Isabella sat staring into the mirror for a while. Even after this long, Ferb and Vanessa suddenly leaving was no less a shock. She had once tried to contact them, but they had left no stone unturned hiding themselves. Isabella could think of several reasons why that would be bad, but decided not to think about them. She heard a feeble bark behind her.

"Oh, hiya, Pinky. I'm still thinking about Vanessa… and Ferb. Why did they leave?" she told her dog, Pinky the Chihuahua. Pinky gave two short yaps, and Isabella sighed. "I guess you're right, Pinky. I really shouldn't be moping again," she told him, and began to get ready for school.

Phineas woke up, and looked over at the empty bed next to him. "Hey Fer- oh…" he said, as he had every day before. He still couldn't believe Ferb had been a secret agent for the best part of four years. He thought… no, he knew… that Ferb was the one person he could really trust. He sighed. Normally he was an optimist, always hunting for the way to make summer count. But Ferb had always been by his side. It wasn't until he left that Phineas knew how much Ferb had really meant to him. His eyes passed over Perry's sleeping basket, and he started to get ready for school.

The Fireside Girls were proud to stand behind their fearless troop leader Isabella. But she hadn't been so fearless recently. The loss of three of her best friends that term alone was bound to set her off. The Fireside Girls were at a loss for what to do. Like her, they couldn't find Ferb or Vanessa however hard they looked, so they decided it would be better to give her space wherever possible.

After dropping Phineas off at school, Candace sighed. She never saw Phineas so downcast before. He lost Perry, and had as good as lost Ferb. She decided, when she arrived at her own house, to do something none of his friends could do. "Jeremy, I'm looking for Ferb! Wanna come?" she called out when she was ready. "Sure thing, Candace. Just let me finish this… yeah, I'm ready," he replied. "How…?" Candace asked, but Jeremy stopped her. "Sooner we find Ferb, sooner Phineas gets back to 'normal'," he pointed out. They went to Linda's house, and went searching for something.

"Hey Candace… have you ever examined this mirror?" Jeremy asked. Candace came to a realisation, and pried the mirror off the wall. "Jeremy… I know what we're going to do today!" she said, and jumped into the revealed opening. Jeremy gave his own little chuckle, and followed her in.

"Uh… hello. You guys are Perry's owners, right?" Carl asked as they came in. "Yeah, guy. We're here looking for Ferb and Vanessa. You wouldn't happen to know, would you?" Candace replied. "No… Candace Flynn, is it? All Ferb told me is that he's going on some sort of hunt for something. If he was going to say where he was going, or what exactly he was doing, he would speak directly to Major Monogram. However, he's in jail, and they won't even let his top agent through… or his unpaid intern. I mean, all he did was train animals as secret agents… people have done it with humans…" Carl elaborated, before doing a double take. "Hey, where'd they go?" he asked. Jeremy's face appeared from around a corner, and he said, "You've said all that we need to know, kiddo. We're going to Mr Monogram."

"So you're saying we can't see Major Monogram?" Candace asked. "No, ma'am. We don't allow newly convicted criminals visitors in this state," the officer they first found told them. "There's a state that can allow that?" Candace asked Jeremy. However, he stepped forward. "Just tell me this, then. How long before he is permitted visitors?" he asked. "After he has served a quarter of his sentence… about 1 year," the officer replied. Of all the stupid laws to be put into effect…

"Of all the stupid laws to be put into effect, you had to pick one that causes more grief for the people who didn't commit the crime…" Candace griped that afternoon. Linda just looked up from her dinner, and said, "Candace, honey, I know you're upset about that new law, but try not to be to ticked off. Remember, you tried for Phineas. It doesn't matter whether you succeeded or failed, it just matters that Phineas knows you care enough to try looking for Ferb." Candace nodded, and sat down. Phineas and Isabella arrived at that moment, and Phineas asked Candace why she was here. "I went to try and look for Ferb, but apparently, it's illegal to visit a prisoner until they've served one quarter of their jail term," she told him. Phineas stood with his mouth agape, and Isabella started sobbing into Candace. "So Ferb's in jail?" she asked, and Jeremy raised an eyebrow. "No, Monogram is. He was our best bet for finding out where Ferb… Candace?" he started, but Candace nodded. "41 Inator Road, right?" she asked. Jeremy nodded, and said, "Remember, 45th floor." Candace nodded, and they left. Phineas faintly heard the words, "I could've sworn it was 40th…"

Candace and Jeremy knocked on the door to Doofenshmirtz' apartment. "Just a moment!" someone called. Jeremy and Candace took a second to glance at one another, before opening the door. The sight of a goozim on the other side was enough. They shut the door, and ran in the opposite direction. After picking themselves off the floor, they ran in a more sensible path.

Candace and Jeremy both made it to Linda's house before stopping. They both started breathing heavily. "Candace?" Linda asked, and Candace told her, "Someone… at… Doofenshmirtz… place… goozim… panic…" in between breaths. Everyone gasped, before hoping that it was nothing. Graduation was coming soon, and they couldn't really afford something like this.

Phineas got ready for graduation in record time. He had decided to make the impossible out of minor actions after losing Ferb. It was purely a decision to help with his character flaw in having to do the impossible, hopefully helping him not have that problem. He suddenly heard 'Whatcha doin'' coming from his phone, and flipped it open. "Hey Isabella. How's it goin'?" he asked, and he heard a giggle from the other end. "Nothing much. I just wanted to tell you I love you, and Mom's holding a get-together for us two," Isabella responded. Phineas gave a slight grunt, and Isabella continued, "OK, she invited the other Fireside Girls and is praying Ferb and Vanessa show up, but you get the point. You know we'll pretty much be alone the entire thing anyway." Phineas suddenly saw something out of the corner of his eye. "Isabella… what is that over by Doofenshmirtz' place?" he asked, after having found the distraction. "We'll just have to hope it's nothing," was his response.

The graduation was taking forever. Phineas couldn't sit still through it, despite all of Isabella's best efforts. "Phineas Flynn, may you step forward please?" Principal Tsundere asked, and Phineas stepped up. He took the scroll, shook Principal Tsundere's hand, and… wait, what was that…

"PHINEAS FLYNN!" someone called. Everyone turned to spot the elusive Ferb Fletcher. "Ferb! I… think I might still be angry…" Phineas began, but Ferb cut him off. "OK. I only came to deliver a message. Doofenshmirtz has created the most evil thing he could possibly construct," he told him. "OH NO! He better not let it near Isabella on MY watch!" Phineas cried out. "Good… because it has no intention of letting you see Isabella under its control," Ferb stated, and pulled out some futuristic device. "Goodbye, Phineas Flynn," he said, pointing whatever the device was straight at Phineas.

OK folks, here end Act One.

The traditional 'Act One' is the story's obligatory exposition dump. So please excuse this chapter for being of comparatively low quality over other pieces of my work. Just feel grateful I didn't actually introduce the characters...

And yes, Act One is supposed to end with the crossing of the threshold... in this case, the revelation of Doofenshmirtz's intentions. I'm toying with this ballpark still, though, so don't be surprised when Act Two comes along and you still haven't been told what the invention actually is. You WILL know by the end of the tale... I'm rambling now, aren't I?

I'd tell you to carpe diem, but now's not the time.