THE TWENTY SIXTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Labyrinth"
INTRODUCTION
President Coriolanus Snow was disgusted at the outcome of his mighty Quarter Quell. After Diamond Griego pulled her little stunt the year prior, Coriolanus commanded that labor quotas for District 1 be doubled. That was exactly what happened, and food imports to District 1 nearly halved. Snow finally loosened his iron grip on the luxury district as the twenty-sixth annual Hunger Games rolled around. The first order of business for Snow was to execute Head Gamemaker Leto Spitz for allowing such an act of rebellion and defiance to play out under his watch. This left, vacated, the position of Head Gamemaker. Rising to the occasion was Estella Whited. Snow appointed Estella as head gamemaker because of her creativity and her artistic eye. Estella appointed her own team of roughly fifty gamemakers, and construction of the twenty-sixth Hunger Games' arena began.
The career alliance this year consisted of five members, a deviation from the typical number of six. District 1 produced a brother-sister pair, beautiful as always. They both fancied sword-fighting, and their impeccable skills with the sword scored them both tens. The boy also was the fastest runner in the entire academy, and he was your typical all-in-it-for-the-honor career. His sister, on the other hand, was a much more precise and deliberate killer. She looked dainty and weak on the outside, but really she was a sociopathic murderer. She liked to play with her food before she ate it, and she was willing to draw out her kills as long as possible. Her dangerous, edgy, and almost bipolar attitude as well as her talents with the sword and knife scored her a ten along with her brother. District 2's pair was dangerously strong and powerful as always. The District 2 male was the son of two peacekeeper parents. They taught him everything that they knew to help prepare him for the games. That, coupled with the fact that he attended the academy since the age of nine, made him the single most powerful tribute in the games. The District 2 female certainly faded into the background in terms of her position in the careers. Even though she earned a ten, she had a small and petite form. This was a hiding advantage for her, but it also made her weaker. The two District 4 tributes were much less impressive than their fellow careers from 1 and 2. The boy was only sixteen, and he only earned a nine. He was by far the fastest runner out of all of the tributes, and his endurance and agility were stellar. The District 4 female, Galatea Feany, did not earn a slot in the career alliance. She had not trained at the academy at all. In fact, she was one of District 4's poorest residents. She volunteered into the games with hopes of winning and helping her family escape the clutches of poverty.
Outside of the careers, the training scores were remarkably high. The notable example of this was District 7's Fabian Eubanks, who used an axe to slice and slash and bludgeon his way up to a nine. Silvana from 7 and Dalton from 10 scored eights. Sevens were earned by Ossie and Gisele from 9, Rubin from 10, and Chantelle from 12. The rest of the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were no volunteers besides the careers and Galatea. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Romeo Frondel, 18, (10) 7-1 and Juliet Frondel, 18, (10) 8-1
District 2: Thor Rosner, 18, (10) 6-1 and Hestia Severence, 17, (10) 11-1
District 3: Taliesin Devegvar, 13, (3) 77-1 and Mazarine Peters, 16, (5) 25-1
District 4: Dock Rinker, 16, (9) 14-1 and Galatea Feany, 17, (4) 26-1
District 5: Idris Thernstrom, 17, (6) 20-1 and Oriane Loats, 18, (4) 25-1
District 6: Antonio Rendon, 18, (4) 30-1 and Agripina Alves, 16, (4) 24-1
District 7: Fabian Eubanks, 17, (9) 13-1 and Silvana Layman, 18, (8) 15-1
District 8: Colton Schmitz, 15, (3) 50-1 and Chassidy Keaton, 17, (5) 24-1
District 9: Ossie Harman, 15, (7) 16-1 and Giselle Zaragoza, 18, (7) 15-1
District 10: Dalton Michaud, 18, (8) 14-1 and Rubin Gamble, 18, (7) 15-1
District 11: Marcelino Quarles, 17, (6) 17-1 and Carmina Mckee, 17, (6) 17-1
District 12: Venice Gatewood, 12, (3) 110-1 and Chantelle Noyes, 18, (7) 16-1
THE GAMES
The arena was a rectangular shape, a new concept; every single arena prior had been a circle. On the right side of the arena sat the cornucopia. Made of dark-blue stones that had been worn down by wind and time, the cornucopia towered above the twenty-four pedestals. The cornucopia housed four kinds of weapons: machetes, spears, knives, and bows. Machetes and spears were presented in the most plentiful numbers, and there was no shortage of them. Past the cornucopia, the arena was a huge maze made of sun-baked brick. The walls of the maze stretched to the sky. The maze would shift and move constantly, making it impossible for any tribute to set up a permanent shelter. Every night at midnight, a pack of mutts would be released after the tributes that would not give up until they saw blood. Surrounding the entire arena was a tundra. Completely bare, the tundra was broiling hot in morning and biting cold at night. It was a great accomplishment for Estella, especially given that she was the youngest Head Gamemaker in the first Hunger Games century at just over thirty years old.
The cool morning wind whipped and snapped in the tribute's ears as they rose up into the arena atop their pedestals. Out of the twenty-four tributes, only one would come out alive. Time would tell who that would be.
When the gong rang, one tribute turned tail and fled the bloodbath: Mazarine from 3. Back at the cornucopia, Dock proved his speed to the audience. He raced across the stone ground as fast as his legs could carry him, and he reached the bounty of supplies nearly twice as fast as the others. Dock swept up a throwing knife that lay in a cluster of grass about thirty yards from his pedestal. Dock turned sharply on his heel and flung the knife into the neck of the nearest boy. The knife cut into the boy's tender flesh as he collapsed to the ground, gurgling as blood pooled up in his mouth.
Antonio Rendon, District 6 Male: 24th, Killed by Dock, Bloodbath
Juliet, another fast runner, swept up a throwing axe that sat on a shelf inside of the cobalt-blue cornucopia. The career emerged from the cornucopia's mysterious darkness and into the clearing, itching to get down to business. Juliet hurled the throwing axe through the air, and it disemboweled the petite boy that was standing mere yards away. The blow knocked him off of his feet, and he landed on the ground a few feet behind, blood exploding from his body.
Taliesin Devegvar, District 3 Male: 23rd, Killed by Juliet, Bloodbath
Hestia was quick on her feet when she spotted a bow and arrow waiting for her on a shelf inside of the cornucopia. She ran to retrieve it. She threw the quiver of arrows over her shoulder and locked her fingers around one of the arrows, pulling back the bowstring. Hestia aimed for the nearest girl, but missed. Cursing under her breath, Hestia nocked her second arrow. Hestia's second arrow struck lucky, and the arrow lodged itself into the girl's chest and protruded from her back. She slumped like a stone amidst an explosion of scarlet, the first female to die in the games.
Agripina Alves, District 6 Female: 22nd, Killed by Hestia, Bloodbath
Romeo was in business when he spotted a knife and canteen of water right in front of the cornucopia's yawning mouth. Romeo threw the water into his pack and brandished his knife. He pounced upon the nearest girl. She was completely cut down by Romeo within seconds, the wizard with the knife that he was.
Giselle Zaragoza, District 9 Female: 21st, Killed by Romeo, Bloodbath
Thor's eager fingers locked around a curved sword that he found deep within the darkness of the cornucopia. Thor ran outside of the cornucopia and found himself mere yards from the two District 11 tributes—allies. The career cleaved apart their frames with ease, and once they were in ribbons Thor wiped off his bloodstained sword with his shirt.
Marcelino Quarles, District 11 Male: 20th, Killed by Thor, Bloodbath
Carmina McKee, District 11 Female: 19th, Killed by Thor, Bloodbath
District 7's Fabian sighed with relief when he found an axe at his feet. He leaned over and picked up the weapon, holding it high above his head and bringing it down upon a nearby boy. His head was split in half, killing him immediately.
Idris Thernstrom, District 5 Male: 18th, Killed by Fabian, Bloodbath
Romeo's knife whizzed quietly through the air toward its target: the strong and handsome District 10 boy who had attracted the attention of many sponsors. The sharp edge of the blade lodged itself into his shoulder. Romeo ran over and beat him the rest of the way to death, raising his knife in triumph once he was sure that he was dead.
Dalton Michaud, District 10 Male: 17th, Killed by Romeo, Bloodbath
Thor, the strongest career, went for Fabian from 7. But, Fabian would not go down without a fight. He ran out of the way and thrust his axe toward Thor's shoulder. Thor rebutted Fabian's blow, attempting to knock his weapon out of his grasp. Their duel was long, and Fabian certainly had the advantage because his weapon had a long handle and could smack aside any scattered blows from Thor's sword. However, Fabian was so distracted that it was easy for Juliet to prance around behind him and plant her throwing axe into his back. Fabian fell limp on Juliet's axe, and the two careers shared a short moment of triumph as his last signs of life faded away.
Fabian Eubanks, District 7 Male: 16th, Killed by Juliet, Bloodbath
Hestia tossed her spear into the abdomen of the merchant girl from 12. The spear sank into her back and protruded from her stomach. The girl opened her eyes and mouth wide open, as if in shock, before crumpling to the ground in a heap. Hestia took a quick moment to pillage her of her only supplies: an alarm clock and a packet of dried apple slices.
Chantelle Noyes, District 12 Female: 15th, Killed by Hestia, Bloodbath
Dock swept up a machete that sat on the ground inside of the corncuopia's mysterious darkness. Dock emerged and planted the machete into the forehead of the stocky District 8 boy. He crumpled to the stone ground, blood lazily oozing from his forehead.
Colton Schmitz, District 8 Male: 14th, Killed by Dock, Bloodbath
Mere seconds after killing Colton, the sinewy orphan girl from 4 ran across Dock's field of vision. Even though she was his district partner, she was an orphan and was one of the weakest tributes remaining. Dock hurled his machete through the air, and it sailed into her neck.
Galatea Feany, District 4 Female: 13th, Killed by Dock, Bloodbath
Thor made his third kill of the bloodbath with style. The jagged edge of his curved sword found a home in the back of one girl. Thor ripped the sword out of her body and slammed it into her again, like he was trying to cut down a tree with an axe. The poor girl screamed and screamed. Thor grinned triumphantly as he delivered the final blow, slicing the girl's head in half.
Chassidy Keaton, District 8 Female: 12th, Killed by Thor, Bloodbath
Romeo made the final kill of the bloodbath when he threw his spear into the chest of the nearest girl. The sharp tip of the spear cut through her innards and protruded from her back, and the girl crumpled to the grass as the other four careers gathered around to watch her die. After nearly an hour, the girl closed her eyes and passed away. All of the other tributes had scampered away from the cornucopia, and the bloodbath had reached its end. Fourteen cannon shots boomed through the arena.
Oriane Loats, District 5 Female: 11th, Killed by Romeo, Bloodbath
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the ten remaining tributes swelled out across the arena. The five careers, of course, stayed at the cornucopia to sort through the supplies. Funnily, not a single career had perished in the bloodbath. Romeo, Juliet, Thor, Hestia, and Dock all stayed at the cornucopia. Romeo, Juliet, and Thor sorted the supplies. The careers all assigned Hestia to pile up the dead bodies in a far-off corner of the clearing. Hestia had made the least kills and was the youngest career, and she was undoubtedly the weakest remaining career.
Dock was ordered to comb through the areas immediately surrounding the clearing with hopes of catching any stray tributes. His efforts seemed fruitless at first. That was, until about an hour later. Dock was quietly treading across the cobblestone ground of the clearing when he spotted a pair of beady, black eyes staring at him from behind a slab of rock. The tribute immediately shrunk back behind the rock, but Dock had already seen them. Dock lunged toward the slab of rock and found a boy shivering with fear. Dock plunged his machete deep into his neck. He gurgled as blood pooled up in his mouth and poured from his neck.
Venice Gatewood, District 12 Male: 10th, Killed by Dock, Day 1
Out of all of the outer district tributes, Rubin was the fastest. She worked on a mockingbird farm with her parents back in District 10. Mockingbirds are observant and cautious creatures, and so anybody that hopes to hunt them must have quick and quiet feet. Rubin had been trained her entire life to be quiet and quick, and that really paid off there in the arena. She leapt gracefully across the earth without making a single sound, and Rubin was the first tribute to reach the maze's entrance. She held in her breath with anticipation as she stepped into the maze. Seconds later, Rubin heard shuffling behind her. She whipped her head around and found that the entrance to the maze was closing behind her. The only way out of the maze was to find the exit. For the rest of the day, Rubin ran through the maze. She was an intelligent and logical girl, and she hugged the maze's right wall with hopes of never getting lost. By the time that the sun dipped below the horizon, she was deathly tired. Her eyelids sagged as if pulled down by pieces of invisible string. At that very moment, Rubin emerged into a clearing in the maze. Using the last few ounces of her strength, Rubin dragged herself into a dark corner and tumbled into the dark well of sleep.
Silvana wasn't the fastest runner in the world, but she was determined and persistent. She kept running long after the sun had disappeared below the horizon, and it was four o'clock in the morning when she finally stopped to sleep. She slowly lied down on the ground in a dark corner and fell asleep.
Silvana woke up at about seven o'clock that morning to a strange sensation. Two very furry arms were rubbing against her body. At first, she didn't know where she was. She could be back in District 7, and the arms could be the arms of her favorite teddy bear. But, they were not the arms of her favorite teddy bear. Silvana jerked to her senses the instant that she realized that a banana spider with a legspan of nearly ten feet was injecting its eggs into her body. Silvana leapt to her feet and raced away from the huge spider. The spider hissed with fury as it chased after her, its legs scuttling over the brick ground of the maze in the creepiest fashion imaginable. Silvana ran and ran, adrenaline exploding through her body as she ran through the arena. She dropped her backpack and all of her weapons after a few minutes in order to knock off weight and run faster. After almost half an hour of being chased by the banana spider, Silvana turned around the corner and bumped into Romeo. The two tributes collapsed to the ground beside each other, and the spider was able to catch up to them. The huge spider injected its venom into their two bodies, freezing them in place. Then, the monster mauled apart Silvana and Romeo to a pulp. The spider eeked triumphantly as it laid its eggs in their corpses while they were still warm.
Silvana Layman, District 7 Female: 9th, Killed by Banana Spider Muttation, Day 2
Romeo Frondel, District 1 Male: 8th, Killed by Banana Spider Muttation, Day 2
This arena was, truly, the muttation arena. Every single day, every single tribute would be attacked by one muttation or another. It was mere hours after Silvana's encounter with the spider that a thirty foot-long snake that rested in the maze awoke from its slumber, thirsty for blood. The snake muttation slithered across the arena, killing mice and worms and anything else that it could find. Not to eat, just to kill. The snake had a keen sense of smell, and it was only a matter of time before it found its prey in a tribute.
Around noon on Day 2, the snake heard the shuffling of human feet from around a corner of the maze. The snake coiled itself up behind a rock and watched as Dock walked into the clearing. The snake lunged at Dock, causing his heart to leap into his throat. Dock lifted his trident high into the air and thrust it forth, trying to fend off the monster. But, the creature's scales were too strong to be punctured by Dock's trident. The snake's only weak spot was its face. The snake hissed with fury as it tried to wrap itself around Dock and constrict him. This attempt succeeded, and the long snake began wrapping itself around Dock's feet. As one final hoorah, the boy hurled his trident toward the snake's head just as its razor-sharp teeth sank into his neck. The snake screeched with pain as it collapsed to the ground, limp. Dock ripped the snake's teeth out of his neck. He was already beginning to feel nauseous.
Over the next few hours, Capitol citizens contributed large sums of money toward medicine to stave off Dock's infection. It was an unfathomably expensive gift, but within five hours a parachute containing a jar of medicine lazily floated down into Dock's eager fingers. He unscrewed the lid and slapped the medicine onto his wound. He had been snatched from the claws of death, and Dock swore his gratitude by promising that he would make his next kill before sundown.
Ossie from 9 was certainly having a rather bad day. He had run into the bloodbath but had escaped with nothing but a moderate knife wound from Juliet. The injury from Juliet's blow was slowly killing him, but he didn't have enough sponsors to get the medicine to help him. All Ossie could do was roll around on the floor of the maze and will the poison to work its way out of his body. That was, until Dock stumbled toward him. Ossie could barely lift a finger as the prongs of Dock's trident raked across his leg. Dock stretched out Ossie's death for nearly three hours, and once he began to grow bored of him he slammed his machete into Ossie's neck, killing him.
Ossie Harman, District 9 Male: 7th, Killed by Dock, Day 2
Weirdly and unexpectedly, Days 3 thru 7 passed completely deathless. Every single day, the tribute's muttations returned. But, the tributes that had survived the first encounters learned new information, and they knew their mutt's strengths and weaknesses.
On the evening of Day 7, Head Gamemaker Estella Whited declared a feast.
"My deepest congratulations to the final six tributes of the twenty-sixth annual Hunger Games," she proclaimed tumultuously. "At noon tomorrow, there will be a feast in the taiga surrounding the arena. I am well aware that many of you have no idea how to get to the taiga. This is understandable. You will be given directions to reach the taiga at the conclusion of this announcement. Good luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor."
The instant that Estella's voice cut out, a hovercraft flew overhead and dropped each tribute a message in a bottle. The tributes hastily uncorked their bottles and flattened out the rolled-up squares of paper inside. They were maps of the maze. Each tribute's maze had a line drawn in gold ink that showed them how to reach the taiga from where they were at the current time.
At noon on Day 8, the feast began. A gong rang across the arena, and the tributes burst forth. The only tribute that failed to show up to the feast was Mazarine, who was well-stocked and didn't see it necessary to risk her life in the feast.
The tributes surged forth, scooping up supplies and avoiding the careers. The first tribute to meet their end was Hestia. Rubin swept up a spear that lay in the snowy grass right in front of her pedestal. With all of her might, Rubin threw the spear through Hestia's torso. Her aim was perfect, and Hestia collapsed to the ground soundlessly. Her blood painted the snow red.
Hestia Severence, District 2 Female: 6th, Killed by Rubin, Day 8
The second of the three feast kills was made by Juliet. At this point in the competition, the career alliance was more haphazard than anything else. They would have to split apart sometime, and Juliet wanted to eliminate the biggest threats before that happened. In a move of betrayal, Juliet swung her sword into Dock's neck. Dock crumpled to the ground, his warm blood melting the puffy white snow around him.
Dock Rinker, District 4 Male: 5th, Killed by Juliet, Day 8
Thor did not take kindly to Juliet betraying her ally. Thor pounced upon Juliet, slamming her into the ground and punching her in the torso with his fists. Thor made Juliet's death as long as possible, regularly administering her medicine just so that she could heal, and just so that he could hurt her more. Thor only made the final blow once Juliet was begging for death. After killing her with his curved sword, Thor marched off proudly. He was the only remaining career in the twenty-sixth Hunger Games.
Juliet Frondel, District 1 Female: 4th, Killed by Thor, Day 8
The gamemakers couldn't give up now that they had reduced the number of tributes to three. They gave Thor, Mazarine, and Rubin a few hours to spread out across the arena. Then, they sent the final round of muttations after them. The muttations were lions with talons of steel and roars so loud that the very earth seemed to shake. The lions started off as slow runners, but over time they got faster and faster. Thor and Rubin were fast enough runners to outrun them. Those two tributes leapt atop the stone cornucopia where the lions could not reach them. They were safe. Mazarine, however, was not so lucky. She was not fast enough to outrun the lions, and they mauled her apart. Her remains were rather unsightly, and the gamemakers cleaned them up quickly.
Mazarine Peters, District 3 Female: 3rd, Lion Muttations, Day 8
Thor and Rubin stood on top of the cornucopia, and their duel began. Thor unsheathed his curved sword, and Rubin produced an axe from her backpack that she had gotten from a sponsor a few days prior. They were the two most beloved tributes of the year. Thor was one of the academy's best students in years, and he made the sponsors swoon. Rubin, however, was the true underdog. She was beautiful, graceful, and talented. She put up a good fight. Her quick feet and intelligence were enough to let her survive nearly five minutes up atop the cornucopia against Thor. But, in the end, Rubin's skill could not match that of Thor. After a six minute-long fight, Thor triumphed, slashing his sword across Rubin's chest and watching as her tired-out form tumbled backward off of the cornucopia, inciting roaring from the hungry lions.
Rubin Gamble, District 10 Female: 2nd, Killed by Thor, Day 8
"Thor Rosner of District 2, you are the victor of the twenty-sixth annual Hunger Games!" Estella roared.
Thor raised his bloodstained sword into the air, whooping and roaring with triumph as a hovercraft appeared to collect him.
Thor Rosner, District 2 Male: Victor of the Twenty Sixth Hunger Games, Day 8
AFTERMATH
District 2 welcomed their newest victor with open arms, happy to see him added to their growing lineup. Upon Thor's victory, District 2 had attained an astounding eight victors and were securely ahead of the other career districts in terms of number of victors. Many people in the other districts saw Thor as a stereotypical career. The Capitol adored him because of how strong, confident, and loyal he was to his district and to the nation.
Thor's victory tour was rather average apart from a few rude remarks from Rubin's father during his stop in 10.
He moved into the Victor's Village of District 2, the eighth victor to do so.
Thor would live to the age of eighty-nine, poisoned to death around the time of the ninety-fifth annual Hunger Games. A group of paparazzi showed up to his house to interview him on his opinions about the tributes of the ninety-fifth Hunger Games. To their great alarm, they found him dead on the couch of his home. They hastily called the police. The autopsy concluded that he was poisoned to death. The killer was never caught. In his lifetime, he would never have children. He would never get married. However, he would enroll in a committed relationship with the girl of his dreams, just sans marriage.
NEWS
Beatrice Toland and Markus Gardd get married, marking the first ever union in marriage between two victors.
Dayta Albrand marries her first spouse, a man named Avagadro Rubin.
LIST OF VICTORS
1HG: Cordin Frey (#1, District 3)
2HG: Sapphire Waber (#1, District 1)
3HG: Molly Toliday (#1, District 4)
4HG: Amelia Spangler (#1, District 2)
5HG: Misty Sablone (#1, District 12)
6HG: Olivia Seager (#2, District 2)
7HG: Flux Stafford (#2, District 3)
8HG: Brandi Coyne (#2, District 1)
9HG: Isaac Crandall (#1, District 5)
10HG: Velvet Farrow (#3, District 1)
11HG: Mags Flanagan (#2, District 4)
12HG: Slate Ogston (#3, District 2)
13HG: Woof Dozier (#1, District 8)
14HG: Blaze Skalnik (#4, District 2)
15HG: Dina Wilmarth (#2, District 5)
16HG: Beatrice Toland (#1, District 6)
17HG: Amelia Bankston (#5, District 2)
18HG: Markus Gardd (#2, District 6)
19HG: Odius Ruttler (#6, District 2)
20HG: Seeder Kaiser (#1, District 11)
21HG: Freya Digard (#7, District 2)
22HG: Gold Carson (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ashlyn Breston (#3, District 6)
24HG: Dayta Albrand (#3, District 3)
25HG: Diamond Griego (#5, District 1)
26HG: Thor Rosner (#8, District 2)
A/N: Here's Thor, our eighth victor from District 2!
Thank you so so so so much for all of the arena ideas! I'm set for at least two decades because of all of your wonderful ideas. They're all so creative. A huge thank you to FanFiction Tribute for this chapter's arena. I had lots of fun terrorizing these kids with the muttations XD
Thanks for reading, and please review if you have a quick moment. I'll see you next time with the twenty-seventh Hunger Games! :)
