"Fireside Diaries"
Story Written by Freedom Fighter
The fourth-produced episode of each season so far has starred Ginger. But at some point last season, I realized that such a trend should probably stop. In Japan, the number four is considered bad luck... which explains why each of Ginger's episodes thus far has not turned out favorable.
So for the fourth episode of the fourth season, I've decided to give you... a Gretchen episode instead! Even better, it's a Ferb-Gretchen episode! Yes, I finally gave in to all you readers who have been crying for me to do one. But it comes with a compromise... this is a Ferb-Gretchen friendship episode. Friendship.
Friendship.
Disclaimer: The characters of 'Phineas and Ferb' belong to Disney.
Entry #444 - Written by Gretchen
So today, I got to achieve one of my lifelong dreams! To be on a game show!
Gretchen and Isabella walked into the building of one of Danville's local television studios. The former had a smile on her face as she held a completed application packet in her hands.
What? I'm only 11.
"I can't believe it!" exclaimed Isabella. "You're going to get to be on an actual game show!"
"And it only took getting through tryouts, first callback, interview, second callback, aptitude testing, second interview, and a THIRD callback! All I have to do now is pass the qualifying round and I'll have finally made it onto the stage!"
As they walked into the lobby, where a dozen other kids were waiting already, the two of them spotted what looked to be the casting director, who was making small talk with one of his assistants. Suddenly, he turned and saw Gretchen... and he freaked out.
"WAIT!"
He ran over to her in jubilation.
"Who are you?"
Nervous, Gretchen stumbled to respond. "Gr-gr-gr-gr-"
He snatched her application packet from her hands and looked it over... for all of two seconds.
"I've seen enough. You're on the show!"
Gretchen gasped in shock. "Really?"
Really!
That afternoon...
I didn't think anything of getting a free pass right onto the show. Knowing me, winning it all wasn't going to be as easy.
The contestants chosen for the show started gathering on their marks underneath the stage. Gretchen was shaking in fright, nervous about how she would perform in front of a live studio audience.
"I can do this," she thought. "I can do this. I can do this!"
She calmed herself enough to turn her head and examine the competition. To her relief, the others all appeared to be in various states of anxiety and distress, just like her.
"I suppose that's a good sign. Everyone else is just as nervous as I am."
But while the competitors were experiencing bouts of stage fright, the show crew was in a full state of panic.
"We go live in 30 seconds!" someone shouted. "WHERE IS HE?"
Gretchen quickly figured out what was going on. There were supposed to be six kids on the show, but including herself, only five were standing on the platform that was going to rise up on the stage.
"FOUND HIM! FOUND HIM!"
Three people came running in, carrying or pulling someone towards the platform. Gretchen was unable to see who the sixth kid was until they had put him down on his mark and then moved away.
As if pulling out a victory on this show wasn't going to be hard enough...
...he showed up.
Now standing on the sixth and final mark was a boy Gretchen knew would be her toughest competition...
Ferb.
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Entry #444 [FSD404] - Friend or No Friend (07.01.13)
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"Hurry, girls! Empty seats spotted ahead!"
She pointed to a couple empty spots in the fifth row or so. She, Milly, Katie, and Ginger ran down there, and they were not surprised to see a familiar face there.
"Hey, Phineas!" Isabella cooed, immediately plopping down in the open seat to his left. "Whatcha doin'?"
While they had a little chat, and they both gave the common reason of why they were there, the lights in the studio dimmed, and she was ushered away to nearest open seat, much to her chagrin. The show's theme song began playing, and the curtain rose up, revealing the stage and the six podiums where the contestants would stand.
"It's the game show where anything goes... in the name of kids having fun! This... is... TRIPLE TROUBLE!"
The audience, which had an overwhelming majority of kids in it, cheered and screamed at the sound of the show's name.
"I'm Stan Iam, your always faithful announcer! Now, let's meet the host of Triple Trouble, the one, the ONLY... ERIK WINTERS!"
Erik Winters came out in stage, dressed in a snazzy suit, as always. He took his place behind the host podium, to the delight of the crowd. After a few seconds, the music died down and the audience was instructed to be silent so that Mr. Winters could get on with the show.
"I'm the host with the most, Erik Winters, and welcome to another exciting edition of..."
"TRIPLE TROUBLE!" shouted the audience, on cue.
"That's right, boys and girls..."
"...this is the show that'll do anything..."
Below the stage, all of the competitors were listening to the host do his opening spiel. Gretchen, though, was only focused on one thing.
Or, rather, one person.
What's Ferb doing here? I didn't know he had tried out for Triple Trouble too! Oh my...
Feeling that someone was staring at him, Ferb turned his head to see who it was. But upon seeing it was Gretchen, he waved a stoic hello to her.
Ferb's really good. Can... can I beat him in a game show where all of our talents will be put to the test?
Suddenly, the platform the six were on shook briefly, and then it began to rise upwards. Six square holes appeared in the ceiling; positioned as such to match up with the marks each of the competitors were standing on. A fog machine activated on cue, obscuring the competitors' view of the audience, and vice versa, temporarily.
The platform locked into place once all of the contestants had completely passed through the holes and they were in position behind their respective podiums. The fog machine was shut off, the air started to clear, and the audience cheered upon seeing today's contestants.
"Hi there, kids!" greeted Mr. Winters. "Ready to play?"
"YEAH!" shouted them all... except for Gretchen and Ferb.
"You all know the rules. Last kid standing wins $1,000 in cash and prizes! Or... do they?"
The audience gasped.
"This week, we're going to make children's game show history with the biggest... grand... prize... EVER!"
Everyone turned to the big monitor behind the competitors, where $1,000 appeared on the screen. But the audience went wild when one zero was added, and then a second, making the grand prize...
"$100,000!"
The audience erupted with glee.
$100,000? Think of what I could do with that much money...
I could give back to the community...
I could share it with my friends...
I could use it to pay for my first three years of college!
Or... I could do all three!
"GRETCHEN!"
Gretchen snapped out of her daydream and glanced towards the audience. Isabella pointed at a sign Milly and Katie had made in under five minutes. On it were the words 'Go Gretchen!' She smiled upon seeing it.
"You guys..."
"Enough stalling," Mr. Winters said. "Time to begin Round One: Visual Puzzles! In this round, you'll see some pictures on the screen on your podium, contestants. After each picture, I'll ask you a question about it. Get it right, you get points; get it wrong, you get nothing. At the end of the round, the two of you with the lowest score WILL be eliminated."
Everyone nodded in understanding.
"The first question is worth 10 points... and here it is!"
A video played on the screen for all to see. There were four cups, all turned upside down, and a ball in the middle of the screen. A prompt flashed with the words 'Keep an eye on ball!' The ball was then placed under the second cup from the right, and then the cups were slowly switched around, two at a time.
After ten seconds, the switching of cups stopped, and the numbers 1 to 4 appeared on the cups, in order from left to right.
"Which cup is the ball under?"
A five-second timer and the four choices, '1,' '2', '3,' and '4' appeared on each of the competitor's screens. The clock started counting down immediately.
Easy.
"And the correct answer is..."
Gretchen's face went pale. The five seconds had gone by so fast she had not submitted an answer in time. Meanwhile, the rest of the video played out, showing that the ball was under cup number...
"One! Let's see who got it right!"
All six competitors' faces appeared on the big screen, along with their answers... well, those who got theirs in on time.
"Everybody got it right except for Gretchen, who didn't lock hers in on time! 10 points to everyone else!"
Gretchen could have felt sad for missing out, but she did not have time to.
"Okay, here's question number 2, worth 20 points! Roll it!"
For question two, they all got a prompt telling them to 'Count the Apples!' On screen were three kids walking exactly similar paths lined with trees. At each tree, the kids would stop and shake it. A certain amount of apples would fall out of each tree, between zero and three, with no kid getting the same amount as the others in each round.
Once they all reached the end of the path...
"Which kid got the least number of apples?"
Gretchen panicked.
"Huh?" she thought. "I was only paying attention to the total number of apples!"
She had no choice but to guess. She locked in her answer, as did the others.
"Let's see what the correct answer is, shall we?"
The rest of the video played out. The correct answer was the kid who got scolded for his or her work, or lack thereof... which was Brandy, or, kid number two.
"It's two! Two is the right answer! Let's see who got it..."
Ferb and two other kids had answered correctly, while Gretchen and the two other other kids had inputted wrong answers.
"Gretchen! It looks like you're off to a slow start! Not giving up already, are we?"
I wasn't, but if I wanted to get out of the first round, I had to start getting serious.
"No, sir!"
"Then... let's punch it up a notch!"
Three tough questions later...
"This is the last photo question," the host told the competitors. "Remember, after this, the two of you with the lowest scores will say goodbye!"
Everyone looked down at their video screens, which flashed the prompt 'Watch for Cats!' Gretchen paid close attention, as did the others, as a bunch of cats ran on and off the screen, from left to right, all passing through at various speeds.
"How many black cats appeared on the screen?"
"WHAT?" all six contestants shouted, in surprise.
Four choices appeared on each of their touchscreens: '8,' '10,' '11,' and '12.' And, once more, a visible five-second timer would force them to make a hasty decision.
"Uh... uh..."
Gretchen gulped as she locked in her answer. The timer reached zero, and if she had not picked the right choice, she was a goner.
"Time's up! And the correct answer IS..."
The video, which had been paused, started playing again. The black cats ran back in from the left, and a counter, starting from zero, went up with the appearance of each new feline.
"Come on..." thought Gretchen, as she crossed her fingers.
The counter had made it to 6, and continued to 7, 8, 9, 10, and...
...then it stopped.
"TEN! Ten is the correct answer. Let's see who got it right!"
The competitor's answers were revealed, and four people had gotten it right, including... Gretchen!
"That final question was worth 100 points, which means... Ryan and Grady, you two are going home!"
Ryan burst out in tears, while Grady had his head lowered in shame. The two kids were escorted off stage, leaving only four competitors.
"I... I made it out?" Gretchen asked herself. "I made it out of the first round! Yay me!"
She giggled with glee at her success. But one look at the remaining competition, including Ferb, told her that this game had only just begun.
In round two, the four surviving contestants had to complete an obstacle course while riding on a tricycle. Gretchen made her way around, pedaling up a seven-degree incline and down the other side, into and through a shallow four-inch water pit, past a half-dozen suspended lightweight punching bags, and to the finish line. She looked up at the scoreboard and saw that it had taken her 34.8 seconds to complete the course. She seemed pleased with her effort, as she raised her arms triumphantly afterward, but she had to wait to see how her effort stacked up against the others.
The two remaining boys - a tall one of Chinese descent and Ferb - easily bested Gretchen's time, as they both came in just under 30 seconds. With the worst time being eliminated this round, it was assured that a girl was going home, as a blonde pedaled up to the starting line. Gretchen watched nervously as her competitor took off... and then promptly stumbled at the first obstacle, falling of the trike while coming down the incline. The girl ended up recovering and pedaling hard to make up for last time.
But her fate was sealed when she came in with a time of 34.9 seconds.
The girl, Olive, had a banana crème pie shoved in her face before being escorted off the stage. Meanwhile, Isabella and the troop applauded Gretchen for moving on once more, while the boys celebrated Ferb's advancement as well.
Round three was the trivia round, and the first two to get three questions correct would move on. Ferb, with his usual quiet intensity, got there first. That left it up to Gretchen and Li to fight for the other spot. They alternated correct answers back-and-forth until they came to the one that would decide it all.
On that final question, Li rang his buzzer first. Gretchen thought it was all over for her... until Li gave the incorrect answer. The host gave Gretchen a chance to steal the win, and she did not disappoint. Answering correctly, Gretchen moved onto the semifinals with Ferb.
Li was then promptly pied in the face, like Olive did before him. But before he could be escorted off, he ran up to a ladder on the side of a raised pool, climbed it, and once at the top, he jumped in the water. Mr. Winters, Ferb, and Gretchen all shrugged at this, as the boy had apparently punished himself additionally of his own free will.
In the semifinals...
"This has been going on for a whole 60 seconds now, which is 55 more than we're used to, and who knows how it'll end!" the host exclaimed.
In the aforementioned pool, Gretchen and Ferb were in their swimsuits and standing on a log, trying to gain control of it and spin it in a way to knock the other off.
Suddenly, Gretchen started panting loudly, signifying that she was about to reach her limit. Ferb looked ready to end it, but then he saw the pained look on Gretchen's face.
I thought my dream was over. And then, Ferb did the unthinkable.
Ferb slowed down just enough to give Gretchen control of the log's movement, and then let momentum and gravity do the rest. He fell into the water. Gretchen, meanwhile, was caught off-guard by her sudden victory that she slipped off the log and went in as well.
"Huh?" the host looked up, hearing the splashes. "What's going on, uh, I mean... we have a winner?"
All eyes turned to the event official, who ruled in favor of Gretchen.
"GRETCHEN! Gretchen has bested the favorite, Ferb, and will advance to the final round! What a turn of events!"
Both Ferb and Gretchen popped up above the water's surface, and were greeted to the audience chanting Gretchen's name in victory.
I couldn't believe it! Against all odds, I had won! I had won! It all felt like it was too good to be true.
It was.
"Why, Ferb? Why'd you do it?"
The two had been backstage drying off when Gretchen had accused Ferb of throwing the event.
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"But I didn't deserve to win..."
About 20 feet behind them, the host had overheard their conversation and was now snooping behind a metal box to hear the rest.
"...just because we're friends doesn't mean it's okay for you to throw the game for me."
Mr. Winter's face went red with anger. Those last five words really upset him. He thought about confronting them and declaring the result null and void... but he had a better idea.
The taping came off of its final break, as it was time for the final challenge to be filmed.
Despite what had happened, I went with it because Ferb was with it, even though my gut said I should've confessed that Ferb threw the challenge on purpose.
I should've gone with my gut.
"Okay, Gretchen," the game show host said, putting an arm around her. "All you have to do is win the final challenge, and you win the grand prize... and the title of 'Triple Trouble Champion!' You ready to see what you have to do?"
Gretchen nodded. "Yes."
Suddenly, the other eliminated contestants walked in, on the far side of the stage. Gretchen was worried at first, but when she saw them all just simply sit down on chairs that had been set out for them, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Until she realized one of them was missing.
"Let's show her, boys!"
The curtain was pulled back and Gretchen gasped when she saw what was behind it. There were two pedestals, positioned over a large tank with piranha in it. One had a five-foot tall golden trophy and a large $100,000 check with her name on it. The other... had Ferb, who was gagged and bounded to a chair.
"FERB!"
The audience gasped in shock. Seeing Ferb's predicament, Milly and Katie followed their instincts as they got out of their seats and ran for the stage. Isabella followed them without a second thought.
"You can only save one!" Mr. Winters told her, with a smirk. "Will it be that lame loser you beat to get here... OR THAT TRIPLE TROUBLE CHAMPIONSHIP TROPHY AND PRIZE MONEY?"
Gretchen gulped as two buttons rose in front of her, and the studio audience almost unanimously shouted for her to take the money. At least that appeared to be a first, until Gretchen could hear a looping sound around, which meant that most of what she was hearing was from a prerecorded tape, being played at a louder volume than that of the studio audience. They were certainly booing this sick and dangerous turn of events.
"Gretchen!"
Isabella shouted at her as she squeezed past stage security, who had been preoccupied with stopping Milly and Katie.
"Well, what's it gonna be?" the host asked once more, in a more demanding tone. "The guy who shamelessly took a dive, robbing you of a true Triple Trouble victory? Or the money he so nicely gifted for you?"
"Gretchen!" Isabella shouted a second time, much louder.
Gretchen stared at each of the buttons, then up at Ferb, over at Isabella - who was now on the side of the stage, and finally, at the host.
"What are you doing? CHOOSE!"
"GRETCHEN!" Isabella yelled.
Gretchen took a couple deep breaths, and then made her decision.
The sun was already setting by the time Gretchen walked out of the building with her friends. They all offered pats on the back and high-fives in congratulations for winning the game. She was pleased with all the praise.
But none more than that from Ferb, who was the last one of the group to come out.
"You don't have to say anything," Gretchen said to him.
He did not.
"Of course I chose you over the money! Not even an enormous amount of cash like that is worth your life. Or your friendship."
"Ferb!"
"Gretchen!"
The two looked ahead at Phineas and Isabella, who were calling them.
"We're all going out for some ice cream!"
"You two coming?"
Ferb and Gretchen looked at each other. She grinned at him. He blinked back.
"Coming!" shouted Gretchen.
The two sprinted over to the others so that they could all walk together.
I didn't care about the money to begin with. My dream was just to get on a game show. Winning it was just a bonus. Although saving a good friend wasn't so much a bonus as much as it was a duty. After all, you can win all the money in the world...
...but it won't buy you friends.
It's too bad you won't get to see my episode on TV. The head of the station, after hearing what happened, canned the show AND fired the host, as well as the entire crew. But don't worry. Despite what he did, his ending isn't as unhappy as you think. He got hired by a major cable network, in his dream position...
Executive producer for a Foodie Network show.
End Entry
Author's Notes:
Before you ask... this is not based off of any story that's anywhere near true. In case anyone thinks I'm slandering somebody noteworthy.
Also, hope you enjoyed this, shippers, 'cause this entry is as close as I'll get to writing Ferb-Gretchen in this series. Serious.
Next Week: There's one Fireside Girl patch that's so impossible to get that not even Isabella herself has even considered attempting it! So why is Katie suddenly declaring it as the next patch she's after? See if she comes anywhere close to succeeding on the next episode of "Fireside Diaries."