The Guardian Games: The Wrath of Five
Prologue: Reawakening
THIS IS SEQUEL TO THE GUARDIANS GAMES: THE ODDS OF FIVE.
WARNING: I'm not going to stop you from reading this without the first story, but it should be noted that this story will have huge spoilers to the first part and in full honesty, the first part would probably beat this edition. Oh yeah, if you read this without reading the first story, you probably won't understand some of the things that happen.
WARNING AGAIN: IF YOU HAVE READ THE GUARDIANS GAMES: THE ODDS OF FIVE, PLEASE MAKE SURE THAT YOU'VE READ 'THE SECRET CHAPTER'. This chapter is absolutely essential to this story, so you must read it first! If you don't know what I'm talking about, go back to THE ODDS OF FIVE and read through the last post very, very carefully until you find it. IT'S A MUST!
If you have read The ODDS OF FIVE and 'THE SECRET CHAPTER', then feel free to proceed.
The world had been in a great state of disorder. The country once known as America suffered many a catastrophic event – earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes, blizzards. People were afraid, aimless and wandering. Without laws to hold society in check, the fear turned to violence, and violence to suffering. The innocent were trampled under the boots of the wicked, fires burnt people in their homes and there was no sound sleep to be had by the weeping children. In a world so divided, so confused and so distraught, only one man could unite the people to together. On these crumbling stones, he founded a new city – a city, he said, where all could eat and drink freely. This vision of a nation he called 'Panem', for it would be the bread of life. This vision came to be, and he was its first President.
With his faithful band of comrades, he gave new hope to the hopeless, teaching them to fend for themselves and providing them with homes. A system of sharing was established to increase the efficiency of growth for all. So each of the thirteen districts was assigned with a specific economic focus, giving them room to gain expertise in that area.
District 1 produced the aesthetic products - beautiful things that would enrich our lives. District 2 worked with stone, from which our buildings could be made. District 3 pushed the frontiers of science, creating the technology to better our lives. District 4 brought to tables the bounty of the sea. District 5 worked with power plants, generating the energy for all to share. District 6 created vehicles and roads all over our great nation. District 7 worked with lumber, giving wood to keep our home warm. District 8 specialized in textiles, clothing our people. District 9 gave us the grain for our daily bread. District 10 reared livestocks, adding the much needed flavor into meals. District 11 grew many bountiful orchards, bringing to us sweet fruit and vegetables. District 12 mined hard day and knight for coal needed to fuel the machines we used. District 13 worked with graphite, granting us the ability to make many useful tools.
The Capitol was built to be the ruling home of the President and his comrades and it became the Horn of Plenty from which riches flowed, bringing peace and prosperity to the districts.
In time, however, the President grew old and sick. Before he passed away, he gathered together his closest council – four great men that he had taken under his charge. Amongst them, he divided the districts, trusting that united they would work together, bringing Panem further than he could have ever done.
Little did he know that among the four, one of them had grown too prideful and ambitious. He resented his brothers and felt that he was more worthy of leadership compared to the rest of them. After the President had passed on, this vicious tyrant declared himself the sole successor, demanding that the others submit to him. They refused, naturally, for they were far-sighted and wise. Such a move would lead to more destruction than peace, so they tried to reason with him. But his lust for power and his arrogance in his strength created a schism between the brothers, leading to the terrible time known as the Great War.
The usurper led the Districts loyal to him against the Capitol, mustering an army of his own to match the Peacekeepers. They stirred up conflict in every District they invaded, spreading uneasiness and distrust amongst the people. Some spoke valiantly against these lies about the Capitol and they suffered at the hands of the rebels for their loyalty. Even the three remaining brothers found quarrel with one another, dissolving the united front they had put up initially and undoing the work of Panem's founders.
The war only came to an end when the rebellion stronghold, District 13, was destroyed with chemical bombs sent by our brave soldiers. No rebel survived the blast, and even any who dared to linger near the district soon die with radiation sickness. District 13 became the barren district and serves till today as a reminder of those days.
Peace returned to Panem, but at great cost. With no desire for the war to ever occur again, the only surviving of the four brothers took it upon himself to rebuild the nation once more. It was for the love of his nation that he passed stringent laws and harsh punishments, so that the Districts would never again betray the Capitol.
Since then, the sovereignty of our nation has never been threatened by any form of insurgence. For The Hunger Games, merciful reminder that the Capitol has granted us, taught our children and our children's children the price of the rebellion. Never again will we face such horrors as long as we obey, as loyal subjects should.
Panem Today. Panem Tomorrow. Panem Forever.
There were faces in the dark; gleaming white outlines of twisted grins and bloodied teeth. There were haughty sneers and cruel snides. There was fire surrounding him, its flames gleefully dancing to the thudding of his heart, eating into his bones. He remembered a searing blaze running up one of his legs, chewing deep into the flesh. His lips parted to scream, but he could make no sound. He remembered that he would crane his neck up, watching an emotionless face glare down. He remembered a surge of fear striking his chest and a horrific screech blaring in his ear drums.
And he woke up, shaking like a leaf.
His arms felt stiff, frozen even, and rolling them back into natural mobility was done with much difficulty. He subconsciously noted that there were thin, wire-like tubes strapped to him, though he had no idea what they were for. Parting his eyelids were more difficult then he imagine, for it seemed as if he hadn't done the action for ages. He lifted his fingers towards his face, navigating his hand through the tubes as he did. After scratching the accumulated grime between the lids, he was finally able to open his eyes fully, and closed them almost instantly to protect his pupils from the white glare.
Hiccup – for he just remembered that he did possess such a ridiculous name – dared to let out a peep, grimacing as the light bit into his corneas. But with time and careful experimenting, the sting lessened. The flare of white now turned to a mere glow of white and he could make out the rows of boxes that decorated the wall.
Correction, ceiling. He was lying down on a bed, so he staring at the ceiling.
Three distinct problems that began to bother Hiccup right now, churning within the insides of his stomach like three-week old yak gravy. One, he didn't remember falling asleep; two, this wasn't District 2.
The third one escaped him for some reason.
Gingerly, he tried pushing himself off the bed, only to fall flat back. His arms were still weak and shaky, and his spinal cord wasn't exactly cooperating at the moment. Sucking in a breath, he attempted this feat again, only to let out a yelp of despair as he flopped down on the mattress once again. For some reason, he felt a jab of pain running up his left leg as he did that, making him cry out through clenched teeth.
Immediately after that, Hiccup noted that he was not the only source of noise in the room. Indeed, there was this strange hissing sound coming from the right side of his bed. He shifted his body towards it, craning his neck that way to peer through the white rails. Out of nowhere, he realized that a balloon was inflating right before his eyes, made of a yellowish white rubber that almost camouflaged it into the white walls of the room. As the balloon grew larger in size, swelling to the height of a human at least, Hiccup noted his mistake. This was no balloon at all, but a balloon-like robot. Its body was like a giant marshmallow, with each of limbs rounded and smooth. Its head was like a flattened piece of dough set on top of the balloon body, and all of that it had as a face was a pair of dots joined by a single black line. These two dots blinked at him, making him gawk in bewilderment.
The robot blinked at him once more, then shifted itself forward, nearer his bed. It craned its neck down towards him, then raised one of his inflated arms, revealing a remarkable set of balloon-like fingers. With palm, it drew an invisible circle in th air and mouthless robot greeted him, "Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion."
Hiccup raised a hand to his face, rubbing his eyes quickly, hoping to awaken himself from this bizzare dream. But no matter how many times he did this, the black circular eyes continued to stare down at him.
"I was alerted by a sound of distress," Baymax continued its politely monotone voice. "What seems to be the problem?"
Swallowing, Hiccup debated internally whether he should answer the question or whether he should keep silent and hope it'll go away. But staring didn't seem to go anywhere, so he wheezed out, "I-"
He coughed. His throat felt as if it had closed in on itself. He coughed again, his ribs jerking up sharply and that strange sensation on his leg being magnified along with it.
Then he realized what had been bothering him all along.
With a sudden burst of strength, Hiccup pushed himself off the sheet. He barely managed to keep himself from falling back this time, but he purposely leaned himself forward. He could see the needles stuck into his wrists and elbows, and a catheter hooked to the railing. While these usually would gross him out, he was too caught up in finding out something else. Grabbing hold of the blankets, he yanked them aside, feeling a rush of cold spilling over his lower limbs as he did.
Correction. Lower limb.
Under the flimsy blue fabric that just protected his modesty, one end of the pants abruptly ended where the left limb also did – just below the knee joint.
The first attack was disbelief. It couldn't be true. It had to be some terrible dream. But as he ran his hands down the dismembered limb, he knew that it was undoubtedly through. The limb had a stub at its end now, healed and sealed with a layer of healthy skin, but it didn't change the fact that his number toes and ankles had been abruptly halved.
The second attack was panic. Hiccup didn't know when his breath rate had accelerated, or when his vision started going haywire, or why his ribs hurt so much, but these did in did happen and he had no idea if he should throw up or scream.
"Your heart rate has accelerated rapidly. Please take slow and controlled breaths," the robot advised in a completely calm manner.
He didn't pay attention. Why should he? He had lost a leg - well, technically, it's just a calf. But the problem was that he had lost a calf. An entire part of his body.
Forever.
"On a scale of one to ten, how do you rate your pain?"
He didn't answer. In a matter of fact, he didn't care about the dronings of the robot, for something just as alarming as a missing limb had just occurred to him.
"Toothless," he was barely able to gasp. He scanned around him, but the blank walls provided no answers. Well, except for that part of the wall which actually had a door. In his hurry to find the black reptile, he propped himself up on the bed, kneeling to crawl of the bed but forgetting his impairment till the last moment. By that time, it was too late. He had already tumbled onto the floor, the wires jabbed under his flesh biting him as a punishment. As he lay on the ground, groaning at his trademark clumsiness and ignorance, he noted that squeaking steps where shuffling their way towards him.
The balloonish robot stopped itself in front of him, cocking its head to a side. Blinking, it informed him casually, "You have fallen."
Hiccup peered up at the 'healthcare companion'. Filled with nothing but sheer incredulity, he answered through a cracked voice, "Thank you for summing that up."
"On a scale of one to ten, how do you rate your pain?"
"Zer-" he winced as he untangled himself from the wire, accidentally yanking out a couple of them as he did. Just as he was about to shove himself to back to his feet – foot, he felt something scooping him up, one supporting his back and the other hook under his legs. Before he could yelp in shock, he found himself nestled in the surprising strong arms of the marshmallow-like robot.
"It is okay to cry," Baymax assured him. "Crying is a natural response to pain."
"Pain?" The harsh laughter was tearing into his throat. Fumbling, he slipped himself out of the robot's hold, managing by pure luck to land on his good leg. Before he could chance another tumble, he grabbed hold of the bed railings, steadying himself. "I'm not in pain." It was lie, but he couldn't really feel bad about lying to a robot.
Gulping down whatever saliva he could manage, he turned to the robot, asking, "Where's Toothless?" Then pausing a moment in thought, he added, "Where am I?"
"Well, that's one question I can answer." That wasn't the Baymax's voice.
Hiccup spun himself around – and almost stumbled again when he did it too quickly. Somehow in the mess of everything, he hadn't heard the door slide open. He did catch a 'click-and-whirr' as the wheelchair rolled forward, passing through the doorway and stopping just inches before the bed. Hiccup felt something incredibly familiar about the boy seated before him, his wiry arms rested on the sides of the chair. As of now, he couldn't place his name, but the tightening of his chest told him that this lad, who looked just barely his age, was the one responsible for his missing foot.
"Welcome to District 13, Hiccup. You've been here for the last six months," the boy in the wheelchair told him. Giving him a critical look, he added, "You look awful, by the way."
S/N: If you need any hints on who the boy in the wheelchair is…well, then you're hopeless.
Honestly, after what I pulled in 'The Secret Chapter', this shouldn't be a surprise. In a matter of fact, if you read the last bit of the 'Epilogue: Cassiopeia' in The Odds of Five, you would realize that in Elinor's message, she was told that all FIVE survived and she comes to the conclusion that Merida survived (if Calhourn was included in the count – which she wasn't – Elinor wouldn't have come to this conclusion).
FIVE. Not FOUR. That should told you enough.
And that, folks, is how you kill everyone without killing everyone. I cheat a lot. I know. The line to kill me starts after (**peers over computer**) the tissue box down there. Yep.
'How he did it' will be revealed like somewhere in Chapter 2, but now for the next chapter (which is Chapter 1).
Up Next: Where we find out what happened during the last 6 months, but not in District 13.
And here's an alternative summary for this story. I couldn't post it on the page because it might be a spoiler:
The archer seeking justice; The cripple who trains mutts; The ice-powered mutant with heavy emotional baggage; The genius seeking peace, or vengeance: and the 'Bad boy' with too much muscle and too little purpose. Presumed dead, they must become symbols of the rebellion. They're broken, but they're our only hope.
Yup, that's a wrap.
A/N: Greetings all! Welcome to the sequel! I'm pretty excited for this. I think.
YES! I'M SUPER EXCITED. No, I'm kidding. I'm just...sorta excited? Ish?
Blame 'More Than A Bird'. It's been eating my brains for the last month. That and my job.
I'll try to update at least once a fortnight around weekends. My beta's still MIA, so it's just me doing the checking. I'll do my best to fix up whatever I can.
Review. Critique. Ask Questions.