Man, this story is getting intense! Bet you're all dying for this chapter; that was a killer cliffhanger in the last chapter. Good news. This chapter's finally here! And it doesn't have nearly as bad of an ending! Hey, I would know, I wrote it. What I don't know, however, is the lyrics to that upcoming Phineas/Isabella song (I've heard rumors that the word Phinbella is in it, but nothing certain on that yet). I don't own Phineas and Ferb (you don't say...). Oh, and cudos to those who can figure out the song in this chapter. Yes, I used a Phineas and Ferb song for it, but I changed all but like, one line (And only three more - maybe - are partially changed. But the tune was perfect. I couldn't resist).

That being said, enjoy this chapter.

Isabella's POV:

If this situation isn't hopeless, it's about as close as you can get. Not only are we trapped in a cage with no means of escape, this Doofenshmirtz guy is going to use the evil clones he made of us, and, knowing us, he could very well be in full control of the Tri-State Area before the sun goes down.

"You know, those clones could very easily become self-aware right now, and it wouldn't be you in control of the Tri-State Area."

It was Phineas, arguing again. Even in this situation, that boy refuses to admit defeat. I smiled. Some things never change.

"Don't you think I thought of that?" said Doofenshmirtz, turning back to look at Phineas. "Why else would I need leftover parts from the mind control device? So they won't become self-aware."

"I don't know," said Phineas, continuing to resist what everyone else knew as a fact. "From what I've seen of us, we can do great things."

Now, the evil Phineas walked up to him. "Why would I ever disobey Master Doofenshmirtz?" he said.

"Because you can do so much better," replied Phineas. Whatever he had in mind, it had better be good, because I'd much rather see Doofenshmirtz in control than an evil Phineas. Mostly because I can't imagine Phineas being evil, yet here he was, before my very eyes.

"Do you ever disobey your mom?" retorted the other Phineas. The evil Phineas.

"Umm... I don't think so," replied the good one.

"Even though you can do so much better?"

Finally, Phineas - the good one - conceded. I guess he couldn't argue against his own logic.

"I see your point," he said, ending the conversation.

The evil Phineas smiled, having won the argument, and went back to plotting with his master, Doofenshmirtz.

The good Phineas, on the other hand, sighed, and turned around, so he was facing me. He sat down.

"It's no good," he said. "I can't even remember three days of my life, and all I'm going to spend those days doing is helplessly watching Doofenshmirtz take over the Tri-State Area."

I looked at him, unsure of what to say.

"You know," he said, looking up at me. "It's Isabella, right?"

I nodded, grateful that Phineas could remember at least that much.

"You know, Isabella, up until recently, I've been arguing with myself on whether I was happy or sad about getting amnesia. You have to admit, it can be a little strange, having a green-haired stepbrother, a pet platypus, and everyone expecting you to do the impossible. I mean, it's certainly not an ordinary life."

I nodded, finally seeing the point he was making. It's no wonder he was acting the way he did the other day.

"And for a while then, I thought that it was good news, getting amnesia. It gave me a chance to start over."

I looked at him again, my eyes full of worry.

Phineas continued speaking. "But seeing all of you again, all at once, that fills me with a warmth that I... I can't quite explain. It makes me certain, more than ever, that I wouldn't give up my old life, whatever it may have been. I'm sure now that I wouldn't have given it up for anything in the world."

I smiled, truly happy for the first time in... in a long time.

"But now I can't have that life, can I?" Phineas said. "I made my choice too late."

Before I could say anything, Phineas reached into his pocket, and pulled out something.

"This is for you," he said, putting the object into my hand.

I gasped. In my hand was that bracelet I had given him. It felt like such a long time ago, yet it was only the other day.

"Thank you for falling in love with me," Phineas said, quoting the bracelet, which, in turn, was a quote from myself.

"Without that love, I'm not sure if I could have made that decision at all. Look at all your friends."

I did as he said, slowly looking around the room. All around me sat Ferb, Baljeet, Ginger, Gretchen, Candace, Stacey, Jeremy, Pinky, Perry, Buford, Katie, Holly, Adyson, and Irving.

"Just one look at them, and you can tell they love you," Phineas said. "Each and every one of them."

It was hard to disagree with that statement.

"I don't see how anyone can lose faith with that kind of support." Phineas finished.

I began to tear up. Those words, that message. It was so touching. Phineas wrapped his arms around me.

"Love is an incredibly underused word these days," he whispered. "Such a simple one, yet it means so much to anyone who hears it. People need to use it more often."

Once again, Phineas left me speechless.

"Nobody understands how much a simple I love you can mean to anyone. It doesn't even have to be that special someone in your life, it can be a complete stranger who you've barely met. But when you tell them I love you, their hearts fill with joy, with hope. The world would be a much better place if people said that more often."

Finally, I found myself able to speak. "I love you," I said, looking Phineas in the eye. After that speech, there wasn't much else to say.

"I know," Phineas replied. "I love you, too."

And we hugged again, smiling.

No POV:

"All done!" announced the evil Phineas. Everyone gathered around as Phineas put a small bag in their hand, saying something about weapons to each of them as he did so.

"Great," said Doofenshmirtz, once he received his bag. "Now, let's take over the Tri-State Area!"

"Not if I can help it."

That voice came from neither the cage nor any of the supposedly evil clones. Yet it was immediately recognizable. Everyone, good and evil alike, spun around to see who the mysterious speaker was. But they could see nothing, only the shadows.

"Who said that?" yelled the evil Candace into the darkness.

"Who said what?" asked the unidentifiable, yet familiar, voice.

"That," Candace yelled again, quickly growing very scared.

"Ohh..." continued the voice. "You mean me."
"Who are you?" the evil Phineas screamed, trying to hide his fear. "Show yourself!"

"If you insist," answered the voice. And he stepped out of the shadows.

That, however, did not make anyone less scared.

"Who are you?" the evil Phineas asked again, not believing his eyes.

"I'm you," replied Phineas - for that was the unidentifiable voice. "Just from another dimension. And I'm here to save myself."

"Ha!" Doofenshmirtz laughed, having already encountered these particular opponents before. "How can you expect to do that? There's only one of you!"

"Is there?" said the second dimension Phineas cryptically.

All around the evil group, people began stepping out of the shadows. All of them familiar faces, as well. Candace could be recognized, as well as Ferb, Isabella, Buford, and the Fireside Girls (although these particular ones preferred the title of Firestorm Girls). But that wasn't all, as Jeremy, Baljeet, and Perry revealed their presence as well. Already, they had the enemy surrounded.

"It looks like your luck has run out," said Candace (the one from the 2nd dimension).

And they charged.

Immediately, the evil clones took a defensive stance, forming a ring around Doofenshmirtz facing all directions. And, before any of the second dimension rescue team could make a move, the enemy struck.

It was the evil Phineas, who had stepped up as the ringleader of all the evil clones. With a flick of his hand, he sent a stream of air right at his second dimension counterpart, who, in turn, was sent flying into the wall. Then, before anyone else could retaliate, he downed Ferb in a similar manner.

It was then that the fight truly begun. Everyone from the other dimension had reached the evil clones, and were doing their best to neutralize them. The evil Phineas, however, was approaching the two stepbrothers he had downed only seconds earlier, both of whom were lying against a far wall. He raised his hand for a finishing blow, a staff materializing in it as he did so.

"This is it," he said, victoriously. "The end of the great Phineas Flynn."

Before striking the stepbrothers, however, the evil Phineas hesitated, as if he was just realizing something. "It's ironic, isn't it," he began. "How I'm the harbinger of my own destruction, technically speaking?"

He didn't wait for a response, and swung his staff towards the two brothers. He never reached them.

Out of nowhere, another wooden staff appeared, preventing the evil Phineas from hitting his alternate self.

"Nobody touches my brothers," a very mad Candace said.

Phineas' clone didn't miss a beat. "Well, it looks like I'm going to take care of the whole family tonight," he said, lifting his staff and turning it towards Candace.

"You will try," Candace replied, finding no better words to say than that Star Wars quote. And she attacked.

Phineas proved to be quite capable with a bow staff, blocking Candace's first flurry of attacks without too much trouble. He then launched a quick counterattack, swinging his staff at Candace's legs.

The teenage girl, however, saw the blow coming, and leaped into the air, performing a flip over Phineas. In midair, she tried to make contact with his head, but the younger boy ducked, and the staff swung harmlessly over his head.

As soon as Candace landed, Phineas spun around, letting loose another of those jet streams of air that had sent his alternate selves flying. But Candace was quick, sidestepping, avoiding the shot completely. The shot, as it turns out, knocked the evil Buford off of his second dimension counterpart, and the two continued fighting.

Phineas shrugged, and lunged at Candace again.

This time, however, it was Candace defending Phineas' relentless string of attacks, all of which were only enhanced by the other gadgets Phineas had on hand, and was attacking Candace with whenever he had the chance.

Eventually, Candace found the time to pull a smoke grenade from her jacket, and let it go. While the evil Phineas was trying to clear the smoke, Candace used her grappling hooks to pull herself up towards the ceiling. Then she let go, falling right on top of Phineas.

She missed. As soon as she touched the evil Phineas, his image faltered, then disappeared completely.

"Hologram," Phineas explained, stepping out of the shadows. He then proceeded to strike Candace on the head, knocking her out.

When Candace came to, she found herself trapped in a cage. Indeed, she was trapped in the same cage as everyone from the first dimension. Looking around, however, she saw not only her friends from the first dimension, but her own dimension as well.

Behind her, she heard a soft chuckle. Spinning around, she saw the evil Phineas.

"Funny," he said. "I expected more of a challenge from you."

With that, he locked the cage, and turned away.

Defeated, Candace sighed, and turned around.

"What happened?" she asked.

"We couldn't do it," replied the Isabella from her dimension. "The fight was over not long after Phineas knocked you out. They were just too strong. At best, we delayed them a few hours by destroying their equipment."

"And our best just wasn't enough," finished Candace, gravely.

"It's okay," Candace - the one from this dimension - said. "You tried."

"No," insisted the Phineas from the other dimension. "It's not okay."

And, for some inexplicable reason, he began singing.

Well, I don't know how to say it
So I'll just try and relay it
Can we ever be okay if
Everything has gone so wrong?

At this point, the Isabella from the second dimension joined in, echoing Phineas' words.

Should we still keep on believing?
Find a goal; try and achieve it?
Have we yet to be defeated?
Can we still keep going strong?

The second dimension Candace, who had a knack for understanding the situation quickly, also began singing now.

But we didn't win the war
And it feels like before
That we could have, yes, we should have
Done much more...

As the song escalated, the rest of the people from the second dimension joined in.

Put my heart into the fight,
But though I fought with all my might,
Everything didn't work out right,
I'm feeling helpless like before...

Don't want to sound too stoic
But right now, I just don't know if
I can be that great heroic
Kid the world's asking for...

At this point, the singers faded out again, leaving just the Candace and Isabella from the second dimension to finish it.

Don't know how I can help...
Don't know how I can help...
Don't know how I can help...

Don't know how I can help... (I don't know how I can help...)
Don't know how I can help... (I don't know how I can help out...)
Don't know how I can help... (I don't know how I can help now...)

I don't know...
Don't know how I can help
...how I can help you guys.

And everyone, even those from the first dimension, felt the same way. Helpless.

Of course, Doofenshmirtz chose this moment to drag the ultimate-evil-duplicate-inator over to the cage again.

"I just realized I can make evil clones out of you guys, too," he said, looking in the general direction of the characters from the other dimension.

And he fired.

And that's another long chapter. Believe it or not, the last five chapters of this story (including this one) are the five longest of the story, though not in the same order posted (chapter 10 - reflections - still holds the record by almost triple). Oh, to those of you who caught on to my cliffhanger in the last chapter, and figured out the second dimension was comin to save them, did you ever think they would fail? Ha! Another twist! How will they escape now? Will they escape? Cudos to anyone who can answer those questions before I can reveal all.

Additional. Does anyone other than me know what happened to Doofenshmirtz (from the first dimension?)

Additional Additional. Did anyone else like that Phinbella moment at the start of the chapter?

Additional Additional Additional. Please - please - read and review.