Independence Day Extravaganza Part One: Groundwork
How many special people change?
How many lives are living strange?
Where were you while we were getting high?
"Something about this feels like déjà vu all over again," Linda said as she looked at her sons who were, once again, on bended knee pleading with her.
"This time it's different," Phineas insisted as he turned slightly to his mother's left. "Because we're begging dad too."
"He's got a point there, darling," Lawrence added. "But what you boys are asking is a lot bigger than a welcome home party this time. Are you sure you can handle this?"
"We're planning on pulling together a team of our friends to help us prepare and coordinate everything," Phineas told him. "And just like with Django's party, Ferb and I will handle cleanup."
"You did do a really good job cleaning up after that one, I'll admit," Linda said as she folded her arms. "But boys, you do know that this is usually a really, and I mean really, big party right?"
"We're well aware of the magnitude, mother," Ferb said. "That's part of why we want to do it; so you and father can simply relax and enjoy it instead of working yourselves to the bone."
"Ferb's right," Phineas added quickly. "We've seen how exhausted you guys get after the party's all done, and we really don't think that's right at all. We're totally capable of handling this, not to mention we had a lot of fun doing Django's party. This would be even more off the hook!"
Lawrence looked at Linda; his expression clearly showed he was being swayed. "It would be nice to not be dog tired at the end of the day, love."
"No arguments here on that point, but there's still one problem," Linda said as she looked particularly sternly at her sons. "How're you doing to handle the grand finale? And before you even think of saying it, I'm going to tell you right now that yes; you are too young for that."
"We've already got a plan for that," Phineas said, grinning widely. "We're going to plan the show, but we're going to get Jeremy and his friend Coltrane to run it. They're plenty old enough. Plus, we're going to add a laser light show to it as well, which will be run by computer. Baljeet's already volunteered to help us program it."
Linda was visibly impressed. "Huh. I guess you boys thought of pretty much everything then. What do you think, Lawrence?"
"It's not like we won't be around in case they end up needing an extra hand on anything," Lawrence replied. "And they did do a smashing job with that party earlier this summer. It's hard to come up with a valid reason to not let them give this a go."
"I guess that's that then," Linda said, putting a hand on both boys' shoulder. "You boys can handle the Fourth of July party this year."
"We won't let you down, mom," Phineas said, snapping to attention and saluting her, which Ferb mimicked as well.
Linda nodded as she and Lawrence turned back to their breakfasts. "I have faith in you both, Phineas. You'd both better get to work. You've only got today and tomorrow to get ready."
"C'mon Ferb," Phineas said enthusiastically. "I know what we're gonna do this weekend!"
A few short minutes later, the boys were in their room with their network online and with several of their friends already having joined them via their own webcams.
"This won't take too long, will it Phineas," Katie asked as she quickly looked into her camera again before walking back around her room again. "I have practice in half an hour."
"We're just waiting on a few more people, Katie," Phineas told her. "By the way, have you heard from Adyson at all? She's not online so I texted her to join us, but I haven't heard back."
"That's a little weird. She's usually pretty prompt about responding. Maybe her cell's charging or something. I'll check in with her later."
As Phineas thanked her, two more cameras popped up for Buford and Milly respectively.
"Hey guys," Milly said cheerily. She then blew a kiss into her camera. "And hello to you especially, sweetie."
"Mornin' babe," Buford said back to her with a grin. He then turned his attention to Phineas. "So what's the deal, Dinner Bell? We doin' this?"
Phineas nodded to him. "Oh it's on, Buford. Ferb and I just got the green light earlier."
"Sweet! So whatcha want me to do?"
"Just hang on, man. I want everyone online before we start assigning duties."
"Not to put too fine a point on it," Baljeet said, looking over in Buford's direction, "but you already know what you're going to be asked to do, Buford. There aren't many other duties suitable for you."
"Hey, you never know," Buford retorted. "Maybe he wants me to apply my artistic sensibilities to the decorations for once."
Everyone else present, Milly included, immediately burst out laughing at the idea of Buford and his "artistic sensibilities". In the midst of all this laughter, Holly and Gretchen finally both came online, rounding the group out.
"We missed something hilarious, didn't we," Holly asked disappointedly.
"Yes," Isabella said, still trying to catch her breath from laughing. "Yes you did."
Holly sighed a bit. "Just another fun thing I've missed out on this summer."
"Sorry, Holly," Ferb said apologetically. "How's your practice been going, though?"
"Really well," she replied. "I just hope I'm ready for the recital in a few weeks."
"You'll be fine," Katie told her. "I've heard you play, and it's beautiful Holly."
"Much as I'd love to talk more about Holly's music," Phineas said, getting everyone's attention, "we do have a lot to figure out and not a lot of time to do it in. If everyone's settled, let's get this planning meeting underway."
As the gang of teenagers settled down, Ferb touched Ginger's webcam window first and dragged it to the top center of the desktop.
"Ginger, we'll be asking you to coordinate the guest list once again," Ferb told her. "Also to keep tabs on who's doing what and their progress."
"You've got it, Ferb," she replied. "I'll report in to you guys regularly with updates."
"Baljeet," Phineas said, pulling Baljeet's window off to the left a bit. "Are you still up for helping to program the laser light show?"
"I've already got some code ready to go," Baljeet replied. "And I'm also working on a simulation program to let us test our scenarios before we finalize anything."
"Holly," Ferb said, pulling her window off to the right. "I know you're busy, but do you suppose you could give me a hand with music selection and playlist building? You do have the largest music library of any of us, after all."
"Oh I'll make time for this," Holly said, rubbing her hands together in excitement.
"The rest of you girls," Phineas said, pulling down Isabella's, Gretchen's, Katie's, and Milly's windows, "I have down for food prep and decorations. You think you can handle it? We've potentially got a lot of people coming through here."
"Compared to the old Fireside Jamboree crowd, this won't be a thing," Isabella said confidently. "Right girls?"
"Aye aye, captain!" all three of the other girls responded with a crisp salute.
"Finally, Buford," Ferb said, pulling his window to the very middle of the screen. "The girls will probably need your help with setup once they have the decorations laid out, but obviously your main job will be security. There will no doubt be crashers and perhaps a troublemaker or two. Think you can deal with them?"
"Psh," Buford said, scoffing at the question. "It's more a question of how permanently you want 'em dealt with."
"Try not to leave any permanent scars," Ferb told him.
"Roger that," Buford replied with a nod.
"That should just about do it then," Ferb said. "Holly, if you could spare just a few minutes here so we can start brainstorming playlist ideas I'd appreciate it."
"Everyone else, you know your tasks," Phineas said, addressing the group. "If you have any questions, you know where to find us."
As the gang signed off to get to their tasks one by one, Phineas grinned and grabbed his notepad to begin writing down his ideas for the fireworks and laser show. He had worked for years to earn the honor of putting together the biggest party his family threw every year, and he was determined to make it one for the record books.
"All right, we need a main dish idea," Isabella said to her fellow members of the food and decorations committee for the party. They had all gathered at her home a couple hours after finishing the planning meeting. "Something that says 'All American' but that would be easy to produce in large quantities."
"Well you don't get much more American than-" Gretchen began to say.
"We're not doing hot dogs again," Isabella told her immediately.
"Aww!" Gretchen pouted at being shot down.
"Sorry, Gretchen, but we did that for one party already this summer. Anyone else have an idea?"
"Well it's not a main course, but I was thinking apple pie for desserts," Milly said. "We could make them small enough to be carried around too."
"Good call," Isabella said, quickly writing the idea down.
"Should we figure on ice cream as well," Katie asked. "This is the Fourth of July we're talking about; it's bound to be hot."
"Also a good call," Isabella said, adding ice cream next to the pies. "But we still need a main dish idea."
"Hot dogs could still work…" Gretchen said quietly.
"We're not doing hot dogs again," Isabella said, now getting annoyed with her bespectacled friend.
Gretchen leaned towards Isabella, narrowing her eyes at her. "You can't tell me you're honestly going to consider hamburgers. They'll be too much work for as many people as we're likely to get."
"How much trouble is it going to be to form ground beef into a patty and cook it on a grill," Isabella replied.
"You don't have to form anything with a hot dog! It's all set to go already!"
"Um, guys," Milly said, trying to get both of their attention.
"We're NOT doing hot dogs again" Isabella said insistently.
"Guys…" Milly said it again.
"Good luck cooking burgers fast enough to feed hundreds of people, then," Gretchen retorted.
At this point, Milly took a deep breath and shouted, "Knock it off, you two!"
Isabella and Gretchen recoiled in fear as Milly recomposed herself and, in a much more pleasant tone, said, "Why don't we just do both so people can choose? You don't get much more American than giving people freedom of choice."
"…That's brilliant!" Isabella and Gretchen said in tandem.
"Big Mama Milly scores another win," Katie said to herself with a chuckle.
"Did you say something, Katie," Milly asked sweetly.
"Nope, nothing at all," Katie said, quickly looking away.
"I know I said earlier that you had the largest music library of any of us," Ferb said as he perused Holly's computer through the network, "but this is incredible. You easily have triple of our collection."
"I've still got tons of stuff that needs ripping," Holly lamented. "Not to mention my grandpa's collection of LPs. I'm hoping I get a USB turntable for my birthday so I can get that music turned digital too."
"Phineas and I might be able to help in that department sometime, if you like."
Holly smiled at the idea and stretched her hands out as she began scrolling through the various playlists she already had set up. "I will definitely keep that in mind, thanks Ferb. Now, exactly what kind of auditory assault do you want to perpetrate on our peeps?"
Ferb cracked a smile as he began contemplating each playlist as it came up before him. The good part was that there really were no bad choices to be made. The bad part was trying to settle on just enough music for a twelve-hour party.
"Are you out of your mind," Baljeet said in amazement. "If we don't keep the show lower to the ground we could disrupt airline pilots, Phineas!"
"And if it's not high enough no one will be able to see it," Phineas retorted.
"All the same, I would rather not have to explain to my parents why we're being questioned by FBI agents and the FAA about our laser light show."
"Can we at least have it above the roof of the house, then? Last time I checked my house doesn't exactly get buzzed by seven-thirty-sevens on a daily basis. Or ever, for that matter."
"Can I trust you to not adjust the angles higher once the show is underway," Baljeet asked, looking at Phineas skeptically.
"I think you're being far too paranoid about this, 'Jeet."
"Fine, but when the black ops agents descend on the house you can be the one to explain why to your parents."
Both boys went silent as they each resumed coding their parts of the show. After several minutes of glancing at each other, Baljeet turned around to face his friend again.
"I'm sorry, Phineas," he said. "I just know this party is a big deal for you and Ferb and I don't want you getting in trouble for something I had a hand in. I'm quite familiar with your penchant for overdoing things."
"No, that's cool man," Phineas replied. "Honestly that's part of why I wanted you to help work on this with me. I need someone to help me keep this thing in check."
"We'll still make it a fantastic show, I promise that. Let's just make sure it doesn't draw any unwanted attention."
"Right on. Now, show me what you've got so far."
Phineas scooted over as Baljeet began running his code through their previewing software. As he watched, Phineas' smile grew steadily wider. This was going to be the grandest finale to a party ever.
That evening, all those involved with the party preparations had gathered in Phineas and Ferb's backyard to discuss their progress for the day. Ginger looked over the checklist on the clipboard she brought and smiled at the results.
"It looks like we're actually a little ahead of schedule so far," she said after compiling all the information. "The guest list is coming together pretty well too, but…"
"But what," Phineas asked.
"I tried contacting Adyson several times today by phone, text, and email. She hasn't responded at all."
"Did she go out of town, perhaps," Ferb asked, looking at Katie.
"No way," Katie told him. "If anything I know she's been trying to inject some more fun into her summer recently. She knows this party was coming and she would've wanted to come to this party more than anything."
"It could be technical issues on her end," Baljeet conjectured. "Perhaps we should go over and check on her systems for her."
"Somehow I doubt every form of communication available to her went down for her all at once," Gretchen said. "There's got to be some other reason she hasn't responded to us."
"There is, and it's me," Django said, announcing his presence. He had entered the backyard silently, which wasn't so surprising for him. What was surprising to everyone was the totally dejected and exhausted look on his face.
"Django, are you alright," Isabella asked him. "And more to the point, what're you talking about?"
Django sighed and leaned against the tree as the others gathered around him. "To answer your first question, Isabella, I've been better. I hardly slept last night. As for the second…yesterday I had some alone time with Adyson in the morning."
"Alone time," Milly said, repeating his words. She then gasped in surprise. "You mean a date?"
"Sort of," Django told her. "But, well…it didn't exactly end how I'd anticipated."
"She didn't reject you, did she," Gretchen asked.
Django shook his head. "No, but she made it abundantly clear that she needed time to herself. I guess her feelings are confusing her or something like that."
"That explains that then," Ginger noted. "She must be blocking everyone out right now, not just Django."
"That's ridiculous," Isabella said, sounding somewhat disgusted at the turn of events. "At times like this we should be there for her! Right, Phineas?"
It was only when she went to ask her boyfriend his opinion that Isabella, and everyone else for that matter, realized that Phineas was suddenly, and inexplicably, missing.
"Ferb, Phineas was just here, wasn't he," Isabella asked him.
"Yeah, I dunno where he popped off to," Ferb said, looking around for his brother. "For all I know he's wherever Perry goes off to every day."
"Guys, don't sweat it," Django told them. "I don't think any of us should be trying to force the issue for Adyson. I can't help but feel like I was doing just that yesterday, and that's what drove her to isolate herself. The last thing I ever wanted was to cause her heartache and it seems like that's exactly what I ended up doing."
Katie stepped over by him, looking fairly surprised. "You've really got it bad for Addie, don't you?"
"There's no one like her back in California," Django told her. "And I'll never find anyone like her ever again, I just know it. At the time when we were together yesterday I felt like I just had to take a chance. But now…"
"Don't go there, Django," Katie told him insistently. "Don't for a minute regret it. Adyson might not be willing to admit it, but you are exactly the kind of guy she needs in her life. So please, don't give up."
"She said she would answer me at the party here at the guys' house on the Fourth," Django replied with a shrug. "At first I tried to simply resign myself to waiting. That didn't work so well. I think I slept for maybe an hour last night."
"Whoa, not good dude," Buford told him. "I'm surprised you're still on your feet. Sleep deprivation ain't somethin' to mess with."
"At this point I'm not sure I could go to sleep if I wanted," Django said as he wavered a bit. "I'm so worked up over wondering what she'll say the next time I see her that my brain just won't shut down."
"We need to get you some help, then," Gretchen said. "Anyone got any ideas?"
"I deal with little kids who have a hard time getting to sleep all the time," Milly said. "Granted they're a lot younger than Django, but I might know a trick or two to help him shut his brain down."
"I'll try just about anything if it means I can get at least six hours of sleep," Django told her. "But before that, I want to talk to Ferb alone if that's alright with everyone."
As the group consented, Ferb and Django walked into the garade to talk one-to-one. Django leaned against the freezer while Ferb simply stood by the door to make sure no one walked in on them.
"What's on your mind," Ferb asked.
"I want your help with something tomorrow," Django told him. "It hopefully won't take long and I'll even pitch in to help with party prep if you need to make up the time, but…I want to improve my appearance."
"Django, there's nothing wrong with how you look."
"Maybe not to you or me, but it's clearly a big deal to Adyson. She brings it up almost every time I see her. I may have no idea what her answer is gonna be on Monday at the party, but I wanna give myself the best possible chance; even if that means making some changes to myself and how I do things."
Ferb frowned at the idea, but saw that Django was in no mind to discuss anything at great length. "I don't agree with your reasoning, but alright. I'll come with you for a bit tomorrow."
"Thanks, man. You don't know what it means to me."
"Yes, well, go find Milly now and see what kind of advice she can give you for getting a decent night's sleep tonight. Call me tomorrow when you're ready."
Django left to return to the backyard while Ferb paced the garage a bit.
'Bloody hell,' he thought. 'We've got a ton of preparing left to do and now we not only have Django and Adyson's drama to deal with, but Phineas has gone missing. Honestly, Phineas, where have you gone off to? I need your help now more than ever.'
Ferb resolved to have a thorough talk with his brother the next opportunity he had. For the time being, all he could do was return to the others in the backyard and try to keep as much going on schedule as possible for the party. Suddenly it felt like the time they had left to them just wouldn't be enough to accomplish everything they wanted.
Preview of Next Episode: With Phineas missing and much work still to be done for the party, Ferb must now further jeopardize things by trying to help Django sort out his problems with Adyson. Will Ferb be able to get through to him? And will Phineas be found in time to get things done?