It's a Mud, Mud, Mud, Mud World

"So I heard your boyfriend nearly fell into a toy factory the other day," said the voice of Kane Kennedy through the cell phone. "Is he okay?"

Mavis nodded, reclining in her lair chair. "Yeah, all good. Gave him a bit of a scare, but he was fine yesterday. We spent the day at his house so he got to relax and have a bit of fun. We both did."

"Sounds nice," said Kane wistfully. "I haven't had a day off work since school got out."

"Ooh, tell me when you do! You can come and hang out with me and Apollo at his house. His mom is the BEST; she's an OWCA agent too so she has a ton of cool stories AND she's always got the best snacks in the house."

Kane laughed. "Okay, okay. I'll consider it. Do you think she'd mind if I brought my precious baby bro along?"

Mavis couldn't help a snicker. "I KNOW Persephone Hastings can handle anything Kirk does. How IS he, by the way?"

"Ah..." A sigh came from Kane. "As stubborn and uncooperative as ever. Anyway, I gotta go and I'm sure you do too. I'll talk to you later, okay?"

"Yeah, definitely. See you."

Mavis hung up, just as Apollo entered the lair. He gave Mavis a wide smile. "Morning. All good?"

"Yeah, just catching up with Kane." Mavis smiled back, then her gaze fell on the platypus who had just entered the lair behind them. "Oh, hey, Perry."

Perry gave a wave. "G'morning."

Apollo and Perry joined Mavis in their seats.

Less than a few seconds later, Major Monogram's face appeared on the screen.

"Oh, agents, you're here." The major looked as if he was trying to hold back laughter. "So get this: I got this memo this morning on Doofenshmirtz. And somebody abbreviated his name and it- Guess how they wrote it." He paused, then burst out laughing. "Doof! They wrote it as Doof!"

Mavis suppressed a snicker. "I guess he didn't get the memo that we've been calling him that for ages."

"Ah, it's times like these when you really appreciate having a cool name like Monogram, right, Mavis?" chuckled Major Monogram.

"And Carl!" came Carl's voice.

"I already told you: your name's not that cool." Major Monogram turned back to the screen. "Anyway, do your stuff, Agent P, and stop… DOOF!" He again dissolved into laughter.

"Why is our boss such a child?" complained Perry. "No offense, M."

Mavis shrugged. "None taken. And I have no idea."

...

The familiar jingle sounded as they got close to DEI. Perry parked the hovercar on the opposite roof, the three agents using binoculars to spy on the evil scientist in his apartment. They found Doofenshmirtz in front of a group of men, likely talking about his latest invention.

"I recognise those guys," said Mavis, narrowing her eyes. "They're from HT Bank, known for investing in evil ventures."

Perry snorted. "I'm not surprised Doof has finally gone to investors. That alimony cheque can't be THAT much, surely."

"Who knows. Let's bust his ass."

The group crept closer until they were able to hear what Doofenshmirtz was saying. "Gentlemen, I have a unique investment opportunity for you. I'm sure you're all aware of the popularity of monster trucks, right?"

"Monster trucks?" muttered Mavis curiously.

"But you know, they are not really monsters," continued Doofenshmirtz. "Just big, stupid trucks! So, I came up with my own line of monster trucks! Behold!"

As Doofenshmirtz walked towards the opposite side of the room, the three agents spotted five giant monster trucks sitting in a row. Four of them were shaped like terrifying monsters, while the fifth looked exactly like Doofenshmirtz.

"Grotesque and horrifying," Mavis muttered.

Apollo pointed. "But that one looks like Doof."

"Exactly."

Perry pressed his hand against his beak to stop a laugh from escaping. "Savage."

"Very evil, don't you think?" Doofenshmirtz continued. "And there's even one that looks like me! Look!" He laughed maniacally. "We'll corner the markets! And just to be sure, I have created: The Monster Truck Away-inator!"

He tore the sheet off his latest invention. "You know, to do away with the competition."

"But is it safe to use?" asked one of the evil investors.

"Sure, let me demonstrate." Doofenshmirtz fired the laser, hitting the evil investor in the face. "See? It doesn't affect people at all!"

Mavis winced as the investor's head swelled up like a balloon.

"Except maybe a little swelling, but don't worry, it will go down." He paused. "You know, probably. Now, watch what it does to this miniature monster truck!"

He fired the laser at a small toy monster truck sitting on the ground. It immediately disappeared.

The evil investors began excitedly talking amongst themselves.

"I don't know where it sends them, though," said Doofenshmirtz. "Maybe another dimension."

"I'm gonna get down there," said Perry quietly. "You two watch my back, okay?"

Mavis gave him a thumbs-up. "Do it."

The two teens watched Perry glide down onto the skylight and drop through, landing behind another sheet-covered invention.

Just then, the roaring of engines met the agents' ears. They both turned and spotted a giant monster truck arena that had appeared in someone's backyard.

"Hey, isn't that Phineas and Ferb's house?" said Apollo.

After a moment, Mavis rolled her eyes. "Go figure. Doof'll be heading that way to get rid of all those monster trucks soon, so let's beat him there." A devious smile slowly spread over her face. "In fact, let's give him some bait to make SURE he goes that way."

"Huh?" Apollo glanced at her, registering the look on her face. "What are you planning, Mavie?"

Mavis's grin did not waver. "Have you ever driven a monster truck before?"

"What?" Apollo's eyes slowly widened as he realised what she was saying. "Oh, no…"

…

"Oh, YES!"

Mavis couldn't stop grinning insanely as she gripped the wheel of her very own monster truck. Next to her in the passenger's seat, Apollo had three sets of seatbelts holding him and was clutching them like his life depended on it.

"Doesn't the fact that that guy was willing to sell his monster truck for $20 worry you just the tiniest bit?" he said shrilly.

"Nope!" Mavis beamed. "Monster rallying is meant to be dangerous, yannow."

"Not because you're in a truck that might fall apart at any second!"

At that moment, the sound of a horn blared through the arena. The monster trucks around the two teens roared into action, so Mavis kicked hers into gear and shot off the line.

Apollo let out a scream. "PLEASE DRIVE CAREFULLY!"

Mavis hardly heard him. As the truck bounced and soared over the obstacles and up and down the inclines, adrenaline surged through her veins. With the wind from the open window whistling into her face and her heart leaping every time the truck went over a bump, she had never felt so alive.

"Aaaand that's the Candace Crusher in the lead!" announced Phineas's voice happily from the commentator's box.

"I'm gonna kick your ASS, Candace!" Mavis yelled out the window.

"Does Candace even know who you are?" Apollo yelped.

"Nope!"

"Hey, now the Mavollo Menacer is in the lead!" Phineas cheered. "Go Mavis and Apollo!"

"Mavollo Menacer?" repeated Apollo in confusion. "Is that us?"

"Yeah, it's an amalgamation of our names," Mavis said happily. "You like it?"

Apollo turned his face away and smiled out the window. "...yeah. But you know we can't win, right? This whole thing is for Candace's confidence."

"Yup, but I don't want to make it easy for her."

However, at that moment, Candace's truck zoomed past Mavis's, closely followed by another.

"It's a photo finish!" Phineas's magnified voice shouted excitedly. "The winner will be decided by our final event!"

Mavis pulled the truck over to the side and leapt out into the mud, staring out into the arena as the final event began.

Apollo climbed down and landed next to her. "Sorry you didn't win, Mavie," he said quietly.

"Are you kidding me?" Mavis turned to Apollo, her face lit up with a wide grin. "That was the best day of my life! I couldn't care less if I won or not!"

She grabbed Apollo in a tight hug. After a moment of surprise, Apollo hugged her back, beaming with excitement.

"I raced a monster truck!" she screeched.

"You raced a monster truck!" Apollo echoed in the same tone. "And I nearly had a heart attack!"

Mavis dissolved into giggles. "Several times, from the sounds of it."

As the two teens moved apart, they both caught sight of the Doofenshmirtz-shaped monster truck outside the house. Their grins fell at the same time.

"I guess we gotta do our jobs," Mavis said reluctantly. "C'mon, let's see if Perry needs any help."

She and Apollo dashed towards the street. As they got nearer, they spotted Perry leaping out of the truck just as the whole thing disappeared just like the toy monster truck had earlier. He noticed them standing nearby and beckoned them towards him.

"Where'd you two go?" he demanded.

"Racing monster trucks," replied Mavis, a little guiltily. "I thought if we hyped up the event enough, Doof would notice and come our way so we could defeat him more easily. I guess you didn't need our help."

"No I didn't, but… I have to say, it did work. Doof saw the event. Whether that was because of your input or not, I don't know."

Mavis's shoulders drooped. "I'm sorry, Perry."

Perry gave her a surprised look. "Sorry? For what?"

"For going off and racing monster trucks while I was supposed to be working."

"There's no need to be sorry. I took those idiots down easily. It was nice to have a mission to myself for once, to be completely honest." A grin appeared on the platypus's face. "Plus, I got to see some of your racing. You looked really cool. You drove like an absolute maniac, but you looked cool while doing it."

Mavis laughed. "Thanks. It was really fun."

Perry quickly dropped into mindless mode. Mavis turned to find Phineas approaching the two teens, holding something in his hand. "Hi, Mavis! Hi, Apollo! Oh, there you are, Perry."

"Hey, Phineas," said Mavis warmly. "Great contest."

"Thanks! I think Candace's confidence really improved!" Phineas said happily. "Anyway, I just wanted to give you this. You got third place!"

Phineas handed Mavis an orange rosette with "3rd" written on it. Mavis's eyes misted over as she gazed at it. "Oh my gosh… Thank you so much!"

"No, thank YOU!" Phineas beamed. "That was a lot of fun. You should come by more often!"

"Oh, definitely! See you later, Phineas."

"See you!"

Mavis watched Perry follow Phineas into the house, then she turned to Apollo and literally leapt up and down with excitement. "I got a rosette! I got a rosette! I WON A PRIZE!"

Apollo laughed as he swept his girlfriend into his arms. "I'm so proud of you!"

Mavis sighed happily, relaxing in her boyfriend's embrace. "I'm really hot. Can we go swimming at your house?"

"Oh, absolutely. I need something relaxing to bring my heart rate back down to normal. It's still beating a thousand times a minute."

Mavis chuckled and threw her arm over Apollo's shoulder. The teens headed off down the street, admiring the pink, orange, and blue sky as the sun slowly set over the horizon.

This was the perfect end to a perfect day.