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Twice Chosen

The next morning, I wasn't sure how I should respond to everything I'd overheard. As much as I still resented the realisation that Zordon had manipulating us basically since the day we met, I equally couldn't ignore the fact that Rita was still a significant threat to everyone. I knew that we still had to focus on the training, but the thought that Zordon had us doing all this so that he could get his body back…

No matter what his ulterior motive might have been, that detail just got on my nerves at best.

Trying to think of something else, I focused my efforts on the current training regime, but I was surprised to find how easy it was to fight by now. I'd generally skimmed over hand-to-hand combat instructions during training for the Games, but I could only assume that some side-effect of the coins made it easier for me to pick up such skills now, as I was picking up new moves what felt like every few minutes and still had time to fume over Zordon.

On the brighter side, by this point the five of us seemed to have reached a point where we were basically part of a well-oiled fighting machine, leaping around from one area in the Pit to another to either take out our current opponents or help one of the others take down their own foe. Peeta and Thresh were still relying on raw strength in their combat strategy while Glimmer, Liv and I favoured speed in a fight, with Liv in particular focusing on avoiding any attempts to attack her directly and just striking back when she had the chance. Still, from what I could tell we all seemed to have reached a point where we were fairly aware of where we were and when another of us might need help on the battlefield.

I may have doubts about why Zordon had done this, but I couldn't deny that we had come a long way from the tentative alliance we'd formed when we first arrived. Even if I still wasn't sure if we were actually friends now as Rue had asked, I had a feeling that if something happened to drop all six of us back in the Games for some reason, all of us would refuse to fight each other for real…

As I finished my latest solo round against the constructs, I decided to take a rest and walked off to sit on the steps and watch the rest of the team training. Liv and Rue were getting another personal lesson from Glimmer, who seemed to have made it her goal to make sure they could handle themselves, while Peeta and Thresh were wrestling with a couple of new opponents.

It was a strange daily routine we'd settled into, but even if I still missed Gale and Prim, looking at these people…

"Katniss?"

Drawn out of my thoughts, I turned around to see Alpha looking at me from the door leading into the ship, in a manner that I could only think of as tentative despite his whole appearance doing little to actually express anything I could understand. Glancing back to confirm that nobody else had seen us, I stood up and walked up the stairs to join the small robot.

"Yes?" I said, keeping my voice low.

"Can… can we talk?"

"With Zordon?"

"I appreciate that you're angry, but you…" Alpha began, before he shook his head and looked more firmly at me. "Can you at least trust that we have reasons for doing things this way beyond you thinking that we're just being… elitist?"

I didn't answer him verbally, but nodded in acknowledgement of his question before I followed Alpha back to the main chamber.

"Katniss," Zordon looked at me, his tone significantly more gentle compared to his previous manner as I walked into the room.

"Zordon," I replied. If he was going to be polite, I would at least give him that much, even if I was determined to make it clear that I wasn't going to outright forgive his lie.

"I… apologise if I seemed… inconsiderate of your own efforts last night," Zordon said, still looking at me with a more solemn manner. "I did not intend to sound as though I am… I recognise that your team have come far when considering how swiftly you have been forced to adjust to your responsibilities as Rangers, but there is much you have not been told because I cannot share it with you…"

"Really?"

"When a Ranger team is assigned to an under-developed world such as this one, one of their purposes is to help this planet achieve its full potential… but only if it can reach that stage naturally."

"I see," I said, fighting to keep my expression neutral as I looked at Zordon's wall.

"If humanity had access to the resources in this ship right now, without any need to strive towards these accomplishments on their own merits, do you think that they would be capable of using them properly? Knowledge is only respected if it is earned; your species must be protected from itself as well as from Rita-"

"I get that," I cut him off, looking up at him with a more intense stare. "Believe me, we all realised from the start that letting the Capitol get control of the kind of technology you've got in here would be a very bad thing, and none of us want that, but this… if we're just left alone like this, we're never going to have the chance to strive for anything. The Districts can't do anything but keep working on everything the Capitol wants us to do, and the Capitol just want to party and be comfortable; they're never going to let any of us be more than this!"

"It is not the responsibility of a Ranger team to seek power on their planet-"

"We don't want power, we just want to… Snow shouldn't be in power!" I yelled, before I let out a brief scream and stormed out of the room, lost for anything else I could say right now.

It just made it more annoying that I couldn't even really feel as angry about Zordon's rejection as I wanted to. Even if I hated how he was basically avoiding any kind of responsibility for the situation on Earth, I could just about see that he was just going along with rules that had been placed on him by others, just as everyone in the Districts had to go along with the Capitol's orders.

I probably don't want to know what could happen if we ever did break those laws of Zordon's; at least he seems like he wants to keep us safe for the sake of our own safety… the Capitol just talks about how we 'need' them but never gives us a chance to do anything differently…

"Everything OK?"

"Glimmer?" I looked up at the would-be Pink Ranger, standing at the edge of the central corridor and looking curiously at me. "Where are-?"

"Blue and the midget are checking another database for some science stuff, and Yellow and Black are looking over the armoury for something new," Glimmer explained with a shrug, before she nodded curiously at me. "What happened in there?"

"Just… debating strategy," I replied, suddenly anxious about sharing anything about my current tension with Zordon with the rest of the team. When Rita was still a problem, we had to focus on dealing with her before anything else; if Zordon got his body back when we morphed, he could deal with justifying himself then. "Are you all right?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"Because you've never gone looking for me like this before?"

Even I was surprised at my comparative level of insight with that comment, but it wasn't hard to realise that Glimmer had some reason for waiting to talk to me on my own. She was getting better at talking with the rest of the team, but there was still a line that she was taking her time to cross.

"…I want to go back home."

"What?" I looked at her in shock, unable to believe that I'd been so wrong about her. "You-"

"Let me finish," Glimmer said, a pained expression on her face that reminded me of the way she'd looked after her confession around the campfire. She let me nod in acknowledgement of her request before she continued. "I… look, maybe this sounds horrible, and you can think of it as an excuse if you want, but… however you look at this, once we beat Rita, I'm probably the only one here who can never go back to her District."

"You can't?" I looked at her uncertainly.

"Face facts, Red, the way everyone back home venerates the Careers, how are they going to react if I show up and reveal that I'm not actually dead?" Glimmer said, a bitter edge to her voice. "Everyone's going to love that you guys cheated the system if we can find the right way to sell it without telling anyone about the big giant head back there, but I'll be lucky if I'm not officially disowned by my parents the moment they learn I'm still alive."

"So… you go back now and you can get any of your old stuff before your parents start throwing it out?"

"Pretty much," Glimmer nodded. "So… shall we?"

The subsequent teleportation to the outskirts of District One was a bit riskier than my previous trips to the wilderness, but I was surprised to find myself so easily settling into a routine with Glimmer for this impromptu mission. Training with the other Rangers had been one thing, but that was basically an extension of what we had been doing in training prior to the Games. The idea that I was now going on an actual hunt with someone other than Gale… even if I knew there was a difference, it still felt strange.

Considering our new target, I had considered asking Alpha if he could send us straight to Glimmer's house, but both he and Glimmer had agreed that wasn't a good idea. The two of us had grabbed a couple of knives just to make sure that we were able to defend ourselves without drawing too much attention if anyone saw us wandering the streets. Just like when I went out on my own for my earlier hunts, we were provided with basic cloth masks, Glimmer's a distinctive pink where mine was red, but otherwise it was all up to our own stealth and discretion to avoid attracting any attention during this mission.

Once we had arrived on the outskirts of the District, I was surprised to find just a large stone wall rather than an electric fence. Glimmer was able to point out a few cameras that might have spotted us in particular areas, and from there it was easy to jump to near the top of the wall and then jump into the district itself. There was still a short distance between the walls and the nearest building, but Glimmer just paused to look at the large structure in front of us before she moved on. I took a moment to take in the large building, with multiple levels and some lights on in various windows, before I began to hurry after her. Fortunately, I was saved from asking my more immediate questions when I saw the elaborate writing above the gate on the other side of the building.

"Was that the Academy?" I indicated the large building behind us in surprise as I caught up with the Career. It was strange to be walking calmly through the streets of another District, even if it was dark and there was no sign of anyone else around, but I knew from when I left to go hunting in Twelve that running at any point would at least risk attracting attention. If we maintained a brisk walking pace, anyone looking at us from inside their houses would probably just think we had a weird dress sense even if they wouldn't realise who we were.

"It was a boarding school, so we basically stayed there full-time," Glimmer explained with a shrug as we settled into a brisk walking pace. "I went home for a few big public holidays and personal days like birthdays, but otherwise I've been there since I was seven."

"You start at seven?"

"It's just a normal school for the first few years," Glimmer clarified, as we walked through what looked to me like some kind of shopping district. "We only move into Career training in our early teens, and that's if we've shown we've got a knack for what they'll do there."

"So… if you're strong enough?" I asked cautiously.

"And that you've got the smarts and speed to pick up on new things," Glimmer clarified. I wasn't sure how to feel about the pride in Glimmer's voice as she spoke about that particular detail, but I decided not to question that right now. "Anyway, like I said, we stayed at the Academy full-time, but once I was Reaped, my stuff would have been taken out of my room and put in storage so that it can be sent back to my family if I was killed."

"What if you'd won?"

"It would all get moved to my place in the Victor's Village by the time I got back."

"That makes sense…" I nodded, intrigued at this 'behind-the-scenes' look at life in One despite myself. "What about everyone who isn't chosen?"

"Well, obviously some people just can't cut it in training and get shipped off back to the regular school eventually, but it's not like there's any shame in that; you only get called out if you couldn't cut it for some really warped reason or other, like…"

Glimmer trailed off, but when she turned her attention to a specific house on the current street, I decided not to push it. Now that my attention was on our surroundings, I noticed that the houses here, while more elaborately built than what I was used to from Twelve, were all relatively similar to each other, with simple white walls and triangular roofs. They were certainly better than the more basic housing in Twelve, where some homes were so simple I wouldn't have been surprised if a grandparent had built the house themselves. I half-expected Glimmer to go for the door, but instead she walked around to the back of the house and basically jumped up to grab a particular window, which she slid upwards and then climbed inside.

Not wanting to just stand around, I jumped up after her, glancing around inside to see a surprisingly Spartan if comfortable room. I was confused at first- my own room back in Twelve might be limited but I did have a few pictures and books my father had left me- but then I reminded myself that Glimmer had said she didn't stay in this room very often, and her parents probably didn't want to leave items commemorating their apparently dead daughter on display. Despite that thought, I wasn't sure if I was surprised or sad when Glimmer ignored the pictures and went straight for a closet, opening it to grab a large bag before she began to stuff various clothes into it. Wanting to at least try to feel useful, I tried opening a couple of drawers, but found nothing more intimate than coloured lace that I thought might be underwear before I quickly shut them in embarrassment.

"You know," Glimmer grinned over at me as I turned to see her putting what looked like a pair of daggers into her bag, "I never actually let anyone see those on me-"

"It was an accident!" I replied, only just remembering to keep my voice down so that nobody else in the house could hear me. "I just- I thought I might find- are you done?"

"…Pretty much," Glimmer looked around the room for a moment before she glanced back into the closet and nodded to herself. "Yeah, anything left here isn't really worth worrying about."

"You… don't even want a picture?"

"They're not going to want one of me once they know I ditched the Games; why should I want one of them?"

I knew that reading people wasn't my best skill, but even in the dark, I could see the tension and pain in Glimmer's eyes as she spoke. Even if she accepted the idea that she'd never see her family again on one level, on another…

I pushed the thought aside as Glimmer slung the bag over her shoulder and jumped out of the window. I thought about trying to close it behind us once I was out, but since the missing clothes would make it obvious that someone had been in anyway, I just jumped out after Glimmer and hurried after her. We moved more briskly this time as we headed back for the Academy and the wall behind it, even as a thought occurred to me.

"There's a gap… near the Academy?" I looked curiously at Glimmer once we were on the other side of the wall.

"Basically anyone living in the Academy itself is under so much observation they'd never be able to get out of the place without being spotted long before they got to the wall," the would-be Pink Ranger explained with a shrug as we settled into a more leisurely walk. "On top of that, anyone who did find out about the gap is either so… committed to everything that they'd never use it or they'd have to go so far that someone would spot them earlier."

"And even if they could get out, what are the odds anyone would know what to do?" I found myself reflecting, as I suddenly remembered Gale's old attempts to suggest we just leave Twelve and live outside of the District. I'd always been fairly sure the two of us could live like that, but Prim and my mother had been more of a question-mark…

I would never be sure if it was sheer bad luck or if she had been waiting for the right moment, but we had only just entered the forests around District One when I heard the sound of something coming towards us. I held up a hand to halt Glimmer as I tried to identify the source of the noise, but I didn't have time to come up with a true plan when something seemed to crash into me, pinning me to the ground with a hand on my chest. A yell from the other side was enough to confirm that Glimmer had been caught as well, but when I turned to look at our attacker I would have screamed if it wasn't for the pressure on my chest.

The face was harder to make out in the dark than it had been in the projection Zordon had shown us on our first day, but there was something in the figure's manner that was unmistakable. From what I could see in the moonlight, rather than the black dress she had been wearing in the projection, she was now wearing a more tattered version of that dress, with long blue nails and what looked like wires coming out of her body at odd intervals.

"Do you know who I am?" the woman asked, looking between us with a dark smirk on her face.

"…Rita?" I asked, feeling a need to speak up; if I was going to be the leader, I had to take responsibility in situations like this.

"Yes," Rita grinned mockingly at me before she turned her focus to Glimmer, one finger carefully stroking the cheek of the ex-One resident. "I was once just like you… so pretty, so innocent…"

"Hey!" Glimmer yelled, her body twisting in Rita's grip. I looked down to see Glimmer's knee strike Rita in the chest, but it only forced our attacker up by a couple of inches. In desperation, I grabbed a knife and tried to stab the rogue ex-Ranger, but the blade just seemed to skim over Rita's armour with nothing but a few small sparks.

"What a delightful failure," the alien woman grinned mockingly at us. "Are all the Rangers on Zordon's new team so young? Have you even morphed yet?"

"Bite me, bitch," Glimmer grunted. In response Rita got back to her feet and slammed us both against a pair of nearby trees, moving so quickly I wasn't sure if she even let go of our necks at any point.

"Trick question," the twisted ex-Ranger said, mockingly answering her own question as her thumbs stroked our throats. "If you could morph, we would be having a very different conversation…"

For some reason, she actually seemed to sniff the two of us, before she finally seemed to properly register our Ninjetti masks and studied us with a new grin. "Pink and Red? What a surprise… particularly you."

"Some rule against Reds being girls?" I retorted, trying to sound more confident than I felt as Rita's attention was now focused on me.

"More surprised that you could be any kind of leader," Rita retorted, before she smirked at us both. "You want your armour? I'll show you mine."

She stepped back with those words, but Glimmer and I could only tremble and watch as her eyes glowed green and spikes seemed to emerge from inside her body, before shards of green armour covered her chest and upper arms. I could just make out some kind of gold protrusions coming from her forehead above her eyes, but Glimmer suddenly brought my focus back to the matter at hand when she slammed her elbow into Rita's chin. The grip around my throat weakened enough that I was able to grab the arm and force it away from me, swiftly joining Glimmer in pinning Rita to the ground, each of us holding down one arm.

"No, please, you're hurting me!" Rita said, in a tone that even I could tell was sarcastic. "You are so strong…"

Glimmer looked at Rita in surprise at that statement, but that was enough for her to kick herself back onto her feet and throw us both off her arms. I felt something hit me in the back, but had only just realised that I'd hit another tree (we were doing a lot of damage to this forest) before Rita was once again in front of me, her forearm pinning me to the tree as she held Glimmer by the throat in her other hand.

"I'm just kidding," she said, initially dismissive before she gave us a twisted smile that I could almost consider an approving one if it had been delivered under any other circumstances. "You've got guts, girls; I could be impressed if we'd met elsewhere."

"You want to destroy our planet and you think we could have ever been friends?" I glared at her.

"Let me guess, Zordon told you that's what would happen?" Rita said mockingly before she shrugged. "To be fair, he's probably right-"

Glimmer let out an outraged scream as she tried to hit Rita again, only for Rita to throw the would-be Pink Ranger into another tree, face-first. For a moment after Glimmer had struck the tree and fallen to the ground I was concerned that she might be dead, but then I saw her gasping and realised that she had just been winded from the impact.

"Now then," Rita said, looking firmly at me, "where is the Zeo Crystal?"

"We don't know!" I yelled, lost for what I wanted to happen now but hoping desperately that the truth would be enough.

"Sadly, I believe you," Rita said, her tone low for a moment before she stepped back, leaving me to fall to the ground and crawl anxiously over to Glimmer. Despite my lack of experience in medical matters, a quick check was enough to assure me that Glimmer's ribs appeared to be fine, but I didn't have time to do more before Rita was standing above us, looking down with a cold glare.

"Tomorrow I will destroy this country of Panem," she said in an authoritative manner. "But in exchange for your lives… you will find out where that crystal is and you will come to me. We can have a little deal, my friends."

As she stepped away from us with a probing expression, I wished that I could come up with any kind of idea beyond the current concept suddenly buzzing through my brain.

Even I knew that what I was about to propose would be a ridiculous risk, but there was literally nothing better I could think of…