This year's Games were quite exciting as the final three all seemed to be evenly matched up. This year's victor also caused a stir at their Reaping Ceremony.
As the Reaping Ceremony for District 2 began, Twin stared around at the factories and the mines in which many stones were found. She started by pulling out a slip of paper. She opened it and with teary eyes while looking at Thomas stated that the girl chosen was 18 year old Cleava Thomas. Thomas muttered 'fuck, not Priscilla's sister' under his breath. Shortly after, she wiped another tear away and muttered 'I'm so sorry' under her breath as she showed him the slip of paper, reading out the name of his younger brother, 17 year old Spartano Jones. Thomas swore louder this time and he chose to mentor a different district after this year. Once the tributes were taken away, Twin moved to a very boring Reaping.
Most of them didn't catch her attention until Thomas followed her to District 8. The factories seemed to intrigue her and she soon walked up to the stage, somberly apologizing to the youths of the District as she pulled out the names. The girl was revealed to be 18 year old Loretta Brocade. Loretta swallowed as she whispered 'See you soon Maroon'. Viewers recognized this as the name of the boy from 8 last year. Loretta was Maroon's wife. However, another girl volunteered. When asked her name, Loretta commented 'no, please!' She revealed herself to be 12 year old Velveta Crimson. Loretta sobbed and begged for her not to do this, stating that although she was pregnant, she could still fight. Velveta apologized and stated that she wouldn't allow it and that 'my family will understand'. It was later revealed that the two girls didn't know each other. Twin cried at this moving motion from a girl so young. The boy chosen was 18 year old Gucci Nevado. Gucci hugged his district partner as he cried. Twin left as the pair were taken to the train (this was the first year the districts used them).
The ceremony for District 9 was rather chaotic. The girl chosen was 14 year old Eve Mesha. Eve whimpered as she walked forward. Twin hugged her and gave her a small pep talk as she very gently grinned. Shortly before she could draw a name from the male reaping bowl, a guy shouted with slight disappointment in his voice, 'Thomas! Remember me?' Thomas stared with wide eyes at the bot. He swallowed as the boy said 'the name is Adam Walker, 15 years old. I'm the boy who Gillian Walker asked you to protect six years ago. This year, I am making the decision to volunteer and go in to avenge Gillian!' Eve cheered and Thomas continually muttered he was sorry for not showing up. Adam shrugged and stated that he was used to it but he 'wished he had a brother figure that Thomas could have provided'.
Games
As the gong sounded, Balenciago (1) scoffed and muttered that this would be easy. However, it was revealed to have not been easy at all as he was killed by the boy from 12. As the boy from 12 managed to run away, Silicana (1) killed Eve very easily with a knife. This enraged the other tributes as she was the Capitol favorite. Silicana took spot of top contender to win after Balenciago was killed. Cleava and Leslie (10) fought as Leslie was killed instantly. As the boy from 5 was stabbed by the girl from 6, the boy from 7 was stabbed by Gucci. This concluded the bloodbath.
As Day 1 began, Adam looked at Silicana muttering 'I hope you get murdered, bitch.' However, the boy from 4 collapsed when it was revealed Lucas (3) was wielding a knife in his hands. As he did so, the boy collapsed and his cannon sounded. Shortly afterwards, war cries were heard near him. As Adam hid, he saw the boy from 10 charge at March (11) who Adam warned. March immediately killed the boy from 10, muttering 'damn kid you got good eyes.' As Velveta stared at Gucci with fury, he muttered 'what? You knew I had to do it.' She scoffed and turned away. Meanwhile, Spartano & Cleava plotted their next kill which was going to be the boy from 12, seeing as he was a strong competitor. That night, the fallen were shown to be Balenciago (1), the boy from 4, the boy from 5, the boy from 7, Eve (9), Leslie (10) and the boy from 10.
The next day, March and Adam agreed to ally. However, two loud screams were heard. As they hid, it was revealed that the first scream belonged to the girl from 12 as her ally died right next to her after Apri (11) speared the girl from 5. April then killed the girl from 12 shortly afterwards. Then, the boy from 12 stabbed the girl from 6 and he poisoned the boy from 6 sounding their cannons instantly. Afterwards, as the boy from 12 was about to die from thirst, he stabbed April in the head. As the two cannons sounded, March stared at Adam and muttered 'for April.' Adam nodded in response, mumbling that April was too young to die. That night, the fallen tributes were shown to be the girl from 5, the pair from 6, April (11) and the pair from 12.
As Day 3 began, Adam saw that March had been crying all night. He muttered that April was his cousin and he cried on Adam's shoulder. He whispered 'oh buddy.' That night, no portraits were shown.
On night 3 however, Lucas died of suicide. This was followed by three cannons on day 4, with the first 2 cannons of the day being Cheryl (7) who was near an explosive that set off near her and Keya (3) who died at the hands of Gucci with his explosive. The final cannon that day was a somber one as the siblings of two former tributes fought. Nori (4) was a sibling of Hook Upwell. As she and Cleava fought, Cleava muttered 'I have nothing to lose, Nori.' Nori muttered 'yeah same here.' However, Nori stabbed Cleava, as she collapsed in Nori's arms, Nori quietly calmed her down. That night, the fallen tributes were shown to be Cleava (2), Lucas and Keya (both 3) and Cheryl (7).
On Day 5, Velveta screamed as she saw Gucci hanging from a rope. She sobbed and attempted to revive him. After five minutes of CPR, his cannon sounded. She screamed out in agony. As Spartano and Adam circled each other, Spartano apologized before attempting to stab Adam in the head. Just then, Velveta shouted 'kick his ass, Adam!' As Spartano got distracted by this, March drove a knife right into Spartano. However, Adam comforted Spartano as he died as March was killed by Silicana. As the two cannons sounded, Velveta shouted to Silicana 'hey asshole! Over here bitch!' As Silicana attempted to chase after her, she collapsed from hunger. Velveta then stomped on top of Silicana's windpipe with so much force that it was crushed, sounding Silicana's cannon. She pointed at Nori, jumped on top of her and stabbed her. As Velveta and Adam stared across the arena, Velveta apologized to her family before trying to slit her throat. However, Adam attempted to drag the knife away, shouting that he 'doesn't deserve to win without Gillian seeing it.' However, Velveta stabbed herself in the stomach as he shouted 'no!' He held her as she slowly gave out and gently muttered 'you were an awesome competitor Velveta.' She smiled and muttered 'you too Mr. Walker. I was the oldest of my family and no one back home really noticed me, so I went in for Loretta.' As her cannon sounded, 15 year old Adam Walker from District 9 was announced as the victor of the 8th hunger games. He screamed and began sobbing, shouting her name.
Aftermath
After winning, Adam visited Velveta's family every year for birthdays, weddings and even the victory of one of her family members. He spoke very highly of his competitors (omitting the boy from 10). He also found out that Loretta named her child Velveta and her story would be told for generations to come as her being the youngest District 8 volunteer.
