Chapter 4
Phineas, and with a secret Ferb following him, entered the building all the way up to the suite where his friend. He slowly entered and noticed that all the lights were shut off. When the boy went all the to the work desk, he had a feeling that he was being watched. So, without turning, he called them out. "I know you're there."
Ferb walked out the shadows and to his brother, coming up to his left, then watched the machinery on the table.
"Sorry," Phineas curtly said, to which his brother looked at him. "I knew you had a fear of spiders and I used that to my advantage… It's just all of this, it's-it's just getting to me. Huh, I never knew I would go down so quickly."
Ferb placed a hand on the red head's shoulder and gave him a thumbs-up, to which the boy nodded to. He then grabbed a little machinery, it being a small ray gun, which made the Brit grow both nervous and curious.
"This is the first invention Dr. D and I worked on, it's called the Change-inator, able to change any form by clocking them into a hologram," Phineas answered his unasked question. "I'm going to use this to cloak myself until Dr. D or Vanessa sorts this out for me with the mayor. Did you know that they're related?"
Ferb shook his head.
"Yeah, well, they are so it'll help me a lot," the redhead nodded. Then he chose a certain setting and shot himself, creating a holographic dog he had used a few days earlier. "What do you think?"
Ferb gave another thumbs-up.
"You want a turn?" Ferb nodded and grabbed the ray, then set to certain settings. When he shot himself with a green ray, he soon reappeared as an eagle with a green strip going down it's back and some autumn colored feathers. "Nice. I automatically put some collars on us in case animal control gets a hold of us."
Without another word, the two animals ran out and to the streets. Ferb flew high and low, soaring through the air. His green stripe glowed as the sun came up, giving him a futuristic look. Phineas kept up with his brother with a slow jog, his slight yellow coloration in his fur sparkled in the light. The morning had hints of humidity, chilling the two boys and relaxing them from their current worries. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the two boys, the small ray gun that the redhead still carried started sparking out little blue lights, though this didn't happen for long.
Ferb swooped from up above to meet his brother while still maintaining off the ground. Phineas looked at him curiously but kept his focus on the path in front of him. "What is it, Ferb?" He asked.
"I suggest we head home, Candace would not be pleased if she finds us missing from the bunker," the green-haired Brit informed, getting a sigh from the boy. By then, they had gone a slower pace with Phineas now walking slowly and Ferb walking beside him, despite the slow travel.
"I really don't want to spend the rest of my life in hiding. But at least I'll be able to go somewhere without getting recognized," the boy reasoned, shrugging his shoulders a bit. The slightly older kept silent. Although his brother understood his lack of communication, Ferb wasn't stuck with his thoughts as usual, but rather his main attention to his breaking brother. "At least mom and dad aren't here."
Ferb nodded.
"Let's go back home then, we might miss breakfast!" Phineas tried to force cheer but his brother could hear the obvious strain to it. The boys took off to the direction of the suburbs, where it will most likely hold a tired Candace and ordinary platypus. For the rest of the journey back home was filled with silence, the only sounds around them were the constant clicking from claws, flapping from a bird, and engine revs from cars. Soon enough, the two had made it back home. Phineas was surprised to see Candace up and eating cereal.
"Were we gone that long?" He questioned, looking at his brother, who shrugged his shoulders. They made their way to the back door and looked at the pet door Perry usually goes through. It was pretty small. "Um, maybe you should go first?"
Ferb easily made his way through the pet door and stuck his head out to signal his brother. The redhead sighed then gave a firm nod, as if motivating himself to go through the door. The boy disguised as a dog bent over and stuck his head in, then looked around. He was pretty big, like a shepherd, very different compared to Perry. He tried to squeeze through but no amount of effort let him get past, which resulted in him getting stuck by the shoulders. He sighed once more then looked over to see his brother trying to hold in his laughter, making the boy narrow his eyes.
"Go get Candace," Phineas told him blankly. Ferb snorted and nodded, then flew off to the direction of the kitchen. The redhead in the meanwhile sat in despair and total humiliation. His ears perked up when he heard footsteps coming his way. The boy sheepishly grinned, revealing his pearly white k-9s, at his disbelieved sister - who then burst out laughing at the sight of them. This allowed Ferb to crack a small grin. Phineas whimpered at the increasing embarrassment. "Guys! Laughing isn't helping."
"Honestly, I shouldn't have been surprised," the older sister snorted. She walked over, kneeled down beside him, and pulled. "Wow. You're really wedged in there."
"You think?"
"Trying pushing him out," Ferb suggested. Candace nodded and followed. With a couple of uncomfortable and painful pushes, Phineas popped out and tumbled into the yard, landing face-first into the mud. Candace smirked as she opened the door and saw her brother spitting out the grass. Ferb flew in a landed right next to his miserable brother.
"Sorry, Phineas," his sister giggled, walking over to him.
"Yeah, whatever," the boy groaned and picked himself up.
"Why are you guys animals anyway?"
"These are holograms, it's just for me to use so I could go out in public then no one will recognize me," Phineas explained. Candace bent down and poked him, raising her eyebrows when she felt his fur.
"Holograms huh? Then why could I touch your fur?" Her question made Phineas' eyes widen. He quickly took out the Change-inator out of... they had no idea where he pulled it out from and they didn't want to know. The boy tried to turn the device on but it just sparkled out a bunch of little lights. 'That isn't supposed to happen' he thought. He hit the device on his paw a couple of times but no matter what he did, it wouldn't work.
"The Change-inator is busted," he grumbled, throwing down the device in frustration. "We might be like this for a while, Ferb."
This made Ferb's eyes widen, more than they were, then go back to normal. It can't be that hard to live like an animal, right? He and his brother went through impossible challenges before, why not this one? Though, his brother looked like he could have an anxiety attack from all the stress he had been put under in just under twenty-four hours. Before he could speak, a rather familiar group of friends entered their backyard.
"Hey, Phineas, whatcha… um, where's Phineas?" Isabella questioned after not seeing her beloved crush in his backyard.
"And Ferb," Baljeet added.
"We're right here," Phineas spoke up motioning to him and the eagle next to him. The three kids gasped in shock and ran over to them, kneeling as they did. "We cast holograms on ourselves from a device, allowing us to be whatever we wanted, but it got ruined from what I think was the humidity, so I think we're going to be stuck like this until we get the ray working again."
"But how? You only have paws and Ferb has claws, it'll take forever to get anything done!" Baljeet exasperated.
"Well we have never given up before and we're not starting now," Phineas curtly nodded, Isabella secretly swooning over by how determined he sounds. 'Now that's my Phineas' she thought.
"Are there any side effects to that whole, being an anima thing?" Buford asked.
"Well, there were DNA samples built into the ray gun, but the chance of that actually happening are 3 to 1," the boy shrugged. Baljeet shrieked and started blabbering on about the estimates and percentages - mostly things they didn't care about. As the three kids and teenager continued to plan out what to do next, they didn't notice the change in the brothers. Their pupils enlarged and they started looking around the area. Ferb flew up to one of the tree's branches and sat, looking around for any potential prey. Phineas stood up and walked around the around, sniffing the area, curious to his surroundings. His eyes landed on a teal platypus that stealthily entered the backyard and put away his fedora.
Perry's eyes widened when the large growled at him then started charging at him while barking. The platypus started frantically running away, trying to escape, but the large dog followed. The commotion alerted the rest of what's happening. Ferb, who was an eagle and a natural predator of the platypus, locked eyes onto his dinner and dived into the scene.
"Phineas, no!" Candace, along with the other kids, tried to capture the dog but they were too fast. Baljeet's eyes widened even more when he saw Ferb aiming for the attack.
"Ferb is about to attack! We need to get Perry out of here!" The Indian boy shrieked, alarming the others. Unfortunately, they couldn't. Just before Phineas was about to get the chop onto Perry, he froze in place and his pupils shrunk. He looked in confusion to the platypus pinned under him, that's when he put two and two together.
"I'm sorry- Oof!" Phineas was tackled to the ground at that moment and felt talons pinch his flesh. He dizzily looked up to see his brother looking at him in concern, knowing what he did. "Well, so much for the odds. Sorry about that, Perry."
Perry did his little noise.
"Okay, we have to fix that machine," Ferb declared, getting off of his brother who groaned in pain.
"You got me good, bro," Phineas chuckled, but Ferb didn't respond. Normally, the redhead could tell what the Brit was saying without his words, and others Ferb just stared at him. That was one of those moments. " But you're right. The gang could rebuild the Change-inator by following my instructions. You could in the meantime help program some of the mechanics - I'm sure you still could with those talons."
"What can I do?" Candace asked, wanting to be included.
"What could you do?" He questioned back.
"I could keep mom at bay, as in reporting that you guys are good, and keep 9ut of your way," Candace offered. She left the backyard while kissing then holding up her fingers while saying, "Candace is out, peace!"
"Okay, gang, let's get to work."
Elsewhere, a teal platypus heard the children plan and snuck out of the area to a small underground lair. He stood on his hind legs, placed a fedora on his head, and sat on his chair. A second later, an old man appeared on screen with a unibrow and Nehru jacket.
"Good morning, Agent P. As usual, we would send you to go and defeat Dr. Doofenshmitrz from his evil schemes, but as you know, he was put into jail. Unfortunately, he will be released soon," Major Monogram informed.
"But…," Carl, the unpaid intern, helped from the background.
"But, we understand that one of your host family members is in a pickle, Phineas Flynn to be specific." A photo of Phineas appeared beside him. Perry softened his authoritative glare when he saw his owner. That Phineas was happy and knew how to fix every problem. He didn't recognize this Phineas who just seems to give up. "Word says that he is currently wanted by the police for contributing to using illegal chemicals and machinery with Doofemnshmitrz. And since our paychecks are in direct link to the government, we have no other choice than to make you tell us where he is so he could be put behind bars… or juvenile hall, in his case."
At that moment, Perry's hard glare returned with added betrayal and anger. He chattered to the man, who didn't understand.
"Agent P, we understand you are upset by this, but there is nothing we could do. Unless you could somehow clear his name and wipe all of the charges, then we would help but there is nothing we could do. So, I order you to reveal the location of Phineas Flynn," Monogram furrowed his brow. Perry simply shook his head. "No? Agent P! I'll say this one more time - reveal the location of Phineas Flynn."
Perry shook his head again. The Major sighed and snapped his fingers. Next thing Perry knew, two large agents were standing beside his chair, handcuffs in hand. Perry deadpanned for the repeat of events.
"I'm sorry, Agent P, but we can't have you going around and helping your owner. It will reveal your identity and put the entire-"
"Hold on a minute, sir," Carl interrupted, getting into the screen. "What if Agent P can help but just stays away from them? Dr. Doofenshmitrrz is the one who has connections to the Mayor and the main reason Phineas is in trouble. We could easily borrow Doofmenshmirtz for enough time so he could help Agent P to help his owner."
Monogram seemed to ponder in thought. After a few long seconds, the Major nodded and ordered the two agents away.
"I'll make a deal with you, Agent P. As hard it is to see you go, I have a job to do," Monogram spoke seriously. "You have 48 hours to not only clear your owner's name but to also free him of all his charges. If you don't succeed, then you must hand over the location where he is hiding. And if you resist, you will be put under arrest until we do a thorough search of the house and property, all until he is found and put into custody."
Perry eyes slightly widened but kept his fear in check by balling his fists.
"Do we have a deal, Agent P?"
Perry nodded in confidence, gave a slight look of gratitude to them both (mostly to Carl because he suggested the idea), then sprinted off all the while of setting a timer on his watch. Forty-eight hours is enough time to clear his owner's name. Forty-eight hours is perfect so he didn't have to be arrested. Forty-eight hours until he could prove he could do this. Forty-eight hours of nonstop working for him. Forty-eight hours is the only thing going through Perry's mind as he drove his rocket car to the prison that held his nemesis.
To be continued...