Another one shot. I recently got idea of this one, and decided 'what the heck'. My last one-shot got positive reviews, so why now. Now, enjoy the evil mind of President Snow :)
Cornelius Snow - Capitol
Twelve tributes were left. Ten had died in the bloodbath on Day One, and the other two had been picked off by their fellow tributes. The Quarter Quell was in full kick, and the President had the best seat in the house. He leaned back in the plush chair, slowly sipping his tea as he watched the tributes on the screens. As the President of Panem, he had access to all tributes twenty-four seven, and no one dared say otherwise.
His tea burnt his tongue from it's warm temperature, but he hardly felt it. He hardly felt anything anymore. One of the many side affects to his murderous schemes. The poison he often drank had almost completely removed his taste buds; a small price to pay for the elimination of a nuisance.
Cornelius watched as the Seven girl tried to shove her ax in the Nine girl's head. Her swing missed wildly, and in no time her opponent brought up her sword. The fight was over before it started. With one swift movement, the Career girl brought her sword down, splitting the Seven girl's face in two. All the cameras zoomed in close to the mess of blood and gore on the screen, as a loud canon went off in the background.
Thirteen down; eleven to go. And only three until they reached the prestigious Final Eight, a thought that made him shift in his seat uncomfortably.
This year's Quell had not been as grand as Cornelius had wanted; no, if he had gotten his way, it would have been spectacular. But Ramos had convinced him to leave the original Quell Card in place instead of swapping it with his own, something that Cornelius regretted to the day. As did Ramos, who was currently six feet underground.
No, instead of having his disobedient victors return to the games, the age limits had simply been changed. To show that Capitol held no mercy to people of all ages, tributes would be reaped from ages eleven through nineteen. Two extra years had been added on.
The soul eleven year old, the small boy from District Ten, was miraculously still alive, but that was not in the slightest who the president had his eyes on. No. He never looked away from the pair from twelve, who weren't suppose to still be alive.
As soon as he announced the Quell, Cornelius made special arrangements for the fixed Reapings of District Twelve. As it turned out, he could work with the two extra years quell. His backup target would have still been in the range already, but it opened the door to a whole new possibility. He made sure that, with absolute certainty, Primrose Everdeen and Gale Hawthorne would be reaped.
It was a glorious sight, watching his little Mockingjay scramble on the stage in protest. But her efforts were futile; they certainly weren't going to pull names again, and no one stepped up to the plate for either like Katniss had done last year. There was nothing she could do, something that put a smile on his face as he watched her.
But his plan was not working as he wanted to. Both Primrose and Gale were still breathing, something that had to be stopped. He would not allow either one of them to make it to the final eight, much less win. No. Not if he wanted to win.
Due to his little firebird's stunt the year before, Districts Three, Four, Seven, Eight, and nearly Twelve were in an uproar of rebellion. The rebels' fire had to be extinguished, and to do that, the girl on fire had to be extinguished. Because without their brave Mockingjay leading the way, they would fall apart and the Districts would fall back into order; how they belonged.
But he couldn't eliminate his Mockingjay. No, she was much too loved by the Capitol for that. He just had to eliminate her spirit. Fortunately, he knew just how to do it. And the ways were currently resting against a pine tree, close to the beach. Unknown to them, they were almost in striking distance of the Careers' camp. Cornelius finally saw his chance.
"Release the monkeys. Make sure they chase them down the east side of the beach." He said to Plutarch as he took another sip of his tea. The head gamemaker did not argue, and quickly a group of monkeys were brought up from below, and released in the arena.
It didn't take them too long to find their targets, and Cornelius grinned as he watched the two scramble away. Gale had a surprise talent with an ax, and would swing at the monkeys right on their tails, but taking out one when there are thirty more waiting didn't do much good. It barely kept them an arms-length away.
Primrose was the faster of the two, and she stumbled upon the Careers a few moments before her district partner came crashing along beside her. The unsuspecting tributes were dazed for a moment, but quickly had their weapons up and ready for a fight.
"Pull back the monkeys. Have them hold a barrier, but don't let them get involved unless either Twelve decided to run. I want this fight to remain between the tributes." He said, and Plutarch gave an acknowledging nod. The monkeys drew back, but not enough to allow anyone room to escape.
"Well, well. Look what we have here." the boy from Four said, starring down the Hawthorne boy with a strange look of delight in his eye. Cornelius smiled; this was going to be perfect. Primrose had already begun to shake in her shoes, causing the girls from Two and One to sneer at her. "Aw, look Rico, the little baby's afraid." The girl from Two snickered, and her district partner let out a small chuckle. Gale stepped infront of the young girl protectively, but it was a wasted effort. No matter what he did, they would both die. Cornelius would make sure of it.
Rico pulled out his whip and lashed it at Gale. He was fast, and managed to block the blow with his arm, causing the whip to wrap around it. Before he could remove it though, Two yanked it back, and he went tumbling forward, leaving Primrose exposed. He tried to scramble back to her defense, but the boys from One and Four were blocking his path.
"Come here little girl. Let's play make-over." One girl said while closing in on her opponent. "Run, Prim! Get out of here!" Gale shouted, and she tried. Primrose was faster than the Career girls and would have made it away if it weren't for the mutant monkeys blocking her path. She turned away from them with a shriek, and was once again facing the Career girls.
"Now now, little girl. Didn't your mother ever teach you manners? It's not nice to leave before it's time for you to go. You've hurt our feelings." The girl from Four said in a voice of mock-hurt, causing her fellow allies to snicker.
"Just get rid of her Coral. She's not worth the time." Her partner shouted over his shoulder, and she in return gave an agitated growl and 'fuck you'. A few of the more juvenile gamemakers in the room snickered at the girl's profane remark, but most gave no attention to it. Vulgar words had become increasingly popular since the late forties and early fifties. It was nothing to get worked up or excited over.
The three girls grabbed Primrose as the boys went to work on Gale. They forced her head forward, so she would see everything that would happen. "Pay attention now. Soon that," the One girl pointed her knife at Gale, "will be you." In response, Prim let out some sort of a desperate whimper.
The boys from Two and Four were holding onto him, while the boy from One grabbed a knife from his district partner. "Time for art class, Seam boy." he said, grinning like the cat that ate the Cannery.
He began to mark all across Gale's face, and it didn't take long before Cornelius recognized the design; a Mockingjay. Suddenly, the president found that he had acquired a new favorite. The boy from one would serve him a good victor.
Gale neither complained or cried out while his face was being cut up, a sign of true courage, and Cornelius hated it. He wanted to hear the boy scream.
"Your cousin killed my sister." The boy said gruffly as he studied his work. "What do you think Pearl?" The One boy asked, stepping out of the way for his partner to get a better view. "I think you need to take art classes. It looks like a cross between a baboon and a pigeon!" Pearl said with a snicker, and Prim let out a low cry for Gale. If he wouldn't cry for himself, she would.
"Alright, alright. My turn Rich. Your not the only one with a taste for coal blood." Rico said stepping forward, eyeing his whip. He glanced back and forth between Gale and the whip before a masochistic grin spread across his features. "I'm going to enjoy this." Was all he said, before he let his first lash go.
It struck Gale on his left cheek, and the impact caused his head to fall in the opposite direction. Primrose let out a large cry as it struck his face, and began begging for Gale's life. She did not once mention her own; only him. But the Careers paid no mind to her cries, and soon he was struck again.
Rico repeated this process, each time trying to connect with a new area of flesh. By the time he decided that he had had enough, Gale had nearly passed out from blood loss. Rico signaled the others to drop him. He fell down with a hard thud, and sand clung to the blood on his face. It had to be painful, having sand getting inside the wounds. Cornelius grinned at the thought, taking another sip of tea.
depressing
"You two had your fun, now back up. It's time to end this." The boy from Four said, stepping forward with his trident. The others backed up with grumbling whines, but didn't hold much protest. Primrose began to struggle more and more, and took the girls by surprise; she nearly got free.
But Pearl had the fastest reflexes, and was able to pin her to the ground easily. "Stay still you little brat." She hissed in her ear, causing Prim to shudder. But it did not, however, keep her from protesting.
"No! Stop please! Don't kill him! Please!"
The Careers just laughed at her though. Before anyone could even blink, the boy from Four brought down his trident into Gale's back. A loud cannon rang around the arena, and Prim broke down into sobs. The Career boys all grinned at the body at their feet.
Only ten tributes left.
"Do something with the girl already. If you don't, we will." Rico said, starring at the sobbing Primrose, and loud hisses of protest rang from his partner's lips.
"No! She's mine! You agreed to it! You all got the cousin, and I get the sister!" She shouted in anger. It was clear to see she wouldn't give up her kill without a fight. For a moment, Cornelius briefly wondered how many tributes in this year's games were of relations to those last year that Katniss killed. They all seemed to hate her, not that he minded.
"Then hurry up!" He growled in frustration.
She growled in return, but said no more. Instead she turned her attention back to Prim. "I'm not going to have as much fun as I was planning." She complained, holding the girl's cheeks between her fingers. "Oh well." And with that, she brought up her knife and dragged it across Prim's throat.
Another cannon rang out. Primrose Everdeen was dead, and so was his Mockinjay. Cornelius smiled to himself as he stared at the corpses of District Twelve. He didn't have to be watching her to know what was happening with Katniss. He had done it; he had finally broken her.
"Well done gentlemen." He said while standing up, preparing to leave the room. "Plutarch." He said with an acknowledging nod before making his way down the hall. The rebels had lost their fearless Mockingjay; he was certain of it. And without her, they would all fall down like dominoes in a row.
Then, his life could be peaceful again.
I feel kinda bad that I killed Gale and Prim, but it had to be done. Besides, Prim dies anyway in Mockingjay. This is just my alternate version of Catching Fire, and how I think it could have gone. I don't think I did that good of a job writing it though. Oh well.
Reviews are lovely :)
