"Alright, we're live in 10, get ready. Is the intro clip ready? Awesome. Rolling in 5, 4, 3, 2, NOW!"

The camera pans over a wide shot of the outside of the arena for the 13th Games. As dramatic violins surge, a voiceover plays, narrated by hot new rising actor Tabitha Pompadour:

NARRATOR: In an arena where twenty-three other savage tributes hunger for your blood, what would you do? Would you give in to your district instincts?

Interspersing shots of scenes from different Games play one after another. Tributes fighting at the bloodbath. A boy rips a hammer out of a girl's hands and uses it to beat her skull in. A tribute runs crying from the Cornucopia, before tripping and meeting an untimely end at the end of a sword.

NARRATOR: Would you give up?

The screen cuts to the boy from 12 standing frozen at his altar, refusing to move.

NARRATOR: Or, would you rise above?

A shot of a young girl, just barely 16 years of age , standing confident and tall on her podium plays. She's confident, beautiful, and her strawberry blonde hair waves ever so slightly in the wind. She has a slight smile on her face and braces for the countdown to end. Compared to the other tributes, terrified and hunched over, she looks like a queen.

The show cuts to a mid-Games interview with Associate Gamemaker Plaxius Burrow:

PLAXIUS: We wanted to have this year's Games really focus more on the tributes than the arena. The last few years all were heavily impacted by mutts, so we designed the arena around the tributes interacting with each other.

NARRATOR: To provide tributes with more incentive to fight each other, rather than scrounge for supplies, the 13th arena featured a structure that ancient civilizations called a supermarket. It was filled to the brim with the freshest goods and supplies that Panem has to offer!

The camera zooms out from Chanel onto a moving shot of all the tributes reacting to seeing the arena. It's a completely indoor area, the first in Games history. Despite its enclosed nature, the repurposed warehouse is several stadiums large and is more than enough to provide ample space for hiding. Aisles are stocked with vegetables, meats, breads, and canned goods. Some of the tributes stand slack-jawed in awe of the sheer amount of food in front of them. Most are in shock at the mere presence of air conditioning. When the clock hits zero, a few of them run straight towards the shelves and start stuffing their faces.

Cut to an interview between Lucky Flickerman and Chanel's mentors, Glamour Gildenbrand and Octavian Quill. Lucky dressed to the nines in his fanciest velvet tuxedo. Glamour wears a simple black suit, while Octavian sports a brilliant blue designer blazer.

LUCKY: When the Games started, a lot of the tributes found themselves distracted by the vast bounties of food. But not Chanel.

OCTAVIAN, nodding: No, not Chanel.

The screen shows Chanel running to a Cornucopia bursting with kitchen tools and survival equipment rather than weapons.

NARRATOR: Of course, even while focusing more on the tributes, our Gamemakers still knew how to have a little bit of fun! Instead of traditional weapons, our tributes were supplied with common household items, requiring them to use their brains and creativity.

Not deterred, Chanel finds a kitchen knife hidden in the pile and starts slashing away, cutting through the tributes from 3 and the boys from 11 and 12. In her bloodlust, she almost guts the girl from 2 before her district partner grabs her arm and calms her down.

OCTAVIAN: Ah, Diamond. He was truly one of our best.

A montage of Diamond plays. Clips run of him throwing a spear in the Training Center, laughing and joking around with his alliance. His training score of nine flashes on the screen.

OCTAVIAN: Nobody else made fighting look so effortless. Well, nobody except Chanel.

NARRATOR: The only person to score higher than Diamond was in fact his district partner, who landed the first ever eleven in Hunger Games history!

Cut to the tribute interviews. Chanel sits on stage in front of Lucky, dressed in a sleek and dazzling snakeskin dress. She brushes her hair over her shoulder and crosses her left leg over her right. Not a molecule is out of place.

LUCKY: Now, I know I'm not allowed to ask this, but can you give us just a hint of what you did to earn such a high score?

CHANEL (blushing): Aww, stop it Lucky. You flatter me. I just showed them my natural skills and it looks like they were impressed.

She gives a seductive smile and a thousand teenage boys across the Capitol lean closer to their television sets.

NARRATOR: Her natural skills shone in the arena indeed.

A montage plays of Chanel butchering tribute after tribute. She slices through one with her kitchen knife, strangles another with some garden hose, and sets a third on fire with some gasoline and matches, much to the joy of the Capitol audience.

NARRATOR: Chanel would fight her way to 11 kills, the second most in Games history and the first to even come close to reaching Invictus's original record. Although most of her kills were earned with the various items scattered around the arena, her calling card became the spear gifted to her by a particularly enamored sponsor on the second day.

Flashback to the arena. Chanel finishes strangling the large boy from 10 with a jump rope and drops him unceremoniously onto the ground. Moments later, an air conditioning vent in the ceiling splits open and a drone slowly descends. The alliance takes a few steps back as the drone spits out a parachute, then flies back into the ceiling. The package is large and wide with a silver-colored silk bow on it, and the other tributes seem to understand what it means. After catching it in her arms, Chanel unwraps the package, and inside is a glimmering, golden spear, accompanied by a pair of matching earrings. She affixes the jewelry to her ears and lifts the spear into the air. The cameras zoom into the shot, hungry for every inch of her. All of Panem sees District 1's golden child raise the weapon that she'll use to dominate the rest of the Games.

LUCKY: After that, it wasn't really close, was it?

OCTAVIAN: No, not at all. Chanel's been training with a spear for years now. We knew she was a prodigy the moment she picked one up. When she volunteered and stepped up at the reaping, we knew she would excel in both physical domination and strategy. Isn't that right, Glamour?

GLAMOUR: Yep.

FLICKERMAN: And what about her stunning personality?

OCTAVIAN (laughing): Well Lucky, she developed that all on her own.

NARRATOR: Now, tonight, on Flickerman's Power Hour, we're excited to bring you a live interview with everyone's favorite Victor, Chanel Cambeaux!

Pleasant lounge jazz plays as the shot transitions to the set of Live with Lucky Flickerman. Lucky sits behind a wooden desk, smiling broadly. He gestures to the band, and the audience gives them a wild round of applause. He then points to a red curtain next to the stage, and Chanel walks out to raucous cheers. Her stylist has prepared a beautiful, flowing ballgown dress that accentuates her blue eyes. Adorned in the crown bestowed to her by President Ravenstill at the Victor's ceremony and still wearing her golden earrings, she looks every bit as dazzling as she did during the interviews.

CHANEL: It's so good to be here, Lucky.

LUCKY: The pleasure's all mine. It feels like ages since we've been on stage together. How's it been, basking in the spotlight?

CHANEL: Oh, it's just wonderful. I love being here in the Capitol with you all. You're just like my family!

She blows a kiss to the audience and waves, and the crowd response is so loud it blows out a nearby speaker.

LUCKY: Well, we're just delighted to see you again. Who could forget the things you pulled off in that arena? Roll the tape!

Cut to the final battle in the Games. Chanel and Diamond stand next to each other in a 3-sided standoff, facing the tributes from 2 and 4. All the other tributes are dead, and the alliance formed between the three districts has, for once, paid off for all of them. Nobody makes a move. Then, suddenly, Chanel and Diamond lunge at the pair from 4. As the two districts fight, the tributes from 2 sneak up behind and join the melee. With her earrings glimmering in the light, Chanel takes advantage of a misplaced attack by the girl from 4 to thrust her spear through her chest. She yanks out roughly, letting them collapse to the ground, when Diamond falls to the ground beside her. She hardly has time to react before the pair from 2 are on her.

LUCKY: Now, things here looked bad. Your closest ally is dead and you're alone in a two-on-one fight. Most tributes here would just die, but you took things to another level, didn't you?

CHANEL: I sure did, Lucky.

The boy from 2 brings his hammer down in a wild swing. Before he can blink, however, Chanel slides between his legs while pushing her spear as hard as she can into his gut. The boy is completely impaled, and knocked backward into his district partner, who catches just the tip with her ribs. Chanel lets go of the spear and, before the girl can react, sweeps her legs out from under her. Her body gets knocked into the air for just a fraction of a second, then slams down straight into the spear, sending the end that isn't buried in the boy's chest straight through hers. She squirms for a second, then goes limp.

LUCKY: I mean wow, just wow! Who would've thought that a pretty little thing like you would have so much strength inside?

CHANEL (shrugging): I've done so much strength training back home that it seemed natural to me. My family has a history of being enrolled in gymnastics. I may not be the biggest, but I'm definitely the strongest.

LUCKY: Well you must have been training hard. it's almost like you made a career out of it! Now, to change the subject, I'm sure we're all wondering about your special someone in the arena. Tell me, what was it like to kill the boy that you had such a strong, passionate romance with?

CHANEL: What are you talking about?

LUCKY: Don't play coy in front of the cameras, now. You know what we mean. Roll the tape!

It's the fifth night of the Games. The alliance settles down in a small corner of the baked goods section. It's become their home base; one of the few places in the arena where the food hasn't spoiled or gone rotten. While the other alliance members unfurl their sleeping bags and get ready for a few hours' rest, Chanel and the boy from 2 stand guard. They needn't have feared. The rest of the tributes were completely scattered at this point, with few standing any chance at all. Halfway through the night, the two seem to notice this and begin talking. Casual conversation becomes flirtation, and the two begin to physically move closer to one another. The romantic tension builds and eventually leads up to a warm embrace and a kiss. As the teenagers fall on each other, parachutes rain down around them.

LUCKY: Ah, young love. So anyways, what was it like to kill him to death?

For a moment, Chanel balks. The audience is on the edge of their seats, waiting to see if she breaks or not. After a pause that is just slightly too long, she composes herself and responds.

CHANEL: Alexander was a good friend and a strong ally, but that's where it ended. What you saw there was just some kids having fun. Nothing serious.

The audience settles down. Her answer is disappointingly straightforward, but largely satisfactory. Lucky clears his throat.

LUCKY: A good, sensible answer. Now tell his parents.

The screen flashes, and suddenly we're in District 2's Justice Building where Alexander's parents are seated under a large, framed picture of their deceased son. Their eyes are red-rimmed and watery, with dark circles underneath. At the sight of Chanel, the mother gets up and begins screaming at the screen. The father tries to hold her back, but the hate in his eyes is enough to make clear his contempt for her. Chanel sits frozen in her seat, gripping the arms like she's hanging on for dear life. It goes on for what feels like hours, the crowd roaring in laughter and delight. Just another reminder of how fickle their approval is. As the girl starts tearing up in her chair, the screen cuts to commercial.

—

"WHO THE FUCK APPROVED THAT?"

Glamour stormed into the recording booth at Red Rock Studios, the home of Live with Lucky Flickerman. The now-twenty-seven year old was never the most physically strong Victor, but at six-foot-three he still cut an imposing figure over most of the interns and production staff. He picked up a still-ringing telephone, ripped it off the table, then sent it flying at an unlucky crew member.

"You heard me. Who the FUCK thought it was okay to send her out there for that?" At that moment, Lucky and Chanel walked through the curtains, returning from the main set. As the Chief of Games Entertainment and amateur magician stretched out his arms, awaiting the usual round of mandatory applause, Glamour grabbed him by his suit jacket and roughly shoved him against the wall. Spittle flying out, he screamed into his face.

"WAS THAT YOUR IDEA?"

Lucky had just enough room to point at a nearby producer, and quietly slithered away as Glamour stormed over to her.

"You have ten seconds to explain what the hell you were thinking."

Shaking in her beige pencil skirt, the poor woman barely managed to croak out a few words.

"W-we thought that it would, um, it would e-emphasize the more human aspect of the Games—"

"Human." Glamour snorted. "You wanted to emphasize the human aspect." The anger deflated out of him, replaced with something more like sadness. He turned to Chanel, who was still recovering from the whole ordeal.

"Are you okay?" He asked, in a much gentler tone.

"I… I think so." She gave him a small smile, and the two embraced.

"I promise you'll never have to do that again," Glamour started. Mid-sentence, he was interrupted by the appearance of Octavian, trailed by a few dozen security guards.

"Come on Glam, it's time to go. You can't just crash a government building because you feel like it. Do you know how much talking I had to do to convince these gentlemen not to arrest you on the spot? Let's go. You too, Chanel." Octavian waved the two over, and the security team escorted them off the premises. As he turned to leave, Octavian found the head producer, still quivering, and delivered her one last message.

"See to it that you leave the girl alone from now on. Next time, I might not be here to stop him."

As he left, Morfina Trinket slid down against the wall and buried her head in her arms. It was time to consider a change in career paths. Media was far too stressful. Perhaps she could apply for a transfer in departments; the District escort business was currently booming.

Author's note: It occurs to me I never set a schedule or anything for this series. I don't have one, but I promise to say something if I ever go fully radio silent. Thanks for reading, as always.