Chapter Text
The anxiety that had come the night before had now settled in his chest, inside his gut, like having a pin on his heart that spread a sharp pain throughout his body all night. He had not been able to rest, and for the little time he had slept, horrible and violent images tormented his mind. He was shaking, and not only because of the enduring cold. His wounded arm was numb, as if the bullet was still in his flesh, infusing pain throughout his body. The swollen and tired eyes stared at the same spot on the metal wall before him. His friend was still held tightly in his arms, giving comfort in that warm embrace. But it wasn’t enough.
Giving up on the illusion of being able to fall asleep without waking up because of another nightmare, Phineas gently released Perry from his embrace to cover him with a rag placed next to him. He then crawled towards the lamp that dimly lit the tiny space where they were hidden and sat down near the exit of the metal box. In front of him, a series of small miniatures made from broken pieces of wood and paper, carved and tied together to create little dolls. Four were small and had different heads: one rectangular with a green cutout on top, one made of a hazelnut with black stiff broom fibers at the top, a black cotton ball, and finally a colored and shaped box with brown sticks on top.
Phineas arranged them in a row in front of him, took the green-haired figure in one hand, and made it interact with a dirty stone that made it talk.
“Hey Ferb! Did you find any parts then? I could really use some of them right now, ya know?”
He whispered hoarsely with a forced laugh to make the rectangular figure respond with a simple shake. He then reached for the colored box with the sticks for hair.
“You almost finished the train, right, dinner bell?”
“Of course, Buf! Yesterday, we took a wheel as big as me! We got 'em good again, those blockheads.”
The puppet with the black cotton on the end trembled and spoke in a high-pitched voice.
“Damn, how do you manage to stand up to them every time? And now that Drill-!”
“Nope! He’s no prob at all! And Perry is the great one here, I just run away.”
Phineas chuckled softly, making the hazel figure with the long black hair turn his attention, speaking in a feminine voice.
“Sooooo, whatcha doing now? You’ll come back to us soon…”
Phineas suddenly stiffened. He swallowed a lump in his throat.
“…right?”
He whispered, his eyes fixed on a tall, slender doll dressed in dark red fabric. He reached out and slowly brought it towards him, contemplating it, as if searching for any expression in that tiny log of wood that served as a head. He took a deep breath and pressed his lips together, holding back a sob as he caressed the doll’s imaginary cheeks.
“Where the heck are you, Lily? Why are you so mean… why don’t you…”
Phineas frowned and tossed the little mannequin aside before diving headlong into the drawing of a moving train. He then moved on to various scribbles of inventions, then of puppets, or rather, of the people they represented. He even tried to make some inventions, but his sore arm and bad mood blocked his intentions before he could even begin. This disturbed him even more, so he gave up on doing anything else.
Digging through the pile of drawn papers, pencils, and tools, he found a small, dirty bag of red hand-sewn cloth. On it, there was an embroidered design depicting a cross-stitch needle with white wings and a thread at the end, which transformed into a wavy railroad with a small bright red train speeding along the tracks. A small cloud of steam was coming out of the locomotive’s chimney. Phineas sighed heavily, frowning with his glassy eyes as he stroked the beautiful drawing, admiring the details and losing himself in thought. He remained there for a while before tightening the bag in an iron grip, putting it in his jacket pocket, and finally coming out of the hiding place.
He looked out over the tunnels wrapped in darkness, the lamp in the lair was the only and feeble source of light for miles. Stopping near the basin where the sewage water flowed, he stretched his hands above his head to stretch his back and all the muscles of his body, stretching on both sides. He then bent his torso downwards to touch his boots with the tips of his fingers. Stretching finished, his attention turned to his still-numb and painful left arm. With a moment of reluctant preparation, he reached out a shaking hand to the source of the pain, finding a sharp stab at his touch that made him squeak and jerk his hand away.
The kid closed his eyes, heavy as two boulders, and crouched on the ground, running his fingers through his red curls. An expression mixed with exhaustion, pain, and fear, his chest and stomach worn by that sense of unbridgeable emptiness, emerged on his pale and dirty face. He turned sideways to take a look at the shelter, to observe that tiny light slanting from the small opening. His eyes watered, but he reflexively covered them and pushed back that emotion, taking rapid breaths followed by frustrated grunts. He slowly regained control, the eyes compressed by weak fists, until a grumble coming from his stomach echoed in those infinite, isolated labyrinths.
The child opened his eyelids and sighed, turning his attention to the weak currents of dirty water that barely reflected the light of the small lantern. The palms of his hands gently massaged his shoulders that were shaking with cold, crouched so low that his chin rested on his knees.
“Is it soup beans, or maybe corn,
Let’s see what we’ve got in store
Anything is good,
to turn our belly full…”
Hummed softly in a thin voice, a whisper audible only to him, with a low tone as if he wanted to make those soft words vibrate inside his chest. He took a long breath and stood up to walk back to his hiding place, but he stopped as soon as he saw Perry dart out of the crack.
“Woah! Perry? Are you okay?”
The animal looked at him sideways and went back to wandering agitatedly back and forth on the canal, alarming his companion. Suddenly, the two stopped, the boy slowly crouched down on the ground with his friend at his side, concentrating more than ever on hearing a sound dissonant compared to the gurgling of the stagnant water. The air became heavy, pungent on the lungs, bodies trembling like dry leaves in the wind. The exhausting silence was interrupted by sharp echoes. Clicks, traps that were triggered, yelps and cries that, kilometers away, echoed in the darkness of those desolate tunnels. They were getting closer.
The faces of the two fugitives contracted in an expression of pure terror. Perry reacted immediately by showing his teeth and bristling fur to growl against the distant sounds. Phineas was still, unable to move, with the oppressive sensation that the space around him was pressing on his body without leaving him any possibility of moving.
“N-not here too…”
Phineas whispered in shock, giving him the push he needed to slip into the shelter, grab his backpack, and throw all the inventions, papers, and objects scattered on the ground in a jumble. Once the bag was full, he took the lamp and went out, finding Perry, who continued to search the surroundings. The distant cries became louder and louder.
“P-Perry, we have to go.”
The animal turned to see his companion with the lit lantern in his trembling hand that illuminated his terrified face, ready to spring at any moment.
“C-come on!”
Screamed, convincing Perry to run together towards the exit. The sudden rush of the fugitives was perceived by the presences that sifted through the tunnels, from which a succession of threatening and encouraging yelps and screeches echoed.
The two companions quickly reached the stairs that led to the exit shaft for the station, but as soon as they went down three steps, they were greeted by two Moderators on lookout who were illuminating the tunnel with torches. As soon as they saw them, they started shooting tranquilizer darts, dodged in time by the two who then sprang back into the shafts. The Moderators’ screams behind them.
“Found them! They’re at the East exit, send reinforcements!”
The shouts in the darkness grew louder, closer to where the fugitives were winding, darting through the darkness almost blindly, jumping channels, and getting lost in the underground labyrinth.
Suddenly, a large dog leapt out of the darkness and forced the two to stop. The animal was hunched down, emitting low, threatening growls, as if to tell them to stop. Its coat was short and spotted in dark and light brown, a scar ran across its nose, its sharp teeth glinted in the light of the lamp, and by the red LED light of the large collar that was flashing intermittently.
“Oh snap…”
Phineas took a step back, infuriating the dog, who barked at the boy, threatening to attack. Perry stepped between the two and leaped at the animal, starting to bite him on the back of the neck.
“Perry!”
The boy screamed while trying to help him, but was grabbed from below and yanked to the ground by a large badger who pinned him down by pressing his paws into his chest and emitting loud growls and hisses just a few inches from his face. It had a collar as well. Phineas was terrified, his chest compressed by the animal, and the animalistic growls of his friend, who was fighting the dog. From the ground, he distinctly heard the voices of Moderators and other animals approaching them.
Driven by adrenaline, he struggled to get up from the ground, but the badger began to growl louder and press its claws into the boy's chest. With a squeak of pain, Phineas reached for the lantern that had fallen to the side and hit the beast's snout, making it falter and send it flying into the water with a kick. He stood up in pain and, barely noticing the dog whimpering on the ground, took Perry and ran away, using his shoes to jump further and faster. The badger started chasing them, joined by other animals.
During the run, Perry stood on his friend's shoulders to inspect the surroundings and saw another dog and a snake intent on following them, not to mention some Moderators seen in passing. The situation was getting exponentially worse.
“Perry! The teleporter! Let’s get out of here!”
The animal immediately carried out the order. He rummaged through his backpack with difficulty while Phineas continued to run and jump wildly to lose the ever-increasing number of pursuers. Once he finally found the device, he quickly handed it to the boy. Phineas stopped and was about to activate it, but a crow caught him by surprise and began to peck him on the head while cawing loudly for help. After a few attempts, the bird stole the device from Phineas’s hands and flew away.
“Hey! Give it back!”
He shouted before chasing the crow through the dark vehicles. Still on his shoulders, Perry stood on alert with bristling fur and protruding canines, ready to attack any aggressor.
The bird took advantage of the darkness of the tunnels to camouflage itself as best as possible and dart nimbly from one tunnel to another, making it difficult to catch despite the child illuminating it as much as possible with the flashlight. Phineas was a few meters away, struggling to keep up even with the help of his boots, not to mention that the animal was using his own traps placed on the ceiling to capture him. He narrowly escaped two prehensile nets and an attack by a raccoon that, from the canal, was about to bite his ankle, had it not been for Perry's reflexes, who, with a flick of his tail, swatted it away.
Seeing the crow move away, Phineas frowned and, hesitantly, prepared his hand in his backpack and began to jump dangerously between the opposite walls of the tunnels to gain more speed thanks to the push of his shoes. Just before the bird curved into a new tunnel, Phineas grabbed a pair of capturing pincers and threw them at the bird, capturing it in his grip.
The child fell to the ground, barely avoiding tripping over the canal. Perry slipped in the blow but promptly lunged at the crow and grabbed the device with his teeth, struggling against the bird that was holding it with its beak. Phineas got up and helped his friend to take the teleporter, then moved away from the animal on the ground to try to activate the invention. However, he was taken by surprise once again by the raccoon who, in reflex to fear, hit it with the lantern, which, however, broke, making them sink into total darkness.
Phineas panicked, breathing heavily, and his eyes watered while the world around him became suffocating, and the sounds became an unbearable din. They were now very close. His companion shook him agitatedly on the shoulders, insistently touching the teleporter. This brought the boy to his senses and, after a few seconds of blindly fiddling with it, he activated the device, and the two escaped underground only to suddenly find themselves on a snowbank in an alley, next to large garbage bins that hid them from prying eyes.
The ice seemed to bring back a little consciousness to the two, now breathless and trying to find as much air as possible while they realized, shocked and in pain, what had just happened. Perry, after swallowing a lump in his throat, rushed to see the child's condition. The kid was staring at the frozen and dirty ground, shaking as if he were having convulsions while sweat dripped down his forehead, wetting his hair, his eyes were wet and narrow, his cheeks scarlet. The animal immediately saw the compromised jacket on his chest, two bruises on his forehead, and a scratch on his cheek.
Perry nuzzled his injured cheek with his beak, bringing the boy back to reality. The child turned to look at the bite marks on his chest and back, terrified.
“Oh Perry, y-you're hurt! I-I'm so sorry, I-I didn't mean to get stuck, I-I should have taken the teleportation e-earlier, b-but I-I didn't believe that, I-I didn't know that-!”
The animal stopped him by placing his paw on his lips and giving him a faint smile and a nod to reassure him. Phineas hardened his gaze and took a cloth from his backpack to massage his friend's back, as he pocketed the two teleportation devices. He had a feeling they would be of use to him now more than ever. A tense silence fell between the two, the cold air whipping on the two tired faces, reflecting on what had happened. Phineas clenched his fist, feeling the pain in the wound on his forearm and the repressed disdain and fear.
“So they really decided to use them... I didn't expect it at all. Who even were those little furry and black masked ones… I-I mean, did you see them all down there? They were amazing.”
His eye fell on the inside of his companion's ankles, where he saw two dark spurs protruding just above the webbed paws. Perry noticed it and sat down, covering his ankles with his tail in shame, avoiding the child's gaze. Phineas put down the cloth and gently stroked the animal's head.
“Don’t worry, Perry, you didn’t do anything wrong. You wanted to make us escape, and it was the only way.”
Phineas reassured affectionately, smiling. Perry looked at him sideways, and with a moment of reluctance, he smiled sideways back.
After cuddling his friend for a little longer, Phineas settled down on the pile of snow and trash, crossing his legs and staring at the ground with an absorbed and agitated look.
“Stupid blockheads, they took our shelter away… and our train… no, not that… I hope” He let out a long, irritated moan “What are we gonna do now? Now they even have animals hunting us, it’ll be so hard to find a new place to hide” he began to scratch his chin thoughtfully, his eyebrows raised “there must be a factory to go to, right? Like the one that made clothes that no one used anymore. O-or in the station. In the station… in the ducts or… in someone’s house…”
He looked to his companion for support, but Perry shook his head in despair, dashing any faint hope the boy had. Phineas pursed his lips, pondering.
“Maybe in the abandoned buildings?... or one of those tunnels…”
His uncertainty was confirmed by his pet, who reluctantly shook his head again and leaned toward him to sniff his clothes loudly and look up. Phineas sighed in exasperation.
“That’s right. Those animals have a super sense of smell, especially dogs. What are we gonna do? I don’t even have that many devices left to deal with them, and if they catch us…”
The last words escaped faintly from his lips, as if the vapor that his breath emitted while he spoke was frozen like his soul at that last thought. Perry immediately shook his shoulder and, having gained his friend's attention, frowned and beat his tail twice in a row on the snow. The child inhaled a breath of air and straightened his back to give himself courage.
“Y-yeah, you're right,” he whispered before caressing his cheek, “we won't let them.”
A screech tore through the sky, and the two looked up to see an eagle that, from about fifty meters, dived headlong towards them at great speed. Phineas put Perry on his shoulders and jumped out of its path. He emerged into the street and ran away from the Moderators on patrol who were looking for them. The two managed to reach the top of the rooftops, the snow raging their escape, when suddenly, a familiar voice spoke through the speakers scattered throughout the city.
“Attention please: to all Moderators, I order the temporary suspension of the chase so that the fugitive can hear me well.”
Phineas froze in mid-air and fell back onto the roof of a fabric warehouse. He was crouched on the ground, gasping for air, his eyes wide, trembling. Perry, still on his shoulders, wrapped himself around his friend’s neck, as if to protect him. Both of them were waiting for the sergeant’s cold, stern voice.
“Listen to me, kid. You’ve seen that we’re prepared ourselves pretty damn well and that we’ll spend all our resources and energies to catch you. And we’ll do it at the cost of your safety and your little beast's. Now, to make things easier for both of us, I give you one more chance to turn yourself in: we know what you are looking for, and we can tell you where she is.”
A rush swelled in his chest, his face contorted in blind rage, and without thinking, he looked out of the factory’s roof.
“YOU’RE A LIAR!”
His scream tore through the cloudy sky, echoing in the surrounding streets as if to reflect his thunderstruck state. After a while, Drill’s voice answered him from the speakers.
“Believe what you want, Flynn. I’m offering you the chance to end this senseless and harmful quest of yours: declare your immediate surrender, and you’ll receive the answers you’re looking for. Run away again, and we’ll exhaust you until we capture you for good. This is my first and only chance to negotiate.”
The Moderators and animals that were chasing him were staring at the child from the ground, anxious to have an answer from the person concerned. Perry looked at them, oppressed by those eyes and by that extraordinary situation. He then looked at his companion, anxious to know the response, too.
Phineas tightened his numb fingers on the building’s parapet, a grimace hiding his gnashing teeth as the shivering of the cold mingled with his anger. It didn’t take him long to give his answer.
“We don't need anyone! Not you, not any of you blockheads! We'll find her by ourselves, and we'll all go far, far away. Right up on your sorry asses!” A grin similar to a smug grimace that highlighted his sharp canines towered on his scarlet face before he leaned over the railing facing the Moderators, trembling in the grip of a feverish exaltation, “So do your best!”
And with a long, loud raspberry, he darted aside and leapt like lightning across the rooftops. The Moderators reflexively resumed their pursuit, both fueled by the insult and motivated to do their utmost to catch the fugitive.
A few miles away, Sergeant Drill sat in one of the vans in the center of town with the receiver to transmit to the loudspeakers. A smug, malicious smile spread across his lips and, with a wave of his hand, he gave the order to the waiting patrols to proceed.
“So be it.”