Jacob's Imprinted - Thanks for the review! It's good to know I'm actually getting both worlds down right.
And it's better to know that my grammar's spiffy clean too.
I'll keep everything you suggested in mind. Thanks again!
*eats a self-confidence cookie* Alright!
Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff.
The sound of knuckles rapping against a fiberglass door broke through Robin's dreams. "Rise and shine! Today's a big big day!" A muffled, slightly raspy voice shouted happily. He grunted and rolled over, bringing the covers back up to his face. Who was that, anyway? Was that Starfire trying to wake him up with one of her ' soothing morning songs '?
Oh wait, that's right. Starfire and his other two friends were being held against their will somewhere unknown to him. He and Beast Boy were somewhere deep in the Capitol, getting ready to kill people.
The hero managed to make it out of bed, searching for his uniform. On the hanger where he originally placed it was a note with a pair of dark green cargo pants, a similar colored shirt and his steel-toed boots. After searching around for his uniform ( in vain, of course ), Robin sighed and started to read the note:
Robin,
We're keeping your uniform for a while.
Don't get us wrong though! You can have it back during the Games.
Me and the other stylists thought it would make you look like a bigger icon if you wore it then.
Plus you've got that thing made out of some nifty materials. Don't want it to go to waste!
Cinna.
Oh well. At least he could keep his mask.
With a shrug, Robin placed the note onto his bed and started to get dressed. It didn't feel too half bad, though the baggy cargo pants was quite a change. He went to the bathroom to fix his jet black hair and walked out to the dining room for breakfast. Despite the huge buffet that laid waiting hot on the table, Beast Boy was the only one there. He was eating a bowl of cereal with some soy milk. Where did that lady go who called him?
"Where is everyone?" Robin asked as he sat down. "I swear I heard someone when I woke up."
Beast Boy pointed to the door, his mouth full. "That was some lady from district 12's side. She said Haymitch will be back up after he's done giving them a quick talk."
Great. Hopefully he wouldn't be drunk this time. Until them, Robin happily dug into the buffet, hoping their new mentor wouldn't come in until after he was done eating.
When the two tributes finished eating they just sat on the sofa and watched TV. They didn't recognize anything on the channels...- either it was a replay of the chariot run or pieces of the Hunger Games that have come and past. Things Robin and Beast Boy didn't really get was better than awkward silence. Both boys just kept their eyes on the screen and silent.
Suddenly the door burst open, and there stood Haymitch. This time the mentor stood up straight without a scent of beer on his breath, nor a bottle in his hand. Haymitch said nothing as he approached the two boys and turned off the TV. It almost seemed like he was expecting Robin and Beast Boy to complain, but they didn't. So, he started today's lesson with a little sigh. "You're going to go down for training with the Gamekeepers. They'll have anything you can think of: martial arts training, knot tying lessons, camouflage painting, archery, weight lifting, you name it. Make sure you stay away from anything you're good at. So I don't want to see you" Haymitch pointed a finger at Robin, "messing around with the martial arts and weights. You can prove your skill to the Gamekeepers during your alone time later. And you..." His finger wavered towards Beast Boy, "probably don't need to worry about camo. If your teammate here has taught you any martial arts mumbo-jumbo, keep away from that too." Beast Boy couldn't remember the last time Robin had given him any pointers in martial arts, but he nodded anyway.
Haymitch nodded confidently and continued. "Second, stay away from each other. Even when you're not in the Games, the tributes will be trying to figure out your strengths and weaknesses. But lucky for you two, they don't know diddly-shit about you. They're doing nothing but assuming so far. So either you can both make yourselves look like little weaklings and surprise everybody in the end, or show off during training and make everyone keep a careful eye on you." He said. "Personally, I'd stick somewhere in a happy medium." Haymitch seemed satisfied when Robin and Beast Boy nodded. "After your training all the tributes will have a few minutes to perform in front of all the Gamekeepers. The numbers can range from one to twelve. Now that's when you kick ass. The last thing you want is to be graded low by the judges. It makes you and your district look weak, which makes you a first target.
"You two look confident enough...so I won't waste my time and energy worrying about you. So get down there and don't screw up." Haymitch dismissed them with a wave. "Go down to the bottom floor of the elevator there. An Avox will show you the rest of the way."
With a shrug to each other, Robin and Beast Boy got up and headed towards the elevator. Something told them that this would be quite...interesting, judging by the fact that they were a good century or so behind the others, and most people didn't walk around with a weird mask on their face or had entirely green skin and hair.
. . . . .
Nothing could describe their entrance other than awkward. Robin and Beast Boy were greeted with nothing but a long silence, and plenty of stares to boot. As their district number was pinned onto their backs, the two nodded a temporary farewell and started to train.
Beast Boy did as he was told, and avoided the camouflage and martial arts course completely. Instead he learned how to start a fire from the most useless objects and how to set up a proper snare, despite the fact that the chances of Beast Boy ever putting a snare to use was quite slim. He was a vegetarian, after all.
Robin had also turned away from the martial arts booth and tried his hand at archery. Speedy had told given him a quick tutorial on how to use a bow and arrow, but he never really got the hang of it. Needless to say his lack of archery skill sorely showed, leaving other watching tributes snicker. Robin ignored their taunts, trying to remember the techniques Speedy told him to use. Pull your arm back, keep your eye focused on the target, hold your breath if you have to, let go ... and before he knew it, Robin scored a bulls-eye. He couldn't help but smirk as the observer's jaws dropped and left with envious faces.
"Nice shooting, there." Robin turned to see a bulky kid approaching him. He held a training knife in his hand and eyed Robin carefully. "You'd make a good Career."
Robin raised an eyebrow. "A Career?"
The kid nodded and offered a hand. "M' name's Cato from district 2." He smiled in a somewhat menacing way when Robin accepted the hand and shook it carefully. "Careers are tributes who were made for this. In my district, it's an honor to be chosen for the Hunger Games." Cato closed his fist, showing off the tendons and muscles. Unlike other kids around here, Cato did look more confident in what he was doing. Arrogant, almost. "Careers are destined to win. But only people with...certain qualities are allowed to join."
"Qualities?"
"Yeah. Take your friend over there." Cato flung an arm around Robin's shoulder and pointed his practice knife in Beast Boy's direction. His teammate was currently chatting with some blonde kid who had the number '12' pinned on his back. Cato ignored Robin's little glare and continued. "He's too spineless, too soft. It's way too obvious. But you..." He turned to Robin with a grin. "You have the strength we need. If you can kill without a second care, you're destined to be a Career. So what do you say?"
Robin look towards more of Cato's 'buddies' and took a peek at them. They all looked arrogant in their own way. Like they knew that the weaker 20 tributes were destined to die by their hands, and their own demise could be sorted by chance. He narrowed his eyes at the lot. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass."
Cato frowned. "You can't back out on a Career offer. We'll tear you to pieces." All of a sudden Cato wasn't so buddy-buddy.
"I said, no thanks." He repeated with a much stronger voice, removing Cato's arm from his shoulder. "I think we'll do just fine without you and your team."
The Career glared and turned away, returning to his group empty handed. The other Careers glared in Robin's direction and turned their backs on him. With a nonchalant shrug, Robin continued to practice his archery. After he was satisfied, he moved onto the snares tutorial. Just because Beast Boy was a vegetarian didn't mean Robin wouldn't catch a rabbit or two.
. . . . .
Well, this was lovely.
Cyborg, Raven and Starfire had been taken by the other Gamekeepers to what looked like a pep-box in a stadium. Two or three rows of seats were behind them, each with a desk in front with a comfy looking computer chair. The entire front wall was made out of windows that showed the arena and what was going on, but the pulled blinds made it impossible to see what was going on. Small TV's were bolted into the high corners of the room, while a bunch of controls and other monitors laid flat on desks. This was like their control room. If the Gamekeepers wanted to do something, this is where they would get it done.
When the three Titans walked in, Claudius was standing beside another one of his fellow Gamekeepers. Peeking around his shoulder, Cyborg could see they were looking up files from way back when. He saw in the right hand corner the date 2010. What were they looking up, exactly?
"Check this out, sir. This one could make herself invisible! And this one could spread toxins all over her body. It wouldn't harm her, but anyone she kissed would die from the poison!"
Cyborg looked at his teammates and raised an eyebrow. What were they looking up?
Claudius nodded, pleased, and turned to the Gamekeeper. "Choose which powers you think would be more interesting. The team will get on it right away."
"Yes sir."
The Head Gamekeeper turned to the three Titans, smiling like nothing they had heard was such a big deal. "Welcome! This is where the Gamekeepers and myself keep things rolling during the Games. We're even luckier to have you join us this year!" His expression didn't change as the other faces hardened. "You must be wondering what my friend is up to!" Claudius walked over and patted the computer's monitor, which now showed a bunch of data and progression bars that nobody really understood.
"You see, your friends have a very big advantage. With them being so advanced over the others, things in the Games would get very boring very quick. It needs some zang to it." Claudius said as he walked to the blinded windows, his hands behind his back. "So we decided to look back during your year and see what you had to offer. And what did we find!" The Head Gamekeeper smiled wickedly as he turned to the computer. "To keep your friends from getting the upper hand too quickly and to make things more interesting, we're going to copy the superpowers from your time and transfer them into our tributes!" Claudius seemed quite pleased by the shocked looks. "Superstrength, invisibility, water breathing, invulnerability...your friends will have a tough time finding the upper hand once we turn these twenty-four tributes into mutants themselves!"
Raven, Cyborg and Starfire were silent as they took that all in. How could they do that? How could these guys find the stomach to mutate twenty-four innocent kids for the sake of entertainment and trying to make Robin and Beast Boy's lives miserable?
Starfire was the first to object. "This is wrong! Why do you wish to alternate the lives of so many children? They have done no harm to you!" Cyborg and Raven gave confident nods behind her.
"Like I said: to keep the Games interesting." Claudius smiled and reached for one of the blinds. "By the way, how do you like this years arena so far?"
He pulled up the blinds. Oh sweet, sweet nostalgia.
Review and tell me how I did! C: