He knew he couldn't stop running. Somewhere off in the distance was the roar of that horrible machine, but he wouldn't allow it to get any closer. He wanted to go home, back with Ferb and Candace and Isabella and all the rest, back where he could build and play and have snacks when he was done. He thought the snacks should come first, since he was so hungry. That, he supposed, was what kept him running.

After a long time he finally stopped, less because he felt safe and more because he was exhausted. All he could see around him was grass and rocks; he had a feeling this wouldn't be the best place to look for a hiding spot. He just sat for a while, catching his breath, letting the fire in his lungs give way to the steady rhythm of his breathing. Glancing over his shoulder, he couldn't see the metal monster, but he could still hear the echo of its engine and he knew it was too close. Turning back to the field, he sighed. He knew he wouldn't make it too much further, only that he had to keep running. Taking a deep breath, he ran again.

It was night by the time Isabella finally drifted off to sleep. She'd curled up close to the fire, but despite that she still couldn't stop shivering. She wished for the hundredth time she'd brought a jacket, and if it hadn't been so far to go back home she would just go and get it. Slowly she had given up to sleep, her body too tired to keep herself awake, but even then it hadn't been a good sleep. The few dreams that she had were restless, and after an hour or so she woke, still shivering. She could see Moon sitting by the fire, tiny reflections of the flames in her eyes. "Moon?"

Moon glanced over at her without a word.

"I'm cold."

Moon sighed. "You do this a lot?"

"What?" Isabella asked.

"You don't come prepared for things," Moon replied, pulling her deer-hide off and tossing it to Isabella. "Most people would bring a jacket to cold places."

"I didn't know I'd be climbing a mountain," Isabella retorted, grabbing the deer-hide and pulling it around her. Discovering that the inside was coated in a thick layer of fat, she squealed in disgust and scrambled back. "Eww! That's gross!"

"But it's warm, isn't it?" Moon shrugged.

Isabella gave her a sour look, turning the hide fur-in to wrap around her. After a few minutes her shivering settled, and she was glad of that. She curled up on the cavern's floor again, trying to make herself comfortable, but no matter how she turned she couldn't find a spot that suited her. She came to the conclusion that the deer-hide wasn't big enough; she couldn't stretch out without freezing, no matter how she tried.

Moon just rolled her eyes, snatching the deer-hide back and wrapping it quickly around herself.

"Hey!" Isabella exclaimed, "I was-"

"C'mere," Moon commanded, taking Isabella by the back of her collar and pulling her up into her lap. "Happy now?"

Isabella was quiet for a moment, but then nodded. "I guess."

"Now I don't wanna hear another word outta you," Moon told her, "Got it?"

Isabella nodded, settling into a tight curl in the hopes to get some sleep.

Moon only sat, silent, for a few minutes, and then decided that she might want to get some sleep as well. She gave the fire a meaningful jab with her knife, making sure it would still be burning by the time she woke up, and then curled up for her own sleep.

She woke to the sound of a sharp bark from outside, and instantly her eyes were alert, scanning the cavern for anything that could have found them here. Slowly she rose, leaving sleeping Isabella with her deer-hide, and then slinked up the side of the cavern to the jagged opening.

She could see Khalia sitting up on a frozen rock, staring down at her with her amber eyes, and after a minute she mewled.

"What is it?" Moon asked.

Khalia hopped down from the rock and then bounded off, glancing back to make sure Moon would follow. She led her through the thin snow, down through a dark cluster of trees, past a narrow ravine, into a rough field full of thick brown grass. She came to a stop on a fallen log, glancing up at Moon in the hopes that she would be praised.

Moon paused. "What is it?"

Khalia hopped down, leading her to the edge of an enormous cliff - she remembered having scaled it a few days ago, before she'd found that cave, and she'd rather not have to scale it again, although Khalia seemed persistent. She could see the peak of Mount Danville (or whatever silly name it had, she thought to herself) off in the distance, and it seemed that was where she wanted to go.

Moon sat on the edge of the cliff, her feet hanging over the edge, and turned back to Khalia. "You want to go? Then go. I won't stop you."

Khalia only sat, and whined.

Moon shook her head. "I'm not going back there. I can't. I'm a wanderer."

Khalia just sat.

It was almost dinnertime and Isabella still hadn't returned. Ferb and Candace had been waiting all day for her; they had been joined briefly by Buford and Baljeet, but they had long since gone home. Now the sun was going down, marking the end of the second day Isabella had gone.

Candace was impatient, pacing back and forth in irritation. "What's taking her so long? When's she going to be back? Where the heck is Phineas, anyway?"

Ferb just sat, silent. He knew Phineas' three days were up. He knew that if they didn't find Moon soon he'd be killed. He wondered the same as Candace did where Isabella had gone, and if she was okay, but he was becoming more and more certain that she wasn't, and that something had happened to her. Why else would she have taken this long to come back? He could feel the knot in his stomach that had been there since yesterday - by now it had settled into him, and it was clear it wouldn't be coming out soon.

"I can't just sit here and wait for Isabella to come back," Candace resolved, "I'm going out to find her. You coming or not?"

Ferb nodded, getting quickly to his feet and following Candace out into the streets. Neither of them really had a clue where they would wind up, but since the last they'd seen of Isabella had been the forest by Shadowshire, they decided that would be a good place to start. Into the trees they went, heading steadily south, and after a few minutes the sun began to dip under the trees. Ignoring that, they continued. The trees soon gave way to a flat field, and skirting around that they followed the edge of a steep cliff that ran in a crooked line off into the horizon.

"Hey," Candace pointed out, breaking the mutual silence and startling Ferb a little, "What's this? D'you know?"

Ferb turned to her, and saw that she'd found some sort of abandoned machine. It looked like it had been here a while, since it had been half-buried in the dirt, but since it didn't have anything to do with Phineas or Isabella, Ferb just shrugged.

Candace led him along the cliffside, having discarded the old scrap metal, and after a time it was dark. The nearly-full moon rose without a sound, giving them a little light to see, and they continued.

"Hey," Candace whispered suddenly, "I'm getting kind of tired. You wanna find a place to sleep for a little bit? We can keep looking in the morning."

Ferb shook his head. His brother's life was at stake; he couldn't afford to waste any more time.

"Ugh," Candace grumbled, "Of course you would say that."

Ferb gave her a sour look, but continued along the cliff for a few minutes.

Candace crossed her arms, but followed him. Soon they came to an open field, occasionally broken by jutting rocks that sprouted up like teeth across the ground. Candace took the lead now, constantly tripping over the rocks but certain that they might find Isabella soon. She wished it was lighter out; at least she'd be able to see, and maybe she wouldn't have bruised her knee so badly on that last one. She noticed that Ferb seemed to be able to see a little better than she could - that, or he just fell down more quietly. Either way, she reasoned, they should have gone around the field. She didn't like it. Jamming her toes into yet another rock she growled, now angry, and finally just sat, refusing to go any further until she could see. "Why do these stupid rocks have to be so pointy, anyway? I think I just busted my toes on that one."

Ferb just sighed, taking a seat next to her without a word.

Candace was about to add something about her bruised knee (which she had also jammed several times) but just then she fell silent. Having spotted a particularly familiar shadow she scrambled over to it, and gave it a tiny poke with one finger.

It was warm.

Candace grinned. "Hey, Ferb! Get over here!" she called behind her shoulder, watching his black outline as he followed her command. She turned back, her eyes on the too-familiar point of her little brother's nose, and carefully put a hand on him. He was unconscious but not hurt, she found, and she scooped him up in her arms to take him home.

At her touch he woke, startled, and instinctively scrambled back, his first thought that he'd been found by a hungry bear or a wolf or something, and before he could stop himself he yelped.

"Phineas, it's just me," Candace told him, putting a hand on his shoulder to try and calm him down. She gave him a soft look. "Relax. Let's go home, okay?"

Phineas just sat for a moment as his heart rate returned to normal, then looked up at Candace. "What about Zhalgo?" he asked quietly, "I promised I wouldn't abandon him."

Candace faltered. "What?"

"We have to go back," Phineas insisted, staring up at her with huge innocent eyes. "Please?"

"Phineas, we have to go home. Isabella's out there somewhere looking for Moon and we haven't heard from her for two days. Come on, little bro," she pulled him gently to his feet and then up into her arms. "We can talk about this in the morning."

"But-"

"No buts," Candace told him, her voice quiet but firm, "Let's go home."

Phineas finally relented, curling tightly around Candace's shoulders without a word. Quickly he fell asleep, and Candace and Ferb brought him home.

It was late morning by the time Phineas woke, and he found that Ferb and Marissa were curled up on either side of him. His stomach growled fiercely, making Ferb glance over at him. "Hungry?"

Phineas nodded, slipping down a little under the covers and keeping his eyes on Ferb.

He only blinked, darting downstairs to go and find something for him to eat. He returned a few moments later with a plate of scrambled eggs and toast, handing it to Phineas and watching as he quickly wolfed it down. When he was finished, he turned back to Ferb. "Thanks."

Ferb just blinked again, taking the plate and setting it back down in the bed-table, and then turned back to Phineas without a word.

Marissa shifted into a sitting position, keeping her eyes on her brother. "Feeling better?"

Phineas nodded. "A little."

"Glad to hear that," Marissa gave him a small grin, "How'd you escape, anyway?"

Phineas was silent for a moment. He could think of little except Zhalgo, but he knew that after what had happened, Marissa wouldn't let him go out again. Finally he just sighed. "An old robot helped me," he said, "But now it's gone, and I want to bring it back."

Marissa frowned. "What do you mean, bring it back?" she asked, "You can't go out there again with this Six-Bolt guy on the loose."

"But I promised him I'd come back for him," Phineas protested, "If he hadn't got me out of there I might have been killed by now."

Marissa shook her head. "It's too dangerous."

"Please, I'll be careful, Ferb can come with me, but I have to go out and find Zhalgo," Phineas stared up at Marissa and, sure enough, she melted under his gaze.

"Alright," she said finally, "But take Ferb and Candace with you. It's not safe to be out there on your own."

Phineas nodded. "Come on, Ferb. We have to bring Zhalgo back. We can fix him, can't we?"

Ferb nodded. "We'll do the best we can."

Phineas led Ferb out of the house, with Candace close behind, and after a minute he turned to her. "Where did you find me last night?" he asked, "I wasn't really sure where I was but I know Zhalgo can't be too far from that."

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Candace inquired, "I mean-"

Phineas nodded. "I promised Zhalgo I'd find him and take him home. I can't just leave him out there, anyway. What if that other robot finds him and kills him?"

"Okay, okay, we'll go find your robot friend," Candace put up her hands in defeat, giving Phineas a slightly unnerved look. "Let's just find it and then get home."

Phineas followed her and Ferb back to the edge of Shadowshire's overgrown lawn and then into the trees. Candace didn't quite remember the way they'd come - and even if she had, it was different in the sunlight - but she was certain that Phineas wouldn't let it go until he found that robot he kept mentioning.

After a few minutes she spotted the cliffside that she and Ferb had followed the night before, and she knew she was on the right track. After a minute she saw Phineas dart ahead, but before she could protest she spotted that old pile of scrap that she and Ferb had seen the previous night. This was Phineas' robot friend? It just looked like junk to her.

Then again, most of the boys' inventions did.

"Zhalgo!" Phineas cried, breaking into a run as he spotted the machine's broken remains jutting out of the hard earth. As he neared its head he collapsed onto his knees, reaching a shaky hand out to touch it. Despite his best efforts, tears welled up in his eyes as his fingers brushed Zhalgo's cold steel skin. "Zhalgo," he choked out, "I'm back for you."

There was only silence from Zhalgo. Since Phineas had left it, its power supply had long since run out, leaving it little more than a twisted sculpture in the wilderness.

But now that he was back its eyes slowly gave the faintest glow.