~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Dr. Gevaarlijk couldn't believe her luck. Despite all odds, her evil plan had turned out even better than she'd previously hoped.
The man that stood before her was vibrating with vengeance- a truly mastered example of evil perfection. He held the flash drive out to her with a small bow, his lips quirked up in a smirk. She warily took the object from his hands, examining it.
"Who are you?" She questioned.
"I think the more appropriate question is 'who I am not'." He purred. "For years, Perry has trapped me deep inside his mind. But now. I'm finally free. And if you'll have me-" he bowed again, "-I think we can make quite the team."
Dr. Gevaarlijk glanced over him once more. The man was somehow younger than Perry Michael, with jet black hair instead of teal. Yes, now she remembered. She recognized him from the shocking newspaper images from years before. This was the true Dr. Tecton.
"How is it possible?" She prodded. "Surely this is the work of a genius."
"I'd watch your words." He clicked. "Dr. Doofenshmirtz is an idiot, but he has his moments."
"That.. Ridiculous, ludicrous, worthless baboon created you?"
"He didn't know what he was doing, but I guess fate was bound to happen. I've studied you from the shadows. I know your views are in line with my own." Dr. Tecton smiled. "I'm willing to help."
"Why?"
"Because.." He sighed. "I want to watch this world burn as much as you do."
She studied him for another moment, wondering what bringing on such an unstable, unpredictable member would do for their mission. However, she'd also been studying this character from the shadows. She knew of his power and his intellect. He could prove very valuable. And without the useless morals that was holding Perry back from his own evil greatness.. He would be unstoppable.
Maybe he even knew some secrets from O.W.C.A.
With her mind made up, Dr. Gevaarlijk pocketed the flash drive and motioned for the man to follow her. They stepped into the elevator, and the woman pushed the very last button on the keypad. The elevator cart shot down to the very bottom floor, deep underground their designated building.
The doors opened up to a metal hallway, dimly illuminated. There were many laboratories attached to the hallway, each labeled with a different number. However, Dr. Gevaarlijk led her new guest to the very last door.
Upon opening it, she revealed a room full of evil scientists, working on different chemical compounds. Five groups of them were working on a unique formulas, and testing them on hundreds of caged lab rats. The progress stretched down for miles. The professor smirked at Dr. Tecton's gasp of awe.
"This," she smiled, "will be the undoing of the world. With your expertise, I'm sure our goal will be achievable."
Dr. Tecton turned to her, grinning from ear to ear, a sinister glint shining in his eyes.
"To the undoing of the world."
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Good morning, Perry. I heard you were in Canada.
Pinky's high-pitched bark was very comforting to Perry's nervous mind. He'd been wondering how the chihuahua was faring with all the chaos from their latest endeavor. He held his watch closer to his ear.
Perry chattered. Yeah, I haven't visited with Lyla in awhile. I also think it's best if you and I aren't near each other for awhile.
Agreed. By the way, I checked on Phineas and Ferb this morning. The boys are fine, and are playing with tire swings with my Isabella. They seem worried about you, though.
Perry breathed a sigh of relief. I know. I will be home soon.
I will keep an eye on them, though. By the way, we arrested and interviewed the fiends that attacked O.W.C.A. at the graduation ceremony. You know, the ones who provided us a distraction?
Yes.. Perry held his breath. And?
Turns out it was Orville Roddenstein, and a few of his teenager friends. They stole some agent's keycard, probably from the nemesis of one of their parents, and used it to walk in and distrust the ceremony.
Perry's heart skipped a beat. Is there a determined motive?
Only stupid ideas of grandeur. But we honestly didn't get very far. All the kids were bailed from jail by their parents, and now are refusing to cooperate. Now we've reached a dead end. I think Major Monogram is going to have to close it for the time being, though the whole agency is on edge.
I bet. Perry grimaced. I'm sorry I dragged you in this mess.
Anything for your boys, Perry. Besides, I think our asses are covered. I'm sorry, I have to go, but I wish you the best with Lyla.
Bye, Pinky.
Once he was sure the connection was closed, Perry pulled the microchip out of his watch and cried out as his platypus body stretched into that of a human's once more. The transformation was probably not very good for his healing body. The agent had to grab his head and wait for a dramatic bout of nausea to pass before he could move again.
So, Orville was up to no good again. Just like his father, that one. But the question was, was Vanessa involved? Where had they gotten that keycard? Feeling ill, but this time from his burning questions, Perry forced himself to get up.
Once he was able to stand, he walked down to Doofenshmirtz's kitchen table and returned to the hundreds of blueprints laid all over the room.
The agent had been spending his recovery trying to come up with a plan of action against his evil self, using knowledge of his own weaknesses to create a solution. However, no matter how hard he looked, the answer seemed to jump farther and farther from his grasp. His mind kept coming up with ways the device could be defeated.
When Doofenshmirtz walked past the kitchen, he noticed Perry and backtracked to take a closer look. "What are you doing?"
"Heinz." Perry coughed, looking up. "Good morning. Sorry. I'll clean up the mess when I'm done."
"It's okay." The man shrugged. "My kitchen table usually looks like this. What are you trying to do?"
Perry swirled a pencil in his fingers. "Well. Dr. Tecton is still out there. I need a plan." "And you haven't talked to Major Monobrow?"
The platypus wanted to growl, but bit it back. "It's my problem. I'll take care of it."
"Well, it's technically our problem, since I'm the one who, you know, caused this situation in the first place. So how can I help?"
Perry glanced at the doctor with a raised eyebrow. Ever since their awkward but truthful conversation from the day before, communication between the two had been significantly lighter and friendlier. But Perry was still waiting for the moment when everything would return to how it was before. "I wish I knew." He finally admitted. "By the way, have you seen Vanessa?"
"She's out with a friend, I think." Heinz raised an eyebrow. "Why?"
Agent P emerged as Perry let out a quick lie. "It's a friend's birthday coming up, and they're into the whole goth lifestyle. Thought I'd ask her for present ideas."
"Ah." The man shrugged. "Well, she'll be back later tonight."
Doofenshmirtz had set down the stack of books he'd been carrying and took a seat at the table. Changing the subject, he asked, "Who was this guy to you, anyway? I mean, I know he died a long time ago. I looked him up on the internet. All the news articles say he attacked Seattle, completely destroyed it, and then was found dead not too long afterwards. Did you battle him?"
Perry felt his stomach flip. Completely destroyed it. Terrible memories of that night began flashing through his mind. The fight, the fires, the robots, his anger, his hate, his destruction.. The one time O.W.C.A. had been unable to defeat him.
He remembered faking his own death not too long after the news helicopters had come flying over the city. It had either been that, or suicide. So he'd chosen to let the world think he'd fallen prey to his own robots, like a horrible virus gone wrong, and was left for dead.
"Hello, Perry?" Doof was snapping his fingers. "You listening?"
Perry shook his head. There was no use delving into those memories now. "Yes." He finally murmured. "I battled him."
"He must have really terrified you." "He was a monster."
The two lapsed into silence for a moment. Perry finally felt his frustration taking over and pushed the blueprints to the side. There was nothing in these ideas that was going to help him solve this problem.
"You know what helps me in times of evil scientist block?" Doofenshmirtz suddenly announced.
Perry lifted his head.
"A painful backstory!"
"You mean, you haven't told me all of them yet?" Perry gaped. "I know your childhood was crap, but there's still more?"
The doctor crossed his arms. "I wasn't talking about me, you dummkopf. I meant your backstories."
"My backstories? I don't have 'backstories'."
"Oh, come on." Doofenshmirtz snapped, waving his arms dramatically. "You can actually talk, and yet I still know nothing about your life! Why do you have to be so closed-off, Perry-the-human? You don't have to tell me everything, just.. what you like, where you grew up, what you did for your fifth birthday party, and so on.."
Perry wanted to protest, or better yet, continue on the conversation in complete silence. But he knew this man's stubbornness was just as bad as his own. Heinz would not let this go until he at least gave the man something.
"I had a mini-golf themed birthday party when I turned five."
"Really? That's so unfair."
"My mom was so drunk at the party that she accidentally caught the cake on fire and we had to spend the rest of the day at the police station."
Now it Heinz's turn to raise an eyebrow. The two glanced at each in silence for a quick second, before both of them starting laughing out loud.
"Wow." Heinz cried out through his tears of laughter. "I don't which was worse, yours or mine."
Perry wiped away tears of his own. He stared at the man, wondering how both of them had ended up at this point. It'd been so long since he'd had a good laugh. He wished the moment could have lasted the whole summer.