The trio were working hard at the inator and Doof and Peter's competition was still going on strong. Although, a tad unnecessary in the platypus' opinion. But when they start asking if she's alright or if there's anything they could get her in the span of 5 minutes between them, can anyone blame her?

Perry sighed a bit and crawled out from underneath the inator, wiping some sweat off her brow. She sat up, stretched, and got to her feet.

"So, Heinz. Exactly how long DOES it take you to build an entire inator?", she asked curiously before she grabbed a bottle of water nearby.

"Uh, it kinda depends. Sometimes it takes me a few days, sometimes it takes WEEKS, sometimes it takes on the total, eh. About 30 minutes.", Heinz shrugged. "It depends on the inator, really. How detailed do I want them to be. How big are they? How much do I or can I compact into my hand-carried inventions? It's really all about the invention."

"And this one?", Perry asked, side-ways glancing at it.

"THIS one? Um...", Heinz thought for a moment. In honesty, it took him about 4 days. But with as much progress as Peter made on it with Norm's help last night, he couldn't really bring himself to say that. "Oh.. I'd say about a couple of hours."

Perry smiled at this answer and sat the bottle back down again.

"Well that's great news!", she said brightly. "Three times the work, we should have it done in no time!"

"Yeah! How awesome is that?", Peter said, equally enthusiastic.

"...Yeah..", Heinz deflated a bit. "Didn't realize how fast these things could go...with all the extra help."

"Well what's the matter, Doof? Aren't you looking forward to our normal routines and having the house to yourself?", Perry asked.

"...Yeah.. Yeah. No, you're right. I should be happy about this.", he said before sighing a bit.

"So... Why aren't you?", Perry asked, standing up.

"...Guess I'm just kinda gonna miss the equality of conversation.", Heinz said, scratching the back of his head nervously.

"...Well... Well hey! What if you built an animal translator? You know, like the one you made for those whales, except, with platypuses and stuff?", she offered.

Heinz offered a small smile and said, "Yeah. I guess that'd be just as good.", yet he knew that the lack of conversation wasn't exactly what was weighing him down.

They worked in silence from there out. But by the time they were just about done, something suddenly clicked in Heinz's mind. And without any further delay and in the stupidity of his excitement, he couldn't help but blurt it out.

"SENSITIVE! THAT'S it! GIRLS, like GUYS, who are SENSITIVE!", he said to Peter with a wide and triumphant smile.

Peter, for once being on his ball, knew a great backfire and had to try hard, not to laugh so he could say with a straight face, "Do they also happen to like guys who are RETARDED for JUST NOW thinking that up?"

"Well gee, I would hope so for YOUR sake!", Heinz shot back with a scowl. "And I can't help it if I'm an introvert like that!"

"Introvert?! Dude! you blather on like an extrovert, how on earth are you INTROVERTED?", Peter snickered. "Maybe it's cause of your constant-chatter that Perry doesn't love you."

"Yeah well maybe it's cause of YOUR sarcasm that she doesn't like you either!", Heinz growled as both forgot exactly who was in the room at that moment.

"You know, it doesn't even matter if I win her affection or not! Yeah, I'm THAT shallow."

"Oh! that's just the problem with you! You're not even TRYING! You don't even care! At least I'M giving it everything I've got to show that I care about her!"

"Gosh, you know what? You're starting to SOUND like her.", Peter said, scratching out the inside of his ear. "All the more reason to KEEP HER AWAY from you!"

"So that's what you're trained to do?! Stop someone from loving another?! Oh my goodness! Heaven FORBID should a couple get married! You better hop right on that Agent F and Agent C thing right now! Quickly! Before they even DARE to have KIDS!"

"That's different! They're agents! We're talking about you, an EVIL SCIENTIST, subduing an agent and pulling her away from everything that she's become, everything that I'M supposed to be! I care! I care about HER tossing the reputation that I'M supposed to have!"

"Look here you! Why don't you just go jump off the balcony since NO ONE wants you around let alone ruling over their lives!", Heinz snarled. "Cause quite frankly, I don't CARE anymore about this stupid competition! All I want is for her to be happy where as you just FORCE her to believe she is!"

The fight went physical and in a cartoony display of a smoke cloud and a flurry of hands and legs, both men began to throw everything they had into determining who the winner would be. It took quite a good deal for them to finally break apart as one voice finally cut through the fight.

"A-HEM!"

Silence fell faster than a boulder. Both the scientist and the panda dropped their shoulders as their eyes widened when the truth hit them. Perry was standing RIGHT beside them. And after they dared each other to look over, maybe it was how her thin, blue eyebrows were furrowed together over her brown eyes, maybe it was how her arms were folded over her chest, or maybe it was how she was tapping her foot, but whatever it was in her body language, she didn't seem too pleased with what she was hearing.

"...Perry the Platypus it's not what it seems! I didn't mean to- I mean he didn't- Shut it you! I'm trying to talk to her! Look I'm sorry! We don't mean it as-", they stammered and stumbled, and tried to talk over top of each other but Perry raised a single hand and the chatter stopped.

"...I knew it was a contest.", Perry admitted, making their eyes grow wide and their faces burn bright red. "I knew it from the moment you guys began it. Before I walked in, I heard you guys talking it over and agreeing to do it. Knew that's what you were up to, trying to make me feel good, or trying to place a rose in my bedroom."

She held up the rose she found under her bed, and Heinz shirked back a step in embarrassment. She simply smirked and went on.

"That's why I played oblivious. I was wondering exactly what you guys would try to do to catch my attention.", she said, walking about them as she played with the rose.

"...So then, who wins?", Peter asked, making Perry chuckle.

"Mm... See that's been the trouble. You've both put in a lot of thought and consideration into trying to woo me. Asking and willing to talk about ME and MY life, understanding my emotional situations, working on the inator...", she listed as both the boys' hearts pounded hard in their chests. "It's been a bit tricky for me to decide."

"...Perry the Platypus? Can I- May I...throw out my own input?", Heinz asked, almost as if asking a school teacher.

Perry paused and took a look at the man. She gave a small smile and nodded in agreement, and Heinz rubbed his arm nervously, unsure if it would make any kinda difference.

"I.. I may not entirely understand Owca and everything like you and Peter do. I know I'm evil. I can't really change that. But I do love you, Perry. I... I guess Peter was right when he said I've loved you for a long time...", he finally admitted. "...And if it means that you're whisked away to Owca and we're forced to fight each other again... Just so we could see each other and you're still happy with it.. I'm perfectly fine with it. I-I'm just trying to clarify that this isn't just about the competition or anything. I really do love you.."

"And it's not exactly as bad as it sounds on my part either.", Peter admitted as well. "I do care about you. I guess I love you too and all. It's... It's kinda like an older-sibling sorta thing, you know? I don't want to see you stumble in being an agent or anything so.. So you could be...what I was supposed to have been. So you COULD be the golden agent that I didn't get to be. I'm just trying to look out for you cause I love you..."

"...So then why make a contest out of it?", she asked, looking between them.

"...Well.. I guess cause... Well we ARE boys. Girls aren't the only ones have have cat fights.", Peter said with a slight shrug.

"Yeah, true. You know that whole, two guys fighting over one girl thing you see on cartoons or something?", Heinz agreed to. "Kind of a uh.. Kind of a territory thing. Like, 'Hey, no man. This is MY girl. Back off.'"

"Yeah and it's like, 'Oh, yeah right, Dude! Doesn't look like it!'", Peter said, almost getting into it for a moment.

"I get it.", Perry said, snapping their attentions back to where they belonged.

"...So... So do you even LIKE either of us?", Heinz asked with a nervous shrug. "Like.. Like if you were to pick just ONE to like, out of the two of us, which would it be?"

Perry thought it over a moment. She took a good look at both of them. They did have a lot of passion behind what they said. It wasn't fake. But for her to choose just one? After a while of thinking it over, Perry turned her gaze to the floor. She smiled a bit, her feet dragging her towards the make-shift inator.

"If I had to choose?", Perry repeated, her eyes looked up to them as her hand threw a few switches and the machine began to whirr. "I think... I'd choose the real man."

With a small smile on her face, she walked in perfect time to be hit by the inator's beam as it shot out and transformed her into a platypus once again. The rose dropped during the metamorphosis and rolled to the boys feet. Once a platypus again, she gave a bright smile at them both, scooped up her hat, bowed, and ran out to the balcony, jumped off, and pulled out a hang-glider to make her way back home.

Both Heinz and Peter only stared in confusion, trying to determine what she could've meant by her last few words. Heinz saw the rose, picked it up, and thought over it carefully. A REAL man. Well neither were exactly masculine. But seeing her turn into a platypus DID remind him of not only how cute she was, but also that Peter was a panda bear. HEINZ was always a human. Human. Mankind. Man. Did she possibly mean...?

"...Major Monogram?", Peter suddenly thought up, thinking of someone he considered masculine.

The exclamation made Heinz nearly gag as his thoughts were shattered.

"WHAT?! You dumkoph! It was between the TWO of us! NO, she didn't mean, FRANCIS!", he shook his head in disgust.

"Tch. She's a woman. Who knows what she meant.", Peter shrugged.

Heinz simply shrugged and rolled his eyes. Peter turned into a panda, and headed off for Seattle once again. Heinz looked back down at the rose, and couldn't help but find himself smiling. Perry may be a platypus, but could it really stop them from falling in love? Only tomorrow could tell.

The End