8th Annual Hunger Games

The 8th Annual Hunger Games (Youtube/Tiktok) was held one year after the 7th 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. Barry Skycutter from District 11 was this year's victor.

Caused by his rebel behavior when announced as the 8th victor, Barry received his punishment broadcasted live to all of Panem, a reminder to all districts to not defy the Capitol.

## Background

That year, the weather was extremely hot in the days that followed the Reaping, as the Capitol was going through a major heat wave.

The events of the previous year, when Vibia Jardine from District 2 pretended to be dead as a strategy to win the games, had lead to an upgrade in number and quality of cameras, as well as of monitoring and transmission equipment - for the 8th Annual Hunger Games and following years, the Capitol wanted to make sure that everyone was really dead before announcing the victor in case such event would happen again, in order to prevent any possible embarrassment in front of the very few viewers who still were watching the Games. However, they did not count with an event of a heatwave, and last-minute maintenance was needed due to the equipment overheating. For this reason, the start of the Games was delayed by a day.

## Capitol

During the train ride to the Capitol, most of the tributes showed signs of severe thermal discomfort - and the conditions didn't improve much inside the animal pen either, where the tributes were waiting for the start of the Games. Some could not withstand the heat and died even before the Games began, due to heatstroke and dehydration. Out of the 19 remaining tributes, only the oldest and most resistant still showed some ability to fight for their survival.

The first agreements between tributes began to emerge when the duo from District 2 - Norton and Hayle - clearly presented themselves together in front of the other tributes. Following them, some pairs were formed between tributes from the same district - and later, some of those pairs joined forced together. Due to the arrogance of the couple from District 2, they ended up being the main targets of the majority. However, the quartet of tributes from District 5 (Ash and Elyse) and 8 (Dippon and Lothra Beth) showed the biggest intention to start a direct rivalry with the tributes from District 2 compared with the rest.

## Arena

In the arena, it was clear that some of the younger ones would not be able to resist the heatwave for much longer. For this reason, most of the other tributes decided to completely ignore the weakened opponents and instead focus on eliminating the stronger ones first. When the signal to start the Games was heard, several tributes ran straight to the pile of weapons. Unlike previous years, the tributes from District 2, Norton and Hayle, were the first to fall: the boy was cornered by the couple from District 5, while the girl was caught by the couple from District 8. They barely had any time to defend themselves when they were immediately attacked with punches and kicks, and then finished off with the weapons the tributes managed to grab.

While the quartet was busy eliminating other tributes they targeted, the couple from District 4 - Crispian and Janine - were aiming with their powerful spears at the tributes from District 9 and District 10. Both Crispian and Janine proved to be very skilled with their weapons and did not show any hesitation for a fight. Janine quickly eliminated the boy from District 9, while Crispian took down the girl from District 10. Seeing their district partners decimated, the remaining two fled as quickly as they could from the area. Satisfied with their results, the couple from District 4 decided to flee the middle of the arena to avoid a possible direct confrontation with the powerful quartet of tributes from District 5 and 8.

Hours passed and no one showed much interest in starting a fight, until nightfall began. When darkness took over the arena and the temperature decreased, some tributes began to move. The tributes from District 4 went towards the middle of the arena, where the pile of weapons was, guarded by the tributes from District 5 and District 8. Guided by their ears to follow the noise of their opponents' footsteps, Crispian and Janine managed to hit two of their opponents, eliminating them. The screams of pain from the fallen left Xanthia from District 11 and Lothra Beth from District 8 on alert: Xanthia started swinging her weapon and trying to hit whatever was around him, acting through pure panic. Meanwhile, the girl ran away as quickly as she could. Unfortunately for Crispian, her opponent managed to find him and accidentally hit him with his weapon, eliminating the boy from District 4 instantly.

Janine, who was very smart, knew that her district partner had been hit and she had to prevent the same happening to her. Guided by sound, she began to do the same thing as the boy from District 5, stabbing blindly with her spear until she finally managed to hit her opponent. Exhausted and alone, realizing that there was no one else there, she laid down near the fallen tributes and decided to wait for what would happen next, hiding among the bodies.

Even from a distance, the tributes by the stands were able to hear the battles in the center of the arena and, as everything became silent again, they knew the fights had come to an end. When the first rays of sunlight began to illuminate the scene again, the couple from District 1 (Kennard and Diantha) decided that it would be the best time for them to venture out and look for weapons, as there was no sign of life in the middle of the arena - but they were wrong. Janine rapidly noticed the sound of footsteps, and stood alert. As soon as the boy from District 1 got his hands on a sword, Janine's spear struck his chest. Frightened by the presence of her dangerous opponent, the girl from District 1 decided to run away as quickly as possible before even grabbing a weapon.

Janine remained in the middle of the arena, walking from one side to the other, as if intending to prevent any other tribute from getting their hands on any weapon. However, as the hours passed, the temperatures kept rising again and exposure to the sun became impossible to bear. With no other alternative, or she wouldn't be able to resist for long, Janine dragged herself to the stands in search of a shaded place, more protected from the sun. At first, the tributes in the stands became agitated, some even ran to other places, away from her. But then, everyone went back to not moving much, as they had to conserve the little energy they had left.

When the first of the remaining tributes fell, the rest didn't take long to follow. Incredible as it may seem, the strongest was the first to fall to the harsh conditions: Janine, from District 4. She was followed by Diantha, the girl from District 1, and then by Maryvonne, the girl from District 9. One by one, slowly perishing as time passed, until only Barry, the boy from District 11, and Tameron, the boy from District 12 were left.

Barry stood up and looked around, looking for any sign of the tributes that were still alive. Tameron did the same when he noticed Barry's figure standing in the distance. The boy from District 12 decided that it would be a good time to try to get a weapon and started moving towards the center of the arena. However, halfway there, he passed out. After a few good minutes, it was announced that Barry Skycutter from District 11 was the last survivor.

As the announcement was heard, Barry started making obscene gestures towards the sky, while shouting a plethora of insults against the Capitol. Just before the transmission was cut, he had shouted that "to beat the Capitol in their game, he did not need to make anyone bleed". Hours later, District 11's Barry Skycutter, victor of the 8th Annual Hunger Games, received his punishment broadcasted live to all of Panem, a reminder to all districts to not defy the Capitol.

## Placings

* 1st - Barry Skycutter (District 11) - victor.
* 2nd - Tameron Stout (District 12) - succumbed to heat stroke/dehydration.
* 3rd - 7th - Clemence Grettome (District 6); Vuxka Rowntree (District 7); Lothra Beth Buckran (District 8); Deacon Honeysett (District 10); Donita Melident (District 12) - succumbed to heatstroke/dehydration.
* 8th - Maryvonne Alethea (District 9) - succumbed to heat stroke/dehydration.
* 9th - Diantha Deforet (District 1) - succumbed to heat stroke/dehydration.
* 10th - Janine Blausam (District 4) - succumbed to heat stroke/dehydration.
* 11th - Kennard Prince (District 1) - speared by Janine Blausam (District 4).
* 12th - Xanthia Romilly (District 11) - speared by Janine Blausam (District 4).
* 13th - Crispian Burntam (District 4) - hit blindly with a sword by Xanthia Romilly (District 11).
* 14th - Elyse Doretta (District 5) - speared by Janine Blausam (District 4).
* 15th - Dippon Bobbinet (District 8) - speared by Crispian Burntam (District 4).
* 16th - Bee Maryann Fay (District 10) - speared by Crispian Burntam (District 4).
* 17th - Vinal Oscar Elwin (District 9) - speared by Janine Blausam (District 4).
* 18th - 19th - Norton McMahon and Hayle Endicowt (District 2) - killed by tributes from District 5 and District 8.
* 20th - 24th - Noberth Boxelder and Zula Jardyz (District 3); Jules Karenza (District 6); Kauri Ponderos (District 7); Ash Bakswooth (District 5)- succumbed to heat stroke/dehydration the night before the games.