A/N: Well MCC 14 is gonna be on the 29th of May! So excited! Have no idea what the teams are though.

Rewatching the three hour long practice VOD was more painful than you would imagine. Boy. I'm exhausted lmao.

A good half of this chapter is just... transcripts from the VOD haha. Not all are direct, but you would notice their conversation jumps from here to there, which sounds perfectly normal irl but looks scattered and not cohesive in a story. I'm keeping it that way.

Did it take me like 100k words and half a year to reach the actual events of MCC 9? Yes. Do I regret it? Kinda, but also not.

-

Mumbo: It's Friday afternoon... you know what this means!!

Grian: ROADTRIP!!!

False: oh man i thought you were gonna say blue bats practice session :D

Grian: is it bad i literally forgot about that

False: ...you're in the 9th championship :P

Grian: yeah lol

Ren: #BlueBats4Life!! :D

-

"Alright, let's gooooo!"

Grian and Mumbo hopped into Mumbo's van, which was jam packed with cameras, recording equipment, hygiene products, and muffins. They set off immediately after school was finished. Several hermits sent them off, most of them secretly wondering how chaotic their trip would be.

"Bye everyone! I'll miss stealing your doors!" Grian called out of the window as Mumbo stepped on the pedal. Wind whipped past Grian's cheeks as he hurriedly stuck his head inside the van again. "Geez Mumbo, tell me when you're gonna start driving!" he exclaimed.

"I thought it was common sense to not stick your head out of the car window?!" Mumbo snarked back.

"Ohhh boy." Grian rolled his eyes. "I feel this is going to be a dangerous trip."

"It's only dangerous if you're here, Gri."

Now that they were on the road to their first destination, Grian decided they needed some entertainment. "Alright Mumbo, let's play something," he called out.

Mumbo laughed. "Okay, you choose." A pause. "I know I'm gonna regret making you choose though."

Grian fiddled with the music player. A few seconds later, a soothing voice filled the van. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much-"

Mumbo scoffed. "Harry Potter? Really?"

"You know I listen to those seven books while I work. Okay, joke over, moving on."

There was a pause, then a song that Mumbo and Grian were too familiar with started playing.

"Muuumbo Jumbo! Finest mustache in the land, pinstripe suit he has a plan! Vote Mumbo Jumbo for Mayor!"

Mumbo started subconsciously bopping his head to the music. "We really did choose the right person for the job."

"Yeah," Grian agreed. "I really like Jono's music."

"Muuumbo Jumbo! Talking 'bout the people's Champ, have your say and take your stand! Vote Mumbo Jumbo for Mayor!"

"Man, that was so good. Too bad it's a bit short."

"Not to worry. I downloaded Elybeatmaker's entire playlist."

"Niceee."

A groovy beat started playing. "Do you even bust, bro?" Grian moodily sang, imitating Iskall's voice. Mumbo giggled. "Do you even bust, ma lover?"

For the hours that followed, Grian and Mumbo sang remixes done by Elybeatmaker and songs composed by Jono. ("IT ALL STARTED WITH GRIAN TOUCHED MY REDSTONE, HE PLAYED HIMSELF LIKE A XYLOPHONE SET ON AUTOMATIC—" "Umm, Grian, this a song made to roast you." "Yeah, but it's catchy.")

And so they had a jolly good time. (Except when Grian fell off his seat way too many times.)

-

The Blue Bats were back with their second practice session. This time, they weren't going to stay in the school dorms. Fruit had found a practice arena outside that allowed them to practice PvP with other people, and they were gonna spend the night there. But before any of the PvP stuff, they had a quick run through of the parkour course as a warm up. There were also a few other Championship participants such as Pearl and Kara there. The participants said hello when they passed by each other on the parkour course.

"Ren, you've gotten so much better!" H bellowed as Ren blasted through the first few levels.

"I was gonna say that!" False chimed in, a few paces ahead of Ren.

"Thank you, thank you," Ren chuckled.

H chortled. "I was just walking you through these first ones and I was like, 'do I need to teach this guy anything? He knows everything'."

Ren paused, and looked at his teammates. He raised his chin dramatically. "Listen. I will NOT come ninth ever again. I've had enough of ninth place!"

"Never again," False agreed. "No more ninth place for us."

"Let's goooo," Fruit cheered as he scampered up a ladder. "Wait, did I just find a skip—?"

Fruit occasionally found alternate ways to do the jumps the more the team went through them. They weren't necessarily faster though, but it was still fun to discover something new. ("We should tell Mr. Major and Noxcrew about unintended shortcuts though. I feel that's behaviour that's expected of participants.") Fruit then claimed he didn't really know how to explain the jumps, he relied on his muscle memory, and Ren joked about stealing Fruit's brain. The topic of Ren's brain came up surprisingly often during parkour practice.

Ren's brain once forgot he was supposed to be doing a double jump, and he easily slipped off the parkour platforms. "Aww," he groaned, "my brain just went 404 error back then. Couldn't register it."

As Fruit and H chatted, Ren tried again, but again his legs couldn't reach the platform. He dragged his feet up the ladders and exhaled.

"Stupid idiot brain I hate you," Ren furiously muttered under his breath. Then in a louder voice, he asked, "Can you get a new brain on Amazon these days?"

"Fortunately not," H replied the same time False said, "Probably? Only not human though."

H gave False a look, but decided not to say anything. Maybe it was a hermit thing (H heard they had clones roaming around in the 3-H classroom).

There was another time when the Bats decided to time how much of the course they could complete in ten minutes, but False had gone ahead, so everyone cried out "come back here and do it with us! We're a team!". Ren was still pretty impressed by how quick the 3-A students were, to which they replied they lived on the parkour course. "We've been here for years," H joked.

Ren, as expected, lagged behind the other three. "Ugh, what am I doing?" he muttered to himself as he took the wrong path for a parkour course.

H overheard. "What are you doing right now?"

"Being an idiot is what I'm doing," Ren replied flippantly.

H groaned, once again tired of Ren looking down on himself. "Stop that, Ren!"

"That's alright!" False cheered him up. "Being an idiot now means you'll learn from your mistakes so you can do good in the actual event."

"We have all the time in the world to be idiots right now," Fruit affirmed. "So let's go get it!"

Maybe it was due to the time restraint of ten minutes, but the Bats felt like their limbs weren't cooperating. Their heart rate quickened, and their fingers fumbled to grab onto platforms. Some jumps that seemed so easy suddenly became unattainable, and the Bats laughed at their silly blunders.

"Noooo!" False whined. "I'm making mistakes I don't usually make!" She tripped, and fell flat on her face. "Argh!"

H grabbed onto a pipe, and dragged himself up. "We're all making mistakes we shouldn't be making right now. It's the pressure."

"Well, I'm catching up at least!" came Ren's voice from behind, and False was quick to respond.

"Don't say you're catching up, Ren!" she jokingly told him. "You're not allowed to!"

There were a few seconds of silence as the Bats struggled and sighed, fully aware of the ticking timer. Sure, their parkour skills had improved, but parkour was still a beast to conquer.

"This is pain," Fruit quietly uttered. Even the person who was the best at parkour was getting tired of it.

"Yup, this is pain," H echoed

"The whole course is pain," False declared.

Ren stared at the (painful) panes section in front of him, one he had failed time and time again. He paused for a moment to catch his breath. "It really is. But the irony is, what if we don't even do it on the day?"

"We might not, but we'll be ready for the next one!" False optimistically replied. "Gotta think in the long term."

H added on, "This isn't a waste of time; it's good for practicing in the future."

To distract everyone from the pain of parkour, Ren decided he wanted some small talk. "So guys, what are your favourite events in the Championship?"

"Not sure... Bingo?" Fruit replied hesitantly.

"Like, the one you enjoy the most."

Fruit hummed thoughtfully. "I played Rocket Spleef for the first time and it's a blast."

"Yeah, yeah." "That's pretty fun." The hermits were quick to agree due to liking Rocket Spleef as well. Surprisingly enough, the main campus students didn't use ziplines often, but they were a staple in every hermit's daily life. Clearly, the hermits were rich enough to afford daily use of ziplines.

"I like the parkour race one," Ren said, who had conveniently forgotten the name of Ace Race. "Y'know, the one with speed boosts and bouncy jumps."

"That was really fun!" Fruit agreed with a smile.

"Yeah, I like that too. But I also like Sands of Time," H told everyone. "It's the strategy. And y'know, I'm good at group games."

"Yeah, and I think the Championship is one of the best things I've seen in my entire life," Ren said. He wasn't lying. The entire event was so intricately organized and absolutely beautiful. As a hermit, they were used to seeing beautiful things daily, but the Championship still managed to be wholly impressive.

"I agree," False chipped in.

"Noxcrew is nuts!" H boldly proclaimed. "What they've done with the event is so amazing compared to other events."

"Yeah, the whole thing is just flawless." Ren groaned audibly because he was still stuck on the panes section when everyone else had moved on. "Unlike my jumps. Ugh, these panes!"

"Breathe. Go to the corner and jump," H instantly reminded Ren.

"I need to have some tea and reset my brain," Ren joked, "'cause I'm definitely tilted right now."

H chuckled. "It's alright, Ren. Take your time. That's what this practice is for."

During the practice sessions, the four also discovered their mutual love for Pokemon. Which acted as a great conversation starter when they took a break from practicing.

"I opened a Pokemon pack yesterday," H eagerly told the other three as they massaged their sore muscles.

Ren took a sip of his tea. "Yo, did those boosters smell nice?" he asked curiously.

"Ohh yeah-" H replied, but was interrupted by False shooting Ren a very odd look. "A nice smell?" she repeated, almost mockingly.

Ren gasped. "False! Don't laugh! With each print run, sometimes you use different types and amounts of ink, so it actually changes the smell of the cards."

False raised an eyebrow, clearly disbelieving. "Alright."

"I-it's a thing, False!" Ren enthusiastically repeated. "It's all in the ink! You can smell the... cards." Ren's smile started to slip from his face upon realizing how silly he gradually sounded.

"Okay!" False did not look convinced at all, but at least she looked amused. "Sounds great!"

After their quick break, they went to the beginning and started a new ten minutes round. Parkour practice was gruelling, but the only way to improve was to try again and again.

"Boom! Nailed it!" Ren declared proudly after he finished a level in record time.

"I wanna keep on hearing that!" H called out. "I wanna hear boom over and over again!"

"Boom is a good word," Fruit said like it made sense.

"Yeah," False also agreed like it made sense.

"Boom is the hype word!"

"Badaboom!" Ren cheerfully declared when he finished yet another course.

"THERE we go!" H said happily. "Attaboom! Attaboom is when you get it on the first try."

"BINGBADABOOM, BABEY!" Ren screamed when he got past the slime jumps and dashed by False.

"Aww, dangit Ren!" False laughed. "You can't overtake me."

Ren cheekily grinned and leapt to the next platform. "Smell ya later, Falsie."

"Oh no," False drily declared. "It's game over now."

"The dreaded panes are coming though," Ren reminded her.

False chuckled, probably understanding the double meaning of "panes" and "pains". "Yup, it's coming."

As predicted, Ren got stuck on the panes section again. He grunted when he fell for the fifth time. Just as he was about to sit down for a moment, False's voice came ominously behind him. "I'm coming for you, Ren!" That instantly propelled Ren to start moving again out of competitiveness. He stumbled to his feet and jumped towards the nearest pane.

"No! Falsie! Slow down!" he protested. Since the hermits couldn't compare with H and Fruit, they might as well compete among themselves. Ren fell from the panes and had to scramble to the start again. At the same time, False leapt on the first pane, and flashed Ren a triumphant grin. She had caught up with him. "It's Ren and False on the panes," she declared.

"Ooh, I saw Pearl pass by me, and I thought it was you guys," H laughed from way ahead.

False could only chuckle and reply, "One day, man. One day,"

"When will that day be?"

"Like, two years later at least. Alright, catch you later Ren."

False swiftly jumped from the last pane to the platform in front of her, thus finishing the section that Ren was still struggling with. "Nooooo!" He dramatically whined. "Falsie! Don't leave me!"

"I had to, dude!" False sounded like she had no regrets. She spun on her heel and didn't look back. "See ya!"

"I'll never talk to you again," Ren muttered under his breath. (He did, approximately three seconds later.)

A few levels ahead, Fruit and H were also competing with each other the same way the hermits were. It was a bit of a nostalgic trip for them, because they used to be rivals in the Championships.

"I'm coming for ya Fruityyy!" H drawled as he nudged Fruit in the ribs. "Get outta here, we're teammates!"

Fruit snorted and swatted H's arm away. "Huh, so we're enemies now! We're rivals, if you will."

"Ohh, no. That was the 6th Championship!"

"Me and you were fighting for 5th place. I even said I hated you." H laughed, but his competitiveness quickly turned into admiration when he watched Fruit complete a level with grace and ease. "Aww, you're really good at this, Fruit."

Fruit grinned. "You're not bad either, H."

It was at that precise moment Scott entered the area. "Heyo!" He waved at the students, then turned to nod at the hermits. "Wow, you guys are practicing hard."

"Of course we are," False panted as she struggled with her jumps. "Uh hi, Mr. Major."

"Don't waste your breath talking to him," H laughed. "We can talk when we're finished with our ten minutes."

Scott glared at H. "H, is that how you treat your elders? I'm banning you from the 10th Championship."

"AWWW YEAH!" False whooped when she finally finished a stage she spent way too long on. She hurried to the next one, and nearly smacked into a familiar figure with beige hair. "Oh hey, Pearl!"

"Hi False! My old teammate! I guess we crafters really do have to practice for parkour," Pearl laughed. "Good luck to you and your team!"

"Thanks! May the best team win!"

The ten minutes swiftly passed, and the Bats regrouped to discuss their performance. "If I hadn't gotten stuck on the panes, I would've gone to the gold sections. There are easy levels after the panes," Ren groaned. He'd been so stuck on them that False bypassed him with relative ease, and it took him embarrassingly long to finish the level after False did.

False patted Ren's shoulder, confident in Ren's abilities. "Yeah, for sure. You would definitely do that. The panes is the one I practiced the most in my free time, and it really shows that I've, you know, gotten better. It's worth practicing that one."

"Hey Ren, you got to 5-2 which was the, uh, backward jump?" H asked.

"Yeah. The kabooty jump," Ren confirmed. (They were all used to the weird names he gave.)

H stared at Ren, bright blue eyes wide. "Ren, you know how good that is compared to how you did in the actual event?"

"Oh yeah!" Ren chuckled. "I mean, it's night and day thanks to you guys."

"Aww, don't mention it!" H slapped Ren's back. "You worked really hard too! By the way Fruit, we're going outside school next, yeah?"

Fruit looked up. "Oh yeah, I found a practice arena for us. Minecraft Ultimate. It's gonna have something a bit like Hunger Games, which fits because, y'know, we're scared of SG. And it'll put our PvP skills to practical use."

"I see, I see," False said. She flexed her arm muscles, testing them. "But I'm a little bit nervous about that..."

"We can practice PvP here for a bit before going there," H suggested. "Just between us. For warming up."

Ren yawned. "That sounds great, but I'm honestly exhausted right now. Catch me when I fall into your arms, Hmamma."

"I mean, we did spend a lot of time on parkour today," Fruit mentioned. "How about we do some PvP among us (haha, amongus), check in at the arena so we can stay overnight, and start playing Hunger Games tomorrow?"

"Sure." "Yup, that sounds solid." The rest of the Bats swiftly agreed with Fruit, and after a short break, they went on with practicing PvP.

-

Ren and False were furiously duelling in the air-conditioned gym, while H and Fruit were shouting out encouragements from the side. Even though they were good friends (or maybe because they were good friends), False didn't go easy on Ren. Ren's hand shook, but his grip on his sword remained steady. Even False was getting tired, and she missed more often than she liked. Still she advanced, her sword clashing with Ren's.

"LET'S GO, RENPOG!" H screamed. The health bar on Ren's suit was getting dangerously low, but that didn't deter him. He'd lost to False every time, and this time, he wanted to go out with a bang. With fire in his veins and his face contorted with determination, he charged, mouth open in a battle cry.

"AAAAAAHHH-"

-

"-AHH!"

A high pitched squeal. Then a crash. Mumbo hummed.

"Goodness Gri, what was that noise?"

"What was that noise?" Grian repeated mockingly as he stumbled to his feet, using the car seat as support. "Your horrible driving skills made me roll off the seat! Mumbo, I was sleeping!"

Mumbo continued driving, unaffected. "Well maybe you should've used a seat belt!" he said cheerily.

Grian scowled, and reached for a helmet that was conveniently next to him. "Well maybe you need to have your driver's license revoked!"

-

Sweat. Blood. Tears. The two hermits were giving it their all, and they were close to reaching their limit. False's hands started to shake violently, while Ren's legs wobbled. Ren took a step forward to continue his attack, but his legs gave way and he collapsed to the ground. False and H quickly helped him up and brought him to a bench.

"I'm alright," Ren insisted. "I can do better."

Despite the air conditioning blasting in the gym, they were all dripping with sweat. False reached for her water bottle and let the cool water soothe her throat.

Her eyes landed on the sword on the ground. Not ninth, not ninth, she chanted in her head. No more ninth place.

The hermits were on fire. Nothing could stop them—

-

"Muffin?"

"Muffin."

So Grian and Mumbo had muffins. Mumbo tried to talk, but ended up spewing crumbs everywhere. So naturally he stopped.

He and Grian tried communicating with each other through eyebrow waggling. It was certainly fun and stimulating. Mumbo wanted to laugh so much he nearly choked on his muffin.

Grian was still wearing his helmet.

"Good job!"

False and Ren high fived after another duel. Both of them lasted longer this time, showing they were getting better. They exchanged tired but proud smiles.

"Great work, guys!" H cried out, ever enthusiastic.

"We're gonna do sooo good at the Championship," Fruit promised them. "All of this hard work will be worth it."

The Blue Bats sat on a bench, side by side. They had content grins on their faces.

"I'm sure the other hermits will be proud of you!" H happily told False and Ren.

-

Xisuma: Mumbo what did you just send??

Xisuma: why is Grian climbing out of the van window??

Xisuma: Don't do that!!

Joe: dadsuma

Iskall: LOL

Xisuma: why can't you two behave

Joe: X is disgusted, revolted, he dedicates his entire life to our lord and saviour Herobrine and THIS is the thanks he gets?

False: hi guys blue bats selfie :D

False: [image]

False: ...

False: wait did i send at the wrong moment

Tango: Well at least ONE hermit duo isn't causing trouble

Mumbo: HAHA

False: ...or are we though

False: :D

Tango: what can you and ren get up to, it surely can't be worse than mumbo driving skills

Iskall: exCUSE me tangotek sir

Iskall: they buried my sandcastle with diorite once

Iskall: some sort of red velvet demon cake

False: AHA but that was after YOU made the pooping chicken on my stuff!

Iskall: and THAT was because mumbo gave me diorite!!

Joe: Let's not start the Civil War again guys

Xisuma: we're meant to be professional minecrafters...

Tango: you've all broken xisuma, apologize to him

Grian: sorry dad

Iskall: you dont sound sorry

Grian: exactly

-

Evening came, and so the Blue Bats left school and went to the arena Fruit told them of. Minecraft Ultimate was surprisingly deserted, but the Bats believed their fans would come and help them practice tomorrow. They checked in their rooms, took showers, and hung out in the living room. Everybody was exhausted, so they just laid on couches until Ren's phone buzzed. "Ooh, incoming video call from Grian!"

"That's right, he's on that road trip with Mumbo." False moved closer to Ren so she could be in the call as well. H and Fruit shuffled awkwardly, not wanting to ignore them but also not wanting to get too involved in the hermits' affairs.

"Hey Daddy G! What's up!" Ren greeted.

The view was shaking as Grian struggled to find a flattering angle. In the end, he gave his phone to Mumbo, who was taller and had longer arms. "Hey Ren! Hey False! How's practice?"

False and Ren exchanged looks. "Good, I think," False replied.

"Wish I could say the same over here," Grian's voice came out. "I've Mcfallen at least five times. Mumbo's a terrible driver. Can't believe I'm still alive."

"Wh-wha-wait," Mumbo stuttered, laughing. "Grian, what are you saying—"

"All I can say is that I don't trust Mumbo Jumbo around cars anymore even though he loves cars," Grian announced. "Do you know how terrifying it is being in his van?"

"Let's change the topic!" Mumbo's voice was overly enthusiastic. "Do you guys know Grian literally persuaded a random person to lend us their lawn for us to sleep in?"

The hermits blinked. They knew Grian was charismatic, but this was going a bit too far. Starting wars? Sure. Borrowing someone's lawn? Nope. Totally unbelievable.

"I have no idea how he did that," Mumbo said. The view suddenly shook violently and thumping sounds could be heard. "Ah, sorry, dropped the phone—"

"It's my phone!" Grian's squeals sounded in the background.

"Calm down and have a muffin!" was Mumbo's very wise retort. The camera stopped shaking, and Mumbo's pale face came into view again. "But it's been fun I suppose. The footage is a nightmare to edit though."

"Not much of a nightmare as surviving Mumbo's driving skills!" Grian yelled, voice muffled by the muffin he was presumably eating.

"I really want to boot him out of the van," came Mumbo's deadpan voice.

"Do it," False and Ren replied in unison. As Mumbo and Grian fake argued, voices getting progressively higher and higher pitched, Ren sighed wistfully.

"Ahh, this is making me nostalgic for the road trips I used to have." Ren smiled fondly.

"Ohhh of course. Because you had Roadtrip Sally," Grian popped in with a smirk.

"Who's Roadtrip Sally?" H and Fruit asked together.

"Ohh wait is Fruit next to you guys?" Grian's words came out in a hurry. "Hii Fruity B! Hi HBomb! We're just embarrassing Ren; normal Hermitcraft behaviour over here."

"I can tell," H laughed. "So pray tell me, who's Roadtrip Sally? Don't tell me she's Sally the Salmon, because she's Fundy's mom and Wilbur's ex and that's hella awkward."

There was dead silence. Everybody stared at H. "What?"

"I-I'm not even going to question this anymore," came Mumbo's bewildered voice.

Ren cleared his throat, a sheepish look in his eyes. "So, my road trip companion was known as Roadtrip Sally. Roadtrip Sally was a cardboard cut out of a very beautiful woman with um..." Ren grunted. "... Shall we say, rather large..."

Ren loudly whistled, and shot everyone knowing looks. "You know what I'm sayin'?"

H and Fruit were already dying of laughter. False looked like she was regretting her life choices. Grian was still eating his muffin.

"And I thought Hermitcraft was family friendly," Fruit got out between giggles.

"We are!" False protested, also laughing. "Ren's just an outsider!"

Ren continued with his story, cheeks getting redder and redder. "And I basically... Uh, I mean, this is gonna sound pretty bad, but I was- yeah, I-I may or not have stolen her from a pharmacy."

There was a pause as everyone stared at him.

"And by "may or may not have" I mean I kinda did."

"Of course," H murmured.

"She was a cardboard cut out advertising sun cream in a pharmacy. But she was in a swimming costume. And she had, like... She had pretty tasty, uh..." Ren whistled even longer, his eyebrows waggling. "Ya know what I'm sayin'? She was hot, man!"

H and Fruit had already collapsed on the floor in laughter. False eyed Ren critically. "... I live next to you and I have never seen Roadtrip Sally."

"Consider it a blessing," Grian quickly said.

"I'll take your word for it," was False's reply.

"Alright guys, guess I'll end the call because you two must be sleepy," came Mumbo's voice from the other side. "Honestly, Grian and I spent the whole day doing nothing but singing to Elybeatmaker. We had such a productive day compared to you guys."

"Sounds fun," Ren cheerily replied. "Okay, catch you guys later!"

With a press of a finger, he ended the call. The hermits turned to see Fruit and H still cackling about Roadtrip Sally.

"You STOLE a cardboard cut out from a pharmacy?!" Fruit wheezed. "That's awesome!"

H wiped tears from his eyes. "It's funny, but theft is wrong..."

"I mean," False said humorously. "It's not stealing if you don't get caught!"

Ren patted False's shoulder. "That's the spirit!"

"I would rather steal something more useful than a literal piece of cardboard though."

"But it's a piece of cardboard with very... ahem... assets."

"Niceeee," Fruit cheered. H raised a thumbs up. False took one piece of Weetabix and chucked it at Ren, which slammed into his head with a (satisfying) thump. "Go to horny jail."

Ren quickly raised his hands and squinted at False. "Ouch! That hurt! What the heck, man!"

"It's not my fault that you decided to bring hard pieces of cereal for breakfast that can conveniently act as a projectile!" False said innocently.

"Geez. Can't have peace and quiet here!" Ren huffed. He turned on his heel. "I'm gonna sleep now, see you never!"

-

The first thing the Bats did next morning was to ask their fans to come practice with them for Hunger Games. "We need cannon fodder!" Ren declared. H then added a very encouraging "COME DIE!"

Luckily for the Bats, their loyal fans were very interested in helping the Bats out, and came in droves. While they waited for the arena to be set up, Ren told everyone about his "hideous" sunburn, which H enjoyed making fun off. Ren, as always, was pretty impressed with his surroundings and said he liked the big yellow "Minecraft Ultimate sign".

"You know, this is the place Techno, Calvin and Nester destroyed," H remarked with a laugh.

Fruit glanced around and added on, "They got over a hundred kills. My classmates are crazy."

"It was disgusting," H whispered in an awed tone. "It... it wasn't pretty."

Soon, everyone was ready. Gear such as armour, weapons and food were randomly distributed among players, and just like the Hunger Games, there was a middle area with lots of supplies for players to loot. The bushes and trees provided the players with some hiding space, but still, the area was extremely small compared to that of the main campus. Although explicitly teaming up wasn't allowed, the Bats decided not to kill each other and kept communicating through their earpieces.

The first round of Hunger Games started off with a bang, and the Bats started to talk about needing a better sword or better armour. Gearing up was especially important during the grace period when nobody was allowed to hurt people. "I got granny gear on," Ren mentioned, which confused everybody. Even strangers passing by Ren shot him baffled looks.

"What's granny gear?" H asked through the intercoms.

Ren chuckled as he rummaged through a chest. "Chainmail."

"Awww, I like chainmail! It's not granny gear," H retorted, sounding offended.

"But it kinda looks like granny lacing, y'know?"

Jokes aside, they tried their best to survive, but False was quickly eliminated due to having leather armour only. A few moments of struggling later, H also went out. "Aww, man. Now it's all up to Fruit and Ren," H declared. False and H hurried outside the arena and watched the other two through cameras while continuing giving them advice.

"We're watching you, Ren," came False's voice from the earpiece. "Your health's low, be careful. No pressure though."

A player came into Ren's vision, and Ren raised his gun. "Get him!" False immediately cried out. Ren peppered the player with pellets, the player's health dropped to zero and a cannon boomed from a distance. The Bats instantly erupted with joy. "YEAHHH!!" "Yas Ren!" "GOTTEM!"

"Ren's been practicing!" False whooped enthusiastically. "Ren's been using aimbot-"

Coincidentally at that exact moment, Ren was eliminated by a bullet on his chest. "Dangit!" he roared, but he quickly shifted his focus to cheering for Fruit, the only surviving member of the Bats. Fruit, who was fully geared up, ran towards others and started whacking them with his sword. "Oooh, Fruityloops on the hunt, babey!"

The defeated players, more often than not, were fans who had volunteered to play with the Bats. "Hi H, False, and Ren!" they cried out. "You guys are gonna win the Championship!"

"Thanks!" H replied, delighted. "You guys are gonna help us win the Championship! It's so cool that you're supporting us in more ways than one."

Everyone watched Fruit with bated breath, and screamed when he got another kill. "Fruity with the frags, baby!" Ren whooped. He noted when Fruit picked up the loot from the fallen player and started throwing out useless items. "Sifting through the rubbish is definitely a skill in this too," Ren remarked. "Oh and Fruity, you move so fast it's absolutely ridiculous."

Fruit nimbly leapt around, but still he couldn't avoid the three water balloons labelled "TNT" which were tossed at him and a handful of players. Three players were eliminated instantly, and an exhausted Fruit flopped to the ground. His head was completely drenched with water. "Oh wow, GG. I went from full to zero."

"F." "Oh noooo." "Rip Fruit!" "Fruit, I'm so sorry." The spectators were quick to react to Fruit's death. H tossed Fruit a towel. "Guys, we did so good!" H insisted. "Let's go for another round!"

-

"Alright, Mumbo, I have a small request."

A pause. "Okay, Grian?"

"Can you drive safely for once? I'm about to have an important call with the charity from Ghana. You know I'm raising funds for the Denyaseman Pre-School project during the 9th Championship. So be nice for once, alright?"

"W-well, I might as well park the van!" Mumbo exclaimed. "Since you're so picky about this," he muttered under his breath.

"But then we'll never get to our destination in time! And we're behind schedule because someone got lost yesterday!"

"Maybe I wouldn't have gotten distracted if someone wasn't threatening to steal my mustache!"

Through the rearview mirror, Mumbo saw Grian open his mouth, but Grian's phone rang abruptly. He instantly shut his mouth and picked up his phone. Grian saw Mumbo looking at him through the rearview mirror, and narrowed his eyes. "Do not ruin this for me, Mumbo," he seethed, suddenly vaguely sounding like a Star Wars villain. Mumbo felt shivers go down his spine.

Then Grian answered the call and his demeanor changed faster than Stan Twit could cancel someone they barely knew about over a tweet from 2013. "Hello, my name is Grian," Grian said pleasantly, a soft smile on his face. "So glad to be in touch with you, I..."

Mumbo started humming nonchalantly, and Grian glared at him, as if screaming "don't you dare".

"Fine! Fine!" Mumbo huffed. "I'll do my best, okay?! It's more for the charity's sake than your sake, really."

Grian rolled his eyes. Despite him still talking to the charity, the sentiment he was conveying was obvious. Mumbo, you're the worst.

-

The Blue Bats started their second Hunger Games session, eager to do better than they did last time. An ambitious Ren decided to chase after a player, and hit him once. The player charged at him, and Ren raised his axe. A swift crit later and the deed was done. "Gottem!" Ren gleefully declared.

Fruit was there to witness the fight, and flashed Ren a smile. "Yeah, that was nice! Just practice the timing. Ren, I watched that, and that was really good. You just lured him into a crit, and then you just kinda destroyed his health."

"Geez man," Ren grunted as he sorted through the dropped equipment. "The loot is so annoying. But I'm probably focusing on the wrong thing- you don't have to worry about this, right?"

"Just throw away anything that's really bad, like the wooden stuff," Fruit advised.

"Yeah, I'm just gonna focus on fighting, I think."

"But Ren," H called out. "Remember we're gonna fight as a team in Survival Games- that is, if it gets chosen. Maybe someone can loot for us while the others fight."

Despite the PvP, the players were extremely nice and friendly, many of them exclaiming "GG!" and "oh no Ren!" when he was eliminated. One even said "you're too good for me, you killed me easily" while Ren's first victim delightedly exclaimed "good job Ren, you destroyed me at the start with the axe!". It didn't feel like a battle against strangers. It actually felt like a cozy practice session between the Bats and their supporters.

With H also eliminated, people start to cheer for False, who was chasing after an unfortunate player. "Go False, go!" they hollered. "I believe in you, False!"

"Oooh, nice dodge there," Ren commented after False leapt to the side to avoid a bullet. False grunted in reply.

"I'm here to assist!" came a familiar voice. Fruit emerged from the trees, diamond sword glinting in the light. "Don't worry, False!"

"Nooo!" False shrieked, waving her sword at Fruit. She was utterly dismayed. "Don't steal my kill!"

"Go Frooty Loops!" the spectators cried out, having adopted Ren's nickname for Fruit. "Fruit's destroying everyone!"

Players were dropping like flies, and soon there were only four people in the arena, with two being Fruit and False. The spectators excitedly murmured among themselves about the possibility of a Fruit versus False finale. Fortunately (or not), they managed to kill the last two, and came to the realisation they had to fight each other.

"It's literally just us two," False giggled, nervously backing away from Fruit. "Oh no. This is where game over is, guys."

Fruit rummaged in his bag, not wanting to scare False too badly. "Uhh, I can give you some gear?" he offered.

False batted an arm. "Nah nah nah, I'm good." She wiped her sweaty palms on her pants. "Let's just go."

The two circled each other, sizing each other up. Fruit, abiding by gentleman's rules, decided not to attack until False, the weaker one, felt prepared. "You ready?"

A nervous gulp. "Yeah, I'm ready."

False made the first move by shooting, and Fruit instantly dodged. They exchanged bullets, but after a while, False became a little tired of the long distance attacks. She boldly charged towards Fruit with a diamond sword, who turned around just in time. Their swords clashed, but Fruit retreated for a second and came back with a crit crashing on False's chest plate. False winced and retreated, her momentum disrupted. But with the cheers from the audience, False surged forward again and started chasing Fruit. Fruit turned around occasionally to shoot her with pellets. False put up a valiant fight that Ren passionately narrated, but as expected, Fruit won the battle.

"Ooh I got twelve kills!" Fruit chuckled as he glanced at the leaderboard. The spectators were sufficiently impressed, with one even screaming, "TWELVE KILLS? DAMN, FRUIT!"

Fruit laughed and scratched the back of his neck. "Will it be too much to hope for a similar performance in the Championship?"

"False tied for second place with three kills and Ren tied for fourth with two kills? LET'S GOOO!" H roared, hugging his teammates despite all of them being sweaty.

"Well dudes, I guess we've done our best to train our PvP skills! I feel like the only thing we haven't really practiced is working together as a team," Ren admitted. "I think to make it smooth on the day, we definitely need one person to take the lead." His blue eyes scanned the other three. "I'm happy to take orders, so, y'know."

H laughed. "Well, you guys did turn me into Hmom. I can take the lead."

Ren slapped his thigh. "Oooh yeah baby, Hmamma take the wheel!" he howled.

Fruit thoughtfully tapped on his chin. "For real, I think we can do some group based training. Gimme a second, I can come up with something for us..."

-

The second practice session ended up becoming way more intense than the first one due to actual, practical PvP instead of 1v1 duels, but the Blue Bats' efforts were not in vain. Although they were physically exhausted, they were more determined to do well than ever. Even after their group practice sessions, they actually practiced daily, with Ren bumping into Martyn and Jimmy at the main campus one afternoon. The Blue Bats were truly on fire, and they wanted to do good. They needed to do good.

The day before the 9th Championship, H took his fellow Bats to the school's studio to get their Bat uniforms. He introduced them to Rose, who was a tailor that made a lot of H's clothes.

"These are so good!" H gushed on and on, gesturing to the uniforms on mannequins. Every member had a white and blue team jacket, and just like the Yaks in the 8th Championship, there was a letter on each backside that spelled out "BATS". There were also little plastic blue bat ears for every member to wear.

"Awww, this is cute." Ren poked the bat ears, a fond grin on his face. "Hey Falsie! Here are some blue goggles for you!"

"Nice," False cheered, and nodded towards Rose. "Really appreciate the attention to detail!"

"Hey Fruit, imagine you dye your hair blue for this," H joked, ruffling Fruit's hair. Fruit chuckled.

"Nah, lime is practically my brand now. Maybe I should ask Mr. Major to only put me in lime teams from now on."

After exchanging jokes about how their jackets made them look like a biker gang, they prepared to go home. The day they had worked so hard for was tomorrow, and they couldn't help but be a little nervous.

"Just to be clear," H said with a reassuring smile. "I want you guys to do good, but more importantly, I want you guys to have a good time. Give it your best!"

"We're not getting ninth anymore, dudes!" Ren broadly grinned.

"Gotta sleep early tonight," False quipped. "Big day ahead!"

Ren laughed. "Oh man, I dunno if I can sleep though, I'm so excited!"

"Go to bed or I'll knock you out, you bunch of knuckleheads," H mockingly threatened. He nodded towards Fruit. "Especially you."

"Fiiiinee."

The Blue Bats didn't know what tomorrow would bring for them, but they believed in their team.

Maybe MCC Reddit didn't believe in them. Maybe Stan Twitt didn't. Maybe the majority of the Championship audience dismissed them. Maybe they believed that they were some random 6th place team. That the hermits would drag H and Fruit down so much they couldn't even get the top half. That the hermit team would be a disappointment as always.

Because after all, they thought with a derisive laugh, what could the underdogs do?

You'll be surprised.

-

A/N: I published a Blue Bats oneshot series on this account! Check it out!

Thanks for reading, comments greatly appreciated! :D

(Also, this has no updating schedule, I will update when I feel like it. To quote what I said when I published the first chapter, "To be honest, I dunno if I have the energy/ time to finish this, but I'll do what I can when I have the inspiration lol.")