A/N: Thanks for the continued support, and thanks to richards25, Vykktor and Violagirl23 for the reviews!
As I'm sure you all know, there are only ten more Games until the First Quarter Quell, and as very little information on these rather special Games in the original books, I'm going to hold a competition to decide what the arena should be! If anyone is interested, please PM me your arena ideas! Of course, the winning arena will be used in the oneshot of the 25th Games.
In order for there to be time to write the oneshot, I'll be accepting PMs until the 22nd Games is uploaded, which will be in roughly a week's time (around March 22nd).
Finally, I hope you enjoy this oneshot, set during the 15th Games.
"No more Mister Nice Guy
No more Mister Clean
No more Mister Nice Guy
They say he's sick, he's obscene."
- Alice Cooper, 1973.
The 15th Annual Hunger Games
Cicero Turner (17), District 2 Male
Alice Cooper - No More Mr. Nice Guy (1973)
All is quiet in the arena. My five allies, who all survived the cornucopia bloodbath along with me and nine others, are off on the hunt for other tributes. I, however, have to guard our makeshift camp.
Oh, the joys of being a Career. I had imagined something much better than guard duty before the Games began. I was lucky this year, too. Both tributes from Four didn't volunteer, as they aged sixteen and seventeen. The boy, sixteen-year-old Kieran, is actually rather handy, and even scored an eight in training. The girl is incompetent, but my mentor Amadeus told me to keep her with us for a couple of days, just in case she has any hidden talents. Judging by her performance in the bloodbath earlier today, I'd be tempted to say that any talents are non-existent. As for the other Careers, the boy from District 1 is too headstrong, the girl from One is too stupid, and although my district partner is smart, she's barely competent with her favoured weapon, the bow and arrow. Even from the reaping, everything looked to be going my way.
Then in training, we came across the boy from District 6. He's obviously eighteen, and was over six and a half feet tall. He's clearly the strongest of all of us, and I'm sure he has some sort of talent with weapons. In training, he became the first tribute from a non-Career district to score an eleven, and the third tribute to score an eleven in the fifteen-year history of the Games. In his interview with Aurelius Newton, he appeared sullen and untalkative, so none of the Careers could gather much information on him. He's certainly the dark horse in these Games.
And he survived the bloodbath.
He's got everything going for him. The highest scorer, an impressive opening display in the bloodbath, a mysterious edge about him after his interview. Everyone wants to know more about him. And Capitol citizens will be falling over themselves to sponsor him.
And me? I'm just an average Career. Trained, yes. Strong, yes. Clever, yes. In with a chance of winning the Games, yes. But just an average Career. My training score of nine is average, or even worse, predictable, for a District 2 male. My interview angle- the cocky, confident brute killer- has been played by Careers for years. Even though the boy from One chose the same angle as me and I played it better than him (did he ever think he'd stand as much of a chance as me, the arrogant fool?), it was nothing original. Nothing I have done has made me stand out. And so I won't gather many sponsors. Maybe a few, but not enough. Especially late in the Games, when sponsors become evermore crucial, I will have little on my side.
And for me, sponsors are everything. Sponsors mean popularity. I'm not in this arena because I need food or wealth; my family in Two have plenty of that. I'm here because I want to become a hero; I want to win to claim respect and popularity at home.
In District 2, I'm nothing but a reject. Being from a higher background than the common schoolkid, I never fitted in during my school days, and I hated them. Nobody wanted to be seen with me. I was uncool. The loner in the corner. The loser. The kid the others bullied.
So I wanted to make a name for myself. To be seen as something more than nothing. Just some recognition. I don't even care who from. That's why I spent six years training. That's why I became so dedicated. And that's why I'm annoyed that District 6 has stolen the limelight from me.
I think back to the most famous victors of the past fourteen years. The girl from Four who won a few years ago, nicknamed 'Mags'. She was different; she won the Games by using the arena around her as a weapon. Or my mentor, Amadeus Cato. He was cold, calculating, efficient and incredibly ruthless. He's regarded as the greatest among the victors by those in the know in the Capitol. But he is only so famous due to the fact that in his Games, he was different.
But if I want to be different, I can't be cold and ruthless like Amadeus, or cunning like Mags. I need to do something shocking; something to make the audience sit up and notice me.
If I'm going to get a reputation, I need to do something absolutely horrendous.
I could become the most sadistic and twisted tribute the Games have seen.
I only have one weapon with me; a small, curved combat knife. Serrated down one side, razor-sharp on the other.
Oh, the fun I could have with this.
I imagine the audience watching on horrified as I slowly end the life of some powerless weakling from the outlying districts. Yes, that would get me attention.
Obviously, when it comes to later in the Games, kills won't come so easily, and won't be so quick. I'll need to end any opposition quickly. But now, whilst weak tributes are still alive, is my chance to show off a sadistic side. My chance to steal back the attention from that man-mountain from District 6.
But whilst I could be hunting tributes, I'm stuck on guard duty. The other Careers won't be back for hours, and by then, the pool of remaining tributes might have shrunk even smaller.
After all, nobody will be near the cornucopia at this time. It is well-known among tributes that the Careers tend to set up camp near the cornucopia, just like we have done this year. Surely nobody is stupid enough to wander near the cornucopia on the first night?
Surely nobody will know if I disappear for an hour into the woods? I could get a lot done in that time. And what's life without a little risk, anyway?
I stand to leave camp unguarded, my small knife in my left hand. I pack a torch and some food and leave quietly to prowl the arena, in search of my first victim.
By the end of that first night, the numbers had been reduced from fifteen to thirteen, with Cicero claiming his first victim, the boy from District 8. As opposed to the Careers who had gone before him, who were emotionless machines of people, only focused on getting the job done as efficiently as possible, Cicero put some flair into murder. The way that he tortured his victims during that first week of the Games gave him unparalleled sponsor support, taking fans away from the strongest tribute that year, the boy from District 6.
At the end of the first week in the arena, the Careers made up four of the surviving eight, with the girl from Four having died at the hands of the boy from District 7 during the nighttime hunt of the fourth day, and the boy from District 1 was turned on by his allies after they had grown tired of his outspoken ideas.
Cicero left the Career Alliance on the ninth night, killing his district partner in her sleep and leaving the other two Careers behind. The next to wake, the girl from District 1, killed the boy from Four in his sleep upon realising her abandonment, and the arena was down to five.
By the end of the second week, there were three tributes left alive, and the girl from District 1, Cicero and the boy from Six met at the cornucopia on the morning of the sixteenth day. He may have shown creative tendencies throughout the Games, but when it really mattered Cicero was able to get down to business, using his favourable supplies given to him by sponsors to wipe out all opposition, crowning himself the victor of the 15th Annual Hunger Games.
A/N: Please review, and remember to send me your arena ideas! :)
