Lost Identity - Part Three

Perry broke down the door and stepped into a room decorated in green and purple furniture.
His hands were shaking. He couldn’t help it. He was incredibly nervous.
He didn’t know exactly what to do. Was he supposed to fight the villain right away? Wait until he found out what the villain was up to? Sneak up on him? Arrest him?
There was a large metal machine in the middle of the room. It looked sinister.
Suddenly a tall man appeared from behind the machine. Perry shrank back.
The man had messy brown hair and wild blue eyes. He looked angry. Perry took a step back. He didn’t want to fight. Not yet. The man was so much bigger than he was… but that didn’t matter so long as Perry could take him… but… he was so tall…
“What? A new one?” The man sighed. “Oh well. You know, you don’t even have to bother telling me your name. I’m just going to have to learn another. Four different nemesises in a year. That has to be some kind of record. Well, I’m Heinz Doofenshmirtz. I guess we’re going to be enemies or something.”
He pressed a button, and restraints shot out of the wall. Perry was trapped. His heart pounded hard in his chest. How was he supposed to get out of this? Would he be trapped forever?
“Sorry if it doesn’t fit quite right. I was expecting a dog nemesis. They never tell me when I get a new one… What are you, anyway? A duck?”
Putting on a stoic expression to keep himself from showing any fear, Perry showed Doofenshmirtz his tail.
“A beaverduck? …Oh, you’re a platypus. All right. Well, I’ll make sure to build more platypus-friendly traps. And now, hail the Smallinator!” Doofenshmirtz pointed at the huge machine.
Perry struggled against the restraints.
“With this inator, I will turn everyone in the Tri-State Area small, and I will look bigger by comparison. Also, it would be much easier to enslave people if they are the size of tiny little ants. Well, it may be kind of hard to see them to enslave them, but…” He turned to face Perry. “Are you listening to me, or are you just trying to escape?”
Perry growled in frustration.
“Don’t bother.” Doofenshmirtz said. “The release button is way over here by me. So, do you think I’d make a good ruler?” He leaned against the release button.
Overcome with adrenaline from fear, Perry leapt from his restraints and punched Doofenshmirtz in the face. Doofenshmirtz yelped. He grabbed him and threw him against the wall.
It hurt. Badly. Perry slid down the wall.
Doofenshmirtz ran to his inator.
Perry couldn’t let him get away.
Perry stood up and ran toward him. He gave a push and Doofenshmirtz crashed into the Smallinator, which collapsed and promptly exploded.
Doofenshmirtz sighed. “Can I ask you something?”
Perry swallowed, looking at the remains of the inator. He had done it. But what now? He was afraid Doofenshmirtz would attack him again. That was what bad guys did, right? He watched Doofenshmirtz with wide eyes.
“Do you know how long it takes to make an inator? I mean really. Drawing up the plans, buying the parts, figuring it all out… it’s not easy! And then you just come over here and destroy it before I ever get to use it. Don’t you find that a bit rude?”
Perry stared at him. He had a point. But he was evil. He had been about to do something that could hurt Phineas and Ferb.
He had destroyed the machine. That was the important part. And now the boys would be safe.
He decided to leave.
Perry turned and jetpacked away.
“CURSE YOU, PLATYPUS NEMESIS!” Doofenshmirtz yelled after him.

“Snow’s freezing.”
“It looks like ice cream.”
Perry and Terrence were walking around in the snow. Neither of them had ever seen it before, and both of them had been thoroughly terrified when it had come down. A few of the older agents had laughed at them, but a cat named Carrie had taken pity on them and quietly explained to them what it was.
“Monogram said snow comes every year.” Perry said, packing some into a ball with his paws. “So when it leaves, it’ll come back again.”
“How could it leave?” Terrence asked. “It has no legs.”
“Beats me. Maybe it calls a cab or something.”
“What are you going to do on your first birthday?”
“Sleep.”
“Shouldn’t you celebrate?”
“No need to.” Perry blew on the snow, sending tiny flakes floating gently around. “It just means I’ve been alive for one year. Why should I celebrate that? I can’t even remember when I was born. I just remember one of my brothers licked me.”
“Eew.”
“It was a nice gesture.”
Terrence smiled. “Still, I think you should celebrate it. If you hadn’t been born, I wouldn’t have… a really great friend.”
“That’s one thing to be happy about, I guess.” Perry said. He traced his finger in the snow. “I don’t know. I just don’t feel very happy.”
“About being older?”
“No, just everything. I used to be happy. Now I just worry.”
“Worry?”
“Yeah.  And I shouldn’t feel worried. I have a good home. I love my owners.” Perry breathed out, creating a white puff of smoke. “But now. I just think about other things. Like the fate of the world, and the fact that there’s evil out there, and… I don’t know. I feel like I’m not myself or something. Like I’m losing my mind. I’m not how I was before.”
“You’re smarter, that’s all.”
“And this secret thing. Not being able to tell Phineas and Ferb that I’m an agent. It feels like I’m lying to them.”
Terrence looked away. “I wish I could help, but I know nothing about owners. People don’t really adopt turkeys. And people who do usually don’t have good intentions. So I guess I’m never really going to have a family like that.”
“Didn’t you have forest friends, though?”
Terrence shrugged. “I guess. I just don’t really understand them like I used to.”
“That can’t be fun.”
“No. So that’s why I’m glad I have the O.W.C.A. Monogram’s so nice.”
“I guess so.”

Perry crawled underneath Phineas’ covers, trying to get warm. He wasn’t used to all this cold weather.
“I’m going to bed, mommy!” Perry heard Phineas say.
“Okay! Goodnight!”
Phineas got into bed. Perry felt his foot touch him.
“Agh!” Phineas threw the covers off of Perry. “Oh. There you are, Perry. I thought you were a big mouse.”
“Gee, thanks.” Perry chattered. He curled up, covering his face with his tail.
“Goodnight, Perry.” Phineas gave his pet a hug and switched off the light.
“You’re such a wonderful friend!” Said Carlos the caring clown.
Perry chattered in anger.
“Sorry, he was on the floor and I stepped on him.” Ferb said.

Perry blew on his hands in an attempt to keep warm.
The hovercar flight home from Doofenshmirtz’s wasn’t long, but it seemed to be taking hours in the snow. Cold wind and freezing snow brushed past his face. It was very uncomfortable.
Perry wasn’t nervous around Doofenshmirtz anymore. They had a pattern now. Doofenshmirtz would tell him a story relating to his scheme, reveal his inator, reveal his scheme, and then Perry would fight him, destroy the inator, and leave.
Perry wished he had some other way to get home besides the hovercar. It was too cold…
Suddenly the hovercar lurched underneath him. It started to sink down into the clouds.
Uh-oh. Perry looked at the gas gage.
Out of gas.
The hovercar dipped down. Perry grabbed the steering wheel in an attempt to keep from crashing. But it was no use.
Perry hoped it wouldn’t hurt when he-
FOOM.
The hovercar plunged into a snowbank.
Oh.
Perry climbed out of the hovercar and checked in the back to see if he had remembered to take any extra gasoline cans with him. The wind howled in his ears. Snow clouded his vision.
It hadn’t been snowing this hard when he’d left for Doofenshmirtz’s.
There weren’t any cans in the back. Perry wrapped his arms around his body. He should have brought a coat.
At least he knew where he was. There was a gas station a few blocks ahead. Perry often filled up there before going home so there would be enough gas for work in the morning. If he could make it to the station, he could wait out the storm there and then bring some gas back for the hovercar once the snow died down.
Perry started to walk. The cold was horrible. It stung his cheeks and the end of his bill. It took all of his strength to push through the snow. He was already sinking down to his hips.
After about a minute of walking, Perry knew it was no use. His breath was getting shorter, and he was so cold he could barely move anymore. He felt himself collapse into the snow.
The cold feeling would not go away. The wind still roared and pushed against him.
And suddenly… warmth.
Something that felt like a warm bunch of feathers was pulling Perry up out of the snow. He felt a wing wrap around his body. Another wing. His head pressed against feathers. He could hear a soft thudding noise.
He was moving again. Someone was taking him somewhere. A door was opening. Warm air was coming out of it. A door closed. Warmth.
Perry shivered. He was still too cold. He couldn’t open his eyes. His back pressed against something soft, and the feathers left him.
Perry cried out.
“It’s okay, bud, it’s okay.” A voice said. “I’m just getting a blanket.”
Perry opened his eyes. A seagull was standing next to him. He was on a couch, in a house that had wood floors.
The seagull grabbed three large blankets from the couch and spread them over Perry.
Perry whimpered. He couldn’t get warm.
“It’s all right, bud. I’ve got some heating pads. Lucky I saw you out the window, huh? You’re gonna be okay. It’s all right.”
Perry closed his eyes again.
Warmth finally began to come to him.

When Perry woke up, the television was on. The seagull was seated on the couch next to him.
Perry tried to sit up. His limbs were sore.
At least he was comfortably warm now.
“Hey, you’re up.” The seagull stood up. “You okay, bud? I was worried there for a bit. You were turning blue. You warm enough?”
Perry nodded. “Yeah. Thank you… so much. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been there.” His head started to hurt. He put a hand to his head.
“Your fedora’s on the chair over there.” The seagull said. “Don’t worry.”
Perry froze.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m with the O.W.C.A as well.” The seagull smiled. “Not an agent, though. My name’s Sven.”
Perry started to laugh, partially from exhaustion and relief.
Sven laughed, too. “I’m glad you’re feeling better. You’re still… kind of blue, though.”
“Oh, no. I’ve always been this color.” Perry said.
“Really?” Sven raised an eyebrow. “I thought platypuses were brown.”
“My name’s Perry.” Perry said. “What do you do for the agency?”
“I’m the head of the O.W.C.A Resort and Spa.” Sven said.
“That’d explain why I’ve never seen you before. I had no idea there was a resort thingy.”
“You should come by sometime.” Sven said.
“I’m not a spa person.” Perry said.
Sven nodded. “I understand. Most people aren’t. I’m very good with massages, though, if you feel a little sore. You were in a very stiff position for most of the night. To keep warm, no doubt.”
“My arms do hurt.” Perry admitted. He took the heating pads out from underneath his arms. “Speaking of… I don’t need these anymore.”
“I’ll take them.” Sven said.
Perry handed the heating pads to him. “Thanks for helping me last night. I thought I could make it to the gas station, but…”
Sven shook his head. “Don’t mention it. I’m glad I was able to. Good thing I had just been watching a program on how to help people suffering from hypothermia.”
“…Creepy coincidence.” Perry said.
Sven nodded. “Yes. By the way, nice to meet you.”
“You as well.” Perry said.