Little A/N before the chapter: I actually was originally going to make this chapter the fourth, and it was also originally split into chapter 4 and 5, but then, I decided that both chapter two and three were unnecessary to the story, and removed them entirely (which was a big setback since both already had a lot written in them - might publish it as it's own thing. maybe.)

Also excuse me since I do now know the layout of the practice server that well, watched a few vods to see what it looked like but I'm pretty sure some things are still inconsistent.
And yeah, here the teams can actually not know each other. For plot reasons.

Anyways, enjoy.

_-----------------------

Looking back at it all, it's pretty bizarre how fast his life progressed.

"C'mon! Surely you could do better than that!" Dream sighed, putting his axe away.

Meanwhile, Grian laid on the floor, sword still in hand and breaths heavy.

"I'm trying!" He pouted.

"No, you're not," the taller blond stated, before beginning a lecture. "You're still putting too much thought in each of your attacks and movements. You need to either think fast or think less, and attack more. You need to catch your opponent off guard when you attack, and you slowing down to think gives them time to be aware of your movements and dodge!"

"Well, sorry, but I'm pretty sure I do in fact have no idea what I'm doing," The dirty blond muttered as he struggled to get off the floor, "I'm not exactly the so-called pvp master here."

It had been maybe about 4 years. After that café meeting. Dream, that damned bastard, had asked him to no end about Mumbo after Grian said they were friends, and Grian never knew how to answer because they were really just ex-next-door neighbors who only ever met each other once or thrice while they were kids. And when he explained this, Dream told him that they should get to know each other better, and kept on encouraging this idea.

Grian finally conceded, and he started hanging out with the redstoner. At the same time, Grian also started practicing and actually sharpening his building skills, which surprisingly, didn't end up in the disaster he originally thought it would. He also accidentally constructed two different robots after Mumbo told him what a redstone computer was.

And then, somehow, in the span of the next three years, which felt like a blink of an eye, he had been introduced to and invited to join a server being popular for their builds and shenanigans, joined and wreaked havoc, might've started a war or four, and then a little while after get invited to join this big tournament which contained the upmost popular and skilled player known in the domain (Which took both Dream and Mumbo pointing out to him how many people recognized him in the streets to make him realize he was considered one).

And now, in the present, Grian was slipping back down as he tried his best to stand up, regretting the fact that he even thought to ask Dream to help him out with training for the 9th Minecraft Championships, which was going to be the third time he participated in the event. He had placed 24th in both of his last events, and despite everyone telling him not to feel bad about it and that it was a decent placement in a tournament with 40 total people, he still wasn't satisfied with his plays.

"You're not terrible." Dream tried to assure him as they were taking a break, though Grian didn't seem convinced at all.

"I'm horrible." He gloomily murmured, sighing as he drank more from his water bottle.

"No you're not." The taller said again. "You killed me in your first event, remember?"

Grian shook his head, still looking down. "No, that was purely luck, and I wasn't alone. It was pure luck that I was the one that landed the final hit." He practically slammed his bottle down on the table. "If I'm not careful MCC could probably be known as the MCC where I screw up."

"No it won't," Dream assured sincerely. "And, hey, at least if it does, you'd have a whole event named after you."

The shorter groaned, but didn't say anything.

"I'm hungry." He finally said after a while.

Dream laughed. "Yeah- same, to be honest. Maybe that should be all for today, would you like to continue tomorrow?"

"Thanks, but no, probably." Grian said. "You said you're also working on your training, and you definitely deserve a better sparring partner."

"It's fine, really-"

"No, no. You don't have to. I can train by myself." He insisted, with a conversation ending tone.

Dream didn't protest any further than that, and just responded with a sigh.

"Let's just go home for a bit, get some snacks, and then just do whatever, alright?" Grian suggested.

"Yeah, sure."

The next second, silver wings with violet purple tips sprung from their backs. Without skipping a beat, Grian turned to the southeast, took a few steps back, and immediately jumped into the sky.

"Geez- slow down-!"

"No, you speed up!" Grian retorted with a laugh, stilling in the air and watching Dream slowly catch up to him.

"You've really gotten better at flying after joining that server, didn't you?" The taller said as he finally matched Grian's height in the sky. "It's so weird, I still remember back then when you used to really hate flying."

The wafflehead laughed. "Well, I had to get better than you at something, don't I?"

Dream just snickered in reply, and they then just continued traveling in silence, focusing on flying. Or at least dream was, meanwhile Grian was effortlessly and practically just floating in the wind, and sometimes stopping mid-air to wait for the other to catch up.

.

..

.

"But like-" Dream said as put down his coffee mug. He and Grian were now inside their old mansion, and just sitting down on the balcony table for lunch, having random conversations, mostly Dream asking about how the servers going and Grian asking mostly the same thing. Now, Grian had just explained the civil war to him after Dream explained to him what Lmanburg was. "How were you guys able to have a war without it being serious anyways? It doesn't make sense."

Grian raised a brow. "What do you mean?"

"Like- people actually died in it, right?"

"Uh- yeah. Like I said, we did a whole pvp thing with a death counter alongside a capture the flag game and all of that."

"But so how did it just- remain fun?"

"Because... it was fun?"

The more this exchange went on, the more he didn't know what Dream was getting at, yet he seemed totally serious.

"Alright- alright," the taller sighed. "Let me revise my question. How did you guys do a full on civil war without it actually getting serious- or without anyone being genuinely hurt?"

Grian took a moment to think about it. "Because the war was never meant to be serious, it was just a scuffle that happened because of a silly prank war, really. We were all aware that it was all for fun, and so we all had fun." 'Winning was just an extra thing', he would've also added, but he felt too prideful to admit it.

"So- there weren't any grudges or anything?"

"No, no hard feelings. We're all good friends, and we all trust each other not to go too off the rails," Grian admittedly felt a bit weird saying this, considering he was the newest member and was also dubbed one of the biggest pranksters, but continued. "Maybe we did go a bit too far without noticing at some points, but it was all in good fun, none of us actually hated each other, and even the losing side had fun."

"Huh," was the only thing Dream replied with for a while.

They just sat in the silence of the afternoon a bit after that, neither saying much at all.

Until Dream spoke up again. "...You know, if you like conflict, you could just join my server. There's a lot of it."

"Hmm..." Grian thought about it for a bit. "No. I've already seen a few of your members, and I don't think I'll necessarily... 'bond well' with most of them."

"You're just saying that because most of them swear, don't you?" He snickered, and continued when Grian shrugged. "Oh come on, you used to swear too back in the day! In fact, you were even worse than me!" He added. "Don't be shy, swear for fucking onc-"

"Watch. Your. profanity." Grian replied immediately, sending a bone chilling death stare which made Dream shut up immediately.

"What has mom done to you..." He mumbled slightly, shaking his head, before going back to his topic. "But anyways- I actually meant it when I said you could join my server."

"Ehhhhhh, sorry. Even though I like wars, I don't think I would like constantly being in war, and I was told your server's a bit like that." He said.

"That's not- okay, actually, maybe it is true, but recently it's been dropping down to a peaceful level!" Dream negotiated. "Anyways- this is my offer. You can join my server and help me out, you know, we'd be an unstoppable duo! I'll even give you the leniency of having infinite lives."

Grian, who was drinking his cup of tea while Dream said that, accidentally spit it back out. He lowers his cup and gives Dream an incredulous look. "Wait wait wait- so you're saying everyone else doesn't have infinite lives?"

"Oh, right, forgot to tell you about that." Dream said casually. "In my server, everyone only gets a total of 3 lives."

"But- what happens to the people that get down to 0 lives?" Grian asked half heartedly. "Do they just get banned from the server, or is like a hardcore world, where you just get stuck in spectator mode?"

"Oh, they get permadeathed." He said in the same tone as if he was talking about the weather, but immediately clarified when he saw the horrified look on Grian's face. "Okay, okay- listen, don't worry- like you know, I have the revival book, and I plan on reviving everyone when it ends. So relax, relax, no one's actually going to die."

"Were they informed of that from the beginning?"

"Well- of course not, where's the fun in tha-" Grian glared. "I mean- well, if they knew, it wouldn't be as emotional, right? Besides- it makes it easier to control everything, with the fear of death being there..."

"Dream- mate, are you alright?" Grian asked, genuine concern in his voice. From his experience, he knows Dream can be a tad bit, well, insane sometimes, but it never got this bad.

"What-? Oh, yeah, I'm alright." Dream answered, raising a brow. "Why?"

Grian eyed the taller blond for a moment, hoping to find some traces or clues that he was joking in his expression. He found neither of those things, Dream looked completely serious about all he just said.

Must be the watcher's curse- He averted his gaze, and just shook his head while taking another biscuit off the plate. "It's nothing."

He decided to change the topic of this conversation, not wanting to hear about it anymore. "By the way- you're going to be going up against Technoblade in a duel in three days, right? Shouldn't you be focused on that?"

And so the conversation shifted to around that area, and then they also went back to discussing about the next upcoming MCC.

"Have you met up with your team members yet?"

"Nope." He shrugged. "The only one I really know in the team is Joel, and that's only because we've talked once before."

Dream didn't seem pleased by that answer in the slightest. "Grian- the event is in 2 weeks."

"I know. I know." Grian sighed. "I said earlier, right? We're meeting up this evening to train, don't worry."

"...Are you guys even trying?"

"What do you mean- Of course we are!" He glared, but then relaxed. "2 week should surely be enough to train."

"I- no, that shouldn't be enough-"

"We're fine, Dream, we're fine. Don't worry about it. How about your team? How are you guys doing training wise?"

Dream didn't seem to agree with the topic change. He went silent for a moment, before sighing, and started talking about how he's balancing his MCC practice and practice for the faithful duel. Grian might look like he's listening, but the taller knew that inside, he really wasn't interested in whatever he was saying, and just didn't want to get scolded.

Still, he begrudgingly continued.

"I need to go now, team practice." "Thanks for the training, good luck on the duel."

"Good luck on the practice. Message me if you need help with anything."

He groaned. "God- Dream, I'm fine!"

Despite the pointed tone, a small smile settled on his face right as Dream turned away.

.

..

...

..

.

Grian walked out of the portal. He looked around the practice server as he walked on the middle road, searching for his team. Finally, when he couldn't really find them by himself, he got out his communicator.

Joel [Smallishbeans]

14:23 < Grian > Where the heck are you guys

He waited for a few seconds, though it didn't seem Joel was looking at his communicator at that second, so he sighed, pocketing it again. He decided to take a look around the area while waiting.

He got on the pavement. In front of him was the Rocket Spleef training area, which was currently empty. He turned around the corner, and jumped on one of the speed pads. He zoomed to the end of the road, where a gate stood with the sign reading; Parkour Warrior.

Some other players were already jumping and trying to complete the course, and he could see some as they plummeted to the void, respawning back at the last checkpoint with a hopeless expression.

He snickered for a second, before realizing that he also will probably need to sharpen up his skills himself. This is going to be a pain.

His communicator beeped.

Joel [Smallishbeans]

14:23 < Grian > Where the heck are you guys

14:28 < Smallishbeans > Battle Box Arena

           < Smallishbeans > Waiting for you

He quickly tucked his communicator back in, and rushed over to get back on the main road, and once again zoomed through the place. And then he finally stopped at the battle box section, where there were indeed three people waiting there.

"Hello there!" One of the blonds waved energetically. "So you're the last team member? Nice to meet you!" He offered one of his hands.

"Yeah, you too." Grian nodded, accepting the quick handshake. "The name's Grian."

"I'm Solidarity, but people usually call me Jimmy-"

"Or Timmy." The other blond snickered, earning a quick "Hey!" from Jimmy. "Anyways, nice to meet you as well, I'm InTheLittleWood, or Martin."

He lightly pushed Jimmy out of the way, and also reached out to give a handshake.

Grian laughed, and extended his own hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"Rude." Jimmy muttered.

"Alright alright, anyways." Joel started, getting the attention of all three of them. "What do we do now."

"Weren't we here to practice?"

"Oh- yeah, that." He said. "So- what's everyone's worst skill here?"

Most of them said Pvp, which wasn't a big surprise.

"Of course there's no Pvp masters on this team." Martin sighed

"I would cons-"

Joel cut him off. "You don't count, Jim."

Jimmy pouted at that.

"So- battle box first?"

"Battle box first."

And so, they went into the battle box arena, splitting in two teams, Joel with Grian and Martin with Jimmy. They went in for a few rounds, and at some point, another team, Blue Bats, joined in, before leaving again. After getting sick of swaying swords and shooting bows, they decided to do something else.

.

..

.

"Should we try doing the parkour warrior course next?"

"Oh gods." Grian groaned at the suggestion, but sighed. "Yeah, probably should. I still can't seem to get past the beginning part."

"Same, same." Martin chuckled. "But hey, that's what practice is for, right?"

.

..

.

"This- sUCKS-!" Grian grumbled as he once again got knocked yet off the hanging beams yet again.

"Joel- how are you doing this???" Martin asked incredulously.

And he had a right to be confused, seeing that Joel was somehow already at the beginning of the Ice stage, and doesn't seem to be stopping. "See ya later losers!" He laughed. "Oh wait- fu-"

Grian sighed as he finally reached the beginning of the space stage. Jimmy was just in front of him on the ladder hops, and he saw him jump, and almost barely missed the last jump ladder as he hung by the bottom of it with one hand.

"Tim! you good?"

"No I-" He stopped. "Wait- what did you just call me­?"

Grian raised an eyebrow, though his grin told no truths. "Jimmy, of course?"

Martin's laughter could be heard from the intercom.

"You certainly d-! OH GOD-" The strawberry blond tried looking back to stare at him, but then realized that he couldn't and that he was still holding on to the ladder for dear life.

"Jimmy!"

"...alright, alright!"

And so, they resumed the course. Both were sort of stuck in the Space Stage for a bit thanks to the Triple Bounce, but was finally able to past through and go to the next section, with Martin just a a few places away and Joel even further away, though it seemed like he was now stuck on the ice section.

"Timmy? How did you make this jump-? I keep on slipping!" Grian asked exasperated when Jimmy finally made it through the second part of the Ocean section.

"You st-" He stopped once again. "...okay! You cannot tell me that wasn't intentional!"

"What? I said nothing!"

"I- Stop it!"

"I don't know what you're talking about, Tim, Grian's not doing anything." Martin hummed casually.

"God- I hate you two."

"You guys are so relaxed, I'm jealous." Joel's frustrated voice could be heard, and they all laughed, before continuing.

.

..

.

None of them ended up finishing the course, of course.

They decided to quit not even 10 minutes after, and opted to take a quick break near the spawn area, and just watch the other participants roaming around the place while chatting among themselves.

In those moments of casual chatting, Grian got to know his teammates better.

"Seriously, Tim?" He sighed. "You're telling me you put the milk in first? That's disgusting, I'm disappointed in you."

Martin chuckled. "See, Timmy? I told you it wasn't normal!"

"Hey! Yes it is! You guys are the weird ones!" The Codboy replied with an annoyed huff.

"What's next? Do you drink juice straight from the container?"

"No! Joel's the one that does that!"

Now, both turned to Joel with disgust.

"Joel! I had faith in you!"

"Why re you bringing me up all of the sudden!?"

"I still can't believe you both are next-in-line kings."

"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"

Both Jimmy's stubborn but bright nature and Martin's teasing felt sort of... nostalgic for him, and Grian didn't know why. He's only really noticed now that he's sitting down with them and chatting to them, but the two brought some feeling of remembrance into his mind, and he can't really figure out why. Their mannerisms were familiar, and their laughter was oddly recognizable.

But he just brushed those thoughts away as happiness and comfort, and laughed lightly along with the others.

Suddenly, though, Martin stopped, and pointed to somewhere behind them. "Hey- look! It's Dream and his team!"

And right he was. Just coming out of the portal hall were four people dressed in lime shined clothing, mostly hoodies. In front, was the Green Tellytubby himself, Dream, face obscured, and wearing a more casual green hoodie than his usual one.

Though even with the mask on, Grian knew exactly who he was looking at when he turned to the group. He stared right at him from the other side of the area, and Dream just grinned in return, before turning back to him team. The Lime Llamas then walked away, and finally were out of sight.

"Tch." Grian muttered subconciously, albeit playfully. "Show offs."

Joel shook his head. "I know, right?"

"You know, I just remembered something-" Martin said after a bit. "The community's predicting that we're going to come last."

"They're predicting that?" Grian frowned. "Well that goes to show how much faith everyone has in us."

"They must think that you need to be lords or something in order to surpass last place. Genuinely offended." Joel added.

"Then I guess we'll have to prove them wrong!" Jimmy exclaimed, tone different from his teammates. "We won't get tenth place, we'll snatch the crown!"

Joel grinned. "Now that's what I like to hear!"

This seemed to lift everyone's spirit quite a lot, including Grian's. He shared the same grin his teammates had feeling more motivated.

He knows deep down that it'll probably be impossible for them to actually win, but the thought of surprising and impressing everyone with his performance sounded really nice. He- they'll show everyone, for doubting in them, and ultimately, he'll surprise Dream.

"Yeah! Let's go, Team!"