Chapter 4: Not-so-Ordinary Pets:

Tri-State Area - Googolplex Mall

Can this day get any duller? Rose thought to herself as the group walked into the umpteenth clothing store. It wasn't that she didn't enjoy shopping. It was just that her clothing needs were relatively few as a result of growing up in the Huntsclan. She liked browsing to see what the latest trends were from time to time, but she'd had enough three stores ago. Jake's mother, her mother, and her friend were reminiscing over the things they done to earn money in college as they browsed through the racks of clothing. Her internal monologue was interrupted when Candace joined her and Trixie over by the door so they could talk without being heard.

"I never got to ask last night," she whispered, "but what was it like when you found out Jake was a dragon." Trixie's eyes went wide when she heard what the girl was saying.

"It's okay, Trix," Rose said to her before she could open her mouth. "She found out last night when Jake snuck over for a late night flight."

"Alright," Trixie replied with a knowing smirk. "Welcome to the club, Candace," she continued as she turned to the redhead.

"Well," Rose began as she answered Candace's question. "When I saw Jake transform in front of me, my world crumbled. Up until that point, I'd gotten pretty good at balancing life in the Huntsclan with my school life. But when I found out about Jake, I realized I had to choose between everything I'd been raised to believe, and the guy I loved. I just couldn't bring myself to kill him. So I chose love."

"That's so sweet," Candace continued as the three girls watched the adults walk over to the cash register to pay for the shirts they'd gotten for their daughters.

"Congratulations!" the cashier called out. "You're our two millionth customers, so you've won free dresses and a rewards card."

"Free dresses?" Candace shouted as the three teens heard the cashier's energetic proclamation and walked over to join the adults. "COOL!"

"If you'd all please follow me so that we can go and get your dresses fitted," the cashier continued as she led the six ladies toward the fitting rooms. Trixie, who hung in the back of the group, couldn't shake the feeling that there was something familiar about the pale faced woman. The ladies finally reached the back of the store. By that time, Trixie had realized why the woman seemed so familiar. But by then, it was already too late.

"Time for your prize," Fury said with a malicious smirk as she removed her hat and unleashed her hair. Each serpentine tendril lashed out and grabbed her prisoners by the wrist, restraining them as one by one she subjected them to her hypnotic stare. When her captives' eyes all glowed red, she smiled. "You all get to help me destroy the American Dragon in the cruelest way possible."

Tri-State Area - Flynn Fletcher Household

Meanwhile, Fu was in the Flynn-Fletcher backyard pretending to be an ordinary dog. Unfortunately, that was pretty hard for him to do. He and Jonathan had gotten along quite swimmingly after the cat was out of the bag, but right now everybody was off doing their own thing. The ladies were out shopping, the dads were sitting in the dining room sharing stories, and the boys were off doing who knows what. That left Fu all by himself in the backyard with only a simple platypus for company. And boy was he bored out of his wits.

Suddenly, Fu saw something that piqued his curiosity: Perry looked down at his wrist, stood up on his hind legs, pulled a fedora out of nowhere, and slipped behind a tree.

"Interesting…" Fu commented to himself as he followed the platypus just in time to see him vanish through a trap door at the tree's base. Fu's instincts told him to leave it be until it turned out to be important, but his curiosity got the better of him, and he jumped in after the platypus.

Fu's eyes nearly popped out of their skull in surprise as he exited the tube and found himself in a large underground lair. The kind superheroes used as their secret base hidden beneath their homes. As he stood up on his hind legs and looked around, he saw all kinds of high-tech, platypus themed-gadgetry from a moped to a flying car. An authoritative, commanding voice boomed from the large screen he'd noticed on the opposite wall of the room, shocking him back to his senses.

"CARL!" a white-haired man shouted from the screen. "How did that dog get in here?"

"Agent P's family has houseguests for the week, sir," a high-pitched, nasally voice, apparently Carl, replied, still coming from the screen. "Evidently, they brought a dog with them. And boy is he chubby."

"HEY!" Fu reflexively snapped. "I've been on a diet for three weeks now, thank you very much." His face immediately froze with a look of terror as he realized what he'd just done.

"GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!" A talking dog!" The white-haired man exclaimed. "How is this possible?"

Seeing that there was no way out of his current situation, Fu took a deep breath, pulled up a chair, and began to explain a distorted version of the truth.

"We swear to keep your secret then," Major Monogram said after he and Fu had exchanged introductions. "While you're here though, would you mind helping Agent P with his latest assignment? It seems his nemesis, Dr. Doofenshmirtz, has teamed up with someone named "Fury" regarding revenge against their nemesis, who will be in town for the week."

"Sure," Fu replied, trying to hide his panic at the thought that Fury was nearby plotting revenge against Jake and that she was going to ask this week. "I've got nothing better to do."

"Great," Monogram continued. "Agent P knows where Doofenshmirtz is and how he operates, so please get out there and put a stop to whatever he and this "Fury" are planning.

"Alright, Duckbill," Fu said as he and Perry made they climbed into Perry's hovercar and buckled their seatbelts. "Let's go thwart some evil!"

Back in the house...

"So how tough are your scales exactly?" Phineas asked as Jake closed the door with his tail. Jake had filled Spud in on the previous night's events, and now the four boys were sitting upstairs discussing Jake's abilities and the magical world in general while Lao Shi slept off the jetlag upstairs and the dads sat in the dining room catching up on each other's lives and swapping family stories. The girls had all gone shopping a few hours ago, so the men had the house to themselves.

"They're harder than diamonds," Jake replied as he looked out the window. Something had felt off to him this morning, like something bad was about to happen. He'd been on edge all day. "It'd take an older dragon's claws to actually cut me."

"That's amazing!" Phineas responded. Ferb was silent as usual throughout the conversation, but he'd always nod his understanding whenever somebody finished a sentence. The boys were enjoying learning about the supernatural, and their curiosity amused the older duo, who were used to such things by now. Their conversation was interrupted when Lawrence called up the stairs.

"Boys, we're going to go pick the ladies up from their shopping extravaganza. We'll be back in about an hour."

"Okay!" The four boys shouted down the stairs. "Bye!"

"That was pretty quick," Spud commented once they heard the front door close. "I've never known a girl to shop in less than two hours.

"That's 'cause you're always obsessing over Stacey," Jake joked as the four of them walked downstairs.

"Hey," Spud shot back, "We've been together since the daylight-savings time dance."

They all laughed as they sat down on the couch and continued to share stories of magic and inventions for the next hour, completely unaware of the trap their families and friends had just walked into.

Later...

After an hour of waiting, the boys were more than a little nervous.

"It doesn't take an hour for them to drive downtown and back," Phineas explained as he and Ferb tested the limits of Jake's powers.

"I'm sure they'll be fine," Spud commented as Jake morphed back into human form. "I mean, they've got a dragon and a ninja with them. Rose and Haley can handle anything that comes their way."

Jake smiled, reassured by Spud's statement and proud of his girlfriend's fighting skills. "You're right, Spud," he added, "They'll be fine."

As soon as the words left his mouth, the doorbell rang.

"That's probably the mailman," Phineas said as they walked back into the house. They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch while the younger boys went to retrieve the mail

"Well this is a weird package," Phineas commented as he placed the mailing envelope on the coffee table. "I don't think anybody ordered anything online lately."

"Well the only way to find out what it is is to open it," Spud added as he reached over and tore open the envelope to reveal a cd with the words American Dragon written on it in red ink.

"I'll put it in," he said and moved to put the disc in the DVD player as the implications of what this meant hit them like a freight train. Someone knew not only what Jake was but where he was staying. Their fears were only confirmed when Spud pressed play on the remote and Fury's green skin and serpentine hair filled the screen.

"Greetings, American Dragon," she began as a smug grin appeared on her face. "If you're wondering how I knew where to send this ransom video, then you should really talk to you cheerleader friend about her blogging habits."

"Ransom video?" Jake yelled as he jumped up in anger.

"Trixie has been blogging too much lately," Spud commented offhandedly as the video continued.

"I assume you've noticed the prolonged absence of your family, friends, and hosts," Fury added as she moved to turn the camera. The four boys' jaws hit the floor at the sight of their parents, siblings, Trixie, Rose, and her family unconscious and chained to the wall.

"As you can see," she went on, "I've captured your family, your friend, your hosts, and even your precious slayer. For every hour that you don't surrender to me, one of them will die. If you care about their safety, you will come to this address and face me. Alone. At the first sign of your dog or your grandfather, your girlfriend dies first."

Jake simply sat on the couch in shock, a look of sheer horror written all over his face as Fury began to recite the address where she was. After writing down the address, Spud turned off the TV and removed the disc.

"I have to go," Jake said as he stood up from the couch. There was no way he would let any of their families die.

"But Jake," Spud added as he pocketed the CD. "You know it's a trap. She's probably got sphinx hair nets and chains made from unicorn horn."

"It doesn't matter," he replied as he walked into the back yard. "Lives are at stake."

And with that, he "dragoned up" and flew off towards the Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. Building, leaving Phineas, Ferb, and Spud standing in the door.

"So, since I can't leave you two home alone and go save the day," Spud began, "what do we do now?"

"Hey Ferb," Phineas thought aloud as the three watched Jake fly off, "do we still have the suits of armor from that medieval tournament we had in England?"

Tri-State Area - Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc.

"So, Perry the Platypus and strange talking dog," Dr. Doofenshmirtz began as he turned toward Agent P and Fu, who were now caged in his evil lair. "I bet you are wondering what I'm doing today."

Oy, Fu thought to himself, and here I thought my personal intelligence standards were too high. He and Perry were captured by the mad scientist, who in Fu's opinion was dressed more like a Pharmacist, almost as soon as they arrived in the villain's hideout. Does Perry seriously have to put up with this idiot on a daily basis? He quickly shot the Platypus a look of pity as Doofenshmirtz continued to ramble about his latest scheme and how he met Fury.

In another room, Jake came crashing through the window and morphed back into human form. He looked around angrily.

"Alright Fury, I'm here," he shouted. "Show yourself."

The instant the words left his mouth, the boy was knocked off his feet. When he stood up, he realized that his hands and feet were now bound with shackles of pure, unfiltered Sphinx hair and chains made of Unicorn horn.

"There is a catch, Dragon," Fury spat from the shadows.

"Of course there is," Jake shot back.

"Anyway," she continued, "If you want to face me and free your family," In an instant Jake was back on the floor. He looked up in horror to see Rose standing over him wearing her battle gear from Hong Kong with her Huntstaff aimed at his throat, her eyes glowing red.

"You must strike down the girl you love.