~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Vanessa's favorite song was playing on the radio, but she wasn't paying attention. She mindlessly watched quiet, normal, summer Danville pass her by, completely unaware that her best friend, Lacie, was giving her random, concerned looks between stoplights.
"You worried, girl?"
Vanessa glanced up. "Sorry. I was just thinking."
"You don't really want to go to this, do you?" Lacie had the car stalled at another red light. She studied Vanessa. "And don't think you can lie to me. I know when you're lying, Vanessa Doofenshmirtz."
The teenager shook her head. "I'm just not sure this is a good idea anymore. What if we get in serious trouble?"
"Look, they're evil, yes," Lacie sighed. "but they aren't murderers. Everything is going to be fine. Don't you want to be a part of something bigger than you are? Don't you want power, just like they do?"
Vanessa shrugged. She was honestly beginning to wonder about what she wanted these days. Sometimes, the attraction of being powerful and living "outside the law" was too tempting to pass up, but lately, the girl had begun to feel very uneasy about the people who claimed to follow this path. Even if her dad was evil too, did that really mean she had to repeat history?
"We're here."
The junkyard pulled into view. Lacie parked the car in a desolate area where no one would spot it, and the two girls tread a familiar path into the heart of the field. The rest of the gang was already present, and seated in a circle like a kid's game of duck, duck, goose.
Orville waved when they walked up. "Hello, ladies. Nice to see you made it." Vanessa shivered at the cold glare he sent her direction. The man in particular gave her the creeps. What she wouldn't give to send him a solid punch in the stomach.
Todd pulled out a set of car keys. "So, are we doing this thing, or what?"
"What thing?" Vanessa asked.
Orville smirked. "I have some great news. There's been a grouping of very powerful evil scientists in Danville recently. A couple of them have reached out to us students, and have asked for our help."
Lacie raised an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"We don't know what for, yet." Charlie spoke, "But it's like, totally legit. They've given us access cards and everything."
Orville began passing them around. When Vanessa received hers, she held it up and inspected the background. Expansion Inc. There wasn't much information on the card, but the name of the company alone was enough to make her uncertain.
"So, we're just riding over and finding out what they want us to do?" She questioned out loud.
Orville placed his hands on his hips. "Well, since our latest failed attempt at attacking O.W.C.A., I figured some real back up would be warranted. Why? Got something to say, huh, you freak?"
"I'm not a.."
"Please." He quipped. "Everyone knows about all the cuts up and down your arms. It'd be a shame to have the whole school know about your little secret by the beginning of fall." Orville leaned closer to Vanessa's face. She could smell the alcohol on his breath. "You better watch it, Doofenshmirtz, or I'll be the one making the next cuts. In your chest."
Lacie pushed Orville away, crossing her arms in anger. "Lay off her. She wants to come. She just said we need to be careful. No need to get testy."
Vanessa didn't say anything. She couldn't. The hidden scars were beginning to burn underneath her clothes, as if threatening to pop out and reveal themselves. Orville gave her one last threatening glare, then turned his attention to Todd.
"If no one has any further interruptions, let's go."
The six teenagers piled into Todd's van, and rode out of Danville. Vanessa was feeling even more anxious by the minute, and not even Lacie's reassuring touches could calm her. For a minute, she considered using Perry's emergency number and begging for help. But he'd made it clear it was only to be used for emergencies. This wasn't an emergency. Sighing, the girl laid back into her seat and waited for them to arrive.
The building they parked in front of was nothing like she thought they'd encounter. It was grand, and very professional, but quite empty. When the teenagers entered using their access cards, they were met with nothing but a bare and vacant lobby.
They looked around for a minute, confused. Charlie pulled out her cell phone. "Are you sure you got the right address?"
Orville huffed. "The access cards worked you dimwitted.."
Suddenly, a set of double doors across the room burst open, and a short woman with a tight, blonde bun stepped into the room. She smirked at looked at each of them, up and down. "Hello children. My name is Professor Gevaarlijk, and welcome to Expansion Inc."
The six of them blinked. Orville was the first to pull out of his shock. "Thank you for having us, Professor. I must say, this is an amazing facility."
Lacie leaned over and whispered into Vanessa's ear. "Kiss-ass."
The short woman merely replied with a strict nod, and motioned for them to step forwards. She pulled a small device from her pocket and held it out for them all to see. "What we do here doesn't seem very important, like this tiny little box. But I promise, what we will do with our hard work will change the course of history forever."
The teenagers held their breaths.
"We have completed phase one of our project. We need you, very specifically, for phase 2."
"With pleasure." Orville gasped, almost unable to contain himself. "What would you have us do?"
"I think it'll become clear in a minute." The woman laughed.
Vanessa's eyes suddenly grew wide, but she was too late to say anything. The woman crushed the little box in her hands, and immediately, a burst of toxic gas shot forwards and hit them all in the faces. Vanessa began to feel herself grow dizzy. Her knees grew weak, and she fell to the floor.
She glanced over. All six of them were in the same state. Her vision was growing blurry and faint. With a burst of determination, Vanessa tried to reach for her cell phone, which had fallen out of her pocket when she did.
Perry, Perry, Perry.
But she was too late. Her hand dropped, motionless, and her vision went black.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Doofenshmirtz returned with more bags of random items. Perry sometimes wondered if all that really did go to all his inventions at one point or another. The platypus had removed his bandages, and was replacing them when the doctor walked into the room. "You're looking much better." The doctor sighed. "Except for your black eye. That's going to take awhile to heal."
Perry smirked. "It's the first and last time you're going to see a black eye on me."
The two didn't make much conversation for a few hours. Perry continued working on the puzzle book, feeling a sense of validation each time he managed to complete one. At about four-thirty, Perry's cell phone began to ring. Startled, the agent picked it up and answered. "Hello?" "Perry! Hey, it's Rafe from Vintage Docks. Look, Julian was in a car accident just now. He's fine, just in a lot of pain, so he called out from work tonight. Is there any way you can cover?"
Perry debated for a minute. On one hand, it would be nice to finally get out and do something. But on the other hand, he knew lifting trays and undergoing stress would probably not be good for his recovery. The agent flexed his arms, feeling out the extent of the soreness.
Ah, what the hell.
"Sure. I'll be there in an hour."
"You're a life saver. Thank you."
Perry closed his cell phone and met Doofenshmirtz's confused gaze. "I have to go." He stated.
Heinz blinked. "Go? Where?"
"Work. They need an extra server."
"Oh, that work. Are you sure you can? I mean, you look a lot better, but you still could be mistaken for a walking Frankenstein."
Perry narrowed his eyes at the man, but only for a second, as he was already grabbing his shoes and his fedora. "Shut up. I have to go."
"Wait, are you coming back?"
Perry turned around. That was an odd question. Was he? The platypus felt that he had quite overstayed his welcome, but the expression he met in Heinz's eyes was something very different than what he would have expected. Did the man actually.. want him to come back?
"You've done more than a nemesis would imagine for me." Perry replied cautiously. "I don't want to take any more of your time.."
"No, no, it's really okay." Heinz blushed. "I mean.. you don't have to, obviously. But you're still not completely healed, and, um.."
"One more night." Perry finally relented. "I'll stay one more night."
He tried not to act as if he noticed the illuminated look in the evil scientist's eyes.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~ After grabbing his apron and non-slip shoes from his apartment, Perry drove his car to the restaurant. Before he stepped inside, he slipped on Carl's holographic disguise watch and turned it to one of the modified settings he'd added after receiving it. The disguise was of himself, but without all the scars that lined his face. He really didn't want to answer questions about the state of his wounds.
The agent walked into the restaurant with a sense of excitement. Finally, a job to be completed. He immediately jumped into cutting lemons and restocking the bar.
There were a few servers working that he didn't recognize, as they didn't work the Friday night shift with him. He made sure to meet all of them, and tried to imprint their names in his mind. Tammy, one of the servers he knew very well, came over and said hi as she was putting bread in the oven.
As soon as Perry was on the floor, he was given a couple of tables. The agent easily fell into the rhythm of the dinner service. Despite the fact that it was physical work, and a little taxing, he enjoyed taking his mind off his life and focusing on the simplicity of taking and finishing orders.
Perry was exhausted by the time dinner service was winding down, and his face was starting to sting a little from the fumes of the kitchen. He was relieved when his side work was completed, and he was able to stand outside for a quick breather.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
When Perry knocked on the door of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated, Heinz immediately opened it and stepped aside, letting him in. He still seemed a little shocked that the agent had returned. Perry had already released the holographic disguise, and was taking a couple pain reliever pills when Doofenshmirtz popped his head inside the room.
"Hey, Perry-the-Human, have you heard from Vanessa? She's almost an hour past curfew. I know she's all independent now, but it's just not like her."
Perry shook his head. "I haven't. Did you try calling your ex-wife?"
"No." The doctor sighed. "I would, but I know she'd be all like 'Heinz, you're such an irresponsible parent, you can't ever do anything right'."
"And Vanessa's not answering her phone?"
"Well, that's nothing new. She usually ignores me."
Perry wanted to believe this was just a teenager's act of rebellion, but he had an uneasy feeling. Did this have anything to do with the other evil scientist's children that she'd been hanging around? Did they finally do something too far? But why hadn't she called him?
Perry rubbed his head. There was no way to tell for sure. "Maybe you should call the police. I'll see if I can find her through the security cameras around Danville. Maybe we can figure out where she went."