IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE-MAKE SURE YOU READ THIS BEFORE YOU BEGIN:
Phineas, Isabella, and Candace have just been flung into a completely new
environment. The story slows down a lot at this point because a ton of
information about this new environment is being given so that everything
will make sense. The first four chapters of The Vengeance are fairly
heavy on background and fairly light on action. If you have the patience,
I strongly suggest that you push forward and endure them because they
will greatly enhance the story. If, however, you don't have the patience,
or you try to read them and find yourself getting too tired, then skip Chapters
1-4 and go straight to Chapter 7: A Summary of Chapters 1-4. Read that,
and then go back to Chapter 5 and just start The Vengeance from there. I would
rather have you get the goods and move on than have you quit the story
altogether because you got bored. Also, if you haven't read The Picture: Part 1-
The Truth, I strongly suggest that you do before reading this. I have included a
basic outline of the events in Part 1 in this story, but you obviously will still
understand better if you actually read the previous part first.
The Picture: Part Two-The Vengeance
Chapter 1: Phineas Makes Things Worse
Phineas smiled darkly. He'd gotten everything he wanted. He'd
outsmarted them all. Nothing was worse than believing you'd won and then
having it all blow up in your face. They'd thought they'd beaten him, they'd
thought they'd won, they'd thought it was over.
They were wrong.
Now, victory was his. He could continue inventing, and better still,
he'd avenged himself tenfold.
The cargo hatch clamped shut and set Phineas and his best friend,
Isabella Garcia Shapiro, down.
"Phineas, what did you do?" Isabella asked worriedly.
"I'll explain in a minute," he assured her. He was very fond of the
girl. Phineas had once been a kind, bright, enthusiastic, creative person.
He had had no enemies. That had changed when he'd gotten busted building a
log flume in his backyard. After that everyone, one way or another, had
turned against him. Everyone except Isabella. She had sworn to him that she
would not abandon him, and, to her credit, though he had done a bunch of
rotten things to his former friends to keep his dreams alive and avenge
himself, she had kept her oath. She wouldn't condemn him, though he rightly
deserved it, and she had stuck with him through thick and thin, proving her
friendship time and again. There was nobody Phineas would rather have at his
side than Isabella.
A man stepped in front of Phineas. He was a weird looking guy. He
had shaggy yellow fur all over his body, but it wasn't like cute, fuzzy fur.
It was thick, more like a bunch of noodles, except dry and scratchy. His
three legs-wait-one was long-more like a tail-ended in what looked like toilet
plungers, but covered in his super-thick fur.
He also had no arms or head.
"Phineas..." Isabella asked confusedly, "What's that?"
Suddenly, something roundish popped out of the top of the fur. It was
blue and covered in silvery fuzz. A bunch of bright green eyes opened near
it's top, "Phineas, I see you've got your friend. The prisoner was captured
successfully.
"Thanks! Are you, uh? Hg-t-" Phineas replied.
"Yes, Hgtfpjsh," the furry guy replied.
"Gosh. Your name is all consonants," Isabella commented.
"Not all languages have vowels and consanants, Shmpthrlf. Some just
have letters," Hgtfpjsh responded.
"Isabella, I talked to this guy on the SETI device," Phineas explained
to her, "he's the Captain of this ship."
"In your tongue, I am Captain 784, Flight 32, Wing Five, of the
Alpha Centaurian Guard. We keep order in this little chunk of the galaxy."
Hgtfpjsh informed them.
"Oh," Isabella said, "so what are you, exactly?"
"I'm a Tkpxzv. One of the god races."
"You're a god? You look more like a mop to me."
Hgtfpjsh laughed. It was actually recognizable as a laugh to, though
it was much deeper and louder than a human's. A long, thick, ropelike strand
of fuzz suddenly emerged from somewhere inside Hgtfpjsh's fur and extended
over Isabella. The many thinner strands of fur unfurled from the rope and
ruffled her hair good-naturedly. Isabella looked a little scared.
"I can see why you like this one, Phineas of the Human. She is as
cute as she is inquisitive!"
"She's much more than that," Phineas began, "she's also the most
loyal person I know, and a great friend."
Isabella might've been flattered if the mop hadn't still been messing
up her hair. He withdrew his rope and retracted it beneath his coat. "Ah,
yes, my young Shmpthrlf. I have many things to tell you, but first, we must
take care of some business!"
Hgtfpjsh led them out of the room, through an airlock and down one of
the ship's corridors. Isabella looked around the ship. It wasn't at all what
she would've expected the inside of a spaceship to look like. She expected
chrome and lights and computers and robots. Instead, the halls were made out
of... crystal. Beautiful, clear, crystal that let them see out of the halls
and into the glittering void of space. Isabella could see the Earth falling
away behind them.
"Wow..." she breathed, awed by the billions of brightly shining stars.
She looked around, then suddenly stopped, feeling a little concerned, "Hey,
where's the rest of the ship?" she wondered.
"This entire ship is made of Urdgz, a stone not unlike the diamonds
you have on Earth, though it is much harder," Hgtfpjsh answered.
"So, the whole ship is transparent?" Phineas asked.
"Yes, it makes it extremely difficult to spot, even with advanced
technology. The ship you saw in the lab was a projection designed to scare the
other humans."
"Is there no one else on this ship? If it's all see-through then it
seems like I should be able to see everyone else here," Isabella observed.
"Each room has a cloaking device to prevent that. We gotta go to the
bathroom somewhere, ya know..."
"Uhh... how can you tell where the rooms are?" Phineas asked.
There was suddenly a soft vibrating in the floor. Isabella and
Phineas looked down at the invisible ground.
"That's how. Open," he ordered.
The floor opened beneath them and they floated down slowly in the weak
artificial gravity. Their feet soon touched the crystal. Isabella looked
about her and saw what looked like a huge, white cotton ball. It had a thick,
pink cloth on it that looked like a blanket. There was also something that
looked a lot like a white pillow on top of it. A few feet away was a white
wooden box.
"These are your quarters, Shmpthrlf Isabella," Hgtfpjsh began,"
they're very basic, but you won't be here for long. Once we go to the
Centaurian Governor's world, we'll be able to provide you with better
accommodations."
"Well, the bed sure looks comfortable," Isabella responded.
"Hopefully it won't ruin your spine," Hgtfpjsh said.
Phineas went and jumped onto the cotton ball, spreading himself out and
sinking deep into it.
"Ahhh..." he sighed, "Hey, H-gt-f-Captain, can we take care of
business here? I don't think I can get off this thing..."
Hgtfpjsh chuckled. "All right, you remember the terms of our
agreement, yes?"
"Yeah. Your empire won't invade Earth, and in exchange for that I
have to build stuff for you... but only if I proved that I could do it!"
"Yes. After watching your defense grid in action, we have concluded
that you are definitely capable of designing and creating weapons and other
systems for us to aid us in our conquests. With a little training in our more
advanced technology, you could be very useful to our race."
Isabella stared from Phineas to the alien, "Phineas DID have a
plan..." she muttered under her breath.
Hgtfpjsh went on, "Also, you requested that we let two humans come
with you. First, your friend here, if she chose to, and second-"
"Candace," Isabella interjected.
"Yes, his prisoner," he finished.
Isabella should've been shocked by this last revelation, but she
wasn't. Phineas had told her he was planning revenge against his sister, who
had always tried to bust him for his creations and finally succeeded, though
unintentionally, and who Isabella also thought had foiled his plans just
minutes before. Learning of Phineas's deal with Hgt-whatever, made her realize
that Candace had played right into his trap. As Isabella and Phineas had been
beaming into the spaceship after what looked like a happy ending, Phineas had
ruined it by capturing her as they left. She was on the ship somewhere, but
obviously they hadn't seen her yet.
"In a few days, we will reach the Centaurian sector's seat of
government, and you will meet with the Governor to establish formal
contact between our races, after that he will assign you to where the empire
needs your talents the most," Hgtfpjsh said, turning back to Phineas.
"Got it, chief," Phineas said sleepily.
"Good," Hgtfpjsh turned to Isabella, "Phineas' room is across the
hall. If you need anything, just speak to the ship. It'll help you, and if
that doesn't work, scream for help and my crew will come running. They're all
over the ship, even though you can't see them because of the cloaking devices.
"Okay," Isabella blinked.
"Great! Now Phineas, one last thing. What would you like us to do
with the prisoner?"
Isabella looked at Phineas warily. She knew this part wasn't good.
Phineas pondered a moment, "She made an excellent demonstration of my
defense grid... I guess I'll just leave her alone for a while and let her stew
in her own muck. She's probably crying like a baby in her cell right now.
'AH! HELP! Mom, Dad! Don't leave me here!'" Phineas laughed.
"I still don't know why you can't let this thing with her go,
Phineas," Isabella said tartly.
"Oh, but there's more," he continued, "she's going to be going with us
wherever we are... as my obedient slave. She'll never see her precious
family, except me, or her friends ever again."
Isabella sighed. She wanted to argue the case, but she knew it was
futile. So many people had tried to get through to him already, but his anger
was set. Candace had helped ruin his life, and she would pay forevermore.
"Okay then, will do. Anything I can get you two before I go?"
Hgtfpjsh asked.
"Isabella?" Phineas queried.
"No," she replied.
"Okay, just call me if you need anything," And with that, the alien
went under the trapdoor and easily jumped back out of it, disappearing behind
the cloaking device.
"Wow. Either he's a really good jumper, or the gravity here's really
weak," Isabella noted.
Phineas and Isabella were silent a moment.
"You're mad at me, huh, Isabella?" Phineas said.
"You could've left it all back on Earth! You could've just left
Candace there and everything would've been fine! You'd won! The bust was
foiled!"
"I did leave it all behind Isabella... everything. My house, my
family, my Summer. It all had to go because of her."
"But Candace didn't bust you! Your-"
"Actually, that's not true, she did."
"What?"
I heard Mom and Dad talking about it the other day. Mom came outside
because she was following the trail of wet footprints and barf Candace tracked
through the house the night before. So Candace DID bust us, not
intentionally, but only because she was too stinking out of it to realize what
was happening.
Isabella blinked, "So she DID ruin your life..."
"Yes, yes she did... don't you see that there's some justice behind
this, Isabella? She stopped a very good thing, one that should've continued,
but now, because of her, a great, wonderful future for the world has been
crushed, and now I have to help aliens build weapons to destroy, instead of
gadgets for fun and creativity. She ruined my life, so now, I'm ruining hers,
and avenging myself and humanity of the loss."
The two were silent again.
Isabella finally spoke, "I'm sorry, Phineas. I-"
"Don't be."
"Why not?"
"Because you're right. Regardless of all that, what I've done and
what I'm going to do to Candace is still wrong. I know it, and you know it."
"So why are you still doing it then?"
"I hate her. That's why. If she could give back what I've lost, then
I might be able to forgive her. But she can't, and I hate her for stealing my
future from me."
Isabella just stared at him sadly. She didn't have anything to say.
"I'm the one who should be sorry," Phineas finally said, jumping off
the bed and heading for the trapdoor, "for everything I've put you through,"
Under the door, he turned and looked at her sadly, almost longingly, "You're a
better person than I am, Isabella. I wish I could let go. I wish I could be
like you."
Then he jumped and floated up and out of the room, leaving Isabella
alone. She stood quietly, mulling over what he'd just said. So there WAS
some remorse for what he'd done... just not enough to change. She sighed.
After standing for a minute more, she tried asking the ship a question, like
Hgtfpjsh had instructed.
"Uh, ship? Where's the prison room?"
Isabella started as a small, floating robot appeared next to her.
"Follow me," it said.
Isabella followed the robot. She wanted to comfort Candace... but she
was also a little miffed about something Candace had done.
Phineas' guess as to what Candace was doing was fairly correct.
Actually, it almost WAS correct. Actually, he'd hit the nail on the head so
hard that it probably went through the table.
Candace was bawling... she was almost to exhausted too bawl, but the
energy was still coming from somewhere. She'd embraced her Parents and her
friend and stepbrother all together. They had won! It had been over! They
had all been brought back together again and everything was back to the way it
was supposed to be.
"UGH!" Candace slammed her fist against the invisible floor in
frustration, "Phineas! WHY!" she screamed.
She stared out in despair at the fast-shrinking Earth. "Mom... Dad...
Ferb... Perry... Stacy... Jeremy..." she whimpered, naming off her family and
friends.
She sat and cried for a long time. She was in a prison cell on...
whatever this was. It had a great view, but Candace didn't exactly care at
the moment.
Candace had been through a lot. In the past few weeks her house had
been destroyed, her family kidnapped and her life generally wrecked. It had
started when Mom had walked in on Phineas and Ferb during one of their insane
projects. Candace, unfortunately, had been sleepwalking the night before and
had collapsed on the back porch. When Mom came out and yelled at them, the
boys had both seen Candace there and assumed she'd busted them, or even if she
hadn't, she had definitely wanted to (which was true, she'd been trying to get
them caught all Summer). The boys had been furious with her. Ferb had since
forgiven her, but Phineas seemed like he wanted to hold the grudge until the
end of time. After the event, which left Candace completely stunned, she'd
gone for a walk. While she was out, the evil Dr. Doofenshmirtz brought his
giant robot to her house, destroyed it and kidnapped her family.
Candace eventually came home and saw the wreck. Horrified, she'd
teamed up with Isabella, Phineas' friend from across the street, and they'd
tracked Doofenshmirtz to his evil lair, where a nasty brawl to free Candace's
trapped family had commenced. Isabella was almost killed while heroically
fighting a giant robot. However, Phineas, though imprisoned, cried out and
saved her, offering to do anything for Doofenshmirtz in return for her life.
Doofenshmirtz had asked him to throw Candace (who was about to defeat him) out
of his lair, a task Phineas was way too happy to perform. In the following
brother-sister slugfest, Phineas had not defeated Candace by punching her
(though that was definitely involved), but by breaking her spirit with a few
choice words. After that Candace had run away, and Isabella was kept safe
with the prisoners. Doofenshmirtz had moved his lair to his secret island
hideout.
Since then the broken Candace had gone to what was left of her house
and stayed there doing absolutely nothing for almost a week. Phineas had
joined Dr. Doofenshmirtz and gotten himself and Isabella released, at least,
within the lair. Isabella soon sent a message to Candace's phone requesting
help, which, by some miracle, had survived the fall of her house and by
another one was within Candace's earshot when it was received. Not long after
that Isabella had snuck a call to Candace. Phineas got on the line too.
Isabella still wanted help, but Phineas gave Candace a challenge to "Come and
face" him.
Candace, flush with renewed purpose, had taken Phineas'
challenge and mounted a brave attack against Doofenshmirtz's island fortress,
which now had a mighty defense grid, built by Phineas. She'd nearly been
killed by the defenses, but her best friend Stacy and Isabella's Fireside
Girls had showed up in time to rescue her. Candace then got through the
automated defenses, only to have to fight some more once she reached the lair.
Candace had had to battle Doofenshmirtz, his giant robot, Phineas and a swarm
of sentry bots and guns. She would've been buried alive (or dead, really) if
Stacy and the Fireside Girls hadn't jumped in a second time and saved her.
With covering fire from her allies, Candace had run to the glass cage holding
her family. Unfortunately, Phineas decided to make a last ditch attempt to
stop her, and he'd jumped between her and the cage. Candace had tried to talk
him down, not wanting to hurt her little brother, and wound up getting a steel
bar in her teeth. Phineas then proceeded much as he had in their earlier
fight, with spirit-breaking insults. He had raised his bar over his beaten
and crying sister, preparing to finish her off, when Candace had looked over
at her still-trapped Mom, a few feet away. Seeing her Mom in so much pain,
after all that had happened, had awakened an inner courage within Candace, who
blocked the bar as it came down, picked Phineas up and gave him the punch of
his life. With a little more scuffling, she had smashed open the cage with
her Mom, Dad and Ferb in it, freeing them at last. Ferb had run from the cage
and embraced his heroic sister, forgiving her immediately for busting him, and
Mom and Dad and even Stacy and their pet Platypus, Perry, joined him in
thanking the courageous girl.
At that moment, Candace had thought the nightmare was over. Her
family was back together and things would return to normal. They had
triumphed against all odds and righted what was wrong. Sadly, it turned out
that Phineas had set the whole thing up, apparently to get revenge on Candace.
The whole stupid thing had been a trap, and now, although her family on Earth
was free, Phineas had captured his real target: her.
Candace kept on crying. Why not? She had nothing to do and nothing
to be happy about. It appeared that she'd had the strength to save her
family, but perhaps not the strength to save herself.
"Prisoner."
Candace looked up through her tears. A large, fluffy creature with
shaggy brown fur, three suction-cupped feet and a gray-haired head looked down
at her.
"What?" she asked. The alien didn't surprise her. He'd been
standing guard over her cell since she'd been pulled into the ship.
"You have a visitor."
"Tell him I don't want to see him!" Candace snapped.
The creature looked curiously over at the visitor. "I thought this
one was female..."
"Female? What?" Candace replied
"Candace, it's me, Isabella."
"Are you alone?" Candace asked.
"Yes!"
Candace sighed, "All right, come on up."
The guard stepped to the side to let Isabella through. Candace came
up to the bars of the cell to talk to her.
"What do want, Isabella?" Candace questioned gruffly.
Isabella didn't answer. Once she stopped, her eyes went wide with
horror as she gave Candace a once over. She'd seen her earlier, but not this
close. Her eyes filled with tears.
"Gosh..." she whispered, "Candace... what's happened to you?"
Just a couple of weeks ago, Candace had been a bright-eyed, hyper,
high-strung teenager with pretty red hair, a nice red blouse, a white skirt
and white shoes. She had been in the swing of life, busting her brothers,
yakking away endlessly on her phone, going to the mall and hanging with her
boyfriend Jeremy. Now, what remained was an exhausted wreck. Her eyes were
red from crying, she didn't seem to even have a spark of energy left, and her
dirty, tangled hair hung miserably over her face and back. She was still in
the same, puke-stained pajamas she'd been in the day of the bust, which
themselves were torn and dirty and burned. She wasn't even wearing any shoes.
The improvised armor she'd worn to attack Phineas' defense grid lay in a heap
a couple feet away from her.
"Why are you helping him?" Candace asked, "Weren't you the one that
wanted to be rescued?"
"I promised him I would..."
"What do you mean?"
Isabella explained what had happened on her side since the first fight
in Dr. Doofenshmirtz's lair. The two girls hadn't heard a lot from each other
since then. Isabella then asked Candace what she'd been up to, and got the
full report. When she was done, they both were silent, thinking things over.
Candace finally looked up at Isabella, "You sure are loyal, Isabella.
Too loyal."
"I know Phineas is still there, Candace. Sooner or later he's going
to remember who he is and be good again."
Candace showed Isabella her bloodied teeth. Isabella cringed,
"That's what I thought," Candace said coldly.
"He feels guilty, Candace. I can tell he's not happy, even though he
got what he wanted."
"If he feels guilty, he doesn't feel guilty enough to change," Candace
growled.
Isabella sighed. Playing monkey in the middle was no fun at all,
"Look, do you really believe Phineas is evil?" Isabella asked incredulously.
Candace laughed derisively. She stared down at the tiny star that was
now Earth. Her laughter died down into a whimper, "No," she finally said
softly, surprising both Isabella and herself.
Isabella blinked, "You don't?"
"No, I'M the one who's evil."
Isabella was confused now, "What?"
Candace suddenly broke down hard core, startling Isabella, "Oh,
Isabella! He hates me! Me, his big sister! H-he hates me!"
"Uh, yeah, that seems pretty well established."
"He hit me in the mouth with a metal bar! He kicked me and punched me
and told me no one wanted me! Why...? Why would he do that to me?"
"It's definitely a bit of an overreaction," Isabella agreed, not
understanding what Candace was trying to say.
"That's not what I mean..."
"Huh?"
"I guess... you don't have any siblings, so it doesn't make sense to
you."
"No, but if you explain it maybe it will."
"Phineas hates me, Isabella, but do you think I hate him?"
Isabella looked into her sad eyes. She shook her head slowly, "No, I
don't think you do..."
"I know I don't act like it but... deep down, Isabella I LOVE him.
He's my little brother... my best friend..."
"That's why you didn't want to fight him earlier."
"No matter how rotten he's being, I just can't bear to hurt him. When
I look at him, I..." Candace went silent.
"You what?"
Candace swallowed, trying to contain her emotions. "I remember... I
remember when Mom brought him home from the hospital..."
Isabella's expression slowly began to change from one of bewilderment
to one of comprehension. She was starting to get it.
"I remember holding him. I remember how happy he was. How happy it
made me to see him. I remember hugging him tight and just loving my new baby
brother."
Isabella smiled cautiously, "Wow."
"As he got older, he said his first word. He didn't say 'Mama' or
'Dada', he said," Candace almost couldn't say it, "C-Candy."
Isabella's eyes went wide with surprise, "He said YOUR name first?"
"Yeah. After that I always remember him saying things like, 'Mama,
can Candy play with me?', or 'Candy, can you read this to me?', or-or-" she
couldn't continue.
"It sounds like you were pretty close."
"I remember how sweet he was, how cute he was, all happy and gentle."
"Yeah, he was," Isabella agreed.
"But you know what meant more to me than anything, Isabella?"
"What?"
"This one day, when he was three years old, Phineas got out of the yard
and started running around the neighborhood. All of us were frantic. Mom was
having a fit. Dad was about to call the police. I was terrified... I was so
afraid he would get hurt... I ran out of the house and through the streets,
calling for him.
'Phineas! Phineas! Where are you? Phineas!' I yelled. Then I
heard him. I heard him scream.
'Candy! Candy, help me!' I remember how desperate he sounded. I
could hear the fear in his voice. I remember I belted toward it and I came
around the corner and I saw him. He was pinned up against a wall. He looked
scared out of his mind, and he had a good reason to be."
"What was wrong?"
"Just a few feet away, there was this dog barking at him and snarling
at him, and, Isabella, this wasn't some little puppy dog, this was a
rotweiler, and it was MAD."
Isabella's eyes went wide, "Oh my gosh..." she whispered.
"I remember it ran at him... and I... grabbed a stick and ran at it. I hit it before it
could get to him and it turned around and clamped down on my leg. I remember
Phineas screaming and me screaming and how bad it hurt. But then I grabbed
that dog's neck and I poked him in the eyes. That got him off, but mostly it just
made him angrier. While it rubbed its eyes I grabbed my stick and got up, but
then it lunged at me," Candace gulped, "at my throat. But I hit him first. Then I
hit him again, and again, and again, and again until he yiped and ran away."
"Wow... really?"
"Yeah, then I sat on the ground and cried a little, because my
leg hurt so much... and then Phineas walked over and he looked at where the
dog had bit me... and he felt the teeth marks. Then he looked up at me with tears
in his eyes, and he said, 'That dog hurt you, Candy. He hurt you.'
'Yeah,' I said.
'He wanted to hurt me, too, Candy, but you came... you saved me...
thank you Candy..." then he started to cry, and I picked him up and hugged
him. And he said, "I'm sorry I left the yard, I-I- was so scared... but you
came..."
Then I told him, 'Shhh... it's okay, Phineas... it's all over...
everything's okay now... you're safe.' And I remember he just buried his face
in my shoulder and cried it all out and I cried with him. And we just sat and
we held each other and cried for a long time."
"Aww..." said Isabella, typical girl style.
"Then finally Mom and Dad came running around the corner calling for
us, and they saw us sitting there, and Phineas let go of me and ran to Mom and
he said, 'Mom! Candy saved me! Candy saved me!'
And she asked him, 'What'd she save you from?'
'She saved me from that big, mean dog!'
By now I'd gotten up and I was limping toward them. Mom looked at me
and she and Dad saw the bite and the blood and they were all like, 'Candace,
what happened?'
And before I could even answer, Phineas went, 'That dog was a
wotweiler, Mommy! It tried to kill me, but Candy got a stick and she hit him,
and then he bit her, but she poked him in the eyes and she picked up her stick
and she fought with him and she fought him and she scared him off!'
And I remember looking into Mom and Dad's eyes. They were looking at
me and they were just... what's the word? Brimming... brimming with pride.
And Mom said to Phineas, 'You're lucky to have a sister who loves you so
much.' I remember her and Dad looking at me. They didn't say anything, but I
could tell what they were thinking. I knew they were proud of me for saving
him. I knew that they knew how much I loved my little brother..."
"You were willing to risk your life for him! You DID risk your life
for him!"
"But their approval wasn't what meant the most to me from that day."
"What was it?"
"After that, Phineas asked if he could go talk to me and Mom put him
down. He walked up to me and hugged my legs and looked up into my eyes and
said something I'll never forget."
"What's that?"
"He said... he... just... said..." Candace looked like she couldn't
quite say it.
"He said?"
"He said, 'I love you Candy," That was it. Candace wailed and
started crying full force. It wasn't a loud cry, but more of a soft, sad one.
Isabella understood now, "Candace, I never knew..." she whispered.
"I was his hero. And now I let him down. I wrecked his Summer and
now he hates me. He hates his Candy... and I don't blame him."
Isabella watched Candace weep. She was at a loss.
"Um... maybe I'll tell him what you said," Isabella tried.
Candace shook her head. "I don't think he cares anymore," she sobbed.
"What're you going to do?" Isabella asked.
"I-I don't know," Candace replied, "I mean, I'm in a jail cell on an
alien spaceship, what am I supposed to do?"
"You're not gonna try and break out and find an escape pod to take you
back to Earth?"
Candace looked back out at the stars, "I don't even know which star
it is anymore..."
Isabella sat down on the floor. Candace slid down onto her knees,
still weeping. Isabella didn't know what to say.
Luckily, Candace spoke next, "I'll never see Earth again, Isabella.
Mom and Dad and Ferb and Stacy and all the others are gone..."
Isabella didn't respond right away. She was thinking while staring at
the stars.
"I guess that's fitting though, isn't it? I ruined Phineas' life, so
he ruined mine," Candace said after a pause.
Isabella didn't say anything. She was remembering an event earlier.
Something was bothering her.
"Isabella..." Candace sighed, "Are you going to say anything?"
"Something's bugging me, Candace," Isabella finally said,
"Yeah? Something's bugging me too. A lot of things actually."
"No, not like that... there's something I don't get. See, I didn't
actually come here to help you feel better."
"What?"
"I think you're going to see Earth again. I think you're going to win
when all this is over."
Candace was confused, "How? Win what?"
"Candace, what happened in the last week and a half was the opening
shot for something bigger."
"Isabella, what are you talking about?"
"Well, that's kind of the problem... I'm not quite sure what I'm
trying to say."
"Oh well. Keep talking, I've got nothing better to do."
"I've just noticed that... even though Doofenshmirtz kind of kicked
things off, this last week and a half wasn't a battle between society and a
criminal..."
"What was it then?"
"It was a contest between a brother and a sister."
"So... yeah, I guess it was. Me against Phineas, right?"
"A lot of other people were involved, but in the end, that's what it
all really boiled down to. You probably would've beaten Doofenshmirtz when we
raided his lab back in Danville if Phineas hadn't brought his issues into the
mix. He's made this a lot worse than it needed to be... I guess."
"No kidding."
"It's funny that you picked that day to bust them..."
"Technically I didn't..."
"Technically you did, your mom said she followed the trail of water
and barf you left in the house to the backyard."
"So I did it? That would've been nice to know."
"But, back to what I was saying... everything was a struggle between
you and Phineas..."
"Yeah, and he won... if anybody won, that is..."
"Well, that's just it, I don't think he did."
"I'm trapped in a prison cell and you say that he didn't win?"
"For two reasons, one, I don't think this is over. He won the battle,
but I think he's going to lose the war. And then... there was the look."
"The look?"
"It was so weird, what happened between you and him..."
"What was weird?"
"Remember, like, just an hour ago you two were fighting in front of
your parents' cage?"
"Yeah..."
"Remember he was about to beat you?"
"Yeah."
"What happened? What made you suddenly fight back?"
"I saw Mom," Candace replied simply, "I saw what he was doing to her."
"I wish you could've seen the look in your eyes, Candace."
"What?"
"Everyone saw it but you. It was..."
"Isabella spit it out!"
"When you caught that bar, when you picked up Phineas and decked him,
there was this fire in your eyes I'd never seen before in anyone… much less you."
"I was mad, so?"
"You weren't just mad, Candace. You remember Phineas' look when you
picked him up?"
"I wasn't paying attention. I was too angry."
"He was SCARED, Candace. I've never seen Phineas look really scared
before. Even when he fell off that flying haunted house he didn't look that
scared."
Candace was a little surprised at the news, Phineas was irrepressively
confident and collected. But she still didn't know why it mattered, "So,
what does it all mean, Isabella?"
"Well... it just seems... wrong to me."
"How?"
"I've been around you and Phineas for years Candace. Phineas is
happy, energetic, creative, optimistic, confident, and fearless. But you,
Candace? No offense or anything, but you're NOT. You're frantic, nervous,
pessimistic and scream like a baby at the drop of a pin."
"Pretty much."
"So... HOW did you do it, Candace?" Isabella said forcefully.
"Do what?"
It was Isabella's turn to get emotional, only in a much harsher way.
She stood up, reached through the bars, grabbed Candace's reeking shirt and
pulled the surprised Candace nose to nose with her.
"Phineas is my best friend, Candace. He's more than my best friend.
He's my love. And he's my hero. My knight in shining armor. I don't know
what you did to him, but... well... it actually kinda made me mad."
"Mad at what?"
"Mad at you, dummy!"
"Dummy? Isabella, are you feeling all right?"
Isabella dropped Candace and walked away. She looked like she was
angry but didn't quite know why. She finally rounded on Candace and said
fiercely: "How is it that whiny, selfish, high-strung, fraidy cat Candace Flynn
brought down MY Phineas? MY hero, my glorious, invincible knight in shining
armor? How was it that YOU, of all people, could scare him?"
"Didn't think it was possible, huh?"
"You're pathetic, Candace. But he's afraid of you! And that makes me
afraid..."
Candace was momentarily feeling better. Isabella's sudden loss of
control was giving her an excellent diversion, "Afraid of what, Isabella?"
"I'm afraid that you'll BEAT him. I'm don't know if I can bear to
watch my knight fall... especially to someone like you."
"I don't know Isabella, he's not exactly the one in jail."
Isabella ignored her. She was too busy talking to herself, "I
know... I know the things he's been doing are wrong... but at the same
time..."
"You can't decide which side you're on, can you?" Candace said,
finally showing some insight.
"I want to be on Phineas' side, and I promised him I would be... but I
also don't want to be the bad guy..."
"Kind of reminds me of that time I had to choose whether to go to the
mall with Stacy or bust my brothers..."
Isabella laughed bitterly, "I hate being monkey in the middle."
"So, you really think I can defeat Phineas and set everything
straight?"
"I wish he'd just come around..." Isabella griped.
"You think that just because I gave him one nasty look that I-"
"Candace, Phineas wasn't afraid of the look-he was afraid because he
knew he was on the wrong side when he saw it! Not everyone gets mad like
that, Candace. He didn't just see an angry sister, he saw justice coming to
take his head off! He knew that you were right, he was wrong, and he was
about to pay for it! Don't you see, Candace? He's lost his moral footing!
Everything that was great about Phineas Flynn has been destroyed by his anger!
He's losing his confidence in himself because he knows, deep down that
someday, sooner or later, what goes around, comes around. He knows he's going
to be punished for the things he's done. And YOU, I think, are the one who's
going to punish him."
"So..."
"He doesn't have a good cause behind him, Candace. You do. And
that's why, sooner or later, you're going to beat him if he doesn't change.
You reminded him that good, one way or another, will always win in the end.
If he wants to win, he either will ultimately have to kill you, or somehow
permanently break your spirit... if he can't do that, he can't win. Every sin
that boy commits makes him weaker."
"So, you're saying, that if I don't give up, I'll win?"
"I don't know what I'm saying. All I know is that Phineas, even
though he technically beat you, he's not as strong as he used to be, and that
you are not as weak as I thought you were. Actually, I think you're stronger
than ANYONE thought you were, including yourself. I think Phineas was the
only one who realized that you were that strong."
"Phineas?"
"He said only you could beat his defense grid, and he was right. I
think that, with that grid, he was partly putting on a show for the aliens...
and partly he was testing you."
"What would he need to test me for?"
"Because, even though he hates you, he still puts you on a pedestal.
You're still his big sister. I think he wanted to know that his sister was
really as strong as he knew that she was... or prove that you weren't and that
his hate was justified. But you confirmed it for him... as mad as he is at
you, he knows that you're still his mighty big sister. I think he wishes
you'd forget it, too, because he can't truly defeat you until you do."
The girls were silent. Isabella reflected on the weird, rambling
conversation and decided it was indicative of her own confusion. Candace
wasn't sure how to react. Isabella's long, confused lecture about... what was
the point exactly? She was worried that Phineas was going to catch it in the
pants, and that she(Candace) would somehow prevail against him because she was
good and Phineas wasn't. Or something. She decided maybe-
BOOM!
Candace's thoughts were suddenly cut off by a powerful blast from the
far wall. She and Isabella screamed as a pack of what looked like upright
bats with huge mandibles and snail eyes spilled into the room through the
smoke. They ran at the guard, making a sound like a cat hissing and a lion
roaring at the same time.
"ALIONS! KMTH! KMTH!" the guard screamed. He was plainly
terrified by these things, whatever they were. He produced two ropelike arms
and swung at the attackers. One got hit and squealed in agony as it first
got what looked like electrocuted and then literally crumbled to dust.
Candace noticed that the guard had something black woven into his arms, the
weapon he'd used, she assumed.
He swung at the others, but five of them ducked under the weapon and
leapt at him, latching on with their claws and burying their cruel mandibles
in him, they then bit down, yanked back, and... the guard's wails became
unbearable as the flesh-chunk-ripping-out frenzy began. Candace and Isabella
had only seen violence like this in nature shows.
THUNK! Isabella jumped back and Candace screeched in terror as one of
the beasts latched onto the bars of her cell. It closed it's mandibles over
three of the bars and bit through them like paper, then smashed out what was
left of them with it's fists.
Candace stepped to the back of the cell (which wasn't exactly far.)
She was dead, she knew she was dead! The foul creature shot its arm out,
caught hers and yanked her out of the cell. Candace looked at the thing. It
looked at her. She waited a few seconds.
"Are you... going to eat me?" Candace asked fearfully.
To her surprise, the creature responded. It gave her a look that
could definitely be described as perplexed. Candace blinked. Could it be
possible that these savage creatures were intelligent?
Suddenly, three of the furry aliens burst through the door with some
kind of rod-shaped weapon.
"Kunthasks!" the thing holding Candace yelled. The things all leapt
off the mangled dead guard and ran back for the breach in the wall. The one
holding Candace, although it was only half as tall as she was, slung her over
its shoulder and bolted across the room, dodging... whatever it was the
aliens were firing at it and leapt through the breach, a door slamming shut
behind it as it did. Candace heard a loud roar, then she felt the floor
shudder, then she got thrown back into a wall.
Once she got over the G-forces and her now messed-up stomach, Candace
looked around. She quickly realized she was in another spaceship, but this
one was more typical-alien style. It was a big, silvery sphere, with the
cockpit at the top and a cargo bay beneath. She realized she wasn't standing
on the floor, but on a pile of random junk, a lot of which seemed to be
ammunition and weird-looking foodstuffs. Scattered around the room were six
of the vicious aliens that had killed the guard, hanging on to anything they
could, and a seventh one, the one that had grabbed her, was slammed against
the wall next to her.
Eventually the ship stopped accelerating and they were able to walk
around. The aliens all turned and looked at Candace. She should've been
terrified, but for some reason she wasn't. She was almost... comfortable.
One of the things bent over and started digging through the piles of
garbage on the ground. He eventually dug out two things that looked like
headsets and walked over to Candace and the one that grabbed her. Candace
took the proffered device curiously, and the thing next to her took the other
one. It stuck the device on its head and gestured for her to do the same.
She did. The creature with the other headset made a noise.
"Uthacktwa Xosizi, kwioth Alion!" it spat.
"I am Xosizi, of the Alion!" a voice in Candace's head said harshly.
Candace nearly fell over. She looked at the creature in shock.
"Are you talking to me?" she asked it.
"Trag," it hissed.
"Yes," the voice said.
"Uhh... are you going to eat me?" Candace asked worriedly.
The alien considered her for a moment. It shook its head.
"Too skinny, not worth it," came the reply, "what are you, anyway?"
"WHAT or WHO?"
"Both."
"I'm... Candace Flynn, the Human."
"What world are you from?"
"Earth."
"What star?"
"We just call it the sun."
The creatures hissed and spat at each other a bit, apparently
confused. One of them screeched from the cockpit. Comprehension began to
form on their faces.
"You're from the Sol System..." the creature spat at Candace, "I
didn't know there was life there. That system was annihilated years ago. I
thought that race was dead... only the Candasaurs survived."
"Canda-whats?"
He stalk-eyed Candace carefully, "I think they'll want to meet you."
"Why?"
"They've been waiting for you for sixty-five million years."