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"And once all the water in the water tower is replaced with coffee, I will… Perry the Platypus, are you listening?"
The platypus agent quickly turned to face the evil scientist, nodding, silently confirming that he was paying attention. He was currently trapped underneath a giant glass coffee cup, and while it was pretty heavy, he was sure he could break it with one well-placed whack from his tail. He just had to wait for the right moment.
"Good. Now where was I? Oh, yes." Dr. Doofenshmirtz returned to his explanation of his plan, and Perry resumed his examination of his transparent prison. He tapped on the glass, wondering why this hadn't broken when it fell on him. Maybe it was much stronger than regular glass…
Dr. D finally finished and went over to his Coffee-inator, flipping some switches. Seizing his chance, Perry pivoted, slamming his wide tail against the glass. It cracked, but didn't break. He swung again, and then paused to see if his nemesis had noticed. But the other was oblivious, talking to himself as he aimed the machine carefully at the Danville water tower.
Taking in a deep breath, Perry gave one final whack with all of his strength. The cup finally broke, and he leapt out, landing to adjust his position before launching at Dr. D.
"Perry the Platypus, how did you- Oof!" Dr. D let out a pained grunt as he was knocked back into his machine, one of his elbows jostling the control panel and making it beep in warning.
Perry tried to reach past him and disable it, but the scientist regained his wits, grabbing him and pushing him away. They wrestled with each other, moving about the room as they traded blows and counter-strikes, occasionally throwing random objects at each other as they each attempted to get the upper hand. Though Perry did manage to rip a handful of wires out of the Coffee-inator as he ran past it, causing it to promptly shut down.
"No! Curse you, Perry the Platypus!" Dr. D leapt for his foe, but Perry was much stronger than he looked, meeting him head-on and hurling him back against the now-useless machine. It wobbled uncertainly, and Perry quickly backed away.
"Where are you going? Get back here and fight me like a ma- er, monotreme… whatever." Heinz reached up to grab one of the machine's handles to help him stand up, but as he pulled on it, the entire thing collapsed on top of him, and Perry flinched as he heard an audible crack. "OOWWW that hurt!"
Slightly concerned, he returned to him, kneeling down next to him as he crawled out from under it.
"Ow, okay, my leg hurts…" Trying to write it off like it was nothing, Heinz tried to stand up, but his right leg buckled and he fell down again.
Perry knew he should just leave, his job was done for today, but he wasn't just Dr. Doofenshmirtz's enemy. He was also the closest thing he had to a friend. He's helped him countless times, and saved his life a few. They were only enemies because it was his job. Outside of OWCA work, however…
Sighing in defeat, Perry helped him sit up, stretching the man's injured leg out, though not as harshly as he could have.
"Don't touch me!" Heinz didn't normally snap at him, but he really didn't want anyone touching his leg right now.
Perry glared up at him, and he didn't have to speak for his message to be clear: Shut up or I'll really make it hurt.
"Ugh, fine." Heinz crossed his arms stubbornly, not wanting to accept help from the other, but he really had no choice right now.
Perry carefully pushed the leg of his pants up, just enough for him to see a weird unevenness about his lower leg. He felt it gingerly, and when Heinz flinched slightly, he came to a conclusion; his leg was broken. He looked up at him again, silently communicating this fact to him through his expression.
"What, is it broken?"
Perry nodded.
"Oh, great. Just great. I can't do evil on a broken leg!"
After thinking for a few moments, Perry held out his hands in the easily recognizable, "Wait right there" gesture and got up, running into another room.
"Now where are you going?" Heinz demanded.
The platypus soon returned with a folded washrag, which he laid carefully over the man's leg. It had been soaked in hot water, and felt surprisingly good against his damaged limb.
"Oh, okay. That feels much better."
Perry didn't stay for long, heading for the bathroom again for more supplies. He knew there should be some bandages around here somewhere… he wasn't a professional, but he should be able to help Heinz out a little bit. At least until he can get to a hospital.
Finally managing to find a roll of medical tape, he grabbed it and rushed back into the main room, thankful that Heinz kept almost every type of medical supplies in case he needed them. He knelt down, stretching out a length of tape, and removed the hot washrag. He met the scientist's eyes, relying once again on the strange, wordless communication he had with him. This may hurt.
"Wait, it's not going to hurt, is it- OW!"
To Heinz's credit, he didn't move too much, but his yelp of pain made Perry cringe; for a male, his voice could get very high-pitched. Perry continued bandaging his leg, hoping that he had managed to push the two halves of bone back into place correctly. He wasn't too familiar with human anatomy, but he's fallen asleep watching quite a few medical documentaries and knew the basics.
When he had tied the bandage tightly, he went to find something make crutches with. Tying some random pieces of wood together, no doubt left over from that wood chuck incident a few days ago, he brought them to his frienemy. He helped him stand, watching him carefully, supporting one side so he didn't have to use the injured leg. But once he had grasped the crutches, he was able to support himself.
Sighing, Dr. D mumbled something and started for the door.
Perry got in front of him, crossing his arms and smirking. What was that?
"I, uh… well, thank you," he repeated, a little more loudly.
Louder. Perry didn't lessen his determined stare.
"All right! Thank you, Perry the Platypus. Thanks for the help, even though it was your fault in the first place, whatever. Now move, I'm going to the hospital. I hope my insurance will cover this. …I may need to give Charlene a call. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow. Maybe."
Satisfied, Perry let him by, but then started following him. Want me to come along?
"You want to come? Eh… if you want to. Don't really know why you care, with us being enemies and all…"
What fun is an enemy when he can't even move? Perry asked by giving a chattering sound that almost sounded like a laugh, as he tapped one of the crutches.
"Laugh all you want, this could have been a lot worse. I really need to start bolting those inators down, but then they would lose the mobility! See, these are things you have to think about when building weapons of destruction…" Dr. D pressed the button to call an elevator. "So why did you help me?"
Perry shrugged. He wasn't really sure why. He just didn't like seeing the other in pain. He's hurt him a little bit before, but never like that. It made him feel guilty. A punch or slap is quick to heal, but a broken limb? That can keep a human down for weeks.
"You know, if we weren't enemies, we could be good friends," Dr. D mused.
Perry rubbed the back of his neck, feeling awkward; he's had the same thought before. If only Dr. Doofenshmirtz wasn't a bad guy… but if he wasn't, then Perry would likely be assigned to another villain, and even worse, relocated. He wouldn't live with the Flynn-Fletchers anymore. And he didn't want that. They were the best family ever. And many of Phineas and Ferb's contraptions have actually helped him battle his foe, though in indirect ways.
When the elevator doors opened and they got in, Heinz reached down with a hand. "So, for the rest of today, how about a truce, huh?"
Perry stared at it in surprise, then smiled, accepting his hand and shaking it. To his shock, he was yanked up closer, but before his fighting reflexes could kick in, both of the scientist's arms were around him, holding him close, and he found himself resting his bill across the other's shoulder.
"You're probably not one for hugs, but… I am really grateful, and you acted so quickly… so thank you, Perry the Platypus, thank you."
Feeling even more awkward but not wanting to be rude, Perry decided not to struggle, though this was definitely the strangest thing that's ever happened to him. Even stranger than the cheese hurricane. Or that mountain filled with hairless cats. His enemy was actually hugging him. Not trying to choke him. Hugging him. Affectionately. Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Enemy. Hugging. Affection. These concepts just didn't seem to go together.
But it was pretty nice, and Perry eventually gave in, raising his arms to drape them around the other's neck, rubbing the side of his head against the man's cheek.
"Haha, stop that, your fur tickles."
So does your facial hair, but you don't hear me complaining.
That thought didn't seem to reach the human, who merely smiled and put him down, straightening up on his crutches once more as they reached the ground floor and the door opened. No one in the lobby really seemed surprised as Heinz limped out on makeshift crutches followed by a platypus in a fedora. Weirder things have happened around here.
"So uh… if it's not too much to ask, can you not tell the folks at the OWCA about that hug?" Heinz said.
Perry gave him the thumbs-up.
"Good, because if Monogram found out… oh, he'd never let me live it down. He still makes fun of me for that penguin thing… you remember the penguins, right?"
Perry face-palmed; how could he forget that mess?
"Yeah, my nose will never be the same."
They talked the rest of the way to the hospital. Or rather, Doofenshmirtz talked, and Perry just answered with nods, or glances, and assorted body language. He never actually spoke back. He could if he wanted to, but he preferred this. It made their friend/enemy bond seem even more special. They understood each other. They helped each other, sometimes even depended on each other. And to him, that was perfect.