Phineas and Ferb Save the Disneyverse – Chapter 9: Trouble's Way of Finding Us
A/N: Well, well, well. In this chapter, Phineas and the boys are going to arrive in the Pridelands. Meanwhile, the girls might end up getting stuck in a little pickle of their own! Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story belong to the Disney company, except for the ones I have made up.
Phineas walked out of the portal and found himself standing in the great African savannah, otherwise known as the Pridelands. "Wow," he said.
The grassy plains were wide and extensive. A few acacia trees dotted the plains and in the distance, a herd of zebra and wildebeest could be seen grazing. A giraffe was nearby as well, using its long neck to reach high into the treetops to reach the leaves.
"This reminds me of our last trip to Africa," Baljeet said.
"You've been to Africa before?" Jay asked.
"Yes, but we did not come to the Pridelands."
"You don't think we're gonna run into any 'dangerous' predators, do you?" Carlos asked. "I've never been to Africa, but I'm pretty sure lions, hyenas, cheetahs and leopards are lurking everywhere."
"Don't worry about it," Buford told him. "If something tries to bite you, just punch it in the nose."
Perry chattered.
"How are we gonna find that mirror piece here?" Jay asked. "It's an endless sea of grass out here."
"Someone must have seen something," Phineas said. "We'll just have to ask around until we find–"
"Pumba, Pumba, Pumba," said a voice from nearby. "How many times have I gotta tell ya to look before you leap!"
"Sorry."
Perry and Phineas exchanged knowing glances.
"I know that voice anywhere," Phineas said.
Phineas, Ferb, Perry, Buford, Baljeet, Jay and Carlos walked through some shrubbery until they found a meerkat standing at the base of a tree. A warthog meanwhile had gotten his front half embedded in that same tree. Perry walked up to the meerkat and chattered.
"Hey, what are you?" the meerkat asked. "Some kind of beaver-duck thing?"
"Uh, Timon?" Pumba asked. "A little help please?"
"I'm working on it, Pumba. Say, beaver-duck guy, I don't suppose you can help me get Pumba unstuck."
Perry shrugged.
"We can help," Jay said, crossing his arms.
"Who are you guys?" Timon asked. "I don't think we've seen you in the Pridelands before."
"I'm Phineas," Phineas said, "this is my brother Ferb, and here is Jay, Carlos, Buford, Baljeet and you've already met Perry the platypus."
"Well I'm Timon, and this is my best friend Pumba."
"Timon, do we have guests?" Pumba asked.
"Yes, we've got guests Pumba." He turned to the others. "We've got to get him outta there."
"Allow us," Jay said.
He and Buford pulled on Pumba's legs until he popped out of the tree trunk.
"Aw thanks guys," Pumba said.
"How did you get stuck in that tree in the first place?" Baljeet asked.
"Turns out there were so many juicy grubs just underneath the wood that you can hear 'em crawling around in there," Timon explained. "So Pumba dove headfirst into the tree trunk." Timon walked over to the hole where Pumba had been stuck. "Jackpot! There's grubs all inside this thing."
"Grubs, grubs, grubs, grubs, grubs!" Pumba said.
Timon grabbed a handful of slimy, squirming grubs and ate them. "Tastes like chicken."
"Ew!" Carlos said. "You guys actually eat bugs?"
"Of course," Timon said. "Grubs are great."
"And they're full of protein," Pumba added.
"Here, take a few." Timon held a handful of grubs to their guests.
Perry chattered and grabbed some.
"Platypuses eat bugs?" Jay asked.
"Yeah," Phineas said. "Usually mealworms, but they have a diverse diet."
"Hey Timon," Pumba said with a mouth full of grubs. "Did you know that platypus are one of only two mammals that lay eggs."
"Don't be ridiculous, Pumba. Multiple platypus are pronounced 'platypi'."
"I thought they were pronounced 'platypuses'," Buford said.
"I am pretty sure it's just 'platypus'," said Baljeet.
"I'll take a few of 'em grubs," Buford said.
"Ew! Buford!" Phineas told him.
"What? They're good." Buford ate one. "High in protein, you know."
"Anyways," Timon said. "What brings you all to the Pridelands?"
"We're from Danville, in the Tri-State Area," Phineas explained. "And Jay and Carlos here are from Auradon Prep."
"Isn't that the princess and prince boarding school in Auradon?" Timon asked.
"That's the one. Maleficent tried to steal the Magic Mirror out of the Museum of Cultural History and in doing so, it broke into six pieces. Five of those six pieces were magically transported to a couple different places far from Auradon."
"And one of them landed here in the Pridelands," Jay said.
"Magic Mirror? Pumba, you see any magic mirrors around here?"
"'Fraid not, guys," Pumba said. "Hey! Timon, we should help them find the piece of the mirror?"
"And have that evil fairy Maleficent after us too? No way!"
"Please, Timon?"
Perry chattered.
Timon sighed. "Ah fine. Whatever."
"We do not even know where to start searching," Baljeet said.
"Why don't we go and ask Rafiki?" Pumba offered.
"Forget it, Pumba," Timon told him. "That ole monkey doesn't know a thing." Then he snapped his fingers. "Oh! I've got an idea! Why don't we go ask Rafiki if he's seen a piece of the magic mirror floating around anywhere."
Carlos winced. "Didn't Pumba just say that?"
"Where is Rafiki from here?" Phineas asked.
"He's at the Tree of Life," Timon explained. "Pumba and I will get you there."
"Stacy," Candace said, "do you remember anything that cat said about my brothers?"
"I think he said something about your brothers' inventions disappearing," Stacy answered.
Candace, Stacy, Mal, Evie and Isabella were still walking through Tugly Wood on their way to the Mad Hatter's place. Candace knew the Cheshire cat had mentioned something about why her brothers' inventions kept disappearing, but she couldn't remember what.
"What's this about your brothers?" Mal asked. "Phineas and Ferb, right?"
"Yeah," Candace said. "See, my brothers spend the entire summer building crazy inventions. I try to get Mom to see what they're doing, but their inventions always disappear before she sees them."
"It can't be that bad," Evie said. "I mean, don't you think they're a little young to build anything too extreme."
"You'd be surprised what they can do," Candace replied.
"Yeah," Isabella agreed. "They've built a roller coaster, a beach in the backyard, a time machine, a giant bowling ball..."
Stacy added, "...a s'winter wonderland, a giant robot dog, robot treehouses, and they were one-hit wonders...
"...and they built a rocketship," Candace continued, "a rainbow-inator, a Hockey Z-9 court, a giant tire swing, a tooth-themed amusement park ride, a sorbet machine that turns people into bugs..."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Mal said. "Wait, you're telling me your brothers – Phineas and Ferb – built all that stuff?"
"Yep. And for some strange reason, whenever I try to get Mom to see it, it disappears!"
"How does an amusement park ride disappear?" Evie asked.
"That seems a little impossible," Alice said.
"You have no idea."
"Hey! I remember," Stacy said. "The Cheshire cat said something about Doofenshmirtz being responsible for making your brothers' inventions disappear."
Candace frowned. "Why would he make my brother's inventions disappear?" The other girls shrugged. "Whatever the reason, if we run into him, I'll have to find out." She gasped. "Maybe I can finally bust my brothers this summer after all! YES! Then I've only got two more life goals left!"
"And what are those?" Alice asked.
"Marry Jeremy and have three kids."
"Jeremy's her boyfriend," Stacy whispered.
"Here's the Mad Hatter's place," Alice told the others.
Alice led the others to a wooden gate. She opened the gate to reveal a long table covered with tea pots and cups and surrounded by chairs. At the opposite end of the table, they saw a brown hare with buckteeth, a red suit and a white cottontail and a short man wearing a tall green hat.
"Excuse me, Mr. Mad Hatter!" Alice called.
The Mad Hatter and March Hare looked up from their tea.
"Why, Alice!" Mad Hatter said. "You're back!"
"About time you came back here," March Hare agreed. "We just started our unbirthday party."
"Just started?" Stacy asked. "Did they ever stop?"
"Hello you two," Alice said begrudgingly.
"Won't you and your friends sit down for a cub of tea?" Mad Hatter asked. "It's right off the stove top!"
"Hey," Mal said, "don't mean to cut the party short but we don't have time to chat. We just need–"
"You can't come to a tea party without a cup of tea, you know," March Hare said. "It's rude."
"I'll say it's rude," Mad Hatter said. "It's very, very rude indeed."
From inside a tea pot, a little mouse poked its head out and said, "It's very, very rude indeed."
"I'm actually not much of a tea drink–" Mal said.
Alice nudged her with her elbow. "Actually, we will all have tea." She then whispered to Mal, "That could have brought on additional 20 minutes of chitchat. Believe me!"
Alice, Isabella, Candace, Stacy, Mal and Evie all sat down at the table while March Hare poured them tea.
"Just half a cup," Evie said. March Hare grabbed a cup and filled it to the brim. He then grabbed a knife, cut the cup in half and handed 'half a cup' to Evie. Evie winced. "Um...how is this even scientifically possible?"
"So what brings you all to our neck of the woods?" Mad Hatter asked with a chuckle.
"OK, listen," Candace said. "We're trying to get to the Queen of Hearts' Castle cause the Cheshire–"
Alice covered her mouth. "Don't use that word," Alice told her.
"Oh, right. Anyway, we just need directions to the Queen of Hearts' Castle."
"Why would you need to go there?" March Hare asked.
Isabella answered, "We need to find–"
"Clean cup! Clean cup!" Mad Hatter exclaimed. "Everybody move down!"
"I haven't even finished mine," Mal uttered.
"You heard him!" Mad Hatter said. "Move down, move down, move down, move down!"
Everyone moved further down the table and took a seat.
"How are we supposed to get an answer out of this guy?" Candace asked.
"I don't think it's possible to get a straight answer from anyone in Wonderland," Alice said.
"The only straight answer around here," Mad Hatter said gleefully, "is 'yes' or 'no' to a cup of tea." He chuckled again. "Oh how I love tea!"
"Anyway!" Candace bellowed. "We need your help, guys."
"Quite right," March Hare stated. "Where were we again?"
"We just needed directions to the Queen of Hearts' Castle," Stacy told them. "Then you guys can get back to your birthday party."
"Birthday? My dear child, this is not a birthday party."
"It's an unbirthday party!" Mad Hatter agreed.
"Yes, yes, yes," Candace said. "It's everybody's unbirthday. We get that. But could you please tell us–"
"It's everyone's unbirthday?! That's mighty good news. Why, I feel a song coming on!"
Alice slapped her forehead. "Here we go again."
"I'll be right back," Mad Hatter announced as he ran into his house.
("The Unbirthday Song")
(Mad Hatter reappears with a giant unbirthday cake)
Mad Hatter: Statistics prove, prove that you've one birthday.
March Hare: Imagine, just one birthday every year.
Mad Hatter: But there are 364 unbirthdays. Precisely why we've gathered here to cheer!
(Mad Hatter sits the cake on the table in front of Candace)
Candace: Wait! What? No! We don't have time for–
Mad Hatter: A very merry unbirthday to you.
March Hare: To you.
Mad Hatter: A very merry unbirthday.
March Hare: For you!
Mad Hatter: For you! Now blow the candle out my dear
And make your wish come true!
(Candace groans and blows out the candles on the cake. The cake explodes and a white and red rose appeared in its place)
Candace frowned as she picked up the rose. Scrutinizing it, she saw that the rose was made out of playing cards, complete with pictures of the king, queen and joker on the pedals.
"What's this supposed to be?" Isabella asked.
"Hm..." Mad Hatter said. "I'll have to look into this." He grabbed a magnifying glass from underneath his hat and looked closely at the rose. "Hm, that's not supposed to be there."
March Hare gasped. "Say, that looks like the Queen of Hearts' Flower of Cards."
"Flower of Cards?" Mal asked.
"I've never heard of that," Alice said. "What is it?"
At that moment, a troop of human-sized playing card soldiers stormed into the Mad Hatter's backyard. One who looked like he might be in charge of the troop approached the Mad Hatter.
"Mad Hatter," the card leader began, "the Queen of Hearts' Flower of Cards has gone missing and we have reason to believe it has landed somewhere in this vicinity."
"It's definitely not here," Mad Hatter said. "But since you happened by, how about a nice cup of–"
"There it is!" one of the soldiers shouted. He pointed to Candace, who was holding the Flower of Cards.
Candace instantly dropped the flower. "Hey, this thing magically appeared here! I have nothing to do with it going missing!"
"Don't worry about them," March Hare explained, "they're innocent."
But the card leader captain didn't buy it. "You five, get your hands up!" He then addressed his men. "Arrest that bunch immediately!"
"Trouble has a way of finding us," Mal said, "doesn't it?"
A/N: Strange things happen in Wonderland, don't they? As if Isabella, Stacy, Candace, Mal and Evie didn't have enough trouble on their hands, now they're found guilty of stealing the Flower of Cards. How will they get out of this pickle? Find out in Chapter 10 when I publish it next week! As always, favorite, follow and post a comment in the review section below so you'll know when the next chapter is up! As always, carpe diem!