Chapter Twenty: The Finale 

"LUCY, RUN!" Marvel yelled and she suddenly snapped back to reality. She screamed as the muttations dived at her and ran as fast as she could, Marvel following directly behind her. Their faces were full of terror and both were petrified. 

"WHERE DO WE GO?!" Lucy screamed over the sound of her thundering heartbeat. 

"JUST KEEP RUNNING!" 

Lucy nodded and charged through the trees as the mutts chased after them all the way. Lucy knew this was the Gamemakers' plan. This was the plan to kill them...was it just them? Was it the other tributes too? Were Katniss and Peeta and Cato being chased too? Were the other tributes' mutattions chasing them? Was Rookie's muttation tearing Cato apart in this instant? Surely, the muttation plan wasn't designed especially for Lucy and Marvel...

Then, suddenly, she had an idea. An idea so stupid it might work. An idea that she knew Marvel would disagree with as soon as he heard it. Of course he would. This could possibly give them a more painful death than the muttations killing them. 

"MARVEL! WE HAVE TO GO TO THE CORNUCOPIA!" Lucy protested as she ran. 

"WHAT!? ARE YOU CRAZY?" He snapped back. "HAVE YOU GONE MAD?!"

"YES! I'VE GONE MAD! ACCEPT IT AND DO AS I SAY! HEAD FOR THE CORNUCOPIA, THAT'S WHERE THE GAMEMAKER'S WANT US TO GO!" 

"I THOUGHT YOU WEREN'T A PIECE IN THEIR GAMES!" 

"I'M NOT AND NEVER WILL BE, THEY'LL NEVER CONTROL ME!" 

Marvel yelled something back but Lucy didn't listen as they pelted towards the Cornucopia. It was the only place they could go and no doubt the mutts were going to lead them there whether they liked it or not anyway. 

Lucy could feel her legs starting to give way but she was determined she wouldn't give up, even if it meant she was in complete agony. That didn't matter, if she wanted to live she'd have to run for her life. 

"We're almost there!" Lucy grinned as she saw the fantastic structure of the Cornucopia, the pale moonlight was reflecting off of it, giving it an almost eerie look. She could just hear her voice over the blood pounding in her ears. "I can see it!" 

"Me too!" Marvel agreed from behind her, his voice was hoarse but just hearing his voice kept relief inside of Lucy. It meant he was still with her and they had escaped the muttations successfully so far.  "But what now?" 

"We climb up!" 

They reached the Cornucopia and Marvel bent down quickly then he nodded at Lucy. She stood on one of his knees then jumped and grabbed hold of the Cornucopia. When she was safely up, she grabbed Marvel's hand and hauled him up too, just in time because the muttations had caught up with them and Clove's mutt was about to take a bite out of Marvel's leg. 

They thought they'd made it to a perfectly safe place until they both stood up and found Peeta and Katniss had had the same idea as them. Lucy loaded her bow and Marvel readied one of his spears, they were going to get out of the 74th Hunger Games. They were going to kill the two District 12 tributes, and they were not going to show any remorse. 

"You're going down, District 12," Marvel hissed. "We're going to get out of this arena alive, whether you like it or not!" 

"You'll have to kill Cato as well in order to win, and if you want to hop off the Cornucopia and get eaten alive by Muattations, be my guest." Peeta replied simply, he and Katniss had no weapon, they were helpless against them.

"He'll have to get up here too, unless he's found a good plan to get away from the mutts." Lucy snapped back, feeling more confident than ever now. "And seeing as he can't climb trees, I presume he'll be joining us any minute now." 

"If not, he'll be killed by the muttations. We'll kill you and we'll go home. Forget it, District 12, we're going to kill you." 

"I'd like to see you try," Katniss snarled, this made both Lucy and Marvel even more angry so they ran towards them with their weapons as though charging into battle. Lucy loaded her bow quickly then aimed it at Katniss and swiftly let go of the string. Katniss dodged the arrow and when Marvel threw a spear at Peeta he ducked quickly. 

Katniss shoved Lucy over and pinned her down, she showed no remorse and it was as though it was all Lucy's fault the muttations had chased them here. Lucy struggled against her but she didn't move. 

"You're the reason, Rue's dead!" Katniss spat in her face. "You're the reason why she's not here anymore!" 

"I saved her! How dare you accuse me of killing her! You were allies with her, you should have been the one protecting her!" Lucy snapped back. "That wasn't my job! I tried to save her, unlike you! You were more interested in blowing up our supplies than looking after her!" 

Katniss didn't reply instead she took a knife from her back pocket and tried to stab Lucy with it. Lucy dug her knee into Katniss chest in retaliation and used all her strength to push her back. But Katniss was too strong, she couldn't free herself. She tried everything to get free and was about to give up when Katniss was knocked off of her and Lucy was pulled up and a strong arm clamped around her neck. 

"You're not starting all the fun without me are you? Oh no, you can't do that..." a voice growled in her ear and she knew almost immediately it was Cato. She struggled against him but in retaliation he spat blood in her face. 

Lucy turned around slightly and saw that one of the mutts had taken a swipe at his face, leaving a deep claw mark. His mouth was full of blood and now Lucy was even more scared of him now. She breathed heavily and didn't even bother to try and break free of his grip. Not when she knew she didn't even stand a chance. 

Cato brought his sword up to Lucy's neck and placed it there gently. Lucy lifted her head up and breathed quickly in panic. She saw Marvel standing there with his spear, ready to throw, but one wrong move could mean the difference between Lucy's life and death. 

"Oh! Look what we have here! Spear boy is still with you! I haven't seen you two together since the alliance broke up! What a nice reunion!" Cato laughed. "It's a shame Clove can't be here to join us..." 

"She's here alright," Lucy rasped and her eyes darted down to where all the mutts clawed at the edge of the Cornucopia, ready and waiting for a human to be thrown over the edge so they could eat the unfortunate alive. 

"She is here, is she? Yes, yes, I see her now. Maybe Clove can help me kill you? Perhaps she's a little hungry for some flesh...how about we let your best friend kill you, how does that sound?"

Lucy let out a small squeal and struggled against Cato, she couldn't move too much in case she cut herself on Cato's sword which was still pressed against her neck. 

"No! Please!" Lucy protested as Marvel ran over to them and tried desperately to free Lucy. 

"Looks like Spear boy wants to go down with you, I think the mutts will be OK with that, won't they?" 

All the mutts clawed at the Cornucopia in agreement as Lucy kicked Cato in the shin, causing him to let go of her. She ducked under his sword which he had in the air and grabbed her bow and loaded it again. She aimed at Cato but he just shook his head and laughed. 

"You really think you can kill me, don't you?" Cato asked. "You really think that you, a girl with a training score of four, could kill me. Lets be honest here, you could never do that. I thought you were smart, rich kid." 

"She's smart enough to kill you," Marvel smiled and for once he wasn't unsure of himself. "She could kill you right now on the spot." 

"But we're going to kill her!" Peeta growled suddenly and grabbed hold of Lucy causing her to scream. Peeta took an arrow out of her sheath as she dropped her bow, he flung the arrow at Katniss and she caught it then picked up the bow. "KATNISS, KILL HER!" 

Lucy tried to claw at Peeta's face as Katniss loaded the bow and aimed it at Lucy. She smacked Peeta in the face then ran and got her bow but then she was knocked over by Cato and shoved to the edge of the Cornucopia by him. 

"NO, I'M KILLING HER!" Cato roared and pushed her head over the edge so the bloodthirsty mutts shoved each other out of the way to take a bite out of Lucy. "SHE'S MINE I TELL YOU!" 

Lucy screamed as one mutt clawed at her throat, causing her to get a mouthful of blood. So, when Cato bent down she spat the blood in his face, he flinched away and she got up quickly before viciously attacking Peeta, he tried to punch back but was still helpless without a weapon. 

"Come on, Spear boy, join in the fun!" Cato laughed and punched Marvel straight in the face. Marvel growled then grabbed hold of Cato's wrists and headbutted him. 

Katniss tried to haul Lucy off of Peeta but it was no use as Lucy kept digging her nails deeper into Peeta's face, causing him to yell out. Peeta grabbed hold of Lucy's arm then flung her off. Katniss then pinned her down but Lucy spat blood in her face. 

Meanwhile, Marvel was trying to fight off Cato who was just as strong as he looked which made it ten times worse. 

"What you trying to win these games for, huh?" Cato taunted as he pinned Marvel down. "What's in it for you?" 

"Nothing!" Marvel hissed and coughed as Cato clamped a hand around his neck. "Nothing's in it for me!" 

"So why have you made it this far? Why haven't you let someone else kill you?" 

"Because...because I need to protect Lucy!" 

"Lucy this, Lucy that. Is she your girlfriend? Oh I bet she is, I've seen the way you look at her." 

"SHE'S MY FRIEND!" 

"Whatever you say, whatever you say...now, as there's nothing left for you in these games I think I'll finish you off now." 

"Fine! Just finish me off! Just let Lucy go home! That's where she belongs! She doesn't need to be here! Kill me, kill Peeta, kill Katniss and then let her kill you. That's the way it needs to be." 

"You think the games work like that do you? I'm not going to let her win? Look at her, she can barely fend off two District 12 tributes — " Cato pulled Marvel's head up by his hair so he could look at Lucy who was struggling to attack Peeta and Katniss. "You think she's going to get out of here alive?" 

"I put every bit of faith I have in her..." 

"You're a fool!" 

Marvel yelled out in anger grabbed one of his spears then jabbed it at Cato's face. He grunted then pulled Marvel up by the shirt.

"That's how you want to play? OK then." Cato snapped.

"Yes it is..."

"Fight it out then! I'll beat you!"

"When you're big enough." Marvel growled.

"Alright then, lets settle this with some hand to hand combat, make your little ally proud."

Cato dropped his sword and then began viciously attacking Marvel again, showing no remorse and injuring his opponent as much as possible while Lucy grabbed hold of his sword and dropped her bow. So Katniss grabbed her bow again and another arrow.

"How dare you!" Lucy taunted and then swung the surprisingly heavy sword at Katniss.

"I dared," Katniss replied hoarsely and shot the arrow at her arm. It narrowly missed Lucy and Peeta flung her down on the Cornucopia and then Peeta was about to attack her when Cato grabbed hold of him and put him in a headlock just like he had Marvel in. Cato then dragged the two over to the edge of the Cornucopia. Lucy snatched her bow back from Katniss at the same time and grabbed an arrow from her sheath.

"What now, rich kid?" Cato whispered dangerously. "What are you going to do now? If you shoot I'll go down and so will Marvel. Your precious best friend will be gone forever..."  

Lucy stared at him and tried to de-code his words and then waited for him to start laughing. But he didn't, he was deadly serious which made it worse. 

"Come on, shoot. Kill us three then Katniss and you win. You get to go home, you'll be crowned Victor of the 74th Hunger Games. Your District will be showered with gifts and you'll have a home in the Victors village...shoot." 

Images flashed before Lucy's eyes, her being crowned Victor, her returning home on the train with Gloss. Her back in District 1 with her parents, her in her own home in the Victors village...everything seemed so fantastic. 

Except...except...there was one crucial detail that was missing from all those fantastic things yet to come for her...and it was something that could never be replaced if she made a wrong move now. 

Marvel. 

His face was bloody and his eyes were full of pure terror. He was scared of what decision Lucy was going to make, if she made one wrong move he'd be dead. There'd be no more watching The Hunger Games together, there'd be no more time spent with him when she was lonely, nothing would be fun anymore...not without him by her side. 

"Shoot...I'm dead anyway." Cato spoke again, Lucy thought he was going mad. He was repeating himself over and over, commanding her to shoot. "I always was, right? At least I didn't know it until now...Shoot, then us three go down, and after you kill Katniss you win..." 

Marvel struggled against Cato but he spat blood in his face and tightened the grip around his neck. Cato shook his head. 

"He either gets eaten alive by mutts or I strangle him, it's up to you." 

"No..." Lucy shook her head. "No." 

"Yes...this is the end, Lucy, this is the Finale of the 74th Hunger Games and it's all up to you as to how it ends..." 

"You're right...it is up to me..." Lucy whispered, talking to herself rather than anyone else. She looked down for a moment then looked up just in time to see Marvel who's face was being drained of colour. He pointed to the back of Cato's hand and Lucy stood there confused...then she understood. 

Cato began a maniac laugh just as Lucy closed one eye, aimed...

Then fired. 

The arrow lodged itself on the back of Cato's hand. He yelled out in surprise then let go of Peeta and Marvel. Lucy dropped her bow and slipped off her sheath of arrows and bag and ran towards Cato and then shoved him over the edge, so he landed on a lower part of the Cornucopia. Lucy jumped down with him. 

"LUCY!" Marvel screamed. 

One of Lucy's feet landed on Cato's chest and she heard one of his ribs crack. He groaned and then she bent down and pinned her knees on his shoulders. She grabbed hold of his face and she stared into his eyes menacingly. She'd never been so angry in her life. 

"I've been fed up of you since that day in the training centre, where you laughed at me, you thought I was weak you thought I was worthless. Well now it's time I think that I get revenge." Lucy growled in his face as he choked weakly. "Remember when you told me that I was weak because I didn't know how to use any weapon? Do you remember when you said I didn't stand a chance in these games? Well now I can prove you wrong, can't I?" Cato struggled against her but Lucy pressed his knees on her shoulders harder. "It's a shame you didn't keep your words sweet...because now you're going to have to eat them..." 

In retaliation Cato grabbed hold of her leg and dug his nails into it, but Lucy ignored him. She growled at him. 

"Oh and one last thing..." Lucy said as she stood up and hauled Cato up with her and she spat the words right in his face, whispering them dangerously low. 

"Nobody touches my best friend." 

Cato groaned as Lucy slammed her body into his and he fell over the edge and the mutts clawed at his body, biting into it and getting their well deserved meal. In the next moment, an arrow came flying down at his face that was just showing through the clump of mutts. 

And then...

Cato was dead.