MCSM x Modern!Reader (Discontinued)

Contretemps

The moment the floor parted under our feet, I decided that I would never knock on a door again in Boomtown—not that I would ever willingly come back here, of course. This place was awful, including their supposed King, Magnus, who was the one culpable for this backward government in the first place. Although, I had to admit that the citizens here seemed to thrive under the atrocious conditions he's fostered, given their overall physical health. Mentally, though? Well, I couldn't say, considering that I was no psychiatrist. But if they lived here, they were probably sociopaths with a poor inner sense of right and wrong. Their weak conscience flourished here, where there were no consequences to their actions, and they didn't have to abide by any law because there were essentially none. Good for them, I guess, but no one could convince me that this wasn't a horrific environment to be exposed to constantly, and Magnus's behavior certainly reflected that.

"Hundreds of hidden death traps currently surround you," the room reverberated with a deep, raspy, masculine voice, "One step closer...and you'll be nothing but a shadow of your former self."

We looked up to see a tall man clad in a green, military-like suit, his head bare of hair and his facial features obscured by a mere strip of cloth. Appearance-wise, he wasn't all that scary, but his voice, his diction, and the manner in which he conducted himself intimidated me. With his hands clasped behind his back, he perambulated the area, head held up high, but eyes pointing downwards to behold our disheveled forms, which communicated nothing but fear and discomfort. It was a pitiful image to the average human, but apparently, not to him.

In his eyes, we were just another pair of griefers, fools who managed to pass through every obstacle before his spire out of sheer luck. And if we didn't explain our true intentions right away, we would perish like the rest. He made that clear, gesturing towards the lava that accompanied both sides of the narrow bridge that adjoined our platforms and, of course, the TNT, which he had artfully stowed somewhere in this room. How generous of him, but if anybody was going to choose their preferred method of demise, I thought, it certainly wasn't going to be me.

"Did you really think you could sneak up on me, Magnus, the King of Boomtown?" He chuckled, bending down to retrieve the amulet, which had unfortunately abandoned Jesse's grasp after falling through the trap doors, "My, you are two of the worst griefers I've ever met."

My jaw clenched, and my nostrils flared, irate upon hearing the name that represented the citizens who occupied this wretched town, but the fear lodged in my throat suppressed my desire to tell Magnus about how, since our arrival, Jesse and I had been relentlessly pursued, threatened to death to hand over the amulet he now carelessly twiddled between his fingers. But he must have known what the object was, right? He was the Magnus, a former member of the Order of the Stone, an acclaimed group of heroes; unless his memory had betrayed him, why was he acting so blatantly indifferent about the situation?

"What's the matter, darling?" Magnus asked, redirecting his attention towards me, a spark of interest lighting up the cold, vacant look in his eyes, "Is there something you'd like to say?"

I scoffed at the pet name, knowing damn well that the man was enjoying this. I couldn't see his eyebrows because of the cloth on his face, but I knew they were raised in amusement, bordering along his nonexistent hairline. Anger completely replaced the fear I previously felt at this point, yet I somehow still debated whether it was worth speaking up or not. Ultimately, my pride overcame me, and the words seeped through my gritted teeth.

"I have a name," I spoke, practically seething, "It's Y/N."

"Oh, please forgive me!" Magnus gasped, placing a hand on his heart as he feigned embarrassment, "I didn't believe it was that important because, well, I wasn't exactly planning to let you two walk out of here alive."