Chapter Text
So Grian is a little late. Ultra mega late, one might say.
It happens, okay? He had to pack, including looking for his outfit, which he got two weeks ago, tossed somewhere, and promptly forgot about. This is what he gets for not being more prepared. It’s fine. Being as frazzled as he is before the games even start isn’t ideal, and he doesn’t have too much time to relax before the countdown begins, but he knows he can pull it together before they’re in the Dome. They have a game to win. Plus, this MCC is the first time he’s playing with Scar, and they’re both excited about it. Grian even made a bingo card to tease Scar with and keep things fun.
Grian hikes his bag up higher on his shoulder and scans the crowd around him at the server portal, hoping to spot his friends. It’s always disorienting coming onto a server like MCC’s, so having familiar faces would be nice right about now. Hybrid, admin, and Watcher abilities are all dampened in competitive arenas, among other types of players, for the sake of keeping the games fair. Which is… valid, he'll admit. But that doesn’t mean it won’t have him a little on edge for the first few hours. It’s a lot to adjust to.
At least when the games aren't in session his wings are still perfectly functional.
He takes advantage of that now, seeing as his teammates are probably already at their cabin. He rushes to get airborne and speeds over the floating islands, searching for his team’s island so he can drop off his things before the countdown starts. He’s never played on Lime Llamas before, but the cabins’ islands are all grouped pretty close together, meaning it’ll be easy to find theirs.
He admires the server as he goes, taking in the magical islands floating over a vast ocean that create a truly awesome view. The buildings and training grounds for the teams to practice on are pretty cool, too. No matter how long he spends on HermitCraft, he’s never been able to shake the awe he feels with each new creation he sees. The team Scott works with to make this all possible is really incredible, in Grian’s opinion.
He flies over the Hall of Fame, the final building between the server portal and the cabins, and finally touches down at his team’s island on the other side, tripping slightly when he lands in his rush to get inside the cabin.
A chorus of voices greet him when he pushes the door open and he smiles.
“Let’s hit the gong to start this week off right!” Jimmy calls from his spot on the couch.
“Yeah! We’re gonna need some gong here!” Scar agrees, getting to his feet and encasing Grian in a hug.
“Immediately?” Grian hears Pete from over Scar’s shoulder.
“Later guys, later,” Grian assures as Scar’s arms fall away. He stays close, though. Scar’s never been one to worry about personal space, and Grian isn’t going to lie and say it isn’t nice to have him there. A source of comfort in the chaos of this server.
“I can’t–We can’t play in MCC ‘til you’ve hit the gong!” Jimmy complains, causing Grian to roll his eyes as he drops his bag on the floor just inside the door.
“It’s too much to set up right now,” he tries to reason.
“Are you underestimating how much we want the gong?” Scar teases, poking at Grian’s arm playfully. His pronunciation is a little too close to something else for Grian’s comfort.
“Okay right, let’s get this clear now, Scar,” Grian teases back, “You’re gonna have to pronounce that G real hard. ‘Kay?”
“Why…?” Scar asks, tilting his head in confusion.
“GUH. Gong,” Grian enunciates, trying to coach Scar to do it, too.
“Dong,” Scar says with confidence.
“No!” Grian shrieks, punching him lightly as everyone else laughs. Scar just giggles, not understanding what he said wrong. Grian smiles fondly at him.
“Is that on your bingo card?” Jimmy asks, bent over from cackling.
“That was not on my bingo card,” Grian laughs, “This is–this is hilarious.”
Everyone’s communicators chime, interrupting their laughter and signaling team check-in. Pete is the only one calm enough to notice, ushering them out the door before sending the confirmation.
They continue their bickering all the way to the Dome, trading quips about gongs and dongs as they settle in front of the bridge and wait for the countdown.
The countdown starts just as the squabbling comes to an end and the people around them cheer at the fireworks shooting into the sky.
Grian looks around, spotting some fellow Hermits and a few others he recognizes from past MCCs. What really catches his eye, though, is another team of players he’s never played with before, but are definitely going to give them a hard time this week. Standing right next to his team are the Green Geckos, and they have some strong players. Dream, infamous as a rough and serious player. Sylvee, who has played in almost every single MCC and managed to make it to dodgebolt quite a few times. Gumiho, a newer but not to be underestimated player. And Tommy, who is a force to be reckoned with and has a loud and cheerful personality. Or… he did. Right now, he’s looking incredibly timid.
Something about the way he stands sets Grian on edge. What has got this (frankly, too tall) avian kid making himself so small? His teammates seem fine, conversing amongst themselves. Is it the conversation topic?
Grian strains his ears to listen over the clamor around them.
“Oh come on, Tommy, don’t look so worried.” Grian watches Tommy flinch when Dream drops an arm around his shoulders. The two women coo at Tommy’s apparent nerves. “You’re bound to make mistakes this week, it happens. That’s what I’m here for. I’m your friend, remember.”
“Right. Thanks, Dream.” The timer reaches zero and Grian still can’t look away from the kid. Sylvee ruffles his hair and pulls him along, and Grian can only watch. Something feels… off.
He must stay standing there too long, because Scar is suddenly pulling on his wrist and Grian remembers where he is. Grian smiles, following him over the bridge and into the Dome. It’s not the time to be worried about something other than the games. He needs to stay focused, for his team.
Everyone makes their way to the Dome, looking down at the pedestals below and perusing the concessions while they wait to be teleported in. Scar engages him in a mostly one-sided conversation on what games there will be and which ones they’ll want to play as they look around. Grian gladly lets him ramble, the familiarity helping to ease the last of his nerves.
Scar is in the middle of raving about Rocket Spleef when a tingling feeling takes over his body. It’s like a blink and then he’s on his team’s pedestal.
“Wow, that’s… still weird. Everyone good?” Scar asks them.
“I’m good,” Grian replies, “let’s focus on making sure we get the game we want.”
Pete takes the lead on the conversation then, breaking down what they want to get out of the way. Battle Box and Survival Games aren’t really strong games for the majority of their team, and they all agree those are the ones they need to play first. Grian throws his vote in for Battle Box and leans against the railing, watching the rabbits run about the arena.
Grian allows himself a moment to look away from the rabbits and around the circle at the other teams. To their right is the Yellow Yaks’ pedestal, which just so happens to have Joel and Ren on it. Grian waves to his friends, but keeps it at that. This is a competition after all. On his left are the Geckos, and again Grian finds himself distracted by how quiet Tommy is being. Conversation is impossible to pick up across pedestals, but the kid barely opens his mouth and keeps his eyes down. It seems wrong.
Scar and Jimmy sandwich him between them as they bump his shoulders, commentating on which game is going to win. The two bring out a genuine smile from him and Grian exhales, returning his focus back to the arena just as Survival Games wins the vote.
The tingling is back and then they’re in a lime-tinted glass case in the middle of what looks to be a ranch. There are barns scattered throughout the area and fields of crops spread out around them.
“Alright, Pete! Over to you,” Jimmy starts, resting his back against the glass. Pete shakes his head, though.
“I’m not the man you should be lookin’ at right now. Nope. Nope, not me, I’m not the one.” He looks pointedly at Grian and he freezes. Him?
“I hope you have a big saddle, Pete, because we’re all gonna be ridin’ your llama train here,” Scar jokes, missing Pete’s look.
“Nah, I’m sayin’ there’s somebody else on the team that has more experience on this map in particular than I do.”
“Are you talking about me?” Grian asks, baffled.
“Yeah.”
“This map?”
“Yep.”
“Bro–I’ve never seen this map before in my life.” At Grian’s admission, Jimmy laughs and calls him out.
“Grian, you don’t remember the farm–?”
“No!” Grian throws his hands up helplessly. “You give me far too much credit. Like, if you tell me a bit of information, I will turn around and instantly forget it.”
The group is silent before Jimmy snickers and Pete sighs.
“Okay, here’s what we’re gonna do,” Pete says, prompting the rest of them to huddle in closer, “we’re gonna loop mid and then we’re gonna run off immediately after onto our little path and we’re gonna loot faraway chests until we get as much iron armor as we possibly can.”
Pete continues strategizing and Grian listens closely. There’s only one round for this game, so they have to make it count, even if it isn’t a coin multiplier, yet.
“We are… one of the weaker PVP teams, so we need to understand that if another team sees us, they will probably uh…” Pete trails off.
“Go for us, yeah,” Jimmy whispers.
“Let’s just say, they haven’t eaten lunch today,” their team leader finishes.
It’s not exactly a pep-talk, but it is a good point. Grian and Jimmy nod, but Scar has that look in his eyes, the one he gets right before he says something ridiculous.
“What if we all hide in the barn.” There it is, Grian muses to himself. He laughs though, because yeah it’s ridiculous, but it’s still funny to imagine.
“No Scar, this isn’t a game of hide and seek,” Grian admonishes fondly.
“I think hiding in the barn is a full-proof strategy.”
“Right, well.” Grian starts, looking at Pete. He asks about getting loot from mid. It could be worth it. Before they can really get into the pros and cons though, the ten second countdown begins and they all brace themselves to run.
The timer hits zero but the walls don’t drop. Everyone from their team, and from what he can see from his vantage point on the ground, most other players, have collided with the glass and fallen to the base of their still-enclosed platforms.
His teammates laugh, help each other up, and brush themselves off. The chat is blowing up from the other players making jokes about the false start, but it’s less than thirty seconds before the countdown begins again.
This time, the glass vanishes and everyone is running. Grian makes it to mid, grabs some decent loot, and books it in the other direction with the rest of his team. He throws on the iron helmet and leather boots, keeping the iron sword in his hand as he runs.
Pete takes command, keeping the team together and making sure everyone evenly distributes their loot. They keep running, stopping to grab chests on their way to the outer edges of the map.
They manage to avoid other teams and stack up on resources for almost an hour before they see anyone else. The border has already shrunk multiple times by then, forcing them to stay on the move.
The first team they see is Orange Ocelots, but they’re quick to get out of there before a fight can start. After that first team shows up, it feels like they're always running from someone. Grian knows that’s not actually the case, especially not so early in the game when everyone is still gearing up and looking for food, but the feeling of being caged in is very real. They keep finding themselves stuck between two other teams and needing to move constantly to avoid a confrontation.
Luckily, they’re able to grab an airdrop two hours in. The celebration is short-lived, though, as they’re immediately being chased by another team. Going for the airdrop was basically broadcasting their location, but they needed the coins.
Things get intense when they get too close to a fight between the Krakens and Yaks. Pete is killed by CaptainSparklez almost immediately, but Scar is quick to return the favor, killing him in a moment of distraction. They retreat, trying to regroup, but they're followed. Jimmy gets in a fight with KaraCorvus and wins, only to be killed by Dream right after, who Grian didn’t even realize was there.
It’s down to just Grian and Scar.
They put up a good fight for another few minutes before Seapeekay swoops in to deal the finishing blow to Grian, another player from a team he didn’t even realize was there, leaving Scar in a fight against Dream. Dream takes him out quickly and they’re all left in stunned silence for a moment. Grian sighs and regroups with the corporeal forms of his teammates, still hovering over the fight.
“I don’t even know what was going on there,” Grian grouses, “I honestly don’t.”
“We weren’t the first team out. Third?” Jimmy offers, shrugging.
“That happened very quickly,” Grian tries not to whine, but he really was hoping to last a little longer. At least it was the first game.
“Yeah, that was really fast,” Pete says, half-heartedly watching the continuing battle below them.
“That was three teams on each other. I got a kill though, did anyone else get a kill?” Jimmy asks, looking to the rest of them.
“Uh. I… was there. Scar got a kill.” Pete points out.
“Yeah, I got a kill!” Scar cheers.
“I didn’t get anything,” Grian admits, a little peeved he couldn’t do more. He landed some good hits, sure, but he didn’t get any kills.
“We got two kills and an airdrop, so we did alright!” Jimmy tries.
"That was actually crazy,” Pete mumbles. They’re all still coming down from the adrenaline from the fight.
“We–yeah. Gonna get solid last place on this one.” His teammates are quick to correct him, naming off players and teams that were out before them, Scar making sure to remind him that they got the Star Wars reference square on the bingo card checked off, as well. And when they put it like that… Yeah, the game doesn’t seem like a total loss.
Grian distractedly scrolls through the chat, checking who died. Krimson Krakens were eliminated soon after their team, and Green Geckos were wiped out not long after that.
Grian notices with some surprise that Tommy was actually the last from his team to die. Dream talked a big game about covering Tommy’s mistakes, but still died before him. Grian cracks a smile. The kid may have been acting odd, but he was still playing well.
It’s a few hours before the border shrinks down enough to bring the last two teams together back at mid. The showdown between the Cyan Coyotes and Yellow Yaks is a crazy one, Grian cheering as Joel gets the final kill and wins the game for his team.
No one on their team makes the top five, but that’s to be expected when they were eliminated so early.
Finally, the chat displays the event standings and Grian cheers.
- Yellow Yaks
- Cyan Coyotes
- Orange Ocelots
- Aqua Axolotls
- Purple Pandas
- Blue Bats
- Lime Llamas
- Green Geckos
- Krimson Krakens
- Pink Parrots
7th place is pretty good. And… huh. Even though they died before them, Grian’s team still placed above Green and Krimson… interesting.
As they celebrate their not-losing, they’re all teleported to the courtyard outside the Dome. Exhausted but happy, Grian and his team make their way back to their island.
They make dinner together and banter around the table as they eat. They crack jokes, congratulate Scar on being the top player from their team in the game today, and break down some of their strategies for any other PVP games they’ll run into during the week.
It’s a nice affair, something Grian always looks forward to when he comes to MCC. On HermitCraft, everyone gets so caught up in their builds that meals are usually quick and solitary so that they can continue working as fast as possible.
They clean up and go to their separate rooms to get ready for bed not soon after everyone’s plates are cleared. Every cabin has four bedrooms and five bathrooms, so they each can have their own space. The cabins aren’t super decorated beyond plants, banners, and furniture that match the colors of the teams, but Grian feels at home here.
After changing out of his clothes, which he didn’t even realize were so dirty from all the fighting today, and brushing his teeth, Grian settles down into his bed. He’s about to close his eyes when a question pops into his head that he can’t get out. He reaches to the nightstand where he left his communicator and opens up his messages with Scott, squinting at the assault of bright light.
You whispered to Smajor1995: hey
You whispered to Smajor1995: what servers are the geckos from?
Smajor1995 whispered to you: …
Smajor1995 whispered to you: Why?
You whispered to Smajor1995: no need to be so cagey
You whispered to Smajor1995: dream and tommy just give me vibes
Smajor1995 whispered to you: I mean, those two are from the same server
Smajor1995 whispered to you: Dream SMP
You whispered to Smajor1995: thanks! <3
Smajor1995 whispered to you: -_-
You whispered to Smajor1995: D:
Smajor1995 whispered to you: Sigh
Smajor1995 whispered to you: <3
You whispered to Smajor1995: :D
So, Dream SMP, huh?
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