Chapter 8: A helping hand
Phineas hung limp as a puppet in the grip hook.
It seemed as if he'd passed out, but nothing was less true...
Platyborg landed on the balcony of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, releasing Phineas from the claw.
Phineas remained on the floor, immobile.
Platyborg watched the boy from a distance, perhaps waiting for him to make an escape attempt. Nothing happened.
He shrugged, grabbed Phineas by one of the edges of the metal armour on his back and dragged him along through the building.
Phineas still didn't move a single muscle, even though it seemed as if his eye was moving slightly behind the eyelid.
Platyborg moved him through what seemed to be half of the building, until Phineas was thrown into a cell in a rather unfriendly fashion.
Platyborg looked at Phineas one last time before leaving the cell. When he noticed the boy still wasn't moving, he shrugged and left.
Phineas waited a few more seconds before carefully opening his eye. He smirked. Platyborg didn't even check whether or not he was still alive, and probably even left the cell door open without any extra security.
Phineas got on all fours, walked over to the cell door and pushed it gently.
The metal door swung open slowly, just as expected.
Platyborg had gone overconfident regarding Phineas. The cyborg probably believed he would be able to overpower Phineas easily.
And he'd probably come back for Phineas soon, so Phineas would have to hurry and get back to Ferb and the others.
He quickly left the cell and ran across the hallway.
Surprisingly enough, the entire building seemed to be deserted. Nearly all the Normbots had gone to the First Dimension, or along Doofenshmirtz's side.
Now all what was left for Phineas to do, was to get out of the building.
Luckily, while he'd pretended to pass out, Phineas had carefully studied the way from the balcony to the cell through his eyelashes.
And Phineas happened to have a photo-graphical memory. Not a big surprise.
He ran through the halls of the building, and eventually had to climb a couple of stairs to get to the balcony.
While he was doing this, Phineas remained cautious of anyone still being inside the building.
And it probably wouldn't take long before Platyborg would realise that his captive had escaped.
Luckily, that problem never came to it...
...Well, at least not while Phineas was inside the building.
He'd just reached the balcony, when a platypus armed to the teeth busted through the wall right next to Phineas.
The mammal aimed for Phineas straight away, and the two grappled as Phineas's back hit the floor.
"You shouldn't be mad at me, Perry," Phineas said through gritted teeth. "But at Doofenshmirtz! He did this to you!"
Platyborg tried to attack Phineas, but Phineas managed to roll over, with Platyborg ending up on his back.
Phineas sat on top of him, holding the shoulders of the cyborg platypus tight.
"Listen," he said. "I don't want to do this. But I have to."
Phineas lifted up Platyborg by his arms, and pushed him against the wall...
...Which apparently was the exact same wall as he ended up against in the fight against Perry.
With his tail piercing the fuse box, once again electrocuting him.
"Sorry, buddy," Phineas mumbled.
He activated the jet pack, and set off into the evening sky.
Off to save Ferb and his friends.
With Ferb and his friends
The Resistance was still busy fighting off the army of robots Doofenshmirtz had sent to fight them again.
"Candace?" Second-Dimension Isabella panted as she and her commander ended up back-to-back.
"Yes, Isabella?" Candace asked.
"I don't think we can hold them back much longer," Isabella replied. "I mean- we've been fighting all day. We're tired- very tired."
"I understand, soldier," Candace replied, on the same, strict tone she'd always reply. "But we have to keep fighting. Until the bitter end."
"Yes, ma'am," Isabella replied.
The only thing they didn't know, was that Doofenshmirtz had had enough of the endless fighting, which never seemed to be coming to an end.
Those kids, who called themselves "the Resistance," were strong. Stronger than he'd ever expected.
They lasted longer against his robots than he'd ever expected, too. No kid alive was supposed to be able to do what they were doing.
They'd be valuable cyborgs. But, unfortunately, way too smart, and too risky. Perhaps they'd find a way to avoid being turned into a cyborg. Or maybe be able to fake being on his side, and then foiling and sabotaging all his plans.
He couldn't let that happen and that's why he had to get rid of them.
Forever.
Meanwhile
Doofenshmirtz was proud of what he'd accomplished. He'd found the solution. The only thing that could stop himself.
But the point was, he'd been looking for the kids who could help him out all over the place, but they were nowhere to be found.
Not inside the Second-Dimension building, nor inside his own.
Luckily, when he checked the streets, he found Baljeet and Buford, explaining the situation, and the portal which Dr. Baljeet never closed.
And so it happened that Doofenshmirtz ended up inside the Resistance Base, seeking for the exit he was about to find.
But yet he was unaware of the chaos going on outside.
"Alright, robots! STOP!" Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz shouted.
"Hold your fire," he said, as everyone looked at him.
"You know what? I've had enough. Of all of you."
"...And you are saying?" Perry asked.
"That- that I am going to execute my final plan, Perry the Other Platypus," Doofenshmirtz said.
"Hope you got your 3-D glasses, cause I'm coming at you!"
The Resistance gasped. Ferb, Perry and Candace held each other as the arm extended and let fly with a punch.
"I DON'T THINK SO!" a familiar voice shouted.
It was Phineas. He flew by the arm, knocking Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz out of the cockpit and pulling back the lever, stopping the arm from crushing his friends.
"PHINEAS!" Isabella shouted. Phineas turned around, while still flying in mid-air, and winked at her. "I'm fine," he said.
"You sure, kid?" Doofenshmirtz asked from a distance, who had landed on the ground a few metres further away, as a Normbot snatched Phineas out of the air.
The Normbot pushed him against the wall of one of the houses. Phineas was unable to move.
"Hey!" Ferb shouted, but Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz pushed him aside.
"You ungrateful, spoiled little brat!" he shouted at Phineas. "You- you are still the thorn in my side, the only thing standing in my way!"
Phineas's gaze caught Ferb's. The look on his face was terrified, and so was Ferb's.
"Even after I gave you the chance to start over, to get everything your tiny little heart desires..."
Second-Dimension Candace walked forward and wanted to attack the Normbot holding Phineas, but Doofenshmirtz threw her a withering look.
"Move and you'll never see the kid again," he growled.
Candace stopped moving.
"You know what? I'm done with all of you. I am going to restart my robot, and destroy you all. But, Flynn, let me tell you..."
He moved closer to Phineas, until his mouth was right next to Phineas's ear.
"This time, I'll start with you."
Phineas tried to get away from the Normbot's grip, but failed to do so. Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz walked toward the giant robot, only to be interrupted again.
"Hey!" First-Dimension Doofenshmirtz shouted as he left the secret tunnel leading to the Resistance Base, brandishing something golden coloured.
"What? I'm kind of in the middle of something here!" Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz shouted at his alternate self as he turned around.
But then, he noticed the "thing" Doofenshmirtz was holding.
"Choo-Choo!" he shouted, running toward Doofenshmirtz, apparently forgetting the whole situation with destroying the Resistance.
Doofenshmirtz rolled his eyes, but smiled a little. "Yeah, it's mine. See, I told you I never lost it. It was in a box in my pantry labeled "VHS Tapes"."
He rolled his eyes again. "Go figure. Anyway, you can have it."
Second-Dimension Doofenhsmirtz grabbed the toy train, his eyes almost sparkling with joy. "I can't believe it! Choo-Choo, it is you!"
He hugged the train, and immediately, his expression seemed to change. "Oh, heart melting, backstory resolving, evilness diminishing..."
Doofenshmirtz shrugged, shifting his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. "Eh. It's the least I can do."
Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz looked at himself.
"You know, I don't even know what I was thinking with the whole "evil robots" thing..." he mumbled. "Actually, when I look around," he looked at Phineas, who was still being held against the wall, "I-I'm really embarrassed. Here, let me clean this up."
Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz pulled out a self-destruct remote, destroying all the robots. "Look, "Self Destruct" button."
Once a Doofenshmirtz, always a Doofenshmirtz.
Phineas gasped for air as he fell flat on his face.
"Yeah, you know, we're totally cool now," Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz said. "I'm just going to go back to my home and live out the rest of my days with my Choo-Choo. Okay then, ciao!"
He was about to wander off when the Resistance surrounded him.
"I don't think that will be necessary," Second-Dimension Candace said.
"Uh-oh," Second-Dimension Doofenshmirtz mumbled. "Almost forgot."
"I've called the Firestorm girls," Second-Dimension Isabella said. "They'll be here within less than a minute to pick you up and take you away."
And so they did.
"You know, my crimes against humanity had just completely slipped my mind," he said, as they took him away. "Won't happen again. I promise."
"Very well," Second-Dimension Candace said. "As long as we never have to look at your face everywhere we go again, it's fine by me."
"You know what, guys? We just totally saved Danville!" Candace said and smiled.
"Yes, yes we did. Good job, soldier," Second-Dimension Candace said. "How's Phineas?"
"Fine, I guess," Phineas smiled. He was leaning on his brother's shoulder. "Shall we go home and take off these metal things?" he suggested.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to do that at home, Phineas," Perry said. "Major Monogram called. He wants us all at Headquarters. Just the First Dimension though."
"So, I guess this is goodbye, then?" Second-Dimension Phineas said.
"I guess so," Phineas replied. "I'm glad everything has been solved now, though."
"Phineas, just out of curiosity: where'd you leave Platyborg?"
"On the balcony of the D.E. Inc. building," Phineas replied. "Got his tail stuck in a fuse box. I think he'll live though."
"Maybe the electric shock has disabled the cyborg circuits," Second-Dimension Phineas said. "Maybe we'll have our own Perry back."
"Boy, I do hope you do," Phineas said with a big smile on his face. "You've got a lot of summer to catch up on."
Second-Dimension Phineas chuckled. "Yes. Yes, we do."
