misery business ⇾ h v. d v. i ⇾ day 6

Just human.

Isn't that the part that's made Dyno feel all the more guilty for the tears shed by Maverick Marlow? Tears spilt because a career still could be a human. A kid could still be a kid. Dyno's cried only a handful of times in his life, most of which being when he was too young to remember the way tears felt. Most of those emotions went to paper, soaked and sealed away for his own desire to spread ink out onto paper, show the emotions and intellectualize it away before the feeling spreads like a disease. Dyno can still feel his sister's eyes over his shoulder. The words on her lips as he writes away those feelings. The itch is there on the edge of his fingertips. Don't you ever just cry, Dyno? No.

Deciding to become this caricature of himself pulled to the extreme for the sake of a crown, he's settled himself to locking away everything with the key lost to all. Dyno Moreno's still human. The days spent worrying about his sister's future, his sister's worries when he decided a crown would be his own, and his mother's reaction to him choosing to be better, to be strong, and to achieve his dream for himself and Panem. Shove it in his father's face, while also proving that One will always be the superior district in comparison to every other district.

Won't you burn out Moreno? You need to rest at some point.

Maverick's becoming difficult for him. There's a certain acknowledgement of what's coming heavy in the air for Dyno Moreno. An unspoken silence between Mav and him, almost as if Rene's been the bond that's kept Four and One together. A burning at the bottom of his stomach as he watches the sky, lets the evening fill him with a certain unease as he begins to count in his mind the cannons firing in the distance from earlier. Twelve. There's twelve of them left. Halfway, but too close. Pressure would certainly begin to build up in the tributes, leave behind something new for them all to face.

Rene is the first face. The one he stares at for a second too long. The feeling of anger burning in his stomach. Izar would get what's coming to her. No one is meant to take his kills. Especially not a legacy tribute like Izar. Out of annoyance, Dyno slams Yael's glaive against the stone wall of the ruins. Let's the memory of her words build behind his ears as he can remember the way her blood had coated his face. Bitch. Monster. Psycho. Killer. Villain. No one will see him as anything more than the face of all bad things. Going into the games, he'd picked fear over honor. Panem wouldn't enjoy the same heroic act as before. Dyno's certainly grown tired of the careers who'd ended up weaker than they were trained to be.

After a breath, rereading the notes of his own writing at the age of Twelve when he started working towards being the perfect career, the perfect tribute, and the rightful victor of One, he can feel the air growing tense. Memories of his sister's own interest being peaked. Her words still in his head as he remembers writing out a plan for training. Won't the tributes view you as the enemy? Wouldn't it be easier to get them to understand or understand them? The memory of his intrigue as his sister plotted out their gameplans. The similarities and the differences. The past words of his own filling his head. But isn't that more exciting? A villain? Everyone loves to root for a villain. There's a guilt in his heart as Rene flickers away, the moment of fear bubbling in his chest. Knowing they've lost once more.

Dyno hated when he's been bested.

It wasn't going to happen again.

Johnny is a disappointing face to see. Another boy to mess with having gone away. Leaving only Karl out there alone. A pity that Dyno's not there to see how that'll effect him. Yael's words and fire still filling his mind as he hums to himself, hoisting her glaive against his side a little more. Johnny hopefully died with a good ending. Dyno's not heartless. There's still a secret desire for all of their stories to come to a brilliant and beautiful end. Even if his story is going to be the only one that matters.

Svetlana Forrester is a pleasant surprise, but there's a pang of disappointment. Killing her would've been the perfect way to start off the beginning of the end, but Dyno could understand the gamemakers' choice. Svetlana wasn't interesting anymore in their eyes. Autumn Oakley is also a pleasant surprise, but only for the fact that Ten loses another chance at the crown. The night goes by with an uneasiness as he stares across the way every so often waking up in the middle of the night wandering if Maverick will snap. The emotions having gotten too much. Too human. Too caring. Careers could care, but they were better than the others. Dyno Moreno had always known he'd never care about the people in the arena.

Even if he can feel the guilt in the bottom of his stomach and the worry at the top of his throat, he stays quiet about the feeling.

Eyes shut to the world as the reaper's grin fills his head, visions of Rene and Duke filling his mind. Jumping up slightly when morning comes feeling as if he's panicked. Too slow. Too weak. Izar, Hope, and Pierce all keep laughing, fighting, and winning. A grunt of a wake up as Dyno rubs at his eye, ridding himself of the sleepiness. Early to wake, the fog seems to begin starting to come back. The heaviness of the fog, static filling the air is too weak still. They've got a moment. A second before the chaos. Dyno could feel the tension in the air, the electricity running through his hairs. Mav and him soon would be on their own.

"Dyno, don't take this the wrong way, but I hope to never see you again, and I wish you the best of luck in the end game." A blank feeling. An unreadable expression flashing across Dyno's face before he plasters on a smile, let's his face fill with an excitement unlike the ones from the day before. Rene truly was the only one keeping One and Four working together all this time. A disappointing feeling of failure burns through him, but he swallows it down for the cocky words on his tongue.

"Mmmm fair, but you’ll see me. It’ll be us at the end, Mav." A pause as Dyno holds the words in his head for a second before continuing. "Don’t disappoint them." It's all a game they play. Dyno's been moving pieces since his name was called. The game was growing more complex as pieces begin to be picked off the board, one by one. Would this be the first check in his little game? Alone. Dyno could take most of the tributes. Even Maverick was a weaker career than himself, but Dyno wanted it to be them. The final two deserved to be the strongest of the strong.

"Since you're so confident, I'll see you at the end then." A bow comes from Maverick and Dyno can't help but grinning wider as his eyebrows raise in curiosity. The end. The greatest part of every story. Maverick and him were built to be the final chapter of the legend. Only time will tell who becomes the top one. Dyno crosses his arms, lets Yael's glaive lean against his side in a more threatening, but playful manner. His words flow out with a smirk and another flicker of an unreadable emotion.

"You should know by now. I know how this story will end."

Cockiness has always been a mask for him. A way to stay focused. Unable to let his mind wander away from the task at hand. Otherwise, he'll lose sight. Lost the way forward. The story will become unraveled and uncontrollable and Dyno wasn't going to lose sight of the crown, the legend, and his own desire to be the greatest there ever is. A threat in his words, but also an admission. Maverick and his alliance was always meant to end sooner rather than later. Dyno knew the end of them was already on it's way, but the fog all but confirmed this.

"That you do. I can't wait for you to kill me Dyno Moreno. I look forward to it when we battle for checkmate at the end."

Dyno can't help but to cackle at the words. Checkmate. The end would be the battle of who gets to checkmate the other. Dyno's spent days playing pawns around the field. Moving pieces into different places to become problems and get himself further. Taking Yael off the board had been apart of the plan, one that'd come with the parts of the arena he couldn't control. If only he could've taken Pierce off the board, but Izar's made herself known as a problem.

Only when he watches Maverick start to leave is when he realizes how much more he's going to have to fight through, but Dyno Moreno's spent his entire teenage years putting everything into plan. The final couple of acts were coming. The best part of the tale was being written. A smirk on his lips as he stares into the fog until Maverick becomes nothing more than a shadow in the distance. His words don't reach the other, but he speaks them anyways.

"I can't wait to see your ending, Mav."

Ink sprawls in his mind, writing out the climax that's incoming.

"Thank you for being human."

The fog expands as far as he can, the static of the electricity pushing him in a similar direction as Maverick, but Dyno's keeping his hands on Yael's glaive. Eyes focusing on the path ahead until the fog fades away into the beautiful sight before him. Floating rocks along the giant peak of the mountain. Golden ribbon roads as some foxes seem to move along the path, Dyno can't help the mystic feeling of an unnatural beauty to the place around him. The electricity still hums in the atmosphere, but he leaves that for the time being.

Instead, he stalks forward, staying quiet. Listening for others. The gamemakers clearly were going to start bringing tributes together. Pull together a fight without allies or just separate them all to reunite multiple tributes together. Dyno's seen the way games play out. Spent days watching reruns of games long since put away into museums where their stories fade away. Dyno wasn't going to be like one of those tapes. His games would be remembered forever. A crown upon his head. The villain of an arena who's proven he's above the rest. Only, he's got his eyes on the prize and on those who deserve to be his rival now.

The problem is less of who's going to be the victim of his next move, but instead how many pieces he has to move. Moving slowly away from the fog is when he hears a voice he's not heard yet in the arena, filled with a very different idea of what's fun in the arena. "come ride this fat hog." Only, the next voice he hears makes his blank face turn into a grin, excited to move into action already. Waiting carefully, he waits until the fog gives him the perfect silhouette to come from. Voice already filled with fire, eyes burning with amusement and the smile of a devil Izar may never believe in.

Not even listening to her complaint, he speaks loudly to her and what looks like Five in a precarious position. "Oh look what fun I've stumbled upon." Giving Five a glance over and a smirk, almost daring to wink darkly at the handsome boy from Five, Itzal if he remembered right, he continues. "You can't escape me, Izar. Though, you seem a little busy." Watching her approach him, Dyno lets her hold her sword between him and herself. The glint of metal from Yael's glaive still resides in front of him, almost ready to clash out with Izar's. Izar's already striking out, swinging the metal into him as Dyno effortlessly swings the glaive to swipe the katana against his back instead of his chest, almost sweeping himself to the side as blood begins to drip, voice still heavy with a dark amusement.

"I told you. I don't forget, Izar." A smirk on his lips as he watches Itzal for a moment giving him a glance over, wondering if he's gonna have to make him a rival here too. "It's time to pay up. Let's crank this up to an Eleven?" Her voice comes out once more, this time with a comment about boys. A laughable idea, but Dyno only keeps his eyes focused on her. Rene died because of Izar. A career dying to Eleven showed how backwards the games had started to become for them. Her time will come. The pieces will all fall into place. A story still being written, the chapters being sewn together, and a plot ever flowing from his own fingertips.

"Let's make this fun, Izar. End this rivalry and show Panem a real show." Pushing forward, he swings Yael's glaive out, easing it around him with a swirl as if it's another limb. Body burning with the flex of his well trained muscles as he looks towards Itzal with a dark smirk. Unsure of his own strike hitting, Dyno swivels the glaive around and focuses on the Five still there. No baggage. No storyline. Another tribute who's gotten a story of his own. Dyno wished to be able to hear more. Who was Itzal with? Who did Itzal kill? Too many questions and not enough time.

Instead, he decides to continue his intense look and keep up the excitement. "Lover boy." The nickname flits off of his tongue with an ease as he turns to look at Five now, glittering metal shining with the fog to Dyno's back still. "Will you choose to save her or yourself?" A smirk on his lips as he laughs darkly, letting his eyes take in Five a bit more. A glance up and down before he settles on his words.

"Or do you wish to bleed for us? Be the martyr here." Swirling the glaive, he lets his eyes focus on the other's weapon for a second as he pushes on once more. Dyno's fought against multiple people before. Spent days training for multiple opponents to take down on his own. An excitement at the bottom of his chest as the ink swirls through his head. Tales of stories where a clash of titans come and the outcome is always beautiful. Blood, fear, and a morale at the end. Human. Dyno didn't want to be human if he couldn't chase this feeling. The high of watching a story unfold before him, twisting the story by his own grasp to see where the pieces will fall. The outcome will be the same.

"Will this be your ending or just another beginning? Show me, Itzal. I want to see where you fall."

It tastes so sweet.

Metal cutting through air.

Ink spills.

Just human.

Not anymore.

Blood still bleeds all the same.

Watching Yael's glaive miss completely sends him into a part of himself that's angry. There's no peace in his head when he thinks of the way he's always shown off all games only to come to this. Dyno Moreno's always been a boy. The boy who carried around a journal, spilling ink onto pages with stories of death, revenge, and beauty. Waxed poetry about the smallest of gifts humanity has to give. Days spent with a pen versus a sword, until Dyno Moreno found a safe haven in the way a sword swings. Stories and blades. All he's ever needed were stories and blades to live. Thoughts of his sister and mother's desire to raise him up higher and higher, support his hobbies. Wondering what they were thinking seeing him like this?

Would they tell others about him? Spread the times he was just a human with the world. Or would they show everyone how he's always been a killer, a career, or a monster. Blood drips from his head, hearing Itzal talk about Haizea getting him good. She did get him good. Good enough to show Izar was going to be a threat to his own crown, but that's what made a story good. Conflict leading to victory. Dyno can't help the way his forehead bleeds heavily, wiping at the blood once more to keep his eyes clear.

Watching Haizea stab into Itzal's back makes him feel pleased at what's happened so far. His voice comes forth in response, filled with a dark look in his eyes. "Izar got you goo too, didn't she? Just bleed out already." A smirk on his lips building once more until it falls again back into the expressionless glare. Back in the direction of striking, he pulls his blade across Itzal softer than he expected. The glaive in his hands burns with the tension in his arms, pulling at the tension and muscles as the mist surrounds them. A raging feeling of electricity burning through him as his blood spills little by little.

"Listen baby dick, if the hunger games is your whole personality, I would just throw it all away." Whole personality? Dyno has to laugh darkly at those words. Dyno's got more than just his training, his games persona, or his way of killing. A writer outside of games. The baby dick comment also makes him laugh. Dyno's heard the ways insecure boys tend to comment on dicks, just means that Itzal must be insecure just like most fuckboys. A laugh leave his throat as he speaks darkly.

"You don't need to see anything more than this, Fuckboy. You're going to just be a footnote in my story. A story always attached to my own." Except as he speaks, Itzal cuts into his side cutting slightly at his side. Dyno can feel the blood spill as a spark of pain burns in his side, but he's had worse. Other boys rough housing, knocking him up with bruises and cuts. Some even leaving him feeling winded after rough housing. This was nothing in comparison to the kids from one. The ones who desperately want to make a name for themselves. Only, Dyno Moreno remains at the end as the victor in every story he's apart of. The dreaded legacies at his feet as Dyno could remember the enjoyment of seeing others fall before his hands.

Only, now he's putting back on the mask. Ignoring the anger panging in his chest. He's got to keep his head on straight, focus on the legend he's spinning at his fingertips. Blood to be spilled. Stories to be tied together. A rivalry and some humor to be added to his own story. The Capitol will be eating up this fight for the next year. As he hears her speak, he lets his smile widen. This story was always going to be his. The one with the crown would be his own legend, his own tale. A story made for only the greatest of careers, the greatest of tributes. Dyno Moreno would not be the last one standing. As she tells him, he's struggling, he can't help the dark smile on his face as he speaks.

"You don't even know, Izar? You think you're getting one up on me. Trying to shake me? Yael thought she could do the same. Believed I wouldn't win in the end." A smile on his lips as he continues. "Struggling against you? No, I'm only just getting started. No one is going to let me win." Swishing the glaive against the mist, he lets his demeanor come back to the forefront as the blood drips from his forehead, smearing a red against his forehead and cheeks. "I want to enjoy this. I want to be challenged, to be questioned. It makes it all the more greater when I rip the life away from you." Only as he speaks, does he notices the blade coming from her back. Itzal taking the moment to strike out at Izar. A smirk on his lips as Haizea speaks once more.

"look, we can have all the fun in the world if we kill this psychopath first!"

Psychopath? People want him to be the villain. The one who's wrong. Dyno's always been seen as a psychopath for his desires, his beliefs, and his passions. Killing others wasn't enjoyable, but the honor, the valor of it was undeniably enjoyable. Psychopath seemed a bit too wrong. Psychopath is what people wanted to think of him as, but Dyno Moreno always knew he'd be the warrior, the king, and the storyteller. This story was his alone. As he can feel Haizea moving, Dyno moves his blade up to flick her katana against his forehead once more. Another wound to the head. The sound only reaching his right side as the crackling of electricity fills his other ear, leaving Dyno feeling shocked, but excited.

As Izar goes for Itzal, he watches with enjoyment as he sees blood spill once more. Everything was growing tense. His heart was in his throat as he feels his hands tighten against Yael's glaive. Using her weapon was meant to be a piece of her, he needed to kill just like he'd done with Yael. Burn away whatever life is in either of them. As he turns back to Haizea, his eyes burn with a darkness and an excitement. His voice is loud as he swishes the glaive in the air. "What do you think you can do, Izar? You're struggling. Bleeding. You're weaker than most. Don't you see? This battle's already over." Swishing the glaive at her, he smirks as he strikes, feeling himself growing heavier with his moments, but he's going to keep pushing. To keep fighting. No one. No one. Will get in the way of his legend.

"You'll die alone here, Izar. No one will care about you. Be glad you could even be apart of my legend."

The strike goes forward as he continues.

"Get ready for the climax, Haizea."

As he strikes, he switches up quickly, turning on his foot to focus on Itzal. The comic relief of a tribute. The boy who's insecure about himself, thinking dicks are the only important thing in life. A dark smirk thrown his way as Dyno feels the fog around them as if he's burning with the static of the air. His eyes focusing on Five as he looks to Yael's glaive, dripping with blood as he smiles heavily at the boy who's been a pain since he's met him. Dyno's voice drips with a dark excitement as he speaks. "You're a pain in the neck. A real fucker who's annoying as shit." Swishing the blade, he watches carefully as he continues to speak.

"I'm going to enjoy watching your life burn away."

This time, he swirls the glaive, striking out towards Five. The metal glittering with that same excitement as before. Memories of Yael's death filling his head. There's no time to mess around anymore. The end was drawing near. Dyno wasn't going to be the one to die here. Death was on his side. He'd fight the reaper if he had to. As the smirk darkens, he let's himself flow with the mist.

"Just become another footnote, Itzal."

The smile widens.

"Let's end this."