A/N: The third chapter! I'm writing a bit ahead of publishing just so I can keep it bi-monthly for now, so advice from reviews is gonna take a bit to be incorporated into the story. It would be very nice to see some reviews, even if it's just "I'm actually reading this" or something, lol. Ooh, also this chapter is the biggest one yet!
Chapter 3: Chill Out!
"Phew!" It was 8:15 in the AM, and Phineas and Ferb were already having breakfast. Ferb was showing minor signs of agitation but everyone else was absolutely wiped out. The heat was unbearable. Air conditioning was doing zip to solve their predicament. "What day is it? Summer's just started and it's already scorching." Candace complained. The family had switched out their typical hot breakfast for bowls of cold cereal and orange juice. Even Lawrence was taking his tea iced. Phineas looked over at the refrigerator, perhaps thinking about crawling inside.
"Say, Mom, do we have any ice cream?" Phineas desperately needed anything to help him stay cool. Ferb walked over to the kitchen, grabbed some hand towels, and ran them under cold water. He distributed them to the family before checking the freezer and looking back at Phineas.
"So no dice, Ferb?" Phineas slumped in his chair.
"Don't you worry, boys. Candace and I were already heading to the grocery store today and we'll grab some. Just stay cool for a couple of hours." Linda pulled Candace up out of her chair. "Let's get moving, young lady. The whole town's gonna want it, so we better get there first."
Candace wrapped her towel around her head and mumbled something in reply before grabbing the keys to the minivan off of the counter. The two disappeared out the door, leaving only the father and the sons. Phineas stood up in his seat with a sudden burst of pep. "Ferb, I know what we're gonna do today!" Lawrence was so surprised that he dropped his saucer, spilling tea all over his lap.
"AAAAAAAARgggg- Wait a second, this isn't painful, just wet and squishy. I'll be getting the stain-stick." Lawrence took his jeans off and walked off into the garage. "It's kind of freeing to have an excuse to not wear pants anyways."
"Sorry, Dad!" Phineas yelled after him. He got into the pantry and produced a sprinkler. He gave Ferb a thumbs up. "Grab the hose so we can start our preliminary cooling procedures, we're making some ice cream!" Ferb returned his gesture and jumped off of his chair and walked into the garage. Ferb looked over at Perry's bed, and realized he wasn't there. He shrugged to himself.
As Lawrence loaded the pants in the laundry, he failed to notice that he was also dumping in the boys' pet platypus. Perry patiently waited for Lawrence to start the washer. "Honey!" Lawrence yelled. He realized she wasn't there, shrugged and left the garage, Ferb in tow. Perry waited for about a minute until Lawrence came back with the couple's laundry hamper. Linda will appreciate that. After having the laundry dumped on him, he began to rapidly rotate. As Lawrence left the garage, the machine's drum dropped down, spilling a dazed Perry into his secret lair, wet clothing on top of him. Monogram appeared on the screen.
"Good morning, Agent P! We'll send someone along to get those clothes later, but for now we have Doofenshmirtz to worry about!" Monogram directed Perry to the top-right corner of the screen. "If you haven't noticed, it's blazing hot today! I'm actually making a day of it now that Monty is back in town. I suspect Doofenshmirtz is behind this, because that's how this thing typically goes. So my orders are to pack a cooler full of cold ones and sandwiches, and your orders are to figure out what he's up to, and put a stop to it!"
A tube of sunblock dropped from above into Perry's lap. "And don't forget your sunblock." Perry saluted him, waited for the screen to go black, and discarded the sunblock. You would think his boss would know more about platypus biology. He hopped in his hover-car and was on his way.
Isabella finally woke up. The sudden early morning heat wave had made getting to sleep impossible, so she wasn't wearing any covers, just her pajamas. She yawned and slowly stretched her arms out. Hopefully, she thought, this lack of sleep doesn't make me grumpy. She got dressed and shuffled out of her room, accidentally stubbing her toe on the door frame. "ARGH!" She held her tongue, but it was already shaping up to be a rough morning. She suddenly was confronted with a blast of refreshing, cool air. Her family was already gathered around, eating stacks of fresh pancakes. Flint was at the stove, flipping bacon and finishing a plate of pancakes. Flint gave her a familiar grin and set a plate down on the table.
"G'mornin' sleepyhead! It's like 8:40, you oughta be up by now!" Joe had looked up from his pancakes. She sat down across from him as Flint took a seat next to her.
"Sorry, Dad. Oh! I was supposed to meet Gretch at 9:00, let me shoot her a text." She quickly whipped out her phone and delayed the meeting. "Yeah, that heat wave woke me up. Speaking of, why is it so cool in here?"
Flint put his arms behind his head and leaned back in his seat. "I gave the AC a little 'tune-up'. It's running a bit more power but it's worth it today." He intentionally failed to mention that he had siphoned the power from the Flynn-Fletchers, and that was why theirs wasn't working. "Since you guys have been such gracious hosts, I figured it was the least I could do." He watched Isabella with a strange intensity as she began to eat.
"Young lady, you can't break your sleep schedule," Joseph chided, "It's a bad habit." Isabella's father cared for her deeply, but more often than not he was very discipline focused. The military does that to a man. "And be sure to see Gretchen before you go hang out with the boys or... whatever." Isabella made sure to swallow her food so she could speak. Flint, satisfied, turned his attention to his food.
"Alright, Dad." She nodded at Flint. "Thanks for the food. And the AC. That was really sweet of you." Flint grinned sheepishly as he put his hands to his sides.
"Don't mention it." He responded, his hand slipping into his jacket pocket. He flipped a switch on a remote. "You sound like you're already having a rough day." That meal you just ate has doomed you to a horrible fate, He thought as he smiled convincingly at her. Hey, that rhymes. She hadn't seen anything yet.
Perry felt a sudden surge of intense heat as he flew into the window of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. He suddenly felt himself become sluggish as he landed next to Doof's latest -inator, a large antenna pointing towards the sky. The heat made him unable to move, like a sauna that relaxed all your muscles. Doofenshmirtz was lying, shirtless, in a fold-back chair, with stacks of air-conditioning units blowing cool air at his side of the laboratory. He lowered his sunglasses and laughed. "Ah, yes, Perry the Platypus! It's 'ice' to see you!" He motioned to the machines around him. "Having stocked up on these air-conditioners before the big heat wave has made me feel really 'cool'!" Perry gave him a grimace. This was not his best work.
"You see, Perry the Platypus, this-" He motioned towards the device Perry had landed next to- "is the heat-waveinator! It blasts heat all across the Tri-State Area, making it very inconvenient to stay inside!" Perry looked at him with confusion. "And before you think that this is me encouraging kids to not spend summer vacation playing video games or whatever, I want you to know there is evil at the core of this, for you see, I have bought up every single spare AC unit in the TRI-STATE AREA!" He raised his arms triumphantly. "Now, anyone who wants to have an AC installed will have to call me, and I will charge above-market prices!" He cackled with malevolence as he daydreamed about being able to stop relying on alimony. He suddenly looked down with his hand on his chin as he realized he hadn't actually put the units on sale on the internet. "Excuse me for a moment, Perry the Platypus." He unceremoniously walked off into another room to grab his laptop. Perry strained as hard as he could and was finally able to begin inching towards the -inator, albeit slowly. He would have to make it... eventually.
Heinz approached the door to his room, where he had left his laptop, when suddenly, Vanessa burst in. "DAD!" She was absolutely livid. She blocked his way and stamped her foot down on the ground forcefully. "Why did you do the heatwave scheme today? You KNEW I was going out with Monty today!"
Heinz pretended to be surprised as he donned a shocked expression and put his fist up to his jaw. "WHAT?" He said in an almost sarcastic tone. "That was TODAY?! Oh, Vanessa, I never meant to interfere with your relationship with the son of my arch-rival!"
"Ugh!" Vanessa angrily stared him down. She grinned at him as she left the room. "Well, we had to change our plans, but you can't stop me from going out! I know what's best for me, dad! Stop trying to control my life!" The door slammed behind her.
Perry honestly could believe this stupid scheme was all just a cover for his overprotective nature. Doofenshmirtz grabbed his laptop and sat back down on his seat. "Yes, flop there and judge me, Perry the Platypus. The truth is that today I could really care less about inconveniencing the Tri-State Area as much as inconveniencing my daughter's romantic pursuits. That Monty Monogram really rubs me the wrong way, you know." He put his legs to the side and sat up, looking depressed. "It really seemed like Vanessa and I were finally turning it around a couple of years back, but I was a lackluster good-guy, one thing led to another... Basically she lost the internship, I came back to evil, and we haven't really seen eye-to-eye since. I just want the best for her, Perry the Platypus. That man is far from the best." Perry could see where he was coming from. Monty and Vanessa's relationship had always been defined by the tension between their fathers, but while they initially more or less only kept it going for kicks, the two had solidified an unhealthy back-and-forth. But when you're together for years, what could justify splitting up?
Of course, it goes without saying that causing a heat wave as a response to this was unmerited, so the machine would still have to go.
Candace and Linda were totally unprepared for the large amount of customers at the grocery store that morning. They had found what little ice cream there was left and were now waiting in line. Candace drummed her fingers impatiently along the length of the cart. "By the time we even get up there, the frozens are gonna be melted anyways." Linda was busy fanning herself.
"Oh! Hi, Candace! Hi, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher!" Baljeet noticed the girls as he got into line, Buford in tow. "I see you are faced with the same dilemma as ours."
"Hello, Baljeet. Buford. How are you doing? What brings you here this morning?" Linda asked.
"Well, we were grabbing some last-minute supplies for our trip up the Himalayas since the plane is leaving tonight, and now we're gonna be stuck here for as long as you are, it seems." Baljeet remained positive. Buford grumpily grunted.
"I hate waiting in lines. This might be long enough that we miss our last day of hanging with Dinnerbell and Beanpole. I'd bet they've already got some crazy scheme cooked up to beat the heat." Buford caught Candace's attention with that last sentence.
"You're totally right, Buford! Just like fate, conspiring to keep us away from that backyard as often as possible!" Candace made fists and put them to the sides of her head in frustration. "Any idea what they're doing?"
Buford waved his hand in front of his face. "I'd bet they're designing a massive air-conditioner unit."
Baljeet butted in. "I'll wager they're working on creating a snow machine for another S'Winter!"
Candace got more excited. "Maybe they've given up on trying to enjoy the day here and are just headed up to space to get away from the climate down here."
Linda chuckled. "And I think they're running through the sprinkler in the backyard or packing a cooler full of snacks for the beach."
Phineas turned on the sprinkler and pointed it at Ferb, much to his chagrin. "Cheer up, bro! It'll cool you down!" Ferb snorted and shook his head, throwing water off of his hair. Phineas looked around but realized that no one had yet shown up in their little slice of the world. He shrugged. "Well, since we've got a little spare time before we get to work on on the project, maybe we could pack a cooler full of snacks so we could head to the beach afterwards!" Ferb gave him a thumbs-up as he went inside to start. "Bring it out here, so we don't miss anyone's arrival!"
Isabella groggily approached the Fireside Girls lodge in the park. She hadn't donned her uniform, instead opting for her typical pink dress. She had left the bow at home, as she hadn't had time to put it on. She rapped out the secret knock and waited for her to open the door. Flint had snuck along behind her, and was hiding behind a tree, eager to try out his new invention. Gretchen answered the door and smiled at her friend. "Hey Isabella! Are you ready for this?" She put her fists out in front of her.
Isabella sucked air through her teeth nervously and tensed her shoulders. "I'm not sure, Gretch..." Gretchen splashed cold water on Isabella's face.
"How about now, chief?" Gretchen grabbed her face and forced it down towards her. "You're gonna finally do it today! Why is that?"
"Uhhh... because-"
"BECAUSE you're Isabella Garcia-Shapiro! Conqueror of mountains! Traveler of stars! Destroyer of the barriers between time and space!"
Isabella didn't know where she was going with this. "But I couldn't have done any of this stuff without Phineas and Ferb..."
Gretchen shifted her hands to Isabella's shoulders and chuckled. "What makes you think they could have done it without you?" Flint chose this moment to flip a switch on his remote.
"And here... we... go." Flint whispered, pushing in a button. He peeked around the corner of the tree to witness his handiwork. He suddenly thought better of it and walked off, whistling nonchalantly.
Isabella shuddered as a chill went down her spine, feeling a sudden spike of rage. She looked down at Gretchen angrily. "JUST SHUT UP!" She shoved her friend to the ground. Gretchen's backside hit the dirt and she looked up at Isabella in fear. "I don't want to hear your dumb pep talk! This happens every time! You hype me up, I let you down, we do the same song and dance every month!"
"What's wrong with you!?" Gretchen began to fight back tears. "I thought you wanted this!" Isabella regained control of herself and immediately knelt down by her friend. She offered Gretchen her hand but Gretchen quickly slapped it away.
"I- I'm sorry Gretch, I don't know what came over me. Please, just-"
"Get out of here." Gretchen's death glare said a thousand words.
"But-"
"LEAVE!" Gretchen pointed away from the lodge. Isabella moped away. She turned back towards her friend on the ground but thought better of saying anything.
That was strange, she thought to herself. For a moment, I wasn't myself.
She heard the lodge door slam behind her and walked off towards the Flynn-Fletcher backyard. Maybe they could help her find the route of her mental issue. Flint suddenly appeared alongside her.
"So that sounded like it didn't go well."
Isabella didn't like that at all. She snorted and rudely retorted. "You think? Jeez, you guys don't get timing at all."
Flint's eyes widened. He never did understand girls. "Oh, uh, sorry. Anything I could do to make you feel better?"
Isabella's demeanor became much nicer at his apology. "Nah. I'm sorry. It's just... been stressful." So stressful she didn't question why he was there in the first place. "I just want to see Phineas. He always brightens up my day. I bet he'd even help me apologize to Gretchen!"
Flint looked down at his feet as the two began to walk. "I bet he will." He mumbled as he thumbed the remote idly in his back pocket.
Ferb was putting the engine block into a large pink truck when Isabella walked through the gate, Flint in tow. "Hey, Ferb. Where's Phineas?" Ferb looked down at the truck.
"Under here, Isabella!" Phineas slid out from under the truck. "Just putting the finishing touches on the cooling system."
She stood over him as he slid back under the truck. "So... watcha doin?" Phineas slid back out.
"We're building some ice cream trucks to help the people of Danville cool down." He motioned towards the concrete slab the two had poured that morning. 3 trucks were done. "They're outfitted with self-driving technology, programmed to serve ice cream free of charge to anyone who approaches." He slid back under the frame.
"You sure it won't seem suspicious? Like, to parents?" Flint intoned from the back.
Phineas spoke muffled from underneath the ice cream truck. "I didn't consider that." He once again slid out. "Ferb, can we program the trucks to only stop in populated areas?" Ferb gave him a thumbs-up as he fixed the bolts for the engine into place.
"Well..." Isabella nervously began, "I think I need your guys' help."
Phineas slid back out from under the truck and got up on his feet, grinning. "Finished! Alright, shoot."
"Uhhh..." Isabella was thoroughly embarrassed. "I kinda lost it at Gretchen this morning when we were talking at the lodge, and I need to make it up to her."
"Really? That seems so out-of-character for you. What were you talking about?"
"That doesn't matter. Girl stuff." Isabella dismissed Phineas' prying quickly. "Something just came over me, and I got all mad at her, and that's inexcusable."
"Alright, but if it's something personal, I don't know if we should-"
Flint clicked the remote in his back pocket.
Isabella once again felt a shudder. "Of course you should! I've always been there for you, haven't I?! You owe me, Flynn!" She stuck her finger aggressively into Phineas' chest, forcing him back against the truck.
"Woah!" Phineas' eyes widened. He never did understand girls. Isabella regained her composure, lowered her finger, and looked up at his face with a mopey expression.
"Sorry." She put her fingers together nervously. "I guess it happened again. I didn't mean to-"
"Don't worry about it. Like I said, sour is a change of pace." Phineas smiled at her as he regained his posture, to Flint's surprise.
So why didn't Gretchen? Isabella began to think. Phineas interrupted her train of thought by yelling at Ferb. "Hey, can we do something special for the Fireside Girls? You know Gretchen's favorite flavor, Ferb?" Ferb texted Buford. Buford seemed to know everything.
Buford, Baljeet, Candace, and Linda were all still standing the seemingly-endless grocery store line waiting for their turn at the register, spitballing ideas for Phineas and Ferb's big idea.
"Maybe, it's a rollercoaster!"
"Buford, you always want it to be a rollercoaster!"
"Hold that thought, Jeet, got a text."
The text consisted of a ice cream emoji and a picture of Gretchen's face. Buford looked at Baljeet. "Ferb needs to know what Gretchen's favorite ice cream flavor is." The two thought for a moment. Baljeet snapped his fingers. "Isn't it Chocolate Chunk?" Buford put his hand over the other boy's mouth.
"No, wait. It's Minty Chocolate Chip!" Buford texted Ferb back. He looked over at the others. "So, now that we have a new hint as to what the boys are doing, anymore guesses?"
Candace revised her take. "I think they're starting some kind of ice-cream stand, but it will have some sort of super-dangerous twist, like... it flies or something."
Baljeet raised a hand. "Ooh! Ooh! I bet they're going back to the moon farm to milk the moon cows!"
Linda laughed. "And I'd bet they're just using the machine we bought last year, and wanted to do something nice for the Fireside Girls. They always used to come over during the summers."
Phineas was showing off the interiors of the trucks to Isabella and Flint. "And here we have the ice cream machine Mom bought last year. We got a few other machines for the other trucks." Ferb peered down from outside the truck and showed Phineas and Isabella his phone.
"Minty Chocolate Chip, right! We had it at her birthday this year." Isabella remembered. Why didn't I remember that? Phineas opened up a cabinet above his head to reveal a stash of ingredients, pulling out some chocolate chips.
"Let's get started, then!" He poured the chips and some peppermint extract into the machine. It roared to life as he got a drum out to contain the new flavor. There was already a bar full of drums of regular flavors, like vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Isabella impatiently tapped her foot and angrily glared at Phineas.
"Is this gonna take ALL day?" She clamped her hand over her mouth as she adopted an expression of shock. "Sorry! Again!"
"Ferb!" Phineas snapped his fingers as he began to mix the ingredients with a crank. "You think you could grab the flashlight from the garage? And maybe an X-Ray?" He looked over at an uncomfortable Isabella. "I'll bet whatever's wrong with you, we can figure it out. For now it's kind of... entertaining to watch." Isabella smiled and laughed. Ferb clicked with his tongue and headed back into the garage.
Flint couldn't believe it. The nerve of this guy! He just stands there and takes it!
Vanessa arrived at Danville beach in the passenger's seat of Monty's car. Their conversation had up until that point been uninteresting small talk. She headed off to the beach house, bag in tow. After changing into a swimsuit in the locker rooms, she was pleased to find Monty had already set up a blanket on the sand. Monty offered her a cold drink as she sat down next to him. He was wearing some swim shorts and sunglasses. "You wouldn't believe what I found out before we came here." Vanessa shot Monty a sly grin.
"What, did your dad cause the heat wave with one of his -inators?" He emphasized the last word with some jazz hands, making a slightly goofy expression. Vanessa's jaw dropped just a little as her grin transformed into dumbfoundedness. "He did? Oh, wow! He did!" Monty would have laughed if he wasn't so annoyed. He suddenly became a bit glum. "Charlene is going to be by soon, I made the mistake of letting her know our plans for the afternoon."
"I guess both my parents want to ruin today." Vanessa groaned. She took out a tanning mirror from her bag and focused it on her face as she laid on her back and relaxed. Monty laid back next to her and nursed his drink carefully.
"I swear, V. Those parents of yours are real pieces of work."
"Look who's talking, Monogram. It's been like 5 years since our dads have been at this stupid war. Francis' distrust of Dad's 'new leaf' was the reason he went back to evil in the first place."
"That's a bold claim for someone who got kicked out of OWCA." Monty coolly replied.
"Your Dad did that too!" Vanessa exclaimed, sitting up to face him. She put her palm up to her forehead in frustration. It was always like this. She suddenly became very sour. "You ever consider that maybe our parents are right? About us not being right for each other?" She curled her legs up and looked away from Monty.
"Woah, woah!" Monty raised his sunglasses and sat up. "What gave you that idea?"
"Repetition, Monty! Every time we get together we can't separate our parents from ourselves, you know?" Vanessa turned towards him as she began to vent. "Frankly, we're both proud of what our fathers do."
"Klimpaloon knows why, in your case." Just the kind of dry response she expected.
"That! Exactly that! We're at each other's throats more often than not. It's like some kind of sitcom! Like our whole relationship fits the purpose of playing out the same narrative every week!"
Don't look at me, I have no idea what she's talking about.
"Well, once we get past that-"
"It's been 3 years. Do you think we're gonna get past that?"
Monty didn't respond for a while. He just looked out at the ocean as it lapped against the pebbles on the shore. It was like this for about a minute. Then, he spoke. "I think you're right." Charlene chose this exact moment to show up.
"So, how are you two kids doing?"
Ferb plugged the X-Ray into a outlet inside the cooled truck as Phineas sat Isabella down on a fold-out chair. "Well, the ice cream isn't quite done, so we can see about that 'problem' of yours." He took a popsicle stick and held it up to Isabella's mouth. "Now, open up and say 'aaah'." He stuck the paddle inside as she obliged and shined the flashlight down her throat.
Phineas frowned. "You don't look like you're sick or anything. Ferb, is the X-Ray scanner ready?" Ferb gave a thumbs-down, as the battery still had to charge. The ice cream maker stopped churning with a ding. Phineas poured the ice cream out of the machine and into the new drum, placing it in a circular slot on the truck's bar. He put a lid on top of the drum and grinned at Ferb. "That will have to wait then. Let's get started! The Phinedroids and Ferbots are loaded onto the other trucks, so we can chill in here while we help everyone cool down." Phineas missed the snort Ferb gave at his pun as he turned to the controls. The trucks began to move out of the backyard, just barely scraping through the gate.
The Flynn women were still stuck in line with Buford and Baljeet. Candace's phone was rapidly running out of battery, a surprising feat in the modern age. "Groooooan!" Candace said, instead of groaning. "It absolutely stinks, waiting in line like this. I wish there was some way we could just get out of here so I could figure out what the boys are doing!"
Linda looked up from her book. "You know, in the future, we might be able to send robots to do our shopping for us." Buford and Baljeet looked at her in dismay.
"I feel like robots would be up to more than grocery shopping." Baljeet haughtily condescended. Buford slugged him on the arm. "Ouch. Sorry."
Buford looked up to the corner of his eyes as he began to speak. "Baljeet, while rude, is probably right. When domesticated robots or androids become mass-produced, the effects that plays on society as a whole would be immeasurable in theory. So many new questions about the nature of life and humanity would be raised."
Linda and Candace gave him raised eyebrows. Linda waved him on. "Elaborate."
"Like, for example, do androids think and feel the way we do? Are their artificial bodies deserving of the same rights we have as humans?"
"Sorry to interrupt you, but would you like some ice cream?"
Phineas had shown up, with four cones for the four of them. "We're serving some out front, but since I knew you were here, I figured I could bring them in for you. Candace, Mom, you like chocolate, right?"
"Thank, you, Phineas! How did you come up with this so quickly?" Linda took the cone from her son as he basked in her gratitude as she tousled his hair.
"Ah, it was nothing. Ferb and I were just running through the sprinkler when we thought it would be nice to give out some ice cream, since we had all these ingredients for it. So we started carting around your machine, so to speak, and we're distributing cones to the residents of Danville!"
"See! I told you!" Linda grinned at the others as they looked downcast. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go to the bathroom. Candace, keep our place in line."
She walked off and Candace suspiciously glared at her little brother. "How did you get down here so fast?"
"With the fleet of trucks we built, of course!" Candace's fingers tensed up as she realized Linda had already left.
"You couldn't have said that a second earlier?"
"I could have. But why?"
Candace stamped her feet and clenched her teeth as the others looked on. A low grumble of complaint escaped her lips. Phineas leaned over to Buford and Baljeet.
"What's with the girls being in bad moods today?"
About a block away in Danville Park Isabella was carrying a drum of minty chocolate chunk ice cream up to the Fireside Girls lodge. She couldn't help but overhear the conversation from an open window going on inside. Gretchen was addressing the other Fireside Girls.
"Just this morning, she shoved me out of nowhere! And I was helping her!"
Isabella heard Katie cut in. "With what?"
"What are we always helping her with?"
The girls shared knowing looks. Gretchen continued. "It's that borderline obsession with Phineas! I've got nothing against him myself, but you guys have noticed it too right? All of last school year? Never any time for the troop, never any time for us! Phineas has gotten in the way of her ambition as a leader and her friendships." The girls nodded in general agreement when they all suddenly heard a knock outside.
They opened the door and instantly donned a look of shame at the sight of Isabella. The regret on all of their faces was mutual. Gretchen gulped as Isabella stepped into the room and stared her down.
"Gretchen..." Isabella began. Gretchen flinched. "... You're absolutely right." Gretchen looked up at her in surprise. All the girls leaned forward in their seats. "I've been off-" She looked around at her friends pleadingly. "- and not just today. It's been a weird year for me, and I'm sorry if my crush-"
"Obsession." Addyson interrupted.
"- okay, OBSESSION, has gotten in the way of me being a good friend to you. And I have no excuse for what I did this morning, I'm sorry."
Without warning, Ferb walked into the room, X-Ray scanner in hand. All the girls watched intently as he ran it over the length of her body. "Actually, Isabella, you do. That is a microchip, and it looks like it influences brain patterns." He pointed towards a mysterious, tiny metal object that was in her stomach.
Isabella looked down in surprise. "Is that what's making me freak out?" Ferb gave a thumbs up, confirming her suspicion.
"Well, obviously. After all, as your dear Phineas said, 'sour is a change of pace for you.'" There was a hint of mockery in Ferb's voice. Isabella punched him on the shoulder. He snickered.
"And for your information, that wasn't the chip. So what do we do about it?"
Ginger got off her chair and analyzed the chip's position, making a circle with her finger around the digestive tract. "Well, it's already in the large intestine. I'd give it an hour, then nature takes it's course."
Ferb left as wordlessly and suddenly as he had arrived. The question still remains, he thought, How did that chip get there in the first place? Isabella and the girls watched him walk off, and she continued her apology without missing a beat. "Okay, so maybe I had an excuse for THIS morning, but I want to make it up to you guys. I, uh, brought some ice cream. Mint chocolate chunk, Gretchen's favorite." She set the drum down as Ginger went to grab some bowls. "That's not it, of course. I... can push Phineas aside for now. My friends need me too. You guys want to do anything today?"
Gretchen seemed to accept her apology, and gave her a hug. "I don't know, after the ice cream we could head to the mall. Do nothing. But are you sure you don't want to ask Phineas about...?"
Isabella interrupted her as she returned the hug. "There are no people I'd rather do nothing with. Phineas can wait." It was at this moment that Phineas, Ferb, and Flint all arrived back at the Fireside Girls lodge.
"I don't understand, man. She's been on you all day for little things! How can you stand it?!" Flint seemed exasperated. Phineas frowned at him.
"Well, she has been a tad annoying today, and I don't like being verbally assaulted, but she's worth trying to help because she's a fundamentally good person. Speaking of..."
Phineas called into the lodge. "Isabella! Ferb talked my ear off about the whole thing. You wanna come to the beach with us to deliver some more ice cream?"
As the girls walked past Phineas and Ferb, Isabella stopped. The Fireside Girls watched intently. "N-n-n-" She physically strained to get the words out. "N-n-n-" Her face was nearly purple. This was taking all of her effort, mind, body, and soul. "N-n-n-" Ferb checked her pulse by putting his finger up against her neck. He gave Phineas an "OK" sign.
"N-no, thank you. I'll be hanging with the girls at the mall." She finally managed to finish.
"Alright then! You ladies have a nice time!" Phineas wasn't even slightly upset as Isabella walked off. Flint, however, had had enough.
"OH, COME ON!" Flint put his hands on Phineas' shoulders and started to shake him. "NOW SHE'S BLOWING YOU OFF-" He stopped for a second in his frenzy. "-AND YOU'RE FINE WITH IT?!" As he shook Phineas, the remote in his pocket accidentally went off.
Isabella turned around and made a mad dash towards Flint, jumping into the air and drop kicking him with all the force she could muster. Flint flew back, detaching from Phineas, and slid across the ground before coming to a stop, groaning in pain. "Oh, my gosh! I'm so sorry, Flint! It must have been that metal thingy!" She leaned down to see if he was cut anywhere as everyone gathered around.
"I give up... I deserved it... You guys do whatever... I'm just gonna go back to our place..." He mumbled as he got up and waved everyone attending him away, limping back to the Garcia-Shapiro residence. Everyone collectively shrugged and continued in the directions they were headed. Ferb walked up to Flint and handed him an ice cream cone. "Thanks." Flint looked down at the cone. It was chocolate. He hated chocolate. Phineas and Ferb jumped into the truck. Phineas turned to his brother.
"So, how about that beach? Just you and me?"
Monty had left Vanessa and Charlene on the beach. Charlene gave Vanessa a sympathetic look as her daughter stared off into the ocean mournfully. "I know it's rough, Vanessa, but sometimes when something isn't working, you just have to mutually decide to let go." Charlene patted Vanessa's back. Vanessa didn't cry. She had felt this coming for some time. "You'll find the someone who works someday. That's what you hold on to."
"I guess I loved the idea of Monty more than I ever loved Monty." Vanessa leaned against her mother's shoulder. "You don't need to worry about me Mom. It'll take more than that to make me cry."
Charlene smiled. "Since you don't have any plans for the day, what about hanging here with me?"
"Maybe. Maybe I'll see some friends."
Suddenly, a large hot pink truck rolled up to the beach, playing a cheery song that was popular few years back. Charlene pointed towards the truck. "Then how about some ice cream?"
"Sure."
The two were the first to arrive at the truck as the metal window slipped open, revealing-
"Ferb!"
Ferb stared at Vanessa, his face betraying no emotion. After a second, he nodded. Phineas came around from the back with a drum of ice cream. "Hey, Vanessa! We're running an ice cream truck today. Here, it's on the house." He began to scoop some strawberry ice cream out onto a cone, but Ferb stopped him. Ferb handed Vanessa a cone with a vanilla-chocolate swirl, topping it with some caramel.
"Oh, thanks! How did you know this was my favorite?"
Ferb winked at her, and she grinned at him. "Keeping secrets, then?" Phineas gave a cone to Charlene and put his elbows up on the bar and began to enthusiastically chatter.
"It's been a while since we've seen you, Vanessa! What are you doing here?"
"Oh, I was with-" She glanced at Ferb momentarily. "-Monty. We, uh, decided to split up."
"Like 'split up' split up? Wow, that's a shame."
Ferb pinched Phineas behind the counter. "Ouch!" Phineas quickly adjusted himself. "But if it's for the best..." Ferb nodded along. Phineas trailed off and didn't really know where to end his sentence. He perked up again. "Hey, while we serve the customers, you wanna hang out back here and catch up? It's nice and cool! We can take you home afterwards."
Vanessa glanced at Charlene. Charlene shrugged. "Go ahead. Catch up. I wanted to get a tan in anyways."
Vanessa put her arms on the table and snapped her fingers. "Open on up."
Perry the Platypus was still crawling towards the heatwave-inator, struggling to stand up and reach the self-destruct button. Doofenshmirtz was casually watching him, laying back on his chair. He sighed and dropped his arms to the sides of the chair. "Perry the Platypus, do you think this scheme was ill-considered? Nobody is going to buy an AC unit for a single-day long heat-wave." Perry looked over at him in exasperation. He wished he had kept his sunscreen. As if on cue, Doofenshmirtz poured sunscreen out onto his skin, slathering it on every inch of exposed skin. He casually walked over the the heatwave-inator and flipped the "off" switch. Perry laid there, looking up at Doof with contempt as his body returned to its original temperature. "What? I foiled myself this time, big whoop. My evil plan was to get a nice tan for the summer." Heinz shrugged and felt a sudden burning sensation in his shoulders. "ACK!"
Running up his entire body was not a nice tan, but the worst sunburn Perry had ever seen. "I guess I beat myself up too." He sighed and winced as pain shot through his body again. Perry began to slowly get up. Heinz looked down at him. "Well, I'm sorry I wasted your time today, but I'll probably have something better to make tomorrow. Is that okay, Perry the Platypus?" Perry walked over to Doofenshmirtz and simply put his hand on Doof's right leg.
"AAAAAAAARGH! Curse you, Perry the Platypus!" Doofenshmirtz tensed as he ran off, presumably to prepare a cool bath.
Vanessa was leaning up against the wall in the refrigerated truck, listening to Phineas ramble on about his and Ferb's exploits, occasionally getting a word in. Ferb gave her a knowing look and snickered.
"... I got into some contact sports, Ferb got really into athletics, and, gee, I think the two of us possess more combined skill now than any pair of brothers in the entire world at this point!"
Vanessa and Ferb laughed.
"Right, Ferb turned 16 back in February, and I'm turning 15 in a month or so, so you're turning 20 soon? How's that?"
Vanessa looked up at the ceiling and thought for a moment. "Well, it seems to be a new 'phase' of life for me. Gotta make some changes. Focus on me for a bit."
Phineas gave her a sympathetic look. "It seems like everything is changing these days. It's too bad about you and Monty-" Ferb shot him a glare and motioned towards Vanessa with his eyes. "- But maybe that's for the better." Phineas looked actively confused at this point, but Ferb gave him a wink indicating he had said the right thing. "There's always more fish in the sea."
Ferb took a bite out of his sea-salt ice cream cone and gave Vanessa a thumbs-up. She snickered at him and put her arms behind her back. "I must admit it's freeing. I can just relax for a bit, you know?"
"Well, if you ever want to have some fun, you know where to find us!"
"Actually, I don't. And, uh, aren't you a little young to be hanging out with a 19 year old girl?"
"Of course not." Ferb cut in. He quickly pulled a notepad out of his pocket, wrote a phone number and an address down on it, tore the paper and gave it to Vanessa. "That's my phone. Feel free to call anytime."
"Yeah, he'll talk your ear off if you let him!" Phineas joked. Vanessa took the note and shoved it into her back pocket. She looked out the window to see the DEI building, complete with the roughly painted on "Evil" from when her father had added it back to the building.
Vanessa got up. "This is my place."
"Don't worry, we remember." Phineas assured her. Ferb was already typing some instructions into the computer. The trio stopped outside the tower, and Vanessa got out. "Thanks for the ride, guys! I'll be sure to come by and see you sometime. Oh, and the heatwave should be over very shortly, I'm going to have a talk with someone." She headed towards the door.
Ferb closed the back door and let out a prolonged sigh. "You think I have a shot now?" Phineas once again donned a confused look.
"A shot at what?"
Perry felt that Heinz had invalidated his effort by thwarting himself. Frustrated, He leaned up against the Heatwave-inator. Suddenly, it started to tilt. The supports holding up the machine had slowly melted due to the heat radiating from the machine. Perry desperately tried to stop it as it tumbled over the edge, right over the unsuspecting teenagers below...
SMAAAAAAASH!
"EEP!" Phineas leapt into Ferb's arms as a mysterious machine landed right next to them, hitting an unmarked van and nearly smashing them. Vanessa turned back. Phineas gave Ferb an awkward look, and Ferb dropped him to the ground with a thud.
"Oh, my gosh! Are you guys alright?"
"We're fine. Just- uh- a bit frightened."
Ferb looked down at a pale-faced Phineas. "Actually, it may have been you who was frightened." Vanessa mumbled something and angrily walked back into DEI.
Phineas dusted himself off as he got off the ground. "Hey, Ferb, isn't it lucky that none of our inventions have been destroyed while we were inside it?"
Ferb thought about it for a moment.
"Well, now that it looks like this one's actually survived the events of a day, you think we could set it to automatically travel Danville and deliver ice cream for the rest of the summer? At least until it does get 'culled' so to speak?" Phineas enhanced the word with air quotes.
Ferb gave him a thumbs up and started typing away at the controls.
"Yeah, we can upload a more advanced AI for restocking and refueling tonight. I think with the other three we could just send them off to go wherever, nobody's going to object to free ice cream."
Ferb nodded in agreement. He felt something rub up against his leg and he glanced downwards. "Oh, there you are Perry."
Isabella was at the mall with her friends drinking milkshakes. She looked around at the glowing faces of her troupe with satisfaction. It was great to get away, she had to admit, from all the stress and neuroses that Phineas' presence created in her mind. She happily gulped down the last of her mint-Oreo shake. Gretchen was going on about potential plans for the coming summer, but they all seemed a bit boring to her.
"Gretch, you know, it feels like we used to be more ambitious in our activities." Everyone turned to Isabella.
"Well, without our fearless leader around, what could we get up to?"
"Hey, you don't have to rub it in. I'm going through some changes right now, and you all know what I'm talking about. All this... teenage stuff." All the girls awkwardly rubbed the backs of their heads in understanding. Isabella's eyes shot wide open and she suddenly jumped up on the table with excitement. The table shook and all the girls rushed to steady their cups. "Ambitious! What could be more ambitious than a world first?"
All the girls looked up at her in confusion. "What potential for a 'world first' is in Danville? And don't drag us to Phineas' backyard again." Addyson shot suspiciously.
"You guys remember the picnic the other day? How Mount Danville, which was previously unknown to be a volcano, is now an active volcano?"
"I don't follow."
"We could scale it!"
All the girls oohed simultaneously. The idea was quickly agreed upon. Gretchen put her arm around Isabella's shoulder and laughed. "Girls, I know what we're gonna do tomorrow!" A cheer erupted from around the table.
"Could you ladies get off the tables? I just cleaned those." Coltrane called from behind the counter.
"Sorry, Coltrane." Isabella and Gretchen got off the tables and sat back down.
Phineas and Ferb got dropped off by the ice cream truck and sent it on it's way just as Linda's car rolled into the driveway. Phineas waved at it. "Yeah, I know it doesn't have a consciousness, or personification, but I would like to think of every one of our creations as our baby."
Ferb gave him a disgusted look, but was saved by Linda and Candace's arrival. Linda was carrying a tub of ice cream, having just missed the chance to see the truck. "That took a while to finally get, but are you guys ready for some ice cream?"
Phineas smiled at his mom. "Maybe later, Mom. I've already had my fill of ice cream for today. Uh, thank you though." Ferb nodded in agreement. Linda sighed. At least the boys were polite.
"Well, if you need us, we'll be stretching our legs out on the coffee table and watching a movie." Linda yawned and headed inside, followed by Candace.
"You don't have to tell me twice. I'm just grateful that it got cooler."
A/N: Boy, this stuff is a lot of fun to write. It's getting late so I'll keep it brief, but I'm thinking of just updating ASAP from now on. Keeping myself to a schedule helps consistency, but I do like putting this stuff out for whenever y'all want to read it. I wrote this chapter on the assumption Ferb is 12 in the original series, because otherwise any mutual attraction to Vanessa comes off as strange. My brain is cool with a 3.5 year gap, so it was really just to give myself some peace of mind. Putting the characters at these ages was also was very convenient because it is the period during which it's implied the friends kind of split up during AYA, and around when the characters hit puberty, so I think the way relationships naturally change is interesting to write about. All I can say is that the timeline changes, and things don't end up the way they did. Until next time!
Next Time: Friend-Trip
The Fireside Girls climb a volcano! Phineas and Ferb experience engine trouble! Flint and Doof concoct a charismatic coup!