Chapter 19: Day 7, Finale.

WARNING: DON'T SCROLL DOWN. AT THE END, THE VICTOR IS DECLARED!

Louis "Lou" Esau-Lapointé, 18

District 2 Male

Lou isn't scared. He's never been more ready for something in his entire life. He can feel it in his bones, he's going to return home a victor. He's going to go straight to Damian, get on one knee, and propose.

Coral Hart, 14

District 4 Female

Coral isn't worried. She's been through a lot in this arena. One more day of fighting for her life wasn't that bad, she's going to return home a victor. She's going to make her first makeup palette and go big.

Gervanna "Gerv" Garcia, 17

District 7 Female

Gerv isn't panicked. She knows that her plan will take a lot of guts, and a lot of muscle. But she'll give these games one grand finale, she's going to return home a victor. She's going to throw the biggest party of her life.

Richter Match, 16

District 7 Male

Richter isn't nervous. He's been fighting this whole time to return home. He'll just slaughter the rest of the tributes with his hook, he's going to return home a victor. He's going to live happily ever after, not thinking about hurting anyone ever again.

Jem Raine, 15

District 9 "Male"

Jem isn't afraid. They've given these games all they could. They wanted nothing more to win, they're going to return home a victor. They're going to go on a long walk with Eva, and live a long life.

The tributes were ready, the audience was ready, the gamemakers were ready. It was time for the 74th Annual Hunger Games to come to a close. The Capitol was split into five groups. Each of them rooting for a different tribute. Dangerous and strategetic Lou. Daring and bold Gerv. Talented and deadly Richter. Sweet and innocent Jem. Ambitious and capricious Coral. It was time for the finale. Five tributes, one victor. Who will emerge alive?

Let's see who wins after a commercial break!

Alrighty folks! If you're looking to read a story as good or even better than Pawns! I encourage you to check out the following: "Mrs Infamous: The 203rd Hunger Games" by timesphobic, "Silva Mortis: The 80th Hunger Games" by A Proud Bibliophile, "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Death" and "Bombs and Bullets" by Paradigm of Writing, "Cards of Mortality: The 140th Hunger Games" and "The 141st Hunger Games: Playing with Capitalism" by Platrium, and "The Hardest Choice" by IIJamesII.

Also, consider submitting to a new story, "Partners: The 100th Hunger Games" on a near you tomorrow!

Now that we're back from our commercial break, let's see what the gamemakers have in store for our tributes!

Wolf mutts are what's in store apparently! The gamemakers have specifically engineered 19 wolf mutts, each mutated with the DNA of our fallen tributes. These mutts will bring our final five to the Cornucopia for the mighty battle!

Lou, the only tribute at the Cornucopia already, is the first to hear the barking. He knows it's time for the finale and he starts to prepare. He runs and hides inside the Cornucopia, two swords in hand, ready for the finale to begin.

Jem is the second to hear the barking. One of their hands is gravely injured, and if they win, it will definitely need to be amputated and replaced with a prosthetic. But they're ready. They grab their sword in their other hand and run as fast as they can.

Richter hears the barking next, it's not like he didn't expect it, but he's surprised none-the-less. He takes his hook in one hand, and recently sponsored spear in the other, and begins to jog towards the horn.

Gerv hears them next. But she doesn't grab her dagger or her backpack. She grabs a confetti cannon in each hand and runs like the wind towards the Cornucopia, she's about to do something big, and the audience is loving it.

Coral is the last to hear the barking, but she was ready. She takes her cutlass and runs.

Now, viewers of the finale! As the dogs chase our beloved tributes, I would suggest you listen to some music. Perhaps something classical and suspenseful. Your choice!

The wolves are split, relatively evenly into four groups, and they chase the tributes pretty well. Their goal is to simply get the tributes to the horn but not harm them. However, one trip could mean certain doom. Doom by fangs as sharp as swords and claws as wicked as knives.

What may have been a coincidence, or the speed of the mutts, or just "God's will". All four of the running tributes burst out of their separate corners of the arena and entered the field. The final sprint towards the Cornucopia.

Gerv was the fastest but the confetti cannons were indeed heavy and she knew what she had to do. She whipped around and chucked one of the canons at her pack of wolves, distracting them enough so she could reach the horn with her other weapon.

Richter ran just as fast as Gerv and he experienced a similar dilemma, his spear was weighing him down so he did what Gerv did and tossed the spear at the wolves, letting him escape alive.

Coral was small and her weapon was as well, so she didn't have to worry about the weight, but she did have short legs. She panted heavily as she ran, the dogs almost right behind her.

Finally, Jem was the slowest. However, by a miracle of luck or by game maker intervention, she was just fast enough to escape. However, she was a little too confident, and one trip could send her to certain doom.

It did. Within the span of seconds, Jem tripped on a rock, dropped her sword, and faceplanted into the ground. The audience cringed as the wolf mutts caught up to her and ripped her life away.

Her screams lasted less than a minute and by the time her canon sounded, all of the other tributes reached the horn.

Lou was the first to climb up, slithering out from his hiding space, ready to make the final battle as epic as he thought it would be.

Gerv followed, ready to party.

Richter was next, ready to end this thing.

Coral was the last, ready for this all to be over.

For a second, no one moved. All four remaining tributes stood atop the golden horn, waiting, willing for someone to strike.

Then they all lunged forward and Gerv's canon went up and chaos ensued.

Confetti was everywhere. Everywhere. No one could see a thing. There was screaming, clanging, slicing, and even two canons. No one knows exactly what happened.

By the time the confetti settled, two bodies laid on the ground, dead, and two bodies stood, ready to fight.

Richter's body was hanging off the edge, his own hook caught in his neck and hs eyes glazed over in confusion. He was dead.

Gerv's body was on the ground, her neck twisted crookedly at the bottom of the horn, eye's closed. She was dead.

Coral and Lou stood atop the horn. They were both ready to fight. They were both ready to win. They were both injured. They were both panting. But most importantly, they were ready to go home and in each of their minds, nothing, nothing, would stand in their way.

Coral struck first. She leaped forward and sliced with her cutlass. Lou dodged but it caught the palm of his hand and he yelped in pawn as it began bleeding profusely. He scrunched up his face in anger and struck at Corral, but she sidestepped and kicked him in the face. He screamed as one of his swords fell over the edge and he landed on his back. Coral stood over him, ready to end it once and for all. But Lou wasn't ready to go so easily. He leaped up and slashed his weapon, cutting off a good portion of Coral's hair, and cutting into her eye. She cried out and threw up a hand, crying even more as her eye fell out of its socket, blood sprouting from where it once was.

Lou clutched his hand. Coral clutched her eye. They were no longer kids. They were a man and a woman, fighting to go home, both injured heavily, both scared out of their minds.

They both paused and then they both struck.

In a matter of seconds, the victor's hand was cut off clean off and a blade was nestled in the runner up's stomach. Neither of them moved, both of them were in pain, but neither of them moved, scared.

"No." Coal whispered, choking back a sop as Lou's sword was withdrawn from her chest and she fell to the ground.

Her canon fired. Trumpets blared.

"Louis Esau-Lapointé, you are the victor of the 74th Annual Hunger Games!"

Eulogies:

5th Place: Jem Raine, District 9 "Male". Killed by tribute wolf mutts. (Submitted by A Proud Bibliophile).

Oh, Jem. Oh sweet, innocent Jem. You were too innocent for these games, you didn't deserve them. I wish I could've made you the victor, let you escape, but unfortunately, you just weren't ready. I am so so sorry. May you rest in peace. Thank you so much for them Fiona, I loved writing them and I hope I did them justice. RIP Jem Raine.

4th Place: Richter Match, District 7 Male. Killed by ?. (Submitted by Paradigm of Writing).

Oh, Richter. Richter was the perfect villain, Para. But I didn't use him exactly the way I intended too. I'm sorry that you had to see him die. I hope you'll stick around and read the epilogue tomorrow. I hope I did him justice. RIP Richter Match.

3rd Place: Gervanna "Gerv" Garcia, District 7 Female. Killed by falling and breaking her neck. (Submitted by Platrium).

Gerv was perfect for this story. I only wish I could've written her better. I always knew she wouldn't win but she was a finale member from the very start. The moment you gave her a confetti cannon, I knew what would happen. Thanks so much for her Plat! I hope you'll submit to Partners! RIP Gervanna Garcia.

2nd Place: Coral Hart, District 4 Female. Killed by Lou. (Submitted by IIJamesII).

Coral… What's funny was she was originally going to die tp Lou's poison. But the more I wrote her, the more I liked her to she stuck around. Y'all were rooting for this finale and I hope I wrote it well. She was great and I only wish she could've kept her makeup business going. RIP Coral Hart.

Author's Note:

Oh, this was a hard chapter to write. All of them were good characters in one way or another and it was so hard to kill them. Well, we have our victor.! Congratulations times! Tomorrow comes the epilogue and the Partners prologue and I hope you'll enjoy it! Thank you all for supporting me! I'll have a thank you to my readers next chapter. Chapter Questions: 1. What did you think of everything in this chapter? What did you think of the victor? 3. How have I improved as a writer since the very first chapter? 4. Will you submit to Partners? Have an amazing day y'all!