Wayland Hightower, Head Gamemaker

Wayland paced around the room, checking on the events happening in the arena. One section of the Gamemakers were keeping track of tribute statistics, while others were training cameras on the most interesting events of the moment. He heard the door open behind him, and one of the Mutt Specialists, Julias, walked in.

"Sir. They're ready." Wayland smiled. His master plan to make the end of these games the most spectacular ever. His masterpiece muttations. Unfortunately, he was planning to throw them into action after the finalist interviews, which meant nine of his creations would have to be sacrificed, made and brought to fruition for nothing. But he needed them ready beforehand, and this was the cost of having them.

Wayland followed Julias from the room to examine the creatures.

Cassio Marony, D1

"What's this doing here?" asked Cassio, noticing the arrow lodged into the bark of a tree. He was about to pull it out - it was a weapon after all - when Star grabbed him by the arm and pulled him away.

"It's poisoned!" she exclaimed, and as Cassio looked closer, he could see the faint shimmer of toxins coating the surface of the arrow's shaft. "We need to get out of here. Whoever shot it might still be nearby." He was about to let Star drag him from the site when he felt her freeze.

"You'd be right on that note." Cassio didn't recognize the voice. It was female, soft. He turned in place to see a loaded bow pointed at his face, and another trained on Star. He recognized them now. It was the pair from Two that had gone rogue. The Capitol girl and the boy she'd managed to whip. Cassio looked quickly at Star.

"You train her on that bow, Two? Trying to turn a mouse into a lion? Looks like it had the opposite affect. I can understand this, but you turned your back on your own district! You're a disgrace!" Star taunted them. Cassio hardly had time to react. The boy, Paxton, dropped the bow and pulled a blade, and before Cassio knew it, he had his sword at one edge of Star's throat, a knife on the other.

"I managed to learn how monstrous I had been. I don't enjoy the kill. But I might just enjoy this one. You take pleasure in taking life. It's horrific. I know. I used to be like you. You don't deserve to win the Games. Goodbye, Career." Cassio yelled as Paxton pulled on the blades, slashing Star across the throat. He had to act quick. He kicked into the air, knocking the Capitol girl to the ground. Paxton dropped to help her, and before either of them could recover. Cassio started running.

Guerard Willam, D8

Guerard didn't like the limited mobility in his arm. Carsander had bandaged it well, and they'd gotten parachute of medicine from the sponsors, but even though he was no longer severely injured, he could barely move his arm. The sword must have sliced through the muscle.

"Don't worry," Carsander said. He must've caught Guerard looking at the bandaging. "When we get back to the Capitol, they'll be able to fix it like new."

"How am I going to be able to fight when I'm like this?" He motioned towards his arm. Carsander simply laughed, and crawled on top of him.

"I guess you'll have to let me fight for you, Guer." Guerard smiled as Sander leaned in to kiss him. It was the moments like these that kept him sane. If anything happened to him, Guerard knew he'd go crazy. Carsander just made his day better, no matter what the circumstances.

Sloan Nyval, D9

"I can get my own food, thanks," she said as she crawled from the whole beneath the tree. It still hurt to move, but she was done taking help from Damien. She still didn't like him, but it weren't for him, she'd be dead right now. Sloan had forced herself to get over her desire to kill him.

"Fine, but I'm coming with you. You're not strong enough to gather food and defend yourself. You need protection." Sloan didn't like having him by her side all the time like this, but she couldn't shake him. Damien followed her out into the woods, and she began her search for a meal.

"It'd taken two hours for her to pick enough berries and greens to fill her stomach half-way, and Damien had brought down a rabbit with his spear. He offered her part of it, and she traded him half her greens. She could hate him as much as she wanted when she got home to Nine.

Thalassa Pearl, D4

Thalassa chased after Ronan, who was chasing the tributes from Three. The smallest girl was falling behind the other two, and Thalassa knew Ronan would be able to catch at least her.

And he did. She screamed, but Ronan went to work at removing her from the competition. Thalassa raced on, after the others. They were shocked by the noise made by the younger girl, and Thalassa used that to her advantage. She used all the strength in her legs to propel herself towards them. She knew she wouldn't be able to catch them, so she lobbed her knives. One after the other. The first nicked the boy's leg. The second and third missed completely, and the fourth one hit the girl just below the thigh. It should have knocked her down, but the adrenaline must have kept her running. Thalassa wasn't about to lose Ronan in this forest, and doubled back to meet up with him. On the way, she heard a cannon. As she reached him, she saw the girl dead in the grass. Boom! Another cannon. Had Thalassa's knife killed the other girl? Or was there another tribute dead somewhere in the arena.

The Fallen

Star Cyrus, District One. Killed by Paxton.

Tinkra Bram, District Three. Killed by Ronan.

Alyssandra Collyn, District Three. Killed by Thalassa.

A career has fallen! What did you think about the words exchanged between Paxton and the Careers of One? Has Elle really changed him that much?! Unfortunately, we say goodbye to two tribute from District Three, Tinkra and Alyssandra. Only 22 tributes left in the game. Which ones do you think will survive to the top 16 and get an interview from back home?

Vote in the poll to tell me which tributes you want to make it that far. I love reviews, those are good too. This bout of insomnia and a need to write has made up for the weeks without updates, I hope.

So, all in all. We may be nearing the end, but there will always be the sequel story for the winner(s). A whole story for them, and, of course, another year of games. I hope you'll all stick with me through that story as well, and I'll need characters for that one, too.

Almost 250 reviews! I love it. And almost 50 favorites! Help me get to 50 by recommending this story to your friends.

Review. Please, please review. Review, goodnight, and adieu.