It's Wednesday! That means Misspent time!

So, heh, what happened yesterday, right? Weird that the site up and kept us all from our accounts there. Stinks 'cause I reeaally wanted a Waiting To Be Told up that day, but now... I'm working on it, technical issues but it'll be up ASAP. In the meantime, enjoy, and let's all be glad we survived that!

Review Responses:

Galaxina-the-Seedrian: Liked the chapter, huh? Thanks a bunch, it's really hard to get that dynamic right since Phineas and Doof hardly ever interact in the show... ever, so it's more of a fanfiction thing. Hard to judge which is the right or wrong way to do it. Still, your enthusiasm is appreciated, so here's hoping we can keep it up! :)

MagicQuill42: Yay for puns. Great, I'm not so good at awkwardness in writing, so hang in there haha.

Rainbowleaf9987: I know, right? Hm, electricity isn't bad! Considering this =/= A:TLA anyway. What would I have, you ask? Gosh, I don't know. Pretty much anything except Earth, I guess. I've been trying to figure that out for ages.

Jet Engine: Precisely the point; where's the fun if there isn't at least a little weirdness?

Dreadwing216: Oh, sorry, I wasn't accusing you of doing that. I was just joking around, and besides, my account is super secure! Can't have anyone taking a look at my unpublished documents, can I?

Guest: Oh man, that would be awkward. I've thought about it, but didn't expect anyone else to... Just, the possibilities.

And another thing before we start: As of yesterday, September 1, my school year has officially started up, so that means updates might come a bit later. Plus, with this chapter I just caught up to myself with how much I have left unpublished, so that might... Put a damper on the schedule... Yeah. On that note, read.

Isabella's POV

Wrong.

Eccentric.

Inexplicable.

Ridiculous.

Different.

That's exactly how Phineas has been acting ever since that time at the ice cream parlor: weird.

I've caught on, of course. I know Phineas like the back of my hand. I extend my arm out a bit, looking at it, at all four fingers outstretched, and notice some nail polish cracking on my index finger nail. That's new. Okay, maybe that wasn't the best comparison. But the point is, I know something's up, and I don't like it one bit.

Don't get me wrong, Phineas is as fun and exciting and happy as ever. It's just that he doesn't seem to be himself lately, at least around me. And I wouldn't be surprised, we are about at that awkward phase, but I feel like if it had anything to do with that then this would not be a new thing, that he would act all strange around me whenever he saw me for the past five years. But no, and I don't think that's the problem.

I sigh, feeling a strange, uneasy feeling fighting its way into my abdomen. Whatever the case, I'm going to keep coming over until he tells me not to, to see if I can find anything out. I push open the gate.

"Hi, Phh..." I stare at the backyard, drawling out the sound. Phineas isn't here. "...Ffferb," I finish, saving myself, silently thanking the boys' parents for giving them alliterate names. "Whatcha doin'?"

My friend turns, arms crossed, sitting in his lonesome at the foot of the tree. He stands up, waving me over; I comply.

Ferb places his hands on the bark of the tree. Immediately, spuds of tiny branches form where he touches it, growing rapidly, twisting themselves into some sort of pattern. After about thirty awe-filled seconds, a message in the green becomes visible: Hello, Isabella.

"Show-off," I playfully say with a laugh, and he meets my eyes with an oh-so-slightly amused look. "Watch this."

It being relatively early, I can count on there to still be dew on the grass. Focusing on my own center of gravity and ignoring the nauseous feeling I'm starting to get, I pull the miscellaneous drops around me towards where the two of us are standing. Ferb looks around at the scene, noticing the peculiar way this movement causes the blades of grass to bend themselves towards us. Carefully, I raise my hands and watch as thousands of tiny droplets lift themselves up into the air, floating suspended in the atmosphere, each holding a tiny reflection of our faces.

Ferb raises his eyebrows, seeming to be pleased with how well I can control my powers, especially since he's been so unstable. He folds his hands behind his back and is lifted up by the ground shifting slightly, smoothly underneath him, carrying him back to the tree without him having to walk a step. He turns around so that his message from earlier is shielded from my line of sight, and does something to it; when he steps away I can see he changed it to say one word: Impressive.

"You know, I'm not gonna lie," I begin, "I do kind of wish Phineas could see this."

Ferb reads the question in my eyes, to which he replies with a shrug. "You don't know where he is?" I interpret, feeling a little sick again. "That complicates things."

He reaches into a pocket and unfolds a small piece of paper, then hands it to me. The handwriting on it is clearly Phineas's: Need a new flange tuner. It's almost impossible to find so go on without me today. -Phin

Piecing together the situation, I wonder, "What happened to the one Candace got him?"

Ferb replies simply. "Peanut butter incident."

"Oh." Yeah, that wasn't fun for any of us. It's never fun to have allergies, in the first place.

"So... Do we have a plan?"

Ferb looks up in thought. He turns back to me with a blank stare, showing nothing coming to mind.

"Well, at least it looks like you're getting in control a little more," I say, trying to make conversation. Now something really starts to feel wrong with me, like I ate something bad before...

He shakes his head. "What, you aren't? Then what was all that before?"

A shrug, and I realize he's just being modest. Figures. I try to right my breathing, but I'm really starting to feel a bit queasy. Before I know it, I can feel Ferb holding me up, a hand on my head. I realize I'm in a cold sweat.

Ferb sets me down on the ground, holds up a finger, and dashes inside. Seconds later he returns with a bottle of water, which he tosses my way, and a thermometer, with which he takes my temperature. I definitely have a fever.

He kneels down to my level, and shows me the readings. 104 Fahrenheit, yikes. Thankfully, unlike the other strange occurrences over the past few days, he seems to have an explanation for this one.

"Salmonella," he says.

Perry's POV

Nothing. Nope, nada. No siree. That's about as much as we had found out yesterday at the D.E.I. And today, I'll be honest, does not look promising.

Besides, I have much more important things to focus on right now. Phineas hasn't been home all day, and all we have to find out where he is is a note he left Ferb. Clearly he was lying; he always writes with his left hand when he does, and the ink smudges in the right direction show that he certainly is not getting a flange tuner.

So as I await a signal from Ferb, or Vanessa, or Monogram, to find out how they can get my help, I make myself useful and stay out of the way. It's breezy on top of the roof of the house, but that's appreciated, as with a coat of fur I can't easily remove the summer heat does get a bit unbearable sometimes.

I'm shaken from my thoughts as a voice from the front yard calls my name. "Perry!" It's Candace. Swiftly I move out of the way to avoid her seeing me, but apparently to no avail; "Hey, don't think I can't see you up there on the roof, Mr. the Platypus. Get down here."

Well, why don't you just tell the whole neighborhood then? Sighing, I paddle over to the rain gutter where I put my trusty grappling hook, and use it to discreetly lower myself down to the ground. Not so discreet is the woman looking down at me. She knows my secret, of course, but nobody - not even I - knew she did until it was much too late to erase her memory, and besides, it's only between us two right now.

I put my grappling hook away and return to pet mode. "Hey, meat brick," she says teasingly. "I have to show you something."

Confused, I follow her into the house. We travel down a long hallway, multiple flights of stairs, past one of my lair entrances (I was worried she'd come across it), a ladder I didn't even know we had, and into a small, metal, sealed-up box with two items in it: one, an old teddy bear with a single eye falling out, and the other, a well-worn sign that reads Panic Room.

There is hardly enough room for Candace to stand. She closes the lid, shutting off all light, the memory of the teddy bear still lingering in my mind setting the perfect moodset for whatever's going to come next. I place my fedora atop my head and sit upright, eyes wide open and senses alert.

"I didn't even realize I was doing it," Candace began, though I couldn't see her. "But it's usually pitch black down here, ever since the lightbulb blew out. But now, look."

Slowly but surely, her face comes into view. Then each of her hands, then the rest of her body I realize is glowing a soft, pale white light.

Transfixed by the glow, I can feel my pupils shrinking and adjusting. I point to her skeptically and let out a small chatter.

"Yep, this is my thing," she says, noticing how she fit in with everyone else and their new powers. "I have light. Useless, huh?"

That wasn't the reaction I was expecting. I cross my arms and shake my head. Surely it can be used for something, it has to be.

"Well, whatever. I can't find any use for it, except if there's a power outage and then I'd only be able to do it at night.

"Anyway, yeah, you know what happened earlier? How Phineas is gone?" I nod. "Well, yesterday shortly after you and Vanessa left he had went out to get the mail. When he came back, one of them was open. I got a look at it later, and you know what it said? It was an invitation from Doofenshmirtz, of all people. He wants to see Phineas."

If Candace didn't have my attention before, she does now. What on this planet could my nemesis possibly want with my owner, after all this time? "Naturally I just expected him to throw it away," Candace continues, "But when he disappeared this morning leaving a note Ferb said was fake, I knew what was going on and I didn't like it. My first reaction was to come down here, and after a while I remembered there wasn't supposed to be any light. I was making it."

...Okay, I follow. But I can't help but wonder why she chose me, of anyone, to tell about it first. "Figured I'd tell you because it was either you or Vanessa, and of the two of you, you're the one who I know won't tell anybody," she adds as if reading my mind. "I mean, I'd rather show them all myself."

I nod again. Now we know there are five people with powers, and Phineas is at Doofenshmirtz's. This can only be trouble.

Without warning, I stand up. I grab hold of Candace's wrist with my left hand, and snap my fingers with my right. She seems awed that I even have fingers with which to snap, and doesn't get the message. So I repeat the gesture, sending her a hurried glare until she gets it and turns the light off.

I push the top off the box and allow her to follow me out. We have some work to do.

Vanessa's POV

"What do you mean, he's gone?"

My heart starts to beat a little faster, mainly in worry for my brother. "Where could he be?"

The sigh on the other end tells me that is the question on everyone's mind. I repeat the sound with a sigh of my own, this one in thought. "And he didn't even leave a note or something?"

The line is silent for a second. Then, "Come over."

Ferb hangs up. I look down, knowing there's nothing better to do. With everything that's been happening recently, if I'm needed, you can bet I'm going to be there. I grab my keys.

A quick "Going out, Mom," and about twenty minutes later, and I'm at the house. My first thought is to enter the front door, but then I remember how much of an open door the backyard gate is. I look in carefully and see Ferb and Isabella under the tree, the latter sipping from a soccer ball-sized drop of water resting in her hands, looking as if she'd rather be in bed with the blankets around her and a box of tissues to the side.

Isabella drops the water ball slightly and uses one hand to point over in my direction. "You made it," she says, weakly but as enthusiastically as ever.

Ferb turns around to face me, then quickly hops over to the gate and invites me in. He returns to Isabella's side and beckons me over; I join the two on the grass.

"So what's going on?" I ask, "Firstly, Isabella, are you feeling okay?"

"That's not important," determines the teen suddenly; it wasn't rude, but I was surprised at her insistence to put the situation before her health. "I don't think salmonella is contagious."

Salmonella? What is she doing out here? "Oh, my gosh," I start, "You need to be home, ASAP."

"Really, it isn't important," she repeats. "What we need to do is figure out where Phineas is. Look at this."

She hands me a folded-up note - Phineas's handwriting, lying tone and ink smudges. Let's just say I learned a bit from Perry over the years. "This doesn't help much," I say, stating the obvious.

"No kidding," Isabella agrees. "Ferb said he showed it to Perry and Candace, and neither of them seem to have any idea what to make of it." A cloud passes over the sun, causing a shadow to befall the three of us. It does not get brighter. "Actually, your sister just ran into the house and disappeared, that's how much she's willing to help."

"She would," I mutter. Whether they hear or not, I don't know, for neither of them give a reaction. "Where are they now, anyway?"

"Should be still inside," Isabella answers. She reaches up to smooth out her hair, which is visibly frayed at the ends and sticks out in places in her braid. "We can look if you want, but if either of them know exactly where Phineas is..." She thought of a way to finish that sentence. "...I'll eat my bow."

At that moment, Candace burst out the sliding glass door, a disguised Perry following hurriedly after her. "Guys, you're not going to believe this," starts she. "I know exactly where Phineas is!"

All heads turn to Isabella. "Well, I'm a woman of my word," she grudgingly declares. She picks around the back of her head, looping her braid out of the piece of pink fabric. Ferb leans over and places a terminating hand lightly on her shoulder, his eyelids lowered, and she realizes gratefully that she is excused from the act. She's sick enough as it is!

I stand up. "Spill, then."

She gives each of us a long, hard look. We can all see the 'D' forming on her lips, hoping the next twelve letters were not the ones we were thinking of. And she doesn't say them; she grimaces instead, then looks down as if ashamed she couldn't bring herself to say it. We all know anyway.

"Really," I say, a bit unbelieving. "That's... Unfortunate."

"Y-Yeah," confirms Candace. "Let's get the gang together and see if we can't get over there."

"Actually, I'm not sure. Large numbers will attract too much attention. We need someone small, who can get there easily and in a way they won't see coming." I think for a moment about our options. "And someone who Phineas trusts well enough that can talk some sense into him."

To my chagrin, Ferb immediately raises a hand to volunteer. "I fit that last," he declares.

"And I'm sure Gretchen wouldn't mind joining you," offers Isabella.

"Call her now," I demand of the teen. "We move as soon as she's ready."

The shadow from before has not left; in fact, it is getting darker. Candace notices it first. "Hey, Ness? I think you're... You've got some... Uh..."

It doesn't take long for everyone's attention to be on me. "W-What-" I raise my hands, and around them are small black specks floating about the air; a series of similar ones surround my face. "Whoa. Do you know what this means, everyone?"

No one answers; they just stare at me, shocked. Even Perry brings his eyes into focus to see what is happening.

I collect the specks in front of my face, molding them somehow into a miniature ball. "There's more of us," I explain, looking to Ferb and Isabella; "I have darkness."