I'm so sorry for how long it's been since I last updated! I'd love some comments/questions!
"Silly Bread Boy."
Once she says this, we hear loud footsteps clomping down the hallway in heavy boots. I don't have to turn around fully to see Boggs literally jump into the room from the exit behind me and give a District 13 battle cry at the top of his lungs that causes a swarm of Peacekeepers, members of the Crazy 451, to enter the building from every entrance.
They jump in from windows, jump down from balconies, and run in from doors all around me. They leap intimidatingly over staircase railings and wield their high-tech knives menacingly. Clearly they've been asked to shed their usual guns and nightsticks for these weapons so that this would be a fair fight and Coin could maintain her dignity. Why she thought that weapons would be a factor and the fact that I am hilariously outnumbered would not, I do not understand.
Boggs himself has a weapon about five feet long that appears to be a thick nightstick, and he holds it at his side firmly as his soldiers gather around him. It takes a good while for the entirety of Coin's personal army to make their way into the building and onto the dance floor where I wait for them, but my body still faces Coin as my eyes do all of the observing. When they finally form a ring around me, poised to attack, another satisfied smile slithers across Coin's face.
I guess this is it, I think to myself. This is the moment that most of my training has come down to. How I will manage to cut my way through I-don't-know-how-many bodyguards and the legendary District 13 general, I do not know. All that I do know is that not one of them will stand in between Coin and me. I will take my revenge, or die trying. Preferably the former.
I slowly prepare myself for the impending battle by holding up my knife before my face and looking at everyone around me, namely Boggs, judging what to do first. I show no emotion as I abruptly bring the knife into fighting stance and switch on the fire mechanism. Half of the Crazy 451 flinch and a few gape in awe at me, slightly intimidated by their future killer.
They cautiously close in on me, the tension in the room building to extreme amounts. A few inch forward with their knives like children trying to work up the nerve to kill a spider with a stick. This will be too easy, I decide, right before I make the first swing and cut a Peacekeeper's arm clean off.
Immediately the fighting begins. Knives are swung at me left and right, and I dodge them all with expertise, giving them slashes in return that actually meet their target. After sawing a few men to the ground, two men come towards me at once. I deflect both of their attacks, pushing one to the ground and holding the other in place while I slice off both of his legs. The flammable liquid from my knife catches his flesh on fire, and he lies on the ground clutching his still flaming wounds.
Boggs pierces through the wall of Peacekeepers waiting for their turn and comes after me, blocking all of my attacks with several swift motions of his nightstick that he holds with just one hand. He yells with each movement, trying to discourage me. What does discourage me is not him, but his weapon.
The damn thing just won't break, no matter what part of it I hack at. Frustrated, I hack at it right in the middle and experience a miniscule moment of satisfaction as I watch it break in two.
This relief, however, is short-lived, as it is evident now that the object is actually two knives fit together to act like a nightstick. The moment they come apart, he takes one in each hand and slices at me, cutting my skin tight uniform across the belly and just barely scratching my skin. I jump back to avoid the majority of the blow and lose my balance, giving Boggs the opportunity to kick me and send me flying onto my back.
Once I hit the ground, I am met with a knife coming down right above my face that I block immediately for fear of losing my nose. I fight all of the Peacekeepers that surround me in an effort to kick me while I'm down, until I finally gain the leverage to do an awkward side-plank and stab sideways into the stomach of another Peacekeeper. Thank you, obliques.
I use the man I'm stabbing to lift myself into the air, maintaining my sideways position and spinning around quickly. This unleashes a series of cuts upon the Peacekeepers and they fall all around me as I land. I use the momentum to knock the knife out of another man's hand, and it flies across the room, puncturing a support beam holding up the balcony opposite the one Coin is perched upon. The room almost goes silent as they look incredulously at the knife now stuck in the wall behind the man, and at his head that is now rolling on the ground since I've cut it off.
I continue to make my way through the army, even dodging an axe that is thrown at me. The look on the face of the Peacekeeper who threw it is priceless as I catch the second axe that he hurls at me and lauch it back at his face.
I don't have much time to revel in my talents, as Boggs is back, and he's pushing me closer to the back balcony. I remember the sword I launched into the wall and jump up behind me, using it as a step-stool to make a quick getaway onto the balcony. The whole army gasps as I grab hold of the railing and struggle to climb over it. They sprint towards the back left stairs to meet me on the balcony. Just as I gain my footing, I am attacked by two Peacekeepers who I butcher easily, their bodies spraying blood on the eloquent walls.
This is about the time when Boggs makes another appearance, using my same route to climb up to the balcony, though with much more dexterity. We engage in intense combat, him pushing me back with every slash from both of his knives, until finally I get the chance to turn and run to escape the balcony in which I know I will be cornered because Peacekeepers are approaching me from behind now.
I go to a part of the balcony that overlooks a display paying tribute to the Training Center used in the Games. I guess that Fulvia thought a small reminder of what the tributes had to go through before the Games would be a delightful thing to present to those dining and dancing. I, however, finally find a use for the pole vault sticks that no one ever used but Enobaria. I spot them leaning against the balcony and grab one, jumping onto a table below. I slash a few of the Peacekeepers that gather at my feet before giving Boggs a sly smile and letting the pole go so that it whiplashes back and hits him in the face. I watch him fly through the wall behind him before flipping across a few more tables so that I can meet with the remaining Peacekeepers.
But before I can indulge in any more fighting, I hear a horrifying sound of soft footsteps amid all of the chaos. I turn around and the worst is confirmed: Coin has lost interest in watching me destroy her army and is retreating back to the meeting room. I will not let her escape.
Like a student trying to finish the last paragraph of a timed essay, I make haste in running and slashing through the crowd, trying to get past them so that I can fry the biggest fish. Just as I am about to ascend the left stairs, a Peacekeeper literally pounces on me and hacks at my knife repeatedly, pushing me back into the crowd. One hack is so strong that I bend backwards and stab a man behind me. The aggressive Peacekeeper does a few spinning moves which ultimately backfire and get her knife lodged in a support beam next to me. I seize the opportunity and stab her in the stomach, calculating what to do next as her mouth fills with blood.
I decide to use her as a human shield and spin the both of us into the crowd. I lead her through it with one hand holding my knife and the other hand holding her own knife in the air. To my surprise, the Peacekeepers clear a path for us, not wanting to further injure their already impaled comrade. Once they have formed a circle around me, I throw the severely wounded Peacekeeper at two others and take her knife in my other hand. Now that I have two weapons, they all back up in fear as they wonder what I will do next. Once they decide to advance, I drop to the floor and begin chopping their feet off of their ankles, and one by one they drop like flies around me. As the severed feet and crying guards pile around me, I stop my violent break-dancing and hop off the ground, now sufficiently free to go up the stairs.
But once I reach the top, I turn around and am annoyed to find the last living guards, some injured, following me up for their final assault. Because I know that I cannot effectively search for Coin with these guys following me, I lead them into a spacious room adjacent to the meeting room where Coin presumably is. The lights are all off, as Fulvia has cut the electricity for no apparent reason. The reason why she is still here while I am murdering people is also a mystery to me, but I don't have time to question that woman.
Once the Peacekeepers have all cautiously followed me into the room, I switch on the flaming mechanism in my knife and partially illuminate the room. They are both amazed and intimidated at the sight, but I do not give them time to gape in awe before I descend upon them.
I slash through the first few, listening to their corpses sizzle behind me. As I continue to fight them off, some crawl away in pain, silently whimpering because of their burning insides. I catch the arm of one Peacekeeper while fighting another off, and then cut off her arm as she screams. As I pause to do an intimidating gymnastics move, the few remaining guards back away before I cut down all but one. I cannot see him, as he has backed away from me pretty far, but I can hear his uneven breathing clearly. I lift my knife just as Fulvia turns the lights back on, and am surprised to see Darius standing before me, horrified.
I drop the knife to my side, as the way he is trembling indicates that he has no intention of using his. Instead of fighting him, I once again use the flaming mechanism on my own knife to slice his down to a stub, piece by piece. When it is finally nonexistent, he drops the plain handle of the knife and puts his hands up in defeat. Wrong answer, Darius.
I take him forcibly and spank him with the butt of my knife, shouting "This is what you get for fucking around with warlords!"
I give him one final spank before telling him to run home to Greasy Sae. He obeys, wiping the sweat off of his forehead and clutching his burning behind as he sprints down the stairs. I am so busy watching his pathetic exit that I don't notice Boggs descend on me.
He pushes me through the wall and out onto the balcony. I almost fall into the blood pool, but catch myself on the railing. He doesn't give me time to help myself up, preferring to kick me while I'm hanging. I still fend him off, however, and soon we both hop onto the unstable railing for our battle. It takes me a moment to acknowledge the fact that I am about to kill or be killed by a legendary general, but that thought is short lived as we begin to attack each other.
He spins around a number of times, unleashing a windmill of knife attacks on me, but I am too quick for him. I catch both knifes with my knife and use the moment of confusion to cut both of his legs clean off. He screams in agony before he and drops to the blood pool, dead before hitting the water. As his corpse sizzles, I take the time to look down upon the destruction I've caused from the spot where Coin stood watching us minutes ago. As the Peacekeepers whine and crawl around, surveying their dead comrades, I decide to deliver to them an oration.
"For those of you lucky enough to still have your lives, take them with you! But for those of you who have lost limbs, leave them. They belong to the Capitol now, just as all of me once did." I then notice Plutarch, now awake, crawling desperately towards the exit. "Except you, Plutarch! You stay right where you are."
As I turn to leave, the guards begin their painful exodus that is even slower than the crowded flight of the civilians earlier. Fulvia runs around the room, mourning more at the destruction of her business than at the lives lost in it. I can't help but hope that her squeals are silenced by a nice fall in the blood due to her slippery high heels.
I step into the meeting room cautiously, peering into the dark space as if Coin would lash out at me right now. But the room is empty. All that I notice is that the back door that leads to the garden behind the place is cracked open. Apparently Fulvia thought it would be a good idea to purchase part of Snow's garden and connect it to her property to further emphasize how he is dead. Nice touch, but I'm more interested in the clear hint that Coin has dropped. I walk to the exit and thrust the sliding doors open, only now noticing how fatigued I am.
I am met with the setting of a pristine garden, covered with white roses, some painted blue, some still white but cut off of their bushes and lying in piles. Clearly Fulvia was not done with this place. The scene is complete with stepping stones that lead right to where Coin is.
Once I see her in the far right corner of the fenced-in garden, I lower my head, not allowing her the luxury of seeing my face yet. But as I step towards her, I can feel her staring at me hungrily as she moves toward me as well.
"Your instrument is quite impressive," she notes. "Where was it made?
I maintain a lack of eye contact. "District 3."
"And who in District 3 made this technology?"
"This is Beetee Latier technology."
She whips her head up at me and whispers urgently. "You lie!"
I only shake my head, turning the knife so that she can see Beetee's emblem. She only smiles at it, not entirely believing it and wanting to change the subject.
"Weapons do not win a battle," she says. "I never released any of District 13's nuclear missiles on Snow during his attack on us, and we survived with no casualties, winning the war in the end. I hope that you've saved your energy as I was able to save my people." She whips her head up again, returning to a spot in front of me. "If you haven't, you might not even last five minutes" She gestures to the garden around us. "But, as last looks go, you could do worse. We are in the president's garden, you know."
She steps back a bit, retrieving her own knife from the holster on her back. What I see is a knife that was made not by Beetee, but is still an impressive weapon. It has an incendiary mechanism on it, too. Just like mine.
She steps towards me and bows, but I do not return the favor, preferring to turn my weapon to point at her as it literally catches fire. She stands up, holding the weapon horizontally before her face as she turns the fire mechanism on. She moves it down to her side, holding the holster in her other hand almost as a second weapon, and I lift mine in the air as we finally clash.
As our battle begins, she blocks all of my fierce attacks with little emotion, practically cheating with that second weapon of hers. I decide that I have to get rid of it, so I burn it in two. She stops the fight, looking surprised at the severed weapon. She laughs, dropping the still sizzling stub of a holster, then points her knife at me as I cautiously approach her.
We hack at one another, not hitting our targets until I finally make a mistake. She gets behind me and slashes down my back.
I whip around at the last second, trying to block myself even though she has already created a burning laceration in my back. I stagger backwards and ultimately fall onto a pile of white roses.
She looks down at me and snickers. "Silly District 12 merchant boy likes to play with high-tech weaponry," she mimics.
I almost can't hear her over the sound of my own breathing. She turns to walk away, putting her powered-down knife over her shoulder.
"You may not be able to fight like a soldier," she says seriously. "But you can at least die like one."
No. I refuse to acquiesce. I must continue. Summing up all my strength, I begin to stand up, sticking my knife into the ground for support. She stares in surprise as I finally get to my feet. I did not come all of this way to be killed in President Snow's old sanctuary. Coin will die today.
"Attack me," I command. "With everything you have.'
She does not hesitant to obey, rushing at me and slicing like a mad woman. It does not take long before I give her an attack of my own. I squat down and slash, meeting my mark. Once again, the fighting stops.
She limps backwards as I rise and retreat to the opposite corner. For the first time, I see complete and utter surprise on her face. She clutches her shin where I cut her and stares at me. Her hair is now falling out of its perfect bun, and her mouth hangs open.
"For ridiculing you earlier," she starts. "I apologize."
I hesitate for a begrudging moment before giving in. "Accepted," I say, but I don't want to linger in conversation for too long. "Ready?"
"Come on," she says, almost excitedly. It is at this moment that I realize we are finally coming to peace with one another. This woman, who has lost all of her family, has finally made peace with someone. Too bad she is about to die.
We rush at each other, our flaming swords meeting loudly, the sound echoing into the quiet setting. Coin retreats behind a low fence and the two of us run with one another for a few yards before the fence ends. One finally blow and one of us is hit. I'm not sure if it's me, as we are now facing different ways. But once I see her perfect scalp fly through the air, I know that I have won. I have killed the first person on my list.
I don't look back, but I hear her final words.
"That really was Beetee Latier technology," is all I can hear over the sound of her still frying brain, which is now exposed to the air. She falls to her knees and then to her side, dead. Good bye, Coin.
I trudge over to a bench and sit down, exhausted. Now that Coin is dead, time for number two. But before I can go after anyone else, I need to find out where they are.
"I've kept you alive for two reasons. The first reason is information."
"Go fuck yourself, you stupid blonde! I'll tell you nothing!"
This is what Plutarch spits at me as he lies in the trunk of his own car, being questioned by me as to the whereabouts of the remaining four members of the Mockingjay's Squad 451. But I know that he knows where they all are, as he was their secretary. Clearly he doesn't understand who is in power here.
"But I am gonna ask you questions," I say. "And every time you don't give me answers, I'm gonna cut something off. And believe me, they will be things you will miss!" When he doesn't respond, I decide to go ahead with my plan. "Give me your other arm!"
Despite his pleads and screams, I take the limb and chop it off at the elbow, watching as he bleeds.
Once I calm him down, I ask again. "I want all the information on Squad 451: what they've been doing and where I can find them."
At the threat of losing a leg as well, he tells me everything. I take his information down. Before driving him to the hospital and throwing him down the hill to be checked in, I give him a final message.
"As I said before, I've allowed you to keep your wicked live for two reasons. And the second reason is so that you can tell her everything that's happened here tonight. I want her to witness the extent of mercy by witnessing your deformed body. I want you to tell her all the information you just told me. I want her to know what I know. I want her to know I want her to know. And I want them all to know, they'll all soon be as dead as Alma Coin."
As I sit on the plane to District 4, my next destination, recreating my list, I imagine the conversation that Plutarch and her are having.
"Please forgive my betrayal," he is probably saying to her as she rubs his stands behind him.
Alma Coin AKA Vulture
"None of that," she is probably consoling him.
Finnick Odair AKA Seagull
"But still, I-"
Primrose Everdeen AKA Little Duck
"But still, nothing, except my beating heart at what she's done to my brilliant Plutarch. Now, if you had to guess why he kept you alive, what would be your guess?"
Gale Hawthorne AKA Jabberjay
I trust that Plutarch is following the orders I gave him. But Katniss and I already know all the information he is giving her.
Katniss Everdeen AKA The Mockingjay
But there is one small piece of information that she and I do not share:
"Just one more thing Plutarch," says Katniss. "Is he aware that we have a daughter?"
