Chapter 21
"Doofenshmirtz Educational Institution," Baljeet read, his neck craning to see the letters high above them. "I thought I was familiar with every institution of learning in this city, but apparently I was wrong."
"I've been here before," Buford remarked.
"What? How could you have been to an education oriented facility and I have not?"
"Dunno. Maybe it's new."
"Well, whatever has happened to the schools, this place is behind it. Let us see what is inside."
The two boys walked in through the front door to a wide open lobby and headed for an elevator to their left. "It's on the top floor," Buford said.
"How do you know?" Baljeet asked.
"I told ya, I've been here before. And, that's where the white building is sitting—on top."
"Oh, of course, I should have known," Baljeet said. They pushed the button to take them up. As the doors to the elevator encased them, a brightly colored Neddlington Nymph pulled to the front of the building.
"This is the place," Monty told the others as they climbed out of the car and walked through the door. "We'll take the elevator, it's a long way up." Monty pushed the button to call the lift while the others caught him. It was a short wait until the doors opened, and the four climbed in. As they ascended, they listened to the elevator music playing softly in the background.
{Bow chika bow-wow, that's what my baby says!
Mow-mow-mow! And my heart starts pumping!}
An optimistic ding! chimed and the doors split open, revealing a hallway with two boys standing with confused looks. "Baljeet? Buford?" Phineas called.
The two turned to see Phineas, Ferb, Candace, and another teenage boy they didn't know, stepping out of the elevator they were just in a minute ago. "Phineas! How did you find us?" Baljeet asked, as he and Buford walked over to join the gang.
"I don't really know."
"Who are these guys?" Monty asked.
"A couple of dweebs," Candace muttered.
Phineas didn't seem to hear Candace's sarcastic remark. "These are our friends, Baljeet and Buford. You guys, this is Monty, we met him after sending you guys down to find out about the schools. Hey, that reminds me! What did you find out about the schools?" Phineas asked.
"They're gone," Buford reported succinctly.
"Right. Anything else?" Phineas asked again.
"I ran some calculations when we were looking around," Baljeet answered. "I discovered that although we cannot detect the schools palpably or visually, I did find that their gravitational influence is still present. That meant they were still there, or at least nearby. It took a lot of number crunching to be precise enough to know for sure. Then, Buford saw City Hall resting atop this purple building, and I concluded that someone inside this building is twisting the dimensions of space and time to alter the location of the buildings. It was then that I realized that the schools are sitting somewhere nearby, probably only inches away from their usual resting place. However, we cannot see them because they were somehow shifted to the fourth dimension. That is what happened to the schools!"
"Sounds exactly like the kind of prank Doofenshmirtz would pull," Monty said. "That theory makes perfect sense. Will you guys be able to reverse it?" he asked Phineas.
"I think we can," Phineas replied. "We'll need to grab some parts, but everything we'll need is aboard our park."
"Perfect. Then you guys go there, grab the parts you need, and land the ship while it still has power. While you do that, I'll handle Doofenshmirtz," Monty said.
"Alone? No way, we can help you!" Phineas protested.
"It'll be okay, I've trained for this my whole life. I don't want to put you guys into harm's way if I don't have to, you have already helped me out tremendously," Monty insisted. "Hurry, it's already getting late."
"Are you sure?" Phineas asked one more time.
"Absolutely. Go!"
The group turned and headed back for the elevator. As it opened, they entered and turned back to say good-bye to Monty. He waved back until the doors closed, then turned to walk down the empty hallway. There were several doors on each side of the hall. One door stood out; white painted letters spelled the words Heinz Doofenshmirtz: Your Leader on its front.
"This one's it," Monty said, heading for the door. "Are you going to join me, Agent P?"
Agent P peeked around the plant he was hiding behind, amazed that Monty had seen him.
"C'mon, between both of us, Doofenshmirtz doesn't stand a chance."
"You will be taken to your parents," the chief of police explained to his captives. "By order of Emperor Doofenshmirtz, summer vacation is now over, and you will be sent to mandatory schooling and reform at the new Doofenshmirtz Educational Institution. There will be no more summer festivities, parties, or socials. Instead, we are setting a curfew for the rest of summer, during which all children are required to stay indoors. You will report tomorrow morning to Doofenshmirtz Educational Institution for instruction and are not allowed to do anything else whatsoever." He looked down the line of tied teenage prisoners. "Dismissed!"
The youngsters were taken in groups down the elevator to ground level. Then they were conveyed across the city to their several homes and turned over to their parents. All parents were instructed to send their children to D.E.I. for classes on the morrow, and the police escorts headed back to take another shuttle of delinquents. The system smoothly kept a steady flow in and out of the sky-park, keeping order and preventing any further uprising. Slightly ahead of schedule, all the rioters had been brought home, leaving the sky-park empty as the final shafts of light streaked across the sky in the minutes before the sun would sink below the western horizon.
Isabella lay curled up in a ball at the foot of her bed, a dozen or so used Kleenex tissues scattered around her lifeless body. She was wracked with shuddering chills as she again thought of the last thing her mother had told her: she wasn't allowed to see Phineas ever again. It had been the saddest moment of her life.
It had only happened a short while earlier that evening, but she felt like she had lain here in the fetal position for hours. Pinky had come in not long ago, sensing something was wrong, but she ignored his attempts to get her attention. He had given up and fallen asleep in his bed, waiting until she was ready to be comforted. But nothing could comfort Isabella now. Not when her whole world had been shattered.
"Oh, Phineas," Isabella whispered softly, "how could I lose you?" It required so much energy just to say that much that she spoke no more. She would have cried again, but her tear ducts were dry as a desert. And she didn't have enough strength left to cry, anyway. She had become a worn out shell, a feeble tabernacle for the love that would never know fulfillment. She shut her eyes against the pain, burying her face deeper into her arms.
Phineas isn't coming back, the poor girl moped to herself. He and the others are probably having some big adventure without me, finding the schools and playing on the sky-park, not even giving me a second thought. I didn't even get a chance to say goodbye. Her insides twisted and clenched, her emotions growing harder and harder to bear.
He doesn't even like me, a voice whispered somewhere in her mind. He never even notices me. He is always more interested in his projects and inventions. He doesn't care about me.
That's not true! Another voice contended. He's the most caring person I've ever met!
But, her thoughts struggled, then why has he forgotten me so soon? Rather than think about it, Isabella pulled her knees in tighter and tried to empty her mind of all thought. But that just made her feel worse, and she almost started to cry again.
It was at this moment when Isabella sank into the deepest, most wretched sorrow of her life. Heartbroken, exhausted, she would have shortly given in to melancholy slumber, had not her door opened and Gretchen walked in, denying Isabella her tenuous peace.
"Where have you been, fearless leader?" Gretchen asked. "Our troop has been waiting for you!"
Isabella didn't move. "I'm not up to doing any Fireside Girls stuff tonight," she said without even opening her eyes.
After all the things Gretchen knew had gone wrong today, she again saw something was wrong with her troop leader. She sat down on the bed and put a hand on Isabella's shoulder. "What's wrong? Have you been crying?" she asked, having just noticed the litter.
Isabella stirred at the touch, feeling the warmth of her friend's hand. "Today is the worst day of my life. My Mom has forbidden me from seeing Phineas ever again!" Isabella placed her head in Gretchen's lap and found a new reserve of tears. Gretchen reached for a fresh Kleenex and gently wiped the moisture from Isabella's cheeks.
After giving Isabella time to regain control, Gretchen asked, "Why would your mom do that?"
"Because the cops took us home from the park and convinced my Mom that Phineas and Ferb were doing something wrong when it really wasn't their fault, so she doesn't want me being around them anymore," Isabella was able to say without crying this time.
"Harsh," was all Gretchen could say. She rubbed Isabella's back as silence descended, broken only by Isabella's sniffs.
"The reason we were having a meeting," Gretchen said quietly, almost to herself, "was because some scary things have been happening. Somebody's trying to claim that they're emperor of the Tri-State Area. There are rumors that a lot of laws are being changed, so the girls met to talk about forming a resistance." Gretchen was only trying to explain her purpose for coming, but instantly realized Isabella was too distraught to care about anything right now. Oh, that was insensitive to say! What was I thinking?
"What if we found a way to change your mom's mind?" Gretchen tried.
Isabella perked up at that. "You guys would do that for me?"
"Of course we would, you're our leader," Gretchen assured with a kind squeeze. "We'd do anything for you."
It was a tight jam for five people to fit in the car, but with Buford in the passenger seat, the three small boys in the back weren't too uncomfortably squashed. Candace drove carefully towards the Elevator to the Coolness located at Danville Main Street Park, cautious because she still wasn't completely confident in her driving capabilities. When they arrived at the park, they saw fewer police cars than had been there earlier, but still enough to make them uneasy. They still remembered the feeling of being on the cops' bad side. Slowly approaching the park, Candace wondered if the police would be happy to see her driving so many children with only a learner's permit.
As she feared, she was hailed by a nearby officer who was patrolling from the street. She braked to let him walk up and talk to her.
"Good evening, Missy," the officer spoke in a southern drawl. "For what reason would you be drivin' around this fine city when there happens to be a curfew in place for the rest of summer?"
"A curfew?" Candace asked. "I didn't know about any curfew."
"Yes, ma'am, Emperor Doofenshmirtz placed a curfew earlier today; no children are allowed to be outside for the duration of summer."
"That's terrible!" Phineas spoke up from the backseat. "Why would anyone want to put a curfew on summer? How would anybody have any fun?"
"That's the idea, m'boy," the officer said. "Fun is dangerous, Emperor Doofenshmirtz is doing this for your own protection. How else would he be such a wise and beneficial leader?"
"But what about creativity? What about building and learning? What about freedom and growth?" Phineas responded.
"Oh, there'll be plenty of opportunity for all that, when y'all attend his special school he has prepared for special children like you. Now, again, what's yer business drivin' about when there is a strict curfew?" he asked Candace once more.
"Um, we need to ride that lift to the sky-park?" Candace tried.
"I'm sorry ma'am, but that is forbidden. I'll have to ask you to exit the vehicle and come with me. I need to get you children home to where you belong."
Candace glanced at Phineas in her rear-view mirror, who shook his head. "Um, yeah, no, I really need to get aboard that ship," she said, only slightly more firmly.
The officer inserted both thumbs in his belt and said, "I told you, you aren't doin' that. Now please exit the vehicle or y'all will be in serious trouble."
"Step on it!" Phineas yelled in Candace's ear. "Get us away from here!" Candace stomped on the gas pedal and the car streaked down the street.
The cop reached for his radio. "I got a group a' kids who are driving a color-changing classic car eastbound from Main Street Park, yessir, they're drivin' very fast and dangerous, I need backup, over." He jumped into his car, turned on the flashers, and gave chase.
"He is following us!" Baljeet informed the others.
"I know! Let me concentrate!" Candace shouted over her shoulder, revving her engine to go faster. Soon, two more cop cars joined in the pursuit, their sirens wailing loudly.
"There are more!" Baljeet yelled back. "Go faster!"
"I'm trying!" Candace screamed. "I'm still not used to this driving thing!"
"They're getting closer!" Phineas warned. "They're gonna catch us!"