Author's Note: Hey all… I'm not sure how many of you are still reading this, and if you are, I'm sure this is not what you wanted to see. But yes, it is a summary. If you read my collab with CelticGames4 on her profile, you may have seen this coming. This is not a decision I'm making abruptly. In fact, I've probably been considering it for close to a year, but I can't keep lying to myself and continue to try to push through something that isn't working. A lot of changes have happened to me since I started this story in 2016 when I was a freshman in college. I started grad school this past August, which takes up so much time and energy and is just very stressful overall. Long story short, without going into specifics, I need to meet certain grade requirements to avoid going on academic probation, and standards are pretty high. When I do have free time, I just don't have the energy to write. I know this semester is going to be even more stressful than the last because not only do I have the second semester of my hardest class last semester (Anatomy and Kinesiology), but also a class that all the second year students and professors say is the hardest class in the program (Behavorial Neuroscience). At this rate, I'll be working on this story for years, which is not something I want to be doing in the long term. I need to focus on my schoolwork and eventually, my career. Realistically, I should have summarized a while ago, but I just wasn't ready to let go. Now, I am. I won't be leaving fanfiction quite yet, as I still plan to read stories and submit a few new tributes when I have time. I also hope to start rewriting my first THG story, a story about Finnick and Annie, which won't have as much pressure as an SYOT.

Thank you all for sticking around for so long! I appreciate you all and I hope you enjoy the summary! See you at the end!

Chapter 26: The End

Day 6

At the beginning of the sixth day, thirteen tributes remained. Joshua knew he was responsible for the death of one of the eleven people whose lives were cut short, and it was eating away at him. He had never imagined he would use plants for harm instead of healing. Yet he had. Anita was dead and it was his fault.

Joshua travelled briskly, without destination. Tears rolled down his face. He was a murderer. What would his family think?

"You know I'm a good man, Gabriel," Joshua said shakily. "That's why you married me, right? You always tell me I have a heart of gold."

No murderer has a heart of gold. A murderer's heart is black as coal, said Joshua's conscious, but he pushed the thought away.

"You understand, right Evvy? What must be done to win the games?" Joshua asked his oldest daughter frantically. "And Hazel, Vigo, you know Daddy loves you and promised to come home?"

Good people don't win the games.

Joshua let out a sob and stumbled as his eyes blurred with tears. He blinked forcefully, trying to clear his eyes, only to find Arista, the woman from Two, standing at the intersection of paths in front of him and staring at him apprehensively.

"Please," Joshua said weakly, not really sure himself what he was asking for.

Arista saw no point in dragging out neither the Games nor Joshua's death. Joshua died quickly by her knife.

13th place: Joshua Yates, District Twelve

Day 7

After killing Joshua, Arista returned to the career camp and reported to Justus and Valor that she had made a kill. Not to her surprise, the men bickered with each other. Arista was sick of her allies' oversized egos. They reminded her of her husband. Slate would fit right in with this pair. Arista was sure Valor and Justus would self-destruct, and she did not want to stick around for it to happen.

Arista took first watch that night. Valor fell asleep quickly, but it was probably past midnight that she finally heard the snores of her district partner. Arista knew she could have tried to kill both men in their sleep, but the risk was not one she was willing to take. Instead, Arista raided the camp, quietly searching though the men's backpacks. She found what she was expecting in Justus's; most of their food and water supply, as well as several extra knives. In Valor's, however, she found something small, cold and hard. Although she could not see clearly in the dark, Arista reasoned the object she manipulated in her hand was an inhaler, a gift that could mean the difference between life and death for the man from One. Arista had no use for an inhaler herself, but if she had an opportunity to set one her biggest challengers at a disadvantage, she was going to take it.

Valor had his spear tucked under his arm as he slept, and Justus had a knife attached to his hip, but Arista did not want to risk searching the men's bodies in the dark for fear of waking them up, as much as she would have preferred to leave them weaponless. Arista slunk off into the night, leaving behind two empty backpacks, a knife, and a spear.

No deaths on Day 7.

Day 8

Justus, needless to say, was fuming that Arista abandoned the pack and stole the supplies. With nothing to guard, he and Valor went hunting for tributes together. They stumbled across Hector and Lucy, but were unable to catch them off guard. In fact, Hector was ready to fit, and rushed to attack Justus, who was the nearer of the careers. Lucy decided to run, leading Valor on a chase.

Hector and Justus fought one-on-one. Both men used strength and their knives in the fight. Hector put up a tough fight, much more than his district partner, Lil, was able to when Justus caused her to fall into the tiger pit a few days previous. Hector managed to give Justus a few bruises, scratches, and minor cuts in the scuffle, but no major injuries. The fight ended when Justus's training and experience led him to overpower Hector.

Without his inhaler, Valor was forced to give up the chase. He slumped against a tree as an asthma attack prevented him from standing or speaking.

Is this the end? Valor wondered. Is this how I die?

As Valor struggled for air, it certainly seemed as though he was going to die. He hoped Midas would be able to send him a second inhaler, but none came. Fear surged through Valor as he considered that maybe the Capitolites didn't support him like he thought they did. Perhaps he was on his own. The thought terrified him, and made it difficult for Valor to calm himself and focus on breathing.

By the time Justus found his ally, Valor was still sitting on the ground, trying to catch his breath. The asthma attack had passed his peak, but Valor had not fully recovered. He explained to Justus that he had chased after Lucy, but she had gotten away. Justus was suspicious by Valor's heavy breathing, but did not put the pieces together that the man suffered from asthma. However, Justus would not forget that his ally had some sort of weakness, one that Justus planned to discover and exploit later.

Later in the day, in another part of the arena, Zane woke up from a nap. He had spent the last eight days in the arena in a depressed state, staying near the amphitheater and not caring if tributes found him or if the gamemakers decided to kill him. Somehow, no one had. Even the gamemakers seemed content to let him lie around, doing nothing. Zane ran out of water on the sixth day, but he hadn't cared about that either. He might as well die a slow death of dehydration. It was what he deserved.

When he woke up around early afternoon on Day 8, Zane didn't feel so depressed anymore. For the first time in a while, his mood was elevated. It wasn't often that Zane was in a good mood, but when he was, he felt on top of the world, euphoria rushing through him like it was in his blood. Today, Zane felt motivated. Maybe he did deserve to live! Maybe he deserved to be with his daughter after all! Maybe, just maybe… he could win these games!

First though, he needed water. He wasn't sure where to start searching though, and the penguin mutts gently pecked at him, urging him forward. Zane took the path leading to the savannah loop. The elephant mutts guarded a watering hole, but even in his mania, Zane still felt intimidated to approach the large beasts, so he continued on. In the next exhibit, he found more water, a small pond surrounded by a troop of baboons. Zane wasn't intimidated by a bunch of monkeys, so he decided to take a risk and climbed the fence of the baboon enclosure.

Although they were small, the baboons should not have been underestimated. What they lacked in size, they had in numbers, and they did not take well to having an intruder in their habitat. Around a dozen baboons jumped on Zane, overpowering him and tearing into his flesh with pointed canine teeth. Zane died fighting.

12th place: Hector Jackson, District Ten

11th place: Zane Oupfield, District Nine

Day 9

The final ten awoke to a peaceful morning on Day 9. Head Gamemaker Cornelius Marquis didn't plan to keep it peaceful for long, however. It was time to set their and Justinian's plan into motion.

Justinian Noble, Head Mutt Designer, was grinning from ear to ear as he watched tributes beginning to stir on screen. Cornelius was just so easy to manipulate. The final ten plan was his, all his. Justinian couldn't believe how easy it was to convince Cornelius to go along with the plan. Hopefully, President Snow would see just how deserving of a promotion Justinian was, and he'd be able to steal Cornelius's job from right under their nose.

At precisely ten in the morning, all the barriers restricting the mutts were temporarily disabled, and the mutts were free to do as they pleased. Cornelius still had full control over what they wanted the mutts to do, however, and which tributes they wanted the mutts to attack. Lucy was nearly run over by a stampede of zebras, but Cornelius allowed her to escape. Marin and Meridian were driven out of their current camp by toucan and parrot mutts. Arista was chased by gorillas and took shelter in the conservatory to evade them.

Niels and Maddox were camped out near the wolf pack and took off running together when the wolves were released. Unfortunately, the pair chose the wrong direction to run in. A moose mutt barrelled into Niels, flinging him through the air into a tree, and promptly knocking him unconscious before staring at Maddox and snorting threateningly.

With the wolf mutts circling and snarling around them, Maddox was forced to make a hasty decision. He could fight off the wolves in an attempt to save his new ally, or he could run, saving his own life. Maddox's heart wanted to help the kindly man from District Three, but Maddox was always a logical man who usually followed his head, not his heart. Tearing his gaze away from Niels, Maddox bolted away from the mutts. Niels was killed quickly and did not feel any pain due to already being unconscious. Maddox, however, was riddled with guilt as he tried to hide from mutts at the picnic grounds. Maddox knew there was nothing he could have done to save Niels without being killed himself, but he still abandoned his ally, a guilt he struggled to escape.

Meanwhile, lion mutts found Tre and Calissa at the carousel. Calissa ran faster than Tre, and the lion mutts effectively separated them. Calissa ran towards their original camp and climbed a tree, while Tre ran to the Bear Mountain in the center of the arena. Satisfied, Cornelius commanded the lion mutts to end their chase, though the mutts stayed put, ensuring Calissa and Tre did not move. When the women heard Niels's cannon, they both became distraught, sure the cannon was for each other.

Finally, Justus used the chaos of the arena to carry out his plan that he had since before entering the arena. The final ten was the perfect time to break off from the pack, or in this case, his last ally and Justus was going to take full advantage of the chaos around them. While running for shelter, Justus caught up to Valor, who was starting to wear down and struggle to breathe from running. Justus could have just thrown a knife at Valor's back, but that would have been too easy, and he wanted to give the Capitolites a show with a fight. He yanked on Valor's arm, causing the man to jerk backwards and twist his body around to face him.

"Sorry, District One," Justus said with a smirk. "Only one of us is surviving this day."

The former allies fought until Cornelius decided to spice things up. He led two cheetah mutts to the Career men, who circled them, waiting to strike. Justus seized the opportunity, taking full advantage of the mutts. Without warning, he shoved Valor towards one of the mutts before running, and the man from One stumbled to the ground, with one of the cheetah mutts pouncing on him. The other cheetah pursued Justus, and caught him in no time. The cheetah mauled Justus, digging its claws into his bad leg and causing him to fall to the ground in pain before returning to the other mutt to make the kill. Justus was injured for playing dirty, but his life was spared, his wounds not deep enough to kill him.

10th place: Niels Bundar, District Three

9th place: Valor Acosta, District One

Day 10

Action slowed enough for final eight interviews to be given. Panem cried over the adorable children who were missing their parents, and in most cases, wanted them home. No district was as dismal as District Six, however. Maddox's family was similar to the rest,with a loving husband and two kids who wanted Maddox to know how much he was loved. Calissa's, husband,however, was not interviewed like planned. Their son, Damien, had tragically passed away of his terminal illness a mere sixteen hours before Master of Ceremonies Simone Silver arrived in the district, and his father Cameron declined to interview, to grief stricken to speak.

Unaware of her son's death, Calissa pushed on. The lion mutt disappeared at sunset, returning to its enclosure, letting Calissa search for her ally once the sun rose. Calissa never found Tre, however. Arista ran into her instead, and killed her. Calissa went out fighting, and the fight made so much noise, they caught the attention of Marin and Meridian, who were travelling nearby. Before Calissa's body was even picked up, Marin and Meridian found Arista, and another battle began. Arista fought with all she had, but two against one wasn't a fair fight. Although Arista's death was a joint effort, Marin landed the killing blow. Both District Four tributes received only minimal injuries.

8th place: Calissa Peer, District Six

7th place: Arista Lazuli, District Two

Day 11

The final six regrouped. Marin and Meridian were on edge, each of them knowing the other would have to die for them to win. Justus received bandages from a sponsor and is forced to rest a day, unable to put pressure on his injured leg. His frustration and anger threatened to explode as Justus was left alone with his thoughts. Tre mourned the loss of her ally and made a promise to win for them both, as well as Varia. Maddox tried to push thoughts of Niels aside and focus on winning, but easier said than done with the man from Three had left an impression on him in such a short time. Finally, Lucy decided she had been in the arena long enough, and vowed to do whatever it took to escape the hell that was the arena.

No deaths on Day 11.

Day 12

After nearly two weeks of Hunger Games, the Capitolities became restless for a victor. After an uneventful eleventh day, President Celestia Snow asked Cornelius to end the games within the next few days. Cornelius agreed, curious themself to see which of the six remaining tributes would become the victor.

Tensions had been building between Lucy from District Twelve and Justus from District Two. The two had a rivalry since training, one that had bled into the games. Many people wanted to see Justus and Lucy fight to the death, but Cornelius felt that was too predictable. He also didn't want to give Justus and Lucy what they wanted, and instead wanted to see how they would react to their frustrations. However, Justus and Lucy were too close to each other, and Cornelius feared the pair would meet again if they didn't intervene.

Cornelius let the bear and tiger mutts loose, sending them to track down Lucy and Maddox respectively. Then, he commanded them to chase the pair towards each other and in Lucy's case, farther away from Justus. Both Lucy and Maddox were motivated to end the games and go home, so when Lucy led the attack, Maddox didn't hesitate to fight back. The fight was evenly matched and lasted longer than Cornelius expected, despite Maddox being sponsored a hammer and a dagger after losing Niels. Maddox finally was able to knock Lucy unconscious using the hammer, then stabbed her through the heart using the dagger. Maddox walked away with non-life threatening injuries.

Near the wetlands part of the arena, Justus hobbled along, dragging his injured leg as he prowled for tributes. Upon hearing Lucy's cannon, instead of relief, Justus felt frustration. He wasn't doing enough, hadn't made enough kills. He was injured. Very little was going according to plan. Behind the rage, however, was uncertainty. What if he couldn't do what he had worked so hard for? What if he failed?

No. Justus Fiore could not fail. He wouldn't fail! Viewers of the Hunger Games, including Justus's wife Lenora and his oldest two children, Primitiva and Clarus, could see what Justus could not; he was spiralling.

Finally, Justus saw what he had been looking for. Across an exhibit stood Tre from District Three, but Justus had no shot of ever catching her if he went around. Therefore, Justus hopped the fence, running as fast as he could towards Tre as he ignored the burning pain in his leg.

Justus never made it to Tre. Unfortunately for him, he had underestimated the power of the mutts inside the exhibit. Little did Justus know, the hippopotamus was at one time the most dangerous land animal. The hippo mutts in this exhibit were no exhibit. The largest of the mutts charged Justus, scooping him up in its powerful jaws. Justus screamed in pain as the hippo's teeth cracked several as his bones and flung him through the air. Across the exhibit, Tre watched in terror as the hippo mutt continued its attack, biting and crushing the man from Two in a slow, excruciating death. Knowing he can't survive this and not wanting to witness his death, Tre fled from the wetlands. Justus died knowing how badly he had fucked up. Tears flowed down Justus's face as he took his last breath, not because of the pain, but because he had failed.

After hearing a second canon of that day and seeing both Justus and Lucy's faces in the sky, Marin and Meridian knew the biggest threats were gone, and only two other tributes remained other than themselves. Marin knew he and Meridian would likely have to fight each other, but he wanted to avoid that. He suggested to his district partner that they part ways, peacefully. Hopefully, either Maddox or Tre would take her out and he wouldn't have to. A part of Marin knew that was unlikely, but he pushed the thought aside. A peaceful parting was all he wanted.

Meridian agreed, and they evenly split their supplies before going their separate ways. However, once Marin's back was turned, Meridian went back on her word, throwing a knife at Marin's back. Marin cried out in pain as the knife hits his lower shoulder, missing all organs and major arteries. Despite wanting peace, Marin fought for his life. His experience in training at Four's academy allowed him to overpower Meridian and kill her. Marin collapsed to his knees, sobbing at having to kill his former ally and district partner. Although Meridian was the one to betray him, Marin felt all the blame.

6th place: Luciel Furorum, District Twelve
5th place: Justus Fiore, District Two
4th place: Meridian Vale, District Four

Day 13

At the crack of dawn of the thirteenth day, Cornelius drove Tre and Maddox to the wetlands using mutts. While Marin hid in the cattails, Maddox and Tre fought a long battle, with neither gaining much of an upper hand and both sustaining injuries. Both Tre and Maddox's weapons of choice were hammers, but Tre was sponsored an ax instead, which she used primarily to block Maddox's blows. Finally, Maddox seized an opportunity to push Tre into the water of the crocodile exhibit. The woman from Three could not swim, and stood no chance when a crocodile mutt grabbed her arm and dragged her further underwater, drowning her.

Maddox was exhausted, but Marin knew he had to take his chance. A second battle ensued, with both men knowing only one more kill has to be made before they could go home to their children. Both were injured and exhausted, causing the battle to be drawn out. Just when one of them felt he could not go on, the other faltered, allowing a killing blow to be made.

Both men fell to their knees from exhaustion, fighting to stay conscious. For Maddox, though, the wound is fatal, and thoughts of his family filled his head as he took his last breath.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, the victor of the 100th annual Hunger Games is Marin Zale of District Four!"

3rd place: Volustre Eckhart, District Three

2nd place: Maddox Hazeldine, District Six

Victor: Marin Zale, District Four

Author's Note: And there we have our victor! Now, I've had Marin picked as the victor for years and had so much planned for him. He was picked for so long, in fact, that I had him picked before David gave me my first victor, way back in June 2017. Yeah, over 2.5 years ago, lol. I'll admit, my original decision wavered a bit over the past year, but in the end, there was no one else I saw as my victor than Marin! He was always so easy for me to write, and I got attached to him pretty early on. I wish I could write more with him, but unfortunately, life has gotten in the way. I still want to do an epilogue with him, but I have no idea when that might be. Possibly not until May or later at this point.

Thanks David for this great tribute and congrats on your second victor! I'm sorry his story was summarized, but I hope you and everyone else have enjoyed it anyway! Thanks again everyone for your support!
~ HogwartsDreamer113