Perry never liked small spaces. It was bad enough that he had to squeeze through them going to work, now he was doing it off duty too?

Why can't they make these things bigger?

He had found an abandoned secret entrance no one bothered to guard. A human could not possibly get through it, but a platypus could, albeit with lots of squeezing and cursing.

There was one other reason it wasn't used, though. The tunnel it led to was full of suffocating gas. A human would find it hard to hold his breath long enough to make it through the tunnel. But it was certainly within range for a platypus.

The tunnel seemed to wind on forever. Where is the exit?

He was suffocating now. Maybe he'd misjudged the tunnel length. He needed a fresh breath. Like, right now. Maybe-

-he would got one as the tunnel ended. He fell-the tunnel exit was set high into the wall of what appeared once to be a laboratory.

It was a clearly shattered one. Broken glass was everywhere. Obviously some kind of accident had happened here. He looked around for the door and saw it, swinging on its hinges, in the corner. He rushed out through it.

What have I done?

Hazelton slumped to the floor of his office. Surely the phone call was a fluke. Surely what news it carried must be untrue.

But he knew it was no lie. The phone call came direct from the top, asking him a very simple question.

"What have you done?"

"Well, what have I done?"

"Do you have any idea of the damage you have caused us?"

"What damage?"

"You've gone and dragged us into this mess as accomplices. I'm not having it! You dare to play dumb with me-"

"At least tell me what you are so pissed off about!"

"Kidnapping is a federal offense. We are wanted by the FBI for questioning, because you kidnappped those kids! It was all over TV, you fool!"

The light finally dawned for him. He had involved his organization in it. How, or why, he didn't know, but he knew enough about the man on the other end to know he was serious and this information could not possibly be bogus.

"But…how?"

"I think you know."

"Well, I can't think of-"

Or could he? He didn't know. It's bad enough if he got caught for something he did do, but now he's getting blamed for something he didn't do?

"The penny dropped?" Reason clearly meant little to the man; he sounded angry almost beyond words. Hazelton tried a different tack.

"These kids are important-"

But it instantly backfired.

"I don't care what they are, we are disassociating ourselves from you, and you will answer for your own actions! In fact, I am calling the police right now-"

"But sir, you can't-"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do. Now, goodbye." The silence at the end of the line was deafening.

Of course, he had no idea that the kids referenced were not Phineas and Ferb, nor that he wasn't to blame for the item now dominating news headlines.

He just sat on the floor, thinking.

When he got up, he knew he had a phone call to make.

He dialed in the familiar numbers, knowing that the next sixty seconds could make or break him.

Perry knew his owners were still alive. That was good.

But they were probably the most wanted people within ten miles. That was not good.

A fork appeared ahead of him. Choose: left or right?

He pressed his ear to the ground. The sounds were very faint, but there was no doubt as to the direction.

Right it is.

Perry dashed off in that direction, only to be confronted with another fork. This time, the sounds were coming from the left. He turned and came face-to-face with a robot.

The robot never knew what hit him. Perry was a blueish blur as he knocked his opponent's head off with a solid kick.

He'd triggered the alarm, though. Now there were bound to be more, coming his way.

Let them come. At least it'll distract them from my owners.

I have been used! He couldn't believe it. After so many years of using others for himself, he fell for it?

The phone call was terrible. He hadn't even gotten through to the intended recipient. He'd gotten a voice message instead.

"Hello, you've reached my number. If you are hearing this, then I want to be the first to apologize to you. For months now, I have used you to further my own ends. Those robots you've built? They were my design. They'd delivered the locket into my hands, if they haven't already. I needed you to seize the boys so that we could take control of their Tri-State area."

At this point, he had been ready to explode. Then came the blow.

"You're wanted for a number of outstanding felonies-I've called the cops. You're a free man for forty-eight hours; the time it takes for them to get an arrest warrant on the plentiful evidence I've given them. Of course they don't know it's all faked, the bank transaction linking you with that silly organization, the planted items on the scene belonging to you-or did you forget the watch you 'lent' me for me to look stylish on my 'date'?

The pause here was deliberate, measured to bring home the point.

"The way I see it, you should still work with me. That way, you have a better shot of surviving. You know kidnap draws a heavy sentence. Obey my will for this last part, and you'll not only get off, you'll be the cops."

Hazelton had sat back down, unable to believe his ears.

Him and his train set. Nuts!

"Will you join me?" The voice was slow, deliberate, and lingered even after the line had gone dead.

Perry had certain tools at his disposal. Chief among them was his stun gun-the latest version the O.W.C.A. could afford, which wasn't much.

But it was something. And in his expert hands, it was taking out robots left, right and centre.

At some point, the robots realized that they shouldn't let Perry be a distraction to them, and turned.

However, Perry got this point too, and realized he had to be enough of a nuisance to force them to turn around and fight him instead.

And he also realized this truly was his Rubicon. Once he'd committed himself there was no turning back.

He could still walk away. That was what the robots were doing now. He'd have a nice, comfortable reposting somewhere else, fighting a new nemesis.

He didn't even consider it. Rain hell on the robots!

What do I do?

Well, for starters, an answering voice inside Hazelton said, don't just sit there.

But what do I do?

Actually, that was a rhetorical question. He had a plan figured out already.

The question now was, would it work?