Perry flew on over Danville. The wind ruffling his fur and the small area lit by his hovercar were the only things keeping him from going crazy in the darkness.

"I wish the lights would come on." Phineas said. He was huddled against Doofenshmirtz. Perry suspected Phineas hadn't noticed that Doofenshmirtz had sat between him and Ferb and believed he was leaning on his brother.

"I do too, Phinny. Try not to worry. I think I may be able to get some sort of idea of what's happened here…"

"How?" Phineas asked.

"You… you understand him?" Doofenshmirtz asked.

Out of the corner of his eye, Perry saw Phineas jump a little, confirming his belief that Phineas hadn't noticed Doofenshmirtz get into the hovercar.

"Yeah. We built a translator for him."

"You built a translator?"

"We build lots of things." Phineas said. Perry heard the enthusiasm returning to his voice.

Perry parked the hovercar by the same beat-up fire hydrant JD had parked by mere hours before.

"Stay here." Perry said. "Remember your stunners if you need them."

Ferb nodded. Phineas translated for Doofenshmirtz.

Perry crept toward the chain-link fence cautiously, using his phone as a light again. Somehow the Troubadour's apartment seemed more dangerous in the dim glare.

Perry hadn't quite worked out a plan, but he was sure one would come to him.

"Perry!" A voice hissed.

Perry turned, thinking Phineas or Ferb had somehow called out to him in platypus chatter. But then he heard the clanging noise of someone crashing into the fence in front of him.

He snapped back to attention. "Prince?"

Prince stuck her hand through one of the holes in the fence. "You came… I didn't think you'd gotten the list to Malice… or… I was worried he didn't understand it… I just didn't think you'd come."

Perry grabbed her hand. Prince looked extremely relieved and happy to see him.

"You look terrible." Perry said. "What happened to your eye?"

"I was slammed against a wall."

"Where are the Troubadours?"

"Kidnapped, all of them. Luckily I was in the basement of the apartment and the other gang didn't find me. I crawled out about an hour after they were taken."

"Can you climb the fence?"

"No, my foot's broken."

"Prince, what on earth happened? Why did you steal that bunny?"

"I never stole it." Prince insisted. "Please, just get me out of here."

Perry took a lock pick out of his pocket and started working on the lock of the fence. "Promise me you'll tell me what happened."

"It's a long story, and you really don't need to hear it."

"Prince. Listen to me. There is no light ANYWHERE. As far as I know, only you, my nemesis and my boys are alive. Whatever you know can help me figure out what's going on."

The lock broke away. Perry opened the gate and put an arm around Prince. "I'm assuming you can't walk."

"I've been crawling everywhere."

Perry picked her up and carried her back to the hovercar. He placed her in the seat next to his.

"Sorry it's a little crowded. I didn't want to leave the boys alone, and I couldn't leave Doofenshmirtz bleeding in the street. Even if there were no cars coming."

"What did he say?" Doofenshmirtz asked Phineas.

"He said he was sorry it was crowded." Phineas said.

Perry rose the hovercar into the air, and they started back to Danville.

"Now." Perry said. "Tell me what happened. We have a long ride back. No excuses."

Prince sighed. "Fine." She looked back at the boys and Doofenshmirtz.
"Don't worry. They're having their own conversation back there." Perry listened for a second. "Phineas and Doofenshmirtz are wondering how they get those balloons within a balloon in the balloon, so they'll be ignoring us for a while. They can only understand me, anyway. Not you. Go."

Prince rubbed her hand. "I left my uncle's to get coffee one morning. I sensed someone watching me on the way out, so I was ready to defend myself when he jumped out. But I wasn't prepared for who it was. Damien."

"Never heard of him."

"He was a giant lizard, the leader of the Darkness."

"I see how this story might connect." Perry said, trying to use the little hovercar light he had to make sure he was going the right way.

"The Darkness was a gang that the Silencers were deadly enemies with. Damien kidnapped Silencers members countless times. Only a few of the kidnapped survived and escaped, including me. Anyway, he and I fought for a while, but he overpowered me and broke my foot. He told me he wanted me to come with him to steal Plastic Jimmy. Do you know what that is?"

"Yes."

"I told him I'd have no part in it, so he threatened to kill me if I didn't come. He came close to doing so- slowly and painfully- when I gave in. I kept watch while he stole it. I won't tell you how. It's too long and detailed. He then tried to get me into a van to escape. I told him I was staying, so he slammed me against the wall of the store until I was too weak to object. He tossed me in the back of the van and we drove a while- I don't know how long. I couldn't do anything, he took everything I had to defend myself out of my pockets and I was in too much pain to move. He parked and ran away with the rabbit. I didn't know why he had left until the trunk opened. The Troubadours had tracked him and were trying to get the bunny. His escape tactic worked wonderfully. They found me, and thinking he would come back for me, held me for ransom. He got away safely. All he needed me for was to be a scapegoat for them to catch. The Troubadours held me in their basement until tonight."

"…Awful… Prince, I'm so sorry. I'll get your injuries taken care of, okay?"

"I should have known he would try that. I should have tried harder to get away from him." Prince said. "I was just so scared that he might track me and somehow find Crusher."

"He probably wouldn't have connected her to the Silencers, Prince."

"She's connected to him." Prince said bitterly.

"How?"

"He's her father."

Perry was silent for a moment. "So… Crush is a hybrid?"

"Of course, and there's nothing wrong with it." Prince snapped.

"No. Not at all. I'm just surprised. She seemed to be completely a platypus."

"Ever wondered why she wears gloves? Why she seems to glare all the time? Why she hates being in cold places?"

"She told me she didn't want to leave fingerprints. And I thought she was just a cranky person. And as for cold places… I've never seen her cold."

"Her hands would stick to everything if she didn't wear them. She can climb up almost anything. Her vision is a mix between platypus and lizard. You can tell when she's angry, her eyes slit. And if she doesn't get enough sun, she becomes tired and cranky."

"Wow. I never noticed. So… Damien?"

"Hate him. Never liked him, if you got the wrong impression." Prince said.

"Doesn't sound like a fun guy, no. Wait… so he has the bunny?"

"Yes."

"I know Rex made the bunny, and it was a symbol of power. Do you know anything about the weapon his father supposedly made?"

"Yes. It got lost, so Rex had no idea where it was. He made the bunny as a key to activate the weapon. But Rex said later if we ever found the weapon, we should destroy it."

"Do you know what it does?"

"No. Not a clue. Something bad, though."

"I think I know what's happening… kind of." Perry turned to Phineas. "Phinny, quit talking about balloons for a sec. Ask Doof who attacked him."

"Who attacked you?" Phineas asked.

"It's gonna sound crazy." Doofenshmirtz mumbled.

"Oh." Phineas said.

"Okay, fine. It was a three-foot tall lizard."

Perry looked at Prince. "Doofenshmirtz bought a machine at a thrift store today. It didn't do anything when he flipped the switch. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that was the weapon, and Damien attacked him for it."

Prince looked furious. "Does this thing go any faster?"

"We'll get there soon." Perry said. "Hopefully not too late."

...

A big purple light was the only thing illuminating the center of Danville.

Malice was standing in front of all of the members of Royal Guard, pointing a gun at Damien.

The machine was glowing, giving off an unearthly hum. Malice had heard rumors about the weapon supposedly created by the most feared gang leader of all time, Vendetta, but he had thought it was just a rumor.

"It ends here, Damien." Malice said. "Don't you DARE use that weapon."

Damien gave a little reptilian hiss of laughter. "I wouldn't dare. Not when Royal Guard has a little guard dog on the watch. Or should I say, guard puppy?"

"I'll shoot."

"Your leader tried that trick." Damien said. "It didn't work the way she planned."

"What did you DO with her?"

"That's for me to know and you to…" Damien thought for a moment. "Not know."

"Just shoot him now." Finicky said. "Don't wait for him to talk you into it."

"Where IS everybody?" Tesla asked.

Damien smiled and pointed at the weapon. It began to glow a radiant purple.

"It takes a lot of power." He said. "I gathered the light. I gathered humans, and animals, and some daytime talk-show hosts. Soon the void will open. This void will swallow all of my enemies."

"What does it do after that?" Asked Fiasco, the most curious member of Royal Guard.

Damien shrugged. "I actually don't know. But it can't be pleasant. Would you like to find out?"

Fiasco hid behind Tesla.

Finicky had been writing on his paw secretly. He pretended to scratch his nose, holding the paw in Malice's line of vision.

Keep him talking. I'll try to deactivate the weapon.

Malice gave a small nod to indicate he understood. "So, Damien, how exactly did you get hold of this weapon?"
Damien gave a tiny, sharp-toothed grin. "Some idiot human bought it after I managed to locate it in a thrift store. I tracked him down and knocked him senseless. Weapon's mine."

"So our leader didn't steal Jimmy?"

"That plastic bunny? She didn't have the guts. I even asked her to assist me, and she refused. So I managed to persuade her to be my scapegoat."

The fur on Malice's neck rose. "You… you…"

"Funny thing about her." Damien said. "She's really not that resourceful. Did she really think I wasn't going to check her for weapons before turning my back to her? Did she expect me to use her as a way to escape? Of course not. She may despise me, but she has no idea what's going on. That 'cleverness' is just a little made-up trait she gave herself to-"

"SHUT! UP!" Malice had so much heat in his face he felt it would explode. He fired.

Damien dodged. The bullet hit the weapon, causing its beam to grow into a large circle of darkness. Finicky was sucked inside. A hovercar landed near the scene. A brown-furred platypus appeared out of nowhere and ran to the car.

...

"That looks dangerous." Doofenshmirtz said.

It had become extremely windy. Perry was having to fight hard to keep himself from getting sucked into the weapon's swirl of darkness.

Phineas and Ferb were flying in the air. Doofenshmirtz was trying to hold onto them.

JD grabbed hold of Perry and pulled him away. The void no longer tugged on him.

Doofenshmirtz began to fly toward the void, still holding onto the two boys. Perry leapt and clutched onto his nemesis's foot, but only wound up getting pulled into the vortex again.

"LET GO!" Phineas shouted. "SHUT OFF THE MACHINE!"

Perry felt someone tugging on him.

"It's not your fight, kid!" JD said. "Get down here! Get the lizard!"

Perry was pulled free of Doofenshmirtz. JD pointed at a switch on the side of the machine.

Perry ran. He yanked the switch into the "off" position just as the boys and Doofenshmirtz were sucked into the void.