"Excuse me, could you pass me the that paperclip and the jar of peanut butter over there?"
Those were Lawrence Fletcher's first words to her.
Perry struggled under the butterfly net.
"So after Cat finishes the modifications on the Public Art Away inator, we'll activate it, freeing up the prime spot for an evil picnic here in the park! Ahahaha!" Doof cackled maniacally.
Perry knew he didn't have much time. He beckoned Doof lean towards him, as if to whisper something in his ear. Naturally, Doof came closer, curious as to what Perry the Platypus wanted to say, which brought him in range for a swift, destabilising punch from the trapped nemesis. Doof was sent flying, and with his weight no longer on the net, Perry flung it off himself and leapt to thwart the second half of his nemesis duo...
10 am sharp. That was the time she needed to be there.
Caroline found it counterintuitive that the agency discussed things like start times with the evil scientists it was meant to thwart, but she didn't dwell on it. She also didn't dwell on the lack of training she'd received - all she'd been given was a brief rundown of the system, a giant book of OWCA by-laws, and a fedora. She'd 'learn on the job', the Lieutenant had said.
Well, she was about to start learning real soon.
Not that it worried her. In fact, she felt a nervous excitement building up. She ran through the key details in her mind once more: his name was Robinson Collins, he was a fresh PhD graduate from Camford-Upon-Oxbury, with a degree in Mathematics, and he lived at the bottom of Grange Road.
There was just one problem, though. 'The bottom of Grange Road' could refer to two houses: one of them being a perfectly normal flat, and the other being a large, ominous castle which had its own thundering dark clouds localised above it.
It seemed obvious that her nemesis-to-be should live in the castle, but Caroline resolved to check the flat first. She wasn't going to be caught out making any assumptions. Having said that, the house didn't exactly reek of 'evil scientist'. The door to the house was just a plain, cream door with a simple doorknob, and the doormat read 'bless this mess'. If Dr. Collins did live here, then he was going to be quite different to what she expected.
Caroline wasn't sure what to expect of the potentially evil lair. A corridor of lasers? A pit of sharks? A decoy scientist that would turn into a trap and restrain her, while the true Dr Robinson Collins emerged from the shadows, cackling maniacally while stroking the fat cat in his arms? The countless possibilities gave her a tingle of excitement.
Carefully, she whipped out her fedora, placing it neatly on her head, just as the agency had taught her (something they spent an unusual amount of time on, really). She checked the time: 10:00 am precisely. She was about to knock before she suddenly wondered whether she was supposed to kick down the door instead. Or was she supposed to slip in undetected? She made a mental note to ask when she got back to the office.
Taking a deep, calming breath, she tried the doorknob. To her surprise, it was unlocked, and the door swung open from a gentle push.
She expected something unexpected, something remarkable. But the most remarkable thing about the house she had stepped into was how unremarkable it was: there was a small space for shoes and coats, but other than that, it was ordinary.
She heard a shuffling sound from behind the door at the end of the corridor. It was looking unlikely that this was the evil lair in question, but she still approached the door cautiously, the sound becoming distinguished as the struggling of a man wrestling against something. Then the wrestling sounds stopped, and in that second Caroline shoved aside her apprehensiveness and kicked open the door.
This time the sight she came across really was unexpected. The room's walls were covered in posters about fish and boats, mounted fishing lines, and proudly framed photos of tiny fish caught on the line of the man on the floor in the middle of the room that was tangled in the line of a fishing pole and what kind of nutter had she gotten involved with?
Neither of them spoke for a moment, as each took in the appearance off the other.
"Excuse me," the man then said politely. "Could you pass me that paperclip and that jar of peanut butter over there?"
Perry leapt towards the clearing, testing patches of grass with his foot in order to find the trigger that would cause Cat and the Inator to rise from under the ground, as he had seen them sink into it moments after he was captured by Doof. But then, he spotted movement in the corner of his eye.
"Oh, there you are, Perry," Phineas smiled, jogging over from out of the trees surrounding the clearing. He holstered his toy laser gun and picked up his mindless pet, who responded with his signature chirp.
"Come on, Perry, help me find Isabella," he said, heading back into the trees.
The secret agent took a nervous glance over the shoulder of his owner as he saw Doof recover from being hit and getting up, wondering where his nemesis Perry the Platypus had gotten off to, before shrugging and stepping on the the trigger switch. The inator, along with Cat, rose up from the floor with a ground-shaking groan, though thankfully, Phineas was too preoccupied with his game of laser tag to hear it. Doof said something and Caroline laughed, happy, leaning on Doof's shoulder as he tinkered a little with the machine. Perry found himself wondering once again how Ferb's mother had ended up going from Lawrence to Heinz.
Phineas set Perry down and split away from him, beckoning Perry to search in one direction before heading off to searching through the trees in the other. Perry figured he had better help before he could get back to thwarting. He was no tracker dog, but his sense of smell was sharper than average, and he sniffed, picking up on Isabella's flowery scent. It was nearby. He picked his way towards Isabella, but couldn't see her until he looked up and saw her crouched onto the side of the tree, her boots defying gravity as they clung to the vertical surface. Perry chattered.
"Perry?" she gasped, keeping her voice low. "Don't give away my position!" But then, a laser shot echoed throughout the trees, and a red beam of light bounced off trees until it struck Isabella. It knocked her off the tree and she fell, but her jetpack automatically activated before she reached the ground, granting her a safe landing.
"No fair, Phineas!" she shouted playfully. "I'm going to get you back for that!" with that, she jumped off, leaping between trees and branches as she travelled in the direction the laser was fired, in search of her friend. No longer being watched, Perry whipped on his fedora and rushed back to where Cat and Doof were continuing their evil schemeā¦
"Well, as you must have guessed, I like to do a little fishing here and there," the man explained apologetically, after Caroline helped him get untangled. He was clad in a padded brown fishing vest that seemed too big for him. "I've been experimenting with some more unique bait and hooks and, um, got into a bit of a muddle."
He stood up and brushed himself off, largely unperturbed, as Caroline stared at him in amazement. He outstretched a hand. "I'm Lawrence. Lawrence Fletcher."
"Caroline Worthington," she said, shaking his hand uncertainly.
He paused upon hearing her name. He most likely recognised her name from Worthington Tea, but to Caroline's surprise he said nothing about it. "Well, can I get you anything?" he said warmly, picking his way carefully over the fishing equipment scattered over the floor to reach the kitchen. He began rummaging around his cupboards. "I've got some lovely crumpets here somewhere, or simply some 'rich tea' biscuits, if you'd rather have something light?"
Something inside Caroline bade her to stay. But that was the Evangeline in her, the part of her she was supposed to have left behind. "I'm afraid I've got a job to do elsewhere. My apologies for the disturbance," she said.
"Ah, that's a shame," said Lawrence. "Well, it was lovely meeting you, Miss Worthington."
With a foot outside the door, Caroline hesitated. "Next time," she resolved aloud. "Next time, I'll take you up on those crumpets."
"Excellent, I'll count down the days," Lawrence said happily, before returning to fashioning his fish hook.
With a slight smile, Caroline turned out of the house to enter that ominous castle of Dr. Robinson Collins.
