AN: Well, I finally got the prologue up and running. I had to look it over several times while I was writing it to get it right as that's the part I was struggling with the most.
Hopefully, I can update often and keep this going. I tend to have trouble with that as the perfect "flow" or drive to do so is pretty fickle. It rather ticks me off at times, especially when I really want to keep writing it, but it just won't come out right. So, bear with me if that ends up happening, if you can manage.
Anywho…I hope you enjoy it, and as I said before the part in italics at the end is the ending bit to "When the walls crack".
Prologue
The night was young and the breeze was fair. That is what the little animal agent thought as she surveyed the area before coming upon her destination. She always felt invigorated to go on missions like this. Especially under the cover of the night. It made her stealth all the more easier. She had already passed the main ground surveillance; it wasn't that hard considering she'd been trained extra in the field of sneaking past detectors and surveillance trackers. Now she was standing right outside the building in which she needed to enter.
It was a normal night in Danville, like any other, except for one thing.
The agent gazed up at the building before digging out something from a small bag. The moonlight illuminated the area a little, allowing more of the building's features to come into focus. It was rather dark and ominous and had many guard fences and bars on the windows and even some barbed wire surrounding the perimeter.
A Sign was sprawled across the top of the main door in big letters.
"Danville Penitentiary" it read.
The animal agent finally found what she was looking for and pointed it towards the roof and fired. It had the likings of a grappling hook, but there was one small difference. There appeared to be some sort of small blinking nanobug at the end of the tip.
As it connected with the roof, the small blinking light shot a small frequency wave upon contact with the solid surface. The grappling hook caught and the agent started to reel herself up. On the way up, the moonlight briefly washed over her, revealing what she looked like.
The bristle tipped fur on her back bobbed slightly welcoming the slight breeze that went through it. Her small clawed paws grasped the edge of the roof as she arrived and flipped herself onto it.
She reeled up her grappling hook and put it away and proceeded to slink across the roof much like an assassin. She soon stopped, producing a small saw out of her "agent" hat and traced it over the roof to make a little hole that she could drop down into.
She glanced inside, but couldn't make out much of anything. She pulled out something else that appeared to be a small claw grip and stuck it in the roof.
She tied a rope to it and started to head down. On the way in, her hat scanned the interior. It alerted her that there was still some security measures working yet.
She rolled her eyes and took out a couple more nanobugs and stuck them to the floor and the wall.
Another frequency wave rolled through, and a lot of the surveillance and detectors started to fail.
A couple guards were thrown off by this odd wave of energy and decided to investigate.
Meanwhile, the agent dropped down to the floor and as discreetly as she could turned on her watch.
It buzzed softly for a second before a voice sounded on the other end, although the owner of it didn't seem to be visible at the time, because the room he was in was dark.
"Ah, Patty. How's the progress?" it asked. She turned the screen to face the nanobugs and the hole in the roof.
The voice chuckled. "I should've expected as much. You're always one step ahead of the security systems. How are you liking my new nanobugs I created to disable security? Most be working well I take it?"
Patty chittered softly with a grin. The voice continued.
"Now, remember who we're here for. Let me know when you find his cell, and I'll come meet you."
Patty gave the watch a thumb up, and it clicked off.
"I thought I heard something over here." A voice said down the neighboring corridor. It was close enough to estimate that they were about to turn into this one any second.
Patty pressed a small button on the side of the watch and the rope in which she climbed down reeled back up by the claw grip and out of sight. The hole was unmistakable though.
She had to think quickly. Taking off her hat she assumed the normal animal pose and skittered down the hall and into the line of sight of the 2 guards, greatly surprising them.
"What the-!" the one guard said as he recovered from being startled.
"How'd that critter get in here?" the other said.
They shined their flashlight at her and observed her.
"Looks like a porcupine or something." The second one said.
"How the heck did a porcupine get into the building?" the first wondered out loud.
His partner shrugged. "Who knows? But we might as well find a way to herd it out of here."
Patty looked up at them in her "mindless" form and grunted.
"We'll have to be careful though." The second guy advised his friend. "If we don't get a hold of it the right way, we'll be in the infirmary for the night pulling dozens of barbed quills out of our arms."
The first one looked over to his partner. "Can't we just lure it into some kind of box or container or something and take it out that way?" he suggested.
"I suppose." The other one considered. "But we'd have to find one."
"Why don't I go look for one, whilst you keep an eye on the little beast? I think there might be some extra containers in the storage closet. I'll try to find one big enough."
"Fair enough." The second one said. His friend turned and headed off down the corridor they'd previously come from.
The remaining guard turned his attention back to the porcupine agent, who seemed a little irritable. This was a waste of time. She needed to complete her objective. She growled softly at the guard.
"No need to be scared little guy. We'll get you out safe and sound." He bent down a little and tried to assure the animal with his voice.
Patty growled a little louder as he got a little closer.
"Now, now, there's no need for all that." The guard continued to try to soothe the agent.
Needless to say it wasn't working. Turning heel, Patty skittered back the way she'd come.
"Hey, wait!" the guard called out. He'd soon lost sight of her.
"Damn." He said with a frown. He didn't want to have to chase down a porcupine all night.
Just then he noticed a patch of light on the floor coming from the ceiling. Confused, he looked up to see the source and noticed the hole. His eyes widened and he reached for his walkie talkie.
But before he could completely pull it out, something big smacked into his head out of nowhere, knocking him down.
His vision was blurry as he tried to look to see what had hit him. He could barely make out a short hazy figure in the dark. He felt his walkie talkie slide out of his hand the next second.
An irritable chitter sounded from the hazy figure. Puzzled, he attempted to sit up only to feel clawed paws shove him back down and cover his mouth. The hazy figure was now a blur, but he could've sworn it was in the shape of some animal.
He tried to adjust his eyes to see better, when he felt a sharp impact on one of his pressure points that caused him to lose consciousness. Looking around, Patty tried to figure out where to drag the unconscious guard. Conveniently there were some chairs lining the far wall and a small bench.
Smirking she dragged him over to the bench and rested him on it.
She was just turning to head back when she heard approaching footsteps in the other hall. Sneering once more, she skittered back to the end of the corridor hiding off to the side.
"Hey, Tommy." The voice called out from the returning guard. "I think I found a container big enough. You still got your eye on it?"
No response. The guard turned onto the corridor again, only to see no one there. "Tommy?"
He appeared puzzled. "Where'd you go?"
He stepped forward a bit more, passing the hidden porcupine.
He scanned the corridor a moment longer before finally spotting his partner slumped on the chairs on the far wall.
"Tommy?" he said walking towards him. "Tom, what are you doing? You're supposed to be keeping an eye on things." He spoke with a hint of annoyance. "Wake up."
When Tommy failed to stir when he repeated the order he began to wonder what was up.
"Hmm…" he said. "Strange. I wonder what happened." He thought aloud as he set the container he'd brought down.
As he paused to figure this out, he too was caught off guard by something heavy landing on his head and making him fall forward. Patty followed suit as she did with the other guard. Knocking him out before he even had time to think what had hit him.
She set him on the chairs next to his partner and looked around once more to double check that no one was coming. She was in the clear for now. She looked back up at the hole she'd dropped down from. She concluded it was best to patch it up for now, just to be safe in case someone else came through.
She did so then continued on. She still had a job to do.
If she calculated correctly, the hall she'd dropped into was only a couple halls over from the cell block. She made sure to keep a sharp eye out for more guards as she made her way through them.
Luckily, she didn't run into any more. Perhaps they were somewhere else in the building at the moment. Probably looking into the system failure and trying to get it back on line.
Or perhaps they only had so many night guards in different areas and the ones in the area nearest her had been the ones she'd knocked out.
Either way, she was a little wary of this. Granted it was rather refreshing that she wasn't having to deal with them, it was probably best to get this over as quickly as possible just in case.
She finally turned into the cell block and looked around on alert before continuing forward when she realized that there were no guards in the room at the time.
Countless cells lined the block, but she was looking for one in particular. She kept her eyes peeled for the one she was instructed to find.
She walked a ways down the block, not finding it at first. She frowned before turning into another room that led to another hall. One that had cells with more secure doors than the barred doors of the other cells. These were the kinda rooms where people that needed to be kept a closer eye on were put.
She scanned more closely and finally stopped at one. A grin spread on her face as she double checked to make sure the coast was clear and switched on the watch.
"You found him I take it?" The voice said from the watch. Patty grinned and nodded showing the owner of the voice the cell and the hallway it was in.
"Awesome. I'll be right there." It said as the watch clicked off.
It didn't take him very long to find her. He must have been in the building already by the time she called him. It didn't surprise her. She kinda half expected it. That tended to be how things usually worked out.
It was probably best not to question as to how. But she had a rough idea how anyways.
Her hunch had been correct when she noticed a small figure around her size appear down the hall, followed soon after by a taller one.
The taller figure appeared to be that of a young man, but his features were unable to be further discerned as the light in the hall was poor and fairly dark in some places. Probably a result of the system failure from the nanobugs.
The young man finally stopped a foot from the porcupine and examined the cell. It was indeed the right one. He grinned down at the her.
"Excellent work, Patty." He complimented her. In return she saluted him with a smirk.
The young man turned back to the cell before speaking again.
"With him, we'll have both halves of the information we need."
He turned his head to look down at the smaller figure he'd entered with as it came up beside him.
"Thanks again, Dennis." He addressed it. He then turned back to his stealthy female "agent" and nodded slightly.
"Patty, If you will…."
Patty grinned and pulled out another device from her hat and shot a small beam into the lock on the door to unlock it. There was a faint click and the door code beeped softly for a second.
With a smug smile, she slid the door open. The young man smiled and stepped forward looking into the cell from the doorway.
"Who's there?" the voice inside the cell said looking towards the door. The prisoner could make out the outline of someone looking in at him.
His voice turned suspicious, but had a hint of curiosity in it as he looked to the visitor in the doorway.
"I'm guessing you're not a night guard. Inspection time was a couple hours ago..." he said before a hint of amusement joined his voice at the absurd possibility.
"And its way past visiting hours, which means one can only assume you're not here to visit."
The young man in the doorway snickered. "Smart kid." He breathed softly, his tone almost mirroring that of the prisoner's.
"Are you the one they call Rodrigo?"
The silhouette of the prisoner appeared to cross his arms.
"Who wants to know?"
"That is of little importance this second." The man in the doorway answered.
"Would you not like to get out of here first?"
"That would be most gratifying."
"But first answer me. Are you Rodrigo, the trap expert from the evil science school?"
At this the prisoner seemed curious. "You know of my skill?"
"But of course. Why else would I be here?"
"One never knows." The prisoner said with a shrug.
The man in the doorway chuckled. This kid was rather witty. He liked that.
"You were also briefly mentored by a Heinz Doofenshmirtz; were you not?" The man went on to say.
"If I'm not mistaken, your genius ran circles around that dolt. I heard you even took over his scheme and would've succeeded had it not been for the meddling of the OWCA."
The prisoner seemed to be a bit annoyed at the mention of how he ended up incarcerated.
"Well, you heard right." He admitted with a huff. "That Doofenshmirtz certainly was a disgrace as a mentor. His plans were foolish and his nature too reasonable. He's more of a wannabe than a real villain. No wonder that agent always wins."
"Agent?" the man in the doorway spoke thoughtfully. "Do you refer to his nemesis, Perry the Platypus?"
"Yeah, how'd you know?"
The man chuckled again. "Let's just say I did a little digging…But moving on. What would you say to getting back at them?" he proposed.
"I'd say that it would sound excellent. But what's the catch?" The prisoner replied seeming a little suspicious.
"Just that you get your freedom and revenge and I take them out of your hair. We both get what we want. It's a win-win."
There was a pause. "…..I'm listening." The prisoner spoke finally. He was still a little suspicious, but if it got him out of here at the very least, he'd be more at liberty to consider the proposition.
"I've had my eye on that agent of his. It's said he's the best agent of his firm. My boss has a plan or 2 for him. Help me trap the agent and I'll see to it that you are amply rewarded. I'll even see to removing Doofenshmirtz for you." The man explained.
There was a shuffling sound in the cell as the prisoner stepped forward and came over to the door looking out at the figure inquisitively.
"Who are you?"
"The name is Jadan."
"Rodrigo."
"Right, do we have a deal then?"
"For now." Rodrigo said, still suspicious. All the same he was happy someone was busting him out.
"Why not give me the details once we get out of here? Then we'll see what happens."
Jadan looked at Rodrigo thoughtfully. Kinda cocky. But bold. Yep. Rodrigo would be perfect and his knowledge and skill in assembling advanced traps would serve well for the plan.
As Rodrigo exited his cell he took notice of the 2 animals that looked to be agents and paused.
"Don't worry. They're with me." Jadan explained.
"It's to throw of the OWCA. They use animals for agents. So, my boss says why not fight fire with fire?"
Rodrigo appeared to give this some thought. Jadan had a point.
"….Yes…why not?" he finally said starting to see where Jadan might be going with this.
It was actually pretty clever. Why didn't anyone else think of that?
"So, in other words you train your 'agents' in the art of evil rather than good?" Rodrigo concluded.
"Yep. That's the point of my boss' organization. We train our own agents in the art of villainy."
"Villain agents?" Rodrigo spoke sounding a bit amused. "Clever."
"Exactly. If we want a chance at success, we have to fight with the appropriate arsenal. Who better to fight an 'agent of justice' than a skilled agent of villainy?" Jadan pointed out.
"Fascinating." Rodrigo put a hand to his face in thought.
"Shall we go then?" Jadan spoke. "I'll fill you in on the details once we get out of here. Best to do it now before the security system failure leads more guards to investigate."
Rodrigo lifted his head from his thoughts and looked at Jadan.
"I was wondering why no one was coming to see what was going on yet. I take it this is your doing?" he smirked.
"Yes. With a little help from my friends to make sure things are in place." Jadan gestured to the 2 animal agents beside him with a wink. The agents smirked at the credit.
"Now, let's get going."
He and the 2 agents turned and started to head off, Jadan looking back expectantly at Rodrigo.
"Fine with me." Rodrigo said following after them. He certainly didn't want to stay and he was a little curious about Jadan's intentions once they got out.
If Jadan's plan proved to be unfavorable once they were out he could always decline and go his own separate way. But at the very least he wanted to know what Jadan had planned for the flawed scientist and his nemesis out of sheer curiosity. Who knows? Maybe he could repay them for his imprisonment and maybe get something much more out of it.
Until then he remained a little guarded as to what Jadan really wanted from him. One can never be too careful. And something about this Jadan did feel a little more off than most. He wasn't afraid though and he wanted to make that perfectly clear.
As he continued following them down the halls, Rodrigo could catch brief glimpses of Jadan's appearance as they passed areas that were a little better lighted. They were real quick, but he could at least tell that Jadan was somewhere around the same age as him.
That made sense. Jadan's voice had sounded more around their age range rather than much older, now that he thought about it.
Jadan and his 2 agents suddenly paused a moment and he appeared to be telling them something.
The 2 agents nodded and the porcupine scampered off in a different direction as the rabbit stayed behind with Jadan.
Rodrigo caught up and looked questioningly at Jadan. Jadan turned to him.
"Dennis is going to lead us out the way we came in and Patty's going to make sure we don't run into any trouble on the way." He explained.
Dennis nodded and gestured for the 2 young men to follow him.
Dennis lead them through a series of rooms and halls that he'd cleared out while sneaking Jadan in.
They finally made it to the door that would lead to the outside somewhere near the back of the building. Dennis double checked with Patty on his watch to be sure the security system was still down so the door's alarm wouldn't go off to which she gave the affirmation that it indeed was.
Jadan opened the door on Dennis' signal and they filed out quickly, Dennis once more leading the way.
He noticed a couple guards searching the grounds to investigate. If they didn't time it right, they'd be caught. They still had to get down the field and jump the fences and the wall.
Dennis gave it some thought as he scanned the area nearby to detect the perfect path through. But that still left the guards. Perhaps he could distract them long enough for Jadan and Rodrigo to get through. After all, aside from being a mercenary, he was a master of disguise.
He pulled on Jadan's pant leg to make him look down and once he had his attention, gestured to the path for them to take. There was a bit of brush at the end of it.
It didn't take much for Jadan to figure out what Dennis was telling him.
Whilst Dennis distracted the guards, he and Rodrigo would make tracks to the end of the path and hide in the brush until Dennis doubled back to meet them.
"I gotcha." Jadan winked. Dennis took off towards the guards as Jadan waited with Rodrigo.
Jadan watched as Dennis made his presence known to the guards whom he soon got to chase him in the other direction, leaving Jadan and Rodrigo open to make their move.
Jadan tapped Rodrigo and nodded to the path. "Let's go." He said.
Once they reached the end of the path, they slunk down into the bushes.
Soon enough Dennis was doubling back to meet them leaving the guards turned around on the other side of the building.
Once he reached them, he quickly guided them past the fences and up against the wall and used his own grappling hook to hit a tree just outside the wall and aided them over it.
Once Jadan and Rodrigo had successfully made it over, Dennis pulled the hook out of the tree from his perch on top of the wall.
He caught a flash of light from the corner of his eye and looked back to see the guards returning and quickly hopped down beside his team mates.
Rodrigo looked to Jadan as he and Dennis were about to take off again.
"What about your porcupine agent?" he asked.
Jadan turned back to him. "Don't worry about her. She'll catch up." He said rather confidently.
"She's an expert at things like this. She can manage it."
Jadan smiled recalling how skilled the prickly agent was over her past few missions with their organization. She had been one of the first agents to join when it had just started getting going. She'd gone on countless missions similar to this and breezed right through them without much if any help.
She could indeed handle it and she would most certainly catch up. Jadan had no doubt.
"Now, let's go." Jadan pushed. "We don't want to stick around." He said taking off with Dennis.
Rodrigo followed and they soon stopped in a small wooded area.
Rodrigo caught his breath before looking at the others. There was a pause as he watched Jadan high five Dennis quick.
"So…" Rodrigo finally said drawing their attention to him. "Jadan, was it?" he asked as he studied the young man in front of him.
Jadan was around the same height as him and had shaggy dark brown hair. He was wearing a dark outfit with a distinct insignia near the one shoulder. Evidently a uniform of some sort from this organization of his. The uniform appeared to fit him a little snugly, but not enough to be uncomfortable. His pants were tucked into a pair of nice black boots that complete the outfit.
A belt with a holster was around his waist containing a few pockets with various tools peeking out, but otherwise secured in place. His eyes were a cold blue and if one ventured enough into their gaze, they could detect a spark of insanity deep inside them.
Now able to see Jadan clearly, Rodrigo straightened himself up and looked expectantly at him. Jadan's appearance was rather curious and the belt full of tools peaked his interest a little. Evidently, this Jadan must be mechanically inclined as well.
"Tell me a little more about this organization of yours."
Jadan and Dennis looked at each other before Jadan looked back at Rodrigo with a slight hint of suspicion in his eyes.
"Oh, it's fairly new." He said. "And pretty elusive as well as a little out of the way. We've been on the rise now for a few months. I doubt anyone knows about us yet. We're masters at being discreet."
Rodrigo could tell Jadan was being slightly evasive and realized Jadan didn't trust him. After all, Rodrigo hadn't entirely confirmed that they had a deal. This fact served to amuse him slightly. However, he still wanted to know what Jadan had planned. Maybe if he danced around the subject of having to do anything for him and just get him to spill what's what, he wouldn't have to do anything at all.
"Anything else I should know before we continue?" he poked.
Jadan frowned slightly. "That depends." He said. "Do we have an agreement?"
Rodrigo sighed. "Perhaps. Tell me what you need me for again and maybe I'll consider it."
Jadan's frown narrowed. "The founder of our organization has plans for the platypus. We intend to use him to carry out a special mission for us. But in order to do so we have to obtain him." He explained before crossing his arms. He could see what Rodrigo was trying to do.
"All we ask is for you to trap him. And if we do have a deal, than so long as you hold up your side of the bargain, we'll hold up ours. Mind you, we're not fools. We know potential when we see it and you have it."
Jadan stepped forward a little and locked eyes with Rodrigo.
"But don't think you can trick us and take over our plan behind our backs." He stated firmly to show he meant business.
"We are not ones to be messed with. Treachery would lead to 'grave' consequences, so to speak."
Despite Jadan's firm statement and hard eye contact, Rodrigo refused to be intimidated.
Now it was his turn to frown. "Are you threatening me?"
"We just want to make sure people know that we aren't people to be screwed over. If you agree to help us out, you have to keep your mouth shut when it comes to letting anyone else know." Jadan said pulling back a little, but still giving Rodrigo a piercing glare.
Something about Jadan's glare seemed a little dangerous. Rodrigo could tell that he wasn't one to be messed with.
"Well, points for full disclosure then." Rodrigo said to show he got the point as he tried to maintain a straight head. All Jadan wanted was for him to trap a certain agent anyways. Sounded doable enough.
"I think I can manage that." He said crossing his arms in consideration. "If all you want me to do is trap him, I have no problem there."
He then shot a brief glare at Jadan. He wanted to be sure he made it clear that he didn't want to be screwed over himself.
"Just don't go back on your word and expect me to do more than what was agreed on."
Jadan's frown lightened. "Never. If you keep your word, we'll keep ours."
Rodrigo nodded. "So be it then." He finally spoke. "We have a deal."
Jadan's frown disappeared now and was replaced by a smirk.
There was a rustle in the trees followed by a small figure flipping over him and landing down beside them in a perfect stance.
"Ah, Patty." Jadan acknowledged the arriving agent. "I knew you'd catch up." He said smirking at her.
Rodrigo looked down at her with a slight start. He had all but forgotten that they were waiting for her.
"Well, now that everyone's here…" Jadan said pulling out what appeared to be car keys and clicked a button and a chirping sound came from near-by.
Jadan and the agents walked over to it. "Ah. Here's the hover car." He said moving some brush out of the way revealing their hidden vehicle.
He pressed another button and unlocked it and the hood rose to allow them to step inside.
The 2 agents got inside and Jadan looked back at Rodrigo. "Best hurry if you want a ride." He said.
Rodrigo didn't say much as he came over to look at this 'ride'. He found himself to be rather taken with the design as he studied it and finally got in.
Jadan followed after him and closed the hood. Rodrigo looked to see the 2 agents sitting in the back. Jadan passed by him and went to the driver's seat and sat down.
"Nice ride." Rodrigo commented.
Jadan smirked. "I know isn't it? Just a little design I souped up a little." He said as he started it up.
"You might want to sit down. This baby can go mighty fast." He advised as he looked back at him. Rodrigo didn't need to be told twice and sat down in the passenger seat by Jadan.
Once he'd strapped himself in, Jadan pushed a couple more buttons and the hover car lifted off the ground and hummed a little before taking off.
The beginning jolt from the take-off was strong and the advice to brace himself was proven necessary. In a few seconds the pressure inside eased as Jadan set the controls so that the vehicle flew smoothly.
"There we go." He said leaning back to enjoy the ride as he already had the coordinates set.
There was a couple minute pause as everyone relaxed into the flight.
"So," Rodrigo finally said as he looked over at Jadan.
"What's your plan? Judging from what you told me, I assume you want things set up a certain way." He asked.
"Do you have a specific location figured out for this to take place at?"
Jadan chuckled at Rodrigo's inquiry as he addressed him.
"As a matter of fact, I do." He grinned. He shifted in his seat so that he was facing Rodrigo.
"When that dolt Doofenshmirtz was trying to mentor you, you were inside his place, correct?" he pointed out.
"So, you are more familiar than us with what to expect."
"True." Rodrigo said raising an eyebrow.
Jadan nodded over to the white rabbit in the back seat sitting next to the porcupine agent.
"Dennis, back there, has been inside the platypus' house as well as his lair. In order to successfully achieve the objective, we have to know the layout and infiltrate both places."
Rodrigo listened closely. "Yes, go on." He said trying to figure out where Jadan was going with this.
Jadan then nodded over to the porcupine.
"Lucky for you, Patty and Dennis are experts on the matter. Patty can accompany you to the location and help you set up. She's good at getting every detail down, so you could turn the whole place into a series of booby traps with her help."
"I see." Rodrigo said.
"We've already set up a plan to get Doofenshmirtz out of the building for you."
"So you want this to take place at Dr. Doofenshmirtz' place then?" Rodrigo was trying to make sure he got it.
"Yes. That way when the platypus is called to investigate, he'll be thrown off guard. He'll be expecting Doofenshmirtz, not you." Jadan explained.
Rodrigo's eyes lit up as it clicked.
"Ah…I see where you're going with this now." He replied with a grin as he put his hand up to his face in fascination.
"Great idea." He commented.
"If I may ask though, what do you want me to do once I have him trapped? Am I supposed to bring him to you or call and let you know so can come to him?"
"Once you have him trapped let me know and I'll meet you outside. Other than that, you needn't worry. I can take care of everything else." Jadan replied.
"Sounds like a plan." Rodrigo said. "But how do you intend to make him listen to you? Do you plan to leave him in the trap until he submits or something?" he wanted to know.
At this Jadan's eyes lit up and his smirk spread.
"Ah. That's the genius part, my friend." He said, his tone turning sly as he continued.
"I don't know if you've heard of the notorious blueprint thief that ransacked Danville a couple weeks ago?" he asked.
"Well, I did hear something." Rodrigo admitted. "I heard a member of LOVEMUFFIN had ended up being responsible. The blueprints were found stashed in his house or something."
Jadan chuckled at this. "Let's just say that member was a victim of circumstance, but he wasn't responsible for it."
"So, in other words he was framed?" Rodrigo put together.
"More or less. The real culprit took Danville by storm, pilfering tons of blueprints from countless businesses and residences. Some of which were from the Blueprint Store; which I happen to know for a fact the OWCA is involved with running as well as the man whose place we'll be rigging."
"How do you know this?" Rodrigo cast a suspicious glance at Jadan.
"We happen to know the real culprit." Jadan explained smugly.
"She's a close friend of ours. She was generous enough to copy some of them and donate them to us."
"Okay…But what does this have to do with my question?" Rodrigo said wanting to know what Jadan was getting at.
"Some of those blueprints were that of Dr. Doofenshmirtz' and after looking through them we found a couple that proved to be useful. So, we combined them together and enhanced their attributes. We compacted it all into a small device that would by glance appear pretty inconspicuous."
"I see." Rodrigo said in thought. "And I'm guessing you want me to use this device to help trap the agent?"
"You are partially right. I advise you to put it on him once you have him immobilized in a trap. It would be impossible otherwise."
"May I see this device?"
Jadan pulled out the object in question and showed it to him. Jadan was right. From a distance it would appear ordinary enough not to attract attention.
"This is what you plan to use?" Rodrigo questioned as he examined it.
"It seems simple enough. What is it supposed to do?"
Jadan sneered wickedly as he went on to explain how the device worked.
"By flipping through various functions, this little beauty will have that agent at my mercy. I could make him do anything. And the best part is that once it's on it won't come off until we've successfully converted him. As the one who made the device, only I know how to make it work proper. It may look simple, but only I know how to deactivate it. It's more complex than it looks." He finished with a chuckle.
"I guess you could call it an 'initiation gift'."
"Hmm…a device specially tailored to not stop functioning until the subject has fully turned to the dark side." Rodrigo pondered out loud.
"That's brilliant." He said, now a little impressed.
"Say, maybe I should just look to your organization for proper mentoring." He joked with a chuckle.
Jadan snickered himself before playfully slugging Rodrigo on the arm.
"You know something? You're all right. I have a feeling that we'll get along great."
After they'd both finished chortling, they looked at each other again.
"So," Rodrigo said. "When do you want to put the plan into action?"
"Well," Jadan considered. "First we have to be sure that Doofenshmirtz won't barge in on us, so we're arranging for him to be called out of his building to attend to matters elsewhere."
He paused a moment to look where they were and smirked back at Rodrigo.
"I'll let you know when the moment is right. In the meantime, I'd like you to meet the rest of the gang." He said finally touching down in front of his organization's main building.
00
Rodrigo's POV:
It certainly was out of the way. Jadan was right about that, but I still remained intrigued by the genius of it all. And I was rather curious about the rest of the members, much less what this place looked like inside. If everything else here proved to be just as clever, I wouldn't have the faintest doubt that they could very well end up succeeding in their goals…
000
Normal POV:
A few hours earlier that same night….
"Curse you, Perry the Platypus!" Doof screamed his trade mark line as yet another one of his schemes had been foiled.
The platypus had been victorious once more.
At times this little vaudeville routine they had going was rather amusing, but some days it just seemed like it was getting old and it took its toll on the flawed scientist.
This seemed to be one of those days. And as most people do when they're flustered, they say something foolish.
Perry was getting ready to take off when Doof had one last thing to say.
"You know what, Perry the Platypus?" he said indignantly. "One of these days you won't be here to stop me and then we'll see who wins when I finally take over the Tri-State Area!"
Perry rolled his eyes in reply as he turned back and took off with his jet pack, leaving the Dr. to his absurd words.
Perry not being there? Yeah, that would be the day. He'd always be there to stop him. He'd vowed that.
Perry shook his head. At times he almost pitied the guy, (and sometimes he deserved it; like when he was having family issues or was down, depressed and feeling genuinely hurt), but then he would remember his job and keep his guard up just to be safe.
So long as he did that, there was no way he'd be taken advantage of. He was sure of this.
As Doof watched his nemesis fly off he was left to think about what he'd just said. Granted, it would be nice to finally succeed; did he really wish for Perry to disappear?
There had been times in the past he would've wanted that without hesitation. But at others their relationship proved to be a little more complicated.
Perry was there countless times to help him when they were both 'off duty'. Did he really mean what he'd said? What would he REALLY do if the monotreme disappeared? What would he feel?
He continued to ponder this as he looked out from the balcony the Platypus had departed from.
Truthfully, he had no idea that within the next couple days, this would be one of the last times he heard from his nemesis.
00
As Perry finally landed in front of his home, he smiled and reverted to pet mode to greet his beloved owners.
"Oh, There you are Perry." Came the greeting from the bright and happy Phineas Flynn and was soon followed by his fur being gently stroked as his owner pet him.
He closed his eyes a moment and purred. Phineas smiled and went into the other room where Candace could be heard complaining as usual that their mom had missed the latest invention yet again.
Perry waddled in and noticed the family sitting at the table to eat. He smiled as he looked at them.
This was why'd he'd always be there to save the day. Them. His family. The family he'd grown to love so much over the course of his life. He couldn't bear to see them get hurt in any way.
So long as he was around, they'd always be safe. He promised that much. Nothing would drive him away from them.
So long as he stayed strong, he'd be ready for anything.
00000
Unfortunately, nothing prepared me for what I would soon become. I may be a hero, but I don't have superpowers. Only gadgets to aid me in my fight against crime.
But even with my gear, I'm not impervious to mind control…and how I wish I was.
And I thought Platyborg had had it bad. But I would soon learn that there are things far worse than being turned into a cyborg and imprisoned.
Sometimes far worse damage can be done without a change in appearance, but in state of mind.
And when the wall finally breaks….you just might lose your mind for good.
-Whew, the prologue ended up being a little lengthier than I thought it would be. But hopefully it explains everything so that everything makes sense and connects later. At the same time though, I hope it wasn't too revealing so early on. Chapter one coming up next. Hopefully soon.
-R&R