CHAPTER NINE
"JUDGEMENT DAY"

MASSIMO.

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"DISTRICT FIVE. Massimo Rutherford. Report for individual assessment."

He lifts his head and frowns at the robotic voice on the intercom. Slowly, he stands, shuffling through the seats of the rest of the tributes who were waiting for their names to be called for skill presentation.

At the door, Massimo turns back to face them once more. He manages to catch the eyes of Katniss and Peeta for a brief moment. He regrets not getting to know them better before the Games, but he trusts Heavensbee and Haymitch's plans for them. Keeping them in the dark, for now, would allow them to slip past Snow with ease.

Still, while he has their attention, he smiles and mouths, "Show them who you are."

Katniss' stare lingers on him for a moment and it is clear that she is trying to get a read on Massimo, this being one of their only interactions thus far. She merely offers him a curt nod just before Massimo is forced through the doors to his assessment.

Massimo hasn't shown up for a single day of training. To him, there was no point. But it was also in an effort to maintain his strategy. Massimo wants to appear as uncaring and dejected as possible. No allies, no motives, no faith. This would keep the Capitol people off of his tail, at least until the Arena. Everything starts in the Arena.

The door to the Training Center opens and Massimo heads inside, casting looks at the Peacekeepers that guard each exit. It's been a long time since Massimo's stepped foot in the Training Center. Because it's skill presentation day, the room has been cleared out, but every weapon imaginable lines the grey walls.

And standing in the room above him is Plutarch Heavensbee himself. As Massimo makes his way to the middle of the room, with his hands crossed behind his back, he has to keep himself from laughing. President Snow had no idea what he was capable of.

"Mr. Rutherford, you have ten minutes to present your chosen skill."

Massimo bows his head to Heavensbee. The Gamemakers watch him intently. He spins on his heel to glance around at the equipment available to him. He stands with hands behind his back, lips pursed, pretending to be deep in thought. He honestly had nothing prepared. Nothing to show these people.

He takes a seat on the floor of the Training Center, cross-legged. He keeps his back straight and drops his shoulders. He rests his hands on his knees, palms facing upwards, and he shuts his eyes. He listens to the rising and falling of his chest, drowning out any other white noise around him. He anchors himself with a mantra, whispering it into the void for himself. I am that I am. Inhaling deeply, Massimo imagines decapitating President Snow with one clean cut and watching his head roll onto the ground beneath them.

After his first games, Massimo was a mess. He had made an irrational mistake in his post-Games interview with Caesar Flickerman, and President Snow would never let him forget it. He remained on his case long after the Games, targeting his loved ones if Massimo so much as slipped up on a speech during his Victory tour. By his eighteenth birthday, Snow had taken everything from him. Massimo shut himself away in his big empty house in Victor's Village.

It was Atom who had pulled him out of his slump and brought him back to Earth, forcing him to open his windows and let the light in. He found Massimo at his lowest and took him in. Atom moved into Massimo's house for a couple of months, making sure he ate and slept.

He'd come a long way since then. Massimo worked closely with Atom, slowly opening himself up to him. During the months in which Atom stayed with him, he taught him how to meditate. Massimo was a little impatient at first, finding it hard to sit still for long periods, but over time, he learned how to take back control of his own body and mind. It allowed him to finally relax. Atom taught him to focus his entire attention and awareness on one thing. Massimo mastered this technique and concentrated all of his negative energy into his plans for revolution and the killing of Coriolanus Snow.

This is the first time that he's really felt at peace since arriving in the Capitol. It's been a long time since Massimo's been able to sit down and meditate, and he's glad he was able to use his ten minutes based on his own needs. He knew his score would be low, but that's what he was aiming for.

Massimo never really developed a specific skill during his first games. He trained with small knives the most leading up to the Arena, focusing on hand-to-hand combat with the trainers. But Massimo was realistic. He knew that his chances of getting his hands on any weapon at all were low. He didn't have anything to defend himself with until his third day when he came across the corpse of a tribute who had frozen to death. He pulled a hunting knife from her cold hands, and the horrible sound of her fingers cracking continues to haunt him. From that point on, he became a grave robber of sorts, taking weapons from his former ally Soleil after she was killed as well. He adapted to survive, which was the only reason he'd won.

"You're dismissed, Mr. Rutherford. Thank you." Heavensbee's voice rings in his ears, snapping Massimo out of his trance.

BACK AT THE TRIBUTE CENTER, EVERYONE ANXIOUSLY AWAITS THE BROADCASTING OF TRAINING SCORES. The Prep Squad are gathered around the screen, holding champagne glasses and squealing about their plans for the following day's interviews. Massimo tunes them out, grabbing a bread roll from the table and then sinking himself into a sofa.

Arden sits opposite him with her knees tucked into herself, staring blankly ahead at the Capitol news. Massimo considers asking her about the training sessions to get any kind of insight on the other tributes and what he missed out on but decides against it. He doesn't see it ending well for him.

"What'd you do?" she asks him, keeping her eyes on the screen in front of them.

Her question surprises him. "For my skill, you mean?"

"Yeah."

Massimo shrugs. "I just sat there. What'd you do?"

Arden's head snaps towards Massimo. "You just sat there?"

"What was I supposed to do?"

She scoffs at this. "You know, it's honestly laughable how pathetic you are."

"I know it is," Massimo rolls his eyes playfully. "But your dedication to all of this is pretty laughable too. You have nothing to prove to them. I don't know what Snow's been whispering in your ear, but he's lying to you. You're on your own once you get in that Arena. He's not gonna come save you, even if you score a ten tonight."

Arden and Massimo hold a stare. She's shooting daggers at him, with her arms crossed and her eyebrows furrowed. Massimo just smiles. He sees right through her.

Caesar Flickerman's face emblazons the screen as he announces the results of skill evaluations. Everyone in the room quiets down and takes their seats around the television. Arden leans forward to tune in, while Massimo focuses on his bread.

"As you know, Tributes are rated on a scale of one to twelve after three days of careful evaluation. Let's begin," Flickerman clears his throat. "From District One, Gloss, with a score of eleven."

He continues down the list and Massimo listens haphazardly for the people he cares about. The pair of geniuses from District Three, Wiress and Beetee, score an eight and a five. Finnick Odair gets a twelve, which isn't surprising. Each of them would be useful in their respective ways.

When he reaches District Five, the room seems to tense up. Atom, who had been standing behind Massimo, reaches down to rest a hand on his shoulder.

"From District Five, Massimo, with a score of eleven."

Massimo laughs out loud. The Prep Squad hesitates for a moment before breaking out into applause for him. Massimo joins in on the cheer for a moment. He's sure that Snow had the final word on his score, but he can't help but wonder if Heavensbee had something to do with it, to throw everyone off even more.

"And District Five's female tribute, Arden, with a score of nine."

Arden throws her arms up in the air. "You've got to be kidding."

"Arden..." Atom begins, but she doesn't let him finish.

"He just confessed to me that he just sat there during skill evaluation! He didn't show up for a single day of training. I was pulling his dead weight in that Training Center and this is what I get in return?"

Massimo sits up. "Arden, Snow wants me dead. He would've given me a high score regardless. The Careers will target me if they think I'm a threat to them. This is bigger than you think."

Arden swallows hard. She lowers her head quickly, and Massimo watches her closely. Everyone else has zoned in on her, seemingly waiting for how she'll respond. Massimo can see he's embarrassed her. He watches her hands as they ball up into closed fists, and then she takes off toward her bedroom.

Massimo glances up at Atom for some kind of consolation.

"Arden is...she's on a completely different wavelength. You have to understand that," Atom says. "She's got a family to protect, and an image to perfect. If she disappoints Snow, she's afraid she'll end up--"

"Like me." Massimo finishes. "She's afraid she'll end up like me."

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author's note!

part one is done!!! eeeekkk!!! only took me two years!!!!

thank you so much for reading this far, i'm so excited to be back writing this story. Unfortunately not making any promises about when the next chapter will be posted, bc my schedule is so unpredictable atm. In the meantime, please let me know what you've enjoyed so far AND your predictions for part two?????

love always,
chloe