"Heyo Fruit! How are you doing?"

Fruit grinned up at H. "I'm okay, thanks for asking. You did great at the 1st Championship, by the way."

H groaned. "Too bad I didn't win. It's fine. We got third."

"You're gonna join the 2nd Championship, right? Sign ups just started."

"You bet! I want to be in every Championship!"

They sparred a little more. Fruit always enjoyed training with H, and it wasn't just because H was his friend (H totally wasn't his only friend in the school). H was a good sport and gave him genuine praise, which was rare in an environment where connections meant everything and mindless simping was rampant.

"Hey, H!"

H turned around to see Dream aka. the guy practically everyone mistook Fruit for. ""Wanna have dinner with the Dream SMP people?"

"Sure thing, Dream!" H whooped. He then turned back to Fruit, an apologetic smile on his face. "Sorry, Fruit, I got to go."

"Oh, it's alright. Gimme your equipment, I'll clean it for you. Have a good time, H!"

Fruit watched as H left, laughing and chattering with Dream's friends. He glanced down at his phone and resisted the urge to call Illumina.

"This is fine..."

-

Tired from writing down notes, False went to the school's vending machine. To her surprise, she saw an exhausted Fruitberries there, his skin unusually pale. She watched as he punched some buttons and picked up an energy bar. False gulped.

C'mon False, she told herself. Just thank him for standing up for Jevin and the hermits.

But by the time False had mustered up the courage to speak, Fruit had already slipped away.

-

False asked Jevin if he would consider joining more Championships. He said no. "I don't think it's my thing."

"Ohh, alright."

They both continued with their day.

-

The teams for the 2nd Championship were released. With her trusty banana hoodie around her shoulders, False went down to the main campus to catch a glimpse of the teams.

Technoblade. Tommy. Wilbur. They were part of the student council and huge names. False was rather surprised that the UwU Manhunt Master (or whatever his title was), the smiley-green-guy-who-was-not-Fruitberries, Dream himself was not participating again. Neither were his friends George and Sapnap. Oh, well.

Familiar names from the 1st Championship popped up. HBomb. Eret. Pete. Sparklez. Dangthatsalongname.

Wait. Dang? The guy who looked exactly like Scott? False remembered being extremely confused by seeing two Scotts in the 1st Championship.

False asked Scott about Dang later. He cheekily replied with "Dang's my clone! I've always wanted to participate in the Championships, so I cloned myself!"

"That's so relatable!" Wels, who overheard them, cheered. Scott's smile melted, only slightly.

"Wait, Wels actually cloned himself?" Scott whispered to False once Wels was out of earshot.

"Yeah, Hels. They had a really cool rap battle. It went viral on YouTube," False said with a shrug like summoning evil clones of yourself was part of everyday life (which it was, considering she was in 3-H).

"Oh no. I was joking about Dang being my clone. He's actually my little cousin. The Scott genes are just too strong."

"Alright. Less exciting than having a clone, but I'll accept it."

"Less exciting? How crazy are you guys exactly?"

"You don't wanna know, Mr. Major."

-

One time False fell asleep while watching the practice sessions. She didn't wake up until a guy nudged her shoulder and said, "Hey, Banana Girl, it's time to go."

False blinked her eyes blearily, and she realized two things:

He had called her Banana GirlHe was HBomb

But before she could do anything, he had already walked away, leaving her sitting alone in the dim light.

-

Ren found her watching the PvPers and joined her. Everything was always a lot more fun with Ren. He would give the PvP moves wacky yet memorable (and occasionally inappropriate) names, and he was there to lighten the mood. But one time they were so distracted by coming up with a joint building design that they talked about it for three hours straight (and the night afterwards) and completely neglected the very exciting Dream VS Techno fight that was going on.

Ren was fun, but also distracting. But False would rather have fun than be efficient. And she knew all of the hermits thought the same.

-

Ren and False watched the 2nd Championship together. None of the hermits were joining. A new game was added— Battle Box. All ten teams had to face and duel each other in a pit filled with obstacles and power ups.

"This looks terrifying." Ren shivered.

"This is probably one of those that we're bad at," False pointed out.

They didn't have any teams they supported, but they took extra notice of Grian's friends from 3-G, which were Martyn and Jimmy. They were in Yellow Yolks.

"They're not bad at this," False commented. "Maybe we can team up with them some day? Since y'know, 3-GH solidarity. Crafters' solidarity."

They had both missed watching Dodgebolt last time because they were searching for Fruit. This time, they watched as Aqua and Cyan faced each other on the Dodgebolt court, with Stan Twitt standing in the middle and screaming.

"UWU MY BOI TOMMY'S IN DODGEBOLT! I guess he's TommyInnit the finals!"

"I feel like Stan Twitt is gonna be here for every single Dodgebolt," Ren whispered to False. "Someone should shut them up."

"Aww, poor Mr. Major. He looks like he's dying."

False observed the top two teams, and saw one familiar face. "Ooh! HBomb's in Aqua!"

"Ohh, the guy who reminds you of me?"

"Yeah, H!"

Ren scrutinized H. "I can sort of see that. He's gorgeous like me. So, are we supporting Aqua?"

False paused. "I'm a little hesitant to support any of these teams because we don't really know them. Not to mention many of the finalists are in 3-A and they usually treat us hermits the worst. HBomb seems nice, but I've only seen him be nice to the main campus people."

"Yeah, I guess we can't really trust them..." Ren looked dejected.

Despite that, both of them still smiled when H and his team won the 2nd Championship. False knew better than to get attached to a potentially dangerous stranger, but H genuinely seemed friendly enough. Stan Twitt was rioting and clapping. Scott had put on headphones, which was a smart decision.

"Oh hey look, that's Fruity!" Ren called out, pointing at the familiar green figure that appeared on the court. "He's congratulating H!"

"Yeah, they're friends. They practice with each other a lot."

Ren squinted his eyes. "Dudes, this HBomb guy sure is popular. He has so many friends! Look at the crowd of people around him!"

"Perks of being loud and in 3-A, I guess. Ohh, even Dream's there. All the Green Gods are congratulating him."

"He seems to be very well-liked," False noted. "I wonder why he isn't in the Student Council... that being said, none of the Green Gods are in the Student Council."

"True! I think Dream just invited his close friends. Or maybe Stan Twitt forced him to invite his close friends," Ren murmured conspiratorially. He furtively glanced around even though no one could possibly overhear them. "There's a lot of weird stuff surrounding Stan Twitt."

"You look really sus, Ren."

"Not as sus as Stan Twitt. Well, anyways, thanks for watching this Championship with me!"

Ren grinned at her. "Sure thing!"

... Ren was just with her because he knew she didn't like being lonely, right?

-

After Jevin, Iskall was False's other choice for a Championship buddy. She and Iskall had been sent to 3-H for the same reasons (they protected Mumbo when he was being bullied), and they had both been in 2-B. Out of everyone in 3-H, they were the closest to the 3-A people in terms of PvP skill level. So other than her, Iskall was probably the other hermit who wanted to win.

But when False asked him after signups for the 3rd Championship started, Iskall said he was interested, but he was focusing on something else at the moment. Something about "modpacks" and "servers".

"Maybe a few months later," Iskall told her. "To be honest, being in 3-H made me branch out and explore new stuff. So I'm not into PvP as much now."

"Alright. Your modpack thing sounds cool."

As False walked away, she could hear Ren blasting Jono's music as he cheerfully chopped down trees, oblivious to False and Iskall's conversation.

-

So False did not join the 3rd Championship, but she still went to the practice sessions. Instead of purely taking notes, she decided to actually practice. With her trusty hoodie, no one would recognize her as a hermit. So, she leapt around the parkour practice area and climbed up and down ladders. She was nowhere near as good as everyone else, but at least she was trying, right?

... False was beginning to feel like a Fruit wannabe. Fruit was always wearing his lime green jacket to the point the jacket symbolized him— wait, Dream's similarly coloured hoodie was probably more iconic because Dream had more "clout". So maybe False was a Dream wannabe.

False was starting to recognize more Championship players. There were some who were in every Championship, such as HBomb, Dang, and Dang's best friend Shubble. But there were always new faces, and none of the familiar faces from 3-G or 3-H. Well, Martyn and Jimmy were there quite often, but False hadn't spoken to them.

... Man, False really didn't speak to a lot of people. That was why she needed Ren. More like, she needed to step out of her comfort zone.

She was so preoccupied by her thoughts that she missed a jump, and painfully landed on the trampoline below the parkour practice area. Thankfully, she wasn't hurt, just a little disoriented. A hand appeared in her vision.

"Hey! You alright?"

False instantly recognized the voice despite never having spoken to the person. She glanced upwards, and kind blue eyes gazed down at her.

HBomb.

False found herself getting oddly flustered. "Ohh, uhh, I'm alright!" She was so nervous she ignored H's hand and tried to push herself up, but realized she couldn't. She hastily took his hand and he helped her up. "Thank you."

"I always see you around, Banana Girl." There was no trace of mockery in his tone when he said her nickname; he even sounded friendly. "Will I see you in the Championships?"

False scratched the back of her head. "Uhh, maybe? If my friends join with me? Not this one, though."

H nodded, understanding. False felt the atmosphere grow awkward. That was why she didn't talk to strangers!

"Thanks again, I'll be," False nodded towards the door, "I have something to do. Uh. Bye."

(False, did not, in fact "have something to do". She had reserved the entire afternoon for practice.)

She hurried outside, trying to calm her racing heartbeat. Talking with people was so hard. And she was already feeling so... threatened by some nice guy who reminded her of one of her best friends.

That was right. Ren. H always reminded False of Ren. She patted her pockets, trying to find her phone to see if Ren had texted her or something—

Her hands froze.

Her pockets were empty.

"Banana Girl!"

False flinched at the loud voice, but she didn't show it. She stiffly turned around, and H ran up to her, a familiar object in his hand. "You dropped this."

"Ahh, thank you."

Just as False stretched out a hand to take her phone, a text lit up her screen. It was from the 3-H chat, and the words "3-HERMITCRAFT" were boldly displayed on the screen.

Both False and H stared at the phone for a little too long. False's heart sunk. Now H knew she was in 3-H. What would he do? Mock her being bad at parkour and say she would never win?

But H just slipped the phone in her hand, smiled, and walked away. It was like he had never seen the text even though False was 100% sure he did.

False grasped her phone tightly, staring at H's retreating backside.

What had just happened?

-

Ren and False watched the 3rd Championship together. The "supermarket game" (as Dream put it) was played for the first time, and for some odd reason it was hugely disliked.

"Why is everyone hating Build Mart?" Ren questioned while munching on the cookies False had baked.

False was equally baffled. "It's a game that tests communication and cooperation and how well you can work with your teammates in a... team-based competition? Like, if you have to "hate" a game, it has to be Parkour Warrior, right? That's the least team-related game."

"I know, right? Build Mart looks fun," Ren said. "I kinda wish I can play it."

"BOOHOO!" Stan Twitt was screeching, flapping their arms. "This is soooo boring! Build Mart (derogatory)!"

"H-how did Stan even say parentheses out loud?!" False wheezed.

"At this point, I've stopped questioning Stan Twitt. You know, Falsie, you should make cookies of Stan's ugly head so we can crunch them for catharsis."

"Will do. I'm afraid that will ruin everyone's appetite, though."

-

"Ren, can I talk to you for a second?"

Ren stopped chopping down trees and wiped his sweaty forehead. "Oh, hi Mr. Major. Am I in trouble?" (Ren always automatically assumed he was in trouble.)

Scott chuckled. "No, not at all. I was wondering if you're interested in joining the Championships."

Ren gestured at himself. "Me?" he questioned incredulously.

"I've seen you watch all of the Championships with False. And I know you guys watch practice sessions together too."

"Yeah... but the thing is, I... don't think I should be in the Championships?"

Scott wrinkled his nose and looked like he was about to retort. He said, "You're wrong, but go on."

"Like I'm one of the worst PvPers in this class," Ren laughed. "And Falsie... well, she probably wants to win and go back to the main campus. The Championships look fun but... there are hermits out there who'll be a better fit."

Scott studied Ren. "Okay, stop thinking about False for a moment. Do you want to try playing in the Championships!"

"It looks so cool, and it's such a well organised event! I'll be honored to play there, that is, if I get accepted—" Ren saw Scott's face. "Oh, who am I kidding? My own teacher is in charge of deciding who gets to participate."

"Not to sound biased, but if any of my students want to join, I'll definitely let them in." A pause. "Alright, I'm totally biased. You guys deserve recognition."

Ren self-consciously rubbed his arms. "The Championships do look a lot of fun, but man... I dunno... it gets really competitive. And False is gonna be competitive."

"But disregarding what you think, you want to join, right?"

".. Yeah?"

"Then you should join!" Scott said brightly. "If it's too much to want to win, you can always join for fun at first. The Championships are enjoyable, and not to brag, but we have overwhelmingly positive reviews even if Stan Twitt ruins some of the fun. Besides, you've watched all the Championships so you're quite familiar with how it works. And your skills aren't bad at all! You chop down trees every day, which is something I won't do. And you've been doing this for months, if not years! You're a professional!"

"Yeah... that sounds great, but False probably wants like, I dunno," Ren vaguely waved his hands, "Iskall to join with her. Or Cub. Or even Grian. They're all better at PvP than I am."

Scott sighed, getting mildly exasperated by how Ren was looking down on himself. "Ren, think about it. Who saw False going down to watch the 1st Championship alone and joined her? Who went to watch every Championships with her? Who went with her to the practice sessions? You. I'm pretty sure she wants you to team up with her."

"B-but she didn't ask me!"

Scott slapped his forehead. "Yeah, probably because she thinks you don't want to join, and you don't want to join because you think she doesn't want you to join... oh goodness. This is getting unnecessarily complex and annoying. Just tell her you want to be in. I promise you it'll end well. Just go and stop each other's suffering."

Scott stuffed a sheet of paper in Ren's hands. It was the sign up form for the 4th Championship. Ren gripped it, still looking slightly hesitant.

"You got this, Ren," Scott patted Ren's shoulder. "The Championships aren't as great when all the players are sweaty and from 3-A and 3-B. As your homeroom, I really hope more hermits join, even if you don't win. It's a wonderful experience."

A smile finally broke out on Ren's face. "Alright! If you say so, Mr. Major."

"That's False over there!" Scott nudged Ren in False's direction. "Come on, go talk to her!"

As Ren hurried over to False, Scott sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Man, I really deserve a pay raise."

-

"Alright, Grian won another competition and all everyone is talking about is Naruto running?!"

"Iskall, chill! Naruto running can be... very important as well." A pause. "I actually have no idea what Naruto running is, but Etho reminds me of Kakashi and Kakashi reminds me of Naruto, and Etho's extremely cool, so Naruto running must be extremely cool as well."

"But Grian, you legitimately got a job offer by Mojang!" Iskall exclaimed. "Mojang's like, the biggest company in the world! And you're what, a student?! Mojang hired a student?"

Grian flushed. "Iskall, you don't need to say that so many times! Literally everyone here knows I got a job!"

Iskall pursed his lips and glared at the pathetically tiny blob of cobblestone grey that was the main campus. "But they don't! And even if they did, they probably wouldn't care."

Grian leaned back on his chair. "Yeahh, that's because of all the clout in this school. Some invisible... energy that fuels Stan Twitt. Or something. It's what makes the popular people even more popular."

"Grian, you're pretty popular. You have a bunch of fans at school. But you're still overlooked because some others have more clout. And our beloved Principal Stan Twitt loves this system."

Grian suddenly snapped his fingers. "Oh man! I just had a great idea!" he burst out. "Clout Resistance. And remember... it's all about the Principal. Because the Principal is why this school sucks."

Iskall clutched his sides and chuckled. "It's all about the Principal. I like that, Grian."

Next to them, False quietly stood, a sheet of paper in her hands. Iskall's laughter was infectious, and the corners of her lips couldn't help but quirk up. But that smile rapidly evaporated when False returned her attention to the sheet of paper, which was the signup form for the 4th Championship.

False had spent the last three Championships learning and honing her skills. She believed it was time for her to get a bit of real experience. But the problem was: she hadn't found a hermit who wanted to go to the Championship. And no way was False participating in the Championships without her hermits.

False stepped out of the classroom and felt the breeze blow through her hair. She glanced at the still-empty sign up form. After the 1st Championship, she had asked Jevin, who said no. After the 2nd Championship, she had asked Iskall, who also said no. Was she going to miss this one again? Was she going to have to beg the 3-G people to join with her? Iskall had told her he was interested, but when would he be free to join? Was False really going to have to wait for—

"Falsie!"

False spun to see Ren dashing towards her with a brilliant smile and a piece of paper in his hand. Behind him, she could see Scott with a proud look on his face. Ren threw his hands around her before she could react. Surprised, False stumbled backwards and hit a wall, but she hugged him back nevertheless.

"Uh, Ren? What's going on?" she asked in confused joy.

Ren grabbed her shoulders. "Falsie, I'll go to the 4th Championship with you!" he declared.

And suddenly False felt very stupid. Of all people, she had somehow never managed to ask Ren even though he had always been with her at Championship-related stuff. Of course it was Ren.

"You'll go with me?"

Ren's eyes were soft yet bright. "Yeah, of course—"

False hugged Ren so hard he nearly fell down. "Oh my goodness, you don't know how happy I am to hear that," she whispered. "We're gonna have so much fun together!"

"Totally! B-but wait, you're kind of choking me—"

False released Ren from her tight bear hug. "Oops, sorry," she grinned sheepishly. "Got a little over-excited."

"Oh, har har. I didn't—I didn't know you would be so happy."

False stared at Ren like he had grown a wolf tail (now False thought about it, that wouldn't be very surprising). "Ren, you're my friend. Why won't I be overjoyed?"

Ren cleared his throat. "Yeah. Umm. Just some stupid insecurity," he muttered. "It's okay now."

It felt like a heavy weight had been taken off False's shoulders. Joining the Championship sure was scary, but now that Ren was here, it suddenly didn't seem as scary as before. So long she had her friends, False was sure she would be okay.

"We've got so much to do!" False exclaimed, pacing back and forth, her eyes alight with excitement. "We've go to find two other teammates, and organize practice sessions, and—"

Ren threw his head back and cackled. "We're Rendog and FalseSymmetry! We're comin' for ya!" he roared. "Prepare yourselves, 'cause we'll beat your butts up!"

-

False found Fwhip, one of her old friends from the main campus. Fwhip was one of the few main campus students that False still had good relations with after her demotion. Fwhip was also in the Legacy friend group along with Skizzleman (Impulse's best friend for like a decade), ZloyXP (another good friend who was such a mega fan of the hermits he even made documentaries about them along with Pixlriffs), and Pearl (Grian's friend). Python, another Legacy member, was part of the Kingdomcraft gang in their first year, and was nearly demoted to 3-H, but made it out. Quite a lot of Legacy members were close with the hermits due to their shared love for crafter and designing.

"3-GH solidarity!" Fwhip cheered. "LET'S GOOO!"

The trio were joined by Katherine, who had been in previous Championships. Katherine was the only teammate who had actually participated in the old Championships, so they were all kind of relying on her. Katherine was in the X Life group, which included Fwhip, Dang, Shubble, Joel, and Joel's partner Lizzie. Surprisingly, HBomb was also part of X Life before, but all False heard now was how he was part of the Dream Gang (probably because of the clout).

"We crafters stick together!" Ren declared. "But thanks for teaming with us hermits. You know how everyone hates us."

Fwhip lowered his voice, "To be honest, most of my friends like the hermits. Everyone stans Etho. It's just that Stan Twitt makes it seem like you guys are irrelevant."

"Yeah, Stan Twitt is so weird!" Katherine chimed in. "I don't know why Dream's friends get most of the attention, when the crafters' community is way larger."

"Exactly! That's why we're gonna overthrow Stan Twitt's system," False vowed.

The countdown to the 4th Championship was starting. False shivered, suddenly nervous upon seeing all the PvPers next to her. They were terrifying, but Dang aka. Scott's cousin still was the most terrifying because he looked completely identical to Scott. The four crafters had practiced, but they were probably nowhere near those who had practised their entire lives.

"You good, Falsie?"

False spun to look at Ren. "If it's too scary, we can just aim for having fun this time," Ren said cheerfully.

"Yeah, I think that's what I'll do. It's too unrealistic to expect that we'll get a good ranking first time." False took a deep breath. So long had she waited for this day, standing on the sidelines, desperate for the chance to redeem herself and the hermits. Now that she was actually in the Championship Arena, she could hardly believe her eyes. Good thing she had her friends with her, in particular Ren. He was her neighbour, her friend, a hermit, and now her teammate. Ren was always a constant in her life, and False hoped it would be this way.

False took out her phone. "Hey Ren, let's take photos!"

The duo shifted closer and the phone's camera flashed. Their matching smiles were now frozen in time. False happily hummed to herself as she saved the photo.

This was just one of the many they would take. After all, they would only join the Championships if they had each other.

Later, they would be known as Renpog and False Supremacy, but for now, they were just Ren and False. Ren and False against Stan Twitt and the entire world.