...I have a confession to make. I had way too much fun with the references in this chapter. See if you can catch any!
Also, you can forget about these chapters being relatively short. They just keep getting longer. XD And happy equinox, too - be yours vernal (like mine) or autumnal (not like mine).
Review Responses:
Dreadwing216: ...Than what?
Phineas A: Hopefully this chapter will answer your question.
Guest: Okay, so the minerals in the water conduct electricity. That doesn't technically change much about the story, but it does make me question a particular type chart. Also, yes, I do remember the serum, but have greater plans for it; the revelations of heat and conscious thought were meant to be signs of their perfection degrading.
That French bit was actually the remainder of a scrapped gag I wanted to put in based on Isabella's mispronunciation in the "City of Love" song, in addition to her failure to understand Brigitte in "Buford Confidential." Lessee, the five romance languages... Other than Spanish and French (obviously), I wanna say Italian, Latin, and... English, I guess. Though I heard maybe Portuguese.
"O-Okay, it's been real," Candace called as Jeremy and his sister exited the park. "What a nice guy," she thought aloud, "Well, better go find my brother. Brothers." She pinched the bridge of her nose, bowing her head to the ground and closing her eyes. "Why do I even try..?" She asked no one in particular.
When she opened her eyes, they landed on one of the toy pistols she had been bombarded with before. She furrowed her brow and picked it up, inspecting the purple and green paint job, and concluded that this was no ordinary water gun: it did not even have a slot to put water in! Candace turned it over and gasped at the word inscribed in green at the bottom.
Invisinator.
So that was what happened! This was obviously designed by Ferb; perhaps it was how Perfeneas and Isealia disappeared at the test yesterday. In her hands Candace held the very item that made it all possible - from the meeting of Perfeneas and Isealia to learning that Ferb and Vanessa were their siblings to being able to meet Linda and Lawrence. It was all in her hands now, and she smiled excitedly at the amount of power it held.
Unwaveringly, Cansummace's heart was with the light. Ever since she was little, the girl's fascination with invisibility was very pronounced. She would always be the best at hide-and-seek whenever she played with friends and family, rivaled only by her brother (who rarely played anyway). Color was one of the first things she had exploited her imperfection to experience - the visible spectrum was her personal pallet. Among other - 'idiosyncrasies', as Perfeneas would call them - she would always insist that the windows of any occupied rooms would be left open, and to this day she slept with a nightlight. Even her quirky nature, tendency to exaggerate, perpetual clumsiness, desire to bring the world to justice, and overly enthusiastic personality showed how bright her soul shined through.
Even in the large, triangular shadow of her brother.
"I should probably bring this back to Ferb..." Candace mused, in no rush to actually return it. "Where is he, anyhow?"
Scanning the park for a few seconds brought to attention the fact that - once again - she was being forgotten about. Left behind. For Perfeneas. She watched Vanessa's motorbike pull out of the park and down the street, with Ferb in tow.
"I-I can't believe it! They would leave their own sister here to fend for herself? Messed up, guys."
With this accusation, Candace turned the Invisinator on herself and sprinted the twenty or so feet to where Gretchen and Perry were climbing onto the platypus's miniature version of the vehicle. Candace, invisible, latched herself onto it the same way a flea would to a now-irritated dog. How her companions did not notice the extra weight was way beyond her ability to understand.
Ferb did not say a word the whole way to the building. Not to the teen in front of him, not back to Gretchen or Perry, not to himself. Granted, there was a lot going on in his head at the moment, but that was always the case, so no one noticed.
The youth eyed the speed gauge of the bike he was sharing. An easy hundred kilometers per hour. His mind was going at least twice that.
Yet, on the outside, he was so quiet, so stoic, and almost lifeless that Vanessa had to occasionally check back to see if he was still there. Never had they made eye contact.
The cold wind rushing past bit at his exposed arms and legs. It was a small bike, meant only for one person. Neither of them, therefore, had much breathing room, and once they got to the highway Ferb had to hold on to his partner rather tightly in an essential hug from behind. They both understood it was for his safety more than anything, but the boy could not help thinking something just felt wrong about the position.
You're nine, he reminded himself. She's fifteen. There's six years.
Six years...
The number repeated over and over again in his head. Six, six. He closed his eyes and refused to let go of the person in front of him.
Near the alley where they had all gathered the day before, Vanessa stopped in front of the Gretchen-Perry duo. Instead of getting off herself, she instructed the two to go ahead.
All calmness escaped her voice as Vanessa suddenly turned around fully, swinging her legs over the bike to properly sit backwards, to face her brother. "Alright," she began, taking the boy by surprise. It was clear she harbored some anxiety about the ensuing conversation, and did not try to come off too harsh. "Can we talk? It's been pretty awkward between us lately, I know that. But it has to stop."
Ferb blinked rapidly a few times, the most subtle of expressions playing across his face. His eyes were even more distant than normal.
"Ferb." Vanessa pushed further the way one would to a small child who knew he was being disobedient. "Come on, don't just sit there! None of this-" she motioned back and forth between them, indicating an invisible force that represented the growing tension forming there - "is ever going to stop until we both do something about it. I need to know what's going on; are you actually okay?"
Words came rushing at Ferb in his mind, combinations of letters forming phrases and pronunciations in every possible order, but none of them could come out right. Words had power of unimaginable sorts, so why now, of all times, were they failing him?
"Goshdarnit, Ferb." Vanessa rolled her eyes and sighed impatiently. "You need to look at me. We don't have much time, so if we really need to we can talk about it later. But I need to make sure you're ready to go in there, because if you're not..." She trailed off. "I can't even think about it. Do you understand how important this is? Because if we don't get in there quickly and do everything exactly the right way, everyone on this continent is going to pay for it. So please, I know you've probably got a lot on your mind, but can you pull yourself together, just for an hour or two? For me?" She lifted his face so that for the first time that day, the two looked each other in the eyes. "And I promise you can beat me up for this later."
"I - will be fine." He almost smiled, but it was drowned out by embarrassment.
Vanessa looked him up and down for a good long moment, realizing how little room the one-person bike allowed for a conversation. "You're a good kid, you know," she told him. A twang of something unrecognizable crossed his face, and for a zenosecond he inwardly cringed. Six... Six...
Vanessa continued. "But sometimes you aren't as strong as you think. Ferb… You know I really do love you, just like I love Perfeneas and Cansummace. We aren't a conventional family, I know, but we can make it work. This'll pass."
She planted her hands on his shoulders and almost begged him, "Now, can we please go back to being friends?"
Ferb's answer was the most unexpected thing she ever heard leave his mouth. "Never."
Before Vanessa was given time to answer, he continued. "We're brother and sister. And we'll never be less than that."
This caused the teen to break into a small, involuntary smile. She closed her eyes, opened them again, and offered quietly, "Awkward sibling hug?"
Ferb did not hesitate. "Awkward sibling hug," he agreed.
The two enveloped each other in a short but brilliant embrace, which was not difficult considering their proximity to each other. Suddenly, both sets of eyes went wide as they simultaneously recited their actions in a single, terrifyingly monotone voice: "Pat. Pat."
Perry spun around sharply at the noise behind him. Thankfully, it was not the building's security, but his OWCA cohorts deciding to make an appearance. He nodded to them, ready for whatever lay ahead.
"We should split up," Gretchen insisted in a very straightforward tone. "I go to go with Ferb. Is that okay?"
The rest of the group eyed each other, then gave Gretchen their approval.
At that moment, Vanessa disappeared entirely. Perry, Gretchen, and Ferb followed, and in their places stood Agents V, P, G, and Ferb, of their respective spy organizations. And they were on a mission.
"We'll need to sneak in," Agent V began, "Ferb, you got that invisibility ray?"
The boy felt around for it in his pockets, and his eyes suddenly bloated as he realized it was nowhere to be found.
"Must have dropped it in our fight with that OSBA guy," Gretchen concluded. "That does everything more hard. But has never stopped us before, true? Can do this." She fixed her sash and lowered the rim of her beret confidently.
As if in agreement, Ferb and Vanessa withdrew their fedoras and placed them neatly atop their heads. Perry, too, played with his and signaled his readiness with a crisp thumbs-up.
Inside the booth where Doofenshmirtz, Marsh, and Povenmire were watching Perfeneas take the test, Povenmire turned to his companion. "Hey, did you notice that he's wearing stripes now?" He wondered aloud.
"What are you talking about? That outfit is perfectly white."
"...No, you're just crazy."
From the corner of the room, Perry and Vanessa crept along a side wall whilst scanning the simulation for obstacles to take advantage of, to hide behind. Luckily, the area was covered in a dense rain forest, with Phineas in the clearing.
"What is he doing?" Vanessa whispered, "Shouldn't he have the foresight to know not to take the test?"
Perry cringed. That's right, Vanessa doesn't know about their - condition, he realized. Without turning, he instantly held up a finger in front of her mouth. She nodded in acknowledgement.
Carefully, with the aid of the simulation and some O.W.C.A. technology, Agent V moved further into the jungle. Senses alive, she watched her every step so as not to disturb the environment. False sunlight fell from the ceiling, bouncing off the large leaves of trees that were not actually there.
She ducked under said leaves, moving in silence, sticking to the darkest parts of the foliage. There was always something about the dark that fascinated the teenager, perhaps because of her unintended creation and stressful life. Vanessa was not corrupt, as one might assume of a person who lets darkness rule their mind; rather, she was an individual, completely independent from the people her age. She taught herself much of what she knew and learned almost entirely from experience. If she had a secret, you could be sure not another soul would know unless she found legitimate reason not to carry it to the grave. Vanessa was not socially detached - she got along in a group well enough to lead the team of agents assigned to Cansummace - but was fully capable of becoming that way in times like these where she deemed it necessary.
That was one of her greatest flaws: like anyone else taken over by darkness would be, Vanessa was too independent to recognize her own mistakes, and therefore would stop at nothing to reach her goals - often not realizing who might be hurt in the process.
Perry moved around the wall, looking for an entrance to the alternate, lower level control center he read about while doing some OWCA-assigned research on the facility. He never would have found if not for the sensors in his bill. Deliberately, he located Vanessa and Phineas as the field shifted again, this time to a plain room with completely unobstructed views. He quickly powered up the controls to the simulation, following what was going on but also putting a hologram around Vanessa to prevent her discovery.
The platypus was very used to working with machines, mainly from his experience in the O.W.C.A. Still, perhaps it was his already established ability to sense electricity in a way no other animal can, but even as boastful as Ferb or Vanessa may be about how expertly they handle their spy equipment, Perry was the real master of the tech. Even more impressive was the fact that he was not even human, and could operate their machines even better than many of them could - it was as if he was beating them at their own game. The enthusiasm with which he carried out his missions showed how much energy could be packed into the small body, and his experience with his boys' projects-turned-Inators showed that he knew his electricity inside and out.
Vanessa crept up from behind Phineas, ready to pounce. She covered his mouth and yanked him away; courtesy of Perry, a hologram covered him as well, and a new one appeared in his place.
"Did you see that?" Inquired Mr. Marsh.
"Yeah, you were right!" Povenmire exclaimed, "His clothes were normal the whole time. I think I'm going to need glasses or something."
Grappling hooks at the ready, Ferb and Gretchen made their way into Isealia's room. The former stopped short as a bolt of lightning struck, halting his companion with his free hand. Once prepared, they shot their hooks up to the metallic ceiling in complete sync, landing atop the elevated platforms used by workers to manage the area from above. Gretchen, who loved the height, aided Ferb in his ascent away from his beloved ground.
As if able to read the other's mind, the two tiptoed along to a metal vent cover, and Ferb withdrew a screwdriver to open the latch. Gretchen followed his motion for her to go first.
Traversing the dark, cramped tunnels of the vents was all but easy. Their surroundings gave hardly a centimeter's allowance for movement, and with almost no sense of direction, it was incredibly implausible to actually make any progress.
Yet, there they were, the two directors controlling Isealia's test, directly below them. With a nod to Agent G, Ferb silently undid the bolts holding the grate up, and lowered a rope down behind them from an unknown place.
Like ninjas, the two slid down, landing on the hard floor. The directors then spun around, immediately aware of the intruders but shocked to see their own Graciela Guerrero being one of them. One grabbed a microphone, shouting something about "el examen," and the other hastily powered off the simulation, not as a result of Isabella's mishap, but to devote more attention to the task at hand.
Through the glass, Gretchen caught a confused-looking Isabella's eye, and motioned for her to get out while she could. The girl turned and ran for freedom.
Refusing to admit defeat, Ferb and Gretchen did likewise through the inside-locking door within the chamber. The ensuing chase was greatly drawn out, and eventually resulted in the agents' discovery of another, more hidden room where the directors were finally shaken.
Catching their breath, Ferb and Gretchen let their gaze dart wildly about the area. A lone table sat in the corner, covered in paperwork - which, in turn, was littered with tildes and accent marks and upside-down punctuation. All except one page, which was written in perfect English, a translated version sitting beside it.
Captivated, Gretchen inspected both entries thoroughly. As her eyes moved down, the speed at which they scattered back and forth exponentially increased. Suddenly, both copies of the pact made between Doctors Doofenshmirtz and García-Shapiro left her hands and dropped onto the desk. Cleaning her glasses to make sure she was reading right, Gretchen cautiously pieced the documents together.
"Ferb!" Graciela exclaimed, "Ferb, look at that! Is a translation error here; the victor of the test no does win superiority, but..."
Ferb looked where his friend had indicated and gawked at her discovery. He finished her thought.
"...Possession of the other country's experiment."