A/N: The Hole in the Wall glitch is a thing in this fic. Yes, it breaks the rules of physics, but so does about everything else. Fun how I'm writing this after the MCC 14 fiasco. (I firmly believe H did NOT do anything wrong, anyone would've used the glitch.)

I kinda wanted to make Cub go to False during the break, because he actually raided False in MCC 9 at that exact time. But then I realize if raiders could speak to participants, there would be a bunch of non-participants wandering around in the lobby, and that's not good. So they're just gonna text lmao :( Sadge, but Cub will get to join the next Championship ;D

-

I'm an alien

'Cause I'm not of this world

I have a name

but I've been changed, and now I can't stay the same

-

Parkour Warrior was the third game chosen for the 9th Championship, and the hermits were understandably nervous. "Here we go," Ren determinedly repeated to himself as he leapt between platforms.

Ren was already struggling with the first few orange levels while his teammates rushed forward. H and Fruit started pointing out the differences and how much more difficult it was compared to the practice course. Ren could see people zooming past him, and he clicked his tongue in frustration.

H's voice comfortingly came through the intercom. "Ren, if you need any help, don't hesitate to ask us. We're here to help you. Same thing for False, same thing for Fruit." H had probably realized the hermits were quieter than usual because they were too focused to speak.

"Yep," came False's voice. She sounded a little strained. "Just concentrating."

"I'm doing okay," Fruit said. "I think I'm in second. Yeah, I'm a hundred percent in second place."

"Sweet!" Ren replied automatically.

"It's me and someone from the yellow team. Oh no, they changed this ladder— what is this?!" Fruit exploded, partly horrified, partly fascinated.

False chuckled. "I knew they would change quite a lot."

"You need speed for this," Fruit mumbled to himself as he presumably tried the level again. "Ooooh my God that was hard," he choked out. "Okay. Well, I did it."

"I'm on the panes," False told everyone. "Let's take it easy."

Ren was approaching the green section with the "windows jump". There were windows in the wall, but to add to the difficulty, trap doors were placed inside the windows, making them even smaller. Ren vaguely remembered H and Fruit talking about the new changes some minutes earlier, but it was only now that he could see it for himself.

Fruit spoke up. "They changed the uh— Ren, you know that rail section that you struggled with before?"

"Yeah?"

Fruit was laughing. "They changed it completely."

"Ohh, nice." Ren was somewhat relieved, but two things: he wasn't sure if he could even get there, and heck, what if they made that level even more difficult?

"I'm in first place, I think," Fruit notified the team nonchalantly. It wasn't a flex, or encouragement, or pressure. It was just a statement.

"We're in first," H said, referring to the team leaderboard. "All of us."

(Ren thought about how he was still stuck on the same section for two minutes now, and everyone else was in front of him.)

"Nice," False panted. "Keep it going."

"I'm literally in first overall," Fruit said just as nonchalantly.

"These new window jumps are tough," Ren groaned as he failed again for the umpteenth time.

"Yeah, you need to line it up. You can shift to the edge of the slab and jump," False offered.

"Noooo!" Fruit cried out, sounding like he was in pain. "They added trapdoors to the yellow section!" Even the parkour master was getting a little annoyed, and his teammates couldn't help but giggle.

"They just added trapdoors everywhere because they know everyone hates them!" False burst out, laughing. "Evil! Evil Championship!"

Ren finally did the windows jump, and moved on to the legendary painful panes that he and False disliked so much. False had mentioned the panes some minutes ago, but of course she had moved on. Ren sighed, and braced himself.

"I'm gonna lose my first place here in a sec," Fruit said casually. Fruit's chillness was great, because it sounded like he wasn't tilted at all. He was getting first? Nice! He was losing his first place! Also nice!

"No worries man," False replied reassuringly, but she was quickly distracted. "Wait H, how did you do the ladder jump?! The heck!"

Ladder... Ren turned the word over in his mind. Fruit had also mentioned a difficult ladder jump earlier, and if it was hard for him and False, how hard would it be for him?

H pondered his words. "I... just kinda went for it and hoped for the best," he sheepishly admitted.

"... So you just let go and try to land on it?"

"Yeah, yeah. That's how I did it."

"How? I-I don't think that's possible! I dunno how to do it!" False was sounding a little panicky now.

"I barely made it? I think it's just gonna be practice for you," H said. "Might just be falling over and over again."

"Do I just let go of the ladder and try to jump towards it in the air?"

"Yeah!"

Ren wasn't paying close attention to his teammates because he was currently speeding through the levels (or at least, he was going as fast as he could, which he thought wasn't very fast, but anyways). No one was next to him, which was comforting (he had more space to move around ) and not (he was behind and he was probably dragging his team down. Fun).

"What did they change?" Ren asked, hoping to be better prepared for future jumps.

"The ladder jumps. Y'know, that one with the entire wall full of ladders," False informed him. "It's really difficult now. It's not good at all."

"Ah, okay."

"I'm not getting anywhere near it!" False exclaimed. Her words were coming out quicker and quicker, which was a sure sign she was getting frustrated. "That's the problem!"

"BOOM!" Fruit gleefully shouted. He had also adopted Ren's way of saying things. "I was the first one to finish ice trapdoors! Let's goooooo!"

"Fruitberries was the first player to complete Stage 7-1: The Sneaky Jumper!" The Championship Commentator boldly announced. Ren felt sweat drip down his back. Fruityloops was at Stage 7 already? Well, to be fair, Fruit was a Green God. His performance was expected, but still wholly impressive.

"Fruit, you're doing amazing!" H whooped.

"Nice, dude." Ren exhaled, and clambered up the walls. This must be the ladder jump False was talking about. He glimpsed a familiar shade of blonde hair and exhaled in relief. Finally, a familiar face! "Hey, Falsie."

"Hey." False looked exhausted, and she was clutching onto the ladder closest to the edge. In order to go through that level, players had to drop from the ladder and somehow grab onto the ladder on the platform below. The problem was the platform was a tad too far to the right, and people were barely missing it. Ren watched as False fell, then he also jumped, but ended up doing exactly what False did. They both crashed on the trampoline floor below.

Ren winced, and rubbed his arms. He stumbled to his feet, but False was still lying there. She was probably exhausted by trying and failing the same jump over and over again.

"You've caught up to me," False panted. She looked miserable. "I'm gonna be stuck here for the whole game."

Ren stretched out a hand. "Well, at least you have me now, and we can both fail at this together!" He said brightly to lighten the atmosphere.

"No, no, False, don't think like that," H called out. "Just thrust your body towards the ladder and hope for the best."

False let Ren pull her up, and managed a smile. "Yeah... I guess."

The two hermits tried again, only to fail. False barely managed to roll out of the way before Ren also came tumbling down. "I was flinging my arms like a madwoman," she laughed.

A little bit slower now, the hermits clambered their way to the ladder again. They had attempted this multiple times and they didn't even get close to the ladder. False and Ren stood there, side by side, to catch their breaths.

"... I really hope we're not gonna be stuck here for the rest of the game," False muttered.

Ren was more optimistic (probably because he hadn't tried as much False did). "We got this dudes, we got this."

False was glaring at their target ladder like it was her sworn nemesis. "I just don't know how to get there..."

As False stood there and brainstormed solutions, Ren impulsively stepped off the ladder, and expected to feel the trampoline below him. But instead, he was suddenly holding onto the ladder they were supposed to jump to. Ren was so surprised, he nearly fell off.

"REN!" False exclaimed, totally shocked. They stared at each other, faces sweaty but delighted.

"You just did it in one!" False continued incredulously, but she was beaming. "What the heck, man! Yesss Ren!"

Ren could hardly believe it. "Yessss baby!"

"How— how did you do it?"

"I just... I just fell," Ren confessed. "I..."

He glanced at the gap between him and False. The wall False was on jutted out from his, and Ren had to crane his neck to even see False, who was above and to his left. False was clinging onto the rightmost of her ladder, while Ren's feet were dangling in mid air. He hauled himself up so he could stand on the ladder steps. And suddenly, it hit him.

All this time, False was aiming for the top part of his ladder, and so she tried to jump towards that. But in reality, the gamemakers wanted players to fall towards the bottom part of the ladder. Ren could see that the handles on the bottom part were protruding so they could be easier to grab on to. It was actually ridiculously simple.

They had to fall, not jump. Let gravity take its course, and then reach out and grab onto the handles. That was how Ren made it. And if they kept on stubbornly aiming for the top half of the ladder, they would never make it.

"False, you really have to let go," Ren said, echoing H's words from earlier. "You have to fall, not jump. Fall towards the thicker handles here instead of jumping towards the top."

False glanced at him, worried. Of course she would be— free-falling sounded dangerous, and it felt risky. You could jump in any direction. If you fell, well— your only destination was the ground, and you couldn't control that.

Ren wondered if she was nervous. "It's okay. I can wait here for you."

"Don't wait for me!" False cried out, sounding almost offended, but Ren knew she was just stressed. "It's a competition!"

"You can fall," Ren reassured her. "Trust yourself. You'll be able to grab onto the ladder."

Ren scooted aside so False had space to land. He watched as she took a deep breath, then fell. As expected, she fell near the ladder, and she could easily reach out and land. She exchanged triumphant smiles with Ren. "Let's goooo!"

"Well, I guess it's nice you caught up to me." False grinned. "And you could show me the ropes."

Ren smiled good-naturedly. "Yeah, yeah."

Together, the hermits proceeded to the next level. As they jumped and leaped, Fruit coolly stated, "Dream took my lead."

"We got this, don't worry!" Was H's immediate reply. "You're doing amazing, Fruit!"

"Umm, thank you," Fruit replied a bit sheepishly.

"Fruityloops, the fact that you can go through the new bits like it's nothing just blows my mind," Ren couldn't help but say, but quickly returned his focus to the blue section in front of him. "Ohh man, they changed this bit I trained so hard for." This was probably the section Fruit told him (way) earlier.

Fruit was sections ahead of them, but he was struggling too. "Uh oh, I'm in trouble. They changed 8-2 a lot."

H remained unfaltering. "We got this!"

False finished the rails section quicker than Ren, but she turned around to wave and call out, "You got this, Ren! Just take your time, dude." Ren nodded, too tired to even speak.

Fruit was giving them updates on which S tier was with him ("Ooh, here's Quig!" "Ah, Dream choked this!"), which was... nice. But it also served as a reminder of the difference in their skills. Ren jumped, then fell, and climbed up. He jumped, and failed again. He groaned out loud.

"Oooh, this yellow one is harder. Y'know, the leap one," False said. H agreed. Ren had no idea what they were talking about, but he trusted their word.

"I got halfway through, but it's so long it's just... it's insane." False exhaled. "I wish I had a bit more time for this one. I'll definitely get it."

"We're all stuck in 8-2," Fruit announced. "No one can beat 8-2."

Ren was still stuck on Stage 5 with a bunch of people, and it was funny to hear Fruit talk about how he and all the parkour masters were stuck. It seemed like everybody was struggling, no matter their skill level. "Well, that's the goal, isn't it?" Ren chuckled.

There was a pause as everyone focused on their sections. Ren finally made it to the final platform of his section, and leapt— only to miss it by an inch. His fingernails futilely scratched the wall, and then he plummeted. "NOOOOO!" he cried out in agony.

"You got it Ren, let's do it!" Even though Ren couldn't see H, he could picture his signature wide grin.

"I missed the final jump, man!" Ren complained.

"It's alright! Let's get it, king!" H cheered. His voice quieted as he returned to musing about his own jumps. "Ugh, I keep on missing one small jump I shouldn't be missing..."

The timer was ticking, and before they knew it, there were only forty seconds left. Their hearts started thumping faster and faster, their hands getting drenched in more and more sweat.

"Keep going, guys." Fruit probably realized he couldn't do anything now because no one could get past 8-2. "Me and about seven people are here."

Ren's limbs were shaking as he attempted jump after jump. He'd practiced this section so much only for it to be completely revamped, and now it felt like he had never put in effort at all—

"HBomb94 competed Stage 7: Ice!" The Commentator boomed, and Ren managed a quick smile. At least H got through a stage when there were literally twenty seconds left. (Not like Ren, who was still failing.)

Time was up, and Ren collapsed on the ground. He had spent the last ten seconds desperately jumping, but instead of making progress, he just tired himself out. But then again, Ren wasn't going to give up. He had struggled to the end, and he was proud of it.

"Man, I'm so sorry dudes," Ren murmured, dejected. Not a single one of his Bats were in sight (because they were all ahead of him). "They changed the rail one, and it's just..."

"You're sorry?! Waddya mean you got to the rail one?!" H aggressively interrupted. "Let's go!"

Ren was still upset. "It caught me, man, and..."

"WADDYA MEAN SORRY? GET OUTTA HERE, REN!" H screamed into Ren's intercom. "You kicked ass!! DON'T forget it!" Ren couldn't help but smile after hearing H's compliments. Ren knew H had watched his and False's VODs, and H could see they both improved a lot.

After Parkour Warrior was finished, participants had to walk all the way to the beginning and back to the Decision Dome. Ren decided to wait for False, who was just a few levels in front of him. He sat down, leaned against a wall, and took a sip of cool water. His limbs were still shaking from exertion, and he hoped he wouldn't spill his drink.

"Hey Ren!"

Ren turned to see a familiar face, and grinned. "Yo Martyn, what's cracking baby?"

Martyn tapped his ear intercom, a sign that he was listening to his team Pink Parrots. "Nothing, they're just jokingly saying I let the whole team down!" He laughed.

Ren sighed. "You and me both, dudes."

"Aaaand we're tenth now, so there goes our lordships," Martyn remarked. When Ren raised an eyebrow, he explained, "We're all gonna buy land and name ourselves lords if we don't get last. It's our running joke."

"Nice." Ren thought about how he and False were determined to "not get ninth". "You waiting for someone, Martyn?"

"Uhh, yeah! There's Jimmy and Joel over there— and I think that's False."

All three of them had managed to proceed further than Ren and Martyn (who were both stuck on the same section). False and Joel were enthusiastically chatting about something. The five met up and laughed about Grian, who was stuck on Stage 3. Grian just rolled his eyes and jokingly hit Martyn.

"Stop it guys, you know I suck at parkour," Grian groaned.

"Do you know Fruit got up to 8-2?" False casually asked.

Grian's face instantly lit up. "Fruity B!! Good for him!" He cheered. Grian instantly grabbed Ren and yelled into his intercom, "CONGRATS, FRUITY B!"

"Oh my God, was that Grian?" Fruit laughed on the other side.

"Umm, yeah!" Ren replied as he shot looks at Grian. "He's rather... excited."

But soon the merry group of hermits and Pink Parrots had to break up because it was time to vote for the fourth game. False and Ren met up with H and Fruit, and they eagerly discussed current team rankings.

"For Parkour Warrior, we got second place basically," H shrieked. There were less than fifty coins between the second place and the Blue Bats. "Let's go! LET'S GO!"

The individual leaderboards were displayed. Fruit was up to 8-2, H 8-1, False 6-2 and Ren 5-2.

"Alright!" Ren lifted his chin. "That's not too bad. I'm happy with that. I'm pleased with that—"

"FALSE, YOU GOT TO 6-2 AS WELL?!" H screamed.

"Nice!" Fruit whooped, his calm voice a stark contrast to H's excited one.

"Who ARE these different players?!" H demanded, shaking False's shoulders. "You've changed so much since the last one!!"

"Because you two taught us!" Ren exclaimed. He was properly laughing now, and so was False. "We're so much better now, thanks to Hmamma and Fruityloops."

The overall team rankings were now shown, and the Blue Bats could maintain being in the top half of teams. "Right, we're in fourth by a very small margin," Fruit announced.

"I can't believe how close the top scores are too." Ren squinted at the leaderboard. Aqua was in first with 5633 coins, Green in second with 5460, Lime in third with 5370, and his Blue Bats at 5190. "This is a crazy MCC, guys. Geez."

"And it's about to get crazier!" H cheered. His legs were shaking and he was leaning against a wall for support, but that didn't stop his enthusiasm one bit. "Let's go!"

"Okay, so, what we need to think of now is, what will they not be able to coordinate on, and we will," Fruit told everyone. "Since we're approaching the second half of the Championship now, and the multiplier starts to matter."

"Yup, yup."

The selection of games rolled in, and the Bats studied their choices carefully.

"Okay, so which of these do you not want to play?" Fruit asked. "H? You listening?"

The Bats turned to H, who was staring at thin air. Maybe it was just the lighting, but H's face looked a little pale. H blinked, then waved a hand. "Sorry, spaced out for a little."

Ren gulped. "Well, for me, Hole in the Wall is my worst."

The Blue Bats once again waited for others to vote first, and it seemed like it would be between Hole in the Wall and Battle Box.

"Can we do Hole in the Wall and get it out of the way?" Ren requested. The rest of the team agreed, and so they voted.

"So fair warning guys, this is by far my worst event." Ren felt the need to inform everyone.

"Yeah, because your fake inflatable abs get in the way," False said cheekily.

"But I'm hoping the parkour practice will make me better!" Ren said optimistically.

False patted Ren's shoulder with a smile. "I think it will!"

"Just aim for the center of the holes," Fruit suggested. "Line yourself up and you'll be fine."

As expected, Hole in the Wall was chosen, and the Blue Bats cheered to encourage each other. They had done good, and they would do better.

"Let's win the Championship!" H wildly screeched.

"Let's win ALL Championships!" Ren yelled, matching H's energy. "Every single Championship! LET'S GOOOO!"

H grinned. "This is our Championship! We're totally owning it!"

-

The end is where we begin

It's crawling back when

We run away, run away

-

"Pay massive attention, guys. Once you beat a jump, immediately look for the next one," Fruit instructed. The participants stood next to the Hole in the Wall platform as they waited for the game to be set up. H was sitting down. Parkour had taken a toll on him, but he was sure a bit of rest was all he needed. Besides, he couldn't let his team down! He'd even gotten to 8-1, and that was huge for him.

"Make call outs on what you see," H added on. "Just make sure you're paying attention at all times. The big thing is, you don't have to come in first. And False, you know my tip for you. If you can move forward, do it."

False nodded. "No edges. Yeah yeah yeah."

"Give yourself space to make a mistake."

"Mmhmm."

"Let's GET IT!" H roared, surprising participants near him. "Can't wait to place first on this!"

"Let's gooo!" Ren echoed.

"So right now, Aqua's in the lead," H pointed out. "But it's because the games have been catered to them so far. So if they get Sands of Time, I don't think they're gonna do too hot on that."

"Hmm, yeah, I think that's where they struggle," Fruit agreed.

The participants were now allowed to climb up the platform. Hole in the Wall was usually a noisy and confused affair due to the sheer number of people crowded in one small spot. Not to mention if you jumped fast enough and you were lucky, you might be able to "pass through" the walls. This was because the walls were made softer as not to injure players, and they ended up becoming so soft and malleable you could literally walk through them occasionally. Of course, a lot of it relied on luck, but it was a last ditch effort used by practically everyone. Veterans taught that to new players, and you would cheer if someone on your team "passed through" impossible walls. It was how the Championship worked.

The first round of Hole in the Wall started, and at first, all the participants were doing fine. There wasn't anything too difficult, the gaps were large, and the walls were slow. Then jumps started to be required.

"Jump a little early," H reminded his teammates. "That's the biggest tip I can give."

"Yup, yup."

The participants were shouting out wall directions and colours, with someone occasionally yelling out a wrong direction to troll people. Most participants went with the flow, and did their best to pass through holes. It wasn't long before they had their first elimination— Spifey.

H inhaled, then exhaled. His breath was coming out in smaller and smaller pants. This was one of his best games. If Fruit had Parkour Warrior, H had Hole in the Wall. It was crucial he had to do good for his team.

The sun mockingly glinted above him. H's legs were still as wobbly as they were after Parkour Warrior— huh, that wasn't good. H gritted his teeth and tried to pull himself together. Beads of perspiration dripped from his forehead, but he could barely feel them.

Colours and directions and voices started to slur together. Vivid spots of pink and orange and magenta danced in his vision— wait, were these colours supposed to be in the game? H stared up at the bright sun—

then his body tilted—

and his vision became black.

-

And I'm a loser if that means I've been lost before

but now I found it, I'm surrounded

'Cause you can hear the way it sounded

-

"... that round should be reset..."

"No... they can't do that..."

"I just... he's okay..."

"... so worried..."

Head hurt. Hands sweaty. Mouth dry. Head hurt.

"We should give him some space though..."

"I know, but geez. Hmamma really freaked me out—"

Hmamma? There was only one person who called him that.

H's eyes opened, and he was met with a blue tent above him— ahh, so he was in one of the first aid tents. He could see some blurry figures roaming around. Those were probably his Bats.

Wait.

He was in the first aid tent? What happened? Did he faint? Oh no—

"Ahh, so you're awake." A familiar voice. Cherry Twitt. H felt a cup pressed against his lips. "Good to see you. Take a sip."

H did so, his actions slow and mechanical. He didn't know why, but the way water trickled down his parched throat felt so foreign.

"I fainted?" H murmured after he was able to speak.

"You did," Cherry confirmed. "We managed to get you out before a wall could hit you. The game went on though, but they postponed the second and third rounds until we know how you're doing."

"Ughhh..." H raised a hand to his forehead. "So I got 39th?"

"Yeah. Kinda surprised you asked about that first."

"Well," H exhaled, "don't wanna let my Bats down."

"Speaking of them, they're over here." Cherry waved the rest of H's teammates over. "Guys! H's awake!" She then turned to H and commented, "A lot of your friends from other teams wanted to see you, but I only let in your team because this place is gonna be crowded."

"Ah." H was feeling guilty for worrying all his friends and disrupting the Championship, but those negative thoughts were chased away when his friends rushed towards him.

The Bats were understandably very concerned, with Fruit nearly yanking his hair out. "I was with you at the end of parkour!" Fruit blubbered, voice going higher and higher. "I should've noticed you didn't look too good—"

False shoved bananas and home-baked banana bread into H's arms. "You need the energy, H."

H shot her a smile. "Thanks for that, Banana Girl."

Ren sat next to H and started fanning him. "You alright, Hmamma? Wanna take a break from the Championship?"
"HELL NO!" H cried out way more aggressively than he wanted to. Cherry raised an eyebrow. "H, don't force yourself," she reminded him.

"I'll be fine. Really," H insisted. He downed another cup of water and started munching on the banana bread. (Man, False was good at baking. He should ask her for one of those iced Stan Twitt cookies that Fruit liked so much.) "I just didn't drink or eat enough after Parkour Warrior. I'll be fine. 'Sides, I was probably having a bad day. And it's quite hot."

"It is hot," Ren replied cautiously. "But for realsies, H, you gotta put your health above all. Don't push yourself. It's not going to pay off, and it's not good."

"I know," H replied, his mouth full of bananas. "I'm the Hmom, right? I know how to take care of myself. Don't worry."

His Bats shared uneasy looks. "Alright, if you say so..."

H could tell they were all worried. "If you think I'm really pushing myself, feel free to knock me out. I know Fruit's more than capable; he beats me every time we duel," he said humorously. Fruit managed to grin.

H rested for a few moments, then decided to ask how everyone else did after he fainted. False got 29th, Ren 27th, and Fruit 6th. Granted, all participants were a little flustered by HBomb fainting, but Noxcrew couldn't reset the round. At least there were two more rounds of Hole in the Wall later.

Ren scratched his head. "Yeah, see, this is why Hole in the Wall is one of my bad games."

"What do you mean?" H cried out. He slapped Ren's arm. "It was a good try, Ren! You beat me!"

"You fainted though, it doesn't count!" Ren laughed.

"But I mean... this is my game," H confessed. "Getting 39th was upsetting. I'm actually really good at this."

"Aww man." Ren patted H's back. "It's all good though! It's all good! We have two more rounds of this. Gotta put that behind you, Hmamma!"

H grinned cheekily. "Just gonna have to get first in the next two rounds, let's go!"

Now the Bats could see that H was back to his usual strength, and relief flooded their faces. "THAT'S what I'm talking about!" Ren boomed. "Let's go, baby!"

When H walked out of the first-aid tent, friends crowded around him, all anxious about H. H swatted their worries away. In the corner of his eye, H could see False and Ren around someone from the Orange team— it was Pearl, one of their 3-G friends.

"Pearl, you did amazing!" H could hear Ren cheer. "You got 3rd! You must have been practicing a lot."

Pearl chuckled. "Well, I did promise myself I would return stronger for the 9th Championship after we got massacred last time."

H was delighted that Tubbo got first, and hugged Tubbo and called him his BFF. "Don't faint next time!" Tubbo just screamed at H.

Noxcrew and Scott were certainly a little shaken up by H's incident, so they performed checks on every participant to make sure they were physically okay. And so half an hour later, the second round of Hole in the Wall finally started. (Stan Twitt was fuming because they had no patience for anyone, including the UwU people they stanned. Stan Twitt was one of those people who eagerly anticipated the Championship and yet would throw a fit if there was a minor problem. It was like they didn't appreciate Noxcrew and Scott at all.)

The second round started innocently enough, then Fruitberries was accidentally knocked off and got 39th. It was almost an exact mirror of what H did earlier. "I JUMPED!" he screamed in protest, but there was nothing he could do.

"The game's against us!" H roared. "A lot of people just died though, so we got this."

Fruit stood on the sidelines and called out colours and directions. Soon, participants were required to jump to get through the holes, and the holes were getting progressively higher.

"Phew! That was difficult!" False panted after she and the remaining two Bats successfully jumped over a wall.

"Niceee, Falsie!" Ren cheered—

Then one wall eliminated more than half of the remaining participants, False included. Amidst the anguished yells, H grabbed a confused Ren and guided him through the approaching wall. H knitted his eyebrows together. There were around ten people left. He and Ren had bested three-quarters of the participants.

"Let's go! You guys are killing it!" Fruit called out.

Participants were falling off, and the walls were coming quicker than ever. Ren was swiftly eliminated, and there was just H left. He nimbly darted and jumped through the holes, and tried not to pay attention to how many people were still alive. H had just fainted, but he had never felt more alive—

"Round over!" The Championship Commentator boomed. "HBomb94 is the last player standing!"

H eagerly pumped his fists in the air. "LET'S GOOOOO!" he hollered. He was so joyful he could kiss the ground (except it had been trodden on by forty pairs of feet).

"NICEE!" "Hmamma, LET'S GO!" His teammates were similarly excited, and frantically waved from the side.

"I GOT NERFED ON THE FIRST ROUND!" H yelled, and everybody clapped and laughed.

H was ecstatic. He had gotten 39th last time, and now he was 1st. He literally went from zero to hero. Just like how he was sure the hermits would go from placing 10th to 1st.

... The pieces were all coming together. Failing, then getting up, then ultimately winning. It was the classic success story— the classic underdogs story.

And H could see it unfolding right in front of his eyes.

Too bad he could never quite convince his three teammates to believe it.

"Right, let's go. Again," False said as everyone else made their way to the platform again.

"My heart rate is through the roof!" Ren burst out, his eyes wide. Fruit was still quietly laughing to himself, probably to hide his pain of getting 39th last time.

"I-I dunno what to say," Fruit muttered. He then massaged his temple. "I messed up."

"It's all good, Fruity."

"You pulled a me," H humorously quipped. "Except don't actually faint, because I'll be heartbroken if you do so."

The third round began, and the first wall surprisingly knocked out a lot of people, including Ren. "Nooo, I'm out first!" Ren burst out, and the Bats could hear his voice fade as he fell down. "Stupid yellow wall—"

H laughed. "A lot of people died! You're okay, don't worry about it. Just brush it off. Fruit and I died first too in the last two rounds, so maybe it's our curse!"

"That was a really unfair first wall too!" Ren spoke through the intercoms. "Wow. Brutal."

False agreed. "Yeah, it got a handful of people."

The three Bats were doing fine until a wall came behind them, and when they noticed, it was too late. False was immediately knocked off, and Fruit and H got through without a millisecond to spare. "Agh! I couldn't spin around to look at it!" False exclaimed.

"You're amazing, Falsie," Ren responded passionately. "You did so good."

Judging from the amount of people that were on the platform, False probably got around 15th, which was indeed amazing. "Thanks, I wasn't breathing," False laughed.

Fruit was out a few walls later, and like last time, it was just H remaining. There were six or five participants left, and H reckoned he was doing pretty good. "Nice, H!" Ren screamed. "You got this!"

Three participants left. H's eyes nervously darted around for the next wall, but he didn't know where it was until he felt something nudge into his side. False cried out "behind you!", but it was too late. H was knocked off, and landed on the trampoline. "Blue Bats have all been eliminated!" The Commentator announced.

The three Bats hurried to help H up. "Well played, dudes!" "Wow, that was great!"

The third round of Hole in the Wall quickly concluded after H fell off, and just like that, the fourth game of the 9th Championship was over. "We got second!" Fruit yelled in delight, and H turned to look at the leaderboard for Hole in the Wall. "Ohh look at that— we pretty much got first here!"

Lime Llamas was the best performing team in Hole in the Wall with 2496 coins earned. Blue Bats was in second with 2472. Upon seeing the scores, H groaned.

"If I didn't faint, we would've been first." H was very certain about that, and he was mad at himself for fainting.

Fruit tossed H his water bottle. "It's okay! Don't beat yourself up over it."

"SECOND PLACE AND I FAINTED IN THE FIRST ROUND!" H boldly proclaimed. Several participants jumped, spooked by the loud noise. "WE GOT THIS!"

"And I think that's history for Falsie and I!" Ren chimed in, his grin wide. "This-this is the best we've done yet!"

"LET'S GO!" H screamed, hyped.

"Well played, guys!" A happy Ren nodded at his teammates. "Twenty four points from first? Wow."

The overall rankings were about to be shown, and the Blue Bats held their breath. Were they able to maintain their fourth place? Could they still be in the top half of the teams despite H fainting during the first round? They clutched each other nervously as the numbers started to pop up.

"Ohh my God, look at the whole event," Fruit gasped. Lime was still in lead with 7866 coins, but Blue was right behind them at 7662!

"DUDES!" Ren was literally shaking in excitement. His look of unadulterated joy was mirrored by his fellow hermit False. Doubtless the hermits had never placed anywhere near second. Despite being tired after Hole in the Wall, they grabbed each other's hands and started to jump madly.

"LET'S GO!" H yelled again. He'd lost count of how many times he uttered that phrase, but hey, it was one he would repeat again and again and never get tired of it.

"Second place!" Ren somehow looked like he was close to tears. False was laughing so much she literally couldn't speak. Ren wiped his eyes and took a second to compose himself.

"Oookay. Now the sweating is starting!"

Trust Ren to say something like that.

"No, now's the time for a quick break!" H gestured at the large timer above the Decision Dome.

"Aaand time for the Audience Takeover." False exhaled. She clearly knew she had no say when it came to the Audience Takeover. Everybody knew it was controlled by a select number of participants and Stan Twitt.

So everybody refreshed themselves during break time. "WE'RE NOT NINTH TODAY!" Ren proudly cried to everyone. "Not. Ninth. Today! My dudes! It ain't happening!" False snapped a photo of the Blue Bat's current rank to commemorate that "they were second once", then started texting Cub about the Championship. H ambled closer to the individual scoreboards and found Technoblade in first and Fruit in fourth. H was in sixth, and H was pretty happy with that.

"What game are we playing here?" Fruit asked as he munched on False's banana bread. "Techno said Battle Box, Spifey said Battle Box, and they're on the same team. No one else said anything, I think."

H frowned and squinted at his phone. "...Looks like it's Battle Box?"

"Yeah, I think so. It's a hundred percent Battle Box."

H laughed. Technoblade's power was never to be underestimated.

"Actually, no, Dream can make it whatever game he chooses," Fruit quipped. "He just hadn't said anything yet."

"The big peeps sway the votes," False laughed. She was perched on a wall and swinging her legs as she idly gazed at her phone.

"Our votes don't matter!" H chimed in, also humorously. "We're irrelevant compared to Dream's fanbase!"

Every other participant understood the reality of the voting scenario, and chose to make fun of it. "What will Dream decide!" Mefs of Yellow Yaks cried out. His teammate Quig laughed. "Or Techno?" Everybody knew they would be playing whatever Techno or Dream wanted.

"... I want Rocket Spleef, but it's getting a pathetically small amount of votes," False noted. "It's so sad. Popularity really is power, huh."

Fruit tapped his chin. "I wanna play Battle Box anyways, so..."

"I'm just glad Sands of Time stays till the end." H, of course, had to mention his beloved Sands of Time.

"Yeah, I would want to get Battle Box out of the way."

"As long as Survival Games isn't last, or isn't the one before the last, we're gonna do good," H promised. "We're in second right now!"

H started to pace back and forth. "Everyone predicting 6th place Blue Bats, not looking good for them, is it?" H said cheekily.

Fruit chuckled. "We're just gonna win!"

"Yeah, we're out here performing!"

"We're only behind Lime by 200 and we're ahead of Aqua by 400. But if it's Battle Box, Aqua's gonna take a lead on us," H admitted. "So we have to get that game out of the way. Red Rabbits will also do decent during this, and Cyan... what's going on with Cyan?" he asked, dismayed.

Cyan had Pete, Puffy, Sparklez, and Kara. They were predicted to be a decently strong team, and it was a little sad seeing them at 7th.

"Don't count them out!" Fruit replied automatically. "Don't count them out like how Reddit counted us out!"

"I'm not!" H answered. "I'm just surprised to see them down there!"

"I dunno! I don't think Pete did too well in To Get To The Other Side—"

"True."

"—and I don't think Puffy did either?"

"Pete is in seventh individual, by the way. Which is... unheard of for Pete."

"Yeah, but only half of the games have been played. I trust him to do well."

They were quiet for a second as Fruit checked the voting and H pondered the individual ranking. False hopped off the wall and went off to presumably find Ren and Grian.

"Wait!" Fruit abruptly cried out, panicked. "It— it might be SG!"

H's heart sank, and he instantly checked Twitter. It felt like a bucket of cold water had been dumped over him. "Yeah. Dream said SG."

Of course. Of course the most popular participant would want Survival Games, the exact game he and his Bats had been avoiding every second. Fantastic luck they were having.

"I don't wanna look at it!" Fruit wailed. He and H shared pained looks. Survival Games was very risky, and their team might lose their second place if it was played.

"Wait! It might not be SG! Dream did it too late!" Fruit yelled gleefully. "Or not... SG might still win..."

False approached them, and peered over H's shoulder. "Hey guys! Which game's winning?"

Fruit was once again tearing his hair out. "SG might win!" he moaned. "Nooooo!"

"It's between Battle Box and Survival Games," H informed False in a calmer tone than Fruit (which was rare, because Fruit was usually the calm one). "But they're basically the same for us."

"Basically." False sighed. "Man, PvP games... but now that I think about it, I might prefer Survival Games?"

All of them stared as the votes slowly increased. Battle Box was in the lead with 45.7% of the votes, and Survival Games was narrowly behind at 42.3%. Survival Games could creep up at any moment now and wipe the Blue Bats out. Time was ticking down, and H felt sweat drip down his leg—

"It's Battle Box." Fruit exhaled in relief, and dramatically flopped on H. "It's so close though! Holy shi-"

"Alright guys." Ren suddenly entered the conversation (maybe it was to prevent Fruit from swearing). "We got this, baby."

"Yeah, we do!" Then a thought struck H. "Hey, Ren and False! What does it feel like being in second?"

Their cheeks instantly flushed, and Ren stuttered out a few nonsensical words before blurting out, "I'm pinching myself, man! Is this a dream? Am I in the Matrix? Wh-what's happening?"

H wagged a finger in front of Ren's nose. "Nah nah nah! This is you carrying us! Let's go!"

"It feels... unreal," False confessed, twisting her fingers. "And... well, at least Ren and I got second for once! We're gonna remember this!"

Ren hopped to the left and to the right like an excited puppy. "Dudes!" he exclaimed, a sunny smile on his face. "Can I just quickly say that it's been a rough year for everybody? And it's such a pleasure meeting you two and hanging out, y'know? You guys are such gents, you've been so nice to us, and—"

Warmth gushed into H's heart. "AAAAWW! You're giving me goosebumps!" H cried out. "Stop it!"

"Seriously, man!" Ren couldn't stop smiling. "You guys are great! I'm having such an awesome time!"

"This is why I love the Championships!" H cried out. "This is the chance I get to meet new people! I mean we kinda met before the Championship, but—"

"We really got closer because of it," Ren finished H's sentence.

"I always try to team up with new people," H told him, then broadly grinned. "I like how we can make each other better! Let's kick the booty together!"

The Blue Bats sat down on a bench and waited for the second half of the Championship. At one moment, the Pink Parrots waved at Blue, with Grian waving especially vigorously, and the Bats waved back.

An incident surfaced in H's mind. "Y'know, Dream, the leader of the student council, said he wanted to make an event. But then he saw the Championship and said 'I just can't beat that. There's no point in making another event.'"

"Yeah! How could you? Noxcrew's a beast, and the Championship's amazing."

"It's really awesome how this Championship can connect students from different classes with different hobbies."

Ren took a sip of his drink. "And dudes, speaking of hobbies, I'm now kinda getting hooked to some parkour action, and I would like to do some more of it! It's weird because I didn't like parkour before."

"Yeah! Parkour's fun!" Fruit chimed in.

H's eyes lit up. "You like the feeling of progressing?"

"Yeah, definitely! It feels so good to get better." Ren stretched his limbs. "My skills reached a plateau, you know, and suddenly in a few weeks I'm so much better."

"I mean, your focus wasn't PvP or parkour, yeah?"

"No! It was making ginormous things! Fruityloops, you've seen it!"

False nudged Ren and laughed. "Yeah! Making ginormous things is the hermits' speciality!"

But soon, the time for idle chatter was over. They would play Battle Box soon, and Fruit led his team in warming up. The Blue Bats knew they weren't the strongest PvP team, and so they had to win by tactics. (Although H insisted so long Sands of Time was played in the end, they would get into Dodgebolt.)

Ren was optimistic as always. "We've been practicing PvP and we've been owning it up in some arenas, so let's go!"

"Let's get it!" "Let's do this!" His teammates echoed his excitement.

"Let's just hope Ren and I don't get destroyed like we were last time," False laughed, the memory of losing 8 out of 9 times fresh in her mind.

H scoffed. "Oh come on! We're gonna slay at this! I know it!"

And so with their arms linked and hearts beating as one, the Blue Bats confidently stepped into the Battle Box arena.

-

'Cause the end is where we begin

Where broken hearts mend and start to beat again

The end is where we begin

-

A/N: MCC 14 was... interesting. I'm so proud of Lime (I watched them for the whole MCC) because they were humiliated when they got DESTROYED by their ex-best game, and instead of being salty and rude (*cough cough*) they decided to have fun. Them fighting Purple in Parkour Tag was the funniest MCC thing I've ever watched, and I think my sleep deprived ass really laughed out loud at 5am because of them. ALSO during Lime vs Aqua in Battle Box, Fruit killed everyone except H, and H only killed Cub... maybe this is the fabled Blue Bats reunion? :D Anyways, I found that coincidence sweet lmao. We also got a ton of Blue Bats crumbs in the Lime stream since they were basically missing HBomb every five minutes (in TGTTOS, False even said since she was with H, she would be okay).

MCC 15 is gonna be announced in... maybe half an hour? If you're reading this, it's probably been announced lmao. So excited! Hope we get more Blue Bats stuff (and Ren vs False hahaha-)

Thanks for reading! I tried to take more creative liberties this time. Hole In the Wall was surprisingly hard to modify because the glitch is a huge part of the game. I strangely had a lot of fun writing Parkour Warrior (mostly because Ren and False were stuck on the same level and Ren got through first, and False was like ":D yessss Ren!").

Drop a comment if you enjoyed! :D

(Lyrics and title from The End is Where We Begin by Thousand Foot Krutch. It's a personal favourite song of mine <3)