Sorry for the long delay. I planned to submit this chapter sooner, but our nine week old kitten died a few days ago.
Jacob's Imprinted - Thanks again! The power thing just seemed a bit necessary. I was afraid without it things would get too boring too quick.
I'm defiantly going to give B.B the spotlight and a chapter during his personal session with the Gamemakers. T-Rex's and tigers will be involved. *evil smile*
And district 12 is on its way!
*eats another self-confidence cookie* Onward!
Disclaimer: I don't own this stuff.
"Dude! Did you see the way that girl looked at me?!" Was the first thing Beast Boy said after he and Robin had finished their first day of training. He spun around once before flopping down on the couch and shutting his eyes shut happily. "She was giving me the eyes! And she wouldn't stop staring at me for the entire training session!"
Robin smiled and flopped down beside his friend, holding a bowl of popcorn in his arms. "Really? Which girl?"
"The girl with the really pretty brown hair in a braid."
Oh yeah, Robin had seen that girl before. He frowned. "You better be careful. I've seen her running around with the blonde haired kid. They seem to be in some type of relationship."
Beast Boy shrugged, unfazed and gathered a handful of popcorn from the bowl. "Yeah. But just because she's in a relationship doesn't mean I can't talk to her, right?"
"I guess. Just don't get on their bad side. I have a feeling we're making more enemies than we realize."
"What do you mean?" Beast Boy paused mid-chew, looking to Robin with big, curious eyes. "It's not like we know anyone around here. And we've pretty much kept to ourselves so far."
Robin sighed and started to tell him about Cato and the Careers. He was sure to add in the last part when the other Careers pretty much gave him cold glares and turned their backs on him. In the end Beast Boy was looking down at his feet, frowning. "Dude, how could you make enemies so quickly? That's the first time we've really seen anyone up close and you've already got some of them turning their backs on us!"
Robin shrugged, his eyes narrowed and staring at his steel-toed boots. "I didn't do anything to upset them. All I did was turn down their offer to join their group, that's all." The green changing said nothing in response. He just let out a little grunt and started digging into the popcorn bowl once again.
The two stayed pretty quiet after that conversation. Just about everything on the TV they had seen before: reruns of the Games through the years and the chariot run. Eventually the TV went off for the night and the two Titans went off to bed.
. . . . .
"Wake up! Today's a big big day!"
Beast Boy grunted and buried his head under his pillows. It was way too early for this...He understood that there was work to be done and done quick, but it was just too early. He was about to doze off into sleep again when knuckles rapped on his door. What an alarm clock. With a sigh, Beast Boy sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He dressed into the same clothes he wore as yesterday and started for the kitchen. Already he could smell something amazing...soy milk with pancakes, maybe? Or were those waffles?
He entered the kitchen to find Robin and Haymitch sitting at the table. Haymitch was sitting with an empty plate while Robin sipped a cup of coffee. "Morning." Robin greeted as Beast Boy took his place at the table. Beast Boy nodded in return ( he felt kind of awkward with the older man at the table ) and started to dig in. An unfortunate silence fell over the table.
Haymitch was the first to speak up. "You two think you did alright training yesterday?" He did nothing when both boys nodded without a word. He waited until Beast Boy was done with his breakfast and Robin was done with his coffee before he spoke up again. "Change of plans today. I want you two to take on whatever shows of your strengths and show off. Word is that the Careers were giving you a few looks." His gaze traveled to Robin.
"So I can show my power then?" Beast Boy asked, looking carefully at Haymitch.
"Give 'em hell." Haymitch said in response. "Then give the Gamekeepers even more hell. Both of you." He said, looking at both boys now. "The more you impress the Gamekeepers, the bigger of a threat you'll seem to be. The only people who will dare to mess with you would be the Careers. But make sure to keep your head on straight. If you disrespect them, you might get a penalty. And that's the last thing you'll want."
He got up and left Robin and Beast Boy to themselves, letting them prepare for the next session. After this, they would have some one-on-one time with the Gamekeepers themselves, showing what they could really do. And if they were lucky enough, get a high enough score and an upper hand.
. . . . .
The next session started out with the usual. An awkward silence and stare moment ( or in the Career's case, an angry stare-down with a helping of the cold shoulder ). The only difference today was everyone was in some sort of line. Two Gamekeepers were treating two tributes at a time, giving them some type of shot. Was Robin and Beast Boy due for some type of shot too?
"Eww, are they giving out shots?" Beast Boy asked, shudders going through his green frame. "I hate needles." He gave a worried look to his fellow Titan.
Robin shrugged. "Only one way to find out." He approached an Avox who was guiding those through the line. "Excuse me," The Avox silently turned her head towards Robin and Beast Boy. "Are we supposed to get some type of vaccine or something?" Beast Boy let out an audible sigh when the girl shook her head no.
With a smile, Beast Boy fist-pumped the air. "Woohoo, no shots! Nobody's sticking anything long and pointy into my arm!" He hopped over to Robin and pretended to inject something into his own arm while continuing to celebrate. Robin couldn't really do anything but smile and shake his head. Typical Beast Boy.
The two Titans looked off to the line where a few more tributes were in line for their unknown shots. Others who got their shots were moved to a chair so they could sit down and get their bearings together. Either Beast Boy wasn't the only one who freaked out at the sight of a needle, or one of the vaccine's many side effects was dizziness or fainting. Robin turned to Beast Boy. "...Well, what do you want to do? We don't really have anyone else to work with." He said. A good look around the training arena showed that the mentors weren't there as well. Weird. "And nobody's around to watch us improve either."
Beast Boy shrugged. "Weird. You want to spar or something?"
"Sure." Robin grinned. "Freestyle?"
"You know it!" Beast Boy punched one hand into his fist. "We'll just go for three tags this time, alright?" When his fellow Titan nodded, he grinned and transformed into a gorilla. He grinned a toothy grin once he heard the gasps and shouts of amazement behind him. Haymitch said to show off today, right?
Beast Boy watched as Robin grinned at him, and swiped on of his massive green hands towards the latter. Of course the force of the blow wasn't enough to hurt his leader, rather to just send him flying a few feet. Instead of dodging the line of fire like Beast Boy assumed he would, Robin braced himself and latched onto one of the giant fingers. Confused, Beast Boy looked at the little speck gripping his right middle finger. The smirking latter took the opportunity to run up the arm of the gorilla and smack him lightly on the nose with his palm. Tag one!
Instead of transforming to his usual self, Beast Boy changed into a snake. Not something huge...more like something small and agile. He slithered around the Boy Wonder's feet, making sure the big steel-toed feet didn't stomp on him. Once he was safe, he changed into an anaconda and quickly crawled up the small frame and started to constrict around him. Beast Boy made sure he was keeping Robin's arms tightly pressed to his sides and his head up towards his neck. His grip wasn't tight enough to suffocate Robin, but enough to make his point made. And made it had been- judging by Robin's face, Beast Boy had earned his first tag.
His grip on Robin slacked, allowing his leader to untangle himself and give the snake a little toss to the other side of the room. To Beast Boy's amusement, many girls screamed as he landed near their feet. He was very tempted to slither up their legs, but he decided against it. Maybe later.
Now it was time for Robin to go on the offensive. Beast Boy watched as he brought out his bo-staff, smirking and making a gesture to bring it on. He transformed into a goat charged. And - just as he was expecting -, his horns got tangled in the steel weapon. The changeling snorted angrily and shook his head, which resulted in nothing but more tangle-age and a headache. After a short moment of that, Beast Boy stopped his flailing. Robin just got his second tag.
Grunting in annoyance, Beast Boy charged forward. Robin had made the unfortunate mistake of turning around to run, leaving open a perfect target. He was plenty happy after making contact and hearing Robin's grunt, which Beast Boy translated into 'That-hurt-like-a-bitch-and-I-should-have-seen-that-coming'. A few feet away, Robin turned to glare at Beast Boy, refusing to rub a sore ass. Tag two, eat that!
"That was low." Robin grumbled. "I'm happy I didn't turn around at the last moment."
Beast Boy couldn't help but change back into his human self and laughed. "A buttshot is always funny. But crotchshots are HILARIOUS!"
Robin smiled back and charged forward again. Beast Boy was unable to change into another animal as Robin sent a barrage of kicks and punches his way. Somehow, Beast Boy was able to dodge a good 70% of this. Once that ordeal was over, he planned to transform into an elephant or something. Or maybe a T-Rex? What would Robin do about a bloody dinosaur?
But no. During his little fray, Robin had pulled out that damn bo-staff again. As Beast Boy was planning his next move he was able to knock the changeling over. The next thing Beast Boy knew Robin had turned him over on his back, the end of the staff gently pressed against his chest, right where his heart would be. Was this tag three? Not yet!
Before Robin could start to declare his victory, Beast Boy had transformed into a mouse. He scrambled out of the way before the staff could crush his tail, and transformed into a tiger as quick as he could. With a roar he pounced, this time leaving Robin flat on his back. He growled at the latter, claiming his tag. Tag three!
Robin grumbled. It had been a while since Beast Boy won freestyle sparing against him. "Fine. You win."
The changeling transformed back into his normal green self and allowed himself to cheer and brag for a while. And Robin did nothing to interfere, just stood with his arms crossed and watched as his teammate did a cartwheel or two. Too bad they wouldn't be doing this in a few days.
Beast Boy's cheering stopped as they both heard the rough scratch of a chair against linoleum. One of the tributes had stood up, her face ghostly pale and moist with sweat. One of the Avox's near her had started to come to her aid, but the girl passed out on the spot. And not too long after her, another passed out in his chair. And another girl after that. And another.
By now the two Titans realized something was quite wrong here. Every tribute that had gotten a shot was out cold. This couldn't possibly be a side effect? It was normal for one person to pass out after a shot, but twenty-four? At the same time?
One of the Gamekeepers had made his way to the two, a blank look on his face. Beast Boy looked up to Robin and saw his leader frowning deeply. What did he think these guys were doing to them? Other than just training them for certain death and the cause of many other deaths alike.
"I'm sorry, we seem to be having some problems with one of our vaccines." He said simply. That was it? Beast Boy raised an eyebrow, sure that this guy was telling them a story that was far from the truth. "We shall attend to the other tributes. In the meantime, you should return to your rooms. Consider what you'll want to show us tonight." He said, and snapped his fingers to attract the attention of an Avox. She stopped tending to an unconscious tribute led them back to their rooms. She said nothing, and let the two Titans to consider what had just happened.
Sorry for the delay again.