(Fun fact: I named Ares as that because Athena is Athena, knowing that maybe I wanted them to fight and both are names of gods of war.... And geez, last chapter and this one are twice the size of an average one, enjoy.)
"Athena this is madness!" Johanna whispered as she held a gauntlet while Athena pulled the other one off, looking at herown scarred up hands.
"I-T W-I-L-L B-E F-I-N-E" She said before turning away, not shrugging off the hoodie or anything while Ares had gone all out bare chest in the rain. "I-L-L P-R-O-T-E-C-T Y-O-U A-L-L"
And Johanna was scared, if Athena's crazed smiled was something to go off of, then this would be a mess.
"Please reconsider."
She fixed her hairdo despite the rain the soaked through everything and it taking a moment since she didn't feel her fingers and without the gauntlets the tremors and consequences peaked through.
Despite the sloshing rain, neither had moved out of it, staring each other down.
"Don't interfere 7." Ares called out. "This is between the Capitol and the rebels, between me and her."
"You are facing death Athena, stop smiling dammit!" Johanna said in worry.
"Oh please." Ares smiled at Athena, almost sporting the same smile. "We all know this is 2! Death smiles at us all, but all a man can do, is smile back."
(Sorry but like, I saw this picture and I can't imagine Athena's smile as anything else but this.)
Athena long thought of running and even if she knew they couldn't run thought of an exit.... But what is she didn't run anymore?
What if she is not a coward like how her heart begs to be?
What if she want them to kill her?
What if she want them to try?
All of that creates a monster, the foolish abandon of a mindless mutt, let Ares come and let him taste defeat.
"Are you already scared? Shaking in your boots?" He asked, making her tremors but he only got a deeper smile, lets spill his blood.
It was so oddly silent despite the deafening rain.
And Athena struck out first, swinging her hand into his face.
Ares, being another career victor had an easier time the a normal person with blocking the strike, putting his forearm up, the fingers gripping into his flesh and despite her short nails, ripping his skin up.
But she didn't let go, tho he was faster in this monet, lashing out with an open palm strike in her side, getting a gasp with Athena slightly hunching forwards before the same hand used for a body shot hit up in another open palm hit, an uppercut.
Her teeth snapped together with a clank, stumbling back before a quick kick to the chest sent her down on her back, splashing up water with the fall.
Athena was not a superior force, she was human, nothing mythological, and yet, today this was the scariest sight: Athena taking three consecutive hits when she usually barely got two to land on her.
She turned to her side, Ares waiting until she got up, shaking her arms out.
"Heh, you sure your tongue is alright after that hit?" He asked, her eyebrow twitching, she had bitten her cheek, that's where the trickle of blood down her face came from, her side hurt, that bullet didn't do that much damage going through but she felt the burn of it.
She reached up to the blood on her cheek and traced out A and V on one cheek and O and X on the other, looking at him.
"Ah, suspected as much after what you pulled on those interviews and since you always were a talkative woman and have been silent since the start.... You know Athena, 2 liked to picture you as the victor by excellence, so many came before you and after you but you were our prized victor, we all were looking down and saying, that girl just won't quit, watch her, she'll get back up no matter what happened, she will get back up swinging and she'll try again, she just don't quit." He sounded angry, lunging a punch she blocked with two arms before grabbing her belt and lifting her over his head with two hands before slamming her down. "Everyone said don't quit, get off your butt, get in the arena, get dirty, get sweaty, get bloody, get knocked down but get back up no matter what happens so fight like you mean it! Live up to your damned name!!"
She turned herself on her stomach and got up on all fours, taking a breath, shaking her head as she stood.
"You fight to survive, to save all your friends, your mockingjay, so why do your eyes speak of already having given up?!" He grabbed the front of her shirt, lifting her onto her tiptoes. "Fight with you sou--" It felt like a snake coiled around him.
Athena had grabbed on his arms with both of hers with so much strength that clawless finger punched holes into his flesh as she threw her legs up, looping them around his throat and squeezing while pulling on his arm and grabbing on his hand, wrenching it back.
(I can't describe a flying triangle hold quite well.... So here's a video!)
Because of the weight he dropped to a knee, her back slamming into the ground, his face going red and veins bulging.
But just like Athena can overpower Johanna because she is stronger, Ares can overpower Athena.
He actually lifted her again, grabbing his arm with his other before slamming her back down and reaching up, grabbing one of her legs and almost twisting it away from him, breathing in before she drove her other foot into his face, kicking them apart.
She got in a crouched position as he momentarily nursed his bleeding nose, wiping the blood letters off her face in this little interval.
She ran at him.
Athena was a danger to herself now too because of those damned hands, them already having been when they were only numbs in the finger tips but not feeling anything let her hit out as hard as she wanted without feeling the consequences.
Which lead to the finger strike to his face, the short nails still digging under the skin and yanking, freezing the momentum and driving the same elbow in his face before throwing that same exact hand out on the back of his head and yanking him down by his hair as she punched upwards into his face multiple times quickly.
He shoved her with a shoulder check into her stomach before backing up and straightening out, blood pooling on the side of his face from the flap of skin she ripped into his face.
And he smiled, licking the blood, 2 truly being the district of blood and gore.
"Yes, that's it! Fight!"
This time the mutt is awake and it wants blood.
Ares is a tank but Athena is the anit-tank.
(Athena has me making weird google searching at 10pm like, can you puncture flesh with your fingers, or, how hard can you punch)
Ducking a visible punch, latching her fingers into his side and squeezing her fingers in with all her strength and tearing.
As disgusting as it is, even Athena dropped it, but it looked like she ripped out one of the abs, the muscle was still there but the fleshy flap on the ground and the pooling of blood spoke volume.
She slammed her palm into his chin, keeping her hand there and jerking his head more backwards as she pushed, landing him in a fall.
"AAH!!" She reeled a hand back and punched down at his face, kneeling on his chest, but he moved it, she didn't even flinch at the powerful punch into the ground, feeling the shock back into the shoulder and definitely hearing the snap of a bone, her hands have only been healing for a few weeks after all. Yet she still took the same hand for jab into his cheek, grabbing his head with the other, powering through his powerful punch to the ribs that made her slide to kneel on the ground, digging a thumb into his eye.
She kicked him away and she got to her feet, looking at her hand, the amount of blood was impressive, just grabbing her hand, hand on the odd bump, pressing and yanking it back in place. (I know there are a lot of () in this chapter but I don't care, never do that to a break irl, Idk who would but yeah)
She drove her heel into the exposed muscle in his side when he stood, hooking her foot behind his knee because he was so close and he stumbled but she stepped on his foot as he fell, keeping it flat on the ground while his leg was not, hearing something snap under his pant leg.
Leaning over enough to throw down a punch on his nose, hearing the satisfying break of it, his head bouncing hard of the coarse ground.
She was breathing heavily as she backed off when another of his kicks dug deep in her side, hugging herself momentarily.
She took a deep breath, watching him struggle up, hopping on one leg, the other not totally limb but he could only flex it towards the ground not upwards.
Being faster and him opening with the same punch again, she could avoid it, punching into his elbow strong enough to add enough momentum to him that he was forced to step on the hurt leg, sit open as she drove her elbow in his lower ribs, hearing something more to the impact before she slammed her other hands fingers in the open wound and yanked upwards, creating a larger, bloodier, wound when she was grabbed.
His arm looped around her throat and trapped her, looking behind him as she felt him squeeze tho the goal was to keep her motionless since she could still breathe, tho she felt the elbow hit hard into her spine.
She tried, she really did, but she plays dirty, lives depend on her finishing this soon, lashing out a hand, gripping and twisting bellow belt while pushing on his body with hers.
He hit the ground and slammed her head into the ground but she scrambled out of his hold because of his jewels being in pain, feeling dizzy.
She gave a stern strike to the side of the neck and carotid artery, the one that would always piss blood when she ripped throats out, was hit, striking hard as she knew for some off reason that that could lead to dizziness and it did, throwing a kick flat in the middle of his chest sent him down like a heavy tree.
He tried to get up but he swayed and fell over on his front.
Athena panted, a brow lifted for a moment, Ares looked ready to go, still having a fighting spirit and she could still rough around, but the pool of blood around the victors was mostly his and blood loss leads to debilitating dizziness when mixed with the neck strike.
She rubbed off the rain she had on her face but it didn't help since it didn't let up as Ares pushed up to his elbows only, looking up at her.
"Fuck." He hung his head before lifting it, still open eye blazing with the strength of 2 despite the blood loss exhausting him like that. "Come on, complete the deal."
She walked over, grabbing his head and wrenching his head back as she crouched down but stopped with her hand lifted high, eyes zoned in on his throat.
She looked at his face, eyes closed and awaiting his death.
She looked down before sighing, letting go which resulted with his head hitting the ground before he lifted it, looking at her as she stood up.
"What?! Kill me! Kill me Athena!" He yelled as she backed up, turning her back to him. "Kill me!!"
The relief of the rebels was not long felt.
A searing hot pain shot through her, stealing her breath, an uproar coming from all.
"If you won't kill me.... I'll kill you..."
She turned around and grabbed him by the the hair tightly as she yanked it even more down and drove her knee into it with all her strength, watching him fall back on his back in a heap, having only gathered enough strength to grab his sword and drive it through Athena, the blade coming out skewed, it went in flat and just next to the spine, coming out right under the sternum and pointing to the right.
She staggered back, grabbing on the blade that stuck out front in surprise, squeezing in pain and not caring that her hands were also bleeding as she just doubled in two, gasping for a breath she didn't feel enough.
She still looked at Ares through the haze of pain as he panted heavily too, looking at her through the blood.
"Now... Now kill me...." It was the death of a coward to let someone die from bloodloss.
Athena shook her head, mouthing 'live on' before a hacking cough made her splatter her blood around, not really feeling who grabbed her as she stumbled back and into their hold.
"THEA!!!"
Johanna was just in shock, it being Boggs and Heymitch that snapped out of their shock enough to grab to victor before she collapsed.
"Sweethea--Arhm." Heymitch almost used the nickname he gave every annoying female victor but bit it away with a cough, knowing her history. "Athena, hang in there." He said as her head dropped backwards, eyes wandering a bit.
"H-E L-I-V-E-S" It was barely understandable to anyone before she grabbed the blade again.
"She wants him to live." Johanna robotically translated for everyone.
"Go!" One of the loyalists yelled, in anger? In confusion? The rebels couldn't tell. "A deal is a deal! You can leave alive and we won't stand in your way so now go!"
"Quickly everyone! We have two critical injuries!" Boggs quickly called, basically caring Athena with Heymitch while Gale carried Katniss.
They stayed true to their words, none of the previously threatening loyalists even moved closer to them.
"Go go go! Start the engines!"
Everyone hurried around in panic but most came because the mockingjay was hurt even if her wound, when looked over, was just sever bruising, the bullet proofing of her outfit protecting her but she still looked critical too so nothing was ruled out.
"It will be fine Thea, just keep you eyes open." Johanna whispered, genuine terror in her heart as she passed her hand through Athena's drenched hair as she held her head in her lap, not caring to stop her from squeezing the blade in her hands as she was curled into a ball.
She wished the hovercraft could just fly that much faster.