He checked himself over carefully for a tracker. Once he was certain he didn't have one on his person, hat, or vehicle, he turned around and started going the right way. He sighed. Why did Doof have to be so over-dramatic? Of course he was going to do everything that he could to get back to his boys.
He gave another sigh. He'd been right about Annie though. Due to their jobs, that had actually been one of their more serious conversations. He'd acted out Doof accidentally doing him in, and pointed home, then pointed to her, and crossed his heart.
She'd nodded, looking extremely uncomfortable. "Of course I'd look after them. Right after I destroyed Doofenshmirtz."
He'd smirked and shaken his head, knowing she'd probably end up comforting the scientist no matter how angry she was at him. She'd gotten really quiet after that, then smiled. "Same goes for me. If anything happens, take care of them."
He'd just rolled his eyes at that.
"I'm serious. They're all I have too, you know. Besides several dozen pasties I'm sure to orphan." She'd poked him in the side with a wink. "That's what I want you to do for me. If anything ever happens, I want you to come over here, and make sure all that food in my pantry doesn't go to waste. Kay?"
He'd shrugged then gone back to watching the soap opera with her. After all, nothing could possibly happen to her while he was still alive, so what did it matter?
He packed the painful memory away. Right now, he had to focus so that he could keep that promise.
It was a little more difficult to break into to 'The Villain's' second evil lair, but he'd managed it. He was working on his own, but he knew the major well enough to know that as soon as he had the murderous wretch in custody, he'd have any back-up he could ask for in a matter of moments.
He noticed the loose tile a second too late. "Not very good at avoiding traps, are you? Still, I suppose congratulations are in order. No one who was lucky enough to escape me ever had the guts to come back. So tell me, what's your motive? Duty, or revenge?"
A small screen lit up, showing security footage of Annie climbing into a broken water main. It cut to her swinging out of it inside the building, taking out two guards, then cut again to a different room, with about twenty more guards. He felt he owed it to his friend to watch the next part again. It didn't cut when she was shoved into the water. Far too many moments passed before he ran on screen and dove in, then the room exploded.
The screen clicked off, and over to the side, a light snapped on, reveling another sickeningly familiar sight.
"Behold, the wall of fallen enemies. You'll see your picture is still intact? I'm thorough, I can assure you."
He hadn't even noticed his picture; he was too busy staring at the one from Annie's file. It was wrinkled and covered in watermarks, like someone had submerged it for a long time before slashing the X into it.
"I guess it doesn't matter. I've improved upon my last trap. This one will serve as your death chamber as well; it's vacuuming all the air out as I speak. You, my little pest, have compromised your last evil lair." He stooped down so that his nose was almost touching the trap. "Not very good revenge, considering what I took from you. Ah well, your loss."
He grinned evilly, and strode through the doors, leaving the illuminated wall as the only source of light in the room.
He felt oddly numb as he blinked at the cruel reminder of his fallen friend, vaguely aware the the air was being sucked from the trap.
Doof's angry voice filled his head. '…The last thing she would have wanted would be for you to go back and get yourself killed, too!…'
Then Annie's. 'Same goes for me. If anything happens, take care of them.'
It can't end like this.
The trap was pretty much the same, aside from the restraints, and the small tube that was sucking out the air. Weak spot.
Now if he could just pop the restraints… Aha! The Villian could learn a thing or two about how strong a platypus is. And he was just the agent to teach him.
As it turned out, The Villain was more of a hiding, trapping, and disposing of his victims king of guy, and decidedly not a fighter. His goons put up a struggle, but when Perry crashed through the door to the inner sanctum, the quivering mass surrendered before he could get a punch in. That wall all to fresh in his mind, he took it anyway.
He glared down at the unconscious evildoer as he called in his backup.
Monogram came personally, and took the time to pull him aside while other agents cleared out the lair. "Good work, Agent P. I… I only wish that… darn it… I recruited that girl. To have this power crazed, egotistical coward take her down so senselessly…" he shook his head. "Well, that's the danger we all face when we come to work. Agent P, it looks like you're going to need to be reassigned again. I'm going to personally see that this guy is punished to the full extent of the law. The files we had before were evidence enough. Who knows what we'll find here… but none of that concerns you. For now, I want you to take some time off. Stay home. Take comfort in your family. You've more than earned a rest."
He nodded listlessly, saluted, and headed back for his hovercar.
Monogram had summed things up. The man they'd set out to stop was stopped, but that didn't bring Annie back. He stopped, went back to the wall of fallen agents, took Annie's picture down, and brought it with him. He considered suggesting to Monogram that all the pictures be returned to loved ones to give them some sense of closure, but the way each had been mutilated so specifically, he decided to leave it up to the Major. After all, the only reason he'd snatched the picture from he evidence room was because he couldn't bear to part with her watch, and he felt there should be something for her… grave.
He sighed, landed the hovercar, and exited outside of the building, as per instructions. Monty Monogram was waiting for him. He picked him up, and carried him to the front door. "I was really sorry to hear about AJ. She and Dad had that strange, mentor, thing, and I always thought of her as a sister of sorts."
Phineas opened the door before he could go on. "Perry!"
Monty handed him over. "I found this little guy in my thorn bushes a yesterday. I've been asking around town, and someone finally told me to try here.
Even Candace came running as the boys fussed over him. "Thank you so much! We've been so worried about him! Mom, look! Perry's back!"
Monty declined the offer for a piece of pie, and left.
He was sorry he'd worried the boys, but it worked out in the end. They both slept in Phineas's bed with him between them, letting him just focus on how much he loved them, forcing everything else aside for the night.
—
To be Continued…
A/N: Yes, I KNOW it was a lame fight for public enemy number #1, and I should have put more effort into it, but more on that later, and that's all the spoilers you're going to get.