After settling down in Monogram's office next to Penny, Perry found himself jiggling his foot nervously in the air. This reminded him too much of the last fall, when Monogram had asked him to be part of a new experiment OWCA was testing. It had resulted in Perry being assigned to keep an eye on four of OWCA's new Trainees and help them work their way up to becoming agents. For the most part, it had gone okay, and three of them had moved on to become official agents (Doofenshmirtz had decided that he could find ways to be good without actually going through with his training). But despite the results, those couple of weeks had been just about the hardest thing Perry had suffered through. Hopefully this wasn't about Monogram asking for both him and his little sister to partake in a similar experiment.

That probably wasn't it. You're being paranoid. Penny just graduated, there's no way Monogram's going to ask for her to help oversee others' training. Or any other experiments, honestly. He only asked you to help last year because you were already doing so well.

Unfortunately, Perry felt his hopes get dashed after a few moments when Monogram said, "I called a few others in also. They should be here in a few minutes. We'll wait to begin until they're here as well."

Perry flinched. No "others" should have been necessary for a basic nemesis assignment and briefing. Or any standard OWCA agent work at all, for that matter. "Um... Others?"

"Yes." Monogram didn't even look up from his stack of papers. "Others."

"Sir, why are others necessary for this meeting?" Perry asked, unsure if he truly wanted that question answered or not. Glancing to his right, he saw that Penny was watching him with a confused frown on her face. Was that intended for him? He was just asking questions.

"What's with all the questions, P?"

The voice behind him immediately caused Perry to jump and whirl around on his chair. A bright red platypus with the standard agent fedora was in the doorway, watching him. "I mean, has the Major ever done you wrong before?"

Perry scowled. Jordan. "You'd be surprised," he muttered. "Why the hell are you here?"

"Perry!" Penny hissed.

Jordan just laughed. "Nice to see you, too, P." He turned his attention to Monogram. "Sir, where do you want me to sit?"

Monogram gestured toward the back of the room. "Just grab a chair and come sit with the others." So Jordan did what he was told, like the obedient agent he was, and settled his chair next to Penny.

Perry crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair, frowning. Jordan had been an agent at OWCA for only a few months less than him, and the two knew each other all too well. They had been in training together for about a year, enough time for Perry to grow a strong dislike for the agent. He was the "friendly" one that all the agents loved; he was so fake Perry found it hard not to gag around him. Honesty was not in that platypus' vocabulary, but, apparently, no one else cared because everyone else loved him.

"Oh, Perry, you're such a child." Perry got pulled out of his thoughts by another voice and turned to the source, only to find a white platypus sitting on a chair next to him, her dark blue eyes watching him disapprovingly. "Quit pouting so we can all listen to what Major Monogram has to say."

The scowl returned to Perry's face. "I'll do what I want, Astrid. Stop sticking your bill into business that's not yours."

"Perry!" Penny whacked him in the arm. "Knock it off!"

"I didn't start it," Perry hissed back, refusing to look his sister in the eye. She didn't seem very happy with him at the moment. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Astrid rolling her eyes before crossing one leg over the other. What a prick.

"Agents, I'll turn my translator off if I have to," Monogram said sternly. "I don't need to listen to this."

Perry huffed and fell back in his chair, his hat falling over his eyes. Just ignore them. The meeting would be over sooner if he did. Then they could all get back to their normal lives, which didn't involve ever running into each other.

This time, he actually heard the door open, as well as the shuffling of feet on the carpet. "Sir, I was told you wanted to see me?"

Perry sighed and adjusted his hat, his urge to see who else had arrived stronger than his desire to ignore everyone. When he glanced behind him, he caught a glimpse of olive green fur picking up a chair. But instead of adding the chair to the ever-growing line in front of Monogram's desk, this newest arrival settled his chair behind the others, between Perry and Penny.

Perry glanced back again. This was OWCA's final platypus agent, Maxwell. Perry could see a glimpse of his silver eyes, but Maxwell seemed much more interested in the floor than any of the other people in the room, so it was harder to get a proper look at him. Perry didn't know the wallflower as well as the other two, but he had a bit more respect for Maxwell than the others. They both did their own thing, worked alone, and overall minded their own business.

"Good, now everyone's here." Monogram cleared his throat and leaned forward in his chair. "You're probably wondering why I wanted all of you here."

"Absolutely." That was Astrid. Perry looked over at her to see her staring across him toward Penny. "Especially because I thought she was a Trainee."

"Look at the hat." Perry crossed his arms and scowled at her. "She just graduated. You'd have known that if you had come to her ceremony twenty minutes ago."

"Oh, I see." Astrid at least had the decency to look a bit sheepish.

Monogram sighed. "As Agent P- not so politely- said, Penny the platypus just graduated and became an official OWCA agent."

"So now we have two Agent Ps in the same office." Jordan laughed and lightly elbowed Penny in the side. Perry bit the inside of his bill, forcing himself to keep a straight face. Clearly Penny didn't appreciate him getting involved, so he wouldn't. "Congratulations. Sorry I didn't come- I didn't know."

Penny smiled. "Thanks."

"Because of this, Agent P doesn't have any current assignments." Monogram paused. "Now, typically this is when I'd assign her a nemesis. However, as you might have realized, that is not in the cards for her." He glanced at Penny. "I hope that's alright."

Penny shrugged. "I don't mind, sir. What do you want me to do instead?"

"Right. I called all of you together because, after about a month of thinking this over, I've come to a conclusion."

Perry waited for Monogram to continue with bated breath. Please be good, please be good, please be good...

"I want you five to be on a team together. Permanently."

"W-What?" Perry shot up in his seat. "You want us to- what?" He shook his head, attempting to clear it. Surely he misheard Monogram. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"Well, Agent P, I want you, your sister, Agent J, Agent A, and Agent M on a team together. You'll be OWCA's first official full-time team."

"R-Really?" Perry frowned and looked to his right. Penny had spoken in unison with him, but while he felt like burying himself under a rock and never leaving, Penny's chocolate brown eyes glowed and she had a massive grin on her face. Was she...excited about this?

"Yes, really."

Perry coughed, doing his best to force more words out of his throat. "All due respect, sir, but why is this necessary? OWCA's been fending off LOVEMUFFIN well for years, based around the nemesis system."

"I'm glad you asked." Monogram clasped his hands together, resting them on the desk. "Agents, OWCA's been receiving intel that the Tri-State Area has a new threat, known as the Devious And Nefarious Geniuses of Evil Reputation, or D.A.N.G.E.R."

Astrid held up her paw. "Their acronym is 'danger'?"

Perry snorted. "Man, they really nailed that one."

Jordan shrugged. "It's better than LOVEMUFFIN, at least."

"And OWCA," Penny mumbled under her breath, just loud enough for Perry to hear.

"Either way, they do appear to pose not only as a threat, but a more dangerous threat than LOVEMUFFIN, at that. Agent P," Monogram directed his attention toward Perry, "you are already acquainted with one of the founders of DANGER. Rodrigo?"

Perry frowned. "You mean that guy Monty helped take down last summer? The one who Doof was mentoring for the day?"

"Yes, him."

"I guess DANGER might actually live up to their name, then." Perry sighed. "He was pretty serious."

"Exactly, imagine a whole organization based around his logic. Clearly, that organization will be much more of the threat than LOVEMUFFIN, the organization that was originally created by Doofenshmirtz. That is why we need you five on a team specifically assigned to fight this new organization."

"But... Major..." Perry glanced behind him. Maxwell was speaking for the first time since coming into the office. "Why us specifically? You're aware that Perry and I work better alone, right?"

"So I've heard," Monogram said. "However, I'm afraid you and Agent P will need to get over that. We've pulled you five together for the team for a few reasons. For one, well..." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "You're all of our platypus agents. It felt best to pair the same species together."

Perry glared at him. Apparently, so did a few others, because Monogram looked around the group, a sheepish expression on his face, before continuing. "But we have other reasons as well. We feel like you five specifically will work well together: Agent P and... Agent P... are siblings. That should make cooperation easier. Similarly, Agent P and Agent M are both lone wolves- they understand each other and will also help with overall cooperation. Agent P is OWCA's top agent, and he has experience working with partners and teams. Agent J, you're not only a great agent, but you also work well with the other agents at OWCA and I feel like you can really pull a team together."

He paused. "And, of course, Agent P just graduated. However, you other four agents have years of experience in the field, and pairing Agent P with you will allow her to earn the experience she needs to catch up quickly, especially because her training got delayed."

Perry scowled. Now Monogram was actually giving valid reasons for their team to be together, which just made the whole situation worse. How could he argue his way out of it now? "And do we get a say in this?"

The look Monogram gave him answered his question, but Perry kept pushing. "Sir, I don't think Agent M really appreciates this either. Maybe you could replace the two of us with other agents? Peter is also one of OWCA's top agents- maybe he'd be a better fit for the team than me."

"Agent P, you and Agent M will be part of this team whether you like it or not," Monogram said sternly. "You've gotten too used to working by yourselves, that's it. Working with this team will help strengthen your abilities to cooperate with others."

"But I already have the ability to cooperate with others," Perry insisted. "I helped the trainees last fall, remember? And I've worked with Lyla, from COWCA, and-"

"Perry, the Major said to drop it," Astrid said, shooting him a glare. "Maybe do what he says and start acting your age."

Perry returned her glare and crossed his arms. "Well, maybe you should-"

He felt a paw on his arm and turned to see Penny staring at him, her brown eyes angry, scared, and upset all in one look. "Perry," she whispered. "Please."

Perry sighed and leaned back in his chair, nearly slamming his head against it. "Fine."

"Good." Monogram smiled. "Now that that's settled, we did plan for some issues your team might have. As a result, I went ahead and decided to officially name your team leader. That way you won't fight about it amongst yourselves."

It could really be a fight? Perry kept his face neutral, staring at the floor. It was safe to assume Monogram was talking about him, but he didn't want to give it away in case it made the already-high tensions in the group worse. Although Monogram didn't talk to him ahead of time about this, so maybe it wasn't him... Well, clearly nobody else knew who Monogram was talking about either, so that wasn't a deciding factor.

"I've thought and debated about this for a few days now," Monogram said. "And I've decided that your leader will be Agent J."

That's what I thought. Well, at least- wait, what? Perry frowned, refraining from saying anything for a minute as he processed what Monogram had said.

"I appreciate that you think so highly of me, sir," Jordan was saying. As Perry looked over at him, the red platypus gave Monogram a firm salute and smile. "I'll do my best to fulfill your expectations."

"I-I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Perry held his paw up. "Why... Why is he in charge?" Saying it aloud made it worse. "No offense, Jordan, but there's no way in hell I'm taking orders from him!"

"None taken," Jordan said dryly.

"Agent P, please contain yourself," Monogram replied, giving Perry a firm stare. "I'm aware that might not be your favorite news of the day, but rest assured that, as I said, I thought long and hard about this. It was going to be either you or him, as I'm aware you're OWCA's best agent."

"Then why-"

Monogram held his hand up. "Let me finish. You may be OWCA's best agent, but in this situation, combat skills alone are not all a leader needs. I decided Agent J was the best option because his...his social skills are much better than yours."

"That's an understatement," Astrid mumbled under her breath.

"Sir," Perry said through gritted teeth, "I might have been able to adapt to working with a team if I got to be the leader. But no other agent is going to give me orders."

"It's a good thing I'm not an agent then. I'm giving you the order to listen to Agent J about your team." Monogram sighed. "Agent P, I'm aware this is a large change for you. However, I expect you to be a professional and accept that this is currently what your future with OWCA will look like."

"I'm not-"

"Agent P." For about the fifth time that meeting, Monogram gave Perry a stern glare. "Drop it."

Perry scowled. "Monogram, I've given you my take on the situation. If this is what working at OWCA's going to look like right now, maybe I just won't be part of OWCA anymore. I'm not putting up with any of this crap."

"Perry," Penny whispered, "please calm down."

"That's what I have to say." Perry hopped off his chair and stormed out of the office.