AUTHOR'S NOTES: And after a month of hiatus thanks to NaNoWriMo, I make a triumphant return to fanficcing, this time with another chapter of the Victors' Chronicles series. I mentioned earlier that Seeder, Wiress, and Beetee were coming up soon, and wasn't lying. Enter Beetee Latier, complete with a shoutout to Katniss' stunt in the Quarter Quell. There was a reason he had that idea, after all...
Happy Reading!

The 31st Annual Hunger Games

While the evils of the previous year's arena had been a hit, the Capitol's desire to try out new ideas and keep things fresh was still on their minds. This year they were going to put another spin on an old trick.

The design of the 31st Annual Hunger Games was so deceptively simple that people did not even know what to expect. It seemed almost too simple, as if it was a throwback to the early games when the Gamemakers were still testing different plans out.

The career pack this year only consisted of Districts 1 and 2, while Ralis and Lacey from District 4 paired themselves up with the tributes from District 3 that year: Page Bryant and Beetee Latier. Districts 4, 2, and 1 all scored on the higher end of the scale, while District 3's scores were middling. The Gamemakers had not quite realized the full potential of smarts yet, although this year would likely change that. Conversely, the tributes from '12 and even '11 scored on the lower end this year, which meant they would not likely be much of a threat like they often were.

Once the games started, this wound up being true. The very lush meadow that they and the cornucopia were surrounded by was in turn encompassed by a dense jungle and overcast skies. As the tributes spread out and into the jungle, they occasionally heard cracks of lightning, as well as 9 cannons that went off later that evening. None of the kids beyond District 7 had survived the bloodbath this year except for a District 9 girl and a District 8 boy, and so the careers got to watch the hovercrafts come for the bodies that evening. They remained at the cornucopia, which was stocked with ample amounts of food and supplies this year.

While they had not broken their alliance, Ralis and Lacey were nowhere to be found as Page led the search with Beetee behind her. The jungle was difficult to navigate, and by the 2nd morning, the rains came. While Beetee seemed content with taking shelter and tinkering with the meager supplies he had lifted from the cornucopia bloodbath, Page seemed more restless. However, her requests to find their allies fell practically on deaf ears.

"If you want to brave the storm, I'm not going to stop you," Beetee pointed out, tampering with some metallic device in his hands, "I'm not about to stab you in the back or anything either, and so you'll know where to find me unless I get attacked."

Another cannon went off that night, revealing the death of a girl from District 7. This alarmed Page more than usual because the sound of the hovercraft that came to pick up the body sounded eerily close to them. It was difficult to tell because of the rain.

"Whoever killed that girl is probably waiting to ambush us." Page warned again, growing more impatient with her partner this time. Beetee simply looked up and shrugged.

"Tell you what," he suggested, the gears in his mind turning, "you take a look around if you so desire, and if the coast is clear I'll be happy to join you."

He had not meant to con his own partner here, but Paige took the words to heart, taking of to explore and leaving nothing of hers behind except an extra bow. In turn, he ended up rigging his area up in a fairly basic but effective trap. He might have been more used to metal, wire, and electronics, but he knew how to utilize vines, wood, and leaves thanks to some tricks he picked up in the week of training prior to the games. He remained alert so that he could warn Page of the trap should she approach, but after another day and a night passed, she did not return. No cannons had gone off, which meant that she was not dead, but he figured that something had prevented her from coming back. He wasn't a fighter, and so he knew that his only chance at survival would be to think like his opponents did—and then outsmart them.

The alliance between Districts 3 and 4 never panned out. On day 5, Page's face filled the sky, and Beetee was awoken only a few minutes after that by the sound of his trap going off, killing the District 6 boy that had triggered it.

Oddly enough, Beetee found himself being sponsored two items, one of which he didn't immediately recognize. The first item was wire, and he knew exactly what to do with that; the 2nd one turned out to be some sort of electric prod as he discovered, and he had a few ideas of what to do with this.

The next few days consisted of more cannons going off, including those for Ralis and Lacey. According to his calculations, that only left seven tributes: himself, and the kids from Districts 1, 2, and 5. He really hoped that the District 5 pair had not teamed up with the careers, because he knew that they were the most adept at electricity itself, even if District 3 usually surpassed them in knowledge of gadgets.

However, Beetee had a plan. As the others hunted for him, he returned to the cornucopia, attaching the wire to various parts of the large metal horn, and perching himself on top with the bow in one hand and the electric prod in another. With the storm and the lightning strikes, he had a high-risk, high-return plan in mind.

Sure enough, the six remaining tributes showed up and immediately surrounded him, even going as far as climbing atop the horn to prepare to kill him. A few swift calculations later, and Beetee's final gambit was unleashed. He rolled to one side, using the electric prod as an arrow, attached to the wire that was laid across and around the horn. He shot it skyward as he rolled to the ground. The long metal rod acted as a lightningrod, which caused a bolt of lightning to hit it, sending waves of electricity down the metal, through the water, and into the 6 tributes that had surrounded him, Beetee was a bit bruised from his fall off the cornucopia, but he was alive and well, while the others were electrocuted to death. Beetee Latier had become the 3rd victor from District 3, and the 31st victor of the games overall.

Beetee had never exactly been an outgoing fellow, and so his quietness was only offset by his genuine honesty. He told things exactly how they were, and had been a trustworthy ally for the short time he had been in an alliance. His affinity for wire and electronics did not fade at all after the games, and instead, he went into that sort of thing as a profession—where he left a considerable mark on the technological developments of Panem and District 3 as a result.

VICTORS BY YEAR:
1HG: Fukaya Kerezaki (#1, District 5)
2HG: Lucy Takamatzu (#1, District 11)
3HG: Naseru Litzak (#1, District 3)
4HG: Naisha Szasz (#1, District 2)
5HG: Jade Prima (#1, District 1)
6HG: Cedar Hardin (#1, District 7)
7HG: Susan Jackman (#2, District 5)
8HG: Malcolm Reed (#1, District 6)
9HG: Mags Cohen (#1, District 4)
10HG: Faren Dragmire (#2, District 1)
11HG: Maius Karuha (#2, District 2)
12HG: Iunius Karuha (#3, District 2)
13HG: Hilda White (#1, District 10)
14HG: Minali Otoyome (#2, District 3)
15HG: Willow James (#3, District 1)
16HG: Lark Chandnea (#2, District 11)
17HG: Woof Casino (#1, District 8)
18HG: Leah Holden (#2, District 7)
19HG: Zeruda Mezkiel (#2, District 6)
20HG: Muscida Lee (#2, District 4)
21HG: Kada Lahka (#4, District 2)
22HG: Gleam DiFronzo (#4, District 1)
23HG: Ivette Coronado (#3, District 5)
24HG: Olivia Thurman (#1, District 9)
25HG: Laurel Fox (#1, District 12)
26HG: Daron Armstrong (#5, District 2)
27HG: Cobalt Evans (#5, District 1)
28HG: Lyme Golding (#6, District 2)
29HG: Ash LosDias (#3, District 7)
30HG: Challis Worth (#2, District 8)
31HG: Beetee Latier (#3, District 3)