AUTHOR'S NOTES: And here we reach the beginning of the end. This is the true final stretch, ladies and gentlemen. Here we witness the "Hunger Games" that helped bring an end to these barbaric pageants once and for all. This chapter, as well as the two that follow it, is based off of my fanfic 'The 100th Annual Hunger Games', and so there will obviously be a few spoilers for that since this story got way ahead of that one. Either way, I've rambled enough.
Happy Reading!
The 100th Annual Hunger Games?
Tensions were high in Panem with the upcoming Hunger Games on their doorstep, and naturally, not too many people were happy about it. Everyone was familiar with the Quarter Quells every 25 years where the Capitol switched up the rules of the games to allow a new twist to keep things up, but hardly anyone was surprised that after 99 years, that the Capitol wanted something big for their century celebration. The 4th Quarter Quell was going to blow the earlier ones out of the water.
Sure enough, the 100th Annual Hunger Games and the associated rule twist was easily considered by the 12 districts of Panem to be the most sadistic of them all. First it was announced that there were going to be 48 tributes, similar to the 2nd quell. 24 of them would be reaped from the pool of previous victors, a reminder not only of the 3rd quell where older tributes joined the arena, but also of the rumors that there would one day be a Hunger Games where the tributes were all past victors. The remaining 24 tributes for the 10th Hunger Games would then be hand-picked by the chosen victors, a reminder of the 1st quell.
Naturally, this did not sit well with any of the tributes, victors, or districts, and so right away they knew that their day of reckoning had come. Tributes like Alice DeSiete, Lyme Golding, Clove Kazera, Shigeru Lombardi, Haymitch Abernathy, Johanna Mason, Amy Zavala, and Korra Francisco all knew that the rebellion they had long since spoken of in hushed whispers, had to happen either now or never.
The reapings all went off without a hitch. 24 victors from the districts were chosen, but the children they chose to accompany them were very specifically chosen. These were all dangerously rebellious boys and girls that the victors knew would be able to help them with their plan to escape.
It was at this point when District 9 tributes Zelda Alto and Roy Keaton joined the Mockingjay Rebellion headed by Korra Francisco, who, alongside her old mentor Amy, was deliberately not chosen for the 'games. Her role would be elsewhere.
The mentors kept in touch with the citizens of District 12, who had surprisingly made contact with the citizens of District 13 due to the actions of the president. Laurel Fox, a District 12 victor from 75 years ago, had escaped to the supposedly destroyed district, and had risen through the ranks until she had become president of the district. With this much energy and resources at her disposal, she knew it was time to help District 13 lead Panem in another rebellion—nay, a revolution. Her first stop would be the smallest, nearest, and by far the most rebellious district in the nation—District 12.
Coordination happened. The tributes located the hovercrafts, and victors Meili Meisha and Shishio Meraxa were competent pilots from District 6. Katsuo and Kaede Raiden, the mentally shattered twin victors from District 2, were a distraction, while the girl Kaede had chosen-Zerlinda Franz, knew enough about the Peacekeepers, their weapons, and their protocols that she would be able to help initiate an attack.
There had to be more coordination than that, however. If the Capitol was still lit up, escape would be nearly impossible due to their obvious visibility and the massive Capitol security. Lucky for the revolutionaries, they had a few connections in the otherwise fairly loyal District 5.
Their target, a massive dam named Coriolanus 10 after the (now) former President Coriolanus Snow, was the one that powered the hub of the Capitol. If they could take it down or disable it, it would plunge the Capitol into darkness for hopefully the right amount of time the tributes would need to escape certain death. The victors were all extremely close with one another, even the ones from different districts. The tributes they had chosen also showed a sense of camaraderie, especially after the hushed whispers spread around that they were planning on a way out of here. It would be a very close call though—they had three weeks of training that would otherwise go on as normal, and during that time, District 5 had to find a way to disable the Coriolanus 10 dam without Snow's granddaughter, the new President Romula Snow, catching wind of it. Similarly, District 13 and the forces of District 12 had to join up to help pry the district from Capitol rule. District 12 would only be the first. From there, they would eventually reclaim the other 11 districts to free the people from the oppressive Capitol and Romula's totalitarian regime.
The deadline made everything scarier. There was a an almost certain chance that if they failed to get themselves out of the Tribute Tower before the games were scheduled to begin, that they would have to go to the arena and turn on one another, thus bringing about the collapse of the rebellion because of the loss of so many prominent figures. Fortunately for them, they didn't intend to allow that to happen.
Even then, they still went through all the motions, training in combat and other skills for three weeks. The Capitol wanted them to have ample time to muster their strength so that this would be the most memorable and intense Hunger Games of all time-including for years to come. They didn't even care about how they might try to one-up it. This year they were pulling out all the stops and they knew it-and Romula Snow approved.
Training scores were unsurprisingly high, with the unsuspecting tributes from District 10 scoring the "lowest" with scores of 6. There were a few 7s and 8s, but most of the other tributes scored between 9 and 12. Zelda and Roy, the tributes chosen by the District 9 victors, surprised everyone by scoring an 11 and a 12 respectively. The career districts: '1, '2, and even '3, all scored predictably high, with some of the victors earning similar scores to their original games, and others earning much higher scores now that the Capitol knew who they were. Ikki Ortolani, who only scored a 4 in the 77th Hunger Games, walked out with a 12. Mandy Ikezhen, famous for scoring a 12 in the 83rd Hunger Games alongside her partner, walked out with another 12 and a smirk on her face. little Aveline, who had scored a 5 in the 91st Hunger Games, also scored as 12 for similar reasons. District 11's tributes all scored 11s in what some called poetic intrigue, and then the four District 12 tributes ended the show by all scoring 12s. Ultimately, only two 6s were given out, and only three 7s. Eight tributes scored 8s as well as 9s, and there were a total of 27 scores of 10, 11, and 12: nine of each, ultimately making this batch of tributes the highest-scoring group in Hunger Games history—and for good reason.
However, to the tributes, these scores meant nothing-for they had no intention of allowing themselves to be dragged off to the arena to kill their best friends. The night before the interviews was when everything was finally beginning to set into motion. The mentors and past victors all quietly removed themselves from the Capitol, including Korra. While she and several others would have liked to stay to help, it would be too difficult to coordinate meeting up, and no one wanted to be left behind. The tributes were on their own.
It was the morning of the interviews that District 12 finally struck. While the tributes were being interviewed for what many people assumed would be the final hours of their lives, President Fox helped the locals, comprised primarily of "painted" citizens and other such rebels, take back their district. A rebellious Peacekeeper named Chive Kazera (older sister to the notorious Clove Kazera from District 2) helped the rebellion by betraying her fellow Peacekeepers, gunning down any that were loyal to the Capitol or that would subvert the revolution. There was no turning back now.
While the Capitol was currently unaware of this situation (communication lines were shut off after the rebels took over District 12), the citizenry of District 5 were making their move. They sabotaged the dam, knocking out the power mere seconds after victor Vigo Zakatau had wrapped up his interview. This disrupted Caesar's special announcement, and instead announced to the darkened Capitol of Panem that District 12 was now under District 13 control.
The 48 tributes had very little time to act. Shishio, a male victor from District 6, helped lead the tributes to the hangar, only to find it populated with Peacekeepers. It was Zerlinda who made the deadly move. She charged right in towards the guards watching the hovercrafts, only to be gunned down. She fell lifeless at the Peacekeeper's feet, playing dead. What they didn't realize was that she had actually just bent backwards and fallen in an awkward position to simulate death. After they had lowered their guards, Zerlinda wrenched one of their weapons away and started gunning down the other Peacekeepers. Once they were dispatched, she motioned for the remaining 47 tributes to join her. Shishio and Meili took the cockpit of the nearest hovercraft while the other tributes and victors all strapped in to prepare for the ride. 48 men and women, still fully decked out in exotic suits and dresses, all congregated inside the large hovercraft, which took off into the night before the Capitol could organize much in the way of pursuit. Their battle was far from over though. There were several hours of flight time between the Capitol and District 13, and while they were trying to be as stealthy as possible, Romula and the Capitol would know that they were gone and would undoubtedly send pursuit. No one outsmarted her and got away with it.
They flew through the night with little in terms of events, getting more than halfway there before they detected Capitol hovercrafts on their radar. Kara Petersen, a charismatic victor from District 7 with well-known leadership skills, helped direct the tributes, choosing a handful of them to man the weapons systems of the hovercraft while Meili and Shishio continued to stay on course. This skirmish was another element of the "100th Hunger Games" in the eyes of many of the tributes. They might have escaped the Capitol's arena, but their retreat, coupled with District 12's secession and District 13's involvement, had triggered a nationwide 'Hunger Games', with the Capitol soldiers and citizens of the districts as the 'tributes', and with the entire country from the Capitol to the reaches of District 13 becoming the 'arena'.
The tributes and victors from District 12 and District 11 were some of the finest marksmen with bows, and they were able to wield the turret guns fairly easily as well. It made a few of the other tributes glad that they didn't have to face off in the arena—the training scores, while now utterly irrelevant, were still clearly significant in reminding people, tributes or otherwise, about the power these men and women held.
While the renegade tributes managed to gun down all four of the pursuing Capitol hovercraft, they were also forced to make an emergency crash-landing, with Shishio barrel-rolling and crashing in a remote field between District 3 and District 8. They cut the power to everything but the radar jammer, and held tight—it was going to be a long night.
Early the next morning, before the sun even came up, the tributes were met with a knock on the hatch door of the craft. Armed with the weapons Zerlinda had stolen from the Peacekeepers, the tributes warily approached the door-only to find Clove Kazera and 300 women from District 2 that comprised her battalion.
She clarified immediately that she was on their side, and that her small fleet was here to rescue them and bring them back to the safe confines of District 13. They would be out of immediate danger there, but they were far from achieving peace. Even as Clove managed to help fly them safely to District 13, they knew that the Capitol was not done pursuing them. They had declared war on the rest of Panem, and while there were plenty of rebels in some of the districts, others still had plenty of citizens loyal to the Capitol, who would undoubtedly get full support from said Capitol when the battle came to their doorstep. They had to play their cards carefully.
There was no victor of the 100th Annual Hunger Games, since there was no official games. The arena might have still stood somewhere out in the remote reaches of Panem, but the game was a lot different now—with Panem as the arena and the citizens as the tributes, these were Hunger Games that they would not so swiftly forget.
The tributes were welcomed to District 13 with open arms thanks to President Fox, and they even got to meet back up with Amy and Korra. The battle to rescue the tributes from the Capitol's clutches had ended… but the battle to free the districts was about to begin…
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)
93HG: Korra Francisco (#17, District 2)
94HG: Cadence Montoya (#10, District 5)
95HG: Lux Calameda (#14, District 1)
96HG: Shishio Meraxa (#7, District 6)
97HG: Eli Christiansen (#9, District 11)
98HG: Shigeru Lombardi (#9, District 3)
99HG: Lyndis DeSiete (#7, District 8)
100HG: Cancelled; Revolution in Progress