Ah, yes, I finally have updated.
Ratigan: Isn't somebody ever going to change me back?
Me: No.
Ratigan: What! Why not?
Me: Simple: You can change yourself back. Super dæmon powers, remember.
Ratigan: Oh. (sullenly changes himself back)
Disclaimer: I own no one except Veeken and Des. Basil and Ratigan belong to Eve Titus and Disney, while any KP characters just belong to Disney. Who don't deserve any of them.
Dr. Director smiled as Professor Ratigan stalked through the doorway. "Well, if it isn't Professor Moriarty."
Ratigan glanced up sharply. "What?"
Dr. Director smirked. "Nothing." She stood, holding out her hand. "Welcome aboard the R.L.S. Legacy, Professor."
"Ah, so I am aboard a ship", Ratigan said calmly, shaking the woman's hand. "I did suspect that from the minute I awoke."
"Well, technically yes, and technically no. You see, the Legacy is not necessarily a ship, but a safe house."
"All right, I'll ask." He sat. "What is a 'safe house'?", Ratigan inquired, eyebrow raised.
"If you must ask-"
"I must." Ratigan smirked.
"A safe house is an area set up to keep certain parties safe from any threats, both from threat of attack and threat of the elements; storms and such."
"Oh? I don't remember this being here until as of late, really."
"Actually, it's a recent addition, though you can't really call it a ship."
"Where are you from?", Ratigan asked, suspicious. "The future?"
"Yes", Dr. Director stated matter-of-factly.
Ratigan's jaw dropped. For a minute, there was silence. Then came the explosion. "WHAT?"
"Well, you did want to know."
Ratigan took the moment to calm down, hoping to prevent any further proverbial explosions from occuring. "My apologies, but this is a bit of a shock to me."
"And you certainly did take it well."
"Back to the conversation: Why did you bring me here?"
"Actually, we're here to hire you."
Cue the second (much smaller) explosion: "Hire me?"
"Exactly."
"For what? You don't exactly give me the impression of some secret global organization bent on global domination."
"Well, if you must, know, we're not."
"I guessed as much."
Dr. Director cleared her throat. "My name is Dr. Director, head of Global Justice, or GJ if you prefer an acronym."
"Global Justice? Why hire me, then? If you've done your research, you have probably deduced that I'm not exactly the picture of an angel of justice."
"True. But I was getting to that. Recently, a branch of Global Justice was created called Historical Justice, whose duties are to patrol time and make certain the time flow isn't disrupted or altered."
"And?"
"The reason we want to hire you is to have someone who can monitor the world without necessarily standing out. The reasoning for hiring you instead of someone such as your arch-foe would be your connections to the rodent underworld and your network of spies."
"Ah." Ratigan was silent for a moment. "May I pose a question?"
"Go ahead."
"If you are truly from the future, as you say, then people in the future have devised methods of time travel?"
"Exactly. It's just our misfortune that supervillains from our time have discovered said methods as well."
"And what if I don't want to join?"
"Actually, you don't have much of a choice."
Ratigan's expression of shock was enough to go by. "Why?"
"Most, if not all of your henchmen at the lair think you have vanished, either dead or arrested. And there still is the matter of not knowing where you are..."
Ratigan frowned as he took this in. This organization certainly had all their bases covered... for now. He had been slightly disoriented by the revelations, but he would regain his composure and figure a way out. Even if it meant siding with these people. He sighed. "So... When do I start?"
"We will begin training tomorrow. Until then, your room is the last right in the corridor, and the kitchen is at the end of the hallway due left."
Ratigan silently nodded. When the woman stopped, Ratigan took that as a signal to leave the room. Which he did, ignoring the questions that he wanted to ask. How did they know about me? How much did they know about me? Why do they think I can manage these duties?
...Why me?
This rather odd inner monologue had left Ratigan mentally unconscious to the world around him.
The girl had been carrying a pile of strange things from a different room, her concentration fixed on keeping them balanced in her arms. They weren't breakable or fragile, but still...
The two met in a rather indignant crash. Not enough to knock one or the other over, but enough to knock the things out of the girl's arms.
"Oh, excuse me."
"My bad."
Ratigan kneeled simultaneously with the girl, picking up some of the odd items and placing them into a semi-legible pile. This, ironically, was the same thing the girl was doing.
"Let me just get this for you."
"Don't worry, I can handle it."
One of the few items remaining on the ground was a strangely-shaped device with a few buttons and an odd black square. Ratigan automatically reached for it. So did the girl. When her hand had touched it, Ratigan's ended up on top of hers.
"Oh..."
The two rodents looked at each other in slight shock for the second time in so many hours. Ratigan stared down at the girl, willing his mind to explain the feelings that had arisen from seeing her now.
"Um... hello?"
Ratigan realized the girl was talking to him. "Oh... sorry about that." He lifted his hand away from the girl's. "I suppose I wasn't really paying attention." He sighed, thankful he was able to string together a sentence. "Do you need any help with these... things?"
"Nah, I'll go get a box." She chuckled. "Wonder why I didn't think of that in the first place."
Ratigan smiled. "Good point."
The girl stood and walked off. Ratigan watched her leave, noting the leonine tuft of fur at the tip. Where had he seen her before...?
Shaking his head, Ratigan proceeded to his room and shut the door. The light was enough to see by, but still dim. "Um... lights?"
The singular light fixture on the wall brightened significantly. Ratigan looked around the room. "Very nice." The room had been furnished as if they knew he was coming. All it was missing was-"Damn." He half-expected a bottle of expensive wine in an ice bucket. Nothing. But there were more important matters at hand. "Who was that girl?", he inquired.
He sat on the bed, a sudden memory flashing in his brain...
He was slumped over on the ground, back in the strange forests. Stepping towards him was the strange girl from before. Suddenly, what sounded like a choir of different voices started to address him.
"This task was appointed to you, Professor James Ratigan."
The girl bent down to him, a kind smile on her face.
"If you do not find a way, no one will."
He blinked as he pulled his mind out of that particular memory. "So", he said aloud. "We meet again."
He sank onto the bed. When he first awoke, he was completely disoriented and without a plan. Now the shoe was on the other foot. The first thing he would have to find out, however, was who this strange girl was...
All right, another chapter done. Now I can start another chapter of Ghosts of the Past Live On, which has recieved an odd upsurge of reviews...