~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Summer. It was such a beautiful time of year. Phineas could never understand why everyone complained about it so much. Yes, the heat was unbearable sometimes, but honestly, he quite enjoyed the challenge of trying to find the best ways to beat it.
Phineas and his stepbrother Ferb were speeding across town in a flying car, ready for the next big adventure of their vacation. Except this time, it was riddled with underlying tension.
Despite Phineas's continuously random comments, Ferb was silent, as always. But the boy knew his stepbrother well, and could see the telltale signs of nervousness that threatened to give Ferb's thoughts away.
The two brothers were finally close to the answers they were looking for. For so long, they had puzzled over strange dreams and memories, and now they had finally found the one person that could answer those questions.
Or so they hoped.
The two boys flew straight across Danville, until they finally reached a purple building with the words Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc. written across the front.
"Jeez, this doesn't look ominous at all, does it, Ferb?"
Feeling a bit uneasy, but still looking at the positive side of the situation, the boys landed their flying car at the side of the road, and glanced up at the massive building in front of them. They picked the top floor at the elevator, and watched the floors go by.
Before long, they were standing in front of what was supposedly the man's door. Phineas glanced at Ferb, who stared back at him with an encouraging demeanor. Sighing, the red-haired lifted his fist and knocked on the door.
There was silence for a minute. Phineas almost thought about trying again, when a man with dark brown hair pulled the door open and glared down at them.
So it was him. The man from their nightmares. Well, almost him. He wasn't wearing an eye patch or black of any kind, other than the black t-shirt he wore. He actually was wearing a lab coat, which Phineas found interesting. Who was he?
"Hello, little kids, can I help you?"
"Yes, um.." Phineas sighed. This story was going to sound crazy. "I'm Phineas, and this is my brother Ferb. And we were actually wondering if we could ask you a couple questions."
"Questions about what? And how long is this going to take? I have a schedule to keep." The man snapped, clearly annoyed.
"Please, Sir, it'll only take a minute."
"Well, okay." The man sighed. "You might as well come in, then."
Phineas was in awe of the man's apartment. The place was littered, head to toe, with boxes of spare parts and electronics. It was a boy engineer's dream come true. Ferb also seemed impressed, glancing every which way at the enormity of it all.
"So, what is it you want?" The man pressed impatiently.
"Well, I know this is going to sound crazy," Phineas started hesitantly, "but we were wondering if you could clear something up. See, my stepbrother and I have been having the same weird dream, and they've all had you in it."
"Me?"
"Yeah. We thought maybe it was just a movie we'd both watched or something but well.." Phineas pulled out a couple pictures from the machine they'd used to record their dreams. It was a little blurry, but Phineas could definitely see the resemblance. But the man seemed unconvinced. "This isn't me. This guy has an eye patch."
"True. But he does look very similar. Are you sure we haven't met you before?"
The man in the lab coat started chuckling to himself, and put a hand on Phineas's shoulder. "Look kid, I like to tinker, and have made a lot of weird stuff over the years. You may have been hit with one of my inators, and the side effects gave you some weird dreams. But trust me, I have never met either of you before in my life. I don't even know who this fella is, because I have never worn an eyepatch. Does that answer your questions?"
Phineas stared at the photo, unconvinced. There was no way that these were just weird dreams. "But my stepbrother and I have been getting the exact same ones. It's just a bit strange, is all.."
"Trust me, kid, there's a lot of strange things that go on in here. But I tell you what. If you are still having the dreams, you can come back any time and help me build one of my inators. Maybe we can figure it out eventually."
Phineas's eyes widened. "Really?"
"Yeah, really. Except don't come between one and two in the afternoon, because that's when my nemesis usually shows up."
"Your.. nemesis?"
"Yeah." The man crossed his arms. "Those exist. Now, I'm sorry to rush you out, but I've got a few places to be. So.. maybe another time, yeah?"
Phineas sighed, but nodded his head. They still had no answers, but maybe this was the beginning of a new lead. He motioned for his stepbrother, and the two exited the building. It was just a start, but Phineas was determined to figure out the strange emotions he had attached with these dreams.
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Dr. Zachary Tecton looked out over the massive ballroom displayed in front of him. The tile was made of marble, with a beautifully crafted staircase, and huge, royal purple curtains. Dr. Scepter owned quite the gorgeous mansion. How had he never known buildings like these existed on the other side of Danville Mountain?
Dr. Gevaarlijk and her team had escaped their last building, packed up all their research, and moved here as a safe house. It had seemed like a risky move to Zachary, especially leaving the children there for O.W.C.A. to find, but Dr. Gevaarlijk was good at what she did. She had a plan.
Speaking of the devil, Dr. Tecton grinned as the short woman approached him above the ballroom, hands behind her back. "Don't worry too much." She smiled devilishly at his questioning look. "The world you have always wanted will be yours very soon."
"We know the human children took the drug well." He snapped. "What we don't know is if it worked. When are you planning to activate their minds?"
"As soon as we filter the drug through Danville's water supply. Once the whole city in infected, we'll begin Phase 2 of Operation Kur. And that is where I need your help once more."
"Oh?"
"O.W.C.A. will be looking for us. I need someone to supply a distraction while we make preparations for the annihilation of Danville."
The woman was unwarily rubbing her watch as she spoke, almost to the point of caressing it. Dr. Tecton caught her movement with a curious glance, but didn't say anything.
"Hmm.." He purred. "I can do distractions."
"Good." The woman smiled, patting his back. "And make it showy, yes?"
Gladly.
Ah, terrorizing the city was definitely what he did best. Dr. Tecton caught a gleam of Dr. Gevaarlijk's watch as she walked away, her tiny legs swaying to and fro as she moved. The watch must be connected with how she planned on activating her drug once the city was infected. Zachary grinned to himself, unable to keep a small, demonic laugh from escaping.
He couldn't wait to take over her evil plan.
Like they say.. everything burns..
~o~o~o~o~o~o~
Where is it, where is it?
Perry was searching his apartment like crazy, throwing everything out of the closets and into the middle of the floor. He knew it had to be somewhere.. If only he could remember where he had stored it..
After his days as an evil scientist, Perry had pretty much burned everything to do with his past. All his evil plans, his research, his blueprints.. everything had been cast into the flames to disappear with the rest of everything that remained attached to the name Zachary Tecton.
All except for one thing. A key.
Perry had spent most of his childhood years living with his father, who had also been an evil scientist. The man was wealthy beyond control, and had built an evil lair a few miles out from Seattle's city borders. Even though it was just an empty, forgotten and abandoned building now, and the house in which Perry had been tortured and abused as a kid, he, for some reason, Perry had kept the key after his father passed away.
How stupid to not know where it is now.
Once Perry had finally reached the end of one closet, he felt around the edge of the carpet. He could've sworn it was buried under there somewhere..
Had Dr. Tecton gotten to it first?
Anxiety rose in the man as he searched. He couldn't understand why his evil self would need access to the lair. There was nothing in it to use, and was useless as a safe house, since Perry also knew it existed.
Suddenly, a piece of carpet easily lifted off the ground, and Perry's hands reached around the cold metal object. He breathed a sigh of relief, and clutched it to his chest.
Just then, the whole apartment shook. Perry heard immense crashing, and ran to the window to see what was making all the racket.
No. No, it couldn't be..
His evil self was flying high over the city using some kind of powered rocket boots. He held an enormous weapon in his hand, and was randomly shooting it onto the city, causing flames and explosions to erupt on unsuspecting citizens.
Enraged, Perry transformed into a platypus, put on his jetpack and fedora, and flew out the door.