A/N: Hello, readers. It's me again! Lately I've been re-reading the Hunger Games trilogy and I was warmly reminded of how much I used to love writing fanfics. So here's a new one for you to check out! Like my story "23 Cannons", I'll be covering one games per chapter. However, this story takes place in a completely different universe, so don't expect any of the events of that story to occur here. Also probably worth noting: this will follow none of the canon established by BSS, only the three main novels. So, sadly, no Lucy and no amphitheater arena.

I can't wait to get back to this. Here's the first chapter. I hope you enjoy reading about Luxor, the victor of the first Hunger Games!

Luxor Dodge from District 1
Victor of the First Annual Hunger Games

From ruin, there comes need.

It had been five years since the first riot, a simple factory strike in District 8, set off the spark that lit the inferno of rebellion. Riots spread through the thirteen outlying districts of Panem like flames licking the wooden foundation of a house, searching, spreading.

The Capitol resorted to expending its greatest forces to keep the rebellion at bay. And so they set off the bombs, trickling out of the hovercraft like terrifying raindrops. Napalm was scattered, tear gas was unleashed, and in a matter of days District 13 had been wiped clean off the map. Gone, smoking, ruined.

And from ruin, there comes need.

The districts, all in varying states of desolation and unrest, felt the need of a Capitol to provide them with food and security. The Capitol itself felt the need to ensure that such a horrifying act of rebellion would never happen again.

President Cornelius took to national television to make his announcement. "Good evening, Panem," he said onerously. "I have several announcements to make concerning the following days. First: your Capitol has generously decided to begin handing out grain and oil to those in need. Simply visit your district's Justice Building. Second: now that the terrible Dark Days have ended, I feel a great need for celebration. We have devised a fantastic game involving one young man and woman from each district. Next Saturday, an escort from your Capitol will visit each district with further details. Thank you for your attention, Panem. Rejoice."

Immediately, the Justice Buildings in the poor districts were overwhelmed with those in desperate need of support. Lines of peacekeepers wrote down names of the young people who had come to collect grain and oil for their families.

One of those young men was Luxor Dodge. District 1 had faced the least destruction from the Dark Days, but even so, Luxor and his family felt the cruel bite of starvation. He boarded a train that morning, rode four hours to the Justice Building of District 1, and collected so-called "tesserae" for himself, his two brothers, and his parents.

Unbeknownst to him, each tessera he collected gave him an extra entry in the deadly lottery that was the reaping. When the entire population of District 1 was gathered for the first reaping, his name was chosen. The Capitol officials told him unsettlingly little: he and a girl he knew named Cleopatra had been chosen for a televised contest. This must be the "fantastic game" the president had spoken of.

Of course, this was long before the games progressed into what they are today. There was no tribute parade, training center, or interview night to speak of. The tributes were given one night to rest in the Capitol. For twenty-three of the tributes, it would be their last.

But not for Luxor. He stayed up late that night, speaking his ideas quietly out loud so that they bounced off of the walls and organized themselves in neat rows on the ceiling. He couldn't help being extremely suspicious of the game that awaited him.

Something told him that if he knew the full details of what was to come, he wouldn't be able to catch a wink of sleep that night.

The first arena was merely a maze, if you could even call it that. The central room was only a stone's throw across, and it contained the pedestal ring that would appear in every single Hunger Games to date. Beyond the central room, a perplexing network of hallways, stairwells, and twisting tunnels stretched out seemingly to infinity. Every surface was starch white. The better to see the dark red liquid that would soon be spilled.

The nation of Panem watched with curiosity as the first twenty-four tributes rose into the bright white room. This time, however, the center of the pedestal ring was not empty. It was filled with knives, dozens of them, enough for every tribute to take several.

That was when Luxor realized.

They want us to kill each other.

The other tributes, and especially the younger ones, began to whimper with panic. He glanced at his District partner, Cleopatra. Her eyes were aglow with terror.

"May… may the odds be ever in your favor," he stammered. And so the iconic phrase was born.

Cleopatra just stared back with wild eyes.

The only two tributes who weren't terrified were Bastion and Athena from District 2. Secretly, they'd been informed of the death game prematurely, and they'd been chosen specifically because they fought loyally and violently on the Capitol's side during the Dark Days. Bastion and Athena were ready to wreak havoc, ready to shoulder the glory of victory.

Poor little Jean from 5, a twelve-year-old kid who hadn't felt full a day in his life, leaped off of his pedestal, hoping to run away into the network of hallways before anyone could grab a knife. His district partner screamed as his chunky remains were blasted against the ceiling, the deafening roar of the explosives ringing in her ears.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The horn sounded, and all hell broke loose. Within five minutes, Bastion and Athena had mortally wounded twelve tributes. Luxor stared helplessly as strings of dark red splattered against the plain white walls of the arena. Watt and Lola from 3, who were surprisingly brave fighters despite their lack of physical might, managed to fell a pair of outliers before they could run.

By the time midnight arrived, nineteen tributes were dead, seventeen of them killed by the devious pair from District 2. Bastion and Athena settled down to rest in the central room, a cornucopia of valor and victory. Luxor and Cleopatra ran like they had never run before, turning and twisting through the maze of blank white rooms. They were trying to find one another, but it was hard to keep track of their movements, and there was no way for one tribute to safety cry out the other's name without the risk of being found by more threatening company. The only other tribute was little Elsie Chappell from District 8, who was quick enough on her feet to avoid the wrath of Bastion and Athena.

Bastion never woke again, because early the next morning, Athena swiped her best knife cleanly across his throat. His snoring stopped instantly as blood gushed from the deep wound. The first ally betrayal in the Hunger Games.

Luxor was sleeping lightly when he woke to the sound of Athena's thundering footsteps. Fortunately, he was fast enough to escape before he could be heard or seen, and he almost let out a scream of shock when he saw Cleopatra barreling toward him.

"Oh, thank fuck," Luxor cried out. "I've been so lost…"

Cleopatra said nothing. She just fell to the floor, a throwing knife lodged into her back.

Luxor would have died if not for his quick reflexes. Athena leapt out of nowhere, and he kicked her straight in the groin, sending her reeling backward. Athena was well-trained and well-armed, but adrenaline ran through Luxor's veins instead of blood, and fifteen minutes later, he stood over Athena's dead body.

The boy from District 1 couldn't find it in himself to cry. That was ironic, because he always thought he would cry if he killed someone. But as he stumbled through the arena, the blood drying on his arms and legs, he realized he had never felt emptier.

Elsie Chappell committed suicide that night. Thrusted a knife into her throat because she would rather take her own life than give Bastion or Athena the satisfaction of taking it from her. If only she knew they were both dead, she might have been motivated to keep fighting for survival. But such is the cruelest irony of all.

Luxor Dodge of District 1 was the first victor of the Hunger Games. He returned home to a crowd of friends who were terrified, impressed by, or paralyzed in awe of what he had done, what he had withstood. Luxor felt like an alien, isolated from every other member of his species. Day after day, year after year, he wasted away in his fancy home, longing to feel the urge to live that he had felt before the games destroyed him.

He died just like Elsie. When the peacekeepers found him three days later, the knife was still in his hand. His plain white clothes were stained dark red forever.

Such went the first games. The nation thought they had seen it all – but much, much worse was to come. Seventy-four more years of the hellish chaos that came to be known as the Hunger Games.

List of Victors

District 1 (1 Victor): Luxor Dodge (1st)

District 2 (0 Victors):

District 3 (0 Victors):

District 4 (0 Victors):

District 5 (0 Victors):

District 6 (0 Victors):

District 7 (0 Victors):

District 8 (0 Victors):

District 9 (0 Victors):

District 10 (0 Victors):

District 11 (0 Victors):

District 12 (0 Victors):