The Sixteenth Annual Hunger Games


Introduction

President Patrice Dominicar barely remained President this year, as Lima and her expanding group of supporters battered him with three dozen different scandals, several of which were basically true. Patrice fought hard and almost resorted to assassinating Lima, although his advisers warned him against doing so. Because of this, scheming Lima Xabie-Sombray remained in the public's good graces, also remaining Head Gamemaker, a position that she loved. Cadmus Liseti, oblivious to the entire political civil war raging around him, returned for his third year as the host of the Hunger Games. This year, the numbers of Career-volunteers exploded; Lacey and Sheen from 1, Kingston from 2, and Bex from 4 were all Careers this year. Because of this large trained pack, bloodbath casualties were larger. There were no other volunteers besides the 4 Careers. There were three 10s, a single 9, and a variety of 8s, 7s, and 6s, with a few 5s and 4s as well. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Lacey Hartford, 17 (10) 4-1 and Sheen Ezekiel, 18 (10) 3-1

District 2: Halle Gretel, 15 (6) 23-1 and Kingston Levy, 18 (9) 6-1

District 3: Ravyn Phillips, 17 (5) 34-1 and Ferdinand Moe, 14 (6) 22-1

District 4: Bex Martin, 18 (10) 4-1 and Xanthus Scarrigole, 16 (7) 16-1

District 5: Delilah Whitewash, 14 (5) 33-1 and Gordon Larr, 13 (5) 33-1

District 6: Mila Vysh, 12 (4) 46-1 and Zan Tusselton, 16 (7) 15-1

District 7: Candace Trunks, 17 (8) 9-1 and Derrick McIntosh, 18 (8) 10-1

District 8: Zaelia Bootshoe, 16 (8) 10-1 and Weaver Kite, 15 (6) 22-1

District 9: Telata Schroove, 15 (5) 34-1 and Calin Minli, 12 (4) 45-1

District 10: Evana Moat, 17 (7) 16-1 and Hound Taylet, 16 (5) 33-1

District 11: Quinoa Isaacson, 16 (8) 9-1 and Harris Newfind, 13 (5) 34-1

District 12: Vincette Calder, 15 (6) 24-1 and Wesley Mortoki, 15 (5) 33-1

HGBA Odds: 25% on Sheen, 20% on Bex and Lacey, 10% on Kingston, 5% on Quinoa and Candace, 2% on Derrick and Zaelia, 1% or less on Halle, Ravyn, Ferdinand, Xanthus, Delilah, Gordon, Mila, Zan, Weaver, Telata, Calin, Evana, Hound, Harris, Vincette, and Wesley.


The Games

The tributes arose in a humid swamp. Most of the arena was boggy and muddy, with little stable ground. Sinkholes and quicksand riddled the marshland, and the few animals and plants that could resist the pull of the sticky muck were hardy and ferocious. The Cornucopia sat on one of the only stable islands, and small ridges ran in various directions off of the Cornucopia, slicing through the marsh. Many of the thin ridges ended in dead ends or lead to mutts or traps. This arena was better suited to lighter, faster tributes, and the Careers understood that, so they took out as many as the could in the bloodbath. To the north, the most trees, mostly mangroves, congregated to make a sparse forest. To the south was where the most stable land was, but that was also where the most mutts were. To the east was an abundance of sinkholes the opened randomly and would then close. Anyone trapped inside one would slowly choke to death from lack of oxygen. To the west, the water was the clearest, and there was the least mutts. The tributes prepared to run for supplies, as most did not like the looks of this arena.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

The Career pack, made up of Sheen, Lacey, Bex, Kingston, and a strong non-Career, Candace from 7, rushed the Cornucopia. Sheen grabbed a sword, Lacey and Candace grabbed axes, Bex grabbed a spear, and Kingston swept up a mace. Bex made the first of 11 record breaking kills. The Careers knew that they needed to kill off as many as they could in the opening minutes, as this arena was not in their favor. Bex quickly stabbed a girl in the stomach with her spear.

Vincette Calder, District 12 Female; 24th, Killed by Bex, Bloodbath

Sheen, moments later, beheaded a boy with a swift sweep of his broadsword, in a way similar to Clermont's technique.

Weaver Kite, District 8 Male; 23rd, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath

Lacey and Candace ganged up on a taller boy that was Bex's District partner. He was able, but he had been refused from the Careers. He tried to slash off Lacey's head, but Lacey and Candace worked together to slice into his legs before they both buried their axes in his chest.

Xanthus Scarrigole, District 4 Male; 22nd, Killed by Lacey and Candace, Bloodbath

Sheen smacked the pommel of his sword into the back of a boy's head, knocking him out, before he buried his blade in the boy's back.

Zan Tusselton, District 6 Male; 21st, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath

Kingston, meanwhile, had been trading punches with Candace's District partner, Derrick. He finally managed to crush the boy's windpipe with his muscled hands, choking him slowly until he died.

Derrick McIntosh, District 7 Male; 20th, Killed by Kingston, Bloodbath

Candace tripped a girl, and she went sprawling, her throwing knife flying from her hand. Candace easily buried her axe in the girl's back, killing her.

Delilah Whitewash, District 5 Female; 19th, Killed by Candace, Bloodbath

Bex finally caught an agile girl she'd been pursuing since she had killed Vincette, and she shoved her spear through the girl's back, silencing her cries of pain and her screams for someone to save her from Bex.

Telata Schroove, District 9 Female; 18th, Killed by Bex, Bloodbath

Lacey, meanwhile, had been battling a very strong girl from District 11, axe against spear. Lacey finally prevailed, knocking away the girl's spear and chucking her axe into the girl's head, silencing her.

Quinoa Isaacson, District 11 Female; 17th, Killed by Lacey, Bloodbath

Kingston, a menace with his mace, smashed the dull weapon into a tiny boy's skull, crushing him.

Calin Minli, District 9 Male; 16th, Killed by Kingston, Bloodbath

Sheen, meanwhile, had been dueling with the boy from 12 with swords. He chopped into the boy's chest after a minute of fighting, killing him.

Wesley Mortoki, District 12 Male; 15th, Killed by Sheen, Bloodbath

Candace made the final kill, flinging her axe a good twenty feet into the head of a girl who was running with a pack and a dagger.

Evana Moat, District 10 Female; 14th, Killed by Candace, Bloodbath

The entire 5-member Career pack remained intact after the astounding 11 kill bloodbath. Now, only 8 other tributes that were not part of the Career alliance remained: Halle from 2, Ravyn and Ferdinand from 3, Gordon from 5, Mila from 6, Zaelia from 8, Hound from 10, and Harris from 11.

Day 2 passed deathless. Day 3, two allies, Ferdinand and Harris, were trekking through the eastern portion of the arena, the muck of the marsh clinging to their boots and pantlegs. Suddenly a sinkhole opened up beneath them, trapping them, and they slowly suffocated, dying three hours later.

Ferdinand Moe, District 3 Male; 13th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 3

Harris Newfind, District 11 Male; 12th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 3

Days 4 and 5 were deathless. Day 6, the Careers, who ventured out hunting, found a sleeping boy on one of the small ridges. Sheen beheaded him.

Gordon Larr, District 5 Male; 11th, Killed by Sheen, Day 6

His ally, Halle, burst from the shadows, holding two daggers. Bex easily dispatched of her with her spear.

Halle Gretel, District 2 Female; 10th, Killed by Bex, Day 6

Day 7 was deathless. Day 8, a girl wandered into the path of alligator mutts and was torn apart.

Ravyn Phillips, District 3 Female; 9th, Killed by alligator mutts, Day 8

That left the Top 8: Lacey Hartford from District 1, Sheen Ezekiel from District 1, Kingston Levy from District 2, Bex Martin from District 4, Mila Vysh from District 6, Candace Trunks from District 7, Zaelia Bootshoe from District 8, and Hound Taylet from District 10.

Zaelia was the only real threat, it seemed, to the Careers, so they stalked her Day 9 and Day 10. Day 11, Lacey was finally able to put an axe through the dangerous girl's skull after they'd been chasing her for three and a half hours through the bog.

Zaelia Bootshoe, District 8 Female; 8th, Killed by Lacey, Day 11

Day 12, the little 12 year old Mila from 6 was consumed by a sinkhole, and she suffocated slowly.

Mila Vysh, District 6 Female; 7th, Suffocated by sinkhole, Day 12

Day 13, the Careers, tensions rising, killed the final non-Career, the younger boy from 10. Kingston smashed in the boy's head with his mace.

Hound Taylet, District 10 Male; 6th, Killed by Kingston, Day 13

The Careers split, resting up for their big finale fight tomorrow. Amazingly, all 5 Careers had survived to the end, and they would now have a fair, honorable fight, something that Careers would do for centuries afterwards if it was only them and their allies at the end of the Games.

Day 14, the Careers gathered. The first to fall was the one that wasn't truly a Career, she was just strong. Her lack of training showed when she was cut down two minutes in by Sheen.

Candace Trunks, District 7 Female; 5th, Killed by Sheen, Day 14

No one fell for another fifteen minutes as the four trained Careers fought gallantly and bravely. Eventually, Bex managed to stab the hands of another tribute, and they dropped their weapon. Bex quickly made use of their defenselessness and stabbed the other Career in the forehead with her spear.

Lacey Hartford, District 1 Female; 4th, Killed by Bex, Day 14

Meanwhile, Sheen had been pushing Kingston towards the edge of the Cornucopia island. Kingston slipped, tumbling, but he grabbed the edge. Sheen easily sliced off Kingston's head, ending him.

Kingston Levy, District 2 Male; 3rd, Killed by Sheen, Day 14

Sheen turned, and Bex and himself had a fair fight which lasted for two hours. Only when the Gamemakers were forced to send torrential rains down on them did Sheen slip on the mud, and Bex was able to spear him in the back.

Sheen Ezekiel, District 1 Male; 2nd, Killed by Bex, Day 14

"Bex Martin of District 4, you are the Victor of the 16th Hunger Games!" Cadmus roared into the arena as the torrential rain suddenly paused.

Bex honored her fallen comrades with a tip of the head before raising her gory spear in the air in triumph.


Aftermath

Bex was adored by her District for being their first Career Victor. District 1 was a little miffed that she'd stolen the Victory from Sheen, and District 2 was full outbeserk-mode because Districts 1 and 4 both had 3 Victors, while they only had 1. District 2 began training their tributes twice as hard, which would lead to repercussions (mostly good ones) in the future of the Games. She would Mentor dozens of fellow Careers, and she helped out as a trainer at Mags' little Academy, where she had been trained herself.

Bex would live to age 68, dying in a boating accident out on the ocean near District 4. She would die four months before the 66th Hunger Games. She would not marry and would have no children.

The payouts for her Victory weren't the best, as 20% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was average, nothing of note happened during it.

Fun Fact: This is the first Games where all members of the Career pack made it to the final showdown.


Victor's News

Bex moves into the Victor's Village of District 4.


List of Victors

1st: Kelan Thather, District 4 (1, 1 Male)

2nd: Dillon Tripp, District 9 (1, 1 Male)

3rd: Tugra Ertra, District 5 (1, 1 Female)

4th: Noor Tuskararus, District 2 (1, 1 Female)

5th: Ishania Patel, District 7 (1, 1 Female)

6th: Guild Tonneroy, District 1 (1, 1 Male)

7th: Chaplin Nastaro, District 3 (1, 1 Male)

8th: Irmentrude Marley, District 5 (2, 2 Female)

9th: Vissarion Chamantel, District 11 (1, 1 Male)

10th: Greason Trails, District 6 (1, 1 Male)

11th: Mags Flanagan, District 4 (2, 1 Female)

12th: Salandra Valour, District 1 (2, 1 Female)

13th: Barcelona Sepias, District 10 (1, 1 Female)

14th: Freeha Indepp, District 11 (2, 1 Female)

15th: Clermont Lackrey, District 1 (3, 2 Male)

16th: Bex Martin, District 4 (3, 2 Female)