The Second Plague Rat

Caged

"Start the cauldron!" I shout as I approach my humble lair. If no one hears their fellow king, surely the tunnels will bring my message to my loyal subjects. I can hear my subjects' skittering in the walls to spread it around. Only a fool wouldn't hear the decree of the sewer king. I look down at my journal and began to check my list one by one, ensuring I got everything for this experiment. My hand scope around the dirty leather pouches that covered my body.

"Strength of Shimmer, some of the sewers' rivers.. Yes.. yes...

"Goopy One's mush... the automation's blood.. Yes.. I have that. "

"Surface Dweller's flesh.. Praised fruits, fresh.. Yes.. Wait.. am I forgetting something.."

My hands begin to grasp firmly on the things that I listed. Shimmer, River, Mush, Blood, Flesh, Fresh. Repeat. Shimmer, River, Mush, Blood, Flesh, Fresh. Repeat. Shimmer, River, Blood. Repeat. Shimmer, River. Repeat and repeat and repeat an- CRACK!

I freeze in my pose. My hand was reaching behind my back at the cask holding the automation's blood. I feel a small twinge of pain. My eyes slowly dart towards it in apprehension. It wasn't easy to kill a metal slave! They were never easy... It takes a while for their bodies to ripen to steal their sentient lifeline from them.. and I need it! It's how they become smart! It's how my army will become smart! Slowly and slowly until I turned around to find my long fingernails cracking the cask's shell. It isn't leaking in that very second, but it will eventually.

I hold it in my hands and rush to my lair as soon as possible. "START THE CAULDRON! START THE CAULDRON!" I begin to shout frantically. I run and run, seeing parts of the blood leaving through the cracks that my fingers were unable to block. My hand grows black from the effects of its wretched color. "START THE CAULDRON! START THE CAULDRON! START THE CAULDRON!" I shout again, louder this time so every roach would tremble at my voice. So that the entire sewers knew that this, this will be the time of the Plague Rat!

The lair is within my sights now, a large open pipe covered by a blank white tarp. I tore the tarp open and see the shadow of the rusty, golden metal pot in the distance. I threw the casks, the fluids, the ingredients all into its body and.. it isn't boiling. IT ISN'T BOILING! I look below the cauldron to see the flames were not lit as I asked.

"I'm coming!" ZAC shouts, holding a match for a burning fire in his large green hands. He throws it underneath and the metal begins to heat up.

"What were you doing this entire time!?" I shout angrily. "Did you not hear your superior's commands!?"

"I... I was busy with something pal. That's all that was," ZAC said pitifully.

"Hmph. Probably daydreaming about your stupid beloved surface... Ugh! What does it matter!? Give Twitch the stirring stick!" I lunged myself to grab the large metal rod and held it by the rubber end. I stirred and stirred until the colors of white, black, yellow, green merged into a single brown. I sniff its lovely scent and cackle. "Yes.. Yes.. Yes! This! This will do!" I shout happily. I looked behind me and found a cracked wall. I opened a piece of it to find my collection of rats in a large metal cage. Only one is found and only one caught my sight. "Hehe.. Time for YOUR turn to shine!" I grab the rat's body, immune to its bites and squirming. I dragged him to the cauldron and dug my hand inside the liquid. To the rat, it was the painful impulse to mutate to grow sentient, but for me... Hehe.. Twitch was immune to the liquids burns after so many times, so much experience! He was the first, and this will be the second!