Everything old can be made new again.
137th BIANNUAL HUNGER GAMES: CAPITOL ARENA
For the 137th Games, the Gamemakers were tasked with what seemed in part an easier job than usual: rather than making an entire Arena from scratch, they would mold one out of the existing Arena that sat within the city limits of the Capitol. This Arena was used for the first ten Hunger Games and has, ever since, been used as nothing more than a tourist destination.
But now, the Gamemakers have gotten creative, building up the fortifications in and around the Arena to make it, once again, a cage, as well as adding in new featured mutts to drive up the entertainment value toward what audiences across Panem have come to expect.
The Arena is located across the river from the main city. Prior to being used for the Hunger Games, it was an amphitheater for sporting, entertainment, and military events, and as such, it has private boxes for the more elite guests. It is completely enclosed, with a large domed roof that has large glass panels that allow in natural light. Artificial lights keep the main, central area of the Arena lit at night.
There are big, steel gates that used to let in crowds. Most of the gates are sealed off now, but one remains, with a padlock that is impossible to pick. The promise of the Capitol’s streets and freedom lie beyond the gate, if only tributes could open it. However, there is no key to be found anywhere in the Arena.
Spectators would enter through the gates into tunnels with turnstiles, then proceed up the steps into the stands. There used to be further gates to block off the central Arena from the stands, but these are no longer there, so that it’s possible to walk from the turnstiles straight into the Arena itself.
The Arena is a large oval with craters and rubble from bombings; there are large piles of rubble that can be climbed for an advantage, but there are also plenty of smaller rocks and pieces of the original ceiling that are scattered about the ground. There are also crevices that smaller tributes may be able to hide in.
Tributes are able to access the stands, concession booths, and the private boxes by climbing up the walls of the Arena, which has plenty of footholds left from the bombings.
In the middle of the stands on either end of the stadium, directly across from each other, are concession booths holding small amounts of food and water. The food is not very substantial — bags of chips, buckets only partly filled with popcorn, and cotton candy. There are a handful of plastic water bottles with the Capitol logo printed on them. The booths have mostly empty shelves and cash registers, along with some old equipment such as blenders, a spinning rack for hot dogs, and fridges. They are not bad places to hide, but tributes must take caution, as the booths will attract others to them.
The private boxes for the elite to watch sporting events have plush chairs and empty mini bars. The boxes are accessible by scaling the front from the rows of stands or through an unlocked door on the side of the box.
Many of the chairs within have stuffing sprouting through tears in their fabric. There is no glass in the front of the box, so they are open for access on one side, with the other three sides being closed in by walls and doors. The booths offer a good vantage point for the rest of the Arena. One of the private boxes looks the same from the outside but once inside, tributes will find that its floor and lower walls are covered in vines and grass similar to that of the 133rd Arena. If a tribute gets too close to the vines they’ll snatch at their ankles, digging thorns into their skin, attempting to pull them into the decay of the wall and trapping them there.
Large craters and holes have been blown open in the Arena floor which allow tributes to access the tunnels beneath. These used to be staging areas for events, as well as access points for Avoxes to pass through the stadium. The tunnels are all arranged like spokes on a wheel with a central large area in the middle, which is where the hole from the Arena leads to, and they branch out from there to the edges of the stadium, where stairs allow them up to the gates, leading tributes back into the tunnels that allow them into the Arena itself.
In one of the long tunnels hang dolls that some may recognize from the 134th Arena. Though partially destroyed by water, this makes them even creepier, and somehow, it seems as though they are angrier. Some are modern while others are from long-ago eras. Barnacles grow across the frames of the dolls and their eyes follow those who pass. If a tribute looks away from the dolls for too long, they will notice that they, in fact, are being followed down the tunnel by them. If the tribute stops to look back and catches the dolls, they will freeze in whatever position they were found in. However, modifications have been made so that these dolls will latch onto whichever tribute touches them, open their mouths to reveal razor sharp teeth, and bite the tribute with the intent to bleed them out, lest the tribute can wrench the doll away. They are surprisingly strong.
Several species of mutt have been updated from previous Games and are released at random into the Arena. Not all mutts are constantly present, but there is always something to lurk in the shadows. The mutts are for the most part small but deadly, in order to fit with the overall theme of the Arena.
Flesh-eating scarabs from the 124th Arena. These swarms send out one scout at a time which, once it gets a taste of a tribute's flesh, will call its family to join it. The swarm will then attack the tribute and eat away at their flesh until they die, or until, somehow, the tribute manages to be free of them.
Colonies of bats from the 134th Arena live in the tunnels. A tribute can survive a few bites, but within hours they will experience headache, fatigue, and fever. A tribute who has sustained several bites will have symptoms that progress to paranoia, aggression, and hydrophobia. If a tribute receives enough bites and does not get an antidote, this is fatal.
Anacondas from the 113th Arena slither about the Arena, dangerous enough to swallow an entire tribute whole if the tribute gets to close and is grasped within its jaw.
The hyperodapedons from the 122nd Games roam the Arena as well. Four feet long and at least a foot tall, some can grow even bigger. Unlike their ancient predecessors, they’re carnivorous and aggressive. They have strong jaws with sharp teeth, which could cause serious damage. Their stocky build and quick movement make them difficult to kill.
