Romeo Auto, District Six male (18)

The thing about poison and all that weird voodoo... you have to get to it. My fists, they're attached right to my body. As were my legs, which were much longer than Marley's.

She didn't seem to notice me as I ran toward her, aiming to intersect her path to the Cornucopia. It wasn't hard to catch up to her, since I was more than a foot taller than she was. Dahlia provided some assistance by chucking a rock at her. It didn't hit, but it splashed into the mud in front of her, sending up a brown spray and startling her. She pulled back and that was when I hit her.

My breath jarred with the force of my shoulder hitting Marley's back. She sprawled forward face-first into the mud. Warm water seeped into my pants and shoes as I pulled my foot back. I kicked her in the side of her head and her head snapped limply back. Her hand fluttered as she tried to push herself up. Dahlia reached us and crouched on her back as I kicked again. We could have drowned her but it was quicker to just keep kicking until I could see her brains in the water.

I smiled down at Dahlia. Teamwork makes the dream work.

Marley Astero, District Two female (17)

I'd never been dead before. That was going to be an awfully big adventure.

Theta Faraday, District Three female (17)

I could make it. If I just nipped into the cornucopia and grabbed some tablets and maybe some extra socks, I could be out of here and on my way. I kept an eye on the Careers as I ran toward the supplies. Most likely they'd be focusing on the bigger targets anyway. They didn't know how much of a threat I was.

I grabbed a first aid kit and turned to get out of there. As I was about to reach the platforms, I noticed Elias was running near me. Just as I looked over, he looked back at me. In an instant I saw numbers running in his head. He pivoted slightly to bring his path right across mine. I didn't want to ally with hi, but if that was what he had in mind I'd wait until after the bloodbath to tell him.

Elias grabbed my arm and yanked me off-balance. As I fell, my shoulder wrenching from the angle, he took hold of my hair and shoved me down. My head slammed into the edge of the platform I was running next to. The impact stunned me and immediately I was blinded with blood. I thrashed, sending mud up all around me, as I tried to get to my knees and push up from under his grasp. He yanked me back and shoved me back at the platform. Something told me I wasn't going to survive the next impact. I'm being murdered, I thought, right before it happened.

Majesty Miraval, District One male (18)

It really wasn't as fun killing people when it wasn't illegal. That wouldn't stop me, though.

The girl's hair shimmered as she ran. Or maybe I was just crazy. Both, maybe.

I didn't want it to be shimmery. Hair should be red. Red, wet. Warm, sticky. Blood, maybe? Yes, that's blood I'm talking about. Hair should be blood.

A soul shimmering. Shimmering where "girl". Charm? Somewhere. I like when they run. Can't run from me I'm the gingerbread man.

The hair was blood. Ha ha ha I loved it. Made me SMILE. She wasn't smiling. So much red hair all around her head like a halo in the water.

I looked up and into Isabella's shimmering machete.

Sky Larch, District Twelve female (17)

Something blocked out the light above me. I tried to bring up an arm to wave it away but I felt fingers gripping my hand. Through the blood covering my face I got a glimpse of Mike bent over me, sobbing.

"I got her!" he yelled, high and thin. "Keep going!" a shadow shifted and someone was running away from us. My head fell to the side a little and I saw Majesty's body. Woah, when did Majesty die?

"Stay with us, okay?" Mike said. I realized two things then. First, I was dying. Second, Mike was going to stay with me until I did. Which meant he wouldn't have to kill people. Mike shouldn't kill people. It would hurt him. So I did stay with him. Until I heard the first cannon, and then I let go.

Anjou Corriente, District Ten male (18)

This was it. My chance to do something right and turn everything around. I'd keep Rainbow safe in the Bloodbath. I wouldn't demand anything from it, since it was the right thing to do. She'd see I wasn't that bad a guy and maybe she'd even tell Dahlia and Romeo.

Rainbow was ahead of me, already halfway to the jungle. I ran up alongside her, far enough away that she wouldn't think I was attacking. She looked over at me. Her eyes went scared. They recognized me. They softened. They flicked off like a light.

The arrow stuck out of the back of Rainbow's head like a feathered hat. She wasn't trying to take it out. That's good, I thought. It bleeds more if you do. Then my stomach turned, and my legs went limp. There was an arrow through Rainbow's head. It was all over.

Rainbow Luna, District Ten female (14)

I was glad to see Anjou next to me. He was a terrible boyfriend but honestly he wasn't the worst person I'd ever met. That was by default, but he needed to take anything he could get. I had a feeling he was going to try to "save" me- to be my hero and prove he was a good boyfriend. Nothing could prove something that wasn't true, but if he wanted to protect me I'd let him. Anything to get me out of here. If I just lived through this, I could do things right. I still had time to find true love.

There was a pain in the back of my head. I'd run out of time.

Joseph Carpenter, District Two male (18)

I wasn't even that good with arrows. It was just a perfunctory shot I fired off at Rainbow, the first person I saw. No one else was close enough for me to get with my axe. Charm was behind me, inside the cornucopia and rifling through supplies.

Zebulon was almost on top of me when I saw him. He'd have had to be sprinting straight at me for him to approach like that. Who runs toward a Career? I brought up my axe and he grabbed it when he crashed into me. We rolled on the ground, wrestling for the axe. Where are all my allies? I thought desperately. Sure, I was trained, but fear and survival instinct can make a beast of anyone, much less a boy who fought for life in Twelve.

I sagged a little in relief when someone ran up next to us an instant later. It vanished when I saw Beth's sai.

Timber Faldun, District Seven male (17)

I didn't know what to do. I didn't know where to go. We were supposed to kill the Careers but I couldn't even tell which ones were dead. Majesty was, I'd seen. Isabella had cut off his head in one sweep like Perseus getting Medusa. Romeo ran in front of me, which meant Marley must be dead.

Do I get supplies? Do I find someone to attack? We'd discussed all of this. They'd told me what I was supposed to do. It was so much easier to remember when people weren't dying next to me and everyone wasn't running while waves of muddy water flew everywhere.

A snake leaped up and coiled around my neck. It smacked the side of my head and it felt like metal. I fell backward and water rushed into my mouth and nose. I sat up, spluttering, and then the snake yanked me backwards and up.

I looked up into Laken's eyes as the metal hook sank into my chest. There was a focused calmness in his eyes. All of this really was just a game to him. He didn't see that to me he was a nightmarish snake that bit the life out of me. Then his eyes went wide and he shot to his feet, running so quickly he didn't have time to unwind the rope. Even snakes can be scared of something, it seemed. It didn't do me any good, though. I lay on my back in the mud and hoped Dahlia would find me before I went.

She didn't.

Charm Sterlingshire, District One female (18)

Joseph was covering our perimeter. Marley was finding the poisons. Laken was patrolling the outskirts for anyone who tried to get into the cornucopia. Majesty was... probably chewing some little kid's intestines, whatever. And I was looking for my favorite things.

Sure, I could have grabbed the first knife I saw and started chasing people. I preferred to do things right. I charged into the Cornucopia and ran past a table full of survival odds and ends. I wanted something... shinier. I knocked over boxes and tore open containers until I found a glittering pair of curved knives. Anyone can pick up a knife. Only an artist can dual wield.

More. I probed further into the Cornucopia until my hand was wrapped around a set of nunchucks. Finally, I was in business. I turned to call out to my allies.

Joseph was underneath Zebulon and Beth, his chest spattered with the blood dripping off her sai. Majesty was- oh god his body's there and his head is there. Laken was running off into the jungle. And Isabella and her friends were running toward us.

"What is- what do you think you're doing?!" I stammered, waving my nunchucks. They couldn't- we're the Careers! Isabella wasn't slowing down. I looked to the side and saw Beth blocking my way. My arms tightened beside me and I suddenly knew what it was like to be small. I was no longer the hunter.

I charged at Beth, swinging my nunchucks wildly. She stepped back to avoid them and I ran past her, shoulder-checking her in my haste to get away from her. I ran out toward the platforms and immediately tripped, face-planting into the mud. Foul water rushed into my mouth when I screamed. Muck oozed under my fingernails as I shoved up off the ground and launched forward. I whimpered at the series of splashes behind me. They were coming for me.

I half-ran and half-fell onto solid ground. I shrieked and put up a hand when a stone bounced off my ear, sending throbs through my skull. I sprinted into the jungle, knocking into trees and twisting and turning like a rabbit trying to shake off dogs. Behind me I heard the death-sounds of rustling greenery and distant shouts.

"She's going this way!"

"You two, go that way!"

"Get her!"

Saliva foamed up in my throat, frothing as I wheezed for breath. They'd taken it. They'd just taken the Cornucopia and wiped us out. Was Laken the only one left with me? I sobbed when I remembered how very, very short one of the bodies facedown in the water had been. Marley had liked those stringy-haired ghost girls, their hair floating around them like demonic halos. She was one of them, now. Black hair against dark, muddy water...

Dark. It was already half-dark. If I could just stay out of sight for a few more minutes, I could live.

"She's here!"

Zebulon melted out of the woods behind me, Romeo right behind him. Ahead of me there was more jungle, but I could see a clearing not far away. Behind me, Zebulon and Romeo were already giving chase. The others were coming, and I couldn't fight them all. They would kill me. Outliers would kill a Career.

I ran to the side, toward a slow-moving, wide river. Without looking back I sprinted to its edge and leaped in as far as I could, far enough that the water closed over me when I hit. I shuddered and sobbed as I tried not to think about what might be underneath me as I swam as far as I could before my lungs forced me to surface. Behind me I could see the edge of the river. Romeo and Zebulon stood beside it, watching me go.

Zebulon Charles, District Twelve male (17)

I laid a hand on Romeo's arm when he tried to run in after Charm.

"Let the river take her. One way or another, it won't give her back."

Well well well, it finally happened. Of course I've been interested in a Career Bloodbath rout for a long time, but it takes a lot of elements. This time everything just came together. Beth took one member from the Careers and added it to the outliers, plus Isabella and Romeo adding two more Career-level outliers, shifted the numbers. Then Marley wasn't homicidal so much as she was morbid, Majesty's instability killed his advantage, and Joseph's mental difficulties got in his way. The sum total was enough to make this anti-Bloodbath possible. This is sure to have huge ramifications, of course. What happens now that only three killers are left (Romeo being the third) and the Career pack is done on day one? Time will tell...

24th place: Marley Astero- stomped by Romeo

This is no reflection on Marley's abilities. She was first to go because she was the first target the outlier army was physically able to reach. It was a bummer killing Marley, since she did have a really cool MO. Her death is a huge boon to Jack, who definitely would have been her first victim had she lived. But I had in mind the Career slaughter and that meant a lot of Careers had to go. Sorry Tinks, and I do hope you let me resurrect her when I next have a chance, so we can see her gross plans actually play out.

23rd place: Rainbow Luna- shot by Joseph

Everyone knows I'm super soft and always let people live when I shouldn't. Well, this time I finally did it. I DID kill the obvious kills and I didn't let the nice ones get away. Rainbow died a death she didn't deserve and her story DOESN'T get a nice happy resolution. She's dead and Anjou's alive, exactly the opposite of what would be fair. She didn't find love, though she gained from her revelation that she needed it. Rainbow's just... gone. Gone, but not forgotten. Maia, we won't forget her.

22nd place: Majesty Miraval- decapitated by Isabella

Majesty, obviously, was great fun to write. I got to research everything from hallucinations to Wernicke's aphasia and write something I would never have a chance to otherwise. He would have been so cool to keep writing in this madness-inducing arena. But I wanted to do the Career slaughter thing and yup, I needed more bodies. PLUS... I really want to bring Majesty to life more in a res Games since he was supposed to have a Harley Quinn-inspired partner but the submitter had to drop out. so Lindsey, I'm excited to add her in and get to see both of them in their full glory.

21st place: Theta Faraday- head trauma by Elias

Theta is one of a handful of deaths not related to the Outlier Uprising, as we might call it. She just had the bad luck to cross paths with Elias. Funny enough, if not for that freak chance, she would have actually pulled off the oft-dreamed of raid on the cornucopia by an outlier. It still wasn't a good idea, but it IS true she needed water supplies. Kind of a catch-22, honestly. But anyway, the Bloodbath claims lives indiscriminately and this time it got Theta. Thanks harley for adding real flaws and weaknesses (which is NOT why I killed Theta so don't be scared to keep doing that)

20th place: Joseph Carpenter- stabbed by Beth

Joseph was another victim of the Outlier Uprising or anti-Bloodbath. I rationalized it to myself by promising to give Zebulon some juicy spotlight to make it up to Willuna. Joseph might have found the energy to win, given enough time, but he just as well might have gotten even more depressed from such a dark, musty arena, so no one knows what might have happened. It was nice to see the mournful side of a Career, though. They lose people they love, too.

19th place: Timber Faldun- stabbed by Laken (took a while to bleed since it wasn't multiple wounds like Joseph)

So I was planning the Bloodbath and going through the list of evil exes to decide which I got to kill. Then I thought 'what if I ONLY killed Rainbow and Timber? That would be so messed up, right?" So of course I did it. Timber didn't die because he panicked, just a note. Everyone had that level of frazzled thinking, I just only explicitly wrote it in his part. He just got unlucky with the Careers before the massacre was complete. It's always brave to put real weaknesses like naivete in forms. That wasn't what killed Timber, though it probably would have if he'd stayed with his allies much longer. No, he just happened to die. But thanks kkstar for being the real MVP and submitting a romantic male Tribute.

18th place: Sky Larch- stabbed by Majesty (lingered because of medical efforts by allies)

Silver kindly agreed to a possible early death in order to boost everyone else's chances (and also no one can match up to Randy anyway). Had she lived, Sky no doubt would have gotten a hilarious death somehow related to pretending to be deaf. As it is, she got a very not funny but still kind of noble death, since she shielded Mike from the rest of the Bloodbath. What can I say about Sky but that she deserved more. That's kind of the nutshell of it.