Every step was a nightmare. That little slab of sidewalk, would it give way to a bottomless pit? Could that streetlamp find a clever way to impale her? Katniss couldn't help but thinking of the awful slog through the streets of the Capitol. Every block at the cost of another life, any progress made balanced by bloodshed.

"Katniss, you okay?"

The voice of Amuro snapped her into reality, and narrowly stopped her from running into a stop sign.

"Oh! I… no. No. I'm not okay."

The boy seemed a little off-put by her response.

"Well, I guess you have your reasons. We all do, don't we?"

"Shut up back there," hissed Holly. She was leading the little file of warriors, with the adolescents behind her and Date and Chuck at the rear. They all felt a bit more vulnerable without their favorite weapons. Holly, Amuro, Chuck, and Date had no weapons at all. Katniss had only the knife that had seen her through the Seventy-Fourth Games, and had it in a white- knuckle grip since they had begun travelling. That knife wasn't enough. She had to get a bow. For so long, a bow was sustenance, companionship, protection. It was empowerment in a bleak world. Being in harm's way without one made her feel naked.

"How are we going to find the weapons cache?" Katniss whispered, hoping for simple directions to her bow.

"Do I look like I know any more than you? By Frond," the elf sighed.

"Now keep it down. We don't want to get caught unprepared." Holly brought them to a stop at an intersection. The whole city was empty and silent. She really hoped that there wouldn't be a sudden sound of footsteps that weren't theirs- there wasn't. Good. We're in the clear.

Something hit Holly's head, prompting her to draw her Neutrino- which wasn't there. Date stooped to the ground and picked up the object responsible. It was a wad of paper, weighted with something inside. He opened up the paper and handed the contents to Katniss. A Mockingjay pin. Our token. Figures. She threaded it into her jacket.

"Well, we've got our team's token. Those directions?" Holly inquired of the samurai.

"Yes. Unfortunately, it appears to be in a riddle."

"Always a catch, isn't there?"

"'Within knowledge, strength'."

"Knowledge. Like… a library." Mr. Chuck reasoned.

"Well, that's not going to fly. I think I've got books I haven't returned in months," said Holly, leaving a pause. No one laughed.

"You're no fun."

The team set off toward the setting sun, keeping an eye out for libraries. They continued until the last few rays of sunlight licked the tallest of the buildings. Still nothing.

"Should we set up camp, or something?" Amuro suggested.

Katniss concurred. "Sounds like a plan to me." The team found what appeared to be a coffee shop and scuttled inside. Chuck began to fire up one of the espresso machines. Holly found an incredibly tacky couch to kick back on, the warrior Masamune picked a wall to lean against, and Amuro and Katniss sat down at a cast-iron table with an intricate design. However, as the team began to expect, the respite was interrupted by the Master of Games' voice.

"Good evening, Contestants! I trust you are all making progress. I just wanted to fill you in on a last-minute rule change."

"You've got to be joking," moaned Katniss, who was in the process of getting some shut-eye.

"I've decided to add a fourth team of five, just to mix things up a bit! Careful, though, as these bad dudes are really nasty! And it sure looks like they've already got their weapons and are closing in on one of your teams now! Well, that's all for now. Good luck- you'll need it."

The team members became deathly silent. Cautious glances were cast out the window and around the room. No sign of a new or deadly enemy. Amuro was about to rest his head back down on the table when he noticed the mug Chuck had been sipping espresso from. Three red dots decorated the side.

Not decorations. It's a laser sight! His mind was filled with visions of explosions and energy beams. He leapt up from the table, flung himself over the counter, and knocked Chuck down only an instant before the beam he had seen in his mind ripped through the coffee shop and turned a hot cup of espresso into dust. The team members scampered to their feet and prepared for combat as best they could.

From outside, there was an awful roar accompanied by steady footfalls. Holly saw the source first- a Tyrannosaurus rex. It rounded the corner of the street and came to a stop by the shattered window of the shop. Its beady red eyes glared in, taking note of each cowering warrior. Then, to everyone's surprise, it spoke.

"What's this? One of our opposing teams? And they haven't even gotten their weapons yet, how sad! I believe I have more pressing matters to attend to, like securing that wizard's little entourage, yesss."

The little team's fear kept them quiet.

"Shaking in your boots, yesss? You'll have more reason for that soon. Predator! Kill them all."

The ridiculously-colored dinosaur strode off, leaving the team confused.

"Predator- you mean like-" Mr. Chuck was cut off by rapid action on the part of Holly Short. She dashed to the center or the room, wound up, and punched at midair. The little fist connected, and Holly really regretted it. Firstly, it caused the massive creature to decloak and scare the living daylights out of the teenaged team members, and secondly, because it really hurt her hand.

The dreadlocked alien swatted the petite elf aside, sending her crashing through displays of fine South American coffees. Date and Chuck gave each other a nod and moved to flank the beast, but it moved with horrifying speed toward the samurai. Within moments, the masked creature had pinned Date to the ground. It raised an arm as if to punch him, only to flick out a pair of deadly-looking blades. It cackled with delight.

Mr. Chuck would not let that last, as he delivered a karate strike that would have killed a human onto the creature's broad, exposed back. It wailed awfully and rolled along the ground, getting up to face the martial artist. The plasma caster on its shoulder popped up and began to whine. Three red dots centered on his chest.

The next few moments seemed to play out like an orchestra's big fourth-movement high point. Chaotic shouts from the team to duck were followed by the sound of breaking glass and rapid, heavy footfalls. Chuck swung his legs out from underneath him as a wall of sage-green metal soared overhead at fifty miles per hour. The massive power-armored man tackled the Predator with such force that they sailed into the building across the street. There was a brief calm as the battered team attempted to figure out what just happened. For an instant, no one knew how to react. But something inside Katniss clicked into place. Her scattered, meandering thoughts assembled themselves into a single, clear message. SURVIVE.

"WE NEED TO MOVE, NOW! GO GO GO GO GO!" she barked, taking herself by surprise. She was already sprinting out the door and onto the street in the direction of the tackled Predator. She hung a left and kept running full tilt down the street and toward the nearest intersection. Craning her neck back revealed that the others were following her lead. Good, she thought. Sticking together. Strength in numbers. She was all the way to the intersection before she noticed their amazing luck: the building on the corner was clearly marked

CENTRAL LIBRARY

She gave what she hoped was a coherent command for let's go in there, but she realized it was probably just senseless arm-flailing. Upon approaching the door, she saw that this was no ordinary library. The doors were of the heavy, armored strong-bolt type that was generally used to keep her from a place she would rather be. With a hard yank, she pulled the door open, let the team sprint inside, swung herself in and shut it tight. Presently she could hear nothing but her own heart racing. She caught her breath and looked around.

The doors weren't the only special thing about this library. There were, in fact, no books in it at all. There were a few racks of weapons close behind the door, but the room was mostly empty, with the exception of some large struts at the far end that seemed to be some sort of lift system. The fluorescent lighting flickered a little across the bare concrete floor.

"Way to take some initiative there, Katniss!" Holly patted the dazed girl on the back.

"Tell you what," the elf continued while holstering a Neutrino blaster, "we need a team name. I figure since we all owe you, at least a little,"

She clipped a utility belt into place.

"You can pick out something catchy."

"Does it matter if it's original?"

"I don't think the computers are grading that."

"Well… they already gave us a Mockingjay pin as our token."

"So," affirmed Holly as she clasped the strap of a helmet under her chin, "Team Mockingjay it is! Whatever that means."

"Is everything going to be bird-themed with her?" called Amuro, who was standing by an elevator on the far left side of the building.

"'Cause if it is, I'm going to be sorely disappointed."

He tapped the only button there and slid through the doors. The elevator whirred loudly as it descended.

"Where's he headed?" questioned Chuck as he adjusted the sight on an automatic handgun.

"He said he was a pilot," mentioned Katniss. "Maybe the plane's downstairs. I think he said it had a name, something odd."

A whirring much louder than the elevator stopped the conversation as the floor past the weapon racks slid open. The huge lift rose, supporting what appeared to be a giant warrior clad in white metal.

"It's called a mobile suit," confirmed Amuro over the machine's loudspeaker. "And this one's code-named Gundam."

"Wait- you're in that thing?" cried Katniss in disbelief.

"I said I was a pilot. Guess none of you guys' universes had anything remotely like a mobile suit."

Team Mockingjay took some time to mutter in disbelief.

"Is it fast?" questioned Holly.

"Yes. I've piloted faster, but in its day, the Gundam was untouchable."

Katniss had been fiddling with her bow, which she was pleased to find was her old one from District 12. She strung an arrow and let it fly toward the mechanical monstrosity. Date and Holly jumped a little at the sudden response, then moved out of the way as the girl strode over to where the arrow had hit. It had bounced off the machine's lower leg.

"Didn't even scratch the paint- what this thing made of, anyway?"

"Lunar titanium. Finest light armor of the One-Year War!"

Gods, thought Holly. The Mud Men mined the bloody moon! There would be demon riots if that happened in my universe.

"Well," said Date, sliding a katana into its sheath. "We're ready to move out."

Katniss shook her head. "This place's indestructible. We hole up here for the night."

Date was prepared to argue about the chain of command, but how tired he was caught up to him.

"Fine then, archer-girl. Wake me in an hour so I can take my shift on guard," he muttered while finding a good spot on the wall to lean against. The other team members tucked in around the feet of the Gundam, which provided a decent sloping surface to lie on. Katniss strung an arrow and began the long wait for her shift to be over.