Blake Armani

If I get out of here, I want to marry Platrium.

It just came out of nowhere. All through training I'd been nervous about fighting the boys, and here I wanted to marry one. It wasn't an entirely new thought, though. I'd yearned to be with my best friend for years. Back before, when I was with the man who made me into this, I used to imagine Platrium storming to my rescue. Then he actually did. He was the reason no one would ever know what happened to that monster. He didn't do it because I was pretty or to show my boyfriend he was stronger. I learned what love really was when Platrium showed it by protecting me instead of hurting me.

All through my training years and in the buildup to the Arena, I'd wanted to show I was strong enough. I trained sunup to sundown and fought like a maniac to make up for all the years I didn't fight. I looked forward to the moment it would all be worthwhile- the moment I won. I never much looked past that, and it was starting to take shape in my head. If I won, all that would be behind me. I would have shown that I was stronger than all the men in the Games and that I was the strongest in Panem. Hopefully, it would be a healing moment. After the Games, I'd be free from the ghosts and I could do whatever I wanted. I wanted a man, and I could have one then. I'd never been afraid of Platrium anyway.

It was clear that my last opponent would most likely be Ember. That was the only part of this I regretted. It would be easy to kill Volvo. Even though he never did anything to me, old prejudices died hard. Even most girls would have just been collatoral damage to me, but it had to be Ember. Career alliances didn't usually last this long, but I didn't want to leave her. I wished she had been born in One. We could have trained together, and we would have been sent in separate years. We could have both won and we could have been friends forever in the Victor's Village. Because of a random, meaningless chance, that could never happen.

A loudspeaker interrupted my thoughts and changed the Games.

"Attention, Tributes! In one hour, there will be a feast at the Cornucopia. Attendance is mandatory. Thank you and may the odds be ever in your favor!"


May Wilda

That was low. The Gamemakers knew the Careers had a huge advantage if we were forced to meet at a known location. I had a lance from a sponsor, but that didn't begin to close the gap between us. If I didn't go, they'd surely kill me for defiance. Going was hardly a better option, but I'd gotten this far. I had to keep fighting to the end.

It was a long, scary walk to the Cornucopia. I fully expected to bump into Blake and Ember at any moment, since they were going to the same place. I hugged my lance tight to my side and jumped at the sound of my own footsteps.

A feast did sound appealing, other than the certain death part. It might be crazy Capitol food like the stuff we got in training. Maybe it was plain food, but that still sounded amazing. It could be nothing but potatoes and I'd be happy. Potatoes sounded really good right about now. Even a glass of water and a piece of bread sounded amazing. Anything at all would be good.

You're kidding. You're kidding me.

It was a feast all right. There was a long table covered with a pink-and-white checkered tablecloth. It was covered in plates, which were in turn covered with candy. Every kind of candy imaginable. Revolting-looking lollipops. Stomach-churning cookies. Cute little chocolate bonbons that made me want to vomit.

"What the fudge?!" I yelled at the Gamemakers. "Come on!" Normally I would have kept quiet, but everyone knew where I was. I could vent my spleen knowing it wouldn't kill me any more dead than I would have been anyway. I ran toward the table, intent on breaking every one of those crystal plates.

The tablecloth whipped up suddenly, revealing Ember crouched under the head of the table. Blake was behind her, holding the cloth up over her so she could see me. There was a trail of smashed grass from where they'd crawled closer at the sound of my voice. I stopped my charge, even though I knew it was too late. They'd set it up so Blake held the cloth so Ember could aim right away, and she did. I pulled back my lance in an act of defiance as she threw her pole at me. It slashed across Ember's other arm as she threw.

Blood welled up in my mouth as I lay on my back with a pole through my chest. It tasted salty, and I licked it up gratefully. Ember and Blake came to check that I was dying, and I smiled up at them.

"Enjoy the freaking candy."


Ember Steiner

May's cannon went off. Her body looked terribly out of place mixed in with all the pastel candy. Blake put her hands on her hips.

"Nuts. Now they'll know we're here," she said. The wheels in my head started to turn, and I laid out my plan as I made it.

"Not necessarily," I said.

"How's that?" Blake asked.

"They know a cannon went off," I said. I took May under the armpits. "Help me drag her under the table."

"Oooooh... I get you," Blake said. But I was just getting started.

Keison Walker

One cannon, but who was it? Were Blake and Ember even together anymore? Career packs never lasted this long. I crept closer to the Cornucopia, craning my neck to try to see who was dead.

There was no one there when I reached the tilted crystal Cornucopia. There was a long table covered with candy, of course. Couldn't give us something like spinach or meat. It had to be candy. I didn't see the body until I was pretty close, since it was partially hidden by the table. I saw a trail of hair, indicating it was one of the girls. I carefully went closer, skirting the edge of the table in case someone was hiding underneath it.

It was Blake. She was holding a gummy orange in one hand. It was covered in blood, and so was her face. Sugary orange juice mingled with the puddle of blood that had come from her mouth. It wasn't enough for the Gamemakers to give us candy at the feast. It had to be poisonous candy. They were a sick, depraved bunch. They even ruined candy.

I was still looking at the sad, deflating orange when a handful of razors clamped around my leg. Blake flipped over like a cat and yanked, slashing my ankle to ribbons as she pulled it out from under me. The landing knocked the air out of me, and Blake didn't let me catch it back. She knelt on my chest and punched me across the cheek, making my ears ring and my vision blur. I felt a pinch and saw a blurry red fountain spray up across my field of vision as she slashed my throat. It covered her face like an animalistic mask. She looked like something out of the jungle as she crouched on me ferally.

I pitied her. I knew what it was like to have someone's death on your conscience. I'd gotten free of it, but I didn't think she ever would.


I've been doing one death per chapter for a long time, since we're voting and all. Since the votes were tied, I decided to blow everyone's mind and kill them both.

5th place: May Wilda- Speared by Ember

May was an angry girl from Seven, but she was her own angry girl from Seven. She lacked the traditional axe skills but found her own skills instead. She had a hard life and became a hard person, but she had a soul as well. She regretted the deaths she caused and bitterly wished everyone else didn't have to die for her to be a survivor. Thanks Ultimatemaxmericashipper for May, who walked a rocky path throughout the Arena and got farther than a lot of people thought.

May's votes were extremely irregular. She went from being on the chopping block to getting saved as I was about to start writing a chapter. She was usually low, but hung on until now. Most of her life votes came from a handful of loyal supporters whose votes didn't change throughout the story. She had three Victor.

4th place: Keison Walker- Stabbed by Blake

I got the idea for the cannon trickery and went with it. It could have been either order, but Keison was historically more popular so I did him second. At first I had a hard time connecting with Keison, but once I latched on to the idea of leaving behind undeserved guilt it got easier. I liked him more at the end, and apparently you did too, since he got this far. I brilliantly neglected to write down his submitter, but I'll see them in the reviews and PMs. Thanks for Keison- he was troubled but didn't wallow in it like in some stories. Someday, Nine will have a Victor. It WILL happen. Nine canonically had a Victor by this year but I've been holding off and fudging the numbers because I want a reader to have the first Victor.

Keison generally had more life votes than death votes. He wasn't usually near the top, but he was never near the bottom. At the end, he jumped up, but it wasn't enough to win. He also had three Victor votes.