THE FORTIETH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Cuprum"
INTRODUCTION
Yarrow Dawnbloom returned for his eighth year as Head Gamemaker. After the failure of the games the year prior, Yarrow was determined to make the fortieth Hunger Games one to remember. The nation had long anticipated these games, as it marked the end of the fourth Hunger Games decade. It also meant that the highly-anticipated second quarter quell was only ten years away. District 3 was Yarrow's prompt for the arena. Rather than keeping it a surprise, he revealed the arena to the nation before the games began. The cornucopia stood in a clearing in the center of the arena. It was made of iron. Its weapons were sleek, sharp, and metallic. Even the ground was made of solid metal. Surrounding the circular clearing was a maze that wound across the whole arena. Countertops and shelves filled with mechanical parts were placed sporadically throughout. The mutts were entirely mechanical. Everything in the arena, apart from its human inhabitants, seemed to be artificial. Yarrow was rather proud of his creation; he thought that it had potential to host a great games. Yarrow went through and rigged the reapings of every district to ensure that the cast of tributes this year met his very specific requirements. He would take no chances. He would ensure that these games would be the most spectacular yet. If they weren't, well, there were many examples set by past head gamemakers for him to look at.
The careers this year were average in terms of strength. District 1 produced a pair that was as beautiful as always. Their male was a beauty. A popular model for television commercials in his district, he made the sponsors swoon with his beauty and his mastery of the axe and hatchet. While sweet, he did have a dark side that he promised he would show in the arena. District 1's female was a rather small-sized girl, which could be a blessing in disguise because it would be a hiding advantage. Despite this, she scored a nine with her bow skills, something that intrigued the audience. District 2 produced the cream of the crop. Their male was the most powerful tribute this year. He was tall and muscular and dark and radiated fear both in appearance and demeanor. He infested the nightmares of district children and wormed his way toward the deepest fears and insecurities of his prey. His district partner, though not as gifted as him, was still a fantastic fighter. She scored a ten as well, wowing the gamemakers and the audience with her beauty and her mastery of weaponry, particularly with the knife and bow. District 4, overall, produced the most split duo. The boy managed an astounding ten, showcasing his talents with the spear and trident to the audience. The girl was the youngest career this year, at only fifteen years old. She scored an eight, the lowest score, by showing off her shogei and chakram skills. Despite this, she still managed to charm the audience via her amazing sense of humor and her witty personality. The training scores of the careers were rather average. In total, three tens, two nines, and one eight were scored.
Outside of the careers, the scored were slightly lower than average. Two tributes scored eights. Sienna Organza from Dsitrict 7 wowed the sponsors by showcasing her impeccable talents with the axe. She intrigued the nation with how she scored so high, and she quickly became a Capitol favorite. Sunflower Osborne from District 11 had mastered the scythe. The muscular boy used the scythe to swipe and slash his way toward a cool eight in training. Only four sevens were scored. They were earned by Azul from 7, Monroe from 9, Fox from 10, and Rosemary from 11. Other than that, the tributes scored between six and two in their private sessions. There were no volunteers besides the careers. Here are the tributes:
District 1: Zion Solace, 17, (9) 7-1 and Venus Cornering, 17, (9) 8-1
District 2: Irving Gaskill, 18, (10) 4-1 and Domitia Figaro, 18, (10) 4-1
District 3: Beetee Latier, 15, (5) 25-1 and Jillian Pier, 18, (6) 20-1
District 4: Riptide Alagesia, 17, (10) 5-1 and Meena Tempest, 16, (8) 9-1
District 5: Atlas Diaconis, 14, (6) 23-1 and Prompt Temple, 12, (3) 50-1
District 6: Malcom Argon, 16, (4) 30-1 and Dixie Spiers, 17, (5) 22-1
District 7: Azul Clementine, 15, (7) 15-1 and Sienna Organza, 18, (8) 9-1
District 8: Burlap Lyngley, 13, (4) 40-1 and Demity Pellegrini, 18, (6) 20-1
District 9: Monroe Shifflett, 18, (7) 11-1 and Charlette Waterloo, 18, (6) 19-1
District 10: Fox Kort, 14, (7) 15-1 and Ursula Demolles, 16, (5) 24-1
District 11: Sunflower Osborne, 18, (8) 9-1 and Rosemary Valliance, 17, (7) 12-1
District 12: Adam Runnalls, 16, (6) 23-1 and Pearl Van Stossel, 16, (6) 23-1
THE GAMES
A sense of claustrophobia was what the tributes felt as they rose up into the arena atop their pedestals. Apart from the cornucopia, the clearing was mostly bare. The tall metal walls that surrounded the clearing loomed over the horn and gave the the tributes a sense that they were being imprisoned somewhere. In a way, the arena was their prison. And only one out of twenty-four would emerge alive. When the gong rang, every single tribute ran toward the cornucopia. The arena looked empty of natural resources, so the tributes concluded that in order to survive the cornucopia's bountiful supplies would be paramount.
Zion was ahead of the others by several strides; even though he lacked in some areas, he was an incredibly fast sprinter. The career boy nimbly swept up an axe that lied on the ground twenty yards from his pedestal. Zion firmly grasped the hilt of the axe and swirled it around his body before throwing it into the head of a nearby girl. The girl yelped as the axe buried itself perfectly into her skull. Her screams were cut short by a bloodcurdling crunch. The girl slid to the ground as Zion raced over to her side to retrieve his weapon.
Prompt Temple, District 5 Female: 24th, Killed by Zion, Bloodbath
Irving, another fast runner, swept up a knife that leaned against a black crate about halfway between his pedestal and the cornucopia's yawning mouth. Holding the knife, Irving whirled around sharply on his heel and planted it into the nearest girl. The girl flailed around wordlessly as the knife dug into her upper abdomen and pierced a vital artery. Irving ripped his knife out of the girl. She collapsed, blood spouting plentifully from the grievous wound that she had sustained.
Pearl Van Stossel, District 12 Female: 23rd, Killed by Irving, Bloodbath
Meena had run all of the way into the cornucopia to retrieve a bronze trident. She ran back out into the clearing and admired the way that the three metallic prongs glittered and sparkled in the light of the overhead sun. Meena quickly got to work, cornering a young boy against the cornucopia and spearing the weapon through his neck. The boy gurgled and slid to the ground. Meena tore her trident out of his neck once he was sure that she was dead. When she did, stringy blood flew messily from the boy's limp form.
Burlap Lyngly, District 8 Male: 22nd, Killed by Meena, Bloodbath
At the cornucopia, Venus wielded two weapons. In her left hand, she held a spear; in her right hand, she wielded a knife. When the District 1 girl spotted an outlier boy running out of the horn, she was on him like a hound. The boy didn't even have time to scream before Venus skewered her spear through his chest and planted her knife into his head, in that order. Venus ripped her two weapons out of his body and strolled away, leaving him to die from his wounds all in due time.
Fox Kort, District 10 Male: 21st, Killed by Venus, Bloodbath
Having wrenched his axe out of Prompt's skull, Zion fluidly attacked his next victims. Less than ten yards away, two girls sat of the ground and grappled over a crate containing loaves of bread. Zion pounced toward the taller of the two girls and cleaved her head in half with her axe. Zion tore his axe out of her head and turned his attention toward the other girl.
Rosemary Valliance, District 11 Female: 20th, Killed by Zion, Bloodbath
The other girl was petrified, frozen in place with terror and quivering in Zion's wake. Zion ran toward her, and his axe was buried between her shoulder blades before she could even lift a finger. Zion waited for a few seconds for her to die before tearing the blade of his weapon out of her head, reveling in his third kill.
Ursula Demolles, District 10 Female: 19th, Killed by Zion, Bloodbath
Riptide had managed to pull a whimsically curved sword out of a pile of sleek and metallic weapons that sat inside of the cornucopia. Riptide ran out of the cornucopia and speared the weapon through the torso of the nearest boy. The boy flailed around his limbs before falling to the ground. The career tore his sword out of his slack body and then slashed it across his torso to put the icing on his cake.
Atlas Diaconis, District 5 Male: 18th, Killed by Riptide, Bloodbath
Venus smirked when she heard shuffling behind her. She whipped her body around and found herself face-to-face with a girl that was on the ground, taking inventory of the contents of a crate. Venus lunged toward the girl. She screamed with panic, scrambled to her feet, and tried to run. The girl knocked over another girl, and the two outliers collapsed to the ground in a heap. Both girls were easy work for Venus, who skewered her spear through both of their necks in turn.
Dixie Spiers, District 6 Female: 17th, Killed by Venus, Bloodbath
Charlette Waterloo, District 9 Female: 16th, Killed by Venus, Bloodbath
Domitia had been unable to land a kill yet, but was determined to do so before the bloodbath reached its conclusion. She grinned stupidly when she caught a glimpse of a chakram, her favorite weapon, sitting against a crate in the cornucopia. Domitia ran to retrieve it when a huge weight landed on top of her and knocked her to the ground. Sienna from 7 grabbed her neck and squeezed it tightly with the bend of her elbow. Domitia fumbled for the chakram. She rolled around and planted the razor of the handheld weapon into Sienna's torso. Her grip on the District 2 girl clenched abruptly and then loosed as Sienna collapsed at her side.
Sienna Organza, District 7 Female: 15th, Killed by Domitia, Bloodbath
When Meena saw a boy sprawled out on the grass, slowly dying from a spear wound administered by Venus, her job was too easy. Meena threw her trident. She watched with satisfaction as the trident arced through the air and sailed into the boy's neck, polishing him off and marking Meena's second kill.
Adam Runnalls, District 12 Male: 14th, Killed by Venus and Meena, Bloodbath
Irving grinned when he saw two boys, allies, running into the cornucopia to stock up on supplies. Irving ran over the cornucopia, trapping the two boys inside. The taller and older of the two boys, Sunflower from 11, picked up a sickle from a nearby countertop, ready to fight. The other boy, Malcolm from 6, shakily tried to form a truce with Irving. The District 2 boy would have none of it, and his knife found a home in Malcolm's torso before he could speak another word. Malcom fell, his head banging against a countertop as he did. Blood burbled from the wound that Irving had dealt him, and he died from blood loss in due time.
Malcolm Argon, District 6 Male: 13th, Killed by Irving, Bloodbath
Sunflower lifted his sickle into the air, ready to battle it out with the District 2 boy. Sunflower lunged forward and tried to slash the sharp blade across Irving's chest, but he leapt out of the way before he could do so. Spinning sharply, Irving attempted to bury his knife into a tender spot between the reeling boy's shoulder blades. He failed, for Sunflower knocked aside his knife with his sickle. Irving's knife spiraled away. Sunflower pinned defenseless Irving to the ground. All seemed hopeless for the career until Irving's district partner, Domitia, noticed the commotion. She ran into the cornucopia and slammed the razor of her chakram into Sunflower's back. Irving slid out from under Sunflower's muscular form and thanked his district partner that had saved his life.
Sunflower Osborne, District 11 Male: 12th, Killed by Domitia, Bloodbath
It was Monroe from 9 of all people that made the final bloodbath kill. Before scampering away from the cornucopia, Monroe had picked up a shogei with a thirty yard-long chain. Monroe was darting through the maze trying to get away from the cornucopia when he bumped into another boy. The two boys fell to the ground. Monroe, knowing that he had to do some intentional killing to boost his chances of survival, picked up his tangled shogei and tossed it into the other boy's head. The blade wormed its way into his forehead. His eyes swiftly rolled back into his head, inciting fourteen cannon shots.
Azul Clementine, District 7 Male: 11th, Killed by Monroe, Bloodbath
The bloodbath of the fortieth Hunger Games had been among the largest in the first Hunger Games century. With only ten tributes remaining, Yarrow's game plan was drastically changed. He had originally planned to force the bloodbath's survivors as far away from each other as possible and then drive them together in pairs until only one remained. This plan would only work with about half careers and half outliers surviving the bloodbath. In reality, however, the tributes consisted of: all of the tributes from Districts 1-4, Demity from 8, and Monroe from 9. Yarrow would have to drive Demity and Monroe apart, as well as the two District 3 tributes (Beetee and Jillian).
With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the careers didn't even bother to hunt. They had counted the fourteen bloodbath cannons. That meant that ten tributes remained, which meant that only four outliers remained. The careers figured that they could pick off the remaining outliers at a later date and that most of them had gotten wounds during the bloodbath that needed tending anyways. The games were nothing without the careers, and the group of six kids reasoned that their prey would come to them, even if not by choice. An arena like this would have muttations galore.
Demity had escaped the cornucopia with nothing but a bowl, a coil of rope, and a package of freezer-dried raspberries. It wasn't much, but it was better than nothing. Demity was a pragmatic girl and stuck to the cave's right wall. By hugging one wall, she could ensure that she would get to the entire maze in due time and would also be able to retrace her footsteps to get back to anywhere she wanted. It was a trick that Demity had learned back in District 8, where there was a corn maze near her house that she and her family visited every year on her birthday. On the night of Day 1, Demity ate three of her raspberries and spent about an hour looking for water. When she failed, she fell into a dark corner with despair. What if the arena had no water? How would she survive? Questions raced through her mind, and she fell asleep with her head between her knees. After killing Azul, Monroe raced off. He wanted to wipe the thought that he had killed somebody from his mind. He abandoned all of his supplies that were stained with blood. He spent several hours meticulously scraping all traces of blood off of his body.
Monroe was strolling through the maze when he heard a strange sound coming from around the corner. The sound was a combination of a whizzing and a whirling sound, like the sound of a drill. Monroe walked around the corner to investigate. In front of him was a very strange muttation. The mutt was set up like a spider, with eight legs that shot out from its body and each contained several joints. The creature's body was entirely mechanical, consisting of cogs and gears working harmoniously with each other to keep the creature's mechanical life under way. Monroe was frozen in place for a few seconds, both fascinated and terrified by the creature. The mechanical monster turned around and made a whirling sound as if cackling with glee at the sight of fresh prey. Monroe's fingers closed around the shogei that he had strapped to his waist. The District 9 boy whirled around and, in a leap of faith that would either make or break his chances of survival, hurled the weapon toward the monster. There was a moment of anxious tension as the knife whistled through the air. The knife landed straight in the creature's torso and clanged against one of its gears before bouncing off. The shogei clattered the floor. Monroe, now defenseless, fled for his life. He was so panicked that she slammed into a wall and fell. The muttation caught up to him and speared one of its legs through his torso. Monroe wept as it tore apart his body. Once his cannon shot sounded, the monster scuttled away, leaving Monroe's blood-lathered form sitting on the arena's floor.
Monroe Shifflett, District 9 Male: 10th, Killed by Mech Mutt, Day 1
Jillian had escaped the cornucopia with a knife and a package filled with gears and wires. Although she had no interest in using the mechanical parts to her advantage, she had stolen them from the bloodbath at the last second on a whim. Fingering the gears in hand calmed her and reminded her of home. She had no means of creating shelter, and so she fell asleep in a far-off corner of the arena with her knife in hand.
Beetee had spent the entirety of the bloodbath racing around and gathering all of the mechanical parts that he could find. He had escaped the cornucopia with several packages of wire, a strong magnet, a motor, several batteries, and tons and tons of cogs and gears. Beetee spent the first few hours immediately following the bloodbath collecting more mechanical parts from the countertops placed sporadically throughout the arena. With everything he needed, Beetee picked a location and began assembling his creation. His mentor Wyatt had sent him a small kit containing a few screwdrivers and the like, but even that was seldom used by Beetee. The boy was a natural with the wires. The nation was entranced as Beetee's hands flew across his supplies and assembled them into things that the nation's greatest inventors could not think up in their wildest dreams. Soon, it became apparent that Beetee was working on a sort of electrified wire trap.
Although the physics was difficult, the basic principle went something like this: a metal cylinder stood in the center of the contraption. Beetee used one of his batteries to power a magnet to spin around the metal core. This created an electromagnetic charge. The iron core was attached to an output wire. The output wire was about a hundred feet long. Beetee had found an area of the arena covered by walls on three sides. He stretched the output wire around this enclosed area. The silvery spiderweb of wire blended into the metallic landscape of the maze and was nearby invisible to a casual observer. The part of the input wire immediately connected the iron core was coiled around five times. This meant that the output would be five times as strong as the input. The input was a twelve volt battery. Therefore, since the output was five times as strong, it would be sixty volts. That wasn't enough to be lethal. If Beetee could coil the output wire fifty times, the output would be fifty times the input. Six-hundred volts. Way more than enough to kill a person. Beetee used trial and error to test his trap. The sponsors, intrigued by his project, sent him whatever parts or tools he asked for. He worked for nearly fifteen hours straight, only letting himself sleep when the sun was in the sky on Day 2.
On Day 2, the careers all went out hunting. They hunted in one huge pack of six. They ended up travelling to the far-off corners of the arena to try to search for prey, thinking that would be where most of the tributes were. Demity was out and about trying to search for water or food when she heard the footsteps of the six careers from nearby. Demity let out a scream of panic before clapping her hand over her mouth. She cursed herself for her stupidity. She dared not run. The careers would just find her eventually, and then they would be more angry and give her a more painful death. Demity just slid behind a nearby wall and stood as still as a stone as the careers ran toward her. She was dead, Zion's axe buried into her skull with a crunch, before she could scream.
Demity Pellegrini, District 8 Female: 9th, Killed by Zion, Day 2
That left the final eight: Zion Solace and Venus Cornering from District 1, Irving Gaskill and Domitia Figaro from District 2, Beetee Latier and Jillian Pier from District 3, and Riptide Alagesia and Meena Tempest from District 4.
It was around noon on Day 2 when Yarrow was forced to listen to the demands of the public. The Capitol was intrigued by Beetee's electrified wire trap, and they demanded that Yarrow drive one of the tributes toward it to see if it actually worked. Lest his reputation for always listening to the popular public opinion be tarnished, Yarrow obeyed. Jillian was the only remaining outlier apart from Beetee himself, and so Yarrow drove her toward the District 3 boy's waiting trap. The mutts that pursued her were unicorns. The unicorns were made of gears just like the strange spidery creatures that had killed Monroe the day prior, and their horns were sharp. There were two of them. They raced after Jillian. The only weapon that she had was her knife. She was beginning to grow tired from the chase. Reasoning that she should either go big or go home, Jillian spun around sharply and hurled her knife toward the larger of the unicorns. She missed completely. Weaponless, Jillian lost all hope for survival. It was all she could do to barrel away from the unicorns as fast as her legs could carry her. After several hours of running, Jillian finally reached Beetee's trap. Not seeing the silvery spiderweb of wires, she ran straight into it. Jillian began twitching and contorting into strange positions for a few seconds before collapsing with a thump, dead. Beetee's trap had worked just as he had planned. Beetee unplugged his input wire from the battery and waited for a few minutes for the machine to shut off. Then, he pulled Jillian's corpse, burnt by contact with the live wires, and plopped her down far away. Now, only Beetee and the six careers remained.
Jillian Pier, District 3 Female: 8th, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Beetee began work re-attaching and re-coiling some of the wires that had been broken by the impact of Jillian's body. As soon as the machine was fixed up and ready to go, Beetee began screaming and crying, attempting to draw the careers toward him. The careers were nearby. Riptide was the one that first heard Beetee's cries of pain and suggested that they go finish him off. The others, not ones to deny the opportunity to rack up another kill, agreed. They followed Beetee's cries and found him curled up of the ground, screaming, pretending to be in throes of pain. They all stumbled together into Beetee's electrified wire trap. Beetee stopped faking and got to his feet. He watched as the six careers spasmed and contorted violently. One by one, they all died from the powerful electric current, and then Beetee was the only remaining tribute.
Meena Tempest, District 4 Female: 7th, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Venus Cornering, District 1 Female: 6th, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Domitia Figaro, District 2 Female: 5th, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Riptide Alagesia, District 4 Male: 4th, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Zion Solace, District 1 Male: 3rd, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
Irving Gaskill, District 2 Male: 2nd, Killed by Beetee, Day 2
"Beetee Latier of District 3, you are the victor of the fortieth annual Hunger Games!" Yarrow cried out, his voice laced with fear. His plan for the games had backfired horribly, and he knew that terrible repercussions were on the horizon.
Beetee sighed with relief, thankful that his games were already over.
Beetee Latier, District 3 Male: Victor of the Fortieth Hunger Games, Day 2
AFTERMATH
The fortieth annual Hunger Games had beaten the seventeenth's record for shortest games. At only two days long, the games were a massive failure. Millions of dollars' worth of muttations and other gamemaker tricks went completely unused. With the games only two days long, there was virtually no time at all for character development, and the fortieth games would soon grow infamous for being among the blandest of the first Hunger Games century. Beetee broke two records during his time in the arena. Firstly, he broke the record for youngest victor. Beetee was fifteen years, twenty days old at the time of his victory. The previous record holder was Lucy Said, who was fifteen years, eighty days old at the time of her victory. The other record he broke was the record for outlier with the most career kills. In his games, Beetee killed all six careers. Beetee was a huge source of jealousy among the other victors. The other victors, particularly outliers, felt bitterly envious toward how short of a time he had to spend in the arena. Some of them had spent days, weeks, or even months in the arena, but Beetee had only paid two days' time! Beetee would grow to become sort of a social outcast among victors and quickly faded from the public eye.
Beetee settled into the Victor's Village of District 3, the sixth victor to do so.
His victory tour was one of the better ones, as many of the outliers liked his tactics in the arena.
Beetee would live to the miraculous age of one-hundred ten, dying from heart disease around the time of the one-hundred thirty-fifth annual Hunger Games. In his lifetime, he would marry another District 3 victor named Wiress. The couple would adopt a baby boy.
NEWS
Beetee moves into District 3's Victor's Village, the sixth victor to do so.
Amelia Bankston adopts a son named Lucius.
Magnet Lisagor has her fifth and final child with her husband, a boy named Ferrian.
Lana Voltaire marries her fiance of five years, a nice man named Apollo.
Misty Sablone, the victor of the fifth annual Hunger Games, dies from a heart attack. She is the first victor to ever die.
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)
27HG: Magnet Lisagor (#4, District 3)
28HG: Maria Dutra (#3, District 4)
29HG: Discordia Komine (#9, District 2)
30HG: Barley Chisolm (#1, District 9)
31HG: Marlin Coppi (#4, District 4)
32HG: Wyatt Kerdler (#5, District 3)
33HG: Molly Soltan (#5, District 4)
34HG: Grover Handa (#1, District 7)
35HG: Troy Stiles (#6, District 4)
36HG: Lana Voltaire (#10, District 2)
37HG: Lucy Said (#7, District 4)
38HG: Porter Tripp (#3, District 5)
39HG: Penelope Turek (#8, District 4)
40HG: Beetee Latier (#6, District 3)
