Perry stood up and walked over to the door. "What are you doing here, anyways?"
"Busting you out." Poppy smiled. "You don't want to stay in here forever, right?"
"Heck no. But I have to. Look, Palmer's safe this way."
"Come on."
"I'm not going."
"Blurbah!" Said a voice. Baby Palmer ran into the room and jumped on the bed.
"You brought him?"
"No, not at all!" Poppy sounded panicked. "I left him with Pinky, Devon and Carrie!"
"Wait. Did you ask if 'one of them' could watch him?"
"Yeah…"
"If there's no specification, they just assume that one of them is watching him. Then they all go off. Ta-da! Unsupervised Palmer." Perry handed Palmer back to her. "You two had better get out of here before…"
"Going somewhere?" Asked Dennis, poking his head around Poppy.
"No." Perry said. "I was just telling Poppy to leave."
Dennis shoved Poppy and Palmer inside. He pulled out his raygun. "All the rogues told me I should rid myself of you. I was about ready to tell them otherwise."
"Poppy and Palmer have nothing to do with this." Perry insisted.
"Ever heard of the term 'guilty by association'?" Dennis snapped.
"Do whatever you want with me." Perry said. "Kill me. Lock me back up here. But let them go. You promised you'd leave Palmer alone."
"Did I?" Dennis backed them against the wall. "I remember we had more of an agreement, not so much a promise. I wouldn't touch a single hair on that baby's head as long as you remained here. That was our agreement. Since you have expressed an interest to leave…" He sighed. "I suppose I'll just have to cancel our agreement."
"Run." Perry grabbed Palmer with one hand and Poppy with the other and tore away from Dennis.
Dennis blasted after them. He knocked Perry to the ground and held the raygun against him.
"Goodbye." He whispered.
Perry fought to break free. He shoved his leg into Dennis' belly.
Dennis fell back, trying to recover his breath.
Perry followed Poppy and Palmer into the O.W.C.A memorial building nearby to hide.
It was only logical that Dennis stuck his one-room prison near the memorial. It was a room of statues of all the agents that had gone rogue.
Perry pointed at the statue of his father, Percy. "Hide."
Poppy ran behind it and stood in the same position as the statue so she wouldn't be visible from the front.
Perry got behind her and did the same. "Where's Palmer?"
Palmer was wandering among the statues, sniffing the floor in search of food.
"Psst!" Perry hissed. "Palmer! Come here!"
Palmer came bounding over.
"Time to do your mimicking thing. Do what mommy's doing. And do it quietly."
Palmer hesitated for a moment.
"Come on, Pal. Try."
Palmer stood behind his parents and copied their pose.
Dennis was in the room half a second later. "All right, where are you?" He growled.
He approached his statue. "There's a handsome rogue." He commented. "They made my ears too big, though."
He paced for a few minutes. Then he grabbed his raygun and shot down a statue of Greg the gorilla.
"I must have lost them." He muttered to himself. He left the building.
Perry got out from behind the Percy statue. Palmer stayed close to him.
"There's a high-security agency in Colorado." Poppy said quietly.
"I'm aware." Perry said.
"Palmer and I will be safe there."
Perry turned to look at her. "You're leaving?"
"As long as Dennis is after us, he can't be safe here. You aren't, either."
"I manage."
"Come with us." Poppy begged. "We can stay together. You can help me raise Palmer."
Perry shook his head. "I've been away from home too long already."
"We can find a new home."
"Phineas and Ferb need me."
Poppy looked over at Palmer. Then she nodded slowly. "See us off tomorrow, then."
She picked up Palmer and left.
Perry sat down underneath the Percy statue for a while.
It was silent.
p***
"It took like an hour to get that guy to let us on a plane." Poppy said. She sat down next to Palmer.
Palmer was very interested in the airport. He was able to see so many different people. And chew so many different shoes and purses. And hear so many different screams when he chewed those shoes and purses.
Finally he settled down in the plastic chair next to his mother.
Perry hadn't spoken to either of them since they'd arrived. He hadn't been feeling good all day. He wasn't sick, though. He didn't know what was bothering him.
A woman walked by. Palmer chomped down on a loose string on her purse.
The woman kept going. The string got longer as the purse started to unravel.
"Palmer, let go!" Perry whispered.
Palmer growled happily.
The woman's purse became detached from the handles and fell.
Perry tugged the string out of Palmer's mouth. "You do not want her to know you did that."
Palmer clapped his paws.
"Are you sure you're not coming?" Poppy asked.
"I have to stay." Perry looked at the ground.
Palmer climbed into his lap and curled up. "Dad-ie."
Perry felt a lump form in his throat. He bit his tongue to keep from crying.
"All passengers on board." Said a voice through the speakers.
"We have to go." Poppy stood up and grabbed Palmer.
"Take care." Perry managed to say.
Poppy walked Palmer over to the boarding line.
Perry watched them, hundreds of thoughts flooding his mind at once. They were almost at the front of the line now.
"Love ya." Perry called.
Poppy smiled a little. Then she ran over to him and gave him a hug.
"You take care of yourself, John Adams."
"Same for you, Marilyn."
Poppy kissed him on the cheek and went back to Palmer. She waved as they vanished through the gate door.
A small animal in a trenchcoat that hid his face and a cap showed his boarding pass to a flight attendant.
"You may not be allowed on here." The woman said.
"Poppy got in." Snapped the animal.
The woman led him through, even though she obviously hadn't understood.
Perry went over to the window, watching the plane. It hadn't taken off yet.
It would be an interesting flight. Three animals on a plane.
Perry thought back. How had that random animal known Poppy's name, anyway?
He ran back toward the boarding line.
"You have a ticket?" asked the flight attendant.
Perry shoved her to the ground and ran on the plane. The door closed behind him a second later.
He pushed his way toward the back until he caught sight of the two platypuses.
"Dad-ie!" Palmer said excitedly.
"He's not here-" Poppy began. "Perry?"
"You guys have to get off of here." Perry whispered. "Dennis is here."
"Did you change your mind? Are you coming?"
"Dennis! On the plane!" Perry repeated.
Poppy's eyes widened. "But…"
"I didn't know you were Colorado-bound." Dennis snarled, shoving Perry out of the way. "It doesn't matter, anyways. The pilot has just had a very unfortunate need for an hour's nap. This plane is staying in Danville."
He grabbed Palmer and made a dash for the front.
Perry chased after him. He tried to think of what to do. He couldn't jump Dennis, that might hurt Palmer. He needed to get Palmer out of the way…
"Palmer!" Perry shouted, between breaths. "Fluffy!" He pointed at Dennis' tail.
Palmer looked down. He chomped on the fluffy.
"Agh!" Dennis yelled, releasing Palmer from his grasp.
"This is your copilot speaking." Said the intercom.
Palmer hung onto Dennis' tail with his teeth.
"Since our pilot seems to have fainted, I'll be flying you to Colorado."
The plane started to rise.
"You little brat!" Dennis shouted, trying to shake Palmer off.
Perry caught up to them and punched Dennis.
Palmer let go of the fluffy and walked lazily toward the front of the plane, his interest lost.
Dennis slammed Perry against one of the seats. Then he stared to his left.
He was getting an idea. Perry knew that look.
Dennis snatched Perry up and carried him toward the front. Perry tried to bite him, but his mouth wasn't close enough to Dennis' arm. His struggling seemed to have no effect.
Palmer was waiting for them near the plane door. "Hai dad-ie." He said, unaware of the situation.
"YOUR daddy saved you from this once." Dennis hissed into Perry's ear. "But I don't see him here now. Your fate is in the hands of that BABY."
"Bay-bie." Palmer said.
Dennis turned the crank on the plane door, threw it open, and held Perry out with his fist.
Perry grimaced. The wind really hurt his ears.
"Goodbye, Perry the platypus. Perhaps you'll land on a nice condo."
He released his grasp. Perry started to fall.
He clutched onto the side of the plane and curled up to protect himself from the strong wind.
"Dad-ie." Palmer held his paw out to Perry.
"No." Perry held on tighter. "Go get mommy."
Palmer looked devastated.
Dennis started to laugh. "You can't hold on forever."
Palmer moved himself so that he was behind Dennis. Then he shoved him.
"GAAH!" Dennis tumbled out of the plane.
Perry watched, horrified, as his enemy plunged down.
Palmer waved to Dennis. "Bye bye."
Perry carefully maneuvered himself back into the plane. He was freezing.
He closed the door again and turned to face Palmer, who was innocently looking up at him.
"Thank you." Perry said quietly.
He felt terrible. He hated Dennis. Lots. But seeing him fall to his doom was something else.
Palmer was finally safe, though.
That was all that mattered.
p***
"Tell us what happened!" Pinky begged.
The agents were all crowded around a huge party table filled with different cakes. Poppy and Perry had the seats of honor.
"Not much." Perry hadn't touched his plate.
"Cakie!" Palmer, who had been sitting on the table, mashed his paw into Perry's slice.
"Don't be so modest, Perry." Poppy patted him on the head. "You helped save Palmer. And any other innocent agents who may have been involved."
"Agent P?" Brandon the bulldog said. "Can I see you a minute?"
Perry followed Brandon into a private room.
"You're not celebrating." Brandon said.
"I never liked parties." Perry looked away.
"That's not why you're not celebrating. You're upset because of what happened to Dennis."
Perry hung his head.
"Nothing to be ashamed of. You've got a really good heart. You can't find too many people who would feel sorry for a terrible enemy." Brandon gave him a tiny smile. "So I asked you here to tell you not to worry. Dennis is fine. He had a parachute with him. He landed right in our prison."
"He's alive?"
"Alive and well. But he won't be bothering you anytime soon. Go on back to your party now."
Perry nodded. "Thanks. I feel a lot better."
"Don't mention it. And keep up the good work, agent."
p***
"You're sure you don't want to stay with me? Phineas and Ferb are awesome."
"Three's a crowd." Poppy said. "There is such a thing as too many platypuses."
"You and Palmer are going to be fine in this old shack, then?"
"It's an abandoned garage. And I'll fix it up. It looks bad now, but I promise you, it will be gorgeous once I'm done with it." Poppy placed her suitcase inside the filthy garage.
Palmer walked over to it and chewed on the zippers.
"I'll be seeing you soon, then." Perry said.
"As often as you like. We'll be settled in a couple weeks. Come by next Thursday?"
"Sure."
"It won't be too much trouble?"
"Not as much as Palmer." Perry joked. "Heck no. You guys are closer to my place than O.W.C.A's main headquarters." He gave her a hug. "See ya, Pal."
"Bye-bye!" Palmer beamed.
p***
Perry lay down in his pet bed. Phineas and Ferb were overjoyed to have him back.
Even Carlos had said, "I'm so glad to see you!" when Perry hammered his stomach.
He rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling. So much had happened in the past few weeks.
And so much would continue to happen.
But one thing was for sure: Perry was going to destroy Carlos again one day.