A Clap of Thunder

Platyborg jumped awake at the sound of the door opening. Instantly on the alert in case something was threatening his family, stood at a fighting pose, then blinked.

AJ released the doorknob with a sigh, letting her shoulders slump.

Platyborg shook his head in disbelief, and fought down a surge of very real anger as he realized that she was going to go check on Doofenshmirtz.

Alone.

A quick glance around the room confirmed that Ferb still hadn't woken up, and Linda and Lawrence had gotten back late last night.

He didn't remember waking up, but from the look of terror Linda was giving him right now, he must have done something else to scare her.

Shooting an angry glare at his partner that contained pretty much all of his frustration, he marched over to her, and tapped him foot.

She grabbed the doorknob again, and turned it. "We'll be back in a bit, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher."

The woman was still staring at Platyborg like he was going to annihilate them all. "Take… take your time, dear!"

Even AJ was silent as they climbed into her car. She drove all of a hundred feet before she spoke softly. "Please stop looking at me like that."

He turned his head, and was shocked to see the venom that reflected back from the passenger's rearview mirror. He only meant to sigh, but a whimper tore through him.

Eyes still on the road, AJ reached to pet him. "I know. And I'm sorry. I just thought… well, I guess I didn't really think… but, I thought that if I just checked on the idiot really quickly, you could stay with your family. I didn't mean to give you one more thing to worry about."

One more thing to worry about? You have no idea! Annie, Ferb's sick! -Mom's still terrified of me, and she has every reason to be!-There's some new villain trying to take over, and now I have to worry about you sneaking out to check on Doofenshmirtz alone! Isn't one look at me enough of a reminder what that man can do?

Apparently she did have an idea what he was going through. "Perry, it would have been fine. The man was playing with his train yesterday! Even if that was a ruse, I doubt he would have tried anything. But if it upsets you that much, I wont try it again without talking to you first.

"Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher has been through a lot, and she's been away most of the time you've been home. Just give her a little more time. She's had to get used to quite a bit.

"And Ferb took a hard knock, but the doctor said that it really shouldn't have knocked him out like that. In fact, that's the first place I'm headed. I want to see if there's anything we can find out from that old gym, and around the area where Phineas was attacked."

Platyborg brightened a little at her words. As for her plan, he wasn't a bit surprised that it was so close to his own.

As she stopped the car at the old gym, she kept talking. "I just got to thinking last night, that if one of those robots had some kind of sleeping ray or something, it might explain why Ferb hasn't woken up yet. Just don't get your hopes up too much, because from what I've seen, sometimes a bump can do more damage than you think. He might just be out cold from that."

Platyborg nodded to let her know that he understood, but he was staring that the collapsed building in horror. Phineas and Ferb were in that mess?

He shook it off by reminding himself why they were here, and helped AJ paw through the rubble. Neither of them really knew what they were expecting to find, but as long as it helped, neither of them really cared.

….

Meanwhile, across town, a mysterious unnamed figure was sitting in a room behind a desk. The half of the room he was sitting in was so dark, his face wasn't visible. He seemed to be wearing black, but even that might have been a trick of the light. He sat with both hands on the desk, toying with something small.

A door opened, but a burly thug quickly filled in the hole, blocking the light once more. "We've got 'em in our sights boss. The girl and her tin can. You want me to give the order?"

The man chuckled, but his not even his voice had distinguishable features. "No. It's not going to go that easily on them. Neither of them is a threat to me anymore. No one in this dimension is! They all think they're so clever. That they can prevent me from stepping in to seize control of the city. Well let them. Let them to stop me. Let them try to take over for themselves. None of it will matter once I'm ready."

The thug shifted his weight. "So, you want us to stop following them?"

The man shook his head. "No, no I don't. They might not pose a threat, but I'm not stupid enough to chance them blunder onto my trail. Besides, their efforts might just amuse me. Have your men keep them in their sights, at all times."

The thug nodded. "Sure thing boss, but… they're slippery. We still haven't found their headquarters yet. After they check on Doofenshmirtz, they just vanish."

"Well find it them. Follow them. See where they go. It doesn't really matter to me, but your life may well depend upon it."

The thug gulped, and backed out of the doorway. As he did, a ray of light shot across the desk, revealing the object in the man's hands.

It was a small knife, lost by one Phineas Flynn.

To be continued….

A/N:

Thanks for reading!