Phineas and Ferb

The New Adventures of Phineas and Ferb

Episode 43: The Good, The Bad, and The Flynn (Part 2)

Episode Summary: Phineas's new behavior and obsession over losing his "fat" begins to unravel and his loved ones grow concerned, especially Isabella. Meanwhile Ferb's father has a difficult time with accepting the fact that his son has Diabetes. Elsewhere, Kurt and Jeremy do battle, and Perry desperately seeks out Heinz Doofenshmirtz's mother in the hopes of convincing her to donate a kidney to her son.

Disclaimer: Phineas and Ferb does not belong to me. It belongs to the two geniuses Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh. Keep up the good work, gentlemen!


There's just so many days of adolescence vacation
'Til adulthood and old age come to end it,
So the problem for children of this generation,
Is finding a good way to spend it
Like maybe...

Building a rocket, or fighting a mummy,
Or climbing up the Eiffel tower,
Discovering something that doesn't exist,
Or giving a monkey a shower
Surfing tidal waves, creating nano-bots,
Or locating Frankenstein's brain,
Finding a Dodo bird, painting a continent,
Or driving the adults insane

This could possibly be the best day ever,
And the forecast says that tomorrow will likely be
a million and six times better,
So make every minute count
jump up, jump in and seize the day,
And let's make sure that in every single possible way,
Today is Gonna to Be a Great Day!


A new day arose in Danville. The sun wasn't even up at the hour of 5, yet Phineas was already awake and raring to get a good workout in. The first thing he did after he got changed into his workout clothes, he stepped into the bathroom and stepped onto the scale. The digital readout read 84.7 lbs, meaning he had lost over a pound since the previous day. "Wow, I've only been doing this for 18 hours and I've already lost nearly a pound and a half. I'm doing great!" He shouted, lifting his arms up into the air before lowering them slightly, experiencing some pains in his muscles and his chest. "Ow, I'm sore. I really pushed myself yesterday. All the more reason to go even harder today."

He sneaked out of the bathroom and down the stairs with his gym stuff in his bag. Since the Gym wasn't open at this early of an hour, he decided to simply go for a run around the neighborhood. He set the device on his arm to "3X" to triple his metabolic rate for the run. Even though his legs were sore, he did not feel like taking it easy at all, and still decided to use all of his strength for the run. Unfortunately, he was able to only run for a short time, but, through his 20 minutes of jogging fiercely, he still managed to burn 366 calories. He decided to use the next few trips around to simply walk, but walk quickly.

His pace, however, was slowed to a 15-minute mile due to the strain on his legs. Nevertheless, he continued to push and eventually did manage to work his way up to a 10-minute mile jog. The next 40 minutes resulted in a huge 264 calorie burn for him, and after realizing that the sun was coming up, he quickly made his way home.

He sneaked in through the front door and was lucky that nobody was in the living room to catch him. However, Lawrence & Linda were just coming down the stairs to get breakfast started.

"Phineas?" Lawrence asked, as Linda rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. "What are you doing up?"

"Um, uh..." The last thing Phineas wanted to do was tell his parents that he had just returned home from a jog around the neighborhood, but he needed to say something. "I...I just wanted to head out to get a good workout in before breakfast. I read online that if you workout before you eat a meal, if speeds up your metabolism and burns the calories more quickly."

"Oh, Phineas, you shouldn't be worrying about stuff like that." Linda replied. "Now, come on. Why don't you go back up to bed? You look like you've been up all night." Truthfully, he had been up for a good portion of the night.

"Alright, if you say so." Phineas sighed in defeat. He wanted to get in another workout, but he knew that he was physically exhausted. So he trudged upstairs, with some help from his parents, and went back into his room. But, instead of going back to bed, he plopped onto his back, and started doing some sit ups. "But you're not the one that needs to lose weight, Mom!" He said quietly to nobody in particular, letting out his frustrations as he continued to burn off his "Fat".

Meanwhile, downstairs, Lawrence had sat down at the kitchen table after getting the newspaper, while Linda started on the breakfast. "Lawrence, is something bothering you?"

"Of course, darling. How would you feel if you found out that one of your children had Type I Diabetes?"

"Well, not very good, I suppose. But it's not so bad. Dr. Hartman said that it's perfectly treatable and managable."

"You don't understand, Linda. My side of the family has had Diabetes passed down generation after generation. Ferb's great grandmother had it, his grandmother had it, his mother had it, and now he has it. It's very hard for me to deal with this, Linda."

"Honey, I know it must be horrifying to know that your own flesh and blood is sick, but it's not like we can't do anything about it. If we manage it well enough, Ferb can easily live a long and healthy life, and nobody would remember that he has Diabetes."

"I know, I know. I'm more worried about how he's going to deal with it."

"I don't know, Lawrence. He didn't really seem too distressed about it yesterday."

"Well, that may be because he doesn't fully understand its consequences and hardships."

Linda closed her eyes halfway and raised an eyebrow. "Lawrence, if he and Phineas can build a rollercoaster in less than a day in the backyard, I'm pretty sure they can understand the downside to a disease such as this."

"Hmm, I didn't really think of it like that."

"Trust me, Lawrence. Ferb is going to be fine. He has wonderful friends and family to lean on for support. We'll get through this together."

"Yes, I suppose you are right."

Back upstairs, Phineas was just finishing up his 1st set of 100 sit ups, and as he took a short rest before going into his 2nd set, his cellphone went off. He answered it and saw that it was Isabella on the other line. He was hesitant to answer the phone, but he really wanted to say hi to his girlfriend. "Hi Isabella."

"Hey, Phineas. Did you sleep well?"

"Uh, yeah. Of course I did. W-Why do you ask?" He responded in between gasps for air.

"Uh, because I love you? Phineas, why do you sound like you're out of breath?"

"Why do I sound out of breath? Oh, uh, that's because...that's because I had a...I had a bad dream. Yeah, that's it. A bad dream. That's all."

"Do you want to talk about it? I could be over there in a flash, you know."

"Um, no. No, that's OK. I'm fine. Really. I'll...I'll call you later, OK?"

"Alright, Phineas. If you say so." She hung up quickly, as did Phineas, leaving him to continue his workout in peace, as he switched his gears over to push-ups. Just as he was about to get started, the alarm clock went off. He shut it off quickly only to have Ferb awaken and see him in his workout gear. "Morning Ferb."

"What's with the getup? You lose a bet or something?" Ferb joked, though Phineas took it harshly.

"Ha ha, real funny. No, I decided to mix up my wardrobe a little bit. Isabella says she loves my orange shirt and blue shorts, but she's going to get a kick out of this."

"That's funny. I don't agree with you."

"Well, no offense, but I wasn't really asking you for your opinion, Ferb."

"Well, look who woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning. Why do you look like you've just been running from a pack of wolves?"

"Because I had a bad dream last night, and I woke up sweating. No big deal."

"If you say so." Ferb didn't buy Phineas's lame excuse for one second. But, seeing as he was already awake, he didn't really believe there was a need for more interrogation. So for the moment, he dropped the subject.

When breakfast was ready, Linda called the boys and Candace down to the table. As they were heading out to the kitchen, Candace also couldn't help but notice Phineas's new "wardrobe".

"What's with the new getup?" She joked. "You lose a bet or something?"

"That's the same thing I said." Ferb responded.

"No, I had a bad dream, and seeing as I couldn't get back to sleep, I decided to get dress and get some fresh air. What's the big deal?"

"Well, you're sweating like a pig. That's not normal, even for you."

"So? Maybe the dream was bad. Look, can we just drop the subject for now?" He as becoming testy and anxious, and seeing this, Candace decided to back off. He wasn't doing it to intentionally make anybody feel bad. But his emotions were getting the best of him. The kids entered the kitchen to see a nice breakfast of scrambled eggs and bacon ready for them. Phineas took his seat at the table and stared at his food while the others got busy eating.

"Phineas, why aren't you eating? Aren't you hungry?" Lawrence asked his stepson.

"Uh, no, not really."

"But it's scrambled eggs and bacon. Your favorite." Candace replied, stunned that her little brother wasn't gorging on the breakfast in front of him. "Do you feel OK?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I feel fine." He picked up his fork and ate a small piece of his egg. "See? Mmm, delicious."

"Phineas, something is bothering you. Did you sleep at all last night?" Candace asked him.

"Not really. But I don't think it's anything to worry about."

"But Phineas, you know how you can get when you don't get enough sleep." Linda informed him. "Isabella is always nagging you to make sure you get your required 8 hours."

"Yeah, well, maybe Isabella shouldn't butt into my business so much." He looked up quickly and answered upon realizing that he had said the word "butt", a word which had not been sitting well over the past couple of days. "I...I mean, she shouldn't be..."

"Are you sure something's not bothering you?"

"Yes, guys. For the tenth time, I'm sure nothing's bothering me. I just didn't get a lot of sleep last night. And besides, why are you all so worried about me? Ferb's the one with Diabetes."

"It's not that bad." Ferb informed him. "All I need to do is take some insulin twice a day and make sure I get enough sugar into my body and not too much."

"Yeah, sure. It's that simple. Look, I'm just not hungry and I'm going to go back up to bed." Phineas rubbed his eyes and stood up as he left the kitchen for his bedroom. The rest of the family all exchanged looks.

"You guys don't believe him, do you?" Candace asked sternly.

"Not one word of it, dear." Linda replied.

"Yes, I admit that our boy is acting a bit strangely. But I don't think we need to be concerned as of yet. After all, he said it himself. He didn't sleep well last night."

"I don't know, dad. I think it's a little bit more than that." Candace disagreed. "I mean, ever since he and Isabella admitted their feelings for each other, he's changed. His attitude towards her has definitely changed. He seems a lot more on edge when it comes to her, especially after what happened earlier this summer."

"Oh, yeah, when Isabella ran away. Boy, that sure broke him up." Linda remembered.

"He hasn't been the same since." Ferb added. "He's been convinced that he either does everything he can to make her happy, or he loses her as a friend."

"A boy his age should not have to go through that. It's putting stress on him physically and emotionally." Candace barked angrily. If there was one thing she hated more than anything, it was knowing that one of her brothers, whom she loved very much, was suffering or being bullied for any reason. Ever since her reform thanks to military school, she had become much more compassionate, loving, and accepting of her brothers' antics, and vowed to be there for them at all times. "We have to do something."

"But if he won't tell us, how do we find out what he's really thinking?" Linda inquired.

"I guess we'll all just have to pay very close attention in the next few days." Candace explained. "I just hope we don't end up too late to do anything."


Meanwhile, across the seas, Perry, still disguised as Dr. Hartman, had just arrived in the distant land of Druelselstein, in the town of Gimmelschtump. His mission was clear: to find Heinz Doofenshmirtz's mother, and hopefully convince her to give up a kidney to her son. He traveled far and wide throughout the practically vacant country. All of the homes looked exactly the same, so it was difficult to tell which one was the Doofenshmirtz's. All he had was a piece of paper with the address on it, so he had to rely on his good eye sight.

"Ahh, finally. Here we go." "Dr. Hartman" said, looking at the address at the house in front of him, though it was the tombstone in front that read "In Memory of Balloony", obviously placed there by Doofenshmirtz when he was younger, that gave it away. He knocked on the door a few times and waited for an answer. His wait, however, was not long, as Mrs. Doofenshmirtz did answer the door. Unfortunately, due to her appearance, "Dr. Hartman" presumed her to be Mr. Doofenshmirtz. "Mr. Doofenshmirtz, long time no see. I'm Dr. Hartman, your sons' physicians." He said gladly, shaking her hand. She, of course, gave him a cold stare, taking his greeting as an insult.

She attempted to close the door only to have it stopped by his foot. "Whoa, whoa there, partner. Listen, we need to have a talk. Mr. Doofenshmirtz, your son is in trouble and I need to speak to your wife imm-"

"Who was at the door, honey?" Mr. Doofenshmirtz asked, walking into the room. "Oh, Dr. Hartman. Hello, what brings you here?"

Seeing Mr. and Mrs. Doofenshmirtz standing in the same room together caused it to click in for him. "Ohhhhhhhh...you're Mrs. Doofenshmirtz?" He asked Mrs. Doofenshmirtz, to which she nodded slowly and angrily. "Ooh, I'm so sorry. Anyway, your son is in trouble."

"Roger? Roger is in trouble?" She asked.

"No, your other son."

"What other son?"

"Heinz." Mr. Doofenshmirtz jumped in. "The son you made wear those girly dresses to school after Roger was born."

"Hmm, no. Can't recall having a Heinz. I would never name my child that."

"But you did. In fact, you explicitly put that on his birth certificate behind my back-"

"Silence. What did I say about talking when we had company here?"

"OK, obviously, this isn't going to work." "Dr. Hartman" decided to stop the nonsense before him. So he took out a baseball bat, and lightly tapped her on her head, causing her to lose consciousness. "There we go. Your voice annoys me anyway."

"So, Dr. Hartman, what is the matter with my son, Heinz?"

"Mr. Doofenshmirtz, I'm afraid your son is in trouble. He's suffering from Kidney Failure."

"Kidney Failure? Oh my, that's not good."

"Not at all. The only chance he has at surviving is it he gets a kidney transplant. His ex-wife and daughter have refused the procedure."

"Well, then, put me under! I'll do it."

"That's very generous of you, but I'm afraid you can't. You're not a match for him. But your wife is. She's the last match within the family, and if she doesn't donate her kidney to him, he could die. He doesn't have much time. Obviously, your wife is too thick-headed to listen to me. But please, you have to convince her to do this."

"But she hates Heinz. She's despised him ever since he was born."

"You have to do something. It's either this, or bye-bye Heinz Doofenshmirtz."

"Well, my wife is thick-headed. I'll see what I can do. But no guarantees."

"Thank you. Now, here's my number." "Dr. Hartman" pulled out a card with his phone number on it (really a phone number that went right to Perry's Agency Cellphone.) and handed it to Mr. Doofenshmirtz. "Call if anything happens. And hurry. Your son is refusing medical attention and he won't come in unless there's a donor ready."

"How long if he doesn't get one?"

"I don't know. I'd say a week. Maybe 2 if he's lucky."

"Oh my. Don't you worry, Dr. Hartman. I won't fail my son. Not this time. You see, it all started when-"

"You know what? I'm just gonna stop you there. I would love to hear one of your thrilling backstories, except, I really just don't care."


Back in Danville, the pressure was on to help Phineas. It was already mid-day, and with not a single sighting of the boy anywhere, everyone was growing concerned. Isabella had warned her Fireside Girls troopers about this, as well as Phineas's other friends, and after hearing this new set of news, the kids all devoted their time to finding the boy.

Meanwhile, Phineas had devoted his time to getting fit and losing his "excess fat" so he would be smaller than his stepbrother and Isabella. With 15 pound weights in his hands and a towel over his shoulder, as well as a backpack on his back with water bottles in them, he took to the streets and jogged around the town several times while doing curls with the weights.

For the most part, Phineas went unnoticed by his friends. His long and exhausting 2-hour run was about to come to a very "satisfying" end, in his mind, considering that he was not spotted by any of his friends or family. That is, until he returned home, where his friends, stepbrother, and Isabella, were all sitting in the front yard, with concerned looks on their faces. "H-Hey guys." Phineas said, panting heavily. He put his backpack down and took a water bottle out, gulping it down quickly. "What are you all doing here?"

"Waiting for you." Isabella replied solemnly. "Where have you been?"

"I've been...around town."

"Why do you look all sweaty, dude?" Buford asked. "And what's with the new getup, chump?"

"None of your business, Buford." The boy coldly responded.

"But you look like you just ran a marathon." Isabella replied, her tone of voice being much softer's than that of Buford's. "Are you OK?"

"Of course I am, Isabella. I'm fine."

"Then come sit here and relax with us. It's already noon. It's getting late for us to do anything, so why don't we just take this time to relax in the sunshine? Come on. I saved you a seat right next to me." She patted the ground next to her indicating an empty spot on the ground for him to sit on.

"O-OK." He slowly edged towards Isabella and took a seat next to her. Putting his stuff aside, he made certain to keep a distance from her. She, however, was not catching on and instead, constantly scooted closer to him. This action only made him more tense, visible in his face.

"Phineas, what's wrong?" She asked, scooting closer again, which only made him scoot farther away. "Why are you running away from me?"

"Because I really just want to go inside and get these clothes off and take a shower."

"Alright. But we all want you to come out and play with us when you're done."

"OK, Isabella. I promise I'll be right out." He stepped into the house and immediately went upstairs to take a long shower. The shower helped relax his muscles after his grueling workout, and when he came out and got dressed into his regular clothes again, he felt much more relaxed and much more peaceful. "OK, I'm better now."

"You look a lot better, too. Are you alright? You haven't been yourself for the past couple of days." Isabella pointed out.

"Maybe I just haven't been getting enough sleep lately."

"Ah, I see. Well, you know how I feel about that, Phineas. I get upset when I feel like you're not sleeping enough."

"I know, Isabella."

"Now come on. My mom invited us all over to her house for lunch. Wanna join us?"

"Sure, why not? That sounds like a good idea. Count me in." He started jittering in his place again, tensing up. As he walked over to Isabella's house, he couldn't help but think of all of the food that could be stocked up in Isabella's refrigerator. It was this time that his conscience started playing tricks on him again. As he went inside the house and sat down at the table, his conscience started to reason with him. This time, acting as his bad conscience, actor James Woods stood on Phineas's left shoulder.

"Look at all that delicious, fattening food." James Woods said. "One bite of that, and all of this hard work, all of this blood, sweat, and tears...will have been for nothing. Do you really want that to happen? Huh? Do you?"

"James Woods? What the heck are you doing acting as my conscience?" Phineas asked quietly, noticing the famous actor on his shoulders instead of the notorious baby from the day before. He made certain to keep his voice real low so nobody around him would hear him.

"I'm trying to convince you to not eat that fatty garbage that's on your plate there. Oh, and the fact that it's me this time probably means you're hallucinating."

"I'm hallucinating?"

"Yeah, what was your first clue?" Another voice spoke, this time, from Phineas's right shoulder. This time, he saw a portly man with a white shirt and green pants. "Nobody sees James Woods around here anymore. Anyway, kid, look what you're doing to yourself. This is some of your favorite foods."

"But it's so much food. I'm not sure if I could eat it all."

"Then don't eat it all. But eat something. It's not a good idea to totally cut out food from your day. You need food to energize yourself."

"Don't listen to that tub of lard." James barked. Phineas turned to him. "Wouldn't you rather be like me?"

"You mean a stuck-up, arrogant jerkface whom everybody thinks is passed his prime?"

"AHAHHAHA!" Phineas's little comment about James Woods caused Peter to break out into laughter. "See? I'm not the only one that thinks that!"

Meanwhile, everyone else who was at the dinner table were looking in Phineas's direction, confused. From their perspective, it appeared that Phineas was talking to himself, which was unusual for him. "Phineas, who are you talking to?" Isabella asked.

"It appears that he is talking to himself." Baljeet commented. "The question is, why?" Meanwhile, Phineas's internal conflict continued.

"Look, I'm not saying he has to stop eating altogether." James Woods barked to Peter & Phineas. "But he should really stop eating all this fatty food. We all know where it's gonna go in the end."

"You know, it's stuff like that that's been really getting this kid paranoid over the past few days."

"Phineas, what's going on?" Isabella asked again.

"Oh, like you could give him better advice? The dog couldn't even do that."

"Yeah? Y-You're over there telling him that he needs to starve himself in order to lose weight. I know that's not true, and I'm fatter than Holy Hell!"

"Of course you are."

"Will you two knock it off!" Phineas shouted, getting everybody off guard. He started panting as he turned to his two sides of conscience. "Look, this is getting me nowhere!"

"W-What are you talking about, Phineas?" Isabella asked again, having no idea that Phineas was actually arguing with himself (No pun intended).

"I'm not trying to starve myself just to look good! I'm just cutting back on my food intake and increasing my exercise ridiculously so I can lose this stupid fat off of me so Isabella can't say anything about me! Once I get this weight off, I won't have to worry about weighing more than her or Ferb and then everybody can just leave me alone!" He opened his eyes widely and suddenly realized that he had just said all of that out loud. He looked at everybody, and then at Isabella, who had stood up and walked over to him to give him a hug.

"Something's wrong, Phineas. I just know it." She said as she slowly ran her hands down his torso, stopping abruptly at his stomach, realizing that something was not quite right with it. "Phineas, your stomach feels practically empty and small. H-Have you been eating enough?"

"Didn't you just hear me, Isabella? No, I haven't been eating. Well, at least not as much as I usually do."

"Why?"

"You wouldn't understand, Isabella. You just wouldn't." He stood up from his chair and ran right out of the room and up the stairs into Isabella's room. Isabella and Ferb followed closely, carrying a plate of food to bring to him.

"Phineas? Can we come in?" She asked as she knocked on the door. But, seeing as the door was already opened slightly, they let themselves in. They opened the door to see the young boy curled up in a fetal position on her bed, tears running down his eyes. They edged closer to him, setting the plate of food down in his lap and handed him a knife & fork. "Eat up, Phineas."

Phineas hesitated, slowly looking up at his girlfriend & his stepbrother, and after seeing their reassuring smiles, he slowly cut a piece of the pork loin in front of him, and taking a bite out of it. "Oh, that is so delicious!" He said endearingly. "I missed this." Soon after that, he began gobbling it down quickly, and after only 10 minutes, the entire piece had been devoured, and Phineas once again felt full. "Ahh, that was tasty."

"Now talk to us." Isabella said, climbing up onto the bed and cuddling next to him. "What's going on with you?"

"Your behavior is certainly altered since our physical examination." Ferb remarked.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot about that. Phineas, what's bothering you? Come on, you need to tell us."

"You wanna know the truth? Fine, I'll tell you. I'm just a big fatty! Ever since those tests came back and said that I weighed more than you and Ferb, I've become really self-conscious about myself."

"Wait a minute. Are you telling me you've become one of those self-absorbed jerks who only cares about his looks?"

"No, I'm saying that I'm self-conscious about the way I look. I mean, look at my belly. It has so much fat on it-"

"OK, OK, I'm stopping you there." Isabella said, placing a finger over his mouth, and then giving him a kiss on the cheek. "Phineas, you don't have to worry. This..." He placed a hand gently on his stomach and patted it. "Is just baby fat. Most kids have some until they're at least a teenager."

"AHA!" Screamed a voice in Phineas's head, as Brian the dog once again appeared on his right shoulder, with an angry look on his face. "I told you! I told you it was just baby fat! But would you listen? No? Looks like you got more fat in your head than you do in your stomach, pal!"

"Whoa, whoa, Brian. Easy. He's just a kid." Stewie said, on Phineas's left shoulder.

"Suck it, baby-face! I was right!"

"OK, that's it. We're going home." Stewie jumped onto Phineas's left shoulder, took Brian's paw, snapped his fingers, and poofed them out of the scene and out of Phineas's mind forever.

"So you don't think I'm fat?" Phineas asked Isabella, having ignored Stewie & Brian completely.

"No. Where would you get a crazy idea like that?"

"Well, it's just that..." He looked up at Isabella, and then at Ferb. "Uh, Ferb, would you mind giving Isabella and I a moment?"

"Sure. Besides, I have to take my insulin." Ferb smiled and then slowly left the room, giving Isabella and Phineas time along for a much needed talk. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder before reaching out and giving him a big hug.

"Phineas, where would you get the idea that I thought you were fat?"

"Well, you-you're always saying that I have a lot of "junk in my trunk", and I know that you're not trying to make me feel bad. But after yesterday, I kinda started feeling bad. I didn't feel as good as I used to. To you, I didn't feel attractive."

"But Phineas, I don't think you're fat. Sure, you may look just a little bit chubby, but that just means there's more of you to love." She sat down on the bed and made herself comfortable, snuggling up to him and wrapping an arm around his neck, while putting the other one down to give Phineas a "little more love", if you catch my drift. "And we've been over this before. I only say those things about your cute butt because it's one of the ways I express my love for you. I mean, you are extremely cute, and quite a good catch."

"You thinks so?"

"I know so." She edged closer and kissed him again. "Just the very sight of you sends chills down my spine. Every time I see your cute butt swish back and forth when you dance, I just want to go up there and dance along with you. But not only that, your amazing personality, your adorable can-do attitude, and your incredible affection...it all just makes me love you even more. Phineas, I can't stand to spend even a minute apart from you, and doing things like this to yourself just because you feel inferior or ugly isn't helping the cause."

"I'm sorry, Isabella. I just let my conscience get the better of me."

"Phineas, I want you to promise me something."

"What's that?"

"I want you to promise me that if I ever say anything about you that makes you uncomfortable, you tell me, and I'll stop. Can you do that for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that for you. I-I don't want to lose you Isabella."

"You won't. Just don't do anything like this again, OK? Your body needs food, and although it is noble to exercise and make sure you don't gain weight, it's not a good idea to starve yourself or push your body to extremes in the hopes that you'll lose weight." She kissed him once more time and then wrapped both of her arms around his neck, and decided to just lay with him in bed, hoping that he'd come around and give her the smile she fell in love with.

"Isabella?"

"Yes, my love?"

"You'll never leave me, will you?"

"I wouldn't dream of it, Phineas."

"'Cause I don't want to end up lonely."

"I know, Phineas. I know."


Meanwhile, deep into the Tri-State Area, Kurt had set up what he felt was the ultimate physical challenge for him and Jeremy. Their original competition date was not for another 2 days. However, for an undisclosed reason, Jeremy called Kurt and had asked to move the date up to today. Kurt was waiting by the starting line wearing a sleeveless black T-shirt, black shorts, and wearing white wrist bands, with a water bottle in his hand. Jeremy came running up, wearing his usual outfit, having no idea as to what his challenge was, with his only accessory being a water bottle.

"What's up, man? Why'd you ask me to move this up to today?" Kurt immediately asked.

"Because, Mr. Goth, my family and I are going to Jamaica and we're leaving in 2 days. We'll be gone for a whole week, so let's just get this over with."

"Alright then. Are you sure you wanna go through with this?"

"Duh. That's why I came. I can take on anything you throw at me."

"Oh really? Does that include an entire, 26.2 mile marathon?"

"A marathon? Y-You're...You're kidding, right?"

"No, I'm not. When we talked over the phone, you said I could pick the challenge, and I gave you a fair warning that it was going to be exhausting and that you would need to be in the best physical form of your life."

"You didn't say it would be a marathon."

"I said it would take up 26 miles of your day. I was making an analogy...I think. Anyway, I thought that would be a big enough hint for you, but I guess you're even dumber than you look. You give blondes a bad name."

"Coming from the goth who has no fashion style."

"Hey! I make this look good. You'd just make girls want to kill themselves. Now, are you gonna do this or are you going to chicken out? 'Cause Candace doesn't like chickens."

"There are a lot of things Candace doesn't like, including her brothers. I mean, that girl is horrible. Just to tell you how horrible she is would be a waste of my breath."

"I still don't understand why you're going to so much trouble if you hate her."

"It's called pride, man."

"So you're saying that even though you think she's repugnant, you'd still want to be her boyfriend?"

"Yeah, because in a relationship, the guys are the ones that call the shots."

"Now see, that I disagree with. Girls are just as equal as guys are and they should be treated as such. That's why I'd make a better boyfriend to her than you ever would."

"If you're so sure about that, prove it!"

"Alright then." Both boys stepped up to the starting line. "First one to cross the finish line gets the girl. Loser scrams. Got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. Just call it."

"Alright then." Both boys took a starting position at the line, and prepared for the run of their lives. "Ready...set...GO!" And they were off. The winner would get Candace's heart. The loser would have to stay out of the picture for good.


Meanwhile, Dr. Doofenshmirtz was in his lair, sitting in a recliner chair. With his kidney failure having depleted most of his strength, he had to rely on his robot assistant Norm, and his pet Ezekiel, to help take care of him. (The Lizard he had captured was still locked up in his cage). There was a knock at the door. Norm answered it; "Dr. Hartman" (Perry in disguise) was standing there with a grim look on his face.

"Dr. Hartman!" Doofenshmirtz yelled from his seat. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm sorry, Heinz." He said solemnly. "I failed."

"You couldn't get my mother to concede?"

"No."

"That's alright, Dr. Hartman. I'm sure there will be others. I sure wish Perry the Platypus was here, though."

"Dr. Hartman" raised an eyebrow and, slowly, his form changed, and soon enough, he had reverted back to Perry the Platypus.

"Dr. Hartman, you're a platypus." Perry lowered his eyebrows in frustration, took the transformation suit off, and put his fedora back on. Doofenshmirtz gasped. "Perry the Platypus! Oh, that's right. I sent you out there."

"Great." The lizard in the cage said sarcastically. "And now that you're done with my transformation suit, can I please have it back?" However, Heinz and Perry ignored him.

"Well, Perry the Platypus, I thank you for trying, but it looks like there's nobody else that's willing to donate or is even a match to me."

"I'd give you my kidney, sir." Norm responded.

"Thank you, Norm. But you're just a robot. You don't have a kidney."

"No," He reached into his chest compartment and pulled out the hamster that was powering him. "But I do have this hamster."

"That hamster's not going to help me in any way. Besides, you need that thing to power you or else you'll-" Before he could finish, Norm had lost all of his power due to the lack of hamster, and he collapsed onto the floor, releasing the hamster from his grip. Upon seeing the running hamster, Ezekiel lost control of himself, and started chasing the hamster around the room. "Oh no. Not again! Ezekiel, come back!" Doofenshmirtz tried to lift himself out of his chair, but he was far too weak to do so. "Curse me and my abysmal immune system."

Perry could not stand to see his nemesis, whom he also considered a friend, suffering as he was. Not wishing to bear the sight any more, Perry turned away and left Doofenshmirtz with his robot assistant and Norm. He hated to see Doofenshmirtz suffer so, so in a last, desperate act, Perry decided to head out to his lair to contact his boss, in the hopes that Major Monogram would be able to help him in some way.


Isabella continued to bring up food for Phineas, and he continued to chow it down. He was still fighting within himself to eat the food placed in front of him, because he was still self-conscious about himself, despite the talk he and Isabella had.

"There you go, Phineas. Eat up." She continually encouraged him. "You need to get your strength back."

Every now and again, he looked up at her, and each time, she gave him a reassuring smile and even hugged him to keep his spirits up. "Isabella, why are you doing this?" He asked at one point.

"What do you mean-"

"Why are you pushing me so hard to eat this stuff. What if I don't want to?"

"But Phineas, you need to regain your strength. What you've been doing over the past couple of days could've really potentially harmed your body in the long run. I just don't want you to get hurt, that's all."

"Isabella, I'm really sorry about all of this. I wasn't thinking clearly, and I thought that you-" He was abruptly cut off when Isabella leaned in and kissed him, and then wrapped her arms around him.

"Do I tell you enough how much I love you?"

"Isabella, stop. Just stop. I know you don't want to keep saying that to me."

"I do. I don't care if you say you don't want to hear it. Deep down, you do want to hear it. Heck, you need to hear it. You've been nothing but miserable since we got together."

"With good reason."

"No. Not with good reason. You're a wonderful boy, Phineas, but ever since I admitted my feelings for you, you've been beating yourself up, believing that you don't deserve me. It hurts me so much when I hear you say those kinds of things about yourself."

"But it's true, Isabella! It's true! I don't deserve to have a happy relationship with you! You deserve somebody who's going to treat you with all the love you could want."

"And I have him. I have you. I've always loved you and I always will. That's why it breaks my heart to hear you beat yourself up the way you do."

"I'm sorry. I can't say that enough, Isabella."

"How about you just enjoy the rest of your meal and then we'll talk later. Do you want me to stay with you?" She asked; he nodded quickly as tears fell from his eyes. She leaned in and kissed him on the cheek again. "OK, I'll stay." She got herself comfortable on the bed right next to him and watched as he continued to eat his meal, and work his way back to recovery. Seeing Phineas eating with an exasperated and depressed look on his face made Isabella tear up. She opened her dresser draw and pulled out a scrapbook composed of pictures of her and Phineas from past summers.

In the pictures, Phineas appeared so happy and so at peace with himself. No responsibilities, no romance, just good, old fashioned summer fun with his friends. But he felt like he had to give that up since he was in a relationship with Isabella, something that Isabella completely feared. He looked over to her side and saw Phineas practically crying as he took every bite of his meal. Tears started falling from her eyes as she leaned in and snuggled in Phineas's neck.

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
How did our eyes get so red?
And what the heck is on Ferb's head?

And this is where I grew up
I think the present owner fixed it up
I never knew we'd ever went without
The second floor is hard for sneaking out

She went on a trip down memory lane and reminisced on the many adventures that she had accompanied him on in past years, and this year alone. Some of which included the fateful romantic cruise he had made for Baljeet and his friend, Mishti, the time he and Ferb attempted to make a rainbow for her, their trip around the world, including their stop in Paris (and, of course, their second trip to Paris, both of which traumatized Phineas severely)...no matter what, Phineas seemed horrified with each and every memory, all because in those memories, he wasn't "in love with" Isabella.

And this is where I went to school
Most of the time had better things to do
Criminal record says I've broken in twice
I must have done it half a dozen times

I wonder if it's too late
Should I go back and try to graduate?
Life's better now than it was back then
If I was them I wouldn't let me in

Oh oh oh
Oh God I

It was during her painful trip down memory lane that she felt something on her neck. When she looked to her side again, she saw that it was Phineas, trying to give her a hug. She was reluctant to hug back, but after seeing him tear up after a few unresponsive moments, she did so. Phineas caught notice of the photographs. "What'cha lookin' at, Isabella?"

"Just an old photo album of our past adventures." She responded softly. Phineas observed the many photos in the album.

"Wow, we sure have had a lot of adventures in the summers before."

"Yes. Yes we have."

"Based on what we've done this summer, I'd say Ferb and I are still keeping up with our regime."

"I'd agree."

Every memory of looking out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

"Looking back at all these past adventures makes me realize that there's still so much stuff that we could do before summer ends, and I don't want to miss out on any of those opportunities."

"I don't think you will, Phineas."

"I would really like to get started tomorrow."

Remember the old arcade?
Blew every dollar that we ever made
The cops hated us hanging out
They said somebody went and burned it down

"How about the day after tomorrow?"

"Huh? But-"

"Phineas, ever since we got together in California, you have been nothing but a nervous wreck around me. You've been traumatized over the responsibility of trying to keep me happy in our relationship, and that's a weight nobody should have to carry on their shoulders. I want you to be happy with me, but if you're just going to be miserable in a romantic relationship, then-"

"No, Isabella! Don't!"

"I wasn't gonna say that. What I was going to say was...maybe we should just...slow down a little."

"You mean...break up?"

"No. Nothing like that at all. I mean, like, when we go out on dates, we shouldn't make them fancy. Let's just make them "playdates", fun little times where we just hang out like friends. Maybe that'll reduce the stress on you."

"I can't. Since that horrible day, I've vowed to always make our dates romantic, no matter what you said. Otherwise, you might come after me and...and..."

"You're afraid of me, aren't you? You're afraid that I'll just snap and start beating you up."

"S-S-Sometimes, yeah." He started crying again, and pulled away a little as she tried to get closer. But then, as quickly as he pulled away, he jumped right back in for a hug.

We used to listen to the radio
And sing along with every song we know
We said someday we'd find out how if feels
To sing to more than just the steering wheel

Oh oh oh
Oh God I

"You're afraid of me, but in love with me? You're just so confused and it's getting to you."

"I'm not really afraid of you, Isabella. I'm just afraid of what you'll do to me if I mess up."

"But you shouldn't be. Because I don't want romance. I want attention and I know you always give that to me." She brushed his hair back and kissed him on the cheek as he let out a smile and a chuckle. "Tell you what. How about tomorrow, you and I go out, a day for just the two of us, and we just do what regular kids would do. You know, go to amusement parks, eat at fast food joints, skip rocks in the stream, that kind of stuff. No romance, no mushy-gushy stuff. Just you and me acting as friends."

"Oh, alright. I suppose no harm could come from that. But if I start feeling upset and feel like I need a hug and a kiss, I'll be going for one."

"And I'll be waiting to give you one." The two of them shared yet another hug as Phineas finished the last bite on his plate.

Every memory of looking out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time t

I miss that town
I miss their faces
You can't erase
You can't replace it

I miss it now
I can't believe it
So hard to stay
Too hard to leave it

"Would you feel comfortable if you slept here tonight?"

"Actually, yes, I would. If it's OK with our parents."

"I don't think we'll have a problem with that. I'll go ask my mom right now." She stood up from the bed and started to head out, before looking back and blowing him one final kiss. As she left the room, Perry managed to crawl in, back in his pet mode. He growled, alerting his prescence.

Phineas smiled. "Oh, there you are, Perry."

If I could I relive those days
I know the one thing that would never change

Every memory of looking out the back door
I have the photo album spread out on my bedroom floor
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Every memory of walking out the front door
I found the photo of the friend that I was looking for
It's hard to say it, time to say it
Goodbye, goodbye

Look at this photograph
Every time I do it makes me laugh
Every time I do it makes me


Meanwhile, as the sun was setting, Dr. Doofenshmirtz was ordered by (the real) Dr. Hartman to bring himself to the Danville Hospital. He was checked into a room, and was awaiting a word from the doctor. Charlene and Vanessa joined him.

Finally, after a seemingly endless wait, Dr. Hartman came into the room, along with Major Monogram and Carl. "Dr. Hartman? Major Monogram? Dr. Coconut? What are you guys doing here?"

"We're here to give you our undying support for this operation." Monogram replied. "And what better way than to actually be a part of it?"

"I don't understand."

"Well, as it turns out, I'm a match to your kidney type. And when Agent P came by to alert me of the news, I decided to donate one of my kidneys to you."

All three Doofenshmirtz's gasped in joy. "You're serious?" Dr. Doofenshmirtz exclaimed in sheer surprise.

"Yes. It's one thing when you're foiled by a good guy. But when you're foiled by the forces of nature, that's just something I can't allow."

"Oh, thank you, Francis! If I could hug you, I would."

"Don't mention it. And don't call me Francis!"

"Come on, then. Our window of opportunity is closing quickly. We must get the two of you to the operating room, stat!" Dr. Hartman shouted, as Doofenshmirtz was wheeled out of the room by Charlene and Vanessa. Monogram and Carl stayed back momentarily.

"You know, this is a pretty bold move on your part, sir." Carl said, admiring his boss's actions. "I would have thought with Doofenshmirtz being our enemy, you would have just stayed back and let him suffer so."

"If you mention any of this to any of the other agents, I swear to god you will regret ever taking this intern job of yours."

To be continued...

A/N: It's not over yet. There's still one more part to this. BTW the song used was "Photograph" by Nickelback.

Next Time: Phineas continues on the road to recovery as Isabella takes him out for a day of fun. Meanwhile, Lawrence seeks advice over how to deal with his son's new revelation. Elsewhere, Kurt and Jeremy's bout for Candace continues, and in another subplot, Stacy goes on the newest, hottest dating game show called "Baggage" for a chance at love.

Expected Update: Check my profile for an expected update.