Prologue

The Trickster

After what seemed like an eternity I looked down at my hands, and felt a warm giddy sensation welling up in what I had assumed to be the abdomen to what seemed to be my new body. I turned my hands around, staring at them with the same awe a child does with a new toy. A faint glow resonated around my body; It being the first thing noticed past this new physical form. The same glow produced a relatively divine aura in the air surrounding myself.

I looked down to the footing I had just created, a plane growing rapidly from a singularity of my creation. This footing quickly evolved into a disc-shaped plane of existence, one that made me more content than I already felt, with every passing second it expanded. Before long there was enough mass for me to be able to walk on.

I made a feeble attempt at saying something, however I was only able to muster a weak noise that resembled that of a dying animal. I suppose my ability to speak will come with time. Putting the thought aside, I looked at the surroundings of my new world. It was a dark world, which was to be expected, considering it was the first thing I decided to create with the power I had recently stolen. There was a mountain range in the distance that was surrounded by a purple haze. Past the mountain range I could see the world materializing into existence; a sight that was quite mesmerizing. After a somewhat significant amount of time was spent staring at my existence creating itself, I looked away at what was near my feet. The general color scheme of the world was black and purple, with everything looking more like a silhouette than an actual object. A rather peculiar illusion which betrayed my senses when I felt the ground; despite the world seemingly being made of shadows, it had form, and it felt soft.

The sheer irony of a world full of contradictory sensations made me chuckle, considering that my role as a Generator was that of The Trickster. As I looked around at the matte black, the thought occurred to me that there was possibly a deformity in my new body. Is that why I can only see a few colors? I shrugged the question off; this body was merely a way to sample my new powers, it didn't matter if it was perfect because I could alway make another one.

I attempted to take a step forward towards the purple mountains only to be bombarded by a new sensation. The second my foot touched the ground it felt as if something inside my body was clawing its way at my insides, trying to get out. I immediately collapsed from the pain trying my hardest to stay still, for it seemed that any movement immediately aggravated the pain. I looked down to try and find what started this agony and I yelped out in horror as veins of black stretched up and down the length of my leg and spread towards the rest of my body.

The pain eventually started to spread further up my leg causing me to buckle over once more, screaming in agony. I inhaled sharply, many thoughts rushing through my head, How- no, Why is this happening? I did everything right. I sat there repeatedly questioning why when the thought suddenly popped into my head. My eyes opened at the epiphany; The Demon. I had convinced another one of the Generators to fuse with me in order to give me the power to steal The Figure. I didn't think the backlash of his powers would be so intense. I looked up at the mountain range in the distance, returning my gaze to my leg.

The Demon's corruption caused my body to mutate and transform into an abomination. The somewhat divine aura that radiated from my body now only a faint glow of a blacklight. My leg had changed greatly. The new form it took made it look nightmarish; It looked like it was covered in scales with a black gloss that reflected and absorbed light at the same time. A giant spike protruded from my knee, which seemed like it would impede my ability to walk, but if anything it more reinforced my leg and gave me a new weapon. As for the rest of my body, it seemed relatively untouched from the corruption, with the only alterations being the veins of black that spread up the right side of my body. They faded right around my chest line.

I inhaled and let out a sigh of relief, the pain was beginning to subside, the worst of the Demon's corruption was over, at least to my knowledge.

"Fucking Moron," I managed to muttered under my breath. Part of the agreement between the two of us was that when we merged the Demon had to keep his presence restrained so this wouldn't happen. Despite this agreement it would seem that the remnants of his power were powerful enough to ruin the first few moments of my new life.

I briefly recapped what had happened in my head. I went against the Generator's creed and merged with the Demon so I would have the ability to steal the power of the Figure, and give shape to the ideas I had been thinking of…. A world and existence all for me. I was worried that the other Generators were going to find out about my little rebellion, because in terms of power I was one of the weaker ones, which is why I needed the Demon to give me power, but it would seem the backlash of using his power was too great for my physical body to handle. Despite the pain it had just caused me, I felt a sense of relief wash over me when I looked at my leg. It reminded me of the new abilities I wielded.

I slowly stood up, careful not to possibly aggravate my leg. Slowly taking a step forward my leg buckled and I collapsed. Looks like I need to teach myself how to walk. I chuckled, I was a god; a creator. Yet when it came to motor function I was no different than that of an infant. I propped myself once more on my hands and knees, and slowly attempted to stand. The wobbling sensations I felt were only worsened by the new form my leg took, off-putting my body weight ever so slightly.

After two more failed attempts to stand, I placed my leg in front so I ended up in a lunging position. This seemed to work as my balance was kept; because I managed to slowly work my way from the deep lunge to a standing position. Back to square one. I tried again to take a step forward; visibly pleased when I didn't fall after my first step. I laughed with joy when I successfully took a second step, a feeling that didn't deteriorate when I started taking more. Before I knew it, I was walking. A task so simple it shouldn't have even been a second thought- yet here I was laughing more with each step taken.

Soon, I was running towards the black mountains on the horizon. This was the feeling of freedom I had longed for, this feeling of being, this feeling of- substance. The need for air in my lungs as I ran, the burning sensations in my muscles as they worked to keep me going forward. All of this, I would've never gotten if I had never chosen to do what I did. After such a long time of being formless, all of these physical sensations, they were overwhelming.

I was running full speed towards the purple mountains in the distance when a strange glow caught my eye. I took a detour to investigate, and ended up approaching a wooded glade, at the center of which there was a pond. A faint purple glow surrounded the pond, giving it an almost lucid aura that immediately entranced me. Slowly, I approached the pond.

For some reason all my instincts were screaming at me to be wary of this lucid pond, but I ignored them for the most part, arrogant that there was nothing in this realm that I needed to fear. I created this world, There isn't anything I don't control. I confidently strode up to the pond and looked around. There was nothing around me that I needed to fear, I was the only living thing in this existence besides the trees and flora, all of which were monotonous and uniform in color.

I observed my surroundings a little closer. The clearing was surprisingly well lit despite the lack of light sources in my world. The pond itself was unremarkable, the water was like glass, reflecting the black surroundings with a bright purple hue coming deep from underwater. There was a ring of rocks surrounding the edge of the pond, all covered with an algae-like substance that let off a purple glow as well. The moss covering the trees that surrounded the area also emanated a faint purple glow. The light of the plant life seemed to be reflected and absorbed by the black of the trees, in a sort of twisted version of photosynthesis. A breeze blew through the glade, causing specks of purple light to fall from the top of the trees; the lights fading just before they made contact with the ground, like embers of a fire fading when they rise too high.

The black wood of the surrounding tree-line reminded me of my new corrupted leg; with the way it treated the light; it got me questioning what exactly The Demon's corruption did to me. Slowly, I walked towards the pond and knelt on the stone next to its edge.

Looking over I studied my reflection. I had split colored hair, with the left side of my hair being blonde, and the right side being a deep black. My eyes had a violet hue in the irises that resembled the glow coming off the moss and algae surrounding me.

My skin was fair, with no visible blemishes. It was also relatively tan in color, with the exception of my lips which were a medium shade of pink. There was also a well defined jawline that converged in the middle with a strong chin. I had no standard of beauty, as I was the only thing in creation, but I made the conclusion that this form was definitely worthy of a being as powerful as myself.

I reached my cupped hands into the pond, and took a deep drink. An action that was then followed by splashing the water in my face. Repeating this twice more, I rubbed my eyes to get them back into focus. I opened them to find the pond completely still.

"That's peculiar." I whispered, as I slapped at the surface of the water. While my hand went through the water without any resistance, and came out wet, there was no ripple in the surface. I tried once more to no avail. Standing up, I willed some of my power into my hand, causing a bright glow in my palm. I slapped the water once more with the powered attack, and was satisfied when I saw a ripple in the water. I was about to turn away when I saw something reflecting in the surface. It was hard to make out due to the heavy distortion caused by the ripple, but the water soon calmed down, and I was left staring at a reflection that was not my own.

The new face in the water had bleach white skin, which was in direct contrast of it's jet-black hair. Like my skin there were no visible blemishes, however the new face's eyes were piercing. They seemed to be bigger than mine, and where my eyes had been white, they were black. The creature's eyes were a deep red color that seemed to stare directly through me. The Creature and I stared at one another for a few seconds before his eyes squinted, and he curled his lips back into what seemed to be a smile. The creature bared his teeth in his smile, revealing each tooth being elongated and fang like. There had to be a hundred teeth from what I could see, each one seemed to be capable of punching a hole through whatever it desired.

"Hello Trickster," The creature cooed, its voice deep and unsettling, yet welcoming. A sense of security washed over me, drowning out all the initial fear the face had caused me. I felt like I would be safe if I went into the pond with it.

"Who are you?" I replied, my voice sounding shaky, as I leaned in closer to the water.

"I'm…" The creature's voice began, trailing off to a whisper.

"What did you say?" I leaned in closer to try and hear it better. At this point my torso was hanging over the edge of the water as I dipped my head closer to hear him.

"The people I know call me The Demon," He whispered into my ear. My eyes widened, That's impossible, the Demon fused with me, his life should be forfeit. The thoughts raced through my mind at breakneck speeds. "I have to thank you," He continued. "By me fusing with you I essentially ended my existence, however the little corruption in your leg was a parting gift from the original me." None of this made sense to me. When two Generators fuse together the host gains all the powers of the combined, at the cost of the lives of the others, that's why it had been so taboo among the 8 of us. Had The Demon feigned being moronic all this time to try and fuse with another Generator? He gambled his life during the fusion process, placing an unknown curse on my leg, so when his life was extinguished he was reborn in a new physical form.

"I had wanted The Creator," The Demon continued. "But you are a smart little shit, so I suppose you'll have to work." As if on cue a small ripple broke through the surface of the water, followed by an intense stream of pressure, causing the water to shoot upward and pierce my chest.

The Demon licked his lips, and the water that had pierced me solidified, turning a dark shade of black that was the same as the trees at the edge of the glade and as my mutated leg. not long after the spear of black water stabbed me, I felt a separate lump in my chest that was excruciating. It felt as if my heart had contracted so hard it imploded. I tried to scream but no sound came out, the reason becoming clear as soon as I noticed. Another spear of water shot through my throat, precisely piercing the larynx of my physical body.

"I needed you to have solid form in order to take over." The Demon purred, retracting the spear from my throat. The divine aura that shrouded my body seemed to be fading, slowly being replaced by the same blacklight that covered my leg. I grabbed hold of the rocks at the edge of the pond to prevent my falling in. Staring at my reflection in the water. Black veins stretched across my chest originating at the spear of water impaling my sternum. The veins spread much faster, immediately connecting with the black veins sourced at my corrupted leg.

He's trying to take over my body I thought, and I immediately began willing the corruption to stay at bay, which was successful in essence but I immediately heard The Demon's voice in my head. This will work nicely He stated matter of factly. I stared back at my reflection in the pond to see that The Demon's face was no longer there, and my divine face showing signs of corruption was steadily mutating into something The Demon desired. The hole in my throat was sewn together by dark tendrils of The Demon's black veins. I let out another scream of agony. The spear in my chest disintegrated and I fell backwards in convulsions. I could feel The Demon's veins spreading through my body bringing pain and mutating my body as they went. It felt slower than before, almost as if…

This sick bastard is enjoying this... My thoughts raced through the seething pain. I let out another scream as the corruption came to a halt halfway through my body. "That's no way to talk about a fellow roommate." The Demon laughed.

Can he hear my thoughts? I asked myself, to which The Demon replied Yes. We do share a body now after all. I flipped over onto my stomach and threw up blood. The hole in my chest and throat were both healed, but the pain coming from the two of them alone was enough to make the pain from earlier look like a splinter. The corruption stopped, and The Demon stated that he was going to sleep, however I was left in a state of near unbearable pain. A pulse of black energy shot out from me, when my heart beat; turning the beautiful purple colored moss and algae into a deep blood red. The area surrounding me changed from the matte black it had originally been, to the contrarian black of the Demon's corruption. I crawled over to the pond, where I glanced once more at my appearance. My once tan skin had changed to a light gray color, with blood red lips. One of my eyes remained the same violet shade as it had been before The Demon entered my body, however the sclera was now a deep black. My other eye was blood red in color, but the sclera on the other hand was still white. My hair remained half blond and half black, and the terrifying fangs that I had witnessed in the lucid pond were now hanging out of my mouth, as not all of my teeth were the Demon's. This led to my once powerful jawline being skewed and horrid. The black corruption from my leg and chest had spread to the rest of my torso, leaving my arms and my other leg in their original form. Black horns that resembled the one on my knee jutted out of my left shoulder, a faint blacklight just barely illuminating the surrounding ground. My arrogance had transformed me into a monster.

I sat there expressionless for a minute, only to be broken from my trance by a shimmering light appearing above me in the reflection. I looked at the reflection of the water, and then turned my gaze upward at the blue light shining down on the world I had made. It was the Leader of the eight Generators, the most powerful of them all; The Creator.

Looking at his formless light I immediately felt an overwhelming sense of guilt build up from my gut. I open my mouth to say something but the only noise that can get out is the guttural sound of suffering. I was in too much pain to even speak.

I could sense the disappointment and resentment the Creator held for me, with the one sentence he said before taking his leave.

"What have you done?"