A/N: Ack, I'm late AGAIN! Sorry, you guys. I've decided to get caught up with another fic that I hadn't updated in quite a while, and it clearly took up a lot of my time. Fortunately, once I got to it, this chapter wasn't that terribly hard to edit and process. Unfortunately, it contains a Content Guideline violation, which means this'll be one of the censored chapters and you'll have to go to Archive Of Our Own to find the uncensored one if you want the full experience. Once again, I am operating under the same username at that site, so it shouldn't be too difficult to find me.

Alright, I'm done rambling! On with the long-awaited chapter! ENJOY!

Disclaimer: Even if the song's not on this chapter specifically, I still DO NOT own the "Rollercoaster" song, in spite of the tinkering I made for the purposes of this fic.

P.S.: Due to the ever-worsening situation regarding the coronavirus outbreak, I'm going to have to remind you all about the basic steps you should take if you want to stay healthy, courtesy of my university's reminder emails:

-Wash hands often with soap and water for 20-30 seconds at a time, and/or use hand sanitizer
-Avoid close contact with people who are sick
-Keep your hands away from nose, eyes, and mouth (I can't imagine how difficult this part is probably going to be)
-Eat well, get adequate rest, and exercise regularly
-Get a flu shot if you haven't already and are able to

And if you ARE sick (I hope you get better if you are), please be a good sport and save other folks the trouble of getting sick. You can do this by:

-Covering your mouth and nose with your sleeve, elbow, or a tissue whenever you sneeze or cough
-Not sharing food and drinks with others
-Avoiding touching your mouth, nose, and eyes (Again, I understand this is probably going to be difficult)
-Avoiding close contact with others
-Cleaning and disinfecting surfaces and objects
-Staying at home if you're unwell (PRIORITY NUMBER ONE!)
-Staying calm and keeping yourself well-informed (My personal advice)

If you already know this, then great! If you didn't know any of this beforehand, please keep that information in mind as we all go through this trying time. It's a realm of unknowns at this point, and I wish myself and all of humanity well.

Original A/N: And now I present to you Chapter 13 of the story! It may be a bit anticlimactic, but I thought everyone deserved to know how the real Phineas is doing; after all, we haven't seen him ever since Chapter 6. Also, everyone deserves a break from the terror the evil Phineas is wreaking. AFTER this chapter is done, then we will get back to the action.

Anyway, ENJOY!

Chapter 12 Summary: Now a prisoner of his own mind, Phineas finds that the reality he has been sentenced to live in by the Shadow, the one where Phillip is still alive, is ironically becoming a nightmare of its own.

Phineas opened his eyes and stared into the face of his stepbrother Ferb, who sleeping in the other bed. The sunlight was shining through the window, bathing everything in its sight in a brilliant, angelic light. The ten-year-old sat up on his bed and looked at Perry, who was still sleeping. Then, on cue, he watched as the device he made as a makeshift alarm clock unfolded from the clock and poked Perry in the head thrice, causing him to thrust his eyes open and make his signature chatter.

Phineas smiled and said, "Good morning, Perry."

Ferb stood up on his bed and made a silent yawn before standing up from the bed and leaving to brush his teeth in the bathroom. With the atmosphere all to himself and Perry, Phineas briefly stroked his pet platypus's smooth back of fur before opening the drawer of a table and looking inside it, only to gasp sadly as he looked at his own red hairs, the same ones that were torn out by the Shadow yesterday. He had gathered them and put them inside the drawer to ensure that when he looked into the drawer the next day, he would know that he was dreaming when he didn't see them. But now that he was seeing them, he realized with a horror that he wasn't dreaming: his body indeed had a new controller now.

Standing up from the bed, Phineas rushed out of the bedroom just as Ferb came in from the bathroom. Nearly colliding with his mother on his trip toward the stairs, the ten-year-old ignored his mother asking for him as he ran down the stairs and up to the door leading into the backyard. In the sofa next to said door was Candace, who was watching TV while cradling her Ducky Momo doll.

Candace looked at her brother as he slid the door open and asked, "Phineas?"

But Phineas ignored her and instead ran into the backyard. About to seek solace in the shelter of the backyard tree where he and Ferb came up with their Big Ideas, Phineas stopped when he saw the tree and realized that no matter how similar the tree looked to the one in the reality he knew, this tree wasn't real and was definitely not the backyard tree where he came up with his fabulous ideas with his stepbrother. He instead sat down on the grass, buried his face in his palms, and sobbed.

Phineas had heard the word 'irony' being used many times, and yet, he never knew what it meant, even though his parents explained it to him several times. But now, he finally understood its definition. The reality, the one he was in, the one that resided in his mind, was perfect. It had the sole thing he ever wanted in life: Phillip being alive. Ferb and Lawrence were still a part of the family, and Phillip just divorced Linda instead of being the only fatality of a deadly bombing. For many hours, Phineas enjoyed this life, the new reality he found in his own mind. Everything was just perfect.

That is, until he realized that someone else was now living the life he left behind. Someone who wanted to take advantage of it for his own megalomaniacal purposes.

Himself.

And now, Phineas was desperate to return to his old life, even if Phillip was dead in that reality. He knew he needed to save everyone there from this new him, his own evil, before he can succeed in his mission. But he didn't know where to start. He had tried attacking the Shadow, but he had unmatched fighting expertise and was armed with something Phineas still couldn't identify, the fire-like substance enveloping him. He had tried attacking everything in the reality the Shadow resided in, the one between the reality he left behind and the reality he is in currently, but the only thing there was just ground, which only made his knuckles bleed and his skin scrape as he tried to find some way to inflict it with injuries of any sort. He planned to tell his family, the one of this reality, of what was happening, but he feared that it might do something to upset the reality's entire continuum.

"What should I do?" Phineas asked in his mind.

"Phineas?"

The inventor looked up into Candace's face. Concern was etched on her face, an emotion that the Candace of the other reality seldom expressed. Phineas wiped the tears from his face.

"Yes?"

"You okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," replied Phineas as Candace sat down next to him. "It's just that...well, I'm just so glad I'm living this life. After all, I have an awesome father, a great stepfather, a cool brother, a nice mom...and the best big sister ever."

Candace smiled. "Aw, gee, thanks."

Phineas smiled, but then he turned serious and asked, "Candace, may I ask you a question?"

"Shoot."

"I love my life and all, but sometimes, I can't help but wonder that if I, uh, came from another life."

Phineas immediately scratched his ear. Fortunately, Candace didn't notice.

"You're not adopted, Phineas."

"I know; it's just that I wonder if there is another life we lived before this one. And if there's another life waiting for us to live it once we die in this life."

"I'm not seeing where you're going, Phineas."

Phineas sighed and continued, "Well, what if you remember the life you once lived, and you happened to like it more than this one? Not that such a thing is happening to me, but...what if that happened? What if you liked...no, loved the life you once lived and you want to return to it? You know, like switch lives or something by those lines?"

"What happened if you loved the life you once lived and you want to return to it?" Candace said to herself in wonder. Finally, after several minutes of her thinking, she replied, "I don't know, Phineas. I don't know what happens after you die, let alone how to trade lives. What I do know from Dad (not Lawrence, but our Dad) is that we must live our lives to the fullest, and just live everything in the present. Never fret about the past or the future. You know, Carpe Diem?"

"Yeah," said Phineas in a sad tone that Candace didn't notice. "Well, thanks anyway, sis."

"Anytime, little brother," Candace replied, and she walked back inside the house, where Linda was waiting. Phineas watched as the two conversed about something, most likely about him, before standing up and walking towards the backyard gate.

Before he can open the door on it, it already opened for him, and there stood Isabella, hearts practically in her eyes.

"Hi, Phineas," she greeted, almost dreamily. "Whatcha-" She stopped upon seeing her friend's downcast look. "-doin'?"

"Hi, Isabella," replied Phineas glumly.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm okay. I just need some time alone."

"No!" Isabella stood in front of Phineas before he can leave. "No, you're not okay. I can tell! You're not being the optimistic boy I know and l...earned from! Tell me, what's the problem?"

"I'm just having a case of the blues, that's all." Phineas tried to get past Isabella, but grabbed his hand and he found himself blushing.

"Then I know how I can cheer you up," she said warmly.

Isabella took Phineas down and out of Maple Drive and into Bell Road, where Phineas knew was where Gretchen Davison lived. Indeed, the two approached the backyard gate of Gretchen's house and Isabella knocked on the door. Soon, the door opened and it revealed Baljeet, Buford, the Fireside Girls, Irving, Django Brown, and the children of Danville.

"SURPRISE!" they all cried.

Phineas gasped: standing triumphantly on Gretchen's backyard was the rollercoaster, just exactly like the one he and Ferb made during the memorable start of the summer.

"Whoa!" cried Phineas.

"We made this for you, Phineas," Isabella replied, "to show how much we care for you!"

"And it was all Ferb's idea!" cried Baljeet.

As if on cue, Ferb stepped out of the bushes and gave Phineas the thumbs-up. Phineas's thoughts about the Shadow living his old life slipped away almost immediately.

"Ferb, you're the best!" he cried.

Ferb smiled and asked, "So, you wanna ride it, bro?"

"You bet!" Suddenly, Phineas thought about something. "Wait, uh, guys, are you sure this is safe?"

"Of course!" Isabella replied as everyone boarded the rollercoaster.

Phineas smiled as the rollercoaster began its ascend up the track. It was gonna be an exciting ride.

Interjecting A/N: Allow me to reiterate: go to Archive Of Our Own (AO3) if you want to see this entire sequence in its uncensored glory! Sorry about the censoring here, but once again, I'm not taking any chances.

Three hours later...

After riding through all of Danville, the rollercoaster finally slowed to a stop at Gretchen's backyard. Everyone stepped off from the rollercoaster, excited smiles and shocked looks still on his or her faces.

However, Phineas still remained on the rollercoaster, his excited look slowly reverting back to his downcast mood. For a shining three hours, his worries have all been blown away by the rollercoaster ride, but now that the ride was over, he felt them flooding back inside his body. Leaning his head back and looking at the upward track that signaled the beginning of another ride, Phineas began to wonder what the Shadow was doing to ruin the life he once lived. He wondered if he was hurting Ferb and Candace and Perry and everyone else, either physically or psychologically. Either way, the Shadow was doing something, and it wasn't good.

"Phineas? Are you okay?"

Phineas turned his head and saw Isabella, who had just seated herself beside him.

"Yeah, I'm okay," replied Phineas. "I'm just, uh, sad that the ride is over."

He scratched his ear compulsively. Unlike Candace, Isabella was quick to notice the action.

"Something else is bothering you, Phineas," she said. "What is it?"

Phineas gulped. He didn't know what to tell Isabella. And what if he told the truth? Would something happen to this reality as a result?

"I can't tell you, Isabella. I don't think you would believe me if I did."

"Try me."

Isabella leaned in closer to Phineas so she can hear his problems more efficiently. As she did, the ten-year-old looked at her eyes and suddenly noticed her blue eyes were. And when he did, he suddenly felt lost in an entirely different world of blue, the only thing residing there besides him being Isabella. Phineas immediately blushed.

"I don't mean to go off-topic," he said, "but your eyes, they're...how should I say it? Uh..."

Isabella smiled. "Pretty?"

"No, they're so blue," Phineas replied. When he saw Isabella's look turn into that of sadness, it tore his heart to see the blue eyes look so downcast. So, he decided to add, "But very pretty."

Isabella immediately smiled again, and Phineas smiled back, knowing that what he said was actually the truth, as he didn't scratch his ear. Both felt lost again in that blue world, and the two of them slowly inched closer to one another, still looking at each other's eyes.

"Phineas?" asked Isabella hopefully.

"Yes, Isabella?"

"There's something I wanna tell you."

"There's something I wanna tell you too."

Isabella's smile became even more pronounced. "And what's that?"

"No, you go first."

"No, you."

"Okay." Phineas gulped nervously. Finally, he said, "I love you, Isabella."

Phineas couldn't believe he said those words. But he also felt proud of himself as well. The brilliant summer sunlight bathed the two in its angelic rays, and both children remained unaware as Ferb and the other children watched, smiling with approval at what was progressing. Baljeet was about to cry out with joy, but Buford silenced him with a wedgie.

"You do?" asked Isabella, gasping.

"I do. I've been in love with you for a long time, but I never really noticed. And finally, after seeing those blue eyes of yours, I finally found it, and I accept it. And now, I've realized that all of these inventions, everything Ferb and I made, wouldn't have been there without your support. Your support was always one of the many factors in my life during the summer, and I never got the chance to thank you back. And so, here's my thanks to you, Isabella Garcia-Shapiro."

And with that, Phineas closed in to complete the gap between him and Isabella, and she did the same.

"I love you too, Phineas Flynn," Isabella said.

The two continued to close in on one another, and Phineas felt his problems slipping away again.

But before their journey can be completed, a new voice spoke up.

"Aw, that's so sweet."

Everyone looked up to see the Shadow standing there, an evil grin on his face. Phineas immediately felt his problems flooding into his soul once again.

The world began to dissolve into smoke. Phineas looked around sadly and watched as Isabella and the rollercoaster and everything else around him disappeared. Phineas tried reaching out to Isabella, but it was too late: all but her head had dissolved, and Phineas was forced to watch as her head, including those dazzlingly blue eyes, dissolve as well. When the reality replaced itself with the Shadow's reality, with the purple mist and the cold, uneven ground, Phineas glanced angrily at his doppelganger. He was so sick of having to jump between realities. Better yet, he was so sick of the Shadow living his life and taking advantage of it for whatever purposes he had.

"Sorry if I interrupted your precious little moment," the Shadow said, "but I thought I'd check on you just in case."

"WHY?" Phineas cried in despair, more like a wailing animal than a pained human. "WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS TO ME? WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?"

"Nothing, Phineas," replied the Shadow unflinchingly. "And that's what makes it all fun. Because you didn't deserve it. You were just there at the wrong moment when the laser came in. But I guess it's not your fault. After all, Django Brown sent you to the park to get zapped." The Shadow's face hardened into concentration. "You know, I should probably thank him. First he gets me created, and then he gets your friends to make weapons for me to gain."

"What?" Phineas was confused. "What weapons?"

"These," replied the Shadow, and a projection was displayed on the mist on his cue.

Phineas gasped at the sight. It was everything he and Ferb built during the summer, starting from the rollercoaster. Every contraption was grouped in the backyard, like some sort of super-amusement park or something. It was simultaneously beautiful and ghastly to see. Phineas gasped again when he realized the Shadow's intentions.

"You WOULDN'T!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, yes I would," replied the Shadow, crossing his arms triumphantly. "And it's a shame for you, because you can't stop me."

"Watch me," snarled Phineas, and he charged forward towards his evil doppelganger, not caring if the fiery substance engulfing him was physically harmful, or if he had superior fighting skills. All he wanted to do was to set himself free from this nightmarish event.

But before he could even reach an inch towards the Shadow, everything, including the Shadow, dissolved and reformed back into his and Ferb's bedroom, which was empty.

The Shadow's voice then echoed throughout the air.

"Try and stop me now, boy."

"So, too cowardly to fight me yourself, huh?" Phineas replied bravely.

"I'm not cowardly, boy. I am fighting you right now."

"What d'you mean?"

But there was no response.

"Hello? Shadow?" called Phineas.

Still no response.

"SHADOW!"

Again, no response.

Phineas screamed angrily and slammed his arms into his bed with full force. However, his anger was alleviated when he realized Ferb, Isabella, and the other children would help him. Running down the stairs, past Linda and Candace, Phineas opened the front door and dashed outside to see Isabella on her way to the backyard gate.

"Hey, Isabella!"

Isabella looked at her and smiled. "Oh, hi Phineas!"

Phineas's happiness was replaced with shock. Isabella was wearing the same look she was wearing when he met up with her for the first time of the day. He then remembered that the Shadow was in charge of his mind, and that he could've done something to make everyone who saw him forget the entire event. All in all, the day was practically being started over.

Isabella took Phineas's hand and took him down Maple Drive.

"Come on," she said, "I wanna show you something."

Phineas knew it was the rollercoaster, but now, even his first major invention of the summer couldn't cheer him up anymore.

The Shadow watched on the projection as Isabella escorted Phineas towards Gretchen's backyard and chuckled malevolently.

"Yep, my weapon is working perfectly," he said to himself. "Even the great Phineas Flynn can't stop me. Now, I've got some hostages to capture."

And with that, the Shadow walked into the mist and towards a light. He walked closer and closer and closer, until finally, Doofenshmirtz's voice called out to him, and everything blacked out.

"Hey, kiddo! We're here!"

The Shadow opened his eyes and found himself inside Norm while the robot was in his car mode. Doofenshmirtz was sitting in the driver's seat, clutching the wheel as he slowed the robot down to a stop.

"Are we there yet?" the Shadow asked.

"13278 Wellington Road, right?" replied Doofenshmirtz.

"Yep, this is it. And I was fearing you'd say the wrong address."

"Just because you call me an idiot doesn't me I'm always one, you know!"

The Shadow stared at his ally with his green eyes. "Are you contradicting me?"

"No!" Doofenshmirtz cried meekly. "I was just making a note of that to you!"

"It had better be you making a note, or you'll regret it."

Doofenshmirtz gulped, but the Shadow didn't notice; he just stared at the Johnson residence, smiling at the newest development.

Original A/N: Wow, the last time I updated was Monday? Well, school's been antagonizing me as of late, so that's understandable. But now that I found the time to update my story, I'm happy.

Now, onto the reviews:

Stinkfly3: If you'd like, I'll fit in a Phinabella kiss still. It won't cure Phineas, but...yeah, I'll try to fit it in if you'd like.

trickquestion: Thanks!

NattyMc: Wow, this story must be a shocker to you. Hope you can handle it, but the shock level is just gonna rise even more.

rosa (unsigned; chapter 11 review): Even with my Spanish schoolbook, I can't seem to translate this (I'm in a Spanish 3 class in high school). But, judging by what I know, you're asking something about me renaming L.O.V.E.M.U.F.F.I.N. into the Red Triangle.

FanficFemale: Yay, you pieced the bomber-Phillip connection together! I don't know if you're the only one, but yeah, Phillip was killed by one of their bombs.

kitty with a chance: Thanks for your review SO MUCH!

TheAllySue: I hope you liked your break from the evil Phineas. And I'm sorry if this story's scaring you. I'll try my best to make sure that the evil Phineas won't be stabbing or stunning anyone anytime soon.

Coolness (unsigned): Wow! *spoiler alert* I already had that idea in my head long before you reviewed!

AM0S (unsigned): Yeah, I know. Sorry if you don't like that.

Brandon-The Real Spyro: Yeah, I'm surprised that I didn't describe any damage the bus is taking from all those crashes. Maybe I should in the next chapter. And sorry if my cookie tasted funny. Maybe I shouldn't have added the tomatoes in the mix, heh heh heh...

maniac's maniac (chapter 7 review): Okay, now I understand. Don't feel embarrassed by being talked to you in fanfiction. It's an honor, having to hear from others. But what you feel is understandable. Oh, and no, I don't know of tv Tropes. What's that? I'm guessing it involves television.

Eleven reviews! Now I can't to see who'll be my first 100th reviewer! Whoever becomes my first 100th reviewer gets a year's supply of free imaginary cookies from yours truly! Don't worry, I won't add tomatoes this time after hearing from Brandon.

Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!

New A/N: And that does it! Honestly, I'm quite proud of this chapter, now that I'm looking back at it. I've been dealing with high school at the time, yet I updated so frequently that I'm jealous of my fifteen-year-old self, and still, I managed to come up with this ingenious idea of how the Shadow would use Phineas's insecurities to his advantage. Like...jeez, is the guy sadistic or what?! And how the heck was I able to pull this off when I barely had enough spare time as it was?! I'm surprised my grades didn't suffer because of my multitasking!

Wish I could say the same for today... :'(

Anyway, I'd like to thank the following for reviewing:

-PhinabellaForLife22:

1) Thanks! I'm glad you thought the chapter was worth the wait.

2) I hope this chapter was what you were expecting. Or were you expecting something else?

-Air-Crafter: Now THAT would be telling, would it?

-Epsilon Tarantula:

1) Well, Phineas being evil is an all-hands-on-deck type of situation. I gotta involve as much characters as possible! And if you remember the fic well, then you'll know you haven't seen the end of it yet!

2) Yeeeaaah, Mr. Shapiro is definitely not what the fans had in mind, myself included. Now then, why in the WORLD did Jeff and Swampy think it was a good idea to keep his identity in the dark for so long, only for him to finally be outed...as nothing more than a background character?!

3) Yeah, looking at the scene with the gun...I'm just shaking my head at myself right now. Something like that could've been saved for a more appropriate fandom.

-Maeph93:

1) I am Jack's complete sense of surprise. XD

2) Ooh, boy! Ten chapters is nothing at this point! It only means you're less than a third into the story! And you're right, the chapters WILL get longer as we get along.

3) Yes and yes. Remember, nothing about this story has changed. I'm only removing the songs because they violate the site's Content Guidelines. Again, you can find the full chapters at Archive Of Our Own.

-DBI-JoMo: Honestly, I don't see how. But thank you for inserting that hilarious image into my head. Coincidentally, Jeff Povenmire worked on "Family Guy" for a time before creating "Phineas and Ferb" so I guess it's come full circle. In a way. XP

-no name pls (guest reviewer):

1) Air-Crafter's right; there's been times where Ferb goes off on long speeches when the moment suits him. I have been out of the fandom for too long to think of any specific examples, though. "Excaliferb" comes to my head, but I'm not sure if that's correct... Anyway, I think it's certainly in-character for Ferb to become talkative in Phineas's absence, especially if said absence is prolonged.

2) "Grammatical errors and poorly phrased sentences"? How so? Looking through the chapters, I did not notice anything major. Even so, I can't proofread all of this because, as someone else said, this fic is more of a time capsule now. It'd be a disservice if I edited the whole thing so it could be more up to speed with what I've learned about writing since then. I want old fans and readers to rediscover this and re-immerse themselves into the early 2010s, when "Phineas and Ferb" was still at the top of its game. If I make anymore edits than I'm doing right now, it will ruin the time-specific aesthetic that the story has carried over throughout the years. So no, I don't think I will edit this, even if I really wanted to. Maybe I might consider working on a brand-new rewrite once I'm done fully restoring this. It's a possibility. But for now, I've got 24 more chapters left to restore.

Well, hope you enjoyed this re-posted chapter! TheCartoonFanatic01 is out. PEACE!