Endgame
With only six tributes left in the arena, the end was drawing near. However, despite the small amount of competition left, nobody was fighting today; everyone was spread out around the arena in “hide-to-survive mode.”
“This can’t be good,” sighed the head gamemaker,
Tom, who was watching from his headquarters in the Capitol. He really hated his job, but it’s not like he had a choice. “I’d better stir something up before
Nucleoida gets on my back for a decreased number of spectators.” So, he pulled an announcement he’d had up his sleeve for awhile.
“Attention all tributes,” he said into a microphone that broadcasted into the arena. “I have two announcements to make. One is that there has been a change to the rules, and there may be up to three victors if the remaining tributes have an alliance. Two is that the Cornucopia has been replenished with items that each of you desperately need, so I’d recommend making your way over there.”
“Did you hear that!”
Evan exclaimed in the arena after hearing the announcement, jumping to his feet. “More than one person can win if they have an alliance! We can both make it out!”
“That certainly is good news,” said
Dolby,
Evan’s partner in crime, still sitting with his back against the trunk of a tree. “But we haven’t won yet; we still have four other tributes standing in our way. We have to plan our next moves carefully.”
“Should we go to the Cornucopia?”
Evan asked. “I bet everyone else is going there; we could possibly take them all out in one go.”
“I think that’s a good idea,”
Dolby nodded. “But we need to stay hidden. You still have your archery set, right?”
“Yup,”
Evan smiled. “And I only used one arrow on that squirrel we ate yesterday.”
“Excellent,”
Dolby said. “Then we’ll go near the area, stay hidden behind some trees, and fire at people as they arrive. If it goes as planned, we’ll have won the games in half an hour.”
“Yeeeeah boi,”
Evan said excitedly. “Let’s do this.”
Just then, they heard a twig crack. “Someone’s here,”
Dolby said, sitting up straight. “Show yourself.”
After a moment of hesitation,
Rune stepped out from behind a nearby tree. “Hey, how’s it going,” he said nervously.
“Shoot him,”
Dolby ordered
Evan. “He heard everything.”
“Woah woah woah,”
Rune held up a hand. “You don’t have to do that. I’ll help you if you don’t kill me. I have my own archery set with one arrow left. Three on three, they won’t stand a chance. We can all win together.”
Dolby thought for a moment. “There’s a 98% chance we’ll succeed without you, so why shouldn’t we just kill you now?”
“Why not make that a 99.9% chance?”
Rune countered.
“How do we know you won’t betray us?”
Evan narrowed his eyes.
“Well, I only have one arrow,”
Rune said. “Even if I shot one of you, which I won’t, I’d be defenseless after and you could easily kill me.”
“Alright, fine.”
Dolby decided. “But try anything and you’re dead.”
The three of them made their way to the Cornucopia and hid in a cluster of trees. One by one the remaining tributes showed up;
Cal,
Cleb, and finally,
Gavin. One by one the fell to the ground.
When it was clear that they were all dead,
Dolby stepped out and threw down his dagger. He gestured for
Rune and
Evan to do the same, so they threw their archery sets down as well. “Alright, we’re done,”
Dolby announced aloud, looking up at the sky. “We’re not going to kill each other. This is our three-person alliance.”
A moment of dead silence throughout the arena. Then, a booming voice in the sky: “Congratulations to the three victors of the Second Annual Hunger Games:
Dolby,
Evan and
Rune!”
Rune and
Evan high-fived each other. While they did this, Dolby did something so quick and discreet that none of the cameras caught it; he picked up his dagger from the ground and hid it in his coat pocket.
Five minutes later, they heard a whirring sound, signaling that a helicopter was coming to pick them up. “I can’t believe we really did it,”
Evan said in awe. “I can’t believe I get to see my friends again.”
“I’m surprised they’re really letting us all win,”
Rune commented. “I thought they changed the rule for drama and would change it back at the last minute.”
“Well it doesn’t matter now,”
Dolby said. “Uh, yay, group hug.” He pulled Rune and Evan close to him.
“What the heck?!”
Evan exclaimed. “Were you stung by tracker jackers?”
“Shh,”
Dolby whispered. “Go with it. There’s a reason they’re letting us the three of us live; if it was anyone else they wouldn’t. When we get in the helicopter, the two of you stay quiet and let me do what I have to do, ok?”
“Ok,”
Rune and
Evan both agreed, though they were very confused.
When they climbed up into the elevator, someone was waiting to meet them. They had a tall, lean figure, but that was all the information they could gather about the person; they wore a spooky white mask and a black cloak that covered their whole body.
“Hello,
Nucleoida,”
Dolby greeted.
Evan’s mouth dropped open, but he quickly closed it after received a warning nudge from
Rune.
“Hello,
Dolby and friends,”
Nucleoida said. “Congratulations on your victory, it seems that the odds were ever in your favour.”
“They were indeed,”
Dolby said.
“A shame that
Dedenne had to die, but this young man will do,”
Nucleoida said, glancing at
Rune. “Do you remember what we discussed when you were in training?”
“I do,”
Dolby said. “I explained to my friends that you sponsored the career pack to win, in exchange for us joining your private forces afterwards. They thought it was a good deal.”
“Wonderful!”
Nucleoida exclaimed. “Shall we shake on it, then?”
Dolby shook
Nucleoida’s gloved hand. At the speed of lightning, he pulled the dagger he had taken from the arena out of his coat pocket with his other hand and plunged it into
Nucleoida’s chest.
Nucleoida gasped and fell to the ground. Within minutes, he was dead.
“Dude!!!”
Evan exclaimed, starring at
Nucleoida’s body with eyes wide. “Did you just…”
“Oh my kracko,”
Rune gaped.
“Any objections?”
Dolby grinned, looking around at all the Capitol staff on the helicopter.
Thunder the cameraman slowly panned from
Dolby to
Nucleoida's body and back. “Ladies and gentlemen of Panem,” he said, “We’re free.”
**
Two weeks later,
Jeremy and
Justin sat in a pastry shop in what used to be District 1. It would take awhile to restructure an entire nation, but the first thing that had been demolished was the district segregations.
“So…”
Justin said, taking a spoonful of the Dole Whip he was eating. “What in the world are we going to do now that we’re not Hunger Games announcers?”
Jeremy starred out the window for a long moment and then turned back to Justin. “Well,” he said, “I’ve always wanted to start a forum.”
Congratulations to our victors: the Career Pack (Dolby, Evan, and Dedenne in spirit) and Rune the survivor.
Stay tuned for links to chats, actions list, and role PM reveals
If anyone can guess who Nucleoida is based on before I finish the next post, I'll give you 20tbt.
