Misplaced

"So you're telling me that you cannot find them?  How could you have lost them?"  My wife, Isabella, frustratedly shouted at me, plopping into a chair at our dining table.

I retorted, "I am really not sure, they went missing about a week ago.  I should have found them by now."  She was upset with me over a set of keys I lost in the past week.  The keys belonged to her father's classic 1990's car that I am fixing up for her, even if I have to replace most of the car.  "If only there was a way of going back to last week to figure out where I left them," I thought out loud, hoping for some sort of solution to our problem.

Isabella perked up in her chair, "There's a scientist... he is offering a cheap test trip to travel through time!"

"Anytime and anywhere?"  I was immediately excited, and she just confirmed my excitement, "Anytime, anywhere."

I needed to know more, "What is his name?"

"Um... Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz... I think."

"Okay, I will hopefully figure out more tomorrow!"

The next day after an abundance of, and probably too much Googling, and a phone call, I used the elevator to go to the top floor of the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building,  "Ah," Dr. Doofenshmirtz exclaimed in a high-pitched voice, "Phineas, you have come for the experiment, correct?"

"Yeah, but I do have a couple of questions before we start."  I proceeded to list off numerous questions such as: is my safety guaranteed, could I possibly ruin the universe, etc.

"Well," he says, "How about we start with how it works?  It warps space time through a complex mechanism in order to change how you perceive the passage of time.  It uses a combination of very fast movement and incredible density to achieve this, but the specifics are classified.  I call it the 'Time-Travel-Inator,' and with it, I plan to take over the entire Tri-State Area!"  He started cackling, leading me over to it.

"Well, let's give it a shot!"  I enthusiastically shouted.  He helped me harness in, shut the door, and then I heard the device start up.  As the Time-Travel-Inator started spinning and whirling, it occured to me that I did not specify a date or place.  Uh-oh.  When the spinning stopped, and I re-oriented myself, I unstrapped from my seat and stepped out.

I looked around.  Destruction and debris was everywhere, and it looked like the bombs that we once joked about had gone off.  As my eyes settled on a crater, I realized a bomb did in fact go off.  A big one.  "What... What happened here?"  I whispered to myself.  I slowly moved through the now-ruined facilities of the once magnificent Doofenshmirtz Evil Inc, trying to piece together what happened.

I spotted a slightly older Dr. Doofenshmirtz in the distance.  I ran to him and calmly asked him my biggest question of all, "What happened here?"

"Oh... Phineas, my wonderful Time-Travel-Inator worked!  They usually never worked out according to my plans, but what happened here..."  His face fell as he remembered, "There was a pandemic... a virus... I do not remember the name... only that it had some similarity to a popular alcoholic beverage... it dropped their sales down about 40%.  After the virus had passed, and they found cures and vaccines for it, the impatient president called for an attack on China, where the virus had originated.  He sent experimental explosives and leveled over 3,000 square miles of East Asia.  The Russians had thought it was aimed at them, and retaliated; thus, leaving many craters in the Tri-State Area, including this one."  He gestured at the crater with one of his hands.  "All those many years I spent trying to dominate this area, and now, I got what I wanted, but I really did not want it to happen this way."  He looked around grimly, "I cannot believe my glorious L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. is gone.  I suppose I miss all the other villains too, I guess."