The Last Day

Dorea Calis

Her fake and real eyes took in the horror of seeing what might have been hundreds of large meteors hurling towards the ground from the artificial skies above in the Arena.

She realized with frustration and fright that there was nothing she could do, nothing at all as the giant burning rocks began pelting the ground around her, one after the other, causing sand to fly up all around and the mountains in the distance to break and crumble. Dorea could see rocks from the mountains tumbling down into the valley below, her only thought being that nothing had seemed to hit her yet despite everything coming so close.

But seconds later the meteors had all fallen, and everything seemed as quiet as before, although now things were different. The sand of the desert was now replaced with dry, craggy ground and craters where smoldering objects lay. Dorea picked herself up, bandaged the wounds she received from Amruen, and tried to get her bearings. She could see that the peaks of the mountains had been mostly chopped off, and the sky was overcast by clouds.

She wasn't surprised by the fact that she had been conveniently spared the destruction; evidently this was some sort of ploy by the Gamemakers to radically alter the landscape of the Arena. She had seen some sort of object hurl into one of the forests, but she had been too far away to either see, hear or feel its impact.

But it wasn't quite over yet, she realized as a giant bolt of lightning struck the mountain range, carving through the rock as if it were a knife slicing bread, scattering chunks of rock in all directions save towards her. The mountains collapsed as if they were a gingerbread house until finally they disappeared beneath the horizon.

"What are they trying to do?" Dorea asked aloud. A faint buzzing noise behind her answered her question and compelled her to run towards the ruined mountains.

They're just getting you to where you need to be.

Steeleia Sharpe

They came first in pairs, and she tried to fight them off by slicing them in half with her sword. But soon there were too many and she had to run.

They were so fast and so alien that she really didn't know how to describe them; they hovered several feet above the ground by rapidly beating their wings like insects, and they certainly buzzed like them, but they were not simply giant versions of garden variety insects.

They had six limbs, but all of them were used like arms and tipped with blades. Their thin bodies were a bronze color, and their faces—if one could call them that—consisted only of a pair of giant mandibles and a circular hole for a mouth. Their voices were an aggressive screech, and each time they were stabbed they let out an ear-piercing whine.

Steele was able to kill them easily—their attacks were rapid and hard to block but very negligible individually—but when swarms of them began to converge on her she realized that she could not stay and fight. So she ran, occasionally launching her boomerang or Apu's shield rocks at them to clear out a group, buying time for her to race ahead before more could emerge from wherever they were coming from.

They seemed to come from everywhere except the north, she later began to see, and finally she was able to watch some of them crawl from out of the meteors that had fallen earlier. But now there were so many that all she could do was run, hoping that they'd subside soon enough.

Dorea Calis

At the end of the mountains she and her final opponent met up, both of them equally terrified of the swarms of insectoid beings purusing them.

"We'll fight them together!" Dorea insisted. Steele opened her mouth to ask a question, but Dorea quickly added, "This is just a warm-up! Don't think they're actually going to let us kill each other just yet!"

As she spoke the swarms merged into each other, forming a thin row that wedged itself between them. Both tributes immediately seized their swords and shields, readying themselves for battle.

For a while they were both able to hold off the insectoids, slicing each one as they came and only wincing slightly under the pain of their attacks. But the numbers which came at them seemed to increase until the tributes could bear the onslaught no longer.

The skies around them suddenly clouded over and turned an unearthly dark red color, and two columns descended in front of the tributes at a speed fast enough to catch the insectoids by surprise but slowly enough so that they could get see it coming and get over whatever initial shock they may have had.

A vortex of wind descended in front of Steele, Dorea could see as she glanced behind her shoulder, and before her there was a column of electricity and energy, like a sort of slow-moving lightning bolt.

Dorea cupped her hands over her mouth in surprise as the column changed shape and faded away to reveal a hulking, nearly 20-foot tall man that should not have been so muscular given his hair being white with age. From behind her, Dorea could hear Steele scream at whatever it was that had appeared before her.

"You are a wise one, Dorea," the god—it was definitely one of those—said to her. "What do you suppose will happen?"

Dorea said nothing, simply outstretching her hand. The god chuckled. "Hermes was quite pleased with you. He was always one of my more favored children," he remarked as he took her hand. "I am Zeus."

"Nice to meet you," Dorea replied, quite used to the capriciousness of the gods of this Arena. She knew that despite this one's power, he was not permitted by the Gamemakers to hurt her. Or perhaps he was simply holding back?

"Hold on tight," Zeus warned as she grabbed his hand. Dorea was willing to do so, but she doubted that the Gamemakers would even give her an opportunity to let go.

Not that she was really able to think a coherent thought for the next few seconds as she was whisked upward.

Steeleia Sharpe

Before her stood a giant green and red beast; it had four feet with claws on the front feet, standing erect and tall like a long-necked dinosaur but with a serpentine face, head and neck. Green feathers covered its thin, elongated body, but at the shoulders, chest, knees and the crown of its head there lay a few clusters of red feathers.

Steele could only scream and desperately thrust her sword out in defense, too terrified and fatigued to just charge at the mutt.

"Fear not," the creature said with astounding articulation. "My arrival means to you only what you already knew would happen."

"I have to go fight Dorea now?" Steele asked. The feathered serpent nodded with a sympathetic look in its unblinking eyes.

"Take heart," the god told her. "There is only one more whose blood is needed to appease our god."

"The Capitol? It's the Capitol, isn't it?" Steele asked. "They brought you all here knowing you were gods, to show you that—"

"Yes, a resurrection to inform us of our deaths, and then a second death—a final death," the serpent replied. "I wish I could spare you of this fate. But here all of our power is restrained. Only you can save yourself. Now climb onto my back so that we may ascend."

Steele did so, asking no further questions.

Camera Drone Alpha

Dorea and Steele found themselves placed onto a floating colusseum made of stone, and gods, goddesses and demigods of all sorts filled the stands, cheering upon seeing the arrival of the finalists.

Both tributes' weapons were placed behind them, but Dorea called out to Steele before she could begin the last fight.

"Wait…I want to tend to my wounds first," she said. "You're pretty badly hurt yourself. When we're both ready…"

"We can't delay the inevitable," Steele warned her, reaching for her supply of bandages, now almost completely depleted. Dorea ventured over with some first-aid supplies left over from the first day, handing her what she needed and then going back to her side of the Arena. The gods were quiet, understanding that this was a necessary quick peace before the bloodshed, although it had been a long time since most of them had ever really been wounded, and even then it had never mattered since they couldn't actually die. Not back then, at least.

The two dressed their various wounds and got ready for battle. Steele armed herself with her weapons—namely, her sword, shield, boomerang and kunai she had taken from Riley-while Dorea had 2 throwing knives, her sword, her shield and her bow and arrows.

"I'm sorry," Steele told Dorea.

"Don't be," she replied. "We just have to do what they want. But no matter who wins this fight, the pain is over for both of us. The question is, who has the favor of the gods?" At this Steele looked around, scanning the faces of the beings watching the two of them.

"I don't think it's about their favor," she said, pointing to the stands. "It's all about getting out of here and knowing that we have their favor," she added, pointing directly at Camera Drone Alpha.

The machine knew then this was a statement the Capitolites would react to, although it had no capacity to speculate on what they would think. It could not think at all, only receive information, such as the fact that Camera Drone Epsilon had just caught a shot of a grass snake slithering out from Dorea's chestplate and was slinking away to a corner in the Arena unnoticed.

"Perhaps you're right," Dorea mused. "Regardless, let's begin. I know you'll be a worthy opponent."

"Thank you," Steele said, getting her weapons ready. "I'm sorry I thought all of you Careers were like Tiberius."

"We have to be ruthless to win this. You know that," Dorea finished, readying her bow to fire from a distance. Steele shed a tear and screamed a battle cry with more ferocity and defiance than Lidda.

Camera Drone Alpha hovered to the center of the colusseum, floating high above the combatants to get a view of the battle. Dorea shot first, firing an arrow straight at Steele's leg. But Steele pressed on, tearing the arrow from her muscles and pressing onward through the pain, albeit much more slowly.

Dorea fired again, but this time Steele ducked to avoid the shot and tossed her boomerang, hitting Dorea in the face and causing her to lose her aim. Steele hurled a kunai directly at Dorea's arm once she got her boomerang back but missed. Dorea tried to aim again but Steele hurled another kunai, this time brusing her arm and creating a gash which seemed miniscule compared to the way Amruen had slashed at her side before.

Dorea stared Steele down, clutching her wounded arm as the latter charged, attempting to fake helplessness. But Steele had grown wise to this trick and skidded to a halt, but she wasn't able to block Dorea's first strike as the Career drew her sword, aiming for Steele's neck but only hitting Steele's sword.

And thus the two tributes began their sword fight, exchanging blows as rapidly as they could, the sound of metal clanging against metal reverberating in their ears. Each time one tribute seemed to gain an advantage the other would block with her shield, sometimes attempting to use it for offense but never being able to catch her opponent off guard. Steele's rock shield couldn't damage Dorea well due to her own shield being so sturdy, and Dorea couldn't land a hit on Steele due to her always seeming to either move slightly to block the shot with her chestplate or just shrugging it off.

One of them, Camera Drone Alpha realized, needed to not only overpower the other, but outsmart, outmaneuver and outlast her as well. Steele was suited to the first and last, but Dorea was better at the middle two.

The sword strikes continued, with Dorea attacking as rapidly as she could while making sure to guard herself against Steele, and Steele looking carefully for openings and attacking when she could before Dorea could counterattack. Dorea swung her sword towards Steele's good leg, but she was blocked by Steele's sword. Steele tried to back up a bit and stab Dorea from a safe distance, but Dorea stayed close to her opponent to prevent this from working.

Finally, however, one was ready to change tactics.

Dorea responded to a hopeful strike from Steele with a sudden downward thrust into the same leg she had wounded before, groaning as her arm was slashed when she tried to thrust her shield into Steele's face at the same time so that Steele couldn't respond effectively. With Steele wounded, Dorea took one of her throwing knives from her tunic belt and hurled it at Steele's good leg, effectively wounding her so much that she wouldn't be able to run.

Dorea then ran to retrieve her bow and arrows, only to realize too late that Steele's boomerang had just whacked her in the face, leaving her vulnerable to another kunai throw. This one hit her in the face, making a dent in her artificial eye and leaving a deep gash across her cheek. Dorea wiped the blood from her face and readied her bow again, only for Steele to throw her boomerang again, forcing her to drop the bow and duck out of its way. She turned around as the boomerang began to make its return journey, holding up her shield and blocking the pathway of the boomerang so that it hit her shield with a clang and dropped to the ground helplessly.

Steele wasn't too happy about her boomerang being negated, but when Dorea turned around—most likely assuming she was immobilized—she hurled another kunai, this time aiming for the back of Dorea's neck. The blade made its target, but the wound did not kill; the kunai only made a bruise and a scratch, but it was enough to make Dorea realize she hadn't been cautious enough. Steele half ran, half limped forward as Dorea turned around in rage and panic, stooping to reach her sword and getting her arm roughly slashed by Steele's blade, the metal even piercing the bones in her hand. Dorea screamed in pain but snatched up her sword anyway with her other hand, getting her face bashed by Steele's rock shield and responding by digging her sword deep into her less-wounded leg, finally causing Steele to drop to her hands and knees in pain.

Dorea tried to stand herself up but found that her arm could not support her. She looked at Steele, also in an intense amount of pain but still eager to fight. Steele immediately reached for her sword and tried to stab Dorea's other arm, but Dorea managed to block with her own blade. She tried using her legs to lift herself up, but Steele grabbed her last kunai and forced her back down by attacking her own legs while they were vulnerable, causing Dorea to get back down to her level.

Both girls were unable to stand but glared at each other with a desire to kill, and both struggled to their feet, woozey from blood loss and pain. Dorea's arms were in as bad shape as Steele's legs, but both of them finally managed to stand up with great difficulty. All that they held were their swords this time, and they continued to fight again, this time somewhat more weakly, no longer caring for their safety or well-being.

For both of them, it was no longer a test of ideals, or test of wills or strength. There were no gods, no Games, no President, no Panem, no Arena anymore. What had once been the Hunger Games was now a desperate, animal-like struggle for survival between two young female humans, both focused only on the death of the other.

They both struck each others' limbs and faces several times before falling down, this time dropping their swords and struggling to pummel each other to death, tugging hair, clawing at eyes, and desperately clamping their hands around each other's throats.

This madness continued for a while, but soon both girls grew tired and stopped attacking, collapsing together on the floor of the colusseum, their bodies lying just a few feet apart.

"…Steele?" Dorea asked weakly.

"I know," Steele replied, referring to the situation at hand and how one of them needed to die. "I just want to keep going. But so do you."

"You're right," Dorea replied. "I do want to live. But…if we just sit here both of us could bleed to death. Just like Amruen. I don't want that. Besides, I'm more wounded anyway. You're stronger than I am, not just physically but mentally and emotionally. And I need you to use all that strength to do something for me; help me take my chestplate off."

Confused by this request but feeling like there was little to lose, Steele reached over and helped Dorea take it off to find an apple roll out. It had been wedged between the metal and the fabric of her tunic.

"Amruen didn't want to eat it," Dorea explained. "He got it from Elodie. He wasn't sure what it did, but I think I do."

"No!" Steele cried, realizing what was happening. "I don't want to win like this! Please! I don't want you to finish yourself off! Please, I already had to through it once! Dorea, you're the one that's more noble! You value people for just being people and you fought hard and respected everyone and…no!"

"When did this happen before?" Dorea asked.

"Tiberius killed himself," Steele explained. "I didn't kill him at all. I didn't even want to hate him in the end. It was all so stupid and pointless. I don't want any more deaths on my conscience. I let Mohan, Cecilia, Thaleia, and Amruen die, and I killed Riley. I don't want to let another person die."

Dorea took a deep breath. "I understand," she replied. "I was hoping that it wouldn't have to come to this."

"Come to what?" Steele asked.

"One of us is going to have to get up and kill the other," Dorea explained. "A simple stab in the neck will do. I feel faint, and my wounds hurt like crazy. What about you?"

"Same here."

"Well, then...may the odds be ever in your favor," Dorea finished.

Minutes passed. Camera Drone Alpha began to consider cutting to commercials after having shown all angles of the colosseum and every reaction shot of every god-mutt in the stands, but then Steele began to stir. She struggled to her feet, reached for her sword, and stood over Dorea.

"I knew you could do it," Dorea whispered. She winced from feeling a drop of water landing on the back of her neck. And then she felt the blade, and everything was done.

A cannon fired, and the gods cheered, causing a cacophony of booming, heavenly or unearthly sounds. A voice louder than all of the others declared:

"At long last, the 85th annual Hunger Games is over! Steeleia Sharpe, out of 24 tributes throughout Panem you are this year's Victor! The odds were truly in your favor!"

Camera Drone Alpha got feed from some Camera Drone Beta of a hovercraft arriving to pick up Dorea's dead body and the living body of the champion. The other camera drones focused on Steele, showing the tears in her eyes as she looked at Dorea's body then back at the hovercraft, realizing that she was the winner, whether she liked it or not.

But then, Camera Drones Beta through Zeta only showed static, and Camera Drone Alpha was surprised to see only a blinding flash of white light on its lenses.

AN: Steele is the winner, but we're not quite through with the Arena yet.

Dorea Calis—You were, quite simply, the tribute I knew had the most of everything. You were smart, tough, willing to learn, had just a few flaws, very analytical, played the Game as best as you could, and had so much character.

I could go into detail as to why I made you lose, but to put it quite simply, you were too good. If you won, everybody would have seen it coming. Sure, there were only two options, but even back from the beginning I know that people were predicting that you would win. Why else would they have given you so many sponsor gifts that I had to place an EMBARGO?!

If the Hunger Games were a popularity contest, then I'd have no choice but to crown you as the Victor. I don't want to say you were my favorite above all others, but you were certainly up there. I had planned out your Victor's scenario the most, but ultimately I had to have you killed. It was not because I thought you deserved to die, or because I decided I was "tired" of you. It was simply because having you win would make the story too…predictable.

Steeleia Sharpe—Congratulations! I really enjoyed writing you.

You started out as this unique, but one-note character, known only for your rivalry with Tiberius. You were the good to his bad, and quite frankly your submission form made you look generic, cheap and undeveloped. But I still saw potential in you, even though I only picked you to be a rival to Tiberius. You ended up greater than him, ironically.

With you as the Victor, I can make the story have the depth I want it to, and with you I can more easily set the stage for a sequel…if I want one. You and the readers will see in later chapters.

What did you guys think of the final battle? Of the way Dorea died? Of her and Steele's last conversation? What do you think will happen next with Steele as the Victor?

And most importantly, would you like to see more of Camera Drone Alpha?

October 28th update: Hey, guys. I just wanted to add here that for the next week I'll be studying for midterms and perhaps doing other things. So if I can't get an update by Halloween, sorry. I'd rather not, actually, since the next chapter isn't going to be scary or filled with nightmare fuel. It's supposed to be poignant and meaningful, and I kind of don't want it to be ruined by the "creepy" atmosphere I'm sure everyone wants to get into for Halloween.

I unfortunately have no time to get scared, and I'm not sure if I want to, but what I'm saying is that you shouldn't expect a Halloween-themed update.

There's also more I'd like to say on my profile, but it's more of a general thing.