Maximus the mad tossed and turned in his cot, trying to force his body to sleep. The constant buzzing of the mosquitoes didn't help, nor did their endless thirst for his blood. Awakened from their winter slumber by the spring weather, the insects swarmed around Maximus, encouraged by their damp, marshy surroundings.

"Fuck it..."

Maximus opened his eyes, sat up and slapped at his face and arms.

"Bbbbrrrzzzzzz."

He slapped at his ear when he heard one of the pests buzz near it, then stood up and jogged ten or so feet away from his cot, allowing himself some temporary relief from the merciless bugs.

He was annoyed, but he would have had to sneak out of bed anyway for his usual routine.

Maximus looked to the far gate, a bit of a lantern's glow shining through from the other side. He stole towards the light and peeked through the opening.

His heart pumped with excitement when he saw the one thing he had been waiting for months on end to occur: the night guard, fast asleep, quietly snoring.

This was his chance.

Maximus stole towards the far back of the smelly field, taking his shovel with him. He peered up at the brick wall which had helped fence him in for the past few months, and the sharp spikes meant to keep anyone from escaping.

With the help of the shovel, seven spikes were quietly knocked from their holds. Maximus did a running jump and gripped the edge of the wall, and struggled over the opening he had created.

Maximus landed nimbly on his feet and silently crept along the edge of the wall, peering around the first corner. When the coast was clear, he continued on towards the outside of the front gate, and saw the guard still sleeping.

Thwack.

The man never knew what hit him. He collapsed under the blow of Maximus' shovel.

"Never sleep on the job, sucker."

Whether the guard was now dead or simply unconscious, Maximus didn't care. He just wanted to get as far away from there was possible. He sprinted away with a vigour he had not felt in a very long time.

No more backbreaking labor. No more disgusting food. No more flies. No more horses. No more animal shit. No more annoying guards. No more bruised and injured muscles. No more uncomfortable bed.

Maximus' joyful thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of A.I.M. Bots. He ran even faster, trying to pinpoint exactly which direction they were coming from.

"Should have expected this...stupid..."

A sizable robot charged directly towards him. With only seconds to react, Maximus brought the shovel up and smacked the robot across the face as hard as he could. The robot whined as its jaw broke and it fell to the ground.

Maximus continued onward, leaving the downed robot behind. But he could still hear the cries of other robots in pursuit.

"AAAGHH!"

Maximus tripped and fell when he felt something pierce his left leg, stopping him dead in his tracks. The taser bot had driven its taser spikes into his leg and proceeding to shock him.

"All right, that's enough!"

Maximus felt the bots taser spike mercifully out of of him. They went back to stand by their owner.

Maximus looked up at the face of Monica, the same bitch that had experimented on him every day.

"I knew this would happen at some point, but I never thought you would go about it so stupidly," Monica said. Maximus bit his lip, trying not to cry in front of his captor and appear even weaker. But his injuries were so painful.

"I need help...please. I'm bleeding..."

"Yeah, thanks for telling me that. I would have never guessed it."

Monica, clearly enjoying herself, peered down at Maximus with a faint expression of amusement.

"Looks like I'm going to have to take you to the M.O?D.O.K. himself. But ooh boy, he's not going to be happy."

Maximus' heart skipped a beat.

"No, please! Not him!"

"You should have been more appreciative of me all this time, Maxmius. I'm a saint compared to what your brother did to you and what Modok will do to you. And I think I already know what he'll have in mind for you."

Even though it was daytime, Maximus' vision was completely black. His blindfold prevented him from seeing where he was being led. Bound with chains, the only thing he had to go on was the rocking motions of the wagon which he lay in and the clip-clop of the horse's hooves against the ground. Maximus couldn't even ask where the guard was taking him because of the gag in his mouth; he had already been in this state for over an hour.

Just as Maximus felt like it would go on forever, he felt the ship stop and heard the guards dismount. Two hands pushed him off the ship, and Maximus landed hard on the ground. He yelped in pain.

"Don't go wimping out on me just yet, poof," said Monica. She grasped the end of one of Maximus' chains and started dragging him along behind him and up a hill.

Maximus heard the jingling of keys, the turning of a lock, and the creaking of an opening door. The Monica dragged him a small distance further, and then, she stopped.

"Welcome to your new home."

The blindfold and gag were pulled from Maximus' face, and he found himself staring into an overcast sky.

Monica turning a key in the lock which had secured the chains to her prisoner, gathered them up, and turned to leave. "Be seeing you, poof."

She shut the heavy gate behind her, and the lock clicked.

Maximus tried his best to stand up, but the wounds on his legs, only recently stitched up, made it an extremely difficult affair. Somehow, he managed to get to his feet and took a look at his new surroundings.

The only structures that could be spoken of were the four walls, each of them at least five times as high as the ones Maximus was used to. Unlike the simple spikes of their counterparts, the tops of these walls were covered with rolls of barbed wire that stretched upwards, making them seem even taller.

Maximus studied the brown under his feet; it was definitely darker than the slime which he had to sort through before.

"It's almost grey...black even. What the hell is this stuff?" he muttered to himself, kicking at a bit of the dirt.

Maximus' eyes bulged when he saw the very ground begin to shift. The dark, oily mixture slithered under his feet towards the center of the small field, pooling into one pulpy mass.

Maximus looked on in fear as the mass morphed into some kind of twisted being, a creature whose shape was unlike anything else on Earth. Among its thick, viscous body, Hans saw hints of red and white spider on its chest.

As it slowly crawled towards him, Maximus ran as fast as his injured legs would carry him, all the way to the door.

"Help! Help me! There's something in here!"

Maximus knew it was too late when he heard the A.I.M. Ship fly away, leaving him all alone.

Maximus turned around and saw that the filthy thing was getting closer. He pounded on the door in desperation.

"SOMEONE GET ME THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" he sobbed in terror.

Maximus continued to slam his fists on the locked slabs of metal, even as he felt the grey sludge wrap itself around his legs. He did not stop pounding until his limbs were liquefied completely and he fell down to the unforgiving earth.

Maximus opened his mouth to scream, but a wave of slime shot down his mouth, cutting off his voice forever.

" Subject Symbiote is proving to useful to us " Modok said, Monica smiled " Yes, and now we have been relieved of our Inhuman royalty problems "