Perry clenched his fists.
Phineas stood closer to Ferb.
The cloud began to spin. It swirled into a thick purple smoke that appeared to steam at the edges.
A ghost waved at Ferb.
Ferb waved back.
"Ferb, now is not the time to say hello to the dead people." Phineas said. "We have to stay alert."
The cloud suddenly exploded in a flash of purple light, and hideous, gruesome aliens poured out.
The humans charged forward, the animals right behind them. The ghosts howled.
The aliens went for the ghosts first, but quickly realized that they could do no damage to transparent people. They moved on to the living.
Perry found that the aliens were, in fact, not very difficult to fight off. They had only one eye with very poor vision, and although they had many limbs, they were quite uncoordinated.
Perry finished off the first alien and moved on to the second in no time.
Phineas was fighting using his plastic magic wand, which seemed to be working. Malice was blinding the aliens with spray paint. Baby Ned was scaring them off with his large horn.
Lowe yelped and leapt out of Ferb's arms as a fennec fox ghost whooshed past them.
"It's okay, Loweee!" The ghost said. "I am nice now! I just want to possesssss you and help youuu fighhhtt!"
"GET AWAY!" Lowe shouted.
"Nothin' like the ghost of your crazy father on your tail to get you energized again." Perry said.
Doofenshmirtz whacked an alien on the head with a Ducky Momo plush before it could attack Vanessa.
"How are things?" Terrence asked, standing at Perry's side while he fought.
"Good." Perry grinned. "A lot better now that you're up here. I miss you. A lot."
"I do too, my friend. But I've always been at your side in spirit. You know that."
"Yeah, but not literally, like now."
...
"Kingsy!" Paisley said, shoving a magazine into Prince's lap. "I founded daddily!"
"My name's Prince. Not King." Prince sighed. "And even though this model on the cover of this magazine looks freakishly like Perry, it's not him. See? Her name's Pizza. It says so on the cover."
"I can't wead."
"Whatever. It doesn't matter. When I asked you to find Perry, I meant to find the real, living, breathing, not random-fashion-model on a magazine Perry."
"PEWWY!" Paisley shouted. After waiting a few moments, he said, "Sowwy. I have done awl I can."
"Whatevs." Prince said. "He's probably off moping somewhere."
"Or fighting the aliens." Pamela said, coming downstairs with Sneakers.
"No, he's hiding here with us. What planet do you live on?"
"Palmer and Remy just left. They heard him leave and went to follow him."
"Wonderful." Prince muttered. "All right. You four STAY PUT. Per's probably gonna blame me for losing Rem and Pal."
"I flusheded all the toilet papew down the toilet." Peppily informed them, coming out of the bathroom. "It went flushilie."
...
"YES!" Lawrence shouted. "THE ALIENS HAVE BEEN DEFEATED!"
The humans all cheered.
Perry gazed at the blobs of alien on the ground.
It had been so easy.
Too easy.
The fur on the back of his neck stood up.
"Not over." Terrence whispered. "It can't be over."
"It can't." Perry agreed. "And it's not."
Daly took a step forward and sniffed the air suspiciously.
The humans continued to celebrate.
"Come on, Perry." Phineas grabbed Perry's hand. "It's safe now."
"It's not." Perry said.
Phineas stopped.
"Can't you sense it?" Perry asked. "I feel like they have a bigger plot in mind. Like they know every weakness we have… and are working with that."
"They do." Lowe mumbled, lying limply on the ground. The ghost of his father was hopping in circles around him, singing a cheerful song about gravestones and griddles. "They... are strong emotional manipulators. I could sense it from the moment I saw them. And I believe my own abilities… may have added to theirs from this flower."
"So… you think…" Perry prompted.
The sky grew dark. Gretalyn's laugh boomed out across Danville, silencing the humans.
"Fighting physically was fun." Gretalyn said, lowering herself down from the sky.
She no longer looked like the cold grey-haired woman Perry had met a few evenings before. She was huge. Her one red eye glowed hungrily. Her tentacles swept humans away to make room for her body.
"Lots of fun." Gretalyn continued. "But that time is now over. I have no use for you creatures anymore. It is time for you to succumb, or die. And you WILL do one or the other. I will destroy all of you. I have had the power to all along. And my power has grown stronger, thanks to this strange furry big-eared earthling."
She poked Lowe with a tentacle. Lowe's father hissed and tried to claw at her, but his paw went straight through.
"I shall fight you all with the power of the mind." Gretalyn concluded her short speech with a horrible laugh.
Perry felt himself rise into the air. He looked around. Everyone else was rising, too. Higher and higher, until they were eye-level with Gretalyn.
The ghosts remained down on the ground.
"If you manage to live, you will succumb. Remember that." Gretalyn hissed.
Perry slipped into darkness.
...
"I don't like the looks of this." Daly said.
The ghosts had already figured out that though the aliens could see them, they didn't appear to have the ability to hear them.
Because of this, Gretalyn seemed very unconcerned about the ghosts. She simply smiled at the unconscious life forms surrounding her. They appeared to be sleeping.
"They aren't dead." Arthur said. "We'd know if they were."
"Isn't there anything we can do to help?" Terrence asked.
Daly pounced into the air and floated toward an elephant.
Terrence watched in silent worry. He knew nothing could hurt Daly since he was already dead, but something was definitely wrong.
Daly carefully touched the elephant with his paw… and instantly vanished in a flash of white light.
"DALY!" The ghosts shouted.
"OH DEAR!" Mr. Brownie cried, his top hat falling off.
Their fear only lasted for a couple of seconds. Daly popped back into existence and floated down to them.
"I knew it." He said. "I know what's going on. You all listen to me, and we can save them."
The ghosts fell silent.
"The aliens have pitted the mortals against their own minds. They are being forced to walk through all their worst qualities and fears. It is a dark passageway, and they'll be swallowed alive by fright. Mortals are weak against that sort of thing. Anyhow, when I touched that elephant, I was transported into its mind. It was dark, and clearly frightening to the elephant. I seemed to be glowing a little bit. But I wasn't a good enough beacon for the elephant. It didn't know me well enough. If you ghosts touch a mortal you know well, you will most likely be able to guide them out of their terror. They're too paralyzed to find the way out, but you'll know it. That is how we'll save them."
"I think I met that guy once." Mr. Brownie said, pointing at a man Terrence knew to be Roger Doofenshmirtz.
"Fine, guide him. But one more thing: Mortals are helpless in their own minds. If they refuse to go forward, you have to find more light to make them less afraid. There will always be a light source somewhere you can find. But NEVER LEAVE THE MORTAL, or they will perish. You must instead use your ability to split yourself into two. But the farther you go from your other half, the weaker you will become. Be cautious. I'll stay here and make sure every single being gets a guide."
Terrence stood at Daly's side and waited while the ghosts sped toward their friends.
"I'll take Perry." Terrence said.
"That leaves one without a guide, since I'm taking that one." Daly pointed at Doofenshmirtz. "I knew his uncle's aunt's cousin's mother's grandmother's uncle. We need to find a ghost who knows that redhead that looks like a tortilla chip."
It was Phineas, Terrence realized. He desperately looked around for someone next to him and Daly.
"All the ghosts are gone." Terrence said.
A bony paw clawed through the ground. Bucky pulled himself up.
"Bucky, you dug yourself all the way here?" Daly asked.
Bucky gave a happy clank.
"Good timing. Do you know that kid?"
Bucky gave a happier clank. He began to hop around.
"Great. Lead him-"
Daly had to give no instruction. Bucky launched himself into the air, touched Phineas, and was gone in a flash of light.
"Go on, Terrence. I'll go to that guy once I'm sure everyone has a guide."
Terrence kicked himself off of the ground and rose toward his friend.
He gently touched his shoulder.
...
Darkness.
Complete cold darkness.
And then… faint light.
Perry opened his eyes. He had been cowering against a thick, damp wall. He saw Terrence's figure before him.
"Come on, Perry. It's all right. I know how to get out."
Perry shivered slightly and stood up. "Are… you really there?"
Terrence nodded. He held out his wing.
Perry took it. It warmed his hand. He gave a shuddering breath.
"Sorry… I don't mean to be… I just… this place… I can't…"
"We're getting you out."
The words would have made Perry feel better, but for some reason nothing altered the fear in his heart. He was now afraid that Terrence would leave him…
"Don't go."
"I won't, Perry. I promise. Come on."
They walked down a long hallway. Mirrors lined the way. Perry saw himself reflected in them, but the faces of his mirror images were angry.
One of the mirrors showed him a picture of Phineas, Ferb and Terrence.
The mirror shattered.
Perry gave a yell and fell to his knees.
"It's not real." Terrence whispered. "It's all in your head. I'm real. Come."
Terrence helped him up and led him down another corner.
Perry's heart was beating furiously. He wanted to tell Terrence how grateful he was to have him by his side, but he couldn't muster enough energy. He gripped Terrence's wing tighter and tried to convince himself Terrence wouldn't leave him alone in here.
"I won't leave you." Terrence said, as though reading his thoughts. "It's okay, Perry. I'm here."
They were walking through what appeared to be a bad part of town. Perry tried to keep his head down, but for some reason could still see everything around him.
He saw Major Monogram standing at a bus stop, his hands in his pockets. Their eyes met.
Monogram's face changed. His eyes turned completely black, his teeth extremely sharp. He lunged toward Perry.
Perry jumped back with a wail. Monogram vanished in red flames.
"It's okay." Terrence said. "You're fine. It's all in your head."
"It's not okay." Perry whimpered. "It isn't. I want to leave. I want this all to end. I want to be back in Danville."
"We will be." Terrence said, wrapping his wing around Perry. "You'll be fine."
Perry felt warmth spreading where Terrence touched him. He nodded.
"Don't go."
"I won't, Per. I promise."