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.]
alldeduction: (glare over shoulder)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2013-06-24 03:25 pm (UTC)(link)
"You don't even have a bracelet!" He yelled, absolutely furious. What kind of game was it when the game makers changed the odds themselves? He knew, of course, there was nothing he could do, though he grabbed John's arm where he knew the tracker lay, as if maybe he could rip it out and save his friend.

"You don't even have a bracelet," he said again, much lower this time but with no less amount of fury. "John. John, do you have any idea what kind of poison it is? If there is something I can do to slow it, or--" Even asking, he knew there wasn't.
drpsychosomatic: (oh shit what is he doing now)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2013-06-24 03:32 pm (UTC)(link)
He gasped, spitting blood onto the candied ground, shaking. "Ariadne," he choked. "Teaching us- rebel and anyone, they can punish- Sherlock, there are others, I heard them. Nothing you can do. Win- win this damn thing..."
alldeduction: (rooftop)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2013-06-24 03:45 pm (UTC)(link)
"That wasn't the--" He yelled but cut himself off. Dammit. Dammit. It was as if the Capitol was one step ahead of him, ensuring that everything he planned was for nothing. How was he supposed to ensure John's victory if they killed him in the first thirty minutes.

"That's ridiculous," He bit out, "What kind of game is it when they kill people from the get go! Maybe it won't--" But he didn't finish the sentence. It was obvious John was dying. John telling him to win the bloody thing was just the last angrifying thing on the entire cake.

"Send me something. Anything. When you get to the capitol. Understand?" He wiped the blood from the side of John's face with his sleeve - already bloody from saving Howard.
drpsychosomatic: (oh noes)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2013-06-24 04:01 pm (UTC)(link)
"Sunglasses," he gasped out, one last attempt at a joke. "Keeps- keeps happening to me-"

His eyes rolled back in his head as his body began to convulse, hideously violently, almost twisting completely out of Sherlock's grasp. He was in the final throes of it, now, and there was nothing anyone could do.
alldeduction: (dangerous look)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2013-06-24 04:05 pm (UTC)(link)
Sherlock did his best to hold him down, hard to the earth, to keep him from shaking as much as possible. He did not avert his eyes, and they blazed with righteous fury.

No. No. They were not going to get away with destroying his plans, like this.
drpsychosomatic: (looking down)

[personal profile] drpsychosomatic 2013-06-24 04:28 pm (UTC)(link)
It took John a long time to still, and it was far from a quick, easy or quiet death. Eventually, though, his body shut down completely- crushed sugar coating his skin where Sherlock had been forced to press it to the ground, his spine twisted in an agonised curve and his fingers digging into the sweetshop coloured earth.
alldeduction: (glass)

[personal profile] alldeduction 2013-06-24 04:34 pm (UTC)(link)
Slowly, Sherlock stood, training his face into an impassive mask. It was the second time he'd had to witness John dying and it was not any easier than the first. He stood, completely still and silent, flexing his fingers before curling them in a tight fist and then flexing them again.

He sucked in a breath, looked back in the direction of the cornucopia, and past that, Howard and Wyatt.

He was under no illusions now that Wyatt was suffering from the same thing that John was - that Howard would be soon left there alone with a lifeless body next to him. They'd come pick up the corpses soon, he knew that much, but that didn't mean he should waste time. John would be able to see everything from the other side, so leaving Howard alone was not an option. Damn, damn, damn. All his plans---

He broke into a run.