My, updates are coming slower and slower, are they? XD

So, a lot of the stuff that I've been uploading lately are mainly experimental to be honest. I'll do my best to upload content for those stories, though, since they're getting a lot more views than I thought they would, and since I've been planning to do them for a long time. However, to assure that I don't get lazy, I think I'm going to work on more one-shots as well. Nothing in correlation; just one-shots.

Speaking of which, I am also working on a one-shot series specifically for the Christmas Season, and will be, attempting that is, to write them throughout Winter Break (which for me is actually a pretty long time). These are more Christmas Themed one-shots, and vary between longevity and shortness.

But aside from all of that, how are you guys doing? Got any plans for the holiday? Any wishes? :3

"Phineas and Ferb"are owned by Dan Povenmireand Jeff "Swampy" Marshwho both work for Disney(c) (LONG LIVE THE EMPIRE!)

Marissa Flynn owns Marissa

Porkins belongs to Star Wars (but I love his name, so I keep using him anyway) who also belong to Disney...so HA.

I own this story and the rest of its contents.

Enjoy!

P/F/P/F

"Why, hello there, Phineas, how are you doing today?"

The temporal regulation around Phineas conveyed a momentary cease of being as he stared directly at the disgusting creature before him. The creature that looked human, though the child knew far better, wore green attire with two dull purple M's on his chest, and had white facial hair that matched that of his head. To Candace, who had been in the middle of a conversation with this creature, he seemed like an ordinary person, to which was even more jarring. To Phineas, the creature had suddenly sprouted demon horns, a pair of bat wings, and grew knife-like teeth while his skin shifted to a dark red color.

Alright, so perhaps not the most accurate interpretation, but to Phineas it was pretty close to the real Monogram.

"You-?!" Phineas breathed out, earning a look of concern from Candace.

"Is something the matter, Phineas?" Candace asked, walking over towards Phineas; she got to his level, not caring if there was another figure in the room or not, "You look like you've seen-."

"-Th-that's Monogram," Phineas spoke dumbly, his hands shaking.

Monogram remained poised and unaffected by Phineas' reaction to his presence, even looking a bit amused. He waited as Candace began to explain:

"Yes, that's Major Francis Monogram. He's an ally to us, Phineas. Anything that you experienced with him in his base was an act."

Phineas blinked, feeling paleness setting in as if he were to faint on the spot from all the confusing emotions swirling. "…What?"

"You might want to sit down," Candace said, directing Phineas to a chair, "And I'll explain everything."

Phineas obeyed, still keeping a close eye on Monogram, who appeared professional to the whole thing. The youngest in the room thought very cruel thoughts about the elder, and he seemed to squint a bit at him before Candace brought him back to reality.

"Monogram has been keeping under profile within Danville in one of OWCA's sewage bases, and has been keeping tabs with us ever since. He's been planning an assault for months, far before you became involved with any of this. So, once he found out you were with Doofenshmirtz and his confidant, he knew that it was the perfect time to strike."

Phineas stared, unable to contain his confusion. "But…the Amnesia-Inator…the Mutants…FERB," he babbled, unable to speak coherently as he took what Candace said into mind.

"He used the –inator to erase all of Doofenshmirtz and Schnitzel's memories of the place," Candace stated, "But he knew that it wouldn't be able to work on your mind."

"Huh?"

"It was more or less a prototype. A fully matured mind would've been able to handle its blast, but a child's is still in the developing stages. Therefore, any radiation that the device would've thrown at you would've caused a brain hemorrhage. In other words, if he had used its full power on you, you would've been killed."

Phineas flinched in shock, and shot a look to Monogram, who nodded steadily at him without a word. The boy hunched a bit, wondering to himself in silence. "Was that his plan?" he thought, "Was that what he was going to…was he trying to…?"

"As for the mutants," Candace said in a more solemn tone, "They had all been created through an accident. He and some assistants had previously been working on some kind of experiment having to do with the anthropomorphic parts of the animal agents, and…let's say that it didn't end so well."

"That's…that's…terrible," Phineas managed to speak out softly, once he finally seemed to calm down enough to enunciate properly, "I…why would they-?"

"-It is an experience I deeply regret," Monogram finally said shaking his head, "We had no idea that it would lead to the agents to…"

Monogram stopped himself from going on, and seemed to look away. It looked like…sadness, guilt, all things that Phineas could easily recognize. Either Monogram was a good liar, or these emotions, whether he had been trying to play Candace and the Resistance for fools or not, was completely genuine. It was strange, but it didn't seem like an act.

"What about Ferb?" Phineas asked, "He was attacking us back at DEI. He's the reason why it collapsed!"

The outburst even shocked Phineas. Was he…blaming his own brother for what had happened?! What was wrong with him?! "What is wrong with me?" Phineas muttered to himself, soft enough for no one to hear him.

"Ferb had left the Resistance base to face off Doofenshmirtz on his own," Candace went on, "He…he failed. And Monogram saved his life."

Phineas stared. "He…what?"

Monogram saved his life.

Monogram saved his brother's life.

Monogram…Monogram…

Phineas wanted to kill Monogram, for reasons he no longer understood as well as he did before.

"He didn't remember me," Phineas added as he lowered his head, "It was like I was a total stranger…"

"Monogram was able to save Ferb's life," Candace said, "But not his mind."

"So, he…Ferb…its memory loss, then," Phineas said in a small voice, once again giving a glance to Monogram, though this one was shorter than the others.

Candace nodded. "In a simple term, yes," she said, "Though it's more complicated than that…I can't go too deep into detail," she nodded to the Major, "You'd have to ask him about it."

Phineas looked back to Monogram once again, and the taller human smiled. It made Phineas shudder uncomfortably. The boy looked back to his sister. "But what about his powers?" he asked, "The flying, the super strength…?"

"Like I said, you'll have to ask Monogram about that," Candace said with a sigh, "He's explained the process to me, and…I'd be lying if the whole idea wasn't confusing."

Phineas looked down to his lap. "So…he's…on our side?" he asked, "He's not gonna come into my room while I sleep and stab me to death?"

Phineas realized then that he had been having the most bizarre nightmares ever since he came to the Resistance. Should he ask someone about that? Was there a psychiatrist in the Resistance Base? Maybe with those who were simply boarding at the base that he had been shown before?

"No, Phineas," Candace almost chuckled as if the whole idea was far from possible, "Trust me. He will not hurt you."

Somehow, Phineas seemed to relax a bit, as if he trusted his sister's words. He looked up to Monogram, with a small smile as Monogram seemed to return the gesture. It still made Phineas shudder, like a snake was crawling on his spine. Something felt off…

"W-well…if you say so," Phineas said, laughing a bit, not knowing if he was nervous or relieved as it sounded like a mix between the two.

Candace simply smiled at her brother, putting a comforting hand on Phineas' shoulder. Yet Phineas felt anything but comfort, as he glanced back at Monogram again, getting a tiny smirk in response. It was faint, even unnoticeable, and Phineas started to think that he was truly going insane by now. But as he kept thinking about the events from before, he realized that something didn't quite add up.

Perhaps he would talk to Monogram about all of this later.

(~)

Everything had been a huge blur to Schnitzel after the blimp had self-destructed. To think, she had only gone just a few hours away from DEI before she had been stabbed in the back by those who she had entrusted. On the same day, no less, Schnitzel would've scowled to herself had she been sentient at the moment. But she wasn't, unfortunately, though to be honest it would've been better than feeling her insides burst open from the fall.

Oh, god, was that the case?! Was…oh god…part of her seemed to panic, even in this world of darkness she mentally found herself in.

Schnitzel was currently prostrate, completely unaware of her surroundings in the land of the living. Mentally, however, she found herself in her own subconscious, viewing her mind like a spectator viewing and commentating over a sports game. She talked about her trials, her mistakes, her misadventures that every child had one way or another found themselves in, as if she was being interviewed. As if she was someone of huge importance.

And she seemed to be answering questions that had been thrown at her as if there had been someone there with her. And a voice seemed to echo; not her own, yet it was. She could not recognize it, yet she felt it was familiar to her.

"Who are you?"

"Why are you here?"

"Who are the people most important in your life?"

"What are your regrets?"

"When will this all change?"

And the questions went on and on, one more thought provoking than the last. By now, though, Schnitzel seemed to doze off, not able to answer any question properly, and then all the voices faded to one that she was SURE she knew well enough. Her mouth felt dry, and her eyes widened.

"Are you done yet?!" yet another question, though this one came from a smaller version of Doofenshmirtz; unlike his older self, though, this one had both of his sky-blue eyes.

The younger Alice Schnitzel muttered something in a closet as the scene took place, and Heinz pressed an ear against the door. He sighed in irritation once again. "You've been in there for hours!" he groaned, "If you wanna show me something important, then she me, already! I have to go in fifteen minutes!"

Then, the doors slammed open, sending Heinz flying into a bed that belonged to his best friend. A younger Alice came out in a frilly blue dress with pink gems around the hems. She grinned boastfully as Heinz stared at her, flabbergasted at the form of attire. "Well," the younger Alice said as she posed, acting as painfully proper as her own mother, "How do I look? Tasteful, am I not?"

Heinz suddenly burst into laughter, hugging his stomach. "You look like a clown!" he stated.

Alice gave a small, playful glare. "Heinrich Doofenshmirtz, that is no way to treat a lady," she huffed, "I demand a full apology at once, you lout."

Once Heinz regained his full composure, he stood up, cleared his throat, and proceeded to bow in a gentlemanly fashion. "Many regrets, my lady," he said, "I must say you look rather winsome this fine evening."

Alice smirked proudly to herself. "That's what I thought," she said with a nod, before Heinz reached for her hand, and placed a kiss on the back of her palm…

The two burst out into full out laughter.

"Okay, wow," Alice giggled, "You are really good at this, man! And I thought you were just a lawn-gnome."

"Hey," Heinz said, "We 'lawn-gnomes' learn proper etiquette too, you know. My family goes to those stupid banquets all the time."

"Just like the one that you'll be going to in my own home?"

"Pretty much…wait…don't tell me that you're going in that."

"And why ever not?" Alice's eyes fluttered mockingly, "You said I looked ravishing in this outfit."

"Well, it's just…" Heinz hummed a bit to himself, "It doesn't look…like…you."

"Well, it's not supposed to," Alice shrugged, "It's not like I'm going to be water ballooning everyone I know at this party…if you can call it that. Ugh. It's gonna be booooriiiiiiing. I'm glad you'll be there to suffer with me."

"Yes, well, at least I won't be looking like I'm some court jester."

"Hey. Let's not insult the jesters out there; they have respect too."

Heinz and Alice burst into laughter once more, while Schnitzel began to work hard on a robot, sweating her head off. Except that she wasn't there, but rather witnessing herself committing this act as the scene shifted from the happy memory to a more recent one. She remembered this before she had even known of Phineas' existence.

The Norm-Bot immediately fell into pieces the moment Schnitzel placed the head onto its body.

"DAMMIT!"

Schnitzel slammed the metallic head onto the ground, letting it bounce up a bit and roll across the floor. It gently tapped the door that Doofenshmirtz chose to enter through, sending it rolling to the other side of the room. This was the Doofenshmirtz that Schnitzel knew all too well, the one who had lost his eye almost two years after they had met as children, and the one who had grown into the cold-hearted shell of what he used to be.

"I can see that little progress is being made," Doofenshmirtz said in an even tone.

"I'm trying," Schnitzel said, almost begged it to herself that it was the case, "It's just…building was never my strong suit, and…"

"It's been a month since the Resistance took down the Robot Factory," Doofenshmirtz stated, "And since then, the rate of damaged machinery has increased. With how busy I've been, I need you to work all the more harder in order to keep our armies and workers intact."

"It's not my fault I'm not meant to be an engineer! Can't you find someone else to fill in the job for me?"

Schnitzel expected Doofenshmirtz to throw her against the pile of metal, and tell her to continue her work. Instead, he hummed to himself, actually taking her words into consideration before doing as she had initially thought he would. She landed on the pile of metals with a loud thud, and she felt cuts and bruises upon impact. Doofenshmirtz's one-eyed glare was uncaring.

"Get back to work, Alice."

Schnitzel twitched.

"It's Schnitzel, Doofenshmirtz, sir."

Doofenshmirtz rolled his eye at this, and left the room. Schnitzel groaned.

Wait…that really was her this time…

Her eyes finally opened…

(~)

…only to find herself face to face with the vines of the large, ancient forest that had surrounded the walls of Danville long before Doofenshmirtz had taken over. It had been one of the reasons that Phineas was unable to leave Danville to begin with (though he himself had no inclination of any of this), and had been one of the major factors of Doofenshmirtz's takeover. Schnitzel remembered those horrible science experiments that had gone wrong in some university that had led to their expansion, these things that not even botanists could fully explain.

About fifteen years before Doofenshmirtz's takeover, the USA had been abducted by plant life that had been artificially created during an extreme food shortage. They were plants that could grow on virtually any soil, and would grow into healthy crops regardless. Of course, that's all that Schnitzel knew about it. Doofenshmirtz was actually more versed on the subject, and had even saw many outcomes, usually bad ones, that would possibly come out from such a discovery.

None of those possibilities listed had anything to do with the plants going rogue, coming to life, and spreading throughout the continent like a plague, forcing cities to either create barriers for protection, or flee as their towns turned into ruin. Those things only happened in cartoons, Doofenshmirtz said, in fiction, he went on; it was the most ridiculous thing to ever come to anyone's mind. So why it happened at all, not even he seemed to be able to fathom.

And Schnitzel didn't really care at all at this point how or why these plants had gained mentality to begin with. All she cared about was she now found herself hanging in the air, having been jolted from her slumber at the thorn-covered vines that pricked her. The said plants had begun to wrap around her like she was a mummy waiting to be placed in a casket to be sealed away forever in a dreamless sleep.

My. She was using death metaphors a lot, lately. She had been thinking about that topic so much since they went underground to face off Monogram. It was so like her, yet only now did she seem to realize just how much she thought about the subject.

Very fitting, seeing as she was going to die right then and there. It was strange; she thought that the world would at least be kind enough to let the blimp's explosion instantly kill her. For all she knew, she'd probably spend the rest of her life inside the stomach of a giant Venus flytrap. The vines covered her mouth, and she found it impossible to breath.

Usually, she'd be able to hold her breath for hours, but the thorns pricking her were making her tired, and she found herself welcoming slumber once more. It was right then and there, however, that another image appeared, one that portrayed Doofenshmirtz destroying the plants on full power with shears specifically for gardening. Once Doofenshmirtz cut her free, however, upon feeling him lift her up seconds before she fell unconscious once more from whatever the thorns seemed to produce, she realized that this was not a figment.

(~)

Phineas waited outside of Candace's room as his sister's conversation with Monogram continued. He was instructed to do so, as their discussion was to be kept confidential. As he waited, he began to think about what had been said in that room, and how it fit together. Somehow, it made sense…

Who was he to judge someone who he only met once? In that sense the whole thing seemed completely understandable. It made sense…it…made total sense. Everything Monogram did…

So why was he still afraid?

Monogram soon left Candace's room/office, and was about to leave the facility entirely to return to his own. Phineas could only wonder why they couldn't simply discuss this via video-cam since it seemed like a waste of time to travel through several states just to have a chat. Monogram stopped for a moment, and looked over to Phineas, who gave the weakest of smiles. The Major extended a hand to him.

"How about we let bygone be bygones, huh?" Monogram smiled, "After all, we're allies now."

Phineas stared for a moment before gingerly extending his hand towards Monogram's. He smiled briefly before feeling Mongram grab his wrist tightly and lowering to his level. Monogram continued to smile, but it felt much more patronizing. "All will be revealed in due time," he chuckled pleasantly, "I'm free to answer any question you may have. I'll be here for a while until Carl fills the gas tank of our plane."

"Uh…i-isn't that a little-?"

"-Over the top? Well, you tend to be when you're the leader of an organization, he-he, just look at your father."

Phineas struggled before finally pulling his arm away from Monogram, staring at him with a frown. Monogram stood up straight, staring down at the smaller one before him. Phineas suddenly felt very pale. The Major turned to leave.

"Well, come along then."

Phineas felt his eyes widen in shock. "Uh…what?"

Monogram looked at Phineas with an unimpressed glare. "You want answers, don't you?" he asked, "Then I might as well explain."

"I-I can always ask Candace," Phineas assured, wanting to stay as far away from Monogram as possible.

Monogram smirked. "But I know things not even she knows," he stated, "Don't you want to know what you're father's been up to? Hm?"

Phineas hesitated as he looked at Monogram carefully. He was going to say no, and he was going to talk to Candace about everything that had been on his mind. He was going to turn down the offer of someone who knew more than his own sister…

…Phineas began to ask himself why he would be so stupid as to follow the person who wanted his father dead more than anyone else.

A/N:

Aw~, Doofenshmirtz saved Schnitzel's life! X3

…That's too nice for him. I need him to do something violent next chapter! XD

Alt. Phin: More violent than killing a bunch of vicious plants from "Little Shop of Horrors"?

Actually, that came from one of Doofenshmirtz's inators, I think…I forget which episode, though. XP

Alt. Phin: And…uh…aren't you forgetting something? O_O

…Oh yeah!

I need to be more careful with Schnitzel. I really like using her, and she's become a little popular amongst some of you, but I don't want that spark to end. I don't want her to become a Mary-Sue. O_O;

But, I wanna point something out…this is chapter eight of the story, and it's another Schnitzel-centric chapter with her past being explored. In "Like Father, Like Son", her centric chapter that explained why she was there to begin with, at least her first one, was chapter 8…let it be known that I JUST checked right now. I did NOT mean for this to happen, I swear. XD

I guess 8 is her lucky number or something...

Alt. Phin: -_-

…MOVING ON!

You got any comments? Likes? Dislikes? I'd love to hear 'em all! Please, review, follow, fave, or whatever you want!

Happy holidays to you all!

-GTS