Chapter 42: Brutus Gunn
A/N: They thought he was just another brutal Career, not very different from Freya or Draco. But there is more to him than that. Brutus was adored by everyone in District Two and widely considered to be their favourite Victor. And there is no shortage of reasons why...
P.S. So I know I've still got one heck of a long way to go, but after I finish this series, I'm thinking of writing an SYOT. Now, I know you might be thinking, hasn't he written about all the Hunger Games? Well, yeah, but I don't love all the Victors equally haha. So, I was thinking about holding a poll to see who was your least favourite Victor. I'll still keep him/her in this series, but I'll write an SYOT Alternate Universe in which you guys get to submit tributes for this particular Games and I'll think up of a new plot and we'll have a 'replacement Victor'! All the elements of Games before this one will be kept, and just to make sure it involves Careers and everyone will have mentors and all that stuff, it will be held sometime between Olive's Games and the 73rd Games So, what do you guys think? Is this a good idea? Or should I write an AU in which someone other than Katniss or Peeta wins the 74th Games? Let me know your thoughts in the reviews section or PM me for suggestions! Now, back to Brutus...
Peeta slunk into his chair, looking absolutely gutted. "I killed him."
Katniss put a hand on his shoulder. "You had to, Peeta. There was no other way."
Peeta shook his head, far from convinced by her words. "He wasn't even that bad in real life. He was actually nice. And I bet that he never actually wanted to go back into the arena, he only said so for publicity."
Katniss nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, he was pretty brave, wasn't he? Volunteering for a fellow Victor."
Peeta gazed longingly at Brutus, his eyes shimmering with tears. "He was. Just wish there could have been another way..."
Brutus Gunn
District 2
Aged 17
8 Kills
18 Reasons Why The Victors From Two Loved Brutus Gunn
1: He was an excellent entertainer
It was no secret that a love for alcohol was shared throughout the Victors' Circle. The only Victors who didn't drink beer were Reyna and Ragnar, the latter of whom had stopped his nightly bar visits after Blenda and Lyme were born. But the others regularly visited one particular tavern in District Two, one that both citizens and Peacekeepers alike often visited. The Sour Gunn was a pretty large tavern located in the heart of the District, unlike the conventional ones which were tucked away in the mountains. This one was easy to access, bright, cheerful and was run by the Gunn family, a pleasant family with arguably the strongest boy in the entire Career Academy as their son. At the young age of twelve, he was already the main bartender, even though he wasn't allowed to drink himself. His bright smile, his cheerful jokes, and of course, his beer-carrying antics left a huge impression on the Victors in particular. One time, Scipio challenged him to a contest. Whoever could carry the most beer steins would receive a hundred bucks from the other. Oh boy, what a mistake that was! Not only did Brutus beat Scipio's measly tally of twelve steins, he also set the new national record, carrying 32 steins in total and making it look all too easy. Scipio was more than happy to accept defeat, however, grinning broadly as he gave Brutus his cash. "You're a unique lad, you know," he told him. "Don't waste it in the arena." Brutus didn't want to, if he were to be completely honest. He had zero intention of risking his life. But he knew better than to argue. Nonetheless, he was still thirteen and had plenty of time to train. In the meantime, he was content with serving the Victors their beer and on one fine occasion, even managed to juggle a couple of steins filled to the brim with beer, a feat that had never been seen before in District Two. Oh and his karaoke solos were so bad, they turned out to be hilarious.
2: He demanded perfection in training
He was the outstanding Career Academy role model. Week after week, he demanded no less than perfection of himself, pushing himself to the limits to train. He stayed back and lost sleep at times just to get a few extra minutes of training. Brutus didn't just want to master one skill, though, he wanted to master everything! Of course, that wasn't possible, but he came pretty close to doing so. He excelled at the spear, it was his best weapon, which was saying a lot considering the fact that he was a beast with knives, blades and maces too. Furthermore, unlike so many in the Academy, he actually went over to learn about survival skills and watched previous Games to study Hunger Games tactics employed by past Victors, even the 'weak' ones like John and Gwen, whom he felt he could gain vast knowledge from. After all, one way or another, their tactics had worked while many others' hadn't. There was plenty to learn from these Victors, in Brutus's opinion. He never gave anything to chance, whatever it was, he told himself firmly that he had to master it before going into the arena. The Victors from Two looked at him and could almost taste his victory as he swung his spear around, easily overpowering his sparring partner.
3: He saved Blenda's life
It was a well-known fact that Blenda Sveinsson was a daredevil. Her actions more often than not had the capacity to give Reyna a heart attack. Her most famous antics were those on the bike. She was the ultimate extreme cyclist in Two, never seeming to be afraid of falling or hurting herself. Sure, she had broken a couple of bones before but hey, no pain, no gain, right? Blenda donned her helmet, grinning broadly as she cycled rapidly up the half-pipe. It was a routine trick, one she had done so many times before despite fierce protests from both of her parents. It was fun, she had told them. They couldn't stop her from having fun! The wheels started to flare up. Blenda chuckled. Oh, this was getting good! She was halfway up the half-pipe now, laughing her head off as the tires screeched against the metal, fuming dangerously as she continued to storm her way up. And then, the inevitable happened. The tires burned up and she was sent spiralling down to the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs. Worse still, she hadn't bothered to click her helmet in place, so it tumbled to the ground, leaving her vulnerable to a serious head injury. At the last moment, Blenda squeezed her eyes shut. If this was how her life was going to end, at least she had fun before her death, right? She died doing something she loved.
But she didn't die.
Thump! Blenda's eyes fluttered open. She had landed on something, but it wasn't the ground. She looked around and saw that she was sitting right on top of Brutus Gunn, groaning in pain underneath her. "Whoops!" she squeaked, her cheeks flaring up like her wheels as she hastily got up and pulled Brutus to his feet.
"You okay?" Brutus asked, wincing as he rubbed his chest.
"Yeah. Thanks, Brutus," she said, grinning shyly. She had always had a crush on Brutus, something Lyme would never shut up about for some annoying reason.
Brutus gave her a teasing smirk. He had known about her crush, he thought it was frankly rather amusing. "I'll always be there for you, Blenda," he said in a mock flirtatious voice. Blenda wished she could stop blushing right there and then. Brutus could only laugh as she ran off, scolding herself and trying desperately to stop her blushing, which continued long into the night. Brutus never told her parents about the incident, thank goodness, but Lyme and, for some bizarre reason Scipio, knew. Scipio was more than grateful that Blenda was safe. Lyme, on the other hand, mainly focused on the Brutus part. She smirked as Blenda stared at her reflection in the mirror, furiously trying to quell that ridiculously red blush.
"Oh, Blenda," she said, chuckling amusedly. "The only thing that could have sweetened the deal was if he kissed you." A shoe came flying her way after that comment.
4. He pranked Draco... and was never caught
All of the Victors from Two, with the exception of Freya, hated Draco with all their hearts, souls and minds. No one liked that he forced boys and girls to volunteer to die year after year. Julia didn't like the fact that he was anti-Nazi, but did anyone really care about her opinion? So when Brutus hatched a plan to properly piss off Draco, needless to say, they were more than happy to help out. Brutus smirked. It was going to be a brilliant form of entertainment, that was for sure!
On Brutus's seventeenth birthday, all of the male Victors, minus Ragnar, came over to his bar to celebrate. It was a special occasion, since it could well be his last birthday. Draco had declared him to be the male volunteer for the Forty-second annual Hunger Games, a special 'honour' in District Two that was a cause for celebration. Lyme had forced Blenda to come, dragging her all the way to the tavern to meet Brutus. Lyme had been in on the plan, since she was a close friend of Brutus, but Lyme had insisted that Blenda be kept in the dark. She wanted it to be a surprise. Draco sat closest to the tavern stage, grinning as Brutus sang a karaoke solo. It was horrible, but it was hilarious. Draco took a big gulp of his beer. Brutus was going to be the perfect tribute! He was so caught up in the atmosphere that he barely noticed a slight churning in his stomach. As Brutus sang one final, high note, Draco raised his stein with glee. "Good one, B-" He stopped himself short. Everyone in the room turned to gaze at him, trying their hardest to suppress a smile. His voice had become squeaky! "What the heeeck?" He clamped a hand over his mouth as the word 'heck' came out in a high-pitched singsong voice. This time, no one could contain themselves. Everyone burst into peals of laughter, guffawing at the now humiliated Victor. Brutus himself was rolling on the floor, nearly splitting his sides laughing. Draco howled, no, sang, with rage as he bounded out of the tavern, filled with absolute rage. But he never suspected Brutus. He thought that it had for sure been Scipio or Hercules. But there was no evidence whatsoever.
5: He wasn't happy when he was asked to volunteer... but he didn't argue either
This was good for all the Victors. Draco wanted a good, willing volunteer, someone who would bravely fly the flag for District Two and compete in the Hunger Games. The minute Draco barged into the tavern a week before the Reaping, Brutus was already there to greet him. Draco smiled, still unaware that Brutus had masterminded the prank only a couple of months ago. When Draco broke the news, a faint scowl appeared on Brutus's face, taking Draco aback a little. He had thought that Brutus would be grinning from ear to ear at this newfound opportunity. But Brutus didn't fight back either. He simply shrugged and said, "OK, sure, I'll win this, no problem." Draco left the tavern feeling relatively satisfied. He was going to have a Victor!
The other Victors were glad Brutus didn't turn out all patriotic and power-hungry like Draco and Freya. His slight scowl when he was told to volunteer was evidence of that. Most of them were just relieved they had a sensible tribute for once, although, let's face it, literally anyone was better than Julia.
6: He shut the escort up
No matter how pro-Capitol you were, it was impossible not to hate Cupid Templesmith. The arrogant, pink-haired chatterbox was the definition of a pain in the arse. He never quite seemed to shut up about how he would single-handedly win the Games (utterly false, he would soil his pants the minute he got Reaped) and how he had seduced a ton of girls (wrong on so many levels) and how he was the future successor to President Snow (no idea where he got that from, maybe a hallucination?). Cupid also wasn't one to shy away from a party. Far too many times he had stepped into the Tribute Centre drunk and tagging along a couple of women he had met at the nightclub, pretty inappropriate considering the setting. Come on, it was a building with twenty-four freaking children. That kind of behaviour was just so horribly wrong. Even Draco disliked him and had asked his buddy Snow to demote him to District Twelve with immediate effect. Snow accepted the plan to demote Cupid, but could only do so at the end of the Victory Tour, which meant that if Two won, they were essentially stuck with this pink flamingo for the next six, torturous months. How cheerful. Nothing seemed to able to shut him up. Not Draco's empty threats, not Freya's insufferable rants, not Julia's hate speeches, not even the girl from last year, Scathach, throwing a teapot straight at his head. But Brutus somehow managed to. No one knew exactly how he had managed to pull off such an incredible feat. All they knew was that Brutus had pulled Cupid into his room and slammed the door shut. Ten minutes later, Cupid came out, his eyes sunken and not even a hint of a word escaping his big, fat mouth. The Victors simply stared at Brutus, who had a proud gleam in his eye as he watched Cupid scamper to his room, his tail between his legs. "How..." Ragnar muttered. Brutus didn't reply. He merely gave them a coy smile and went back into his room to analyse the Reaping recaps again.
7: He shut Julia up
Ah, yes. Julia Dawson, District Two's latest and arguably worst Victor. The Nazi girl was still crazy as ever, even after several years of being in the Victors' Circle. She had only ever been a mentor once, it was compulsory for all Victors to take on the mentoring role the year after they won the Games. But even then, she was only the de jure mentor. The de facto mentor was Ragnar, who didn't allow Julia to even speak to Aqualtune, much less implant any Nazi ideologies in her head. Since then, Julia was nowhere near the mentoring position. Nonetheless, she never ceased to try to spread her propaganda to the tributes. Brutus and his District partner June were no exceptions. They were subjected to a whole bunch of speeches about the Dawson Wehrmacht and the Aryan race and blah, blah, blah. Hardly the ideal build-up to a gruesome deathmatch. Brutus clearly was having none of it. Again, as he did with Cupid, he invited Julia over to his room and for a brief moment, it seemed as though he actually wanted to listen to her. Julia gladly obliged, grinning broadly as she closed the door. Seconds later loud shouts of rage could be heard from inside the room, followed by a worrying string of loud banging. Ragnar and Hercules were just about to barge in and intervene when just then, Julia stormed out, steam practically billowing out of her ears. Brutus came out next, his face slightly bruised, but he didn't seem to care. He just smiled smugly, watching Julia go away. She wouldn't speak again until the end of the Games, a tremendous relief for all the Victors who were by then starting to lose their sanity just by listening to her talk.
8: He rode his horse during the Parade
That one act that Ringo joked almost made him file a copyright infringement lawsuit. It was straight out of District Ten's playbook, really. No one expected him to be able to even ride a horse. He was from Two, you couldn't exactly build a ranch up in the mountains. But they did have donkeys. Plus, Brutus was a super fast learner and so was June. They both got to grips with their horses and the next thing everyone in Panem knew, they were riding out towards Snow's mansion in style, dressed as cavalry, as the entire crowd of Capitolians screeched with excitement. The remainder of the tributes, the Ones and Fours, in particular, were left seething in envy as they looked down on their own hideous costumes with contempt. Draco was roaring with excitement, hollering with glee as he watched his two strong tributes steal the show. It was District Two for the win!
9: He got an eleven in training
It was always inevitable, to be fair. Brutus had already proven during the training sessions that he was an undeniably powerful tribute, one who had his eyes firmly on the prize. He tormented the other tributes, although, secretly, he would come back and comfort the ones who truly broke down and were on the verge of giving up. His spear-throwing skills had never left him, certainly not when he needed it the most. The only weakness Brutus seemed to have was that he wasn't very fast or agile, but did that really matter when he could fight smart? That was it. The difference between Brutus and the other Career tributes from Two. He fought smart. And that was his ultimate secret to victory. During the private sessions, this was pretty evident. He wasn't all about power and terror. He was smart too. He showed the Gamemakers a specific set of skills he had routinely practised in the Training Centre, these skills being carefully selected and planned out thoroughly before the sessions. And that was what gave him his eleven, much to the delight of all the Victors from Two, who were keen to see this new powerhouse take home the crown.
10: He bossed the interviews
It felt as though Caesar had been around since antiquity, but in reality, he was only twenty-two, even younger than Iris, Birch and Luxe. The young man was still full of bubbly, positive energy as he emerged on stage, soaking up the crowd's applause. In reality, though, deep inside, he felt empty, lacking the youthful energy that he had once possessed. The Games had taken a toll on him too. He had been forced to interact with and get to know so many innocent young children only a day before they were sent to be slaughtered like pigs on a farm. Not to mention, he had witnessed the effects of the Games on the Victors. The concept of the VPR was not foreign to him, he had known ever since he was a young child that his mother was a teenage Switch Kim. He had witnessed the Capitol attempt to erase Rafael's memory, only for him to bring home a Victor himself, even though the said Victor was horribly shaken. Those moments of his life would always stick to him, reminding him of how precious every second of his life was, how lucky he was to be a Capitolian in a world like Panem, a dark, horrific dystopia he had been plunged into courtesy of his chats with the Victors. Caesar just wanted some peace and tranquillity in his life. That wasn't going to happen, so he hoped that at least one tribute would be able to truly make him smile. Most of the time, he had to force a smile, not that he struggled too much with it. They were either overly arrogant or crying bucketfuls of tears or just plain boring. But Brutus did not fit into any of those three categories. No, he was simply a joy to interview! And the Victors from Two were happy too. They all roared with laughter at the exchange of jokes and witty experiences between Caesar and Brutus, including that Blenda incident at the half-pipe. Ragnar and Reyna were more than grateful that they had been informed, and promptly contacted Blenda to let her know that she was grounded for a month. Caesar was happy, Brutus was happy, the Victors were happy, now all that was left was to make the Districts happy, something that he would unfortunately be denied the opportunity to see in his lifetime, thanks to the baker boy from Twelve.
11: He showed no signs of fear on the night before the Games
Everyone was scared before entering the arena. Even the Careers were often terrified at night, unable to sleep well as they thought about their lives potentially ending in the next few days. When the cameras were rolling they would act all tough and fearless but when the lights were off and no one was watching, some of them would even cry themselves to sleep. The Victors from Two found this to be a huge problem, since they had to hide these tears from Draco and Freya, since those two unreasonable thugs would beat the life out of them should they fail to display the spirit of a Career tribute. They had to think hard and long how they would quickly and quietly comfort the tributes, without Draco and Freya knowing. But this problem didn't emerge with Brutus. He slept easily, without a single shred of a tear forming in his strong, determined eyes. Even when June began to sniffle a little, he remained calm, choosing to go over and invite her to the roof to soothe her nerves. It was a huge sigh of relief for everyone, knowing that Brutus was still cool as ever. In reality, though, his heart was beating rapidly as his mind raced on about his potential demise at the hands of some witty Outlier. He certainly was not immune to the sheer terror of the arena!
12: He did well in the Bloodbath
This year's arena was no less beautiful than last year's. Which meant that it was no less dangerous. From Brutus's pedestal, he could see vast swathes of bamboo forests, with dirt tracks leading in all directions. The bamboo trees were unlike anything the tributes had ever seen before. Their lush, thin, green branches stood tall in the light, gentle breeze, swaying lightly like green forest nymphs dancing in the cool air, which carried a distinctly fragrant aroma, easily soothing the nerves of the younger tributes. Brutus however, raised a sceptical eyebrow, eyeing this lush beauty with contempt. The gong rang and the Victors watched intently as Brutus dashes into the Cornucopia, grabbing his favourite spear that was propped up against the silver inner walls. He spun around, charging straight towards the large boy from Seven, the hulking lumberjack reaching for his preferred axe on the dirt ground, positioned between a large backpack and a coil of rope. The lumberjack looked up, swinging his axe at Brutus's head but the boy from Two dodged with ease, taking his chance to jab at the boy, who managed to slide to the side at the last second but he lost his footing in the process. Brutus thrust his spear forward, impaling the boy's heart. In the mentoring room, Olive buried her face in her hands, sobbing uncontrollably as Draco roared and cheered. Brutus pulled his spear out and went for the boy from Three next. The boy had been injured by the girl from Five, who had sliced his leg earlier on during a scuffle for a backpack. To the relief of the Victors from Two, Brutus made it quick. One quick stab with his spear and Beetee was out of the mentoring room, shaking his head sadly. Finally, to cap off a dominant Bloodbath showing, he marched towards the trembling girl from Twelve and stabbed her with his spear calmly. The Victors from Two, minus Draco and Freya, reeled back at the sight of blood, but at least Brutus wasn't a brutal torturer like so many others had been.
13: He hunted down the tributes... but didn't torture them
In total, the Careers managed to hunt down five tributes in the bamboo forest during the first three days. Despite the brutal bloodlust of the Ones and June, Brutus knew better than to pay them much attention. Every time he hunted down a tribute, he would always ensure their deaths were quick and easy, nothing flashy or torturous. The only complication was that girl from Five. She sprinted around the bamboo trees, pummelling them with stones as she ran. She just wouldn't be still! Even as Brutus pinned her leg down with his spear, she would not stop squirming about, making a quick and easy kill pretty damn difficult. He jabbed around, trying to hit her heart, but with all that squirming, he ended up stabbing her arm, stomach and thigh before he could finally impale her neck, at long last killing her. Draco and Freya were grinning from ear to ear, happy that Brutus was getting so many kills, proving his worth as a Career. The others, minus Julia, were simply grateful that he had a heart.
14: He saved June from a falling bamboo tree
June had a reputation for losing focus at times. She was not the most alert tribute around. Her main strengths came about with her muscular build and combat experience, as her parents and brothers were all Peacekeepers. On the sixth day, as the Careers rested, she leaned on a bamboo tree, next to another one with a particularly big trunk. Her eyes drifted off to sleep as she lay on the gentle, swaying bed of grass, a perfect place for her to get some sleep for the first time in more than twenty-four hours. She lay there, failing to notice the trunk of that thick tree slowly but surely leaning towards her, about to fall and crush her skull. But Brutus saw it. At the last second, as the trunk snapped and plummeted towards her sleeping body, he dived towards her and knocked her away. She screamed, immediately kicking his chest and reaching for her knife but stopped just short when she saw the bamboo tree on the ground, right where she had slept just a mere second ago. The Victors heaved a sigh of relief as June awkwardly thanked Brutus. Their hopes of a Victor from Two were being kept alive.
15: He stopped Silk and Nautica from killing each other
Careers being forced to work together for prolonged periods of time in a deadly arena. The perfect recipe for trouble. No one ever knew when someone was going to pull off an Onyx or a Scathach or an Iris. Tensions had a tendency to run high amongst the pack, threatening the safety of everyone involved. One such incident was when Nautica accidentally pushed Silk when she was sleeping. The alarm bells rang loud and clear inside Silk's head and she jumped to her feet, dagger in hand, ready to strike at Nautica. Nautica, on the other hand, felt that Silk had pushed her instead and she hopped up with her harpoon, glaring a little sleepily at Silk. Brutus was on guard with his spear. The girls had alarmed him and he had almost hurled his weapon but he managed to stop himself just in time before there was any damage. Silk grabbed Nautica's wrist and raised her dagger but Nautica managed to kick Silk in the shin, causing her to release her grip. Nautica swung her harpoon. Silk ducked just in the nick of time. Brutus charged forward and pushed the girls apart. In their sleep-deprived, ravaged states, all they could see was a big block of an obstacle, one they had to strike down. They lunged at Brutus but he dodged and knocked Silk aside before Nautica's flying harpoon could hit her. "Guys!" he roared, pushing Nautica to the ground and snapping his fingers. The girls struggled and groaned but he and June grabbed their wrists and held them apart. Eventually, they came back to their senses and, very begrudgingly, with a lot of prompting from Brutus, apologised, although their apologies could hardly be described as sincere. Well, at least they had stopped fighting for now. The Victors from Two were grateful for that.
16: He looked totally badass fighting off a bunch of panda mutts
Ah, pandas. There were only six in the whole of Panem, looked up in a mutt zoo and passed off as failed bear mutts. The kids found them cute so they were regularly genetically created these pandas. But no one knew that they did not start off as Capitolian mutts. And certainly no one knew about their original homeland of China. For this year's Games, the Gamemakers decided to modify these cuddly creatures and toss them into the arena, because hey, it was a bamboo forest. What would a bamboo forest be without some pandas? The Careers ran into them on the ninth day, as they were hunting down the other tributes. From a distance, they seemed slow and gentle, and Brutus just shrugged and trudged forward, hardly expecting much of a fight. The Careers followed him, they themselves dismissing the possibility of these pandas as a threat. Until they began to attack them. It happened in a blur of motion, stunning the entire nation. One moment the pandas were munching happily on some bamboo and the next thing they knew Waverton from Four was gone, chowed down as a panda mutt snack. Nautica screamed, flailing her harpoon around as the pandas began to attack her too. June tried to save her, but it was too late. The mutts bit her chest, impaling her heart. Boom. The cannon sounded and the battle raged on. Brutus wasn't too bothered, though. He was as calm and level-headed as usual. He charged at the oncoming surge of panda mutts with his spear, spinning it around with immense expertise. He jabbed and spun about on his feet and to all the viewers across Panem, it almost seemed as though he was doing some sort of war dance. Caesar joked that if Brutus won, he should perform that dance alongside Gadget. Gadget later slapped Caesar for that comment since she was eventually pressurised into doing just that but that was much later. Brutus struck the final panda mutt with his spear and grinned, flexing his muscles to an impressed Silk. The Victors from Two gazed on with looks of sheer amazement. No one had ever displayed such fantastic skill, such amazing flamboyance with a spear. And yet there they were, witnessing Brutus take down the panda mutts all by himself. It was simply breathtaking.
17: He didn't risk his life to save Valour
Valour Ashton, the male tribute from District One, was yet another insufferable, arrogant little prick. But what made him especially annoying was that at times, he seemed to enjoy listening to Julia, even going so far as to express his desire to join the Dawson Werhmacht if he won. Julia, despite her usual loyalty to Two, was more than delighted by their shared beliefs. Brutus and the Victors from Two absolutely hated him. Every morning, he would make some scathing remark about the other tributes of different skin colours. Brutus could barely contain his frustration at having to wake up to a slew of hate speeches every single day in the arena, a place where the mind was already grinded out and utterly ruined. So on the eleventh day, when everyone was practically dragging their feet across the forest, a good old fashioned earthquake was exactly what they needed to lift their spirits, am I right? The Careers scrambled off, tugging their supplies along as they rushed to escape the rapidly expanding crevice on the ground, swallowing up dirt and bamboo trees along the way. Valour was the slowest of them all. He lugged along the biggest backpack and dragged along a heavy cutlass, screaming and howling as he struggled to keep up with the other Careers. The ground crumbled underneath him and he screamed as he fell. At the last second, he managed to grab hold of the edge of the crumbling ground with his left hand, crying as all his supplies and his cutlass disappeared into the earth. Brutus turned around. Valour cried for help, begging for mercy. Brutus, however, gave him none of such mercy. He ran off, leaving Valour to fall to his earthly death, swallowed up by the Mother Earth he had so disgraced. It was sort of a cheap thrill for some of the Victors from Two, watching this Nazi boy die, although Julia was simply outraged that Brutus hadn't helped Valour. Freya told her to shut up.
18: He wasn't too happy about killing June in the final battle
Having two kids from the same District in the final battle was both a boon and a bane. On the one hand, it ensured that your District had a Victor and therefore extra supplies to last the winter. On the other hand, one kid from your District more often than not had to kill the other, an act widely considered to be taboo across Panem. Brutus and June were faced with that situation, both kids making it into the final two. Brutus had his spear ready while June had her daggers. They encircled one another, narrowing their eyes but unwilling to approach, afraid of the repercussions they would face should they even dare to make the first move. It took hours of intense waiting, a seeming eternity of standoff drama as both tributes weighed their options. Then one of them made their move. June was that kid. Her eyes were wild and desperate, desperate to win and come home after sixteen days in the arena. Desperate to just get this over with. But her desperation led to her downfall. She was so wild, so inexplicably insane, she could not focus at all and stumbled forward with her daggers. It was all too easy for Brutus to take her down. The Capitolians were expecting a long, drawn-out kill. They were sadly disappointed. Brutus gave her a regretful look before he finished her off with a quick throat slit. The Victors from Two watched with grave looks. At least he had some respect for his former ally.
Katniss and Peeta had their moment of silence for the misunderstood Victor from Two. "He was really brave," Peeta muttered. "Volunteering for Hercules."
Katniss nodded. "He just wanted to go home. I doubt he actually wanted to kill Laurel, Woof and Chaff."
"I hate myself for killing him," Peeta lamented quietly.
Katniss gave him a quick kiss. "Once again, it's not your fault, Peeta."
Peeta gave her an unconvincing nod, then it was time to move on. He flipped the page, revealing the next Victor, a girl of medium height with flaming red hair in wild curls that covered much of her forehead. Sparkling green eyes stared icily at the crowds below, watching, analysing them carefully. She was fairly scrawny but had a determined look about her. "Mare Trybull."
VICTORS
District 1-Sapphire Huntington(4), Onyx Hibonite(9), Franc Montgomery(14), Crystal Montgomery(21), Sterling Jones(25), Luxe Carmichael(36), Geneva Cooper(37)
District 2-Ragnar Sveinsson(5), Reyna Boudicca(6), Draco Hadley(10), Scipio MacAllister(17), Freya Carson(22), Hercules Nichols(28), Julia Dawson(39), Brutus Gunn(42)
District 3-Nikola Johnson(13), Gadget Schroeder(24), Beetee Latier(40)
District 4-Marina Bluebell(1), Mags Flanagan(11), Jolien Fisher(31), Timmy Fisher(32), Iris Fisher(33), Rafael Fisher(34), Coral Thiller(41)
District 5-Shocker Crimson(8), Switch Kim(19), Flash Morrison(27), Porter Tripp(38)
District 6-Ford Hamilton(20)
District 7-Hassan Greenwood(2), Jill Wilson(15), Olive Sanchez(26), Birch Davison(35)
District 8-Woof Casino(16)
District 9-Gwendolyn Whitfield(18), Laurel Flamsteel(29)
District 10-Ringo Alvarez(7), John Gatwick(23)
District 11-Orchid Bloom(12), Seeder Crue(30)
District 12-Axel Millar(3)
A/N: Hi so there we go, Brutus! He's definitely one I really feel bad for haha, he never seems to get any love so here he is, portrayed as an actually likeable guy! Hope you enjoyed this since my exams are coming soon so the updates might slow down a little :( Yeah this whole Victors thing is really hard after the first forty lol, ideas come at a huge premium hehe. So, with that being said, please review and pm me your ideas haha, I'm starting to run out of them. Oh, and by the way, go to cartierscrown's profile and check out the art that I made of his tributes! I spent some time on those digital drawings too and I reckon they're worth a look. With that being said, pls review and tell me what you think of Brutus and I'll see you guys soon! Cheers:)