THE FIFTY SECOND ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"Teacher's Pet"


INTRODUCTION

Reyna Bayer knew that she had her work cut out for her. Her competitor, Feodore Elliot, was the talk of the Capitol. The nation was heartily applauding his masterpiece of the year prior. Reyna was up to a big challenge, for it seemed nearly impossible to create a games more unique and spectacular than that which took place in Feodore's RMS Titanic arena of the fifty-first. After the cheer died down a bit, Feodore handed over the steering wheel of the games ship. Now able to tailor every element of the arena to her will, Reyna and her team worked tirelessly on what they hoped could overshadow Feodore's arena. The competition amongst the candidates for head gamemaker pleased Snow immensely. It was one of his cleverest tricks to date. The Capitol was so wrapped up in games fever that they had forgotten completely about the poverty in the districts and all of the other horrible things that were going on right under their noses.

This year's careers had average training scores. In recent years, the average training score for careers had increased significantly. Therefore, a high-scoring career of early games might not be different from a low-scoring career of the later games. District 1 offered up two dazzling young people. Apart from their shared beauty, however, the two tributes from the luxury district could not be more opposite. The male was outspoken, confident, and very boastful, a master of swords. He had the highest odds of winning, only tied with one other career. The female was level-headed and soft-spoken and not widely known through her district, though the axe, a typically grand and mighty weapon, was her specialty. District 2 produced a pair that were as intimidating as always but lacked as far as combat was concerned. In fact, they had the lowest scores. The male claimed to be a descendant of the first emperor of Rome, hence him being named after the Roman god of war. This claim was dispelled, though, after a simple ancestry test was administered to him. He was your typical career, though he did fancy bows, a weapon that usually suits districts like 1 and is rarely used by tributes from District 2. The girl was more violent than anything, sometimes lashing out at inopportune times and not thinking before she acted. Much like District 1, District 4's tributes were polar opposites. The boy was a master cook, and many of his recipes were highly demanded in Capitol homes and even in posh Capitol restaurants. It was no surprise that he chose the knife as his weapon-of-choice. The female was perhaps the only tribute that challenged the boy from District 1. She was tall and bulky and an excellent user of bows. She also had breathtaking beauty to her that might have even overshadowed him. The careers' training scores weren't remarkable, as two tens and four nines were earned.

This year's group of outliers had been tailored to meet Reyna's needs for the arena; several of the reapings had been rigged, certainly many more than in your average Hunger Games. Seven sevens were scored in these games! They were earned by Ryam of District 3, Rosalind of District 5, Clara of District 7, Madras of District 8, Rocco of District 10, Sommer of District 11, and Cinder of District 12. Clara was quite possibly a literal genius, working with math and science like she worked with an axe. In her interview, she requested a deck of cards. Caesar read out the order of the deck to Clara. Afterward, Clara was able to perfectly recite the order of the deck back to him. She had memorized the mathematical constant pi to nearly five thousand decimal places and could multiply four digit numbers in her head in the blink of an eye. Cinder was another standout. He was the cousin of Haymitch Abernathy, victor of the fiftieth Hunger Games. He managed his seven with brute force weapons like pickaxes and maces. There were two volunteers outside of the career pack. Plate from District 6 was dared by three of his friends to volunteer into the games. At the reaping, he jokingly raised his hand and snickered, pleased that he had won the dare they thought he would chicken out of. The second the escort made eye contact with him, he zipped his hand down. He insisted that he didn't mean to and that it was only a joke, but all that went right through the escort's ear and out the other, and Plate claimed his spot as a tribute in the Hunger Games. Richelle from District 9 had been abandoned by her parents at an early age and lived her life jumping around the streets, hiding from the community home. After nearly two decades of hardship, she took the hint that she wasn't wanted and volunteered into the games believing her life had little worth to it. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Ruby Rayfuse, 18, (10) 3-1 and Tiara Shimada, 17, (9) 7-1

District 2: Mars Hargraves, 16, (9) 8-1 and Scoria Clippert, 16, (9) 8-1

District 3: Ryam Bing, 17, (7) 12-1 and Ravyn Crane, 15, (4) 25-1

District 4: Coast Macksey, 17, (9) 5-1 and Icesula Zevadra, 18, (10) 3-1

District 5: Electron Clerke, 15, (6) 21-1 and Rosalind Chrome, 16, (7) 14-1

District 6: Plate Rosewell, 18, (6) 18-1 and Guega Matthews, 12, (5) 22-1

District 7: Joey Amodeo, 12, (4) 29-1 and Clara Twells, 18, (7) 11-1

District 8: Madras Xu, 17, (7) 13-1 and Delaine Trip, 16, (3) 32-1

District 9: Amadeus Kreugler, 14, (6) 22-1 and Richelle Bird, 17, (5) 24-1

District 10: Rocco Zaldivar, 18, (7) 11-1 and Jolynn Fig, 18, (5) 20-1

District 11: Plum Talen, 13, (5) 26-1 and Sommer Fiorina, 18, (7) 11-1

District 12: Cinder Josey, 18, (7) 10-1 and Pyra Cervova, 15, (4) 28-1

HGBO Bets: 8% on Ruby and Icesula, 7% on Tiara and Coast, 6% on Mars and Scoria, 5% on Ryam, Rosalind, Clara, Madras, Rocco, Sommer, and Cinder, 4% on Electron, Plate, and Richelle, 3% on Guega, Amadeus, and Jolynn, 2% on Plum, 1% or less on Ravyn, Joey, Delaine, and Pyra.


THE GAMES

The arena of the fifty-second Hunger Games was modeled after a high school. However, it was an old-fashioned high school, one from the twenty-first century. The cornucopia was in the center of the cafeteria. Its weapons were sharp and sleek. Beyond the cafeteria, the first floor of the high school sprawled out like a maze. There was a swimming pool, several gymnasiums, nearly a hundred classrooms, and much, much more. Closets and cabinets in some of the classrooms held useful supplies, so that tributes could stock up on necessary equipment even if they had a meager turnout from the initial bloodbath at the cornucopia. The second floor of the school largely consisted of classrooms. There were four different stairwells from the first floor to the second floor, two for each wing of the school. The third and final floor was mostly for the performing arts. It had a theater, band and orchestra rooms, choir room, and art rooms. The tributes wore school outfits, with jeans and loose-fitting t-shirts. Every tribute also had an empty backpack to carry things in.

Even from the launch rooms, the tributes could tell that this was no ordinary arena. The air was void of natural sound, and was in fact eerily still. When they rose up into the high school cafeteria, they understood why. The arena was entirely indoors, a style of arena that was rarely used and difficult to pull off. Reyna was confident that she could make these games one to remember, though. When the flashing numbers projected on the ceiling of the lunchroom reached zero, a number of tributes fled immediately. They were mostly tributes from the upper districts with nice schools that had an idea of how to navigate the building. By name, they were Ravyn from District 3, Electron from District 5, and Plate from District 6.

Ruby was off his pedestal the millisecond the mines were deactivated. His heavy footsteps echoed around the room like thunder. He pulled a sword out of a pile of weapons just inside of the horn and fit the snug grip into fist. Ruby spun around and zeroed in on his first prey. Less than twenty feet away, a boy had tripped over a black suitcase and was sprawled out on the floor, unable to move because of the pain. Ruby skewered his sword through his neck. The boy's blood poured out of his body, staining Ruby's sword, and he was dead within seconds.

Madras Xu, District 8 Male: 24th, Killed by Ruby, Bloodbath

Icesula was pleased to find the sleek bow that she requested from the gamemakers right at the foot of her pedestal. She threw the accompanying quiver of arrows over her back and notched the weapon in her grasp. She fit one arrow into the bow and aimed for the nearest girl, a natural blonde trying to fit a coil of rope into her backpack. The arrow landed in her shoulder. The girl screamed and struggled to escape the wrath of Icesula's arrows. A volley of three projectiles all flew true, landing squarely in her head, shoulder, and ribcage. Her arrows were almost instantly lethal at that close range.

Rosalind Chrome, District 5 Female: 23rd, Killed by Icesula, Bloodbath

Scoria, another fast runner, was quick to arm herself with a razor-sharp dagger as long as her arm. Scoria was about to go in for the kill on a nearby boy when she was knocked to the ground. Cinder from District 12 had thrown his weight at her in an attempt to kill her and eliminate competition early on. Scoria wrestled out from under the bulky boy's massive weight. She rolled out underneath him and lashed out with her dagger. Cinder screamed and dropped his weapon as the serrated knife gored itself straight through the eye. Jiggly orange liquid began pouring out of Cinder's eye. He clawed at his face and struggled to see. Scoria didn't wait any longer to finish him off. One more slice of her dagger and he was dead.

Cinder Josey, District 12 Male: 22nd, Killed by Scoria, Bloodbath

Heavily armed and thirsty for more blood, Coast and Icesula of District 4 decided to team up to make their next kill. Icesula, a menace with her bow, fired a barrage of three arrows at a nearby girl in rapid succession. One of the arrows wormed its way into the back of the girl's hand, and a second one landed in her hip. The girl hadn't taken enough damage to die, but her world was consumed by pain so intense it was nearly indistinguishable from death by fire. The girl dragged herself under one of the cafeteria tables in an attempt to hide, but Coast was on her like a hound. She held out her backpack to shield her face from Coast's dangerous weapon: a dazzling silver knife. The backpack did little to fend off Coast, though. The career boy smacked the pack out of the way and proceeded to carve out the poor girl's chest. Icesula ran to her district partner's side and finished the girl off with one more arrow.

Delaine Trip, District 8 Female: 21st, Killed by Icesula and Coast, Bloodbath

Meanwhile, Ruby was sword dueling with a sturdily-built boy from District 9. The outlier boy had a sword of his own. Even though he was a much better warrior than one would expect from a District 9 tribute, he couldn't last long against the well-trained Ruby. Ruby managed to twist the boy's sword out of hand within thirty seconds, disarming him. He turned tail to flee, but couldn't escape in time as Ruby dug his sword into his back.

Amadeus Kreugler, District 9 Male: 20th, Killed by Ruby, Bloodbath

Tiara of District 1 was as dainty and delicate as her name suggested. She leapt over the linoleum floor with stellar grace and precision. It wasn't long before a long-handled throwing axe caught her eye. She scooped up the weapon. Tiara spun sharply around and found herself before two district partners. The two tributes were on the ground, violently wrestling over the contents of a silver package. Tiara waltzed forward and cast the blade of the axe into the head of the taller of the two district partners. The weapon sliced through her head like butter and cleaved it in half all the way to the base of her neck. Tiara prepared to attack the girl's unlucky district partner.

Sommer Fiorina, District 11 Female: 19th, Killed by Tiara, Bloodbath

On the other side of the cafeteria, Scoria chased after a boy whose skin was extremely sunburnt. The boy managed to slip out of the cafeteria. Scoria pursued him, racing him down one of the hallways, past classrooms and student lockers. The boy sought refuge in a math classroom and ducked under a shelf of scientific calculators. He could not hide from the girl's keen eye, though, and Scoria sliced him to ribbons with her dagger before racing back to the cornucopia for more blood.

Rocco Zaldivar, District 10 Male: 18th, Killed by Scoria, Bloodbath

Sommer's district partner gasped and staggered backward as Tiara split him through with her axe. He tried to get up, but he wasn't fast enough. Tiara leapt on top of him and quickly severed his left arm. The torn-off limb sailed through the air and came to a rest atop a shelf inside of the cornucopia. Tiara grabbed him by the scruff of his neck like a kitten, a move that seemed out of place given her standard delicateness, and rammed her axe into his torso, shattering several ribs. Sticky blood flew everywhere, and Tiara dropped the boy onto the ground before speeding away with her trusty axe.

Plum Talen, District 11 Male: 17th, Killed by Tiara, Bloodbath

Ruby made his impressive third kill. He targeted a girl that was sprawled out on the ground. Her hand was clapped to her neck, and blood was pouring out between her fingertips like water. A few seconds earlier, Coast had slashed her open with his silver knife. Ruby quickly finished her off, ramming the butt of his sword into her nose. The cartilage crunched underneath. The girl just moaned, unable to protest due to lack of energy. Ruby drew a heavy line across her arm with his sword to seal her fate.

Pyra Cervova, District 12 Female: 16th, Killed by Coast and Ruby, Bloodbath

Mars was the only career that hadn't made a kill yet. Hoisting a shimmering crossbow into the air, Mars aimed for the nearest tribute. The crossbow dart zipped through the air and landed in the back of his neck. Confused, the boy pulled the dart out of his skin. He looked around in a panic to see who had thrown it his way. He never found out, for Mars fired a volley of two darts mere seconds later, and they both landed in his torso. One of them even speared his heart.

Ryam Bing, District 3 Male: 15th, Killed by Mars, Bloodbath

Icesula finished off the bloodbath. A few seconds earlier, she had cornered a girl against the back end of the cornucopia, and she had nowhere left to run. So quickly that the girl didn't have time to react, Icesula fit an arrow into her bow and released it. The master archer's aim was true. The arrow drilled through her forehead and out through the back of her head. The bloodbath cannon shots fired instantly, earnestly denoting the eleven souls silenced in the bloodbath.

Richelle Bird, District 9 Female: 14th, Killed by Icesula, Bloodbath

At that, the exhausted careers regrouped at the cornucopia. They sent out Ruby to scout the areas just around the cafeteria for prey. He came back within twenty minutes reporting that the nearby hallways were empty of prey. After sharpening their weapons, they moved on to setting up camp. Scoria grabbed a lunch table and instructed Icesula to hold onto the other side. The others moved out the way as the two girls dragged it in front of the cornucopia. Ruby caught on to what they were doing. He rummaged through the supplies and came out a few minutes later with a screwdriver. He knelt down and screwed off all of the seats on the side of the table facing away from the cornucopia. If they needed to escape from the inside of the cornucopia, they could simply jump onto the stools, then onto the table and away. However, no tributes could easily come in from the outside because the seats had been removed. It was a clever plan, and the sponsors sent them a bit of food. Leaving Icesula to guard the cornucopia, they ventured out into the high school.

With the bloodbath at its conclusion, the several surviving outliers scattered across the arena. With cameras mounted every few feet, it was easy to cover them all. After exiting the cafeteria, Ravyn bolted up the first stairwell she came across. She was tempted to go to the highest floor of the school, but she decided not to since that was where the careers would likely hunt first. Ravyn jogged through the second level hallways in pursuit of a good spot to hide. The school didn't have windows, so Ravyn had to use the clocks to judge what time it was. When it became time for bed, Ravyn ducked into a reading classroom. She found a pile of bean bags in the storage closet. Ravyn closed the door of the closet and lounged around on the comfortable bean bags, quickly falling asleep. Electron was one of the few tributes to stay on the first floor. Reverse-psychology was on his side; since most tributes would likely go to the higher floors, that was where the careers would be, leaving the lower level safe for Electron to thrive in. As it turned out, there were twenty-four drinking fountains scattered around the school, the only sources of water for the tributes. Every time a tribute died, one of the water fountains would stop working. They would produce water for up to five seconds at a time. After each use, it would be several hours before they could be used again. Electron took a quick sip of water from one of the fountains just outside a science classroom. Thirst quenched, he could focus on preparing for the night. Electron shifted the teacher's desk so that he could crouch under it and be hidden from the sight of any other tributes that entered the room. He anxiously peeked at the clock every few minutes until he passed out. Plate was beginning to seriously regret accepting that dare. In the games, every waking moment was filled with terror. He jumped at the slightest sound. He peeked over his shoulder every few seconds as if a muttation or other tribute would be there. After a few hours of nervous pacing through the halls, he barricaded himself into the teacher's lounge on the first floor, got himself a cup of water, and forced himself into the cabinet under the sink. Guega had managed a rope and pail of barbed wire from the horn. She ventured all the way to the highest level of the school. Before long, Guega found herself in a choir classroom. Rows of plastic risers marched neatly from wall to wall. The door opened outward, so Guega tied one end of her rope to the interior handle and held the other end down with the pail of barbed wire. That would hopefully prevent the door from being opened. Joey had felt the bite of Ruby's sword in the bloodbath. About half of his left arm had been sliced open by the career's blade, and Joey had just managed to escape with his life. He stayed on the first floor and hunted for a nurse's office the whole day. A few hours before it was time to sleep, he found a pack of first aid supplies tucked behind a chair in the main office. He used them to the best of his ability, following the instructions on the box. He was able to staunch the bleeding and hopefully prevent infection. It still hurt horribly, though, and he spent the night recovering in the main office. Clara's feet moved as fast as the wind. She sped up and down stairways and came to a stop on the second floor in front of a small conference room. Clara closed the door to the room and laid out her supplies. Throughout the bloodbath, she had managed to stuff a rope, a bell, a couple of rubber bands, and a few knives into her backpack. Clara had exactly what she needed for her contraption. She opened the door and placed an outstretched rubber band between it and the wall before finally closing it. She then tucked the other end of the rubber band under a heavy book. She placed the bell right beside the book. She had created an alarm system. If anyone opened the door, the rubber band would contract. The force of the door's end of the rubber band slamming into the book would knock it over on top of the bell, causing it to ding in warning. Clara tested the creation a few times. With the peace of mind that she was safe from attackers, she slithered underneath the conference table for the night. Jolynn spent the bloodbath stocking up on a mix of weapons and other supplies, unlike many of the other tributes that seemed to favor one or the other. She had a stubby, metal sword and a pack of three throwing knives. Jolynn had also gotten a couple pieces of bacon and a peach. The peach was a good source of liquid, so Jolynn never got thirsty and never bothered to find a water fountain to use in the future. She just climbed up to the third floor and made herself at home in one of the soundproof practice rooms behind the band room.

Day 2 came about, deathless. There was a whole lot of movement but little action. The careers had camped out the night prior in the storage closet behind the gymnasium. In the morning, they cleaned their weapons and hunted feverishly through the first floor. They were ravenous to clear it of outliers early on so that there wouldn't be anyone close to their precious stock of supplies. They didn't find anyone, but they would soon. Amongst the outliers, there was lots of unease. Clara regularly checked her burglar alarm to make sure it was still working. Jolynn paced nervously around the practice room. She was tempted to try the instruments, but she didn't want to make any noise that would attract attention. The room was soundproof, but she didn't want to take any chances. Under the desk in the front office, Joey's arm was coming along well. The gash hadn't healed, but the flow of blood had ceased almost completely and the pain was slightly less intense. He allowed himself a bit more medicine and took the day to rest. Ravyn lounged in the closet on the pile of bean bags for several hours, occasionally robbing the bookshelves of their contents to fill the long hours with anything other than lolling around aimlessly. And, of course, the always-anxious Plate stayed huddled under the sink in the teacher's lounge, terrified to make any sound for fear of attracting the careers.

In the early hours of Day 3, the careers were out on their daily hunt when Ruby shushed his allies. He pointed out the thin form of Electron moving quietly through a nearby classroom. Electron had grown enormously bored of lying around, so he had gotten up to go to the bookshelf and get something to read. Big mistake. Ruby charged into the classroom. His allies followed. Electron screamed and looked around frantically for a weapon. He tore a yardstick off of the teacher's desk and held it out, warning the careers not to come any closer. Ruby just laughed and batted the yardstick aside. It clattered to the carpet. Ruby unsheathed his sword.

The lights overhead gleamed across the iron blade of the sword, and that moment was the most terrifying of Electron's life. It jolted him out of his fit of shock. He turned around and ran. The other careers were running around the room, though. He was trapped between Ruby and Mars on one axis and by Scoria and Tiara on the other. Coast stood in front of the door, ready to take down Electron if he had any ideas about escaping. Electron looked frantically around and made the decision to bolt for the door.

Tiara leapt in front of him with her usual breathtaking grace and lashed out with her axe. Electron was too startled to duck underneath the swinging blade. It buried itself into the base of his neck, nearly decapitating him. He staggered backward and blacked out. Tiara wiped off her axe on the carpet. Electron's cannon shot rattled the tins of pencils on the desks. They quickly evacuated the room, not wanting to be around when his remains started to stink.

Electron Clerke, District 5 Male: 13th, Killed by Ruby and Tiara, Day 3

The latter portion of Day 3 was even more eventful than the former. Two more tributes were to fall. Ravyn delicately stepped out of the closet in the reading classroom and took a look around. She felt a raging thirst and might crumple to dust if she didn't find any water soon. Her throat feeling like sandpaper, she took up a search in the second floor hallways. After about an hour, she stumbled across a tall drinking fountain. She sighed with relief and pressed on the button. Her smile faded. It wasn't working. In fact, it was Electron's water fountain; upon his death, it no longer worked. It took her nearly four more hours to find water. When she finally did, though, the taste was heavenly. After all that searching, she was too tired to go back to the reading classroom, so she passed out in a history room nearby. Plate was as paranoid as ever, scrunched up under the sink in the teacher's lounge. About halfway through the third day, his behavior began to grow out of control. He burst out of the closet and raced around the room, trying to "kill" pencils and pens and even knocking over the refrigerator. Plate couldn't handle the circumstances of the games. He had no idea what he was thinking when he raised his hand at the reaping. He hated his friends for getting him there. Joey's arm had healed enough that he was able to move around without much constraint. He took up a search for water. In a cupboard in the main office, he found a peanut butter sandwich in a plastic baggie. Joey munched on the sandwich and delved deeper into the office, walking back into the nurse's room and the counselor's office. It couldn't hurt to be close to the nearly boundless supply of medicine, so he crashed in the nurse's office. Jolynn finally gave into the temptation of all the instruments that were jumbled around her. She picked up a trumpet and buzzed her lips into the instrument. To her surprise, a decent tone came out. Jolynn laughed; she was glad she finally had something to occupy herself. She discovered a book of songs for beginners and spent the whole day teaching herself the trumpet. Little did she know that the career pack was just nearby…

The pack of careers, minus Icesula, tramped back to the cornucopia. They wanted to swap out the supply guard and restock on supplies. They were about halfway to the cornucopia when Ruby perked up. He pointed out a faint sound to his allies. Was it his imagination? Or was it trumpet music? Ruby burst up the nearest stairwell. His allies followed. They drew their weapons and kept searching. They were about to give up when Scoria pointed upward. The sound was coming from directly above them. One more stairwell upward and they burst into the band room. If the trumpet music wasn't just their imaginations, it would be coming from here, no doubt.

They followed the sound to the back of the room. Scoria threw open the door of one of the practice rooms and saw Jolynn inside. Jolynn screamed and threw the trumpet aside. She ran to the back corner of the room and scooped up her three throwing knives, warning the careers not to come any closer. Scoria and Ruby prowled closer, with Coast and Mars following behind. Tiara stayed in front of the door in case Jolynn made a break for it.

Jolynn threw her first knife. It clattered harmlessly against Scoria's body armor. Whimpering, she tossed her second knife. Ruby placed his sword in front of him and knocked the projectile out of the way, sending it crashing into a stack of violin cases. Jolynn only had one knife left, and she had better make it count. With all of her might, Jolynn hurled the throwing knife into the air. By the merest happenstance, the knife buried itself straight into Coast's heart. The boy fell backward, gurgling and moaning nonsensically. He was dead within seconds. Good news. Jolynn had made a kill and attracted the entire nation. Bad news. She was now being swarmed by five angry careers.

Coast Macksey, District 4 Male: 12th, Killed by Jolynn, Day 3

There was no way she could have escaped. The five careers were on top of her, abandoning all forms of coherent strategy and just wanting to kill her. Ruby grabbed her and slammed her into the wall. She slid to the ground like a torn paper doll. Scoria and Mars were onto her so quickly that she didn't have time to cry out. The two District 2 tribute's blades chopped her to ribbons. Reyna actually had to draw the careers away with electric pulses so that she'd have some form of remains to send home to District 10.

Jolynn Fig, District 10 Female: 11th, Killed by Ruby, Scoria, and Mars, Day 3

With that, the careers sulked back to the cornucopia. One of their members was dead. Their confidence had plummeted tenfold. They regrouped with Icesula at the cornucopia. She was thrilled about the two cannon shots that had sounded and wanted to know the stories of their two newest kills. Tiara informed her that one of the deaths had been her district partner. Icesula was taken by shock. After a few minutes, they had to get back on track. The careers set up their home inside the cornucopia and left Mars to take the first shift as guard.

Mars stood in front of the cornucopia long after his allies fell asleep. As guard, he had the most important job of them all, but it was incredibly boring. He was incredibly tired. It was midnight when he decided to take a little power nap. His eyelids felt like they were being tugged down by bowling balls. He leaned against one of the cafeteria tables and fell asleep. I'll be up and running again in ten minutes, Mars promised himself.

On the morning of Day 4, Icesula was furious. Mars had fallen asleep less than halfway through his shift and slept the whole night away. Scoria grabbed Mars by the shoulders, startling him awake.

"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, her voice as sharp as daggers.

Mars was groggy and not yet fully awake. "Just took a little nap. I'll be back up in ten… woah!" he looked at the clock. It was eight in the morning.

"Do you have any idea what you've done? You idiot!" She didn't say idiot though. She said several things that would justify a thorough mouth washing back home. Icesula drew her bow.

Tiara ran forward and tried to restrain Icesula. It was too early for career infighting, and they all knew that. But Icesula was blinded by fury. She knocked Tiara aside. "Go away, stupid princess." But she didn't say go away. And she didn't say stupid.

Mars readied his crossbow, shaking. "So you want to fight me, eh? I'll show you why I earned that ten!" And Icesula charged.

She released her first arrow so quickly that Mars didn't have time to react. The arrow grazed his shoulder and broke on the ground behind him. Icesula readied her next arrow. Mars moved back and forth, hoping to disorient her. When that didn't work, he fired a dart from his crossbow. The dart impaled Icesula's wrist. Icesula screamed and staggered backward. She landed in Tiara's arms. Mars fled the cafeteria and raced away into the high school.

The careers all gathered around Icesula. They tried to heal her, but Mars had pierced a major vein. They fetched a few rags to wipe up her blood, but were ultimately helpless as she slowly died over the course of four hours. After her death, they didn't know how to feel. She was a rebel. She tried to kill her ally. But, then again, Mars could have been the culprit. He had shot and killed Icesula. But it was in self-defense. Who was at fault? Not Mars. Not Icesula. They could only try not to think about it as they continued to go about their day as three.

Icesula Zevadra, District 4 Female: 10th, Killed by Mars, Day 4

The rest of Day 4, and the entirety of Day 5, passed without any deaths. There had been a plethora of deaths in the first four days, and Reyna wanted to take a break to let things settle down. The careers leapt between floors of the high school, wobbling over the carpet with their weapons and armor. The arena was the smallest in Hunger Games history up to that point. Ironically, it was harder than ever to find prey. The classrooms had so many places to hide that it was nearly impossible to track anyone down. The careers were hunting on Day 4 when Ruby pointed out Ravyn about fifty yards down. A long chase ensued. It took Ravyn nearly half an hour to lose the careers. She staggered into a math classroom and shut the door behind her. Ravyn grabbed a calculator, pencil, and math worksheet from the countertop and ducked under one the desks, solving the algebra to occupy herself and to calm down after the stress of the chase. Plate was only getting crazier and crazier as the days continued. He alternated rapidly between a destructive maniac and a sobbing mess. His mentor Markus sent him a note to keep strong, to power through the games no matter how hard they seemed. Plate tried to control his mood swings, and he managed to calm himself by six in the evening. Guega was very antsy. She started anxiously around the choir classroom, fidgeting with sheet music and stepping up and down the risers. Guega was itching for some kind of action, but she was also terrified of contact with any other tributes. The stress of the games was getting to her. It was getting to her just like it had gotten to Plate. Joey's arm was beginning to flare up once more after several days of inactivity. Bolts of searing pain fired through Joey's arm, more intense than any other pain he had felt in his life. He tried his best to treat the wound using the supplies in the nurse's office. Clara stayed in the conference room, leaving every few hours to sip water from a nearby water fountain. She had kept track of the cannon shots with a marker on her arm. There were only nine tributes left. Clara knew it was time to get hunting, but she was nervous about leaving her safe space in the conference room. After splitting away from the career pack, Mars raced through the school. His only mission was to find a safe haven where the vengeful careers couldn't reach him. He frequently hopped between classrooms, making him harder to be tracked. He held his crossbow in hand at all times, wanting to be prepared if his ex-allies came to kill him.

In fact, that was just what happened. Mars' worst fears were justified when he peeked out of his classroom and saw Tiara and Ruby walking alongside each other. He ducked back into the classroom and squeezed himself into the first cabinet he saw. The two District 1 tributes had seen him, though, and they bolted into the classroom just as he pulled the cabinet door closed. Tiara and Ruby searched around. It wasn't five seconds before Ruby threw open the cabinet. Mars came tumbling out, an aching, sored mess. He landed on the floor and Ruby's feet, nearly knocking him over.

Tiara ran to his side. "What do we have here?" She grinned and drew her axe. Tiara lofted the heavy axe into the air. She was about to kill him when she pulled back. It was Mars. Their ex-ally. Tiara stepped back. It hadn't really been his fault that he'd run away, had it? He didn't deserve to be killed.

"We should leave him alone. That or…" The last part of Tiara's sentence was never heard as Ruby loped off Mars' left hand with his sword. "Don't kill him!" Tiara begged. But he kept dicing away at the screaming boy. Before long, she was having a break down. Her heart hurt terribly for the poor boy. Seeing her ally being killed made her realize just how unprepared she was for these games. Mars' cannon shot sounded. Tiara stood in place, crying to herself.

"Come on!" Ruby demanded. Tiara nodded and followed, holding her head low and regularly wiping away her tears.

Mars Hargraves, District 2 Male: 9th, Killed by Ruby, Day 6

That left the final eight: Ruby Rayfuse and Tiara Shimada from District 1, Scoria Clippert from District 2, Ravyn Crane from District 3, Plate Rosewell and Guega Matthews from District 6, and Joey Amodeo and Clara Twells from District 7.

Day 7 passed with no deaths. Ruby and sulking Tiara found their way back to the horn. Scoria and Ruby did most of the work that night. Tiara refused to do much, so traumatized by watching Mars' death that she couldn't even form coherent words. Ravyn kept grabbing math worksheets from the counters whenever she got bored. By the end of the day, Ravyn had a whole stack of them. Guega finally built up the nerve to leave the choir classroom for more than just a few minutes at a time, but she returned within an hour due to paranoia. Joey's arm was only getting worse. He was in constant agony, and he could do nothing but try to quiet his throes of pain as he rocked back and forth and willed the wound to seal up. Clara finally made a move, changing her camp from the conference room to a nearby science classroom. Clara searched through the cupboards and found a pot and cooking stove. Her eyes jumped from the pot to several jars of potted plants sitting in a corner. Clara boiled the water and chopped up some vegetables into it. She stirred the vegetable soup but fell asleep before she could eat it. The stove automatically turned off after a while, and the soup grew cold.

After tossing and turning for hours, Joey finally managed to fall asleep. He awoke at seven in the morning on Day 8. Joey looked around for a few minutes, debating whether he should get up. Joey dragged himself out of bed and groggily looked around. He heard muffled voices from behind the school's front door. Intrigued, Joey peeked out from the main office door and kept listening. It seemed like a big crowd was right behind the door.

Joey didn't have time to breathe. The door burst open and hundreds of students came stampeding through. Their voices rose up in a deafening roar. Joey stood wide-eyed for several seconds. Afterward, he ran into the main office and shut the door. It had no lock, so he barricaded it with a chair. The swarm of students broke through the door faster than Joey could run away.

The students crushed him to the ground, seemingly taking no notice of him. As they talked about news and crushes and schoolwork, Joey was being flattened by their feet. His arm, which was almost healed, was torn open, bringing forth sloshing fresh blood. The stampede flattened his lungs and trachea. He was helpless against the tide of humanity, the first to die as the stampede rushed through the high school.

Joey Amodeo, District 7 Male: 8th, Killed by Student Muttations, Day 8

The teenagers filled up the hallways and classrooms. They seemed like harmless school-aged kids. In reality, they were carefully engineered muttations that could smell humans from hundreds of feet away. A tide of the students burst up one stairwell. Before long, nearby clusters had the same idea, and they trickled from the ground floor to the second floor in their quest to trample every square inch of the arena.

Ravyn set down her calculator and algebra worksheet and stood up. She could hear voices, and they were getting closer and closer. Ravyn peeked out the door. She couldn't believe her eyes. The rout of student mutts was closing in on both sides. To the left, a group of ten boys was about fifty feet away. To the right, a much bigger group of kids was rushing toward her. Ravyn closed the door and pushed a desk in front of it. She stepped up onto the teacher's desk, wanting be high up if, heaven forbid, the stampede broke in.

Within two minutes, the students closed in on her. They pushed on the door and slid away the desk like it weighed nothing, pouring into the room like the seawater in last year's arena. Ravyn didn't have time to move as one stocky boy laughed and pushed her off of the desk. She banged her head against a closet and slid to the ground. Behind the math classroom, there was a narrow hallway leading the neighboring classroom. Ravyn crawled toward it, but was overtaken in seconds. One student stepped on her head and sent her world spinning. Ravyn tried as hard as she could to get up, but the stampede of students seemed endless. She suffered the same fate as Joey, flattened against the carpet as she was unable to call for help.

Ravyn Crane, District 3 Female: 7th, Killed by Student Muttations, Day 8

The careers had woken up a few hours earlier. Ruby and Scoria were hunting on the third floor, while Tiara was left guarding the cornucopia. Tiara was sharpening her axe on the leg of one of the tables when she heard the stamping of feet and the roar of voices from nearby. Tiara ran toward the sounds to investigate.

She peeked through the doorway and was instantly knocked backward onto the ground. A wall of schoolchildren stretching down the hall as far as she could see was flooding into the cafeteria. Tiara walked backward on her hands and feet like a crab. She ran to the back of the cafeteria. The stampede overturned tables and crushed packs of supplies that were strewn around on the floor.

Tiara stood her ground. Swinging the blade of her axe with breathtaking grace, she managed to mortally injure the first mutt. Black muttation blood burbled from the wound. Tiara kicked him out of the way, prepared to do whatever she must to survive. The next mutt was a group of three giggling girls. Tiara was quick to figure out that they didn't have very good since of direction. She managed to injure one of them by standing in front of the wall and diving to one side just as it was about to hit her. The mutt crashed into the wall and fell at the feet of its two comrades. The other two girls were shocked, and they were quick work for Tiara and her trusty axe.

She swung the blade of her axe rapidly back and forth, knocking down students as they came. The bodies of the mutts were strewn everywhere. One mistake, though, led to her downfall. She was swinging her hatchet at a stocky black-haired boy when her elbow clanged into the wall behind her. Her arm buzzed, and she dropped the axe. Without means to kill the mutts, she was overwhelmed. Tiara fell backward as one kicked into her shins. The student mutts swarmed around her and threw her up and down. She screamed and thrashed as hard as she could. As they beat her up, she could feel her energy drained little by little. When she was finally unable to move, paralyzed from exhaustion, she was toast. Tiara was stomped on and torn up like a welcome mat as the stampede continued on in their rampage.

Tiara Shimada, District 1 Female: 6th, Killed by Student Muttations, Day 8

Only one more tribute would die as the students swarmed the high school. Reyna didn't want the entire crowd of tributes to die; she needed a decent number remaining for a satisfying conclusion to the games. After completely filling the second floor, the mutts rose up to the third and uppermost floor.

In the choir classroom, Guega was huddling behind the conductor's podium and shaking. The crowd of students was banging at the door. It took all of Guega's worldly strength, and she couldn't have done it without loads of adrenaline, but she had dragged the compact piano in front of the door to keep the mutts out.

One fist managed to break through the brittle wood of the door. More and more strong blows were dealt to the door until it split in half like a cookie, chunks of wood flying everywhere and impaling themselves into the carpet. The mutts flooded into the choir room and overwhelmed Guega. Music stands and chairs crashed to the floor. Plastic risers tipped over. Guega fought to climb up onto the whiteboard to escape the crowd, but she wasn't fast enough. Two students crashed into her, knocking her to the middle of the crowd. As she was crushed under their feet, she screamed at the top of her lungs. There were no tributes nearby to help her, and her voice was barely audible over the roar of the crowd anyway.

Guega Matthews, District 6 Female: 5th, Killed by Student Muttations, Day 8

No more deaths occurred that day. After Guega's death, the students all filed out of the school the way they came. The tributes that had survived were left shaking in the silence of the school. The mutts had left a scene of absolute chaos behind them. Most of the classrooms weren't even recognizable. Ruby and Scoria had leapt on top of a desk and held onto each other as they knocked away the students that tried to climb up as well. They didn't bother to go hunting after that. The stampede had caused too many deaths already, and they needed a rest anyway. The duo walked drearily back to the horn. Most of their supplies were completely destroyed, and those that weren't were almost all damaged beyond normal wear and tear. Plate was horribly beaten up. The mutts had thrown him up and down. He might have died if he hadn't have found solace in a locked bathroom stall that the mutts couldn't get into. Plate stayed in the stall for the whole rest of the day in silence. Clara was the only one that was completely unscathed. She heard the voices of the students early and had time to hide. Clara raced back into her science classroom home and shifted several desks in front of the door. Thinking the muttations could smell her, she moved toward the vegetables, hoping to drown out the aroma of her blood. After they cleared away, Clara went back to chopping up carrots and peas for her vegetable soup.

Scoria and Ruby decided to hunt on the morning of Day 9. Ruby's sword swung at his side, and Scoria fidgeted nervously with her dagger. Their hearts weren't with the hunt, but it was something to occupy themselves. They were up to the second floor when Ruby pointed out a smell. Carrots, he said it was. It took a few moments for Scoria to pick up on the scent. It was faint, but it definitely was there. The careers followed the smell and found themselves in front of a science classroom. The smell was stronger than ever.

Scoria pushed open the door and made eye contact with Clara inside. The girl was finishing off her vegetable soup. She had brought the water to a boil. Steam rose from the pot, and vegetables bobbed on the surface of the water. Clara screamed and stumbled backward. The two careers rushed in. Scoria was in front, with Ruby flanking her on the left.

Panicked, Clara looked around. She grabbed the pot of vegetable soup and threw it at Scoria. Scoria screamed and staggered to the ground, gasping and shaking. The boiling water was sizzling away at her skin. Flesh fell away like paper as her face and neck swelled like a balloon. She was dead within minutes, sprawled out on the ground in a pool of the hot vegetable soup.

Scoria Clippert, District 2 Female: 4th, Killed by Clara, Day 9

There are times in one's life where one is so horrified yet so mesmerized by something that one cannot look away. That was what Clara was experiencing. Her eyes were glued to Scoria's face. In death, her eyes were staring off into the distance. Her face was forever frozen in an expression of sheer terror. Ruby charged toward Clara in pursuit of revenge. Clara had nothing to fight back with this time, so she grabbed a chair and held it in front of her, warning Ruby not to come any closer.

Ruby laughed and held out his sword. He stepped forward, forcing her to tiptoe backward. Clara screamed when her back hit the wall. She had nowhere left to run. Ruby had trapped her in the corner of the room and was closing in. Clara whimpered and squeezed her eyes shut, praying that her death would be quick. Of course, it was everything except quick. Her screams echoed around the room for hours as Ruby danced around her and inflicted small scrapes and cuts. It wasn't until she was practically begging for death that Ruby leapt forward. Clara held out her hand to stop him, but Ruby's sword went right between her fingertips and landed in the base of her neck. Clara gurgled and retched up blood. Her cannon shot sounded. Ruby marched away, having earned himself a spot in the finale of the fifty-second annual Hunger Games.

Clara Twells, District 7 Female: 3rd, Killed by Ruby, Day 9

As the two remaining tributes delved into their hiding spots for the night, the finale was beginning. Ruby was one of the strongest tributes that District 1 had seen in ages. He was strong and resilient. He fought beside his friends even when his life was at risk. He was the perfect example of a valorous career. Plate, however, was the true underdog. He had volunteered into the games upon dare by his friends. At first, he was hopeless. But, he had managed to power through the games. With most of District 6 cheering him on, it wasn't completely impossible that he could pull out the win.

Of course, the two finalists were not ready to clash just yet. Plate had absolutely nothing to fight with, and all Ruby had was a sword and body armor. Each tribute was delivered a package by parachute. Plate's package contained a sword and spear, a set of stretchy body armor, and a thermos of water. Ruby's package contained a tool to sharpen his sword, a wicked-looking sickle, and a thermos of water.

Mere minutes later, however, each tribute received a second package. The tributes eagerly opened them up and were a little let down. A simple pair of white tennis shoes was inside. Ruby tried them on and yelped. At every slight movement, he slid forward, almost as if he was floating over the ground. He was like an ice skater. Curious, Ruby jumped into the air. He giggled as he was able to leap and jump through the air without ever touching the ground. He zoomed back and forth across the room at a ridiculous speed. These rocket shoes would be mighty helpful in the finale.

Plate's journey to discovering the powers of the shoes was much more awkward. He figured that it was just a change of shoes in case his pair broke. The morning of Day 10, he tried them on, figuring it couldn't hurt to stretch them to his size in case he needed them. Plate screamed and fell onto his back. He got back to his feet and travelled five steps before falling on his face like an idiot. It took hours of practice to use the flying shoes properly. The freedom Plate felt zooming around the room was indescribable.

On the morning of Day 11, the finale began for real. Plate left the classroom to practice with the flying shoes in the long hallway. Suddenly, he felt the shoes pulling him backward. No matter how hard he tried to move the other way, the shoes would not stop dragging him in one direction. He grabbed onto a door handle and fought with all of his strength to hold on, but the shoes had a mind of their own, tearing him away easily. It looked like he was fighting against a strong wind, and the wind was winning. The shoes dragged him down several stairwells and deposited him at the wreck of the cornucopia. Ruby arrived carrying his weapons less than a minutes later, equally as battered and confused. The shoes were programmed to draw themselves to the cornucopia once the tribute count dwindled to two. A clever trick of the gamemakers.

Ruby made the first move. He charged into the cafeteria with surprising speed, utilizing his rocket shoes to hover about an inch above the ground. Plate zipped all of the way up to the ceiling and took a few seconds to ready his weapons. His sword in his left hand and spear in his right, he was ready to fight Ruby.

Ruby's first few blows were powerful. With his sickle, he managed to lope off Plate's little finger. He moaned in pain. Quickly, Ruby was able to stab the sickle through his left hand. The blade poked through and shot out the other side. Blood drizzled twenty feet to the floor and splashed against the linoleum. Plate eventually found the energy to fight back. Readying his spear, he lunged at Ruby's shoulder. The spear hit the skin and immediately bounced off. He cursed. He must have received the same protective body armor that he had. Plate did a scan of his opponent's body for any chinks in the armor, and Ruby did the same. So quickly that he didn't have time to roll out of the way, Ruby lunged forward with his sword. Plate screamed as the blade drew a heavy line across his wrist. Plate fell to the ground and immediately passed out. Ruby sat down at a nearby cafeteria table and waited patiently for the boy to bleed out.

Plate Rosewell, District 6 Male: 2nd, Killed by Ruby, Day 11

"Ruby Rayfuse of District 1, you are the victor of the fifty-second annual Hunger Games!" Reyna shouted through the arena of her creation.

The ceiling of the cafeteria unfolded and revealed the hovercraft overhead. As the electrical pulses pulled him upward, he cast one final glance at the high school that would be the source of his fame and fortune for the rest of his life.

Ruby Rayfuse, District 1 Male: Victor of the Fifty-Second Hunger Games, Day 11


AFTERMATH

District 1's citizens were cheering wildly from the second Ruby exited the games with a toothy grin. Their quest to catch up to District 2's astounding count of thirteen victors had seemed hopeless. With the addition of Ruby, however, the district's motivation was re-kindled. Investments in new combat academies nearly tripled in the year that followed as more and more District 1 kids aspired to follow in Ruby's footsteps.

Ruby moved into the Victor's Village of District 1, the seventh victor to do so.

His victory tour was a work of art; Ruby turned out to be a fantastic public speaker. The only district that showed him hardship was District 6. They were sour about their loss because it had been many years since one of their tributes had come as close to victory as Plate had.

Ruby would live to the age of one-hundred, dying on his one-hundredth birthday from pneumonia. He would marry and adopt two baby boys with his wife. Ruby would also develop a hunger for fierce piano, and he often played at local pubs and bars because of his talent.


NEWS

Ruby settles into the Victor's Village of District 1, in the house across the street from Radiance's.


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)
41HG: Radiance Clinton (#6, District 1)
42HG: Technik Hartline (#7, District 3)
43HG: Dylan Levitt (#9, District 4)
44HG: Rye Boyum (#2, District 9)
45HG: Chaff Korsmun (#2, District 11)
46HG: Nolan Wrack (#11, District 2)
47HG: Klink Byrae (#4, District 5)
48HG: Brutus Cordley (#12, District 2)
49HG: Wiress Freid (#8, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Lyme Mabbett (#13, District 2)
52HG: Ruby Rayfuse (#7, District 1)


A/N: Here's the new chapter! I decided to split up each candidate's turns as head gamemaker instead of blocking them together in back-to-back games. I just thought it would be boring to have the same head gamemaker two years in a row. So the cycle goes: Feodore, Reyna, James, Feodore, Reyna, James. Just something I thought I should point out early so that there isn't any confusion later on :D