Chapter 2

Phineas was used to abnormal. He reclassified what was weird. He redefined the impossible. Yet it wasn't enough to prepare him for this. Phineas didn't know how—after all, platypuses weren't supposed to do much! But unless his eyes and ears were deceiving him, Perry had just saved his and Ferb's lives, was standing on two legs, had expertly exercised the use of a jetpack, and on top of it all; had articulated a full sentence. In English. By talking. After a few moments to overcome the initial shock, whatever reservations he'd previously held about what a platypus can and cannot do, Phineas realized that it didn't really matter. All that mattered was they were alive, saved by this anthropomorphic, talking, flying platypus. One word registered in the young boy's mind: Cool!

Phineas smiled at the platypus that stood before him—for standing at full height put him almost as tall as the boys—and stepped forward to throw his arms around him. "Oh, Perry! Thank you so much for saving our lives!"

The platypus tried to duck out of reach, alarmed. "Didn't you hear what I just said? I'm not Perry! He can't talk!"

Phineas pulled back. "I guess not," he decided, a disappointed look crossing his face. "It's just that you look exactly like him!"

"You know, that would be considered offensive where I come from," the platypus replied, turning to look over the city.

Phineas looked at Ferb, who shrugged. "Well, then, where are you from?"

The new platypus didn't answer immediately. He merely paused before facing the boys again. "Let's just get you guys safely back to your family," said he, indicating toward a set of stairs exiting the rooftop.

Phineas didn't move. "Will you at least tell us your name?"

The platypus sighed. "I guess that much won't hurt. My name is PJ."

"Well, PJ, I'm Phineas, and this is my brother, Ferb," Phineas said as PJ moved past to open the door. Their mysterious new friend turned to hold it open for them.

"I know," he simply said.

Candace was so annoyed with herself that she hadn't thought to just call Mom. It was so painfully simple. All this time, she realized, had been wasted trying to look for her—during a prime opportunity to bust her brothers, no less. Now, looking at Phonesy-Wonesy, she wasn't sure if she'd rather operate it properly or hurl it at the nearest brick wall.

Fortunately, reason prevailed, and she dialed her mother's number, waiting for her to pick up.

"Yes, Candace?"

"Mom, where are you? Did you see the parade?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Linda replied as she and Lawrence drove along, an antique dresser with an inexplicable floating baby head tightly fastened to the roof of the car. "Your father just had to have it, it's a—what is it again, dear?"

"It's a colonial dresser with hand-engraved markings and an unusual accessory that I'm sure originated from the East India Trading Company!" he exclaimed. "A rare find indeed, and perfectly themed for a day like today!"

"There you have it," Linda said, grinning slightly at her husband's giddiness. "We're just running it to the shop to drop it off real fast, honey, and we'll be back to pick you up after."

"But Mom!" Candace retorted, "Phineas and Ferb were in the parade and they made these huge floats that had singing robots and a creepy Fireside Girl that tried to crush me and hydrochloric acid—wait, that was probably just when I lost my lunch—but I almost died!"

"Uh-huh," Linda said, barely listening, "that's nice, sweetie. We'll see you there soon enough, kay? Bye." And she hung up.

Candace clenched her phone and growled. "Of course she doesn't believe me. That's just my luck." Muttering under her breath, she stomped off to locate her brothers.

"So how are you able to talk?" Phineas asked PJ, who was leading the boys down the stairwell. "Were you exposed to some kind of radiation? Or, maybe you're some kind of android? Oh, I know! A crazed scientist had you drink a top-secret special formula, and it made you intelligent! Is that what happened? Is it?"

PJ rounded on Phineas angrily. "Look, just because I'm an animal doesn't mean I'm unintelligent!" he growled, pointing a finger at him. "You'd be surprised how much we really notice! Plus, you humans can be pretty dull-headed sometimes yourselves."

Phineas took a step back. "I'm sorry," he said, "I—didn't mean to sound insensitive."

"It's okay," whispered PJ, taking a deep breath. "I forget, you're both a little young to understand what you're talking about."

"Huh," Phineas admitted, "normally a sentence like that would leave me saying, 'yes, yes we are,' but for once it doesn't work so much here."

Their web-footed guide shook his head and took to descending the stairs again. For whatever reason, most likely due to the parade, the building was virtually empty; they didn't see any signs of life while they walked.

"So how do you know Perry?" inquired Phineas.

"Why do you ask so many questions?" PJ replied irritably.

"An insatiable appetite of curiosity," Phineas responded. "And for that matter, how did you know who we were?"

"I just do, okay!" He raised his voice enough that it wasn't a yell, but the sound could be heard echoing through the empty halls. "No more questions!"

The three descended for a minute in silence but for the pattering of their footsteps. Each electric light bulb they passed under showed Phineas was struggling to keep his thoughts in his head. Then, like the gushing of a geyser that can be stopped by no lid, Phineas spoke again. "So, have you ever been to Australia? You don't have an accent, so you must have at least learned to talk around Americans."

Exasperated, the reticent monotreme threw his hands in the air. "Why do you even care?" He directed at Phineas. "I'm here on very important business, and having a friendly get-to-know-you is not part of it!" When he saw the slightly hurt look in Phineas' eyes, he retracted a little. "Look, fellas, I'm not supposed to tell you about all that stuff, even if I wanted to."

"Why not?" asked Phineas.

"I'm just not," he repeated. "You seem like nice kids and all, but I'm only here to do my job, and that's it. Okay? So let's just get you two back to your parents."

There was a certain finality in his tone, and Phineas respected it enough that he didn't speak the rest of the way out. He still wanted to be polite toward his and Ferb's rescuer, even if this unusual talking platypus seemed a little anxious to get on with his life. They were almost to the ground floor now, and they quickly made their way for the nearest exit. It didn't take long to find, and they stepped out into the bright sun.

In a businesslike voice, PJ turned to the boys and asked, "So, where are your parents at?"

"Um," Phineas thought, "we haven't seen them since the parade started, but I'm sure they're around here somewhere." Suddenly he snapped his fingers. "I bet Candace is with them!" He almost enthusiastically took off sprinting in the direction they had flown in from, but PJ stopped him.

"Wait!" he commanded. "I can't go out there like this!"

"Like what?" Phineas questioned.

"I have to look like an ordinary platypus," PJ explained. "If people see me walking and talking, they'll get suspicious. I can't attract attention to myself."

"Okay," Phineas said, "but why?"

PJ hesitated. "It's complicated. Here, just wait a second—." PJ crouched down on all fours and instantly became the spitting image of a mindless pet platypus. "There. Now I can accompany you to your family. And remember, I can't talk when I'm trying to blend in, so don't say anything to me. I know that'll be hard for you, Phineas, but from now on, all I can say is, 'grdrdrdrdrdrd'." PJ's eyes unfocused and he chirruped in perfect imitation of Perry's signature chatter.

"Well, what are we supposed to do?" asked Phineas.

"Pretend I'm Perry. Act normally. And don't tell anyone who I really am, or about what happened earlier."

"But what about Perry? The real one?"

"He'll be back. Now stop talking to me!" When Phineas still looked like he wanted to say something, PJ cut him off with a forceful "Go!"

"Okay, okay!" Phineas said, and they began to move on back the way they came.

It didn't take long before they ran into members of the crowd, for the parade was over and the people were heading home. They couldn't help but overhear some of the conversations that were being made. Most passersby said some variation of the following: "Did you hear there was an accident?" "Yeah, a couple of boys almost got hit by a falling telephone pole!" "I heard it was a giant falling cupcake!" "It wasn't a cupcake, you simpleton!" "What happened after that?" "Apparently, a flying duck or something caught them and flew away!" "It wasn't a duck, it was a beaver!" "Oh, right, a flying beaver—that makes as much sense as a giant cupcake!" "Hey, it could happen!" And so forth.

Phineas looked like he wanted to say something, but when PJ casually caught his eye (which was of itself remarkable considering the platypus was presently cross-eyed), he shrugged and kept moving. The crowd was dispersing quickly and they made good time on their way back to the starting point of the parade. At last, Phineas stopped and announced, "We're here, this is where we were at when the parade started. They should be around here somewhere."

He and Ferb had barely begun to cast their eyes about when a familiarly high-pitched squeal found their ears. "Phineas! Phineas! Oh my gosh, I'm so glad you are safe!"

Phineas turned to the source of the sound just in time to get his face enveloped by a thick curtain of dark-black hair as he was tackled in a hug that practically knocked the wind out of him. "Isabella?!" he gasped. "Ikaw gemoo!"

"What did you say?" she replied, releasing him. Phineas merely doubled over, inhaling sharply.

"Oh, sorry," she said. "Oh, and I'm glad you're safe too, Ferb," she cordially added with a pat on Ferb's shoulder, though it came off as more of an afterthought. "Boy, you sure did give me the fright of a lifetime."

"Well, we're safe now," Phineas said, still wincing.

"How'd you do it, anyway?" Isabella inquired. "Fly out from under that falling telephone pole, I mean. It happened so fast, even though I was right there I could barely see it! How'd you escape like that?"

"It's pretty simple," Phineas explained. "Ferb and I were about to—."

"Grdrdrdrdrd," PJ uttered, cutting him off.

Phineas looked quizzically at PJ, wondering why he'd been interrupted. "Um, you know what, we'll tell you all about it later," the young inventor noted, recognizing the warning in PJ's tone.

Isabella seemed to accept that. "Oh, by the way, Candace is here too." She angled her body away from the others, inserted two fingers into her mouth, and whistled extremely loudly. Instantly the troop of Fireside Girls gathered in an efficient line, front and center, reporting for duty.

"I was calling for Candace, you guys," Isabella informed them.

"Aww," they griped, about facing to march away with a noticeably reduced spring in their step.

Candace arrived a moment later. "Oh, there you two are," she said, looking upset as usual as she stared down at her brothers. "About time you showed up." Just then, her phone rang in her pocket. She whipped it out and held it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Who is it?" Phineas asked. Candace ignored him, focusing on the muffled voice coming from her phone instead.

"Okay," she said, "we're just hanging out here with Isabella. What's that?" she asked when the muffled voice continued. Candace nodded once more and snapped her phone shut. "That was Mom, she says Dad and her are stuck in traffic."

"Dad and she," Phineas corrected.

"Whatever. She also wants me to ask you, Isabella, if your Mom can give us a ride to the park. That way we can go with you to the neighborhood barbeque. They'll meet us there."

"It'll be a tight squeeze, but I'm sure she won't mind," Isabella responded. "Let me go ask."

Candace watched Isabella leave before rounding on her brothers. "Where have you two been?" she asked. "You know what? Nevermind. I don't even want to know." With that, she turned and stormed off.

"Somebody needs to take a chill pill," Phineas heard from his side.

"PJ! I thought you weren't supposed to be talking?"

"I know, Phineas, but your sister is seriously stuck up!" PJ spat. "She was a lot more relaxed when I—." PJ caught himself, looking like he almost let something slip.

"When you what?" Phineas prodded.

"Grdrdrdrdrdrd." PJ stuck out his tongue.

"Oh, we are so not done with this conversation," Phineas said out of the corner of his mouth, for he saw Isabella returning.

"Wha'cha doin'?" she asked cutely.

"Nothing! Nothing at all," Phineas said, doing his best to act natural by scratching his left ear.

"My Mom says it'll be fine," she informed them. "Hey, where's Candace?"

"We'll go get her," declared Phineas.

The transition to the park with Isabella was mildly awkward. Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro could be quite the chatterbox and virtually monopolized the flow of conversation the whole drive. It at least brought a feeling of normality back after what felt like an unusually hectic morning. The lingering nervousness about Candace's fall and the accident at the parade seemed to fade like a dream behind them. Only PJ still seemed wary, though he never reverted from his cover.

Despite heavy traffic, they reached the park by close to noon. The sun was high, and it was hot. There were a lot of people spread across the park; apparently this 'small' neighborhood barbeque included half of Danville. Mrs. Garcia-Shapiro needed to go help with cooking the food, so she left the kids to themselves, and Candace went off to find Jeremy. Phineas, Ferb, Isabella, and PJ ambled about, checking out what was going on.

The community had organized all kinds of games, everything from pie-eating contests to Ultimate Frisbee to bounce houses to beach volleyball to a large slip-n-slide and accompanying water balloon fight were scattered throughout the park. A pavilion to the northwest corner was where the food was being prepared, and it smelled delicious. Only one thing was missing, and that was a Phineas and Ferb project.

"Say, Ferb," Phineas asked his brother, "do we still have those animatronic robots from earlier? 'Cause I think I know what else we're gonna do today!"

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Isabella inquired.

"The latest in swim fashion would be helpful," responded Phineas.

"What," Isabella replied with a sly smile, "want to see how I look in a bikini?"

"Oh no," Phineas said. "I meant men's swimwear."

"Oh."

Isabella blushed and looked away. Fortunately she was saved from any awkward silence. A frantic Baljeet appeared at a run and tried to duck behind her, but to no avail. Buford found the group at that moment and announced his arrival by casting a water balloon at the displeased face of the nerd.

"Oh, hello, everyone," Baljeet said before vigorously shaking the water out of his hair. Buford just laughed.

"Hey, guys!" Phineas greeted in return. "Having fun?"

"Yeah!" Buford said. "I haven't had this much fun in ages! And want to know what I've always wondered?"

"What?" Phineas asked, not seeing the twinkle in the bully's eyes until it was too late.

"I've always wondered if your nose was pointy enough to pop a water balloon!" At that, Buford snatched a water balloon from his pocket and smacked Phineas in the face with it, gushing water all over the both of them. "And it totally is! Aha ha chuckle chuckle!"

"Did you just say, 'chuckle chuckle'?" Baljeet questioned.

"Got a problem with it?" Buford leered.

Baljeet backed off.

Phineas wiped his eyes clear, but the smile never left his face. "I guess I walked into that one, didn't I?" he quipped, not angry in the slightest.

"Yes," Isabella obligatorily replied. "Yes you did."

Everyone laughed at that, even Ferb gave a soft snort.

Suddenly Buford cupped a hand to his ear. "You guys hear that?" he asked, face lighting up like Christmas. "It's the ice cream truck!"

The rest of the group listened, and sure enough, the tinkling tune of a music box played somewhere in the distance. In unison kids around the park were turning, listening, then gleefully heading in the direction of the noise.

Buford dashed off. "Oh, Buford first!" they heard him yell.

"C'mon, guys," Phineas made to follow, "let's go get some ice cream!"

"Alright!" Isabella cheered at the suggestion.

Baljeet hesitated. "Would it not spoil our lunch?"

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," Isabella said over her shoulder. Baljeet sighed and followed the others to the curbside.

The line was already long by the time they got there. As they waited, Buford passed by, licking a fudge bar. "I was first!" he proudly announced to nobody in general on his way by. "That's right, you losers, I was first!"

Finally they reached the front of the line. The ice cream truck driver was an attractive looking woman with beautiful curly blonde hair. She seemed to be in her thirties, perhaps, but she looked young for her age. She turned to Isabella with a kind look in her eyes and said, "And what can I get for you, pretty girl?"

"Can I get a Rainbow Ripple Bar?" Isabella asked.

"Why certainly," the woman said sweetly, and disappeared for a moment from the window. When she reappeared, she had a sad look. "Oh, I'm sorry, but I can't seem to find any."

"Oh," Isabella said. "It's okay, I can get something else."

"No, please," the woman said in a kind voice. "I know I have more in stock somewhere. Would you mind coming into the van to help me look?"

"Um, it's okay," Isabella tilted her head slightly. "I don't want to be a bother."

"Oh, it's no bother, my dear. In fact, you two boys," she indicated, pointing at Phineas and Ferb, "you can come in too, and help us look."

Phineas looked at the others. "Well, okay," he said, "if it's alright for us to be in there."

"Oh don't be silly. Come on in through this door and go check the back of the van." The woman opened the driver's side door and Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella climbed in. They made their way to the back, inspecting every box of ice cream they passed.

"I found it!" Phineas exclaimed. "It was right here, I don't know how you could miss it!" He bent down to pick it up. The moment he touched the box, the top burst open and coils of rope looped themselves around the three children. "Hey, this isn't ice cream! This is rope!" he stated the obvious, finding himself bound tightly with arms pinned at his side.

"I'm sorry, we're closed now!" the woman called out the window before shutting and locking it. A steel mesh cage that had been hidden before now crashed down to seal the kids in, and she laughed wickedly as she jumped in the driver's seat, revved the engine, and sped off with them in tow.

"Hey, what gives?" Phineas yelled through the cage in the rear. "I'm starting to think you aren't a nice ice cream truck lady after all!"

The blonde woman cackled loudly. "That's because I'm not!" she said.

"You're kidnapping us!" Isabella accused from Phineas' side.

"Right you are, my dear!" the woman observed. "You are both pretty and smart."

"What do you want with us?" Phineas asked.

"Oh, it's quite simple, really," she answered. "I want you gone. Lost. Forgotten from history. I'm going to change the world! I'm going to make it so that you aren't remembered by anything but an obscure obituary from long ago!" Her face glinted pure evil as she cackled again.

"What are you talking about?" Phineas asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"You do ask a lot of questions, don't you, boy?"

"That's what I'm told."

A loud THUD! sounded suddenly from the roof. "What was that?" the woman asked. Everyone watched, stunned to paralysis, as a blue flame peeked through the metal and slowly drew a foot-wide circle. "We have a visitor!" the woman exclaimed, and she swerved hard to the side. That seemed to work as there was a slamming noise and the blue flame disappeared, but it was back in seconds to continue its work.

"I think it's PJ!" Phineas whispered to the others.

"Who's—" Isabella tried to ask but was stopped when she lost her balance by another swerve. Phineas did his best to catch her, but that proved difficult while tied up, meaning he mostly shoulder-checked her into the stable corner.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said, blushing a little when she realized how close they were leaning now.

Above, the circle in the ceiling completed itself and the metal piece fell through, creating a foot-wide hole. A platypus jumped through, landing in a ninja-like pose—inside the cage the others were trapped in.

"Wahahaha!" The kidnapper laughed, pulling over to climb out of the driver's seat and meet the new prisoner. "This has to be the most pathetic rescue attempt I've ever seen! Now, you're trapped in there too, you—oh, you're a platypus!"

"Let us go!" Phineas demanded, glancing at Isabella.

"Phineas," PJ said confidently while putting his body between the woman and the kids, "stand back. I have this completely under control."

"He talks?" Isabella squeaked.

"You talk?" the woman echoed. "Well now, that is interesting. There aren't supposed to be any talking animals for at least another twenty-five years!"

"Who are you?" PJ shouted.

The woman thought for a moment. "I am someone who envisions a new future. And I'm guessing you would know something about that, wouldn't you?"

PJ growled.

Phineas spoke up. "What is she talking about?" he asked PJ.

"Oh, you haven't told them?" The woman laughed. "Figures. You're probably afraid of messing up the whole 'space-time continuum' and everything—well, let me enlighten you. I'll tell you how it ends, right now! You will fail! I have already foreseen it!"

"Save it," PJ barked. "The future is never certain! We have stopped people like you before, and we'll stop you again!"

"You may, for a time or two," the woman calmly stated. "But eventually, as long as we keep trying, you will fail, and that day we will rewrite history once and for all. Then it won't matter that you ever delayed our plans in the first place, because it will be like it all never happened!"

PJ turned to face Phineas, Ferb, and Isabella. "Give me one moment, guys," he said. "This shouldn't take too long." He then whipped out the plasma torch he'd cut through the roof with and effortlessly sliced up and down through the mesh wall, quickly splicing it into a doorframe they could all fit through. "Now," he smirked, turning again to the kidnapper, "you were saying?" But she was gone, out the open driver's side door.

PJ rushed out and scanned up and down the street, but didn't see any sign of her. He cursed under his breath. Returning to pick and tug at the restraints of the others, he asked, "Are you guys alright?"

"As right as Copernicus," Phineas said as he wiggled out of his ropes. "Thanks for saving us, again!"

"Don't mention it," PJ replied once he had helped them all free themselves.

"So does this mean we get to keep all this ice cream?" Phineas asked, looking about the cabin.

"Always looking on the bright side, aren't you?" PJ asked.

Suddenly Isabella interrupted. "Is someone going to tell me what's going on, or do I need to go look it up on the internet?" she asked, sounding annoyed at being forgotten about.

"Oh, sorry," Phineas said. "Isabella, this is PJ the platypus. He's been with us ever since Perry—wait a second!" A light bulb went off in the young boy's head, accompanied by a snap of his fingers. "You are Perry, aren't you!? Maybe you've just been pretending like you were a regular platypus all along, but—"

"Phineas?" PJ tried to cut him off.

"But really you've been this kick-butt action hero who walks and talks and saves peoples' lives when no one is looking!"

"Phineas?" he tried again.

"Now it all makes perfect sense! When Perry's not around, you're here! Plus you look exactly like him, not in the way that all platypuses look alike; I mean you could be his identical twin! Why didn't I see it before?"

"Phineas!" PJ raised his voice this time, finally halting the boy's diarrhea-of-the-mouth. "I'm not Perry! Okay? I don't have a secret identity, I don't go around saving peoples' lives all the time, and I don't wear a fedora!"

Phineas slumped. "I know, I just got carried away. And what does a fedora have to do with anything?"

PJ shook his head. "Nevermind that. Listen, I was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but things have changed, and the situation is more grave than I thought."

"What is it?" Isabella asked, noticing the stress in his voice.

"Don't you think it odd that your lives have been in danger twice today?" PJ asked.

"Well yeah," Phineas thought, "I suppose so."

"And didn't you think it was weird when that lady was talking about rewriting the future?"

"Yeah, that didn't seem to make much sense."

PJ nodded. "That's because, somehow, she was from the future, and she was trying to change it."

PJ expected the kids to be astonished, to be disbelieving, to be something, but they weren't. "Ah," Phineas merely said. "I guess that would make sense."

Ironically it was PJ that was now astonished. "You believe me? I come along and say that a time-traveling woman from the future just tried to kidnap you, and you just accept it?"

"Well, sure," Phineas stated. "After all, you are a talking platypus, so what else really is that hard to believe? Besides, Ferb and I have had some time-traveling adventures of our own."

"Okay," PJ said, wiping his face with one of his free hands. "That makes the next part easier. I am also from the future. That's why I didn't want to tell you anything about me earlier, Phineas. I didn't want to affect the future in any way. I'm sorry if I sounded rude, but I was trying to keep you safe."

"It's alright," Phineas forgave, "I know you were just doing what you thought was right. But why are you here?"

"To protect you," PJ succinctly stated. "You see, in the future, once time travel becomes technologically possible, the government heavily regulates what kind of travel takes place. No one is allowed to go beyond a certain point in the past, the day time travel was created, to make sure they don't try any shenanigans like creating time loops or alternate futures or paradoxes."

"To keep the Grandfather Paradox theoretical, and not a reality," Phineas realized.

"Exactly." PJ nodded.

"The Grandfather Paradox?" Isabella asked. "What's that?"

"Simply put," Phineas explained, "imagine someone goes back in time and kills their own grandfather. Consequently, one of their parents would never be born, therefore they would never meet, therefore that person would never be born. But, if he or she was never born, how could they possibly go back in time to kill their own grandfather and make this all happen? It's a paradox, a logical fallacy in that the effect must happen before the cause. It makes time travel very tricky."

PJ gave an affirming nod. "And very dangerous. It's only happened a few times. I'm part of the special government task force that takes jurisdiction over preventing something like that from happening, and luckily, we've been successful so far."

"So what did that ice cream lady want from us?" Isabella asked.

PJ bit his lip. "This is the reason I hoped it wouldn't come to this," he said. "No one is supposed to know too much about their futures. But for your own protection, I must tell you. Do you kids know about the Secret Service?"

"The guys in black suits who are the President's bodyguards?" Phineas asked. "Yeah, they protect him from assassination attempts and stuff. They were formed to protect the President after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln."

"Well, technically we were formed in 1865, yes, but we didn't protect the POTUS—sorry, the President Of The United States—full-time until after the assassination of William McKinley," PJ corrected. "After time travel became a reality, an assassin by the name of Ricardo James Louis attempted to go back in time to the 70's to kill President Clayton while he was still a baby, preventing him from ever becoming President in the first place. That was the first time we had to be dispatched for a mission in the past, and it was only natural that the secret service go. Ever since then, we have been monitoring the time-stream carefully to make sure nobody attempted it again. And nobody has, until today."

"So, what you're saying is, you work for the Secret Service?" Phineas asked.

"I do." PJ answered. "Or, to be more accurate, I will."

"But that still doesn't make sense," Isabella interjected. "Why wouldn't the CIA handle something like that?"

"Because the CIA isn't responsible for protecting Presidents." PJ paused. "Or future Presidents."

It went silent as the children contemplated the implications of what this platypus-agent was saying. A future President of the United States was standing in that very room. If you could call the back of an ice cream truck a room. PJ let it sink in.

"So that's why you were protecting Ferb and me," Phineas spoke. "You knew that we would be in danger, since you're from the future, and it's already history there."

"Yup."

"And you knew to get us out of the way of the falling telephone pole, and you knew we would be kidnapped by that ice cream lady?"

"Well, I didn't know exactly what would happen. I only knew an accident would happen during the parade, and that I would have to save the both of you. But things have changed, now; even I didn't know someone else came from the future to kidnap you in an ice cream truck. For all intents and purposes my mission was just to prevent your untimely deaths at the moment the telephone pole fell, and we thought that was a pure accident. Now, it's looking more like sabotage, and I suspect this woman was behind that, too. I need to learn who she is and stop her, or she'll just try to attack President Flynn again."

Phineas looked thoughtful, then he turned enthusiastic. "Cool! Hey Ferb, you know what this means? I'm gonna be President someday! How awesome is that!?" Ferb returned a high-five, but PJ quickly spoiled their fun.

"I never said it was going to be you," he informed them flatly.

"But you just said, 'President Flynn!' Ferb was born in England! He can't be President, it says in the Constitution that the President has to be born in the US!" Phineas said. "It has to be me!"

"Guess again," PJ said, turning to look at Isabella. Phineas and Ferb turned too, looking astonished.

"Me?" Isabella asked after looking at the other three, confused. "I'm the future President?"

"How is it her?" Phineas asked. "I thought you said you were here to protect the future President, and so far, you've only been protecting me and Ferb! That doesn't make sense! Why would you be protecting us if it wasn't me?"

PJ sighed, growing weary of explaining. "Because you are immediate family to her, and the Secret Service protects the family of the POTUS, too."

Phineas looked at Ferb. "Uh, sorry PJ, but you must have your facts wrong," Phineas said. "Isabella isn't our sister. She's just our friend; we're not actually part of her family. Her last name is Garcia-Shapiro."

"It is now," PJ replied. "In your present. In the future, she changes her name some time before she gets elected." Around the room, everyone uttered a startled gasp as what he was saying clicked. Everyone except Phineas, that is.

"Changes her name to what, Isabella Flynn?" Phineas asked critically. "Now why would she do that?"

"Think about it," PJ offered.

It took a minute. Phineas' face turned slowly from defensive to shocked as he came to realize what causes people, particularly women, to change their last name when they get older. There was only one reason, and it was so obvious, he didn't know how he missed it before.

But was it right? Phineas thought back to the solstice only weeks ago, back to a moment in time he'd almost forgotten: stranded on a tiny island with no hope of escape. He repeated in his mind the words Isabella had said. That's not the Phineas that I fell in—to this situation with. Had she almost said something else?

Then he remembered the confusing moment they'd had when they were building the Fireside Girl Marionette. Are you ready to take the next step? He'd asked. Oh, Phineas, yes! I've been right here in front of you all along just waiting for you to—oh, wait; you were talking about the puppet, weren't you? Of course he was, but what was she talking about? Did he finally now know?

He remembered earlier this morning, how she'd worried so much when he and Ferb were almost crushed by the falling telephone pole, how she'd hugged him and held him so tight he could hardly breathe—only to turn around and offer Ferb a polite 'nice to see you' even though he'd been in an equal amount of mortal peril. But that didn't mean—did it?

Slowly, Phineas turned to Isabella, and he saw her in a strange new light. Her hair shimmered and her skin glowed. He caught her eyes and she looked away quickly, blushing; but ever so slightly they glanced back to meet his. Even in the muted light, he saw them sparkling like fireworks.

"I-Isa-" he tried to say, but suddenly he found his throat very dry. He forced down a swallow and tried again. "Isabella, I—know this sounds crazy, but—in the future, do we get—married?" He almost whispered the word.

Before anyone could react, PJ threw up his hands in rapture. "Thank goodness! I almost thought I was gonna have to spell it out for him!" He let his eyes fall back down from the heavens to look at the red-head. "Man, for such a smart kid, you sure are dense!"