Chapter 1

"Mom what's going on?" sweet and bewildered Primrose Everdeen asked her near catatonic mother. The pair sat on an old and worn couch watching the opening ceremony for the 74th annual Hunger Games. Silence up until this point had suffocated them as they watched Katniss Everdeen rise up from the ground on a hovercraft into the arena. The pair had watched apprehensively and prayed that Katniss, older sister to Prim, survived the games. Twenty three other children had risen with her as they prepared to fight to the death...that is, until he arrived.

Caesar Flickerman and his cohort in announcing, Claudius Templesmith, had prattled on and on about the varying strengths and weaknesses of each tribute to the Games. However much a master of sports announcing the pair were, and indeed they were quite masterful, neither man had words to express what they had seen.

Twenty four tributes waited on their hovercraft stations with varying levels of fear, from the District 2 male shaking with bloodlust to several of the other tributes quaking in all-consuming terror. Some kept their faces as hard and stony as possible. No one could quite dispel fear from their faces except perhaps the Career tributes. However all of these raging emotions, whether attempted to be hidden or openly displayed, shifted as clouds quickly gathered overhead.

Lightning skittered across the sky and thunder boomed as if the land mines planted around the Cornucopia, the center piece for the bloodbath, had exploded. It would be at this point that Claudius and Caesar promptly quelled any prepared dialogue they had and watched along with all of Panem. President Snow and the Gamemakers certainly hadn't informed either host of these events.

The clouds began to swirl directly above the Cornucopia and the raging storm intensified. The clouds parted slightly for a hole and an object plummeted from the sky. The tributes all watched the object speed to the ground, catching the sight of a man falling instead of a random piece of material.

Katniss felt her eyes widen. In the back of her mind, she realized the timer had continued and had hit the ten second mark as the man dented into the roof of the Cornucopia and bounced onto the ground. Katniss' eyes widened as he landed in her path.

9

A tribute pointed to the sky as another, much smaller object, sped through the same hole in the sky. Rain picked up and fell in sheets instantaneously.

8

Seneca Crane gazed on in absolute befuddlement as he watched his perfect game unravel before it even started.

7

Peeta Mellark glanced at his fellow tribute from District 12, trying to get a sense if she had any clue of the significance of these events. He frowned imperceptibly as she refused to look at him.

6

Caesar found his voice and then promptly lost it once again. A heavy hammer barreled a hole through sheet metal of the Cornucopia. The impact sent a small shockwave into the ground.

5

Katniss and all of the tributes who were decently aware of the oncoming danger shielded themselves as several land mines pierced their eardrums.

4

Tributes rocked from their hovercrafts as the chain of explosions sent the synthetic earth of the arena skyward. None of the tributes fell from their perches into the burrowed mines ready to consume them.

3

The man unsteadily stood amidst the weapons cache.

2

With shoulder length blonde hair and a gruff beard, the muscular man rubbed his forehead to soothe an oncoming headache. Spotting the hammer a few feet away, he took a step towards it.

1

The man noticed the children around him - young people of Midgard dressed in some form of combat fatigues. He creased his brow slightly. He got the sense that he would not be happy with the events to come.

0

A horn blared as the man looked around for the source. The tributes paused and waited cautiously as they observed the man settle his eyes on the children surrounding him. He blinked as rain coursed down his face and cautiously approached the hammer.

He paused again as Claudius's voice boomed in the open air, "Announcing to all tributes, the Gamemakers have decided that the man before you is officially a tribute and contestant in this year's Hunger Games. The time clock has been reversed by 10 seconds and will start this year's game at the count of zero."

The tributes looked at each other warily. The man frowned at the sky as Caesar took over, "To our newest tribute: welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games. Before we can begin this year's game please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Caesar Flickerman and it is a pleasure to meet you. Claudius and I are terribly sorry that you have been thrust into this year's game so quickly without a proper introduction to all of Panem. If I can extend the invitation I would like to warmly invite you to Panem. If you could be so kind, good sir, please tell us and the audience at home a little about yourself."

The man remained silent in thought for a moment. He shifted his eyes across the faces of each tribute, landing on Rue's face the longest. He looked back to the sky, "Why are there children here and what is their purpose in this game?"

A different voice took over, "Good day. I am President Coriolanus Snow of Panem. Welcome to the 74th annual Hunger Games. To answer your question, the people you see before you are contestants in this year's game. They are called tributes and fight for the honor of their respective district of Panem. Each district selects a young man and a young woman to represent their district in each year's game."

Prim and her mother looked at each other briefly before turning back to the television. Prim's question still went unanswered.

Gale Hawthorne's lips pursed in concentration at the presence of President Snow directly addressing this mysterious man. Something's going on that they didn't plan, he thought. Gale smiled a little. Good, I hope this guy messes the game up and gets as many tributes as he can out of there. Especially you Catnip. Don't die.

Gale observed the man's near stoic expression with caution; at least I hope he helps us. The man spoke again.

"How is a winner determined?"

"That question, I assure you, will be answered soon enough. On your left, a hovercraft will appear from the ground. Please step into it so we can truly and properly introduce you to Panem, and Panem to you. After all, we wish to warmly welcome you. For the other tributes, the game will be postponed for seventy-two hours."

The man glanced to his right as he saw the ground shift and a metallic platform rose from the ground. President Snow continued, "Good luck and may the odds ever be in your favor."

The sky cleared and the man pensively stepped onto the platform. His thoughts clouded with questions of where he was, where his hammer had landed, and why exactly President Snow didn't answer his last question immediately.

Author's Notes

Greetings all. First of all thank you kindly for reading this mildly crack-ish story and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about it. I have some fairly big concerns here as a writer, and that is capturing the personalities of the Hunger Games characters. I'm not sure I have Peeta and Katniss down quite correct. I had started writing this story when I was halfway through the first book and really only had the movie to rely on. I've finished the trilogy, but I'm still wondering what you think. How is my characterization?

I think I've got Thor pretty solid for characterization but it never hurts to know more. I'm basing Thor here off of the movie and mythology wherever I see fit. So you may see myth versions of characters also in the comics, though I haven't decided yet. I don't know much about Thor in the comics, so any info/ideas/suggestions are always welcome.

I don't like to do Author's Notes often. I usually like to let my stories speak for themselves and see what happens, but for this one, I'd really appreciate reviews. And I mean actual reviews where you are telling me things you like and/or things I could improve. I like reviews where people say "good story" or "update" as much as the next author, because it really does make you feel good, but I also crave substance in reviews.

I decided to start short for a taste of the setting, but I can assure you the chapters will be longer. You'll probably see a twice as long chapter two very soon.

Thanks for reading once again!