Greetings, everyone! I'm back, and here comes another brand new chapter! Time to find out what'll happen next ;)

Kangaroo Switcheroo

"I can't let you do that. We just got you back five hours ago!"

"Have to do it, Grandma. For Nessa. Still owe her. For everything."

"You aren't in her debt, Thresh," Pars said, in agreement with what Sage had said.

"I am," her brother told her. "She saved my life. And the little girl's. Did some things for payback, but not enough. Have to save her."

"But what if you get killed trying to do that?" Sage worriedly asked him.

"I won't," said Thresh. "Not with them with me." But in reality, he couldn't promise that. He was only saying this so his relatives would let him go with Boggs, Johanna, and everyone else that he'd just heard was about to go to the Capitol to save Nessa and the others.

"Don't make a promise you know you can't keep," instructed Sage.

Thresh narrowed his eyes. "What if they don't come back? Because I wasn't there? Have to try. For all of them."

Sensing she and her grandma wouldn't succeed in talking him out of going with everyone that was going to the Capitol, Pars sniffled and said, "Just please try to be careful. For us."

"I will," assured Thresh. He led her and Sage into a tender group hug, before leaving their embrace two seconds later to catch up with everyone that was about to leave District 13.

"I'm coming too," he announced, just as the large group was about to enter a hovercraft that was parked on the landing pad. "Don't go without me."

"Fine by me," decided Johanna, with everyone else in agreement.

And with that, the entire group, including Thresh, climbed into the hovercraft, which Boggs then started the engine of. And off they went.

Bongo took one look at himself in the mirror and gasped in horror. "AAAAH! Oh no!" He pulled on his hair—no, the Knife Witch's hair—and continued, "Oh no oh no oh no I'm in the Knife Witch's body!"

This was so not good. He'd known something was off when he'd woken up and noticed he felt fine but couldn't feel his tail, his eyebrows were thicker, his nose (which was also triangular instead of round) and feet were smaller, his fur was gone, and he had two extra fingers. But why did he have to switch bodies with Clove, of all people? Why couldn't he have switched bodies with Matt, or someone else he was friends with? How had the switch even happened? How? Why? How? Why? HOW? WHY?

"Oh, this is terrible," Bongo said, looking at himself in the mirror again. "Everything's gone! My ears, my nose, my…but I like my ears! And my nose. And my eyebrows and my tail! Why did I have to switch bodies with the Knife Witch? How do we switch back?"

For minutes he paced around the fancy-looking (but not fancy enough to calm him down) bedroom he was in, trying to process what had happened and how he could get back inside his own body. He tried wishing to be swapped back into his body at one point, but that didn't work. He still remained stuck in Clove's body. Then, making matters worse, the door leading outside the room opened, and Bongo froze as a doctor came in, a first aid kit in hand. "Oh," he said, "you're awake."

"Where am I?" Bongo asked, not yet sure whether or not he should reveal who he really was. "What's going on?"

"You're in the Capitol, in the District 2 tribute residence of the Training Centre," the doctor said, closing the door behind him. "President Snow sent me to try and bring you back to health as best as possible. He won't have the captured rebels punished until you're in shape. Do you feel like you're in good health?"

"Uh…" Bongo hesitated. How could you answer a question like that when you'd just woken up in someone else's body? He felt fine, sure, but was he really as long as he was here?

The doctor held the stethoscope around his neck and used it to listen to Bongo's heartbeat, all the while examining his head as well. "You seem fine," he said. "But just to be sure, do you have any symptoms? Anything, like you did back in the hovercraft?"

"What are symptoms?" Bongo asked.

Puzzled, the doctor stared at him. "I see. Let me ask you something…do you know who your mentor is?"

"What's a mentor?" inquired Bongo.

There was a knock on the door, and the doctor opened it. A woman with light brown skin and long dark brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail entered the room, a serious frown on her face. "Is she okay?" she asked.

Bongo jumped back, not expecting the sight that greeted him once the woman opened her mouth to speak. Her teeth! They were so sharp—sharper than human teeth were supposed to be! "Ah!" he exclaimed. "What are you, a saber-toothed human?"

"Let me guess," the woman told the doctor. "Amnesia?"

"I'll make the diagnosis, thank you very much," the doctor curtly told her. He studied Bongo and, his tone indicating that he knew the "truth" and was only saying this to get on the woman's nerves, said, "Hmm…it seems that she has amnesia."

"What's amnesia?!" Bongo asked, frustrated that these people kept saying words he didn't know the definitions of.

"Yup, that's amnesia," said the doctor. He furrowed his brow, studying Bongo again. "But that doesn't make sense. For her to have amnesia, she'd have to have an injury to the head. And the Peacekeepers said she had no injuries at all. Not even on her head, even though they said she kept hearing a voice inside her head that kept repeating a strange phrase."

The woman shrugged. "Take her to see Nessa and the other captured rebels. Once she sees them she's bound to get her memory back."

Nessa? Captured? Oh right…she'd been captured along with Objectiva, Haymitch, Dial, and Geolo! Bongo had to go see if they were okay—which meant he was going to have to pretend to be the Knife Witch. It was the only way he could see how they were doing without these two people knowing who he really was! Because if they knew who he really was, he could end up captured too. He knew it now that he knew these people were here to help Clove feel better. Not the real him; Clove.

"Alright," said the doctor. "We'll do it together…if that works with your schedule, Miss Enobaria."

"It works," the woman told him. "Ever since the arena breakout, my schedule's been pretty laid back. As far as I know, there hasn't even been any word on Rani!"

"Rani," repeated the doctor. "Isn't she Miss Clove's stylist? The one that ran away?"

"Yes," snorted the woman, Enobaria. "At this point, I'm going to sink my teeth into her throat the moment I see her again. That unhelpful coward."

"Fatally?" the doctor guessed.

"You already know the answer, Doc," said Enobaria, rolling her eyes. "Now come on. The sooner my tribute gets her memory back, the sooner those rebels can be punished."

Bongo decided not to ask what "fatally" meant as he bounced after the doctor and Enobaria when they, at that moment, left the room.

"Hey," said Enobaria. "Since when do you hop like that when you don't have to?"

Oopsie. He was supposed to be pretending to be Clove! So, quickly, Bongo stopped bouncing and said, "Sorry. Just a little uh…extra energy."

Enobaria studied him closely for a bit, but shrugged it off and continued following the doctor forward. Bongo trailed after them, this time—despite how hard it was for him to do so—making sure he didn't bounce.

The three of them passed by a group of Peacekeepers in the hallway who were waiting for consent to prepare Nessa and the others for their punishment before taking an elevator down to the next level of the building they were in, the ground floor, and then leaving the building altogether. Next, they walked down a few blocks before arriving at a large building that was even larger than the one they'd left from. Bongo recognized it right away. It was the building he, Golias, Objectiva, Effie, and the mentors had saved Matt, Iris, Daisy, and Peeta from.

"This is the Capitol penitentiary," said the doctor, before the former kangaroo could automatically let slip that he knew this place. "You may not remember it because of your amnesia, which is something that makes you lose your memory, but this is where the Capitol keeps everyone it took prisoner. Including Nessa, the woman who replaced you in the arena."

Bongo nearly sighed with relief, but managed to stop himself just in time. These people thought he—or, well, she—had lost his/her memory. They didn't think a body switch had happened, they just thought a case of amnesia had happened. Which meant he was safe. For now at least.

The doctor, Enobaria, and Bongo started to head inside the penitentiary, but were stopped by a large number of Peacekeeper guards, who had apparently escaped from Effie's magical trap. Since escape from that thing had been impossible, Bongo guessed that the trap must have disappeared at some point after they'd left this city.

"Halt," said one Peacekeeper.

"It's okay," said Enobaria. "We're acquaintances of President Snow's. She's," she pointed to Bongo as she said this part, "supposed to be the one that punishes the rebels. We're just here to look at the prisoners before it's time to execute them."

The Peacekeepers studied the trio, and then one of them nodded. "President Snow did tell us to expect a girl of her description to come here with that responsibility."

"But he also told us not to prepare the rebels to be punished until that girl recovered from health issues she experienced last night," said the Peacekeeper on his right. Turning to Bongo, he asked, "Are you feeling alright?"

"Uh…yeah," said Bongo, hoping that he wasn't saying anything that could get Nessa in any more trouble than she already was in. "I have amnesia, but aside from that I'm fine."

"Alright then," said the first Peacekeeper, stepping aside so that he wasn't blocking the way into the penitentiary, "you can come in. Hopefully the sight of everyone that was captured will help jog your memory."

Bongo nervously stepped inside the building, followed closely by Enobaria and the doctor. Once they arrived at her desk, the doctor told the receptionist why they were here, and she told them which cells contained the prisoners in question: Nessa was in Cell 28, Geolo and Dial were in Cell 55, and Haymitch and Objectiva were in Cell 70. All of these cells, as the receptionist said, were in the same hallway that Matt, Iris, and Daisy had been found in.

"Here," the receptionist then said, handing Bongo three keys that each had a cell number she'd mentioned engraved in them. "These are the keys to each of the cells they're in. Don't lose them, alright?"

"I won't," assured Bongo. He then started to bounce away, but remembered he wasn't supposed to just in time and simply walked down the hallway instead.

As he, Enobaria, and the doctor continued forward together, he sighed in sadness, but made sure he didn't look sad for the sake of staying in character. Walking wasn't bad, but he still preferred bouncing over it. As always. It stunk that he couldn't bounce as long as he was pretending to be the Knife Witch. It really stunk.

Eventually the trio arrived in front of Cell 28, where Bongo used the key with the 28 engraved into it to unlock the door. Once he opened it, he almost gasped with worry, but the half-sight of his human hand made him remember not to just in time. There was Nessa, lying there on the floor, sound asleep—and sad sad sad! It was like she was having a bad dream…a really sad bad dream! Oh, he felt so worried about her…

"Is she okay?" Bongo asked. He knew that probably wasn't something Clove would say in any situation, but he couldn't help it. Nessa was his friend, and he was worried about her!

This question surprised Enobaria. "Why do you want to know that?"

"Uh…because I don't remember why she fell asleep," he answered.

"Oh. Well, from what I heard, she breathed in tracker jacker venom fog," Enobaria told him.

"Tracker jacker venom fog?!" Bongo shrilled, forgetting that he was supposed to be pretending to have lost his memory. "No wonder she looks like she's having a bad dream!"

The doctor nodded. "Interesting. I take it that it was Miss Enobaria's mention of the tracker jacker venom fog that caused your memory to return?"

Double oopsie. The former kangaroo was supposed to be pretending he had amnesia! And now he couldn't do that anymore because he'd made that slip of the tongue! So, reluctantly, he said, "Yeah, I…I remember everything now." He would just have to hope that nothing he said after that would reveal to these two—or anyone else—that it wasn't the Knife Witch they were talking to. Not on the inside.

"Good," said the doctor. He pulled a fancy-looking phone out of his pocket and added, "I'll just tell President Snow that you're in good health and are therefore ready to punish that prisoner and her friends."

"No, wait!" Bongo said. Then he did a mental face palm that was almost physical, but ultimately wasn't. Triple oopsie…

"Wait for what?" the doctor asked. "Are you alright?"

"She's okay," Enobaria curtly told him. "That's the kind of 'no wait' someone shouts when they just don't want someone to do something." She then turned to Bongo and asked, "Why don't you want President Snow to know you're fine?"

Oh, what could he say now? "Uh…because I'm hungry?"

Then, as if on cue, his tummy growled, and he sighed with relief. He then looked at Enobaria and the doctor, his nervousness returning.

"Alright," said the doctor, "we'll go back to the Training Centre and you can have something to eat and drink. Then we'll come straight back here, and you can punish the rebels."

Bongo gulped, but made sure he still didn't look nervous. "Uh…okay!"

"Alright," the doctor told him. "I guess you don't need my presence anymore. I'll um…I'll just get back to the Capitol hospital." And with that, he turned and walked back down the hallway to the receptionist's desk. Enobaria and Bongo followed him until they got to the desk, where they returned the three keys to the receptionist. Then they left the building, with Bongo and the woman with sharp teeth telling the Peacekeepers where they were going and why before heading back the way they'd come, while the doctor declared his job was done and went in the other direction.

As they walked, Bongo made a mental note to himself: once they got to the Training Centre, eat as slowly as possible and ask for seconds and thirds. Maybe even fourths. He didn't know for sure whether or not his friends were coming to rescue Nessa and the other captured "rebels," but he had a feeling they were. And as long as he was at the Training Centre having breakfast, the bad guys weren't going to do anything bad to Nessa and the others. He had to make sure it stayed that way for as long as he could, so that by the time his friends got here, they could save them without any problems.

He could only hope that they got here soon. Otherwise Enobaria would realize he was stalling for time and maybe even discover that a second body switch had occurred.

Within 2 hours and 40 minutes after their departure, the upgraded District 13 hovercraft arrived in the Capitol. "Alright," announced one of the soldiers from District 13. "Now we just have to fly to the penitentiary and locate the prisoners."

"Hold on a second," Johanna cut in. "Are you sure that coming here, freeing the prisoners, and leaving is the right way to go about this? Why not go to President Snow's place and knock him out of the picture?"

"The unthinkable could happen to the prisoners if we launch an attack on the president first," said Boggs. "I'm sorry, but our best option is to free them before doing anything else."

"Alright, fine," grumbled Johanna. "Just something to consider."

As they continued flying forward, Clove looked at their outdoor surroundings through the windshield and decided that now was the time to use Bongo's scenery-altering powers to kill the majority of the people in this vehicle. But how could she do that exactly? Hmm…she'd have to create something deadly but sort of unsuspecting at first…maybe some poisonous flowers on magical vines would do the trick! Yes, that was what she was going to create. Beautiful, poisonous flowers on vines that sure could strangle.

Quickly, Clove glanced around to make sure no one was paying any attention to her, and then closed her eyes. Alright magic, she thought, it's time to activate! She concentrated with all her might, hoping she was doing the right thing. This was, after all, her first time trying to use magic to do something, and nobody had told her how it was supposed to be done…

A strange noise was then heard from behind her, and opening her eyes, the Career turned around to find a large batch of vines with yellow flowers on them growing on the walls and ceiling of the hovercraft, right behind two oddly-named soldiers who happened to be identical twin sisters, whom could only be told apart by staring into their eyes: Leeg 1 and Leeg 2.

"Hey," Golias said, also hearing the noise and turning around to find its source. "I thought plants were supposed to grow in the ground!"

"Okay, so clearly that's not your doing," said Leeg 2. She then turned her attention to Clove, who said, "Don't look at me."

"It must be the Capitol then," deduced Boggs. He assigned Golias to watch the windshield for him before grabbing the blaster clipped to his own belt and trying to shoot the vines down. Unfortunately, no matter how many times he or any of the other soldiers tried to shoot the vines, they just kept growing back faster than they'd originally sprouted. Even worse, they were now beginning to circle around the necks of some of the soldiers, including the Leeg sisters'.

Ducking down to free themselves from the vines before they could tighten their grip on them, and rushing to the hovercraft's pilot's cabin to avoid the vines once they came near them again, the soldiers continued trying to shoot at the plants, only for them to still keep growing back. When there got to be so many vines that a giant green vine wall was blocking the way out of the pilot's cabin, Boggs ordered everyone to fight their way through the vines and evacuate the vehicle. "Soldier Golias, you provide us with a soft landing," he said.

"Okay, um…Soldier Boggs!" Golias replied.

P-too!

Suddenly a dark purple liquid was spat out of one of the flowers, hitting one of the female soldiers—what was her name, Jackson?—on the cheek. Immediately that soldier fell unconscious and collapsed, with Boggs checking her pulse the moment she hit the floor. "Go, everyone! Go!" he yelled, and with everyone else who was armed with a blaster shooting at the plants as fast as they could, he got up and followed Golias, Clove, and the soldiers (including the pilot, who put the vehicle in autopilot before following the others) through the mess of plants, and out through the hovercraft's entrance/exit. The vines tried to strangle them, and more of the flowers tried to shoot poison at them, with some of the flowers being successful in killing six more human members of the squad. But Golias, Clove, Johanna, Thresh, Gale, Boggs, the Leeg sisters, and the rest of the team pushed on, and were able to not only get to the entrance/exit, but also escape through it unharmed. Golias was then able to magically create a humongous soft mattress for himself and the other survivors to land on, saving their lives.

As the elephant asked if everyone was okay, Clove examined her surroundings, feeling only sort of pleased. Seven members of the group were gone, but that wasn't enough. More than seven had to get taken out of the picture in order for her plan to work.

"We're fine," said Boggs. "Unfortunately, however, we'll have to proceed without Soldier Jackson and the other soldiers we lost up there."

Everyone got off the mattress, and then Thresh asked, "Which way to the jail?"

Boggs reached into his pocket and pulled out a small computer-like device. Instantly its screen lit up, displaying a holographic map of the city they were in, including a red dot that represented where they currently were. "According to this," Boggs told everyone, "the penitentiary's situated in the very middle of the Capitol. About four blocks away from where we are."

"Oh, I hope we can get there before anything bad happens to Nessa," worried Golias.

"So now she's your best friend?" Johanna rudely asked him.

"No, my best friend's always gonna be Yuri," he told her.

"Oh, so now it's not her?"

"I didn't say—"

"Enough, both of you," Gale intervened. "We've got people to save, and it's not going to go well if you keep arguing."

"Fine," said Johanna. "Just trying to get Hopeless to realize he's got issues that could interfere with our job."

"Let's just focus on getting to the penitentiary for now," stated Boggs. "Then we'll worry about 'issues.'"

Everyone agreed to his plan and then followed him as he began to walk forward, using the holographic map to show everyone the way. As they walked, one of the soldiers noticed a camera attached to a building wall and quickly punched its lens, demolishing the device. He then warned Golias and Clove, "Turning invisible had better be among your abilities, because it appears as though we've just been spotted."

"By the bad guys?" Golias asked, worried.

"Yes, Hopeless," Johanna said in a mean tone, "by the bad guys."

And now it's time to seemingly prove it, thought Clove. She closed her eyes, concentrated, and said in her head, Okay. Someone come over and attack them…now.

She opened her eyes and looked around in anticipation, only to find nothing and nobody was coming to attack her companions. In fact, the only thing she could see that was different from how things had looked before she'd closed her eyes was one factor: the bodies and facial features of everyone here including herself were now just white outline versions of themselves, with nothing but their surroundings appearing to be in between the outlines. Someone must have asked Golias to make them all invisible while she'd been deep in thought.

"Can I have some more?"

"Again? You're going to stuff yourself silly!"

"But I'm soooo hungry! I need to eat more!"

Enobaria sighed heavily. "No. You've had two helpings of penne pasta, one helping of risotto, one helping of tomato soup, one helping of sweet potato soup, and one helping of rice. I'd say you're full, and your body is just telling you otherwise because it likes Capitol food that much. Now come on. Let's go tell the Peacekeepers you're ready to finish off those rebels."

Bongo started to deny that he was full, but what came out instead was a loud, disgusting belch. The truth was, he was full. He was just pretending to still be hungry so that he could stall for time. An act that he unfortunately could no longer continue, since it was now impossible for him to maintain it. People only burped when they were full, and everyone knew it. So he might as well stop.

"Alright, alright," sighed the former kangaroo. He then scooted off his chair and followed Enobaria out of the dining room they were in and out into the hallway where the Training Centre's elevator was, where that same group of Peacekeepers were waiting for them. One of the Peacekeepers asked, "Can we let our colleagues know it's time to punish the rebels yet?"

"Yes," replied Enobaria, "you can. Clove's healthy again."

"Good," said the Peacekeeper. Next, he grabbed his walkie-talkie, and as he spoke into it, Bongo thought hard. How else could he stall for time and save Nessa and everyone else who'd been captured?

Suddenly, an idea came to him. He smiled, knowing exactly what to do.

As the group continued walking forward, Clove looked in all directions, silently waiting and pleading for something—anything—to come into sight and stop her companions from going any further. It didn't have to be Peacekeepers or a hovercraft. It could be anyone, or anything! It just had to be something strong and powerful enough to stand in the way of everyone with her! And it had to show itself now.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Turning around to see what was suddenly making that noise, the group saw a gigantic black robot walking through the city, being extremely careful not to touch any of the buildings it passed by and heading straight for them.

"RUN!" Boggs yelled. And that was precisely what they did, with him continuing to lead the way using his device. Or at least, that was what most of them did. It was hard to run when you had very long kangaroo feet. Not that Clove was one of the group members being targeted by the giant robot, but then again, it wasn't like Golias and the others knew that. They weren't supposed to know that, since knowing that would mean knowing she wasn't really Bongo.

Clove groaned. She would have to bounce after everyone else in the team. Bouncing was a very annoying way to get around, but if she wanted to avoid accidentally getting squished, she had no choice but to just do it. So, even though doing so felt silly, she bounced. And bounced. And bounced again. Within seconds, she was right next to Boggs, safe from getting squished.

They continued to run down every block they had to go through to get to the penitentiary, until they got to the right building. However, when they got there, an alarming sight awaited them: Dial, Geolo, and Haymitch were being escorted out of the building by a large group of Peacekeepers, two of whom were carrying an unconscious Nessa and another one of whom was carrying an unconscious Objectiva.

Golias started to gasp in horror when he saw this, but Boggs held up a hand to silence him. "We have to follow them to see where they're going," he whispered. "Don't make any noises—"

SPLAT! SPLAT!

The Leeg sisters spun around to find the giant robot fatally squashing five more members of the squad, and then four more after that. Before anyone else could look at this and find out what had made those noises, Leeg 2 quickly directed everyone away from the robot and toward the penitentiary. The Peacekeepers, meanwhile, saw what the robot was doing and, thinking it was working with a team of rebels, quickened their pace, one of them shouting, "To the president's mansion! Quickly!"

"The president's mansion," Boggs quietly repeated to himself. That must have been where the authorities had decided to punish the captured rebels. So, he and his squad might as well go there next.

The penitentiary was much further away from the president's mansion than the Training Centre was, so Bongo and Enobaria got there first. Once they arrived there, a large crowd of Capitol residents greeted them, some of them happily and others in a manner that surprised the sharp-toothed woman: bitterly.

Enobaria stared at the people in the crowd that were acting bitterly, surprised and frustrated by the way they were behaving. "That's no way to greet us! Come on!"

Bongo looked around, taking it all in. The courtyard in front of the mansion was big, and the mansion was only slightly bigger. It was a truly beautiful place…and yet the people here wanted something so bad to happen! His friends had to do something, and soon. Oh, but where were they? They had to come soon, or else something really terrible would happen!

An old man walked onto the balcony of the mansion, and the majority of the crowd cheered as they caught sight of him. "Citizens," he said through a microphone, "I give you Miss Clove Bronzitt. The person responsible for making the capture of five of this year's rebels including their instigator possible."

Most of the crowd erupted into applause, while some of the crowd yelled, "Booooo!" and "You must believe what Johanna Mason said! The instigator's too innocent for something like this!"

As soon as he heard the boos, the old man said, "Peacekeepers, take away anyone who just turned against us."

The many Peacekeepers who were standing around the courtyard nodded, and then each darted into different sections of the audience, grabbing and pulling away anyone who had shouted "boo" or something just as bad. As this happened, Bongo's gaze went over to a group of people who were standing in front of the mansion's front doors. Three men, one of whom was using a large camera to film what was going on, and a blonde woman who was half bald. None of them seemed interested in what that one man was filming, but he was pretty sure he saw a calculating look in the woman's eyes. The kind of calculating look you gave when you were about to do something huge and mischievous, and you were hoping you wouldn't get put in a timeout box for doing it.

I wonder what those people are thinking about, Bongo thought to himself. If it was something that was going to help him stall for time, or better yet, something that could help save Nessa and the other captured friends, then he was all for it. What were they planning on doing?

Some time passed, and he didn't end up finding out the answer to that question. The Peacekeepers from the penitentiary eventually arrived though, escorting the human prisoners and carrying Nessa and Objectiva, who were both still asleep. Once they got to the mansion's courtyard, the unconscious prisoners were placed on the ground, while Haymitch, Geolo, and Dial were told to sit next to them, on their knees. Next, the old man cleared his throat and began to do a speech, with the four people Bongo had noticed turning around so that their camera faced him.

"Citizens," announced the man, "today I address all of Panem as one. Since the Dark Days, Panem has had an unprecedented era of peace. It is a peace built upon cooperation. And a respect for law and order. In the past few days, you have heard of a disrespect toward this respect, brought on by radicals, including the ones who are sitting or lying in front of you. Those who tried to or choose to follow in their footsteps, your actions are based on a misunderstanding of how we have survived. Together. It is a contract. Each district supplies the Capitol. Like blood to a heart. In return, the Capitol provides order and security. To refuse tolerance for how we operate is to put the entire system in danger. The criminals that kneel and lie before you are only a fraction of the immense force that is trying to bring us down. However, among these criminals is the giraffe that started it all. The beating heart of the team. Nothing can survive without a heart. Now, justice shall be served swiftly, and order shall be restored, thanks to Miss Clove Bronzitt, warrior of the knife. And for those who managed to escape the arms of the Capitol, let this serve as a warning to you all. You can choose to surrender yourselves to our custody. Or you can choose to continue your path of rebellion, only to face dire consequences once we catch up to you."

A Peacekeeper who was standing near Enobaria approached the former kangaroo, who had a very hard time understanding the terms used by the old man but decided not to admit it, and gave him a dagger. The same dagger that had constantly tried to control him, he noticed.

As soon as the weapon was placed in his hands, he could hear it whispering to him again, trying to control him once more, which nobody else could hear. And at first it worked…but when the realization that the dagger was telling him to hurt Nessa fully sunk in, Bongo made an effort to resist it. Nessa was his friend, and he refused to hurt her. In fact, he was pretty sure that it was high time he put that plan of his into action; the one he'd come up with after his plan to eat as slowly and as much as possible had been forced to come to an end.

Turning the dagger upside down and putting its handle to his lips, Bongo took a deep breath and began to sing the first song that came to his mind: "The farmer in the dell, whatever a dell is! Hi ho the derry-o, the farmer in the dell! Singing nice and slow, yes that's the way to go! I'm gonna keep on doing this 'cause it's more fun to do!" Then he couldn't resist smiling. The Knife Witch's voice actually sounded pretty good through song!

"What is the meaning of this, Miss Bronzitt?" demanded the old man, while everyone else stared at the spectacle in confusion. "Finish them off already!"

At that moment, the Peacekeepers returned, now sans the people who had tried to defy him and still armed with their blasters. But Bongo continued to sing, willing himself to stay brave for Nessa's sake. "Singing nice and slow, dancing to and fro! I'm still gonna keep doing this even though you're saying no!"

Suddenly something seemed to click within the old man. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "You are my acquaintance Clove Bronzitt, aren't you? Or are you just someone who's swapped bodies with her?"

Uh-oh. This wasn't good. He was starting to see through his lie! Quickly, Bongo looked to the left, and looked to the right. Enobaria looked like she was starting to have her suspicions too, Geolo, Dial, and Haymitch were exchanging knowing glances, and everyone else was just staring at him intently, wanting to know the truth. Oh, what could he do? What could he do? What could he do?!

Then in an instant, Bongo came up with the perfect thing to say: "Of course I'm Clove Bronzitt! I'm just singing a song to make you happy before I do anything to Nessa and the others."

Geolo, Dial, and Haymitch all sighed in disappointment, while Enobaria sighed with relief. The old man, on the other hand, said, "Alright. I'll allow one song. Then we really must get on with the real show."

"Alright-o," said Bongo. He then put the dagger's handle to his lips again and sang, "Dancing to and fro, dancing to and fro! I'm gonna keep you entertained 'cause that's just who I am!"

Nearby, Golias and those who were still with him invisibly arrived at the mansion, where the most shocking scene awaited them: what appeared to be Clove singing instead of trying to harm Nessa and the others! It was a very strange sight, but they brushed that thought aside, guessing that this was just the Career's way of putting on a show. For the real Clove, on the other hand, it was a very embarrassing and infuriating sight. It was even being caught on camera by four people nearby! How dare that guy make her look like an idiot in front of the entire country!

"Okay," Boggs whispered to Golias, "here's the plan. You see all the blasters in the area?"

"What are blasters?" Golias whispered back.

"Never mind, forget what I just said. You see those black objects the Peacekeepers are holding?"

"Yeah, I see them," the elephant replied.

"Well, I need you to turn them into something that won't hurt anyone."

Golias smiled, knowing exactly what to turn the objects into. He then concentrated, and before the Peacekeepers could blink, their blasters had transformed into black guitars. Seeing this happen, Bongo gasped, startled at first, and his lips curved into a smile. Someone with scenery-changing powers had to be nearby! He looked around, but the fact that he couldn't see anyone besides Enobaria, the old man, the Peacekeepers, and his audience didn't make him lose hope. Whoever it was was probably just invisible right now, or hidden behind the mansion or something.

"Hey!" yelled one of the Peacekeepers. "Who did that?"

"No it wasn't me, no it wasn't me!" Bongo sang in response. "But good luck finding who it really was 'cause I bet they're on the run!"

The old man stared at him in disbelief. "Is this all a joke to you, Miss Bronzitt?"

"What? Of course not," said Bongo, this time not through song. "I just thought I'd tell you that it wasn't me and sing while I did it."

Clove gritted her teeth in anger. That guy was so next on her kill list. But so as not to blow her cover, before she did anything else she whispered, "Are we going to rescue Nessa and the others now?"

"Yes, we are," said Boggs. "Soldier Golias, make sure there's a vehicle waiting for us up high so we can make a quick escape."

"Yes sir!" Golias replied, using his left ear to salute him.

"Alright," said Johanna, stroking the pickaxe she'd been supplied with just before her departure from District 13, "let's do this." But unbeknownst to the other members of the squad, she was planning to do far more than just help them rescue the five captured allies of theirs. President Snow was in view right now, and she was here, invisible to him and armed with her weapon of choice. It was the perfect scenario for what she had in mind…

Boggs nodded, and then slowly began counting backwards, starting from three. When he reached one, he whispered, "And…go!"

But before what was left of the squad—Golias, Clove (whom everyone still thought was Bongo), Johanna, Gale, Thresh, Boggs, a soldier named Homes, and the Leeg sisters—could silently charge forward, Clove used Bongo's powers to produce a beanstalk with vines that quickly wrapped around the necks of Boggs, Homes, and the sisters, its grip on them becoming tighter every second.

"Go…go!" Boggs quietly ordered those who weren't touched by the beanstalk, which did not go unnoticed by the real Bongo, his audience, or President Snow. "We can handle ourselves."

So a still-invisible Golias, Clove, Johanna, Gale, and Thresh went, ready to either start the rescue or, in Clove's case, sabotage it.

Yikes! Will the heroes succeed despite Clove's presence, and figure out that a second body swap occurred? Only time will tell…so be sure to stay tuned!