Authors note

I am really, really sorry I haven't been updating my stories lately and I know a lot of you are probably mad or frustrated with me. I am working on updating each chapter in each of my stories that I never seemed to complete and I was stuck on this one and I finally got an idea. So the first chapter is the prologue and this is technically the first chapter. I am still using the idea that Dr. Doof zapped him to switch bodies with another person but instead it just changed his life he is still a platypus but just in a different living situation. Sorry if that's confusing but let's begin! I am not taking any credit for J.K Rowling's work or anything like that PLEASE DON'T SUE ME!

Ch. 1

Beginnings

Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher of 2308, maple drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. They were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

Ferb was the director of a firm called Ferbbings and things which sold drills and other things you would need for them. He was very rectangular with green hair and you couldn't even tell he had a neck. Phineas had more shape and stayed at home he loved peaking over the fence to spy on the neighbors.

The Flynn-Fletcher's had a small platypus named Nicholas and in their opinion there was no finer platypus around.

The Flynn-Fletcher's had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it. They didn't think they could bear it if anyone found out about the Johnsons. Mrs. Johnson was Phineas and Ferb's sister, but they hadn't met for several years; in fact, Phineas and Ferb pretended they didn't have a sister, because their sister and her good-for-nothing husband were as unflynnfletcherish as it was possible to be. The Flynn-Fletcher's shuddered to think what the neighbors would say if the Johnsons arrived in the street. The Flynn-Fletcher's knew that the Johnson's had a small platypus too, but they had never even seen him. This platypus was another good reason for keeping the Johnson's away; they didn't want Nicholas mixing with a platypus like that.

When Phineas and Ferb woke up on this dull gray Tuesday is where are story begins. Ferb woke up and put on his normal purple bottoms and his off white button up top while Phineas wrestled a fussy Nicholas into his feeding chair.

None of them noticed a small robot fly past the window.

At half past 8 Ferb said his goodbyes to Phineas and tried to kiss Nicholas goodbye but missed because he was throwing a tantrum and throwing his food at the walls with his tail. "Little monsters" Ferb said under his breath and walked out the door and into his car and backed out of the drive way.

It was on the corner of maple drive that Ferb noticed something peculiar. A cat in a fedora reading a map. For a second, Ferb didn't realize what he had seen - then he jerked his head around to look again. There was a tabby cat wearing a fedora standing on the corner of Maple drive but there wasn't a map in sight. What could he have been thinking of? It must have been a trick of the light. Ferb blinked and stared at the cat. It stared back. As Ferb drove around the corner and up the road, he watched the cat in his mirror. It was now reading the sign that said Maple drive - no, looking at the sign; cats couldn't read maps or signs. Ferb gave himself a little shake and put the cat out of his mind. As he drove toward town he thought of nothing except a large order of drills he was hoping to get that day.

But on the edge of town, drills were driven out of his mind by something else. As he sat in the usual morning traffic jam, he couldn't help

Noticing that there seemed to be a lot of strangely dressed people about. People in fedoras Ferb couldn't bear people who dressed in funny clothes - the getups you saw on young people! He supposed this was some stupid new fashion. He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and his eyes fell on a huddle of these weirdos standing quite close by. They were whispering excitedly together. Ferb was enraged to see that a couple of them weren't young at all; why, that man had to be older than he was, and wearing an emerald-green fedora! The nerve of him! But then it struck Ferb that this was probably some silly stunt - these people were obviously collecting for something... yes, that would be it. The traffic moved on and a few minutes later, Ferb arrived in the Ferbbings parking lot, his mind back on drills.

Ferb always sat with his back to the window in his office on the ninth floor. If he hadn't, he might have found it harder to concentrate on drills that morning. He didn't see the robots swooping past in broad daylight, though people down in the street did; they pointed and gazed open- mouthed as robot after robot sped overhead. Most of them had never seen a robot. Ferb, however, had a perfectly normal, robot-free morning. He yelled at five different people. He made several important telephone calls and shouted a bit more. He was in a very good mood until lunchtime, when he thought he'd stretch his legs and walk across the road to buy himself a bun from the bakery.

He'd forgotten all about the people in fedoras until he passed a group of them next to the baker's. He eyed them angrily as he passed. He didn't know why, but they made him uneasy. This bunch were whispering excitedly, too, and he couldn't see a single collecting tin. It was on his way back past them, clutching a large doughnut in a bag, that he caught a few words of what they were saying.

"The Johnson's, that's right, that's what I heard yes, their platypus, Perry"

Ferb stopped dead. Fear flooded him. He looked back at the whisperers as if he wanted to say something to them, but thought better of it.

He dashed back across the road, hurried up to his office, snapped at his secretary not to disturb him, seized his telephone, and had almost finished dialing his home number when he changed his mind. He put the receiver back down and stroked his mustache, thinking... no, he was being stupid. Johnson wasn't such an unusual name. He was sure there were lots of people called Johnson who had a platypus called Perry. Come to think of it, he wasn't even sure his step sister's platypus was called Perry. He'd never even seen the platypus. It might have been Peter Or Carrey. There was no point in worrying Phineas; she always got so upset at any mention of his sister. He didn't blame him - if he'd had a sister like that... but all the same, those people in fedoras...

He found it a lot harder to concentrate on drills that afternoon and when he left the building at five o'clock, he was still so worried that he walked straight into someone just outside the door.

"Sorry," he grunted, as the tiny old man stumbled and almost fell. It was a few seconds before Ferb realized that the man was wearing a violet fedora. He didn't seem at all upset at being almost knocked to the ground. On the contrary, his face split into a wide smile and he said in a squeaky voice that made passersby stare, "Don't be sorry, my dear sir, for nothing could upset me today! Rejoice, for You-Know-Who has gone at last! Even Nogents like you should be celebrating, this happy, happy day!"

And the old man hugged Ferb around the middle and walked off.

Ferb stood rooted to the spot. He had been hugged by a complete stranger. He also thought he had been called a Nogent whatever that was. He was rattled. He hurried to his car and set off for home, hoping he was imagining things, which he had never hoped before, because he didn't approve of imagination.

As he pulled into the driveway, the first thing he saw - and it didn't improve his mood - was the tabby cat in a fedora he'd spotted that morning. It was now sitting on his garden wall. He was sure it was the same one.

"Shoo!" said Ferb loudly. The cat didn't move. It just gave him a stern look. Was this normal cat behavior? Ferb wondered. Trying to pull himself together, he let himself into the house. He was still determined not to mention anything to his brother.

Ferb had had a nice, normal day. He told him over dinner all about Mrs. Next Door's problems with her dog. Ferb tried to act normally. When Nicholas had been fast asleep in his pet bed he went into the living room in time to catch the last report on the evening news:

"And finally, scientist everywhere have reported that the nations robots have gotten out of control Although these robots normally stay in the labs in which they have been created at and are hardly ever seen, there have been hundreds of sightings of these robots flying in every direction since sunrise. Experts are unable to explain why the robots have suddenly broken out of labs." The newscaster allowed himself a grin. "Most mysterious. And now, over to Jim McGuffin with the weather. Going to be any more showers of robots tonight, Jim?"

"Well, Ted," said the weatherman, "I don't know about that, but it's not only the robots that have been acting oddly today. Viewers all over the tri-state area been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday, they've had a downpour of shooting stars! Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early - it's not until next week, folks! But I can promise a wet night tonight."

Ferb sat frozen in his armchair. Shooting stars all over the tri-state area Robots breaking out of labs, Mysterious people in fedoras all over the place? And a whisper, a whisper about the Johnson's.

Phineas came into the living room. It was no good. He'd have to say something to him. He cleared his throat nervously. "Er - Phineas - you haven't heard from your sister lately, have you?"

As he had expected, Phineas looked shocked and angry. After all, they normally pretended he didn't have a sister.

"No," he said sharply. "Why?"

"Funny stuff on the news," Ferb mumbled. "Robots ... shooting stars... and there were a lot of funny-looking people in town today..."

"So?" snapped Phineas.

"Well, I just thought... maybe... it was something to do with... you know... her crowd."

Phineas sipped his soda through pursed lips. Ferb wondered whether he dared tell him he'd heard the name "Johnson". He decided he didn't dare. Instead he said, as casually as he could, "Their platypus-he'd be about Nicholas's' age now, wouldn't he?"

"I suppose so," said Phineas stiffly.

"What's his name again? Carrey, isn't it?"

"Perry. Nasty, common name, if you ask me."

"Oh, yes," said Ferb, his heart sinking horribly. "Yes, I quite agree."

He didn't say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed. While Phineas was in the bathroom, Ferb crept to the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden. The cat was still there.

It was staring down Maple Drive as though it were waiting for something.

Was he imagining things? Could all this have anything to do with the Johnson's? If it did... if it got out that they were related to a pair of- well, he didn't think he could bear it.