Chapter 86 - Death 13

These last two days of training to them felt like they had passed by so quickly that they were very surprised when the final day had come. For the most part they had never interacted with the other tributes besides a nod here and there. They simply did some survival training in the morning and after lunch before doing a few exercises in the afternoon to stay fit and train their fighting skills a bit. The only thing messing up their schedule had been when the career tribute team had come to 'have a talk'on the second day.

--- One day ago ---

As usual Kaiser and Aster sat down at their table to wait until everyone went to get their food. Just like the day before which had been their first day they observed the people that were standing in line. Like yesterday District 1, District 2 and District 4 were the ones that went first before the rest. By now it was rather obvious that they would be temporary allies inside the arena. Different from the day before they didn't stop when they reached their table but instead moved towards both of them. Semper the male tribute of District 1 was the first to speak up. Somehow this guys fiery and reckless behavior reminded him of a certain someone.

"Clear the table! This one belongs to us now!"

Resting his chin upon his propped up arm Kaiser simply stared at him expressionlessly. After a few moments of awkward silence between them where everyone was staring at them, interested in what was going to happen, Kaiser rebuked:"Why should we clear this table?"

While Semper opened his mouth, no doubt already preparing countless insults his female partner Superbia grabbed his arm and shoved him behind her before setting her food down at the side and leaning her face closer towards Kaiser, mocking him in a childish voice. "Because we want it kid. I'm sure you don't want any problems right? Especially since we can decide to kill you off early in the arena or let you struggle."

What answered her was a completely relaxed Kaiser that looked into her eyes in a rather bored manner before he continued to watch those standing in line for food. "Look lady. This is our spot. It's already taken. You can sit with us if you really want to but we won't leave simply because you tell us to."

Surprised by his answer she turned around to Semper who was still fuming and getting ready to leave. Before both could leave both the bulky Prometheus and Artemis had already sat down and begun to eat next to both of them. Hesitating for a moment both tributes from District 4 looked at each other before sitting down across the ones from District 2. At that moment Semper and Superbia felt like they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Their plan to show superiority and be a leading example for their team had backfired and now they either had to leave and be known as cowards and losers as well possibly loose the good relation they had cultivated with the other career tributes or they could stay and swallow their defeat and sit with the one that had humiliated them. In the end they chose to stay before their food got cold. As soon as they chose to sit down however Kaiser bumped Aster with his elbow. Surprised she flinched before looking at his now smirking face.

"What is it?"

"The line is gone. Since we have visitors over would you be a dear and get something for the both of us while I entertain our visitors?"

"Why don't you go?"

"Why don't I tell you what you tried to pull this morning?"

Slightly grumpy she replied: "You wouldn't dare! But fine. What ever." before walking away.

"And I would like for it to be in a good condition and served in a way that is pleasing to the eye." Was all he added.

"Anything else? Since I'm already going?"

"How about some nice drinks for the both of us."

Shaking her head she left only to return with the food a few minutes later during which the table was completely silent, everyone solely focusing on consuming their food although he could see Semper shaking with anger, barely restrained by Superbia's hand that was caressing his underneath the table. When Aster placed down the tray she had been carrying Kaiser saw that only one big steaming bowl of soup as well as some bread and two glasses of water were standing on it.

"Are you going on a diet now of all times or did you forget my plate?"

She grinned before cheekily replying: "Neither. If you want some of my soup then you have to let me feed you."

"So that's how you're going to play? Sadly you are out of luck. I'm VERY hungry and being fed by a pretty girl such as yourself wouldn't stop me in any way. What about you though? Should I feed you as well? What do you say?"

Although she was taken aback for a moment she soon agreed and the others left soon, having seen enough from their interaction, opting to return to training instead.

--- Back in the present ---

Today on the third day as soon as they had eaten lunch they had to present their skills before the Gamemakers which would evaluate their skills and assign scores based on their performance. District after District, male before the female tribute they worked their way down until they finally reached Kaiser. Wishing his good luck and concentration Aster remained in the dining room with the two from District 12 while he moves into the gymnasium. Looking at the Gamemakers he can see that most of them just want to get this over with, most simply eating and drinking until they're full.

After waiting for almost two minutes during which they didn't attempt to give him a signal to start he took up a large mace and banged it three times against a metal pillar that he found close by. Seeing that he had successfully captured their attention he smiled and waved.

"Ladies and Gentlemen. Now that I have your attention I would like to propose something interesting to you. Out of all these weapons present here I'll give you the choice which ones I should pick to fight and how to fight. Throw it, close combat, your choice."

Placing the mace back on the shelf he turned and pointed towards the one furthest on the left, and old fatty that had managed to dirty his gray beard with sauce, whine and crumbs. "You there sir! What would you like to see?"

Surprised the man cleaned himself a bit and sat straight before replying: "Since you picked up a mace in the beginning I think it would be a good idea to see you work with that. You could fight with it in a hologram room at whatever difficulty you are comfortable with." Earning mumbled agreement from the others as well as a few nods here and there the man smiled, satisfied with what he had proposed.

Kaiser simply picked up the mace he had just placed down and walked toward one of the hologram rooms that are scattered around the gymnasium used to train the use of various weapons. Choosing one that allowed good visibility for the Gamemakers he chose the highest level with various different attackers, each with unique weapons. Starting the simulation a few Gamemakers were laughing. "What is he even doing. Those modes are used to train the experts that teach at the stations and even they struggle especially with a weapons like maces."

Despite their opinions Kaiser mowed down his opponents. Moving into close range he bashed joints and skulls, taking out one opponent after next. In the end the light went out inside the room, signifying that he had passed the level. Smiling he walked to the center. "What do you want me to do next?" Suddenly everyone wanted to make the next demand, especially since they were limited in their time. Usually that was a problem for tributes as they couldn't showcase everything but today it was a problem for the Gamemakers. They almost strangled each other due to differing opinions. "Do a sword next! We need classics!" "No! Do a spear next. Spears are way better!" "I want something challenging! How about archery or knife throwing?"

The one that was following that one was of the most preferred ones. "Since he's the reaper I want to see him with a scythe." After a second of thinking everyone was agreeing hurriedly.

Grabbing a scythe that was similar to the one he had used during the parade Kaiser once more entered the same hologram room with the same difficulty level as previously. The following was quite intriguing to look at. Like cutting grass Kaiser cut the tendons and muscles of his attackers in the front before keeping his enemies behind him at a distance using the spike located at the bottom of the pole. Finally he finished off his opponents by simply allowing the head of his scythe to drop down, piercing through the necks, vital internal organs, eye sockets or ears, sometimes even just using its weight to break bones.

After he emerged from the hologram room he once more stood before the Gamemakers. "Although it is regrettable I fear we don't have enough time to test everything one after another so how about I take everything I want to with me inside the hologram room?" Amazed the Gamemakers agreed instantly, interested in how he was going to pull this off. Carrying a multitude of weapons inside the room Kaiser started the program once more. As soon as he noticed the first opponents spawning he threw five knifes at them, each hitting their mark. Pulling the bow from his back he pulled out an arrow and hit one opponent after the other. Dropping the bow and his quiver to the side he grabbed a long spear that he had leaned onto the wall next to him. Skewering one after another he threw it away after he had pierced the fifth one. Grabbing a sword and a shield with similar proportions to his own he slashed and hacked his way through two others, deflecting their weapons away from him with his shield, he drew closer and erased them swiftly. Grabbing an ax next he beheaded another one before equipping a pair of clawed gauntlets which he used to take hold of his enemies weapon before ripping out his throat.

Deciding that he had shown enough he ended the simulation although only a few seconds were left and proceeded to drag all the weapons back to their respective shelf. "It seems as though our time is up. As much as I would want to continue we are limited by our time. As you have seen I could have demonstrated a lot more. Because of that I would like to ask all of you a favor."

This now was the one thing he had wanted to achieve. Everyone was interested in him and wanted to see more of him. Why wouldn't he try to exploit this?

"I would like to showcase something at the interviews but I don't know if the time I have will be enough. Because of that I wanted to ask all of you to talk to the organizers to give me or all of us tributes some more time to present ourselves. I don't need your insurance but please, at least try. I'm sure that with all of you asking they'll agree."

With that he turned around and left for the elevator. As soon as he arrived on his floor he was asked thousands of questions on how it had gone, what they had said, what he had done, if anything special had happened and so on and so forth. Ignoring all of them he went into his own room, ordering a large serving of all kinds of cakes. Sometimes he just had to do something like this. With his cake in hand he sat on a large couch to watch TV and a films that were present inside his room. Although he could have ordered other ones he didn't know any others so he opted for watching a few action films about some robots and mutts that were fighting for the capitol against aliens. Quite entertaining.

About three hours later he was called to attend dinner. Sitting down the ate a bit before watching the scores that had been assigned to all of them by the Gamemakers after they had evaluated their performance. These scores ranged from a 1 being the worst to a 12 which was almost impossible to accomplish. What had been shown always remains a secret to avoid other tributes learning about their opponents trump cards and skills. Because of that the scores were the only thing that would be the only thing that could more or less be used to determine the true power of a tribute.

The first ones that were presented were the ones from District 1 with a 10 for Semper as well as an 11 for Superbia. The two from District 2 both got an 11 and the two from District 4 had a 10 for the male and a 9 for the female tribute. The rest got anything ranging from a 3 to an 8. Finally after they had revealed that the girl from District 10 had gotten a 7 the showed Kaisers score.

It was a 13. How was that possible? He didn't know. They had broken their own ranking system to showcase how much they had liked his performance. Not only the commentator but also all the ones that sat with Kaiser looked at him clearly disturbed. Outside the building they could hear the people that watched the scores on the large screens go crazy. A few even lit fireworks. What had he done to get something like that? He had just painted an enormous target on his back. But was it even possible to fight against someone that had the greatest score in the history of Panem's Hunger Games? Next Aster's score which was a 10 was showcased, earning congratulations from all around. After a round of partying with a few non alcoholic drinks to relax from the shock they went to bed although most couldn't go to sleep.