Disclaimer: I don't own X-Men or The Hunger Games.

Note: Just a quick reminder to vote in the "favorite contestants" poll if you haven't yet. Also, quick plug for the SYOT collaboration I'm doing with my brother, so feel free to check that out and send us some tributes.

Training Day One
Protect

Ian Viera, 23

They had known this was a possibility.

Ian glanced out at the cafeteria, waiting, but the first contestant on his schedule showed no sign of budging from the table where he and his allies were sitting. Ian sighed. The other three coaches had already left with their first contestants, who, if not eager, were at least willing to get started, hoping to learn as much as they could. Alannah had left with Penelope, bringing Joseph with her. Both Emery and Florence were accompanying Kenji to his session with Maria. And Vincent had taken four of them – Fae, Henry, Kiara, and Iola.

That wasn't the problem. Kiara was supposed to have been his first session, but they'd ironed that out the night before. When they'd arranged the schedule, they'd simply put the contestants in order by age – younger contestants in the morning, older ones in the afternoon. They'd known from the start that they might need to switch things up based on who was working together, and sure enough, Kiara had asked him last night if she could swap with someone so that she could join Fae for her session.

By itself, that certainly wasn't an issue. Elio, who had overheard them, had offered to switch, and assured Kiara that it was no trouble at all. Ian shook his head. He'd suspected then the real reason that it wasn't any trouble. Elio had no intention of coming to his session, and from the look of things, neither did the other two. Lea and Jaime, of course, had time to change their minds. Lea's session with Maria was scheduled right before lunch, and Jaime was Vincent's last of the day.

Of course he was the one who had to deal with this first. Ian glance over at Nicholas, who shrugged. Judah was probably already hard at work with a contestant or two who had decided to take him up on his offer, and he didn't see Anita, either. He'd seen Alvin leave with Penelope, probably tagging along in case something went wrong.

Nicholas made his way over to where Ian was watching Elio and his allies. "So." His tone was almost casual. "What's your play?"

Ian shook his head. "If they don't want to train, that's their choice." Part of him had been hoping that they'd be able to gather a little more support. A larger group of them might have stood a chance, but three? Three wasn't enough to make a difference – not really. Not now. What they were doing was futile, but it was also brave, in a way. Maybe it was especially brave if they knew just how pointless it was.

Nicholas nodded slightly. "A word of advice?"

"If I say no, will that stop you?"

"Probably not." He shook his head. "It is their choice, but it's your responsibility to make sure that it's an informed choice. Make sure that they know what it is that they're refusing."

"I think we made it pretty clear why they were training—"

"In general, yes," Nicholas agreed. "But specifically, two of them may not see much of a point, and the third … well, the third may not want to use their power at all, much less practice with it, unless you give them a reason."

Ian sighed. Nicholas was right. Ian turned to head towards the table where Elio was sitting, but Nicholas' hand on his arm stopped him. "Look, if it turns out you can't protect them, don't be too hard on yourself."

Ian shook his head. "I know I can't protect them. Not all of them, at least. Only two of them are going to make it out of this, but—"

"That's not what I meant," Nicholas interrupted. "You can't protect any of them from the Games. But if it turns out you can't protect these three from themselves, from their own good intentions … don't take it personally. You just happened to have the bad luck of trying first."

Ian nodded, then shook Nicholas' arm off and headed over to the table. Was that his job? To protect these contestants from themselves? Protect them from trying to do the right thing? Were they doing the right thing? For that matter, was he doing the right thing?

He wished he could be certain.

Lea Cervantes, 18

He had seemed so certain.

Lea watched Elio's expression as one of the coaches – Ian, she was pretty sure – made his way towards them. Elio smiled a little, but it seemed forced. "Look, whatever he says, we have to stick together," Elio reminded them. "This doesn't work if we start to compromise."

Lea nodded. He was right. He had to be right, because the alternative was … well, the alternative was that what they were doing was pointless. A noble gesture, maybe, but an empty one. If this didn't work…

"Good morning, Elio." Ian's voice was cheerful, but that, too, seemed forced. "Maybe you forgot; you offered to switch spots with Kiara last night. That means you're up."

Elio leaned forward a little, his arms resting on the table. "I didn't forget. We're not going to train."

Ian nodded. He'd been expecting that. He hadn't really thought that Elio had forgotten; that was obvious. He'd been trying to give him an out, a way to back down without looking bad. Ian glanced around the table. "And does that go for all of you?"

Lea nodded immediately. Jaime hesitated a moment, but then they nodded, as well. Ian took a seat between Elio and Jaime. "Look. I'm not going to force you to come to training. That would be pointless. You could just come and sit there, after all, and that would accomplish nothing. But if you don't mind me asking … Why?"

"Why what?" Lea asked.

"Why don't you want to train? What do you think you're going to accomplish by just sitting here? Do you really think anyone is going to join you?"

"Maybe," Elio answered flatly.

"You're wrong."

"Maybe we are. Maybe not. What makes you so certain?"

"Because if anyone was going to join you, they would have done it by now. They would have done it when you first spoke up yesterday, or last night during the show, or they would have joined you this morning at this table right here. You know why they didn't?"

Lea crossed her arms. "Because they're scared."

"Damn right, they're scared," Ian agreed. "They're scared of dying."

Lea shook her head. "There are worse things."

"Really? You ever seen someone die?"

Silence. Finally, Lea shook her head. "No."

Ian turned to the others. "What about you?"

Elio shook his head. Jaime looked away, but finally muttered, "Yes."

"What was it like?"

Lea shook her head. "You don't need to—"

"Overwhelming," Jaime answered before Lea could get any farther. "It was my grandmother. She'd been sick for a while, and … and we knew she didn't have much time. There was nothing I could do – nothing except take some of the pain away. I just felt so…" They trailed off, near tears.

"Helpless?" Ian's voice was gentler now.

"Yeah."

"But you did what you could to help her. And you would have done anything to be able to save her, to protect her from what was happening."

"Of course I would."

"That's what I'm asking you to do now. Once you're in the Games, once people start dying, you don't want to end up wondering whether there was something you could have done to save each other, if only you had swallowed your pride and done a little training."

Lea glared. This wasn't about pride. It was about doing the right thing. But Jaime didn't seem so sure. "It's not like my power's going to save anyone," they reasoned.

"You don't know that. If you're injured in a fight, you don't think it would be useful to transfer that pain to your opponent – or to someone who's about to hurt one of your friends? If you're trying to escape from another group and one of you is injured, you don't think it would be useful to get rid of that pain so that you could move quicker?"

Jaime shook their head. "I can't get rid of it. I can only transfer it to other people, and if there aren't any other people around—"

"What about animals?"

Jaime Sanchez, 20

"What about animals?"

Jaime raised an eyebrow. Ian had asked the question so casually, it had caught them off guard. "What?"

"Can you transfer pain to animals?"

"I … I don't know," Jaime admitted. "I've never tried." They'd never had any reason to – and certainly not any desire to. But they could see where Ian was going now.

Ian nodded, glad they were following along. "If the three of you end up alone, maybe one of you is injured, doesn't think they can keep going, and maybe there happens to be a bird overhead or a squirrel skittering up a tree … Don't you think that would be useful? Hell, it might even be a good way to catch an animal if you're running low on food. Transfer a bit of pain, maybe a smaller animal can't take that much and that gives you a chance to nab it."

Jaime stared. "You think … You think that would work?"

"I don't know," Ian admitted. "That's the point. That's what training is for – to find out what you can and can't do now so that when it matters, you know whether you'll be able to pull it off. I don't know if any of that is possible. I don't know if it works on animals at all. But don't you want to find out?"

Jaime bit their lip, unsure. Part of them did want to know if it was at least possible. The idea of causing an animal pain was horrifying, yes, but surely that was better than doing it to a human. Jaime glanced over at Elio and Lea, who were watching. Waiting to see if they were going to give in. If they were going to crack.

Ian nodded, as if realizing he would have to make some headway with the other two before Jaime would agree. "And what about you, Lea? I know you can copy movements, but that's only if you've seen them, right?"

"Right."

"What if I told you we have a pile of martial arts videos, just waiting for you to watch? All sorts of training exercises, and they usually start with the basics and work their way up, but you could just skip right to the end, couldn't you. A few hours, and you'd be ready to compete with the masters."

"What makes you think I haven't already done that?"

"Because if you had, you would have used it when they came to collect you." He shook his head. "Or maybe you wouldn't have. But I'm sure we could come up with something you haven't already learned. And Elio—"

"Don't," Elio interrupted. "I'm not interested. These two can make their own decisions, but you're not going to be able to tempt me into this."

"I'm not trying to tempt anyone, Elio. I'm not the enemy here."

"Then why are you trying so hard to get us to play along?"

"I'm trying to help you. I'm trying to give you a chance, to keep you from throwing away an opportunity that might save your life."

Elio leaned back, his arms crossed. "There are things that are worth dying for."

Ian sighed. "Fine." He stood up, pushed the chair in a bit more roughly than he needed to, and turned to leave. After a second, however, he turned back. "You know what? You're right. There are things that are worth dying for. You know how the three of us ended up here? Maria, Vincent, and I? We were trying to protect a group of kids – kids just like you. We were trying to give them time to get out safely, trying to destroy any evidence that might lead the government to them. I thought I was going to die that night."

"But you didn't," Elio pointed out.

"Yeah. But a lot of other people did. Good people, who believed they were dying for something, that what they were fighting for was worth it. They died to save other people." He shook his head. "What are you dying for?"

Elio opened his mouth to answer, but Ian was already gone. Jaime took a deep breath, glancing from Elio to Lea and back. They both looked so certain, so confident that they were right. "You really think he's the enemy here?"

Elio shook his head. "No, but he's working with them. And we can't do that. No matter how tempting it might be. We have to stick together." He leaned forward a little, his voice a little lower.

"That's how we'll protect each other."

Kiara Moore, 15

Would they really be able to protect her?

Kiara glanced around at the other three – Fae, Henry, and Iola – as the four of them followed Vincent outside. The woman who had introduced herself as Anita trailed a little ways behind them, a remote in her hand. Kiara took a good look around, blinking in the early morning light. It was a bit chilly, with quite a breeze blowing, but certainly not any colder than it would have been back in Minnesota, and at least it wasn't snowing.

A soft click told Kiara her collar had been turned off, followed by three more – one for each of the others. Anita turned to head back towards the building, but Vincent took a step towards her. "Anita."

She turned. "Yeah?"

Vincent ran his hand along his own collar. "Please."

Anita hesitated, and Kiara raised an eyebrow. What was she worried about? What was Vincent's power? Now that she thought about it, none of the coaches had actually told them what they could do. Penelope had been in the Games last year, and Kiara remembered her … what? Exploding things? Making the island crumble? Something along those lines, she was pretty sure. If Vincent's power was anything like that, she could see why Anita might be a bit hesitant to let it loose.

After a moment, though, Anita nodded. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Vincent's gaze was hard, but he nodded slightly. "Okay." There was another click, and then a gasp from Vincent as he crumpled to his knees, one hand clutching his head. Kiara instinctively took a step closer, ready to help, but he didn't seem hurt. She'd always been able to tell if someone was hurt…

Vincent shook his head, as if he'd read her thoughts. "No. No, nothing like that. Nothing you can help with. It's just a bit … overwhelming at first. And it's been a while." He stood up shakily, taking a moment to straighten up and recover from … whatever had happened. He turned in Iola's direction, half-smirking. "Well, let's see how rusty you are after a year of not being able to use your power."

Iola's face reddened. "I didn't say anything."

"You were thinking it."

"You're a telepath?"

Vincent shook his head. "Close. I'm an aeromancer. I can read thoughts carried by the wind. Send them, too, if it's blowing the right direction. You just happened to be standing in the right spot." Iola raised an eyebrow and took a few steps to the left. Vincent chuckled. "Fair enough. And Fae, you don't need to raise your hand."

Fae lowered her hand sheepishly. "You told Kiara it wasn't anything she could help with. What did you mean?"

Vincent nodded towards Kiara. "Maybe you should ask her. If you're going to be working together…"

"I heal people," Kiara confirmed. "And I can tell how badly they're hurt."

Fae's eyes widened. "Wow. That's awesome."

You'd think so. But she didn't say it out loud. It was probably better not to upset her … what? Teammates? Friends? Neither of those was quite the right word. No matter how much they acted like a team, after all, at least two of them were going to die. She couldn't afford to think of them as friends. Allies. Tentative allies, at best. Useful allies, certainly, which was probably what they were thinking about her.

"Probably," Vincent agreed vaguely, even though she hadn't said it out loud.

"Probably what?" Henry asked.

But Vincent's attention was already elsewhere. He turned to Fae. "Well, since this is technically your session, let's start with … huh."

"What?" Fae asked. "Did I do something wrong?"

"No. No, not at all. It's just … you think in music."

"What?"

"Your thoughts – there's a tune to them. Notes. Rhythm."

"Is that good or bad?"

Vincent shrugged. "Neither, really. Just something I haven't heard very often before. Only once, actually. It's … interesting."

No. No, there was something more than that. Something he wasn't saying. Kiara shook the thought from her head. That was all right. He could keep his secrets if he wanted. Chances were, it wasn't anything that would have an impact on the Games.

And that was all that mattered.

Emery Mullins, 15

"Control is what really matters."

Emery nodded as she and Florence watched Kenji and Maria, who were whispering off to one side. She couldn't quite hear what they were saying, but it sounded like they were arguing. "I haven't had a lot of time to practice controlling it," Emery admitted. "Most of the time, I'm just trying to keep people from finding out, and when I do turn, it's…"

"Easier to just let the wolf run on instinct?" Florence finished.

"Yeah."

Florence nodded. "I understand. But there are also times when you might not want to do that. Times when the wolf will want to run, and you really need to stand and fight – or the other way around. The wolf might think another contestant is easy prey when you know better. So like I said … control." She raised an eyebrow as Maria and Kenji kept whispering. "Think you would be able to hear them if you changed?"

Emery nodded. "Sure." The wolf's hearing was much better than hers. "But I think they'd notice. Just like they'd notice you turning into a bat."

Florence smiled. "How about just a bat's ears?"

"You can do that?"

"Never had much of a reason to try, but now…"

"Should I try, too?"

"It can't hurt."

It can't hurt. Emery let that sink in. Practicing now wasn't going to hurt her. Everyone here already knew what she could do. The three of them had decided to show off the night before, after all. And besides, the only people here now were her, Florence, Kenji, and Maria. One of the MAAB had dropped by to turn their collars off, but she'd quickly left the session in Maria's hands.

"Okay," Emery agreed. "What do I … do?"

"How do you usually change?"

"I just think about changing, and … it happens. Sometimes it happens without even thinking."

"Okay. So let's try thinking about our ears."

"That's it? Just … think about ears?"

"Do you have a better idea?"

No. No, she didn't have a better idea. Emery closed her eyes, trying to focus on ears. After a moment, she brushed her fingers through her hair. Her ears felt normal. She opened her eyes. Florence didn't seem to be having any more luck; her ears looked exactly the same. "Hmm, maybe not," Florence conceded. "Maybe just try listening really hard."

Emery shook her head. "That's what we've been doing. If our ears turned into bat or wolf ears every time we were just trying to listen harder, don't you think we would have noticed by now?"

A half-smile flickered across Florence's face. "Would we?"

Emery hesitated. Would she have noticed? Or would she just have assumed the other people had gotten louder? But she would have noticed her ears turning furry, wouldn't she?

Still, what was it going to hurt? She turned to look at Maria and Kenji, focusing on their lips, watching them move. Listen.

"But if it gets to that point, wouldn't you want to know that you can control it?" Maria asked gently.

Kenji's voice was lower, but just audible. "I can't control it. That's the point."

"That's why we're practicing."

"No. I promised."

"Promised who?"

"Promised myself."

Maria ran her hand through her hair. "All right. We'll stick to running for now. But if you ever want to try…" She trailed off, then turned to Florence and Emery. "I see you two are a step ahead already."

Florence chuckled. "What, do you have eyes in the back of your head?"

Maria smirked. "Comes with being a teacher. You get suspicious when people suddenly go completely silent. Nice ears."

Emery turned to look at Florence, whose ears had sprouted farther out, become a bit more pointed. She ran her hand along her own ears, which seemed similar – just a bit more furry. Emery blushed. "We were just curious."

Florence turned to Kenji. "So what is it you're not going to do?"

Kenji's face grew red. "It doesn't matter. I'm not going to do it."

Florence looked up at Maria imploringly, but Maria shook her head. "His call. I would suggest keeping all your options open, but you're right, Kenji. It could be dangerous."

Emery raised an eyebrow. What could be dangerous? They already knew he could manipulate time. What could be more dangerous than that?

What was he hiding?

Vi Voclain, 18

Maybe it was time to find where Judah was hiding.

Vi stretched his arms as he got up from the table. He'd finished his breakfast in peace, which was a pleasant surprise. He was still getting used to that – to the idea that things weren't going to go wrong just because he was there. Sure, the floor had turned into goo last night, but that had nothing to do with him. It had been rather refreshing for the problem to be someone else's fault, instead.

But that would only last as long as the MAAB kept his collar turned on, and the only way to make sure that happened was to show them that they didn't need to turn it off in order for him to keep things interesting. That was what Vincent had said, after all – more or less. So once he'd dumped his cup and bowl back into the tub for used dishes, he made his way to the door that led outside in the direction Judah had gone earlier.

To his surprise, he saw someone was already there – a boy who was doing his best to dodge Judah's punches. Vi took a few steps closer, curious. He'd seen a couple of the other contestants follow Anita outside when she'd returned to the room a little while ago, but he'd figured most people would probably be a bit more reluctant to do any actual fighting.

Just as he was wondering whether he should come back later, however, the boy caught sight of him, which gave Judah an opening to land a punch, sending the boy staggering backwards until a sweep of Judah's leg landed him flat on his back. Judah turned. "Care to join us?"

Vi took a step backwards. "I can come back later if…"

Judah held out a hand and helped the other boy to his feet. "Actually, if you want to stick around, it might be better if you both had someone to practice with who's a bit more … on your level. Vi, this is Rick. Rick, Vi."

Rick hesitated a moment, but then took a step towards Vi and held out his hand. "Good to meet you. And if you don't mind practicing a little together … Yeah, he's been kind of kicking my ass."

Vi raised an eyebrow. "Kind of?"

To his relief, Rick laughed. "Okay, more than kind of. Ever been in a fight?"

Vi shook his head. "I wouldn't exactly call it a fight." He'd been mugged. He'd been stabbed. People had tried to kill him. But he'd never really fought back. Not for lack of trying, but something always seemed to happen just as he was about to throw a punch or kick the other person. Something unlucky.

But that wouldn't happen now. And it wouldn't happen in the Games, as long as he kept playing along. Judah took a step back. "All right, whenever you're ready. We'll go ahead and stick to fists for now. Once you've got the hang of that, we might try a few simpler weapons, but you aren't likely to have anything more complicated than a knife at your disposal once you're in the Games. Maybe a wooden spear or a club if you happen to find the right big stick and have something to whittle with."

"Or someone who could conjure up a spear or a sword or a bow and arrow just by writing it down," Rick pointed out.

Judah chuckled. "Fair enough. But you really think he's going to pull one out of the air for you?"

Rick shrugged. "Well, no, but if he happens to leave one lying around…"

"Now you're thinking. But you can't count on being that lucky. You'll be dealing with mutants whose powers are going to be far more useful in a fight than yours."

Vi raised an eyebrow. "What's yours?"

"Does it matter?" Rick asked. "It's not going to help."

Vi chuckled wryly. "Come on. Can't be worse than mine. I'm a walking bad luck charm."

"What?"

"Yeah. I'm bad luck. So whatever you got … you can't tell me it's that bad."

Rick shook his head. "Not bad. Just … not useful. I control the weather."

Vi blinked. "What? How is that not useful? Couldn't you just … summon a bolt of lightning and hit somebody? Or blow them away from you with a gust of air? Or hell, just make it rain when you want water?"

Rick's face was growing red. "Maybe if I could control it at all."

Ah. That made sense. Vi nodded, then held up his fists and shrugged.

"So let's focus on what we can control."

Joseph Harris, 13

"I can't control it."

Joseph threw up his hands in frustration, taking a step away from Alannah as her collar clicked back on again. It had sounded like such a simple plan. All he had to do was make her power weaker rather than stronger. The trouble was, he had no idea how to do that, and every time he tried, he was the first one to get hit with the waves of fear and panic rolling off her. Joseph shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts, which were still a bit fuzzy. "I can't do it."

Penelope shook her head. "Yes, you can. It's just the fear telling you that you can't."

Joseph took a step back. "What if it isn't? What if that's just not how my power works? I was just guessing when I said that maybe I could help her dampen it. What if I just … can't?"

For a moment, there was silence. When Penelope spoke, her voice was quiet, almost as if she was talking to herself. "What if you don't have to?"

"What do you mean?" Alannah asked.

"He's been trying to stop your power. You've never tried that before, right, Joseph?"

"That's what I've been saying."

"So what have you done?"

"My friend Ben – I've made his power stronger."

"Exactly. So do that."

Alannah took a step back. "You want him to do what?"

"Make it stronger – and help you focus it. The way I see it, the problem is that you're just … broadcasting fear everywhere. What if you could channel it instead?"

"At who?"

Penelope shrugged. "Anyone else. Try me, for a start."

"You're kidding, right?"

Penelope shook her head. "Alvin, could you turn on my collar. If something goes wrong, I don't want my power going wild."

Alvin nodded. "Smart." He pressed a button, and her collar clicked on. She took a few steps back, anyway, as if being too close might still hurt them. "Ready?"

Joseph shook his head. "What? No, I'm not ready. How do I … do that?"

Penelope shrugged. "Only one way to find out. Go ahead, Alvin."

Alvin muttered something under his breath, but pressed a button anyway, and Alannah's collar clicked again. Joseph immediately placed a hand on her shoulder as a wave of fear hit him. This had to work. If it didn't…

Then what? They were working together because he had offered to help her control her power. If he couldn't do that, she had no reason to want to work with him, and he would be alone again. He didn't want that. He was afraid of that – so afraid of being on his own.

"Focus." Penelope's voice cut through the chaos like a knife. "Don't think about the fear. Think about me. Focus it on me."

Focus.

Joseph squeezed Alannah's shoulder. It usually didn't require this much physical contact – one touch was usually enough, and Ben's power would be amplified for a good half hour or so. But he needed to hold on to something, or else … what? What was he worried would happen? He couldn't really put his finger on what was scaring him.

Because it wasn't his fear. It was hers. She was just as scared as he was – scared that this wouldn't work, that she would be left alone. He was the only one who had offered to help her. Joseph squeezed tighter. He wanted to help.

But what if he couldn't?

It wasn't until Alannah's collar clicked off that Joseph realized he was on his knees, trembling, tears streaming down his face. Alannah looked away, horrified, as soon as he looked up. "I can't do it," she whispered. "It's not going to work. Please. Please, just go. You're safer without me. You're safer with anyone else."

Slowly, Joseph forced himself to his feet. "But you're not."

"It doesn't matter," Alannah insisted. "Do you really think they're going to let someone like me make it out of the Games alive? I'm going to die, but that doesn't mean you have to. Please … please, just leave."

Joseph glanced at Penelope, who shrugged helplessly. "It's your call, kid. She's right; if you two can't get this under control, you're both probably better off on your own." She turned to Alannah. "Look, we can try again. Just focus on me. You want to make me afraid of you. You want to convince me to turn around and run away. That's it. Focus on that."

Alannah nodded reluctantly, and Penelope turned to Alvin. "Let's try it again." Alvin hesitated, his finger hovering over the button. Penelope sighed. "What?"

"I have an idea."

Alannah Cavan, 12

"I have an idea."

Alannah turned, surprised. "Why would you want to help me?"

Alvin shrugged. "Don't care about helping you."

"You're not a good liar."

"Fine. It's not just about helping you. Better?"

"What do you mean?"

Alvin sighed. "Look, the more control everyone has over their powers, the better. Why do you think we're giving you time to train instead of just dumping you into the Games? All thirty of you in the Games, you projecting fear and insanity everywhere around you, it would be complete chaos. But if you can focus that … all the better for everyone. Well, except whoever you decide to focus it on, I guess. But like Penelope said, if you start with making them afraid of you, making them just turn around and run the other way … well, no harm done there in any case."

Alannah said nothing. He was trying to make her feel better, make it seem like her power could be used in a way that was harmless. He knew that was what she wanted – what she'd always wanted. She'd never wanted to hurt anyone; that was just what her power did. She couldn't control it. But if he had an idea for something that could help her do that…

"Okay, I'll bite," Alannah agreed. "What's your idea?"

Alvin took a step towards her. "Don't focus on Penelope. That's just making it harder. She's your coach, after all. She's here to help you, and if she's afraid of you … I think that might be why you're subconsciously resisting the idea. You don't want her to be afraid of you."

Alannah nodded. That made sense. About as much sense as anything else, at least. "So you want me to try to focus it on Joseph? That's not any better. He's trying to help me control it, and—"

Alvin shook his head, chuckling a little. "There's a third option." He turned to Penelope. "Can I trust you not to do anything we'll all regret?"

Penelope nodded. "Absolutely."

After only a moment's hesitation, he tossed her the remote. "Then take the reins … and you might want to step away."

Penelope nodded crisply and hurried off to a safe distance. Well, a safer distance, at least. The closer people were to Alannah, the more her power seemed to affect them. Alvin turned to Joseph. "Ready to try again?"

Joseph nodded, and Alvin turned to Alannah. "All right. When Penelope turns your collar off, focus on me. I'll be standing just as close as Joseph, so try to steer your power in my direction rather than his. Joseph, try standing behind her. Might make it easier to focus."

Alannah shook her head. "Are you sure you want to…?"

Alvin nodded. "The effects seem to stop once your collar is back on, so if it gets too dangerous, Penelope will just turn it back on." He patted his pockets. "Nothing here. I won't hurt you – or myself. And Penelope?"

"Yes?"

"Don't turn it on unless something dangerous actually happens – no matter what I ask you to do."

Penelope nodded. "Understood."

"Go ahead."

There was a soft click, and Alvin immediately turned away, screaming, shielding his good eye. "Stop! Stop! Turn it back on! Turn it on!"

Alannah clenched her fists. It wouldn't have worked that fast, would it? He was pretending, wasn't he? Joseph gave her shoulder a squeeze. He was fine. Okay, then. She stared at Alvin, trying to focus. Be afraid. That was what humans did, wasn't it? They were afraid of her.

Maybe they should be.

In a matter of minutes, Alvin was on his knees, babbling like an idiot, begging Penelope to turn the collar back on. Penelope stood, motionless, maybe twenty yards away, ignoring him completely. A smile crept across Alannah's face. It had worked. It had—

"What the hell is going on here?" There was a click, and Alannah turned to see one of the other adults – one of the MAAB – rushing towards them. "Alvin, are you all right? How did Penelope get the remote? What—"

Alvin reached out just as the newcomer was about to shove Alannah out of the way, and grabbed his hand instead. "It's all right, Mack. It was my idea. I gave her the remote. I was perfectly safe."

"Like hell you were."

"Do I look hurt?" Alvin was shaking as he got to his feet, but physically, he was fine.

"You were begging her to stop."

"I was scared. That's the point." His voice was a bit less shaky now. "Joseph, you all right?"

Joseph nodded. "I'm fine."

Alvin turned to Alannah. "Good. So you can channel it under perfect conditions – me right in front of you at the center of your attention, Joseph behind you, Penelope safely over there. This time, I'm going to run, and we'll see how far away I get before you lose control." He turned to Mack. "You're welcome to stay and watch, but you're going to want to stand somewhere else."

Mack raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you've got this under control?"

"No, but we're getting there." He turned to Penelope. "As soon as Mack's out of the way, turn it back off." He smiled at Alannah. "You've got this. You can control this."

And for the first time, she felt like maybe she really could.

Alphonso Bell-Garcia, 15

Maybe he really could get away with it.

Alphonso grinned as Seb followed him outside for what was officially Alphonso's session. Seb had been practically glued to him once they'd been forced outside the night before, and it hadn't taken much convincing to get him to come along. Which was a relief, because if he was going to practice his power, he needed someone to manipulate, and the chances of him being able to manipulate one of the coaches … well, they had to be watching in case he did that, right?

Maybe. Judah certainly hadn't been taking any chances. But once they turned his collar off, what was to stop him from manipulating his coach into letting him go, giving him a head start? Nothing.

Nothing except the fact that there was nowhere to run. They were in the middle of Wyoming. No. No, even that wasn't right. In order to know that they were in the middle, he would have to know exactly where in Wyoming they were. He'd heard someone say the word Calpet; maybe that was the name of a town. But he had no idea where that was, and they weren't exactly likely to tell him.

Ian turned as the two of them approached, and Alphonso was surprised to see another one of the contestants already there. "Sorry we're a bit early," Alphonso apologized smoothly. "I thought your first appointment was a no-show."

The older boy shook his head. "This isn't my session; I just had a question." He hesitated a moment, then held out his hand. "Frederick."

Alphonso nodded as he shook it. "I remember. Nice work with the floor last night."

Frederick couldn't hide a wince. "I didn't mean to—"

"Hey, no harm done." Alphonso shrugged. This couldn't be a coincidence – the other boy coming to ask Ian a question just before his session. He was curious. Maybe he'd wanted to see what someone with a power as formidable as Seb's was doing with someone like him. Maybe he was interested in…

"Want to stick around?" Alphonso blurted out as Frederick turned to go. After all, he was the one who had suggested the night before that maybe Seb could conjure up a weapon – something Seb clearly hadn't thought of. He was already thinking about fighting, and that could be useful. Very useful.

Frederick hesitated – a little too long, as if he was trying to look reluctant. "Are you sure you don't mind?"

Alphonso smiled. "Just try not to turn the ground into goo, okay?" Gotcha.

Frederick chuckled. "And what do you do?"

"Nothing as flashy as either of you," Alphonso assured him. "I can sense emotions, moods, that sort of thing." He forced himself not to glance over at Ian to see if he was going to jump in and contradict him.

Frederick shifted uncomfortably. "So you know what I'm thinking?"

Alphonso tapped his collar. "Not right now. And it's more about feelings than thoughts, anyway. Sometimes if a thought is really clear – like if you're really hungry, for example, and thinking specifically about pizza – sometimes that'll come through, but mostly just emotions." It sounded good, probably. It was mostly garbage, but it was garbage that sounded good – and probably sounded harmless.

Right now, that was what he needed.

Alphonso finally glanced over at Ian, and thought – for a brief second – that he saw the faintest hint of a smile. He obviously knew that everything Alphonso had said was a lie. Didn't he? If the MAAB knew – and Judah had obviously known – then the coaches knew, didn't they? Maybe he just didn't have a good reason to give him away. Alphonso was one of his contestants, after all; Seb wasn't. And Frederick … well, he only stood to gain from teaming up with the two of them. An ally who could conjure anything they wanted out of thin air was only going to be a good thing.

Right?

Obviously.

Until Seb and Frederick decided that maybe they didn't need the boy who could sense what they were feeling, that maybe being able to read emotions wasn't such a useful power, after all. He would have to keep the two of them under control. And that could be tricky.

But it was the only way he was going to survive.

Seb Krause, 16

They were only going to survive this if they worked together.

Seb took a deep breath as the woman from the MAAB – he was pretty sure Ian had called her Lillian – turned off their collars. "So what now?" Alphonso asked.

Ian ran a hand through his hair. "Well, it's technically your session, but…"

"But if I'm just going to be sensing people's emotions, there's no reason the other two shouldn't get some practice in, too," Alphonso finished. "Got it. Honestly, what I'm feeling is a bit of impatience … and maybe a hint of nervousness." He turned to Seb. "It's okay. This is why we're practicing. I know your power could be dangerous, but it's not like you turned the floor into goo last night."

Frederick chuckled. "So I should probably stick to melting whatever you conjure up. Is that what you're saying?"

Ian nodded. "Let's just try not to melt the ground."

Alphonso cocked his head a little. "Would he be able to?" When Ian shrugged, he turned to Frederick. "What do you think?"

"Not sure why I'd want to," Frederick reasoned. "The goo can't hurt me, but if you three are standing on the ground, too … that might not be good."

"Wouldn't it be better to find out now, though?" Alphonso asked. When he got only a shrug in return, he turned to Seb instead. "What about you? Can you make anything? And what you're writing on … Does it have to be paper? Does it have to be a pen? Or could you write with, say, a stick on the ground? Or your finger? It's just that I assume there aren't going to be a lot of pens lying around in the middle of the Games."

"I … I don't know," Seb admitted.

"And what if you wrote something ridiculous? What if you wrote unicorn or something? Would one show up? If you wrote moon, would a moon appear? Would that kill everyone because it would mess with the Earth's gravity?" His face brightened. "Or what if you wrote Alphonso? Would that make another me? Could you make another you? Or would that just make another person who happened to have the same name? Would it make a baby?"

"I don't know," Seb insisted. "I've never tried any of that." He'd never wanted to. After he'd nearly burned down his school, he'd been careful. He'd only used his power to make small things. "I … I don't know."

He felt a hand on his shoulder, and looked up to see Ian smiling at him. "Hey, that's what we're here for. That's why we've got a few days to practice – to find out some of that stuff. But let's maybe stay away from summoning a moon for now, hmm?"

Alphonso rolled his eyes. "Fine." He chuckled. "Still think it'd be funny, if that was what got everyone killed because you screwed with the Earth's orbit. You'd never have thought of it, if they hadn't brought you here, and now they're just begging you to use your power to destroy things. Hell, if they hadn't killed your uncle—"

"How'd you know about that?" Seb asked, startled. He hadn't told anyone.

Alphonso tapped the side of his head. "Like I said, thoughts sneak through sometimes if they're strong – or connected to strong emotions. I know you're upset by what they did, but the best way to get even is to live. Get out of this alive, and who knows?"

Who knows? Seb nodded. He had been thinking about his uncle a lot. If he hadn't been a mutant, Niklas would be alive. If the government hadn't found out he was a mutant, he would be alive. If the Games had never existed, if people weren't so scared of mutants…

But they were. And he was dead. And nothing that Seb could write would change that. Unless…

Would that make another me? Could you make another you? Seb ran the thought over in his mind. Could he bring his uncle back just by writing it? Maybe. Maybe not. He certainly didn't want to try here. He didn't want his uncle to be caught in the middle of this. But maybe if he survived … maybe then. Seb nodded a little.

"So what do we try first?"

Fae Tomasini, 13

She hadn't really wanted to go first.

Fae watched, humming to herself, as Iola took the first turn fighting one of Henry's golems. They'd made a more human-sized one this time, and were working on trying to control it in a fight. So far, Iola, who was practicing holding Vincent's shape while being rather distracted, had managed to avoid most of the golem's punches, but she also hadn't been able to put much of a dent in the creature. It was made out of dirt, after all. How did you hurt dirt?

Meanwhile, Kiara was watching, ready to step in in case someone did get hurt. "There has to be someone around here you can help if you want to get some practice in," Fae reasoned. "Why don't you ask the other contestants if any of them have a headache or something?"

Kiara rolled her eyes. "We're going to be killing them in a few days, and you want me to help them?"

Fae shrugged. "Maybe they'll try to avoid you once the Games start if you helped them beforehand."

"Maybe," Kiara agreed. "But that would also mean telling them what I can do. I don't want everybody knowing that."

"Why not?"

"Think it through." Vincent's voice caught her off-guard; she hadn't realized he was listening to them. "One of you gets badly hurt in a fight, and your opponent gets distracted fighting someone else. Wouldn't it be useful if they didn't know that Kiara could make you good as new and you could jump right back in the fight?"

"It doesn't usually work quite that quickly – especially with something big," Kiara admitted. "But yeah, that's what I was thinking. As soon as people know you can help them, they expect you to help them."

"What about us?" Fae asked.

"What about you?"

"You'll help us, right?"

"Of course. We're working together. But anyone else … they're on their own."

"What about the man with the sunglasses?" Fae asked. "I bet you could heal his eye."

Kiara sighed. "You're missing the point."

"But he already knows what you can do."

"And he helped bring all of us here for a death match anyway. Why would I want to help him?"

"Maybe he'd be grateful. Maybe he could do something to help you during the Games if—"

"No," Vincent interrupted. "It's a nice thought, but no. He wouldn't. None of them would."

"You don't know that."

"Yes, I do. Did he tell you what happened to his eye in the first place?"

Fae shrugged. "I didn't ask."

"One of the contestants last year was a boy who could turn into a bear. Long story short, he got loose and started attacking people – including me, and including Alvin. But one of the other contestants was a girl who could talk to animals, and she stepped in and stopped him before he could kill Alvin."

Fae nodded. "And she died."

"In the Games, yes. He didn't help her. He couldn't help her. As much as they like to pretend that they're in control, the truth is that the MAAB couldn't protect you in the Games even if they wanted to. They can turn people's collars on and off, but that's it. Other than that, you're on your own." Now watch this.

It took Fae a moment to figure out he hadn't actually said the last three words. She'd heard him inside her head – on the wind. She looked where he was pointing, and she almost called out to Iola when she saw Henry materializing a second small golem right behind her. It wasn't very big; maybe they couldn't control more than one large one at a time. But it was big enough to materialize in exactly the right spot to trip Iola, who toppled over just as the larger golem took a swipe at her arm.

Iola let out a scream as she slipped back into her regular shape, clutching her arm. The golem instantly crumbled back into the ground. "Are you all right?" Henry asked, startled. "I didn't mean to—"

"Yes, you did," Vincent interrupted. "And that was very well done. She won't be caught off-guard so easily again. Kiara?"

"It's broken," Kiara answered matter-of-factly, taking a step towards Iola.

Vincent nodded. "Then it looks like you have work to do." He turned to Fae.

"I guess it's your turn."

Dr. Alvin Mendelson, 61

"Maybe you should let someone else take a turn tomorrow."

Alvin forced himself to his feet as Penelope held out the remote. She'd already turned Alannah and Joseph's collars back on, and they were headed back inside the building. Her next contestant would be out soon. Alvin drew a shaky breath, trying to remember who was up next. His head was spinning, but the dizziness was already starting to fade a little. He shook his head, trying to keep himself from laughing, still a bit giddy from the sudden emotional whiplash. "Yeah, I'm sure everyone else will be lining up to volunteer."

"I'm serious, Alvin."

"Do you have a better idea?"

Penelope fell silent. She didn't have a better idea. None of the others would jump at the idea, he was certain. Mack had been freaking out about the whole affair. Judah and Anita were busy teaching combat skills and first aid, though he'd been too busy to check and see if they'd had any recruits. Hans wouldn't – and at his age, shouldn't. Nicholas was just as unlikely – if not more. Lillian would probably enjoy watching.

"What about Francine?" Penelope asked just as Alvin's mental list had reached the same idea.

Alvin shook his head, his voice firm. "No."

"Why? She might be willing to—"

"She probably would – but only because she feels guilty. Feels like she deserves it for being part of this."

"And you volunteered because…?"

"Because the other option was you, and you need to be fresh and alert in just a few minutes whenever your next contestants turn up. I, on the other hand, can go enjoy a nice, long lunch break."

"It's ten o' clock."

"Brunch break, then. What's the difference?"

"So you were protecting me?"

"You don't need protecting. I was helping them. Would you have been able to deal with it? Absolutely. I'm not going to stand here and pretend I'm tougher than you; we both know I'm not. But the more alert you are, the better for them." He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to clear his mind.

Penelope shook her head. "I know what you're doing."

"Great. Please share with the class."

"You're looking for an excuse for when something goes wrong. You can say you were distracted, delirious, that you were just so afraid that something slipped your mind."

Alvin raised an eyebrow. Where was she heading? "When something goes wrong?"

"Whatever you have planned."

"You've lost me."

"I know you're the leak."

This time, Alvin did burst out laughing – and then turned to see Emery, Florence, and Kenji staring at him in surprise. He shook his head. "Really? You think I'm the leak?"

"You may have everyone else fooled with the whole 'I cannot tell a lie' routine, but I'm not buying it. You're the leak, and whatever you have planned isn't going to work. It didn't work last year, it didn't save anyone from being collected this year, and it's not going to work now."

Alvin raised an eyebrow. Something was off. Why was she insisting on continuing the conversation even though her contestants were already—

Oh.

Her contestants were already here. Alvin shrugged noncommittally and headed back towards the building, switching off the contestants' collars on the way. Something was going on, but right now, he didn't have the energy to figure out what. Penelope wasn't a fool. She'd known the other three were standing there. She wanted some of the contestants to know there was a leak – and more importantly, she wanted them to think that it was him. Why? What did she have to gain from that, unless…

Unless she knew who the leak really was. If she thought the real leak was close to giving themselves away, she could be trying to throw everyone off their scent. Alvin glanced back at the four of them before stepping inside the building. If Penelope knew who the real leak was, that meant she was trying to protect them.

Now he just had to figure out who she cared about enough to protect.

"Only we can protect each other."