BATTLE SCARS | mcc9 blue bats | minecraft championship

23. Remember the Name

A/N: ... Hi. Back after a year and a half. Not sure how it happened, but it did, so :D

This has been in my drafts for ages and I just randomly decided to finish it on a Sunday evening? It's a bit of a long chapter, 9k words.

Lots of things have happened since I last updated, notably Blue9 returning for All Stars (!!!!). This is still a silly fic, the meta probably doesn't work as well anymore, but I can't let this go. It feels wrong to not include SG when it's so iconic and holds the record up till now.

Thank you everyone for your patience! Your lovely comments are what motivated me! <3

Recap of previous chapter: the Bats are understandably stressed that they have to play Survival Games, and Grian comforts them by saying he would "pave the way". He does end up paving the way by killing Dream and three-quarters of Lime (Dreamslayer) which creates an uproar. The Bats are doing well until H falls ill, and nominates Fruit as the temporary leader.

-

For those of you that wanna know what we're all about

It's like this:

-

"I want you to lead for the time being."

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

"Listen, Fruit." HBomb exhaled, then massaged his temple. "Remember our convo after the 8th Championship? After I cheered Joel on and he got that 1v3? You said something about me. Something about "being good at awakening other people's potential". And you know what?" H jabbed a finger at Fruit's chest, who reflexively jerked. "I see that leadership potential within you."

Fruit opened his mouth. False stuffed a cracker in. Fruit shut up.

"Fruit, you're adaptable," H declared. "You pretty much always keep your cool. You're good in high pressure situations. You rarely get mad or upset by your teammates. You may be a little shy, but you know what?" H gestured to False and Ren. "You have two incredible teammates who are ready to follow you to the literal end. It doesn't matter if you make mistakes. If you're worried, just remember I'll be there to reign you in, okay?"

The other Bats could almost see the tornado of emotions flitting through Fruit's face, but in the end Fruit was quick to react. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "Alright. I'll do my best. But my main concern now is: H, how are you?"

H leaned back in his chair and yawned. "I told ya, I just need a little rest."

"Can you walk?" Ren immediately asked.

H attempted to stand, but his knees wobbled and he crashed into Ren. Ren gripped H's arms and helped him sit down."Apparently not! I guess I'm an old man. Just as everyone says."

Ren snorted. "If you think you're old, then you're nothing compared to us, my dude."

"H, are you sure you don't need First Aid?" False's voice, laced with urgency, cut through.

H waved a dismissing hand. "I'm good. I don't want to eliminate myself from this game just yet. I want to keep on fighting with you guys! We're a team!"

Fruit's mind was already spinning. "If H can't walk, we need to carry him. One person can carry him on their back—"

"I'll do it," Ren piped up, always ready to volunteer.

"No." Fruit's usually soft voice suddenly had a firm edge to it. Was it due to the "leader" role that H had given him? "Ren, you're already carrying our resources. Carrying H will just slow you down. I can do it."