4th Annual Hunger Games

The 4th Annual Hunger Games (Youtube/Tiktok) was held one year after the 3rd Annual Hunger Games. A boy and one girl from each District, between the ages of 12 to 18, were reaped to be taken to the Capitol and fight to the death in an arena. As with all the Old Games, this event was held in the Capitol Arena. Aaron Ballin from District 2 was this year's victor.

This year was marked by being the the first year in which all the tributes arrived at the arena alive. As no live audience was allowed in the arena anymore, this opened up more space for the Tributes to use, allowing the ones with minimal climbing skills to climb up the stands surrounding the stadium.

## Before the Games

That summer was known for having temperatures higher than usual and due to such, most tributes were in visible thermal as they waited to be brought to the arena. The events leading up the Games went on smoothly, now with extra vigilance from the Peacekeepers at all times - and for the first time, all the tributes arrived to the arena alive.

## Arena

For the first time in four years, everything became chaotic very quickly due to the higher number of tributes still alive compared to previous years. Vanessa, the girl from District 2, was one of the first to pick up a weapon, a sword - with which she attacked Bune, the girl from 8, eliminating without much hesitation. Aaron, the male Tribute from District 2 and Vanessa's district partner, also picked up a sword and eliminated Dunn, the boy from District 12. Lisa, the girl from District 5, was the third victim, being surprised by a knife thrown by Wolfe, the boy from District 10, which hit her in the back of the head.

Aaron then advanced towards Guzman, the male Tribute from 3, quickly eliminating him from the competition. Rachel, the girl from District 7 grabbed an axe as she noticed Daniel, the boy from District 5, heading towards her. Without thinking much and instead letting instinct act, the girl threw her axe at the boy, fatally hitting him. She leaves the axe on his body, quickly fleeing away from there, terrified of what she had just done.

In the meantime, Pam - the female tribute from District 10 - had just eliminated Rebecca, the girl from District 6 and quickly fled from all the madness near the weapon pile. While not actively collaborating, the tributes from District 4 - Ray and Medusa - worked together to corner Spencer, the boy from District 8. The tribute tried to escape, but Ray managed to injure him, giving the right opening for Medusa to put an end to the boy's life. Meanwhile, in possession of an axe, Travs from District 7 surprises Wolfe from behind with an attack, eliminating him.

The next one to fall was Roxie, the girl from District 12, which was actually far away from the center - taking advantage of the fact that her opponent was passed out due to sunstroke, Pam from 10 eliminated the girl with her weapon. In the center of the arena, close to weapon pile, a violent fight was taking place between Vanessa and Medusa; resulting in the death of the latter. Without taking a break, Vanessa soon after gets into a fight with Medusa's district partner, Ray. At the same time, Aaron had just beaten another opponent - Leah, the girl from District 11 - who had attempted to get close to the weapon pile as stealthily as she could.

Pam also claimed another victim - Wilco, the girl from District 9 - and she gave the impression to spectators that she was enjoying what she was doing. The fight between Vanessa and Ray ended as the girl hits the boy's abdomen with her weapon and he, in a rush of pain and adrenaline, manages to still take the powerful competitor out of the Games with the use of his trident. He then attempts to run away from all the fighting as best as he could while injured. Aaron noticed him heading towards the stands surrounding the arena, but decided to sit near the weapon pile as kept watching the remaining Tributes from afar, the vast majority of them in plain sight as the arena offered little to no place to hide, especially under such harsh sunlight. No one seemed very willing to continue fighting, as the heat was hellish and everyone looked exhausted.

The first to eventually take some initiative was Quinn, the girl from District 1 - as she realizes that Rachel from District 7 seemed distracted, she took the opportunity to sneak up to her and push her down the stands, making her suffer a fatal fall. She then searched her body for something useful, but did not find any weapon in her the girl's possession.

A few calm hours passed until everyone realized that there was no point in standing still and waiting, especially when the tributes could feel the strong heat weakening them more and more and they could not risk passing out in the middle of the Games. The armed tributes began to look for more victims in the seating area, but no one dared to come down towards Aaron's territory, who remained near the weapon pile. The first to approach another tribute was Travs, the boy from District 7, who found Bastion, the boy from District 1, ready to fight. However, contrary to what he imagined, his arrogance for thinking he'd have an advantage - as he was armed and the boy from District 1 was not - ends up turning against him. With quick hand-to-hand combat movements, Bastion disarmed his opponent, stealing his axe as he landed hits on Travs' ribs and arm. Seeing that there would be no other way to win the fight, the boy from District 7 decided to perform a risky move, by grabbing his opponent and throwing himself down the seats together with the other boy. Bastion ended up badly injured, but survived the fall - while Travs couldn't resist the impact.

On the other side of the arena, Obrie, the girl from District 3, went into a convulsive crisis while trying to escape from Pam, ending up falling from the higher seats - not surviving the fall. As time went by, others tributes were also showing more and more signs of exhaustion. Eventually, Bastion from District 1 and Ray from District 4 were already seriously injured and fighting for their lives; Rhodes, the male tribute from District 11, and Bishop, the male tribute from District 6, were passed out due to exhaustion; and only 4 other tributes showed enough physical condition to continue fighting.

It didn't take long for Ray to succumb to the injuries caused by the already fallen girl from District 2. Meanwhile, the other injured tribute - the boy from District 1 - was attacked by Dixon, the male tribute from District 9. Dixon took advantage of his opponent's moment of weakness to steal his weapon and eliminate him from the competition, using his own blade to do so.

Pam, from 10, started moving around the arena again, looking for more helpless victims. During her rounds, she found Bishop, the boy from District 6, and Rhodes, the boy from District 11, both passed out - not hesitating in eliminating them both without any mercy. It was then that Pam began to focus on a less helpless victim - Quinn from District 1. Realizing that the powerful tribute was coming to get her, Quinn tried to escape and attract her to the center of the arena, towards where Aaron was., hoping the two would fight each other instead. The boy didn't move, watching the scene from afar. - until the girls got close enough. He then ran towards the two. Quinn, already exhausted, tried to run in another direction, but it was in vain. Aaron caught up to her and eliminated her with ease. Pam, who didn't seem as willing to fight anymore now faced with such a skilled tribute, fled back to her territory.

Aaron then began shouting at the top of his lungs for his last two opponents, challenging them for combat. But a while passed, and no one seemed willing to do so. It was then that Dixon, from District 9, seemed to succumb to exhaustion and fainted. Keeping up with her strategy, Pam cautiously approached the boy, after watching him for a while from afar. She was ready to attack him and steal his weapon but Dixon, who had actually been pretending the entire time, quickly jumped up and used his axe to strike the girl's unarmed arm. She grunted, perhaps more out of frustration than pain, trying to swing her machete at her opponent with her other hand. At that moment, the boy lost his balance and rolled down the stands. Gravely wounded, Pam grabs her opponent's weapon and quickly moves away from the place.

Disoriented, Dixon gets up, looks for his weapon and realizes that the girl had taken it with her. It was then that a double chase took place - Pam, from District 10, was being chased by Dixon, from District 9, who was also being cautiously followed by Aaron. Dixon, as he was so fixated on reaching Pam, didn't realise Aaron's presence until he stabbed him with a sword from behind. Now, only with a weak and injured opponent left, Aaron takes his time to sit and wait as he watches Pam succumb to her injuries. Aaron Ballin was then announced as the victor of the 4th Hunger Games.

## Placing

* 1st - Aaron Ballin (District 2) - victor.
* 2nd - Pam Locheph (District 10) - succumbed to wounds caused by Dixon Hicks (District 9) with an axe.
* 3rd - Dixon Hicks (District 9) - killed by Aaron Ballin (District 2) with a sword.
* 4th - Quinn Coopeland (District 1) - killed by Aaron Ballin (District 2) with a sword.
* 5th - Rhodes Tate (District 11) - fainted due to sunstroke and killed by Pam Locheph (District 10) with a machete.
* 6th - Bishop Reidguy (District 6) - fainted due to sunstroke and killed by Pam Locheph (District 10) with a machete.
* 7th - Bastion Gallagher (District 1) - injured by Travs Howard (District 7) and killed by Dixon Hicks (District 9) with an axe.
* 8th - Ray Webster (District 4) - succumbed to wounds caused by Vanessa Sauderns (District 2) with a sword.
* 9th - Obrie Caldwell (District 3) - died of injuries sustained in a fall after convulsive crisis.
* 10th - Travs Howard (District 7) - desarmed and killed by Bastion Gallagher (District 1) with his own axe.
* 11th - Rachel Carpenter (District 7) - died of injuries sustained in a fall after Quinn Coopeland (District 1) pushed her off.
* 12th - Vanessa Sauderns (District 2) - impaled by Ray Webster's (District 4) trident.
* 13th - Wilco Cochran (District 9) - killed by Pam Locheph (District 10) with a machete.
* 14th - Leah Owen (District 11) - killed by Aaron Ballin (District 2) with a sword.
* 15th - Medusa Wobbengon (District 4) - killed by Vanessa Sauderns (District 2) with a sword.
* 16th - Roxie Hubbardo (District 12) - fainted due to sunstroke and killed by Pam Locheph (District 10) with a machete.
* 17th - Wolfe Ortega (District 10) - hit in the back of the head by axe throw by Travs Howard (District 7).
* 18th - Spencer Watkins (District 8) - injured by Ray Webster (District 4) and impaled by Medusa Wobbengon's (District 4) trident.
* 19th - Rebecca Soltness (District 6) - killed by Pam Locheph (District 10) with a machete.
* 20th - Daniel Ferguson (District 5) - hit by axe throw by Rachel Carpenter (District 7).
* 21st - Guzman Hines (District 3) - killed by Aaron Ballin (District 2) with a sword.
* 22nd - Lisa Norton (District 5) - hit in the back of the head by knife throw by Wolfe Ortega (District 10).
* 23rd - Dunn Arnold (District 12) - killed by Aaron Ballin (District 2) with a sword.
* 24th - Bune Figueroa (District 8) - killed by Vanessa Sauderns (District 2) with a sword.