The 500th Hunger Games: Bread and Circuses

WIP of my latest attempt at finishing a HG fanfiction, and a grandiose one at that. But now I'm older and equipped with plenty of free time. Fandom, can you **please** not delete this wiki this time? Thanks.

To be posted onto main HG wiki when done.

## **Background**

Humanity is constantly evolving, adapting to the never ending roller-coaster of change that life brings. This old habit of humanity's has persisted even into the post-apocalyptic years.

Panem was once thought to be the last remnant of humanity; a bastion built upon the ruins of North America. Arising from the ashes and debris, Panem quickly established itself into a formidable domain - enforcing laws to maintain the strict symbiotic relationship between the thirteen districts and The Capitol. The Capitol glorified this relationship as being mutual for all; as long as the districts obeyed the rules and did their duties by providing necessities to The Capitol, they would be rewarded.

However, the districts saw this as tyranny and laziness of The Capitol's citizens. In their eyes, The Capitol indulged in opulence and hedonistic pleasures whilst the districts suffered. As of the supposed rewards, it was nowhere near as equal to what The Capitol received. It only took a group of outspoken citizens to speak out about these injustices and the fires of rebellion were stoked.

Although the fires of rebellion were ferocious, they were not enough to bring significant damage to The Capitol's increasingly powerful iron grip. It didn't take long for these fires to be snuffed out. Considered to be a dark chapter of the country's history because of what The Capitol viewed as the districts' betrayal, this era would unsurprisingly come to be known as the "Dark Days".

As punishment for this uprising, the Hunger Games would be established and the rest is history.

*Or so you thought...*

The Second Rebellion never occurred because Katniss and Peeta died in the Arena. Cato had emerged victorious instead, and the rebellion therefore never had its figurehead. Public disorder did break out upon the death of young Rue, named Rue's Rebellion, but that was quickly brought to an end. Because there was no figurehead to spur on a momentum for the rebels, The Capitol was able to maintain its power.

For the next 416 years, The Capitol continued to gain power. Technology evolved to new levels, allowing for three new districts to be discovered and the truth about survivors of the apocalypse outside of Panem to come to light (these survivors established civilisations that remained undetected until Panem found them and annexed them into their nation, creating understandable resentment amongst these civilisations).

District 13's underground civilisation was also discovered, having sustained themselves so that they didn't even need to go to the surface. Learning of the district's survival, a brutal siege took place. Although both sides saw big losses, The Capitol won and District 13 was forced to permanently send tributes into the Hunger Games; starting with the 200th Hunger Games (8th Quarter Quell). This already added onto District 13's pre-existing resentment of The Capitol.

This takes us to the year 490ADD. Whilst The Capitol's immense power was widely known, what wasn't known was that the rebels had been stockpiling power of their own over the centuries, aiming to match the power level of The Capitol. Taking advantage of the new technology to obscure their whereabouts and the expedition procedures that had been established when Districts 0, 14 and 15 had been discovered, the rebels had made a permanent base. This base is speculated to be located in the Far North, far from the reaches of Panem.

The ruling Presidential dynasty is the Midnight family; an obscenely wealthy, privileged family spanning several districts and with origins dating back to before the Dark Days. President Aurelius Midnight, the bane of the rebels' existence and ruler of Panem with an iron fist for sixty-five years, was on his deathbed.

Aurelius had several children and grandchildren, but he had selected two particular grandchildren as candidates for becoming his heir; Elmyra and Romulus - siblings that were vastly different from one another...and of opposing ideologies.

Elmyra was the eldest of the two. Young but intelligent and strong-willed, she despised The Capitol and Panem in its current form and the existence of barbaric traditions like the Hunger Games. She had once enthusiastically reveled in watching the Games in her younger years, but as she grew older, she began to see the brutality of watching children die in gruesome ways and grew to despise it. However, for the sake of her beloved grandfather whom she had been close to, she kept her views to herself. She anticipated the day she could finally show everyone just how she really felt and the changes she wanted to bring to Panem once and for all.

In contrast, Romulus was a staunch loyalist. Having grown up watching the Hunger Games with fascination and admiring the Victors who he feels embodied the spirit of traditional Panem, he believed that the Hunger Games were essential as long as the nation of Panem existed. He didn't tolerate any treachery or treason against The Capitol, vowing to eliminate all that dare to cross that line -- *even if they had been family or friends*.

Upon Aurelius' eventual death, it was revealed that the name of his successor was stated in his will. The relationship between Elmyra and Romulus had always been a rocky and difficult one, so when Romulus was named Aurelius' successor and the next President of Panem, it came as no surprise that Elmyra wouldn't take the news well. Although she put up an amicable front in public, she vented in secret to her private circle.

Anger was her initial reaction, as she believed that Romulus would make a terrible President and would only perpetuate everything that was wrong with the nation. However, one of her like-minded confidants, Isabella Fulgencio, planted the idea of Elmyra leading the rebels in a coup against Romulus into her head. Romulus wouldn't have to die, only the loyalist ideology.

Elmyra became comfortable with the idea of a coup. She knew of The Capitol's biggest weakness; the resentment towards it shared by many. All she had to do was pander to the rebels and those who despised The Capitol, and get them to trust her.

Eventually, she achieved that. After writing a letter (addressed to Romulus) expressing her true feelings, she abandoned The Capitol and left for the rebel hideout, with help from Isabella, who was in fact a rebel herself sent to infiltrate The Capitol (but she had genuinely grown a friendship with Elmyra over the years). At first, Elmyra did find it tough to establish a rapport with the rebels due to her heritage and public appearances where she appeared in support of The Capitol's actions. However, as she showed the falsity behind those public appearances (as she was obscuring her true feelings) and spilled the secrets of The Capitol to prove her loyalty, she was accepted.

Romulus wasn't idiotic or gullible. Reading the letter she had left behind, he quickly figured out what Elmyra had done, and branded her an enemy of The Capitol and the state - disowning her. He sent countless Peacekeepers after Elmyra, demanding that they find her location and drag her back to The Capitol for severe punishment. Yet due to the rebels using high-end technology to obscure their whereabouts, the Peacekeepers failed to find her.

*10 years later...*

It's now the ten year anniversary of Romulus' ascension into the Presidency. Although fields like technology (having recently introduced a nationwide information database on Panem's citizens) and economy (the richer areas, at least) are constantly evolving, the poorer districts are still living in squalid conditions and kids are still dying each year in the Hunger Games.

Elmyra has officially been declared deceased in absentia, for the sake of saving money that would have been spent on investigations otherwise. But Romulus, deep down, knew the truth --- *he knew that Elmyra wasn't dead*.

Elmyra, now the leader of the rebels and very much alive, had decided that the rebels would soon begin the coup. The rebels, thanks to centuries' worth of stockpiling weapons, goods and knowledge, officially had enough manpower to match Romulus' formidable forces. The rebels infiltrating The Capitol had even left calling cards, symbolising their presence and activeness. All that was left for them to do was to wait for the right time to begin their attack.

Selena Midnight, Romulus' youngest child, was turning 12; therefore she had reached the reaping age bracket. Romulus had used the annual Games to celebrate all of his children reaching the reaping age bracket, but Selena was the apple of his eye. As her 12th birthday coincided with the 20th Quarter Quell, he wanted to make the upcoming Games the most grandiose Games yet.

Grandiose in the sense that every part of the 500th Hunger Games were going to be a spectacle; including the number of tributes -- a staggering 170; 10 for each district of Panem.

Deep down, there was another reason for why Romulus wanted these Games to be such a spectacle. *He wanted to draw out Elmyra*. Elmyra, with her reformist personality and seeing the sheer amount of tributes in the Arena, would be enraged and provoked. With an inevitable civil war on the horizon as he had evidence of the rebels' activeness, *why not create the perfect prelude setting?*

*Will the tributes take a side? Who will win the civil war? And just what will happen to Panem?*

## **Games Information**

### Tributes

#### Allegiances

##### At the beginning

* **Romulus/Capitol:**
* **Elmyra/Rebels:**
* **Neutral:**
* **Unknown:**

### Twists

The twists for the 20th Quarter Quell will be revealed here.

*"To remind citizens of their undeniable ties and connections to The Capitol and its traditions, the tributes of the 20th Quarter Quell will be selected from descendants, families, friends and acquaintances of former tributes and Victors (as long as the connection has been documented in Panem's database)."*
*"To highlight the sheer extent of these ties and connections to The Capitol and how much of an impact the Hunger Games has had on our history, the number of tributes, fitting the aforementioned criteria, participating from each district is ten. Therefore, the total number of 20th Quarter Quell tributes is one-hundred and seventy."*