The 25th Hunger Games (fanfic)

Chapter 6: The Chariot Ride

I run into the bathroom to find out what in the world that screaming was. Is someone hurt? Is someone dying like Maggie? Are there Peacekeepers? I explode through the door, naked, to see three horrifying young men looking through their bags.

"Where's the barisin powder???? I bet you lost it Rose!" yells one of them, with bright red hair standing up on his head, tinted blue skin, a skimpy outfit and so much jewelry I wonder how he's still standing up.

"It wasn't me! It was probably you, Bonnet!" screams the one with neon green hair falling down past his shoulders, two giant earrings on each ear, green tattoos all over his body, and a one-piece, full body neon pink robe with gold embodiments on it.

"No, not me! Was it you Tulip?? You're always the one to lose things!" says the one with the red hair, apparently Bonnet.

"No, I swear it!" cries the one with a mashed in face, a nose that sticks out two feet from his face, purple hair that spikes up in every possible direction, a nose ring, and covered in at least three layers of fur of all sorts of colors. They continue yelling, until I see a jar of baby blue powder on the ground. I pick it up and begin to speak.

"Uh, excuse me, is this what you're looking for?" I hold up the jar. Tulip, the one with the mashed in face and giant nose, leaps for it and hugs it like a lifeline.

"Oh, baby, you scared me to death-" he begins. I roll my eyes. Capitol people. I realize that for the next three hours or so, I'll be stuck with them.

"Tulip, cut it out. Hi, you must be Zac. What an honor it is to meet you. You're all anyone's talked about since the reaping, you know that? Take one look out the windows and you're face is covering the entire Capitol. People really want you and your sister to win this, you know. Well, anyways, I'm Rose." says the one with the neon green hair.

"And look, we finally get a tribute with some respect! He already stripped down, so we didn't have to do it for him! I'm Bonnet, nice to meet you." He slaps Tulip and forces him to introduce himself, but all he's worrying about it his powder.

"Hi, I'm Tulip. And wow, being the mayor's kid has its perks! Look at how fit and strong you are. We won't need to do many changed to you, kid." he finally peels his attention from the powder enough to look me in the eyes. I want to laugh, it's so ironic that these three men who worry about makeup, dress like girls, and have girl names are men, and my prep team. Suddenly, I feel out of place standing here in front of these three men with nothing to wear. It must show on my expression, because they comfort me.

"It's alright, kid, we're all men here, right? There's nothing to be ashamed of, we deal with this sort of thing almost every day." says Bonnet. So they get to work. First, they soak me in a bath of vile green liquid, which I don't know what it is or does. In fact, I don't know much about anything that's going on, because I'm trying to zone out from their chitchat about who wore what to this dance, how getting that face transplant was the worst mistake ever, on and on for two hours until finally they declare me finished. I look in the mirror, and honestly, I don't notice any major difference with now and before.. Yes, my skin looks shiny and special, but that's nothing amazing, since we have a lotion at home that has the same results. My hair is spiked up, as usual, but my eyes... I can't look away from them. They have a sense of hatred in them, of defiance, of refusal to play the Games. They have a special quality to them that I just can't explain. My muscles look quite larger than before, but still, I can't look away from my eyes..... My chest hair is shaved off, except for a few strands strategically left on various parts of my body to give me the look of not yet man, but older than a teenager. My arms and legs are completely shaved off, and then when they turn the lights off, I see what's special about me. I gasp into the mirror, not sure if this is me. In total darkness, I cannot see a single thing except for me. My eyes burn into the darkness with that same look, but my skin is almost.... glowing. It's still the same skin tone  and everything, but it seems to burn 1,000 times brighter than before. And my hair, oh my hair.... it burns through the dark, reflecting from my eyes, making them look that much more mesmerizing. It slices through the hair, spiked up blonde, with black and red streaks running through it. All together, in the dark, I look like a being from space, not like everyone else. Strangely, my light doesn't reflect on anything, or anyone else. It's just me, standing in complete darkness, my eyes burning defiantly. My prep team claps and shouts in accomplishment. They switch the lights back on, and I'm back to myself, except for my eyes.....