Chapter 2
"Extinct?" Phineas questioned. The zookeeper sadly nodded.
"Platypuses in the wild are being killed. The poacher who is doing this horrendous thing is wanted throughout Australia, but so far, nobody had found him."
"That's terrible!" Sydney said. "I hope they find him soon before it's too late. He deserves to go to jail. Poaching is wrong!" The zookeeper nodded in agreement.
"I agree. I hope they find him too."
"But, why would the platypuses disappear here?" Nate asked. The zookeeper shrugged.
"One morning they were just gone. Every single one of them."
"Hmmm, I wonder why." Phineas wondered out loud. The zookeeper shrugged again.
"Don't know, but if you kids see them, tell an adult, and let the police handle it."
"We will!" The kids promised and the zookeeper left.
"Well," Brian said to Nate and Sydney. "Shall we continue?" Nate looked at his father.
"Dad, how can we continue after hearing about this?" He asked.
"Yeah!" Sydney added. "How can we, Dad?" Their dad shrugged.
"You just want to go home, then?" He questioned them.
"Yeah." Nate said. "I think we better."
"I think we better too." Sydney put in. "This will just ruin our day."
"What are you two going to do at home then?" Kym wanted to know. "I mean since we're going home earlier, I can get ready for my date with Jontae."
"Ooh!" Candace said. "Jontae; I like that name." Kym turned to Candace.
"I know, right? He's cute and he has a cute name!"
"Man, talk about a win-win! Jeremy is my boyfriend."
"That's a nice name."
"I know, right? And he's cute with a capitol 'C'." Kym turned back to her siblings.
"We can make flyers to save the platypuses." Nate told his sister. "And ask if we can post them all around school tomorrow."
"Oh yeah." Phineas remembered. "Our summer is your winter, so school is in session here."
"You're lucky." Kym said. "Our summer break is only two months, from December to February."
"Our summer vacation is 104 days long."
"Don't remind me."
"When I was in London," Ferb said. "My holiday only lasted mid July to September."
"Oh, and Kym," Candace said to her, changing the subject. "Remember those shows that you introduced me on the plane?"
"Yeah?" Kym said. "What about them?"
"Well, you may like an American show called Kim Undercover. It has your name in it, only with an 'I'. It's about a 16 year old teen sp…"
"I know." Kym interrupted. "It just started airing here, and yes, yes my siblings and I all like it." Candace smiled.
"Goodie."
"Well, I guess we're going." Lisa said. She looked at the Flynn-Fletcher's. "Ta-ta!" They all bid their farewells and the Aussie family left.
"You don't want to leave too, do you kids?" Linda asked Phineas.
"Well, I do worry about the platypuses." Phineas told her. "But, who knows when we're come here again? We can ask the front desk if we can make flyers back at the hotel.
"Alrighty, then. It's settled then." Phineas looked at his sister.
"Candace, are you going to help us make flyers to help the platypuses?"
"No, I'm going to text Jer…" Linda cleared her throat. Candace sighed in defeat. "Fine." They continued on with the zoo.
The family went to the Down Under Steakhouse for dinner that evening. On the restaurant window, they saw a wanted poster. It was a picture of Liam McCracken, who was heavy-built man with a thick brown mustache, fingerless gloves, and wore a black sleeveless shirt.
"Hey!" Phineas said, looking at the poacher. "It's the platypus hunter! His name is Liam McCracken!" He looked for the award money. "And the reward money for capturing him is 300 Australian dollars. I hope they can capture him in time. Let's just eat; I'm starving!" The family went inside the restaurant.
When they ordered their food, Phineas had a thought. What if Liam sees Perry and captures him? He looked at his mom.
"Mom," He said to her. "I'm worried about Perry. If that McCracken guy is out and about poaching platypuses, what about Perry? What if he captures him?"
"He's locked away in his kennel." Linda reminded his son.
"But we all know that he is an escape artist. What if he escapes and Liam captures him?"
"How can he escape?" Candace wanted to know. "Like what Mom said, he's locked up in his kennel. Plus we locked the hotel door and the windows are locked, He'd to be a secret agent to escape."
"And we all know that's ridiculous. But still, I worry."
"Well, let's just eat, then we can check up on him." Lawrence said.
"Yeah, okay Dad. I guess I'm overreacting a bit."
But, Phineas was still worried throughout their meal. He tried to eat fast so they can leave sooner, and they can check up on Perry.
The Flynn-Fletchers got back to their hotel room. Right away, the kids ran to the kennel. Phineas frowned he saw that the kennel was platypus-free.
"He's not in his kennel." Phineas said. He and Ferb looked around the hotel room. "Perry? Perry; where are you, boy? Perry!"
"My, my, he is an expert escape artist." Linda observed.
"This is really queer." Lawrence put in. "I was certain that it was locked when we left." Phineas frowned. He felt like crying. His family went to comfort him.
Perry opened the hotel room door. When he saw his family in front of him, he quietly shut the door, and went over to them. He chattered. They looked at him. Phineas beamed and embraced him in a hug.
"PERRY!" His family beamed too. Perry was confused. Why was Phineas worried about him? Did they hear about the platypus poaching? Phineas sat him down and looked at him. "You got to be careful, Perry. I know you like to escape and wander about, but there's a platypus hunter out there. We wouldn't want poachers like Liam McCracken to capture you." Perry's eyes widened.
Liam McCracken! Liam McCracken! Where had he heard that name before?
Then, it clicked. Liam was the obsessed platypus hunter that Dr. Doofenshmirtz had hired to destroy him. Now he's here in Australia and if he saw him, there's no doubt that he would want him dead. Perry gulped in fear. Phineas smiled.
"Don't worry, pal." He assured him. "As long as you're with us, and don't escape, that Liam guy won't get you."
"Phineas!" Candace called to him. "It's for you. Nate wants to talk to you."
"Okay." He then was confused. "How did Nate get our phone number?"
"Kym and I exchanged emails and in the email she said Nate wanted to talk to you so I gave her my cell phone number. She gave it to Phineas. Phineas put the phone by his ear. "Give it back to me when you're done." Phineas gave her a thumbs up and Candace went to get her MyPad.
"Yo, Nate, what's up?" He asked on the phone.
"Phineas," Nate said to him on the other end. "Did you see that flyer on Liam McCracken?"
"Yes, yes we did see it when we went to dinner."
"Isn't it awful what he's doing?"
"Yes, yes it is."
"You better be sure to keep Perry on a tight leash."
"Don't worry, we will."
As his owner talked to Nate on the phone, Perry strolled to a part of the room where his family wouldn't see him, and called Major Monogram on his wrist watch.
"Agent P, how's Australia?" Monogram asked when he flashed onto the screen. "I just came in. You know, it's about eight in the morning over here." Perry did a face palm. He forgot about the time difference! "Anyhow, how's it going over there?" Perry frowned. Monogram saw this and frowned as well. "What is it; what's wrong? Text it to me." Perry made a little keyboard appear on screen and typed his news. Monogram read it. He looked at Perry, confused.
"Liam Cracken is preaching platypuses?" Perry did a face palm. Darn, Auto correct! "What does this mean, Agent P? Is there a cracken named Liam preaching platypuses? Why is that bad news?" Carl came on screen and looked at Perry's text. He looked at the mammal.
"Auto correct issues, Agent P?" He questioned. The platypus nodded.
"I thought so." This confused Monogram even more. He looked at Carl.
"Huh? What d'you mean?"
"Oh, there's a function called Autocorrect that tries to correct what you're conveying."
"And that's not what Agent P meant to type?"
"That's correct."
"Wow; how ironic. To think that an app…"
"It's not an app."
"Well, it's ironic how it's supposed to help with spelling, but it can make it worse."
"Yes, yes it is." Monogram looked at Perry again.
"Well, what did you mean to type, Agent P?" Perry did type it in again, but turned off autocorrect first. Monogram read it.
"Ohhh! Liam McCracken is poaching platypuses! Now, that makes much more sense." He then came to realization. "Liam McCracken is poaching platypuses?" Perry nodded. "Who's Liam McCracken?" Perry typed in his answer.
"What does it say, Sir?" Carl wanted to know.
"It says Liam was the obsessed platypus hunter that Doofenshmirtz hired to hunt me, I mean, him, down."
"Oh, well that's a shame. Well, hopefully it stops in the future. The platypuses over here are fine. No poaching here. While you're there, you just stay away from him. You hear me, Agent P? You're a good agent; it's too risky. We wouldn't want to lose you. Oh, and by the way, Agent S is your sub while you're away, so you don't have to worry about that. Remember, stay away from Liam." Perry saluted. "Monogram, over and out!" The wristwatch went off, becoming a regular wristwatch.
For the rest of the night Phineas, Ferb, and Candace made flyers to help try stop platypus poaching (Candace only made one until a text from Jeremy came.)
The next five days, the Flynn-Fletchers kept a short leash on Perry. It was literally because everywhere they went, they brought Perry, and whenever they went where Perry wasn't allowed, they either tied a rope that they got from the front desk, or ask someone that worked wherever they went, if they could watch him. Phineas hated doing this to him, but he felt it was the safest thing.
Perry also hated this because he couldn't see his platypus family. He vowed to see them every day, but couldn't, not when he was tied up all of the time. He could easily escape, but he didn't want to worry his human family. The poor platypus was torn.
On the sixth day, when they went out of the hotel, after Phineas had handed the flyer they had made to the front desk so that it can be posted, Perry saw his platypus family.
"Perry!" Meredith called. With quick thinking, Perry untied Phineas' shoes to stall them. Phineas noticed this.
"Oh hang on, my shoes are untied." When he gave the rope to Ferb, Perry untied his shoes, along with his entire family's.
"How queer," Lawrence observed. "How did all of our shoes get untied of a sudden?" While he tied his with the rest of the family, Perry went to his siblings. Meredith was confused by this.
"Why did you do that to all of your family's feet homes?"
"They're shoes." Perry explained. "And I did it to stall them so I can talk to you, but we'll have to be quick."
"Why aren't you hanging out with us?" Abby wanted to know.
"Yeah!" Amy added. "I thought since you learned that we're here, and you're not here long, that you want to hang out with us, your platypus family!"
"I do." Perry told them. "It's just that ever since my owners learned about the platypus poaching, they don't want to leave me alone."
"Oh, well, that's too bad."
"Hey!" Andy piped up. "I know! If Perry can't hang with us, we'll hang with him."
"No, that's not necessary. You all just go and do whatever, I'll be fine."
"You're sure, Perry?" Abby asked. Perry nodded.
"Yeah, now go and be careful, especially of someone named Liam McCracken."
"Who's Liam McCracken?"
"A platypus poacher from Pittsburg, Pennsylvania in the U.S. with a fake Australian accent whom I never wish to see again."
"What does he look like?" Meredith asked."
"He has a thick brown mustache, fingerless gloves, spikes on his boots, well, there's a whole bunch of posters with his picture on him out for his arrest. Oh, and he has an unhealthy obsession with naming his boomerangs."
"What are boomerangs?"
"Humans throw them and sometimes they come right back to them. They sometimes can be used for hunting or they can be playful like for sports and stuff. They're curved. But, if you see Liam throwing them, stay far, far, away! His boomerangs are bad news"
"Oh. What are boots?"
"They're like shoes, but humans oftentimes wear them in the rain and winter."
"What's a mustache?"
"It's… oh, that's not important. Just don't go near him. He's dangerous." He went back to his family. Phineas picked up his leash. They then went off. "BE CAREFUL!" Phineas looked at whom he was shouting at, but to him, it was loud chattering.
"WE WILL!" Abby yelled back. Phineas looked at Ferb.
"Do you think Perry know those platypuses?" Ferb shrugged. When the family was ready, they went onwards.
Sydney and Nate were going home after the school bus had dropped them off.
They neared their house, when they saw an airborne boomerang. The kids stopped dead in their tracks.
"Wait," Nate said, gesturing his sister to stop. "Did you see that?" Sydney nodded.
"I wonder if that's a hunting boomerang or a playful one."
"Only one way to find out." With that, he ran towards it. Sydney shouted after him.
"NATE! DON'T CRACK A FRUITY! COME BACK! THE POLICE CAN HANDLE THIS!"
"IT MAY BE TOO LATE THEN! WE HAVE TO STOP THIS BEFORE IT'S TOO LATE!"
"NATE! THE POACHER MIGHT BE DANGEROUS; COME BACK AND LET THE ADULTS HANDLE THIS!"
"I'LL BE CAREFUL!"
"NATE!" She then groaned. "Brothers." She ran after him. "I'M COMING AFTER YOU!"
Perry's siblings were all drinking from a watering hole when they saw the boomerang.
"That must be a boomerang Perry described." Andy said. "Is that a playful boomerang or a hunting one"
"Don't know," Abby said. "But I don't want to stay and find out." She started running. "Quick; to the burrow!"
"But I'm not done drinking!" Meredith complained.
"We can come back." Meredith sighed and she and the others ran.
They ran and ran. Meredith could hardly keep up.
"SLOW DOWN, GUYS!" She shouted up at them. "I CAN'T KEEP UP!" Abby looked back at her.
"SORRY, MER!" She yelled to her. "CAN'T! THIS IS LIFE OR DEATH HERE!"
"YEAH!" Amy added. "DON'T YOU SEE THAT, MER!?" Meredith narrowed her eyes, but just kept on running.
Suddenly, a metal trap sprang on and clamped around the young platypus's ankles. Meredith screamed as she tried to escape the trap, but couldn't. She screamed up at her siblings. "GUYS, GUYS, GUYS, HELP; MY FOOT'S STUCK!" But they were too far ahead to hear. "GUYS; GUYS!" She began to well up tears in her eyes. "Guys!?" A boomerang flew her way. Moments later, she heard an evil cackle and gasped as he looked into the eyes of Liam McCracken. She knew who he was because of all the flyers of him that she and her siblings saw. He caught the boomerang when it came back to him and kissed it.
"Good work there, Nancy." He congratulated the boomerang in his fake Australian accent and put Nancy away in his coat pocket, and took out an even bigger boomerang "Don't worry, dear platypus. I'll stop your suffering." He held up the boomerang, ready to throw. "Now, Natasha!" Poor Meredith was trembling in fear! Liam was about to throw Natasha when…
"NOOOOO!" Nate yelled, lunging on top of the poacher. Liam yelled in shock and threw the kid off of him.
"Darn, kid! Now, what did you do that for?" Nate went up to Meredith and set her free from the trap. He grabbed her. "Well, out with it!" Nate looked at him.
"Don't you know that poaching's wrong?"
"Listen kid, I don't care. Now, go on to your mum."
"No! You're going to kill this platypus!"
"Yes, yes I am. Now, get out of the way; I don't want to shoot you."
"No!" He defended Meredith. "I won't let you!" Liam sighed, figuring out what to do. Police sirens blared in the distance.
With quick thinking, Liam grabbed Nate.
"Get up, kid!"
"Hey!"
Liam went into the back of his truck and threw him in the trunk.
"Get in there, kid!" Nate went to get out when Liam shut the door.
"HEY; HEY!"" He shouted. "Let me out of here!" Liam went inside the front of the truck and the truck drove off. Nate screamed. "HELP, HELLLLLLLLPPPPPPP!"
Sydney, who was hiding behind the bushes, gasped as she saw her brother being taken away.
"Nate." She said. She stood up. Tears welled up the girl's eyes as she ran home.