Chapter Two

PERRY

My kids were hard at work on fixing the cyborg that had apppeared out of nowhere and totalled their radio tower. "Come to think of it, he looks kinda familiar," Phineas said at one point, "and so does this remote he fell out of the sky with. Got any ideas about what they're for?" Ferb shook his head, and they resumed work on the robot suit around the platypus without another comment.

I hopped onto the table next to their patient and studied his face, and that's when I realized how familiar he was. It was Platyborg.

I let out a chatter, but the boys must've thought it was meaningless and went from repairing Platyborg's metal components to patching up his organic wounds. "He's gonna be okay, and then we're gonna find his owners and return him. Does that sound good, Perry?" I chattered again, this one really meaning absolutely nothing. It was just a force of habit.

Several minutes later, the boys' patch job was complete. "Well, we're gonna go inside. Think you'll be okay out here?" Phineas asked. I blinked. "Okay. You know where to find us if you need anything." I blinked again, and they walked into the kitchen, leaving me to look at Platyborg, who really looked like he was in bad shape. It looked to me like he fell from about fifty feet, which would've killed me. Platyborg was lucky to be alive.

I walked over to get a closer look, and he groaned and opened his eye. "Perry," he managed.

"Don't strain yourself," I replied. "You took a hard fall. It's a miracle you're here."

"Yeah, a miracle of science."

"So, what're you doing here?"

"I finally figured out how to decide things for myself, so in honor of the occasion, I decided I'd see what Doof was up to and see if I could steal something from him. I found that remote that does the whole traveling-across-dimensions thing, and I filched it, thinking I could figure out how to dimension hop later. Of course, I got found out by Normbots, chased across Danville, and the rest is history, as you can probably tell."

"So, your idea of celebrating your newfound freedom is petty crime?"

"I'm experimenting. I'm free now, and I have all kinds of options that I didn't have when I was Doofus' right hand."

"It reminds me of the boys, almost, except that they don't resort to petty crime to have fun everyday."

"Kinda reminds me of my boys, too, now that I think about it."

"Your boys figuring out how to make just about everything now?"

"Yes, yes they are."

I smiled softly. "They're beginning to recognize you, and I dread what the Agency will do to them, or me. They can't brush it off forever, I know this, and Doof is after you, so he could come here, and if he meets my boys, they're bound to remember. The Amnesia-nator can't work forever. It has to fail at some point."

"Oh, I forgot. Your Doofenshmirtz is an incompetent boob."

I couldn't help but laugh. At first, Platyborg didn't strike me as a snarker, but he had been brainwashed, and snarking probably had been the farthest thing from his mind. Now he was free, and it struck me that we were more alike than I realized back then. After all, we were identical, technically speaking. "You should rest," I said. "You got hurt really badly, and your organic injuries won't heal as fast as a trip to the repair shop can repair the approximately eighty percent of you that's metal."

"Do I have to?"

"I know you're enjoying your freedom and all, but wounds have a way of healing faster if you're asleep."

Platyborg let out a soft, slightly pained sigh and closed his eye. I yawned, lay down, and rested my head on my paws, closing my eyes. I stayed awake long enough to make sure he was asleep, and I wasn't far behind him.

PNF

"Oh, there you are, Perry," Phineas said as he and Ferb walked into the garage. I had just awakened. "Aw, that's nice. You stayed with...oh, yeah, we don't know his name." I chattered. "Platyborg?" I nodded.

"A portmanteau of 'platypus' and 'cyborg'," Ferb said.

"Oh." I hopped down off the table and looked up at where Platyborg lay, still asleep. "It's okay. When he wakes up, we'll leave some food out for him." I smiled up at Phineas and Ferb. They were so good, even to someone they understood to be a perfect stranger. "Anyway, let's go see what we're gonna do today." Phineas and Ferb walked out of the garage, and I looked back at Platyborg before slipping out of the garage in my own right.

I walked around to a spot on the lawn, where, with my four feet, I tapped out a specific pattern on specific points. A chute opened in the lawn, and I hopped into it, slapping on my fedora on the way down.

I dropped into the chair and the screen switched on. "Good morning, Agent P.," Monogram said. "Doofenshmirtz is up to something. Get over there and put a stop to it." I saluted and rushed over to the rocket car. Before long, I was on my way to Doof's place for another mission.

I reached the Doofenshmirtz Evil, Inc., building and parked just behind it, taking the elevator to the top floor. I buzzed the doorbell of his apartment, and he answered amiably. "Perry the Platypus, how nice of you to stop by. Please, come in." In spite of, or because of, the inevitable trap, I stepped forward, and I found myself strapped to the wall right next to the door. "Let me tell you my latest scheme. It came to me in a dream lsat night, no, really. Don't look at me like an idiot. I can follow my dreams, too. Anyway, it was actually almost like a nightmare, very vivid stuff, but that's a story for another day. In this dream, I built a device which allowed for travel between dimensions, and behold." He pulled the tarp off a very familiar looking device. My heart stopped.