A/N: Late again! Egads! I enjoyed putting this one together, elaborating on the characterization of the alternate dimensional counterparts.
Review Responses:
ArendAlphaEagle: I'm gonna be totally honest, upfront I had an idea for what to do with Milo, but it kinda fell to the wayside plot-wise. This chapter actually explains where he is! I don't plan on using Milo characters extensively, as much as I love Cavendish and Dakota. I'm pretty vanilla so I don't renege on canonical ships, and Amanda is best girl. I thought I made it pretty clear upfront that Flint was Phineas biologically, but I will get into the splintered development of the two Phineases.
JetzFlare: Yes, I mention Suzy in this chapter. I figured that Jeremy's dad would have the same names in mind for his children.
Jack Coffinson: Holy moly, that's a lot of reviews! No worries, I love getting feedback.
1. Milo continuity is addressed. It's kind of a twist, but I see that letting that linger in the air for 7 chapters was a bad idea. Sidelining Joe really fast was also a mistake, but he'll become relevant later on in smaller ways, particularly considering the events of this chapter.
2. Manic Phineas is fun to write. That's why I'm trying to put him into tough situations.
3. I wanted to write Monty out if I'm being honest. His gags are rarely interesting and he's not fun to write. Phineas' obliviousness with Vanessa kind of comes from the idea that since he's older he's also learned more about societal norms, so he would find the age gap a bit strange.
4. The "FSG competing over Ferb" should have been a throwaway. I was watching the show with a buddy and he joked that Isabella was there for Phineas and everyone else was there for Ferb, and I thought the idea was too funny to pass up. Definitely should have, though. Primarily, the intent was to establish there was tension between Ferb and the FSG, as well as internal conflict in the FSG.
5. Candace and Jeremy don't really get the spotlight at any other point in this first bit outside of, you know, the obvious wedding chapter. I'm trying to write Flint as a realistically dark reflection of Phineas rather than a comically evil one (which is what most fic seems to attempt). In the show, Buford and Baljeet always seemed like side characters, but Isabella is there basically all the time and her skills are often as important as Phineas' or Ferb's. In most PandF episodes, Phineas has an idea, Ferb could be seen as the head engineer of that idea, and Isabella handles social aspects like promotion and getting people on board with the project. Later seasons kind of lost that idea, and so did MML, so I'm trying to make that a central part of this fic.
Do not even trip about the amount of reading your reviews end up being. It's really motivating to see people get this into your work.
And to everyone currently reading along, thanks a bunch. It's my first time writing for an audience and y'all make it a lot of fun.
Milo Murphy gently prodded the fire pit he had constructed from twigs and branches. Above, a small metal grill seated a pan searing some recently collected dodo eggs. A dull, gray landscape that resembled his hometown of Danville stretched as far as he had walked, ending with a massive wall barring him from the outside world. As his famously bad luck would have it, he had some time ago, months by his count, been sucked into a bizarre green portal. He was no genius, but perhaps, he thought, Phineas and Ferb would be recruited by his friends to assist in finding him and extracting him from this strange other world. He hadn't another human to speak to, and the only things he found here were things long extinct, like the trees from which he gathered wood, or the animals and plants from which he gathered his meals (Milo was no killer, but he loved dodo eggs). What he didn't know is that his friends weren't coming for him. In fact, they had no idea there is or even ever was a Milo Murphy. Unbeknownst to him, he had become something that didn't exist. Milo reached into his backpack, cracking open some shelled nuts and throwing them into his mouth.
"Mmmm. Pistachios."
Chapter 8: Flint Was Here
"PHINEAS!"
For the second time this week, a girl was angrily yelling at Phineas Flynn first thing in the morning. Phineas groggily tumbled out of bed, shook Ferb awake, changed into jeans and a t-shirt, and started down the stairs. Isabella – wait – Suzanne was standing right outside his room, and she looked impatient. "Isabella – wait – Suzanne, how did you get into my house at-" He glanced back at his alarm clock, next to which Ferb was getting dressed. "6:30 in the morning?"
Suzanne had changed into clothes that suited her better, donning some blue jeans and a dark green t-shirt. A camouflage hat replaced the bow. "It was really no problem. Your security system is weak, and your mom let me in." Suzanne grabbed Phineas' arm and jerked him down the stairs. "C'mon. We need to get to FSGI headquarters, stat."
"Security system?" Phineas dug his heels in at the bottom of the stairs. Suzy lurched forwards, but caught herself and stood back up. "I understand the headquarters is probably that place we made for you last night, but what's the FSGI?"
"FireSide Girls Inter-dimensional, dummy." She thunked his forehead with her index finger. "I can't be spending all this time catching you up on details."
"Details that I would have to figure out..?" Phineas trailed off as he walked into the kitchen, where Lawrence and Linda were already eating breakfast. Linda passed the two plates that had omelets on them.
"Good morning, Boys!" Lawrence seemed cheerful this morning. Ferb had apparently made his way downstairs while Suzanne and Phineas were conversing. "Oh, and Isabella. Did you stay over last night?"
"She stays over at your house?" Suzy whispered. Phineas chuckled a bit.
"Are you saying you don't hang out with Flint when you're not engaged in life-or-death battles?"
The two realized that Ferb had taken a seat and Lawrence was still staring at them, waiting for a response.
"No, I let her in just a few minutes ago." Linda responded for them, grabbing her SUV keys off of the counter. "You can't put them on the spot like that, dear." She leaned in and kissed Phineas and Ferb on the cheek. Suzanne snorted, and Linda glared at her. "We have to deliver an antique grandfather clock to a customer in Seattle, so it's going to be a long drive. You'll be on your own today and tomorrow, since we're staying at a hotel overnight."
"Okay, Mom. Have a good trip!" Phineas waved to his parents as Lawrence got up and approached the front door. Suzanne took his seat. Linda opened the door to find... Isabella.
"Good morning, Mrs. Flynn-Fletcher. I need to talk to Phineas and Ferb about something." Isabella was dressed in her typical pink shirt and skirt, with a small hair clip instead of a bow. Linda and Lawrence blinked a couple of times. Linda glanced back into the dining room, where Phineas and Ferb were eating their breakfast happily.
"Okay, hon. You know our door is always open, you don't need to ask. Just don't stay overnight. I don't think your parents would like that." Linda added as she and Lawrence stepped by Isabella as she sauntered inside, closing the door behind her. Ferb snickered.
"What was that all about?" Isabella entered the dining room. Phineas and Ferb shrugged, Suzanne opened the door to the bathroom with a relieved sigh.
"I think she thought you were me." She shut the door as the toilet finished flushing.
"More like I was you." Isabella grinned. "We should be careful not to let our parents get wrapped up in all of this. My dad is plenty worried about me as it is." Ferb silently offered her a plate of omelet. She pushed it away with a queasy look. "No, thanks. My dad should really be worried about what his cooking's gonna do to me. His shakshuka is always heavy on the garlic."
Isabella, nonetheless, sat down next to Phineas, pushing Suzanne's plate into the spot across the table from her. Suzanne noticed, but chose to sit across anyways. She raised an eyebrow at her counterpart, who responded with a toothy smile. Suzanne put her hands on the table and leaned in to the others. "So, from what Isabella told us yesterday, Phineas – I mean Flint – is hiding out inside Mount Danville, which was a volcano but is now a lush forest."
"And frankly, we have no idea who did that." Ferb interjected.
"Right. No idea."
A knock was suddenly heard at the door. Isabella shoved off of her seat and opened the door. Buford and Baljeet, once again tardy, lurched through the door sluggishly.
"Mornin' Isabella." Buford groggily smiled. Baljeet yawned.
"We arrived in Danville pretty late last night, and my trip to emergency room was fairly quick, but when we heard there was trouble, we came..." Baljeet yawned again, glancing down at the cast on his left leg. "As fast as could be expected." The final pair entered the dining room and noticed there was only one free seat. Baljeet started at Suzanne. Then Isabella. Then Suzanne. Back to Isabella. Then he started hyperventilating.
"Yeah." Buford waved nebulously at the two girls. "You're gonna have to explain this whole thing." He slapped Baljeet heartily on the back, causing the smaller boy to collapse in a hacking cough. Buford helped him to his feet. "I'm sure just the implications here are enough to knock a nerd like 'Jeet off his feet. Head swirlin' with possibilities."
"It is alright, Buford. I will be fine." Baljeet waved Buford off. Baljeet took the empty seat, slinging his foot, cast and all, up onto the table. Buford pulled up a chair, setting it facing away from the table, before silently taking a seat and waiting.
"So? The clone?" Buford impatiently raised an eyebrow.
Phineas chuckled nervously and put his arms up behind his head. "Oh! Sorry. This is Suzanne, or Suzy as she's known."
"Like Suzy Johnson?" Buford questioned.
"Kind of. She's the daughter of Vivian Garcia and Jack Johnson." Buford and Baljeet looked absolutely stunned.
"I never would have taken the two to be unfaithful partners." Baljeet nervously studied at Isabella, who seemed nonplussed by the information.
"Phineas forgot to mention she's from another dimension." Isabella leaned on her arm. Phineas' hand hit his face. He snapped his fingers.
"Right! Right!" Phineas began to pace. Ferb grinned and put his feet up on the table. The younger of the two brothers was now making laps around the dining room table, hands clasped behind his back. "Dimension 164 is some alternate reality of ours. Flint is actually me from that reality, Suzy is actually Isabella from that reality, Flint is evil, Suzanne is good, and nobody is an equivalent to the Suzy Johnson from our dimension."
"She's getting back from a camping trip with her Fireside troop in the Northwest today, actually." Buford interjected. Baljeet gave him a concerned look. Buford shrugged defensively. "What? She writes me letters. I can't help that she's got some kind of a thing for me."
Ferb leaned back in his seat and laughed. The others, excluding Suzanne, gave Buford some looks of disgust. Buford looked around at his peers with an indignant expression. "I ain't interested, I swear it! It's just some little girl's crush is all! I started coming over here this summer because she just shows up in my yard and asks me what I'm doing!"
"Good luck with that whole sticky situation." Isabella relaxed. "She's at that age right around when girls go-" She looked at Phineas and made a looping motion with her finger pointed at her head. "-for lack of a better term, cuckoo." Buford's dismayed expression sent the group, Suzanne included, into a howling fit of laughter. Suzy Johnson was wholly irrelevant to the situation at hand, anyways.
Phineas, having stopped pacing, finally got to the crux of the discussion. "Point is, we're gonna have to take care of Flint by infiltrating Mount Danville."
"Then we can get to the work of restoring my dimension, right?" Suzanne sat up expectantly. Phineas' optimism gave way to concern.
"We'll certainly have to see if it's possible. Ferb and I haven't ever done inter-dimensional travel, so we'll need Flint for that."
Ferb, as if a deeply buried memory had been prodded, suddenly had a thought. "Has anyone seen Perry lately?"
Perry the Platypus was resting on the couch in the living room when a beep went off on his comlink. The couch cushion flipped 360 degrees, depositing him in the house's tube system. He slid through the network of tunnels, donning his hat on the way down, finally landing in his orange seat and looking up at the large monitor. The image of Major Monogram quickly faded in.
"Ah! Good morning, Agent P!" The Major looked down at a clipboard and Perry produced a notepad. "After yesterday's necromancy fiasco, the agency wants to thank Doctor Doofenshmirtz for his effort in restoring Mount Danville to it's former natural... glory." He trailed off, his expression becoming one of confusion.
Perry, understandably, looked a bit angry.
The Major glared down at his agent. "There's no reason to be upset, Agent P. It's just a bit surprising for Doofenshmirtz to do good, so the boys upstairs wanted to thank him." A dispenser appeared next to Perry, producing a gift basket. "Luckily, we also happen to store gift baskets for any occasion under your lair!"
Perry begrudgingly grabbed the pink basket, waddling over to his hover-car and tying it to the back with a bow. He looked at the card attached to the basket. Thank you for your service to the environment! There was a sticker on the side with the insignia of the Danville Parks and Recreation Department. Perry huffed, hopped in the front seat, started the engine, and sped out of the tunnel.
"I can't believe it! It was right here!" Isabella clutched her head and her right eye began to twitch. She frantically felt up the wall where the door she had left through had been. The party nervously backed away as she took a look at the dirt wall. "Wait a second!" She looked around for a second before jumping up to a tree branch and snapping it off by leveraging her feet against the trunk. She held it like a javelin as she sprinted up to the mountain and hucked it into the wall.
The branch planted itself firmly into the soft dirt. Phineas got the idea. "Ferb! Get over here!" The two grabbed onto the branch and pushed down on it, using the leverage to unsettle the dirt. Behind the patch of dirt was what remained of a control panel. Phineas clawed away at the dirt surrounding it.
A little brown haired girl wearing a beret suddenly tumbled out of the woods and scampered to Suzanne's side. The group quickly realized they had forgotten to bring Gretchen-164, whom they had dubbed "Gretchen't". "Wait for me, sir! And other sir!"
Suzanne glared at her comrade. "Gretch! I told you to be up at 8 this morning!"
"I was. Sir." Gretchn't quickly corrected herself.
"But we ended up leaving earlier than that." Baljeet noted. "Isabella – I mean Suzanne should have told us you were coming."
Suzanne turned her icy stare to Baljeet, who reflexively recoiled in fear. "Some friends you have here, Isabella."
"Hey! We're great!" Buford cut in. After a period of silence, Phineas spoke up.
"It's locked by a 6-digit code." He had finally finished uncovering the entire panel. He scratched his chin. "Suzanne!" He snapped his fingers. "Anybody important to this other me?"
Isabella perked up. Before she could, Suzanne interrupted. "He's an abject psychopath, buddy. I don't think he CAN care for anyone."
Phineas scratched his head. "Isabella? Were you going to say something?"
Isabella had caught on to Phineas' train of thought. "You're going to try a birthday, aren't you?" She elbowed past Phineas and keyed in Candace's birthday. "He definitely cared for Candace, that much I could figure out." She smugly congratulated herself as she punched the confirm key.
Access denied.
Suzanne and Ferb snickered behind her as she got red in the face. Phineas grinned for a moment before thinking. He punched in another code.
Access granted.
Phineas seemed surprised, but pleased. The others leaned in with interest. "What did you put in, Phineas?" Baljeet asked.
"Isabella's birthday." He scratched the top of his head. "Because he doesn't know Ferb, you see. Suzanne, is he..?"
"That's ridiculous, dummy." She angrily slapped Phineas upside the head, earning her glares from Isabella and Ferb. "He and I have been at each other's throats for as long as I can remember."
Isabella tugged on Phineas shirt sleeve. She leaned in to whisper in his ear. "If it wasn't blindingly obvious, Phineas, he was all over me."
"In- in what sense?" Phineas turned to her, bumping her with his elongated nose.
"I mean that he was always making moves, y'know?" She relished his adorable awkwardness with a barely suppressed giggle. "He's plenty smart, and tough, and not half bad looking, but he was missing something I like about... boys." Phineas fidgeted nervously, half-smiling and abruptly turned his attention to the door that had opened with the panel activated.
"Hey, look, the door's open."
Suzanne made an exaggerated retching noise, and Ferb rolled his eyes. "You have no idea." Buford and Baljeet slumped.
"I see no miracles occurred while we gone." Baljeet quipped sarcastically before, aided by Buford, Gretchn't, and Ferb, he followed Phineas, Suzanne, and Isabella into the dark tunnel.
Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated!
Perry the Platypus courteously parked his hover-car outside of Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated and walked into the building. He politely tipped his hat and nodded to the receptionist on duty, and clicked the button on the elevator. After a brief waiting period, the ding! of the elevator bell coincided with the opening of the sliding doors. Perry waddled into the elevator and jumped up slightly to hit the button taking him to the penthouse. He knocked on Heinz' door and waited for a minute.
To his surprise, none other than Phineas answered the door. Immediately, Perry the Platypus jumped to the side, dropped the gift basket, and tucked his fedora... somewhere. Phineas reeled back in shock. "It was on the tip of my brain the whole time!" He thought for a moment, scratching his chin. Perry was hiding behind a potted plant in the hallway. "Does... Does your Phineas know about this?"
Your Phineas?
Your Phineas?
Perry slapped himself for not having realized it sooner. The idea that a parallel dimension might become a problem should have been considered beforehand. He stepped out from behind the plant, striking a fighting pose.
"Oh, relax, P." Phineas, whom he now realized was Flint, assured. "Doctor D and I aren't really up to something today. Just sorting out my new... living conditions." Flint put his palm up to his forehead suddenly. "Aw, crap! I forgot to leave a note for Mr. Garcia-Shapiro!" He quickly regained his composure. "Not that it matters, I guess. Oh, did you bring this gift basket?"
He invited Perry in, grabbing the basket by the handle. The two walked through the kitchen, Flint placing the basket on the counter. Flint raised his voice as he called out to Doctor Doofenshmirtz. "HEY, Doctor D!" He glanced at Perry. "Your buddy is here."
Doofenshmirtz walked into the kitchen and looked down at the platypus. "Steven? It's been so long!" Perry put on his hat. "Perry the Platypus!" Doofenshmirtz reeled back in surprise.
Perry pointed at the gift basket and chattered. Heinz grabbed the basket and read the card. "Service to the environment?"
Perry shrugged and chattered in his shared confusion. "Well, Perry the Platypus, I was going to turn the Danville river into cheese whiz using my cheeseinator, but at, like, 5 in the morning I get a knock on my door and 'guess who' shows up saying he needs a place to stay!"
Flint waved from behind the older man. "It's me, Perry. I was 'guess who'."
"So I've been spending all morning listening to this kid ramble about ionic energies and how he needs to capture these two men-"
"I presume you know. Your owners."
"-right, so I set about programming the mech-suitinator to track them down and bring them here, because frankly the sooner this kid gets out of my house the better."
Perry had had enough of this conversation. He struck a fighting pose, or at least he would have had he not found his feet stuck to the floor. He looked down. There was a thick layer of viscous yellow goop on the tile, trapping his feet.
"Who- who spilled this gelatin on the floor? That wasn't a trap!" Doofenshmirtz seemed confused. Flint shrugged. Heinz smiled. "Well, it looks like it worked just fine."
The mech-suitinator burst from out of the wall, it's cockpit replaced by Norm's head. "SPEAKING OF THINGS THAT WORK JUST FINE..." His cheerful monotone came through in spite of his change in form.
"Alright. Now that we're ready to go..." Heinz activated the Norm-suitinator, "Norm! Find Phineas Flynn and bring him here!"
Norm walked over to Flint and restrained him. Flint kicked and struggled angrily. "Not me, you dope! The other Phineas Flynn!"
Norm's eternal smile turned upside down. "OF COURSE I KNOW THAT. THIS WAS MERELY A PRACTICAL JOKE." He set the teenage boy down and transformed his legs into rockets, smashing through the ceiling and launching himself in the direction of the Flynn-Fletcher house.
Perry needed to find a way to escape before the dividing line brought the story back to his perspective.
"Alright!" Baljeet stuck the last of four poles into the far corner of the Flynn-Fletcher backyard. He dusted off his hands as he sat cross-legged on the grass and opened his laptop. Phineas, Ferb and Buford gathered around their friend. Buford surveyed the backyard, trying to make sense of what the coiled rods were. "They're probability ion sensors." Baljeet answered, before Buford could ask.
"All we have to go on concerning dimensional travel is the presence of probability ions." Phineas paced the backyard, "So we need to study their presence in an environment rich in them." Baljeet grinned as his screen lit up. It showed all the occupants of the backyard: Phineas, Ferb, himself, Buford, Isabella, Suzanne, and the rest of the Fireside Girls, whom were all preparing to do their part in the manhunt. "Woah, we're swelling with good vibes over here!" Phineas chuckled. Ferb rolled his eyes.
"Alright, guys." Isabella, whom Suzanne had begrudgingly allowed to take co-command of their mission to find Flint's new hiding place. "We're heading out!" She jokingly saluted the boys as the troupe left the backyard. A beeping noise emitted from the laptop.
"Huh?" Baljeet tapped the screen, as if it would do anything. "We lost a lot of positive energy just now."
"The girls have positivity ions. Who would have guessed?" Buford wondered aloud. Then the boys thought back to the events of any summer they had spent together, and the amount of help the girls had been in the construction and organization of their various projects. "We should have all guessed that." He flatly grumbled.
"Alright, girls!" Isabella pulled a large paper map out of her backpack. Unfurling the map revealed a grid showing downtown Danville at a micro scale. A few locations had been marked off, but most of the map had not yet been covered. "We have little to go on other than where Flint HAS been, so we'll have to canvas the town to see if people know where he IS."
Gretchen't produced a red marker from her pocket, handing it to Suzanne, who handed it to Isabella. Isabella started scribbling names and assigning them to grid pockets. "Alright, so, we need to use the buddy system here. I'm sending you out in couples." She began to point at girls and mark spots on the map for them. "Milly, Katie, check down by Le Ferb. Holly, Ginger, head to Danville park. Addyson, Gretchen, double check the church to see if that mech left any traces." She realized all that was left were her, Gretchen't, and Suzanne. "You two should take Gretchen't with you as well." Isabella suspected that she may have to keep an eye on their counterparts. She had no way of knowing whether or not they were trustworthy, only Phineas' intuition, which had been wrong before. Wrong basically all the time, actually. "I'll take Suzanne and we can check out... Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. That's a strange name for what appears to be an apartment complex."
The others saluted and left in their groups, leaving Suzanne and Isabella to start heading towards DEI. Suzanne seemed less confident than before, her eyes trailing across the sidewalk as the two paced along. The two went on silently for some time, before Suzanne spoke up.
"I must admit, I'm jealous of you, Isabella." Their eyes met. "Everything seems... friendlier here."
Isabella nodded, but looked confused nonetheless. "I've noticed that our counterparts have some strange differences. In our case, I think the divergent point may have been our different fathers."
"And for Phineas, the divergent point was probably Ferb."
Isabella thought about it for a moment. "I think the divergent point..." She stopped and put her arms on Suzanne's shoulders. "Was us."
It was Suzanne's turn to look confused. The confusion quickly turned into a look of annoyance. "What?"
"Think about it. Both of our Candace-es care deeply for Phineas, and so does our Ferb, but the starkest contrast is the rivalry you have with yours." Isabella frowned slightly. "I couldn't imagine what I would be like without Phineas."
"Is that really such a good thing? How dependent is your identity on his influence?" The two resumed their walk, entering the front door of DEI.
"A lot of it, I guess. I joined the Fireside Girls just because I thought it would impress him."
"Funny. I wanted to show him up."
"And the two of us are inseparable for the most part."
"In another sense, that's true for my Phineas and I too."
"Then, is it an Isabella's – or a Suzanne's – destiny to be defined mostly by the relationship they have with Phineas Flynn?"
Suzanne suddenly burst out laughing. "Save that one for the philosophy nerds, sister! God, how long has it been since I had someone to talk to that just... understood me? Even the other girls in my dimension, you know. They don't get it. It's not obsession, it's duty."
"In my case, it could be called obsession." Isabella chuckled, suddenly aware of how funny this running theme of her life was. The two entered the elevator. "If anyone knows where Flint is, it's probably the owner, and if the owner is anywhere here, it's probably the penthouse." Isabella clicked the button for the top floor.
"Well, knowing what we know now, I think you could call it duty. Who knows what your Phineas would be up to without you keeping him on a metaphorical leash?"
Isabella's laugh was thus far the loudest of the day, ringing off of the elevator walls. Suzanne covered her ears briefly in annoyance. Isabella quieted down. "He roped me into this whole thing just by existing. I wouldn't say I keep him on a leash."
Suzanne got quiet too, suddenly deep in thought. "Yeah. I wouldn't either."
Phineas was balancing a series of four Jenga blocks on the tip of his nose. Ferb was on a stepping stool, putting a fifth block on the tip of his nose. "I'm sorry, Jeet, but what's the point of testing balance if we're trying to figure out how probability ions work?"
"I don't know, Phineas. Is balancing a series of- " Baljeet glanced up from his computer at his friend. "-five blocks on your nose a skill you simply possess?" Phineas couldn't argue with that. Ferb pulled the bottom block out, causing the blocks to fall perfectly into place on the edge of his brother's nose. "Explain, Phineas, when you acquired the ability to stop physics from working as they naturally should."
"Well, it all started on the day of my actual birth..." Phineas started, and quickly stopped. He threw his head forward and the blocks toppled all around him. "That's it! It didn't start on the day of my actual birth! It started on the day I met Ferb!"
"Is this just a theory you are throwing out there, or-" Baljeet beckoned Phineas to continue his train of thought. Ferb was also intrigued, but kept his face mysteriously still. Buford had forgotten what was going on, and was bored.
Phineas grabbed Baljeet's shoulders and shook him violently. "Positivity ions become exponentially powerful when gathered with other sources of positivity ions! Ferb and I are spectacularly powerful together because the ions give each other a boost!"
Suddenly, a large figure descended from the sky and landed in the boys' backyard, singeing (Yes, the present participle of singe is singeing) the grass beneath it's metallic boots. "GOOD AFTERNOON CHILDREN. I HAVE A FRIEND WHO WOULD VERY MUCH LIKE TO CHAT WITH YOU." The robot's cheerful tone only amplified the menace it projected. "AND BY CHAT, I MEAN EXPERIMENT ON."
"One of this Flint guy's goons?" Buford quickly assessed the size of the mechanical man. It might be tough, but he could take it. He and Ferb squared into a fighting position, ready to defend the other boys. Phineas was less confident, opting instead to freeze on the spot.
"I AM NO GOON." The robot seemed almost offended through the monotone. His hand retracted into his arm and produced an over-sized butterfly net. "I AM NORM, AND I'M HERE TO CAPTURE YOU."
Buford gave Norm a strong punch to his gut, knocking the robot off balance. Suddenly, the nerves in Buford's fist became aware that he had just thrown a punch at a titanium-plated beast. "Owowow!" Buford held his wrist as he allowed his arm to limply dangle. "Ferb, do we have anything that ain't a me to beat this thing?"
"Un momento, por favor." Ferb scuttled into the house, slamming the sliding glass door on his way in. Phineas came to his senses and rolled out of the way just as the net slammed down onto the grass. Baljeet folded his laptop, put it under his shoulder, and scrambled as fast as he could out the backyard gate. Buford defiantly grabbed onto Norm's right leg, though he was unable to find footing.
Ferb came out of the house, moments later, wearing a laser pack from the game the day before. He blasted Norm straight through the stomach, revealing the squirrel powering him. "I un-fixed it." Phineas silently gave a thumbs-up from the ground. Ferb shot out Norm's left leg, allowing Buford to dig his heels into the ground and slam the robot into the dirt. Norm was defeated.
"OBVIOUSLY, WE GOT OFF ON THE WRONG FOOT." The eternally smiling head sprouted a helicopter rotor, flying up into the sky and disappearing.
"Ferb, did you see where it was headed?" Phineas tried in vain to block the sun's glare from his eyes.
"That skyscraper downtown." Buford answered for him. "Isabella's on the right track, it seems."
"If that's what he's packing... I don't know if she can handle Flint!" Phineas nervously clutched his hair. "Ferb! Get some more laser packs! We have to get there before she does!"
Baljeet meekly appeared from behind the gate. "She can take perfect care of herself, Phineas. Stop freaking out."
"That isn't the point!" Phineas snapped, disappearing with Ferb into the garage.
Perry the Platypus was almost finished eating away at the floor gelatin when a knock was heard at the door. Flint and Doofenshmirtz, who were relaxing on the couch, both turned their heads towards the entrance. "Who is it?" Flint yelled.
"Flint? Is that you?" Isabella's voice came from behind the door, laced with vitriol.
"Uhhh... no?" Flint quickly jumped behind the couch, where a newly freed Perry the Platypus was waiting for him. "Uh oh."
Perry delivered a roundhouse kick with such force that it pushed the boy into the penthouse's front door, knocking it off it's hinges. Heinz jumped off the couch in surprise. "Perry the Platypus! There's no way that amount of gelatin was good for your body!" He grabbed a pillow and used it as a buffer as he pounced on the secret agent, who quickly dropped onto his back and delivered a wheel kick, sending Heinz flying out to the balcony. Hitting the ledge, and just barely saving Planty the Potted Plant, Doofenshmirtz threw his pillow, which Perry skillfully dodged.
Flint was dazed, but the door was still holding in place. The pillow knocked him just a bit further into the door, which, now unconstrained by its hinges, flopped over his head, revealing the two girls at the door. Isabella grabbed him and threw him backwards over her shoulder. "Isabella?" The boy barely coughed up as he looked up at the two. Suzanne grabbed him by the leg, pulling him up in the air, before delivering a brutal punch down into his midsection. Isabella let out a soft gasp at the sudden outburst. "Suze?" Flint was practically dead already.
Suzanne flipped him over, restraining his arms and putting her knee on his spine. "You must have known I was going to show up eventually, Phineas!"
Flint spat out a tooth on the ground, letting out a groan before he came to his senses. "Actually- I- it just occurred to me last night. This is actually really good, if you think about it."
"In what sense?" Isabella squatted down, glaring down at the girls' pinned foe. "Now there are two butt-kicking martial artists looking to make sure you don't hurt my Danville!"
"No," Flint grinned up at her confidently, glancing at Suzanne. "What you've got is one girl with an easy choice."
In the penthouse, meanwhile, an entirely separate but equally important action sequence was happening. Heinz had grabbed a wrench, and was slamming it down on the ground wildly, his adversary nimbly avoiding every blow. The platypus finally had enough toying with his enemy, and shoved the wrench from Doofenshmirtz' hands into his stomach, knocking him back. Perry delivered a flying knee to Doofenshmirtz' abdomen, sending him sailing off the balcony.
Norm finally showed up, helicopter blades whirring. "PERRY THE PLATYPUS!" He looked around the penthouse, noting he would have to fix the door. "IF YOU SEE THE DOCTOR, TELL HIM THAT ON ALL ACCOUNTS, TODAY IS A MASSIVE FAILURE." Perry sighed in relief before dive-bombing off the balcony to catch his defeated prey. Grabbing a humiliated Heinz and deploying his parachute, he sailed off in the direction of the Flynn-Fletcher household, noticing below that Phineas, Ferb, and all their conscripts were riding bikes towards Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated. He smiled. Since the boys could handle the lackey, his work was done.
"Hey, is that Ferb?" Heinz pointed at the green-haired boy. Perry had neither the desire nor capability to respond.
"Wait a second." Isabella stood up and looked at her partner in confusion. "What does he mean?"
"Beats me. I'm not gonna let him explain it, though." Suzanne grabbed the boy's jaw and kept it shut. Flint rocked back and forth, eventually managing to roll Suzanne off of him and springing to his feet. Isabella attempted a roundhouse kick, but he caught her foot and threw her back into Suzanne.
"I mean, Suzanne, that your best chance at getting your life back does not lie with the good guys here." He lowered his guard and began pacing. The girls glared at him from their pile on the ground. "After all, I have schematics, and plans, and an understanding of the principles of dimensional energies. What benefit do these jokers really give you?"
"Stuff a sock in it, Phineas!" Suzanne growled. "I'm not a traitor, especially not for you!"
Flint smiled at her softly, surprising the two. "It's not for me, really. This was a mistake. A colossal mistake. I want Candace back and you want Jeremy back." Isabella pounced at him, but he sidestepped the girl and shoved her head, causing her to stumble into the floor in a heap.
Suzanne stared at Flint. Isabella froze in anticipation. She looked at Isabella's pleading eyes, then back at Flint's genuine face. She gritted her teeth. "You're right, and I hate it." Flint smiled and reached out to pull her off of the ground, setting her on her feet.
"Suzanne? How could you? We can figure it out! You don't need this punk!" Isabella's fear mutated into anger, and she got up to fight.
Suzanne blocked a punch to her gut. "I love your intentions. Honestly." She grabbed the arm and shifted it over her shoulder, throwing Isabella over it onto her back. "But I know my dimension's Phineas can get it done."
Isabella was in shock, and couldn't believe that she had been fooled again. Suzanne looked down at her former ally with a tinge of guilt. She gulped, and turned to Flint. "What do you propose we do with her, then? And don't think this alliance is anything more than temporary." She snapped.
Flint had already thought this through. "Don't worry. We won't hurt her. We still need to keep the boys' interest, and she's the bait."
Phineas, Ferb, Baljeet, Buford, Addyson, Katie, Milly, Gretchen, Gretchen't, Ginger, and Holly were all crushed together in what felt like the longest elevator ride that they'd ever experienced. Minutes seemed to pass. Phineas fidgeted nervously in his corner. Ginger was the first to break the silence.
"So, uh... the wedding's soon? How's the planning going?" Phineas didn't respond, instead muttering under his breath about laser trajectories and potential exit strategies. The whole elevator seemed to be a tense bundle. Buford adjusted the fit of his laser pack. Baljeet cleared his throat. All of them were kind of hot, and the air was humid.
"It's going smoothly. We're holding the ceremony in two days." Ferb replied. He tried not to show it, but he was also lacking confidence in Isabella, especially considering the vibes he got from Suzanne earlier that day. Gretchn't was eyeballing him. He'd have to cross that bridge when he got to it.
Heinz Doofenshmirtz was quickly scrambling up the stairs, desperate to beat the elevator. After all, if this "Ferb" character was showing up on his front doorstep, he could be using his connection to Vanessa to spy on him, and he needed to prevent that. Even worse, there was a possibility that Ferb was actually interested in his daughter, which, as overprotective as he was, he also wanted to prevent.
"I still don't understand why he's armed or why he's dragging his brother along." He muttered.
The gang burst into the apartment, lasers aimed at all corners of the room. They managed to catch a glimpse of the rocket skiff as it lifted off towards the horizon. Flint smiled and waved, taunting the boys. Phineas and Ferb both managed to fire off shots in the direction of the ship, but just barely missed, scraping the sides of the skiff's engine. Small puffs of smoke trailed behind the ship. Phineas threw down his pack in frustration. "Darn it! He's escaped again!"
"W-wait a second," Ginger looked around. "Where's Isabella? And other Isabella?"
"What kind of trick would that guy have up his sleeve that he could take both of them?" Gretchen inspected the room thoughtfully, but found no answers. Gretchen't started to fidget a bit.
"That's not good. The chief never loses to Flint. There must be something more at play here." The small girl muttered nervously.
Gretchen realized what she was implying. "You mean that Flint had a partner?"
Heinz, tired and achy, stumbled through the apartment door. Leaning up against the edge of the doorframe, he huffed as he caught his breath. "What are you all doing here?"
"Mr. Doofenshmirtz!" Ferb suddenly realized this was Vanessa's place, and straightened himself out.
"Doctor to you. Like I asked, what is this all about?"
"Some friends of ours found an enemy of ours here, and now he's taken them hostage! Do you know a guy named Flint?" Phineas pleaded.
Heinz slowly connected the dots in his mind. "So it was your friends that bust in here? You must be Phineas and Ferb! I probably should have guessed that there was only one pair of people named Phineas and Ferb in this town." Everyone stared at him until he realized how ridiculous that sounded. Clearing his throat, he continued. "He said he was looking for the two of you! I didn't know you were just kids, he seemed to have a real vendetta. What did you do, kill his parents?"
"Uh..." Phineas scratched the back of his neck. "I'm pretty sure he killed his parents."
Heinz' eyes widened. "Oh, jeez." Doofenshmirtz began to pace around the room. "I guess I didn't know a ton about his personal history when I took him on as an intern."
"It wasn't his intent, we're pretty sure. It's a complicated situation." Ferb interjected. Phineas glared at him, but his face softened up.
"You're right, Ferb." He turned back to the doctor. "Things between me and -did he tell you he was also me?" Heinz stopped pacing. "Well, they've gotten a bit personal. Can we count on your help tracking him down?"
The man sat down on his couch. "Give me some time to process all of this. I can give you..." Doofenshmirtz took out his cell phone and opened an application. He grunted in frustration. "Darn. He shut off my skiff tracker. Yeah, I've got nothing."
"That's alright, we'll find him." Gretchen patted Heinz on the back. "If you hear from him, here's my phone number." She handed the man a piece of paper and turned to the other girls. "As acting leader of Fireside Girls Troop 46321, I'll be assuming command of this operation. we need an all-points-bulletin out on Isabella Garcia-Shapiro!" She glared at Phineas and Ferb. "We'll need you guys to sit out of the planning side on this one. Phineas, I think you've trusted your gut when you should have been using your head."
"Now." Ferb shot an ice-cold stare at Gretchen, "Is not the time to be pointing fingers. You didn't have any suggestions earlier, so don't go blaming Phineas for Isabella and Suzanne's disappearance."
Gretchen met his stare angrily, but didn't say anything. Instead, she made a hand signal to the other girls and they all filed out of the penthouse.
"I'll tell you if we find anything." Ginger quietly said as she passed Buford and Baljeet. Baljeet nodded at her. Gretchen't stayed behind with the boys.
She tugged on Phineas' shoulder nervously. Phineas had been watching the Fireside Girls leave in frustration, but regained his composure to face Gretchen't. "What's up, Gretchen't?"
The girl stared at her feet for a while. "You guys didn't have a plan for getting our dimension back, did you?" She whispered.
"Well, no, but we needed to get Flint out of the picture first-"
"What if Flint did?" Gretchn't looked up at the boy, teary-eyed. "I know the chief would do anything to get her brother back, even..." Her tiny voice trailed off.
"Betray Isabella." Phineas finished her sentence and clenched his fists. "We don't even know if we can trust you, Gretch." Gretchn't flinched slightly as Phineas put his hand on her shoulder. "I, uh, still want to go with my gut, though. You can sleep over at our place, since the Fireside Girls probably don't trust you anymore."
Ferb raised a hand as if to object, but lowered it when he realized that Linda and Lawrence were out of town. Instead, he put his arm around Phineas' shoulder and headed towards the door, Gretchn't following closely behind. Before he left, he looked back at Heinz, who was still frozen on the couch.
"You're right, bro." Phineas yawned. "We need to get some rest, and Flint's not gonna hurt Isabella. Mr. Doofenshmirtz! Call us if you have any information!" Defeated and tired, the three entered the elevator to the bottom floor.
Later that evening, Heinz Doofenshmirtz was sleeping on his couch when his cell phone rang. He picked it up groggily. "Who is this?"
"Doc, I'm sorry I skipped out on you earlier today, but I need your help for one last thing."
"Kid? Oh, no! You did not say anything about killing kids when you came to me this morning."
"Relax, Doc! There's no need for violence of any sort, at least with your help. We just need to get some energy to power a big battery and then our dimension's good as new!"
"Alright." Heinz yawned. "So I can get those kids' friend back for them?"
"Oh, no problem. I'll send you the coordinates. As long as you don't tell them where I am. I need to keep them at bay, since they think I'm up to no good, and a hostage is a way to do that."
"I guess that makes sense..." Heinz muttered before turning over on the couch. "I'll be there tomorrow. Get some sleep."
"You too, doc."
Flint put his phone down on the table in the middle of the revolving room and grinned at his new partner. Suzanne looked away from him. "Alright! Securing Doofenshmirtz' assistance was easier than I thought! He's as gullible as Pinhead!" He pumped his fist excitedly. "And the Space Needle is a perfect staging ground for my latest idea."
Suzanne huffed as Flint sat down on the couch next to her. "What's the matter, Suze? Once we get this done, you get your brother back, I get my sister back, and we can put this whole business behind us!"
"It's just..." Suzanne gazed at one of the doors. "I hate that we had to screw Isabella over to get here, even if she had it coming."
"It's regrettable, but this kind of thing requires you to push negative feelings aside." Flint's expression became a bit grim. "I kind of have to deny that I have to hurt people to fix my mistake. But after this..." He waved his arm in front of him. "No more evil. Didn't suit me anyways. I'll have to make up for all this, somehow."
Suzanne was surprised when she looked at Flint's face. He seemed genuinely mournful. She scooted a bit closer to him on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder. "It's gonna be okay, Phin. You were always a mischievous guy, but I know you never meant to take it this far. I kind of had fun fighting with you today instead of against you." The girl yawned. "And our Danville is worth any other one. Moreso, even."
Flint sighed. He was also getting kind of tired. Looking down again, he realized Suzanne had fallen asleep on his shoulder. He got off the couch and gently set her head down on the rest. He had about an hour before he had to go to bed, so he got on the internet and began to sketch a blueprint:
The Dimensional Drainatron.
"Push negative feelings aside..." Suzanne muttered in her sleep.
A/N: We're approaching the climax of the first 'arc', so to speak, so I might mark the fic as complete after that and spend a little time planning the second part ahead, then publish that as a new one. Again, sorry about the time delay, I have been working a lot and writing my own original material in the meantime. Hopefully, I can get the next chapter out before the new movie hits and lore gets introduced, invalidating this entire story. Till next time!
Next Time:
Showdown at the Space Needle