Chapter One – The Beginning
It was three days since Katniss starting feeling alive—or so she said. Katniss had been living on in depressed, lying that she's alright, but she wasn't… she had gotten worse. Just when Katniss started to feel like she could move on, live on loving Peeta and having a family, something sort of just snapped. She pretended to be fine around most, but Peeta, Gale, and her mother started taking notice. Katniss just sat around most days, waiting for things to happen. Things had gotten boring after Snow died and she killed President Coin, and with Prim gone, life just seemed pointless. Katniss barely got up each day, and found it hard to fall asleep each night. Without Prim, Buttercup did warm up to Katniss, and tried to keep her company and cheer her up, but even his silly squashed face did nothing to brighten Katniss's mood. Pretty soon, Katniss fell into the same vacant mode her mother was in when Katniss and Prim's father died…
Katniss sat in her room, on her bed, Buttercup lying beside her. Buttercup looked up and meowed at her, but Katniss continued to stare at the wall.
All my fault. She thought to herself, It's my fault.
"Katniss?" her mother asked, coming into the room. Katniss barely glanced at her.
"Katniss, you have to move on." Her mother said, but in her eyes, it was obvious she hadn't either.
"How can I Mom?..." Katniss sighed sadly, "How can I move on from Prim's death if it was my fault?"
Her mother sat down beside Katniss and put her arms around her, "It is not your fault Katniss. It was Prim's id—"
Katniss cut her mother off, "No mom. Don't start saying Prim made her own choices! She would have never gotten into that mess if it weren't for me!" Katniss broke from her mother's embrace and stood up quickly, "I need some air." She said flatly.
Once outside, Katniss couldn't decide whether to sit, or stand. No, she decided; she felt like walking.
She believed her life was useless, that she had no use in the world anymore. Her life seemed bleak and grey then. Katniss started having terrible thoughts, suicidal ones at that. She felt she has no purpose in life. How wrong she was…
Gale called out to Katniss as she headed back inside and up the stairs, but she ignored him, her mind bent on a mission; to jump. Before she headed all the way up, Katniss grabbed her bow and quiver full of arrows, and her father's jacket; she wanted to die with the few items that actually brought several good memories.
Katniss now stood on the edge of the roof, staring out at the skyline, the wind billowing through her father's jacket. She knew what she was going to do, and nothing was going to stop her.
Gale and Peeta came bursting out onto the roof, "Katniss!" Gale shouted.
"Katniss stop!" Peeta echoed.
She didn't even look back at them.
She jumped.
"NO!" Gale and Peeta shouted simultaneously.
Katniss fell through the air, her clothes flowing out behind her like a cape. Gale and Peeta ran to the edge and watched in horror as she fell. She was ready for the end, and they all expected it to come. But it didn't.
Just before Katniss hit the ground, a strange portal opened and she fell through. Her eyes shot open and was amazed—and disappointed—to find herself falling through a vortex.
Gale and Peeta were left on the roof, worried and confused. They knew the Katniss they loved was already disappearing on the inside, but now, she had completely disappeared. No explanation.
Things swirled around Katniss in the Vortex and she had to hold tightly onto her bow and quiver to keep them from floating away. Then, she stopped moving. Katniss was now standing on a set of bright red stairs made of glass, leading to nowhere. Then came the noise and lights. Cars, people, actual working billboards… What is this place? she wondered.
Other people standing on the stairs stared at her, wondering how she had just popped out of thin air like she had. Before anyone else could stare or start asking questions, Katniss leapt over the rail of the stairs and started running. As she ran, she stared up at the buildings, and suddenly, it all felt familiar. This place, it was a city that existed before the supposed apocalypse that destroyed the continent creating Panem. From what Katniss remembered, this city was where District 13 now lies, but how was it possible that she's in a city that didn't exist in her lifetime? This was a question roaring through Katniss's mind, pushing all other thoughts—like death—aside.
Eventually, people quit stopping and gawking at Katniss, one saying to his friend in undertone, "She must work with Hawkeye." Whatever that meant.
Katniss stepped out into traffic, not knowing the cars wouldn't stop for her. A bright yellow taxi honked at her and by instinct, Katniss whipped out her bow and aimed an arrow at the driver. The driver quickly raised his arms in surrender, bewildered by the fact someone was aiming an arrow at him.
"Sorry, lady!" he shouted. Katniss slowly lowered her bow and continued walking. After seeing her pull her bow on the one driver, all other traffic slowed before Katniss walked in front of them, not wanting an arrow through their heads.
Katniss was still dumbfounded by the extreme brightness that the millions of large billboards shined on the city. Even the Capitol back home wasn't this bright, not to mention Katniss had never even seen advertisements like this in person in her entire life! The only way she knew about them were from the history books she read and the old videos she had watched when she was younger. Finally, after one screen boasted on particularly annoying ad, she decided they all irritated her, and she shot some of her arrows into four of the much larger ones, bringing the glare down a few notches. Crowds screamed as glass rained down upon them along with sparks flying everywhere. A man staring at Katniss pulled out some small piece of technology and started tapping on it.
Is that a cellphone? she thought, those haven't existed in centuries!
The man started talking frantically into the phone and Katniss caught him say the words armed and crazy. Before the man even put down the phone, sirens and red and blue flashing lights stung the air. She had never encountered police from the 21st century before, but instinct told her the lights and sirens were not a good thing. In an instant, she sprinted down the street, guessing that the authorities were probably after her. She was making great progress distance-wise,…that is, until she felt something grab her bow, her quiver, and milliseconds later, her center. Katniss flew backwards into the air, being pulled by the center of her back.
Katniss was now standing on the top of a rather large screen, the streets far below her.
"Hey, lady, what's up with shooting out the billboards? They're kinda iconic here in Times Square." said a voice from beside her. She turned quickly to her left to see an odd red mask staring back at her. "And what's up with the bow and arrows? You one of Hawkeye's sidekicks or something?" the person asked, holding up her possessions.
Katniss glared at the person—a man? A boy? "Who are you, and what on earth are you wearing?" she growled.
"Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man here, and I might ask the same of you. I mean, who taught you how to dress?!"
"I don't have time for this." She snarled, attempting to elbow Spider-Man in the jaw.
"Whoa whoa whoa. What's your problem?"
She glowered at him, "Well for one, I didn't die twenty minutes ago as I had hoped, and two, I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHERE I AM! I barely even know what century I'm in, and whatever one it is, I don't remember EVER reading about costumed freaks like you—" her voice muffled as he shot something at her and sealed her mouth. Whatever it was reminded Katniss of spider webs.
"That's better." He said calmly, "Now what do you mean by not knowing where you are? You're in New York, the Big Apple, the Crème de la crème of America! Now I don't know what you meant by not knowing what century you're in, but you must not be from anywhere around here because us costumed heroes—not freaks—are everywhere! We're the ones who keep the world from burning itself to the ground." He paused, "Wait, did you say something about wanting to die?"
Katniss ripped off the web-like substance, leaving her face raw, "Yes you immature idiot, I leapt off a building half an hour ago trying to escape the pain I brought on myself. And do you know what happened?! I fell through a freaking portal and ended up here!" she ripped her bow and quiver out of his hands and took off, running across the descending billboards.
"Hey! Lady! Wait up!" Spider-Man shouted from behind her, but Katniss didn't stop, and instead shot an arrow back at him, grazing the edge of his shoulder. She felt another web strike her back, but before he pulled her too far, Katniss used one of her arrows to slice it from her shirt. It left a hole in her shirt, but Katniss didn't care and her father's jacket easily hid it.
"You're insane, you know that, right?!" Spider-Man shouted, quickly gaining on her.
When she reached the ground, Katniss zigged and zagged through the crowds, and slowly, Spider-Man started falling behind. Just for extra safety, she jumped into the back of a cab, faintly remembering that the bright yellow cars where a means of transport back in their day. The female cab driver was slightly startled when Katniss slid into the backseat, but only asked, "Where to, hun?"
Katniss blinked, "Uh, as far away from here as possible."
The cabbie looked back at Katniss, a puzzled look on her face, "Any particular direction? North, south, etc.?"
"Uhhhh, east I guess…" Katniss replied, anxiously shrugging.
"Will do. Just tell me when we've gone far enough and I'll stop."
The cabbie drove seven blocks before Katniss said, "Here's fine." The cabbie stopped, and looked back at Katniss, expecting her to pay up, but before she could say anything, Katniss slid out of the car and took off sprinting.
"Hey! Get back here with my money kid!" the cabbie yelled, shaking her fist madly, but her voice was lost in the noises of the city.
Okay, first things first. Katniss told herself, Find out what year I'm in, and then find a map.
She looked up at the buildings surrounding her, entranced by their size. Ahead of her, she saw a massive group of people fighting over things in a store. The first thing that came to mind when she saw that was the bloodbath that always broke out at the cornucopia during the Hunger Games. An image of Rue suddenly flashed up in her mind and she choked back a sob. No! she yelled in her mind, No more nightmares! Katniss hadn't had nightmares about the Hunger Games in ages, and she did not want them to start again. It was bad enough having nightmares about Prim. She turned to head in the other direction, but quickly saw Spider-Man swinging down the street, scouting for her, so she ran down a dark alleyway instead. She watched as he swung by, completely oblivious of her standing in the shadows. As soon as he passed, Katniss ran down the street in the opposite direction Spider-Man was headed. She grabbed the shoulder of the next person she passed, "Excuse me, where could I find a map? I'm—I'm kind of new here."
The man raised his eyebrow and brushed her off, muttering something about using her phone. Katniss sighed and put a hand to her forehead, "How on earth am I going to navigate this place?" she muttered to herself. Suddenly a young man put his hand on her shoulder and said, "Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear… If you're lost, I have a couple of maps in my backpack. I kind of…collect them."
"I uh, thank you." She said.
The man took off his backpack and started digging around in it, "Ah, here you are… New York. And do worry, it's completely up to date, just bought it last week." He said, standing up and handing a map to Katniss.
Katniss sighed, relieved, and accepted the man's offer, "You have no idea how grateful I am right now."
"No problem." The man said, slinging the bag back over his shoulders, "I can always buy another." The man headed off, leaving Katniss to smile down at the paper. She unfolded it and scanned it, looking for somewhere to go. She didn't know where to go or have a reason for going anywhere, she just wanted to get away from this particular area and most of all, that Spider-Man.
Katniss chose a spot on the map, and now knowing which direction to walk in, she set off into the large city before her, wishing she was back at home with her mom, Gale, Peeta… Especially Peeta. Katniss walked past many of New York's iconic areas, and although the historic architecture intrigued her, she didn't pause to look at or explore them. She was a girl on a mission, even if she didn't know what that mission was. After she had a rather unpleasant moment a quite unhappy cashier, it wasn't long before Katniss started to realize she needed to have money to attain things in this century. She of course had no idea how on earth she was going to get any, but she knew she wasn't going to be able to buy anything until she did. Just as she was thinking this, she noticed a black leather wallet laying on the sidewalk—the crowds around her completely oblivious to it. She reached down to examine it and its contents, but just before she laid a finger on it, it jerked away by about three feet. She walked towards it, but Katniss knew this trick and wasn't going to fall for it in the slightest. Instead, she was looking for the string attached to it, and when she did, she followed it to see who was dumb enough to try to pull this trick. It didn't take long to find the alleyway, but who she met in that alleyway surprised her; sitting perched up on a fire escape, was yet another red-suited man.
"Not another one of you…" she muttered.
"Another one of who?" the man asked, looking down and noticing her.
"Why are there so many of you costumed freaks hanging around?! And what's with the red?!"
"Calm down sistah. For one, I'm not in a costume, these are my cloths, and secondly, what's wrong with the red?"
Katniss rolled her eyes, "Why the heck were you trying to pull that stupid wallet prank?"
"I'm bum-fishing, can't you tell? And of course, you seemed like the perfect catch for today."
"Are you calling me a bum, asshole?!" she growled
The man laughed with a little tee-hee and muttered something about assholes, then said, "Kid, you look like a f*cking hobo in that outfit!"
She glared at him.
"I've of course heard about you."
She paused, "Wait, what?"
"Oh, I just overheard Spidey-Pants mention you to good Old Captain and Tinman. Said something about a psycho archer with horrible tastes in clothing. And well, considering your appearance and choice of weapon, I'd say he was talking about you."
Anger bubbled in Katniss's stomach, "F*ck you!" she growled and shot an arrow into his stomach and then right through the man's head. But instead of falling off of his perch—or being dead for that matter—the man didn't even seem fazed.
"I like your spunk, kid. Nice aim too." He pulled out the arrow in his stomach and stared at the gore on the arrowhead, "Ooooo! Just like Hawkeye!" he muttered in a high voice, before tossing it aside, "Coulda killed me! But the thing is…" he pulled the arrow out of his head, taking out a tiny bit of brain with it, "I don't die!"
Katniss was surprised by this, but considering the day she was having she went along with it, "Well, you may not die." she said, letting another arrow fly, "But you certainly talk too much!"
The man make a choking noise, and thought Katniss couldn't see his eyes through his mask, but she could tell he was looking down at the arrow that was now sticking out of his neck, "There, that oughta shut you up for a while." She smirked.
"Well played." He said in a raspy sort of whisper, ripping the arrow out, "Too bad my healing factor will take care of it in a couple of minutes." Even as he said it, Katniss could hear his voice already starting to return.
"How…? What the hell are you?!" she shouted.
The man jumped down from his perch, "I have many names; Merc with a mouth, Deadpool… Oh wait,… that's it!" he laughed, "As for what I am, let's just say I'm the result of a looooooot of crazy experiments!"
Katniss blinked. And in that split second, he disappeared. She whipped around, dearly hoping this freak wasn't behind her, when a mangled arm flung up in her face, "Wanna know how I got these scars?" a voice whispered in her ear.
"What?!" she screamed, jumping away.
"Whoops… Wrong franchise." The man—Deadpool—muttered.
"What on Earth are you babbling on about?"
He smirked, "Oh just ignore me I'm three kinds of crazy."
Katniss raised her eyebrows, "Well that's obvious."
Deadpool crosses his arms, "Hey! That's rude!"
"But you just—"
"Only I can say I'm crazy. And you're not exactly in perfect mental health either, are you, Katniss Everdeen?"
"I'm perfectly fi— Wait, how do you know my name if no one else here knows who I am?"
He looked over his hands, as if examining his fingernails, even thought he had gloves on, "Weeeellll—"
In a blink, Katniss had an arrowhead up against Deadpool's throat, "I said, how do you know my name?!"
He stared out pointedly at something, "She really is crazy, isn't she?"
She paused, lowered the arrow, and looked in the direction he was looking. There was nothing there. "Who the heck are you talking to?" she said it forcefully, but for some reason, her anger was starting to fade.
"Our fans of course!"
She blinked, "W-what?"
"They do love a good fanfic, don't they?"
Katniss's forehead creased, "You are so weird."
"And you're suicidal. What's your point, Hawkette?" he laughed.
Something about Deadpool made her want to stay, but when he said that, she turned and walked away, frowning.
"Hey! Wait!" he shouted from behind her.
She glanced back, "Why would I want to stick around an insane person who keeps insulting me?" Katniss did mean it, but deep down, she actually liked how insane Deadpool was. His twisted sense of humor was like a breath of fresh air for her, like she had been trapped in a place with no oxygen her entire life and he was the breeze finally starting to make its way in.
"Sorry, big mouth, I say rude shit to everyone."
"Regardless, why do you want me to not leave?"
He kind of swaggered towards her, "'cause you're different."
She raised her eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Don't pretend you don't know; I saw it!"
"Saw what?"
"You believed me. When I broke the fourth wall and told you, you believed me."
"Broke what?" Katniss hadn't the faintest idea what he was talking about whatsoever, but even with that in mind, Deadpool still said—
"There! You did it again! You have no idea what the fourth wall is and yet you still believe me!" he paused and stopped the incessant pacing he had been doing, "You're the first one who didn't brush it off, never giving it a second thought…Ooooo I like you!"
Katniss still didn't understand, but he was right; she did believe the endless nonsense he was spewing.
"But what does this have to do with anything?" she asked.
Suddenly, he spotted something behind her, "And here's one of the non-believers now!"
She whipped around to see Spider-man swinging right towards them. "Crap."
Deadpool extended his hand, "Come with me if you want to live." She could hear the smirk in his voice.
Katniss didn't hesitate for even one second.
"Where are we going exactly?" she asked as she ran after him.
"To the Dead-cave of course!" he joked.
"The dead-what?" she called, glancing back nervously to check Spider-Man's progress; he was gaining on them quickly.
"Never mind. Reference you'll understand later… Got any ideas on how to slow down ol' not-so-friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?"
Without a second thought, Katniss shot an arrow that cut through both weblines Spider-Man was swinging on, causing him to fall several feet before thwipping himself back upwards.
Deadpool saw what she tried to do, "He's gonna kill me for this," he muttered, "but aim for those stupid web-shooters on his wrists!" he said more loudly.
Katniss glanced back again, focusing hard to see what he was talking about. With one more glance back, she stopped for a brief second, shot two arrows, and continued to run. To her delight, she heard a yell from behind them as Spider-Man fell out of the air, unable to create any more lines.
"Nice!" Deadpool shouted.
Katniss smirked, and feeling bold, she stopped running, turned around, and shouted, "Suck on that, web-head!"
She felt a hand on her shoulder, "We need to work on your taunts…" Deadpool said into her ear, "In the meantime, we gotta get out of here."
She turned towards him, and grinned, "If you say so, Deadmouth." The longer she was with him, the more joy Katniss felt and the more she started to forget about all the bad things in her past.
"That's a little better!" he said, pausing to look at her before bolting. She ran to catch up.