AUTHOR'S NOTES: Much like the previous chapter, this one is also based off of one of my existing full-length fics as the 2nd Golden Age continues. While it obviously contains spoilers for the aforementioned fic, it is by no means as detailed or comprehensive, and so if you enjoy it, feel free to give "The 92nd Annual Hunger Games" a read. Otherwise, here is installment 92 of my AU Hunger Games.
Happy Reading!
The 92nd Annual Hunger Games
After the thrilling and gripping games of the previous year, the Capitol knew that they would have to step up their game for the upcoming year. They had just the idea for this arena as well, and began putting it into practice as soon as they were able, hoping to get it ready in time for the 92nd Annual Hunger Games. Luckily for them, they were successful in this endeavor, and the Gamemakers were rather excited to try their new tricks out.
This year also managed to provide a slew of powerful tributes, from volunteers in Districts 1, 2, and 3, all the way to high-scoring powerhouses from the outlying districts, and even from others like 8, 4, and 5. These would be the test subjects of this new arena, which was more dynamic than the exciting one before it.
It was surprising to see a pair of volunteers from a district like District 3, but Shaft Monroe and Asher Carrol were making their way to the stage as they volunteered for the games that year, where their training scores of 10 and 11 respectively meant that they would be a formidable force indeed.
District 11 also failed to disappoint, with the strong but mysterious Dante Daniels and Cherry Valdez both scoring solid 9s; while District 12 produced Rafael West and Monica Savage, the former scoring a 10 and the latter scoring an 11.
It was District 2 that attracted the most attention that year though—which said something, since they managed to shine brighter than they usually did, considering they were career tributes that were often favored by sponsors and the Capitol. Comically, they were also about as different as they came. The boy, Marcus Romero, was a towering beast of a man standing at 6'4" and weighing in at 200 pounds—twice as much as his little partner, 14-year-old Amy Zavala, a little 93-pound girl who barely stood up at 4'10". She wound up being the smallest tribute in the entire games, smaller even than the 13-year-olds from Districts 5 and 7 that year.
The Gamemakers left each and every tribute with the same cryptic message during their private sessions this year, and based on the confused discussions that followed, it was clear that none of them knew what the phrase "you catch more Night Witches with honey" meant.
Whatever the case, with so many high-scoring tributes it was sure to be a very promising games much like the one before it. The tributes had sort of divided into three 'factions' before the games: the career pack, which consisted of both tributes from Districts 1, 2, and 3; and then the outlying alliance, which had both tributes from Districts 12, 11, and 8. The third faction were the rest of the 'neutral' tributes, who many people felt would not last long because of these two powerful alliances.
Sure enough, all but two of the non-allied tributes were killed in the bloodbath, bringing the total bloodbath kill count up to 10 this year, and the games were on. The array of weaponry and supplies at the cornucopia seemed normal except for the occasional jar of honey, that most tributes simply overlooked for the oddness of its presence. Dante and Cherry vanished towards the south right away, while Districts 8 and 12 headed northeast. Amy and Marcus led the careers into taking the cornucopia, where they basked in the glory of the Capitol's 'benevolence' for most of the evening. Shortly after the cannons fired, however, was something that rocked the careers off of their high horses—a slew of humanoid creatures with black hair and clothing, greyish brown skin, and glowing red eyes, raided their camp. The humanoid mutts—often dubbed "Night Witches", given their dark colorations and their otherworldly attributes and behavior—had returned. Amy and Marcus were separated from the others, and it was at this point that they discovered what this arena was like—it was a giant hedge maze, at first glance, and that alone made it worth keeping their guards up. There was no telling who—or what—might be behind this corner or that.
They woke up later the next morning having no clue where they were. Apparently they had just run until they had collapsed, and here they were. After eating a little and getting up to scout around the maze, they ran into another of the Night Witches, where suddenly the presence of the honey and the words of the Gamemaker began to make sense.
Using the honey as a bait, Amy and Marcus managed to coax the creature into following—and later fighting—for them, much to their delight.
They were able to migrate back to the cornucopia, only to find it overrun by half a dozen of these creatures, and they certainly did not have enough honey for them all. Thus, they chose to flee rather than fight, and managed to shake their aggressors off, only to find that the terrain of the arena was rather different in this corner. The grassy paths of the central region of the maze had faded away into a more rocky terrain that seemed to be moving uphill. The fact that there were hedges here was clearly the Capitol's work, and any other tribute that saw them knew they were unnatural.
Things started to literally heat up as they discovered that the northwestern region of the maze was on the slopes of a volcano. Marcus and Amy were not sure where any of the others were, but all they knew was that they were being chased around by arena hazards left and right. They were not alone in this regard. The pairs from Districts 8, 12, 1, and 3, while all in different places, had met similar fates, although '8 and '12 managed to stick together, as did '1 and '3. There were no signs of Cherry and Dante from District 11 this whole time, however.
Shortly after Spark died, bringing the surviving number of tributes down to twelve, Amy and Marcus met up with their fellow careers from Districts 1 and 3, and soon they went back on the prowl. They ran into Monica from District 12 down one of the longer, narrower corridors, and they knew at once that a fight was going to take place here. They had her outnumbered 6 to 1, but Monica's stouthearted District 12 spirit was not so easily crushed. The fight soon turned into a battle as she snapped her fingers, causing Rafael, Talon, and Azure to appear out of the hedgework.
A fast-paced scuffle in the narrow corridor took place, which actually did not result in any casualties, although Asher, Amy, and Marcus were seriously injured from the fight, as were Talon and Monica from the outer districts. As the careers fell back, they decided to take back the cornucopia from the Night Witches—a task that they were able to successfully do with the six of them. Marcus and Amy might have been strong, but they knew that their allies were useful as well.
Days 7 and 8 were uneventful, with the only real unusual incident happening was the sun did not come up at all during those times—a common trick used by the Capitol. By the 9th day, however, the tributes were better rested and ready for action. Luster suggested that they split into three pairs to help weed out Districts 8 and 12, but his plan wound up being his own undoing. He and Charm had been ambushed by the District 8 pair, who had gotten a good shot on him and ended his life. However, Shaft managed to get a good shot on Talon, retaliating for Luster's death, and thus a life for a life had been exchanged. Azure was unfazed about being outnumbered 5-to-1, however, and so she fought to her last breath. While Marcus went in with his heavy sword, Amy took the kill by lodging one of her knives in Azure's throat. Once District 8 was gone, the careers returned to the cornucopia again. It was one of the few safe places in the arena, they figured.
The next morning proved this theory right, although later in the afternoon, their concerns of an ambush from District 12 were validated as Charm was sniped right in the forehead by Monica's arrow. Unlike in earlier years where they were often fodder, this year just like the last, had served as a reminder that District 12 was no longer messing around. She and Rafael were clinging to the hedge walls and making their shots, and so Amy felt a need to put that nonsense to an end. Throwing a knife right for Monica's face that she knew the older girl couldn't properly dodge from her position, it instead snapped her bowstring, which slashed her hand right open. Obviously without Monica's bow, they no longer had a vantage point, and so they fled. Marcus, Amy, Shaft, and Asher knew that they would not be facing their adversaries in direct combat.
The evening did not get any better. The Night Witches returned, which caused a fight to break out. The odd element of this situation was that these creatures brought a hazy fog with them this time, and when the tributes attacked the mutts, they disappeared in clouds of smoke.
Marcus insisted that they were illusions, and his theory was put to the test a moment later as Shaft exclaimed that there was a wildfire approaching them. Asher disagreed, claiming it was a rushing wave of water, while Amy was jumping around frantically, thinking the ground was opening up beneath them.
Marcus was the one to come to the rescue. He was sponsored a gas mask, and the moment he put it on all of the hallucinations stopped. They were surrounded by nothing but otherwise harmless (albeit hallucinatory) fog, and so he bellowed for them to get out of here. Controlling the cornucopia was not worth losing their sanity over.
The arena proved to be as sinister as the tributes feared it was, for when days 11 and 12 dawned, there was no sunlight to be seen. However, just like the morning of day 10, the morning of day 13 had some wild surprises in store. The ground really did begin collapsing into the water. It was not that deep, but was enough to soak Asher completely before Marcus yanked her out. To make matters worse, Rafael and Monica were on the walls and in hot pursuit. They had the edge since they did not need to flee from the advancing waters that would make the careers sitting ducks, and they capitalized on this advantage by attacking Shaft and Asher, who did not run as fast as Amy or Marcus. At this point, however, they were all on solid ground, and so Amy and Marcus prepared for combat. Unfortunately but predictably for them, the District 12 pair set right back off into the corners of the maze again.
The remainder of the 13th day seemed to seal off District 12 from reaching the cornucopia where Marcus and Amy rested. It seemed the Gamemakers were planning something big.
And yet when the 14th morning came, everything seemed quiet and serene. Deciding to take a trek northward, Amy and Marcus found one of the most unsettling things that they had seen the entire time: The maze had reverted to normal, and the passages and corridors had changed. Moments later, they heard a crackling noise, and realized that the walls had suddenly become electrified. They wasted no time rushing back to the cornucopia clearing. Shortly after their arrival, they found themselves face to face with District 11 and half a dozen Night Witches. It explained where those two had been, and they knew at once that there was no backing out of this one.
One of the craziest and fiercest fights of all time took place here, and the weirdest part about it was that the District 11 pair seemed to be controlling the Night Witches to great effect. The battle was fierce, but ultimately, Dante and Cherry fell to Marcus and Amy's blades, and their Night Witches did as well. However, it gave birth to another mystery—how had two tributes from one of the most impoverished districts in Panem managed to hijack control of the Capitol mutts?
They would worry about it later. For now they decided to try and catch their breath for when District 12 inevitably returned. Oddly, Amy was sponsored a coil of wire, which she assumed had something to do with the electrical walls, but she couldn't put her finger on it, and so wrapped it around her arm and otherwise waited.
Sure enough, an attack came their way as Rafael threw a blade at Marcus' chest. The larger boy was able to block it, responding instantly by throwing his sword right through the District 12 boy's gut. However, right as they both sprang up to look for Monica, her arrow sailed out of the darkness and struck Marcus fatally in the chest. The fight between the final two tributes was on. They disarmed each other and then grappled for dominance. Amy threw some of the wire Monica's way, although realized that this was a stupid mistake a few moments later as Minica yanked it and threw Amy off of her feet. She began to drag the tinier girl towards one of the electrified walls, but this was where she made her move.
She unraveled the wire from her hand and threw it with considerable velocity at the wall. It electrocuted Monica enough to paralyze her, and Amy used this moment of stunning to kick Monica right into the wall, where the electricity hit her full force and zapped the remaining life force right out of it. Amy had just become the 16th victor from District 2, and the 92nd victor of the Hunger Games.
The insane, fast-paced action of the 92nd Hunger Games was certainly memorable to say the least. Amy's own trauma was simply a hollow feeling that she could not shake off. Everything had happened so quickly that she simply felt nothing for it. She had unintentionally fallen in love with Marcus, and so his loss struck her harder than she admitted.
Despite being from the most loyal district in Panem, Amy was part of small rift forming especially between the victors of District 2 and the others, about rebellion and discontent with the Capitol. They were laying low for the time being, but they were preparing to set things into motion just like their neighbors over in District 12 were. War was coming…
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)
83HG: Mandy Ikezhen (#7, District 4)
84HG: Vigo Zakatau (#4, District 12)
85HG: Resin Balthezar (#7, District 7)
86HG: Marian Greene (#3, District 9)
87HG: Connor McIrish (#6, District 8)
88HG: Ian Nelson (#8, District 3)
89HG: Kozue Sowa (#8, District 11)
90HG: Gill Wainright (#8, District 4)
91HG: Aveline Togisala (#5, District 12)
92HG: Amy Zavala (#16, District 2)