ZEBULON CHARLES- Mike Mothra

Beth was still out there. It was just them and me now. Beth had one last person to get through. If she just outlived Laken, this was all hers. And Kade... I hoped it came easy for her.

Beth Crissino, District Four female (17)

As I watched Zebulon's face in the sky, I could feel Laken peeking at me. Like it so often did, it took me a while to figure out what he was thinking. When I did, I tried to ignore it. I found things to do and excuses to turn away from him so he couldn't say it.

"Just Mike left, then." I stiffened when he nonchalantly spoke up.

"Yeah. Honestly I didn't think he'd make it this long," I said. I put on what I hoped was a real-looking smile. Anything to diffuse what I knew was coming. Just an innocent remark, I told myself. It doesn't mean anything.

"Think he's still at the Cornucopia?"

I only had a few minutes to respond. I could stall a bit, pretending I was gathering my thoughts, but I had to face what Laken was saying. There was no hope of getting around it, not when there were only four of us left and Kade was largely a nonentity. Mike was the only reason Laken and I weren't killing each other right now. Either of us could kill Kade easily, but Mike, gentle though he was, was just large enough he could possibly wound one of us if we went alone, leaving them vulnerable to the other.

So what's it going to be?A moment had come that I never would have dreamed of. What's it going to be, Beth? What's life worth to you?

Life...Mike's life, or mine? And what sort of life? Life as a Victor. Life as a killer. Facing Mike's family on my victory tour. Facing Isabella every day. Facing a mirror every night.

But don't I owe it to him? To face him when I betray him? Otherwise I'd be leaving him to Laken, to die terrified and in pain. I could go to him. Talk for a while. Maybe do it from behind, quickly. Not that Laken would go out of his way to hurt Mike. It just felt better to do this myself.

I looked down and tugged at my shirt, pretending it was more uncomfortable than it was. It wasuncomfortable, though, all stuck up underneath my bra with sweat and dampness. I couldn't remember the last time I'd felt entirely dry in the arena. I shuddered every time my fingers brushed against my hair. It was like greasy strings of yarn, all clumped and slick. My sodden socks clung to the inside of my shoes. At night Laken and I slept barefoot to try to air them out, but every morning they were still wrinkled and pruned. I would have thought being so wet would cool me down, but it just felt like I was drowning just to try to breathe.

But I was just trying to distract myself. Laken wasn't going anywhere. He was standing just a bit behind and beside me, waiting for an answer.

"Yeah, I don't suppose he'd move," I said. No, I knew he wouldn't. He'd wait there, in case I came to him.

Laken let the statement hang in the air. He walked ahead of me and looked back. The restrained sympathy on his face brought tears to my eyes. "I have friends, too," he said. "I'm sorry."

I blinked the tears away and put on a businesslike expression. "Just the Games," I said. "I wish we could all be volunteers, but that's not how it is."

"I can do it," Laken said. "I can circle around ahead of you. You can go to greet him and when you do I can do it while he's distracted. He won't know we're together."

My mouth trembled as I tried to act like it was no big deal. "I think I should help. I guess I owe it to him to be honest. To not pretend like I wasn't involved."

"Guess this it is, then," Laken said. "We won't need each other with Kade."

I looked around for some chore that needed to be done, or some supplies that needed to be gathered up. But there was nothing, nothing but the sun moving along in the sky, lengthening the shadows imperceptibly. Just time passing, drawing closer to the moment it would happen.

"Sucks for the winner," I smirked a little. "Killing their District partner and all."

Laken held up his hands. "What are you gonna do?"

A trickle of mud ran down inside my sock as I stepped forward after Laken. We walked over the damp ground toward the edge of our camp, and then into the forest. I thought about Mike's life and my life after. I knew it wasn't worth it.

Laken Dervissey, District Four male (18)

Beth was a bad liar. They were trying to be sneaky, but they gave themselves away. When you smile for real, it reaches your eyes. The way Beth dawdled, how her lips quivered when she agreed it was time to kill Mike... she wasn't going to go through with it. When we reached the Cornucopia she was going to warn him. She'd warn him and they'd turn on me. Together they'd kill me, and then she'd face the reality that now there was no one left to do her dirty work. She'd stay with Mike until the Gamemakers got impatient and killed them both. And that's how Kade, who didn't even have a bust yet, would win the Hunger Games. Not that I begrudged a little girl her life, but not at the expense of my own. Not because Beth tried to double-cross me.

Beth bent to pull their shoe out of the mud. I turned and put up my arm just as she struck up at me with her sai. Shock flitted over her face as I dodged backwards and fell into a fighting stance.

"I'm not that dumb," I said.

Beth's eyes jittered as they searched for some excuse and quickly realized the game was up. She drew her arms back to cover her torso and I took the chance she'd passed up to set the tone for the fight. I feinted a jab at her stomach and pivoted when she went to block, hitting her in the ribs instead. She grunted but kept her balance, slashing out at me with a sai to drive me back. When she jumped back to get some distance, I took out my hook and let it hang from my hand, looking for a good time to strike. With her sais she was more dangerous up close than I was with my bare fists, but my rope was perfect for yanking something out of someone's hands.

As Beth adjusted her grip, I struck. I swung my hook at the handle of her sai to yank it from her hands. But she yanked back, and I saw too late that she'd adjusted her hold to clench the weapon at the base of its tines rather than around its handle, so that I had to pull her bodily instead of just her weapon. The force pulled me forward, and Beth furthered the motion by chopping down at the rope with their free hand, pulling it tight and me with it. I stumbled forward and narrowly turned aside fast enough to get a swipe to my side instead of a deep stab.

At such close range, I had to make a hard choice. My hook was largely useless with the rope wound around Beth's wrist. I let go of it to focus on my fists, knowing Beth wouldn't risk trying an unfamiliar weapon so it wouldn't do her any good. I aimed a punch at Beth's throat and she dodged fast enough that I missed the mark but not fast enough to escape entirely. My fist hit her jaw and slid off as her head snapped back and I heard her teeth clack. Blood trickled from her mouth as she shook off the blow.

The warmth of my own blood on my side stirred something up in me. For the first time in a while, I was in a real fight with a deadly opponent. I'd forgotten how it felt to know my life was in my own hands and in moments I could be dead. My problems were gone. My old life was forgotten. Everything was lost in the exhileration and primal focus of mortal danger. I could stop thinking and just be.

I brought up my knee into the side of Beth's leg. She fell- partly onto me- but stayed on her feet. She slashed at my face with her sai and I wondered why she'd taken such a clearly choreographed path. I'd seen her blow coming from the start and had time to avoid a fatal stab to the head. All she got was a shallow scrape along my forehead.

I aimed a palm at Beth's nose. She turned her head to the side and I felt her cheekbone shift when my palm impacted, slipping a little on the blood from her mouth. Something fell into my eye and I reflexively blinked. When my vision didn't clear, I saw Beth's purpose. The blood from my forehead was running into my eyes, flowing with the uncanny volume head wounds have. I stepped back, wiping at my eyes.

A staggering pain between my legs blocked out everything. Wet mud hit my back and all I could do was gasp for breath and try not to vomit at the pain still throbbing where Beth had kicked me. A shadow fell over my clouded eyes and then my head rocketed sideways when they kicked me again. Over the buzz in my ears and the stinging blurriness in my eyes, I could faintly see Beth drawing up her leg to stomp my head. At last, I knew, I would be over my mother for good.

4th place: Laken Dervissey- stomped to death by Beth

Since sais are kind of hard to actually kill someone with, Beth chose a faster finishing move. Let me start off with the consolation that this had nothing to do with reviews and I had this placement planned for a long time (though fun fact I was going to go with a tiger instead originally). Laken took any advantages he was offered, using the arena to his full potential and setting himself up immediately as the one to beat. At first he seemed kind of amorphous in personality, but he proved to be resourceful as well as perceptive (though Beth's form said she's particularly awkward, making her "tells" more obvious). While he got unlucky in the fight, Laken's high placement was no fluke. Thanks neonfunerals and bummer I posted this right after reading your review lol