Disclaimer: This Hunger Games may contain scenes with flashing images.
Introducing
The Ninety-Fourth Hunger Games
Good morning, I'm Claudius Templesmith and welcome to beautiful, sunny Panem. I'm here at the so called 'Tributes Tower', just waiting in anticipation for the results of the Reaping. Claudius smiles widely at the screen, before turning to look out over a projection of the districts and then back at the screen.
Now, it's beautiful weather here but, unfortunately our first District appears to be suffering a slight monsoon. So, get your coats on and slap on some water repellent, because it's going to be wet.
District One:
The camera pans across the factories and landscapes of District One, giving us a glimpse of the crowd who have assembled in the square in the District's heart.
In District One, tensions are mounting as the various Careers stand ready, each one of them hoping to be our first Tributes.
"And now, without further ado," The escort grins, grinding his teeth slightly and turning to the Mayor, Freeking Awesome
Awesome inspects the crowd through his single eye and beckons with a long finger, "Will this years contestants please step forwards." He growls curtly.
As soon as these words are out of his mouth, a tall boy with spiky hair, that made him look somewhat like a porcupine, is on the stage and the lines of people, who had been standing patiently in front of him, have been utterly demolished.
Reliable sources tell me that this man is known by the name of Irre Massenhaft, one of this District's Careers, who has been training to enter the Hunger Games for years.
Irre whoops, throwing his fist into the air as the crowds cheer him, and his rather frazzled looking family, who are standing in the audience.
As for female tributes, to start with there is less of a response, as the assembled girls shuffle their feet anxiously.
Sources also inform me that this years pre-prepared Career, Dazzle Pearlson, was killed in an accident involving a flight of stairs, a sharpened kama, and fellow career Irre Massenhaft. I am standing by for more information.
Some of the girl's shuffle their feet slightly, none of them are fully prepared for the Games yet, and the thought of going out there too early and dying is not a nice one. The escort surveys the crowd for a second, shrugs and prepares to pick a name out of the...
"Essence can do it!" Everyone looks around in shock, standing towards the back of the town square, a tall boy with a mass of tangled curly hair and piercing blue eyes has just finished shouting.
Glamor Pearlson, younger brother of the aforementioned Dazzle, and set to be next years tribute.
"Essence?" The escort blinks, "Yes, yes, Essence err..."
"Craymaker!" A tall blond haired boy shouts from near the front of the crowd of careers.
"Craymaker! Yes. Will Essence Craymaker kindly come forwards."
I should probably mention now that, in District One, being volunteered by a friend is in fact a great honour, showing that others have faith in you, and counts for the same amount as volunteering yourself.
Essence blinks and cringes, before turning to Glamor and her brother, Pure, and bowing. The two boys bow back, a sign of thanks and respect in District One (apparently) and, keeping her straight face, Essence walks up to the stage in the center of the square, the people chanting the names of herself and Irre.
Irre grins down at Essence and winks, it isn't a nice smile and Essence recoil from it.
"Oh you're dead kid." Irre roars, before smiling warmly and helping her onto the stage, "Have fun in the arena," he smiles, his face hardening again, "It'll be your last!"
It's always great to see such a ready spirit among the people of District One. They're really going for it this year. Now we move on to District Two, where our latest pair of Tributes have already volunteered.
District Two:
Two figures stand on stage, staring down at the rows of cheering people who fill the streets of District Two. On stage stands a large man with long black hair and completely black eyes, and a girl with blue eyes that look almost too big for her head and dirty blond hair whoop and cheer, reveling in the attention they get from the crowd.
Demis Greattooth and Verain Longcast are this years competitors from District Two. They both have a lot of expectations to live up to, so lets hope that they can do it.
Demis grins widely, throwing back his head and howling like an animal, before gripping both Verain and their escort, Augusta Filch, around the neck and drawing them into a crippling hug.
"See you in the final eight beautiful!" Demis chuckles, pressing down slightly too hard on Verain's neck. The girl spits on the floor.
"Don't touch me, freak!"
"Fine. Be that way. I look forward to cutting through your spine, you stuck up little squirt."
"That'll be hard to do with a knife sticking out of you." Verain giggles, flipping a dagger out from her coat to show her severity.
"Smile for the cameras now..." Augusta gags, struggling to be free from the huge boy. Demis grins and lets her go and flexes his muscles as cameras flash all around him. Verain stands tall as her brother and sister cheer her on, whooping and striking at people who get to close with a variety of obviously illegal weaponry. Turning to the camera men Demis gives another howl. Verain rolls her eyes and throws a knife at him, cutting the man's hand and causing Demis to loose some of his concentration. He turns to Verain and pounces on her, punching her in the face as her siblings cut through the crowd to join in and Demis' father leaps onto the stage.
The camera cuts out.
Hahahahaha! Oh that District Two, always spoiling for a fight! But seriously folks, that sort of attitude could really work against them. Now onto District Three, who's knowledge of technology always makes for interesting tributes.
District Three:
"The first contestant for District Three is, drum roll please..." Behind Capitol Escort Felix Fortissimus a tall, balding man in a battered suit flicks on a machine, that plays the Capitol's national anthem and starts a drum roll.
"Kathrine Ryal!" At the front of the crowd, a pretty girl with red hair and green eyes winces and, for a moment, looks like she's going to burst into tears. She gulps and slowly makes her way onto the stage. The crowds below erupt in a commotion as young men rush forwards, lamenting the horror of her going into the game and offering to accompany her to protect the girl. But that's not how things work in District Three, people can't just stand up and volunteer.
In District Three tributes must always be chosen democratically so as to remove all favoritism.
Kate smiles, thanking the young men who step forwards, but demanding that they don't help her.
"Everyone's got to die sometime." Kate smiles.
"Excellent." Felix nods, "The next tribute to be going into the Hunger Games is..." The drum roll starts again and Felix picks out a name in an exaggerated fasion. "Jakob Hart." A groan of disappointment comes from the young men who were wanting to protect Kate. The crowd separates and a big nosed, messy haired fourteen year old with big feet and tatty clothes walks up to the platform. He smiles up at Felix, shaking slightly he looks around at his father, who is running the Drum-roll-machine and his smile falters slightly. He takes a small black box out of his pocket, and presses a button.
Felix opens his mouth to speak, but Jakob interrupts, impersonating Felix's voice exactly as he speaks into his tape recorder.
"I think we have our tributes Mr Templesmith." There's a brief pause as people realise that it isn't Felix who has just spoken. And then the square erupts with laughter, which the commentator joins in, though his laughter is forced. Felix growls and storms of the stage and Jakob walks up to Kate.
"We should stick together in the arena. People last longer like that." Kate smiles at the younger boy.
"My, using laughter to distract people from us, are we?"
"That's the plan!"
"You're smarter than I thought Hart."
"Well, you've got your skills. I've got mine..."
Ah. What a breath of fresh air, finally some laughter from a tribute. I think we might just have found a favorite with the guys too.
But, the clocks ticking, so lets move on to District Four, the fisherman's District...
District Four:
Pizzo looks down at the crowd in front of him. They cheer as he steps onto the stage. Pizzo grins and gives them a thumbs up. Oh how he wished his parents could see him, Pizzo Ottious, escort, Hunger Games commentator and most popular Capitol official ever to set foot in District Four. The man who had illegally sponsored his own tributes to allow District Four to win last years Hunger Games. Oh how they loved him. Pizzo Ottious, greatest man in the univer...
A can sails through the air and impacts hard with Pizzo's head.
OK, not everyone loved him.
"DISTRICT FOUR!" Pizzo roars, his sizable belly bouncing slightly as he shouts, "ARE YOU READY TO BECOME MORE THAN MERE CHILDREN?" The people cheer, one little girl near the front jumps in the air and several non-careers raise their fishing rods.
"MORE THAN MEN? MORE THAN LEGENDS?" The cheering increases and Pizzo revels in it.
"ARE YOU READY TO BE GODS AMONG MEN?" The crowd roars in excitement, and as Pizzo asks for volunteers, a group of careers surge the stage. Pizzo begins to sweat as the people batter each other in their attempts to lea onto the platform and, in the HGTV studio, Claudius' co-workers fall over themselves with laughter. Eventually two figures manage to squeeze their way onto the stage. One by darting through the fight, the other by ignoring the tussle and simply using the stairs. Intelligence wasn't generally a good attribute when one was looking for Careers. Pizzo smiles at the two contestants standing next to him. Finally some careers shorter than he was! The boy smiles widely, winking at the audience and garnering an aww from most of the women in the crowd. He smiled, staring up at Pizzo through huge, pool-like green eyes and Pizzo felt himself slightly taken aback. The fourteen year old brushed a wavy brown hair out of his eyes and regarded the audience.
"Hello, my name is Blake Kaitz, and thith year, I will be happy to represent th-th-thith District in th-the Hunger Games." He smiles widely, and the people in the crowd immediately start cheering his name, the stutter and the lisp just serving to make him sweeter and more innocent. Jules Radcliff sneers, most of the women had lost interest in her, but she still holds the attention of said women's disgusted boyfriends, who seem to believe that ignoring Blake would be a useful way to vent their frustrations.
"My name is Jules Radcliff!" Jules shouts over the screaming women, "And this year I am determined to win! I don't care how long it takes or where I have to go! I am going to win this!" The men grin, she may look young and frail, but if cheering the girl was going to get the attention of their girlfriends back, they'd do it.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN!" Pizzo roars, his voice cracking slightly, "I GIVE YOU YOUR TRIBUTES!"
Seems like those tributes'll be hard to beat. Our next District is a little different as well. I'm told that the male tribute, Quentin Rapido, has been lined up to enter this year since he was five. So, we've only got to choose one tribute in...
District Five:
The mayor, Heartford Rapido, surveys the children spread out below him with cold eyes. A can sails through the air and Heartford catches it. He turns to his son, looking up and down the bespectacled, hunch-backed career as though he were the finest most handsome boy in the world.
"Who wants to join my brave boy up here on the stage?" None of the girls he has displayed before him answer. Another can flies through the air, hitting Quentin in the face, and Heartford feels a surge of pride as Quentin grabs the small boy responsible and dashes his head against the side of the stage.
The boy who has just assaulted competitor Quentin Rapido is local upstart Toto Hoolan. He will be taken to the local hospital to look at his head injuries, and will then be publicly flogged by the Peacekeepers for assault.
"No one..." Heartford smiles, pushing his horn rimmed glasses further up his long nose, "How about." His hand sails over the names and he draws out a piece of paper with a name on it, opening it before replacing it and drawing another. "Miss Teagan Cooper." At his words, a twelve year old girl is escorted onto the stage and thrown at Heartford's feet. He smiles and reaches down to help her up, grabbing her small hand in his large, overly muscled one and forcing her to her feet.
"You're here to make my son look good," Heartford growls, "You will protect him with your own life or, so help me, I will have. Every. Last. One. Of your little friends publicly executed." Teagan glowers up at him and Heartford throws back his head, laughing.
"Oh I know it seems utterly pointless and not at all beneficial to swear to kill off many of the young population of the District just to assure that you die and my son lives, but that's just the sort of man I am. A petty violent man, capable of coming up with cliched ways to moivate people." He turns and pulled Teagan to her feet before walking over and patting his son hard on the back "Good luck!" Heartford grins, turning and walking away.
Looks like that Teagan Cooper has got quite some motivation to win. Don't think she'll have much chance though, not with the tributes we've already seen tonight on her tail, and maybe she'll find herself on the wrong end of these next two contestants as well...
District Six:
"Emery Lox and Phillip Sutton!" The fast talking escort for District Six, Mellisa Scorpia screeches. Silence falls as, from within the crowd of figures, a boy and a girl drag themselves onto the stage. Emery shudders, staring over at Phillip, a close friend of hers who she has known since childhood. She smiles at him, and he smiles back as Mellisa raises her hands, signaling that the people below her should be clapping. Emery groans. Why Phillip? Why did it have to be Phillip? Phillip Sutton who went everywhere with her and shared his dad's medicine with her when she got hurt? Phillip who always got the short end of the straw? Phillip who got berated by their fathers every time one of her plans went awry? Why did it have to be him? Why not Jericho or someone like that? She blinks again, trying to hold back tears as Mellisa finishes her speech in record time and takes both children by the hand, leading them off the stage with the cameras following them.
Emery wracks her brains some more, thinking back...
Come to think of it,why wouldn't she want Phillip with her? After all, she knew she could trust him and there was no one in the world who could diagnose antidotes and medicines better than he. What was she even worrying about, Phillip was smart. And they were going to get through this together.
"...And that's why I'm sure the Capitol will be thrilled to have you." Melissa concludes, turning the corner and directing them towards a dark skinned woman with black hair and numerous scars dressed in short jeans and a t-shirt. Both Emery and Phillip recognize her immediately...
Kai Keoloha, age 22, winner of the 88th Hunger Games. Famous for being the only tribute ever to have won to stick with an ally until the final eight and equally as famous for killing three better armed Careers in a fist fight lasting three hours.
Emery gulped. This wasn't going to be fun.
We're about halfway through the reapings right now, so it's time for a short break. When we return we'll be answering some age old question. Such as:
What happens when you stick a pyromaniac in a forest?
Who would win in a fight, a squad of Peacekeepers or a massive Eighteen year old?
What happened to Katniss and Peeta and why the Districts would be wise to remember it?
What is our beloved presidents take on all of this?
And why is everyone hear a redhead?
I'm Claudius Templesmith and we'll be right back!