A/N: It's what you've been waiting for! MCC 9 Blue Bats Survival Games Domination and Lord Grian Dreamslaying :D Welcome back to impossible physics and "this is more dangerous than it looks, please don't try this at home".

Going to take more "creative liberties" this time. The reason I was so loyal to the source material before is that Blue Bats in its pure form is a great story and I wanted to show it. But all that "story" has been building up to the climax— Survival Games. And I really want it to be dramatic yet fitting.

Also thanks to mehggie on Twitter, I found out Fruit was nice to hermits in MCC 7 Ace Race. He watched over Ren struggling (he kept an eye on Ren until Ren broke free, and it was only then when he returned to watching over his team), and when Burren jokingly said "fuck Hermitcraft, all my homies hate Hermitcraft" the team was dead silent. Probably not the wisest to say that in front of Puffy, a known Hermitcraft fan (who simultaneously looks up and looked down on False just once (1), but we'll get to that in MCC 10).

Here's further "proof" about how "story like" Blue Bats is even if it doesn't make it in the fic. Will be interesting to explore into, but alas.

Did Ren and Martyn know each other at MCC 9? Probably not. Do I care? No. Watch me create Purple Pandas 15 crumbs. I am going to do the complete opposite of what the MCC16 teams did.

- 

Everybody's building empires

Building walls high in the name of glory

-

SURVIVAL GAMES.

"Nooooo!" All four of the Blue Bats instantly groaned. It was just their luck that the game they feared the most was chosen for the seventh game. Their opponents, most notably the Lime Llamas, cheered in triumph, but their excitement sounded like mockery to False's ears.

False instinctively shot H a look. H was their leader, always unflappable and confident, but even he looked hesitant. False gulped. If even H was unsure, how could the rest of the team, well, survive Survival Games?

False sighed. Well, Ren and her had a good round this time! The hermits had gotten second place overall once, which was already legendary for them. They'd certainly learned a lot, and maybe they could have better luck next time. But it was certainly upsetting that they'd gotten this far just to have Survival Games as the second last game with a 2.5x multiplier. Absolutely pants, as Mumbo would say.

"Argh, it's game over!" False moaned, her head in her hands. But suddenly she felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Okay, it's fine though." Even when H doubted them, Ren never did. He glanced at his teammates and made eye contact with every one of them. Ren then nodded, his eyes serious and determined. "We got this dudes, we got this. Let's go."

False found herself nodding along, and saw Fruit nod as well. As always, Ren's optimism was infectious. Courage slipped back to the Bats, and they managed to share smiles.

"It's fine," H absentmindedly muttered to himself as if he was echoing Ren's words. "You're right. It's fine! We got this!" H declared. He thumped Ren's back, proud of Ren for bringing them back up.

... H had always believed in his team even when his teammates didn't believe in themselves. And when H slipped up just for two seconds, Ren was there to reassure them and motivate H the way H had motivated them all. It was alright. The Blue Bats had each other.

Survival Games was one of the games that required more time to be set up since the entire main school campus would be a battlefield. Teachers and helpers were scurrying around to place chests and loot. Since the game would start fifteen minutes later, some of the teams were mingling and chatting. False saw Green and Lime laughing and clapping each other's backs, and she shivered. The PvP teams must be very happy with Survival Games. She heard Dream wanted Survival Games back during the audience takeover, so Dream must be insanely confident he could perform well. And judging by how Dream massacred her and her team last time, Dream had good reason for his confidence. False gulped.

A voice pierced through her spiraling thoughts. "Let's eat," H ordered. "We need the energy."

False nibbled on an energy bar, but it was tasteless to her. She forced herself to swallow, and attempted to tune out the loud chattering of Green and Lime.

"Aww Dream, wish you were here with us!"

"Nah, they can't put us together because we'll be too strong. Like, we're separated but we're first and second right now! Dream Team Supremacy, am I right?"

"C'mon Dream, you know you work best with me. I'll just destroy you in Survival Games."

"Oh? I'll like to see anyone destroy me in Survival Games."

False tossed away the wrapping of her energy bar with more force than necessary. Ugh, she was acting like a spoiled child just because a game she didn't like was chosen! It wasn't like anyone else in the Championship would be upset if, let's say, Build Mart was chosen. Everybody was expected to display sportsmanship, and really, False was feeling a little ashamed.

Just as Green and Lime's chattering started to die down, to everybody's dismay, Stan Twitt came along. "UWUWUUWUUWUW!" Stanley screamed as they waved their flabby little arms. "MY MEOW MEOW!! MY BARK BARK! MUCH POGGERS! YOU GUYS ARE GONNA WIN THIS UWU! ASS GEE MY BELOVED!"

Even Green and Lime, the recipients of Stan's affection, looked slightly repulsed.

"DT WILL WIN! AND WE TOTALLY WON'T SEND DT TO PEOPLE WE DON'T LIKE!" Stan screeched. "Oh wait... just realized DT stands for both Dream Team and death threats. I-I don't know what to do with this information."

Scott took Stan's sudden confusion over the term "DT" to drag Stan away. Everybody cheered.

The abrupt, unpleasant arrival of Stan reminded False why she was fighting so hard. Stan was a horrible principal and imposed unfair rules on 3-H. False and the other hermits had to prove Stan wrong, and then overthrow the Stan regime. Winning the Championship was cool and all that, but to quote Grian, "It's all about the Principal." Lime and Green and everybody else were never the real obstacles. Everything ended up leading back to Stanley Twitt.

False stood up and brushed dust from her jacket. She was no longer scared or upset, just nervous but determined. She was filled with spite to oppose Stan. She and her friends were fighters. She needed to be in prime condition. The Blue Bats would do good, and if they had to go out, they would go out with a bang.

As if Fruit had read her mind, he placed a hand on her shoulder and said, "Don't worry too much. Remember the strategy we worked out during practice? We'll be fineeee."

"Yeah!" Ren was stretching his arms (read: flexing the muscles he got from climbing trees). "I mean, we prepared for this! We looked at that hologram! We know where to go! We got this dudes, we got this."

The Bats silently waited, but they couldn't help but be a bit intimidated. False did her best to ignore all of the teams except one— the Pink Parrots, the team with her friends. The team that was coincidentally walking towards her now.

-

Everybody's hanging high wires

It's a fine line, it's an age-old story

-

The Pink Parrots were a tiny bit disappointed with Survival Games because they were all from 3-G or 3-H and would prefer something like Build Mart, but hey, it wasn't like they had a chance to win. They just didn't want to get last and lose their chance at becoming literal lords.

Amidst all the excitement, Grian instinctively felt something was wrong even though his team was happy. Grian frowned and tried to ignore it, but dread gnawed at his stomach. Distracted, he looked up and saw the huge flashing "Blue Bats/ Pink Parrots" sign the hermits had crafted. (It was impossible to not see that ginormous thing.)

"Grian, you alright?" Joel had noticed Grian staring into the distance.

Grian shrugged. "Just... I can't help but feel worried. Not for ourselves, but for someone else." Grian sighed, and thumped his chest. "I can't explain it. It feels like someone's sending signals to my brain like 'help me'—"

"Maybe it's Ren and False? They do look a bit worried."

At Martyn's words, Grian raised his chin. His eyes instinctively latched onto the Blue Bats huddled in a corner. And suddenly Grian's "bad feeling" made sense.

"It's the Hermit Solidarity," Grian muttered, the dots connecting in his head. "They don't want Survival Games."

Jimmy heard. "What Solidarity?"

"Sorry, it's not about you, Timmy." Grian stood up. "Guys, I'm gonna talk to my fellow hermits for a second."

"Wait! We're all tagging along!" Martyn declared as he hurriedly stood up as well. "We're a team; we move together!"

"You just wanna talk to Ren—"

"You're jealous of False—"

Martyn scowled at Grian and Jimmy. "It's not my fault Ren is dashing!"

When the Pink Parrots got closer, they could see the Bats looking a little stressed. H was tapping his chin as he murmured words to himself, while Ren was absentmindedly stretching.

"Hey guys!" Grian waved. "How are you doing?"

Ren glanced at Grian. "Hey G! We're alright, just a little..." he shrugged, "worried. To be frank, Survival Games was our least wanted minigame. Aaaand now it's the seventh game."

"We're kinda screwed," False joked. "Goodbye, Dodgebolt!"

"Don't say that, False!" came H's voice automatically.

"Yeah. Okay." False took a deep breath. "We're gonna do our best, but this game... this game is pretty scary, y'know?"

Grian could see the flicker of unease in the hermits' eyes. Last time, False and Ren's team had been utterly destroyed by the 3-A PvPers. They were so exhausted that by the time bullies beat them up, they narrowly won with Cub's taser (which was against school rules but whatever). False had even collapsed, and Grian gulped when he recalled that scene— blood and sweat and despair— it was like last time when he'd lost him—

Grian inhaled. That was in the past. He had to protect the hermits now.

"WOOHOO! I can't wait to play Survival Games!"

"It's rigged in our favour now!"

The loud shouts made Grian wince. Grian spun to see the Lime Llamas still cheering in the background. He focused his stare on Not-Fruit. Dream had killed False last time, so Grian casually killed Dream. It was nothing special. Grian's bloodlust was just raging for a bit. Especially after Dream hurt his friends.

Emotion suddenly overwhelmed Grian and he stumbled forward into Ren and False's arms. Although the two were a bit confused, they hugged Grian back.

"Don't worry," Grian mumbled, his voice soft enough that no one else could hear them. "We may be on different teams, but I'll always side with the hermits."

False chuckled. "That's great, but Grian, don't turn your back on Pink! They're your teammates!"

"That's not what I meant." Grian sighed. He could feel his friends' hearts beat rapidly. "I want your team to win," he hissed in their ears. "Of course, I won't do anything that's not gentlemanly, but if anything, you guys deserve victory." Grian pulled back a little so he could stare right into their eyes. "I'll pave the way," he fiercely declared.

... There must be something different about Grian's expression, because Ren and False were looking at him like he was a changed person. Then they smiled.

Ren heartily slapped Grian's back. "We'll look out for you too, G!"

False ruffled Grian's hair. "Do your best! We won't be going easy on you!"

Grian pouted. "Yeah, I know, Fruity B has killed me twice already—"

"Aww, feeling sad about that, G?"

"I wanna team with him next time!"

"Just ask him. I'm sure he'll agree."

"Anyways." Grian swallowed, then turned to the audience on the spectator stands. The hermits were noticeable as always with their flashy signs, gongs, redstone contraptions, and Iskall's cheerleader dress. "See? Everyone at home is rooting for us."

Home. Saying that word made Grian feel warm and fuzzy inside. Ren hooted in the hermits' direction, "WE WON'T LET YOU DOWN!"

The spectating hermits probably couldn't hear him, but they could see Ren was talking, so they waved their light sticks more vigorously. Bdubs was screaming something, and Scar was so excited that he nearly fell down from the stands. Thankfully, Doc picked him up.

"Hermitcraft! Let's go!" False cheered. Ren mimed blowing kisses to the hermits, while Grian just jumped and waved. And for a few moments, everything was okay. It didn't matter whether they were on Pink Parrots or Blue Bats, because deep down, they all belonged in Hermitcraft.

A new voice entered their conversation. "Wow geez, way to exclude your other teammates."

Grian gasped, mock offended. "Joel! We were having a hermit moment!"

The hermits broke free from their hug to see their five other friends staring at them with amused looks. Ren scratched his head and chuckled. "Sorry guys. We'll get going now."

Jimmy nudged Martyn. "Looks like you weren't included in Ren's gathering of blond friends—"

Martyn scowled. "Ohhh shut it."

As everyone bickered, Grian stared at the current scoreboard. Lime in first, Green in second, and Blue in third. Pink could be Lords, and that was really cool, but Blue Bats could potentially win and finally make Stan Twitt eat their words. They could win for the hermits and by extension, the 3-GH community. Everyone would stop looking down at them.

Grian clenched his fist, and sent one final glance at False and Ren.

When Grian said he would pave the way, he meant it.

-

The first will be last

And the last will be kings

The small will be great

And the great will be weak

-

Once Pink Parrots were gone, H immediately went into business mode and turned to face his Bats. "So, the strategy we heard is: we don't go to mid and we go towards the border and loot. Is that what you guys wanna do?"

A chorus of "yeah"s greeted H. Then Ren added, "If possible, let the best PvP teams fight each other and we'll third party them."

"We'll take a normal amount of fights if we can. We're gonna want to go towards the border."

"Yep," False quietly chimed in.

Fruit nodded. "Call out if you need food stickers, armour, whatever—"

"Yep."

"Yeah."

There was a tense silence. Judging from the way conversation was slowly dying down among all participants, they would start playing soon. H cleared his throat.

"From what I saw from the testers, a player didn't go for mid and they had so much food. They just went for the border and grabbed all the chests around there before the border shrunk in."

"I've only played this once, but last time, I lost because I ran out of food," Fruit supplemented. Fruit's PvP skills were top-tier, but even he could be defeated by the lack of food stickers. Clearly, healing (and survival, of course) was important.

"Yeah. They give a lot more food, both the real ones and the fake ones. Or at least, they said they did. We haven't played it since then."

Fruit hummed noncommittally. "Okay."

Up till that point, the hermits were mostly silent because they knew they weren't the experts in this game. But then Ren piped up, "Like, we could also funnel Fruity?"

H chuckled and whooped, "Yeah!"

A smile broke out on Ren's face. "Just give him all the best stuff! Fruity deserves it!"

H, Ren and False turned towards Fruit with huge grins on their faces. Fruit shrunk, suddenly nervous.

"... False?" Fruit peeped in a tiny voice. The Bats had never heard him sound so uncertain and anxious. "... You're our PvP carry?"

False instantly made a face.

"No no no!" H was quick to give Fruit confidence. "There's layers to how good we are, and Fruit?" H flashed Fruit a smirk. "You're on the top layer."

Fruit yanked his jacket over his head shyly. "... Really?"

H nudged Fruit with a cheeky smile. "Of course! You're our Fruityloops!"

"Awww." With everyone supporting him, Fruit's nervousness slowly ebbed away. "Thanks, guys. I'll do my best!"

Ren thumped a hand on his chest. "I'm support!" he proudly declared.

'We're all support!" H whooped, hyped as always. "LET'S GO, TEAM!"

"Just in time too," False noted. Other teams started to stand up, and the Blue Bats followed suit. The teachers led the ten Championship teams towards the center of the campus, also known as "spawn" in the context of Survival Games. Because the main campus students spent more time in the campus, they would have an advantage over the hermits. Unfortunately for them, the participating hermits all had a keen interest in architecture and could pick up information easily. Not to mention the Blue Bats actually used a hologram to familiarise themselves with the campus.

The sun beat down on the forty participants. The game hadn't even begun, but beads of sweat were already forming on the participants' foreheads. Each team was huddled together on their colour-coded starting pad. Cameras, whether perched on lampposts or embedded in walls,were scattered throughout the school to track the participants (just like the Hunger Games), so although participants couldn't see the audience, they knew the audience would cheer for their every move. False and Ren saw Grian give them a tiny wave, and of course they waved back.

False, as one of the more observant teammates, quickly noted their surroundings. Tall cobblestone towers ominously rose in the distance, with smaller buildings next to them. Trees and andesite pillars dotted open space. The walkways in front of them stretched into different directions. Right next to the Blue Bats were sparse bushes, which would be slightly difficult to sneak through. Thinking they should avoid the bushes, False spun and uttered, "Should we go diagonal behind us then?"

"Ooh, interesting." H's eyes darted around. "We have Green and Yellow next to us. I'm more afraid of Green than Yellow—"

"Yep."

"—so we should go behind," H concluded, echoing False's words.

Fruit tugged on H's jacket and spoke up. "Actually, I think we should run through the bushes and get on that walkway. These bushes shouldn't be hard to run through. We'll make some noise, but we don't need to be subtle in the beginning."

Ren nodded. "I agree with Fruity. These bushes don't look too prickly, so I guess they won't get in our way."

Fruit looked mildly relieved that someone was supporting him. "After the bushes, we then go that diagonal." He subtly gestured in a direction so other teams wouldn't know about their plans. "I bet no one's going to go in that direction because they'll avoid the bushes, and we can freely loot."

H tapped his chin, his grin widening as he understood more and more of Fruit's strategy. "And then we keep going that way! Okay, I gotchu. Just need to keep away from Green."

"I'm gonna try to loot one of these two chests near that pillar beyond the bushes," Fruit mumbled to his team.

Ren squinted into the distance. "Where are we going after reaching the walkway? Ugly Cobblestone Tower Number 69?"

(Yes, they numbered the Ugly Cobblestone Towers. No, it probably wasn't 69, it was maybe 72 or 66, but it didn't matter much.)

"We're going for the border," H answered immediately. "Just like how we planned."

Fruit checked the compass strapped on his wrist, and helpfully added, "We're choosing to go southeast. Just loot everything you can."

Their strategizing was interrupted when a murmur tore through the crowd. Teams whispered among themselves and shot each other looks. Quig was feeling unwell again, and they were pausing the game for him.

"Man, the weather sure is hot today. Lots of people are feeling under the weather." Ren's tone was light, but his teammates knew his intention was anything but. "Hmama, you know what happened during Hole in the Wall. Take care and don't force yourself."

H frowned. "I'll be fine! I can take care of myself. I'll tell you guys if I do feel sick, okay?"

False laughed. "You better!"

"And dudes, remember to stay hydrated. Endurance is the key, baby." Ren paused. "I hope that didn't sound like an innuendo—"

A few minutes later, Quig was back on his feet, and everybody cheered for him. Quig waved towards the other teams as a gesture of thanks. A bell rang, and a sudden silence washed over the crowd. Jokes and smiles instantly melted away and were replaced by tense looks. The countdown had finally begun. With anxiety and anticipation twisting in their gut, the Blue Bats prepared themselves for what possibly could be the most important game in this Championship.

This was Survival Games. This was it.

Five.

H thought about the blinding sun, the heat, and Hole in the Wall. Then he thought about his team of "so-called underdogs" and how they were going to kill it at this game.

Four.

Fruit thought about the strategies he'd analyzed, the moves he'd practiced, the fun times he had with the Bats, and the exhilarating memory of bloodlust coursing through his veins.

Three.

Ren thought about funneling Fruitberries and thought about being support. He thought about Hermitcraft, and home, and how far they'd come.

Two.

False thought about how everyone believed they sucked. Well, she thought with a laugh, they were wrong.

One—

-

Everybody's building empires

But it's our time...

-

—GO!

The Bats ignored the thundering of footsteps behind them and dove into the bushes, with Fruit leading the way. Their hands furiously brushed past branches and their feet crunched on fallen leaves. Surprisingly (or not), the hermits moved through the bushes with relative ease, and ended up clearing a path for H and Fruit. The 3-A students might be fast and strong, but they weren't living on a hill like the hermits. False and Ren dragged H and Fruit out of the bushes and they hurried towards the pillar Fruit had noted earlier.

H and Fruit quickly looted the two chests, and as they did, False and Ren carried on. They had to maintain as much distance as they could from everyone. Thankfully, by choosing an unconventional path, it seemed like they had achieved that.

Fruit hastily yanked on leather boots as his eyes darted around. "That was a horrible chest!" He laughed.

"I got chainmail leggings," came H's voice from the other side. The Bats carried on, Fruit spotted a new chest, and so False went for the next chest ahead. Fruit eagerly flung open the chest, and his jaw dropped.

"I have a Flame book?" Fruit cried out. He ran his fingers across the glossy, shimmery surface of the book. "Oh my God. That is insane."

H was amused by Fruit's excitement. "Yeah, there's some nutty stuff up here."

Fire was an important part of attacking in Survival Games. Players could "enchant" their weapons by placing a book and their weapon on an anvil. The anvil would scan the book and apply the boost to the weapon. Fire Aspect enchantments (for swords) or Flame enchantments (for guns) would deal "fire damage" for a few seconds. Although no real fire was involved, and players would feel no pain, the "fire damage" could be stopped if players stepped into real water. Small ponds were scattered around the campus for that very purpose. However, the ponds were not very common, so fire damage was pretty dangerous.

"There's a chest up there." False pointed to a tree. To other students, they probably wouldn't have noticed it, but the hermits (and the creative side of the community) often dealt with foliage and they could instantly see if anything had been camouflaged.

"Nice catch, False!" H paused to stare at the tree. "This chest should be a good one since it's so well hidden."

Ren puffed his chest, and declared, "Leave me to it!" Ren swung himself up the tree with experienced moves. False watched him with a proud little smile on her face. Ren had been loyally providing logs for the hermits for a good while, and naturally he'd gotten skilled at tree climbing (especially because the hermits liked to import "custom trees" which were gigantic and had large twisting branches). It was nice to see that they had indeed picked up skills from the 3-H classroom.

"Boom!" Ren cheerfully cried out when he descended, two water balloons in his hand. "Two potions! And five packets of crackers! That's huge for us!"

"It is huge!" Fruit echoed. "But we need to get going now. Remember our tactics that we agreed on during practice!"

The Bats couldn't hear any footsteps near them, only the quiet sounds of breathing and chests opening. The team had become slightly separated due to their looting, but they could talk through the intercoms. They clearly communicated what items they'd gotten ("I found some bullets!" "Anyone want a fishing rod? Because I'm no good with those") and began to distribute the loot.

Ren was lagging a bit behind everyone else because he had been looting in another direction. He found a pair of iron leggings (nice!) and some stone weapons. Rather than putting on the valuable armour, he hurried towards his teammate Fruit. (Ren absolutely was not kidding when he said he would funnel Fruit.) "Fruityloops, I got iron for you if you need," he called out.

"We'll meet up in a bit," Fruit absentmindedly responded. He was haphazardly stuffing food stickers in his bag.

"Yeah, we're all on the same path," False supplied. She spun around just to make sure Ren was there and hadn't fallen in a random hole a la Scar style.

"Just loot all you can, Ren. And guys, I have a lot of food, I'm very happy right now." Although his teammates couldn't see him, they could practically hear the smile on H's face.

Despite Ren's promise to bring him armour, Fruit's attention was preoccupied with something else. A glimpse of a familiar dull grey near a flagpole— that was an anvil! Fruit hastily placed his Flame book and a gun on the cool surface of the anvil. A metallic ding! told him that the enchantment was a success, and a hole opened up for Fruit to drop the now useless book into the anvil. "I have a Flame gun!" he whispered as if he could barely believe it.

Ren gasped. "Oh my goodness, that is insane!"

Fruit grabbed another book and an iron chestplate. "Now I have a Fire Protection chestplate too." Upon realizing he'd spent some time at the same spot (which could leave him vulnerable), Fruit hastily looked around and continued to move.

A few paces ahead of Fruit, H leapt off the walkway and onto sparse grassland. False trained her eyes on the big "B" on H's back. "I'm following you, H," she announced.

"Cool." With False watching his back, H took a quick gulp of water, and the two continued on.

While everyone mostly went in one direction, Ren kept on diverging from their path to loot more. He'd declared himself the support and the "storage" of the team, plus he knew he was the "weakest" player, so he should be the one taking risks. Ren found a few chests tucked in a red cargo box and hurriedly opened them (he had to be quick because if an enemy found him, Ren would be cornered and he would most certainly die). Two "speed potion" stickers, some water balloons of damage and an orange water balloon labelled "lava." The "lava" would deal damage much like the way Fire Aspect and Flame would do. Satisfied with the loot, Ren slammed the chests shut and went on. As he stuffed items into his bag, his teammates talked through the intercoms.

"I've got some boots for you, Falsie!" H tossed False a pair of iron boots. False glanced at him, startled. "Oh! I have them already!"

So False quickly transferred the boots to Fruit, and as the three converged near a pillar, they couldn't help but realize one member was missing. H squinted and the distant figure of Ren came into view. "Ren, stick with us," H reminded Ren.

Ren knew it was logical to be with his teammates, but they could get a lot more loot if they split. So long Ren had his friends to recall him, they would be fine. And with someone as cautious and as observant as False, Ren wasn't worried. "Does anyone need bullets?" Ren asked once he caught up to them.

"Yes, I'll take them." So Ren passed the bullets into H's palm.

"Okay, okay, I think we've looted for a bit now," H announced. Everyone looked up at him and awaited his next order. "Let's find a safe spot to exchange gear."

The Blue Bats hurried up a cobblestone tower, which offered them a good view of the lawn. It wasn't the tallest thing, but it would do. So with all them cramped inside, they went over what they have. Ren in particular was almost eager to share his stuff.

"I have too little armour," Fruit laughed and gestured to his unprotected legs.

Ren actually started stripping. He passed his iron leggings and helmet to Fruit. "Here, my dude, take my armour!" Ren declared loudly. False suppressed her chuckles. "What else do you need?"

Fruit laughed at the comical image of Ren dramatically shedding his clothes for him. "Oh, I'm good, I'm fully geared up now." He handed Ren a chestplate and his old leather boots. "You can take that, and that."

"Oh, I'm gonna funnel you all my good stuff." Ren sounded very proud of his job even though it was self-sacrificing (maybe it was because it was self-sacrificing). "I got TNT water balloons, and an iron axe—"

H held out a hand. "I'll take the axe."

H took the axe, and Ren rummaged through his bag. It was full of goodies like water balloons and stickers. He even had some real food like crackers, energy bars, beef jerky, and bottles of water. "I also have a Multishot book, although I don't think we have a use for that yet."

"Cool, cool." Fruit was nibbling on beef jerky, while H wiped sweat off his face. Ren went around and started putting real food and water into his teammates' bags. "Hey Falsie, gonna give you an extra bottle of water."

False was pressed up against the window as she was spying on other teams. "Ah, thanks," she mumbled, distracted. "I don't think anyone's here yet, but I'll keep on watching."

H nodded. "Alright, alright, we're doing good." A couple of them were in full iron armour already, Fruit had his Flame gun, and they all had sufficient food, be it stickers or actual food. "Stay hydrated. We got this."

-

Quite a distance away, the Pink Parrots were huddled around one of the many cobblestone buildings. "Hey, I saw someone from Green here," Martyn hissed, the urgency evident in his tone.

Grian gave him a reassuring pat on the back. "As long as we stick together, we should be fine."

... Grian said that, but he knew his team was technically one of the weaker teams. If they were unlucky, they could all be wiped out in seconds. Grian tried not to think about it, but it weighed on his mind just like the idea of "finishing the back of his mansion".

They decided to enter the building. Grian's sharp eyes quickly noticed chests hidden in the corners. It was likely that they weren't alone, and Pink Parrots weren't strong in PvP, so they had to be super careful—

A scream from Martyn. "THEY'RE ON TOP OF ME!" His voice was so loud that Grian didn't even need the intercoms.

"I'm coming!" Grian cried back, his heart hammering in his chest—

"InTheLittleWood was slain by Dream!" The Championship Commentator roared, and Grian's blood turned to ice. "That's the first blood!" The Commentator continued with savage glee. "Dream's PvP skills are astounding as always—"

Martyn was probably screaming, and so were Joel and Timmy, but Grian paid no attention. Martyn was close, so close, and Grian needed to get to him. He dashed up a staircase, flung open a door to reveal a balcony, and—

There.

Martyn had collapsed on the cobblestone path, his pink jacket stained with dirt. His weapons and items were sprawled next to him. Martyn's arm twitched, then stopped moving. A couple of Lime shadows stood next to him. Grian's heart stilled.

"We can take Pink," a Lime shadow said nonchalantly. "They're not good."

And in Grian's mind, the images were overlapping— False being hurt, Martyn being hurt, his friends being hurt—

So Grian casually leapt off the balcony.

His knees hurt from the fall damage, but that dull pain was nothing compared to the anger roaring inside him. Martyn's killer, Dream or whoever, was applying a golden apple sticker to his suit. Grian took advantage of that. He surged forward with a battle cry.

Last time, Dream had killed his friends.

Last time, Grian then killed Dream with an axe.

Grian raised his axe.

Thump.

Inhumane strength powered Grian's arms, and in that shining moment, Grian felt like he could literally do anything. He could murder Stan Twitt. He could snap a god's neck in half. He could even finish the back of his mansion! Grian was invincible. He was inevitable. Nobody could stop him.

"GET HIM!!"

Grian couldn't register how hoarse and mad his voice sounded.

Was it fury? Sadness? Fierce love for his friends? Or simply... bloodlust?

Grian swung his axe again.

... This team was Lime, right? They had smugly declared to the entire school that they were the "Winner's POV". They were in first. They wanted to win. It was their dream to win.

Too. Fucking. Bad.

Because Grian was the Dreamslayer now.

The axe came crashing down on Dream. The red lights on his suit flickered, then went out completely. Dream stared at Grian with his jaw dropped. And for the first time, Grian glimpsed true fear in Dream's eyes. But Grian just innocently smiled.

"Dream was slain by Grian!"

... And the world exploded.

-

This is the kingdom!

Come alive in us, gonna light up this whole world!

-

"Yes! YESSSS! THE MOMENT OF MY LIFE!!"

Grian was hollering in absolute delight. He had never experienced such sheer joy before. Joel and Jimmy were screaming too, faces painted with the brightest grins. But before they could celebrate, Grian ran.

Now, Grian was the predator. Everyone else was the prey. Of course, everyone but his team and his beloved Blue Bats.

He aimed a gun towards Fundy and Tubbo, who were scrambling away after the defeat of Martyn's killer. "GET OUTTA HERE!" Grian roared like a madman. Behind him, Joel and Jimmy cheered with all their might.

"It's Grine! It's Grine!" Tubbo yelled.

Grian's bullet slammed into Fundy's suit, and he looked down, surprised. "I'm dying?" he asked out loud, totally bewildered.

"You can take him!" Decidedly-Not-Fruitberries screamed into the intercom.

"WE'RE GOING FOR IT!!" Grian was relentless in his pursuit. He hit shot after shot, and Lime Llama's screams gradually rose in volume after they realized how much of a threat Grian actually was. Grian, a builder, a hermit, could be a killer too. Now that Grian knew he had a chance, he tucked his gun away and dashed forward. "I'M PUMPED! I'M PUMPED!!"

Tubbo appeared in Grian's vision. "I can take him!" Tubbo declared, but words were feeble, weren't they? Grian swung his trusty axe. Once, then twice, and—

"Tubbo was slain by Grian!"

Tubbo fell to the ground. "Oh my God! WHAT THE HELL??"

"AYYYYYYYY!" Grian screamed for all it was worth. His face was red with exertion, and his eyes were alight with bloodlust. Grian had tasted violence twice, and he was already drunk on it. His teammates were naturally amazed and shocked.

"YOU JUST KILLED TUBBO—" Jimmy spluttered.

"We're going in!" Grian cheered. He was somehow not out of breath despite running and yelling at the same time. He narrowed in on Fundy, who panicked. Battle cries tore from Grian's mouth. "GET OUTTA THERE!"

Grian's axe crashed into Fundy again and again until his health bars were all depleted. Fundy screamed and twisted his body to escape, but alas, Grian got his third kill. "WHAT'S GOING ON?!" Grian screeched in delight. The roars of his Pink Parrots were so loud the ground was practically vibrating. Grian triumphantly pumped his fists towards the bright blue sky.

Oh, how had the mighty fallen! The Lime Llamas were so beloved and highly regarded by the main campus. They were doing amazing and they were placing first. Stan Twitt was expecting so much of them.

But of course Grian absolutely destroyed them.

The first would be last, and the last would be first. This was the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. And Grian was the proud herald of it.

Who said the builders couldn't fight? Who thought the hermits were weak and spineless? Who?!

Grian had single-handedly taken down three-quarters of the leading team. And his friends, the Blue Bats, were so worried about Survival Games to the point they literally wanted anything but that.

Well, now they had one less thing to worry about! Because Grian took care of it! The hermits would always look out for each other! Grian triumphantly raised his hands again—

An axe slammed into Grian's back and he fell face forward, his cheek scraping against the dirt. His health dropped to zero, but Grian tossed his head and laughed. "IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!" He shrieked in glee. "IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!"

Grian's cheeks hurt from smiling, and his heart was still pumping rapidly. His body was aching all over, but Grian didn't care one bit.

He was Lord Grian Dreamslayer. And nobody could take that from him.

Martyn was dead. Grian was dead. It was all up to Timmy and Joel now. But despite that, Grian couldn't help but cheer for Blue Bats (who were technically his enemy).

Grian had eliminated one of the Blue Bats' strongest enemies. He hoped they were safe and doing well. He hoped Ren and False could share the delight he'd just experienced. And he hoped, he so-dearly-hoped he could see his friends in that Dodgebolt arena, raise a middle finger to Stan, and cheekly say "I told you so!".

"IT WAS ALL WORTH IT!" Grian screamed again, and he could almost hear the cheers of the hermits echoing him.

... When Grian said he would pave the way, he meant it.

-

Blessed are the bound and broken

You're a citizen, and your faith will prove it

-

In fact, Grian was screaming so loudly the Blue Bats heard him from their little hideout on the tower.

"... That sounds like Grian," False muttered, who had learned to recognise Grian's scream after he tried to tag her and she had her army of cats running after him. "Hope that's not a scream of pain."

"Hope not!" Ren said, optimistic. "Grian's pretty good at this, I think—"

As if on cue, the Commentator's voice boomed, "Dream was slain by Grian!" The two hermits jolted in shock, like they were a tall copper tower struck by multiple bolts of lightning (that didn't exist yet but soon would.)

"I-I heard that wrong, did I?" The words spilled out of Ren's mouth. "Dream killed Grian, or is it the other way round?"

"Tubbo was slain by Grian! Fundy was slain by Grian!"

False and Ren stared at each other, eyes wide with disbelief and amazement.

"Oh wow," Fruit said, impressed. "This is why I love Grian!"

It took Ren a few more seconds to find his tongue. "Grian's popping off!"

"He sure is!" False chimes in. "That was three kills, dude!"

"Ohh man, he's popping off!" H whooped. "Hope he doesn't come after us— oh."

The Commentator just announced Grian was killed by Sapnap, but they could barely breathe before someone spoke again.

"There's someone in that building!" False called out in excitement. "It's, uh, the Yellow team. Which is an easy team, actually. Should we take them?"

Fruit was already scrambling down the staircase. "Yeah, let's go! Let's get our points!"

With Fruit and False leading, the Blue Bats charged. Fruit swiftly shot Meeks from Yellow Yaks, and H finished her off. As H looted Meeks' items, Ren hurried towards Fruit. "Hey Fruity, I'mma give you some bullets, mmkay?"

Fruit nodded, but they were distracted by False calling out, "Orange across! They're gonna sandwich!"

The two teams sized each other up for a few tense seconds, but neither made the move to attack. Pearl from Orange exchanged polite nods with the hermits, but that was it. The Blue Bats shot Orange one last look, then hurried into an alleyway. It was better to run away than risk it all just for the chance of getting points.

As they briskly walked, Ren slipped some BB pellets into Fruit's bag. "Bullets here."

"Thank you! Oooh my God that's a lot of bullets." Fruit didn't have time to count, but there were definitely more than ten bullets— maybe even fifteen. "Holy sh—"

"I'm support, guys!" Ren proudly declared. "I'm gonna get you guys geared up! You guys take the bullets, okay?"

"Yup, I gottem!" Was Fruit's reply.

False spun and spotted two chests some distance away. "I'm going to loot these real quick. Keep an eye out for me, okay?"

H and Ren were busy applying food stickers to their suits. "Sure thing, Falsie."

As False looted, the other three went through a door in an alleyway to find a small storage room. It was a good place to hide and recharge. Fruit immediately opened the chests, while Ren quickly tore off the wrapping of an energy bar and started munching.

"Hey, hey, Ren, take that!" H pulled out a pair of chainmail leggings. "It's for you!"

"Thank you!"

Meanwhile, Fruit had found yet another anvil. He placed another enchanting book and a gun on the anvil, and thus enchanted his second gun in the game. "H, I have a pleasant present for you!" Fruit announced with more dramatic flair than necessary. H took the gun from Fruit, and peered at it. "That's a Quick Charge III gun," Fruit continued with just a hint of smugness in his tone.

The Blue Bats decided to make full use of the anvil. H tried putting Fire Aspect on an axe, but that didn't work. He sighed and wiped sweat off his forehead. "Does anyone have a sword? Any sword?"

"Yup, here you go!"

Fruit's voice popped out behind H's shoulder, and H turned to see Fruit slide a sword on the anvil. The corner of H's lips quirked up. "Love ya." H said automatically.

"Anyone need iron boots?" False called out.

H and Fruit responded almost immediately. "Uhh, I'm okay!" "I'm in full iron!"

Fruit tapped on False's back. "Behind you!" False turned to see Fruit hold up a pair of iron leggings. "Thank you!"

"I have two iron helmets," H announced. "Does anyone need any? Ren?"

"Yep!" Ren piped up.

"Yeah, Ren probably needs it," Fruit replied. Ren put on his helmet, and the Blue Bats, now all decked in shiny silver armour, sized each other up.

"Okay! We're kinda ironed up now!"

"Sweet!"

"Kinda?" H echoed, a grin on his face.

Fruit chuckled. "And by that, I mean very."

They were all hot and wanted air-conditioning, so they went inside a new building. They sprinted up staircases, flung open doors, and searched through empty classrooms for chests. False got a glimpse of familiar brown, and hurried towards a corner.

Then gunshots.

"Duck!" H's voice screamed from the intercom.

False rolled under tables and in doing so, she accidentally knocked the chest over. A water balloon exploded on impact and to False's horror, it was the "cobweb" kind. She grabbed a few other water balloons and struggled to her feet. She could hear footsteps approaching, and her heart dropped like a goat into the void. She dragged her sluggish feet along and cursed her clumsiness.

"Everybody good?" Ren asked.

"Nope!" False yelped. "I got— I got cobwebbed!"

The enemies were coming. False had a head start, but she was slow and separated from her team. She returned to the corridor and desperately spun to find her Bats, but she only saw enemies pouncing towards her, intent on hunting this "straggler" down. False's blood chilled.

"Where are you guys?" False demanded into the intercom. She readied her gun, but she knew she couldn't win. It was her against at least four people. False hastily shot a few bullets before she ran.

"Outside the building!" Fruit yelled. His normally chill tone had an edge of panic to it. "Oh sh— are you still inside?!"

False's footsteps pounded loudly as she tore her way up the staircase. "I'm going up!" She hissed. "It's the only way!"

"We're all outside!" Ren cried out. "They've stopped chasing us—"

"Because they're chasing after False," H finished grimly. "False, we've studied this. You can go up the roof but it's a dead end."

Cold sweat dripped down False's forehead. She knew this, but she had no choice. She could either attempt to fight off four people or run. False could only hope someone would die before her so she could get just a tiny bit more survival points.

False slammed a door shut and continued to run. Hiding was useless because the main campus students knew this place better than she did (even though she was the one studying architecture), plus she would get cornered. Did she have anything?! A few bullets, decent gear, but that was it.

"Where exactly are you guys?!"

"Next to the trees! We have a clear view of the roof!" H called out. "Fruit and Ren are preparing to fire from below. Lead them to the roof and get as many points as you can."

False swallowed. "Alright." Even her teammates were assuming she was going to die and this would be her final contribution.

She kicked open the door to the roof and panted. The wind hit her face and her eyes watered. Oh hell, what was she thinking? She knew it was a dead end. Footsteps behind her jolted her into motion again. She ran towards the trees in hopes her friends could take them.

Bullets whizzed past them, but even with help from the rest of the Bats, False knew she was overwhelmed. She stumbled backwards and she hit the railing.

"We got him!" She heard someone say.

"Her," False couldn't help but shoot back.

"Thanks for the correction!"

False's back pressed against the railing. One of her enemies had evidently ran out of bullets, because they switched to an axe and charged towards False-

Once upon a time, False might just as well give up. She'd done that when Dream cornered her in Battle Box. But this time was different. She learned she was far stronger than she knew, and sometimes all she needed was a little push. Literally.

It was probably crazy of her. Full of hubris, even. But that was just the typical traits of a hermit.

"Unfortunately," False yelled with a brilliant grin. "I don't want to die yet!"

Mustering all of the strength in her, she did a backflip over the railing— and fell.

HBomb screamed.

False's fingers latched onto a windowsill and she hauled herself to a safe position. Her intercom was a mess right now, so False focused on herself. She ignored the bewildered "WHAT?!" from her opponents and let her muscle memory take over.

After all, she was a builder. She had a lot of experience maneuvering around buildings. Yes, she'd fallen a lot back at home, but in doing so she trained up her agility and speed. False swiftly moved from windowsill to windowsill, her heart hammering in her chest.

"Hi," she sheepishly said in the intercom.

"Hey," Fruit replied, with H and Ren losing it in the background.

"Don't want to freak you all out, but I can't climb walls for long." False's arms were already shaking. "Where are you guys?"

"Just jump towards the trees. We can catch you."

"Bad news," Ren piped up. "I see someone coming. We have to act fast."

False managed to swing herself up a windowsill, and she squinted at the trees in front of her. The three boys were standing on a net strung between branches, and their arms were all outstretched.

"We'll catch you, okay?" Ren's voice was reassuring. "Don't worry, Falsie."

"Take a leap of faith!" H called out.

"This is just a trust fall! Except it's totally not dangerous!" Fruit cried. "Yeahh..."

They were certainly attracting a lot of attention. False had to move quickly. And if False had somehow survived up till now, why not take another risk?

"Alright, I'm going," False announced. She pressed her hands around her, then propelled herself forward. Her stomach dropped and she let gravity take its course.

Then she crash-landed on all three of them, her forehead painfully bumping against H's. Someone (Ren, probably) dragged her upright while Fruit yelled, "Go! Go!"

Somehow, all four of them managed to get down from the trees without breaking their legs and they sprinted for the nearest tower. This time, Ren led the way through a maze of stairs and identical diorite corridors, and they ended up in a small room at the top of a building.

"We should be safe here," Ren wheezed. "We can see if anyone's approaching, plus we have an escape route ready."

"Okay, okay." H sunk into a chair and massaged his forehead. There was a pause as everyone caught their breath, then H's tired eyes flickered up to False. "Wow, False, that was—"

"Incredible!" Fruit cheered at the same time Ren hollered, "Awesome!"

"—Terrifying!" H burst out, and glared at Ren and Fruit. "You had no idea how fast my heart was beating! I felt like dying!"

"That was so cool, False!" Fruit gushed. "You just did a backflip like in those superhero movies! I knew you had that in you!" False suppressed an embarrassed grin at Fruit's praise.

"Tell me," H said tiredly, "is it normal for you guys to jump off buildings?"

False raised an eyebrow. "Our primary mode of transport is the zipline. Does that answer your question?"

"Builders are just built different," H moaned into his hands.

"Oh geez, Falsie, that was just so sweet even if I was screaming my head off. I'm so proud of you!" Ren walked across the room and opened a chest, and his eyes widened. "Ohh, check this out! We got an ice box, my dudes!"

Fruit fell off his chair. "A what?"

Ren excitedly took out four packed sandwiches and four bottles of energy drinks. "We really hit the jackpot here! Ohh man, we have a nice location, we found good food, and it's chilled? We're cooking with gas today, my dudes!"

False dragged her chair towards the window. "We can't let our guard down though. Although we do deserve a good rest."

The Blue Bats ravenously dug into their food and chugged their energy drinks. Ren even found an ice pack to ice their bruises. False was a little ashamed that she hadn't seen that; she was supposed to be the observant one. Then again, it was Ren's job to manage resources. False would watch out for the border and other enemies. H was their leader, and Fruit was his right-hand man and their tank. They worked together like a well oiled machine or one of Tango's ludicrous but satisfying farms.

Funny. Survival Games was reminding the Blue Bats of Sky Battle. They had won the first round with all of their players alive, with each of them playing the same role. Now, they were applying their previous experience to this game. And so far, contrary to people's expectations, they were doing pretty good!

But, alas, winning Survival Games wasn't going to be this easy.

"Alright, don't panic, I've got something to admit." H slumped in his chair and put down his half-eaten sandwich. He rubbed his eyes. "I'm not feeling well right now."

The Blue Bats instantly spun towards H, worry evident in their eyes. H wasn't in prime condition, and apparently that crash with False tipped him over the edge.

"I know I'll be fine in a bit, but like you said, I don't want to push myself." H pinched the bridge of his nose. "So I'll be stepping down from the leader position for a short while."

"Alright, Hmama," Ren quickly replied. "We'll be alright."

H raised up a hand. "I'm not finished. Hey Fruit?"

Fruit glanced at H. "Yeah?"

Despite his exhaustion, a small smile quirked on H's lips. "I want you to lead for the time being."

Fruit dropped his sandwich on his lap. "What?!"

-

Illumina raised his eyebrows at the chain of events. Next to him, the Championship spectators were all furiously discussing H's decision. Illumina waved his Blue Bats flag with a little more fervour even though the Bats couldn't see it.

"Well," Illumina chuckled. "This is going to be interesting."

-

A/N: I like to think the lack of False, Ren, Cub (and Martyn, Jimmy, Kara, Fwhip, etc.) in MCC16 just propelled me to finish this. What do you MEAN Falsie's not in MCC?? Where are our parents?? Where's the girlboss? The dogboy? The MOLE??

That being said, Purple16 and Cyan16 are both very good teams, and we finally got Grian and Fruitberries... but at what cost?

You can tell a lot of things happened during the two month break, including all the Renchanting and Season 8 references that I added. (Yes, Martyn did say Ren was dashing.) Next chapter will have some MCC14 HITW references :P

I could talk a lot about Survival Games but I don't want to bore people. It's just that I added all the "new" moments for specific reasons :)

Lyrics are from Thousand Foot Krutch's This Is The Kingdom. Thank you for being patient, and I hoped you like this chapter! Comments are always greatly appreciated :DD