It's SnowLucario again. Slightly longer wait than I usually have for my updates, but you'll need to get used to that, because my school is starting up again soon.

The next thing is that this chapter is absolutely massive, at nearly nine thousand words. Reason being, I wanted to combine the individual training sessions in front of the Gamemakers with the revealing of the scores. I hope that you guys enjoy and review, because there will sure be a lot to talk about with regards to the happenings in this chapter.

Also, this is who I picture some of my characters as:

Horatio: How Apollo is depicted in Percy Jackson

Elegance: Cher Lloyd as she looked in the "Want U Back" music video.

Hades: A younger version of Snape

Leo: Leo Valdez

Anna: Bikini Cher Lloyd from the same music video.

Conker: Conker the squirrel

Isabella: Rosalyn, Calvin's babysitter from Calvin and Hobbes, probably the only comic I like

Aurora: Judy Hopps (yes, really. I'm weird, okay?)

Other than that, I don't really have a mental image of individual characters, just the scene in general.


Head Gamemaker Johan Bainbridge was not in the mood to watch six hours of tributes's training sessions.

He'd just gotten back from an exhausting hockey match, and he only had time to take off his gear before he was required to go to the Training Center and view the twenty-four tributes, who were going to all present their skills to him and his cohorts. He'd then have to rank them on a scale of one to twelve based on their skills.

It was one in the afternoon, and this would become a whole lot more bearable when they came in with the buffet. But that might be a long time from now.

Bainbridge's assistant, Tullius Ludos, handed his boss the schedule for the training sessions. He looked it over:

1300-Horatio Jewel (17)

1315-Elegance Elysia (16)

1330-Hades Blackett (18)

1345-Margaret Malachi (18)

1400-Leo Nale (15)

1415-Siliconia Bradley (12)

1430-Eli Trout (17)

1445-Anna Hardy (18)

1500-Ira Wilson (18)

1515-Savanna Charlton (14)

1530-Apollo Gunner (16)

1545-Hannah "Vixen" Ford (14)

1600-Conker B. Furrday (18)

1615-Isabella York (18)

1630-Vair Armani (17)

1645-Miri Ellara (18)

1700-Ted Shaw (18)

1715-Aurora Baylor (18)

1730-Bryson Holstein (17)

1745-Camille "Cam" Whey

1800-Wheat Corky (14)

1815-Ember "Em" Hayfields (13)

1830-Ash Cole (18)

1845-Madison "Madi" Quarry (14)

"Interesting" Bainbridge said. "We've got a lot of ground to cover, guys. Let's get started".

"Okay" Ludos said.


The first tribute to come in was Horatio.

"Today", the boy from District 1 said, "I will be demonstrating my skills with a mace. I think that I am pretty good".

"All right" the head Gamemaker said. "Do it".

Horatio went over to the weapons rack and picked up a mace. Then, he hesitated a bit.

"I want to spar with a trainer" he said.

"Okay. Trainer Lewis, will you spar with Horatio?"

"Okay" said a young man in the corner. He put on some armor and asked Horatio to do the same. It took up five of their precious fifteen minutes just to suit up.

"3...2...1...GO!"

Horatio struck out first with his mace. It hit the trainer in the stomach, but the trainer was good at parrying attacks. Horatio's morning star was tangled around the trainer's.

After a few minutes of this, Horatio finally managed to disarm the trainer.

Horatio then tried to go to the weapons rack to grab a sword. But the Gamemakers wouldn't let him.

"We need time for the next tribute" Head Gamemaker Bainbridge said.

So Horatio left, silently brooding about how he could have done better.

After making sure that he was well and truly out of earshot, the Gamemakers debated what score to give him.

"I think that a 9 or 10 would be best, but I'm leaning more towards 9" said one of them.

"I agree" said another.

A few minutes later, Elegance came in. She selected a mace from the rack, just like Horatio. Unlike her district partner, she did not wish to practice with a partner.

"But, Miss Elysia", Johan said, "you kind of have to spar with a trainer if you're demonstrating your skills with a mace. Otherwise, we won't know how good you are".

"All right" Elegance said reluctantly. So the same trainer from earlier kept his armor on, prepared to fight Elegance medieval-style.

It was a contest. Both Elegance and the trainer got a few good hits in, but eventually Elegance was disarmed. She looked at her hand, which had blood on it. It was her own.

"Oh, my God" Elegance said weakly. She shook side to side, as if she were about to faint.

Then, she did faint.

"Carry her away, Xander" Johan said, pointing to another one of the trainers.

Xander carried Elegance's unconscious form towards the medical center. She'd be okay, but her training score would definitely take a hit.

"This'll be interesting" said Johan. "We can't give her an 8 or 9. Definitely not a ten. The Careers might not let her in their alliance. This could make for a very different competition this year".

As he said this, Johan Bainbridge was thinking, Two down. Twenty-two to go...

This was his first year as a Gamemaker, and he had had no idea just how monotonous it could get during the individual training sessions. But he'd made his bed, and now he would have to lie in it. At least a buffet would be coming in eventually, and that would make things somewhat more bearable.

The third tribute who would demonstrate his skills was Hades Blackett of District 2. He was going to use an axe to impress the Gamemakers. Hopefully. Hades, after all, was a Career tribute. And they usually scored very well in training.

As Johan looked at Hades's scowling face and greasy black hair, the Head Gamemaker knew that this kid was probably going to be an archetypical brutal Career boy, just like there was pretty much every year. Some things never changed.

Hades picked up his axe and asked for the Gamemakers to place an artificial tree in the middle of the room, so as best to show off his skills. When they finally got it in two minutes later, Hades chopped straight through it with one hit. Then, he decapitated several more dummies. After this pattern went on three more times, the Gamemakers dismissed him.

Hades walked out of the room, confident that he must have gotten at least a ten. People would be falling over themselves to sponsor him. The betting odds were probably going to be in his favor this year.

"That's quite a killing machine" one of the junior Gamemakers said to Bainbridge. "Let's give him a ten".

Bainbridge thought that made sense. But then a trainer lifted up his shirt, having heard that exchange. "Look at the wound he gave me" he said.

"So are you saying we should give him a twelve?" Bainbridge asked.

"No" another junior Gamemaker said. "I just think we should bump it up to eleven".

Bainbridge nodded again. One through ten was the standard range, while eleven might have been someone who was ridiculously skilled, and twelve was someone you really wanted to make a target. An 11 sounded like it fit Hades Blackett well. No one knew why it was twelve instead of ten or a hundred, especially considering the top two scores were rarely used, but still.

The next person to come in was Margaret Malachi, also of District 2. She chose the ninja stars as a weapon to use in order to show the Gamemakers that she was worth sponsoring. She then lined up in front of the targets.

"We're ready when you are" Johan said.

Margaret flung her first star. It hit the target cleanly. She allowed herself a brief moment of self-congratulation before she continued throwing.

After hitting the target ten consecutive times, the Gamemakers said that she could leave. Margaret left the room with her head held high, convinced that she would get a 10.

"Definite victor material" Gamemaker Ludos said. "Shall we give her a ten?"

"I definitely think so. All in favor?" Johan asked the rest of them.

The other Gamemakers nodded.

"A ten it is, then".

Speaking of ten, it was ten minutes before Leo Nale walked in for his training session. The boy from District 3 seemed even more hyperactive than usual, as if he'd had far too much coffee. Which, of course, he probably had, since coffee was one thing, among many, that was abundant in the Capitol.

"Today, I am going to show you guys how to build a fire" Leo began.

The Gamemakers were a little surprised at how casual Leo was being. After all, showing himself as a highly skilled tribute could mean the difference between life and death. But they decided to sit back and watch Leo demonstrate his fire making skill.

Leo was a natural, that was for sure. He built a teepee, and, even though he couldn't simply form fire in his palm, it sometimes felt that way. It didn't take long until he had a tall, hot blaze going. It could have cooked an entire cow within two minutes. That was how good Leo was with his fire. Surely that would get him at least an 8.

As soon as Leo was out of the room, the Gamemakers began talking amongst themselves to decide what score to give the boy who had just left.

"I don't know what we should give him" Ludos admitted. "I think that he certainly showed extreme proficiency in fire making. However, that's not necessarily a skill that will get you too far in the Games. This arena's not going to have many places for him to set aflame. I think anywhere in the seven-to-nine range would be a safe score to give him".

The Gamemakers deliberated on this for several minutes. Before they knew it, the door opened and a small girl walked in.

Johan Bainbridge had to refer to his sheet. Siliconia Bradley, District 3, he read.

"You're the youngest one here, right?" he asked the girl.

"Yes. I'm twelve".

"Well, what are you going to show us today? We're kind of on a tight schedule". In reality, they were not on a tight schedule at all-no matter what, they still could only begin one tribute's session every fifteen minutes. For what reason, nobody except President Snow knew. And nobody questioned the president's judgment on this. And, in the
Head Gamemaker's opinion, the end could not come soon enough.

"I just want to say that..."

"Spit it out!"

"Well" Siliconia said.

Siliconia began to sing, much to the annoyance of the Gamemakers:

The Gamemakers tried to get her to stop wasting their time singing pop music from pre-apocalyptic times, but Siliconia wasn't going to have any of it.

By now, they were practically shushing her.

"Is there anything else you're going to do?" Bainbridge said in a voice that showed that Siliconia was testing his sanity to the breaking point, but he was trying not to show it. "After all, this isn't Panem's Got Talent".

"Yeah" she said.

And, before the Gamemakers could stop her, Siliconia broke out into song again.

"Look" Bainbridge said. "If you're not going to do anything else, other than sing ridiculously old pop music, we must ask you to leave".

These words clearly had no effect on Siliconia, who just kept on singing.

By this point, the Gamemakers were practically shooing Siliconia out of the room. As soon as she was out of sight, Johan buried his face in his hands. Siliconia had been a truly embarrassing tribute. All she had done was sing. On the bright side, though, at least it wouldn't be difficult to give her a score.


The buffet arrived, relieving the Gamemakers's agony somewhat. There was stuffed pizza, filet mignon, and all sorts of other fancy dishes that the people in the districts were not ever able to eat, simply because they couldn't afford it. Other than the very richest, of course.

As Johan took a swig of his wine, he tried to remember who was next. Oh, yeah. It's that kid genius from District 4.

Eli Trout was walking into the room. The Gamemakers's eyes turned towards him.

"Today", Eli said, "I am going to be demonstrating my skills with a machete. Then, I will work on knot-tying".

"Hold on" Bainbridge said. "You can't just do both of them. There's no time. Choose one skill you want to show us".

"Okay" Eli said. "In that case, I'll show you how I can use a machete to kill people easily!"

Eli walked over to the weapons rack and grabbed a long machete. He used it to whip off the head of a dummy easily. He then continued stabbing them through the hearts.

He had considered doing knot-tying to get a lower score. However, he had not done that because, with a lower score, he would be more likely to be seen as playing both sides. And that was the last thing he wanted his fellow Careers to think. It would be fatal to his game.

When he was done, Eli dismissed himself. The Gamemakers were certainly impressed with him. He was a pretty good player in these Games, or would be once they actually started. The Hunger Games wouldn't start for a few more days.

"I think that a 10 would be a good score to give Eli. He seems to be very good at fighting, and from what we've heard, he's extremely smart and dangerous. Does that sound good?" said Ludos.

Everyone agreed with that. And so, Eli Trout would be likely to get a lot of sponsors.

The next person was the girl of District 4, Anna Hardy. Her cold blue eyes scanned the weapons rack, the fire making station, the edible plants station, and the Gamemakers, who were digging into their pizza. Anna wondered how she could get their attention. Since the buffet usually came in the early-to-middle part of the training sessions, the Gamemakers paid less and less attention to the tributes. By District 4, the Gamemakers would already be restless and sick of watching the tributes train. Anna, although she was not one to have too many emotions, felt bad for the tributes from 8, 9, 10, and especially District 12, who always went last. By then, the Gamemakers were stoned out of their minds. There might be no getting their attention if they were really drunk.

Anna eventually decided on archery, so she went and grabbed a bow. She nocked an arrow and aimed for the target, three concentric circles of blue, red, and yellow in the middle. She pulled it back and released.

The arrow pierced the bull's-eye. That was a pretty impressive shot, Anna thought to herself. She really hoped that the Gamemakers had been watching.

However, it appeared that they hadn't been. They were still too focused on that foie gras. Anna wondered what way she could get attention. She settled for yelling as loudly as she could.

"GUYS! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE WATCHING ME SHOOT ARROWS INTO THE TARGET!"

That got their attention quickly. Johan Bainbridge turned around and watched as Anna shot another arrow straight into the yellow ring. And another. And another.

Eight arrows and many drinks later, Bainbridge told Anna she could leave. She did.

The next person to go in for her training session was Ira of District 5. Finally, they were a third of the way through the individual training sessions. There was a light at the end of this maze of tunnels. Somehow, Johan, as well as the other Gamemakers, would get through this.

Ira began throwing spears at targets. He didn't hit dead center, not even close. It must be said that Ira Wilson was not very good with weaponry at all, and he probably should have chosen a different skill to show off to the Gamemakers. Oh, well, he thought. Too late for that now.

Fifteen minutes later, when the Gamemakers dismissed him, Ira felt that he had completely embarrassed himself in front of them. There was no way he'd get anything above a four.

"Good riddance" Ludos said. "He sure was horrible".

Bainbridge nodded. But this was an endurance. Fifteen more tributes to go, most of whom might be just as bad, if not worse, than Ira. But that might make it more entertaining. After all, he always enjoyed watching people fail in comedic ways.

For Johan Bainbridge was a student of the Hunger Games. Even since he'd been born in the year 17 ADD, he'd watched every single Games, which even people in the Capitol were required to watch every year. Of course, most of the people there loved it. Johan knew the best strategies to win in all areas-offense, defense, survival, and pre-Games things as well, such as what to do during training and your interview with Caesar Flickerman. He'd re-watched them all, several times.

Savanna wasn't quite as bad as Ira, but she wasn't great with the knife either. She kept dropping it, which wasn't like her. Since she lived on the street back in District 5, she'd had to defend herself. But she'd never been quite as nervous as she was today. Seeing the Gamemakers had really brought it all home. She wasn't here to dress as a lightbulb and eat fancy food. She was here to die a horrible death for the amusement of the Capitol. The thought made her feel sick to her stomach.

Eventually, she was dismissed, which, in Bainbridge's opinion, was doing her a favor. That was less time that she'd be using to embarrass herself in front of the Gamemakers. Maybe she could get a 4 instead of a 2 or a 1. And then, he decided on the score. He smiled. That was ten tributes done, fourteen remaining to present their skills.

Apollo Gunner of District 6 walked in. He decided to show his most unique skill, which was healing. After all, the Greek god Apollo, who no one really believed in anymore, was the god of healing. But he didn't have any wounds to heal.

To the Gamemakers's shock, he fixed that right away.

Apollo took a dagger made a thin cut down his right leg. It was a bloody red streak. Johan was wondering, Why the hell is he cutting himself. That's probably one of the last things you should do just prior to the Hunger Games.

But, to their amazement, Apollo immediately went over to the plants station and pressed some yellow plant over his wound. He then just sat there.

"Well?" Johan asked Apollo. "Aren't you going to do anything? We're wasting daylight here".

"Just wait" Apollo said back.

Ten minutes passed. The Gamemakers were getting impatient. Finally, Ludos just said, "It's just about time to go, Apollo Gunner. What is...oh. I see".

Apollo's cut had completely healed.

Well, Bainbridge thought, that's certainly remarkable. But should I give him a high score for that? Because it didn't look he really did that much; he seems to have just been born with that innate ability. In which case, more power to him. But still...

The Head Gamemaker's train of thought had been interrupted by Apollo leaving and Vixen entering.

The obstacle course had, up until 3:45 PM, been untouched by tributes coming in for their individual training sessions. Vixen changed that. She walked over to the obstacle course. The trainers manning it got their clubs at the ready.

Vixen had unbelievable speed. She dodged, ducked, dipped, dove, and dodged some more. (I give all credit to the movie Dodgeball for that). Then, she ran back to the Gamemakers.

"Impressive" Ludos said. "You may go, Vixen".

Vixen left the room.

Yes...Johan thought, a grin forming on his face. We're halfway done.


But they still had half of the tributes left to go. And the next tribute reminded Bainbridge exactly why he was hating this so much.

Conker of District 7 barely even did anything. All he did was stand in the middle of the training room and puke. He threw up and threw up. Clearly, he'd been drinking too much.

After two minutes of this, Conker just passed out, and the Head Gamemaker had the medical team cart him to the medical room. Then, Johan called for the cleaning crew. The area had to be fully free of vomit for the next tribute, because that was just disgusting.

It was only fitting that the next tribute to come in was a paramedic internist. Isabella York was striding in, looking like a babysitter whose client was causing a lot of trouble in the house. She was determined to show off her skills.

Isabella wasted no time at all. She went over to the knot-tying station, and, in thirty seconds, she had created a perfect Prusik knot. Now all she needed was a leather harness, and then they could go rock climbing. Of course, though, there was no climbing wall in the Training Center.

"That's enough" Johan Bainbridge said from the buffet table. He was, by now, feeling a little fuzzy, but not nearly as much as Conker. The next morning, he'd probably feel horrible. But that didn't matter right now. He had to fulfill his duties as Head Gamemaker today, worry about massive hangover tomorrow.

"Already?" Isabella asked. She'd just been getting started. But clearly, the Gamemakers could already tell that she was no novice at knot-tying. So she walked out, confident that she must have scored at least a six, if nothing higher.

"Next" Bainbridge boomed.

In came an Indian-looking boy of about seventeen years old. Johan had to consult his notes before saying, "You're Vair Armani, right?"

"Yes. I am Vair" the boy said.

"Well, Vair, show us what you've got. We're all eyes and ears".

Vair was quite skilled with all sorts of survival skills. But he wanted to stay off the radar. That was going to be his strategy in these Games. So he only focused on building a fire. He stacked up some tinder in a small teepee shape. Then, rubbed two sticks together.

Nothing. There was no hint of a spark at all. Vair worked desperately, really wanting to get some kind of a flame going. He didn't want to get a 1 in training. That would just be embarrassing. As it was, his score wouldn't be good. But that had been his whole plan to begin with, so it wasn't like that really mattered. Still, though, it didn't help his chances of getting sponsored, that was for sure.

Eventually, the Gamemakers got tired of watching Vair feebly attempt to start a fire. They dismissed him.

"That was a sorry excuse for a tribute" Ludos said.

"Imagine if he was a Career! Then, they'd never let him in their alliance. Just like Elegance probably won't be in the Career alliance this year either!". That was a female Gamemaker talking.

"Enough, both of you!" Bainbridge snapped. "We still have nine tributes to go!"

They both quieted down.

The next person in was Miri. She was, of course, also from District 8, just like Vair. But there was a key difference between Vair and Miri.

With Vair, you could tell that he was from the outer districts. He was pretty unskilled with survival skills, which was not surprising for the highly urban District 8. He was going to get a very low score in training, perhaps only a two, but that might not mean anything. Maybe he was holding back on purpose.

But Miri fearlessly asked one of the trainers to have a sword fight with her. That was going to be what she would show to the Gamemakers. And Miri sparred like nobody's business.

She disarmed her trainer like it was nothing-like it had been something that she had done all her life. There were people from outside the wealthiest districts of 1, 2, and 4 who trained for the Games. Outer-district Careers were rare but not unheard-of. Miri was probably one of those.

By the time the fight was over, the girl had barely broken a sweat at all. She still looked like she could climb Denali in one day, and not even need to stop for air. Okay, that was probably a big exaggeration. But Miri seemed to be a natural.

"Let's give her a very high score, like an 11 or 12" Johan told his employees.

"Why?" Ludos asked.

"It's obvious. We don't like outer-district people training to become Careers. I say we give her an 11, to make her a target. Does that sound good?"

All of the other Gamemakers nodded assent to Johan's score idea for Miri. After all, nobody defied the Capitol and got away with it.

But they didn't debate this for long. The biggest juvenile criminal in all of Panem came walking into the room. Ted Shaw. Until recently, the Peacekeepers had not known who he really was, always calling him "Black Shade". Now that he'd been caught and unmasked, he'd been sent off to the Hunger Games as punishment for his crimes. And he was barely eligible-in fact, according to his bio, his nineteenth birthday was on the day the Games were going to begin.

Ted went over to the weapons rack and selected some knives. He threw them at the target, and most of them hit one by one. Of course, the Gamemakers had seen this a million times before, but they still had to watch into the early evening. That was just how it went, and Johan couldn't just complain to President Snow. He was the one responsible for this whole mess of a system. Not that Johan Bainbridge hated the Games. In fact, he loved them. But he just hated all the work that went into being the Head Gamemaker.

When Ted was done, he unceremoniously walked out the door. The Gamemakers then continued conversing on what score Ted should be given.

"I think that performance merits a 6 or a 7" said one of the Gamemakers, a young woman named Mallory.

'Mallory, do you know who that is? That's Ted Shaw. He's the most wanted juvenile criminal in all of Panem. We can't give him a 7". That was Ludos talking.

"Well, what score should he get then?" Mallory shot back.

"Settle down, guys" Bainbridge said. "I know what score we should give Ted. I think it's perfect".

They did settle down. Bainbridge wrote the number on a spare piece of paper and handed it around in a circle. They all approved, so he crumpled up the paper and threw it into the waste basket.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in" said Johan.

An eighteen-year-old girl walked in. Judging by the list, this must have been Aurora Baylor, the girl from District 9.

"Today, I will be showing off my skills with traps and throwing knives".

"Hold on" the Head Gamemaker said. "We're on a schedule here. Please select one talent to demonstrate".

Aurora had to make a tough decision, but she ultimately decided on showing off her traps. She used ropes to weave a net, and then she showed how she could use that to her advantage to catch unsuspecting tributes, whom she could then kill with her knives. Impressive, the Head Gamemaker thought.

Aurora, once she was dismissed, strode out with her head held high, confident that she had earned at least a seven.

Just three more districts. Just six more tributes. Just ninety more minutes.

Johan Bainbridge held onto this thought with all of his strength.


Finally, they had reached the last quarter of tributes.

Bryson Holstein of District 10 was the next person to go in front of the Gamemakers. He selected a machete and asked the Gamemakers for an unusual request.

"Can I have some meat here, please? Like, a full cow?" Bryson said, in a fairly goofy tone of voice, which was not an obscene request in District 10.

"No, Bryson" said Johan. "Just improvise".

"Fine" Bryson said. "I'll just demonstrate my skills with knives".

He went over to the weapons rack and picked up a handful of throwing knives. He reached back and let one fly. It missed the target.

Bryson tried again. It hit the edge of the target. But the next one missed again. Cursing, Bryson went to retrieve the knives he had thrown. But just when he was about to throw some more, the Head Gamemaker interrupted him.

"I think we've seen enough" he said. The others nodded and told Bryson to leave.

"Okay" Bryson said. "But first, do you want to hear a joke?"

No. No way in hell.

"My grandfather was a knight, you know" he said.

"What does that have to do with what's going on right now? And do you realize that there are no knights in Panem?" Too late, Bainbridge realized that Bryson was telling a joke, since no one had told him not to.

"His name was Sir Loin".

That joke was cringe-worthy, Bainbridge thought.

But he didn't say anything. He just reiterated that Bryson had to leave or they would bring in security to get him out of there. So he left.

"I don't know whether to give him a three or a twelve" Bainbridge admitted. "No way we can give him a score in the middle".

"How about a 2? That'll embarrass him in front of the districts" said an elderly Gamemaker, a man named Octavian. Everyone else seemed to agree as well. So a 2 it was.

Now, there were only five left.

Cam walked in and grabbed a sickle. She was not terribly skilled with it, though-it was clear that she'd hardly ever handled the weapon before, or, indeed, any weapon at all. She just hacked away at a dummy. Slowly. Very slowly.

After five minutes of this, it was clear that Cam was not going to do anything more than just keep digging into that dummy. So they kindly asked her to leave.

"I think we should give her a 2" Ludos said.

"That's generous" another Gamemaker said.

"We'll see later!" their boss boomed. "It's time for District 11, so shut your mouths!"

All the Gamemakers quieted themselves. Johan's blue eyes stared at them through his spectacles, so they really had no choice.

Besides, it was time for Wheat to show them what he could do.

Wheat went over to the edible plants station and showed them that he had a decent understanding of what plants could and could not be eaten safely by humans. The Gamemakers were yawning by this point. Wheat had done barely anything at all, and they had been forced to sit through fifteen minutes of that.

It looked like Wheat was going to get a mediocre score at best, a 4 or a 5. Bainbridge hadn't decided which one yet, but he would need to soon. The training sessions would only last forty-five more minutes. Thank God...

And then Em walked in.

All Em did was just stand there. And she stood there.

She was very nervous about her session, and she didn't want to totally embarrass herself with her skills. But would she embarrass herself more by not doing anything or by doing something?

Eventually, she decided to go over to the edible plants station. She didn't do as well as Wheat, mainly because she didn't spend quite as much time in the orchards as her district partner. But she still got some of them right. Maybe, just maybe, she didn't deserve a 1.

But that was not what mattered. They were down to the last district. District 12.

Ash Cole walked in. He said, "I'm going to try to demonstrate my skills with weights".

Ash picked up weights and showed that he could easily lift fifty pounds without straining himself. And then a hundred. Working in the coal mines of District 12 had made him strong, the Gamemakers would give him that much. It was impressive. But that wasn't really going to help him in the arena that much, because the arena Johan had created was not going to feature too many weights for lifting.

After Ash was done with lifting his weights (more specifically, after the Gamemakers had made it clear that they had had enough of it), they dismissed him. Ash walked out, hoping that he had gotten an eight or maybe even a nine. But he didn't think he could be that lucky. Life hadn't exactly been handed to him on a silver platter.

And finally, finally, the last tribute walked in.

She introduced herself as Madi Quarry. And then, she stood in the middle of the room, waiting. Waiting for the Gamemakers to ask her the question.

"What skills will you show off today, Miss Quarry?" the Head Gamemaker asked the District 12 girl.

"I will use a knife to kill some dummies" she said. "But, full disclaimer here: I may not be that great".

The now-very-drunk Gamemakers began cracking up at that. But Madi didn't really care.

In fact, that infuriated her. Madi was not happy with the fact that the Gamemakers weren't watching her. That was their job, and they weren't even doing it. Hopefully, her father could get President Snow to see to that. But she knew it wouldn't happen. And besides, right now was what mattered.

Madi wasn't great with the knife. Her kills weren't quick and clean; they left the dummy's stuffing all over the place, and someone would have to clean it up. The Gamemakers were probably far too drunk to do it.

Once Madi was done, and right after she was dismissed, she took it upon herself to clean up the mess she had made. Maybe, just maybe, the Gamemakers would take pity on her for that.


An hour later, at 8:00 prime time, it was time for the scores to be revealed. All of Panem was waiting for this, because it was all they ever heard about the training sessions. Even victors returning home weren't allowed to speak of them. This was the first hint anyone on the outside would get about just how their tributes were doing.

The Capitol and the districts alike watched with bated breath as Caesar Flickerman came on the screen. On the screen flashed a picture of a very arrogant-looking boy. He was tall and athletic with spiky blonde hair. He was Horatio Jewel, the Career boy from District 1.

District 1

Horatio was on the edge of his seat, looking forward to seeing what his score was. Normally, Careers scored a nine or a ten. Horatio really wanted a 10, but 11 or 12 would make him too much of a target. And, usually, when a tribute received a score that high, that was why. The Gamemakers, for one reason or another, wanted a target on that person's back.

"Horatio Jewel, with a score of 9!"

Horatio grumbled. If only he'd been a little more aggressive. That could mean the difference between victory and grim defeat when the inevitable point when the Careers would be forced to turn on each other. Those who had gotten 10s would likely receive more sponsors before those with 9s or lower scores.

Speaking of lower scores...

"Elegance Elysia...coming away with a score of 6".

The people in the room, Elegance included, gasped. After fainting in the training room at the sight of her own blood, she'd only been in the medical room for as long as they needed to make sure she was okay. But it was quite embarrassing, and worse than that, she had only scored a six. There was no way that the other Career tributes would allow her into their alliance now.

Horatio seemed to know exactly what was on her mind.

"How did you only get a six? What did you do, pass out or something?"

Elegance didn't see the point in lying; after all, she was fucked anyway. "Yes" she said.

"Well", Horatio said, "I don't think we should let you be in our Career alliance anymore. Too bad".

Elegance hated that, but she understood where her district partner was coming from. Squeamishness was a major liability in these Games, since there was literally no bloodier competition on national television than the Hunger Games.

"I understand" she said.

District 2

"Hades Blackett, with a score of...11!"

Hades sprang out of his seat as if he was on a trampoline. He'd been expecting a great score, but not one like this. After all, wasn't eleven observed for...

"Targets" Margaret said. "They've marked you as a target. Why do you think that is, Hades?"

"I dunno" he said. Hades was just glad that he'd gotten such an uncommonly high score.

"I'm not quite sure" Margaret admitted. "But I strongly suspect it's because you wounded that trainer. They want to punish you for that. But you're a Career. It probably won't be until...you know what, when that matters".

Margaret had avoided saying, when we have to turn on each other. But it was implicit in her tone, and it was common knowledge that no alliance, not even a solid Career alliance, could last forever in a brutally bloody death competition with only one survivor.

But that didn't matter too much. It was time for Margaret to hear her own score.

"Margaret Malachi, a score of 10!"

Margaret beamed. It wasn't quite as high as Hades had scored, but it was obvious that they hadn't given him for his prowess, but rather because he'd pissed off the Gamemakers. Really, it was as high as anyone could reasonably want to get.

As the Avoxes brought in their dinner, that only made Margaret and Hades happier. They'd gotten the highest scores yet. And poor Elegance had only gotten a six. There was no way that Hades and Horatio would let her remain in the alliance.

But Margaret didn't dwell on it for too long. She was a full-fledged Career girl.

District 3

"Leo Nale...scoring a 6!"

"Aww, come on! Couldn't Uncle Leo get something a little better than that?!" Leo semi-shouted.

"A six is pretty good, Leo" his mentor, Beetee, said. "That's better than most District 3 boys get. They're usually pretty bad at these Games. After all, what did you do?"

"Build a fire" Leo said glumly, but still in a voice that sounded like the world owed him everything.

"Yeah" Beetee said. "That's not going to get you a ten. You might be extremely proficient at fire making, but if you can't show them something that might actually come in more useful for killing tributes, they're not going to give you as much credit as you might deserve. They can only judge you based on what you show them. Now come on. It's time for Siliconia's score".

"Oh, Siliconia Bradley. Our youngest tribute this year, coming away with a score of...1".

Leo suddenly seemed to forget about his disappointment. It was quite rare for anyone to get a score as low as a one, and he wondered how on earth his district partner could have done so badly. He was giggling uncontrollably at this.

"I should have sang better!" Siliconia whined.

"You sang, instead of actually doing something that might help you in the Hunger Games?" Wiress, the other mentor, asked her angrily. "You realize that that'll only alert people to your presence".

"Come on. I just sang, 'The Sweet Escape' by Gwen Stefani and 'Want U Back' by Cher Lloyd. I figured that the Careers might let me live if I showed them some good pop music skills".

"Well, you're dead fucking wrong" Leo said.

"Leo!" Beetee whispered loudly.

District 4

"Eli Trout, with a score of 10!"

"Awesome" Eli said. Realistically, he couldn't have expected a perfect twelve, even if he'd done something cosmically amazing. But he was happy with a ten. People would be falling over themselves going to sponsor boy genius Eli Trout. And that would probably be largely because they didn't want Eli to die. Because of all of his inventions that he kept on creating to help District 4 with their industry, fishing.

They then sat down and waited for Anna's score.

"Anna Hardy, with a score of 10!"

"Other than District 2, you guys have the best combined score" said their mentor, an aging woman named Mags. "I could see you guys going very far in the Games. Maybe we can get District 4 to have a winner this year!"

Anna smiled. She'd gotten a perfect ten. Now, it was time to have another delicious Capitol meal. After all, it could be their third-to-last dinner. There were no guarantees, even when you were a Career tribute.

District 5

Ira had scored a three. He wasn't happy, not at all. He'd nicked the target a few times, but he had still completely and totally failed.

"Don't worry too much" said their mentor. "For all we know, you could have been holding off, trying to make others not pay any attention to you. People have won using that strategy, Ira".

"I wasn't, though" Ira said. "I guess I just suck".

Savanna was up next. I really hope I'm better than Ira. I have to help my family. Get off the streets, pay my dad's medical bills...

"Savanna Charlton, with a score of 3".

Savanna was heartsick. She hadn't done any better than her abysmal district partner. No better at all. And it was all because she'd let her nerves get the better of her. She could not let that happen in the actual Games.

The mentors both looked embarrassed. Ira and Savanna, with the lowest combined training scores yet, were making them look bad. They'd be the laughingstocks of the Capitol this year, unless someone else did even worse. And there were worse scores than a three.

District 6

"Apollo Gunner...with a score of 7!"

Apollo was pleased with his score, better than those in District 6 usually got. He was a tiny bit worried it might make him a target, but he didn't think it would ultimately be very consequential at all.

"What did you do?" Vixen asked him.

"I'm not going to tell you my secrets!" Apollo said in a good-natured way, but Vixen could tell that he was angry at her for even suggesting that. This Apollo guy had something to hide.

"Hannah Ford, with a score of 7!"

Both of the tributes of District 6 had acquired sevens. Vixen's score was neither unexpected nor unwelcomed. After all, she'd kicked some serious ass on that obstacle course in the training room.

"Congratulations, guys" the mentor said. "You have done well".

The escort said, "Maybe I might get promoted to an even better district next year. We just might have a District 6 victor this year!"

And Apollo and Vixen couldn't help agreeing with her.

District 7

Conker didn't expect a good score. That way, he wasn't disappointed.

He'd spent the entire session just puking in front of the Gamemakers, not showing off any of his real skills. Why had he expected that he would get anything other than a 1? Oh, wait. He hadn't. It was still quite humiliating, even though he was an alcoholic.

The mentors and escort both seemed very shocked at just how badly he had done, but they didn't dwell on it for too long. It was time for Isabella's score to be revealed.

"Isabella York, with a score of 6!"

I'll take it, she thought. Getting too high a score would put a target on your back for sure, but a six would be a nice balance between being having a bull's-eye on your back and having a ghost of a chance at getting sponsored.

Knot-tying was the right choice.

District 8

"Vair Armani...coming away with a score of 2".

"Well, at least I blended in right in" Vair said. He let out a laugh, but it wasn't a happy one. It had been his goal to get a relatively unimpressive score. But he hadn't expected anything this bad.

Vair didn't even have the time to feel bad for himself, because it was time for Miri's score to be revealed.

"Miri Ellara...scoring an 8!"

Miri jumped for joy. Vair looked at her with a worried expression.

"Well, Miri", he said, "you do realize that you scored better than Elegance. This could be very bad for you. The Careers will probably want to target you for that. Being open about training was a big mistake".

The escorts blanched a bit at this, but the Avoxes did not call for the Peacekeepers. After all, tributes were not to be physically harmed. They had to be kept in perfect condition for the upcoming Games. And that wouldn't happen if she was beaten to a pulp.

Still, though, Miri couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen with regards to the Careers.

District 9

"Ted Shaw, with a score of 12!"

"What the flying fuck?" Ted all but shouted. "I mean, I'm good, but I'm not that good. I can't even read, for crying out loud!"

The escort told Ted to stop swearing.

"Wow, Ted, you must have really pissed off the Gamemakers somehow, huh?" Aurora asked him.

Ted thought he knew why he'd been given a perfect twelve, the highest score anyone could ever be given. He was the most wanted soon-to-be-19-year-old criminal in all of Panem, so of course they'd want to mark him as a target. It only made sense.

But Ted wasn't worried about this at all. He was an excellent fighter. He'd had to be, in order to survive on the streets in the toughest parts of 9.

"Aurora Baylor, with a score of 7!"

Aurora smiled to herself. She'd gotten a higher score then she had predicted for herself. Her ability to weave nets lickety-split would certainly work to her advantage in the arena, and in her attempts to catch and kill unsuspecting tributes. Surely that strategy had some merit, and would attract some sponsor who would see that she wasn't just some archetypical District 9 Bloodbath tribute. She was Aurora Baylor, a powerful, strong, smart girl from the Wheatlands who still wanted to be a biological engineer.

District 10

"Bryson Holstein, earning himself a score of 3!"

"Awesome" Bryson said, laughing.

"But", Cam said, "aren't you disappointed that you got such a low score?" By now, Cam was used to Bryson's constant joking, so she didn't know if he was telling the truth or not.

"Nope. The others'll just write me off, but the sponsors won't. Hopefully, they'll think that I'm doing this on purpose, to fly under the radar. People do that".

Sure. Cam thought. They get embarrassing scores just to get tons of sponsors. It totally makes sense.

But it was now time for her own score.

"Camille Whey, with a score of 2".

The mentor, a woman named Bell, turned red in the face. Of course, it wasn't surprising. District 10 had gotten the worst combined score so far. An average of 2.5 was pretty bad.

No chance, Cam thought. I have absolutely no chance of winning these Games.

District 11

Wheat was waiting anxiously to find out what score he had obtained. He could only hope that it would be better than that jester, Bryson, from District 10.

"Wheat Corky, scoring a 4!"

Wheat wasn't too pleased with such a mediocre score. But he could live with it. Just not for long, since the Hunger Games were coming up in just a couple days. The Careers were unlikely to make him their primary target.

"Ember Hayfields, scoring a 2!"

Em's chocolate-colored face reddened a bit. It was pretty embarrassing to get a score that low. At least it wasn't a one, like the girl from District 3 and the guy from District 7 had gotten. Things could be worse for Em.

But Wheat was really only worried about himself. After all, if he was going to survive the next few weeks, he would need to avoid making too many emotional connections. It was just too hard to cut those people down.

District 12

Ash was expecting a fairly average score. He did better than he expected. Much better.

"Ash, you got an 8!" Madi exclaimed.

Sure enough, Ash's own face was on the screen, with a massive number eight below him, showing what score he had gotten.

"I guess my weightlifting skills must really have impressed the Gamemakers" Ash said.

"No kidding".

The final training score of the evening came up:

"Madison Quarry, with a score of 5".

It wasn't as low as she had expected to get. That was a relief. She still didn't think anyone would really want to sponsor Madi Quarry, the richest girl in District 12, who was disliked by nearly everyone outside of her family. Of course, it wasn't like there were that many sponsors in District 12.


That concluded the score announcements for the Sixty-Third Hunger Games.

Caesar Flickerman ended with, "Let's make these the best Hunger Games ever! You'll love the arena! Stay tuned!"

We will, Flickerman. We will.


That is, by a significant margin, not only the longest chapter of Labyrinth thus far (over 80% longer than the previous record holder), but also the longest chapter in any of my stories. I hope you enjoyed your tribute's segment in this chapter. If I didn't cover everyone in the last chapter, now I know for sure.

I strongly encourage you to review. Earlier today, I got a review from guest, "JTDaBomb". It was a very positive review, and it warmed my heart. But the problem with guest reviewers is that I can't PM you to thank you for reviewing. So keep that in mind if you're a guest who intends to review my story.

I'm not yet sure if the interviews will be one chapter or two. Depends how taxing school is on my writing time.

Also, before I leave, here are the current results of the favorite character poll, after I voted for five of my favorites. Current as of 8:10 PM EST on August 20, 2016:

Alone in first place: Elegance

Tied for second place: Aurora, Isabella, Margaret, Savanna, and Vixen

Tied for seventh place: Apollo, Bryson, Horatio, Leo, Madi, and Miri

The other twelve have yet to get on the board.

All right. It's time to visit with my parents, sister, and grandmother. SnowLucario out.