"I'm not so sure about this, Ferb. Do you think we're really ready to build something this complicated? And what if it doesn't work? If one little thing goes wrong, then…"
Candace whipped off her sunglasses. "What do you mean? I thought this thing was foolproof! Alright, I'm putting a stop to it…"
"Wait! I'm just double checking, Candace! I think we've got it, I just… I don't know if we should go through with it. Ferb?"
He nodded, giving his brother a thumbs up. It was worth the risk to save the Tri-State area. Besides, the risk was very low; he hoped.
"Alright. On the count of three then. One. Two… Three!"
Together, he and Phineas pressed the button. Before he even had time to wonder if something had gone wrong, the machine started clanging and sputtering. His eyes widened in alarm; the pressure was building up too fast…
—_
Doofenshimrtz Evil Headquarters
_—
Obey, eat, sleep. And keep breathing. That was the new rhythm of his life, and there was no end to it. Obey, breath, eat, sleep.
The more Doofenshmirtz seemed to trust him, the less contact with the outside world he was given. He didn't know if that was a good sign, or a bad sign, but that didn't matter any more than how much he hated being Doofenshmirtz's general instead of the Flynn-Fletcher's pet. He shook his head to clear it before the memories overwhelmed him.
He hadn't seen Annie in ages. He didn't know if that meant that she was safe, turned into a cyborg or, still worse, a failed experiment, but that couldn't matter anymore either.
He sighed, trying to stop his mind from bringing up an image of Phineas's comforting smile. He could sure use one of his hugs right about now… what was he doing? General, general, general… obey, breath, eat, sleep. Obey, breath, eat, sleep…
"What?!" Doofenshmirtz's shrill exclamation nearly caused him to spill the tray he was holding. He steadied the cup before it could tip, and pour coffee onto the rug, and looked the tray over; nothing he couldn't fix. He gave a sigh of relief.
Charline was in the next office, too. "So what's the problem?"
He doubled checked the tray one more time, just to make sure it was how Doofenshmirtz liked it.
"Those meddling brats! Why… how?"
Meddling brats? Had the kids tried something? Don't make him mad! Just lie low!
Charline sounded like she could care less. "Does it really matter? The important part is, you won't have to worry about them anymore."
Wait, why?
"I needed those people!"
She scoffed. "To keep your pet in line? Hardly. You still have the girl, and the entire O.W.C.A. It's not like you lost all your leverage."
Lost his leverage? His heartbeat throbbed in his throat.
"I still don't understand how the house could just… implode like that."
Implode?
"They were probably trying to stop you, and paid the price they deserved. Stop worrying about it!"
It sounded like Doofenshmirt leapt to his feet, smacking his hands onto the table. "You don't seem to understand the gravity of the situation. Platyborg is only under my control under the conditions of our deal. The only family that I could possibly use as leverage against him is DEAD!"
The word was like a bullet to his gut. Something clattered to the floor, and he had to look up to see the contents of the tray he'd been so concerned about before he realized that it was him. The scatter breakfast tray blurred, and so did the black boots that came running into the hall.
Doofenshmirtz was standing over him, watching him cry, but it didn't matter anymore. Nothing mattered.
Charline's voice was a lot closer. "There. You see where your worrying has got you? You didn't even have to tell him. Now he knows. But trust me, things aren't as bad as you think. You still have leverage, and if that fails, you can just dispose of him, and make the other cyborg I've been nagging you about. Problem solved."
Her heals clicked as she walked away. Doofenshmirtz didn't say a word as he stood there, watching him. "Get a grip, Platyborg. It was all a… test. And… you're failing. Better luck next time."
If only that were true, but he could hear the lie in the dictator's voice. He continued to sob, silently, letting the memories rush over at him, letting his failure tear into him. Gone… his family… gone.
He was vaguely aware that Doofenshmirtz was yanking him to his feet, and pulling him along the hallway. He heard everything that was going on around him just as clearly as he kept hearing Doofenshmirtz's voice declaring his family dead, over, and over, and over…
Metal screeched in protest, and he was shoved to his knees. "Fix him!"
"What did you do?!" Two arms were already wrapping around him. Not the arms he needed, but he buried his face in her shoulder anyway. She stroked the back of his head gently, but she was tense. "Doofenshmirtz, what did you do to him?!"
"It wasn't my fault! Those kids were messing around with things they shouldn't have been, and destroyed themselves. There was nothing I could do about it."
"What?"
"Oh don't you start crying too! Just… fix him!"
Metal screeched again, and then they were alone. He cried until he had no energy left to cry anymore.
_—
He felt numb all over as he woke up in the cell. Was curled up a few feet away, face swollen from crying. He shot a look around the cell, protectiveness trying to rise up in him, but as much as he didn't want to loose her, too, the part of him that cared was shattered inside of him, a broken, throbbing mess. How could he protect her, if he hadn't been able to protect his family?
He had no doubt in his mind that they'd been trying to stop Doofenshmirtz. Their safety had meant nothing to them, with the Tri-State-Area under the dictator's control. He clenched his fists.
Annie put a hand on his shoulder. "Right. We're gonna finish what they started. First things first." She held up the lock-pick he'd smuggled to her. "Let's get out of this cell."
He frowned at it, then blasted the cell door. He motioned for her to open the panel where the tools were still hidden. He needed the full use of his weapons back, because Doofenhsmitz's reign was about to end.
—_
Ferb patted Phineas's shoulder as the younger boy wiped his nose. "I know we had to do it. I just hate to think about how much Perry will be hurting."
Candace shrugged. "So don't think about it. Instead, think about how happy he'll be when the Doofenshmirtz family is behind bars where they belong. In the meantime, I'm going to go figure out where we are."
He shot to his feet. "You can't! If someone sees you, they'll figure out what we did, and the whole plan will be spoilt."
She threw up her hands in exasperation. "So we still can't do anything but wait?"
Phineas sided with him. "For right now. Maybe we can work on a cloaking device, next. But Ferb's got a point. If any of us are spotted, we lose our advantage. For now, we need t stay dead."
_—
A/N: I was going to leave this as a cliffhanger, but… that's been done, and who knows when I'll get back around to updating this again? Hopefully it won't be as long as last time, but as you know by now, I get distracted, really easily.
So what do you think? Too much? Too cliche? Too predictable? Drop a comment in the review box, and I'll try to get back to you as soon as I can. Thank you!
