All right guys, I've re-updated with the second half of the chapter! Took a bit of time on my part, but hey, it's up, so no complaining. I posted the last half and a total of… 2 reviews! Eh… I shouldn't really be complaining, should I?

Lancelot: No, you shouldn't. Apparently, that's more than you used to get.

Fair enough. As the scoring on shoutouts and whatnot stands, we've got EmperorDoofenshmirtz leading with… 2 points! If you guys like, you can join in. Actually, I'd encourage you to do so… I'll probably give the person who wins a sneak peek at the next in the series. Yes, that's right. NEXT story in the series. There will be more after this, so watch out! (Although personally, I'm not totally sure how much you guys'll like it, but eh, whatevs.)

Anywho, let's get on to the next part of the story. And EmperorDoofenshmirtz (yeah, I'm just gonna call you the Emperor…), your concerns in the last review will be addressed here. Now on to the story!

Phineas sat over on Luther's bed, just thinking. Why was Isabella like that? He asked himself, I didn't think I said anything wrong. He sighed, Apparently, I did. First thing when she gets back, I'm going to apologize for whatever happened that made her feel like that. I would never want her to feel bad because of me. Especially since she's my best friend. His thoughts began to wander as he stared at the door, What could be taking them so long? He wondered, I hope whatever I said wasn't too bad. I'm not sure I'd be able to forgive myself if I said the wrong thing to her. Still, his thoughts rambled on, At least she's got Luther to take care of her. She's certainly glad she has someone to help her out, even if it is only over the summer. He seems like a good guy. He shook his head. "Ugh. I'm going to go insane if I keep on thinking about this."

"Think about what?" Baljeet surprised Phineas by plopping down beside him. He shook his head, refusing to say a word for fear of actually answering the question.

"C'mon Dinna Bell, you can tell us." Phineas was almost surprised to see Buford and Jarv beside Baljeet, listening intently. Off by the door, Adyson and Annabell stood, Annabell leaned up against the wall and listening to her sister talk about something else. Phineas already knew he was beaten, so he just decided to quit while he was ahead and not attract all the attention in the room at himself.

"Fine," he answered. "I was just thinking about Isabella. Happy?" he scowled as Buford grinned at him.

"Gotta say, Dinna Bell, it's about time," Buford replied.

Phineas' eyebrows rose at the statement, causing Buford's mouth to snap shut. "What was that supposed to mean, Buford?" he asked, but Buford vehemently shook his head.

"I ain't sayin," he replied. "Nothin's gonna drag that outta me."

Phineas sighed, "Whatever. Any of you guys have something else to think about? Because I swear, if I keep thinking about Isabella, I'm pretty sure my brain's gonna explode."

Jarv, for the first time since Phineas had met him, laughed. "Girls'll do that to you, dude. I wouldn't worry about it too much now, but if you think this is bad, and then you're gonna have it way worse when you really hit puberty."

Phineas looked at the new kid inquisitively. "How come Buford's never mentioned you before?" he asked.

Buford butted in, "I don't need to share every bit of my life with you, do I, Dinna Bell?"

Phineas was surprised by Buford's sudden rage, no matter how slight it might have been. "I suppose not," he replied.

Buford nodded in approval before Jarv spoke this time. "You'll have to excuse my brother's bluntness, Phineas," he answered, trying out the redhead's name for the first time, "However, he does have a point. I do not believe that it is your job to know everything there is to know about all of your friends," he held up a hand, stopping Phineas' protests before they even came, "even if you don't mean to. I would think the main reason Buford never mentioned me was that he either: didn't feel like it, wanted to have some secrecy in his life sometimes, or felt it wasn't very important, seeing as I hardly ever get to see anyone else besides classmates and family. Of course, it could also be a combination of these three. Either way, even if I hadn't met you guys, you would have found out eventually."

"Well, I'd assume so," Phineas answered a bit snarkily, "It's kind of hard to keep a person a secret for too long."

Jarv laughed, "You just keep thinking that," he answered, and when Phineas gave him an odd look, he continued, "Oh, come on. There have been others who have been hidden from almost everyone for much longer than me. Like... ok, so I don't have too many ideas right now, but someone like the Hunchback of Notre Dame."

"But that was just a movie!" Phineas replied.

"They made up the names, but I could probably see that happening. There were some pretty heartless people that long ago. But I mean, stuff like that can be hidden from people for years. And then one day, it's just like: BOOM! Yeah, we had this super-secret thing going on, and we just decided to let you know all about it now. So, yeah. Have fun getting swamped with all that info."

"But that hasn't happened to us recently, right?" Phineas asked, "I mean, besides you guys."

"Black helicopters. Google it," Jarv answered.

"You can't be serious!" Phineas told him, "That's just an urban legend! A myth!"

Jarv nodded, "I thought the same at first, but then I did some research, some analysis, and some," his eyes darted around before leaning closer to Phineas, making Buford and Baljeet also lean in, and whispered, "hacking, and I found records that actually state that there was, at one time, a department who did just that. However, they were downsized and eliminated when we all were about three years old."

"So see?" Phineas smiled triumphantly, "I was right."

Jarv shook his head, "It's not the real facts here. It's the principle of the thing. But it doesn't really matter right now."

Phineas turned to see Luther and Isabella walking into the room again, along with Ferb and Candace. He nodded as the others came over to join them. "Well, what are we waiting for?" he asked. "Let's get this party started!"

Luther laughed. "You don't know how right you are," he said quietly, only letting Isabella and Annabell hear him. He gave Isabella back her helmet before making sure that the two had their own helmets on correctly. Then he turned and had Candace crouch so he could easily fit the helmet to her head. When he'd finally finished, he took a step back, admiring the three, who each had the tops of their heads covered by the aluminum framework. In addition to that, their eyes were covered by a special, custom-created pair of goggles, a glowing slit symbolizing the eyes. "There might be a slight tingling sensation," Luther told them as stepped over to the control panel, "However, you needn't worry about it. I've been testing it since it was first built." Ferb nodded in approval, "Oh, and one other thing. The environment gets more realistic the more you've seen it. Same with exact situations, as long as your memory of them is strong and detailed." He looked at the three of them. "You guys ready?" he asked.

Phineas grinned, "I'm ready."

Isabella gave her brother a large smile. "I am too," she told him.

Candace paused for a second, taking a few deep breaths. Finally, she settled down and looked at Luther. "I guess so," she answered, still a bit uneasy.

Luther noticed her uneasiness, and smiled encouragingly at her. "Don't worry, Candace," he told her, "It's just a simple matter of remembering. Anything you remember will be there so long as there's a person to represent that person or there's an object that can represent another object."

Candace looked inquisitive. "So does this mean that one of them," she pointed at the others who weren't wearing helmets, "could be substituted as Jeremy?"

"Actually no," Luther answered, "I don't know why, but usually the people who we know the names of don't get replaced by other random people. So I wouldn't worry about someone like Buford or Jarv turning into Jeremy."

Candace sighed in relief. "Thank goodness," she answered, brushing a hand across her forehead.

"Alright, guys, you ready for this?" Luther asked excitedly. "I think you guys'll like this song that I chose."

When he finally got three nods from the people hooked up to his creation, Luther had Ferb stay beside him as he looked over the control board. "Phineas, you're good. Isabella, you too. Candace, despite having a bit of an increased heart rate, you're ready to go." Luther threw the switch, and the entire world dissolved before them into a large backyard, day being replaced by night. Luther smirked as he watched the bewildered looks of many of the children at the sudden change. Ferb, however, looked at Luther knowingly, who noticed his stare. "What?" he asked. Ferb motioned to the area around them. "This? No, I didn't choose it for that reason. I thought it was a nice song, although that added element will make for a nice time had by all." Luther then called to everyone, "Let's start this party!"

The rest of the false-world began to materialize, filling the room with other children their age, teenagers around Candace's age, and even a few young adults. Luther could see Phineas gaping at the display before him, and Isabella couldn't stop grinning. Candace took a few moments to realize where they were before she too had a gigantic smile on here face.

Then Phineas delivered the line that caused all of the rest of the events that were to happen to be set in motion. "Alright, you heard them. Let's get this party started!"

Before anyone could realize what was happening, Adyson suddenly had a trumpet in her hands and she automatically knew what to do. A chorus of trumpets began to play, setting the scene for the song, and giving away the song to everyone except Annabell and Jarv. Then Phineas began to sing.

It been a long, long day
And there were moments when I doubted

Isabella looked on in shock for a split second before a smile grew on her face, growing so big it almost covered her entire face. Then, she too began to sing along with the lyrics of the song.

That we'd ever reach the point
Where we could laugh and sing about it

They both got closer together and sang as Isabella stared lovingly at Phineas, her eyes glued to him and him alone.

Now the sun has set on this,
Another extraordinary day
And when it comes around again
You know I'll say
Tell me what you wanna do today
All we need is a place to start
If we have heart, we'll make it
'Cause we're not messin' around (we're not messin' around)
Yes we can dream it, do it, build it, make it
I know we can really take it
To the limit before the sun goes down

Even as they started singing, they were moving around onstage, and around halfway through, Isabella was already in a dream world, seeing as Phineas was holding her hand that entire time. As Luther watched his sister, he knew that nothing in the world could compare to the memory of that smile on her face, and he was glad that he'd made her this happy. Then the two split apart for their next verses, though they didn't move too far from each other.

And then they were back to singing, with Phineas beginning the song again.

As soon as you wake up you gotta make your move

Isabella's mind was already on overdrive, but she found the ability to keep singing as she kept up with the fast beat.

Don't miss the beat, just get into the groove

The two began to get closer together as they sang, their smiles taking up most of their faces. Already, Luther could see Ferb grabbing his guitar and Buford getting the front car of the roller coaster. Adyson paused in her playing of the trumpet and tossed Isabella a tennis racket, which made no sense to the Luther, Annabell and Jarv until they saw Isabella hop into the roller coaster car and get ready to pretend to paddle towards the stage with Buford pushing them. And Luther had to admit that they were talented, as they kept singing all the while.
The sun is shinin', there's a lot that you can do (a lot that you can do)
There's a world of possibilities outside your door
Why settle for a little, you can get much more
Don't need an invitation, every day is new
Yes, it's true
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to everyone, so have some fun
There's nothing better to do
Summer belongs to you

Then Candace stepped forward beside her brother, her smile evident.

All right, I'm taking a verse.

Phineas nodded to her.

Be my guest.

Candace took a microphone, her smile wide enough to almost eclipse that of her brother's.

I traveled halfway 'round the world
And almost turned and ran away
But you helped me get my courage back
So now I've got to say
That though I've often thought of you
As just a nuisance and a bother
Today I can't imagine
Having better little brothers
And you gotta believe in something
So today I believed in you
And you came through, we made it
I've never been so proud (never been so proud)
I know at first it seemed implausible
But we accomplished the impossible
Now there's something that I've got to say out loud

She jumped off the stage and had everyone gathered around her in multiple circles, with Phineas and herself in the center.

Time is what you make of it, so take a chance

As Phineas remembered that night, his smile growing bigger at the thought that his sister was acting carefree once again. Heaven knew she needed to take a break from her obsessive desire to "bust" them once in a while.

That's it!

Candace kept going, enjoying the feeling of her carefree side taking over.

Life is full of music so you ought to dance

Phineas already knew this, but he said it anyway.

She's got it!

Candace didn't stop there. And everyone else was backing her up on this.

The world's a stage and it is time for your debut (it's time for your debut)

Phineas never really understood why he had said that. Perhaps those books he was reading were influencing him in some way? Either way, he certainly found the line amusing, though it did fit quite well.

By Jove, I think she's got it!

Candace knew she didn't have to continue, but apparently it was still part of the song, so she did.

Don't waste a minute sitting on that chair

Phineas also knew she needed no encouragement, but he still gave it to her.

Yeah!

Candace began to get a bit tired of the song. Yes it was nice, and it brought back the memories, but without Jeremy, it just seemed to be... flat. Not that she let her little brother know that.

The world is callin' to you, just get out there

Phineas shouted more words of encouragement, getting ready for his big part once again.

That's what I'm talking about!

Candace tried not to disappoint, and so she kept going.

You can see forever so your dreams are all in view

Phineas was finally ready for the chorus again, and just in time too.

Yes it's true

Phineas and Candace took their microphones as they both began to sing again, along with everyone else.

Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to everyone, so have some fun
There's nothing better to do

Then Candace saw Jeremy walk in through the door. Apparently Isabella's brother, Luther, had the foresight to invite him to come too. She ran over to him, handing Isabella her microphone. Isabella took it and began to sing beside Phineas, still as happy as ever.

Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to boys and girls all around the world
We wouldn't say it if it wasn't true
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)

They turned to Ferb as he looked up from the keyboard.

Baby, baby, baby, baby

Phineas laughed inwardly at how familiar this was. Luther did a really good job with this machine, he thought. I had no idea that the Garcia-Shapiros had inventing in their blood. He resolved to congratulate Luther after he was done singing with his sister, whose hand he now held.

For Isabella, this was Cloud Eight. She was so close, yet just far enough away that it wasn't the most personal incident in the world. In a setting like this, Isabella had to agree, a situation like this was much more romantic than if she confessed her love to the redhead beside her. Give him time, girl, she thought, and you'll get results. Not to say you should stop hinting, but don't just fully express it all just yet. After all, they were still 12, and they had their whole lives ahead of them. So she returned to singing.

Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Whatever you want to do, you make the rules
You got the tools to see it through
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Summer belongs to you (summer belongs to you)
Just remember that you can do it and when you're through it
Will change your point of view
Summer belongs to you!

Phineas turned to see Isabella giggling, but trying to hide it. "What is it, Isabella?" he asked, his eyes inquisitive.

Isabella tried to stifle the laugh that threatened to bubble up from her throat, "I was just remembering what you said right after we finished the song last time. You remember?" He shook his head. Isabella began to giggle, but restrained herself from doing so until she told him the reason. "You said 'Hey, where's Perry?'" she burst out into a fit of giggles that could be heard across the room.

ΩΩ

Luther smiled as he watched Phineas hold his sister so that she wouldn't fall over. "Good times, huh?" Annabell stepped next to him, grinning widely.

Luther nodded. "Seems like it," he replied, his finger aimed to stop the simulation and get ready for the next one, just as the rest of the party began.

Annabell grabbed his wrist. "Why stop?" she asked, "We've got the rest of the summer to try out those other ones you had. By the way, which two where they?"

Luther answered, "The next one was when they built a spa, and the last one was going to be when they built a beach in their backyard." Annabell's eyes widened.

"I think those are both something we can save for separate days," she told him. "After all," she added with a sly wink, "can't let them have too much fun, now can we?"

Luther smiled, "Fair enough. How 'bout you and Jarv go ahead and have some fun, and I'll make sure that everything doesn't explode."

Before Luther knew it, there was a hand on his shoulder, and when he turned, he saw it was Ferb. The British youth looked at him, his eyes delving deep into Isabella's brother's own. "You'll take it from here?" Luther asked him, guessing at what the green-haired boy was trying to say. Ferb nodded. Luther looked back to Annabell and Jarv... whose eyes seemed to be shooting daggers at him for some reason. He ignored it, believing it to be a trick of the light. "I guess I'll be coming with you guys," he finally stated, making both pairs of eyes light up, but with two completely different moods.

"What are we waiting for?" Annabell smiled brightly and took both of the boys' hands in her own before dragging them both out onto the dance floor. "Hey, Adyson!" she shouted to her sister over the music. "You got any girls willing to dance with these two guys?"

Adyson looked away from Buford to see her sister leading the two boys through the crowd. "Girls!" she called to the other Fireside Girls around her. "Who doesn't already have a partner?"

Only Holly, Katie, and Gretchen came up empty-handed. "That's all of us," Gretchen answered, curtly nodding to the Fireside second in command.

"Alright girls," Adyson stated. "Those two boys need partners. Who wants 'em?" she pointed to Luther and Jarv as they made their way through the crowd.

Gretchen was the first to answer. "He looks cute," she said, pointing to Jarv. As soon as she did so, she immediately pulled her hand back. "Sorry, Adyson. Permission to speak?"

Adyson nodded, "Gretchen, you don't need my permission every time you want to speak." She chuckled, "Sometimes I think you're getting too formal. But that's a completely unrelated subject we can discuss later. Go get him!"

Buford came out of the crowd before she left, stopping Gretchen in her tracks. "Don't I get a say in this?" he asked. "After all, he is my brother."

Adyson looked at him, a bit annoyed at this sudden development. "Depends," she answered. "What's your say?"

Buford answered obviously, "I say no. We're still pretty young, and I don't want my lil bro to grow up just yet."

Adyson smirked as Holly stated plainly, "I move that we convict Mr. Van Stomm here for repression."

"Seconded," Katie answered.

Adyson nodded, "Motion put forth and seconded. Authorization complete." She turned to Buford, "You, Mr. Van Stomm, have been found guilty of repression of affection. Your sentence begins now."

Buford's eyes widened; he'd heard of some of the things the Fireside Girls could do, should they find a person guilty of a "crime". He took a few steps back as the girls convened, and then, when he felt he was a safe distance from them so as not to get completely destroyed, he got ready to run. That was, until Adyson grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, and with a surprising amount of strength, overpowered the larger boy and pulled him towards the rest of the group.

Adyson set Buford down in the center of the ring of the four girls. "Your sentence, Buford Van Stomm, is," Adyson spoke to him, letting him quake in fear. Apparently the girls' reputation preceded them, and Adyson decided to enjoy it just a little longer. Once she felt Buford had suffered long enough, she began again. "Your sentence, Buford Van Stomm, is that..." she paused, loving the look of fear on his face. He was in for such a big surprise. "... is that you must dance with me," she finished as Annabell pushed through the crowd to watch the fun unfold.

"Noooooo- wait, what?" Buford's face had gone from very scared to completely confused in mere seconds. "That's it?"

Adyson laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "Just remember that a second ago, that 'punishment' had you scared enough to piss your pants."

Buford laughed with her. "Oh well," he sighed. "Seeing as I don't have a say in this matter, why are you still here?" he asked Gretchen. Then he realized she was already gone. It only took a gaze to his left to see the smaller girl approach his brother. He was distracted when Adyson wrapped an arm around him.

"C'mon, Buford," she smiled at him. "Let's give your brother some privacy."

"Privacy being a relative term," Buford muttered as the two left to go find a good spot on the floor.

ΩΩ

Annabell saw Gretchen come towards them as the rest of the Fireside Girls dispersed, more than likely merely concealing themselves to watch the situation unfold. Annabell sighed. Sometimes she wished others would have something better to do than just pry into others' matters, but she supposed that this was a valid reason to do so. At least, it was more valid than some other reasons she'd gotten for someone prying into her own matters. Though at that point, should the intruder be male, Jarv, her very protective friend, would beat them for disrespecting her privacy. She could have done it herself, but Jarv always insisted that he should do it instead. And when the prier had been male, she'd allowed him to do so. When the prier was female, however, she was able to take matters into her own hands. It had been too easy to frighten the girl so badly she'd run out of the school.

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Annabell watched as Gretchen altered her course to aim at Jarv, which made her smile. Though Annabell knew she had no reason to do so, she always was trying to help Jarv get more friends and not just have a small circle that might compose of her and the two other friends they had at school. Gretchen, from what she'd heard of the girl from her sister, would be a perfect friend for Jarv. And who knows? Annabell thought, Maybe it'll get to be more as we get older.

Gretchen walked up to Jarv, nearly shaking in apprehension and fear. The larger boy looked down on her, his curiosity eventually overtaking him. "Hello," he greeted her, "what's your name?"

"Gretchen," she answered, still a bit timid of the larger boy who stood around a head taller than her. "I wanted to ask you a question," she stuttered, before she sighed and hit herself in the forehead with her hand. "I'm making a complete fool of myself, aren't I?"

Jarv shook his head quickly. "Of course not," he answered soothingly. "Besides, I act like a complete idiot sometimes too. Or at least, that's what some people say," he emphasized this by directing a playful glare at Annabell before continuing, "However; I'm quick to remind her of one thing."

"What would that be?" Gretchen asked, her curiosity overcoming her shyness.

Jarv grinned widely, "I always tell her this: 'I'm not a complete idiot! Some of the parts are missing!'"

Gretchen laughed at this, "Very nice. But about that question..."

Jarv watched her intently. "What is it?" he asked.

"Um... Would you want to dance with me?" Gretchen belted out, trying not to completely turn red for forcing the statement out.

Jarv raised an eyebrow. "You want to dance? With me?"

Gretchen nodded, not trusting her mouth to speak anymore. She had no idea what she'd do if Jarv said no, but she hardly had to wait for an answer.

"Sure," Jarv answered, putting an arm around Gretchen and leading her away. Before he left, he turned and looked back at the two, his eyes flashing menacingly as they settled on Luther. "You two have fun," he finally said before disappearing into the crowd.

"Well," Annabell turned to look at Luther, "Since it's just you and me, you wanna dance?"

Luther grinned, "Sure."

And so the party kept going until that night, where Buford took everyone over to his house for a neighborhood cookout. And for one of the first times in his life, Luther felt as though he belonged here.

ΩΩ

The first child came up toward the dark building, looking at the card he held in his hands. This was the right place, he decided, and began the long climb up the stairs leading to the third floor of what he assumed was an apartment complex. Taking out a key to that had been given to him by his contact, he quietly inserted it into the lock, wincing at the clanking the lock itself made as he turned it. Anyone who was inside the apartment already would have heard him by now, as they too more than likely had the boy's enhanced hearing.

The inside of the apartment was completely dark, the only light coming from the opened doorway and the cracks in the boarded up windows. The boy stepped inside, doing as he had been told and locking the door for the next person to come into. As his eyes adjusted to the near-darkness, he could see a very dim light coming from beneath the door down a seemingly long hallway, which he crept towards. As he got closer, however, he realized that the darkness was affecting his depth perception, and the door was much closer than he had expected. His bare hand gripped the cold metal of the doorknob, and with little effort, the door swung open to reveal a small, circular table with a group of seven chairs placed around it. Above the table was the light source that he had seen, which was glowing dimly, throwing shadows all over the room.

The boy closed the door once again, and sat down in one of the chairs, facing the doorway, making sure to observe his surroundings before relaxing ever so slightly. There were still six other initiates left to come, and he'd rather not be caught off guard by the one who he'd made enemies with. The fourteen-year-old eased back in his chair slowly, one hand keeping a grip on the large knife he'd been given at the start of the trial when there had been thirty initiates who would be only given a knife, a map, an electric tablet to be only used as a countdown timer, and two days rations for a three week trip to this area. He'd spent an entire week huddled inside an igloo he had to create himself on the Alaskan tundra. As of now, he had moved from the upper tundra to a more temperate area of the 49th state, where he'd been instructed by the electronic tablet they'd been given to wait for two more days until this day, where he'd come here, taken one of the keys from the front desk they had all had to pass through. From the looks of that place, it had been abandoned a long time ago. Apparently the boy was the first one to reach the area, seeing as there was no one else within the premises of the apartment.

"Took you long enough," a voice right beside him made him jump and spin around, knife coming out of its sheath as he did so. He was confronted by a girl his own age, who already had a blade pressed against his throat, her brown eyes looking much colder than they should have been able to for a girl her age. "You so much as move, Tango," she spoke quietly, "I will open up your throat right here, right now. It would be a shame to do so, now wouldn't it?" She gave a fake smile at 'Tango' before letting go and sitting down a few chairs away from him. 'Tango', who's blood was still hot, nearly went after her before something else caught his attention.

"Having fun, 'Vector'?" a deeper voice spoke as he stepped out from the doorway. Another boy, not as tall as Tango, stepped out of the gloom into the light. "You're slipping," he told Vector, "If we were back at home base, you'd have killed me by now."

Vector shrugged, "You ought to be glad I'm not at full. That trip took a lot out of all of us, I'm assuming."

Tango nodded, "On that assumption, I'd say some more than others."

"Quite right," a voice beside Vector answered, causing them all to spin around.

"Sierra," Vector nodded to the boy beside her. "Please, sit down," she spoke with a bit of venom, pulling out the chair between herself and Tango.

"Need a barrier to keep me back, now do you, Vector?" Tango grinned. The earlier arrival sat on Tango's other side.

"We'd rather you not try to kill everyone right now, Tango," the boy placed a hand on his shoulder, as to ease Tango's cockiness.

Vector applauded sarcastically, "Very good, Papa, very good speech. You ever consider going into the press?"

Papa turned to look at her, "Vector, you ought not get too full of yourself. I'm certain Sierra and I wouldn't mind if Tango went after you. I might even have to film it and post it on YouTube."

"I wouldn't mind what?" another voice, that of a girl, came out as yet another of the initiates stepped through the doorway, her glasses a bit frosted from the extreme cold. She took her seat beside Papa. "Good to see all of you too," she nodded to the others. "How many more will we be we waiting for?"

"Just one more," a smooth Russian accent filled the air, and the other initiates turned to see the largest of the initiates walk into the room, his stride emanating confidence. "Is it me, or is the American tundra warmer than the Siberian version? I've only been back to the homeland once or twice, but this is much warmer than what we found in Siberia."

"From what I've studied, it is," the male Sierra replied, "Although it's also possible that it's just that you're used to insanely low temperatures and this is nothing compared to what you've been through."

"That would make quite a bit of sense," the Russian boy answered. "A good job to you, Sierra."

"Thanks," they both replied, before they whipped their heads around to look at each other. "He meant me," they said, before the male Sierra held up a hand, stopping his female counterpart.

"I'd rather this not become one of those clichéd exchanges where we keep on going at it for an entire hour, so let's just stop here," he told her.

The female Sierra nodded, "I'll agree with you on that."

Tango grinned and shook his head. "I'm just glad there aren't two Tangos. That would get annoying," he stated.

Vector grinned devilishly, "You've got no idea, Tango. This will probably be the one time I'd have to agree with you on that one."

"On which one?" a new voice called out, and Vector cursed loudly. "Now now, Vector," the voice replied, "That's no way to treat any other of your fellows."

"You just had to mention that, didn't you?" Vector hissed at Tango, who ignored her as the final initiate stepped into the room.

"Hello, little sis," Tango nodded to her. The final initiate, the other Tango, smiled and placed herself beside the female Sierra.

"Vector," her eyes hardened as she stared into the other girl's brown eyes, "Romeo," she smiled a bit at the Russian boy, "Sierra," they both looked at her, and she grinned before saying, "both of you. And Papa," she looked at the final male. "So, who exactly are we waiting for right now?"

"No one," a much deeper voice replied, revealing a man who was more than likely head and shoulders above them. He goggles were hanging from around his neck, and he placed his helmet on the counter of what the initiates now realized was an abandoned kitchen. "You have all reached this place first, and will therefore be given the honor of getting to play a role in the Agency's next mission."

"So we came all this way and suffered this much to come here, and be given another mission by our home's Blue Oni?" Vector asked, before Romeo punched her in the shoulder hard.

"Quiet," he hissed. "You'll make him angry. And believe me, you most certainly will not like him when he's angry."

The man nodded. "That is what happened, Vastile," he replied, and Vector recoiled in the use of her surname so blatantly.

"If I may ask, sir," the male Tango asked, trying his best to tread carefully. "Who will we be known as?"

"That, Thorton," the man replied, "is for the Director to decide."

"I always marveled how much the Agency likes its clichés," Vector chuckled to herself.

The man growled in annoyance, "Insubordination is not an endearing quality, Vastile."

"Quite true," another voice spoke as a final figure stepped through the doorway. "You ought to watch your words more carefully, Vector."

"Sir," one man saluted another.

Then the new arrival spoke to the other man, "Supervisor, go make sure the other initiates don't kill each other. I told them there was still one final key somewhere in this building," he grinned devilishly.

The man, the Supervisor, also grinned, "There isn't, is there?"

The new arrival dismissed him with a wave of his hand, "Of course not. I was just having some fun." The Supervisor left as the new arrival turned back to the initiates. "Well then," the new man spoke, "I suppose you're wondering who I am. Well, I am the Director."

All the initiates' eyes widened as they realized this man was the fabled Director, the man who had helped build the Agency from scratch, and whose family had been running it for two generations and quite a few years. Though he was only second generation, the Director had been able to recruit many more than his father, the original Director, and was beginning to launch an offensive towards the Agency's primary targets: supers. All the initiates that sat here were converted supers, original targets who had come to work for the Director, and by extension, governments all over the world. The Director was know for his especially brutal tactics and his results, which were always positive. No one under his command had ever failed. That was why these seven initiates had been chosen: they were the best of this age the Agency had to offer.

The Director held a stack of file folders, some of them very thick, others just barely thick enough to hold one piece of paper. The Director opened one of these small folders. "Hm..." he spoke, "Daniel Siegfried," the male Sierra stood up from his seat only to be dismissed by a wave of the hand. "Sit down," the Director told him, " It says here in the Supervisor's own words, you are "very smart" and "a good thinker". Although you seem to "overlook the real-world anomalies in your plans". Is that true?"

Daniel nodded. "Yes, sir," he answered, "I've been getting better about spotting those kinds of problems, sir, but there will not be any way to be completely prepared ever."

The Supervisor nodded. "Your call sign is Delta Sierra," he replied, "Welcome to the mission, Delta."

Siegfried bowed to his leader, "Thank you, sir."

"Oh, and before I forget," the Supervisor pulled out from the folds of his jacket an ebony cane, "Seeing as you've most certainly passed, you can have this back." He tossed the cane to Daniel, who caught it. "Good job, Siegfried."

Siegfried snapped a crisp salute, "It's an honor, sir."

The Director moved on to the other Sierra. "Sienna Sharben," he acknowledged her before handing her a cloth to clean her glasses. "Your call sign is Sigma Sierra. Welcome aboard."

Sienna nodded to her superior as she took off her glasses and began to clean them, "A pleasure being here, sir."

"Romeo," the Director turned to the Russian native, "Or rather, Taylan Reznov. You've got Tau Romeo as your call sign. Good luck keeping this lot in line."

"I will certainly try to do so, sir," Taylan replied, grinning in a rather evil manner.

"Papa," the boy beside the male Tango and Sienna straightened up at full attention, "you've been chosen as third in command. Though I know how much you love stealing cars, I will have to ask you to restrain yourself until you're at least sixteen before I can completely cover for every grand theft auto you attempt." He handed the boy his leather jacket, which had been given up at the beginning of the ceremony. "Your call sign, Clancy Palack, is Gamma Papa. Good luck, Gamma."

Clancy nodded in thanks, slipping his jacket onto his shoulders.

"Kelly Thorton," the Director looked at the female Tango, "you've got Epsilon Tango. It ought to be interesting watching the results of you and your brother, so you better do well."

Kelly grinned, "Epsilon reporting for duty, sir," she saluted him.

"Lisa Vastile," the Director curtly acknowledged the girl, "second in command. Beta Vector. Oh, and you requested we give these back to you should you survive." He tossed a brown leather jacket and brown fedora, which Lisa promptly put on. "You watch yourself, Vastile," the Director noted to her. "I could've had you for insubordination at least three or four different times back there."

"Only three or four?" Vastile noted, "I'm slipping."

The Director ignored her and turned to the final initiate, the male Tango. "Herbert "Lawrence" Thorton," he stated to the boy, who looked up at him, "the Supervisor has seen fit for me to grant you command of all these initiates for the mission I've been told to do. Your call sign is Alpha Tango. Welcome aboard, Lawr."

Lawr nodded as the Director circled back over to the counter, which was kitted out with everything, except, for some odd reason, a sink. He picked up a stack of folders before handing them out to the initiates. "These are classified information, agents, so do not, I repeat, do not, let them get out of this group. Not even the other surviving initiates can see them." The Director took a second to scan the room, making sure all the young teens understood. "First folder," he instructed, waiting as they all flipped it open, "You'll need to know your primary targets' names by heart before you leave here, so we'll start now." He held up the first picture, with a child with an abnormally large nose. "This is your first target. He is not the primary threat, nor even the secondary. He's much too nice to be either of those."

"That boy has a Dorito for a head," Lisa stated, before bursting out laughing.

Kelly, Clancy, and Sienna did the same before Siegfried cuffed Lisa upside the head and Lawr cleared his throat, silencing all of them. "Please continue, sir," he said, and the Director did.

"His name is Phineas Flynn. And he is the leader of our targets," the Director told them. He turned to the next person, another boy, who was much taller and thinner than the first. "This is Ferb Fletcher," the Director told them, "Flynn's stepbrother, apparently never speaks, and he's from England. Apparently he's quite good with martial arts, too. Took out a boy twice his size with a pinch."

Siegfried scoffed, "Anyone with knowledge of pressure points could have done that. That doesn't mean he's good in martial arts."

The Director nodded in approval, "Fair enough, Siegfried. I'll make a mention of that to the one who wrote this idiotic report." He placed the second folder down, "Before I continue, you ought to know that these folders have much more than just names and pictures. They have the recent history, ages, likes and dislikes, and daily routines of the targets in them. I'll have you name them off, then read them to yourselves." He held up the next photo, "Isabella Garcia-Shapiro," the next of a large, burly boy, "Buford Van Stomm," a small, Indian boy, "Baljeet Rai," a Caucasian female with her brown hair in a ponytail, "Adyson Sweetwater," then a boy whose dark hair was cut very short, the way he looked into the camera making it look like he was staring at the agents. "Luther Garcia-Shapiro," the Director continued, holding up a picture someone who looked quite alike to Adyson, "Annabell Sweetwater," a boy who looked like Buford in clothing, but Ferb in characteristics, "Jarv Van Stomm," another boy, his size dwarfing even Buford, "Tom Banner," a boy who seemed to be related to Tom, but was smaller and thinner, "Metalleas Banner," a boy who wore dark glasses and had a walking stick up by his side, his height even greater than Ferb, "Argus Calgar," and finally, an older girl wearing a red tank top and a white miniskirt, "and Candace Flynn."

The Director turned to go before Taylan asked, "Sir? What about these other folders?"

The Director turned back to the new agents, "One folder has some of our contacts, the second has our potential threats that are not the targets, and the third are our secondary targets."

Lisa opened the second folder, "Who names their kid Heinz? Or has a kid named Irving, for that matter?"

The Director was about to answer with a particularly scathing remark before Sienna beat him to it, "It doesn't matter about their names, Lisa. What matter is that they've offered their help. Right, sir?"

The Director nodded, "Mr. Doofenshmirtz inadvertently helped us out, however, this Irving character has no idea what he did. He calls himself 'Phineas and Ferb's Biggest Fan'. However, as soon as we begin Operation: First Conversion, the subjects in the third folder will give us trouble."

Kelly raised an eyebrow at her superior after scanning the folder's contents, "The OWCA? Weren't they ordered to shut down after PETA found one of their agents?"

"And you realize how many people listen to PETA, right?" her brother replied. "Plus, this case was done behind closed doors. Only a select few for the association actually knew about it, and they had this department tie up the loose ends."

"Very true, Lawr," the Director nodded. "However, though they owe us, we must be careful here. Monogram's best agent is the Flynn-Fletcher pet. Acronym's best is the Garcia-Shapiro's pet. We'll decommission them before we strike at the primary targets. Although I'd rather we capture Monogram alive, Acronym and Monogram's intern are optional. They're more liabilities than anything else." He turned and walked out, "Any other questions can be answered later."

He stepped out onto the third floor balcony, beside the Supervisor. "How goes it with the masses?" he asked his second in command. Behind him, he thought he heard Vastile mention something like 'Red Oni', but he dismissed it as rather ludicrous.

"Rather well, sir," the Supervisor's deep voice answered, the former drill sergeant straightening up from leaning over the railing. Though the Director couldn't see his colleague's face due to the scarf that covered it, he could tell that he was scowling with contempt at the other initiates. "However, there's one initiate too many here. I count fourteen, and there were only allowed to be thirteen."

The Director pulled out a pistol, "Get them quiet."

The Supervisor turned to the loud group of young teens. "QUIET!" he roared, silencing them all.

The Director stepped forward. "Initiates! I applaud your abilities to survive this far. However, there is still one last test," the initiates could be heard murmuring before the Director continued, cutting them off, "We were to have thirteen of you to come back with us as agents and seven others to be in our next mission. The seven agents have been chosen," a few shouts of disappointment could be heard, but they too stopped as the Director continued, "But for all of your misfortune, there are fourteen of you." The initiates took a second to grasp as the Director lifted his pistol from below the railing, allowing everyone to see it.

One of the initiates panicked and threw herself onto the ground before the balcony, crying out not to kill any of them, pleading with him. "You!" the Director shouted down to him, "Come up here!"

The young teen climbed the stairs to the top to stand beside the Director, who gave her a fake smile, "Don't worry. I won't bite." He then turned to the others assembled before motioning for the teen to step forward. "Initiates!" he shouted, getting their attention, "This girl here has decided that your best course of action is to plead with the figure in command of the situation. Was this how you were taught? I THINK NOT!" he finished the last sentence with a roar.

The girl whimpered, "But you said-"

"I said I wouldn't bite," the Director told her, before having the Supervisor restrain her against the edge of the railing. "Let this be a lesson to the rest of you!" the Director shouted to the assembled initiates below, before looking back at the girl.

"P-please d-don't... I-I'm b-begging you..." she stuttered, her cheeks shining tears.

The Director laughed in her face, "Like that's going to stop me." Then he placed the mouth of the pistol on her chest, right above her heart and over her left lung, and fired.

The girl gasped in pain once before the Director grinned and, to make sure she was dead, pushed her over the railing. By the time she hit the ground and snapped her neck, she was already dead.

All the initiates stood where they were, their training keeping them from moving as the Director moved down to observe them. The Supervisor followed him as the first seven stepped out of the apartment to see what all the commotion was about. "Go back inside," the Director ordered them, and they obeyed. Lawr, however remained for a bit longer, to ask a question.

"Sir?" Lawr asked.

"What is it, Alpha?" the Director devoted a bit more of his attention to the leader of what he would now call Alpha Strike Force.

"We're hunting supers, aren't we?" the boy asked knowingly.

"That we are, Alpha, now get inside." Lawr nodded and did as he was told.

"Sir, what shall we name these two groups?" the Supervisor asked as he kept on walking down the stairs, nearing the bottom.

"The first upstairs will be Alpha Strike Force," the Director told him, "they will perform Operation: Integration and Operation: First Steal. We'll bring these ones in near the end of Operation: Iron Fist. You'll be left in charge of all of them for Operation: First Conversion. By then, I'll be checking up on you from time to time. But that's still quite far into the future. We need not dabble into that just yet. For now, we'll stick with Operation: Integration." He left off with the Supervisor still giving him a questioning look. "Oh, right, the others." The Director smiled, "We'll call them 'Lucky Thirteen'."

First off: Summer Belongs To You doesn't belong to me. It's Disney's. Although summer… nope. That belongs to everyone. Unless I become Evil Overlord of Summer… hm. I'll have to think about that one…

Well well well… Looks like we found ourselves…. I'll let you guess what role he plays. First reviewer to name the exact role of the Director gets 2 points, first to get the general role he plays gets 1 point. Good Luck.

I still have absolutely no idea how many shoutouts there are, so find 'em for me! Heh, can't wait to see if this brings in the reviews…

Anywho, we've still got Lancelot here, so I assume she'll want to do her little comment thingy. Go ahead!

Lancelot's after-chapter comments: Well, I hope you guys don't mind that it took longer than intended to post the chapter… that was mainly my fault.

Eh, not the most flattering or whatever you call it of comments, but fair enough. Not like I'm planning on blaming it all on you though… Anywho, enjoy! And don't forget that button down there! *Hint hint*

-Terra (it is possible this may be my chapter for this month- depends on proofreading and revisions, really.)