When the Platypus Cry Part 4
By Lolitafreak88
Despite all the clear changes that were going on outside in the Tri-State Area, Candace and Jenny were so engrossed in solving Phineas and Ferb's mystery that they didn't notice. The rest of the clues also involved searching around the house so they hadn't been able to look outside again. After some more puzzle-solving and high-level thinking, Candace and Jenny solved Phineas and Ferb's mystery and from the last clue, were told to go outside in the backyard to find their reward. Candace opened the slide-glass door to the backyard and started to speak as she entered the large backyard,
"Wow! That crossword puzzle was tricky. Thank goodness it was about past inventions though or I would've been in a pickle." Jenny followed suit, carrying her Australian boomerang. When it had been announced that they had solved the mystery, she thought now would be a good time to play with it.
"And it was a great thing my family occasionally solves a jigsaw puzzle. It sure came in handy when Phineas and Ferb choose that as one of the... tasks?" Jenny's words melted away as she finally saw the sky's new palette. She gasped and put her hands over her mouth and watched the vivid red sky with some concern. Being experienced with the enviroment and caring for it, she knew the sky was naturally a lovely blue. So to see it in this harsh, grim red light was definitely cause for panic. Global warming does exist, Jenny thought. Candace, who was still looking forward and not at the sky was oblivious and continued to talk about the mystery.
"-I sure hope that no matter what the reward is, it involves fashion or busting or, at this rate, food. I'm getting kind of hungry." Candace turned around to look at Jenny and noticed Jenny looked awe-struck, or maybe frightened, it was hard to determine. So Candace asked her what was up,
"Jenny, what are you looking at and... ACK! The sky is red, the sky is red!" Candace's stance changed into a cautious and scared pose and her eyes widened when she saw what had happened to the sky. There were no Dark Perry's in the air at the moment so they had no idea that there were Dark Perry's outside their household so for the moment the sky appeared to be the only out of place thing they noticed.
"I know! Global warming is a controversial subject but maybe it is true in this case! What else could turn the sky red?" Jenny asked panicked.
"Sunsets? Acid rain? A fire?" Candace offered some logical explanations. Jenny adopted a thinking pose yet again, for the umpteenth time that day but it was still appreciated, and went over Candace's suggestion.
"It's still relatively lunchtime, there are no clouds in the sky, and if it was a fire there would be ash flying about or smoke in the air. Then again this is Danville. Maybe your brothers changed it to red for some decorative purpose?" Candace shook her head.
"I don't think changing the sky red as a reward for solving a mystery is necessary. Speaking of reward, I'm soooo ready for mine." She changed the subject, mostly to a more positive note. Jenny played along with Candace, realizing that she was dwelling on the negative a bit. The two friends looked around until they noticed something at the base of the tree. It appeared to be an ornate music box, complete with a handle to wind it.
"A music box? Must've been Ferb's idea." Candace commented. She opened the box lid to see that in the music box was a figurine of Candace with a crown on, much like how she looked when she was the Queen of Mars. Jenny looked curious.
"Ooh that's surprising detail on the little figure. It looks just like you! Except with a crown on." She pointed out in a blunt way. Candace smiled though. It was one of Candace's favorite moments of summer, mostly because she had won the respect of the aliens from Mars and was seen as a leader and as a queen. She wasn't seen as some neurotic big sister who supposedly made stories up about her brother's being inventing geniuses. She wasn't seen as some fraud or some desperate teen who could never match up to her brothers. She was seen as... Now I'm suddenly depressed. She winded the music box and sure enough it started to play a catchy instrumental version of 'Queen of Mars'. The Candace figure even shook it's hips in tune with the music. That cheered up Candace a little.
"Look, it even has my awesome dance moves." Candace said with heart. Jenny laughed at this, finding Candace's statement quite funny. She clutched her stomach and actually laughed for quite awhile saying,
"Ha-ha, oh Candace! You... are SO much ha-ha-ha, fun to hang around! I can't believe I didn't think of this sooner... ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I've been having an absolute blast!" That finally made Candace smile big again. It had been a wonderful day so far, even with the strange red sky, because she had been hanging out with Jenny. They had bonded, chatted, found out more about each other, and were even working together to identify the camera and what it would hold. Plus she was seeing what she felt was the real Jenny, and not the Jenny people guessed she was. Sheesh this is starting to feel like a social link, Candace thought. Still it was nice to learn more about someone she didn't really know as well as she could have.
"Thanks Jenny. So are you ready to crack the camera wide open?" Candace offered, holding her arm up as though ready to go. Jenny nodded.
"You bet!" Just then they heard a noise that was very out of character in the Tri-State Area. It was the sound of a woman's scream that was then followed by several other screams from both genders. They sounded like they came from further down the street. The red sky was definitely a cause for alarm but these screams sounded as though they had saw something horrifying. A red sky at least had a chance to be scientifically explained so it wasn't something to scream that loudly or that desperately about. It must've been something else.
"What was that?" Candace asked. Jenny stood on her tip-toes and tried to look over the fence from where she stood.
"It sounded like screaming. The question is why though?" She clarified. Candace gulped. Her melodramatic personality made her an easy target for getting scared or panicked of something. She didn't really want to investigate what had caused that screaming but she knew she had to. Besides, she was with Jenny and she was close to her house so if it was something scary she still had a place to retreat to. So the two girls looked at one another and nodded, both in agreement to investigate. They walked towards the gate, opened it, and peered out. What they saw made their eyes widen and they both gasped in tune with one another. There were... PERRY'S! Or at least that's what it looked like from a first glance. A second and longer glance showed that they seemed to be built or enhanced with mechanical parts. They also had something painted on their chests in a very severe red paint, and chains around their wrists and ankles. Though they were broken off at a certain spot. They also had one very blank and cold looking eye. It looked like something out of a sci-fi horror film. So Candace and Jenny's outward reaction was quite predictable.
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" They screamed in fright and quickly shut the gate door and retreated to the middle of the backyard. They took sudden breaths, spooked badly by what they had seen. Jenny was the first to say something,
"Wh-what was... how do I even... is something happening?"
"You tell me! What were those things?! They looked like Perry except they were probably generic platypuses! But why were they robots? Did Phineas and Ferb make them or something?" Candace asked. She remembered when Phineas and Ferb made robot versions of themselves, and then later a robot Candace. She had to retreat to her panic room because it was absolutely terrifying. Plus they danced to very outdated 80's music and it was one of their worst inventions in Candace's mind. Yet here was another set of robots, except they were platypuses and actually looked more like a hybrid of robot and platypus. They had real platypus features but most of their bodies were composed of mechanical parts.
"And what were those initials? 'O.W.A.C.A'? What does that mean? Is it the acronym of the company that built them?" Jenny asked. Jenny, still being a detective up to the point they would look at the camera, took note of every detail. Those initials seemed particularly fascinating and caught her eye. Candace never heard of those initials in her life and she couldn't recall a time seeing or hearing them.
"Beats me. 'Oriental Wonderful Amusement Centers Agency'? 'Optimistic Workers Atop Cascading Arctic'? 'Omniscient'-"
"None of those make any sense Candace. But... why do the platypus features of them look so... lifelike?" Jenny interrupted Candace before showing a threat of anger in her next statement. Candace's reply came quickly,
"Maybe this O.W.A.C.A took real platypuses from Danville and experimented on them and turned them into robot platypuses." However, she suddenly realized how careless her statement was. For she was talking to Jenny, someone who was very passionate about animals. She quickly tried to say something else but she was too late.
"Experimentation on platypuses is a SIN!" Jenny shouted angrily, stomping once on the ground to emphasize her fury at this atrocity. Here we go, Candace thought glumly. An angry environmentalist was not someone you wanted to mess with. Jenny was smart so she probably wouldn't run into trouble without analyzing the situation but it would mean that Candace would be dragged into it too. Sure enough, Jenny took Candace's left arm and marched towards the gate, dragging Candace along the whole way.
"C'mon Candace, we're going to find this company and then smear the punks! They cannot do this to innocent wildlife! Especially to platypuses! They are a precious species and are protected by law!" Jenny declared. Candace understood Jenny's worry. If someone was hunting Perry she'd smack them in an instant. Or at least she would now, after seeing the Fan-Fiction Fantasizer version of him. But there were a few things Candace was still concerned about. She stopped and pulled free of Jenny's grasp.
"Before we smear anything Jenny, I want to check on my brothers. A lot has happened in a short time and they could be scared." She said sincerely. Jenny's face softened and she understood in a heartbeat why Candace was concerned about her brothers.
"Alright, we do need to tell them 'thank you' for the music box after all." Jenny said elegantly. Candace was glad that Jenny had settled down and so the two headed back towards the slide glass doors. But then to their horror, the slide glass doors suddenly closed on them quickly and a locking sound was heard. They heard similar sounds of doors being closed and locks being locked faintly from within the house. It was so sudden and out of place that it seemed supernatural. Candace and Jenny flinched backwards and gasped. Candace set down the music box, rushed to the glass door, and started banging on it.
"MOMMOMMOMMOMMOM! PHINEASPHINEASPHINEASPHINEAS! FERBFERBFERBFERB!" She screamed, just like she had one when her mother was across the street at Isabella's house and she needed her desperately to bust her brothers. But no one answered. Candace then tried to open the door but it wouldn't budge.
"Ngh! This... is... so... wrong! Jenny, help me out here please!" Candace begged. Jenny set down her boomerang and joined Candace at the door but it wouldn't budge despite their best efforts.
"I suppose pleading 'let my people go' isn't going to work either considering this appeared to be some kind of incantation." Jenny stated. Candace looked confused.
"Well, think about it, we heard all the doors and locks close themselves at once. That must mean something magically caused them to do so. Plus this house is now a giant closed room with some closed rooms inside. Anything can happen inside. We should be thankful we were outside before it happened. We can roam around freely and figure out what the cause of this is." Jenny explained with detail. Candace looked hesitant and looked even more concerned than before.
"I don't care about freedom! I just want to know if my brothers are safe!" She shouted with genuine worry. She then went a few paces back and braced herself for something. Jenny seemed to know what it was instantly.
"Candace you can't just run into the door in hopes of breaking it down. Not only will it produce a cliché and overused comedic effect, but it's glass! You'll injure yourself and only make your brothers worry." Jenny pointed out. The last statement was what convinced Candace that this wasn't a good idea and so she returned to a natural position. But it did nothing to ease her concern.
"B-But my brothers... I have to do something!" Candace declared. Jenny put a gentle hand on Candace's shoulder. Jenny was sympathetic towards Candace's worries, for she was now also worried about her own family. But she knew that something was responsible for this, and likely the red sky and the strange robots outside and it might be that 'O.W.A.C.A'.
"I know, I know. Believe me, I want to know if Django is alright myself but don't you get it? We have been blessed by Gaia and remained outside before we could be locked in the house. So we are the only ones who can stop whoever is doing this. This 'O.W.A.C.A' could be the cause of all this! They cruelly experimented on poor platypuses and turned them into those robots that we saw outside. If they can do that, they could have also turned the sky red or even put the entire Tri-State Area on lockdown. It is up to us to put an end to that, we are the only ones who can! Besides, the camera is locked inside the house as well. We have to get 'O.W.A.C.A' to unlock all the doors and windows so we can get the camera back." Jenny said. So she's saying that we are the only ones who can put things back to normal, Candace thought. She had calmly listened to all of Jenny's words and agreed with most if not all of what she said. But there was something that definitely was not sure of.
"We can't possibly save the day ourselves though! I'm not some Amazon or warrior princess or anything. I'm just Candace Flynn." Candace said with some regret. Jenny's face lit up with excitement after she heard this.
"And that's exactly WHY we can save the day! I mean I have my boomerang that I am surprisingly good with and you can use fighting skills. Besides when two friends put their minds to something, they will almost always succeed!" Jenny exclaimed as she picked up and held her boomerang. Candace had to admit that sounded kind of optimistic. That Jenny believed Candace had the ability to put a stop to all this if they worked together. She didn't think she had such powers. Although all those times trying to bust her brother made her quick-witted, determined, stronger than ever, and also alert and focused. Plus there was always her unbridled loyalty and sense of justice and desire to protect. Huh, Candace realized, maybe we could actually make it happen.
"Well... ok then! Besides, I was able to get myself out of trouble as the Fireside Princess all by myself... well with help from a certain dress. I can easily take on whatever is causing all this commotion!" Candace said as she flexed her knuckles. Jenny smiled big, showing confidence in herself and approval of Candace's own confidence. They were ready to fight for their families and for the Tri-State Area. They climbed over the fence since they had heard the fence lock on it's own and it was likely it wouldn't unlock. The Dark Perry's turned towards them as though they had snapped a twig with their foot and caught everyone's attention. Jenny aimed her boomerang, took a step back, and threw it with all her might at the nearest one. The boomerang flew with a graceful arc and smashed into the Dark Perry, the sheer impact making to disperse into nothingness. This reaction confused the two girls.
"Wait it just like... faded away. How does that work?" Candace questioned. Jenny caught the boomerang as it did the same thing to two more Dark Perry's that had gotten in the way of the boomerang's path. She looked like she was about to say something but then reconsidered it and instead declared,
"When weird things happen in Danville, you just go with the flow." With a sharp nod from the both of them, the two friends charged. Candace ran over and leapt at the nearest Dark Perry. Grabbing it's head, she whirled around through momentum until she was behind it. While the Dark Perry was still trying to make sense of what happened, Candace climbed on top of it, putting more weight on it and eventually the Dark Perry toppled over and crashed to the ground as it dissipated. Candace landed back on the ground and smiled, pleased that she was doing well. But then she saw something that caused her to scream,
"AHHHHHHHHHHH!" She barely managed to step back in time to avoid a Dark Perry whose hand had turned into a spiked mace and had swung at her. It then followed by trying to trip her over with it's tail but Candace leapt high enough and fast enough to dodge it. She then spun around and followed up with a mighty kick that defeated the Dark Perry. Jenny was doing well too, she was currently dodging some attacks from two persistent Dark Perry's. Her movements were nimble yet elegant, like a dance of some sort. She then gracefully executed a back-flip that also hit the Dark Perry in the front with her feet, dazing it, as she gained space and also was back on her feet. She may have been into nature but all that time she spent campaigning for "Save the Pigeons" had increased her stamina and she also had trained as a Phineas and Ferb Buster with Stacy. She was more than capable of defending herself. She hurled the boomerang as the scene changed.
Perry's fight was just beginning. Several Dark Perry's charged at him but Perry whammed them away with his tail though the blow was not strong enough to make them vanish. Two Dark Perry's attempted aerial dives at him, having sprouted mechanical wings like Platyborg was able to do but Agent P shot at them with his cracker jack gun, blasting them out of existence. At the moment, Dr. Doofensmirtz was bragging about something he had done a few minutes ago.
"Yes! With the entire Tri-State Area under lockdown, this means my army of... whatever these things are can rule the Tri-State Area! No one is able to interfere with us! Perry, no matter how many you fight, there will be more than enough to keep you away from this amazing ConjureInator! Man I am good!" He said. But this seemed to spark Perry's fighting spirit even more. He ran over and leapt into the air, executing an expert front-flip and then landing on a Dark Perry. His gun set to "Fire One", "Close Range" and "Medium" he promptly pressed the gun to the face of the Dark Perry and fired. The momentum of the blast propelled Agent P into the air as it destroyed the Shadow Perry and he did another somersault and landed on another Dark Perry and blasted it too. Leaping into the air he set the gun to "Super-Size" and "Any range" and then, regaining a proper position in the sky, fired into the crowd of Dark Perry's creating a huge explosion that blasted the Dark Perry's away. Dr. Doofensmirtz held his arms out in front of his face as the impact created a bit of a gust.
"Hey! How come you get an area-of-effect attack and my army doesn't?" He asked angrily. Perry looked a bit more confident in his chances as he landed on his feet but then he saw Dark Perry's fly towards him from different parts of the city, including the surrounding area of Doofensmirtz Evil Incorporated. They were likely the other Dark Perry's conjured by the ConjureInator. Perry looked at his weapon and noticed it had very little ammo left. He started making adjustments to the settings of his weapon and walked around warily.
Meanwhile, Jenny and Candace had made progress all the way to the street outside Doofensmirtz Evil Incorporated. Two Dark Perry's that were watching the showdown on the roof-top and were positioned on the ground suddenly felt taps on their shoulders. They turned around only to be abruptly grabbed by their heads from someone in front of them, who was indeed Candace, and were smashed together. The impact made them disappear instantly.
"Skadoosh." Candace uttered with some charm and pride in her tone. Jenny, who had been responsible for the tapping of the shoulders, came to her side. She wiped some sweat from her forehead.
"As pains me to say, beating up experimented platypuses is kind of fun. Especially if you imagine they are not platypuses anymore." She admitted shyly. Candace giggled at Jenny's honesty.
"Yeah kicking bad guy butt is fun though I am getting exhausted. Where the heck are they all coming from anyway?" The red-head asked, putting her hands on her hips and looking around. Jenny joined her and observed her surroundings closely. Jenny's eyes settled on the Doofensmirtz Evil Inc. building, specifically the rooftop. Flashes of explosions, sounds, and also the fact that the Dark Perry's were flying towards it all seemed to indicate...
"Do you see that? There seems to be a great battle occurring on that building's rooftop. I suspect that might be where O.W.A.C.A is stationed and it looks like we are not the only ones taking action right now." Jenny said, pointing at the rooftop. Unfortunately, when Candace looked to where Jenny was pointing, she nor Jenny noticed a Dark Perry heading towards Candace. The Dark Perry smacked Candace away from Jenny and Candace landed on the ground roughly.
"Oof!" She uttered as she landed. Jenny was quick to react.
"Candace!" But unfortunately several more Dark Perry's arrived and surrounded her, keeping her away from Candace. Candace gasped as the Dark Perry appeared right over her before finally screaming,
"HELPPPPPPPPPPPPPP!" Candace's screams were among the loudest from anyone in Danville. So it was not surprising that Perry, even in the midst of a decisive battle, had heard it. Fire alarms rang instantly through his head for he recognized that voice indefinitely. It was Candace! His owner! Oh no... Perry thought concerned. He had seen Phineas and Ferb nearly get hurt by the 2nd Dimension's Platyborg and Dr. Heinz Doofensmirtz but this was HIS dimension and this time Candace was about to get hurt. Perry pulled out his jetpack and activated it as quickly as he could and took flight. Dr. Doofensmirtz naturally misunderstood this.
"What?! Where are you going? Are you Perry the Chicken now? After him!" He ordered. Many Dark Perry's took flight and pursued Perry as he headed down towards where Candace was. Candace was about to get up but Dark Perry blocked off her chance of getting up by getting on top of her. Candace could only look up at it, with a somewhat dazed expression. But I have so much left to do... She thought as she saw the Shadow Perry's hand turn into a mace. She closed her eyes and braced herself for a brutal hit. She was silently apologizing to the Narrator for not being able to look into the camera. But that's when Agent P came to the rescue.
He didn't care if he was potentially busting himself to his family. He felt the pain of the comments that were made towards him after Phineas found out. But even that was tolerable and worth it, for he had revealed himself protecting Phineas and Ferb. The most noble way of having your cover blown. Even if she was grumpy and not as courteous to him as her brothers, he would do the same for Candace in a heartbeat. No one, not even Doofy, was allowed to lay a finger on his family. Flying towards the Dark Perry at lightning speed, he unleashed a three-hit combo. A fearsome shoulder ram, then a turn to unleash the back of his elbow against the fiend, and then his own knee striking the Dark Perry in the stomach. He then held the barrel of the cracker jack gun against the Dark Perry's head, the gun set to "Close Range" and "Small". A fearsome expression adorned his face, the kind of face only one truly protecting his family from a threat could wear. He then fired of course, the Dark Perry fading into nothingness and rightfully so. With the others following him, Perry flew upwards, back towards the rooftop, and just in the nick of time for Jenny managed to defeat the Dark Perry's that were surrounding her and ran towards Candace in a hurry.
"Oh my gosh! Are you ok Candace? I'm sorry that I was occupied." She apologized, truly concerned about Candace's well-being. Candace opened her eyes and looked around. After studying and accepting the situation, Jenny helped her up as Candace said,
"I guess I am. Maybe the Mysterious Force does come in handy sometimes." The two friends, now knowing for sure that the source of the danger was on the rooftop of Doofensmirtz Evil Incorporated, ran towards the entrance. A stubborn Dark Perry was there to guard it. Candace, peeved and wanting to get rid of the numbness she had gotten in fear from the previous Dark Perry took initiative.
"Oh go drink some motor oil or something." She muttered as she shoved the Dark Perry's head into the wall, defeating it. Then she and Jenny finally entered the building. Perry landed back on the rooftop next to the ConjureInator in an effort to get as close to it as possible but then he felt himself be repelled forward by some force and he landed roughly on the other side of the rooftop. Dr. Doofensmirtz bragged again,
"Hah! Nice try Perry! But I decided to set up a permanent force field that prevents you from getting in extremely close proximity to the ConjureInator. I think I have finally found a way to vanquish you! Or stop you from blowing up my Inator." Perry grimaced, and he knew that he was now very limited on ammo. Now would've been a good time to call back-up but he had the sinking feeling they were occupied with the Dark Perry's in the park. Just then, to everyone's surprise, Candace and Jenny appeared on the rooftop, having ran up the whole building to the top floor and up the stairs onto the rooftop. Candace looked exhausted and fell to her knees, panting desperately. Jenny looked a bit tired and was panting as well but her determination had not fallen. She examined the crowd of Dark Perry's, the suspicious-looking man, and the equally suspicious-looking machine and concluded.
"As I thought, THIS is the eye of the hurricane."
Another chapter done at last! Sorry I took so long! Also, I'll admit I almost accidentally called the Dark Perry's "Shadow Perry's" in this chapter. That's what I get for making weird analogies XD. Anyways there are two chapters left to go after this one so get excited for more from this storyline! Also I think that Jenny and Candace are capable of being able to kick this much butt in real-life and so I don't think they are acting out of character and also I hope this only serves to develop Jenny even more. I've established some more clues too though we'll have to see if they are considered as clues. Jenny and Candace have finally reached the ConjureInator. But will Perry's cover be blown? Or will he unexpectedly find a new way of hiding himself that might actually be just the power boost necessary to win? Will more clues be revealed? And will they ever take a gander at the camera? Find out next time on Chapter 5! :D As usual I take no ownership of the material used as all rights belong respectfully and eloquently to Disney and Phineas and Ferb. Thank you ^_^.