Slowly the dust began to settle. Phineas lay dazed in the middle of it; the iron monster had brought him a long way down in its collapse and if he hadn't clung onto it so tightly he might have been crushed under its massive form. As his mind began to clear he sat up, cringing from the pain in his head, and glanced around. He could see Moon, now freed, standing over him, and for a long time they both just stared at each other without a word.
A sudden pop from behind Phineas made him jump. He turned and saw that the front panel of Six-Bolt's armor was slowly sliding open. Inside he could see a small boy, easily twice his age but thin and shriveled - his eyes had sunken almost impossibly far into his head; what little hair he had was thin and wispy; his legs sat crookedly to one side, hardly skin and bone; even under his dark blue t-shirt his ribs were clearly visible. Despite this, his eyes were intense as he stared out at Phineas without a word.
When Phineas spoke, his voice was cracked and quiet. "Why?"
Six-Bolt's voice was the same. "She made me into this."
"But we could help you," Phineas told him, "We can come to an understanding-"
Before he could say anything else he felt Moon's hand on his shoulder, and he fell silent. She gave him a look, accompanied by a tiny shake of her head, and then approached Six-Bolt's shriveled body. Her eyes were cold as she looked down at him, but Phineas could see hurt in them as well, hidden away behind the flames of hate. "You used to be my friend," was all she said.
Six-Bolt nodded weakly. "M-Moon, I-"
He didn't have time to say anything else before she snapped his neck, a single quick movement that killed him instantly. His eyes now stared blankly ahead of him, the fire in them gone, and Moon took a step back, still holding his gaze. For a long time she just stood.
"Moon, you just-"
"I had to," she turned to him suddenly, taking a deep breath, "It's done."
"But," Phineas could feel his mind slowing to a halt. He knew that Moon had no problems with killing things, but he could never get used to it. It made him a little bit sick, and he turned away.
Moon sighed. "Come on. We'll take you home."
Phineas hesitated and then nodded. He and Ferb followed Moon out into the tunnel, but Phineas turned back to the cavern. "What about Zhalgo?"
Moon stopped. After a minute she turned back to him. "You can fix it, can't you?"
Phineas nodded.
"Go and bring it home, then," she watched them both dart off back into the cavern, returning a minute later with the pieces of Zhalgo that they could carry. It looked almost as bad as it had at the bottom of the cliff - although it hadn't been fully assembled, it was clear it would need extensive work. Phineas held its dented head in both hands, and Moon quickly took it so that he wouldn't drop it.
Moon helped the boys down the side of the cliff without a word. She normally didn't talk much unless she had to, but even now she was unusually quiet.
"Moon?" Phineas asked.
Her eyes shifted down to him, and she cocked an eyebrow.
"Are you going to leave Danville again?"
Moon paused a moment, but then glanced back at him. "I don't know."
By the time they got back home, it was almost dark. They set Zhalgo in the garage and then the boys headed inside. Candace and Isabella were both elated that they'd returned, although neither of them gave more than a glance to Moon, and Moon seemed to be alright with that.
She sat on the front step, staring out at the setting sun. When it had come up earlier that morning, she hadn't been sure if she would get to see it again, and she was glad now that she could. Somehow she felt better, not only glad that she was still alive but better. She couldn't explain it, and so she wouldn't try, but she at least knew that she owed it to the boys for putting Zhalgo back together. She hadn't thought about it for so long, and then it had just turned up seemingly without warning - but she supposed that she should have seen it coming. Six-Bolt had built it for her in the first place, and so it would only make sense that it would have been with him.
"Hey."
Moon turned to see Marissa, sitting on the front step across from her, and she gave her an acknowledging nod. She wouldn't say so but she didn't particularly dislike Marissa the way she did Isabella and Candace (and she was well aware the feeling with them was mutual), but she knew not to get too close.
"Thanks for saving my brother," Marissa told her, giving her a side-long glance to see if she would react.
Moon only nodded.
"I know it's not really my business, but," Marissa paused, her voice suddenly becoming quiet, "Phineas thinks you should stay here."
Moon nodded again. "He thinks a lot of things about me."
"He means it, you know," Marissa told her, "He really likes you."
Moon turned to her. "Why?"
"What?"
"Why?" Moon repeated, "Why does he like me?"
Marissa shrugged. "I don't know. He's always had a lot of friends-"
"So what? Am I supposed to be his friend now?" Moon shot her a look that wasn't quite angry but wasn't quite neutral either. If anything she seemed a little uncertain.
"No," Marissa said quickly, "Not if you don't want to be."
Moon didn't have an answer.