The Picture: Part 1-The Truth

by CandasaurFlag

The truth will set you free. It will also cause you a heck of a lot of pain. Is it better to know, or not to know? You can debate this for yourself, but while you're doing that, Phineas and Ferb want to know the truth about where their inventions go at the end of the day. Time may prove this venture to be a HUGE mistake... or the best thing they've ever done. T for violence.

5. Chapter 5: Battle of the Flynns

Chapter 5: Battle of the Flynns

Isabella was sitting in a corner. She was numb. Dead.

"I'm a murderer," she said flatly.

Miraculously, however, no one had been killed by Phineas' defense

grid.

But she didn't know that.

Her eyes stared lifelessly out the window. Only a few hours ago, the

FBI had come to rescue them, and she'd helped blast them to oblivion.

Isabella wasn't a crying kind of person, but this would've done it...

if she wasn't just so plain shocked by it.

"I... can't believe I did that..." she told herself for the hundredth

time, "I-I-"

"Yes, Isabella, you killed someone, actually a lot of people."

Isabella didn't look up to see where the voice had come from. That's

because it was her voice. Yes, she was talking to herself.

"But... I didn't really mean to..."

"But you knew if you helped him it might..."

"I didn't think about it... much... I didn't understand..."

"Hey, you made an oath and you kept it. At least you were honest."

"Yeah, but I didn't mean for it... to... you know..."

"You knew he was going down evil insanity road."

"Yeah, but-"

"And you told him you'd stay by his side anyway, with good intentions,

of course..."

"I didn't know he would-"

"You thought maybe you could pull him back, but instead he dragged you

down..."

"No! I'm not-!"

"Oh, yes, you are-"

"I'm not a murderer!" she cried desperately.

"You said it yourself."

"No..."

"You knew what might happen, and you went through with it."

"I'm... not..."

"Don't deny it."

"Please... no... it can't be-"

"It's true."

"I-I-"

"You're a cold-blooded murderer, Isabella, you said it yourself."

"But I- I- I'm better... than that..."

"I thought you were too, but I guess we were both wrong."

"I..." Isabella sighed in defeat, "You're right. I can't believe I

did that."

"But that's just it, you DID."

Isabella felt rotten, to put it mildly. You ever had a dream where

you did something terrible (like killing someone) and that feeling you got

afterward? Remember how relieved you were when you woke up and found out you

hadn't actually done it?

Isabella couldn't do that. She wasn't dreaming. She'd actually done

it, or so she thought.

"It's not as bad as you think, you know..."

"Huh?"

"You've killed, Isabella. You're a murderer."

"How's that not bad?"

"It IS bad... the very worst... which is why it's not that bad."

"Explain."

"Most sins and crimes can be paid for, repented of... but murder...

Isabella... there's no going back..."

"Yeah, that's why I'm so-"

"You're on the dark side now, Isabella. You're a permanent bad guy."

"Wow," Isabella said miserably.

"Cheer up."

"Why?"

"Oh come on, Isabella, what does all this mean for you?"

"That I'm a jerk."

"Yeah... it feels good, doesn't it?"

"Uh..."

"Say it again."

"I'm a jerk."

"And?"

"I'm a jerk and I'm goin' to H-E-double-"

"Yeah, I'm a killer and I'm goin' to the underworld and I've got

nothing to lose!"

"It sounds better when you say it like that."

"Let it work in you, Isabella... feel it..."

"I-I-"

"I-I am Isabella Garcia Shapiro, the MURDERER, I'm evil and I LIKE it!

I'm going to live with the devil and until that day I cause death and

destruction and do whatever the * #$&!-hee, hee, wow, I just swore- I do

whatever the * #&#! I want to and I stomp all over anyone stupid enough to

get in my way! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Wow, that DOES feel good."

"All those silly rules you used to follow? Those things that you

couldn't do because they were wrong? They're gone."

Isabella grinned devilishly, "Cool."

"It is. Now, go do whatever the %*! you want to!"

Isabella looked across the room. She saw Phineas working on yet

another defensive weapon. She knew what she wanted to do first. She strode

seductively over to him.

"Hey Phineas, what's up?" she said smoothly.

Phineas turned his head to look at her. "Just another gun to...uh...

Isabella?" he asked nervously. He didn't like that look in her eyes.

She put her arm around him, pulled him in close and kissed him right

on the lips.

"Oh, gross!" Doofenshmirtz yiped.

Mom and Dad (thankfully) missed it. Ferb blinked. Perry growled.

Isabella let Phineas go and he dropped flat on his back.

"I've wanted to do that for a long time, Phineas," Isabella said

simply.

"Oh," Phineas grunted.

Isabella reached up, pulled off her bow, shook out her long, black

hair and looked out the window.

Phineas looked up at her. Despite his shock and revulsion, he

couldn't help but notice how content she looked. Kind of wild, too. Like,

totally at peace, but also crazy. She also looked...

"Free. Thanks, Phineas," she said softly.

"Thanks for what?"

"All my life, I've just sat back and pretended I wasn't there. But

you got me to kill someone, so I'm free."

"What?"

"I'm a murderer, Phineas. I helped you build those guns you blew

those people up with. I broke the most important law of right and wrong. Now

I'm a bad guy, and I can do whatever I want. I'm free at last. Thank you."

Phineas sat up. "Wait... those guns... they might have-?"

"Duh, Phineas, guns kill people."

"Oh, no I didn't think about-" Apparently Phineas hadn't realized that

someone could actually get hurt by his defenses, even though he did, but he-.

"Don't sweat it, Phineas. We're both killers now. Don't forget, I'm

with you all the way... all the way down to ($*% ."

"Did you just-"

"Yep," she ran her hand across his shoulder and began walking away,

"you'll get used to it..."

Phineas watched her for a moment, then he looked over at Ferb, who he

hadn't talked to in like, forever, and called to him.

"Ferb, what the tartar sauce just happened?"

"That's one hot temptress," he stated bluntly.

"Perry the Platypus bring me a bag. I think I'm gonna barf,"

Doofenshmirtz ranted.

Stacy awoke to the sound of maniacal laughter.

"AHA! AHAHAHA! AHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Oh, fudge. Candace what're you up to now?" she groaned. She yawned

and stretched. After a moment she threw off her blanket and got up. On the

way out the tree house door, she was greeted with more deranged giggling and

frantic Candace mumbling. Stacy climbed down the tree house ladder. The sun

had risen. It looked like Candace had been up all night, driving herself

crazy. Stacy slightly dreaded learning what Candace was gibbering about.

"What's with the insane cackling?" Stacy asked her as she got close.

"I did it Stacy!"

"Did what?"

"I built it!"

"Built what?"

"Look!"

Candace stepped aside, revealing a large satellite that was

considerably bigger than her and that should have been completely obvious to

Stacy.

"What? The satellite?" Stacy asked.

"Yes!"

"You built that?"

"I was just following Phineas and Ferb's blueprints, but yeah!"

"Maybe you built it, but it doesn't work."

"Sure it does!"

"Candace, you may be related to him, but you're not Phineas."

"You think there's no way this thing works?"

"No."

"How much you wanna bet?"

"Have you tested it yet?"

"As I went along..."

"But not the whole machine at once?"

"No..."

"Twenty bucks."

"You're on."

Candace went and grabbed Stacy's laptop ("What're you doing with

that!") and pushed some buttons on the keyboard. The satellite responded with

a mighty sonic boom that knocked the two girls over and shattered nearby

windows.

"AHHH!" someone screamed.

"What the-!" another yelled.

"Who blew up my windows!" a third neighbor cried.

"Fork it over," Stacy said flatly.

"Wait, wait, wait! I just forgot to put the focuser on the receiver,

hang on..." Candace picked up a large, metal-light-bulb-shaped whatchamacalit

and climbed into the satellite dish, plunking it onto the end of the three

bar things that stick out of big satellite dishes.

"And that will make it work?" Stacy challenged.

"Of course!"

"It's goin' up to forty bucks if it BOOMS again."

Candace hit the buttons, and this time, a huge map came up on the

laptop's screen with details about essentially every speck of dirt in the

Tri-State area.

Candace giggled with glee. "See? See?" she cried.

Stacy wasn't convinced yet. "What does it do exactly?"

"It gives information on anything you want! I can use it to track

Phineas!"

"I think you just loaded some pictures into the computer. If this

really works, tell it to look at my cousins' house in Japan."

Stacy was dumbfounded. It showed the entire floor plan of their

house, her cousins' current positions and also what they looked like. The

quality wasn't quite as good as Ferb's, but it was functional.

"I don't believe it..." Stacy whispered.

"Twenty bucks, please!" Candace chimed, holding out her hand.

"I don't have twenty bucks, I just wanted to make a bet."

"What?"

"Gosh, I can't believe Candace Flynn built this... even with a

blueprint..."

"I can sue you for breaking our contract you know..."

"Wow, Candace. I-I'm- proud of you, or something. I didn't know you

were capable of making something like this. You really do have Phineas'

blood."

"Where's my twenty bucks?"

"How do you find Phineas with it?"

"Twenty dollars will tell you."

"Oh, fine!" An irritated (and impressed) Stacy dug into her pocket

and pulled out eight dollars, "There, that's all I've got! Happy?"

"I've just put the other twelve on the tab..." Candace said smoothly.

"Okay, so how do I find-"

Candace typed something and the sensor swiveled in the direction of

the ocean. The laptop screen went black as the satellite focused all its energy

on its prey, and-"

There he was, in the lab, with Doofenshmirtz, Ferb, Isabella and all

the rest. Candace leapt to her feet and let out a triumphant whoop.

"Oh, yeah! Phineas and Ferb eat your hearts out! Ol' Candace has got

it too, watch out!"

Stacy played with the keys a little and got the picture to zoom out.

All manner of deadly weapons came into view, discovered by the sensor.

"Candace, check this out. Your brother built defenses all over the

island. Those machine guns would do a lot more than just take your head

off..."

Candace looked, "Hm... well, we're gonna have quite a fight getting

in it looks like."

Stacy's eyes went wide with terror, "We?"

"You're not gonna help me?"

"Candace, we'll get killed if we go against this stuff!"

"Oh, Stacy, you're forgetting that there are two Flynns..."

"And one Fletcher," Stacy added, including Ferb.

"This is my brains against Phineas'. Who do you think'll win?"

"Him."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Candace sighed, "we're gonna need a

plan. A really good plan."

"We?"

"Yes, WE."

"Candace, I've done a lot of things for you, but, let's face it, if I

help you with this, I'll probably get my head blown off. YOU'LL probably get

your head blown off!"

"We have to try Stacy, we're the only ones who might be able to get

through!"

"MIGHT."

"You're really not going to help me?"

"I'm not a soldier Candace. I don't know how to storm a fortress."

"But-" Candace sighed, "Yeah, you're right, I can't ask you to risk

your life just so I'll feel better. I have to do this alone," Candace looked

at the computer screen and started looking for a way through the defenses.

They stood there for a while. They didn't say anything. Candace sort

of looked like she was thinking, but Stacy knew what was really going through

her mind. She looked forlorn and abandoned. Candace wasn't a loner kind of

person. Stacy felt kind of bad for not helping her, but, well, she would've

done anything else for her, but dying for her... that was a little much.

But it would be the right thing to do...

But she'd probably be dead at fifteen...

Stacy decided the best thing to do would be to talk Candace out of

the insane venture.

"Candace..." she began, "you shouldn't do this. You'll get killed."

"I have to."

"You'll die! Call the military or something!"

"Carl said even the military couldn't get through that!"

"Who's Carl?"

"No one. Anyway, the authorities already tried. They're afraid of

him. No one can get past Phineas except me!"

"And even you have almost no chance."

"Yeah."

"So, what're you going to do?"

"I'm going to try and get past his defenses and save everyone."

"Candace, you're gonna get killed!"

"Well..." Candace began uncertainly.

"Well what?"

"I have to what I have to do."

Both were silent for a bit.

"You can stay with us Candace, it's all right," Stacy tried.

"They're my family Stace, I have to try."

"You've done all you can, Candace. They'll escape sooner or later.

Come home with me and we'll take care of you."

Candace looked at the ground. Stacy watched her, hoping she'd bend.

"Candace, please, you'd just be throwing your life away..."

"Stacy, I-"

"I don't want you to die Candace, and if you attack that fortress, you

will."

"What about my family?"

"I don't know, but what I do know is that if you try and rescue them,

you'll die and it won't do you, OR them any good."

Candace kept staring at the ground.

"All right..." she finally said.

"All right?"

"I'll go with you."

Stacy was visibly relieved. "Good," she said.

Candace looked up. She looked utterly defeated and completely

miserable.

Stacy gave her a hug. "It's all right Candace. Your with me now.

Things are going to be okay."

"It's my fault, Stacy. I could've saved them earli-"

"Shhh... it's not you fault. Don't worry, the authorities will get to

them sooner or later."

"They already did though! There's no-"

"Don't talk like that, Candace. They'll figure it out and save them.

Now come on, let's go home."

Candace and Stacy walked slowly from the yard. Stacy was glad

Candace had finally seen reason. She didn't want her to be dead. Candace

didn't seem glad at all. She was perfectly downcast. She felt helpless and

weak. Like she'd failed. Stacy noticed her misery and tried to lighten the

mood.

"You want to get a pizza tonight?" she asked brightly.

"No."

"Rent a movie?"

"No."

"Take a real shower? You look awful, by the way."

"I do?"

"Uh, yeah. You've been living like a hobo for almost two weeks now."

"Do I have like, scars and wild hair and-?"

"There's a puddle right there, take a look."

Candace looked. The sun was just right and she got a clear

reflection. She did look bad... there weren't any scars, but she looked all

ragged and dirty and her hair was very unkempt. What got her were the eyes,

though. They looked sadder than any eyes she'd seen since...

Yeah, you guessed it. The dream. That was what Candace was afraid

of. She didn't look like Wraith Candace yet, but she might have been on her

way... well, Wraith Candace looked hard and tough, too. This image just

looked pathetic. Still, it made Candace think.

"What do I look like, Stacy?" she said almost to herself.

"Like a royal teenage bum," Stacy replied.

"No, what do I look like?"

"Like a... is this some kind of weird metaphor I'm not getting?"

"If you drew a picture of yourself, Stacy, what would it look like?"

"I'd probably look like myself, you know..."

"So what would I draw?"

"Right now? A tired rat, maybe."

"Yeah. A lonely, beaten, useless teenage girl."

"You're really being too hard on yourself, Candace-"

"I'd also draw a coward. An insecure girl who looked inside and found

nothing. One who was brought to the fight and then ran away."

"All right, you need to speak English. I don't do metaphors."

She didn't, "Everyone draws a picture Stacy. Everyone has to decide

what they're going to draw. They can draw a hero. They can draw a loser.

They can draw something beautiful. They can draw something ugly. They can

draw something lame. Everyone wants to draw something cool, but most people

don't. That's because it's a lot harder to draw a good picture than a bad

one. Most people compromise and just draw something mediocre, not that bad,

but not that good either."

"Candace, what in the world are you talking about?"

"I don't really know what my picture looks like. I haven't drawn much

yet. So far it looks mediocre. I've got a choice here. If I go with you,

I'm about as good as everyone else. I did what I could, like most people do.

There's no shame in giving up at this point."

"That's right, Candace, you did your best."

"If I go with you, I'm mediocre. I'm as good as any other person."

"Everyone else is mediocre?"

"If I go back though... I'll probably die though, so that's not a good

idea."

"Somehow I don't think you've made up your mind to come home with me."

"But, what would I draw if I DID go back?"

"Candace, will you please tell me what's going on?"

"Who is Candace, Stacy?" Candace cried a bit too loudly. Stacy

jumped at the surprise energy surge, "Stacy, who is Candace if she goes with

you?"

"Uhh..."

"A normal, average, random teenage girl."

"Okay..."

"What if I go back?"

"Candace, will you just cut to the chase and-!"

"All right! Gosh, you have no flair for dramatic effect! I have a

choice, between doing what's right, and what's easy. Most people have had

enough at this point and take what's easy. They did what they could, and

that's good enough. I can do that with no shame."

"Okay, I kinda got that earlier..."

"A few though, do what's right. Some people will never give up, never

surrender. A handful of people don't care how hard it is. They'll do

whatever it takes."

"So?"

"So which am I, Stacy?"

"What do you mean?"

"Is Candace an average Joe, or is she more than that?"

Stacy thought for a minute. The metaphor was finally sinking in.

"So, what your saying, is that you can go with me, you'll be a regular

person who didn't really do anything that great with her life, or you can go

back and try to save your family and be a hero?"

"Yep."

"Candace, you're not a hero! You're a normal person! It's okay!

You've done all kinds of cool stuff, anyway! All Summer long you've done cool

stuff."

"I was along for the ride with Phineas and Ferb. I saw cool things,

but I didn't actually do them myself. This is MY time. MY test. My family's

in danger, and if I decide not to be the hero this time, but to be a coward...

I'll never forgive myself."

"Candace, for heaven's sake, you don't have to do more than you're-!"

"But that's what sets us apart. Life is a test. Most fail. But a

few, just a few, rise to the occasion, and they are the ones who will be

happy when their test is over. They are the only ones who will be fulfilled."

Stacy groaned. "Let's go stick your head in some ice water and bring

you back to reality," she said.

"That is reality, Stacy! And most people won't face it because

they're scared! Well, maybe you're like that Stacy, but I'm not. I've got a

picture to draw, and I'm going to draw the very best one that I can, nothing

less!" And with that, Candace turned and marched off, back to the backyard.

Stacy stood there, totally exasperated. She knew Candace would get

killed if she...

Or would she?

Stacy started to wonder if maybe she herself just didn't have enough

faith... nah. She wanted to help Candace, but if she was bent on this crazy

suicide mission, then she couldn't really stop her. Candace was right. She

had a picture to draw, and that was what she wanted to draw. Stacy had one

to draw, too, and right now she wanted to draw a large, pepperoni pizza.

"Good luck, Candace," she whispered, then turned and began walking

home.

Phineas had been thinking a lot about what Isabella said. Though he'd

known that his weapons had the potential to kill people, it apparently hadn't

registered that if he used them, they would.

He wasn't quite as fatalistic as Isabella, though. He might have

become a murderer... but technically he didn't know. It was possible, though

the chances seemed slight, that no one had actually been killed. Also, he'd

given fair warning NOT to come to the island. All he did was set up defenses,

and if Candace had done her duty when informing the authorities, they knew the

danger. It was more like someone set up a dangerous security system and a

crook who knew it was there was nevertheless dumb enough to walk into it.

He actually told that to Isabella, but she seemed convinced she'd

committed some unforgivable sin and could never be redeemed. Killing was

killing, she said. Phineas wasn't convinced. Her charges against herself

were dubious at best.

Speaking of Isabella... she'd gotten weird, to say the least. Phineas

couldn't decide if he liked her better this way or if he hated it. She was

suddenly... unrestrained, to put it mildly. After kissing him, which Phineas

(and Doofenshmirtz) still thought was gross, she'd made no attempt to hide her

feelings for him. Gone were the old, sharp, matter-of-fact statements Phineas

expected from her. Every time she talked to him now there was a flirty

playfulness in her voice. She was also more talkative and much more

relaxed than he'd ever seen her. Seriously, even now she was slinking around

the room, humming and singing random songs. Earlier she'd talked openly to

Phineas about their future together and their kids. But that wasn't the only

thing she'd talked about... she just yakked yakked on about everything under

the sun... everything from what the alien race he was about to call down would

do to the planet to her dog pinky to her own smelly feet (she'd worn the same

socks for over a week.) In some ways it was cool because she had opened up

and now Phineas was getting to know her better, but in some ways it was kind

of annoying to have her bugging him so much. Strange... he wondered-

"Whatchya doin'?" Isabella chimed happily.

Phineas yelped and jumped back, landing on his rump. Isabella had

just stuck her head in his face.

Yeah. Annoying... but maybe in a good way.

Isabella giggled.

"Isabella!" Phineas exclaimed, "What's the matter with you?"

"I was just playing with you, Phineas."

"Dude, I took a scan of the ocean around the island earlier, there are

no bodies. I'm pretty sure we didn't kill anyone."

"Really? That's kind of disappointing."

Phineas stared at Isabella. And she thought HE'D gone over to the

dark side.

"You need to stick your head in a bucket of ice water," Phineas said

flatly.

"Hold that thought," Isabella replied. She walked over to the

bathroom, opened the door, and went in. She didn't, however, shut the door.

Instead, she lifted the toilet lid, stuck her head into the bowl and flushed.

Phineas slapped himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. He wasn't.

Isabella had just stuck her head in the toilet.

She came back, looking very chill, like she was having a perfect day

and all was right with the world. Her hair was also dripping all over the

floor.

"It didn't work, did it?" Phineas groaned morosely.

"Nothing was in it," Isabella assured.

Thank goodness.

"Isabella, you've changed."

"So have you."

"Yeah, but it's almost like you did 180 personality flip!"

"Not really, all this was just locked up inside... until I didn't have

anything to lose by letting it out.

"It's always the quiet ones..." Phineas lamented.

"You didn't tell me 'whatchya doin'."

"It's just another blaster for the island... though I honestly don't

think the island needs anymore. I'm mostly just building it because I'm

bored."

"Do you wanna come play with me?"

"I don't know, whatchya doin'?" Phineas chuckled at his copyright

violation.

Isabella didn't seem miffed by it, however, "Dripping," she said

happily.

"You have a really weird friend," Doofenshmirtz griped from a few

yards away.

"Yes, yes I do," Phineas agreed, "Is that SETI device done? You've

been working on it forever."

"Well... I was only about halfway there, but when I got up this

morning, it was already finished."

"Really?" Phineas said too louldly, "I wonder how that happened?" he

winked at Isabella, who gave him a quizzical look.

"I know it's like an evil ghost came and finished it for me!"

Doofenshmirtz replied.

BLEEP! BLEEP! BLEEP!

Everyone looked up. A radar tracker that Phineas had built was making

an extremely irritating beeping noise.

Isabella ran over to it. She looked at a screen and reported,

"Something is coming toward the island!"

The imprisoned Flynn-Fletchers looked up hopefully.

"How many?" Mom asked.

"One," Isabella responded.

The prisoners began murmuring excitedly.

"Could it be?" Dad said hopefully.

"Do you think?" Mom wondered.

Phineas got some binoculars and looked out of the lab, toward the

sunrise.

"Phineas, is it, you know?" Ferb asked.

"Candace! Candace! CANDACE!" Stacy yelled. She knew it was no

good.

Candace was gone.

And Stacy was pretty sure she knew where she went. She screamed in

frustration and sat down hard, head in her hands. Stacy was in a panic. She

knew her best friend may have only been hours from death, and she didn't know

where she was or what to do about it.

"Stupid girl!" Stacy yelled to no one in particular, "Why didn't you

listen to me? Now I'll never see you again!"

Should she call the police? Was there anyway they'd catch her before

she left? She was probably already gone (the harbor was only fifteen minutes

away.) Stacy didn't know what to do, but right now SHE was wishing Phineas

and Ferb were around to help her. She pulled a picture of her and Candace out

of her purse and looked at it sadly.

"Why did I let you do that Candace? Why didn't I-?"

"Stacy?"

Stacy looked up in surprise. In front of her were four of Isabella's

Fireside Girls.

"Uhh... hi?" Stacy replied uncertainly.

"What's the matter?" the girl in front asked.

"I can't find Candace. She went off to rescue her family, but she has

to get past this big fortress and she's going to get herself killed!" Stacy

sighed, "Why wouldn't she listen to me?"

"Wait, you saw Candace? And she knows where the Flynn-Fletchers are?"

"Yeah."

"Is Isabella with them?" the girl asked hopefully.

"Yes she is."

The girls suddenly brightened up. "You hear that?" the leader asked.

"Candace is going to get Isabella!" another cried.

The Fireside girls whooped. Stacy gave them a hard stare. They

slowly became conscious of the stare and stopped celebrating.

"What's wrong?" one of the girls asked.

"Did you not hear the part about the fortress? Candace has to get

past machine guns and laser cannons and missile launchers and sea mines and all

sorts of other nasty stuff in order to save anyone. She's toast!"

The Fireside girls were silent as the words sank in.

"Wh-what do we do?" one of them finally asked.

"I don't know," Stacy growled, "If I knew where Candace was I would

try and stop her, but she could be anywhere by now!"

"Wait... do you know how she found her family?"

"She took a blueprint out of Phineas and Ferb's design book and built

it..."

"CANDACE built something?"

"She's not an engineer, but apparently she can read directions..."

"What'd she build?"

"This weird sensor thing. It looks like she took it with her, 'cause

it's not here now... wait a minute..."

"Maybe we should..."

"She took my laptop!" Stacy yelled. She growled. She marched

over to the spot where the sensor had been, "Maybe I don't want to help you

you dirty rotten-hey, wait, here it is..."

Stacy's laptop was sitting peacefully on a chunk of rubble.

"Uhh..." the lead Fireside girl said.

Stacy looked at the laptop thoughtfully.

"I wonder..." she said. She turned it on. When it had booted up, she

looked around a bit and found what she was looking for.

"Pay dirt," Stacy said flatly.

"What?" the lead girl asked.

"The sensor's information is still in the computer. This has the

coordinates with the island where the Flynn-Fletchers are being held at," she

turned to the Fireside Girls, "You guys want to save Isabella?"

They nodded vigorously. Stacy looked over and saw Phineas and Ferb's

blueprint book.

"Fireside girls, I know what we're gonna do today!" Stacy cried.

"It is, Ferb. It's Candace."

A roaring cheer rose from the Flynn-Fletchers. Perry growled

excitedly. Isabella seemed to have mixed feelings.

"Who?" Doofenshmirtz asked, "The girl that you shouted out of-"

"Yes, her," Phineas said bluntly. He turned to his family. "Yes,

Mom, Dad, Ferb and Perry, your one chance at salvation is sailing over the

horizon as I speak!"

The family cheered again.

"Don't get excited just yet, though. She has to survive my defensive

grid first."

Mom's, Dad's, Ferb's and Perry's hearts all dropped like rocks.

"I thought you were gonna let her through," Isabella said, "you said

she was the only person who could save them."

"I did, but she's not going to get through because I let her..."

"Phineas... please..." Mom begged.

"You have avenged yourself many times over already son, why can't you

forgive her?" Dad prodded.

"Hmm..." Phineas scratched what would've been his chin if he had one,

"Isabella, do you think I should let Candace through?"

Isabella thought a bit. The Flynn-Fletchers nodded at her vigorously.

"You'd better not let her through!" Doofenshmirtz grated.

"Well?" Phineas asked.

"My question is Phineas," Isabella began, "what are you up to anyway?

You had a surprise? And a test?"

"Indeed I do... in fact... maybe I have two tests. It's time for the

first one."

"What's that?"

"I gave Candace a challenge, Isabella, let's see if she can rise to

the occasion."

Angry protests came from the family. Doofenshmirtz cackled maniacally

and told them Candace would never get through. Isabella looked intrigued.

"I hope she gets through, guarding the Flynn-Fletcher family is the

most boring job in the world!" Norm, the forgotten robot cried gleefully.

Everyone stopped and looked at him. Over time he'd just sort of faded

into the background.

"What?" he asked.

A lone motorboat sped out of the sunrise toward the island. It cut

the ocean waves and rattled through the stillness. Candace's raggedy red hair

blew in the cold morning breeze. She looked back at the rising sun, almost

blinding herself. She wondered if she would see that sun set at the end of

the day. She turned and looked back at the island nervously. She'd gotten as

ready as she could to storm Phineas and Doofenshmirtz's fortress. She'd

mapped out all the weapons systems and planned ways to counter and evade all

of them. She had used the blueprints to build a few more tools that would

help her as well. She was armed, too. She had strung on some kitchenware for

basic armor, wrapped her body, helmet and arms in foil to protect her from the

laser cannons and even smooth-talked the police department into letting her

borrow a bulletproof vest. She had found a large mirror in the dump and

strapped it to a large trash can lid (actually, a trash can lid with multiple sheets of

thick scrap metal bolted into it) as further laser protection. She also

was carrying an iron bar for hand-to-hand fighting and had built a mini

version of a "Space Laserinator" she'd found in Phineas and Ferb's blueprints,

which meant she had a small laser pistol with her.

It had been a long night.

Candace hadn't slept since the day before, but adrenaline was keeping

her awake. She hoped they wouldn't spot her for a while. She had put the

sensor on her boat, but was now using it as a radar tracker for incoming

missiles and whatnot instead of viewing the world on a computer screen. She'd

hooked it up to some speakers instead of Stacy's laptop, so all she got was

sound and warnings.

Candace looked at the map she'd drawn from the sensor's information.

The line of sea mines should've been...

"Sea mines ahead, closing in ten, nine..." the tracker began.

Candace picked up an orb and hit a button on it. She and the boat

turned translucent. Phineas and Ferb long ago had made a contraption that

let them pass through solid objects. Candace had rebuilt it and ghosting was

her primary plan for getting through Phineas' defense grid. Her boat slid

safely through the mines without setting them off.

"I don't understand..." said Isabella, "she just went straight through

your wall of sea mines and they didn't explode."

"Strange..." Phineas said.

"What? What?" Doofenshmirtz asked.

"Well, the rockets'll fire next..." Phineas muttered.

"Incoming missiles," the tracker said.

Candace wasn't worried. She was still in ghost mode. The rockets

flew right through her and the boat.

But then something surprised her.

When the rockets exploded, they threw the boat high into the air.

Candace screamed but the boat came down safely. She could she char marks

where the blasts had hit.

"What?" Candace yelped confusedly. She quickly dodged a couple more

rockets before realizing what the problem was. "The orb only passes through

solid objects..." she muttered, "it won't protect you from the energy in an

explosion!"

She looked up. A veritable torrent of missiles was coming down at her.

An idea hit her. She slowed the boat down. As the missiles closed, she

suddenly sped up.

Well, missiles are a lot faster than a boat, so her attempt to dodge

the rockets failed miserably, however, they did land BEHIND the boat, so when

they exploded, besides annihilating the boat's motor (that wasn't good, the

boat was rented), the craft got flung forward at a flesh-ripping pace.

Candace would've screamed but the force of the blasts was so strong she

couldn't do anything but open her mouth. She flew off the boat and forward a

few hundred feet and belly-flop skipped like a rock across the water.

Thank goodness her gut had a cookie sheet over it.

She finally plunked down into the water, followed by a hail of

machine gun fire and a mighty laser blast. The water/bulletproof vest/foil

saved her life (she'd lost the ghosting orb in the blast). Candace dived

underwater to avoid further shots. It seemed to work, as the gunfire suddenly

ceased when she did.

"She's underwater," Phineas noted, "the radar wasn't designed to

penetrate water."

"As long as she's down there we won't be able to fire at her,"

Isabella added.

"She can't hold her breath for long, though," Phineas muttered.

Good news, Candace was close to the island. Bad news, she didn't have

her boat and she was being dragged away by the rip tide. She battled it hard,

trying to use her shield as a paddle and also trying to stay underwater. She

didn't like getting shot at. After about a minute she thought her lungs were

going to explode so she stuck her head up for some air. Immediately, more

gunfire erupted. Candace lifted her shield over her head, deflecting most of

it. She tried vainly to hold it in place as she swam against the riptide with

one arm. It was no use. She couldn't get any closer to the island. She

ducked underwater to avoid some more rocket fire. The rockets hit the ocean a

few feet from where she had been, blew up and made a powerful wave. Candace

caught the wave (underwater) with her shield and it carried her past the

riptide.

After getting past the tide, Candace poked her head up and took a

quick breath before diving back under. Apparently she was fast enough that

the guns didn't pick her up because nothing shot at her that time. She swam a

few hundred feet further, taking breaths occasionally, finally reaching water

that was shallow enough that she could stand. She stayed low, shield raised

in case of further attacks, though her head was out of the water. She saw a

mess of little red dots sweeping the water for her. Laser designators.

"Phineas, I swear if I survive this I'm gonna kill you!" Candace

whispered angrily. She chanced a careful glance past her shield and saw a

line of machine guns on the beach she was approaching, with an assortment of

deadly weapons staged on the cliffs above.

Candace didn't know what D-day was, but if she had, she would've

noticed the similarity.

Candace noticed that the lasers kept passing over her, but they didn't

fire. She suddenly realized her mirror was messing them up. As long as

they hit that instead of her, they wouldn't shoot. She reached down and

pulled the waterlogged laser pistol she'd brought and aimed it at one of the

guns. Incredibly, the soaked pistol fired, destroying the gun. The other

guns seemed indifferent to it's destruction, and continued sweeping the water.

Candace took aim and blew up another one.

The radar had picked up Candace, but the nearby weapons were on laser

designate.

"She's almost to the shore, I'm impressed," Isabella noted.

The Flynn-Fletchers looked hopefully toward the eastern windows.

"C'mon Candace..." Dad muttered.

Perry growled an agreement.

"You can blow up the entire FBI, but you can't keep a stupid teenage

girl off my property?" Doofenshmirtz yelled at Phineas.

"Like I said, she's the only one that can get past my defense grid,"

Phineas retorted boredly. He shifted the guns to radar mode.

"Why her?" Doofenshmirtz asked incredulously.

"Because she's a Flynn, and only another Flynn is creative enough to

get past something that I build."

Ferb cleared his throat loudly.

"OR a Fletcher," Phineas added.

The lasers suddenly turned off and all the guns swiveled toward

Candace.

"Uh oh," she groaned.

A storm of gunfire blasted forth from the beach. Candace ducked down

as far as she could into the water. Bullets splashed about her and glanced

off her shield, which only survived because she held it at an angle. She

wanted to take another shot at the guns but there was so much gunfire that

if she stuck anything out of the water or past her shield it would get blasted

to smithereens. Besides the guns, there was more rocket and laser fire. She

knew that if a rocket hit her she was dead, either from it's explosion or

because it would knock her shield out of place and get her shot. She moved

quickly toward the shore, avoiding the rockets as best she could. One of the

missiles exploded mere feet from her, nearly knocking her shield from her grip.

Candace knew that if she didn't find a way to stop the guns she was dead. A

laser fired at her, but bounced off her shield, giving Candace an idea. The

laser fire was a steady, searing beam rather than multiple shots. Candace

held her shield against it and turned the reflected beam onto the line of

machine guns, sweeping across them and destroying them instantly. She evaded

another rocket attack and aimed the beam at the cliffs, destroying each rocket

launcher in turn, then moving on to the laser cannons and finally destroying

the one she was using to obliterate everything else. Candace kept her shield

up for a minute, then slowly peaked over the top. The coastal defenses were a

smoking wreck. Candace whooped and jumped into the air, pumping her fist.

"Yeah! Take that Phineas!"

"Candace is on a roll today!" Isabella exclaimed.

"Some defensive grid," Doofenshmirtz growled.

"Chill," Phineas assured, "they'll get her. These next guns will wait

until she walks past and then shoot her from behind while others attack from

the front. She'd have to know they were there beforehand to get past them."

Candace stooped and took a breather. She was exhausted, but excited.

It looked like she might just make it to Doofenshmirtz's lair. She looked up

the cliffs. A trail led up them and to a large purple building that said,

Doofenshmirtz Evil Incorporated on it.

"Hang in there Mom and Dad. Hold on Ferb and Perry and Isabella, I'm

coming," she muttered.

She took out her (very wet) map of the island. All along the trail

were gun emplacements that were, according to the sensor, designed to shoot

you AFTER you walked by at the same time you got shot at in the front, and on

both sides. There was also an evil gorilla robot and a swarm of killer bees

to get rid of people who were particularly adept at surviving gunfire.

Candace had marked the positions of every gun. She began ascending

the cliffs, but instead of walking past the guns, she first looked for them in

the rocks or foliage they were hidden in. When she spotted a gun, she took

her laser and blew it up. Once all the ambush guns for that part of the cliff

were gone, she moved up a little, following the same procedure.

"I don't get it," Phineas said, "it's almost like she knows where the

guns are. She's taking them out before she walks past."

"Maybe we should switch this to manual, the grid's computers aren't

adapting very well," Isabella suggested.

"Just what I was thinking," Phineas replied. He went and grabbed the

controls for the gun closest to Candace. He hit the "manual" button and a

screen in the control panel came on that showed the gun's view. Phineas could

see Candace looking around for the guns.

"I wonder where she got that gun?" Phineas said. He aimed at it and

fired, blasting the weapon straight out her hand. She quickly ducked behind

her shield, which was not at an angle this time and got chewed up almost

instantly by Phineas's shooting. Sensing she was about to get blown into

oblivion, Candace dived into some nearby foliage, unfortunately not escaping

Phineas' sights. He turned and aimed at her. Phineas saw her gulp.

"Nice try Candace, I guess you just weren't up to the challenge,"

Phineas snickered. He prepared to fire.

The family bowed sadly. Doofenshmirtz cackled in triumph.

"Phineas," Isabella began, "maybe you should just..."

The ground shook.

"What was that?" Doofenshmirtz asked.

BOOM. The ground shook some more.

BOOM. BOOM. BOOM. BOOM.

"Could it be? An earthquake! I'm saved!" Candace cried she picked up

her pistol and blasted the gun Phineas had aimed at her.

Phineas didn't even notice. He turned to Isabella, who was watching

the island's radar.

"Isabella, what's that?"

"Something BIG is coming from northeast," Isabella replied.

Everyone who was free in the room ran for the northeast side and

looked out the windows.

"Oh my gosh..." Isabella whispered.

"Good heavens, what it that thing?" Doofenshmirtz cried.

"Blast you, Candace!" Phineas yelled.

"Phineas!" the thing roared. Its voice shook the whole island. "If

you hurt Candace I'll turn this island inside out!"

Outside, Candace recognized the voice and looked up.

"Stacy!" she cried in delight.

Yes, a massive, skyscraper-sized Stacy megabot had stomped through

the ocean and out to the island.

A storm of missiles and lasers fired at the mighty Stacybot. It held

up it's hands to shield itself, partly protecting it from the onslaught. The

weapons laid hard into it tossing the robot back onto it's hind end.

"Candace!" the robot cried, "I'll hold him off! Get to the fortress,

hurry!"

Candace didn't need to be told twice. She sprinted up the trail. The

defenses weren't a problem anymore. They were all shooting at the new threat.

Candace wondered how Stacy had gotten a giant robot... she'd have to find out

later. Right now, she was just glad she wasn't getting shot at anymore.

Stacy was in the robot's head, controlling it. Right now her robot

was getting pummeled hard core by Phineas' defenses.

"Ugh!" she growled as another barrage of rockets laid into it. She

didn't know how long this thing could hold up. It was big, but it wasn't

exactly blast-armored.

"Eat Space Laserinators!" Stacy yelled. She grabbed the controls,

which, interestingly, were shaped like ones on a certain video game and pointed

her robot's arms toward the island. The robot's hands opened up to reveal two

huge laser cannons, which Stacy unleashed on the island. The cannons tore

through the island's tiny guns like paper.

It was an incredible firefight. Stacy had the commanding position

and bigger guns, while the defense grid had smaller guns but a whole lot more

of them. The Flynn-Fletchers, Isabella, Perry and even Norm watched in awe as

the titanic Stacy battled with the island. A barrage of rockets hit Stacy,

blowing bits of metal from her robot's body. Stacy retaliated with a quick

string of laser blasts that knocked out dozens of launchers. The island then

tore into her with a concentrated laser blast that tore a chunk out of the

robot's side (everyone was glad this wasn't the real Stacy, watching her guts

fly all over the place wouldn't have been a pretty sight.) Stacy's robot

cringed from the blow, nearly collapsing.

"Aw, man you can't die yet!" Stacy yelled. She suddenly realized

that trading shots wasn't going to work. The island would win. Her only hope

was to destroy the defenses faster than they destroyed her. She raised her

guns and, with a war yell, began firing with complete abandon. The defenses

fought back, though with only the same intensity. Stacy's shots were wild,

hitting guns, trees, rocks and, a couple times, almost hitting Candace. She

had some strategy though. She went for the lasers first, as their constant

beams were quickly wearing down her robot. She dispatched them quickly, then

began shooting the rockets. The island continued its incessant barrage,

blowing off one of Stacybot's arms and leaving it with only one cannon.

Pieces of the rest of the robot were quickly being blasted away, too. Soon

the robot had dozens of mechanical wounds. Stacy couldn't believe it was

still firing. The robot stood firmly despite the damage, almost as if it knew

how important its cause was. Stacy fired desperately, hoping beyond hope

her remaining cannon could finish off the island's defensive network. She

continued firing on, not thinking of anything except getting rid of those

guns. She was so focused on her task that she didn't even notice when the

shots from the island began dying down. Somehow, she'd managed to take out

so many guns that the island began running out of firepower. The island's

gunfire decreased until only occasional rockets fired and only a handful of

machine guns still sputtered. Stacy was still in her battle frenzy and shot

the remaining defenses without realizing it. She kept firing for nearly a

full minute before she realized the island had stopped shooting at her. The

robot lowered it's arms and looked around.

"I- I won?" Stacy blubbered, "I did! I won! Whoo!"

Back in the lab, Isabella glanced over at Phineas, who by now was

clearly ticked off.

"Rats! All that hard work, down the toilet!" he griped.

Isabella looked at the celebrating Stacybot. It had more holes in it

than a block of Swiss cheese.

"Uh... now what happens, Phineas? Does Candace win?" she asked.

Phineas chuckled, "No way, it just means the automated defense grid

is down. Now we can bring out the big guns!" He walked over to a big chair

with a control panel in front of it and lots of buttons and joysticks on the

arms. He plunked down in the chair, which faced out window.

"You think you're real smart, huh Candace?" Phineas growled, well two

can play at this game!" he pushed a button and the whole island began to

rumble.

"Phineas, what-whoa," Isabella said. Out the window, she could see

the ocean dropping away as the island rose high into the air.

Stacy stopped celebrating. A large Phineas robot was rising from the

ocean with Doofenshmirtz's lab on top.

"Uh, oh," Stacy said. The Phinandroid actually turned out to be much

shorter than her robot, but it didn't matter, because hers was almost dead

already. She didn't wait for him to open fire. Stacy took the first shot

with her surviving cannon, but something stopped the laser before it hit the

Phinandroid. Stacy fired madly, but every shot just got absorbed by some

invisible force around the robot.

The Phinandroid spoke. "Like my force field?" he cackled, "You

thought you could save Candace, didn't you? You thought YOU could defeat me,

didn't you?"

Stacy yelled and tried to punch the Phinandroid, getting blocked

again by it's force field. The Phineas robot raised its arms, which had two

heavy blasters, and fired straight into the devastated Stacybot, sending it

crashing to the ground. Before it could rise, the Phinandroid came and

stepped on it, holding it down with it's foot. It aimed its mighty cannons

at the Stacybot's head, where Stacy was.

"Stacy, noooo!" Candace cried in agony. She was getting close to the

lab. She had seen her valiant best friend fall (well, she saw the robot she

was inside of fall.) It looked like Stacy's prophecy about getting her head

blown off was about to come true.

"Too bad you didn't just stay out of this Stacy, you weren't on my

list," Phineas jeered, "any last words?"

"Never..." Stacy replied.

"Never, what?" Phineas prodded.

"Never... underestimate..." she continued.

"Never underestimate what?" Phineas growled.

"Never... underestimate... the power of..."

"What? The power of friendship? Is that what you're about to say?"

he laughed, "That's as cliché as it is pathetic!"

"No!" Stacy yelled back.

"No?"

"Never underestimate the power of the Fireside Girls!" Stacy cried.

"What?" At that moment, Phineas heard a weird, science-fictiony time-

travel sound behind him. He turned and saw a large cylinder vaporize from the

ceiling.

"What was that thing?" Isabella asked him.

"The force field generator," Phineas groaned.

A huge robotic fist caught the Phinandroid in the back of the head,

sending it sprawling onto it's big nose.

The punch threw Candace forward with the rest of the island.

"AHH!" she screamed. When the android hit the ground, Candace

almost fell of the side of the now-sideways island, saved only by a tree

branch. She looked up at the Phinandroid's assailant. A giant Fireside Girl

robot stood triumphantly over it's foe.

"Take that, Phineas!" it shouted.

"Let Isabella go!" another voice shouted from it.

The Phinandroid tried to rise, but it got a kick from Stacy's torn-

up robot. It and the Fireside bot began trading hits with each other on the

Phinandroid. Phineas tried to fight them off, but he couldn't guard both his

back and front at the same time.

BAM! WHACK! CRASH! Candace would've been delighted by her allies'

Success-if she been on the robot that was getting thrown about. She

screeched and squealed and clung desperately to anything she could get her

hands on.

"Please don't fall, please don't-" the Fireside Girls laid into

Phineas once more, throwing Candace screaming into the air. As luck would

have it, she landed about two hundred feet from the entrance to

Doofenshmirtz's lair... but down-cliff from it. Candace looked up. She had

to get there... it was her only chance...

The Phinandroid crashed down on its back. It looked like Stacy and

the Fireside girls had beaten him.

Not yet.

"Isabella!" Phineas called from horizontal position.

Isabella was hanging off a rafter. "Wha-what?"

"When I stand this thing up, go to that weird glass elevator thing in

the middle of the room!"

"There's a weird elevator thing in the middle of the room?"

"For like, the past two days!"

Isabella looked around. "I see it!"

"Good!" Phineas pulled a lever and the Phinandroid leapt to it's

feet. Bringing the room upright and putting a relieved Candace back on land.

He quickly stepped back to avoid two punches from the Stacybot and the

Firedroid. Isabella dashed for the elevator thing and went inside. It

promptly dropped a squealing Isabella down into the floor, which closed when

she was underneath.

Stacy and the Fireside Girls advanced on the Phinandroid, preparing

to pulverize it. Suddenly, it froze. Then it started to retch. Stacy and

the girls stopped, confused by their enemy's strange behavior.

"What's it doing?" one of the Fireside Girls asked.

"GACK! GACK! GACK!" the Phinandroid gagged.

Stacy backed up her robot. Something bad was about to happen.

"GRUUAAGG! PTOO!" the Phinandroid upchucked what looked like an iron

hairball. The hairball plunked down into the water and came up, bobbing like

a fishing lure.

The robots all looked down at it.

"Gross," Stacy said flatly.

"Ew!" the Fireside Girls cried together.

Suddenly, the ball began to expand. It grew dozens of stories tall

and got arms and legs and... a pink dress... Isabella's pink dress.

Stacy and the Fireside Girls were dumbfounded.

"Is-Isabella? Is that you?" one of the Fireside Girls asked.

"Phineas made a giant Isabella robot?" Stacy blubbered.

"Phineas, you made a giant robot me?" Isabella cried from inside the

Isabot's head (through a communicator).

"Just in case," Phineas replied.

"Whoa," Isabella, Stacy and the Fireside Girls breathed together.

Phineas pointed his robot's arm at the Stacybot. "Round two! Ding!"

He shouted, firing a laser blast at it and missing.

"Fireside Girls, salute!" Isabella shouted.

The Firedroid promptly saluted its leader, who returned it with a

good slug in the face.

"AUGH!" the betrayed Fireside Girls shouted as their robot flew back

and landed on it's rump.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Isabella laughed maniacally. She was having fun

playing bad guy. She strutted over to the Firebot and spoke in her worst bad

guy voice, "You pathetic Fireside Girls thought you could defeat me, did you?"

"We'll never give up, Isabot! Good will always triumph in the end!"

Isabella cackled menacingly, then she offered the Firebot a hand.

"I'm just messing with you guys, are you all right?"

"Maybe you should ask our goldfish!" one of the girls responded.

"Huh?"

The Firebot swung its fist out of the water. It was carrying what

looked like a (very shocked) beluga whale. The whale bellowed as it smacked

the Isabot's nose.

"Oof!" Isabella cried. She cackled again, then reverting to her bad

guy voice, yelled, "It'll take more than an oversized mollusk to defeat me!"

The Firebot stood up, "Mollusk?"

"Uhh... mammal."

"Isabella, are you on Phineas' side or our side?"

"Technically I'm on Phineas', but right now I'm just kind of messing

around. How have things been? Is my mom all right?"

"Your mom's really worried about you! She's worried that you're dead

or something!"

"Candace! I told you to tell my mom I as okay!" Isabella shouted

angrily.

"Sorry! I left a note!" Candace yelled from somewhere on the

Phinandroid.

"We've been lost, too! We haven't earned any patches since you left!"

"Really? Wow, it's too bad this Doofenshmirtz guy had to ruin

everything."

"Doofenwhatz?"

"Nobody. Hey, you can get your giant robot fighting patches if you

want!"

"Yeah! Let's do it!"

The Isabot opened with a punch, which the Firebot blocked. It grabbed

the arm and bit it.

Biting doesn't hurt a robot, so Isabot took advantage of the moment

and head-butted the Firebot's face. It's stumbled back and ducked as the

Isabot fired a rocket over its head.

"C'mon guys, you can do better than this!" Isabella coaxed.

"Yeah..." the Firebot agreed. It opened its hands and unleashed a

storm of laser fire at the Isabot.

"Ahh!" Isabella screamed. The robot raised its arms in a feeble

defense and got knocked down hard by the blast.

BOOM!

Isabot looked up at the Firebot. Where its head had been there was

a smoldering stump. The robot fell flat on its front and the injured

Fireside girls crawled out, groaning.

"Thanks for distracting them Isabella! We won!"

Isabot looked behind it and saw the Stacybot lying dead in the water.

Without the Firebot's help, it had been easily defeated by the much less-

damaged Phinandroid.

"What did you do to the Fireside Girls' robot?" Isabella asked

nervously.

"Concentrated laser blast, I was only able to use it because it was

paying attention to you instead of me though."

"Fireside Girls, are you okay?" Isabella cried.

"Well, we're not *completely* dead," the lead girl coughed

sarcastically.

"C'mon back Isabella!" Phineas said. Isabella noticed her robot was

shrinking back into it's hairball form. Once it was done, the Phinandroid

picked it up and ate it. It wasn't long thereafter that Isabella was walking

out of the weird glass elevator thing in the middle of Doofenshmirtz's lab.

She noticed that the Phinandroid had collapsed back to its island state.

"Yeah! Whoo! We did it! Wow, you guys were great!" Doofenshmirtz

cheered. He and Phineas gave each other a high five.

"Told you not to worry," Phineas gloated.

"What about Candace?" Isabella asked.

"What ABOUT Candace?" Mom asked.

"There's no way she hung on during that fight," Phineas said, "and

even if she did, there was a swarm of bees and a mechanical gorilla that

would've stopped her! I just checked the radar too, nothing's there! She

must be drowned or something by now!"

Mom, Dad, Ferb and Perry hung their heads in despair. Doofenshmirtz

celebrated. Phineas stood there looking cool. Isabella looked sadly at the

prisoners. Norm didn't do anything.

"Shoulda joined us guys," Phineas said to his trapped family.

Ferb stared at him blankly. Dad sighed.

"Phineas..." Mom pleaded, "enough is enough... you've taken us to rock

bottom!"

"You know, I'm largely responsible for this," Doofenshmirtz griped,

feeling left out.

"The doctor destroyed our house, then he trapped us, then you JOINED

him, blew up our rescuers and now you've killed my daughter!" she bawled,

"Please, Phineas, have some pity on your family!"

"Should've asked that BEFORE you busted me, huh?" Phineas growled.

"Phineas, we'll do anything! Just let us go!"

"Nah."

"I'm begging you Phineas! We have nothing left!"

"You have one thing."

Mom gasped. Dad gasped too. Ferb blinked. Phineas' eyes grew wide.

Isabella's heart leapt. Perry's bill dropped. Norm didn't do anything. All

of them turned to see where the voice had come from. Standing in the door,

still in her vomit-stained, dirty, ragged pajamas (as well as foil and kitchen

ware), was a teenage girl with long even more ragged red hair. She was

covered in dirt and bruises and cuts and everything else, but, there, sure

enough, against all odds, still standing, was Candace.

"Candace!" Mom and Dad cried in delight.

"You got through!" Phineas blabbered, shocked.

"Like you said, Phineas, I'm a Flynn, I have the same blood as you

do," Candace growled.

"You seem surprised," Isabella jabbed at Phineas, just a hint of anger

in her voice. She may have been on the dark side, but she still wasn't

really... evil.

"There, Phineas, I took your stupid challenge and I won, now give me

Mom and Dad and Ferb!" Candace shouted.

Phineas regained his composure and laughed, "Over my dead body!" He

ran for a red button on the wall and pushed it. The wall ejected a small laser

gun. "My security system has inner defenses, too!" He fired his weapon at

Candace, who dived behind a crate. She fired back over her cover, missing

badly.

"Perry the Platypus, Norm, get her!" Doofenshmirtz ordered.

"Who made you the boss?" Norm sassed.

"Shut up and attack!" Doofenshmirtz growled.

"Okay, I will!" Norm retorted cheerfully. He aimed his two arms,

which were equipped with laser cannons (seems like a pattern...), at

Doofenshmirtz and fired.

Doofenshmirtz dived to the side, "Ahh! Okay okay, I'm sorry! Get

her, PLEASE!"

"That's more like it!" Norm said. He turned and aimed at the crate

Candace was hiding behind and blasted it to smithereens. Candace surprised

the mechanical fiend by delivering a reflex blast into his metallic eye.

"Ow! That hurt!" Norm griped happily.

Perry hadn't even moved yet. He wanted to avoid attacking Candace as

long as possible.

"Perry the Platypus, do something!" Doofenshmirtz cried.

Perry sighed. He began a slow jog over to the new cover Candace was

hiding behind.

Meanwhile, Candace and Phineas had been firing back and forth at each

other from behind cover. Mom and Dad were cheering wildly for Candace.

After several missed shots, Phineas called for some backup, "Hey,

Isabella, I could use some help over here!"

Isabella groaned. She was starting to regret making that oath to

Phineas. She looked around for something she could use.

"Ow!" Candace yiped. She'd taken a minor hit from Phineas.

"Ha! Take that!" Phineas yelled.

"And this!" Norm cried. He fired a mighty blast at Candace's

temporarily exposed head. Luckily she ducked, and he melted the wall behind

her instead.

"And this too!" Doofenshmirtz grated. He was sitting behind his first

-inator, which just fired a laser beam. He fired at her crate and blew it up.

Exposed, Candace dashed for a pile of...stuff and jumped behind it,

but not before getting shot twice. She collapsed behind the junk, breathing

hard. She was hurt. They hadn't hit anything vital, but her burns weren't

what she was worried about. She was outgunned three to one and once Isabella

and Perry joined it would be FIVE to one.

Suddenly, Norm blew up her junk pile. For some reason, Candace didn't

try to find more cover. Instead she did something completely stupid. At a

loss for a way to defeat so many enemies, she charged straight at them. She

shot Norm first, preventing the worst shots. She then whirled and fired at a

surprised Phineas, knocking him over and also getting shot by him in the gut,

and then jumped as Doofenshmirtz fired his -inator and fired back, hitting him

square between the eyes. Candace wasn't a trained fighter, but she was a good

shot.

"Ahhh! My eyes! I'm blind!" Doofenshmirtz griped. As he

screeched, he threw his hands over his eyes and flung off the (now very

sweaty) disintegrate button that he (and sometimes Norm) had hung onto ever

since he first captured the Flynn-Fletchers. Perry saw it coming down button-first.

He threw his hat and deflected it, but it only slowed the fall.

By this time Candace had seen it. She didn't know what it was for,

but she figured if Doofenshmirtz was carrying it, then she wanted to get rid

of it. She fired three shots at it and blasted it out of the sky. Perry

couldn't believe it. He was free!

Payback time.

Perry let out a war yell (not an easy thing for a platypus to do, by

the way) and barreled straight at Doofenshmirtz, catching his sternum in the most

brutal platypus tackle the world had ever seen. Doofenshmirtz screamed madly

as Perry unleashed a hellish flurry, no, BLIZZARD of kicks, punches, slashes,

pecks, bites, pelt whacks, face slams and all manner of other vicious attacks,

releasing his week-and-a-half of pent up rage onto the doctor in one horrific

assault.

"N-NOW! N-NOUCH! UGH! NOOOORRRRMMMM! HELP ME!" Doofenshmirtz

screeched.

Candace had been dodging around Norm's feet, trying to stay under

range of his lasers and also trying not to get stomped. Norm heard his

master's cry and ran to save him. Candace quickly twisted and started firing

incessantly at Phineas' position, making it so he couldn't rise to fire for

fear of being hit.

"Nice try, Candace, but I've still got more!" he shouted defiantly.

He pulled something from his pocket. A dozen or so laser-armed sentry bots

came spilling out from the wall, as well as several mounted guns.

Candace screamed and ran for cover firing as she went, she took down a

couple of the bots, but got hit a few more times as she ran. She crashed

behind one of Doofenshmirtz's inventions. She was lacerated with burns. Only

her adrenaline kept her going. Candace hadn't picked the greatest hiding spot-

some of the bots and guns were actually on THAT side of the creation. She

rolled to evade their shots and fired back, successfully dispatching them.

However once that was done, swarms of sentry bots started crawling around and

over the invention. At the same time Phineas was coming up behind, and even

Isabella had jumped onto one of Doofenshmirtz's inventions and was pointing it

at her. Candace fired wildly in all directions, trying desperately to fend

off her enemies before she was completely surrounded and burnt to a crisp.

Suddenly, a barrage of laser fire came from behind the invention and

nailed several of the sentry bots.

"Candace! Get your parents, we'll cover you!" Stacy screamed. She

and her battered crew of Fireside Girls had entered the fray and brought in

even more mini-space-lasers.

Candace leapt over the boxes, narrowly dodging Phineas and Isabella's

attacks (Isabella hit the box and it turned into a roll of two-ply, which drew

an immediate groan from her.) The Sentry bots were now firing at Stacy and

the Fireside Girls, who had taken up defensive positions, so Candace made a

mad dash for the glass box her family was being held in.

"C'mon, Candace! You can make it!" Dad shouted

"You're almost there!" Mom yelled.

Candace gritted her teeth. She only had about twenty feet to go,

when-

"NNOOOO!" Phineas leapt out of in front of Candace and fired a shot

which she dodged. Both brother and sister fired at the same time, both

striking the other's weapon and sending them flying.

"Get outta the way, twerp!" Candace roared.

"Never!" Phineas shouted.

As they argued, the rest of the room slowly quit fighting and looked

over, realizing what was about to happen.

"Get outta the way or I'll bust you-open!" Candace shot back.

"I'd like to see you try!"

Candace pulled out her bar and raised it over her head. "I've had it

with you Phineas! Brother or not, I will literally pulverize you if you don't

move!"

Phineas laughed. "Sentry bot, toss me a bar!" he ordered pointing at

one of the robots. It threw him his own iron bar.

Candace shook her head. Her brother had completely lost it.

"Phineas, I don't want to fight with you," she pleaded, softening a little.

"Why not?"

"Well, you're still my little brother, even if you turned evil."

Phineas responded by whacking her in the shins with his bar. Candace

buckled in pain.

"BOO!" Mom and Dad cried together.

Stacy raised her gun. "You're gonna pay for that you little jerk!"

She yelled. Unfortunately, the sentry bots all turned to face Stacy, who

had to duck to avoid their lasers.

"Yeah, good one!" Doofenshmirtz cackled.

Candace caught Phineas' next swing with her bar. She jumped to her

feet and almost collapsed again. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and

now she was suddenly realizing just how tired she was. Her burns burned, her

muscles ached, her chest was killing her and it seemed like she couldn't quite

get enough air.

Phineas struck a couple more times. Candace parried both blows, but

it was clear she didn't have much left in her.

"Phineas, please I'm your sister, I don't want to hurt you."

"Maybe you should worry about ME hurting YOU a little more," Phineas

yelled and flung out a series of quick strikes, finally catching her gut and

causing her to collapse to her knees.

"Phineas, please..." she begged.

He hit her in the mouth and knocked her over. Candace clapped her

hand to her mouth and started crying softly, dropping her bar.

"Phineas, stop!" Mom yelled angrily.

"Shut up!" Phineas roared. He strolled over to Candace and stood over

her. She looked up at him with tear-filled eyes.

"Look at you, weak, pathetic, crying every time I hurt you a little,"

Phineas ranted, "I still don't know why I ever thought you were cool."

Candace cried a little harder.

"Go on Candace, cry, keep trying to win my sympathy. It ain't there."

Candace took her hand off her mouth for a moment, "You're my brother,

Phineas, I care about you. That's why it hurts me to fight you."

"YOU care about ME? That's a good joke. I guess you kept trying to

bust me because you loved me, huh? Is that right?"

"I didn't think I'd ever really-mmph!" Phineas kicked her in the

mouth again.

"Shut up," Phineas said calmly, "you're a worthless creep. That's all

you ever were and it's all you ever will be. Let's end this," He raised his

bar over Candace's head to deliver the last blow.

"Candace! Don't, Phineas!" Mom cried in agony.

Candace glanced at her desperate mother, who herself was in tears,

then at the bar.

"Goodbye, Candace," Phineas said calmly. He swung his bar down at

Candace's head. Everyone, even Norm and Doofenshmirtz, turned away.

WHACK! Stacy put her head in her hands. That was it. They were

done. She turned back to look at her fallen friend and gasped. Gasps were

heard all over the room as everyone turned back and saw what had happened.

Candace had caught Phineas' hand as he swung. Phineas' eyes were

wide with surprise. His sister twisted his wrist and made him drop his

weapon. Then she reached out, grabbed his shirt and stood up, pulling him

into the air. Her expression had changed from one of dejected sadness to...

it was hard to describe. It was one of those emotions that you don't feel

very often and that lesser people aren't even capable of. It was a glare that

would make even the bravest, strongest man in the world quail. It was like

the stare of a destroying angel. It was an expression that only one defending

the weak and downtrodden from the strong and the cruel could wear. It was the

courage of the patriot, the love of the parent, the rightness of justice, the

dignity of the heavens, the wrath of the hurricane, the strength of the

mountain, the calm of the breeze and the resolve of the explorer all rolled

into one. A divine force of good that shook throughout the very eternities.

The vindicating, righteous fury of a girl defending her mother.

Phineas was clearly terrified now, "Uhh, Candace?" he asked timidly.

Holding his shirt with her left hand, Candace raised her right fist.

POW! Candace drove her fist straight into Phineas' skull and

slammed him to the ground. He landed on his face and rolled onto his back,

rubbing his head.

Candace didn't chase him. She picked up her bar and walked to the

disintegrator box her family was in. She got close and raised her weapon.

"Oh, no you don't!" Phineas shouted, jumping to his feet. Candace

turned calmly and gave him the same icy stare. For some reason, he stopped.

There was something behind that glare that even Phineas realized he'd better

not mess with.

Candace turned back, raised her bar and whacked the glass. It cracked

a bit. She hit it again. The cracks widened. She pounded it a third time.

It looked about to shatter.

Finally, Phineas collected himself. He let out a war yell and charged

Candace, tackling her before she could smash the glass. There was a

collective groan from the good guys. The two siblings wrestled on the floor.

Candace finally shoved Phineas back, stood up and threw the bar over his head

and into the cracks on the box.

SMASH! Glass came spilling down from the box and covered the floor.

Mom, Dad and Ferb came cheering through the gap, free at last. They came

running straight for Candace.

Candace's exhausted brain hadn't quite caught up with the situation.

She saw her mom and dad rushing over to her, but was surprised when Ferb

reached her first. He stared up at her. She suddenly remembered that he also

had an ax to grind with her. She was worried he was going to hit her.

Instead, he embraced her.

"Ferb, you're not mad at me?" she asked.

"You risked your life for us," he replied, "I once thought my brother

was my best friend. Now I know it was my sister all along."

"Candace you did it!" Mom squealed as she leapt upon her daughter and

pulled her into a bone-crushing hug. She was in tears again, but for a

different reason.

Next came Dad, who did his best to squash them all, "Hats off to you,

Candace, I'm so proud of you!"

"Urg!" Candace was having trouble breathing by now.

"Hey! Let me in there! Way to go, Candace!" Stacy jumped in too.

Perry came and sat on Candace's shoulder.

Through the crush, Candace managed a shy smile, "Thanks," she said.

While all this went on Doofenshmirtz and Norm sat there and watched.

Doofenshmirtz sniffed, "I wish my family loved me that much!"

"Aw, come here," Norm said as he gave the demented doctor a hug.

"Thanks, Norm," Doofenshmirtz replied.

The sentry bots/guns sensed the lack of a violent atmosphere and

retreated into the walls from whence they came. Isabella watched the

spectacle, not sure how to react.

"Isabella!"

Isabella looked and saw the Fireside Girls approaching her.

"Girls?" Isabella looked at the battered girls and felt a horrible

sense of guilt wash over her. She looked at the floor.

"What's wrong?" one of the girls asked.

"I'm sorry..." she replied, "you got hurt and it's-"

The girls responded by lifting her onto their shoulders.

"Girls, we've found our troop leader!" the lead girl said, "Let's hear

it for Isabella!"

"Isa! Isa! Isa!" the girls chanted. Isabella smiled. She looked

around. The battlefield had apparently been turned into a mushy love field.

Everyone was happy and relieved and excited. Except for one person.

Phineas stood alone. Watching the scene. Looking totally dejected.

"Girls, I hate to interrupt, but could you let me down?"

"Sure, Isabella," one of them said.

The girls put her down. She walked over to Phineas.

"Wow," she began, "everyone's really happy."

"Yeah," Phineas said.

"Everyone except you," Isabella continued.

"Actually, I'm all right," he replied.

"No you're not."

"Actually I am. I may have lost the battle, but I haven't lost the

war."

Isabella's eyes grew wide with fright, "What do you mean?"

"It's almost time for the surprise... and the test."

By now everyone had let go of Candace and a conversation had started.

"Thanks, Stace," said Candace.

"Hey, what're friends for?" she asked.

"I don't understand though..." Mom began, "where'd you get the giant

robots from?"

"And the lasers?" Dad added.

"Phineas and Ferb's project book," Stacy and Candace said together.

"So you beat Phineas with his own technology? And mine?" Ferb asked.

"Yep," Stacy replied.

"We can't make the stuff, but we can read directions," Candace said.

Doofenshmirtz had had about enough by now. He stood up and shouted to

the room: "Hey, we're not done! You still have to escape my lair, you know!"

Perry growled loudly at him.

"What? What do you mean you don't?" Doofenshmirtz cried.

Suddenly, an army of government agents in black clothes came pouring

through the door. They quickly enveloped Doofenshmirtz and arrested him.

"Curse you Perry the Platypus!" he shouted as they pulled him away.

Perry had a very satisfied smile on his face. He'd called the agency.

"Eh, em. Candace?" said a gruff voice.

"Huh?" Candace responded, "Major Monogram! You're not dead!"

"Turns out he was at his vacation house in Florida," Carl griped.

"Carl, don't you have some paperwork to file?" Monogram barked.

"No, sir."

"Well then shut up anyway!"

"Remember what we talked about sir?"

Mom, Dad, Ferb and Stacy all looked bewildered. Perry rolled his

eyes. Candace laughed.

"Candace, we've come to thank you and congratulate you on a job well

done. You and your friends did what we could not. You saved your family and

captured Doofenshmirtz."

"Just out of curiosity, what are you going to do with him?" Candace

asked.

"I'm telling you, he's really lucky his defense grid didn't kill

anyone when we tried to attack the island, the penalties if he had would have

been severe!"

Isabella overheard him, "Did you... say that that defense grid didn't

kill anyone?" she asked.

"A lot of people got hurt, but no one was maimed and no one died. It

was a miracle, to say the least."

Remember what I said about Isabella not being able to wake up from her

bad dream? She'd been dreaming all along, "Hear that Phineas? We're not

murderers!"

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Phineas groaned.

"My life isn't over! I'm not going to H-E-double-!"

"I'm not going back with everyone, you know," Phineas said.

"Huh?"

"I'm not going home. There's nothing for me back there."

Isabella couldn't really argue with that. "Well, what're you going to

do then? Sit on this island all by yourself?"

"Yep."

"C'mon, Phineas, there must be some other way."

"It's all right, Isabella. I'll be okay."

"No you won't!"

"Sure I will."

"Well, if you're staying here, then so am I!"

"No, Isabella, you go home. Your Mom needs you. The Fireside Girls

need you. It's okay, really. You've got a great life to go back to. I want

you to live it and be happy."

"You mean it?"

"Yeah."

"Well that's too bad! 'Cause I'm not going home without you! I swore

I would stand by you and I will!"

"I release you from that oath, okay? I don't want you to keep it

anymore."

"Doesn't matter, I'm not leaving you"

Phineas laughed, then he lost his composure and shouted, straight in

her face, "Isabella, go home, you stupid excuse for a friend! I hate you! I

don't want to see you! I don't want to see anybody! My life is ruined

because you didn't fight hard enough!" Then he collapsed to his knees and

started sobbing.

"I'm slightly offended by your insults, but I'm not going to leave,"

Isabella said bluntly.

Phineas cried a bit, then he blubbered, "Isabella... I'm sorry. I

don't hate you. I just-can't stand to watch you suffer for me anymore.

Please, Isabella, please go home."

"Nope. I'm staying right here."

"Boy, Isabella, I just can't get rid of you!" Phineas said in a

perfectly normal, not-sad voice.

Isabella was startled by the sudden tone shift. Phineas looked up at

her with a big smile. His eyes were completely dry.

"You-you were faking!" she exclaimed.

Phineas laughed, "Well done, you passed the test!"

"The test?" Isabella asked. Suddenly it clicked.

"You wanted to see if I was really loyal to you!" she said, "Why?"

"Because of the surprise. Hey everyone, I have a surprise for you

all!" Phineas shouted to the room.

"I hope it's a better surprise than that defense grid, young man," Mom

growled.

"Oh, it's much better. NOW!"

Suddenly, the roof tore off the lab. In its place was a monstrous,

loud, flying machine that looked... alien.

"The SETI device!" Isabella exclaimed tightly, eyes wide.

Everyone else in the room screamed and backed away.

"Phineas, what is that!" Mom yelled.

"Take my hand, Isabella," Phineas said calmly above the spaceship's

roar, "I finished that device last night and called the aliens. I cut a deal

with them so they wouldn't attack Earth. I'll tell you more later."

Isabella nervously took Phineas' hand. A yellow beam of light came

down from the ship and engulfed them. They began rising slowly into the air.

"Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh!" Isabella squealed.

Everyone watched them in awe. Phineas called out to them.

"Mom, Dad, Ferb, Perry, Stacy, Fireside Girls, I'm sorry for how I've

acted. I was struggling, because my hopes and dreams had been shattered, but

now, I have found a new path. Fear not, for now I will be able to live my

dreams and be happy, out on the final, final frontier."

Everyone was struck with amazement. They didn't know how to react.

"Isabella," Phineas began, "you realize this may be the last time you

ever see Earth?"

"Really?" she replied shakily.

"Yeah. Are you sure you want to go with me? I really do understand

if you don't."

Isabella hesitated. She looked out over the ocean toward the

Tri-State Area. She looked at all the people below her. She was giving all

of that up.

Phineas touched her gently. He said sincerely, "I'm not testing you

anymore Isabella, you've proven to me that you're a true friend. My best

friend. Now go."

Isabella looked out a little longer, then she turned and looked at

Phineas with a smile. She threw herself on him and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, Phineas," she whispered.

"I'll miss you, Isabella."

"No you won't."

Phineas seemed genuinely surprised, "What?"

"It's gonna be just you and me against the stars!"

Phineas laughed, "You're amazing Isabella."

Isabella turned back out. They were almost to the ship. This was one

slow tractor beam, "Mrs. Flynn, tell my mom I love her! Tell her where I

am and that I'm all right!"

"O...kay..." the dumbfounded mother replied.

"Gretchen (a Fireside Girl), you're in charge now!"

"All right..." the saddened girl responded.

"Farewell to all of you!" Phineas yelled.

"Goodbye!" Isabella cried.

They were almost in the ship now. Phineas spoke once more.

"By the way, this is a trap. Candace is coming with us."

Suddenly, a long, snaky mechanical arm shot out of the ship and

grabbed Candace, who began shrieking like a banshee.

"CANDACE!" Everyone on the ground screamed.

Candace was yanked violently into the ship as a cackling Phineas and

shocked Isabella were pulled in as well. The ship blasted away in an instant,

leaving the stunned Earthlings behind.

"NOOO!" Mom shouted.

To be continued in The Picture: Part 2-The Vengeance