(A/N: Bam!)

KYRAIN ENN

DISTRICT TEN

The snorting and bellowing grunts of a bull can be heard in the background as the seemingly misspelled name of the monstrous District Ten tribute appears without preamble on the screen. Suddenly, the 'V' in his last name shatters through the background stylized to be shaped like bull's horns covered in blood and nicks. Rancid smoke pours in through the hole in the background, and the whole screen begins to buzz and flicker violently before a scare chord shifts the video to clips of his conquests in the Games.

Starting right from Level 1, ominously dreadful music consisting of monotone chords and chanting in an odd old language is the backdrop of Kyrain's montage. The camera view circles around him as he stays where he is on his platform while the other tributes battle it out for weapons and supplies. There's a quick cut to the scene where he kills Kern, the first fatality of the game. There's no audio, so only Kern's desperate mouthing of 'No, please!' is seen. However, the exact moment Kern's neck snaps, a deep bell tolls.

There's a quick scene showing Kyrain dangling Franklin over the rim of the arena, then the final moments of Level 1, where in a power struggle, Kyrain pushes Hunter over, and his victorious roar is heard. Level 2 starts, and the very next scene is Kyrain stomping on Meaghen's stomach as hard as he can. There's no audio, and the same bell tolls in the moment of impact. The scene quickly shift to Kyrain's confrontation with Paisley, and her scream echoes as Kyrain attempts to rip out her armor to violate her.

The dark scene picks up with Kyrain's battle against Franklin, where it's shown how he nearly had his foot gored by his unique weapon, and was ultimately blown away by the same weapon when he tried to pick it up. The last scene of him in Level 2 shows the brief confrontation between him and Tixxie. She fires an energy ball from her arm cannon, which Kyrain manages to dodge. The energy ball instead flies into the screen, and in a flash of white, Level 3 begins.

It begins with his solid drop from an impressive height in his desperate attempt to flee from a swarm of Deaders after him, followed by scene by scene of his domination of those Deaders. With no audio besides the background music, the bell tolls as Kyrain delivers a shattering kick to the face of the Deader representing his mother, when he rips his Deader sister's arm off, and when he beheads his Deader brother. The next scene shows his confrontation with the largest Deader of them all: his father. Only the very last moment is shown, when he forces Galon to back into Rhymer's spear.

Following that, Kyrain and Jet's last confrontation is shown. The background chanting has stopped, and only the toll of the bell remains as Kyrain delivers the final blow to Jet. The punch, shattered his face and knocked him out. After he fell, Kyrain kneeled over him and continued to smash his face in until he was satisfied. Finally the scene is shown where Kyrain barrels past Franklin and into Paisley. The moment he seals himself into one of the two escape pods meant for the siblings, the bell tolls for a final time, and the screen goes dark.

There's no applause whatsoever. The audience is left with a sick feeling in their stomachs again, right after having a bit of hope for the future. Copper adjusts his outfit before he starts to speak.

"We've seen, firsthand, the extent of terror one tribute can rein over an entire Games. Kyrain is not the first tribute to dominate so brutally, nor will he be the last, but he is the first to come out of District 10, and the least mentally sound of all dominators we've come across, in recent memory. One of the most-asked questions in the Capitol this year is: Can anyone stop Kyrain from winning?"

More silence. Copper slowly nods his head. "There's a chance. There's a chance… But enough about that right now; let's see if we can dissect his mind and learn more about the man behind the beast from Kyrain's family, live from District Ten."

Since the audience can't take their frustration out on Kyrain, a few hecklers in the audience decide they'll take out as much as they can on his family. As soon as the timid-looking woman and three feeble-looking children appear on the screen, a few members of the audience begin to boo and wail. The trend quickly spreads, and within a few moments, the entire auditorium is booing and hissing and gnashing their teeth, and there's nothing Copper can do about it.

Sorrow and concern etch onto the woman's face; she can clearly hear them all. The young girl sitting between her two brothers has tears in her eyes.

"Hey! Hey, enough! Hold on!" Copper attempts to raise his voice over the heckling, and some of it stops. The same trend follows, and soon, everything is quiet again. "These people are not your enemies! Do not treat them as such!"

The uncomfortable silence returns, and Copper sighs, turning to the screen above. "I apologize for that, you four. Would you mind introducing yourselves?"

The short-haired woman nods and speaks. Her voice is soft and reserved, which sounds interesting with her strong District Ten accent. "My name is Trisha Keela, and these are my three other children, Macey, Nixie, and Silin."

The three children each wave in turn when their name is called. Copper smiles warmly and clasps his hands together. "It's a joy to have you all here, of course. How do you feel about how the Games have gone thus far?"

Trisha reaches to gently squeeze Macey's hand before she answers. "It's… been tough. Watchin' him is… frightenin'. In all ways."

Copper nods. "Please explain."

"W-Well..." Her voice starts to crack. "I'm… torn. He's my boy, Copper. Even though he's very confused and messed up, he's my little boy… I don't want him to win. But I don't want him to die, either."

"You saw him on-stage some days ago. What he said was very disturbing. I was not able to ask him about his past, but I was hoping you could shed a little light on how he could have become what he is today."

Trisha lowers her head, her eyes dark and graven. Macey and Nixie sniffle and shrug their shoulders up to their neck, cringing at the thought of Kyrain. Silin cries actual tears. The audience watches silently as Trisha pulls herself together and closes her eyes before she starts to speak.

"I like to think I'm a good religious woman, Copper. I… don't believe in divorce. I do believe that prayer can change a person… Y'see… Kyrain's daddy… He wasn't good to me. He loved me when there was people watchin', but when we was alone, he'd smack the sense right out of me if I didn't tend to him immediately and satisfactorily."

Trisha covers her mouth with her hand and closes her eyes a moment. Copper frowns. "Ms. Keela, it's alright, you don't have to-"

"We was still happy when we had Kyrain," she continues on anyway, taking a deep breath. "And then, I don't know what caused it, but he started gettin' more and more loud and demandin', and he was drinkin' and going out more. I didn't notice until the first time he hit me cross the face when I-I was still pregnant with Macey… He asked me to do somethin', can't remember what. I said I was tired, Kyrain was present, and he was a pretty strong kid even back then, so I started to ask, as a joke, if maybe his boy could help him. Right in front of our son, he hit me so hard I fell to the floor…"

The audience reacts with many a sorrowful gasp and coo and murmur, all of them feeling bad for how they had reacted when Trisha first appeared.

She sniffles and takes a moment to hug Macey before continuing shakily. "I should've left. I should've taken Kyrain and Macey right then and gone for protection from the Justice Building, but like I said, Copper, I'm a g-good religious woman. I didn't have it in me to divorce him. I prayed and prayed that he'd change, and he'd beat me and force me to do thing… And never was he madder at me than when he caught me prayin' for him."

Copper's fingers are intertwined as he listens. "So, Kyrain is the result of a volatile household."

"Oh, the volatile household is only part of it. Nothin' that happened inside the house was the trigger."

Copper tilts his head in confusion. "Elaborate."

"When Kyrain was ten years old, one day, close to Christmas, the kids and I went with his daddy to watch him wrangle bulls. As usual, he pretended we was still sweethearts when others was watchin'. He dressed me up good and hid my bruises so he could show me off. That was alright with me. Fake love's better than real beatin's. Well, he wrangled the first two good, but the last one was a big one. Bigger than Galon was. He got too overconfident, misjudged his strength, couldn't control the bull. So he shot it.

"It fell down and Galon gloated over it for a few seconds, then, somehow, that big ol' bull got some life back into it, got up and plugged a two-foot long horn right into his chest, then to make it worse, it then fell on him. Bull died first. That's when something strange happened."

The entirety of the audience is on the edge of their seats, listening eagerly to Trisha's story. She has Copper's full attention, and there's a look of curious concern on his face. "Continue."

"I tried to cover lil' Kyrain's eyes, but he was adamant. He watched… his daddy bleed out on the ground. And he laughed. He laughed so hysterically, I thought he was cryin' at first. But the smile on his face… He changed after that, and slowly, he began to pick up where his daddy left off, abusin' his siblings physically, abusin' me verbally… He kept sayin' that he could finally be his true self, but that's not his true self! That ain't my little Kyrain out there killin' folks' children and likin' it! It ain't!"

Trisha can handle no more, and her face falls into her hands, Macey pats her mother on the back, her own eyes filled with tears. The entire auditorium has gone silent, stunned and sympathetic. Copper waits until Kyrain's mother has recovered before asking another question.

"In Level 3, Trisha, your family, including yourself, was represented as a set of particularly difficult opponents for Kyrain to face. Not only did he survive, he took it in stride to destroy them. What are your thoughts?"

"I-I don't know…" she murmurs. "He's confused. He don't know what he's doin'. His mind is all messed up and he thinks he hates us, but my baby l-loves his family… That ain't my baby."

"Were you surprised to see that Kyrain allied with somebody?" Copper asks. Trisha's shoulders drop.

"I just wanted to reach into the television and tell those kids they were makin' a mistake. That Jet boy is somethin', for sure, but I knew that it wasn't gonna last. What I'm surprised about is that it lasted so long."

"Final question, dear." Copper feels a bit more comfortable asking this question directly. "If Kyrain didn't win, who would you have the Victor be?"

Trisha sighs, thinking for a moment. "Oh, Copper, I can't choose. All them tributes deserve to win."

A light chuckle from the crowd, and Copper smiles softly. "True indeed, Trisha. It was a joy having you. Trisha Keela from District 10, everyone!"

The audience begins to applaud loudly, and Trisha's teary face smiles softly before the camera cuts to black. The lights dim, and instead of strobe lights, soft pink ambiance lighting and soft music played in the background as these pink words faded into view on the screen.

PAISLEY BROOKINS

DISTRICT EIGHT

The two o's in her last name appeared as two halves of a broken heart, and in moments, the montage begins. Starting in Level 1, the moment is shown when Paisley and Franklin find each other, and in slow motion, a javelin is shown flying into the scene. Right before impact, time speeds up again and Paisley is slammed in the temple with the spear, taking out a huge chunk of her armor as she's thrown into Level 2.

Paisley's look of relief is shown on her face at the beginning of Level 2 as she realizes that Franklin did not die in the bloodbath, and a black-and-white image of her smiling little brother is shown before the next scene of Paisley being pulled to her feet by Kyrain. Cuts from the resulting battle play out, culminating in the moment right before Kyrain would have ripped the core of Paisley's armor out and exposed her.

"Leave my sister alone!"

Franklin's angry face is shown next, and in a flash, it becomes black-and-white before moving on to the next scene, where Paisley, with Aylau on her back, grits her teeth and draws upon all of her strength to leap up and grab the rim of salvation, pulling herself and Aylau up to the top of the hellish structure that made up the finale of Level 2. The very last scene shows Paisley pulling Aylau close to her, right after both of them watched Chiro get murdered.

Level 3 begins with Paisley waking up in the boiler room, the gentle violin music starting to pick up a slightly harsh tone as she makes first contact with Thorne and begins to fight him off with only her flashlight. The climactic moment when she strikes him hard enough to knock his armor down to two freezes in black-and-white. The next scene is brief, and shows her standing ominously in front of the fish tank timer, before the scene where she reunites with Aylau. There's another flash, and the moment of their hug goes black-and-white as well.

The next moment, the intense violin music gets a little gentler as a still frame of Paisley and Franklin hugging after finding each other again is shown. The scene flickers, and melts as video from the last confrontation between the Career Pack and the Anti-Pack is shown. Paisley catches the District Eight custom weapon flung to her by Franklin, and the confrontation between her and Rhymer begins, the violin music picking up in intensity again. Each clash of weaponry is accentuated with a harsh note, before finally, there's an awfully sour note as the climax of the fight is reached with Aylau heroically jumping in to save Paisley's life.

All music stops with the very final moment in Level 3, with a still shot of Franklin staring into the last escape pod, which contains his sister's unconscious body. The last image of a living Franklin. Slowly, the frame fades to black-and-white, then the whole image fades into black. The audience applauds softly, a sort of show of respect.

Copper nods slowly as the video concludes, now speaking to the audience.

"Paisley and Franklin Brookins were two of the unluckiest tributes in this year's Hunger Games. Siblings, Reaped at the same time… A very rare occurrence. We knew it would happen eventually, and now it has, in the most crushing way possible. Franklin has perished, and his sister is alone, the lone surviving member of the original Anti-Pack alliance. We have with us today, live from District Six, the mother of these two tributes, Joanne Brookins, as well as someone very close to both Paisley and Franklin, Victor of the 173rd Annual Hunger Games, Scott Panjack.

There's light and modest applause as the screens come up to show District Eight. Sitting in front of a window in a room within the Justice Building is Joanne, who looks forlorn and disheveled, and standing behind her chair is Scott, a similar dark look on his face. Just outside the window, it appears, strangely enough to be snowing black flakes slowly through the air.

"Can you hear me, you two?" Copper asks, letting his hands fold behind his back again. Scott responds with a single nod, and Joanne does not respond at all.

"It's good to be able to speak with you both. You both still have hopes for Paisley's Victory, yes?"

"Of course," Scott responds. "We know Paisley has the strength to win this, and we'll do anything we can to see her Victory through."

Joanne's face darkens a tad, and she draws in a shaky breath. Looking closely, it's clear her eyes are watering, and that it's taking all of her strength to remain in control. Copper continues carefully.

"After… all of these surprising and heartbreaking developments and events, do you think Paisley will ever be the same again?"

Scott shakes his head slowly. "None of us will ever be the same again, Copper," is all he says, in a simple, slightly cryptic fashion. The audience murmurs their agreement, some of them looking sad and weepy themselves.

Copper's shoulders slack a little. "Ms. Brookins, if I could speak directly to you for a moment?"

The forlorn-looking woman turns her grey eyes toward the screen. Neither of her children look like her, as she has short black hair, tinged with grey, and not the dusty brown hair that both Paisley and Franklin have and had. The only thing similar between her and her children is the color of their eyes: stone grey.

"Ms. Brookins, if you can… tell us what was going through your mind on that day. The day of the Reaping."

The look on Joanne's face somehow gets even more despondent than it was already. The shadows passing over her face seem to crush her features, as if any more aggravation will cause her to shatter. She lowers her head again, shoulders visibly trembling and eyes reddening with tears. Scott and Copper open their mouths at once, likely to tell Joanne that she doesn't have to speak if she doesn't want to, and that it'd be best to move on to another question, but she begins to speak.

"In District Eight, we have a saying… 'When it snows black, the land is dressing for a funeral.'"

Scott glances aside, out the window, at the dreary landscape and the ashen precipitation slowly dulling the ground. Joanne draws in as strong a breath as she can, then continues.

"It… snowed black the days that the Districts were forced to surrender at both Rebellions. It snowed black when… when my husband died." The more she speaks, the harder it seems for her to keep going. "And it snowed black on the day of the Reaping. I knew… I just knew that something awful was going to happen to one of my babies that day. I was wrong. …That awful something happened to both my babies."

She lets out a shaky sigh, unable or unwilling to continue for a few moments. The air in the auditorium comes down hard on the Capitol's citizens, and some even weep and wail out in their seats. In the very front row, the beautiful First Lady of Panem sits with her arms crossed, her head tilted and her face calm and hardly expressive as she listens to the widowed mother speak.

"I was mentally preparing myself to see Paisley get Reaped," Joanne continues eventually. "We had been taking out plenty of tesserae before Scott began supporting us with his winnings. Her name was in the Reaping Ball 42 times. F-Franklin… His name was in there once. He'd turned twelve the previous month."

By now, Joanne seemed to be drawing on some inner strength to stay whole. Even though she looked like she wanted to crack, she kept talking, and Scott, Copper, and the entire auditorium listened.

"When I heard Paisley's name, everything shut down, but stayed together. I knew it was going to happen. But when they called Franklin's name… That's when I fell apart. It had to be some kind of cruel joke the universe was playing on me. I… honestly, I… …I ran home. Before the Reapings were over. Peacekeepers tried to stop me, but they couldn't catch me. I went home and thought about killing myself to make that awful pain in my chest go away. I had just… lost… everything that mattered to me… But I didn't. I couldn't. Right now, I'm about wishing I had."

"Joanne, don't say that…" Scott murmurs, frowning.

"It's snowing black outside today," she continues, closing her eyes. "Franklin's gone. It's…"

Joanne's reached her breaking point. Without another word, she stands, shaking her head and crying as she walks off-screen, leaving Scott alone to continue taking questions.

"Scott…" Copper starts. "Should we keep going?"

"I'll answer any other questions you have, Copper. Joanne shouldn't have had to come."

Copper nods his head. "Paisley's Anti-Pack. Was that her idea, do you know?"

"It was hers," Scott says. "She's always been a bit of a motherly figure. She told me outright she was going to go through with this even though I told her it wasn't a good idea and that if it didn't go the way she planned on it going, she's going to get people killed sooner than she'll protect them."

"The Anti-Pack fell apart quite quickly thanks to the way the arena was set up to isolate tributes at the beginning of each level. Was there anything you think Paisley could have done differently?"

Scott shakes his head, grimacing. "It went about as well as it could have. The way the arena was set up is the cause of the Anti-Pack's failure, not Paisley."

Copper nods his head, moving on to another question. "Out of the six remaining Tributes, who would be your runner-up, behind Paisley?"

"I can't answer that, Copper," Scott says, shaking his head. "Call it selfish or me being a jerk, but there are no ifs, ands, or buts about Paisley winning, in my mind. I don't care about runner-ups."

"Alrighty, then," Copper hums with a raise of his brows. "We saw in Level 2 that Paisley had an 'interesting' encounter with Kyrain. It nearly got… graphic, let's say. What would you say to him if you had the opportunity?"

Scott's entire demeanor shifts before Copper even finishes his question. As Scott recalls that disgusting scene that he couldn't even watch, it stirs up a murderous anger inside him that he hasn't felt since his time in the Games…

"Not a word," Scott says, shaking his head. "I would look him in the eye and watch his life melt away after ripping out his teeth and slitting his throat."

The audience murmurs, and some even cheer. The First Lady, who'd been sitting quietly the entire event, continues to do so, watching and studying.

"My last question before I let you go, Scott. Do you think Paisley is on her own at this point? Or might there be another ally in sight for her?"

"There's six tributes left, Copper. Unfortunately, Paisley is probably going to be on her own from here on out. She can do it. She has the strength."

Copper nods his head and claps, and the audience follows suit. "Wonderful, wonderful! Best wishes to you and Ms. Brookins, Scott. We're all rooting for Paisley."

The screen cuts to black, and the lights dim once again. The audience hushes as a the final Tribute video begins to play. A giant spinning block of graphite appears as a small speck on a screen, coupled with a slowly-intensifying electronic music. Finally, the block of graphite is large enough to seem that it is speeding toward the screen, and when it collides, there's a flash of white, followed by a blank screen coupled with static. It looks confusing at first, but after a moment, the static flickers and fades, and through the harsh haze, these words could be seen, formed from the remains of the destroyed graphite block:

JINSTANCE JAMBOX

DISTRICT THIRTEEN

Immediately, the electronic music becomes dark and blaring as Jinstance's journey through the Games begins at Level 1. He stands on his platform, disoriented and confused at the layout of the arena's first level. Weaving around quickly as he realizes the platform is shrinking, he discovers a weapon power-up, his throwing knives. After looking around for a moment, he discovers, to his shock and fear, that his District partner is being doubly assaulted by the two tributes from District Seven and, thinking quickly, he summons forth four of the throwing knives he's collected and tosses them in their direction. By a stroke of luck, one knife catches Thorne in the neck right after Bronwyn's flying javelin shoots out his armor, landing Jinstance a lucky kill. The next moment shows the two Tributes from Thirteen holding their breaths and holding hands as they leap into the darkness, down into Level 2.

The scene shifts to Level 2, when Jinstance first awakens in the field of colorful blocks that made up Level 2. They start their trek through the forest of blocks that had risen and fallen on the other side of the arena, where they wander until they come across Salt and Chiro. Jinstance shows his hesitation about killing to Ebony, and right before Ebony is able to stalk up and surprise them. The screen goes back to its ghastly static. A half-image of the First Lady's face appears on the screen, looking right at the audience as she states simply:

"Attention."

The sudden drop of bass that follows is enough to sink the stomach of everyone in the auditorium, and the critical scene with Jinstance and Ebony scaling to the top of the final stage of Level 2 is shown, with Ebony doing the quick hand-off, her hatchet to Jinstance as she takes his knife. In the next moment, the knife is shown flying through the air, and the entire thing ends in a flash right as the weapon sinks into Chiro's head.

Level 3 begins at the part of Jinstance's journey when he journeys into the food locker, showing his reaction, plus a loud scare chord as the reanimated chicken clings to his chest. This is briefly followed by a scene of his chasing Aylau down the hallway, and then the music cuts as the silent moments of contemplation and confrontation are shown as Jinstance comes face-to-face with Paisley, the Anti-Pack's leader.

The scene cuts to the final confrontation between the Career Pack and the Anti-Pack, showing Jinstance chuck his axe at Jet to keep him from killing Franklin. The screen flickers and flashes static as the premature destruction event takes place, then the music turns into a heartbeat, regular at first, but quickly increasing in pace as he goes to see the dying Ebony, then makes a run for it all the way to the escape pod. As he leaves the Level, the sound of a flatline could be heard fading out.

The audience applauds the dramatic video, and Copper nods his head. "Our final Tribute had a little bit of a rough start in these Games, but he's proven that he's nothing if not willful, persistent, and a downright lucky throw. Speaking to us now about Mr. Jinstance Jambox, we have the mayor of District 13 herself, Pearl Jambox!"

Mad applause rings out as the screen comes up to reveal Mayor Peach sitting behind her office desk, a very solid look on her face. Sitting in a few chairs on either end of the mayor's desk are three young people, close to Jinstance's age, two boys and a girl.

"How are you, Ms. Jambox?" Copper asks with a polite nod. There's a light snicker and the start of a smirk from the boy closest to Peach. The stern-looking woman appears annoyed, and raises a gentle hand.

"Just Peach is fine, thank you… And I'm doing well."

"Would you mind introducing to use the three young people you have with you?"

Peach nods to the kids and they lift their heads toward the camera. The boy closest to the camera, the youngest amoung the three children present, speak up.

"My name's Lancer," he starts with a smile, gesturing to himself, then sweeping the gesture over to the boy beside him, and the girl across from them. "That's my older brother, Jinx, and that's Jinstance's girlfriend, Praexie."

Praexie, who's face appeared distant, now appears to fume with annoyance, flinging Mayor Peach's nameplate at Lancer, who lifts his arms to deflect it and laughs.

"Now, now, now…" the mayor warns with a glare, and Praexie leans back in her seat again, frowning. Lancer looks back at the camera.

"Ehehe. There would be a fourth musketeer with us, but he's, ah… bedridden right now. Our buddy Lishi's going through some stuff, and the cash Jinstance is gonna get when he wins will help pay for his treatment."

Copper's eyebrows rise, and he nods his head. "Aah… So that's Jinstance's motivation for the Games?"

Lancer grins again. "Well, yeah. That, and being able to come back and cuddle with Prax."

Praexie glares at Lancer again, and there's a little hint of color coming to her cheeks, but she doesn't speak.

"So, Jinstance and Ms. Praexie are an item? Thoughts, Mrs. Peach?"

Peach's look flattens. "This is the first I've heard of any girlfriends. I knew my son and Praexie were close, but he's close with all his friends. He's never hinted anything to me about being particularly… interested in Praexie. He talks about her like he talks about all of his partners in crime."

Copper turns her attention to Praexie now, who is still sunken in her seat. "Your point of view on the matter, Ms. Praexie?"

She frowns, and brushes a few strands of rusty hair behind her ear. "I'm not his girlfriend. But I do really like Jinstance… And I need for him to win."

She squints back tears, hiding part of her face behind one hand and sighing. The audience, who'd reacted with mirth and amusement at Praexie's attitude before, now voice sympathy.

Copper nods. "You have confidence that he will, I presume."

All four persons nod, and Mayor Peach speaks. "District Thirteen has been in debt for many decades now. At least for as long as I've been alive. Despite the best efforts of myself and my limited administration, we've been unable to really help Jinstance throughout the Games, even early on. Now that only a quarter of the tributes is left, and the price of sponsoring has skyrocketed…" Here, Mayor Peach shrugs her shoulders. "We'll have to hope for the best."

Copper nods his head apologetically. "For a while, Jinstance had a strong relationship with his District partner, Ebony Cress. Now that she's dead, how do you think he'll get along in the rest of the Games?"

Mayor Peach takes a deep nasal breath before sighing out through her mouth. "I knew Ebony's mother," she starts, a solemn spot of dullness in her eyes. "Her death is… unfortunate, to say the least. But for the sake of answering the question, I have to say that I think Jinstance will get along well enough. He was alone for a good while in Level 3, and he showed that he knew what to avoid and how to take care of himself, so that's good. I don't know what awaits in Level 4, but it can't be much worse than that horrible death nest."

Copper tilts his head. "Some have said that of the six left, Jinstance is the weakest, the least likely to win. Lots of statistics show the bets are against him, honestly. Response?"

"Yeah, screw all those guys!" Lancer declares, a flash of anger in his eyes as he directs a middle finger at the camera. "Nobody knows who Jinstance is, and nobody has any right to call him weak or disadvantaged!"

Peach nods her head. "Of the six left, Jinstance is perhaps the smartest. Strongest? Of course not. But he's never relied on brute strength, ever. A couple of other tributes, that's all they've got going for them: brute strength. The tallest, strongest buildings can be torn down in seconds with a few cleverly-placed explosives, and Jinstance is nothing if not a practiced demolitionist. He's smart enough to win this thing. He can, and he will."

"Final question, you all. Who, of the six remaining, would you have as a runner-up?"

Praexie shrugs her shoulders. "Probably Paisley. She's a really good person and it's sad she lost her brother."

Lancer grins. "Definitely Paisley. She's freakin' sexy."

Jinx clubs him on the shoulder. "Dude, what? You can't be my brother anymore if you don't think blondes are way hotter. Plus, that Rhymer gal looks like she could be into some kinky stuff."

"You're aware that both of those girls are accounted for?" Mayor Peach informs the two of them flatly. "And that their respective beaus are both Victors that could easily destroy you, and might be listening to this right now."

There's a long moment of awkward silence. Mayor Peach shakes her head at the two boys, and Praexie just claps her hand over her face as they suddenly spring from their seats and flee the room, much to the hilarity of the audience, and Copper.

Mayor Peach sighs, then looks at the camera. "Hunter. I like his style."

Copper stands upright again and nods at Peach. "Thank you all! It was an immense pleasure speaking to you!"

The screen goes dark, and the symbol of the 175th Annual Hunger Games begins to slowly revolve on the screen. Copper steps to the edge of the stage and begins to speak as regal music begins to blare from the trumpets. "Now, before we kick you all out of here, we have one final, and very special message from none other than the First Lady of Panem herself! Please welcome to her stage, the beautiful Mrs. Dolla Centari!"

Copper takes a bow, then descends the steps as Dolla rises from her seat, to the astounding applause of the entire auditorium. The slender woman was dressed in a golden dress, with a long, lustrous translucent shawl around her shoulders. Shimmering heels adorn her feet, as well as a tiara around her head that practically glows. Her lips and eyeshadow are also a fantastic golden, and in one shiny glove, she holds a glossy photograph close to her chest, the white back facing the audience. She raises her other hand for silence, and the entire auditorium mutes at once.

"Thank you all for coming tonight! This entire event was funded and arranged by myself, with a little help from my husband, despite what he'd tell you himself! The only reason I can say that is because he's not here right now!"

The audience laughs out at the beautiful First Lady's joke, and after a moment, she continues. "We have witnessed tonight, a surge of shifting emotions, from vigor to fear, to sadness and sympathy, to sidesplitted comedy! I couldn't have asked for a better event! Now… I always hate to have to force the spotlight on myself, but this just couldn't wait any longer. I'm going to be in trouble with Phoenix for this, but I bet he won't be too mad. You want to know why?"

"WHY?" the whole audience roars out in unison.

"Because…" Dolla purses her lips and looks around the hushed crowd before turning the photo over to reveal an obstetric sonogram of a developing embryo.

"He's gonna be a daddyyyyyyyyyyyyy~"

It takes a few moments, but the entire audience rises to its feet in a wild wave of applause and cheering and flailing arms. Dolla smiles brightly and takes it all in. Letting her gaze wander to an eastern exit in one of the upper levels, she meets eyes with Ruby Jenkins, who claps slowly and deliberately, offering a small nod before shoving her hands into the pockets of her casual jeans and strolling out of the auditorium.

~Paisley's POV~

Preliminary scan commencing….

Nervous functionality: Optimal

Neural constitution: Optimal

Emotional stability: Sub-Optimal

Current Identification: Sub-Optimal

Deep-Body scan commencing…

Determining optimal application of coding/augmentation…

Determination complete.

...

Commencing termination of unnecessary scar tissue/dysfunctional cells…

Termination complete.

Commencing application of optimal coding/augmentation…

...

Application complete.

Determining ideal identification to replace previous sub-optimal identification..,

Determination complete.

Rise, Heart Attack.

At once, my eyes open, and I stumble out of the thin tube as it slowly hisses open. I… can barely stand, and fall to my knees after only taking a few steps. Everything… it feels different… There's a constant humming in my ears, and I feel… j-just, different. Shakily, I pull myself to my feet and turn toward a large mirror standing nearby… My body… My suit… I can't… What…

What did they do to me…?

Where's Franklin…?

I touch a shaky hand to my face, and I feel myself tingling… No… First they did it to dead bodies, now… living ones…? But I feel… so powerful. More powerful than I've ever been.

Three heavy blares sound above and I gasp in surprise. Everything around me rattles, as if in response to my shock. Pink sparkles seem to blink in and out of reality around my vision… I slowly turn my head up to an overhead speaker as it starts to announce in a mechanical voice.

"FRANKLIN BROOKINS: GAME OVER."

"No…" is all my ragged voice can get out at first. All at once, I feel my heart beginning to fall into a million irrecoverable pieces, and at the same time, everything around me begins to rattle and tremble again.

"No!" I yell at the floor as I fall to my knees and clutch my head. Tears fall freely from my eyes, and a pink glow begins to emanate from my body, tinting my surroundings… Something… bubbles and boils inside of me… Something unfamiliar… So much pressure… I must let loose..!

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

That last mighty screech releases it. I don't know what it is. I don't care what it is, but my vision fills with luminous pink, and I can hear and feel everything around me tearing itself apart…

(A/N: Things have been getting really busy now that I'm approaching the end of my senior year. Sorry I've been dead for a while guys. :( I'll try my best to keep writing as much as I can, but I'm juggling a lot of stuff!

As always, leave thoughts and criticism in a review! I'll appreciate it!)