"Your father and I will pick you kids up once we get the van." Linda said.
"Can I go with you guys?" Candace asked.
"You need to supervise the boys." Linda said.
"But why do we have to hang around the pet store?" Candace complained.
"Perry likes the pet store." Phineas said, putting on Perry's leash.
Perry chewed on it.
"We'll be back in less than an hour." Linda said. She handed each of her children a dollar. "You can buy Perry some treats if you want."
"Bye, mom!" Phineas said.
They went into the pet store. Perry sniffed the ground.
"He better not get any ideas." Candace said. "Every time he goes on the floor, I always have to…"
"Cool, look at the hamsters!" Phineas said. He and Ferb led Perry over to the hamster cages.
A rather large hamster was running on its wheel.
Perry pawed at the glass.
"You like the hamster, Perry?" Phineas asked.
"Please." Candace said. "He probably doesn't even notice it. Or know what it is."
"After I run, I shall nap." The hamster squeaked.
"Busy schedule." Perry commented.
"Ooh!" Candace said, disappearing into an aisle. "We should get Perry a fancy new collar."
"Perry hates collars." Phineas said.
Perry began chewing on his leash again to emphasize Phineas's statement.
"How about a cute little hairclip, then?" Candace asked, holding up a tiny hairclip with a plastic pink bow on the front.
Perry slammed his tail against the ground in disapproval.
"Uh…" Phineas said.
"A little too girly." Ferb said.
"They have little t-shirts for pets." Candace said, looking through the merchandise. "If only Mr. Cutie Patootie were still here. He would look SOOOO adorable in this little pink dress!"
"Birds!" Perry shouted, dragging Phineas over to a glass cage. "I love looking at birds."
"Oh look, he found his cousins." Candace said sarcastically.
Perry watched the colorful parakeets hop around. One parakeet was standing directly in front of the glass, looking at him.
"Hello. My name is Pajamas." The parakeet said.
"I'm Perry." Perry said.
"We are blue twins." The parakeet said. "Except you are outside and I am inside. I was outside when I was a baby parakeet. But then I came here. And now I am stuck for the end of time."
"Where did you live before?"
"In a nest in a pretty tree by a pretty stream." Pajamas said.
"The top of your cage looks loose. I could open it for you." Perry offered.
Pajamas cocked his head to the side. "I cannot fly."
"Oh." Perry said quietly.
"What's he saying?" Phineas asked.
"His name's Pajamas and he wants to get out. I told him I could open his cage, but he's been pinioned. People are jerks."
"Aw." Phineas said. "I wish we could help him. Wait, how much does he cost?"
"Three dollars." Perry said.
Phineas dug around in his pocket. "Okay, one, two, two and a half… Ferb, do you have fifty cents?"
Ferb handed over two quarters.
Phineas smiled. "Perfect. All right, Pajamas! Time to get you out of there."
Pajamas sat on Phineas's shoulder as they browsed around the pet store some more.
"Wonder what your mother's gonna say." Perry said.
"She'll probably be cool with it." Ferb said.
"Sorry, Pajamas." Phineas said. "I guess you're not technically free yet. But since you can't fly yet… I mean, we couldn't just release you into the wild again. It'd be dangerous."
"I am happy." Pajamas tweeted. "I am out of the glass box."
"He's just happy to be out of his cage." Perry said.
"That's good." Phineas said. "He's a cute little bird."
Pajamas began to happily sing.
"Now let's find a toy for Perry." Phineas said.
They went down the toy aisle. Perry tugged loose a rubber ball from the shelf.
"Guess he wants that one." Phineas said.
They took the ball with them to the checkout line.
"Do you have any treats for platypuses?" Ferb asked the man.
The man put Perry's ball in a bag. "Actually, yes." He pulled out a small sack from underneath the register. "They're called Monotreme Munchies."
"Sounds delicious." Perry said.
Ferb paid and they all went to find Candace.
"Everyone ready for our big trip?" Linda asked.
Perry placed his new ball in his pet basket, which was in the back of the RV. Snugglebear was on the couch, and his favorite toy hamburger was on one of the seats. His rubber chewing ring was in the middle of the floor.
"I can't sit down with Perry's slimy old teddy bear in the way!" Candace said.
"Platypi are very particular about where they place their things." Ferb said.
Pajamas hopped into the air and descended to Candace's head.
"ACK! MOMM!" Candace shouted.
"Settle down, Candace." Linda said. "Boys, get Perry in his basket so we can go."
Phineas picked Perry up and put him in his pet bed. Perry chewed his new ball.
Pajamas began to sing. It was a song about Candace's head.
"Are we ready to go?" Lawrence asked.
"YEAH!" Phineas shouted. Ferb pumped his fist in agreement.
"I guess." Candace muttered.
"Off we go, then!" Lawrence said. He began to drive.
"I wonder why there are so many police cars pulling up beside the pet shop." Linda said.
Perry exchanged a glance with the boys.
They had left just in time.
"I bet it was Rick, the leader of that disgusting gang… what were they called…"
"It wasn't Rick." Prince objected. She dug around in the chest-of-drawers.
"What are you doing here, anyway?" Rex growled. "You're supposed to be looking for whoever-it-is. He could be anywhere." Rex stared her down. "A he, or a she?"
"Shut up." Prince produced a tiny object from the drawer.
"That stupid penguin bracelet charm you used to wear all the time?" Rex started to laugh. "THAT'S gonna help us HOW?"
Prince turned to Dane. "You. Smell it."
Dane sniffed the penguin charm. "You. The chest-of-drawers. Old clothing. Faint scent of coins."
"Ugh, I know. Sniff deeper. There should be another smell."
Dane scrunched up his nose. "There is. I can't place it. Organism, definitely."
"Yes."
"You want me to follow that scent?"
"Yes. And I'll follow it with you."
"It's very faint." Dane said dubiously. "I don't know if I'll be able to track it."
"Well, be able." Prince snatched the charm out from under Dane's nose and clipped it to her chain collar. "If you like, I can find you some better scents. Although finding them may be a bit more… dangerous. Enemy territory."
"It's your choice." Dane said. "You want me to find this organism, right? I can't pick up any scent of it at the moment."
"We're not outside, idiot. Once we are, you may get a stronger idea of the scent."
"And if I don't?" Dane raised an eyebrow.
Prince sighed. "We'll have to pay a visit to somewhere I hoped never to visit again."
"There's no water." Candace said.
Pajamas was perched on the sink faucet of the RV, looking into the basin. He seemed to take a liking to shiny things, and the sink was very shiny.
Perry was running in circles around the RV. They had been driving for hours, and it was a relief to finally be on a still surface.
Linda sighed. "Are you sure?"
Candace turned on the sink. Nothing happened.
"Blueberries!" Pajamas sang. "Blueberries, blueberries, blueberries…"
Linda frowned. "Well… there's nothing we can do about it tonight. We'll stop at a store tomorrow."
Perry began running circles around Linda and Candace.
"Boys!" Linda called.
Phineas picked Perry up. Perry struggled to break free.
"Let him outside." Linda said. "He needs to run around."
Pajamas hopped onto Candace's shoulder.
Phineas took Perry outside and put him on the ground. Perry ran happily around the trailer.
When his muscles felt good again, Perry climbed back inside and lay down on the floor, panting.
Phineas offered him a sip of water from his bottle.
"Put it in a bowl." Perry said.
"Germophob." Phineas accused.
Perry stuck out his tongue.
"It's a wonder you're not afraid of getting platypus spit on your mouth, but Perry's afraid of getting human spit on his mouth." Ferb said.
Phineas put down a bowl, and Perry drank.
"It's scary the police tracked you to the pet store." Phineas whispered, in case Candace and Linda, who were arguing in the bathroom, could hear them.
"I know." Perry said. "But don't worry. The police only know about my agent life. Not my home life. They aren't looking for a mindless platypus."
Pinky the Chihuahua and Harry the husky were heading toward the front elevator.
"I don't think he did it." Pinky said. "Perry's done some crazy things, but I doubt he'd blow up a random factory. Besides, where would he get the money for the explosives?"
"I don't know him very well, but he's a good fighter." Harry said. "I too doubt it. An agent of his-"
"Shh." Pinky said, holding Harry back with one paw.
"My ears aren't as sharp as yours, what is it?" Harry whispered.
Pinky pushed open the door to Perry's lair, being as quiet as possible.
"Who goes there?" He shouted, startling the intruder.
She jumped away from the desk drawer and whirled to face him. She was a platypus, with messy, teal-colored fur, save for a few streaks of neon pink, green and blue. She had on black boots way too big for her, fishnet tights, a dark jacket, a short skirt, fingerless gloves, and a chain-link collar. She had on more clothing than Pinky had ever seen on an animal, even those pampered little Persian cats and poodles.
"Come on, who are you?" Pinky demanded. "And what are you doing in Agent P's lair?"
"I'm an old friend of his." She said. She didn't appear afraid anymore, and was leaning casually against the control panel.
"What's your name?" Pinky asked.
She shrugged.
"How do you not know your own name?"
Another shrug.
"I'm calling security." Pinky said.
"So call them." She responded coldly.
"Pinky, what's going on?" Harry asked, coming into the room. "Who else is in here? Is it Perry? Did he come back?"
Pinky pointed at the platypus, whose expression had changed to sudden terror upon Harry's entering the room.
Harry squinted. "No way… Princess? Is that you?"
The platypus dashed into the elevator without a second look. In moments she was gone.
"That's funny. She used to work here. I knew her. What the heck was she doing down here?" Harry asked.
"I wish I knew." Pinky said.