Oh my love, I know you are the Candy Man

[gamemakers]

Although the mood in the Capitol is...taut, once the Tributes are in the transportation craft, things seem to lighten. The peacekeepers almost seem jovial - as jovial as peacekeepers ever seem. About half the Tributes are checked over and given an injection into their tracking device.

In the underground room, the stylists have all their prep teams running busy, dressing up the tributes in bright costumes, chatting with each other, clearly excited to have so much freedom over what their Tributes are wearing in. Each one is dressed in a personalized costume, elaborate, and entirely soft.

Finally the Tributes are placed on their pedestals and sent on up, all gussied up.

25 - 24 - 23

The light is blinding for a moment, before the candy-colored world around them comes into focus. And it's not just candy-colored - it is actually candy. Some Tributes might be reminded of the game Candy Land, if it was something in their home world. Music plays, scarily cute animals roam, and every thing just looks so gosh-darn happy.

20 - 19 - 18 - 17 - 16

The Cornucopia sits, candy-striped itself, and over-flowing with a generous bounty of food, weapons, and supplies. Even these all reflect the nature of the arena, brightly-colored, and cheerful-looking, just begging to be gathered up.

11- 10 - 9 - 8

They've all been warned not to step off their pedestal early. But as the final number ticks off, those Tributes that had their tracking devices adjusted in the transport suddenly feel a sting starting in their arms. A slightly diluted version of what Ariadne was given the day before is dumped in their veins.

The dilution doesn't help them, of course; it just causes the poison to take effect more slowly.

5 - 4

3

2

1

Go.

The burning is starting for half of them, spreading through their body, lighting their nerves on fire. Within 10 minutes it's effecting their motor skills, causing them to stagger, twitch, to move against their will.

Those who are small fall faster, barely lasting 15 minutes in the bloodbath. The stronger and bigger among them might make it 30 minutes at most.

By the time the bloodbath is over, the Cornucopia is surrounded by corpses. Half of the Tributes have fallen without even a single competitor having to touch them.


[OOC: Don't forget the OOC Arena post, especially those of you running for the Cornucopia. Every Tribute must post to this post. There will be a Cornucopia thread, and anyone else feel free to post as you will. Please add a tag with your character's name.

Those who were poisoned are anyone in group 2. You will have a second post up shortly.]

Comments

[blondevigilante]

Stephanie had to close her eyes for a moment when the pedestal is raised into a headache inducing brightness. The moment the count started she shifted into a ready position holding herself back for the word GO.

5-4

She couldn't help the quick scan for Tim. Tims. Her stomach clenched in anticipation as she found them and nodded. They would make it past this without killing.

3-2

Around her others prepared. Some probably quite happy to go in on the attack and fill their blood lust. She's fought against greater threats than this and survived.

1-GO!

She was off thanking long nights and days of training. Her goal were the bags which could provide valuable supplies for survival; weapons could be made later. She slides under the weapon of one Tribute and hooks her hand around a bag. Something pink sparkles at her from the left and she twists around to grab onto it. So far so lucky.

One hand is still free as the water tight bag is slid onto her back. Another bag catches her eye and she jumps up to race towards it.

[celebrityskinned]

Dressed as Catwoman, heels and all, Venus bolts across the Cornucopia with the practiced grace of someone who's not only used to combat, but also used to having it filmed from every direction. It's calculated to perfection, and the effort at looking good hardly costs her in mobility or technique. Then again, a millisecond of preening could get her killed here.

She moves to intercept Steph, running without looking to grab items so much as cause damage. Making off with a bag won't get the cameras on her. Beating up other Tributes will.

Granted, she still wants to get her hands on one of those bags, but it's entirely secondary, and she hardly takes notice of it as she rushes Stephanie and throws a punch at the blonde girl's jaw.

[blondevigilante]

Catwoman. There's a horrible irony in Steph going up against someone in that costume that isn't worth thinking about when a fist is headed towards her jaw. She moves enough so that the fist barely clips her. There's a look on the woman's face that tells Stephanie that she is one hundred percent dedicated to causing damage, damage that Stephanie can't afford to take so early in the game.

Her leg goes up in a spinning kick towards the woman's head. Steph doesn't want to hurt her too much, but she doesn't want to take the chance that deadly force will be used against her. Killing isn't the goal - getting out is.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus takes the kick right to the head, shocked that Stephanie can move so quickly. She's realizing that if she was expecting to be the top dog in the Arena for the ladies, she's going to need to step things up - people here know what they're doing, at least, some of them.

She sees stars. Venus pauses only to put a hand to her teeth to make sure she didn't lose any, and rolls towards Stephanie, springing to her feet within a foot of Steph and throwing a punch at Steph's abdomen.

"Not so fast, blondie!"

on my way to bed and then this beauty comes through

[blondevigilante]

The hit pushes the air out but she doesn't let it slow her attack. Hindered by her bags there's really only so much she can do normally, but Stephanie isn't a normal kind of girl and right now she's in Batgirl headspace. Her left hand feigns towards Venus' throat while her right goes for as much of a hook as possible this close.

"Did that suit come with a script, 'cause I gotta say the whole 'Blondie' thing is very 90's."

[celebrityskinned]

Venus bends backwards to barely avoid Stephanie's left hand. She would tip over, except she grabs the handle of one of Stephanie's bags. It still leaves her precariously close to falling backwards, though, and with her chest exposed. "Hey, not my fault all you white girls look the same."

She tries to turn her unfortunate position into a twist, trying to snap the handle of Stephanie's bag and make off with it on her own.

[blondevigilante]

"Funny, I could say the same about Cats." Venus' hold on the bag strap throws Stephanie off balance. A hand chops at the other woman's arm while a leg raises to knee Venus in the upper thigh. Their fight left them exposed to other Tributes, but their movements were fast and serious enough that perhaps others thought twice about interfering.

[celebrityskinned]

"Better a cat than a dog, girl." Venus grits her teeth as she takes the hit to her arm and thigh, as it sends a spike of numbness down to her knee. Venus twists around and bites the handle of the bag, trying to rip it off with her teeth.

[blondevigilante]

"You need to reread the insult manual." Stephanie yanks the back back hard. Her left fist follows the momentum of the yank, aiming for Venus' face. This isn't a 'girl fight,' it's two women who definitely know what they're doing. The people back in the Capitol must be loving it.

[celebrityskinned]

Venus loosens her jaw just in time to avoid losing teeth. Not in time to avoid the punch. Her head snaps to the side and for just a second, her hands loosen as she sees stars, recalibrates her balance, feels her brain jolt back into place and tastes blood on her tongue.

"Bitch!" she spits, making a last desperate grab for the bag.

[blondevigilante]

Stephanie was quick to pull the bag back. These supplies could be the difference between life and death and she sure as hell wasn't going to lose a single bag. "Sorry, Kitty." She turned on her heel and took off at a run.