The Heroes:

Rhoda Hamilton- Into Thin Air

Steel Keshmin- The Killer Elite

Belisarius Komenus- 28th Hunger Games SYOT

Theo Kasius- We All Fall Down

Lyte Anderson- In Your Hands

Kisarna Talent- In Your Hands

Troy Cahill- Back to Normal

Margo Caspian- Over and Over

The Villains:

Beth O'Darielle- Your Vote Matters

Torchy Conden- Your Vote Matters

Onyx Soul- Into Thin Air

Jack Void- All-Stars Non-Careers

Severa Bronx- first Hunger Games (not SYOT)

Alazyea Mont- 24 Years, 24 Tributes

Mary Ellen Westley- Power to the People

Luxen Linderman- Back to Normal

One of these things was not like the other. My team included Steel Keshmin, one of the earlier competitors and one of the greatest patriots in Panem's history. It had Belisarius Komenus, brother of Victor Makarios Komenus. Then there was a little boy from Six. Of course Lyte would be a hero. He was also a shrimp. Luckily for him, he was also a medic. So things worked out nicely for him. He had seven teammates all watching out for anyone who would threaten their source of first aid.

Nobody had to tell us who we were. The Heroes and Villains quickly sorted themselves out and segregated themselves to opposite sides of the room. The two groups made two huddles as they discussed strategy. Some of the villains played up their roles and jeered at us from across the room. Titian came back in after maybe an hour, and we all stopped and faced him.

"Have you had time to get acquainted?" he asked.

"SIR YES SIR!" Steel screamed out of nowhere. Half of us turned to look at her, and she reddened slightly.

"Then I trust you're ready for the first stage of the Patriot Games," Titian said. A few surprised exclamations sounded across the room.

"It's not as though any of you need time to train," Titian said. "I'm sure you're all raring to get started. So let's start Stage One."

"What's Stage One?" Theo asked. Titian looked at him with perturbation.

"AS I was about to say, Stage One is mortal combat. There will be an Arena adjusted for the size and skills of the competitors. When eight of you are dead, the seven remaining graduate to Stage Two," Titian said.

"When do we start?" Margo asked. Titian looked down at his wristwatch.

He looked up. "Just kidding. It starts now." Fourteen tubes dropped from the ceiling of the underground room we were in. After some jostling, we all found a slot- the Heroes on one side of the circle, the Villains on the other.

It was so sudden I could hardly believe I was in the Arena again. The tube rose up in seconds and there I was. But Titian wasn't kidding about the "adjusted" thing. The "Arena" was a round white room with nothing in it but a Cornucopia brimming with weapons. The walls and floor were seamless white, and there were no exits. The Gamemakers didn't want to wait long. Titian's face appeared over the Cornucopia.

"Fifty-nine, fifty-eight- oh, I'm too impatient. Just start fighting!" he said. The gong sounded as we all burst into action.

It might not have been a good idea to make a team of nothing but villains. Jack jumped straight off his platform and grabbed Luxen from behind. Luxen was dead before any of us even reached the Cornucopia. Mary Ellen was similarly disloyal. She got to the Cornucopia, grabbed the first knife she saw, and stabbed her teammate Alayzea with it. Severa Bronx was from the first Games. She thought she'd be the only one to actually run in. She didn't expect to be competing with half a dozen Careers. Onyx had her bleeding out before she touched a weapon.

Without saying anything, Steel and I formed an instant alliance. We'd spoken in the hour before the Games, and I admired her loyalty as much as she admired my patriotism. We watched each other's backs as we grabbed our weapons from the fray. Three of us were dead in the first ten seconds. We only needed five more.

I wanted to go straight for Onyx, but I had to proritise. Jack was the closest. He was pulling his machete from Torchy's chest when I decapitated him with my sword. Two more were down. Then a gunshot rang out.

WHAT? I thought. There were no guns in the Arena. I followed the noise and saw Onyx and Kisarna on the ground wrestling over a handgun. I was so shocked I froze for an instant. It could have gotten me killed if everyone else hadn't also been surprised into a standstill. Beth dove behind the Cornucopia at the noise, and the Tributes near the pair backed away from the volatile combat. Kisarna wrenched the gun away from Onyx and shot him through the head as he tried to sit up. She shot Mary Ellen as the other girl drew back a spear to throw at her.

Everyone else was carrying short-range weapons. Kisarna stood with her back to the Cornucopia and looked around at all of us, daring one of us to come at her and make her choice easier. She looked at each of us in turn and deliberated, aiming her gun at the head of whoever she was judging. She didn't bother to go around and find Beth. She wasn't a threat. Her eyes skimmed over Steel dismissively. She smirked at Lyte and didn't afford him more than an instant. I was forming a plan to disarm her when the shot rang out. Theo's head burst open and he crumpled. The walls of the Arena fell away to reveal Titian standing outside in a larger room.

"That took... three minutes and sixteen seconds," he said. "Very impressive. Congratulations to those still alive. Next stop: Phase Two."

That went by fast, but that's not the end of the action. Seven more people still have to die somehow.