gamemakers: (Default)
The Gamemakers ([personal profile] gamemakers) wrote in [community profile] thearena2013-06-22 02:42 pm

Oh my love, I know you are the Candy Man

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.]

poisoned!

[personal profile] edsidlemirth 2013-06-23 10:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Eddie did his best to keep his cool when they injected the tracking device when he arrived. He's suspicious of the second, and isn't too keen on the needle, either, which is totally a priority when being taken to a death match. But, he's well-behaved, fairly quiet, alert. Anything that happens could be important to know.

They put him in a tacky jacket made out of plaid flannel, and a clashing tie, none of it green, straight out of an old game show by way of cheap fabric. He's doing his best to ignore that, too. Nervous? Sure. This is some intense stuff, and he's determined to make the best show of it that he can. He needs to get himself some room to act, though. There are too many people in too small an area, and that is exactly not where he wants to be.

When he goes up on the pillar, he raises his arm to shield his eyes, trying to get a good look at his new candy surroundings as quick as he can, and he sees the abundance of prizes. That has "early elimination round" written all over it. He'll run away, go for a good spot, bank on being able to improvise and pick supplies off the lucky survivors. He can anticipate all sorts of spectacular trouble to raise with this bizarre setup. So much potentially useful giant, garish candy scenery! So many annoying little animals!

But there's that stinging in his arm. He attributes it to the needle itself, but once the countdown's up and he's off running away from the cornucopia, he can tell something is wrong. He is not a sturdy guy, but he should be able to run, damnit. This is So. Not. Fair. He did not do anything wrong, here.

He doesn't make it anywhere near as far as he'd hoped, before the poison fixes it that he can't make it any further. He only manages to sink to his knees and then fall over, near inadequate cover. Not fair.
needsaprince: (Scratch graceful.)

[personal profile] needsaprince 2013-06-25 06:49 am (UTC)(link)
This arena...it took Lottie a moment to adjust to it. The colors, the brightness, and her own costume.

But then the count down triggered off the instinct in her to run. And when it click in, she does run, quickly, glancing back toward the cornucopia, and the battle, watching for someone to come after here.

What she doesn't expect is a dead body in front of her, when literally none of the action has moved this way. With a squeal she goes down, right over Eddie's body, before kicking away from him quickly.

"I'm sorry, so sorry..."

Why was he down? What was going on? No one was near, was there other dangers?

[personal profile] edsidlemirth 2013-06-27 03:12 am (UTC)(link)
Except that he is not dead, not quite yet. He is putting all of his effort into not making noise, but that is not so much a decision he gets to make any more. He's convulsed into a ball, in the process of checking out, and he yells, whether in response to being tripped over, being startled, or the poison itself.

This is such a terrible start (end?), and to be found like this? Well, it's beyond his concern at the moment, at least. Instead of trying to keep himself quiet now, he's just trying to keep his eyes open.
needsaprince: (This isn't how this story goes.)

[personal profile] needsaprince 2013-06-27 05:37 am (UTC)(link)
Already on the ground, Lottie hesitates. In part because, unsure of what's going on, she doesn't wanna walk into the same trap.

And in part, because Lottie can't force herself away from someone in that much pain.

She moves over, staying down low, trying to see what's causing it, if there's anyway she can help. She lays a hand gently on him, hoping she's not walking herself right into a trap.

Then again, worse case scenario? She dies. Not too terrible.

[personal profile] edsidlemirth 2013-06-27 04:29 pm (UTC)(link)
No, no, don't stop here. Get out of here! Puzzling out whether it might be something that can spread isn't really a priority, right now. However, one small piece of candy stem pulled from the ground and dropped again would probably be a coincidence while convulsing. Another bit set down crossing it, makes an x. He is trying to nudge a gumdrop into place above the X, not very successfully. Skull and crossbones, yes? Poison, yes? Go go go, you have the advantage of a head start, away from the cornucopia, just go!

His gaze shifts up to her, but then his eyes scrunch shut. He is trying to get them open again when he stops moving.
needsaprince: (Uhhh...opps)

[personal profile] needsaprince 2013-06-30 08:01 am (UTC)(link)
She starts to lean over him, try to find something to help, and then hears the sound of someone else coming.

"I'm so sorry." She says softly, before pushing herself up and away, running as fast as her neat little heels could take her. Luckily they were something Lottie had practice in.