(A/N: I'm back and I'm MAAAAAAD as hell! Apparently, a nice little community known as Critics United has the utmost respect and decency to report my story (most likely en masse), and cause all of my hard work to vanish! Isn't that the nicest thing? No warning or anything, just 15K+ words and 150+ reviews, poof! And an admin banned me from typing for a few days, too, to 'punish' me for something unfathomably innocent. Some people…

But never fear, loyal Hungry Gamers. Like a stubborn phoenix, I shall rise from the ashes, twice as powerful! GA175 is back, and it's here to STAY, because technically, this is no longer an SYOT. I have all my characters, I'm not doing sponsor questions anymore (that's probably what killed me u_u), and the T-List is gone, so there's no evidence! So unless I do something stupid again, Critics United has nothing on me anymore! :D

TeamAvatar was as mad as I am, seeing as we both worked hard on this story. I would agree, SYOTs and such -are- against the rules, for whatever reason, but the way that FanFiction just uncaringly handled that was completely wrong and unacceptable. Removing at least 1000 good stories from hard-working authors, some of which were completed months ago, so now, not only can we not enjoy them, but authors were unrightfully banned from submitting! I find that despicable. I would've thought that FanFiction would've been smarter and less ruthless in that regard. Smh...

Now that my rage has been slaked, I welcome you to the new and improved GA175. The story being wiped has given me an excuse to go back and fix mistakes I made in previous chapters, adding to them as well. TeamAvatar has not only helped me with the arena now, in her blistering fury, she has decided to collaborate with me and fine-tune the other chapters. Trust me. This story is about to get twice as epic as it was before…

Now, without further ado: my triumphant return!)

~Marie's POV~

I fuddle idly with the remote control in my hand, trying to decide if I should watch the announcement again before they come… I'm going to have to play it again eventually, anyway, since the rest of my family didn't see it yet. My back sinks into the plush couch and my toes wiggle on the soft carpeting. Life in District One is good, indeed, I consider. I wonder how other Districts have it…

Meh. I shrug and cross my left leg over my right, adjusting my furry golden bathrobe as the remote continues to hang leisurely in my grasp. My toes need clipping… Just as I reach for my make-up kit on the end table, Melanie storms in.

"You're keeping it paused, right?" my sister asks, out of breath.

"Of course I'm keeping it paused." I reply with a roll of my eyes. "Why have you been running? You know you have asthma."

"S-Sorry…" she sighed, trying hard and failing to catch her breath. Her hands fall to her knees, and I reach over to my make-up kit again. Instead of clippers, though, I pull out a small inhaler, handing it to my sister. She nods graciously and takes a large puff of the gaseous medicine. I smile as her throat visibly untightens and she breathes in deeply again. "Sorry. Mommy wanted me to make super-sure."

"Tell Mommy that it's still paused. And walk this time." I tell her sternly.

Melanie nods before disobeying me immediately, scampering off swiftly with the inhaler still clutched in her little hand. Sigh… Little sisters are annoying. I go digging through the make-up kit again, unsuccessful in finding the damn clippers, but somehow capable of fishing a mirror out instead… I shrug and decide that now is as good a time as any to look at myself. My blonde hair is still full and shimmery, my green eyes are still bright and sharp. My face is still soft, supple, and blemish-free, and my lips are in need of some shining…

I snort and put the mirror down before setting the remote down as well and rummaging through the leather pink bag again. I'm looking for lip gloss now, but lo and behold, I find my nail clippers. I want to swear, but I'm sure Nana will hear it with her giant bat ears, and she doesn't permit swearing in the house… So I grumble instead and start clipping my toes.

"Markus?" I hear my grandfather's voice from across the hall. The name causes my hand to twitch and I end up making my center toenail look stripped and jagged. Goddammit… No sandals for me today, I guess.

"Markus, where are you?" my grandfather's confused voice calls. I blink sadly at him as he hobbles in on his cane. I almost can't bear to remind him again…

"Grandpa, Markus is dead, remember? H-He died two years ago, in the Hunger Games." I say, my throat tightening a little. Now I wish I had Melanie's inhaler…

"Dead? What kind of nonsense is th- Oh…" my grandfather's voice drops as it comes back to him. Markus was his favorite grandchild. He was his first grandchild. And he refused to believe that he was really dead, even though we all watched him get pushed off a cliff by the District Five boy… All that denial has affected his mind, and now, sometimes he really does believe Markus is alive. We have to remind him he's not, because hearing him talk as if he was still here hurts. Badly.

To fight back my tears, I distract myself with my toenail-cutting again, working on my middle toe to make it appear less gruesome… When I'm done with my toes, I dig through the kit again and start to get frustrated when I find something that isn't even make-up: a flower hair braid in the shape of a marigold. I start to put it back, but I remember that I plan on volunteering this year, and this is as good a token as I'm probably going to get, so I stick it in my hair.

"Oh, good, it's paused!" I hear my mother's voice sigh in relief. She runs into the room holding Melanie by the hand, who is breathing generously through her inhaler. My father and grandmother are not far behind, and soon, we're all squishing me in the center of the couch as I slowly reach for the remote to press play.

~Agate's POV~

The newborn light of the early morning slowly started to rouse me from deep, peaceful slumber… I can tell immediately that it was a good night, because I can't remember a damn thing I did since noon yesterday, when I met to celebrate my soon-to-be tribute status for the 175th Annual Hunger Games with Stark, my best bud, and Coral, my girlfriend, the sexiest little tail to ever waggle in District One. That chocolate brown hair, that supple, tanned skin, those sultry onyx eyes, and her voice… That voice of hers made such an impression on me; it's almost like I can hear her breathing right in my ear.

It takes me several pondering moments in order to realize that it is her breathing - well, snoring, rather - in my ear. I turn my head and smile as I look into her sleeping face, half-nuzzled into the crook of my arm. My other hand reaches around to prod her gently on the nose. Her lip twitches, so I repeat the motion until she giggles and opens her eyes.

"Good morning, handsome." she coos in that sweetly elegant voice, leaning over and kissing me softly on the lips. I chuckle, pulling her closer to my bare chest. Admittedly, I'm disappointed to feel that she's wearing pajamas. Perhaps last night wasn't as good a night as I had imagined. Nevertheless, I happily kiss her on the forehead.

"Sweet dreams, gorgeous?" I ask her, my waking golden eyes focused only on her and not the fact that this was not my bed I was in. Not my room. Not my house. This doesn't dawn on me until I hear a knock at the door and a voice that's not my mom's.

"Coral? Are you awake yet?" the gruff voice inquires. Immediately, Coral's eyes widen.

"U-Uh… Yeah, Daddy, I'm awake!" she calls back, cursing under her breath as she rolled out of my grip and off of the bed. I just sit up and blink, still unsure if I should be panicking or not. When I see the fearful glimmer in Coral's bright black orbs, I assume that I wasn't invited to stay with her last night under her parents' permission…

"Oh, well, may I come in?" Coral's father asks. That's when I really start to panic, and roll out of her bed, too, landing mostly silently on my hands and knees.

"No, don't! I'm, uh, not dressed yet! I'm naked, don't come in!"

I try my hardest to stifle my laugh, and Coral shoots me a death glare, mouthing for me to 'get under the bed'. Nodding quickly and allowing my agility training to kick in, I drop to me stomach and swiftly roll underneath her bed, which is raised just enough to house me, but keep me hidden at the same time.

As I look out the narrow slot that the space under her bed allows me, my mind goes into a silent rage as her pajamas quickly drop to the floor. For all I know, my girlfriend is naked about four feet ahead of me and all I can see are her feet and ankles! Those feet and ankles scamper over to the right, and I can hear the shuffling of her closet door opening. About a minute later, I hear her voice again.

"Alright, Daddy, I'm decent!"

I hold my breath as her bedroom door opens. I've never seen Coral's father before, but judging by the size of his feet, I'd reckon he's big enough to snap me in half with a sneeze. I'm not scrawny, mind you, but this man is obviously titanic.

"Well, you look ready for the Reapings already. That's good; we have to leave in thirty minutes." her father's stern-sounding voice said. "Are you volunteering today?"

"I'll try, Daddy." she said.

"Good, sweetheart. And if you aren't able to, don't fret about it. You've still got two more years."

The giant feet turn and walk back out the door. She kicks the bedframe to give me the 'all clear' and I roll back out from under the bed, giving a small whistle as I admire Coral's attire: a tight blue button-up and a white pleated miniskirt.

"Hurry and get dressed before he decides to come back." she says quickly, handing me the dark jeans and red T-shirt I apparently wore yesterday. A little wrinkled, but it'll have to do. As I dress, Coral opens up the window, gesturing to a thick branch outside. I give my girl one parting kiss goodbye before leaping out and landing firmly on the branch.

"See you at the Reaping!" I call back as I make my way down the tree, sprinting away from her estate and starting to jog to the square, toward my mother's apartment, until I remember I don't live there anymore… All my stuff got moved to my dad's mansion yesterday. Now that I remember that I live in a different house, I almost don't want to go there anymore. But I stuff my hands in my jean pockets and turn around, starting to walk toward the looming mansion a little ways down the road.

My dad is a jerk. He and my mom got a divorce several years ago for what he called 'irreconcilable differences', but my mother loved him. The only one with a problem was him. The whole reason he married her was to take her money in the divorce. As one of the richest men in District One, he has an army of lawyers as well as ample amounts of bribe money for judges… Recently, my mom made him angry, so he took her to court again and ended up getting custody of me. I, of course, had no say in the matter…

As I approach his door, it opens before I get a chance to reach out my hand, and a woman stops short when she sees me. I stop short as well.

She's a little bit taller than me, with striking red hair, bright wide green eyes, and juicy red lips. Red nail polish adorns her finger and toenails, and she's wearing red track pants and a bright violet sports bra over a rather impressively rounded chest. As we stare at each other, she takes a slow sip of the strawed water bottle in her hand before speaking.

"You must be Agate! So good to finally meet you!" she said, leaning down and giving me a kiss on the cheek. I'm unsure how to feel about this. I have a girlfriend. I don't know this woman. She's hot… "I was just saying goodbye to your father! I have to go get ready for the Reapings; when you see your father could you give this to him?"

The woman, who I'm starting to vaguely recognize, slips a ring made of pure diamond off of her finger and drops it into my hand before sliding past me and bumping me with one of her swaying hips as she trots off. I stare after her for a second, before remembering that I have a girlfriend and shaking the lewd thoughts out of my head.

I glance back at her one more time before walking into my father's house. The place is just like my dad: always cold and hard to get around. There's twenty minutes left until the Reapings and I spend five of them trying to navigate my way through this maze of a mansion to find my dad sitting in his study and watching a repeat of the announcement of the Quell.

The speaker is President Phoenix Centari himself. He's only twenty-four, and his been sitting on his dictatorial throne for only five years, but his charisma has captured the Capitol's heart. He's young, articulate, and smarter than most of Panem. The camera is zoomed tight into his features. His hair is glossy brown. Too glossy. It's probably dyed. His eyes are an unnaturally bright golden. Most likely contacts.

"Welcome!" his suave and smooth voice starts on the screen. "Welcome, all, present or otherwise, to the obligatory Reading of the Card for the seventh Quarter Quell of the 175th Annual Hunger Games!"

Wow, that was a mouthful… He takes a slow breath before continuing.

"As many, if not all of you, know, every twenty-five years, we celebrate the brave souls that are delivered into the Capitol to fight for the glory of their District by paying homage to the dastardly villains who would oppose the love and generosity that the Capitol has apparently 'overbore' on its boroughs. We at the Capitol would like to emphasize that it is not the Districts being punished, but those many who would strive toward a foolish independence when all we have is each other to depend on."

He raises a good point… I can see my father cross his arms and nod slowly at the television. The audience at the City Square in the Capitol is going crazy with applause.

"And now, without further ado, the special condition of this year's special Games!" he calls. A little boy skitters up onto the stage and hands the President an ornate wooden box with a card adorned with a golden number '175' sitting regally on a velvet red cushion. President Centari takes the card and looks at it for a long moment before reading it to the audience.

"To remind the rebels that in both instances of dissention, they were merely players in a game already won, the Games this year will take on a concept known in the Old World as the 'video game'. This year's tributes will be translocated into the Games' first ever fully-virtualized arena!"

My eyebrows begin to furl. A video game..? Whatever this is about, it sounds bizarre. What is bizarre is what happens after the announcement is made. Not on the screen. The television itself.

"Happy Hunger Games! And may the odds be ever in yo-"

Before the President can finish, the TV goes to static… I can't see from here, but I think my father's eyebrows rise.

"What do you need, Agate?" he asks, now that there's nothing keeping him from talking to me.

I shrug and walk into his study, placing the diamond ring on the table beside his hand. "A woman was leaving when I arrived. She wanted me to give that to you."

He stares at the ring for a long moment before his hand closes around it.

"You've got seven minutes to get to the Reaping." he says curtly, taking out a pen and paper and starting to write. "I'll be there; go."

"Fine." I shrug. Pretending to adjust the collar of my shirt to telegraph closure, I walk out of his study. "Oh, yeah, I'm volunteering this year, in case you were wondering."

He stops writing just as the door closes to his study.

~Marie's POV~

I yawn softly, shaking my hair out of my eyes as I stand in my corral with the other seventeen-year-olds, listening to Mayor Pimmsbrook conclude her reading of the Treaty of Treason. It never gets better, no matter how many times you've heard it, and I've been hearing it for as long as I can remember…

For the fifth time, I check my outfit to make sure that I still look as good as I did this morning: long-sleeved crisp white blouse, no bra. I find all forms of brassieres uncomfortable, so I just don't wear them. Short grey skirt, no panties. What have panties ever done for me, besides chafe me? Ugh…

Being on the edge of the corral, I lean over and squint, looking for the poof of similar light blonde hair that would indicate Melanie, my sister. I smile as I find her, then fret slightly… Do I really want to volunteer..? Follow right in my brother's footsteps..? Risk leaving my family with one less child in a Quell I know nothing about? Then again, neither will the other tributes… My mind wars with itself, and the more I think, the less confident I feel.

I look behind me, past the eighteens and spot my parents and my grandparents. They spot me, too, and wave. I give a weak wave back, then turn back, disheartened, to the stage as our Mayor departs and our escort, Harmonee Valkry bounces up onto the stage.

"Welcome, kiddies! Welcome, welcome, welcome! We at the Capitol are very excited for our two lucky tributes, whomever they may be! We are aware that there have been technical problems in Districts Three and Five, so, unfortunately, we are unable to present our annual three-minute promo to you."

This 'bad news' manages to stir up applause out of the tribute candidates, and Harmonee pretends to wipe a tear from her eye. "On the bright side, we get to announce our lucky tributes three minutes earlier! Now, without further ado, our female tribute!"

Harmonee starts to jog over to the female Reaping Ball, filled with colorful pink slips, but I don't care. I've made my mind up. I'm not even going to try to volunteer this year. I… I just feel there's too much at stake. My dark green eyes grow darker and downcast, and I sigh as she picks out the card and clears her throat.

"Melanie Gold!" she announces. Instantaneously, my blood begins to rush. My twelve-year-old sister just got Reaped! As I watch her start toward the stage, I can already see that she's starting to wheeze. N-No problem, right..? Someone will volunteer for her, right..?

I gasp when I see her start to try and breath heavily again, and she drops to her knees. I'm so shocked, so scared, that everything I had just thought about goes out the door, and before I know it, I'm racing my rival, sixteen-year-old Coral Burke, to Harmonee at the stand. We are both screaming 'I volunteer!' at the top of our lungs, but I ultimately reach the stage first, lifting my choking sister to her feet and sticking her inhaler into her mouth for her. She takes a couple of deep puffs before sighing. She hugs me with gratitude as I tell her to get back to her corral.

"Oh, joy! And what would your name be, sweetie?" Harmonee asked, patting me on the head.

"Marie Gold, her sister. I volunteer as tribute for the 175th Annual Hunger Games!"

I stick my tongue out at Coral as she glumly walks back to her place in her corral, and the rest of the District cheers for me. For the moment, my anxiety is allayed.

~Agate's POV~

I clap along with the other 18-year-olds at Marie's display of loyalty and bravery for her sister, even though I'm upset that Coral didn't get her spot. I watch as Harmonee skips over to the boys' Ball, picking out a name and reading it.

"Clark-"

"No! I volunteer!" I declare, rushing from my place and reaching the stage first. "I'm Agate von Grievous and I volunteer as District One's male tribute for the 175th Annual Hunger Games!"

"Excellent, excellent! Come on up, honey!" Harmonee squeals. I walk up the stage and stand in front of Marie, shaking her hand firmly.

"District One! It is my great honor to present to you your Quell Tributes for the 175th Annual Hunger Games! May the odds be ever in their favor!"

~Marie's POV~

My heart starts to flutter as I take the boy's strong hand. I get so internally excited that my free hand begins to reflexively trail across the narrow scar on my arm that, to this day, I cannot remember where I received it… Anyway, Agate's younger than me, but he's taller by about three inches. That straight brown hair, those face-melting golden eyes… Oh, and those abs… They pop right out of that tight red shirt! I've seen Agate before, and I've always had eyes for him… But he's had eyes for that girl Carol, who I just beat out for my spot as a tribute. My eyes turn back to the crowd, and I wave, conscious that I may not see this place again.

But with Agate by my side as tribute? Hm… There are worse people that I could die with. Tee hee! I shoot him a sly glance as we're herded into the Justice Building to await our goodbyes.

~Agate's POV~

I drum the tips of my nails against my teeth as I wait in the plush, cushy-looking space within the Justice Building, waiting for people to come say goodbye to me. I know there'll be at least four coming, and I'm sure it'll either by Stark or Coral coming first. Stark wins.

"Hey, there, champ!" he chuckles as he walks in. I can tell, he's exhausted from last night's fun endeavors, as well. "You score last night?"

"Nah, don't think so… She was in pajamas when I woke up." I say with a shrug.

"Too bad, bud. Ah, well, you'll have plenty of time to snatch that tail up when we get back, am I right?"

"Tch, yeah, I guess." I say, rolling my eyes. Stark's green eyes squint as he looks down at me.

"What's up with you, dude? Coral bother you about something, or what?" he asks.

"Family troubles are finally coming down on me, I guess. Don't worry about it, man." I tell him.

Stark smiles and nods. "Well, dude, I gotta bounce. See you when you get back!" he calls as he turns and walks for the door, which the Peacekeepers kindly open for him. After he leaves, I'm left in silence again until the door opens an indeterminate time later. I expect to see Coral walking in when I lift my head up.

"Oh, hey, Mom." I say with a slightly surprised raise of my thin brown eyebrows. My mother's signature golden eyes, which I inherited, look cloudy and distracted, and the way they look moist makes me think that she's holding back tears. "I-"

Before I can continue, my mom has walked forward and wrapped her arms around me.

"Now I'm going to miss you even more…" she whispers to me sadly. I sigh and hug her back. That's one of two things she says to me, and we just hug for a long time, until the Peacekeepers come to escort her out. "Come back to me, Agate. Please."

That's the last thing I hear my mother say before the door closes behind her. Minutes later, the next person enters. I look up and smile as Coral stares proudly at me, smiling just as bright. I stand as she starts toward me, and within moments, we're wrapped in each other's arms, kissing eagerly. She's so warm, ad being as close to her as I am sparks up something inside of me… before I really know what's going on, the buttons of her blue blouse are already popping between my fingers, just enough so I can see she's not wearing anything underneath. With the fire raging in my chest now, I grip either side of the opening of her blouse when it's completely unbuttoned, but her hands swiftly grasp mine before I can pull the tight shirt away from her.

"Ah, ah, ah…" she whispers to me. "That's only a sneak preview of what to expect when you come back…"

I stare longingly as she rebuttons her blouse and gives me a quick kiss before strutting out and leaving me stunned and determined. With that kind of incentive, there's no way I'm going down. I am coming back home, victorious.

The last person to come visit me is my father, in all of his regality and coldness. There's a long moment of scanning me before he speaks.

"I suppose it's a little too late to ask you if you're really sure about this." he deep voice sighs.

"What does it matter to you, anyway? You don't care about me. You only fought for my custody because my mom pissed you off." I snap.

"You're not wrong," he starts. That actually hurts a little. I half-expected him to get angry and start denying my accusation. "However, despite the awkward and painful situation I've forced you into concerning me and your mother, I do care about you, Agate. Four marriages, and you're my only child."

"That only means you pretended to love my mom longer than the other three." I respond bitterly.

"In a sense. But your mother and I are an entirely different subject." he replies in that calm undertone again. "Agate, I've broken many oaths and have lied to countless people: judges, juries, Mayor Pimmsbrook, all four of my ex-wives. But the one person I swore I'd never tell a lie to is my only child. That's worth something."

I open my mouth to retort, but then I realize he may be right. For as long as I can remember, he's always told me the truth, even when I didn't want to hear it. The truth always ended up being better for me in the end.

"Dad, do you think I can win this?" I ask him. I had to. And I can tell, he was waiting for that question. He steps forward ad grabs my hand, placing something inside of it.

"No," he says, ad my heart starts to quake, even though I've never cared much for my dad's opinion before now. He releases the object and lets go of my hand and I see that he's placed into my palm that pure diamond ring that the lady from earlier was wearing. The ring that would be my token. "But I'm hoping you can prove me wrong."

I half-hope he'll smile at me as he leaves, but I've never seen him smile - or happy, for that matter - before, and I have no such luck now. He walks out, and I'm left in silence until the Peacekeepers come to take me to the train station.

(A/N: And there you have it! TA and I will be fine-tuning every single chapter since before the most current, and we'll be updating EVERY day! :D I'll post District Two sometime tomorrow, so stay tuned, Hungry Gamers!

Till next time! Bye bye!)