96th Victor Presentation Ceremony

The chatter began in the Capitol almost immediately after Lionel Estrada's victory. Fans of his praised his stellar performance, naysayers who never believed he'd make it complained about missing their favorites in place of him. Conspiracies began to circulate about the new victor: people spun rumors about production's supposed plans on killing him in the bloodbath and changing their minds after Azure Delphine's sudden passing. Others heard tales that this was District Five's reward for gaining so much Capitol favor in this past election cycle, easily the highest ranking of the Twelve districts in Games placement and one of the districts with the least amount of behavioral infractions.

People were left with a lot of questions after the finale, to say the least. But in the days that followed, only vague updates of Lionel's status were given to the public: he was in surgery to fix his wounds, he was in recovery, he finally woke up. By the time the presentation ceremony was scheduled for that third day after the Games wrapped, people were so excited to learn more that tickets completely sold out in a matter of thirty minutes.

The same stage that Caesar Flickerman interviewed the tributes on before the Games was now covered by a huge, heavy red curtain. The sun shone harshly in the sky above, forcing the elders to fan themselves while children ran around with plastic swords, pretending to fight one another in gladiatorial combat. A petting zoo area was set up, filled with the more harmless of the creatures that were in the arena. The officials even made sure to get their hands on a few of the bigger ones so they could charge guests to ride them. And who would past up such a once-in-a-lifetime experience as riding a giant owl through the Capitol skyline, or galloping through the park on a horse-sized deer?

There were guest speakers who stepped up to the podium, political leaders and event organizers, even a surprise musical performance from Capitol Bard, Paris Vanburen. All of this in celebration and in wait for the big grande finale.

The fans were told they'd know when it was time for Lionel to arrive, and sure enough after several hours of festivity, a row of fireworks erupted from the front of the stage. Music began to blare from every speaker. Climbing onto the stage was Caesar Flickerman himself to greet the crowd. He whooped and cheered with the crowd, stirring them into a frenzy.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about!"

He pumped his fist into the air, laughed at the roar of applause.

"Thank you, thank you. Yes, in a moment, the time will finally have come when we get our first peak... at our latest victor!"

The crowd began to cheer again, and Caesar Flickerman raised his hands to silence them.

"But of course, before we begin that, I think there are some very special people who deserve our recognition first, wouldn't you agree? Anyone know who I'm talking about? Anyone?" The audience yelled over one another, trying to be heard over the buzz of the crowd. Caesar smiled.

"That's right! Our spectacular gamemakers," he gestured to a viewing box in the center of the room, suspended in the air almost as if floating above the others. From it, the crowd could see the three seats of power staring back at them. The room vibrated, hands clapping, voices chirping. "A positively spectacular show, and another successful games on the books! We, the rest of Panem, thank you all for your service."

A beat while the crowd calmed.

"And now... for the moment you've all been waiting for. Your 96th Victor..."

The heavy curtain began to lift.

"Lionel Estrada, from District Five!"