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Blinder: Don't you worry. Even if people aren't reviewing, there is a lot of traffic hitting this fic, so I know people are reading. I'm not gonna drop it until I at least get the first major "arc", so to speak, done. At least 10 chapters, I'm thinking. I really like writing this stuff, and it's getting my brain juices going for other projects of mine too. Don't worry about your English, I read you loud and clear. :)

Chapter 5: Charitable Communications Collapse

Phineas was laying, belly down, on his bed, staring blankly at a laptop screen. He finally held his head and put his face down in frustration. "Aaaaargh!" His video call with Buford and Baljeet had once again dropped, and a faulty internet connection was to blame. Phineas crossed his arms and glared down at his computer, as if willing it to repair the connection itself. He looked over at his big brother, who was absentmindedly clicking away on his phone. Phineas motioned towards the computer angrily. "Are you seeing this, Ferb?"

Ferb finally looked up from his phone, giving Phineas a confused stare. Quickly picking up on Ferb's lack of context, he set to catching him up on the morning's situation. "I'm trying to video chat with Baljeet and Buford while they're up in the Himalayas with 'Jeets uncle, but the connection keeps dropping. It's infuriating, especially because I wanted them to see if they could find some samples of the rubber band ball we used to fix the plane we took around the world." Ferb returned a raised eyebrow. "Because I want to see if there's any trace of our positive ions on it." Ferb nodded along.

The two had discovered probability ions during the school year, during a school project. When Phineas and Ferb were separated from each other on a group science fair assignment, both had turned in only above-average work, and had lost to Baljeet. This was sub-par by their standards, so they did an investigation and found that the both of them had an invisible field around them that directly affected their "luck",so to speak. The field became significantly weaker when the two weren't working together, though sometimes it seemed these rules fluctuated.

Phineas, thinking of ways to leverage it for the purposes of defying reality in bigger ways than before, had immediately set to testing out all possible variables of the ionic field. Ferb had found a way to measure them, and Phineas discovered that most of their projects were practically covered in the stuff. Their clothes, their tools, even their pet platypus was practically oozing with luck. That's when Phineas had the idea to get a sample of the rubber band ball, because it was connected to one of the few inventions of theirs that seemed to not work as intended. But that couldn't happen because...

"The internet connection over there is totally satellite based, and it's shoddily put together at that! We've been dropping all morning. If I was in charge of creating a system like that, I'd... wait a second." Phineas grabbed his brother, who had since gone back to typing away at his phone, on the shoulders and shook him violently. "Ferb! I know what we're gonna do today!" Ferb gave him a glare with a hint of annoyance. Of course Phineas barely noticed. "I'll go make us some breakfast, then we can hop to it!"

Phineas grabbed a pen and some paper from his desk and put the pen in his mouth. Sliding down the railing on the stairs, Phineas set to work. He laid out the paper flat on the table. It was 5AM in Danville, and the town was still quiet. The idea was to call his friends at a time that was convenient for them, and the Himalayas was approximately 12 hours apart in time zone from Washington. He threw some eggs on to the stove, turning it up to medium heat. On another pan, he put it on a high sear and threw some sausage links on, lightly drizzling syrup on it while it cooked, all the while sketching down details on his makeshift blueprint. A couple of bowls of cereal and two glasses of orange juice later, Ferb finally came down the stairs, still stuck to his cell phone.

Phineas slid the chair out for his brother, and he wordlessly took his seat. Tasting the slightly burnt eggs and more-than-slightly overcooked sausage, he looked up at Phineas and gave him a thumbs-up. He was no Gordon Ramsey, but it wasn't bad. Isabella's cooking, however, had made it turn to ash in his mouth by comparison. He was still thinking about that burrito.

Phineas had the same thought. "I bet that Isabella knocks breakfast out of the park." His hand was on his cheek and his elbow was resting on the table. He practically had nostalgia for last night's lunch. "You think we'll ever get a chance to taste that?"

Ferb grinned at his brother for the first time all morning. "Perhaps, someday, YOU will." He chuckled. His younger brother just looked confused, and set to finishing the plans. He slid them across the table to Ferb.

Phineas gave Ferb a second to process the plans in front of him. "That's right! We're gonna build a global set of internet satellites. Since Baljeet is on the other side of the world, all we would have to do is call up some friends and get them to let us bridge the connection. You call up Stark, and I'll see if Elon can do something for us."

Perry stirred from his sleep, and waddled over to his owners with some grogginess. Phineas grabbed Perry's bowl and placed it on the table, placing some wet food and worms into it. "Come on up, boy! Mom and Dad won't care if they're not up." Perry happily obliged, but had to refrain from jumping up on his hind legs, instead opting to climb the chair and hop on from there. He dug into the meal.

"Hey, Perry, can you do me a favor?" Phineas wrote a note on a post-it and stuck it to Perry's back. "While we're getting ready, do you mind wandering over to Isabella's and seeing if she's up? We could use her help." Perry seemed to consciously understand English, and the brothers had figured this out recently. This was a trait that was shared with a few of their friends' pets, including Isabella's chihuahua, Pinky. Perry chattered, finished his meal, hopped off the table, and left through the pet door.

"She's probably not up." Phineas said, seemingly to no one.

Isabella trudged around the main hall of her family home, having gotten up early. She heard faint sounds coming from the backyard, and cupped her hand to her ear. The sounds were those of exertion and a hard thumping. Approaching the sliding door to the backyard, she found that it was Flint. He was throwing all manner of punches and kicks at a dummy that she hadn't seen before. On the table next to him, there was a cup of coffee, a burnt slice of toast, and some soggy toaster waffles. She slid the door open, and approached her housemate from behind.

As if on instinct, Flint suddenly pivoted and preformed a roundhouse kick aimed at Isabella's head with a grunt. She ducked underneath it and used her other hand to catch his foot. He quickly realized his mistake and sheepishly smiled at her. "Sorry, Isabella. I'm in the zone right now." He rubbed the back of his head. "I'm trying to reestablish my old morning routine." He motioned towards the table. "A solid cup of Joe, a decently balanced breakfast, and... " He paused to jump into the air, delivering a kick that nearly snapped the dummy's neck as his foot connected with the chin. "... some practice against my homemade dummy."

Isabella looked down at his sad excuse for a meal. She picked up the coffee and took a sip. "Well, the coffee's alright." She realized that he had gone to bed at about the same time as her, about 11PM. "How long did you sleep?"

"Well, it's like Napoleon Bonaparte once said... '6 hours of sleep for a man, 7 hours for a woman, and 8 hours for a fool.'"

Isabella couldn't really think of a response to that, so she continued her critique of his breakfast. "These waffles are awful. And this toast is terrible. No man should eat like this. Hold on, I'll make you some pancakes." She almost turned to walk back inside, but looked back at him inquisitively. "Do you know any grappling techniques, Flint?"

"Do I know any..." Flint trailed off. Suddenly, he exploded into a rush of movement. He yanked her arm back towards him, pushed on her shoulder, and attempted to sweep her leg out from under her. Isabella managed to kick him in the shin, push his shoulder back, and finally shot at his legs, headbutting him as the two tumbled to the ground. She got up and dusted herself off, leaving a dazed Flint in her wake.

"I wasn't asking for a demonstration. Who's the dummy here?"

"Still this one." Flint hastily got up knocked on the dummy's head. "And for the record, I was gonna catch you before you hit the ground."

"You're dreaming if you think I'd let you get that handsy with me." Isabella leaned in sarcastically, putting her hands on her hips.

"Hey!" Flint defensively put his hands up. "That wasn't my intent. I was just having a bit of fun." He felt a bit humiliated. Isabella rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I'll get started on that breakfast and then we can go over where you maneuvered wrong." Flint grinned. Isabella was about to walk back inside when she heard a chatter and something rubbed up against her ankles. It was Perry! She picked him up and smiled at him. "Are you taking your little trip early today?" She put him down and started to rub his belly as he happily chirped. She began to pet his back, and felt something on it. "What's this?" She looked at the note.

Isabella, Ferb and I are starting work a little early today. If you're up, and not busy, feel free to drop by. Flint too.

-Phineas

Her heart swelled just a tiny bit as she looked it over. Perhaps she was reading a bit too deeply, but the idea that Flint was an afterthought to her crush appealed to her on some level. She leaned down to rub Perry's head. Perry purred in contentment. "Thanks little guy!" She skipped back inside before turning towards the backyard. "I'm cooking for 4 now, so get ready to carry some plates over to the Flynn-Fletchers!"

Flint turned around and scowled at the dummy. "Fine by me," he mumbled in a low voice. He slammed the dummy forcefully with his elbow, and the head popped clean off. He tapped a button on the base of the dummy and it began to pack itself up. "It's not like I wanted to eat a home-cooked meal with Isabella Garcia-Shapiro alone in her backyard while discussing martial arts." Those two just had to ruin everything for him.

About 10 minutes later, Isabella had whipped up a large stack of chocolate-chip pancakes, and was headed out the door, Flint following closely behind. Oh well, he thought, If I have to join the Flynn-Fletcher brothers, I could think up some way to disrupt the day's activity. Flint rubbed his hands together. Scheming was fun.

Isabella came into the backyard to the usual sight. Phineas and Ferb were already hard at work, though Ferb was stopping often to check his phone and type a message back. That was odd. Ferb never texted the paragraphs he appeared to be composing now. Phineas noticed Isabella coming in.

"Hey, guys! Whatcha-"

"Oh! Pancakes! I've got just the thing for that!" Phineas suddenly dashed around the side of the house, brushing by her. She stood in confusion for a second, miffed at not being able to finish her question. He returned with a large fold-out table he had gotten from the garage, and some plates, which he had gotten from... somewhere. All she knew was that he hadn't gone inside. He quickly set the table up and motioned Isabella toward it. "There we go!"

Isabella looked across the table at Ferb. "What's up with him? He's never that wrapped up in a cell phone." Phineas had noticed, but hadn't thought to ask about it. He dug into the pancakes.

"Well, I noticed, but I hadn't thought to ask about it."

Ferb looked up from his phone. "Vanessa Doofenshmirtz." He looked back down. Isabella nodded in understanding. She slid Ferb a plate of pancakes. "Thank you, Isabella, but Phineas already made breakfast."

Phineas looked up from his already half-finished pancakes, syrup dribbling off of his chin. "Ferb, you weren't supposed to tell her." He jokingly spat. He looked up at Isabella, who was watching him eat intently. "What? And miss out on a breakfast made by the best cook I know? A man doesn't launch a space satellite on an empty stomach." He shrugged as she tried to hide an appreciative blush. The other boys were not really paying attention. Flint was also now wrapped up in his cell phone, and on top of that he was texting a Doofenshmirtz:

Boss, I'm in a good position to launch an -inator into space. Send me some blueprints.

He put his phone in his pocket for only a brief moment until it vibrated and he pulled it out again:

How do I send an attachment. Thanks, Heinz.

Flint sighed as he went to work. This was going to take a while. Phineas polished off his meal and licked his lips. "Mmmmm. That was some great stuff, Isabella. What inspired you to bring us breakfast? Other than your natural kindness, of course."

Isabella waved him off, feigning humility. "Oh, stop. You're just trying to make me feel good."

Phineas chuckled. "Uh, yeah. That's what a compliment is. So spill!"

"Well, I found Flint here-" Flint grunted in acknowledgment "-practicing some martial arts out in the backyard eating an absolutely miserable excuse for a breakfast. He decided to demonstrate a grappling technique on me, and it turns out I'm 2 for 4 on wrestling my friends to the ground." Isabella had previously wrestled Buford successfully, Ferb unsuccessfully, and to be honest she might have let Phineas pin her just to see what it felt like.

"That was when this little guy came along and -" Isabella looked around. Phineas could have sworn that the platypus had entered the yard with his neighbors.

"Hey, where's Perry?"

Perry had ducked around the corner of the house and peeled off a section of the grass in the lawn. He was greeted with a large yellow steel ladder. He began to climb down the ladder. Maybe 30 seconds in, he realized that it was going to be a long climb. Suddenly, a voice seemed to enter his head without sound-waves.

"What a thrill... with darkness and silence through the night..."

After another 2 minutes of Snake Eater, Perry finally reached the bottom of the large ladder well. He dashed into his liar and hopped into his chair. Major Monogram appeared on the screen, wearing an eye patch.

"Good morning Agent P. Here's the latest footage from our bugs at DEI."

Major Monogram motioned towards pictures of Heinz hunched over on his couch and laying down watching TV. "Yep, that's all Floyd, Napoleon, and Wendell could find. But look at this!"

The TV appeared to be displaying a drone flying over the Flynn-Fletcher backyard. Flint was hammering away at the table working on some contraption, occasionally stopping to check his phone. "It looks to us like Doofenshmirtz is monitoring his new protege in his first foray into a solo evil operation. Now, we understand that both you and the other Agent P, Pinky the Chihuahua, have host families that could easily put this operation at risk, so we've decided to send in the OTHER OTHER Agent P, Peter the Panda. You should stay nearby in case an emergency situation occurs."

Perry was confused by the instructions, but nonetheless decided to take what was basically a day off with some gratitude. He and the major saluted each other. Perry leapt out of his chair and began to climb back up the ladder. Once again...

"What a thrill..."

Candace finally awoke at her standard time, which was now a decent 9 in the morning. College classes often took more time in the evenings than the afternoons, as most of the time she was studying or writing papers outside of class. Having studied law for the past year, she had a lot of pent up stress, and she was hoping to rid herself of some of that stress by taking a day off from everything. Just yesterday, while the boys were off doing something out of sight and therefore out of mind (Thank God) she had finally pinned down the last of the decor tenuously chosen for the dress rehearsal.

"Though I'm sure the boys will have some ideas to 'improve' things." She reluctantly rolled out of bed, having placed her phone on a nearby chair as a mechanism to motivate herself to wake up, and threw some clothes into a pile to change into later. Suddenly, a long-buried sense began to reawaken. A twitch of the eyelid. An extension of the finger. A tensing of the neck.

The boys were building something.

Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella were already hard at work on the internet satellite when Perry re-emerged through the backyard gate. Phineas was the first to notice, briefly putting down his tools to scoop up his pet and rub his head. "There you are, Perry!" He looked at Isabella and Ferb, who had also stopped working. "Wait a second, this usually happens when we're done for the day."

Candace suddenly leaned out the window. "What are you two out doing? Up early in hopes I wouldn't see what you were up to?"

"Oh! Candace! You're up!" Phineas turned towards his sister. Flint crashed into the table carrying a bunch of parts, having been distracted by the yelling girl. "Check it out! We're not even done with the satellite and Perry's already back!"

"Perhaps Buford and Baljeet finished their end of the project early." Ferb mumbled, before returning to work cobbling together bits of circuitry.

"This is absolutely insane!" Baljeet ran his hand through his hair, his voice reflecting the stress placed on him. He waved the blueprints that Phineas had managed to send through a Stark Industries satellite in Buford's face. "Look at this list! The reflective paneling alone is going to be impossible to find! We can't even start without it!"

Buford and Baljeet were standing on the side of one of the Himalayan mountains, right outside of Baljeet's uncle's rubber band factory. "We could improvise, I'm sure." Buford looked around, considering the options. "Not that I see anything we could do that with. Any chance we can use yer uncle's phone? I could see if the guys have any suggestions."

"We could, but- wait! We could just call the Flynn-Fletchers through the telephone! Then we wouldn't need to build this satellite!"

"At this point I'm pretty sure Dinnerbell isn't gonna change the plan today."

"So the plan did go through a few iterations, but the basic gist of it is that we're going to launch twin satellites at opposite ends of the earth to create a very basic internet link that should be accessible through any long-range wireless chip on the planet."

"Wow, Phin, that's really noble!" Toast was not the only thing Isabella enjoyed buttering up.

"Noble?" Phineas shrugged. "I suppose. It sounded more 'crazy' and 'fun' in my head but I guess you could call it 'noble'." Phineas emphasized the last bit with air quotes. Suddenly, he pushed Isabella aside as a hammer dropped where she previously stood. He looked up angrily. "Watch it, Ferb! Pay less attention to your phone and more attention to your work!"

Ferb, embarrassed, gave Isabella a concerned look. He looked a bit upset. Phineas saw his face calmed down almost immediately. Ferb turned his attention to his brother.

"Sorry, I got heated for a moment there. No harm, no foul. Just... don't let some girl distract you from what's important."

Ferb, hearing this, once again looked at Isabella. Her face had gone pale, like she'd received some sort of forbidden knowledge. She slumped down on the table, where Flint was working on something under a tarp. Perry was inconspicuously laying next to him in the sunlight, keeping a close watch on the inventor. "I'll just sit here and relax a while... that was quite the shock." she sighed dejectedly.

Flint's voice was muffled by the tarp. "Nice of you to join me, Isabella." He seemed to enjoy the company. Isabella's curiosity was piqued.

"What's under the tarp?"

"A little something I've been cooking up with 'Doc Brown'." Technically, he wasn't lying. It was little. It was something. He had "cooked it up" with Heinz Doofenshmirtz. He did, carefully, omit the part where he intended to launch a laser into space, hidden on the satellite, so that he could destroy something and blame it on the boys. Isabella tried to lift the blue tarp, but her hand was quickly slapped away by Flint.

He peered over the tarp at her with intensity. "You can't touch it. You can't see it. Its..." he scratched his chin for a second. "... a surprise." He ended the sentence with some jazz hands, along with the widest eyes and grin Isabella had ever seen on his normally smarmy demeanor. She let slip a hint of anxiety at his sudden shift in mood.

"Okay..." She turned away from the tarp and put one elbow up on the table, hazily poring over the implications of Phineas' outburst.

"If only we had access to some metal to create a frame, and some silicon to create the needed solar panels and equipment, we could put a satellite together no problem with the blueprints the boys gave us!" Baljeet whined.

"Yeah." Buford walked with his friend as they headed up to Uncle Sabu's rubber band factory. "Also, considering I've hung out with you for the past 3 or so years, you should have at least a little expectation of me absorbing knowledge through our conversations. I knew all of that, and you didn't need to restate it to me."

Baljeet didn't even pause as he suddenly had a brilliant thought. "Buford! When we crashed here on our trip around the world!" He excitedly attempted to grab Buford's shoulders and shake them, but the bully didn't budge. Buford picked up Baljeet as to bring him up to eye level. "The Sunbeater should have enough silicon AND metal to make the satellite! We just need to find the wreck!"

Baljeet was set down and once again began to pace worriedly. "But what if it's gone? A cleanup or salvage operation could have been preformed at any time between then and now, and it could be buried underneath tons of snow, too!"

Buford and Baljeet approached the old crash site. As Baljeet suspected, the parts were nowhere to be seen. The two scanned the area for any parts sticking out of the snow. Baljeet sighed. "Of course it wasn't going to be that easy."

Buford put his arm around his friend and pulled him into a side-hug, crushing Baljeet's midsection. "You leave this to me." He dove hands-first into the pile of snow with a roar and began to rapidly dig through the mound of packed snow. Channeling the spirit of his Dutch ancestors, none of which he had actually met, he was able to conquer the cold with a fearsome ease.

After what seemed like hours, a large metallic clang echoed through the mountain passage. "COMING UP, JEET!" Baljeet could only watch in a mixture of terror and admiration as Buford emerged from the snow, carrying the entire wreck in his arms. He burst out and landed next to his startled comrade, letting out a heavy grunt.

Baljeet and Buford stared at each other for a second.

"What? I started working out again last year, sue me."

"Mom left us a note, so I'm in charge!" Candace triumphantly slammed a hastily-scribbled note on the backyard table. The note read:

Dad and I are with the Garcia-Shapiros at Mr. Johnson's presentation about interstellar communications satellites. Enough lunch is in the fridge for everybody and the usual visitors.

Love, Mom

"Aw, isn't that sweet! She made us lunch!" Phineas looked down at the note. "And she loves us! I mean, I understand that she loves us, but it's nice to have a concrete confirmation every once and a while, you know?"

Flint stopped working and was now wordlessly observing the two. Phineas gave the note a second glance. "Uh, Candace, it doesn't say you're in charge. We've been watching ourselves just fine for the last year. Weren't you going to spend the day with Jeremy anyways?"

Candace sighed. "I guess so. How'd you know?"

Phineas pointed towards the end of the table. Jeremy was casually sitting on the bench next to Isabella. "Good morning, good-looking." He waved at Candace, and Isabella jumped back in surprise.

"How long have you been here?"

Jeremy grabbed Candace by the hand and escorted her out of the backyard before she could object. "Right this way, I've been waiting to just have little one-on-one with you since you got back!"

Isabella looked around at all the others. Flint had gone back to working as soon as Candace had left. Isabella motioned towards the gate. "Seriously, how long was he behind me?"

"Finally!" Jeremy opened the passenger-side door of his restored 1970 Pontiac Firebird, easing Candace in by her backside. He excitedly jumped over the hood and leapt into the driver's seat, turning the key in one smooth motion. The car jumped to life as he leaned back in his seat. "We're burning daylight! It's already page 7 and we haven't had any fun yet!"

"Well, what kind of fun could a soon-to-be-married couple alone in a car have?" Candace put her feet up on the dash. Jeremy had a habit of scolding Coltrane for doing the exact same thing, but he let it slide when it came to Candace.

Jeremy flirtatiously leaned towards her, giving her a small peck on the cheek. "Oh, you'll see." With that, he took out a tape labeled "Candace Jams" and slid it into the dashboard's music deck. In no time flat, the two were singing along to "I'm Lindana (And I Want to Have Fun)", with Candace handling the lead vocals and her beau coming in backup. Suddenly, Jeremy's phone let out a beep.

Candace kept singing as she picked up his cell and read out the message aloud.

"Forgot laptop. Can you swing by and get it to me?"

Jeremy sighed. "It's almost like we can never just be together these days." He preformed a u-turn in the direction of his house, using the handbrake to drift. He had become quite the talented driver in their time together.

Candace gripped the handle at the top of the car. "Never do that again. Where did you even learn to do that?"

"Well, last summer, Phineas recruited me to stunt drive for a crazy little action movie he put together."

"Why didn't I know about it?"

"I elected not to tell you." Jeremy chuckled. "I didn't want to put too much stress on you with all that 'legalese' from college already bogging you down. I'll... take fifty percent off with the fancy wheel-work."

Candace smirked. Secretly, she kind of liked the idea of her boyfriend- no- fiancee- being a fast-thinking, danger-ready driver. "Just one more thing you have in common with Ryan Gosling."

"What?"

"Nothing."

Buford was ham-fistedly slamming parts of the satellite together while Baljeet was carefully working on the more intricate circuitry. The paneling had been put on the outside of the large metal frame. Buford stood back from his masterpiece and tapped Baljeet on the shoulder, crossing his arms and facing the satellite. Baljeet flipped up his safety goggles and looked on in shock. "Buford! This looks like modern art!"

"But it fits the project specifications, doesn't it?" The mass of metal was somewhat spherical in appearance, but the solar paneling looked questionable. Buford knocked on the metal and the whole thing creaked. Baljeet sighed and opened the slot set aside for the last of the circuits. He closed the slot and the two stepped back to admire their work. It was no Phineas and Ferb contraption, but it would have to work. Baljeet slapped his buddy on the back and sat down on a rock.

"One question remains, though... how do we get this thing into outer space?"

Buford walked over to the satellite and tried to lift it. He couldn't. He shrugged at his friend. "Well, that's the extent of my knowledge." Baljeet sat back and started to sketch out potential ideas on a notepad.

Perry and Isabella were both watching Flint, who was just about finished with whatever he had under that tarp of his. Perry regarded him with suspicion, but knew he would be unable to intervene with all the potential witnesses. Isabella was just curious as to what he was doing.

Phineas hopped down from on top of the scaffolding where he was building a rocket to launch the satellite into space. He grinned at his friends and pet, and wiped his brow. "Nearly finished! Ferb and I are gonna go prep lunch so you don't have to stop working on... whatever that is." Ferb slid down the ladder, eyes still glued to his phone. The two opened up the sliding glass door and headed inside.

Flint waited a few seconds and rubbed his hands together. He pulled the tarp off of his creation with a hint of pride. "Check this out!" He unveiled a large portable ray, much to Isabella's surprise and Perry's shock. Isabella gave the machine a once-over and tried to figure out what it did.

"What does it do?"

"Silly girl!" Flint leaned down and bopped her on the nose, "It's a surprise! I told you!" Isabella was taken aback by his sudden flirtation, but she let it lie. Flint lugged the machine over to the satellite while Isabella watched. He attached it to a compartment on the inside and smiled with contentment as he let his muscles relax. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and ducked around the side of the house. "Remember, no touching!" He rapidly began tapping away at the screen.

Isabella and Perry were alone in the backyard. Isabella looked at Perry with prolonged frustration, a crease forming in her brow. "Perry, can I tell you something?" Perry chattered and began to walk toward the freshly-installed ray. He faced Isabella and nodded as he looked the device over for buttons. "Sometimes I feel like you understand me more than any of the boys around here." She laid on top of the fold-out table and huffed. "Have you noticed how similar Flint is to Phineas in his mannerisms? His physique? His... eyes?" She shuddered slightly. Perry felt a chill go down his spine, stopping to look at her. Isabella was still gazing skyward, unaware the platypus had started really paying attention. "I would normally be telling a guy off for coming on to me as obviously as he is, but it's almost charming. He doesn't even care that Phineas is right there!" Isabella turned her head to Perry, who was investigating the device. He pressed a large button with his bill.

The ray let out a ZAP and shook as it shot out a red ray at the table. Isabella gasped and rolled off the table just as it caught fire. She could barely believe what she was seeing as the fire reduced the table to ash at a supernatural pace. She dusted herself off, collected herself, and stormed around the side of the house to confront Flint.

Flint saw Isabella coming, and judging from her expression she was not happy with him. She grabbed him and slammed him against the wall. The boy quickly started sweating as she pinned his neck with her forearm. Isabella narrowed her eyes. "Explain yourself."

"Well, uh, that is, you see- " Flint quickly reached for his memory pen in his breast pocket, but Isabella grabbed his wrist and disarmed him. Flint gasped in surprise as she leaned in closer.

"This doesn't look good for you. That thing almost killed me!"

Flint's eyes widened. "Omigosh!" His expression was that of genuine horror. "I'm so sorry! That wasn't meant for you- I mean, that wasn't meant to happen! I don't know what could have possibly-"

"- Happened if we went to a time where we couldn't communicate with the Fireside Girls in the future. We got super lucky." Phineas and Ferb had just started the timer on the oven that was heating up their pre-prepared lunch, and Phineas had just finished explaining to his brother some of the risks of time travel. Ferb nodded as Phineas noticed something odd. "Hey! What's this?" Phineas walked over to the satellite rocket and inspected the ray sitting inside. He pressed the button and watched as the ray hit the grass right next to where Ferb had stationed himself, once again texting Vanessa Doofenshmirtz. Phineas quickly stamped out the fire that started next to his brother. "Ferb!"

Ferb was surprised when Phineas grabbed him on the shoulders. "Ferb! Pay attention! You could have been killed!" He turned to the offending device and began to think. "Obviously the thing Flint was building was some sort of ray to deal with space junk, but that kind of thing has so much potential for evil!" Phineas slapped his hand against his forehead. "I mean, what if someone decided to use it on someone? Or something?"

Ferb looked up from his phone. "Where's the table?"

Phineas looked around, unable to find anything but the pile of ash where his fold-out table had sat. "We'll just have to eat inside, then. But first, I'm gonna do a little modification. For safety's sake." He took a wrench and some electrical equipment out of his toolbox and set to work. Perry smiled.

Isabella dragged a helpless Flint by his collar back into the backyard. "Phineas! I think Flint's trying to kill us or something!" Flint crossed his arms and huffed, staying silent.

"Isabella, that's ridiculous!" Phineas pulled Flint up off the ground and dusted him off. "Sorry, she can get intense sometimes." Isabella angrily grunted and stomped over to where the ray was sitting.

"Oh, yeah? Well, what about this?" She faced the ray at a empty cardboard box and pressed the button to fire the ray. The ray shot out and hit the box. The box sat still for a moment, but then slowly started to drift upwards into the air. Everyone in the backyard watched it in awkward silence.

"The ray, right? Yeah, I figured it was meant to destroy space junk that might collide with the satellite, so I added functionality for it to deliver us items in space." Phineas beamed at his own ingenuity. Flint perked up as he clasped his hands and pleaded with Isabella.

"That's what I was trying to do! Sorry I didn't explain it earlier, but you had just come at me so fast and had assumed the worst!"

Phineas put his arm around Isabella. "Remember when I got mad at you and Candace back during the Avengers crisis? It's really easy to misinterpret the intentions of someone who's only trying to help."

Isabella stammered. "But- But- But-"

"But nothing Isabella!" Phineas made sweeping motion with both his hands. "You of all people should know it's better to give the benefit of the doubt!"

Isabella angrily glared at him for a moment, but then put her arms down with a sigh. She crossed her arms. "I guess you're right." She continued to glare at Flint. This isn't over, it seemed to say. Phineas, as always, didn't notice the palpable tension in the air, adopting a satisfied smile. He put his arms behind his back, and strolled over to the rocket. He gave the side a slap with his palm.

"So... now that that's sorted, how about we launch this baby?"

Jeremy and Candace arrived at Mr. Johnson's presentation. Candace had a sudden realization as she stepped out of the car. "Say, Jeremy, considering we have my parents here anyways, how about telling them what Phineas and Ferb are up to?"

Jeremy chuckled and grinned at her. "As if they'd come home willingly." He took in her unfazed expression and very quickly put his hands up in defense. "I am not gonna help you drag your parents home today, Candace!"

Candace's arms slumped to her sides. "That's probably for the best." The two started for the door just as a small crowd of people filtered out of the building. At the tail end, the Garcia-Shapiros, the Flynn-Fletchers, and the Johnsons waved off the crowd.

"Sorry about that, folks! We'll just reschedule it for next week!" Mr. Johnson seemed disappointed. Candace and Jeremy, laptop under his arm, shuffled through the crowd.

"What's wrong, Dad?"

"Well, uh..." Jeremy's father scratched the back of his head, "I guess that the city is still dealing with the effects of the volcanic eruption from the other day. The whole lecture room was flooded by a busted water main and no one had caught it! Imagine that!"

"So, I guess we're headed home early." Linda said in a deadpan. "We might even catch the boys before they have lunch."

Candace beamed at Jeremy. He groaned internally, but externally he tried his best to return her enthusiastic smile, and he gave her a thumbs up. "Yes." Jeremy turned to Linda with a raised eyebrow, "I suppose we might."

Linda could only roll her eyes.

"5... 4... 3... 2... 1!"

The boys gleefully worked the controls to send the rocket up to outer space. By "boys", I mean Phineas, because Ferb had yet again chosen to put his attention elsewhere. The rocket cleared the yard, leaving only the control panel. Isabella noticed Flint had run off someplace, but didn't care to know where. After all, with Ferb occupied, she basically had Phineas all to herself. The rocket was far out of distance when Phineas tapped another few buttons on the console, bringing up a user interface for the supply ray. "Now to test this thing!"

He clicked the button, and nothing happened. He clicked the button again. Nothing happened. Phineas rapidly tapped the button until Isabella tugged on his shirt sleeve. "Are you sure you want to do that? For all we know the inputs are just getting-"

Somewhere far over Danville, the ray began to rapidly fire.

"-delayed." Phineas finished her sentence. "Uh oh."

The console meant to send commands to the laser was the first thing to go. It shot upwards. Then a cardboard box full of space equipment (in case they needed to troubleshoot the satellite after they launched it). Then a potted plant wearing a fedora on the windowsill of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. It hit a few more objects, and in one case, a person. Finally, the laser turned upward and hit a neighboring satellite. The ray reflected off the dish and landed somewhere..."

"That's IT!" Baljeet was practically tearing his hair out in frustration. With the limited parts available, he was unable to construct his own rocket, and he couldn't think of another way to get it into orbit. This situation was the pits. If they didn't launch the satellite, then the circuit would be incomplete and all of the brother's work would be meaningless. Finally, seeing no reason to try anything serious, he stomped over to the satellite and kicked it.

At that moment, it mysteriously shot up into the sky.

"Woah," Buford watched as the satellite disappeared, "You been working out too?"

"I think that was the last of the rays." Phineas wiped his brow with relief. Suddenly, he heard a timer go off behind him. "Lunch!" He exclaimed. He put his arm around Isabella's shoulder and led her inside. "I insist you eat with us, since you put in all this hard work too." He had set the table and sat her down when he opened his laptop. "And... connected!" The screen lit up with the faces of Buford and Baljeet.

"Hey, Phineas! Hey, Isabella!" Baljeet waved happily. "I may have some Hulk-power stuck in me, because you wouldn't believe what just happened!"

It was at this moment the Flynn-Fletchers and Johnsons came through the door. "Oh! There you are! Glad we caught you! Since the presentation got canceled, we figured we'd come home to eat with the boys. Isabella, we could invite your parents over as well!" Linda said.

"And it's good to see you got that pesky video chat connection working." Lawrence interjected.

"That sounds great, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher!" Isabella grinned ear-to-ear. Linda, Lawrence, and the Johnsons headed over to the Garcia-Shapiros across the street to inquire, leaving only Candace, Phineas, and Isabella.

"Wait a second..." Candace counted the teenagers at the table. "Where's Ferb?"

The two choked on their food.

"DISTRACTED!" Phineas dashed out the door as fast as his moderately strong legs could carry him, leaving Isabella spinning in his wake.

You know, when you're floating in the cold vacuum of space, holding on to a satellite you launched, awaiting your rescue, you have the time to sit back and take stock of all the things that you've done recently. Most importantly, there was no cell service up here, so obviously Ferb could not distract himself any longer with his attempted courtship of Vanessa Doofenshmirtz.

Perhaps Phineas was right. He did need to pay more attention. After all, just that day, he had almost hurt a good friend, and this was the second time that he had failed to move out of the way of an errant ray. He had managed, on his way up, to grab a space suit from the cardboard boxes, so he was just whistling to himself while he waited for a pickup.

As if on cue, he spotted a drone flying in the distance, ready to take him home in an escape pod that had been prepared from their last excursion to space. He sighed to himself. "Romance is exciting and all, but I guess it stands to reason I should take it slowly." He was speaking to no one in particular, but it felt important to say.

A/N: Another chapter put away! This may be the last one published bi-weekly, as I moved back home from school due to Covid-19 and am absolutely buried in digital schoolwork as well as having taken up pizza delivery. Don't worry, updates will come, but they may come just a mite slower. Honestly I was only able to work on this one for like 4 days in the past 2 weeks. As always, read and review if you wish.

Next Time:

Prenuptial Preparation Panic!

A wedding rehearsal! Isabella finally lands a date with Phineas... kinda, Phineas goes overboard, and Doofenshmirtz goes out to lunch.