Virgil's life wasn't normal. While most teenage boys spent their days thinking about girls or cars or whatever, his days were filled with anxiety over life threatening situations. His brothers were the cause.

Every day, his brothers, Roman and Remus, would build something ridiculous and crazy. The amount of times he'd thought they would get themselves killed made his entire life stressful. He always tried to tell his dad, but somehow whatever they built always disappeared by the time he got home. Virgil wanted them to stop before one of them got hurt.

His eyes fluttered open as he heard the familiar sounds of construction outside his window. Virgil leaped from his bed and rushed over to see what it was they were building this time. His jaw dropped upon seeing their latest creations.

Instead of an empty backyard, there were several giant mechanical creatures. Roman was riding on the back of a unicorn-pegasus crossbreed of some kind. His brother was riding on the back of a dragon, that strangely had a witch hat and cloak. The two of them were flying through the air and battling each other with intent.

"You shall fall brother! A dragon witch is nothing compared to the might my Pegacorn!" Roman hollered, raising a sword in the air as it reared.

"Oh just you wait! My dragon witch can breathe fire!" his brother yelled back.

The two began to clash. Gold hooves clacked against black scales. Silver claws collided with white wings. Virgil watched from his window in horror. This could seriously not end well. He rushed downstairs and out into the backyard. "Roman! Remus! What on earth are you doing?!" he yelled.

"We're battling! Come on! We made one for you too!" Roman called back.

"I'm calling Dad!" Virgil said, pulling out his phone. He began to search for his father's contact, but a massive mechanical creature hovered behind him. He froze and glanced over his shoulder. The face of a massive lion was there, sniffing him. Virgil yelped and backed up, falling over as the creature stood over him. It leaned down to look at him. This is when he noticed the massive bat wings and scorpion tail. "ROMAN! What the heck is this thing?!"

His brother swooped passed him. "It's a manticore! It's yours!"

Virgil stared at the giant mechanical cat face as it tilted its head. A rumble came from its body, and he realized it was purring as he leaned down to nudge his cheek with it's massive nose. He laughed nervously as he reached up to pat it's mechanical chin. The manitcore leaned down and swung its head around to look at its back, huffing. Virgil was uncertain, but he walked over and pulled himself onto its back. There were buttons in front of him, but he didn't have time to look at them. It took off into the air.

"AHH!" he yelped, gripping its neck tightly. He watched the ground getting further away. "Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god..."

The manticore roared happily as it soared through the air. Virgil felt it rumble through it's mechanical body. He smiled tentatively as they flew around. Remus flew told him on the back of his dragon witch, yelling enthusiastically as he prepared to crash into him. Virgil yelled and accidentally hit one of the buttons.

His beast opened its jaws and spit a massive amount of fire. Remus gasped and swerved out of the way. Virgil blinked in shock. "What the heck, Roman?! Why does his lion thing breathe fire too?" Remus asked.

"It's a manticore! It's part lion, part dragon, part scorpion or something!" he called back.

"Oh shit, we're so screwed," he yelled, flying his dragon the other direction.

Virgil watched them dive and spin around to avoid him. A small laugh found its way into his throat. This wasn't as bad as he thought. He flew the manticore around, chasing his brothers. They ended up playing for a few hours before they landed each of their beasts. Roman pressed a button on a remote and the three creatures shrunk down into tiny action figures. He picked them up and handed the manticore to Virgil.

"Keep this one, it likes you!" he said encouragingly.

"You know you two are crazy right?" Virgil asked them.

Roman and Remus shared a look and laughed. "Oh for sure! That's what we're good at!" Remus said, slapping his twin on the back.

Their father pulled into the driveway and walked up to them with a bright smile. "Hey kiddos, what did you guys do today? I'm shocked I didn't get any calls from you, Virgil," he said. "I usually get a call about some sort of roller coaster or airplane or something."

"Oh, well," Virgil began. He glanced down at the manticore in his hand. "We just played with these figurines."

"How cute! Well come inside! I'm making pie!" their father said.

Virgil smiled to himself as his brothers raced after him. He looked down at the tiny manticore and shrugged. Sometimes he could let them get away with their crazy shenanigans. After all, no one ended up getting hurt and he had fun. He smiled wider as he moved to follow them. Yes, he was stressed a lot, but he loved his family.