BATTLE SCARS | mcc9 blue bats | minecraft championship

21. Immortals

"Yeah! You see the area right in front of the starting area? With the concrete or gravel or whatever that is? And the little walls?"

"Yeah?"

"Use those. Use those as cover and try not to get hit."

"Yeah," Fruit chimed in. "Just keep a good watch on mid."

"We'll come in as fast as we can once you call out they're rushing in," H told Ren.

"Alright!" Ren looked happy with his job, so H turned to the other hermit. "So False, wanna go right or left?"

False stared at the arena, not really sure what to do. Weren't H and Fruit the experts? Why were they asking her? H could've just given her something to do like he did with Ren. "I... do not mind," she ended up saying, her tone hesitant.

H did not like that.

"No no NO!" H boisterously burst out, and False jumped. "Make your decision! Right or left!"

False nervously laughed. "Uhh..."

"Which one do you want?" H relentlessly continued with a grin on his face.

False scrambled for an answer the way she scrambled for a brain cell whenever she was with the Hermitcraft boys. "Left looks blocked from here, so..." she started stumbling over her words. "There's no way left, is there? Unless through the carriage?"

"You can go through the train, probably."

False frowned, remembering how Dream had cornered her last time. "Won't it be easy to be trapped?"

"Yeah, but it'll also be easy to trap others." H was unfailingly optimistic.

Before False could reply, a horn sounded, and the Blue Bats tensed. They stared at their opponents on the other side— the Aqua Axolotls. This was the PvP team, and the two hermits were conveniently facing Technoblade first again. The first round was about to begin. The Bats gulped, but remained calm.

"Okay, let's do this," Fruit said coolly as he readied his sword. "Let's choose our power ups!"

Each player could choose one out of the four power ups on their wall. False squinted at her choices. The first were four white water balloons labeled as "cobwebs"— when thrown at players' shoes, they could temporarily slow down the player (but they were notoriously hard to hit accurately). The second was a "speed potion" or a sticker that could be applied to players' shoes to make them temporarily run faster. The third was a "lingering potion of Instant Damage I", or a dark purple water balloon. The fourth was a special gun with quicker reloading time, and thus more bullets could be shot more quickly.

"What should I take?" Ren asked hesitantly. "The instant damage?"

"I can take the cobwebs," False offered, and reached for the white water balloons.

"We should throw the lingering potion at middle," Fruit commented, so Ren took it and weighed it in his hands.

Fruit took the gun, H took the speed sticker, and the Blue Bats were all set. When the countdown started, False felt a sudden wave of anxiety rush over her. She swallowed, and tried to move her fingers.

"Someone can take the cobwebs if I fail," she said.

The Blue Bats were now in second place overall. False could hardly believe it, and she wanted to maintain that second place, but there was that realist part of her that was murmuring, "This second place won't last long. Enjoy it while you can."

But before False could ponder on it any longer, the horn sounded, and False winced at the loud sound. It was time to go to battle.

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