There goes the updating schedule... Right out the window. Anyway, first update in the fandom in 2015, yeah! At least, in my time zone, anyway. HAPPY NEW YEAR!
Review responses:
Dreadwing216: Thanks! Scroll down a little and find out.
BestZestGuest: Oh, there you are, anonymous reviewer whose comments never cease to inspire me. It's funny, most of the things you brought up were going to be in this chapter anyway.
Phineas A: Yes, now everyone has been given their canon names. We'll see how this plays out.
10/21/15: Awkward length warning: the following chapter is really, really short compared to the other ones.
The sun was well into its prolonged descent toward the horizon and Doofenshmirtz was now on a mission. It was not the same kind of mission his eldest daughter was usually given, as he had committed to fulfilling this himself. Though disorganized, clumsy, and lacking in common sense, the evil scientist occasionally had the determination to pull through and achieve something worthwhile. The one and only Perfeneas was a golden example of this.
"Where. Is. He?" Doofenshmirtz demanded of the two men behind the glass. After sorting out a few things with Vanessa, he had led a charge into the elevated room. He banged a fist on a small desk. "Tell me!"
"We don't know, sir," replied one of the men calmly. "If there's anything we can do to help, please feel free to tell us."
"You controlled the simulation, you let him get away. You have to help me find my son!" Doofenshmirtz never became aggressive unless a member of his family was in danger. He knitted his eyebrows together, tight.
The other man had shaggy brown hair and an unexplainable smirk on his face, which soon grew into a small grin. "Alright, alright, we'll see what we can do. Where did you last see the kid?"
"He and a couple others fled around the corner of the building, my daughter and his best friend included. They all got away, and I couldn't see where they went. Vanessa says they left for his mother's house. Can you figure out where a Linda Flynn-Fletcher lives, mister... Pawvenmayor... Poven-Povenmeer...?" He squinted at the name on the man's ID plate.
"Povenmire," the director introduced, extending a hand towards Doofenshmirtz. The doctor did not want to accept at first, but he felt the friendliness, the familiarity, and the - empathy? - in Povenmire's voice and hesitantly shook it.
"Great. Now, find that address. I'm going to find my son, and I'm going to take him home." He turned away from the others and spoke slowly. "Forever. It will be like none of this ever happened."
Graciela peered out the closed blinds of the Flynn-Fletcher house, using two fingers to open them wide enough to see through. She did not know, yet, if there were people looking for them, but she anticipated it and was almost certain that by now there was.
She looked down and turned to face the living room. Linda and Lawrence were sitting on the living room couch, beholding the new outfits of Phineas and Isabella. The boy had been given new blue shoes and blue cargo shorts, and Isabella got on her dress, pink shoes, and a belt.
As the rest of the party began to leave the room to set up a place for the new guests to stay, Linda remained in her seat. She looked solemnly down to the seat beside her, cradling her arms together in an attempt to comfort herself. While everyone else left, Perfeneas lingered behind to see what was on her mind.
"I just... I can't believe it. It's been ten and a half years. And now..." He handed her a tissue, as she was clearly getting emotional. "Look at you. All grown up - sort of - and a national icon! I couldn't be more proud of you and your sister."
Phineas smiled. "I'm flattered to hear that."
His optimism was contagious, it seemed. "I'm just so sorry I couldn't have been there for all that time. How can I ever make it up to you two?"
The boy placed his hands over one of his mother's. "There is no need," he dismissed, "You've done so much for the both of us. We should be apologizing for not being there for you."
Linda stared at her triangular-headed son. A few seconds passed before she enveloped him in a gigantic hug. "Oh, where have you been all your life?" She wondered aloud, smiling with relief.
"I've lived in the Tri-State Area for as long as I can remember," he replied.
Linda finally pulled away, holding Phineas by the shoulders. She looked him up and down, tongue-tied. "Thank you," she stammered, "That really made me feel better."
"You're welcome," was Phineas's automatic response.
"Can you promise me something?" Linda started, "Never change, okay?"
"Well, I can't stop my body from growing."
"That's not what I mean." Of course Perfeneas would take the request literally. "What I mean is, never stop being perfect. Being you. Can you promise me that?"
Phineas considered this. Technically, he would not be the same person in composition in a few years, as somatic cells die off and are replaced, but he understood that his mother was speaking of his character. "Yes," he confirmed, "Yes, I can promise you that."
Major Francis Monogram's dread grew with each number dialed on the call he had to make. Since the agents assigned to lead Cansummace and Perfeneas through life around others all worked in his division, he had attended the test and was required to report its results to the chief executive, the Head Honcho, the very top, the President of the United States of America. Cringing with the bad news on his tongue, the major pressed 'Call'.
The President himself picked up on the second ring. "Monogram. How nice it is to hear from you," he greeted with what may have been a lick of sarcasm. "What are the results of the test? I'll be excited to hear of our Perfeneas's victory."
"See, that's the thing, sir." Monogram explained, "Perfeneas... Is gone."
"Gone?" Repeated the man on the other line, alarmed. "Elaborate."
"We don't have any leads to how it happened - all we know is that one moment, before it started, he was there; the next, zip. No Perfeneas. We can't explain it."
The President sighed heavily. "What about Isealia?" He inquired, "Is she still there?"
"Nope, the same thing happened on the Mexican side of the facility. Neither of the experiments are anywhere to be seen."
There was a pause on the other line. "Then neither one actually took the test."
"That's correct," Major Monogram confirmed.
"...And now, there is no way to know which country is superior."
A long pause. A much, much-too-long pause.
"I... I wish that was the case, sir."
"As do I," the President agreed. "Alright, I need you to do two things for me now. One, initiate efforts to find and return the children to their families. Do not, under any circumstances, allow them to interact. Am I understood?"
"Yes, sir," Monogram reported dutifully. "And the second?"
"The second?" The President nearly hesitated. "Monogram, your second assignment is to gather your agents and prepare them for war."