MCYT RABBIT HOLE

As the groups around the chaos that had formed began to awaken, people found themselves with people that they hadn’t been on the same side as in a long time. This being the case of a group consisting of Eret, Zedaph, Impulse, Tommy, Doc, and Antfrost. They found themselves waking up in the jungle, luckily, they were in the shade, which was not the luck that some groups had had. As they began to wake up and look around, they realized they weren’t just with members of their own respective servers.

The first one awake was Impulse, who was quick to look around to try and figure out where he had ended up. Luckily, thanks to the giant shadow of Iskall’s tree, he had a pretty good idea of where he was. As he was looking around, he takes note of the other people that he’s with. Zedaph, Doc…who were the other three? The cat person looked oddly familiar and so did the kid in the red and white shirt, but the person in the sunglasses and crown seemed just a little less familiar. He doesn’t have long to think about this before Doc is shooting up into a sitting position.

Doc looked a little rumbled, looking around wildly for a moment, then seeing Impulse and calming down a little. “Doc? Are you okay?” Impulse rarely saw Doc get any form of frazzled, he was normally one of the Hermits that stayed calm; most likely a result of being a creeper hybrid, can’t risk making yourself blow up. “One second I was free falling mid-air after I felt this pain in my chest that made me close my elytra by accident and the next, I’m here.” Doc sounded almost panicked, that must’ve been a terrifying experience.  “That sounds like it must’ve been a horrible experience, buddy.” Impulse frowns, he had been hit by pain, but he had been in a safe place. What about the others? Had they had experiences like Docs?

Before Doc can offer another reply, Eret is sitting up, looking around in a sort of confusion as they try to figure out where they all are. When they see Doc and Impulse, she pauses for a moment. “I get the feeling that this isn’t where any of us are supposed to be.” Eret had been in his share of rough experiences, this wasn’t the worst one, but it was one of the weirder ones. “I mean, I know where we are at least? We’re at my friend Iskall’s base-well, in the shadow of Iskall’s base. Which is in Hermitcraft, which is where me and those two are from.” Impulse offers up as he gestures to himself, Doc, and Zedaph. “Hermitcraft? Given that me and those two are from the Dream SMP, I get the feeling that something has gone very wrong.” Eret says this, and as they do, Antfrost begins to wake up. Eret helps Ant sit up, and Ant frowns a bit as he looks around. Then his eyes land on Doc and Impulse and he seems to realize something,” Did we end up in Hermitcraft?”

Impulse and Doc seem surprised by this nodding as Ant quickly offers up an explanation,” I’ve seen you both at MCC before, cheering on people from Hermitcraft, and I’ve seen you walk into MCC from the Hermitcraft portal so…” Ant shrugs his shoulders a little as he says it; he was used to paying attention to the little things. Though when he notices that Tommy and Zedaph are still passed out, his eyes seem to show more worry than what he speaks as he looks over at Eret,” Have they both been asleep that whole time?” Eret nods,” I’m afraid so. Maybe they both took a harder hit than we did, it could be a case of severity based on factors we can’t understand.” Of course, if that was the case than Eret had to wonder what made her awaken before Tommy, but who’s to say what held the scales in balance?

As if someone was answering Eret’s question for them, that’s when Zedaph awakens. Though he stays laying down for a moment, trying to process where he was before he sat up. Shade, branches, must be in the shadow of Iskall’s tree base; but as he turns to glance to his side, he begins to see the people around him. This is what makes him sit up, trying to wrap his head around who all he’s with. Zed opens and closes his mouth a few times as he tries to figure out the right words, they finally seem to pop into his head,” Did my experiment go wrong and I’m hallucinating again or is this real?” Impulse and Doc chuckle a little at Zed’s words, he has had quite a few hallucinations because of experiments. Though normally just things like Grian as a full-blown cod or Scar with Jelly’s face.

“While that sentence is somewhat worrying, I believe it’s safe to say that this is really happening.” Eret answers from where he was sat next to Tommy,” Whatever happened landed us together. Shot in the dark; but I’m guessing you felt a large amount of pain right before you passed out? That’s what happened to us.” The others nod at Eret’s question and Doc speaks up,” Was there anything happening on your end that you think could’ve caused it?” Those from the Dream SMP shake their heads,” We were in the middle of a…server meeting when it happened for us. What about you guys?” Ant asks this and the three offer up their answers. Impulse had been working on a project, Doc had been at his mansion looking for a shulker he couldn’t find, and Zed had been working on a map for a farm he wanted to build.

“So it seems like we haven’t done anything that would cause any sort of thing like this.” Impulse offers this up as Tommy finally starts to move a little. Though he doesn’t seem to wake up, just turning his head a bit. Eret frowns as she looks at Tommy,” I’m going to try and wake him up.” Eret gently places a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, shaking him just a bit. Tommy doesn’t wake. Eret shakes Tommy again, Tommy still doesn’t wake. “Is he a deep sleeper?” Doc asks,” That might explain why he isn’t getting up.” He was trying to be optimistic. Eret shakes their head,” No. Tommy hasn’t been a deep sleeper since…I can’t remember the last time Tommy slept without waking at the slightest sound.” Sometimes she wondered if what happened in L’Manburg had made it worse; but he knew that it did.

“I have no idea what we could do about this.” Ant knew he and Tommy had always been on opposite sides, but this was something else entirely. “Well, judging by where we are, I’m guessing that there are some traces of Hermitcraft still around. So maybe we should head towards the Town Hall, because if the groups are anything like ours that’s most likely where they’ll want to go because if I remember right, we’ve got a larger number of people, right?” Zed was clearly trying to work out the best plan of action. “Yes, but what does that have to do with Tommy?” Eret just wanted Tommy to wake up, seeing him like that, asleep and yet never waking; it was unnerving in a way that felt too close to being déjà vu. “Maybe someone at the Town Hall will know what to do. Stress, she’s one of the Hermits, is our best healer; she’d probably be more than willing to help.” Those from Hermitcraft knew that Stress would most likely be more than willing to help; she liked helping people.

“Well how would we get there from here? If Tommy stays unconscious, then that means figuring out how to carry him, not counting things like if there’s an incline or water.” Ant was trying to just list all the possibilities because the last thing that they needed as Tommy getting hurt while unconscious. “I could carry him?” Doc offers,” Wouldn’t be the first time, and I’ve probably got the best chance of carrying him for a long period of time because of my arm.” Doc knew he could handle it; he’s had to carry plenty of Hermits back to their bases after long days, especially people like Ren or Keralis. “Okay, but we still need a clear path on how we’re going to get there, and you need to make sure that you don’t push yourself.” Eret knew that they’d have to figure out the best plan of action.

“Well, because of where we are compared to Iskall’s tree…” Impulse tries to picture the map of the sever in his head,” We just need to walk straight till we get to the ocean, then we can just take a boat ride until we get to the Shopping District, which is a Mooshroom Island.” The others seem impressed by this, even the other Hermits present. “How do you remember that? Your base isn’t around here.” Zed had a lot of trouble with figuring out the bases on the opposite side of the ocean. “I can see the tree from my base sometimes.” Impulse shrugs: that and sometimes he needed a distraction, mapping the server in his head was a good one. “Alright…that means boats. So how are we going to get boats?” Ant knew there were plenty of trees around, but he didn’t want to chop them down if there was an easier solution.

“Iskall probably has some in their base, right? And even if they don’t, they’re bound to have wood and I’m sure they wouldn’t mind given the circumstances.” Doc knew that Iskall would understand because they were trying to get Tommy some help, but if Iskall felt like they were owed something then Doc could always pay them back later. “Good idea.” Zed nods,” We’d most likely want wood anyways, that way we can build the boats by the water to save us a little time.” Their inventories still seemed to be working but testing it with the boats they were going to use wasn’t a good idea. “Shouldn’t we try to use a Nether portal first?” Ant spoke, and he and Eret tried to not comment on how the three had talked about taking something before they did it, even planning on giving back to whomever they took from. They weren’t in the Dream SMP anymore.

“That probably isn’t a good idea. If we ended up out here after something brought us together like that, there’s no telling what the Nether could potentially look like.” Impulse knew that the Nether could get wonky just from lag; there was no telling what it would look like now. “He has a good point.” Eret nods his head. If something had happened and their two Nethers had smashed together? There was no telling what that could look like right now,” And even if we were to get into the Nether, who’s to say that the portals would shoot us out at the right places?” Another valid point, trying to go one place only to end up in another would not be a good idea. It sounded like their only option was just boating to where the Cowmercial District was supposed to be and hoping that the others would end up there.

“Now that we’ve cleared that up, I say we head inside, grab the wood and maybe a little food; then head to the shore. Sound like a plan?” Doc was already working on getting up, offering Zed and Impulse a quick hand to help them up, which they both accept. Once they were up, they were turning to offer Eret and Ant hands, but Ant was already up and Eret was checking on Tommy again. Eret sighs, a familiar tension in the back of her throat was there as he checked Tommy’s pulse, steady and strong, like he was wide awake,” His pulse is steady, it isn’t slowed like he’s sleeping…” Even after everything that she and Tommy had been through, he still couldn’t not worry for Tommy. He’s just a kid. He’s just a kid who’s been through a thousand more things than anyone should ever deal with.

“Do you want me to carry him?” Doc asks, just in case, sometimes people just wanted a more to check on someone. Eret nods their head after a moment of checking Tommy over, checking his pulse, his temperature, just hoping for any sign that he’d be okay. “Alright.” Doc carefully moves over as Eret stands up, wiping himself off and making sure that her glasses were in place. Once Doc had securely picked Tommy up, making sure to not accidentally bump his head or anything; he turns to look at the group. “Let’s go find our friends.”

---Meanwhile---

Tommy opens his eyes and finds himself staring into a black void. The void stares back, two big dark eyes, but not with harm, with a curiosity and pain that he almost seems to know.

“Theseus?” The void asks.

Tommy feels something on his face, and he raises a hand to it, he pulls away a tear. He looks back at the void and feels a familiar pull. A pull of warmth, of connection, one that he knows he’s felt before, and yet he can’t quite place where he’s felt it.

“My darling Theseus, why on earth are you here? It is far too early for you, and I cannot guide you to where you need to be.” That voice. Who was that voice?

“I- “Tommy finds himself unable to find the words to ask who the void is. The words are too far gone.

The void seems to freeze, their eyes staring past Tommy, and he turns, yet nothing is there. The void looks to Tommy,” They’re back. I’m sorry my dear Theseus, but I must let you go. Someone will come for you, I’ll find a way to make sure of it.” As Tommy sees the eyes begin to close, he hears a voice talking to the void.

“Talking to the walls again? The rattle of your chains not enough for you now?”

Home means many things. Home can mean the place you grew up in, the place where you spent your childhood. Home can mean the people in your life, your family, your friends. Home can be a book that takes you away from the chaos of the world around you. Home can be a place you can never be to physically that you have been to a thousand times mentally. However, home to this author is a place like no other.

My home is a home full of chaos. The type of chaos that makes you laugh because it’s the chaos where you feel safe in its eye. It’s a loud house full of creative, beautiful people who have worked hard to get where they are today. It’s a house where you never know what someone’s gonna say next and there’s always someone awake even at the oddest times of day or night. It’s a place where if you sit by the fireplace, you can stay warm even as your friends come up with ways to mess with our favorite characters.

It’s a house in the middle of a clearing in a wooded forest, well protected by the nature that the people inside have tried so hard to keep safe. There’s a stream just behind the house where you can often find someone sitting and reading by it. There’s a gorgeous greenhouse that was built over the course of a few weeks, with high glass ceilings and little stone paths inside that have various names carved into the stones. There’s a tree in the front yard that’s been there for longer than any of the people inside the house have been alive. It’s a grand tree that stands as tall as the sky, housing a swing that was built after weeks of begging from some of the younger residents. There’s a very carvings towards the top of the tree, marking when some of the oldest people of the house decided to climb it and leave their own quiet mark on the place.

It’s a home where the living room is big and comfy and there are blankets all over the place. There’s a giant couch with plenty of space for people and recliners all over the rest of the room for those who can’t fit on the couch. There’s cushions by the stairs and blankets by the stairs just incase someone has to sit on the stairs. There’s plenty of space to play games on the TV above the fireplace, any game you can think of the system and game is problem somewhere in the house for you to play on. The fireplace, always warm when you need it and someone is always willing to gather firewood for it from the woods outside the house.

It’s a home where the kitchen is full of mugs from all over, nothing matches and yet it all works together. The fridge has magnets that would make even the most chaotic of people raise an eyebrow. The grocery list is a mile long but somebody always finds a way to get everything on it. There are people not allowed in the kitchen to cook because they’d burn down the house, but the ones who can cook put as much love as they can into what they make. The kitchen table isn’t big enough so they always end up having their meals spread throughout the kitchen and the living room and any available surface so everybody can sit together.

It’s a home where every bedroom is full of marks of the person or people who lived in that room. It’s a home where there’s messy signs on doors, telling you who stays where. It’s a home where there’s paint all over the walls of some rooms and posters covering another, but you know that each thing that was put there was put there with love. It’s a home where there’s mini-fridges all over the place full of energy drinks and snacks because they all run off of chaos and caffeine most of the time. It’s a home where the beds are big enough for more than one person because sometimes what you need is someone with you because the quiet is too much.

It’s a home where the hallways are covered in pictures and paintings and markings of the people who roam those halls late into the night. Paintings made at 3am when you just needed to get something onto a canvas, pictures that they drew when they felt like they weren’t at their best. Pictures of them as they met and grew to love one another as the family that they had become. Pictures of people in the kitchen at late hours, just talking about life. Pictures of someone talking animatedly about a new idea as their friends listened and smiled because they love it when their friends get excited about something. Pictures of the days where they all got to cheer one another on. Award ceremonies, graduations, engagements. A large chart on a whiteboard taking up one large part of a hallway, a chart full of the ‘relationships’ within the house, complete with a key.

It’s a home where the basement is full of bean bag chairs, large couches, comfy rugs and a large projector screen taking up one basement wall. A full-size fridge in one corner, full of snacks and drinks for their movie nights. Another section of the room having all sorts of equipment for playing music. Instruments, amps, etc. in one spot and a cd player and a record player with a crate full of records next to it. There’s extra art supplies and such in a single corner of the basement, where they can always be found if someone needs them. There’s a whole cabinet of DVDs for various tv shows and movies, all waiting for the day that they’ll be played on the projector as everyone crowds in to watch something together.

It’s a home where there’s a library full of shelves filled with books that they all loved and books that they wrote. There’s tables throughout the library where people can pile books that they want to read and stay up until the next day reading if they wanted. The shelves reached so high that even the tallest of them needed to use the ladder to reach some of them, but that just made it all the more rewarding to get to read those books. There’s lights in the library that flicker during storms, where the rain patters against the long string of glass in the ceiling in the library. There’s two spiral staircases in opposite corners of the library where you can often find someone reading a book, or passed out with a blanket around their shoulders after staying up reading something or working on something.

It’s a home where there’s a large room full of recording equipment for those who want to record videos or stream. Soundproofing foam that was put up with care and carefully stuck to the wall, walls that were painted over the course of a few weeks. The computers and set ups in said room were built over the course of a few months depending on which computer you were talking about and what equipment you were talking about. Though each setup was clear, easy to match to the person that used said set up, for the most part. There were things that seemed to change now and again, chair heights being lowered or raised depending on who had to borrow a chair. Mouse pads getting switched around if someone was feeling the faint pains of carpal tunnel again. Keyboards being raised or lowered if the mouse pad didn’t help. Little things, but things that helped.

It’s a home where the pantries, closets, and cupboards were filled with anything you could think you needed. A pantry in the kitchen that was filled with snacks and various things for cooking, things being swapped out as people discovered new likes and dislikes, or god forbid a new allergy. Closets that were filled with extra jackets and coats, extra blankets, a few extra pairs of shoes as they were needed; some long-abandoned umbrellas or forgotten bags that people had thought lost to the void that the house could be sometimes. Cupboards full of board games of various origins, from the ones that you could play in an hour to the ones that sometimes took days to complete. The cupboards that weren’t full of board games often housed boxes of things that hadn’t quite found their place in the house yet, but they would in due time. 

It’s a home where there’s always someone around to help you feel better. If someone gets sick there’s almost always someone at their side with medicine and things that they’ll need to feel better. It’s a home where things aren’t ignored, where when you need help, it is given to you. It’s a home where even at the latest hour, someone is glad to sit by your side and hold you as you let your tears flow. It’s a home where emotion is accepted and allowed because most of the people who live within it have felt the pain of not being allowed to be themselves and they never want anyone to go through that again. It’s a home where feeling the pain that your heart and your mind bring is okay, because everyone just wants to help you feel okay.

It’s a home where no matter who you were, once you’re there, once you’ve found your place; you are family. It’s a place where someone who was a quiet little Rabbit could grow into someone whole felt safe sharing their ideas with everyone around them. It is a place where someone named Fitz who used to get called a catboy all the time could find people who cheered him on as he did his best to talk to someone he admired. It’s a place where someone who just wanted a place to discuss writing could build a family, where someone who was a Lilly in a garden can become the prime spot of that garden for all to see. It’s a place where someone who was just an Eye, watching things happen, can become like a true big brother to a lot of the people in the house. It’s a place where people find themselves a spot in life and stick there.

It’s a home where people could find love and not be worried about being judged if they brought that person home to meet the people that they call their family. It’s a home where people know that they’re safe. It’s a home where no matter who you are, there’s a spot for you and if there isn’t one already, then you can carve yourself one. It’s a home no matter where you came from and it’s a home for you no matter where you go once it’s all said and done. It’s a home and the people in it are a family.

While some groups had to deal with things like being alone together on an island or a robot situation, some groups just had unfortunate situations. Like being stuck with people that you should never be allowed to meet because meeting them means a chaos that no server can properly comprehend. Such is the case of our current group, which consisted of Wilbur, Grian, Ren, Bad, Cub, and Jack (L’) Manifold.

Things for this group had one of the luckier wake ups, waking up in part of the area of Keralis’ base. Specifically the area where the farm was, waking up in the pumpkin patch that Keralis had just finished setting up before everything had happened. Which wouldn’t of been too bad, but unfortunately, someone had the luck of waking up with their head inside a pumpkin. Not the nicest way to wake up when the last thing you remember is dropping to the ground in pain.

As they began to wake up and looked around to try and figure out where they were, they began to spot one another. Grian’s eyes widening partially because he sees Wilbur, because he had only seen Wilbur a few times before and that was at MCC; but also because he realized that his wings were in an awkward position and that it was not gonna be an easy one to get out of. As they looked around at one another and realized they were looking at people not just from their own respective servers, Ren speaks up from where he had stood up.

Ren was the one with the pumpkin on his head and he was currently trying to look around, but it wasn’t a jack-o’-lantern so he had no eye holes to see out of,” My dudes?! I can’t see anything and everything smells like pumpkin!” Bad was nearby so he manages to stand up,” Hold still and I’ll try and get the pumpkin off of you.” Ren seems spooked by Bad’s voice, but holds still,” Who was that that just spoke? Are your voices sounding weird because of the pumpkin?” Ren was confused, wondering just how odd this whole situation must be. Bad makes sure he has a good grip on the pumpkin and then counts down,” 3…2…1…” And then Bad pulls as hard as he can.

Luckily for Ren the pumpkin came off, but it was definitely a very weird feeling and the sudden rush of bright light was not good, thank goodness for the fact that he still had his classic sunglasses to help with it. Were his glasses a little skewed from the pumpkin? Yes, but in a way the sort of tilted glasses look actually worked pretty well for Ren. Once he turned to look at who had taken the pumpkin off his head, he’s clearly surprised when he sees Bad. “You were not who I was expecting to be thanking for yanking that pumpkin off my head…” He looks around and spots Grian,” What happened? Why are people from another server here? Or am I just hallucinating because of the pumpkin to the head?” 

Grian shrugs his shoulders,” I have absolutely no idea why they are here- “He was going to talk more when they hear a voice that almost sounded like it was coming from one of the trees around them,” Guys? Little help here? I’m stuck.” It sounded like Cub, so they looked around to try and see if they could figure out where he was. They found him hanging upside down in a tree, clearly stuck. Grian did his best to ignore the urge to chuckle because it was kind of nice to see someone on HEP’s side get stuck in the thing that they were trying so hard to protect and fight for. 

“Did you just wake up hanging like that or did you go to get out of the tree and get stuck?” Grian asks this as he and Ren try to figure out how to help Cub down. “He isn’t the only one who’s stuck up here, mate!” Another voice calls from higher up in the tree. Cub makes a little noise when he hears the voice because he did not know that there was another person in that tree with him. Wilbur and Bad’s eyes both widen as they realize that Jack L’Manifold is definitely the other person stuck in that tree right now and that was not gonna be an easy thing to deal with.

“Well that’s just about the worst luck you could get from something like this.” Wilbur was standing next to Grian, trying to figure out how they were going to get Cub and Jack down. “How did you guys get here, by the way?” Grian looks over at Wilbur,” Because I’m pretty sure Xisuma hasn’t been sending out invites, let alone since most of us know you guys are in the middle of some sort of war.” He was just wondering if this was some sort of invite that got poorly timed or something worse. “Nope! We were about to try and…handle our differences involving the war when everybody got hit with this really weird wave of pain and we all passed out.” Bad speaks up from where he and Ren are trying to climb up into the tree to get to Cub and Jack.

“Wait that happened to you guys too?” Cub had that tone to his voice that Ren and Grian knew meant that the gears in Cub’s enigma of a mind were turning. “Yeah. It was really bad for Dream though, he ended up puking and I’m pretty sure he wasn’t able to talk but I’m not quite sure.” Jack was looking around the tree, trying to figure out a safe way down. That seems to make those from Hermitcraft share a look,” My dudes…if it was bad for Dream, do you think it was bad for Xisuma on our end too?” Ren sounded worried for their friend and with good reason. If somebody like Dream, who was already making himself a legend from his power, had suffered like that; then they could only imagine what it did to someone as powerful as Xisuma is.

“That’s really weird…if our most important people have been hit by something like that and we all got hit with waves of pain…” Cub was clearly deep in thought about it as Ren and Bad tried to figure out how they were gonna get him down. “What if you stand on my shoulders and pull him down from there?” Bad suggests this, knowing that it’d be easier to get Cub out of the tree if at least one of them could reach him properly. “That could work, my dude, but do you think can handle my weight on your shoulders?” Ren knew he wasn’t exactly the lightest person, especially considering that he does everything he can to stay in top shape for the wrestling tournament. What? Just because it’s once a year doesn’t mean he can just lose all the muscle he’s built up.

“I got it, don’t worry about it.” Bad was a lot stronger than he let people think that he was, he just doesn’t show it much. Soon enough, Ren was standing on Bad’s shoulders and was working on getting Cub out of the tree. Luckily for them, between Ren’s ability to balance on practically anything and Bad who spends his days making sure people don’t accidentally kill each other; they made a pretty good team for getting Cub and Jack out of the tree that they were stuck in.

The first one that they got out was Cub, having to yank pretty hard to get him out of the tree, but luckily Cub was able to get down without falling on his face. Then Jack, which took a little more work because he was way higher up in the tree than Cub had been which meant that Ren had to reach a little further and Bad had to stand a little taller to make sure that Ren could actually reach him. By that point Cub was at the bottom of the tree to help get Jack down, so it was at least easier than how Cub had to get down. Grian and Wilbur were mainly just watching because they both knew if they tried to help that it would probably just get worse.

Finally, once Jack had been taken out of the tree and they were all nice and steady, they decided to take a moment to think about things. “Okay, so where are we exactly?” Jack looks around, this place was definitely pretty, prettier than most of the places that the SMP had ever had. Grian looks around, making sure of his surroundings before he speaks,” We’re at our friend Keralis’ base, so at least we have a general idea of where we’re at.” Ren nods as he looks around,” If this is here then maybe the Cowmercial district is still in the same area as it was before whatever happened?”  Those from the Dream SMP raise eyebrows at that. “What exactly is a…Cowmercial district?” Wilbur was just wondering what the hell that could possibly be. “Oh, it’s where all of our shops and things like that are, along with where the Town Hall is.” Cub says this casually, but it was a bit mind blowing to the members of the Dream SMP. They had not had many things that were organized like that, barely any honestly.

“That sounds great, that’s probably where everyone is gonna start heading, at least from your side of things; so maybe it’d be a good idea for us to head that way?” Bad suggests, looking around at the place one more time. This was really a lovely place, especially when compared to the SMP. “Good idea.” Ren nods his head,” We’ll lead the way and you guys can follow?” He suggests this because he didn’t wanna accidentally upset anyone. With that, they were on their way to the Cowmercial district, being careful to not accidentally bump any of Keralis’ things because they knew that none of them could afford the price that was Keralis and his very being.

Not too far from this group, another group was waking up outside of Cub’s Great Pyramid. This group consisted of Schlatt, Scar, Stress, Skeppy, and Cleo. This was incredibly unfortunate for Cleo, since that meant she had to remember even more S names on top of the ones that she already has to remember. Waking up in the shadow of a giant pyramid in an dessert was a really weird thing to wake up to, but honestly some of them had woken up in far weirder places than this. As they began to sit up, Stress was the first one to speak,” Um…did we get new members during the weird black out thing or am I hallucinating or something?” Fair question, given that that wave of pain was a really weird experience.

Skeppy had managed to sit up before Schlatt, who was definitely struggling to get himself into a sitting position. “Where are we?” Skeppy looks over at Schlatt for a second before he turns his attention to the members of Hermitcraft that were currently there. “Well…if I had to take a guess,” Cleo looks around,” We’re at our friend Cub’s base, so we’re definitely waking up outside of the places where we passed out. Not a good sign.” Schlatt looks over at Cleo, he had been trying to speak but was having trouble finding the right words at that moment,” Wait, so if we’re here, at this Cub dudes base…then we got moved outta the Dream SMP?”

Cleo and Stress seemed surprise at the mention of the Dream SMP. Scar was surprised too, but he had just managed to sit up,” I mean I would hope so because me and these two lovely ladies are from Hermitcraft so if we were suddenly in the Dream SMP we’d have a whole other issue on our hands.” Which was true, but how did those two get here if they were still in Hermitcraft? “Well then how did we get here?” Skeppy frowns a bit, clearly thinking,” Maybe they got smashed together or something, like some kind of crash?” It was an idea, not the greatest idea that any of them had had but it was an idea none the less.

They had all finally managed to sit up and were now trying to stand up, which didn’t prove as difficult as sitting up had been. “I mean that’s definitely a possibility…” Scar trails off, like he was thinking about what it could mean. Stress and Cleo shared a look, knowing that Scar was probably going through a million ideas in his head. “Okay well whatever the- “Schlatt almost curses, but something told him that cursing around the zombie lady was not a good idea, he didn’t wanna risk getting bit even if she probably wasn’t the biting type,”-the heck is going on, we need to get to the rest of our friends.” Skeppy seems surprised; Schlatt not cursing was a rare treat.

“Agreed.” Cleo nods her head,” If I had to take a guess, whatever happened probably knocked some stuff around, so let’s not try and use the Nether portals just to be on the safe side. I’m saying we make some boats and row in the direction where the Shopping District was to see if it’s still there.” Skeppy and Schlatt are a little confused by her words, shopping district? Just how much nicer was this place in comparison to the Dream SMP? “Oh that could definitely work, cause I don’t think I’ve got enough wizard fruit on me to try going anyway other than a boat since we don’t have our elytra.” Scar had checked his pockets, but it had been sometimes since he had carried any wizard fruit.

Wizard fruit? Was this place magical too? “Scar it wouldn’t be a good idea to try that anyways, mate. Maybe whatever happened would’ve affected the fruit too, we don’t need you ending up in the bottom of the ocean because you thought your wizard fruit would work better.” Stress replies, clearly just wanting to make sure her friend would be okay. “That’s a good point…” Scar starts looking around, there were a few chests and shulkers out around the pyramid, Cub had an awful habit of leaving chests and shulkers around his big builds when he was focused on the inside and not the outside. Schlatt had to think for a moment about this, he and Skeppy had to trust these three weirdos for the time being since, if he had to guess, it was already seeming like they had a much bigger set of stuff in their server than the SMP had and he did not want to try and find his way alone, or worse, with Skeppy who isn’t around Bad.

“There should be some wood in the chests or the shulkers? Maybe we can use that to make the boats we’d need.” Scar suggests, though at the mention of shulkers, Skeppy and Schlatt both look at Scar for a second before they actually look around. Holy shit there were actual shulkers here, this was a server that let people go to the end so much so that they were leaving shulkers around? As they got the wood they needed from the chests and shulkers, Schlatt and Skeppy both contemplated taking some shulkers but they didn’t know just how much they could risk right now so they decided against it. They had no idea who these three were, they had to run off of trust and in their experience that hadn’t been the best. 

Luckily there was enough wood in the chests for them to make boats for all five of them, which they did. Schlatt walks over to Skeppy as the other three discuss how to get to the Shopping District from Cub’s base. “What do you think? Trust em till we find the others?” Schlatt speaks quietly, his tone the most serious Skeppy has heard it in a while. “Yeah…we can only hope that the others are doing okay. These guys don’t seem too bad though. At least they haven’t tried to kill us and take our stuff yet.” Skeppy made a good point. Soon enough, the boats were in the water and they were on their way to this ‘Shopping District’ that the Hermits had mentioned before.

Going to the Christmas Market wasn’t something that they originally planned on doing. Granted, whenever the Dream SMP members did literally anything together, it was rare that they did it together as one whole group. Though today, they were going to a Christmas Market together. This was because it was probably the biggest Christmas Market that they would ever see.

It was a Christmas Market being run by Noxite and the whole crew behind MCC. They had decided what better way to gather up a bunch of people then to run a fun Christmas Market where people could buy gifts, try foods, do all sorts of things. The SMP members had been invited as a whole group and they couldn’t really say no, since it seemed like fun and there was the promise of things that they would all enjoy doing.

The morning they were supposed to leave was chaotic, everyone running around trying to make sure that they were dressed somewhat well, for once there were no pranks as they did so. Granted this was because those who were pranksters knew that they had a chance to enter little contests at the Christmas Market and win themselves some new things.

It took two hours for them all to get ready to go, which was impressive because the last time they had to go to an event as an entire group had taken four hours and, in the process, they had nearly broken several things. Once they had finished getting ready, they were on their way. They had all bundled themselves up to stay warm, wearing scarves and sweaters and all sorts of things. If it hadn’t been for the fact that none of them can stay still for very long, they probably could’ve gotten a good picture out of it just then.

Upon their arrival, they realized just how big the Christmas Market was. It was a giant, sprawling market, with food stalls, games, all sorts of crafts, drinks, etc. Something for everyone, for the most part. Techno wasn’t sure this sorta thing was his style, but then he saw a flyer that mentioned a booth selling things relating to history and he was already walking that direction. As everybody began to look around, they ran into various familiar faces and came across cool booths.

Ranboo had been walking around by himself when he came across a food booth that immediately caught his eye. He ended up buying two of what was at the booth, then he went looking for Niki. Niki had been walking around with Wilbur, looking at the little musical instruments that were sell at some booths when Ranboo had finally found her. “Niki! You’ll never guess what I found at one of the booths.” He was clearly excited, practically bouncing a little, which was pretty funny to see cause he’s a really tall dude so seeing him bounce a little as he spoke was just odd. He was holding the plates of food behind his back as he spoke, wanting to really surprise her.

“What did you find?” Niki looks at her little brother, smiling at his excitement. Then she caught a whiff of the food and her eyes widen. Ranboo notices and pulls the plates out from behind his back. The smile that was on Niki’s face once she saw it was priceless,” Is that chorus fruit cake? The real thing?” It had been so long since they had had chorus fruit cake, so long that she was surprised he even remembered it. “Yeah! I was walking around and I saw the booth and as soon as the smell hit me…I remembered. I remembered mom standing in the kitchen making them for us on our birthdays, the smile dad would get when he would see us peaking in to get a look at it…”

Wilbur was watching the two, smiling to himself. Since Ranboo had come around, he had learned more about Niki and it was always interesting to find things out. Ranboo hands Niki one of the two plates and keeps one for himself,” I figured we could try it together, just like we used to.” Niki nods at her brother’s words and picks up the fork that was on her plate,” On three?” Ranboo nods, picking up his fork. Niki silently counts to three and they both use their forks to gather up some cake and take bites. The joy on their faces was amazing.

“It tastes just like the one that mom used to make.” Niki sounded happy in a way that they had not heard in quite a while. Ranboo had taken his bite and had this odd look on his face, but then a smile slowly replaced this odd look,” Mom and Dad would share the first slice of cake that either of them got…she used to put frosting on his nose when he wasn’t paying attention.” Niki could only smile a little wider,” Yeah…and dad would always do the same thing back to her.” Wilbur was just watching the two, so glad that they had found something that made them happy.

“Maybe things like food will help you remember more?” Wilbur suggests this as Niki offers him a bite of the cake, which he accepts. That was actually a really good cake, granted it tasted a little odd to him but then again he’s not half-endermen so his taste buds might not be as made for it as Niki and Ranboo’s are. “That’s quite good.” Wilbur says this, but as he says this, he gets a weird feeling in his stomach…and then he’s about four yards away at another stall. Niki and Ranboo’s eyes widened, they forgot that teleporting was a side effect for those who aren’t at least part Endermen.

As Niki, Ranboo, and Wilbur dealt with the chaos of the chorus fruit cake, on another side of the market, Dream and George were walking about. Lately Dream had had this odd little feeling, like he wasn’t doing the best that he could for the people on the SMP, so he decided that he would make up for it by buying everyone a gift. Which, so far, hadn’t been too hard since he had a basic idea of what everybody would want. Though he had had trouble finding something for Fundy, Fundy was not just his friend, Fundy was his fiancé. Granted, friendship marriages may not mean a lot to some people because they are not the same as marriages based on romance, but it meant a lot to a good chunk of the people on the SMP.

“I wanna get him something that I know he’ll like. Not just something that he’ll say he likes and then never wear or just put away somewhere.” Dream had not been doing his best as a fiancé lately and he wanting to make it up to Fundy. George had been trying to help him, but he knew that Dream would have better luck than he would at figuring out what Fundy would actually want. They had been wandering around for a while when Dream spotted it, the perfect gift. It was at one of those booths that sold crocheted things, like stuffed animals and hats n such. As he walked over to get a better look at the git, he realized just how perfect it was.

“Excuse me? How much for that stuffie?” Dream points at the stuffie in question. The stuffie in question was about the size of Dream’s chest, just as long and as wide, not counting the head or the tail. The person running the stall looks up from the book they were writing in, upon seeing Dream, their eyes widen a little. They look at the stuffie, seeming a bit surprised by Dream’s choice. “That’s the biggest one here, normally the ones I make of that size are the ones I sell for about 20 diamonds for all the materials that go into them, but for you I can bring that down to about 15 diamonds.” One of the little perks about Dream being who he is, was that prices were typically smaller for him, which made things all the easier.

“I can do 15 diamonds.” Dream nods his head and pulls his wallet out of the pocket of his hoodie. Luckily for them, as a way of helping with the process, upon entering the market, everyone’s ingots and diamonds n such had been turned into coins, that way they could carry them around much easier than they had been able to before. “You want it wrapped or anything like that?” The person running the stall had wrapped plenty of these stuffed animals today, though not many of the really big ones cause most people didn’t want to pay that many diamonds. “Nah, but could you wrap a bow around the neck?” Dream asks this as he counts out the diamonds that he needed and puts them on the counter,” You can keep the extra five.”

“You really don’t need to do that.” The shopkeeper says this as they put a nice red ribbon around the stuffed animal’s neck. “I don’t need to, but I want to. I know that the person I’m going to be giving this to will love it, so the least I can do is pay you the proper amount instead of the discount.” Dream knew that this was going to be one of the best gifts that he could possibly get Fundy. George was patiently waiting, typing away on his communicator, trying to figure out where Fundy was. “Fair enough. Have a good day and enjoy the rest of your time at the market.” The shopkeeper gives Dream a smile as they had him the stuffed animal. “Thanks, we’ll try.” Dream gives the shopkeeper a nod and then looks over at George.

“Fundy is with Eret playing one of the little games that’s been set up…also Quackity said something about Noxite jumping Schlatt with a sweater. Not sure what that’s about but we can figure that out later.” George glances up from his communicator, at least the others were having a fun time. “We can deal with that later, now let’s go find Fundy.” With that, Dream and George were off onto the search for Fundy. Luckily for them, the game Eret and Fundy were playing wasn’t too far from them. It was one of those little archery games, Eret and Fundy were both trying to win different prizes. Eret had their eyes on a bear plushie that was wearing a tiny version of the strawberry dress and Fundy had his eyes on one of those plushies that was shaped like the little mushroom version of Dream, and it was a pretty big plushie, those things had become pretty popular lately.

“Fundy!” Dream grins when he sees Fundy, making sure to keep the stuffed animal behind his back as he speaks. Fundy glances over at Dream, smiling as he sees him,” Hey Dream! Come over here! I’m trying to win some prizes.” Eret manages a one handed wave as they focused on winning, which worked out in their favor because a moment later he had finally hit enough bullseyes to get himself the strawberry dress teddy bear. Dream and George walk over as they watch Eret get handed the strawberry dress bear. Eret looks over at Fundy,” I’m naming him Beary.” Fundy just nods, clearly focused on winning. Which he does, thought it takes a minute.

When Fundy does win, he grins as he’s handed the little mushroom-potato-whatever it maybe plushie of Dream. He properly looks over at Dream, who’s basically standing next to him at this point,” So why’d you wanna find me?” At Fundy’s question, Dream grins,” Close your eyes and hold out your hands.” Fundy raises an eyebrow at Dream’s words, but he does as Dream asks, handing the mushroom-potato Dream plushie to George and then closing his eyes and holding out his hands. Dream takes the plushie that he had bought Fundy out from behind his back and puts it in Fundy’s hands,” Open.”

Fundy opens his eyes, and they widen for a moment as he looks at the plushie. It was a giant crocheted fox, though the thing he really noticed was the little heart on the chest of the fox. A heart that was in the colors of the trans flag on the fox’s chest, along with two little lines on the chest, like the scars from top surgery. Fundy didn’t even realize tears were welling in his eyes until Dream said something about it. “Please don’t cry. If it’s that bad then I can get you something else- “Before Dream could finish the sentence, Fundy nearly tackles Dream with how tight he hugs him,” It’s perfect, thank you.”

Dream hugs back, smiling a bit under his mask,” As soon as I saw it, I thought of you. I figured why wait to give you it? Plus it is a giant plushie, so I don’t think I could’ve snuck it past you even if I had it wrapped.” Fundy smiles a bit at Dream’s words as he breaks the hug,” This is probably one of the best gifts I’ve ever gotten, not gonna lie…here, you can have the potato-mushroom version of you, I know it’s nowhere near as good as this, but it’s probably the best I can do right now until I find a good booth.” George hands the potato-mushroom Dream plushie to Dream once Fundy had mentioned giving him said plushie.

“I love it. I’ll name him Shroom, cause he kind of looks like a mushroom stem.” Dream looks at the plushie, he had always liked this little version of himself, thought it was cute. “Well I’m sure Shroom will get along well with my mini me.” Fundy smiles, glad that things were going so well and clearly happy about the gift from Dream. “Should we go find the others?” Eret speaks up, looking at the other three,” Cause apparently four different people have gotten jumped by Noxite and ended up with ugly Christmas sweaters on so I think we should go see that for ourselves.” The other three chuckle a little and nod, then they go off in search of the others to see if they could find out more about these ugly sweater jumpings that have been occurring.

A prime example of the ugly Christmas sweater jumpings that has occurred would be what happened to Schlatt while he and Quackity were walking around the market. The word walking is used, but it was really more Quackity keeping Schlatt away from the booths that were selling some form of liquor or alcohol. This was because they had found out that Schlatt’s health was taking a major dive due to the alcohol and the smoking and the drugs, so everybody had been doing their best to keep Schlatt away from them. Just because they may not get along all the time doesn’t mean that they want him to die. Quackity had been put in charge of staying with Schlatt since everybody knew that he was probably the only person who could really keep Schlatt away from the booths.

Of course, they had taken the precaution of speaking to Noxite and making sure that the booths knew not to give Schlatt any alcohol, but this was just to be on the extra safe side of things. This had proven to be a good idea since Schlatt kept unknowingly bringing them towards booths that had alcohol, so Quackity kept having to steer him away from them. This had happened a few times before Schlatt had had the final straw and got angry,” Will you stop it?!” Schlatt pulls his arm out of Quackity’s hand, from where Quackity had been leading him away,” I’m not some child, okay?! I can handle myself!”

Quackity sighs,” Schlatt, please…we just wanna make sure that you stay healthy, okay?” He really didn’t wanna fight with Schlatt about this, but he knew that fighting with Schlatt was something that was just gonna happen no matter what he did because of how much withdrawal had been sucking the life out of Schlatt. “I don’t give a damn! If you and the others keep babying me like I’m gonna fall apart in your hands from one whiff of liquor then I’m gonna leave this market and not come back.” Before Quackity could speak, that was when Noxite appeared, with a giant backpack on his back and something in his hands.

“Now Schlatt, there’s no reason to be making threats like that when your friends are clearly just trying to make sure that you stay in good health.” Noxite spoke calmly, but his footsteps were silent as he came up behind Schlatt and quickly pulled the sweater that was in his hands over Schlatt’s head. He basically traps Schlatt in the sweater, Schlatt’s arms getting stuck for a moment since they couldn’t get to the arm holes of the sweater at first. “What the hell is this?!” Pissed didn’t even begin to describe the feeling that Schlatt was feeling when the sweater was pulled over his head. “Simply a way of keeping you in the festive mood,” Noxite gives Schlatt a quick shoulder pat and then looks at Quackity,” Go to the little area with all the tables between the ring of food booths, a bunch of your friends are already there.”

And with that, Noxite vanishes into thin air. He’s an odd man, but he’s pretty nice when he wants to be, and also a little scary. Schlatt was working his arms into the sleeves of the sweater, since he honestly did not wanna find out what Noxite would do if he saw him without it on, when he looks at Quackity. “Can you believe that guy?! The nerve of some people.” Quackity just smiles a bit at Schlatt’s words,” Yeah…um…you wanna go to the table place he mentioned? We could get some food, see if he’s done that to anybody else?” Schlatt seemed a little confused for a second, but then he nods,” Yeah sure. Do you remember what I was saying before he came by? The sweater kind of messed with me for a second.”

Quackity was just surprised that the sweater got around Schlatt’s horns, but then again Noxite is a man of mystery so he isn’t gonnna question it. “Nah, I can’t remember, sorry.” Schlatt shakes his head at Quackity’s words as they start walking in the direction of the food tables,” You can’t remember anything half the time.” Quackity rolls his eyes at Schlatt’s words,” I can remember more than you can.” “You can not!” “Yes I can.” “Oh whatever man.” “Say all you want, you signed up for this when you married me.” “I’ll divorce your ass.” They have this little argument back and forth for a minute, before it just dissolves into them laughing a bit. They may argue a hell of a lot, but they really do care about one another.

As the laughter dies down, they finally reach the place with the tables and look around. They couldn’t see any of their other friends, which was odd but maybe Noxite was just wrong for once. They get themselves some food, aka Schlatt gets himself a giant steak from one booth and Quackity got himself a funnel cake that had strawberries and whip cream. As they sat back down, their minds seemed to work in sync for once,” That things gonna kill you.” They could only look in each other at shock for a minute before they shared a quiet laugh. “Why’d you get something so sweet? They’ve got steaks the size of your head over there.” Schlatt asks this as he starts cutting into his steak. “Eh, looked good…and something about the smell made me think of home, so why not?” Quackity shrugs his shoulders.

Schlatt seems surprised by Quackity’s words. Quackity rarely mentioned his home or anything about his past, so what he could get he would take,” What about it made you think of home?” Quackity thinks for a minute at Schlatt’s question,” The smell of the strawberries and the whip cream…my mom used to make strawberry milkshakes and put whip cream on em when she wasn’t feeling her best and I would help her sometimes.” He explained this quietly, like he was really thinking about what he was saying. Schlatt listens and he doesn’t know how to feel for a minute, then he speaks,” My mom never did stuff like that…she just made us handle things ourselves, didn’t really do much parenting.” Schlatt takes a bite of steak at the end of the sentence, clearly meaning that he didn’t want to answer any questions about it. Quackity just nods and takes a bite of the funnel cake, smiling a bit cause it was a pretty good funnel cake, plus the taste reminded him of home.

As they ate, they looked around. There friends were slowly making their way to the place with the tables, though it was taking them a while. While Schlatt and Quackity waited for their friends, at booth selling redstone materials, Sam had run into an old friend. One might think that Sam might not know that many people because he’s a pretty quiet guy when he wants to be, but he does have a few friends here and there that he just doesn’t really talk about all that much. Why? Because said friends are a little…much for some people, though not for him. To him they’re just normal, but still.

Sam had been looking at deal on redstone blocks, two stacks of redstone blocks for five diamonds, quite the steal in comparison to what he has to deal with on the SMP to get that much redstone. As he was looking, he feels a hand on his shoulder and nearly jumps but manages to keep himself calm as he turns to see who had put their hand on his shoulder. It was an old friend of his, Docm77, but everybody calls him Doc, someone who’s currently on the Hermitcraft server. “Oh, hey Doc.” Sam was glad to see Doc, they hadn’t gotten to talk in quite sometime since things had gotten pretty busy for the both of them.

“Hey Sam. I saw your over here, I saw redstone, I figured I’d look for a good deal while talking to a friend.” Doc was wearing a Christmas sweater that had little mushrooms and goats all over it as a sort of pattern. Odd choice, but Sam had heard something about Doc being involved in a mushroom related war of some kind, so he wasn’t gonna question it. “Sounds good to me. How’ve you been?” Sam asks this as Doc takes his hand off of Sam’s shoulder. “Pretty good, been dealing with some wars on Hermitcraft and making people fear what I create, so not to different from normal. What about you?”

Sam looks at what all the booth has as he answers the question,” Eh. We had our war, but thankfully nothing too bad happened. Wilbur came close to blowing it all up, but he didn’t…and we confronted Schlatt about his health and he agreed to actually take the steps to start getting better. He stepped down as president of Manburg because that was part of what was making his health so bad, so he handed it to Tubbo, so now it’s L’Manburg…things are better then they have been in a very long time honestly.” Doc just nods as he listens to what Sam is saying, that was a lot, but he’s learned to process things pretty fast thanks to being on Hermitcraft.

“That is…a lot, but think, now things are surely a hell of a lot better than what they were before it all happened, right?” Doc looks at what the booth had, solid amount, was always nice to see what kind of prices these sort of things did in comparison to the shops back on Hermitcraft. Sam nods as he pulls his wallet out of the pocket of his hoodie,” You make a good point…it’s just weird to think about what could’ve happened, yah know? What if Wilbur hadn’t been stopped? What if we hadn’t confronted Schlatt about his health? It’s not a really fun set of thoughts to have but it needs to be had.” Doc had had similar thoughts a few times, there were times where he had seen the sides of Hermits that most people never even thought about.

“What ifs are what leave people standing around when everyone else has already taken off running, you can not let them run rapid…trust me, I have thoughts like that all the time and it does nothing but make me lose track of what I need to do.” Doc could remember plenty of times where thoughts about what could’ve been had made him lose where he was while he was doing something and it was always annoying because he’d have to try and figure out where he left off without accidentally messing it up. Sam looks at Doc, surprised by his words,” That’s a really good way to look at it. Though not gonna lie, the fact that you think like that a lot makes me a little worried.” Doc chuckles a little at his friends words,” Worry does nothing but drive you up the wall with your own doubt, I’m fine, it happens to people more than you might think it does.”

“You make a good point…I just don’t wanna be the guy who wasn’t checking up on his friends when they needed him, yah know?” Sam says this as he pays for a few stacks of redstone blocks, glad that he didn’t have to do the work to get them like he would’ve had to if he was back on the SMP. “I know and I am very glad that you care that much about your friends- “Doc goes to say more when his communicator goes off in his pocket. He frowns for a second before he pulls the communicator out of his pocket and looks at it, he seems shocked by whatever he reads before he starts chuckling quietly,” Looks like we need to go…it would appear that our friends are being idiots.”

Sam raises an eyebrow at Doc’s words as he’s handed the shulker box that has all the redstone blocks in it, he thanks the person for the shulker n such and then looks at Doc,” What do you mean they’re being idiots? Like explosion idiots or just stupid idiots?” At the question, Doc smiles a bit as he and Sam start walking into the direction that Doc had been told to go in,” Stupid idiots…we made the mistake of letting our servers mutual gremlins run into one another.” Sam was going to ask who he meant by that when it hit him,” Oh no. We better get there before they do something stupid or start another revolution or something.” With that, Doc and Sam are running off to get to the area they had been told to go to.

While Sam and Doc had been talking and catching up, not too far from them, only a few aisles over, Tubbo was enjoying a nice conversation with The Captain himself. See, Tubbo had planned on seeing the Captain at the Market, they even had a little conversation before hand about having matching sweaters. Once they had gotten to the Market, Tubbo had taken off running to find the Captain. The Captain was found admiring some little ornaments that a stall was selling, quietly humming to himself. “Captain!” Tubbo had damn near tackled the Captain from the hug he gave him, and the Captain could only chuckle and hug back,” Hey buddy.” As promised, the Captain had worn the sweater that Tubbo had picked for him, which was a sweater that had little creeper faces all over it, and Tubbo was wearing the one the Captain had picked for him, which had little bees with Christmas hats all over it.

“You wore the sweater.” Tubbo was smiling as he said it, clearly happy about the fact that the Captain had worn it. “I made you a promise, little dude, I was gonna keep it even if you showed up without the one I picked for you.” The Captain ruffles Tubbo’s hair a little,” Now come on, let’s wander around a little and look at some of the stuff that they’ve got around here.” The Captain and Tubbo began to wander the Market, looking at the stalls and all the things that they had to offer. It was a lot calmer than some of the things that they had both dealt with within the last while. This was definitely a lot nicer than being on the SMP and this was definitely a lot nicer than some of the stuff the Captain had had to deal with is.

“So, how’s being the president of L’Manburg going?” The Captain had heard about Tubbo becoming the new president and he was proud of him. Tubbo was a good kid, smart, if anyone could turn that place into something gorgeous it was him. “Pretty good, it’s a really stressful job but everybody’s been doing their best to help me and make sure that things go well, so it hasn’t been too bad.” Tubbo was glad to be out of the presidential suit, even if it was just for a couple of hours. Plus rebuilding a country is a lot of work, especially when you’re also trying to look after two of your friends in the process. “That’s good. It probably isn’t too easy trying to do all that, but hey, you’ve got a whole group of people who are fully prepared to help you out so I think you got this. If anyone can take that place and make it into something great, it’s you.”

“Thank you, that really means a lot coming from you.” Tubbo gives the Captain a smile, clearly meaning what he was saying. “Just speaking the truth.” The Captain was glad that he and Tubbo could have time like this, it was nice. After a while of walking around, they come across a booth selling little statues and figurines. As they stopped to look at the figurines, the Captain spots one. A gorgeous marble statue with hair made out of amethyst and eyes made of the same amethyst, as he looked at it, memories of a time before all of this came to mind. “How much for the Ianite figurine?” The Captain was already pulling out his wallet, this was something that he knew he would want.

The shopkeeper looks up from where they were writing something out, and upon seeing the Captain, they smiled. Something about this shopkeeper didn’t seem quite right, they seemed normal, for an older person. White hair, a little wrinkly…but their eyes seemed odd, seeming to change from blue to gray and back again every few seconds. “For you? Free.” The Captain was going to protest, when the shopkeeper puts their hand up in a silent gesture of silence as they began to wrap the figurine up,” You were Ianite’s champion, the least I can do is give you one small statue.”

“They make a good point, Captain. I mean, growing up I always heard stories about you and how you were Ianite’s champion, so surely one little reward from all that wouldn’t hurt?” Tubbo figured it couldn’t be too bad, the Captain deserved some rewards for all that he had done. The Captain thought about it and he was still thinking about it when the bag that was holding the well wrapped figurine was handed to him,” I really shouldn’t- ““Nonsense.” The shopkeeper clearly wasn’t going to let the Captain walk away without him taking the figurine so he sighs,” Okay fine, but can I at least give you a tip? Cause it is a really gorgeous figurine.” The shopkeeper thinks about the Captain’s offer for a moment before they nod,” Yes, a tip would be fine.”

The Captain takes a moment to look through his wallet before he places down twelve diamond coins, three gold coins, and five emerald coins,” Before you say that that’s too much, the least I can do since you’re giving me that wonderful figurine for free is give you a good tip.” He hadn’t bought much today so it wasn’t like he didn’t have the cash to leave a tip like that. The shopkeeper looks at the tip and just sighs for a second before taking it off the counter so that they could count it up,” Fair enough, enjoy the rest of your time at the market.” The Captain nods,” I’ll try to.” He then looks at Tubbo, who was just looking around,” Wanna go find some bee stuff for you, little dude?”

Tubbo looks at the Captain, smiling a bit,” Yeah, that sounds like it’d be nice.” The Captain had always been good at remembering stuff when it came to him and that was something that he appreciated. As they went to walk away, the Captain turns around for a second thinking he had forgot to put his wallet back in his pocket, and he’s shocked by what he sees. The shopkeeper was gone, vanished into thin air, leaving only a puff of purple smoke behind and an empty stall. “I-what?” He looks around for a moment, wondering if he could see the shopkeeper in the nearby area, yet he doesn’t see them.

“I’m not losing my mind, right little dude? That stall definitely had a shopkeeper in it and had stuff.” The Captain looks at Tubbo, who looks at the stall and his eyes go wide,” I-what-oh surely not.” So they both had definitely seen the shopkeeper and the stall being full of stuff, lovely. “Yah know what, little dude, I don’t think I wanna mess with whatever that is today, so you wanna just go look for some bee stuff and pretend we didn’t see anything?” The Captain did not have the energy for this today, he really didn’t. Tubbo nods and they go off in search of something bee related or themed for Tubbo to have.

After a while of looking, they came across a booth selling plushies, including this giant stuffed bee that was basically half Tubbo’s whole size and Tubbo bought it himself cause he wanted it. As he was paying for it, he gets a text on his communicator and glances at it. He had just placed down the last of the coins that he was paying with when he actually read the text and nearly doubles over from laughter. Out of all the things that he expected to read, that was the last thing that he had expected. The Captain was a bit surprised, but as Tubbo finishes laughing, he shows the Captain the text and The Captain almost doubles over from laughter as well.

Their friends were being fools, so as Tubbo is handed the bee, who has a cute little hat on it, they began to make their way over to where the text told them to go, allowing their laughter to die down as they went. “We seriously shouldn’t leave them alone for very long.” The Captain smiles a bit,” It seems like they always find someway to get into trouble.” Tubbo nods at the Captain’s words, he did have a good point,” At least Noxite got to them before somebody else, Techno probably would’ve suggested a duel to the death or something.”

“Where even is Techno? I haven’t seen him at all since I got here.” The Captain knew that the members of the Dream SMP were likely to just split off into smaller groups but he figured he might at least see Techno around sometime. “Oh he saw a flyer for some stall that was selling history related stuff and he was gone before any of us could even ask about joining him.” Tubbo says this and shrugs a little as he says it, Techno had always been a huge history fan so him doing something like that wasn’t too uncommon.

Little to their knowledge, Techno was actually still at the booth in question. He had been there for over thirty minutes and was just looking over things, already planning on spending all the wealth that he had accumulated in his time on the SMP. He had already picked out a few things, things that he was gonna put in his quiet little retirement home, like little models of various battles and such, when he asked the shopkeeper a question. “Do you got anything else? Anything that’s one of a kind or anything like that?” As Techno spoke, he adjusts the glasses he was wearing a little. 

Some might think that it’s weird that a fearsome warrior like Techno wears glasses but he keeps them on a chain around his neck so he can’t lose em, plus it helps when he struggles a little with human languages. Struggles of being part human and part hoglin. “Why yes, I think I have just the thing.” The shopkeeper nods their hand and then bends down to get a look at the lower shelves of the inside of the stall before seeming to vanish for a second, as they reappeared, they had a large object in their hands that was wrapped in what appeared to be velvet cloth. As they placed it down on the counter, Techno looks at it, wondering what on earth it could be.

The shopkeeper slowly unwraps the object from the cloth and Techno is amazed by what he sees. A completely wooden version of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. As in it was fully wooden, with the words carefully burned into it. It looked heavy, like it was made of wood that was strong, and the designs on it were gorgeous. “This took me nearly a year to make. That includes the time it took me to burn the words into each page, the time it took me to come up with a way to bind it, all of it.” The shopkeeper was clearly very proud of it and with good reason. Something like that is damn near impossible to pull off unless you know your craft to the very bone of what you are doing and this shopkeeper clearly did know what they were doing.

“How much?” Techno was already looking at his wallet, knowing exactly what he would gladly pay for this book. This book was a work of art already and to turn it into one even more so by taking the time to do something like this was well worth whatever price the shopkeeper had set. “I’m asking for about 30 diamond blocks.” The shopkeeper knew what this thing was worth and they weren’t gonna lower their price, not even for a man as deadly as Technoblade. Techno nods his head at the price,” Alright, I can do that, but how about I throw in a little more for all your hard work?”

The shopkeeper raises an eyebrow at Techno’s words but nods. Techno responds by digging through the wallet before pulling out the diamond coins that would be necessary, thanks to a feature Noxite added that allowed for the coins to auto-shrink into the right amount without taking too much space, and then pulling out four netherite coins as well. Noxite had added the netherite coins as a joke, he didn’t think anybody would actually want to use them, so it was quite something to see them get used. “Before you say that you can’t take it, trust me, you’d be doing me a favor because I’ve got too much of the stuff to begin with.” 

The shopkeeper frowns a little but takes the money, putting it next to the register as they looked for something to wrap the book with. “You can just put it in the cloth and tie it with a bow, I don’t need something fancy with the wrapping.” The shopkeeper nods their head as they wrapped the book back in the cloth and looked for a good size ribbon to use. The velvet cloth was a nice red color and the ribbon that the shopkeeper found was green, so it made for a very nice Christmassy look to it. The shopkeeper hands the wrapped book to Techno,” Thank you for the tip, but you seriously didn’t have to do that.” Techno shrugs a bit,” Eh, might as well appreciate a good local business ran by somebody who clearly knows what they’re doing. Have a nice day.”

With that, Techno left the booth and was off in search of a place to sit down and to take a moment to just enjoy the new book that he had gotten. He found himself a bench over a nice tree and sat down, just wanting to enjoy sometime by himself. As he was unwrapping the book so that he could begin to properly read it, he looks up and notices Philza walking his way. He was by himself, which Techno guessed meant Tommy was off causing trouble, probably with Tubbo, somewhere instead of bothering their father. Phil had spotted Techno and was walking over, always glad to spend time with his eldest son. People could say all they wanted that Phil had a favorite, but he really didn’t…it’s just that compared to Wilbur and Tommy, Techno is far calmer…until war or potatoes or orphans are involved.

“Hey Phil.” Techno gives Phil a nod as he makes his way over to the little bench Techno is sitting at. “Hello, my boy. I see you’ve already found yourself another copy of The Art of War for the collection.” Phil says this as he sits down next to Techno on the bench. Techno had a hobby of collecting copies of The Art of War, this had become common knowledge among his friends and family. It’s one of the best gifts you can get him…if you know how to get a copy that isn’t like one that he already has. That’s actually how Techno ended up with a hand made one that Niki had taken the time to make for him as a birthday gift, it was written in her wonderful cursive and she had handmade the cover herself…it may or may not be one of his favorite copies but that’s for him and no one else to know. 

“Yep. Saw this one and knew I had to have it. Plus it’s really well made, detailing is wonderful, and I don’t have to worry about splinters because of the way my hands are so those aren’t a concern.” Techno was clearly happy about the new copy, even if it wasn’t that visible in his tone or his body language. Phil knows his kids, knows the signs that they’re excited about something. “It is a very beautiful copy, I’m sure it’s gonna make a lovely addition with the rest of them…I actually got something myself while I was wandering about.” Phil rarely got himself anything, always preferred getting stuff for other people, so when he did get something for himself it was always interesting to see what he got. “Oh yeah? What did yah find?” Techno had stopped unwrapping the book, turning his full attention to Phil. Phil had a bag in his hand, just a small gift bag that couldn’t possibly hold very much in it.

“I found this booth that was selling these uh…” Phil was trying to think of the proper word as he puts the bag in his lap and begins to look through the bag to get what he had gotten out. “Nesting dolls? Is that the word I’m looking for? The little dolls that stack.” Phil knew the proper Russian word for it, but he preferred just saying nesting dolls because that’s just easier to say. “Yeah, that’s the right word. What made you want a set of nesting dolls though? Were they an interesting set or something like that?” Techno only had a set of nesting dolls and they were a set that had been a gift from Tommy when Tommy was like four. He had painted the little wooden dolls himself, meaning for them to look like various versions of his brother in some of his most famous outfits. It wasn’t exactly perfect but Techno has kept that set safe since the very day that he got them.

“Something like that, yeah.” Phil pulls a wooden box out of the bag and moves the bag off of his lap before putting the wooden box on his lap,” I saw the set and I knew it was the perfect thing to add to my little house on the SMP.” He opens the wooden box and inside are four little nesting dolls that are each in their own little inlets within the box. Of course the old sap would want to get something like that, Techno had seen things like these ones before, but they had never been exactly like the ones that Phil was currently showing him.

The biggest of them was one that was painted to look like Phil, including his green and white striped bucket hat and some of the details to his outfit, with a calm face painted onto it. The second biggest was one that was meant to look like Techno, including his crown and his coat and a bit of the detail to his outfit, the face was the pig face that he often got on things made to look like him, but with a chubbier set of cheeks painted on and an almost calm look on his face. The third biggest one was one that was meant to look like Wilbur, using his classic yellow sweater look, including a little beanie painted on with his hair, he had the same sort of peaceful look that Techno and Phil’s dolls hand on them. Of course, the smallest one of the four was the one that was meant to be Tommy. This one used his signature white shirt with red sleeves and even gave him the same bandage that he wore on his nose more often than not, instead of the peaceful look, he had that same chaotic grin that was just pure Tommy.

Techno just looks over them for a minute, this quite smile on his face. “These are really cool, Phil. I’m guessing that you got them cause they reminded you of all of us?” Phil nods at Techno’s words,” Just because you and your brothers are practically all grown up doesn’t mean I’m no longer allowed to buy things that remind me of you and them.” Techno was gonna protest that they weren’t really brothers but then both of their communicators went off and they had to look at them. What they saw was honestly not even surprising if you knew Tommy at all. “Oh god…let’s go stop your brother from being a dumbass with an equally chaotic dumbass.”

As Phil and Techno made sure they had everything packed away nice and neat and then headed off to find Tommy, while across the way, Karl and Sapnap were doing some last minute shopping before heading over to see what was going on. They had gotten the message on their communicators but decided to wait on going over there until they had gotten one last present for Quackity. Sort of a thank you for being a really good fiancé but also a thank you for being so willing to help with the whole Schlatt thing. They had been wandering about together when they actually found the perfect gift for Quackity.

“What about this?” Karl had pointed out the thing in question to Sapnap as they had been looking over a particular booth. Sapnap had seen it and smiled a little,” He already has so many of them…but surely one more wouldn’t hurt? We could each get one, that way we match?” They had found a gift that they could all sort of share, one for each of them, a little way to connect them together without having to get anything too fancy. They ended up buying three, one for each of them and each one had a different design to it. 

As they began to walk towards the area they had been told to go to with the bags that they had after they paid, Karl had a thought,” You think we could use this as a chance to make some money? You know Quackity loves a good bet and what better way to enjoy the chaos that Tommy brings than to make some money?” Sapnap chuckled a little at Karl’s words, betting about things like this was pretty fun,” Are you saying that we should run a betting ring on which one of them is gonna end up winning?” Karl nods,” Yeah! Think about it, no matter how they bet somebody’s gonna end up losing or tying so we’re gonna get some money out of this.”

Sapnap thinks about what Karl said for a minute,” I think that sounds great, how about we go find Quackity and see how he feels about helping us make some extra coin?” Karl just nods at Sapnap’s words and they go a little bit faster in hopes of making it to the area in time. Luckily for them, Quackity and Schlatt had already arrived and were getting good seats set up so that everybody could watch the contest that was about to go down. “Quackity!” Karl yells, nearly tackling his fiancé in a hug when he sees him. Karl gives wonderful hugs, even when there’s a near tackle involved. Quackity screamed just a tiny bit from surprise but then gladly hugged back,” There you guys are! We’re setting up the chairs so that everybody can watch the contest.”

“Which is gonna be fucking great because we can get front row seats.” Schlatt had ignored the screaming, he was getting better and not snapping on people. “Now help us set up, Noxite is too busy building whatever he’s set up behind that giant curtain.” Noxite had set up a giant red curtain and they could hear noise behind it but nobody could see what was going on behind it. “We can do that, but first, we have a question for you.” Sapnap was looking at Quackity as he spoke, a smile on his face. Quackity raises an eyebrow but looks at Sapnap,” What is it?” Sapnap looks at Karl,” You wanna ask him or should I?” Karl seems to think for a minute before he speaks,” You can ask him but I get to give him the gift we got him?” “Deal.” Sapnap nods his head with a smile, he was pretty excited to see Quackity’s reaction to the gift.

“Wait, you guys got me a gift?” Quackity was surprised by their words, he didn’t really get gifts a lot so when he did it was always really nice for him. “Yeah! We saw it and thought of you…well, technically there’s one for each of us but you get the idea.” Karl smiles up at Quackity, still hugging onto him. Karl was someone who clung onto people and it was a pretty great thing a good portion of the time. “Alright well tell me your idea first and then give me this mysterious present of yours.” Quackity gives Karl a little squeeze as he listens to the two. Their friendship may’ve started off a little rocky but these two are the best friendship marriage fiancés a dude could ask for. “We were thinking…betting pool for the contest. We three run it, make a few bucks, and we get to watch the chaos occur.” Sapnap suggests this with a small smile. Schlatt poked his head up from where he had sat down,” Are you seriously considering running a betting operation without me?” 

“Schlatt we can run a better ring with you later.” Karl knew that there were plenty of ways that they could do a betting ring so it wasn’t like this was their only chance to do one. “I am definitely down to do that.” Quackity always loved getting to do things like betting rings, it was chaotic as all hell but it was great. Karl and Sapnap grin at Quackity’s words, excited that Quackity was down to run a betting ring with them. “Sweet!” Karl takes the bag that was in his hand and offers it to Quackity,” Here’s the gift, by the way. I think you’re gonna like it.” Quackity takes the bag with a smile and opens it, looking inside. He smiles a little and can’t help but chuckle just a bit at what he sees inside. Inside was three beanies, one that was white and had a flame insignia on the front, one that was purple and had a swirl like the one on Karl’s hoodie on it, and one that was blue and had that same sort of smile that Quackity had on the mask that he wore sometimes.

“This is amazing.” Quackity pulls out the blue beanie and offers the bag back to Karl, wanting to get a good look at the blue beanie. Karl takes the bag back and then takes the purple beanie for himself and hands the white one to Sapnap. While Quackity is admiring the blue beanie, Karl and Sapnap put on their respective beanies. He looks up from how focused he was on the beanie and can’t help but laugh at the two in their beanies,” You two look amazing, ten out of ten, best looks you’ve ever had.” Sapnap and Karl both chuckle, knowing that they both didn’t pull beanies off as well as Quackity did. “You should put on yours.” Karl suggests, he really wanted to see Quackity in the beanie that they got him. Quackity seems to think about it for a second,” I’ll put it on…but you gotta give me a second to put it on.” Quackity then proceeds to bring his sweater up until his head was covered and they see him move his arms around in the sweater before one beanie goes in and the other comes out. After a moment, Quackity fixes his sweater back to the way it once was.

Quackity’s ability to change while hiding his hair was impressive, especially because the blue beanie was on perfectly. He had the other one, the original blue LAPD one in his hand,” Well, what do we think? One of my best looks?” He does a little spin, clearly knowing that he looked pretty good. Karl and Sapnap clapped a bit, giving Quackity compliments and telling him that he looked amazing, because he did look pretty amazing with the blue beanie. “You look amazing, ten out of ten, best look you’ve ever had.” Sapnap responds, getting a laugh from the other two since he used Quackity’s own words. “Alright, now that we’ve had our fun, what do you say to us starting to take some bets?” And with that, the three, plus Schlatt because he was gonna get involved no matter what, began their work on getting the betting gathered and ready for the chaos that was about to unfold. 

Meanwhile, Skeppy and Bad were slowly but surely making their way from the other side of the market to where the contest was being held. They had been wandering about, Bad holding Rat in what was basically a baby harness as they went. It had been nice and quiet, because Skeppy had decided as one of his many Christmas presents to Bad that he would be nice and calm the entire time that they were at the Christmas Market together. They had bought a few things for various people, Skeppy making sure that the things he bought for Bad were hidden and that he made sure that Bad just thought they were gifts Skeppy was getting for other people. As they had wandered about, Bad had secretly done something similar but only once. Skeppy was all about making sure that his friends got everything they wanted for Christmas, he had the money to make that happen and he fully intended to do that.

Bad liked making sure people got what they wanted, but he also wasn’t nearly as good with human traditions as Skeppy was. Bad was still a demon, but he had gotten quite good with human traditions over the year, though Skeppy had him beat by a little bit. Over the course of their friendship, and the resulting friendship marriage, they had developed ways to acknowledge some of Bad’s personal traditions as a demon and the human traditions that the humans in Bad’s life celebrated with. This included things like Bad disappearing for two hours on Christmas Eve to gather firewood and then building a fire outside of the mansion, that he would lit once the clock hit midnight, this fire would stay lit until the clock hit midnight on New Year’s, signaling the end of the year. This fire was what Bad called a passing fire, a fire for burning all the things that had passed through the year, burning the things that had passed through your life and caused you pain. Unfortunately it had become quite popular for members of the Dream SMP to go to.

“I’m thinking that this year I’m going to make the Passing Fire bigger than ever.” Bad says this as he and Skeppy walked along, holding various bags and Bad making sure Rat was secure in the thing that was basically a baby harness that was keeping Rat strapped to Bad’s chest. “Yeah? You think we gotta make it that big?” Skeppy glances at Bad as he readjusts some of the bags that he’s carrying on his arms, were both of his arms loaded full of bags? Yes, yes they were. “Yeah…I think we could all use the chance to burn off all the stuff that’s weighed us down this year. Plus we had so many people with us that joined….I’d get to teach more people about my traditions.” Bad had enjoyed getting to teach more people about the traditions that he did use, because they were special to him and were often lost to time if people didn’t learn about them.

“Sounds good to me, you get to be happy, more people learn your traditions, good way to bring peace for a little while…because as much as I love the chaos that we get from our friends, sometimes a break can be really nice.” Skeppy didn’t mind it when he got a break from the chaos, it meant things were a whole lot easier. Bad raises an eyebrow at Skeppy, silently asking if he really meant that. “What? I mean it, I love chaos but I know that we need the break. You need a chance to relax and I could probably use a second where I’m not having to deal with all the crazy that our friends get up to…and that I sometimes cause.” Skeppy wanted to make sure that Bad didn’t get too stressed out, Bad deserved a break from all of this way more than most people did and that was just a fact in Skeppy’s eyes.

“If you say so…but are you sure you can go that long without causing chaos? I know you’re trying to make things easier for me but I also don’t want to see you unhappy.” Bad didn’t want Skeppy to be unhappy, that was the last thing that he wanted. “Bad, I can handle not being chaotic for a little bit, I promise.” Skeppy smiled at Bad, this was why they worked so well. They understood that the other needed certain things in order to be happy. “Pinky promise?” Bad moves some of his bags around and offers his pinky to Skeppy. Skeppy smiles and locks his pinky with Bad’s for a moment,” Pinky promise. Now let’s go see just how bad this contest is going to get.” 

As Bad and Skeppy went to where the contest was being held and began to meet up with the other SMP members who had made their way to the area, everyone began to wonder what had led to the contest that was about to be held. That was when Noxite popped his head out from behind his curtain and seemed to fiddle around with the goggles he was wearing over his eyes for a moment before a video was playing in front of the curtain where everyone could see it, and then he was popping back behind the curtain to continue what he was currently working on. The video looked like footage, footage from just a while earlier at the Christmas Market, showing them what exactly had gone down that led to this contest.

Tommy had separated from Phil not too long into them wandering about the Market together, he had gone off on his own to just look around and enjoy the festival. He had been walking along when he had spotted him from across the area. Grian…wearing the exact same sweater that Tommy was wearing. Grian had been walking along with Mumbo and Iskall, looking around the festival and trying to figure out what all they were going to get, Jrumbot was in one of those baby harness things and Grian was the one holding him while Mumbo was carrying Grumbot around on his back. What? Being the technical dads to two robot kids doesn’t just stop once you stop running for Mayor yah know.

As soon as Grian and Tommy had locked eyes with one another it was like everyone around them felt the chaos that was about to occur. Two gremlins of equal power with almost opposite seeming servers who could cause so much chaos by themselves that it was concerning, but together? Together they could drive the world to its knees if they got bored enough. Tommy was the first to say something as he began to make his way across the area,” I think you’re going to have to change, mate.” He wasn’t gonna be the one that had to go change, and he knew with Noxite lurking around that that would mean he might get jumped with a sweater or whatever the hell that odd man had planned.

“Glad you could acknowledge it; but the one that’ll be changing will be you.” Grian wasn’t going to go change, it took way too long to get the baby harness off and Jrumbot got fussy if he was away from Grian for too long. “Sorry, Big G, but I’m not changing.” Tommy clearly meant what he said, stopping a few feet away from Grian and his little group. Mumbo and Iskall could only share a look because they knew that no matter what they said this was going to get interesting. As if he was sensing the chaos, that was when Noxite had appeared…with that giant freaking backpack on his back yet again. “Is there a problem, gentlemen?” Though judging by the grin that Noxite had on his face, he already knew the answer to that question. 

“He needs to go change!” Grian and Tommy say this at the same time, which makes them just give each other a look before they look at Noxite. Noxite looks at the two of them and takes a moment to think about the situation before he gets this sort of grin on his face,” You two could always compete to see who gets to stay in their current outfit and who gets to go change?” Grian and Tommy both raised eyebrows at Noxite. Tommy was the one who spoke though,” What kind of contest are yah talking? Is it going to be something weird or some sh- “Tommy stops for a second, remembering that Grumbot and Jrumbot were around. He maybe somebody who curses a lot but he tries not to curse around little kids cause Phil taught him not to curse around little kids. “Crud like that is it?” Noxite just chuckles,” No weirder than what you see in MCC.”

Grian and Tommy just share a look and then look at Noxite. The look was that sort of look that told Noxite that some pretty weird stuff did tend to happen during MCC. “Okay that’s a fair point but it won’t be too bad…just some entertainment for the rest of the people here and good way for you two to settle your little argument.” Noxite was gonna try to defend this for as long as he could,” Now, I’m going to set something up and it’ll be just a moment.” With that, he was gone in a poof of smoke…and a large curtain appeared on the other side of the area where Tommy had come from. “We don’t have a choice in this, do we?” Grian looks at Mumbo and Iskall, who just shake their heads, already pulling out their communicators to message the other Hermits.

Eventually, their various friends were beginning to show up. This leading to the video showing that current audience and then cutting off as the final people had gotten into their seats. Once the video cut off, Noxite popped back out from behind the current, his goggles resting where they normally did on the top of his head,” As you can see, lovely people of the audience, what you’re about to witness is a simple contest that is a matter of pride. I have made something that I believe will be fair and equal to both parties and that won’t take very long to complete.” He gestures to Grian and Tommy, who were now standing at the other end of the curtain, Jrumbot having been handed off to Mumbo who was actually doing a pretty good job of handling both of the robot kids at once, for someone who rarely had to juggle both of them. Iskall was trying to help but he was still pretty nervous around Grumbot since the incident. 

Quackity, Karl, Schlatt, and Sapnap had set up the betting area at the back of where the seats were, some people having already placed their bets simply because they could. “I will unveil what the challenge shall be and then I will give you time to place your bets, which I will be getting a profit of when this is all said and done.” Noxite speaks like this is fact, nodding to where the four were at the back. The four only nodded, not wanting to tempt Noxite’s wrath. Those four maybe crazy, but they aren’t stupid enough to mess with Noxite. With that, Noxite unveils what is behind the curtain by clapping his hands twice….and behind the curtain was what looked like an obstacle course, but not a regular obstacle course.

This was one of those blow-up obstacle courses, like the ones that were basically bounce houses in a weird way, except it had slime and honey within it to make things all the more challenging. It looked like it went on for a good bit, there were climbing bits, some ladder jumps, places where they were going to need to crawl, and at the very end they had to roll down a slanted area and hit the slime at the bottom. This was not going to be an easy thing for either one of them, and they both had some solid experience when it came to complicated courses, granted Grian’s typically involved elytra and Tommy’s typically had TNT involved at some point but that wasn’t really the point.

Grian and Tommy had both gone wide eyed at what they saw, but they got into their starting positions none-the-less. This was a matter of honor, a matter of pride. Noxite made sure that he was out of the way of the two of them, then he had produced a firework out of nowhere and counted down,” 3…2…1…GO!” As he shouted go, he let the firework shoot off into the sky with a bang, a gorgeous little explosion that looked like a Santa hat appeared as a result. With that, Tommy and Grian took off into the obstacle course, luckily Noxite had set up invisible cameras that would follow the two through out the course as they made their way through it. They were actually pretty equally matched thanks to the way that the course was set up, which made peoples bets all the more interesting as they watched the two compete. 

There were moments where one would be just a bit ahead of the other and then fall behind because of a missed jump or a wrongly timed slide, the two of them too focused to actually say anything besides various mutterings to themselves as they tried to win. Their respective friends were cheering them on, screaming and cheering like no tomorrow as they hoped that they would win. By the halfway point, even some of the more quiet people had begun to cheer them on. This wasn’t just about which person would have to change, this was a matter of server honor. This was a Hermitcraft and Dream SMP war in its own way, just with way less violence and more money on the line. It was kind of nice, to have a war that wasn’t about bloodshed that just was about who could clear a weird obstacle course first and who would have to change clothes when they lost.

As they got closer and closer to the finish line, it seemed almost impossible to determine a winner. As they watched, Wilbur was unfortunately still struggling from the chorus fruit cake that he had eaten, luckily the teleportation’s were happening less, but they were still a problem. Though nobody was paying him much attention because it seemed like Tommy and Grian were coming up on the very end of the course, just one more jump and a roll down the slanted area and they would know who the winner was, that was all it was take. Right as Grian and Tommy took the jump that would lead into the roll was when it happened. The ultimate tragedy occurred, the thing that no one could plan for happened.

Wilbur was teleported right in front of Grian and Tommy…and as a result they crashed into one another and all three went rolling down the slanted area. The uproar that occurred as a result was quiet the thing to hear, because everybody was yelling and trying to figure out what happened and by the time they hit the bottom it was impossible to tell who had actually hit the bottom of the landing first. Noxite was laughing, full on doubled over laughing from this. Of course the one thing he couldn’t account for was a rogue chorus fruit cake accident that would send Wilbur onto the course, but hey, at least now there was a tie…which meant he could do exactly what he hoped he could do.

Noxite appeared at the end of the course, looking at the pile of the three poor men. “Well, it looks like we have a tie…” He was already reaching into his bag as Grian and Tommy tried to untangle themselves while Wilbur just sat at the bottom of the pile and tried to not panic because this was bad and he knew that a lot of people had made bets and now he just screwed a bunch of them over at once and he did not wanna have to deal with that crowd. Grian and Tommy had finally untangled themselves and were trying to stand up when Noxite finally pulled the item out of his bag.

It was one of those giant Get Along sweaters, but with red and green since it is Christmas time. “Oh absolutely not! I am not wearing that!” Tommy was not gonna be thrown into some giant sweater with Grian. “There is no way that I am putting that on, Noxite!” Grian couldn’t imagine that being stuck in a giant sweater with a chaotic teenager was going to be fun and he did not wanna have to deal with it. “Too late.” Noxite snaps his fingers and Tommy and Grian are in the sweater,” You two have to be like that for the next hour.” Grian and Tommy were going to complain but then Wilbur spoke up,” Will you two please get off of me?! You’re standing on my back and it hurts quite a lot.” Tommy and Grian had to do a very awkward shuffle to get off of Wilbur, but it eventually worked.

The chaos that followed as a result was quite something. The bidding booth was swarmed as people tried to get their bets back or the few who said there was going to be a tie collected their winnings. Meanwhile the two competitors were met with their friends as they got out of the course. Their friends were laughing and already taking pictures because this was hilarious, but it was kind of sweet in a way because at least they were all together and not just celebrating one person winning. Ties can be nice sometimes, but only in cases like this were they get to have some fun as a result.

The next hour was spent with the various members of Hermitcraft and the Dream SMP wandering about together in one big group as they laughed at Grian and Tommy trying to get around in that giant sweater. There were plenty of pictures and Techno definitely had some for blackmail, but those are for later usage. After the hour was up, Noxite reappeared to fix what he had done. Once the sweater was off and the two were back to normal, the two groups did continue to hang out for a while longer, but eventually they all knew it was time to go back to their respective SMPs and went on their ways to go home.

As the Dream SMP members arrived back at the SMP, it was like how tired they were finally hit them. That was a lot, even by their standards, so they tried to go on their way but honestly it seemed just damn impossible to try to go all the way to their own bases…so Bad had an idea. Everyone gathered up all the blankets and pillows that they could find and they went on their way to Bad and Skeppy’s mansion. It was a big, mostly empty place, so they had the room for everybody to sleep on the floor in one place…it was like a big sleepover, which none of them had had in quite some time. As they all made their own little places and started to go to sleep, things were quite on the Dream SMP, for the first time in a long time. Even the Captain had gone with them, since they had offered, and he was perfectly happy with sleeping on the floor in the mansion with the rest of them.

This was the quite that they needed, the quite that only came from days like today. Days where they all ran around and had fun, no war, no blood, just stupid fun. The only sounds that came as everyone went to sleep was the sounds of soft breathing, some snoring, and some sleep talking, the sounds that to the few who were awake, meant that things were okay. If Bad stayed up for a while after everyone else went to sleep just making sure that they were all okay and that they were nice and warm, that’s just for him to know.