THE FIFTY EIGHTH ANNUAL HUNGER GAMES
"A New Look"


INTRODUCTION

After a year of hard work, Head Gamemaker Feodore Elliot took a short break from his duties. His wife Caroline was pregnant with his baby. Their son, Darius Ajax Elliot, would be born less than a month after the fifty-eighth Hunger Games came to a close. This, coupled with all of Feodore's responsibilities as a new husband, rendered him unable to fulfill his duties as head gamemaker. He promised that he would be back next year and that this was only a one games-long break. In his absence, Snow needed to find a replacement. The person who rose to the occasion was well-aware that they would only be head gamemaker for a single year. This person was named Trillium Hawk. Trillium had been one of Feodore's top gamemakers and had stayed at his side throughout all of the games that he had led. As one of the most loyal gamemakers, Feodore could trust Trillium to handle his duties while he was occupied aiding his wife. If he could only be head gamemaker for one year, Trillium needed it to be a good one. Knowing that the Capitol loved deviations from the typical games formula, Trillium worked day and night with his team to create the most zany, unusual, and crazy Hunger Games yet. One might not even recognize it as the Hunger Games at a first glance. There really wasn't even an arena this year. But that will be explained later.

This year had an average career pack, but they were certainly better than the careers of last year's games. District 1 provided the strongest pair. The male was a very curious creature, enjoying being in the spotlight but not liking to boast about himself. He was a furious fighter who preferred whips in combat. The female was much more conventional and preferred the bow, the traditional weapon used by young ladies from District 1. She was much more charming and sweet than her district partner. District 2's tributes weren't the best and were mostly overshadowed by those from 1 and 4. The male was calm and level-headed and unknown throughout his district. The female was much more famous. She was the third and final of the Fonseca siblings to enter the Hunger Games, and she was determined to be the first to take home the victor's crown. District 4 put on a varied showing. The male was one of the strongest tributes this year, the fastest runner in the academy and a stellar with tridents. The female was the weakest career due to a lack of training and an accidental self-injury a few hours before the reaping. Her mentor Penelope helped her to clean and bandage the wound, but it would not heal fully before the games started. The career pack scored three tens, two nines, and a single eight.

There were many strong contenders scattered among the outliers, and they were sure to make for a thrilling Hunger Games. The highest achiever was Mercedes, a girl from District 6. She scored a remarkable ten with her survival skills and with her talents with brute force weapons, particularly crowbars and clubs. Two tributes scored nines. Isley from District 7 was a fantastic warrior with the axe, the weapon of her district, and she was also charming enough to get a lot of the Capitol on her side. Delta from District 11 was the other nine-scorer, a brawny farmer boy who balanced survival skills and weaponry in his private session. Sevens were earned by Teresa from 5, Acorn from 7, Needle from 8, and Sage from 11. The other tributes scored between six and three in their private sessions. There were no volunteers outside of the careers. Here are the tributes:

District 1: Star Morrison, 18, (10) 4-1 and Nouvelle Lace, 18, (10) 4-1

District 2: Laureate Widing, 16, (9) 6-1 and Morgan Fonseca, 17, (9) 6-1

District 3: Cyber Ramires, 13, (4) 33-1 and Peggy Kerler, 16, (6) 20-1

District 4: Maston Greenlaw, 17, (10) 5-1 and Spongeia Housley, 17, (8) 8-1

District 5: Gustav Nawn, 12, (3) 38-1 and Teresa Roc, 15, (7) 16-1

District 6: Franklin Honore, 18, (5) 23-1 and Mercedes Mauve, 17, (10) 5-1

District 7: Acorn Bedford, 18, (7) 13-1 and Isley Eggleston, 18, (9) 7-1

District 8: Needle Ryder, 12, (7) 19-1 and Chevot Vehenna, 12, (4) 38-1

District 9: Oscar Kasmer, 16, (4) 29-1 and Rose Hyde, 14, (3) 35-1

District 10: Nell Layton, 17, (6) 19-1 and Margaret Cartmill, 15, (5) 27-1

District 11: Delta Chaisson, 18, (9) 7-1 and Sage Hearst, 17, (7) 14-1

District 12: Bennie Mullock, 13, (4) 33-1 and Kylie Rickets, 15, (5) 26-1

HGBO Bets: 9% on Star and Nouvelle, 8% on Laureate, Morgan, and Maston, 7% on Spongeia and Mercedes, 6% on Isley and Delta, 5% on Teresa, Acorn, Needle, and Sage, 4% on Peggy and Nell, 3% on Franklin, Margaret, and Kylie, 2% on Cyber, Chevot, and Oscar, 1% or less on Gustav, Rose, and Bennie.


THE GAMES

This year's tributes were expecting to find themselves atop a ring of pedestals surrounding a cornucopia, but it was quite the opposite. The tributes found their pedestals in a straight line at one end of a long hallway. The first few feet of the hallway were lit by a bright light mounted to the ceiling. The rest of the hallway was bathed in darkness. Creepily, lights along the ceiling began to flicker one by one. Before the tributes knew it, the entire hallway was lit. The floor of the hall was covered with weapons of every type. They couldn't see the other end of the hall, as it was too far away. The tributes shifted nervously around, unsure of what they were supposed to do.

With a whirring of machinery, a hole opened in the ceiling. Trillium made a rather cinematic entrance, lowered down through the hole by a mechanical arm connected to the chair he was sitting on.

"Welcome, tributes, to the fifty-eighth annual Hunger Games," Trillium said with a dangerous smile. He had only been head gamemaker for a few months, but he had already learned much from his venomous overseer, President Snow. "Now, I am sure you are all very confused. Allow me to explain. Instead of being placed in an arena to fight to the death, you will engage in a series of difficult challenges, or stages. During each stage, a number of tributes will die. The surviving tributes will then be escorted to the next stage. Everything clear so far?" The tributes nodded.

"Spectacular," said Trillium. "You are mere moments away from Stage 1. Your goal is simple. In front of you is a hallway exactly one mile long. On the other side of the hallway are sixteen doors. Once you enter a door, it will disappear behind you, so each can only be used once. The sixteen tributes that make it through the doors will continue on to Stage 2. The rest of the tributes will be eliminated from the competition. May the odds be ever in your favor. Let the fifty-eighth Hunger Games begin!" At that, the mechanical arm pulled Trillium up out of the room. The gap in the ceiling closed behind him.

When the gong rang, a number of tributes ran straight down the hallway without looking back. Running the mile would not be easy, and they didn't want to waste their time trying to kill off other tributes.

About half a minute into the games, Nouvelle made the first kill. She snatched up a bow and aimed at her target. Nouvelle had watched the outliers intensely during training, and she knew that Gustav from 5 was one of the fastest runners. Wanting to eliminate the chances of Gustav getting to one of the doors before her, Nouvelle launched her first arrow. The arrow landed in the side of Gustav's head. He collapsed, blood spraying out from his wound. The boy cried for help, but it did not come, and he was dead in minutes.

Gustav Nawn, District 5 Male: 24th, Killed by Nouvelle, Stage 1

Rose from 9 was sprinting down the hall as fast as her legs could carry her when she suddenly tripped on a suitcase and was sent flying. Rose came to a battered stop about ten feet away from the case. Nearby Maston saw her sulking on the ground and sprinted toward her. Rose screamed and tried to scuttle away, but she wasn't fast enough. Maston speared his trident through her lower abdomen, horribly damaging several of the girl's organs. Maston kept on running, leaving the girl to bleed out behind her, once he was sure she had no chance of recovery.

Rose Hyde, District 9 Female: 23rd, Killed by Maston, Stage 1

Star picked up a bladed whip that sat a few feet from his pedestal and thundered toward the nearest tribute, a small boy named Benny that everyone knew wouldn't survive long anyways. The boy screamed as Star swung the whip through the air. Benny held his hands over his face, but they offered little in terms of protection from the vicious teeth of the 1 boy's whip.

Bennie Mullock, District 12 Male: 22nd, Killed by Star, Stage 1

Mere seconds after Bennie's death, Sage finished the mile run and reached the doors. Sage was just about to enter the first door when she felt a sharp pinch in her back. She turned around and saw Margaret from 10 lowering her crossbow. Sage reached behind her neck and pulled out the dart that had ended her life. As soon as Sage died, Margaret hurried into the door, the first tribute to continue on to the second stage.

Sage Hearst, District 11 Female: 21st, Killed by Margaret, Stage 1

As soon as the door closed behind Margaret, tributes began throwing themselves through the remaining doors. Less than two seconds later, Isley and Mercedes found their way through doors and were safe. Acorn and Delta, also speedy runners, had been running beside each other and entered doors that were right next to each other. The stronger careers (Star, Nouvelle, and Maston) had no problems escaping through the doors. Laureate, Morgan, and Spongeia, the slower and weaker careers, went through next. Cyber and Peggy, District 3 tributes and allies, quickly found their way to doors of their own.

Oscar from District 9 was less than twenty yards from the end of the hall when he felt a strong hand grab his neck. The hand belonged to Franklin of 6. Franklin dragged Oscar along. Franklin stepped into one of the doors and tossed Oscar into the entrance just as it began to close. Oscar didn't realize what was going on until it was too late. As the door closed, it crushed him to death, squishing sounds echoing around the hall coupled with the snapping of bones.

Oscar Kasmer, District 9 Male: 20th, Killed by Franklin, Stage 1

Chevot, the District 8 female, was the next tribute to pass safely to the next stage. Now, there were four tributes left in the hallway and only one door. The four tributes all lunged for the door at the same time. Alas, only one of them could get through. Teresa of 5 was that lucky person. The door immediately disappeared behind Teresa, trapping three tributes in the hallway with no way to escape.

BOOM! In the blink of an eye, the hallway of Stage 1 was blown to smithereens. The three unlucky tributes left inside were killed instantly. Maybe they were the lucky ones. Their pain was over, whereas it had just begun for the others.

Needle Ryder, District 8 Male: 19th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 1

Nell Layton, District 10 Male: 18th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 1

Kylie Rickets, District 12 Female: 17th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 1

The sixteen tributes that survived to Stage 2 found themselves in a small wooden room. There were eight doors on the perimeter of the room, nine if you count the one they entered through. A beautiful crystal chandelier hung from the ceiling, casting glowing patters over the floor. The room might actually be cozy if not for the fact that the tributes' lives were in danger.

"Congratulations on surviving to Stage 2, tributes," a voice said. The tributes whirled around and saw Trillium standing behind them, leaning against the door that they had entered through. "For the next stage, I will divide you into groups of two. Your groups have been randomly selected and are as follows…"

"Group 1: Star and Chevot." The District 1 boy and the District 8 girl moved toward each other. The gamemaker instructed the duo to stand in front of one of the doors. "Group 2: Peggy and Delta. Group 3: Spongeia and Teresa. Group 4: Cyber and Mercedes. Group 5: Maston and Margaret. Group 6: Nouvelle and Laureate. Group 7: Isley and Acorn. And, finally, Group 8: Morgan and Franklin."

By the time Trillium was finished, the sixteen tributes had been paired off into eight groups of two, with each group standing in front of one of the doors "I will now escort each group through one of the doors and explain to them the rules of the game. The rest of you are to wait in here together, and remember, no fighting!" Trillium warned.

The two tributes in Group 1 stepped aside as Trillium walked through their door. Trillium beckoned Star and Chevot in, and they followed nervously, wondering where they would end up. They were in a glorious, bright gymnasium that looked to be about fifty yards from end to end. On either end of the long room was a beautiful silk banner. The floor was littered with weapons.

"You are to split up and move to either end of the room," Trillium ordered. Star travelled to the left end of the gymnasium, and Chevot travelled to the right. "Your task is simple. You must retrieve your opponent's banner and bring it safely to your end of the room. You may use any method of guarding your banner or stealing your opponent's," Trillium shouted loud enough so that the tributes could hear him on either end of the room.

He pulled a whistle out of his pocket and blew a single shrill note. The tributes were running the instant the note died fully. Star snatched up a whip and immediately ran for Chevot's banner. The 8 girl armed herself with a pair of knives and prepared to fight off the 1 boy. Star reached Chevot in no time. They collided, and they were on the ground in seconds. Chevot was struggling to drive Star away from her banner, but she was failing miserably. In less than ten seconds, Star had closed his hand around Chevot's banner and was running to his end of the room.

Chevot frantically looked around for something she could use. A can of lighter fluid. She popped off the lid and sprinted toward Star. "Ready to twinkle?" Chevot teased. The boy turned around, obviously offended that she had made fun of his name but also confused as to what she meant. Chevot hurled the can of lighter fluid at Star, splashing him from head to toe.

Chevot scooped up a match and threw it toward the 1 boy. In moments, the boy was a column of flame. He screamed and staggered to the ground. Chevot ran to Star's side of the room and grabbed his banner, bringing it safely to her side of the court just as Star fried fully to death.

Star Morrison, District 1 Male: 16th, Killed by Chevot, Stage 2

The other seven deadly games of Capture The Flag played out similarly to the first. There wasn't a casualty all the time, though. The very next group, Peggy and Delta, completed their game without either of the tributes being killed.

However, Group 3 ended differently. Spongeia and Teresa were skirmishing head-on in the very center of the court. Each tribute had a sword. Metal clanged against metal and sparks flew as the two girls dueled. Finally, Teresa emerged victorious from the battle. She was about to drop from exhaustion, and she used her last ounces of energy to thrust her blade into Spongeia's chest. The weapon speared her heart, and she was dead almost immediately.

Spongeia Housely, District 4 Female: 15th, Killed by Teresa, Stage 2

The fight of Group 4 (Cyber and Mercedes) came about with neither tribute dying. Group 5's fight came along, pitting Maston from 4 against Margaret from 10. The 4 boy was confident that he could take down Margaret easily, but he was highly underestimating the girl's physical strength. In their fight, Margaret bravely went head-first into the action, sprinting toward Maston and his banner. Margaret scooped up a belt of throwing knives and clipped them around her waist. While Margaret was pulling the knives out, Maston took the opportunity to run to Margaret's end of the court to steal her banner.

The boy was mere seconds from touching the pole of the banner when one of Margaret's throwing knives wormed its way into his shoulder. He fell like a stone, and Margaret approached him to finish him off with a stab to the heart.

Maston Greenlaw, District 4 Male: 14th, Killed by Margaret, Stage 2

The fights of Groups 6 and 7 were deathless. Nouvelle and Laureate were in Group 6, and they were responsible for possibly the most boring fight yet. They simply walked right past each other and grabbed each other's banners before swapping their places. Neither Isley nor Acorn from Group 7 could bring themselves to kill. They threw a few punches at each other to give the action-hungry Capitolites their fix, but other than that nothing of note happened as they retrieved each other's banners.

Morgan and Franklin's fight was among the most thrilling of all eight. The tributes juggled defending their banners, stealing the other's, and fighting each other will different weapons each time. The Capitol was really on the edges of their seats as to which of the two teens would win. After nearly an hour of fighting, Franklin was getting tired. He just made a break for Morgan's banner, running like the wind without looking back.

"You want the banner! Well have it!" Morgan teased. She tore her banner off of its pole and threw the cloth at Franklin. Franklin yelped and flailed his arms, unable to see through the cloth. He couldn't see where Morgan was coming from as she approached and delivered the blow that ended his life.

Franklin Honore, District 6 Male: 13th, Killed by Morgan, Stage 2

The tributes that had survived to Stage 3 were led into a very strange room. The walls, ceiling, and floor were completely white. It was so quiet that they could hear their own heartbeats. Twelve beds lined one of the walls. Beside each bed was a hypodermic needle containing pulsing blue fluid. Trillium sat on a dark wooden stool in the center of the room, wearing a set of thick white gloves.

"Welcome, tributes, to Stage 3. For this stage, you will not be killing each other. Instead, your endurance will be tested in the most difficult of ways. Each of you, please lie down in one of the beds."

There was a great shuffling as the shaking tributes lay down on the sheets. Twelve peacekeepers filed into the room and locked the tributes down so they couldn't escape. The peacekeepers picked up the blue needles and prepared to inject them into the tributes, but Trillium held up his hand to stop them, saying that he had to explain the rules first.

Trillium cleared his throat and spoke. "Each of these hypodermic needles contains a carefully designed drug that you will be under the influence of for exactly one hour. While the drug is in your body, you will be plunged into an intensely terrifying scene from which there is no escape until the time is up. During this hour, you will face great horrors, and you must keep yourselves calm throughout them. If you cry out before the hour is up, you will be eliminated from the games." Trillium signaled to the peacekeepers, and they pushed down the plungers into the tributes' arms.

The tributes instantly felt cold wind whipping all around them. They were falling, plummeting through clouds of mist and gray patches of curling vapor. This was just to ease the tributes into the scarier phases of the stage that were to come, so it wasn't a problem to keep composed for most of the tributes. Cyber from 3 was the only tribute that faced real hardship; he was terrified of heights and did math problems in his head to keep himself distracted.

Thump! The tributes crashed into a hard stone ground and felt little legs crawling up and down their bodies. Millions of tiny red ants crawled out of the ground all around them, swarming over their legs and sending their whole bodies into fits of searing pain. This was the straw that broke the camel's back for Peggy of 3. She was horrified of bugs, and, despite her best efforts, couldn't contain herself. Peggy leaped to her feet and beat herself up and down, screaming and trying to get the horrid fire ants off of her body. The peacekeeper standing by her produced another needle out of his coat, this one filled with lethal poison, and injected it into Peggy's other arm. The poison was enough to kill her in mere seconds.

Peggy Kerler, District 3 Female: 12th, Killed by Poison, Stage 3

After a couple of minutes, the fire ants scuttled back into the ground. The tributes savored the few moments of peace, but, of course, they could not last. Clusters of beautiful green snakes appeared around the tributes and started slithering toward them. They planted themselves into the tributes' sides and starting worming their way through their torsos. It wasn't particularly painful, but it was horrifying to the tributes that were scared of snakes.

Laureate, despite being a career, had been scared of snakes ever since he was young, since he'd seen a friend bitten and hospitalized when he was six. He struggled to restrain himself, but he couldn't bear the feeling of the little worm-like creatures squirming through his insides. Laureate let out a scream, and the peacekeeper poison put him out of his misery.

Laureate Widing, District 2 Male: 11th, Killed by Poison, Stage 3

The scene melted around them, and the tributes were suddenly overcome by a freezing cold. They spun around and struggled to find something to hold onto, but they couldn't tell which way was up or down. There was no direction in this little world. The tributes floated in this void for a few minutes.

The tributes bolted awake and found themselves safe and warm in their beds. The poison had worn off. The bodies of Peggy and Laureate had been removed from the room as soon as they had died. Even the peacekeepers had all went. Trillium walked around and undid the tributes' restraints. They all climbed out of their beds. Trillium led them through a door at the far end of the room to the next stage. They emerged into a short hallway. Five doors were on either side of the hall. The tributes looked upward, but the ceiling was lost in some sort of far-away darkness.

Trillium led each tribute individually into one of the rooms and sat them down in front of a computer monitor. Trillium told them that the computer would display trivia questions about Panem. They would have twenty seconds to answer each question, and, if they were unable to give a correct response in the time given, they would be eliminated.

The first few questions were easy.

Which district did Grover Handa hail from? The tributes all answered correctly: District 7.

Which is larger: District 8 or District 11? Once again, ten correct answers came in: District 11.

Which Hunger Games did Sapphire Waber win? All off the tributes answered correctly: the Second annual Hunger Games.

After that, the questions began to grow trickier.

What training score did Slate Ogston earn? The tributes all answered correctly, but several tributes took almost the whole twenty seconds.

How many kills did Mags Flanagan make in her games? Isley almost failed this one. There were only two seconds left on the timer when she randomly guessed an answer that seemed plausible. Out of luck, her answer was correct.

Who was Magnet Lisagor's district partner? This question spelled Chevot's doom. She knew the answer, but she was so nervous that she couldn't call it to mind. Chevot ran through the alphabet and rattled off all the District 3 tributes she knew, but she couldn't answer the question in time. The room Chevot was in was blown up. When the dust cleared, there was no more door, no more computer, and, most importantly, no more Chevot.

Chevot Vehenna, District 8 Female: 10th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 4

The very next question caused one death and almost a second one. How old was Markus Gardd when he won the games?

Margaret hovered her mouse over the option 17 and was about to click when she pulled her hand away and moved to the 18 option. That was a close one. But at least she realized her mistake before it proved deadly. Acorn was not as lucky. He was getting antsy and couldn't think straight, and in one of his nervous spasms he clicked on the wrong option. He turned to the cameras and cried out that it was a mistake and that he wanted a second chance. His begging was useless.

Acorn Bedford, District 7 Male: 9th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 4

That left the final eight: Nouvelle Lace from District 1, Morgan Fonseca from District 2, Cyber Ramires from District 3, Teresa Roc from District 5, Mercedes Mauve from District 6, Isley Eggleston from District 7, Margaret Cartmill from District 10, and Delta Chaisson from District 11.

One more death occurred before Stage 4 came to a close. The tributes were on the final question. Trillium's voice came over the speakers saying that, for this question, the tributes had two minutes instead of the usual twenty seconds.

Name the first ten Hunger Games victors in order.

The tributes started typing on their keyboards. Cordin Frey, Sapphire Waber, Molly Toliday, Amelia Spangler, Misty Sablone…

Morgan had named the first eight victors. She racked her brain for the victor of the ninth Hunger Games. It started with a J. No, an I. She scowled and rocked back and forth, struggling to come up with the victor's name. Time ran out, and Morgan was blown sky-high.

Morgan Fonseca, District 2 Female: 8th, Killed by Explosives, Stage 4

Trillium walked around and collected the tributes from their rooms. Nouvelle was the only career left. She was holding strong, determined to push through the remaining stages and bring honor to District 1. Cyber was exhausted but kept on marching forward. Teresa and Mercedes walked beside each other. They both felt alone and wanted to keep each other company. They both were faring well, though Teresa was a little shaken up from hearing the explosives from nearby rooms. Isley fell behind. She was absolutely terrified and just wanted to go home to her warm bed. Margaret was doing remarkably well. She was still a little scared from the snakes and spiders in Stage 3, but thoughts of home kept powering Margaret onward. Delta followed at the front of the ground, right behind Trillium. He hoped this would show a connection between him and the Capitol and make the gamemakers like him.

For Stage 5, the tributes arrived in a room so silent they could hear a pin drop. The room was long and narrow. Seven glass tanks lined the left wall. Trillium escorted each of the tributes into one of the glass tanks and locked the doors once they were inside.

"This is the simplest stage yet," Trillium said, shouting so that all of the tributes could hear him. "The first to drown is out!"

The tributes yelped as cold water splashed over their feet. Before long, the water was up to their knees. Nouvelle and Margaret remained as calm as they could, standing still and breathing sparingly to preserved the little oxygen in their tanks. Teresa and Mercedes' tanks were next to each other. They gave each other reassuring smiles and tried not to panic once the water reached their waists. Cyber tried to stay calm but was involuntarily taking big gulps of air. Delta proceeded similarly. Isley was going completely nutzo, flailing around and trying to break out of the glass container.

Before the long, the tributes had to press their faces to the ceiling to breathe. Isley was having a full-on panic attack, hurling her body weight against the walls as bubbles streamed from her mouth. She promptly drowned. Seconds after her cannon shot, the other tanks shattered, and the six remaining tributes took huge gasps of air as they were finally free to breathe.

Isley Eggleston, District 7 Female: 7th, Killed by Drowning, Stage 5

Trillium handed each tribute a towel to dry off. Once they were all dry, he gave them more instructions. "You are about to continue to Stage 6. Please follow me." Trillium walked down the hallway and rapped his knuckles on the back wall. The wall swung open on a hinge. The six surviving tributes craned their necks to get a good look at the new room.

A single light was affixed above the door. It lit the first few feet of the room. Beyond that, there was pitch darkness. Strange shapes took form and then dissolved in the air. Whispers seemed to call out form the darkness. The very air seemed to hum with an unseen magic. Trillium picked up a crate that none of them saw and handed each of them a knife.

"This is yet another simple stage. You are to venture into the darkness of this room. You will then be presented with the form of a human being. You are to kill them with your knife. It you are unable, you will be eliminated."

Trillium signaled for them to scatter. The tributes cautiously walked into the darkness. Mercedes stepped back as the mist around her collected into the shape of a human. It was her brother, Chevy. Mercedes smiled to see him again and ran to hug him, but he dissolved at her touch. Mercedes remembered Trillium's instructions. She had to kill him to move to the next stage. "You're fake. The real Chevy is home in 6. You're not real. You're not real!" Finally, Mercedes pounced. Chevy cried out as Mercedes plunged her knife into his throat. He was gone.

Cyber had only walked a few steps when a human took shape in front of him. His mother. She seemed to radiate with warmth. Cyber longed to hug her, but he knew what he had to do. A horrified look crossed his mother's face as Cyber pulled out his knife. He stepped forward but pulled back the next instant. He couldn't kill his mother! Even if she wasn't real, killing was wrong! The 3 boy walked forward and backward for nearly a minute, unable to hurt the person he loved more than anyone in the world.

Finally, Cyber collapsed. "I can't do it!" he screamed. That was it. He had failed. All of the floating mist in a ten foot radius gathered around him. He couldn't breathe. Cyber tried to escape, but the horrid whispering vapor followed him and seemingly squeezed him to death. Now, only five tributes were left.

Cyber Ramires, District 3 Male: 6th, Killed by Floating Mist, Stage 6

Nouvelle was presented with her best friend from the academy, and Delta with his younger brother. Both managed to easily kill them on the notion that they were fake and just figments of gamemaker technology. Margaret saw the hard-worked form of her father in the mist. It took a long time, but she eventually brought herself to plunge her knife into his form.

But poor Teresa was not as brave. Mere seconds into the stage, the mist assembled into the form of her best friend Cynthia. Killing her, even a fake version of her, was out of the question. She just fell to the ground, crying that the games were too much for her and that she wanted to go home to her mom and dad and Cynthia. The evil mist took out its wrath on her tiny body, squeezing and choking her to death like she was begging.

Teresa Roc, District 5 Female: 5th, Killed by Floating Mist, Stage 6

At once, several bright lights flickered on. All of the ghostly mist vanished instantly, leaving four disoriented and dazed tributes looking around for Trillium. They saw him in the corner of the room, pushing open a hidden door. Nouvelle, Mercedes, Margaret, and Delta followed him, curious as to what horrors they would face next.

The floor underneath turned to carpet. The tributes found themselves in a typical Capitol living room. Sunlight streamed in through a large window, illuminating a sofa and television. Trillium pulled a small remote control out of his pocket. "At my command, this room will begin flooding with water. You may notice a trapdoor on the ceiling. All who pass through the trapdoor before drowning will continue to the next stage."

A portion of the wall swung open on a hinge. Trillium stepped through it, and right before he disappeared they could see him pressing the red button on his remote control. The room began filling with water at once. At first, it was flooding slowly. Two minutes went by before the water was up to their ankles. After about five minutes, they were wading through water up to their knees.

The final four tributes slogged toward the sofa and stepped up onto it, shaking with cold and trying to dry themselves. Before long, of course, the water reached them once more. Shelves toppled over, knocking down picture frames and pottery. Margaret stepped onto the coffee table and started piling books on top of each other to gain some height out of the rising waters. Mercedes had clambered on top of a shelf and scuttled upward, the water at her heels. Delta was trying to break the windows to get out. Nouvelle was using shards of a fallen shelf as claws to climb up the wall, moving slowly toward the trapdoor on the ceiling.

As the water continued rising, Delta gave up on breaking the window. The glass was simply too strong. He had nowhere to go to, so he began floating on top of the water, hoping it would carry him up to the trapdoor. The water was rising faster than Margaret could pile up more books, and she fell over before the water was halfway up the walls. Nouvelle used her glass shards to work her way to the trapdoor. The 1 girl swung her body through and started away to some unseen safety.

The level of the water was rising faster than ever before. The shelf Mercedes was climbing began floating. One other tribute, Margaret, swam toward her and clambered onto the raft alongside Mercedes. They used television remotes as oars to move toward the trapdoor. By the time the water was a few feet from the ceiling, they were able to stand up and hoist themselves through the door.

That left only Delta. Delta was hurled around by the currents of the water. He fought his hardest to get to the trapdoor, but he kept being dunked under the water and thrown off-kilter. One splash of water found its way into his lungs, and it was all over from there. Delta drowned soon after, the only tribute to perish in the stage.

Delta Chaisson, District 11 Male: 4th, Killed by Drowning, Stage 7

Nouvelle, Mercedes, and Margaret were in a long, silver corridor. It was almost completely dark, but a bright light shone at the end of the tunnel. The three girls zipped toward the light and yelped at the sight of Trillium. He was sitting cross-legged on a chair in front of a door. Trillium stood up and beckoned for the tributes to follow him through the door.

The tributes and Trillium were in a very strange place. The room split off into three separate compartments. Only a small window allowed them to see into the other sections of the room. Trillium instructed each of the girls to enter one of the compartments. Then, they were locked inside. Trillium reached down and picked up a spherical object the size of a basketball.

"Welcome to Stage 8, tributes. When this ball is yours, you must correctly solve the math problem given to you. Once you answer, you are to toss the ball to the next tribute in line. If you are unable to correctly answer the question in twenty seconds, you will be eliminated."

Trillium tossed the ball to Mercedes. A voice spoke from within the ball. "Seven times three."

"Twenty one," Mercedes replied shakily. A dinging sound confirmed she had given the correct answer. Mercedes tossed the ball through the window to Nouvelle.

"Fifty divided by ten."

"Five," Nouvelle answered.

This deadly game of hot potato continued for nearly half an hour. The questions got harder and harder, until, finally, one tribute blundered. The ball was in Mercedes' hands when it said, "The cube root of twenty-seven."

"Nine," Mercedes answered quickly. She cursed herself for not giving herself enough time to think the question over. The ball buzzed and vibrated. Mercedes tossed it into the corner of the room and moved as far away from it as she could. The windows to the other rooms closed, and a foul black gas began spewing out of the device. Mercedes couldn't hold her breath forever, and she was dead once her lungs filled with the noxious smoke.

Mercedes Mauve, District 6 Female: 3rd, Killed by Poisonous Smoke, Stage 8

The doors of the capsules opened, and Nouvelle and Margaret stepped out. They were the only two tributes left in the games.

"Come," Trillium said. The two girls followed him down several twisting corridors. Finally, they emerged into a harshly-lit circular room. Two swords lay on the ground.

"Congratulations on surviving to the ninth and final stage. Your task: a fight to the death. Only one of you can survive these games."

The girls stepped forward, Nouvelle looking excited and Margaret more than a little nervous. The girls lifted their swords and walked to opposite ends of the room.

Nouvelle was the first to charge, and Margaret almost didn't have time to dodge. The 10 girl dove to one side, and Nouvelle's sword crashed into the wall, nearly twisting itself out of her hand. Nouvelle spun toward Margaret, but she had barricaded herself into a corner and was swinging her sword in wide arcs to keep her away.

Holding her sword in front of her, Nouvelle stalked toward Margaret. She thought that she was scared and would refuse to come out of her little corner, but she was wrong. So quickly that she didn't have time to move, Margaret lifted her shoe into the air and kicked Nouvelle in the thigh. Nouvelle reeled. She opened her eyes and was very confused. Where Margaret had once been, there was nothing. Only an empty floor.

Nouvelle slowly turned around, and suddenly Margaret was on top of her, pinning her wrists and ankles to the floor. The girl thrust down her sword, casting it through Nouvelle's innards. Several of her vital organs and arteries had been pierced. Her blood flowing freely over the floor, Nouvelle bled out quickly.

Nouvelle Lace, District 1 Female: 2nd, Killed by Margaret, Stage 9

"Margaret Cartmill of District 10, you are the victor of the fifty-eighth annual Hunger Games!" Trillium shouted. With a flick of his wrist, the ceiling opened up, and a set of velvet-covered stairs unfolded into the room.

Margaret laughed with glee. A tribute from District 10 had never won the Hunger Games before her. Even she thought she had no chance of surviving, but there she was, very much alive and about to be taken away to the fame that would envelop her life.

Margaret Cartmill, District 10 Female: Victor of the Fifty-Eighth Hunger Games, Stage 9


AFTERMATH

The celebrations were endless in Margaret's home of District 10. She was their first victor in nearly six decades, and she was welcomed with hearty applause. Many youths rejoiced, as she gave them hope that, if they were reaped, they could return to their families safe and sound. They also threw together a team to put their Victor's Village back in order, as the houses had been largely neglected for decades and weren't fit for human inhabitance.

Margaret moved into the Victor's Village of District 10, the first victor to do so.

Nothing out of the ordinary happened during her victory tour. However, she was ultimately respected as a symbol of home by the outlying districts.

Margaret would live to the age of seventy-one, dying three days short of her seventy-second birthday from cancer. She would marry and bear six children, though her sixth and final child would die mere hours into its life. She would mentor dozens of District 10 tributes, almost all of which would go on to die in the arena. Watching the deaths of so many youngsters really took its toll on Margaret, and she suffered from depression throughout her life.


NEWS

Margaret settles into the Victor's Village of District 10.

Penelope Turek marries her fiancée Tide.

Brutus Cordley bears his second son, Amadeus.

Lyme Mabett gives birth to twin sons, whom she names Felix and Asher.

Lily Eckel gets married to her boyfriend Harvest.


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)
53HG: Lily Eckel (#3, District 11)
54HG: Blight Holzer (#2, District 7)
55HG: Emily Pollick (#5, District 5)
56HG: Sally Vasilia (#6, District 5)
57HG: Mason Kittridge (#14, District 2)
58HG: Margaret Cartmill (#1, District 10)


A/N: Ah, a District 10 victor at last. This was certainly a unique games, and I hope you've enjoyed. Did you have a favorite stage? My personal favorite has to be the fear injections or the flooding living room, I can't decide which! Please leave a review if you have the time and tell me how I'm doing. Expect the fifty-ninth Hunger Games next. :D