This one is longer! Yay! *screaming fans start cheering* I hope you enjoy this one :) And guess what! My birthday's coming up soon! I'm ganna be 17! (For the third time…Inside joke.) June 20 cannot come any sooner! And after that, I'm going to be going to South Carolina with some friends. It's ganna be so much fun! :D

Phineas POV

I'll be honest. For a second, I was sure Perry and Vanessa had completely lost it. One look at a funny shaped building and they erupted into giggles. Giggles. Anything could happen to us and they start giggling. If they had truly lost their marbles, then I might as well have said "So long!" to my life, because Perry's the only one who can get us out of here; I just know it.

"What's so funny?" Zach demanded.

(I was still a bit curious to what exactly he was. It was probably something that started with a 'Z' seeing how the animals that introduced themselves had both their names and their species beginning with the letter Z.)

Perry straightened up, wiping a stray tear from his eye. "Oh, we're just laughing at the irony," he explained. Judging from Zach's expression, he, like the rest of us, didn't have any idea as to what Perry was talking about.

"Yeah… Sure…" Zach took a moment to scrutinize Perry before turning his back on us all. "Follow me."

We followed.

"Where are we going?" Isabella asked. Her voice didn't shake in the slightest despite the fact that she was griping my hand tightly. I've never felt so proud of her.

"To the top," Zach grunted.

"What?" Candace stopped dead in her tracks. "The top?" she echoed. "Are you kidding me? That's, like, a bajillion steps away! Can't we just take the elevator?"

The glare that Zach sent wasn't nearly as intimidating as the one Candace was sending.

"Doesn't work," Zach finally grumbled.

I walked over to it, inspecting the dented piece of metal. Without me even calling to him, Ferb was by my side, helping me pull apart the doors.

"Oh, this is no problem!" I exclaimed. "We can fix this, no sweat."

Zach's eyebrows shot up, and for once, he looked impressed. "Really?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I just need a wrench and some wires and some wire cutters and…"

I began listing the things Ferb and I required. At the end of it, Zach peered into the darkness and glared. "You vermin got all that?" he asked.

Isabella glanced at me, a question swimming behind her eyes. No one is out there. Is he insane? I shrugged. I don't know if anyone's out there or not, but I think he might actually be a bit on the insane side. However, five minutes later, animals began showing up, bringing with them a tool I had listed. By the time ten minutes past, Ferb and I had everything.

"Okay Ferb," I said. "I know what we're going to do today."

X~X~x

As I worked, I could feel eyes watching me. Some were unnerving, others were soothing.

Isabella watched me with those patient eyes, waiting till I needed something that Ferb was too busy or too far away to help me with. She knew exactly when to speak, when to listen, and when to leave me be. I couldn't ask for anyone better to be a part of my soul.

Candace had annoyance in her eyes, per usual, and I could see the underlining jealousy, also per usual, but this time, her admiration was greater. I know that Candace has mixed feelings about Ferb and I's uncanny abilities, so I'm happy that, for once, she's appreciating our gifts more so than despising them. She's still my sister, and I'll love her no matter what, but I just wish she'd enjoy our creations rather than put them down.

Vanessa looked on with wonder. She's only seen us working a few times; I suppose whenever she gets the chance, she finds it amazing and nearly miraculous.

(Sometimes, the things Ferb and I create are surprising to me too.)

The other animals, Zach included, watched wearily. Perhaps they thought we'd turn on them, and use the mechanical tools to hurt or kill them. Some of the animals watched with hate in their eyes. I had a feeling it wasn't because we were fixing the elevator –which some of them were whispering praises to each other about– but more because we were human. From the interactions before, I gather that all these animals used to be a part of Perry's agency business, but they all left. I think it had something to do with humans.

Perry. He's the one whose eyes told me so much. He was proud of me. Of Ferb and I. The things we could do. We helped people rediscover their inner child, which can cure even the coldest heart or the bitterest of souls. Perry's known us for so long; we got him when we were barely out of that toddler stage.

The longer we were here, in this alternate world, the more my memories kept returning. I'm not sure if I was the only one, or if it was affecting Ferb and Isabella too. Candace didn't have a bracelet, so I know her memories of that other world wouldn't be coming back; for that, I'm glad.

I remember only flashes. Perry shoved me out of the way of any orange beam of light; Isabella in my dark room, explain the situation. I can't remember what happened there. Only that it was devastating. It had something to do with animals, I'm longer I worked on the elevator, the more memories returned, but I still couldn't remember exactly what happened. Images would flash in my head, and I'd understand them, but I didn't understand what I understood about them.

I was starting to get a headache.

When Ferb and I finally finished the elevator, roughly an hour later, I've never been so happy to hear cheesy elevator music. At least it stopped my head from overheating from all the thoughts that were dancing around up there.

X~X~x

At the DING! of the elevator, Zach made a somewhat-pleased grunting sound.

"That was…pleasant," he mused.

I grinned. "Ferb and I can fix anything." I glanced over at my brother, "Isn't that right?" My brother's responding answer was two thumbs up.

"Yes, well," Zach cleared his throat. "He'll be with you shortly." He turned around, back into the elevator, and pressed a button. The doors closed, and there was silence.

After a few tense seconds, Ferb said, "I don't know how he closed the doors; he's too short."

For some reason, his comment sliced the tense atmosphere and left us all breathless from laughter. Leave it to my brother to relive any tension. I clapped a hand on his shoulder, smiling at him. He nodded knowingly at me.

"So what now?" Isabella asked. We all turned to Perry.

"Now?" Perry looked around. The room was quite spacious, and there was long, comfy-looking couch not five feet away. "Now we wait, I guess."

"You'll do no such thing."

We all jumped at the noise. That wasn't any of our voices.

"Perry, it's been a long time."

Perry turned to the voice, his hand clenching Vanessa's in a vice grip. "Show yourself," he commanded.

The voice laughed. "What? Can't recognize your old friend? I'm hurt."

"Who are you?" Perry asked, his voice lined with a mixture of curiosity and venom.

"Don't you remember me, Perry? I was one of your closest friends during our training."

I saw Perry stiffen. Even though I was standing behind him (he had taken a few steps forward, letting go of Vanessa's hand), I could see his mind working; see him putting together pieces of clues no one else had thought to look for.

"No," Perry finally croaked out.

The voice chuckled mirthlessly. "Yes."

Perry shook his head. "No. You died."

"Don't you mean that someone attempted to kill me?" the voice turned hard.

"But-"

"Obviously the attempt failed." The figure moved closer to us, but I still couldn't make out what it was. It looked like it was…round?

"Do you know why they tried to kill me?" the figure continued.

A sharp intake of breath informed everyone that Perry knew exactly why, and for some reason, he feared it.

"Just look in a mirror, Perry the Platypus." The voice hissed. He started coming out of the shadows. "Look at you. You're human. That's all I ever wanted to be."

The figure was now completely out of the shadows. To say I was shocked would be a complete understatement.

"Zane," Perry greeted, his fists clenched tightly at his sides, trying not to shake.

"Look at you," Zane whispered reverently. "You're human... And look at them," Zane turned to the rest of us. "You've found a family. That's all I wanted." His cold voice had turned wistful.

"The agency is a family," Perry insisted, but his voice didn't sound very convincing.

"Oh?" Zane asked angrily. "Then how do you explain this." He gestured to us. "You've got a new family now."

Perry backed up slowly, now standing shoulder-to-shoulder with Vanessa. "It's a long story," he tried to say.

"Bah! Long story, I'm sure. You, Perry, have everything I wanted. Everything. A human life, friends, a girlfriend. I want that." Zane stared at us longingly. "I suppose I'll just have to take it from you."

It took me a second to realize what Zane was implying, because I couldn't stop staring at him. He wasn't what I expected at all. The figure that came from the shadows wasn't terrifying.

It was a fish. In a bowl. On a moving platform.

A fish.

Then, the implications of what Zane was saying stopped me short. I'll just have to take it from you. This can't end well.

So I was going to stop after Perry said, "Now we wait, I suppose," but I decided to keep going. Hope you enjoyed it! If you please, I beg you to review :)