So I'm not quite sure why I'm back as I thought I was done with Fanfiction awhile ago. I think it's because in my current job I haven't had much time – or energy – to write and I'm hoping this story will get me back into it. I've written two previous SYOT stories – The 76th Hunger Games the Haunted and The 77th Hunger Games the Damned – and have fond memories of writing both of them, the tributes people were willing to share with me, and the community it created. My prior two stories were LONG and I'm not aiming for that this time. With that being said, please enjoy the chapter and look for the submission instructions at the bottom.
Thanks for reading, and please review and follow!
I do not own the Hunger Games. All credit goes to Suzanne Collins. Any characters or locations or plot lines not featured in Suzanne Collins' story belong to me. Any tributes submitted by other authors and/or reviewers belong to them and will be credited.
The 58th Hunger Games: The Last Stop
By Dante Alighieri1308
After a series of disappointing Hunger Games, the Capitol is eager for a return to basics. With a new mercurial Head Gamemaker eager to make his mark, 24 Tributes enter the Games, forced to face an arena with explosive tendencies and fellow Tributes equally as volatile.
A sharp jab to the ribs from a steel toed boot was not how Lucan Hadrianus, now darling of the Capitol and envy of of all other Gamemakers, would have liked to start his morning after the end of the 57th Hunger Games Victory Tour, but as he awoke and looked at who had dared to hit him, he figured the dunderhead probably had no idea how important he was and could be forgiven for his mistaken.
"Your presence is requested at the Gamemakers Headquarters." The Peacekeeper informed him.
A spike of anger rushed through Lucan, though not enough to rouse him from his sleep. He wrapped the blanket around him tighter and turned away from the man while giving a dismissive wave. "They can wait another hour. Or two."
The Peacekeeper wasn't pleased and instead yanked the blankets from Lucan and his bed, exposing his naked body along with the body of one, no two men who had celebrated the night with him, both still asleep.
"Excuse me?! Who exactly do you think you are?" Lucan shouted, a vein flaring in his temple. The Peacekeeper looked entirely unimpressed as a second Peacekeepr to his right tossed Lucan's robes to him.
"Get to your office, Head Gamemaker." The leader of the group instructed, leaving the bedroom without another word as the others followed.
Angrily, Lucan rose from bed, stretching his limbs to bring some life back into his body. All in all the previous night hadn't been the most hedonistic of his life, but it was certainly top three. As a precaution, Lucan went to his bathroom and took out the Evapo drops, splashing a drop into each of his purple dyed eyes. Instantly, his sight and mind began to clear from the burgeoning hangover. With a snap and wave of his hand, the bathroom came to life, outfitted with the latest automated technology from District 3. The shower turned on, lights came up to a perfect 45% brightness, and somewhere in his luxurious apartment – a gift from the government for his new position – a kettle started to boil for his tea.
A quick shower, shave, and whitening of his teeth – and another splash of the Evapo drops – and Lucan re-entered his bedroom where a pair of handsome Avoxes stood with his new robes ready to dress him, all three items also gifts from the Government.
Somewhere on the other side of the room, Lucan heard a groggy third voice mumble in his sleep. He smiled happily to himself as he realized it had actually been a foursome that had christened the bed on his first night in his new apartments.
Not a bad way to ring in his first day as the new Head Gamemaker.
The Gamemakers Headquarters was at the start of its third, no fourth rounds of renovations when the limousine pulled up out front. Lucan looked out the window at the work, already making notes in his mind of what to change and and what to allow to continue. He planned to be in his role for quite some time and didn't want to come to work everyday to some unsightly scar across the otherwise beautiful Captiol skyline.
He waited in the back of the limo until the Avox driver came around and opened it for him. As he exited, he gave the Avox a look over, though was sadden to see he couldn't admire the servant's looks. The Avox was a Public Service one, wrapped up so tightly in clothes and masked that Lucan couldn't even tell its' gender. He made a note to look into buying his own Avox driver for the future, one with exceptional beauty. Life could be so dull and dross, Lucan thought, he made a point of only surrounding himself with the most beautiful things.
As he climbed the steps to the Headquarters, others around bowed or nodded their heads to him. A couple openly gawked at him, which he liked the most. He made quite the sight, dressed in the dark purple robes with golden trim that marked him as the Head Gamemaker, the man responsible for the Hunger Games. Despite the pomp and extravagance it had grown into, which Lucan of course adored, he knew that maintaining and running the yearly Games were a sacred duty and had every intention to uphold them. After all, they were possibly the only thing keeping the Capitol safe from the unwashed, barbarous masses that were the Districts.
As he entered the lobby of the Compound, Lucan was greeted by the thunderous applause of other Gamemakers and support staff. They had all come out for him, as to be expected, and Lucan accepted their applause with a gracious bow while scanning the rows of people to see who wasn't there. He would make sure to remember who they were. There were plenty of discontents with his selection as Head Gamemaker. He was the youngest in history at age twenty-three and with only two years experience as a Gamemaker to boot, but Lucan's skill lay in what some of the others didn't seem to grasp.
That there were other, more important games than the Hunger Games to play in the Capitol.
And he was an excellent player.
As the clapping died down, a nervous looking Executive Assistant, Lavinia or Latvia or something like that, approached him and nervously informed him that he had a visitor in the conference room off the Training Center who could not wait. Annoyed to be robbed of a chance to properly address the crowd with a speech he had already prepared, Lucan gave a few brief remarks, received their ingratiating applause with the right amount of humor and humility, and followed the woman upstairs to the conference room, feeling rather put out.
That feeling instantly evaporated when he saw who was there.
"Mr. President!" Lucan said immediately, giving a respectful and deferential nod to the President of Panem. Coriolanus Snow, Lucan thought, was an odd ball by Capitol standards. Where most Capitolites strove for continual youth, President Snow preferred to have his age show. His face was stern with lines across it that showed hard work and sleeplessness nights, though there was no sign of weakness in his yellow eyes, his only visible sign of Capitol cosmetic surgery. When someone looked to their President, they could see and feel an edge to him, as though the man always had a sharp knife to you.
Today, the President was dressed in a bright red suit with a white rose pinned to his lapel, face a careful canvass of nothing as he stood at the other end of the conference room, looking out the window into the currently empty Training Hall that the Tributes used. "Mr. Hadrianus. I hope the Peacekeepers weren't too rude about waking you up." The President commented.
"Absolutely not, Mr. President. They were perfect gentlemen." Lucan replied, composing himself as he spoke.
Lucan's comment seemed to amuse the President. "Well, we wouldn't want that from our Peacekeepers. Or our Gamemakers, would we?"
Unsure how to respond, Lucan laughed and offered the President coffee or tea, annoyed that he hadn't realized immediately why he had been woken up in such a fashion. He blamed the drink and other intoxicants of the previous night. In that moment, Lucan resolved to stop drinking so much. He was Head Gamemaker now and had to be more alert. The President meanwhile politely declined the offer and turned to face Lucan, yellow eyes meeting purple. "I'm afraid I do not have long." The President said, "There appears to be some trouble in District 5 that must be addressed sooner rather than later."
Lucan nodded, about to sink into a seat at the conference table before realizing the President had not offered for him to sit. He snapped back up quickly, wishing he had taken another drop of Evapo on the way here. "The Reaped Tributes still bother them?"
"It's not unexpected. Two twelve year old Tributes is a rare occurrence and a lot for a District to swallow." The President commented. "Before last year it had never happened before. Now I see from the unrest that it has caused that it shouldn't happen again. Perhaps that is something we should discuss more in the future?"
"Of course, Mr. President."
"But that is not why I'm here today. The Victory Tour for the 57th Hunger Games have just finished. Panem has a new Victor, the Capitol has a new idol, and the Districts now have a new focus for their hate or love depending on where they reside. And, I have a new Head Gamemaker."
"I am honored by your confidence in me." Lucan said, totally sincere.
"Let us hope you can keep it."
A silence over the room, long enough make clear all the unsaid threats. Not that Lucan needed it. He had only to look to his immediate predecessor to know what happened to Head Gamemakers who failed to impress the Capitol or, more importantly, the President. But his predecessor and former mentor had been foolish. Lucan knew that he wouldn't be.
"Would you like to see my plans for the 58th arena, Mr. President?" he asked.
A curt nod from the President had Lucan quickly rummaging through his robes, relieved when he quickly found the data drive. He quickly pulled it and laid it on the table where, with a few clicks, it projected all of his plans for the 58th Hunger Games around the room: the starting point of the Cornocopia, a break down of timed events by day, hour, and minute, the special mutts for each quadrant, and even a risky choice on weapons. Lucan took his time to walk President Snow through each of them, careful to keep the nerves out of his voice as he did so. Finally, after twenty minutes he was finished and fell quiet, waiting for the President's remarks. After a few more agonizing moments, the President seemed to shrug.
"It will do." He said. Lucan was thunderstruck, but had no time to remedy the President's seeming displeasure as President Snow was already making his way to the exit. Behind Lucan, the doors to the conference room opened and the President's guards stood waiting for him. But before he left, President Snow stopped next to Lucan and leaned in close so only he could hear.
"We will meet here again, in this very room, exactly one year from today. If you succeed in the Games this year, you'll get to leave this room alive, just like you will today."
And with that the President was gone.
And Lucan ran to the bar, eager for a drink or two.
The Tributes of the 58th Hunger Games
District 1 (Luxury)
M: Reko Dunas (18) [Team Shadow]
F: Lana Rose (18) [MidnightCoyoteFlowers]
District 2 (Masonry/Military)
M: Valdez Devorane (17) [Paradigm of Writing]
F: Estelle Jackson (18) [Tom137]
District 3 (Technology)
M: Eddington "Eddie" Kotlin (14) [goldie031]
F: Penelope "Poe" Fitzpatrick (17) [Victoria the Bipolar Tribute]
District 4 (Fishing)
M: Cean Fischer (15) [KKstar47]
F: Mara Bonavich (18) [owlthewriter]
District 5 (Energy)
M: Aleko Ferrovia (18) [ladyqueerfoot]
F: Olivia Echeberría (17) [Dani H. Danvers]
District 6 (Transportation/Medicine)
M: Amadeus Remington (17) [FrostyShadow]
F: Sarah Tarr (18) [Very New To This]
District 7 (Lumber)
M: David Levering (15) [LC-it-gets-better-alt-account]
F: Oleanna 'Ola' Ellery (17) [recklessinparadise]
District 8 (Textiles)
M: Chase Metro (18) [wiifan2002]
F: Cara Whitlock (14) [emeraldflower25]
District 9 (Wheat)
M: Alice Barton (15) [AlexFalTon]
F: Millicent "Millie" Parel (16) [SnowSymphony]
District 10 (Livestock)
M: Buck Midthunder (17) [illegalcryptid]
F: Hayley Butcher (15) [Singular Scissor]
District 11 (Agriculture)
M: Ruddy Clemson (18) [FlameAndVoid]
F: Daisy Mayfield (15) [fallenflakes]
District 12 (Coal/Mining)
M: Pan Harlow (16) [R3mii]
F: Marianna Gristle (15) [sunj1234567890]
Welcome to the 58th Hunger Games! Please review and message me for the Tribute Submission Form. I'm hoping to get submissions quick and will update the above list as I do. This isn't canon so even District 12 could win!