"Combat is not a fair fight!" Head Mentor Callus screams at the top of his lungs. His words echo off the bare walls of the gymnasium and back into our ears. The ten of us that remain in the "R & R" Center are seated in a semi-circle surrounding a large mat laid out in the center of the floor. He stands in the middle of it, continuing his lecture. "If you think for one moment that the winner of a battle is determined solely on size and strength alone, you've already lost. Size does not matter. If you know that you cannot compete with your opponent's physical power, than you must take the fight to the next level. You must outthink him. You must deceive him. If he thinks that you're going to go right, then go left. If he thinks that you're going to go up, then go down. Find his weakness and exploit it. That is the secret to victory. It goes to the person who is willing to find it rather than expect that it will just come on its own."

I am nine years old, still the youngest and smallest of the group. However, due to my particular pedigree, I always find myself volunteered to be Head Mentor Callus' sparring partner in hand-to-hand combat training. I think he likes to use me to make his points to the others…or just beat up on me. Sometimes, I can't tell.

"Snow, get up here!" I slowly rise to my feet and make way to the center of the mat. "Hurry up, I don't have all day." This is definitely not a fair fight. I stand toe to toe with him and barely come to his waist. He probably also has a good 150 pounds on me. The others giggle as they anticipate what will happen. "Shut up, all of you or you'll be next," he screams to silence them. "Alright, come at me, Snow." It doesn't escape my attention just how ridiculous this is. I ready myself for brutal pain as I charge forward, swinging my tiny fists. The only answer I receive is a blow directly to my face which sends me backwards into the ground. My eyes begin to tear and my nose starts to swell, but I climb back up and charge forward again.

This time I try to hold my skinny arms in front of my head and tuck my chin. It works for a few seconds, but eventually Head Mentor Callus punches my stomach. I crumple in a heap to the mat and pull my knees to the fetal position as he continues to rain blows down on me.

"Dammit, Snow! Did you not hear a single word I said?" he yells, ceasing his barrage. "If you try to fight a frontal assault on a superior enemy, you will get destroyed every time. It's not about luck or chance. Its gonna happen." He grabs my arm and pulls me back up to my feet. I am definitely crying now, and the others will make my life miserable for it later, but to his credit, Head Mentor Callus doesn't a say thing. He merely drops down to my eye level and speaks directly at my face, one on one. "Think Snow, what do you have that I don't? How can you use it against me?"

He gets back up and walks ten feet away from me. "When you have your answer, attack me again."

I think hard to myself, trying to block out the pain of my previous injuries.

"He's big, really big. And I am small. How is he big? He's tall, so for him to hit me, he has to bend over. When people are bending over…they can't balance as well…" I have my answer.

"Ok, Head Mentor. I'm ready."

"Then come on." I charge straight forward as fast as I can, not giving any indication of trying to protect myself. He balls up his fist for a huge blow, but just as he swings down toward me, I drop down to the mat, slide across its smooth vinyl surface and go directly between his legs. He has leaned so far forward trying to strike at me that he has to steady himself. It is all the opportunity I need.

I spin around and kick as hard as I can to the back of his knees. His legs give out and he falls forward hard. I jump up and latch onto his back, wrapping my arms around his neck and squeezing as hard as I can. However, just as I think I've won, he grabs my arm and flips me off his back to the mat so that I am staring directly into face. He pins me down with his massive left hand as he raises his right fist for a death blow. I wince expecting to be knocked out cold, but he slowly lowers his arm and extends his hand to help me up. I grab for it and find myself hoisted back onto my feet.

"Not bad, Snow," he says with an approving grin. "You're finally starting to think like a warrior."

Now, sixteen years later, as I stare up into the snake's hate-filled eyes, cringing at the sound of this beast's demon-like hiss, I once again find myself in an unfair fight.

"Guess I need to start thinking like a warrior pretty fast…"

I raise my rifle and fire a snap burst at the snake's head to see what effect Ohm's magic bullets have on muttation snakeskin. Unfortunately, the answer is not a lot. A few of the rounds pierce through, but the beast is so massive that he barely notices a few pin pricks. He shakes his rattle again and I realize all I have done is just make it angrier.

"Nice try. You better run, Colonel," Ohm's voice echoes from around the courtyard. "I don't think he likes you very much…" A split second after the words finish, I see the snake coil up and lunge forward with incredible speed directly at me. I roll hard to the left as the snake's fangs miss me by just a few inches. The snake recoils back around to prepare for a second strike, but I am already moving toward the flames.

It's very rare that a fun fact from seventh grade biology class saves your life, but today is one of those days. I remember that snake's eyes can only detect infrared energy…heat.

"If I run around the burning debris in the courtyard, he won't be able to see me…"

The snake shoots along the ground right on my tail, but as soon as I move around Tracks' flaming hull, the beast slows to a stop and shakes its rattle angrily. It seems my memory is still good. The snake is confused as his eyes scan back and forth through the flames, searching for me. I continue to run in between burning piles of ammunition crates and fuel tanks before looking back at my adversary. For a few seconds, he considers his options, but soon he rears back up. I see his nostrils flare and then he begins to slither forward again.

"Great, it looks like he can still smell me."

The snake continues to creep forward in my direction, but his hesitation as he continues to sniff the air gives me just enough time to start to size him up.

"Alright, Ares, what is this thing's weakness? Think! He's very large, but still extremely fast. I can stay around the flames for a little while, but eventually he'll get close enough to detect me with that nose of his and then I'll be his dinner anyway. Bullets aren't going to stop him, but what about an explosion?" I reach down to my belt. Luckily I remembered to grab more grenades off of Tracks. "Good, but not good enough. He would just slither away before the grenade did any real damage. No, it would be almost like the explosion would have to be from the inside of him…" Suddenly, I have an idea. I just need to figure out one thing. "I gotta get him still, if only for a few seconds. Now, how am I going to do that?" I look back towards the remains of the front concrete wall. The center of it is in ruins; the edges are intact but cracked. "There it is."

Suddenly, I know the snake's weakness. To him, I'm just a tiny, helpless rodent, and he's just a normal rattlesnake going after his prey. He doesn't know how big or powerful he is. How do you kill a rattlesnake? You take its head clean off. Why should I have thought this one would be any different? The muttation doesn't know that I can outsmart him, and I think that will be his downfall.

I run straight towards the crumbling wall. When I reach the barrier, I grab my rifle and bang it loudly against the concrete.

"Over here, you bastard!" I yell as loud as I can. The beast senses my vibrations. I see his eyes grow wide and his nostrils flare again. He begins rattling wildly as he thinks he has me cornered. He is a fearsome sight right now. The glowing flames reflect off his rosy scales and the massive slits in his eyes. I am so terrified that I begin to tremble, but I hold firm considering I only have one shot. He won't fall for this twice, and even if he did, Ohm would never let him repeat that mistake.

The beast slithers straight through the burning wreckage and takes his place directly in front of me.

"C'mon. I'm right here. Just do it," I spit at him. He rears up into the sky once more, readying himself for the death strike. I remember being nine years old, staring down Head Mentor Callus.

"It's the same thing," I repeat over and over again to myself. "I just don't get to be lifted off the mat if I fail." The snake strikes forward, jaws open wide. I see his fangs ready to impale me with their poison, but just before they find their target, I roll forward and to the left, passing directly underneath him. His head slams against the concrete with almost as much force as Tracks. A large piece of wall breaks free and falls directly on top of his face. The snake lurches backward reflexively, but he is stunned…just as I had hoped for. His jaw drops down loosely and he begins to move his head back and forth wildly trying to find where I disappeared to. Finally, his head spins around and he finds me behind him. He shows his fangs again, but his slowed reflexes give me just the right amount of time. I pull out a grenade and heave it directly into his open mouth. A split second later, the explosion slices through the muttation's neck and separates the head from the body.

The writhing mass of glistening rose scales continues to reflexively twitch and shake the rattle, but I look into the snake's eyes, my grandfather's eyes, and see them finally glaze over. Slowly, I come around behind the severed neck, stick my rifle into the bloody stump, and pull the trigger; blowing the snake's brains out through its face. I've done it. I've finally killed the last living bit of Coriolanus Snow.

The beast is gone, but there is no yelling or celebration. There is still work to be done. I walk toward the open doorway leading to the mountain. As I pass the body of a fallen hunter, I kneel down, check his belt and pull out an access card. There are no words of anger or fear from Ohm this time. His best chance at survival has failed. His army is destroyed. His fortress lies in ruins. It is just Lizzy, him, and me.

I walk into the mountain, scanning down the hallways. Soon, I begin to recognize the area where my cell was. I purposefully retrace my steps till I find myself face to face with the entrance to the control room. Ohm hasn't sealed it. He knows the showdown will be here and now. I swipe the card across the lock plate, the double doors slide open, and I step inside.