A/N: Words cannot convey the sheer energy of this Dodgebolt. It was cute how excited Fruit was lmao even if he's viewed as one of the quieter participants. H's genuine trust in False is also endearing... he believed in her before she believed in herself :D They're my favourite Blue9 duo now haha. (Divorce arc hit us hard /lh)

I started writing this before MCC29 and oh. My. GOD. I felt insane watching Aqua29 live, having just recently watched MCC9's Dodgebolt. The 1v3. H and False. FALSE TELLING H TO STOP TALKING TO HER. It's come full circle. The narrative. I'm in tears [incoherent].

I did homework for this. I checked out every team's POV. Honestly, the tension was somehow worse when watching from an outsider POV. Ideally I would be able to cover the ups and downs of the general audience reaction, but that requires too much work and it'll be difficult to shift it into a coherent narrative (since the main POV should be the Blue Bats). But yeah, the audience went bonkers for this Dodgebolt. You love to see it.

Also I know I use in-game names and real names interchangeably (hi Dave Krtzyy and Jordan CaptainSparklez), sorry for the mild confusion.

-

I'm waking up at the start of the end of the world,

But it's feeling just like every other morning before,

Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone

-

Despite the interruption caused by Stan's meltdown (which did nothing to help Lime by the way and just made them more stressed), the Blue Bats were progressing well in Sands of Time.

Fruit ended up finding the green vault, and it unlocked with a satisfying jingle. Grinning to himself, he scooped up every single coin in the vault. H and Fruit then joined forces to clear through the mobs. They operated swiftly and efficiently like they did in Survival Games. Fruit had crazy reflexes and H had a good grasp on what they needed and what they should do. They were a power duo. When H retreated, Fruit advanced. They unlocked doors with their rusty keys and sped through the tunnels. With Fruit by his side, H felt safer. And with H by his side, Fruit knew he wasn't alone.

"Time one-twenty, sand zero," Ren reported.

"I'm coming back!" H called out.

"Should we carry on, or should we come back? Because I'm quite far," False said.

"Come back!" was H's firm reply. "We don't need any unnecessary risks. We're good."

"Okay, I'll come back. Are we done then, basically?"

"Yup, me and Fruit are looking at something real quick. Is there anything else there, Fruit?"

Fruit was busy climbing down a ladder. "Uh, there's a rusty door." Footsteps sounded and H emerged from around the corner. "Give me the key and go back, I guess?"

"I'll go," H said, and hurried towards the rusty door.

"There's a red vault, but we haven't got enough sand," came False's voice.

"I got one more sand," H reported. "I'll keep on looking up here."

Fruit rummaged in his inventory and abruptly realized he still had another vault key. "Wait, H, do you know where the blue door is?"

"No idea. I haven't seen any vaults. How much time?"

"Ninety, sand three," Ren immediately replied.

"Ninety, sand three," H repeated to himself, then did a quick calculation. "Okay, so a full two minutes."

The whooshing sound of sand being deposited in the timer. "One-twenty, sand zero," Ren confirmed.

H called for Fruit to stand near him so he wouldn't be lost. The three of them then emerged from their tunnels and went back to spawn.

"Okay guys, I think we're good!" H declared, his tone optimistic.

Fruit returned H's smile. "Okay!"

H squinted at the numbers. "We got 3900 coins. That should be alright."

They still had some time left, so Fruit resumed ducking into corridors and peering into the darkness. Maybe there were some coins that he had missed. As if on cue, H called out, "Fruit, come back."

"You want me to come back?"

"Yep, yep, yep. We have no reason to risk anything. We did good."

Fruit went back to the sand timer and was pleased to see it was still decently full. He hadn't explored much of spawn because that had been Ren's territory. Fruit nimbly climbed down to the pool beneath the timer. There was a basement there, and Fruit peered into the darkness curiously.

"We're not going to get first place like in this game, and that's fine. We're taking it smart, not being dumb, we're doing great."

H realized Fruit was being restless and trying to find the blue vault, so he chuckled and said, "Don't be baited."

"It's not worth the risk," False added.

Okay, while Fruit was kind of peeved that H was continuously emphasizing "no risks" when Fruit hadn't done anything dangerous, he understood why H was doing that. It was H's role to reign Fruit in.

"Check everything around spawn and we'll head out of here," H declared. Another chime rang through the area.

"Mmkay." Fruit climbed up from beneath the timer and accepted that his blue vault key was essentially going to be useless.

"We're ahead by 3000 coins," H said. "I don't think there's any universe where someone can beat that."

Ren's voice sounded. "Falsie, how come we've never played this game like this?"

"I didn't play it like this either," Fruit confessed, and Ren chuckled. Trust HBomb to completely revolutionise his teammates' way of playing Sands of Time.

"Cause... I dunno." False also laughed. "Maybe we weren't that strategic back then? After all, we're from 3-H. Anyways, are we heading out the portal then, because I'm gonna do that?"

Fruit was once again bouncing around and marvelling at all the rooms in the maze. In particular, he found a lava parkour, which was a taboo topic around "take no risks" HBomb.

"Who's that down there? Fruit, come back," H called out again, and Fruit tore his eyes away from the enticing pillars and glowing red floorboards. (He wasn't going to actually do the lava parkour, he swore he really wasn't!)

"Are we leaving? Alright, I'm coming!"

"Yeah, we're leaving," H confirmed. Just as he said the words, they heard an announcement: "Falsesymmetry left the dungeon and banked 654 coins for Blue Bats."

"Guys, I'm behind the curtain now!" False cried out.

"I got 24 more coins just in case," H laughed. He, Fruit, and Ren gathered in front of the purple curtain, which was rippling with a strange, almost supernatural sort of shimmer.

"Alright! Goodbye world!" Fruit sounded cheerful as he took one last glance around the spawn area.

Ren glanced up at the timer, and smiled. "Time sixty," he announced for good measure, fulfilling his final duty as a timekeeper. Then, he took a step back and vanished through the curtain. H followed suit.

"Renthedog left the dungeon and banked 321 coins for Blue Bats."

"HBomb94 left the dungeon and banked 1641 coins for Blue Bats."

"I'm outta here!"

"Boom, baby! Boom!"

Fruit ducked under the curtain that Ren was holding for him, and stepped out of the dungeon.

"Fruitberries left the dungeon and banked 1335 coins for Blue Bats. All members of Blue Bats left the dungeon in time!"

"Let's go!"

"And the elevator's here!" False announced. The four of them scurried inside and waited for the elevator to send them up. Soon, light shone from above. When the Blue Bats stepped into the daylight, there was a loud cheer from the spectators. Ren and False squinted at the stands and waved at the hermits. H's eyes scanned the lobby.

"There are a few teams already outta here," he noted. "Who was second and third overall?"

"Green and Cyan, apparently," Fruit replied. "Ohh, whatever. We can't change the outcome anymore."

H sat down and reached for his water bottle. "Yeah, I believe what we did was smart."

Fruit was walking around the lobby when he caught sight of the huge cage with a few surprising people in it. His eyes widened in surprise. "Wait, look at— Lime lost!"

"Lime lost?" H questioned in a tiny voice, clearly in disbelief.

H, Ren, and False made their ways towards Fruit and the cage. "Three of Lime's people are in the cage!" Fruit noted.

"Dream's in there as well," False commented, then laughed. "The heck? What happened?"

Dream, Sylvee, and Fundy were sitting inside the cage, looking sad and despondent. The three of them were silent, tired of repeating their story again and again. Fruit, who was a little nosy, went around and tried to hear what had happened to Lime.

"... That's probably why Stan Twitt went crazy," Ren commented. "Lime looks so sad in there."

Fruit returned and reported, "I think Dream got stuck in a trap and no one let him out. Stan was enraged, presumably."

"Yeah, great job on destroying the game for the rest of us just because something bad happened to your team," False said sarcastically. "I mean, it would be a real nail in the coffin if Stan's interference actually caused Lime to..." she gestured at the cage, "end up like that."

"True, literally no one benefited from the blackout," H said.

"At least we got to see Martyn!" Ren couldn't wipe the grin off his face.

"Ohhh yeah, False, Ren was straight up flirting with Martyn or something," Fruit said, a gleeful tone in his voice.

H nudged Fruit in the ribs. "Shh! No snitching!" he said jokingly.

More and more teams were returning to the surface. Orange, Green, Cyan, and so on. The reality began to sink in— the Blue Bats were really going to Dodgebolt. The scores hadn't been updated yet, but judging from Blue's decent performance, there was no doubt.

"I guess we're going to Dodgebolt!" H cheerfully announced. Fruit laughed.

"Is it us?" Ren asked, nervous.

H smirked at his teammates. "It's us. You guys ready to pop off?"

False flung her hands into the air. "I'm sooo ready!" Next to her, Ren's eyes were practically glowing with excitement and joy.

"DUDE! It's literally been a dream of mine to get to Dodgebolt!" Ren stammered out, his cheeks flushed. "I never thought I'll ever Dodgebolt in my life. I'm literally shaking, I'm so proud of us!"

Nine teams in the lobby. Just one more team yet to arrive. The doors to the elevator opened with a ding and the Pink Parrots stepped out, surprised that they were the last team standing. The four of them instantly rioted, screaming and cheering for each other.

"Game over!"

"WE WON!!" Fruit screamed with all his might as he excitedly jumped around. "We're gonna be first overall!"

The coins tallied up and everybody's gazes landed on the leaderboard. Blue Bats got fourth in Sands of Time, but remained first overall with 24258 coins. Green was in second with 20621 coins.

"Let's go! We are your number one team!" Fruit proudly declared and wrapped his arms around his teammates. All four of them were jumping in joy.

Ren looked like he was about to faint. "Oh. My. GOODNESS!" he hollered as he clapped. "Dream team here! Winners POV!"

Fruit was wiping sweat off his brow. "Oh my God," he marveled.

"Absolutely outrageous, my dudes!!" Ren cried. "Winners POV! And False," he turned to her with a gigantic grin on his face, "we actually did it! We're getting into Dodgebolt!"

What had even happened? How had they done it? Just last month, they were getting massacred in Battle Box. Now not only were they eligible for Dodgebolt, they were the first place team. It really was a dream come true.

"We proved them all wrong!" False whooped. She was instinctively jumping up and down. "Reddit, Stan Twitt— they were all wrong about us! And like, we're in Dodgebolt! We're eligible to return to the main campus!"

H stopped cheering to give False a look. "Wait, are you guys actually gonna come back?"

Ren answered. "Nah, we're quite happy in 3-Hermitcraft. As much as we love you guys."

Speaking of 3-Hermitcraft, the Pink Parrots were screaming about being "lords" ("I thought I was Martyn's lord..." "Ren, what are you talking about?"). The Pink Parrots had jumped up to 8th and were "not last". They looked ridiculously excited for an 8th place team, and even other participants couldn't help but smile at their infectious joy.

"We started today as men, but we finish today as lords!" Joel declared with the right amount of pompousness.

"We may have come eighth, but I feel like we won for some reason?" Grian cried out, and was met with a chorus of cheers.

"We've broken your curse, we've proven Reddit wrong, Reddit's stupid," Martyn chimed in. "And I think we're basically the best players in the entire game! Just saying!" Martyn then put on his voice changer, and roared, "IT'S TIME FOR DODGEBOLT!"

"Can't wait, can't wait!" Jimmy whooped. "It's gotta be a Blue win, right?"

Grian responded instantly. "We've got to root for Blue, my friends are in it, False and Ren are in the Blue team." At that, he rushed over to the Blue Bats and started screaming, "LET'S GOOOOO! My hermits!! And Fruityloops! And HBomb too!"

The 3-H and 3-G crafter alliance was going strong and they excitedly celebrated each other's respective achievements. The audience was going absolutely insane. Blue and pink lights were repeatedly flashing from 3-H's cheering section. Doc and Cub in particular were ecstatic, the former screaming until his voice was hoarse. The rest of the teams looked between Blue and Green and made their bets amidst furious whispers.

This was unexpected, wasn't it? The Blue Bats were predicted to come sixth, yet they'd been doing pretty good from the first game. They started out third after Sky Battle, never dropped below the top five, rose to second after Hole in the Wall, maintained third after Battle Box and Ace Race, and then came their Survival Games domination which pushed them all the way up to first. Not once had they been in sixth place.

And of course, while everybody knew H and Fruit were a strong duo, they didn't expect the hermits to be able to hold the team up. Of course, there was the existing prejudice against the 3-Hermitcrafters put in place by Stan Twitt's unfair class division system, but False and Ren's statistics from previous Championships hadn't been flattering. As crazy as H and Fruit could be, there was no way they could possibly carry half of the team, right?

And that was the point— because they didn't. False and Ren carried themselves to Dodgebolt. They each played an important part in their team, and they all meshed well together.

This was beyond your typical story of being a winning team. The 4th Championship's story was about the victory of the SBI, the 6th was about Fruit and his underdogs (also on Blue Bats), 7th was HBomb's villain arc, and 8th was the triumphant victory featuring two rivals on the same team. Every winning team had their narrative, their hero's journey, following them from the first game all the way to victory.

But the 9th Championship? This was more than that. This was an underdog story.

While Fruit was strong, he wasn't considered one of the strongest players. He hadn't fought his way into the shining S-tier group. H, who was notoriously dominant in Dodgebolt, lost the 8th Championship and found a quieter place to be in for a while. And of course, False and Ren, with their teams consistently coming in the bottom half, were seen as "cannon fodder", "free kills", just two hermits in the big wide world of the Championships.

And now they were going to Dodgebolt.

The implications were crystal clear: the hermits were playing Stan Twitt's game, and they were winning. The outcast hermits could return to the main campus if they got to Dodgebolt. Even if the Green Guardians won, the status quo was already massively changed. Two hermits had proved that yes, the hermits were capable of going to Dodgebolt, and yes, they were worthy of being in the main campus.

The atmosphere was electric. The narrative that the Blue Bats wove for themselves was causing a miraculous shift in the air, and everyone could sense it. Everyone was keenly discussing the possibility of two hermits winning a Championship. Could they do it? Was H going to carry? And since H had won so many Dodgebolts, wouldn't that make Green the underdogs instead?

Isaac Wilkin's triumphant yet suspenseful "The Final Duel" blasted from the speakers. Ren and False heard it in every MCC, but it hit different this time because they were actually going to be in Dodgebolt! They weren't stuck in the sidelines anymore, and the spotlight would firmly land on them. Their hearts thumped in time with the beats.

"Let's get going!" Fruit whooped. The Bats arranged themselves so their backs spelled out their team name, and together they proudly strode towards the Dodgebolt arena with the Green Guardians next to them. A huge cheer came from the crowd. It was a victory lap for the teams that had placed first and second.

The Blue Bats passed by the other Championship participants. Friends, rivals, past teammates, past opponents. Familiar faces nodded at them. Even if they were cheering for Green, they recognised Blue's achievements and viewed them with respect. It was incredible to see how far they'd come, especially for the hermits who were used to gawking at the final duelists in awe.

Scott, homeroom of 3-H, came by with the proudest smile on his face. "I knew you could do it!" Then he turned to H and said with a faux-stern tone, "H, I'm benching you next time. You're too powerful for your own good."

H dramatically slumped his shoulders. "Geez!"

Herman Blur was absolutely losing it and had to be dragged back to the spectator stand. "I'm so proud of y'all!" he screamed. "I'm gonna make so much fanart of you guys!!"

Dang from Red Rabbits was happy for the hermits even though the rest of his team was naturally cheering for their friends in Green. "Let's go hermits! FIrst time Dodgebolt players!"

Pearl from Orange Ocelots rushed up to Ren and False. "I can't believe you two are going to Dodgebolt!" she cried out happily. "And to think you did it after what happened to our Yellow Yaks last month!"

"You did so well too!" False replied. "22nd individual? Oh my goodness."

Pearl beamed. "Truly a redemption for our last time."

Ren was pleased. "Now we just need Cub in next month's Championship, baby!"

Quig and his Yellow Yaks then passed by, calling out, "I think you guys will win! H and Fruit, you're insane with bows."

Like Red, Lime was obviously on Green's side. "You guys are gonna pull this off, let's go!" Dream cried out to George and Sapnap. "Get Fruit out early, he has insane accuracy."

Green, for one, was incredibly excited that they ended up getting second. Like Blue, they were busy hyping each other up and screaming, "LET'S GO!!" However, they didn't forget to strategise. "Wait until we've got both bullets. Fruitberries is really good, H is good, we've got to take them out first."

Cyan was in third place, and the Captain's Curse struck again. Pete was telling his team, "You know what's crazy? Lime was in first after Survival Games by a fair amount, and then Blue Bats just came out with twenty four thousand coins." He shook his head in disbelief and amazement.

"That's insanity!" Jordan cried out.

Pete turned to H and patted his shoulder. "I'm rooting for you guys. You can do it."

Pete's team was considered strong, but unfortunately they faced some in-game difficulties. H stared into Pete's eyes for a few moments, then grinned. "Ohh, I know we're winning this!"

Technoblade was going on what he deemed as a "petty" rant about people comparing his and Dream's individual scores for the Championship, but his train of thought instantly derailed when he saw Fruit. "SENSEI GO!!!" Technoblade boomed. "Who's on the other team-— George and Sapnap? Booooo. Fruit Fruit FRUIT LOOPS!" Fruit couldn't help but smile, endeared by his "student'.

Purple Pandas, the team that got last, joked about Reddit being right. "But I don't think they predicted Blue on top," Ryguyrocky remarked.

"I didn't expect Lime in 6th, they seemed to be doing well." Funny how Blue was the one predicted to come 6th. Oh, how had the tables turned.

"H, I'm rooting for you!" Ryguy called out. "I want you to be the one with the most wins. All of my money is on you, HBomb." Then he turned to the hermits with a smile. "And I want you to get your first wins too!" He noted that Green would get more support due to the popularity of its players, and that further cemented his support for Blue.

Pink, of course, were diehard Blue fans. "Let's go Blue!" Jimmy squealed. While Grian was busy talking to his audience about raising money for charity, he managed to shoot the Bats a quick smile. Martyn cleared his throat and prepared to commentate the Dodgebolt.

"Good luck to you guys!" Joel called out. "I was in Dodgebolt last time and I know how nerve wracking it can be."

H grinned at his teammate from last time. "Aww, Joel, I know you'll get your first win soon enough."

"That prophecy of yours better be right again, H!"

The rainbow colours of the participants' outfits melted into one. They were all talking about the final duel. Both of the top teams were a bit of a surprise, Blue Bats especially. People were finally taking the hermits seriously, could look them straight in the eye and acknowledge that yes, they had done it. They weren't talking about the hermits as weak players, as nerfs, and balancing teammates, or even as players that had potential in future Championships. They were discussing and analysing the hermits as they were now. As in: on the same level as participants from the main campus.

Within the participants, both teams had a decent amount of support from friends, with a slight bias towards the Blue Bats because of how incredible they were. However, outside of the Championship arena was a whole different story. Stan Twitt was leading the hoard to cheer for Green. Green contained Sapnap and George, two extremely popular players, not to mention Lime's fanbase had basically migrated over to support Green. Of course people wanted their favourite players to win. The Blue fans shouted with all of their might, but the sheer number of Green's fans was overwhelming. They dominated the spectator stands. Agitated by Lime's unfortunate performance, the fans were even more desperate for Green to win. Stan was practically frothing at the mouth. False shivered.

"We're facing Green." False turned to look at their opponents. "George, Eret, Krtzyy, and Sapnap."

"Oh my goodness dudes, I'm so nervous." Despite that, Ren hadn't stopped smiling even for a second.

H patted Ren's shoulder. "Regardless of who wins, there'll be two brand new winners to the Championship, let's go guys! You guys did great! Let's pop off now!"

The Dodgebolt arena was now lit up with blue and green lights. The paintball guns were being tested by Noxcrew helpers in their red uniforms. Banners of the two colours were being wheeled out in carts. The other Championship participants found their way to the bleachers and waited for the final game. H ushered his team into a corner so they could strategise. "Who's taking the first shot?"

"YOU." Ren's voice was certain.

"No no no no." H's voice remained calm, but there was a gigantic smile on his face. "I think it's False!"

"I agree." Ren's reply was instantaneous.

False made a face and took a step back. "No no no no," she copied H's words from earlier.

H was adamant. "No, I don't wanna hear it."

False laughed, nervous. "I'll only do it if all three of you guys agree." Since H and Ren had made their intentions clear, that question was only really directed towards Fruit. And Fruit's reply was swift.

"Yeah, you can do it!"

False gulped. "I think Fruit should—"

"Honestly, whoever's there can do that. I don't think we should have a specific person."

Well, that was now settled. The Blue Bats were practically vibrating with nervous excitement. All eyes would be on them now. They'd managed to flourish without being heavily scrutinized by the audience— after all, people were sleeping on them, hence there was less pressure. Which was exactly what HBomb liked about being on Blue Bats. But now, everyone was invested in the underdogs.

Ren glanced at his surroundings in awe like it was his first time seeing the Dodgebolt arena. Ren always had genuine appreciation for the Championships regardless of his performance, and the Championships remained fresh and beautiful even if he'd played them multiple times. "Falsie, I can't believe we're about to play Dodgebolt! This is— we've been dreaming about this!"

"This is insane, dude," False agreed. Both of them laughing, she stepped closer to Ren so she could snap another picture of them.

"This is insane!" Ren echoed. "Is this reality?"

"I'm gonna wake up in a moment! This isn't real!"

It was almost ridiculous. False herself had doubted it, but somehow H had believed in his team from the very beginning. Sure, she wanted to get to Dodgebolt, but now that her team had actually done it— it seriously felt like a dream. A dream she didn't want to wake up from.

H was endeared by how ecstatic the hermits were, but something else caught his attention. "One thing I have to say: Fruit, who's in first place individually?"

Fruit checked, and he was already beaming. He just knew his teammates were going to go crazy, and he braced himself. "Me."

"OHHH BABY!" Ren was delighted. "Fruityloops!"

"Let's go! I don't know how I got first individually— is it by a little?" Fruit searched for the leaderboard, and then his eyes widened. "No, it's by quite a lot!"

"That's amazing!"

"Let's go!"

Fruit was in first with 3805 coins, way ahead of second place Technoblade with 3519 coins. When False was looking at Fruit's placements, her own placement caught her eye. "Wait, I got twelfth?!" she cried in sheer disbelief. The nervousness from Dodgebolt melted away and was replaced by shock and triumph. "What the heck happened?"

"I'm eighteenth!" Ren shouted.

"Twelfth and eighteenth?" False echoed just as H literally screamed, "YOU'RE EIGHTEENTH??"

"Niceeee, dude!"

"Let's go!"

"LET'S GO!"

As they furiously clapped and cheered for each other, Noxcrew workers gestured for the two teams to come onto the arena. The Bats tried to sober up, but it was just so difficult. But finally, they got themselves there while giggling and nudging each other.

H declared, "Every prophecy has come true for me so far, except for False popping off in Dodgebolt. False, I'm ready!"

False took a deep breath. She'd heard the other teams talk about them, and literally everybody mentioned H and Fruit being good at Dodgebolt. But those two Dodgebolt gods trusted her (for some reason). Now, there was no denying the responsibility. (Besides, this was what she'd secretly always wanted. To be taken seriously and trusted by an esteemed 3-A player who was genuinely good at the game.)

"Dude, I'll try my best, but..." she let out a shaky exhale, "who knows?"

H quickly shifted into Hmama mode. "If we get double bullets, I'm telling you guys not to shoot. We're gonna take our time with them, okay?"

"Yeah." Fruit was quick to back H up.

"I'm gonna constantly say 'don't shoot', and that means 'hold on for a second, let's talk this through, and let's calm down your nerves'. Alright?"

"Alright." The two hermits were looking quite tense now.

"If you don't trust yourself, just give the bullet away and focus on dodging," Fruit advised.

"That works as well!" H said. "I don't believe anyone here's not gonna trust their shot."

"Dude, this is our Karate Kid moment," Ren announced solemnly, and Fruit chuckled.

They were so busy talking that they didn't notice who ended up standing close to the dispenser where paintball bullets would pop up. And H, of course, had to point it out.

"You know who I see in the middle?"

(False was already shaking her head.)

"I see False Symmetry in the middle!"

Despite the nerves, H's sheer glee made False smile. "Uh, okay."

"It's the prophecy!" H sounded so certain, even somewhat smug when nothing had happened yet.

"False and the bullet, it's the plot!" Fruit cheered.

"I'm gonna miss the first one," False said, somewhat bashful.

"No you're not!"

"It's the warm up bullet!" False protested.

"You wait for someone to walk in your shot— dead. Kill." Fruit, a master of PvP, made it sound so simple.

"Okay." Now False was actually getting geared up for this. She steadied herself. "Who's going to be the easiest to shoot?"

Ren, however, held a starkly different view. "Who should we take out? Who's the strongest player?"

"Uhhh..." The Blue Bats glanced at their opponents, the Green Guardians, who were huddled up discussing strategy like the Bats were. "It's either Dave or Sapnap," H finally said.

"Dave, yeah, actually," Fruit agreed.

The Blue Bats barely had a second to breathe before the countdown started. The audience' screams intensified.

10!

"Here we go, baby!" Ren screamed. "It's Dodgebolt time!"

9!

False couldn't help but smile. This was it— the moment they had been waiting for!

8!

Fruit thought of his redemption arc, how swift his Survival Games had been, and his own words echoed in his mind: "Dead, dead, killed him!"

7!

In the spectator stands, the hermits held onto each other. No matter what happened, they knew 3-Hermitcraft had already made history.

6!

Stan Twitt was about to explode. Green's fans were determined, while Blue's fans remained unfailingly hopeful.

5!

H was practically bursting with excitement. God, he loved the Championships so much. Sometimes he never wanted them to end. And to think two newcomers were there with him!

4!

"WELCOME REN AND FALSE TO THE ARENA!" H thundered.

3!

"It feels amazing!" Ren gasped. "Best moment of my life!"

2!

False trained her eyes on the bullet dispenser. She was the closest one to it. She could take it. She believed she could.

1!

And just like that, the Dodgebolt match between Blue Bats and Green Guardians, the final act of the 9th Championship, began.

-

I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh well, I guess, we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we've come

-

Once the first round of Dodgebolt began, False instantly leapt forward to grab the bullet. H and Fruit noted Dave had taken Green's bullet. False took the first shot, but missed.

"He's on the left side! False, don't sit still for too long," H reminded her. Dodgebolt players were always shifting and bouncing around to avoid being shot at.

Fruit called out, "Focus on dodging, we have no bullets."

"Dave still has it, and I think Sapnap has it, I didn't fully see or pay attention."

They were all silent after H's words. The familiar Dodgebolt music sounded from the speakers, adding to the tension. Then—

"It missed!"

"It missed me!"

A green paintball splattered on the ground, then two. Two bullets popped up on Blue's side, and Fruit quickly snatched them.

"I have both bullets. H, you want one?"

"Yeah, I want one."

The two top 3-A players were now loading the bullets into their guns, and the audience cheered. Surely things would get more exciting now that H and Fruit, two highly hyped Dodgebolt players, would take their shots.

"Come on boys!" Ren called out. "Come on boys!"

"Don't shoot yet!" Fruit cried to H. Since they weren't in danger of being shot, the team could catch their breath for a moment. And Fruit, as skilled as he was, had his nerves too. "Just gimme a sec."

H readily agreed. "Sure! Take your time. Tell me who you want."

Ren was acting as the team's cheerleader. "Come on boys!"

"We can just— you shoot, and if you miss, I'll try to follow up," Fruit stuttered out his words. Fruit had won his last Dodgebolt, but he too was feeling the pressure.

"Okay!"

H began to aim. Naturally, his target was Krtzyy, whom H deemed as the strongest opponent. This was H's first shot of this Dodgebolt. As he raised his gun, his muscle memory returned to him. H was all too familiar with the scenario— sweat clinging onto his outfit, the scrutiny from the crowd, the rapid beats of the Dodgebolt music, the spotlight, and of course, his teammates.

People from the bleachers were screaming all sorts of things. Sylvee from Lime was repeatedly shouting, "Be irregular! GO SAPNAP AND GEORGE!!" while Wilbur from Red was pleading, "COME ON SOGGY GOGY!"

And then Joel's voice, loud and clear: "H, you can do it!"

A smile quirked up on H's face as he remembered his past teammate. He shot.

And he missed.

"Aaaagh! Good try," H quickly added to keep the team's spirits up.

"I'll try to follow up on it eventually."

It was Fruit's turn to aim. But unfortunately, he'd forgotten that the other team had a bullet after H missed. He was essentially a sitting duck. Krtzyy aimed, Fruit saw it too late, and green paint splattered all over him.

"Fruitberries was shot by Krtzy!"

"Ohhhh NO!" Fruit cried in despair, his heart thumping frantically. H's words from earlier rang in his mind: "False, don't sit still for too long." And Fruit had done exactly that.

"I dodged it!" Fruit protested feebly, but the damage was done. "I barely dodged it! I—"

"What happened there?" Ren asked, astonished.

Since Fruit was eliminated, he had to retreat to the sidelines. H quickly scooped up the bullet left on where Fruit had been shot. The crowd was gasping by how "easily" Fruit had been eliminated. Fruit was beginning to feel embarrassed, but he pushed those thoughts away. He might've messed it up a little, but he was just one person out of a team of four. The game had just begun. Fruit gripped the railing and kept his breath steady. "Alright, you guys have this."

Knowing he couldn't stand still and aim like Fruit had done, H attempted a quick shot. "I missed," he panted. "They have both now."

The three remaining Blue Bats knew they had to dodge. Dodgebolt was nerve wracking because there was no time limit on how long one person could aim for, hence dodging actually required quite a bit of stamina. Additionally, players had to keep their movements unpredictable, which became more difficult as time dragged on.

But of course, one also had to be aware of their opponents and see who was aiming for who. Dodgebolt might look simple, but a lot of thought went behind every move, every shot, every dodge. HBomb, who had the most experience, naturally assumed himself as the leader.

"George missed! Sapnap's got the other one!" H warned.

As if on cue, a green bullet came slamming into Ren. "Renthedog was shot by Sapnap!" Two bullets popped up on the floor. The Blue Bats were now down by two.

Seeing that they were safe, H and False paused to catch their breath. False, who was now jittery, accidentally bumped into H. Instinctively, he grabbed her arm to steady her. False's eyes flitted up to H nervously. It was only the two of them left.

H managed a smile. "Alright, False, let's do this. Take one."

"Yeah, I'll take one."

False could barely feel her fingers as she shoved her bullet into her gun. At least H was aiming along with her. At least she wasn't alone. She breathed in, then out.

"You got this." Fruit's voice was reassuring, almost calm.

False shot into the group and missed. Next to her, H's eyes were narrowed. He had missed the last time— surely he couldn't miss now. Not when they only had two players left. And since Green had a bullet, he had to shoot quickly or he would be gone too. His finger pressed the trigger.

"Krtzyy was shot by HBomb94!"

Relief and triumph flooded H's heart. He had succeeded. "I got Dave!"

"Nice!" Fruit cried out.

"NICE, HMAMA!" Ren thundered.

"They have one more bullet. Eret has it," Fruit noted.

Krinios, a usual Championship participant who was spectating that month, was screaming about the Krimson Krakens and rooting for Eret. In a team with the likes of Sapnap and Krtzyy, Eret was seen as the underdog. Despite everything, H was glad Eret had the bullet. H found the "funneling" strategy less fun and liked it when everyone had their chance to shoot.

A bullet popped up near where False was bouncing around, and she instinctively pocketed it. "I didn't mean to pick it up," she muttered, but as later events quickly proved, it was better that she did.

Before H could blink, he was already gone. He gaped stupidly at the green stain on his shirt. "HBomb94 was shot by The_Eret!"

But H's brain swiftly caught up to reality. False paused and stared at H, somewhat resembling a deer in headlights. H patted her shoulder. "It's all up to you, False, let's do this!"

The two other Bats immediately chimed in, sending their reassurances through the intercoms. "Let's go, Falsie!" "Alright!"

H stepped off the court, False lifted her gun, and almost immediately, the stands went wild. The cheers enveloped False and she felt so small even though she knew they were cheering for her. Blue and green banners fluttered wildly. This was the set up for a 3v1. No matter which team you wanted to win, you would always feel somewhat inclined to support the 1 in a 3v1. After all, it was human nature to root for the underdog. And Joel, the madman who was quite familiar with 3v1s, was practically screaming the roof down.

"1v3 False! 1v3 False! 1v3 False!" Joel chanted, jumping up and down.

"Do a Smallishbeans!" CPK from Orange shouted.

Joel glanced at CPK, flashed him a quick smile, then returned to staring at the Dodgebolt arena. "Do a ME!" he thundered.

False laughed nervously. Throughout the entirety of her Championship career, she always had her team with her. At the very least, she had Ren, her forever Championship buddy. She knew they would be coaching her from the sidelines, but she felt so alone, especially with the spotlight firmly on her. Literally everybody was watching her— her friends, her opponents, Championship participants, the audience, even Stan Twitt themself. A hermit in Dodgebolt against three other players. What a moment.

False took a shaky breath. "This is not gonna happen, but okay," she mumbled.

"Breathe," H staunchly reminded her. "Breathe. Don't shoot too fast, read their movements. Focus on someone, focus on Sapnap."

That was right: False had to focus. H believed in her, and she was beginning to believe in herself too. The False prophecy and whatnot. She'd dodged and survived up till now for a reason, right? False's expression was serious. She steadied her hands, and shot. The bullet sailed through the air, and—

"Sapnap was shot by falsesymmetry!"

A rush of exhilaration exploded inside her, echoing the explosion of screams from the audience. She'd hit her target! She'd taken down someone! And of all people, she'd taken down Sapnap, who was scarily good at this game.

"Huge!" H shouted just as Fruit called out, "Nice!"

"Good try. Phew."

"Do some dodging."

False's heart was hammering in her chest but she forced herself to keep sane. Green had two bullets. If she couldn't dodge them, her team would lose the first round.

"Walk every once in a while. Make it awkward for them." H's eyes were trained on False's every move.

"Mmhmm." False's reply was curt and strained.

A smile spread on H's face as he thought of his prophecy again. Deep down inside him, he knew it would happen. He didn't know when, or where, or how— he just knew False would pop off eventually. It was written in the script, in the universe, in the stars. And H would love to watch her do it. "Let's go False! Let's get it."

"You got this." Fruit's voice wasn't as loud as H's, but it was just as affirming.

False couldn't afford to reply. She leapt and ducked, making sure to walk occasionally to mix it up.

"That was big! I like those movements, False!" At that moment, two bullets came flying towards False. Both of them missed and splattered on the wall. The crowd gasped, enthralled.

"NICE!" Fruit screamed.

"THEY DON'T LIKE THOSE MOVEMENTS THOUGH!" H roared.

Ren couldn't stop smiling even though he felt terrified at the same time. "Let's go!!"

"YO?!" GizzyGazza from Purple exclaimed, interested. Joel's "1v3 False" chants increased in volume, if that was even possible.

"1v3! 1v3!"

A familiar deep voice joined in, and to everyone's surprise, it was Technoblade. Technoblade was rooting for H ("for once", considering their past history in Dodgebolt), and of course he was supporting his sensei Fruit. Now that those two had been eliminated, Techno's support turned towards False. (Even with his jests about "3% accuracy versus 5% accuracy".)

"My heart is beating so fast," False gasped. She had two bullets now, and her accuracy was seriously put to the test. Her fingers trembled as she frantically loaded her gun. This wasn't some fun minigame made by the hermits, or even Cubfan's Targét. This was Dodgebolt.

"Here! Here!" H couldn't help but point even though False couldn't see him. It was just natural body language. "False, False."

"Yeah?"

"There's no pressure on you whatsoever. You're the underdog here."

"I know!" False exclaimed.

"Breathe. And I also want you to tell me what you want me to scream out once you nail this 1v3."

Honestly, False couldn't think much about anything else right now. Blood was pulsing in her ears. She shot with the best of her ability, but she missed. "Sorry," she wheezed.

H chuckled to ease her nerves. "You got this! Just breathe! It's just a game!"

Well, it's not really just a game when I feel like the dignity of my entire class is at stake, False thought. She and her friends had wrestled their way to the top of the leaderboard, but ultimately Dodgebolt decided the victory.

Green shot, and False nimbly twisted her body. "Nice!" Fruit said, and he was pleasantly surprised when False dodged a second time. "Nice!"

Ren took a deep breath. "Okay. Okay."

"You got this," Fruit said casually.

The audience weren't as chill as the Bats though, and they were wailing in misery over Green and Blue's back and forth. Players were clutching their heads in agony. Someone was screaming and crying. The players were somehow missing, they were somehow surviving, and the first round of Dodgebolt was being dragged on.

"1v3!" Mefs from Yellow called out, and Joel of course supplemented that sentiment by screeching again.

H raised his voice over the gasps of the crowd. "Read their moments and take your time. Focus on one of them and not both of them."

"Plot armour!" Krinios yelled. "Come on! It's the script!"

False's legs felt shaky, so she latched onto guidance from her teammates. She raised her gun, but missed again. "Good try!" H called out. "Right in the middle!"

"Oh, I was close," False muttered.

"Yeah, that was really close. That was a good shot; just unlucky."

False, again not wanting to give Green a chance, shot again, but also missed. Despite that, H continued to say optimistically, "Good try!"

"Very close," Ren added.

It was Green's turn to shoot. The two teams were just trading bullets at this point. False's breathing quickened as she jumped. This round felt like it was going on forever. How long could one Dodgebolt round last for?!

"One missed!" H's eyes widened when another bullet came flying past False. "Two missed!"

Fruit literally had his head in his hands. "Oh my God," he groaned.

"False!" H was genuinely impressed even though he'd predicted False would be good at Dodgebolt. "How did you get so nimble? Skinny legend?!"

False was near hysterical now, and was relying on muscle memory to get her moving. "If only I could shoot!" she laughed.

The crowd was in agony. It was only the first round of Dodgebolt, and not only was it slower than usual Dodgebolt rounds, it was a 1v3. Literally everyone was losing their minds. People were dramatically slumped in the seats, while others were gripping the railings, tense.

"This is wild," CPK marvelled. He just looked stunned.

Dang had a pained smile on his face. "I am STRESSED!" he declared.

"WHAT IS GOING ON?" Joel demanded, both thoroughly enjoying this round and being unbearably upset over it.

To help prevent False from panicking due to the crowd's screams, Fruit continued to calmly say, "You got this."

False knew she couldn't afford to go crazy. Not when everyone was depending on her. Not just the hermits and Ren, but her coaches, H and Fruit. The stakes were high. With that in mind, she shot again. Her heart sank when it missed.

"Good try. That was right in the middle again."

False bit her lip, and pressed the trigger resolutely—

Bang!

"GeorgeNotFound was shot by falsesymmetry!"

"Yay!" Ren squealed, delighted for his friend.

H clapped. "There we go!"

The audience was similarly excited over blood being spilled. "YES!" Mefs exclaimed, while Calvin from Aqua cried out, "YOOOO!"

"I would simply not miss, but okay," Krinios laughed.

On the other side, the Green supporters were in despair. "NOOOOOOOO!" Tommy from Red wailed.

"1v3!" Finnster called out, supporting Blue like the rest of Aqua.

Green had two bullets now. False resumed bouncing on the court. Her palms were so sweaty that she was surprised she could hold onto the gun, let alone shoot accurately.

H was incredibly proud of False, and he smiled fondly. "Aww, Falsie! Falsie! Who is this girl?!" He'd instinctively adopted the hermits' (in particular Ren's) nickname for her.

False twisted and turned, trying to survive another round, but at last—

"Falsesymmetry was shot by The_Eret!"

"AAAAH! Good try!" H screamed boisterously as he clapped. "That was so good!"

"Amazing, Falsie!" Ren gushed. "Amazing!"

The audience was mostly relieved that the agonising round of Dodgebolt was over. And of course, Eret's last second clutch was impressive. "GG"s were called out, and CPK shouted, "Let's go Eret!"

Lime was quite glad that Green had won the 1v3. "ERET!" Dream was screaming, while Fundy whooped, "LET'S GO LET'S GO LET'S GO!"

"Wowie!" Jordan from Cyan gaped, and Kara, properly invested now, called out, "NEXT ROUND NEXT ROUND! EASY!"

As False walked to the sidelines, H quickly hugged her. "Two kills on your first round of Dodgebolt? Let's go!"

"That was insanity," Fruit agreed, and he passed False her water bottle. False, both physically and mentally exhausted, leaned against the wall for a quick breather.

"I'll take it," she mumbled.

"You did so good!"

False was almost embarrassed to look at H because he'd spoken so highly of her in Dodgebolt yet she couldn't get them through the first round, but the sincerity in H's voice touched her. He was happy with her performance, somehow.

"That was... crazy!" Fruit marveled.

False managed to hide her sheepish blush by wiping her sweaty face. Fruit was right— that experience was crazy. False felt like she might implode from the intensity of it all. But of course, Dodgebolt's nature didn't allow its players to rest for long. The countdown for the second round was starting.

"Who's grabbing the bullet? I'll let you guys choose this time."

Fruit took a breath. "I'll try."

"Alright, Fruit wants it, he wants redemption!"

And indeed he wanted it. Fruit knew he'd been stupid last round by being a sitting duck. As the countdown began, Fruit stared at where the bullet would pop up.

The Blue Bats had just lost one round of Dodgebolt. They could definitely still bring it back.

And with hope brimming in their hearts, the second round of Dodgebolt began.

-

The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour

And I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye

Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?

-

Unfortunately, Fruit wouldn't be getting his redemption just yet because he missed the bullet, and H was the one who picked it up.

"I didn't see who got it though," H called out. The Blue Bats squirmed and jumped, and the Green Guardians did the same. Everyone was waiting for the first shot of this round.

"Eret's got it," H reported. He was right on cue as Eret's bullet flew and smacked into False.

"Falsesymmetry was shot by The_Eret!"

"Unlucky," H commented. But the fact that False got out first, mere seconds after the round had begun, was huge for Green. Last round, False had held on for a surprising amount of time for a newcomer (and a hermit).

In response to False's elimination, Mefs commented, "Took out the queen". Quig added, "Simp for her and win." But at least False could take a break now. Blue had both bullets, and naturally H and Fruit took one each. Fruit shifted to find a better position. Ren slunk behind his team's two sharpshooters.

"I'll shoot when I feel ready," Fruit's voice came floating.

"Yup, same here." H bit his lip, shot, and it landed on the wall. "Argh, I missed."

Fruit aimed towards a cluster of people, and it genuinely looked like it was about to hit. "Got—" Fruit said in advance, and was shocked when it missed. "Whaaat? There's no way."

"FALSE SUPREMACY!" Scott, homeroom of 3-H, cheered. He was a little late, all things considered, but it was the thought that counted. And like H's Blue Bats copypasta, Scott had no idea how influential that little phrase would become in the near future.

"Winner gets crowned biggest simp!" Mefs joked, while GizzyGazza complimented, "False you did so good!", but all of the noise faded into the background when the Blue Bats knew they had to dodge again. "We got this," Fruit said automatically.

The Dodgebolt music continued playing. Green didn't shoot for what felt like ages. "Okay, let's take the time to calm down for a second," Sapnap declared. He turned so he could see Dream standing on his side of the arena, and he grinned broadly. It was a brief and welcomed respite in the tension of Dodgebolt.

"I'm proud of us boys, we've made it far!"

"What we're going to do is WIN!"

Blue noted that Green was taking a breather, but Blue couldn't relax. "Watch out, they might fire a shot like, immediately," Fruit warned.

"Yup!" H chimed in. "Don't stop dodging!"

Green "stalling" the round wasn't exactly welcomed by the crowd because they were already impatient from the long first round. "Shoot the bullets," Joel demanded. Technoblade was booing loudly and (jokingly) calling for a penalty. "Stop it Dream team!" Quig called out, and Noxite joked about randomly eliminating players.

False had a good view from the bleachers. "They're both on you, it's Krtzyy and Sapnap." Green shot and missed both, and the Blue Bats could breathe again.

Quig was being unhinged and calling for a removal of the floor to see who would die last. H and Fruit picked up the bullets again and resumed their standard aiming position. "I'm ready when you're ready!"

H and Fruit's dynamic in Dodgebolt was now obvious. Fruit spoke slower, more carefully, while H's replies were quick, direct, and almost cheerful. Fruit would take his time to prepare himself, and H would wait.

"Who do you want?" H asked.

"I'm just gonna... I don't know," Fruit admitted. "I'm gonna wait for a group to happen."

H shot, and missed. Fruit swiftly released, and hit. "Got one!"

"Krtzyy was shot by fruitberries!"

H was going through what Fruit did earlier. "I actually don't know how I missed it," he laughed. "But that was a good kill— that was Dave. I don't know how I missed Sapnap."

Speaking of Sapnap, he'd just made his latest shot. "Renthedog was shot by Sapnap!" It was a clean, swift kill. Ren gulped.

"Oh," Fruit said, but before he could even breathe, green paint splattered on H. "Oh."

"HBomb94 was shot by GeorgeNotFound!"

"I'm out too," H mumbled. The reality of the situation dawned on Fruit. He held onto his gun, willing it not to slip from his sweaty fingers. Fruit watched as H and Ren stepped out the court, leaving his solitary shadow behind.

Another 1v3. Only it was Fruit this time, not False. It was also scary when Ren and H were eliminated in quick succession. But H remained unfalteringly hopeful.

"Alright Fruit, 1v3 this LET'S GO!"

The crowd was going wild with another 1v3, especially with Blue being the disadvantaged side again. Technoblade was gripping his head with his hands. "FRUIT 1V3!" he demanded, while Calvin next to him shouted, "PLEASE." Joel and Mefs resumed their 1v3 hollering. "Do a Smallishbeans, Fruit!" CPK yelled.

Fruit laughed nervously and shifted to pick up the bullets. "Wooooo, baby." His hands felt stiff, yet they were trembling. At that moment, Fruit genuinely didn't have complete trust in himself. "I'm just gonna sit here for a sec."

Fruit was very well aware of the stakes. It wasn't just about his Blue Bats, it was also about Fruit himself. It was a bit like the False 1v3 from before. Sure, Fruit went insane in Survival Games, but a 1v3 would be the perfect chance to prove himself. Fruit was a 3-A student, Technobalde's sensei, friends with many other skilled students, and heck, he'd even won before, but he wasn't considered a S-tier in the Championships. Well, at least not yet.

Fruit wanted to make a name for himself.

He wanted to win.

He wanted to win it for his Bats. Because he knew he would probably never get a team like them ever again.

"Take your time!" H called out as Ren chuckled. (Krinios was screaming about plot armour in the background. Mefs was hollering "GO ERET!". )

"Hey, Fruit, you're not expected to win this," H comforted Fruit. "There's zero pressure on you, let's go!"

Despite the tension, Fruit managed to laugh. "How long do you think I can stall? That's the real question," he asked, referencing how Green had stalled just two minutes earlier. "I feel like they might step out of bounds eventually, especially if I aim at one."

One of Dodgebolt's mechanics was that the court would gradually decrease in size, and it was instant death if one person stepped out. People usually didn't go out of bounds, and it was hilarious when a rare case happened.

H considered it. "True, not a bad idea!"

(The crowd was going ballistic. Shouts of "BREATHE FRUIT" and "FRUIT 1V3" and "GO FRUIT!" filled the air. Fruit chose to focus on his teammates.)

Fruit aimed at Green, then turned and ended up shooting the floor of his own arena. This created widespread confusion especially among the audience who had zero insight into what Fruit was thinking. Even the Bats themselves were confused.

"I thought you just shot, I was like where did it go?" H chuckled.

"Loving the taunt!" Ren quipped.

Fruit laughed. It was a loud, genuine laugh that burst out from the bottom of his lungs. What was wrong with him today? What was he doing?! But he knew he had to focus and actually not throw now.

"Read one of their moves. Who do you wanna take out first? I think it's Sapnap you wanna take out first."

"I think so." Fruit pressed the trigger, and he did exactly that. "Gottem!" And Fruit managed to sound as nonchalant as always.

"Sapnap was shot by fruitberries!"

Fruit shot again and missed, but H was still happy. "Good try! You got one of them! One for two is good!"

Fruit took a deep breath and started dodging. Even his teammates were silent now, watching him with fear and anticipation. Fruit's joints felt stiff and he hoped this dodging was warming him up. Any moment now... he just had to dodge two bullets—

A green blur, then paint exploded on Fruit.

"Fruitberries was shot by GeorgeNotFound!"

Fruit exhaled. Green paint dripped down his outfit, tainting his skin and then the floor. The defeat slammed into him, and his heart sank. "Awwww, shit!" he burst out.

"Ah, good try!" Despite it all, Fruit could hear the smile in H's voice.

"Bad luck, bad luck," came Ren's voice.

Blue was two rounds down. Green only needed one more round to win. The crowd was murmuring among themselves. Maybe it was indeed too hard for Blue to win even though they had H and Fruit. And even if the hermits didn't win, they should be proud of coming this far. On the other hand, Green's supporters were delighted. CPK cried out "GG!", Sylvee screamed out, "GOGY!", and Tommy was whooping. Fundy repeatedly cried, "Let's go let's go!"

False handed Fruit a towel for him to wipe off the sweat and the paint. He mumbled a thanks, but he was becoming slightly tilted by his own performance. "Come on, man!" he hissed to himself, exasperated and angry.

False had held off so ridiculously well in the first round, and Fruit got out after like, what, two exchanges of bullets? Fruit told himself he was just warming up, and he did get a shot, but now, time was up. This was their last chance. It weighed heavily on his shoulders. Fruit tossed the towel away and forced his hands to steady.

"Let's get it!" H continued to say, but his voice was at a smaller volume than usual. This was serious. They'd lost two rounds in a row. One more round, and poof— their dreams would be dashed.

Of course, that saying was exaggerated. No matter what happened, the Blue Bats got first in coins and broke a record in Survival Games. The hermits had more than proved their capabilities by getting to Dodgebolt. They had proved Stan Twitt and Reddit wrong. And above all, they'd gotten closer to each other after hours of practice and were enjoying the Championship together.

Yet, it didn't feel good to be so close to victory and risk losing all of it in a minute or two. They had come so far, wrestled their way through the games, weaved their narrative along the way, the four of them hand-in-hand. Heck, they even dominated Survival Games when they wanted it the least.

All sorts of emotions filled the Bats— gratitude, anxiety, fear, determination, hope. They wanted to win, they really did, but the odds weren't looking good right now. They could barely look at each other, thinking the weariness in their eyes would discourage the others.

But when their optimistic leader H faltered for even just a second, Ren picked it up. Because of course he did.

"Phew! Alright!" When Ren spoke, everyone turned to him. Ren admittedly hadn't done much for Dodgebolt yet, wasn't left to fight for a 1v3, but he was thoroughly enjoying his dream of getting to Dodgebolt. Ren was just sincerely happy to be there, and even happier that he was with the Blue Bats. The unadulterated joy shone in his eyes, reminding the Blue Bats why they chose to do this in the first place.

The war against Stan Twitt. H's desire to stay away from the spotlight (ironic how he found himself in it again). Everyone wanting to prove Reddit wrong. And most importantly of all: they wanted to have a fantastic time in the 9th Championship.

Encouraged by Ren, H started speaking again. "Breathe, guys, we got this."

H's words rang in the air. No one replied to him. They were all focused on the finality of this third round held. There was no sugarcoating it. If they lost, they would lose Dodgebolt. And the Green Guardians would win the 9th Championship.

"Who wants the bullet?" H asked as he always did.

"One of you guys take it," Ren answered. He bit his lip and looked grim. "You guys have got to carry this."

"Yeah." False instantly agreed with Ren's sentiment. The two hermits even shuffled behind H and Fruit, letting them lead.

With the Blue Bats having lost two rounds, some of that old insecurity was returning to the hermits. They had zero Dodgebolt experience. Ren hadn't had a shot yet. While False did get some kills, she also wasn't as accurate as other players.

Now, H would usually be upset at the term "carry", but he understood the delicacy of the situation. The Bats needed to keep their morale high. And despite everything, the hermits didn't sound very tilted— was it because of their trust in the rest of the team?

It was alright. Everything was alright. H and Fruit would be the Bats' sword and shield.

The countdown was blaring from the speakers. There was no time to think about anything else. H and Fruit trained their eyes on the bullet dispenser. False and Ren shared glances, too tense to do anything else.

They had to win this round. It was now or never.

-

Well it's gone gone, baby it's all gone

There is no one on the corner and there's no one at home

Well it was cool cool, it was just all cool

Now it's over for me, and it's over for you

-

Up in the bleachers, Grian was thanking the donations. "We might have gotten eighth in this game, but we won because we're building a school together." Grian was truly surprised by the generosity from his viewers and appreciated them very much. He went on to explain how exactly the money would benefit the community in Ghana, like how women could work now that their kids could go to school.

He paused when Fruit was the only one left in the second round. "Aaand I'm watching my favourite team get wrecked. Come on Fruitberries!" he called out.

Grian glanced at the donations counter he had, and his heart leapt with joy. "Come on guys, we're so close to the goal," he urged his viewers again. The audience's gasps caused him to look at the Dodgebolt arena again, and he could see that Fruit had just eliminated Sapnap.

"Come on, FRUITY B!" Grian cried out. "You got this!"

Coincidentally, a bullet soared towards Fruit and eliminated him. Grian was instantly in misery.

"OHH!" Grian wailed. "You don't get this!"

Grian glanced at the scoreboard in the corner. Green had two, and Blue had zero. He briefly wondered if that was it, but it turned out to be first to three instead of best of three. Relief exploded inside him when he realized his team still had a chance. He clapped his hands together and screamed for all it was worth.

"Come on Blue team! Pull it back!"

This 9th Championship honestly felt like a dream. The Dreamslaying, the lords, all of the kind donations, and now the hermits were in Dodgebolt.

"We're so close," Grian muttered to himself. It was meant to be about the donations, but it ended up applying to the Blue Bats as well. "We're so close."
-

Pete and the others in Cyan were supporters of Blue, but now they wondered if they were on the side of a losing team. "This seems like an unbeatable team," Pete remarked when Green dwindled Blue's numbers down to one. They watched Fruit make his shots. "This is exactly a mirror of the last round."

Everyone in Cyan winced when Fruit was taken out. Puffy and Kara exchanged glances. Pete raised his eyebrows and sighed. From up there, they couldn't really see the expressions of the players, but the Blue Bats had to be feeling a little dejected, right?

"Oh boy, they better have a major comeback here," Jordan said.

"Yeah. I believe in H." Kara, who'd been screaming about "Queen False" from round one, still had faith in the Bats.

Pete was silent. He watched the Blue Bats regroup. Fruit didn't seem the most happy with himself, but H and Ren were encouraging him. Pete thought of the Championship meta so far, then the Green Gods, and got out his words, slow but certain.

"I believe in green man supremacy."

-

Pearl's heart continued to thump hopefully. She'd winced when Fruit was eliminated, but she continued to have faith in the Blue Bats. Next to her, her teammates were chatting.

"There hasn't been a 3-0 yet, right...?"

"No, not since they made it three."

The audience used to believe Blue had a higher chance of winning due to Fruit and H, but the tide was turning. Perhaps the first clean sweep was on the horizon. Pearl shivered, but she wasn't deterred. "They can pull this back," she declared, the determination in her voice surprising even herself.

Pearl almost felt fierce about it. She wasn't currently a hermit, but she was friends with a bunch of them, and she understood what they were going through.

Somehow, she knew they could win.

Somehow, she knew False and Ren could do it.

-

This was the end of the 9th Championship. This was the third round of Dodgebolt— and quite possibly the final round. Green fans wished for the winning streak to continue, and Blue fans continued to staunchly believe.

It was strange yet endearing how people would come together in times of distress. In the heat of the moment, in a hot flash of emotion, people could just instinctively understand each other and share one collective sentiment.

It felt like the countdown was happening in slow motion. And that was then when all four of the Blue Bats came to a consensus without speaking or even looking at each other.

Yes, the situation didn't look good. But yes, they had to fight that good fight. And above all:

The Blue Bats didn't want their journey to end just yet.

Together, they had achieved seemingly impossible feats.

Why couldn't they do it one more time?

-

But I believe the world is burning to the ground

Oh well, I guess we're gonna find out

Let's see how far we've come

Let's see how far we've come

-

A/N: ... This chapter ended up being 10k words long? And to think I intended this to be combined with the Sands of Time chapter? What was I thinking lmao.

Anyways, re: Aqua29, I highly recommend rewatching MCC9 DB and then MCC29 DB. Dave losing to H and False in 9. False and Cub losing to H in 20. And now all of them are back and False joins the 1v3 club. What a story.

To think I said in the notes of last chapter that I wanted to see H and False again. Well, I got what I hoped for and more :)

Lyrics from How Far We've Come by Matchbox Twenty. It's unironically one of my favourite songs and gets me pumped up <3

Thank you everyone for reading! We're getting close to the end of the MCC9 arc! Hope you liked it and comments are appreciated <3