Warning! Intense brawling in this chapter! And blood! You have been warned!
Ferb slammed Monty with his shoulder haphazardly. Monty fell flat on his face. He got up in a rage. He charged Ferb, knocking him to the ground. Monty grinned as he shoved his foot at Ferb's gut. Ferb fell over in searing pain. The crowd was cheering. "Finsih him!" one boy shouted. Monty walked up to Ferb triumphantly, ready to finish him. Then Ferb's mind went into overdrive. He took Monty's legs out from underneath him. The resounding thud permeated through the atmosphere. Ferb rose swiftly like a corkscrew, and kicked Monty in the head. The crowd started cheering again. "Finish him! Finish him now!" one boy screamed. When Ferb saw the blood in Monty's hair, he stopped in his tracks. A flashback started as Ferb staggered back. Fragments of glass and a woman with blood in her hair... "Kill him!" the nasty crowd shouted. But while Ferb did not lack disdain, he lacked malice. He plowed his way through the crowd as the "referees" tried and failed to stop him. He wasn't killing anybody. Ferb came back home with bruises all over from tumbling and getting nailed, specifically in the gut. He fell down on his bed and knew something needed to change. He knew he had changed drastically from who he used to be, perhaps for the worst, but when did it all start? Ferb thought hard. Maybe it wasn't any one thing, but many. He lost interest in Perry, gained a significant amount of interest in Vanessa, lost interest in inventing, but those didn't seem to be the big one. So why was he so unhappy? Ferb was puzzled by this enigma. His mother was making more healthy, less tasty foods lately. Maybe that was it? Maybe he had just heard too much of that Ducky Momo crud, or maybe he was having nightmares that he didn't consciously remember. But deep down, Ferb knew the real reason he was like this, and it pained him to think about it.
Phineas sighed. He was washing dishes for his sister, when he could be spending time with Isabella. He wanted to scream. But he still did her chores for her. When he returned to Candace, she mouthed these words: "The deal is off." Phineas felt cheated. He opened his mouth in protest.
"...and that is why I never go to Shchildre's Tunisian Barber shop," Isabella explained.
"Ouch, but that still doesn't sound as bad as that one time Mom went to that barber shop that was a fly-by-night or whatever. You know, they cut your hair offering a refund if you don't like the haircut, and then they're out of business before you can get your money back?" Candace related.
Phineas was bored with this conversation. "Don't you have something to do?" Phineas interjected at Candace. This caused Isabella to blush with excitement. Phineas, for once, actually wanted to be alone with her.
"Why, yes," Candace answered curtly. She stormed off. Isabella looked confused towards the direction Candace went.
"You don't need to worry about her," Phineas consoled. Phineas' voice soothed her thoroughly. She embraced him, and when she heard his heart beating in his chest, she felt an urge to blow it all, to tell Phineas everything, because she never wanted to leave his arms, but she planned to.
"What if Phineas didn't find out why I cared about his destiny, but I didn't leave at all anyway?" Isabella thought. It was so tempting, but Isabella had a plan, and it didn't involve Phineas, unless he found out himself, by tomorrow. She didn't like breaking promises, even the ones she made to herself. She decided that she had to get him to find out somehow. But she stopped herself. That was the "I'm within five feet of Phineas." talking. She shoved the idea that she was going to come over tomorrow and never see Phineas again down her own throat, and it was like eating a PEZ candy dispenser.
"Isabella, are you okay? You seem tense," Phineas observed.
"Tense! No! I'm not tense! Why would you think- Why would you think I was tense?" Isabella lied.
"Isabella, you can tell me absolutely anything," Phineas soothed. Isabella almost fell into Phineas Land before tensing up again. Why did real Phineas have to be so similar to Phineas Land Phineas, as of late? They still had different kissing records, but as far as by what they said, Isabella couldn't tell the difference. Well, besides things like proposals and love confessions, that is. "Isabella, are you okay? You seem unfocused," Phineas observed again.
"I am. Do you want to count clouds?" Isabella responded.
"Uh, sure," Phineas responded. The dilution of that affirmative didn't sit well with Isabella.
"Look at that cloud! It's a-" Phineas started.
"I said count!" Isabella sniped.
"Isabella, are you okay?" Phineas inquired.
"I'm fine, thank you very much!" Isabella muttered.
"What's wrong?" Phineas asked.
"Nothing!" Isabella responded.
"Isabella, I know something is wrong. Can't you tell me so I can fix it?" Phineas examined. "Wait, are you crying?"
Isabella turned her head away from him.
"Isabella!" Phineas cried.
"Leave me alone," Isabella deadpanned.
"Isa-" Phineas started.
"Leave me alone!" Isabella interjected.
Phineas ran to embrace her, and she failed to turn away. He saw the tears on her cheeks and lifted his hand. He wiped them from her eyes, not realizing he was just making it worse for her.
"I, um," Isabella started. Why was it so hard for her to leave? It was obvious to her that Phineas didn't like her that way. Isabella started thinking. What if she couldn't do it? These thoughts raced through her head. What if he did?
"Who did this?" Phineas inquired. "Who hurt you?"
Isabella didn't respond.
"Is this about the destiny thing?" Phineas asked.
Isabella made a move to turn away.
"I'll take that as a yes," Phineas stated. "Tell me at least how to find out about why you care about my destiny."
"I can't," Isabella replied.
Phineas covered his eyes.
"Why?" Phineas asked.
"If I told you, it would be like telling you why I care," Isabella answered.
Phineas' mind looped.
"Why do you care? And more importantly, why won't you day after tomorrow?" he inquired.
"Because that is when I am going to give up," Isabella responded.
"But, Isabella! I want to fulfill whatever destiny you have for me," Phineas stated.
"You don't mean that," Isabella muttered.
"Why wouldn't I want to?" Phineas asked.
"I can't tell you," Isabella responded.
"No, why wouldn't I want to with the information I have right now?" Phineas inquired.
"I don't know, you have other plans for your life," Isabella suggested.
"Well, I don't," Phineas responded.
"But you do," Isabella challenged.
"What plans?" Phineas countered.
"I don't know; that's why I asked," Isabella explained.
"I'm supposed to plan my life out? How?" Phineas blabbed.
"Never mind," Isabella ended.
"I mean, I want a house, a couple cars, and kids, I guess. I don't know! I haven't really thought about it much," Phineas explained.
Isabella's jaw dropped. She had been spending her whole life planning her life, and he hadn't thought about it once. He wanted kids. She redirected her thoughts quickly. She absolutely could not think about that right now. An image struck her mind of a grown up Phineas holding her while she held a baby boy. She was in utter panic. She couldn't have these thoughts, not now, with Phineas not finding out and her never seeing him again. More and more images of their children flooded through her mind like water. She didn't want her soul forever fused to his; not now. This would be the hardest thing she had ever done, but she was going to do it.
"I don't know what I want to do with my life, I guess. I hope it doesn't get dull. Beyond that, I have no plans. Carpe Diem, they say. It seems like I was twelve just yesterday. I thought I was going to invent myself to the moon, though I guess I've done that before. I guess that that is just a void. I've built a rollercoaster, seen Atlantis, become an astronaut, gone into my own sister's mind, conjured a giant balloon, and I feel like, I don't know, I've done everything. Isabella, I don't know what I should do next. Maybe get a driver's license?" Phineas related.
"I don't know," Isabella responded. Even though Phineas was talking about himself, Isabella felt like he was talking about her.
"There are 53 clouds up there," Phineas concluded.
Just then, Ferb came out. "Hi, Phineas," he greeted. "Um, hi, Isabella."
"Hi, Ferb," Phineas deadpanned. Isabella put her hand up in silent greeting. "Boisterous," Ferb commented.
"Yeah," Phineas agreed with a lighthearted chuckle in his tone. Isabella's temperament darkened when Ferb arrived. It wasn't his recent snarkiness as much as the fact that he wasn't Phineas. She wanted all the alone time with Phineas she allotted herself, and Ferb was cutting into it.
"I have an apology to make. I haven't been myself lately, and I, I don't really have anything else to say. It is just- I don't know, it just- Why can't I form sentences today? I used to always be able to. I don't know whether I need warm pie, or lithium, or some sort of therapist, but I just can't get back to that mindset I once had. I'm sorry if that has affected you," Ferb apologized.
"It's fine. I'm just glad you're back!" Phineas responded.
"I'm not back," Ferb corrected.
"Oh," Phineas responded monotonously. "Maybe we just need to invent something."
"It isn't that simple," Ferb explained.
"Why not?" Phineas asked.
"It just isn't. If it were, I'd be myself right now," Ferb replied.
"But you are yourself right now," Phineas pointed out.
"That isn't the point," Ferb explained. "I am not in the state of mind I used to be in, that which I strived for." His countenance was downcast, and his temperament was that of a traveller. Isabella could relate. Phineas was one of those people who just didn't understand except when it was obvious. That was why she made that promise to herself. She regretted every word of it. What she'd give to get liplocked with Phineas. Pure, raw hunger flew threw her veins. Her anguish was gargantuan.
"How are you going to get back to that state of mind?" Phineas confronted. Ferb knew the answer. But something was holding him back. Like a bulldog chained to a post, Ferb struggled with his collar while his panic spread through him and corrupted peaceful cells.
"I don't know if I'm ever going to get back," Ferb responded.
Phineas grew quiet. His frown said everything. He was freaked about losing Isabella and never getting Ferb back. Buford had turned, and Phineas hadn't seen Baljeet in a while.
"What is your latest endeavor?" Isabella inquired.
"Funny you asked, escaped a fight to the death, no kidding, but thanks for asking," Ferb answered.
Isabella's eyes widened. Their lives really had gone downhill.
"It needed to happen," Ferb related, confusing Phineas and Isabella.
"Why?" Phineas asked in a baffled tone.
"It was a rite of passage," Ferb answered.
"You killed someone?!" Isabella gasped.
"No! Of course not!" Ferb responded promptly. "I escaped while the other guy lay unconscious!"
"A rite of passage into what?" Phineas inquired.
"The cool kids at school, but at ours, it's more of an empire," Ferb explained.
"Why, Ferb?" Phineas asked. Ferb ignored Phineas' childish cuteness and acted as if he actually respected his brother, because he wanted to, even though he didn't.
"I fell in love," Ferb answered. He sounded drunk when he said this.
"What do you mean?" Phineas inquired.
"My heart beats fast when I see her, I smile whenever I see her, you know, stuff like that," Ferb explained.
"Tell me more," Phineas begged.
"When I'm near her, I have sudden urges. She's always somewhere in my mind, and I know I have to pursue her and never let go," Ferb explained. "It consumes you, and pretty soon she's all you care about. That is what happened."
"What kind of urges?" Phineas asked with innocence.
"Urges that have to do with close proximity," Ferb responded.
Phineas looked a little shocked. Isabella noticed it. She sent a prayer out that Phineas might confess his love for her before the first day of school. A million thoughts flew through Phineas' mind. It went something like this: "I'm in love with Isabella, and tomorrow is the last day I'll ever see her. Holy ****!"
And so the chapter ends. This chapter took sooo long to write. It makes me want to cry. Review suggestions for what should happen on the last day of summer, that is, the following day. Have a merry Christmas! It is less than a week away. Ciao! (Whoa! New exit phrase!) :-)