Chapter 23

"That's so sad what you had to go through..." Candace sniffled while dabbing her eyes with a hankey.

Once she finished her tale of middle-school woe, Bonnie then extended her million-dollar smile.

"But that was then, this is now! I can finally have my sweet revenge three years in the making!" the brunette cackled, "I can finally humiliate Possible in front of her crush now that she's moved down the evolutionary scale by several million years!"

"Are you sure this'll work?" Candace asked while sending a text to her best friend, Stacy Hirano.

"Oh heck, yes!" Bonnie smirked like a smug snake, "It will certainly prove once and for all that I will reclaim my rightful place as captain of the cheer squad and that Josh is the right person for me to have a crush on!"

"Yeah, I hope everything goes well for you!" Candace replied, "Anywho, I sent Stacy a text to meet us at the mall!"

"Mmm...friend of yours?" Bonnie asked.

"Mmmmmhm! We've been friends since grade school!" Candace answered, nodding her head. "I'll tell her everything that's been going on."

"Even the Miss Smug Mug-as-platypus thing?" Bonnie smirked.

"That too!" came the reply from Candace.

The two continued on their way to the mall, not knowing what Candace's brothers were doing in the backyard.

_

Phineas, Ferb, and Buford were assembling a giant sugar reserve bowl about the size of half of the Flynn-Fletcher backyard when Isabella Garcia-Shapiro, in her Fireside Girls uniform, entered in their backyard. Ron and Rufus, meanwhile, were waiting for their part in Phineas' plan

"Hey, Phineas, whatcha' doin'?" Isabella sweetly said from below her most favorite phrase.

Phineas noticed her and waved to her, "Hi, Isabella! We're making a 20-story tower of cotton candy with a waterslide in it!"

"That is so amazing! Need any help with it?" Isabella asked.

"Yes, we may need a truckload of confectionary sugar!" Phineas replied, "Something with a bit more color than just pink."

"How about red?" Ron asked.

"Orange and yellow! You can't go wrong with a combo of orange and yellow!" Buford suggested with a gruff.

"I was thinking of adding some green to it." Isabella added while looking at the giant sugar bowl. "You know, somewhere right in the middle!"

Baljeet made his entrance into the backyard.

"Or maybe blue or indigo? Like the color of my underpants?"

"Nah..." Ron said, "I think violet cotton candy is my cup of tea."

"Hey, Baljeet! We'll be down there in a minute!" Phineas shouted from the rim of the giant bowl. He and Ferb went down the ladder to the right.

"Who's the new guy here?" Isabella asked.

"Oh, I forgot to mention. Isabella and Baljeet, meet Ron Stoppable! He's going to help us out today!" Phineas smiled while looking at Ron.

"Uhh..." Ron nervously laughed, "...yeah, I don't know if I am that good at the helping part. I'm only good at being the distraction for Team Possible."

What Ron said caught Isabella's attention. She began to squeal for joy.

"Team Possible? You mean you're with the Kim Possible?!"

"Technically speaking, yeah! I've been friends with her ever since I was in toddler pants!"

"AAAAAAAHHHIIIEEEEEEE!" Isabella shrieked at the top of her lungs while taking out a pad and paper, "I've been dying to get her autograph! I watched all of her exploits on the news and she is totally the best thing since the invention of Fireside Girl sashes!"

"Yeah. Thing is that she's not here at the moment. She's...umm..."

Ron had to think of something fast to hide Isabella of Kim's platypus problem.

"She's watching some Agony County marathon on TV in the house. And after that, she's going on her date with Josh Monkey..."

"Mankey!" Rufus sqeaked.

"Tomato, to-ma-to, Rufus, I was one vowel off!" Ron muttered, "They're going to some rock concert thing later on in five hours!"

If only Phineas were alone, I would have him to myself to take him to that concert ... Isabella thought. She too had heard about the concert, but she had other things to take care of first, like helping him out with the cotton candy tower/waterside combo. However, the idea of Isabella getting that autograph from Kim was coming in at a close second.

Buford chuckled a little and climbed down the left ladder to where Baljeet was and gave him a wedgie.

"I think I mixed in some yellow with my blue underpants..." Baljeet groaned while retucking his underpants into his overalls.

"Okay, that is a little bit too much info, dweeb!" Buford muttered.

"So, what is on the menu for today, Phineas?" Baljeet asked.

"Glad you came on time! We're building a 200-foot tall tower of cotton candy with the curviest waterslide that you can even think of!" Phineas answered. "However, since we are indeed on a tight schedule, me, Ferb, and Buford are going to concentrate on the waterslide. Isabella, the rest of the Fireside Girls, Ron and Baljeet will take care of the cotton candy part!"

"We're on it, Phineas!" Isabella exclaimed as she left the backyard with Ron and Baljeet following behind.

However, the thought of getting Kim's autograph began to nag on her mind.