AN: I know that I should be working on other fan fiction, but this was an opportunity too worthy to pass up... The evil plot bunny has struck! Again...

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Basil sat on his bed, lit by the fading blood red sunset. He was bored by the stillness of the hotel. No mysteries to solve, no riddles to amuse himself with... If he wasn't here for his sanity, he would have left a long time ago.

It seemed not too long ago that he had helped solve the Flaversham case, and had prevented the queen's death, not to mention Ratigan's ill-gotten ascension to the throne.

But it also seemed not too long ago that he had started acting more peculiar than usual.

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It started when he had inadvertently snapped at Dawson after a simple blunder during the case.

The next incident happened when he became temporarily violent with a thug who merely insulted him.

Those incidents led to others, which Basil barely managed to hide from the public, but not Dawson, nor Mrs. Judson. At first, they thought nothing of it, but Dawson eventually linked it to post-traumatic stress caused by the battle atop Big Ben with the Professor-.

Basil's eyes narrowed at the thought of his possibly-deceased arch-foe. He realized there was the possibility that Ratigan could be alive for one reason:

There was no body.

At all.

The police insisted that it washed out to sea or was on some trash scow, but Basil couldn't shake the nagging feeling that the Professor was still among them all, somewhere close by...

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Basil sighed. The sun was almost set, excepting a few beams of light. He lay back on the bed. Was Dawson right?

Was he really cracking up?

"Poor, pathetic Basil of Baker Street... So terrified, so fearful... It's a pity I ended up with you as my host."

Basil sat straight up, eyes widened to their fullest. He knew that voice. "Ratigan?", he asked, voice hoarse.

"Brilliant deduction, Sherlock", the voice said dryly. Basil gasped, for the voice seemed to echo inside the detective's very skull.

"No..." Basil rasped. "But how...?"

"Oh, don't worry, my dear rival, I will be with you soon. Very soon."

"'Dear rival'", Basil started to say sarcastically. "No 'second-rate detective qui-AGH!!!"

Basil barely managed to silence himself as unbearable pain started to rack his form. Whether it was seizures or something else, he had started having them recently, especially ever since he came here, away from Dawson and Mrs. Judson. Why? He didn't know, and he personally felt like he wasn't ready to know.

"God above!", Basil hissed, fearing what would happen if he raised his voice. "What's happening to me?! This pain..."

It felt like he was being split open from the inside, and something was being pulled out from within him. Something big. It happened every night. The seizures would occur, he would pass out from the pain, and would wake up the next morning (surprisingly) safe in bed, like it was just a nightmare.

But he was ready this time. Whatever happened when the pain ended (if it actually did), he would find out what.

"Believe me, Basil, it's natural", "Ratigan" said calmly. "You'll find out why soon enough..."

Some wind howled in his ears as the pain grew to a crescendo, and then...

It stopped.

Basil slumped onto the floor, glad for this reprieve, but ready in case something happened. But all was still. The winds he heard was no longer there. Neither was Ratigan's voice. Eventually, his breathing settled down, and he assessed the situation.

It was dark, and the moon was the only light there, for the lamp had mysteriously gone out. "Well, that was helpful", Basil thought sarcastically.

"No", Ratigan's voice said again, only, this time, it seemed to come... from somewhwere in the room!

His already fading doubt was replaced by fear as a familiar form appeared on his knees in his range of vision.

He didn't need the gloved hands gently lifting his limp form so he was on his knees himself, facing the grinning man in the shadows...

He didn't need to see the eyes, glowing in the darkness like twin moons...

He didn't need to hear the voice say "Well, you wanted to know whether I was alive or not..."

Ratigan was alive.

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Tsuzuku...

Yes, the evil plot bunny has indeed struck again... Anyway, what'cha think?