Jesse felt a loud gasp get shoved out of her lungs as she landed on the ground, Axel landing next to her and Reuben landing on Axel, which shoved his face back into the dirt, and then rebounding onto Jesse's back, which somehow sent the amulet flying out of her pocket.
The amulet rolled around a pool of lava, clattering to the floor just as it neared the edge. Jesse let out a relieved sigh.
The room was comprised of sand and obsidian, and a small bridge connected the land where they'd... er, landed, and where the amulet had rolled to.
Jesse scrambled to her feet and and began to walk towards the amulet, but then a voice rang out in the room.
"You are completely surrounded by hidden death traps. One step closer... and KABOOM!" A lever being toggled sounded, and a sand block popped up and revealed the TNT beneath.
Jesse let out a yelp and stepped back hastily, backpedaling and nearly falling into the lava.
A man stepped out of the shadows and leaned down to pick up the amulet, the green gem glowing even brighter at his touch. A man completely in green, with a black mask.
"It's Magnus!" Axel said, excitedly, "we totally got caught by Magnus!" His smile fell a second later. "And... I think we're gonna die now."
"I think that's pretty accurate," Jesse agreed, tiredly.
"Did you really think you could sneak up on me?" Magnus sneered, "Ha! You're two of the worst griefers I've ever met. And a PIG? Really? Hardly stealthy."
Reuben snorted angrily.
Jesse looked at Axel, then back at Magnus. "We're here to ask you for help," she responded.
Magnus interrupted whatever she was about to say next. "Uh huh, uh huh. Sure. So, you're not a couple of griefers here to catch me unawares? Because, haha, let me tell you, that guy-" he pointed at Axel- "he's got griefer written all over him."
Axel seemed touched. "Man, you don't know how much that means to me."
Jesse looked at Axel, before back at Magnus. "I mean... yes, he is a griefer. But... well, c'mon, a girl in a cloak with her pig, does that seem particularly griefer... ish... to you? At all?"
Magnus gave her an amused smirk. "Riiiight. So, tell me something then, 'Not Griefers'. How'd you find me? You working with someone? Or maybe you bribed another griefer."
Jesse glanced at the TNT on the two-block-wide wide 'bridge'. "Gabriel sent us," she said, finally.
Magnus laughed. "Gabriel? You're seriously telling me you're buddy-buddy with Gabriel?"
"Not really, since I only talked to him for a total of, like, five minutes," Jesse mumbled sarcastically, so that only Axel could hear. He smirked.
"You know how often people try and tell me that one? This is all sounding pretty weird, dudes."
He flipped a lever, and the TNT blocks shot out of the way and blew up, leaving the way clear. Jesse hesitantly stepped forward, before running across the bridge towards Magnus, but she only got about five feet before Magnus pulled another lever and more TNT appeared on the path. "Who are you really? Why are you here?" He put his hand on a lever, but didn't pull it. "I want answers. Now."
"I'll answer the first question first," Jesse said, quietly, reaching up to the buttons on her cloak. She carefully undid them, before slowly and carefully pulling the cloak off her shoulders and setting it down carefully on the bridge in front of her.
Magnus's narrowed eyes widened, as Axel carefully pulled off his hoodie and cautiously approached, showing his mottled green arms.
Magnus stared, eyes flicking from Jesse to Axel, before he spoke again, his previously loud, boastful voice quiet and shocked. "Axel?" he directed the first one at the green-clad boy, before twisting his head to look at Jesse. "Jesse?"
Jesse's eyes relaxed, and she relaxed a little bit. "You recognize us," she breathed out quietly. "You recognize Axel and me, don't you?"
Magnus stared.
"There's a huge monster eating up the entire world," Jesse spoke again, "nothing can stop it. That's why Gabriel told us to reunite the Order. Please... you have to come with us. You might be the only chance we have left!"
Magnus stared, before he flipped the switch, and the TNT block shot out of the way and blew up again, leaving the way clear. Jesse tentatively approached him, as he said, trying to regain the previous volume, "Okay. Let me believe you, for a second then, that Gabriel DID send you- two people I haven't seen for ten years, and could possibly be new hybrids from the Bureau of Amalgamology. You expect me to take your word for it? Two strangers with wild stories, and nothing to show for it... except an amulet that's not their's."
"Are you that paranoid?" Jesse asked, tentatively continuing to edge towards him, "do you... really not trust anyone?"
"It's how I've survived this long."
Jesse and Axel shared a look. "It sounds lonely," Jesse responded quietly, and for a moment her voice had a remnant of the childish little girl with short hair who'd used to pet Lukas and be tested.
Magnus looked away, not saying anything in answer.
"Please trust us. And, if you don't trust me," Axel spoke up, "at least trust Jesse, because she's the most trustworthy person I know."
Jesse looked at him in surprise.
Magnus was quiet before saying, with a sigh, "Fine. Okay. You sold me. I'm in." And he walked towards them. "But... we might have a bit of a problem getting out of here."
"Why? You're Magnus," Axel said, puzzledly, "you can just walk out of here."
Magnus scoffed. "Um, I don't know if you've been around this place, but it's kinda full of griefers!"
"But... that's kinda awesome. Right?" Axel said, tentatively.
"Wrong!" Magnus huffed and crossed his arms. "You both- seriously, it's hard equating you two with those two kids from ten years ago- you both know about the whole 'challenging the king to his crown' thing, right? It's their thing.
"So long as I'm King, I can't leave this tower."
Jesse bit her lip. Why, oh why couldn't things be easier?!
"..." She pondered the situation, one hand touching her chin thoughtfully.
"Not as fun as you might think," Magnus huffed. "Of course, I do get to spit on their heads occasionally, so that's something."
Jesse smirked, before suggesting, "Just choose a new king or queen then. Then you can come with us."
Magnus shook his head. "Nah, I've beaten them dozens of times, they're not worthy. They'll see right through it. But you... you're the mysterious newcomer with the cloak and the amulet. By now there's sure to be all sorts of rumors of how awesome you are. If you can beat me, then I'll be able to leave!"
Jesse tilted her head. "I guess I could just let another griefer beat me, and that would be that," she hummed thoughtfully, before her face fell. "But how in the world would I be able to beat you?"
"I know, right? But you won't have to!" Magnus said. He started getting all excited, which kind of worried Jesse. "Ohhhh this is gonna be so good. I'm actually really excited about this! We gotta make sure it looks legit, though. The Death Bowl's never seen the carnage we're about to create.
"Death Bowl?" Jesse repeated, faintly.
Jesse, back in her cloak, stared around at the cheering crowds in the crudely made stadium-arena thing. Or, perhaps it had been nicely made, and just been blown up at some point in time. Actually, Jesse would've bet money that it was a mix between the two of them.
However, right now, she had a bit of concern about something, really, just a teensy bit.
"Um... what's the Death Bowl?" Jesse asked, faintly.
A/N: Yes! The Death Bowl is next! I'm excited to write this, hehe.
The review section is STILL bugging out, so I'll get to it when it comes back up.
Oh, and thanks to Jazzprowl2 or RandomFandomArtdom(tumblr) we have another new fanart! If you're on tumblr, look up 'hybrid' or 'ellegaard' on her profile, and the new fanart will pop up.
x.X. A.L. X.x.
