Chapter 4: Dang, that's adorable!

The plan was simple, infiltrate Mitch's layer by bypassing the entire security code and disguising themselves as robot minions, Candace, Ferb, and Meap would then go locate the Cutonium while Baljeet and Ferb go find Isabella's body. Buford still didn't really understand what was going on, so they decided to let him be the look out. There were lots of gaps, but it was all they had, and the end of Isabella's three days was drawing near to quickly. It was pretty easy finding Mitch's space fortress, as the underside of it was painted light blue with a little white cloud, and today was rather downcast. They climbed into Meap's spaceship (Buford, Baljeet, Phineas, and Ferb all squeezed uncomfortably into the backseat) and set off. Ferb had stayed up most of the night to update the ships cloaking mechanism so they could get into the fortress, the problem that now remained was, where would they land? Phineas easily picked out the odd piece of the sky, apparently an 'evil genius' such as Mitch hadn't thought to create a more complex disguise that word for any weather or any time of day. Phineas' anger spiked. He hated Mitch. He hated Mr. Random. And he hated himself, for allowing this to happen to one of his best friends, well his BEST friend besides Ferb. And it scared him to think that Isabella could be in all sorts of danger, and that even now her body's resolve to live was dwindling. No one spoke on the ride over. Everyone, well, except Buford, was in a very somber mood. Ferb couldn't help but think that if Isabella was here, she could've found away to lift everyone's spirits. It came as relief to everyone when they arrived at the fortress, and they all snapped into mission mode. "All right everyone!" Candace said, turning to face the four boys in the backseat. "It's do or die time, we need to get in and get out as quickly as possible. Ferb, Meap, and I will take the cute tracker and find the location of the Cutonium, Phineas, Baljeet you need to find um... Isabella, and get her out of there!" "Yes, sir!" They all barked. "Hey, hey! What about Buford?" The before mentioned boy said. "Oh," Candace hesitated, "you, uh, watch the ship, ok?" "Fine..." The boy grumbled. He may not have had a clue as to what was going on, but he knew that Isabella was in trouble and he wanted, no, needed, to help. "If any of you gets separated or caught," Candace continued, "try and make your way back to the ship, or, you know...scream. We'll find a way to get to you, hopefully..." She trailed off before perking up again and finishing with, "Remember your training!" The boys nodded, even though they never had any training, they just didn't want to cross Candace in this state. They parked the ship in the fortress' waste disposal area, and filed out. They gave each other reassuring glances, and then branched off into their groups. (Well, except for Buford because, you know, he was told to stay. But then again, when does Buford ever listen to what he's told?)

Phineas and Baljeet picked their way through the garbage disposal, unsure where to start their search. The only time Phineas had been on this ship before was with Isabella, and they merely bounced around the ship, unaware of how dangerous Mitch was. Phineas suddenly realized an odd connection between the two people he was dealing with right now. "That's funny," Phineas mused aloud, Baljeet turned to him. "When we first met Mitch we found out that he was a poacher, he had been taking animals from their own planets and caging them in this fortress. When we met Mr. Random yesterday, he had been creating and caging unsuccessful Klimpaloon's and trying to kidnap the real one." "Huh," Baljeet replied, "Do you think they are working together? Mitch and Random?" "That's what I assume." Phineas said. "I think they intend to use Isabella's cute to force everyone to do their bidding, and each rule either Earth or Meap's cute planet. As for those cute powers that come with this Cutonium, I don't know what they do." The boys stopped. The room had ended, and they had come to a large iron door that seemed to only open from the other side. "What do we do?" Baljeet asked. Phineas thought for a moment. They had no weapons, no armor, and no way to defend themselves. "Well," he finally said, "let's prepare for the worst, and wait until they need to take the trash out." Baljeet brightened, "yeah! And then that's what we'll do! Take the trash out... And...get it? Cuz you said..." Baljeet's confidence wavered. Phineas sighed, "yeah Baljeet, I got it." Baljeet was just about to retaliate when they heard it. Echoing through the air vent like an inevitable death sentence. "BUFORD VAN STOOOOMM!"


Isabella woke with a start. The chains keeping her from escape rattled as she adjusted her position and thought about her...unusual predicament. She felt a little better after resting for some time (did time even pass inside her mind?) but she was still weak, she had no spirit no...life. And it was time she got that back. She threw her weight forward so she was resting on her knees, arms behind her, her head flopped forward and she closed her eyes. This was going to be harder then she thought. Isabella took one huge breath, and with all her strength, heaved herself up and struggled with the heavy chains that pulled her down. She did it. Her legs were shaking and her arms were heavy, but she did it. Isabella leaned back against the hard wall and just breathed. How was she supposed break from these chains if she could barely keep herself standing? She sighed and closed her eyes. 'Think Izzy, what would Phineas do?' She opened eyes a little to quick, and felt the room tilt beneath her. "No!" She gasped out loud, as her legs gave way and she crumpled back to the ground. Isabella rolled herself onto her back and lost it. She shouted and cried and choked on her frustration that bubbled up inside her, punching her fists in the air and kicking her legs into the wall weakly. She gave up her futile tantrum from exhaustion, and just breathed. In, out. In, out. She drank in the silence and stared into the darkness above her. "Isabella!" She heard faintly. She jumped, what was that? It sounded like... Phineas? She sat up. "Isabella! No!" She heard again, louder this time. Her heart sped up, color returned to her cheeks. "Phineas?" She croaked back. "No! Urgh! Urgh, ahhhh!" And she heard his panicked shout, heard his fear, and she needed to help him! Her strength returned to her and she shouted full volume, "PHINEAS!" Tearing her arms frantically away from the wall, kicking herself away from her restraints full force. She had to get out, had to help him, had to see him again. With one final pull and a grunt from Isabella's sweaty form, she pulled the chains free from the wall and collapsed to her stomach. She groaned and tried to move, but she had no energy left, and she couldn't so much as lift a finger, let alone keep her eyes open anymore.


(What was happening in the real world at that time: Mitch had attacked the fortress and stolen Mr. Random and Isabella's body, Phineas was plummeting from the metal claw)


Tracking the Cutonium was incredibly easy. Not only was the cute tracker going haywire from total cuteness, the trio could almost feel themselves naturally being pulled in the direction of the delicate substance. They had crawled through an air vent they found in the garbage hatch and were now walking along a hallway that was a little to quiet."Don't you think it's strange?" Candace whispered, "if we're so close to the Cutonium, why isn't it being guarded at all? What do you think Ferb?" Candace looked around, "Ferb?" But Febr was yards ahead, walking brainlessly towards a door that had a faint pink glow peaking out from under it. He don't know why he did it, he just was drawn to the room so strongly, he seemed to lose all understanding or common sense he ever had. "Ferb, No!" Candace full on shouted, and ran toward her brother, but the closer to the room she got, the quicker she seemed to be loosing control of her limbs, and the more she forgot why she was even here. The two kids burst through the door, Meap nowhere in sight, to find a canister holding the beautiful pink light attached to, well, an incredibly threatening machine. All of a sudden the wall opened up behind the machine, startling the two kids out of the cute trance. They found themselves staring at Mitch and Random, who were backed by hundreds of floating robots. They also had Isabella with them, slumped, unchained, in a corner. They were in trouble. Mitch began to laugh maliciously as the robots closed in on the two kids. "Meap!" Candace yelled, searching for the little alien creature, or any help in general. Their hands were locked behind their back and they were sat against the wall to await the arrival of the other three. All of a sudden, a large person burst in the room. "BUFORD VAN STOOOMM!" He pummeled and kicked as many robots as he could until his knuckles hurt and he was overrun. Soon enough, he was sitting against the wall with the other two. Ferb looked frustrated at the boy."Buford! I thought we told you to stay with the ship! Now our only chance of escape lies with Phineas and Baljeet." Buford looked stoic. "Buford listens to no man...or alien. Besides, you guys weren't doing to hot anyway." He grumped.

Mitch and Random turned on the children, both grinning maliciously. Mr. Random was wringing his hands as he said, "now to wait for the other two!" "They won't come!" Candace spat back. "We'll make sure of it!" "Oh really?" Mitch stepped forward. "Because we can make sure they do!" And they advanced upon the kids.

Sorry for the wait! I was feeling a bit uninspired the last couple days. Some reviews might help? This is going to end up being an 8-10 chapter story I think.

Next Week on, "The Isabella Ultimatum." Chapter 5: Escape Plan

-BeeExtraordinary