Sometimes, secrets aren't limited to buck-toothed boys wearing pink. Sometimes they weren't limited to humans at all.
Sometimes, secrets could belong to platypuses too.
Perry, for instance, has a big secret of his own. Bigger than Trixie liking comic books. Bigger than Timmy and Chloe having fairies as godparents.
Of course the platypus isn't aware of these secrets, but his secret is bigger than those seen so far.
His secret, is in fact his entire identity.
While he normally acts as a mindless pet under the ownership of Phineas and Ferb, the platypus has a double life as a secret agent, as Agent P, that only few people know of. And dozens of animals.
Occasionally, the agency he works for, the Organization Without a Cool Acronym, would assign him a new mission, usually about his personal nemesis doing evil. And in such occasion, Perry has to sneak away from the boys and enter his lair via a secret, sometimes ridiculous, entrance.
Perry walks to a bush in a planter. The gang must probably be wondering where Perry is by now. Perry guesses Baljeet's asking that question now.
Perry's never been to Dimmsdale before, so he has to be extra careful to not be spotted by unknowing pedestrians. Moreover, he also has to find out which thing in the nearby area leads to a secret lair constructed by OWCA. He guessed the bush in the planter must be one. Carl, an intern at the OWCA, has given him a list of all the entrances in Dimmsdale and the nearby areas when they found out the Flynn-Fletchers were going there on vacation.
The problem was, that Carl didn't exactly specify where those entrances were. Perry didn't want coordinates, but something more specific than 'a bush in a planter in the Dimmsdale Mall' would've been nice.
He started to stand on his hind legs, put on his fedora and jumped in the bush, hoping his guess would be correct.
Of course it wasn't.
After jumping out of the bush, one could notice he tried to dig for an entrance because his paws were under the dirt and roots.
Then Perry noticed another planter with a bush. But this one has a sticky note placed on it, saying 'OWCA Entrance'.
Perry rolled his eyes out of disbelief, and was actually more surprised that someone else hasn't found this specific planter before him, or at least didn't bother to check it after seeing such an obvious hint stuck at the planter.
He hid the sticky note in his fedora then jumped in the previously-labeled planter. This time, a metal door was found under the dirt, and a numerical keypad, each making different sounds.
He ticked in 9-1-9-1-9-5, making the sounds 'doo-be-doo-be-doo-wah', and the metal door opened. Perry jumped right in.
He landed in a secret lair that was very similar to his back home: platinum-white walls, red chair, teal, platypus-themed gadgets and a high-tech bureau with keyboard and a large rectangular screen where a live chat recording with his boss shows up: a white-haired man with a short mustache, large nose, M. C. Escher-reminiscent eye positioning, and dark green suit with two purple Ms on the right breastside. This is Major Francis Monogram.
He was already on-screen when Perry appeared. He could see some dirtrests and loose roots falling alongside the platypus.
"Good afternoon, Agent P", he began. "About the entrance, some of our agents left some sticky notes on most of the Dimmsdale entrances because I- I mean we, believed Carl was a bit incompetent and didn't specify the entrances. Isn't that nice? How is it in Dimmsdale, by the way?"
Perry drooped his eyelids and made a negative face when he heard about the sticky notes situation. He wasn't impressed.
"You're right", Monogram said more sternly. "We should focus on the mission. It's Doofenshmirtz again."
Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz is Perry's nemesis: a lanky, slouching Drusselsteinian that builds devices to take over the Tri-State Area. But what's he doing in Dimmsdale, a location outside the Tri-State Area?
"He and his man robot, Norm I think, has entered this very building you're in earlier today, with a bottle of perfume and a cauldron."
A photo of Dimmsdale Mall's entrance from bird's eye view is viewed on the screen. Doofenshmirtz could be see entering the mall while holding a bottle of perfume, while his large robot Norm was carrying a black cauldron.
"We're not sure what he's going to do, but we ask you to find that out. And if it's something evil (which is very likely) then put a stop to it, like you always do. Monogram out!" This is the cue for Perry to leave the lair and get into action, and he does so immediately.
Carl, who filmed the live footage from Monogram, can be heard saying to Monogram: "Sir, were those sticky notes really necessary? I mean, anyone could've seen those."
Monogram said spitefully to the intern: "Well, you should've specified those lairs on your list in the first place."
Perry decides to head to the perfume department on the third floor immediately, since that's where Doof may have been headed. Or the kitchenware department, seeing the cauldron. But he guessed the perfume department first since he wouldn't let his robot henchman carry anything that is more relevant to his plans.
He was ready to take the elevator, when he suddenly heard two voiced he heard earlier today.
They belonged to Trixie and Veronica. They were carrying plastic bags, completely full.
They obviously met Perry before as a mindless pet. If they saw him like that, they might tell Phineas and Ferb (the massive gossipers they are), and then he has to be relocated. He's too dearly attached to the two stepbrothers to let that happen, so he hid behind a nearby bush in a planter (he didn't want to get dirty the third time).
He could hear Veronica say to Trixie: "So he was like, 'no way', and I was like 'duh, yeah way', and she was like, 'say whaa?', and..." Perry stopped listening until he heard Trixie say: "Oh uh, Veronica, I remembered something important that I need to do, like, right now. You go ahead, 'kay?"
"Veronica said: "Yeah whatever. So he was like, 'dude, were you even listening?' And she was like, 'of course, something about oatmeal', and I was like: 'oatmeal? Are you crazy?', and then she was like..." Veronica already disappeared out of Perry's sight. Was she even listening to her friend?
Perry wondered what Trixie meant by 'something important'. He can probably watch her for the time, it's not like he can go to Doofenshmirtz without being spotted anyway.
Trixie looked left and right, checking if no one could see her. Right after that, when the coast is clear, she... wait, what's this?
Trixie decides to hide behind the exact same bush Perry was hiding.
Panic has overtaken the platypus. His cover could get blown if he doesn't do something fast. He could see Trixie was right next to him, unpacking the plastic bag she already had before shopping here, to reveal... boy clothes. A red baseball cap (adorned with a white letter D), purple sweater, brick red pants and white sneakers with sky blue shoelaces.
This is completely unexpected for Perry. He wouldn't think Trixie would carry clothes specifically meant for boys with her.
Uh oh, she glanced at him, just as she put on the red pants and white sneakers. Perry frantically searched for his Groucho glasses.
He found them just in time, as Trixie pulled a completely surprised face as she was about to put on her cap, then took another peek at his direction, then calmed down a little.
"Don't tell anyone about this, little teal Groucho thing", she whispered. She then hid her shiny raven hair under her cap and appeared out of the bushes.
Perry was relieved, as she seemingly bought his disguise. Perry was still a little surprised at the fact Trixie, a popular, occasionally dressed up as a boy. He wondered why, then he saw where Trixie was headed: the comic store Phineas and his friends went in earlier. He noticed that there was a gamestore nearby too.
Perry figured out that Trixie does like comics, and maybe video games too, or other boy's stuff for that matter, but couldn't tell anyone about this, or her status would deplete significantly.
In other words, Perry just witnessed a part of her true face. Well sorta, the platypus doubted that Trixie likes dressing up like that very often.
Well don't worry Trixie, your secret is safe with this little teal Groucho thing.
In fact, you just gave him an idea to make him a bit more approachable to Doofenshmirtz in this mall.
Perry went inside the elevator, but stepped out on the second floor and headed to the clothes department.