Greetings to everyone! After another longer wait, I've finally managed to finish the next chapter of this eventful story. Let's hope Katniss and the kids make it out alright…

Not The Reunion We Imagined

Effie had never understood why some people just didn't like wearing outfits and accessories as luxurious as the Capitol's civilians. She and her allies couldn't have looked more elegant, and yet while she'd been walking with a proud posture despite the current and future circumstances (including the knowledge that sooner or later someone might notice the large round lump, her nose, under the scarf covering most of her face, or that there weren't any arms sticking through the sleeves of her puffy sparkly rainbow-coloured dress), they…well, they…oh dear.

Golias had been alright with hiding inside a fake gigantic birthday cake that was being pulled forward on a wagon by Blight, who, along with most of the rest of the team, at least tolerated (maybe enjoyed, if she was reading a few of their expressions correctly) the makeup, attires, and wigs they wore as disguises. But Chaff and Johanna—seriously, why couldn't they find any pleasure in dressing up? They had both tried to select disguises that were as ordinary as possible, and it had taken what seemed like half an hour to finally convince both of them to put on a wig! What was the big deal? Even Haymitch wasn't complaining, which was quite an amazement considering his personality.

"No, don't ask me," Johanna had suddenly ordered, apparently noticing the look in Effie's eyes and somehow predicting that she was about to ask her those exact questions out loud. "If you know me as well as everyone in the Capitol says they know the Games' victors, I shouldn't have to tell you what my so-called problem is."

"It's what I said just before we left, isn't it," Golias had apologetically guessed. There was a tiny hole in the fake cake he was hidden in, so he could see what was happening around him and would know whether or not he'd need to jump out of hiding in case something happened.

Johanna had then rolled her eyes. "That we looked sort of like clowns? I told you, I know you were just trying to be funny, the way you giggled when you said it. I'm not mad at you for that, I just…I wish I didn't have to wear this stupid dress! And I mean it, if any of you get started on my wig or my lipstick, I'll—"

BOOOOOOM!

Everyone had instantly jumped as they'd suddenly heard a loud explosion, coming from a few streets away from the area they were in. The group had then turned towards the direction from which it had come, and almost immediately exchanged knowing glances. Nessa and the tributes she'd allied with must have been spotted by the authorities. Which meant the moment they'd been anxiously waiting for had finally arrived.

The entire memory was currently replaying through Effie's mind as she, Golias, and the mentors dashed through the streets of the Capitol, racing to get to Nessa's team of rebels before it was too late. As they went, they devised a plan to rescue them: with Beetee, Wiress, and Finnick giving her occasional guidance on what to create, Effie would use the powers she'd inherited from Nessa to (this time on purpose) sabotage the Peacekeepers and their weapons. However, to avoid raising any suspicions, she would have to make her moves seem like circumstances that were as ordinary as possible.

"And no matter what happens," Annie told Golias, "you can't let the Peacekeepers know you're with us, underneath that cake. I agree with Cecelia—they've probably got a special foray waiting just for you now that they know what you're capable of."

"Don't worry, Annie," the elephant assured her. "I won't let them know I'm here."

They eventually made it to a road in between two shiny grey buildings, where just ahead of them, a Peacekeeper van was screeching to a halt, blocking their way forward. Some kind of vehicle—was it a rocket?—appeared to be hovering above the ground behind the van, barely visible because of how close it was to being hidden behind the vehicle on wheels. And a second later, six Peacekeepers came out of the van through both front doors, with the three who exited from the door facing the mentors and their two allies then climbing onto the van's roof and jumping over it.

Unfortunately, the beginning of Effie and her teammates' rescue didn't exactly go as planned, because the last thing anyone expected happened as soon as the last few Peacekeepers rejoined their teammates. Once their feet touched the ground, two people screamed in fright—and those two people weren't Nessa or any of the tributes, but Yuri and Lili. Which would have shocked Effie and made her scold herself for not knowing all along that the kids would nevertheless disobey the Freaky Friday Fairies' orders, if she'd had the time to react to their presence. She didn't have time though, because Golias reacted first.

He would have followed Annie's advice. He really would have. Even if Lili had been the only one in danger, or if Matt had been in danger too. But Yuri had always always ALWAYS been at the very top of Golias's priority list, even when there was no danger in sight. He couldn't have loved him more, and the very thought of him being in danger was more than he could bear. So, of course, without even thinking, Golias plowed right through his cake disguise and activated his scenery-altering powers. Before his companions' eyes, a large geyser suddenly appeared underneath the van, then shot out a torrent of water powerful enough to lift the vehicle off the ground and send it flying into the building to its right. While the van crashed through the building's wall and created a large hole in it, the elephant quickly extended his trunk forward, scooped up Yuri and Lili, and pulled them toward him.

"Golias!" Yuri exclaimed. He immediately gave his best friend a tender hug. "I'm sorry, I know we weren't supposed to come, but—"

Before he could finish, Matt appeared next, by opening the trunk door leading inside the rocket and happily greeting, "Golias! We found you!"

"Quiet, kids!" one of the Peacekeepers barked. He then flinched, as did most of his companions, for he was now becoming aware that the fancy city he called home had undergone a major metamorphosis. The buildings had turned into humongous towers of rock, with bits of snow resting on most of them, the pavement was now a smooth but damp brown ground, and a few of the rock towers that had once been the buildings each had a waterfall shooting out of its middle.

In the second it took for everyone else to push aside their surprise upon seeing the Capitol's sudden new layout, Effie noticed that an intense glare was settling on Johanna's face; and she gulped. Clearly, Golias's impulsive move was not something she was soon going to forgive or forget—especially after the "who would you choose to save" question she'd asked him earlier. When and if they got away from the authorities, she was going to lecture him in quite a fierce fashion, she was certain of it.

Another Peacekeeper pulled a walkie-talkie off of his belt and spoke into it. "Stroabe to Roy. I'm sure you noticed by now, but one of the magic animals caught up to us. Seems he and the kids that ambushed the District 11 Peacekeepers know each other. Get over here, now!"

There was a sigh on the other end of the walkie-talkie. "Are you sure you want to risk Plan B? The darts, whether they're the ones that contain the venom or the ones that don't, are already strong. But Plan B has risks of being fatal! And President Snow's orders were specific! If we do succeed in capturing the magical beings, they must be brought in alive!"

"Don't hesitate, Roy. Just initiate Plan B."

"But Stroabe, the construction of the mutts needed for Plan B was only finished four minutes ago, and the test run—"

"Forget the test run, there is no time for it! Initiate Plan B!"

"Alright…Plan B is underway."

While Matt disappeared inside the rocket and closed the roof's hatch, Finnick stepped forward, trying to look as casual as possible and hoping that just because Golias's cover had been blown didn't mean his own was. "What exactly is Plan B?" he asked, throwing his voice a little and imitating Effie's accent.

Fooled by Finnick's act, the Peacekeeper with the walkie-talkie replied, "Well I can't say it'll be too unique, since—"

The first Peacekeeper kicked him in the hip, causing him to grunt in anger and pain. "No spoiling the surprise! We don't want our next plan to be so predictable!" Then, to Finnick and the other disguised mentors (after briefly studying them in suspicion), he instructed, "And you all, leave the area, now. You know how dangerous these animals are! Even if the kangaroo's not with them!"

Before any of the mentors could respond, a huge beige cloud that smelled like black pepper was suddenly ejected from the rocket, and once again, a troop of Peacekeepers was overcome by uncontrollable sneezing fits. At the same time, however, Effie heard two more Peacekeepers arrive from behind the translucent cloud, along with several grunts—it sounded as if the two men were restraining a prisoner who was fiercely struggling to escape their grasp—that sounded strangely familiar.

"Katniss," Haymitch whispered. "They've got Katniss."

Johanna saw Effie flinch in worry and groaned in frustration. "Fine. I'll take advantage of my looks and save you the trouble of doing anything stupid. You guys…do what you need to do."

"No, no way you're staying here by yourself," side-whispered Chaff.

"Alright," Blight murmured, "the three of us will subdue the two remaining Peacekeepers. The rest of you, bring these kids and the ones in that rocket to safety…but discreetly."

"Whoa!" Geolo exclaimed. "Uh, guys…something happened outside…you'll need to see it to make sense of it…"

While Nessa stayed in the cargo bay to supervise Foxface, Clove and the tributes from District 11 (with Thresh currently in the middle of applying the ointment to his tracker removal wound) hurried to the windshield. When they saw what lay ahead of them, they all gasped—but thanks to her conversation with President Snow, Clove wasn't as surprised as her companions were. "Actually," she said, "the scenery changing isn't surprising. Some of the guys at the hospital said something about a magic kangaroo, elephant, and giraffe causing some problems around the nation this week—"

Nessa let out a loud gasp from inside the cargo bay. "Oh no, they must have talking about my friends, Bongo and Golias! They're in Panem too!"

"Wait," said Rue, heading into the cargo bay herself (before Nessa could add that Effie had to be in Panem too), "you know two of those animals?"

"Yeah," Nessa admitted. "Sorry I didn't tell you the part about them…not being people."

"Look, we'll get into that later," said Geolo. "I just spotted Katniss, and it looks like some of the Capitol citizens are trying to rescue her from two Peacekeepers. There are some other Peacekeepers nearby, but they're all caught in this cloud that's making them sneeze. Not sure where the cloud came from, but…" Suddenly his eyes widened, and his voice trailed off.

"What?" Thresh asked. Then he noticed what Geolo was now looking at, and shouted, "Elephant's out there!" Nobody tried to stop him from doing so either; Nessa already knew Yuri and Lili were in the Capitol…

Gasping again, Nessa dashed out of the cargo bay and instructed, "Rue, you stay with Foxface. This time I really will be right back."

"No, you won't," Rue told her. "Remember what we said?"

"But Lili and Yuri and Golias and Katniss are all in trouble! I can't just stay here when my friends need help!"

Fighting back the urge to clench her fists in anger (seriously, why did Nessa's friends have to barge in on everything that was going on?!), Clove said, "Sorry, but you'll have to. If you want to help them, then stay here and let that genius over there handle everything. You know…with the controls."

"Are you kidding? I can't use the hovercraft's controls to get her friends out of trouble!" Geolo exclaimed. "As long as they're in close proximity with the Peacekeepers, how will firing explosive after explosive save them?"

"I never asked you to fire any explosives! Just fly down there and lead the Peacekeepers away from them!"

Geolo glanced at the 11s, who unsurprisingly looked as doubtful as he felt. He then said, "Are you sure a giant blue elephant that obviously isn't a muttation won't be a bigger priority?"

"We don't have a choice, Geolo," affirmed Nessa. "If you want all of us to stay in the hovercraft, then Clove's plan is the only thing we can do. Please, we have to save my friends! And we need to get Katniss back too! And Sonia!"

"Not Sonia," sighed Geolo. "Katniss said a dart was what gave the Peacekeepers the chance to take her, and…the stuff in that thing…one of the other tributes said it's like a liquid tracking device. Which I guess she didn't know."

"Oh."

An awkward but mostly sad silence followed their conversation, and as it enveloped the hovercraft, Clove turned away from her "allies" so she could smile maliciously. Her replacement—Nessa—had officially decided to trust her with the lives of her friends from home, and the other evacuees were left with no choice but to do the same. With any luck, things would only get better (for herself anyway) from there, and before she'd even know it, she would be living the life of an invulnerable sorceress…

Gulping nervously, Geolo clasped the wheel and steered the hovercraft toward the tense scene going on down below. The three Capitol residents, who were apparently and unexpectedly quite skilled in physical combat, had just now managed to hurt the Peacekeepers enough to make them fall down, though they retained their tight grip on Katniss's arms. Her bow, on the other hand, was no longer present, which meant it must have been confiscated by the wicked soldiers. Not good news. As for the elephant, he, two young children that Geolo guessed were the ones Katniss had left the ladder with, and a larger group of Capitol civilians were furtively making their way away from the scene, followed closely by the rocket that had accidentally separated Sonia from her friends. Were they trying to protect Katniss and the elephant? Wow! Who knew some people in this spoiled city could be so caring towards municipal outsiders?

Once they were close enough to the Peacekeepers who had Katniss, Geolo glanced at each of his allies—and Clove—then said, "Better go back inside the cargo bay. Things might get kind of wild."

"Okay, but how are my friends doing?" Nessa asked, while everyone else headed into the bay.

"Fine for now, but…we'll track them down when we're done saving Katniss."

Although she still looked very nervous, Nessa nodded and rejoined the rest of the group. As she went, Geolo turned his attention back towards the retractable ladder controls and played around with them. Ladder up, ladder down, then up, then down, up, down, up, down; the perfect way to tease the soldiers. It wasn't something he was happy about doing—in fact, being the cause or audience of someone being bullied made his heart moan—but if he was going to increase Katniss's chances of getting out of her current situation unharmed, then he would just have to push through his emotions. Again.

Luckily, at least half of Panem's Peacekeepers had a tendency to let their brawn sides overpower their intelligence, which always resulted in them automatically chasing a new enemy that happened to interfere with their original pursuits. And even more luckily, these two Peacekeepers were no exception. As soon as they saw the hijacked hovercraft above them, practically going "nanana, you can't catch me" right in their faces, they narrowed their eyes. But before they could react even more, two of the rebellious Capitol residents punched each of their heads at the same time, knocking both Peacekeepers out cold.

The third rebellious resident, a woman who looked strangely familiar, then bent down to help Katniss up, but the tribute batted her hand away, leapt to her feet, and ran away. Not in the direction Nessa's friends had gone either; the opposite direction. "No," Geolo mumbled, "no! Turn around! I've got to get you out of here!"

He at least hoped the three Capitol residents who had saved her would go after her, but to his surprise, they didn't. Instead the woman turned and went to find Nessa's friends, and after an apparent failed attempt to get her to stop, the other two residents reluctantly trailed after her. Which left Geolo no choice but to follow Katniss himself, find out why she'd run off like that, and get her into the hovercraft before any other Peacekeepers tried to kill or capture her.

Effie, Golias, and the others unfortunately didn't stay safe from the authorities for long. Only half a half-minute after they'd left the area where Yuri and Lili had almost been captured, yet another Peacekeeper van pulled up beside them, and then so did another one. This time, however, the soldiers didn't bother to leave their vehicles. They simply drove around everyone in the group who was travelling on foot in circles, stranding them in the middle of what used to be one of the roads. Alright—either they didn't care about the safety of other Capitol citizens like they'd always claimed, or they were simply focused on Golias and the kids and knew they had to overpower them even if it meant briefly putting their companions in danger. Considering how beautifully the Capitol had always treated their own compared to how they'd nearly treated Yuri and Lili, Effie assumed the latter was more likely.

"Oh man," groaned Matt. He couldn't activate the black pepper fog spray this time because the Peacekeepers were in their vans and wouldn't be able to smell the fog, which left him with only one option: getting close enough to his friends for them to get inside the rocket. There was a problem with that though—Golias was too big to fit inside the rocket, and he knew Yuri wouldn't let them leave without him no matter what. So that plan wasn't going to work either.

"Come on, do something!" Astilbo pleaded. "If Nessa's really in that hovercraft, that means Rue's in there too!"

"Yeah, and we really miss her!" Iris added.

Matt glared at them both. "Oh yeah? Why don't you try thinking about what we should do!"

Astilbo replied, "That's exactly what we're doing! I just thought you'd have an idea, since you're the last one in here with magic in you."

"Well, I don't," said Matt, softening his tone a little. He then peered through the rocket's cracked (from its collision with the hovercraft ladder) windshield and squinted so he could see past the cracks and the ladder. Although the view was a small one, it was just big enough for him to notice something big happen: the vans picking up speed. The breeze produced by this instantly caused the scarf around the face of one of the women with Golias to blow away, revealing Nessa's—sorry, Effie's—head.

"Effie!" Matt exclaimed. He quickly studied the rest of Golias, Yuri, and Lili's companions, but they were all unfamiliar grownup humans. The athletic boy quickly stiffened in worry. Why weren't the Freaky Friday Fairies with them? Where were they? And even worse, where was Bongo?

It took fifteen whole seconds, but eventually Katniss climbed up the ladder and back into the hovercraft. Once she was in, she breathlessly explained, "Sorry…I couldn't let them see me coming back. Or any Peacekeepers…"

Geolo shrugged knowingly. "Or else you might have been darted like Sonia was, or worse, or at the very least had our whereabouts revealed by Capitol snitches?"

Katniss nodded briskly and said, "Come on, we have to look for Sonia before—"

"We can't," Geolo sighed, and for the second time, he explained why. Thankfully, despite her tense energy, Katniss didn't seem too surprised by what he told her, and she even took a moment to stare at the floor in silence and sadness as a way of mourning for their lost ally. Which he then did too…until she snapped him out of it by saying, "No, there's no time for that now. We have to get back with those kids."

"And Golias," Nessa called from inside the cargo bay. "He's with them now, so we've gotta save him too."

All the while explaining to Katniss the revelation that a third friend of Nessa's—a non-human non-mutt one to be precise—was now caught up in all the drama, Geolo steered the hovercraft back the way they'd come and began his search for you-know-who. Rue and Thresh came out to help with the search too, but not surprisingly, it took a while nonetheless. Not just because the city's layout had changed either. There was a benefit to the longer search though: it gave the 11s all the time they needed to give Katniss the ointment, and soon her tracker removal wound was treated as well.

In the cargo bay, however, things were anything but cheery. Nessa was still trying to comfort Foxface, who only slept on, and Clove…well, she could hear most of what was going on in the pilot's cabin. Enough to know that while Sonia Woolweave was no longer a problem, Katniss Everdeen was back in the picture. Which meant she really would have to suck up to her. Aaaarrrrgh! What was wrong with the Peacekeepers?! Why couldn't they have darted Fire Girl like they'd darted the stupid Woolweave girl? Weren't those guys supposed to be invincible? Strong? Skilled with all weapons? Or at the very least, stronger than Fire Girl? What was wrong with them?!

Luckily, those who were in the pilot's cabin eventually found Golias and his companions (including the Capitol residents who had helped them out) in the middle of an area of damp brown ground, surrounded by two Peacekeeper vans that wouldn't stop driving around them in circles. The rocket was there too, hovering near the spectacle, though it was idling and it didn't seem like whoever was inside of it was going to react anytime soon. But the most remarkable part of the scene below them was one particular Capitol citizen, who until now had had a scarf wrapped around most of her face. The scarf was gone now, revealing to the hovercraft's passengers that she wasn't really a human. In fact, now that the tributes eyed her closely, it seemed like she was…some kind of giraffe…maybe the same giraffe Clove had mentioned!

"Uh, Nessa?" Rue called. "A pink giraffe with blue glasses and a huge nose wouldn't happen to be one of your friends from home, would she?"

"What?" Nessa replied. She skipped out of the cargo bay and headed for the windshield, followed by Clove (who preferred to just walk), and when she saw the spectacle down below, she said, "I'll tell you everything else later, but…actually, that giraffe used to be me."

Geolo, Katniss, and the 11s all stared at her in shock, and seeing this, Clove quickly feigned surprise so her cover wouldn't be blown. They'd already known Nessa was significantly different from Panem's residents, but this information…wow. Nobody had expected it—and yet somehow, Rue and Geolo found themselves wondering why they hadn't seen it coming. If switching bodies was possible, then pretty much anything had to be.

Suddenly Thresh noticed the rocket's ceiling hatch opening, and he pointed it out to the rest of the team. They redirected their attention towards it, just in time to see a child poke his head out of the hatch and turn to face the hovercraft. It was a boy who surprisingly appeared to be a few years older than Nessa's human friends from home, and who, now that everyone observed him, bore a striking resemblance to Rue. And speaking of Rue, well…once she saw him, she gasped in surprise and worry, apparently recognizing him at first sight.

Before anyone could ask her anything, Rue was rushing toward the hovercraft's exit and climbing down the ladder. What was her brother Astilbo doing in the Capitol, with Nessa's friends from America? Did the authorities kidnap him and the rest of her family as payback for her participation in the arena escape, only for the younger kids to save them while searching for Nessa? Did the kids just happen to cross paths with him in District 11 and he decided to help them with the search? Whatever had led up to this moment, Rue wanted an explanation—but that could wait until her brother was safely inside the hovercraft. And, if they were in the rocket or nearby too, the rest of her family.

She heard Katniss follow her to the exit, likely in case she would need saving, but once she got outside Rue doubted it would have to come to that. There were no Peacekeepers out here aside from the ones in the circling vans, but she was still going to advance with caution in case more were on their way. After the circumstances that had cost them Sonia, she knew she had to be extremely careful and observant. Luckily, she probably wouldn't even have to be out here for too long; just a second or two was all she needed.

Once she was in sight, Rue saw Astilbo was now looking in the opposite direction and quickly called his name. He instantly turned around, startled, but before he could respond, she shouted, "Come on up! If anyone else is in there, bring them with you!"

Apparently hearing her request, a young boy who had spiky auburn hair and appeared to be around the age of her sister Toolip emerged from inside the rocket too, saying, "Hi Rue! Nice to meet you. I'm Matt, and uh…Daisy just told me to tell you that to stop anyone from arguing and 'pointing fingers', she's going to stay behind and land the rocket for us. So I'm gonna show her how to drive it while everyone else climbs up your half of the ladder."

"As long as we can get everyone up here," replied Rue, deciding to ask about the arguing part later should it come up again. She then scampered back up into the hovercraft and instructed Geolo to extend the ladder downward, so Astilbo could reach it and climb up. He immediately obeyed her request while Matt went back inside the rocket, and soon her brother was on his way up the ladder, followed closely by Toolip and then Fern (now that confirmed it; all of her siblings were in there). As Astilbo got into the hovercraft, meanwhile, Rue quickly explained to her allies the reason for her reaction, and introduced them to each of her siblings as they entered the hijacked vehicle.

Unfortunately, not all of the rocket's passengers made it into the hovercraft. Just as Toolip made it in and Iris was about to get onto the ladder, Fern heard a noise from nearby and paused, turning to see what it was. She then froze in fear, which Toolip soon became aware of after wondering what was taking her so long. The moment she saw her big sister's expression, she quickly ran for the windshield and told her companions, "Everybody! Fern saw something bad coming! But it can't be more Peacekeepers because we would have heard them by now!"

Everyone in the pilot's cabin looked through the windshield, and instantly, all at the same time, they saw what Toolip had to be talking about. Three more hovercrafts were approaching, all driven by Peacekeepers. Except the one in the middle looked much bigger and stronger than the other two, and currently descending from its entrance/exit was not a ladder, but a giant metallic barrel suspended from the vehicle by two very powerful sets of chains.

"Whoa," mouthed Astilbo.

"Now that's new," remarked Geolo. And all at once, he and his allies knew—this was the big surprise the Capitol had in mind for them as punishment for leaving the arena. As for Clove, who knew certain details her companions didn't, she had a correct hunch that whatever was in the barrel was actually for Nessa's magical scenery-changing friends down below. And Astilbo and Toolip…well, all they knew was that no matter which team of rebels the barrel was for, someone was going to get hurt for sure.

Outside the hovercraft, Iris wasn't sure whether she should go onto the ladder or stay in the rocket. Was there enough time to reunite with Rue before the barrel unleashed its contents, or not? She didn't know, so she did the only thing she knew she did have time to do: shout, "Fern, come on! Keep going!"

Fern snapped back to the present once she heard her twin sister's voice. Yet before she could climb up the rest of the way, the side of the barrel that was facing the rebels slowly opened, and as it did, a swarm of small but steady insects flew out through its mouth. The insects all produced identical buzzing sounds as they emerged into view, which the hovercraft's passengers could hear from their posts due to their vehicle's entranceway being open.

"Oh no! Bees!" Nessa yelped in fear.

Geolo shook his head rapidly, far more scared than she was. But it was Katniss who said, "No, those are much worse than bees! They're tracker jackers!"

"Tracker jackers?" exclaimed Nessa. She then stared at Katniss in confusion. "Wait…what makes those much worse than bees?"

"No time," said Thresh.

Clove stepped forward and studied the tracker jacker swarm, and fighting back the urge to chuckle, she said, "Is it just an illusion or do these tracker jackers look a little…different from the pictures we've seen?"

"Is it just an illusion," Astilbo put in, "or is the female tribute from District 2 in your team, something I regret not noticing a few seconds sooner?"

"Yeah," agreed Toolip, "I thought everyone in District 2 was evil!"

"We'll explain soon," promised Rue. She then studied the swarm of tracker jackers and said, "Yeah, Clove's right. Those tracker jackers look a little bigger than usual, and their stingers are a lighter shade of yellow."

"Their wings seem different too," added Katniss. "They're pointier than they should be, and it almost looks like there's…gold constellations within them."

Now Geolo looked like he was going to faint. "The Game Makers…they must have given them an upgrade…"

Outside, while the hovercraft's passengers were discussing the circumstances, Fern screamed in horror. As she did, Iris yelled, "GET IN THERE! NOW!"

Fern finally obeyed, and once she did, Iris climbed back inside the rocket, closed the hatch as tightly as she could, and said, "Don't worry…don't worry…those dangerous creatures won't be able to come in here."

"They wouldn't have come in here either way," gulped Daisy. "Look."

Iris and Matt followed her gaze through the rocket's windshield, and they both gasped in fear. The tracker jackers were completely ignoring them along with Nessa's team's hovercraft, and they were heading straight for Golias, Effie, and their companions.

At the same moment as those two realized this, the hovercraft's passengers realized it too. And once they did, Nessa nervously asked, "Uh…tributes? What makes tracker jackers worse than bees?"

When she realized the tracker jackers were targeting them, Effie froze. This was one situation she'd never thought would happen to her; tracker jackers were reserved for the districts! The vans (which were still circling around them) were one thing, but a swarm of tracker jackers?! This was going too far. Why hadn't the disguised mentors been pulled out of the way before those venomous mutts were released? Had the Capitol's authority figures really been lying every time they'd claimed to hold a great amount of respect and care for their own citizens? At this point, that was the only possible explanation for what was now happening…

"Oh nooooo!" Golias screamed, clenching his teeth in fear. "Those bees are gonna sting us!"

"They're called tracker jackers!" snapped Johanna, clearly still angry at him for the impulsive move he'd made earlier.

"Tracker jackers?" Lili asked. "What kind of name is th—"

Suddenly Yuri screamed, seeing the swarm was now a second away from stinging them. He rushed closer to Golias, who, once realizing how scared his best friend was, took a deep breath to calm himself. And then all of a sudden, a gigantic geyser of water came shooting up from the ground beneath the group, strong enough to send all of them flying into the air, over the Peacekeepers' circling vans, and onto the ground that lay a few feet behind them. Yet while some of the tracker jackers at the front of the swarm uncontrollably flew into the geyser, consumed too much of its water, and drowned, most of the swarm had time to tilt themselves upward, allowing them to fly in that direction, avoid the water altogether, and continue pursuing their prey once they landed.

"Wiress, Finnick, Annie, this way," instructed Beetee, his gaze advising them to trust him. "The rest of you, run!"

Nobody needed to be told twice. While Wiress and the District 4 mentors followed Beetee to a waterfall a few feet away from their current location, Golias scooped up Yuri with his trunk and raced forward, the others hot on his heels. As they ran, the remaining mentors made sure they stayed behind Golias, Effie, and the present kids to protect them, since they all knew they were the ones the insects were really after.

Seeing the chase through the rocket's windshield, Iris gasped. "We've got to do something to help them!"

"I'm on it," said Matt. He accessed the rocket's controls and bravely flew them forward at a very fast pace, and Daisy and Iris screamed as he intentionally made the rocket plow right through the tracker jacker swarm. But much to Matt's dismay, he only succeeded in crashing into and knocking out fifteen members of the swarm. The rest of the tracker jackers managed to avoid this fate, and they continued chasing after their targets. Even worse, the newly arrived hovercrafts were now following Effie's group as well, ready to take action in case the swarm failed to reach them.

In the hijacked hovercraft, Nessa's eyes were widening in fear. She'd just learned that unlike bees, tracker jackers could do more than just hurt people with their stings. If someone got stung by a tracker jacker even once, they could also start seeing things that weren't there (weird and scary things, at that) after a few seconds, and then they would pass out and start having dreams about their greatest fears.

"You wouldn't wake up for a week or so," shuddered Geolo. "And if you got stung too many times, you…would never wake up."

"Never?" Nessa inquired. She gazed out through the windshield in worry. "Oh, we have to go help them!"

"But how?" asked Fern, who had by now entered the hovercraft and been introduced to everyone by Rue. "If we use the hovercraft's controls, we might hit Lili and the others by mistake!"

"We're going to have to use the things we collected in the Cornucopia," decided Rue. She then glanced at Katniss, who had lost her only weapons and wasn't necessarily pleased about it, and added, "The things we have left. We can start with my smaller slingshot."

After inhaling deeply, Geolo said, "Works for me. Uh…most of you should probably go inside the cargo bay. Astilbo, Toolip, Fern, just so you know, there's another girl already in there. She's recovering from a…a booboo…so just give her some space."

All three of the siblings nodded, and then Rue lead them to the cargo bay. Nessa, Thresh, and Katniss followed, but Clove stayed in the pilot's cabin, mainly but secretly just to unnerve Geolo. She needed something to take her mind off of the fact that the Peacekeepers had failed to get rid of Fire Girl, and besides. It had been a while since she'd been able to savour her presence being the cause of his frequent jitters, and honestly…she loved doing it. It just went to show how strong she and the other Careers were, and how weak he was.

Geolo swallowed hard, and then steered the hovercraft after the swarm of tracker jackers. Somehow he could sense Clove was looking his way, and he did his best not to think about her. She wasn't planning on killing him…she wasn't planning on killing him…she wasn't planning on killing him…and besides! The upgraded tracker jackers were what he was supposed to be worried about right now. Not her. No way. Not her.

It'll be fine, Geolo told himself. If everyone else can put up with her, so can you. You and the others'll figure out what to do with her later. Right now, she's not the main problem. Just do Nessa a favour and focus!

Yikes. Can each rebel team manage to surpass the tracker jackers without any casualties or separations? We'll have to wait and see—stay tuned!