"Gang, gang, gang, gang-"
"Sketch, shut up."
"Gang, gang, gang, gang"
"Not you too, Denis-"
"GANG, GANG, GANG, GANG-"
"ALBERT-"
Kreek wonders what he did, what crime he committed, for him to end up with these absolute dorks as teammates. But considering the others, he's happy it was them. They're the smart ones, they'll last the longest. And as much as he hates to admit it, he likes these dorks.
At least he's not with Tanqr. Look, the guy's cool, he's good at fighting and pretty damn smart, and Kreek will readily admit that. He's a respectable guy, with his skill. But Kreek would rather not get teased repeatedly. (Even though this group seems like they're going to tease him anyway.)
Either way, he reckons that his group has managed to get a good start within this first day. They've already got a working base, a ready supply of food from the cows they've captured, and even found heaps of iron! And their base is in a brilliant tactical position, up on a rocky mountain by the world border, so they can see enemies coming from the river below. They're easily doing better than some of the others, from what he's seen. They'll make it, and they won't have any issues rising to the top.
Kreek knows that he - well, he's great. He's great at fighting, great at puzzle solving, incredibly charismatic and kind, he's loved by all and that's just how he likes it. Everyone loves him, they all idolise him like he's a celebrity - and that's because he is. People adore him, and he's just fine with that.
...That's what he tells himself, anyway.
Deep down, he's not sure if that's true. He knows there are people better than him in all his skills, that's for certain. But he's reasonable at everything he tries, that must count for something, right? Right? The compliments people are giving him, the ones that tell him to keep doing what he does, are they all lies of sympathy, or are they real?
He god damn hopes so, because it's the idea of that that's keeping him going. But as of lately, he's been on a bit of a losing streak - and it's not been doing him too well. He's KreekCraft, he's the King of Roblox(ia), he needs to get on his game! And if he fails, then what will become of him? It's the reason he needs to beat Tanqr, survive a little longer, cause Tanqr's getting a little bit too close to his title for his liking.
' Geez, Kreek.' he tells himself. ' You're spiralling again. Focus. Not focusing will make this worse.'
Kreek distracts himself by staring at his reflection in the iron he's holding.
"You alright, Kreek?" Denis calls out.
"Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Just...thinking about what to do tomorrow!"
"Oh really? What's the plan?"
"I have no idea!" Kreek jokes, earning a chuckle from Denis. Good going, Kreek. He's got to make sure Denis wants to stick by him. Denis is one of the few people that Kreek can trust to always be truthful, after all, they've been best friends for years.
(Maybe that's why he's getting a weird twinge whenever Denis teases him, always by Albert's direction.)
"Well, we have to figure out sooooomething." Sketch hangs from the walls, directly staring at him - well, the best Kreek can tell anyway, considering he can't see past that censor bar. Kreek's never seen his eyes before, apparently the only person who has is Bandi, and he's not here. Sketch refuses to elaborate on why. Especially considering the random black markings on his hands, it's weird.
Why does Sketch even need a censor bar, anyway?
"Yeah, we will. Hopefully we can find diamonds tomorrow, that would be cool."
"If we're lucky! Those new caves seem scary."
"...New caves?"
"Didn't you hear? There's a whole new thing down there - it's so powerful, it can kill someone with one hit! In full armour!"
"...Lovely!" Maybe they won't be looking for diamonds so soon. They'll need enchantments to deal with that thing. Which they need diamonds for. It's a loop they can't break into.
"The warden? Don't worry, that's super deep. It'll be fine." Denis says, shrugging and walking over to the two.
"We can kill it together, can't we? Cause we're so cool and epic, right?" Albert jumps in, stroking his chin.
"Oh, absolutely." Kreek winks, keeping his confident mask up.
"Hell yeah! We're the best team!!" Sketch yells, putting his hand flat in between the four of them. "Sketch, Denis, Kreek and Albert!"
Denis puts his hand on top of Sketch's, and Albert puts his on top of Denis's. Kreek doesn't hesitate to put his hand on last.
"3, 2, 1..."
They raise it in sync, smiles all around.
"BROMANCE BROS FOREVER!!" Albert yells, beaming. That earns him a horrified look from Kreek.
"I'm sorry, what?!" Denis asks, incredulous.
"Bromance Bros! Cause we're such bros ;)"
"How did you do that with your mouth-"
It's then Kreek notices the pings from his pocket, and he pulls out his communicator.
~~~
"Leah, that's a dirt hut."
"I like it!"
Sanna wishes there was a recording function on these 'communicators' they have, because she would absolutely be recording Ashley and Leah right now.
Admittedly, they've had a bad start. They should've stolen someone like Denis for their group, rather than deciding to wing it - they've only just gotten stone tools, and she already ran away screaming from a zombie in a cave, before she realised she could just stab it with her sword. It would've been much more of a help if they actually knew what they were doing.
But they're figuring it out, and that's the important thing.
And they have a home now! Even if it's...a dirt hut Leah made in 5 minutes.
It's in the middle of the plains, with a forest nearby. So they have resources to build on later. She spotted a river, and a small desert's edge too. But she hasn't explored it yet. They've lit up their area, and they're at least trying to make things presentable.
"Look, guys, I saw Kreek killing sheep for wool, apparently it was for
beds or something? We should do that, ASAP." Ashley states, trying to be the leader of this dysfunctional group.
"Yes, because the beds will prevent a zombie from kicking me in the ass tonight." Sanna jokes.
"We'll be needing sleep!" Ashley's getting pretty indignant, so Sanna decides to listen to her.
"Okay, but you're gonna have to kill the sheep. They're so cute, I don't want to hurt them!"
"I think there's shears that we can get? That way we don't have to kill them." Leah mentions.
"Yeah, but we need iron for that. That means caves. I'm not facing off against more skeletons. I'm surprised I didn't die!" Sanna points to the arrow in her back.
"Me too, Sanna, me too." Ashley shakes her head.
"Hey!"
"Anyways...let's keep pushing on, guys! Who knows how long we'll be spending here, and we'll want to be smart if we want to survive. So that means facing the evil zombies head on, yeah?" Ashley pumps her fist in the air, hoping the motivate the other two girls.
"Yeah!" Sanna jumps up, fist in the air as well.
They look at Leah expectantly.
"You two will be fighting the monsters, not me." Leah chuckles, before standing up weakly. "But I'll help. Yeah."
Ashley facepalms as Sanna chuckles to herself.
It's then that she hears the beeping from that communicator thing, and she sees the notification from the chat tab.
~~~
"So...BigB, what's up with the nerves?"
"It's nothing, Pink, let's just keep going, eh?"
PinkLeaf just nods and takes BigB's word for it. Okay, well, he doesn't, but he can't be bothered to argue. Right now, he wants to get on BigB's good side, so he can learn from him. He's heard a few things about Minecraftia, but not enough to survive the night without preparation.
He knows what it's like to survive without preparation, and he died last time, so never again please.
Well, as much as he's nervous about this, they've had a good start. BigB's been carrying this duo on his back, though - he located a good place for their base, on the side of a grassy mountain, near a river. Across it, Pink can see a stone one, and sometimes he thinks he can see people there. Hopefully he'll figure out who they are later for..safety reasons.
For now, he needs to focus.
As he's trying to make a furnace, he starts to interview BigB. It takes a while for him to find the right questions, but as long as he's careful, he might be able to get answers.
"So...in Minecraftia, I heard we have infinite lives no matter the world? Or is that dependent on some factors?"
"Ah...that depends. Most worlds, yes, you can respawn, but you'll lose all your items and have to go back to get them. If you don't get back in time they'll disappear."
"That's harsh."
"It is, but that's why you keep track of coordinates!" BigB notices Pink struggling to make his furnace, so he walks over.
"You need eight cobblestone blocks for that. Outer squares, leave the middle one blank."
Pink follows his advice, and the furnace appears in his hands. He quickly places it beside the crafting table.
"Thanks. Now, what were you saying?"
"Oh, right!" BigB gets back on track. "Some worlds, if you die once, you die permanently and get kicked out of the world. There's a main menu to choose a new world. And some worlds...well, it's limited."
"And what about this one? I want to know how careful I have to be, so is there a way to tell?"
"Usually, you know."
"And do you know? Cause I don't."
BigB looks around, before sighing, and going quiet.
"...BigB?"
He opens his mouth to answer, but before he can, a bunch of noises come from their communicators, and they pull them out to look.
~~~
<Server> Hello! Welcome to the Battle Life SMP!!
<Tanqr> who tf
<Server> You must all be very confused as to where you are right now, so to put it simply:
<Server> You're in a new tournament. One that's in Minecraftia, this time.
<KreekCraft> I'm now very interested
<IamSanna> Of course you are.
<Server> Please don't interrupt, it's mean :(
<DenisDaily> IT'S ALIVE I THOUGHT IT WAS AUTOMATED
<Server> Allow us to explain the rules and regulations!
<Server> In this game, you have 3 lives. Once you lose all three of your lives, you are dead and out of the game.
<Server> The amount of lives you have are signified by your colour. That refers to the hearts on your sleeves, the streak in your hair, the colour of your name.
<Server> If you're green, you have three lives left. Yellow, two lives. And red, one life.
<Server> Red lives are hostile. Stay away from them!!
<Server> You can give one of your lives to another participant. Type the /givelife command into your communicator and the player name of your target to do so. Use it as a bargaining chip, or to show your love between friends!
<Server> Only one enchantment table is allowed on the server. When that has been created, we will let you know!
<Server> You will not be leaving the server for the duration of the game. So just get used to it, that's my advice.
<Server> Finally, starting tomorrow, there will be the boogeyman curse.
<Server> One of the green or yellow lives of the server will be afflicted, and they will become hostile.
<Server> They will need to kill one of the other members of the server by the time the sun goes down, or they will immediately go down to one life.
<Server> The person with the curse will know they have the curse. It will be obvious.
<Server> The last man standing will be the winner.
<Server> Those are all of the rules of the Battle Life SMP. Good luck, Robloxians!! We'll be seeing you!
<Tanqr> i hope someone wrote all that down
<SketchYT> hey wait i have questions!!
<PinkLeaf> So we're in a death game????
<MeganPlays> Who's the person speaking to us right now?
<AshleyTheUnicorn> What do you mean by 'hostile', exactly?
<SketchYT> what would happen if someone managed to get 4 lives?
<DylanHyper> What happens when you're eliminated? Are you permanently dead??
<Tanqr> is there a prize for winning or is it just bragging rights
<Server> We will not be answering any questions. You will just have to find out :)
<SketchYT> @DenisDaily you're gonna test things with me
<DenisDaily> I am literally right in front of you, talk to me like a normal person
<SketchYT> i'm going to talk on here just to piss you off
<LeahAshe> So is no one realising just how terrifying this is...or?
<LeahAshe> Like we literally cannot leave this game if we want to is no one going to mention that
<KreekCraft> No
<AshleyTheUnicorn> If anyone is (rightfully) panicking - don't worry, it'll be fine. I'm sure whoever is hosting this game will be found soon, and we can go home without any deaths.
<AshleyTheUnicorn> Capiche?
<SketchYT> not really but keep dreaming ig, go off girl
<KreekCraft> @Tanqr there's your answers on the green name thing, satisfied now?
<Tanqr> i am actually
<Tanqr> get ready to get your ass kicked
<KreekCraft> You wish <3 I'm gonna kick yours first <3
<AshleyTheUnicorn> You guys are the absolute worst, and I hate all of you.
<IamSanna> Do you hate me, Ashley :(
<AshleyTheUnicorn> Not yet
<IamSanna> O-O
~~~
Pink slowly puts down his communicator, staring at BigB with wide eyes.
"...Is this real?" He asks, and he can't hide the tremble in his voice.
BigB sighs and looks back at Pink with sympathy.
"If it is, or if it isn't, what's it matter? We can do our best to survive as long as we can, and that's all we can do. I'm nervous too, but if we survive, we survive. And if we die, we die. That's just how it goes in games like this."
Pink notes how BigB is oddly calm about all of this. But him? His mind is racing.
"What if we get the boogeyman curse? We'll have to kill someone! I really don't want to kill anyone!"
"...If we get the curse, we can tell the other, and then sort something out between us. That'll make it easier."
"That doesn't help- but okay, I'll do that."
Pink nods, and sits down on the furnace. It's really warm. Kinda burns actually.
"So what were you saying, earlier?"
"Ah, it's nothing. Do you want to go back to farming? We should probably get some sheep for beds, unless you wanna try to survive the night...?"
Pink just sighs. No getting it out of BigB, I see.
"Let's try to survive the night. I wanna fight some of these mobs a bit more."
"Alrighty! I'll show you the fighting steps, I know you said you don't fight too often...if you want, of course."
~~~
"Death competition! Little too high of stakes for my liking, but still sounds fun. Especially for us, since we're so good at surviving, right?" Kreek spins around, talking to the others. "We are totally going to win this thing."
Denis rolls his eyes. He loves Kreek, he really does-
(Platonically. Get your mind out of the gutter.)
-but Kreek's lust for competition is so annoying. Can't a man just sit back and relax for once?
...Well, they won't be relaxing in a death game, he supposes. Especially not in Minecraftia, where even the smallest of accidents can kill you. He would know, he's had experience.
He zones back in, and Kreek and Sketch are immediately bantering. Or, moreso Sketch just dancing on Kreek's grave.
"You're gonna die before meeeeee~ I'm wishing bad luck on you~"
"Sketch, if you don't stop putting curses on my name I'm going to bodyslam you into hard stone."
"Do it, you wouldn't- You can't pick me up~"
"Come here right now, I'll show you-"
Denis chuckles. They really aren't taking this seriously. And in that way, he's glad.
(Well, Kreek kind of is, but Sketch definitely isn't.)
He looks over to Albert. Ah, sweet Albert. He's facing Denis directly, having been watching him intently for the past few minutes.
"You alright? Need something?" Albert asks.
"No, no no. I'm alright." Denis just smiles back. "Just a little nervous about all of this. But it'll be fine, right?"
"We have a strong team, Denis, we're not going down easy. Just make sure we don't get separated." Albert then smirks, in that mad way he always does. "And if we have to do a little murder to keep it that way, that's just how God intended it, amen." As he says that last bit, he moves his hands up and down in a cross motion.
"Albert!" Denis jokingly scolds, but he's not actually mad. "Calm down! No murder!"
"No murder...yet."
" Albert !"
"Alright, Denisy boy, no murders. Yet. If the time comes, you'll know."
"Oh, oh okay." Denis chuckles, and turns back to Sketch and Kreek, who are slapping each other. Affectionately.
(Hopefully.)
"You two stop that."
"Alright, Denis." Kreek says, immediately stopping, but pushing Sketch away. Sketch just pouts, then has a realisation.
"Hey, wait, are we gonna sleep through tonight or what? I doubt everyone's got beds...and you know how servers work..."
"...Crap."
~~~
It takes a while for Ashley to calm Leah down, and get Sanna to stop yelling. But once she's managed it, she exhales a sigh of relief.
"What's gonna happen if one of us murders another one?! What's gonna happen when one of us loses all our lives?? Goes to red?? What's gonna happen??"
"Leah, you know I can't answer those questions. We're just gonna have to find out."
"I don't wanna die here!"
"I doubt it'll be a permanent thing, Sanna."
"Who's the one in charge, anyway?"
"Maybe the hosts? We don't know, and we'll find out later."
She managed to distract the two with some sheep passing by, thankfully. As of right now, she's coming up with a plan. Because that's her job now, apparently.
Find a food source? Leah and Sanna refused to kill any animals, but she's pretty sure bread exists here, so she's growing some wheat. Not sure how long it'll take, though,
Kill some monsters, and get used to them? Will take a while, sure, but she's a good fighter, she knows that. She's more worried about training Sanna and Leah. As if they can't train themself, but in a game with three lives, better to learn than to find out from experience.
Find someone with experience? Still not done. Hopefully she'll run into Denis or Kreek, and get a bit of advice from them. BigB, too. Though she's never really talked to the dude, so she's not sure how receptive he'll be. Denis is probably her best bet.
Well, the cows got away, so now Sanna and Leah are chasing after them. Better follow, she supposes. She'll figure out everything in due time.
Just...she's hoping to not get cursed. She worries, with an unstable group like this, it could tear them apart.
~~~
Hyper and Megan just stare at each other in shock and silence for a long time, until finally Megan speaks.
"...Well, we're screwed!"
"Hey now, don't say that!" Hyper says, immediately trying to diffuse the situation. "I'm sure it'll be fine."
"Yeah, but we barely know what's going on here! We could die easily!"
"If we just stay the hell away from mobs, we'll be fine!" Hyper can't help but feel worried as well, but he wants to try to stay strong.
"Not easy to do that, Hyper!" Megan sighs. "I'm..so scared of that boogeyman thing, you know? Like, what if we make a close alliance with someone, and they're the boogeyman, and they just kill me? I- I don't think I'd be able to look at them the same way ever again!"
"It's just the game, right? I mean, I'm sure they'd feel bad about it..."
"But you know..they would've made the conscious decision to kill me, when they could've killed someone else, but they kill their friend? That...I don't wanna be betrayed, I guess." Megan shrugs. Hyper gets what she means, but he wants to focus less on that right now. Evidently, Megan does too.
"I need a distraction, or I'm gonna explode."
"Hm...how about I ramble to you about all I know about Minecraftia? I haven't explained everything." Hyper suggests, and Megan nods excitedly.
"Might not help all that much, but I like it. Do it."
And so Hyper rambles for as long as he can.
~~~
Tanqr sits in his tree house, the one he roughed up the best he could, eating an apple and staring out at the rest of the world. The sunset illuminates his base well, and he likes it. This oak forest is nice, really. It's packed with resources, he's seen cave entrances interweaving the trees - it's bountiful.
He's picked up everything he's learned about this world from stalking others, stealing their items, and stealing their information. And that's just fine by him. No one's noticed.
And he's just fine with being entirely self-sufficient, too. He's found iron, defeated mobs (he heard Denis call them that, which sounds much easier to say than monsters), got a farm going...all out of sight of anyone else. He doesn't need their help, he never did.
Kreek was saying that safety in numbers is better, but he's incorrect. It's better to stay alone, even if you're defenceless if cornered, it's not like there's a risk of being betrayed. No one would notice you, for that matter. Overall, it'll be much faster if he works on his own.
Of course Kreek got that wrong. Well, he gets a lot of things wrong. He's a fine guy once you get to know him - good with puzzles, good with a sword, surprisingly good with people, but- well, Tanqr likes to tease, and Kreek's incredibly fun as his target. Immature, childish...Kreek's reactions always get a laugh out of him. That's why he even decided to partake in this 'rivalry' that they have anyway.
He's gotten to laugh at everyone, instead. He was laughing when Ashley, Leah and Sanna tripping over themselves to get away from zombies before he gets to shoot those mobs down and take the loot, when Kreek looks exasperated whenever his team starts mucking about - which they do every second, when Hyper's getting over-enthusiastic at anything remotely Minecraftian, when Pink...okay, he and BigB are getting along without too much issue, he'll admit. Maybe best not to laugh at the one guy who might beat him next season.
Another thing he'll admit is this. As much as he's totally okay on his own, and he doesn't need anyone else - well, there's a small part of him that wants camaraderie. A small part of him that wants someone there beside him as the sun sets, watching it go down. It would be nice, he'll admit.
But that won't help him in this game. It might get him backstabbed, it might get him falling behind. No. He can't have that.
Tanqr's always had a strict philosophy.
(Maybe that's not the right usage of the word...belief? Way of life? Who knows. He doesn't care.)
That philosophy goes like this: 'Once you've set your sights on a goal, and you've decided it would be useful for you, find the most efficient method to achieve that goal, and then act on it.' It's gotten him through a lot, and it works on the small scale and the large scale. Need to get rid of someone who's been attacking your bed, and won't leave you be? Get to their bed, destroy it, and kill them before they can react. Need to knock someone down a peg? Kick their ass in something they're trying to get good at, and watch them crumble.
Who cares if you've got bloodstains on your hands? If you have what you want, the bloodstains won't even matter to you.
And right now? He wants to win this death game. And his plan? Well, he's still figuring that out, but he's certain someone's going to get stabbed.
As he's pondering on this, he hears a commotion below, and peers to take a look. It's Hyper and Megan, and they're talking about all things Minecraftia. According to Megan, they're only venturing out their base this late for some extra wood. That means they're close by. Nice, someone to steal from.
It's a good thing these opportunities just come straight to him. He's doing better than most who know nothing, surely, but he needs a bit of extra guidance. He'll be able to mooch off of the two, he supposes.
Hyper and Megan...Megan's nervous and has a fragile exterior, and she seems to be quite confused about everything but he's heard that she's quite adaptive - once she gets used to all of this, she'll be thriving.
Hyper's a good planner, and is very intelligent, especially with words. It's how his movies come out so well, after all. That might help him through interactions with others and the like. But unlike Megan, he's not one who's good with change. He knows this. So he's anxious, but burying it down. That's going to bite him in the ass later.
So, a seemingly strong duo that fills in for the other's flaws. But they're both pacifists. In a game like this, they'll need to strengthen up if they actually want to get anywhere.
As he's thinking this, he notices Hyper staring right back at him. Crap. Better get inside before he gets called out. Maybe he won't be stealing from them after all.
~~~
The sun sets on the Battle Life SMP, some awake, some trying to sleep, some without beds, some with.
A certain someone sits and waits, bored that nothing has happened yet.
Whatever. The fun starts the next day, as the first boogeyman is chosen, they think.
Time for the death to get started.
Who knew just watching this would be this amusing?
<End of Day 1>
~~~
A/N
Well, Day 1's pretty damn fast. Don't worry, Day 2 is a whole lot longer. Setting up some plot in this chapter, which will definitely come to bite our cast members asses in the future...it's a fun time! Damn 4000 word chapter
Oh, yeah, and I wrote Kreek, Denis and Albert's whole...thing as platonic, but I failed at that mainly due to Denis and Albert's characterisations. They do flirt a lot in character anyway, so it's not totally out of the question. I mean, this is based on the 3LSMP. The line between platonic and romantic is so blurred here. You do you, just don't be weird about it.
Also HOW WE FEELING ABOUT RBB S3 PARTICIPANTS BEING ANNOUNCED??? I'M EXCITED!!
- YanDan