Neeco’s large paws led him pacing round and round in his small iron cage. He was new to this world, the Alchemist having only created him mere hours before. Already he was restless, with no greater desire than to get out of this hold and maim whomever his creator ordered.

iThat is what I am for. I am a creature of destruction, of Evil,/i he thought, a leer crossing his lionish face. He watched the Alchemist put together another creation, building the army that would overthrow the Government and make him ruler.

iAnd the others and I shall be at his side when this fortuitous event occurs. And we shall rule with him and the Chimera shall have his rights when we are at last through,/i Neeco growled deep in his throat, dreaming of the powers he and the others would be granted.

A white flash illuminated the laboratory of the Alchemist as another Chimera reached its completion. The breeze issued flared the Alchemist’s red coat out around the ankles of his long legs.

“At last…. At long last, after years of work, my dream is to be fulfilled,” he muttered giddily, grinning madly, “Tonight, yes tonight. I shall rule this land, and all shall worship the powers of the great Kröse, Lord and Master of alchemy!” He raised his hand then, and the iron cages melted around the earlier creations. A few were touched by the iron and melted, screaming and writhing in agony until the last.

“Good thing I made extras…,” Kröse mumbled angrily before yelling for all his Chimera’s to hear, “Come! Come with me and gain the rights the Government has so long denied you all! Go, my creations! Kill your oppressors, and rule! Rule alongside me!”

iHis dialogue skills are rather lacking, I think. Perhaps he should work on that before we leave to overthrow the Government,/i Neeco thought to himself, longing for the ability to talk, iThen again, if he knew my thoughts that would be said if I had voice, I would end up on the receiving end of an iron spike to the chest./i

The Chimeras ran out of the laboratory, through the long corridors of the Alchemist’s mansion, and out onto the streets of the Capital. Screams echoed in their sensitive ears as the citizens saw their deformed bodies. Neeco cut down each one that strayed into his one-track path.

iI must reach the Government. Master’s orders. I must reach them,/i he thought, running ever harder, glad for his mechanical parts that prevented him from losing breath too easily. A large building came to his view, windows from top to bottom. Inside, the people worked on their machines that Neeco knew not the name of. He ran full-tilt with his companions at the building. None of its occupants noticed the danger that was approaching all too quickly, the danger that signified their bloody deaths at the merciless jaws of the Alchemist’s creations. Simultaneously, they all leapt at the plate-glass windows, nothing on their minds but the Alchemist’s orders for destruction. None noticed the backing until it was too late, the windows crushed and their bodies slammed against the near-invisible layer of iron behind them, hidden so well by the Government’s own alchemist. One by one, they all fell, roaring and keening with the sharp pain that the iron brought them. One by one they sizzled, their flesh burning and separating their parts. One by one, they all lay in a puddle of their own blood, dead at the base of the Government’s building.