Author's Note: I'm gonna toss a Two Towers Elvish quote in this chap. He/She who guesses the quote wins… absolutely nothing. Okay, except respect for having a exceptional knowledge of Elvish, but I dunno… Oh, and an altered quote from A Sitch In Time, but that's another story.
Ratigan was about to go after the creature that was giving off the noticeable aurora, when someone spoke up down by the base of the garbage can.
"Ratigan.. You really need to… slow down a bit… Some of us aren't exactly Olympic sprinters…"
Looking down over the edge, Ratigan saw Basil, leaning against the side of the can, panting like he had just run the entire distance of the globe.
"What happened to you?", he asked. "I wasn't even running!" Looking around, he added to himself "Okay, maybe a light jog, but not running…"
Basil was about to argue, when Veeken jogged up at a loping pace. "Guys, I heard someone shouting awhile back. You think it might be Drakken?"
"No", Basil replied. "I scanned the area for a portal aside from our own, and there's another one a few miles from here. No, I'd have to say that would be-."
"Basil!!!!", a far-off voice exclaimed.
"An alternate universe version of me, Dawson, Ratigan, etc…", he finished dejectedly. "And this is the part where either you or Ratigan say-"
"Come on, guys!", Veeken shouted, loping off down the alley-way, followed by Rufus, leaping in the style of a gazelle. Or she would have, if it weren't for the thing lying on the ground.
Ratigan ran up, moving Veeken away from what she tripped on, followed closely by Basil. Veeken got to her feet slowly, then turned and gasped, her jaw dropping at the thing she had tripped on. {AN: Okay, enough with the suspense, I'll tell you.} A gray-scaled lizard, decked in thug-styled clothing was lying on the ground, his eyes blank and staring. One of the legs and the tail looked as if it had been mostly torn off, and there was a chunk of flesh torn out of his side, something no one could survive. It was one of Ratigan's henchmen. It was dead. {AN: No, it's not Bill, folks.}
Veeken gulped audibly. "What's happened to him… Whatever it was, wasn't human…", she muttered.
"Nope", Basil said, confirming Veeken's thought. "The way the tail and the torso were torn, I'd say that it was done by something from the Aves class, perhaps the Passerine order, more in particular, the crow family. Yes", he finished, standing up and dusting off his paws. "This looks like the work of a Corvus corax."
Rufus raised an eyebrow, and Veeken rolled her eyes. "When you want to start speaking plain English", she said sarcastically. "just let me know."
Basil groaned. "It was a crow."
Veeken's eyes widened at the thought of that beak, then shuddered. "Poor goon never stood a chance."
"Hiro hyn hîdh ab 'wanath", Ratigan muttered under his breath. "Thank God it wasn't Bill". he added out loud.
"Bill?!", Basil scoffed. "From what I heard, he was one of the worst henchmen you had!"
"Well, he wasn't a complete idiot" Ratigan retorted. There was a moment of silence, then: "Okay, and he was a good laugh, but I'm not one of those people who'd say that in public."
Veeken rolled her eyes. Sometimes, there was just absolutely no standing those two and their incessant bickering. "Now, now, boys, quit fighting. We must be like a wolf pack, not a six-pack."
Ratigan shot a worried glance at Basil. "She's started to quote Mystery Men", he muttered. "She's desperate."
Suddenly, another shout of terror ripped through the air. Veeken started off, then turned, asking "Well, are you coming or not?"
Ratigan and Basil looked at each other, shrugging. This was it.
~ * ~ * ~ *
Dawson fell backwards, falling onto the cement. Lately, Professor Jamison Ratigan, the sadistic sewer rat (still in denial of his species) and his protégé Elaine Ratcliffe (equally in denial) have been harsher in their attacks on Basil, and anyone close to them. Advanced on him was Tasgall McCullen, preparing to deal a death blow.
"And now, Doctor David Q. Dawson", Elaine said, smirking. "You will learn what happens when you mess with my beloved Jamison." She smiled maliciously. "Any questions?"
"I've got one!", Veeken shouted, planting a jump-kick on Tasgall's chest, forcing him to abandon his quarry. "Is that really your figure, or are you in denial?" She put her fists up, ready to defend this different Dawson to the death, or at least up to a good throttling. "Bite the bullet, Veek", she thought. "It's go time."
To be Continued…
~ * ~ * ~ *
Ratigan: Wow. Looks to be a good fight.
Shego2Drakken: Yeah. (beat) Think she'll win?
Ratigan: Uh… Don't know.
Shego2Drakken: You'll just have to wait to find out.