You promise that not a single hair on their heads will be harmed in any way? Perry pestered Platyborg as he followed him down the twisting hallways of the dungeon toward the staircase.
I'm not going to follow them around to make sure they don't trip on a rock and skin their knees. I swear that I will not cause them physical harm, nor will the Norm-bots, nor Doofenshmirtz, Platyborg said over his shoulder.
So you'll give them a free pass back to their dimension? And then, if you attack that dimension, you'll still do everything possible to keep them unhurt?
Platyborg huffed in annoyance and responded, I'm not going to become their nursery maid. If they can figure out how to get back to their dimension, then I won't stop them. When we attack your dimension, there will be nothing I can do to keep two children from getting hurt. That's the deal you'll have to live with.
Perry was silent as he continued following Platyborg. They reached the exit of the dungeon and began to ascend the stairs. Flight after flight, Perry continued to tromp in the footsteps of his counterpart. His shoulders slumped, and his posture clearly communicated exhaustion and defeat.
They finally arrived at the door to Doofenshmirtz's lab. There were two other wings of the building, the highest floor containing Doofenshmirtz's office, but the lab was in the equivalent place that Perry's dimension's DEI lab was: on the top floor of the main building.
Platyborg stood to one side of the door and watched as Perry entered. They shot loathing glares at each other. Perry stepped into the room and glanced around for the evil, one-eyed doctor. He extended all of his senses as far as he could, trying to find his nemesis's eviler doppelganger. There was no sign of him. He wasn't hiding in the corners or the shadows. The waiting was beginning to make Perry nervous, and being nervous made him angry.
His fists clenched and unclenched and he breathed through clenched teeth with his eyes narrowed and his teal fur standing on end. His wide, flat tail swished back and forth. He felt a tingle on his back telling him that Platyborg's half metal gaze was fixed on him from the doorframe.
Finally, a door on the other side of the dimly lit laboratory swung open, spilling light into the room and almost causing the edgy agent to jump out of his fur. Perry instinctively fell into a fighting position as Doofenshmirtz stepped in. Platyborg growled from behind him reminding him of his bargain. Apparently, he was considered enough of a threat that Platyborg didn't want to risk dealing with him rebelling, even with backup from Doofenshmirtz.
Perry straightened up with a grimace as pain tore through his heart at the thought of any harm coming to his boys. The eye-patched, black-lab-coat-wearing, goateed, evil scientist closed the door softly behind him and slowly strode across the room to examine his prize.
"Ah, Perry the Platypus. I'm so glad you could finally make it. Platyborg and I were just about to celebrate the Tri-state Area's second downfall; my Norm-bots cut off all transportation, communication, and connection to the outside after arresting the mayor only ten minutes ago." Doofenshmirtz's evil grin widened. He pulled a small controller out of his lab coat and pressed its single button. "Would you like to join us?"
Metal arms burst from the walls and grabbed Perry's limbs and lifting him off the ground before he could respond.
Doof began to walk toward him, brandishing something in his hands; a syringe labeled: sedative.
"Now, we can do this the easy way," he held up the syringe. Then he lowered it and returned his gaze to Perry. "Or the fun way."
Perry didn't move a muscle.
The evil scientist frowned in disappointment. "Oh, so you want the easy way? Fine! Be boring like that." He held up the needle again. Then he gave Perry a sideways glance and a small, evil grin. "I guess we'll get some real entertainment soon anyway. Won't it be so deliciously ironic when you destroy the very people you came here to protect?"
Perry felt like a bolt of lightning had just run up his spine as he realized what Doofenshmirtz was implying. It wasn't Platyborg who would be hurting Phineas and Ferb. It wasn't Doof or his Norm-bots. Platyborg had specified his promise to create a loophole. Once Doofenshmirtz had turned him into a cyborg servant, he wouldn't be able to keep himself from harming them.
His eyes widened. Blood rushed in his ears and a fire flashed before his vision. Before he knew quite what was happening, he found himself across the room, flailing violently under Platyborg.
Somehow, he'd managed to escape the mechanical arms, which were now dangling uselessly from the ceiling like dead snakes, and attempt to attack Doofenshmirtz. Platyborg had intervened before he could lay a finger on his master, and now they were wrestling.
Perry's brain finally caught up to real time, and he pushed Platyborg's metal belly away with his hind legs. The cybernetic platypus thudded to the ground, giving Perry just enough time to get to his feet in a fighting stance.
He threw a punch. Platyborg dodged and spun, attacking with his spiked tail. Perry stepped back to keep from getting gutted and swung his left fist at Platyborg again. His counterpart caught his fist and pulled it down across his right side.
Perry was yanked to his knees and then rolled over onto his back. Platyborg held him down his with metal foot to Perry's chest and then grabbed his locket from under his fur and lifted him up.
Perry pried at the metal fingers, but they didn't loosen. He kicked and squirmed and grunted and growled.
Platyborg slammed him up against the wall, knocking the breath out of him. BAM! BAM! BAM! Platyborg continued to pound Perry into the wall as if he were trying to knock it down. Pain exploded through his whole body. The entire world began wobbling like a ship caught in a hurricane.
Platyborg presented his master with the limp body of his counterpart, dangling from his left hand like a wet paper sack.
"Very nice, Platyborg," Doofenshmirtz said, stepping out of the shadows. He shoved a handful of popcorn in his mouth and tossed the empty theater tub over his shoulder.
Perry was breathing hard, trying to recover from the fight. His head hurt, and he thought it might be bleeding. He made another struggle to free himself, but he was completely exhausted and his counterpart didn't even budge a millimeter. As the back of his head throbbed, Perry felt his focus grow fuzzy and recognized that he was losing consciousness.
NO! He could not give in. He had to keep fighting, even if it killed him. It would be preferable to submitting if it did.
Perry forced his heavy eyelids apart and huffed angrily up at the black clad scientist. He stared back.
"Put him in the machine."
GETTHEMAWAYFROMME! Oh, sorry. That's me. Continue...
Perry wasn't sure what was happening anymore… but it was awful. There were metal worms everywhere, and they all had sharp teeth. They were eating him alive. He thrashed and fought them off, but there were too many of them. They were under him, over him, and wrapped around him. Red covered his vision. He was suffocating, and then drowning.
His head reeled and felt lighter than a feather. He didn't know where he was anymore. It was dark. There were arms wrapped around him, but they weren't metal restraints or surgical instruments anymore. They were warm loving arms that pulled him into a soft embrace against a chest.
He heard a heartbeat. Three heartbeats. One was his own; the other two belonged to Phineas and Ferb. All three of their hearts beat in sync. Perry's breathing calmed. He was still blind, but he could tell who was holding him. He breathed in the soft scents of his family and relaxed. In exhaustion, he felt himself drop into a deeper sleep.
It felt like hours later. Perry felt disconnected from his body. He couldn't even feel himself breathing. He wondered briefly if he were dead. His mind set out in search of his body, finding it one piece at a time.
Right eye, tightly shut… where was his left eye? It felt open, but he couldn't see anything.
Right forepaw, resting on cold metal. Left forepaw… nothing.
Suddenly the vacuum in his lungs filled up and air rushed in through his nose, there was his bill…
He coughed and clenched his teeth. His mouth felt weird and tasted tingly and bitter. It was all numb he couldn't move his tongue, as if his mouth was packed with cotton balls.
"You're almost finished, Perry the other Platyborg! The only thing left to do is the programming!"
Perry's right eye snapped open. He was lying on his back on a conveyor belt that had exited the big machine. He was covered in metal and wires, and he couldn't move a single muscle below his neck. He couldn't even turn his head.
Perry growled at Doofenshmirtz, but he couldn't see him. The only thing he could see to his left was metal. He assumed it was a mechanical eye like his counterpart had. Based on what he could tell, he was now identical to his doppelganger, although he didn't have metal armor.
"I think I'll call you 'Lieutenant General Platyborg', to differentiate between you and General Platyborg. Or maybe just 'Lieutenant Platyborg;' It's less of a mouthful."
Suddenly, Doofenshmirtz's face leered over Perry and he winced in surprise. He quickly turned his look of surprise into a scowl. Outwardly, Perry showed no sign of panic, but inwardly was he despairing. He was completely paralyzed with no hope of escape.
Doofenshmirtz hummed a silly tune while he fiddled with something underneath the defunct platypus. He couldn't feel anything as Doof started connecting plugs to the wires that were now replacing what he'd previously considered to be vital organs. It was disconcerting and nauseating.
Doofenshimrtz finished whatever he was doing with the wires and started fiddling with controls. Perry clenched his teeth, not knowing what to expect. Suddenly a shudder ran down his spine. His left eye was suddenly filled with light. The images of his surroundings were annotated. Then he realized he was sitting up. He could move.
He instantly prepared to attack Doofenshmirtz, but just as he was about to leap, the robotic parts of his body froze up again causing him to stand straight and at attention. A loading bar appeared in his robotic vision and a female voice spoke in his head.
"Programming four percent completed."
His posture collapsed and he found himself on his hands and knees. It felt like all of his energy had been sucked up a straw. A small squeak escaped his throat, like two pieces of metal being rubbed together. Doof looked up from his controls at the sound.
"Oh, don't cry, Perry the other Platyborg. You might get all rusty like the tin woodsman in the Wizard of Oz!" He chuckled cruelly.
Perry growled at him again. The world started spinning and shaking, and Perry felt his senses go fuzzy again.
"Programming 45 percent complete.
"Programming 57 percent complete.
"Programming 77 percent complete,"
It felt like someone had spilled a glass of ice water inside his brain. He fell on his face and grimaced. He clawed at the ground.
"Programming 83 percent complete.
"Programming 99 percent complete."
Perry let out one final sob…
To Be Continued…