Ferb supposes that it was inevitable for something to go wrong. Even now, standing between Phineas and Isabella, he is not quite sure what went wrong, exactly, but he figures something had to. But their plan was sound. Phineas and Ferb spent a whole night—the same night they saw the announcement—working on how to find Perry, then get him and everyone else out. Phineas even managed to get all their friends together for their opinions. The Fireside Girls made some helpful changes—after all, they know more than the brothers do—and Baljeet and Buford saw no foreseeable problems once changes were made. The agreed to meet at five in the morning the next day: June 19.
Everyone is at least fifteen minutes early.
They head out, keeping to the dark with their dark clothes and dark communicators and dark eyes. Buford, Baljeet, and Adyson keep watch outside. Katie, Holly, Gretchen, Ginger, and Milly all create a distraction on Fifth Street, far away from City Hall, where Perry is being kept.
(A fleeting hope: the Fireside Girls have cameras everywhere except the county jail and City Hall. They don't need to explain: the brothers already understand.
So Phineas flips the coin and Ferb calls it; if they are wrong, they will both be at fault.)
Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella all manage to sneak in and take out the robot guards with the tools they use to build their inventions. They manage to slither up the air vents, making minimal noise.
But perhaps they were making noise, though, because suddenly they are falling and falling into a heap, surrounded by floating robots. They force the kids to stand up, and that brings Ferb to now.
Now, he doesn't know why they aren't moving, but when Vanessa walks in, he figures she is why. Without thinking, Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella grab each other's hand.
"Ferb?" She sounds normal, not at all menacing, and just a little innocent; Ferb wonders if it is a farce.
"Vanessa." She even looks normal. Despite the two years between them, the only difference he notices right away is the white lab coat hugging her sides.
Something flashes along her face—he's more than sure that it is amusement—and she draws the lab coat closer. "What are you doing here?" She addresses him alone, but as it has always been, it is Phineas who speaks.
"That's none of your business!"
She gives a little smirk. "You're on my property. I think that it would make it my business."
Isabella scowls, her grip tightening. Ferb wonders if they will have to hold her back. "You don't own City Hall. The city does."
"Child, I am the city," Vanessa says dismissively. "Now, what are you doing here?"
Silence. A pet may just be a pet, but loyalty is loyalty, man or animal. Vanessa sighs, and waves her hand.
It happens so fast, Ferb doesn't understand what's happening until it's over.
Phineas collapses without a sound, or maybe the blast smothered any noise his brother could have made. Ferb is kneeling at his side instantly, Isabella milliseconds behind him.
"Phineas!"
"Don't worry, it's just a burn. I'm not going to kill children."
He barely hears her: too busy looking for the wound. Phineas is gasping—from shock or pain or what?—but points to his left shoulder. Isabella pushes Phineas so he is on his right side, his back facing Ferb. He looks for something anything to ease the pain heal the wound save his brother best friend family. Foolishly, they didn't bring any sort of first aid, but they do have water. Isabella rips off the shirt as Ferb opens the water bottle cap. Once the shirt if off, he pours the water on the burnt skin; Phineas starts gasping again, but hopefully from relief.
As he finishes the second bottle, Ferb feels himself being lifted grabbing his shirt collar, lifting him up up and away until he's face-to-face with Vanessa.
"I let you help him. Now tell me what you are doing here."
He doesn't speak. He can still hear Phineas.
Her face tightens, and her voice goes awfully low. "Ferb, if you don't tell me, I can do unspeakable things to Phineas."
His blood goes ice ice cold. "You said you don't kill children."
"Death isn't always the worst thing out there." Something flashes across her face—anger or humiliation or what?—and Ferb takes a deep breath.
"We're here for our pet platypus."
Her surprise is obvious. "Perry the Platypus?"
Ferb blinks. "We want him back."