The Forty Sixth Annual Hunger Games


Introduction

Zealand Cruxe knew he had a lot to beat after the entire nation applauded Cyndala's masterpiece heartily. The arena was complex and enthralling without being too confusing or overdone, and the magnificent batch of tributes and storylines had added well to the ethereal and miserable quality of the Games. It was one of the best Games yet in many opinions, but Zealand was not deterred in the slightest. He was going to pull an arena totally the opposite of Cyndala's. His style was more modern, with complex indoor arenas that favored Outliers in many instances and evened the playing field a little. His favorite Games to date were the 30th aboard the giant airship with its fantastic cast and quick crescendo, and he wanted to try and have a similar Games to that. Instead of being almost overly mysterious about his arena, Zealand dropped plenty of hints. He featured dozens of snippets of the arena, showing things from revolving glass doors to greasy pizza to racks of clothing to an open box of shoes. He had stations all over the Capitol to set up hype for the Games; replicas of the things that would be used or seen in the Games, from a throwing knife to a bangle to a soda can, were available for Capitolites to peruse. He even talked with the Career Victors about what types of tributes he'd most prefer; tributes that were quick and agile, and were good with up-close combat. He put more work into the social aspect of things, which was hard for a more introverted man such as him, and possibly it would pay off. President Coriolanus Snow was highly amused by the competition between Zealand and Cyndala, and he was excited to see what splendid horrors Zealand Cruxe would conjure up for this set of twenty four children. However, he had to deal with a rebellious almost-16 year old step-daughter, Celly, and he devised a secret plan to help placate her and make her like him. Caesar Flickerman and Claudius Templesmith were immensely excited to see how Zealand would combat what seemed to be Cyndala's magnum opus of a Games. With the vast amount and variety of hints and spoilers about the arena and more given out by Zealand to pique interest, their talk show had to be extended as they hypothesized and chatted and bantered. The duo was as steadfast and as popular as ever, and it would stay that way for a long time. The Careers were central to the success or failure of a Games, and the Career Districts made sure not to disappoint. All six tributes matched Zealand's specifications. The pair from One were as beautiful as always. The girl was a martial arts master, having achieved a black belt, and she was a formidable fighter. The boy was one of the best fist fighters the Academy had ever seen, and he was a wizard with a dagger. The pair from Two were in fact distantly related, third cousins actually, but they hadn't known about their common ancestry until they had truly started talking after being selected to volunteer. The girl's preferred weapon was wolverine claws, a unique weapon she excelled at, while the boy was a steadfast classic, having mastered the art of swordfighting during his years in the Academy. The duo from Four weren't as exciting as their predecessors from the previous year, as neither was famous. But the girl was the fastest runner in the entire Academy, which accounted for her early volunteering, and the boy favored a bladed whip, but could also work magic with a spear. With this strong, varied pack, the Games were looking up. There were two standouts this year: the girl from 7, Quentina, had managed to score an impressive 8 from her skills with hatchets and edible plants, and had nearly gotten a 9. The other standout was the male from 3, Vary, who was openly homosexual and made an impressive speech at the interviews about equal LGBTQ rights in the Districts. He only managed to score a 6, but he was one to be remembered. There were no other volunteers besides the Careers, and the rest of the tributes scored between 2 and 6. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Isaku Adachi, 18 (11) 3-1 and Kedian Zaviere, 18 (9) 8-1

District 2: Nimona Tissel, 18 (10) 6-1 and Vesuvius Coama, 18 (10) 6-1

District 3: Wiress Furuya, 18 (4) 42-1 and Vary Laird, 18 (6) 23-1

District 4: Carrera Muñoz, 16 (9) 9-1 and Swell Hegar, 18 (10) 7-1

District 5: Tasha Liebvotiz, 15 (5) 33-1 and Timy LaFonte, 13 (4) 44-1

District 6: Odele Callow, 16 (3) 56-1 and Tread Courty, 16 (6) 25-1

District 7: Quentina Herald, 17 (8) 12-1 and Tarun Penn, 17 (5) 31-1

District 8: Arza Weaver, 15 (4) 42-1 and Harpsichord Bevel, 17 (6) 23-1

District 9: Theodora Wyland, 17 (5) 31-1 and Abel Cinty, 14 (4) 41-1

District 10: Robina Caite, 13 (4) 44-1 and Emmett Starler, 15 (5) 34-1

District 11: Olive Joelle, 14 (3) 52-1 and Thay Purcell, 12 (2) 63-1

District 12: Mae Lyndon, 18 (6) 22-1 and Torcall Everett, 18 (6) 21-1

HGBA Odds: 24% on Isaku, 16% on Vesuvius and Nimona, 14% on Swell, 12% on Kedian, 11% on Carrera, 5% on Quentina, 1% or less on Wiress, Vary, Tasha, Timiy, Mavis, Tread, Tarun, Arza, Harpsichord, Theodora, Abel, Robina, Emmett, Olive, Thay, Mae, and Torcall.


The Games

Before the tributes could enter the arena, the twenty four of them were brought together in a harshly lit room. Twenty four doors were on the perimeter of the circular room; the doors into the launch rooms. Some of the hallways on the other side of the doors were very short, while others were very long. Zealand Cruxe waited for the tributes, standing in the middle of the blank white room with a small black velvet bag in his hands. Dozens of cameras captured this early pre-Games segment and broadcasted it to the entire nation.

"Come forward, tributes," Zealand instructed. They all gathered around him, the Careers standing at the front, and all of the Outliers standing a step behind them. "By District, you will each select a small figurine from this bag, and I will tell you which door to go down once you choose. Ladies first, as always. Ms. Adachi, you are first."

The slender girl with heavy Japanese heritage, a new look for One as opposed to their mostly blond crop of kids, stepped forward. Her hand fished in the bag, and pulled out a small figurine of a golden Cornucopia. Zealand pointed to one of the doors, and Isaku opened it and stepped inside. Once the door clicked closed behind her, Zealand called Kedian forward.

In the bag, there were 12 figurines of a Cornucopia, and then twelve unique figurines: a microchip, a shoe, a bangle, a popcorn bag, a t-shirt, a dress, a pair of glasses, a puppy, a piece of pizza, a greeting card, a book, and a fountain. They signified where a tribute would start the Games. The twelve tributes who selected the Cornucopia would start at the traditional ring of pedestals around the Horn in the very center of the arena, a giant shopping mall. It was in a huge circular central room that extended up to all three floors of the mall. The other twelve tributes would be sprinkled in random stores or places on the other floors. For example, the tribute that might pull the shoe figurine would start off in the shoe store on the second floor, third spoke. The mall was like a wagon wheel, with the center being the Cornucopia, and then the six spokes and the outer wheel being hallways lined with shops. The tributes stepped forward and selected their figurines one by one, until Torcall was the last up. He retrieved the final Cornucopia figurine, and then he entered his room.

The Games began soon enough, as the tributes rose up in their places. The twelve tributes surrounding the Cornucopia were Isaku, Nimona, Vary, Swell, Tasha, Timy, Arza, Harpsichord, Theodora, Emmett, Olive, and Torcall. Kedian was in the theater (popcorn bag), Vesuvius was in a dress store (dress), Wiress was in the tech store (microchip), Carrera was in the food court (pizza), Odele was in a bookstore (book), Tread was in a pet store (puppy), Quentina was in a department store (t-shirt), Tarun was in a glasses store (glasses), Abel was next to the fountain (fountain), Robina was in the shoe store (shoe), Thay was in the greeting card store (greeting card), and Mae was in the jewelry store (bangle). The countdown ticked over the Cornucopia and in front of the twelve store tributes.

The tributes were all dressed in a normal outfit of their choice. Food and drink was abundant throughout the arena, so that would not be a trouble for the tributes. The food court had more food than all 24 tributes could eat in a year, and the dozens of food stands and vending machines were sprinkled throughout the modern arena. The spokes of the wheel weren't that straight, and there were many twists and turns. The hallways were sleek, slippery white tile, and one had to be agile and quick to run over them swiftly. There were over three hundred stores in the mall, and they featured maybe Capitol products. The multitude of product placement raised more popularity and gave Zealand and his crew more money to build such a spectacularly created arena. The Cornucopia, the only normal thing in the entire arena pretty much, was filled with sleek metallic weapons that were lightweight and sharper than normal. There was a vast array of weapons but not much else in the Cornucopia, although there were other things like armor and dart guns that tantalized every outer District tribute there, as well as some food and water as they didn't see any food or water around them.

5, 4, 3, 2, 1.

Vary and Harpsichord, allies, sprinted right away from the Cornucopia, while the other 10 headed in. Meanwhile, the twelve tributes sprinkled about the rest of the mall mostly started to explore their store, curious as to where the other tributes were. They were all very spaced apart, so the only tributes that would participate in a Bloodbath were those at the Cornucopia. This would result in only 6 deaths during the opening minutes of the Games.

Isaku and Swell had bonded well over the Pre-Games, and they raced forward together. Isaku grabbed a set of nunchucks, set there specifically for her, while Swell swept up his special bladed whip. Nimona grabbed her wolverine claws, a little worried to be placed with only Isaku and Swell, who had both taken a disliking to her smart, perfect attitude (Nimona had a bit of OCD, and she also didn't like bloodthirsty Careers, which both Isaku and Swell were). Nimona jumped forward quickly, slashing out at the nearest tribute. He dropped to his knees, trying to gasp in a breath and failing to do so.

Timy LaFonte, District 5 Male; 24th, Killed by Nimona, Bloodbath

Moments later, Nimona felt a chorus of small but long and sharp blades wrapping around her left leg. She looked back to see Swell flicking back his wrist violently. She screamed as chunks of her flesh were torn off. Isaku traded out her nunchucks for a spear for a moment, and she stabbed the prissy Career girl thrice in the back before she and Swell went to thin out the herd more so. Nimona rasped for breath and died swiftly. If only she'd had Vesuvius and Carrera, good friends, to fight with her.

Nimona Tissel, District 2 Female; 23rd, Killed by Swell and Isaku, Bloodbath

Swell's whip arm undulated like his name, the long weapon snapping out a great distance and curling around the head of a running girl. She shrieked as he tugged backwards and some of the blades dug into her cheeks and forehead. Swell removed the weapon from her body before speeding forward, and she died soon after.

Theodora Wyland, District 9 Female; 22nd, Killed by Swell, Bloodbath

Meanwhile, Isaku yelled loudly to frighten and confuse the other tributes. She leaped towards a nearby girl, trying to carry away a pack laden with supplies, but she was too weak. Isaku did a roundhouse kick, her foot smashing into the girl's nose. The girl whimpered, falling onto her back, and Isaku wrapped her nunchucks around the girls neck and snapped it loudly using a jerking motion. She then hopped to her feet.

Tasha Liebvotiz, District 5 Female; 21st, Killed by Isaku, Bloodbath

Isaku quickly made her third kill, zeroing in on a boy who had abandoned trying to gather supplies after seeing how violent the two Careers could be. He screamed in terror as Isaku leaped onto him, tackling him. She punched him a couple of times as he squirmed uselessly, and she then choked him with her nunchucks.

Emmett Starler, District 10 Male; 20th, Killed by Isaku, Bloodbath

Torcall finished off the Bloodbath. He was fast and agile, and had managed to snag a lightly filled pack along with a long, serrated dagger. A girl bumped into him, narrowly avoiding the lash of Swell's bladed whip. Torcall quickly shoved his dagger into her stomach below the belly button, jabbing it upwards as to pierce some vital organs. The girl from 8 gasped uselessly, and Torcall pushed her in the way of the oncoming bladed whip. It wrapped itself around her shoulder, giving Torcall enough time to make it away from the melee of the Bloodbath. She bled out before Swell could truly wound her.

Arza Weaver, District 8 Female; 19th, Killed by Torcall, Bloodbath

Those were the only deaths to occur during the first day. Isaku and Swell took hold of the Cornucopia. They got along well, and they armed themselves to the teeth, preparing to go hunting in the morning. They vowed to kill any other Careers that they discovered on their trek, preferring not to have to share their supplies and limit their kill counts to accommodate three other Careers. Kedian was mesmerized by the giant theater screen, playing action movies, in front of him where he rose onto his platform. He explored the theater, travelling through the dozen or so theater rooms and gorging on popcorn, soda, candy, and more from the concession stands inside the theater. He didn't even think about finding his Career allies. Vesuvius immediately set out to try and hunt down tributes, but he had nothing to kill them with except a hanger to strangle them with. On the third floor, Vesuvius had a strange experience with an escalator, getting his shoe caught in it and losing it, and he decided to just camp out. He returned to his starting spot in the dress store and slept. Vary and Harpsichord covered lots of ground, deciding to camp out in an elevator on the fifth spoke. They had no supplies, but they had smashed open a vending machine to grab some bags of potato chips. They snacked on those as they prepared to search for their other allies (Wiress and Mae) in the morning. Wiress was small and weak looking, but she had certainly been holding back in her Private Sessions. Having lucked out at landing in the technology store, the only one in the entire mall, she quickly fortified. She hacked the mechanism that in a normal mall would drop the silvery grate over the door so no one could get in. The grate covered the doors of the expansive room, and she could control it. After that, she started to take apart computers, tablets, and other devices, along with headphones, phone cases, and more, building some extravagant electronic weapon. Carrera left behind the food court after gorging for a little bit to search for her ally, Torcall. The two had made an unlikely friendship during training, and Carrera had been planning to leave the pack and join him after realizing she was the weakest link and would be the first picked off at the split. She got lucky, and she found Torcall as night set in. They returned to the food court and hunkered down in the kitchen of a Chinese fast food station, eating orange chicken and rice. Odele was too frightened to move more than five feet from her pedestal, hidden in a deep recess of a giant bookstore. She picked a random book and started reading to calm herself, and she read the wonderful books all through the day and night. Tread couldn't help himself; in the pet store, he tried to pet one of the puppies. When he reached his hand into the cage, its eyes turned red and it bit his hand. He quickly recoiled and left the pet store, although he'd left many of the cages open, and the muttation pets would escape in time. He settled in a spa, brushing his teeth and washing his face. Quentina explored the spacious department store and found a great hiding place in one of the corners. Although she had scored an 8, she was not brash, and she would hide until she would have to fight. Tarun was a blacksmith back in 7, and he attempted to fashion a makeshift weapon out of the glass and metal in the glasses store. He succeeded in making a strange dagger, with jagged glass the blade. It was small, but better than what most of the tributes had: nothing. He hid behind the receptionist's counter, dozing off quickly. Abel guzzled huge amounts of water from the fountain before leaving the wide open space to look for a better hiding place. He found refuge in a music store, and he couldn't help but play his favorite instrument, the banjo. He hid in one of the soundproof practice rooms in the back of the store, however, so no one could hear him. He slept in those rooms too. Robina was a fashionista, and a rich girl back in 10. The moment she found herself in the vast array of shoes, she couldn't help herself. She tried on dozens of heels, and even though she was smart enough not to wear the eight inch magenta pumps she grew fond of around, she did keep them with her, planning an extravagant outfit to wear. She knew the only reason she wasn't dead was because she hadn't started out at the Cornucopia, and she wanted to go out in style. Olive had no clue how she had escaped the Bloodbath unscathed, but she had. She found a small boutique full of interesting dresses, jewelry, and books, and she hid out there, sleeping on a pile of tie die tank tops. Thay found himself in the greeting card store, and he quickly left the musty smelling place. He wandered into the food court while Carrera was absent, looking for Torcall. He gorged on pizza and subs, and when he heard Carrera returning with Torcall, he hid in the pizza shop, not moving once or falling asleep once he realized that a Career was on the other side of the food court. Mae was a hard working poor girl, and she was shocked when she saw the hundreds of diamond bracelets, bangles, earrings, necklaces, crowns, and more in the jewelry store. She tried dozens on despite herself, and she couldn't leave the store even if she wanted to, she was so entranced. At least she was smart enough to lock herself in the back room for the night.

In the morning, the first mutts of the Games, the escaped puppy mutts, entered three of the stores; one group would lead to death, while the other two would be fended off. Only time would tell which trio of golden retriever puppies with ruby-red demon eyes would succeed in killing a tribute.

Robina screamed when she felt tiny teeth snapping at her left wrist. She pulled it back quickly, and sat up. She'd fallen asleep on the floor, piles of opened shoe boxes surrounding her, their contents spilled here and there on the scratchy, patterned carpet. She quickly sat up and then stood, backing up in fear as the puppies growled, slowly advancing. She could tell they weren't there to play nice, and her breath hitched in her throat. Her head swiveled to and fro as the mutts closed in on her, and she began to cry softly as her back hit the back shelves of shoes; she was pretty much trapped.

Thay awoke to the feeling of a wet puppy nose sniffing at his cheek. It was smeared with pizza grease. He smiled, thinking he was back at home in his bed, that this had all been a terrible dream; after all, he did sleep with his border collie, Samantha, back in 11. His eyes drifted open lazily, and he sat up to see the fiery red eyes of the demon pup boring into his soul. It had been lapping up the pizza grease on his cheek hungrily, and the other two were devouring pizza. Thay was too tired to realize that they were bloodthirsty mutts, and he wasn't prepared as they circled him, preparing to lunge.

The third set of puppies crept into the glasses store. They heard Tarun's soft snores wafting up from behind the receptionist desk, and they bounced forward excitedly, their little tails wagging in anticipation of striking down the Seven boy. They sniffed at the ground, circling the store, catching his scent, and they followed it to where Tarun slept behind the desk. His hand was wrapped around the blade of his makeshift knife. Luckily for Tarun, he was a light sleeper, so when a puppy stepped on a shard of glass and mewled a little, he started to awake. Would it be in time, though?

A cannon fired, and several puppies screeched loudly. The camera first focused in on the glasses store, where Tarun barely managed to fend of the puppies. He stabbed one in between its shoulder blades and pushed it away from him. The puppy mewled, and all he had to do was throw shards of glass at the others, and they fled the glasses store. Tarun sighed, running his hand through his hair before deciding to try and unlock the door into the back room of the store.

Who had died then, Robina or Thay? The cameras centered on the food court, and they showed the slain remains of Thay, laying in a puddle of blood, his neck torn to shreds by the teeth of a rambunctious puppy mutt. Before they could feast too much, however, they were electrocuted out of the way so his corpse could be retrieved. Torcall and Carrera awoke to see Thay's tiny corpse be lifted away.

Thay Purcell, District 11 Male; 18th, Killed by puppy mutts, Day 2

How had Robina survived? Well, she had fallen asleep with ten inch, ruby red stilettos on her feet. She quickly unstrapped one of them, and lashed out with it as a puppy leaped at her. She screamed in horror as she gored one through the eye. The other two puppies scampered away in fear, and poor little Robina began to weep, fleeing the shoe store in a single heel, in hysterics. She ran into a nearby bathroom and settled down in one of the stalls in the women's side, weeping and sniffling quietly.

As the second day began, everyone waking up once Thay's cannon fired, much action started to take place. Vesuvius, Carrera and Torcall, and Isaku and Swell all went hunting, exploring the arena. Vesuvius was on the third floor, Carrera and Torcall on the second, and Isaku and Swell on the first. Wiress had worked through the night, and she kept on working tirelessly, the jumble of wires and metal scraps in front of her slowly starting to form some sort of coherent shape. Vary and Harpsichord woke up not from the cannon, put when Robina, crying and trying to figure out what to do, pressed the button for the elevator. It shot up, and they found her standing there. She wailed and fell to her knees. Vary looked at her warily, but Harpsichord was a religious and caring boy. He gathered the young girl in his arms, stroking her hair, as the elevator doors closed. Olive, bored, started searching the boutique she was residing in. She popped open the cashier's box and found a blowgun with six poisoned darts inside. She smiled grimly as she inspected the dart gun and inserted all six darts into the revolving chamber of the sleek, silvery, pistol-like instrument. Meanwhile, Mae gritted her teeth as she forced herself to break some of the jewelry. She sharpened the diamonds on the rings and fashioned a spiky garrote from a ruby necklace, and she covered her arms with sharp bracelets. She finished off the look by putting a pretty crown on her head.

Meanwhile, Abel had stayed up most of the night strumming on his banjo. He knew his days were numbered, and he wanted to enjoy one of the biggest pleasures in his life before he would die. As he played a luscious ballad piece that charmed the audience, grinning happily as he did so, Vesuvius crept past the music store, hanger in hand. He spotted signs of movement in the store; a knocked over row of music books where Abel had grabbed some music to play, and some crumbs from the granola bar Abel had discovered near the fountain and had eaten in the store. Vesuvius stalked further into the store, and he spotted Abel inside the soundproof music room, lost in his music as his fingers flew up and down, plucking at the strings and playing a complicated piece. He cracked open the door, ignoring how beautiful the music sounded, and he tackled Abel from his chair. The boy screamed in terror, and managed to wriggle out of Vesuvius's arms. He smashed the banjo down against Vesuvius's head, and the 2 boy roared in pain as Abel made a break for it. Vesuvius lunged, grabbing Abel's left ankle and pulling him to the ground. Abel squealed as Vesuvius smacked and punched him, and then he hooked the unwound coppery hanger around Abel's neck, pulling it tight. Abel flopped beneath the brutal 2 boy until there wasn't enough oxygen in his body. He slumped to the ground, and his cannon fired. Vesuvius, panting, stumbled to his feet and left the music store, leaving the wire hanger wrapped too tightly around the deceased 9 boy's neck.

Abel Cinty, District 9 Male; 17th, Killed by Vesuvius, Day 2

As Zealand had hoped, these Games quickly continued in pace and action. He would rather have a 6 day, burst-of-action Games like the 30th over something like Cyndala's Games. He had to admit she'd been masterful with her flim editing and her building of storylines, but he didn't think that her long, gradual build up could outweigh the punches he had in store that would come in such quick succession that the audience would have to rewatch the Games a dozen times to fully grasp them.

And so it was destined to be. Careers were hunting wildly still, with Carrera craving first blood and her companion Torcall willing to accompany her. Isaku and Swell waited for prey to come to them at the Cornucopia; they weren't about to leave the only source of traditional weaponry in the entire arena open for anyone to utilize. Vesuvius had made his first kill, and he felt a little dirty about how much he had enjoyed the feeling of Abel's life being sapped out as he had throttled him with the brass hanger. The first sponsor gift flew from the sky for Vesuvius; a pair of brass knuckles. He slid them on and resumed his prowl. And then there was Kedian, who was still so accosted by having an entire movie theater to himself that he wasn't hunting. He hadn't even realized it had been more than a couple of hours since the Games began, really.

Three more deaths were to occur on this second day. Zealand was considering breaking the time record for shortest Games, and he might be able to and still have a satisfying Games if he played his cards correctly. Only time would tell if his Games would be a success or a bust, for it was still early enough for an already good Games to swirl down the drain and turn pretty bad.

Olive's eyes were still locked on her dart gun as she crouched behind the counter of her boutique. She heard the slapping of footsteps against the tile near the entrance to the store she was hiding in, and she stiffened. She quickly made a beeline for her hiding place, a huge hamper with old, on sale clothing in it. She lurked at the bottom, basically suffocating until she heard her adversaries leave. In fact, it was a bloodthirsty Carrera, travelling all on her own. She and Torcall had split at an intersection and planned to meet up in ten minutes back there. Carrera slid into the store, bearing her only weapon; a butcher's knife she'd found in the back of the Asian food restaurant in the food court. She nibbled on her lip as she crept through the store, inspecting every nook and cranny. Olive just hoped that Carrera would not find her, holding her dart gun to her chest tightly.

Carrera strode over to the hamper after some time, and started sifting through the clothes. She was about to walk away when she saw a stray chocolate brown curl; Olive's curl. Carrera leaned forward to inspect, confused, and that was when Olive made her last, desperate attempt at survival. She quickly sat up and fired two darts in quick succession. Carrera screeched in pain, falling backwards. Out of instinct she ripped the darts from where they had imbedded themselves in her face; one on her right cheek, and the other below her left eye. She could feel her face going numb from the fast acting poison, and then sharp, stabbing pains accompanied by buzzing numbness as the poison flooded her veins. Carrera screeched her head off, and Olive sprinted out of the store as the girl succumbed to the poison.

Carrera Muñoz, District 4 Female; 16th, Killed by Olive, Day 2

Moments later, Olive ran into a worried looking Torcall, who had come running from his own inspection duties several stores down when he heard Carrera's frightened yelps of pain, her indignant gasps for help. He looked Olive right in the eyes and tackled her as she whimpered, punching her in the face once and then once again. Olive's dart gun went flying, but she managed to grab it as Torcall prepared to go in for the kill with his dagger. Olive squeezed the trigger, firing a small dart into Torcall's left calf. He grunted and then slammed his dagger downward, into the 11 girl's gut. She cried out in pain and began to sob as Torcall stabbed her thrice more until the tile beneath and around her was slick with dark red blood; her blood. Olive spasmed as she bled out, and Torcall stood, mouth set in an angry line, as her cannon fired.

Olive Joelle, District 11 Female; 15th, Killed by Torcall, Day 2

Torcall stood, drawing his dagger from dead Olive's chest. His left leg wobbled a little as he walked, and he quickly inspected the tiny pinprick of a wound from Olive's dart on his calf. He was shocked to see the dark blue poison already coursing through the veins on his leg. He had not clue what to do; did he wait for medicine? Did he hope that his body could beat the poison or whatever was in his bloodstream? Did he try and cut off his entire lower left leg below the knee?! Torcall hobbled over to the store across the corridor, a pastry shop. He had a feeling his moments were numbered, and he feasted on cream puffs, eclairs, and slices of carrot cake as his entire lower abdomen was filled with the poison. It crept upwards, and soon enough he was slumped across the glass counter, huffing out his last breaths as the poison reached his brain about an hour after Olive's dart had struck him. His cannon fired soon after his eyes fluttered closed.

Torcall Everett, District 12 Male; 14th, Killed by Olive, Day 2

Soon after that point, what could be considered late evening arrived, although there were no clearly defined mornings and nights in the always-lit arena. Isaku and Swell settled to rest for the night; no one had yet dared to venture into their Cornucopia fortress, which was well guarded by the two stronger tributes. Kedian continued his marathon of movies. He was realizing that he needed to get hunting soon, but he had actually yet to discover the exit from the massive theater, which was hidden in a recess behind a concession stand, so he was not entirely at fault for his inactivity. Vesuvius decided to rest after searching for some time, settling down in a store selling sports-themed merchandise. Wiress's fingers began to fumble as she seemed to be nearly complete with what was presumably a weapon. She'd finished two actually sophisticated looking black ovular objects, and two more were almost finished. However, she couldn't help herself, and she drifted off to sleep in the middle of painstakingly placing a small microchip in the third orb. Vary, Harpsichord, and Robina all still were huddled in the elevator. Vary was restless and wanted to go hunting and find Mae and Wiress, who they knew were still out there after the faces of Carrera, Abel, Olive, Thay, and Torcall were in the sky. However, Robina was in too of a fragile state to leave the elevator, and Harpsichord had connected with the girl and refused to leave her after they talked about their similar faiths, cradling her in his arms. Vary was becoming uneasy and antsy, and was considering deserting. Odele had fallen asleep sometime during the day in the midst of her piles of books, and when she woke up around midnight, she continued to avidly read. Tread was treating himself well in the spa; he had plenty of water, and he discovered some food in the back room. He slept in a suntan booth that was not turned on. Quentina was getting antsy, and she started to explore the department store, trying on clothes and smelling perfumes among other things. Eventually she started to wander towards the exit, and by the morning she would be so enamored with the mall that she'd keep walking. Tarun hid still in his glasses store, and was nearly discovered by Vesuvius before Vesuvius settled down in a store two down. Tarun breathed a sigh of relief and hid better. Mae was saddened to see her District partner in the sky that night, but she knew that all three of her allies (Vary, Wiress, and Harpsichord) were still out and about, and she was determined to find them tomorrow.

In the morning, Kedian woke up gradually. He'd fallen asleep in the theater with popcorn, candy, soda, and pretzels crumbs sprinkled everywhere like a violent tornado had swept through and thrown all of the trash in the room around. He woke up groggily, wiping his eyes with his hands. He dusted off his pants, brushing away copious amounts of crumbs and particles of different junk foods. He stretched, and looked up at the screen, which was rolling the credits of a romcom that he'd slept through most of. He had never gotten the allure of a heterosexual relationship. He perked up when the next movie came on. The title read Mutts: The Story of Hunger Games Muttations.

Kedian looked up, interested, as ex-Head Gamemaker Nadoia Brutt talked in depth about the mutts. He started to become bored as she entered her twentieth minute of talking about how the creatures were imagined and created, but he came back into attention when they started to show clips of each mutt. They started in the Second Games, where the hyenas tore apart the poor little girl from 4 viciously. That infamous scene, one of the most memorable from the first decade, spurred the proliferation of mutts. The rest passed in a half blur, Kedian entranced. The jaguar-sharks of the Third, ruthlessly murdering two. The infamous unicorns who slaughtered four tributes from the Fifth, along with the other creatures from the Fifth; tracker jackers, the dragon, and the primitive kraken. The cunning wolves of the Seventh. The kangaroos of the Eighth. Kedian began to question why this of all things was being shown, but he was too interested to care, munching on popcorn as he avidly watched. The polar bears of the Ninth, the coyotes of the Tenth and Twelfth, the deer-dogs of the Eleventh. The wolverines, the metal golems, the buzzards, and the fire bulls from the Thirteenth. The jaguars and the anacondas of the Fourteenth, and the bats of the Fifteenth. The alligators of the Sixteenth, the wolves of the Nineteenth, the pandas of the Twenty First, the eagles of the Twenty Third, and the stunning Avoxes of the First Quarter Quell (much time was spent on these). There were the spiders of the Twenty Sixth, the jaguars of the Twenty Eighth, the wolves from the Thirty First, and the giant venus flytraps and fire ants from the Thirty Second. It had been about an hour since it had started, and Kedian was not bored since it showed all the deaths these creatures had caused in every gory, heart rending detail. There were the murderous, massacring bulls and goats of the Thirty Fifth, the stunning Black Knights, King, and Queen mutts from the Thirty Sixth, and the robotic metal mutts from the Thirty Seventh. Following were the squirrels and hawks of the Thirty Ninth, the variety of rainforest life from the Forty First, the infamous banshees of the Forty Second, the stunning Kraken of the Forty Third, the crafty Newlywed Mutts from the Forty Fourth, and finally the frightening alligators from the Forty Fifth. Kedian was being lulled back to sleep around now that they were in the Games he was familiar with, but he was confused as something popped onto the screen as it turned blank white. It was a huge question mark, which quivered on the screen. Words appeared underneath it.

The mutts of the Forty Sixth Games?

Kedian didn't even have time to breathe. The screen burst open, and a good eight hundred humanoid mutts poured out of the gap, stampeding forward. He screamed as the giant crowd of Black Friday shopper mutts, dressed eccentrically, poured across him, stepping all over him. They all screamed about certain things they wanted to buy, shoving each other and running too fast. Feet purposefully smashed against his throat, and they trapped him against his chair as they advanced over his at feverish speeds. He tried to fight out, but when he stood, one of the mutts tried to dive over him. He just broke Kedian's left arm. Kedian screamed as even more of these mutts poured out, and before he knew it he was basically stampeded to death, his bones crushed and his windpipe flattened by the pounding feet of the now thousand or so Black Friday shoppers, who surged through the theater and out the exit into the rest of the arena.

Kedian Zaviere, District 1 Male; 13th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3

Quentina had set out from her department store (unfortunately close to the movie theater) earlier in the day to explore. As she jogged down a hallway to enter a small cafe and look around for something to eat and drink, she heard a nearby rumble and lots of shouts. She drew out the sponsor gift she'd received a couple of minutes earlier, a small hatchet, ready to face whatever tribute was running her way.

The moment she saw the tide of Black Friday Shoppers barreling down the hallway, surging out of the movie theater, she blanched, and her instincts forced her to turn tail and flee instead of hiding in one of the stores. The Black Friday Shoppers broke off, some of them running into stores and tearing them apart, searching for what they wanted to buy and, in a fashion, hiding tributes. But most of them continued to sprint forward, and they were quickly gaining on Quentina. Finally, she reached a dead end, and she had to face the onslaught. She managed to slam her hatchet into the stomach of the first that lunged at her, killing the plump woman-like mutt. The second, a wiry man wearing too much cologne, grabbed her hair and slammed her onto the ground. She cut off his left leg below the knee and tried to get to her feet, but hundreds of fingers had already hooked onto her clothes. She screamed as they tossed her in the air and slammed her against walls. She began to weep, her hatchet long gone, left behind on the floor when they picked her up. They threw her around for several minutes until one smash into a wall broke her neck. Her corpse slid to the floor as her cannon fired, and the mutts that had killed Quentina sped off to search for more victims, while their brethren had already moved down more of the hallways and destroyed more of the stores in their hungry, relentless rush.

Quentina Herald, District 7 Female; 12th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3

Odele heard a faint rumbling outside of her door. She set down the steamy antique novel, one of Zealand's wife's favorites. She'd discovered it on one the back shelves, her cheeks still tinted red after she realized that the whole country saw her reading a harlequin work of fiction. But she didn't think she had much more time to live, and the book was engrossing, so she read it anyway. She'd always been curious as to how sex worked, anyway. She threw the book down, picked up a few others, and quickly made a break for the tiny back room, which was a blank white room with a safe and a folding chair inside it. She slammed the door shut and locked it, and just in time. Soon after, the tide of Black Friday Shopper mutts flooded into the bookstores, throwing down bookshelves and rending books useless as they tore them to tiny scraps. Odele was horrified as she listen to the havoc outside, wondering how even the other ten tributes left in the arena could cause such overwhelming chaos. They soon rushed towards her door, slamming their fists against it and try to get in. Odele began to sob quietly as the doorknob rattled dangerously. There was a loud crack, and Odele curled up in the back corner of the room, preparing for death. She looked up after a minute, and realized that whoever was on the other side (the mutts) had broken off the knob. Soon enough they were gone, and Odele sprinted forward, slamming her shoulder against the door. The knob was gone, but the door's locking mechanism was still triggered, and Odele was trapped. She sagged against the wall and slid to the floor, trying not to cry. Instead, she picked up one of the books she'd grabbed and tried to calm herself by reading, but it was useless. She was trapped in a tiny room with no food and water, and to top it off the poor girl was claustrophobic. She curled up in the fetal position and rocked herself to sleep.

Vary, Harpsichord, and Robina were still camped out in their elevator. Vary and Harpsichord had gotten into an argument minutes earlier, as the mutts had overwhelmed the bookstore, over whether or not they should go search for Wiress and Mae. Robina refused to leave the relative safety of the elevator due to the fact that it was well hidden and easily defensible, and her constitution was not strong enough to warrant a journey out into the dangerous mall. Vary was restless, and he needed to go search for the girls. He had gone to school with Wiress, and knew that she was insanely smart although she was weak and slow and had done poorly in training, and he knew she could help them make it to the end. He'd also formed a good friendship with Mae, and couldn't stand the thought of her or Wiress all alone in the arena while he was here with company. Harpsichord was trapped in the middle; part of him knew that he should go find his allies with Vary, but he'd become attached to Robina and thought it would be sinful to leave her there to fend for herself. Eventually, Harpsichord announced that he was staying, and Vary and Harpsichord had argued. Now Vary had packed his meager share of their belongings before he opened the doors of the elevator and stormed off. Robina seemed relieved for the tension to be gone, but Harpsichord looked worried and rueful. He held Robina closer to his chest, hoping his friend would be alright.

It was not to be. Vary Laird traipsed out of the elevator, which was only a good three hundred feet down the hallway from Odele's getaway, the bookstore. There was a small hallway between the elevator and the mall hallway, which was closed off by a set of doors. Vary opened them and quickly closed them behind himself before looking around. Robina and Harpsichord were still securely hidden. Moments later, a swell of Black Friday Shopper mutts crashed into him. He screamed hoarsely as they crushed him underfoot as if he were a tiny insect beneath the toe of a giant. He spasmed and tried to fight to his feet, but he could not, and he died in a similar way to Kedian and Quentina before him, obliterated to bits practically by the pawing hands and feet of the eager shoppers.

Vary Laird, District 3 Male; 11th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3

A majority of the other tributes were safe. Vesuvius saw the tide coming from a distance, and he managed to lock himself in the backroom of a clothing store before the mutts reached him. Tread, Tarun, and Mae were already locked in their back rooms for safety reasons, so they were a little scared when the mutts came knocking, but they managed through it. All three of their door knobs were broken in the same fashion as Odele's. However, Tread's and Mae's unlocked rather easily after they jiggled around the now exposed lock system, something Odele had neglected to think of. And Tarun, using his strength, had bashed an opening in the wooden door with the sizable iron safe once the mutts were gone. That left Isaku, Swell, and Wiress to still face these terrifying mutts.

Isaku and Swell were camped out still at the Cornucopia. The mutts had bashed through five of the spokes on a majority of the floors, but they had neglected to visit the central chamber yet, where the golden Horn sparkled and two of the most formidable tributes in the Games laid in wait. They swarmed there as a second to last stop before attacking the sixth spoke, where Wiress's fortified tech store was located.

Isaku was sharpening a sword she'd been practicing with out of boredom at the mouth of the Horn when she heard the rumble. Swell was getting a little shuteye further back inside the Horn, and his soft snores drifted up to Isaku's ears. She knew the noise could be nothing good. She was brave, but she was also smart, and she knew something in an arena that could make that violent and loud of a sound from a distance was too dangerous for her to face. She stood, packed a pack, and grabbed two shurikens along with her nunchucks before running off down the fourth spoke, leaving Swell. Isaku had promised herself and her parents that she would desert the pack at the Top 12 before she went into the Games, and now they were already at the Top 10 due to the multitude of close together deaths from the Black Friday Shopper mutts. She was good buddies with Swell, but it was him or her, and Isaku was a Career after all, and she would stick true to her strategy.

Swell woke up too late to be saved. He sat up in the Horn, stretching his arms, calling out for Isaku. He looked around groggily, confused as to where his ally from 1 was. He stumbled out of the Cornucopia, weaponless, yelling loudly for Isaku. By this point, she was too far away to hear his cries. By the time her turned around from searching behind the Horn, he saw the rush of Black Friday Shoppers. He wiped the sleep from his eyes and picked up his infamous bladed whip as the mutts raged forwards to him.

With three cracks of his whip, he killed two and sent three flying. He managed to hold his own for a good two minutes, flicking away the onslaught rather admirably as they crowded around him, trying to tear him down and pulverize him. One mutt, however, grabbed onto the end of his whip and tugged forcefully. It flew from his hands after a short tug of war game, and then they were on top of him, under him, and on the sides of him, kicking and scratching and stamping. He went quietly, not putting up a fight or making much noise as he was trampled and squashed to death.

Swell Hegar, District 4 Male; 10th, Killed by Black Friday Shopper mutts, Day 3

And then the only tribute left to face the mutts was Wiress Furuya. The mutts raced down the hallways, searching avidly for her, some even frothing at the mouths as they sped forward recklessly. Meanwhile, Wiress was putting the finishing touches on her fourth shiny black ovular device, and the moment she closed off the last wire, she heard the faint tremble of the crowd rushing forth. The next four minutes that would ensue would be marked as one of the best defining moments of the first century of the Games. No one can call themselves a Games fan without being able to describe the following events in detail.

Wiress picked up two of her black orbs. In completion, they were seamless and sleek, excepting a small black rod imbedded in the side, with a small piece sticking out of the device. She was ready to make her first memorable stand, be it against a tribute or a mutt or a natural-ish disaster. She was a timid and reserved girl, but she wanted to show the sponsors and the Gamemakers what her orbs could do so they would let her possibly win and so they would hopefully sponsor her. Goddamit, did they sponsor her.

She stepped out into the hallway to see the first of hundreds of the Black Friday Shopper mutts turning the corner, their already quick pace increasing rapidly as they locked their sights upon Wiress. Her hands shook a little as she pocketed one of the orbs and held up the second in front of her chest. She waited until the mutts were a good thirty feet from her before she pulled the rod out of the device.

Wiress Furuya might have been weak and slow and not athletic at all, but her father loved baseball, and she sure did know how to lob a ball like a pro.

The makeshift grenade soared through the air, exploding as it entered the thick of the onslaught of rushing mutts. The next moments were pure horror mixed with amazement, and they've been slowed down and rewatched countless times. Hundreds of bodies of the Black Friday Shopper mutts were obliterated as the huge, rippling waves of fire and debris from the grenade's explosion consumed them. The explosion fractured the floor (the second floor) in that area, causing a part of it to collapse as at least four hundred bodies were torched and destroyed. Limbs and blood and ash choked the air, flying around at random, and Wiress's eyes glinted with a hint of strange enjoyment as she chucked her second grenade, wiping out the second wave of mutts. This second grenade was even stronger, and more of the mall collapsed as every last Black Friday Shopper mutt was obliterated by two smallish metal orbs fashioned by a little 3 girl who'd scored a 4. The ensuing storm of body parts, gore, and busted up chunks of the mall soared through the air, causing even more damage. Wiress dodged a fiery dismembered head, dropping the second pin from the second grenade on the ground. The flames sizzled across the thousand-odd corpses, and all Wiress did was walk back in her tech shop, luckily still intact, and pull down the metal grate. It was an awesome moment as the floor continued to cave more so.

It was not an awesome moment for all, however. Where the floor had collapsed, onto the first floor, was a series of at least two dozen stores. After the mutts had moved on from his store, Tread had packed up his stuff to look for a safer place to hide for the rest of the Games. The Black Friday Shoppers had already vacated the first floor of the sixth spoke at that point after finding it empty of tributes, and Tread was happy to find the safe store. He locked himself in the back room, which had a good locking system since, well, it was a giant safe, since it was a safe store. He'd found the code to get in inside the cashier's box. Soon after he locked himself in, the floor above him collapsed from the repercussions of Wiress's grenades. He was piled under tons of debris, and he slowly started to suffocate in the small, boxy safe-like room he'd trapped himself in now that there was no way out. About thirty minutes after the last debris had settled from Wiress's explosions, he was suffocated to death.

Tread Courty, District 6 Male; 9th, Killed by Wiress and Suffocation, Day 3

That left the Top 8 on a staggering 3rd day at the evening. They were Isaku Adachi of District 1, Vesuvius Coama of District 2, Wiress Furuya of District 3, Odele Callow of District 6, Tarun Penn of District 7, Harpsichord Bevel of District 8, Robina Caite of District 10, and Mae Lyndon of District 12.

Vesuvius continued on his prowl once he had heard the far of series of intense cracks and the multitude of screams from the Black Friday Shoppers dying out fully. Already at the Top 8, and Vesuvius was determined to get at least one more kill in before the finale. He didn't want to be a joke Victor from 2 who only scored 2 kills or something pathetic like that. He perked up when he heard a rasping breathing from one of the stores, and he licked his chops as he jogged over to the hairstylist shop where the pained noises were coming from. He stumbled into the smallish store to find a Black Friday Shopper mutt laying on the ground missing its left arm and the rest of its body extremely burned up from the explosion. The woman, who was smaller with shiny black hair, tried to attack Vesuvius but failed. That last exertion of energy did her in, and she died. Vesuvius sighed and headed back out for the hunt.

Robina and Harpsichord were still reclining in their elevator hideout. They were saddened to see Vary's face in the sky that night, but they felt safe and comfortable for the time being. Harpsichord even managed to coax some giggles and a little bit of a smile from jumpy, timid Robina. The two were really bonding, especially over their shared religion and their similar backgrounds (rich kids trying to break their stereotypes), and they were helping each other discover their own selves. It was a really cute relationship, and they became pretty popular in the Capitol for their sweet, cutesy relationship.

Wiress watched the influx of sponsor gifts pile up outside of her store in roves. Screws, mechanical pieces and parts, tools, hell, even the frame of a grenade launcher. When Wiress saw the launcher's frame, she swept it up along with the other supplies and began to work feverishly to outfit the frame with everything it would need. She also deconstructed the two bigger grenades she'd already built to make several more smaller ones that would fit into the grenade launcher. Her eyes were alight; this was her dream, to invent and build, and she was getting to live it while she managed to live another day.

The morning of the fourth day, it seemed like things were going pretty well overall, and that the Games might slow down to where they would end at the 8th to 10 th day mark, as usually happened with Games that started out with such a strong, heady start. This would not be the case, however. Zealand didn't want there to be a lull in the middle; they were already at the Top 8, historically the place where all the action picked up and the emotions and all began to crescendo. It wasn't a question of when the finale would come for him; it was a question of how powerful it would be.

Isaku got to hunting right in the morning, traipsing down the hallways eagerly, ready to extinguish these Games as soon as possible. Her family was waiting back at home expectantly, and she knew that. She wanted to show that she didn't have to be a blond bimbo to do well and win the Games, and to break the stereotypes that plagued 1 like the Black Friday Shopper mutts had plagued the tributes. It was a miracle, really, that she'd been picked, and she was determined to show them that they hadn't made a mistake by becoming the first female Victor from 1 since the 31st Games with Ivelisse. She furthered her hopeful legacy once she happened upon a certain jewelry store, where Mae was sitting at the glass counter, sharpening one of her rings so it would be more deadly. Isaku, lean and agile, crouched down and crept into the store like a whisper. Mae didn't even realize that Isaku was there until the first shuriken dug into her right shoulder. She shrieked, leaping over the counter in the direction that she thought was away from Isaku. However, she ran right into Isaku. She brought up her fist instinctively, and she scoured her rings across Isaku's face, leaving behind pretty deep, bloody scrapes. Isaku roared in a rage, kicking Mae in the stomach before slamming her palm violently across Mae's temple. The girl went out cold, and Isaku slid off one of the girl's sharpened rings and stabbed her in the throat with it.

Mae Lyndon, District 12 Female; 8th, Killed by Isaku, Day 4

Meanwhile, Odele was going half insane, trapped in her little white walled room with no way to get out. She fruitlessly tried to smash open the door with the safe, but she could not even lift it an inch above the ground. She started to pick at the lock mechanism, but she just broke it and made the whole situation worse. She began to shake and randomly say things, and to the poor girl it felt as if she'd been trapped in the room for a year as a opposed to a day.

Vesuvius continued his avid hunting spree, checking every single store he came across. It was easier to search, as many of the hiding places had been destroyed by the Black Friday Shopper mutts. He kicked through piles of debris and other things, searching for his next victim. As he was walking down the hallway after exiting searching one of the bathroom complexes, a little disgusted by the terrible state the facilities were in, he saw a small scrap of toilet paper in the space between the bathroom doors and a weird set of push doors that weren't on a store front. It was a little weird, and Vesuvius walked towards the doors and pushed them open gingerly. All that was revealed was a stubby little hallway, and a set of metal elevator doors.

Vesuvius jogged down the small corridor and pressed the open button. The doors slid open seamlessly, revealing Harpsichord and Robina, cuddling together on the floor of the elevator, with eyes wide open in utter fear. Robina screeched and chucked her other heel at Vesuvius, and it clinked against his shin. He cursed a little, and lunged forward to go in for the kill, determined to narrow down the field to the Top 5.

Harpsichord, however, had different ideas. He prayed that his God would let him into Heaven as he lunged forward in turn, stunning Vesuvius enough to make his take a few steps back. That was all the time that distraught Robina needed to close the doors and have the elevator go down to the first floor, where she ran down the hallway in search of a new hiding spot, suppressing her tears.

Meanwhile, Harpsichord yelled in fury as he spat and slapped at Vesuvius as he punched back with his brass knuckles. Harpsichord began praying the Hail Mary as Vesuvius threw him against the wall and peppered him with dozens of punches. One landed on his throat, and Harpsichord squeaked as his windpipe began to collapse. Vesuvius threw a few more punches at Harpsichord's throat until his cannon fired, and then he stalked out of the hallway, leaving the corpse there. Hopefully Robina would be able to do well off of Harpsichord's heartfelt sacrifice.

Harpsichord Bevel, District 8 Male; 7th, Killed by Vesuvius, Day 4

Robina sprinted down the tile hallway, hyperventilating and wiping away a few tears. She had no clue how she was still alive. A small parachute drifted towards her, and she nabbed it out of the air before running into the nearest room, a daycare full of dozens of climbing structures with plenty of places to hide. Once she settled in a tunnel in the biggest jungle gym, high above the ground and hidden from sight, she cracked open the parachute to reveal a pair of metal stilettos with detachable heels that popped out into blades. Someone really liked the tiny girl, and their gift showed. Robina thanked them profusely as she slid on the stilettos.

Isaku decided that she'd done enough for the day by killing Mae. She liked the girl's strategy of using the jewelry as a weapon, and she took all of her rings and put them on her own hands. She also took a coronet that she snapped some tiny blade like protrusions off of, just in case she needed another weapon at the last moment. She put the half splintered coronet on her head and marched forth, ready to fight anyone she came across.

Vesuvius approached a certain glasses store a couple of hours later, as Day 4 began its downward slope, at around two or three P.M. for a normal day. Tarun was reclined behind the counter, toying with the small makeshift dagger he'd created, testing its fine point against his fingertip. He heard the scuff of Vesuvius's feet against the tile, and he sat upright, alert. He quickly came up with a distraction, gathering a handful of glass shards from the ground. He popped up and chucked them into Vesuvius's face, who was a mere five feet away. Vesuvius screeched, and Tarun ran around him, sprinting off before Vesuvius could recover and catch him. Vesuvius cursed and tried to find where they boy had gone, but it was no use. Tarun had escaped.

Meanwhile, Odele was having a panic attack, trapped in her little room. She was crying profusely, unable to stop. She'd torn up the books she'd brought into the room with her, and thrown around the metal folding chair several times in a rage. She crawled over to the door, where a few pieces of brass had fallen out of the locking mechanism when she had broken it further trying to free herself. She found a sharper piece, splintered off that way. After taking a deep breath, she buried the shard in her left wrist and dug a deep line. She screamed, and repeated the process on the opposite wrist, before slumping on the ground. Blood leaked out of her body, and about an hour later she bled out in that pitiful little room.

Odele Callow, District 6 Female; 6th, Suicide, Day 4

Tarun decided to find a place to settle down. He found the exact same daycare center that Robina had settled in several hours earlier. Robina heard his approach, and she curled up in her little plastic tube, keeping her breathing quiet. He settled in a smaller jungle gym on the opposite side of the expansive daycare, not realizing that the demure 10 girl was also hiding in the same area. Robina remained on alert while Tarun drifted off to sleep inside a tube slide.

The final death of the day happened later, around nine or ten at night. On the third floor, the paths of the only two remaining Careers intersected. Vesuvius was still on the prowl for more victims, and Isaku was leaving her resting place for the night, a deserted pet store, to go to the bathroom in one of the bathroom complexes. Their eyes met, and Isaku drew out her multitude of weapons while Vesuvius took on his fighting stance, raising his fists.

The fight was clearly won from the start. After all, Isaku was better armed. She leaped forward, throwing both shurikens at once. One hit each shoulder, and Vesuvius staggered, coughing throatily before lunging himself, his fists just barely missing Isaku's face. She quickly responded with a sudden kick to his groin. Vesuvius doubled over, groaning in pain, and Isaku finished the job, slamming her sharpened ring studded fingers into his throat thrice until it was a goopy, gory mess. She drew back, shaking the flesh and blood from her hand as Vesuvius spasmed and rattled out his last breath.

Vesuvius Coama, District 2 Male; 5th, Killed by Isaku, Day 4

The next morning would be the last of these Games. Yes, these Games would break the 30th's record of being the shortest Games ever, and the record would not be broken for a substantial period of time, although it would be broken at a certain point in the future. Our four contenders were Isaku Adachi of District 1, Wiress Furuya of District 3, Tarun Penn of District 7, and Robina Caite of District 10.

Isaku was a little shaken by her fight with Vesuvius the night prior, but she also felt confident. Her biggest threat was out of the Games. She just had to carefully exterminate the last three Outliers, and she'd be done. She wasn't overconfident; she knew these three Outliers had to have some grit to still be kicking, but she believed she could beat them all out if needed, and she vowed that she would return home soon.

Wiress had slaved over her new weapon for the entire day, and that morning it was closed to being finished, with the entire launcher and half of the six grenades finished. She was smiling grimly; only four tributes left, and she had the weapon to trump all weapons. She wasn't going to get cocky or overconfident, but she was exhilarated because she was realizing that she was in the Top 4 with a grenade launcher, for Snow's sake, so she actually had a good shot of going home.

Robina woke up early in the morning and crept out of her jungle gym soundlessly, removing the heel blades from her metal stilettos. She crept towards the jungle gym where Tarun slept still. He did so silently, and it took her a moment to locate the much bigger and much stronger boy. She stood over him for a moment, biting her lip, before plunging both blades down into his abdomen at the same time. Tarun sat up screaming, and he lashed out, punching Robina in the face. She squealed and ran away, dashing out of the daycare, as Tarun spasmed and eventually bled out excruciatingly slowly a couple of hours later.

Tarun Penn, District 7 Male; 4th, Killed by Robina, Day 5

As Robina sprinted out of the daycare, light up neon signs starting popping out of the ground, pointing her towards the Cornucopia. She stopped, crossing her arms, and she was shocked by the Gamemakers. She whimpered, and when she was shocked again, she gasped and fell to the ground, crawling forward to escape the jolting pain. She stumbled towards the Cornucopia while Isaku and Wiress underwent similar processes. The finale had arrived.

Robina reached the Cornucopia first, having been the closest originally. She ran into the Horn and huddled in the back. Isaku was not far behind. She was on the escalator, going from the third floor to the second, when she saw Robina duck into the Cornucopia. She quickly sped down the second to first escalator, and then her feet pattered against the tile as she raced towards the Cornucopia to finish Robina.

Meanwhile, Wiress had paused on the edge of the circular room, her grenade launcher in her hands. Her finger rested on the trigger, and all of her grenades were loaded. She checked everything to make sure that the thing wouldn't backfire, wreathed by shadows, as Isaku crept around the backside of the Horn, sneaking up on a now hyperventilating Robina. Robina's little fists were wrapped tight around her stiletto blades, which were still stained with Tarun's blood.

The following moments were rather epic. Isaku leapt around into the mouth of the Horn, shouting "SURPRISE!" while Robina shrieked in utter fear. And at that moment, Wiress aimed at the mouth of the Horn and squeezed the trigger once, twice, thrice, four times, five times, six times in rapid succession. She shielded her eyes as the golden Horn and the two tributes inside it went up in a torrent of golden flame. Burning debris flew against her skin, and she huddled on the floor as two cannons boomed almost simultaneously; Isaku's was just moments before Robina's due to the fact that she was closer to the point of explosion.

Isaku Adachi, District 1 Female; 3rd, Killed by Wiress, Day 5

Robina Caite, District 10 Female; 2nd, Killed by Wiress, Day 5

"Wiress Furuya, you are the Victor of the 46th Hunger Games!" Caesar and Claudius shouted into the arena giddily as Wiress bit her lit nervously, watching the barely intact remains of the half melted Cornucopia and its supplies smolder, realizing that she had survived the Hunger Games.


Aftermath

Wiress made the welcome fourth addition to 3's impressive line up of Victors, the first new one in 13 years. Wiress's win showed a new progression of 3 tributes that had been spurred by Calculata and Beetee; they were becoming more technologically knowledgeable, and more likely to be contenders than Bloodbath fodder, although many would still fall in the opening minutes. 3 was no longer on the shortlist of the weakest Districts with places like 6, 8, 9, 10ish, and 12. Wiress was heralded as one of the more extraordinary Victors from the first half century, but due to her timidness and how little time she spent in the Capitol, she faded out of popularity within fifteen years as the Capitol moved onto other Victors, even though Wiress and her Games were definitely better than most others. Wiress was a little insane after her Games, not anything like Pomona, but she had some mental health issues that she needed to work out. She would heal with the help of her levelheaded husband. She was never prostituted because she wasn't that pretty or desirable. She was the type of tribute one likes to root for, not lust for.

Wiress would live to age 80, dying from old age some time after the 113th Hunger Games. She would marry Beetee despite the bit of an age gap after some time, and they would have twin sons together.

The payouts on her Victory were pretty great, as only about .19% bet on her.

Her Victory Tour was a little lackluster and clunky, but since she was so popular it didn't really matter how she spoke, she just needed to be seen.

Fun Fact: Wiress is the first tribute to ever create a gun-like object in the Games.


Victor's News

Wiress moves into the Victor's Village of District 3, in the house next to Beetee's.

Surge marries his best childhood friend, Herman "Herm" Keller. They would take Surge's surname.

Zion marries a girl named Lucretie Spangell.

Porter marries her boyfriend, Bram Issile, after she becomes pregnant with their first son. He is born two months before the 47th Games, and then name him after his grandfather, Dillon.


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)

17th: Jaguar Crusoe, District 10 (2, 1 Male)

18th: Deana Mitchellson, District 9 (2, 1 Female)

19th: Romulus Armidale, District 2 (2, 1 Male)

20th: Grover Elms, District 7 (2, 1 Male)

21st: Fitore Renoro, District 2 (3, 2 Male)

22nd: Mascara Curler, District 1 (4, 2 Female)

23rd: Woof Parsons, District 8 (1, 1 Male)

24th: Dorsal Rance, District 4 (4, 2 Male)

25th: Venice Grammar, District 12 (1, 1 Female)

26th: Calculata Fenceley, District 3 (2, 1 Female)

27th: Florianna Urnston, District 2 (4, 2 Female)

28th: Mercedes Benson, District 6 (2, 1 Female)

29th: Fox Rennolls, District 5 (3, 1 Male)

30th: Tarquinius Isselhardt, District 2 (5, 3 Male)

31st: Ivelisse Horner, District 1 (5, 3 Female)

32nd: Pomona McCrea, District 7 (3, 2 Female)

33rd: Beetee Latier, District 3 (3, 2 Male)

34th: Flotsam Bresten, District 4 (5, 3 Male)

35th: Organza White, District 8 (2, 1 Female)

36th: Januaria Shale, District 2 (6, 3 Female)

37th: Gnaeus Deccum, District 2 (7, 4 Male)

38th: Porter Tripp, District 5 (4, 3 Female)

39th: Seeder Howell, District 11 (3, 2 Female)

40th: Zion Alvarra, District 1 (6, 3 Male)

41st: Indigo Arnett, District 6 (3, 2 Female)

42nd: Surge Tomlin, District 5 (5, 2 Male)

43rd: Syren Calanthe, District 4 (6, 3 Female)

44th: Brutus Asesino, District 2 (8, 5 Male)

45th: Chaff Abwenza, District 11 (4, 2 Male)

46th: Wiress Furuya, District 3 (4, 2 Female)


A/N: I had a great idea for this arena and Games, and I hope I executed it very well! I got it out relatively quick because I was just so excited to write these Games. I hope you guys enjoyed them, and I'd love to hear what you have to say!

I guess I sort of "spoiled" the canon Victors again, but I love Wiress so I just had to! XD What did you think of her secret weapon? Who was your favorite besides Wiress? I didn't even intend this to be only 5 days, it just flowed like that.

This is the longest chapter BY FAR, and its also the shortest Games time wise yet omg xD. It's around 13,000 words, which is around 4,000 more than the second longest one. INSANE!

I was going to post a poll to see who you guys thought was better, Cyndala or Zealand, to see who should get the job, but I think Zealand definitely did the better job omg XD

Next Games, we do not have a canon Victor for the first time in forever! So I'll actually get to keep you on your toes about the Victor, not just about who will be runner up ;)

Please review, I'd love to hear your thoughts on what could be the best one yet!

Until Next Time,

Tracee