Song: Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson

Arena, Forest, Day 9 (early morning, before the Career massacre): Cassian Nicks

"Long time, no see, Scythe," Cassian said pleasantly, leaning against a tree with his arms crossed. "How's it hanging?"

Scythe thrashed in the net he was caught in, a scowl on his thin face. "Did you do this, you little shit?"

"Of course I did," Cassian laughed. "I wanted to talk to you."

He'd been silently following the boy from Nine for a day now – almost as long as he'd been following Johanna. He'd waited until Scythe had come close to his old haunt, where he and Maizy had set up the generator. It was close to where he knew Johanna was, which was exactly what he had wanted.

"You did, did you?" Scythe scoffed. "Usually, when one wants to talk to someone, they don't trap them five feet in the air in a net."

"I'm not an idiot, Scythe," Cassian said, rolling his eyes. "Sneaking up on you would have been like signing my own death warrant."

Scythe sighed, obviously agreeing. "What do you want, Five?"

"I wanted to give you some advice."

"I don't want your advice. Get me out of this fucking net." Scythe gave another little struggle, as if hoping the net would suddenly fall from his body – as if. Cassian was good at knots, and the net had been designed to tighten the more the victim struggled.

"No, Scythe, you misunderstand," he said, shaking his head. "You do want my advice."

"No the fuck I don't," Scythe hissed, reaching through the net and reaching towards Cassian as though he would love nothing more than to squeeze the life out of him.

Cassian smiled. "You do."

"I don't," Scythe said stubbornly, staring at Cassian with cold eyes.

Cassian sighed. The exchange had, so far, reminded him of his younger sisters arguing over a toy. He knew Scythe was stubborn, immature even, but he hadn't been expecting his former ally to be completely infantile. "I'm not going to stand around and argue like a child. How's this – if you agree to listen to me, I'll get you out of the net. Otherwise, I'm quite happy to leave you up there for someone else to find."

Scythe huffed, obviously knowing that he had no other choice in the matter. "Fine. Whatever."

"Thank you," Cassian said. "That wasn't so hard, was it, Scythe?"

"Spit it out or I'll – I'll-" Scythe faltered, obviously not sure what he would do.

Cassian smirked. "You'll what, Scythe? Scream? Cry? Don't think you can do much up there, you're like a fly caught in a spider web."

"Fucking spit it out already!" Scythe said angrily.

"I want you to hunt down Seven." It was best to put it simply, Cassian had decided – he would leave the intricate details for later, for the story he had concocted.

Scythe pulled a face, looking as though he was about to laugh. "Seven? The wuss?"

"Seven the actress," Cassian corrected.

He'd told the alliance of his suspicions early on – they hadn't listened of course, not really, so he'd been expecting Scythe's reaction of disbelief. But he needed Scythe to believe him now, needed Scythe to take out one of the biggest threats in the arena. And if Scythe didn't succeed – well, there would still be one less enemy for Cassian to worry about. But Cassian knew that Johanna had to go – she had been a ticking time bomb from the start, and he knew that soon she would explode.

"What do you mean?" asked Scythe. "What do you mean, the actress?"

"It's an act, Scythe. She had everyone fooled, except me… and Maizy…" Cassian tried to look sad at the mention of Maizy.

Scythe was visibly sobered at the mention of his district partner – he hadn't cared for the girl much, but District's Nine tributes were infamous for their loyalty to each other – in the entire history of the Games, none of Nine's tributes had ever killed their district partner. "What happened to Maizy? Do you know how she died, Five?"

"It was Seven, Scythe, I saw it with my own eyes," Cassian said sincerely. "Seven cornered us in the forest. Maizy was a fair bit behind me, and told me to hide – I had no choice, Scythe, I thought that if I hid, I'd be able to sneak up on Seven and help Maizy escape."

"What happened then?" Scythe asked, his voice soft, as though afraid the girl who had supposedly killed Maizy was nearby.

"She's a psychopath, Scythe, an utter psychopath. She cut off Maizy's limbs with her axe – yes, all of them – and slit her throat," Cassian said, gulping as though he were holding back tears. "She stared into Maizy's as she – as she died… she's crazy, Scythe, crazier than Natania."

In reality, Cassian didn't have any idea how Maizy had died – it had been the day after what had happened at the lake, and he hadn't made any effort to find her. She probably knew, in her last moments, that he had betrayed her, and the thought of that stung – but he had done what he had to do, and it had resulted in him being three people closer to home. He didn't regret it.

"Why didn't you help her?" Scythe asked him accusingly.

Cassian shook his head. "I couldn't, Scythe, I couldn't. I'm not a fighter like you are – she would have killed me. I'm sorry to say that I'm not in the least bit brave, either. I hid while she died – I was just so scared, Scythe, that Seven would do to me what she did to Maizy. I'm ashamed to admit that I'm a coward, Scythe."

Cassian watched Scythe's face – the older boy had a pained expression, as though someone had pinched him very hard on the arm. "That's why," Cassian continued, "that's why I needed to trap you. I need you to kill Seven – for the good of both of us. Now, she's clever, and a good fighter, but I think if you sneak up on her you'll be able to kill her."

"D'you know where she is?"

"Eh, approximately," Cassian said, tilting his hand from side to side.

"Where?"

"Last I saw her… when she killed – when Maizy-" Cassian looked at the ground, pretending that he couldn't get the words out. Sniffing pathetically, he looked up. "She's in the forest, close to where we are now. Near the stream. That's the most recent place I've seen her, anyway."

"I'll make her pay," Scythe said, his eyes blazing. "I'll get her for what she did to Maizy. Now get me out of this wretched net."

Cassian shook his head, and then held up the stray end of the rope which was connected to the net. "I think I'll go some distance away, first – it's not that I don't trust you, Scythe, it's just that I understand that in this point of the Games there's no such thing as a friend."

Scythe nodded. "I won't come after you."

"Still," Cassian said with a shrug. If it was him in Scythe's position, he certainly wouldn't hesitate to kill. Walking ten metres from the tree Scythe was suspended in, Cassian slowly pulled the rope, waiting until the net was a metre from the ground before cutting through it. Something told him that Scythe wouldn't be able to kill Johanna if he had a broken leg.

Scythe shook the net off his and gathered his supplies, turning around to face Cassian and giving him a nod. "I'll get her, Five. And when she's dead, I'll come back here – you'd better be gone by then."

Cassian nodded. "You'll never see me again, Scythe. Have a marvellous day."

Scythe gave him one final nod before walking off. Cassian bit back a laugh – either the people of District Nine were supreme idiots, or Cassian was a master manipulator. Which he was, of course, but it certainly helped that everyone around him was missing a brain.

Muahahhahahahhaahahhaha!

Some serious shit is about to go down, my friends. This chapter was kind of spontaneous – I sat down to write another Johanna chapter and then I had a thought – what if Cassian spilled the beans? I mean, people would be suspicious of her enough to believe quite easily that it was an act, so I thought that maybe it would be interesting if Scythe knew about the act. I don't know. I'd love to hear what you think, in any case. Johanna will be back next chapter.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed the last chapter, I love ya!

Have a great day/night!

-Audrey :)