Okay, who else is seriously bothered by what's going on with everyone's avatars and story covers? Luckily, this one didn't get hit too badly, but, like, my O:CD cover? They cut half the title off! D:
Hm... O:CD... OCD... Utter coincidence, I swear!
10/21/15: Fixed it by now. The resolution is horrible, but whatcha gonna do?
Anyway, I've got some good news and bad news about this chapter. The bad news is, it's on the shorter side and really is just setup for the next one. The good news? Can't tell you that now, it would spoil the end!
Review responses:
Dreadwing216: Ha, thanks. Hopefully I can keep that standard going.
Phineas A: Forever and always! Except, y'know, maybe not like that, at this point, in this story. But otherwise, yes please... :)
Guest: Does that mean that today's also a good day? Hope so. ^^ Romanian, I definitely would not have guessed that. The question you brought up is a very good one indeed, but to answer it I think you'd just have to continue reading the story. Likewise, I would have to continue writing it. Hey, no love for F+V? That's alright, a lot of people don't ship them. But I do, and this is my story, so there's a Ferbnessa subplot (which, never fear, is pretty much over by now). Oh, that optical illusion? That was a very sly but not very effective (*snickers*) referrence to the mysterious color-changing striped dress that broke the internet a while ago. Some people, including the vast majority of my family and friends, see the stripes as being white and gold, while others see blue and black. Incidentally, those are both wrong! I looked it up, and the dress is really this weird, light blue/brown thing. Which is exactly what I see. Turns out, my eyes work right!
I'm gonna stop before this A/N gets longer than the chapter. Seriously... It's a long author's note...
Isabella was still not familiar with the entire map of the testing facility, but she knew how to exit from her designated room. She sprinted off the stadium, the tip of her shoe still dripping with imaginary water, and through passageways and halls and side rooms until she saw the door.
"Wait!" Called an indiscernible voice from behind. Invisinator in hand, Candace slowly reappeared. "There's something you need to know," she informed, "Ferb and Gretchen found out something important. If we set this up right, it's gonna turn out fine."
Isabella slowly lowered her hand from the door's handle. "How do you suppose we do that?" She inquired quietly, with a hint of caution.
"You aren't going to like this," Candace warned, "But if you take that test - and lose - you'll need to be handed over to the United States. Then you can be with us and everything will go as planned."
The girl turned stern. "I'm not certain..."
"Do you have a better idea?" Candace challenged, positive that, if one existed, she would have it.
There was a pause. "We can probably build off of yours," Isabella concluded, choosing her words with care. "How would I get back in, and where are Ferb and Gretchen?" She hesitated. "And Phineas? Do you know if your brother is safe?"
"...I don't, exactly," Candace admitted, without missing a beat. "But he is in this building somewhere. Vanessa went out to find him."
"Phineas is here?" Isabella restated, alert. "How did this happen... I thought he could make it away from them..." This was nothing more than a whisper. Moisture found its way into her eyes as her hope drained away further.
There are just some things that can not be explained by any science known today. For instance, it is known why humans and certain other species of animals have tear ducts: to keep their eyes clean, and to replenish their water supply. However, there exists no definite answer to the question of why, when brought to extreme stages of emotion, these tear ducts begin to overflow in an act widely known as crying. Many theorize that it is an evolutionary development; others say it is caused by certain hormones. The question of 'how' has long since been answered, but of 'why', the world is in the dark.
This was one of the last questions on Isabella's mind, however, as her knees weakened further. She hid her face from Candace, its surface becoming increasingly wet; the teenager took immediate note of this, and as the youth in front of her knelt down in silent anguish, she just knew.
Something had happened to Isealia, and in no way was it pretty.
The next thing Isabella knew, a pair of thin arms had wrapped around her in a comforting side hug, one hand gently caressing her silky blue and black hair. Candace rested her head for a moment on the experiment's, the girl's soft sobs not yet retreating. "I-I'm sure he'll be fine," Candace suggested, careful not to make the situation worse. She gave an encouraging squeeze, then continued. "We're here to rescue you two. There's no way Phineas chose to come here."
Candace's consolation did little to calm the girl beside her. "If that was the case - he would have resisted - or defended himself - or something." Isabella's breaths were quick and sharp, expressing worry. "And if he did that, they could have gotten him here, no matter how hard they tried. Unless-" She gasped, clamping her large eyes shut in a remorseful, though still somehow cute, grimace.
She turned to face Candace fully, and the two slightly pulled away from each other. "I promise I'll explain everything later," Isabella insisted, a certain verve embedding itself comfortably into her face and voice. "I need you to..."
She trailed off, distracted by something past the older female's head. It was the very face of the boy that had held her affection - in a picture on the news report shown on a small television, which hung in the corner of the ceiling (neither of them had noticed it before this).
"The experiments have since been located and returned to the facility where they are currently being tested," the anchorman read, the screen showing a horrifying depiction of Phineas's capture in the park. Candace followed Isabella's eyes, and her own bulged at the sight of her father handcuffing the poor boy with the aid of two other men.
The reporter ambiguously continued. "So far, there is no word from the government about pulling away from the recently announced war..."
The two did not need hear him utter another word before arriving at identical conclusions, which they shared simultaneously: "We need to find Phineas."
"It's Vanessa. Be quiet," Vanessa whispered in command to the confused boy she had retrieved. "Trust me, I'm getting you out of here." Phineas opened his mouth briefly, but did not object. Instead, he slipped his hand into his sister's and followed her towards the door.
Perry continued to operate the simulation from the lower control center, keeping one eye on the two escapees and another on the pseudo-Phineas he had whipped up. Luckily, the scenery shifted again after the holograms were put up, this time to a bustling urbia. The two were free to leave without help from the monotreme.
They swiftly maneuvered, unseen, around large skyscrapers to find the exit. Once they made it to safety, they had discovered Ferb and Gretchen - Isabella-less, and waiting with worried looks. The polyglot clutched two sheets of paper to her chest.
Vanessa motioned for them to move further away from the testing room to speak more safely, and the four convened once this direction was followed. "Where is Isealia?" The eldest asked simply.
"She made it out, but we were separate," Gretchen explained.
Observant as always, Phineas pointed out the documents she was holding onto so tightly. "What are those?" He inquired.
"Th-The contact your father singed, and the one Isa-" she met Vanessa's eyes - "Isealia's mother did. Take a look at this line here, and compare him - it! - with the same one en español."
Phineas ignored Gretchen's malapropisms and accepted the papers, studying the indicated sentences. "This does not look good," he concluded. "If either Isealia or I emerge victorious, the other will be handed over to the winner's country. It doesn't say exactly how that would work, but it certainly should be avoided."
"Don't be silly, there's an easy solution here," Vanessa chirped. "Just go back in there, win against Isealia, and she'll have to move to the U.S - just like we planned."
"Maybe theoretically, but..."
"But what?"
Gretchen took over. "Perfeneas isn't in well shape for for to do that. Something happened last night, and he... Is not perfect anymore. No sabemos como - agh! We do not know how it happened."
Vanessa went wide-eyed. "Really?" She looked him up and down in disbelief.
Phineas sighed. "I apologize," he started. "But they're right."
"That's a little alarming..." Vanessa stated, "But I believe you. We should find Isealia, she should know what's going on."
"Yes!" Agreed Gretchen, "She should be still in the building. Call your friend back here and can go look for her."
"No problem. You three get a head start, we'll meet up with you later."
Ferb and Gretchen exchanged glances, then nodded. They led Phineas away.
Gretchen, who walked between the two boys, realized something interesting. She could not tear her eyes from the nervous-looking redhead. What was his world, she wondered, and how much bigger was it now? For the first time, she felt a twinge of guilt about what she had done to him and Isealia. Had they remained perfect if they never met? Would they be able to adapt to everything happening? Would they be the true leaders of the team they had assembled?
Well, what's done is done, she reasoned. Only choice now is to do what we can to protect everyone else.
Perhaps it was her unquestionable desire to learn, but Isealia and Perfeneas both mesmerized her. They were humans, minus everything for which the species became infamous. They were actually tangible, composed of the same recycled atoms of dead stars that she was. It was simply amazing.
She turned to Ferb, who was stoic as ever. They had a somewhat awkward friendship, true, but a cherished one nonetheless. Phineas, on the other hand, was someone she needed to see to believe.
The girl smiled slightly, inspecting the redhead's profile. Thinking nothing of it, and knowing that no one else would, she slipped her hand and forearm around the experiment's and intertwined her fingers with his. Likewise, she moved her left hand to hold Ferb's, and he accepted.
A green-haired secret agent with a fancy for his sister. A nearly bilingual Mexican girl born without scleras. A genetic experiment gone perfectly right and then horribly wrong. None of which had experienced an eleventh birthday. That was not even half of their team, and when all seven worked together, nothing could stop them.
"Hold it right there!"
Except a pharmacist.
Being born of science gave the two semicircular failed female experiments in white some degree of above-average athletic ability. Candace and Isabella sprinted back into the building, looking for the test rooms; it was fairly easy, actually, given how often they each had navigated those hallways by now. Soon enough, they had happened upon a certain cross-hatched patterned strip of an animal's tail, evidence that the creature was standing just after the corner.
"What's Perry doing here?" Candace asked, confused.
"Who?"
Candace stepped out into the hallway, retrieving the startled animal. "This is my Phineas's pet platypus, Perry. Say 'hi', Perry."
She picked up one of his paws and moved it as if he was waving. "How do you know it's him?" Isabella skepticised, "Danville is full of platypuses."
"Platypi?"
"Platypuses."
"It's become pretty easy to pick him out of a crowd. Still, I wonder what he's doing here. I don't remember bringing him here when we left yesterday..."
Perry squirmed, and Candace, disgusted, set him on the ground.
"Candace, uh, your sister..."
"Vanessa?" The teen looked back up, and found rightness in her companion's claim. "Oh, hey, long time no see. Thanks for abandoning me in the park back there, I really appreciated that."
"You're welcome," Vanessa remarked, ignoring Candace's sarcasm. She then turned to the younger girl. "So, this is Isealia. Pleasure to meet you."
"And to you too," Isabella responded.
"So did you see Ferb?" Candace asked, "He and Graciela found out something important. If-"
"Yeah, I heard. Come on, we need to find those two, and our brother." She shared a glance with Perry, and knew to play dumb. "Hey, what's Perry doing here?"
"That's what I was wondering, and we have no clue," Candace explained. "But it doesn't matter. Let's go, you lead the way."
So, no cliffhanger. There's the good news I promised you. Carpe Diem (not that I doubt you would had I not told you to)!
10/21/15: Whoops, I lied. Jet Engine caught me with one!