"You okay, Ferb?"
Ferb nodded. He patted Phineas on the shoulder.
"Yeah, I'm okay too. That was scary."
Perry hadn't said anything to either of them. He was still shaken. Everything had been much too overwhelming.
"The last part was the worst." Phineas said. "I'm glad I woke up."
"You were one of my choices." Ferb said quietly.
Phineas sighed. "You and Candace."
"You and you." Perry told them.
Doofenshmirtz never told him who he had to choose between, but he avoided eye contact with both Perry and Vanessa for the rest of the night.
...
"We have to go."
Perry opened one eye. Terrence was sitting on the windowsill of Phineas and Ferb's room.
"Are you sure you can't stay?" Perry asked, getting up to see him.
"I'd like to get home." Terrence said apologetically.
"This is your home." Perry said.
"I know."
Terrence tried to squeeze his hand, but it went right through. Perry sighed.
"It was so nice having you there with me in my head, and I was too freaked out to enjoy it." Perry said.
"It was pretty intense in there." Terrence agreed.
"What happened to Gretalyn?" Perry asked. "I forgot to ask."
"Lowe defeated her." Terrence said. "Using pretty much the same method she used against you."
"Wow. He was the weakest one there."
"Strong in mind, though. He was impressive. How do you think you'll spend your first alien-free day?"
"Recovering." Perry sighed. "I can't get those images out of my mind. I guess they already WERE there in the first place, but still…"
"Perhaps if you figure out what they meant-"
"I know what they all meant. The ghost Perry was my fear of loss, as was that room with all the skeletons of people I didn't want to lose. That mirror that broke… same. And faceless me… I don't really feel like I'm anyone, you know? I'm always Agent P or a mindless pet. Never me."
"You are you." Terrence said. "And they're both you."
"I guess so." Perry said. "Anyway. Thank you again for guiding me."
"Always. Just holler if you need anything."
Perry smiled. He lay back down in his pet bed, and Terrence vanished.
...
"HAPPY EVERYTHING-IS-NORMAL-AGAIN DAY!" Monogram shouted as Perry entered his lair. He placed a party hat on Perry's head.
"If everything is normal again, why do I have a weird hat on?" Perry asked.
"Come have some cake, Perry." Monogram said, leading Perry over to a large cake with a picture of the melting Gretalyn on it.
Perry helped himself to a small slice and sat down next to Peter.
"Yesterday was interesting." Peter commented.
"Interesting? It was terrifying! Were you not faced with the choice?"
"Oh, I was." Peter said. "But I don't really care about other people like most animals do. I was forced to choose between ice cream and bamboo. I would have picked bamboo, but I woke up."
Perry took a bite of cake. "I'm just glad this is all over."
"So is Lowe." Peter said. "Now he doesn't have a drain flower on him. And I'm happy the humans are normal. But I'm worried Monogram isn't normal. He's wearing a weird hat."
"COME ON, AGENTS!" Monogram shouted. "LET'S DANCE!"
"Yeah, he's probably still a little weird from the alien goop." Perry said.