The screen was black, the soft sound of cheers in the background, slowly getting louder and louder until the camera faded into the president standing behind a podium at the presidential palace, a large crowd of Capitolites all screaming in excitement below.
President Lacer gave a quick nod to the audience, and with a solemn look, stepped up to the microphone, and began the short Quarter Quell speech.
"Hello, and welcome to the reading of the card for the 7th Quarter Quell!" The crowd's screams managed to get even louder, now at an ear-piercing volume. President Lacer paused for a second, then when it was quiet enough to be heard, began again. "For the first Quarter Quell, the tributes were voted in by the districts, for the second Quell double the amount of tributes went into the games. For the third Quell no tributes were killed, for the fourth all 3 quells were combined, for the fifth Quell the tributes reaped were aged 9-15, and for the sixth Quell, the tribute reaped chose their district partner."
The audience let out a deafening roar, and a young boy came out holding the box holding the quell twists. President Lacer nodded to the boy, plucked the golden envelope with the number 175 printed on it in bold letters, and the boy quickly walked out of sight.
Silence spread across the whole nation as the president slowly unfolded the card. With the small slip of paper now in his hands, Lacer let out a cough, and with a slight smile spread on his face, read the twist.
"For the 7th Quarter Quell, to remind the districts that even the most powerful are not free from the Capitol's grasp, only the children of mayors, high ranked officials, wealthy business men and women, peacekeepers, and victors will be reaped."
The Capitolites paused for a second to take it in, then went crazy, shouting out and cheering in approval. President Lacer let out a small chuckle, and set the envelope down onto the podium.
"Happy Hunger Games, and may the odds be ever in your favor!"
With those words, he turned away, and walked back into the palace, the whole of Panem either weeping in fear, or cheering in relief.
Hunger Games Panel
A tall man with slicked black hair and a neon blue suit appears in front of the screen, smiling widely and waving to the audience. "Welcome everyone, to a special edition of the Hunger Games Panel!" A roar goes up from the crowd, and he lets out a laugh. "My name Is Cinnabar Thylos, and I will be your host as we take our first look at this years games. And this year is a special year, as we have the 175th Quarter Quell!"
The camera switches over to a shot of the president reading the quell. After he reads it, it cuts back to the room, which now has Cinnabar standing on the stage, with 3 podiums behind him, each with a person to them.
"Now would be a good time to introduce you to this years panel!" He steps aside and points to the podiums. "First up we have Hunger Games expert Acestes, then we have ex-Gamemaker Gyro! And finally, returning from last year we have Hunger Games journalist Frey!"
He walks back to the edge of the stage and faces the three of them. "So, for this years quell, only the most well to do will be reaped. We'll just start it off with what your general thoughts are. Acestes?"
He smiles back and shrugs. "I don't know, I like the idea behind it, but feel like it won't affect the actual games, sort of like the first quell."
Gyro shakes his head. "No, no, you've got it all wrong. It most definitely will affect the games, just not as much as some quells. I'd put it on level with the 6th quell, with tributes picking their partners."
Cinnabar nods. "And your thoughts Frey?"
"Well, I feel like I do agree with Gyro that it will affect it, albeit slightly. The tributes will definitely be more healthy, but also less fit since most of them have never done physical labor before most likely. I expect the careers to decimate the competition this year."
"That's a good point." Cinnabar says, slightly nodding. "On that same pattern, from just the quell standpoint, ignoring the actual games, how do you rate this years quell? Gyro?" He says, signalling to him to go ahead.
"Well, the 1st seemed awesome at first, the 4th, 5th and 6th are also probably ahead, so I guess 5th."
"Interesting, we'll have to see if that holds true or not." Cinnabar comments. "One last question here, what is your favorite quell?"
Acestes lets out a chuckle. "Well, ignoring the 4th because that's not even fair, I'd have to go for the 3rd. All of the other games just changed it slightly, adding more tributes, changing their age. But no tributes dying completely changed the way the games were played, it wasn't even the Hunger Games really."
Gyro snorts. "Yes, exactly, it wasn't even the Hunger Games, it was a completely different thing, and I personally didn't enjoy it. I would have to say that the best games is the 50th, simply because it was such an amazing underdog story for a district 12 kid to win against a group of 12 potential careers."
Frey gives a small laugh. "I think that I have to go with the 150th, with the kid reaped picking his partner. It added such a tension to the games, there were pretty much no alliances, it was a complete free for all."
A buzzer beeps in the background, and Cinnabar lets out a hearty laugh. "Thank you all for watching, and make sure to tune in for our next show where we break down the tributes that have been reaped, until then, my name is Cinnabar Thylos, and you're watching Hunger Games Panel!"
Hey, david12341 here. This is just a bit of a filler to remind you all that submission ends on the 9th, so make sure to submit away! Also, as a bit of background on why the games are still around, basically what happened was Peeta died, leaving Katniss as the sole victor, and then the 3rd quell decimated any rebellious feelings(if you're interested in that twist, I'll be making a story about it on my profile soon, so check that out if you're interested).
We have an updated list on our profile of what tributes have been submitted, and we'll have the final list by the 10th, so see you then!
