I wrote this chapter earlier. I just waited to publish it so it would be dark. Aren't I a stinker?
Lottie Parker
One knife wasn't going to stop me. I turned and charged up the stairs at Venus.
"Lottie!" Ava screamed behind me.
"Get away!" I yelled back at her without turning around. One knife couldn't stop me, but it was nearly impossible for me to get away. Venus would throw half a dozen knives before I could get out of sight. If I blocked the way, though, Ava could escape. She tried to follow me and I shoved her back through the door. I knew she'd smash into Marley and that would startle her long enough for me to do what I had to.
Venus threw another knife at me as I ran up the stairs. I didn't have my armor this time, and it speared into my chest. Adrenaline and willpower let me keep up my charge and Venus didn't have time to back up before I plowed into her. She landed hard on her back and I heard her pained rush of breath as she hit her shoulder, which was puffy and caked in blood. I punched her straight in the face. She reeled from the impact and I reeled from surprise when my hand crashed into metal.
I flipped Venus onto her stomach and knelt on her back, grabbing her bloody arm and twisting it behind her. She stabbed blindly at me with her other hand, opening shallow cuts in my legs and sides. She was slippery with both of our blood, and she wriggled out from under me. She stabbed at my throat as she did, and I stuck my hand out to swat the blow aside. Instead the knife went through my hand, and I cried out. I jerked my hand sideways and pulled the knife from her grasp. She grabbed at the knife, which was still in my hand, and pulled it out, twisting it as she did. She stabbed it into my torso in half a dozen quick strikes. I could feel myself weakening, and I knew once this last attack of mine was over, I wouldn't have anything left.
Ava Hanson
Lottie threw me back at the doorway. I bounced off the frame and tried to arrest my fall by grabbing something. I ended up grabbing Marley's arm. It was cold and horrible, and I let go right away. I crashed back onto the ground and my head smacked the wood floor, making my ears ring. I got back up to help Lottie. Marley's dangling corpse turned my stomach, and I shuddered as I pushed it aside to get to the door. I heard Lottie and Venus fighting at the top of the stairs, and I started to climb up. The room was only lit by Lottie's flashlight, which was aimed up the stairs. In its light, I saw a shadowy figure leaping down the stairs at me. It smashed into me and knocked me down to the bottom of the staircase. It was horribly heavy on top of me, and I could barely shove it off. I heard a cannon and knew whoever it was hadn't jumped. It had been pushed by whoever had won the fight.
Lottie Parker
Venus was silent. No matter how much I hurt her, I never heard anything louder than that single labored breath. I was quiet, too, but that was because at least one of my lungs was punctured. I was bleeding out fast, and my only goal was to damage Venus enough that Ava could finish her off. I grabbed Venus' knife arm and pushed her knife down into her leg. She let out a pained noise almost like a cough. She pulled out the blade and bore it down into my throat with both hands. My strength drained away along with my breath, and I knew I'd done all I could. I tried to will all my strength to Ava at the bottom of the stairs. She was going to need it.
Venus pushed me down the stairs and tried to stand. Somewhere along the way, my cannon sounded.
Ava Hanson
My scream filled the room and tore the inside of my throat. The flashlight behind Marley illuminated Lottie's body at my feet, and Lottie's flashlight cast its beam on Venus as she stood on the top of the stairs. Her expressionless face stood atop a zombielike, shambling body. One arm twitched at her side, and her leg was hitched. The blood on her knife dripped onto the floor and spotted the walls when she pointed it at me.
I ducked and ran as she threw. The knife landed in the doorframe beside me, and then I was safely behind Marley. I picked up her flashlight and ran toward the exit. I could hear Venus' irregular steps coming down the stairs behind me. Nothing could stop her. Not Marley and not Lottie. I wasn't half as strong as they were. I had to go.
It was Pray that stopped me. She wasn't there, but I knew she was watching in the Capitol. I knew she was right up next to the screen, waiting for what would happen next. But she wasn't scared. She wasn't screaming at me to get away. She was waiting for me to kill Venus. She thought I could do it. She didn't have any doubt.
Pray thinks I can do this. She was always telling me I was stronger than I thought. Silver Claws thought I was worth her time and effort. Marley, Olivine, and Lottie did, too. They let me in their alliance. They acted like I was doing them a favor. I'd always thought they were wrong. I was weak. I couldn't control my own body. But they thought I was strong, and I thought everything of them. Pray was never wrong. Pray knew everything.
And if they weren't right? Venus would kill me as I ran. Lottie and Marley deserved better. Let me prove them right and avenge them, or prove them wrong and die with them.
Whyte Roberts
Two more cannons right next to each other. The Party Girls must have finally broken up. It was a pity. It seemed like they'd be friends forever.
Ava Hanson
I darted back across the room and stood to the left of the door. It seemed like hours had gone by, but it had been only seconds, and Venus still wasn't down the stairs. I heard her footsteps coming closer and threw my flashlight across the room just as she appeared in the doorway. As I expected, she tossed a knife at it, and as it was leaving her hand, I attacked her from the side. I shoved her against the wall and stuck my knife into her stomach. She pulled her knife from the doorway even as she fell, and I followed her down. Marley's stuff fingers brushed against my back and tears sprang to my eyes. Venus stabbed up at my face and I jerked aside so it only broke the skin. I'd been shrieking ever since I hit her, but I hardly noticed. Venus struck at my side, but I let her. If her knife was buried in my hip, she couldn't stop me from sticking my dagger into her wounded shoulder. Blood and pus oozed down her arm and she bucked under me. She twisted the knife in my side and tried to flip over on top of me. I bore down on my knife until I felt it scraping down her bone and tearing open her arm.
She pulled the knife out of my side and pushed up at me, knocking me off of her. I scrambled back as she tried to get up. Her broken limbs struggled to hold her up, and she was bent nearly double as she stumbled toward me. Her wounded arm tried weakly to cover the hole in her stomach. It would have been no trouble to walk away from her, but it was far too late for that. I tried to run toward her, but the slash in my side slowed me to a pained charge. I kicked her twisted leg savagely and she fell. Her good hand slashed at my stomach and sides, but I didn't pull back. I grabbed her wrist and slammed her hand onto the wood. Her fingers opened and I pulled the knife from them. I screamed with all my might as I pushed it down at her. It crunched through the bones in her hand and stuck into the floor like a nail. Venus shuddered and jerked her hand upward, but she only managed to widen the wound. I straddled her waist with my legs and smashed my knife between her ribs. Blood welled up and spattered my face as I pulled the knife back and shoved it in over and over. Somewhere along the line, the cannon may have sounded, but I couldn't have heard it over my screams. It would never be safe to stop. Venus wasn't human. I stabbed until I heard her ribs crunch and shatter, until the flesh around her heart was obliterated and I could see for myself that it wasn't beating. Only then did I finally stop.
4th place: Lottie Parker- Stabbed by Venus
When I first got Lottie, I thought a lot of people would underestimate her. She was overweight and a little flighty, but I saw some of that as an advantage. Lottie was a tank. She was physically stronger than anyone except maybe Floki. In an Arena where food wasn't a problem, she was a contender. She was fighting Venus after she'd already been wounded, and it was nearly pitch black. She took more damage than anyone could have expected before she died, and she was nearly unstoppable. Thanks Lisaisanut for Lottie. I always love extroverts, and Lottie was a real character. She was colorful and capable. She was all that.
3rd place: Venus Lorieta- Heart nearly amputated by Ava
Now that Venus is dead, I can let the cat out of the bag. You've probably noticed she never had any POVs after her resurrection. The reason is that, after puzzling over her since my very first SYOT, I finally figured out her motivation. She liked to kill, but she was never psychotic or obsessive. I didn't get it until I finally found the answer: Venus is The Shape. You all know how in Halloween, Dr. Loomis says there's nothing inside Michael? He called him "The Shape". He was a husk of a human with nothing but evil inside. That's what Venus was. If I'd figured it out earlier, she wouldn't have even gotten a resurrection POV. Why? Because Venus doesn't have any thoughts to monologue. Not human ones anyway. She's The Shape. Thanks Seungripanda for letting us use Venus again, even if it was just by not being here to tell me no. She was a great villain, and I'm glad I finally know her.
Now that you know, you can look back and find a ton of foreshadowing I added. As soon as I knew Venus was The Shape, I had a ton of fun adding references and in-jokes. I had this exact scene planned since before the Games. Who can kill a movie slasher? Only a Final Girl. What does a Final Girl have to be? A virgin. There are lots more you can find, and I can tell anyone who's curious.