Chapter 2

"Oh, there you are, Agent P," Major Monogram said as Perry walked into Head Quarters and sat in his usual red chair.

"For starters, Merry… uh… almost Christmas!" Perry smiled. That was a pathetic attempt for a greeting, but a greeting in the least.

"So, for your mission," Monogram began, reading from a long list of facts, "Doofenshmirtz, again, isn't really up to anything. It seems that for the past month, there has been barely any evil activity at all. We're not sure what's going on. So what I need you to do is…"

"AGENT P!" Carl interrupted, pushing Major Monogram aside to get a better view of Perry. "Hi!"

Perry waved, unsure what to do.

"Merry almost Christmas!" Carl yelled, placing a Santa Claus hat on his head. Perry waved again, still surprised by Carl's sudden entry.

"Carl…" Monogram began, clearly a little bit angry and annoyed, "what are you doing?!"

"Just wishing Agent P a Merry almost Christmas, sir," Carl answered sheepishly.

"Uh huh," he answered, still annoyed.

"I'm… uh… just gonna go…" Carl said as he walked, slouched over, out from view of the screen.

"Anyway, continuing on," Monogram said, "I just want you to make sure nothing strange is going on. Is that clear?"

Perry nodded yes, then ran to the jet pack where he would fly off to Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated.

Back at the Flynn-Fletcher house

"Alright, we've got the reindeer! You can put them in the back yard for now; we're running out of space. Two hundred pounds of Christmas lights... hmm… put them by that tree. No, the one on the right… ya know, now that I'm thinking about it… put 'em by the tree on the left. Most of the yard still needs lighting. Oh yeah, ten extra large Christmas trees, put 'em by the front door," Phineas was directing the show as usual; making sure everything was running smoothly. Now that most of the supplies was there, they could really start getting tasks done.

"Phineas," Isabella began.

"Yes?" Phineas answered.

"The Fireside Girls and I have got the sleigh ready for the reindeer to get hooked up to," Isabella answered, proud of her team.

"Great work, Isabella!" Phineas congratulated her, then turned around to see Ferb dressed in an elf costume.

"Ha ha, Ferb, you look great!" Phineas observed. Ferb winked, and continued dressing the house and lawn with Christmas lights.

"By the way, have the giant ornaments come in yet?" Phineas asked. Ferb pointed to an enormous box filled to the top with ornaments of varied sizes, shapes, and colors.

"Beautiful! I'll put them up right away."

Phineas looked up into the sky and watched something fly over his house that was headed for the city.

"Ha," Phineas laughed, "that was weird. That almost looked like Perry flying on a jetpack." He thought about what he had just said. "The pine smell must be getting to me."

Perry continued flying on his jetpack, and in a matter of minutes he was at his required destination, Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. Perry flew to the very top of the building, where he opened an air vent and lowered himself through it using a long rope. When he was inside, he cut the rope using a laser and went in search for Doofenshmirtz. After looking for quite sometime, Agent P was about to give up until he heard a sigh come from the doctor's bedroom.

He gently opened the door, revealing Doofenshmirtz leaning in front of an open window with his hands holding up his face. Glad that he had finally found him, Agent P quietly tip-toed through the door, ready for whatever trap was about to enclose him. Except… there was no trap. After a few minutes of awkwardly standing out in the open with Doofenshmirtz just a few feet away from him, Perry finally chirped to get Dr. D's attention.

"Hey Perry the Platypus," he mumbled unenthusiastically, still not looking at Perry. "Don't worry, there's no trap or anything. Just come in."

Still being cautious, Perry walked very lightly to make sure he didn't release any traps.

"Sit down," Doofenshmirtz motioned to his bed right by the window. Perry sat down on top of his bed, still confused about what was going on.

"Perry the Platypus," Dr. D began, "have you ever been… lonely?"

Perry thought about the question. Not really… I've always had family around me for as long as I can remember. He shook his head no, then waited for Doofenshmirtz to continue.

"Well then you're lucky. You can have no money, you can have no house, you can have no education, but you can still be content. Because if you have friends and family, then you're never lonely. And if you're never lonely, then your not constantly forced to make random evil inventions to cause others pain so you can feel better about yourself!"

What is he talking about? Perry thought. Then he realized that the lecture Doofenshmirtz had given was about himself. Oh… Perry thought, so he is the one who's lonely?

At that moment, Agent P had a great idea. Hmm… that's brilliant! He thought. Perry jumped off the bed and walked out of the room to fly home. Dr. Doofenshmirtz was confused.

"Hey! Where are you going?" Doofenshmirtz yelled at Perry through the window. "Fine, fine, just leave! See if I care!" He then slammed the window shut and stomped away.

By the time Doofenshmirtz was finished yelling, Agent P was already half way home. It was around 5 o'clock, so it was time Perry should've been getting home anyway.

He flew into Head Quarters to drop off his jetpack, but before he left, Agent P had one request for Major Monogram.

Perry ran to the screen and turned it on, but no one was there. In the distance he could hear Monogram and Carl talking.

"Yeah, it got all over his shirt!"

"That's a, uh, very interesting story about hot chocolate, sir," Carl answered.

"I know, right? Best Christmas party ever."

"I'm sure it was, sir,"

"But the best part was when Agent S tried to hold the cup of hot chocolate, but he couldn't, because he's a snake! Ha! So then…"

"Um, sir," Carl interrupted, "I think the screen just turned on."

"Carl, that's ridiculous. And just to prove how ridiculous it is, I'm going to walk over there and…" Monogram stopped when he saw Perry.

"Agent P! You're back… and here… what do you need?"

Perry got out his copy of the book The Doctor Wexler Story which he had bought at the Evil Con in London.

"Okay, what about Dr. Wexler?" Major Monogram asked, confused.

Perry pointed at Monogram.

"You mean, do I still have him here? Seriously, Agent P, do you think that months and months after the Evil Con was over, that I would still have Dr. Wexler captured here?"

"Excuse me, Major," Carl began, "but Dr. Wexler is wondering when dinner's going to ready… and when he can go home."

Perry glared at the screen.

"Ha ha… apparently we still have him here…" Monogram answered embarrassed, "When do you need him?"

Agent P pulled out a calendar and pointed at December 25th.

"You need him tomorrow? On Christmas?"

Perry nodded yes.

"Well, okay, if you say so. And speaking of Christmas, we're giving you the day off tomorrow."

Yes! Perry thought. Finally, a day off! But… wait… awwoh! Perry complained. He just realized that if he wanted to continue to go alone with his plan, he's going to have to spend the day doing "secret agent-y" stuff anyway.

Joy to the world… he thought.