AUTHOR'S NOTES: This chapter is sort of a "companion-chapter" to the previous one because of the victor, the way the games are laid out, the shortness and sweetness of the story, and insomuch that it was one of the first chapters I wrote. These two chapters were also both kind of foreshadowed as early as the 11th and 12th games. Whatever the case, there are no other chapters this similar to one another, and from here on out, the update schedule should be normal again.
Happy Reading!
The 82nd Annual Hunger Games
The notion of fear and déjà vu was still fresh in everyone's minds after the horrifying ordeals of the previous years. Unfortunately for the districts, history was about to repeat itself 70 years later, except that this time it would be much more horrifying.
Even to this day, no one knows exactly what was in that arena, any more than they knew what was in the one before it. The nefarious Gamemakers responsible for devising these two arenas were never identified, and so their secrets disappeared with them. On the other hand, the darkness, the screams, and the utterly traumatized look on the poor victors face when they dragged him out of there were enough to tell people about the sheer evil that this arena contained.
This was the grim story of Katsuo Raiden's Pyrrhic Victory in the 82nd Annual Hunger Games.
He began his story just like his sister Kaede—an ordinary career tribute bent on reaching the stage to volunteer as the male representative of District 2. His partner was as confident as he was, although he also had a touch of an additional motive on his mind—he wanted to win and hopefully better understand what his sister was suffering. What he did not expect, was that he would learn not only what the Hunger Games was like, but also exactly what his twin sister was suffering from.
Most of the tributes figured that last year's horrors were a one-time thing, and so despite everything that had gone down, most of them, Katsuo included, went back to forming the usual factions and alliances, and all scoring fairly well to boot.
However, fear crept in quickly once the Gamemakers gave another ominous and cryptic warning much like they had done previously.
"you have 15 minutes to demonstrate your chosen skills. Show your best skills to keep the screams at bay. You may begin."
A boy from District 5 and a girl from District 9 were the ones who first started hypothesizing that the arena would be very similar to the one last year. They were absolutely correct. Greeting the tributes as they emerged from their tubes onto the pedestals was a pitch-black arena only illuminated by dim lights around the pedestals so that tributes would not step off, and then the weapons and cornucopia also emitted a faint glow. Unfortunately, almost as if it was a deliberate re-creation of the year before, a tribute tried jumping off of the pedestal too soon. Some said that he jumped on purpose to not have to endure the inevitable nightmares that would come with dealing with an arena this nightmarish.
The tributes' eyes had a shimmering, catlike affect to them that made seeing each other easier, but there was no telling what other obstacles lay on the ground between them and their target, and this was how some tributes fled. Even with knowledge of the previous year's games on their minds, there was no real way for them to put that knowledge into practice, for there were no lights, and none were able to be sponsored either.
There was no career pack during the Hunger Games' 82nd year as a result of this confusion. With no way to identify each other apart from asking or recognizing eye height or footfalls, no one wanted to take a chance to see who someone was. Time spent that close to another tribute simply increased the odds of that tribute killing them. Besides, some of the eyes did not belong to tributes at all, and instead belonged to those same monsters that knew how to use weapons from before. It was actually because of this year's games and the year before that the name "Night Witches" stuck for the humanoid mutts that were able to use weapons just like a tribute.
The delusionary fog on the 4th day and the monsters that roamed the arena and seemed to be able to fly only made this arena all the more terrifying and difficult to navigate. Tributes went crazy and it was hard to even tell who killed who—or what killed who. The 5th day marked the ending of the games as Katsuo went on a similar blind rampage like his sister had, and ended up assassinating the two remaining tributes as he fled in terror from a pack of Night Witches. Technically no one was sure if these creatures were the actual Night Witches or not, but no one cared to find out—especially not Katsuo, who was living the nightmare that was becoming a hot discussion topic around Panem. All that mattered to him was that the final two faces had appeared in the sky, and that meant that the games for him were finally over, and that he was free from this horrifying ordeal. With it over, Katsuo had become a victor—a survivor of the monstrosities and maliciousness of the arena. Katsuo was the 15th victor from District 2, and the 82nd victor of the games.
Much like his sister before him, Katsuo's victory ceremonies and tour were trying experiences that he never wanted to repeat. He understood now more than ever just how broken and devastated Kaede was—for he was now the exact same way as well. The courage and gusto he had had before the games was gone, replaced by a terrified and shattered remnant of a boy who had once been one of District 2's finest warriors alongside his sister. Katsuo's trauma only helped drive the wedge of discontent deeper into District 2, as the unrest and unease in the Victor Village grew. On the other hand, he and his sister became reclusive and evasive together. Neither one spoke much, and they had almost no interactions with anyone but each other. They hoped more than anyone that anyone else—regardless of district—would not have to suffer such a cruel and sadistic fate. The Hunger Games showed no mercy, after all—and they knew it better than anyone.
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)
43HG: Blight McKay (#4, District 7)
44HG: Sagittaria Svenja (#4, District 11)
45HG: Dezna Meraxa (#4, District 6)
46HG: Alice DeSiete (#3, District 8)
47HG: Aurum Zianja (#8, District 1)
48HG: Layla Aranai (#9, District 2)
49HG: Chip Sangster (#5, District 3)
50HG: Haymitch Abernathy (#2, District 12)
51HG: Derrick James (#7, District 5)
52HG: Chaff Mitchell (#5, District 11)
53HG: Brutus Gunn (#10, District 2)
54HG: Tiffany Waxler (#2, District 10)
55HG: Zak Dreggite (#4, District 4)
56HG: Zoroka Chandaki (#9, District 1)
57HG: Cecelia Sanchez (#4, District 8)
58HG: Meili Meisha (#5, District 6)
59HG: Zhin Lyautey (#6, District 3)
60HG: Lucas Drazen (#10, District 1)
61HG: Kara Petersen (#5, District 7)
62HG: Enobaria Taos (#11, District 2)
63HG: Gloss Zianja (#11, District 1)
64HG: Cashmere Zianja (#12, District 1)
65HG: Finnick Odair (#5, District 4)
66HG: Elroy Trujillo (#12, District 2)
67HG: Varric Svenja (#6, District 11)
68HG: Carver Tabris (#2, District 9)
69HG: Bethany Shanza (#8, District 5)
70HG: Annie Cresta (#6, District 4)
71HG: Johanna Mason (#6, District 7)
72HG: Immanuel Cox (#3, District 10)
73HG: Paige DeSiete (#5, District 8)
74HG: Clove Kazera (#13, District 2)
75HG: Katniss Everdeen (#3, District 12)
76HG: Johnny Stallings (#9, District 5)
77HG: Ikki Ortolani (#7, District 3)
78HG: Ryuka Satoru (#6, District 6)
79HG: Nailah Zoraki (#13, District 1)
80HG: Zenzi Tallarico (#7, District 11)
81HG: Kaede Raiden (#14, District 2)
82HG: Katsuo Raiden (#15, District 2)