Stonebrook High School

Chapter 36

Thanks to @user55673238 for making their version of the cover!! <3

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They walked up the bridge, keeping their guard up from the obvious trap planted in front of them. There was a line of dispensers aligned across the railing to keep out... unwanted visitors.

"Is there, like, some sort of pressure plate that'll trip this thing off or something? 'Cuz I don't see one," said Axel.

"I don't think so?" Jesse shrugged. "Maybe there's a trip wire. Or maybe it's triggered by a laser."

"We'd better step carefully then," the burly male nodded.

They walked across, tiptoeing and carefully stepping over things that could have been triggers. Once they reached the large, imposing double doors, they relaxed and sighed.

Jesse wiped his forehead. "Whew. That would've been bad if one of us took an arrow to the knee."

"Especially you," remarked Axel. "If those arrows hit your good leg, who knows if we'd survive getting out of here."

"Don't remind me," the twin shuddered.

"So... how do we open it?"

Jesse paused thinking about his demise(s) and looked up at the large door in front of them. Of course, it wasn't anything compared to Axel, but it was pretty big compared to himself. "We... knock?"

"Knock on a door to let Magnus know we're not here to kill him. Okay. I can deal with that." Axel smiled.

Jesse's hand ran over the door, knocking to the tune of "Shave and a Haircut." They waited.

Nothing happened.

"I guess this door wasn't gonna open by itself like I thought it would," Axel frowned. "That would have been cool."

Wham! The doors swung open, making Jesse step backward and Axel fling back. They stared at the open doors, jaws hitting the floor, then glanced at each other and grinned.

"I think the door heard you and got offended," Jesse joked. Axel playfully scowled at him.

They walked through the iron doors, looking around at all the obsidian melted into the walls. "Griefers make for serious house protection calls, don't they?" said Jesse.

Axel was too busy looking around and drooling all over his handkerchief.

"Too bad, though. In real life, obsidian isn't strong at all and breaks super fa—"

"Shh," Axel whispered, breaking out of his stupor, "we don't want to break the fourth wall now."

Jesse gasped and covered his mouth. "You're right. I mean, we should be in school now because this story is called 'Stonebrook High School' but we're on a mission to save the world because of mechanical Withers that the military kept stowed away but suddenly came to life again. What are the odds?"

They stood still, continuing to look around for a few more seconds. Then Jesse hitched his crutch back properly and exhaled. "We should get going."

"Okay," Axel sighed, his breath shaking with enjoyment.

"You can come back some other d– aaaahhhhh!!"

A secret trapdoor dropped from underneath their feet and Axel and Jesse fell, falling into each other. When they hit the ground, Axel was flat like a beanbag chair, in pain, and Jesse was lying on top as if he were reading a book... in pain. With his crutch as the book.