A/N: Back again! As you can kinda tell, I'm trying to lay down hints towards future events in these chapters, and trying to establish some running gags. I am exceedingly glad to see some follows and some favorites. I hope you all enjoy this chapter. This is the last chapter I have typed up ahead of schedule, but I'm already five pages deep in the next one, so it will definitely be out on time. College, man. Plus I moved back in with my family due to Covid-19 so I can't get as much privacy for writing. Just know if I can't continue writing for whatever reason, I will announce it.

Thanks for the review, Blinder! It is very nice to see an interest in this thing. Made me smile.

Chapter 4: Friend-Trip

"I know what we're gonna do today!" The alarm blared at 8:00 as sun began to pour through Isabella's bedroom window. Isabella arose from bed with a yawn and immediately hopped out of bed and to work on preparations for the day's project: Hiking the volcanic Mt. Danville with the Fireside Girls. She got into the closet, fetching a backpack, her uniform, and hiking boots. She happily hummed a tune (Gitchee-Gitchee Goo, if you were wondering) as she turned on a hot shower.

Flint passed from outside, mulling over recent events. He had elected to not surprise the family with breakfast this morning, and was as such pleased to find Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro had already prepared some burritos. He took a plate, thanked his host, grabbed a toasted bagel, and sat down at the across from Joseph, who was going over the morning paper.

"So, how are you enjoying your stay here so far, Flint?" Vivian set her breakfast down at the table's end. "It must be kind of difficult to adjust to life here in the States after being away for so long."

Flint held up his hand until he was done chewing, then, with a satisfied mmmm, he responded. "Sure is, but I can handle it. It's like, uh, riding a bike. You never forget some things." He snapped his fingers to jog his memory. "The neighborhood seems alright. Seems like life has an invisible rhythm about it around here."

There was a squeak from the showerhead as Isabella got out. "And on cue, the first verse." Joseph chuckled to himself. Isabella entered the room and grabbed breakfast, still a bit wet. She had a large backpack in her right arm, and she set it on the seat beside her as she sat down. She licked her lips and dug in to the meal. "So, what's the plan for today, young lady?"

"I'm hiking Mount Danville." She kept it short as her mind was on the delicious blend of sausage (beef) and cheese. She quickly took another bite.

"With that Phineas kid?"

"Nah, the Fireside Troop. We're gonna be the first ones to reach the peak after the volcanic eruption. Got all the equipment right here." She patted the bag underneath her seat. "No help from Phineas or Ferb today, we're going old fashioned."

"Isn't that kind of dangerous?" Vivian looked a bit worried.

"Don't worry about it. She's got a good head on her shoulders, Viv." Joe set aside his paper as Isabella grabbed a plate for him, too. "Thank you, darling."

Flint also looked a bit worried. "Mount Danville? Isn't that kind of an active volcano? Today? Specifically?"

Isabella grinned at him as she pulled a large pink heat suit out of the bag. "Alright, maybe I was exaggerating when I said 'old-fashioned'. Technically Phineas did make me this last time we did something similar, but the others had to get heat suits made."

"Made?" Joseph muttered under his breath. Isabella didn't catch it.

"Isa, you actually intend to climb an active volcano?" Vivian was now significantly more worried.

"Eh, don't spoil her mood. She'll get as far as she can, then turn back. Right, Isabella?" Joseph wasn't about to discourage her from doing something fun with her friends, especially something that would push her physical limits. Not to mention his general disdain for Phineas Flynn.

"I guess." Isabella shrugged and put the suit back into the backpack as she finished eating. Flint looked down at his plate. Either he ate like a mouse or she had the appetite of a wolf. "Thanks, mama!" She slung her backpack over her shoulder and kissed her dad on the cheek on the way out. "Have a good day, papa!"

Well, this is no good for today, but I can't back out on Heinz now. Flint slipped off to his room as he started to make some modifications to his plan for today.

Joseph looked up from his newspaper. "Flint? Hey, where'd the boy go?"

Flint walked into his room and pressed a hidden button underneath his cot. The cot opened on a hinge to reveal a secret slide underneath the floor. With no hesitation, he dove down the plastic tube. He slid down for about 5 seconds before being ejected into a chair in the middle of a state-of-the-art secret lair. The walls were mostly barren, as he hadn't had time to prepare any weapons as of yet, but there was a large generator and a larger monitor in front of it. He looked up to the screen as the unmistakable image of Heinz Doofenshmirtz appeared.

"Good morning, Flint. Today we're going to meet up at the secret volcanic hideout in Mount Danville."

"Yessir. I've got us a plan for this afternoon that practically guarantees a takeover of the entire Tri-State Area!"

"Excellent!" Doofenshmirtz rubbed his hands together. "This briefing seems pointless, but it feels kinda good to do. I get why Francis digs it so much."

Flint and Doofenshmirtz saluted each other, and Flint jumped onto a hover-board, shooting off into an underground tunnel to the Danville sewers.

Isabella wasn't two steps out the door when she bumped violently into Phineas. She almost fell to the ground, but Phineas managed to grab her by the arm and pull her up. He began to rub his nose. "Ouch!" He put his hand down and let go of hers. "Are you alright? Sorry about that."

"Oh, no, I'm fine. What brings you here?"

"I was just wondering... whatcha doin? Ferb wanted to sleep in." Phineas put his arms behind his back and smiled at her. She felt really bad having to turn him down.

Isabella sighed. "Phineas, any other day I would have loved to hang out with you, believe me, but I promised the girls I would go on a hike with them."

"Heh. Yeah, that makes sense. I bet their jealous I'm stealing the precious time of their fearless leader." Phineas grinned and elbowed her ribs. Isabella tried her best to not blush, but even if he never really meant it, he really was becoming more a flirt as of recent. Phineas had a sudden idea, and his face reflected it.

"You guys need any equipment? Ooh, I could make some magnetizing boots or a grappling hook, or a... portable bridge!" He looked like a kid on Christmas day.

"We've already got everything we need. Part of the challenge we're undertaking is keeping it as traditional as possible. Except for the heat suits, but we already have those."

Phineas wondered what they could need heat suits for on a hike, but chose not to press the girl for any further information. "Alright, I'll wait for Ferb to get up and we'll have something to do in no time. Have fun!" He waved as he walked off.

Roughly five minutes later, after Isabella had already long since left for the lodge, a familiar catchphrase could be heard over the Flynn-Fletcher's fence.

Flint arrived at the base of the new Mount Danville, by the shore of Badbeard Lake. He uncovered a secret door behind a few bushes and put his hand up to the biometric scanner. The scanner beeped happily and the door slid to the left so he could enter a large tube-shaped elevator. He waited for a few seconds in the elevator as a tune droned on in the background. The elevator opened and he stepped out. Suddenly, the PA system erupted to life. "DOOFENSHMIRTZ EVIL INCORPORATED!" He winced as the loud noise surprised him. Heinz stepped out from behind a console, wearing a welding mask. He flipped it upwards and waved at his protege.

"Hey, kiddo! You like the theme tune? I noticed you hadn't put one in, so I took the liberty of installing my own. You should come up with your own, you know. It's not really an evil lair without a trademark, you know."

Flint nodded in agreement. With this guy's knowledge, he was sure to go from small-time villainy to tyrannical dictator in no time. He went for his pen and notepad to make a note, but he realized his pen was missing. Unfortunate, since that meant he also wasn't able to access the memory erase function if one of the girls stumbled upon this base.

"Yeah, I like it. On another note, I'm sure you're wondering what I made for today's scheme! BEHOLD-"

Doofenshmirtz raised a hand motioning him to be quiet. "If you reveal the plan to me right now, it won't be nearly as surprising when you reveal it to Perry the Platypus later."

He was right. This man was full of old-timer wisdom. Flint waltzed casually over to a console on the right side of the room, setting his hand on the controls as he looked at the time on his phone and pulled up some social media to pass the time. Doofenshmirtz began to pace around, tapping his foot impatiently.

About five minutes after Flint, the Fireside Girls arrived at the base of the new Mount Danville, by the shore of Badbeard Lake. They looked up in awe at the new geological formations caused by the earlier volcanic eruption. The rocks were the color of white ash, and much of the flora was charred husks, though new growth was just beginning to poke through the ash. Addyson whipped out a cell phone and began to take pictures.

"Wow, this place is beautiful!"

Isabella pointed towards the lake on the right side of the mountain. It was full of ash, and the shore was covered in trash buried in the remains of the volcanic eruption. "I don't think so, personally. It looks like since the eruption, the Badbeard Lake's been used as a dumping ground for trash on top of already being covered in ash! Gosh, it's a mess!"

"One project at a time, sister!" Ginger reassured Isabella. "Besides, the city government is probably taking care of it as we speak."

This was false.

Isabella was satisfied, so she turned to the girls and began to brief them on the day's activity. "Alright, ladies! Since Mount Danville has become volcanic, no one has recorded a party expedition to the mountain's peak! Today... we intend to claim that honor for Fireside Girls Troop 46231!" She raised her fist at the sky and it was quickly imitated by the rest of the hiking party.

Gretchen produced a checklist from her backpack. "Okay, first order of business is..." She clicked a pen and pointed it towards the paper- "The list! I can see you all have your uniforms and boots so... Heat suits!"

All the girls produced their heat suits.

"Rope!"

Isabella grabbed the rope out of her backpack. "Check!"

"Stakes!"

Addyson produced some wooden stakes from her sack. "Ready!"

"Harnesses!"

Katie handed out the harnesses to the girls and attached one above her skirt.

"Hooks!"

"Uh, they're already on the ends of the ropes." Isabella showed Gretchen the length of rope. Gretchen finished checking the list.

The girls were practically skipping as they began what was to be a long and arduous trek up a long and arduous path.

About five minutes after the Fireside Girls, Phineas Flynn and Ferb Fletcher arrived at the base of the new Mount Danville, by the shore of Badbeard Lake. Phineas put his arm around his brother's shoulder and motioned outwards towards the ruined shore of the once clean Badbeard Lake. "You were right, Ferb! This place is a disaster area! I'm glad you urged me so forcefully to come take care of it. I'd bet the city government hasn't even made an effort to get this cleaned!"

This was true.

"But man, you just wouldn't shut up about it!" Phineas motioned over to the ice cream truck they had made yesterday, which Phineas had enlisted to carry an assortment of tools. "And I'm surprised that the ice cream truck is still going. That's nice, since we don't have to enlist Mom or Candace to help us out with this one."

"God knows if Mom ever caught us cleaning a lake, we would be busted." Ferb snorted as Phineas pulled a small two-seater hovercraft out of the back of the truck. The truck was outfitted with a water filtration system so it could catch garbage and store it in a hard plastic cylinder, which would then be transferred into the large plastic bags that the two had brought. There were several spear-like fixations that could extend out as claws to pick trash up off of the shore, complete with a targeting system.

Phineas rubbed his hands together with a manic smile. "Let's get to work, bro!"

Perry the Platypus descended into the volcanic chamber in a helicopter backpack, releasing his harness and dropping to the floor with a dramatic combat roll... Directly onto a giant red X in the middle of the floor. A trapdoor opened up above Perry, burying him in volcanic ash. He struggled to keep his bill above the pileup, but managed to keep his head poking out. Doofenshmirtz turned to his charge. "See, that's villain lesson one: If there is a giant red X on the floor, the hero will most certainly land on it."

"Ah! Like Chekhov's Gun!" Flint's eyes lit up. Doofenshmirtz stared at him blankly. He realized the doctor might not know what 'Chekhov's Gun' meant. "Chekhov's Gun is a principle in storytelling, usually film, that if something is demonstrated or pointed out in an act of a story, it must be relevant in the following act."

"But why call it a 'Gun'?"

"Because the creator of the principle, Anton Chekhov, says 'If you say in the first chapter that there is a rifle hanging on the wall, in the second or third chapter, it absolutely must go off.'"

"You just knew that quote off the top of your head?"

"Yes."

Doofenshmirtz glared at Flint in annoyance. "You're a nerd, you know that? You'll have to work on your image if you want to be nearly as threatening as I am."

Flint hadn't considered this. Perry chattered at the dysfunctional pair. "Oh, right!" Flint stopped thinking about how much of a nerd he was because he had a job to do. That job was to introduce his evil plan, following the example of his teacher. "Perry the Platypus! You may be wondering, what is this marvelous device over here?" Flint motioned towards a laser suspended above them in the crater formation of the volcano. "BEHOLD! The Charismatron!"

A dramatic sting played over the PA system. Doofenshmirtz and Flint both looked at each other, thinking the other had installed it. Flint regained his posture and continued. "As you may know, the current mayor, Roger Doofenshmirtz, is a powerhouse of natural charisma and persuasion! This machine was made to 'redistribute the traits' so to speak. I will steal his charisma, add it to my own, and gather a mob of loyal followers for my own successful takeover of the TRI-STATE AREA!" He raised his fists to the sky. Man, he was absolutely nailing it. "It, uh... just has to warm up first."

The Fireside Girls were making excellent headway up the mountain. Each had brought plenty of water, and the girls had convinced Katie (begrudgingly) to share some of her granola bars.

"I just don't get why you couldn't bring your own snacks!"

"C'mon, Kate," Addyson nudged her friend, "We only brought enough food for lunch! Our heat suits were too big to fit along with snacks." Kate's below-average size had made her heat suit a lot easier to pack, plus her backpack was bigger than everyone elses.

"I was going to make it a surprise, but I actually made us some of my mom's burritos and wrapped them in foil to cook on top of the mountain. She taught me the secret recipe last night." Isabella boasted.

"With the sweet corn and the black beans?" Ginger seemed eager. Before the girls lay a large wall of solid rock, and it looked to be about two Isabellas (The tallest among them) in height.

"Yup!" Isabella stepped onto the interwoven fingers of Milly, who was already in position to boost her up. She grunted with some exertion as she managed to jump from Milly's hands to the ledge of the rock wall. Using a small rock jutting out of the other wall as leverage, she boosted herself up on top of the rock face. "She even taught me the secret ingredient. They are... Muah!" She made a exploding motion with her hands by her mouth. "Delectable! Not to toot my own horn."

Holly tossed Isabella some rope, which she quickly tied around a heavy rock. "Alright, ladies, come on up!" Isabella cockily dusted her hands, satisfied with her work. The other girls quickly joined their leader at the top of the rock face.

Gretchen grinned. "It's crazy that we can still handle this stuff like a well-oiled machine. Glad to have you back, chief."

Isabella took Gretchen's hand and led her aside. "Gretch?" Isabella whispered as the other girls began to gather their supplies. "If you really wanted to hang out with me so bad, why didn't you just say so earlier? You and I've been distant since... since the school year started."

Gretchen narrowed her eyes. "C'mon, Isabella, you've gotta know why by now."

"I always figured you were fine with Phineas- "

Gretchen's expression became one of surprise. "Phineas? No, no... you've got it all wrong." She started to laugh uncontrollably, getting the attention of all the other girls. Isabella watched her troop turn to her with looks of confusion. Gretchen waved at the girls.

"Hey, hey, girls, get this. Isabella thought we stopped coming around because we didn't like Phineas."

All the girls began to laugh as well. At this point, Isabella was becoming annoyed, being kept in the dark about what precisely was so funny.

Ginger walked up to Isabella and put her arm around her shoulder. "Gee, chief, of all the people to be oblivious to romance I assumed it wouldn't be you."

"Romance?"

"We all spent the better part of last year-" Ginger waved out towards the laughing troop. "- THEY'VE all been fighting over the heart of one Ferb Fletcher."

Ferb Fletcher wasn't thinking about any of those girls. His mind was on Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Having set to the task of cleaning up Badbeard Lake, it really was the kind of mind-numbing activity that gave a man a lot of time to think. Like, what was maturity? Was he good enough for her? What would his parents, or even his siblings, think? What would-

"Boy, and I thought chores couldn't get any more boring." Phineas interrupted his brother's train of thought. Phineas flopped lazily over the back of the seat of the hovercraft, which was facing the opposite direction of his brother's. The back of his head was now touching the top of Ferb's. "I know that look, Ferb. You thinking about something heavy? Two minds are better than one."

Ferb thought about it for a minute as the quiet whir of the machinery blended into the soft sounds of the lake. Phineas patiently hung his head, waiting for any sign. After what seemed like forever, Ferb spoke. "Have you ever considered something truly impossible?"

"We never fail to accomplish our goals, even though it might be a bit of a..." Phineas looked around at the dirty lake- "slog."

"I guess it's something less of a 'goal'. It's something more abstract than that. It's a person. A relationship."

Now, Phineas was dense, but he wasn't THAT dense. He knew exactly what his brother was talking about. "Hoo boy! Ferb's got a girl on his brain, doesn't he?"

"Yes. Yes he does." Ferb let air out of his mouth as it reluctantly curled into a smile.

"Well, that makes two of us, chum. I'm missing Isabella. I knew Buford and Baljeet were gonna be gone today but I thought at least she'd come along. But, I digress. How about you make the first move?"

"To be honest, brother, flirtation comes easy to me, almost instinctual... except in cases where I actually care about the result."

"Ah, so all those passes at the Fireside Girls didn't count for anything? Cruel, dude."

Ferb was surprised Phineas had noticed. Phineas playfully socked him on the shoulder. "What, you think I didn't notice? None of those poor girls spared!" Phineas chuckled turned around in his seat and peeked over the edge at Ferb. Ferb had given Phineas too much credit. He'd definitely spared one.

"You're Ferb Fletcher, man, any girl ought to- " The two suddenly stopped their conversation as they heard a screech in the lower part of their machine. Ferb frowned as he dipped under the water to check what had happened. He surfaced, sputtering dirty water and wiping his eyes.

"What's the damage, Ferb?"

"The garbage collection engine is out. We'll have to send for some parts."

"Some luck!" Phineas whipped out his cell phone and called up an engine part supplier. Ferb climbed back into their vessel and began to steer it to shore.

Flint and Doofenshmirtz were watching Perry like a hawk to make sure he wasn't going to escape the pile of ash he was currently struggling against. A beep came from the control console that Flint was standing by. "Oh! That was faster than I expected."

Doofenshmirtz looked confused. "Faster than you expected? This thing just had to charge up a battery, right?"

Flint became excited as he began to ramble about his machine. "Not just a battery! It also leverages a recently discovered energy source... probability ions!"

"Probability ions?"

"Basically, " Flint explained, "probability ions determine luck. Negative ones cause bad luck, and positive ones cause good luck. I found a way to leverage the positive ions certain people have to change the character traits of a person. Of course, since it's energy, it has to come from somewhere." Flint held out his hands forming two parallel lines on his left. "Thusly, we have to absorb it from Roger-" He moved the lines to the right, "-and give it to me. So, I guess a rich source of probability ions is nearby."

He moved to the control panel to aim the beam. Doofenshmirtz, unsure of what to do, figured he might as well mess with his arch-enemy. He grabbed a cardboard box from the corner of the room and cut two eye-holes in it, then placed it over Perry's head. "Wow, look at you now, Perry the Platypus. You're a real stealth operative. I can't even tell you're there." He sat on the box.

The Fireside Girls once again came to an impasse. This time, it was a dark cavern. The girls had forgotten to pack any kind of flashlight, and they had left their cell phones at the base camp by accident. They had to think of a way to get through safely. "Girls! Keep your hand on the left side of the cave wall and follow me!" Isabella motioned for all the girls to line up behind her. It was easy going, if a bit nerve wracking, to walk around in the dark, but none of the girls were about to admit they were even the least bit scared. Suddenly, a startled yell echoed through the cave.

"Isabella!" Gretchen called out. She was nowhere to be seen. "Oh, my gosh! What could have happened?"

Addyson pushed ahead of Gretchen. "We need to push on through the cave, find materials to make a torch or something, and then come back to search!" Her determination shone through her voice, and the other girls quickly fell into line. The only way was through.

Flint and Doofenshmirtz were trying to target Roger through the window in his office when they suddenly heard a surprised scream.

"Someone hit one of the secret entrances!" Flint exclaimed with surprise. The two turned around to see none other than Isabella Garcia-Shapiro land in a heap in front of them. She was so surprised from the entrance, she could barely process the large lair around her. Perry was glad he was covered by the box.

"Flint? What are you doing here? And... Vanessa's Dad?" Isabella got up off the ground. Flint reached for his front pocket when he remembered – he had no access to his trusty memory-eraser.

He quickly tapped on the controls and turned the ray on her and fired. The ray seemed to shock the girl, and she tensed up as the beam took it's effect. It shot the absorbed charisma into Flint, filling him with renewed energy.

"Wha- What was that?" Isabella put her hand on her head, as if she was aching. "What are you guys doing here?"

"We're plotting to take over the Tri-State Area." Heinz casually admitted.

"But it's a secret." Flint quickly turned the girl around as he assured her. "Please, don't tell anyone you saw us here, alright?"

"O-Ok." Isabella just kind of went with what he was saying with little resistance. That was good. That meant it was working. Flint shoved her into an elevator and shut the door, sending her up. He wiped his brow with a relieved sigh as he turned his attention back to Doofenshmirtz.

"You can't just tell her we're evil, Doc!"

"Why not?"

Flint began to pace around. "She's a part of my host family! If I'm found out, I'm dead! Or at least arrested, which at my age is basically the same thing!"

"Logically, the charismatron means you've convinced her not to talk about this incident right?"

"Yeah, but if she gets it back she might give this some thought. I'll have to make a better memory-eraser, so I can single out this memory."

Flint walked over to the control panel and slapped himself on the forehead. "Ah, crud! We're gonna have to charge it up again!" Perry chattered with satisfaction.

"But she was like putty in your hands, man! Whatever charisma that little girl has, it's enough to convince anyone to do anything." Perry chattered with dissatisfaction. This sounded the same as the other chatter.

Flint looked down at his hands in realization. "Then we don't need Roger!"

Doofenshmirtz proudly high-fived the boy. "By Jove, I think you've got it!" He pressed a button and summoned a rocket-skiff from beneath the floor, lifting the three of them into the air. "Let's go pay the mayor a visit."

Phineas and Ferb were waiting on the shore of Badbeard Lake, sitting in the ice cream truck, trying their best to contact a parts dealer to fix their garbage collector. "Wow, what an unlucky day!" Phineas exclaimed with frustration as he put the phone down. "That's the fifth guy that was closed today!" Apparently, there was some kind of power failure that effected the entire industrial district, and parts were hard to find.

"Well, it looks like we gotta clean this thing manually." The boys grabbed a trash bag each from the back of the truck, and detached some poles from the trash collection vehicle. Phineas bent down and stabbed a cola can, putting it in his bag. He looked out at the garbage and frowned. "Well, we've never been beaten before." The two set to work.

Isabella was unceremoniously shot from out a tree stump onto her butt. She was outside the cave the Fireside Girls were finally finished getting through. She frowned, and got up, dusting herself off in the process. The troop gathered themselves around their leader, not having witnessed her entrance.

"Chief!"

"Isabella!"

"You moron!" Addyson slapped Isabella upside the head. Isabella stumbled a tiny bit, but quickly recovered. "What happened to you?"

Isabella couldn't explain what had happened, since she was sure she wasn't supposed to, but she couldn't actually come up with anything that could have happened. "I dunno. I just got dizzy and ended up here." She sat on the stump, rubbing her head.

"Whatever." Addyson grinned. "I'm just glad you're alright, Isabella."

Isabella wasn't quite alright. She peered over the edge of the cliff and suddenly became very fearful. "Addyson," She asked "Could you take point? I'm not feeling too well."

"Alright." Addyson saluted and led the girls up the mountain, with Isabella bringing up the rear. The girls noticed their leader's sudden change in disposition, but just assumed she wouldn't want to talk about it.

Flint and Doofenshmirtz were riding the rocket-skiff on their way to city hall. Flint was riding high off of Isabella's stolen charisma, and was trying to convince Perry the Platypus to not try to escape from his cardboard box ash pile prison. "C'mon, Perry the Platypus!" Flint's eyes were wider than he thought eyes could biologically grow. He had tilted his head slightly to the left and everything. "You don't have to try to defeat us!"

Perry knew the statement to be true, but not for the reason Flint thought. He chattered his refusal, and Flint sat down next to Doofenshmirtz on the cardboard box. After a short while, Heinz got up to land the skiff. The skiff landed on a large podium by city hall. Doofenshmirtz produced a loudspeaker and handed it to Flint. "I sure hope this works, kiddo."

Flint took the loudspeaker, and both of them stood up by the podium. "People of the Tri-State Area! Could you please turn your attention to the podium?"

Every person in the area immediately turned towards the two. Flint mustered up all the natural charisma he possibly could and asked his captive audience a simple question. "Y'all wanna make me mayor?"

The crowd, about 200 hundred people, collectively collapsed into screaming applause. A nearby hardware store was luckily selling torches, pitchforks, and shovels, so in a few minutes they had a pretty healthy angry mob going, and it was growing bigger by the minute.

"Mob mentality!" Doofenshmirtz exclaimed. "My favorite kind!" The two got off the rocket skiff and began to march on city hall.

Addyson had been doing a pretty good job of navigating the tricky geography of Mount Danville, and Isabella was still charisma-less. Addyson raised a fist, with her arm bent at a 90 degree angle. The girls all stopped as they came across a cliff.

"Hmm. Seems like we're at an impasse." Addyson observed that there was about a 20 foot gap between the edge of the cliff and the next part of the path. There were some exposed roots that could potentially support some weight on the other side, but there was no way any of the girls could jump for it. "Anyone got any suggestions?"

All the girls sat in a circle and looked to Isabella. Isabella was feeling uncharacteristically lacking in confidence, but the seeds of an idea started to sprout in her head. A rock jutting out from the side of the mountain could catch a rope, and that could be used to get one of the girls to swing around to the soft roots and get a foothold. She stood up and managed to stutter out her idea.

"M-maybe we could s-swing one of us around that rock face."

The girls could barely understand her. Addyson turned to face her friend and dissected her plan. "Well, your tone indicates you lack confidence in that plan. Who's gonna get swung around? You? You can't possibly ask one of us to put ourselves in danger!"

"W...well I would be too heavy. It would have to be either Milly or Katie." Isabella was mumbling, looking down at her shoes. It was almost like she was talking to Phineas. Milly and Katie took steps back.

"W-well gee, chief, I couldn't-" Katie started.

"Yeah, that's gotta be a 30 foot drop!" Milly finished.

Doofenshmirtz and Flint were feeling awfully confident in their plan. Their march on city hall was going swimmingly, and it appeared that Roger's regime wouldn't last much longer.

"There doesn't need to be any violence, Mayor Doofenshmirtz! There only needs to be justice!" Flint was rallying people into a veritable frenzy of passionate, semi-political activism. The crowd broke down the doors to the mayor's office, past the secretary's desk where Vanessa was sitting, dumbfounded, and Flint sauntered in, Doofenshmirtz in tow. He got up on the mayor's desk and sat with his legs crossed and eyes narrowed at the current mayor.

"Hello, Mayor Doofenshmirtz! As you can see, your electorate refuses to have you in power for even a second more!" Flint smugly smiled at Roger.

"Well," Roger looked at the threatening mob. "I can't really refuse an unruly mob. Just a question, though... how old are you?"

At this point, Perry had long since escaped the clutches of the two amateur villains. The skiff had shaken up the pile of ash, and Doof and Flint had gotten up off the cardboard box, which was very easy to escape afterwards. He had commandeered a motorcycle and raced to Mount Danville. Once inside, he set to looking for a way to reverse the machine. After a careful consideration of all his options, he decided to press the big red button labeled REVERSE.

Flint felt as if his soul had suddenly left his body. "Uh... 15?" Roger stopped the boy right there, and got a big book out from under his desk labeled LAWS OF THE TRI-STATE AREA. With a heavy thud, the book was set on the table. He skimmed through the contents until he came to the section labeled LEGALITY OF OFFICE. He pointed to a small section of legal-ese.

"Unfortunately, the town charter specifically states no man under the age of 25 can take office in the Tri-State Area."

"Ha!" Flint laughed. "You think some pesky law is gonna stop me from ruling the Tri-State Area? I have an angry mob on my side."

Heinz tugged on Flint's sleeve. "Uh, kiddo... no, we don't."

Flint turned around to see that his angry mob had dispersed, much to his chagrin. "What? What happened to my charisma?" He got off of Roger's desk and began to pace around the room, rambling about the impossibility of his invention malfunctioning.

"Well, I guess it stopped working. That's some egg on your face, I guess." Doofenshmirtz shrugged in disappointment.

"No! There's no way it would just stop working! There must be something that I haven't considered!"

Some distance away, Perry the Platypus was crawling towards his beloved owners, whom he had happened to spot cleaning the beach. Good lads, those two. He chattered, getting the boys' attention. "Oh, there you are, Perry."

"Hey, Dad!" Vanessa walked into the mayor's office angrily. "Did you do something to my motorcycle? It's disappeared from its parking space!"

"Wait, Vanessa, are you working for Roger now?"

"Yeah! It's not the OWCA internship, but at least I'm doing SOMETHING good!" She exclaimed. Doofenshmirtz recoiled in hurt.

"You're- It's- He's my worst enemy! An enabler of my abusers! To this day!"

Roger shrugged. "That's true."

Vanessa and Heinz continued to argue as Flint madly racked his brain for an explanation to his problem. Roger called security. They could sort this all out.

Isabella felt a rush of energy surge through her body. She listened to Milly and Katie complain about their roles, and she felt a mixture of pity and disappointment. "Enough!" She shut the two up instantly. "You two are more than capable of getting this done. When have I ever asked you to do more than you were capable of? What happened to the strength we're supposed to embody?"

She looked down at the smaller girls. "I believe in you. You can trust my judgment." Katie stepped up and saluted.

"I'm sorry, chief! It's just that before you didn't seem that confident!" With that, she flung a rope up the rock face and swung to the soft roots that were sticking out of the mountain. She tied the rope around a stake and proudly motioned towards her makeshift rope-bridge. The other girls clambered up the rope and crowded around Katie. Everyone cheered as they tossed her up into the air.

"I knew you could do it!" Isabella happily hugged her friend. They were very close to the summit now. It was right around the corner. "Now, girls, we will be the first people to summit the new Mount Danville!"

They turned the corner to see Phineas and Ferb, next to their hovercraft, eating sandwiches. "Oh, hey girls!" Phineas waved at the shocked troop. "We were just taking a break. This is where you were planning on hiking, Isabella? Why'd you need the heat suit? It's not that hot up here!"

Isabella was too stunned to reply. Her jaw hung open.

Ferb offered her a sandwich, closed it in her hand, raised it to her mouth, and closed her jaw. Isabella waved her arms around, slapping him away. Ferb glared at her.

"H- Wha- Wh- Uh- HOW?!" Addyson finally broke the girls' awkward silence.

"Well, it's a bit of a long story." Phineas began.

Phineas and Ferb were slowly cleaning up the trash on the beach of Badbeard Lake. Nearby, a formerly angry mob was looking for something to do.

"Hey!" One man yelled, "Those boys are selflessly cleaning Badbeard Lake!"

"Wow! Their natural charisma makes me want to chip in!"

A large crowd went into the hardware store and came out with trash bags, those pointy trash stabbing things, shovels, and all manner of equipment. They gathered around Badbeard Lake and began to clean the area faster than the boys' ever could.

"Huh." Phineas surveyed the group. "These people have it locked down, Ferb. I guess we deserve a lunch break." He pointed up to Mount Danville. "You think we could get the hovercraft up there since the trash pod is removed?"

Ferb gave him a thumbs up.

"Well, I guess it's not that long of a story." Phineas shrugged.

"That doesn't matter, Flynn!" Addyson angrily pointed at Phineas. "We were supposed to be the first people to summit this stupid volcano!"

Phineas frowned. "Well, you are, without a vehicle."

Addyson huffed and sat down next to him. "I guess that's good enough." She was mumbling.

Isabella sat down and took a bunch of burritos and some thin griddles out of her backpack. She placed the griddles over the edge of the volcano opening. She attached it to the side of the cliff. She set out all of the burritos and they began to cook. Phineas scooted over next to her and held up a sandwich under her nose.

"Trade ya a sandwich for one of those wrapped thingies."

"You don't even know what they are, Phineas."

"Eh," He leaned back against a rock and put his arms behind his head. "You made em, so they're probably great."

Isabella plucked the sandwich out of his hand with a giggle. "For a compliment like that, you wouldn't have had to trade anything." Before he could object, she took a massive bite out of the sandwich. "That's pretty good. Candace make it?"

Ferb peeked out from behind his brother, grinned at her and pointed at himself. She gave him a silent thumbs up, replicating his cold stare. He huffed and turned away, feigning hurt. Phineas and Isabella were centered in the middle of the group, Ferb was off to the side, and the Fireside Girls were by Isabella. Isabella picked up one of the burritos with some rubber gloves and gave Phineas a bite. Phineas briefly entered a state of shock. Isabella snapped to get his attention, and he quickly regained his senses.

"Woah! I kinda forgot where I was for a second." Phineas chuckled. "That was definitely a better time than the sandwich. No offense Ferb. What were you saying, Isabella?"

Gretchen tugged on Isabella's skirt and whispered in her ear. "Go for it, chief! He's putty in your hands!"

Isabella watched Phineas tear into the burrito. Ferb was also enjoying one, but to be completely honest it couldn't have mattered less to her.

"Phineas, I- I've been thinking..." She started. Phineas stopped eating and turned his head to hers, chewing with satisfaction. "You know, my 15th birthday is coming up soon, and that means I'll be getting a bunch of my friends together... And... "

There were seconds of silence between the two. Phineas swallowed his food and licked his lips. "And?"

"And... I'm really grateful for the dress."

"Oh, thanks. It was no problem, really." Phineas scratched the back of his head. "So, what, like 'chamberlain' grateful?" He grinned slyly at her. "Yeah, I read up on this 'Quince' stuff." She blushed slightly. He was just so cute when he was smug like that.

"Y-Yeah! You and Ferb have got to be my first two chamberlains."

The Fireside Girls all groaned in frustration. Gretchen rolled her eyes. "You'll get him next time, chief."

Isabella was lying on her couch reading a book later that evening when an exhausted Flint huffed through the door. She looked up from her novel (Some fluff novella called The Handsome Inventor) and gave him a concerned look. "Have fun with that weird old guy at the volcano?"

"As a matter of a fact, I did. We... started a political activism campaign."

"And how's that working out for you?"

"Not well." Flint scratched the back of his neck. "Not super well. How'd your thing go? I mean outside of falling into my friend's lab."

"Oh, that's his lab? So it's like you're Marty McFly and he's Doc Brown? Does he teach you any neat engineering stuff?"

"It's more life skills. He's full of sagely wisdom. A bit eccentric though." Flint smiled at her, half facetiously. "Whatcha readin'?"

"First," Isabella hung her head back over the arm of the couch, "Be careful with the 'whatcha's. That's my thing. Mine and Phineas'. Second, it's just a little escapist fiction."

"Huh. I got the impression you and Phineas didn't have a 'thing'." He peered over the couch and read the title of the book. It looked like one of those cheesy novellas you could pick up at the checkout of a grocery store, complete with a Schwarzenegger-esque scientist with an open labcoat and no undershirt. He pushed the book down, making eye contact with the girl. "You, uh, like your fellas smart?"

Isabella shifted uncomfortably. She sat up and closed the book, slipping it into her pocket. "Well, to be honest, I've never had Phineas' attention, and I've never had feelings for anyone else, so..." She trailed off contemplatively. Flint couldn't relate.

"I can't relate." He shrugged. Isabella sighed, letting her posture droop. She waved towards the fridge.

"Burritos in there. Do what you want for dinner, Mom and Dad have already turned in."

Flint opened the fridge and slapped a burrito in the microwave. He took a seat at the kitchen counter's breakfast bar, resting his elbow on the granite surface. "As I was asking earlier, your hike?"

"Oh. It was cool. Phineas liked my cooking."

"I thought you went with the Fireside Girls?" Flint raised an eyebrow. "You're not lying to your pops because he doesn't like Phineas, right?"

"It's a long story."

"Alright, I guess it's not that long."

Flint was satisfied. The microwave beeped and he carefully extracted the plate from it. He waved his hand about to cool it and cut into the tortilla, releasing a hot burst of air. Isabella suddenly sat up in the couch and looked at him.

"Wait, Dad doesn't like Phineas?"

"I feel like nobody around here possesses any emotional intelligence whatsoever. This is really good, by the way."

"Thanks, Flint." Isabella slipped back into the reader's trance she had developed, yawning, and Flint happily nibbled at his meal. Isabella eventually drifted off into sleep on the couch, the book resting on her face. Flint thought maybe he should take her to bed or something, but considered that that may be overstepping his bounds. Instead, he threw a blanket over her and headed downstairs to the basement. His thoughts were once again contradicting each other. Here he was, an evil scientist, trying to correct the balance of the multiverse at the cost of millions, and he was catching feelings for one of the millions. He laid in his cot staring up at the ceiling. Phineas was lucky. Perhaps he wouldn't have turned out the way he did if he was surrounded by people who cared for him. It was strange, he thought, that although he destroyed his home, and was forced to come here, the only person he felt a strong bond with was Candace. His Candace, Candace-164 to be exact. He eventually lulled himself to sleep, dreaming of his sister. If it came down to this universe and her, he knew who would have to go.

A/N: The plot thickens! This episode was more focused on building the important characters up in this part of the story. I've always enjoyed the sisterhood the FSG share, and how that interacts with the brothers is interesting. I decided on Ferb being a 'ladies man' pretty early on, but also tried to make a point of his sole interest in Vanessa. I have also decided future chapters do not necessarily have to follow the traditional P&F plot structure. Some chapters will be smaller, to expand on the worldbuilding and the plot in-between "episodes". Thanks for all the favorites and follows so far! I really like writing this stuff and it's nice to see people enjoying it. As always, drop a review if you are so inclined. A minor edit was made to the first chapter, when Isabella is texting Phineas, the characters she deletes are a heart emoticon. Apparently, doesn't like those characters, so I changed it to a ;). Need to double check these before I upload em.