(Jerome's POV)

Breakfast was probably the best thing I'd had to eat since I joined the 'Squid Defeating Squad' or whatever you want to call it. Don't get me wrong, I respect that Jason's a vegetarian, but bacca teeth weren't made for apples and salad. Quentin kept his house full of bacony goodness, the only problem I had with it being it was a little overdone.

“So... Jerome, are you entering the Hunger Games tournament?” Jason asked when we had all finished eating-or rather, when I had finished eating everybody else's meat. Ty looked away pointedly.

“Heck yeah, why wouldn't I?” I said, scooping the last few crumbs into my mouth.

Quentin looked at me. “You do realize that it starts in roughly an hour, right?”

I nearly choked on my bacon. “Wha?”

Adam nodded. “You didn't see that? It was blue on orange, there's no way you could've missed it!”

“Baccas are colorblind...” I mumbled, feeling stupid.

“Well, let's get you to that competition and get it over with,” Ty said, standing up. “Quentin, where is it?”

Quentin bit his lip. “It's... it's in town square.” Ty looked at him, but he avoided his gaze.

“You guys can go,” Ty decided, his eyes flicking to Quentin's fin for a brief second. “Quentin and I will stay here and try to figure out how we're going to attack the squids.” The relief on Quentin's face was apparent, although I didn't have a clue what it was for.

“Let's all go watch Jerome lose to some guy in a hoodie,” Seto said dryly, walking out of the door and zipping his own hoodie up even farther. I had no idea how he managed to get it covering his entire neck.

“Hey, I might win,” I said. I didn't really feel hurt, though; Seto wasn't that rude and it had been a pretty accurate statement. The chances of me winning a Hunger Games tournament? More likely that Ty would grow wings and a tail.

“And Jeffrey flies,” Jason snorted.

“Who's Jeffrey?” Adam asked, confused.

“Let's just GO already!” Seto shouted from outside. I pushed the door open and stepped onto the porch, blinking the sunspots from my eyes.

“Which way's the town square?” Adam asked. Seto rolled his eyes and started making his way down the street, us following. It's an understatement to say we got a few strange looks. I guess a bacca and spaceman with a bat on his shoulder aren't things you normally see walking through town.

When we had gotten there, the square was crowded. People wandered around, checking out the stalls at the fair or placing bets on the people who had signed up. A giant electronic billboard showed the contestants who were already entered as well as how many times they had won. At the very top was the same guy who had been on the poster. Mitch was written next to his face along with the number twenty-one. Whoever this guy was, he was good.

“Where's the sign up tent?” Jason asked, his head waving above the crowd to try and see what was going on. Adam, who was a lot taller, looked around quickly before pointing and saying,

“There's a sign over there; contestant sign up.”

Seto ducked his head and started weaving through the mass of people, reappearing next to the tent in seconds. If I hadn't been watching him, I wouldn't have even known that he had gone anywhere until I saw that he had left. Jason was a bit politer, muttering 'Excuse me' every time he bumped into somebody. He got a few glances cast his way for the spacesuit, but most people just shrugged it off. Adam followed close behind, strolling through the fair goers as if he was just one of them. Seto raised his eyebrows at me from the tent.

I took a deep breath and started walking through the crowd, trying to keep my cool. What Jason had gotten was nothing compared to how I was received. Everybody stared as I went past. I felt self-conscious and resisted the urge to check if my fur was dirty or something equally stupid. I eventually made it to the tent where Jason cast me a look of sympathy and Seto rolled his eyes at my incompetence. I ignored it and tapped the person running the tent, who's back was turned, on the shoulder. “Yeah, I'd like to sign up, please.”

He didn't look up at first. “Yeah, yeah, what's your name?” Then he saw me. “Whoa, what?” He blinked in confusion. “Dude... you're a bacca.”

“No, he's a Fluffy,” Adam corrected.

“And this fuzzy animal wants to sign up for the Hunger Deans,” I told him.

He looked stressed, like he was trying to figure out what to do. “Well, uh, I'm not sure that... well, we've never... you're a chewbacca,” he managed to say.

“Is there a problem?” I asked. I looked at the sign up rules. “Must be seventeen years of age, no more than twenty-four contestants allowed at a time...” I skimmed the rest of the rules. “Nothing here saying baccas can't be participants.”

“Well... uh... just write your name, then. Only your... we only need your first name,” he said. He shoved a piece of paper and a pen at me and I wrote Jerome on the line.

“And we uh.... we need to get a picture.” I stepped in front of a white sheet and he held up a digital camera, taking my picture. “'Kay, you're done now.”

I somehow managed to keep from rolling my eyes; something I noticed Seto did not. “Thanks. So I come back when it's announced?” I asked. He nodded, and I turned back to Jason, Adam, and Seto.

“That guy was... interesting,” Jason managed to say.

I shrugged. “I'm a chewbacca, what do you expect?”

“Can we go check out the stalls now?” Adam asked. He sounded like a little kid.

Seto sighed. “I guess, but we can't buy anything. You remember what happened last time I gave you the credit card.” Adam nodded eagerly and went running into the crowd of people.

Jason sighed lovingly. “They grow up so fast!” The whole exchange was so hilarious that I burst out laughing, especially when you took into account the fact that Adam was actually taller than both Seto and Jason. Jason looked at me. “What?” He sounded genuinely confused, which only made me laugh harder.

“C'mon,” Adam said, coming back over to us. “There's a mini game arena! I wanna play Cops 'n Robbers!” He pulled on Jason's arm, dragging him through the crowd. I looked at Seto and shrugged before following.

I have to admit, the mini games were fun as heck. Giving in to Adam's impulse, we played a round of Cops and Robbers with just the four of us, and the scale of idiocy.... let's just say it topped the charts.

“Run, Fluffy!” Adam screamed as I made my way into the Warden's office, getting a key. The pressure pad I stepped on let a loud beep throughout the entire prison.

“What?!” Seto shouted from the cell room, where I guessed he was watching Jason or something. We had voted for him to be the Warden as he was just way too good at being a criminal; it probably helped that he had real life experience. “Jerome, you get back here this instant young man!”

“You can't tell me what to do!” I shouted, unlocking the staircase door with my key. I bolted up the stairs. I could hear Seto's feet pounding on the stone floor behind me, opening the staircase door with his own key.

“Go, Jerome!” Jason cheered. His voice sounded faint; he was on the floor beneath me. I unlocked the staff door at the top of the stairs, stepping through just as I saw Seto appear around the corner.

I ran down the hallway, grinning as I heard Seto fumbling with his key. “Jerome, come back here, we can discuss this, please-”

“No,” I interrupted. I made it to the end of the hallway and opened the door, going down the ladder to the ground as fast as possible. “This bacca is a free bacca!” I hit the ground just as I said 'free'.

“Ha! In your face, Warden!” Adam shouted. I barely heard him from outside the prison. Seto's face appeared at the top of the ladder.

“I never wanted to be a Warden,” he said, sounding emotional. “I always wanted to be a cake eater, living my life in the trees and frolicking with pink sheep. But no, this was the only job option, so here I am. And now I'm gonna get fired...”

“Oh, is that it?” I asked. “You can run away with me, Seto; we can live in the trees together with pink sheep!”

“Really?” He asked. “Aw, thank you!” He climbed down the ladder.

“Hey, what about us?!” Jason shouted. “We're still stuck in here!”

“You can stay there and rot for all I care,” Seto called over his shoulder. Adam started sobbing way too loudly, complaining about the meanness of the Warden.

“He's not a Warden anymore,” I told him, keeping my voice loud enough for him to hear. “He's a cake eater.”

“Attention! The Thirty-Fifth Monthly Hunger Games are about to begin! Will all contestants please report back to the sign-up tent!” a loudspeaker blasted out, making my ears hurt.

“That's you, Jerome,” Seto said, shoving me towards the gate that blocked off the Cops and Robbers Mini game arena.

I pushed open the gate. Behind me, I heard Adam shout, “Good luck!”

“I'll need it,” I joked, making my way as inconspicuously as possible through the crowd. My stomach did a little flip, and I realized just how nervous I was. I made it to the tent a little more quickly than I wanted.

A bunch of other people were already there, most of them teenage boys, although there were a few girls. The one guy on the poster was joking with a couple of friends in a corner, laughing about something somebody with glasses and a shirt that looked like the first guy's had said. Some girl with a shirt that had a picture of a snowman on it looked like she was trying to remember how to win the game. Another boy with fiery red hair was examining the other contestants, as well. He blinked when she noticed me, but his eyes skimmed right over and onto the next person, who was wearing a green and red jacket over a black shirt. Another girl, this one a blonde wearing an amulet that looked similar to Adam's, was ignoring the other contestants completely. All together, the people looked pretty tough. I probably wouldn't stand a chance against most of them, if any.

“Okay, everybody, let's get this party started!” somebody shouted out. He was definitely not the same guy who had asked for my name when I had signed up. “So, in case you didn't know, this is a Hunger Games competition. Instead of killing each other, though, you'll each get one of these.” He held up a piece of wire. “They go around your neck, and when yours gets cut, you're out of the game. That billboard up there,” here he jerked his thumb towards the massive billboard situated behind us, “Will show who is still 'alive'.

“Each of you will get to pick one blunted weapon. You'll go one at a time, so that nobody else can see what you pick. After everybody has there weapons and necklaces, the Hunger Games will commence. Any questions?”

The guy with the glasses stuck his hand in the air. “Yeah. Does Mitch have to pick without anybody watching? We all know he's going to get a sword.” Mitch punched him playfully.

“Sorry, no can do, Janet,” the guy said. “So, any others? No?” He scanned the crowd. His eyebrows tilted when he saw me, but otherwise ignored me. “Let's get this started! Alright, you can go first,” he said, pointing at somebody in the crowd. He grinned and stepped through a flap in the tent. A minute or two went by, and the guy said, “Okay, you,” and pointed to the next person.

Eventually, only the fire guy, me, and Mitch were left. Mitch raised his eyebrows at my fur but didn't comment. The redhead looked confused, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on. He mouthed something that looked like 'Wattpad shouldn't be this cruel' to himself before the guy said, “Fuzzy animal, your turn!” I gave him a half smile as I stepped through the flap in the tent.

Weapons were lined up in rows on shelves all around the room. They weren't just standard weapons like daggers and swords, either; there was a bow with ten arrows, special gloves for people who liked using their fists, something that looked suspiciously like a scythe, and even small throwing stars. Even though I knew they were all blunted so anybody actually hit with them wouldn't get more than a bruise, the sight of so many potentially deadly things in one room unnerved me. I scanned the room, taking in the weapons.

Then I saw the ax laying on the table. I felt stupid for not looking for it immediately; after all, had I or hadn't I used one at least somewhat skillfully? I picked it up and felt it in my paw, testing its weight. I swung it through the air and toyed around with it. This was the first time I had actually gotten to handle an ax without worrying about my own or somebody else's life. It didn't feel 'like an extension of my arm' like people say in books where the character uses a sword, but I could predict where it would go when I swung my arm. I knew which way the blade should point to get what I wanted done. I could move my paw up and down the handle, shortening or lengthening my reach with it. I grinned to myself. This was going to be one interesting hunger games.