Hey, everybody. Back with another chapter. Hope you like this one.

So, I'm going to cover the entire mutt chase in this one. So, it'll be a long one.

Let's get to it.

Chapter 22- Mutts

I slowly make my way down the ladder. Castor and Pollux had led to an entrance to the sewers.

As Castor makes his way down the ladder, he says loud enough for all of to hear him, "My brother knows these tunnels very well. He worked sanitation down here, right after they made him an Avox."

We all look at Pollux. As we watch him, we see him start to shake a bit. Castor hurries over and says a few comforting words to his brother. Whatever he says calms Pollux down.

Pollux slowly walks down the tunnel, scouting it out. Castor looks at me and says, "Took us five years to buy his way out of here. He didn't see the sun once."

I look at Pollux' back, and find myself wishing more than ever that he could talk. I find myself wanting to know more about Pollux, wishing he could tell me his story. I feel, as Mockingjay, I should know more about my teammates. However, I shake that out of my head and follow Pollux, the Holo raised.

We follow Pollux into a larger tunnel with some subway tracks in them. We slowly make our way down the tunnel. Then, we hear something up ahead. We hurry and take cover behind a wall before a subway carrying Peacekeepers moves past us.

We move out from behind the wall, and I say, "We're too exposed here." Pollux looks around, then motions with his hand and we all follow him down the subway tunnel to a small door. Pollux opens it and we all follow him inside.

We soon reach another ladder, which we all follow Pollux down. It leads us into the sewers.

As well get to the bottom, I activate the Holo, scanning for pods. There's nothing, so I say, "Looks clear." Pollux then leads us down the tunnel ahead.

For what seems like ages, we make our way down tunnels, having to go through sewage tunnels full of water. I try not to think about what I'm walking through as I keep the Holo up. Looking back, I find myself jealous that Gale is wearing the suit, and doesn't have to worry about it. I also see Pollux has removed the Falcon pack and is holding it over his head to keep it out of the water.

Finally, we reach what looks like some kind of service platform branching off from the tunnel. Jackson speaks and says, "Alright, everybody. We're gonna stop here and get some rest, yeah? I'll take first watch."

Everyone moves out of the tunnel and onto the platform, glad to be out of the water. We all settle in to get some rest.

(Some time later)

I'm not sure how long I've dozed off when I feel someone lightly shaking me awake. I look up and see Jackson right as she says, "Katniss? Your watch."

I nod once and get up, allowing Jackson to take my spot. I move over to the entrance of the platform. I sit down across from Peeta, who's wide awake. I'd heard from Robert that after the serum, Peeta wouldn't need much rest, and even wouldn't need as much sleep as normal human. That's just weird to me. Then again, my life became a lot weirder after I met Robert.

As I try to get comfortable, Peeta suddenly looks at me and says, "You know, The Capitol, they used tracker jacker venom on me. That's what the doctors in 13 said. You were stung once too. Real or not real?"

"Real," I respond.

"When they used the venom on me, they would show me pictures of my life. But some weren't real. They changed them. At first, they all blurred together. But now, and especially since the serum, I can sort them out a little. Like, the ones that they changed, they have this quality. It's like they're shiny. Like they've been glossed over," he says.

I'm quiet for a few moments. Then, I say, "I know you don't need it as much anymore, but you should get some rest."

Peeta looks at me for a moment before he says, "You're still trying to protect me. Real or not real?"

"Real. That's what you and I do. Keep each other alive," I respond.

Silence falls between us again, and continues until he dozes off.

I sit and wait, feeling the boredom set in. I wish we didn't have to wait.

I'm not sure how long I've been sitting here, or what causes it, but I suddenly sense it. A shift. Something's not right. I pick up my bow, press the button to set an explosive head to an arrow, and slowly stand up, making my way back into the tunnel.

I look both ways down the tunnel, and see nothing but the water and pipes, and then darkness after a few yards. I'm about to go back to my post when I hear it.

I whip around, looking back the way we came. An echoing hiss echoing down the tunnel. I can't tell how far away it is. And it continues.

Then, I realize it's not just coming from far away. I turn around, and see Peeta muttering in his sleep, "Katniss. Katniss."

Suddenly, Peeta shoots awake. He turn and looks at me as the sound of him waking up also wakes Gale.

Me and Peeta stare at each other, dread filling me, even though I'm not entirely sure why. Peeta leans forward and asks, "Katniss?"

Other members of the team and squad begin to wake up. Flint's eyes narrow as his mask reforms, and I hear his claws come out. Jackson sits upright, and she asks, "What is that?"

Peeta suddenly looks afraid. "We gotta go. We gotta get outta here now! Mutts! They released mutts!" he says.

"Move!" Flint says loudly, and everyone grabs everything and starts moving towards the tunnel.

"Pollux, find the fastest way out," I order.

"Come on! Go! Go!" Jackson orders. Pollux hurries out first, the Falcon pack in his arms, him having not strapped it back on in his haste.

I press a button of the bow, switching out the arrowhead for a flare tip. I fire it down the tunnel ahead, showing that we're clear. We follow Pollux down the tunnel, moving quickly but carefully. We come to a corner, and I fire another flare arrow to light our way and confirm nothing is ahead of us.

Pollux hurries down the tunnel, and we come to a small gap in the cement leading into another tunnel. It's just enough for us to crawl through.

Pollux moves towards it, but Flint says, "No, I'll go first." He climbs through the gap, moving so much like a cat its almost freaky. He gets through to the other side, then heads down the path to the right, his claws extended. A few seconds later, he comes back and motions for us to follow him.

Pollux is next. He sets the Falcon pack in the middle then clambers through. Once he gets to the other side, he starts strapping the pack on.

The rest of us follow as Jackson covers our tail. Gale follows Pollux, then Finnick, then me, then Messalla, then Peeta, then Holmes, then Cressida, then Castor. As I get through, I again prep an explosive arrow, just in case.

Finally, it's just Jackson left on the other side as Castor finishes climbing through. Well, more like shrunk down, ran through, then grew back to normal size.

Jackson takes one final look to make sure our tail is clear, then turns to climb through herself. However, almost immediately, she freezes. She then whips around, revealing dozens of mutts materializing from what feels like thin air. Multiple mutts tackle Jackson, biting at her as more climb through the gap. I have a brief moment to look at them as I react. Somewhat humanlike, but pure white, scaly, and thin. They have ovular looking heads, with large mouths full of sharp teeth. And weirder, they have no eyes. They must rely on smell. And more than that, the scent of roses hits me.

That's all I have time to digest before I send my explosive arrow into the gap, killing a number of the mutts. The force of the blast knocks me back, but Finnick quickly pulls me to my feet as Holmes yells, "Go! Go! Go! It's mutts! Come on! Come on!"

"Pollux, get us out of here!" Flint yells. Pollux starts running as fast as he can, leading us down the tunnels. We follow as fast as we can.

We turn several corners, and are running down a stretch of tunnel when suddenly mutts pour out of another tunnel, leaping on Castor. I start to scream for Castor when I hear the familiar sound of him shrinking, and I feel some relief. That is, until more mutts pile on top of Holmes, who screams as they begin biting into him. I also see that they've now cut us off. I'm with Gale, Peeta, Flint, and Pollux, while Cressida, Finnick and Messalla are on the other side of the mutts.

"Fall back!" Flint yells. I prep another explosive arrow and fire it before turning to run.

Me, Gale, Peeta, Pollux, and Flint race down the tunnels. In the back of my mind, I hope that Castor is able to keep up, and Cressida, Finnick, and Messalla are able to find us.

Finally, we reach a large open room, with several platforms in it and a ladder leading up and out of the sewers.

I stop in the room and spin around, prepping a shrapnel arrow. I whip around and shoot it into the forehead of one of the mutts pursuing us, and the head of the arrow lets out a burst of shrapnel that kills about five more in the immediate vicinity.

I start firing normal arrows as more mutts keep coming. Behind me, I hear the sound of Flint's claws slashing through flesh, as well as the sound of Pollux' pistols. I whip around to find a new target and see Gale, now in the Iron Man suit, blasting any mutt he can reach with his repulsors.

A mutt leaps for my head. I duck under it, then whip around and fire an arrow into it. I turn around and see another mutt scrambling towards me. I whip out an arrow and drive it through the mutt's face before I pull it out, kick the mutt to the ground, and fire the arrow into another mutt.

I shoot arrows into two more mutts running into the room before a mutt bursts out of the water and lunges at me. I manage to hold up my bow and push it against the mutt's throat. The mutt tries all it can to get its head closer to me.

That is, until a blur hits it in the head and knocks it flying. I follow the blur, and watch it return to Peeta. As Peeta catches it, I see that it's the shield. The shield of Captain America.

Before I can react, he throws the shield again, taking down three more mutts. He catches the shield as it comes back to him and leaps towards another butt, bashing the shield into its face.

I'm then drawn back into the fight as another mutt leaps at me. I knock aside and fire an arrow into it before I resume targeting any mutt in view. I see another mutt coming at me, but before I can do anything, it's knocked flying seemingly by nothing. I'm confused until Castor suddenly appears, growing to full size in front of me. He turns to me and gives me a thumbs up before shrinking down again.

A mutt leaps up behind me. I try to force it off, but suddenly feel it yanked off. I turn around and see its Cressida, yanking the mutt back using a web rope. She, Finnick, and Messalla race forward, Finnick firing a grenade from his trident back into the tunnel they just came out of the collapse it. He then throws his trident through the chest of a mutt that's dragging Flint by the leg, uselessly trying to bite through his suit.

"Go go go!" Cressida yells.

I turn and see the remaining tunnel flooding with dozens, if not several hundred, mutts, all scrambling towards us in a desparate bid to taste our blood.

Gale steps forward. That circular device that he used in his fight with Electro deploys from his back again. As Finnick and Flint engage the mutts trying to attack him, Gale yells, "Katniss! Electric arrows!"

I quickly prep several electric arrows and fire them one by one in rapid succession into Gale's back, the electricity being absorbed by the device. I know it won't have as much of an effect as Electro's lightning, but it might give Gale the extra boost he needs.

The other cover us as I do this six times. Peeta throws his shield several times. Castor tries to use his advantage of being unseen as much as possible. Cressida tries using her webs to create a barricade in the mouth of the tunnel to keep them at bay, but the mutts keep coming right through it, although it does slow them down a bit.

Finally, Gale shouts, "Get out of the way!" Everyone leaps aside as four attachments deploy from his back and the more powered up cannons deploy around his wrists. They all start to glow, along the Gale's chest. Then, all at once, Gale fires a powered up blast from the cannons deployed from his back, the cannons on his arms, and his unibeam. The massive beams, each so large that they're almost all merged into one beam, blast into the tunnel, killing and disintegrating every mutt they touch.

Gale keeps up the blasts for about 8 seconds or so before he finally ceases it. As the energy fades, we all look down the tunnel and see no sign of any mutts.

"Well. That worked," Finnick says.

"Don't speak too soon. We don't know if there are more of them. We need to seal off all the remaining passages," Gale says. He quickly fires a few missiles that cause the two remaining passages to start caving in.

We hurry up the ladder to where Pollux is waiting for us. As we get up there, Flint yells, "Let's move!"

We run into a large underground hall, full of pillars and with hundreds of lights on the ceiling. Almost immediately, we come under fire from Peacekeepers. Gale redeplos the suit and fires back with his repulsors.

I feel bullets go whizzing past my head. I turn around and see Peacekeepers trying to come up behind us. I prep an explosive arrow and fire it, killing the Peacekeepers.

"Run!" I yell.

We all start running. But, as we do, a beam streaks down from what I through was one of the ceiling lights, and disintegrates Messalla as he's caught in it.

Cressida turns back towards her friend, and even though I can't see her face, as she's wearing her mask, I can tell she's hurting. I grab her and yell, "Come on!"

We all start running, Gale blasting every "ceiling light" in our path with his repulsors while deploying several missiles that streak back behind us and explode among the Peacekeepers, killing them.

As we run, without warning, the ground behind us suddenly breaks up. I see metal churning up the tiles and stone, getting closer to us. We run as fast as we can, finally making it to the other end of the hall before the thing I've already named the "Meat Grinder" stops.

We all run towards the stairs, And I call back, "Peeta! Come on!"

A second later, I realize he's not following us. I look behind and see he's crouched on the ground, shaking and refusing to move.

I run up to him and shout again, "Peeta, come on!"

Peeta protests, yelling that he's a mutt and I should leave him, but I grab his face and yell, "You're not a mutt! You're a hero! You're Captain America! You're…" Words fail me, and then I lean in and kiss him. I hold that kiss for several moments before I pull back and look him in the eyes. "Stay with me," I say.

"Always," he mutters.

"Come on!" Flint yells. I pull Peeta to his feet, and we run after the rest of the group and up the stairs, wondering what to expect once we get aboveground.

And, I'll end there. Hope you liked that one.

So, I hope you'll notice I had Finnick and Castor survive. Castor I thought would be obvious, given he's Ant Man, and if he was at ant size, the mutts wouldn't be able to touch. And then, with Finnick, since we had all the Avengers there, and Gale wearing the Mk85 Iron Man suit with all its weapons, I figured it was a good way to save Finnick. I always hated that Finnick died, so I decided to save him.

Next chapter will cover everything that happened in Tigris' home. I hope you guys are excited for the invasion to finally come to an end. Of course, that won't be the end of the story. But I hope you're still excited for it.

Next chapter will be up soon. Until it is, leave a review, and stay tuned!