Obligatory disclaimer: the character of Marissa Flynn belongs to "iheartphinabella05" but all other OCs are mine.
A/N: this is my first full-length fic so the only criticisms I will accept will be of the constructive nature (as if I would settle for less than that in the first place). Although all of my fics will be published as separate stories (except for a select few that will have specific sequels) it is recommended that they be read in order, since a few minor OCs will appear in future fics.
Impostor
Chapter One: Exposition
Ferb
"Hey, Phineas. What'cha doin'?" Isabella's voice chirped and she rocked back and forth on her feet as she asked her signature question. She had her hands neatly behind her back and blinked sweetly at my step-brother.
"Oh, hi, Isabella," Phineas replied, poking his head out from behind our latest half-built machine. He glanced at the wrench in his hand and dropped it in the toolbox. "We're building a tesseract."
"Oh, okay," Isabella frowned a little, then added, "What's that?"
"It's an octachoron," I supplied, "Like a cube is three-dimensional, a tesseract is four."
"Oh! I get it! That's cool!" Isabella grinned cutely and then lingered on Phineas for a few moments longer than was necessary.
Phineas didn't seem to notice. He never did. Instead he just tipped the tesseract on its side and continued work. After a minute he looked up and asked, "Hey, Isabella, could you do me a favor?"
"Sure!" she squealed, "What do you need?"
"Just a couple of odds and ends from the hardware store," he handed her a short list and she happily skipped off to complete her task. She began singing to herself, but her voice quickly faded and she was gone.
I turned back to Phineas, taking a look at the pieces of the tesseract that he had been working on. This was by no means the biggest or most extravagant thing we'd created-more of a mind teaser than anything, really-but it had been on my to-do list for a small while and Phineas finally agreed to help build it.
"Hey," Phineas suddenly stopped and took a look around. He turned to me and frowned. "Where's Perry?"
I just shrugged.
There was a sudden scream from inside and we both cringed. That would be Candace. She stormed outside, barefoot, and gave each of us an angry glare. "Okay, which one of you geniuses put spiders in my shoes?"
I looked over to see that Phineas was doubled over with laughter. After a minute he calmed down enough so he could speak and then said, "That would be me-" and then he burst into a new wave of giggles, tears now running down his face.
Candace gave him a furious look and then stomped back into the house. After a moment she poked her head out the door and declared, "And whatever crazy thing it is you guys are building today, I'll find out and you'll both be busted!" and then she was gone.
There was the distinct sound of the backyard gate swinging open and Phineas and I both turned to see Moon leaning against the fence. We hadn't spoken since she'd first come to Danville the week before-that's another story-but I knew she had taken residence on that creepy house on the end of the block. For now she just said, "Sup."
"Oh, hey," Phineas grinned, "What's up, Moon?"
"Can I have a nap in your tree for a few hours?" she inquired, "All my trees are dead so the sun keeps getting in my eyes."
"Umm...okay..." Phineas gave her an odd look but didn't press the matter any further.
"Thanks," Moon jumped quickly into the tree and disappeared into the leaves, out of sight of the both of us.
Phineas turned to me. "Well, that was weird."
Just then Isabella flounced into the backyard, holding a bag of assorted parts from the hardware store. "Here's that stuff you needed," she offered to Phineas.
"Thanks, Isabella," he took the bag and then added, "But could you keep it down just a little?"
"Why?"
"Moon fell asleep in the tree and we don't want to wake her up," Phineas gave Isabella an understanding grin.
"Oh..." Isabella's face hardened and she gave Phineas a flat look. Her dislike for Moon was obvious in that and I was beginning to think she would never come to like her at all.
"Wait, what about the moon?" we all turned to see Marissa walk out onto the lawn holding a half-eaten piece of toast in one hand.
"You remember that one time last week when you and Candace and Mom and Dad came home from that weird parent-daughter thing you went to and I told you we raised the dead by accident?" Phineas asked.
"Yeah," Marissa nodded, "Go on..."
"Well, Moon saved us-"
"Yeah, after she tried to strangle you to death," Isabella interrupted, accompanied by a roll of her eyes. She crossed her arms and then added, "Seriously, Phineas, how do you keep forgetting that?"
"Well, it was just a misunderstanding," Phineas shrugged.
"Wait, she tried to what?" Marissa exclaimed, her eyes widening, "What, is she a psycho-killer?"
"Well, kinda...more of a zombie enthusiast, really," Phineas put in.
"No," Marissa shook her head, "I will not have anyone dangerous hanging out around my brothers," she crossed her arms and headed over to the tree where Moon was sleeping. She looked up into the leaves and said, "Hey! Moon!"
There was no answer. A slight breeze rustled the leaves but that was all.
Marissa began tapping her foot irritatedly. "Hey! I'm talking to you!"
Suddenly Moon came, falling without a sound but landing with a soft thud on her feet behind Marissa. She was dressed in what I assumed to be her standard: black midriff tank-top, loose grey jeans with an extra pocket on one side, and a thin silver belt holding a dagger with a tiger's-eye hilt. She went barefoot and, although I couldn't see it from here, I guessed she was wearing her little choker pendant as well. Her messy brown ponytail cocked to one side as she seemed to size up Marissa. After giving her a completely blank look she spoke. "You must be the big sister," she said, "Candace, I presume?"
"Marissa," Marissa said shortly, "Now what's this I hear about you trying to kill my little brother?"
"Pardon?"
"Isabella said last week you almost strangled him to death!" Marissa exclaimed, giving Moon a glare more angry that Candace had been about the spiders.
"I'm over it," Moon shrugged, "Not like I succeeded anyhow."
I was about to say something about how that probably wasn't the best sort of remark but Marissa was quicker and responded with an enraged look. "Now see here, you. If you ever lay a hand on my brothers-"
"Whoa, Marissa!" Phineas intervened, "Calm down! Don't be so mean; Moon's our friend now."
Marissa softened. After a minute she sighed and said, "Well, okay...but you be careful around her, Phineas."
"Whatever makes you happy, sis," Phineas grinned disarmingly at her.
Marissa seemed satisfied with this answer and then turned back to Moon, who was leaning against the tree with her arms crossed neutrally. "You better not touch my brothers," she warned, with her protective sister-bear stare.
"The thought," said Moon, "Hadn't even begun to speculate the merest possibility of crossing my mind."
Something in the way she said that told me she might not be taking Marissa very seriously. After all, Moon was easily a year older than Marissa was; she would probably be able to take Marissa down in any sort of fight (not that I would wish that to happen, of course).
Marissa turned without another word and went back into the house-I assumed it was to get another piece of toast since the one that she was holding was now gone.
Moon didn't seem to care. Instead she just yawned-she reminded me a little of the neighbors' cat in doing so, actually-and ambled over to where Phineas and I were working. "What is that, a tesseract?"
"Yeah," Phineas nodded, "Ferb's idea."
"That's nice and all," Moon commented, "But isn't it a little impossible?"
"That is a possibility," Phineas looked up at her and shrugged.
Isabella, who had been watching until now, spoke up. "You're obviously new to the neighborhood," she sighed as she gave Moon an unimpressed look. "We do the impossible all the time."
"I see," said Moon, in a tone that heavily implied that she didn't like Isabella either.
"Aha! Got it!" Phineas announced happily as he turned the tesseract right-side-up again. It wasn't a real tesseract quite yet, as it hadn't become four-dimensional, but in a minute it would be. Phineas gave me a small remote with a single button on it and said, "Ferb, since this was your idea, care to activate it?"
I took the remote and pushed the button. Instantly there was a small *click* from inside of it and I knew it was now four-dimensional.
"Success!" Phineas exclaimed, giving me a solid high-five. He picked it up and darted inside to put in our room, disappearing through the door and out of sight.
"Well, that was interesting," Moon said, jumping back into the tree, "But I'm going back to sleep."
