etcircenses: (Default)
Panem Events ([personal profile] etcircenses) wrote in [community profile] thearena2014-08-18 09:38 pm

ARENA 11-PaneMall

It’s pre-dawn when the Tributes are roused from their beds and sent to their tubes. Those who’d been imprisoned for the past few weeks had their heads covered before transport to the staging area, and there’s an air of confusion surrounding just about everything that’s happening until the stylists and managers arrive on the scene and try to calm everyone down. The reunions may be happy, but they're sadly very temporary.

The first clue that something strange is happening comes from their clothing: figure skating costumes with bright colors and sequins and ice skates strapped to their feet. Some may even find it difficult to stand with the blades on their feet, but as they're placed into the arena, all becomes clear. The mall skating rink seems quiet and quaint, especially after weeks of uncertainty and stress. Too bad the peace and quiet can’t last.

20

19

18...


Above the ice rink (which houses all 100+ Tributes) there are floors with shops looking over them. Large, bright fluorescent lights dot the multi-storied ceiling and create a warm, nostalgic glow to the place. Benign music is piped in from various hidden speakers to compliment the intended mood of fun and commerce.

17

16

15…


The countdown continues and the Tributes, some of whom haven’t seen each other in weeks, stare at one another helplessly. That is, until one of them boldly decides to speak.

"We're expected to fight here today," Steve's voice suddenly cuts through the tension in the room. It commands attention without demanding it, a conviction of truth in his tone.

14

13

12...



"To turn on each other through fear and self preservation. And we could give them what they want. A bloodbath," here he pauses longer, lets the reality of his statements sink in. Let people realize what he's saying, that this is a choice.

"Or we can choose not to fight. To instead work together," an option so many seem not to even realize they have. "No one here has to die by our hands today," he knows his speaking won't be without consequence, but he does want to believe he'll be the only one to pay for this.

"This is a risk. One many of you are hesitant to trust, let alone take. But everything we do here is a risk to ourselves and those around us," nothing in the arena comes without putting your life on the line.

"I, for one, am willing to take this risk, to choose not to fight," Steve looks around the room, making eye contact with a few people as he does. He's not telling anyone what to do, this is for them to decides for themselves; their freedom of choice.

But he's got faith in the his fellow tributes. "And I've got a feeling I'm not alone.”

… 3

2

1…


After the countdown ends, there’s a moment of utter still and silence. Then...

BOOOOOOOOOOOM


The room seems to erupt with noise and concussive force. The explosions are so violent that the muzak is paused in its tracks and shakes some of the Tributes off of their pedestals, and after the ice fog and smoke clears, it becomes apparent that fifteen of the Tribute pedestals and exploded there on the ice rink. Fifteen corpses lie mangled on the bloody ice: Deanna Winchester, Danny Fenton, Fili, Kili, Kain Highwind, Perry Kelvin, Julian Bashir, Clint Barton, Karkat Vantas, Sirius Black, Rahm Kota, Cinderella, Bunnymund, Robin, Rock Lee, and Rokk Krin.

The center of the ice rink remains completely intact and stocked with a few dozen keys of varying shapes and sizes. This is the Cornucopia and the Gamemakers are compelling the Tributes to skate for it.

The gong rings out, and the countdown's voice announces “The Arena is now open.” The Games have begun.
carnagecarnival: (And I'll kick you down.)

[personal profile] carnagecarnival 2014-09-11 10:24 pm (UTC)(link)
His breath is ragged. It draws through his teeth and he remembers with irony thinking how it was a good goddamn thing Cecil Palmer couldn't bite out his tongue when his guts got all torn in the arena prior. Such a good thing the avox couldn't scream, it was. He feels even more a fool for thinking it than he did back then.

He ain't going to be sick, he knows that. But the final slash brings a terrible surge of illness with it what he can't deny. Every muscle in him is cramped from the effort of staying still. The blood is washed over his neck, all upon his bare face and around his eyes in trails. He can taste his own blood in his grit teeth.

Good enough, Eridan says, and he can't hardly believe it, even when the skate is tossed away and he can see the blood on it too, as well as the small spatter trail from the work what got done. His face is pushed further into the blood, crushing that ruined ear down and soaking his hair and clothes purple. There's a split second twitch of what might have been snarl once, but mostly his eyes stay shut and his teeth stay grit.

He could almost make like he ain't listening, except the order comes and his eyes open, face going blank once more even despite the pain piercing his skull and zapping every nerve end like he's on fire. The moment Eridan allows him he stands upright, swaying only a little. He doesn't give the other troll so much as a passing glance. He walks off to clean the blood as ordered. The lack of fins leave a hollow feeling but it's one what he can ignore, with the press of fear saying these must be hidden from sights what could be offended. Even if wrapping and taping them down immediate like that hurts something unholy. After that, will come cleaning the blood from his hair and the clothes he's been given, to watch indigo run down some drain.

And of course, once Eridan is gone, he will return to wash the blood from the floor too. He is not a person and so he should not leave no trace. Not even by his blood.
Edited 2014-09-11 22:55 (UTC)