AN: Okay, yes, this is annoying. But I couldn't resist the urges of my mind... Anyway:

Disclaimer: I own no one except Veeken, Desiree Blackwell, and Tala. Ratigan and Basil belong to Disney, alongside Kim, Ron, and anything KP associated. Watch this section, because it will be continuously updated.

How did it come to this...?

A few days ago, everything was normal... but, now...

The stars twinkled in the sky overhead. I sighed, laying my head back on the grass.

How could this have happened? It all started normally enough...

"Where's Shego?", Ratigan growled. Kim and the others were busy distracting Drakken's henchmen, while they were stuck looking for Shego.

"I saw her duck behind that cra- Ugh..." She trailed off as a sudden wave of nausea and dizziness washed over her. She felt Ratigan place a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

Veeken...

"What was that?", she thought.

Veeken, your father needs you...

"What?", the girl asked out loud.

"Huh?", Ratigan asked, glancing back at Veeken.

"Nothing", Veeken said quickly. "I just thought I heard something."

Looking queerly at the girl for a moment, Ratigan turned back to lookout duties. Veeken shook her head. Maybe she was hearing things...

A sudden hiss filled her ears, causing Veeken to utter a silent gasp. Turning around and hiding further behind the crate, she looked around for the cause of the hissing. "What's happening?", she thought. Then a flash of white light blinded her, causing her to throw up her arms in defense-

Then all was quiet.

"Huh?", Veeken muttered as she glanced around. No lair. No Drakken. No Shego, which was definitely a bonus. In fact, there was nothing. Just herself, and a whole lot of white space.

Correction. There was something. Five people, clad in robes that hid them entirely, standing in a semi-circle. Each of the figures had robes that were all single-colored, respectively (from left to right): Ocean water blue, dark purple, sun yellow, forest green, and a blood red.

The one dressed in blood red glanced at the others, and muttered something inaudible to the others, which Veeken swore she recognized from somewhere before... Veeken heard a sharp intake of breath, which she realized had come from herself. They had seen her.

"Who are you?", she shouted. "Show yourselves!"

All five of the cloaked figures glanced at each other, and threw back their hoods, dropping the cloaks from their bodies entirely, leaving behind... What the...?

Where five beings, human or otherwise, should have been, there were five pendants; Five teardrop-shaped pendants, floating in the air, their colors swirling inside their gems. What was going on here?

The white light started up again. Veeken instinctively blocked her face with her arms, but, as she did, saw things starting to form where the pendants were...

"Show yourselves!", Veeken shouted.

There were sillhouettes forming in the light now... A bit more, and Veeken would be able to see them... She could see their faces now...

She gasped. "How the hell...?"

Ratigan, or rather, the dæmon-Ratigan smirked. "I take it this means you're surprised to see me?

To Be Continued...