The Statesman pulls into Titan the following morning, just as we're finishing up breakfast. Veers and I take our places near the ramp, composing ourselves for our departure. Jane comes up to stand behind us, forcing a smile. "Remember, the people still love you," she says.

Neither of us reply, and as the ramp lowers, we pause a moment before striding out. Four guards are waiting at the foot, and they allow us a moment to wave at the beings passing through before they split into pairs and escort us into the Garage. Once inside, we separate, taken to different chambers to prepare for the entrance ceremonies tonight.

My prep team is waiting in the chamber, all looking uncharacteristically somber. MJ, Flash, and Ned all watch me as I enter, giving them wary glances as I come to the center of the room and stop. "Well?"

They don't say anything, just continuing to look at me like I already had one foot in the grave. Well, I guess I technically do – but still. I raise my eyebrows at them. "I'm waiting."

Belatedly, MJ takes charge. "Get in the showers. Once you're out, I'll take care of your hair. Ned, pull up Erik's notes. Flash, make sure the tools are ready."

Quietly, the boys follow her orders as I head through to the showers, stripping off my tunic and turning on the water. The icy cold water clears my mind somewhat, and when I pad back out in a soft black tunic, I feel slightly calmer.

Slightly. Not calmer, not mostly calm, just slightly calmer.

Flash directs me to the chair and sits me down. MJ immediately comes over and begins to comb through my wet hair as Flash files my nails, evening them out. Silence falls over the room as my team works, and I steel myself for the entrance ceremonies tonight.

Ned occasionally reminds MJ of Selvig's instructions as she works, and she nods absently as she styles my hair. I'm just grateful for the quiet.

"You know, this really sucks," Ned said, after a long moment.

"You're telling me," Flash agrees.

"Shut up, both of you," MJ snaps. "Stay focused."

The door opens and Selvig marches in. "He ready?" he asks MJ. She nods. "Good. You three can go, then. I'll finish with him."

MJ, Ned, and Flash leave, and Selvig turns and looks at me. His expression is tired, his shoulders slumped slightly forward. "I was sorry to hear about the Reaping," he says.

I shrug. "What of it? We all knew I was going back in from the moment it was announced. Can't do anything about that now."

"I have your outfit for tonight," Selvig says. "I remember we went traditional Asgardian armor for your previous entrance. I thought we'd use a less formal version of that armor, like we did in your first interview, to remind the people of your illusions."

"Are we doing illusions this time?" I ask.

Selvig makes a face. "Not the way we did last time. I want you present, I want the audience to get a good lock on you. Until...until the end."

I put on the armor over a black and green tunic, the golden pieces sliding easily into piece. It's the same armor that I wore during my interview last time, more casual than the armor I used for the last entrance ceremonies. Selvig helps make sure everything is securely in place before handing me the polished golden helmet, horns curving up and away. I set it on my hair, watch the light glint off the metal.

"Perfect," Selvig states, yet he sounds sad. "You look Asgardian, yet with just a hint of rebellion."

I'm about to say something about Odin hating the non-regulation look, then realize he's probably still in the Odinsleep and has no idea what's going on. That thought nicks at my heart like a sharp dagger.

After a discussion over how Veers and I are to conduct ourselves during the opening ceremonies, Selvig and my team escort me out of the Garage and to the tunnel from which the chariots will emerge. Veers, Darcy, and her team aren't down yet, and I don't see Hela or Valkyrie anywhere.

But most of the other champions are already here, mingling and talking. The Vanaheim and Jotunheim pairs stay near their chariots, but no one else does. The Wakandan champions are talking with the Kree; Ronan, Peggy Carter, Hank Pym, and Steve Rogers all stand clustered by the District 4 chariot.

"Hey, Reindeer Games. Still sporting the horns, I see."

I turn to see Tony Stark standing behind me, smirking. His arc reactor glows from his chest, under his Black Sabbath T-shirt and he holds two tumbler glasses, each with several cubes of ice and a couple inches of liquor. He's dressed casually, like a mentor and not like one of the champions. But if I know Tony Stark, he's got some trick up his sleeve.

Inclining my head at the comment, I gesture to his getup. "At least I'm presentable."

"This is plenty presentable," Tony insists, waving away my remark. "Besides, what am I supposed to do against those awful horns?" He laughs, but his eyes remain fixed on me. Calculating, estimating. Tony Stark doesn't let much past him, even with an ego the size of a planet. "No, I'm keeping it simple this year."

Lie. I tick it off in my head, watching his expression, memorizing the intonation of his voice. Lying is an art, and you can learn a lot by observing others doing it. Part of how I learned to lie was through listening to Odin tell me he loved both me and Thor equally.

"Shame, this whole Endeavor business," Tony muses, without waiting for me to respond. "I had a trip all lined up. Guess it'll have to wait until after I win again."

"We'll have to see about that," I tell him pleasantly, with a smile.

Tony laughs again. "Right. Want a drink?" He holds out the other glass.

I eye the liquor mistrustfully. "You can't distract me." Especially with Midgardian-strength alcohol.

"You sure?" Tony checks. "Cause I'm having one." With that, he lifts one of the glasses to his lips and takes a sip.

I sigh and glance away, wondering where Veers is, wondering what Tony wants. "Yes, I'm sure."

Tony shrugs, swirling the second glass and listening to the ice cubes clink against the sides. "Then I'll go find someone who will take it. Maybe Booze Hag will want it. Know where she is?" Before I can tell him that I don't, he saunters off, in the direction that Veers now approaches me from. "Hey, new blood. Nice to have two new champions in the group, you know?" He continues on and away, ignoring Veers' confused look.

"What was that all about?" she asks me as she reaches the chariot.

"Not sure," I tell her, looking at her outfit. She's wearing her Starforce uniform, in the normal color scheme of green and black. Her shoulder-length blonde hair floats down around her shoulders, twisting to form halfhearted curls. Only slight makeup touches up her features, so minimal you barely notice it. She looks beautiful and fierce, holding herself as the warrior she is.

"What did Darcy tell you about the plan?" I ask in a whisper.

Veers tells me what her stylist told her, which matches up with what Selvig told me. The two of us then mount our chariot and it's only then that I realize this is the first time she and I have done this. Enter together, I mean.

Last year, I'd entered with Sif, who I'd ended up killing in order to avenge Hogun. Veers had rode in with Yon-Rogg, who she'd shot to save me. Both deaths occurring in the same fight, actually. But now we would make our entrance together, for everyone to see, to affirm our alliance. Even though we'd been doing that since winning, this feels different somehow.

I look over at Veers and make a sudden decision. I hold out my hand to her. "Allies?"

She takes it. "Allies."

We face the front and wait for our turn.

The Wakandan chariot bears Shuri and T'Challa out first, both dressed in traditional outfits from their district. T'Challa wears the obsidian suit of the Black Panther, and his sister is wearing a grey sleeveless armor pierce with an orange and brown belt and black cloth, marked with symbols, hanging over her leggings. Beaded strings loop from her chest down to the sides of her belt, and again from her thick necklaces down below her shoulders. Dark gold bands circle her biceps, and a fanged headpiece rests on her pulled back hair and tendrils from the bridge of her nose to both sides of her jaw.

HYDRA is next, with Ava Starr in her off-white suit and Bruce Banner in a lab coat and glasses. Ava's brown, wavy hair cascades over her shoulders, and her white gloves grip the front of the chariot tightly. Her eyes look glazed, and she shudders as the chariot moves away from us, chasing after Wakanda. Beside her, Bruce nervously adjusts his glasses, his white lab coat flapping out behind him like a cape.

Third is SHIELD's district, with Hank Pym and Hope Van Dyne. The father and daughter both wear their suits, Hank wearing the Ant-Man suit from his initial games, and Hope wearing a Wasp suit identical to the one her mother wore. Both of them stare straight ahead.

Peggy Carter and Tony Stark are next, Peggy dressed in an old-fashioned, dull grey military uniform, with knee-length skirt and formal jacket, the fabric crisp and neat. Her grey hair hangs in limp curls about her shoulders, drawn back away from her face, but her shoulders are imperiously thrown back and she stands ramrod straight despite her age, her expression fierce. Tony is initially just in his T-shirt and jeans, and then suddenly his Iron Man suit appears out of nowhere, engulfing him in the iconic red and gold design until all but his face is covered. He then mimes firing blasts at the crowd, the arc reactor in his chest shining, and the crowd goes absolutely wild for the retired officer and the semi-reformed playboy.

The DimJump chariot follows them, Stephen Strange wearing a blue tunic with a flowing red cloak clasped about his neck. An elegant touch of grey mars the uniformity of his dark hair, and his expression is stern, focused, as he says something out of the corner of his mouth to Karl Mordo, who gives a slight snicker. Mordo is dressed in a similar tunic to Strange's, hands clasped calmly behind his back. The two of them exude confidence with a touch of arrogance.

Jotunheim comes after, both champions in traditional frost giant armor, and the Sokovia chariot follows, with Wanda Maximoff in a scarlet, form-fitting tunic over blood-red leggings. Her auburn hair is wavy and thick, crowned with pair of red horns, and her makeup only enhances the sorrowful look in her features. She looks...haunted. Helmut Zemo carries a similarly haunted hair, punctuated by the bitterness of his mouth, the hardening of his jaw. He wears Sokovian military fatigues, a nod toward his time as leader of EKO Scorpion, and stands rigidly beside Wanda.

The Kree are next, with Minn-Erva and Korath the Pursuer both in their Kree battle suits, sporting the same colors as Veers. Minn-Erva's black hair tumbles away from her face, and Korath's cybernetic implant glints in the dim light as they ride away from us. It's getting closer to our turn.

District 9 thunders out after them, Yondu giving a keen whistle as he does so. I feel a shiver run down my spine, for I know that whistle quite well from his Contest. He and Peter Quill both wear Ravager's trench coats, with empty holsters, Yondu's red fin sticking up out of his bald blue skull.

Annie Weying and Eddie Brock are next, Annie in a black pantsuit and Eddie in a plain blue T-shirt, black football jacket, and jeans. Both of them look completely normal, but we all know Eddie hosted a symbiote, Venom, in his Contest, and Annie proved quite resourceful in hers, wielding fire and loud noise against her opponents.

Then the Vanaheim chariot ahead of us rolls out and Veers and I both stiffen. We're next. Her fingers tighten around mine, we hear the roar of the crowd increase to acknowledge the two District 11 champions, and then our own chariot is spurred on, the last of the champions to make their entrance.

I can hear the crowd grow more excited than ever to see us, but neither Veers nor I move our heads to acknowledge them. We both stare at the chariot ahead of us, chins lifted, holding hands, stances ready for a fight. Her Kree colors and my Asgardian armor are so different, so opposed, and yet here we stand, united.

Oh. Was this intentional?

When we reach the end of the path, Thanos looking down at us from his balcony, complete with the gauntlet, Veers' Starforce suit suddenly shifts, the colors brightening into tubes of neon, sudden pink flashing in my peripheral vision, and then fades into green and gold, like the version she wore on the Champion Tour that mimicked Asgardian colors. The crowd cheers the change, and then, as we come to a complete stop, I stamp the butt of my scepter on the floor of the chariot and completely disappear.

I hold the illusion of invisibility for several seconds, waiting until I hear the roar hit unprecedentedly loud levels, then I reappear. Thanos is staring right at me as I look up, such a scowl of anger settling on his features. He's hating this, I can tell. He must be glad he's given me all but a death sentence by sending me back into the arena.

My resolve hardens. Good thing I still got some tricks up my sleeve. If Thanos is going to kill me anyway, I have nothing to lose.

All I have to do is win. He'll leave me alone, after that. He'll have to; he'll have no choice, not after killing most of the other champions.

Thanos gives a brief speech, thanking us for our contributions to the Balance and our dedication to holding it steady. Then he spoke of destiny, like he did last year, and then our chariots headed to Avengers Tower to allow us to settle in for the next several days of training.

Veers and I dismount from our chariot, still holding hands. We only realize this once we're standing in the lobby, and then awkwardly pry our fingers apart. Valkyrie and Hela stride toward us, accompanied by the champions of District 9. "Excellent!" Hela congratulates us. "Good job." Valkyrie just looks pained, and drunk.

"Nice invisibility stunt, kid," Yondu tells me, giving me a grin. I wish he wouldn't; his teeth are uneven and not the cleanest. "You'd have made a good Ravager, had the times been different."

Peter looks insulted by his mentor paying me this compliment. "I don't know, Yondu. He doesn't look like he'd make a good thief or anything." He wrinkles his nose at me, tilting his head. "He's too clean cut."

Yondu just laughs and strides off after giving Veers a courteous nod. Peter follows, flashing Veers a smile, and then Hela orders the two of us upstairs – she and Valkyrie would be up in a minute, apparently.

I look at the Kree as our mentors head off. "Shall we grab an elevator, then?"

"Sure," Veers says, giving me a slight smile. Exaggeratedly, I hold my arm out to her and she takes it before the two of us stride off toward the elevators.

"Please hold it!" is called after us as the doors are just beginning to close. Wanda Maximoff is hurrying toward us, holding her horns in her hand. Veers sticks her arm in front of the doors and the Scarlet Witch boards, turning to face the doors as they close. "Thank you." Her slight accent is just barely noticeable. I remember how heavy it was, back during her Contest.

We're almost to the seventh level when Wanda finally speaks again. "I liked your trick," she says, tilting her head in my direction. She's looking at the door, Veers and I behind her. "The illusions. You have strong magic."

Then the doors open and she exits.

Veers and I exchange a look as the doors slide closed again and the elevator continues up toward the twelfth level. "It's been an odd day," I comment, and she nods.

"Very odd."

When we reach our floor, we exit, both our shoulders slumping in the relative safety of our temporary quarters. For me, the floor is familiar, and I'm ready to strip off this heavy armor before grabbing something to eat and heading out to the glorious balcony the Asgardian floor is blessed with. In fact, I'm just pulling off my helmet, shaking out my hair, when I notice it.

Or notice her, rather.

In the center of the main room, suspended between the ceiling and floor, her gaze frozen on the elevator doors behind us, is Nebula.