The Mad Rat’s Lab

An underground room. It isn’t very big, but can’t be considered small either. There is little light, most of it coming from cylindrical glass containers full of mysterious bubbling liquids. The liquids glow in different intensities and colors. Most of them only contain liquid inside, but a few of them have humanoid figures inside. They must be elves, because they have long and pointed ears.

Lots of cables and laboratory equipment are distributed randomly through the room. Every so often, lightning courses through some of the cables, temporarily illuminating its path.

*Flash!* A slightly hunched figure can be seen in the middle of the room for a short instant, illuminated by the lightning streaks. *Flash! Flash!* The figure is manipulating something on top of a small operating table. With the lack of light, it is difficult to see anything.

*Flash! Flash* The lightning coursing through the cables becomes more frequent. But the figure’s back is hiding the operating table’s contents. *Flash! Flash! Flash!* The figure has a humanoid shape, but its head isn’t normal. It has two ‘something’ on top of its head. They look like mouse ears, one of them partially destroyed.

“Fufufu! Hahaha! I’m almost there! Only a little more, and it will be complete!” A male voice can be heard in the room. It most likely comes from the slightly hunched figure. “Now, start!” The figure extends its hand towards a lever and pulls it. Then, a huge amount of lightning pours through the cables. All the lightning is coursing towards the operating table.

During this time, the hunched figure can be clearly seen. It is an abomination. Something that shouldn’t exist. It has a human’s body, but with too wide arms that shouldn’t belong to it. But the worst is the head. A rat’s head. And it is grotesquely stitched on top of its body. Furthermore, the rat’s head looks horrible. As if something terrible happened to it before being used as the head of this flesh monstrosity.

“Hahahahaha! FuFuFu! Hahahahaha!” The monstrosity maniacally laughs while raising its disproportionated arms. “It's alive! It’s ALIVE!” It shouts.

The lightning subsides a little while the camera turns and shows what is on top of the small operating table. On top, there is… a butterfly. Its size is about five centimeters. The wings are a vibrant red, with a black contour. A very nice looking butterfly, especially compared to the monstrosity that just created it.

“Now, let’s go, my creation! Let’s wreak havoc! Legions will succumb to your mighty power! Hahaha!” The figure keeps laughing and moving its arms in an uncoordinated way.

*Flash!* The butterfly starts flapping the wings. It slowly rises from the operating table. *Flash!* Then, it starts flying towards its creator.

“W-what are you doing!? S-s-stop right there!” The butterfly keeps approaching the rat-man abomination. “I-I order you to stop!” Exclaims the figure while backing away. A mix of fear and dread can be seen in its face.

*Flash!* The butterfly keeps moving forward. *Flash! Flash!* From the tips of the wings, the butterfly starts to disappear. It isn’t turning invisible, it camouflages its color in a similar way as chameleons and octopuses do. *Flash!* The figure of the butterfly cannot be seen anymore. Only a small distortion caused by its flapping wings shows its current position.

The rat-man frantically looks around. “Aha!” And runs towards the side of the room. There, another figure can be seen. *Flash! Flash!* Even more grotesque than the rat-man, this figure has limbs attached from several different humanoid races. “Y-you! B-b-block its path! Delay it! I must make a strategic retreat!”

The rat-man grabs the new figure and puts it in front of the butterfly. Then, it leaves the room while running. *Flash!* The butterfly soon reaches the new humanoid figure. For some unknown reason, this new humanoid monstrosity stays completely still. When the butterfly reaches it, it sticks to its body and camouflages again. It is now impossible to distinguish.

*Flash!* There is almost no lightning coursing through the cables now. A short time passes and the humanoid trembles. Then, it drops to the ground. Its eyes, devoid of life. *Flash!* A small movement can be seen on top of the humanoid’s dead flesh. From there, the butterfly rises and camouflages itself again. The small distortion can be seen exiting the room, following the rat-man’s trail.

The camera changes to display the rat-man, running through rocky tunnels. “You’ll never catch me!” Says the running figure of the butterfly’s creator. “Fufufu! Hahaha! Not only that! I’ll force you to your inexistent knees with my next creation! Just wait and see!” It says while running. Crazy laughing can be heard while the screen fades to black.

The ‘It’s alive! It’s alive!’ video series would later turn into one of the most viewed series in Dungeon Masters Arena history. At the start, most watchers were players who wanted to prepare to invade ‘The Mad Rat’s Lab’. But later on, people were watching them for laughs.

Radosh

So, can you guess what this butterfly is? Where did it come from? Okay, this one is easy. But, how about the reason why the Stitched died?

Don't worry if you don't because it's explained in the next chapter.