~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Perry had agreed to give combat lessons. And now, he was starting to regret it.
Sure, he'd been through O.W.C.A.'s training program and was considered one of the best in the organization, but he'd never tried to teach anyone, especially as a platypus. Since Doofenshmirtz would be present, there was no way he could teach her as a human. Lacking the basic tools for communication would make this task very difficult.
Remember, you're doing this for Vanessa. Mission: find out her real intentions. Operation: Teenagers.
They were hosting the "lessons" in Doofenshmirtz's apartment, much to Vanessa's discouragement. She'd argued, but her father had insisted he needed to watch at all times. Perry pretended to ignore the annoyed looks she sent his way for suggesting they include her father in the decision.
Perry set up a stereo and let Vanessa pick the music. She put on a band Perry was not familiar with, though the platypus would have called it screaming more than singing. Doofenshmirtz watched from the couch across the room, leaning forwards and staring with a dramatic intensity. Perry decided to try and ignore him.
The platypus motioned for Vanessa to follow his movements, and began easing through a series of stretches meant to help prevent strained muscles. She watched him like a hawk, taking in every little detail and applying it to the best of her ability.
Not bad.
"Whoo! Go Vanessa!" Doofenshmirtz cheered from the background.
Vanessa looked as if she wanted to retort, but at the last minute, bit back her comment.
Once they were finished, the platypus motioned for her to once more follow his body. He slowly walked her through a couple punching moves, then held out his hand, prompting her to repeat them. She did. Perry shook his head and widened her stance a little.
Vanessa looked down at him as she was locking in her position. "Thank you for doing this, by the way."
Perry nodded curtly. We have to tread carefully, Vanessa.
But then again, was Doofenshmirtz really that big of a threat? What would change if his nemesis suddenly discovered the agent had a human identity? Call O.W.C.A.? Blackmail him?
As he showed Vanessa the punching move again, he briefly thought about the invitation Doofenshmirtz had given him the last they'd seen each other at the restaurant. So what if they were friends off the clock? Did it really matter?
But he squashed those questions as quickly as he thought them. His human identity was already compromised, and if anyone found out about his past, evil scientists or O.W.C.A., he was as good as dead. It was bad enough Vanessa knew.
It had to stay secret.
Biting his beak, the agent forced his mind to the present and finished his little session with Vanessa. Her eyes were fired up by the end, and the girl almost seemed disappointed when Perry called it quits.
Perry took a quick peak at Doofenshmirtz, who was clearly still uncomfortable with the whole thing, but obviously thought Vanessa's sudden hugs and smiles were worth it.
Well, that was more uneventful than I thought it would be.
As Perry drove home on his motorcycle, though the warm summer wind was blowing through his fur, his mind was in pieces. Despite being in platypus form, worries and anxieties began to plague him. How long could he keep this up?
He passed by Lawrence Flynn-Fletcher's antique store, ducking his head to make sure the man didn't accidentally see them.
As he did, he noticed another motorcycle, ridden by a large man in all black, following him down the road. His instincts tingled. Suddenly feeling paranoid, the platypus turned down a different road and made a large U-turn, going back towards Doofenshmirtz's apartment.
It took a second, but the motorcycle did the same, following him from a short difference. It was confirmed then; he did have a stalker.
Maybe this is the guy who put that camera in my apartment.
Feeling bile rise in his throat, Perry slowed and kept a close eye on the man behind him. His stalker was getting further and further behind. Obviously the man knew Perry was onto him, and was trying to disappear.
Suddenly angry, the platypus darted into a small alleyway and made another abrupt U-turn. He waited at the end of the road, watching for the man. As soon as he saw the gleam of the black motorcycle, he pressed into the accelerator.
The man swerved from Perry's sudden movement, which threw him off balance. He almost fell over, but caught his foot on the road and pushed upwards. Perry chased him, now immediately parallel to the motorcycle.
They moved onto the public road. Despite this, the stranger pulled sideways, hoping to ram Perry over. Perry dodged, but almost hit another car, having to pull a couple lanes over to avoid hitting anyone.
He could hear sirens in the distance. Great.
Perry managed to merge lanes once again and catch up to the guy. He pulled out his grappling hook and hit the man on the side. He jerked and rammed into the sidewalk, crashing into the side of a building. Perry jumped off his motorcycle and pounced on him.
They struggled for a minute as the platypus tried to remove his mask. But the man was too strong, pushing him off with ease. He grabbed his coat and pulled out a smoke bomb, letting it off right in front of the agent. Perry's eyes immediately began to burn, and he screamed. After a minute, before the platypus could push through the wall of smoke to try and catch him, the man was already gone.
Dammit.
The sirens were heading down that street. Sighing, Perry grabbed his motorcycle and fled before they questioned what an animal was doing operating a vehicle.
O.W.C.A. was going to have a fit.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Sure enough, Perry received a call from headquarters only ten minutes after the incident.
"Agent P, we just caught surveillance of you chasing and attacking a civilian on a motorcycle!" The major snapped. "It's a good thing we were able to corrupt the footage before the police could get involved! What in heaven's name were you doing?!"
Perry chattered apologetically. He knew his emotions had clouded his judgement.
Monogram let out a long sigh. "You have a spotless record, so I'm going to let this one slip by. But I want a report explaining your actions and a promise that you will think twice before endangering civilians like that. Understand?"
The platypus saluted.
"I want that report by tonight, mind. Monogram out."
Well, at least the result had been less treacherous than he'd first assumed.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
"Honey, have you seen the boys?" Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher cried from the kitchen.
Perry watched as the father put down his bowl of chips. "What do you mean, darling?"
"Phineas and Ferb. They aren't home. Have you seen them?"
"Well, I haven't dear." Mr. Flynn-Fletcher frowned, now setting down his book and meeting his wife in the living room. "That's not like them. Have you tried calling?"
"Yes. They didn't answer. Do you think-"
"Let's not jump to conclusions. I'm sure they're just at one of their friend's houses. Let's see if we can find them around the neighborhood."
Candace crept down the stairs, her face completely red. "They aren't here because they're in space!"
"That isn't funny, Candace. Not right now." The mother snapped. The worry in her eyes was clear.
Candace protested, "No, really, they went to go harvest more ice cream with the cows they left on the moon last time, and—"
"Enough, Candace!" The mother shouted. "I don't have time for this right now. Do me a favor and call anyone you know who might have seen them today!"
Candace crossed her arms as her parents darted out the door. Perry watched as she trudged back to her room and slammed into her bedroom. Sure enough, only about ten minutes later, Phineas and Ferb's rocketship landed in their backyard. Candace ran down to meet them. "Where have you been? You guys are so busted! Mom and Dad are driving around town, worried sick!"
"Oh, sorry." Phineas sighed. "We didn't realize how late it was. Time is quite different on the moon."
All of the boy's friends jumped off the ship.
"Hey, where's Irving at mission control?" Phineas questioned. "And oh, there you are, Perry!"
"Who cares, I can't wait until Mom and Dad see this!" Candace immediately called her parents and alerted them to the boy's arrival. It wasn't long before they pulled into the driveway.
At this point, the rocketship had already disappeared. Perry guessed it had been programmed to automatically jump back to the moon after a certain period of time, to wait for the boy's next space adventure.
"See, Mom? See?"
Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher, already forgetting about Candace's wild story, hurried over to her boys and grabbed them in a bear hug. "Where have you guys been?!"
"Sorry, Mom, we lost track of time."
"Oh, alright boys, but promise me you will never do that again without calling! And all of you, contact your parents immediately. They are all very worried about you!"
"We promise!"
Perry followed the boy's upstairs, but noticed the lack of ice cream they'd brought back with them. Maybe they hadn't thought to bring any, but Perry found it rather odd. Were they trying to search for something in space?
He was thankful when Phineas and Ferb went straight to sleep.