Wow. Haven't updated this thung since December. It's now March. If you want to ask, I have a long explanation for that, but ask me on your own time - with a pm or review. Because I need to get to the next chapter of this story. And you probably want to read it. Thus, TA-DA!
The sun had still not risen that morning, but already the streets were full of life.
There was a group of kids walking in front of a giant purple building. And another group sneaking up behind them.
One of the spying children looked into the distance, at a window in a building. A light shone from it. That was the signal.
The boy whispered a command into his walkie talkie, and all at once, every kid in the area charged at the group walking down the street.
"Stop where you are!" the leader—Phineas-2—yelled.
The group jumped, startled, and did as they were told.
"We have you surrounded," continued the redhead from the other dimension, closing in on the other group, which, he noted, the other Phineas-2—the good one—was a part of.
"Drop your weapons," continued the evil Phineas-2.
The group dropped their weapons.
"All of them."
The pile of weapons on the floor doubled.
"Now," said the Phineas-2 in control, "I want you all to turn around very slowly."
The captured group turned around. All except for Jeremy-2.
"You know," the alternate-dimension blond remarked, "it's actually quite funny."
"What?" spat the evil Phineas-2.
Jeremy-2 laughed. "Oh, it's nothing."
Phineas-2, however was too intrigued by this now. "I demand that you tell me. What's so funny?!"
Jeremy-2 attempted to dodge the question. "Oh, you wouldn't get the joke, anyways."
"Get what joke? Tell me!"
"All right," said Jeremy-2. "If you insist."
"I do insist!"
Finally, Jeremy conceded. "You're just as oblivious as the Phineas from this dimension."
"Why?" asked the evil Phineas-2.
"Because you failed to notice that you're the ones who are surrounded."
The effect this had on Phineas-2 was unmistakeable. Immediately, he looked up to a certain window in a certain building, knowing he had positioned a sentry there as a precaution. In that moment, there was a yell, and a Firestorm Girl - one of the duplicated ones - fell headfirst out of that very window, like she had been pushed from behind.
The once-trapped group quickly dropped to the ground and picked up their weapons, immediately pointing them at the gang of doppelgangers.
"Hands up," said Buford-2.
Everybody evil looked around for some sign of backup, but instead found only evidence to the contrary. Their sentries in the neighboring buildings had been replaced by accomplices of the other side's. No alarms had been raised, or could be raised. There were no pedestrians walking down the street. They were well and truly trapped.
"Oh," said Jeremy-2 in mock sympathy. "Did you really think it would be that easy?"
"Actually," whispered the good Phineas-2 to his stepbrother. "I thought our part would be harder."
Ferb-2 nodded in agreement.
"What are you going to do?" spat the other Phineas-2 - the now-surrounded one.
"We're gonna go home," replied his less artificial counterpart, pulling a charge of some sort out of his pocket and planting it firmly in the ground.
"Once this baby blows," he explained, "every living thing in range will be vaporized, and reappear in our dimension."
"Took me all night to make it."
Nobody could do anything as the Firestorm Girls rounded up everyone and tied them together, their backs to the charge.
Phineas-2, however, suppressed a smile as the ropes wrapped around his hand. They foolishly hadn't taken all his weapons.
Silently, but deftly, he maneuvered a small blade into the palm of his hand, then clenched it closed. That was all he would need.
"And now," said Isabella-2, pulling the last rope tight, "for the finishing touch."
Out of nowhere, a small helicopter appeared overhead, with a magnet of sorts attached to it, dangling by a string.
Candace-2, the girl in the helicopter, flipped a switch, and leaped out of the helicopter.
The effects were immediate - not even Phineas-2's impressive grip could stop the switchblade from flying upwards toward the magnet, as well as all of his accomplices' weapons. Then, inexplicably, the helicopter imploded, taking with it all the weapons, and leaving behind nothing but empty air.
"Nice entrance," Jeremy-2 said.
"Thanks," replied Candace-2 indifferently. Then, with a nod to the hostages, she asked, "Are they secure?"
"Yep."
"Then all we have left to do is wait." She looked up at the balcony of the purple building, and for the first time since arriving in this dimension, felt that all was not lost.
Phineas looked at Candace. "Are you sure you're up for this?"
"Certain," his sister replied. "We all are."
"But it's dangerous. Especially for you."
"Phineas," urged Candace. "I promise that no harm will come to me or anyone else." They all knew the plan - they were to attack the building with every invention in their arsenal, drawing out as many people as they could. Only a small strike team (Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Perry, it was decided) was actually supposed actually get into the building, where the final challenge undoubtedly awaited them. Everyone else was there just to handle whoever came out.
Phineas tried to protest again. "But-"
"But nothing," said Meap, stepping into the scene. "You owe us nothing."
"Phineas," Isabella said, grabbing his hand gently. "You have your job, and they have theirs. It's not your job to worry about them."
She choked up a little at her own words. The sounded so cold, so unforgiving. She didn't mean them that way.
Ferb nodded in agreement. "We do what we must."
Perry chattered. He knew from experience that, ultimately, what he was supposed to do would work out better for everyone.
A voice crackled in on Candace's radio. It was her alternate dimension self.
"We've finished," the voice said. "You ready?"
Candace looked up at Phineas.
He nodded.
"Yep," she answered back into the radio. "Let's do this thing."
Buford knew that there would be a challenge outside the doors. That's what Doof and Doof had told him (and everyone else with him) to confront. But he was quite unprepared for the speed and ferocity of the assault.
No sooner had he opened the doors than a herd of mechanical bulls came charging through, and his entire team barely had enough time to leap out of the way.
Then came the spinning tops. After the bulls zoomed past, and through the far wall, Buford led the charge outside to set up a perimeter around the doors - the only logical entrance to the building.
A super-charged spinning top slammed into him before he could, knocking him clear across the street, where robots that bore a striking resemblance to Phineas and Ferb awaited.
They rode in on the carts of a rollercoaster, and grabbed Buford as they flew by. Then they dropped him at the top of the next incline.
Into the jaws of a shark.
Once the mechanical mouth had sufficiently thrown Buford around, it dropped him onto the ground, alive, but thoroughly beaten and bruised.
He only had enough time to confirm that he wasn't bleeding when a glass dome rose up around him.
He felt an engine turn on, and suddenly the very earth he was sitting on rose up into the air, and flew into space, towards a very distinctive, triangular space station.
Once on the space station, a few more Phineas-droids and Ferb-bots grabbed him by the limbs and stuffed him into a container labeled Data Collection.
Having a minute to collect himself, Buford permitted himself to groan in pain and frustration.
After that, Buford just waited for the next infernal invention to knock him around like a cat playing with yarn. He was unprepared for the voice.
"You too?" Suzy asked from somewhere underneath him.
Back on earth, the other clones weren't faring much better.
Isabella, for one, had been thrown onto the tail of a giant robotic platypus, then sent soaring through the air. She landed painfully on the horn of a flying unicorn, piloted by none other then Ginger the Fireside Girl.
Mockingly, she saluted the evil Isabella, then dropped her onto a red velvet chair.
Despite not feeling pain from the fall (the chair was rather cushiony), the evil Isabella instantly felt a nauseating, unfamiliar feeling in her gut, and instinctively, she held onto the chair for dear life. When that pain subsided, she looked up, and saw none other than the glistening white teeth of a Jurassic dinosaur.
All over the place, the summer's inventions were demonstrating their prowess over the artificial creations of a certain Heinz Doofenshmirtz (or two) and his (or their) cloning device. Very soon, the battle would be won.
But most importantly, the strike team had made it through the current onslaught unscathed.
Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and Perry had ridden in on the undersides of the bulls as soon as the doors opened. Now they were making their way silently up the stairs (the elevator was marked Out of Order) to the thirty-eighth floor.
Silently, they creeped up to the door, so that they were standing right in front of it.
Then, with a terrific crash, Perry kicked open the door, revealing... an empty room.
Nobody in sight. Suddenly, Phineas and Ferb were wary of a trap. Just like last time.
They looked around, carefully examining the walls, ceiling, and floor.
Every tile they stepped on, they tested first with their staffs. They had made it all of ten steps when Ferb inexplicably collapsed, clutching his knee.
"Ferb!" Phineas screamed, immediately alert. He knelt down to his stepbrother's aid. With their attention focused on Ferb, nobody noticed the blade headed for Perry's arm until the platypus made a noise he had never made before - a cry of pain.
Instantly, Phineas' attention had swung from his brother to his pet. In doing this, he failed to notice the ceiling disappear, and get replaced by an iron cage. Isabella knelt down next to Perry, opposite Phineas. That's when the redheaded boy heard the turning of gears.
He looked up, and saw the cage lowering upon them incredibly fast.
He only had enough time to do one thing.
"Isabella!" he screamed, and lunged for the girl. Violently, he shoved her out of the way of the falling cage.
It landed with an extreme thud.
Isabella was not in it. But Phineas, Ferb, and Perry were.
Quickly, Phineas sorted through every tool in his arsenal, looking for something that would break the iron bars of this cage. There was nothing.
"I can't do it," he told Isabella through the bars. "I can't open the cage."
Isabella stood up and tried the same thing, but her own attempts also proved fruitless.
Then the slow-clapping began, and two people in lab coats emerged from the shadows, side by side.
Whew, another chapter come and gone. This story is almost over. Next chapter, then the one after that, then the epilogue. All I have to do is the formatting, and I can post them. But before I do, you should review.