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The Mellark estate has gotten quiet. Buttercup is lying on the back porch. With Peeta safe in their clutches, it is time for the mice mutts to make their move against the cat. Paylor-forbid if it doesn't go as expected.

Exactly what that is, though... Let's just keep reading.

Like guerrillas in a jungle, they spread out. They prepare the site for Operation Butter Udder.

Peeta gets the most important job of all. He gets to bait the cat.

Peeta still remembers when Buttercup used to rub his feet and legs. Now he's so small that Buttercup could eat him.

The mice mutts are hidden. Peeta's exposed...more than he'd like to be...if he wasn't baiting a gargantuan cat. Buttercup could see him...if he wasn't sleeping. Peeta's got to get his attention.

He's not sure how. He'd have to imitate a mouse.

He gets an idea. He loses control, and starts singing the first verse, and chorus, to "There are no Cats in America."

As hard as it is, Peeta goes through the Sicilian and Irish verses of that song as well. Buttercup is one hard cat to wake.

Buttercup peers at him. He seems confused. He can't tell who Peeta is, based on what he does or how much noise he makes. He's never seen anything like Peeta before.

Above, two mice have slaughtered a dove. They dump its entrails.

They land on Peeta. At first, Peeta reacts in disgust.

The cat smells the air, and purrs. He stands. He creeps forward. He creeps towards Peeta.

Peeta throws the dove's guts around, and tries to wipe its body fluids off himself. But those body fluids breed like aphids. And he stinks. If Katniss saw him now...

He hears a bulldozer approaching. It's really big. He wipes his eyes and looks around. He looks up.

He sees the giant cat's narrowed pupils. He's purring; at Peeta's size, it sounds like a really loud bulldozer.

A shuriken flies past them. Buttercup stops, and looks around. Another flies past. Buttercup can't seem to make out what's going on...

A scary tilt-rotor drone rips through the trees, shoots out cables, ensnares Buttercup, and flies away. It electrifies the cables, torturing Buttercup.

High up, it lets Buttercup go. Buttercup would land on his feet...

Other drones fly in orbit around Buttercup, and shoot at him. Buttercup yowls, thrashes, and flails in freefall.

Another cable lassos Buttercup, and ensnares him in midair. He swings from it, which hangs from a blimp. The blimp has four huge hammers that hang from it. Two at a time, they hammer at Buttercup against one another.

The airship drops Buttercup into an enclosed arena. It's full of dogs. The dogs bare their fangs and chase him. He can't climb the enclosure walls.

Buttercup charges a wall. Surprisingly, the wall's tangibility gets compromised, and Buttercup phases right through it. A split second after, the wall regains its normal density. The dogs dogpile against it while trying to follow the cat.

Buttercup's on a conveyor belt underground. It's moving fast.

A swarm of roaches falls from the ceiling. They're density-shifting. They phase into Buttercup's body and irritate his sensitive parts. He yowls, thrashes, cries, and hisses uncomfortably.

The belt comes to an end, and Buttercup falls. From out of the dark, huge ax blades are swung at him. He yowls and cries. Suddenly it doesn't seem so likely he'll land on his feet.

Buttercup's broadsided by a really loud noise. He lands on his feet, and looks around in fear.

From out of nowhere, a pistol kills him. From out of the opposite nowhere, an opposite pistol brings him back to life. The first pistol kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first pistol kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life.

The first kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life. The first kills him. The second brings him back to life.

Buttercup falls through a trap door below. Next thing he knows, he's falling through the trees again.

Whatever just happened back there proves that a cat actually has MORE than nine lives. And ten at that, concerning that the Capitol once killed Buttercup when they bombed District 12 after the 3rd Quarter Quell...

A mechanical wolf's head scoops Buttercup up in its jaws as the latter falls. Now and then, unpredictably, the head shocks Buttercup with its teeth.

Below, the other mice mutts gather around and watch. From outside the estate, wild mice arrive, and watch with anticipation.

Peeta hates to do this to Buttercup. But he owes the mice mutts for saving him from that bobcat.

Buttercup's really suffering up there. After this, he might just leave and never come back...if this ever ends...

Katniss comes outside. Peeta almost waves to her-until he remembers his stature, and that Katniss probably doesn't see him.

She sees Buttercup. She sees he's being tortured by mice.

"YOU INCOMPETENT," she shouts. "YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE KEEPING THE MICE FROM GETTING HERE, NOT LETTING THEM!" She sighs. She flips Buttercup the bird, and steps back in the house.

She leaves the back door open. Peeta dreads what follows.

He's right to do so. Katniss comes back outside...armed, with a pyro-cannon. She storms the closest and biggest group of mice she sees, aims, and scorches them. All around, the mice, and the mice mutts, squeak and run.

"Fine," Katniss grumbles. "If my traps won't work, I'll kill all the mice myself!"

Above, the wolf's head's jaws fall open. Buttercup falls out-and lands on his feet. And he runs. Katniss chases him.

Peeta tries to run after her. But she's bigger-and hence faster.

Katniss blows the fire horn, trying to set the cat on fire. Buttercup can't run indefinitely-unlike Katniss. He climbs a tree. Katniss yells in rage, and starts scorching the base of the tree.

She doesn't seem to notice the remnants of the forest fire all around her. Ironic; she caused it.

All around, mice run. The mice mutts run back into their hole and hide.

In the sky, the sun gets closer to the horizon. It's setting.

Katniss scorches the base of the tree. It's black, but hardly fatiguing. Aloft, Buttercup is treed. He won't come down.

Katniss's hair turns blonde. Her clothes fall off. She looks around. She sees the pyro-cannon in her hand. She pulls the trigger. She screams, and throws it as far from her as she can.

She looks around again. She wonders how she got out here. She notices the remnants of the forest fire. She panics, and runs into the burned woods, calling Peeta's name.

Buttercup climbs down from the tree. And he runs...as far from the Mellark estate as he can.

In the mice mutts' hole, many casualties are mourned. But that doesn't last long. They celebrate the exodus of Buttercup. They raid the Mellark kitchen, and eat much cheese.

Peeta sits alone in a corner. He's glad to be alive...but he still can't believe he just helped a bunch of mice fight a war against his late sister-in-law's cat.

He also can't believe what his wife's become. He SO wishes he could divorce her, and put this perpetual nightmare behind him once and for all...