“Let the 47th Battle Royale begin,” I heard. “10…9…8….” Oh god…, I thought. “7…6…5…4….” It’s happening, I thought. “3…2…1….” I heard a gong, and then I woke up screaming. Belle ran in.
“Darling, are you alright?” she said frantically.
“Umm… just a dream, sorry I scared you,” I said, trembling.
“Well, ok then…” she said as she slowly left. I got up, changed, and turned off the alarm ringing in my ears.
The rest of the day I was just wasting away talking to my friends, just waiting for the interviews that evening.
Belle came into my room that evening, and told me that the interviews were going to start in an hour, so I got ready to go downstairs to be taken to the stage set.
There was a shuttle, and Erika, Roxanne, Annabell, Tyler, Erika, and Ryan were all on it, so I got on it before it took off.
“Hello,” Roxanne said.
“Hi,” I said back. On the way, we were talking about making an alliance together in the Battle Royale arena, and everyone unanimously agreed.
“I wonder what the arena’s going to look like,” I questioned.
“Probably something symmetrical, like always,” Roxanne answered.
We got to the set, and got ready for the interviews. I wore a suit with fiber optics that displayed lightning bolts. My stylist said that if I spun, the fibers in my suit will glow, but only once, so I had to save it for last. I was pretty sure the other tributes had something to make themselves appealing to the crowd.
“And now, the other male tribute from District 5…” the host said. Roxanne was behind me in line, wearing a gray and brown shirt with pants that looked like mud was sliding down on it.
“Oi,” she said.
“Oh, hi,” I answered.
“Make yourself... presentable,” she said.
“I know,” I said. “If I spin, this suit will glow.”
“Well then…,” she said.
More tributes passed, and finally, it was my time on the spotlight.
“And now…the last tribute from District 7…, Kole Verano!” the host said, with the doors opening and revealing me. People were cheering for me, and I walked on stage.
“How you doin’?” he greeted me as he shook my hand.
“Doin’ good, thanks,” I said, sitting down. The interview lasted a long time, and I showed off my shimmering suit. As everyone’s interview was over, it was 10 pm, so all the tributes went to sleep for the training tomorrow and then the final assessment training the day after.
The morning of Training Day, I got up, put on my training uniform, and went down to the training arena. I saw everyone being gathered in a crowd, so I joined the crowd, and the tutor was explaining to us.
“You will each have this day to train and tomorrow you’ll have to show your best skill in front of the Gamemakers,” she explained.
Everyone broke and went to different training stations. I, of course, went to the Electromancy station and practiced honing my skills with my electric powers. There was a target practice, and I tried my hand at that. I hit all the targets dead-on, and was pretty pleased with myself. Then, I walked over to my friends’ training areas. First, I walked over to Erika’s and saw fireballs being thrown.
“Damn,” I said as Erika hit and burned a target.
“Umm… OOPS,” she said giggling.
I walked over to the District 1 station and saw Alice create a small wave to reach over and destroy a target. As training reached its end, so did the day. We all went to sleep fatigued, and awaited the individual assessments tomorrow.
I woke up completely refreshed, and all of us were summoned to the training room.
“District 1: Alice Rodriguez; report for individual assessment,” a man said over the P.A. Alice walked into the training room, and knowing her, probably created a tidal wave. She soon came out of the room with a smug smile on her face and left.
“District 7: Kole Verano; report for individual assessment,” the man finally said as most of the tributes were already done with individual training. I walked in, and the Gamemakers rose.
“Kole, you have one minute to show us your chosen skill,” the Head Gamemaker said.
“Gladly,” I said smugly, and created a vicious lightning storm. Everything was trashed, and I bowed proudly.
“Thank you,” the Head Gamemaker said. “You are dismissed.” I walked out proudly and went to my room thinking about the Battle Royale, which was a day away. What if those others are stronger, I thought. I was certain I was going to die, but I eventually went to sleep. I just kept dreaming of my death in that arena, but I refused to entertain the notion, ignored my dreams, and just blanked out. May God be with me.
