A/N: This was fun. I thought I'd play in the new alternate universe Phineas and Ferb created, especially since it's darker and more my style. Also, I reject your explanation for Doofenshmirtz's evil and substitute my own, particularly in light of Vanessa never being mentioned in the alternate universe.

Bound

The funny thing about being an evil genius was that he lied…a lot. Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz, ruler of the tri state area, did his fair share of lying, even to himself. Or, rather, he should say, especially to himself.

His official story was that he had lost his toy train and the loss fueled his desire for revenge. His unofficial story, which only Perry the cyborg knew, was much darker. It didn't make good fodder for a children's movie, though, and since Doofenshmirtz was not in the habit of revealing his innermost soul (why should he? he ruled the tri state area), he never mentioned it. Aloud, that was. It passed his mind once, twice, three times a day at the very least. At most, it became an obsession and in order to take his mind off it, he usually doomed someone.

He liked dooming people. He liked their screams of agony, he liked their pleading for mercy, and he particularly enjoyed knowing their life passed before their eyes. Part of him wished he could have subjected Perry to that too, but his current capacity was much more useful. Instead, he usually forced Perry to witness it, all the while with the chip implanted and his mind under Doofenshmirtz's control. He liked to think if he could find the one person, or perhaps two, that Perry really cared for and destroyed them in front of him, it'd break Perry the way it had finally broken Doofenshmirtz.

But it was no use. Scanning his mind for memories hadn't helped, because the mind control blocked access. Even if Perry had used a couple of kids for his cover story, Doofenshmirtz had no way of finding out. He didn't know anyone who did and that, for the moment, was a loose end.

He knew there was a resistance and he knew it was comprised mostly of children. However, unless they completely betrayed themselves, he left them alone. Let them think they could foster hope and bring about change. He'd squash it as quickly as it started.

At the moment, Doofenshmirtz paced in his lair and stared out the window. He looked at Perry, who was utterly useless at the moment.

"No one you cared about? No one?" he asked. Perry didn't answer, not even to chitter. Doofenshmirtz balled his fists and exhaled shakily. There was no point in torturing the information out. Perry the cyborg-pus was more machine than animal and almost beyond his capacity to hurt. Sure, the transformation had been brutal, but that was over and done with. Any physical pain was a distant memory.

"Give me something to work with," he grumbled. Perry stared blankly and he curbed his temptation to kick him. He'd done it once, only once, and broken his foot. There was a disadvantage in making your arch enemy part steel.

Knowing no answer was forthcoming, Doofenshmirtz turned from the window. "Whatever. Just go patrol Danville or something. Get out of my sight."

Perry the cyborg inclined his head and took off, breaking glass tiles as he crashed through the ceiling. Doofenshmirtz watched him go and then looked back at his desk. On it was his sole keepsake, from times less evil and productive, but perhaps happier.

Vanessa Doofenshmirtz, rolling her eyes at her father, winced at his shenanigans. It was the only picture he had left, taken the day before she died. It was true- in order to become truly evil you had to experience loss and suffering. His hands shook when he held the frame and he had to put the picture down before he dropped it.

"Damn you, Perry the Platypus," he hissed. "Damn you."

Beneath Danville's streets, Candace paced. A couple days ago, her brothers had dared to venture outside. It was on one of the few occasions she hadn't been watching, and they had nearly been immolated by one of Doofenshmirtz's robots. They had protested they had only gone outside to check something, but she didn't believe them. Her parents were too frightened to do anything and it was up to her to protect them and keep them safe. She couldn't do that if they didn't stay exactly where she ordered them to stay at all times.

"You know, if your brothers are the same age as we are, they could be a big help," Isabella said. They were walking underground and checking to ensure no one had fallen off the tracks on their way to work. Unmanned open potholes happened on occasion, with robots blasting the covers off.

"They can't be helpful," Candace snapped. "They need to stay where they can't be hurt."

"But they've never actually been hurt, have they?" Isabella pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," Candace hissed. "As long as I keep them safe, it won't be a problem."

Isabella sighed. "A couple more hands would be-"

"Is that insubordination I hear?" Candace snarled. Isabella fell silent and Candace huffed, balling her fists. A couple hands might be helpful, as long as they weren't Flynn-Fletcher hands. Over Candace's dead body would anyone enlist her brothers. They were too inexperienced and they didn't know how to handle themselves. The best possible thing for them would be to keep their heads down and let Candace handle everything.

Besides…it was more than just blind fear. She hadn't told anyone, and it was no one's business, but a few weeks after Doofenshmirtz took over Danville, her brothers had been wandering around near the local pet store again. Lingering in the streets was strictly forbidden, as was any type of play, but Phineas had insisted there was something he had to check out. With their mother hiding and their father off at work, it was up to Candace to take care of them.

Doofenshmirtz had been trying out his new deathtraps on innocent civilians. None of them worked quite right, so people would be maimed instead of killed, because he was still working out the kinks. Candace didn't want to take the chance her brothers could end up in the line of fire. So she had followed her brothers to drag them back home.

She'd seen something, something that had distracted her. It looked like the boys' pet platypus, running over to a young girl her age with black hair. Whatever it was, however, Phineas' dismayed cry tore her attention away. The boys had backed into the wall; a large metallic spider advanced with sharp legs that threatened to rip through her brothers like tissue paper.

There had been no time to think, only react. Candace had dropped them into the sewage system and brought them back home; it was good luck that the spider was too big to fit into the small opening. It was only later, after she'd gotten them home, that she'd discovered a deep gash in Phineas' right leg. After that, she'd vowed she'd have to keep them safe, no matter what happened.

And she had. The sewage flight had taught her to create underground tunnels. It had inspired her to recruit other children to form a resistance, and it had motivated her to learn self-defense, so she could protect what was hers.

"This has nothing to do with Phineas and Ferb," Candace said firmly as they rounded the corner. "And it's going to stay that way."

Phineas and Ferb had no idea their sister was part of the resistance. They only knew that she seemed to take no interest in their activities, so long as they stayed inside the house at all times. And anyway, she didn't really interest them. They had their own projects and if Candace wasn't going to share hers, they weren't going to share theirs either.

As it turned out, Doofenshmirtz might have an amazing hold over the tri-state area, but his computer systems left something to be desired. Phineas had hacked into it a year after his rule became complete. The first attempt was a dud, destroying their computer, but the second time went rather well, he'd say. After the third time, he became more proficient. He learned how Doofenshmirtz's empire worked and what his plans were- within reason, of course. Phineas couldn't find out what Doofenshmirtz was doing if he didn't program it or write it down within the mainframe.

Ferb spent his time hacking into the robots and seeing if he could control them. That was a risky business, since they could be caught at any minute. Only adults had official papers; kids weren't allowed to roam the streets. And any kid caught meddling with anything near the regime would probably be in a lot of trouble. Phineas said probably, because he had no idea what would happen, so they played it safe.

As a result, doing anything that involved any physical risk terrified them. Phineas still remembered being scored by that giant spider and hearing a girl scream nearby. Terror hung over the city and Phineas only derived a grim pleasure out of hacking the system, nothing that made him smile or laugh. In fact, Phineas thought the last time he'd laughed was before Perry had vanished for good.

He wished he could go out and do something, maybe something really heroic. He didn't know what it would be, but he was sick of never having anything to do today, or any other day. They didn't even go to school- Doofenshmirtz home schooled everyone through giant computer screens and drilled fear into their heads. That didn't completely stifle Phineas or Ferb. They both knew there was something waiting, if only they had the opportunity.

Phineas looked out the window and sighed. "That flying platypus kinda looks like Perry, don't you think, Ferb?"

There was no reply at first. Phineas turned and discovered his stepbrother idly flipping through the mandated board game stacks Doofenshmirtz had issued. They were piled up in their closet and none of them looked the slightest bit appealing.

"Perhaps," Ferb said at last.

"I wish I knew where he went," Phineas said, sighing. "Even if we are being kept prisoners, it'd sure be a lot more fun with Perry."

Ferb stepped closer to the window to investigate, but Doofenshmirtz's general had long since passed. He frowned and then walked back to stare at the board games. Bored was right. There was never anything to do around here.

Doofenshmirtz wasn't entirely right. It was true Perry only vaguely remembered the past, and what he did remember he had in bits and pieces. But it was enough to use against him, if the man hadn't given up hope of that long ago. Perry wasn't bound to Doofenshmirtz solely on mind control or having his body forged with a cyborg. He was bound by guilt.

It had nothing to do with Phineas and Ferb, from what he recalled. It had everything to do with another little girl, one he hadn't even known and certainly had never intended to hurt. Agents were specifically ordered not to hurt bystanders and Perry had known it wasn't his fault, not really, but…

In the present, he landed on the main street and observed everyone. No one was acting out of character, which meant nothing to report. Doofenshmirtz didn't need him to spy; he had thrown him out because he didn't want to look at him. That was fine. Perry didn't like hanging around. He did so because he had to.

Every so often, his vision flickered and he saw things, the way he used to before he'd been tortured and shoved into his current body. He saw two boys, one red headed and the other with green hair. He shook his head to clear them away and they were replaced by a small girl with black hair and all black ensemble.

"You did this! You!"

Perry inhaled shakily and shuddered. What had Doofenshmirtz expected him to say? He was a platypus- Perry certainly couldn't tell him what had really happened. And even if he had, he wouldn't have believed him. This body was his punishment.

It had been too late to save the girl. The image faded and he breathed easier, temporarily free. With a singular focus, it was easy to forget why he was bound to Doofenshmirtz.

It hadn't been his fault. Damn you, Doofenshmirtz.