I hate writer's block. I really, really hate writer's block.

Sincerely, Galaxina-the-Seedrian

PS: Writer's block can suck it.

"Phineas and Ferb" and all the characters from the show belong to Dan Povenmire and Jeff "Swampy" Marsh

Marissa Flynn (OC) belongs to Marissa Flynn (Actual Person)

Madison belongs to Woodland59

Enjoy~!

P/F/P/F

A deathly silence filled the airship of the Resistance. A soft, gentle breeze glazed over from the air vents, but no sound other than the clattering of steps and perhaps some murmuring reached its peak. A grim undertone showcased, as if all the inhabitants of the underground home base were aware of exactly what had just happened. It was enough to send chills.

Losing to Doofenshmirtz or anyone from LOVEMUFFIN for that matter wasn't something that Candace or any of her subordinates were unused to. There were casualties, yes, and even more losses to bare. Deaths were a low count, surprisingly (Doofenshmirtz in particular had a thing for imprisoning his victims rather than immediately slaughtering them), but they, sometimes, still happened. Yet even now this loss was far different; this defeat felt far more rigorous.

They were so close to finally killing him, finally finishing all of this…and they lost…they lost and fell back like bloody cowards, Isabella remembered ever so fondly. Had Buford been in the room at that moment, he'd probably laughed at her face. She was almost thankful that the brute was likely too busy tormenting Dr. Baljeet to be within the vicinity.

Part of her would've ripped Buford's eyebrows off for making a mockery of her. The other knew that he had every right to jeer – she was partly responsible for their full-out retreat. Or rather, she felt responsible. She sighed as she looked out the medical bay's windows from afar, seeing clouds drift on at the thought of their old base back in Danville; the base that resided right under her house. Given how many Norm-Bots were probably there, scrounging for information, tearing the structure down to dust to find anything of use to them, it was likely she'd never see her old home again.

Within the medic bay, which wasn't nearly as impressive as the ones in DEI, Isabella sat with her fellow Fireside Girls, all exhausted and injured. Medics tended to their wounds as best as they could, though Isabella herself was one of the luckier ones of this battle. She winced as the medic tending to her burns would slip every once in a while, massaging too hard on the pained skin on her arm.

It was a surprise that, with such amateurs working on their side, that death counts weren't at an all-time high. Some sort of painful miracle, it was, Isabella had to admit to herself. Granted, the alternative usually left many out of the playing field for a number of weeks, sometimes months. And then there were those who became permanently crippled from a particularly brutal battle.

Isabella wasn't mad at the medic, who was barely older than her anyway. Jenny was doing her best; and at the very least she wasn't high off the floor, what with those damn drugs…she felt Gretchen lean on her quietly, a small wet sniffle leaving her. Isabella looked towards her fellow Firestorm Girls, all of whom looked at each other or at the floor and walls rather…solemnly.

The leader of the troop let out a shaky sigh, knowing very well what had happened. Unlike her subordinates, she was one of the four who had seen the action unfold while Gretchen and the others had gone to deal with the Norm Bots and Cyborgs. It was infiltration gone wrong. It was stupid of them, really, to think they could outsmart Doofenshmirtz that way, though she doubted that even he foresaw that outcome. In fact…no…Isabella shook her head at the thought of the impossible.

During the rush of it all, right as they retreated, from the corner of her eye, Doofenshmirtz almost looked…distraught? Guilt-riddened? Horrified?

Almost as if he had known her. Almost as if he didn't mean for any of that to happen. That it was an accident, like he didn't want to hurt any of them in the first place.

But that had been so brief, and it all happened so fast, for all Isabella knew he was only upset that he only took one of them down. Heck, she likely imagined the whole thing…but she did know one thing…

"WHY DID YOU MAKE US LEAVE HER?! SHE COULD HAVE MADE IT!"

A sound so loud echoed, the voice booming enough to shatter that wavering silence completely.

Isabella, along with all the patients, Firestorm Girls and beyond, looked over at a corner of the medic bay, where stood their long-necked leader, Candace, whose arm was in a cast and head bandaged, and a green-haired boy sat before her, trying to get out of her bed only to be forced back by two nurses, one an adult and the other a girl who was only two years older than Isabella. An unthinkable rage was on the boy's expression, one that filled the rest other than Candace with a sense of shock.

Ferb was always a quiet person; a stoic person even. You wouldn't be able to read his expression if you tried. Well, except for maybe two people, Isabella realized. Candace had mentioned her other younger brother, who was…lost…and then there was her too. Isabella winced as she figured just how much this whole ordeal was hurting him, and would've cried if she hadn't trained herself to fight back the tears as well as she did.

"We didn't have a choice," Candace sighed, people starting to awkwardly turn away save for a few; save for Isabella, "Ferb, she wouldn't have wanted us to-."

"Candace, Danni's dead! She's dead and she didn't have to be in the first place!"

"You're right about that," Candace shook her head, "But what happened was an-."

"NO!"

Candace was taken aback as Ferb finally stumbled to his feet, shoving the younger nurse to the floor. He pointed accusatorily at his step-sister, who only stared. "You know for a fact we could've saved her," he spat, "She was lying there, bleeding her guts outs, breathing!"

"She was dying, Ferb, we probably wouldn't have survived the trip back. We had no time to lose."

"She had time–why did you stop me from helping her when she still had time?!"

Isabella swallowed hard as the all-too-recent memory popped back into her head. She, Candace, Ferb, Danni, and a couple others had gone to face Doofenshmirtz and his lackey. It was mainly a test, a means to show him who was boss…or so they had thought…Isabella and Ferb knew for a fact that Candace wanted this to be their final encounter. It would've been fitting, really: Doofenshmirtz had broadcasted a super weapon of some kind. How uplifting would it be to not only defeat whatever nefarious scheme that dictator had unleashed while also assassinating him in one fell swoop.

Instead the plan backfired completely. Not only had Doofenshmirtz anticipate their arrival, he had them practically surrounded with new improved Norm-Bots (with his face, which was weird even for him). And the weapon itself? Nothing more than a ruse to lure them out, the damned bastard. They'd only barely managed to get out with their lives.

Danni, on the other hand, wasn't so lucky. She had tried to defend…well…in her attempts to save her friend and, upon Candace's orders, take out Doofenshmirtz for good (though there was a lot of hesitance on her part for whatever reason), his lackey cut in and…and…

Isabella shot a glance at Katie, who was starting to throw-up into a bucket, small bits of red dripping. A nurse mentioned that Katie had sustained a pretty bad head injury, and this only confirmed it. Isabella and Ginger went over to help their friend while the other Firestorm Girls were too stunned to really do anything.

"It's okay, Kate," Isabella whispered, rubbing her back, "It's okay…"

She looked up to see Ferb continuing to pry Candace for answers. Isabella herself couldn't help but wonder the same: why hadn't Candace prioritized Danni's, and everyone else's safety for that matter, over killing Doofenshmirtz? Granted, Isabella didn't blame her leader for wanting this god forsaken war to end already and for the dictator to just up and die. Yet on the other hand, this hadn't been the first time Candace put the lives of her allies in danger for the sake of furthering a goal.

Memories of another Resistance Member, Albert, rushed through her mind; the image of the teen's bloody carcass splattering to the ground, red pooling around him, his glasses shattered over his eyes. The look on his younger, more insecure brother's face as Isabella told him that his big brother, his hero, was never coming back just like their parents before them. How Candace rather bluntly told him, and by extension her, to suck it up and move on.

There were no victors in war after all, this Isabella was certain of. And Candace shared her hand of losses…losses she barely even knew about herself…yet this didn't make Ferb, Candace's own younger sibling without blood ties, to empathize even a little. It was as if he knew far more about her intentions than anyone else, which…did make sense, Isabella confessed to herself.

Candace glared rather crossly. "If I hadn't made that call," she growled, "You wouldn't be here, Ferb. You think I wanted her to die?!" she extended her arms to the Firestorm Girls, some of them flinching back at being brought up into all this, "You think I wanted this?!"

"As a matter of fact," Ferb seemed to bite his tongue as Candace stuck her face into his.

"YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I'M GOING THROUGH, FERB!" the Resistance leader yelled, "I'm your SISTER! I'm doing all this for you!"

"Yet the fact remains that you know Doofenshmirtz more than any one of us here," Ferb hissed lowly, "How is it that you of all people didn't think about these variables? How did you not know that Doofenshmirtz was capable of this? Why was there no back up plan to your carefully executed methods?"

"What are you getting at Ferb?"

Ferb's face contorted into a face of…confusion…like he himself didn't know where he was exactly trying to get at. But then it hit him; Isabella could see the light of hatred glimmer in his eyes as he seemed to piece it all together.

"Danni knew something, didn't she? She knew something!"

Isabella felt her mouth gape, a sudden fear overcoming her heart. Candace rubbed her temples. "Ferb…"

"Or she did something you didn't like!"

"Ferb, please-."

"You and Danni hated each other! She always went against you! She always hated what you had to say and did! SHE KNEW WHAT YOU DID!"

"FERB!"

The sound was enough to make everyone's heads turn away with a snap. Katie and Ginger both clung to Isabella for dear life, Gretchen crawling over and leaning her head onto her leader's lap. Adyson remained an anchor for Milly and Holly as they did their best to veer their gazes as far away from the sibling argument as possible. Only Isabella was brave enough to even glance back…

…the sight of Ferb crying in his sister's embrace was too much to bear.

(~)

The sensation of her life flashing before her eyes left Isabella instantaneously when she heard the barrier around her made a strange cracking sound. Which was impossible, really; Dr. Baljeet made this thing to be nearly indestructible. Cracking would indicate otherwise, would indicate that something was breaking them out…then again…

"SIR?! SIR! The wall!"

Isabella listened to the voice that belonged to Adyson, and looked to see a sort of fissure shaking against the fake sky. Could it be? Isabella placed her hands on the stormy colored blue and pushed, the feel starting to turn from metallic to something more gelatin. The cracking increased as the rest of the field starting transforming into a squishy substance, purple by color in fact. Isabella and the Firestorm Girls felt their jaws drop as the temperature started to drop ever so slightly, almost immediately effecting the coloring.

"HURRY! Before it freezes up!"

The voice was muted, but they could tell that whoever owned it was screaming to the top of his lungs. Isabella's eyes widened. "Phineas…?"

"Isabella," Gretchen called, pushing against the wall once more, "Look! We can push through! C'mon!"

With no time to lose Isabella and the Firestorm Girls quickly shoved into the gelatin and pushed their way through. The slimy feel caused some to cringed, though Milly hummed in delight suddenly. "It tastes like grape!" she sighed blissfully.

Holly gagged, covering her mouth with her hands as she continued pushing with her elbows. "Don't taste the wall!" she said, "That's disgusting! Who knows what's been touching that?"

Milly pouted, her lip almost quivering. "But…grape…"

Holly rolled her eyes.

"Focus, ladies," Isabella ordered, "KEEP PUSHING!"

The group of girls gave one more shove enough for the gelatin to give way, the seven girls stumbling out into their freedom and then immediately face-first onto the floor. The fruit-flavored goop rained on them and those around them, Isabella immediately recognizing Dr. Baljeet, who seemed to let out an agonized scream as he went to hug his jellified creation, Irving, Buford, and…

Isabella growled at the sudden realization of what had happened, her gaze fixated on the fat oaf who had likely nearly taken their lives over some stupid prank. She pushed herself up, Irving being the first and only to be sane enough to rush to the safety behind the control panel of the biodome. She went to stride over to Buford, who seemed to be busy eating the jell-o off his hair, only to immediately slip backwards on some of the purple sludge. A pair of fingerless gloved hands proceeded to stop her fall, clasping her by her underarms.

"Whoa!" Phineas gasped, trying to slide her back to her feet, "Are you okay?"

Isabella stared at Phineas with a shocked expression, a redness lighting up her face like a Christmas tree as a response rather than a verbal one. Phineas seemed to crack the smallest of smiles. As if by instinct, Isabella proceeded to slam a fist into his triangular face (and at that very moment a sudden spark burst through him, a strange sort of adrenaline even), sending both of them stumbling to the floor, Isabella slamming her head hard. While Phineas and Isabella groaned in pain, Buford cackled at them, clutching his stomach.

"Oh man," Buford laughed, "That was beautiful!"

Irving covered his mouth in shock at the sight, wondering if he should go over and help them or not, but the sound of Dr. Baljeet's screech caused him to jump back into hiding. Gretchen, on the other hand, was stable enough to rush over to her leader and help her up. Isabella whined. "Ugh…I hate floors," the Resistance leader mumbled.

Phineas sat on the floor, panting, stunned at what had just happened, his heart racing. He stared over at Isabella as Gretchen assisted her back to her feet. "What was that for?" he growled, kneading his nose.

Isabella looked over and glared at him. "That was a direct attack!" she stated with a stomp, almost slipping again only for Gretchen to rush over and keep her balanced.

Phineas extended his arms out in protest, crossing his legs Indian style. "I saved you!" he proclaimed, placing his hands on his knees "Like, literally, you probably would've died! Would it kill you to be a little more grateful?"

"A little more-," Isabella paused, her growing anger suddenly subsiding as she realized how uncalled for it was, "…you saved us?"

Phineas opened his mouth, preparing for a comeback. But it never came. Instead he sighed and nodded at Isabella, who looked rather staggered. "How?" she asked.

The boy motioned to what appeared to be a green and orange water blaster lying on the ground, something that none of them had seen since they were at least three years old. "I modified it to soften materials," Phineas explained, "It had a sort of," he rubbed some blood off his nose, looking over at Milly and Buford as they were eating the biodome, "edible desert effect apparently…but hey! At least it makes for easy clean-up."

"STOP EATING MY BABY YOU BRUTES!" Dr. Baljeet demanded, trying to push both the children away, only for Adyson and Katie to start joining in.

"Mm~," Adyson grinned, "This is actually pretty GOOD!"

"Yeah," Katie hummed in delight, "There IS a distinct grape taste! And boysenberry! And lime! And…and…" she paused to smack her lips together, "…is that curry I taste? Weird, but, oddly satisfying…"

Holly groaned in disgust. "That stuff used to be metal, you guys! And that's beside the fact that you're literally eating it off the floor! We walk on the floor! With muddy shoes and boots, no less!"

Adyson smirked. "You do you, we do we."

"That doesn't even make any sense!"

Isabella watched, not sure of what to say as guilt overcame her, Phineas standing up to his feet while continuously keeping his bloody nose in check. What had overcome her just then? That surge of emotions…she'd never really felt that before…she looked at Phineas, who seemed to be staring directly at her.

"…what?"

Phineas flinched. "Uh, nothing, I," he cleared his throat, "Are…are you okay?"

"…I'm fine," Isabella murmured, "I…sorry for the nose…"

"It's alright," Phineas laughed, "I've been through worse," he frowned, "A lot…worse…" he shook his head, glaring a bit at Isabella, "But seriously, that wasn't cool, girl."

"Yeah," Isabella sighed, "I…well…I'm not used to being…helped?"

Phineas' glower turned into a playful smirk. "Did that really warrantee a smack-down?" he asked, almost in a teasing way.

Isabella moaned. "I'm not gonna hear the end of this, am I?" she asked.

"Not until the end of the weak at the earliest," Phineas sang, "Though that was a pretty good right hook, I'll give you that. That could've knocked my entire face clean off!"

Gretchen glanced back and forth at her leader and Phineas, a slow, small smile appearing on her face. Isabella didn't usually get along with boys very well; she always seemed on the defensive side, assuming the worst of them, underestimating their abilities and intelligence as a whole. Yet Phineas was able to garner an apology and tease their leader with little undeserved consequence that was so very usual around there. It was almost…comforting.

"HOLD IT!"

Everyone's attention shot to Ginger, who was tapping her foot, hands on her hips as she glared. "Aren't we forgetting something important?" she asked.

The children glanced at one another, voicing their brief confusion. Ginger groaned, pointing at Buford. "The perpetrator!" she announced, "We need to beat down the perpetrator!"

Buford choked out some gelatin as the feeding Firestorm Girls suddenly turned on him, giving him sour looks. "Now, hold on ladies," Buford said rather contritely, "It's a little soon to be putting the blame on people-."

"IT WAS HIM!"

Buford scowled as Phineas, Dr. Baljeet, and Irving all simultaneously pointed at him, only further confirming his crime. "DUDES!" Buford scowled, "WHAT THE HELL?!"

"Sorry, man," Phineas said, he, Irving, and Dr. Baljeet starting to slide out of the ire of the Firestorm Girls, "This one's on you!"

"Yeah," Irving squeaked, hiding behind Phineas, "You're on your own!"

"You were accomplices!" Buford shouted as the Firestorm Girls started to half-surround him, "Get back here!"

"GET HIM!" Gretchen yelled, eliciting Buford to flee from six of the seven Firestorm Girls with a shriek.

"COWARDS!" Buford called out to his friends before running out of view, the Firestorm Girls not far behind.

Phineas, Dr. Baljeet, Irving, and Isabella stared on blankly. Irving looked over at Isabella in surprise. "Aren't you gonna go after him?" he asked, "I mean, I would've assumed you of all people would kill for a chance to kick his butt."

Isabella smiled rather pleasantly at the shorter boy. "I'm giving him a head start."

The three boys all flinched as Isabella's grin suddenly became rather threatening. She turned to the three. "And as for you," she said, "Buford said you were in on it?"

"Not completely," Phineas explained, "It was an unwilling compliance, I assure you."

"Yes," Dr. Baljeet snit, "Coming from the one who was actually considering the 'prank' to be a good idea-."

Dr. Baljeet squeaked out in pain as Phineas proceeded to slam a foot down on the scientist's before looking back at Isabella a little too innocently.

"I see…" Isabella nodded, "Well, I'll let you boys off the hook on account of…" she shook her head, letting out a vexed grunt, "I don't even know. This is just a Buford thing, I guess. It's always a Buford thing, it seems. Besides," she motioned to Dr. Baljeet almost apologetically, "I think it's safe to say that you suffered the most from all of this. It'd be a little cruel of me to give you your just deserts now."

Dr. Baljeet gave her a tearful glare, immediately grabbing Isabella by the collar. "Avenge me," he demanded as Phineas and Irving went to pull him back, "AVENGE MEEEEE!"

Isabella pulled herself out of Dr. Baljeet's grip, almost shuddering at him. "Alright, alright," she sighed, "We'll be sure to do that…" she looked at the large pile of gelatin, "Now…how are we gonna explain this to Candace? I do NOT wanna have to do laps on the fields two days in a row."

"I'll figure out a way to clear this out before she even finds out," Phineas shrugged, "I'll even help rebuild it. Whatever it takes to make sure no one else suffers Buford's fate."

Isabella found herself snickering while Dr. Baljeet flinched and glared at Phineas. "YOU WILL DO NO SUCH THING!" he shouted, "TURN THIS BACK TO ITS ORIGINAL FORM NOW!"

"I can't!" Phineas said defensively, "It's irreversible! I was kind of on a tight line here, given the fear of them turning into living popsicles."

"WHAT?!"

"Besides, I don't know if turning it back is even an ideal solution," Phineas winced, "Considering how much of it was consumed?"

"Well then," Dr. Baljeet briefly clapped his hands together with forcibly pleasant smile before exploding once more, "why did you not stop them?!"

"Well…to be fair I don't think telling them would do anyone any good," Phineas shrugged, "I mean…it's grape jello, Baljeet. You'd have to be insane to ignore it's sultry pleasure."

"IT'S DR. BALJEET YOU UNCULTURED SWINE!"

"Dude, take a chill pill. Besides, it's not that bad."

"YOU TURNED MY BIODOME INTO A GIANT SLAB OF GELATIN! HOW IS THAT NOT A BAD THING?!"

Isabella and Irving blinked, spectating Dr. Baljeet roaring and spitting at Phineas' face while the latter tried to calmly sway the scientist back to the little sanity he had.

(~)

"Excuse me, you want me to what?"

Ferb was a calm, collected individual; to screech at an idea from his superior was uncouth and rather unsightly on his part. Regardless of just how ridiculous he found the notion spoken to him, he at least wanted it to be dealt with in a sane and timely matter. Though to be completely fair, what Monogram was asking of his did seem like a huge waste of his potential, not to mention a waste of time.

"I want you to stay at the base," Monogram stated simply, "And keep an eye on the boy."

And, there it was. The ridiculous request regarding that annoying nasaly brat that Ferb had the undue pleasure of meeting previously. He hadn't seen him since he left his unconscious flesh sack with the Resistance Leader, and he preferred it stayed that way. Instead, he had to deal with this nonsense. Brilliant.

"That triangle-headed idiot," Ferb eyed, "Why should I? Shouldn't we be focused on the fact that Doofenshmirtz is out there? Remember," he made a quote-unquote motion with his fingers, "The 'war' you were so worried about? Against that bloody psychopath who's capable of doing who-knows-what-and-how? THAT war?"

"Of course I haven't forgotten," Monogram smiled, "But it's important to remember what he wants and when he'll get it. That being said," the major took a sip of some coffee with a Hot to the Touch logo on it, "Doofenshmirtz has always been a family man. He's likely set everything on the side to get his son back. We need to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Then why don't you tell Candace to place that platypus in as his bodyguard or something?" Ferb asked.

"Because Candace has already made plans to send Agent P off on another mission," Monogram rolled his eyes, "And besides, I doubt Phineas will try anything with you around, after the trouble you gave him."

Ferb grumbled. "More like the trouble he gave me," he sighed, "But if you insist…I just wish that it didn't involve me being around those children. They always give me such moronic glances."

Entering the room with a drink of his own, Carl looked at Ferb, tilting his head. "Uh…you're, like, eleven years old," he stated.

"And yet the fact remains that I'm years ahead of them mentally," Ferb crossed his arms, "Your point being?"

Monogram stepped back into the limelight. "The point is," he said, glancing at Carl as if to tell the intern to shut his mouth; the intern obeyed with very little hesitation, almost trying to disappear from view as he let out a rather hangdog laugh, "Is that you're our best option in keeping Phineas at that base without anyone getting suspicious. Understood?"

Ferb exhaled, arms drooping in annoyance, knowing very well that even though intentions were far from clear, there was no reasoning with Major Monogram. There never was. "Fine, fine," he nodded his head, rubbing his temples, "Consider it done, then, sir. But know this – whatever you're planning, it better be worth my efforts."

"Oh, don't worry," a more sinister smile crept onto Monogram's face as he turned from Ferb and Carl's gazes, "It will be…"

A/N:

YEAH BABY! I'M BACK! XD

Ooh~, that felt so good to write! AAAHHHH~…oooooohhhhh~…X3 I needed this.

Tell me what you guys think! :D I missed all of you~!

God bless all ya'll and live life to it's fullest! Carpe Diem!

-GTS