- Chapter 22 -

The World's Greatest Criminal Mind

Author's Note:

I updated last chapter, 'cause I forgot to mention Ven's Limit Break in the notes. Unless you haven't read last chapter before the update already, please disregard this message.

Ven's Limit Break is called Sonic Rush, a reference to the fact that he was the speed character in Birth by Sleep.

Also, since no one has been able to guess Sï'Lea and Nixe's names, I've decided to just come right out with it: Sï'Lea's name is an anagram of Elias, Walt Disney's middle name, and Nixe is an anagram of Enix, as in Square Enix. Of course, I myself had to look Sï'Lea's name up.

Soundtrack for this chapter:

* Kingdom Hearts- Villains of a Sort: www. youtube watch ?v = LkjHfpw59i

Baker Street, Basil's Home

The door to the kitchen burst open, and the maid came in, gasping at the sight of all the pillow feathers.

"My good pillows!" she shrieked, before glaring at Basil, who was still rummaging around in the chair. "Mr. Basil!"

Basil stood up from the chair as the maid stomped over to him, furious. "How many times have I told you not to-" Basil raised a hand to silence her.

"There, there, Mrs. Judson. It's quite all right," he said, before sniffing the air. "I believe I smell some of those delightful cheese crumpets of yours. Why don't you fetch our guests some?"

Ignoring Mrs. Judson's protests, Basil gently pushed her over to the kitchen door, shutting it behind her.

Once again, Sora's group began whispering amongst themselves.

"Okay, seriously, guys," Sora said. "This Basil may be the great detective and whatnot, but right now, all I see is what West said. A smug, inconsiderate jerk."

"Maybe he just doesn't make a very good first impression," said Kairi.

"Either way, with the Heartless here, we'd better stick around." Sï'Lea said.

Meanwhile, Basil, seemingly oblivious to the group's mutterings, was crawling around on all fours, looking for the bullet. "I know that bullet's here somewhere." he said.

He looked up to see the bullet in Olivia's hands. Begrudgingly, he took the bullet from her. "Thank you, miss-"

"Flaversham," Olivia replied. "Olivia Flaversham."

"Whatever," Basil said rudely, approaching a table with a microscope on it.

Riku tried his turn next. "Look, sir, we've been trying to-"

"Shhh!" Basil shushed as he opened a small box and pulled out another bullet, putting it and the one he just fired under the microscope, seemingly comparing them as the others looked on.

"Yes," Basil said excitedly as he examined them. "Yes!" But after a third time, he let out an anguished "NOOO!", proving to the others he hadn't found what he was looking for.

"Drat!" Basil shouted. "Another dead end."

Dejected, Basil threw the bullet aside and slowly walked over to his chair, flopping into it. "He was within my grasp," Basil said in a depressed tone as he slowly picked up a violin beside him and started playing a mournful tune.

With that, Hikari knelt down to Olivia's level. "Okay, now that he's not busy, maybe you can get him to listen to you," she said, nudging the little girl encouragingly.

Olivia nodded and approached Basil. "Now will you please listen to me?" she asked. "My daddy's gone, and I'm all alone."

Basil stopped playing for a moment and looked at Olivia. "Young lady, this is a most inopportune time," he said sadly before resuming his playing. After a moment, he looked at Olivia again and decided to humor her.

"Surely, your mother knows where he is." he said.

Olivia's face fell. "I... don't have a mother."

Everyone in Sora's group visibly flinched, both out of that revelation and at Basil screeching his violin as he abruptly sat up, a shocked expression on his face.

"Umm... well... um... well, then perhaps..." Basil stammered uncertainly, before regaining his thunder. "Now, see here! I simply have no time for lost fathers!"

With that, he turned his back on Olivia.

"Creep," Nixe muttered under her breath, looking at Basil with discontent. Olivia was also annoyed, and put her hands on her hips.

"I didn't lose him!" she snapped. "He was taken by a bat!"

That got Basil's attention. He turned back towards Olivia intently.

"Did you say... bat?" he asked. Olivia nodded. "Did he have a crippled wing?"

"I don't know," Olivia replied. "But he had a peg leg!"

That really got Basil's attention. "A-ha!" he exclaimed, standing up in his chair, his arms spread wide.

Riku looked at Basil, one eyebrow raised. "You know this guy?"

"Know him?" Basil replied, sitting atop his chair. "That bat, one Fidget by name, is in the employ of the fiend who was the very target of my experiment! The horror of my every waking moment. The nefarious Professor Padraic Ratigan! (1)"

Basil pointed the bow of his violin to his fireplace, where the photo of a well-dressed rat with a sinister grin on his face sat on the mantle frame. As if on cue, the flames in the fireplace burst and lightning struck.

Dawson looked at Basil. "Ratigan?"

Basil leaned over the top of his chair. "He's a genius, Dawson. A genius... twisted for evil. The Napoleon of Crime!" As he spoke, Basil moved from location to location around the room to accentuate his speech, starting at the top of his chair, then ducking down and reappearing at the side, then popping out in front.

"That bad, huh?" Ven asked.

"Worse!" came Basil's voice from behind them, startling everyone, who turned around to see Basil on the stairs, poking his head through the banister.

Confused, West looked from where they last saw Basil in front of his chair to where he was now, then back again. "How did you-"

Ignoring her, Basil continued. "For years, I've tried to capture him and I've come close... so very close. But each time, he's narrowly evaded my grasp."

He stole a glare at Ratigan's photo before continuing. "Not a corner of London's safe while Ratigan's at large. There's no evil scheme he wouldn't concoct! No depravity he wouldn't commit! Who knows what dastardly scheme that villain may be plotting even as we speak..."

Ratigan's Hideout

*Deep within the sewers of London sat a large barrel on its side, an iron barred door sitting on its side.

Inside the barrel sat a tall mouse with a red mustache, controlling a robot at a podium as the robot poured tea into a cup. It was Hiram Flaversham, Olivia's father. And standing at the door, monitoring his progress, was Professor Ratigan himself, smoking a cigarette in a golden holder.

"Quite an ingenious scheme, eh, Flaversham?" Ratigan chuckled, his voice oily and gentleman-like. "And aren't you proud to be a part of it?"

Hiram shook his head, even as he worked the controls to the robot, getting it to pour a spoonful of sugar into a teacup and stir.

"This whole thing," Hiram said, "it's... monstrous!"

Ratigan shrugged. "We will have our device ready by tomorrow evening, won't we? You know what will happen if you... fail, don't you?"

As he finished his sentence, Ratigan drew a small golden bell from his coat pocket and rang it once.

Hiram recoiled briefly, but then became angry. "I... I don't CARE!"

With that, he jerked hard on the controls, making the robot dump the cup of tea on its own head. The robot then seized the teapot and dumped its contents on itself before throwing it at Ratigan, who just barely managed to dodge the projectile.

After flailing around for a minute, the robot stopped, squirting oil onto Ratigan, who scowled at the stain on his coat.

Hiram glared at Ratigan defiantly. "You can do whatever you want with me, Ratigan," he spat. "But I won't be a part of this... evil any longer!"

Just barely managing to keep his cool, Ratigan wiped the oil off of his coat with a handkerchief and puffed on his cigarette, giving Hiram a false smile.

"Very well. If that is your decision," he said. "Oh, by the way, I'm taking the liberty of having your daughter brought here." With that, he grabbed a small toy shaped like a rosebud and started winding the key on it.

Hiram froze as he saw the toy, his daughter's birthday present. "Olivia?"

Ratigan nodded as he finished winding the toy and set it on the counter, the bud opening up to reveal a mouse ballerina that started to dance, playing a small tune. "Yes," he said in mock sympathy. "I would spend many a sleepless night if anything... unfortunate were to befall her."

Hiram gasped. "No... you wouldn't?!"

"Are you so certain of that?" Ratigan asked as he grabbed the doll in his hands. With a maniacal look on his face, he squeezed the doll in his fist until its head popped off with a loud boing. After gazing at the doll in mock sorrow, he threw it down on the table and glared at Hiram.

"Now finish it, Flaversham, or else!" he snapped.

With a heavy heart, Hiram went back to work on the robot as Ratigan exited the cell, closing and locking it behind him, humming to himself as he held a list in his hands.

"Oh, I do love it when I'm nasty," he said.

"As do I."

Ratigan turned to see Maleficent, Pete, and Mortimer standing a short distance away. He smirked.

"Hello, Maleficent," he said. "To what do I owe the pleasure this time?"

"It is as I told you," she said. "The boy, Sora, and his group are here."

Ratigan raised an eyebrow. "Yes, I remember your warnings, but am I really supposed to worry about mere children interfering with my schemes?"

"Trust us, Prof.," said Mortimer. "There's nothing 'mere' about these kids, a-cha-cha."

Ratigan shrugged. "Yes, yes. They may be skilled, but we'll see how they fare against me, the world's greatest criminal mind."

Pete scoffed quietly, but was quickly silenced by a glare from Maleficent.

"Either way, I'm here to aid you," she said. "That's why I gave you control over the Heartless."

Ratigan nodded. "Thank you for the warning."

Maleficent nodded and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving Pete and Mortimer behind. Ratigan looked the two over.

"I can see why Maleficent has lost so many times to this Sora boy," he said. "With you two clowns around, it's amazing she's gotten anything done at all."

Pete scowled at him. "Why don't ya say that to my face, you stupid rat?!"

Ratigan's face darkened, and he promptly backhanded Pete across the face, knocking him back a foot.

"I believe I just did say it to your face, Pete," he snapped. "And don't EVER call me a rat!" Rubbing his sore nose, Pete nodded.

"And now that that's done..." Ratigan said, turning to another barrel marked with the letter R, where, hanging from the faucet, slept a bat with a peg leg, none other than Fidget.

"Fidget?" he called, getting no response. With that, Ratigan approached and yelled "FIDGET!" in his ear at the top of his voice.

Startled, Fidget fell from his perch and rolled down the stairs to land at Ratigan's feet.

"Bright and alert as always," Ratigan said sarcastically, handing him the list. "Here's the list. You know what to do, and no mistakes!" With that, he made his way up the stairs to the doorway with Pete and Mortimer in tow.

"No, no," Fidget said, shaking his head. "No mistakes, sir." He quickly looked over the list. "Tools, gears, girl, uniforms-"

"NOW, Fidget!" Ratigan yelled impatiently from the doorway.

Fidget jumped. "I'm going, I'm going! I'm going!" With that, he scampered over to a drain grate, lifted it up, and disappeared below.*

Author's Note:

(1): Padraic is Ratigan's first name in the original Basil of Baker Street novels.

Again, sorry for the long wait. Next chapter, we go into the details of Ratigan's plan, and Sora and co. team up with Basil.

Please R&R. Until next time!