Wilson felt himself slowly regain consciousness. He groaned and stirred, hissing and wincing at the pain that pulsed through his body. He felt like he was hit by a Clockwork Rook. He groaned and felt his body awaken more. He opened his eyes, blinking a few times to clear his blurry vision. His eyes met with millions of twinkling stars splattered across the sky above. He brought his hand to his head, rubbing his temples, while the headache he received started to vanish.
He slowly sat up, each muscle screamed out in protest, but he ignored it and fulfilled his current goal. He peered around his new surroundings. Everything was shrouded in darkness. The only thing he could see were fireflies in the far distance and the small area he awoke to, lit up by a few crackling campfires. He noticed some things just a few feet away and realized it was his backpack with the small amount of goods he was able to bring and the Divining Rod that helped him find the "things" in each world.
Two years ago, he was taken from his home world and forced to live in a cruel one where its god treated him as nothing more than a mere puppet. He was forced to live off the wilderness and try to survive with whatever the puppet master threw at him. He had to admit, it was fucking hard. Every time he thought he caught a break, the god reminded him just who was in charge.
But now things were different. Wilson stumbled across a strange door that resembled the god's unpleasant face. He opened it and before he knew, shadowed hands grabbed him and pulled him in, exactly like when he'd been taken from his home. He awoke to the sound of amused laughter and found the god himself, Maxwell, standing gallantly before him.
"Oh, you found my portal did you? You'd think you would have learned your lesson by now. Hm. let's try something a little more challenging, shall we?"
And challenging it had been. Wilson was forced to survive four different worlds where Maxwell was absolutely cruel to him. He nearly froze to death, went utterly insane and starved to the point where his stomach literally began eating itself. Yet, he always managed to beat the world. He found all four pieces for the teleporter and was able to take on the next challenge.
At first, Maxwell thought nothing of it. He found it entertaining; never thinking that such an insufficient pathetic creature would survive. However, he'd been wrong. When he first saw Wilson in the second world, he was surprised, to say the least, but not really concerned. When he saw him in the third world, he was shocked. He wouldn't deny that he was impressed but he didn't like that Wilson actually made it that far. He even tried to bribe him to stay in the fourth world. He offered food, gold and even the pigs. Whatever Wilson wanted only if he'd stay, settle down in this world and not pursue further. Wilson didn't listen. He pursued and that was how he ended up in this world of darkness.
Wilson got onto his knees and crawled over to his backpack then picked up the rod and placed it inside when no noise emanated it. He froze when he heard raspy breathing nearby in the darkness. He glanced around the area, not knowing exactly where the sound was originating from.
"H-hello?" Wilson called out, his voice cracked from panic.
The breathing got louder.
"H-hello?" He called again. He bit his lip and swallowed the lump in his throat.
The raspy breathing stopped and complete silence surrounded him. His own breathing started to heave uneasily. He held completely still when he heard the raspy breathing behind him. He spun around but saw nothing. His neck hair stood up and he felt hot breath on it. His body shuddered with fright. He bit down harder on his bottom lip, splitting it open slightly and causing it to bleed. He slowly turned towards his shoulder and his whisky-colored eyes peered back. The hot breath on him stopped. Wilson's own breath was coming out uneven as he became paralyzed with fear. Suddenly, he heard the breathing in his ear then a sharp bite on his earlobe.
Wilson cried out and ran to the other side of the lit area. He didn't dare go out into the darkness without a source of light. Not when the creature in the darkness was waiting for him. Instead, he scanned around the area, looking for whatever had bit him. His fingerless gloved-hand reached up to his bitten lobe and touched it. He retrieved his fingers and saw a small smudge blood on them. He gasped and glanced back to the spot he'd just been.
His brown eyes widened when he heard a music box chime. He saw a long shadowed hand reach out of the blackness and slowly stretch towards his only source of light. He gasped and ran towards the shadow. He managed to reach the hand before it reached the fire. He jumped off the ground and landed on it. It jerked for a second then swayed backwards slightly. Wilson watched slightly as the hand stayed where it was, almost like it was watching him. It slowly made its way back to him but Wilson ran towards it and jumped on it again. It finally retreated back into the darkness.
Wilson smiled triumphantly.
He heard the chime again and turned to see the hand approaching the fire on the other side.
"Oh no you don't!" Wilson said to himself and rushed over to stomp on the hand. When it retreated again, he smirked. "Take that, Maxwell!"
He didn't hear the chime when the hand shot out of the darkness, this time aiming for him. The clawed hand snatched his ankle and hauled him down. Wilson screeched as he was forced to the ground and pulled towards the darkness.
"No no no no no!" He cried out and tried to grab hold of something, anything to keep him from being swallowed into the blackness.
However, he was unsuccessful and was swallowed whole.
He struggled and fought against the hand on his ankle. He fought to break free and return to the light but when he looked back, the fire was a good distance away.
Unexpectedly, the hand on his ankle released him and once again the silence surrounded him. He quickly scrambled up to his feet and turned around but only saw blackness. Only if he squinted his eyes could he see the fire, half a mile away. He immediately sprinted forward. He heard the sound of movement in the shadows and yelped. He pushed his muscles and aimed for the fire but he noticed that the light was dimming. He ran at full speed towards the fire until it went out and there was nothing but darkness. He slowed to a halt and looked anywhere in the dark for another source of light. The movement swished past him. He screamed and tried to run from the sound.
Suddenly, a pillar with fire hovering above appeared. Wilson ran towards it. The sound of the creature in the darkness was hot on his heels. He pushed his legs and jumped into the light, rolling onto the grass. He sat up and glanced towards the direction he'd just came from. When the monster didn't chase after him, he gasped for his breath and hung his head.
"Look at you. Running for the light like a pathetic little moth." A too familiar voice echoed around him.
Wilson's head perked up and he got to his feet. He whirled around the lit area and froze. His eyes were huge and his body trembled with fear when he saw the god come into the lit area from the shadows.
Maxwell's size had grown and he was hunched over on almost all fours. His body was unproportioned; legs and arms longer than natural, bent with clawed uneven fingers. His normally perfected hair was messy and spiked, almost like an angry animal. His black soulless eyes were now white with a possessed angry look to them. He bared his teeth at the scientist and revealed sharp fangs to him. He was utterly terrifying. This was the worst form of the god he'd ever seen.
Wilson made to run but stopped when he heard Maxwell laugh, "Where are you going to go, pal? Back into the darkness where Charlie awaits?"
The scientist slowly turned and faced the demon. Maxwell's possessed white eyes fixated on him like a predator to its prey.
Wilson swallowed the lump in his throat and asked, "Wha-what do you want, Maxwell?"
Maxwell stared at him for a moment then chuckled darkly. "I already told you what I wanted."
His smile faded into a sinister sneer. The demon's shadowed tendrils leaked from his back and shot towards the smaller man. Wilson gasped and tried to run but they snatched his ankles and pulled him down. He cried out and fought against them but how can you fight against shadows? They reeled him towards the monster. The shadows stopped right in front of him. Wilson's eyes were wide, being uncomfortably too close to the man he loathed. He tried to crawl away but the shadows grabbed his wrists and pinned him to ground.
"You insolent, pitiful, insignificant ant!" Maxwell growled. "I offered you a decent deal back in the previous world. I'd give you whatever it was that you wanted and all I asked was for you to stay there. But you didn't!" He leaned forward so his face was just an inch away from the boy's. "Instead, you decided to pursue!"
Maxwell was too close for comfort. Wilson panicked and did the only thing he could to do to get the monster away from him; He spat in his face.
Maxwell's face went from terrifying to absolutely horrendous. His clawed hand seized Wilson's neck, cutting off his air supply and yanked it closer to his. The demon glowered viciously and roared. "Do not arouse the wrath of the Great Maxwell!"
The demon monster threw the boy down. Wilson cried out as he smacked into the ground. His back cracked and he released an "oof" before hissing at the pain. He lied on his back, gasping for air before he felt a body climbing over him. His eyes snapped open and he was greeted with Maxwell's terrifying face. He gasped and crawled away, trying to get away from the monster. He yelped when he felt something tug his ankle and pull him down. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a shadowed tendril held him. It slowly reeled him back to Maxwell. Wilson fought against it, playing tug of war with his leg. Maxwell grew impatient with Wilson's defiance. He grabbed his ankle with his own clawed hand and yanked hard, pulling the muscle in his leg and forcing him to collapse into the ground.
The demon man tugged the boy, causing him to get a grass skin burn. He tossed Wilson onto his back and towered over him like the giant he was. He narrowed his eyes in glee at the wide frightened ones reflecting back. He raised his talon hand and swiped it across his face. Wilson screeched as he felt the nails leave four deep claw marks into his cheek. Blood instantly rose from the surface of the skin. Wilson tried to scurry away but each time he did Maxwell just yanked him back.
Wilson slammed his feet into the monster's face, earning an unsettling screech, and bolted. He reached into his backpack, pulling out his miner's hat (mentally slapping himself for not thinking of it earlier) and ran into the darkness.
He heard Maxwell roar in anger behind him. He yelped but didn't dare look back. He continued forward, pushing his legs. The ground below hardened and when the scientist looked down, he saw he left the grassy turf and entered rocky. However, he didn't see where he was going and collided with a huge boulder. The young man cried out and collapsed to the ground. His helmet rolled off his head and he lied, paralyzed on the hard ground. He slowly attempted to get back up and get his helmet. He froze when the pillar with fire appeared and lit up his surroundings.
Maxwell appeared out of the ground and grabbed him. Wilson fought against the god but Maxwell just looked at him with amusement. He slammed Wilson back against the boulder, enjoying the scream that rang in his ears. He raked his claws multiple times across the boy's chest, shredding the fabric and cutting deep into the skin, causing blood to drip down. The demon gripped a handful of soft raven hair and smashed his head into the boulder. Wilson hardly had time to react before the demon began punching him in the face, giving him a black eye, bruised cheeks, split lip and a broken nose.
Wilson couldn't move. His body and head ached with such agony. He slowly opened his eyes and looked up at the demon when the beating stopped.
Maxwell smiled in satisfaction when he overlooked the blood smothered over the boy's attractive face.
"Such a beautiful broken body." Maxwell purred and caressed the boy's cheeks, grinning at the flinch and hiss he received while his fingertips played with the blood soaking his face. "You're so much more appealing like this."
Maxwell leaned in and firmly pressed his thick lips on Wilson's bleeding ones. His tongue inserted itself into the boy's mouth, moaning in delight at the metallic copper taste on his taste buds. He grinned when he heard Wilson whimper in pain. He slowly pulled away and licked his lips, enjoying the boy's blood still lingering.
Wilson winced but slowly managed to glare up at the demon god. "N-nothing you do to me will make me surrender." He groaned. "I will d-defeat this world." His brown eyes sparkled with defiance and his hoarse voice rose. "I will defeat you!"
Maxwell's smile harshly fell. His lips curled up in a sneer. He leaned down, meeting Wilson's challenging gaze.
He glanced down at the boy's leg and stomped down so hard, the bone snapped.
Wilson screamed, writhing in atrocious pain. Tears burst through his eyes and flowed like a broken dam down his face, mixing with the blood. It enflamed more pain in his open injuries but they were easily ignored with the current pain flooding throughout his body.
Maxwell waited until the boy's screams died down a little before he snatched him by his throat and brought the boy to meet his face.
"You will regret going any further!" He snarled then flung him to the ground, enjoying the pained scream he earned and returned to the darkness.
Wilson watched with anger and determination as the demon god limped back into the black abyss. His body thrashed in pain and tears continued to splash down from his cheeks.
"Do your worse, Maxwell! In the end I will win and it will be check and mate!" Wilson screamed into the dark silent world.