Chapter 2 — Prologue II: Hey, Where’s Richard?

It was a nice summer afternoon. The sun dominated the sky, casting its glow across the Tri-State Area skyline. In the backyard of a home in the suburban city of Danville sat two stepbrothers, Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher, resting in the shade of a large oak tree with their duck-billed, beaver-tailed, teal-furred pet, Perry. The sun’s glare enriched the orange of Phineas’ striped shirt while Ferb’s thick, shamrock-green hair blended into the leaves of their tree. The pair wondered what to do with their day. Now, walking into the yard was their sister, standing tall with her abnormally long neck. “What are you two doin—” Candace briefly halted in her speech when she saw they weren’t doing anything. “You guys aren’t doing anything?” Phineas, oblivious to his sister’s intentions, responded, “There’s nothing to do. Usually, Baljeet has some nerdy problems to deal with, or Buford rambles on about his bread bowl hot tub. Baljeet is visiting his friend Mishti, and the Van Stomms are having a family reunion, so neither of them is here. Look, even Perry’s bored.” Perry idly stood and commenced his usual growl. “Well, he is a platypus. They don’t do much.” “You’ll be fine,” Candace said passively-aggressively. “Isabella’s still here.” “Oh, that’s right!” Phineas replied in ecstatic revelation. “Isabella is always here, coming through that gate, and says—” Phineas’ sentence was interrupted by the gate of the lemon-hued fence flying open. It was Isabella.

“Hey, Phineas,” Isabella said. “What’cha doin’?” “We’ve got nothing right now,” Phineas responded. “That’s weird. Usually, someone has a problem that you try to solve, and then you say—” An unknown man walked into the backyard. He looked bruised and beaten up. “Who are you?” Candace asked as the man walked up to them. The man sighed as he responded, “My name is Richard Cox—” Candace giggled. “What’s wrong, Candace?” Phineas was curious as to what Candace found funny. “Nothing.” She failed to hold back her laughter. “I’ll tell you when you’re older.” “Anyway…” Richard continued, “I’m from a different universe, and I need your help to get back. I’ve heard around town about your daily adventures.” “So, everyone, except Mom, knows.” Candace was frustrated by her hundreds of failed attempts at busting her brothers. Phineas was excited about the chance of multiversal travel: “Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today!” “There it is,” Isabella commented as Phineas said his signature catchphrase. As they went to gather some tools, Candace noticed something was missing: “Hey, where’s Perry?”

Platypuses don’t do much: that’s a known fact. Perry is different. This platypus does do much. Perry the Platypus is a semiaquatic, egg-laying mammal of action. He works for the Organisation Without a Cool Acronym. O.W.C.A. is a secret spy agency that employs animals like Perry and trains them to be a force to fight evil. Perry is O.W.C.A.’s best agent and lives with the Flynn-Fletchers as a cover for his double life. As Phineas, Ferb and the gang were occupied, Perry snuck away. He switched to his bipedal form and put on his fedora. He was Agent P. He crept behind the tree and pulled down a branch to reveal a secret entrance to his lair beneath the house. Agent P ran up to the computer and pressed a button to turn on the monitor. Perry had an incoming call from his boss, Major Francis Monogram, and the intern, Carl. “Agent P! The villainous Doctor Doofenshmirtz is up to his old tricks,” Major Monogram stated. “We’ve had Agent E flying around Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated to gather intel, and it seems that Doofenshmirtz has rebuilt his Other-Dimensionator.” “Well, it’s not really rebuilding if he doesn’t remember making it in the first place,” Carl remarked. Monogram turned to Carl, annoyed at his interruption: “Shut it, Carl!” He turned back to the screen. “Anyway, we don’t have the Amnesia-inator any more, so if we have a repeat of last time’s events, you will be reassigned to a new family. Now go stop Doof before he tampers with the balance of the multiverse.” Agent P nodded and saluted before heading off on his mission.

“So, you landed in another universe with two kid geniuses who have a pet platypus?” Ellery questioned. “Yup,” Richard replied. “Platypuses are an endangered species. Isn’t that illegal?” “Not in that world, apparently.”

Phineas, Ferb, Candace, Isabella, and Richard got to work building a machine that could open a portal to another universe, but something was wrong… “Ferb, hand me the power drill,” Phineas requested. Ferb reached for the drill and gave it to Phineas. When Phineas turned on the drill, the wrong part of the drill started rotating, causing Phineas to start spinning at high speeds, forcing him to let go. He was launched onto the ground. “Candace, pliers,” Isabella demanded. Candace delivered, and when Isabella used the pliers, the entire thing burst from the pressure. “Richard, Ferb needs the nail gun,” Phineas spoke on Ferb’s behalf, as usual. Richard gave Ferb the nail gun. Ferb started firing the nail gun. Almost all the nails fell perfectly in place. Almost. One nail flew slightly off course, deflected off a panel of the machine, hitting every other nail, knocking them out of place, and causing the entire thing to collapse. “That’s weird,” Phineas commented. “Building is usually easier than this.” “It’s like everything that could go wrong did go wrong,” Richard said. “That’s it!” Phineas said in realisation. “Murphy’s Law! We need to find Milo.” Richard was confused: “Who’s Milo?”

In the centre of Danville, at 9297 Polly Parkway, was a large apartment building. The building was unconventionally shaped, comparable to a pipe wrench or Ferb’s head, and was supported by a metal pillar on the fortieth floor. The top floor, the forty-fifth, was a spacious penthouse with a curved, retractable roof, a balcony on the side and a large, lime-green banner that said, “Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc.” in purple text. This penthouse was the laboratory, workshop, and home of Doctor Heinz Doofenshmirtz. Doofenshmirtz was an evil scientist from Gimmelshtump, Drusselstein, who lived in Danville. He had a traumatic and depressing childhood, and that drove him towards one singular goal: to take over the Tri-State Area. Sometimes he loses, sometimes he almost wins, but no matter what, there is one person who is always in his way: Perry the Platypus. And he was coming once again. “Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!” sang a mysterious, disembodied voice. “I still have no idea where that comes from,” Doofenshmirtz said. Perry came crashing through Doofenshmirtz’s window, but Heinz was prepared. “Ah, Perry the Platypus…” Doofenshmirtz began with his thick Eastern European accent. “Your appearance was unprecedented. And of course, by unprecedented I mean… COMPLETELY CEDENTED!” Doof pressed a button that dropped a cage over Perry. “Yesterday, I had movie night with my daughter, Vanessa, and she introduced me to the concept of the multiverse, which is odd since you’d think an evil scientist like me would’ve done something with that by now. Anyway, the movie got me thinking of all the limitless possibilities that could be in store. Imagine a dimension where I’m the ruler of the Tri-State Area. How much fun that would be.” Perry did his usual growl. “What do you mean by ‘unlikely’? It’s possible. And I’m going to make it happen. BEHOLD! MY OTHER-DIMENSIONATOR! With this, I can find another version of me who is already ruler, so he can help me. And together we will take over the ENTIRE TRI-STATE AREA! And you can’t do anything because you’re trapped.”

On a different side of Danville lived a boy with his own adventures. Every male in his family was subject to a curse, a law, if you will, that states, ‘Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.’ But this boy was quick and resourceful. He used every tool available to him to overcome the challenges life threw at him. It’s his world, and we’re all living in it. He is Milo Murphy of Murphy’s Law. “What are we gonna do today, Milo?” Zack Underwood asked. “We could take Diogee for a walk,” Milo replied. “I was expecting a more exciting response, but sure.” “Zack, this is Milo we’re talking about. With Murphy’s Law, he can make even walking Diogee exciting,” Melissa Chase wittily stated. “Still,” Zack continued. “Every day we go on some crazy adventure. But somehow, even with Murphy’s Law, this year’s summer vacation has been… dull. We need new material.” Milo decided to reassure him: “Don’t worry, Zack. I’m sure an exciting adventure will come to us eventually.” And that it did. DING! Zack got excited. “That’s the doorbell! I’m going.” The trio rushed downstairs to see Phineas and company at the door. “Hello again, Milo,” Phineas greeted. “We’re gonna need some Murphy help.”

Doofenshmirtz worked on his Inator as Perry was trapped in the cage, or at least that’s what he thought. While Heinz was distracted, Perry pulled out a laser cutter from beneath his fedora. “It’s been a while since I’ve been this close to winning,” Doof gloated. “How’s your cage, Perry the Platypu—” Perry lunged at the scientist and slapped him with his beaver tail. “What was that for, Perry the Platypus?” Perry incredulously drew his attention back to the cage. “Oh, right… Very well then.” They then engaged in their usual slapstick violence. Doof swung with a wrench, which Perry dodged and retaliated with a butterfly kick. Doof fired a nail gun at Perry, but Perry knocked the nail away with his tail. The nail flew into the ceiling, reflected off a ceiling light and drove itself into Doofenshmirtz’s foot, causing Doof to scream in pain. “Why do you always pull that move?” Agent P leapt up, grabbed the man’s abnormally long nose, and flipped him over. “That move too! You always pull that move!” They kept fighting, but they only got closer to the Other-Dimensionator. “It’s no use, Perry the Platypus!” Doofenshmirtz reached for the activation button. Perry had to think quickly. There it was: the self-destruct button. There’s always a self-destruct button. Perry leapt for it but was stopped by Doofenshmirtz’s significantly larger hand. It was too late. The portal was already open. “BEHOLD THE POWER OF THE MULTIVERSE!” A figure stepped out of the portal, relaxed yet menacing. She wore a suit of armour with a silvery metal coating. The chest piece of the armour had a green glow in the centre, with tubes branching out from it, the tubes pumping the green energy throughout the entire exoskeleton. As she stepped through the wormhole, its structure collapsed as the energy was absorbed into some sort of gauntlet. “Are you Doctor… Heinz Doofenshmirtz?” she inquired, her tone ominous. “Yeah…” “My sensors detected two multiversal signatures in this universe. One of them was your… Other-Dimensionator… Where can I find the other one?” “I have no idea, but my daughter, Vanessa, has a friend whose little brothers are total geniuses. I bet it was them.” “Aren’t they a little young for multiversal travel?” “Yes. Yes, they are. I’ll lead the way.” Perry gasped in panic, knowing exactly where they were going.

“So, Richard,” Milo started. “What is your universe like?” “Well, there are certainly no kid inventors running around or ‘Murphy’s Law’ to deal with,” Richard joked. “But doesn’t that get boring? Living life with so many limits?” “That’s the point. Life’s limits aren’t living without generational curses or physics-defying feats; it’s believing that there are limits in the first place.” “I guess that makes sense.” “Speaking of sense, or I guess a lack thereof, why is Phineas’ head a triangle?” “I don’t know. I try not to think about it too much. I have no clue how Isabella finds that cute.” Isabella overheard what Milo said: “What was that, Milo?” “Nothing…” “Can we not argue about Isabella’s weird attractions?” Zack asked, trying to focus on the task at hand.

Milo is nearly always seen wearing his backpack, which is packed full of supplies to help him deal with anything Murphy’s Law throws at him. His backpack is a dark green colour with black straps and small black pockets on either side. There are diagonal black and yellow stripes reminiscent of a caution sign on the back, beneath the opening flap. “Let’s try this again,” Phineas said confidently. “Ferb, power drill.” Ferb reached for the drill and gave it to Phineas. When Phineas turned on the drill, the wrong part of the drill started rotating, causing Phineas to start spinning at high speeds. Phineas let go and fell. Milo acted quickly and pulled out an inflatable air mattress from his backpack. He threw it under Phineas, allowing him to bounce back up to continue working. “Candace, pliers,” Isabella demanded. Candace delivered, and when Isabella used the pliers, the entire thing burst from the pressure. “Here’s a spare.” Melissa passed Isabella a spare pair of pliers… and another four. “Richard, Ferb needs the nail gun,” Phineas spoke on Ferb’s behalf, as usual. Richard gave Ferb the nail gun. Ferb started firing the nail gun. Almost all the nails fell into place perfectly. Almost. One nail flew slightly off course, deflected off a panel of the machine, hitting every other nail and knocking them out of place, only for Zack to swing by and put more in. “That’s more like it!” Phineas exclaimed, enjoying the return of their usual luck. The Murphy family pet, Diogee, suddenly appeared and ran to Milo with a wrench in his mouth. “Diogee, go home,” Milo commanded. Diogee slowly turned around, sadly going home as ordered. “He’s not meant to be in your backyard.”

After an hour more of work, the multiverse hopper was finished. “That should be it, Richard: your way back home,” Phineas uttered in reassurance. “Thanks, guys. You’ve been a real help,” Richard thanked them greatly. “But there’s one more thing I want to know. What happened when we first tried to build the machine?” “Of course. We were running scanners on you all day, and we found something. Milo’s body constantly emits negative probability ions, drastically increasing the probability that something bad happens around him. We know this phenomenon as ‘Murphy’s Law.’ Your body also seems to release probability ions.” “But that doesn’t make sense,” Melissa commented. Candace added: “Yeah. If both of them have Murphy’s Law, things should’ve been twice as bad, but everything was pretty normal… for Milo at least.” “That’s because rather than just emitting negative probability ions, his body seems to erratically emit both negative and positive ions.” “So instead of creating bad luck events,” Isabella concluded, “he creates any events whatsoever? Full chaos?” “Exactly, Isabella. Good job.” Isabella revelled in Phineas’ admiration, and he went on. “You seem like a smart guy. I’m sure you could find a way to control it, as we did with Murphy’s Law.” “I will,” Richard promised both Phineas and himself.

“Anyway, I have to go,” Isabella reluctantly stated. “My mom is making pie.” “Okay, Isabella. Be sure to save me a slice.” “Of course. Bye, Phineas!” Isabella waved Phineas goodbye before walking out of the yard. Suddenly, there was a vibration in Candace’s pocket. She pulled out her phone. “Stacy’s calling me,” Candace said. “Candace is out! Peace!” Just like that, Candace was gone too. “We should be going too,” Melissa said. Milo agreed. “Yeah, Diogee is due for his walk anyway, so we should probably do that.” “And try not to die in the process,” Zack quipped. “Bye, guys,” Phineas, Ferb and Richard waved as Milo, Melissa, and Zack walked out. “Today was an adventure.” Phineas turned to Richard. “You should probably be going home now.” “Actually, he’ll be coming with me…” a voice called. Phineas and Ferb didn’t recognise it, but Richard did. “Vance…” Richard spat in disgust at the sight of her. “Who’s the pharmacist?” “Why does everyone always assume I’m a pharmacist?!” Doofenshmirtz ranted. “Many other professions have lab coats!” “That’s our friend Vanessa’s dad,” Phineas said. “Ferb, you remember him.” “Yeah, whatever, I brought you to the device. Now, I’m gonna leave you to it. I need to pick up Vanessa from her party.” Doofenshmirtz walked away. Just as he left the earshot of Phineas and Ferb, he spoke to himself: “I wonder where Perry the Platypus went.” Doof looked into the distance and saw his building in the Danville skyline. His awe was soon met with terror as the roof and walls of his penthouse were destroyed by an explosive blast. Perry the Platypus had hit the self-destruct button of his Other-Dimensionator. Doofenshmirtz could see the silhouette of Perry fleeing the scene on his signature hand glider. To this, Doof raised his fist in the air and indignantly cried, “CURSE YOU, PERRY THE PLATYPUS!”

Back at the Flynn-Fletchers’ backyard, Vance pressed a button on her gauntlet, activating a battle suit that expanded over her. “Richard Cox, you have two choices,” she threatened. “You can willingly come with me and help me with my research, or I can absorb the probability ions right out of you along with your life force. Your choice.” “I choose option C,” Richard quipped. He quickly activated the multiverse hopper and leapt towards the portal. Vance fired an energy blast from the hand of her armour. It missed Richard but hit the machine, destabilising it as Richard went through. Vance immediately followed him. Vance’s armour absorbed the portal’s energy, causing it to collapse, but not before sucking the now-destroyed machine in. Phineas and Ferb watched as everything they built today just vanished, but that’s fairly normal. “I sure hope he’s okay. He’s a nice guy,” Ferb said. “Yes. Yes, he is,” Phineas said. Emerging from behind the tree was their ordinary, quadrupedal, non-hat-wearing pet, Perry. “Oh, there you are, Perry.”