"What's our mission again?" asked Phineas, running as fast as he could.
"To see what Heinz is up to," answered Ferb, running alongside him. "And stop him if nessesary."
"Why didn't Jessie come?"
"She's inspecting the Danville food supplies to make sure the Platyborg didn't poison anything."
"Oh, right..." said Phineas. "What about Buford and Baljeet?"
"Eric is breaking them out of prison."
"Again? Gosh..."
"Heinz keeps catching them. They just don't get along. They raise such a racket that we could hear them from Japan."
They stopped when they got to the Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated building.
"Well, let's get this over with," said Phineas.
Heinz was sitting in his lounge chair. It was comfortable, but ever since the Darth Phineas episode he had never been able to fully relax. Without warning, two figures crashed through his wall. Ferb landed perfectly on his feet-while Phineas landed flat on his face.
Phineas said something muffled. Ferb lifted an eyebrow.
Phineas tried again. "My nose is stuck!" he said, still muffled.
Ferb went over to him and pulled until Phineas's nose was no longer stuck in the floor. Phineas thanked Ferb and rubbed the end of his smeller.
Heinz stood up quickly. "What the-"
He began to back away. "What the-you aren't still angry with me Phineas, are you? And Ferb-are you a ghost? Or..."
"I'm not mad anymore," said Phineas. "And Ferb was resurrected. Don't ask how..."
"Er...alright..." Heinz replied. Then his evil smile flashed on. "So, it begins again. Here to-"
"No," Ferb interrupted. "We're not surrendering."
"I guess that's getting old," said Heinz. "How about...'Here to succumb to your local authority?'"
Ferb blinked. Phineas looked a little irritated.
"How about you don't say it at all?" he blurted.
Now Heinz and Ferb looked agitated. Ferb gave Phineas a scolding look. Heinz was a bit annoyed.
"Sorry," said Phineas, quietly.
"Whatever," mumbled Heinz. "We'll drop it. So...what are you here for then?"
Phineas and Ferb blinked.
"To find out my plans?"
Again, they blinked.
"I thought so."
Blink.
"Why aren't you answering me?"
"We...didn't want to reveal the reason we were here," said Phineas.
Heinz was about to reply, when a robotic voice interrupted him.
"Hey boss!" it called. "What's this you've got up your sleeve? I hear there's another cyborg platypus around here. I ain't lettin' you replace me!"
As the voice spoke, a cyborg platypus came into view. His mouth never moved, as his speech was really coming from a translator device on his suit.
"Platyborg, I'm not replacing you!" shouted Heinz. "Just wait 'till you meet the other Platyborg. I'm sure you two will get along just fine."
The Platyborg rolled his eyes-or at least, it's real eye (the other eye was a robotic one). "Whatever," he said in a low pitch.
Heinz turned back to the kids. "I suppose you're wondering what I'm up to besides training a new recruit," he said. "Well, here's some details: I am sending an agent to convince the people to not resist me. Maybe some will even support me."
"And where is this agent now?" asked Phineas.
"Somewhere in Danville," said Heinz. "That's all I'll tell you. Good luck finding the agent. I've hardened her heart, so if you find and interrupt her, that could be the end of you."
"Her?" asked the Platyborg. "You mean, that gal we captured? Why her?"
"I'll give you two reasons!" Heinz said angrily. "1...2..." he added, holding up two fingers.
"Those are good reasons," the Platyborg said carcastically.
Heinz growled. "Reason #1, she volunteered. Reason #2, she is very good at persuasive talk."
"I'll give you a reason to wish you'd never taken over!" snapped the Platyborg.
"What is your problem?" Heinz bellowed.
Phineas and Ferb didn't hear the rest of the argument. Quietly, they snuck outside of the building and ran away from it.
When they were some distance away, Phineas spoke.
"It sounds like Heinz has a new...um...henchmen. Should we go see who it is?"
"Yes," said Ferb, "but we need to prepare for this new enemy."
"I think I'm ready," said Phineas. "I know what it's like to be very evil. I think I know what to watch out for."
"Alright."
They slowed to a walk, and strolled through the city, watching the people passing by very carefully.
"I will no longer resist our leader!" a man said to a woman next to him.
Phineas turned toward him. The man noticed this.
"I see you heard that," he said. "Listen, kid, if you want peace, you accept the authority of the Great Doofenshmirtz. Otherwise, we will perish. I wouldn't have realized that if it hadn't been for this girl that spoke to me..."
"What girl?" asked Phineas.
"Well..." said the man. "She was a teenager, had long orange hair (and a giraffe-like neck), and wore black clothes. She also had a really long neck. I am unsure of her name. Why do you ask?"
"I think she's who I'm looking for," said Phineas. "Where did you last see her?"
"She just went left at Maple Street," the man said.
"Thanks."
Phineas caught up with Ferb and relayed his discovery.
"Her job must be brainwashing the citizens of Danville," said Ferb, shaking his head. "Oddly, her description sounds like..."
The two boys stopped in their tracks, eyes widening. They looked at each other, knowing they had the same thought. They spoke at the exact same time.
"Candace!"
"Maybe she's going to the house to see if anyone is still there," Phineas suggested.
They ran in the direction they thought their old home was. Many times they had to turn around and go the other way, but after a few minutes they finally got to what was once the Flynn-Fletcher house. Quietly, and slowly, they opened the door and stepped in. It was dark, but there was a light on upstairs.
"Aha!" whispered Phineas. "She must be upstairs."
They quietly ran up the stairs. The light was coming from their room. They stepped in-and there was Candace, sitting on Phineas's bed!
"Candace?"
"Ph-Phineas? F-Ferb? What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you!" said Phineas. "Where have you been all this time?"
"Training," said Candace. "Training to work for our leader. You see, rebelling against him will only make things worse. If you submit to him, he might show mercy."
Ferb snorted and rolled his eyes.
"Slim chance of that," Phineas mumbled.
"Phineas, I'm your older sister," said Candace. "I should know better than you."
"But maybe I know Heinz better than you do," said Phineas. "I know he'd hang me on the gallows if he had the chance."
"That's just because you're a rebel," said Candace. "Why can't we just end this silly feud and accept the way things are?"
"Because, 'the way things are' have brought everyone so much pain. It is not a good thing."
"The way things were before weren't perfect. Sure, things look dark now, but life is never perfect. Right now, you have no parents looking after you. How do you even survive?"
Phineas was about to tell her about the Resistance, but Ferb put his hand over Phineas's mouth.
"That is classified information you seek," Ferb answered, slowly.
"Ah," said Candace. "You must be those kids Master Heinz mentioned. His right-hand man said that one of you was disposed of and the other went mad. If that's true, then how are both of you here?"
"I was risen back to life," Ferb explained "If it weren't for the crazy things you boys used to do," said Candace, "I wouldn't believe that. But I know the laws of nature have been broken before."
"Remember how he killed one of us?" said Phineas. "He's a murderer! And murder is evil! Candace, you are working for an evil master! Open your eyes, sister. You know what I'm saying is true."
Candace was silent. Then she stood. She walked up close to Phineas and spoke. "Then I guess I am evil as well."
Phineas and Ferb both gasped.
"One day," Candace said, pointing at Phineas, "I will get you. You and all the other rebels will suffer because of your blindness."
"Blindness?" Phineas exploded. "You're the one who's-"
"Silence!" Candace snapped. She pulled a blaster out of her pocket and pointed it at Phineas's head.
Phineas felt Ferb grab his arm and pull him out of the room. They ran out of the house as fast as they could.
When they couldn't run anymore, they sat down, panting.
Phineas began to look full of despair. "F-Ferb," he said.
Ferb put an arm around him. He said nothing.
A few minutes later, Phineas spoke. "I-I-I just can't believe...no! Candace! She's...she's been taken in by evil. We-we've lost everyone in our family. Now all we've got is each other. Is this how it ends?"
As he said these words, he was choking up. When he finished, he broke down and sobbed.
Now, Phineas normally wasn't like this, but with all the stress that he had been feeling lately, he just couldn't take it anymore. He had to let it out.
Ferb did his best to comfort his brother. After a while, he said, "Yes, we've got each other. And we still have Jessie."
"Yeah, we still have her," said Phineas.
"And, as your brother, I'll always be here for you," said Ferb.
"Thank you Ferb," Phineas whispered. "You're more than just my step-brother. You're the best friend I've ever had. That's why I went insane when you were gone. That's why I brought you back. I could never forget you."
The two brothers sat there, Ferb's arm still around Phineas, who still silently sobbed for a while. Ferb squeezed his shoulder a bit, just to remind him that he wasn't alone. A while after that they yawned and sat back against a building and fell asleep, Ferb's arm around Phineas still. Phineas leaned against him a bit, so that he would remember that he was there.
Sometime later, Alem came looking for them and found them asleep on the side of the street. He picked up the two children and carried them back to the Resistance Hideout, then put them in their beds and left them to rest.