Jesse didn't like being sick.

First off, their nose was so stuffed that they were blowing their nose every five minutes; to the point where one member of the competition finally chucked a box of tissues at them, grumbling that even if unstuffing their nose miraculously helped Jesse win, it was at least less annoying-sounding than Jesse trying to keep their nose from dripping by snorting every once in a while.

Secondly, they felt very sleepy.

Granted, they hadn't slept enough the night before, after that display of magic, but still, being sick was undoubtedly one of the worst things for their reflexes, because they just felt like flopping face-first to the floor and falling asleep.

Clearly the best thing for their health.

And finally, it meant that they were participating in a challenge with who-knew-what challenges, against healthier and fitter opponents at the moment, with no backup plan.

Lovely.

Magnus was announcing in a voice that was much louder than expected; maybe he'd used a small spell or something. "Our six challengers will participate in a tournament of three challenges to whittle it down to the best of the best- we'll, uh, do a tiebreaker if more than one person's not eliminated."

Jesse smiled at the slightly awkward deviation from the announcing.

He returned to it a moment later. "Each of the three challenges will trend towards a certain skill! Ones that mean you can handle a... certain challenge we're experiencing."

He didn't elaborate. Jesse didn't need him to.

"So, without further ado... our first challenge is..."

Jesse braced themselves to hear one of the most intense challenges of their life. Okay, they were sick, but they could handle running in short spurts, though longer ones would probably make them far too tired and they'd probably fail. Maybe it was an endurance test? Would it be poison? No, no, demons liked poison-

"Hide and Seek!"

... well, that was tamer than expected.

"... with bombs!"

Okay, never mind.

"Challengers will find a place to hide in the field-" Magnus gestured at a building that looked like it was going to fall apart. "- and hide. However, every 5 minutes, a bomb will go off! If you hear ticking, hissing, or some other sound that does not belong, you can probably guess there's a bomb nearby you. Challengers will have to stay hidden as much as they can while also avoiding getting blown sky-high by the bombs."

Jesse hoped Mevia wasn't going to kill Hadrian for this.

"You are able to use anything in the field to your advantage- but you can't bring outside tools or weapons in. Hand 'em over, champs."

The other opponents grumbled and proceeded to start pulling bombs, gunpowder pyramids that were reminiscent of the redstone pyramids back in Redstonia, maces, swords, axes, and what looked like an entire weapons arsenal out of their pockets.

Jesse blinked.

They supposed the book counted, but at the moment Reuben had a hold of that since he had to be left behind anyway.

The opponents drew back, but Magnus shot them a look. "All tools or weapons, guys."

One of them grumbled and threw down- oh, good, he'd just thrown down what looked like a steampunk chainsaw.

Magnus waited for them to announce anything else, before clapping his hands together. "Aight- looks like we're ready to start. Every challenger has five minutes to find their first hiding place without worrying about any bombs going off. The Seeker- me- will come into the field once those five minutes are up, and the timer for the bombs will start going down. Any questions?"

"Any rules for participants attacking each other?"

Jesse recognized the voice as Gill's, his arm flailing around above his head until it disappeared- presumably because Maya had shoved his hand down.

"The rules on that are-"

"That there are no rules!" One audience member yelled out, to the roar of the crowd.

"- no eye poking," Magnus finished, getting a few boos. "But that's really it."

Jesse was vaguely sure they could see Mevia trying to murder Hadrian in the crowd for the suggestion of getting them to participate.

"Alright... the hiding period starts... now!"

And Jesse bolted off into the building as fast as they dared.

It was crumbling apart; one look and Jesse could tell that hiding behind any destroyed furniture was useless- most of it was splintered apart, and there were large holes in parts of the floor. It'd be far too easy to trip through and fall a few stories the higher up they went.

Ventilation?

Probably rigged with bombs.

So that left this room.

It looked like it might've been a hotel once upon a time; there were large desks and a cabinet with the doors practically hanging off themselves. Ceiling tiles were missing, rubble littered everything, and it smelled like ash and dust- not the most pleasant smell.

Jesse looked around at the destroyed furniture, taking note of what might be a decent hiding place, before checking inside the ceiling.

Several wires sparked, water dripping from leaking pipes.

"Hell no," Jesse mumbled, dropping back to the floor.

"Two minutes!"

Jesse jumped at the announcement, looking around frantically. Two minutes left to hide, and they were just standing around looking at an old hotel lobby.

Could they hide under the carpet? No, too obvious... In the cabinet? No, it was far too open... and obvious...

Jesse desperately tried one of the smooth parts of the desk. To their surprise, one of the wood panels curved inwards when they tapped it. There was an empty space behind it.

Jesse shoved it open a little bit and quickly fit the wood on back over their hiding spot, covering their mouth to try not to make too much noise.

"Time!"

The distant sounds of beeps, hisses, and ticking all sprang to life, far outside of their hiding spot.

Then Jesse heard a singular beep.

Jesse looked up.

A bomb the size of their palm was blinking red in the darkness of their hiding spot.


A/N: You didn't think Magnus would notice this spot, Jesse?

I have MCSM stickers for sale! They're quite cheap so feel free to cop them :P

Explosions, huh? This is going to be a bomb of a time. I've been in a bit of a dry spell for writing, but there's probably going to be a bit of a boom soon for it. Fire yourselves up for some interesting shenanigans, and we'll be gunning to get back on track with the real mission soon!

x.X. A.L. X.x