Lilith the Ocelot wandered aimlessly through LOVEMUFFIN's tiny little base, located in a small warehouse tucked away on the edge of Danville. Small, indeed, but big enough that Lilith was having a lot of trouble finding the exit. She had only been here a few times before and every time she had left, one of her owners had been with her. It wasn't HER fault she fell asleep during the last meeting and Doofenshmirtz left without her. Just like it wasn't her fault that her phone ran out of battery because she forgot to charge it the night before. Right. Definitely not.

She trotted down another corridor and round another corner and realised she was facing the double doors leading to the meeting room. Cursing under her breath, Lilith turned, intending to double back and try again, but her keen hearing picked up a quiet humming sound coming from inside the meeting room. Curious, she poked her head through the doors, and her heart skipped a beat.

Almost every member of LOVEMUFFIN was seated around a giant table, talking quietly amongst themselves, creating the sound that Lilith had heard. Everyone she recognised was there, and even more that she didn't recognise. The most worrying part, however, was that she didn't see Doofenshmirtz anywhere. As the leader of LOVEMUFFIN, he should be here to conduct any meeting they might be having.

Her worry about that was quickly trumped when she saw who exactly WAS stepping onto the stage to address the room.

Lilith slipped into the room and quietly shut the door behind her, darting behind a pile of old crates in the corner. She hoped she hadn't been spotted; with so many eyes in the room, she couldn't be sure she hadn't.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" announced Rodney, theatrically spreading his arms wide. "Thank you all for joining me here today."

"We didn't have a choice," came the voice of a young female scientist Lilith didn't recognise.

Rodney shot her a scowl but otherwise ignored her. "I've gathered you all here today to discuss a very important issue: the leadership of this great organisation."

Lilith's breath caught in her throat.

"I think we all know that a certain someone isn't exactly suited for this job," Rodney continued. "That's why I propose a shake-up in the rankings. You might be wondering exactly what I mean by that."

"Can you get on with it?" demanded the voice of a different female scientist. Lilith recognised her face but couldn't quite recall her name. "We all know what you mean."

"Fine," huffed Rodney. "Just look at what we've done under that idiot Doofenshmirtz's leadership. Absolutely nothing."

"What about the time he caused the Earth to travel out of its natural orbit, plunging the entire planet into a new ice age?" piped up a male voice.

Rodney shot a withering look in his direction. "And exactly how did that end, David? Did we take over the world? Or were we defeated yet again?"

The male voice did not speak again.

"Yes, that's what I thought," Rodney said smugly. "Dear Doofy has no idea what he's doing. For heaven's sake, he temporarily quit evil to become a TEACHER of all things."

Shocked muttering broke out among the members of LOVEMUFFIN. Lilith let out a quiet sigh, sensing that whatever was about to happen, it would not be in Doofenshmirtz's favour. She wished she could tell them that Doof becoming a teacher was community service and that it was a choice between that or prison, but frankly, she doubted it would change anyone's opinion.

"I believe that I have proven time and time again that I can lead this great organisation to the glory we were meant for. LOVEMUFFIN will take over the world, but we cannot do that without the right leader, and I think we all know that that is not Doofenshmirtz. As leader of this great organisation, I vow to lead us to our ultimate goal of world domination. Who's with me?"

Lilith really wished he would stop referring to LOVEMUFFIN as "this great organisation". It was pretentious and clearly not true. Unfortunately, most of the people in the room seemed to be swayed by his words; most of them seemed to be nodding and muttering to each other in agreement.

Deciding it was time to get out of here before she was spotted, Lilith darted out from her hiding place and slipped back out the door. She was fairly sure nobody had spotted her, but she broke into a run just in case.

As she turned the first corner, she ran straight into a white shape standing in the middle of the hallway. She jumped to her feet but froze as she realised exactly who was standing in front of her.

"Hey," the white rabbit said casually, though there was a dangerous glint in his eyes. "Lilith, right?"

Lilith nodded slowly. "Dennis. I thought you were in prison."

"I was," replied Dennis. "What are you doing here? Dr Doofenshmirtz left hours ago."

"Oh..." Lilith grinned sheepishly. "I fell asleep in a corner somewhere and he left without me. You know how it is for us cats. Anyway, I should get home before Doof decides I don't need any dinner."

She tried to move past Dennis but he stepped into her path, deliberately blocking her way. "What's the hurry?" he asked, crossing his arms. "No, really, what's the hurry? Running pretty fast for a meal you have every day, huh?"

"I'm hungry," Lilith said defensively. She didn't get scared easily but she had to admit she was getting a little nervous. "Besides, Doof has no idea where I am so he's probably worried about me."

"Uh huh."

Lilith stared at him in silence for a moment. She could tell he wasn't going to back down, so there was really only one way out of this.

Moving suddenly, she threw her fist upwards and punched Dennis in the jaw. As the rabbit reeled back, Lilith took off running, focusing harder on where she was going than she had before. She would only have one chance to get out of here and warn Doofenshmirtz about Rodney's coup plot. For the second time, her dead phone was proving a great inconvenience, albeit a more urgent one this time.

The patter of feet behind her told her Dennis was already in pursuit. Clearly, her blow hadn't stunned him for long. Ignoring her heart pounding, she pushed herself onwards, skidding round a corner so hard she almost fell over. To her relief, she could see the exit ahead of her.

That relief didn't last long, however.

Before she even knew what was happening, she was sliding along the floor with Dennis's arms around her legs. He must have tackled her - hard. She kicked out, trying to pry him off her, but he managed to grab her by the neck and shoved her into the wall. Pain immediately exploded from the back of her head and she dropped to her knees, utterly stunned.

The last thing she saw was Dennis's foot flying towards her head before her world went black.