"You what?" the lady asked, her face dominating the entire screen, which was once filled with Monogram's face and Perry as an audience. "Major Monogram, how could you breach our protocol, and let in three...three...why if I had to go on I'll probably get a fit just thinking about it. Now EXPLAIN."
Major Monogram held his arms in a defensive posture, as if it would save him from the fury of the woman now before him.
"Okay, I'll explain. I did it because it would boost Agent P's performance. I also did it"-he said, hurrying now, as the woman looked on the verge of interrupting-"because I was impressed by the way the handled themselves in the face of mortal peril. But I also did it for one other reason." The classic showman, saving his best for last.
And it worked. Even though she still looked like interrupting, she also seemed interested, and Major Monogram seized his chance-
"Isabella's special."
Oops. Had he said that? "I mean," he said, correcting himself, "she does not have a normal body. Just look at the status reports of the incident. She's more resistant to injury then the average human being. There's no one else that could survive that many shots, plus blood loss in such staggering amounts..."
Major Monogram was jerked back when-
"In about five minutes I am going to call a meeting of the supreme overs and explain to them what exactly happened, what you have done, and your explanation of it." Then the screen faded to black.
Major Monogram could only sit and wait. He had rested his case, and he hoped the jury would see it his way.
"I'm so glad that all of you could join us for this urgent meeting. Even if it is by video conference." The lady's face was broadcasted onto eight different screens around the world.
"Alright, this had better be mighty important." a baseball-capped teen of no more then twenty said. He was the youngest member of the council, and had only been appointed a year ago." I don't take kindly to my laptop screaming at me to connect here."
The lady was unsure how to drop her bombshell. So she settled for a simple-
"The North American branch has recruited three humans."
Suddenly there was chaos.
"But how could you-"
"-breach of security-"
"-unprecedented-"
"Quiet!" A man's voice stood out amongst the din. This man was obviously the most senior of the members. He was probably older then Monogram and had been at the agency for longer. Somehow, all the other members heard him and silence fell.
"Explain." The man's eyes never left the woman's. She could feel the heat of his stare, even across the Atlantic.
She took a deep breath to steady herself. She had always dreaded talking to the Master.
"The humans were recruited for three reasons. Firstly, the boys had acquitted themselves very well under trying circumstances. They have creativity and ingenuity, both valuable to the Agency. Second, the three are themselves owners of our best field agents, and because one of our agent's cover was blown, we couldn't leave them in the dark. So there was a choice between letting them join, or relocating the field agent. That's where the third factor comes into play."
She looked at her screen. Eight intrigued faces stared back at her. Even the Master was interested, a rare event.
"One of the three has amazing resistance properties."
She had anticipated hubbub, questions fired at her. But there was only silence. Dead, unmovable silence that stretched across the world.
Then someone broke it. "How did you find out all this?"
"They were captured by one of Doofemshmirtz's minions. The Doof from the second dimension." she said, clarifying."We suspect this particular minion was hypnotized into trying to take over the Tri-State area-that's a nice little patch of land with Danville at the center, for those of you who don't know. The alternate Doof knows that he cannot hope to take over the Tri-State area with Phineas and Ferb's interference, so he used someone to get rid of them, or better still take over the Tri-State area for him. Well, the plot failed, and in the process of escaping, Ms. Garcia-Shapiro was gravely wounded, and her heart failed. There was no heartbeat for six minutes. Then, spontaneously her heartbeat resumed. She didn't even suffer any brain damage."
"In short, she's special." She wound up.
"You're recruiting Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella? Why didn't you tell us earlier? Why all the drama?"an Australian asked. The three were practically O.W.C.A legends, ever since they single-handedly saved the Tri-State area from doom, five years back.
"If I told you on the spot I was recruiting them, then you'd be biased in my favour. I wanted to present all the facts first, to let you consider them fairly."
The assembly was impressed by her honesty. Exactly as she planned.
"I thought Doof was imprisoned back in the second dimension?" asked the Asian representative. She looked skeptical, to say the least.
"So did I. But..." And here she clicked a button on her MacBook to send her second bombshell.
"If you'd all look to the bottom of your screen, I've sent you a file. The file is CCTV footage taken from a local cafe in Danville. I'd like you all to play it now."
And she clicked on hers, too, because she still couldn't believe what the footage told her.
The image was grainy, and black and white, just like most CCTV footage. A man sat at a table and ordered a coffee. He seemed to be the only one there, but he also seemed to be expecting someone. The time on the footage read: 23:31:19. Half past eleven.
Right on cue, the door opened. A man walked in. From the camera angle, it was hard to tell who he was. He had on some sort of dark cape that made him look like an evil villain. The two seemed to know each other, as the newcomer was invited over to the man's table. They took opposite seats at the small round table.
Then they struck up a conversation.
"...really don't have much time..."
"Look." the woman said, pausing the video.
The newcomer's hand was undoubtably over the coffee. He seemed to be tipping something into it.
"Is that what I think it is?" asked the Master.
"Yes. A hallucinogenic drug. Now, hit play." the woman answered.
The video continued. The caped man was seemingly trying to persuade his counterpart.
"...don't you want to be ruler..."
"...you want to be..."
"...you want to be..."
He was, without a doubt, hypnotizing his opposite number.
Then the villain made a mistake. He call for a waitress-and looked straight at the camera with his one eye.
"Pause." But she didn't really have to say it, as everybody else already knew what to do on instinct.
"Is that who I think it is?" the Master asked, a bit shaken.
"Who else could it be?"
They watched in silence after that. They watched as the alternate Doofenshmirtz skillfully used hypnosis on none other then Flynn senior.
Then the clip ended. The time read: 23:46:02.
Fifteen minutes to destroy one life. A quarter of an hour to change three others.
"Mr. Flynn wasn't a bad guy. He was just ruined by fate and chance. Our background checks shows he was involved in a car accident, got mixed up in international crime syndicates and met Doof after Doof had kidnapped the real person he was supposed to meet. It was just plain bad luck. But it wasn't luck that Ms. Garcia-Shapiro lived."
Another pause, for dramatic effect. She had the floor now.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I trust you can all draw your own conclusions based on what you've just seen. But I know what my conclusion is. The alternate Doof is back. How, or why, we don't know, but we've just seen solid, irrefutable proof. And this is why we need to get the three before the alternate Doof gets them. If you share my logic, carry this through during the voting." She ended forcefully and drew a deep breath.
As was customary, the Master said, "Anything else to say, before we start the voting?"
No one even moved.
"Very well then, those for recruiting the trio...And those against…"
The vote was unanimous.
"All right then." the Master said. "I'll see you all at the next meeting." And with his usual briskness he disconnected.
Major Monogram was waiting for half an hour when the door opened. There stood the physical, real manifestation of the face on the screen.
The weary look on her face said it all.
And..there! There's still the epilogue...