Yeah, I've been having minor writer's block recently. But I'm introducing a weekend update policy. From now on, I will only update on weekends, but I will update everything I have. This story is The Beacons. Trust me when I say everything you don't understand in this prologue will make sense eventually. As long as we're clear that I don't own Phineas and Ferb.

Thanks to 14AmyChan for her beta services.

Ray parried a blow and jumped over the man behind him, giving him a huge gash across the top of his head as he did so. The moment he landed, Ray ducked, avoiding another blow. Then, swinging his sword around him, he managed to hit two or three people. He stood up, and then sidestepped to avoid yet another strike, stabbing the man in the stomach before he could launch another attack. Ray quickly dropped and rolled under the legs of yet another enemy. When he found his footing again, Ray leaped into the branches of a nearby tree. Hoisting himself up, he finally got a good look at the situation.

They were all around him, and more coming with every passing second. As much as Ray could try, he would never be able to hold them all off, even with his special abilities. There were just too many of them.

So Ray turned to his last resort. He had very little time left before they would be upon him again. With every ounce of energy he had left, he lifted his sword up into the air, so the sun's rays were reflecting off of it.

"Get out!" he screamed. And Ray brought his sword down, stabbing it into the wood of the tree.

From the point where the sword met the tree, a blinding light emerged, engulfing the entire area. Then, a loud explosion echoed throughout the region.

When the dust cleared, there was nothing to be seen. Nothing alive, at least. Hundreds of people were scattered across the ground, dead. But Ray wasn't among them. He had jumped clear of the explosion at the last second. Don't ask him how he could jump that far. He just could.

With the enemy away, for now, Ray whipped out his cell phone, and called the one contact he had. The one contact he was allowed to have.

When the phone was answered, Ray only said two words before hanging up.

"Clear me."

Almost immediately, a hovercraft materialized above him, and a platform dropped down from it. Ray stepped on the platform, which then began to ascend back into the hovercraft.

The first thing Ray saw in the hovercraft was the man he had called on the phone: a dark-skinned, well-built man, with many scars running across his face, indicating that he had been through a lot, and was not a man you would even dare to cross.

"How did it go?" he asked.

"It's worse than we thought," Ray replied.

"How bad?"

"There were hundreds, probably closer to a thousand Shadows."

"All in one place?!" the man screamed in disbelief.

Ray nodded grimly.

"You should count yourself lucky to have made it out alive," said the man.

"Yeah," Ray agreed. "If I was any other Beacon, I probably would have lost my life there."

By now, the two men had reached the conference room, where they sat down in chairs across from each other.

"What are we going to do now?" Ray asked.

"I don't know," replied the man. "I don't know."

"Do you think it could be the prophecy?" Ray inquired, as he thought of the idea.

The man pondered this idea for a while. "It could be. I hope it is."

"Why?"

"Because it means we have help coming."

A third man chose this moment to enter the conference room holding a large stack of papers.

"The radars picked up some new activity," he said, taking a seat and sliding the papers across the table to Ray and the other man.

The man picked up the papers and looked them over briefly. "You found seven?"

"That's what it shows."

"All in one place?"

"Like I said, that's what the radar is showing."

Ray reached out an arm to get a look at the files. The man conceded, handing the papers over to him.

Slowly, Ray flipped page after page after page, looking each one over with a critical eye.

"There's got to be a trick of some sort. A trap, maybe, or a false lead," he concluded. "There's no way you found seven in one place."

"As far as we know, The Dragon has no way to hack our radar network, and we've never picked up Shadow activity outside the gate before," the third man replied.

Ray opened his mouth to argue, but the third man continued talking.

"And there's more," he said. "We think they might be Beacons."

Whatever Ray might have said earlier was irrelevant now, as he slammed his hands down on the table at the same time as the other man. The two locked eyes, and spoke simultaneously, so that it seemed almost like one voice.

"The prophecy."

The man turned back to the third person who had entered the room. "Are you sure you saw all this on the radar?" he asked.

"Sure as I can be," came the reply.

"Then get a party out there. Now."

Ray spoke up. "Sir, let me handle this. One man draws much less attention."

"No," said the other man, who was clearly the boss of the three. "We need you here. Besides, it might be a trap."

"But sir," Ray argued. "I can fight as well as ten men outside the gate."

"And you can fight as well as a thousand men inside it," replied the boss, firmly. "Face it, we need you in here."

"But what if it is true?" Ray pressed. "The Shadows are bound to be on them, and I'm not sure if even our best party can hold many of them off."

"And what if it isn't," yelled the other man. "Then you'd be outside the gate, helpless, while The Dragon continues to take over this world. And after he rules Eden, you know it won't be long before the other world falls as well."

"But that's what the prophecy's about, isn't it?" asked Ray, standing up. "Seven beacons, all at once, stopping an evil. Mr. Crook, I believe The Dragon is that evil. I believe that I am the Beacon who will guide them on their journey. And I believe that, sooner or later, seven people will show up and save our world. Mr. Crook, that is what the prophecy says. Why shouldn't it be happening now?"

"But what if they're not the seven? What if you're not the guide? What if this is all a hoax? What then?"

Ray was silent, as Mr. Crook continued speaking.

"Ray, you're the only Beacon we have. We can't afford to lose you, especially at a time like this."

"And if the prophecy is coming true," Ray fought back. "Then this is an opportunity we can't afford to miss. Mr. Crook, let me go. Please. I promise I will return with them."

Mr. Crook hesitated slightly, weighing the options of a faint glimmer of hope versus complete and utter defeat and annihilation.

Finally, he sighed. "I'm probably going to regret this," he muttered to himself. Then he looked up at Ray.

"Go ahead, Ray. Meet us at the top of Mount Firemore in two days' time."

"Sir, yes, sir!" Ray stood up, and saluted. Then he turned to the third man, who had been sitting there quietly ever since he mentioned that they might be beacons. "Gordon, I'm gonna need their profiles."

The man handed the appropriate papers over to Ray, who promptly took them and walked out the door.

"Looks like I need to go to Danville," he murmured to himself, looking over the papers he had just been handed. "To meet a man named Phineas Flynn."

Oh, forgot to mention that this prologue is completely OCs. Not to worry, Phineas, Ferb, or someone from the show will be in every chapter, starting with the next one. And I mean an actual appearance, not just having their name mentioned in a single sentence. But it's like I said earlier, this prologue makes little sense. But hey, it did the trick, right? It got your attention. That's what matters. How many of you can't wait for the next chapter? (Raises hand). So if you want another chapter to this, I'm going to have to ask that you, my faithful readers, would be so kind as to read and review. EpicThoth3 out.