HOME | DD

Description
It was the beginning of another day; Perry woke up to the sound of Phineas telling Ferb what they were going to do—the platypus did not catch what it was; either another teleporter or something with giant boards—or was that swords? The mission he had had the day before had worn Perry out so much, he simply slipped into bed and fell asleep as soon as he arrived home. He was still catching up on some Zs when his owners woke up at the usual early morning hour of six o'clock, and he was only beginning to stir when Phineas began going on his long explanation about his big idea.

Most pets would have found it irritating in the least; but not Perry. After thirteen years of being Phineas' pet, and about twelve as Ferb's, the platypus had gotten used to hearing the boys chat about what they would be doing that day. And he loved it. He was proud to know that his owners, above any other teenager in the Tri-State Area, were the most intelligent and creative pair of boys the world had ever seen. Anything you wanted built, they'd get it done within a few hours, if not minutes. Anything from a soapbox car to a rollercoaster to a space shuttle, Phineas and Ferb could do it all.

Perry had kept records of every invention they had built since they were ten. The inventions that had fallen into his lair—or mysteriously disappeared, according to Candace—had been kept in the vault he had built to store them in, in case of any emergency. Those that had been taken away or destroyed, Perry had rebuilt by means of technology.

Just like that one time… the greatest adventure he had shared with the boys… in fact, the very first adventure he had shared with them… five years earlier.

An adventure that had involved two dimensions, an army of robots, and Perry's identity being revealed to them.

Perry watched as Phineas and Ferb began to get ready for that summer day; as usual, Phineas pulled out a pair of dark blue khaki shorts and a white and orange-striped shirt from his closet, while Ferb pulled out dark greyish-purple shorts and a beige short-sleeved blouse. The platypus finally rubbed out the rest of the sleep from his eyes before stretching out his arms, spreading out his fingers, pulling his beaver tail back and opening his mouth as wide as he could to yawn. He scratched lazily behind his head and then cleaned the fur on his back with his bill until Phineas leaned over him and scratched under the platypus' chin. Perry purred happily as his tail swung up rapidly, just as it normally did.

He followed the boys down to the first floor of the Flynn-Fletcher house, where Lawrence was just leaving for work while Linda was readying breakfast for her sons. The four humans chatted eagerly about that day and what their plans were while Perry mindlessly walked over to his food bowl and waited patiently, with the occasional chatter, for Linda to give him his daily dose of food.

Phineas and Ferb were already finished eating and outside, building something, by the time Perry had completed his meal. The platypus was about to head outside and join them, just as he normally did until called for a mission briefing, when his spy watch decided to alert him an hour earlier than usual.

This confused him; normally, Perry's superior, Major Monogram, only called him for missions around nine in the morning. However, just as he normally did without complaining, Perry hid from Linda, pulled out his brown 1940s fedora and got up on his back feet in order to walk. Then, he slipped out of the house to the entrance of his secret lair.

Music and singing stopped him from entering the slot on the side of the house once he had reached the outdoors. Perry tucked his remote away and slowly turned towards the backyard. Cautiously, he peered around the side of the house, knowing that his owners' friends had already arrived—he had to keep from being seen from them.

Sure enough, it was Phineas and Ferb singing. As they built a contraption made of metal and tightened screws and nuts and bolts, they banged their tools against the machine, swung their hips, tapped their feet and sang to the beat of a song their friends were clapping along to:

Me and my bro we're taking care of things
Went from a pair of jokers to a couple of kings
It goes to show you never know what a shuffle brings
Me and my bro we're taking care of things

Perry cracked a grin as he began to tap his webbed foot to the beat.

That's right we're bros
We're brothers
Different father and mother
But don't you diss or slam or slide us
We look out for one another

Cuz we're thicker than thieves
And we're cooler than kings
Oh man, you'd better believe
We're taking care of things

I tell you up front that I've got your back
And I know that you've got mine
As long as we stick together side by side
Yo, Bro, it's gonna turn out fine
Yo, Bro, it's gonna turn out fine

Yeah, well me and my bro we're taking care of things
Went from a pair of jokers to a couple of kings
It goes to show you never know just what a shuffle brings
Me and my bro we're taking care of things

Perry beamed proudly one last time before turning away and slipping to the tube that would carry him down to his secret lair. He loved Phineas and Ferb more than any pet could. Even Pinky, the Chihuahua secret agent that lived across the street from Perry, had admitted that the platypus was lucky to have such brilliant owners—not that he was jealous of his fellow agent, no; in fact, Pinky loved his beautiful owner to bits. But one thing Perry had with Phineas and Ferb that Pinky did not have with Isabella was an inseparable bond of love, friendship and trust.

Yes; Phineas and Ferb were the only humans recorded in OWCA history who knew of their pet's double life, and were allowed to keep him.

Perry had made sure his owners had kept the secret; sometimes, Phineas' excitement often lead him to accidentally having something slip. But so far, both Perry and Ferb had been able to stop him before he let out too much, and for the past five years, no one ever suspected a thing.

The tubular elevator carried Perry down to his lair and the door slid open upon his arrival. Plap-plap-plap went his webbed feet as he walked over the marble floor of his lair while straightening his fedora. With calm, he headed over to the giant computer screen and took his place in the red office seat. Even though he could not help but feel the least bit curious or even concerned as to why Monogram was calling him, Perry decided that the best thing to do was to remain as collected as he normally was, and so he patiently waited for his boss to appear on the screen.

As usual, the balding white haired Major faded into view on the computer monitor; but much to Perry's surprise, the man was wearing a frown that was directed at him.

Perry recoiled in surprise as the worry within him grew. Had he done something wrong? Did he sleep in again? Did Phineas or Ferb accidentally let something out that they were not supposed to? Major Monogram had warned the boys that if they ever let anything important slip, Perry would be taken away and their memories would be wiped.

Still, not wanting to look nervous, the platypus remained as he was and waited silently for the man to speak.

Which did not take as long as he had expected: "Agent P, we have a code red in the agency," Monogram announced sternly. "One that implies you."

Perry recoiled again and then pointed at himself.

"Yes, you," Monogram repeated. He held up a pile of papers and flipped through them. "We recently went through all of the recreated prototypes of Dr. Doofenshmirtz' inators, and came across some interesting evidence on his amnesiainator…" He read through the paper. "At first, Carl had suspected it was nothing more than teal thread—!"

"I didn't, you said that!" a voice exclaimed from the background.

"Quiet, Carl, can't you see I'm in the middle of something?" Monogram snapped as he raised his head and looked at the intern. After a quick pause, he stared at the platypus and narrowed his eyes. "We took the thread to the DNA specialists and discovered that it was in fact, fur… platypus fur…"

Perry could already feel his heart beating loudly in his chest, going faster and faster. He bit his lip and played with his fingers.

"… We also found evidence that the inator had been taken apart and rebuilt in a different manner… A manner that seems unrepairable…"

Perry felt sweat cover his brow.

"… And considering you're the only platypus in this agency…" Monogram paused here, undoubtedly to raise the suspense. "… We have high belief that the culprit who tampered with the amnesiainator off duty was in fact, you."

Perry shrunk. Never before had he felt this worried about something. All of a sudden, something he had suspected never to be discovered suddenly was, and it was all because he had been shedding his winter coat. He could feel his tail begin to quiver as he knotted his fingers.

Monogram placed his hands on his hips. "The fur is about two years old, according to our sources," he announced. "Which means that you tampered with the inator at that time…"

The platypus could hear his heart beat in his ears now. They knew… they knew…

"And that means, that for the past two years, you, the OWCA's most trusted spy… have been lying to us about a very important matter," Monogram concluded. Narrowing his eyes, he added, "Haven't you, Agent P?"

Perry could no longer stare at the man in the face. He swallowed with great difficulty and suddenly wished that he could melt into a puddle and seep through the cracks in the aging marble floor beneath the computer desk.

Monogram waited a moment longer before slamming the papers down against a table off camera. "You told me that those boys of yours remembered that day on their own, Agent P," he snapped, making the platypus shudder at the sound of his voice. "You specifically reported that, at the age of thirteen, Phineas and Ferb were able to somehow mysteriously recall everything that happened on that day they helped Doofenshmirtz build his otherdimensionator! We believed you, considering you know them inside and out, and because they just happen to be the most intelligent boys in Danville. For that reason, we didn't bother erasing their memories again and simply swore them to keep our organization a secret! But this entire time, that has simply been a cover story, hasn't it?" The man pointed at the platypus. "They didn't remember on their own; you gave them back their memories, didn't you?"

Perry stared at the ground for a moment or two before letting out a sigh. Holding his head up high and looking at his superior, he took a deep breath and nodded. Yes, he had tampered with a machine without permission, which was a grave matter indeed. But he had done so for reasons the agency did not need to know; reasons no one but Perry needed to be concerned about. Not even Phineas and Ferb; in fact, the boys did not even know that Perry had been the one to give their memories back.

But he, above any other secret agent, knew that he had committed a crime against the OWCA, and so, like any good soldier, Perry was ready to face the consequences… just as long as his boys were not harmed.

Monogram's eye seemed to twitch when the platypus confessed. He did not seem the least bit moved that the platypus had admitted to his faults; in fact, he seemed to show sudden disapproval. "I knew those boys of yours would be trouble," he groaned. Passing a hand over his face, he let out an exasperated sigh. "Agent P, you have committed a grave offense against the OWCA, and for that reason, you must be ready to face the consequences…"

Perry was already ready. He waited as patiently as he could, hoping it would end. They could not undo what he had done… in fact, Perry had made sure that the amnesiainator could never be changed back to the way it had been before—that it could no longer erase memories, but give them back. So whatever Monogram decided as punishment, it could not do anything to harm the boys.

Monogram stared at him in silence before raising a hand and snapping his fingers. "Security," he called out.

Perry stared at him in silence until the sound of doors sliding open caused him to sit up straight and turn around. To his complete surprise, instead of animal agents, four humans dressed in dark suits, holding up hand cuffs, tranquilizing guns and a cage large enough for a platypus, walked into Perry's lair, obviously heading for him.

The platypus recoiled in shock and immediately looked up at the monitor for an explanation.

Monogram crossed his arms. "Seeing that we can't do anything to Phineas and Ferb's memories now," he announced, "We have no choice but to take you to Base 41 and have your memories of them completely wiped in order to retrain and relocate you."

Perry opened his eyes in horror. So, the punishment had not been anything that could harm his boys, but it was certainly nothing he had expected and nothing he was ready to move forward with; forget Phineas and Ferb? That was the last thing Perry wanted to do.

Seeing that Monogram would certainly not change his mind, Perry wrinkled his bill, put on a determined frown and leaped off of his chair, just as two security guards attempted to shoot him with tranquilizing darts. The platypus landed on the computer board and ran across the keys as he was chased; he stopped once or twice in order to kick or punch one guard away, and then flipped through the air, landed gracefully on the ground and dashed out of the lair, the four humans hot on his trail.

Suddenly, his job no longer mattered. Perry pushed himself to escape as quickly as he could so that he could take this chase elsewhere instead of Maple Drive. He refused to be taken away and stripped of his memories, especially those of his owners.

He refused to be robbed of the memories of the only boys who ever truly mattered to him, who made his job something worth wild; something with a goal.

He refused to lose the only family he had ever had.

And if it meant playing a twisted game of hide and seek with Base 41 agents, then so be it.

Perry would not lose this fight.

*****