Part 5: Goodbye, Dear Friend.

(A/N: Is it bad for me to honestly say that I have been eager to write this chapter? I feel like a horrible person. Well, I hope you enjoy... and not run away from the results of this fight...)

"Pinky?" the little girl asked from behind the dog standing on two legs.

The dog turned to the girl in response. She was distracting him.

Seeing this as my chance, I pounced onto him, pinning him onto the ground. I raised an arm to punch him, but he managed to land a hit on me with a paw that I neglected to keep down. I paused for an instant, with surprise, and he was able to slip from under me. Once out of my grasp, he stepped back a few paces, trying to keep his distance.

I looked up at my opponent and smirked. Now, this is more what I expected from the O.W.C.A. This was going to be fun.

I glanced back to the scared family. By this time, they had dragged Carl into their midst. They appeared determined to not let Carl get hurt anymore. Carl, on the other hand, seemed to be struggling to stay awake, and not pass out. I glared to the dog that they called Pinky. As long as we were in this house, with this family present, I had the advantage. He would have a more difficult time keeping himself alive while trying to protect these people, and judging from his actions thus far, he wasn't about to abandon them any time soon.

I switched my left hand into a mace. Pinky looked mildly surprised as an expression of dismay spread across his face. It was my turn to charge. I intended to ram Pinky into into the wall, using my superior strength to beat him.

Somehow, he managed to get under me, and threw me into the wall behind him, using my own momentum against me.

I felt myself breaking through the wall, and quickly realized that I wasn't going to go through the wall, to the room beyond, but instead I was falling down a narrow tube, into the ground below.

I had to dig the spikes of my mace into the side of the tube to slow myself down. After several more seconds of falling, I was able to finally come to a halt. Occupying as much space as I could in the tube, I began my decent back up. Luckily for me, the sides were made out of a very durable, clear plastic, and not out of something like glass, which would rain deadly crystals down on me.

After a few minutes of difficult climbing, and wondering how such a fat man like Santa Claus is able to climb up narrow passages like these, I was able to look into the kitchen.

Pinky was making sure that everyone was okay. They were working together to carry Carl out of the door.

Since I was using my left arm to dig into the side of the tube, so that I wouldn't slip, I changed my right into a blaster and fired it at the group.

I was aiming for the little girl, but she had good instincts. She was able to dodge it by a hair.

I sighed. Too bad. I missed, and it would take about a minute for my arm to cool down enough to fire again.

Pinky looked enraged. He jumped into the tunnel with me without a single glance back. He kicked me down and dislodged me from my place in the tube. We both plummeted down, into the darkness.

I took note of how I was taking the lower ground. I was at a slight disadvantage. Having no reason to stop the fight, I pushed against the walls of the tube to slow myself down. I readied my right hand, which was now taking the form of a dagger. When I could sense Pinky falling towards me, I lunged the blade to where I suspected he would fall.

Pinky was able to dodge the blade at the last second by kicking against the side of the tube, slightly changing his trajectory... Or at least mostly dodged, I noted, feeling a small trickle of blood fall on my face before Pinky kicked me back down the chute. I looked down for a second, and noticed that there was light below us.

I landed on a soft surface that absorbed the impact from my descent. The light was coming from the open doorway directly behind me, leading into the room beyond.

Pinky was diving towards me, looking like Superman in flight, one fist extended. He intended to land a hard punch on me, using the downwards force produced from falling.

I was easily able to catch his fist, swing him around, and throw him into the dimly lit room. I charged him, trying to get a blow while he was stunned, but he regained his composure quickly, and easily dodged me. I ran into the chair that was placed in front of a giant, pink screen, decorated with flowers, dominating the room. I scanned the area. We were in what appeared to be in an underground cavern. This cave was man made, judging from the walls. Bare, metal, scaffolding lined the walls, preventing the possibility of the cave collapsing.

So, this was the 'secret lair' that man had mentioned? It wasn't much, and judging from the piles of material about the room, it was still under construction.

Pinky took a few steps backwards, grabbing a metal pole from a large pile of them that extended almost half way to the ceiling. Pinky stood his ground and motioned his hand for me to come at him.

I leapt at him with such speed that it took Pinky by surprise. However, he only had to simply jab the pole into the pile of metal rods that he pulled his from, and use it as a lever to loosen the rest. It started an avalanche of falling metal that buried me with it. Pinky was able to get out of its way just in time.

When I tried to dig myself out, more poles would fill in the space I had just exposed, and leave me trapped under them.

I could hear Pinky type something frantically at the computer. A female robotic voice said in a pleasant tone, "Security system still offline." Pinky smashed his fists against the keyboard.

From under the pile of metal, I spread my wings. If I couldn't climb out, perhaps I could fly out. I launched myself up, and just before reaching the ceiling, I turned my engines off and fell back to the ground. I landed cleanly, just a few paces from where I found Pinky watching me.

His expression looked dark and concerned. Suddenly his face quirked such that it appeared that he had come up with an idea.

I stepped towards him, readying myself to attack, but it seemed that Pinky finally wanted to take the offense.

He came at me with an onslaught of attacks. The punches, kicks, and precise flailing of the rest of his limbs forced me back a few paces. He wasn't giving me any time to attack. I could only block his blows.

He forced me back, until I stood atop a web of wires, cords, and cables that were exposed in the unfinished floor. That's when it happened. Pinky slipped!

I changed my posture forward to attack, but as I moved, my feet dug into the ground beneath me. A viscous spark of electricity surged through me. The floor was electrocuting me.

I looked up at Pinky, he was exhausted, panting heavily. I finally took note of the small gash on his ear, which was oozing a steady stream of blood.

I felt a slight tingling in the back of my mind, and suddenly felt... regret for what I had done to the chihuahua in front of me. A blurry image appeared before my eyes, and something told me that it was a memory.

If a dog could smile, that's exactly what he was doing. We gave each other a brief hug. His skin felt warm through my fur. When we let go, he saluted me. I returned the favor, and began walking away from him, waving goodbye.

I looked at the dog, still standing before me. Was this the same dog as I had in that memory? I was certain of it. While the dog before me now was much older, his features had stayed the same.

A look of surprise came across Pinky's face, and I could tell. My face told him something. He gave me small smile.

I stepped forward and held my arm to attack, but Pinky, instinctively, started to throw the cords and wires on and around me until I was wrapped in them. He ran back to the monitor, and kept typing frantically.

With each violent pull I made, a wire would break, I received a bolt of electricity, and then I would remember something.

I broke one wire. The two of us, passing notes.

I cut through another cable. Sitting together as Pinky ate a pile of meat, I had a rather repulsing pile of bugs.

With a snap, a cord gave way. Fighting against each other, I let him win some of the time.

Another tear. Weaving through an obstacle course.

I forced more cords away. His sad face when we learned that I had been promoted, and he wasn't.

I was becoming free. The joy of seeing each other again.

Only a few more wires left. Sneaking across the street to hang out.

Finally, I broke free of the wires. I gazed up at the face of a friend. No. He wasn't my friend. He was an enemy of Doofenschmirtz, and anyone who opposed him, was my enemy as well. I couldn't let anything as foolish as memories get in my way.

Pinky was busy typing, and didn't move an inch when I approached him. I came at him, and clasped my fingers around his neck just as Pinky pressed 'enter' into his keyboard.

Out of nowhere, a tube appeared above us, sucking the both of us in. As we traveled down the tube, Pinky was punching me in the face, again and again. Perhaps he thought that if he hit me enough times, I would let go. A useless thought. I only had to tighten my grasp around his neck, and I would kill him.

The tube dispensed us on the floor of a new room. I accidentally let go of Pinky's neck when we both hit the ground. Pinky scrambled backwards, gasping for air as another memory began interfere with my movement.

We were testing different vacuum tubes installed into our lairs. We tried one that went in between our bases. We fell to the ground making animal noises closest to laughter we could create.

I shook myself free of that memory. It meant nothing to me now. The only thing that mattered was Doofenschmirtz, and making him happy.

Pinky was struggling to get to a computer monitor, very similar to the one in his own lair, except this one was bordered with chrome paint.

I wasn't going to let him just waltz to the computer, and activate the security system, like in the other room. I grabbed his collar, but it quickly snapped. I glanced at it for only a second before throwing it to the ground.

Pinky tried to type some code into the machine, but it was too late for him. He turned just before I grasped his neck with my left hand. Pinky struggled against my hold for exactly one minute before he gave up, and started to become weak.

I couldn't explain why, but something in me felt like it was breaking. My other hand clawed at my metal chest. I could somehow tell that it was my heart, from under several layers of metal and wiring, still beating. It felt like someone had grabbed it and was trying to tear it from my chest. I felt another memory flicker into existence.

Pinky passed me a note to me from under the table as a man in uniform was lecturing about how important it was to keep one's cover. I unfolded it and read, 'So, which sector do you want to work in?'

I pulled out a pencil and wrote down, 'I'm thinking of working under Monogram or Wanda,' and passed the note back.

He read it over and responded, 'You want to be a field agent? Why?'

'I want to really protect people. I want to keep people from being hurt by someone's selfish desire. If I could keep at least one family safe, I think that everything we have done here would be worthwhile.'

Pinky grinned back at me. 'Then I'll become a field agent with you! That way, we can protect everyone we know. Perhaps, one day, I could help you protect that one family.'

I nodded. 'I like that idea.'

I felt anguish spread throughout me. This was my very dear friend. How could I hurt him? How could I take that man's desires over the life of my friend?

I could not feel the warmth of his body through my metallic hand, but I could still sense his pulse. It was slowing, becoming more quiet by the second. I wanted to let go of his neck, but something was keeping me from setting him free. It was that man. His orders were keeping me like this.

Pinky saw something on my face and gave me one last, frail grin. Tears slowly slid down his face.

I did not know what to do. I could only stare at him, feeling as if I was watching these events from beyond a screen.

He slowly moved his arm. I almost had an automatic reaction to break it off, but I held it off long enough to watch him give me one final salute.

I returned the salute, holding it long enough to watch Pinky's arm grow limp, and fall to his side. I remained paralyzed in that stance until the lights ultimately left his eyes and his heartbeat stopped.

He was dead.

.~.

I carefully laid his body on the ground.

I... I didn't know what to do. I didn't feel anything. I was swallowed by a deep numbness that prevented me from doing anything. What should I do? What could I do? I didn't know. I felt empty, alone, and above all, lost.

I blinked and wondered why I wasn't crying. Isn't that what a person was supposed to do when a friend dies? Cry? Wasn't crying a sign of sorrow? Then again, I didn't feel sad either. Why couldn't I feel sad? Why couldn't I feel anything? Aren't friends supposed to be sad when one of them dies? I supposed that because I killed him, we weren't friends. At least, not anymore.

However, there was at least one thing I knew that I could do. I could give his family back his corpse.

.~.

I tenderly picked up his body and looked around. I knew this place. This place was so familiar. It was almost like being home. I could remember now. This was my lair. I stepped to a wall where a passage opened before me. I looked back at my lair one more time and knew... I would probably never come back.

I went into Pinky's unfinished lair, and took one of the elevators up. The cheerful tune of, 'I'm Lindana and I Wanna Have Fun' that chimed from the speakers felt like it was mocking me.

The elevator stopped and opened into the kitchen. I stepped into the warmly lit room. It was so cheerful and sunny in there, almost like nothing bad could ever happen on a day like this. Through the window, I could see a perfectly clear sky that glistened blue. It was as if the entire Tri-State area was mocking me and Pinky's death.

I couldn't hear any voices in the house. Had they left? Just as that thought occurred to me, I heard something stir in a cabinet under the sink. I automatically fired my blaster at it. The door shattered into several pieces.

I turned to the stranger inside the cabinet. It was a woman with bright, red hair and dark, blue eyes. She looked familiar, and I could feel a memory spark in the back of my mind, but I was so numb that I didn't care anymore. She was quivering like a leaf, and held her hands over her ears, trying to block the outside world from her. I felt pity for her. If she had been there the entire time, the things she heard, in combination of being completely in the dark, both physically and metaphorically, would drive most people insane. But she was the only person in the house.

I walked to her, each step I made looked like it hurt her physically. Finally, I stopped in front of the cabinet she was hiding in. I laid Pinky's body down next to her and began to walk away.

"... Perry?" I heard her ask in a little more than a whisper that was probably not intended for my ears.

I stopped and turned back around. So... she knew who I was as well. It pained me to not know who she was. I still felt lost, but I did know one thing. Who I was before, was not who I was now. I shook my head. No, I was not Perry. I couldn't be. At least, not anymore.

I left the house and flew back to the Doofenschmirtz Evil Inc. building that dominated the city. The moment I saw that man, I requested for my memory to be purged once again. I knew that as long as I had those memories, they would interfere with my work. As they say, ignorance is bliss, and if these memories hurt me, I wanted to be as ignorant as possible. So, I forgot Pinky, my friend, and could only remember the pain in my tail who defied that man, and I eliminated. And that was all I would remember of my past life. That was... until the day I became free.

.~.

I could remember that memory so clearly now, in the present. I looked back down at the collar in my hand. I was so angry with myself. Why did I come down here in the first place if I knew it would bring me this much pain?

"Oh, there you are," a voice said from behind me.

I spun around to see Candace approaching me. I gulped when I saw the purple welt on her arm. Of course I had to come back here. I had once again hurt the ones that I loved. I had to come down here to get away from them. I came down here to protect them from myself.

"We were wondering where you went," she was scolded, taking a step towards me.

I scuttled back as she approached me.

"Perry?" She took another step.

I pushed myself away from her again.

"Perry..." She walked towards me until I had scooted my way under the monitor and had nowhere else to go. She bent over and studied me.

I looked away and tried to hide myself in the shadows.

"Perry, let's stop this game." Candace looked at me, pity in her eyes.

I glanced at her, but couldn't help but notice the bruise on her arm.

"Oh, this? It's nothing. I've gone through much worse," she waved her hand as if it really was nothing, but I could still tell that it hurt her.

I turned away again.

"Perry, trust me, I've had a lot worse injuries than a mere bruise."

I could hardly stand to look at her. I felt so guilty.

"Perry... At least get out here so I can screw your back on," she requested, kneeling down to my level.

I rotated around to see that she was holding my back plate in her hands, bent to its original shape.

"The representatives somehow managed to fix it up for you, they are really nice and helpful people." Candace gave me a fake smile.

I returned with a false smile of my own.

Our grins quickly faded. We came to an understanding just by looking at each other. It looked like neither of us could truly smile with each other anymore.

After a few more minutes of hiding, finally, I came out and let her put my back on.

"You know, the boys really do love you," Candace started talking out of the blue.

I shuddered with regrets.

"In fact, after you left, Ferb gave this whole speech about how much he loves you. It was really inspiring." She paused. "Everyone else cares about you too, not just the boys. Right now, everyone is working together, searching for you. They're all very worried."

I sunk my head. I loved them too, but I was a threat, a danger, and I didn't know when I could have another episode like at the library.

"It's okay, if you choose to stay in here."

Her suggestion took me by surprise.

"I wouldn't blame you. You are a threat to Phineas and Ferb. I won't hesitate to destroy you if we have another incident, like at the library. I wouldn't even tell the boys where you are if you don't want me to. I would let you stay here, all alone, to think about what you've done." She finished screwing the plate of metal into place on my back, and turned me around to face her. "But, if you do choose to stay here, it will be like we lost you to Doofenschmirtz all over again. Once again, the boys would cry nonstop. Once again, they would fall back into sadness. Just as they did when we lost you the first time. The boys need you, Perry. Just as they are important to you and me, you are important to them. If you disappear like you did last time, I don't know if the boys can get back on their feet." She came closer to me with a pleading look in her eyes. "So, please... I'm asking you..." She leaned even closer to me and unexpectedly wrapped her arms around me. "No... I'm begging you... For the sake of the boys... Please... Come home."

I was shocked. I thought she hated me. After all I did... After how I assisted that man in creating his horrible empire... I expected her to still detest me. How could she stand to be so close to me?

"Perry... This may sound strange coming from me, but..." She hesitated before speaking again. "I... I love you."

My eyes widened.

"I never had much of a chance to ever say it before, but I do love you." She held me tighter, almost as if she was trying to keep me from dissolving in her arms. "When I first learned that you had fallen under Doofenschmirtz, I was scared. Not for myself, or the boys. I was scared that I had lost someone special to me. I didn't want to loose the relationship that we had." She clung to me even tighter. I didn't mind. "Last time you left, I had to stay strong, for the boys, and for the resistance, but now... I don't know if I could keep my composure anymore. After all. We love you."

Of course. It was love. It was always love that kept her going. It was what kept her fighting, even when the situation seemed hopeless. It was what gave her strength and made her brave. If she, a sixteen year old girl could be so strong just through love, why couldn't I?

I finally gained the courage to hug her back.

When she finally let me go, she offered a hand to help me up. "So, what do you say? Do you want to come with me? Do you want to continue protecting the boys?"

I nodded, taking her hand. Yes. I was truly glad that she was the one who found me.

She looked honestly happy. "Then, come on. Perry, let's go home."

(A/N: I'm sorry it took so long for this to update, I thought I could do so sooner, but first I had to do a huge history project, and then it was finals week and I had to do a big creative writing project. But now I'm on winter break and can finally get back to editing this story! Sigh... I just wish I knew what to write next... By the way, I hope nobody out there took the whole end part the wrong way... Because after a while, I know I did.

In other news, for an early Christmas present, my friend gave me a Perry the Platypus backpack... and it's so soft! I love it! I hope everyone else gets awesome presents during their respective holidays as well!)