind blew again, spreading it over to a nearby pond, where Natasha was blowing Gharry over a pond. As soon as the dust surrounded her, Natasha stopped exhaling. Gharry fell into the water with a splash.

"Quentin, what did you do?" Nira sat up, watching with awe. Natasha let out a low, trumpeting noise and followed the golden cloud as the wind blew it back to their battlegrounds. She stood beside Quentin, and gave a sigh.

"Would you look at that," said Lahan, watching with wide eyes. "They aren't even fighting."

Sure enough, Natasha and Quentin were settled side by side, inhaling the golden dust.

"Bonnie, you're right," said Quentin in slow, smooth cries. "This really does smell good."

Bonnie, too, was attracted to the dust. She leapt off Lahan's shoulder and swung over to sit by Quentin's side on his branch. She, too, looked as calm as she had ever been, even though Natasha was standing right there.

Suddenly, a whip whacked Natasha on the head. The Elephantom flinched and let out a loud trumpet, which blew all the golden dust away. Instantly, Quentin and Bonnie started screaming and beating their fists.

"Hey! Where'd the sweetness go?" Bonnie demanded, screaming angrily.

"I don't know. All I can smell is this stinky Elephantom," Quentin started beating his fists at the Elephantom. He and Bonnie leapt at the Elephantom, punching its large back. Natasha bucked them both off, and they tumbled across the ground up to Lahan and Nira. Nira turned to see Gharry standing beside Natasha, soaking wet, and holding the whip that had made her trumpet and blow away the cloud.

Quentin jumped to his feet and whipped his head around. "Anyway, I was just about to poison that tyrant, Jinjei. Where'd that mangy fleabag disappear to?!"

Nira raised her eyebrows. "Well apparently, you made him shrug off a battle after blowing that golden stuff in his face." She turned to Lahan and Gharry, who were murmuring to each other. "Do you guys know what just happened? Quentin released some golden pollen from his tail, and Jinjei just left. And apparently, it also calmed Natasha, Bonnie and himself. They were able to tolerate each other until it disappeared."

Lahan turned to her, his calm expression making him look angelic beside the darkly dressed, frowning Gharry. "Nira..." Lahan murmured. "We need to talk about this. Shall we get some coffee by the café? I don't think it's safe to explain it out here where we might run into other Combatants."

Nira blinked. "Um, okay."

They sat in a round table with coffee while Quentin and Bonnie shared a bowl of bugs.

Lahan spoke. "I think Quentin summoned the legendary Moodifier Pollen."

"Moodifier Pollen?"

Lahan nodded. "Bonnie and I have been studying it for a long time."

Bonnie nodded and spoke in a series of smooth grunts. "Moodifier Pollen makes all genopets unable to smell one another, thus making them able to get along. No human has ever wanted to incorporate the gene into their genopets, however, because as you can see, all humans want their genopets to be loyal to their own species and despise those who are different from them."

Nira blinked. "So why does Quentin have this power?"

Bonnie blinked slowly. "Only Hox can give the genopet the Moodifier gene. So far, only four genopets in the past have been granted this gene by Hox. Some say that he gave it to those genopets because he wanted them to bring some genopets to the legendary land of Genotopia, where different genopet species can live in peace."

Nira stiffened. She suddenlyremembered Raju mentioning something about genotopian societies. "So this has something to do with the legendary island of Genotopia?"

Lahan nodded. "According to the legends, Hox chooses a genopet to bite after every 100 years. When he bites the genopet, he gives it a gene that allows the genopet to summon Moodifier dust. So far, there have been only four genopets who have received the gene, but none of them lasted long. All of them disappeared, though no proper funeral was held for them. That's how the legends started. They say they disappeared because Hox took them away to an island, where he had them use their Moodifier powers to make the genopets on that island live in harmony."

She turned to Quentin, who was listening with wide eyes. "Great Hox," he breathed. "I must be a legend!" He turned to where Gharry and Natasha were sitting a distance to their right, and leapt onto Natasha's back.

The Elephantomese flinched and trumpeted. "Hey! What in Hox's name are you doing?!" She jumped around, trying to buck the monkey off. Nira and the others in the café jumped out of the way, avoiding the transparent, heavy-set creature.

"Relax, you're gonna love me in no time," he held his tail in front of her and summoned the golden dust. Natasha inhaled, and she instantly stopped stomping around.

"Holy fire-cows," murmured Natasha. "I hate you for this, but I really don't feel the urge to smash you right now. I can't smell anything but this strong, sweet smell of honey."

Quentin smirked. He rubbed his hands together, and turned to Nira. "Hehe, looks like we found our greatest weapon for all our battles."

"Hmm, well, this is rather splendid!" Emperor Muktar was grinning as he watched Quentin release the golden dust in front of Prime Geoffrey in his Lab.The monkey looked completely content, and as Nira approached them with a bottle of Firefang blood, neither Tailip seemed to be bothered. "According to the legends, Hox gives the genopet the power of Moodifier by biting them in their sleep. So I'm sure Quentin would never have noticed."

Prime Geoffrey sniffed at the bottle and shook his head. "The smell of this Moodifier is so strong, I can't smell anything in this foreign species' blood. All I can smell is this Moodifier, which smells very much like fresh honey mixed with perfume."

Nira turned to Emperor Muktar with her eyes wide. "So what does this mean? Do you believe Quentin's one of Hox's chosen ones? Do you think the legends are true?"

"I am a skeptic, my dear," said Emperor Muktar. "But I do know the legends well. The genopets that can summon Moodifier are only born every 100 years. They are known as the Genotopian Uniters. So far there have been only four Uniters, and their deaths have never been witnessed. They have each disappeared during varying moments of their lives, and those who believe the legends say Hox had taken them away to ensure prosperity in a secret land of Genotopia, where they will continue to use their Moodifier powers to keep the peace among genotopian genoepts and humans. Those who believe this theory are known as Anti-dividers—they believe Hox doesn't want his species to be divided so he chooses genopets who can take control of secret genotopian societies."

"And for those who don't believe the legends, how do they justify the mysterious disappearances of the four Uniters?"

"Well, non-believers of the legends say that the Uniters voluntarily left and started a secret genotopian society of their own, not because Hox wanted them to, but because they chose to do so. Those who believe this theory are known as Dividers. They believe Hox doesn't have control over the division among genopet species, and that Dr. Z has Hox under his control to ensure that there are no secret genotopian societies. Hox can breathe Moodifier too, you know. He is capable of using any power that any genopet species in this world can use, because all genopets receive their powers from his blood."

Nira blinked. "Hmm, I see." She turned to glance at Quentin as he held the bottle of Firefang blood beneath his nose and inhaled as hard as he can. The Moodifier was still surrounding his head, so there was no reaction except the confused look on his face. Nira turned back to Emperor Muktar. "Do you consider yourself a Divider or Anti-divider?"

"I'm more of a Divider," he said with a sigh, running his thick finger across a half-full beaker of purple liquid. "I've never seen Hox in my life, and it's very rare to hear of anyone who has. The only way you can see him is if your clan makes it to number one in the International Genopet League., and is eligible to visit his island and battle him and Dr. Z. He's only been seen with Dr. Z, just like all genopets in this world are supposed to be seen. Most people who say they've seen Hox roaming around as a free genopet are usually the crazy ones, ya know?" He smirked. "That's why I don't believe Hox is able to freely roam around. No genopet is allowed to. I believe Dr. Z has complete control over Hox, and that if he's ever able to roam freely, it's because Dr. Z has allowed him to do so. But I doubt Dr. Z. has ever let Hox roam freely, biting random genopets in their sleep and giving them the power to produce Moodifier. Dr. Z is the one human being who chose to organize the human clans by genopet species. A genotopian society is the last thing he would ever want, even if it's just a small society. That's why Dividers like me believe that the only way the Uniters got their Moodifier-breathing power was through a secret genetic experiment performed by their own human masters. Their humans somehow learned the secret genetic code for Moodifier, and secretly learned how to incorporate the gene into one of their genopets. Dr. Z was furious, regardless of how they got the gene, and he threatened to have them destroyed. That's why Anti-dividers believe that after a while, their genopets—along with their human masters—disappeared, running away to start their own genotopian societies before Dr. Z. could kill them."

Nira frowned. "Well, I certainly didn't learn how to genetically modify Quentin and give him such a power. I didn't even know that a gene for that power existed!"

Emperor Mutar nodded. "Which is why I'm starting to become skeptical. Perhaps it's true that Hox might have given it to him, although the chances of Hox teleporting away from Dr. Z's Lab without Dr. Z knowing are almost impossible. Dr. Z has marked Hox with some kind of special chemical that's made him unable to think for himself, so Hox would never feel the urge to help his fellow species or have anything to say about the division. At least that's what we Dividers believe. The Anti-dividers believe that Hox does have feelings, that he is not under the power of Dr. Z. like many people believe. They are the optimistic, idealistic ones—they believe that Hox is secretly helping his species unite and get along while his evil human master profits off the battles between the divided clans. But I don't think Hox is as powerful as many genopets think he is. They may have gotten their powers from him, but it was because of Dr. Z that they were able to acquire Hox's powers. So Hox is definitely powerful, but I believe he's only able to use his powers when Dr. Z allows him to. No genopet can be free, not even Hox."

"Hey!" Prime Geoffrey was glaring at his master. "Are you trying to get her to believe the bullshit the Dividers believe?" Though he was surrounded by dust, his eyes were still furious.

Emperor Muktar raised his eyebrows. "Calm your stamens, Geoffrey! I'm explaining to her _both_ theories of Dividers and Anti-dividers." Then he crossed his muscular arms and muttered, "Although it is most logical that if Dr. Z. was able to use Hox's genes to make different species of genopets, he would have been able to keep the beast under his complete control."

Prime Geoffrey raised his arms and let out sharp cries. "Dr. Z does not have complete control over Hox! Our great forefather is capable of doing things Dr. Z. would never be able to stop him from doing!" He stepped forward, out of the cloud of Moodifier. But then he paused. "Eh? What is that stench?!" He whipped around to the bottle of Firefang Quentin had set on the table behind him. "Great Hox! Firefang blood!" He grabbed the bottle and flung it across the room.

Nira and Emperor Muktar ducked as it flew over their heads and smashed into the wall behind them.

"Oh, damn you, Geoffrey!" Prime Muktar swatted his hands at his pet. "Bah! Now I have to clean up this mess. Nira, I'm sorry, but I think you and Quentin should leave my Lab now. Thank you very much for letting me know about this."

"Wait a minute," Nira still had so many questions to ask. "So I'm guessing most genopets are Anti-dividers? They believe that Hox can roam free behind Dr. Z's back and secretly do things Dr. Z would never want him to do, like give other genopets the Moodifier gene?"

Prime Geoffrey answered for her. "Of course! That's the only logical reason! You humans aren't the most powerful species in this world—not ever since Hox came into existence."

Quentin nodded, stifling a laugh. "Yeah, who would think such powerless beasts would be able to enslave the most powerful genopet in the world?" He started cracking up. "Silly humans! Y'all think you're so powerful when you can't even acquire any of Hox's genes!"

Prime Geofrey turned to watch the young Tailip kick and laugh. Then he joined him, adding more taunts about humans.

Emperor Muktar laughed. "Hah! I guess that answers your question, Nira. Yes, the majority of genopets are Anti-dividers. They believe their foremost ancestor can do things that no human can stop him from doing. Dr. Z claims to have Hox's mind under his complete control, but the genopets refuse to believe him because they think a genopet with all the powers in the world would be able to get around that and be able to secretly do things that Dr. Z would never want him to do. The majority of humans, on the other hand, believe that Dr. Z has everything about Hox under control, and that Hox would never be able to venture behind Dr. Z's back to create genotopian societies."

Nira crossed her arms. "Well, looks like I'm the minority. I believe Hox gave Quentin this power to make Moodifier, because I most certainly didn't learn how to incorporate the gene into Quentin."

"Ah, but it doesn't have to be you. It could've been any human in this clan. It's possible that someone in this clan learned the secret genetic code to make Hox's Moodifier gene."

"Well, then why would they incorporate it into Quentin? If any human learned how to make such a gene, they would have given it to their own pet."

Emperor Muktar was rubbing his hands. "Mm, I wouldn't say that. They might have given it to another pet, just to avoid all the trouble and punishment from Dr. Z. The most recent genopet with the power of Moodifier was known as Obedai, and his human master claimed that his brother gave the gene to Obedai, because he wanted to get Obedai and his master punished by Dr. Z. The brother was jealous that Obedai's master had married a lady the brother was in love with, so it was possible that he gave the gene to his brother's pet so that he could get both of them killed by Dr. Z, or have both of them runaway to avoid punishment."

"Or Hox could've just given Obedai the gene while he was asleep!" Called Quentin, who was still laughing. "Seriously, you humans think you've got that much control over this world, don't ya?" He and Prime Geoffrey continued to kick around and laugh.

Emperor Muktar frowned. Then he swatted his hand at them. "Meh, what d'you beasts know? Go believe what you want. It's only logical that Hox must be under Dr. Z's complete control, otherwise he wouldn't have successfully used his genes to make separate genopet species in this world. He's been profiting from the Emperors, who pay him huge sums of money to receive the genes and resources needed to genetically modify the particular species in their own clan."

Nira huffed. "So then who could've given Quentin the gene? If it wasn't me, and if it wasn't you, who else could be that smart to learn how to incorporate any of Hox's genes into an animal?"

"Dunno! But we do have a lot of smart people in this clan, Nira. We Tailipians may be damn wild and obnoxious, but we've also got brains," Emperor Muktar tapped the side of his head with his finger. "We're the smartest human race in this League, and that's not an opinion. I'm sure any human in this clan can learn how to use the chemicals in my Lab to turn a normal Rhesus Monkey into a Tailip, and incorporate whatever genes he wanted if he just studied how."

Nira gasped. She remembered Lahan speaking to her at the battlegrounds: "I've been researching this a long time..." he had said that a few times. Could Lahan have incorporated the gene into Quentin? _It's possible!_ She clenched her fists and felt her cheeks burn up with rage. _I just joined this clan, so maybe he's just experimenting on my pet because the disappearance of a former Stray Human and her pet would mean nothing to the clan!_

Quentin jumped on her shoulder. "Hey, hey, don't waste your time trying to suspect every single human in this clan. Just settle with the simple and obvious fact that Hox bit me and gave me the gene without my knowing. Now let's go and find some opponents to battle! Let's enjoy this wonderful gift Hox has given us!"

From that point on, Nira and Quentin aced their one-on-one battles against their opponents. The last two weeks of that month passed, and Nira and Quentin had raised their battle record to 54 wins and 3 losses. They hadn't lost a single battle since they had faced Arvani and Khatira.

After their 34th battle against an Elephantom, Nira and Quentin flew back to their territory to celebrate at the famous five-star restaurant in their territory: Canopy Inn. The building was located atop the bud of a flower that grew from a canopy, in a place known as Canopy Plaza. The entire area was located on that canopy, and buildings of many different colors were located there.

Nira and Quentin arrived with Lahan and Bonnie. Nira stepped out of the shuttle and gaped at the sights surrounding her.

"Wow, this place is amazing," she breathed, watching all the Tailips swinging across the network of canopies that connected many of the stark, mile-high buildings. Many of their human masters were swinging with the stamens that extended from their Tailips' tulip-tails as their pets swung from building to building.

Lahan smiled. "Yep. We can try that if you're not too full after eating at Canopy Inn."

When they stepped inside the restaurant, Nira gazed around at the vast bushels that lined the ceiling. Flowers hung upside-down over each of the tables, projecting light from their buds, while expelling a sweet aroma around the tables that had yet to have their meals delivered to them. Some tables were atop water-lilies that grew from a few indoor ponds, some were floating on lilypads. Some were simply arranged along the aisles across a glistening, olive-green floor.

Nira suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to see Lahan gazing at her.

"Alright, so I've made reservations with a few friends from both the Elite and Beginning Ranks," he said. "If you don't mind, we can sit with them on one of the lilypads?"

Nira blinked. She turned to gaze at a round table of noisy green-haired humans laughing and chattering as they floated along a lilypad. A flower grew from the center of their lilypad, and extended through a hole at the center of their round table. Their Tailips were swinging along the flower petals of the flower, chasing each other around.

Nira recognized a Beginning Rank girl with dark-green pigtails waving at her and Lahan.

"Nira! Lahan! Over here!" She called.

Quentin, who was settled on Nira's shoulder, snorted at the sound of her voice. "Okay, that girl's been callin' you a twisted slush-bug ever since the first day of training week this year."

Nira sighed. "Yep. I recognize her. She's Maddie Hinkles."

Quentin crossed his arms. "Puh! Her Tailip is more of a failure than you were, if you ask me."

Lahan raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Would you rather sit somewhere else?"

Nira widened her eyes. Her heart raced at the thought of sharing a table with just Lahan and their genopets. "No! This is perfectly fine," she said quickly. "I'd love to get to know a few of the Beginning Combatants, and even some of your Elite Rank friends."

Lahan smiled. "Great. They're a nice bunch, trust me." He pressed his glasses against his face and turned to nod at the waiter. "We'll take our seat at the round table, just like I had planned."

Nira and Lahan made their way to the table, crossing the pond on an empty lilypad. Bonnie and Quentin shot out the stamens from their tulips, grabbing the flower stem that jutted through the hole at the center of their table, and pulled their lilypad toward them.

"Yo, Quentin!" Called a brouad-shouldered Tailip who was clinging onto the flower stem, right beneath the petals. "Get your tail over here! I wanna sniff some of that sweet aroma."

Bonnie snickered and nudged Quentin with her elbow. "I could totally smell something stress relieving before I order my entrée. Otherwise, I'll make reckless choices."

Quentin gave a smug smile. He looked from Bonnie, to the broad-shouldered Tailip, and to the rest of the dozen Tailips clinging onto the flower stem and lingering at the top of the flower petals.

"Y'all think I wanna waste my precious pollen on a bunch of ordinary Tailips?" He called in a series of wily-sounding cries.

The Tailips all raised their fists and let out sharp screams.

"Who are you callin' ordinary?"

"I'm an Elite Combatant!"

"I've won 40 battles already!"

Quentin and Bonnie leapt off their masters' shoulders and joined the Tailips at the top of the flower. They chattered and laughed among each other, teasing one another and cheering for Quentin to release his Moodifier.

Nira found herself sitting between Maddie Hinkles and a short, stocky-looking Beginning Rank man named Videsh Singh.

"Girl, you're so lucky!" Maddie gave her a slap on the shoulder, grinning widely. "I wish my pet knew how to summon Moodifier! I'd win every battle for the rest of my life!"

Nira chuckled. She wasn't used to the way Tailipians showed amiability toward one another. Apparently, hitting someone's back or poking someone in the shoulder were among the most common friendly gestures among the Tailipians.

And such were obvious friendly gestures, because Videsh wouldn't stop prodding her shoulder with his finger.

"Nira! Nira!" His voice was like a young teenage boy's. "Tell us about your battles! How long were they? How many have you won? Are you ready to kick butt in our next Genopet League?!"

Nira turned with a frown. "Ow, can you please stop poking me?!"

"Yeah, Videsh! Stop asking so many questions! All you do is ask questions" Maddie was shouting right past Nira's ear. "I don't know why Lahan invited a nitwit like you! Lahan, why did you invite Videsh Singh?"

Another Elite man answered before Lahan could answer. "It's 'cause Videsh loves Nira, that's why!" And a bunch of other Elite guys sitting around him—including Lahan—cracked up into boisterous laughter.

Nira blushed. But before she could say anything, Videsh raised his annoying, childish voice. "Shut up! If anyone loves Nira, it's Lahan!" And a wave of loud "oohs" swept across the table.

Nira held the temples of her head. "Oh, great Hox. Please don't ever say that again."

She doubted Videsh had heard her, because he turned to poke at her shoulder and speak to her with his annoying voice in the same, loud volume.

"Nira! Nira! Lahan loves you, doesn't he? His Tailip definitely loves Quentin!"

Maddie leaned back and shouted over Nira in her loud voice again. "Videsh, so does your Tailip!" She hit Nira's back. "Nira, look at Videsh's Tailip, Sorelli! She's in love!"

Nira looked up to see a Tailip with a yellow Tulip squeezing Quentin tightly in her arms.

"Quentieeee!" She squealed.

Quentin looked like he was suffocating.

Nira couldn't help laughing. It wasn't often that she got to see her pet look so scared and helpless.

She found herself laughing and joking with the rest of the Tailipians that afternoon. They were much friendlier and easier to talk to than she had expected. They ordered their entrees and chatted while eating. Nira ordered one of the fanciest meals she had eaten since joining this clan: the black-strawberry sunflower pasta salad. Penne pasta composed the sunflower petals, while black strawberries composed the center. The black strawberries tasted like the perfect blend of cocoa and strawberries, for it was a fruit grown by the Tailips by mixing the genes of strawberry and cocoa seeds. All the lettuce of the salad was flattened beneath the sunflower shape.

"So the Genopet League is tomorrow!" Said one of the Elite guys, who had ordered a pink-banana beef-steak. "We're up against the Elephantoms. We'll kick ass with Quentin around!"

"Yes!" Sorelli squealed, hugging Quentin tighter. "Ooh, thank Hox for Moodifier!"

Videsh flinched. "Thank Hox?! What are you talking about? I bet Nira gave her own pet the gene! She's secretly smarter than we think!" He poked her shoulder.

Nira's cheeks went red. "I did not!" She shouted at the young man. "Dammit, can I just tell the whole clan that I had no idea what happened to Quentin? I really don't want people giving me the credit for this!"

Maddie laughed. "No need to be shy, girly! We're all proud of you for discovering how to make the Moodifier gene."

"Yeah!" Lahan smiled. "And we won't bug you to teach us, so no worries."

Nira glared at him. "Lahan, if any human learned how to make Moodifier, it's you! You're the only I know who studies the legends. You even admitted it!"

Lahan looked taken aback. But before he could reply, a piece of poop splashed onto his face.

"Agh! Bonnie?!" He wiped it off with a napkin and glared at his Tailip.

"You crazy humans!" She yelled. "None of you are smart enough to give him the gene! Hox did it, and you're just too scared to say it!"

Instantly, the humans and their Tailips were shouting at each other. the Tailips, who had ordered their own fancy dishes of colored bananas and a variety of hybrid fruits, were throwing their plates and hybrid fruits at their masters while their humans threw their own fancy fruits and salad dishes at them.

Nira was the only one who ducked and curled into a ball to avoid the fight. She was relieved when the manager of the restaurant finally kicked them out.

  10. Taren

"So Quentin's new move has really been a success for you, hasn't it?" Taren plopped his dinner tray beside Nira. Two months had passed, and their clans had already fought two Genopet League battles.

Nira turned to him with a smile. "Our clan beat the Dandeliopards and Rockodiles, thanks to Quentin's help. Honestly, he was probably more useful than any of the Elite Combatants in our clan."

Taren smiled. "That's great to hear. We won our battles against the the Elephantoms and even the Rainbirds, believe it or not!"

"Hah! And you were worried about your League battle against the Rainbirds," Nira gave him a friendly poke on the shoulder.

Taren smirked. "I see you've acquired the Tailipian shoulder-poking habit. Looks like you're fitting in with those guys now!"

Nira laughed. "Yeah, but it's only because they all think I'm the one who gave Quentin the gene. They all think I'm some crazy-smart girl who stays up at night, doing secret experiments in the roots of my home-tree, and that I secretly found out how to make Hox's Moodifier gene."

Taren raised his eyebrows as he poured hot sauce into his soup. "Well, are you?" There was a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Of course not!" Nira snapped. "Taren, before we joined our own clans, I spent all my free time with you. You never saw me doing any crazy experiments. We didn't even know what Moodifier was!"

"Hehe, maybe it was your host-brother. He looks very nerdy to me."

"That's what I was thinking," she said. "Lahan sure seemed to know a lot about the legends and the Moodifier gene. He even admitted to studying the legends of genotopian societies as well. If a human really did give Quentin the gene, I would suspect no one but Lahan at the moment."

Taren shrugged. "Well, Quentin's new power has become the hot topic of conversation among all the clans now. Raju and I were arguing about it last night! Of course, he thinks Hox gave it to him, while I think it was that geeky host-brother of yours."

"Ugh, great, thanks for reminding me," she looked around the room and realized how many faces kept turning to glance at her. Many of the Tailips were crowding around Quentin, who seemed to be enjoying all the attention more than she was. The young Tailip was cracking jokes and releasing the dust, daring many of his fellow clan-mates to invite another genopet species to share the cloud with them. "We could get into real trouble if we're being so friendly to other clans," muttered Nira. "I hope Quentin keeps his tulip shut and doesn't force anyone to listen to his dares."

Taren chuckled. "Hey, we should be thankful for this. Perhaps Raju can get along with Quentin, and you and I can spend time together without worrying about angering our pets!"

Nira frowned. "Raju sure doesn't look like he even wants to be friendly around Quentin," she narrowed her eyes at Raju, who was bristling at Quentin from across the room. The young tiger was growling with Khatira, who also looked disgusted as she watched Quentin release Moodifier. "And anyway, I doubt it's even worth trying to get our pets to like each other. Dharene's not even here."

"Ah yeah. She's hanging out with her new friends, huh?" Taren looked over to where Dharene was hanging out with a large group of tall, bare-legged girls. They were all laughing and chattering noisily.

"Ugh," Nira put her hands on either side of her head. "I tried to hang out with them just five minutes ago but they blabber about the most irrelevant things! Shoes, dresses, sparkling bubbles—their topic of conversation just shifts from one to another every five seconds!" She shook her head. "I can't keep up with them. And Dharene barely even talked to me when I was hanging around. I bet she didn't even notice I was even there talking to them."

"Hah! Hey, at least Gharry's by her side," Taren snickered at the sight of the tall Elephantomese boy sitting behind his dinner tray, slowly picking at his steak with his fork. "Man, he sure looks bored."

Nira snorted. "He's not even _trying_ to talk to them. Which is actually very sensible. I shouldn't have wasted my time, attempting it."

"Looks like he's getting some attention though!" Taren raised his eyebrows as a few of Dharene's friends turned to talk to him. Gharry lifted up his head and mouthed something Taren was unable to hear at all. "Hehe, he's at the top of his class, so all the girls are definitely crazy about him."

"Hey...besides Dharene and Gharry, we're the only two who are sitting together from separate clans," Nira lowered her voice and looked around. "And now people are pointing at us."

Taren looked around. "Yeah...you're right. Well, no worries. I only have ten minutes before I head out to the Firefang battlegrounds again for Soccer Flare practice."

"Oh, you're trying out for the team today?" Nira raised her eyebrows.

"Yep! Gonna show my brother that he's not gonna be the best player forever."

Later that evening, Taren and Raju were at the Firefang battlegrounds, engaged in a practice run of Soccer Flare.

"Raju!" Taren shouted at his tiger. "Blow it through the hoops!"

Raju let out a burst of flames that sent the ball flying through one of the hoops in the air. The ball of flames then hit the back of Arvani Simmers, burning half her shirt off.

"Ohhhh!" The Firefanglish players widened their eyes.

"Great Hox!" Taren gasped. "Sorry, Arvani!"

Everyone turned their heads and stared at Taren, wide-eyed. Bakur sniggered and came up to give him a shove on the back.

"Dude, you just hit Arvani Simmers!" He hissed with a devious grin on his face.

Taren stiffened as the redheaded girl turned around and faced him with narrowed, blazing red eyes.

Taren ran up to her. "Sorry! It was an accident. Are you al—"

" _Taren, look out!"_ Yowled Raju.

But it was too late. A burst of flames erupted behind Taren, burning his pants. All players and genopets on the field burst into laughter. Even Raju.

Taren turned to see that Khatira was crouching beside him, smoke releasing from her nostrils.

"Man, that was amazing!" Raju bounded up to the she-tiger and gave her a cuff on the shoulder. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"

Khatira flicked her tail. "Sure thing! As long as you practice it on your own human master."

"Raju!" Taren fumed.
A rough chuckle sounded in front of him. Taren turned to see Arvani Simmers fixing him with a devious smirk. Beside her was a girl with half her hair dyed red and the other half yellow. "Next time, make sure your cub watches his aim," Arvani winked at him.

"Now what's going on here—wahaha!" Coach Burnham jumped back as his eyes fixed on Taren. "Tasmin! What's this?! Why don't you have your pants on?"

"His tiger burned Arvani's shirt, sir!" Bakur spoke right away. "So her tiger burned his pants!"

Loud laughter erupted across the field.

"No!" Taren protested. "It was an accident!"

"Tasmin, I'm gonna have to ask your tiger to sit out for the next round. In the meantime, go find some pants."

Later that evening, Taren walked out of the locker room, arguing with Raju.

"Hey! It's not my fault the entire field saw your underwear!" Raju growled. "Khatira burned you, not me!"

"Well, next time you should be more careful with your aim!"

"Puh. This is why you humans shouldn't have us play games like this."

As Taren passed by the girls' locker room, he bumped into Arvani again. She was walking around with a towel wrapped around her. Her long hair hung behind her, wet from the shower she had taken.

"Oops!" He jumped back and widened his eyes. "Ahh! Sorry again I was just—"

"Shut up," Arvani held up a hand. "No need to apologize, Taren," she said coolly. "I should be the one apologizing. My dear Khatira shouldn't have burned your pants off. Not without my command!" She looked over his shoulder to see her cub running up to Raju and engaging in a play-fight with him.

"Oh..." Taren blinked and then gave a nervous chuckle. "Hehe, well, I'm also sorry for burning your shirt. I hope Raju didn't leave any serious marks that the Healing Brigade couldn't treat."

"Oh no, it's cool!" Arvani smirked. "Check this out," she turned around and let her towel loose so that she exposed her back.

Taren flinched. A tattoo of a phoenix was blazing red on her back. "Whoa. Dang, that looks amazing!"

"You made it look even cooler," she pulled up her towel and then turned back to him. "The burn made it look redder and newer. I should be thanking you." She gave him a playful poke on the chest.

Taren blushed. "Hehe, you're welcome then!"

Arvani looked over his shoulder and smirked at the pets. "Say, Raju and Khatira are beginning to love each other more and more. And I'm sure you're _dying_ to have Raju beat her training record."

Taren smirked. "Heh. You bet."

"Well! Why don't we start training together after the training sessions are over, so that it's just you and me? Maybe tomorrow before dinner?"

"Yeah sure, that would be awesome!" Taren's heart lurched. "Man, you had some sweet moves out there. You really gotta teach me some."

"Hah! You? Asking me to teach you? Well, I feel honored," she strutted passed him, her head held high. Taren turned to watch her go, unable to stop smiling. Arvani looked over her shoulder and said, "I'll meet you by the volcano then."

"Sure," Taren nodded briskly. "Tomorrow it is!"

The next day, Taren watched his tiger tussling with Khatira.

"Raju! Remember the rolling technique!" Shouted Taren. He watched as Raju rolled out from Khatira's grip, becoming a rolling ball of flames. But Khatira crashed into him and continued to tussle. She was unaffected by the intensityof his heat.

"What?!" Taren widened his eyes. "Raju summons the hottest flames when he's rolling! It's hot enough to make even the other Firefangs back off!"

Arvani threw her head back and laughed. "Hah! Well, this is Khatira you're battling!"

Taren watched as Raju yowled as Khatira pinned him to the ground. Flames spun around both of them, and pretty soon, Raju was limp beneath Khatira's grip.

"Nooo!" Cried Taren.

Arvani cackled. "Woo! Go, Khatira, my precious genopet! Burn him to ashes!"

When the training was over, Taren was carrying an exhausted Raju in his arms. The Firefang was singed.

"Great, how humiliating," growled Raju. "First time training with Khatira and I'm already on my way to the nursery." Then he smiled. "But she's still so sexy. Great Hox, I've never seen another fire-pet fight like that.

Taren frowned. "Raju, I think that's why you lost! You're too distracted and infatuated! You'll never beat her if you let that get the best of you!" He set him in one of the nursery nests. "Seriously, pay attention! This won't be the last time you battle Khatira, so make sure next time—"

"Sweet!" Raju leapt for joy. "I can't wait to release all my energy on her!"

Taren covered his eyes with his hand and shook his head. "I sure hope you don't mean it like I think you do."

He walked out of the room and bumped into Arvani again.

"Oh!" She blinked and then smirked. "Hey there, Taren. Good match today!"

Taren laughed nervously. "Thanks. Khatira's very strong."

She grinned with satisfaction. "Of course she is! But so's Raju. We're definitely gonna have to train together again!"

"Oh, we sure are!" Taren smiled challengingly. "We're gonna beat your record!"

The two of them arrived at dinner, laughing loudly. Taren walked beside her, and as soon as he entered the room, he looked around and then caught Nira watching him, her eyebrows raised.

Taren turned to Arvani. "Well, we definitely should do this again sometime!" He said eagerly. "I never knew a girl could excel so much at Soccer Flare!"

"Don't you wanna sit with us?" Arvani raised her red, pencil-thin eyebrows.

"Huh?" Taren flinched. He shifted his eyes over Arvani, her two friends, and the group of muscular, boisterous Soccer Flare players he had just made friends with. Then he looked over his shoulder to Nira, who was narrowing her eyes impatiently at him. Quentin was fluttering over her table, chasing after one of the larks in her class.

Arvani snorted. "Oh please! Don't tell me you're still wasting your time with Nira Dharni. Just 'cause her pet has that ridiculous new power doesn't mean you should spend more time with her than with your own clan."

"Well, she _is_ my girlfriend."

Arvani grabbed Taren's face and turned him to face her. Her eyes were devious and her red thin lips were curved into a naughty smile. Taren suddenly felt his heart racing.

"She's a Tailipian," she said calmly and carefully. "She belongs with her own clan. And with all the attention she and her Moodifier-summoning pet are getting, she seems like she'll be fine without you."

Taren's heart stung at the sound of those words. He stared at Arvani, not knowing what to say.

Arvani continued to speak. "Go and join her if you want..." Arvani's warm hand slowly ran down his cheek and then dropped by her side. "...but just keep in mind: we don't like to have turncoats on our team. Coach Burnham will kick you off the team if you continue to see that girl, and he'll kick Raju off the team if he starts getting along with her pet." Still smirking, she turned and started walking toward the station. "We'll be sitting by our usual spot if you wanna join us for lunch!" she said without looking over her shoulder.

Taren met the gazes of the other fire students. One of the Soccer Flare boys slowly shook his head. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. Not cool, bro. That Tailipian probably gave her pet that Moodifier gene, just so she can have your pet feel comfortable around her whenever she sees you!"

He cracked up with the rest of the boys.

Taren turned to frown at them. "That's not true! She's never touched any chemicals in the Emperor's Lab when she and I were Stray Humans, and there's no way she could have learned how to genetically modify any animal in the two months she's been here."

"Maybe she got help from Lahan Drahel, the geeky dude who lives with her!" Said one of the guys.

"Now that's silly," said another Soccer Flare player. "Why would Lahan help make her relationship with a non-clan member much easier? I bet he loves her too!"

Taren felt his cheeks fume. But before he could say anything, they turned to pass him and follow Arvani. Taren watched them leave, feeling a tremor run down his spine as he saw Bakur, Zeke, and Tahlia joining them. He clenched his fists as he saw Bakur and Arvani poke at each other, laughing.

"Hey!" Raju blew a puff of smoke by his side. "What gives?! Why aren't you following them?"

"Raju..." Taren bit his lip. "Nira and I always sit together during our meals. I can't just leave her."

"Puh," Raju bounded away from him. "Go and sit with your Tailipian girlfriend and her puny chimp then. There's no way I'm gonna give up my competitive instincts just to get along with a non-clan member. I'm gonna go and find Khatira!"

Taren watched as his tiger raced after them and caught up with Khatira. As soon as the two of them started cuffing at each other and play-fighting, he looked at Bakur and watched as he edged closer to Arvani. "Yeah, I can totally come with you to the party tomorrow."

A party? Taren clenched his fists. "Okay, that's it," he stomped over to them and sat by Arvani's side.

"Oh hey!" Arvani grinned. "You joined us! Wonderful..."

"Hey, not nice to abandon your girlfriend, Taren," Bakur taunted.

"Shut up, Bakur!" Taren snapped. "I'll have the rest of tonight to see Nira." He turned to Arvani and smiled. "So! What was that you were saying about a party tomorrow?"

"Oh!" Arvani took a sip from her iced tea. "The Red Ridge is a hardcore playground for Firefangs. Firefanglish and their pets come over to have their pets exercise their powers in various fire-pits of boiling spinning pools, fire-slides, all kinds of playground equipment geared especially for Firefangs to use and have fun with. Of course, the human masters of those Firefangs get some fun out of it too—there's a bar beside the fire-pits where they can get to know one another and their pets. You should definitely come," she winked at him. "Genopet Playgrounds are great places for pets to strengthen their powers _and_ have some fun with pets."

Raju piped up. "Ooh, sounds awesome! I'm up for that."

Khatira purred. "Definitely!" She gave what looked like a smirk. "Raju and I are gonna have so much fun."

"Hey!" Taren frowned at his tiger. "You're forgetting I'm your master and I get to decide if we go."

Raju looked up at his master. "Come on, Taren, please let me go! You heard Arvani—she says it's a great place to strengthen my skills!"

Khatira sniggered. "And get wild with other pets in your class." She gave Raju a playful cuff on the shoulder.

Taren was ambivalent. He looked at Arvani, feeling nervous as the girl shot a rude comment at an Elephantomese boy. "Nerd! Your shirt's on backward! Khatira, throw some fireballs at him and his weak pet!"

Khatira summoned fireballs and made them both wail and run away.

Taren swallowed. Then he looked at Raju, who was admiring Khatira. "Great aim. Taren, please let me go! She can teach me to be so strong!"

He did want his genopet stronger. And if that required making sacrifices, he would do it. Taren took a deep breath and forced himself to smile at Arvani as she turned to him with her devious smile.

"Of course. I'm in."

"Taren, seriously!" Nira yelled, angry tears swelling up in her eyes. It was midnight, and he was with her in her room. "What were you thinking?! Why didn't you just tell me you had plans to sit with all your Firefanglish friends instead of just abandoning me so suddenly?"

"Nira, I'm sorry!" Taren grabbed her hands and held them tightly. "I didn't know I would be enjoying myself so much with the Soccer Flare guys! Raju got carried away with their pets, I got carried away with their human masters, and I was just too distracted to tell you I'd be sitting with them tonight." His eyes were full of remorse. "Nira, I'm really sorry. Don't take this personally."

She scoffed. "You're hanging out with them only because of Arvani. You like her, Taren. Don't try to hide it."

"What?! I most certainly do not! Look, Raju may be in love with her Firefang. But that doesn't mean I—"

"You burned half her shirt off during your Soccer Flare practice today!" Nira exclaimed. "Don't think I don't know what happened! Beginning Combatants from every clan are talking about it!"

"Raju did that on accident!" Taren yelled. "Sheesh, why's everyone acting like I told him to do that? I didn't burn her shirt intentionally! Raju just accidentally hit her with the ball, which happened to be on fire from his flames. Nira, I'm not chasing after Arvani. I swear. Otherwise, I wouldn't have made the effort to visit you tonight."

Nira sat back down on her bed. She narrowed her eyes at him, feeling her heart racing. "Taren...Dharene's getting to know a lot of boys. She's been gossiping to me about how cute all the guys are in the Rainbird Clan. And many of them are explicitly flirting with her—when Gharry's not around, of course. I've seen it, and it just worries me. It all happens when Gharry's not around—the flirting and the touching and the teasing. It makes me wonder if the same thing's happening to you too."

"Absolutely not!" Taren yelled. "Nira, no one's hitting on me. I swear."

"Mmm..." Quentin was hanging from a nearby branch, slowly swinging beside Nira's shoulder. "Shall we double-check with Raju? I have a feeling he might have a different story."

"Quentin, stay out of this!" Nira huffed.

"Hey! This concerns me just as much as it concerns you! This Firefanglish boy is always crossing into our territory—behind his pet's back! That's a little disturbing to me. Because I know you've been doing the same thing too, Nira. Or at least you've been trying."

"Ugh, it doesn't matter," she threw herself on her back and stared up at her ceiling. "Taren, just leave. I'm not in the mood to talk to anyone right now."

Taren stood up, but then bent down to brush a strand of hair from her eyes. He smiled playfully. "All this anger from you just makes me feel like you're part of the Firefang Clan."

She turned to him and frowned, but when his playful smile didn't fade, she sighed and gave a small smile back.

"Thank goodness I'm not," she said. "I don't wanna be part of a clan that trains the monsters that killed our clan. Nor do I want to be anywhere near that Arvani Simmers."

Taren chuckled. He lowered his voice. "Just between you and me, she does scare me too. I mean, I'll be honest: she's as hot as hell. A real babe. But she scares me. She's too impulsive. I like feisty girls, but I don't like them to get any feistier than me."

Nira sat up right away and glared at him. "You're saying I'm not as feisty as you are?"

"Not around genopets you aren't!"

Nira had to laugh. "Oh Taren..."

The too of them slowly kissed. Then when they parted lips, Taren looked over his shoulder. He heard the soft voice of a young man behind the door. "Sounds like Lahan is coming. I should head back to my territory now."

  11. Taren

_Phew. Glad that's over,_ Taren walked through the hallways, his mind spinning. He hadn't told Nira about the Red Ridge Playground he was visiting tonight. _I shouldn't be doing this...but I must. Otherwise, Raju will be in a bad mood with me. He'll accuse me of being a weak Combatant, planning to get him to get along with Quentin and Nira. With that new Moodifier power, Raju's definitely going to be extra fierce around them and will do all he can to avoid them, and he's going to expect the same of me too._

Not only that, but tomorrow was a Genopet League battle and his clan was against the Dandeliopards. It definitely wouldn't be a good time for Raju to be in a bad mood with him.

Later that evening, Taren was walking out of campus grounds with Arvani by his side. The redheaded girl had her arm linked to his, with Khatira held in her other arm. Raju trotted along by her side, communicating in hoxtongue with her. Behind them were Janet, Anastasia, and the Soccer Flare boys.

" _You're gonna love the Playgrounds!"_ Spoke Khatira in a series of snarls and grunts. Her face was scrunched up in her typical smirk. _"But you're not gonna be so excited once I beat you through all the fire-hoops."_

" _Oh yeah?"_ Raju flicked his flaming tail in the air and returned her smirk. _"We'll see about that."_

A burst of fire erupted in the distance, behind a tall, copper building. Taren jumped back.

"Whoa!" He widened his eyes. "Don't tell me there are volcanoes at the playground!"

Arvani grinned. "Oh, there are quite a few!"

One of the burly Soccer Flare players elbowed Taren and grinned. "Not scared, are ya, Taren?"

"Are you kidding?! I love seeing Raju train in the volcanic settings of our training field!"

As they stepped around the buildings, Taren could feel the heat of the playground wafting over his skin. He stared across a lava-scorched field and gaped at the sight before them. The playground resembled a jungle gym, although it was composed of sizzling rocks. A spiraling sizzling slide reached about ten feet high, and numerous Firefangs were sliding down, leaping through various fire-hoops along the way. There was a pile of molten rocks, where Firefangs and Firefanglish humans were leaping off the top, tumbling into fireballs in the air that landed in a pool of boiling hot lava. At the back, volcanoes were erupting, sending out various Firefangs and their humans. Metallic bars linked a circle of six volcanoes together, and Firefanglish humans were swinging across from volcano to volcano, leaping into the peaks. Taren could tell that it only took about four members to leap into the volcano before it erupted them all out.

"Great Hox," he breathed. "I really wish I were a Firefang genopet!" _Even if that means being an Anti-divider!_

Arvani laughed. "Of course you do." She let Khatira leap out of her arm and land by Raju's side.

"Race ya to the fire-pool!" She yowled.

Raju crouched and flicked his tail. Then the two of them took off, both in blurs of fire as they raced down the hill and into the playground.

Arvani giggled and then nudged Taren. "Come on! While they're playing, we can hang out inside the center building of the playground," she nodded at the orange-glazed, pyramidal building engulfed in flames. "Firefanglish humans love to throw parties with their pets inside the building, especially once it hits sunset."

Taren looked at his watch. 7:00pm. He gazed across the noisy playground where music was blasting from an orange-glazed, pyramidal building engulfed in flames. The flames were rapidly changing colors.

"Um," he narrowed his eyes. "I'm not sure, Arvani. When I was still in the Frostfang clan, we weren't allowed to drink until we were 21."

"Oh, we're not gonna be drinking anything, silly!" She poked him affectionately on the shoulder. "We're just gonna have some fun! You do love to have fun, don't you?"

Taren blushed. "Oh, I don't know..."

Arvani scoffed. "Hmph! Come on! You're Taren Tasmin! The Emperor's host-son! Has Nira Dharni softened you so much that you're not even willing to engage in a typical Firefanglish activity?"

Taren whipped around to glare at the redhaired girl. "Hey! Don't talk about Nira that way! I'm the one who's helping her climb out of her shell—not the other way around!"

Janet crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "Then why are you so hesitant? All Firefanglish humans throw parties in the building at the center of the playgrounds. That's what that building is for!"

"Yeah, Taren!" Zahan sniggered. "It's about time you stop hanging out with that Tailipian and experience how Firefanglish have fun!"

Taren gazed at the building. Through the windows, he could see numerous teens jumping and spinning around as blasts of fire shot over their heads. Fireballs were flying everywhere, exploding into multicolored sparks as they hit the walls.

"Great Hox, I'm so in!" Taren jumped up.

Arvani grinned. "Wonderful!" She grabbed his hand and dashed forward. Janet, Anastasia, and the boys followed her.

As soon as they set foot into the bar, Taren could feel the extreme heat over his body. His heart thudded with exhilaration as he saw all the orange-suited teens racing after each other, yowling, howling, and laughing as the music played louder and louder. Some Firefangs leapt off the chandeliers, landing on the shoulders of random humans and sending a blast of multi-colored flames in the air.

"Awesome!" Taren yowled, beaming at the sight.

"Come on, Taren!" Arvani was screaming over the music. "Dance with me!" She grabbed his forearm and starting spinning him around.

"Wooo!" Taren yowled. _Fire-masters are awesome! This is totally where I belong!_

He and Arvani were the loudest in the room, shouting and yowling every time a Firefang sent a fireball crashing into a wall to burst into multicolored sparks. As time went on, Taren's face became soaked with sweat, though he continued to shout at the top of his lungs and dance rapidly with Arvani.

"Come on!" Arvani squealed. "Let's ride the fire-bull together!"

Taren hitched the redheaded girl atop a bulky fire-bull with a pair of sizzling horns. He grimaced as he heaved himself onto the bull in front of Arvani.

Arvani wrapped her arms around his waist and pressed her cheek against his back. She pressed her hands against his solid stomach.

"Mmm...your abs are sooo firm," she murmured into his ear. "You should take off your shirt when we ride."

"Yeah?" He smirked at her over his shoulder. "Only if this bull proves to be more difficult to handle than Jinjei."

Immediately after he replied, a muscular Firefanglish man whacked the bull's rear with a whip and gave a loud, "Yeehaw!"

The bull bellowed, shaking the walls of the room and releasing a huge burst of flames from its nostrils. Then it raced through the room, headbutting all the teens in its way and kicking around at all the chairs and tables surrounding it.

"Wooo!" Screamed Janet, leaping out of its way. "Watch out, y'all!"

"Haha!" Taren yowled. "Outta our way! Fire masters comin' through—wahh!" He held onto the saddle tightly as the bull tried to buck him and Arvani off.

Arvani was screaming and laughing, squeezing his waist as tightly as she could.

Finally, Taren had to wriggle out of her grip.

"Hey!" She shouted.

"Gimme a second to breathe, woman!" Taren shouted playfully. He shot her a wink over his shoulder. Then he took off his shirt and waved it in the air as the bull continued to bellow and buck them off.

The entire room screamed with excitement at the sight of Taren's exposed abs. The Firefanglish girls were the loudest. Their Firefangs blew flames and fireballs at the bull, causing it to buck them off even harder.

"Whoa-oa-oa!" Taren yowled. "Hah! Trying to make me fall off, huh? Well keep tryin'! Your pets need to be stronger than that!"

And the fireballs came even more rapidly from the mouths of the girls' tigers.

Arvani snickered. "I'll show you strong. Khatira! Raju!"

The two Firefangs bounded up at her call.

"Woo! Rajuuu!" Taren yowled, still waving his shirt as the bull bellowed and attempted to buck them off.

Raju grimaced at his shirtless, sweaty owner atop the bull, and then at Arvani, who was clutching him from behind. He rolled his eyes. "Taren, you look like such an idiot!" He released a blast of flames that made the bull yowl its loudest and finally buck them off. Taren and Arvani went flying across the room.

"Agh!" Taren landed on the floor with a thud. He lifted his head, dizzy. The crowd of bodies dancing around him were a blur. "Uh....Arvani..." he crawled across the floor, snaking his way through the crowd of moving bodies that surrounded him. "Egh...please don't step on me..."

He finally crawled between two burly Soccer Flare players and collapsed on his side, panting. He was lying in the empty hallway of the building, just outside the party room. _Okay...now I don't feel so good..._

He tried to get up, only to be smashed against the wall by another warm, sweaty body. It was Arvani.

"Hey, Taren," she was fixing him with a naughty grin. "Those were some sweet moves back there—Raju learned that explosion of flames from Khatira!"

"Ah, really?" He gave her an exhausted smile. "Wow...I guess I should yell at _her_ for making the bull buck us off then."

"You feelin' tired already, hot-shot?" She caressed his abs with the back of her fingers. "If you wanna take a break, there's an _amazing_ jacuzzi upstairs."

"Really?" He smiled dreamily. "Raju will have to carry me up there."

She prodded his shoulder with her two fingers. "How very unmanly of you!"

"I'm so dizzy right now!"

"Really!" Arvani unzipped her dress and revealed her tall, slender body in a red two-piece.

Taren instantly snapped into focus and widened his eyes. "What the—Arvani what are you—?!"

"Still dizzy?" She was smirking at him.

"Great Hox, of course not!" Taren's heart was throbbing as rapidly as his head. Arvani was beautiful. Her arms, legs, and thighs were as slender as Dharene's, and her hips curved nicely like the bottom half of an hourglass. He suddenly felt his mind spinning again.

Arvani turned her back on him and strutted down the hall. "I'll be in that jacuzzi upstairs," she said in a smooth voice.

He watched her walk, and then gave a mischievous smile. He raced up to her, scooped her up in his arms, and raced up the stairs. But as soon as he reached the top, he tripped and fell, right on top of Arvani.

"Dammit!" He cursed. "So sorry about that."

She was grinning naughtily at him. "You better make that up to me." She grabbed his head and pulled him closer. Before he knew it, the two of them had locked lips.

Taren's heart suddenly quickened. He closed his eyes, held her head, and pressed her harder against him. The two of them rolled into a nearby open room, and everything in Taren's vision became a blur.

Hours later, Taren woke up on the floor, his mind spinning. "Ugh...where am I?" He lifted his head and winced. His head had never felt so heavy. "Huh?" Something was resting on his back. Raju was lying on his side, snoring, looking like he had been shot. "Raju?"

"Huh?!" The young Firefang awoke. "Oh geez..." the tiger stood on Taren's back and then tipped over, falling on the floor. "Think I was in the fire-pit too long with Khatira. Great Hox, she's one friendly feline," Raju gave a low purr."

"Where are we?" He looked around and saw that the room was covered with clothes—he spotted a few bras, panties, and ashes here and there. "I'm guessing we're in a Firefanglish girl's room."

"We're in Arvani'sroom!" Raju meowed. "Man, you two were at each other like a pair of tigers."

"You saw us?!"

Raju laughed. "You guys were even worse than Bakur and Tahlia."

Taren widened his eyes. "Holy fire-cows...are you saying Arvani and I..." he could barely remember what happened. But the clearest memory that came to mind was the moment he and Arvani had touched lips. And rolled around on the floor together.

_Great Hox, what have I done?_ Taren's face turned hot with shock. "I gotta get outta here."

He opened the door to leave, only to bump into Arvani again, who was dressed in a bra and a pair of skinny jeans. A towel was wrapped around her head.

"Oh!" Taren flinched. "Hehe...good morning, Arvani." He forced himself to smile.

"Mornin'," she said coolly. "Hope you enjoyed the party last night. Parties held by the Fire Playgrounds are always fun." She unwrapped the towel and bent forward to let her hair down.

Taren held his breath as he watched her wet hair fall back. "Hehe...I sure had a wild time. Thanks for the invite."

He stepped around her. "I was just gonna leave to get dressed! I'll meet you at breakfast!"

"Mmm?" she looked up and then back over at Raju, who was running back toward her bed where Khatira was crouching, ready to leap at him. "So I guess I'll look after Raju until then," she chortled.

"Yea...I'll see you both later!"

Taren's heart was racing as he walked by Gharry's side down the hall. "Ever wonder what Dharene could be up to when she's with her huge group of Rainbird friends?" He thought about what Nira had said.

The tall, white-haired man chuckled quietly. "Not exactly," he said simply. "I already know she's attracting lots of attention from other guys."

Taren sighed. "Well, I guess that's nothing new. You've had to put up with that since Elementary Training School."

"Yup."

Taren turned to gaze at his stolid expression as Natasha trotted by his side. "How are you guys still together? I mean...doesn't it bother you that so many guys are always poking around at her, even though they know a strong trainer like you is her boyfriend?"

A small smile cracked across Gharry's face. "Doesn't bother me," he said. "Seeing all the boys flirting with her just makes me prouder to have her by my side."

"Huh?" Taren winced. "How so?"

Gharry's dark eyes rested on him. "Because seeing them flirting with her proves that I'm dating a very valuable girl. No need for _me_ to feel jealous."

"Ah, I see. I wonder if Nira could feel that way when she sees Arvani around me."

"Probably not," muttered Gharry. "Girls work differently."

They were approaching the end of the hallway and entered the dining hall. Arvani spotted Taren and waved at him, smiling deviously.

Images of the party last night flashed thorugh his mind. _This girl's a beast...she's more dangerous than her own genopet._ Taren turned to Gharry. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. Hopefully we can hang out together sometime again."

"Hmm," was all Gharry replied. Taren watched him go and join his pet's side, passing by a bunch of Elephantomese girls who watched him dreamy eyes.

Then Taren headed over to his own side of the dining hall, nervously approaching Arvani and her wild friends.

  12. Nira

Nira waved her whip in the air and wrapped the thorny vine around her Dandeliopardian opponent. The man screamed as the thorny whip tightened around his body.

"Janzie!" Called the man. "Heeelp!"

But his Dandeliopard was prancing around the grassy meadow with a dust-cloud around her head. She was swiping at Quentin with unsheathed claws, purring softly.

Quentin continued to laugh and chatter with her, until he led her to a nearby tree. He squirted the tree leaves with Expander Pollen, and watched as the leaves transformed into fly-traps. The fly traps stretched down and attacked the Dandeliopard until the genopet fainted.

Finally, the man yowled. "Alright, alright! I surrender."

He glared at Nira with murderous eyes. Nira just smiled unwrapped her whip from his body. "Good battle, Sir Samber."

"Good battle?!" The bloodied man clenched his fists. "Your damn genopet is cheating! It's cheating if he's the only one in his species who can use such a move! May Hox curse you and your pet!"

He whirled away and stopped beside his unconscious genopet. Quentin was tending to the few scratches over his shoulders.

Nira couldn't help feeling a sharp pang of pity. While the Dandeliopard was covered in bruises and bitemarks, Quentin looked just as healthy as he did before their battle started.

Nira stepped up to the man. "I'm sorry you feel that way," she said carefully. "If it makes you feel better, I can give you some money for the café. They have a smoothie that Tailipians make, and it's supposed to cure any open wounds you have by the end of the day."

The man whirled around and glared at her. "Dame Nira, I don't need your pity cash!" He turned and stomped away, and his Dandeliopard followed along, hissing and spitting.

Quentin snickered, watching as the Combatant pair began to argue. He turned to Nira with a smug smile. "Dame Nira and Quentin. Warriors of the brave and just, destroyers of those who lust."

She winced. "That was the cheesiest thing I've ever heard you say."

"What? People in other clans lust for power. To the other human races, genopets are just tools that they depend on to get them to where they need in life. But Tailipian humans are different." He leapt onto her shoulder. "You guys don't treat us like tools. You invite us to parties, social events, and everything you humans like to do together, you bring us along!"

Nira sighed. "Whatever. I just hope one night I don't wake up to all the angry opponents you and I easily beat, thanks to your Moodifier."

A huge burst of flames erupted in the distance. Nira looked ahead and realized she was right at the borders of the Firefang battlegrounds. She watched Taren racing around, shouting commands for Raju as his cub leapt through various fire-hoops and across numerous pools of fire, shooting down many humans and Dandeliopards. He was following Khatira, who was getting through the hoops and over the pools much faster than he was. She was taking down Dandeliopards and humans at a faster rate than he was.

She turned to see Arvani racing across the field as well, shouting commands to Khatira. Then she raised her eyebrows as the two of them stopped in front of each other and started speaking. She wished she could hear what they were saying. Whatever it was, Taren didn't seem to be interested. The crimson-haired boy turned to walk away, but Arvani grabbed his hand and pulled him up to her again.

Nira gave a huff. Honestly, that redheaded freak never stops following him around! I wonder how he feels about that...

"Nira?" A voice sounded behind her. She turned to see Lahan floating up to her on a canopy pulled by Bonnie's stamen. The little Tailip was running on the ground, pulling her human master on the canopy above her.

"Hey, Lahan," Nira said with a sigh. She watched as he leapt down from his canopy to allow Bonnie to leap up to Quentin's tree and swing across the branches with each other. "Thanks for inviting Quentin and me to dinner with your friends. They really do seem like a nice bunch, including the Beginning Combatants."

Lahan chuckled. "Including Videsh?"

She scrunched her face. "Okay, let's just pretend Videsh wasn't even there. Just thinking about that guy makes me wanna puke."

Lahan laughed. "He does like you, Nira. And his Tailip, Sorelli, is crazy about Quentin. She's very jealous of Bonnie, which is why I thought it would be interesting to invite them."

"Puh. Well, you can tell Videsh and his pet that Quentin and I are not interested."

"That won't stop them from following you around though," he winked.

Nira shrugged. "Well, at least it's nice to see that the other people in this clan are taking me more seriously now. Things have really gotten a lot better since Quentin acquired the Moodifier power."

Lahan smiled and turned to gaze at the Firefang training grounds. "But it was Taren who helped you get over your fears of training him," he gave a chuckle. "If it weren't for him, you probably wouldn't have taken the initiative to train with me and help him control his powers."

Nira sighed. "That's very true," she walked a few steps and sat beside a root at the base of the tree where Quentin and Bonnie chased after each other. "Taren used to help me a lot during Elementary Training, when we were both still in the Frostfang Clan. I had no problem mastering the academics by myself, but the training sessions with the genopets were tough for me. I was the shyest, most introverted girl in the Frostfang Clan. Trust me, I had the worst social skills you could ever imagine. I wouldn't even respond to other people whenever they would speak to me. As a child, I would just run away if any genopet approached me, and whenever humans tried to talk to me, I just never got the courage to respond. I would avoid as many social situations as I could."

Lahan nodded slowly. "Was this some kind of common disorder among the Frostfanglish Clan?"

She nodded. "I had what's called 'frozen mutism disorder.' The neural circuits in my brain that allow me to speak and connect to other living beings were damaged. They would literally freeze whenever I was approached by another human or genopet, and I would lose the ability to speak or feel comfortable around them. I had the disorder since I was born, because my parents' Frostfang licked my head with her cold tongue. Since baby heads are so sensistive, the coldness of her tongue—along with all the other chemicals in her cold saliva—somehow messed with my brain and damaged the neural circuits that aid in my communication and social skills. That's why I was so abnormal as a child."

Lahan chuckled. "So when Taren came, did he somehow fix the damage in that part of your brain?"

"I guess so. I mean, I always felt this warm sense of pleasure whenever he came around. I guess it was just because I was in love with him. The more I spent time with him, the easier it was for me to be social, take risks, and do things that introverts like me would never do." She recalled racing the Frostfangs with him, riding in the snowy blizzards, and skating across numerous shapes of ice. She looked down and sighed. "It wasn't until I met Taren that I started to crawl out of my shell. Whenever I was around him, I felt like I could come alive. I became the most adventurous person in the clan whenever he was with me. I was able to have fun with genopets, make a bunch of new friends, and talk to other people for hours and hours without feeling drained or insecure. He...he really helped me become more outgoing, brave, and adventurous, and that's the only reason why I'm able to talk to other people without feeling so timid and insecure."

Lahan tilted his head. "I see." He came over to sit beside her. "You seem to be coping well without him, though."

She hung her head. "He _was_ planning to help me train with Quentin earlier this year...but lately, he's been..."

"Distracted?"

Nira nodded. "Arvani's always following him around. And she hates me—I know it. Now he's avoiding me. Especially since Quentin has the power to make different genopets like each other. His pet is trying very hard to stay away."

Lahan gazed at her carefully. "I'm sorry to hear that," he whispered. "Unfortunately, though, that's the way things have to be. It is in our genopets' nature to loathe each other, and we humans must learn to adapt to that in order for the genopets to fight for us and protect us from all the new natural disasters Mother Nature brings upon us."

Nira huffed. "Some world this is. We're taught to compete against one another and make friends only with people who train the same types of genopets as we do. If only we could find the genotopian societies already!"

Lahan laughed. "I completely agree with you."

She turned to him. "According to the legends, how long did it take before Hox took the Moodifier-summoning pets to the hidden genotopian societies?"

"Well, only the Anti-dividers believed Hox guided the Moodifier-summoners to the genotopian societies. The Dividers believe the Moodifier-summoners left to start the hidden societies once they felt the time was right for them to leave."

"Well, regardless of how they left, how long was it before they each suddenly went missing?"

"It was different for each of them. Remember that all of them lived 100 years apart. For the first two, it was about a month before they disappeared. For the third, it was about two years, and for the fourth, it was about 50 years."

"Gee, Obedai took 50 years before Hox told him to leave? Or before he decided to leave?"

"Obedai and his human master were very loyal to their Swordbeak Clan. They never abused their Moodifier powers to make other genopets friendly to them. They still continued to treat other clans as if they were opponents, not allies. They only used Moodifier in their battles against other genopets. Outside of battles, they never used it. Dr. Z was alright if they just used Moodifier to help themselves win their battles, but outside of the battles, he prohibited its use since he didn't want genopets losing their hatred toward other species for any reason other than a battle strategy. He wasn't angry with them until Obedai's human master divorced his wife and fell in love with a woman from a clan of Meerkat genopets. That's when they started using Moodifier powers to force different genopet species to like one another, just so the two of them could have an easier time seeing each other."

Nira swallowed. That sounded exactly like what she wanted to do with Taren.

Lahan went on, "Dr. Z. decided to have the two of them killed, before their clan created any alliances with the Meerkat Clan. The last thing Dr. Z wants is for clans to unite. Each Emperor pays a sum of money every month to Dr. Z, in order to obtain all the needed resources essential for the prosperity of their own species. If two species combine, that means less Emperors will be paying their own sums to Dr. Z. So that's why Dr. Z ordered the extermination of the past Moodifier-summoners as soon as they used their Moodifier to show any sign of cross-clan alliances. But the Emperor of the Swordbeak Clan never got to kill Obedai or his human master. They disappeared, and the reasons for their disappearance differ between the Dividers and the Anti-dividers." He gazed at her with a grave look. "So, Dame Nira. The next time you feel Taren and his pet are avoiding you, it might be for the best. If Quentin ever uses his Moodifier powers to make other genopets like him _outside_ of battles, Dr. Z will suspect the attempt for cross-clan alliances. He will have you two exterminated."

Nira frowned. "So? That would give us a reason to leave. I don't think I'd like to stick around a divided society of genopets anyway."

Lahan widened his eyes. "Ooh, never say that when you're in public. Dr. Z monitors all the news within every clan."

Nira narrowed her eyes at Lahan. "Okay, say the Anti-dividers were right, and that Hox must be the one to guide the Moodifier-summoner to Genotopia. In that case, did the Moodifier-summoners get to choose what genopets and humans they wanted to take with them to Genotopia?"

Lahan nodded. "Each of them were allowed to choose six humans and their pets, one from each League Clan in whatever League the Moodifier-summoner was part of."

Nira hung her head. "I wish Hox could just take Quentin and I away right now. I know exactly who I'd take with us."

Lahan turned to Nira and gave her a nod. "Yes, it's always great to hope. But try not to dwell on it. Remember, both the Anti-dividers and the Dividers can be right. If you ever feel like you and Quentin are in trouble, or if Dr. Z ever decides to kill you, you and Quentin will need to take the initiative and leave on your own, in case Hox never comes for you."

Nira nodded. "So I'm guessing you're neutral? You consider yourself neither Divider nor Anti-divider?"

"I'm rather moderate," he said with a sigh. "All the research that I've done still hasn't helped me choose a side."

Nira looked away and focused on the training Firefangs ahead of her. Though she didn't want to discuss it with him, she still couldn't help suspect that Lahan was possibly involved with Quentin's sudden acquisition of the Moodifier gene.

For the next few weeks, Nira continued pushing herself to engage with Quentin in their battles. His Moodifier-breathing skills continued to astound the clans of Rainbowleaf Jungle. They continued to beat all their opponents, and helped their clan win three Genopet League competitions in a row. She and Quentin became well respected, and many humans and pets from all the clans were gossiping about the legends, anticipating when Quentin and Nira would suddenly disappear from the clan and leave for Genotopia. Many Combatants were joking about the relationship between Nira and Taren. Both humans and genopets were anticipating the day when Nira would decide to have Quentin use Moodifier to make Raju grow friendlier around him. Such a move would definitely make Dr. Z. order their exterminations.

Bakur, Zeke, and Tahlia were especially talkative about the matter. One day, Bakur and Jinjei came up to her after she and Quentin had defeated Tahlia and her Firefang.

"You only beat her 'cause Quentin made her pet feel all euphoric," sneered Bakur. "Why don't you tell your monkey to save all his perfume for Raju? I've noticed my little brother hasn't been sneaking out to visit you any more."

And from that day, Nira wondered if Taren was really trying to avoid her. Perhaps he just wanted to proect her. But the biggest question she had was how Dr. Z kept track of everything that was happening in all the clans in the world.

One day, when she was cooking breakfast in her kitchen, she was surprised with a message on her netphone. It was from Emperor Muktar.

Hello, Dame Nira. Please visit me in my Lab. I need to have a word with you and Quentin.

She bit her lip. Oh great, she thought. Am I in trouble now?

She sat on a silver chair in front of Emperor Muktar's platinum desk. Quentin was in a separate room, where he would be talking with Prime Geoffrey.

"So!" The Emperor smiled. "How have things been going lately?"

And she found herself having a long conversation about the exotic restaurants she had been visiting with Lahan and his friends in the past few weekends. She found herself laughing and cracking jokes with the Emperor.

When she told him about the many victories she had been having, she remembered her biggest question. "Emperor Muktar, may I ask you something?"

"Be my guest, dearie!"

"There are seven clans in each Genopet League, and 50 Genopet Leagues in the entire world. How does Dr. Z keep track of all 350 clans in this world, including the hundreds of Stray Clans who are not part of a League?"

Muktar crossed his arms and explained. "All Emperors stay in touch with Dr. Z. through an online media called Z-Chat. It's a site that all Emperors use to send messages and updates to Dr. Z. That's only one way we keep in touch, though. With a genopet like Hox in your lab, Dr. Z has a ton of ways to monitor the activities in all the clans, and unfortunately, it's none of my business to know how he keeps track of everything. All I know is that he probably uses a combination of man-made technology and some of Hox's numerous powers to monitor all the clans in the world." He gave a nervous chuckle. "Why, as a matter of fact, sometimes he'll send me a message, questioning me about something I would have had no idea about. For example, last month, he Z-Chatted me an angry message, demanding why I hadn't arrested a Combatant living in one of the northern cities of our territory for drug-dealing with humans from the Cobrazor Clan. Now I had not known about this, because of course, drug-dealing is always done in secret. Not even the Security Brigade of our clan or the Cobrazor Clan knew about that drug-dealing! That's why neither the Cobrazorian Emperor nor I arrested the drug-dealers in our own clans." He chuckled. "But they are all arrested now, thanks to Dr. Z's hidden eyes. Though none of us knows how he does it, we ought to be thankful that Dr. Z. is watching us all. It's for our own protection."

Nira winced. "I certainly don't feel protected, knowing that I'm always going to be watched....and judged." She frowned at her hands in her lap. "This means I probably should stop seeing Taren then, right?"

"Now, Dr. Z never stops humans from other clans from seeing each other. Cross-clan marriages do happen, as unfavorable as it is. As long as the genopet species from the different clans remain hateful toward one another, Dr. Z won't stop humans from different clans from seeing each other. Like I said, the one thing he wants to prevent are cross-clan alliances. If genopets from different clans ever show any sign of friendship, he's gonna get upset."

She looked up with a disappointed gaze. "That's rather stupid."

The Emperor shrugged. He leaned forward and spoke in a lower voice. "My advice to you, though, is that you should still limit your time spent with Taren. I called you in my Lab to tell you something very urgent. This morning, I actually received a message from Dr. Z. He tells me the same thing he's told the Emperors of the past Moodifier-summoners: if Quentin ever uses Moodifier to make other genopets like him outside of battles, he will have you both exterminated. And he knows about your relationship with Taren. Firefanglish Emperor Afraz told him all about it. So he's made it clear that if Quentin ever blows Moodifier in Raju's face, he will have me kill you both."

From that point on, Nira found herself fearing Taren whenever she spotted him around the battlegrounds. She tried to take her mind off of him by hanging out with Lahan, Maddie, and all of Lahan's friends. She found herself enjoying her time spent with Lahan. She never knew how much she enjoyed being around geeky, nerdy people.

But the more she tried to stay away, the more she missed Taren. Unlike Lahan, who sparked her intellectual side and had long, intellectual conversations about genopets, morality, and science, Taren elicited a sense of exhilaration that she would never feel around other humans. But the lively crimson-haired boy seemed to be avoiding her lately. He had started arranging one-on-one battles with other opponents before she could schedule any with him. And outside of battles, he was always with his noisy Soccer Flare teammates...and Arvani.

  13. Nira

Several months passed. Nira and Quentin had raised their battle record to 134 wins and 3 losses, astounding their clan-mates and the other clans in the League. Though the two of them had been receiving so much attention from all their clan-mates and the Media Brigade in their clan, Nira still didn't feel complete. She missed Taren. The more she thought about him, the more she longed to find the hidden genotopian society.

One night, after their clan had finished a Genopet League battle against the Rainbirds, she lay in bed with a distant look in her eyes. _I wonder. What if Quentin and I just simply left whenever we felt like it? Would he even want to leave? Would Taren want to leave?_ She thought about Dharene and Gharry. It felt like ages since she had even seen them, other than in the Genopet League battles their clans had twice in the year. She wondered if they were still interested in spending time together as old friends, if they would even be open to the idea of leaving their clan to seek a place they didn't even know existed. _Anti-dividers believe Moodifier-summoners disappeared because Hox secretly led them away from their clans and took them to his secret land of Genotopia. Dividers believe they disappeared on their own will, to start their own secret genotopian land in order to escape persecution. But what if Quentin and I just leave without waiting for Dr. Z to persecute us?_ She turned to her side and narrowed her eyes. _I have to find them tomorrow. I have to talk to all of them—Taren, Dharene, Gharry, and their genopets._

But Genotopia was the last thing on her mind the next day. An Elite Cobrazorian had scheduled a battle with her and Quentin at 1:00pm, and Quentin was unwilling to turn it down.

To her surprise, she beat them, though it was one of the longest battles she and Quentin had faced in ages. After beating their Cobrazor opponent, they paid a quick visit to the infirmary since the Cobrazor had been stingy about healing the damage he had caused on Nira and Quentin, before Quentin had managed to surround him with Moodifier potion.

Then they made their way to the Dining Tree for a quick lunch. Suddenly, she heard a voice call her name.

"Nira!"

She whirled and felt her heart skip a beat. Taren was racing up to her, though there was no sign of Raju.

"Oh great!" Quentin jumped and beat his fists in the air. "Nira, ignore him! He's only gonna get us in trouble."

"Wait..." she couldn't take her eyes off him. "I haven't seen him for a long time."

Quentin let out an angry screech. "Come on! Prime Musaji gave me a boring lecture about how I'm not supposed to be nice to him. I'm not supposed to use Moodifier outside of battles, so I'm literally supposed to just embrace my burning hatred if another clan member approaches us!"

"Then go and find a place to sit!" Nira hissed. "I'll be in the dining hall soon."

Quentin let out a series of angry shouts, but as soon as Taren stopped in front of them, he extended his stamen and whacked the boy's head. Then he instantly leapt off Nira's shoulder and disappeared inside the dining hall.

"Ow," Taren winced, rubbing his forehead. Then he turned to Nira with a smile. "Hey, I'm really sorry I haven't been texting you lately. Raju and I got into the Soccer Flare team, and we've been super busy with our games every Friday. It's so intense, but that's what makes it so much fun! But how have you been?"

Nira stared into his emerald green eyes, lost in thought. She didn't know where to start. She wanted to spill everything to him, from the adventures she had been having with Maddie, Lahan and his friends, and everything they had been doing in their clan's cities outside of battles. But most of all, she was dying to discuss Genotopia with him. There was nothing more she wanted than to escape to a secret land where the two of them could be together.

But before she could say anything, a hard-edged female voice sounded behind them.

"Taren?" Nira turned and felt her heart lurch at the sound of Arvani's voice. The redheaded girl was walking up to them, carrying Khatira in her arms. Her smile was devious as she approached him and brushed the ashes off his right shoulder. "Vihar is saving us a seat next to Dame Zanara and Felix. You wanna find him and help me convince him to sit somewhere else?"

Taren turned to face her and blinked. "Felix? That teacher-pet is so rude! I don't wanna sit anywhere near him, and neither would Raju." He sighed and turned to Nira. "Besides, I was just going to ask Nira if we could grab something together. It's been a while since I've talked to her."

Arvani cuffed his arm with the back of her hand. Her eyes were blazing. "Fine. If you don't want to sit with me, go ahead and sit with your Tailipian girlfriend." She fast-walked past Nira, purposely bumping her shoulder against hers.

"Arvani, wait!" Taren hurried after the redheaded girl. "If the Soccer Flare guys are sitting there, I'm fine sitting with that creepy teacher-pet!"

Nira found herself staring halfheartedly after Taren, watching him until his lean figure disappeared into the crowds with Arvani by his side. _Taren...don't go..._

Suddenly, she heard a crowd of boisterous laughter. Bakur and his gang of fire students were approaching Taren, surrounding him before he could catch up with Arvani.

"Why don't you kiss your Tailipian girlfriend, Taren?" Taunted Bakur. "I don't think a babe like Arvani Simmers belongs with a traitor like you."

"Traitor?!" Taren glared at his brother. "What in Hox's name are you talking about?!"

Tahlia snickered. "Taren, it's pretty clear that you've been rather distracted whenever we're playing Soccer Flare, and someone brings up Genotopia, Nira, or Moodifier. You think you can take your girlfriend off your mind, but one of these days you'll transfer and become a Combatant in her clan. People talk about her every day, so it's hard for you to take her off your mind. No telling when you'll finally give in and run away with her to Genotopia!"

Zeke stuck his square chin at Raju, who was bristling at them. "We'll take care of Raju while you abandon him and run away with your girlfriend to the Tailipian Clan."

"Hey, shut up!" Taren scoffed. "I'll never leave Raju!"

"Whatever little brother," Bakur held his head high and shouldered past him. "Musaji's not gonna be happy when she sees you at the meeting tonight."

_Meeting? What meeting?!_ Nira flinched. Taren hadn't told her about any meeting tonight! As a matter of fact, he had stopped sneaking into her room in the past few days and had not responded to any of her texts.

Taren fumed. "He'll be overjoyed with me since Raju finally beat Khatira's record. Today he beat two more opponents and now he has a higher winning streak than she does!"

"Yeah? That doesn't make him any stronger than Jinjei!" Taunted Bakur. "Raju's only number one in the Beginning Rank . But Jinjei's number one in the Advanced Rank. And we have beaten 188 opponents so far. We're closer to the Elite Rank than you are."

"Raju will easily catch up and make it to the Elite Rank by the end of this year," snapped Taren.

Nira glared at the Firefanglish people as they disappeared into the first branch of the Dining Tree, guffawing. Then she looked around. She was the only one standing outside. Where had Quentin gone?

Suddenly, there was a loud roar. _Oh no, not again..._

Nira hurried down the path of the chrome road, following the screech. She was led to the borders of the battlegrounds. The place was empty except for the bordering trees...and the two wrestling forms before her.

"Quentin!" Cried Nira.

Orange and green fur spiraled around each other. _He's fighting with Jinjei again!_ Nira gasped at the sight of Bakur's furious Tiger. She watched as Quentin zoomed up in the air, shaking the flaming tiger off his back. He released Moodifier, and the tiger clamed. Quentin grabbed its tail and whipped his vines at it, making it cry and zoom away.

"Quentin!" Nira hissed, racing up to her pet.

"Where's that creep off to?" Quentin dashed around the corner of the gate. Quentin and Nira followed Jinjei all the way to Firefang territory. They snuck pass the guards as Quentin sprayed them with Moodifier. Then they stopped in their tracks.

Up ahead was a shuttle carrying three jet-black cubic rooms on its back. Standing in front of the shuttle were a dozen men, all of them dressed in dark-red coats that trailed several feet behind their heels. Each of them was accompanied by a Firefang. They were shouting on a fight between Musaji and another Firefang Tiger. They were fighting for the Emperor and Prime Genopet positions.

Musaji easily threw the tiger across the field, and Emperor Afraz stabbed the man. The two of them were carried to a hospital, and Emperor Afraz stood with a proud look on his face. The men shouted with awe, and Afraz raised his arms.

"Thank you, thank you!" He said. "This means I get to keep my position as Emperor. Now get ready. My host-sons have an important meeting to attend to tonight."

Nira narrowed her eyes. She watched as they boarded the shuttle, both accompanied by Jinjei and Raju.

"What meeting are they talking about?" Nira winced.

"Beats me," said Quentin. "Maybe it's a trial!"

Nira gasped. "You don't think they'd throw him in prison for being my boyfriend, do you?"

"I hope they do!" Quentin crossed his arms. "It would be so much better if we don't see him again."

She turned to her monkey. "But Quentin, what if we ran away to find a place where we can start our own genotopian society? We don't have to wait until Dr. Z gets mad at us, or wait for Hox to tell us to leave. We can leave any time we want, and find someplace where no other human or genopet could find us, and you'd be free to use all the Moodifier you want."

Quentin cracked up. "Cow-dung! That's cow-dung! I'll never use my Moodifier to do such a silly thing, unless Hox tells me to. To do so would be suicidal!"

Nira frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"We can't just 'start' a genotopian society wherever we want. Didn't Emperor Muktar tell you anything? Prime Geoffrey told me that Dr. Z has eyes everywhere. With a genopet like Hox, he's capable of doing almost anything, using Hox's zillions of powers. So the only way we can create a land where Dr. Z will never find us is if Hox himself uses his many powers to keep the land hidden."

  14. Taren

"Arvani, wait up!" Taren caught up with Arvani right before she walked into the dining hall.

She turned around and frowned at him. "You know, I was just gonna congratulate you and Raju for beating our battle record. You two are finally the strongest Beginning Combatants, instead of the second strongest."

Taren blinked. "Oh, right! Hehe you and Khatira are no longer the strongest Beginning Combatants in our clan."

Arvani gave him a sideways smile. "Mmm, feels good to be the strongest Combatant, doesn't it?"

"Hehe, you bet. And we're gonna keep it that way."

Arvani raised her eyebrows. "Ooh, I don't think so. Khatira's pretty mad. She and I are gonna be working hard before our Genopet League battle against the Rockodiles tonight. We'll have a higher record than you before you know it."

Taren almost forgot. It was the beginning week of a new month, and their clan was going to fight the Rockodiles in a Genopet League battle. "Oh right. Wow...can't believe I almost forgot we had a Genopet League tonight."

"Wow, are you really that distracted?" She eyed him.

"No! It's just that I've been too busy with Soccer Flare. I've barely thought about anything else but our past few games and my own one-on-one battles to beat your record."

Arvani gave him a naughty smile. "You've been working very hard in Soccer Flare. I can tell." She ran her finger across his abs. "You're one of our best players, you know. We would never want to lose you to the Tailipian Clan, or the imaginary land of Genotopia."

Taren raised an eyebrow without erasing the smile off his face. "Oh? You think I'd leave you guys to join another clan?"

"It's not prohibited for humans to join another clan," said Arvani with a shrug. "The human will have a really hard time training the genopets of the other clan, but it's possible. Not to get your hopes up though!"

Taren gazed at the girl. Her red, blazing-red tights emphasized the slenderness of her legs. She was wearing red daisy dukes that revealed the ruby piercings on her belly-button, and for a moment, Taren was lost in a daze. He remembered the night of his first party with her, when the two of them had first kissed. He remembered how she had pressed her body against his, and how pleasant he had felt to feel her so close against him. He had already gone to a bunch of parties with her and the other Soccer Flare guys since then, and they had kissed and made love a few times, but it had never been as intense as it was on that first night. For a moment, he felt like he would give anything to have her warm, sexy body against his again. He had never had another girl's body so physical with his own. Nira and him had made love before, but never as intensely as that night he and Arvani had first kissed.

"You're not getting my hopes up," Taren said, gazing at her with a small smile and a distant look in his eyes. He reached out to push a strand of hair behind her ears, just as he would used to do with Nira.

She chuckled. "Good." She turned and walked inside the dining hall. Taren found himself staring at her long, red legs before he suddenly shook himself.

He frowned. _What am I doing?_ He cursed at himself for feeling this way. Though he was not seeing Nira as often as he liked, he had no reason to be using someone else to fill in the void that seemed to be growing the longer he stayed away from Nira. He missed her. He wanted nothing more than to press his lips and make love with his real girlfriend.

He gave a long quiet sigh and stepped into the dining hall. The noisy Soccer Flare boys managed to clear his mind as he sat down between them and his Firefang.

"You tried to talk to her!" Raju was hissing and spitting at Taren. "I saw you! You think that just because I wasn't around, you could sneak in a kiss with that desperate, psychotic Tailipian."

Taren gazed at his pet with wide eyes. "Raju, she's my girlfriend! It's been too long since I've seen her, and I just wanted to see how she was doing!"

"Well, she seemed to be doing perfectly fine without you," growled the tiger. "She and her Moodifier-summoning monkey seem to have enough attention from all the Combatants in their own territory. She doesn't seem like she'd need you around...unless she was planning to have Quentin use Moodifier to force me into liking him!"

Taren gazed around the table. The rest of the Soccer Flare players were shooting him snide grins and snickering with each other.

"Taren, you ain't gonna leave us for your girlfriend, are you?" Andati, one of the players, spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"Yeah, don't run away to the imaginary land of Genotopia!" Added his Firefang. "Unless you wanna take us with you!"

Taren gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, well, if she ever offers to take me to Genotopia with her, I'll make sure you guys are coming along too. Can't live in a perfect world if I can't play Soccer Flare."

Raju let out a roar. "No way! If Genotopia really does exist, we're not leaving unless Hox tells us to. If we plan to leave and start our own genotopian society, we'll all be killed! Dr. Z would easily track us down!"

Taren crossed his arms. "So that's why you don't even want to let Quentin breathe Moodifier at you? You're scared Dr. Z. would have you exterminated, unless Hox suddenly comes out of nowhere and takes you to a safe place where you could use Moodifier that way?"

"You hippo-head," Raju growled. "I don't wanna be anywhere near that Moodifier-summoning monkey because if me and Quentin show any sign of friendliness, Dr. Z will ensure our Emperors exterminate all four of us—you, me, Nira, and Quentin. Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji made it clear to both of us that Dr. Z. doesn't want Quentin using Moodifier on me, just to make things easier for your relationship. Otherwise, he'll suspect you and your stupid girlfriend of starting alliances between your clans."

One of the Soccer Flare boys snickered. "Man, I wouldn't wanna become allies with the Tailipians. They'd be horrible Soccer Flare players!"

"Yeah, the volcano would burn their tulips off!"

The boys started laughing.

Taren huffed. "Guys, cut it out. There's nothing wrong if we ally with another clan—that would give us an extra advantage in the Genopet League, right?"

All the guys gazed at him with wide eyes. Arvani flinched and whirled around to face him with a wild glare.

"Wow, you did not just say that," she said, narrowing her eyes. "You actually want our clans to unite?"

Raju hissed and spat, looking ready to throw a fit. "Great Hox, has Quentin infected you with anything other than Moodifier?!"

Taren crossed his arms. "Think about it. If two clans unite, it would give us a better advantage in everything: Genopet Leagues, clan sports, anything. We would also have more protection from a greater variety of diseases and disasters out there! Think about all the diseases caused by new, toxic plants, and all the storms that involve poisonous pollen and plant dust. We could protect ourselves from those diseases if we had a greater variety of species who have the powers to counter those diseases and natural disasters! We wouldn't be relying on only one genopet species to take care of everything."

"You do realize that Dr. Z has ordered a Cleansing of clan species that have all attempted to live together," Arvani said. A Cleansing was a mass extinction of an entire clan species. "There were two clans in a League located somewhere in the southeastern islands of our continent, known as the Llamadon and Jackalhorse Clans. The Emperors were in love with one another—this was why it's hard for clans to allow a female to become Empress. They convinced the rest of their clans to live in harmony with one another, defying Dr. Z's warnings. As a result, Dr. Z had Hox stir up the deadliest storm to kill them all. It was a storm of acid and exploding hail. Both their species went extinct, and Dr. Z had new species replace their clans in their League."

Taren nodded. "That's why I'm saying we should just have the entire clan run off to start a hidden genotopian society somewhere, where Dr. Z. would never find our clans."

Raju snorted. "You can't do that unless Hox shows up and guides us to Genotopia."

"Well, what if Hox never shows up? What if you're wrong, and he really can't do anything without Dr. Z. knowing it? Because itf he was able to sneak away from that baldheaded geneticist whenever he wanted to, why wouldn't he just simply pick and choose his genopets and take them to Genotopia without letting them linger around like Quentin is? There are a ton of wild animals that he can just simply genetically modify and take to Genotopia without having to let them linger around their clans where they can possibly suffer from widespread criticism among their clans."

"You never know what Hox could be up to," Raju snarled. "He has his ways. A genopet as powerful as Hox probably has good reasons for doing whatever he does, whether we understand it or not."

"Ahem..." Taren looked over his shoulder to see Bakur coming their way. "While you wimps are arguing about your imaginary world, Emperor Afraz would like us to meet him at the Toll Volcanoes tonight." He smirked at Taren and gave him a nudge with his elbow. "He's taking us on a top secret mission, little bro. you should be proud that he's letting you come along. Don't ruin it by fraternizing with that Tailipian."

Taren raised his eyebrows. "Top secret?" He suddenly remembered today was the first week of a new month. "What could we possibly be doing to the Rockodiles? We have a Genopet League battle with them today!"

"Oh please!" Arvani rolled her eyes. "We all know Emperor Afraz is going to use this as an opportunity to invade the Rockodiles tonight. Their scent has been found along the southern firewall borders in the past few weeks, and this morning, they were finally caught stealing prey by the Boiling Lake."

Khatira lashed out her paws as if she were picturing herself ripping apart the genopets. "Filthy creatures. Think they can hide their scent by sticking around boiling water?"

Raju turned to Taren with his eyes narrowed. "Still think it's ideal to have cross-clan alliances? I would never want to share my prey with a species that's less valuable than my own."

Taren ignored his pet and turned to Bakur. "So we're invading their territory after the Genopet League?"

Bakur nodded. "Father is super pissed. Those who were caught by our lake were thrown into our prison camp after their trial this afternoon, but Emperor Afraz still seemed furious. I was with him when he was attending their trial, and after they were thrown into our prison camp, he said we weren't finished with them and that tonight, we will lay a siege on their territory. He wanted me to tell you that the both of us are chosen to join his elected Elite Combatants to invade the Rockodile territory after our battle."

"Really? Sweet!"

"Heh?" Zeke narrowed his eyes. "But Taren and Raju are only Beginning Combatants! Why hasn't he invited me or Tahlia?"

Bakur shrugged. "Dunno. But the Advanced Rank Combatants will still have an important role. Our job will be to infect as many Rockodiles and their humans with Fireblood. That way, they will all be weak and suffering as soon as we invade their territory."

Taren raised his eyebrows. "We're not doing a Cleansing, are we?"

"No, stupid! We're taking their territory by force. Don't you understand? These Rockodiles are always sneaking into our territory, because they live off of the same prey our Firefangs feed on. So now it's time we just merge territories. But of course, we don't want to become allies. So the only way to share territories is to have one species enslave the other. And of course, the dominators will be us."

That night, Taren marched in line with the other Beginning Combatants surrounding him. Raju was at his side, and behind them were Arvani and Khatira.

They stopped before the enormous Genopet League Arena. Taren could hear the sound of the Rockodilish humans crowding around on their side of the Arena. Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji were at the front, and as soon as they came to a halt, the Firefanglish Emperor turned to address his clan.

"Remember," he raised his voice. "The goal is to infect every Combatant in the Arena with Fireblood. After the battle is over, both clans must send their Healers to heal the damage inflicted upon one another, as what is always done at the end of a Genopet League battle. But of course, our Elite Combatants in the Healing Brigade will know what to do." He smirked and turned his gaze to Taren and Raju. "My sons will be with us too. We will not be healing them completely—we will simply extend the time they have before they die."

Prime Musaji stepped forward and let out a series of deep growls. "In other words, we will slow down the burning of their organs. We will give them no choice but to serve us. After this battle, all the wages that their clan earns, including all the income they win in their Genopet League battles, will be given to us. Each Firefanglish Combatant shall have their own Rockodilish 'slave', and that human will owe every dollar earned from jobs to that Firefanglish."

Taren raised his eyebrows and spoke up. "So I'm guessing Emperor Ganji and his Prime Genopet will be the slaves to you and Emperor Afraz?"

Prime Musaji nodded. "Exactly."

Emperor Afraz laid a hand on her back. "Fireblood Disease is very contagious. That's why it shouldn't take too much of an effort to ensure that every Combatant in the Arena out there is infected. Now, we are about to proceed. Any last-minute questions?"

Taren spoke up. "How exactly do you expect us to infect an opponent with Fireblood so fast? As soon as a Rockodilish Combatant knows he's infected, he will immediately surrender and run out of the Arena before he gets anyone infected."

Raju nodded. "Not to mention that it literally takes almost five minutes before we can infect someone with Fireblood. Unless you are an Elite Combatant, it's almost impossible to infect a victim with the disease unless they are unconscious and literally letting you keep your teeth in their fur without having them struggle."

Emperor Afraz grinned at them both. "Ah, do not worry. You will all receive help. Just wait and see."

He turned and led them into the Arena. They gathered on the rightmost end, where they faced the clan of Rockodiles at the leftmost end.

Then the gun went off. Both clans raced forward, and locked in battle. Taren jumped up and rode the flames that burst from Raju's stripes, and as the young tiger ran through the crowded Arena, Taren swiveled this way and that, keeping balanced on his surfboard as he swerved right and left, whacking many opponents out of his way with the flaming sword in his hand.

The Rockodiles were fast, but not as fast as the Firefangs. Their only strength was to hurl rocks at them from their tails, whacking their opponents with the heaving rocky tails they were modified with. Their human masters waved clubs in the air, dodging the bursts of fire that erupted out of nowhere.

Raju flicked his tail and his eyes glowed. He summoned a burst of lava from beneath three Rockodiles and two humans, causing them to fall. As soon as they laid there, panting, smoke expelled from his nostrils. The Black Smoke surrounded them, causing them to seize and thrash on the ground.

"Alright, well done, Raju!" Taren yelled. "Let's infect them with Fireblood now!"

He leapt off his tiger and stabbed the seizing humans and the Rockodiles, causing them all to faint. Then Raju ran up and sunk his teeth in one of the wheezing Rockodiles. Taren watched as his red fangs started to glow brighter and brighter. Then his tiger flicked his tail.

"Taren, look out!" Growled the Firefang through a series of quick, sharp growls without taking his fangs out of his victim.

Taren whirled around and swung his sword at a Rockodile that was just about to knock him out with his tail. As the Rockodile's tail swung toward Taren, he countered it with his flaming sword, causing the Rockodile's tail to crack and crumble. Another Firefang pounced on it, sinking its red, glowing teeth into the Rockodile to infect it with Fireblood. But instantly, the Firefang's head was smashed by a the Rockodile's human master's club. The Firefang instantly fainted, and its red fangs—still stuck in the Rockodile's rock-hard body—stopped glowing.

Then Taren whirled around to see that Raju was no longer sinking his teeth into the Rockodile behind him. His pet was tussling with a smaller Rockodile—probably a Beginning Combatant.

"Raju!" he yelled, racing forward. But the Rockodile whirled around, banging its tail into Taren's chest, making him fly all the way across the Arena until he crashed into Arvani, knocking her off of Khatira's flames.

"Agh!" Arvani and Taren tumbled aside until Arvani found herself lying on his chest.

"Great Hox, sorry about that!" Taren yelled.

Arvani lifted her head and gazed into his eyes, looking furious. Taren couldn't help flinching, not only from her fierce gaze, but from the bloodied state of her face. She had a deep gash on her forehead, and the left half of her face was bruised and covered with burns and blood.

"Arvani, are you okay?" Taren gasped.

But then her frown turned into a smirk. "You really that worried about me? You look no different." she got up and whirled around to stab an incoming Rockodilish man. Taren sat up and watched as Khatira leapt over her, crashing into the man's Rockodile while Arvani knocked the man's club out of his hands. As he watched her body move and sway, Taren couldn't help but feel mesmerized. Her clothes were almost burnt off, and any skin that was exposed was either covered in blood, bruises, gashes, or wounds. But she was still fighting on. She was so strong, and Taren felt both intimidated and mesmerized. _Damn, even when she's half-dead, she's sexy._

Then a loud cry split the air. He turned to see Khatira lying on the ground, with blood pouring out of her sides. Arvani suddenly fell back, wheezing. "Arvani!" Taren cried. He looked around and realized many of the Firefangs and their humans were running toward the exiting side of the Arena. Many of their Combatants were losing.

A sudden jolt snapped him out of his thoughts. He gazed around and watched as the Arena split.

"Huh?" He shot up to his feet to watch as white sparkles hovered out of the ground.

Raju leapt at his side. "Great Hox. Are the Rockodiles doing that?"

Taren looked around to see that the Rockodiles and their humans looked just as confused as he did. But then he saw Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji racing up to him. The Elite Combatants that remained on the Arena were following, and so were Bakur and Jinjei.

"Dad, what's going on?" He gazed at the Emperor.

"They're coming."

Taren looked forward and watched as sparkles filled up the entire Arena like glittering mist. The Rockodiles all fell unconscious, and their humans stood there, dumbfounded. Prime Musaji opened her mouth and exhaled a shady-gray smoke, and the Elite Combatants behind her did the same. Soon, the entire Arena was filled with glittering mist, gray smoke, and the sound of coughing humans.

Then the Arena began to shake again, and a dark, shadowy figure emerged from the cracks. Taren gaped at the sight. The figure had the body-shape of a human, though its skin was orange with black stripes. Its head was like that of a tiger, though it had bug-like eyes. Its mouth a hole near the chin, which was opening and closing, inhaling the gray smoke.

"Holy fire-cows!" Shouted Emperor Ganji. "What in Hox's name is that?"

Emperor Afraz was chuckling. "Rockodiles! Meet the Chief Mu."

Chief Mu? Taren gazed at the humanoid-tiger genopet. But before anyone could say anything, the humanoid-tiger opened its holed-mouth again, and released a white beam at a sleeping Rockodile. When the beam went out, the Rockodile was nothing but a pile of tiny pebbles.

The entire Arena gasped. Many of the Rockodilish humans ran away, while some ran forward to fight the humanoid-tiger genopet. But the white beam struck many of the humans, turning them into nothing but small, bloody pieces of of flesh and clothes. Soon, hordes of humanoid-tigers—many of them in different shapes and sizes—sprang from the cracks and aimed their beams at all the sleeping Rockodiles.

Taren felt his father grab his hand. "Come on, son! Let's get outta here."

Moments later, Taren found himself in a shuttle with the Emperor, the Elite Combatants, and their genopets.

"Dad...what exactly just happened?" He turned to the Emperor and his Prime Genopet. "What were those creatures out there?"

Emperor Afraz turned to him with a serious look. "Son, those were the Mu."

Raju winced. "The Mu?"

Musaji growled. "They came into existence at the beginning of this year, when Mother Nature had sent us a rockshower from a lava cloud that evaporated into the air and hovered over our volcano. Now this was one peculiar cloud. When its raining rocks fell into Afraz's volcano, they merged and became a thick, gooey structure that was the size of an Elephantom. Now there was a strange substance on these rocks. These clouds that evaporated were not only composed of gaseous material from molten lava, but also a strange type of dust that must have been mixed with some of the dust from the Elephantom's territory. We found that this dust somehow created DNA structures when mixed with these clouds, so the merged rocks in our volcano had this DNA substance as well. We decided to call this lava-dust. Emperor Afraz and I ventured inside to see if we could create small forms from this rock. It was like making clay figures. So we had a little fun and made figures of two-legged tigers that walked like humans. Once I breathed Gray Smoke on the bodies, they became like living, breathing life-forms. As long as we breathe the Gray Smoke on them, they can continue to breathe and live like real life-forms."

Taren stared at the genopet with wonder. "So that's why the Arena was filled with the Gray Smoke."

Emperor Afraz nodded. "The Mu possess powers that we cannot fully explain, since their DNA is nothing like we have seen. It is DNA from Hox, however, and it's possible that Dr. Z. may have sent us Hox's DNA in such a cloud to give us this wonderful opportunity to use these new genopet species as power sources."

"The important part is that the Mu are vital allies for us," growled Prime Musaji. "Since we brought them to life with our Gray Smoke, the Mu are dependent on us, and have decided to help us achieve anything we wish to achieve, provided that we keep them alive with our gray smoke."

Taren blinked. "So taking over the other clans is something they agreed to help you achieve?"

Afraz nodded. "We promised to always provide clouds of smoke around their faces, as long as they promise to help us enslave the other clans in this League."

Raju growled. "And no one in our clan was surprised to see them!" He turned to glare at the Elite Combatants behind them. "What gives? You guys all knew. Bakur and Jinjei knew," he flashed a glare at Bakur and Jinjei, who sat on Afraz's other side. "What gives? How come Taren and I didn't know about this?"

Afraz chuckled. "Well, I didn't know I could trust Taren yet. He was a Stray Human who just joined our clan, and he was still together with that gal from the Tailip Clan. I didn't know his true loyatlies would lie with us until I noticed that you two have the highest battle record in the Beginning Rank."

Prime Musaji nodded. "Not to mention that you and Taren have been exceptional Soccer Flare players."

Taren laughed. "Well, I mean, the entire League will know about the Mu now. That entire battle will be on live television, and clans from all across the world can watch our battle on the Rainbowleaf Jungle's channel."

Afraz chuckled. "Before, we had to be careful who we told about the Mu, because they were still growing. They hadn't reached their full power yet. Now that they are strong, they are able to fight for us and defend our clan, regardless of who knows about them."

"Did Dr. Z ever tell you anything about the Mu? Has he shared how he feels about them?"

Afraz raised his eyebrows. "Dr. Z was the one who told us about the Mu. He sent the first one to us and told us how to bring them to life. He said this was his present for us—for you, actually."

Taren raised his eyebrows. "For me?"

Afraz nodded. "See, Dr. Z knows the love between you and Nira is rather strong, and since Nira has a pet that can unite the clans, he says that is a powerful weapon. The three of you—you, Nira, and Quentin—are a strong example of clan uniting. All the clans are actually looking up to you three with hope, rather than shunning you all. Thus, he has told us we can have the clans united."

Taren widened his eyes. "So it's like we would already be living in our own Genotopia!"

Afraz nodded. "But of course, someone has to ensure that all the clans stay united and are getting along, right? Well, the only way to do that is to have the strongest species in this League takeover the others and ensure they are all treating each other equally." He turned and nodded to the humanoids. "And since the Mu are very sturdy creatures, we can rely on them to help us carry out our goal. They can help us conquer the clans, because they have almost no weakness."

"Except ice," growled Musaji. "Their only weakness is ice."

"Really? That's strange, considering their bodies are pretty much just lava."

"I guess it's just extreme cold that they are sensitive to," said Afraz. "But no worries. There are no ice-summoning genopets in this League, or on this continent." He gave a wicked chuckle. "The only ice-summoning species was the Frostfangs. And thanks to us, there are none left."

Their shuttle took an underground route, zooming over the Rockodiles' underground territory. They zoomed through tubes that wound over cities full of boulder-buildings and flower-towers. The underground metropolis was just as crowded as the ones on the ground and on the clouds, although it was much dimmer down here. There were only lights from the glowing roots that covered the ceilings over various parts of the metropolis.

" _Great Hox,"_ Raju snorted. " _How can those stinkin' creatures stand it, living here underground where dead bodies decay and feces sink into the ground? Disgusting."_

Soon, the shuttle stopped in a dimly-lit city. They were in front of a great building that read "Rockodile Prison Camp." He caught a squad of Firefangs and their humans, gathered around the imprisoned Rockodiles. Each of them were whimpering as a small, humanoid-tiger released flames over their bodies and jabbed into their backs with their single blue horns. When the humanoid-tiger genopets finally stopped attacking, their bodies lied on the ground, scorched and sizzling.

He watched as one of the humans—one with a long, threadlike tail with an isosceles triangle at the tip—sliced the tip of his tail across the neck of an earthen genopet baboon, and kicked its head across the road.

Taren stiffened. _Great Hox. How could Dr. Z create such beasts?_

Behind them was a tall, spiky-haired boy with a bristling tiger. Taren's heart stopped as he recognized his brother. Bakur stood with a proud, haughty smile on his face, while his growling tiger continued to shake and bristle with rage. Sharp teeth protruded from around his neck, and the horn on his head was sizzling, ready to jab into the bodies of the baboons again.

Then he watched as Emperor Afraz slammed a Rockodilish human against the wall.

"Prime Musaji...please," he was whimpering, his eyes wide as Musaji pressed her tail against his chest.

"You fool..." hissed the she-tiger. "You think you can sneak into our territory and steal our prey? Well now your entire clan will pay for it. You will rule under the command of the Firefangs...and the Mu." She nodded at the humanoid-tiger genopets.

Musaji spoke in a threatening series of growls and grunts. "We Firefangs are number one in the League. And the strongest deserve to rule all the clans in this jungle."

Musaji lunged forward and sunk her teeth into the man's neck, slicing his head off before the man could scream.

Taren suppressed himself from vomiting as he watched the man's head fall to the ground and roll up to Bakur's feet. Jinjei, standing by his side, snapped his teeth at the bloodied head, and Bakur wrinkled his nose and kicked the head aside.

Taren watched the head roll over to a crowd of bloody-skinned humanoid-tigers. They instantly screamed and started devouring the head together.

Taren gulped and slowly looked away, his eyes dazed and his face pale. _Boy, Nira would be proud to see me here._

Prime Musaji was sitting in front of one of the bug-eyed humanoid-tiger genopets, hissing. "Xenoxus, I'd like to thank you for your help. We couldn't have destroyed these underground cities of the Rockodiles without your help."

The humanoid-tiger let out a gargling noise and spoke back in hoxtongue. "Of course, Musaji. As long as you keep your promise...we will aid you in any way."

Musaji spat. "Don't worry. We will continue to provide flames and fumes for you to live, as long as you help us destroy all the clans in this jungle."

"My kind cannot survive without your fire," growled the Mu. "Our species relies on your Firefangs to help us live, and if the other clans have nothing to offer us, we would be happy to destroy the other clans."

Taren widened his eyes. He tried not to let himself grow fearful—he didn't want the Firefangs to grow agitated nor did he want the Mu—if they had any sense of smell—to smell his fear _._

Emperor Afraz was nodding at the chief Mu. "You can trust me and my pet, Xenoxus," he said, smiling wickedly. The flames beneath Musaji's jaws were burning intensely.

"Excellent," the Mu chortled. He turned to Bakur and Taren. "Now, as for these two young masters..."

Bakur stood up tall and proud, and his tiger did the same.

Raju sat up firm with his chest puffed out, and whacked Taren's shoe with his tail. The boy gasped and then shook himself, snapping into focus and standing straight.

Xenoxus hovered around them, grimacing. "Their pets smell very strong. I can tell they've been training hard."

Raju smirked and snarled, "I'm at the top of my Beginning Rank clan."

Jinjei snorted and rolled his eyes.

"Excellent," the old, wrinkled beast was grinning, tapping his long, bony fingers together as his bug-like eyes shifted from Bakur to Taren. "Then you two are ready to serve the Mu with your first task."

_Gosh, what am I getting myself into?_ Taren tried not to shudder. _I beat Arvani's record and this is what happens to me._ He glanced at Bakur, Jinjei, and even Raju, who all didn't look the least bit scared. Taren hung his head. _Nira would hate to see me here right now._

His host-father put his burning hand on Taren's shoulder. "This is Chief Xenoxus, leader of the Mu. You are to address him as 'your highness.'"

"Hello, Taren, Bakur," Xenoxus nodded at the both of them. "I'm sure you've been informed about the Mu before the Elite Firefangs brought you here?"

Bakur spoke for them. "Of course, your highness. Our father—or rather, Fire Emperor Afraz—has been telling me a lot about you all."

"Huh?!" Taren frowned. "I was never informed!" Why was Bakur always getting all the attention from the Fire Emperor? Taren himself was just as strong as he was!

Afraz huffed. "I only inform Combatants about the Mu if the Combatants are at the top of their rank. It wasn't until a few days ago that you and Raju finally beat the number one Combatants in your year."

Xenoxus was chuckling and the accompanying humanoid-tigers chortled among themselves. One of the humanoid-tigers—a small childlike one with long, noodle-like strands of hair, no taller than a four-year-old—was grinning at him hungrily.

Taren stepped back, suddenly feeling reminded of Arvani.

Xenoxus stepped forward. "Well, none of that matters now. Both of you are at the top of your ranks, and are at the appropriate status to take on a challenge to help your clan _and_ the superior species—the Mu." He grinned and shifted his gaze from Bakur to Taren. "You both know Nira Dharni and her Tailip, Quentin. Right?"

Bakur snorted. "Unfortunately. Taren's the one who's still in a relationship with that Tailipian girl."

"Well! That puts you both in a great spot. I want you both to capture her pet for me."

Taren blinked. His blood ran cold. "C-capture Quentin?"

"Ah, hesitant, are we?" Xenoxus narrowed his enormous eyes at Taren and leaned toward him, so that his slimy, wrinkly nose was touching Taren's. Taren stared back, his eyes wide. "Quentin's master is your girlfriend. Am I right?"

"Er...well, I was supposed to dump her so that Raju and I could stay in the Soccer Flare team."

Xenoxus tilted his head. "And have you done so yet?"

"Erm, well..." Taren's face was becoming paler.

"Hehe, no worries," the Mu drew his head back. "That makes the task easier for you."

"Easier...?" Taren swallowed.

Bakur elbowed his brother's side. "Nira's your girlfriend, you idiot. Think about it. All you have to do is lure her into a place where the Elite Firefangs can get hold of her _and_ her genopet."

"What?!" Taren jumped aside, bumping into one of the paper-thin humanoid-tiger genopets floating in the air. "I'm sorry, Xenoxus—I mean, your highness—but wh-what do you want with Nira?"

"It's not the girl we want. It's her pet. He's an Moodifier-breather. The clans of the Genopet League are talking about it, and word is spreading all over the world that the Fifth Uniter is here. We need him in order to ensure the clans will live in a genotopian society, right? Well, we need him to be under our power, too. We need to be careful, because Moodifier is the only source that can kill us. Besides ice, Moodifier is our main weakness."

Taren blinked. He turned to his father. "So that's why our clan destroyed the Frostfangs?"

"Exactly, son," Afraz grinned, revealing ruby gems on his teeth. "Now we need the Moodifier-summoner under our control. We are to help you use him to unite the clans under your power, but we also have to make sure he doesn't use the Moodifier to destroy us. The only way to do that is to have him captured, and make a deal. Either we kill Nira, separate you two, keep the clans divided, and then have him use Moodifier to kill us, or he could promise never to kill us with the Moodifier, and we will let his owner live. In that case, we would let Nira live and continue to stay your girlfriend, and the clans can unite under us. Quentin and Nira are powerful sources, because if they decide the clans unite under us, the other clans will comply."

"Yeah," Jinjei nodded, his tail on fire. "It's gonna be so easy—she's been following you around all year, and she'll be eager to follow you anywhere you go. It'll be a breeze to get her and Quentin somewhere where we can get hold of them."

Taren was shaking his head. "I can't do this—I can't jeopardize Nira's life."

Raju rolled his eyes. "Then make sure you tell her to let us takeover the other clans! That way, everyone lives, everyone is united, and we Firefangs get to rule all the clans."

Musaji let out a contemptuous hiss. "Are we hesitant?" He narrowed his eyes at Taren. "Does your girlfriend matter more to you than your own genopet—and potentially—your own clan?"

Taren opened his mouth to shout a reply, but for once, he was at a loss for words.

Then Bakur shoved him aside. Taren let out a quick yell as he fell into a pile of slime from one of the drooling humanoid-tigers with hanging jaws of a bulldog. "Ugh..." he winced as he lifted up his arm and extended a glob of spit off the ground. Raju let out a snort, slowly shaking his head with shame at his master.

He looked up to see Bakur standing tall in front of him, speaking boldly as he faced Musaji, Emperor Afraz, and the Chief Mu. "Sorry my little brother's such a wuss. His Tailipian girlfriend is messing up his head. But I'm more than willing to capture Nira and hand you over her genopet."

Jinjei growled with satisfaction.

Chief Mu tapped his fingers together and smiled. "Oh, bring me the girl too." He turned to smirk at Taren on the ground. "If she's softened this young fire master's heart, she doesn't deserve to live either."

Bakur nodded, smiling deviously.

Jinjei snorted and wagged his flaming tail. "Oh boy. That makes the task even more fun."

Chief Mu bent down and grinned at Raju, who was bristling with flames. The young tiger's expression was unreadable as he stared back, his eyes narrowed.

"Now, despite what your foolish human master does, you will ensure that he does _not_ expose to anyone that you are after the Uniter. You are to do as you were told by your Emperor and Prime Genopet. You must promise to track down Nira and her genopet and bring them to us, just as Bakur and his pet will aim to do."

Raju nodded fervently. "You can trust me, Chief Mu," he snarled boldly.

_No..._ Taren couldn't believe what he was hearing. He stared at his tiger helplessly. _I can't let you do this...I can't let you hurt Nira...or Quentin._

Musaji banged his flaming tail in front of Taren.

Taren's face burned from the heat, until he had to look away. Prime Musaji drew her head closer to him. Her growls were suddenly smooth and velvety. "You are a very special young man, Taren," she smirked. "With a winning-streak as high as Raju's, you can become the most powerful human master in the most powerful clan. The Mu can help us become the most powerful clan—they can inject us with genes that can make us more powerful than all clans in this forest. We can populate as many places as we can, destroying the other species in our way. The Mu can help us accomplish this as long as we keep them alive with our fire, and listen to their orders. We must get rid of Quentin if we are to keep them alive and on our side."

Taren's eyes grew distant. His muscles suddenly tensed, and he was unable to move. Musaji was walking around his body. Taren remained stiff and silent as the Prime Genopet growled in his ear. "Think about it, Taren. Would you rather live in the canopies with your girlfriend, or would you rather rule the world with the most powerful genopet in the world?"

Taren's eyes finally shifted to Raju, who was staring at him his eyes blazing.

Musaji used her tail to push a strand of red hair out of his eyes. "All the Chief Mu asks is a simple favor, Taren. And this is how I have it planned out. Our clan will be facing the Tailips after the next three Genopet Leagues. We will easily crush their Combatants, and we'll easily takeover their city once so many are dead. Thus, it will be easy to get a hold of Quentin and have him brought to us. Since your girlfriend will be devastated after the attack, you are to take her to ride the high vines in her city, and you'll have one more magical night with her. Meanwhile, both your pets will be waiting in the stable. Raju will keep an eye on Quentin. He will be able to kill him right there. Then you are to drag Nira into the stable, where we can lay hands on her as well. You don't have to kill her, you can leave that to us."

Taren stiffened. His head was throbbing.

Musaji chortled. "The choice is always yours Taren—you can listen to me or not. But whatever you decide to do, you are not to reveal anything we've discussed in this meeting. If you decide to play against us and save the girl and the Uniter, your pet will turn you in. If Raju tells me about any suspicious move you make, I will have you thrown into the pits of my volcano."

  15. Nira

Nira was staring at the great, triangular screen on the wall of her living room. Lahan was by her side, and Quentin and Bonnie were behind them. All of them were gaping as they watched the battle between the Firefangs and the Rockodiles.

"You're kidding..." Nira breathed. "The Mu. That's what they're called?"

Lahan was rubbing his chin. "I knew those Firefangs were up to something. Their Cleansing of the Frostfang Clan was more than just a move to show superiority. They want to keep the Mu alive and safe, so that when they finally exposed them to the world, the Mu wouldn't have to worry about any genopet species that could defeat them."

Nira threw her hands up in the air. "I can't believe it! Taren didn't tell me anything about this. What kind of a couple are we now?"

Quentin sighed. "Hey, if it helps, your boyfriend looked pretty darn scared when he was surrounded by all those Firefangs. First time I've ever seen Taren look scared of anything."

Nira huffed. She was shaking her head. "This is terrible. Now we know why the Frostfangs were killed. Taren didn't even bother to tell me about this when he found out."

Lahan sighed. "You know, I'm starting to wonder if the Mu are really what the Firefangs claim they are."

Nira turned to her host-brother. "What are you talking about?"

"They could be something Dr. Z gave the Firefangs. He could have had Hox create some disaster that involved falling rocks, and that the rocks were something that Hox created, using whatever resources he can make."

Quentin could be right. Dr. Z could have sent such resources to them, giving them a chance to rise and rule this League so that they can ensure something like cross-clan alliances happen. But of course, that's rather suspicious for Dr. Z to allow alliances to happen, unless the clans ensure each clan continues to pay Dr. Z the same profits, regardless of the fact that they are all living together.

Nira frowned. "Great Hox. Then in that case, it's better if there were no such thing as Genotopia."

Lahan nodded. "At least not the Genotopia Dr. Z is letting us have. He could be giving the Firefangs an opportunity to exert control over all clans in this League, because he knows that by doing so, he'll ensure that our League lives in a genotopian society, no longer fighting one another or owing money to one another. We would all be sharing the same profits, but at the same time, each of us would still have to pay Dr. Z. He rules all the Leagues in this world, ensuring none of the clans are allied. He collects profit from each Emperor in each individual clan, within each of the 350 Leagues. He's collecting money from 350 clans, and that's not including the Stray Clans whose Emperors are also sending him money. Our Emperor sends Dr. Z monthly payments to cover all the Animalyne injection Dr. Z gives him. The Emperor clones that new injection, and provides Animalyne for all Combatants in his clan. Those injections keep all our genopets the way they are so that they don't turn back into ordinary, powerless animals. Each clan therefore pays Dr. Z for all the Animalyne injections in order to keep their own species alive. Now think about what would happen if two clans merged together. That means two species will be covered by one Emperor. So only one Emperor will be paying Dr. Z fees that would cover only one injection, even though there are two clans under him. But! If the Firefangs are ruling our League, the Firefang Emperor would still pay for an injection for his own clan, but they would also ensure that each of our clans continues to pay Dr. Z. for our own Animalyne injection, even if we are living together, sharing territories, pets, and whatnot. So Dr. Z. would still get the same profit as before. The only thing that would change is that we would have to owe all our wages and Genopet League reward money to the Firefangs. They would be the strongest clan, while all our clans would be equal under them, all equally poor."

Nira felt her cheeks burn. "That doesn't sound like the ideal life. We would all be equal with other species, living in harmony with them, but we would also be equally poor as them? No way!"

"Not to mention we'd have to share territories with those Firefangs," growled Bonnie. "Those brutes would get to trespass into whatever territory they wish."

Quentin puckered his lips. "Pah. So we would all have to owe everything to Firefangs and each species will still have to owe money to Dr. Z. to keep their own species alive, rather than uniting as one clan that pays for Animalyne injections for all species. Sheesh, then in that case, it won't be as if we are living as one clan of many species, we would still be separate! The only difference would be that we are sharing territories and treating one another equally, yet, at the same time, we'd still be giving money to Dr. Z as if we were still living in different territories!"

Lahan nodded. "And you, Nira, and Taren could be strong advocates for this. The clans look up to you. They believe that if there is any chance of being united, they would look to you three to carry this out. There have been mass protests for Genotopian societies lately, ever since we found out Quentin has Moodifier. This is why I believe Dr. Z is somehow using the Mu to let the Firefangs takeover our clans."

Nira clenched her fists. "Well this sucks."

Lahan nodded, scrolling through his netphone. "There are a bunch of articles written about the Mu, now that we've had a bit of time to investigate what's happened. Those Mu are extremely powerful. Apparently, they can turn you to stone if they touch you."

"Great Hox," Nira huffed. "If only the legends were true. Hox could just take us to the real Genotopia and we'd all be safe." She looked up, her eyes full of determination. "I've gotta talk to Taren. This is bad. Not only does the Mu seem to be taking advantange of our relationship, but they're taking advantage of the clans in this League."

Nira never got a chance to talk to Taren that month. She had sent him a text almost eight times throughout that month, asking if he would like to meet at the Dining Hall anytime. But he had never replied. And unfortunately, she never got to bump into him whenever she would visit the battlegrounds for one-on-one battles.

Finally, by next month, after the Firefangs had seized control of the Rainbirds and had them under genotopian society, he stopped by for a visit. Nira gazed at him with widened eyes. "What took you so long?!"

"Sorry, Arvani and I threw a party with the other Soccer Flare guys after we beat the Rainbirds. Nira, we finally have Dharene's clan under our power!"

Nira frowned. "Oh, of course. More time with Arvani, huh?"

Taren blinked. "Nira, we're just having fun. We were celebrating our victory, and we always throw parties to celebrate our Genopet League victories!"

Nira sighed. "I bet you're here for Quentin to send Moodifier for them?"

"Yes. The Firefang Emperor has a plan, to make all the clans genotopian under his rule. If he does, we can stay together, and the Mu wont' try to kill you or Quentin."

Nira raised her eyebrows. She didn't know what to say to that.

Then Taren grabbed her hands. "Nira, come on. We have to talk to my father."

They discussed the matters with Afraz in front of his Lab. At the end of their meeting, Afraz andMusaji smiled at them.

"Then it's settled," said the Emperor. "We shall rule the clans and start Genotopia."

The news spread, and many clans were excited. However, there was division among many of the clans. Some advocated for clan division, some were in favor of Taren and Nira and wanted to allow cross-clan relationships to be easier. Half the clans were pro-alliance, while the other half were pro-division.

It was decided that the clans would have a Genopet League battle with the Firefangs, and if the Firefangs won, they would takeover the losing clan and force the defeated clans to live in equality with the other clan species that lost to them.

The next month came, and Firefangs were up against the Dandeliopards, but Nira was unable to watch it on television that night. She had been spending the entire day of their battle training with Quentin so that she could get ready for her own clan's battle, which was going to be against the Cobrazors.

Unfortunately, they had lost that night and Nira came home, exhausted. After showering, she powered on the triangular screen to watch the news. The virtual image presented a shot of another clan's territory that the Firefangs had just taken over. Fire was everywhere, and Dandeliopards and humans were running from numerous Firefangs and slimy, tiger-striped Mu.

The Firefangs had taken over the Dandeliopards' territory.

"Great Hox," Nira breathed.

Her netphone vibrated. She checked her message, and her heart lifted. It was from Gharry.

One-on-one battle tomorrow? On my battlegrounds?

Though she was still in shock, she couldn't help but feel a wave of relief and a small surge of glee to hear from him. She replied:

Sure. 3:00pm.

When she met with Gharry on the barren, misty land of the Elephantom battlegrounds, the two of them shook hands.

"Good to see you again," said Gharry in his low voice.

"You too," said Nira. "Um, before we begin, do you mind if I ask you about Dharene? I'm curious to see if you have heard from her lately."

Gharry nodded. "She and I text every night. We take turns visiting each other once a week."

Nira narrowed her eyes. "Wow. That's wonderful to hear," she said in a dry tone. Then she immediately hit herself on the forehead with the palm of her hand. "Agh, I'm sorry! I should be happy for you two. That's wonderful that you guys are finding it easy to stay in touch."

"You and Taren finding it difficult?"

She shook her head, not meeting his gaze. "Well, it's been difficult because he's always got Soccer Flare games, Firefang parties, and who knows what else. Oh, and there's also Arvani Simmers, whose Firefang is madly in love with his Firefang. I know there's something going on between those two. But my problem is not being in touch with him—it's deciding when to be in touch with him. We've been constantly texting and seeing each other, which has really made us well-known among the clans. Now, we've finally declared that yes, we do favor a genotopian society and we do favor a genotopian society in Rainbowleaf League. That's why all the clans are facing a crisis now. The Dandeliopards and Rockodiles have already lost, and now they are both sharing territories, living equally poor under the Firefangs. The same will happen to other clans that lose against the Firefangs in their Genopet Leagues against them." Nira felt her eyes water. "And it's all because me, Taren, and Quentin decided to let that happen." After their meeting with Emperor Afraz, she and Taren decided to stay together and continue seeing each other. As a result, Quentin was still alive. Nira was still alive, and still Taren's girlfriend. But this decision had given the Firefangs and the Mu the oppporunities to takeover the other clans.

Gharry nodded. His expression remained stolid, but he spoke in a softer tone. "I'm sorry to hear that. At least you won't have to worry about Arvani Simmers destroying your relationship, now."

Nira felt tears swell in her eyes. "I just wish we could just all be at the real Genotopia right now, where we wouldn't have to worry about cross-clan differences _or_ a tyrannical clan seizing power over the other clans, using propaganda to emphasize the benefits Genotopia only to dominate all the clans." She glared at the poster on the wall to her left. It displayed digitized images of identical humans, each with the same hair color, eye color, and skin color. Each was accompanied by a different genopet in the Rainbowleaf League.

Natasha snorted. "Such a place doesn't exist. And even if it does, you'd have to wait until Hox shows up to guide you there."

Quentin nodded, glaring at the Elephantom. "The stink-bomb is right. But unfortunately, this isn't Genotopia and Hox hasn't shown up yet. So we're still stuck in a divided world. So can we get this battle going already?"

Gharry gazed at Nira with a narrowed expression. "How bout we just train? You don't seem like you're in real battle mode right now."

Nira huffed. "I'm still sore from our loss with the Cobrazors. So yeah, sure. A training session sounds better."

So they trained, battling one another without officially recording any wins. Nira realized she was still extra dizzy from the numerous types of Cobrazor venom that had mixed into her blood the other night. After almost an hour of training, she landed on her feet, only to collapse onto her knees, panting.

"Need a break?" Gharry landed in front of her.

"Yeah, sorry," she muttered. "I think I just need to go find Taren and rethink our options. If staying together means all clans would have to suffer, then I'm not sure it's worth it." Her heart stung at those words. "I know his Soccer Flare games are every Friday, and today's a Thursday, so I'll try to catch him practicing this evening on his battlegrounds."

Nira glanced at Quentin. The flower-tailed chimp swung every which way, trying to avoid Natasha's random tornados blown from her trunk.

"Quentin come on!" She called. "We're going to find Taren and Raju!" Ignoring the angry scream from her pet, she turned to Gharry and gave him a small smile. "Thanks for contacting me. We should train again sometime with Dharene too."

Gharry nodded. "We can always try." He turned to focus his scrutinizing gaze on Natasha and Quentin again. His gaze followed Quentin as the monkey swang from tree to tree and landed on Nira's shoulder. He met Nira's gaze again. "Be careful," he muttered.

Nira crept through the fronds and onto the scorched, sizzling ground. She peeked over a flaming thicket to see that Bakur and the fire students were taunting Videsh and Sorelli.

"Face it, Videsh!" Bakur cackled. "My father and the entire Firefang Clan is going to take over your territory. By the end of this year you'll be serving me and Jinjei! He'll have that Moodifier freak under his orders, and you'll have no choice but to kiss the butts of other clans and owe all your money to us!"

Nira flinched.

Quentin jumped on her shoulder. "Excuse me, cow-brain?!"

"Shh!" Nira held a hand over her monkey's mouth. She wasn't in the mood to have Bakur notice and confront her.

"No you're not!" Videsh squealed. "If Quentin can't make your genopets get along with us, Prime Geoffrey will kick Musaji's butt! He and Emperor Muktar will drive the Firefangs out of all his cities! We will not live under the genotopian society you guys are planning on bringing!"

Bakur pushed the boy to the ground, and the short Combatant fell on his bottom. "Not if we kick his furry ass first," he snapped.

Jinjei let out an angry roar that thundered across the land. "None of the clans will stand a chance once Bakur and I kill that cursed monkey."

Nira suddenly felt a warm arm wrap around her shoulder. Bakur was hugging her against his side.

"Wah!" Nira yelled. She wriggled from his strong grip. She flinched as Jinjei released a burst of Black Flames, causing Quentin to scream and seize on the ground. "Quentin!"

The muscular boy snickered. "Hehe, nice shot, Jinjei. And while we're at it, let's burn his human master to ashes. It's not nice to venture into the Firefang battlegrounds unless you're battling a Firefang opponent. Can't be hangin' around here for nothing."

"Yeah, Nira," Nira's heart lurched as Arvani came walking up to her with her arms wrapped around Taren's shoulders. "That's just as bad as trespassing into another clan's territory without paying at the Toll Volcanoes!"

Khatira and Raju both released flames from their nostrils as they fixed their blazing eyes on her. Taren stared at her with his eyes dazed, as if he were staring right through her.

The boy's expression remained unchanged as Bakur spoke in her ear. "We're gonna make sure Quentie is dead, Nira. He's not going to restore any balance or equalize any place in this world. The Firefangs will rule supreme—the Mu will assure that. No pipsqueak like Quentin is going to stop us.

_Taren! Aren't you gonna do anything? Your brother's choking me!_ She stared at him with shock and disbelief, but he stared back at her, his expression blank.

"Ugh!" Nira struggled in Bakur's grip. "Let me go!"

"Give us your damn monkey," Bakur tightned his grip around her neck. She could feel his hot breath on her neck, and Jinjei's bristling flames beside her legs. "You're not going anywhere until you hand over Quentin to the Mu, so that he could use his Moodifier to ensure the genotopian society under all the Firefangs."

He tightened his grip until Nira was gasping for air.

"Bakur!" Taren yowled, still standing beside Arvani without moving a muscle. "Let her go! Quentin's not going anywhere!"

His brother narrowed his eye at him. "Or what?! You gonna have Raju throw fireballs at me? You heard Musaji last night! Your own pet will turn you in if you show any sign of betrayal!"

Taren stared at her, wide-eyed, saying nothing. Arvani was giggling and cracking up by his side, burying her face in his shoulder. But before anyone could say anything, the ground suddenly shook and split between Bakur's legs. A fly-trap rose and bit into Bakur's groin, making him yowl and release Nira.

Nira fell onto her knees, panting. She gazed up to see Quentin zooming over Bakur, screaming taunts at him.

"Go back and pick on your own Beginning Combatants!" Squeaked the flower-tailed Tailip

"Quentin!" Nira gasped. The Black Flames must not have been strong enough, or Quentin was just getting more and more resistant to the attack.

Jinjei released blue flames, causing Quentin to puke out ashes. Zeke, Tahlia, Arvani, and their pets all cracked up.

Quentin narrowed his eyes and fumed. "You trying to kill me? Well, you'll be kissin' my butt after this." He swung over the ground, pouring a green substance from his tail. Huge, thick roots rose everywhere the substance hit, sending all the Firefang students tumbling back. Arvani let out a high pitched scream and Zeke let out a booming yowl as the roots engulfed them and wrapped around their bodies. Stuck in the wrapping roots, with the fly-trap still clinging onto his groin, Bakur wailed and screamed.

"Get 'em, Quentin!" Cheered Videsh.

"Beginning Combatants! Are we getting any practicing done here?" Dame Zanara's loud voice sounded from behind a grove of fruit trees. Nira narrowed her eyes through the smoke to see the poofy-haired teacher with her teacher-pet, Felix, strutting by her side.

Felix's ears twitched and the slender tiger began to snicker. "Videsh, do you even have your pet with you? I don't see how you could have been practicing if your partner isn't around."

"She ran away to go and hide, because these Firefanglish guys threatened to kill her with Fireblood!" Yelled Videsh, glaring at the teacher-pet.

Dame Zanara turned to where Bakur was stuck in the crack. She let out a loud shriek. "Bakur, what in Hox's name are you doing? Get out of those roots and leave these Beginning Combatants alone. Go train with your own rank! I don't care how powerful our clan is getting. We are here to rule the other clans—yes. But we must teach the different clans to get along with one another, because we live off of their resources as well!"

Nira got up to scurry back to the other side of the border. She looked over her shoulder as she hid behind a tree.

"And all you Firefanglish, get back to the field where I can keep an eye on y'all! If you're gonna waste your time picking on the non-clan Combatants, you better train where I can see you."

As they dispersed, Quentin landed on Nira's shoulder, brushing his ash-covered fur. "Huh. Despicable bunch. And they plan to hand me over to Musaji and the Mu? Let them try. I think we made a huge mistake. You should really ask Taren about breaking up."

"I can't believe it..." Nira watched as Bakur and his friends headed over the fiery hill. "I can't believe our relationship has come to this."

"Me neither," a familiar voice sounded from behind her. Nira looked over her shoulder to see Taren standing beside her with his hands in his pocket.

"Taren..." Nira breathed. Her boyfriend was standing there, staring at the ground with his head turned away from her direction. She was unable to see the look on his face.

He spoke in a quiet, half-hearted tone. "You need to stay away from Bakur, Nira," he said gravely. "You need to stay away from all Firefanglish humans. Including me." He hung his head, still keeping his body facing sideways at her.

"What are you talking about?" Nira frowned. "Are—are we breaking up?"

Taren didn't look at her. He didn't say anything.

She took a step toward him and touched his shoulder. He still kept his head facing the ground, not turning to look her in the eye. "Taren, you can convince your father to take care of the other clans and not mistreat them. If you can do that, then the clans can live peacefully under your rule, and we won't have to worry about sacrificing our relationship."

Quentin scoffed. "Or our lives."

Taren turned to her. "You have to bring Quentin to Afraz, and then he'll know that we have officially decided to stay together. He needs Quentin to make the Dandeliopards and Rockodiles get along under his rule. If you don't bring him to Afraz sooner or later, he will assume that you and I have decided to break up, and that you've decided to keep all clans divided. If you show you want to keep the clans divided, he will seek you for himself and kill you."

Nira huffed. "Then we can run away to the real Genotopia together, where we can live in harmony without having to sacrifice freedom, wealth, or our relationship. Please...you should really try to convince your father not to rule so harshly. Tell him not to be a collector of all the clans' wages, that he should do nothing else but ensure the clans are getting along. He shouldn't be stealing their money, just to keep them all equal." She wanted nothing more than to run into Taren's arms and bury her face in his chest.

But Taren drew away from her gentle grip. "You don't understand. If my father wants to rule the other clans and ensure they are treating each other equally, he's going to force them all to be equal in every way—including wealth. The only way to do that is to make sure they are each paying Dr. Z for their own Animalyne injections, as well as owing all wages to the Firefangs." He turned his back on her and started walking away. "If you're not going to hand over Quentin to him, then just stay away from us, Nira," he didn't look back as he stared at the ground. "Stay away...from all of us."

  16. Nira

Nira finally decided to let Quentin visit the Firefangs and use his Moodifier to shroud all the genopets. Soon, there were three clans living under genotopian society under the Firefangs, each of them getting along with one another, though they were all poor and miserable. Though they were free to share one another's territories, they were miserable and equally poor.

A month passed since Nira had seen Taren again. She stepped out of the bathroom of her house in her leafy nightgown, ready to collapse onto her bed, until her netphone started beeping. She hurried over to check the message, and her heart skipped a beat. It was a video message from Emperor Muktar.

"Great Hox," she gasped. She tapped the message and the video opened up.

"Good evening, my fellow Tailipians," Emperor Muktar was speaking on the small, rectangular screen with Prime Geoffrey by his side. "Today is the 11th month of the year, and we already have our Genopet League battle against our next opponent in the jungle: the Firefangs."

Nira's eyes were wide as she watched him speak. She had been trying to avoid thinking about this battle all day long, and now here was Muktar, speaking about it right in her face.

She listened as he continued speaking, "I know many of you are aware of the recent activity in the Firefang territory. The Firefangs are occupying the territories of the Rockodile and Dandeliopards' Clans, and the humans and genopets that once lived in those territories are now living as slaves. Each one carries on their lives with their jobs and other responsibilities, except they owe every dollar earned to their Firefanglish master, who lives in their homes. Yes, each one is living with a Firefanglish, serving as their slave. But that is no reason why we should all hide from this Genopet League battle against the Firefangs. Emperor Afraz has made the same deal with us, and says that if we beat him in this battle, our clan would not have to live in subordination to the Firefangs. Of course, that is the same promise he made to the Dandeliopards and the Rockodiles, and both clans lost, and are now under their rule. We will not let that happen to us, because we have Quentin on our side. Fight bravely, and we will remain a free clan in this League. We may not be living in a genotopian society, but at least we would have our freedom."

Two weeks passed. It was the night before the battle against the Firefangs, and Nira had been training with Quentin since 6:00AM.

Her eyes were watery as she exited her lab and took the elevator to the first floor of the Dining Hall.

Though the sky was dark, there were numerous lights shining over the battlegrounds. Nira could see that there were still crowds of people and their genopets hanging around on all the hovering levels of chrome platforms outside their buildings in the Dandeliopard territory. Most of them were noisily chattering about the upcoming battle between the Firefangs and Tailipians. Of course, the Genopet League battle between Nira and her boyfriend had really become a hot topic of conversation, and all her opponents had been asking her about it all day.

_I wonder how ready we really are..._ she made her way out of the tree and across the battlegorunds to the Firefang battelground. She saw Taren and Raju training at the corner of the battlegrounds, practicing by a small jungle gym that consisted of stairs, platforms, hoops, and winding tunnels. Flames surrounded the entire jungle gym. She stopped in her tracks as soon as she noticed Arvani was standing atop a winding tube, gracefully keeping her balance as she stood with her two feet pressed together and her hands on her hips. Khatira was behind her.

Arvani bent her knees and narrowed her eyes. "Alright, get on with it, Khatira!"

Khatira released a spout of flames from the stripes of her tail, and Arvani jumped forward, diving into the flames with her surfboard below her feet. The flames carried her through one of the hoops, and then she grabbed onto a rope to swing herself toward the second platform of the jungle gym. Khatira dashed forward, looking like a red blur, and ended up on the second platform, catching Arvani on her back as the girl let go of the rope.

"Hah!" Taren climbed up the stairs to the first platform. "Raju and I could do that if I was wearing my fire-proof suit."

"Well, I hope you're as ready as we are," said Khatira, flashing him a playful smile. "Khatira has a ton of battles won, 218!"

"Puh, big deal," Taren said. "Raju's officially caught up to 267 victories as of right now, so you shouldn't be bragging!"

Raju passed by Khatira and nosed her shoulder. "Hehe, that's because we haven't been spending our time beautifying ourselves for modeling shows!"

"Hey!" Growled Khatira. "I learn half of my moves from modeling!"

Taren was just about to shoot her a reply, but then he noticed Nira's reflection on the winding tube in front of him. He looked over his shoulder. "Nira!"

Nira stood still with her eyes narrowed.

Taren leapt off the platform from six feet in the air, landing lightly in a crouch. He stood up to his feet and raced to her, smiling eagerly. "Hey! What's up? I thought you'd be home by now!"

Nira flashed a quick glance at Arvani, who was busy chattering with Khatira and Raju on the second platform of the gym. She turned to Taren and sighed. "Nope. You have no idea how crazy the Tailipians are training. We really don't want to be in a genotopian society under your clan, so we're all working very hard. Including Quentin and me!"

"Dang, that explains those shadows under your eyes," Taren chuckled.

"Yeah," Nira wiped the bottom of her right eye with her index finger.

"Well, then why are you still here? You should get some rest. I gotta get ready for the Genopet League tomorrow as well."

Nira made sure Arvani was busy chatting with Khatira and Raju before she spoke to Taren in an urgent tone. "Taren, this is serious. I really don't know if we should let your clan takeover mine."

Taren sighed. He met Quentin's gaze. The monkey was crossing his arms, glaring at the boy.

Taren looked over his shoulder. Arvani was calling for him. "Nira, I'm sorry. If you aren't under our rule, then I don't know what to say. Afraz doesn't want us to be together if he isn't ruling your clan."

"Nira, you ready?"

It was the next morning, and Nira was picking the miniature bananas growing on her tree. She turned around at the sound of Lahan's voice. She saw the slick-haired man and Bonnie walking across the branch behind her branch, heading toward the shuttle parked at the edge.

"We're battling the Firefangs today," said Lahan in a grave tone. "Are you ready? Or are your wounds from last month's Cobrazor battle still bothering you?"

Nira stiffened. "I'm ready to battle," she said quietly, throwing her mini bananas aside. "I just hope the Firefangs won't be taking over our territory like they've already done with the Dandeliopards and the Rockodiles."

Lahan nodded. He watched Nira grab a vine and swing her way across her branch and land on his. He put an arm around her shoulder and hugged her against him.

"Don't worry," he said. "Emperor Muktar says that Quentin will protect us. You watched the video he sent everyone last night, didn't you?"

Nira nodded. "Yeah, but..."

Quentin landed on Nira's shoulder. "Then there's no reason to be scared! Come on, this entire clan is gonna be thanking me for beating those brutes."

"But what about the Mu?!" Nira stomped her foot. "The Mu aren't affected by anything from the genopets. And you've seen how powerful they are in battle! Their fire-beams will easily _kill_ any living creature it touches, and if they touch you with their own hands, you turn to stone. We have no idea how to cure others from that."

"We'll be careful," said Lahan. "We can do this."

In less than an hour, Nira found herself in the Genopet League Arena, standing at the front of her clan with the other Beginning Combatants. They all stood atop a giant canopy on the rightmost side of the Arena, facing the Firefangs, who were standing on a scorched ground with fire-pools and lava rivers.

As soon as the gun went off, both clans locked into battle. The first thing Quentin did was breathe Moodifier, but as soon as he inhaled, a white beam struck him.

Nira screamed. "Quentin, noooo!"

But her pet did not turn into tiny, bloody pieces like she had seen happen with the Rockodiles. Instead, Quentin fell over, unconscious. She turned to see a heavy-set humanoid-tiger with his whole mouth open. His bug-like eyes were glaring at her, and as soon as she made eye contact, she ducked and raced away. Already, many Tailips and their humans were racing out of the Arena. The Mu were flying everywhere—there were many more than she had seen in the Rockodile battle. She did her best, whipping her thorny vine every which way to whack all the Firefanglish humans and Mu out of her way.

Suddenly, she caught sight of Bakur running out of the Arena, carrying Quentin in his hands.

"No," she narrowed her eyes and raced after them. "Quentin!" She raced out of the Arena. She knew once she stepped out of the Arena, she would not be qualified to come back, but she had to save her pet. She followed Bakur all the way to a great shuttle that flew away from the island.

"Bakur, give me back my pet!" She whacked his back, making him spin around.

"Hey!" He whirled around and then smirked. "Ah, so you've followed us here, eh?" Jinjei leapt by his side and snarled at her. Bakur looked over his shoulder and spoke to the driver. "Sorry, man, but this is gonna be a bumpy ride."

"Do what you gotta do," said the Firefanglish driver in a grumpy tone.

And Bakur turned to swing his flaming sword at Nira. Nira dodged out of the way and whacked her thorny whip at his hand, knocking the fire-sword out of his grip. She attempted to trap him in her whip, but he dodged out of the way. Jinjei leapt in front of him, coughing out a fireball at her, which exploded against the wall behind her.

"Agh!" The driver yelled. "No genopet fights!"

So Nira and Bakur had to continue their fight without the interference of an angry Jinjei, or a sleeping Quentin.

Finally, they landed on the ground. Nira managed to grab Quentin and leapt out of the shuttle, running across a branch.

A branch! She realized they had landed in Tailipian territory. Fireballs and flames were flying over her head, and the sky was filled with ashes. _Oh no, we must have lost our Genopet League battle._ As she squatted behind a puff of clouds, she spotted Taren and Arvani, racing together side by side with their genopets roaring ahead of them.

"Wooo!" Screamed Arvani. "Khatira, burn that house! There are still Tailips in there!"

Khatira threw fireballs at a nearby house on a hovering cloud, and a family of Tailipian humans escaped, swinging on vines that shot out from their Tailips' tails. Raju targeted them all with his bursts of flames.

"Oh, Taren..." Nira watched helplessly. She had never seen the lively young man look so horrorstruck. Arvani was clutching his hand, dragging him everywhere after their horrendous genopets as they bombed every house in sight with fireballs. _This isn't you, Taren. You're brave and noble. And you don't let others take control of you,_ she flashed a glare at Arvani as she laughed maniacally, pulling him along as she chased after Raju and Khatira.

"Nira, look out!" Yowled Bonnie, swooping over her head to blow back a blast of fireballs from Jinjei, who had leapt on a branch with Bakur on his back.

"Hey, Tailipian!" Bakur grinned. "Still in love with my baby brother?"

Jinjei whipped his tail and lava spurt beneath her feet. She screamed and raced through the fire-scaped town until she found a quiet, empty spot, untouched by the invading fire-beasts. She glimpsed a flower fountain in a quiet clearing where no one was present. She ran up to it, buried her face by the bench, and let the tears fall out of her eyes.

"Nira?" Nira looked up and over her shoulder to see Lahan approaching. Bonnie was on his shoulder, looking singed and exhausted.

"Oh...it's you," Nira wiped the tears from her eyes.

Lahan knelt down beside her and handed her a tissue. She muttered a hasty "thanks" and blew her nose.

Then Lahan sighed and said, "I saw Taren, Bakur, and Arvani terrorizing the city. It was Khatira who burned down my house, actually."

Nira huffed. "Why is she here?" She muttered. "She always seems to pop up wherever Taren goes."

"I'm not surprised if Musaji chose her to come along and aid in their attack. She and Taren are the top Combatants in their Beginning Rank—they're almost tied."

Nira huffed and looked away, feeling tears swell up in her eyes again. As unwilling as she was to have Firefangs take over her own, she couldn't imagine anything worse than seeing Taren with Arvani.

Lahan rested a hand on her. "I'm sorry Nira," he whispered. "I know how terrible you must feel to see someone so close to you be manipulated by others."

"He's _not_ manipulated," Nira said determinedly. "He's being forced to do things he doesn't wish to do, that's all."

Lahan sighed. "I wish there was something I could do. But the Firefangs have our entire territory under control now. They've captured a few humans and their pets, and they're put in camps to serve the Firefangs. Humans are going to be slaves in their houses now, and their genopets are only going to serve the Firefangs."

She turned to Lahan. "What are we going to do now?"

"Some of us found refuge in the northern part of our territory. The strongest of our Elite are guarding it, so no Firefang can takeover there. Quentin can guard us all, since his Moodifier makes genopets less aggressive and unwilling to attack. We would have to heal the humans as soon as possible, because we'd still have to face battling any Firefanglish humans if they catch us."

She sighed. "Good. Are Maddie, Videsh, and your Elite friends there too?"

"Yes. There are about 176 Combatants there, including genopets. We should get back as soon as possible, before any of the Firefangs or the Mu finds us."

"Nira! Nira!" Nira clenched her fists at the sound of a little boy's voice. Videshal Shah was racing up to her with Sorelli in his hands. "Nira! Let's practice this again! Sorelli has improved a lot!"

Nira stopped and turned to face the boy with a glare. But before she could shoot a stinging reply, Lahan and Bonnie appeared from behind one of the water lilies, accompanied by a redheaded boy. The two of them were chasing a flower-faced squirrel, and then stopped to frown at the short student.

"Videsh, why don't you bug someone else for a change," Lahan said flatly.

Bonnie flicked her tail. "Yeah, Videsh. I wish The Mu could just turn up and start pecking your eyes out."

"Shut up, Bonnie!" Videsh whipped around to glare at the monkey. He picked up a rock and hurled it straight toward her face.

Bonnie stood there, smirking, and then flicked her tail. Vines grew from a nearby tree and whipped the rock back. The rock hit Videsh in the forehead and the boy dramatically stumbled back. He purposely fell to his bottom.

"Owwww!" He wailed, grabbing his forehead. "Lahan, your stupid Tailip made my forehead bleed!"

"Videsh, you're not bleeding," Lahan rolled his eyes.

Videsh glared after Lahan. Bonnie padded past him, her tail held high. The brown-skinned boy kicked a coconut after them, but Bonnie—without turning her head—flicked her tail and caused a vine behind her to swing and hit the coconut aside. The coconut rolled to the right, into the crowded jungle, and hit the back of an orange, furry genopet.

Nira jumped back and dropped her mouth open. A Mu was crouching at the base of a tree, devouring a piece of a raw, dead squirrel. As the coconut hit his back, The Mu paused and then looked up from his meal. His black, wild eyes locked with Nira's, and clutched the squirrel's body so tightly that its blood spilled all over its hands and dripped on the leafy jungle floor.

"Hey!" Quentin jumped off Nira's shoulder, glaring at the Mu. "It's not nice to waste your food—wherever you got that."

"Hey!" Videsh's eyes were widened. "That's Desmond's squirrel! He's eating him!"

Nira's mouth dropped open. The squirrel was a weak, powerless animal, limp in the Mu's claws.

The Mu hissed contemptuously and threw the dead squirrel aside. He crouched, ready to lunge himself at Quentin. But before he could make a move, the monkey in Videsh's hands began to wriggle.

"Holy fire-cows!" Cried Sorelli in a shrilly female voice. "It's the Mu again!" She squeaked and wriggled in Videsh's hands until the boy dropped her to the ground. The Tailip scurried up into one of the red-leafed trees behind him and leapt onto Quentin's back.

"Yow! Get off of me!" Quentin bounced in midair as Sorelli hugged him tightly.

"Save me!" She whimpered.

The Mu gave a quiet growl and relaxed his muscles. The humanoid tiger rolled its dark eyes.

"Maybe you should find another partner," Nira grabbed Quentin's tail and began to walk away.

Videsh swatted a hand at her. "Pfft! You think your Quentin is better than Sorelli, just because he can release Moodifier?" He began to follow her. "Sorelli can totally whoop Quentin!"

"Yeah?" Quentin smiled smugly at the boy. "So she's stronger than me, eh? Maybe she should fight the Mu for me."

"Oh, no!" She squeaked, hugging him tighter. She began to speak in a dreamy voice. "You're the hero here, Quentie. My sweet, shining Quentie..."

Quentin was choking as the monkey tightened her arms around his neck. He stopped in midair.

"Great Hox..." he gagged. "Release me, you fiendish fleabag..." he bit her hands and then bucked her off his back. Sorelli went flying through the air, and was caught in the clawed hands of The Mu as he crashed out of the trees beside them.

"Ahh! Sorelli!" Cried Videsh.

The Mu hurled Sorelli against a tree. Sorelli hit the trunk and fell to the ground, motionless and covered with blood.

"Hey! What's going on over here?" Sir Horace's yell sounded from the other side of the tree.

The Mu let out a gargling squeak and then turned to flap his wings through the sky. He disappeared behind a thick set of clouds.

"Are we getting any practicing done here?" Sir Mahnju's old voice sounded from behind a grove of fruit trees. Nira turned to see her training instructor and Sir Horace walking up to them, with the teacher-pet on Sir Mahnju's shoulder.

Sir Horace snickered. "Videsh, do you even have your pet with you? I don't see how you could have been practicing if Smelly isn't around."

"Her name is Sorelli!" Yelled Videsh, glaring at the Elite Combatant. "And look what happened—she was attacked by The Mu. After he had eaten Desmond's squirrel!"

Sir Mahnju and Sir Horace turned to the wounded genopet on the ground.

Sir Mahnju furrowed his eyebrows and grumbled, "This is despicable. Why haven't the Tailip Patrols tracked down the Mu in our territory? I'm going to have a word with Lady Belladonna about this madness."

Videsh was kneeling down by Sorelli, making an annoying babyish cry.

"Come on, Videsh!" Sir Horace was grinning. He patted his Tailip's head. "I'll let my teacher-pet chase Salami around instead!"

"It's Sorelli!" Videsh shouted in a whiny voice.

Nira rolled her eyes. Quentin settled on her shoulder, and she walked pass Videsh and the teachers.

She went back into the hollow.

  17. Taren

"We did it!" Arvani was screaming behind him. "We've taken over their territory!"

They returned to the Firefang territory and Taren took a good look at all the wondrous sights of humans and genopets, traveling form building to building with their partners. There were Dandeliopardians and Rockodilians together, and they were all enjoying walks with their genopets, who were all shrouded with Moodifier. Soon, the Tailips would become a part of this, and Taren could hardly wait. He turned to Raju, who was partying with Khatira.

They were the strongest. The clans would be united before them, and they would ensure equality over all. The clans may be equally poor below them, but the Firefangs would be the supreme leaders.

Arvani grabbed Taren's hand and yanked him up to her. "Come on! Let's throw a party!"

He followed her to the Firefang Playground back in their territory, and raced into the bar with Bakur and the other Firefanglish boys in the Soccer Flare team.

Taren woke up in his room, feeling heavy-headed. He had been partying at the Fire Playground with Arvani and Khatira again, celebrating their victory over the Tailip territory.

"That was some night," Raju was sitting beside his bed, his tail slowly swaying in the air behind his back. His eyes were wide and distant. "That Musaji sure is something. And so is Khatira."

Musaji's words continued through Taren's head. He hadn't even tried to get his hands on Quentin like he had promised. He couldn't bear to look at his beloved girlfriend, knowing he meant to harm her and her pet. But every night was filled with nightmares of Musaji punishing him.

Taren slowly shook his head. "I'm not sure, Raju. He wants me to find a way to bring him Quentin. And he wants Nira killed, since she was one of the Combatants who escaped. I...I can't do that, Raju. She's my girlfriend. I can't betray her."

"Oh, for Hox's sake!" Raju flattened his ears and bared his fangs. "You're valuing that non-clan member and her conceited monkey over Prime Genopet Musaji?!" He stood up, bristling. "That's disgusting. What kind of Firefanglish are you, if you'd turn down the Prime Genopet's offer just to be with a Tailipian? No one will let you become Emperor if you behave that way!"

"Raju, I—"

But Raju had already turned his back on him. The young tiger padded out of the room. "I'm gonna find Khatira."

Taren watched his tiger leave the room. His mouth was hanging open. He looked to the ground and clenched his fists, frowning. _Argh! What am I going to do?! Loyalty to one's clan ought to be one's priority...but...Nira's still my girlfriend. She's still important to me._ He looked up and narrowed his eyes at his half-open door. _Raju's important to me too. He's gonna determine my future, and I'm gonna determine his. If I don't fulfill the Prime Genopet's orders and show favor for someone in another clan, the entire Fire Realm is going to look down on me. They may not let me train Raju anymore—they might take him away from me if I defy Prime Genopet Musaji's orders._ Sweat dripped from the sides of Taren's head. He sat on his bed and stared at his hands, clenching his teeth. _I'm sorry, Nira, but as a Firefanglish, Musaji's orders must come first._

That afternoon, Taren went out to hunt for a few birds in the upper branches of the northern Tailipan territory. He smiled as he saw all the Tailipians leaping across the branches, passing by the Dandeliopards and Rockodiles. They all passed one another without frowning, and their genopets passed one another without getting into fights. In the grocery stores, some humans and genopets were even working together.

But Taren couldn't help but feel pity on the impoverished state. The buildings looked ready to fall apart, and the trees were dying. Dandeliopard plants had mixed with the Tailipian plants, causing many plants to decay and trees to rot. The Rockodiles even had their buildings built on some of the great trees. It was an ugly mix, and many of it made the cities look impoverished, unsanitary, and unattractive.

Raju followed along, sniffing at all the passing giant fruits and hybrid vegetables. "Puh, this territory is full of garbage. There is barely any prey here."

Taren nodded, gazing around. "Nira once told me that the birds in the upper canopies taste delicious though."

Raju snarled. "If only we weren't still Beginning Combatants. Any of the higher Ranks can have a slave working for them, but the Beginning Ranks have to wait. This sucks."

Taren kicked a miniature apple off the branch. "Eh, we have two whole months before we transition to the next year. Then we'll become Elite Combatants, I know it. Our battle record has 267 wins and 11 losses. We're almost there."

Raju gazed up at the canopies. "And our clan is number 1 in the Genopet League so far. If we win our next Genopet League battle next month, we'll get to move onto National League, and we'll battle clans from different Leagues!"

Taren felt his heart race with excitement at the thought of that. "Yea, that sounds amazing. Then if we win National League, we'll play against the International Leagues, against clans that live in overseas Leagues!"

"And then if we win that, we get to battle Hox and Dr. Z on their island," Raju was bristling. "Oh boy, if we beat them, we'll be rewarded with the strongest genes ever. I wonder if we'd be able to takeover Hox's Island someday, with the Mu on our side."

Taren stopped walking. He turned to his tiger. "You really think the Mu are even more powerful than Hox himself?"

"No," said Raju. "I'm sure our great forefather has ways to manipulate those Mu, even if they aren't affected by his moves. But it would still be cool. If the Mu can help us takeover other clans' territories in this League, just think of how many territories we'd be able to takeover in the world, now that the Mu are on our side. In a way, we could be as powerful as Hox and Dr. Z."

Taren nodded. "Not to mention that Dr. Z made these guys for us, using Hox's genes and fusing it with lava and rocks. And then making it in a way so that Gray Smoke needs to bring them to life, to become real, breathing creatures. I don't think he could have made the Mu strong enough to takeover his own island."

"I know," said Raju. "But think about what would happen if we did. It would be amazing, if we replaced Hox and Dr. Z as the strongest genopets in the world. Think of how awesome it would be if we Firefangs had all the powers of Hox!"

Taren felt rather ominous. But before he could say anything, he caught a glimpse in the bushes behind Raju. "Hey! I think there's a bird in there!"

Raju whirled around. He raced toward the bushes and tussled with another creature.

Taren was just about to run up to him when a coin-sized apple fell on his head.

"Huh?" He looked up to see a green-haired girl standing on the branch above his own, picking miniature apples. "Nira!" He hissed. He grabbed a vine and climbed up. He gently laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Wahh!" She whirled around and wrapped him up in her thorny vine.

"Agh! Ouch, Nira, that hurts!" Taren winced and struggled in the tangled vine, but it only hurt him more.

Nira gasped. "Taren!" She released him. "Great Hox, what are you doing here?"

"Don't worry, I'm not here to turn you in," he grabbed her hands and pulled her up to him. He gazed into her eyes, feeling his heart ache to see how thin-faced and scarred she was. Her burns had not been healed since she was one of the missing Combatants once the Firefangs had taken over.

"Great Hox, you're covered in burns," he gasped.

"I know," she said rather tartly. "Your Firefang Combatants won't heal me, unless I show up and let them take me in as a slave."

Taren sighed. "Nira, come back to your home tree. You can be my slave. Once you get a job and have all your wages dedicated to me, I promise I'll use it any way you want me to."

He almost thought he saw a hopeful look on Nira's face. But before she could say anything, a voice called from behind.

"Hey Tailip-girl!" Taren flinched at the sound of his brother's voice. He gasped as his tall, burly brother approached her and Quentin with Jinjei growling at his side. "Think you escaped our flame camps?"

Jinjei leapt forward and pinned Nira to the ground. "You're gonna be my slave, Tailipian."

Nira felt his hot breath against her face.

"Hey, get your hands off her!" Quentin crashed from the bushes behind him and blew a puff of smoke at Bakur, but Jinjei leapt forward and blew it back with a breath of fire. Quentin dodged the blast of fire and stirred up a twister of leaves that spun the tiger around.

"Jinjei!" Yelled Bakur. "What the hell?! You're better than that! Get yourself outta that twister!"

Nira instantly yanked herself out of his grip.

Taren clenched his fists and ran up to step in front of Nira. He faced his brother with a challenging glare. "Stay away from her, Bakur," he snapped.

Jinjei leapt out and raced away, cursing in hoxtongue.

Quentin sniggered. "Looks like your pet doesn't wanna catch us today. Maybe next time, Bakur!"

Bakur cursed at them before racing after Jinjei, yowling for his angry Firefang.

As soon as they were out of sight, Nira turned to Taren, and gave him a small smile. "Thanks," she muttered.

Taren turned at her and smiled back, nodding. It felt good to have her smiling at him again. "Never hesitate to let me know when Bakur's bothering you. I'm happy to whoop his butt anytime."

Nira grimaced. "Hah. You think I can't handle looking after myself? I've been doing just fine, even since you started spending more time with Arvani."

Taren chuckled nervously. "Well, I'm not spending any time with her right now, right? Why don't we get you back to your city and get you healed up?"

Nira shook her head. "Taren, I'm sorry. But the other Tailipian refugees and I are not going to live like slaves for another species. If we want to live with you guys, both clans have to live in harmony. I wouldn't want to live in a place where one clan is serving the other."

Taren looked into her eyes. "So are you and Quentin thinking of venturing off to Genotopia?"

Quentin landed on Nira's shoulder and beat his fists in his direction. "No, you dummy! Hox hasn't come yet! We're not seeking any imaginary land unless Hox guides us."

Taren frowned. "So you guys are just gonna live in hiding? What if Dr. Z finds you?"

"Dr. Z won't find us if we stay away from all forms of technology. This was one of the benefits of being part of a Stray Clan—we knew Dr. Z. wouldn't be watching us. Even though we still had to be careful about making alliances since our Emperors still had to pay him, we still enjoyed not being monitored by that baldheaded freak."

"You sure you guys are going to survive as fugitives out here?"

Nira gave him a playful shove on the shoulder. "Lahan and the Elite Combatants are professionals. Lahan's been really helpful, healing us and keeping us alive."

Taren crossed his arms. "Okay, what's up with this Lahan guy? He's an Elite Combatant, yet, he sure seems to have taken quite an interest in you."

"He's just helping out, that's all!" Nira retorted. "Honestly, Taren. If you care about what I'm doing when I'm alone with people from my own clan, you should understand that I feel the same way when you hang around with your people." She crossed her arms. "You never even bothered to answer my calls or tell me anything about the Mu! Clearly, you don't care for me as much as you used to!"

Taren was stung. That was definitely not why he had been ignoring her. He stepped closer to her and gazed into her eyes. "Look, I'm really sorry about avoiding you. But you have to understand...it's for your own good." He leaned closer. "The Mu want Quentin killed. His Moodifier is another source that can kill those Mu."

Nira widened her eyes. "What? Are you serious?"

Quentin jumped. "I can kill the Mu?"

"That's why you were the first genopet they targeted on the Genopet Arena. They wanted to make sure you wouldn't stop the Firefangs from beating you and winning your territory."

Nira stared at him with her mouth hanging open. "Oh my gosh..."

"Ahem..."

Taren and Nira instantly turned and gasped to see Arvani, Janet, and a group of crimson-haired Firefanglish girls dressed in stillettos and short-shorts and muscular boys from the Soccer Flare team. Arvani was staring at them with a snide smile, while the rest of the students were looking at them with disgust.

"Yo, Taren! You found the Moodifier-pet's human!" One of the Soccer Flare guys shouted.

"Disgusting," said one of Arvani's girlfriends. "I think they're still together."

"Hey!" Taren frowned. "Why aren't you guys training? Have you been watching us the whole time?"

"Of course we have," said Arvani slyly, chuckling.

Khatira snickered. "I wanted to see why my darling Raju wasn't racing around in the upper fields."

"Khatira!" Raju called, racing up the branch up a nearby staircase. "Come and chase this monkey with me! We'll take him down together!"

Arvani watched as her young tiger raced after Raju and Quentin as they disappeared behind a flaming tree trunk. Then she came up to Taren without taking her eyes off him.

"Taren, I thought you said you broke up with this girl. We weren't going to have you playing on our team during last week's match if you were still going out with a Combatant from another clan, especially if she tried to run away from our clan. I guess this means we won't be accepting you as a part of our team anymore."

"No! I was—"

"It's fine, Taren," Nira was glaring at her feet. She turned to walk away. "We can just stop right here. You don't have to sacrifice your place in the Soccer Flare team for me."

"Nira, no!" He grabbed her hand, his heart racing. Was she actually asking him to break up?!

But Nira yanked her hand out of his grip. "Look! If we have to keep seeing each other when no one else is looking, we might just be better off without each other!"  
"Ooh, now hold on," Arvani smiled and stepped up to Nira. She rested a hand on her shoulder. "Honey, you don't have to break up with Taren just because of us. I'm sure you're a wonderful girlfriend."

Taren winced. He turned and watched as Nira stared back into Arvani's sly green eyes.

"Tell you what," said Arvani. "Why don't you join Janet, Anastasia, and I for a girl's night out? Just the four of us and our genopets."

"Huh?!" Taren, Nira, and all the Firefang Combatants were all staring at her aghast.

"Oh, shut up!" Arvani whirled around and glared at the students. "This girl is confused. She and Taren obviously love each other, and I'm sure Taren wants her to come back and become a slave for us." She turned to face Nira with an innocent smile. "But we shouldn't be enslaving a Combatant if someone in our clan is in love. We ought to include her in our clan. How about you and Quentin come join us for some drinks? Let's get to know her before we suggest making you a Firefang clan member."

"You're thinking of making me a Firefanglish member?" Nira narrowed her eyes.

Taren gasped. "Wait, that sounds like a wonderful idea! Nira, you should definitely be a Firefanglish. It's totally legal for humans to transfer to other clans!"

"But what about Quentin?" Nira frowned.

Arvani raised her eyebrows. "Quentin can live in the Firefang Clan since he can use his Moodifier."

"But Dr. Z doesn't want him to use his Moodifier to make friends!"

"Oh please," Arvani rolled her eyes. "Dr. Z just doesn't want to see any cross-clan alliances. Tell you what. I'll speak to Prime Musaji and Emperor Afraz and tell them about including you and Quentin in our clan. We'll tell them that it's just you two who will be included in our clan, and that we will not use the Moodifier to invite any other members into our clan, and that we wouldn't use it to kill the Mu either. As long as Quentin can prove that he won't be inviting any other Tailips to our clan, or use Moodifier to kill the Mu, the both of you are welcome to live in our territory."

Nira turned to Quentin. He was blinking. "So...no Bonnie. We wouldn't even be living in genotopian societies with other pets."

"That's right," said Arvani. "But you'd still keep your life, and you'd be with the strongest clan in the League."

"Quentin, we should give it a try," said Nira. "Let's spend a day with the Firefangs, and you use your Moodifier to block the Firefang scent See if you can get along with these Firefangs as if you couldn't smell them at all."

Taren turned to the monkey, nodding. "Quentin, come on! Let's give it a try."

Quentin let out a scream. "Bah! Fine, let's see how much I can enjoy being around these foul-smelling smoke-breaths," he glared at Raju and Khatira, who were growling at him with flames bristling on their backs.

Arvani smiled. "Great. Taren, come with me and we'll speak to your father about this."

Taren turned to give Nira one last nod before following Arvani, her friends, and their genopets. "I'll text you as soon as we hear what they have to say!"

  18. Nira

Nira passed thorugh her territory, frowning at all the Dandeliopards and genopet species that were now living with them. There were many new buildings and many humans living in the same trees, though she caught many cross-clan couples, each with their own different genopet species, enjoying their time together.

Hmph. But they are all as poor as a Stray Clan.

She felt a strong wave of regret for keeping her relationship with Taren, but the thought of joining his clan still invigorated her. She returned to a great hollow, where Lahan and the others were inside. The hollow reached about 100 feet high, with hollow branches sticking out form the sides. There were a few flowers growing off the outside of the hollow, where Tailips were squirting pollen and other various substances to grow other fruits and flowers. The humans were inside the hollow or sitting on the branches, sitting behind their own campfires to cook the food their Tailips grew on the flowers.

She gave a sigh. Seeing them live like this reminded her of how she used to live with the Frostfangs, except they lived in ice-sculpted buildings rather than hollows. There was hardly any technology outside the Emperor's Lab to live on.

As she approached the hollow, Lahan stepped forward with firewood in his hands.

"Ah, you've found plenty of mini-fruits," he gazed at the basket of mini-bananas she held in her left hand. "I'm just about to start a campfire in our hollow! We can fry these if you like fried bananas."

"Lahan," she interrupted him. "You won't believe it, but I bumped into Taren, Arvani, and their Soccer Flare friends out there. And they're actually going to talk to Emperor Afraz about including Quentin and me in their clan."

"What?!" Videsh stepped up to them with Sorelli on his shoulder. "You and Quentin are going to join the Firefangs?!"

"Ahh!" Sorelli screamed and leapt toward Quentin. She crashed into him, knocking him off of Nira's shoulder and landing on the ground with her arms wrapped tightly around him. "Don't leave me, Quentie!"

As Quentin struggled to wriggle free from her grip, Nira faced Taren and Videsh with a stony gaze. the rest of the Combatant fugitives were all turning to stare at her, looking distraught. Her heart ached to see all their solemn faces. She gave a sigh. "Arvani said that as long as Quentin proves that he can use his Moodifier only to get along with the Firefangs, without sharing his loyalty to the Tailips again, he and I can stay. They would probably have to ensure that he stays away from the Mu, but if we were clan members, they would be able to keep a better eye on him that way."

"And you're actually considering this?" Lahan threw his firewood aside to cross his arms. "Nira, what if this is a trap?"

"Yeah!" Videsh added. "Don't leave us, Nira. We all love you!"

Nira winced. Then she looked at Lahan, who was looking hurt. "Don't worry," she said. "I care for you all too. Which is why I'll make sure to look after you guys if they accept me in their clan."

"Ooh, so you'd make us your slaves?" Said Videsh.

Nira nodded. "By next year, we won't be Beginning Combatants anymore. We'll be in the Standard, Advanced, or Elite Ranks, and we'll get to choose what slaves we'd like to have." She chuckled and gazed at Lahan. "And don't worry. Though you'd all be owing your wages to me, I'll make sure to spend it on whatever you guys want me to spend it on."

Lahan chuckled. "That sounds alright, I guess."

The rest of the Combatants murmured among one another, looking a little less worried.

Later that afternoon, after a meal with Lahan, Videsh, Maddie, and the other human Combatants, Nira made her way to the hollow to check on Quentin and the other Tailips. She felt her netphone vibratre and felt her heart quicken. It was a message from Arvani.

Hey, girl. Meet us at the Toll Volcanoes. Emperor Afraz says you're in :)

Nira's heart lifted. _I can't believe it. Arvani's actually asking me to hang out with her! I actually have a chance to join Taren's clan._ Then her smile faltered. Why hadn't Taren texted her this good news? _Okay, but does Taren really care about me anymore?_ She wondered if this was worth it. As much as she wanted to be around Taren, she wasn't sure if it would be worth joining a clan that had killed all the genopets of her birth-clan and enslaved all the genopets of her host-clan. Especially if her boyfriend didn't seem to be putting in the effort to stay in touch with her.

But Nira couldn't turn down the opportunity. Perhaps Taren didn't text her because he was with Arvani and had let her send her the good news. She flew in Lahan's shuttle and landed in front of the Toll Volcano. She stepped out and made her way up to the volcano with Quentin sitting on her shoulder.

The flower-tailed monkey was banging his fist into the palm of his hand. "I swear, I bet this is a trap. She probably just wants to humiliate you in front of the entire clan somehow."

Nira huffed. "Look, all you have to do is get along with the other Firefangs. If you can prove that you you can be a loyal fighter for them and the Mu, we'll be fine. And you'll be able to use Moodifier to help you prove your loyalty."

Nira met with Arvani and her two friends at the front of the volcano. Arvani smiled and gave Nira a quick hug.

"I'm very surprised Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji actually agreed to let you guys in," she said. "Your ceremony will be tonight at midght! After that, you'll be an official clan member." She gave a smile. "In the meantime, we're gonna celebrate with a bit of pre-ceremony fun. Have you ever heard about our Firefang Playground?"

Nira blinked. "Taren might have mentioned it to me a while back. Oh wait! Where is he? He didn't even text me about Emperor Afraz's decision!"

Arvani sighed. "Taren's a little busy right now. As the son of the Emperor, Taren has some important things to catch up with. So does Bakur. Neither of them can join us today." But then she smiled. "But it's fine, you'll have the rest of your life to spend with him after you're officially a Firefang member."

Nira blinked. "I won't be undergoing Transformation though, will I?"

Arvani shook her head. "Nope. Unfortunately, Transformation is only for Stray Humans who want to join League Clans. Not for League Clan humans who want to join another clan in the League. But no worries! Quentin will take care of that. He'll have you shrouded with Moodifier so that the Firefangs won't smell you, just like right now!"

Nira chuckled nervously. "Yeah, we've actually made a Moodifier lotion and I've rubbed it all over my body before I got here."

"Perfect!" Said Arvani. "Well, these are my best friends. Janet and Anastasia," she nodded to the two girls behind her. "Their Firefangs are already at the Firefang Playground right now. Let's meet them there!"

Quentin played with the Firefangs in the playground, keeping their bodies shrouded with Moodifier. Meanwhile, Nira and Arvani's friends ordered lunch for them at a small restaurant nearby.

"Oh..." Nira gasped. "Arvani, you don't have to pay for me. I can—"

"Nonsense," she smiled coolly at her. "We're dragging you to a Firefang Playground. We ought to pay for you."

Before she could say anything, Arvani had already submitted her money to the cashier and was walking to a table with their trays.

Nira made her way to the table and smiled at Arvani. "Thanks."

"No problem! So how long have you and Taren been together?" Arvani asked, her eyebrows rising as she took a bite out of one of her fries.

"Well, he asked me out shortly before we finished up our last year of Elementary Training."

"Lemme guess: he wanted to make sure he was committed to staying with you, before the Matching separated you all. Right?"

Nira swallowed. "Yes. That's right."

Janet chuckled. "Gharry Oviro did the same thing to Dharene."

Anastasia scoffed. "Yea, but that's because it was Dharene. Any guy would act quickly to keep her by their side. But you..." she narrowed her eyes at Nira. "I don't see what Taren saw in you. Why would he want to risk being gossiped about among his clan by committing to stick around with you?"

Nira glared at her. But before she could say anything, Arvani interrupted.

"Ahem!" Arvani elbowed her friend. "Excuse me, but we didn't invite her to bash on her. Remember that she's going to be an official clan member tonight!"

Janet huffed. "Yeah, but that doesn't make her a Firefanglish. She'll just be a foreign-blood in our clan."

Arvani rolled her eyes and turned to Nira with a smile. "Sorry. Us fire girls can be so obnoxious. I apologize if we've ever scared you."

Nira chuckled. "Oh, it's fine."

Arvani then narrowed her eyes. "But I'd still stay away from Bakur. And even Taren."

Nira looked up. "W-would you happen to know why? I'm sure Taren told you about what he was planning to do for the rest of our clan...and the Mu."

"Oh yes," Arvani leaned in, her eyes focusing deeply into hers. "You see, Musaji made both Bakur and Taren promise to capture Quentin and have him killed. He's the last species capable of killing the Mu, since the Frostfangs aren't around."

Nira huffed. "I figured. Which was why I wasn't too surprised when your Combatants attacked our clan." She narrowed her eyes. "But Taren wouldn't want to harm me and Quentin. I know him very well."

"Oh-ho-ho," Arvani smiled slyly. "You'd be surprised. On the night before your Genopet League, he was supposed to take you out for a magical date night, and then have Raju drag Quentin away while he had you distracted."

Nira flinched. "Really?" Her heart suddenly leaped as she remembered that night. It seemed so long ago.

Arvani nodded. "Quentin would have been waiting with Raju at these playgrounds. And that's when Raju would capture him once you two were gone. Then Taren was to deliver you to the Mu once your magical night was over."

Nira widened her eyes. "Well, he didn't do it, did he? I'm still alive, and Quentin's out there playing with your Firefangs right now! And Emperor Afraz is letting me join his clan, rather than having me killed."

"Oh, honey. The only reason why Taren didn't turn you in was because I was with him. I stopped him from making such a rash decision, and I was the one who spoke to Emperor Afraz today to make him accept you as a clan member," Arvani said savagely.

Nira looked into the girl's blazing eyes. "That's true..."

Arvani nodded. "As powerful as our clan is, I am totally against our decision to work with the Mu and take over the world. It's wrong to hurt genopets from other clans when there's no need to, and I think it's awful that Musaji's doing what he's doing." She narrowed her eyes. "I didn't want Taren to fall into his trap. As for Bakur, I could care less what happens to that obnoxious pig. But Taren is too cute to become a monster like his host-dad. I couldn't let him harm another person or genopet from another clan, and turn out to be like Afraz."

"But wouldn't Emperor Afraz be furious with him and Raju?"

Arvani raised her eyebrows and sipped her sizzling drink. "I spoke to our Emperor. Raju spoke to Musaji. We made concessions. And since Raju was Musaji's son they were persuaded. He decided to cancel the task he had for Taren and Bakur. Taren looked pretty relieved, but Bakur sure didn't look too happy about letting you and Quentin in our clan."

Janet snorted. "So unfortunately, you still have to watch out for Bakur."

Arvani nodded. "Watch out for him. He and Jinjei might plot something for you and your pet."

"Wow...thanks, Arvani." Nira was speechless.

"Don't mention it," she winked. "You're a nice girl. I know it—you were too docile to fight back at me that day when I taunted you for spilling Khatira's breakfast. And you're dating Taren Tasmin—the cutest guy in our Rank. You don't deserve to lose him."

Nira was touched. But before she could say a word, a blast of fire shot over their heads. Nira gasped and looked over her shoulder to see a tiger swinging from a chandelier, spitting fireballs across the room.

"Oh, great Hox!" Screamed Arvani, rising up from her table. "Nira, come on! We might want to stand behind a high table. I forgot that things start to get crazy here by 7pm."

Janet winked at her. "You're gonna learn to party like a Firefanglish."

Nira chuckled nervously. "I'll probably look very stupid. I'm really not a party-type person, especially not with Taren around."

Arvani laughed. "Well, you'll learn to love parties no matter what Firefanglish humans you hang out with!"

Arvani was right. By 7pm, the place was packed. Humans were throwing fireballs across the room, yowling and shouting. Raju and Khatira were roaring their loudest as they tackled the other tigers and spit exploding fireballs across the rooms.

Nira stayed hidden beneath a table. "Gosh, this really isn't where I belong!" She muttered to herself.

"Nira!" A familiar voice sounded across the room. She looked to her left and felt her heart skip a beat. Taren. She gasped and then crawled out from under the table, shoving her way through the crowds. When she finally found an open space, Taren made his way up to her. She glared at him and then turned to shove her way back into the crowd. "Nira?" Taren grabbed her hand, but she yanked herself out of his grip. "Nira! Where you going? Come back!"

"Leave me alone!" She yelled, pushing passed one of the Soccer Flare players.

A fireball crashed against the wall and exploded into sparks, sending Nira and the people around her flying back. Nira landed in a bench behind a fallen table.

"Nira, are you alright?" Taren raced up to her and helped her up.

As soon as she was on her feet, she yanked her hand out of his grip and turned her back on him. "Get away from me! I'm never going to go on a date night with you—especially if Arvani's around!"

"Nira, what are you talking about? I never asked you to have a date night!"

"Exactly," she turned to face him, feeling her face burn from anger, rather than from the heat and flying fireballs in the room. "Because Arvani stopped you. You wanted to drag me and Quentin to Musaji, to have us killed. But thanks to Arvani, Musaji changed his mind. You were about to do it, Taren! I saw you at the city, setting all the houses in my town on fire! You were going to turn me and Quentin in, and you would have done so if Arvani hadn't shown up to stop you and speak to Musaji!"

"Nira I didn't—"

A blast of fire erupted behind them. Taren fell forward, landing on Nira's shoulders. Nira blinked, feeling awkward for a moment, and then pushed the redheaded boy off her. "Don't ever touch me again." She turned around and headed down the hallway where it was quiet, not looking back.

Then she stopped beside a bathroom, feeling tears stream down her face. Oh, Taren...how could you? She opened the door of the bathroom, only to jump back and scream with shock. Raju was standing there, snarling at her with contempt. The tiger was bristling, looking ready to leap at her. Nira turned and raced down the hallways. She turned and ran through a couple of passageways, until a blast of fire erupted behind her. She screamed and tumbled down the stairs and fell to the bottom, her mind whirling. Another blast of fire erupted behind her and a ring of fire engulfed her body. Black Smoke surrounded her. She exhaled weakly, and then her vision spun, her body thrashed, until everything went black.

  19. Nira

Nira woke up in a dark and dreary room. Her mind was still spinning. The first vision to pop in her head was that of Raju growling at her in the girls' bathroom.

Raju!

Nira felt her blood run cold. The pet of her own boyfriend had tried to kill her. _And now where am I?_ She crawled across a cold, damp ground and realized she was in a cell. Across from her, she could see a group of Firefangs and their crimson-haired human masters gathered at the edge of a great pool of lava. They were speaking with tall, slimy humanoid-tigers with bug-like eyes and orange-black skin.

The Mu!

Nira's heart raced. She gazed around and realized they were surrounded by tall walls beneath a smoke-filled dark sky. They must be in a volcano. And she was locked in its walls, peering out of the bars to see the inside of the volcano.

_Why am I locked up? I thought I was supposed to have a ceremony tonight! Why am I locked up in here?_ Her head was spinning. She gazed carefully at the crowd and then widened her eyes as she saw Arvani and Khatira standing with Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji. Arvani stood in front of him with a proud smile. Janet and Anastasia stood behind her with their Firefangs, giggling.

_No way..._ Nira felt her cheeks burn with anger. Arvani had tricked her. She wasn't planning to have her join the clan. She only wanted to lure her into a trap. _Great Hox, I can't believe I was so stupid._ No wonder Taren hadn't texted her about the good news. There was no good news. Emperor Afraz didn't want her and Quentin to join his clan. He only wanted to lure her into a trap. _Great. Now where is Quentin?_ Her heart raced as she turned to gaze around her cell for Quentin. But as she turned around, the first thing she saw was a young tan wolf with golden, feathery wings sitting beside her with its lips drawn back in a snarl.

"Oh!" She jumped back, surprised.

"Don't be scared of him," a series of smooth growls sounded behind her. Nira turned to see a brown bear with a bushel of thick, copper leaves growing around its neck. "He's here to help you. We all are."

Nira blinked. She looked up and noticed a small pond in her cell. A black dolphin with glowing green spots on its skin was floating at the center, with its head peering out. It stared at her with ovular, eyes, which were also green and glowing. No eyeballs were present. A green glowing horn was on its forehead, just a few inches above its blow-hole. Above the dolphin was an enormous, featherless bird-like beast with white, scaly wings and a bald, round head. Its beak extended to almost three feet from its face, and its eyes were a faded gray color. Nira guessed the creature must be blind.

"Wh-who are you all?" Nira stammered. "Have the Firefangs captured species from clans in other Leagues as well?"

The brown bear chortled. "No. We came here on our own will. We snuck in through the tunnels and water tunnels that led to this cell to find you and Quentin."

She gasped. "How do you know our names? And how did you know I was here?"

The winged bird flapped his wings. "We are Uniters, just like Quentin."

Nira gasped. "Y-you are all the four previous Uniters?"

The brown bear nodded. "My name is Majorous. I'm from the clan in a League on the North American Continent, known as the Earthbear Clan. I was the first genopet to acquire the Moodifier gene."

The dolphin let out a series of squeaks. "I'm Dorina, the second Uniter. I'm from the Gelphin Clan. We are a species known as Gelphin Dolphins, for our glowing, green spots are made from gel, and are capable of shooting laserbeams." Nira gazed at those glowing green dots on her black, satin skin and her green, glowing eyes, admiring the features of the dolphin genopet.

The golden canine in front of her growled. "I'm Pippy. I'm from the Wingo Clan in an Australian Genopet League. Our species are dingoes that have been crossbred with golden-winged eagles. I was the third Uniter."

Finally, the white-winged bird dipped his head. "And I'm Obedai. I am a Swordbeak from one of the African Leagues, and I am the most recent Uniter."

"Great Hox!" Nira couldn't help exclamining. "So it's true!"

"Shh!" Growled the winged wolf behind her. "You want to get us all killed? The Mu are going to turn you into stone if we don't find a way out of here."

She looked over her shoulder and watched as Afraz, Musaji, Arvani, and the rest of the Firefang Combatants followed the hovering humanoid-tigers into a cave on the other side of the volcano.

"Where's Quentin?" She gasped. "Have they killed him already?"

"Not yet," growled Majorous. "He managed to escape when the Mu broke in the Fire Playgrounds to capture you both."

Nira clenched her fists. "So I'm just a hostage now."

"Exactly," growled Obedai. "Which is why we must get you out of here."

"How did you guys even find me?"

"No time for questions," Majorous turned to face the wall behind her. "We need to get you out of here as soon as possible." She nodded to Dorina.

Dorina turned to the walls. A pair of laser beams shot out from her glowing green eyes, carving a hollow opening in the wall. "Time to leave the way we came it," she squeaked.

Nira gasped. She watched as Obedai flew inside, then she followed him and climbed into the tunnel. Majorous and Pippy climbed in after her. Dorina ducked underwater and used the beams from her eyes to make her own underwater tunnel in the rocky walls.

As Nira crawled through the tunnel, she turned to Majorous behind her. "So can you please explain now? How did you get here? What's it like in Genotopia? Are the theories of Dividers or Anti-dividers correct?"

Majorous chortled. "We cannot reveal too much about Genotopia or how we found it, because we are not sure ourselves."

Nira frowned. "What do you mean not to sure?"

Obedai swerved to the right. "We each have our own different reasons for leaving our clans. I'm sure you've been told that we each suddenly disappeared, each within different moments of our lives."

Nira nodded. "You were the Uniter who spent the longest time with your clan before you disappeared. But nevertheless, you guys all disappeared for the same reaons, right? You all left to seek Genotopia?"

"Yes, that part is true," growled Majorous.

"So was it because Hox guided you all, or was it because you each chose to leave and find your own genotopian societies?"

"We all live in the same hidden land, because that is the only place in the world where no genopet or human has ever ventured, and is the only place where Dr. Z's technology would be unable to find us," said Majorous. "But we are unsure about our own methods of leaving. For example, I left because I had a dream that I was with Hox, guarding a land full of lush forests, full of paradise where the different human races and genopet species were living in harmony. Then when I woke, I saw Hox in the sky. He was heading north, before he suddenly disappeared. So I thought that was my sign to follow him north.

"But as I left my clan, I was nearly killed by Hox himself. It was as if he was trying to stop me. I ended up encountering him multiple times during my journey, finding myself battling the forefather three more times, only escaping by pure luck. I can't describe how close I was to getting myself killed in his sudden ambush. I continued my journey, fearing his presence, until I battled him for the fifth time. I was only saved by a sudden sandstorm, which surrounded the entire valley I was in. I escaped the valley, however, racing through that sandstorm while Hox was still inside the valley. I looked back and realized that the valley was no longer behind me. Instead, I was looking at a beach where the most tumultuous waves were crashing. Confused, I stepped forward, and then the entire beach scene vanished. I was in the middle of a sandstorm again, gazing into the strange valley. Hox was nowhere to be seen.

"It was then that I realized this was a place hidden from view, thanks to the sandstorm that surrounded it. The sandstorm was composed of a type of dust known as Mirage Dust. Anyone who looks at the sandstorm does not see a sandstorm, but a mirage of tumultuous waves off a cliff. And all would see the same mirage when gazing at the sandstorm. Being an Earthbear, I decided that if I mixed some amnesia potion from my copper leaves that would make the mirage even better: anyone who tried to walk through the sandstorm by accident would completely lose their memories once they left the sandstorm. So not only did the sandstorm make it seem as if there was no valley there, but if one accidentally did walk through the sandstorm despite the mirage, they would enter the land, only to have their memories completely erased. I made this land the land of Genotopia."

Nira blinked. "So Hox wasn't trying to kill you. It sounds like he was trying to chase you to that land."

"That's what I've considered. However, the humans that I've brought to Genotopia—most of them from the Stray Clans and League Clans that lived nearby—claim that Hox wasn't trying to guide me, that it was true that he was trying to kill me. They say Dr. Z was trying to track me down, and had sent Hox to teleport after me and watch my every move. I have questioned both theories, because after I found that land, I never saw Hox again."

Pippy nodded. "I had a similar reason to leave, although I was a little later. I didn't have the dream, but I was running from persecution and was exiled from my clan. Many were trying to kill me, so I wandered alone for a while, until I just ran into Hox and found myself tumbling in front of the mirage. Majorous found me, and he was able to explain everything to me about Genotopia and let me pass with a strange cloud shrouding us so that we didn't lose our memories. This cloud is only summoned by the plants that are present in Genotopia."

Nira nodded. "Wow. So you still don't know if Hox is truly under Dr. Z's complete control."

Obedai shook his head. "Not yet. We did see Hox soaring over the sky, however, and we all had the same dreams about the fifth Uniter, Quentin. We all had the feeling that we were supposed to follow Hox when we saw him in the sky, so after much debate, we trusted our insitincts and made our way here."

Nira turned to Obedai. "But what if Hox wasn't really guiding you to save the fifth Uniter? What if that was just Dr. Z, using Hox to lure you out of Genotopia so that you could all be killed at once."

Obedai narrowed his eyes. "That is a possibility. We were nearly wiped out by Hox on the way here. But we've made it this far. We managed to get here and face the Mu, and we will wipe them all out."

Nira raised her eyebrows. "So how far did you guys travel? Where exactly is Genotopia?"

"It is a land hidden in one of the scattered islands off the east coast of this continent," said Majorous.

Suddenly, they found themselves climbing out of the tunnel walls and into a huge room. The room was completely empty except for a spherical metal ball at the center. Gray smoke was surrounding the ball. A small, gray-furred monkey with a white tulip tail was crouching in front of it.

"Quentin!" Nira raced up to her monkey.

"Shh!" He whirled around to his master. "Oh!" He jumped as he realized it was Nira. "Ah, so you escaped without me. Oh well, at least my visit to this place wasn't a total waste of my energy. Check this machine out." He nodded to the ball and the gray smoke above.

"Gray Smoke," Nira frowned. "The smoke that the Mu live off of."

Quentin nodded. "These humanoid-tigers don't need the Firefangs. They've got their own machine to keep them alive!"

"Great Hox," Obedai landed beside them. "Do you know what this means?"

Nira widened her eyes. "The Mu don't want to help the Firefangs takeover. They want the Firefangs to weaken all the other clans, and then once all the clans in the jungle are under the power of the Firefangs, the Mu are probably going to turn on them. They're going to rule the entire League."

"Well said, Tailipian," a drawling voice spoke behind her.

Nira whirled around and screamed. The humanoid-tigers were right behind her. They gathered around, grinning wickedly.

"Xenoxus," Nira narrowed her eyes at the Chief Mu.

He chuckled. "You were a little mistaken, though. We don't want to rule the League."

"Then what do you want to do with the clans?!"

Xenoxus lifted a bony, sharp-nailed finger to point at the scene behind her. "Take a look at our fire-room."

"The fire-room?" Nira turned and gazed down the aisle, which curved up a hill and led to the top of a stairway in the room. A line of genopets—all of them Elephantomese and Tailipians—were waiting beside a door, all of them with dazed looks in their eyes. The Mu and the Firefangs were beside a pair of two closed doors.

She watched as the pair of doors opened to reveal a fiery room. Genopets were waiting in line, jumping in one by one into the room. Billowing bursts of flames erupted after their bodies disappeared inside. The room echoed with their shrieks and cries.

"They're under the power of the Mu," said Obedai. "Their minds are in a state of bliss, even when they jump to their deaths in the fire-room. Apparently, a strange, cosmic secretion from the Mu creates a type of lava-dust that warps your mind and makes you feel nothing but euphoric joy. You are literally unable to think straight or make decisions for yourself."

Quentin narrowed her eyes as she watched the Tailipians and the Elephantomese jump to their deaths. "No wonder they all look so happy."

"Oh my gosh..." Nira cupped her mouth and turned to the Chief Mu. "You plan to _destroy_ the clans?"

Xenoxus smiled. "We're only following the orders of your diabolical world leader."

Quentin screamed. "Agh! Wait a minute, are you saying Dr. Z. told you guys to do this?"

"Of course. That's why we follow his orders, not the Firefangs. It wasn't the Firefangs who brought us to life, it was Dr. Z. He created us by mixing a special type of rock with molten lava and a strange DNA he cultivated from Hox. He discovered that Gray Smoke would bring the bodies to life. So he had Hox teleport our rocks to the volcanoes of the Firefangs, where it would evaporate into clouds that would rain more rocks for Afraz and Musaji to make more bodies and test out their Gray Smoke to bring us to life. Once we were alive, we were kept in the cells of Afraz's volcano—the same cell you were in," he nodded at Nira. "As we grew stronger, we would have an occasional visit from Hox, and it was through him that we got to see who our real leader was. Dr. Z would speak to us through the virtual images presented on Hox's antennas. He told us that he sent us here to trick the Firefangs, telling them we would help them dominate the other genopets with our superpowers. However, what he really wanted to do was punish you all. Every since humans like you, Taren, Dharene, and Gharry arrived, cross-clan relationships have increased. The relationship between you and Taren really set things on fire, because you and Quentin had become extremely popular as Uniters. The clans were valuing you! Did you receive more snide faces from your fellow clan-mates, or were you more accepted?"

"The Tailipians seemed to treat me with more respect once they found out Quentin had Moodifier..."

"Exactly! That wasn't the kind of reputation Dr. Z wanted to see you both having. It only showed that all the clans were willing to accept a genotopian society sooner or later. There were more and more protests, and even some of the Emperors were asking Dr. Z to give up being part of a League and to just be a genotopian society. That's why Dr. Z was angry. He pretended to give you guys the opportunity to live under a genotopian society, but he really wanted to start a Cleansing for all the species in this League, and then replace all eight clans with new Emperors and new species. So a few months ago, he sent our comet to the Firefangs and made them feel like they were able to takeover the clans. Well, we are nearly there. We've got all seven clans under control now, and trust me, they don't seem happy under the genotopian society they are in now. Dr. Z wanted to show them the drawbacks of an equal, genotopian society before he punished all their species for wishing for such a society. So as we have taken over the clans, we have ensured they are all getting along, but we have also come back with many new bodies to throw in the fire-room. Once all the clans are gone, the Firefangs will be the last ones we will turn on."

They stared at them with shock.

Suddenly, there was a burst of flames. All eyes gazed up to see Emperor Afraz and Prime Musaji standing on a ledge above them. Their faces were stern and furious.

"Great Hox!" Quentin jumped.

Xenoxus flinched. "Emperor Afraz!" His voice shook and he chuckled nervously. "Wh-what a pleasant surprise."

"So," Emperor Afraz crossed his arms and glared at the humanoid-tiger genopets. "After all the care we've given you, this is how you plan to return the favor?"

Xenoxus blinked, and then chuckled. "Your majesty, we never needed you to care for us in the first place. You think genopets are the most powerful creatures in this world? Well think again." He shot a beam of white light at the Emperor, but Musaji and the Emperor leapt away. The Emperor and his genopet tumbled in the air and rode flames toward the humanoid-tigers.

Instantly, the entire room broke into a battle.

Nira raced through the cell and made her way up a stairway, and then suddenly, a tiger leapt out and shot a fireball over her head.

"Jinjei?!" She widened her eyes. Then she yowled as she felt strong arms wrap around her shoulders and neck.

"And just where do you think you're going, Tailipian?" Came a drawling voice. Bakur was holding her in his grip again, choking her again.

"Well, well, well," came a familiar voice. Nira looked up to see Arvani making her way down with Khatira her side. Bakur was smriking at her. "Looks like someone's escaped their cell. Time to throw you in the Fire Room right away!"

"Arvani!" Nira gasped, unable to move under Bakur's grip.

Nira widened her eyes as Arvani strutted past Bakur and Jinjei. "Throw her in the Fire Room, Bakur. I'm gonna go find Taren and see if he's dead yet."

"What?! What have you done with him?!"

"Oh, he was about to warn you about Afraz's plot to lure you here," said Bakur with a snide smile. "If we didn't throw him in the heated dungeons to teach him a lesson, he would have called you and warned you not to come hang out with Arvani."

Nira felt her blood run cold, despite the heat in the room. So that's why she hadn't heard from Taren. He attempted to warn her, but had gotten in trouble for it!

Arvani leaned her face forward so that her nose touched's Nira's. "Taren doesn't belong to you, anyway, Tailipian," she hissed savagely. "If he lives in that dungeon and learns his lesson, he'll be mine."

Nira stared, awestruck. As soon as Arvani walked past them, she stomped on Bakur's foot and escaped his grip.

Arvani whirled around. "Catch her!"

Nira ducked, barely avoiding the fireballs from Jinjei and Khatira. She locked herself in a nearby room and panted, feeling tears stream down her eyes. Outside, she could hear the tigers roaring, the Mu screaming, and the Uniters bellowing. She stood up and peered through a small window near the right corner of the room. Many of the Mu were already dead. But then she widened her eyes and realized what was happening. The Mu were multiplying. They were splitting into identical clones, like stem cells. They were impossible to defeat. But she raced in, grabbed a thorny vine from Quentin, and shouted, "Quentin! Let's free the prisoners!"

They hurried over to the fire-room, and Quentin released an aroma that erased the effect of whatever it was that kept them in a jubilant state. Quentin released Moodifier, and Nira whirled her vine so that it spread across the room, surrounding all the genopets it passed by.

"Kill the Mu!" Commanded Quentin. "Fight them all!"

And instantly, the genopets ran toward the Mu, killing them with single pounces. The Moodifier clouds that surrounded them all instantly killed the Mu, turning them into white lava-dust as soon as they came in contact.

"Come on," she hissed to Quentin. "They're still multiplying like crazy."

  20. Taren

The heat in the room was intense. Taren huddled in the corner, feeling his skin burn away.

I can't do this. I can't let them hurt Nira.

Raju was in front of him, growling. He was chained in the cell. "Come on, Taren," his pet growled. "This is torturous for both of us. Either you decide to kill Nira and Quentin yourself, or I'll have to let you die in these flames. Emperor Afraz has injected me with Paralyzer, which deactivates my ability to stop these flames from intensifying."

How could his own host-father do this to him? Taren huffed, and hung his head.

"Raju, you know I can't kill Nira."

Raju flicked his tail. "If you don't kill her, Afraz and Musaji will! At least if you kill her, you'd stay alive."

Taren shook his head. "I can't be the one to kill her."

Suddenly, a wave of water washed over them all. As soon as Taren and Raju were swept out of the room, Taren got up and turned to see Dharene riding the waves of Clarabelle, with Gharry flying at her side, above Natasha's exhaling trunk. Both Natasha and Clarabelle were surrounded with Moodifier.

"Dharene? Gharry?" Taren widened his eyes.

"Come on!" Dharene called, landing on the ground. "We just barely managed to escape being thrown in the fire-room."

"It was crazy," said Gharry. "One moment, I feel happy as a butterfly, the next thing I know, I'm tumbling down a cliff to see that the whole room is filled with fighting Firefangs and humanoid-tiger genopets."

"Come on! We've got to get outta here!" Dharene cried.

But before any of them could make another move, a white beam shone through the room. Taren turned to see a Mu clinging onto Nira and Quentin.

"Nira! Quentin!" Taren grabbed his flaming sword, rode the flames Raju summoned, and whacked his sword toward his head. Nira and Quentin escaped from the Mu's grip as the beast ducked. But before Quentin could release any Moodifier, the Mu disappeared.

"No!" Screamed Nira. "He teleported!"

"It's no use anyway," said Taren, shaking his head. "They can clone themselves like crazy. The only way to stop them is to kill them all at once, at the same time."

Quentin huffed. "Bah! How in Hox's name are we supposed to do that?"

Taren gasped. "I know. Come with me."

He led them to a room where a white comet sat in a tube. "This is their comet," he said. "Emperor Afraz has been studying it, and he's informed me what it's capable of doing. The way lava-dust works is rather peculiar. This rock is one of Mother Nature's most mysterious materials. But the DNA in this lava-dust is linked to all the bodies that share it. That means, if you destroy this comet, you destroy all the bodies that share the DNA from this comet."

Nira gasped. "Then we should destroy it right away!"

Quentin grabbed the comet. "Gimme that!" He took it and smashed it on the floor, breaking it into pieces. A silence passed over them all. Then Nira looked over her shoulder and saw the Mu and the many species of Moodifier-shrouded genopets fighting in the distance.

"Hey, what gives?" Quentin winced. "They're all still alive. That didn't do anything!"

Taren shook his head. "I don't think that's the right way to destroy it."

"Oh, I see," Quentin raised his tulip and released Moodifier. They watched as all the pieces on the floor disappeared. Then they looked behind and saw that the Mu were still fighting.

"What?!" Dharene threw her hands up in the air.

"You missed a spot," said a drawling voice.

Nira looked over her shoulder to see Xenoxus come in, holding a small isosceles piece of the comet.

"Hey!" Quentin leapt forward, but the Mu dashed to the side. Raju leapt forward to block him, but the Mu was just about to release a huge beam. Dharene and Gharry dashed out of the room with their genopets to fight the other Mu.

"Raju, look out!" Taren leapt forward to push his tiger out of the way. The Mu leapt forward and stabbed Taren chest with the isosceles weapon. Quentin landed on his back, surrounding him with Moodifier. The Chief Mu instantly turned to dust on Taren's chest.

"Taren, are you alright?" Nira knelt down beside him and gently slipped the isosceles out of his chest.

Taren gazed up into her eyes and smiled. "Better now."

Nira breathed a sigh of relief and dropped the isosceles weapon in front of Quentin. She gave her monkey a nod, and the two of them watched as the weapon disappeared under his Moodifier.

  21. Nira

"Great Hox, the Mu are still alive!" Nira was just about to lose her mind.

Taren got up, only to wince in pain. "Ow..." he held his hand under his chest to catch some of the blood dribbling rapidly from his would. As his blood dribbled past his hand and toward the ground, Raju sniffed at it and jumped back, crouching.

"Oh, cow-dung," Raju growled. "The lava-dust has been absorbed by his blood."

Quentin leapt forward. "Ah, well then, lemme breathe some Moodifier into that wound!" He hopped forward, only to have Raju leap in front of him with a savage scowl.

"Back off, Tailip," he growled. "If you destroy the Moodifier in his blood, you'll destroy everything else in his blood."

Nira frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Taren gasped. "Right...Afraz lectured us about this on the night we first met the Mu. He said that if lava-dust is mixed into blood, the DNA mixes with the blood and fuses with the blood cells."

Dharene cupped her mouth. "So why aren't you turning into a Mu?"

Taren chuckled. "Because lava isn't mixing with my blood, and no one is breathing Gray Smoke on me."

Raju flicked his tail. "But don't you fools know what this means? This means that if we destroy the lava-dust DNA in his blood, we destroy his DNA. We will kill him."

Nira turned to Taren with wide eyes. "Oh no...we can't do that. There must be some other way to destroy the lava-dust in his blood without hurting him."

A boom sounded in the other room. Their heads turned to see the fight still going on.

Taren slowly shook his head. "If there is, there isn't enough time to figure it out. People and their genopets are dying out there." He turned to kneel in front of Quentin. "Quentin, just squirt your Moodifier on my wound. We have to act quickly."

"No!" Nira screamed.

Quentin blinked at the crimson-haired boy, and then took a step back. "Er...I'm not sure if I wanna do that to you, Taren..."

"Just do it!" Taren demanded. He coughed and breathed slowly. "The only way to kill all the Mu at once and stop them from cloning is to destroy their last life source. And the last of it is inside me. All you need to do now is exhale Moodifier before all seven clans go extinct."

"Taren, please..." Nira was shaking. She knelt beside him. "I can't lose you. I can't bear to live without you!"

"Yes you can," Taren turned to gaze at her in the eyes. "You've been doing it this whole time, Nira. Think about it. I've been flaky and haven't seen you as often as we had planned to, before we separated into our clans. But look at you. You and Quentin have excelled together, you have earned respect from your own clan and all seven clans. You're not the same, timid person you were in the Frostfang Clan, Nira. You're braver, stronger, and much more independent."

Nira huffed. "I only became this way because of you," she whispered. "I would never have crawled out of my shell if you weren't around."

"But I haven't been around for you lately, and you've still gone along fine. You're capable of taking care of yourself, Nira," he gave her a warm smile. "You may have needed my help in the past, but you don't need it now. And that's wonderful. Though I'm very ashamed of being a terrible boyfriend after we separated into our clans, I'm glad I at least saw that you were doing fine without me there to help you."

Nira felt tears streaming down her cheeks. "You were never a terrible boyfriend, Taren. You were the best boyfriend and soul-mate I could have ever asked for."

A boom sounded from behind. Loud wails and groans echoed. Taren sighed. "We have to act quickly. The Uniters can destroy all the Mu they want with their Moodifier, but not before we lose too many lives. Quentin," he turned to the monkey. "You have to breathe the Moodifier on my wound."

The monkey gave a low whimper. He took another step back.

Taren turned to Nira. "He's not going to listen to any human except his human master."

"Taren, I'm not going to tell him to kill you."

"Nira, either I go, or all seven clans in the League go extinct."

Nira looked behind her shoulder. She flinched and felt her tears intensify as she watched Natasha fall to the ground with a huge thump.

Then she turned to Quentin, who was looking up at her with worried eyes. She held her breath and gave her monkey a slow, slight nod.

Quentin turned to Taren. He aimed his white tulip at his chest and released golden dust into his wound. Nira, Raju, and Quentin watched as the Moodifier made his blood shine, and soon, his skin was glowing yellow.

Instantly, loud cries sounded from behind. Nira turned to see all the Mu turning to dust. Soon, the genopets and their human masters were left alone, lying on the floors. Many were groaning, but then some started to recover and cheer for their victory.

"They're gone!" Dharene cried. "They're completely gone! Their comet must have been completely destroyed by Quentin!"

And the room was filled with relieved moans and small cheers.

Nira gave a small smile. Then she turned and her heart sank. Taren was lying on the floor with his eyes closed. His body was no longer glowing. The blood leaking out of his chest was dry, and had turned a dark-bluish color. Raju was lying beside him with his head on his paws, and Quentin sat in front of him, sitting cross-legged with his head hanging down in shame.

Nira felt tears pouring out of her face again. She dropped to the floor, burying her head in her arms on Taren's other side. She sobbed until all her energy ebbed away.

Nira woke up on a hospital bed, blinking her eyes open to see Lahan in front of her. She recognized the small space in the branch of the hollow where they had taken refuge.

"Feeling better?" He spoke.

Nira sat up, wincing. "I guess so. Ugh, how long was I out?" After she had watched the last of the Mu turn to dust, and after crying her eyes out by Taren's side, she couldn't remember anything that had happened.

Lahan sighed. "It's been almost 24 hours since we last found you. So you haven't missed too much."

"Are the rest of the clans alright?"

Lahan nodded. "No clans went into extinction, thank Hox. But the Cobrazors have decided to split."

Nira winced. "Split? You mean half their clan is leaving the League?"

Lahan nodded. "Half their clan has decided to join the Wildheart Forest League on the North American continent, because there was a Cleansing of one of the clans over there. The Raccoono Clan have been stealing from other territories and defying all the hoxian laws, so Dr. Z has decided to wipe out their clan and have the Cobrazors replace them."

Nira frowned. "So Dr. Z just tried to destroy all seven clans in our own League, but we stopped him. We defeated all the Mu. What's going to happen to us now?"

Lahan sighed. "Well, no one exactly knows. After the defeat, all of us got a video from him, but even that wasn't clear."

Nira checked her netphone and pulled up a video. A bald man with high cheekbones and a skinny neck was facing her with small, platinum-rimmed glasses and a white-silver, shiny coat. He had a shiny, platinum mustache. He was grinning, revealing the platinum gems across his teeth.

"Good evening, my fellow genopets and humans of Rainbowleaf Jungle," he spoke in a calm, casual tone. "You have all successfully fought off the greatest threat I have sent your clan. Yes, indeed, it was I who had sent the Mu to destroy you all, including you Firefangs out there. The presence of the fifth Uniter was becoming too much of a burden for me, for he was attracting too much attention and raising too much hope of a Genotopian society. Many of you were looking at Quentin as some kind of hero who would unite the clans and guide you to Genotopia, where you could hide from my surveillance and live in harmony among one another. And as for the Uniter's human master, Nira Dharni, you were looking at her as if she was a role model. She was in love with Taren Tasmin from the Firefang Clan, and instead of treating her like she was a horrible example of clan loyalty, you were all looking at her as if she was a symbol of hope for cross-clan alliances. This was unlike the way you have treated cross-clan lovers in the past, when they have been discriminated and judged by their fellow clan-mates as potential betrayers. Of course, you only looked at the relationship between Taren and Nira as something hopeful and positive, only because the Moodifier-summoner was Nira's pet. This was why I suspected your clans were heading in the wrong direction, so I sent the greatest threat for all genopet species in your League.

"However, you have all battled fiercely and are now surviving without the Mu. But realize that the mass death of all the remaining Mu was not thanks to anyone at all, except for Nira Dharni and Taren Tasmin. By destroying their only life-source—the lava-dust comet—all the existing Mu have turned to lava-dust. And part of the comet was absorbed in Taren's blood, so of course, there was no choice but to have your heroic Uniter kill the boy in the process of destroying the lava-dust inside him. Yes, the two cross-clan lovers sacrificed their relationship to kill all the Mu and save all seven clans in the jungle. That act alone is enough to show me that you all have potential to live as your own separate clans. Nira has proven that she would rather sacrifice her lover and keep the clans divided, rather than die together with him and have the clans die together with them. After all, Taren was in a different clan, so sacrificing him was easy for her, especially if it meant keeping the seven clans alive. That proves she would rather have the seven clans alive and divided, rather than dead and united."

"What?!" Nira sat up. "That's definitely not why I let Taren die!"

"Shh, shh," Lahan held up a finger. "Keep listening."

Nira listened to the bald man continue speaking. "Not long after the death of Taren and all the Mu, Raju killed Nira and Quentin, angry that they had killed his master. This is another act that proved you humans and genopets of Rainbowleaf Jungle still have that cross-clan enmity. With the Uniter gone, along with both cross-clan lovers, I can trust that you clans will continue to live on as you have always lived under my surveillance. Especially if you don't want the death of Taren Tasmin to be in vain."

And with that, the video ended.

Nira stared in disbelief. She turned to Lahan with her eyes wide. "Quentin's not dead, is he?"

"Of course not! He's outside playing with Bonnie. The other Uniters are out there, too."

Nira set her netphone aside. Her mind was spinning. "So all the clans are carrying on with their lives now? They all think I killed Taren because I was trying to show that I wanted to end my relationship with him in order to keep the clans alive and divided?"

Lahan nodded. "Don't ask me why he thinks that. My theory is that Hox must have been watching and that he might have fabricated the scene to him so that Dr. Z would keep you all alive and not attempt another strategy to wipe you all out. Of course, not many believe me, especially if they are Anti-dividers who believe Hox cannot act without Dr. Z's surveillance."

Nira shook her head. "I believe you. There's no way I let my boyfriend and soul-mate die because of that."

"I believe you too," said Lahan. "But the important part is that the clans are alive, and Dr. Z won't attempt to plot another sneaky Cleansing of our League again because he believes there is still enmity among the clans, thanks to this reasonining behind Taren's death and the fabricated deaths of you and Quentin. Whatever made him think that way is unknown to all of us, though some like me believe that Hox twisted the story, only to keep his diabolical master from hurting us."

Nira felt tears streaming down her cheeks again. "I told Quentin to sacrifice Taren because I couldn't bear to let all the clans suffer while he remained alive with the lava-dust-DNA in his blood. So yes, I sacrificed our love to keep the clans alive, but I didn't want us to be alive and divided."

He put a hand on her shoulder. "And you also showed you didn't want to be dead and united."

Nira nodded. "I'd like the clans to be alive and united."

"Well, by sacrificing Taren, you accomplished half your goal," Lahan gave her a smile. "And you can still accomplish the other half of your goal. Quentin and the Uniters were going to leave for Genotopia at sunset. If you're feeling better, you can join them, unless you'd like to postpone it."

Nira gasped. "Wait...you're saying I should leave the clans, even after I just helped rescue all seven of them?"

"Nira, the entire League—and the entire world—thinks you're dead. Unless you want to stick around and start more twisted rumors, you should really find someplace where you don't have to live in hiding. Pretty soon, I'm going to have to take the rest of this hollow back in the cities so that we can all carry on with our own lives since the Firefangs aren't ruling us anymore."

Nira sighed. "Fine. I guess we can just leave tonight. I really have no choice anyway."

At sunset, Nira met with Quentin and the four Uniters in front of the hollow. Lahan and Bonnie, along with Videsh, Sorelli, Maddie, and the other Combatants at the hollow were bidding her and her pet farewell.

But before Nira finished saying good-bye to everyone, there was a call from behind.

"Nira! Quentin!"

Nira's heart lifted. She turned to see Dharene, Clarabelle, Gharry, Natasha, and Raju coming up to her.

"Great Hox," Nira gasped. "What are you all doing here?"

"Hah!" Dharene smiled. "We never returned to our clans after the battle. We came back here with Quentin and Raju, because Quentin was nice enough to guide all of us to this hollow where we could live in hiding for a bit."

Nira turned to smile at her monkey on her shouloder. "That was very nice of you, Quentin."

The monkey shrugged. "We were all shrouded with Moodifier, so it wasn't too hard."

Nira and her friends ran up and hugged each other. Quentin re-shrouded the pets with Moodifier and they exchanged friendly nods with one another.

"I'm guessing you guys are coming with us?" Quentin gazed at Raju, Clarabelle, and Natasha.

"Of course," squawked Clarabelle. "If there is permanent Moodifier in Genotopia, and I can easily tolerate other genopets, I'd love to go!"

Natasha nodded. "Especially if our humans are gonna get married someday."

Nira nodded. "That's wonderful. But Raju...are you sure you want to come?" She looked at the tiger with pity. "I mean...next week is the first week of another year, and you'll be an Elite Combatant. Are you sure you don't want to pair up with Arvani and Khatira and fight in the Elite Rank with them?"

Raju scoffed. "Screw them. I bet Dr. Z's justification for Taren's death will make Arvani proud to say that Taren always belonged with her anyway, that you had no true love for him." He flicked his tail. "Also, Taren would have come with you to Genotopia, and he would've wanted to take me along. So I'm going anyway, just as he would've liked me to."

Nira smiled at the tiger. "Great. I'm glad to have you along."

Suddenly, there was a flash in the sky. Everyone looked up to see a shiny figure of a mantis in the distance. The flash paused, revealing the form of Hox. Everyone held their breaths. They watched as Hox zoomed through the sky and disappeared behind the mountains in the distance.

Quentin shifted. "I think this is the right time to seek Genotopia now, anyway. This is his way of guiding us, so we should probably head toward those mountains."

Majorous nodded. "Just like he's guided the rest of us."

"Now wait a minute!" Videsh spoke up. "You don't know if that's really Hox trying to guide you. Maybe that's Dr. Z, sending out Hox so that he can look through his eyes and try to find any sign of you."

Nira turned. "Videsh, Dr. Z. thinks we're dead."

"Yeah, but he knows the Uniters might still be around. He knows they left Genotopia to help our League."

Nira sighed. "We'll have to be careful not to be spotted by him. Who knows what kinds of rumors will form once Dr. Z discovers we are still alive."

Lahan chuckled. "Yes, be caerful. Good luck to you all."

Nira gave her host-brother a hug. "Thanks for being an awesome host-brother."

She bid farewell to all the other Combatants in the hollow, and then turned to join the four Uniters, her two friends, and their genopets. They walked down a leafy path, heading toward the mountains, keeping their eyes on the twinkling form of Hox wavering in the sky.

