Hello Reader,

Welcome to my first attempt at a Fanfic. This will follow the main strokes of Catching Fire, but may alter the end or minor details. Enjoy.

Thank you for reading,

Draco Ranger

Chapter 1- Hangover and Effie

The atmosphere of the room is subdued, dark, and depressed, at odds with the room itself, which is well lit, airy, and designed to allow people to work under stressful circumstances for an extended period of time. A necessity, considering the people who work there. Scattered around the room are small gatherings of three or so people, twelve groups in all. Some are arguing others are silent; one is looking anxiously around, as if one of their number is missing. In the center of the room is a group of technicians, the only people talking animatedly and acting excited in the area. It is as if they are looking forward to Christmas...

Despite the differences between the groups, they all have one uniting feature, total and absolute attention to a massive hologram display in the center of the room. Using multiple projectors, a 3-D image is formed by projected light in the air. The projectors are currently picking up light from an airship, and are showing an aerial view of what appears to be a small island with a giant gold triangle on it surrounded by a lagoon. On the shores of lagoon, 24 small pedestals stand, each with a hole in the middle.

"Alter view to Cap-rotating camera," a male from one of the arguing groups shouts out.

"Rodger 7!" responds one of the technicians, rapidly and efficiently altering the view of the holo-screen to that of the top of the gold triangle, resolving itself to be instead a cornucopia, with a pile of equipment 20 feet tall pouring out.

Immediately many of the groups begin to whisper amongst themselves. Snatches of conversation can be made out above the murmur.

"...we're facing the back; I hope Johanna will go to higher ground..."

"...good, a water map, we have the advantage..."

"...is Cinna? He should have been here hours ago!"

Damn, I wish I had a whisky.

"Shut up, Effie. It's hard enough being sober without listening to you." I shot back.

God, sometimes it's worth pissing her off just for the expression on her face.

"Well, I never! All I am doing is expressing concern over where a valued colleague is! You should be worried sick where such a useful and nece-" She tittered in her high pitched voice before being cut off by mine.

Bulging eyes, flapping wig, absolute murder in her eyes, or the Capitol equivalent at least, so probably a strong desire to insult my fashion sense. Yep, once again, worth it.

"We don't need him, and you are distracting me. Do you want Katniss to die because I couldn't see what I need to get her?" I interrupted. An empty threat, as it was, the moments before the start of the Games were some of the most boring of my career. You can't even make an impact until the second day, and by that time there is a good chance that your tribute will be dead, going after booby-trapped equipment you told her to ignore, or twisting their ankle and being trapped in the middle of an open field, or trying to jump over the mines and blowing themselves up.

Effie started to tear up, a process that was, thankfully, silent.

A change in the hologram caught my attention; apparently one of the other mentors requested a view of the supplies. It was like a gung-ho Peacekeeper's wet dream. Knives, throwing stars, swords, garrotes, machetes, pole arms, bows, katanas, and morning stars abounded the pile. There was even a throwing disc, which was used in a martial art that was founded several thousand miles away and died out over a thousand years ago. After 25 years of sending kids to their deaths, you learn more about weapons than you thought existed.

But the unusual part was that there weren't any survival supplies, it was only weaponry. Apparently the Gamemaker wants this over quickly... O.K. first thing to do is get Katniss a tap for the trees. That should give her an edge and be cheap enough to send on the first or second day... Are there any sponsors from last time who would be willing to fork over money this quickly? Ehh, probably.

Overhead a voice boomed. "Ladies and gentlemen, let the Seventy-Fifth Hunger Games begin!

Turning back to the hologram, each of the pedestals now has a person standing on top of it. The people present are almost a cross section of the entire population. Ages? 17-80. Skin colors? White to black with a lot of tan. Gender? Half male and half female or, depending on some of the rumors, 11/24 male, half female, and 1/24 other. I don't believe that's true, the "guy" probably would have died of blood loss when it happened or committed suicide long since; still it does make you think... The only uniting factor was all of whom are wearing an unusual tracksuit type outfit. It contains what appears to be a life-preserver, is shiny blue, and is obviously not designed for sneaking around in. Just another way they are trying to hasten the games. A glint of gold catches my eye and also, unfortunately, catches Effie's, who starts to wave and cheer for Katniss.

"Go Katniss!" She squeals, "I know you can win!"

I grimace, thinking of the sound of fingernails on blackboards... Ahh, bliss.

Furiously ignoring Effie, I turn to a projection screen and set it to look from Katniss's point of view. There are only 15 seconds left on the countdown before an absolute bloodbath begins. Ow... I wish I hadn't drunk so much. The noise in here is just too loud.

30 seconds left...

I check on Katniss's GPS tracker and access the rudimentary medical data, ensuring that I can get readings on her heart rate and a few other basic pieces of data. Anything to kill the next 25 seconds.

10 seconds...

I cross over to Effie, who is counting down under her breath.

5 seconds...

The contestants are tensed up and ready to sprint.

3 seconds...

Cheering starts among the Capitol people.

2 seconds...

Time is slowing down... The contestants are in their starting positions.

1 second...

Some tributes push off the pedestal, desperate for that extra second to gain an advantage.

GONG!

Thank you for reading, thank you Audrey for reviewing, and if there is any response I will try to get the next chapter up as soon as possible.