Double Double Date

"You're really not gonna tell me, are you," Phineas said as he continued his interrogation of his brother.

"Absolutely not," Ferb replied, not even making eye contact with Phineas as they left their room.

"What if I bug you incessantly via text messages while you're there?"

"Then you get to explain the cell phone bill to mother when it comes."

"Hmm…hadn't thought of that. Well I could still build a spy drone to follow you around."

"I've already locked up all the tools for the day and I have the key. Besides, you can't build things even a quarter as fast as I can. By the time you were finished, I'd be home already."

"I could sic Irving on you."

Ferb stopped halfway down the stairs, turned, and looked at Phineas disbelievingly. Phineas immediately knew his bluff had been called.

"Yeah, sorry. I was grasping at straws there. I should know better than to threaten with something I'd never actually do."

"Look, just accept that I'm not telling you for once."

"What on earth are you two going on and on about," Candace asked as she stopped by the stairs. She'd heard their conversation from the kitchen and had to come check it out for herself. It was a rare occasion when one of the brothers was being decidedly secretive towards the other.

"Ferb's not telling me where he and Gretchen are heading on their date this afternoon," Phineas told her.

"Because any time I do tell you, you and Isabella just happen to show up to say 'hi' or something," Ferb replied. "For once I'd like a date without any other family popping in on me."

"Don't you have your own date to think about today, Phineas," Candace asked him.

"Isabella's got it covered this time," Phineas replied. "I think we're actually going somewhere with Buford and Milly tonight, but she wanted to keep it a surprise for me."

"A double date," Ferb asked, his curiosity piqued. "That's rare for you guys."

"It's Izzie and Milly's idea. Buford and I are just along for the ride, more or less."

"Well, best of luck to you all then," Ferb said as he finished descending the stairs and headed for the door. "I'll see you later!"

"You'd better get going too," Candace told Phineas as she continued on her way to the living room. "It's never a good idea to keep a girl waiting."

"I still wish I knew what Ferb was doing tonight," Phineas said with a sigh. "But you're right, I can't stay hung up on that all night. Let mom and dad know I'll be back around nine or so."

Candace acknowledged her brother's request, and Phineas headed out from his house and across the street, eager to find out exactly what his girlfriend and Milly had in mind for the afternoon's activities.

Ferb and Gretchen waved to Mrs. Adler as she drove off and then turned to the entrance of their destination. It was the grand opening of The Fourth Dimension, Danville's latest and greatest entertainment complex that included go karts, miniature golf, a fully loaded arcade, and laser tag.

"I know it must've been hard," Gretchen told him, "but I'm proud of you for not telling Phineas we were coming here."

"Are you kidding," Ferb replied. "Had I told him there's no way we would've been able to shake him. Phineas has been looking forward to this place's grand opening for weeks. Admittedly so have I, but this is one time I was hoping to check something new out without him."

"Well we'll get in there soon as…ah, speak of the devils. Here they come now."

Up pulled another car from which Baljeet and Ginger emerged. Ginger stopped by the driver's side as Baljeet joined Ferb and Gretchen.

"I'll call you when we need a ride back, onee-san," she told Stacy. "Now shoo."

"You sure you don't want me to hang around," Stacy asked, poking her head out of the window. "I could run interference so you and 'Jeet could have some alone time."

Ginger folded her arms, not amused with her sister's act. "Your track record says otherwise. It's far more likely that you just want to hang around tease, taunt, and otherwise interfere with our date at every opportunity."

Stacy shook her head at her sister and looked over at Baljeet. "Honestly, Baljeet, I don't know how you put up with such a humorless girl."

Baljeet laughed humorlessly at Stacy's comment and simply waved back to her. Fed up with Stacy's harassment, Ginger whirled and began ushering her boyfriend and companions inside as Stacy finally began pulling away.

"I swear one of these days I'm gonna creep into her room while she's asleep and tie her hair into dozens of tiny knots," Ginger said, positively shaking with aggravation.

"Is she going to be alright," Ferb asked Baljeet.

"Oh yes," Baljeet told him confidently. "She just needs a tranquilizer to help her calm down."

Gretchen was about to ask what Baljeet meant when he stepped up to Ginger, took her into his arms, dipped her, kissed her passionately, and then returned her to her feet. Once upright again, Ginger was smiling and looked much calmer. Baljeet flashed a smile, thumbs up, and wink at his friends.

"Works like a charm every time," he told them happily.

"Alrighty then, what should we hit first," Gretchen asked. "I'm open to suggestions."

"I'm kinda feeling like some miniature golf, actually," Ginger said.

"Which begs the question of if you share any of your sister's unnatural skill at the game," Ferb asked her.

"Why," Ginger asked with a cocky smile on her face. "Afraid you'll lose?"

"Oh it's on now," Gretchen told her. "Two on two, us versus you guys?"

"Losers buy drinks for everyone," Baljeet said as he hooked arms with Ginger.

"To quote my beloved sister from her youth, you are both going down," Ferb told them. He smirked as he put one arm around Gretchen and made a thumbs down sign with his other. "Down, down, down!"

The four all shared a laugh and then rushed out to the miniature golf course just as the place's main doors opened for another four kids to enter.

"I know I'm gonna start sounding like a broken record here," Phineas said as he looked around the place in amazement, "but I love you, Isabella."

"Oh trust me," she replied with a giggle, "I will never get tired of hearing that."

"Hey, this was my idea too y'know," Milly added in a mock disappointed tone.

"Don't pay Dinner Bell any mind, sweetheart," Buford told her, putting his arm around her shoulders. "He's just geekin' out."

"Oh I know, I just have to give him a bit of a hard time is all," Milly told him. "After Isabella mentioned how much Phineas was looking forward to checking this place out when it opened, I figured it was a no-brainer for a double date spot. However…"

Milly stepped away from Buford momentarily and passed a hand in front of Phineas' face. He didn't even so much as blink as she did. Clearly the total spectacle of The Fourth Dimension had entranced him completely.

" Should we give him some alone time to adjust, Izzie," she asked, looking concerned.

"Oh no, I know how to handle this," Isabella told her. She silently stepped up alongside Phineas and gently blew into his ear. Phineas reacted with a full body shiver as he snapped out of his trance.

"Thanks, I needed that," Phineas told her, coming to his senses.

"So what're we gonna do first," Buford asked. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm craving some action. Go carts sound good to me."

"Aww, but I was hoping we could hit the arcade for just a bit first," Milly said. She turned to Buford and batted her long eyelashes at him. "That is, if you don't mind honey."

"Like I said, we're doin' go carts right after we're done in the arcade first," Buford told Phineas and Isabella. Milly rejoiced, gave Buford a quick kiss, and then headed off to the arcade hanging on his arm.

"What just happened," Phineas asked, blinking in disbelief.

"I've always wondered if underneath that sweet exterior Milly was actually a dark sorceress," Isabella said. "I think I just got my proof."

Phineas shrugged and offered Isabella his arm. "Well whatever the case, let's get our game on."

Isabella laced her arm through Phineas' and the two headed off after Buford and Milly, eager to get their double date properly underway.

Ferb took his time lining up his final putt, as the whole match was riding on it. He tested the wind direction, checked his line, determined the angles he'd need to hit, and with measured precision hit his putt. The ball rolled along, caroming off of walls, around a curve, and through a tunnel as it made its way along the ridiculous route to the hole. He and Gretchen held their breath as they watched it roll towards the hole, and then at the last moment swerve to one side and roll right past it. Ferb hung his head in despair as Ginger and Baljeet celebrated.

"Victory is ours," Baljeet proclaimed. "It was a good game, Ferb. You only lost by one stroke."

"At least it was immediately evident that Ginger was bluffing all along," Ferb commented. "You could've said up front that you weren't as good at the game as Stacy."

"You're the one who assumed as much," Ginger replied. "Besides, with as little as Stacy and I have in common, is it all that surprising?"

"Note to self," Gretchen said, quickly producing a pen and notepad and scribbling on it. "Insist on full disclosure before making bets in the future."

"Nonetheless, fair is fair," Ferb stated, conceding the game. "Let's hit the food court for some refreshments. I'll cover the whole deal."

"You are as gracious as you are brilliant, Ferb," Ginger told him with a graceful curtsey. "Let's head on in."

The way to the food court led the group past the entrance to the arcade. As they approached, they couldn't help but hear raucous cheering coming from inside. Baljeet stopped and poked his head inside briefly, curious about what was going on. The crowd was dense so he couldn't see very far inside, but he did make out that they were all gathered around a popular rhythm and music game.

"There must be a real master up there playing," Baljeet said as he quickly rejoined Ginger and the others. "People are cheering quite vigorously."

"I prefer playing actual music, myself," Ferb noted. "But those kind of games can be fun, especially to watch people who're particularly good at them."

"That's for sure. I remember seeing a video online recently for one that was amazing. It was of this older song that I'm not terribly familiar with, but it was a perfect playthrough on the hardest setting. Many of the comments on the video were, sadly, claiming that it was actually a program playing the song and not a person. Frankly, I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt about such things. It certainly seemed genuine to me."

"That's quite interesting. I'll have to look it up sometime. Who was the poster of the video?"

"I only remember their account name, which was 'MotherofDarkness'. Whoever it is, they've got quite a few videos of this kind posted."

"That seems to speak to it being genuine, at least to me. I'll check it out sometime."

Upon reaching the food court, the girls opted to find a table while the boys headed to the counter to get food. Gretchen sat across from Ginger and, after watching to make sure Ferb and Baljeet were out of earshot, she turned excitedly to Ginger.

"So, how's it going with you guys," she asked. "I've been dying for an update!"

"As great as ever, though right now I'm staying the course with BJ," Ginger said, using her personal shortened nickname for Baljeet. "But I know when I'm going to make my move to take things a little further with him: the Tri-State Area Japanese Festival."

Gretchen raised an eyebrow at the mention of the event. "We have something like that?"

"I'm not surprised you don't know about it; it's not exactly a huge deal since there aren't many people of Japanese descent around here. But it's basically our own o-bon festival. It takes place in mid-July and it's just like the ones they hold all over Japan. There'll be games and food, fireworks, dancing, and of course all the women come dressed in yukata."

"You-what-a?"

"Yukata. It's a summery type of kimono. "

"Ah, I getcha. I wish I could pull off wearing one of those. They look so pretty."

"I'm sure we could find one for you if you'd like. I think you'd look really pretty in one. But then, I think everyone looks good in yukata."

"If you're sure…"

"I may not be the fashion plate Stacy is, but I do have an eye for this sort of thing at least. Maybe we can get all the girls to come out for it! I would love to have more people come, whether they're Japanese or not."

"Let's talk about it with Ferb and Baljeet when they get back. I'm sure we can get them on board."

The two continued to chatter away about the boys, their quirks and habits as they waited for refreshments, completely oblivious to the group of familiar friends that had just exited the arcade and headed for the go-karts.

The arcade portion of The Fourth Dimension was loaded mainly with dance and music games, though with a few old school arcade machines along the walls. Phineas, Isabella, Buford, and Milly were standing by a guitar-based music game awaiting a turn to play it while a number of other kids who were clearly quite good at the game played song after song. In fact, they were outright monopolizing the machine and it was beginning to irritate many of the other kids present who began jeering them to give someone else a turn.

"They probably just want to rack up the high scores on all the songs before anyone else has a chance," Phineas said, frowning at the group as they continued to play regardless of the crowd.

"It's just not fair," Isabella said, getting downright angry about it. "I'll go set them straight."

"Now now," Milly said, putting her hands on Isabella's shoulders. "No need to get cross about it. Let me talk to them for a moment."

"But Milly, they're not gonna listen to you no matter how nice you are to them."

"Just trust me, Izzie." Milly winked at her as she turned and approached the game.

"Buford, aren't you gonna stop her," Isabella asked, looking at the massive boy.

"You kiddin'," Buford asked right back. "Just watch."

"Excuse me, boys," Milly said, getting the group's attention after their most recent song finished. "There are a lot of other people who want a chance to play here today. Do you suppose you could just take a small break and let others have a turn?"

"Sorry, little miss manners," the boy with the guitar controller said, sneering at her. "But we aim to dominate this game and we aren't giving it up until we've got the high scores on every single song."

"I called it," Phineas noted, which earned him an elbow in the side from Buford.

"I see," Milly said. "Well, what if I beat one of your high scores? Would that be enough to make you stop for a while, then?"

The group of boys broke into raucous laughter. "You? Beat us? Heck, if you can beat any of my high scores we'll leave for the rest of the day!"

"Alright then, it's a bet," Milly said, stepping up to the game. The boy just scoffed as he handed her the guitar controlled. Milly took a moment to adjust the strap so it sat comfortably for her and then began scrolling through the songs until she found the one she wanted: "Bark at the Moon" by Ozzy Osbourne. The group of boys laughed even harder, until they saw her set the difficulty to its maximum level.

"By the way boys," she said, her voice dropping from its usual sweet sound to one much deeper and sultry. "It's not little miss manners. I'd prefer you called me by my actual handle…Mother of Darkness."

The group of boys froze in place. All of them were familiar with the name from the Internet, and up until the song started were still in disbelief of who now stood before them. As soon as Milly began playing, however, there was no doubt of who she was. Her fingers were a blur as they danced along the guitar. Sweat beaded on her forehead as her eyes and hands raced to keep up with the notes as they came. She added dramatic flourishes to her performance, at times even looking away from the screen while she played. The crowd around her, save the group of boys she had ousted from the game, cheered louder and louder as she continued her perfect run of the song. It ended with a rapid-fire set of notes that she hit without missing even one. She raised her hands in the air in victory as her final score registered as the new high score for the song, eliciting an enormous cheer from the amassed audience. After putting the initials "MoD" in to register the score, she handed the guitar controller to a young boy who jumped up to start playing before stepping over to the group of boys who she has, essentially, just hustled out of the game.

"Remember, boys," she said, once again back to her sweet-sounding voice. "Play nice, or Mother will have to teach you another lesson. Understand?"

"Y-yes ma'am!" The group of boys responded in unison. They departed from the arcade immediately after. Milly then sighed and turned back to her own friends, who were also dumbstruck at her performance with the exception of Buford. He merely smiled and nodded at his girlfriend.

"You really knocked 'em dead up there, babe," he told her, kissing her briefly as she stepped up to him.

"Thanks hon," she said, sighing contentedly. "I felt a little bad tricking them like that, but they gave me no alternative."

"I have never seen someone shred like that on that game before," Phineas said, still stunned by the performance.

"Well, I was the only one of us to get her 'Guitar Heroine' patch," Milly told him proudly.

"You really are a dark sorceress, aren't you," Isabella asked, also still amazed at what she'd just seen.

"I can't help it, I've always liked Ozzy," Milly told her. "And classic rock in general, for that matter. It's way better than modern pop stuff. Not that I don't enjoy the music you guys make every now and again, I'm just a little old fashioned is all."

"Nothin' wrong with that in my book," Buford told her as he picked her up in a huge bear hug, which was met with a burst of giggles from her. He put her down a moment later, grinning at her. "Gotta respect the classics."

"You still wanna hit the go carts, baby," Milly asked him. "I'm done in here for now, I think."

Buford nodded at her. "If you're ready, doll, I am."

"How about you, Phineas," Isabella asked, looking at him. Phineas smiled at her.

"I've got the need," he said, reaching into his pocket. He produced a pair of mirrored sunglasses and put them on dramatically. "The need for speed."

"Dinner Bell's all fired up," Buford noted, grinning even wider. "This is gonna be fun."

Phineas, with an uncharacteristically devious smile on his face, quickly led the way through the remaining crowd out of the arcade and through the complex towards the go carts for a friendly race; one in which he intended to crush Buford.

It was an inevitable event, no matter how you considered it. Two groups of such close friends arriving separately at the same destination for a double date were bound to discover each other at some point during the day. It nonetheless blew both Phineas' and Ferb's minds when they both stepped up to the same attendant in charge of laser tag at the same time. They stood silently blinking at each other for a full minute as their friends simply looked on, a mixture of dismay and amusement among their expressions.

"Well…this is awkward," Phineas commented finally.

"To say the least," Ferb replied. "I take it you guys were planning on coming here all along, then? Seeing as how I never told you we were coming here."

"Yeah, Isabella and Milly picked the destination. Buford and I didn't know until we got here."

"Gretchen and I had been planning on coming here for about a week. Ginger asked if she and Baljeet could come as well."

"Considering the lengths you went to keep this a secret from me, this rates pretty high on the irony meter, dude."

"I know, I know. Well, we're all here now. What do we do? We can't exactly carry on acting like we don't know each other is here."

Phineas stroked his chin as he thought for a moment about what to do next. The answer didn't take long to come to him, as he simply looked back at where they had both met up.

"Excuse me," Phineas said, looking back at the attendant. "Is there any chance we could arrange a laser tag match between two teams of four?"

"Certainly," the attendant told him cheerily. "I'll just need a few minutes to configure the system for the match."

"Are you sure about this, Phineas," Ferb asked, cocking an eyebrow at his brother.

"I know we don't usually compete like this, but it might be kinda fun. Besides, it's just laser tag. It's not like anyone could get hurt doing it."

Ferb considered the prospect of going up against his brother for once instead of working with him, and a slow smile spread across his face. It was time to have some fun with Phineas.

"That's all well and good," Ferb told him, "but that's not what I'm concerned about."

"Oh? Then what is?"

"Well, I mean, it seems odd to me that you'd set yourself up for a challenge where it's obvious you're going to lose."

Phineas laughed and folded his arms. "Oh really?"

"We're clearly the more agile and, no offense, overall smarter team," Ferb boasted. "You don't stand a chance."

"I don't stand a chance? Me, with a former Fireside Girls Troop Leader and the toughest guy in Danville among my team members?"

"Oh please. Your 'Angry Wall of Meat' will be a walking target."

"And you guys will be too busy calculating angles and probabilities to even shoot at us."

The two step-brothers smiled at each other, both now fully aware of the game before them. They then quickly turned and walked back to their respective teams. If the match had been at all uncertain before, it was a sure thing now.

"So what's the plan," Baljeet asked Ferb as he returned to them. "Are we taking turns or something?"

"We're going up against them," Ferb said, looking back at his brother and his group briefly. "And we're taking them down."

"Have you lost your mind, Ferb," Ginger asked, feeling rather daunted by the proposition. "Look who we're up against!"

"And who knows them better than us," Ferb asked her. "I know exactly the sort of tricks and tactics Phineas will have them employ. Baljeet, no one knows how Buford operates better than you. Ginger, you spent years working with Milly as a Fireside Girl and you were far more decorated than she was. And of course Gretchen…"

"Just hold it right there, Ferb," Gretchen told him as she slowly stepped up to him. She folded her arms as she looked up at her boyfriend, who suddenly looked a bit intimidated by her. "I know exactly what you're about to say. After all, I've been Isabella's best friend and right hand since we were little kids. If there's anyone who knows how to push her buttons and take her down, it's me. And you expect me to simply use that knowledge and basically totally betray my best friend in order to help ensure our victory?"

"Well…um…I perhaps didn't mean it quite so menacingly…" Ferb said, taken aback at how Gretchen had summed up her role in the match. "If you're really that averse to the idea I-"

"Are you kidding," Gretchen said, grabbing Ferb by his shirt and dragging him down to her eye level. "Do you have any idea how long I've waited for an opportunity like this? Isabella's a great friend to me, but I've always wanted a clean chance to test myself against her."

"You're really quite into this, aren't you," Ferb asked, smirking at her.

Gretchen grinned right back at him. "Sweetie, you have no idea."

"I must admit," Baljeet added, "I wouldn't mind even a little revenge on Buford for all the wedgies."

"And Milly has always seemed a little too sweet and perfect to me," Ginger also added.

"Alright then," Ferb said, grinning as he gathered his team members together. "Let's get to planning."

While Ferb had been rallying his group, Phineas had returned to his group and told them of the coming match as well.

"Phineas, are you sure this is a good idea," Milly asked, looking back and forth between the other group and theirs. "I'm good at music games, but I've never done this before. Plus, I was of the impression you weren't all that competitive really."

"Speak for yourself, babe," Buford said, grinning at Phineas. "It's kinda refreshing to see Dinner Bell manning up for once."

"Trust me, this'll be a lot of fun Milly," Phineas said somewhat defensively. "Besides, Ferb's the one who said we didn't stand a chance because his team was smarter and faster than us. And that's word for word exactly what he said."

"Oh no he di'n't," Isabella said resentfully, complete with appropriate head motion. "I know for a fact we could take them. What do you think, Buford?"

"I've had 'Jeet's number for years," he said, cracking his knuckles. "This'll be business as usual for me."

"Ferb can be tricky to play against," Phineas noted, stroking his chin as he thought. "But I'm familiar with just about all of his strategies in any kind of game. I know we can counter him."

"What about you, Milly," Isabella asked, stepping up to her as she spoke. "If you don't want to play we can see if Ferb's team will sit someone out."

Milly shook her head. "If Buford is in then so am I. Truthfully, I've always wanted a chance to be side-by-side with my honey in a competition of some kind."

"You sure about this, doll," Buford asked, looking at her with some concern.

"Absolutely," she told him, touching his face gently. "In fact, sweetie, I find the idea of going into battle alongside you to be…well, exhilarating."

As soon as Milly stepped back from Buford, he turned towards their opponents who were still huddled across the way and took a deep breath.

"We're gonna stomp every single one of youse into the ground," he shouted. "You ain't got a prayer of beatin' us, ya hear me?"

"You have a dark gift, Milly," Isabella said quietly to her as they watched Buford continue ranting while Phineas tried to get him to calm down. "I hope you only ever use it for good."

"Oh, I just know what buttons to press with him," Milly said, giggling. "I'm sure you can do much the same with Phineas."

Isabella just laughed nervously to herself. Milly didn't know about the incident earlier that summer at her "intimate get-together", and it wasn't the sort of thing she was about to make a topic of conversation at the moment. At the moment her focus was rallying with the members of her group so they were prepared for the coming challenge.

It wasn't long before the laser tag arena was properly configured for a four-on-four match. The rules were simple: electronic targets were placed on each player's chest and back, with another in the helmets they all wore as well. A direct hit would render a player unable to fire or be hit again for ten seconds. After five hits, a player would be eliminated from the game. If one team were entirely eliminated, the other would be the winner. Otherwise, the team that scored the most hits within the ten-minute timeframe would be declared the winner. In the case of a tie, the highest scoring player from each team would participate in a sudden death match to determine the winner.

Both teams huddled in their waiting rooms as the timer counted down to the beginning of the match. As soon as the timer hit zero, the doors to the arena flew open and the players rushed in and began their hunt. The sound of laser fire filled the room as both teams began employing their tactics. Baljeet and Ginger stuck together, attempting to find and pin down as many of their opponents as they could. Ferb and Gretchen, meanwhile, split off in separate directions in order to snipe at targets from the perimeter. Phineas, Buford, and Milly all stuck together and began sweeping the perimeter while Isabella cut through the center, attempting to draw fire and harass anyone she came across. It didn't take long for her to come face-to-face with Gretchen. They stopped where they were and kept their guns trained on each other.

"Hello Gretchen," Isabella said pleasantly. "I was hoping I'd find you first."

"Oh trust me," Gretchen replied, "I was hoping for the exact same thing."

"I don't suppose you're going to be a nice, easy target for me, are you?"

"After all these years together, you really should know me better."

"So how's this gonna shake down, then?"

"Simple: forget the others. We go one-on-one in here, and we answer a question that's actually been bugging me since we oversaw that Fireside Girls challenge. Which of us really is the better Fireside Girl? I think I know the answer, the only question is are you ready to deal with it?"

"Gretchen…" Isabella said her name in quiet awe. She temporarily lowered her gun and smiled at her longtime friend. "Wow, that was amazing! I honestly got shivers just now."

"Thanks," Gretchen replied, laughing nervously. "I was hoping it wasn't too over-the-top there."

"Oh no way, you've really got the vengeful sidekick thing down!"

"Really? I've always wanted a chance to try an act like this."

"Totally, you've got the character down. I'm really impressed."

"I'm thinking of using it to try out for the drama club next school year. You think it'll work?"

"Oh no doubt about it. I'll even help you practice it more sometime if you like."

"Thanks Izzie. So, uh…I guess we should get back to the game, huh?"

"Only if you want. Truth be told, I just played up my interest because Phineas seemed to be really keen on it."

"Yeah, I pretty much did the same for Ferb's sake. You wanna just hunker down and chill out until this is over?"

"Cool with me," Isabella said, sitting down next to Gretchen in an isolated corner of the arena. "So how's your double date been so far today?"

As the two began trading stories about their respective days, elsewhere the actual match raged on. Baljeet and Ginger continually fell back as the massive group of Buford, Milly, and Phineas continued to bear down on them. Ferb finally circled around behind them and suddenly the trio found themselves in a crossfire. Phineas peeled off from the group while Buford and Milly hunkered down. He headed straight for Ferb, though they both ended up trying to snipe at each other from cover.

"Give it up, Ferb," Phineas called out to him from behind his wall. "I've been keeping count, and we got a ton of hits on you guys before you finally got behind us!"

"Is that desperation I hear in your voice," Ferb called back. "By my count we're pretty even! Not to mention I'll bet Gretchen is having a field day with Isabella."

"Ha! Isabella's probably lit your girl up like a Christmas tree dude!"

Ferb took the opportunity while Phineas was talking to creep around his piece of cover, trying to flank his brother. As soon as he slid around the corner, he bumped right into Phineas who had been doing the same thing while he talked. They stopped, slowly turned to face each other, and began chuckling at each other. It eventually turned into raucous laughter as they realized how ridiculous they were being.

"Dude, this is the second time we've done this to ourselves this summer now," Phineas said once he caught his breath from laughing. "What the heck?"

"I believe this is what Candace was warning us about a few years ago when we became teenagers," Ferb told him. "Remember her stories about some of Jeremy and Coltrane's arguments?"

"Ah yes. I remember we told her we'd never do that sort of thing."

"Indeed. So what condiment of choice will you go with to eat those words? I'm going with mayonnaise, myself."

"Ugh. Seriously? You put mayo on everything, Ferb."

"That's because it goes well with everything."

"If you say so. I think I'll stick with mustard."

"Real mustard or yellow stuff?"

"Hey, yellow stuff is mustard too!"

Ferb shook his head and laughed. "Come on, let's find the girls and then see if Buford and Baljeet are done shooting at each other."

Ferb hooked an arm around Phineas' shoulders as the two wandered off to find their girlfriends, tuning out the barrage of name-calling accompanied by laser fire that was going on behind them.

A short while later, all eight teens were gathered around a table at the food court, once again talking amiably amongst themselves. They'd let the match end in a tie and now viewed their momentary competitiveness with amusement.

"All I'm saying is this whole mess could've been avoided had you just told me where you were going," Phineas told Ferb as he took another sip from his soda.

"And all I'm saying is it was still none of your business," Ferb replied before munching on another French fry. "Sometimes, Phineas, I do want to do my own thing."

"And sometimes I'm just honestly curious, Ferb. Seriously. I just wanted to know was all."

"I suppose we could both have done a better job communicating that to each other."

"No arguments there."

"So what're you guys going to do from here on out? The day's still quite young."

"I dunno," Phineas said with a shrug. He turned to Isabella, who sat just to his right. "Any thoughts?"

"I think Buford and Milly are gonna hit the arcade again," Isabella replied. "That's not so much my thing, honestly."

"Baljeet and I are gonna go do go karts next," Ginger added.

"How about you, love," Ferb asked Gretchen.

"I heard there's supposed to be a whole row of photo machines in the arcade," Gretchen said. "I would like some pictures if you don't mind."

"I guess we're all gonna go do our own thing for a bit," Phineas noted. "I'm sure we'll find something else to do as well."

"We'll catch you guys later, then," Ferb told him. He got up, hugged Phineas from across the table briefly, and then took Gretchen by the hand as she led the way towards the arcade. Little by little, the others peeled away from the table as well, finally leaving Phineas and Isabella alone.

"Well, I'm open to suggestions on what to do," Phineas said, folding his hands behind his head.

"How about a game of mini golf," Isabella asked. "We can even bet on each hole."

"What would we bet?"

Isabella winked and smiled suggestively at him. "Winner gets to kiss the loser on each hole."

Phineas grinned widely. "Now those are some stakes I can play for."

Isabella laced her arm through Phineas' as they headed for their game of mini golf. It perhaps hadn't turned out to be the day they'd intended to have at the outset, but Isabella was quite accustomed by now to making the best of whatever situation presented itself. And truthfully, for her any chance to spend time with the boy who she was realizing with every passing day was the love of her life was heaven on earth.

Next Episode Preview: Katie finally gets that magical ticket to freedom known to teenagers as a driver's license! But what should have been a simple trip to Slushy Dawg for her and Adyson turns into an epic journey that neither of them will ever forget.