Author's Note: Sorry for the very late update! Been busy with school, work, and a power outage, and now I have a nasty cold, so it took a bit before a normal routine could be put in. I get to write for less than an hour each day, so updates will definitely be slower than usual. My apologies, but there's no getting past priorities!
IMPORTANT: I suppose this was not addressed clearly enough in my chapter eight author's note, so I will repeat the message in clearer words: Ymaconis and I have settled the dispute between the similarities between our stories. In the third chapter of "Dark Side of the Moon" she states in her author's note that parts of the story were inspired from "In the Dark." That is all the credit I want or need, and I ask that everyone drop the matter and stop attacking Ymaconis. If you're still truly concerned or have any questions, simply send me a message and I'll get back to you.
Also, stop abusing the anonymous review function of this story. The review board is not a forum to discuss matters with other reviewers. Simply make an account and take the matter over to a forum or send a message to whomever you want to communicate with. And please, PLEASE stop using the anonymous review function to ask me questions that you expect answers to. I don't want to respond to reviews within chapters since FFN banned that quite a while back when the review-reply feature was created, but anonymous reviews makes this very difficult to uphold when specific questions are asked. (FYI: Song lyrics within fanfics are also not allowed on FFN, so I will not be posting them in any of my stories.)
Thank you to everyone who does not abuse the anonymous and signed review feature! You guys have definitely made this story even more enjoyable to write than it has been. :)
Chapter Ten: Echoes of a Boy
The looming tripods took their stance before the three of them, and out of the corner of Perry's eye he noticed Ferb take a cautious step back, keeping the same distance from the tripods. One of the tripods lunged forward, slamming itself into the hard, metal floor with its three iron legs. The impact caused some indentations in the ground to appear, but the metal floor held together. Doofenshmirtz recoiled back, sliding himself on his behind in a cowardly manner until he was next to Perry. The evil scientist gave Perry an anxious look, putting his hope of survival on his nemesis for this round.
Quickly surveying the area, Perry discovered that their only exit had closed up, and that their best tactic for escape would be to break through a section of the glass window. Perry would then use his parachute to carry the three of them safely to the ground. There was plenty of time to make sure the jump was right and that both humans were balanced in the air so that Perry could steer them clear of buildings and seemingly random city trees.
Everything sounded so easy when spoken in his mind, but the highly trained, secret agent knew that it was anything but. A million things could interfere with this simple setup. Also...
Looking over his shoulder at Ferb, Perry found that his owner had already adopted a defensive stance that was rather similar to Perry's. Ferb had already surrendered himself to fighting, not escaping, and Perry knew the exact reason why.
Phineas. Phineas could be here. Phineas could be right in their reach. If they stuck it out against Pinky's nemesis and her tripods, then they might reunite with the one person everyone was looking for.
Not waiting to scope out the enemy, as was the case of mindless robots, the tripod leaned forward and swiped at them with its metal arm. It was an easy dodge, fortunately for Perry, and he made sure that Ferb steered clear of the attack while he pulled Doofenshmirtz back by his upper arm, ignoring the nasally, high-pitched scream the man emitted as the force of the swinging arm cruised just before their noses, creating a harsh breeze from the sheer velocity. Even a platypus could tell that the attack had meant to disable the three of them in one go. These tripods were not playing around with them.
Perry grabbed Ferb's right wrist and Doofenshmirtz's left and pulled them with him as he tried to bring them closer to the glass entrance. He knew Ferb would not agree with his decision to aim for escape, but if worst came to worst, then he wanted Ferb safe and out of harm's way.
A large shadow floated over them, and they looked up simultaneously to see another tripod sailing overhead. Perry skidded to a stop, causing Ferb and Doofenshmirtz to do the same, and they watched as the tripod landed directly in front of them, blocking the glass exit.
"Oh, this is great! Just great!" Doofenshmirtz complained as Perry tugged him in a new direction, only for the third tripod to beat them to the destination. They were surrounded. "This must be what I get for helping my nemesis. Is this evil's version of karma?"
Perry ignored Doofenshmirtz, keeping a wary eye on the three tripods that were slowly closing in on them. If they tried to run between any of them, the tripods would definitely take them out with their robotic arms. Perry no longer had a jetpack, either, so flying straight up and through the ceiling was out of the question. From any viewpoint, they were trapped.
Doofenshmirtz yanked his wrist away from Perry, but remained facing one of the tripods as he spoke. "Well, you're the secret agent. You must have something to get us out of here!" He chanced a glance at the platypus. "C'mon, I've used worse things than tripods on you!"
Ferb blinked, turning his attention to the evil scientist. In his mind, Perry knew that his young owner was putting two-and-two together. He looked back at Perry for a moment before choosing to finally settle his gaze on the approaching tripods. It was a nice change from what Phineas' reaction had been, but Perry didn't have time to thank Ferb for his patience and understanding.
The next move was quick, nearly bullet-speed, so Perry had less than a second to spare. Though the tripods orders were to seize them, not kill them, there was no telling what kind of damage they would deem acceptable to do to them. They were in triangle formation and seemed to be very compact in their stances. One of the tripods, the one closest to Ferb, shot its hand out, prepared to capture the young boy in its metal grasp. Perry gripped a bunch of purple fabric from Ferb's overalls and forcefully moved his owner behind Doofenshmirtz, using his nemesis' taller frame to overshadow Ferb's. As he did this, he also built up the momentum to barrel roll under the oncoming metal hand. There was no time to evaluate the success of his move for he had to keep up his evasive maneuvers, trying to let the tripods see whom they really need to focus on.
Using a tactic he had used with the Normbots of the second dimension, Perry jumped onto the tripod that had come close to grabbing Ferb. The metal provided poor traction for him, but he was able to steady himself on the bend of one of the tripod's legs, propelling himself off the leg and onto the head of the tripod. Despite the tripod design that the robots had, they heavily reminded him of the Normbots the other dimension Doofenshmirtz had made; the heads of both robots were definitely the same design. Just how did Professor Poofenplotz get her hands on such blueprints? She was not active during the other dimension fiasco.
One of the tripod's metal hands tried to slap him off with its open palm, resulting in Perry ducking behind the head in order to avoid the painful swipe. His tactic worked, though, as he noticed the other tripods approaching the tripod that he was on, leaving Doofenshmirtz and Ferb free to find an escape route.
Unfortunately, neither human seemed to take the hint and remained in their spots, watching on as Perry attempted to take on all three tripods. If Perry hadn't needed his hands to hold onto the tripod, he would have slapped his forehead at their stroke of stupidity, which was very unusual for his owner of all people to experience.
Perry didn't have time to reflect on this any longer as one of the two approaching tripods transformed his right hand into a laser cannon and aimed it directly at Perry. A red glow illuminated within the hollow cannon, and Perry wasted no time in jumping off the tripod. In hindsight, he realized that he should have ricocheted off the tripod and onto the next tripod, but he realized being caught in midair may have had worse consequences. The laser beam shot at the place he had been, behind the tripod's head, effectively demolishing the metal helmet-shaped head to the point where it seemed as though the beam had simply made the head disappear. If the tripod recharged quickly, then it could have easily directed a laser at him before he even reach the next tripod.
Nevertheless, Perry smirked as the headless tripod crashed backwards into the ground. The repeat of his plan had worked.
He dodged an onslaught of lasers, wondering in the back of his mind as he evaded them why the tripod was using an offensive attack not designated for capturing, but for killing. Something was not right.
Perry was just about to make a swift turn towards the tripod that wasn't shooting at him, but something attached itself tightly around his middle and yanked him into the air. Shocked, Perry could only turn his head slightly to see the tripod that had been shooting at him had manage to distract Perry with the laser arm so that his regular one could sneak up and grab the platypus. These tripods were much smarter than the Normbots from the other dimension.
"Okay, now?" Perry heard Doofenshmirtz's voice from the other side of the room. He looked over to the two humans, finding that they were both missing their shoes on their feet. Ferb and Doofenshmirtz ran towards the tripod that had captured him, and he watched as Doofenshmirtz swung his shoes that he had tied in a similar fashion to how Ferb had tied his shoes to create makeshift nun chucks in the other dimension. He let go of the laces, allowing the pair of shoes to glide right over to the tripod legs. The laces automatically wrapped around the legs, and the added weight of the black shoes caused the laces to wrap around the legs multiple times. Perry was no mathematician, but he knew that simple shoelaces could not withstand the strength of heavy, iron tripod legs.
The tripod seemed to share his thoughts, and made a move to break one leg loose of the bonds. In a surprising twist, the tripod struggled to break free of the laces, and in its struggle the tripod lost its balance, sending the robotic machine crashing to the floor. An involuntary reflex caused the tripod to let go of Perry, and he immediately took advantage of this opportunity to escape the tripod. He watched as the tripod squirmed on the floor, unable to move its legs enough to get back up.
Ferb stopped by his side, swinging his shoes the same way Doofenshmirtz had done. Perry knew Ferb was the real source of this action and somehow got Doofenshmirtz to follow his lead. The British-born boy practically whipped his nun chuck shoes at the last-standing tripod's legs, perfectly encircling the legs and trapping them in their place. As with the other tripod, it struggled to move for a moment before losing its balance and falling to the ground.
"Perry the Platypus, do you remember when that, uh, embarrassing video of me was plastered all over the Internet?" Doofenshmirtz didn't wait for the platypus to give a response. "Well, I ended up tripping over a frayed shoelace, so I had to replace the aglet." Perry stared at him, waiting to see where the evil scientist's story was going. "After you left, I had the time to construct unbreakable rubber shoelaces so that I wouldn't end up making a mistake like that again."
That explained the tripod's inability to break free of Doofenshmirtz's shoelaces. Perry turned to Ferb who gave him a noncommittal shrug.
"Leftover from a project," Ferb explained, and though Doofenshmirtz wasn't quite sure what that meant, Perry knew exactly what Ferb was getting at.
"You've defeated the tripods, I see."
They all turned towards the speaker, Professor Poofenplotz, who looked mildly annoyed. It was hard to read her expression when the older woman seemed to have more Botox injections than a supermodel in her late thirties. She closed her eyes, revealing obnoxious dark pink eye shadow, and then opened them, directing her gaze at Ferb. Perry growled lowly, not liking the old hag's focus on his owner.
"You're just as troublesome as that other brat, except he seemed to talk more." She paused, stretching the muscles in her face to allow a cold-hearted smirk to take over. "Good thing he's not a thorn in my side anymore."
"Where's Phineas!" Ferb's booming voice practically hollered, resonating throughout the lab. Professor Poofenplotz did not seem intimidated by his thunderous volume, simply tilting her head to the side a tad to take in the young boy's form. Perry's nerves begged him to spring into action, but he was reluctant to leave Ferb's side. Surprisingly, it was Doofenshmirtz who chose to step forward.
"Look, you weird, old, psychotic, old crone!" Doofenshmirtz snapped, pointing a finger rudely in her direction. Professor Poofenplotz flinched slightly at the use of his derogatory term of "old" twice. "I don't know who you are, but you better tell us where the boy is!" Doofenshmirtz crossed his arms. "We beat your lame tripods fair and square, and unless you have something else up your sleeve, the Code of Evil Written on Many Napkins dictates that you surrender your evil scheme to the victors—us!"
Professor Poofenplotz looked flatly at Doofenshmirtz as she uninterestedly held her arms up, revealing to them that she had no sleeves. "Guess I have nothing to hide, do I?" She put her arms back down, turning serious. "As I've said, the boy with the triangular-shaped head isn't my problem anymore."
"Then where is he? You don't get to destroy my house that my ex-wife pays for and take my nemesis' attention from me only to lead us to a—a dead-end!" Doofenshmirtz approached the old woman, looking beyond pissed at the events that had taken place. "You owe me for those damages that you've caused! My house, my hovercraft, my back—yeah, granted I'm not as old as you, but I tend to slouch a lot and this hasn't helped it. Anyway, back to my original point." Doofenshmirtz pulled himself onto the landing Professor Poofenplotz was standing on. "Tell us where he is or I guarantee that Perry the Platypus will put an end to your twisted career!"
Perry nearly face-faulted. He had allowed himself to believe for a moment that Doofenshmirtz was planning on taking care of their business. That certainly would be a stretch for the middle-aged evildoer.
Professor Poofenplotz continued to uphold her nonchalant expression, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glancing out of the corner of her eye at Ferb and Perry. Doofenshmirtz continued to glare at her, waiting for an answer. Her unwavering stare matched his, and she finally relented.
"Dead." Her lips twitched. "Happy now?"
It was the second time within twenty-four hours that an entire police squad was at Lawrence's suburban home. This time, the entire neighborhood seemed to be in their front yard, discussing with police officers the possible whereabouts of their children. Everything seemed so surreal; Lawrence kept expecting to suddenly wake up next to his wife, commenting on what a horrific dream he had just had and how he shouldn't eat sugary pudding* so late at night if he wants to avoid a repeat of that nightmare.
Now it seemed as if the nightmare he had awoken to this morning was repeating. Ferb's frantic tone echoed in his mind, sounding more distant than he remembered it being. As he stood by his wife, solemnly listening to the Police Chief's trained words of comfort, Lawrence tried to recall better times when Phineas and Ferb were in the backyard or accompanying him on what they liked to refer to as "adventures."
Vague images appeared in his mind, and sometimes he could picture Phineas' mouth moving, but no words would come out. Lawrence trembled, trying to force the voice of his stepson to arise from the depths of his mind. It hadn't been that long. He had just talked to Phineas the other night when he bid both his boys goodnight. He knew what words Phineas responded with; he even knew what tone Phineas had used.
"Goodnight, father."
Ferb's voice from last night crept into his thoughts. He was the only one of his boys that he could still hear clear and sound in his mind. Phineas' voice remained out of reach.
"Sir, are you listening?"
"Yes, yes," Lawrence gravely answered, tightening his arm around his wife's waist. Linda gripped his shoulder to return some comfort.
The Police Chief gave Lawrence and his wife a sympathetic look, losing his normally stoic front that he had put up before them the entire day. "I know how hard this must be for you. I have a daughter myself and I... I'm not sure what I would do if I was in your situation."
"All that you can," Lawrence promptly answered. "You wouldn't rest until she was safe at home."
The Police Chief nodded. "You're right. Well, I'm going to see if anyone was able to provide any more information."
Lawrence nodded in return, looking around his front yard at all the distressed parents. None of them kept an eye on their kids every hour of the day. The neighborhood was such a safe place, and their children were so smart. He recalled his wife filling him in on what Candace's friend Stacy had said, telling them that the neighborhood children had banded together to find Phineas.
They looked out for one another. You could teach your children no better in life.
Vivian Garcia-Shapiro managed to get through the crowd and made her way over to them. The normally exuberant woman had tears in her eyes and looked completely disarray, much like Linda had earlier this morning. She struggled to inhale as she stopped in front of them, trying to compose herself. Her little Chihuahua skittered behind her, shaking as the tiny dog usually did.
"I never thought something like this would happen," she began, bringing a shaky hand to her mouth. The small hitch in her voice hinted to Lawrence that the woman was struggling to not cry. "I know how strongly Isabella feels about Phineas, but I didn't..."
Linda broke away from Lawrence, enveloping her dear friend and neighbor into a hug. "It's not your fault. We'll find them. They could just be in the city. Someone will spot them."
Lawrence had to admire his wife's strength to comfort another when she still needed just as much support. Despite her breakdowns, Linda was the emotionally strong one between the two of them. Without her, there was no way Lawrence could get through this.
Vivian tried to hold it together, gripping her friend's shirt tighter for reassurance. "I should have talked to her more. She loves Phineas so much... I should have known she would... I should have—"
Lawrence stopped listening at that point, having already been through more "shoulds" than one could count. Right now it felt as though all they could do was reflect on what they should have done and not what they can do. He supposed it went along with feeling helpless, powerless to do anything. It had to have been what drove Ferb and Candace to take off with everyone, wanting to get some control back in their lives before they lost it.
A blurred image of Phineas' face appeared in his mind's eye. Lawrence still couldn't hear his voice.
Pinky listened to the crowd of people. After reporting the information to his boss, Wanda Acronym, he was ordered to return home until further notice. He had just scampered through his doggy door and into the living room when a loud knock sounded from the front door. Resuming his role as a normal dog, Pinky followed Isabella's mother to the front door, yapping a bit to alert her and the visitor of his presence.
"Oh, there you are, Pinky," Vivian greeted him before opening the front door to greet their visitor. A man wearing a police uniform stood on their front steps, looking somber and serious. The air around them seemed to drop sharply in temperature, and Pinky found himself shaking more than usual.
"Ma'am, are you Vivian Garcia-Shapiro?" the police officer asked.
Vivian noticeably tensed, though her left hand trembled by her side. If Pinky were taller, he would have nuzzled her hand with her head to ease her nerves, but all he could do was trot to her side and wait for the police officer to continue.
"Yes," she tentatively answered. "Is there a problem, officer?"
The police officer straightened up, looking her straight in the eye. "Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro, do you have a daughter named Isabella?"
Pinky suddenly understood why the air around them seemed colder than usual. His eyes widened along with Vivian's, and he begged the man to not relay what had been relayed to Agent Perry this morning.
"Y-Yes, what—"
The police officer didn't let her finish. "Ma'am, your daughter has been reported missing along with other children in this neighborhood. Do you have any idea where she might be?"
Pinky sat down on the grassy ground as he listened to the serious and tear-filled conversations taking place around him. Rage seared beneath his skin at the thought of anyone touching his kindhearted owner, but an even stronger emotion kept him from bolting off irrationally and blindly in any direction until he picked up his owner's scent. An ache persisted in his chest, as though with every breath something was intentionally stabbing him with a sort of viciousness he had never experienced before.
He whined softly, wondering if Agent Perry had experienced the same feeling when he discovered that Phineas had been kidnapped. It was maddening. He gave the platypus credit for being able to focus despite everything going on. The only thing tying him down to reality was his need to comfort Vivian until her husband returned home.
A beep sounded on his right paw, alerting Pinky that his boss was trying to contact him. None of the adults had heard the sound, something Pinky was grateful for, but he was reluctant to leave the scene. He looked up at Vivian who was being comforted by Agent Perry's Linda. She would be fine if he left her on her own for a bit, wouldn't she?
Pinky slowly backed away from the heartbroken woman, making an unspoken vow to find and bring back Isabella. While Vivian was unable to sense his promise, it still managed to make Pinky feel better, and he escaped the crowded front yard with ease, heading into his backyard towards the chimney entry way. He flipped his fedora on, activating the secret passageway with his paw. The chimney opened up much like an elevator, and Pinky hastily climbed in. The doors closed shut and within seconds opened once more, revealing Pinky's lair, a very girly and pink place coated with flowers. Most agents would be embarrassed to have such an unmanly lair, but Pinky had grown up with Isabella and was used to the setting.
Pinky scampered over to his chair, landing on top of the cushion just as the wide screen before him came to life, showing a headshot of his boss.
"Agent P, we have gathered intel that one of your host family members has gone missing. We are attempting to contact Agent P of Major Monogram's sector for more information, but communication with the agent has been nearly impossible." Admiral Acronym kept a stern look on her face, but she still looked rather troubled. "There is nothing more we can do."
Usually quiet in his boss' presence, Pinky broke the routine by giving a sharp bark. She couldn't have possibly been hinting that Pinky was to do nothing but sit and wait for Agent Perry to provide him with more information. Agent Perry had his own family to worry about!
"Agent P!" Admiral Acronym scolded. "I know you're upset, but there is nothing we can do. As a member of O.W.C.A., it is your duty to wait for further instructions when, and only when, we have sufficient knowledge of the situation! Do I make myself clear?"
Pinky, shaking in his seat, refused to look at his boss. How could she expect him to sit and wait? She had to understand that even though Pinky was a secret agent, he was also a pet—man's best friend. Isabella might need him right now! She might need help.
"Agent Pinky, do I make myself clear?" Admiral Acronym repeated, enunciating the last five words.
Pinky looked up at the screen and gave his boss a reluctant salute. It was sufficient enough for his boss, as she cut their connection, letting the screen resume a neutral color once more. There seemed to be nothing more that Pinky could do than wait lest he have to face his boss' fury. In retrospect, he didn't even have a direction to start with. Giving him Agent Perry's last coordinates could lead him nowhere or worse, farther away from Isabella.
Hopping off his chair, Pinky made his slow trek back to his backyard. He figured he would spend the rest of his time waiting with Isabella's mother until his boss was able to update him on anything. This was just pure torture having to remain stationary while he could be running about being helpful.
The elevator doors opened up, and Pinky followed the usual routine, and he was just about to exit the chimney entrance when a furry paw larger than his own grabbed his front leg and yanked him away from the secret entrance. On instinct, Pinky prepared to get the upper hand and adjust the assaulter's grip to sling the assaulter onto his or her back, but he was luckily able to catch sight of just who the animal was.
Agent Peter the Panda let go of him, motioning to what appeared to be a tape recorder in his other paw. Pinky stared at it, wondering why the transfer agent would want to show him it. The panda just surveyed the area, making sure no one was within earshot before he pressed a button on the tape recorder.
Static sounded for a moment before the unmistakable sound of Ferb's voice played on the tape. He seemed to be answering a phone. Another voice appeared on the tape, but this one Pinky was unable to recognize or place. It was definitely feminine, but it sounded older than Isabella, yet younger than a female adult's voice. Confused, Pinky looked up at Agent Peter for an explanation, to which the transfer agent handed him the tape recorder. Pinky took it absentmindedly listening to the female voice talk to Ferb about a strange magazine that she had found and that he needed to check it out. Flipped over the tape recorder, Perry found a piece of white tape that had a long word scratched into the back of it.
Pinky looked at Agent Peter in shock, realizing what illegal action the transfer agent had done. Only the agency had the right to tap phone lines and tape cellphone signals, and that right did not extend to the field agents. Sharing this information was a major risk, and Pinky felt grateful towards the usually stoic animal agent. Peter the Panda was not known for putting his job on the line for anyone.
"Okay, you and your friends need to get here as soon as you can. This has to be the kidnapper's magazine."
Pinky knew where he needed to go; damn the agency if they try to stop him.
His Isabella was at Agent Perry's nemesis' place, and he would gladly put his job on the line to make sure she was safe and sound.
Working without Phineas or Ferb proved to be a very difficult endeavor for Isabella and the Fireside Girls. Gathering the materials had been easy—the place was a live-in junkyard full of plenty of scraps—and arranging the teams was a basic, redundant routine for Isabella. She had gotten so used to the normal routine that she almost turned around to ask Phineas where to start. When she turned, though, only an empty space greeted her, and she stared at the vacant spot for a few hesitant moments.
She turned back to her Fireside Girls; her mouth parted open to give out the first order, but she found herself unable to speak. They stared at her expectantly, trying to look past Isabella's crestfallen expression.
"Okay! Here's what we're gonna do first!" Candace stormed in, standing beside Isabella. "Phineas and Ferb always start with blueprints, so we need to make a plan to go by!"
Silence spread amongst the girls, and they looked to each other helplessly for someone to take the next step forward. Phineas and Ferb, well, mainly Ferb, usually had the blueprints ready for them. Baljeet corrected their blueprints for them, but not even he actually made them.
Isabella frowned, finding her group back at square one again. This was not working out as well as she hoped it would. She couldn't imagine spending another day like this.
That note was not mincing words when it told them to prepare to live out the worst days of their lives.
"How about we look for a blueprint?" Isabella looked up, watching as Jeremy scratched the back of his head, appearing to be in the process of thought. "This guy has created so many things by the looks of it, and I think we can go off one of his old blueprints." He turned to the group, smirking. "Of course, we'll have to make some major adjustments to it so that when we fight back, we won't become pieces of scrap again."
"Yeah... Yeah!" Candace voiced more enthusiastically. She smiled down at Isabella. "Know what to do now?"
Isabella returned her smile, knowing the older girl was trying to lift her spirits. Candace may have lost her little brother, but Isabella felt as if she had lost her entire world. She knew it was cruel to compare their feelings, as they would always be different, but Candace would probably understand her more if Jeremy had been missing too. Candace was lucky. Isabella felt that the older girl actually knew that, though.
"Alright, girls," Isabella addressed. "You heard the man! Find a blueprint for a giant robot! We'll choose the best ones and design our own, letting Baljeet give us the okay before we complete it!
"We also need to hurry! Every second that passes is a second that Phineas and Ferb needs us!" Isabella added, emphasizing the need for urgency. "Let's move it!"
"Yes, Chief!" the Fireside girls chorused. Isabella nodded, setting off to do some searching herself. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Jeremy taking Candace's hand and leading her off to another side of the lab. Her heart ached, and she tore her gaze away from them, blinking back fresh tears.
She hated how much love could hurt sometimes.
*pudding means dessert here, not actual pudding.