AUTHOR'S NOTES: There's been recent clamour about what my update schedule for this fic is. The answer... I don't know. To be on the safe side though, I'll probably update it every week or two, maybe on Mondays now that I've finished one of my other fanfics. If you're a member and have a question about my update/writing schedule, drop me a PM. if you're not a member and have the same question, make an account and PM me. Alternately, I've got about 5 or 6 other Hunger Games fanfics that hopefully will entertain you.
That said, the 42nd games are part of the "golden age" series I have going on, and as such it's a particularly lengthy chapter, and was actually pretty fun to write. No point in spoiling it though, when it's right here in front of us.
Happy Reading!

The 42nd Annual Hunger Games

While the last few Hunger Games had all been very popular among the Capitol citizenry, there was one minor complaint in regards to the arena designs that a few people had started to voice. Claiming that the Gamemakers were relying on the fog element too much was the biggest concern, but it seemed that most people were willing to set aside that disbelief for a while as long as the games continued to be exciting. For the Capitol, this simply meant that they would simply make sure not to use any sort of fog for the 42nd Annual Hunger Games.

One of the aspects that the Gamemakers watched for in the tribute pool was watching for who volunteered and why they did. For the career districts, they mostly just watched to see how enthusiastic the tributes were, or the level of gusto they exuded racing to or standing proudly on the stage. This year didn't give them their usual overly enthusiastic tributes, although the pair were intriguing enough.

District 1 produced a pair of siblings: Jack Glamm and Jessica Glamm, a fierce pair of warriors that would definitely be scoring high. Over in District 2, Amanda Lussier made it to the stage with a level of speed and savagery that almost guaranteed her a strong score and good sponsorship and support. Moments later, she was joined by a levelheaded 16-year-old boy named Niles Lincoln, who everyone saw as something of an oddity. While nimble, he did not exactly seem built for speed, and contrary to being one of the biggest or strongest boys in the potential tribute pool, Niles was actually a much slenderer young man, and one of the smallest ones that had tried to volunteer.

While District 3 and District 4 produced volunteers, they didn't stand out the way some of the other tributes did. There were no further volunteers this year, but at least one of District 5's tributes: a girl named Star Caelum, seemed promising. District 9 also managed to produce an intimidating young man. This Luca Donners fellow later proved to be rather adept with the sickle and the sword in the training center, and as someone from one of the poor, outer districts, it was highly unlikely that he would be joining up with Jack, Jessica, Amanda, or Niles. This year's career pack did break the usual trend. Usually it was the District 2 tributes that were faster and stronger, while the District 1 kids were usually more slender and attractive. This year, both Niles and Amanda were the slender and attractive ones, while the Glamm siblings both had likely been training intensely for this moment their entire lives, obsessing over it to the point where they were not concerned about having to fight each other in the arena. If that ended up happening, they would deal with it. Until then, they would remain obvious allies.

Star wandered through the training room to scope out any promising non-career tributes, eventually running into the boy from District 6, Nathan Audi. As someone similarly proficient with building and creating things, she figured that they could make a decent and intriguing alliance, and Nathan seemed to agree with her considering that they had formed an alliance on the 2nd day.

Of course, as there was on many different occasions, a couple of the outer districts, particularly Hunter Smith and Esther Warrington from District 11, formed an alliance with each other. They were originally going to try and recruit the 18-year-old boy from District 12, but he didn't exactly seem like a strong or even necessarily a very friendly type. Most likely he was from one of the poorest parts of the poorest district, and as such, did not exactly get proper nourishment. His partner, 15-year-old Iris Coaler, didn't seem too much better, but there was a certain glint in her eyes that spelled trouble.

When training scores rolled around, tributes watched for who would need to be avoided, who could be killed off in the bloodbath, or who needed to be exterminated as early as possible in fear of how dangerous they might become. Of course, that tactic seldom ever worked, but that didn't stop many from trying it over the years,-as it did enjoy at least some success now and then.

Whatever the case, the Glamms both scored 10s, while Amanda and Star both scored 11s. Niles surprised everyone by scoring a 12, but he dismissively laughed it off and told his allies to think nothing of it. It was probably just a fluke. The pair from 11 both scored 8s, Iris scored a 9, and Nathan scored a 7. Some of the other tributes were also concerned about Luca's performance, and these fears were also solidified when the boy scored a 10. Despite this, some tribute stook a small bit of comfort in knowing that it would be the arena that determined the success or failure of anyone, regardless of how high or low they scored…

While Niles had been practicing with knives and swords for most of his time in the training center, he quickly betrayed his own secret. His score of 12 had been no fluke at all: when the gong sounded, he beelined it for the nearest bow, before picking off four tributes on his own with frighteningly deadly accuracy. It was in this moment that the other careers knew that they were messing with one of the scariest tributes to ever pick up a weapon in Hunger Games history.

Luckily for them, no one else died at Niles' hand that morning, but somehow, little Iris managed to escape the fray, even if she armed with nothing but a bag of food.

The arena was definitely something that would favor children from the likes of District 2, 1, or 12. The rocky valleys, cliffs, and mountains made it clear that this was some sort of quarry-type area. Coming from districts were rocks and mountains were abundant meant that these tributes would have an advantage—or that most of them would Iris' partner still wound up being one of the 10 tributes to die in that bloody morning.

It seemed that the only bag of food-related supplies had been snatched up by Iris, and so most of the tributes ended up scouting around the arena to see what it held. The days and nights were perfectly clear without even so much as dust clouds to obscure the tributes' views, let alone dust clouds. There were creeks up in the mountains, and the clear skies made even the nights pretty plainly visible.

Water was not a problem for most tributes, although food was a little harder to come by. Star teamed up with Nathan in an attempt to find where Iris went. They managed to track her surprisingly easily, but were surprised to see the messy-haired girl perched comfortably on a small rocky platform, surrounded by jagged cliffs. It was a precarious path to take, but they had throwing knives and projectile weapons in case the girl tried anything.
Iris didn't even have a slingshot; just a pile of softball-sized rocks within reach as she casually ate her meal. No one expected that she'd actually be able to hit anyone with them, but they gravely underestimated the strength of Iris' throwing arm. Calmly setting down her jerky, she picked up a rock, closing one of her eyes, bringing her arm back and lobbing the rock with such dangerous precision that it struck Star right in the forehead. She lost her footing and tumbled off into the rocky abyss. A cannon fired a moment later and Nathan turned tail to run. That didn't stop Iris from seizing another rock and lobbing it at the back of his head, striking him with literal deadly accuracy. He tumbled to the ground, slipping on a ledge and joining Star in the abyss below. Almost immediately, Iris' odds shot up back in the Capitol, and more bets were placed.

Her next would-be victim came a few days later in the form of the perfect-scoring Niles, who wandered her way. However, instead of getting struck in the head with her rock, he ducked just fast enough for it to graze his long, dark hair, and he retaliated with a well-aimed arrow that struck Iris right between the legs, where the bagginess of her pants fabric took the arrow without it actually hitting her body. However, it did pin her awkwardly to the rock wall. While she tried to free herself, Niles began approaching her, but oddly lowered his bow.

"Here," he offered, "don't move."
"Do you really think I'm going to go down without a fight?" Iris warned, "that girl from '5 and that boy from '6 were my kills."
"And four of the bloodbath ones were from my arrows," Niles responded without even skipping a beat, "if I had wanted to hit you with that arrow I did."
"So why hit me there then?" Iris tilted her head as Niles approached. She was lowering her guard, since Niles had plenty of time to shoot the still somewhat immobilized girl and had not.

"I just wanted to immobilize you enough for you to hear me out."
"What do you want from me?"
"I propose an alliance," Niles smirked, dexterously pulling the arrow out of the rock wall it had lodged itself so securely into, "my career buddies betrayed me the moment they saw me off 4 tributes in the arena, fearing that I'm deadly enough that I'd wipe them all out. Obviously it's all true, but I also think that you and I would have more fun offing them together."

"Alright then," Iris's brow furrowed, "although don't be surprised if I suddenly turn on you at any given moment if I feel like you might turn on me first."
"I wouldn't do that this soon, would I?"
"If you thought I had outlived my usefulness, I'd say you would."

"I just want to see you throw more rocks at people," Niles laughed, "let's get moving."
It took a bit of extra convincing before Iris was willing to share her food, but with two long-ranged hunters working together, they were able to bag some prey and replenish their food supply. They climbed to nearly one of the mountain peaks, enjoying the spring water they found there, and watching as another tribute's face showed up in the sky, reducing the number of survivors to 9.

On the note of 9, the District 9 boy, Luca, was still at large as well. The remaining careers were unable to catch him, and Niles had little interest in doing so. Instead, Hunter and Esther were two of his next victims, and then he began to close in on the career pack. A large, robust fellow, it took Jack, Jessica, and Amanda to finally take him down, and even that battle didn't come without casualties and steep price paid. By the time the three careers had taken down Luca, Jessica was dead, Amanda was severely wounded, and Jack was out of commission at least for a while. As opportunists, Niles and Iris took this time as an opportunity to strike. After all, their position on the pinnacle of one of the mountains gave them a wonderful view of the desolate, rocky terrain around them, and so they had an almost birds-eye view of the arena, including the large-scale assault that had gone on between the three careers and the District 9 boy. They would wait a little while for the tension to subside and then strike early in the morning. It was almost as if it was a sign that they were supposed to do this, as the two of them were simultaneously sponsored gifts: Niles got a handful of sleek new arrows, while Iris got a bow of delicious soup and a note from her mentor that made her giggle.

"what's it say?" Niles raised an eyebrow curiously.

"She says that I didn't really need any other kind of gift," Iris quipped, "they can't sponsor me a rock."

"There are plenty of those around here," Niles quipped, "so keep 'em close. Tomorrow we attack."

"Sounds good," Iris nodded in agreement. As such, they didn't even bother staying up much later than the anthem that night, getting sleep now so they could wake up early for their final assault.

Sure enough, before the sun had even risen on the next day, Niles and Iris were homing in on their targets. Taking advantage of Jack and Amanda's injuries, Iris raced in, armed with rocks and her wicked swinging arm. She barely avoided a rock that nicked her ear, while Jack's skull was struck with one of Niles' arrows before he could even fully get to his feet. A cannon fired as Amanda and Iris squared off against each other. Niles aimed another shot, but suddenly staggered back, taking a rather large knife to his gut. Immediately Amanda turned to confront Iris. While rock throwing didn't exactly work as effectively in melee combat, Iris was able to swipe one of Amanda's knives right as she launched a fatal strike at the District 12 girl. Both of them staggered back, Amanda gasping for breath and Iris coughing up blood. Niles used this moment to opportunistically strike Amanda down, and then knelt beside Iris.

"Hey…" he whispered, "sorry I wasn't able to get help you out sooner."

"I could… in theory try to still sucker attack you," A cheeky smile crept onto Iris' face, but she turned and coughed up a spat of blood again, "…but my strength is out."

Niles actually kept the last few moments of the conversation civil. He had genuinely respected Iris against all odds, and she had respected him. It was one of those rare friendships, but like all Hunger Games friendships apart from victors, it was not meant to last. She gave her last breath, and the final cannon rang out, ending the games. Niles was the 8th victor from District 2, and the 42nd victor of the Hunger Games.

Niles remained one of the mellowest victors to emerge from the games, and despite his ruthless fighting skills and deadly accuracy with the bow, he was still a fairly affable and likable man, even later into life. He held a certain appreciation for the subversive and elusive tactics that the tributes from poor districts (particularly District 12) and still held Iris from his games in very high regard. He was a departure from the usual career tribute, but the fame and respect (and admiration, due to his rugged good looks) that he received made him fit right in with the other victors, and Niles was perfectly okay with that.

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)
32HG: Fletch Crossley (#4, District 5)
33HG: Seeder Howell (#3, District 11)
34HG: Price Emerson (#6, District 1)
35HG: Leto Irizari (#7, District 2)
36HG: Jackson Kjelle (#5, District 5)
37HG: Zerviah Hawke (#3, District 6)
38HG: Wiress Plummer (#4, District 3)
39HG: Nephi Lott (#3, District 4)
40HG: Miriam Luxio (#7, District 1)
41HG: Marcelina Kovac (#6, District 5)
42HG: Niles Lincoln (#8, District 2)