We can be heroes for ever and ever-

What d'you say?

-

The Yellow Yaks entered the Decision Dome, eager to gain back their coins after Battle Box. Before they voted for the fourth game, they were randomly given a power up and hence they decided to dunk Purple Pandas. The Yaks didn't have much of a reason; it was just funny. The Purple Pandas, in their cute onesies, exaggeratedly complained about not having a chance to vote.

"Why? Why??" Fundy whined. "What did we dooo?"

Cub merely smirked. "Hah! Get dunked on!"

"I HATE IT HERE!" Krinios gasped, mock offended. "I HATE HERMITCRAFT!"

"WE SUCK WHYYY?" Kara squealed, waving her fists in the air.

"CUBFAN NO I WAS A FAN!" Fundy cried out, eyes dramatically large and watery. "I killed you in Battle Box but I was a fan!"

"RUDE!" False yelled back, but she could tell neither side was genuinely upset. In fact, Kara was clutching her sides and laughing.

"HERMITCRAFT YUCKY!" Fundy pouted, looking like a miserable four-year-old. "I liked you guys!"

"Awww, look at them," Ren chuckled. He made heart signs with his hands to show Purple they meant no ill will.

Ace Race ended up being chosen, which the Yaks weren't particularly good at but enjoyed because it was quick paced and fun. In fact, they agreed it was one of the funnest, if not the funnest game in the entire Championship.

"I haven't played this before," Cub remarked as the Yaks walked over to the Ace Race course.

"You'll love it, dude!" Ren reassured him. Both Pearl and False nodded.

"Your first time will probably suck," Cub read out loud from the signs that displayed the Ace Race instructions. "Uh oh! I'm in trouble!" he chuckled nervously. "Gonna drag you guys down."

Ren patted Cub's shoulder. "Hey Cub, even if you do badly, it doesn't matter. It's just super fun."

"Yeah, yeah." False nodded.

Upon hearing what his teammates said, Cub looked relieved and even excited to try out the Ace Race course. After their loss in Battle Box, it was time for them to chill and enjoy themselves.

Ace Race began with a bang and all participants immediately took off, making sure to go on conveyor belts that sped them up. The players were launched up and landed on inflatable trampolines to cushion their fall.

"For a brief moment, I was first!" Ren felt the need to tell everyone just as False dashed ahead of him.

"Well, now you've got some competition!" False cheered, blonde hair flying behind her.

"Ohh geez!" Ren mocked pouted. "Save your breath."

It was nice to be able to banter with friends. The thing about Ace Race was that it was fast and engaging, giving the players an unparalleled adrenaline rush. Ren happily went down a zip line as participants around him screamed and cursed.

Ren was still in awe of the beauty of the Championships despite it being his fifth time participating. Everything was so meticulous and well-organized. Even though he knew he wouldn't get a high rank, he still enjoyed being in the Championship. And he knew his friends did as well, or else they wouldn't be joining again and again.

"Rendog, you need to move," came a voice from behind, jolting Ren out of his pleasant thoughts. It was Burren from Pink Parrots. "You're old, and you're in my way."

Ren frowned, only slightly. Instead of replying, he turned his focus to his teammates' voices from his ear radio.

Ren knew he was old compared to most Championship participants. And Burren (probably, hopefully) meant it as some non-offensive, supposed-to-be-funny smack talk. Ren didn't know Burren, so he couldn't judge. (And Fruit did mention the Pink Parrots seemed to be affected by some weird bloodlust that day, so they weren't completely themselves.)

"This is so cool." Ren let the words fall out of his mouth as some contraption bounced him upwards.

"Ahh! I fell!" came False's shriek. "Oh, I fell off the same time as someone else, so it's cool."

Ren then heard False say, "Fundy, my dude, you okay?" then Fundy's distant screech of "WHY DID YOU DUNK US?!" The Yellow Yaks giggled, amused by Fundy's frustration.

"Wow, this is pretty awesome actually," Cub said after a while. Ren fought back a grin.

"It's cool, ey Cub?"

"Yeah, this is nice."

"It is pretty fun," False agreed.

The rest of the course went by quickly and relatively painlessly. The Yaks jokingly yelled at players from other teams ("Shubble! No!" "Sylvee, move outta the way! I'm coming through!") and greeted friends that passed by, with the occasional "dang it!" and "what the heck!" accompanied by panicked British shouting.

"Wait what?" False once cried out. "Hello?"

Ren had no idea what she was up to, since he was in front of her, but she sounded extremely confused.

"Okay, okay," came False's agitated voice, then she sighed. "Blimey."

Ren couldn't help but chuckle. "You okay, Falsie!"

"No!" False exclaimed. "I-it wasn't working! I kept on falling off the launch pad!"

As they ran, they discussed how certain players could use shortcuts, and False commented they must have religiously rewatched their footage.

"They're way more serious than us. I mean, Pearl took it most seriously this month. You're doing practice and everything!" Ren said.

"I'm so bad at this. I mean, I'm just a builder, just someone from 3-G," Pearl replied with a laugh. "So I had to practice PvP and Parkour."

Pearl finished the quickest, coming in 25th place, and False, the last to arrive, came in 32nd. It didn't matter as much because they all had a great time. The Yaks met up to analyse the race course while the other participants cheered for those who hadn't finished yet. Fundy in particular seemed a little stuck, with people teasingly calling him "fungi" and "fungus". Still, everybody managed to finish before the time limit. Once the scores were released, the Yaks could only gape at the fastest laps, marvelling how much of a beast Techno was. (The Yaks were still in ninth.)

"We're practicing for next month, right guys?" False asked, crossing her arms. "And we'll practice for the month after the next month."

"Exactly, exactly," Ren chimed in. "Trial and error, guys. Practice makes perfect."

Now that the fourth game was over, it was time for a break. It was also time for the infamous Audience Takeover which was Totally-Not-Rigged by Stan Twitt.

"Ahh yes, we're playing whatever Techno and Dream want to play," Pearl drawled. "I bet it's Skyblockle."

"Never mind that for now, let's just rest our bodies for a sec." Ren flopped down on a bench, his muscles aching. "Phew!"

"Ren, dude, we gotta sit in line! Our jackets, man!" False insisted.

So the Yaks sat in a row, drinking water and munching on False's bananas. She seemed to have an infinite source of them and did not explain why. (It was probably for the memes and fourth wall breaking.)

Cub brought everyone MooPop (Scar had stuffed four bottles of that... carbonated mushroom milk or whatever the heck it was in Cub's hands before he left for the Championship). Pearl wrinkled her nose at the smell, but the hermits convinced her to try some. Despite the taste being... unconventional, the drink was cool and refreshing. Ren exhaled, and felt his heartbeat gradually return to normal after Ace Race, but the adrenaline and excitement lingered.

And for a while, being ninth didn't feel so bad after all.

-

Though nothing will keep us together

We could steal time just for one day

-

A head suddenly popped between Pearl and Ren. False turned to see purple panda ears sticking out of a white hoodie. It was a beaming Fundy. The Yaks watched as Fundy pulled out his phone and took a selfie of him with the Yellow Yaks. Ah, that was right, Fundy was a fan of Hermitcraft. "Hope you're okay with that," Fundy said with a sheepish grin. "Y'know, I wouldn't mind being a part of Hermitcraft."

Pearl laughed. "In fact, you look like you're part of Teams Yaks now."

"Aww, look at his little ears," Ren commented. "He's cute."

False laughed. Fundy did look a little cute, just like when Wilbur tried to get False's attention some Championships ago. "Well, to get into 3-H, you would have to suck at PvP, and you're certainly not," False quipped.

"I got stuck in the Ace Race map though," Fundy reminded her.

"Yeah, but there was that ace of yours in the 6th Dodgebolt."

"Y-you remember?" Fundy asked in disbelief, pleasantly surprised.

"Well, I have been rewatching some footage," False said with a shrug. "That was super cool."

Fundy chuckled. "Anyways, Iskall would just roast me for every second I'm in Hermitcraft. Now I feel a little bad for trolling him."

"Oh yeah!" Cub looked up, eyes meeting with Fundy's. "Fundy, you asked Iskall for help before."

"Wait wait wait." False wrinkled her nose. "Weren't you supposed to keep that a secret?"

Fundy rubbed the back of his head. "Well, uh, I asked Iskall to, but since you guys are hermits, I suppose it doesn't matter."

"Iskall used the I.O.U., didn't he?" False said, remembering what Pete and H said after the hermits got beat up last time. "To make you help the hermits when Pete and H proposed that school law to protect us."

Fundy raised his eyebrows. "Oh, nah, the I.O.U.'s still there. Iskall hasn't used it, so I live in perpetual fear."

"Good luck, dude," Ren could only say. "I.O.U.'s are brutal. Especially from Iskall. Even though he's my bro."

After a while, Fundy returned to chat with his team. False thought it was nice to have a normal conversation with 3-A students without them either a) looking down on them or b) trying to bring them up. The hermits and main campus students felt like equals despite Stan Twitt's horrendous ranking system.

False stood up and started to stretch. Skyblockle was probably chosen, and it was one of the most PvP intensive games, so she definitely needed to warm up. She raised an arm—

Only for it to smack into someone behind her.

A little panicked, False glanced up. A guy with curly brown hair looked down.

"Hello," Wilbur said it was the most natural thing in the world.

False blinked, and automatically stepped away. "Hi? What are you doing?" Wilbur was... standing suspiciously close to her.

"Covering up the Y so you're Yellow Acks," Wilbur said nonchalantly.

"Wilbur, you butt," False huffed to herself, annoyed he had ruined the Yaks' line. Showing off the YAKS on their back was the very purpose of having a uniform! She moved around so she was standing behind Wilbur. "Aha! See, it still says Yaks! Take that, Wilbur. You butt." She added the last two words as an afterthought.

"We should call him Wilbutt," Ren said as he loudly slurped his MooPop.

"Wilbutt it is," False replied brightly.

Wilbur turned around to stare at False. "Can you guys stop talking about me as if I'm not here?"

False crossed her arms. "I mean, you're not part of the Yaks!" she exclaimed, glaring at Wilbur.

Wilbur did not move. "You know, my team was joking about how you hermits look like AIs. Sitting perfectly still in a row."

"That's because all hermits actually are AIs controlled by Doc. He uses a voice changer for all of us and everything," Ren casually said.

Wilbur laughed. "Ohh, I loved that episode. Doc's Season Six finale gave me the shivers."

"I thought you only watched Grian, to be honest."

"False, do you really think that lowly of me? I'm hurt."

Wilbur then stepped behind False so he was once again covering the letter. Seeing this, Cub walked over to False, curious about what was going on. False responded immediately.

"Cub, get in line! Don't worry about it." False waved a dismissing hand. Cub chortled.

"I just wanna see what's Wilbutt up to!"

"The nickname really is sticking, isn't it?" Wilbur muttered to himself, but judging from his tone, he found it endearing.

"Cub, we've got to form the YAKS," False insisted, and Cub went back to his original position.

Wilbur and False continued to nudge each other. Wilbur was eerily silent, but the smile on his face told everyone he enjoyed being an annoyance. False was quietly laughing. "I-I don't know what's going on anymore. Wilbutt, get away!"

False took a few steps forward then turned around, expecting Wilbur to follow her, but he was suddenly at Pearl's. "I see how it is," False drawled, returning to her original position. "You got bored of annoying me, did you?"

"Hello, sir, you're blocking my K," Pearl informed Wilbur with a grin. Wilbur just smiled and continued to stand behind Pearl. "Hey? Sir?"

"Well, you're a lot more polite than the others who call me Wilbutt," Wilbur told Pearl, making sure his voice was loud enough so the hermits could hear him. "And I'm covering up the K now so you can be Team Yas."

"You really wanna be in the Yaks, don't you," Ren laughed. "You've got Yak envy now."

"Team Yassss," Wilbur repeated, seemingly amused. He stretched out an arm to block Pearl, but she just rolled her eyes and swatted it away.

"Nuh huh, Wilbutt, you can't stop the Yaks," False proudly declared, hands on hips.

"Ahh, the many potentials that this team uniform gives us," Cub remarked.

"The letters were on display for everyone to see," Wilbur said innocently. "How can I not?"

"We could be Team Ass," Ren piped up.

"Yeah, saying that is totally necessary," False quipped.

Wilbur continued to "bully" the Yellow Yaks until break time was over. The Yaks said "Bye, Wilbutt" in near perfect unison, Wilbur ducked his head, hid his smiles, and went back to his team.

False knew the hermits would not have an opportunity to interact with most main campus students if it wasn't for the Championship. Although some of them probably thought they were lame, quite a lot of them were friendly and nice. Even members of the student council like Wilbur and Fundy. And chatting with them made False forget they were from opposite spectrums in MCYT school.

Being a hermit and having a classroom separate from everyone else did distance them from other students, and thankfully the Championship acted as a bridge. The hermits met Fruit and H through Championship practice and they met Pete when they got beat up after the 6th Championship. Even though the hermits liked to keep to themselves and the 3-GH sphere, several main campus students have attempted conversation, like Techno, Wilbur and Fundy. It was impossible not to interact with 3-A students, as "high and mighty" as they were.

But that brief moment of solidarity, of togetherness despite coming from different classes and social circles, was interrupted with the results of the vote. Skyblockle won with a whopping 84.6% of votes, no doubt due to the united force of Techno and Dream's fans. Even if barriers were broken down among the forty Championship participants, it was a whole other world when it concerned the fans of the participants.

"And Skyblockle's a risky PvP game," Pearl noted. "It's not something like Build Mart or Bingo. Even if you're good at PvP, if you're unlucky, your entire team can get wiped out."

"Yeah, it's kinda like Survival Games. Except Skyblockle definitely has a bigger focus on PvP compared to Survival Games," Ren agreed.

"Anyway, my point is that these fans voted because their favourite participants told them to. Even though it could be risky. It's just... wow, none of us can compete with that," Pearl marvelled.

"The power of fandom and Stan Twitt," Cub drily commented. "Sometimes it just happens."

"Actually, sometimes I'm glad we're not massively popular," Ren said. "Or else we'll get cancelled every second and be somehow dragged into speedrunning drama despite not being speedrunners."

"Oh yeah, Cub, you're an actual astrophysicist, aren't you?" False casually asked.

Cub shrugged. "I do have a degree, and I know a lot about Minecraft unlike a certain astrophysicist somebody hired, so I'm pretty qualified to comment on speedrunning cheating scandals, but nah. Don't want to involve myself with that."

"Wise words, Cub, wise words." Ren patted Cub's back. "It's not worth the attention."

"All these statistics and astrophysicist talk is fun, but we should focus on our Skyblockle strategy." False, as the unofficial leader during PvP games, redirected everyone's attention to their most pressing matter. "Here's what I read..."

-

I will be king

And you will be queen

Though nothing will drive them away

We can beat them, just for one day

-

The Yaks couldn't be too upset by Skyblockle being chosen, considering it was utterly predictable and they were helpless against the wishes of the majority. None of them knew how Skyblockle worked, so they felt a little anxious. False even called it "the worst thing ever".

The Yaks tried. They genuinely did. In the middle of the game, Ren said it was the best they'd ever done, and False replied with an ominous "don't jinx it".

It was a bit of a mess, with them throwing each other lapis (for enchanting) and sticks and swords. At one point they were so absorbed in gearing up that they failed to realize the border was coming right behind them.

"Cub, go go go!" False frantically nudged Cub, and he nearly fell off their little island.

C'mon Cub, be more aware, Cub scolded himself. Don't drag the team down.

They approached the middle of the Skyblockle arena. Someone immediately started chasing Pearl, and the others frantically scrambled up ladders and came face to face with their teachers— the Aqua Axolotls. The Axolotls grinned, but showed no mercy.

Quig swiftly slain Cub. False was furiously whacking her sword and was surprised that she killed HBomb with one hit. HBomb stared at her, eyes wide. "That scared the crap outta me, False." False could only smile before she had to run again. Ren and Pearl were eliminated, and it was all up to False. Alas, Krtzy came up the ladder and False was forced to fight him. In a few quick blows, False was killed.

"He must have had good enchantments," False muttered as she went to find her eliminated teammates.

"Dudes!" Ren yelled, excited. "This is the best we've ever done! I'm so proud of us."

"We got two thousand coins, and we're fourth in Skyblockle!" Pearl cheered.

"Not everyone has died yet," Cub reminded her. "The points can still change."

"False, you were in the zone there!" came a familiar voice. It was HBomb, standing on the sidelines as he observed his surviving Aqua teammates. "You scared the heck outta me!"

False nervously laughed. "My PvP brain was in action. I-I don't remember how I did that."

The Yaks clustered together and reflected on what they had done well and what they could improve on next time. To their surprise, they were still fourth even when the game ended.

"Wait, and we're still fourth?! Dude!" False's eyes were wide as she stared at the leaderboard. "I thought we were gonna lose that and go to seventh! Nicee."

"Hey, we beat Pink Parrots!" Pearl cheered. "Aha! Take that, after you got us in Battle Box!"

"Ohh, we need to take a photo to remember that."

"Yup, definitely!"

Their bodies still ached from the injuries they had gotten in Battle Box, but they allowed themselves to enjoy their small victory.

"This is a moment for the Yaks," Ren declared proudly as he clapped.

"That's what we were saying, right?" Pearl said with a bright smile. "We'll give them a handicap for the first few rounds."

Ren pointed to the individual leaderboard for Skyblockle which had just popped up. "And look, we all did around the same! We all did our jobs. Perfect."

"Now I wanna play some Build Mart, now that we've proven our strategies can work." False couldn't help but smile, uplifted by their relative success in a game they were supposed to be weak in.

"Yeah!" Ren nudged Cub. "Cub came up with a really good strategy for Build Mart."

Cub laughed. "We came up with a good strategy. Let's hope it gets played!"

False said she did pretty well in Bingo last time, so she wanted Bingo. Thankfully, due to Championship "meta", the last few games were usually team games, so False got her wish.

Bingo was a frenzy of calling out items and wondering which Bingo slots were taken up. There was some confusion over how the map was supposed to be read, which created quite a struggle. At one point, Quig from Aqua Axolotls idly called out, "Can you end the game? We already finished." which was the biggest flex ever.

The Yaks ended up getting 950 coins, which was... quite the distance away from the team above them who got 2100 coins.

"I got five challenges," False muttered to herself. "I think I got six last time, so I'm happy."

After the coins from Bingo were added up, the Yaks could take a good look at the leaderboard, and predictably, the Yellow Yaks were still in ninth. "All the teams have more than ten thousand coins, dude!" Pearl cried out. "It's just us with seven thousand and Orange with three thousand."

"I think we did okay," False insisted, not wanting to feel negative. They had brought their spirits up after Battle Box, and she didn't want it to be ruined. "We're just fine."
Pearl nodded. "Yup, and we had fun, and that's what really matters, right?"

The next game chosen was Build Mart, and the Yaks heaved a sigh of relief. This was something they were good at and something they had prepared for. "If it isn't Sands of Time or Build Mart, we rage quit," False had said humorously.

It was time for the Yaks to reveal their strategy. Each member would go to a different area of the "supermarket" (lumber, stone, colours, ores, and outdoors) and pick up every item there, then go back to their work bench and assemble the builds. To them, the strategy seemed pretty solid, and the Yaks thought they were outsmarting everyone.

But—

The Yellow Yaks watched as other teams scored point after point, completed build after build. Their hands hurt as they scrambled for resources. They tried to call for help, only to realize everyone was too wrapped up in their own thoughts.

The seconds ticked down. Cub was struggling to cut quartz into slabs. Ren was agonizing on how he was missing one smooth stone slab. Build Mart was a confusing, stressful mess, and when it ended, all of them were relieved yet upset.

"I messed up so badly!" Ren cringed and burrowed his head in his arms. "One slab! Geez!"

False wiped sweat off her forehead. "All I can say is, that was not the strat," she immediately told everyone, getting straight to business. "We're not all on the same wavelength."

"That's not it." Cub was studying the scores of the teams with a frown on his face. "You get points based on who finishes it first too. Which I didn't realize." Cub laughed, but he looked like he was in emotional pain. "Better not do that next time."

"And this was supposed to be our game... we're builders..." Pearl looked at the ground, deflated.

"We messed up. We messed up a lot," Ren groaned. "And since we were coming from different sections, the resources arrived at different times. There were a good two minutes that we couldn't do anything."
"Yeah, I was waiting around for a long time," Pearl agreed, fidgeting with her sleeve. "We just couldn't manage our resources efficiently."

Upon hearing his teammates talk about the many problems they faced, Cub swallowed. It felt like a bucket of freezing water had been poured over his heart. "Sorry guys. I-I was the one who suggested the strategy. I'm the one to blame."

"No, no."

"We all agreed to it."

"Don't say that, Cub!"

All three of the Yaks immediately protested, but Cub still felt like he was responsible, and felt horrible.

"I-I think it's the points," Cub mumbled. He shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to hide that they were shaking. "I was unaware you got points for completing a build first. So, uh, that's the thing!" He tried to smile, but it came out wrong.

The Yaks were silent once again, each of them wallowing in their own thoughts as they tried to rationalize what just happened. Cub in particular felt especially guilty, because he had suggested something without doing enough research. Not only had he cost them coins, but also their morale. They had worked so hard to encourage each other after the low that was Battle Box. Cub trailed after the Yaks as they walked to the Decision Dome, his head hung low.

"I think the strat could work," Ren suddenly suggested, being the eternal optimist he was. Maybe he didn't want Cub to feel bad. "We just didn't think about the logistics. Like, the left chest should be for rocks, the right chest for—"

False sighed. She knew when to tinker on a strategy, and when to give it up completely, and she couldn't let Ren cling onto something that would never succeed. "No, I don't think it'll work," she bluntly stated. Cub winced, remembering the false confidence they had before Built Mart. They were so sure it would work. "We didn't use the chests much," False continued. "We should just focus on the builds; if you're not feeling confident, have two work on the same build. Then separate and go to different sections to collect resources."

"I still think that strategy was definitely worth trying," Ren continued to insist, and Cub didn't know whether to hug him or punch him. "Yeah, yeah," Cub quietly added.

But the Yaks put Build Mart behind them and focused on choosing the last game. It had a 3x multiplier, hence it was very important (but it wasn't like the Yaks could move up a rank, they were so behind eighth place).

Sands of Time, a team game, was chosen. It was one of the better games for the Yaks, so they were cool with it. They decided to play conservative and bank their coins, because last time Iskall had six hundred, but then he died.

Noxcrew had some technical difficulties, so all teams had to wait for a while. The Yaks took the time to talk about getting ninth place again and not seventh like they had wished. Having played seven events, including their total defeat in Battle Box, they were all exhausted. Adrenaline was running out. Ren took a look at his teammates and decided to boost morale.

"Listen, Yaks." The three Yaks stared up at Ren, wondering what else he could say after his endless encouragement. "We definitely won the best outfit of the Championships, thanks to Foxy." Ren did a little twirl to show off the letter on his back.

"Of course." "Totally." The others nodded in agreement, although not with the same level of energy as Ren.

"And we're the most awesome team," Ren announced with a proud grin. "I know it sounds cheesy, but who cares about points? Friendship was the real winner today."

... What Ren said was true, but it was undeniable that placing ninth again was upsetting. It was their dream to get into Dodgebolt to prove everyone wrong (and it was the only way the hermits could get back into the main campus). Ren saw the downcast looks of his friends, and took a deep breath. "Hey," he said, voice only slightly wobbly. "Can we have a mega cringe group hug?"

Smiles slowly snuck onto the Yaks' faces. "Awww, sure."

They hugged each other, making sure not to touch False's bad arm. Sure, they were all sweaty and tired and they probably smelled horrible, but there was nothing like the warmth they shared. They shut their eyes and rested their chins on each other's arms, their limbs so tightly intertwined they barely knew who was who anymore. But did it matter? They were a team.

"We're embracing the cringe," Ren quietly chuckled. "Literally."

As they waited, they chatted about practicing for the next Championship, and wanted to do the parkour course together (the hermits still hadn't managed to finish it). False suggested playing UHC, while Pearl laughed and said she wasn't a parkour master at all because she finished the same around False did.

"You know what makes me sad? False, Cub and I— I mean, False and Cub are generally pretty good PvPers," Ren sighed. "I mean, I'm not like a terrible PvPer, but I feel like we suck at PvP so bad, dudes!"

"Well, that's compared to the top PvPers we see here," False pointed out. "They spend hours upon hours training."

"We're just getting wrecked! But points aside, I think we did really really well in Skyblockle."

They enthusiastically discussed Skyblockle and pointed out that they were doing good until they reached the middle and split up. Ren and Cub even got killed by people they didn't realize were there. Despite all four of them being good friends, they needed to remind themselves teamwork was essential in the Championship. Sometimes they were too concerned about their individual performance, and forgot they couldn't succeed alone. They talked about needing better enchantments and more powerful gear, then worked out a way to stay in the middle without being immediately targeted.

"So Skyblockle might actually become one of our strongest events," Ren remarked. "Which is actually kinda weird to say!"

False had to be the realist to the optimist Ren. "I wouldn't say the strongest, but we can survive Skyblockle. We just need to survive in the Championship since we kind of suck."

"And if we do more parkour training, we don't have to be scared of parkour!"

"I can teach you guys my... ways," Pearl coughed. She was suddenly self conscious that everyone was looking at her. "Just kidding, I'm actually horrible at Parkour," she quickly added.

Ren grinned. "You can be our sensei. A silhouette against the setting sun as Cub, False and I jump past the levels. Now that's a cool image."

The seconds ticked down, and the Yaks stopped their chattering after realizing the final game was upon them. They knew no matter how well they did, they would still get ninth, but hey, they weren't going to be sore losers about it.

Sands of Time passed by quickly. There were a few hiccups, such as when Cub panicked and left the dungeon when they still had time, and when Ren didn't know everyone else had left. Still, they did pretty decently by their standards, and came sixth. The Yaks reckoned they would've done better if they had better luck with the vaults.

With the main Championship event finished, the Yellow Yaks got ninth as predicted, but they ended up getting 10028 coins, which they chose to feel proud of. ("We're in the 10k club, guys!" "#NotLast, get it trending!")

"We're just three thousand coins away from eighth," Ren mentioned. "Better than last time, when we were like, ten thousand coins away."

Everyone stared at him skeptically. "Really? Is that possible?" Pearl asked, eyebrows furrowed.

Ren grinned sheepishly. "Geez, I'm just trying to make us feel better."

"Well, maybe you just made us feel worse."

Ren swiftly changed the topic to avoid more awkwardness. "Look, we're playing Championship Placement Bingo, right? We wanna get all ten rankings. That's our true goal. We got ninth, we got seventh—"

"And we got ninth again," False exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. "Just because we like that number so much."

Ren, as always, was quick to chime in, even if False sounded sarcastic. "Yeah. Nine is our sweet spot."

"Yeah," False said, just a little mockingly, not enough to upset anyone or anything. "That's what we know and love."

"Eventually we'll slowly make our way up the top." Pearl brushed her beige hair out of her face. "Like we'll get seventh, then fifth, and maybe we'll make it to fourth!"

False shrugged. "Or maybe we'll get ninth four times in a row. Who knows."

"Alright people, time to put that behind us!" Ren gestured to the masses on the spectator stands, the majority of them wearing pink headbands and supporting Pink Parrots. "It's Dodgebolt time, babey! Last month we saw the most exciting final Dodgebolt. Geez, back then I felt like I couldn't breathe!"

"I feel it's gonna be more intense this round," Pearl quipped as the Yaks hurried to the Dodgebolt arena. "Aqua versus Pink? Three S tiers and HBomb on the field? This gonna be insane."

"It's Fwhip in the final again, dudes!" Ren cheered. He jumped up and down, trying to catch Fwhip's attention. ""COME ON, FWHIPPY!" Ren hollered from the sidelines. "YOU GOT THIS BABEY!"

"Go Fwhip!" Pearl whooped. "Legacy for the win!"

Fwhip, already standing in the arena, waved back at the Yaks. He shouted something, but his voice was completely drowned out by the din. Nevertheless, the huge beam on his face told everyone he appreciated the support.

"Aqua's got to win, because everyone wants Techno and Dream to win sooo badly," False declared as she picked up an aqua banner. She turned to her teammates, not expecting any resistance. She cocked an eyebrow. "Aqua has to win, right?"

Ren nodded vigorously. "It's gotta be an upset."

"Purely to upset everybody," False agreed. 'We can't let Stan Twitt have this."

Stan Twitt, was of course freaking out. "OMGFHFDGSFHG!" they screeched. "DREAM'S GOTTA WIN AFTER BEING LOCKED IN SANDS OF TIME JAIL! TECHNO'S GOT TO WIN AFTER HE LOST AGAINST HBOMB LAST TIME! And Michael and Burren deserve to win too I guess." 80% of the audience cheered, echoing Stan Twitt. The spectator stands were covered with an overwhelming amount of pink decorations.

But among the forty Championship participants, the situation was reversed. Practically everyone except for Pink Parrots' friends were rooting for Aqua. It appeared that everyone wanted an upset too, and unanimously agreed to support the team that wasn't favoured by the majority.

It was the Yellow Yaks' dream to get into Dodgebolt, but that dream seemed more unattainable than ever when they saw who were in the finals. The rivals Technoblade and Dream had teamed up against H, who was not as skilled as Techno or Dream, but his leadership skills were unparalleled. Not to mention H had a stronger Quig by his side, and his loyal friends Fwhip and Joel. Michael and Burren were good players too, and the Yaks wouldn't be surprised if they popped off in Dodgebolt. Legendary people were on the field, competing for the crown. It was the fateful duel in the climax of a movie, the protagonist and the villain facing each other to end it for once and for all.

As for the Yaks?

They were just the pawns, the faceless background characters, interchangeable with points and coins. Yet another kill scored by Techno, nothing more than a blank dummy, nothing more than bragging rights. The Yellow Yaks gripped the railings and gaped at the power of the two Dodgebolt teams, their faces and figures blurring in the crowd. They were nothing more than pawns.

.

.

.

At least, they were the pawns in this Championship.

Because what were heroes without defeat? What were champions without losing? What were protagonists without setbacks?

Nobody was born a champion.

Victory was achieved through trial and error. Losing was just the natural predecessor to winning.

The Yellow Yaks did not know it, but they would soon prove that to everybody.

Duo by duo.

Championship by championship.

And when they finally struck, it was far too late for anyone to stop them.

-

Oh we can beat them, for ever and ever

Then we could be heroes, just for one day.

-

A/N: The ending got a little dramatic lmao :D

MCC8 Yellow Yaks has a special spot in my heart. I really wanted to bring attention to this team and this POV because it's the perfect foreshadow for MCC9-12 (by extension MCC13, but False is the only one there lol).

Except MCC11, the Yellow Yaks would get into Dodgebolt in duos. False + Ren in MCC9, False + Cub in MCC10, Cub + Pearl in MCC12. They might not be able to win with all four of them together, but they could surely do good in duos.